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Trump says EU and Mexico face 30% tariff from August

BBC 'Breaking' graphicBBC

President Donald Trump has announced that the European Union and Mexico will face a 30% tariff on imports to the US from 1 August.

He warned he would impose even higher import taxes if either of the US trading partners decided to retaliate.

The announcement was made in two letters posted on Trump's Truth Social website. Similar letters were sent this week to several other countries.

The 27-member EU - America's biggest trading partner - said earlier this week it hoped to agree a deal with Washington before 1 August.

In the letter to European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Trump wrote: "We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with the European Union, and have concluded that we must move away from these long-term-large, and persistent, trade deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-tariff, policies and trade barriers."

"Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal," the letter added.

The EU has been a frequent target of Trump's criticism, and in April Washington announced levies of 20% on European goods.

In 2024, the US trade deficit with the bloc was $235.6bn (€202bn; £174bn), according to the office of the US trade representative.

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 beauty and brutality of life in the shadow of Kashmir killings

Abid Bhat/BBC A soldier stands guard in the Betab Valley in PahalgamAbid Bhat/BBC

A centuries-old Persian couplet often repeated in Indian-administered Kashmir translates to: "If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here." And many Kashmiris insist it was written with Pahalgam in mind.

The small town, nestled between tall Himalayan mountains with a gurgling Lidder River flowing through it, is called the mini-Switzerland of India.

The valleys and meadows here have long provided stunning locations for Bollywood romances and attracted tens of thousands of tourists escaping the heat and dust of Indian planes.

But on 22 April, the tranquil valley hit global headlines when a sprawling meadow here turned into killing fields.

Militants singled out male Hindu tourists and murdered 25 of them in front of their families in Baisaran, a beauty spot about 7km from the town. A local Muslim pony handler who tried to help tourists was also shot dead.

The massacre brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of war. India blamed Pakistan for the killings – an accusation Islamabad denied – and the two countries attacked each other with missiles and drones over four days in May after which a fragile truce was agreed.

But in Pahalgam, time seems to have slowed down and the residents are trying to pick up the pieces and move on.

When I recently visited Pahalgam, where a large majority makes a living through tourism, I found a land and its people trying to deal with the collective trauma, mourning the loss of lives - and livelihoods. The peak tourist season here is April to June - and this year, most of it has already been lost.

REUTERS/Adnan Abidi Chairs and tables are scattered at the site of a suspected militant attack on tourists in Baisaran near Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Chairs and tables are scattered at the site of a militant attack on tourists in Baisaran

"What happened here is condemnable… an inhuman act. Innocent people were killed," says Javeed Burza, president of Pahalgam Hotels and Restaurants association.

Standing in the rear lawns of his hotel, he watches the Lidder roar past. On the other side are huge mountains covered by a thick carpet of trees. It's this sort of view that made this valley in south Kashmir such a sought-after destination.

Mr Burza says visitors came from all over India for its lakes, forests, meadows and glaciers – and went back raving about the local people and their hospitality.

"People here are poor, they live hand-to-mouth, but they are known to be very kind and helpful. Now we are all facing the consequences of this senseless violence," he adds. "We had bookings right until the end of June. But then everything fell apart like a pack of cards. There's not much left here now."

Abid Bhat/BBC The Jaffar family enjoy the river in Pahalgam Abid Bhat/BBC
The Jaffar family say their friends tried to discourage them from coming to Pahalgam

The region's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah says in the immediate aftermath of the attack, tourists fled the town and people who were proposing to come cancelled.

To persuade tourists to give Pahalgam another chance, he visited the town within weeks of the attack, held a cabinet meeting there and, ignoring advice of security officials, cycled through the streets.

For Mr Abdullah, Pahalgam's wellbeing is personal.

"It's where our school picnics were; it's where we probably first dipped our toes in running water. For some of us it's the first time we went white water rafting or trout fishing. For others, it's a day or overnight visit. For us, it's part of our growing up."

Mr Abdullah says it's always hard to make predictions but he hopes to see Pahalgam "where it was on 21 April this year".

Abid Bhat/BBC Fayyaz Ahmad sells Kashmiri embroidered shawls and dresses in Pahalgam's main marketAbid Bhat/BBC
Fayyaz Ahmad says the targeting of tourists has left him bewildered

On that day, it was packed with tourists, says Fayyaz Ahmad, who sells Kashmiri embroidered shawls and dresses in Pahalgam's main market, with shops lining both sides of the only road that passes through the town.

Many remain shuttered, but a few have begun to open in the hope of attracting customers. The day I met him was the first he'd opened his shop since the killings.

The last three seasons – post-Covid years – had been marked by bumper visits, Mr Ahmad says.

"Every morning at least 3,000 cars would arrive by 11am. There would be traffic jams lasting two-three hours. Many tourists would say they couldn't find accommodation."

His own shop sometimes got so crowded that a queue of shoppers would form outside. "Business was brisk," he said. But now he's had to let three salesmen go. They would be rehired only if business picked up, he said.

The targeting of tourists has left him bewildered. Since 1989, when an anti-India militancy gripped Kashmir valley, Mr Ahmad says, "the situation was really bad here".

"We were afraid to step out of our homes, but tourists who chose to come here were never harmed. We can't understand why they've been targeted now. Who could do such a thing?" he asks.

India blamed Pakistan-backed militants for the massacre in a region that both countries claim in full, but control only in parts.

Delhi accuses its neighbour of fuelling a long-running insurgency that has killed tens of thousands in Indian-administered Kashmir. Islamabad has long denied backing militants there.

In recent years, the insurgency had abated, bringing millions of tourists and a growing sense that the region was finally becoming safer. But that has now changed.

"Pahalgam ke naam par dhabba lag gaya [Pahalgam's name is stained]," laments Nisar Ali, an 80-year-old resident who makes a living by selling papier mache products.

"People had taken loans to open shops and buy taxis, now everyone is staring at an uncertain future. What's happened to our paradise," he asks.

Abid Bhat/BBC A girl drives sheep along the Baisaran roadAbid Bhat/BBC
The road to Baisaran remains closed for outsiders but is used by local people and flocks of sheep

Just 2km from the market, a signboard points to the untarred road that goes up to Baisaran, a 5km trek covered on foot or ponies. The concertina wire used to barricade the road has been moved to one side and local people and flocks of sheep can be seen making their way down.

Before the killings, it was one of the most popular places for tourists. The meadow offering a great view of the valley was open from 08:00 to 17:00 and would get thousands of visitors daily in the summer.

But it remains out of bounds now. Two men have been arrested for allegedly providing shelter to the militants, but those who carried out the killings have still not been caught - leading to fears that they could return.

Abdul Wahid Wani, the president of Pahalgam pony owners' union, who was the first to arrive at the scene, says 1,090 tourists had gone up to the meadow until 14:00.

At the time of the attack, there were about 300 tourists in Baisaran, he estimates.

At 14:36, he says, he received a call from the police asking him if he had heard anything about an incident at Baisaran.

"I tried calling colleagues who had taken tourists up to the meadow, but no-one answered. I figured something was wrong and my brother and I ran all the way up and reached there at 15:10."

The police and paramilitaries arrived 15 minutes later. That night, Mr Wani, wrapped up at 02:30. He says what he saw there keeps him awake at nights.

"I saw women and children crying and screaming. I saw bodies on the ground. I saw 10-15 people injured."

In the first videos of the aftermath that went viral on the day of the attack, Mr Wani can be heard trying to reassure the survivors, offering them water, telling them he was there to help.

Abid Bhat/BBC Abdul Waheed Wani, president of Pahalgam local pony owners' unionAbid Bhat/BBC
Abdul Wahid Wani was the first to arrive at the scene of the massacre in April

He summoned other pony handlers who arrived at the scene to help evacuate people - "carrying them down on our backs and wooden cots" - and gather bodies strewn about the vast field.

"I still can't forget what I saw that day. I panicked; I had palpitations. I'd never seen anything like that before."

When I met him in Pahalgam, he looked tired, his eyes sunk deep into his lined face.

"For many nights I couldn't sleep and sleep still eludes me. With the militants still on the loose, I worry what will happen if they come after us because we helped people they were trying to kill?"

But earlier this week, we exchanged messages and he sounded more optimistic.

The town has sprung back to life, with thousands of pilgrims arriving to take part in Amarnath Yatra - the annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine. It began on 3 July and will go on until 9 August.

Dozens of camps have been set up and thousands of police and security forces have been deployed along the route to ensure security.

Pahalgam is one of the two starting points for the trek to the shrine – and as many pilgrims hire ponies to take them part of the way, there's a steady stream of work for Mr Wani and his colleagues.

But hoteliers and shop-owners say they will have to wait for their turn until after the end of the pilgrimage since most pilgrims stay in cheaper camps and rarely purchase crafts.

Abid Bhat/BBC Tourists in PahalgamAbid Bhat/BBC
In June, 40% of more than 45,000 tourists who visited the Kashmir Valley went to Pahalgam

But many are taking heart from the fact that tourists have begun returning to the region. Ravi Gosain, president of All India Tour Operators, says in June, 40% of more than 45,000 tourists who visited the Kashmir Valley went to Pahalgam.

On the day I visited, there were families stopping for photographs under a "Love Pahalgam" sign.

Shabiba and Hamid Jaffar, who had visited last year around the same time, said it was so crowded then that they had to wait for half an hour to be able to take a photo here.

"When we decided to come this year, our friends tried to discourage us saying it's not safe," says Shabiba. "But it's totally safe and my children are so happy that they are saying let's move to Kashmir."

Mr Jaffar says their friends are calling them after seeing their photos. "And I'm telling them to come here for a holiday. Where will you see this beauty? Where will you get this peace?"

Abid Bhat/BBC A man drives sheep through the main street in Pahalgam Abid Bhat/BBC

Alzheimer's has isolated us, says Fiona Phillips' husband

Getty Images Fiona Phillips and Martin Frizell stand against a beige background. The photo is landscape - both smile and look towards the camera.Getty Images
Fiona Phillips and Martin Frizell attend the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Award in 2016

The husband of TV presenter Fiona Phillips says they have become socially isolated since her Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Phillips, who hosted ITV's GMTV breakfast programme, announced in 2023 that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's the previous year aged 61.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Martin Frizell, a former editor of ITV's This Morning show, said: "You become almost invisible."

He added: "We still have some close friends. But I think people think, oh gosh, Fiona, maybe she doesn't look the same, or they don't know what to say, or it brings into sharp focus their own mortality."

At the time of her diagnosis, Philips said that she had suffered months of brain fog and anxiety - and initially had attributed the symptoms to the menopause.

"It's something I might have thought I'd get at 80," Phillips explained.

"But I was still only 61 years old."

Frizell said he now does not know what to do either with her cookery books or designer clothes - both things she no longer uses.

"Fiona hasn't cooked in two years," he said.

"Part of the heartache now is she's got this dressing room full of the most amazing clothes but this horrible disease means she's more than happy just wearing the same T-shirt, the same trousers, the same thing - day in, day out."

Mother-of-two Phillips has written a memoir since her diagnosis which is due to be released on Thursday.

Frizell contributed to the book, saying he had intended to write "a few paragraphs" but ended up writing "24,000 words".

"I started off writing about what a great woman she is and just how horrible it is and dreadfully unlucky that she is the latest in the long line of her family to get it," he told the newspaper.

"Then I just got very angry as to what little support there is.

"As a family, we just kind of get through it and at some point we will need more support, but there's just nothing really."

In 2023, Phillips said the disease had "decimated" her family - with her mother, father and uncle all receiving a diagnosis.

She had cared for her parents and made two documentaries about the disease - one in 2009 called Mum, Dad, Alzheimer's And Me, about her family's history of dementia, and My Family And Alzheimer's in 2010.

The NHS says the term dementia encompasses "a group of symptoms associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning".

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in the UK but its exact cause is not yet fully understood. No cure currently exists for the disease although some treatments can temporarily improve symptoms.

According to the Alzheimer's Society charity, one in three people born in the UK will be diagnosed with dementia.

Speaking to ITV's This Morning on Friday, Frizell said: "Society has decided we're not going to take it as seriously as we should.

"The money that's there for Alzheimer's research, it's like buying a Starbucks cup of coffee, basically trying to fight a disease. It's impossible."

Phillips presented GMTV between 1993 and 2008. She has since led a number of documentaries and episodes of Panorama and was a columnist for the Mirror.

'Was this avoidable?': Victims' families seek answers

BBC Inayat Syed, 49, with his wife Nafeesa, along with their son and daughterBBC

For days, Imtiyaz Ali had been anxiously awaiting the findings of a preliminary report into last month's Air India crash that killed his brother, sister-in-law, and their two young children.

When the report was finally released early on Saturday in India, he read it carefully - only to be disappointed by what he said "reads like a product description".

"Other than the pilots' final conversation, there's nothing in it that really points to what caused the crash."

He hopes more details will be made public in the months to come.

"This matters to us," Ali said. "We want to know exactly what happened. It won't change anything for us now, we continue grieving - just as we have since that day. But at least we'll have some answers."

Javid Ali, hair short and wearing a brown button-down shirt, stands holding his daughter Amani, wearing a dress, beside his wife Maryam Ali, wearing a belted dress, glasses, and her dark hair short. Their son Zayn stands in front of them, Javid's arm around him.
Javid and Maryam Ali with their children Zayn and Amani, who died in the crash

The London-bound Air India flight 171 crashed into a suburban neighbourhood in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on 12 June, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground.

A preliminary investigative report released on Saturday in India said fuel to the engines of the plane cut off just seconds after take-off. The circumstances around how or why that happened remain unclear.

The report said that in recovered cockpit voice recordings, one of the pilots can be heard asking "why did you cut off?" - to which the other pilot replied he "did not do so".

A final report into the crash is expected in 12 months.

Shweta Parihar, 41, also wants answers. Her husband, Abhinav Parishar, 43, was on his way back to London. He was meant to fly later in the month but decided to come home early and ended up on the ill-fated flight.

She laments that no investigation will ever bring her husband back.

"For those of us that have lost loved ones, we've lost them, they are not coming back," she said.

"What will they do in the investigation, tell us how it happened? The life of how many people, 250 passengers, what will they say, sorry? Everything is done, everything is finished."

Parihar becomes emotional when she talks about the impact of the loss on her 11-year-old son Vihaan.

"He misses his dad badly," she said tearfully. Vihaan tells her that he won't fly Air India ever again.

A family photo with Shweta Parihar and her husband, Abhinav Parishar, and their son Vihaan
Abhinav and Shweta Parihar with their son Vihaan

Badasab Syed, 59, lost his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children in the crash.

He was hoping for answers from the preliminary report, but after watching the news, said he was left with more questions.

"The report mentions the pilots discussing who turned off fuel and a possible issue with the fuel control switch. We don't know, what does that mean? Was this avoidable?"

Inayat Syed, 49, with his wife Nafeesa, along with their son and daughter
Inayat and Nafeesa Syed pictured with their son and daughter

Badasab Syed says his younger brother, Inayat Syed, 49 was the heart of the family. Losing him, his wife and children, has shattered the entire family. The grief has been especially difficult on his 83-year-old mother, Bibi Sab.

"Losing her son and grandchildren has made her weak. I think she is not able to even tell us how she feels," he said.

Al Fayed family battle over luxury penthouse with 'leaky roofs and noisy lifts'

BBC Al Fayeds' apartment building, Hyde Park Residence on Park Lane, LondonBBC

The owner of a multi-million pound penthouse on Park Lane, central London, has been in an eight-year legal battle with companies owned by the late Mohamed Al Fayed and his family, the BBC has found.

The dispute began as a wrangle over a legal agreement relating to the installation of a new lift more than 20 years ago.

Since then, it has escalated into a row alleging leaky roofs, botched refurbishments and claims that a noisy lift was "maliciously" run at night to disturb the penthouse owner's sleep.

Lawyers for both parties declined to comment.

The row at the exclusive Mayfair address - documented in High Court filings - shines a light on the way some business dealings were conducted in Mohamed Al Fayed's empire in the years before he died.

Throughout his life, he was known for his combative approach, frequently resorting to legal action to resolve disagreements.

The luxury penthouse at the centre of this dispute is owned by Alan and Rosaleen Hodson. He is a property developer whose company has built thousands of homes in south-east England.

It is on the top floor of 55 Park Lane, known as "Hyde Park Residence", a large apartment building in a prime spot - right next to the exclusive Dorchester Hotel.

The building's website promises "an atmosphere of warmth and calm with the best of London living". A four-bedroom apartment is currently on sale for £8.5m.

Graphic with the title: The Al Fayeds' building overlooks Hyde Park. Shows a 3D map of Hyde Park Residence and the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane. Below is another map showing the building in relation to Hyde Park, Mayfair and Buckingham Palace.

