Some 30 years ago I found myself working with David Pritchard, a director who turned the late Keith Floyd into a TV star.

He had first encountered Floyd, glass in hand, chaotically running a Bristol restaurant and coaxed him into cooking on television, often, it appeared, semi-sloshed, on a trawler or a gale swept hillside or, memorably, in a field of ostriches.

Audiences loved it. More than 20 television series ran with Floyd at the helm, and one of the attractions was the obvious tension between him and his director.

It was never going to end well.

One day, while we were editing a programme, David walked in fresh from filming with Floyd. He looked pained. "We flew back on separate planes," he said.

Then he leant closer and told me he didn't have to worry: "Rick will save me."

Rick Stein had appeared on Floyd on Fish. He was given his own cooking show and went on to host dozens more, including 40 episodes of Rick Stein's Cornwall.

Meanwhile, the light sprinkling of food shows of the early 90s went on to become a daily staple of TV schedules throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

In 2014, there was a complaint that the BBC had, in one week, broadcast 21 hours of cooking shows.

Then, seemingly just as abruptly as it all began - it was all over.

Shows known in the industry as "stand and stir" fell off a cliff this year. The number of new, half-hour shows from the BBC so far this year: zero.

Commissions for all forms of food programmes across British TV have dropped 44% in a year, according to Ampere Analysis.

Elsewhere, however, food videos are booming - only they're not made by traditional production companies. Instead, they are on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

In February, the ratings agency Nielsen reported a landmark moment: YouTube is now the most-watched service on American TVs. We're not talking about phones or laptops but TVs. The UK is not far behind.

By July, the broadcasting regulator Ofcom had published a report warning that British TV is facing a crisis. "Time," it said, "is running out to save this pillar of UK culture and way of life."

• Reality TV has changed the way we think - for the better

Cristina Nicolotti Squires oversees TV in the UK for Ofcom. "Unless something is done soon, this great broadcasting culture and landscape is under threat."

This is true of many types of television. Zuzana Henkova of Ampere Analysis gathers data on UK production and says there is a consistent decline in commissioning for documentaries, art and culture, historical, travel, sport and nature.

But the biggest drop over the last 12 months was for cooking.

Even some of the most popular TV cooks, like Nigella Lawson and Nadiya Hussain, are off the TV menu in the UK for now. The question is, why?

What is it that has made us fall out of love so spectacularly - and so suddenly - with what was once one of our favourite genres, and what is it about food influencers in particular that have eclipsed the popularity of the once-beloved "chop and chat" stalwarts?

Millions of views vs 'proper' TV

Natalia Rudin used to be a private chef but a video she shared on Instagram in January 2023 of an "antipasti-style bean dish" with olives, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and "a sort of white wine sauce" changed everything.

"I posted it and didn't really look at my phone and then… the next day, it had over a million views," she recalls.

"It was wild," she says. She admits she hadn't even been very happy with the video: "I was a bit hungover from New Year."

Today she has 1.5 million followers as Natsnourishments and is known as "the bean queen".

When sales of tins and bottles of beans rose 122% in Waitrose in a year, they put it down to foodie influencers, like Natalia. She no longer only posts on Instagram but on YouTube too. Some of her Instagram videos have surpassed 20 million views.

Now she's thinking about where to go next.

"I wouldn't say no to TV but… YouTube's where it's at," she says. "I like it because I have a little bit more control over it and I can decide what goes out."

Other food influencers tell a similar story.

When Ben Ebbrell was training as a chef, his school friends would text him, asking how to cook basic dishes. Now, his channel, Sorted Food, has 2.89 million subscribers and earlier this year he attended a reception at 10 Downing Street for leading YouTube creators.

"It was," he says, "a bit of a pinch-me moment."

The figures are impressive, with 1.3 billion views - but surely, I ask, he'd prefer to make a "proper" TV programme?

He pauses. This question has clearly come up before.

"[In the past] it was very much if you want to come and play in our TV world you have to play by our rules, whereas now TV is kind of coming to the content creators and saying: 'We'd quite like your audience to come use our platform, too.'"

The legend of the cronut

The reason for all of this seems straightforward enough. For Ben Ebbrell, it comes down to the cronut.

A few years ago, he says, his channel was "inundated" with comments from people in New York about this new craze - a cross between a croissant and a donut.

So, he recalls, they found some cronut photos online, came up with a recipe, made a video and published it.

"Every newspaper was writing about it and there was only one video on YouTube of how to make it and that was ours, and we were able to be nimble only because our community steers our content."

This is not how TV programmes are made. It's a world of pitches, focus groups and meetings - the online video world has almost none of that.

According to Ed Sayer - a veteran producer and commissioner who writes as The TV Whisperer - food is a perfect example of TV's problem.

"Television is heavily regulated, so you have lots of compliance," he says. There will be a team checking recipes haven't been copied from a recipe book, for instance.

By contrast, he says, the "abundance" of creators on YouTube and TikTok "don't have those same compliance issues".

Lower costs, greater freedom and an explosion of creative ideas have also helped change the game. We may think of YouTube as a "creative community" - it's not. Today there are 115 million channels on it - that makes it a "creative nation".

But dig deeper and this is about far more than regulation and red tape, or even the speed to react to trends - the real challenge is cultural.

Like the arrival of rock and roll

As far back as 2008, the then-chairman of ITV, Michael Grade called services such as YouTube "parasites" who did not create TV, just lived off it. It's true, they were not making TV - they were making something revolutionary.

Videos of make-up tutorials, pranks, unboxing products - and lots of cooking. None of this was seen as competition for "professionally made" programming.

And so for years many continued to underestimate it.

In August 2013, Kevin Spacey gave a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Netflix, at the time, had around 1.5 million subscribers in the UK. He was the star of House of Cards and his message was simple. TV had won.

But my other memory from that year's festival was a session led by YouTube. Fellow media journalists and I were sceptical - surely YouTube wasn't television, but a place for low-quality home videos?

In 2014, The Times wrote that industry analysts were sceptical that "low-budget, short-form videos" would ever seriously challenge television's dominance.

Even now, there's a degree of disbelief in some quarters. In a recent conversation on LinkedIn by some TV professionals, one poured scorn on young people on TikTok and YouTube for "not knowing" how to use clip-on mics.

But it's not that they don't know how to; they just don't want to.

It's a little signal to the rest of the online world that this isn't the fake world of television, this is raw and real.

Ed Sayer says younger people like this "rough and readiness" - and when they watch television, their reaction is typically: "It's so false and fake."

Why Bake Off broke the mould

Some in TV have long understood the importance of authenticity.

Take the one type of food programme that is still a prime-time attraction - the cooking competition, like Masterchef or the Great British Menu.

Masterchef remains a part of prime time, despite its well-publicised troubles leading to the departure of hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode.

And then there's the ratings show-stopper of food TV, The Great British Bake Off.

Richard McKerrow, the co-creator of Bake Off, always believed authenticity was the key ingredient, but says it was a struggle for others to see this too.

"I pitched Bake Off for five years and they told me it'd be like watching paint dry," he says. "No one wanted it."

Only when filming began did the magic reveal itself, he says. "I was going, 'Oh my God, these bakers aren't paying any attention to the camera because what they care about is what Paul [Hollywood] and Mary [Berry] think of their cake.'"

It tells you something that Bake Off was seen as a huge risk before it first broadcast in 2010, at a time when TV had rather more spending power - and the last 15 years has seen no successful rival take off. People are going elsewhere with their ideas.

Much of what's left of food TV is now funded by brands and outside agencies. On ITV, Tom Kerridge Cooks is sponsored by Marks and Spencer and features "producers who supply M&S" - so too does Cooking With the Stars.

Judi Love's food show is backed by Emerald Cruises, Dermot O'Leary's is part-funded by Tourism Ireland; Gary Barlow's latest is backed by Tourism Australia and Hays Travel. Anna Haugh's Big Irish Food Tour is financially supported by Tourism Ireland.

But overall, the conveyor belt that brought us Fanny Craddock, Delia Smith and Keith Floyd has stopped.

The question is, does it matter if more disappear?

Did food shows change the way Britain eats?

Some argue food shows helped change the way Britain eats - they have also taken us into homes and kitchens around the world.

Ken Hom and Ching He-Huan's travel and cooking series in 2012 was a fascinating snapshot of life in China through the lens of food.

But 13 years on, the money for such programming just isn't there.

Of course, YouTube has a wealth of travel and observational content. But there are 69,000 YouTube channels with more than a million subscribers; money and attention are spread thin.

Jonathan Glazier, a TV executive and writer who has worked on dozens of shows including the Generation Game and Gladiators, expresses his sadness at the slow disappearance of TV's shared moments. Especially, he adds, the programmes that capture real people as they puzzle, struggle and laugh their way though life.

"That's what television is," he argues, "it's about the characters that populate this country.

"The more we lose this type of storytelling, the more we become strangers to ourselves."

However, while TV may be facing a tough challenge, our appetite for video is not dying.

Ed Sayer, for one, is hopeful. "Audiences don't care about platforms - they care about stories, authenticity, and relevance," he says. Success will come down to who understands the new landscape best.

"Ultimately," he says, "YouTube isn't winning and TV isn't winning. The audience is."

BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.

Qatari authorities say they are still searching for two missing people and identifying human remains after an Israeli strike targeted senior Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday.

Israeli media have reported that there is concern in Israeli military circles that the highly controversial attack was not successful.

The Qatari interior ministry has identified the bodies of three of the five lower-level Hamas members who the Palestinian armed group said were killed along with a Qatari security officer. Hamas has claimed the attempt to assassinate its negotiating team failed.

In an interview with CNN, Qatar's prime minister did not reveal the fate of Hamas's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya.

"Until now... there is no official declaration," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said on Wednesday evening.

He also said Israel's action amounted to "state terror" and that he hoped Qatar's regional partners would agree a "collective response".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its strike was justified because it targeted what he called the "terrorist masterminds" of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 64,656 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza during the ensuing war, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Qatar is a key US regional ally that is the location of a major American air base. It has hosted the Hamas political bureau since 2012, and has served along with the US and Egypt as a mediator in indirect negotiations between the group and Israel.

Tuesday afternoon's air strike in northern Doha targeted residential premises housing several members of the political bureau of Hamas as they discussed the latest US proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, according to Qatari officials.

