Teachers will be given training to spot the signs of misogyny and tackle it in the classroom as part of the government's long-awaited strategy to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade.

The plans - which focus on preventing the radicalisation of young men - are due to be unveiled on Thursday, after being pushed back three times this year.

Pupils will be taught about issues such as consent, the dangers of sharing intimate images, how to identify positive role models and to challenge unhealthy myths about women and relationships.

The £20m package will also include a new helpline for teenagers to get support for concerns about abuse in their own relationships.

The government hopes that by tackling the early roots of misogyny, it will prevent young men from becoming violent abusers.

Under the new plans, schools will send high-risk students to get extra care and support, including behavioural courses to tackle their prejudice against women and girls.

"Every parent should be able to trust that their daughter is safe at school, online and in her relationships, but too often, toxic ideas are taking hold early and going unchallenged," Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said about the new measures.

"This government is stepping in sooner - backing teachers, calling out misogyny, and intervening when warning signs appear to stop harm before it starts."

The taxpayer will foot £16m of the bill, while the government says it is working closely with philanthropists and other partners on an innovation fund for the remaining £4m.

Nearly 40% of teenagers in relationships are victims of abuse, domestic abuse charity Reducing the Risk has said.

Online influencers are partly blamed for feeding this, with nearly one in five boys aged 13 to 15 said to hold a positive view of the self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, according to a YouGov poll.

In response to the government plans, some teachers said schools are already doing the kind of work the measures outline.

"While we welcome any initiative that prioritises healthy relationships and consent education, it's important to recognise that schools like Beacon Hill Academy in Dudley have been delivering this work effectively for years," Principal Sukhjot Dhami said.

"The challenge isn't starting from scratch: it's ensuring that this £20m pounds is spent wisely and in partnership with schools already leading the way."

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said it was positive the government was recognising the importance of training and support for school staff.

Whiteman said "schools are just part of the solution", with government, health, social care, police and parents all having a "significant contribution to make too".

Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the government's focus, but added it was also essential that the government "introduces effective measures to prevent at source the spread of online misogynistic content which is served up to young people by social media algorithms".

Nicola Mclafferty, 42, is a victim of domestic violence and said more needs to be done to teach children about abuse.

"Survivors of domestic abuse, men or women, should go into assemblies and speak to the children about it, tell them a bit of your lived experience, enough that it's not going to scare them but be quite factual.

"There needs to be more people talking and they need to know."

The government has already announced a raft of measures in its strategy, including the introduction of specialist investigators to every police force to oversee rape and sexual offence cases.

It says staff will have the right training to understand the mindset of abusers and victims.

Also announced is a roll-out of domestic abuse protection orders, which have been trialled across England and Wales over the past year.

The court-issued orders mean individuals can be banned from contacting a victim, visiting their home or posting harmful content online, and can also be used in cases involving coercive or controlling behaviour. Breaching an order is a criminal offence.

Other measures include better NHS support for child and adult survivors of abuse, and a funding boost for councils to provide safe housing for domestic abuse survivors.

Two television adverts will also be launched on Saturday featuring a string of sports personalities and celebrities calling for the end of violence against women and girls.

Domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Dame Nicole Jacobs, said the commitments "do not go far enough" to see the number of people experiencing abuse start to fall.

She added: "Today's strategy rightly recognises the scale of this challenge and the need to address the misogynistic attitudes that underpin it, but the level of investment to achieve this falls seriously short."

The Prince and Princess of Wales have released a new family portrait which features on the couple's 2025 Christmas card.

The image shows William and Catherine sitting on lush grass surrounded by spring daffodils, alongside by their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

A post shared by the couple on on social media reads: "Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas."

The family snap was taken by photographer Josh Shinner in Norfolk in April.

The photos appear to be from the same shoot used to capture photos for George's 12th and Louis' seventh birthdays.

Last year, the couple revealed a Christmas card with a personal significance, using a picture taken from the video released when Catherine announced the end of her chemotherapy.

William and Catherine are spending the festive season together and are expected to be joining the King and rest of the royal family at Sandringham in Norfolk on Christmas Day.

Earlier this month, King Charles and Queen Camilla released their own Christmas card, showing themselves taken in Rome.

The photograph, taken in April during their state visit to Italy, shows the smiling couple standing side by side on a garden path.

Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Nearly 40 Labour MPs have warned the prime minister they are not prepared to support proposals to limit jury trials.

In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, the MPs, largely but not wholly from the left of the party, say the plans are "not a silver bullet" to reducing the backlog in trials.

"To limit a fundamental right for what will make a marginal difference to the backlog, if any, is madness and will cause more problems than it solves," they write.

Sir Keir has previously answered concerns from MPs about the plans by telling them that jury trials already make up only a small proportion of trials in the criminal courts system.

In the Commons last week, he told Karl Turner - who organised the letter - that "juries will remain a cornerstone of our justice system for the most serious cases".

The 39 MPs include prominent figures such as Diane Abbott, former whip and leading member of the Tribune group of Labour Vicky Foxcroft and Dan Carden, who leads the Blue Labour group of backbenchers.

They suggest a number of other ways to reduce the courts backlog, including increasing sitting days, hiring more barristers as part-time judges called Recorders and asking the Crown Prosecution Service to consider bringing some cases in the backlog on a lower charge.

The Justice Secretary, David Lammy, announced the measure on 3 December. It scraps jury trials in England and Wales for crimes that carry a likely sentence of less than three years, removing the right for defendants to ask for a jury trial where a case can be dealt with by either magistrates or a new form of judge-only Crown Court.

The measure came after retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson was asked by the Lord Chancellor to come up with a series of proposals to reduce the backlog in the courts.

The process started in December 2024. In July of this year, Sir Brian said "fundamental" reforms were needed to "reduce the risk of total system collapse". His proposals also included more out-of-court settlements like cautions.

Announcing the jury trial measure, Lammy said it was necessary as current projections have Crown Court case loads reaching 100,000 by 2028, from the current backlog of almost 78,000.

This means that a suspect being charged with an offence today may not reach trial until 2030. Among the impacts of this are that six out of 10 victims of rape are said to be withdrawing from prosecutions because of delays.

A former anaesthetist has been jailed for life for intentionally poisoning 30 patients, including 12 who died.

A court in the city of Besançon in eastern France found Frédéric Péchier guilty of contaminating infusion bags with substances that caused cardiac arrest or hemorrhaging.

Péchier was first placed under investigation eight years ago, when he was suspected of poisoning patients at two clinics in Besançon between 2008 and 2017.

"You are Doctor Death, a poisoner, a murderer. You bring shame on all doctors," said prosecutors last week. "You have turned this clinic into a graveyard."

Péchier, who has always denied any wrongdoing, now has 10 days to lodge an appeal.

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

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The family of the Bondi shooting's youngest victim Matilda urged the community to not let her death fuel anger, as they said a final goodbye to the 10-year-old on Thursday.

Matilda was among 15 people who were shot dead when two gunmen opened fire on an event marking the start of Hannukah at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday.

Speaking to the BBC at Matilda's funeral, her aunt Lina Chernykh said the Jewish community is right to want more action to stamp out antisemitism – she does too.

But she said Matilda was a joyous child who spread love everywhere she went, and urged the community to do the same in her honour.

"Take your anger and… just spread happiness and love and memory for my lovely niece," Ms Chernykh said.

"I hope maybe she's an angel now. Maybe she [will] send some good vibes to the world."

Jewish community leaders have in recent days suggested the tragedy was an inevitable result of Australia struggling to address rising antisemitism.

The attack on Sunday, which targeted the Jewish community at an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, was the country's deadliest incident since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people during the Port Arthur massacre.

Ahead of Matilda's funeral on Thursday, Ms Chernykh said the family was devastated.

"I look at their faces [and] I don't know if they will be ever happy again," she said of Matilda's parents.

Matilda's younger sister, from whom she was "inseparable", is shattered and confused, she said.

"She doesn't have enough tears to cry."

At a flower memorial on Tuesday, Matilda's mother Valentyna told mourners that the family came to Australia from Ukraine more than a decade ago, thinking it would be a safe place for them.