In 2003, the Mail on Sunday described the address as having "sensational" views across Hyde Park and a "marble entrance foyer [that] has to be seen to be believed".

However, walking past the building gives a different impression. Some might consider it a little shabby for such a premium location, with peeling paint and a missing sign above the door.

Hyde Park Residence has been owned by the Fayed family since the 1980s, through Prestige Properties (PP), a company based in Liechtenstein.

This has been "under the control and held for the benefit of" Mohamed Al Fayed's estate and family since his death in 2023, according to the accounts of a subsidiary company filed in the UK. Al Fayed's widow Heini Wathen-Fayed is a director of this subsidiary called Hyde Park Residence Ltd, which manages some of the apartments.

Dave M Benett/Getty Images Mohammed Al Fayed and Heini Wathen-Fayed stand outside a building, dressed smartly.Dave M Benett/Getty Images
Al Fayed's widow Heini Wathen-Fayed, pictured with her late husband, is a director of one of the subsidiaries which manages apartments in the building

Al Fayed's son Dodi, who died in a car crash alongside Princess Diana in 1997, reportedly used to have a flat there.

When Mohamed Al Fayed owned Harrods, he would sometimes let managers and directors live in the block, and the neighbouring building, 60 Park Lane, which he also owned.

In 2024, the BBC spoke to 13 women who said Fayed sexually assaulted them at 60 Park Lane. Four of them said they were raped.

Leaky roofs

The first issue emerged soon after Mr Hodson bought the penthouse in 2004, according to court documents seen by the BBC.

Mr Hodson made extensive improvements to the apartment when he moved in - modifying the kitchen, upgrading the roof terraces, and putting in a new lift so he wouldn't have to use a flight of stairs to access the property.

An agreement giving him legal ownership of his new lift - by updating his lease - wasn't honoured by Liechtenstein-based PP, Mr Hodson claimed.

Like many large buildings, the ownership of Hyde Park Residence is complicated.

The freeholder of the building is the Grosvenor Estate, which has extensive landholdings in central London. The Al Fayed family's company PP has the right to use it for the next 110 years.

This leasehold arrangement, though time-limited, is considered a form of ownership.

Grosvenor should have been asked for permission before these improvements were started. But permission was not requested - although it agreed in 2006 to grant permission retrospectively for a payment of £100,000, which Prestige Properties paid.

Then, in 2014, Mr Hodson began to be bothered by noise from two of the buildings' lifts. Despite his complaints, the noise grew worse, he argued, until in 2015 the building managers agreed to suspend use of one of the troublesome lifts at night.

And in 2016, the two parties fell out further. PP demanded that Mr Hodson contribute £80,000 towards the money paid to the Grosvenor Estate, some years earlier.

Hyde Park. A tree lined path with benches on each side runs straight through the park.
The penthouse is across the road from London's famous Hyde Park

The following year, the Hodson's took PP and two other Fayed-controlled companies to the High Court asking for a list of grievances to be met and damages paid.

Among the issues, Mr Hodson said that he had wanted to extend the flat, adding a floor. He had spent £180,000 developing a plan, but PP denied him permission to build it, despite initially encouraging the plan – his lawyers claimed.

PP's lawyers argued the company hadn't given Mr Hodson permission to extend his property. They said that, as a property developer, he should have known that he wouldn't get permission without paying PP, as the landlord, millions of pounds.

Mr Hodson said that as a result of this dispute, PP allowed people to start using a noisy lift again, disturbing his sleep, which he thought was a "malicious and deliberate" response to a letter of complaint. He said on one night the lift was used 23 times between midnight and 02:00.

He also complained of poor repair work, which he said left him with a leaky roof and damage to his roof terraces.

The dispute still hasn't been resolved. In March this year, there was another court filing from Mr Hodson claiming "the roof is still leaking. The lift is still making excessive noise… The corridors and lobby have never been finished following refurbishment."

Lawyers for PP argue in reply that the noise from the lift is at "acceptable levels" and deny that it was restarted maliciously. They admit water leaked but say their clients have taken all reasonable steps to stop it.

PP is counterclaiming £344,000 in ground rent, plus another £286,000 of interest and costs.

The sums are trivial compared to Mohamed Al Fayed's wealth, estimated at £1.7bn at the time of his death. And it is remarkable that a dispute of this kind should have dragged on for so long.

But Al Fayed was known for never giving an inch to those he fell out with - and that approach seems to be continuing even after his death.

Alan Hodson, Heini Wathen-Fayed, PP, and Grosvenor Estate declined to comment.

Labour not defending workers, says Unite after Rayner row

Reuters Angela Rayner, a woman with short red hair and a fringe wearing a brown jacket, steps out of a black car holding a red folder.Reuters

The leader of the Unite union says Labour is not defending working people and they are turning away from the party "in droves".

Sharon Graham said Labour should be "seriously concerned" after the union voted to potentially rethink its relationship with the party, which could result in it formally cutting ties and funding.

It comes after Unite said it had suspended the membership of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her handling of bin strikes in Birmingham. A Labour source said Rayner quit Unite in April and defended her action on workers' rights.

The BBC has contacted the government for a response.

Delegates at Unite's policy conference voted to rethink their relationship with Labour should any of its members be made redundant in the course of the long-running bin strike.

The vote also saw the union decide to suspend Rayner over her role in the strikes.

The deputy prime minister has urged workers to accept a deal tabled by Birmingham's Labour-run city council to end the dispute, saying the authority had "moved significantly to meet the demands of the workers".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday, Unite's general secretary said Unite members "don't believe that Labour defends workers in the way we thought they would".

Rayner was attempting a "Houdini act" by focusing on "whether she wasn't or was a member at this juncture," she said, and Labour should instead be asking where it was "going wrong".

Ms Graham said its members reflected "what everyday people are saying" about the government.

"I have real difficulty in the way that Labour are making decisions," she said, "in terms of what they tried to do on winter fuel, what they tried to do to people with disabilities, what they're doing to workers".

The government faced major political pressure over its planned cuts to winter fuel payments and welfare, including from the left of the Labour party - which were subsequently reversed and significantly watered-down.

Unite is one of a number of unions which are affiliated with Labour - giving it seats on the party's ruling national executive committee and delegates to its annual conference.

It is also Labour's biggest union funder through the affiliation fees that members pay to the party - currently totalling £1.2m a year.

Ms Graham said disaffiliation was a possibility and that she was under pressure to call an emergency rules conference - where a decision about disaffiliation could be made.

Members needed to see that affiliation was "worth something," she said.

"At this present moment in time, it is hard to justify it, if I'm being honest. Would that money be better spent on frontline services for my members?"

She said access to political power was useful but not "if you're walking into a room and that political power keeps saying, 'computer says no'."

The BBC understands Rayner stopped paying for her Unite membership in April. On Friday, a Labour source called her suspension a "silly stunt".

A Downing St spokesman said on Friday that the government's priority throughout the dispute had "always" been Birmingham's residents.

"We remain in close contact with the council and continue to monitor the situation as we support its recovery and transformation," he said.

Unite members walked out in January over plans to downgrade some roles as part of the city council's attempts to sort out its equal pay liabilities.

Unite has also urged the council to guarantee long-term pay for Grade 4 bin lorry drivers, claiming in April that bin lorry drivers' pay could fall from £40,000 to £32,000 under new council plans.

An all-out indefinite strike was announced in March, and a deal to end industrial action has not yet been reached.

Conciliation service Acas has been mediating in the negotiations since May, but talks broke down on Wednesday. Council leader John Cotton said the authority had "reached the absolute limit of what we can offer".

On Friday, Birmingham Edgbaston MP Preet Kaur Gill said the union did not need to "get involved" as a "fair deal" was on the table.

She told the BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight that Ms Graham "should have felt confident in her local officers that were negotiating" and they were "getting close to a deal before she got involved".

What we know so far about the investigation

AP Firefighters tackle debris after plane crashAP

An Air India passenger plane bound for London Gatwick crashed shortly after taking off in Ahmedabad, western India on Thursday.

More than 240 people were on board the flight when it was involved in what the airline called a "tragic accident".

Details are still emerging from the scene. Here is what we know so far.

Where was the plane going?

Air India flight AI171 left Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport bound for London Gatwick Airport.

It took off at 13:39 local time, Air India said, and was scheduled to land in Gatwick at 18:25 BST.

All operations have been suspended at Ahmedabad's International Airport until further notice, a spokesperson said.

When and where did it crash?

A map of showing where the plane took off and where it crashed

The passenger plane crashed on departure from Ahmedabad.

According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the signal from the aircraft was lost "less than a minute after take-off".

Flight tracking data ends with the plane at an altitude of 625ft (190m).

The plane gave a mayday call to air traffic control, India's aviation regulator said. No response was given by the aircraft after that.

It crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar. Police told ANI news agency that it had crashed into a doctors' hostel.

Smoke seen rising in the sky after plane crash

Verified footage taken in central Ahmedabad showed huge plumes of black smoke in the sky.

The BBC's Roxy Gagdekar said people near the scene were running to "save as many lives as possible".

He said emergency services were involved in a rescue operation and trying to extinguish a fire, and described seeing bodies being taken from the area.

There has been no official confirmation yet on the number of casualties.

Who was on board?

There were 242 passengers and crew members on board, according to Air India.

Among the passengers were 53 British nationals, 169 Indian nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals.

The aircraft - a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner - had a total of 256 seats on board.

Air India said the injured were being taken to the nearest hospitals.

Officials have been instructed to carry out "immediate rescue and relief operations" and to make arrangements on a "war footing," the chief minister of Gujarat said.

Air India's chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said an "emergency centre has been activated" and a support team put in place for families seeking information.

How have India and the UK reacted?

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "stunned and saddened" by the crash.

"It is heartbreaking beyond words," he said in a statement on X, adding he had been in touch with officials assisting those affected.

UK Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer said the scenes emerging from Ahmedabad were "devastating".

"I am being kept updated as the situation develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time," he said.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK was working with local authorities in India to "urgently establish the facts" and provide support.

Buckingham Palace said the King was being kept updated about the crash.

Who are the victims?

Reuters The tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner is seen lodged in a building after the crash in AhmedabadReuters

Almost all those on board an Air India flight bound for London Gatwick Airport that crashed shortly after take-off in western India have died, the airline has confirmed.

There were 242 passengers and crew on board the plane, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian.

Officials earlier said some local people would also have died, given the populated area of Ahmedabad where the plane came down.

One passenger, British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh, survived the crash and was treated in hospital for injuries.

Details are still emerging, but these are the people so far confirmed by the BBC to have died.

The Nanabawa family

Family Handout Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee and their daughter Sara NanabawaFamily Handout

Three of the British nationals thought to have died in the incident were a family who lived in Gloucester.

Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee and their daughter Sara Nanabawa were all on board the flight.

A statement from Gloucester Muslim Society said it passed on its "most sincere and deepest condolences".

"No words can truly ease the pain of such a profound loss, but we pray that the family may find solace in the tremendous outpouring of compassion and solidarity from communities across the world.

"May their cherished memories provide comfort, and may they rest in eternal peace."

Adam and Hasina Taju, and their son-in-law Altafhusen Patel

Adam Taju, 72, and his wife Hasina, 70, were flying back from Ahmedabad with their 51-year-old son-in-law, Altafhusen Patel. All three lived in London.

The couple's granddaughter, Ammaarah Taju, spoke of her shock and disbelief at her parents home in Blackburn.

She said her father, Altaf Taju, had driven to London to be with his sister as they received updates about the crash from Air India and government officials.

Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek

Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, a married British couple, ran a spiritual wellness centre in London.

They posted on Instagram earlier on Thursday saying they were about to board the flight from Ahmedabad airport.

In the video, they were seen laughing and joking with each other about their trip to India.

Ajay Kumar Ramesh

Ajay Kumar Ramesh was on the flight, sat alongside his brother, the British surviving passenger Vishwashkumar Ramesh.

His cousin, Ajay Valgi, told the BBC that Vishwashkumar Ramesh had called his family to say he was "fine", but he did not know the whereabouts of his brother.

Vijay Rupani

Hindustan Times via Getty Images Vijay Rupani seen in a photograph speaking at what appears to be a news conferenceHindustan Times via Getty Images

Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of India's Gujarat state, was killed in the crash, the country's civil aviation minister told reporters.

Rupani served as the chief minister of the western Indian state from 2016-21.

He was a member of the governing BJP party.

Singson

Singson was a member of the cabin crew on board Air India flight 171, family said.

Outside the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, her cousin, T. Thanglingo Haokip, told the BBC he was trying to get information about her but was unsuccessful.

He added that Singson had a mother and brother who were "wholly dependent on her" as she "was the only breadwinner" in her family".

Fuel to engines cut off before crash, preliminary report says

Reuters A tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen coming out of a buildingReuters
260 people died when the Air India plane crashed in June, including 240 who had been onboard and 20 more at ground level

Fuel to the engines of the Air India plane involved in a deadly crash was cut off moments after takeoff, a preliminary report has found.

In recovered cockpit voice recordings, the report said one of the pilots can be heard asking "why did you cut off?" - to which the other pilot replied he "did not do so".

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after taking off on 12 June from Ahmedabad airport in western India, killing 260 people, most of them passengers. One British national miraculously survived the crash.

An investigation led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is ongoing, with a final, more detailed report expected in 12 months.

According to data from the flight recorder, both of the plane's fuel control switches moved from the run to the cutoff position in the space of a second, shortly after takeoff.

The switches are usually only cut off to turn off the engines after landing, or during emergency situations such as an engine fire - rather than during takeoff.

The cutoff caused both engines to lose thrust, the AAIB report said.

There is then confusion heard in the cockpit, with one pilot asking the other why they had switched off the fuel, which the other denied. The Gatwick-bound plane was being piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kundar. The report does not specify which voice is which.

The fuel switches then moved back into their normal inflight position, automatically starting the process of relighting the engines. One engine, the report said, was able to regain thrust - but could not reverse the plane's deceleration.

One of the pilots submitted a mayday call just before the plane plummeted and crashed into a building used as doctors' accommodation, causing an explosion.

Both pilots had an "adequate rest period prior" to the flight, the report said.

Experts had previously speculated that birds could have caused the crash, but the report said that "no significant bird activity" was observed in the vicinity of the plane's flight path.

The report said: "At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to B787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers".

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin in 2019 highlighting that some Boeing 737 fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged, the report said.

The issue was not deemed an unsafe condition requiring an Airworthiness Directive - a legally enforceable regulation.

The same switch design is used in Air India's VT-ANB aircraft which crashed. As the bulletin was advisory, Air India did not perform inspections.

There had been no defect reported pertaining to the fuel control switch since 2023 on VT-ANB, the report said.

Experts who spoke to the BBC offered differing opinions on whether this could have played a factor.

Close-up view of Dreamliner 787 aircraft cockpit control panel with labelled components. The thrust levers are prominent in the centre. Engine fuel control switches, which cut fuel supply and shut down engines, are on the left. Switches with a stop lock mechanism that must be lifted before turning are on the right. Guard brackets prevent accidental movement of the switches.

An Air India spokesperson said the airline acknowledged receipt of the preliminary report.

"We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses. Given the active nature of the investigation, we are unable to comment on specific details and refer all such enquiries to the AAIB," the Air India spokesperson added.

In a statement, Boeing said it would defer to AAIB to provide information about the crashed plane, in adherence with protocol under the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It also said it continued to support the investigation and its customer, Air India.

The US National Transportation Safety Board in a statement thanked Indian officials for their cooperation and noted that there were no recommended actions in the report aimed at operators of Boeing-787 jets or the GE engines.

While no conclusions are drawn and the report notes that investigations are ongoing, the focus appears to be on the actions of the pilots.

The preliminary investigation into the crash - one of the worst in recent aviation history - was led by the AAIB, with inputs from Boeing, engine-maker GE, Air India, and aviation regulators from India, the UK and the US.

Under ICAO rules, preliminary reports should be filed within 30 days of a crash, although it isn't mandatory to make them public.

The accident marked the first time a 787-8 Dreamliner suffered a fatal crash since entering service in 2011.

In the days following the crash, the aircraft's Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs) - or "black boxes" - were recovered from the debris, a crucial breakthrough for investigators looking to reconstruct the flight's final moments.

These devices capture extensive flight data and cockpit audio - from pilot radio calls to ambient cockpit sounds.

The crash is a major setback for Air India, which is in the middle of a business turnaround following its privatisation. It was bought out by the Tata Group from the Indian government in 2022.

The airline has announced a cut in international operations on its wide-body aircraft as it grapples with several disruptions in the aftermath of the crash.

The tragedy has also put the spotlight on aviation safety in India.

Earlier this month, India's civil aviation regulator completed enhanced safety checks on 26 out of Air India's 33 Dreamliners without finding major concerns.

