A fourth round of Iran-US talks over Tehran's nuclear programme has been postponed.

The foreign minister of Oman, facilitating negotiations, said Saturday's talks in Rome were being rescheduled because of logistical reasons, adding that a new date would be set when agreed by all sides.

It comes after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday warned that Iran would "pay the consequence" for its support of Yemen's Houthi rebels. Washington has also this week targeted companies it says have links to Tehran with sanctions.

President Donald Trump pulled the US out of a previous nuclear agreement between Iran and five other world powers in 2018, and has long said he would make a "better" deal.

Trump has previously warned of military action if these new talks, which began in April, do not succeed. Both sides described the first round of talks in Oman's capital Muscat as "constructive".

Iran's foreign ministry confirmed that latest stage of talks had been postponed, but Washington is yet to officially comment.

However, an unnamed US source told the Reuters news agency that Washington "never confirmed" its participation in the fourth round of talks, nor had their timing been confirmed.

The delay is unlikely to mean that the talks have broken down, with both sides eager to avoid war.

But reports from Tehran have described growing doubt about the usefulness of the talks, pointing to the new sanctions and what Tehran calls contradictory positions from the US delegation.

Part of Trump's "maximum pressure" policy toward Tehran, the sanctions announced on Wednesday target entities said by the US to be involved in the illicit trade of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals.

The US State Department said in a statement: "The Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict in the Middle East, advance its nuclear program, and support its terrorist partners and proxies.

"Today, the United States is taking action to stem the flow of revenue that the regime uses to fund these destabilizing activities."

Media reports in Iran also pointed to Hegseth's post on X earlier on Thursday, which was reposted by Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff who has been leading the US delegation.

"Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to the Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing," the post read.

Trump has said that he is looking for a solution that would close Iran's pathways to build a nuclear bomb. But there are those in his administration who are pushing for the complete dismantlement of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme.

They are also pushing for Iran to stop support for its proxies in the region, including the Houthis.

Iran says its programme is peaceful and that it has a right to enrichment. It is hoping for a deal to limit, but not dismantle, its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

After Russia, Iran has been under the most extensive set of sanctions in history – the sanctions that the US has imposed on the country.

President Massoud Pezeshkian has centred Iran's economic policies on the promise of the lifting these sanctions.

Deadly clashes between Islamist armed factions, security forces and fighters from the Druze religious minority near Damascus are another sign of the continuing fragility of the security situation in Syria after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

Outside players have once again been involved, with Israel saying it carried out air strikes to protect Druze civilians.

It marks another fault-line in Syria, which has been left fractured and divided in the wake of 13 years of devastating civil war and decades of authoritarian rule by the Assad dynasty.

The new Syrian authorities have said they are determined to bring unity and stability, but many inside and outside the country still point to their roots in jihadism and remain suspicious of their agenda.

Before President Assad was toppled, his rule had been re-established in the main cities in Syria and along the highways between them - as well as the coastal heartland of the Alawite sect to which his family belongs.

But there were other regions partially or almost completely out of his control.

They included Idlib in the north, from where Syria's current leader Ahmed al-Sharaa led his Islamist rebel faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - a former al-Qaeda affiliate - to victory last December.

In the north-east, Syrian Kurdish forces maintained semi-autonomy throughout the civil war and beyond.

And south of Damascus, the Druze have also had some limited autonomy.

Those divisions remain, although the Alawite areas are now the most serious flashpoints for Syria's new rulers.

In March, days of fighting between security forces and fighters still loyal to Assad left hundreds of people dead, including civilians. Other armed factions loosely affiliated to the new authorities also became involved and carried out revenge killings against local Alawites.

Such violence is the biggest fear both for those who support Sharaa and those who are against him.

The latest clashes to the south of Damascus again involved fighters from several of the armed factions still active in Syria and the Druze. Their religion is an offshoot of Islam, with sizeable communities not only in Syria, but in Lebanon, Jordan and Israel too.

It is the connection with Israel that prompted the country's air force to carry out several strikes during fighting in and around the town of Ashrafiyat Sahnaya on Wednesday.