"I couldn't imagine I'd lose my daughter here... It's just a nightmare," she said.

Ms Chernykh told the BBC she too has struggled to make sense of what is happening.

She was gardening at her home on the Gold Coast when Matilda's mother called on Sunday.

"Truly, I was thinking something happened to my father because he's 84 years old... and she says Matilda was shot," she recalled.

"How [could] someone in Australia understand, if someone tells you your kid was shot… I couldn't understand it. I was thinking I have bad reception. I asked a few times what I'm [hearing]."

Police have designated the attack a terrorist incident, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying it appears to have been "motivated by Islamic State" group ideology.

Police allege that the two gunmen were a father and son. Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead at the scene, while his son Naveed, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.

Australia on Thursday announced it would strengthen laws to crack down on hate - including by introducing powers to cancel or refuse visas on grounds of antisemitism.

The son of a former police officer was "misled" by a force into accepting a community resolution for violence he did not admit to, an investigation has found.

Theo Rose reported being a victim of an assault at school to West Midlands Police (WMP) but was himself given a sanction over the incident instead.

A report by the Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) expressed "concern" the teenager might have agreed to accept it under "false pretences" - even if they were unintended - and was "misinformed" about the potential consequences.

The force rescinded the community resolution in February and apologised to Theo the following month, in a letter seen by the BBC.

Theo made the initial report to Halesowen police station in December 2023 claiming that he had been twice attacked by a fellow student at his sixth form college.

The then-18-year-old said he had been advised to do so on the advice of a lecturer, who had seen the attack, and told officers he had been kicked and punched.

Police asked him to return to the station the following February and the OPCC found in an interview that day, Theo was "misled" into accepting a community resolution for affray - the use or threatening of unlawful violence towards another person.

Theo said it was only afterwards, when he spoke to his parents, that he realised he had potentially been unfairly treated and the sanction could affect his job prospects.

"I was quite fearful for my future," said Theo, from Halesowen.

'I still didn't understand'

His father Rod Rose, a serving detective chief inspector with the force at the time, helped Theo lodge a complaint with its professional standards department.

That investigation found officers told the teenager there was "overwhelming and contradictory evidence" against him.

A further review of the complaint by the OPCC included bodycam footage which showed Theo telling police: "I didn't use or threaten violence towards [the other teenager]".

It also found the "most relevant" witness statement backed up Theo's account.

Theo, now 19, told the BBC he didn't know what affray was and had asked the handling officer.

"He explained it to me and I still didn't really understand," he said.

According to the professional standards department, officers later reclassified the affray as two assaults - one with Theo as a victim and one as an offender - which he did not know and had not admitted to.

The OPCC raised the question as to whether Theo would therefore have been entitled to use "reasonable force" to defend himself.

Its report said: "Although it appears unintended, [we] remain concerned that the document may have been signed under false pretences... It appears that Mr Rose had agreed to a resolution for one crime but it turned out to be another."

Community resolution orders allow police to deal with low-level offences without going through the courts.

They're usually aimed at first-time offenders but guidelines state there must be a clear admission of guilt and they must have the victim's agreement.

They do not show up on a criminal record but do appear on enhanced Disclosure and Barring service (DBS) checks, which are required by certain jobs and can therefore affect a person's future career options.

According to the OPCC report, officers "misinformed" Theo about the consequences of accepting the sanction.

He told the BBC he asked for assurance several times and only accepted it because he feared being taken to court.

"That was the only reason why I was more than happy to accept a community resolution," Theo said.

'What have you admitted to?'

Mr Rose, who is now retired, was working at Halesowen station at the time and had previously worked in the out-of-court disposals department that dealt with community resolutions.

He realised officers had not followed procedure during the handling of Theo's case.

"My first words were, what have you admitted to Theo? And he said, 'uh, I don't know'," said Mr Rose.

"I was angry because it seemed like they [had] interviewed [Theo] without letting him know they [were] interviewing him and not giving him an opportunity to seek advice."

Following the investigation and OPCC review, which made recommendations, WMP rescinded the community resolution, accepting that "it would appear on review you [Theo] did not take responsibility for the offence of affray or assault".

Theo said "no justice has been served" as his original complaint as a victim of assault had not been resolved.

"My trust in the police has just been diminished," said Mr Rose.

Mr Rose said he was "disheartened" by Theo's experience and said it was the first time in his 30-year career he had "seen this side of policing".

"It's going to take a lot for Theo to have any sort of trust and confidence back in the police. And if he doesn't, he's going to tell his children, don't trust the police because of my experiences."

Two days before his retirement last year, Mr Rose was served gross misconduct papers by the force, the timing of which he described as "malicious".

It was alleged he abused his role over Theo's sanction but the force's professional standards department found there was no case to answer in January.

"I was just a parent supporting and defending my son," he said.

'Decisions can be reviewed'

When asked by the BBC, the force did not comment on Mr Rose's claims about the timing of the misconduct allegations.

A police spokesperson added: "Community resolutions enable officers to make decisions about how to deal proportionately with lower-level crime but interventions agreed within them are voluntary and not legally enforceable.

"As it is an informal disposal which does not create a formal criminal record, we would not confirm the details of any person issued with a community resolution.

"As with all disposal types, it is occasionally appropriate that decisions can be reviewed, and where necessary rescinded."

WMP issued 8,280 community resolutions in 2024, accounting for 77% of total out of court disposals - a 163% increase from 2019, when they accounted for only 47%.

National statistics from the Ministry of Justice for that year showed 164,000 community resolutions were issued, also accounting for 77% of total out of court disposals - a 56% increase on five years ago.

In a Freedom of Information request, the BBC asked WMP and other Midlands forces how many complaints they had received regarding community resolutions and how many had been rescinded.

They said neither datasets were held in a retrievable way.

The National Police Chiefs' Council said out-of-court resolutions were a "highly effective" way of delivering justice.

Its deputy assistant commissioner, Dr Alison Heydari, added: "We regularly review the use of community resolutions and over the next few months will be updating our guidance to reflect several recent and forthcoming significant reports."

WMP was placed in special measures by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services in November 2023 for four points, including "failure to carry out effective investigations leading to satisfactory results for victims".

It came out of special measures in September.

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Lying on his side on a dark summer night earlier this year, Sir David Attenborough is watching a hedgehog snuffling around an urban garden.

"I think they're lovely things," he says softly, with a chuckle.

His voice blends boyish wonder with the wisdom of his 99 years - each in equal measure.

Considered by many as the most famous broadcaster and conservationist of our time, Sir David has circled the globe for 70 years to show us the brilliance of the natural world.

Now, in a new one-off documentary, he has come home - to London.

Gaby Bastyra, executive producer at Passion Planet, which made the film, said Sir David "could live anywhere in the world… but he's always come home to London".

The programme, she says, is an "appreciation of his place - and he loves it".

So can the capital's wildlife compare to the broadcaster's encounters with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, the mimicry of a lyrebird in Australia or a blue whale breaching beside his small boat?

Well, Wild London is abundant with animal curiosities: from pigeons hopping on to the Hammersmith and City line to a snake colony by a canal.

Sir David also draws our awareness to the dramas happening every day among and above us in this city of about nine million people.

In one scene, there are glimpses of a bullish, noisy beast through the summer leaves.

This is not a preying tiger in the Indian jungle - but a happily mooching Dalmatian dog in Dagnam Park, Romford, unknowingly closing in on a days-old fallow deer fawn.

David Mooney, chief executive of the London Wildlife Trust, which co-produced Wild London, said he was completely "enthralled" by that "juxtaposition".

"That's not to say that dogs are a problem. It's just wildlife is interacting with us at all times," he said.

"The raw experiences of nature are something that at London Wildlife Trust we've been talking about for a long time."

Perhaps the most poignant moments in Wild London, broadcast months before Sir David turns 100 years old, are where he shows particular tenderness towards the animals he meets.

At the Houses of Parliament, he holds a peregrine falcon chick while it is ringed for identification.

It tips its head back to look up at him as he says to it softly: "Now we can recognise you anywhere - yes, yes you."

In Greenford, west London, Sir David gently cradles a tiny harvest mouse before releasing it into a meadow.

