Chancellor Rachel Reeves has acknowledged she is "looking at tax and spending", ahead of her autumn Budget next month.

Reeves said she would "always make sure the numbers add up", in an interview with Sky news against a backdrop of slow economic growth and mounting government debt.

The chancellor has previously hinted at tax rises, and economists have said they expect taxes to go up in the Budget if the chancellor wants to meet her self-imposed rules on borrowing. With this comment, the chancellor has also signalled that spending cuts could be a consideration.

The Budget in November is the moment when the chancellor outlines the UK government's plans for the economy.

Reeves has faced repeated questions about the prospect of tax rises in her Budget.

Some analysts have estimated that the chancellor will have to increase taxes or cut spending to fill a hole in the public finances, estimated to be £20bn-£30bn.

Reeves received the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) assessment of the economy on 3 October.

Now the chancellor's brief comments make more explicit what has been assumed across Westminster for many months – that tax rises in the Budget are inevitable.

It is likely that in the weeks before the Budget, as Reeves learns more about how much money she needs to raise and makes decisions about how to do it, she and other ministers will become more explicit still about the direction of travel.

Speaking to the BBC, Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said he wouldn't speculate on what might be in the Budget.

"The chancellor makes all her decisions on Budget day on 26 November and sets out her package there," Murray said.

"Yes, a budget focuses on tax and spend and we'll set out how we're keeping a tight grip on public spending."

The additional suggestion of spending cuts by Reeves is intriguing - many Labour MPs believe that spending cuts in most areas would be politically unviable after the failed attempts at welfare cuts earlier this year, although the government could promise to cut spending in four or five years.

Reeves told Sky News the effects of Brexit, austerity policies and former Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini-budget had damaged the UK economy.

Sky News reported that when asked how she would deal with the country's economic challenges, Reeves said: "Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme, but there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long-lasting."

In her speech to Labour conference last month, Reeves said the government was facing difficult choices and promised she would not take risks with the public finances.

The chancellor pledged to keep "taxes, inflation and interest rates as low as possible".

Labour promised in its 2024 manifesto ahead of last year's general election not to increase taxes on "working people", saying the party would not "increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT".

On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the UK was set to be the second-fastest-growing of the world's most advanced economies this year.

But the IMF also predicted the UK will face the highest rate of inflation among G7 nations both this year and next, driven by rising energy and utility bills.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said needed to get a grip on public spending, rather than raise taxes again.

He said: "Be in no doubt, this tax doom loop is down to the Chancellor's economic mismanagement.

"Under Rachel Reeves we have seen inflation double, debt balloon, borrowing costs at a 27-year high, and taxes up - with more pain on the way in the autumn."

There aren't many musicians whose sound is so distinctive and influential that the music industry invents a whole new genre to describe it.

But D'Angelo, who has died at the age of 51, was seen as a trailblazer, thanks in large part to his groundbreaking debut album Brown Sugar, released in July 1995.

With its slow tempos and smooth vocals, D'Angelo's chilled-out, late-night vibe recalled some of the legends of soul while also sounding entirely new.

R&B was already popular at the time - with TLC, Mary J Blige and Janet Jackson among the stars riding high in the charts.

But Brown Sugar's more laid-back sound blended rhythm and blues with crisp hip-hop beats, jazz and funk, differentiating it from the more pop-skewing R&B dominating radio at the time.

The album's sound was christened "neo-soul" - and its influence is still being felt three decades after its release.

D'Angelo's music still crops up on streaming service playlists with titles such as "Relaxed evening vibes" and "Chilled soul classics".

It still soundtracks dinner parties and date nights. And D'Angelo is cited as an influence not only by the artists who were his peers at the time, but by newer talents emerging today.

"He was so important, and still is," Welsh hip-hop artist Lemfreck, who has been championed by BBC Introducing, told Radio 1's Newsbeat.

"That neo-soul sound from the 90s and noughties is the base layer for every single layer of R&B you hear to this day."

