Attorney General Pam Bondi took to X over the weekend with a bold statement: "President Trump is leading the most transparent administration in American history."

Her post was about efforts to release documents concerning the attempted assassination of Trump last July.

But the folks commenting in the replies had a completely different investigation in mind – the one into Jeffrey Epstein.

And they weren't buying it.

"Liar," snapped several people – along with many much harsher insults. One conservative YouTuber who mixes blistering tirades with Bitcoin promotions wrote: "I will vote for whatever President ... campaigns on arresting Pam Bondi over the cover up of the Epstein Files."

After folding into his coalition many non-traditional voters from the more fringe corners of the internet, Trump and members of his administration now find themselves coming face to face with the conspiratorial thinking they have stoked.

"This is the greatest cover-up by a president and for a president in history," said one member of a Facebook group devoted to sleuthing about the case. "Epstein is the story and don't let up."

At issue isn't so much the previously unreleased pictures of people like Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson and legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite in Epstein's company – which is not an indicator of any wrongdoing – but the sea of blacked-out redactions in the files themselves.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump suggested that he would support the release of investigation files. In February, Bondi said they were "sitting on my desk right now to review".

But after so much time and anticipation, Friday's release landed with a whimper.

Joe Uscinski, an associate professor of political science at the University of Miami who studies conspiracy theories and conspiratorial thinking, says Trump's coalition is now more about scepticism and antagonism towards institutions - and less about traditional Republican Party goals.

Many in the movement, he says, believe that huge numbers of children are being used for sex trafficking, beliefs that are bolstered by Epstein's very real crimes as well as conspiracy theories like QAnon.

"People don't necessarily want documents released - they want documents released which tell them that what they believe is true."

The potential for political trouble is not lost on Trump's inner circle. In a Vanity Fair article published prior to the document release, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles described the people compelled to vote for Trump because of his promises on Epstein as "Joe Rogan listeners" – in other words, younger men who aren't traditionally into politics.

Wiles has called the story a "hit piece". But she has not disputed specific quotes, including her assertion that Trump has not yet solidified a lasting Republican majority.

"The people that are inordinately interested in Epstein are the new members of the Trump coalition, the people that I think about all the time – because I want to make sure that they are not [only] Trump voters, they're Republican voters," she told the magazine.

Polls and experts back up the chief of staff's concerns about the tenuous nature of Trump's coalition.

A survey released in early December by the right-wing Manhattan Institute think tank labelled nearly a third of Trump's supporters "New Entrant Republicans" – people who voted for the party for the first time in 2024. And the poll found that just over half of that category would "definitely" support a Republican in the 2026 mid-term elections.

"These voters are drawn to Trump but are not reliably attached to the Republican Party," the institute concluded.

• Trump's chief of staff disputes Vanity Fair story
• Image in Epstein files that features Trump reinstated after backlash
• Who and what are in the Epstein files?

The possible fragility of the Trump coalition is playing out on several different levels.

One crucial group is a collection of social media stars and podcasters who stand mostly outside traditional Republican circles but have clout and influence online.

They were instrumental in keeping social media attention on the Epstein story long after the convicted sex offender's death.

A group of influencers – including "Libs of TikTok" creator Chaya Raichik, conspiracy theorist and Turning Point USA activist Jack Posobiec, and elections organiser Scott Presler – were even invited to an event at the Department of Justice (DoJ) and given binders, which Bondi described as a "first phase" of Epstein document releases.

Little if anything new was in the binders, which caused a backlash. Outrage swelled further in July after the DoJ released a memo saying that there was no Epstein "client list" and rejecting conspiracy theories about his death in prison.

Yet following the most recent release, many of these same conservative influencers have been curiously silent.

Laura Loomer, a popular Maga social media influencer who has helped spread Epstein conspiracies online, claimed that they exonerated Trump from any wrongdoing.

"Maybe now the media will stop obsessing over these files," wrote Loomer, who has mentioned Epstein at least 200 times on X this year alone.

Others - including several who were at the DoJ binder event - have not mentioned the document release at all, positively or negatively.

Their silence has been noted by other right-wing and far-right commentators, sparking online Maga infighting. And the row over the Epstein case is just one controversy currently roiling the movement, with arguments over free speech, anti-Semitism and Charlie Kirk's legacy bursting out into the open at an annual conference put on by Turning Point USA this week.

Jared Holt, senior researcher at Open Measures, a company that analyses online extremism, says the debate over the Epstein files is just one controversy contributing to the challenges facing the Maga movement.

"At the beginning of the year, Maga was a triumphant intimidating cultural force, now the train is falling off the tracks and there's no clear sign that it will be stabalising or rebounding anytime soon," he says.

"It seems like the die-hard Trump base has atrophied over the course of the year," Holt says, but notes that it's too soon to tell if the recent heavily redacted document drop will have any significant impact on the sorts of "Joe Rogan listeners" Wiles is concerned about.

Prominent voices in Congress have been less shy than the influencer class about criticising the justice department. Soon-to-be-ex-Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene lambasted the release, calling it "NOT MAGA".

Thomas Massie, the Republican member of the House of Representatives from Kentucky who spearheaded legislation leading to the document release, spent the weekend lambasting the justice department online and on US weekend talk shows.

He accused Bondi and officials of being in violation of the law requiring the release of the files, and has joined forces with Democratic Representative Ro Khanna to push for greater transparency.

Massie has suggested that they could move to charge Bondi with "inherent contempt" for ignoring a congressional order - a move which could force further document disclosures.

Regardless of whether or not that happens, there may be further revelations in the next few days. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, has promised hundreds of thousands more documents before the end of the year.

Tony and Becs Wadley say they can't spend Christmas at home after insulation installed under a government scheme has caused black mould in several rooms, and their asthmatic son can't be inside the property.

Mr Wadley says the situation is tearing the family apart: ''It's awful. Elliott can't come into our house, it's as if he's been ostracised from his own home.''

The couple are among more than 300 people who have contacted the BBC in recent weeks to tell us about insulation that has gone wrong in their homes.

The government has been contacted for commented.

Mr and Mrs Wadley got a government grant to have energy efficiency measures fitted in their Gower Peninsula house because they hoped a warmer home would help Elliot's asthma. The grant covered the cost of insulating his bedroom walls.

But months after the work was completed, the Wadleys discovered black mould was growing behind the insulation boards. It was removed by the installer and replaced with a new insulation system. But this also had to be removed along with all the plaster after it became damp. Elliott, 19, hasn't entered the house since April, instead staying with his grandmother during university breaks.

''I miss him like you wouldn't believe'," says Mrs Wadley.

The family are going to stay with Mr Wadley's sister for Christmas so they can all be together.

Billions of pounds of public money has been spent on insulating homes over the last 15 years.

The Wadley's home was insulated under a government scheme known as ECO4. In October, the National Audit Office (NAO) spending watchdog found that 29% of internal wall insulation carried out under ECO4 had been so poorly installed it needed to be repaired.

It said there had been "weak" government oversight and regulatory ''failure''.

In response to the NAO report, Energy Consumer Minister Martin McCluskey, said at the time: "We are fixing the broken system by introducing comprehensive reforms to make this process clear and straightforward, and in the rare cases where things go wrong, there will be clear lines of accountability, so consumers are guaranteed to get any problems fixed quickly."

In the downstairs rooms of the Wadleys' home the insulation has also failed and has had to be removed. There is black mould on the walls while electric sockets hang loose with the wires exposed. The family says it has been in this condition for months.

The installer, Stellar Energy, says it has ''no record of any immediate safety hazards being flagged.'' It says the descriptions of the exposed wires and sockets was "highly inconsistent" with their standard operating procedures, which required all such work to be made safe.

Building surveyor, David Walter, says the insulation wasn't fitted correctly and says the installer ''didn't understand what they were doing and what they were doing to the building which is why we've got these problems.''

Stellar Energy told the BBC the design was ''technically correct for a stone house and was installed...in strict accordance with the mandatory technical specifications of ECO4.''

Mr Wadley says he wouldn't have signed up for the grant if he'd known what would happen. ''You wouldn't put your family through this. Nobody would. Somebody needs to take responsibility.''

Stellar Energy says it ''sincerely regrets any distress this situation has caused the family'' and says its priority is ''providing a final resolution to ensure the home meets the high standards'' it strives for.

Scott Proudman contacted the BBC about the botched external wall insulation fitted to his Bristol home in 2021.

His family had been eligible for a government grant because of his eight-year-old daughter's disabilities. Born 24 weeks premature, she has cerebral palsy, a partial visual impairment and a shunt. She was recently diagnosed with autism.

''I feel like a failure every time I come home because this was meant to be something to look after my family, to make life easier, and it hasn't," he says.

When the work was done, insulation boards were fixed to the outside of the house and render was applied to make it waterproof. But the render has been falling off for years.

Building surveyor Mr Walter, says poor design and poor workmanship has caused the render to disintegrate. He says rainwater will very likely get under the cracked render and behind the insulation and will likely cause dampness inside.

''It's like a timebomb. It's going to get worse and worse, affecting the inside of the property," he says.

Mr Walter says all of the render and insulation will have to come off and will cost tens of thousands of pounds to put right.

Right now the family is stuck with the repair bill because the installer, SPMS Wales, is being liquidated and Mr Proudman says they weren't given the required guarantee for the work. Trustmark, the organisation responsible for overseeing quality, says it can't help because the company lost its accreditation soon after the work was completed.

Mr Proudman says he chose the company ''because it was on a government website and was Trustmark registered. I can't believe how few rights consumers have.''

Brett Langdon, a director at SPMS Wales says he is ''very sorry the Proudmans have ended up in this situation'' and says all works ''were done to the manufactures specification.'' He says he gave a guarantee to the Proudmans but has told the BBC he can't remember who the guarantee is with. He says the delamination of the render was "due to a failure of the system".

In a statement TrustMark said it was ''very sorry to hear about what's happened to Mr and Mrs Proudman and Mr and Mrs Wadley and the conditions both families' homes have been left in. It is totally unacceptable and we are in discussions with the relevant Scheme Providers and guarantee providers to help resolve these situations.''

And it said it underlined ''the need for reform to the current system''.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of the weight-loss drug Wegovy, according to maker Novo Nordisk.

It marks a first in this new era of weight-loss medications with Wegovy being the only so far to gain approval for the pill version of their GLP-1 drug, which has only been available as an injection.