He encourages it to scramble on to a wildflower, with an affectionate: "Welcome to your new home - there you go."

It doesn't want to leave the safety of his cupped hands.

Joe Loncraine, director of Wild London, has worked with Sir David on several other nature documentaries.

He said: "There were some moments I think that deliver the kind of interactions with him and an animal that I hadn't seen in a while.

"There was something about the warmth that came across. And I think his enthusiasm for what was happening was so infectious."

Sir David was greatly impressed by The Ealing Beaver Project, which he says in the film, has had such a "positive impact" in west London.

He observes: "If someone had told me when I first moved here that one day I would be watching wild beavers in London, I would have thought they were mad. But there they are, right behind me."

He uses this as an example of us "securing a brighter future for both animals, and us, too" in our unique metropolis - the world's greenest major city.

Mr Mooney said: "His message is: people have to take note of it - if people notice it, they will begin to love it - if people love it, they'll want to protect it. And if people protect it, we'll be on a path to nature recovery."

Wild London, coming late in such a revered canon of nature documentaries, is Sir David's way of nudging us to marvel at the nature on our doorsteps, amidst the frenzy of daily life.

Mr Loncraine sums up: "We can be rushing about our jobs, commuting to work, picking the kids up from school, going to the shops - and not really notice.

"There can be really quite beautiful animals right there - so it's just about taking that moment to have a look."

• Wild London is on at 18.30 GMT on 1 January on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

• We'd love to hear your London wildlife stories. Email us at hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk

The family of the Bondi shooting's youngest victim Matilda urged the community to not let her death fuel anger, as they said a final goodbye to the 10-year-old on Thursday.

Matilda was among 15 people who were shot dead when two gunmen opened fire on an event marking the start of Hannukah at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday.

Speaking to the BBC at Matilda's funeral, her aunt Lina Chernykh said the Jewish community is right to want more action to stamp out antisemitism – she does too.

But she said Matilda was a joyous child who spread love everywhere she went, and urged the community to do the same in her honour.

"Take your anger and… just spread happiness and love and memory for my lovely niece," Ms Chernykh said.

"I hope maybe she's an angel now. Maybe she [will] send some good vibes to the world."

Jewish community leaders have in recent days suggested the tragedy was an inevitable result of Australia struggling to address rising antisemitism.

The attack on Sunday, which targeted the Jewish community at an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, was the country's deadliest incident since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people during the Port Arthur massacre.

Ahead of Matilda's funeral on Thursday, Ms Chernykh said the family was devastated.

"I look at their faces [and] I don't know if they will be ever happy again," she said of Matilda's parents.

Matilda's younger sister, from whom she was "inseparable", is shattered and confused, she said.

"She doesn't have enough tears to cry."

At a flower memorial on Tuesday, Matilda's mother Valentyna told mourners that the family came to Australia from Ukraine more than a decade ago, thinking it would be a safe place for them.

"I couldn't imagine I'd lose my daughter here... It's just a nightmare," she said.

Ms Chernykh told the BBC she too has struggled to make sense of what is happening.

She was gardening at her home on the Gold Coast when Matilda's mother called on Sunday.

"Truly, I was thinking something happened to my father because he's 84 years old... and she says Matilda was shot," she recalled.

"How [could] someone in Australia understand, if someone tells you your kid was shot… I couldn't understand it. I was thinking I have bad reception. I asked a few times what I'm [hearing]."

Police have designated the attack a terrorist incident, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying it appears to have been "motivated by Islamic State" group ideology.

Police allege that the two gunmen were a father and son. Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead at the scene, while his son Naveed, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.

Australia on Thursday announced it would strengthen laws to crack down on hate - including by introducing powers to cancel or refuse visas on grounds of antisemitism.

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Parents should lead by example this Christmas and turn their phones off during family time, the children's commissioner for England has said.

Dame Rachel de Souza told the Press Association children were "crying out" for engagement with their relatives over the festive break, and urged them to have "phone-free time".

Nearly half of parents with children aged 18 or younger plan to allow phones at the Christmas dinner table this year, according to a recent survey.

"I can't tell you how many children tell me about sitting at dinner and the parents are on the phone," Dame Rachel said. "So this Christmas, let's turn them off."

Research by More in Common for Yondr found nearly four in 10 adults say smartphones have disrupted their Christmas in some way.

The children's commissioner said while she had been guilty of using her phone at meal times in the past, setting clear guidelines for everyone, not just children, was key.

"We have to lead as adults," Dame Rachel said. "We can't talk about banning for the kids if we're not doing it ourselves."

Her comments came as she launched a new guide offering tips for children's safety online and how to set boundaries for screen time.

Pete Etchells, psychology professor at Bath Spa University, told BBC News Christmas is a good time to lean into conversations with children about developing healthy relationships with tech.

"It's not about feeling guilty or ashamed of our tech use, but noticing it more," he said.

"And striking up conversations about what we're happy with, and what we would like to be doing differently."

'Talk early and often'

The new guide by the commissioner, available online, has been released to support parents who "may feel overwhelmed" by "mixed messages" around online safety, and is informed by child focus groups.

In it, parents can find "practical tips" and "conversation starters" on how to talk around topics such as managing screen time, dealing with negative online experiences, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Teenagers aged 13 to 18 told Dame Rachel they accepted bad things can happen online, feeling it was an inevitable part of the online world.

They also shared how they had been contacted by strangers, seen pornography, and were aware of intimate images of their peers being shared.

Dame Rachel said it was essential for parents to "talk early and talk often" with their children about their presence online.

Arabella Skinner from Health Professionals for Safer Screens told BBC News simple rules can make a difference.

She suggested creating a family plan around device use, or designing a box to store mobiles during meals.

"Children feel most secure and content when they have our full attention, eye contact, and presence," she said.

"It is so important that we, as adults, spend time with our children and not always looking at screens."

A report published by the regulator Ofcom earlier this month highlighted concerns children had over the negative impacts of endless screentime and "brain rot".

It found that children aged between eight and 14 are spending an average of nearly three hours online each day, and that up to a quarter of that time was between 2100 and 0500.

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Antony Price, the British fashion designer responsible for some of the looks favoured by David Bowie, Roxy Music and Queen Camilla among others, has died aged 80.

Price was best known for his sculptured silhouettes and theatrical styles, including pastel suits which featured in rock band Duran Duran's music video Rio.

The band released a statement on social media remembering him as a "visionary" and a "kind, intelligent and razor-witted friend".

Price's death comes less than a month after he unveiled his latest collection in London in more than 30 years, where singer Lily Allen modelled a dress inspired by the black velvet "revenge dress" worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Born in Yorkshire in 1945, Price moved to London in the early 1960s to study at the Royal College of Art.

A year after graduating, he began designing menswear at Stirling Copper and was responsible for the body-hugging, buttoned trousers Sir Mick Jagger wore during The Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter tour in 1969.

He founded his own label in 1979 and staged his first fashion show a year later, opening the collection with looks from model Jerry Hall, who also wore the dress Price designed for her wedding to Sir Mick.

A long-time collaborator of David Bowie, Price designed the jacket the singer wore for his As The World Falls Down music video in 1986.

His signature ability to blend menswear and womenswear along with his technical proficiency to shape body-hugging looks made him a "true original", said the British Fashion Council.

In the 1990s, he began working on pieces for Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, including several ensembles for her US tour after assuming the title.

After a career spanning more than five decades, Price staged what would be his last show in London last month in collaboration with fashion brand 16Arlington.

The family of the Bondi shooting's youngest victim Matilda urged the community to not let her death fuel anger, as they said a final goodbye to the 10-year-old on Thursday.

Matilda was among 15 people who were shot dead when two gunmen opened fire on an event marking the start of Hannukah at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday.

Speaking to the BBC at Matilda's funeral, her aunt Lina Chernykh said the Jewish community is right to want more action to stamp out antisemitism – she does too.

But she said Matilda was a joyous child who spread love everywhere she went, and urged the community to do the same in her honour.

"Take your anger and… just spread happiness and love and memory for my lovely niece," Ms Chernykh said.

"I hope maybe she's an angel now. Maybe she [will] send some good vibes to the world."

