Parts of the UK are braced for potentially dangerous flash flooding as thunderstorms and torrential rain are set arrive over the weekend.

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for south-east England as more than a month's worth of rain is forecast to fall in a matter of hours on Saturday morning.

It says fast-flowing and deep floodwaters are likely, leading to road and transport disruption, as well as power cuts.

The torrential downpours come days after a third UK heatwave of the year that parched swathes of the UK and led to several hosepipe bans being declared.

This will make flooding more likely and severe as the dry ground will not be able to absorb as much water.

• Why drought can lead to dangerous flooding

The amber warning covers a stretch of the south coast, London and Cambridge, and is in force from 04:00 BST to 11:00 on Saturday.

Between 20 and 40mm of rain could fall within an hour in this area, the Met Office has warned, which could accumulate to 70-100mm in just a few hours.

It said homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, which will happen "quickly", while this amount of surface water will make driving difficult and may lead to road closures.

Lightning strikes, hail and strong winds may also cause train and bus cancellations.

Yellow weather warnings will cover the rest of eastern, central and northern England and a portion of eastern Scotland. A yellow warning is already in force for parts of eastern England.

Amber warnings indicated there is an increased chance severe weather could affect people's day-to-day lives, including a potential danger to life. Yellow warnings are less severe.

The last amber warning over London was in January 2024, when Storm Henk hit parts of central England and Wales, according to the Met Office.

After arriving on Friday night, the storm is forecast to move inland, pushing northwards across England on Saturday morning before arriving in Scotland by midday.

Yellow warnings for rain cover parts of England and Scotland on Sunday and Monday as residual parts of the storm linger.

Last weeks heatwave brought travel disruption, a number of water-related deaths and hosepipe bans being declared for millions living in Yorkshire, Kent and Sussex.

One might think a heavy dose of rainfall would help reduce these drought conditions - but because the rain will be very heavy in localised areas, it will run off the dry, baked earth rapidly, perhaps overwhelming local sewers and waterways.

A substantial recovery in reservoir and groundwater aquifer levels would require a more sustained spell of wet weather.

Yorkshire's hosepipe ban is expected to last until winter.

Thunderstorms following a heatwave in the summer of 2022 brought flash flooding to London and the surrounding areas, flooding roads and Tube stations.

The rainfall also caused cancellations and delays at Gatwick Airport.

Three police officers were killed in an explosion at a County Sheriff's Department training facility in East Los Angeles, officials say.

The explosion occurred at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training on Friday morning at around 07:30 local time (15:30 BST), according to first responders.

Confirming the deaths in a post on X, US Attorney General Pam Bondi called it a "horrific incident" and said that federal agents have been deployed on the scene and are "working to learn more".

It was unclear what caused the explosion or if there were any more victims.

The explosion occurred in a parking lot of the Special Enforcement Bureau at the facility, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) told BBC's US partner CBS News.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed about the explosion and he is "closely monitoring the situation", his office said in a statement on X.

Newsom's office added that state assistance has also been offered to help respond to the incident.

Kathryn Barger, Chief of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, wrote in a statement that she is "closely tracking the situation as we learn more about what occurred and the condition of those affected".

"My heart is heavy, and my thoughts are with the brave men and women of the Sheriff's Department during this difficult time," she said.

A school's head teacher says she feels "complete devastation" after one of her pupils was killed in a coach crash.

A 10-year-old boy died after a coach returning pupils to Minehead Middle School after a trip to Exmoor Zoo crashed in Somerset on Thursday.

Six other children remain in hospital - two at Bristol Children's Hospital and four in Somerset. Three adults are also being treated in hospital in Somerset, police say.

The school's head teacher Laura Mackie said the loss was "unimaginable", adding: "[I'm] thinking of the student that we lost, their family, their friends, all of their loved ones."

Avon and Somerset Police declared a major incident after the single-vehicle collision at Cutcombe Hill near Wheddon Cross at about 15:00 BST on Thursday.

The coach flipped onto its roof and slid down a bank.

Local mother-of-two Lianna O'Connor said: "I think as a community it's just as one mum cries, every other mum cries."

The coach was carrying about 70 people, many of them pupils from Minehead Middle School. In total, 21 passengers were taken to hospital.

Avon and Somerset Police said an investigation into the cause of the crash will take place and they have urged witnesses to come forward.

"Recovery of the vehicle and collision investigation are complex, and we expect the road to remain closed for a considerable time," a police spokesperson added.

Cranes are being used to recover the overturned coach.

One father said his 10-year-old daughter was on the school trip, but travelled on a different coach.

"I was able to pick [my daughter] up from school and didn't know anything until we got home," he said.

"It's just unbelievable isn't it?

"[I'm] absolutely devastated for the families and people on the bus that crashed."

The school's headteacher Laura Mackie laid flowers and said she was feeling "absolute devastation and heartbreak".

"[I'm] thinking of my staff team who are amazing, dedicated, and all of our wonderful students that have been affected and impacted by this awful, awful incident. It's just been horrific," she added.

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said she was working with Somerset Council to seek funding from central government for therapy for the affected children.

Ms Gilmour said she was "completely distraught" after the crash in her constituency.

She said: "One becomes an MP and bizarrely, we don't think about this sort of thing, we think about the NHS and looking after our farmers and things like that.

"And then this, this is what being a community MP is all about. I've just been in to see the head teacher, I'm a big hugger, so I've been giving a lot of hugs today."

A spokesperson for Exmoor Zoo said they "cannot believe that fate has been so cruel to such a lovely, lively, well-behaved group of children".

"All our thoughts, blessings and prayers go out to everybody involved, we cannot comprehend what the children, their parents, teachers and emergency crews are all going through now," they added.

Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.

Parts of the UK are braced for potentially dangerous flash flooding as thunderstorms and torrential rain are set arrive over the weekend.

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for south-east England as more than a month's worth of rain is forecast to fall in a matter of hours on Saturday morning.

It says fast-flowing and deep floodwaters are likely, leading to road and transport disruption, as well as power cuts.

The torrential downpours come days after a third UK heatwave of the year that parched swathes of the UK and led to several hosepipe bans being declared.

This will make flooding more likely and severe as the dry ground will not be able to absorb as much water.

• Why drought can lead to dangerous flooding

The amber warning covers a stretch of the south coast, London and Cambridge, and is in force from 04:00 BST to 11:00 on Saturday.

Between 20 and 40mm of rain could fall within an hour in this area, the Met Office has warned, which could accumulate to 70-100mm in just a few hours.

It said homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, which will happen "quickly", while this amount of surface water will make driving difficult and may lead to road closures.

Lightning strikes, hail and strong winds may also cause train and bus cancellations.

Yellow weather warnings will cover the rest of eastern, central and northern England and a portion of eastern Scotland. A yellow warning is already in force for parts of eastern England.

Amber warnings indicated there is an increased chance severe weather could affect people's day-to-day lives, including a potential danger to life. Yellow warnings are less severe.

The last amber warning over London was in January 2024, when Storm Henk hit parts of central England and Wales, according to the Met Office.

After arriving on Friday night, the storm is forecast to move inland, pushing northwards across England on Saturday morning before arriving in Scotland by midday.

Yellow warnings for rain cover parts of England and Scotland on Sunday and Monday as residual parts of the storm linger.

Last weeks heatwave brought travel disruption, a number of water-related deaths and hosepipe bans being declared for millions living in Yorkshire, Kent and Sussex.

One might think a heavy dose of rainfall would help reduce these drought conditions - but because the rain will be very heavy in localised areas, it will run off the dry, baked earth rapidly, perhaps overwhelming local sewers and waterways.

A substantial recovery in reservoir and groundwater aquifer levels would require a more sustained spell of wet weather.

Yorkshire's hosepipe ban is expected to last until winter.

Thunderstorms following a heatwave in the summer of 2022 brought flash flooding to London and the surrounding areas, flooding roads and Tube stations.

The rainfall also caused cancellations and delays at Gatwick Airport.

Swan numbers have begun to recover on the Thames, after a couple of years of worrying decline, according to an annual royal survey of swans.

A five-day search along the Thames, completed on Friday, found 115 young swans, rather than 86 last year, showing signs that the disappearance of swans could be beginning to be reversed.

The traditional count is called "swan upping", but in recent years it has been more like swan downing, with numbers plunging because of avian flu and human cruelty, including reports of swans being attacked by catapults and air guns.

But the new figures released by the King's swan marker, David Barber, show a more optimistic picture, after a 45% fall over the past two years.

The tradition of swan upping sees six boats sailing from Sunbury Lock in west London to Abingdon Bridge in Oxfordshire, with the "swan uppers" counting, weighing and giving a health check to young swans found along the way.

The annual event has also become a popular spectacle, with crowds gathering along the riverbank in the sunshine to watch the boats go past, with their colourful flags and crews in ceremonial outfits.

The fall in swan numbers had threatened to make the classic image of swans on the Thames an increasingly rare sight.

But the swan uppers have more positive news about the swan population and will be hoping a corner has been turned. Although it's still down on the 155 counted in 2022.

At the outset of the trip, Mr Barber said he was hoping that avian flu had "eased off", after an impact on the swan population that had been "quite disastrous".

