US President Donald Trump has said he will send weapons, including Patriot air defence systems, for Ukraine via Nato.

Trump told NBC News that in a new deal, "we're going to be sending Patriots to Nato, and then Nato will distribute that", adding that Nato would pay for the weapons.

His announcement came after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of having a "positive dialogue" with Trump on ensuring that arms arrived on time, particularly air defence systems.

Zelensky said he had asked for 10 Patriot systems, after a surge in Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in the past week.

Speaking in Rome on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader said Germany was ready to pay for two of the Patriots and Norway for one, while other European partners were also prepared to help.

After a phone-call with Russia's Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said he was "not happy" that progress had not been made towards ending the war, and he has since complained that Putin's "very nice" attitude turned out to be meaningless.

During his interview with NBC News, Trump said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday, but did not say what it would be about.

He said "Nato is going to reimburse the full cost" for the weapons sent on to Ukraine. Nato is funded through the contributions of its members, including the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday that he had urged countries including Germany and Spain to hand over some of their existing Patriot batteries, as they could reach Ukraine faster.

"We have continued to encourage our Nato allies to provide those weapons... since they have them in their stocks, then we can enter into financial agreements... where they can purchase the replacements."

The US defence department halted some shipments of critical weapons last week, raising concerns in Kyiv that its air defences could run low in a matter of months.

Among the armaments reported to have been placed on pause were Patriot interceptor missiles and precision artillery shells.

Then, as Ukraine was pounded by record numbers of drone attacks this week, Trump said more weapons would be sent: "We have to... They're getting hit very hard now."

Zelensky had appealed for the shipments to resume, describing the Patriot systems as "real protectors of life".

On Tuesday night, Ukraine was hit by a record 728 drones, and the Ukrainian president warned that Russia wanted to increase that to 1,000.

June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine in three years, with 232 people killed and more than 1,300 injured, according to the UN.

Since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has pushed to scale back US support for Ukraine.

The US was the biggest source of military aid to Ukraine between the start of 2022 and the end of 2024, giving $69bn (£54.6bn) in that time period, according to German think tank the Kiel Institute.

Trump has also pressed Nato allies to pledge more of their GDP to the security alliance. Last year, all European Nato members pledged to spend 2% of GDP on defence.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The US has been urging the two countries to reach an agreement to end the war.

Rubio told reporters that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a "frank" conversation on the sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia on Thursday.

Rubio echoed Trump's "frustration at the lack of progress at peace talks", including "disappointment that there has not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict".

He said the two had shared some new ideas about how the conflict could conclude, which he would take back to Trump.

Rubio declined to elaborate on what Trump said would be a "major" announcement about Russia on Monday.

US President Donald Trump reassured residents of Kerrville, Texas, that the government would help rebuild after floods hit the central part of the state last week, killing 120 people.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump met on Friday with local officials on the ground - standing in front of an upended tractor trailer - and surveyed the damage.

"I've never seen anything like it," Trump said after taking a tour of the devastation.

More than 12,300 volunteers have gathered to help search for the 161 people still missing statewide. Officials said volunteers have been working 10 hours a day.

Trump told officials at an afternoon roundtable that he and the first lady were in town to "express the love and support, and the anguish of our entire nation".

The first lady, who ordinarily keeps a low profile, joined the tour of the devastation. She said she hugged and prayed with families of the victims during her visit.

"My deepest sympathy to all of the parents who lost beautiful young souls," she said. "We are grieving with you. Our nation is grieving with you."

She also promised to visit again.

In the wake of the deadly tragedy, questions have been raised about whether adequate warnings were provided and why some weren't evacuated ahead of the deluge.

"Only an evil person would ask a question like that," Trump responded when the topic came up Friday, saying it's easy to sit back and wonder what could have happened.

The Guadalupe River levels, which submerged homes, roads and cars, caught many by surprise.

The catastrophe unfolded before daybreak last Friday as the river rose 26ft (8m) in the span of just 45 minutes. Young children and staff at summer camps along the river were asleep as weather alerts went off.

• Texans did not immediately receive flood alerts after request, audio reveals

Search crews in Texas are still sifting through debris for scores of missing people. Authorities have said they will not relent until everyone is accounted for.

Experts have said there were a number of factors that led to the tragic floods in, including the pre-dawn timing, the location of some homes and the extreme weather.

US President Donald Trump reassured residents of Kerrville, Texas, that the government would help rebuild after floods hit the central part of the state last week, killing 120 people.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump met on Friday with local officials on the ground - standing in front of an upended tractor trailer - and surveyed the damage.