The Israeli government said the operation was a warning and demanded that the Syrian authorities prevent harm to the Druze.

Syrian authorities said security forces were deployed to Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to restore security and stability, accusing what it called "outlaw groups" based there of instigating the clashes.

But the spiritual leader of Syria's Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, condemned the violence as an "unjustifiable genocidal campaign" and said people had been defending their homes from attacks by extremists.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 101 people have been killed this week in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, the mainly Druze suburb of Jaramana, and the southern province of Suweida, which has a Druze majority.

The UK-based monitoring group said that included 71 members of the Druze community, including 10 civilians and 35 gunmen who were shot dead in an "ambush" while travelling from Suweida to Damascus on Wednesday, as well as 30 members of the security forces and allied armed groups.

For now at least, the violence has abated, with the government said to have agreed ceasefires with local Druze leaders.

But the suddenness and ferocity with which the clashes erupted - prompted it seems by an audio recording circulating on social media of a man insulting the Prophet Muhammad, falsely attributed to a Druze cleric - shows the potential for Syria to slide back into conflict.

There is mutual suspicion between the new Islamist-led authorities and religious minorities like the Alawites and the Druze.

It is a combustible mixture, which is only further inflamed by the role that outside countries like Israel and Turkey continue to play. Both have advanced their interests inside Syria since the fall of Assad.

Israel has seized more land in the south of Syria beyond the area of the Golan Heights that it has long occupied.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the full demilitarisation of Suweida and two other provinces south of Damascus. He says the new Syrian government is extremist and that the presence of its security forces anywhere near the border would represent a threat to Israel.

Israel has played up its connection with the Druze community in the region, presenting itself as their defender, even if many Syrian Druze themselves do not see it that way.

The new authorities in Damascus have rejected Israel's moves as an infringement of Syria's sovereignty, although they have been keen to make clear that they are not seeking conflict with Israel.

Turkey was the key sponsor of the rebel forces that finally ousted Assad and it has established close ties with the country's new leadership. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced Israel's latest military intervention in Syria as a "dangerous and unacceptable provocation".

Tension between Turkey and Israel over their differing aims in the new Syria add another complication to the host of problems facing Sharaa and his government.

With so many forces both inside and outside Syria still dangerously at odds with one another, the goal of unifying and stabilising the country - despite some successes so far - remains hugely challenging.

Syria will need plenty of breathing space as well as financial and political support from the international community to make real progress towards a better future for its citizens, impoverished and uprooted by years of bitter conflict.

The luxury department store Harrods says it is the latest retailer to have been targeted by a cyber attack.

The firm said it had "restricted internet access at our sites" following an attempt to gain access to its systems.

It comes the day after the Co-op shut down parts of its IT systems to fend off a hack, while Marks & Spencer continues to deal with a cyber attack that has cost it millions of pounds in lost sales.

Harrods said its flagship store remained open, and it continues to operate its online sales.

Customers are not being asked to not "do anything differently at this point".

A statement from Harrods read: "We recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems.

"Our seasoned IT security team immediately took proactive steps to keep systems safe and as a result we have restricted internet access at our sites today.

"Currently all sites including our Knightsbridge store, H beauty stores and airport stores remain open to welcome customers. Customers can also continue to shop via harrods.com.

"We are not asking our customers to do anything differently at this point and we will continue to provide updates as necessary."

Meanwhile, M&S has seen its operations severely hampered by a cyber attack it disclosed last week.

Customers are still unable to place online orders ands helves have been left empty in some stores.

The police are investigating.

The Co-op said on Wednesday that it had shut down parts of its IT systems in response to hackers attempting to gain access.

On Thursday it emerged staff were being ordered to keep their cameras on during remote work meetings, and verify all attendees.

Experts say that indicates the company suspects hackers may be lurking in calls.

A woman from Surrey has become the oldest person in the world, at the age of 115 and 253 days.

Ethel Caterham, who lives at a care home in Lightwater, reached the milestone following the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, aged 116 on Wednesday.