"Fortunately, there has been a decrease in reported cases of the disease in the River Thames area in recent months," said the King's swan marker.

With a swan's feather in his cap and wearing a scarlet jacket, Mr Barber spoke of the risks to swans nesting on the Thames.

He said their search found swans needing to be cleaned from pollution such as engine oil. Fishing tackle was a longstanding problem and there were attacks from dogs and vandalism from humans.

Swan upping dates back to the 12th Century and was once about counting royal property - with the monarch having ownership of unmarked mute swans swimming on open water.

But is now more about conservation and education, involving schools along the route and helping to teach young people to respect and protect swans.

In particular Mr Barber wants to discourage young people from the mistreatment of swans - such as shooting them with catapults, which he says causes terrible suffering.

The figures so far show a more hopeful picture for swans on the Thames.

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Thirty-eight cases of botulism poisoning have been recorded in England in the last six weeks after cosmetic procedures suspected to have involved the use of unlicensed Botox-like products, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

Botulism is a rare but life-threatening condition caused by toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria.

Cases have been recorded in the East, East Midlands and the North East regions.

The UKHSA urged those seeking treatments to obtain proof that their Botox practitioner was qualified and that their products were licensed.

Botox injections are a common cosmetic procedure given to reduce facial lines and wrinkles.

The product is made from small, purified doses of botulinum toxin, produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Larger doses can cause botulism.

According to the UKHSA, the evidence so far suggests clinics involved in the cases have used unlicensed Botox-like products.

In the most recent cases, recorded in East England and the East Midlands, patients had difficulty swallowing, slurred speech and breathing difficulties requiring respiratory support.

Other symptoms of botulism can include droopy eyelids, double vision and weak facial muscles.

Dr Gauri Godbole, of UKHSA, said botulism related to aesthetic procedures was rare but could be serious. She added that symptoms could take up to four weeks to develop and urged anyone who suspected they were suffering to contact the NHS 111 service.

Dr Alison Cave, chief safety officer at the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said botulinum toxin was only available through prescriptions written by qualified healthcare workers.

"Buying botulinum toxin in any other circumstances significantly increases the risk of getting a product which is either falsified or not licensed for use in the UK.

"This means that there are no safeguards to ensure products meet the MHRA's standards for quality and safety."

The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners says it receives numerous reports of the "illicit supply and use of unlicensed botulinum toxins".

It suggests those considering Botox injections ask for information about the product, including its brand and intended dose, before accepting a procedure.

People should check these details again with the person carrying out the procedure on the day of their treatment. The prescription for Botox must be in the customer's name.

The UKHSA recommends the following precautions:

• Make sure a practitioner is qualified, is wearing appropriate protective equipment and washes their hands. Practitioners should be happy to discuss their qualifications

• Those seeking a procedure should be offered a consultation beforehand that covers checks for medical conditions

• A consent form outlining the risks should be discussed and signed.

The government spent nearly a third less on hotels to house asylum seekers between April 2024 and March 2025, according to newly published figures.

The Home Office's annual accounts show £2.1bn was spent on hotel accommodation - an average of about £5.77m per day, down from £3bn or £8.3m per day, the previous year.

Data obtained by BBC Verify shows the saving has been driven by a reduction in the average nightly cost per person housed, after a government move to use cheaper forms of accommodation and room sharing.

But Dr Peter Walsh, from the Migration Observatory think tank at Oxford University, warned that the surge in small boat crossings seen since March could lead to a renewed reliance on hotels.

"I don't think hotels are going away anytime soon based on based on current trends," he said.

Hotel accommodation is used when there is no other housing available for asylum seekers, and the government has committed to stop using asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.

There were 32,345 people in asylum hotels at the end of March 2025, up from 29,585 people at the end of June last year, but lower than the total in December.

A senior Home Office source said one of the main factors behind the saving was moving some asylum seekers from hotels into other types of cheaper accommodation.

They said the department had prioritised moving families and children into regular housing so they were not living in hotels for long periods of time.

BBC News understands the majority of people moved out of hotels are now living in local housing, or houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), a type of rented accommodation where at least three individuals share the use of a bathroom and kitchen.

Most of these properties have been acquired through the government's contracts with Serco, one of the three companies responsible for asylum accommodation.

Some savings have also been made by renegotiating elements of those contracts, which were originally signed by the previous Conservative government.

Officials have previously told MPs that greater room-sharing in hotels has helped reduce the number of sites and per head costs over the past financial year.

It is not clear how many people usually share a room, but Home Office minister Angela Eagle has previously said "people can double up or treble up" if rooms are big enough.

The Home Office accounts suggest 273 hotels were in use in March 2024 but that number has now fallen by 71.

The average nightly cost per person fell from £162.16 in March 2023 to £118.87 by March 2025, according to BBC Verify's analysis of official data obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

The Home Office's accounts also show that almost £50m of public money was effectively written off after the Labour government scrapped a Conservative plan to use the RAF Scampton site in Lincolnshire to house asylum seekers.

Tens of millions had already been spent on the site when Labour came to power and axed the plans.

The Home office annual report says that decision resulted in a "constructive loss of £48.5m", but a department source said the site would have been an even more expensive option than hotels, even taking into account the loss incurred.

The report also confirmed that £270m paid to Rwanda to help support the country's economic development was not refunded after the UK government scrapped the Rwanda scheme.

Conservative ministers had planned to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda to deter people from crossing the Channel in small boats.

However, the scheme was stalled by legal challenges and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said it led to just four people being removed to the country voluntarily.

The Rwandan government said last year that it was "under no obligation" to pay back the £270m after Labour scrapped the deal.

A transgender doctor was "distressed" and sobbed while telling a senior colleague about a confrontation with a nurse over the use of female changing rooms.

Dr Elspeth Pitt told an employment tribunal Dr Beth Upton appeared pale and was "very shaken" when they met in a corridor at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy at the end of their shift.

Sandie Peggie and Dr Upton had earlier had a disagreement after the nurse told the doctor they should not be in the same changing room.

After the exchange on Christmas Eve 2023, Dr Upton complained to NHS Fife about Ms Peggie's behaviour and the nurse was suspended on 3 January 2024.

On Friday the tribunal heard from Dr Pitt, who is a consultant in emergency medicine with NHS Fife.

She recalled being approached by Dr Upton about midnight, at the end of that day's work.

The pair then moved from the corridor to a well-being room, which was a short walk from the changing room.

Dr Pitt, who was on call through the night into Christmas morning, was asked what state Dr Upton was in.

The consultant replied: "She looked very shaken and she was visibly distressed and upset."

Dr Pitt added Dr Upton looked "quite pale" and "startled".

The consultant was then told there had been a "very upsetting incident".

Dr Pitt added: "She was really upset.

"She had felt very fearful and that point felt cornered."

The tribunal said the encounter with Ms Peggie had "become very unpleasant and painful for her".

Dr Pitt added: "The gist was that Sandie felt that Dr Upton should not be in the changing room."

The consultant said she was told the tone of the disagreement was "aggressive" and "unkind".

Dr Pitt said she mainly listened to Dr Upton but said she would report the matter and signposted the complainer to a British Medical Association (BMA) peer support network.

The consultant said she was not sure of the next steps but encouraged Dr Upton to get some rest and family time.

Dr Pitt told the tribunal she sent an email from her car to Dr Upton's supervisor and the charge nurse.

Timeline of the Sandie Peggie tribunal

The tribunal also heard an informal monthly meeting between senior consultants and senior nurses - held some time before the Christmas Eve incident - was made aware concerns had been raised about Dr Upton having access to the female changing room.

Dr Pitt said: "At one of those meetings before December, a member of senior nurses had said there had been a concern raised about Dr Upton using that changing room but that our understanding was that she was entitled to, that's what we had been informed.

"We were not told of the specifics, that was to be aware that people had a concern."

Ms Peggie's junior counsel, Charlotte Elves, later raised an email sent on 29 December 2023 from Dr Kate Searle, Dr Upton's line manager.

It said "we all support her and condemn the actions of Sandie".

Dr Pitt said it would have been sent to around 20 senior consultants, and described it as "information sharing".

The consultant said: "When I read 'condemn the actions' it was that we heard she had been verbally attacked.

"The way I would always think is anyone would condemn a behaviour that causes someone to feel unsafe or disrespected, that does not mean we condemn the person."

She also told the tribunal Dr Upton's sex was "just not something we talked about".

On Wednesday, Ms Peggie was cleared of gross misconduct following disciplinary proceedings by the health board.

She had been accused of misconduct, failures of patient care and misgendering Dr Upton.

NHS Fife said an internal hearing found there was "insufficient evidence to support a finding of misconduct".

The tribunal continues.

Lights down, armrest gripped, teeth clenched - just an average evening at the cinema for a horror film fan.

The genre is having a great year in 2025, with the top three examples - Sinners, Final Destination: Bloodlines and 28 Years Later - taking a total of £41.3m ($55.6m) in the UK.

That's compared with £32.1m ($43.1m) for the eight biggest horrors released last year, according to Box Office Mojo.

In North America, scary movies have accounted for 17% of ticket purchases this year - up from 11% in 2024 and 4% a decade ago, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.

"Right now it feels like we're in the renaissance of horror," Chase Sui Wonders, one of the stars of I Know What You Did Last Summer (IKWYDLS), tells BBC Newsbeat.