Wegovy's Danish makers Novo Nordisk said the once-daily pill was a "convenient option" to the inject-able and would provide the same weight loss as the shot. It comes after Wegovy was approved by the FDA specifically for weight loss.

Others like Ozempic, which has similar weight-loss effects, were primarily approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.

The BBC has contacted the FDA for comment.

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"How much did Santa's sleigh cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

The joke is met by groans that echo through a warehouse in Lambeth, London.

We're at a joke-testing session with Talking Tables, a London company that makes supplies for gatherings. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.

The firm's founder and chief executive, Clare Harris grins, almost apologetically at the gag. But the joke has made the cut and will feature in future crackers.

"You measure the joke by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans around the table," Ms Harris says.

The key to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a good gag per se. It is all about the context - in this case, the shared laughter of the Christmas dinner table with grandparents, children and potentially the neighbours or friends who've joined this year.

"You want the joke to be something that brings the eight-year-old together with the 80-year-old," Ms Harris says.

Joke selection takes place on the upper level of the warehouse, where a handful of staff from across the company gather to pitch and assess the latest jokes they have come up with.

The jokes being worked through today will be the last few to make it into crackers for 2026.

The firm works at least a year in advance of the next batch of crackers.

"What do monkeys sing at Christmas?" asks Ms Harris. "Jungle bells, jungle bells."

On this occasion, there are more emphatic "noes" than groans, and Ms Harris accepts defeat this time around. It won't be found in a cracker next year.

"We have a database," she says. "But each year we make sure we bring our favourites from when we've used them at home."

Cracker joke material comes from a variety of sources including the internet, word of mouth and the company's own joke books.

Asked whether they've yet succumbed to the lure of artificial intelligence, Ms Harris responds with a firm denial.

She says the aim of the session is to work out what their favourites were and which delivered the greatest emotional reaction.

"Does it do what we want around the Christmas table?" she asks.

Chloe Lloyd, from the sales team, pitches a joke she has heard earlier that day.

"What does the moon do when it needs a haircut?," she asks. 'Eclipse it!"

That's an instant hit, the group says.

Gathering to enjoy shared laughter is not only nothing new, experts say, it is likely to be pre-human.

"So when you are laughing with people around the Christmas table  you are dropping into what's almost certainly a really ancient mammal play vocalisation," says Prof Sophie Scott, the director of University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.

Shared laughter, she says, helps make and maintain social connections between people.

Researchers have found the lack of such interactions can seriously damage mental and physical health.

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it leads to enhanced levels of endorphin uptake," says Prof Scott.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce stress and pain and in response to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with friends over a truly terrible Christmas cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," Prof Scott says. "You are actually doing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with those you love."

And it is not just humans that laugh.

Laughing, says Prof Scott, is an invitation to play and build social bonds. Rats and a number of other mammals do it too.

But what is actually happening inside the brain when we hear a joke?

An awful lot happens in response to humour, it turns out.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of brain scanner which shows which parts of the brain are working harder, Prof Scott and her team has been able to map the areas that receive more blood.

Testing involves scanning the brains of healthy participants and then subjecting them to a database of funny words, accompanied by either a neutral "crunchy" noise, or pre-recorded laughter, and to then examine which parts of the brain are working hardest.

"In the scanner we got a really interesting pattern of activation," says Prof Scott.

A joke activates not just the parts of the brain responsible for hearing and interpreting speech, but also brain areas involved in both planning and initiating movement and those involved in vision and memory.

Put all of this together, says Prof Scott, and people hearing a joke have a complex set of neural responses that underpin the laughter we hear - they not only listen to and understand the joke, but prime the motor functions needed to prepare to laugh, and have their response influenced by images from memory.

Researchers discovered that when a funny word is paired with laughter there is a greater response in the brain than the same word when followed by a neutral sound.

"This was in parts of the brain that you would use to move your face into a smile or a laugh," Prof Scott says.

It means people are not just responding to funny words or jokes, they are responding to the laughter that accompanies them.

Laughter, says Prof Scott, can be contagious.

So what does this mean for the laughter found around a Christmas table?

"You laugh more when you know people," says Prof Scott, "and you laugh more when you like them or love them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she says, the feel-good factor is more likely to be caused not by the joke itself, but from the response to it.

"It's the laughter. The joke is the terrible Christmas cracker joke, and it's just a reason to laugh together."

Will we ever discover the perfect joke?

Probably not, but that has not stopped experts from trying to.

In 2001 Prof Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, in Hatfield, set up LaughLab, the scientific search for the world's funniest joke.

More than 40,000 jokes later, with ratings lodged on those jokes by 350,000 people around the world, Prof Wiseman has a better idea than most as to what works and what does not.

The perfect Christmas cracker joke needs to be short, he says.

"But they also need to be poor jokes, jokes that make us groan," Prof Wiseman adds.

The more "terrible" the joke, he says the better.

"This is because if no-one laughs – it's the joke's fault, not yours.

"What's interesting about the Christmas cracker jokes is that none of us find them funny.

"That's a shared experience around the table and I think it's lovely."

This year is on course to be the UK's hottest since records began, according to the Met Office, as climate change continues to drive temperatures to new heights.

With just over a week still to go, the average UK air temperature across 2025 is on track to end up at about 10.05C.

A cooler Christmas could affect final figures, but it is likely that 2025 will edge out the current record of 10.03C from 2022, the Met Office says.

Along with a lack of rainfall, the persistent warmth left the country vulnerable to droughts and wildfires through the spring and summer, with temperatures peaking at 35.8C.

While temperatures vary naturally from year to year, scientists could not be clearer that human-caused climate change is driving the UK's rapidly warming trend.

By the end of 2025, the UK's 10 warmest years on record will all have taken place in the last two decades, in measurements going back to the late 1800s.

"Anthropogenic [human-caused] climate change is causing the warming in the UK as it's causing the warming across the world," said Amy Doherty, a climate scientist at the Met Office.

"What we have seen in the past 40 years, and what we're going to continue to see, is more records broken, more extremely hot years [...] so what was normal 10 years ago, 20 years ago, will become [relatively] cool in the future," she told BBC News.

The Met Office's projection uses observed temperatures up to 21 December and assumes that the remaining days of the year follow the long-term December average.

As a result, the Met Office cannot say with certainty that 2025 will be the hottest year, but it is the most likely outcome.

It would be the sixth time this century that the UK has set a new annual temperature record, following 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014 and 2022.

"In terms of our climate, we are living in extraordinary times," said Mike Kendon, also of the Met Office.

"The changes we are seeing are unprecedented in observational records back to the 19th Century," he added.

The expected new record of 2025 has been built on persistent heat through the spring and summer.

Those long, hot, sunny days may feel like a distant memory as we head towards Christmas, but both spring and summer were the UK's warmest ever recorded.

Each month from March to August was more than 2C above the long-term average between 1961 and 1990.

And while temperatures may not have reached the peaks of 40C seen in July 2022, hot spells happened repeatedly.

Four separate - albeit relatively short-lived - heatwaves were declared across much of the country.

The UK Health Security Agency also issued several heat-health alerts through the summer.

Spring and summer were also marked by low rainfall. Spring was particularly dry - the UK's sixth driest since 1836.

Combined with the warm weather helping to dry out the soils, this lack of rainfall pushed large parts of the country towards drought.

Through the summer, official droughts were declared across several regions in England and Wales, by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales respectively.

Parts of eastern Scotland also entered "significant water scarcity", according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Recent rainfall has eased the situation across much of the country and most areas are no longer in official drought. But water levels are still below average in some places.

"There's a huge deficit to be made up, and there's a huge implication, not just for people who are farming the land [and] growing food, but our rivers, our aquifers, our availability of drinking water," said Jess Neumann, associate professor of hydrology at the University of Reading.

The repeated swings between drought and flooding were making it very hard for communities to adapt to increasing weather extremes, she added.

The prolonged dry, warm weather created ideal conditions for wildfires too.

By late April, the area of the UK burned by wildfires had already reached a new annual record, according to data from the Global Wildfires Information System going back to 2012.

More than 47,100 hectares (471 sq km or 182 sq miles) has now been burned throughout 2025 - smashing the previous high of 28,100 hectares of 2019.

As the UK continues to heat up - driven by humanity's greenhouse gas emissions - scientists expect the UK to experience more weather extremes.

"The conditions that people are going to experience are going to continue to change as they have in the last few years [with] more wildfires, more droughts, more heatwaves," said Dr Doherty.

"But also it's going to get wetter in the winter half-year, so from October to March [...] the rain that does fall will fall more intensely, and in heavier rain showers, causing that kind of flooding that we've been seeing this year as well," she added.

The UK has not been alone in experiencing extreme heat this year. The world is on course for its second or third warmest year ever recorded, according to the European Copernicus climate service.

But the international consensus on tackling climate change is also being tested, with the US and some other leading producers of fossil fuels rowing back on their net zero commitments.

Additional reporting by Justin Rowlatt and Kate Stephens

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Donald Trump has sparked a renewed disagreement with Denmark after appointing a special envoy to Greenland, the Arctic island he has said he would like to annex.

Trump announced on Sunday that Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of Louisiana, would become the US's special envoy to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Writing on social media, the US president said Landry understood how "essential Greenland is to our national security" and would advance US interests.

Greenland's prime minister said the island must "decide our own future" and its "territorial integrity must be respected".

The move angered Copenhagen, which will call the US ambassador for "an explanation".

Governor Landry said in a post on X it was an honour to serve in a "volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the United States", saying the role would not affect his duties as Louisiana governor.

Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, described the appointment as "deeply upsetting" and warned Washington to respect Danish sovereignty.

He told Danish broadcaster TV2: "As long as we have a kingdom consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, we cannot accept actions that undermine our territorial integrity."

Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the territory was willing to cooperate with the United States and other countries, but only on the basis of mutual respect.

He said: "The appointment of a special envoy does not change anything for us. We decide our own future. Greenland belongs to Greenlanders, and territorial integrity must be respected."

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has revived his long-standing interest with Greenland, citing its strategic location and mineral wealth.

He has refused to rule out using force to secure control of the island, a stance that has shocked Denmark, a Nato ally that has traditionally enjoyed close relations with Washington.