Admittedly, the music industry is used to coming up with buzzy names to make an unfamiliar genre more marketable.

Trip-hop was invented to help categorise Portishead and Massive Attack in the mid-90s, while the term Crunk was coined to onomatopaeically reflect the bass-heavy club sounds of Southern hip-hop.

Neo-soul was christened by D'Angelo's own manager Kedar Massenburg, a US record producer who would later serve as president of Motown Records.

Seeing the market potential, but also just sensing a rapidly growing movement, Massenburg trademarked the term neo-classic soul, telling Billboard in 2002 that there was "the need to categorise music for consumers so they know what they're getting".

The term caught on, and a huge number of neo-soul artists followed in D'Angelo's footsteps, some of them signed by Massenburg himself.

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was released a year after Brown Sugar, while Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, India Arie and D'Angelo's former partner Angie Stone would launch albums over the following years, a time seen as neo-soul's golden era.

But Brown Sugar had already set the genre's blueprint.

The album's sales might have been slow at first, but its breakout hits Lady, Brown Sugar and Cruisin' all made the Billboard R&B chart, and helped the record eventually reach two million in sales.

D'Angelo "emerged as a nostalgic figure in modern soul," said Pitchfork's Marcus J Moore. "His blend of 1970s R&B and hip-hop felt uniquely vintage and modern. He appealed to wide swaths of listeners and helped usher in a new strain of black music."

However, as is often the case with a successful debut album, D'Angelo struggled to follow it up. He toured Brown Sugar for two years but then hit a wall while trying to work on his second record.

"The thing about writer's block is that you want to write so badly, [but] the songs don't come out that way," he told Entertainment Weekly in 2008. "They come from life. So you've got to live to write."

The infrequency with which he released music made D’Angelo’s albums much more of an event when they eventually appeared.

Much like Lauryn Hill, with whom he collaborated on Nothing Even Matters for her Miseducation album, D'Angelo's towering influence was even more notable for his comparatively low level of output.

Brown Sugar's follow-up, Voodoo, was eventually released in 2000, and hailed by critics as a triumph.

With production from Questlove and J Dilla, its sound leaned slightly more towards hip-hop than his debut, with more pulsing percussion and a collaboration with Method Man and Redman.

But it was the seven-minute music video for its third single Untitled (How Does It Feel) that attracted the headlines.

Filmed all in one take, the video saw D'Angelo's face filmed close up, before the camera pulling back to reveal him standing completely naked.

D'Angelo certainly had the body to pull off the video, which went on to be nominated for three MTV VMAs, including Video of the Year.

"We made this music video for women," said its director Paul Hunter. "The idea was, it would feel like he was one-on-one with whoever the woman was."

The stripped-back appearance reflected the stripped-back sound of the song - the arrangement saw the instruments lower in the mix to give D'Angelo's layered harmonies centre stage.

The frenzied reaction to Untitled pushed Voodoo to number one in the US for two weeks, and in 2001 it won the Grammy for best R&B album (the singer won four Grammy Awards from 14 nominations throughout his career).

But D'Angelo, whose real name was Michael Eugene Archer, was uncomfortable with his new status as a sex symbol.

He already had a strained relationship with fame, which led to prolonged periods of time away from the spotlight.

The success of Voodoo and his shirtless music video led him to leave showbusiness for what would become a 14-year break before his next album.

He struggled with depression and alcohol and drug abuse, entering rehab twice, and nearly died in a 2005 car crash.

In the same year, he was given a three-year suspended sentence for cocaine possession.

A 2008 article in Spin magazine questioned where D'Angelo had disappeared to, and asked his friends and colleagues if there was any prospect of him returning to music.

D'Angelo's former music manager, Dominique Trenier, told the magazine that both he and the singer had been disappointed by the reaction to Untitled's music video, which had come to define D'Angelo's career.

"I feel really guilty, because that was never the intention," Trenier said. "I'm glad to video did what it did, but he and I were both disappointed because, to this day, in the general populace's memory, he's the naked dude."