"Everyone's going to theatres watching horror movies."

The small screen's also helping to switch us on to new releases.

According to data provided by TikTok, there's been an rise in horror-related videos globally on the app in the past 12 months.

It said 10.7m people used the horror hashtag - an increase of 38% - while HorrorTok rose 40% to 2.6m.

The tags aren't exclusively used on movie-related content, but TikTok said it had noticed a spike in videos using them during the Cannes Film Festival in May.

While the figures for the past year could suggest a horror explosion, long-time fans argue the popularity hasn't crept up on us out of nowhere.

Ash Millman, a journalist and presenter who specialises in covering horror, says the genre's success has been more of a slow-burn than a jump-scare.

Over the last 10 years, she says, it's been gathering more critical and commercial success.

She says the success of artier efforts such as Hereditary, from studio A24, and crowd pleasers from horror specialists Blumhouse.

But Ash does admit that this year has been a particularly good one for fans.

"It's got a bit of everything for everyone," she says.

"We have sequels, then amazing new things like Sinners.

"I do think we're going to be talking about 2025 for years to come."

Ash points out that the genre has constantly been fed by producers of smaller-scale indie productions, but the number of major releases this year is notable.

"I think blockbuster horror has become a thing again," she says.

"People want to go to the cinema, they want to see it on the big screen, they want to be scared."

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, when streaming films at home increased, Hollywood has been struggling to get people back into cinemas.

Horror movies, which tend to be relatively cheap to make, seem to be bucking the trend, and IKWYDLS is the latest big studio release hoping to do the same.

Its director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson tells Newsbeat the feeling of watching with an audience is hard to replicate on your sofa.

"I think it's the collective experience of being scared," she says.

"It's so fun. Everybody wants to go to the movies with their friends and jump and scream and have a good time."

IKWYDLS is a retread of the cult 1997 slasher movie about a group of friends who agree to cover up a tragic accident, only to be pursued a year later by an anonymous killer known as the Fisherman.

The original came out in October - the traditional "spooky season" window for big horror releases.

But IKWYDLS cast member Jonah Hauer-King says he thinks the new version won't feel out of place in July.

"Counter-intuitively, though it is frightening and scary, there is something feel-good about this kind of film," he says.

"It doesn't take itself too seriously and it is a bit of a wild ride, so it feels like a summer popcorn film with the scares and with the thrills."

Jonah thinks there is also a deeper reason for the appeal of horror, too.

"I think at the moment people want to go to the cinema for a bit of escapism, forget about things and have a bit of fun," he says.

Ash agrees, and says times of "chaos and uncertainty" in the wider world tend to boost the genre.

"I think that's always a big festering ground for horror to make statements," she says.

"I feel like horror is a reflection of society but gives us a bit of control over it.

"Usually you see people kind of battling against a great evil and overcoming it in blockbuster horror, where we get a nice wrapped-up ending.

"And I think that's a really nice form of escapism and a way of kind of moving past these horrible things going on in the world."

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

A student who hit two police officers to the floor at Manchester Airport has told jurors he did not know they were women.

Mohammed Amaaz, 20, claimed he was acting in self-defence or defending his brother when he struck out at PCs Lydia Ward and Ellie Cook, as well as PC Zachary Marsden.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers entered Terminal 2 car park's pay station area on 23 July 2024 after reports that a male fitting Mr Amaaz's description had just headbutted a member of the public.

Prosecutors say Mr Amaaz resisted arrest while Muhammad Amaad, 26, intervened, with both allegedly subjecting police to a "high level of violence". Mr Amaad also denies assault.

Mr Amaaz previously told jurors he feared PC Marsden would "batter him" to death after he was grabbed by the head and neck and pushed downwards.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Paul Greaney KC asked Mr Amaaz whether he was "resisting" the attempts of officers to arrest him.

"If those officers wanted to detain me they could have simply told me so," replied the accused.

"These officers had come and literally forced me straight into the ticket machine. They didn't give me a second to think."

Mr Greaney told members of the jury that Mr Amaaz went on to kick PC Marsden as the officer struggled with Mr Amaad.

And he said Mr Amaaz then punched PC Cook to the face.

He said: "You knew full well you were punching a woman."

"No," responded Mr Amaaz. "I didn't know that at this stage."

Mr Greaney pointed out to the accused that in CCTV footage he was looking straight in the direction of PC Ward when he then punched her to the face and broke her nose.

He said: "Can I invite you to acknowledge that you knew obviously she was a woman, a woman with long red hair?"

Amaaz replied: "Not at this moment, no. This has happened so quickly. It is a matter of seconds."

Mr Greaney asked whether he thought PC Ward was part of a group trying to murder him.

Mr Amaaz said: "She was part of that group. I believed PC Marsden tried to kill me."

The prosecutor asked the defendant: "Do you still believe that now?"

"Yes."

Mr Greaney accused Mr Amaaz of being "wholly out of control", something which the 20-year-old student denied.

The barrister then asked Mr Amaaz whether he thought PC Cook was "intent on killing" him.

He replied: "At this point I thought this officer is going to attack me. I didn't think she would kill me."

Mr Greaney said: "Do you agree that your violence knocked her to the ground?"

Mr Amaaz replied: "Yes, I struck her."

'Stamped on me'

Mr Greaney: "This is the second woman you have hit to the floor within seconds?"

"Yes," replied Mr Amaaz.

Mr Greaney said: "All of this violence was offensive and entirely unlawful."

Mr Amaaz disagreed.

He told the court: "These were police officers who were attacking me and my brother again and again, trying to kill us.

"This lunatic (PC Marsden) booted me in the head and stamped on me."

Mr Amaaz denies assaulting PC Marsden and PC Ward, causing them actual bodily harm.

He also denies assaulting emergency worker PC Cook, and the earlier assault of a member of the public, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, at a Starbucks cafe in Terminal 2's arrivals area.

Mr Amaad denies assaulting PC Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.

The trial of the brothers, both from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, will resume on Monday.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

A court has ordered Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro to wear an ankle tag and put him under curfew over fears he might abscond while standing trial.

He governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022 and is accused of plotting a coup to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023. He denies any wrongdoing.

It follows US President Donald Trump's attempts to quash the case, which he has called a "witch hunt", by threatening steep tariffs on Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro said the court restrictions amounted to "supreme humiliation" and that he had never considered leaving Brazil.

On Friday, police raided his home and political headquarters on orders from the Supreme Court.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes also ordered that Bolsonaro be banned from social media and barred from communicating with his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been lobbying for him in the US, and foreign ambassadors, diplomats or embassies.

The ex-president will be placed under 24-hour surveillance and have to comply with a nighttime curfew.

Judge Moraes said Bolsonaro was acting deliberately and illegally, together with his son Eduardo, to have sanctions imposed on Brazilian public officials.

In a statement, Bolsonaro's lawyers expressed "surprise and outrage" at the court's decision, adding that the former president had "always complied with the court's orders".

According to the Federal Police, Bolsonaro has attempted to hinder the trial and undertaken actions that constitute coercion, obstruction of justice and an attack on national sovereignty.

Last week, the US president threatened a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods from 1 August, directly citing Brazil's treatment of Bolsonaro.

Lula hit back, saying he would match any tariffs imposed on Brazil by the US. In a post on X, the president said Brazil was a "sovereign country with independent institutions" and "no one is above the law".

On Thursday, Trump posted a letter on Truth Social that he sent to Bolsonaro in which he said the criminal case amounted to political persecution and that his tariff threat was aimed at exerting pressure on Brazilian authorities to drop the charges.

The US president has compared the prosecution to legal cases he himself faced between his two presidential terms.

Bolsonaro is standing trial along with seven accused over events which culminated in the storming of government buildings by his supporters a week after Lula's inauguration in January 2023.

The eight defendants are accused of five charges: attempting to stage a coup, involvement in an armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damage and deterioration of listed heritage.

If found guilty, Bolsonaro, 70, could face decades behind bars.

The former president has consistently denied the charges against him, calling them "grave and baseless" and claiming to be the victim of "political persecution" aimed at preventing him running for president again in 2026.

Speaking in court in June, Bolsonaro said a coup was an "abominable thing" and there had "never been talk of a coup" between him and his military commanders.

He narrowly lost the presidential election to his left-wing rival Lula in 2022.

He never publicly acknowledged defeat. Many of his supporters spent weeks camped outside army barracks in an attempt to convince the military to prevent Lula from being sworn in.

A week after Lula's inauguration, on 8 January 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and the presidential palace in what federal investigators say was an attempted coup.

Bolsonaro was in the US at the time and has always denied any links to the rioters.

A federal investigation into the riots and the events leading up to them was launched. Investigators subsequently said they had found evidence of a "criminal organisation" which had "acted in a coordinated manner" to keep then-President Bolsonaro in power.

Their 884-page report, which was unsealed in November 2024, alleged that "then-President Jair Messias Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organisation aiming to launch a coup d'etat and eliminate the democratic rule of law".

Brazil's Attorney General Paulo Gonet went further in his report published last month, in which he accused Bolsonaro of not just being aware but of leading the criminal organisation that he says sought to overthrow Lula.

