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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'I still didn't understand'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'What have you admitted to?'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Decisions can be reviewed'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They said neither datasets were held in a retrievable way.

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

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

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

It came out of special measures in September.

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.