Greenland, home to about 57,000 people, has had extensive self-government since 1979, though defence and foreign policy remain in Danish hands. While most Greenlanders favour eventual independence from Denmark, opinion polls show overwhelming opposition to becoming part of the US.

The dispute comes as strategic competition in the Arctic grows, with melting ice opening new shipping routes and increasing access to valuable mineral resources.

Greenland's location between North America and Europe also makes it central to US and Nato security planning and puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States.

Vince Zampella, who co-created the widely-popular video game Call of Duty, has died in a car crash in California, aged 55.

Zampella's death was confirmed by Electronic Arts, which owns Respawn Entertainment, a game studio he co-founded.

The influential video game developer died after his car crashed and caught fire on a highway in Los Angeles on Sunday, US media report.

"This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince's family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work," a spokesperson for Electronic Arts told the BBC.

Maybe there was a memo sent round the royal households of Europe, but many of this year's Christmas cards seem to have similar images of showing their families holding on to each other tenderly.

Touching, linking arms, holding hands, hugging, they're all sending messages about how close they are to each other.

It's like royal superglue has been applied, connecting them in these Christmas portraits. This is the era of the relatable royals.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have been leading the way, with a Christmas card showing a relaxed, informal family group cosying up to each other in the Norfolk countryside.

As with last year's card, they're continuing in a style that is far away from a stiff, formal portrait, showing a young family having fun together on a spring day, full of affection, dressed in jeans and jumpers.

Prince William has talked about making changes in his approach to the monarchy.

And this is projecting an image that they're like any other family, with eye-lines not looking down on the viewer, literally down to earth, sitting on the grass.

Compare that to this 1969 Christmas card, which shows the royals laughing, smiling and gathered around a boat. Presumably this was meant to feel relaxed and modern.

But they're fairly stiffly dressed, they're all standing apart and it looks like they've just been presented a prize on a game show.

Back to 2025 and King Charles and Queen Camilla are arm in arm in their Christmas card - a show of unity in what's been a busy year.

The picture is a mix of the friendly and the formal, taken on the first day of the state visit to Italy, when the couple were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary.

The Queen is wearing a lily of the valley brooch, a symbol of enduring love.

That trip was in April, which accounts for the spring backdrop for this Christmas card. The setting is Villa Wolkonsky in Rome, the elegant residence of the UK's ambassador to Italy.

Prince Harry and Meghan are holding hands in their Christmas card - or in fact, a "Happy Holiday Season" card.

Unlike others they've got the season right, with some festive snow captured in a picture from the Invictus Game in Canada in February.

They look like a fashionable couple, smiling optimistically from behind their sunglasses. It's got a sense of movement.

Although the framing of the message isn't so intimate: "On behalf of the Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex."

This portrait of the Belgian royal family shows them as though on the way to some grand event. Or at least waiting at a very upmarket bus stop.

They've gone for a more polished look - suits, ties, long dresses - but also with a bit of greenery. The picture was presumably taken when it was warmer, outside their residence at the Palace of Laeken.

It's a multilingual country and the greeting inside - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - is in French, German, Flemish and English.

The Spanish royals have combined a range of styles with their Christmas card.

It's projecting a casual, approachable, family image, as if catching them accidentally on a walk in the countryside. No more ties or tiaras for these modern royals.

But at the same time, it has all the dynastic shape of a traditional court painting. A monarch and his family are looking out at us. It's Velasquez in jeans.

The setting, a place which won an award for the best village in the Asturias region, sends a message about supporting Spain's small communities and their traditional heritage.

King Felipe is 6ft 6in (1.97m) tall, so presumably the family group had to be arranged so that he didn't tower over them. For Spaniards, it's a case of very long to reign over us.

Monaco's royal Christmas card is much grander, with a big fire, oil painting, formal clothes, and a sense of regal order.

There's also a sighting of the Alan Partridge-style smart casual look.

Bonus points though for actually showing a bit of Christmas, with a tree and the log fire, unlike many of the other cards which are basically just people sending out pictures of themselves.

Another extra detail is the tiny dog smuggled into the picture, beside Charlene, Princess of Monaco. She's a former Olympic swimmer and so not shy about making a splash.

The Luxembourg royals, the Grand Duke Guillaume and the Grand Duchess Stephanie, have covered all the angles for a 2025 card.

It's got the touchy-feely, we're-not-uptight family atmosphere, full of playful laughs and children clambering over their parents.

It's also got a proper tree with decorations, there's a Rudolf reindeer toy and they've put some thought into all the splashes of red.

It might look a bit chaotic - but it's Christmassy.

But there was no contest for this year's winner. Juan Carlos, who abdicated as Spanish king in 2014, hit by scandals, now living in Abu Dhabi, sent an irresistible royal Christmas card.

Five small dogs in front of an artificial tree, looking regal in a kind of classic royal portrait line up. But it's more bark than Bach.

What does it mean? The light is glinting on the dogs' baubles. They look up with crumpled, hopeful faces. It's Christmas and that's a time for paws for thought.

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After making the hard decision to report a celebrity who she said sexually assaulted her, Jenny Evans discovered confidential details printed word for word in a national newspaper.

Then only 19, she racked her brain - could a friend have betrayed her? Was she being spied on?

Without knowing it, Jenny found herself in the middle of a corruption scandal that would eventually bring down some of the most powerful players in the UK press and police.

Instead of hiding away, Jenny funnelled her anger into training to become a journalist to uncover the truth for herself.

Warning: Contains distressing details of sexual violence

Jenny grew up in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, and discovered acting through free community drama classes.

At 18, she was cast in Twin Town and shortly afterwards, in 1997, she was on a night out with the production crew in London.

Jenny, now in her 40s, told Asya Fouks for the Lives Less Ordinary podcast there was a celebrity - not associated with the film - who she found herself with, along with one of his friends, at the end of the night.

She asked to borrow a phone to call a taxi but they refused.

"He put his hand to my chest and just pushed me so that I would lose my footing. And then he and his friend pounced, and then there was a sexual assault," she said.

When the men got bored with her, the famous man's friend called her a taxi.

Jenny was retching and shaking when the taxi pulled up and the driver, named Ken, "kept saying to me 'I think you've been raped. Let me take you to a police station'. And I just couldn't speak."

She was "too shocked and too scared" to go to the police and report it at that point - a feeling that lasted a long time.

Jenny wrote a letter to her friend about it at the time, and told her brother and mum.

She withdrew from life and it was only when her 24-year-old brother died when she was 23 that she decided to try "to live my life again".

She studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama and one night, when she was dancing with friends at a student bar, a friend arrived and dropped the late edition of the Sun on the table.

It reported that the famous man who had sexually assaulted her had been arrested after other women made similar allegations.

She said: "It was the first moment that it occurred to me that I hadn't got myself into a difficult situation and that this man and his friend could be serially violent."

This made her feel a "moral obligation to report" him, but said this was her experience and it was OK that most other survivors "don't want to report or ever talk" about their experience.

She was interviewed by police twice and then, four days later, she was with her boyfriend who was reading a tabloid when he looked at her and said: "I didn't know there was two of them."

He knew something had happened, but she had protected him from the intricate details of the assault.

Jenny was not named, but there in black and white was the confidential report she made just days earlier in the police station.

"It was terrifying," Jenny said.

She tried to figure out who could have sold the story to the newspaper, but no-one knew that level of detail.

Jenny told her case detective and he said he would come back to her, but he never did: "I was so young and naive, I didn't push him on it."

Jenny became "very paranoid", searching her home for recording devices, keeping curtains closed and checking friends and family's phones to see if they were speaking to journalists.

Then police told her there was enough evidence to charge the famous man for two counts of sexual assault, but none of the other women's cases had met the charging threshold.

At the time the famous man was saying his accusers were "making it up, they just want money, they just want fame'."

So just before the trial, Jenny's friend gave her the letter she had written after the sexual assault, thinking it was evidence Jenny was not jumping on "a bandwagon".

But because Jenny had detailed multiple instances of sexual violence that had happened to her, the police thought it discredited her.

She said it was hard to win any sexual assault case, but if it has happened multiple times the defence lawyers could make it "look as if you were asking for it" or "you've made them all up".

She did not want to be cross-examined on the letter, so the charges were dropped.

The now defunct News of the World newspaper then published an article with confidential details about the case falling apart and Jenny said her fear turned to anger.

So she took it upon herself to train as a journalist to find out how it happened.

Several years later, investigative reporter Nick Davies published an article on phone hacking, which is the illegal accessing of voicemails.

At this point in 2007 newspaper reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire had been convicted of phone hacking, and although their newspapers said they were just rogue operators, Nick was convinced the problem went deeper.

He tasked Jenny with getting the truth out of past and present reporters about dodgy newsgathering practices and finding people whose phones were hacked by Mulcaire.

She found her own name in his diaries but an incorrect phone number - so she knew this was not how her story was leaked.

The News of the World closed in 2011 after it was found to have been hacking into the phones of crime victims, celebrities and politicians.

"I felt very emotional," Jenny said.

"They bullied a nation in a way, and I felt a huge sense of relief."

Jenny's case was never solved due to corruption within the Met Police, but after hiring a lawyer she did receive an apology and "tens of thousands of pounds" as a settlement.

The Met Police has been contacted for comment.

Now, she wants people, "especially young women", to know that when you feel "disenfranchised and powerless, there is real power in learning how to ask questions".

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

They work 24/7 at high speeds and get searingly hot - but data centre computer chips get plenty of pampering. Some of them basically live at the spa.

"We'll have fluid that comes up and [then] shower down, or trickle down, onto a component," says Jonathan Ballon, chief executive at liquid cooling firm Iceotope. "Some things will get sprayed."

In other cases, the industrious gizmos recline in circulating baths of fluid, which ferries away the heat they generate, enabling them to function at very high speeds, known as "overclocking".

"We have customers that are overclocking at all times because there is zero risk of burning out the server," says Mr Ballon. He adds that one client, a hotel chain in the US, is planning to use heat from hotel servers to warm guest rooms, the hotel laundry and swimming pool.

Without cooling, data centres fall over.

In November, a cooling system failure at a data centre in the US sent financial trading tech offline at CME Group, the world's largest exchange operator. The company has since put in place additional cooling capacity to help protect against a repeat of this incident.

Currently, demand for data centres is booming, driven partly by the growth of AI technologies. But the huge amounts of energy and water that many of these facilities consume mean that they are increasingly controversial.