Israeli officials initially told Israeli media that they were optimistic about the results of what they dubbed "Operation Summit of Fire".

However, reports on Wednesday reflected their growing pessimism, with the suggestion that it might not have been as successful as they had thought. Some officials were quoted as saying the Hamas leaders may have been in a different part of the building.

Hamas said on Tuesday that the "heinous crime" had killed five of its members: Khalil al-Hayya's son, Humam, the director of Hayya's office, Jihad Labad, and bodyguards Moamen Hassouna, Abdullah Abdul Wahid and Ahmed al-Mamluk.

"We confirm the enemy's failure to assassinate our brothers in the negotiating delegation," it added, without providing any evidence.

By Wednesday evening, the Qatari interior ministry said authorities had identified the bodies of Humam al-Hayya, Labad, Hassouna, and Corporal Badr al-Humaidi, a member of Qatar's Internal Security Force.

The ministry said efforts were under way by specialised teams to "identify two individuals reported missing", adding that human remains had been discovered "in various locations".

There was no mention of the whereabouts of Khalil al-Hayya, who has yet to appear in public.

Netanyahu said Israeli forces had gone after Hamas's leaders in Qatar because it was giving them "safe haven".

"I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists: you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don't, we will," he warned.

In response, Sheikh Mohammed told CNN that it was Netanyahu who "needs to be brought to justice".

"He's the one who's wanted at the [International Criminal Court]."

Last year, ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe the men bore criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Israeli government and both men rejected the accusations.

Sheikh Mohammed also said he feared the Israeli strike had "just killed any hope" for the 48 remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

He said he had met one of the hostages' families only hours before the attack, and that they had been "counting on this [ceasefire] mediation and they have no other hope".

Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel's action could "open the door to an end of the war".

He confirmed that Israel had accepted the US ceasefire proposal and urged the people of Gaza to follow suit.

When asked if Qatar would now shut down Hamas's office, Sheikh Mohammed said his government was "reassessing everything" and having "a very detailed conversation" with the US about the way forward.

US President Donald Trump said he was "very unhappy about every aspect" of the strike.

"Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America's goals," he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. "However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal."

Trump said he had told special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform Qatar of the impending attack after being notified by the US military, but that it was "too late".

Sheikh Mohammed said the US had contacted Qatar "10 minutes after the attack".

Qatar's fellow Arab states have also expressed outrage at the Israeli strike.

On Wednesday, the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, flew to Doha to show its solidarity.

He told Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, that Israel's "criminal attack" threatened the Middle East's "security, stability, and prospects for peace", according to the UAE's WAM news agency.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who is expected to visit Doha on Thursday, said Israel's "brutal aggression" required action.

According to Sheikh Mohammed, there are plans for a summit to be held in Qatar in the near future to discuss a regional response.

Ministers have not gone far enough in reforming Lifetime Isas (LISAs) despite being warned these products were not suitable for everyone, Treasury Committee has warned.

Ahead of the November Budget MPs also questioned whether LISAs in their current form were a good use of taxpayer money, as they are forecast to cost the government £3bn over five years.

Anyone aged under 40 can open a LISA to either help save towards retirement or buy a first home. You can put in up to £4,000 a year and the government will top it up by 25%.

In June, the committee found that LISAs were being mis-sold and did not suit everyone, and following a government response to its report MPs said ministers must go further.

"The government has taken some steps towards improving the Lifetime ISA, but I do not believe they have gone far enough. The Lifetime ISA is a confused product that requires reform," said Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the committee.

Good use of money?

LISAs were launched in 2017 under the then-Conservative government.

Since then, 6% of eligible adults have opened one, with about 1.3 million accounts still open, according to the most recent figures.

In its report, the committee said the LISA's dual purpose to help people save for both the short-term (for a first home) and long-term (for retirement) "makes it more likely consumers will choose unsuitable investment strategies".

Research by HM Revenue and Customs, based on a sample of LISA holders, found that 87% of those who had used their LISA to buy their first home said that they could have done so without one.

"Given that the LISA is forecast to cost the government £3bn over the next five years, this raises the question whether the LISA is a good use of taxpayers' money," said Dame Meg.

The government, in its response to the report, said that it kept all aspects of LISA policy under review.

The government gave some ground following the committee's description of the rules which penalise benefit claimants as "nonsensical".

Currently any savings held in a LISA can affect eligibility for universal credit or housing benefit, whereas this is not the case for other personal or workplace pension schemes.

The committee said that if that was not changed, the LISA should be "clearly labelled as an inferior product" to those who may be eligible for such benefits.

In its response, the government said it would work with work with industry and across departments to consider ways to "improve the messaging" about the implications of savings and investments on benefit entitlement.

It's not just the dazzling colours and slick moves of Australia's dancing spiders that make them special.

There are more than 100 different species of the peacock spider, whereas most animals have only five or ten.

Researchers believe that's partly down to the spider's 'dark DNA' - a mysterious part of the animal's genetic code, and they are studying it to find out more.

They think that this dark DNA might enable it to adapt rapidly to changing environmental circumstances by developing into new species.

What the scientists find out, they say, might help to explain why there is so much variation in the natural world.

"We are interested in how the spiders evolve to become that diverse," Jonah Walker, of the Sanger Institute told BBC News.

"When you go outside you see so much variation in species of plants and animals," he said.

"Peacock spiders are at the extreme end of that. And so, by studying them, we can use that extreme case to try to understand what processes produce variation in general."

Peacock spiders are found across Australia and each one is the size of a pin head. It is so-named because of the brilliant colours males have on their abdomen, which they show off in a beguiling mating ritual.

They create a drumming sound with their feet, a spider song of sorts, and move rhythmically while displaying their dazzlingly patterned features. What is remarkable about these creatures is how varied they are in their appearance, songs and dance moves.

Mr Walker used to be scared of spiders, but he overcame his phobia because he was so drawn to the science behind the spiders and took the project on as part of his PhD research.

"When I told friends and family that I was going to study spiders in Australia I got some worried looks and I was obviously apprehensive myself. But just a few seconds of watching them dance was enough for any fears to be washed away."

Mr Walker worked with his group leader, Dr Jonana Meier and an international team to collect each and every one of the species discovered so far.

They then painstakingly categorised precise details about each one's behaviour, movement and songs. The final piece of the jigsaw was to cross-reference all this information with the DNA of each species.

By comparing the results of each species, they hope to find out which genes are responsible for each trait and ultimately why there are so many different types of peacock spider.

The research is a work in progress but the team already has a strong scientific lead to investigate further.

"It is early days, but one of the tantalising things we have discovered is that it may not only be the genes that are responsible for the diversity, but the bits in between, the so-called 'dark DNA', that may influence how spiders evolve," says Mr Walker.

DNA consists of a long string of molecules. Some parts of them are involved in deciding specific traits. In the case of humans they can decide height or eye colour. These sections are called genes.

But the bulk of the sections of DNA are not genes, and no one really knows what they do. The Sanger researchers think that this so-called dark DNA may be responsible for peacock spiders' diversity.

They have three times more dark DNA than humans.

Some butterflies and moths also have an exceptionally large number of species. Dr Meier has already decoded the DNA of a thousand species of butterflies and moths.

But spiders, butterflies and moths are just the start of one of the most ambitious genetic projects ever undertaken. The plan is to decipher the genetic code of every single plant, animal and fungus on the planet in the next 10 years.

"Just like all plants, animals and fungus we have very similar DNA," Dr Meier told BBC News.

"By understanding the DNA of all the different organisms, we learn about the general principles of how genes work and what the function of dark DNA is, and so it also helps us find out a lot about ourselves"

Researchers have decoded the DNA of 3,000 different species so far as part of the Earth BioGenome Project.

The aim is to decode 10,000 next year and complete all 1.8 million living species in the next decade. The knowledge gained, scientists hope, will enable them to gain an unprecedented insight into how all living things evolved and the intricate interrelationships between them.

Charlie Kirk was one of the most high-profile conservative activists and media personalities in the US and a trusted ally of President Donald Trump.

Kirk, 31, who the president said died after a shooting at a Utah college on Wednesday, was known for holding open-air debates on campuses across the country.

In 2012, at the age of 18, he co-founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a student organisation that aims to spread conservative ideals at liberal-leaning US colleges.

His social media and eponymous daily podcast often shared clips of him debating with students about issues such as transgender identity, climate change, faith and family values.

The son of an architect who grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, Kirk attended a community college near Chicago before dropping out to devote himself to political activism. He applied unsuccessfully for West Point, the elite US military academy.

Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when engaging in debates with students and academics on esoteric topics such as post-modernism.

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His role in TPUSA took off after President Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012.

Kirk toured the country speaking at Republican events, many popular with members of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement. TPUSA now has chapters in more than 850 colleges.

An avid public speaker, Kirk addressed the Oxford Union earlier this year, and wrote a 2020 best-seller The Maga Doctrine.

TPUSA played a key role in the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump and other Republican candidates in last year's election. The millennial was widely credited with helping to register tens of thousands of new voters and flipping Arizona for Trump.

Kirk attended Trump's inauguration in January in Washington DC, and has been a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office.

The president and his aides valued Kirk's political antenna for the grassroots of the Make America Great Again movement.

He's spoken at Republican conventions and last year Donald Trump repaid the favour by giving a big speech at a Turning Point conference in Arizona.

Earlier this year, he travelled with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr, to Greenland, as the then-incoming president was arguing that the US should own the Arctic territory.

Kirk's evangelical Christian religion and family - he married a former Miss Arizona, with whom he had two children - were front and centre in his politics, and he was seen as both the future of conservative activism and a highly polarising figure.

Perhaps the biggest tribute to his contribution to Republican politics came from Trump himself in a clip played at the beginning of Kirk's podcast.

The president says: "I want to thank Charlie, he's an incredible guy, his spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organisations ever created."

Kirk discussed numerous political and social at his events and on his podcasts, gun control is one of them.

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"It shouldn't be here. If the fire service see this they will be around to sort me out."

I'm standing next to pensioner Lorraine Boyce in the cramped hallway of her Birmingham home.

Six months of the city's all-out bin strike and the space is still being used to store a mound of recycling the council is unable to collect.

The authority is making largely regular pick-ups of general waste. But as a dispute with the Unite union continues, residents remain stuck in the middle.

"In the shed I've got a lot of small jars," explained Ms Boyce, who is in her 80s and from Kings Norton.