Ms Caterham was born on 21 August 1909 and is the last surviving subject of Edward VII.

Celebrating her 115th birthday in August 2024, she said she "didn't know why there was all the fuss".

She said the secret to her longevity was "never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like".

The new record has been confirmed by Guinness World Records and LongeviQuest, a database of the world's oldest people.

'Remarkable milestone'

On her 115th birthday, Ms Caterham received a letter from the King congratulating her on a "truly remarkable milestone".

The King conveyed his "warmest good wishes" and "hoped that Ethel enjoys her incredibly special day".

The letter stated that His Majesty was "heartened to learn about Ethel's fascinating personal history".

Ms Caterham was born in Shipton Bellinger, in Hampshire, and was raised in nearby Tidworth in Wiltshire.

She was the second youngest of eight children.

At the age of 18, she was employed as an au pair to a military family in India.

She returned to the UK in 1931 and met her future husband, Norman Caterham. They married at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933.

Mr Caterham became a lieutenant colonel in the army, and the couple were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar.

In Hong Kong, Ms Caterham set up a nursery.

She has lived through the sinking of the Titanic, World War One, the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression and World War Two.

She has spent the last 50 years living in Surrey and continued driving until she was 97.

One of her sisters, Gladys, lived to be 104.

Ms Caterham has three granddaughters and five great grandchildren.

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A man accused of felling the world famous Sycamore Gap tree told police he did not have the skill or experience to do the job.

The tree had grown in a dip on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland for more than 100 years before it was felled in a "moronic mission" in the early hours of 28 September 2023, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.

Daniel Michael Graham, 39, from Carlisle and Adam Carruthers, 32, from Wigton in Cumbria, each deny two counts of criminal damage relating to the tree and the Roman wall.

In his interview with Northumbria Police, Mr Graham said he had been falsely accused amid an ongoing feud with others.

Jurors were previously told the tree was a much-loved landmark and had global significance for its position on the former frontier of the Roman empire.

On the night of 27 September, Mr Carruthers and Mr Graham made a 40-minute drive in the latter's Range Rover from Cumbria to chop the tree down, prosecutors allege.

The felling was filmed on Mr Graham's phone and the pair took a wedge cut of the trunk home as a "trophy", jurors have heard.

A video analyst said there was "no doubt" a car boot depicted in a picture of a wedge of wood and chainsaw was that of Mr Graham's Range Rover, jurors heard.

The image was taken a couple of hours after the tree was felled and a forensic botanist said there was "very strong evidence" the wedge, which has not been recovered by police, had come from the Sycamore Gap tree, the court heard.

The pair were both arrested on 31 October and taken for police interview, the transcript of which jurors were read on the third day of the trial.

Asked at the outset of his hour and 20 minute-long interview if he was responsible for felling the tree, Mr Graham replied: "No."

He said he only knew what everyone else did from the news and had gone to the site in the days afterwards to have a look at the felled tree, the court heard.

Mr Graham said he had been to the tree previously to do "the same as everyone else does", namely going for a walk and staying nearby in his campervan.

He told officers he did not know who had cut it down but did know who had put his name forward as a suspect, adding: "I'm going to get my own back."

Mr Graham said he and Mr Carruthers were embroiled in a dispute with others and it was their rivals who posted the accusations about the tree on Facebook.

Mr Graham said there was nothing on his iPhone 13 which would link him to the felling, adding: "I've got no worries about anything on that phone, nothing at all."

He said he did not have "a clue" what he had done on the night of 27 September as it was a month before, but added he "didn't do much" and would either have been at home or with a friend or his girlfriend, who he referred to as his "bird".

Mr Graham said he ran a groundworks company, DM Graham Groundworks, making "everything from house foundations, patios and fencing, the lot, it all depends on the weather".

He said he had three or four chainsaws at his yard which police would find "if they looked with their eyes".

Asked if he knew how to fell trees, Mr Graham said he could so small and medium ones and directed police to look at his Facebook page to see what work he had done.