A transgender doctor was "distressed" and sobbed while telling a senior colleague about a confrontation with a nurse over the use of female changing rooms.

Dr Elspeth Pitt told an employment tribunal Dr Beth Upton appeared pale and was "very shaken" when they met in a corridor at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy at the end of their shift.

Sandie Peggie and Dr Upton had earlier had a disagreement after the nurse told the doctor they should not be in the same changing room.

After the exchange on Christmas Eve 2023, Dr Upton complained to NHS Fife about Ms Peggie's behaviour and the nurse was suspended on 3 January 2024.

On Friday the tribunal heard from Dr Pitt, who is a consultant in emergency medicine with NHS Fife.

She recalled being approached by Dr Upton about midnight, at the end of that day's work.

The pair then moved from the corridor to a well-being room, which was a short walk from the changing room.

Dr Pitt, who was on call through the night into Christmas morning, was asked what state Dr Upton was in.

The consultant replied: "She looked very shaken and she was visibly distressed and upset."

Dr Pitt added Dr Upton looked "quite pale" and "startled".

The consultant was then told there had been a "very upsetting incident".

Dr Pitt added: "She was really upset.

"She had felt very fearful and that point felt cornered."

The tribunal said the encounter with Ms Peggie had "become very unpleasant and painful for her".

Dr Pitt added: "The gist was that Sandie felt that Dr Upton should not be in the changing room."

The consultant said she was told the tone of the disagreement was "aggressive" and "unkind".

Dr Pitt said she mainly listened to Dr Upton but said she would report the matter and signposted the complainer to a British Medical Association (BMA) peer support network.

The consultant said she was not sure of the next steps but encouraged Dr Upton to get some rest and family time.

Dr Pitt told the tribunal she sent an email from her car to Dr Upton's supervisor and the charge nurse.

Timeline of the Sandie Peggie tribunal

The tribunal also heard an informal monthly meeting between senior consultants and senior nurses - held some time before the Christmas Eve incident - was made aware concerns had been raised about Dr Upton having access to the female changing room.

Dr Pitt said: "At one of those meetings before December, a member of senior nurses had said there had been a concern raised about Dr Upton using that changing room but that our understanding was that she was entitled to, that's what we had been informed.

"We were not told of the specifics, that was to be aware that people had a concern."

Ms Peggie's junior counsel, Charlotte Elves, later raised an email sent on 29 December 2023 from Dr Kate Searle, Dr Upton's line manager.

It said "we all support her and condemn the actions of Sandie".

Dr Pitt said it would have been sent to around 20 senior consultants, and described it as "information sharing".

The consultant said: "When I read 'condemn the actions' it was that we heard she had been verbally attacked.

"The way I would always think is anyone would condemn a behaviour that causes someone to feel unsafe or disrespected, that does not mean we condemn the person."

She also told the tribunal Dr Upton's sex was "just not something we talked about".

On Wednesday, Ms Peggie was cleared of gross misconduct following disciplinary proceedings by the health board.

She had been accused of misconduct, failures of patient care and misgendering Dr Upton.

NHS Fife said an internal hearing found there was "insufficient evidence to support a finding of misconduct".

The tribunal continues.

The UN human rights chief says his office has received credible reports indicating widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions and arbitrary killings, during the recent violence in the southern city of Suweida.

Among the alleged perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim government, as well as local Druze and Bedouin armed elements, Volker Türk said in a statement.

"This bloodshed and the violence must stop," he warned, adding that "those responsible must be held to account".

Almost 600 people are reported to have been killed since sectarian clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted in the province on Sunday.

Despite a ceasefire announced three days ago, there were reports of clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters west of the predominantly Druze city of Suweida on Friday, near the village of Walgha.

An Israeli official also said that Israel had agreed to allow the limited entry of Syrian Internal Security Forces personnel into Suweida for 48 hours to protect Druze civilians "in light of the ongoing instability".

The UN's humanitarian office meanwhile warned that almost 2,000 families remained displaced by the violence, and that insecurity and road closures were preventing deliveries of humanitarian and medical aid to Suweida.

When the clashes between the Bedouin and Druze erupted on the weekend, Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government responded by deploying forces to Suweida city for the first time since Islamist-led rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war.

However, the fighting escalated and government forces were accused by residents and activists of killing Druze civilians and carrying out extrajudicial executions.

On Tuesday night, the government announced that it had agreed a ceasefire and that the military would pull out and responsibility for security would be handed to religious elders and some local factions.

According to Türk, the UN human rights office has documented the unlawful killing of at least 13 people on 15 July, when "armed individuals affiliated with the interim authorities deliberately opened fire at a family gathering".

"On the same day, they reportedly summarily executed six men near their homes in two separate incidents," he said.

The office has also documented the public humiliation of a Druze men, including the forcible shaving of his moustache, which is an important cultural symbol for the Druze community.

"My office has received accounts of distressed Syrians who are living in fear for their lives and those of their loved ones," Türk said. "The deployment of state security forces should bring safety and protection, not add to the fear and violence."

The BBC has contacted the Syrian government and security forces about allegations of summarily killings and other violations.

In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a "priority".

"We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said.

He went on to blame "outlaw groups", saying their leaders "rejected dialogue for many months".

He also said the government had agreed that the military would pull out of Suweida and responsibility for security would be handed to religious elders and some local factions.

State media have also cited authorities and tribes as accusing "outlaw groups" of carrying out "massacres" of Bedouin fighters and civilians and other violations.

The UN human rights chief said there must be "independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all violations, and those responsible must be held to account, in accordance with international standards".

"It is crucial that immediate steps are taken to prevent recurrence of such violence. Revenge and vengeance are not the answer," he added.

Türk raised concerns regarding reports of civilian casualties resulting from Israeli air strikes on Suweida, Daraa and in the centre of Damascus, where the defence ministry's headquarters and a site near the presidential palace were hit.

Israel said it carried out the strikes to stop government forces from attacking the Druze and to force the military to withdraw from Suweida province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Thursday night that it had documented the killing of at least 594 people during the violence.

The UK-based monitoring group reported that 300 members of the Druze religious minority were killed, including 146 fighters and 154 civilians, 83 of whom were "summarily executed" by members of the interior and defence ministry's forces.

At least 257 government personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed, while three Bedouin civilians were summarily killed by Druze fighters, it added.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, another monitoring group, said it had documented the deaths of 321 people, including six children and nine women, in Suweida since Sunday.

Serious pollution incidents by water companies were up 60% last year, according to the latest data from the government.

These are events considered by the Environment Agency to have a "serious or persistent" impact on the environment, and which result in the loss of aquatic life and risks to human health.

Earlier on Friday, the Public Accounts Committee - a cross party group of MPs - also published their report into the sector, calling the level of pollution "woeful".

Industry group Water UK, which represents the water companies, has been approached for comment.

The data on incidents from the Environment Agency comes ahead of a landmark review of the water industry, which will be published on Monday.

The chair, Sir John Cunliffe, will lay out his recommendations to the government on how to improve the environmental and financial performance of the sector.

Every year the Environment Agency records the number of times pollution e.g. untreated sewage, is released from water company assets such as treatment works, into the country's waterways.

In 2024, there were 2,801 number of such events, the highest on record, compared with 2,174 in 2023. Of these, 75 were the most serious, posing harm to fisheries, drinking water and human health.

Just three companies were responsible for the vast majority - Thames Water (33), Southern Water (15) and Yorkshire Water (13).

England has a combined sewage system which means both rainfall and sewage are processed through the same system. Last year, rainfall levels were up, which could have overwhelmed some water company infrastructure.

However, despite variations in rainfall, discharges which result in serious pollution are a breach of their permits and legal obligations.

Many incidents are reported to the Environment Agency by the companies themselves, but of the 4,000 inspections carried out last year by the regulator it found nearly a quarter of sites were in breach of their permits.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, which published its report into the sector on Tuesday, strongly criticised the government and Agency for not doing more.

"Regulators are overwhelmed by the number of prosecutions and appear unable to deter companies from acting unlawfully. Government must act now to strengthen regulators and support their efforts to hold companies to account," he said.

The Committee said that the continued incidents are a result of the regulators - the Environment Agency and Ofwat - "fail[ing] to ensure water companies maintain vital infrastructure".

It estimated that at current rates it would take companies 700 years to replace the entire water mains network.

Police who were investigating Kneecap's performance at Glastonbury will not take any further action.

Last month, a criminal investigation was launched by Avon and Somerset Police into performances by the Irish language rap trio at the music festival.

It said it had appointed a senior detective to investigate whether comments made by either act amounted to a criminal offence after reviewing footage.

On Friday, the force said detectives had sought advice from the Crown prosecution Service and chosen not to take any further action on the grounds that there was "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence".

"Kneecap was informed of that decision earlier today (Friday 18 July)," it added.

"Enquiries continue to be carried out in relation to separate comments made on stage during Bob Vylan's performance."

The force have also been investigating English punk-rap duo Bob Vylan's performance.

Hundreds of people have taken part in protests near a hotel used to house asylum seekers in a town.

Protesters from far-right and pro-refugee groups gathered in Epping, Essex, on Thursday.

BBC Essex political reporter Simon Dedman, who was at the scene, estimated there were about 40 pro-refugee protesters and about 400 members of far-right groups.