"I've never seen anything like it," Trump said after taking a tour of the devastation.

More than 12,300 volunteers have gathered to help search for the 161 people still missing statewide. Officials said volunteers have been working 10 hours a day.

Trump told officials at an afternoon roundtable that he and the first lady were in town to "express the love and support, and the anguish of our entire nation".

The first lady, who ordinarily keeps a low profile, joined the tour of the devastation. She said she hugged and prayed with families of the victims during her visit.

"My deepest sympathy to all of the parents who lost beautiful young souls," she said. "We are grieving with you. Our nation is grieving with you."

She also promised to visit again.

In the wake of the deadly tragedy, questions have been raised about whether adequate warnings were provided and why some weren't evacuated ahead of the deluge.

"Only an evil person would ask a question like that," Trump responded when the topic came up Friday, saying it's easy to sit back and wonder what could have happened.

The Guadalupe River levels, which submerged homes, roads and cars, caught many by surprise.

The catastrophe unfolded before daybreak last Friday as the river rose 26ft (8m) in the span of just 45 minutes. Young children and staff at summer camps along the river were asleep as weather alerts went off.

• Texans did not immediately receive flood alerts after request, audio reveals

Search crews in Texas are still sifting through debris for scores of missing people. Authorities have said they will not relent until everyone is accounted for.

Experts have said there were a number of factors that led to the tragic floods in, including the pre-dawn timing, the location of some homes and the extreme weather.

US President Donald Trump has said he will send weapons, including Patriot air defence systems, for Ukraine via Nato.

Trump told NBC News that in a new deal, "we're going to be sending Patriots to Nato, and then Nato will distribute that", adding that Nato would pay for the weapons.

His announcement came after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of having a "positive dialogue" with Trump on ensuring that arms arrived on time, particularly air defence systems.

Zelensky said he had asked for 10 Patriot systems, after a surge in Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in the past week.

Speaking in Rome on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader said Germany was ready to pay for two of the Patriots and Norway for one, while other European partners were also prepared to help.

After a phone-call with Russia's Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said he was "not happy" that progress had not been made towards ending the war, and he has since complained that Putin's "very nice" attitude turned out to be meaningless.

During his interview with NBC News, Trump said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday, but did not say what it would be about.

He said "Nato is going to reimburse the full cost" for the weapons sent on to Ukraine. Nato is funded through the contributions of its members, including the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday that he had urged countries including Germany and Spain to hand over some of their existing Patriot batteries, as they could reach Ukraine faster.

"We have continued to encourage our Nato allies to provide those weapons... since they have them in their stocks, then we can enter into financial agreements... where they can purchase the replacements."

The US defence department halted some shipments of critical weapons last week, raising concerns in Kyiv that its air defences could run low in a matter of months.

Among the armaments reported to have been placed on pause were Patriot interceptor missiles and precision artillery shells.

Then, as Ukraine was pounded by record numbers of drone attacks this week, Trump said more weapons would be sent: "We have to... They're getting hit very hard now."

Zelensky had appealed for the shipments to resume, describing the Patriot systems as "real protectors of life".

On Tuesday night, Ukraine was hit by a record 728 drones, and the Ukrainian president warned that Russia wanted to increase that to 1,000.

June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine in three years, with 232 people killed and more than 1,300 injured, according to the UN.

Since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has pushed to scale back US support for Ukraine.

The US was the biggest source of military aid to Ukraine between the start of 2022 and the end of 2024, giving $69bn (£54.6bn) in that time period, according to German think tank the Kiel Institute.

Trump has also pressed Nato allies to pledge more of their GDP to the security alliance. Last year, all European Nato members pledged to spend 2% of GDP on defence.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The US has been urging the two countries to reach an agreement to end the war.

Rubio told reporters that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a "frank" conversation on the sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia on Thursday.

Rubio echoed Trump's "frustration at the lack of progress at peace talks", including "disappointment that there has not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict".

He said the two had shared some new ideas about how the conflict could conclude, which he would take back to Trump.

Rubio declined to elaborate on what Trump said would be a "major" announcement about Russia on Monday.

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When she started in vitro fertilisation (IVF) last November, Kim Mi-ae knew it would be a gruelling test of patience - something she had already endured when she conceived her first child three years ago.

But what shocked her this time around were the "crazy" waits at the fertility clinic.