"In the hall I've got half a dozen bottles, cardboard, paper and a lot of plastic recycling."

The pensioner told the BBC she believed in recycling and, as a point of principle, would not put it in with general waste.

But as she lives alone without a car, she is unable to take it to the tip herself.

"[The bin strike] is bad for our reputation and our morale," she said. "I think it's depressing. People are feeling that they don't matter."

Ms Boyce is not the only one feeling the impact six months on.

In South Yardley, Carolyn Bauer has bought a litter picker online and goes out multiple times a week to clean up her front drive.

But the bin store servicing her cul-de-sac is full of general waste.

It is only seeing intermittent collections take place because it has large containers rather than wheelie bins - great news for rats and foxes.

"We were stood out the front chatting to someone and you could smell the bins," the 52-year-old said.

"I just want it to be resolved. I don't really blame anybody, you just hope that one way or another it will be sorted out."

Across the city in Aston, Rob Brough, 56, said his general waste collections were also sporadic, with locals managing through regular tip runs.

He and his neighbour Naomi Clooney, 50, showed me videos of an enormous pile of rubbish at their apartment complex at the height of the strike in May.

At the time, seagulls would regularly tear open bin bags, leaving a trail of rubbish for other wildlife to feast on.

Ms Clooney, who has been taking her recycling to Wales when visiting family, said she believed the situation was unacceptable when residents had faced consecutive council tax rises.

"It [has] marred the perspective of the city," she said. "I had family over from Ireland and it was really quite embarrassing."

Birmingham City Council announced last month it was walking away from negotiations, while refuse workers who are members of Unite have voted to extend their walkout until next March.

Bosses insist the city's bins service needs transforming through vehicle and crew changes.

"While we are disappointed the dispute has not been resolved as Unite has rejected all our offers, we are continuing to make regular waste collections as we prepare to implement the new and improved service," a spokesperson said.

'Broken promises'

But the union says it is a case of "brutal" council cuts, claiming up to 170 refuse workers face losing around £8,000 a year.

"Politicians' treatment of these workers, including lies about no one losing pay and broken promises about being able to retrain in driving roles that are now nowhere to be seen, is amongst the worst Unite has even seen," said national lead officer Onay Kasab.

The union has now vowed to extend the industrial action if a deal is not struck, possibly beyond next March.

It means the strike could rumble on for at least an entire year.

If that is the case, people in Birmingham now know exactly what to expect.

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Sir Keir Starmer is facing pressure over US ambassador Lord Mandelson, after the emergence of fresh revelations about his links to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

It comes after US lawmakers released a number of documents, which included a letter in which the Labour peer called Epstein his "best pal".

In an interview with Harry Cole Saves the West, Lord Mandelson suggested further "embarrassing" exchanges would emerge. The Sun newspaper has reported he allegedly sent supportive messages to Epstein while he was facing charges in 2008.

Lord Mandelson told the BBC: "I relied on assurances of his innocence that turned out later to be horrendously false."

He added in response to the Sun's report: "His lawyers claimed that it was a shake down of him, a criminal conspiracy. I foolishly relied on their word which I regret to this day."

The Conservatives and some Labour MPs have called for Lord Mandelson to be sacked but the prime minister has stood by the diplomat.

According to the Sun newspaper, Lord Mandelson allegedly told Epstein to "fight for early release" shortly before Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison for soliciting prostitution from a person under the age of 18.

Speaking to the Harry Cole earlier, Lord Mandelson admitted he had continued his association with Epstein for "far longer than I should have done".

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir said Lord Mandelson had "repeatedly expressed his deep regret" for his relationship with Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

A senior Trump administration official told the BBC the White House is continuing to work together with Lord Mandelson on a whole range of issues despite the furore surrounding his relationship with Epstein.

Lord Mandelson spent almost an hour with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Even though both men are under pressure over their previous friendships with Epstein neither of them mentioned it. The president did say that Lord Mandelson was "doing a fantastic job as ambassador".

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Lord Mandelson's position was "untenable".

In a post on X, Badenoch said Lord Mandelson "needs to be fired now" in response to the Sun's report about the diplomat's links to Epstein.

Speaking earlier at PMQs, Badenoch said Lord Mandelson was "mired in scandal", raising questions over Sir Keir's "bad judgement".

Badenoch called for documents relating to background checks on Lord Mandelson ahead of his appointment to be made public.

The Liberal Democrats have also called for an official investigation into the extent to which Lord Mandelson disclosed his previous contacts with Epstein before Sir Keir appointed him US ambassador in December last year.

The prime minister did not detail exactly what he knew about Lord Mandelson's links to Epstein prior to appointing him, but said he retained confidence in him and he was "playing an important role" in UK-US relations.

He added that a "full due process" was undertaken prior to Lord Mandelson's appointment.

Some Labour MPs are worried about the impact of the Mandelson row - just days after Angela Rayner was forced to resign as deputy prime minister.

Although the prime minister has backed Lord Mandelson, a number of Labour MPs broke ranks and went public with calls for the ambassador to resign on Wednesday night.

Among them was Richard Burgon, who said Lord Mandelson "should never have been appointed", and Nadia Whittome, who echoed that view and added it had "long been known that [Lord] Mandelson remained close to Epstein even after he was convicted of sex offences".

Bell Ribeiro-Addy became the first Labour MP to publicly call for the ambassador to resign on Wednesday, telling the i Paper the revelations were "going to disturb quite a few people".

The publication of a letter from Lord Mandelson to Epstein has thrown the spotlight on the pair's relationship.

Released by a committee of US lawmakers on Tuesday, the letter from Mandelson was one of a number of documents in an alleged "birthday book" given to Epstein in 2003 to celebrate his 50th birthday.

Speaking to Harry Cole, the diplomat said it was "very embarrassing" to see the words published but added they were written "over 20 years ago".

Lord Mandelson said he felt "a tremendous sense of regret" over his friendship with Epstein, and a "tremendous sense of sympathy" for his victims.

He said he never saw wrongdoing at any point while with Epstein.

Asked why he continued his friendship with Epstein, Lord Mandelson said he "fell for his lies".

"I accepted assurances he had given me about his original indictment, his original criminal case in Florida. Like very many people I took at face value what he said."

The controversy comes just days before President Trump is due to visit the UK for a state visit.

A senior Trump administration official declined to say whether the White House continued to have confidence in Lord Mandelson, but the official did tell the BBC they were working together on preparations for the state visit, which will celebrate the successes the UK and the US have shared since Trump returned to office.

Lord Mandelson is highly rated in Downing Street because of his ability to work with the Trump administration.

But his past relationship is awkward for the prime minister. A key question will be over Lord Mandelson's judgement – remaining friends with Epstein after it first emerged he had been investigated.

The difficult questions for the government are likely to continue if, as Lord Mandelson suggests, there are more details to come.

Mandelson's connection with Epstein had previously been made public. In 2019, an internal report by the bank JP Morgan said Epstein kept "a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British government".

Lord Mandelson has been in and out of British politics for four decades. He was instrumental in the New Labour project which saw Tony Blair win the 1997 election with a huge landslide.

He was a minister in different departments in the government until 2010, when Labour lost power and during that time earned a reputation for bouncing back after twice being forced to resign his ministerial positions.

Additional reporting by Sarah Smith, the BBC's North America editor.

Into the two big foreign policy arenas sucking up much of the Trump administration's time and effort come two major challenges in less than 24 hours.

Israel's air raid on the offices of Hamas in Doha and a Russian drone incursion deep into Polish airspace represent two massive headaches for the White House.

And, arguably, two major affronts to the president's authority.

After all, these are conflicts – Ukraine and Gaza - US President Donald Trump said he would deal with swiftly and decisively.

In each case, a leader he sees as a natural, if problematic ally – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – has thrown a massive spanner in the wheels of White House peace-making.

Consider the timing. The Doha raid came just two days after the Trump administration delivered its latest proposals to end the war in Gaza.

On social media, Trump told Hamas that this was a last chance.

"I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting," he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. "This is my last warning, there will not be another one!"

In Doha, Hamas' senior leadership gathered to consider their response, but Israel didn't wait to hear it. The attack didn't just blow up the latest US proposals, it may have wrecked the entire, delicate architecture of Gaza diplomacy, on which the Trump administration was relying heavily.

Debate swirls over how and when the US found out about the Israeli raid and whether it could have done more to stop it. The presence in Qatar of one of the most important US airbases in the world has led many to conclude that it's inconceivable that Washington didn't see the Israeli jets approaching.

But if there wasn't a green light from Washington – and many assume there was – what does this say about Mr Trump's ability to influence Benjamin Netanyahu's actions?

For the past two years, following the humiliation suffered at the hands of Hamas gunmen on 7 October 2023, Israel has been flexing its military muscles across the Middle East, mostly with the tacit or explicit approval of the United States.

Israel has established itself as the region's undisputed hegemon, able to attack at will countries as far flung as Yemen and Iran.

But in both those cases, the US was also involved and shared the objectives – halting Houthi attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea and thwarting Iran's nuclear ambitions.

An attack on Qatar, a key US regional ally, is a whole other thing.

Donald Trump said he felt "very badly" about it. According to the White House account of events, news of the Israeli raid came too late to offer Qatar any meaningful warning.

"Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace does not advance Israel or America's goals," the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

It won't be enough to quell the suspicions of American complicity, but it sounded like real anger.

For his part, Mr Netanyahu was keen to emphasise that this was a "wholly independent" action.

In The Washington Post, David Ignatius wrote that what the Israelis have dubbed "Operation Summit of Fire" came despite US and Israeli assurances that Hamas leaders would not be targeted in Qatar.

For such assurances, if given, to have been so flagrantly cast aside will inevitably be seen in the Gulf as a sign of American weakness.

Then there's Poland.

Less than a month ago, Trump welcomed Putin to a summit in Alaska, rolling out the red carpet, warmly embracing the architect of the war in Ukraine and, in a hot mic moment days later, telling France's Emmanuel Macron that Putin "wants to make a deal for me….as crazy as it sounds."

But far from progress towards a deal, the weeks since have brought only escalation. More record-breaking Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, and now, for the first time, a flagrant incursion into NATO airspace.

It's not the first time Russian projectiles have landed in Poland, but previous episodes were close to the border and seemingly accidental.

But the incursions early on Wednesday morning were anything but accidental. Polish officials reported 19 Russian drones, some flying deep into Poland.

The Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament this was "the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two."

Despite Russian denials, there's a near universal consensus that this was a deliberate effort by Moscow to test Nato's resolve.

And since the United States remains the alliance's most powerful member, that means testing Donald Trump's resolve too.

The president's apparent reluctance to respond – in contrast to his comments on the Doha attack – did not go unnoticed.

"A stunning silence from the White House greeted news that a Nato ally for the first time engaged and shot down Russian military assets," the Kyiv Post newspaper wrote.

A post on Truth Social did eventually – and inevitably – come.

"What's with Russia violating Poland's airspace with drones?" the president wrote, adding, somewhat ambiguously, "Here we go!"

But his initial silence, coupled with his seeming unwillingness to follow through on his own threats to impose new sanctions on Russia, leave Ukraine's western allies where they have always been: wondering where Donald Trump's heart is.

This could be about to change, with European officials working with their American counterparts on a coordinated package of sanctions, the first since Trump returned to the White House.

But given the president's previous ambivalence about Nato, alliance members want reassurance that when the sovereignty of an ally is threatened, Washington can be relied on to respond.

A recent agreement to allow Nato members to purchase US military equipment for Ukraine, along with the commitment of members to spend more on their own defence, has done much to improve relations within the alliance, and Trump has abandoned the sort of hostile rhetoric towards Nato that characterised his first term in office.

For their part, Nato's European members have generally acknowledged that they must do more to look after their own security. Policing Poland's airspace is a good example.

But American might, military and political, is still the bedrock on which the alliance is built, and questions linger about this president's willingness to wield it.

Two days, two conflicts and two conundrums. For Trump, a leader who does not like, or expect, to be challenged, this has been testing experience. Everyone is waiting to see if he rises to the occasion.

Gary Lineker has pulled off a major upset by breaking Ant and Dec's 23-year winning streak at the National Television Awards.

The former Match of the Day presenter was named best TV presenter at the ceremony, where the winners are chosen by viewers, on Wednesday.

Lineker left the BBC football show after 26 years at the end of the Premier League season in May.

It was also his last appearance for the BBC after the latest in a string of controversies about his social media use led him to announce he would be leaving the corporation.

Accepting the award he thanked everyone he worked with and said the prize "demonstrates that it is OK to use your platform to speak up on behalf of those who have no voice".

Asked about whether he would work for the BBC again, the presenter said he was not sure and was "really looking forward to working with ITV".

The awards are unique in that all of the categories are voted for by members of the public.

One of the most watched reality TV shows of the year, The Traitors, went home empty-handed after being beaten by I'm a Celebrity in the reality competition category.

The National Television Award nominees in full:

Reality competition

• I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
• Love Island
• Race Across the World
• The Traitors

New drama

• Adolescence
• Code of Silence
• Ludwig
• MobLand
• Rivals

Quiz show

• Michael McIntyre's The Wheel
• Richard Osman's House of Games
• The 1% Club
• The Chase

Authored documentary

• Boyzone: No Matter What
• Flintoff
• Molly-Mae: Behind It All
• Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me
• There's Only One Rob Burrow

Returning drama

• Call the Midwife
• Gangs of London
• Heartstopper
• Slow Horses
• Vera

TV presenter

• Alison Hammond
• Ant & Dec
• Claudia Winkleman
• Gary Lineker
• Stacey Solomon

Factual entertainment

• Clarkson's Farm
• Gogglebox
• Sort Your Life Out
• Stacey & Joe
• The Martin Lewis Money Show Live

Drama performance

• Brenda Blethyn - DCI Vera Stanhope, Vera
• Owen Cooper - Jamie Miller, Adolescence
• Rose Ayling-Ellis - Alison Brooks, Code of Silence
• Stephen Graham - Eddie Miller, Adolescence
• Tom Hardy - Harry Da Souza, MobLand

The Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award

• Michael McIntyre's Big Show
• The Graham Norton Show
• The Masked Singer
• Would I Lie to You?

Serial drama

• Casualty
• Coronation Street
• EastEnders
• Emmerdale
• Hollyoaks

Serial drama performance

• Eden Taylor-Draper - Belle Dingle, Emmerdale
• Jack P Shepherd - David Platt, Coronation Street
• Jacqueline Jossa - Lauren Branning, EastEnders
• Steve McFadden - Phil Mitchell, EastEnders
• Sue Devaney - Debbie Webster, Coronation Street

Comedy

• Brassic
• Gavin & Stacey
• Michael McIntyre's 25th Year Stand-Up Special
• Mrs Brown's Boys

Daytime

• James Martin's Saturday Morning
• Loose Women
• Scam Interceptors
• This Morning

Talent show

• Britain's Got Talent
• Strictly Come Dancing
• The Great British Bake Off
• The Great Pottery Throw Down
• The Voice UK

Charlie Kirk was one of the most high-profile conservative activists and media personalities in the US and a trusted ally of President Donald Trump.

Kirk, 31, who the president said died after a shooting at a Utah college on Wednesday, was known for holding open-air debates on campuses across the country.

In 2012, at the age of 18, he co-founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a student organisation that aims to spread conservative ideals at liberal-leaning US colleges.

His social media and eponymous daily podcast often shared clips of him debating with students about issues such as transgender identity, climate change, faith and family values.

The son of an architect who grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, Kirk attended a community college near Chicago before dropping out to devote himself to political activism. He applied unsuccessfully for West Point, the elite US military academy.

Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when engaging in debates with students and academics on esoteric topics such as post-modernism.

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His role in TPUSA took off after President Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012.

Kirk toured the country speaking at Republican events, many popular with members of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement. TPUSA now has chapters in more than 850 colleges.

An avid public speaker, Kirk addressed the Oxford Union earlier this year, and wrote a 2020 best-seller The Maga Doctrine.

TPUSA played a key role in the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump and other Republican candidates in last year's election. The millennial was widely credited with helping to register tens of thousands of new voters and flipping Arizona for Trump.

Kirk attended Trump's inauguration in January in Washington DC, and has been a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office.

The president and his aides valued Kirk's political antenna for the grassroots of the Make America Great Again movement.

He's spoken at Republican conventions and last year Donald Trump repaid the favour by giving a big speech at a Turning Point conference in Arizona.

Earlier this year, he travelled with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr, to Greenland, as the then-incoming president was arguing that the US should own the Arctic territory.

Kirk's evangelical Christian religion and family - he married a former Miss Arizona, with whom he had two children - were front and centre in his politics, and he was seen as both the future of conservative activism and a highly polarising figure.

Perhaps the biggest tribute to his contribution to Republican politics came from Trump himself in a clip played at the beginning of Kirk's podcast.

The president says: "I want to thank Charlie, he's an incredible guy, his spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organisations ever created."

Kirk discussed numerous political and social at his events and on his podcasts, gun control is one of them.

Israel has ordered the entire population of Gaza City to leave, as its forces prepare to capture the north of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli airstrikes have continued to destroy tower blocks, and the army says it now has operational control of 40% of the city, as ground forces prepare to fight what prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the "last important stronghold" of Hamas.

Netanyahu this week said 100,000 people had left the city, but up to a million people are still living there – many in tents or shelters. Many of them say they will not – or cannot – leave.

After a strike hit a tower block near his home today, Ammar Sukkar called on Hamas negotiators to come and negotiate from a tent, not from air-conditioned rooms in Qatar – and insisted he would stay in the city.

"Whether you like it or not, Netanyahu, we're not leaving," he told a local freelancer working for the BBC. "Go and deal with Hamas, go and kill them. We're not to blame. And even if we're buried here, we're not leaving. This is my land."

Wael Shaban, also living near the tower that was targeted today, said they had been given 15 minutes to flee before the strike.

"When we came back, the tents, the flour, everything has gone. Nothing is left. It's all to pressure us to go south, but we don't have the money to go. We can't even afford flour to eat. Transport to the south costs 1,500 shekels."

Israel's army is telling Gaza City residents that there is plenty of shelter, food and water in so-called humanitarian zones further south.

But aid organisations say the areas they are being sent to are already vastly overcrowded, and lack food and medical resources. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said nowhere in Gaza can currently absorb such a large movement of people, describing the mass evacuation plan as "unfeasible" and "incomprehensible".

Israel's army is currently building a new aid distribution site near Rafah, 30km (18 miles) to the south. It says it's also providing thousands of extra tents, and laying a new water pipeline from Egypt.

The BBC travelled to the area, as part of a military embed, to see the new site. It's the first time the BBC has been allowed to enter Gaza at all since December 2023.

Military embeds are offered at Israel's discretion, are highly controlled and offer no access to Palestinians or areas not under Israeli military control – but they are currently the only way for BBC journalists to enter Gaza at all.

Israel does not allow news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza to report independently.

Rafah is a reminder of what happened the last time Israel's prime minister sent his forces into a city to crush "the last stronghold" of Hamas.

Driving down the newly paved military road along Gaza's border with Egypt, we pass the shattered remains of the old Rafah border crossing, the roof of one building cracked and pancaked on the ground.

Further along the road, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, discrete piles of masonry and splintered metal mapped where each house or farm building once stood.

The city of Rafah itself, close to the new aid site, has been all but flattened into the desert. Still and silent, its life erased; only a few pock-marked structures stick up from the sea of rubble strewn for kilometres across the sand.

It was easy to spot the new earth mounds and concrete blast blocks rising out of the rubble-filled landscape beyond it, near Tel el-Sultan.

A short drive from the main Kerem Shalom crossing point, the corner of the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, where many displaced people are sheltering, is just visible up the coast.

"The whole idea is a safe, quick route," said Israeli military spokesman, Lt Col Nadav Shoshani. "As short a distance as possible for the trucks and for the people coming in. We can guarantee 0% looting."

We were shown two separate areas, each around 100m (328ft) wide, where Israeli forces said unloading and distribution could be carried out in a continuous loop.

Inside one perimeter wall, two US trucks were already parked on the sand.

Israel says the new aid distribution sites will be handed over to the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the coming days, and security here - as at other GHF sites – will be provided by private US security forces, with Israeli troops securing the area around.

But the UN says more than 1,100 people have been killed trying to access aid from GHF sites since they began operating in May.

Lt Col Shoshani said many lessons had been learned in how the sites were set up.