But he got back on track, signing a new deal which would ultimately lead to his third and final studio album, 2014's Black Messiah.

The vocals were unmistakably D'Angelo, but the album had a somewhat different sound. His electric guitar playing featured much more heavily on the album, giving it a more rocky sound - and earning comparisons to Funkadelic’s influential 1971 album, Maggot Brain.

The singer also experimented with psychedelia on an album which was sonically more abstract than his first two, and featured more overtly political lyrics, partly inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement which developed after the police shootings of black men.

It was, perhaps, a rejection of the neo-soul label.

"I never claimed I do neo-soul," he said in a 2014 interview with Red Bull Music Academy. "When I first came out, I used to always say: 'I do black music. I make black music.'"

Even Massenburg, who had invented the phrase, acknowledged: "A lot of people don't like the term because, when you classify music, it becomes a fad, which tends to go away."

D'Angelo may have been uncomfortable with cultural moments most closely associated with him - but he will perhaps be best remembered as an inspiration.

Paying tribute to D'Angelo on X on Wednesday, Hill said: "Thank you for charting the course and for making space during a time when no similar space really existed.

"You imaged a unity of strength and sensitivity in black manhood to a generation that only saw itself as having to be one or the other."

Lemfreck reflects: "He was probably the first artist I heard where I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you really can do it your own way. You really can make the thing that is right without having to appeal to the masses and still appeal to the masses’.

"The fact that he created the stuff that he did, and how he did it, is a testament to the fact that artistry always comes first."

A man has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in a hot tub in Shetland.

Aren Pearson, 41, stabbed 24-year-old Claire Leveque to death at his mother's home in Sandness on 11 February last year.

The couple, who are both from Canada, had moved to Scotland in 2023.

Pearson denied murder and claimed in court that Ms Leveque had stabbed herself - but a jury found him guilty after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

He is due to be sentenced after 14:00.

Ms Leveque died after being stabbed more than 25 times on her neck and chest.

Pearson admitted stabbing Ms Leveque in a call to a 999 operator and also confessed to police officers at the crime scene.

Jurors heard that Pearson's late mother Hazel Pearson, who died in May, had told police that on the evening of the murder her son had walked into the kitchen and returned with a knife.

He stabbed himself in the neck and told her that he had hurt his girlfriend.

Ms Pearson then found Ms Leveque in the hot tub, which was in a shed at her home.

"The water was red with blood," she told police.

"Claire was covered with blood. She had severe injuries to her face."

'Trying to get rid of her'

The trial heard Pearson told a hospital doctor he had been "trying to get rid of her for a while".

Pearson was taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick after being detained by police.

The jury heard that he said he had stabbed himself in the neck, consumed brake fluid and driven his Porsche car into the water.

A&E consultant Dr Caroline Heggie treated him for two days following his arrest.

Prosecutor Margaret Barron asked Dr Heggie if Pearson had said something that stuck with her.

She replied: "He said: 'I've been trying to get rid of her for a while'."

Ms Leveque's father Clint said his daughter had been "happy, positive and so friendly to everybody".

Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Mr Leveque said his daughter was "a typical daddy's girl".

"My daughter texted me every night: 'I love you dad'. Every night of her life," he said.

"There's nothing negative that anybody could possibly say about her."

Mr Leveque said his daughter, who grew up in Westloch, Alberta, had a love of adventure.

"There's no words to describe this whole situation," he added.

A hotel used by asylum seekers in Essex has become a "feeding ground for unrest and protest", the High Court has been told.

Epping Forest District Council is seeking to block migrants lodging at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which was the scene of vociferous protests over the summer.

Lawyers for the authority accused Somani Hotels of "sidestepping" planning laws due to "the lure of a trove of government-funded profits".

The Home Office, which intervened in the case, argued the closure of asylum hotels must be "structured" and gradual.