More than 200 environmental groups in the US recently demanded a moratorium on new data centres in the country. But there are some data centre firms that say they want to reduce their impact.

They have another incentive. Data centre computer chips are becoming increasingly powerful. So much so that many in the industry say traditional cooling methods – such as air cooling, where fans constantly blow air over the hottest components – is no longer sufficient for some operations.

Mr Ballon is aware of rising controversy around the construction of energy-devouring data centres. "Communities are pushing back on these projects," he says. "We require significantly less power and water. We don't have any fans whatsoever – we operate silently."

Iceotope says its approach to liquid cooling, which can soothe multiple components in a data centre, not just the processing chips, may reduce cooling-related energy demands by up to 80%.

The company's technology uses water to cool down the oil-based fluid that actually interacts with computer tech. But the water remains in a closed loop, so there is no need to continually draw more of it from local supplies.

I ask whether the oil-based fluids in the firm's cooling system are derived from fossil fuel products and he says some of them are, though he stresses that none contain PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, which are harmful to human health.

Some liquid-based data centre cooling technologies use refrigerants that do contain PFAS. Not only that, many refrigerants produce highly potent greenhouse gases, which threaten to exacerbate climate change.

Two-phase cooling systems use such refrigerants says Yulin Wang, a former senior technology analyst at IDTechEx, a market research firm. The refrigerant starts out as a liquid but heat from server components causes it to evaporate into a gas and this phase change soaks up a lot of energy, meaning it is an effective way of cooling things down.

In some designs, data centre tech is fully immersed in large quantities of PFAS-containing refrigerant. "Vapours can get out of the tank," adds Mr Wang. "There could be some safety issues." In other cases, the refrigerant is piped directly to the hottest components, computer chips, only.

Some companies that offer two-phase cooling are currently switching to PFAS-free refrigerants.

Over the years, firms have experimented with wildly different approaches to cooling, in a race to find the best means of keeping data centre gadgets happy.

Microsoft famously sank a tube-like container full of servers into the sea off Orkney, for example. The idea was that cold Scottish seawater would improve the efficiency of air-based cooling systems inside the device.

Last year, Microsoft confirmed that it had shuttered the project. But the company had learned much from it, says Alistair Speirs, general manager of global infrastructure in the Microsoft Azure business group. "Without [human] operators, less things went wrong – that informed some of our operational procedures," he says. Data centres that are more hands-off appear more reliable.

Initial findings showed the subsea data centre had a power usage effectiveness, or PUE, rating of 1.07 – suggesting it was far more efficient than the vast majority of land-based data centres. And it required zero water.

But in the end, Microsoft concluded that the economics of building and maintaining subsea data centres weren't very favourable.

The company is still working on liquid-based cooling ideas, including microfluidics, where tiny channels of liquid flow through the many layers of a silicon chip. "You can think of a liquid cooling maze through the silicon at nanometre scale," says Mr Speirs.

Researchers are coming up with other ideas, too.

In July, Renkun Chen, at the University of California San Diego, and colleagues, published a paper detailing their idea for a pore-filled membrane-based cooling technology that could help to cool chips passively – without the need to actively pump fluids or blow air around.

"Essentially, you are using heat to provide the pumping power," says Prof Chen. He compares it to the process by which water evaporates from a trees' leaves, inducing a pumping effect that draws more water up through the plant's trunk and along its branches to replenish the leaves. Prof Chen says he hopes to commercialise the technology.

New ways of cooling down data centre tech are increasingly sought-after, says Sasha Luccioni, AI and climate lead at Hugging Face, a machine learning company.

This is partly due to demand for AI – including generative AI, or large language models (LLMs), which are the systems that power chat bots. In previous research, Dr Luccioni has shown that such technologies eat up lots of energy.

"If you have models that are very energy-intensive, then the cooling has to be stepped up a notch," she says.

Reasoning models, which explain their output in multiple steps, are even more demanding, she adds.

They use "hundreds or thousands of times more energy" than standard chat bots that just answer questions. Dr Luccioni calls for greater transparency from AI companies regarding how much energy their various products consume.

For Mr Ballon, LLMs are just one form of AI – and he argues they have already "reached their limit" in terms of productivity.

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Chris Rea, the musician behind the festive classic Driving Home for Christmas, has died at the age of 74.

The singer died on Monday in hospital following a short illness, a spokesperson for his family said.

A statement on behalf of his wife and two children read: "It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris.

"He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family."

• Chris Rea: The car enthusiast whose love of driving inspired his songs

The blues-influenced star had a string of hits included Auberge, On the Beach and Road to Hell.

Paying tribute on X, Middlesborough FC said: "We're deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Chris Rea. A Teesside icon. Rest in peace, Chris."

Rea's 1980s smash Driving Home for Christmas tells the story of a weary traveller making his way home in heavy traffic.

This year, it has been brought to new audiences as the backdrop to the M&S Food Christmas advert.

In 2020, the singer's social media platforms posted a chat between the singer with fellow Middlesbrough native Bob Mortimer, explaining how he came to write the track.

Rea said he was on the dole at the time, his manager had just left him and he had been banned from driving.

His then-girlfriend Joan (who he met when they were both 16 and went on to marry) had to pick him up in London in her mini and drive him home. And that's what inspired the song, which was written in 1978, 10 years before it was released released as a single in 1998.

The singer-songwriter had suffered with various bouts of ill-health over the years.

He had his pancreas removed a few years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the age of just 33 in 1994 and then had a stroke in 2016.

The star never forgot his roots, telling Saga magazine last year: "I've always had a difficult relationship with fame, even before my first illness.

"None of my heroes were rock stars. I arrived in Hollywood for the Grammy Awards once and thought I was going to bump in to people who mattered, like Ry Cooder or Randy Newman. But I was surrounded by pop stars.

"The celeb thing has gone totally wrong in the sense that everyone has tried to top each other. They don't put the work in."#

Speaking of his wife in the same interview, he said: "Our golden moment is each morning when there is an elbow fight over whose turn it is to make the coffee.

"Then there are the large mugs of fresh coffee, BBC Breakfast news or Sky and we gaze out of the window over the countryside for an hour and we are still 16. We are lucky to still have that feeling."

Rea first began helping out with his family's ice-cream business - his dad was Italian, while his mum was Irish.

Once he found the guitar, he soon began playing in various bands and released his debut album Whatever Happened To Benny Santini? in 1978.

His commercial breakthrough came in the 1980s, as two of his studio albums - The Road To Hell (1989) and Auberge (1991) - went to number one in the UK.

He returned to his blues roots in his later years while facing his health challenges.

After his stroke nine years ago, he recovered to launch a new album, Road Songs For Lovers, in 2017.

He took the album on the road at the end of that year but had to cancel a number of shows after he collapsed mid-song while performing at the New Theatre in Oxford.

Two men who were part of what police have called "London's most prolific Grindr gang" have been jailed for a combined eight-and-a-half years after using the gay dating app to target men in the capital.

Rahmad Khan Mohammadi, 23 and Mohammed Bilal Hotak, 21 stole phones, passports and wallets in 35 burglaries and 20 related frauds, totalling £68,000 over six months, the Met said.

One victim was left hospitalised with stress after their finances were "destroyed" when loans, credit agreements and overdrafts were taken out using their name.

Sentencing the pair at Iselworth Crown Court on Monday, Judge Adenike Bologun said the gang were relying on victims "being too embarrassed to report the crime".

But she said she wasn't persuaded that the offences demonstrated hostility to the victims based on their sexual orientation, adding that "this was an opportunistic offence."

Multiple men targeted

The court had heard how Mohammadi, from Harrow, and Hotak, from Hackney, both Afghan nationals, tricked their way into the homes of unsuspecting men by arranging to meet up with them on the dating app.

Met Police officers told BBC News that multiple men were targeted per week by repeatedly making new profiles on the app.

Once inside their homes, the duo distracted the men and persuaded them to unlock their phones by requesting to use them to play music, sometimes asking the victim to take a shower before sex, and then escaping with the device or other valuable items.

The gang would then use debit and credit cards stored on the phones and on one occassion accessed a victim's bank account and stole money by transferring cash.

On another occasion, they convinced a man to meet them in a nearby park.

Proescuting, David Patience, read statements by the victims to the court describing the damage done to their confidence and finances.

One described how he felt his 'vulnerability was used against me, because of my sexuality and body size'.

'I was manipulated and led into a park late at night, my phone was taken from me, I was humiliated and unable to protect myself.'

Another described how he was hospitalised due to the stress, and another recounted how his studies and finances were wrecked.

Mr Patience claimed the pair held "contemptuous ill will" towards the victims based on their sexuality and use of the app, which is predominantly used by gay and bisexual men.

"They did not target women, heterosexual men - they targeted gay men. They thought they would be easier to commit offences against", he told the court.

But barrister for Hotak, John Kearney, claimed the "victims will have learned a lesson" and strongly denied the suggestion that this was in some way "ill will towards the gay community".

"Women would not have been as foolish and reckless to place themselves in a position of vulnerability with strange men coming into their home" he said.

Defending Mohammadi, Nathan Toms, claimed his client had left Afghanistan after he was stabbed at the age of 15 by his then girlfriend's brother.

"His own family forced him to flee," he told the court.

"His father was going to murder him because he was linked to the government and he believed it would 'reset relations' with his employer. He arrived in this country via a lorry."

Mohammadi was sentenced to five years in prison and Hotak to three and a half.

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A third remand detainee awaiting trial for alleged offences relating to the Palestine Action group has stopped a lengthy hunger strike, according to a letter sent to the government.

The letter confirms that Qesser Zuhrah, the joint-first of eight to begin the hunger strike on 2 November, had ended her protest after 48 days.

Lawyers for the group have given ministers until Tuesday afternoon to respond to a threat to go to the High Court over a refusal to hold talks.

A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesperson said: "We want these prisoners to accept support and get better, and we will not create perverse incentives that would encourage more people to put themselves at risk through hunger strikes."

Three of the eight individuals participating in the protest have stopped while four are said to be still taking part.

The eighth member of the group is now described by supporters as intermittently refusing to eat because of an underlying health condition.

Ms Zuhrah was taken to hospital last week amid protests outside HMP Bronzefield claiming that she was being denied full medical assistance.