"You can see the sandbars, concrete walls, making it very clear where you're supposed to go, and making sure people don't approach troops and engage in a dangerous situation," he said. "What's [also] important is how close they are - just a very short walking distance to where the people are. That makes it easier, but also more safe."

But some of those now being told to leave Gaza City say it won't be any safer elsewhere, after repeated Israeli strikes on targets in shelters, tents and designated humanitarian zones.

"This is Hamas's MO (Mode of Operation)," said Lt Col Shoshani. "It's saying: no, don't go, you're our shields! Don't move south!"

"A year ago, we carried out a similar operation [in Rafah] that was successful," he said. "Civilians were able to get out of the line of fire, maximum Hamas terrorists dead, that is what we want to achieve in Gaza City."

Rafah's residents were evacuated before the ground operation there in May 2024 – "temporarily" the army said – to displacement zones set up along the coast. The area they left behind is still under full military control.

But evacuating Gaza City – and fighting Hamas in its tunnels and streets – will be a more difficult, and more dangerous, task.

Hamas fighters are increasingly turning to insurgency tactics and guerrilla attacks. Earlier this week, four Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Israel's leaders, meanwhile, are under intense pressure at home from hostage families, who say plans to take the city are a death sentence for living relatives being held there.

Benjamin Netanyahu – unmoved by the criticism at home – has previously boasted of his determination in staring down international opposition, and pressing ahead with his offensive in Rafah.

Now, with prospects of a ceasefire deal dead, and up to a million exhausted Gazans in the line of fire, he's telling his critics that one more offensive stands between him and victory over Hamas.

Candidates vying to be Labour's next deputy leader are racing to get the support of their fellow MPs, as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson emerges as a frontrunner.

To stay in the contest, they need to secure the backing of 80 MPs by 17:00 on Thursday.

Phillipson's team believe they will clear the threshold a day early, after gathering 44 nominations by the end of Tuesday.

Her closest rivals so far are former Commons leader Lucy Powell with 35 backers and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who is on the left of the party, with eight.

They are followed by Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry with seven, Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker with three and Housing Minister Alison McGovern with only two.

But with around 300 of the 399 Labour MPs yet to declare their favoured candidate, there is still time for other campaigns to gain momentum.

Sir Keir Starmer's cabinet - which includes 24 MPs - have been told not to nominate any candidate, though junior ministers are able to do so.

But some Labour figures wonder if as many as 80 more could choose not to officially back anyone, shrivelling the electorate.

It looks quite likely Phillipson will stack up a very big number of supporters, further squeezing the remaining votes to be fought over.

This leaves open the possibility that she is the only candidate to get enough MP backers.

Some rival camps think this is exactly the outcome Downing Street would favour, allowing the contest to be wrapped up quickly.

As the only member of the cabinet to announce her intention to stand, Phillipson is also expected to be more supportive of the government than the other candidates.

There is talk among Phillipson's rivals of the need for votes to consolidate around a viable rival, rather than splinter in five different directions.

Supporters of Powell, who was sacked from her cabinet role in the recent reshuffle, sound cautiously optimistic they can get to 80 nominations.

Meanwhile, other candidates are seeking to woo their fellow MPs, with a virtual hustings taking place at 20:00.

The six hopefuls will be at party headquarters in south London, with Labour MPs able to join remotely to ask questions.

If they secure enough support from their parliamentary colleagues, candidates will then need the backing of either 5% of local parties, or three Labour-affiliated groups, including two unions.

Those who clear the bar face a vote by party members, with the winner announced on 25 October.

Whoever wins the contest, David Lammy will remain as deputy prime minister - a role which is appointed by the prime minister, rather than decided by Labour Party members.

The contest was triggered when Angela Rayner resigned as deputy leader, deputy PM and housing secretary, after admitting she failed to pay enough tax when buying a £800,000 flat in Hove.

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Former US Vice-President Kamala Harris has delivered her sharpest criticism yet of her former boss, calling Joe Biden's decision to seek a second term "recklessness" in an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir.

"'It's Joe and Jill's decision.' We all said that, like a mantra, as if we'd all been hypnotized," Harris writes in her book. "Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness."

In an extract for her book 107 Days, published by The Atlantic on Wednesday, Harris also describes moments where she felt sidelined or denied credit for her work by Biden's team.

The BBC has contacted Biden's office for comment.

Harris wrote that as vice-president she was in the "worst position" to tell Biden not to run for president again.

"I knew it would come off to him as incredibly self-serving if I advised him not to run," she wrote. "He would see it as naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty, even if my only message was: Don't let the other guy win."

The Atlantic published a 3,000-word excerpt from Harris's book – the title is a reference to the length of her failed presidential campaign. The book will be published in full later this month.

Biden withdrew from the 2024 race following a dismal debate performance against then Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The debate performance fuelled questions about Biden's age and mental fitness to lead the country. Harris eventually lost the election to Trump.

Harris wrote that 81-year-old Biden's choice to run for re-election "should have been more than a personal decision".

"The stakes were simply too high. This wasn't a choice that should have been left to an individual's ego, an individual's ambition," she wrote.

She denied that there was a "big conspiracy" to hide Biden's frailty and described the former president as "a smart guy with long experience and deep conviction, able to discharge the duties of president".

"But at 81, Joe got tired. That's when his age showed in physical and verbal stumbles," she wrote.

Harris also alleges the White House failed to adequately respond to her critics.

The former vice-president recalled securing billions of dollars in investment commitments from private companies for Latin American countries to help tackle the root cause of migration.

Despite this, Harris wrote, Republicans "mischaracterized my role as 'border czar'" - a description that dogged her during her presidential campaign as the number of illegal border crossings spiked.

"No one in the White House [communications] team helped me to effectively push back and explain what I had really been tasked to do, nor to highlight any of the progress I had achieved," she wrote.

Harris also described a trip she made to Texas in July 2024, in the wake of a devastating hurricane, and listening to a televised address by Biden while in a hotel room in Houston.

"It was a good speech, drawing on the history of the presidency to locate his own place within it," she wrote. "But as my staff later pointed out, it was almost nine minutes into the 11-minute address before he mentioned me."

Biden and Harris both ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020, and Biden chose his former rival as his running mate. Their ticket defeated Donald Trump and Mike Pence in November of that year.

Despite suggestions from critics that he was too old to serve a second four-year term, Biden launched a re-election bid in 2023.

Harris plans to go on a book tour of 15 cities, including in the United Kingdom and Canada, for 107 Days. The book is expected to go on sale on 23 September.

Wednesday morning's incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace led to jets being scrambled, an emergency government meeting being called - and concerns that Europe and Nato's resolve against Moscow may not be up to the test.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Polish airspace was violated 19 times and at least three drones were shot down by Warsaw's jets, aided by Dutch F-35s and an Italian early warning aircraft.

Russia has pushed back against accusations that the incursion was deliberate – though it also stopped short of denying its drones had trespassed sovereign Polish airspace.

"No objects on Polish territory were planned to be targeted," Moscow said.

But European officials have forcefully batted off suggestions the act may have been unintentional.

"There is no evidence whatsoever that this amount of drones flew over this route over... Polish territory by accident," Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said, while his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto called the overnight events in Poland a "deliberate attack" with the double aim of "provoking and testing".

Although Poland has experienced several violations of its airspace since neighbouring Ukraine was attacked by Russia in February 2022, this latest incursion - sizeable, and deep into Polish territory - sparked real nervousness in Warsaw.

Tusk warned that Poland was at its closest to open conflict since World War Two. He also requested invoking Article 4 of the Nato treaty, which allows member countries to start a discussion with allies about threats to their security.

Some experts and analysts are divided over Russia's motivations.

To some, the drones – some of which flew in the direction of Rzeszow airport, a major logistical hub for defence supplies and humanitarian aid bound for Ukraine – may have had reconnaissance purposes, with poor guidance leading to accidental airspace trespass.

"There is an issue with proving intention," said Dr Marina Miron, a defence researcher at Kings College London.

She believes GPS spoofing may have been responsible for the drones crossing into Polish airspace and cautioned against drawing conclusions based on snippets of information. "It can lead [the incident] to appear as something it is not," Dr Miron added.

Many others believe, however, the relatively high number of drones flown into Polish airspace clearly demonstrates that the attack was deliberate.

"Previous incursions were single or very small numbers that were more easily explained by guidance system malfunctions," Justin Bronk of the defence think tank Rusi told the BBC.

Justin Crump, CEO of the risk and intelligence company Sibylline, agreed. He said the drones in question appear to be Russian-made cheap, long-range drone Gerberas which can be used as decoys to distract defences as part of Russia's increasing "grey zone actions against Nato".

The lack of warheads on the Gerberas drones employed on Wednesday make them appear less threatening and allow Russia to play down the action, Mr Crump added.

Poland will now need to review the incident and share the findings with its allies.

Whether deliberate or not, the unprecedented incident will provide valuable information to Moscow on the type of response it can expect from the West should it ever decide to launch an attack on Nato countries, as many European leaders have said they expect it to do in the near future.

"It is a test for Europe and for Nato regardless of Russia's intent", said Keir Giles, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House.

"Russia will learn from European resolve and specifically Poland's capacity to withstand attacks of this kind."

Expressions of condemnation rather than a robust response will be just as encouraging to Russia if it was an accident as if it were a deliberate provocation, Mr Giles added.

He said a sky shield to protect airspace over Ukraine would prove to Russia the West is serious about ensuring air threats are intercepted.

But such a plan - which would involve European countries deploying fighter jets and pilots - has led to fears of accidental confrontation with the Russians and has not come to pass despite first being floated since 2023.

The US's reaction to the incident in Poland will also be awaited – and closely followed.

Some US lawmakers in both the Democrat and Republican camps condemned the attack soon after it occurred.

However, as of Wednesday evening US President Donald Trump had only acknowledged the events in Poland through a post on social media. "What's with Russia violating Poland's airspace with drones? Here we go!", he wrote without elaborating further.

The cryptic post was in line with his ambiguous relationship with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin.

Over the course of the last month Trump both rolled out the red carpet for the Russian president and threatened sanctions against Moscow if it failed to reach peace with Kyiv.

These threats have not yet materialised, and even warnings of unspecified "consequences" for Russia's aggression in Ukraine appear to have fallen by the wayside.

As its leaders scramble to put together a show of unity and strength, Europe – which has been concerned about the American commitment to the security of the continent since the start of Trump's second term – will be watching the US's next move just as closely as Russia.

