UN-backed food security experts have found improvements in nutrition and food supplies in Gaza since the ceasefire but say 100,000 people were still experiencing "catastrophic conditions" last month.

In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that half a million people – about a quarter of Gaza's population – were living in areas suffering from famine.

Since a fragile ceasefire came into force in October, the UN and other humanitarian agencies have been able to increase food getting into Gaza.

Israel's foreign ministry said the report was "deliberately distorted" and "doesn't reflect the reality in the Gaza Strip".

The latest IPC analysis suggests that a month ago, half a million Gazans were still facing emergency conditions and more than 100,000 were still under the highest level of food insecurity - IPC Phase 5 - experiencing "catastrophic conditions".

It projects that number will continue to decrease but stressed the situation remains "highly fragile".

IPC Phase 5 signifies the most extreme level of food insecurity , labelled "Famine" for an area or "Catastrophe" when referring to households. The report said no areas in Gaza were now classified as "in Famine".

Israel rejected the original findings of famine by the IPC - which monitors and classifies global hunger crises - and has continued to criticise its methodology.

Cogat, the Israeli military body which controls Gaza's crossings, said the number of trucks with food aid entering each week went beyond what the UN had determined it needed.

"The report relies on severe gaps in data collection and on sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance," the body said in a statement.

The IPC said acute malnutrition was at critical levels in Gaza City and serious in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

In the coming months the situation is expected to remain severe but the number of people facing the most severe conditions is predicted to fall to 1,900 by April, according to the report.

But it added that if there were renewed hostilities the entire Strip would be at risk of famine.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month that the second phase of the US-brokered peace plan - which would see Israel withdraw troops further from Gaza and Hamas disarm - was close but key issues still needed to be resolved.

The IPC said key drivers of food insecurity included restricted humanitarian access, displacement of more than 730,000 people and the destruction of livelihoods - including more than 96% of crop land in Gaza being destroyed or inaccessible.

Israel imposed a total blockade on aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March this year, which was eased in May, saying it wanted to put pressure on the armed group Hamas to release hostages remaining in Gaza at the time.

Ahead of this IPC report Cogat said the body had not engaged with the US or Israel and its methodology, "reinforcing a false narrative, driven in part by Hamas-sourced claims, while ignoring the actual humanitarian conditions on the ground".

It also denied Israel was preventing winter and medical supplies from entering the territory and that there was a shortage of drinking water.

Unwra, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said while the report stated Gaza was no longer in famine, the situation remained "critical".

"Overall living conditions in the Gaza Strip are still catastrophic, made worse by the winter weather," it said in a statement, adding there must be "sustained, expanded, and consistent humanitarian and commercial access".

TNT Sports has been confirmed as live UK broadcast partner for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

The subscription channel takes over from the BBC which had been the principal partner since 1954 and provided free-to-air coverage for 18 games in a row.

TNT Sports is part of Warner Bros Discovery and is best known for screening Uefa Champions League matches as well as selected English Premier League fixtures.

The Glasgow Commonwealth Games will take place from 23 July to 2 August and feature 10 sports and six para sports.

TNT Sports said it would provide more than 600 hours of coverage in a "re-imagining" of the games.

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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There's a new boy band on the scene, but there's just one problem - they've never all performed together in person.

Boy Throb have been campaigning to get one million followers on TikTok so fourth member Darshan Magdum can secure a US visa.

He's currently, in his words, "stuck in India".

They've been building up a worldwide fan base with their videos, including a viral recording of their first gig at a Hollywood retirement home last month.

Maybe it was the group's choreography in their signature pink velour tracksuits and bright yellow trainers.

Or maybe it was Darshan, hitting the high notes via a Zoom call from a laptop beside his bandmates.

Whatever it was, it stopped people in their tracks, and Boy Throb smashed their follower target in just one month.

Now, they tell BBC Newsbeat, their two main goals are to win a Grammy and "get Darshan his visa".

But they can't escape the comments asking if it's all one big joke.

Boy Throb's members - Evan Papier, Darshan, Anthony Key and Zachary Sobania - met online, but Evan and Anthony first connected after unsuccessful auditions for US singing competition American Idol.

Anthony tried to impress judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie with his cover of Dynamite by K-pop band BTS in 2021, during season 19 of the show.

And Evan, who auditioned a year later, failed to win Katy over with a rendition of her own song, ET, but the tape never aired.