Speaking to the BBC this week, the chief of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) - India's aviation safety regulator - defended the country's record, saying that between 2010 and 2024 it consistently performed better than the world average when it came to the number of accidents annually, except for in two years in which major accidents happened.

However, there have been a number of disquieting reports in recent weeks, highlighting maintenance oversights and training shortfalls.

Heatwave set to peak with 34C temperatures possible

PA Media A woman wearing a black, white, yellow, and orange striped jumpsuit holds an umbrella in the sun. A man wearing a grey shirt and white shorts holds her hand and walks with her.PA Media

Northern Ireland and Scotland will see temperatures soar as the UK's third heatwave of the year spreads across the country.

Scotland is likely to see its warmest day of the year with temperatures of up to 31C. Northern Ireland could potentially the mercury rise above 29.5C - the highest recorded temperature so far this year.

For England and Wales, temperatures are expected to be widely in the high 20s to low 30s with the south-west Midlands and south-east Wales predicted to see the hottest temperatures.

However, for eastern parts of England, an easterly breeze will bring slightly cooler temperatures though most areas will still meet heatwave thresholds.

On Friday, Astwood Bank in the West Midlands recorded the highest temperature of 34.7C.

Amber heat health alerts for southern England, the Midlands, and East Anglia will remain in place until Monday, the UK Health Security Agency said.

Less severe yellow warnings remain in place for northern England, while Scotland and Northern Ireland face warnings of wildfires on Saturday and Sunday.

Yellow weather alerts are issued during periods that are only likely to affect those who are particularly vulnerable, such as the elderly, and those with existing health conditions.

Amber alerts are issued in situations that could put the whole population at risk.

For the thousands expected to attend the Wimbledon finals this weekend, temperatures in south-west London will remain high on Saturday and are expected to reach 30C, possibly 32C in some areas, according the Met Office.

Sunday will see a slight dip to 29C in daytime highs, but the heat will remain with a chance of some places around London seeing 30C or above.

Getty Images Tennis player Aryna Sabalenka holds ice on her head and covers herself with a towel during the Ladies' Singles semi-final at Wimbledon on 10 July 2025 in London, England.Getty Images
World number one Aryna Sabalenka said conditions were "super hot" during her semi-final on Thursday

This year, Wimbledon has faced some of the hottest temperatures in its 148-year history and has a heat rule in place for all singles matches.

The men's singles semi-final on Friday between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz was stopped twice in less than five minutes due to fans in the crowd requiring medical attention.

Temperatures on Centre Court reached a sweltering 32C on Friday.

Tournament organisers have added more free water refill points on the grounds and increased reminders for fans to take sun precautions and seek shade.

Getty Images Children splash through cooling waters of the fountains in Leicester Square, on 11 July 2025, in London, England.Getty Images

Fire chiefs have also warned people of the increased risk of drowning when trying to keep cool, urging parents to supervise their children at all times around the water.

Dry and hot conditions also make wildfires a crucial concern, with the risk currently rated at "severe" in London by the Natural Hazards Partnership.

"Our experience tells us that wildfires can start in an instant and escalate rapidly. That's why we're asking everyone to stay alert and act responsibly," the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) chairman Phil Garrigan said.

National Rail has warned commuters of possible disruption to travel this weekend as overhead power lines and rails could be affected by the heat.

On Friday, more than seven million people across England and Wales were affected by hosepipe bans, restricting activities including watering of gardens, cleaning cars and filling paddling pools.

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

Scientists warn that extreme weather conditions are made more likely as a result of manmade climate change.

Men charged after women die following care home crash

PA Media Damaged front of the Highcliffe Care Home in Sunderland PA Media
Eight people were taken to hospital after a car hit Highcliffe Care Home in Sunderland

Two men have been charged with a number of offences, including robbery and kidnap, after a BMW crashed into a care home in Sunderland following a police chase.

The deaths of two Highcliffe Care Home residents, a woman in her 80s and another in her 90s who died the day after the crash, are still being investigated, said police. Eight other residents were taken to hospital.

Sam Asgari-Tabar, 21 from Sunderland, has been charged with causing serious injury to a resident by dangerous driving.

He and Reece Parish, 21 from Sunderland, are also charged with robbery and kidnap and will appear at at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on Saturday.

On Wednesday night, officers had been following a BMW that had been reported stolen from an address in Fenham, Newcastle, at around 21:20 BST.

Police were authorised to pursue the vehicle, which crashed into the care home in Witherwack around five minutes later.

It is alleged a woman involved in a proposed sale was inside the car when it was driven off before she was forcibly removed a short time later.

She was left shaken but uninjured, Northumbria Police said.

A mandatory referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The care home had to be evacuated following the crash, which caused major structural damage to the building.

Northumbria Police is considering whether the crash contributed to the two women's deaths.

Of the eight injured care home residents, only one was still in hospital by Friday evening.

In a separate matter, Mr Parish has also been charged with violent disorder in connection with events in Sunderland city centre on August 2 last year.

Med Sea heatwave might feel nice for holiday swimming, but there's a catch

Getty Images A red and blue parasol on a beach next to the sea, which is at the top of the picture. Two beachgoers are resting in the shade under the blue parasol on the right.Getty Images
Shading from the midday Sun during a recent heatwave in southern France

Warmer water at the seaside might sound nice for your holiday dip, but recent ocean heat in the Mediterranean Sea has been so intense that scientists fear potentially devastating consequences for marine life.

The temperature of the sea surface regularly passed 30C off the coast of Majorca and elsewhere in late June and early July, in places six or seven degrees above usual.

That's probably warmer than your local leisure centre swimming pool.

It has been the western Med's most extreme marine heatwave ever recorded for the time of year, affecting large areas of the sea for weeks on end.

The heat appears to be cooling off, but some species simply struggle to cope with such prolonged and intense warmth, with potential knock-on effects for fish stocks.

To give you some idea of these temperatures, most leisure centre swimming pools are heated to roughly 28C. Competitive swimming pools are slightly cooler at 25-28C, World Aquatics says.

Children's pools are a bit warmer, recommended at 29-31C or 30-32C for babies, according to the Swimming Teachers' Association.

Such balmy temperatures might sound attractive, but they can pose hidden threats. Harmful bacteria and algae can often spread more easily in warmer seawater, which isn't treated with cleaning chemicals like your local pool.

Map showing the average sea surface temperature across the Mediterranean Sea on 6 July. Some areas exceeded 30C on 6 July, marked by dark reds off the coast of Majorca and south-west Italy. Below the map is a graph showing daily sea temperature highs from a measurement buoy off Majorca. Temperatures exceeded 30C in late June, the earliest date on record to pass that mark.

Sea temperatures of 30C or above are not unprecedented in the Med in late summer.

But they are highly unusual for June, according to data from the European Copernicus climate service, Mercator Ocean International, and measurements at Spanish ports.

"What is different this year is that 30C sea temperatures have arrived much earlier, and that means that we can expect the summer to be more intense and longer," said Marta Marcos, associate professor at the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain.

"I grew up here, so we are used to heatwaves, but this has become more and more common and intense."

"We're all very, very surprised at the magnitude of this heatwave," added Aida Alvera-Azcárate, an oceanographer at the University of Liege in Belgium.

"It's a matter of high concern, but this is something we can expect to be happening again in the future."

Map showing categories of marine heatwave across Europe on 6 July. Most of the Mediterranean is in a marine heatwave of some kind. In the east, there is a "moderate" marine heatwave in many places, marked by yellows. Most of the west is in a "strong", "severe" or even "extreme" heatwave, marked by oranges and dark reds.

Marine heatwaves are becoming more intense and longer-lasting as humanity continues to release planet-warming gases into our atmosphere, principally by burning coal, oil and gas.

In fact, the number of days of extreme sea surface heat globally has tripled over the past 80 years, according to research published earlier this year.

"Global warming is the main driver of marine heat waves… it's essentially transferring heat from the atmosphere to the ocean. It's very simple," said Dr Marcos.

The Mediterranean is particularly vulnerable because it's a bit like a bathtub, largely surrounded by continents rather than open ocean.

That means water cannot escape easily, so its surface heats up quickly in the presence of warm air, sunny skies and light winds - as happened in June.

Map showing the sea surface temperature across the Mediterranean Sea on 30 June compared with the long-term average for that day. Almost all of the Med was warmer than usual, marked by yellows, oranges and reds. Only small areas of the eastern Med were cooler than usual, marked by light blues. Some places, like off the south coast of France, were more than 6C above average, shown by dark reds. Below the map is a graph showing daily average sea surface temperature across the whole of the western Med in 2025 in red versus other years in grey. There is a big spike in June, with average temperatures across the region reaching 3.7C above usual for the time of year, the highest figure ever recorded.

For that reason, the Med is "a climate change hotspot" said Karina von Schuckmann of Mercator Ocean International, a non-profit research organisation.

The heat peaked as June turned to July, after which stronger winds allowed deeper, cooler waters to mix with the warm surface above and bring temperatures down.

But temperatures remain above average and there could be consequences for marine life that we don't yet know about.

Most life has a temperature threshold beyond which it can't survive, though it varies a lot between species and individuals.

But sea creatures can also suffer from prolonged heat exposure, which essentially drains their energy through the summer to a point where they can no longer cope.

"I remember four years ago diving in September at the end of summer, we found skeletons of many, many, many populations," said Emma Cebrian, an ecologist at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes in Spain.

Seaweeds and seagrasses act a bit like the forests of the Mediterranean Sea, home to hundreds of species, as well as locking up planet-warming carbon dioxide.

"Some of them are well adapted to typical Mediterranean warm temperatures, but actually they often cannot withstand marine heatwave conditions, which are becoming more extreme and widespread," said Dr Cebrian.

Getty Images About 50 fish swim in deep blue ocean waters above a dark green seagrass meadow.Getty Images
Seagrasses like Posidonia support large numbers of fish species, providing food and shelter

The heat can also cause what ecologists call "sub-lethal effects", where species essentially go into survival mode and don't reproduce.

"If we start to see ecological impacts, there will almost certainly be impacts on human societies [including] losses of fisheries," warned Dan Smale, senior research fellow at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth.

"We'll have to wait and see, really, but because the temperatures are so high this early in the summer, it is really alarming."

The fast-warming Med is "a canary in the coal mine for climate change and marine ecosystems," he added.

Excessive ocean heat can also supercharge extreme weather.

Warmer seas mean extra evaporation, adding to the moisture in the atmosphere that can fuel extreme rainfall.

If other conditions are right, that can lead to devastating flooding, as happened in Libya in 2023 and Valencia in 2024.

EPA Damage at the end of a street. In the foreground there is a large pile of muddy rubble. In the background there are more than a dozen people in high-visibility or white protective clothing cleaning up. On the left is a yellow truck and on the right is an orange digger. EPA
The Valencia floods killed more than 200 people and destroyed large areas of the city

And warmer waters can reduce the cooling effect that coastal populations would usually get from the sea breeze.

That could make things very uncomfortable if there's another heatwave later in the summer, Dr Marcos warned.

"I'm pretty sure that's going to be horrible."

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Jellycats were great for business - now these shops can't stock them

Alison McCabe A woman with short white hair, a blue and white patterned shirt, and glasses on the top of her head stands, smiling, next to a large display of Jellycat plush toys including rabbits and fishAlison McCabe
Alison McCabe said she was devastated by Jellycat's decision

Jellycat plush toys have been lining the walls at Rumours in Whitby for more than two decades.

At times, they've taken up a third of the North Yorkshire gift shop's total shelf space. "They've always been a good seller," said manager Joe Orrell, whose father owns the store.

But last month, Mr Orrell received an email he "couldn't quite believe".

Jellycat, the British soft toy company, told him it would no longer be supplying Rumours. It did not provide a reason.

"We were absolutely gutted," Mr Orrell said. Sales of the brand's toys made up a "significant portion" of the shop's income.

Joe Orrell Joe Orrell standing in his shopJoe Orrell

The BBC spoke to owners and managers from four independent shops who said they had been hurt and surprised when Jellycat abruptly told them it would stop supplying them.

"Unfortunately we're not able to support every shop that wants to stock our products and, after very careful consideration, we recently reviewed our relationship with some stores," Jellycat said in a statement. It put this figure at 100 stores in the UK.

"We're truly grateful for their historic support and wish them all the best for the future," it said, adding it still supplied about 1,200 independent stores.

Puddleducks, a children's clothing store in Diggle, near Oldham, had been selling Jellycat toys for close to 20 years.

The brand had "really taken off" in popularity over the past year, said owner Alison McCabe, and some weeks she sold hundreds of items. She would be "inundated" with messages from customers asking which items her shop had in stock, she said.

But, after what she described as months of difficulty getting hold of stock, Jellycat contacted her in mid-June telling her it would no longer supply her.

The emails to stockists who were being cut off were sent on 18 June and appear to be identical in content, apart from the name of the shop. The owners and managers were not addressed by name, with the emails instead addressed to a "Jellycat stockist".

"We're sorry to let you know that, after careful consideration, we'll no longer be supplying Jellycat products to Rumours," the email to Mr Orrell, viewed by the BBC, said. This was related to its "brand elevation strategy", it added.

"Please do not place more orders as they will not be fulfilled," the email continued. "Our decision to conclude the business relationship is final and not open to negotiation."

Jellycat did not explain in the emails why it cut the businesses off.

"We can only think that we're not good enough," Mrs McCabe said, adding she did not know if she could make any changes to encourage Jellycat to start supplying her again.

Another group of store owners, who Jellycat says are among the 1,200 still being supplied, were told they would not be what Jellycat called an "official stockist" but their accounts were "unaffected". The BBC understands this means Jellycat would still supply them with stock, where available, but would not given them an Official Jellycat Stockist sticker to display in their shop window.

Included in this group was Erica Stahl, owner of Pippin, a gift shop in Edinburgh. She told the BBC she was "speechless" when she read the email and that she chose to close her account.

Jellycat told the BBC: "We select our stockists carefully so that we know customers will receive a joyful experience in their stores, and so Jellycat characters can be found throughout the country."

Jellycat became a TikTok hit

Shop owners told the BBC Jellycat's toys had always been a stable seller, bought as gifts for newborns or by children saving up pocket money. Then, last summer, the brand boomed in popularity.

The store owners credited this to the toys becoming hugely popular on TikTok and Instagram, with collectors showing off their displays.

Jellycat toys have also been a growing trend among "kidults" - adults with a strong interest in toys and childish ephemera, such as Lego and Sonny Angels dolls.

In recent years, Jellycat has become increasingly focused on the theatricality of presenting its products, with big "immersive" displays at some large department stores.

At Selfridges in London, toys are displayed around a pretend fish and chip van and wrapped up like a take-away by staff.

Jellycat also opened a "diner" in New York City and a "patisserie" in Paris - all in gentle shades of blue, with shelves of neatly arranged toys, which fans began to post about on social media.

The brand said presentation was just one factor it considered when reviewing partnerships with stores. Jellycat also told the BBC it had visited all its independent stores in person.

'Dribs and drabs' of stock

However, with Jellycat's rise in popularity, came changes to the availability of stock, the shop owners said.

Over approximately the last 12 months, since the toys became more of an online trend, Mr Orrell said stock would only arrive in "dribs and drabs" and his shop had had to reduce the size of its Jellycat display. Collectors visiting his store were getting "more and more disappointed" with what was available.

Andrew Kenyon, co-owner of JAK Hanson, a department store near Wigan, said he would wait months for some orders, or they would arrive incomplete. Customers would travel from around the UK to buy Jellycat toys from his store, but he couldn't advise customers on when stock was arriving as he didn't know.

Shop owners and managers said they felt Jellycat was prioritising its relationships with bigger retailers.

"It became nearly impossible to even order any of the bestselling stock," said Miss Stahl.

"Small independents like myself are only allowed to order from a list of random mismatched odds and ends that the big shops clearly didn't want," she said.

Erica Stahl A composite image: A selfie of a woman, smiling, with shoulder-length brown hair, dark glasses, a green cardigan and a floral green and white top, sat inside a room with walls painted green; A display of soft toys, books and bibs in a gift shopErica Stahl
Jellycat told Erica Stahl her shop, Pippin, did not qualify as an "official stockist"

Charlotte Stray, of Keydell Nurseries in Hampshire, agreed. Independent stores were "pushed to the back of the queue" for stock, she said.

When Keydell Nurseries got the letter in June saying Jellycat would no longer be supplying it, "we weren't happy, but we'd been disappointed in the last six, eight months over the supply anyway," Mrs Stray said.

"We've been increasing our supply to both types of stores - small independents and national retailers - at the overall same rate," Jellycat told the BBC. "Keeping all our partners well stocked remains a challenge, and we're constantly working behind the scenes to improve how we plan, allocate and deliver stock as fairly and thoughtfully as we can."

The company said independent stores would continue to be "as important in our future as they've been in our past".