"I've never done a large fell," he said, adding he had done "pretty high trees" but "nothing with major diameter".

Mr Graham was asked how he would cut down a large tree, to which he replied he would cut a notch in the front to mark the direction of fall then chop a wedge out the back, which jurors have heard is the "hinge-and-wedge" technique used to fell the sycamore.

He also said he left the keys in all his vehicles, including his Range Rover, and they were free for anyone to use.

Mr Graham said his "good pal" Mr Carruthers had used his Range Rover before and done tree felling work for him, adding: "I can put him up a tree with ropes and not worry he is going to come down."

Asked if Mr Carruthers ever stayed at his overnight, Mr Graham said "definitely not" and asked if police thought they were gay, the court heard.

The trial continues.

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McDonald's has suffered its biggest drop in US sales since the height of Covid, a fall that it said was driven by wider concerns about the US economy.

The world's largest burger chain's revenue at US stores open at least a year sank 3.6% in the first three months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, as customers reduced their visits.

It marked the steepest decline in like-for-like sales in the US since the three months to the end of June 2020 when many pandemic restrictions were still in place.

Chief executive Chris Kempczinski said customers were "grappling with uncertainty" but assured investors that the firm could "navigate even the toughest of market conditions".

McDonald's has been working for months to try to re-ignite its business, after facing backlash from customers, especially lower income households, over rising prices.

The firm's latest drop in sales coincided with a contraction in the US economy, which shrank at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first three months of 2025.

It marked the first quarterly decline since 2022.

The figures reflected just over two months of Donald Trump's presidency - as many firms and consumers reacted with confusion to his barrage of tariff announcements - but not his "Liberation Day" tariff plans on 2 April

Over the same three-month period, the slump in McDonald's US sales dragged its overall like-for-like revenue down 1% even as sales in Japan, Australia, and the Middle East grew.

Mr Kempczinski said: "Consumers today are grappling with uncertainty, but they can always count on McDonald's [...] for exceptional value".

"McDonald's has a 70-year legacy of innovation, leadership, and proven agility, all of which give us confidence in our ability to navigate even the toughest of market conditions and gain market share," he added.

Higher prices

Businesses have had a mix of reactions since Trump began revealing and enforcing his plans for tariffs, which are a tax payable by a person or firm buying a good from overseas.

This week, technology giant Intel said costs would rise and a recession was more likely because of Trump's tariffs.

Sportswear brand Adidas said they would lead to higher prices in the US for popular trainers including the Gazelle and Samba.

Meanwhile, delivery giant DHL paused deliveries worth more than $800 (£603) due to US trade policy before lifting them after negotiating "adjustments" to customs rues.

Trump and his allies have said the policies will help to bring more jobs to the US as firms base factories and operations the country to avoid the new taxes.

However, many companies and economists have said this will be difficult to achieve and will likely mean job losses and economic pain at least in the short term.

Reacting to yesterday's economic figures, Trump said he needed "a little bit of time" - calling the numbers a reflection of the "Biden economy", a reference to the former president.

After more than 20 years roaming the deep dark wood, the Gruffalo is coming back in a new book, which author Julia Donaldson says she was spurred to write by a campaign to reverse a decline in children's reading.

The book will be published in 2026, and will be the third about the beloved animal - after 1999's best-selling original and 2004's sequel The Gruffalo's Child.

Donaldson said she had the idea "a long time ago", but was inspired to finally put pen to paper after the National Literacy Trust (NLT) started using the previous two books in its Early Words Matter scheme.

According to the NLT, just 35% of children aged between eight and 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2024.

That is the lowest level since the charity started gathering data in 2005.

Some of those who had the original books read to them as young children will now be able to read the new story to their own kids.

The first picture book saw a humble mouse encounter a fox, a snake and an owl in the deep, dark wood - before meeting the Gruffalo itself, and tricking the furry monster into being scared of it.

Then in The Gruffalo's Child, the character's offspring went in search of the "big, bad mouse".