"When I went in January, it felt like everyone had made a New Year's resolution to have a baby! Even with a reservation, I waited over three hours," says the 36-year-old Seoul resident.

While South Korea continues to struggle with the world's lowest birth rates, fertility clinics are in growing demand - a bright spot in the country's demographic crisis.

Between 2018 and 2022, the number of fertility treatments carried out in the country rose nearly 50% to 200,000. Last year, one in six babies in Seoul were born with the help of fertility treatment.

Underpinning the boom, experts say, is a shift in attitudes about family planning.

"We have a young generation… that is used to being in control of its life," says Sarah Harper CBE, professor in Gerontology at the University of Oxford. That control, she adds, may come in the form of single women freezing their eggs or couples trying IVF when they can't conceive.

"Whereas in previous generations there was a greater acceptance that whether you conceive or not can be a bit haphazard, now we have Korean women saying, 'I want to plan my life.'"

This is good news for South Korea's government, which is trying to lift the country out of a demographic crisis. One in five people in South Korea are now aged 65 or above. As a proportion of the country's total population, there have never been fewer babies.

The country has repeatedly broken its own record for having the world's lowest birth rate: 0.98 babies per woman in 2018, 0.84 in 2020 and 0.72 in 2023. If this trend continues, experts warn the population of 50 million could halve in 60 years.

But recently there is reason for cautious optimism: instead of another record low, South Korea's birth rate rose slightly to 0.75 in 2024 - its first increase in nine years.

"It's a small bump, but still a meaningful one," says Seulki Choi, a professor at the Korea Development Institute's School of Public Policy and Management.

It is too early to tell whether this is the start of a much-needed reversal or just a blip. The country's birth rate remains far below the global average of 2.2. But many like Dr Choi are cautiously optimistic.

"If this trend holds, it could signal a longer-term shift," says Dr Choi. "We need to watch how young people's attitudes toward marriage and parenthood are changing."

A baby bump

For years, having children was the last thing on Park Soo-in's mind. She was mostly busy at work, often only clocking off from her advertising job at 04:00.

"I was in a company with endless overtime, so it wasn't even something I could realistically consider," says the 35-year-old.

Things started to change after she got married two years ago. She landed a new job with better hours - and friends around her started having babies.

"Seeing and interacting with their kids made it feel less overwhelming," she said. "And watching my husband take initiative, doing research on pregnancy and childbirth and showing real effort, gave me confidence that we could do this."

When Ms Park and her husband had trouble conceiving, they looked to fertility treatments. Many others are doing the same, fuelling projections that the burgeoning industry could be worth more than $2bn by 2030.

"This is actually an important signal for policymakers that there are still some women who want to start families but are facing … barriers to doing so," says Jennifer Sciubba, president and CEO of the non-profit Population Reference Bureau in Washington, DC.

"More than anything, this is a sign that people are unable to fulfil their desires to have children."

Difficulty conceiving is just one barrier. At the heart of South Korea's population woes are a raft of social and financial pressures - from patriarchal norms that place most childcare responsibilities on women to long work hours and high education costs - which discourage many young people from having children.

For some, however, those dreams have merely been delayed. More than half of South Koreans say they want kids but can't afford them, according to a UN report. And by the time South Korean women have their first child, their average age is 33.6 - among the highest in the world.

"Looking back, it might have been better to start earlier," says Ms Park. "But realistically… now actually feels like the right time. In my late 20s, I just didn't have the financial capacity to think about marriage or kids."

The same goes for Ms Kim, who spent three years saving up for marriage and another four for a child.

"People spend their youth studying, job hunting, and spending money to prepare for life. And by the time they're ready to settle down, it's often late," she says. "But the later you wait, the harder it gets [to become pregnant], physically and emotionally."

Bumps in the road

For those who opt for IVF, the process of trying to conceive also becomes much more expensive.

"It's hard to say exactly how much IVF costs because it varies so much by person and cycle," says Ms Kim. "It's a huge and unpredictable expense that can really affect your finances."

As part of concerted efforts to boost its birth rate, South Korea's government has expanded its support for fertility treatments. Seoul now subsidises up to 2 million Korean won ($1,460; £1,100) for egg-freezing and 1.1 million won for each IVF treatment.

But even with government subsidies, Ms Kim says she spent more than 2 million won in January for IVF - mostly on out-of-pocket items that subsidies do not cover, such as supplements and additional tests.

And with less than half of IVF cycles ending in success, the costs can stack up quickly.