MoJ officials have previously disputed claims of mistreatment. The Ministry does not comment publicly on the specific management of individuals.

Amy Gardiner-Gibson, who also goes by the name Amu Gib and began a hunger strike on the same day as Ms Zuhrah, was reportedly transferred to hospital on Sunday on the 50th day of the protest.

The other remaining hunger strikers are Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha and Kamran Ahmad. They are said to have been refusing food for 49 days, 43 days and 42 days respectively - accounts that have not been disputed by officials.

Prison and NHS guidelines make clear that clinicians must oversee treatment decisions for hunger strikers. They can only be given food-related treatments if they consent or it is clear they lack the mental capacity to choose.

In a detailed legal warning letter, lawyers for the group say they will ask the High Court to review Justice Secretary David Lammy's refusal to meet with their representatives if they do not receive a reply by 14:00 GMT on Tuesday.

The group's lawyers say that prison service policies make clear that staff "must make every effort" to understand why a prisoner is refusing food and address the reasons.

The group has called for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted.

The High Court has been reviewing the home secretary's decision to proscribe the group and a judgment is expected in the New Year.

The protesters allege they have been treated unfairly and not bailed ahead of trials in 2026 and 2027.

Some of these cases cannot be reported at this stage under standard laws designed to ensure a fair trial of all criminal suspects.

"Our clients' food refusal constitutes the largest co-ordinated hunger strike in British history since 1981," says the letter in a reference to the IRA hunger strikes.

"As of today's date, their strike has lasted up to 51 days, nearly two months, and poses a significant risk to their life with each passing day."

The Care Quality Commission, which oversees prison healthcare, has told the BBC that it has been in contact with HMP Bronzefield, one of the jails where the protests have been taking place, for assurance that appropriate processes are in place after it had received "information of concern".

It has not clarified what it was told in response.

If ministers do not respond to the letter sent on behalf of the group by Tuesday afternoon, the group's lawyers could then ask the High Court to intervene on human rights grounds - although there is no certainty a judge would hold a hearing.

Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending Lord Timpson said: "While very concerning, hunger strikes are not a new issue for our prisons. Over the last five years, we've averaged over 200 a year and we have longstanding procedures in place to ensure prisoner safety.

"Prison healthcare teams provide NHS care and continuously monitor the situation. HMPPS are clear that claims that hospital care is being refused are entirely misleading – they will always be taken when needed and a number of these prisoners have already been treated in hospital.

"These prisoners are charged with serious offences including aggravated burglary and criminal damage. Remand decisions are for independent judges, and lawyers can make representations to the court on behalf of their clients.

"Ministers will not meet with them - we have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system. It would be entirely unconstitutional and inappropriate for ministers to intervene in ongoing legal cases."

A husband and five other men have been charged with a string of sexual offences against his ex-wife over a 13-year period.

Philip Young, formerly of Swindon but now living in Enfield, has been charged with 56 sexual offences, including rape and administering a substance with intent to stupefy/overpower to allow sexual activity.

The 49-year-old has also been charged with voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children and possession of extreme images.

Five other men have also been charged with offences against his ex-wife, 48-year-old Joanne Young, who has waived her right to anonymity.

All six men are due to appear at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Mr Young, who police described as a white British national, has been remanded in custody.

The five other men are on bail.

Their names and charges are:

• Norman Macksoni, 47, of Wood End Close, Sharnbrook. Police described him as a black British national. He has been charged with one count of rape and possession of extreme images
• Dean Hamilton, 47, of no fixed abode. Police said he was a white British national. He has been charged with one count of rape and sexual assault by penetration and two counts of sexual touching
• Conner Sanderson Doyle, 31, of Crofton Road, Swindon. Police said he was a white British national who had been charged with sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching
• Richard Wilkins, 61, of Tattershall, Toothill, Swindon. He was described by police as a white British national and he has been charged with one count of rape and sexual touching
• Mohammed Hassan, 37, of Torun Way, Swindon. Police described him as a British Asian male. He has been charged with sexual touching

Det Supt Geoff Smith, of Wiltshire Police, described the charges as a significant update in a "complex and extensive" investigation.

He added that Ms Young was being supported by specially trained officers.

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The Post Office and Fujitsu agreed a deal 19 years ago to fix transaction errors in sub-postmasters' accounts caused by bugs in the Horizon IT system, a document has revealed.

An agreement was in place in 2006 for errors caused by bugs in the software to be corrected, or for Fujitsu to pay the Post Office up to £150 per transaction if it failed to do so.

The revelation directly contradicts the Post Office's claims during criminal prosecutions - which led to hundreds of wrongful convictions and civil cases that destroyed livelihoods - that no bugs existed capable of causing accounting shortfalls.

It also shows the Post Office knew almost two decades ago that Horizon could not always be relied upon to record transactions accurately.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT system made it look like money was missing from branch accounts.

Some sub-postmasters went to prison, while many more were financially ruined and lost their livelihoods. Others died.

It has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history and has led to a long-running public inquiry into the scandal.

Countless evidence and testimonies have been heard, examined and reported during the inquiry, but a document which emerged in material published this month contained new, previously unknown, information.

The document shows that unbeknown to sub-postmasters, the two parties had a financial framework in place to manage discrepancies and for Fujitsu to fix problems or pay for them.

The Post Office denied throughout the criminal trials of sub-postmasters that errors or bugs could cause transaction shortfalls in branch accounts. It also denied in court that branch accounts could be remotely altered without the knowledge of sub-postmasters.

The document indicates the formal commercial arrangement was drawn up to deal with potential mismatches or "discrepancies" and where Fujitsu's system was responsible, it was expected to correct false transactions or pay "liquidation damages".

The disclosure also undermines the Post Office's claim to the media and before Parliament in 2015 that it was not possible for Fujitsu to alter sub-postmasters's transactions without their knowledge.

"The Post Office conducted both the criminal trials of postmasters and the group litigation of 2019 on the basis that it knew of no substantial problems with the Horizon system," said Paul Marshall, senior barrister for sub-postmasters.

"Yet this shows that in 2006 there was a very big, recognised problem with Horizon maintaining data integrity between Post Office branch offices and Fujitsu," he added.

"The Post Office, for 20 years, was saying the only explanation for shortfalls in branch accounts was postmaster incompetence or dishonesty.

"But the maintenance of data integrity was fundamental to the Post Office-Fujitsu contract - Fujitsu were unable to provide or assure this."

The document implicitly acknowledges that data held on Horizon's servers at Fujitsu's headquarters could fail to match the transactions sub-postmasters had carried out at their branches.

It also adds to evidence that the Post Office was aware that the branch accounts of sub-postmasters could be remotely accessed. In the landmark Alan Bates vs Post Office case, for example, the organisation insisted that the software could not be accessed remotely by any other party.

Under the arrangements set out in the document, Fujitsu agreed to carry out a "reconciliation service" with the Post Office's approval, where it was required to correct errors caused by bugs or defects or pay up to £150 per transaction in penalties known as "liquidated damages".

The document is dated four months before the Post Office started legal action against sub-postmaster Lee Castleton OBE pursuing him to recover £25,000 of cash it alleged was missing from his branch in East Yorkshire.

He represented himself in court, arguing that problems with Horizon were to blame, but lost and was landed with £321,000 in legal costs and ended up bankrupt as a result.

Mr Castleton is now suing the Post Office and Fujitsu for damages and said the document would help his battle.

"It's a disgusting document. It's another example of the truth being hidden for two decades. All the pain and punishment the victims have taken all these years and it was buried," he told the BBC.

"It makes me feel physically ill to think they were doing that and not telling anyone...it's time they were held accountable for all those actions."

The document, first discovered by Post Office scandal campaigner Stuart Goodwillie, supports what whistleblower Richard Roll told BBC Panorama in 2015.

The former Fujitsu worker said the team working on Horizon would sometimes correct thousands of transactions per night because the firm could be forced to pay cash to the Post Office if it failed to do so.

The agreement also notes that Fujitsu can and will amend transactional data, with the need for the Post Office to approve the entries. A later version of the contract has been found where this stipulation has been changed to "where this is possible".

The document is listed in an annexe in two corporate witness statements provided by Fujitsu's current European chief executive, Paul Patterson, in 2024 but has only recently been published.

Mr Patterson will face questions by MPs on the Business and Trade Committee on 6 January about the Horizon scandal. Post Office chair Nigel Railton will also appear.

The material document has shocked experts on the scandal such as Second Sight forensic accountant Ron Warmington, who described the document's implications as "dynamite".

A Fujitsu spokesperson said: "These matters are the subject of forensic investigation by the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and it's not appropriate for us to comment while that process is ongoing."

A Post Office spokesperson said: "We apologise unequivocally for the hurt and suffering which Post Office caused to so many people during the Horizon IT Scandal.

"Today, our organisation is focused on working transparently with the ongoing public inquiry, paying full and fair financial redress to those impacted, and establishing a meaningful restorative justice programme, all of which are important elements of the ongoing transformation of Post Office."

A one-year-old Palestinian girl evacuated from Gaza with severe nutritional problems is back in hospital in the territory after being returned there from Jordan. Siwar Ashour, whose story the BBC has followed for several months, was repatriated to Gaza on 3 December after completing her medical treatment in Amman.

She'd spent six months in hospital there under a medical evacuation programme run by the Kingdom of Jordan. Her grandmother, Sahar Ashour, said she became ill three days after coming back.

"She started having diarrhoea and vomiting and her situation keeps getting worse. The diarrhoea won't go away," she told a freelance journalist working for the BBC in Gaza. International journalists have been banned by Israel from entering Gaza independently since the start of the war nearly two years ago.

Siwar is being treated at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip where Dr Khalil al-Daqran told the BBC she is "receiving the necessary treatment, but the situation is still bad for her". The doctor said Siwar was suffering from a gastro-intestinal infection. She has an immune system deficiency which makes it hard for her to fight bacteria. She also struggles to absorb nutrition, meaning she requires specialised baby formula.

Dr Daqran said that hospitals in Gaza - many of which were badly damaged by Israeli bombing and fighting nearby with Hamas before a ceasefire took effect in October - were seeing an increase in child admissions. Poor hygiene conditions caused by the destruction of vital infrastructure have led to the spread of infections and disease.