"It's always a challenge to write a sequel," Donaldson said in a statement. "Five years elapsed between publication of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, and now it will be more than 20 between The Gruffalo's Child and the third book.

"I actually had the basic idea for the story a long time ago, but couldn't think how to develop it.

"It was only when the NLT, whose work I'm very impressed by, used the first two books as part of their Early Words Matter programme that I was spurred on to get my idea out of the cupboard and see once and for all if I could turn it into a really satisfying story. To my surprise, I managed to do just that!"

She said she was "delighted" when illustrator Axel Scheffler came back on board. "I really hope that children - and adults too - will enjoy the new story, as I know what a wonderful experience shared reading can be," she added.

Publisher Macmillan Children's Books billed the new book as "a fresh and exciting adventure that has all the hallmarks of a Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler classic".

The first two books have sold 18 million copies, Macmillan said.

NLT chief executive Jonathan Douglas said "reading and sharing stories is critical for shaping a child's early speech and language development".

Since the two main Gruffalo books were published, there have been spin-offs and animated versions of both, the first of which was nominated for an Oscar.

Donaldson has written more than 200 books in total, and told the BBC last year it was "amazing" that The Gruffalo had such an impact, but that she thought it "hogs too much of the attention".

A key Westminster by-election is set to be held in Runcorn and Helsby.

Voters will head to the polls in the Cheshire constituency on 1 May, the same day as local elections in much of England.

The by-election has been triggered by the resignation of Mike Amesbury, who was convicted earlier this year of assaulting a constituent.

What is the make-up of Runcorn and Helsby?

Runcorn and Helsby includes the towns of Runcorn, Frodsham and Helsby, as well as various villages and a significant rural area.

In total, 22% of the constituency is classed as a built-up area, 60% rural and 14% as water or wetland.

It has a population of 93,520, with 21% of residents under 18, 57% aged 18-64 and 21% over 65.

Runcorn and Helsby is a new constituency that was only created in time for the general election in July 2024.

More than half of it (51.2%) came from the former constituency of Weaver Vale, with 37.1% from Halton and the remainder from three other former constituencies - Ellesmere Port and Neston, Eddisbury, and City of Chester.

Who are the candidates?

A total of 15 candidates are standing in the by-election.

Listed alphabetically, they are as follows:

• Catherine Anne Blaiklock (English Democrats)
• Dan Clarke (Liberal Party)
• Chris Copeman (Green Party)
• Paul Duffy (Liberal Democrats)
• Peter Ford (Workers Party)
• Howling Laud Hope (Monster Raving Loony Party)
• Sean Houlston (Conservatives)
• Jason Philip Hughes (Volt UK)
• Alan McKie (independent)
• Graham Harry Moore (English Constitution Party)
• Paul Andrew Murphy (Social Democratic Party)
• Sarah Pochin (Reform)
• Karen Shore (Labour)
• John Stevens (Rejoin EU)
• Michael Williams (independent)

What rules are in place?

Since May 2023, voters have had to show a valid form of photo identification at polling stations to vote in person.

Anyone who does not have photo ID can apply for a free voter authority certificate, and the deadline to apply for this is 23 April.

The deadline to apply for someone to vote on your behalf if you cannot get to a polling station is also 23 April.

Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.

Voters across England are heading to the polls to choose councillors and mayors. For plenty of them, it was the perfect excuse to take the dog for a walk too.

With parts of the UK expected to reach 29C on Thursday, this week's spring heatwave will undoubtedly have an effect on plants - both inside and outdoors.

Experts say that while the unusually warm weather this early in the year could pose some issues for some plants, others stand to benefit and flourish.

Indoor plants will need protecting, and trees could suffer - but outdoor plants may thrive if watered properly, in particular those producing fruit.

Here's what the experts we spoke to had to say about the warm weather - and what they advise green-fingered folk do to make the most of it.

Indoor plants

Increased temperatures and too much direct sunlight can have a negative effect on houseplants.

Signs like wilting, drooping, or changing colour could indicate that the heat is getting to your beloved leafy greens.