Jewish community leaders have in recent days suggested the tragedy was an inevitable result of Australia struggling to address rising antisemitism.

The attack on Sunday, which targeted the Jewish community at an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, was the country's deadliest incident since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people during the Port Arthur massacre.

Ahead of Matilda's funeral on Thursday, Ms Chernykh said the family was devastated.

"I look at their faces [and] I don't know if they will be ever happy again," she said of Matilda's parents.

Matilda's younger sister, from whom she was "inseparable", is shattered and confused, she said.

"She doesn't have enough tears to cry."

At a flower memorial on Tuesday, Matilda's mother Valentyna told mourners that the family came to Australia from Ukraine more than a decade ago, thinking it would be a safe place for them.

"I couldn't imagine I'd lose my daughter here... It's just a nightmare," she said.

Ms Chernykh told the BBC she too has struggled to make sense of what is happening.

She was gardening at her home on the Gold Coast when Matilda's mother called on Sunday.

"Truly, I was thinking something happened to my father because he's 84 years old... and she says Matilda was shot," she recalled.

"How [could] someone in Australia understand, if someone tells you your kid was shot… I couldn't understand it. I was thinking I have bad reception. I asked a few times what I'm [hearing]."

Police have designated the attack a terrorist incident, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying it appears to have been "motivated by Islamic State" group ideology.

Police allege that the two gunmen were a father and son. Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead at the scene, while his son Naveed, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.

Australia on Thursday announced it would strengthen laws to crack down on hate - including by introducing powers to cancel or refuse visas on grounds of antisemitism.

We're driven blindfolded to a secret location where Ukraine is making one of its latest weapons.

We're told to turn off our phones - such is the secrecy around the production of Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missile.

For Ukraine, dispersing and hiding the production of weapons like this is key to survival. Two factories belonging to the company that make it - Fire Point - have already been hit.

Inside the one we're visiting we're told not to film any features such as pillars, windows or ceilings. We're also asked not to show the faces of workers on the assembly line - where Flamingo missiles are at various stages of completion.

Even under fire, Ukraine is ramping up its arms industry. President Volodymyr Zelensky says the country now produces more than 50% of the weapons it uses on the front line. Almost its entire inventory of long-range weapons is domestically made.

At the start of the war Ukraine mostly relied on its old Soviet-era arsenal. Western military support helped modernise the country's armed forces, but it now leads much of the world in developing unmanned systems – like robots and drones.

Now, domestically produced cruise missiles are adding to Ukraine's long-range capability.

Iryna Terekh is the chief technical officer of Fire Point – one of Ukraine's largest drone and missile manufacturers whose Latin motto translates to "if not us, then who".

The 33-year-old once studied architecture, but she is now trying to help dismantle the Russian war machine.

She cuts a tiny figure in front of the giant Flamingo missile, which she tells me is painted black not pink (unlike early prototypes) "because it eats Russian oil".

The end product looks similar to the German V1 rocket from World War Two. It consists of a large jet engine placed on top of a tube the length of a London bus.

They've already been used in combat, though the company won't confirm specific targets.

The Flamingo is the kind of deep-strike weapon that Western nations have been reluctant to supply.

The cruise missile is said to have a range of 3,000km (1,900 miles). That's similar to a US-made Tomahawk – the more sophisticated and expensive weapon that US President Donald Trump refused to give Ukraine.

But deep strikes are seen as a critical part of the war, for which Ukraine mainly uses long-range drones. It is still losing ground to Russia on a front line that stretches for more than a thousand kilometres. So Ukraine is increasingly trying to target Russia's war economy, to slow those advances.

The head of Ukraine's Armed Forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, says Ukraine's long-range strikes have already cost the Russian economy more than $21.5bn this year.

Ruslan, an officer in Ukraine's Special Operations Forces, says the strategy is simple: "To reduce the enemy's military capabilities and their economic potential."

He says Ukraine's Special Operations Forces have carried out hundreds of strikes on oil refineries, weapons factories and ammunition dumps - deep inside enemy territory.

Of course Russia has been doing the same, and on a greater scale. On average it has been launching around 200 Shahed drones a day; Ukraine's response has been about half that number.

Nor is Russia limiting its strikes to military targets. Its long-range missile and drone attacks have led to massive power cuts right across the country – making life harder for millions of civilians. "I'd like to launch as many drones as Russia does," Ruslan says. "But we're scaling up very quickly".

Ms Tarekh, of Fire Point, says Ukraine may not be able to match Russia's resources, but, she says, "we are trying to fight with brains and tactics".

Denys Shtilerman, the chief designer and co-founder of the company, admits there is no "Wunderwaffe" – or wonder weapon.

"The game changer is our will to win," he says.

Fire Point didn't even exist before Russia's full-scale invasion. But the start-up is now producing 200 drones a day. Its FP1 and FP2 drones, each the size of a small aeroplane, have carried out 60% of Ukraine's long-range strikes. Each drone costs around $50,000 – three times cheaper than a Russian Shahed drone. Russia is still producing nearly 3,000 of those a month.

Ukraine still needs outside help, not least with intelligence, targeting and money. But it is trying to be more self-sufficient.

Ms Terekh says they've made a deliberate decision to source as many of their components as possible from within Ukraine.

"We are following the principle that no one can influence the weapons we build," she says. They avoid parts from two specific countries – China and the United States.

Asked why there should be no American components, she says "we're on an emotional roller coaster [with the US]. Tomorrow somebody may want to shut it down, and we would not be able to use our own weapons."

Until the end of last year, under President Biden, the United States supplied nearly $70bn-worth of military support to Ukraine. That was soon stopped under President Trump – instead he has set up a scheme to allow European Nato to purchase US weapons. The US is no longer Ukraine's biggest military backer, and Europe has struggled to fill the gap left by America or to match its previous support.

Concerns about future US support spills over into talk of future US security guarantees – a key issue of the current peace talks. Ms Terekh dismisses the ongoing negotiations as "capitulation talks", and says that Ukraine making its own weapons "is the only way to really provide security guarantees".

The former architecture student also hopes that the rest of Europe will be watching, and learning lessons.

"We are a bloody example," she says, "in terms of being prepared for war."

Ms Terekh says she wants to shock them into action, and believes that if any other country had faced the same onslaught as Ukraine "then they'd already have been conquered."

Additional reporting by Volodymyr Lozhko and Kyla Herrmannsen.

A student who worked as a sales assistant has settled a sexual harassment case against her former employer JD Sports for £65,000.

Jayla Boyd worked part time in a Belfast store while studying for her A-levels.

During a shift, Ms Boyd, who was 17 at the time, was slapped on the bottom by a male supervisor and was upset that her employer failed to offer her support after the incident.

In settling the case, JD Sports Fashion PLC acknowledged and apologised for the significant upset to Ms Boyd. It also agreed to liaise with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI), who supported the case, to review its policies.

Muscle memory

A JD Sports Fashion plc spokesperson said the individual involved is no longer employed by the company.

In a statement the company said: "This incident occurred in July 2024 and was promptly addressed in line with our policies."

They also apologised to Ms Boyd.

Following the incident, on the same day, Ms Boyd made a report to her manager and was told that CCTV had captured the incident.

However, the supervisor was allowed to continue to work alongside her for the rest of the shift.

She said he approached her twice during that time to talk to her and apologised for what he had done, explaining that it was "muscle memory".

Despite raising a complaint of sexual harassment, Ms Boyd claimed that while she made a written statement, she was not formally interviewed about her experience.

She said she felt upset and distressed that her employer failed to offer her support after the incident, so she used some annual leave to take time away from her job.

Upon her return, she said no return-to-work meeting was arranged.

Ms Boyd said she was not updated about the investigation or outcome of her complaint.

"I didn't really ever hear much, I didn't want to ask because I thought it was standard procedure that I was kept out of an investigation... I learned that wasn't really standard procedure and I should have been involved," Ms Boyd told BBC News NI.

She also believes that her personal information relating to the incident was seen by other staff on a manager's computer.

Ms Boyd experienced further embarrassment during a staff training session when an example involving a woman being slapped on the bottom by a supervisor was discussed.