Essex Police said a man had been arrested on suspicion of affray at the protest.

"Our officers have been at a planned protest in Epping throughout the afternoon today, and are now aware of some protestors using fireworks and eggs in the crowds," said a police spokesperson.

"We have closed a section of High Road, Epping, for the safety of the public and those protesting."

The spokesperson added: "One man has already been arrested at today's protest on suspicion of affray."

Chris Whitbread, the Conservative leader of Epping Forest District Council, had called for an end to a hotel in the area being used to house asylum seekers.

He was joined by two local Conservative MPs - Epping Forest's Neil Hudson and Alex Burghart, who represents Brentwood and Ongar. They claimed the Home Office did not understand the "seriousness of this situation".

It followed the arrest of an asylum seeker on suspicion of alleged sexual assaults in the town.

Weyman Bennett, a member of Stand Up To Racism who attended the rally, said: "Britain is a peaceful country in which people should be allowed to go about their business without being attacked."

Millie Smith, who lives in Epping and attended the rally, said: "There has been a lot of misinterpretation of who is here and why they are here."

Ch Supt Simon Anslow said: "Disruption and offending is never an appropriate response, no matter the strength of feeling in this case, and on this issue."

The Home Office said it has "begun to restore order [to the asylum system], with a rapid increase in asylum decision-making and the removal of more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK".

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On Thursday, the White House announced that US President Donald Trump has a medical condition in his veins called chronic venous insufficiency.

During a regular news briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed that Trump, 79, had noticed swelling in his legs, prompting a check-up with his doctor who diagnosed him with the condition.

Trump had also been recently photographed with patches of make-up on the back of his hand. The White House has said it is unrelated to the vein condition, but is instead bruising as a result of frequent handshaking.

Here are the some of the key things to know about the US president's diagnosis.

What is chronic venous insufficiency?

Trump's condition is "benign and common", particularly in individuals over the age of 70, according to a note from White House physician, Captain Sean Barbabella, released to reporters.

Chronic venous insufficiency occurs when leg veins don't allow blood to flow back up to the heart, causing it to pool in the lower limbs.

Normal blood flow from the legs back up to the heart moves against gravity, which in older people can become a difficult process.

This can be due to weakening valves in veins, something that can occur as people age.

What are the symptoms?

When blood pools in the legs due to chronic venous insufficiency, it can cause swelling like the kind seen in Trump's ankles in recent photographs.

"It can be associated with serious conditions, but in and of itself it is not a serious condition, and one that is very common," Dr Matthew Edwards, chair of the Department of Vascular Surgery at Wake Forest University, told the BBC.

"People in his age (group), I would say probably somewhere between 10 and 35% of people would have this."

Experts say other risks include being overweight, having a history of blood clots, and having jobs that require patients to be on their feet for long durations.

What did Trump's doctor say?

After noticing swelling in his legs, President Trump was evaluated by the White House Medical Unit "out of an abundance of caution," a statement from Trump's doctor, Dr Sean Barbabella, said.

Dr Barbabella wrote that President Trump underwent a "comprehensive examination" which revealed chronic venous insufficiency, which he says is a "benign and common condition".

"Importantly, there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or arterial disease," he added.

Tests also showed "normal cardiac structure and function," Dr Barbabella said, adding: "No signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness were identified."

Dr Barbabella also noted bruising on the back of Trump's hand, which has been noticed in recent photographs, sometimes covered by make-up.

"This is consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen," he said.

The memo concluded by saying President Trump "remains in excellent health".

How could the condition affect Trump?

The US-based Society for Vascular Surgery said the condition can cause heaviness in the affected limb, as well as swelling and pain.

In some cases, chronic venous insufficiency can also cause painful cramps, spasms and leg ulcers.

Wearing custom-made, medical-grade compression stockings can help manage the condition, and experts also recommend patients elevating their legs at night and using lotion.

What has Trump said about his health?

In April, Trump underwent his first annual physical of his second presidential term.

"President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function," Dr Barbabella said in a memo at the time.

That health assessment revealed that the president takes several medications to control his cholesterol - Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe, as well as Aspirin for cardiac prevention and Mometasone cream for a skin condition.

The US president has regularly touted his good health and once described himself as "the healthiest president that's ever lived".

After his first annual physical, Trump told reporters that "overall, I felt I was in very good shape", and added that he thought he had "a good heart, a good soul, a very good soul".

Over the last five days, Rima says she has witnessed "barbaric" scenes.

The 45-year-old Druze woman has lived in the southern Syrian city of Suweida her whole life, and never thought her once-peaceful hometown would become the scene of a bloodbath.

"There were bodies everywhere outside our building," she told the BBC in a phone interview, using a pseudonym out of fear for her safety.

Rima said she huddled inside her home, bracing for the unimaginable, as gunmen - government forces and foreign fighters - moved through her neighbourhood earlier this week, going door-to-door looking for their next victim.

"One of the worst feelings ever is to keep waiting for people to come into your house and decide whether we should live or die," she recalled, her voice still trembling with fear.

The violence has left Rima and her neighbours feeling abandoned and afraid in their own homes, as bullets and shells sounded off outside.

Long-running tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes in Suweida erupted into deadly sectarian clashes on Sunday, following the abduction of a Druze merchant on the highway to the capital, Damascus.

As the fighting spread to other parts of the southern province, the government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa - who led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime by Islamist-led rebels in December - announced that it would deploy the interior and defence ministry's forces to "restore stability".

Since the fall of Assad, some local Druze leaders have rejected the presence of the security forces in Suweida city. When government forces were deployed on Tuesday, the fighting escalated.

Soon, the government's forces were being accused of attacking both Druze fighters and civilians, which prompted the Israeli military to intervene with a series of air strikes that it said were intended to protect the Druze.

As Rima watched this play out, the lack of internet and power made it difficult to keep up with the unfolding events. All she knew for sure was what she could see from her window: slaughtered bodies and burned buildings.

Syrian state media have also cited authorities and Bedouin tribes as saying that "outlaw groups" carried out "massacres" and other crimes against Bedouin fighters and civilians.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, has said it has documented the killing of at least 594 people since Sunday, including 154 Druze civilians, of whom 83 were summarily killed by government forces, and three members of Bedouin tribes who were summarily killed by Druze fighters.

Nayef, a Druze man whose name we have also changed, was also confronted with horrific scenes in Suweida.

"We are collecting bodies from the streets. We found bodies left outside houses, next to houses for two or three days," he told the BBC in a phone interview.

Despite being a government employee, Nayef lashed out in disbelief at what he saw as the government forces' brutality inside the city.

"They stormed neighbourhoods, selecting the houses that look wealthy. They looted these houses and then torched them. They sprayed unarmed civilians with bullets."

Videos circulating on social media appeared to support Nayef's allegations.

Footage shared on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon shows at least half-a-dozen men dressed in camouflage firing live rounds at a group of residents, who are kneeling on the sidewalk.

The UN human rights office said it had documented the killing of at least 13 people on Tuesday by armed men affiliated with the government who deliberately opened fire at a family gathering. On the same day, they reportedly summarily executed six men near their homes.

While bullets and shells rained down, Suweida residents were left wondering when help was coming.

But it never came.

Rima said she watched as security forces and foreign fighters entered her neighbourhood and later shot her neighbour in front of his mother.

"Is this the army and security forces who were supposed to come and protect us?" she asked. "People's livelihoods were stolen. Those who were killed were young and unarmed."

Other testimony we heard backed up Rima's claim. Those we spoke to said most of the fighters who entered Suweida and attacked civilians appeared to be Islamists.

One woman heard the fighters shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) in her building, calling the Druze "infidels" and "pigs", and saying they were there to kill them.

Some of these fighters posted videos of themselves online humiliating men in Suweida, including cutting or shaving off the moustaches of Druze sheikhs. The moustaches are a symbol of Druze religious identity.

The BBC has approached the Syrian government for official comments on the issue but not so far received a response.

In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a "priority".

"We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said.

He went on to blame "outlaw groups", saying their leaders "rejected dialogue for many months".

For many, the promise of protection felt like déjà vu.

It resembled the message the president delivered when government forces and allied Islamist fighters carried out deadly reprisals against civilians from another religious minority, the Alawites, in response to attacks by Assad loyalists in the coastal region in March.

A committee was established to investigate those violations - but is yet to deliver any findings.

The accounts from Nayef and others bore many similarities to what happened on the coast in March.

"There's a total lack of trust with the government," Nayef said. "They are just doing a lip-service. They say nice things about freedoms, documenting violations and accountability, but they are all lies."

Many Suweida residents say this latest episode of sectarian violence will have long-lasting effects.

"If it was not for Israel's bombardment, we wouldn't be able to talk to you today," one woman told the BBC.

However, some were also critical of Israel's airstrikes and its claim that it was acting to protect the Druze.

Nayef said: "Nobody wants Israel. We are patriotic people. We were at the forefront of people to adopt patriotism. Our loyalty and patriotism should not be doubted."

Additional reporting by Samantha Granville in Beirut

An NHS doctor and her husband have been jailed for 10 months each after selling stolen hospital PPE on eBay.