Conservatories and greenhouses, similarly, can get too hot unless shading is provided, Guy Barter, the Royal Horticultural Society's chief horticulturist, told the BBC.

"Houseplants can scorch in bright sunlight unless moved back deeper into rooms where there is more shade."

He suggested providing additional shading from now until September to prevent heat damage.

If space is a factor, using a sheer curtain can also help mitigate the impacts of direct sunlight.

Fruits and veggies

The warmer than average start to May is already having a noticeable affect on the timing of this year's harvest, according to Pauline Goodall, a strawberry farmer from Limington in Somerset.

In the past week, she told BBC Breakfast her small farm had gone from filling three to four trays of strawberries a day to 50.

"They're just ripening at a phenomenal rate."

Helena Dove, head of Kew Gardens' kitchen garden, said they had also already seen ripe strawberries - and that this was a trend for other fruits being grown in the UK.

"Traditionally, a good kitchen gardener would be proud to have ripe strawberries by Wimbledon," she told the BBC.

However, Mr Barter cautioned that while the days were warmer, night time temperatures were still relatively low, limiting the "helpful" effects of the warmth.

He said the risk of frost would pass in the south soon, allowing "frost-tender plants" such as dahlias and tomatoes to be planted outside.

Outdoor plants

During times of hotter weather, outdoor plants and flowers will typically require more water than usual.

That's particularly true for plants that have recently been put in the ground, according to Tony Hall, the head of Kew Gardens' temperate collections. He told the BBC it was essential that they are well watered "to encourage a deep root system".

"Hot weather tends to weed out plants that are in poor health and already struggling, but this can present an opportunity to plant something that is more drought tolerant," he said.

Mr Barter said newly sown seeds and recently planted vegetables, flowers and shrubs will need "careful watering" until they grow their roots out enough.

But he added that more warmth and extra light earlier in the year "helps them send out strong roots to counter any drought later in the summer".

For both indoor and outdoor plants, the advice is to water in morning or evening, but not in the middle of the day when the water will evaporate quickly.

Trees

At this time of year, trees are enter into their leaf expansion phase - a process that demands substantial physiological resources, including water.

Kevin Martin, Kew Gardens' head of trees, explained that the recent warmer weather - coupled with an existing soil moisture deficit - is creating a "worrying" situation.

If these conditions persist, he warned it could hamper a tree's ability to carry out photosynthesis, reducing growth and leaving them exposed to further decline over the summer.

Mr Martin suggested planting "better-suited species" of trees that have "greater built-in resilience as we experience more extreme conditions".

What should I plant for future warm weather?

This recent bout of warm weather is because of a fluctuation in the jet stream - a river of fast-flowing air that tends to divide warmer air close to the equator from colder air further north - bringing warm air up from the Mediterranean.

While scientists say climate change is making these fluctuations more erratic, how much influence climate change has on particular weather events requires a full scientific study.

Paul Hadaway, from Kent Wildlife Trust, told the BBC that the spring heatwave was part of a larger trend of "seasonality breaking down".

"Last year we had a mild winter, warm spring and then we had a wet summer – and that's not good for wildlife that's learned to adapt to a certain climate pattern," he told BBC Breakfast.

He said people in the UK could mitigate the negative effects of this seasonal breakdown by rethinking "how we manage our naturals areas", including planting new species that are better accustomed to these extreme swings.

Ms Dove, of Kew's kitchen garden, said that while "traditional" fruits like apples were struggling, "the warm spring means crops like citrus, kiwi, and tropical plants are thriving earlier, with longer seasons and better yields".

She added: "We're even growing peaches, apricots, and nectarines outside currently, something that would have been unthinkable in previous years due to the risk of late frosts and lack of early pollinators."

Meanwhile, the RHS says species of oak and ash tree could be more adaptable to withstand extreme changes in the seasons.

As Marks & Spencer (M&S) - and its customers - continue to reel from a major cyber attack, other people who have gone through similar experiences have been sharing what it is like to be targeted by hackers.

"It was an absolute nightmare", says Sir Dan Moynihan. He is the Senior Executive Principal and Chief Executive of the Harris Federation, a group of 55 schools in the London and Essex area.