This has been the case for Jang Sae-ryeon in the southwestern Jeolla province. The 37-year-old started fertility treatment two years ago and has done five IVF cycles, each of which cost her around 1.5 million won.

"I wish things worked out after just one or two tries, but for most people, that's not the case," she says. "Without money, you simply can't move forward. That's the reality. And I think that's the most frustrating part."

Equally challenging, women say, are the workplace pressures they face when they commit to a demanding IVF schedule.

While South Korean companies offer several days of leave for fertility treatment, women say that in reality it is difficult to utilise them. Ms Kim says she underwent IVF for her first child without taking leave at all. Ms Jang, meanwhile, says her colleagues asked her to postpone her treatment.

"It made me feel like IVF and a full-time job just don't mix," says Ms Jang. "So I quit. But once I left, I struggled financially. That led to another cycle of quitting and job-hunting again."

Such financial and cultural pressures may have dampened many South Koreans' dreams of having children, but not Ms Jang's. She still gets teary when she recalls two pregnancies from early in her marriage - both of which ended in miscarriages.

"You know how they say when you have a child, you feel a love that's limitless?" she says. "I think having a child that resembles both of us and creating a family together is one of the greatest forms of happiness a person can feel."

Jota wife attends Anfield tributes

It's a dance, a viral meme, and now a trend among elite athletes.

Over the last few weeks, social media feeds all over the world have been flooded with videos of a sunglass-wearing young boy in Indonesia, balancing on the tip of a long racing boat and doing what is possibly the world's coolest dance.

It's being seen as the ultimate representation of "aura farming" - an internet phrase for the act of looking cool and building one's "aura" (another word for charisma, or rizz).

The moves, full of swag and easy to follow, are now being copied across the world with big sporting names like American Football player Travis Kelce, F1 driver Alex Albon, the Paris Saint-Germain football team all jumping on the trend.

And behind it all is eleven-year-old Rayyan Arkan Dikha, who told the BBC that the viral moves came to him on the spur of the moment.

"I came up with the dance myself," he told BBC Indonesia on Thursday.

"It was just spontaneous."

The 5th-grader from a village in Kuantan Singingi Regency was making his debut at the national Pacu Jalur boat race. "Pacu" means race and "Jalur" refers to the long canoe-like boats that are raced.

Dikha is the Togak Luan - the dancer at the tip of the boat whose role is to energise the crew.

In the widely shared video, he wears a traditional outfit known as a Teluk Belanga with a Malay Riau headcloth. Standing on the prow of the speeding race boat which is being rowed by at least 11 adults, he blows kisses to his left and right before rhythmically moving his arms - all without much facial expression.

In one dance sequence, he reaches one hand forward at chest level while sweeping the other underneath, then rolls both fists like a wheel as he transitions from left to right. In another sequence, he stretches one arm forward and the other backward, striking a balanced pose.

Videos featuring various sound tracks under hashtags like "aura farming kid on boat" and "boat race kid aura" have racked up millions of views on TikTok since late June. And Dikha himself has now been given a nickname, "The Reaper".

"He's known as 'the reaper' because he never loses," reads one top-liked comment under a clip that has got 1.1 million likes.

"Bro taking out opps[opponents] while aura farming is crazy," says another.

Many online users have been trying to copy his moves, posting videos of themselves, or their friends, recreating the dance.

Sports teams are taking notice too. On 1 July, the French football club Paris Saint-Germain uploaded a TikTok clip attempting the boat racing dance, with the caption: "His aura made it all the way to Paris." The video has been watched more than 7 millions in just 10 days.

The next day, Travis Kelce, NFL player and boyfriend of pop icon Taylor Swift, posted his own version, which has since garnered over 14 million views.

"Dancing at the tip of the boat is not easy," Indonesia's minister of culture Fadli Zon told reporters at an event meant to fete Dikha on Wednesday.

"Maintaining balance as a dancer who motivates the Pacu Jalur rowing team is truly not simple. Perhaps that's why children are chosen instead of adults - because it's easier for them to keep balance."

The concern is real, Dikha's mother Rani Ridawati told BBC Indonesia.

"The main concern is that he might fall," she said, but added that he was a strong swimmer.

"Sometimes if he falls accidentally or suddenly, I worry he might get hit by the paddles.

"But if he falls, there's already a rescue team. The rescue team is in place," she said.

Although Dikha doesn't recognise any of the celebrities who've copied his dance - he first says he knows Travis Kelce before admitting he doesn't -he's quickly becoming one himself - especially in his home country.