"A sign of weakness and failure to impose costs and consequences will confirm for Moscow that they can continue to escalate without fear of the outcome," Mr Giles said.

Additional reporting by Matt Murphy and Paul Brown

Prince Harry has been seen going into Clarence House, amid speculation about a meeting with his father King Charles.

There has not been any confirmation from Buckingham Palace or the Duke of Sussex's representatives, but the King has also been seen going into Clarence House.

It is believed that the King travelled down to London from Scotland on Wednesday - and Prince Harry has been in the UK this week for charity events.

There has been no face to face meeting between father and son since February 2024, with Prince Harry telling a BBC interview in May 2025: "I would love a reconciliation with my family."

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Unusual rocks discovered on Mars contain the most tantalising evidence yet of potential past life on the Red Planet.

The mudstones, found in a dusty riverbed by Nasa's Perseverance Rover, are dotted with intriguing markings nicknamed leopard spots and poppy seeds.

Scientists believe these features contain minerals produced by chemical reactions that could be associated with ancient Martian microbes.

It's possible the minerals were produced by natural geological processes, but the findings are significant enough to meet Nasa's criteria for what it calls "potential biosignatures".

This means that they warrant further investigation to determine whether they are biological in origin.

"We've not had something like this before, so I think that's the big deal," said Prof Sanjeev Gupta, a planetary scientist from Imperial College London and one of the authors of a study which has been published in the journal Nature.

"We have found features in the rocks that if you saw them on Earth could be explained by biology - by microbial process. So we're not saying that we found life, but we're saying that it really gives us something to chase."

The only way to fully confirm if the minerals were made by microbes would be to bring the rocks back to Earth for analysis .

A Mars sample return mission has been proposed by Nasa and Esa but its future looks highly uncertain. The US Space Agency's science budget is facing huge cuts that have been put forward in President Trump's 2026 budget and a sample return mission is one of those facing cancellation.

Today, Mars is a cold and arid desert. But billions of years ago there is evidence that it had a thick atmosphere and water, making it a promising place to look for past life.

The Perseverance Rover, which touched down on the Martian surface in 2021, was sent to search for signs of biology. It has spent the last four years exploring a region called the Jezero Crater, which was once an ancient lake with a river flowing into it.

The rover found the leopard print rocks last year at the bottom of a canyon carved out by the river in an area called the Bright Angel Formation. They are about 3.5bn years old and are a type of rock called mudstone, which is fine-grained rock formed from clays.

"We kind of immediately knew there was some interesting chemistry that had happened in these rocks so we were pretty excited right away," said Joel Hurowitz from Stony Brook University in New York, who is also a Perseverance mission scientist and lead author of the paper.

The rover used several instruments in its onboard lab to analyse the minerals in the rocks. This data was then beamed back to Earth for scientists to study.

"We think what we've found is evidence for a set of chemical reactions that took place in the mud that was deposited at the bottom of a lake - and those chemical reactions seem to have taken place between the mud itself and organic matter - and those two ingredients reacted to form new minerals," explained Dr Hurowitz.

In similar conditions on Earth, chemical reactions creating minerals are typically driven by microbes.

"That is one of the possible explanations for how these features came to be in these rocks," said Dr Hurowitz. "This feels like the most compelling potential biosignature detection that we've had to date."

The scientists have also examined how the minerals could have formed without microbes - and concluded that natural geological processes could also be behind the chemical reactions.

However they would require high temperatures, and the rocks don't look like they've been heated.

"We found some difficulties for the non-biological pathways - but we can't rule them out completely," Dr Hurowitz said.

Perseverance has been collecting samples while it's been exploring Mars - including the rocks found at the Bright Angel Formation. They have been stored in canisters, and will be deposited on the surface of Mars awaiting a mission that could return them.

Nasa's plans for such an endeavour hang in the balance because of the threatened budget cuts, but China is also pursuing a sample return mission that could launch in 2028.

While the decision is debated, scientists are desperate to get their gloved hands on the rocks.

"We need to see these samples back on Earth," said Prof Gupta.

"I think for true confidence, most scientists would want to see and examine these rocks on Earth - this is one of our high priority samples to return."

A foreign billionaire had a Downing Street meeting and phone calls with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and was described in an official log as a "donor", documents seen by BBC News reveal.

Syrian-born former arms deal fixer Wafic Said is not allowed to make political donations because he is not on the UK electoral roll but his wife, a British citizen who is resident, has declared £2.6m in donations to the Conservatives over the last 25 years.

The couple have always insisted that she is independently wealthy and has given her own money, rather than making a donation with her husband's funds or on his behalf - something which would not be permitted.

However, the Number 10 files seen by BBC News cast doubt on this explanation, raising questions about whether the Conservatives have illegally accepted millions in donations.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Proper due diligence was undertaken to ensure that these donations were permissible and accurately reported."

Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr Said, rather than his wife Rosemary, was described as the "donor" in official Downing Street logs when the pair attended a nearly 90-minute meeting with Johnson, his chief of staff and his political secretary at Number 10 in September 2019. The meeting took place less than two months after Johnson had been elected prime minister.

The businessman, who said his wife was the donor, also had two separate phone calls with then-Prime Minister Johnson in 2020 and 2021 without his wife taking part, according to the logs.

The man in charge of raising funds for the Conservatives, then-party chairman Sir Ben Elliot, joined the 2020 phone call even though it would have been illegal for Mr Said, who was listed in the logs as being from his philanthropic Said Foundation, to donate.

Johnson placed the second call during a journey back by train from Stoke-on-Trent to London. He made two political calls during the trip, the first to a donor and the second to Mr Said.

The logs, which are recorded by civil servants and give a minute-by-minute account of Johnson's days, covering almost all of his time in Downing Street, show no calls between Rosemary Said and the former PM.

The calls and the meeting were labelled as "political", meaning they related to Conservative party matters, rather than government business, and did not have to be disclosed in government transparency documents.

Other "political" meetings and phone calls recorded in the logs were between Johnson and Conservative party donors, ministers, staff or advisers.

Mr Said, who is 85, said he had known Johnson since "long before he became prime minister" and that due to his age he cannot recall the telephone conversations while he was in Downing Street.

He added that it was "entirely possible that he may have called to thank me for my contribution to Covid vaccine research".

The documents seen by the BBC were obtained by an American non-profit organisation called Distributed Denial of Secrets, which publishes and archives "leaked and hacked datasets". DDOS did not respond to a request for comment on how the files were obtained.

Mr Said appears to have been the couple's point of contact with the prime minister. After Johnson left office, it was Mr Said, not Mrs Said, who wrote to him to express his regret at his departure and to say he had "really enjoyed all the meetings we had, whether in-person or via Zoom".

Mrs Said was mentioned in passing as joining "me in sending you and all your family our warmest wishes and fond affection".

Johnson thanked him for his "ongoing support and friendship" and added: "Please send my best to Rosemary, and I look forward to seeing you soon."

Under electoral law, all donors must be registered on the UK electoral register or a UK-registered company carrying out business in this country. The rules are designed to prohibit the foreign funding of political parties.

Mrs Said has been a prolific donor to the Conservatives and has also made donations to individual MPs, including giving £10,000 to Johnson in 2019.

Her husband is a businessman and philanthropist who helped broker the controversial al-Yamamah arms deal in the 1980s.

Accusations of bribery led to an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into the deal, which was closed by Tony Blair in 2006 on the grounds that it was contrary to the UK's national interest. There is no suggestion Mr Said was guilty of wrongdoing.

As a philanthropist, his Said Foundation has given millions to good causes. He contributed £20m to the cost of the Said Business School at the University of Oxford which is named after him.

Mr Said told BBC News that his wife was an "independently wealthy woman who has been a strong supporter of the Conservative Party her entire life". The businessman said he had not made donations to the Conservatives since the law changed in 2000 prohibiting him from doing so.

Political donations made by the Said family have previously come under scrutiny.

In 2009, the Electoral Commission opened what it called a "preliminary inquiry" after Mr Said's 19-year-old daughter Rasha, who was studying in the United States, was recorded as having given four donations to the Conservatives.

Mr Said said the donations had been incorrectly reported due to an administrative error and in fact came from his wife.

More recently, Mr Said's son Khaled, who is eligible to donate, has made a number of political donations.

Mr Said is a Canadian national and a resident of Monaco, although he has previously described himself as having strong ties to the UK.

In 2018 he told the High Court he considered London to be "an important personal, family and business hub" and said he spent three to four months of the year in the UK.

"I would say that my personal and business links to the UK are unquestionably stronger and more important than those I have in France, Monaco or Canada," he said in a witness statement.

Bob Posner, former chief executive of the Electoral Commission, said political parties were required to carry out checks that donations come from permitted sources.

"The law prohibits donations from foreign sources," he said. "Individuals and political parties must take all reasonable steps to establish who is the true donor and only accept that donation if certain that the true donor is legally permitted to make the donation."

The Conservatives said that Mrs Said had regularly attended party events.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "We do not comment on purported leaked documents, which may have been obtained or manipulated by hostile state actors.

"The Conservative Party only accepts permissible donors as set out in law. Proper due diligence was undertaken to ensure that these donations were permissible and accurately reported. Other individuals can support a political party without being a donor."

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Elon Musk has lost his title as the world's richest person to Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle and an ally of US President Donald Trump.

Ellison's wealth surged to $393bn (£290bn) on Wednesday morning, surpassing Musk's $385b (£284bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Shares in Oracle soared more than 40% after the database software company gave investors a surprisingly rosy outlook for its cloud infrastructure business and artificial intelligence deals.

Ellison, whose net worth is tied to the company, has steadily built his fortune over the past five decades. Oracle has recently been propelled by growing demand for data centre infrastructure.

The company projected as part of its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday that revenue from its cloud business will jump 77% this year, to $18bn, with further growth expected in the coming years.

Oracle also reported a surge in demand among AI companies for its data centres, which helped push its stock dramatically higher.

It signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with customers in the last quarter and anticipates several more deals in the months ahead, CEO Safra Catz said on Tuesday.

Oracle's surge comes as shares in Tesla, Musk's most valuable business, have fallen this year.

The electric vehicle maker has grappled with investor jitters over the Trump administration's rollback of electric vehicle initiatives, on top of consumer backlash to Musk's political involvement.

Musk had held the title of world's richest person for nearly one year.