'It's left a really sour taste in my mouth'

Mrs Stray said that by cutting off some stockists, Jellycat was "crushing independent stores", who had supported the brand from the start and relied on it for a big portion of their sales.

Customers have said they are not happy about how Jellycat has treated independent stores, with negative comments flooding the brand's recent social media posts. A post by Miss Stahl on her shop's Instagram account about Jellycat telling her she did not qualify as an "official stockist" has nearly 50,000 likes, with many commenters criticising the brand's conduct.

"I think they've really let themselves down," Bex Christensen, 38, a photographer from Nork Yorkshire, told the BBC. She's been collecting Jellycat toys for more than 20 years and "it's always been from independent shops", she said.

Bex also buys the toys for her two children and estimates that, between them, they have about 100 Jellycat toys at home.

"As a purchaser, it's made it really difficult because my kids love it - but it's left a really sour taste in my mouth," she said. "Jellycat grew off independent businesses."

Jellycat told the BBC it was doing more than ever to support the independent stores it works with, and was planning new initiatives and campaigns.

The stores the BBC spoke to said they were going to stock different plush toys instead.

Mr Orrell is optimistic about the future of his business.

"We'll certainly survive," he said. "We've been going a lot longer than Jellycat have. We're not too concerned."

'It'll be a chess match' - where Wimbledon final will be won

'It'll be a chess match' - where Wimbledon final will be won

Naomi Broady graphic

In her latest Wimbledon column, BBC Sport analyst Naomi Broady - a former top-60 player on the WTA Tour - analyses where Saturday's women's final between Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova will be won and lost.

On one side, we have a five-time Grand Slam champion who has always had an uneasy relationship with the grass.

On the other is a former teenage prodigy who is fulfilling her potential after taking a significant break from the sport to protect her mental health.

Both Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova have fascinating stories to tell as they each prepare for their first Wimbledon final.

This is how I think Saturday's history-making match will be decided.

Managing the occasion is key

Both players are understandably going to be nervous coming into the match - it's the Wimbledon final! The outcome will likely come down to who manages the occasion better.

Anisimova was pretty nervous in her quarter-final win against Anastasia Pavyluchenkova, to the point where she kept dropping to the floor on her haunches in the last couple of games - even when it wasn't match point.

It was an illustration of the feeling of desperation she was facing as she edged closer to victory.

We saw similar reactions a few times early on in the semi-final against Aryna Sabalenka too but she managed to settle more as the match went on.

Swiatek, having won majors and having been the world number one for such a long time, has the edge in terms of experience - that absolutely counts for a lot.

But Anisimova has nothing to lose. Of course she is desperate to win the Wimbledon final, but at the start of the fortnight she would never have thought she would actually be here in the championship match.

She can close her eyes in the final and have a swing - which fits best into what she does. This circumstances allows her to be more dangerous.

So she can go out there and play freely, whereas I think Swiatek might feel extra pressure.

Swiatek has never won the singles title here, she's the higher ranked and many people will expect her to lift the trophy.

I think being the underdog favours Anisimova and it fits in well with her aggressive game style.

Settling down quickly

Swiatek and Anisimova are only three months apart in age but they are yet to play each other at tour level.

They will still know each other very well, though. They played once in the juniors - back in 2016 - and they have of course seen each other play a ton, and probably hit together through the years too.

It won't be the same as going out there and knowing absolutely nothing about their opponent.

When you're in the same year group as someone, it's kind of like you're old school friends and you'll have known them since you were young - especially if you're one of the top juniors in your country, which Swiatek and Anisimova both were.

They won't be scrapping for information before they walk out.

Not only they will be getting detailed analysis from their teams, they will already have a rough idea of what's coming at them.

If you have never played someone before, you will mix up a few different shots up in the warm-up to gauge how your opponent feels - but I don't think that will be the case for the final.

Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek both celebrate during their WImbledon semi-finalsImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Both players warmed up for Wimbledon by reaching WTA Tour finals - Anisimova finishing runner-up at Queen's, while Swiatek was runner-up in Bad Homburg

For the eighth time in eight years, there will be a first-time Wimbledon women's champion.

Why does Wimbledon throw up so many different winners? I think mainly just because it's such a short grass-court swing and a quick turnaround from the French Open on the clay.

Most players who go deep in the Slams don't want to play in the week before a major but you don't always have a choice in the run-up to Wimbledon.

A lot of players rock up to Wimbledon feeling quite unsettled, and those who have lost earlier at Roland Garros almost have a bit of an advantage.

If they are playing two or three tournaments coming into Wimbledon, they are feeling far more settled and have figured out the changes in bounces a little sooner.

When you first change surfaces, you are actively thinking about movement, court positions and taking the ball earlier.

When you're playing well, you're on autopilot and not actively thinking much at all.

So I think both Swiatek and Anisimova getting on the grass earlier this year has worked in their favour at Wimbledon.

Anisimova's backhand versus Swiatek's forehand

This will be a battle between Anisimova's big backhand and Swiatek's big forehand - it's going to be a real chess match.

Getting the first strike is key for Anisimova.

She is going to look to control the rally early on - and Swiatek doesn't like to play reactive tennis.

Swiatek has often struggled against the bigger, flatter hitters - just look at Jelena Ostapenko's win record over her.

Anisimova needs to be really brave. Even when she is feeling the nerves and just wants to find the court, that is what she has to do above anything else.

She is tall and can get over the ball and hit down on her strokes - that's what Aryna Sabalenka struggled to counteract in their semi-final.

Anisimova's backhand was especially dangerous.

Whenever they were in cross-court backhand exchanges, Sabalenka had to hit a lower risk shot to try to change direction down the line to get it out of Anisimova's strike zone.

Against Swiatek, it is going to be about who is able to find the right ball first to change direction down the line and get the cross-court rally on the wing they prefer.

By her own lofty standards, Swiatek's season has been below par up to now and there had been some uncertainty in her game.

But she has settled down in the grass court season - on her least favourite surface - and has been finding her form at Wimbledon.

We've seen the best of her over the past fortnight. She might struggle at the start of a match but when she finds her rhythm and gets into her stride, there is no stopping her.

I think she has moved a little further back behind the baseline, giving herself a fraction more time on the grass.

That has allowed Swiatek to wind up the top-spin forehand which is fundamental to her clay-court success, and get the ball out of the strike zone of her previous opponents.

Swiatek is looking more tactically mature and using the angles - hammering opponents with the forehand cross to leave the ad court (each player's left-sided service court) wide open - to her benefit.

But it will be really interesting to see if that works as effectively against Anisimova's backhand.

This Hawk-Eye analysis shows how Swiatek has used depth and angle with her forehand to win pointsImage source, Hawk-Eye
Image caption,

This Hawk-Eye analysis shows how Swiatek has used depth and angle with her forehand to win points

Naomi Broady was speaking to BBC Sport’s Jonathan Jurejko at Wimbledon.

Related topics

The 10-year-old sleeper hit that has more plays than any Taylor Swift song

Getty Images Lord Huron singer Ben Schneider on stage in a white suit with mouth open and eyes closed mid song, with one hand on a guitar neck and the other in the air. At the 2022 Bonnaroo Music & Arts festival in Tennessee.Getty Images
Lord Huron, led by Ben Schneider, are about to release their fifth album

The final song on LA band Lord Huron's second album flew well under the mainstream radar when it was released in 2015. A decade on, it's one of the most unlikely success stories in music.

Beyoncé and Dua Lipa may be two of the world's top pop stars, and both put out new albums last year, but their biggest songs of 2024 did not match the popularity of a 10-year-old track by Lord Huron, according to the official Billboard global end-of-year singles chart.

And Charli XCX may have ruled Brat summer, but her biggest hit still wasn't as big as The Night We Met by Lord Huron in the UK last year.

(The Night We Met was 35th on Billboard's global chart for 2024, above Dua's Houdini at 37 and Beyoncé's Texas Hold 'Em at 41; and it was 60th on the UK Official Chart Company's end-of-year rundown, while Charli's Guess was her biggest hit single at 73.)

Meanwhile, the Lord Huron song is in the exclusive club of tracks that have racked up three billion Spotify plays - a club even Taylor Swift isn't in yet.

Videos featuring The Night We Met have had another three billion views on TikTok, according to music data tracker Chartmetric.

"It's unbelievable," says Lord Huron frontman Ben Schneider of the popularity of his song, which has snowballed in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down.

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It's not unusual for old songs to become perennial favourites on streaming and social media (see The Killers, Fleetwood Mac and Tom Odell).

What is much rarer is for it to happen to a track that was not a hit the first time around. And The Night We Met was nowhere near.

The aching ballad closed Lord Huron's second LP of indie folk, Strange Trails, which was well received by the group's loyal fanbase and critics, but only grazed the US album chart.

The song was written as "a wistful reflection of a relationship, maybe with a sense of regret of where it's ended up and where it started", Schneider explains.

"I remember writing that song and feeling like it was a very concise way to end a record. And I remember my wife saying she thought there was something really special to it. But years went by and it wasn't like it was a hit or anything.

"And then things just started to happen with it."

Getty Images Ben Schneider singing into a payphone handset as a prop on stage, also holding a guitarGetty Images
The Night We Met had almost a billion streams on Spotify in 2024 alone

The first thing to happen was for it to be used on the soundtrack of Netflix teen drama 13 Reasons Why in 2017.

At first, Schneider was unsure whether to let it be on the soundtrack, but his wife told him: "Just do it, put it in the show."

The couple were away in France at the time. "We were gone for a few months, and when we came back my manager was like, 'Something's happening with this song'," the singer recalls.

"I figured it'd be a quick spike and then fade away, but it's had this weird and pretty unheard of long tail, where rather than falling off into nothing, it fell off and then slowly ramped back up. And it just seems to keep going."

Schneider recorded a duet version with Phoebe Bridgers for another 13 Reasons Why scene in 2018. Most of its subsequent lease of life has come from its popularity on TikTok.

It has since defied musical gravity by becoming more popular every year. In 2024, it had almost a billion streams on Spotify - 57% more than the previous year, according to Chartmetric.

The song's lyrics hark back to the start of a soured relationship: "I had all and then most of you / Some and now none of you / Take me back to the night we met."

The song has been used in various TikTok memes, and Cosmopolitan put it top of its playlist of Sad Songs to Blast When You're Feeling Hella Moody. But it can fit a range of emotions and situations - Molly-Mae Hague used it to soundtrack her pregnancy announcement video in 2022.

"I think everyone can relate to that sort of story and can insert their own biography into it," Schneider reflects. "It's a vessel that fits a lot of people's personal stories. That's maybe why it's had such a lasting and slow-burning effect on people."

The singer says The Night We Met's success came at a good moment in the band's career, "because we had already established ourselves in a lot of ways".

"We already had a very devoted fanbase, so we weren't necessarily locked into a one-hit-wonder status by that song.

"Even though it far outstrips our other songs in terms of streaming and everything, we have enough going on otherwise to not feel like we're known only for that one singular moment, which is great."

Cole Silberman Four band members standing in semi-darkness around an old-fashioned lit-up jukebox with "The Cosmic Selector" written in decorative lettering on the topCole Silberman
The band's new album, The Cosmic Selector, is named after a jukebox that transports people to parallel universes

There is indeed a lot more to the band than one song.

Lord Huron began as a solo project in 2010, before Schneider assembled a full line-up.

They have released four albums of yearning, soulful and haunting Americana - with a fifth coming out on Friday.

Their albums show Schneider's skill as a storyteller as well as a songwriter, often containing a running thread of a storyline.

Magic jukebox

The new LP is titled The Cosmic Selector Vol 1 - about a 1950s-style jukebox that can transport people to alternate universes, where life has turned out differently after small decisions in the past set them on different paths.

"I guess the past few years, as I've been getting a bit older, I've just been thinking about all the ways my own life could have gone, or could still go, or might have been," Schneider explains.

"Not with any sense of regret, but more with a sense of wonder at the sheer randomness of it all, and how different things could have been if very little things had gone another way.

"So I started thinking about a collection of songs representing that randomness - the lottery that one's lot in life is."

Getty Images Ben Schneider in a brown suit and hat holding a guitar and singing into a microphone on stageGetty Images

But the controls of this magic jukebox are "busted", he says.

"Everything's mislabelled. What you think you're selecting might send you a completely different way, and everything's on the menu - sorrow, joy, horror, love - all the ways a life can go."

So various characters, including one voiced by actress Kristen Stewart, are put through this dimension-hopping, life-scrambling retro randomiser. Some are based on Schneider himself, others are just made up, he says.

Everyone has their own sliding doors moments when life could have turned out differently. For Schneider, there was the time a jazz combo played in an assembly at grade school.

"I remember watching the bass player and being like, 'I could be in a band some day', and a lightbulb turned on in my head," he says. "I think there's a myriad of moments like that where I could have chosen one thing and didn't, so it's fascinating to consider that."

The moment in France when his wife persuaded him to allow The Night We Met to be used in 13 Reasons Why was another turning point.

Schneider hit the jackpot in the lottery of life with that sleeper hit. He now hopes its popularity turns people on to the rest of their music.

"I want to keep trying to move forward and making new stuff," he says. "And hopefully something that we make will have the same kind of impact that song has had.

"And I think over time, stuff we have already made will, I hope."

Why cockpit audio deepens the mystery of Air India crash

Air India plane descending moments before crash

Investigators have uncovered a chilling discovery in the preliminary investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash which killed 260 people in June.

Just seconds after takeoff, both the 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner's fuel-control switches abruptly moved to the "cut-off" position, starving the engines of fuel and triggering total power loss. Switching to "cut-off" is a move typically done only after landing.

The cockpit voice recording captures one pilot asking the other why he "did the cut-off", to which the person replies that he didn't. The recording doesn't clarify who said what. At the time of takeoff, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft while the captain was monitoring.

The switches were returned to their normal inflight position, triggering automatic engine relight. At the time of the crash, one engine was regaining thrust while the other had relit but had not yet recovered power.

Air India Flight 171 was airborne for less than 40 seconds before crashing into a crowded neighbourhood in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, marking one of India's most baffling aviation disasters.

Investigators are probing the wreckage and cockpit recorders to understand what went wrong just after takeoff. The Air India flight climbed to 625 feet in clear weather before losing location data 50 seconds in, per Flightradar24. Saturday's 15-page report offers early insights.

The investigation - led by Indian authorities with experts from Boeing, General Electric, Air India, Indian regulators, and participants from the US and UK - raises several questions.

Investigators say the lever-lock fuel switches are designed to prevent accidental activation - they must be pulled up to unlock before flipping, a safety feature dating back to the 1950s. Built to exacting standards, they're highly reliable. Protective guard brackets further shield them from accidental bumps.

"It would be almost impossible to pull both switches with a single movement of one hand, and this makes accidental deployment unlikely," a Canada-based air accidents investigator, who wanted to remain unnamed, told the BBC.

That's what makes the Air India case stand out.

If one of the pilots was responsible for shutting down the switches, intentionally or not, it "does beg the question: why... pull the switches to the off position," Shawn Pruchnicki, a former airline accident investigator and aviation expert at Ohio State University, said.

"Was it intentional, or the result of confusion? That seems unlikely, as the pilots reported nothing unusual. In many cockpit emergencies, pilots may press the wrong buttons or make incorrect selections - but there was no indication of such a situation here, nor any discussion suggesting that the fuel switches were selected by mistake. This kind of error doesn't typically happen without some evident issue," he told the BBC.

Getty Images Two investigative officials stand at the site of Air India Boeing 787 crash site. They stand with their backs to the camera, next to the remnants of the plane amid foliage.Getty Images
Air India Flight 171 crashed into a crowded neighbourhood in Ahmedabad

Peter Goelz, a former managing director of the US's NTSB, echoed a similar sentiment: "The finding is very disturbing - that a pilot has shut off the fuel switch within seconds of flying."

"There's likely much more on the cockpit voice recorder than what's been shared. A lone remark like 'why did you cut off the switches' isn't enough," he said.

"The new details suggest someone in the cockpit shut those valves. The question is, who, and why? Both switches were turned off and then restarted within seconds. The voice recorder will reveal more: was the flying pilot trying to restart the engines, or the monitoring one?"

Investigators believe the cockpit voice recorder - with audio from pilot mics, radio calls and ambient cockpit sounds - holds the key to this puzzle.

"They haven't identified the voices yet, which is crucial. Typically, when the voice recorder is reviewed, people familiar with the pilots are present to help match voices. As of now, we still don't know which pilot turned the switches off and back on," said Mr Goelz.

In short, investigators say what's needed is clear voice identification, a full cockpit transcript with labelled speakers, and a thorough review of all communications from the moment the plane was pushed back from the gate to the time it crashed.

They also say this underscores the need for cockpit video recorders, as recommended by the NTSB. An over-the-shoulder view would show whose hand was on the cut-off switch.