Last week, he was named a cultural ambassador by the governor of Riau, the province he comes from.

This week, he and his mother were invited to the capital, Jakarta, to meet with the country's ministers of culture and tourism, and to appear on national television.

He says he's "happy" his dance is being noticed around the world.

"Every time my friends see me, they say 'you're viral'," he says, beaming with a shy smile.

While his dream is to become a police officer, he has one tip for anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps:

"Stay healthy, friends, so you can become like me."

For weeks, a battle over language and identity has been raging in India's richest state, Maharashtra.

The row began in April after the Maharashtra government made it compulsory for state-run primary schools to teach Hindi as a third language, apart from English and Marathi (the state's dominant language). This, it said, was in line with a federal policy which mandates that children be taught three languages in school.

The National Education Policy (NEP), introduced in 1968, aims to promote and regulate education in India and the government updates it occasionally. The latest iteration of the policy, introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government five years ago, is being implemented in stages and has run into controversy earlier.

The Maharashtra government's decision met fierce opposition from civil society groups, language activists and opposition leaders who accused it of trying to impose Hindi - predominantly spoken in northern and central Indian states - in the state.

Language is a sensitive issue in India where many states, including Maharashtra, were formed on linguistic lines after independence. The local language is often intrinsically linked to regional pride and identity, and any change to the status quo can be perceived as a threat. For instance, last year, Kannada-language activists in Bengaluru, often called India's Silicon Valley, held protests demanding that billboards be written in the local language and not just English.

But the uneasiness is especially high when it comes to Hindi, the most-spoken language in India. Over the years, steps by various federal governments to promote Hindi have fuelled fears within non-Hindi speaking states that the local culture will be diluted. These worries have been exacerbated by high migration from less-developed Hindi-speaking states to other parts of India, especially the south, in search of jobs.

Abhay Deshpande, a political analyst, says that these anxieties have increased after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. Top leaders of the BJP - the party is stronger in Hindi-speaking states - have often courted controversy by making remarks about privileging Hindi.

As tensions rose in Maharashtra, the state government - ruled by a BJP-led coalition - revoked its decision and appointed a committee to re-examine the three-language policy. But the controversy refuses to die down.

The row comes months ahead of the long-overdue municipal polls which are set to be held in the state, including in Mumbai city, home to India's richest municipal corporation. It has sparked a political slugfest between the ruling coalition and opposition parties, with each side accusing the other of playing political games.

There have also been reports of violence against non-Marathi speakers in the state.

In April, two women in Thane district were allegedly assaulted in their residential complex after they said "excuse me" to a man who insisted they speak to him in Marathi.

The same month, a security guard in Mumbai was allegedly beaten up by workers from the opposition Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) - a nativist party known for its aggressive brand of politics - after he said that he did not know Marathi.

In May, a couple in Mumbai reportedly refused to pay a delivery agent after he declined to speak in Marathi. Last week, a shocking video showing a shop owner being assaulted, allegedly by MNS workers, for not speaking Marathi went viral on social media, sparking outrage.

• Hindi v Tamil: India's language battle heats up
• Bengaluru: Why English is dividing people in India's Silicon Valley

While the issue seems to have increased societal divisions, it has also brought together two political rivals almost two decades after they parted ways.

Last week, Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the local opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) party and Raj Thackeray, leader of the MNS - the son and nephew, respectively, of Bal Thackeray, patriarch of the erstwhile Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist party that gained popularity in Maharashtra in the 1960s with its nativist politics - held a joint rally to oppose alleged Hindi imposition.

While the strength of the truce remains to be seen, experts say that the optics of the cousins putting aside differences to "protect Marathi pride" could help their prospects in the upcoming municipal elections.

"The issue of Marathi language and culture is close to peoples' hearts," says Prashant Dixit, a former political journalist who has reported on the state for over two decades. "It is an emotive issue, especially for people living in Mumbai, and it has been so since the 1960s," he adds.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the erstwhile Shiv Sena, under the leadership of Bal Thackeray, conducted aggressive campaigns against people who had migrated to Mumbai from southern states, accusing them of taking up jobs that should have gone to locals.

In the decades after that, migration patterns changed and the party turned its ire towards people from northern states who were migrating to the city in search of economic opportunities. The party blamed migrants from states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for taking away jobs.

These tensions look set to continue. According to data from India's last census, there was a 40% increase in Mumbai city's Hindi-speaking population between 2001 and 2011.