The Conservative-led council wants a permanent injunction, while Somani Hotels and the Home Office have opposed the claim.

A judge previously awarded the council a temporary injunction prior to the latest hearing, but this was later overturned.

Opening the council's case, Philip Coppel KC said the hotel was breaching planning controls in a "serious, flagrant and continuing" way.

He said the owner had "flagrantly" changed its use of the hotel, "without bothering to apply" for planning permission.

Mr Coppel argued this change was having a "significant adverse impact" on people living, working and visiting the town.

"A person wanting to stay in Epping cannot book a room there. A person cannot even visit there," he said in written submissions to the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

"A hotel contributes to the amenity of the vicinity - those living and working there.

"It does not attract weekly protests and draw in unlawful activity."

The Bell Hotel became the focus of several protests and counter-protests in the summer, some of which turned violent, after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with two sexual assaults.

Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national who arrived in the UK on a small boat days before the incident, was jailed for a year in September.

The hotel has been housing asylum seekers in spells since October 2022.

Mr Coppel accused Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood of allowing her judgement to be clouded by the need to house those migrants.

But James Strachan KC, for the Home Office, said block booking rooms "does not change its use as a hotel".

He argued it was not in the public interest to grant an injunction, when considering "the backdrop of multiple other local authorities seeking similar" rulings.

Representing Somani Hotels, Jenny Wigley KC said the business had been in financial decline "for many years".

She added there had been no changes to the building's structure and the only external changes were to install security fencing in response to the protests.

The hearing, before Mr Justice Mould, is due to conclude on Friday.

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Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80, family sources have told the BBC.

Odinga died on Wednesday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in India.

Indian police told the AFP news agency that he was walking with family members and a personal doctor "when he suddenly collapsed". He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

In recent weeks, there has been speculation about his health, although family members and political allies had dismissed reports suggesting he was critically ill. Politicians and other leaders, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, have been sending their condolences.

A political mobiliser and towering figure in Kenyan politics, Odinga ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times. He rejected the results on each occasion, often saying that victory had been stolen from him.

He was vindicated by Kenya's highest court after the 2017 elections, when it annulled Uhuru Kenyatta's victory and ordered fresh polls. However, he boycotted the rerun, demanding electoral reforms.

The disputed election of 2007, in which Odinga claimed he was cheated of victory by Mwai Kibaki, led to the biggest crisis in Kenya's history.

Violence erupted around the country, resulting in 1,200 deaths and about 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

To resolve the crisis, a power-sharing agreement was brokered by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, leading to the formation of a unity government in which Odinga became prime minister.

He has often reconciled with the incumbent president after contentious elections.

After his most recent defeat in 2022, he later joined President William Ruto in a so-called broad-based government, which brought several of his allies into key positions.

He defended the move as necessary for national unity, coming in the aftermath of watershed nationwide protests last year that culminated in the storming of parliament. Dozens of protesters were killed in confrontations with security officers.

The Ruto administration backed Odinga's bid to become chairperson of the African Union Commission, in elections held earlier this year. Despite strong regional support, he lost to Djibouti's Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

Odinga inspired a passionate and loyal following throughout his political career, especially in western Kenya, where he was from.

His supporters called him "Baba" (Father), "Agwambo" (Act of God), and "Tinga" (Tractor) - drawn from his party's symbol during the 1997 elections.

He was widely regarded as a master strategist and mass mobiliser, often drawing huge crowds to his political rallies, and he had a deep ability to connect with ordinary people.

He will be remembered for his unwavering fight for democratic freedoms and human rights.

He was a former political prisoner, and holds the record for being Kenya's longest-serving detainee. His struggle against one-party dictatorship saw him detained twice (from 1982 to 1988 and 1989 to 1991) during the rule of Daniel arap Moi.

He was initially imprisoned for trying to stage a coup in 1982, which propelled him on to the national stage.