Before boarding Flight 171, both pilots and crew passed breathalyser tests and were cleared fit to fly, the report says. The pilots, based in Mumbai, had arrived in Ahmedabad the day before the flight and had adequate rest.

But investigators are also zeroing in on what they describe is an interesting point in the report.

It says in December 2018, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) highlighting that some Boeing 737 fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged.

While the issue was noted, it wasn't deemed an unsafe condition requiring an Airworthiness Directive (AD) - a legally enforceable regulation to correct unsafe conditions in a product.

The same switch design is used in Boeing 787-8 aircraft, including Air India's VT-ANB which crashed. As the SAIB was advisory, Air India did not perform the recommended inspections.

Bloomberg via Getty Images An employee, right, sits with a visitor inside the cockpit of a Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner aircraft, operated by Air India Ltd., on display during the India Aviation 2014 air show held at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, India, on Thursday, March 13, 2014. The air show takes place from March 12-16. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg via Getty Images
A cockpit of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, operated by Air India at an air show in India

Mr Pruchnicki said he's wondering whether there was a problem with the fuel control switches.

"What does this [bit in the report] exactly mean? Does it mean that with a single flip, that switch could shut the engine off and cut the fuel supply? When the locking feature is disengaged, what exactly happens? Could the switch just flip itself to off and shut down the engine? If that's the case, it's a really serious issue. If not, that also needs to be explained," he said.

Others, however, aren't convinced this is a key issue.

"I haven't heard of this which appears to be a low-profile FAA issuance. Nor have I heard any complaints [about the fuel switches] from pilots - who are usually quick to speak up. It's worth examining since it's mentioned, but it may just be a distraction," said Mr Goelz.

Capt Kishore Chinta, a former investigator with India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), wonders whether the switches tripped because of a problem with the plane's electronic control unit.

"Can the fuel cut-off switches be triggered electronically by the plane's electronic control unit without movement by the pilot? If the fuel cut-off switches tripped electronically, then it's a cause for concern," he told the BBC.

The report says fuel samples from the refuelling tanks were "satisfactory". Experts had earlier suggested fuel contamination as a possible cause of the dual engine failure. Notably, no advisory has been issued for the Boeing 787 or its GE GEnx-1B engines, with mechanical failure ruled out for now pending further investigation.

It also said that the aircraft's Ram Air Turbine (RAT) had deployed - a clear sign of a major systems failure - and the landing gear was found in "down position" or not retracted.

The RAT, a small propeller that extends from the underside of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, acts as an emergency backup generator. It automatically deploys in flight when both engines lose power or if all three hydraulic systems register critically low pressure, supplying limited power to keep essential flight systems operational.

"The deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) strongly supports the conclusion that both engines had failed," Mr Pruchnicki said.

A Boeing 787 pilot explained why he thought the landing gear was not retracted.

"These days, every time I take off in a 787, I notice the landing gear retraction process closely. By the time the gear handle is pulled, we're already at about 200ft (60.9m), and the entire gear retraction process completes by around 400ft - roughly eight seconds in total, thanks to the aircraft's high-pressure hydraulic system."

The pilot believes the one flying had no time to think.

"When both engines fail and the aircraft starts going down, the reaction goes beyond just being startled - you go numb. In that moment, landing gear isn't your focus. Your mind is on one thing: the flight path. Where can I put this aircraft down safely? And in this case, there simply wasn't enough altitude to work with."

Investigators say the crew tried to recover, but it happened too fast.

"The engines were switched off and then back on. The pilots realised the engines were losing thrust - likely restarting the left one first, followed by the right," said Mr Pruchnicki.

"But the right engine didn't have enough time to spool back up, and the thrust was insufficient. Both were eventually set to "run", but with the left shut down first and the right too late to recover, it was simply too little, too late."

Gaza ceasefire talks on verge of collapse, Palestinian officials say

Reuters Palestinians look on at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families, in Gaza CityReuters
Gaza has been devastated by 21 months of war between Israel and Hamas

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal are on the brink of collapse, according to Palestinian officials familiar with the details of the discussions.

One senior official told the BBC that Israel had "bought time" during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week and deliberately stalled the process by sending a delegation to Doha with no real authority to make decisions on key points of contention.

They include the withdrawal of Israeli troops and humanitarian aid distribution.

Before he left the US on Thursday, Netanyahu had maintained a positive tone, saying he hoped to complete an agreement "in a few days".

He said the proposed deal would see Hamas release half of the 20 living hostages it is still holding and just over half of the 30 dead hostages during a truce lasting 60 days.

Since last Sunday, Israeli and Hamas negotiators have attended eight rounds of indirect "proximity" talks in separate buildings in Doha.

They have been facilitated by Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and senior Egyptian intelligence officials, and attended by US envoy Brett McGurk.

The mediators have relayed dozens of verbal and written messages between the Hamas and Israeli delegation, which has included military, security and political officials.

But on Friday night, Palestinian officials familiar with the negotiations told the BBC they were on the verge of collapse, with the two sides deeply divided on several contentious issues.

They said the most recent discussions had focused on two of those issues: the mechanism for delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza and the extent of the Israeli military withdrawal.

Hamas has insisted that humanitarian assistance must enter Gaza and be distributed via United Nations agencies and international relief organisations.

Israel, on the other hand, is pushing for aid distribution via the controversial Israeli- and US-backed mechanism run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

According to mediators involved in the process, there has been some limited progress on bridging the divide over this issue. However, no formal agreement has been reached.

The second major sticking point is over the extent of the Israeli withdrawal.

During the fifth round of talks, Israeli negotiators reportedly handed mediators a written message stating that Israel would maintain a limited "buffer zone" inside Gaza that was between 1km and 1.5km (0.6-0.9 miles) deep.

Hamas, according to a Palestinian official who attended at least two of the rounds of talks, viewed this proposal as a possible starting point for compromise.

However, when Hamas requested and received a map outlining Israel's proposed withdrawal zones, the document contradicted the earlier message, showing far deeper military positions. The map was said to indicate buffer zones that were up to 3km deep in certain areas and confirmed a continued Israeli presence in vast swathes of territory.

They covered all of the southern city of Rafah, 85% of the village of Khuzaa east of Khan Younis, substantial parts of the northern towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, and eastern neighbourhoods of Gaza City, such as Tuffah, Shejaiya and Zeitoun.

Map showing Israeli evacuation or "no-go" zones in Gaza (9 July 2025)

Hamas officials saw the map as a bad-faith manoeuvre by Israel, further eroding trust between the sides.

Palestinian officials accused the Israeli delegation of deliberately stalling to create a positive diplomatic backdrop for the Israeli prime minister's recent visit to Washington.

"They were never serious about these talks," one senior Palestinian negotiator told the BBC. "They used these rounds to buy time and project a false image of progress."

The official also claimed that Israel was pursuing a long-term strategy of forced displacement under the guise of humanitarian planning.

He alleged that Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz's plan to move Palestinians to a "humanitarian city" in Rafah was part of a broader effort to permanently relocate them.

"The goal of concentrating civilians near the Egyptian border is to pave the way for their expulsion either across the Rafah crossing into Egypt or out through the sea," the official said.

On Monday, Katz briefed Israeli reporters that he had instructed the military to prepare a plan for a new camp in Rafah that would initially house about 600,000 Palestinians - and eventually the whole 2.1 million population.

According to the plan, the Palestinians would be security screened by Israeli forces before being allowed in and not permitted to leave.

Critics, both domestically and internationally, have condemned the proposal, with human rights groups, academics and lawyers calling it a blueprint for a "concentration camp".

With the talks at a critical juncture, the Palestinian side is calling on the US to intervene more forcefully and pressure Israel to make meaningful concessions.

Without such intervention, mediators warn, the Doha negotiations could collapse entirely.

That is a scenario that would further complicate regional efforts to reach a durable ceasefire and avert a broader humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Diplomats in Doha say there is still a narrow window for compromise, but that the situation remains fragile.

"This process is hanging by a thread," one regional official said. "Unless something changes dramatically and quickly, we may be heading towards a breakdown."

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Al Fayed-owned Mayfair penthouse has 'leaky roofs and noisy lifts'

BBC Al Fayeds' apartment building, Hyde Park Residence on Park Lane, LondonBBC

The owner of a multi-million pound penthouse on Park Lane, central London, has been in an eight-year legal battle with companies owned by the late Mohamed Al Fayed and his family, the BBC has found.

The dispute began as a wrangle over a legal agreement relating to the installation of a new lift more than 20 years ago.

Since then, it has escalated into a row alleging leaky roofs, botched refurbishments and claims that a noisy lift was "maliciously" run at night to disturb the penthouse owner's sleep.

Lawyers for both parties declined to comment.

The row at the exclusive Mayfair address - documented in High Court filings - shines a light on the way some business dealings were conducted in Mohamed Al Fayed's empire in the years before he died.

Throughout his life, he was known for his combative approach, frequently resorting to legal action to resolve disagreements.

The luxury penthouse at the centre of this dispute is owned by Alan and Rosaleen Hodson. He is a property developer whose company has built thousands of homes in south-east England.

It is on the top floor of 55 Park Lane, known as "Hyde Park Residence", a large apartment building in a prime spot - right next to the exclusive Dorchester Hotel.

The building's website promises "an atmosphere of warmth and calm with the best of London living". A four-bedroom apartment is currently on sale for £8.5m.

Graphic with the title: The Al Fayeds' building overlooks Hyde Park. Shows a 3D map of Hyde Park Residence and the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane. Below is another map showing the building in relation to Hyde Park, Mayfair and Buckingham Palace.

In 2003, the Mail on Sunday described the address as having "sensational" views across Hyde Park and a "marble entrance foyer [that] has to be seen to be believed".

However, walking past the building gives a different impression. Some might consider it a little shabby for such a premium location, with peeling paint and a missing sign above the door.

Hyde Park Residence has been owned by the Fayed family since the 1980s, through Prestige Properties (PP), a company based in Liechtenstein.

This has been "under the control and held for the benefit of" Mohamed Al Fayed's estate and family since his death in 2023, according to the accounts of a subsidiary company filed in the UK. Al Fayed's widow Heini Wathen-Fayed is a director of this subsidiary called Hyde Park Residence Ltd, which manages some of the apartments.

Dave M Benett/Getty Images Mohammed Al Fayed and Heini Wathen-Fayed stand outside a building, dressed smartly.Dave M Benett/Getty Images
Al Fayed's widow Heini Wathen-Fayed, pictured with her late husband, is a director of one of the subsidiaries which manages apartments in the building

Al Fayed's son Dodi, who died in a car crash alongside Princess Diana in 1997, reportedly used to have a flat there.

When Mohamed Al Fayed owned Harrods, he would sometimes let managers and directors live in the block, and the neighbouring building, 60 Park Lane, which he also owned.

In 2024, the BBC spoke to 13 women who said Fayed sexually assaulted them at 60 Park Lane. Four of them said they were raped.

Leaky roofs

The first issue emerged soon after Mr Hodson bought the penthouse in 2004, according to court documents seen by the BBC.

Mr Hodson made extensive improvements to the apartment when he moved in - modifying the kitchen, upgrading the roof terraces, and putting in a new lift so he wouldn't have to use a flight of stairs to access the property.

An agreement giving him legal ownership of his new lift - by updating his lease - wasn't honoured by Liechtenstein-based PP, Mr Hodson claimed.

Like many large buildings, the ownership of Hyde Park Residence is complicated.

The freeholder of the building is the Grosvenor Estate, which has extensive landholdings in central London. The Al Fayed family's company PP has the right to use it for the next 110 years.

This leasehold arrangement, though time-limited, is considered a form of ownership.

Grosvenor should have been asked for permission before these improvements were started. But permission was not requested - although it agreed in 2006 to grant permission retrospectively for a payment of £100,000, which Prestige Properties paid.

Then, in 2014, Mr Hodson began to be bothered by noise from two of the buildings' lifts. Despite his complaints, the noise grew worse, he argued, until in 2015 the building managers agreed to suspend use of one of the troublesome lifts at night.

And in 2016, the two parties fell out further. PP demanded that Mr Hodson contribute £80,000 towards the money paid to the Grosvenor Estate, some years earlier.

Hyde Park. A tree lined path with benches on each side runs straight through the park.
The penthouse is across the road from London's famous Hyde Park

The following year, the Hodson's took PP and two other Fayed-controlled companies to the High Court asking for a list of grievances to be met and damages paid.

Among the issues, Mr Hodson said that he had wanted to extend the flat, adding a floor. He had spent £180,000 developing a plan, but PP denied him permission to build it, despite initially encouraging the plan – his lawyers claimed.

PP's lawyers argued the company hadn't given Mr Hodson permission to extend his property. They said that, as a property developer, he should have known that he wouldn't get permission without paying PP, as the landlord, millions of pounds.

Mr Hodson said that as a result of this dispute, PP allowed people to start using a noisy lift again, disturbing his sleep, which he thought was a "malicious and deliberate" response to a letter of complaint. He said on one night the lift was used 23 times between midnight and 02:00.

He also complained of poor repair work, which he said left him with a leaky roof and damage to his roof terraces.

The dispute still hasn't been resolved. In March this year, there was another court filing from Mr Hodson claiming "the roof is still leaking. The lift is still making excessive noise… The corridors and lobby have never been finished following refurbishment."

Lawyers for PP argue in reply that the noise from the lift is at "acceptable levels" and deny that it was restarted maliciously. They admit water leaked but say their clients have taken all reasonable steps to stop it.

PP is counterclaiming £344,000 in ground rent, plus another £286,000 of interest and costs.

The sums are trivial compared to Mohamed Al Fayed's wealth, estimated at £1.7bn at the time of his death. And it is remarkable that a dispute of this kind should have dragged on for so long.

But Al Fayed was known for never giving an inch to those he fell out with - and that approach seems to be continuing even after his death.

Alan Hodson, Heini Wathen-Fayed, PP, and Grosvenor Estate declined to comment.

Heatwave spreads to Scotland and Northern Ireland

PA Media A woman wearing a black, white, yellow, and orange striped jumpsuit holds an umbrella in the sun. A man wearing a grey shirt and white shorts holds her hand and walks with her.PA Media

Northern Ireland and Scotland will see temperatures soar as the UK's third heatwave of the year spreads across the country.

Scotland is likely to see its warmest day of the year with temperatures of up to 31C. Northern Ireland could potentially the mercury rise above 29.5C - the highest recorded temperature so far this year.

For England and Wales, temperatures are expected to be widely in the high 20s to low 30s with the south-west Midlands and south-east Wales predicted to see the hottest temperatures.

However, for eastern parts of England, an easterly breeze will bring slightly cooler temperatures though most areas will still meet heatwave thresholds.

On Friday, Astwood Bank in the West Midlands recorded the highest temperature of 34.7C.

Amber heat health alerts for southern England, the Midlands, and East Anglia will remain in place until Monday, the UK Health Security Agency said.

Less severe yellow warnings remain in place for northern England, while Scotland and Northern Ireland face warnings of wildfires on Saturday and Sunday.

Yellow weather alerts are issued during periods that are only likely to affect those who are particularly vulnerable, such as the elderly, and those with existing health conditions.

Amber alerts are issued in situations that could put the whole population at risk.

For the thousands expected to attend the Wimbledon finals this weekend, temperatures in south-west London will remain high on Saturday and are expected to reach 30C, possibly 32C in some areas, according the Met Office.

Sunday will see a slight dip to 29C in daytime highs, but the heat will remain with a chance of some places around London seeing 30C or above.

Getty Images Tennis player Aryna Sabalenka holds ice on her head and covers herself with a towel during the Ladies' Singles semi-final at Wimbledon on 10 July 2025 in London, England.Getty Images
World number one Aryna Sabalenka said conditions were "super hot" during her semi-final on Thursday

This year, Wimbledon has faced some of the hottest temperatures in its 148-year history and has a heat rule in place for all singles matches.

The men's singles semi-final on Friday between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz was stopped twice in less than five minutes due to fans in the crowd requiring medical attention.

Temperatures on Centre Court reached a sweltering 32C on Friday.

Tournament organisers have added more free water refill points on the grounds and increased reminders for fans to take sun precautions and seek shade.

Getty Images Children splash through cooling waters of the fountains in Leicester Square, on 11 July 2025, in London, England.Getty Images

Fire chiefs have also warned people of the increased risk of drowning when trying to keep cool, urging parents to supervise their children at all times around the water.

Dry and hot conditions also make wildfires a crucial concern, with the risk currently rated at "severe" in London by the Natural Hazards Partnership.

"Our experience tells us that wildfires can start in an instant and escalate rapidly. That's why we're asking everyone to stay alert and act responsibly," the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) chairman Phil Garrigan said.

National Rail has warned commuters of possible disruption to travel this weekend as overhead power lines and rails could be affected by the heat.

On Friday, more than seven million people across England and Wales were affected by hosepipe bans, restricting activities including watering of gardens, cleaning cars and filling paddling pools.