Refusing to let rejection hold him back, Evan gathered a dedicated TikTok following before joining forces with the rest of Boy Throb.

"We all wanted to get a band together that wasn't just a carbon copy, everybody looks the same, they sound the same," Anthony tells Newsbeat.

"We're all different, very different backgrounds, you can never confuse us."

There's certainly no mistaking Boy Throb for any other acts.

Between their baby pink uniform and quick cut videos - usually featuring Darshan superimposed via green screen - their style is definitely unique.

And then there's the lyrics, which often re-work hit pop songs so the lyrics describe the band's visa battle.

Their version of Manchild, by Sabrina Carpenter, goes: "Oh I'd like Darshan in the USA, oh I need him here by New Year's Day."

Oh, and their fans, who encouraged the group to change their name from @boyband2026, are known as "Throbbers" or, collectively, the "Throb Mob".

When you add it all together it could feel a bit... unserious.

But when Newsbeat asks if Boy Throb are sincere, band member Evan insists they are.

"People love to say something is satirical and people are just having fun, people love to just throw that word around," he says.

The band have also uploaded posts pushing back at "haters", something Evan says only makes them more determined to succeed.

"Honestly, I'm not even fazed because it's just people's opinions. We're doing it seriously," he says.

He recognises that their approach is an unusual route to breaking through, but says: "If parody is what people love, then we'll keep them coming".

Throbbers are asking what is next now that the group has reached their one million follower target.

At the moment it's Darshan and his green screen against the world, but Evan says they hope he will join them in the US in the spring if his visa application is approved.

He is applying for a O-1 US visa which is reserved for individuals with "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics".

The group have said an immigration lawyer advised them that securing one million followers will help their application.

"Our number one goal is to get Darshan's visa and get him into America so he can perform with us, and to get all those accolades that all these artists we love and know have," Evan says.

The pop-star hopefuls are staying tight-lipped, but Evan says they hope to give their fans "something to smile about".

"We also just want to spread joy," he says.

"I think that's something that has been really hard in the times we're in right now.

"And I think if we're able to spread the joy that we have through TikTok and Instagram and social the way we have the past few months, that feels like we're doing something right."

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

A woman and her ex-marine secret lover have both been jailed for 19 years for plotting to kill her husband in a caravan in south-west Wales.

Christopher Mills was attacked by two masked men with guns, gloves and cable ties at the caravan he shared with his wife in Cenarth, Carmarthenshire, on 20 September 2024.

Ethel Mills, 46, known as Michelle, looked straight ahead - avoiding her husband in the public gallery - as the judge handed down her sentence at Swansea Crown Court after she was found guilty at an earlier trial of conspiracy to murder Mr Mills.

One of the masked men, her lover of three months Geraint Berry, 46, of Clydach, Swansea, was also found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

The other masked man, Steven Thomas, 47, who was recruited by Berry, was cleared of conspiracy to murder at the trial.

However, he was jailed for 12 months after previously admitting to possessing a firearm that was used to attack Mr Mills. He will be released once formalities have been completed due to the length of time he has already spent on remand.

During the sentencing hearing, the court was told by 55-year-old Mr Mills' barrister that the attack had "pretty much ruined his life" and that he suffered with flashbacks.

During sentencing, judge Mr Justice Nicklin said there had been "significant planning and premeditation" despite the plot to kill Mr Mills being "poorly executed".

He said there was an element of "coercion or exploitation" by Berry on Thomas, who "bitterly regrets his actions".

Christopher and Michelle Mills had been married for six years when she began having an affair with Berry, a 46-year-old former marine. They were both working at a homeless charity for veterans but, within weeks, they were sharing murderous thoughts about her husband.

The pair hatched a plan to kill Mr Mills and make it look like suicide. The first two attempts in late August 2024 ended in failure after Berry fell and injured himself.

How lovers plotted a murder

The third and final attempt would end in disaster - but only after Mr Mills managed to fight off the two masked men he thought had burst into his caravan intent on attacking him and his wife.

Recalling the night of the attack while giving evidence during the murder trial, Mr Mills said he and his wife were listening to music at about 23:30 after sharing a meal together.

"Michelle had been on her phone," he told the court. "I assumed she was playing a game. Apparently not."

He told the court: "As I opened the door, he literally hit me right in the face with a pistol, 'Get back, get down' he was saying.

"I punched him in his face. I pulled his pistol off of him. He was dressed in overalls, with balaclavas. He was a lot bigger than me," Mr Mills added.