You may also be interested in:

• How Odinga's court challenges have improved Kenya's elections
• Tales of surviving the 2007 election violence
• How a handshake changed Odinga's heartland

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

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

Adolescence creator and star Stephen Graham is inviting dads from around the world to share their experiences of raising boys, and what it means to be a man, for a new book called Letters to Our Sons.

Netflix's hit TV series Adolescence explored toxic masculinity and the impact of mobile phones and social media on teenagers and family life.

Graham, whose letter to his own son will be included in the book, told the BBC: "My hope for this book is that it will be a continuation of the message of Adolescence and a tool for fathers to start more conversations with their sons."

The Bloomsbury book will be made up of a collection of letters from fathers from all walks of life, with submissions open from 15 October until 12 January.

In a press statement, Graham added: "After the huge impact of Adolescence, I realised there was a greater need for communication between fathers and sons.

"There is arguably an even bigger disconnect than ever before, and I would love to help create more opportunity for fathers to reach out to their sons and carry on the conversation.

"We want to hear from men of all ages, first-time fathers, absent fathers, fathers who've been there but never truly been there, fathers who've lost and fathers who just want to find a way to say I love you, to tell their sons what they mean to them and to talk openly about what it means to be a man."

The book will be published in October 2026.

Graham is working on the project with psychology lecturer Orly Klein.

The pair will make a donation for every letter published to the charity ManUp? and social enterprise Dad La Soul, two organisations that support young men struggling with mental health. Bloomsbury will also make a donation to ManUp?

For several weeks earlier this year, Adolescence dominated the news agenda, and eventually went on to become Netflix's second most watched English-language series ever (after the first season of Wednesday).

The UK government supported Netflix's proposal to make the drama available to schools. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said there was a need to tackle the "emerging and growing problem" the show raised.

Many critics shared the sentiment in their reviews. "If you're a parent to a school-age boy... it will chill your blood," said the Telegraph's Anita Singh.

"It is a drama so quietly devastating that I won't forget it for a very long time."

The show went on to win several Emmy awards in the US. Its young star, Owen Cooper, 15, was named best supporting actor in a limited series for his portrayal of a schoolboy accused of murdering a classmate.

The four-part drama also won best limited series, as well as prizes for its directing and writing, and acting prizes for Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty.

An Israeli couple who were abducted during the Hamas attacks of 2023 have been reunited, two years after they were violently split up.

Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or were kidnapped from the Nova music festival on 7 October. Video of Ms Argamani being dragged away in terror on the back of a motorbike by Hamas gunmen became one of the most widely recognised images of the attacks.

She was rescued by commandos during a raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp on 8 June 2024, but Mr Or had been separately held by Hamas in central Gaza, according to Israeli media, before being released on Monday.

In a post on Instagram, Ms Argamani said the couple could now begin "healing together".

• Live updates on this story
• 'You're my life, my hero': Hostages reunite with families after two years
• Who are the released hostages?

Avinatan Or was one of the 20 living hostages who were returned earlier this week as part of the ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump.

After reuniting, Israeli media said the pair shared their "first cigarette together after two years".

A day after her partner's release, Ms Argamani shared an emotional Instagram post alongside their first photos together since 2023.

"Two years since the last moment I saw Avinatan, my love. Two years since terrorists kidnapped us, put me on a motorcycle, and tore us apart in front of the whole world," she wrote.

She said she had been held with other women and children inside houses during her captivity, "while Avinatan was only in the tunnels".

"Hamas released videos and signs of life from me, while there was no information at all about Avinatan," the post, in Hebrew, continued.

She said the pair could now begin their recovery.

"We won our personal war and the whole world's fight with us to get to this moment, and now it's time for us to begin our shared journey together," the post said.

Ms Argamani also thanked Trump for his part in bringing the hostages home and helping them "overcome the darkness".

Mr Or's father told Israeli media about the conditions his son had been kept in - food supplies which were "meagre" and a lot of time alone, chained up in tunnels during his 738 days in captivity.

"He's very thin," Yaron Or told reporters, adding that his son had had "no books, no human contact - nothing".