It was hacked in 2021 - Sir Dan told the Today programme, on BBC Radio 4, that the culprits were the Russian ransomware crime group REvil.

"Their purpose was to blackmail us into paying four million dollars in cryptocurrency within ten days," he said.

"If we didn't pay in ten days, they wanted eight million."

The hack caused chaos. Sir Dan said the group lost teaching materials, lesson plans and registration systems.

More importantly, they also lost medical records and even the fire and phone systems were affected.

The finances of the school group were hit. Staff, and bills, were left unpaid.

Delay and don't pay

M&S has also been targeted with ransomware - malicious software which locks an owner out of their computer or network and scrambles their data.

The criminals then demand a fee to unlock it. Sir Dan says it was a demand he resisted.

Instead, the school group approached a firm of cyber specialists who employed a hostage negotiator. That individual then took on the role of an inexperienced school bursar - an administrator - who pretended to not know what was going on.

They took up negotiations with the hackers, with the purpose of delaying them for as long as possible so the school group could rebuild its systems.

"The Russians had stolen data from us - they didn't tell us what - and they threatened to put this stuff up on the dark web and cause us great embarrassment, and secondly they would lock down our systems."

Sir Dan said it took the Harris Federation three months to get everything working again, at the cost of £750,000. Among the work was 30,000 devices that needed to be "cleaned" following the hack.

Was there ever a question of giving the criminals what they wanted? Never, said the school group boss.

"The money we have is for disadvantaged young people, and secondly had we paid we would have opened the door for other school groups to be attacked."

'Like going back in time'

It is not known whether similar scenes are playing out behind the scenes at M&S, as the company has only issued limited information in its official statements, and has not put anyone up for interview.

But people claiming to work for the retailer have given a sense of the chaos on social media.

On Reddit, users who identified themselves as M&S workers, something the BBC has not verified, described the impact of the cyber attack

One wrote that most internal systems had been affected and that there had been experiments with "resuming operations manually with paper and pen".

Another poster said head office staff were working weekends, and that the problems were "like going back in time".

While some reported shortfalls in goods coming in, others described oversupply of some items, which meant food went to waste - with one saying they had to pour away multiple pints of milk.

What is clear is other companies are watching what's happening closely, even more so since another retailer, the Co-op, shut down some of its IT systems this week in response to a separate cyber attack.

"We're patching like mad," is what one retailer told the BBC.

In other words, they are making sure every part of system has the most up-to-date software and protections.

Sir Charlie Mayfield, the former chairman of John Lewis, said other firms understood only too well how vulnerable they were.

"Online shopping has completely transformed retail - as technology becomes more pervasive, the risk of this kind of attack rises with it," he told the BBC.

According to the cyber security breaches survey, conducted by the UK government, 74% of large businesses said they were targeted with cyber attacks last year.

The wedding dress designer to the hospital

The experience of being hacked can be a difficult one for individuals caught in the disruption.

Wedding dress designer Catherine Deane said it was "devastating" when her company's Instagram account was hacked.

"It felt like the rug had been pulled from under us. Instagram is our primary social platform, and we've invested the most amount of time and business resources into it.

"To keep the account current we post content every day. Suddenly all this work… it was just pulled."

She told the BBC last month of the difficulty of fixing the problem with Meta, the owner of Instagram, describing that expereince as "almost traumatising".

In June last year, staff at hospitals in London told of how they were left grappling with the aftermath of a cyber attack that led to many hours of extra work for their staff.

A critical incident was declared after the ransomware attack targeted the services provided by pathology firm Synnovis.

Services including blood transfusions were severely disrupted at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital and King's College Hospital (KCH).

Dr Anneliese Rigby, a consultant anaesthetist at KCH, told the BBC: "So what the labs are having to do is receive the blood sample, manually process that, which is a long, time-consuming process requiring a lot of staff which we don't have so we're having to get extra people to help with that."

It seems likely there will still be many difficult days ahead of M&S.