She felt certain the example referred to her own experience.

Ms Boyd later resigned from her job.

'I never expected this to happen to me'

"I never expected this to happen to me. The initial incident was embarrassing, but it was made worse because I felt like they were trying to ignore what had happened to me instead of dealing with it properly," Ms Boyd said.

"I had to remain working with this male supervisor after he had sexually harassed me. Everyone deserves to feel safe and supported at work.

"It took me a long time to understand that it was really serious and I think that came from the stigma around it, I was so worried about what other people thought... because of how people would see me... but now I am so glad I said something," she continued.

"I hope that by speaking out I can give others the confidence to challenge this type of behaviour."

Zero-tolerance approach

In a statement, Chief Commissioner Geraldine McGahey said a "zero-tolerance approach" by employers to sexual harassment in the workplace "will remind everyone how seriously it will be dealt with should any instances arise".

"In order to prevent it, employers must ensure that all staff know what behaviour is acceptable, and unacceptable, in the workplace," she added.

"Employers must have clear policies and procedures in place to deal with harassment, and managers must be trained to use them appropriately. This type of behaviour must be investigated thoroughly, with the complaint dealt with sensitively and in a timely manner."

In settling the case, ECNI said JD Sports Fashion PLC "acknowledged and apologised for the significant upset, distress, and injury to feelings experienced by Ms Boyd".

The company reaffirmed its strong commitment to the principle of equality of opportunity.

It has also agreed to liaise with the commission to review its policies, practices and procedures, the ECNI added.

Policymakers at the Bank of England are expected to cut interest rates - bringing the Bank rate down to its lowest level since February 2023.

Analysts are widely predicting a fall from 4% to 3.75%, although they do not expect a unanimous decision among the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

This would be the sixth cut in interest rates from August last year.

The Bank rate heavily influences the cost of borrowing by consumers, but also the returns given to savers.

The MPC has a target to keep inflation - which charts the rising cost of living - to 2%. The Bank rate is the committee's primary tool for achieving its ambition.

The latest inflation data, published on Wednesday, showed a bigger drop to Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation than analysts had been expecting.

The rate of CPI fell to 3.2% in November, from 3.6% in October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

While inflation remains above the Bank's target, the latest fall in the rate and signs of rising unemployment and a relatively stagnant economy are likely to push the committee towards an interest rate cut.

At the previous meeting in November, the four members of the MPC who voted for a cut were only just outvoted by the five who wanted to keep rates on hold.

At the time, the Bank's governor, Andrew Bailey, said he would "prefer to wait and see" whether inflation continued to drop back.

James Smith, developed market economist for ING, said the sharp drop in the November rate of inflation "green lights" a rate cut.

He said the "latest drop in inflation fits into a broader body of evidence suggesting that price pressures are cooling".

He is forecasting another two cuts to interest rates in February and April next year, although not all analysts agree with this suggestion.

Impact on borrowing and savings

About 500,000 homeowners have a mortgage that "tracks" the Bank of England's rate. If a 0.25 percentage point cut does come, it is likely to mean a typical reduction of £29 in their monthly repayments.

For the additional 500,000 homeowners on standard variable rates, there would typically be a £14 a month fall, assuming there is a cut in the Bank rate and lenders pass on the cut to their customers.

The vast majority of mortgage customers have fixed-rate deals. Rates on these deals have been falling recently, owing to the expectation among lenders of a Bank rate cut in December.

As of 17 December, the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate was 4.82%, according to financial information company Moneyfacts. A five-year rate was 4.90%.

Mortgage rate cuts should also reduce some financial pressure on landlords, and perhaps ease the likelihood of rent rises for tenants.

However, savers are likely to see a further fall in returns as a result of any Bank rate falls.

The current average rate on an easy-access savings account is 2.56%, according to Moneyfacts.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to unveil the agenda for the next phase of his government in the immediate aftermath of May's crucial elections.

The King's Speech has been pencilled in for May 12 or 13 next year, the BBC has been told, just days after elections across Britain on 7 May.

The elections in May cover the Scottish parliament and the Welsh Senedd as well as thousands of council seats in England and a handful of directly elected mayoralties.

Labour is braced for a bad night at the polls, which many Labour MPs believe could precipitate a challenge to Sir Keir's leadership.

One government source told the BBC: "It will be much harder for somebody to challenge the PM and say we need to go in a different direction when the King is about to come to parliament to announce what we're doing for the next year."

Others dispute that there is any connection between the threat to Sir Keir's leadership and the date selected for the King's Speech, pointing out that in some recent years - most recently 2022 - the speech has taken place in May, when local elections are always held.

The speech also took place very soon after local elections in 2021 and in 2016.

The King's Speech is part of the state opening of Parliament, a ceremonial event marking the start of a parliamentary session, which typically lasts for a year but can run for much longer.

The current session is on the long side, having begun after the general election in July 2024.

The speech is written by the government but read by the Monarch from a throne in the House of Lords.

It sets out the government's agenda for the coming session, specifying what pieces of legislation the government intends to pass.

Cabinet ministers began the process of formally "bidding" for legislation they want to be included in the King's Speech around early October.

Most ministers now know which bills Sir Keir wants to include in his post-May agenda, a source said.

BP has appointed a new chief executive, making Meg O'Neill the first woman to run a major global oil firm.

The London-based energy giant said its current boss Murray Auchincloss would step down less than two years after he replaced Bernard Looney, who was found to have committed "serious misconduct" in failing to disclose relationships with colleagues.

BP executive vice president Carol Howle will serve as interim chief executive until Ms O'Neill, who has led Australian energy firm Woodside Energy since 2021, takes up her new role on 1 April.

Ms O'Neill said she looks forward to helping BP "do our part to meet the world's energy needs".

Mr Auchincloss, who took over from Mr Looney in September 2024, said he had told BP's chairman in September that he was open to stepping down "were an appropriate leader identified".

"I am confident that BP is now well positioned for significant growth and I look forward to watching the company's future progress," he said after Ms O'Neill's appointment was announced. He will serve in an advisory role until December 2026.

Ms O'Neill said she would prioritise re-establishing the oil giant's market leadership, as well as advancing safety and driving innovation and sustainability.

BP praised Ms O'Neill's time as chief executive of Woodside Energy, pointing to the firm's takeover of BHP Petroleum International in 2022.

It said she had grown the business into the largest energy company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Before joining Woodside, Ms O'Neill spent 23 years in technical, operational and leadership positions at Texas-based energy firm ExxonMobil.

Mr Looney was dismissed without notice, and forfeited up to £32.4m ($43.3m) in salary and benefits, after admitting that he was not "fully transparent" about his past personal relationships.

BP's board said they had been "knowingly misled" by Mr Looney.

At the time, Mr Looney said in a statement that he was "disappointed with the way this situation has been handled".

Ms O'Neill's appointment comes as BP is cutting its renewable energy investments and instead focusing on increasing oil and gas production.

In February, the energy giant said it would shift its strategy following pressure from some investors who were frustrated that its profits and share price had lagged behind rivals.

Rivals Shell and Norwegian company Equinor have also scaled back plans to invest in green energy and US President Donald Trump's call to "drill baby drill" has encouraged firms to invest in fossil fuels.

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European Union leaders begin two days of talks in Brussels with a momentous decision to be taken on whether to loan tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to fund its military and economic needs.

Most of Russia's €210bn (£185bn; $245bn) worth of assets in the EU are held by Belgium-based organisation Euroclear, and so far Belgium and some other members of the bloc have said they are opposed to using the cash.

Without a boost in funding, Ukraine's finances are set to run dry in a matter of months.

One European government official described being "cautiously optimistic, not overly optimistic" that a deal would be agreed. Russia has warned the EU against using its money.

It has filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in a Moscow court in a bid to get its money back.

The Brussels summit comes at a pivotal moment.

US President Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war - which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - is "closer now than we have been ever".

Although Russia has not responded to the latest peace proposals, the Kremlin has stressed that plans for a European-led multinational force for Ukraine supported by the US would not be acceptable.

President Vladimir Putin made his feelings towards Europe clear on Wednesday, when he said the continent was in a state of "total degradation" and "European piglets" - a derogatory description of Ukraine's European allies - were hoping to profit from Russia's collapse.