These Marathi-centric agitations have earlier resonated with voters, especially in Mumbai, and some believe that it could help the Thackeray cousins in the municipal elections as well.

However, many have criticised this approach.

An editorial in the Indian Express newspaper titled 'Slap In Mumbai's Face' argued that politics centred around linguistic identity was "deeply troubling" and that its parochialism lent itself to violence, something that "should have no place in India's most industrialised state".

Mr Dixit agrees - he thinks that any support garnered by aggressive language agitations is likely to be short-lived.

"People want their leaders to deliver on their promises and focus on real progress, in the form of better jobs and policies, so that life is better for everyone," he says.

Amber heat health alerts have been issued for much of England as the third heatwave of the summer kicks in.

The official alerts have been upgraded for southern England, the Midlands and East of England.

The warnings will come into force at noon on Friday and will remain in place until Monday morning, the UK Health Security Agency said.

Less severe yellow warnings remain in place in place for northern England.

Temperatures are forecast to go as high as 32C across England and Wales, with elsewhere in the UK expected to reach the high 20s.

Friday could be Wales's hottest day of the year so far if the temperature exceeds 30.8C as forecast.

The heat will continue into Saturday, when temperature may reach 31C in parts of central and north-east Scotland, making it the hottest day of the year so far north of the border.

Sunday is set to be cooler as a north-easterly breeze sets in, though temperatures will still be in the high twenties and low thirties for many.

There is also a chance of a few showers across some eastern areas of England.

The heatwave will be over for most on Monday as cooler Atlantic air spreads, bringing cloud and some showers to northern and western areas.

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

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

Unite says it has suspended Angela Rayner from her membership of the union, amid a deepening row over the long-running bin strikes in Birmingham.

The deputy prime minister has been urging striking bin workers to accept a deal to end the dispute, which has seen mountains of rubbish pile up in the city.

The union said it would also re-examine its relationship with Labour after an emergency motion at its conference in Brighton.

Bin collection workers walked out in January, with an all-out strike going on since March. Unite is a major donor to the Labour Party, and has previously donated to Rayner herself.

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

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Sinner imperious as Djokovic future unsure

GP surgeries in England can offer advice to patients on getting back to work, including career coaching or exercise classes, as part of a pilot project to reduce the number of people who are signed off work sick.

The aim is to help people return to the workplace more quickly to reduce the length of time they need fit notes - better known as sick notes.

These are issued by health professionals if a patient is unwell or cannot work for more than seven days.

A total of £1.5m is being made available to 15 regions in England, and will be shared between GP practices in these areas to hire coaches or occupational therapists to support patients in their return to work.

The Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: "It's about fundamentally changing the conversation from 'you can't' to 'how can we help you?'

"When someone walks into their doctor's surgery worried about their job, they should walk out with a plan, not just a piece of paper that closes doors."

Health staff would be offered training to give work and health advice. People could be pointed towards fitness classes or career coaching.

In one case quoted by the government, a woman who was off work with a fractured ankle had an assessment with a fitness adviser and was referred for a 12-week exercise programme with the aim of strengthening the ankle.

The Department of Health and Social Care says that of 11 million fit notes issued electronically in England last year, 93% simply declared people "not fit for work" with no alternative support offered.

This new scheme expands on an initiative launched last October in the same 15 regions called WorkWell, jointly run by the Departments of Work and Pensions and Health and Social Care.

It involves NHS staff referring patients to other services. People in work but at risk of quitting have been given advice on mental health in the workplace.

In the new scheme, those out of work will be referred by NHS staff to services that offer support for finding a job, such as CV and interview techniques and liaising with employers on appropriate support.

Ministers say the policies are part of the move across government to encourage more people back into work with 2.8 million currently out of the workforce due to health conditions.

The Royal College of GPs said it recognised the health benefits of being in work and GPs would encourage it where safe to do so, but added that doctors did not issue fit notes without good reason.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the College, said: "We want to work alongside the Government on this scheme so it's important that it is not presented as a punitive measure for patients."

Prof Hawthorne also stressed that the new scheme should also not be punitive for "hardworking GPs", who are "doing their best under enormous pressures, caused by historic underfunding and poor workforce planning",

WorkWell is operating in 15 English regions and the new fit note initiative will provide £1.5m to be shared between them.

The regions are Birmingham and Solihull; Black Country; Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; Coventry and Warwickshire; Frimley; Herefordshire and Worcestershire; Greater Manchester; Lancashire and South Cumbria; Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland; North Central London; North West London; South Yorkshire; Surrey Heartlands.