Dr Attiya Sheikh, 45, and 48-year-old Omer Sheikh made almost £8,000 from selling the personal protective equipment during the Covid pandemic in 2020.

She was working shifts at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride when NHS Scotland supplier Fannin spotted their products for sale on the auction website.

The pair admitted selling stolen gloves, face masks and wipes online at a time when the NHS was struggling to get hold of them.

Attiya Sheikh's lawyer, John Scullion KC, said his client bitterly regretted her actions.

He said: "She accepts full responsibility. She acknowledges the significant breach of trust the offence represents."

In July 2020, NHS Scotland counter fraud services began looking into the potential theft and resale of PPE.

The investigation identified four separate eBay accounts selling items such as gloves and wipes that were connected to the Sheiks.

A warrant was granted to search their home in Thornliebank near Glasgow.

On the day of the search in October 2020, Mr Sheikh was in the house.

He directed the counter fraud specialists to the attic within the top floor flat where 121 boxes of rubber gloves were discovered, as well as a box of face masks.

Detectives found that the couple had been selling them online for £15 to £20 a box.

Attiya Sheikh initially claimed she did not steal the PPE from the hospital but was given it by another person from the hospital in the car park.

However, inquiries failed to identify that person.

Gordon Young, head of NHS Scotland counter fraud services, described the crime as "outrageous".

He told BBC Scotland News: "To make a profit out of people's fears and to make a profit out of a shortage of equipment that was really needed, it really is the opposite message to what the NHS stands for."

He said that in monetary values, it was not the biggest fraud he had seen, but said it was an immoral one.

"This isn't about the loss of the money," he said.

"This is about someone in her position taking advantage of the health service and making a profit from it."

The maximum sentence that had been open to the sheriff was 12 months in jail.

This was reduced to 10 months because of the couple's early plea.

A government minister has rejected Diane Abbott's claim that the Labour leaderhip wants her out of the party after she was suspended for a second time over comments about racism.

Treasury Minister James Murray said it was "absolutely not the case" Number 10 wanted to remove Abbott.

The veteran left winger was previously suspended by Labour over a 2023 letter to a newspaper in which she said people of colour experienced racism "all their lives", which was different from the "prejudice" experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

She apologised for those remarks at the time after criticism from Jewish and Traveller groups and was readmitted to the party after a long suspension.

Her latest suspension was prompted by an interview with the BBC's James Naughtie, broadcast on Thursday, in which she said she did not regret the 2023 incident.

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said it "is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out".

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Murray said Labour were following "standard process".

He added that there was an internal investigation and "we now need to let this process play out" so it can be resolved "as swiftly as possible"

Out of "respect for Dianne" the investigation should be allowed to continue without ministers interfering, he added.

In her interview with Naughtie, which was recorded in May for the new series of BBC Radio 4's Reflections, Abbott said: "Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism, because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know.

"You don't know unless you stop to speak to them or you're in a meeting with them.

"But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they're black. They are different types of racism."

She added: "I just think that it's silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism."

In a brief statement issued to BBC Newsnight, Abbott said: "My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept."

Abbott also posted a clip online of her BBC interview after news of her suspension emerged, writing only: "This is the clip of my interview."

The latest suspension means the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP will sit as an independent MP, known as losing the whip, pending an investigation into her remarks.

Labour said it would not be commenting "while this investigation is ongoing".

Jacqueline McKenzie, partner in law firm Leigh Day and friend of Abbott, said the MPs words were being "weaponised" against "somebody who has spent most of her working life, fighting racism, including antisemitism".

McKenzie told BBC Radio London Abbott was "making an important point" about race.

In her latest interview Abbott was "apologising" for causing offence but standing by her belief that racism was experienced differently by different groups, McKenzie said.

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told the Guardian newspaper: "There's no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that.

"Diane had reflected on how she'd put that article together, and said that 'was not supposed to be the version', and now to double down and say 'Well, actually I didn't mean that. I actually meant what I originally said', I think is a real challenge."

Abbott has been defended by several Labour MPs, mostly from the left of the party, including Richard Burgon and Ian Lavery, as well as former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell - who now sits as an independent.

In her BBC interview, Abbott was asked if she would condemn antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would racist behaviour against someone because of the colour of their skin.

She replied: "Well of course, and I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I've spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting antisemitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency."

Abbott is the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, having entered Parliament in 1987.

She said she was "grateful" to be a Labour MP in the BBC interview, but that she was sure the party leadership had been "trying to get me out".

A 2022 investigation into the Labour party by senior lawyer Martin Forde KC found investigations into cl aims of antisemitism often received more urgent attention.

The report said Labour's factionalism had slowed disciplinary investigations and heard allegations administrative suspensions were sometimes used strategically to block individuals from standing in elections or internal positions.

Listen to James Naughtie's interview with Diane Abbott on BBC Sounds.

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Which areas will be most affected?

Will this heavy rain affect the hosepipe bans?

A family who claim The Salt Path author Raynor Winn stole tens of thousands of pounds from their business say trusting her was their "biggest mistake".

Ros Hemmings and her daughter Debbie, from Pwllheli in Gwynedd, allege Ms Winn - who worked for their property business in the early 2000s - stole around £64,000.

It comes after an investigation by The Observer contained claims Ms Winn gave misleading information about her life story in her book The Salt Path, which has been made into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.

Ms Winn has called The Observer report "highly misleading" and disputed many of its claims.

The 2018 book The Salt Path, and its recent film adaptation, tells the story of a couple who decide to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path after their home was repossessed following a bad business deal.

But The Observer claimed Ms Winn - whose legal name is Sally Walker - and her husband, Moth Winn, had lost their home after she took out a loan to repay money she had been accused of stealing from her previous employer, Martin Hemmings.

In a statement issued earlier in July, Ms Winn stood by the book's description of how they came to lose their house saying the dispute with the Hemmings did not result in her and her husband losing their home.

Martin Hemmings, who died in 2012, was an estate agent and property surveyor from north Wales, and husband to Ros Hemmings.

Mrs Hemmings, 74, became friends with Mr Winn when they worked at the same National Trust site in the 1990s.

"I got on extremely well with him," said Mrs Hemmings. "He seemed a really nice person."

Then in 2001, Mr Winn mentioned his wife had lost her job at a hotel as a bookkeeper.

"It coincided with my husband's bookkeeper retiring so I suggested her to my husband," said Mrs Hemmings.

"She came for an interview, and she was the one. She seemed very efficient, we liked her."

But she said after that her husband noticed a change in the business.

"Within a year or so we weren't making any money," said Mrs Hemmings.

Initially they did not suspect anything.

"I did not think there was any reason for this aside from the fact that Martin was rubbish at sending out bills," said Mrs Hemmings.

But their daughter Debbie, who was aged around 29 at the time, became emotional as she remembered receiving a distressed call from her father as the financial pressure built over a number of years.

"He said: 'I just don't know what's gone wrong, I'm working every hour God gives me and there's no money,'" said Debbie Adams, now aged 46.

"About five days after that first call he rings up and goes, she [Winn] has been nicking money. I was like, 'dad come on now, no. Surely there's something gone wrong?' He said 'no, we've had a look and there's money missing'."

They claimed a meeting between Mr Hemmings and the bank manager showed £6,000 to £9,000 was missing. They said Mr Hemmings then went straight to the police and a local solicitor.

They said shortly afterwards, Ms Winn visited them at their home.

"She was crying," said Mrs Hemmings. "She had brought a cheque I think it was for £9,000. She said this is all the money I have, I've had to sell some of my mother's things to do this, can we call it quits?"

Mrs Hemmings said her husband took the money on the advice of the police who said: "It may be all you get."

But they also advised the couple to start going back through the accounts to check if anything else was missing.

She said they went back through years of the business's financial paperwork.

"It was a very upsetting thing to do and it took us weeks and weeks," said Mrs Hemmings. "But we found she had taken about £64,000."

Mrs Hemmings said a few weeks later they received a letter from a solicitor in London offering to pay the money back and legal fees which came to around £90,000.

It included an agreement not to pursue criminal charges which Mr Hemmings signed.

Mrs Hemmings said: "He was keen to do it in a way, we had no money and had nearly been basically bankrupt. She also had young children, and to have a mother in prison or facing a criminal charge, he didn't want that to happen."

In a statement released in July after the Observer article, which included allegations from Mrs Hemmings, Ms Winn acknowledged making "mistakes" earlier in her career.

She said it had been a pressured time, and although she was questioned by police, she was not charged.

"Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry," she said.

Ms Winn said the case had been settled between her and her ex-employer on a "non-admissions basis", because she "did not have the evidence required to support what happened".

She said: "Mr Hemmings was as keen to reach a private resolution as I was."

BBC Wales put Ms Winn's statement to Mrs Hemmings.

She responded: "I think she's just trying to put the best spin on the question.

"The mistake was that we ever employed her, and the biggest mistake my husband made, because obviously I'd recommended her in a way, was that he trusted her."

The Salt Path has sold more than two million copies since its publication, and Ms Winn has written two sequels, The Wild Silence and Landlines, which also focus on themes of nature, wild camping, homelessness and walking.

Mrs Hemmings said she had not read The Salt Path because she did not feel it would reflect her view on why the couple did the walk.

She added: "I'd have stamped on the book I think. Just to gloss over why they ran out of money to me was shocking."