The European Commission - the EU's executive arm - has proposed loaning Kyiv about €90bn (£79bn) over the next two years - out of the €210bn of Russian assets sitting in Europe.

That is about two-thirds of the €137bn that Kyiv is thought to need to get through 2026 and 2027.

Until now the EU has handed Ukraine the interest generated by the cash but not the cash itself.

"This is a crunch time for Ukraine to keep fighting for the next year," a Finnish government official told the BBC. "There are of course peace negotiations but this gives Ukraine leverage to say 'we're not desperate and we have the funds to continue fighting'."

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says it will also ramp up the cost of war for Russia.

Russia's frozen assets are not the only option on the table for EU leaders. Another idea, backed by Belgium, is based on the EU borrowing the money on the international markets.

However, that would require a unanimous vote and Hungary's Viktor Orban has made it clear he will not allow any more EU money to help Ukraine.

For Ukraine, the hours ahead are significant and President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the EU summit.

Ahead of the Brussels meeting, EU leaders were keen to stress the momentous nature of the decision.

"We know the urgency. It is acute. We all feel it. We all see it," von der Leyen told the European Parliament.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has played a leading role in pushing for the Russian assets to be used, telling the Bundestag on the eve of the summit it was about sending a "clear signal" to Moscow that continuing the war was pointless.

EU officials are confident they have a sound legal basis to use the frozen Russian assets, but so far Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever remains unconvinced.

His Defence Minister Theo Francken warned ahead of the talks that it would be a big mistake to loan the Euroclear cash.

Hungary is seen as the biggest opponent of the move and, ahead of the summit, Prime Minister Orban and his entourage even suggested that the frozen assets plan had been removed from the summit agenda. A European Commission official stressed that was not the case and it would be a matter for the 27 member states at the summit.

Slovakia's Robert Fico has also opposed using the Russian assets, if it means the money being used to procure weapons rather than for reconstruction needs.

When the pivotal vote does finally take place, it will require a majority of about two-thirds of member states to go through. Whatever happens, European Council President António Costa has promised not to go over the heads of the Belgians.

"We're not going to vote against Belgium," he told Belgian public broadcaster RTBF. "We'll continue to work very intensively with the Belgian government because we don't want to approve something that might not be acceptable for Belgium."

Belgium will also be aware that ratings agency Fitch has placed Euroclear on a negative watch, partly because of "low" legal risks to its balance sheet from the European Commission's plans to use the Russian assets. Euroclear's chief executive has also warned against the plan.

"There are many hiccups and obstacles of course still on the way. We have to find a way to respond to Belgium's worries," the Finnish official added. "We are on the same side as Belgium. We will find a solution together to make sure all the risks are checked as much as they can be checked."

However, Belgium is not the only country to have doubts, and a majority is not guaranteed.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has told Italian MPs she will endorse the deal "if the legal basis is solid".

"If the legal basis for this initiative were not solid, we would be handing Russia its first real victory since the beginning of this conflict."

Malta, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are also said to be unconvinced by the controversial proposals.

If the deal is passed and the Russian assets are given to Ukraine, the worst-case scenario for Belgium would be one in which a court would order it to hand the money back to Russia.

Some countries have said they would be prepared to provide billions of euros in financial guarantees, but Belgium will want to see the numbers add up.

At any rate, Commission officials are confident that the only way for Russia to get it back would be by paying reparations to Ukraine - at which point Ukraine would hand its "reparations loan" back to the EU.

Teachers will be given training to spot the signs of misogyny and tackle it in the classroom as part of the government's long-awaited strategy to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade.

The plans - which focus on preventing the radicalisation of young men - are due to be unveiled on Thursday, after being pushed back three times this year.

Pupils will be taught about issues such as consent, the dangers of sharing intimate images, how to identify positive role models and to challenge unhealthy myths about women and relationships.

The £20m package will also include a new helpline for teenagers to get support for concerns about abuse in their own relationships.

The government hopes that by tackling the early roots of misogyny, it will prevent young men from becoming violent abusers.

Under the new plans, schools will send high-risk students to get extra care and support, including behavioural courses to tackle their prejudice against women and girls.

"Every parent should be able to trust that their daughter is safe at school, online and in her relationships, but too often, toxic ideas are taking hold early and going unchallenged," Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said about the new measures.

"This government is stepping in sooner - backing teachers, calling out misogyny, and intervening when warning signs appear to stop harm before it starts."

The taxpayer will foot £16m of the bill, while the government says it is working closely with philanthropists and other partners on an innovation fund for the remaining £4m.

Nearly 40% of teenagers in relationships are victims of abuse, domestic abuse charity Reducing the Risk has said.

Online influencers are partly blamed for feeding this, with nearly one in five boys aged 13 to 15 said to hold a positive view of the self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, according to a YouGov poll.

In response to the government plans, some teachers said schools are already doing the kind of work the measures outline.

"While we welcome any initiative that prioritises healthy relationships and consent education, it's important to recognise that schools like Beacon Hill Academy in Dudley have been delivering this work effectively for years," Principal Sukhjot Dhami said.

"The challenge isn't starting from scratch: it's ensuring that this £20m pounds is spent wisely and in partnership with schools already leading the way."

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said it was positive the government was recognising the importance of training and support for school staff.

Whiteman said "schools are just part of the solution", with government, health, social care, police and parents all having a "significant contribution to make too".

Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the government's focus, but added it was also essential that the government "introduces effective measures to prevent at source the spread of online misogynistic content which is served up to young people by social media algorithms".

Nicola Mclafferty, 42, is a victim of domestic violence and said more needs to be done to teach children about abuse.

"Survivors of domestic abuse, men or women, should go into assemblies and speak to the children about it, tell them a bit of your lived experience, enough that it's not going to scare them but be quite factual.

"There needs to be more people talking and they need to know."

The government has already announced a raft of measures in its strategy, including the introduction of specialist investigators to every police force to oversee rape and sexual offence cases.

It says staff will have the right training to understand the mindset of abusers and victims.

Also announced is a roll-out of domestic abuse protection orders, which have been trialled across England and Wales over the past year.

The court-issued orders mean individuals can be banned from contacting a victim, visiting their home or posting harmful content online, and can also be used in cases involving coercive or controlling behaviour. Breaching an order is a criminal offence.

Other measures include better NHS support for child and adult survivors of abuse, and a funding boost for councils to provide safe housing for domestic abuse survivors.

Two television adverts will also be launched on Saturday featuring a string of sports personalities and celebrities calling for the end of violence against women and girls.

Domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Dame Nicole Jacobs, said the commitments "do not go far enough" to see the number of people experiencing abuse start to fall.

She added: "Today's strategy rightly recognises the scale of this challenge and the need to address the misogynistic attitudes that underpin it, but the level of investment to achieve this falls seriously short."

It is a chilly October evening in 2021 that Adam Becket remembers most sharply. He was 26, and had moved to Bristol a year earlier to start a "dream job" in the race cycling industry. So far, he had struggled to make friends.

"I wasn't alone all the time, but […] I was a bit of an outsider," he remembers.

As he headed home, the streets were full of Halloween partygoers in monster and cat costumes. "I walked past people turning up to friend's houses, people running into shops to buy beer.

"All the pubs were full. It just [felt] like a different world that you're not part of. And you feel like you can never be part of it."

That night, he felt like the only person experiencing serious loneliness. In fact, it is becoming a defining feature of his generation.

Conversations around social isolation tend to focus on the elderly, especially around Christmas. But by some measures, people in their 20s are the loneliest group in Britain.

According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) research published last month, 33% of Britons aged 16 to 29 reported feeling lonely "often, always or some of the time" - the highest of all age groups (17% of over-70s said the same thing).

This year, the World Health Organization reviewed various studies published across the world and found that young adults and adolescents report the highest levels of loneliness too.

The data is complex, and there are indications that, in some countries, among the very oldest group (over-85s), loneliness shoots up and could match that of 18-to-30s. But analysts say that in most research, young adults shine through as a particularly isolated group.