Berry and Thomas fled the caravan after Mr Mills wrestled both their guns from them, but their car had been blocked and they had to escape on foot, eventually finding refuge in some undergrowth in a nearby quarry.

Back in the caravan, his wife was trying to cover her tracks. She dialled 999 and told police two masked men wielding guns had attacked her husband.

She said her husband had sustained a head injury in the attack, and claimed the two men, who were dressed all in black with their faces covered, were unknown to her.

Within minutes, armed officers along with a dog unit and the force helicopter were racing to the scene in Cenarth, near Newcastle Emlyn.

Berry and Thomas were located by heat-seeking helicopter cameras cowering in a hedge. They were both arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary.

However, the police investigation quickly uncovered a more sinister intent, finding gas masks, balaclavas, cable ties and a fake suicide note purporting to be written by Mr Mills to his wife.

Mills was soon linked to a criminal plot to kill her husband and incriminating text messages were found on her and Berry's mobile phones.

They had made several references about killing Mr Mills, including one message written on 7 August that year, just over a month after their affair had begun, saying simply that Mr Mills "should just die".

Two days later they were planning different ways of achieving their fantasy.

There was talk of poisoning her husband with sleeping pills, while Berry brought up the idea of shooting Mr Mills.

The jury in their trial heard how Berry had asked an army and navy stall holder at Swansea market if he had guns and ammunition, only to be told this was not something they sold.

Berry also asked people how to make a Mini Cooper S - the car Mr Mills drove at that time - explode on starting.

Police found a message from Berry to Michelle Mills saying he was going to meet with some "boys" to plan "what they are going to do with him".

Michelle Mills, whose only concern, say police, was that she would not get caught, replied: "Yes, lovely, thank you."

With her husband injured and still reeling from the attack, Mills sent her final, damning text message to her lover.

Almost immediately after the men had fled the scene, Mills wrote to him: "Police have been called get away, delete all communications … please on both phones … I love you."

Eventually, the police were convinced not only about her guilt but also her central role in the plot to kill her husband.

When she was charged with conspiracy to murder, Mills asked officers: "I'm going to prison for this, aren't I?"

The jury at her trial also convicted her of perverting the course of justice, for which she was jailed for 18 months - to be served concurrently with her 19-year term.

Berry was also convicted of possessing an imitation firearm and handed an 18-month jail term that he must serve alongside his 19-year sentence.

Turkey and sprouts are synonymous with Christmas dinner and this year a rise in the price of both means the festive feast will cost you slightly more at the supermarket.

A typical turkey dinner with all the trimmings will cost about £32.45, according to research done for the BBC - a £1.24 or nearly 4% rise on last year.

It comes after bird flu led to large numbers of turkeys being culled early, while a drier spring and summer hit sprout harvests.

However, the humble but golden potato and parsnip have gone down in price, along with - if you have any room - Christmas pudding and mince pies. Our seasonal snapshot reflects that overall food price rises are beginning to slow down.

The centre piece to the traditional family feast - the turkey - costs £20, for a standard 10lb (4.55kg) frozen one. The same bird was £18.62 last year - that's a 7.37% rise, according to the research from retail tracking platform Assosia.

The ever-divisive Brussels sprouts went up by more than 9% to 94p a bag, it found.

The data is based on prices on 6 December 2025 and the same date in 2024, across own-brand products from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl.

However, every year as supermarkets compete for our Christmas custom many slash the prices of their bags of veg as low as 8p so there are bargains to be had.

The cost of a supermarket shop is now rising much slower than when food prices spiked sharply following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Turkey prices up after bird flu outbreaks

In Potterspury, near Milton Keynes, hundreds of free-range turkeys usually amble around farmer Susan Gorst, pecking at the grass.

But in November, all bird farmers in England were ordered to keep their flocks indoors and many were culled early to limit the spread of bird flu.

She says turkeys eat more feed when they can't graze outdoors so this pushed up her costs. But she says her customers understand she has to pass this on.

"I think people are now generally expecting an increase on most things year on year," she says.

The rising price of turkey "could have been a lot worse," according to John Muff, co-owner of Muff's Butchers in Wirral. He estimates it's up by £1-2 per kilo since last Christmas.

"All year round we've seen price increases, almost on a weekly basis, 5p here, 10p there," he says.