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

Scientists warn that extreme weather conditions are made more likely as a result of manmade climate change.

'They were just kids': Mother mourns sons killed in Israeli strike while waiting for aid

BBC Iman al-Nouri weeps while talking about the Israeli strike that killed two of her sons and seriously wounded anotherBBC
Two of Iman al-Nouri's five sons were killed on Thursday's Israeli strike, while a third was seriously wounded

Iman al-Nouri's youngest son, two-year-old Siraj, woke up crying from hunger on Thursday and asked to get some nutritional supplements.

Siraj's 14-year-old cousin, Sama, agreed to take him and two of his older brothers - Omar, nine, and Amir, five - to the Altayara health clinic in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

"The [medical] point was still closed, so they were sitting on the pavement when suddenly we heard the sound of the strike," Iman told a local journalist working for the BBC.

"I went to [my husband] and said: 'Your children, Hatim! They went to the point.'"

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son, AmirFamily handout
Amir, five, was killed instantly in the Israeli strike, according to Iman

Warning: This piece contains graphic descriptions of death and violence

Iman, a 32-year-old mother of five, rushed to the scene after hearing the strike, only to find her sons and niece lying on a donkey cart that was being used to transport casualties to the hospital because there were no ambulances.

Amir and Sama were among the dead, while Omar and Siraj were seriously wounded.

"Omar still had some breath in him. They tried to revive him," Iman recalled. "Omar needed blood, and it took them an hour to get it. They gave it to him, but it was in vain."

"Why are they gone? Why? What did they do wrong?" she asked.

"They had dreams just like any other children in the world. If you gave them a small toy, they'd be so happy. They were just kids."

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son Omar (right) and one of his elder brothersFamily handout
Nine-year-old Omar (right), pictured with his elder brother, died of his wounds in hospital

Iman said Siraj's head was bleeding and he had lost an eye – an image that she cannot now get out of her head.

"He had fractures in his skull and... according to the doctor, not just bleeding, but [a major haemorrhage] on his brain," she added. "How long can he stay like this, living on oxygen? Two are already gone. If only he could help me hold on a little longer."

Tragically, doctors have said they are unable to treat Siraj.

"Since yesterday at 07:00 until now, he's in the same condition. He's still breathing, his chest rises and falls, he still has breath in him. Save him!" she pleaded.

Family handout Iman al-Nouri's son, SirajFamily handout
Iman said doctors had told her that they were unable to treat two-year-old Siraj

A spokesperson for the US-based aid group Project Hope, which runs the Altayara clinic, told the BBC that the strike happened at around 07:15.

Women and children were waiting outside before it opened at 09:00, in order to be first in line for nutrition and other health services, Dr Mithqal Abutaha said.

CCTV footage of the Israeli air strike shows two men walking along a street, just metres away from a group of women and children. Moments later, there is an explosion next to the men and the air is filled with dust and smoke.

In a graphic video showing the aftermath of the attack, many dead and severely wounded children and adults are seen lying on the ground.

"Please get my daughter an ambulance," one woman calls out as she tends to a young girl. But for many it was too late for help."

Dr Abutaha said 16 people were killed, including 10 children and three women.

The Israeli military said it targeted a "Hamas terrorist" and that it regretted any harm to what it called "uninvolved individuals", while adding that the incident was under review.

Project Hope said the strike was "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza".

Dr Abutaha said it was "unbearable" when he found out that people were killed "where they [were] seeking their basic humanitarian and human rights".

He questioned the Israeli military's statement on the strike, including its expression of regret, saying that it "cannot bring those patients, those beneficiaries back alive".

He also said that the clinic was a UN-recognised, "deconflicted humanitarian facility", and that no military actions should have taken place nearby.

Anadolu via Getty Images Palestinians hold out pans at a charity kitchen in the al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City (11 July 2025)Anadolu via Getty Images
The UN says there are thousands of malnourished children across Gaza

Iman said her children used to go to the clinic every two or three days to get nutritional supplements because she and Hatim were not able to give them enough food.

"Their father risks his life just to bring them flour. When he goes to Netzarim [military corridor north of Deir al-Balah], my heart breaks. He goes there to bring food or flour."

"Does anyone have anything? There's no food. What else would make a child scream if he didn't want something?"

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian armed group to release Israeli hostages.

Although the blockade was partially eased in late May, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, there are still severe shortages of food, as well as medicine and fuel.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) says there are thousands of malnourished children across the territory, with more cases detected every day.

Dr Abutaha said Project Hope had also noticed an alarming rise in cases of malnutrition among adults, which they had not observed before in Gaza.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US helped set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid. But since then, there have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food.

The UN human rights office said on Friday that it had so far recorded 798 such killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF's sites, which are operated by US private security contractors and located inside military zones in southern and central Gaza. The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys.

The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise "possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible".

The GHF accused the UN of using "false and misleading" statistics from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Iman al-Nouri (2nd right), her husband Hatim (right) and two of their sons look at photos on a mobile phone
Iman said a ceasefire "means nothing to me after my children are gone"

Dr Abutaha called on Israel to allow in enough food, medicine and fuel to meet the basic humanitarian needs of everyone in Gaza, so that "everyone could have a dignified life".

He also expressed concern that people were being given "false hope" that Israel and Hamas could soon agree a new ceasefire deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that an agreement on a 60-day truce and the release of 28 hostages could be just days away.

But Palestinian officials said on Friday night that the indirect talks in Qatar were on the brink of collapse because of significant gaps remaining on issues like Israeli troop withdrawals and Hamas's rejection of an Israeli plan to move all of Gaza's population into a camp in Rafah.

"Every day they talk about a ceasefire, but where is it?" Iman said.

"They've killed us through hunger, through gunfire, through bombs, through air strikes. We've died in every possible way."

"It's better to go to God than stay with any of them. May God give me patience."

Alcaraz expects to be 'pushed to limit' by Sinner at Wimbledon final

Alcaraz expects to be 'pushed to limit' by Sinner

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz hug after their epic French Open finalImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Carlos Alcaraz (right) beat Jannik Sinner in a deciding set tie-break at the French Open last month

  • Published

Wimbledon 2025

Venue: All England Club Dates: 30 June-13 July

Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Full coverage guide.

The last time Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner met in a Grand Slam final it turned into an epic encounter lasting almost five and a half hours.

Now, 35 days on from that French Open thriller, they will meet again in Sunday's men's final at Wimbledon.

After ending Novak Djokovic's hopes of achieving a 25th Grand Slam title, world number one Sinner was asked what fans could expect when he faces Alcaraz once again.

"We saw the last final - you never know [what will happen]," he said.

"Hopefully it's going to be a good match like the last one, I don't know if it can be better because I don't think it's possible.

"But we will do our best."

For those who somehow missed that epic encounter at Roland Garros, here's a reminder.

Alcaraz, the defending champion, recovered from two sets down - saving three championship points on the way - to beat Sinner.

Both players pushed themselves and each other to the limit in a classic contest that showcased all of their shot-making, athleticism and resilience.

Despite it being an all-time classic, Alcaraz has not yet got around to watching it back.

"I've just seen a few clips and a few points but not that much," he said after his semi-final win over Taylor Fritz.

"I am still thinking about that moment sometimes. It was the best match I have ever played so far.

"I'm not surprised he pushed me to the limit. I expect that on Sunday."

Advantage Alcaraz?

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'He always walks towards the fire' - why Alcaraz comes through in 'clutch' moments

Sinner and Alcaraz are very much the dominant force in the men's game as we enter the post-'Big Three' era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.

The pair have won the last six majors between them and will wrap up a seventh on Sunday.

Only once before in the Open era have the top two seeds met in the men's singles final at the first three Grand Slams of the year - and that was in 1978.

"I reach the final stages, I reach the semis of every slam this year, but I have to play Sinner or Alcaraz," Djokovic said following his defeat.

"These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I'm going into the match with tank half empty."

But Sinner does not believe his and Alcaraz's recent dominance can be mentioned in the same breath as that of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

"You cannot compare what the big three did for 15-plus years," he said

"Six Grand Slams are one-and-a-half years. It's not that big yet."

Alcaraz is 22 and Sinner is 23, meaning there will be plenty more years of the two meeting in major finals.

Right now it is Alcaraz who has the measure of Sinner, with the world number two winning the past five meetings between them.

Since the start of his title-winning run at the China Open in September 2023, Sinner has lost just 11 of the 127 matches he has contested - meaning almost half of his losses in that time have been to Alcaraz.

But the last time they met at Wimbledon back in 2022, it was Sinner who came out on top.

"I remember that match, but it was three years ago," Alcaraz added. "We are completely different player on grass, but on all surfaces.

"I'm pretty sure that it's going to be different."

Graphic showing Sinner and Alcaraz record

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'Djokovic leaves the stage to Sinner'

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Faisal Islam: We are heading for significant tax rises

EPA Chancellor Rachel Reeves wearing a dark purple top and pictured against a black backgroundEPA

Two very different reports have reignited UK economic gloom over the past four days.

Friday's economic figures showed a further monthly dip in UK growth, or GDP, in May. Earlier this week the official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), said Britain faced "daunting" risks, including the possibility that levels of government debt could soar to three times the size of the economy.

Two very different timescales - the economy in a single month, and the public finances in half a century's time.

At another moment both might have been largely ignored. Monthly GDP figures are notoriously volatile, and what does a debt forecast for 2075 even begin to mean? What would the Treasury forecast from 1975 tell us about this year?

But these very different charts are setting the tone for some tricky judgements required by autumn and tough calls about what happens in the next half decade.

The really unusual thing about the OBR's long-term risk and sustainability report was the strength of the words from its boss Richard Hughes.

"The UK cannot afford the array of promises that are displayed to the public," based on reasonable assumptions about their cost and growth, he said.

The report also cited a pattern, over multiple governments, of U-turns on tax and spending changes.

It came within days of the government's reverses over welfare savings and the winter fuel payment.

Among 36 advanced economies, the UK now has the sixth highest debt, the fifth highest annual borrowing, and the third highest borrowing costs leaving it "vulnerable", when compared to other countries, to future crises, the OBR found.

The clear message was that repeatedly borrowing more is not a long-term solution to rising day-to-day spending pressures.

Getty Images Close up shot of a person looking at bills and receipts on a table next to a calculator in their kitchen. They are wearing a blue jumper and the kitchen sink is in the background.Getty Images
The government has U-turned on changes to the winter fuel payment and disability payments

Yet the pressure to spend more may prove stubborn, thanks to geopolitical and societal changes.

The OBR's existing forecasts assume that the post-pandemic surge in incapacity and disability cases will fall half way back to normal by 2029.

This is very uncertain. Local councils are now spending 58% of their revenue on social care for adults and children, with some councils spending more than 80%.

A £4.6bn special financial arrangement to deal with ballooning special educational needs budgets risks mass local authority bankruptcy.

The promise to increase defence spending to the new Nato target of 3.5% will cost nearly £40bn per year by 2035.

Time to level

The OBR's report was basically a polite plea for some realism about the choices ahead.

A government with a massive majority and four more years would normally be expected to have the strength to make these sorts of decisions.

As pointed out before the last election, there was little attempt to level with the public, especially over taxation.

The big picture is that this autumn's Budget may see £10bn to £20bn of further tax rises.

On top of this, Trump's tariffs have triggered profound uncertainty. That has pushed up UK government borrowing costs. But they are also prompting a more fundamental shift in the foundations of the global economic system, with the dollar and US government debt no longer treated as unbreachable safe havens.

Kitchen sink Budget

So how might the chancellor respond to these challenges?

She may choose to rebuild the so-called "headroom" to give her a better chance of meeting her self-imposed borrowing limits. Currently that buffer is a very tight £10bn.

Reeves has said she will stick to her plans to not borrow to fund day-to-day spending and to get government debt falling as a share of national income by 2029/29, despite some concern from MPs.

But she is considering the International Monetary Fund's advice to only adjust her plans once a year, rather than in both spring and autumn.

But there may still need to be a kitchen sink approach to this autumn's Budget, with the chancellor throwing everything she has at fixing the public finances.

Getty Images A Royal Air Force F-35b fighter jet in flightGetty Images
The pledge to increase defence spending will cost nearly £40bn a year by 2035

Ministers have not abandoned the idea of finding savings in the health-related welfare bill.

A discussion is opening up about whether the Personal Independence Payment (Pip) benefit, designed to help pay for physical equipment, is the right vehicle to manage the specific surge in mental ill health.

On the other hand, while politicians acknowledge the cost of the state pension triple lock is far higher than originally forecast, that policy seems to be utterly politically impregnable.

Netting revenue

So we are heading for significant tax rises. The expected further freeze on income tax thresholds will not be enough.

The noise around wealth taxes points to property and inheritance taxation, as baby boomers start a mass transfer of trillions of pounds of housing equity to their children.

Expect the Treasury to think very hard about what size of net it might lay in the water to ensnare bountiful revenues, aimed at funding the costs of an ageing society without levying that burden entirely on working households.

Of course the great hope is the return of robust economic growth to smooth the way.

Reeves' fiscal rules have left space for longer term investments in infrastructure, although the planning reforms will take some time to yield a construction boom. The UK's position as a comparatively stable island in a sea of trade tumult, should also yield dividends.

Some of the world's most important business people, such as Jensen Huang of Nvidia, were falling over themselves to praise the UK's investment potential for frontier tech.

The very latest economic news does contain some perking-up in levels of confidence over the past few weeks, and more interest rate cuts are on the way.

Some City economists say the gloom is overdone and we are "past the worst". UK stock markets and sterling remain strong.

So that is the long-term challenge laid down by the OBR, balance the books and boost the economy.

A government that should still have four years of a thumping majority has the necessary power, but the past month has raised concerns about its authority.

BBC faces dilemma over new series of MasterChef

Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock A picture of Gregg Wallace in a dark suitKen McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Gregg Wallace has been the face of MasterChef for 20 years

Gregg Wallace may have been sacked as MasterChef presenter after allegations of misconduct, but for the BBC there's still a decision to be made over this year's series.

It is widely reported to have been filmed in 2024 - with Wallace in it - before BBC News first revealed the allegations against him.

The BBC, for its part, is staying tight-lipped about what it will do.

The corporation has said it won't comment until an inquiry into the allegations, ordered by MasterChef's production company Banijay, is complete and the findings are published.

Wallace has apologised for using "inappropriate" language, but has said the report will clear him of "the most serious and sensational allegations".

'Tough decision'

The BBC will face an "extremely tough decision" about what to do with the unseen series, according to Max Goldbart, international TV editor at Deadline.

"They're damned if they do show it, and damned if they don't," he says. "There are lots of competing objectives they'll be thinking about, and those conversations will be happening right now."

On the one hand, the BBC could go ahead and broadcast it as planned. But this week, BBC News reported that 50 more people have come forward with fresh allegations of inappropriate comments, touching and groping - which Wallace denies. BBC News is editorially independent of the wider corporation.

Regardless of what the Banijay report concludes, Goldbart says it would be "very awkward" for the latest series to be beamed into people's living rooms for weeks on end.

"There could be a backlash," he says. "Not to mention how upsetting that might be for the women who've come forward with claims about him."

One former MasterChef worker, who says Wallace pulled his trousers down in front of her, tells me it would show "a real lack of respect" to people like her if the series was aired.

Another, who says he planted a kiss on her forehead, says she would feel "disappointed and let down", and as if her experiences were being disregarded.

But shelving the cooking show is not an easy decision either - and not only because it could cause uproar among fans.

For the production crew, who spent many weeks working on it, it is a waste of their time and efforts. And for the chefs who have taken part in it the latest amateur series, it would clearly also be deeply disappointing.

Irini Tzortzoglou, who won the 2019 competition, tells me that for her, the experience was "life-changing".

She has gone on to judge awards, host retreats, and work as an olive oil sommelier, and says she is busier now than ever.

"I can't imagine what it would be like for people who've waited all this time, biting their nails, only to be told that no-one is going to see your achievements, your stresses, your growth. It would be awful."

iPlayer option

Thomasina Miers, who won the first series of MasterChef in 2005 and went on to co-found the Wahaca chain of Mexican restaurants, echoes her views.

"[Being on MasterChef] was great, it got me working in food, and I haven't looked back," she says. "It would be mad if they don't show it. It's a lot expecting people to turn up every day, give up their lives and income and not get paid, for it not to go out."

A third option could be to put it on BBC iPlayer so it's available for MasterChef fans to opt in to stream, but isn't being actively pushed out on primetime TV.

Other broadcasters have done similar things before.

In 2021, ITV decided to pull the final episode of drama Viewpoint after allegations of sexual harassment were made in The Guardian against its star, Noel Clarke.

Clarke denies the allegations and is awaiting the result of his libel case against The Guardian.

The finale of Viewpoint was made available on the broadcaster's streaming service for a limited time, for any viewers who wished to seek it out.