Her daughter Debbie said: "I don't wish ill of them. I just wish that they would tell the truth, and the truth needs to be told."

In her statement in July, Ms Winn said: "The Salt Path is about what happened to Moth and me, after we lost our home and found ourselves homeless on the headlands of the south west.

"It's not about every event or moment in our lives, but rather about a capsule of time when our lives moved from a place of complete despair to a place of hope."

Ros and Debbie said they had no paperwork or contract from the time to back up their claims - although others, like their solicitor involved in the case, Michael Strain, have corroborated their claims as part of The Observer's investigation.

Mrs Hemmings said she was speaking out now to give "a voice" to her late husband.

"I can't forgive her for sort of destroying my husband's confidence in people, because it did," she said.

"And I think that's partly why we didn't talk about it. He was so embarrassed that this had happened to his business."

North Wales Police said they were unable to confirm or deny any details regarding Ms Winn.

When approached for comment, Ms Winn's spokesman referred BBC News to the statement Ms Winn made on 9 July.

He added: "She is very grateful for all the kind messages of support she has received from readers."

Shoppers using buy now, pay later (BNPL) will need to pass stricter affordability checks under new rules coming into force next July.

It means some shoppers will be refused this type of credit and the ability to splash out on something potentially unaffordable in a few clicks could be slowed down.

Regulators say it will prevent people from taking on too much debt and being caught out by late payment fees.

Nurse Julie Rowbottom told the BBC that it was "easy to fall into a trap" with this kind of borrowing.

She said having the option at your fingertips made life easier, but the debt "could easily and quickly mount up" so she had managed her finances carefully to avoid falling into a spiral.

BNPL offers shoppers interest-free credit, allowing them to buy something immediately, then repay in 12 or fewer instalments within 12 months or less.

Huge operators such as Klarna and Clearpay have emerged and are offered as a payment method by many of the UK's biggest retailers.

Some 11 million people in the UK have used buy now, pay later in the last year, the City watchdog - the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - estimated.

Its survey found 30% of adults aged 25 to 34 had used it at least once in the 12 months to May 2024. The most common use was for "lifestyle and beauty purchases" and "treating myself or other people", it found.

BNPL is currently unregulated which means that lenders do not need FCA approval to operate.

'Wild west'

Charities have made repeated demands for extra protection, after seeing increasing numbers of people get into financial trouble.

Vikki Brownridge, chief executive of StepChange Debt Charity, described the new proposals as "a significant step forward" in bringing the sector in line with other types of credit.

"Buy now, pay later users are twice as likely as all credit users to borrow to cover essential bills, and our research also found that BNPL is now as common as using an overdraft amongst UK adults," she said.

In recent days legislation has passed which means the FCA can now consult on its plans to regulate the sector - after years of promises from politicians to control the "wild west" of lending.

The plans should lead to upfront checks on affordability, as well as faster access to refunds for consumers, and the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman.

It should also lead to clear information about cancellation rights, charges and any impact on credit ratings if a payment is missed.

Over 10 years, regulators estimate consumers will be £1.8bn better off as a result, while providers' profits will drop by £1.4bn owing directly to fewer transactions.

But it said it wanted to give lenders "flexibility" over how they applied the new rules, including affordability assessments.

That could see different lenders using different ways to test if people can cover the repayments.

Alison Walters, interim director of consumer finance at the FCA, said: "We are not prescribing how firms do it, because digital journeys will vary. But the firms must carry out an affordability check to ensure that consumers can afford to repay that borrowing.

"Credit is not right for everybody. There will potentially be consumers who will not be able to access this product and firms can signpost them to other support like debt advice."

'Major win for consumers'

Leading providers have said they are fully supportive of regulating the sector in the UK, but it must allow companies to innovate while also protecting consumers.

A spokesman for Klarna said: "After five years of constructive work with the Treasury, we're entering the home straight to make buy now, pay later regulation a reality - a major win for UK consumers.

"We are looking forward to working with the FCA on rules that protect consumers while keeping choice and innovation at the heart of the UK credit market."

However, the proposals come in the same week as Chancellor Rachel Reeves said less regulation was needed in financial services. The FCA said some of the buy now, pay later protection will come under current FCA regulation schemes.

Consultation on the FCA's plans will run until late September.

There will be a temporary regulation regime in place before new rules take effect next July. This means firms will need to follow FCA rules and will be able to continue to trade before they are fully authorised.

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Hundreds of people have taken part in protests near a hotel used to house asylum seekers in a town.

Protesters from far-right and pro-refugee groups gathered in Epping, Essex, on Thursday.

BBC Essex political reporter Simon Dedman, who was at the scene, estimated there were about 40 pro-refugee protesters and about 400 members of far-right groups.

Essex Police said a man had been arrested on suspicion of affray at the protest.

"Our officers have been at a planned protest in Epping throughout the afternoon today, and are now aware of some protestors using fireworks and eggs in the crowds," said a police spokesperson.

"We have closed a section of High Road, Epping, for the safety of the public and those protesting."

The spokesperson added: "One man has already been arrested at today's protest on suspicion of affray."

Chris Whitbread, the Conservative leader of Epping Forest District Council, had called for an end to a hotel in the area being used to house asylum seekers.

He was joined by two local Conservative MPs - Epping Forest's Neil Hudson and Alex Burghart, who represents Brentwood and Ongar. They claimed the Home Office did not understand the "seriousness of this situation".

It followed the arrest of an asylum seeker on suspicion of alleged sexual assaults in the town.

Weyman Bennett, a member of Stand Up To Racism who attended the rally, said: "Britain is a peaceful country in which people should be allowed to go about their business without being attacked."

Millie Smith, who lives in Epping and attended the rally, said: "There has been a lot of misinterpretation of who is here and why they are here."

Ch Supt Simon Anslow said: "Disruption and offending is never an appropriate response, no matter the strength of feeling in this case, and on this issue."

The Home Office said it has "begun to restore order [to the asylum system], with a rapid increase in asylum decision-making and the removal of more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK".

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Serious pollution incidents by water companies were up 60% last year, according to the latest data from the government.

These are events considered by the Environment Agency to have a "serious or persistent" impact on the environment, and which result in the loss of aquatic life and risks to human health.

Earlier on Friday, the Public Accounts Committee - a cross party group of MPs - also published their report into the sector, calling the level of pollution "woeful".

Industry group Water UK, which represents the water companies, has been approached for comment.

The data on incidents from the Environment Agency comes ahead of a landmark review of the water industry, which will be published on Monday.

The chair, Sir John Cunliffe, will lay out his recommendations to the government on how to improve the environmental and financial performance of the sector.

Every year the Environment Agency records the number of times pollution e.g. untreated sewage, is released from water company assets such as treatment works, into the country's waterways.

In 2024, there were 2,801 number of such events, the highest on record, compared with 2,174 in 2023. Of these, 75 were the most serious, posing harm to fisheries, drinking water and human health.

Just three companies were responsible for the vast majority - Thames Water (33), Southern Water (15) and Yorkshire Water (13).

England has a combined sewage system which means both rainfall and sewage are processed through the same system. Last year, rainfall levels were up, which could have overwhelmed some water company infrastructure.

However, despite variations in rainfall, discharges which result in serious pollution are a breach of their permits and legal obligations.

Many incidents are reported to the Environment Agency by the companies themselves, but of the 4,000 inspections carried out last year by the regulator it found nearly a quarter of sites were in breach of their permits.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, which published its report into the sector on Tuesday, strongly criticised the government and Agency for not doing more.

"Regulators are overwhelmed by the number of prosecutions and appear unable to deter companies from acting unlawfully. Government must act now to strengthen regulators and support their efforts to hold companies to account," he said.

The Committee said that the continued incidents are a result of the regulators - the Environment Agency and Ofwat - "fail[ing] to ensure water companies maintain vital infrastructure".

It estimated that at current rates it would take companies 700 years to replace the entire water mains network.

Former defence secretary Grant Shapps has defended the decision to keep secret a data breach involving the details of thousands of Afghans and some British officials.

In his first interview since it became public, Shapps told the BBC an injunction blocking reporting of the breach was "quite rightly" applied for by his predecessor and he believed at the time it should stay in place.

Many people were judged to be at risk of serious harm or even death as the Taliban sought retribution against those who had worked with the British government during the conflict.

Shapps said if there was any doubt, erring on the side of caution was "entirely justified", adding his focus was on "saving lives".

A "super-injunction" - a kind of gagging order that prevents the reporting of even the existence of the injunction - was lifted earlier this week.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme that "faced with the choice of whether that list would get out and people would be pursued, murdered and executed as a result of it, or doing something to try and save those lives, I'd much rather now be in this interview explaining why a super-injunction was required, than being in this interview explaining why I failed to act and people were murdered".

The data of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had worked with the British during the 20-year war in Afghanistan and had applied to resettle in the UK were inadvertently leaked in February 2022.

The details of over 100 Britons were also released, including spies and special forces.

The discovery of the breach in 2023 forced the government to covertly set up the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) - a resettlement scheme for those affected, who were not told about the breach despite the risk to their security.

The scheme has already allowed 4,500 Afghans and family members to move to the UK and a further 2,400 people are expected, at an estimated cost of £850m.