Pork has also gone up in price, with pigs in blankets now £2.59, or 5.3% higher than last year.

John says this didn't surprise him. The cost of making their sausages from scratch has seen a "steady increase throughout the year," he says.

He says "every aspect is going up," from animal feed, energy, transport and wages.

But he thinks higher supermarket prices might be tempting shoppers into a trip to the butchers.

"They're thinking to themselves: If I'm going to pay that sort of price, I may as well come in here and get the proper stuff," he says.

Sprout prices

Whether you celebrate or shun the sprouts at Christmas, the success of this little green veg is highly dependent on the weather.

Alan Steven, a sprout farmer in Fife, says this spring the ground was so dry he had to water his fields before he could plant his seeds - for the first time in 10 years.

He had the cost of irrigating twice more over the summer due to prolonged hot weather.

And so far the winter has been milder which means the sprout plants are more prone to disease, he says.

Spud prices hold steady

The price of root vegetables has remained firmly planted - with no change to the cost of carrots - and potatoes and parsnips just a penny cheaper than last year.

Scott Walker, chief executive of GB Potatoes, said planting and harvesting conditions were favourable this year, but the middle of the season, was "one of the driest in modern memory". The summer was the hottest on record in the UK.

Farmers who didn't have irrigation systems would have suffered and those who could water their crops would have had higher electricity and fuel costs, he says.

"We've had more modest rises than we've had over the past couple of years, but costs have still gone up," he says.

The trouble with potato prices is you never know what you're going to get, says Lucy Munns, a potato farmer in Cambridgeshire.

She said a good price for her potatoes would be £200 a tonne, but she was anticipating prices as low as £80 in December.

Hot spells while potatoes are growing causes them to be oddly shaped and they can be rejected by supermarkets and fish and chip shops, she says.

Pudding and mince pies fall in price

Another side dish which saw a slight dip in price was stuffing mix - dropping 1.32% to 50p for 170g.

And lashings of gravy will also be cheaper this year, with gravy granules dropping 7.35% to 91p for 200-300g.

If after the Christmas feast you still have appetite for a sweet treat you'll be glad to hear that Christmas pudding and mince pies are cheaper this year.

A pack of six iced mince pies will cost £1.77, which is 2.75% cheaper than in 2024. A standard 400g pudding comes in at £2.35, or a drop of 7.42%.

It's down to falling flour and sugar prices - there is currently a global sugar surplus.

In the UK, falling sugar, jam and chocolate prices contributed to lower inflation rates in December.

How to keep costs down

• Start with a budget: Plan ahead and add up hidden expenses, like tin foil for roasting a turkey.
• Write a food list: Decide on your must haves and what you might not miss.
• Plan your leftovers: A next day meal plan will mean less goes to waste
• Bargain hunt: Look out for online offers as well as yellow sticker items which have been reduced.
• Use your freezer: Christmas foods that freeze well include butter, meat joints and some cheeses like cheddar.
• Join up with friends and family: This means you can buy bigger pack sizes, which are often better value.

Read more from the BBC Food team here

Staff at two leading Bangladeshi newspapers say they were "gasping for air" as protesters, roused by the death of a prominent activist, set their offices alight on Thursday.

Sharif Osman Hadi, who had emerged as a key figure after last year's anti-government protests that ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was shot in Dhaka last week and died of his injuries on Thursday.

Hundreds of protesters stormed the offices of English newspaper The Daily Star and Bengali daily Prothom Alo on Thursday night and the demonstrations extended into the next day.

"It is one of the darkest days for independent journalism in Bangladesh," the English language Daily Star said in a statement.

For the first time in 35 years, The Daily Star could not publish its print edition on Friday and will be "inoperable for a while", consulting editor Kamal Ahmed told the BBC.

"Twenty-eight of our colleagues were trapped in the rooftop of the building for hours... They were gasping for fresh air," Ahmed said. "They were rescued only after additional military reinforcement came."

No one has been seriously injured, but large parts of the buildings were completely charred when BBC Bangla visited on Friday. Smoke was still seen coming out of Prothom Alo's building.

The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus condemned the violence, vowing to hand perpetrators "full justice".

"Attacks on journalists are attacks on truth itself," it said in a statement on Friday.

The country is making a "historic democratic transition", it said, which must not be derailed by "those few who thrive on chaos and reject peace."

Bangladesh is scheduled to hold elections next February, the first since Hasina's ousting.