"Since the ceasefire was announced, the number of child patients arriving at Gaza Strip hospitals is three times the capacity… The situation at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is no different from other hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

"It suffers from a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies, and a major shortage regarding electric generators, which are the main artery to keep a hospital going."

The World Health Organization (WHO) described humanitarian needs in Gaza as "staggering, with current assistance addressing only the most basic survival requirements".

Siwar was evacuated to Jordan in June after the BBC reported on her case and raised it directly with the Jordanian authorities.

Jordan's Minister of Communications, Dr Mohammed al-Momani, told us that Siwar was among 45 children returned to Gaza after completing their treatment. Under the evacuation scheme all patients are sent back after medical attention.

I put it to Dr al-Momani that people might find it hard to accept that a child in such a vulnerable condition could be sent back to Gaza in the current conditions.

"No patient is sent back before they finish their medical treatment… the first reason [why they are returned] is that this will allow us to bring more patients from Gaza. We cannot take all of them at once. We have to take them in batches. So far we have taken 18 batches.

"The second reason is that we don't want to contribute in any shape or form to the displacement of Palestinians from their land and all patients are told… after treatment you are sent back so other patients and other children can be brought in for treatment."

Jordan also treats war wounded at its field hospital in Gaza and has supplied aid via air drops and road convoys. The kingdom hosts more than 2 million Palestinian refugees, who fled conflicts with Israel since 1948, and 500,000 refugees from other countries, mostly Syrians.

Since last March some 300 sick and wounded children and 730 parents and guardians have been brought to Jordan out of 2000 scheduled for treatment. Other countries in the region like the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have treated thousands of sick civilians from Gaza.

The specialised formula milk Siwar needs was either not available or in very short supply during the ongoing conflict. In March, Israel imposed a total blockade on aid into Gaza that was lifted partially after 11 weeks. Since the ceasefire there has been a surge in aid deliveries, although the UN and aid agencies say not enough humanitarian supplies are flowing.

The Jordanian authorities gave Siwar's family a supply of 12 cans of the hypoallergenic Neocate formula on their departure for Gaza. However her mother Najwa told us that Israeli officials confiscated much of what they'd been given - nine of their 12 cans were taken.

"They told us, 'It is forbidden to take more than these cans,'" said Siwar's mother, Najwa Ashour. "Even though it is therapeutic milk and they said that treatment is allowed, yet they took them."

She also said that extra clothing the family had been given in Jordan was taken. "They searched us from top to bottom. When they saw us wearing clothes over each other [layered] they refused to let us out, and told us, 'You must take off all the clothes, down to one outfit.'"

I asked the Israeli government why the milk formula and clothing were confiscated? They replied that limits were placed on what could be taken back for "security considerations."

They said only minimal luggage was allowed and this had been conveyed to the Jordanian authorities and the returning families. "In cases where the luggage exceeded the approved scope, its entry was denied."

The WHO has appealed for more countries to offer medical evacuation to patients who cannot get the necessary treatment in Gaza.

It has also called on the Israeli government to allow patients to be treated in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank "which is the most time and cost effective route." Israel stopped allowing such evacuations after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted into Gaza.

Siwar's family has been given Neocate milk formula since returning to Gaza. There have also been donations of money, including funds raised from online appeals. Jordanian representatives in Gaza have also visited the family to provide assistance.

The Ashours are trying to have Siwar evacuated once more - a process that has begun with the issuing of a permit by Palestinian health officials. It will be managed by the WHO which deals with all evacuation requests from a place the UN calls "a wasteland".

With additional reporting by Malak Hassouneh, Suha Kawar and Alice Doyard.

The US is immediately pausing leases for offshore wind energy projects currently being built near the Atlantic coastline, citing security concerns.

In a statement, the Department of the Interior said it was pausing five large-sale projects to look into how windmills could interfere with radar and create other risks to east coast cities.

President Donald Trump has long opposed wind energy, saying it is unreliable and drives up costs, and attempted to stop all projects when he returned to office. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said wind farms have no future in the US energy grid.

Renewable energy companies, as well as state leaders, have expressed alarm over the administration's stance.

In its statement, the Department of the Interior said the pause "addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centres".

The five wind farms now on pause are being constructed off the coast of New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

Specifically, the announcement noted that officials are concerned about radar interference "clutter" that can obscure real moving targets or, conversely, create false ones. It added that a radar's threshold for false-alarm detection could be increased to reduce some clutter, but only at the risk of missing actual targets.

The wind projects could make it difficult to "determine what's friend and foe in our airspace", Burgum said in an interview with Fox Business on Monday, where he cited drone strikes between Russia and Ukraine and between Iran and Israel as examples.

Dominion Energy, the company behind the Virginia wind farm, said its project is far offshore and "does not raise visual impact concerns."

"The project's two pilot turbines have been operating for five years without causing any impacts to national security," it said in a statement.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, described the pause as an "erratic" move that "will drive up the price of electricity in Connecticut and throughout the region".

"This project is nearing completion and providing good-paying clean energy jobs," he added. "Businesses and residents deserve economic predictability, yet with the administration's constant starts and stops they're left with the opposite."

Earlier in December, a federal judge struck down an attempt by President Trump to ban new wind power projects in the US, calling it "arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law".

On the first day of his administration in January, Trump issued a memorandum halting permits and new leases until a federal review could be undertaken.

Five months later, 17 US states led by New York sued the administration, calling the ban an "existential" threat to the US wind industry.

Donald Trump has sparked a renewed disagreement with Denmark after appointing a special envoy to Greenland, the Arctic island he has said he would like to annex.

Trump announced on Sunday that Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of Louisiana, would become the US's special envoy to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Writing on social media, the US president said Landry understood how "essential Greenland is to our national security" and would advance US interests.

Greenland's prime minister said the island must "decide our own future" and its "territorial integrity must be respected".

The move angered Copenhagen, which will call the US ambassador for "an explanation".

Governor Landry said in a post on X it was an honour to serve in a "volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the United States", saying the role would not affect his duties as Louisiana governor.

Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, described the appointment as "deeply upsetting" and warned Washington to respect Danish sovereignty.

He told Danish broadcaster TV2: "As long as we have a kingdom consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, we cannot accept actions that undermine our territorial integrity."

Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the territory was willing to cooperate with the United States and other countries, but only on the basis of mutual respect.

He said: "The appointment of a special envoy does not change anything for us. We decide our own future. Greenland belongs to Greenlanders, and territorial integrity must be respected."

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has revived his long-standing interest with Greenland, citing its strategic location and mineral wealth.

He has refused to rule out using force to secure control of the island, a stance that has shocked Denmark, a Nato ally that has traditionally enjoyed close relations with Washington.

Greenland, home to about 57,000 people, has had extensive self-government since 1979, though defence and foreign policy remain in Danish hands. While most Greenlanders favour eventual independence from Denmark, opinion polls show overwhelming opposition to becoming part of the US.

The dispute comes as strategic competition in the Arctic grows, with melting ice opening new shipping routes and increasing access to valuable mineral resources.

Greenland's location between North America and Europe also makes it central to US and Nato security planning and puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States.

Elusive street artist Banksy has confirmed he is behind a new mural that has appeared in Bayswater, west London.

The image depicts two children lying on the ground dressed in wellington boots, coats and winter bobble hats, one of them pointing upwards towards the sky.

It has been painted on to a wall above a row of garages on Queen's Mews and was first spotted on Monday.

The BBC understands Banksy is also responsible for an identical mural that appeared outside the Centre Point tower in central London on Friday, although his representatives have only confirmed the Bayswater work as his.

The artist, whose identity is not publicly known, announced his new work by posting an image to his Instagram account on Monday afternoon.

Speaking about the Centre Point mural, artist Daniel Lloyd-Morgan told the BBC he believed the location was chosen to make a point about child homelessness.

"Everybody is having a good time but there are a lot of children who are not having a good time at Christmas," he said.

Mr Lloyd-Morgan said that people walking past the artwork were "ignoring it", adding: "It's a busy area. Quite poignant that people aren't stopping. They walk past homeless people and they don't see them lying on the street.

"It's kind of like they're stargazing," he said. "It's quite fitting that the kids are pointing up like they're looking at the North Star."

Banksy enthusiast Jason Tomkins, said he also believed it was a "clear statement on homelessness".

The Centre Point tower, at 101-103 New Oxford Street, has been a historic focal point for housing protests.

Originally built as an office block in 1963, the Centre Point tower next to Tottenham Court Road underground station, remained unoccupied for over a decade, angering social justice campaigners.

The homelessness charity Centrepoint was named as a response to the building by founder Rev Ken Leech, who described the tower as "an affront to the homeless".

The block has since been converted into multimillion-pound luxury flats.

Banksy has not commented on the relevance of the location for either of the new works.

Mr Tomkins said he believed the artwork depicted the same character as one of Banksy's previous works.

"In 2018 he painted in Port Talbot, and the little boy is identical to child that has been painted here," he said.

"This is quite unusual for him to use the same little boy again, because he has never done that."

The Centre Point piece follows Banksy's September mural in London, which showed a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-spattered placard while a judge, in a wig and gown, loomed over him, wielding a gavel.

It was scrubbed off the Queen's Building, in the Royal Courts of Justice complex days after it appeared.

In 2024, the graffiti artist created an animal trail around the capital with pieces featuring a goat, elephants, a gorilla, monkeys, piranhas, a rhino and pelicans among other animals.

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A British woman jailed in Iran for almost a year has spoken of the pain of separation from her family in a poignant Christmas message written in her cell.

"At a time when we should be connected, we find ourselves alone, down, dejected," Lindsay Foreman wrote in a poem entitled A Sad Voice From Evin Prison - A Christmas Poem.

A recording of her reading the message to her son on the phone from a noisy prison corridor has been shared with the BBC. It is the first time her voice has been heard publicly since her arrest.

She spoke of a "family torn apart" and said that grief "has made a home from the hole in our heart".

Ms Foreman, 53, said she wrote the poem for her family "and for anyone who has lost someone and when Christmas may not be such a happy time".

She and her husband Craig were on the trip of a lifetime, by motorbike, from Spain to Australia when they were arrested by Iranian authorities in January and accused of espionage – charges the family say are "ludicrous".

They had visas for Iran, a tour guide and a pre-approved itinerary.

Ms Foreman had been asking people along the route what constitutes a good life, and those questions appear to form the basis of the regime's accusations against the couple.