The accidental leak was the result of someone working at UK Special Forces headquarters in London inadvertently emailing more than 30,000 resettlement applications to an individual outside of government, thinking that he was sending data on just 150 people.

The Ministry of Defence has refused to say how many people in Afghanistan may have been harmed as a result of the data breach.

The Taliban government said on Thursday that it had not arrested or monitored Afghans affected by the leak.

The images come in every day. Thousands of them.

Men and equipment being hunted down along Ukraine's long, contested front lines. Everything filmed, logged and counted.

And now put to use too, as the Ukrainian military tries to extract every advantage it can against its much more powerful opponent.

Under a scheme first trialled last year and dubbed "Army of Drones: Bonus" (also known as "e-points"), units can earn points for each Russian soldier killed or piece of equipment destroyed.

And like a killstreak in Call of Duty, or a 1970s TV game show, points mean prizes.

"The more strategically important and large-scale the target, the more points a unit receives," reads a statement from the team at Brave 1, which brings together experts from government and the military.

"For example, destroying an enemy multiple rocket launch system earns up to 50 points; 40 points are awarded for a destroyed tank and 20 for a damaged one."

Call it the gamification of war.

Each uploaded video is now carefully analysed back in Kyiv, where points are awarded according to a constantly evolving set of military priorities.

"I think, first and foremost, it's about quality data, the mathematics of war, and understanding how to use limited resources more effectively," says the man behind the e-points scheme, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation.

But after three and a half long years of grinding, all-out war, the system has another vital use.

"It's also about motivation," Fedorov says. "When we change the point values, we can see how motivation changes."

Fedorov's office sports a huge video screen with dozens of live feeds from Ukrainian drones flying over the front lines.

Together, the feeds provide a vivid glimpse into Ukraine's drone war, in which commanders claim flying robots now account for an estimated 70% of all Russian deaths and injuries.

Since the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion, social media feeds have been full of drone videos, usually set to soundtracks of thudding heavy metal music.

The turret of a tank, exploding in a ball of flame. A lone soldier, fending off an attacking drone with a rifle or a stick.

It can make for gruesome viewing. Each video celebrating the death of an opponent. The video going fuzzy as the drone explodes.

But beyond a sense of grim satisfaction, hard-pressed front-line units now operate in the knowledge that evidence of their exploits can bring them rewards.

The BBC reached out to more than a dozen units to find out what front line soldiers make of the scheme. The responses were mixed.

"In general, my comrades and I are positive," said Volodymyr, a soldier from the 108th Territorial Defence Brigade. He asked us not to use his surname.

At a time when frontline units are burning through equipment, especially attack drones, at a ferocious rate, Volodymyr says the e-points scheme is proving useful.

"This is a way to make up for what we lose… while inflicting losses on the enemy as effectively as possible."

The 22nd Mechanised Brigade, currently fighting in the north-east of the country, has had about three months to get used to the new system.

"Once we figured out how it works, it turned out to be quite a decent system," said a soldier from the 22nd with the callsign Jack.

"Our lads are worn out, and nothing really motivates them anymore," Jack said. "But this system helps. The drones are provided through this programme, and the lads get rewarded. It's a decent motivation."

But others are less convinced.

"The fundamental issue of motivation isn't resolved by this," said a soldier who asked only to be identified by his callsign, Snake.

"Points won't stop people fleeing from the military."

A soldier who identified himself as Dymytro sent us a lengthy response in which he complained that units were spending too much time trying to claim each other's hits or would deliberately attack a Russian vehicle that had already been disabled, in order to earn more points.

For Dymytro, the whole concept seemed morally dubious.

"This system is just a result of our twisted mental habit of turning everything into profit," Dymytro complained, "even our own damned death."

But the e-points scheme is typical of the way Ukraine has fought this war: creative, out-of-the-box thinking designed to make the most of the country's innovative skills and minimise the effect of its numerical disadvantage.

Fedorov says 90-95% of fighting units are now participating, providing a steady stream of useful data.

"We've started receiving quality information and making decisions based on it," he says.

"By collecting data, we can propose changes, but the foundation is always military strategy."

In an anonymous office block in Kyiv, we met some of the analysts whose job it is to pour over the footage, verify each hit and award points to the unit responsible.

We were asked not to reveal the location or use real names.

"We have two categories: hit and destroyed," Volodia told us. "So a different amount of e-points goes to the different categories."

It turns out that encouraging a Russian soldier to surrender is worth more points than killing one – a prisoner of war can always be used in future deals over prisoner exchanges.

"If for one… killed Russian you get one point," Volodia said, "if you capture him you multiply it by 10."

Volodia's team analyses thousands of hits every day.

"The hardest part is artillery," he said, showing us a video of a drone navigating expertly through the trees and into a trench where a gun is concealed.

"The Russians are very good at hiding and digging."

As Russia's tactics have evolved, so too has the e-points system.

Moscow's increased use of small, probing units, on foot or riding motorbikes, means that the value of an individual soldier has risen, relative to a tank or other armoured vehicle.

"Whereas previously the killing of an enemy soldier earned 2 points," the Brave 1 statement read, "now it earns 6."

And enemy drone operators are always more valuable than the drones themselves.

The system of rewards is being refined too.

Until now, units have been able to convert their points into cash, which many have used, along with crowd sourcing, to purchase badly needed extra equipment.

Now the e-points system is being directly integrated into something called the Brave 1 Market, which designers describe as "the Amazon for war".

Soldiers can browse more than 1,600 products, use their accumulated points, purchase items directly from manufacturers and leave reviews, with the Ministry of Defence picking up the tab afterwards.

Brave 1 Market is designed to sit alongside traditional, cumbersome military procurement, rather than replace it. The hope is that units will have quicker access to preferred items, from drones to components and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) that can evacuate wounded soldiers from dangerous frontline positions.

Points for kills. Amazon for war. To some ears, it might all sound brutal, even callous.

But this is war and Ukraine is determined to hold on. By fighting as effectively, and efficiently as it can.

Shoppers using buy now, pay later (BNPL) will need to pass stricter affordability checks under new rules coming into force next July.

It means some shoppers will be refused this type of credit and the ability to splash out on something potentially unaffordable in a few clicks could be slowed down.

Regulators say it will prevent people from taking on too much debt and being caught out by late payment fees.

Nurse Julie Rowbottom told the BBC that it was "easy to fall into a trap" with this kind of borrowing.

She said having the option at your fingertips made life easier, but the debt "could easily and quickly mount up" so she had managed her finances carefully to avoid falling into a spiral.

BNPL offers shoppers interest-free credit, allowing them to buy something immediately, then repay in 12 or fewer instalments within 12 months or less.

Huge operators such as Klarna and Clearpay have emerged and are offered as a payment method by many of the UK's biggest retailers.

Some 11 million people in the UK have used buy now, pay later in the last year, the City watchdog - the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - estimated.

Its survey found 30% of adults aged 25 to 34 had used it at least once in the 12 months to May 2024. The most common use was for "lifestyle and beauty purchases" and "treating myself or other people", it found.

BNPL is currently unregulated which means that lenders do not need FCA approval to operate.

'Wild west'

Charities have made repeated demands for extra protection, after seeing increasing numbers of people get into financial trouble.

Vikki Brownridge, chief executive of StepChange Debt Charity, described the new proposals as "a significant step forward" in bringing the sector in line with other types of credit.

"Buy now, pay later users are twice as likely as all credit users to borrow to cover essential bills, and our research also found that BNPL is now as common as using an overdraft amongst UK adults," she said.

In recent days legislation has passed which means the FCA can now consult on its plans to regulate the sector - after years of promises from politicians to control the "wild west" of lending.

The plans should lead to upfront checks on affordability, as well as faster access to refunds for consumers, and the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman.

It should also lead to clear information about cancellation rights, charges and any impact on credit ratings if a payment is missed.

Over 10 years, regulators estimate consumers will be £1.8bn better off as a result, while providers' profits will drop by £1.4bn owing directly to fewer transactions.

But it said it wanted to give lenders "flexibility" over how they applied the new rules, including affordability assessments.

That could see different lenders using different ways to test if people can cover the repayments.

Alison Walters, interim director of consumer finance at the FCA, said: "We are not prescribing how firms do it, because digital journeys will vary. But the firms must carry out an affordability check to ensure that consumers can afford to repay that borrowing.

"Credit is not right for everybody. There will potentially be consumers who will not be able to access this product and firms can signpost them to other support like debt advice."

'Major win for consumers'

Leading providers have said they are fully supportive of regulating the sector in the UK, but it must allow companies to innovate while also protecting consumers.

A spokesman for Klarna said: "After five years of constructive work with the Treasury, we're entering the home straight to make buy now, pay later regulation a reality - a major win for UK consumers.

"We are looking forward to working with the FCA on rules that protect consumers while keeping choice and innovation at the heart of the UK credit market."

However, the proposals come in the same week as Chancellor Rachel Reeves said less regulation was needed in financial services. The FCA said some of the buy now, pay later protection will come under current FCA regulation schemes.

Consultation on the FCA's plans will run until late September.

There will be a temporary regulation regime in place before new rules take effect next July. This means firms will need to follow FCA rules and will be able to continue to trade before they are fully authorised.