Goldbart says he can see the appeal of the iPlayer option.

"It's a lot easier to bury stuff on on-demand than on linear TV," he says, although he points out that there might be financial implications.

But Dorothy Byrne, former head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, says even that option presents challenges.

"If they think the person's unacceptable, then I can't see how putting it on iPlayer gets around that issue," she tells me. "I would say on balance they can't show it at all, but I hope there's a way they can ensure all those people who took part in it don't lose out on this opportunity, because I really feel sorry for them.

"Perhaps there is a way they could edit him out in a way that still allows it to be shown."

BBC/Shine A picture of Gregg WallaceBBC/Shine

The BBC found itself in a similar predicament in November, when the allegations against Wallace first surfaced.

At the time, the corporation made the decision to pull the Christmas specials of MasterChef, although the most recent series of MasterChef: The Professionals did continue to air.

"MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part and the show is about more than one individual," a BBC source said at the time.

The difference this time is that we're not halfway through a series - and that makes the decision even harder.

What no-one seems to be questioning, though, is the long-term future of the show.

Earlier this week, Banijay held a dinner for journalists and media industry people.

The timing of the event, just hours after Wallace dropped a lengthy statement in advance of the Banijay report, was no doubt uncomfortable (one of the people there describes it to me as akin to “a wedding where the bride or groom had done a runner”).

But that same person tells me Banijay executives spoke about MasterChef and its new base in Birmingham, demonstrating their commitment to it.

When the Birmingham move was announced a few years ago, the BBC renewed the show through to 2028.

And food critic Grace Dent has already stepped in to host the next series of Celebrity MasterChef, indicating that version is also continuing.

"It's not one of those shows which is defined by its presenter," Goldbart says. "I personally feel it can continue. John Torode is very good, Grace Dent has filled in a lot, and it's one of those rare beasts where the viewing figures on linear [TV] have held up."

But for the current series, a decision will need to be taken soon.

"They'll need to make an announcement when the report comes back for the sake of the wonderful people who took part," says Byrne.

"This isn't one of those things where you can endlessly delay."

Inside King Charles's fiery gathering that shone a light on his beliefs

Ian Jones/The King’s Foundation King Charles III greets an Indigenous leader - an Earth Elder - wearing a headdress and a dazzling robe of blue feathers.Ian Jones/The King’s Foundation

It wasn't exactly a run-of-the-mill royal occasion.

In the sunny gardens of the Highgrove estate, I stood in a circle with King Charles and an eclectic group who were attending his first "Harmony Summit".

We raised our arms in honour of nature as we stood around a fire, which was burning within a ring of flowers.

Presiding over the fire ceremony, in which we rotated as we honoured the north, south, east and west and then Mother Earth, was an Indigenous leader - an Earth Elder - wearing a headdress and a dazzling robe of blue feathers.

A conch shell was blown. Butterflies flew around the flowers. And, in a concession to modernity, as well as holding up feathers in a blessing for the King, the elder was reading his incantations from an iPhone.

There were people reaching to the sky, wearing colourful face paint and elaborate necklaces, while I held my palms up self-consciously, melting in my M&S suit.

Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation King Charles and delegates at the Harmony Summit in Highgrove. He is draped in a yellow and black patterned scarf and standing between several men in traditional dress including one in a feathered headdressCourtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

The summit was a celebration the King's philosophy of harmony with nature - an inaugural event that the King's Foundation hopes will become a regular gathering.

It brought together representatives from Indigenous peoples, including from tribes in the Amazon, along with environmentalists, climate campaigners, organic farmers, herbalists, educators, crafts people and philanthropists.

For good measure, there was Dwight from the US version of The Office, or at least actor Rainn Wilson, a director of a climate change group.

There were other visitors from Amazon too. A film crew from Amazon Prime, making a documentary for next year, who were poring over every moment as the sacred smoke coiled up over the apple trees in Gloucestershire.

The King, in a light summer suit, spoke a few quiet words of welcome, wearing a circlet of feathers and a scarf that had been draped ceremonially around his shoulders.

Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation People wearing traditional clothing listen to a speaker (out of shot) at the Harmony Summit Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

A humane, ruminative, humorous and quietly radical figure, he was at the centre of what he hopes will become the first of many such gatherings.

But it raised the question - and perhaps opened a window - into what the King believes. What is this thoughtful man really thinking about?

Harmony is the King's philosophy, it means that we should be working with the grain of nature rather than against it. Or "her" as, he describes nature, in his book on the subject, published in 2010.

It's about the inter-connectedness of all life, infused with a strong sense of the spiritual, and the idea that the human and natural worlds can't be separated.

It's the philosophy that stitches together his many different pursuits - on the environment, climate change, sustainable farming, urban planning, architecture, protecting traditional craft skills and building bridges between different faiths.

According to a source close to the King, it's "perhaps the single most important part of his eventual legacy", bringing together different strands of his work that might seem separate into "one philosophical world view about creating a better, more sustainable world for future generations".

The King's views, including on the environment, were "once seen as an outlier, but now many elements have been accepted and adopted as conventional thought and mainstream practice, embraced around the world".

In his book on Harmony - A New Way of Looking at our World, the King describes his purpose as a "call to revolution", and writes that he recognises the strength of the word.

It's a broadside against a consumer culture, in which people and the natural world become commodities. He warns of the environmental threats to the future of the Earth. There's a call to protect traditional crafts and skills and also for a radical change in rejecting modern, unsustainable, exploitative forms of farming.

If not avant garde, he's an avant gardener.

Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation A woman wearing a blue and white dotted dress smiles as she walks between two stone pillarsCourtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

If you go for a walk in Highgrove's gardens there are small hurdle fences, with wooden rods woven around posts. The King makes these himself and this idea of things being inextricably woven together seems to be central to harmony.

His book moves from the importance of geometry, with patterns rooted in nature, to the designs in Islamic art and the inspiring dimensions of Gothic cathedrals.

A sense of the sacred in nature, as well as in people, seems to be an important part of this world view.

At lunch at the Harmony Summit, grace was said by the Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher.

The King's idea of harmony dovetailed with a very deep personal Christian faith, he said.

"My sense is that he draws much of his energy and ideas from spending time in prayer and contemplation," said the bishop.

He said the King sees his role as serving others and a sense of this "is seen in how he is always keen to learn from other religious traditions, building bridges and fostering good relationships built on respect and understanding".

Within strands of Christianity, the King is also said to be have been interested in the Orthodox faith and its use of icons.

Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation  Delegates gather around a fire at the Harmony Summit in HighgroveCourtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
A fire was lit within a ring of flowers

Highgrove itself has an example of the King's private sense of spirituality. There is a small sanctuary tucked away in the grounds, where no one else goes inside, where he can spend time completely alone with this thoughts.

It must seem a world away from the ceremonial juggernaut of this week's state visit by France's President Macron.

The focus of this inaugural Harmony Summit was drawing on the wisdom of indigenous people, tapping into their knowledge and pre-industrial ways of working with nature.

Survivalist Ray Mears was there to welcome representatives of the Earth Elders group, who work to defend the rights of "original peoples", who have become the threatened guardians of the natural world. They were wearing traditional headdresses, face paint and ornaments, in among the flowers and trees of Highgrove.

"People's selfishness has taken them away from nature. They can't feel the breeze, they're too focused on the clock," said Mindahi Bastida, of the Otomi-Toltec people in Mexico.

The cacophonous modern world has broken our connection with nature, said Rutendo Ngara, from South Africa. She described our era as a time of "loud forgetting".

"We all have egos and ambitions. I wanted to be an entrepreneur, I wanted to sell out," said Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai, from Ecuador, the co-ordinator for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance.

The temptation for him was to sell his land for oil. He decided a different path and explained what "harmony" now meant to him.

"It's well-being for all human beings, all living beings, visible and invisible, it's Mother Nature… Everything is connected and there's mutual respect," he said.

These were people from forests and rivers who talked of the destructive pressures on them, from mining, oil and urbanisation.

The weren't pulling punches either. There were speakers warning of how "Europeans" had killed their people and another who said that the much-hyped COP climate change gatherings were full of empty promises that never delivered for grassroots communities.

Ailton Krenak, from Brazil, talked of rivers that that had been "erased by money" and seeing the dried-up, polluted waterways was like a much-loved "grandfather in a coma".

Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation Head and shoulders picture of Rutendo Ngara at the Harmony Summit. She has dreadlocks and is wearing dark glasses and a green and purple headscarfCourtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
Rutendo Ngara described our era as a period of "loud forgetting"

But how can harmony work in such a discordant world?

Patrick Dunne, who runs the educational Harmony Project which uses the concept in more than 100 schools in the UK, has been applying the principles in a place of extreme conflict, the war in Ukraine.

He's been taking classes of children traumatised by the conflict, and reconnecting them with nature, taking them to parks and forests for a place to heal.

"Ukraine is a powerful example of a country that's in a war they don't want and they are losing a lot of people. It's terrible, there's a lot of pain and suffering. And they want harmony, a future of living well together, so the message of harmony really resonates there," he said.

Highgrove, winningly wobbly with its crooked tiles and trees growing through holes in the roof of a shelter, is a lyrical sight on a summer's day. It's a model of harmony with nature.

How does that message work, when you step outside into an often angry, noisy and brutal world?

What makes the idea of harmony relevant, is that it puts ideas into practice, it's not just a "thought exercise", says Simon Sadinsky, executive education director at the King's Foundation, which teaches crafts skills to a new generation.

"It's not just a theoretical concept, it's not just a philosophy, it's grounded in practice," says Dr Sadinsky.

"There's a lot of awfulness going on in the world, it's hard to stay optimistic. You can feel completely powerless," says Beth Somerville, a textile worker who completed a King's Foundation course.

But she says the idea of "harmony in nature" inspires her work and helps to create things which can be both beautiful and functional, in a way that is "all connected".

"It does drive me to carry on and have hope," she says.

Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation  Delegates at the Harmony Summit in HighgroveCourtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation A man wearing traditional dress holds two black and white feathers and a microphone at HighgroveCourtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation King Charles talks with a man wearing what looks like an animal skin capeCourtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
Ian Jones/The King’s Foundation  Delegates gather round a fire brazier at the Harmony Summit in HighgroveIan Jones/The King’s Foundation

North Korea's Benidorm-style resort welcomes first Russian tourists

Getty Images A North Korean tourist slides down a waterslide at the new resort. Several other visitors watch on. The photo is imposed over the BBC Verify colours and branding. Getty Images

A new beach resort in North Korea, criticised by human rights groups for the harsh treatment of construction workers, has welcomed its first group of Russian tourists this week.

The Wonsan Kalma resort was opened in a grand ceremony last month by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, who hailed it as a "world-class tourist and cultural destination".

The details of how this resort was built have been shrouded in secrecy in a country largely closed to the outside world.

BBC Verify has studied satellite imagery, obtained internal planning documents, and spoken to experts and former North Korean insiders about their concerns over human rights abuses during the development of the site.

Echoes of Benidorm

Kim Jong Un spent much of his youth in Wonsan, and prior to the building of the new resort the town was a popular holiday destination for the country's elite.

"When the Wonsan tourist area was initially planned… the idea was to attract around one million tourists to the area while keeping it a closed-off zone," says Ri Jong Ho, a senior North Korean economic official involved in the resort's early planning stages and who defected in 2014.

"The intention was to open North Korea up a bit."

In 2017, a year before construction began, Kim sent a delegation on a fact-finding mission to Spain, where the team toured the resort of Benidorm.

The North Korean delegation "included high ranking politicians and many architects who took lots of notes," recalls Matias Perez Such, a member of the Spanish team that hosted the delegation on a tour including a theme park, high-rise hotels and a marina.

A North Korean brochure with a map of the resort has 43 hotels identified along the beach front, as well as guest houses on an artificial lake, and camping sites.

We've matched these locations with high-resolution satellite imagery, although we are unable to verify whether they have actually been completed.

A satellite image showing the new resort. Labelled are a water park and several hotels. They all sit along the shoreline, where a beach is visible.

An aquatic park, complete with towering yellow water slides, is set back from the beach.

Further north, there's an entertainment quarter which includes buildings that are identified in the plan as a theatre, recreation and fitness centres, and a cinema.

A satellite image of the resort shows a recreation centre, cinema and a theatre. They all sit along the shoreline, where a beach is visible.

Beginning in early 2018, satellite images taken over 18 months reveal dozens of buildings springing up along the 4km (2.5 mile) stretch of coastline.

By the end of 2018, around 80% of the resort had been completed, according to research carried out by satellite imagery firm, SI Analytics, based in South Korea.

However, following this whirlwind construction effort, work on the site then appears to have paused.

Time-lapse of the Wonsan Kalma resort's construction

Construction then resumed after a June 2024 meeting with Kim and Vladimir Putin, where the Russian president said he would encourage his citizens to visit North Korea's holiday resorts.

The human cost of construction

This rapid pace of construction has raised concerns over the treatment of those working at the site.

The UN has highlighted a system of forced labour used in North Korea, in particular "shock brigades" where workers often face harsh conditions, long hours, and inadequate compensation.

James Heenan of the UN Human Rights Office in Seoul says "there are reports that the resort was built using what they call shock brigades".

"We've also seen reports that people were working 24 hours at the end to get this thing finished, which sounds like a shock brigade to me."

Getty Images The Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan. A series of multi-story buildings are visible in the image, which all sit along the shoreline. Getty Images
Dozens of high-rise buildings have been constructed along the beach front

The BBC has spoken to one North Korean who served in and eventually managed shock brigades.

Although Cho Chung Hui - who has subsequently defected - wasn't involved in the construction of the Wonsan resort, he recalled the brutal conditions of the brigades he oversaw.

"The principle behind these [brigades] was that no matter what, you had to complete the task, even if it cost you your life," he said.

"I saw many women who were under so much physical strain and eating so poorly that their periods stopped altogether."

Getty Images Domestic tourists ride a bicycle at Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan, North Korea's Kangwon Province. Getty Images
Beach front hotels were built at great speed raising concerns over conditions for construction workers

Kang Gyuri, who worked in Wonsan before fleeing to South Korea in 2023, says her cousin volunteered to work on the construction site because he saw it as a pathway to residency in the country's capital of Pyongyang, which is reserved for citizens trusted by the regime.

"He could hardly sleep. They [didn't] give him enough to eat," she said.

"The facilities are not properly organised, some people just die while working and they [the authorities] don't take responsibility if they fall and die."

Ms Kang also said residents in Wonsan were driven out from their homes as the resort project expanded, often without compensation.

Though not specific to Ms Kang's experience, BBC Verify was able to identify through satellite analysis the demolition of buildings near a main road leading towards the resort. In their place, larger tower blocks are now visible.

"They just demolish everything and build something new, especially if it's in a good location," Ms Kang said.

"The problem is, no matter how unfair it feels, people can't openly speak out or protest."

The BBC reached out to North Korean officials for comment.

Where are the foreign tourists?

North Korea has been almost entirely closed to foreign visitors with only a few highly-controlled tours permitted to visit the country in recent years.

Wonsan Kalma is seen not only as playing an important role in reviving the sanctioned country's ailing economic fortunes, but also as a means of strengthening its ties with Russia - which have grown closer following Pyongyang's military support for Moscow's war in Ukraine.

According to early planning documents seen by BBC Verify, the initial goal was to attract more than a million visitors, with foreign tourists expected to mainly come from China and Russia.

AFP Domestic tourists watch as a man uses a slide into a swimming pool at the Myongsasimni Water Park in the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan, North Korea's Kangwon Province. AFP
The resort opened to North Korean tourists at the end of June

We have scanned tourist agency sites both in China and Russia for any listings promoting trips to the new resort.

None of the Chinese agencies we checked were advertising trips to Wonsan. In Russia, however, we identified three agencies offering tours that included Wonsan Kalma.

We called one of the Russian agencies in early July posing as an interested customer a week before its first scheduled departure on 7 July and were told that it had attracted 12 people from Russia.

The week-long trip to North Korea, including three days at the Wonsan resort, cost $1,800 (£1,300) - that's 60% more than the average monthly salary in Russia.

Two further trips have been scheduled for August, according to this tour operator.

Vostok Intur A screengrab of an advert for from a Russian tourism agency promoting the resort. It says a trip cost around $1,800. Vostok Intur
A week's tour of North Korea costs a Russian traveller around $1,800 (£1,300)

We contacted the other two agencies offering similar tour packages, but they declined to disclose how many people had signed up.

Andrei Lankov, an expert in Russian-North Korean relations at the Kookmin University in Seoul, said Wonsan Kalma was "highly unlikely to become seriously popular with Russian visitors".

"Russian tourists can easily go to places like Turkey, Egypt, Thailand and Vietnam, which are far superior to everything North Korea can develop," he said.

"The standards of service are higher and you are not put under constant supervision."