A dance teacher who hid with a child in a toilet as the Southport knife killer banged on the door has told the inquiry into the murders how she felt "crushing" guilt.

Heidi Liddle sobbed as she gave evidence to the Liverpool Town Hall hearing earlier.

The mother-of-two said she had been returning to work from maternity leave when she was asked to be a guest teacher at the Taylor Swift-themed workshop in the Merseyside town where the attack unfolded last July.

Speaking publicly for the first time, she said: "I feel responsible. I tried so hard to usher as many children out as possible, to get them away from him."

Alice Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and six-year-old Bebe King were killed in the attack while eight other children and two adults were seriously wounded.

• Read more from all of Wednesday's evidence at the inquiry

Ms Liddle said she was making bracelets with children in the room and was "filled with joy and happiness" when the attacker entered.

It then "all changed dramatically and devastatingly within seconds", she said.

She said she suddenly saw her friend and colleague, yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, who also gave evidence at the inquiry, being brutally attacked.

"There was no time to think but to just run and usher as many children away from danger as possible," Ms Liddle said.

"The children were running towards the stairwell, when I noticed one of the girls run in the opposite direction towards the toilet.

"I saw a flash of green and I pushed her inside and locked the door, reassuring her and telling her to be quiet.

"Whilst in the toilet, the perpetrator was banging and rattling the door, attempting to get in, only stopping when the police arrived.

"The girls' screaming and fearing for our lives haunts me to this day."

Ms Liddle said her "instinct" was to protect the girls, but continued: "A part of me always questions if we could have done anything differently in those moments of terror.

"Although people have told me this incident is not my fault, the guilt I bear is crushing.

"I constantly replay what happened over and over in my mind, what I was able to do, what else could I have done, the what ifs."

Ms Liddle told the inquiry she had daily flashbacks and struggled with ordinary tasks following the attack.

"I'm grieving for the girls and their families, the girls that were there that day, Leanne, police, responders, neighbours who opened their homes, the wider community but I'm also grieving for the old version of myself and my life," she said.

"I cannot remember myself or my life before this. All I can remember is this current version of things - constantly re-living the events of the day, dealing with the overwhelming emotions and fears connected."

She added: "My hope is that this inquiry will ensure that no one - neither adults or innocent children - ever have to go through the life-changing devastation that this evil individual was able to inflict on us that day."

Ms Lucas was also emotional as she gave her impact statement.

She said she called 999 amid the "bedlam" and "chaos" as she and Ms Liddle tried to push terrified children out of harm's way.

"Not knowing where each child was in those moments is a fear that will live with me forever," she said.

"My physical wounds have healed but the psychological scars remain raw.

"The online abuse has been relentless. Instead of being surrounded by the supportive community I expected, I have often felt exposed, criticised and unsafe, even in my own home.

"To some I am called a hero, to others a villain. The truth is, I am neither. I am just Leanne, the woman who did her best in an unthinkable situation.

"That day, faced with an impossible situation, survival instincts guided my split-second decisions.

"My parents wish for you to hear this: one person chose to do this, one person, and one person alone.

"I want the inquiry to understand that the harm didn't end when the attack ended.

"My hope is that no-one else will ever have to live with this kind of lasting impact."

The inquiry's first phase is examining the killer's history and his dealings with relevant agencies, along with any missed opportunities to prevent what happened.

The hearing was adjourned until Thursday.

Additional reporting by the Press Association

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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has admitted that some data may have been taken by hackers in a cyber-attack that has halted car production and forced the vehicle-maker to send workers home.

The company, owned by India's Tata Motors, initially said it did not believe any customer information had been stolen

Now, 11 days after the attack, it has conceded that some data has been impacted but declined to say exactly who the information pertained to, such as customers, suppliers or JLR itself.

The affected plants in the UK are not expected to restart until Thursday at the earliest and worldwide production of around 1,000 vehicles a day has been halted.

Production lines at JLR's factories in Solihull, Halewood and Wolverhampton have been at a standstill since the beginning of last week.

A group calling itself Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, which was behind this year's cyber- attacks on UK retailers including M&S, has claimed responsibility for the JLR hack.

Last week, the Information Commissioners Office told the BBC that JLR had reported an incident to the UK's data watchdog.

In a new statement, JLR said on Wednesday: "As a result of our ongoing investigation, we now believe that some data has been affected and we are informing the relevant regulators.

"Our forensic investigation continues at pace and we will contact anyone as appropriate if we find that their data has been impacted."

However, Ciaran Martin, a professor at the University of Oxford and the former boss of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said data isn't really the issue for a company like JLR - it is more important that the firm can keep operating and making cars.

He told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There's a real difference between somebody breaking into your house when you're not there or when you're asleep and maybe photocopying your bank records and your medical records and using that to defraud you.

"There's a real difference between that and being punched in the face and having your legs broken."

Prof Martin said that "the law right now tells companies to protect customer data as your number one priority" but said that securing a firm's operation was just as important.

M&S's operation was impacted by a cyber-attack for a number of months this year, stopping customers from ordering online and costing the High Street retailer £300m.

JLR shut down its IT networks in response to the attack.

The company said it is "working around the clock", to restart its IT systems but doing so is understood to be a highly complex process.

The NCSC, which is part of GCHQ, is assisting JLR.

Chris Bryant, the newly-appointed business minister, told MPs on Tuesday that the government was "engaging with JLR on a daily basis to understand the challenges that the company and its suppliers are facing".

Local MPs have been invited to a half-hour question and answer session with the company on Friday.

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Both NHS and private fertility clinics must stop offering unproven treatments that don't help people have children, new official guidelines say.

The draft guidance advises against several popular fertility "add-ons", including so-called endometrial scratches.

These add-ons can "give false hope and put people through unnecessary procedures at an already difficult time", experts at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) say.

They also recommend fertility preservation services such as egg freezing should be more widely available, including to women with severe, recurrent endometriosis.

The guideline committee considered a recent survey by the fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which showed almost three-quarters of people who had had fertility treatment between September and October 2024 had said they were using additional tests or emerging technologies, despite most not being proven to work.

And only 37% of those questioned said the risks of any add-ons had been explained.

The updated draft guidance specifically advises against:

• intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for men with healthy semen – where a sperm is directly injected into an egg in a laboratory

• endometrial scratch – where the lining of the womb is "scratched" with a small sterile plastic tube before IVF

• hysteroscopy - a fine telescope like instrument is used to visualise the womb, as a pre-treatment to improve IVF outcomes

• tests on the lining of the womb called endometrial receptivity testing, as a suggested add-on before embryo transfer

The guidance says patients must be given all the information necessary about treatments, including how likely they are to be successful and the risks and benefits involved.

Dr Fergus Macbeth, chair of NICE's fertility guideline committee, said clinics should focus on proven treatments rather than offering unproven add-ons that may do more harm than good.

"People going through fertility treatment are often willing to try anything that might help them conceive.

"This makes them vulnerable to being offered treatments that sound promising but haven't been properly tested. Our recommendations are designed to protect patients and ensure they only receive care that we know works," he added.

The guidance also looks at fertility preservation services (for example freezing eggs, embryos or sperm) which are currently mostly offered to people with cancer.

The updated draft suggests these treatments should also be offered people with medical conditions or undergoing treatment that can impair their fertility.

This includes women with severe recurrent endometriosis, people who have had surgery that can affect their reproductive organs and those with genetic or metabolic conditions that may affect their chances of having a baby.

People who feel they may benefit should have discuss the options available with healthcare professionals, NICE says.

The updated guidelines also consider who should be offered IVF.

NICE's committee found stronger evidence than has previously been available that three full cycles of IVF give couples a good chance of a baby, and that the treatment represents good value for the NHS.

NICE recommends:

• three full cycles of IVF for women under 40 if they have fertility problems and meet certain criteria
• one full cycle of IVF for women aged 40 and 41 if they have fertility problems and meet certain criteria

While NICE provides recommendations on this, funding decisions are taken locally by organisations called integrated care boards.

NICE's chief medical officer, Prof Jonathan Benger, said: "We recognise the NHS faces significant financial challenges and integrated care boards must weigh up local priorities when determining how many IVF cycles to fund."

The draft guidelines for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are open for public consultation until Tuesday 21 October and the final recommendations will be published in 2026.

The Qatari capital, Doha, is back to normal today, with traffic moving on the highways, and skyscrapers shimmering in the heat.

But there are new tensions across the Middle East, and a key question – what red lines now remain for Israel in its pursuit of Hamas, if any?

Targeting Hamas on the soil of Qatar was presumed to be a line Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not cross.

Yesterday, that assumption was blown to pieces, and with it, probably, any chance of a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

Hamas claims the attack missed its intended targets – including the exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya. While we have no firm information about Hayya's condition, or his whereabouts, one Palestinian source outside Gaza claims he is critically injured in hospital and is not expected to survive. This is unconfirmed, and there is no word from Hamas in Gaza.

We do know that Hayya's son and the head of his office were killed, along with three bodyguards. Were the bodyguards close to Hayya when Israel struck? We don't know, but normally, they would have been expected to be nearby.

Hamas figures in Doha are uncontactable and their phones are switched off. Having felt safe to move around here in the past, they may now be making very different calculations. There is a sense that all bets are off.

• What do we know about Israeli strike on Hamas in Qatar?

In a neighbourhood close to the scene of the attack - where plush villas and foreign embassies sit behind high walls, topped with bougainvillea - the streets lay empty.

The Israeli strike punched a large hole into the belly of a building where the Hamas leadership had been meeting to consider a US peace proposal. We got a glimpse of the damage as we drove past, but a police presence meant we could not get too close. Media reports say Israeli officials codenamed the strike 'Judgement Day.'

At the local barbers we met a witness, 42, who did not want to be named. Fear flashed across his face as he relived the moment of the attack.

"The noise was so loud my heart was pumping," he told me. "I thought the world was going to end. I heard five rockets, and I ran away. Many people were running. Normally nothing happens here."

Given that Hamas has claimed its negotiating team survived the attack, I asked if he was afraid Israel would try again. "Very afraid," he said quietly.

Whether or not Israel managed to hit its targets here, it has managed to anger President Trump and enrage Qatar. The country is an important US ally, which has hosted the political leadership of Hamas since 2012, and also holds a large American base.

Qatar says Israel's attack was "state terrorism".

The Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed Al Thani, has made it clear that there was no advance warning from the US. The first call from an American official came 10 minutes after the attack started, he said.