It is unclear why the hundreds of protesters targeted The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, which have long been regarded as secular and progressive. Because of that, they often came under fire during Hasina's administration.

However, since the July 2024 uprising, the two newspapers have maintained their critical stance on some of the interim government's policies, which may have angered supporters of Yunus' administration.

Other prominent buildings, including the home of the country's first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was Hasina's father, were also vandalised and set on fire on Thursday.

Hadi, 32, was a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha, and part of the youth movement that topped Hasina.

He was also a vocal critic of neighbouring India, where Hasina remains in self-imposed exile.

Hadi made regular appearances on various media programmes after last year's protest and quickly attracted a wide following - as well as a steady pool of opponents.

Hadi had planned to contest in next February's election as an independent candidate, but was shot one day after authorities announced the date for the poll.

He was gunned down by masked attackers while leaving a mosque in Dhaka on 12 December. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Singapore.

Yunus called Hadi's death "an irreparable loss for the nation" and called it a premeditated attack by those conspiring to "derail" the election.

"The country's march toward democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed," he said in a televised speech on Thursday.

The interim government has declared a day of national mourning on Saturday.

Investigations are ongoing and several people have been detained over the shooting.

Hasina fled to India in August 2004, following weeks of student-led protests, bringing an end to 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule.

In November, she was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity after being found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the unrest.

The South African government has dismissed accusations by the US that it harassed and intimidated American officials during a raid on a centre processing applications by white South Africans for refugee status in the US.

Tuesday's raid saw seven Kenyans expelled from South Africa for working in the country illegally.

The US accused South Africa of publishing the passport details of its officials, saying this was "unacceptable" and warning of "severe consequences".

But South Africa has denied this, saying it treats "matters of data security with the utmost seriousness".

The US is offering asylum status to members of South Africa's Afrikaner community as it says the community is facing persecution. South Africa's government has rejected the claims.

President Donald Trump's administration has reduced its yearly intake of refugees from around the world from 125,000 to 7,500, but says it will prioritise Afrikaners, who are mostly descendants of Dutch and French settlers.

Tensions between the two countries has risen since Trump took office.

After the raid on the processing centre, South Africa expressed concern that foreign officials appeared to have coordinated with undocumented workers and said it had reached out to the US and Kenya to resolve the matter.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the US State Department said it condemned "in the strongest terms the South African government's recent detention of US officials performing their duties to provide humanitarian support to Afrikaners".

It did not providence any evidence to back up its accusation that South Africa had released the passport information of its officials.

South Africa's home affairs department described these accusations as "unsubstantiated".

"South Africa treats all matters of data security with the utmost seriousness and operates under stringent legal and diplomatic protocols," it said in a statement.

It had previously said that no US officials were arrested and the operation was not at a diplomatic site.

It said the Kenyans had applied for work permits, which had been denied.

The US has not addressed this directly but said it had "worked to operate the refugee program within the confines of the law".

Trump has claimed that Afrikaners are being subjected to a "genocide" in South Africa, even though there is no evidence that white farmers are more likely to be killed than their black counterparts.

He offered Afrikaners refugee status earlier this year after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law allowing the government to seize land without compensation in rare instances.

A first group of about 50 people flew to the US on a chartered plane - it is not clear how many others have moved, or are in the process of applying.

Because of the legacy of the racist apartheid system, the majority of privately owned farmland in South Africa is owned by the white community and South Africa's government is under pressure to provide more land to black farmers. However, it stresses that no land has yet been seized under the new law.

South Africa has repeatedly tried to mend fences with the Trump administration, most famously when Ramaphosa led a high-level delegation to the White House earlier this year.

However, this backfired when Trump ambushed him with images, videos and news reports allegedly showing that the government was persecuting white people.

Last month, the US boycotted the G20 summit in South Africa and has said it would not invite South African officials to its meetings since it took over the leadership of the grouping of the world's biggest economies.

Additional reporting by Khanyisile Ngcobo in Johannesburg

More BBC stories on South Africa:

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

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After 17 hours of at times heated debate, EU leaders agreed in the early hours of Friday morning to jointly raise €90bn (£79bn; $105bn) in zero-interest loans to keep Ukraine financially afloat for the next two years.

Kyiv had been clear: the money wasn't a nice-to-have; it was a must-have.

With the US under Donald Trump no longer looking to provide new direct military aid to Ukraine, the war-torn country has turned to Europe.