Additional reporting by Yaroslava Kiryukhina, Yi Ma and Cristina Cuevas. Graphics by Sally Nicholls and Erwan Rivault.

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Donald Trump and the Scots: A not-so special relationship

Getty Images A bagpiper in full military Highland dress with s bearskin hat is playing in the foreground on the left. Behind him and to the right is Donald Trump, in red Trump Golf baseball cap, white shirt and red fleece jacket. He is staring intently at the piper, looking very serious. There are others in golf gear in the background, just out of focus and slightly obscured by the President. Getty Images
A bagpiper welcomed Trump on a previous visit to Scotland

The Donald Trump who came to Scotland in 2006 to say he was building the world's greatest golf course was in many ways a different Donald Trump to the one now enjoying his second term in the White House.

Back then he was a brash hotelier, perhaps best known for hosting the US version of The Apprentice and his brief cameo in the 1992 film, Home Alone 2.

The President Trump who returns to Scotland later this month has often spoken of his affection for the country where his mother was born and says he built the course on the Menie Estate at Balmedie in Aberdeenshire in her memory.

But two decades on, few Scots return that affection.

That's not usually the case when it comes to US presidents and their ancestral ties this side of the Atlantic.

Immigration is a huge part of the American experience and US presidents have a strong tradition of acknowledging their family roots in the old world.

John F Kennedy and Joe Biden kept their Irish ancestry central to their personal and political identities and both enjoyed hugely successful trips to Ireland. President Kennedy is said to have described his 1963 visit as the best four days of his life.

In 2023, Joe Biden made a triumphant tour of the country, speaking to tens of thousands in his ancestral home town of Ballina in County Mayo.

He declared "I'm at home" when he addressed the Irish Parliament and even found time to visit a pub in County Louth.

Designed to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the trip was seen as a huge success and clearly meant a great deal to both Biden and the Irish.

Reuters President Joe Biden outside a corner pub called The Windsor in a busy street in Ireland. he is surrounded by a large crowd and is taking a selfie with a phone in the street. He is smiling and dressed in a dark suit and tie with a plain white shirt.Reuters
President Biden enjoyed a warm welcome from the the people of Ireland in 2023
PA Media Donald Trump in dark blue suit, plain shite shirt and dark blue striped tie, standing outside a grey-harled house on a grey day. He is smiling and appears to be fixing his lapels.PA Media
Donald Trump paid tribute to his Scottish roots while visiting the Isle of Lewis in 2008

It's almost impossible to imagine the same thing happening with President Trump in Scotland.

To be fair, Scottish links to the White House are historically less well-known and celebrated. Yet according to the National Library of Scotland, 34 out of the 45 presidents have Scottish ancestry.

These include George Washington, William McKinlay, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

And Trump is more Scottish than any of them. His mother was a Gaelic speaker, born and raised in Lewis in the Western Isles, who moved to America aged 18 in 1930.

Mary Anne MacLeod Trump was said to have retained her native accent throughout her long life (she died aged 88 in 2000), and visited Lewis regularly enough that many there remember her well.

All this would normally be cause for celebration. But it's a reflection of Trump's personality and reputation that his relationship with the Scots has been largely antagonistic.

A recent opinion poll suggested seven in 10 Scots had an unfavourable opinion of the president.

I've been covering the story of Trump in Scotland since 2006 and have come to realise that to understand the relationship between the two you have to start with him flying in to Scotland with that grand plan to pay tribute to his beloved mum.

Mirrorpix/Getty Images A black and white photo of a smiling young woman, Mary Anne MacLeod, in 1928. She is sitting on a window ledge of a house, and she is wearing a light top with black necktie and a light skirt. Her hair appears to be quite dark and is quite short, parted on the right.Mirrorpix/Getty Images
Trump's mother was born Mary Anne MacLeod in Lewis in 1912

There had been a few months of speculation before Trump confirmed his plans in March 2006. He said he'd been looking to build a links golf course in Europe for years.

"My preference was Scotland over any other country, because I am half Scottish - my mother, Mary MacLeod, is from Stornoway," he said.

"When I saw this piece of land I was overwhelmed by the imposing dunes and rugged Aberdeenshire coastline. I knew that this was the perfect site.

"The complex will cover a large area of sand dunes. I have never seen such an unspoilt and dramatic seaside landscape, and the location makes it perfect for our development."

Getty Images Donald Trump in black coat and suit with white shirt and blue and white striped tie, standing on the road by the side of the 18th fairway to the Old Course, St Andrews. He is pointing and shouting, in a pose associated with his TV programme The Apprentice. The Royal and Ancient building is behind him and the sky is grey.Getty Images
Donald Trump came to St Andrews - the home of golf - in 2006 to announce his decision to build a course on the Menie Estate in Aberdeeshire

There's a certain irony there. The unspoilt nature of those dunes at Balmedie would become central to the reaction that grew against Trump.

Some of the land he bought was under protection as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The shifting sand dune system along that stretch of coast north of Aberdeen was regarded as one of the finest examples of its kind in the UK.

What followed was a protracted and often bitter planning dispute that went all the way to the heart of the Scottish government.

The conservation agency Scottish Natural Heritage had warned a planning inquiry that the development would seriously damage the SSSI.

The local council turned down the development, but permission was later granted by Scottish government ministers on the basis that the potential economic benefit would outweigh any environmental harm.

The development went ahead in the face of protests from environmental groups and calls for professional golfers not to attend the official opening in 2012.

In 2020, it was announced the dunes at Balmedie had lost their SSSI status. The dunes are now said to not include enough special features.

Trump International described the move as "highly politicised".

Getty Images A wide view of an area of large sand dunes and grass-covered sand. Two people are standing in the foreground, dwarfed by the landscape. It is greay and overcast.Getty Images
Getty Images Michael Forbes, a middle-aged man with a moustache and a bald head, is standing in front of a green farm building with the words No Golf Course written in large red letters on the side. He is wearing a Fair-Isle style woolly jumper in shades of cream and green. Tattoos can be seen on his arm. He looks unhappy.Getty Images

The site of the Trump course on the Menie Estate at Balmedie was renowned for its complex sand dunes
MIchael Forbes, whose family home was on the site of the proposed course, refused to sell up and leave the area

The long-running environmental dispute probably turned many against the Trump plans. But there was also a human story developing and this really captured the public's imagination.

Quite quickly in the development process, Trump became involved in a public fight with two of the site's neighbours.

Michael Forbes and David and Moira Milne own properties next to the Trump course. They declined to sell their land and the tycoon went on the offensive.

On one visit he was filmed looking up at the Milnes' home - actually a rather striking converted coastguard station which sits high on a hill overlooking the course - saying "I want to get rid of that house".

He was told by an employee that this could cause a "bit of stir" and replied: "Who cares? We are going to build the greatest golf course in the world, this house is ugly."

Trump also accused local farmer and salmon fisherman Michael Forbes of living in a "pig-like atmosphere".

Mr Forbes and the Milnes became folk heroes to Trump's critics. The Milnes flew a Mexican flag outside their home in a protest against plans to build a wall on the southern US border.

Speaking on a US comedy show in 2017, Mr Forbes branded the president a "clown", adding: "The only regret I have is I didn't knock him on his arse when I met him".

AFP A large group of people protesting against Donald Trump. One is carrying a placard which says 'No to racism - no to Trump'. Another carries one which says 'Scotland says no to Trump'. AFP
Trump's previous visits to Scotland have been met by large demonstrations

It should be said many welcomed Trump's interest in Scotland, especially at the start.

He enjoyed the qualified support of Jack McConnell and Alex Salmond's governments. The sort of inward investment he promised doesn't come along every day.

The former head of the economic agency Scottish Enterprise, Jack Perry, later described being "profoundly dismayed" when councillors turned down the planning application.

Speaking to BBC Scotland for a documentary I made with my colleague Glenn Campbell in 2017, he said: "I found it hard to credit. You're saying, 'No' to Donald Trump? Remember, this is before he was involved in politics and had the kind of toxic brand that he has now."

Local chambers of commerce, business leaders and many councillors backed the project.

Stewart Spence, who died earlier this year, ran the luxury Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen for more than 40 years.

As an influential business leader in the city, he was an early supporter of Trump and his plans, recognising the potential value for the local economy.

Speaking in 2017, he said: "I knew that this was a man that wouldn't do anything unless it was the best in the world. And that was always what he was known for."

The two became friends, with Trump gifting him membership at the club.

Getty Images Trump, McConnell and Sir Sean Connery enjoying a laugh on a balcony at an event at Tartan Week. They are all in dark business suits and we can see a bit of a Saltire in front of them.Getty Images
Then First Minister Jack McConnell met Trump, along with Sir Sean Connery, at Tartan Week in New York in 2006 and made the tycoon a "GlobalScot" business ambassador

Trump was made a business ambassador by Jack McConnell in 2006 and awarded an honorary degree by Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University four years later.

All of these can be easily justified by the need to do business with powerful business and political leaders.

And there are those today advocating for better relations with Donald Trump.

Writing in The Times newspaper ahead of the recent UK-US trade deal, the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar argued: "President Trump's affinity for Scotland is real, regardless of what people think of his politics.

"His family's investments in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire are real and significant. They have created jobs, attracted tourism, and demonstrated that Scotland remains an attractive destination for global investment.

"I am sure at times they have felt frustrated at doing business in Scotland, but the potential benefits of having the president of the United States as an advocate for others to invest in Scotland should be obvious."

But many at the top of Scottish politics turned away from Trump years before he won the 2016 election.

In 2012, he travelled to the Scottish Parliament to argue against a wind farm being built in the North Sea, within sight of his development.

He went on to fight a court action against the plans. And when he lost, he turned his ire on Scotland's politicians, especially ministers.

The man who had once called Salmond "a tremendous representative of the people of Scotland" who had done "a fantastic job", now said, "You're going to have riots all over Scotland, because Alex Salmond is going to destroy the natural beauty of Scotland".

Getty Images A large group of protestors with placards outside the Scottish Parliament. Donald Trump, in dark coat with white shirt and light blue tie, is moving through them. A man is running a large orange balloon on Trump's head.Getty Images
Trump's visit to the Scottish Parliament in 2012 was met by protests, with one man attempting to mess the businessman's hair with a statically-charged balloon

The economic benefits of the Aberdeenshire golf course - which had tipped the argument for ministers - also came into question as the years passed.

Trump promised a £1bn project creating hundreds of jobs. According to an investigation by BBC Scotland in 2024, the latest accounts showed the facility has a net book value of £33.2m and 81 employees.

In addition to the golf course, the original proposal also included approval for a 450-room hotel, 950 holiday apartments, 36 golf villas and 500 houses for sale.

None of these elements, and the thousands of new jobs promised, have materialised. The golf resort had yet to turn a profit, racking up £13.3m in losses since it opened.

President Trump is expected to open the second course at the site while on his latest visit.

He's also likely to visit the Trump Turnberry resort in Ayrshire. Bought in 2014 for $60m, at its centre is the Ailsa course with its rich history of hosting the Open Championship.

In the wake of the Washington riots in 2021, the organisers of The Open announced that it would not be held at Turnberry as long as its links to the Trump Organisation remain. In recent months, there have been suggestions this may change.

Turnberry has became the focus of many of the protests against Trump throughout his presidency and beyond.

It's where the late comedian Janey Godley was pictured holding a very blunt placard and buildings on the course have been the subject of recent vandalism in protest at the president's comments on Gaza.

Trump's low regard among most Scots remains a live issue. If anything, his return to the White House has energised his critics and his name on Scottish businesses gives them a focus for their anger.

Getty Images A street in Stornoway. Outside a cream-coloured harled building, a banner saying 'Shame on you, Donald John' is attached to railings. A woman and man are walking past, one behind the other. There are two bronze sculptures of seals on the ground in front of them.Getty Images
Some in Lewis - the island where Trump's mother was born - have made known their disapproval of the president

As Scotland gets ready for Trump's return, there are concerns about the cost of policing such a high-profile occasion, and talk of further public protests.

So what will all this mean when the president flies into Scotland later this month?

Donald Trump has an almost unparalleled talent for courting controversy, getting into fights and provoking his opponents.

It would be a stretch to imagine he cares very much whether people turn out and protest his visit. As someone who thrives on all kinds of publicity he might, in fact, welcome it.

It would be even more of a stretch to believe angry Scots hitting the streets to march against him will change his mind on anything.

People will likely protest and, though he has his supporters and those who believe Scotland ought to make more of the connection, the voices raised against him will probably be the loudest across the days he spends in his mother's homeland.

But the last 20 years suggest he won't necessarily be listening.

  • Craig Williams produced and directed the documentary Donald Trump: Scotland's President for BBC Scotland in 2017.

Trump surveys damage in Texas as search continues for 160 missing

Watch: 'We're filled with grief' - President Trump visits Texas after deadly floods

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.

Watch: BBC's Nomia Iqbal on Trump's handling of the Texas floods as he visits disaster area

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.

Watch: "I pray for them" - First Lady Melania offers condolences to Texas flood victims

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.

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.

Watch: "We're appreciative" - Texans react to Trump's visit after devastating floods

US has resumed military supplies to Ukraine, Zelensky says

Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stands, visible above the shoulders dressed in a black shirt, his dark hair and beard short and face serious. Behind him is a camouflage-painted missile defence system.Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pictured in a file photo with a US Patriot defence system

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.

Heat map showing attacks on Ukraine

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.

'Splash and burn' and 'Tax time bomb'

The headline on the front page of the Daily Mirror reads: "Splash and burn".
The ongoing heatwave engulfing the UK features prominently on Saturday's papers. The Mirror splashes their front page with a photo of swimmers diving into a lake in Somerset to beat the heat as the country swelters through its third heatwave this year. On the upside, the paper reports that seaside towns are getting a tourism boost as people pack the beaches to cool off.
The headline on the front page of the Financial Times reads: "Brussels plans annual tax for big companies".
The Financial Times follows with their coverage of the "blazing" heat, captured in a misty image of a woman cooling off in a water feature in Dover. Elsewhere, the paper reports that Brussels is planning a levy on big companies operating in Europe in an effort to lift funds for the EU budget.
The headline on the front page of the i Paper reads: "Heatwaves drive government to consider air con grants for homes".
The i Paper says there may be some reprieve from the heat as ministers are considering air conditioning grants for homes that could offer relief from rising summer temperatures.
The headline on the front page of the Daily Telegraph reads: "Families to pay more for water in heatwaves".
The Daily Telegraph says water companies will use smart meters to increase prices this summer, which means families could pay more during heatwaves. Alongside, the "relaxed figure" of General Sir Patrick Sanders is featured, smoking a cigar on his BMW motorbike.
The headline on the front page of the Daily Express reads: "Workers will suffer a 'tax time bomb'".
The Daily Express warns that workers will suffer a "tax time bomb" as it reports on experts accusing Chancellor Rachel Reeves of "reckless choices" that risk plunging the country into recession. Elsewhere, the Prince of Wales is seen "playing it cool" on a horse during a charity polo match.
The headline on the front page of the Daily Mail reads: "Starmer's migrant plan set to be sunk before it's launched".
Sir Keir Starmer's migrant deal with France could be "sunk before it's launched" declares the Daily Mail. The paper reports that campaigners, who have condemned the scheme, will support court cases brought by small-boat arrivals chosen to be sent back to France. The Mail also speculates on a rumoured feud within the Beckham family, teased with a smiling photograph of Brooklyn Beckham with his sister Harper and wife Nicola Peltz Beckham.
The headline on the front page of the Sun reads: "Becks' boys at war".
"Becks' boys at war" is the Sun's take on the Beckham family's alleged "rift", saying Romeo and Cruz Beckham have blocked big brother Brooklyn on social media. The paper cites a source saying Brooklyn has been "blindsided" by the move.
The headline on the front page of the Times reads: "Trust might not recover from strike, doctors told".
Medical leaders are warning resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, against a planned five-day strike at the end of this month in England, saying they may "never recover" the trust of patients after the walkout, the Times reports. Adding a splash of colour to front page is a photo of Bake Off judge Prue Leith attending a celebrity-packed Wimbledon.
The headline on the front page of the Guardian reads: "Union targets Rayner as Labour row grows".
The Guardian's Wimbledon coverage take the spotlight with a photo of a grinning Carlos Alcaraz, who the paper says has "captured the hearts of Wimbledon fans". The Spanish tennis star is set to meet world number one Jannik Sinner in the Men's Singles final on Sunday. The paper also features Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner's vow that she will not be "pushed around" by the leading Labour trade union after it voted to suspend her membership.
The headline on the front page of the Daily Star reads: "Clowns: Don't call these clowns 'clowns'".
Finally, the Daily Star features a mocked up image of US President Donald Trump, Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves as clowns. The paper reports that people stop branding politicians "clowns" because it is giving "big-shoed funsters a bad name".
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