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The latest batch of documents released by a US congressional committee from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein offer a glimpse of the late convicted sex offender's elite social circle.

They also confirm a Wall Street Journal report earlier this summer about a collection of messages, crude drawings and pictures which were given to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 - three years before his crimes became publicly known - which included an alleged letter from the now-President Donald Trump.

Trump has said the letter is fake and a signature at the bottom is not his. He also sued the newspaper's reporters, publisher and executives, including News Corp's owner Rupert Murdoch, seeking $10bn (£7.4bn) in damages after the story was published.

But beyond the purported letter from Trump, the documents - which include Epstein's last will and testament, entries from his address book and his 2007 non-prosecution agreement with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida - have raised more questions about the financier's influence and how widely known his behaviour was among his associates.

Here are six key takeaways.

1) Epstein's sex life is a running theme

The 238-page scrapbook of well wishes, crude messages and in some cases, sexually explicit photos paint a portrait of Epstein's highly sexualised life and lewd encounters with young women.

Submissions from some 50 friends and associates throughout the book feature nudity and multiple references to sexual encounters as well as female body parts.

On one page, a cartoon drawing appears to show Epstein giving balloons to young girls in 1983, juxtaposed with a drawing of three women in bathing suits giving him massages on a beach chair in 2003.

"What a great country!" a caption beneath the drawing reads.

One author wrote he "agonised long and hard about what to write" in a note that features images of lewd scenes involving lions and zebras. The images, the author wrote, "seemed more appropriate than anything I could put in words".

2) Trump is mentioned on a second page

Aside from the alleged birthday message bearing the president's purported signature, a second previously unknown page emerged showing Epstein and Joel Pashcow, a member of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, holding an oversized cheque for $22,500.

The cheque is made to look like a payment from Trump to Epstein for a woman.

"Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women! Sells 'fully depreciated' [name redacted] to Donald Trump for $22,500," the caption reads.

It is unclear whether Trump knew about the photo or the note, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday it is "absolutely not" the president's signature on the cheque.

The White House has also denied Trump drew and signed the birthday letter, which is featured inside a drawing of what appears to be a female body.

3) They raise questions over Epstein and Maxwell's relationship

There have long been questions about when and how Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein met. In fact, it was one of the first questions Todd Blanche, the Deputy US Attorney, asked Maxwell during her recent Department of Justice interview.

Maxwell, who was previously charged with perjury for lying to investigators and has been convicted of sex trafficking, told Blanche that she had met Epstein in 1991 and neither she nor her family had ever heard of him before that.

She said a girlfriend of hers said, "I've got a guy for you to meet" and that he was "looking for a wife". However, in the birthday book, it seems the two may have met earlier in life, when she was still a teenager.

In one letter, written by Elliot Wolk, he describes Epstein as a "star salesman" in 1970 when Wolk was running an account for Maxwell's father, Robert Maxwell.

He writes: "Was that when you first discovered the Maxwell teen-age daughter." Then, in another notable letter from Epstein's friend, Johnny Kafka, he mentions a post-college Europe trip that opened their eyes "to another world." He wrote that Epstein spent the next summer in London and came home with "a beautiful British babe," whose name is redacted, but could refer to Maxwell.

There remain questions about the timeline of Epstein and Maxwell's relationship, and the latest documents add another layer of doubt to Maxwell's story.

4) ... and how Epstein made his fortune

The "birthday book" is a useful guide to the who's who in Epstein's life. The beginning is dedicated to photos and notes from his family and friends in Brooklyn.

Scattered throughout the pages are evidence of his beginnings in Coney Island, where he seemed to excel in mathematics, the piano and the accordion.

But there is a gap in Epstein's story that is noticeable in this book as well. His growing wealth is referenced time and again, noting how he "collected houses" or how "it happened so quickly".

Two of his known financial clients, CEO of retailer The Limited, Les Wexner, and the former Apollo Global Management CEO, Leon Black wrote notes in the book.

Wexner doodled a woman's chest. He has previously denied knowledge of Epstein's crimes prior to the federal investigation into him.

He has said he cut ties with Epstein after he learned he had "misappropriated vast sums of money from him and his family".

Black, meanwhile, references Epstein's "schemes and plans, a unique tax strategy". He has admitted paying Epstein for advice on trust and estate planning and tax issues.

None of the letters shed light on the source of Epstein's wealth, however, or how he became so close to powerful figures and influential businessmen.

5) They shed light on Epstein's contact book

The book sheds light on the late paedophile financier's friendships with high-profile figures in the political and corporate worlds as well as the entertainment industry.

The various notes are divided into several categories including "friends", "business", "science" and Brooklyn. These people are not accused or suspected of any legal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein's case or of being knowledgeable of his crimes.

Former US President Bill Clinton, UK ambassador to the US Lord Mandelson, private equity billionaire Leon Black and former Trump and Epstein lawyer Alan Dershowitz are among those who appear to have penned a congratulatory note.

Clinton's office has not responded to a BBC request for comment, while an official spokesperson for Lord Mandelson told the BBC that he "has long been clear that he very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein".

Dershowitz has said that he did not remember writing the letter and at the time, did not have any knowledge of Epstein's crimes. He later went on to represent him in Florida - a case that led to federal prosecutors offering Epstein a then-secret non-prosecution agreement if he pled guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution.

Lawyers for Epstein's estate also handed over copies of his address book, which contained contact details from 1990 to 2019 for a host of celebrities, royals, fashion designers, business figures, socialites and politicians.

6) They highlight role of Epstein's assistants

Throughout Maxwell's trial, prosecutors argued Epstein's crimes would not have been possible without her help.

However, the birthday book offers a glimpse into how Epstein's girlfriends, assistants and other employees played a larger role in the sex-trafficking operation - and may have also been victims.

An unidentified woman wrote that "before Jeffrey" she was a 22-year-old divorced restaurant hostess but "after Jeffrey" she travelled the world, met celebrities including "Prince Andrew, President Clinton, Sultan of Brunei, Donald Trump", among others.

She also claimed to have seen the private quarters of Buckingham Palace and "sat on the Queen of England's throne". The note, which was typed and not handwritten, was filed under the category of "Assistants".

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The UK's ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson has said he feels "a tremendous sense of regret" over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and a "tremendous sense of sympathy" for his victims.

Speaking to the You Tube channel Harry Cole Saves the West, he likened his association with Epstein to "an albatross around my neck", adding that he felt "profoundly upset that I was taken in" by a "charismatic criminal liar".

On Tuesday, US lawmakers released a number of documents which included a letter from Lord Mandelson in which he called Epstein his "best pal".

The diplomat said it was "very embarrassing" to see the words published but added they were written "over 20 years ago".

He said he believed more "embarrassing" material including letters and emails would be released.

On Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesperson has said that the prime minister still has confidence in Lord Mandelson and said he has "played a key part" strengthening trade and investment with the US, which had secured jobs in the UK.

The birthday message from Mandelson was one of a number of documents in an alleged "birthday book" given to Epstein in 2023 to celebrate his 50th birthday.

The book contained messages, cards and photos sent by Epstein's friends, including a letter carrying a signature resembling US President Donald Trump. Trump has denied writing the note.

Epstein had been a well-connected financier who was convicted for soliciting prostitution from a person under the age of 18 in 2008. He died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Asked why he continued his association with Epstein, Mandelson said he "fell for his lies".

"I accepted assurances he had given me about his original indictment, his original criminal case. Like very many people I took at face value what he said."

He said he never saw wrongdoing at any point while with Epstein and he "never sought, nor did [Epstein] offer introductions to women in the way that he did to others, perhaps it is because I am a gay man".

He said he couldn't "rewrite history" adding: "What I can do, what I can do is express my profound sympathy for those who were badly treated by him."

Former Premier League referee David Coote has been charged with making an indecent image of a child.

Mr Coote, 43, was charged after an investigation by Nottinghamshire Police.

The force said the charge related to a video file recovered by officers in February.

Mr Coote, from Collingham in Nottinghamshire, was charged on 12 August and is due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

He was sacked by referees' body the PGMOL in December 2024 following an investigation into a video allegedly showing him making derogatory comments about Liverpool and the club's former manager Jurgen Klopp.

The Football Association (FA) also imposed an eight-week suspension in August over the comments.

In addition, the ex-official is also banned by European football's governing body Uefa until June 30 2026 after photographs emerged of him snorting a white powder through a bank note while in Germany for Euro 2024.

Police said Mr Coote was currently on conditional bail.

The force added the charge of making an indecent photograph related to acts such as downloading, sharing and saving material.

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A mural by the street artist Banksy is being removed from the wall of a court building in London.

The mural appeared on an external wall of the Queen's Building, in the Royal Courts of Justice complex, on Monday.

The image depicted a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-spattered placard while a judge, in a wig and gown, looms over him, wielding a gavel.

The work has been covered up at various points since it was discovered and guarded by security staff, with the HM Courts & Tribunals Service confirming that it would be removed due to the building being listed and therefore legally protected.

Banksy confirmed he was responsible for the work with a post on Instagram, showing the graffiti before it was covered over.

It has been interpreted by some as a comment on the arrest of hundreds of people for supporting Palestine Action by holding up placards at protests.

Palestine Action was banned by the government as a terrorist group in July after activists damaged RAF planes.

The artwork comes weeks after the Lady Chief Justice, the most senior judge in England and Wales, repeated concerns for the safety of judges, who she said had been subjected to "increasing and increasingly unacceptable sensationalist and inaccurate abuse".

The mural was reported as criminal damage, with the Metropolitan Police stating that inquiries were ongoing.

The courts service confirmed that it is legally obliged to maintain the character of the building because of its listed status.

Banksy's stencilled graffiti is often critical of government policy, war and capitalism.

Last summer, the artist began an animal-themed campaign in the capital of nine works, which concluded with a gorilla appearing to lift up a shutter on the entrance to London Zoo.

Other notable works included piranhas swimming on a police sentry box in the City of London, and a howling wolf on a satellite dish, which was taken off the roof of a shop in Peckham, south London, less than an hour after it was unveiled.

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Banksy has in the past also been known for his work in the West Bank.

In December 2019 he created a "modified Nativity" at a hotel in Bethlehem that showed Jesus' manger in front of Israel's separation barrier, which appeared to have been pierced by a blast, creating the shape of a star.

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