They are currently being held separately in Iran's notorious Evin jail in Tehran, where Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was previously imprisoned.

Their family say the cells are overcrowded, unsanitary and vermin-infested, with inadequate washing facilities and hygiene supplies.

"They are in unimaginable conditions," Ms Foreman's son Joe Bennett told the BBC, describing rats running around as they cooked.

He said the couple were not receiving enough food and were losing weight.

Mr Bennett's stepfather, Craig Foreman, is said to be suffering constant dental pain but has not been allowed to see a dentist.

After going on hunger strike last month, the couple are now being allowed almost daily phone calls with their family.

But Mr Bennett says that, despite her attempts to put a brave face on for him, he has heard his mother crying and begging to get home.

Both his mother and step-father are being "slowly broken" and in "growing distress", he says.

He has called on the UK government to "come out and defend them" and say publicly that they are not spies.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said in response: "We are deeply concerned by reports that Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been charged with espionage in Iran.

"We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities."

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is understood to have raised the case when she spoke to her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, last Friday.

The UK government advises against all travel to Iran.

"Having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you," it warns.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman have appeared in court several times but have not been officially convicted or tried.

Ms Foreman wrote in her poem to her family: "We wish that we could be together. To hug and hold each other forever."

For Joe Bennett, it is hard to contemplate the next few days without them.

"It's horrendous," he said. "They were the life and soul of Christmas."

A restaurant owner said his staff were "absolutely starstruck" after a surprise visit by two Hollywood A-listers.

Pradip Karanjit said Tom Holland and Zendaya came in to dine with friends at his restaurant in St Mary's Road in Market Harborough on Saturday.

Mr Karanjit, who runs Everest Lounge, said they were happy to accommodate the couple even though the restaurant was fully booked.

He added the pair - who star in the most recent Spider-Man film - did not come across as "Hollywood royalty", but were just a "normal young couple" going to a restaurant for a meal.

He said Tom Holland tucked into a chicken tikka masala, pilau rice and a garlic naan, while Zendaya enjoyed a chana saag bengan, paneer shaslik starter with a side of saag aloo.

"We were fully booked for Saturday so we were exceptionally pleased that we were able to accommodate them for the evening and that's where everything started," Mr Karanjit said.

"My staff were absolutely starstruck and we were, in a way, in panic mode but throughout the service they remained really professional."

Mr Karanjit told the BBC he was not in the restaurant when the couple visited, but said his phone went "really hot" with calls asking about their visit - and he had to phone the restaurant to confirm the news.

"I missed the whole experience, but it was something for Harborough itself and our restaurant as well," he added.

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Most companies and bosses would squirm at the idea of being called "woke" and may even regard it as an insult. But not Mark Constantine.

Lush's outspoken co-founder and chief executive wears it like a badge of honour and is not ashamed of turning it into a business philosophy.

The firm is renowned for putting activism at the heart of its bright bath bombs business, tackling a range of issues from trans rights to police accountability.

The 73-year-old is still steering the empire with the same principles that have defined its three decades on the High Street, which has seen it expand from a small Dorset store into a global brand with 869 outlets and an annual turnover of £690m.

Lush has taken some of the boldest stances in British retail including shutting down some of its social media accounts over concerns about the impact on young people, and more recently closing stores for a day to protest against starvation in Gaza.

"I like being woke," admits Constantine.

A self-confessed "over-achiever and a nerd" who loves learning, he is up before the crack of dawn for his main passion - writing about birdsong - in between his meditation and Alexander technique, a therapy for good posture and movement.

But his message is crystal clear to those who openly resent his values: "You shouldn't come in my shop."

It's a strong statement in an era when many businesses avoid political or cultural debates for fear of alienating customers and risking profits.

Ben & Jerry's has long worn its social activism on its sleeve, which has caused tension with its parent company.

Where Lush has remained an independent firm, Constantine believes selling out means sacrificing the business's values.

"If you've sold your business to someone else, I think you're asking a lot for them to do everything you want. What should Ben and Jerry have done? They should never have sold."

Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen maintains they were opposed to selling but as a publicly-traded company, says US regulations forced their hand and the brand's social mission was written into the contract with the parent company.

"I have a huge appreciation for Lush, their values, and how they use their most powerful tool - their voice - to advocate for those values," Cohen told the BBC, following Constantine's Big Boss interview, adding, "I'm not 'asking' for anything."

Speaking to the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast in the busy run-up to Christmas, Lush's Constantine says preparing for the festive period is "very like war".

"You have your troops, you have your supplies. Everything's organised and ready. And then it's just a question of when will the onslaught occur?"

He suggests that men may be more likely to be out buying last-minute presents, saying with a laugh the company sees a lot of men "who come in on Christmas Eve and tell us they're regulars".

But the key to attracting shoppers in the first place is by making retail "fun", says Constantine.

Lush has turned shopping into more of an experience with offerings such as spa treatments and parties for customers.

And it's experiences such as these that could help reverse the High Street's declining prospects, he believes.

While some business leaders have suggested that a rise in employers' National Insurance contributions and in the minimum wage could result in hiring freezes, Constantine views it differently.

"It's good news for everyone and it's good for the economy because you've got more money coming into the economy at the biggest point.

"The people who are getting these raises are at the bottom.

"I'm delighted to pay the extra money to get the staff up to a proper level, and I think we should celebrate that."

However Lush's pay record is not without blemish. In 2020, it admitted to underpaying its Australian workers more than $4m over nearly a decade. A company spokesperson told the BBC after the Big Boss interview: "We made mistakes, we found those mistakes and have paid the money we owed, and we are ensuring those errors cannot happen again."

In the same year Lush faced claims of poor working conditions at its Australian factory. The spokesperson added: "Since these concerns were raised we swiftly developed an action plan to address the areas of concern."

Lush is privately owned by all six co-founders – Constantine and his wife Mo, Rowena Bird, Helen Ambrosen, Liz Bennett and Paul Greeves – all of whom started the business in 1995 and have remained active since.

Two of Constantine's three children also work for the company, which is particularly pleasing for a man who believes family is at the heart of a successful business and is key to longevity.

"Family businesses give better returns on investment at every level," he says, claiming they last longer because they ride out the good times and the bad.

It's a lesson he learned from the late Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop where it all began for Constantine in 1977 – manufacturing and supplying products to Roddick's stores.

However, he says the government does not understand "the strength of family businesses" after it announced that from April 2026 family business assets of more than £1m will face inheritance tax when passed on to relatives.

He believes this tax will force many owners to sell up, which is the "real worry on succession".

A spokesperson for the Treasury said the government was "pro-business", pointing out that it had capped corporation tax at 25% and was reforming business rates.

"Right now, 53% of Business Property Relief – worth £533m – goes to just 158 estates. Our reforms will channel that funding into vital public services," the spokesperson said.

Nevertheless, Constantine remains bullish about the future of bricks-and-mortar shopping.

But he thinks modern retailing would benefit from a return to the old-fashioned values that once defined British retail, in particular innovation and kindness.

"I like to serve. I like the Jeeves kind of feeling," he says with a grin.

The rock and blues singer, Chris Rea spent countless hours on the road, and his love of cars and driving was the inspiration behind many of his songs.

He recorded 25 solo albums, two of which topped the UK albums chart. His distinctive gravelly voice and slide guitar-playing are preserved in songs such as Road to Hell, Auberge, On the Beach and Driving Home for Christmas.

Christopher Anton Rea was born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire in 1951 to an Italian father and Irish mother and was one of seven children. The family was known locally for Camillo's Ice cream factory and cafes, owned by his father Camillo Rea.

• Driving Home for Christmas singer Chris Rea dies aged 74

Chris worked in the cafes as a teenager and took his driving test in one of his dad's ice cream vans. When he was asked to do an emergency stop, the examiner fell off the box he was sitting on and cut his leg.

Rea said: "I had to take him to the hospital but he still passed me."

He was still working for his father when he bought his first guitar, a 1961 Hofner V3 in his early 20s.

Rea said that at the time he was "meant to be developing my father's ice cream cafe into a global concern, but I spent all my time in the stockroom playing slide guitar".

He played with local groups The Elastic Band, and Magdalene, but it was The Beautiful Losers which shone the spotlight on Rea, and he secured a solo recording deal with Magnet Records.

His first studio album was Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?, released in 1978.

The lead single, Fool (If You Think It's Over), was a big hit in the US, reaching number one on the (adult) contemporary singles Billboard chart, earning him a best new artist nomination at the Grammy Awards.

Michael Levey, co-founder of Magnet records, remembers him as "more of a thoughtful, introspective poet than a natural pop performer".

One of Rea's childhood dreams had been to write and compose music for films.

He achieved both with his movie La Passione in 1996. Rea also wrote the score and title track for the Soft Top Hard Shoulder film and starred in the comedy Parting Shots in 1999.

Rea was building a reputation for his slide guitar playing when his record company insisted on releasing Driving Home for Christmas in 1986.

He said: "I didn't need a Christmas song hanging around at that point. I did everything I could to get them not to release that record. Thankfully they did!"

The song's inspiration dates back to a difficult year for him personally.

In 1978 Rea had come to the end of his record contract and had parted ways with his manager.

The record company wouldn't pay for a train ticket for him to get from London to his home to Middlesbrough so his wife drove down to pick him up in her old Austin Mini.

On the way back up, it started snowing and they kept getting stuck in traffic and Rea said: "I'd look across at the other drivers, who all looked so miserable.

"Jokingly, I started singing - We're driving home for Christmas... then, whenever the street lights shone inside the car, I started writing down the lyrics."

"It's one of those moments that songwriters get - sometimes you can spend years and years writing. That one was five to 10 minutes. When you have a successful song, you don't remember thinking about it - it just comes out."

He didn't sing the song live until December 2014 after his crew badgered him to do it. He hired 12 snow cannons and let them off during the song.

"We put three feet of artificial snow in the stalls. The venue charged me £12,000 to clean it up!"

Bad traffic on the intersection between the M4 and the M25 was also the inspiration for Road to Hell.

Rea's musical journey was brought to a temporary stop when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer aged 33.

He had a procedure which resulted in the removal of part of his pancreas, the duodenum, the gall bladder and part of his liver. He was also a type 1 diabetic and had problems with his kidney.

His health problems made him reassess his career - he never toured America despite his popularity.