"Adults between 18 and 24 are the most lonely - followed by older people," says Prof Andrea Wigfield, director of the Centre for Loneliness Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. "It's a growing problem."

But why has this happened - and is there a solution?

The problem of 'scattering'

Increasingly, experts say the modern world is to blame. Many twenty-somethings live in house-shares where they do not know or like their housemates. Work increasingly is done from home and friends are often spoken to on social media.

It is not all bleak. Thanks to the internet, young adults enjoy access to friendships from all over the world. But broadly speaking, experts say, the image of gregarious twenty-something life presented in sitcoms like Friends needs urgent correction.

"We tend to romanticise young adulthood as a carefree time - when it's usually the most miserable time in people's lives," says Prof Richard Weissbourd, a lecturer in education at Harvard University.

In some ways, early adulthood has always been a time of instability. Young adults tend to leave their childhood home and move around. Friends depart, and family ties weaken. These transitory life events can, for some, lead to intense loneliness.

"A big problem is the scattering - everybody you ever knew now lives in a million different places," says Dr Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist and author of The Twenty-Something Treatment.

This "scattering" proved difficult for Adam Becket. He had a rich social life when he lived in London in his early 20s - but after moving to Bristol, he had to make friends from scratch.

"Not only did I not know anyone, I didn't know where to start meeting people either. You can't just go up to someone and be like, 'Can I join in this fun?' It's easy to spiral into self-doubt and self-flagellation - 'I'm clearly not interesting or cool, or the right kind of person.'"

Things improved when he joined running and cycling clubs and met people that he "clicked with" - though he says his loneliness still comes and goes.

The Bowling Alone thesis

Today, there is also a set of new, distinctly modern factors that could be making the problem worse.

In many parts of the world, people are getting married and having children later (or not at all).

The average age of first marriage in the UK is now 31, according to the ONS, up from 1970 when it was 23 for men and 21 for women. Young adults tend to be more reliant on friends for emotional connection - and if those friends don't deliver, loneliness can follow.

Prof Weissbourd points to a broader fragmenting of communities too. In rich countries, membership of civic institutions - like churches, community groups, or trade unions - has dropped since the 1970s.

This is sometimes known as the Bowling Alone thesis, named after an influential 1995 essay by political scientist Robert Putnam, who observed that more young Americans were bowling on their own rather than in teams, a symbol of a wider collapse of social relations.

Twenty-somethings - who might have left their childhood home but not yet started their own family - can feel that decline of community most sharply, says Prof Weissbourd.

"We live in an increasingly individualistic society. I think loneliness is a symptom of our failure to care for each other."

This resonates with Zeyneb, 23, who lives alone in Cheltenham. Her own feelings of loneliness peaked last year during her master's degree. With only a few hours of teaching each week, she struggled to find meaningful connections with her classmates. And with her family far away in Romania, she now spends much of her time alone while she looks for a job.

"It does feel cripplingly lonely when everyone has their own thing to do."

She craves what psychologists call a "third place": a social setting like a park or library that is different from your "first place" (home) or your "second place" (work or university). "We don't really have that space to meet people," she says.

The closest thing she can think of is her gym - but virtually everyone there wears headphones, she tells me, and few make eye contact.

The urban houseshare paradox

Then there is the post-pandemic rise in working from home. Though young adults in the UK don't work from home as often as older generations - 28% of 16-to-29-year-olds worked from home at least some of the time in the first quarter of 2025, compared with 54% of 30-to-49-year-olds, one study suggests - remote work can hit people in their 20s particularly hard.

"Work from home has been, in my opinion, a nightmare for twenty-somethings," says Dr Jay. "It's really hard to make friends when you don't leave the house."

Nor do shared living situations always help. There is something of a paradox here, as young adults are the most likely to live with other people. (In England and Wales only 5% of people in their early 20s live alone, versus 49% of over-85s, suggests the ONS.) But living under the same roof as others doesn't always seem to make young adults any less lonely.

"Some of my most pitiful memories of my 20s were being stuck living with people that I didn't like," recalls Dr Jay. "If I was having a hard time, they didn't care, they were too wrapped up in themselves."

Of course this isn't the case for all house-shares - but she thinks having an emotionally distant flatmate can make people "even more lonely" than if they lived alone.

'Compare and despair' on smartphones

All of this is complicated by smartphones and social media. This year, the average British 18-to-24-year-old spent six hours and 20 minutes online every day, according to the media regulator Ofcom, higher than other adult age groups.

Some might assume that apps like Instagram and Snapchat contribute to feelings of loneliness because they encourage people to speak online rather than in person - but the data doesn't cleanly support this.

What is certainly true, say some experts, is that social media amplifies pre-existing feelings of loneliness because of what Dr Jay calls the "compare and despair" factor.

"You feel like, 'Everybody seems to have best friends and they're all skydiving in Dubai - what's wrong with me, I didn't see anyone all weekend.'"

Yet it is also possible that reporting biases are playing a role.

Studies about loneliness are mostly based on self-report surveys (meaning people are simply asked whether they feel lonely). And Prof Weissbourd says it is plausible that young adults, who tend to be more fluent in the language of mental health and therapy, are more likely than older people to describe themselves as lonely in surveys.

He thinks reporting biases may explain a "piece" of the puzzle - but certainly not all of it.

Prof Wigfield also thinks the high level of young-adult loneliness is a real phenomenon, not a statistical mirage.

The 'lottery' of social prescribing

At first, David Gradon's story was fairly typical. In his late 20s, his friends moved away from London. "My social circle really shrunk," he remembers - and he developed symptoms of depression. It was an NHS counsellor who suggested this could be loneliness.

He tried meeting people over dating apps (a "terrible" idea) and joined a tag rugby club, but injured his leg in the first session. Increasingly despondent, he organised a park walk on social media.

One autumn day in 2021, Mr Gradon and 11 strangers met at Hampstead Heath in north London. He organised more walks and in time this became his full-time job. He now runs The Great Friendship Project, a non-profit group to combat young adult loneliness, which runs social events for under-35s across London.

"Everyone's in that same boat. And actually, that brings down barriers. Because you know you're not going to be judged," he explains.

Council-funded youth clubs operate around the country. Most are currently aimed at teenagers and children, but Laura Cunliffe-Hall, head of policy at charity UK Youth, wants to see more clubs for people in their early 20s. She argues that youth work should serve everyone up to the age of 25.

Funding, she says, is the barrier. Local authority spending on youth services in England fell by 73% between 2010/11 and 2023/24, according to the charity YMCA.

Some argue that spending money on friendship services can save money over the long term, because the health consequences of long-term loneliness can be severe. Prof Wigfield says that chronic loneliness is linked to inflammation, and can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia in later life.

In recent years the NHS has invested in "social prescribing", where GPs connect patients with certain mental health problems to charity-run services in their area - like art classes or gardening.

More than one million people (of all ages) were referred to NHS social prescribing services in 2023, a recent study found.

But Prof Wigfield says infrastructure remains patchy. "It really is a lottery in terms of where you live [and] whether the GP has knowledge of local services."

Looking ahead to the next decade, Dr Jay sees signs of hope. For one, she thinks working from home has "lost some of its lustre" among twenty-somethings. (Several large employers - including Barclays and WPP - asked staff to spend longer in the office this year.)

Dr Jay also notes that some high-profile people are turning against social media - though she says there is not yet much evidence of a significant fall in usage among young adults.

"I'd love to see more of a backlash against [social media], but it's just so in our pockets," she adds.

Then there are those who find their solution to loneliness in unexpected places. For Zeyneb, the best antidote to social isolation was adopting a black cat, Olive.

"She's quite cuddly," says Zeyneb. "She knows when I need time with her.

"Without her, I would have been much lonelier."

Top picture credit: Getty.

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A Scottish couple whose teenage son took his own life after being blackmailed on Instagram are suing the platform's owner Meta, in what's thought to be the first UK case of its kind.

Murray Dowey, from Dunblane, was 16 when he became a victim of sextortion in December 2023.

His parents have now launched legal action against Meta in a US court seeking punitive damages claiming that Instagram was not safe.

Meta, which also owns Facebook, has been contacted for comment. It previously said it had made changes to the platform to protect children.