Additional reporting by Zoe Kleinman, Chris Vallance, Joe Tidy and Tom Gerken

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US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz is leaving his post with the Trump adminstration, according to media reports.

Waltz, who was the president's principal adviser on national security issues, has had a difficult tenure amid accusations that senior officials used insecure methods of communication to conduct government business.

Last month, he took responsibility for a group chat on the Signal messaging app in which high-ranking officials planned military strikes in Yemen in the company of a journalist who was inadvertently added.

Waltz's deputy Alex Nelson Wong has also reportedly been removed from his post in what appears to be a shakeup of the US' security establishment.

In March, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine Jeffrey Goldberg revealed he had been mistakenly added to a group chat on Signal, in which senior officials - including Waltz, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - discussed confidential information about a planned military strike on Yemen.

Mr Goldberg revealed he was added to the chat by Mike Waltz, who later took responsibility for the fiasco.

At the time, Trump and US intelligence chiefs downplayed the security risks and said no classified material was shared.

President Trump had defended Waltz, saying he was "doing his best" with "equipment and technology that's not perfect".

But Democrats and some Republicans had called for an investigation into what several lawmakers described as a major breach.

A prominent Tanzanian Catholic priest and government critic has been violently attacked amid rising political tensions ahead of elections due in October.

Fr Charles Kitima, who had attended an all-day religious meeting, was ambushed by two people at night in a canteen restroom near his residence in Dar es Salaam.

According to the police, he was hit on the head with a blunt object and was later admitted to hospital, where he is in a stable condition.

Eyewitnesses said Fr Kitima had been seen talking to several people before the attack, and was later found bleeding and calling for help, moments after individuals were seen fleeing the scene.

The police say they have detained a suspect, while investigations continue.

The attack on Fr Kitima, who is the secretary-general of the Catholic bishops' organisation, Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), has been widely condemned.

Boniface Mwabukusi, president of the Tanganyika Law Society, who visited the priest in hospital, said it had been "a brutal attack with the intent to take his life".

Posting on X, Mwabukusi said Fr Kitima had a message for Tanzanians that "we should not be afraid to pay the price for standing up for justice and fulfilling our duties to the country".

• Could this be the end of the road for Tanzania's great survivor, Tundu Lissu?
• Why Samia's hesitant reforms are fuelling Tanzanian political anger

Political tension is increasing in Tanzania ahead of the general elections, with rights groups raising concerns over shrinking civic space, accountability, and justice.

Opposition Chadema party vice-chairman John Heche said the incident was bad "news for the country".

Lobby group Legal and Human Rights Centre also condemned the "heinous attack" that portrayed a "bad image" for the country.

Fr Kitima has frequently criticised government policies and is widely known in Tanzania for his bold stance on democratic reforms and human rights.

The assault, which has alarmed faith leaders and the civil society, comes days after the Catholic Church called for the government to heed calls for electoral reform - a key opposition demand.

Leaders of Christian churches, whose followers make up 60% of the population, have become increasingly outspoken on justice and governance issues.

But their criticism has not been received well by some supporters of the ruling party, with some senior figures asking religious leaders to stay out of politics.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan last weekend warned the opposition that "no-one is above the law".

"We must not allow this election to be a cause for conflict," she added.

She also sought to downplay fears of rigging by vowing that the government would "do everything in its power to ensure that the election is free and fair".

Since last year there has been a wave of attacks and abductions targeting government critics. Senior opposition figures have also been arrested, including Chadema leader Tundu Lissu, who has been charged with treason.

But attacks of this kind on church leaders are uncommon.

Police have said the motive for Fr Kitima's attack is not yet known, with ongoing investigations looking to identify other suspects.

The government has not commented on the attack.

But Stephen Wasira, vice-chairman of the ruling CCM party, condemned it and sent a message of sympathy to the priest.

You may also be interested in:

• 'Manhandled and choked' - Tanzanian activist recounts abduction
• Tanzania opposition youth leader dumped at beach after abduction
• Tanzania's main opposition party banned from election

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