"I was never a rock star or pop star and all the illness has been my chance to do what I'd always wanted to do with music," he said.

In 1997, that included recording Let's Dance with his good friend Bob Mortimer for Middlesbrough Football Cub's FA Cup Final.

In one of Mortimer's appearances on the BBC's comedy series Would I Lie to You, Mortimer claimed that Rea cracked an egg into a bath for him after they'd finished recording it at his studio. The clip about whether that was a truth or lie went viral.

Rea was happy to admit that he was a vehicle addict with a huge love of cars, and travelling in them helped inspire some of his music.

He owned and raced various vintage cars including a 1957 Morris Minor 1000 police car.

He was friends with Eddie Jordan, owner of the Jordan Formula 1 team, and once helped out in the pit lane.

"I had the whole uniform. He put me in charge of the tyre-warmer for the rear right tyre of Eddie Irvine's car".

In 2016 he suffered a stroke, but still recovered enough to record and tour his 24th album: Road Songs for Lovers.

Rea said he spent an awful lot of time on the road travelling to London.

"I see couples in cars - are they married, workmates, having an affair?" he mused.

The musician liked to write about the simple things in life: "You get ideas for songs and you're actually on a road - the road always becomes a metaphor for where we're going in life," he once said.

Adolescence star Owen Cooper has said he was "nervous" about what the reaction to the drama would be after reading the script for the Netflix serial, which sparked a national discussion on online safety and misogyny.

In September, the Warrington-born teenager became the youngest male actor to win an Emmy award for his portrayal of a schoolboy accused of murdering a classmate.

Speaking on BBC's Graham Norton Show, the 16-year-old said: "Straight away I thought it was going to be more than a TV show - I read the script and then heard the word 'Netflix'.

"I was nervous about what the reaction to it would be, but a week after it went out everything blew up."

The four-part serial was created by writer Jack Thorne and Merseyside-born actor Stephen Graham, who said they came up with the storyline after two real-life cases that happened within a year.

The series analyses incel culture and how it has promoted misogyny online and bullying on social media.

Shortly after its debut in March, the prime minister hosted a Downing Street meeting with the programme-makers, telling them it was "a torch that shines intensely brightly on a combination of issues that many people don't know how to respond to".

Cooper was selected for the pivotal role after years spent at weekly drama classes in Manchester, where teachers said their "eyes were just drawn to him".

Speaking about the Emmy ceremony, where the cast and crew memorably celebrated their eight awards, he said: "It was crazy and all a bit of a blur. The amount of people I met there was insane.

"It really was the best day of my life."

He added "it has been a good year" and returning to school after the round of Adolescence promotions and award ceremonies "wasn't too bad".

"The first day back was a bit weird, but I've still got my GCSEs to do.

"I've only got about six months left and then I am gone - and then hopefully I am going to be an actor," he joked.

Cooper broke Scott Jacoby's long-held record for the youngest male Emmy winner. Jacoby was 16 when he won best actor for That Certain Summer in 1973.

The youngest Emmy winner remains Roxana Zal, who was 14 when she won a supporting actress award for Something About Amelia in 1984.

Cooper has also been nominated as best supporting male actor for a television Golden Globe, alongside his co-star Ashley Walters.

He also appears with White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood in BBC drama Film Club, which was filmed in Cheshire and Greater Manchester, and is also due to appear on the big screen as a young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights adaptation, with Australian stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.

The full interview will air on The Graham Norton Show on New Year's Eve at 22:30 GMT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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Donald Trump has sparked a renewed disagreement with Denmark after appointing a special envoy to Greenland, the Arctic island he has said he would like to annex.

Trump announced on Sunday that Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of Louisiana, would become the US's special envoy to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Writing on social media, the US president said Landry understood how "essential Greenland is to our national security" and would advance US interests.

Greenland's prime minister said the island must "decide our own future" and its "territorial integrity must be respected".

The move angered Copenhagen, which will call the US ambassador for "an explanation".

Governor Landry said in a post on X it was an honour to serve in a "volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the United States", saying the role would not affect his duties as Louisiana governor.

Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, described the appointment as "deeply upsetting" and warned Washington to respect Danish sovereignty.

He told Danish broadcaster TV2: "As long as we have a kingdom consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, we cannot accept actions that undermine our territorial integrity."

Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the territory was willing to cooperate with the United States and other countries, but only on the basis of mutual respect.

He said: "The appointment of a special envoy does not change anything for us. We decide our own future. Greenland belongs to Greenlanders, and territorial integrity must be respected."

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has revived his long-standing interest with Greenland, citing its strategic location and mineral wealth.

He has refused to rule out using force to secure control of the island, a stance that has shocked Denmark, a Nato ally that has traditionally enjoyed close relations with Washington.

Greenland, home to about 57,000 people, has had extensive self-government since 1979, though defence and foreign policy remain in Danish hands. While most Greenlanders favour eventual independence from Denmark, opinion polls show overwhelming opposition to becoming part of the US.

The dispute comes as strategic competition in the Arctic grows, with melting ice opening new shipping routes and increasing access to valuable mineral resources.

Greenland's location between North America and Europe also makes it central to US and Nato security planning and puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States.

A major incident has been declared over what police have called a sinkhole at a canal in Shropshire, leaving boats either stricken in a gaping cavity or teetering on the edge of a steep drop.

Pictures appear to show that the structural integrity of a stretch of waterway in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch has completely given way.

Two narrowboats are said to have sunk into the hole, into which water looks to have drained completely.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was responding to a landslip and confirmed a canal was affected. There are no reports of casualties, and people nearby are being supported by fire crews, according to West Mercia Police.

The force asked people to avoid the area and seek alternate routes.

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Family, friends and fans of Gary "Mani" Mounfield have turned out in force in Manchester to bid farewell to the much-loved bass player of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream.

Some of the biggest names of British 80s and 90s music, including his former bandmates Ian Brown and Bobby Gillespie, as well as Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, were all in attendance for the service at Manchester Cathedral.

Former Manchester United footballers Sir David Beckham and Gary Neville also attended.

Fans lined the streets as the funeral cortege went from the star's home in Heaton Moor in Stockport to Manchester city centre.

'Beautiful soul and spirit'

The Stone Roses singer Brown led the tributes with a eulogy, saying his bandmate was like "a brother to me" and a "beautiful human being".

Pausing briefly as he went into church, Brown said he was there to celebrate "what a beautiful human being that he was".

Asked what Mounfield meant to him, the singer said: "Everything. He's a brother to me, a musical comrade... a beautiful soul and spirit."

He added that the bass player "was able to laugh his way through any darkness" and was "the life and soul of any room he was in".

Brown, whose speech was played to the gathered masses outside - many of whom wearing bucket hats and Stone Roses T-shirts - was applauded after suggesting he should start a campaign for a lasting statue for his old bandmate.

"A fifty foot gold statue of Mani in the city," he said.

'R kid'

Hundreds of fans gathered outside the cathedral and applauded as the cortege arrived, preceded by a guard of scooter riders as The Stone Roses track I Wanna Be Adored played on speakers.

Mounfield's coffin - decorated with the classic paint splashed artwork from The Stone Roses first album - was carried into the cathedral as family and friends followed, with more applause from the crowd.

A Manchester United scarf also adorned his coffin, which was next to a wreath bearing the affectionate Mancunian term: "R kid".

Mounfield's bass playing was an integral part of The Stone Roses' "baggy" sound - as heard on tracks like Fools Gold.

He joined another seminal group, Primal Scream, in 1996 and played with them for 15 years, before rejoining his old band for a series of reunion gigs.

Primal Scream frontman Gillespie followed Brown in giving his eulogy.

He recalled having first met Mani at the legendary Hacienda nightclub in Manchester.

"He made me feel a million dollars. His enthusiasm and positivity was contagious."

Other Manchester musicians at the service included Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs from Oasis, Mike Joyce from The Smiths and Peter Hook of New Order, who played in a band called Freebass with Mani and the late Andy Rourke.

Bez from the Happy Mondays was also in attendance at the funeral, which was a veritable Who's Who of legendary music figures from the city.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, music journalist John Robb described Mani as being "very much the heart and soul of Manchester".

"He was something that's very typically Mancunian, very typically northern as well, you know, beyond the borders of Manchester," he said.

"The overarching trend is how many people say what a brilliant bloke he was to bump into."

With Mani on bass, Brown on vocals, John Squire on guitar and Alan "Reni" Wren on drums, The Stone Roses were at the forefront of the "Madchester" indie scene of the late 1980s and early 90s, which peaked with a famous gig at Spike Island in Widnes.

They released their beloved eponymous debut album in 1989.

The LP featured such classic songs as I Wanna Be Adored, She Bangs The Drums and I Am The Resurrection, all underpinned by the grooves of Mani's basslines.

It was named the greatest British album of all time by the Observer in 2004 and by the NME two years later.

Its harder-rocking follow-up Second Coming came out in 1994. Both albums reached the top five in the UK.

After the group disbanded in 1996, Mani joined Scottish rock band Primal Scream, first playing on their album Vanishing Point, released a year later, where his bass playing was a key part of krautrock-influenced lead single Kowalski.

Mounfield would go on to record four more albums with Primal Scream before leaving in 2011 to reform The Stone Roses.

The band released two further singles in 2016, but no full-length album followed and the group disbanded once more in 2017 after some old tensions resurfaced.

The Stone Roses played a number of UK gigs over 2016 and 2017 before their split, including a concert at Glasgow's Hampden Park, which would end up being the classic line-up's final concert.

Brown told the crowd: "Don't be sad that it's over, be happy that it happened."

'Beautiful person'

Mounfield died peacefully in his sleep of "respiratory issues" linked to the long-standing lung condition, emphysema, coroners confirmed to the Manchester Evening News.

His wife Imelda died in November 2023, three years after she was diagnosed with bowel cancer. The couple have twin boys, who were born in 2013.

Only last month, the bassist attended the funeral of another Manchester icon, Ricky Hatton, at the same cathedral.

His death came after he announced an in-conversation tour of UK venues, which would have seen him recount his experiences and memories in The Stone Roses and Primal Scream from September next year.

Squire last week shared a new piece of artwork in honour of his friend; while another band associated with the city, Doves, paid their own tribute during a weekend gig at Manchester Apollo, calling Mani a "beautiful person".