Murray died in his home in Dunblane in December 2023 after he was targeted by scammers posing as a young girl.

He was tricked into sending intimate images of himself and told they would be exposed to his family if he did not pay.

Lawyers for his parents are now claiming Meta "knew of safety features that would prevent sextortion" prior to his death and instead "prioritised profit".

Previously the company has said it had made real changes to Instagram, such as introducing teen accounts with built-in protections and giving parents the power to control their children's online experiences.

Speaking to BBC news, his Murray's mother Ros said: "The worst thing that could possibly happen to us has happened. There's nothing that Meta can do that is worse than what's happened so we're up for the fight.

"We'll take it as far as we can."

The lawsuit, filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC) on behalf of Mark and Ros Dowey, is believed to be the first UK case of its kind.

Murray's parents are named alongside a woman, Tricia Maciejewski, from Pennsylvania. Her son, Levi Maciejewski, took his own life at 13 years old.

Sextortion has become big business in Nigeria involving thousands of young men nicknamed "yahoo boys".

Guides on how to get involved in the crime are openly for sale online, as a BBC News investigation revealed earlier this year.

It might be a neighbour's car blocking your driveway, music vibrating through the walls, or a flashing inflatable Santa lighting up your bedroom at 3am.

Whatever the issue, you're unlikely to be alone. Neighbourly tensions often rise during the festive season and, while raising concerns can feel awkward, there are practical and legal ways to deal with disputes.

Here's how to deal with festive fallouts and keep the peace this Christmas.

Use a light timer

There's no law that specifies when Christmas lights must be turned off. However, artificial light can be classed as a statutory nuisance if it "interferes with the use or enjoyment of a home" or is likely to "injure health".

"Speaking to neighbours in advance or using a timer to switch lights off at unsociable hours can help avoid problems," lawyer Denise Nurse told the BBC's Morning Live.

Some lights are more disruptive than others. Sleep specialist Dr Nerina Ramlakhan says bright, flashing or blue-toned lights are particularly problematic.

"These wavelengths trigger photoreceptors in the eyes that suppress melatonin and shift our sleep-wake cycles," she says.

If you're affected, she recommends starting with a polite conversation. "They may not realise their lights are causing disruption and would be happy to make adjustments once they know," she says.

If that fails, you can complain to your local council, who are obliged to investigate. If the council agrees the lights amount to a statutory nuisance, it can issue an abatement notice which if ignored could result in a fine.

Warn them there will be noise

Even if you're only planning a one-off celebration, Nurse advises letting neighbours know in advance that they can expect some extra noise.

Jon from east London, who enjoys hosting parties with his wife Sharon, says he always does this.

"It's polite to let them know and apologise in advance if it disturbs them. We'll normally turn the music down by 11 or midnight - or sometimes just invite them to join us."

If you're affected by noise, Nurse recommends asking them to turn it down in the first instance. If that doesn't work you can contact your local council under the Environmental Protection Act to report excessive noise.

Parking can also be a point of contention over the festive period.

Doug, who lives in Windsor says neighbours and their visitors often block his driveway or access path. "It really winds me up," he says, explaining how his family have to walk across the garden or struggle to get out.

"I don't approach my neighbours because I always hope they'll realise how inconsiderate it is," he adds. "But it keeps happening."

"Public roads are public roads, but parking on your driveway is trespassing," Nurse says, suggesting putting up signs to help deter the behaviour.

If the problem continues, she suggsts contacting your local council.

Dumping your Christmas tree is fly-tipping

Lobbing a Christmas tree into a park or over a fence might feel tempting once the festivities are over, but it counts as fly-tipping which is illegal and can result in fines, says Nurse.

Not all councils offer a scheme for recycling your Christmas tree but most in the UK do through drop off points or collections.

You can find your local scheme using websites like Recycle now, by entering your post code and finding your local drop-off or collection point or by checking your local council's website.

Alternatively, some charities offer collection for a donation or local garden centres may chip up your old trees for mulch.

It's not just trees that cause problems. Nurse says that households generate around a third more waste during the festive period which can often means bins spill over.

"Talk to your neighbours, and ask them to move anything that's causing an issue," she advises.

If you still can't resolve it

If you've tried talking and things still aren't improving or last beyond the festive period, Nurse recommends seeking help from Citizens Advice.

Each nation has a service that connects neighbours with trained, neutral mediators who help both sides reach a resolution.

Your local council may also be able to help you find a mediator, even if you're not a council tenant.

Citizens Advice advises keeping a detailed record of incidents, noting what happened, how long it lasted and how it affected you. When you report it let them know what steps you've taken to try and resolve it. Ask when you can expect a response and what to do if the problem gets worse.

Nick Reiner, the son of celebrated Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has appeared in court for the first time charged with murdering his parents.

The 32-year-old waived his right to enter a plea to two charges of first-degree murder at the hearing, as all sides agreed to delay his arraignment until 7 January when he will once again have the opportunity to enter a plea.

His lawyer, Alan Jackson, told reporters outside court that there were "complex and serious issues" in the case that needed to be worked through in the coming weeks.

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Sunday. Nick Reiner was charged with their murder on Tuesday.

As he appeared in court in downtown Los Angeles, Mr Reiner only said "yes, your honour" when asked by Judge Theresa McGonigle if he understood that he has the right to a speedy trial.

The judge earlier ordered the assembled media - who gathered outside the courthouse hours prior to the hearing - not to film the defendant, who wore what appeared to be a suicide prevention vest.

Media inside the courtroom could not see Mr Reiner throughout the brief hearing because he was sitting in a corner out of sight.

He was initially slated to make a court appearance on Tuesday but had not been medically cleared to do so, his lawyer and prosecutors said.

"We ask that during this process, you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward," Mr Reiner's lawyer, Alan Jackson, told reporters.

"Not with a rush to judgement, not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity, and with the respect that this system and this process deserves, and that the family deserves," he said.

The delay in Mr Reiner entering a plea could be designed to allow time for a psychiatric evaluation, one criminal defence lawyer told the BBC after the hearing.

"The psychiatric evaluation is generally done before arraignment to see if he is even fit to stand trial," Seth Zuckerman said.

Until the next hearing on 7 January, Mr Reiner will remain in custody at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.

If he pleads not guilty, he could be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors have said no decision has been made yet about whether the death penalty will be pursued.

Rob Reiner directed a handful of iconic films in a variety of genres, including This is Spinal Tap, Misery and A Few Good Men.

Michele Singer Reiner was an actress, photographer and producer, and the founder of Reiner Light, a photography agency and production company.

"This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones, but for the entire city," LA Police Department chief Jim McDonnell said on Tuesday.

With additional reporting from Sakshi Venkatraman

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe.

Aria was found dead at a house in Lime Close, Weston-super-Mare, shortly after 18:00 GMT on Monday.

A post-mortem examination found the preliminary cause of her death was a single stab wound, Avon and Somerset Police said.

The teenage suspect, who cannot be named due to his age, remains in custody and is due to appear at Bristol Magistrates' Court later.

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The Metropolitan and Greater Manchester police forces have said they will arrest people holding placards and chanting the phrase 'globalise the intifada' - an Arabic word for uprising.

In a statement following Sunday's mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, they said: "Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed - words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests".

The two forces also referenced the Manchester synagogue attack in October.

The UK's chief rabbi told the BBC this week that chants of 'globalise the intifada' had helped lead to the two attacks.

The police forces said: "We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as 'globalise the intifada' and those using it at future protests or in a targeted way should expect" the two forces "to take action".

"Frontline officers will be briefed on this enhanced approach. We will also use powers under the Public Order Act, including conditions around London synagogues during services," the statement said.

Visible patrols and protective security measures around synagogues, schools, and community venues have been stepped up in London and Greater Manchester.

Fifteen people were killed and dozens of others were injured in Sunday's Bondi attack, which targeted Australia's Jewish community at an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah.

Two people died in the knife attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on 2 October.

The term intifada came into popular use during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987.

It was a largely unarmed and popular uprising that continued until the early 1990s. The intifada also saw the development of groups outside the control of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) – notably Hamas.

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