Without the cash, Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders he wouldn't have enough money to pay Ukrainian soldiers or buy the weapons he needed to counter Russian aggression.

The now agreed EU loan will be guaranteed by the bloc's common budget.

But in a blow to Brussels' desire to demonstrate decisive European unity over Ukraine to EU sceptics in Washington and Moscow, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic only agreed to support the plan - it required unanimity to be passed - if they were exempt from it individually.

Yet another indication of the divisions in Europe over attitudes to Ukraine and to Moscow.

Hungary and Slovakia are known to be closer to the Kremlin.

This brings them into direct confrontation with EU countries geographically nearer to Russia such as Poland and the Baltic States.

They view Ukraine's survival against Russia as existential.

If Kyiv were to lose to Moscow on the battlefield because it was cash or weapons-strapped, they believe that would embolden Russia and would be a disaster for European security and stability more broadly.

Arriving at the start of Thursday's fraught summit, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said EU leaders had a clear decision to make: pay money today, he said, or pay in blood tomorrow.

He said he wasn't talking about Ukraine. He was talking about Europe.

The new EU joint-loan plan for Ukraine replaces a much-debated EU proposal to raise the €90bn using frozen Russian state assets held in the bloc (€210bn euros' worth in total), mostly in Belgium.

Kyiv had described that idea as morally justified, considering the billions of dollars' worth of destruction wreaked by Moscow on Ukraine.

But a number of EU countries feared legal retribution by Russia. They worried too that the eurozone's international reputation as a safe destination for global assets could be damaged.

Brussels said on Friday it was considering using the frozen Russian assets eventually, to repay the EU loan to Ukraine. But that would be something to be worked out in the future - if a peace deal is signed.

For now, on top of the new EU loan, it's estimated Ukraine will need another €45bn euros to cover all its costs for 2026/2027.

Brussels hopes non-EU allies of Ukraine like the UK, Japan and Canada might pick up some of that tab. Not going bankrupt now also opens the door for Kyiv to receive loans from banks like the IMF.

The Vatican has announced that Richard Moth will be the new Archbishop of Westminster, making him the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

He succeeds Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who has held the role since 2009 and has stepped down aged 80.

For the past 10 years Richard Moth has been Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, and before that served as Bishop to the Forces.

As Archbishop of Westminster he will become president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and lead an estimated six million Catholics.

Cardinal Nichols reached retirement age when he was 75, but was asked to stay on by Pope Francis. In May he took part in the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.

The search for a replacement for Cardinal Nichols was led by the Apostolic Nuncio, or papal ambassador to the UK, who presented a list of potential candidates to Pope Leo.

Earlier this week, Archbishop Moth released a joint statement calling for empathy for "those who come to this country for their safety", reminding Catholics that Jesus's family fled to Egypt as refugees.

He has been one of the bishops leading the Church's response to social justice issues in the UK, including praising the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap.

Archbishop Moth will face the challenge of declining numbers of people attending churches nationally, though there is growth in some churches with immigrant Catholics.

In response to the growing use of Christian symbols at, for example, rallies organised by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, Bishop Moth has talked of his concern.

Last weekend, Robinson held an event in London saying he wanted to "reclaim" the country's heritage and Christian identity.

"We are concerned about the tensions that are growing in society and the desire by some groups to sow seeds of division within our communities. This does not reflect the spirit or message of Christmas," Bishop Moth said in a statement with the Archbishop of Birmingham.

The Catholic Church has been heavily involved in providing assistance to those who have suffered in the cost of living crisis.

As archbishop, Richard Moth will also lead the Church's constant challenge of dealing with safeguarding issues.

In 2020, a wide-ranging inquiry into child sexual abuse found that between 1970 and 2015 the Catholic Church in England and Wales received more than 3,000 complaints of child sexual abuse against more than 900 individuals connected to the Church.

In fact, the leadership of Archbishop Moth's predecessor, Cardinal Nichols, was criticised in the inquiry report, which said he cared more about the impact of abuse on the Church's reputation than on the victims.

At the time, Cardinal Nichols apologised and said he accepted the report, adding: "That so many suffered is a terrible shame with which I must live and from which I must learn."

Cardinal Nichols retires having led the Church in England and Wales for 16 years, during which it faced enormous change.

He is the son of two teachers and was born in Crosby. The lifelong Liverpool FC fan took up his first role as a priest in Wigan.

In 2010, he welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to England on an official visit.