Reports of sexual assaults and harassment on trains have risen by more than a third over the past 10 years, according to data requested by a BBC investigation.

There were 2,661 incidents reported across England, Scotland and Wales last year, where one in 10 were children - with some younger than 13.

Rhiannon Williams said she was sexually harassed on a train earlier this year and recalled: "You can't go anywhere, you can't escape. I had to sit there and put up with it."

British Transport Police has said the rise is a "concern" and will take every allegation "seriously" while the group that represents train companies added operators have a "zero tolerance to sexual harassment".

Data gathered by the BBC via a Freedom of Information request to the British Transport Police found a 37% increase in reports of sexual offences across England, Scotland and Wales since 2015.

Warning: This story contains details some may find distressing.

Rhiannon said she was sexually harassed on a train this summer by a group of drunken men while going home in west Wales after a day out with friends at the seaside resort of Tenby in Pembrokeshire.

"It was uncomfortable and scary," the 18-year-old told the BBC.

"It's a situation of feeling quite cornered. You're on a train, you can't go anywhere, you can't escape. It definitely made me feel trapped."

A witness reported the harassment to the British Transport Police and officers are still investigating the incident, which happened in August.

"It's due to the normalisation of these situations, the attitude that boys will be boys and it's something women should put up with," added Rhiannon, who is from Llanelli.

"It shouldn't be like that, these situations make women feel extremely intimidated and uncomfortable."

Sexual offences can include rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment. Police say harassment is anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or is inappropriate, such as staring, constant questioning or catcalling.

Despite the rise, officers fear sexual assault and sexual harassment on trains and in stations is still underreported - and worry some do not report it to police at all.

Like Maddie Waktare, who said she was sexually assaulted by a man sitting next to her while travelling on a train from London Waterloo.

"It was a busy train, but he was taking up more space than he needed to," said the 30-year-old.

"His body was encroaching onto me which made me feel uncomfortable. It was summer and I was wearing a dress and he ran his hand up the side of my thigh."

Maddie said she froze. "He kept doing it," she added.

"I stood up forcefully and glared at him. I was in shock and disbelief. I couldn't believe this had happened to me."

Now Maddie is angry for not reacting.

"I never thought I would be someone who would freeze," she said.

"It made me realise how normalised it is in society. The problem is you don't know what these people are capable of, it starts with something like this and then their crimes can get worse. I should have reported it."

Of those 22,100 reports of sexual offences on trains in the past 10 years, detectives could not identify a suspect in half of the cases.

The UK government has said they have pledged £17m to improve British Transport Police's access to station CCTV to help "ensure offenders are identified and brought to justice more quickly".

Footage of a train conductor being arrested on a station platform after sexually assaulting an 18-year-old female passenger has been released by the British Transport Police as part of the BBC investigation.

Nicholas McMurray was jailed for seven years after being convicted for sexually assaulting a woman who cannot be named for legal reasons, on a mainline train between London Paddington and Swansea.

She had been talking on her phone on a journey from Cardiff when Great Western Railway (GWR) train manager McMurray asked to check her train ticket, before adjusting her dress, and sexually assaulting her.

The passenger reported the incident to British Transport Police when she arrived at Swansea Station and McMurray was arrested on the platform.

Officers placed clear bags over his hands to preserve evidence before he was taken to the police station.

The 38-year-old from Swansea was found guilty of sexual assault and assault by penetration at Swansea Crown Court earlier this year and put on the sex offenders register for life.

GWR said McMurray was immediately removed from duty.

"He resigned with immediate effect during the disciplinary process, where the likely outcome was immediate dismissal," a spokesperson said.

British Transport Police said McMurray had "completely abused his position and took advantage of this young woman".

Sexual offences involving children under 18 have trebled on the trains in the past decade from 146 reports in 2015 to 443 in 2025. In total more than 2,900 reports were made over the past 10 years involving children.

"While any rise in crime figures is a concern, it's important to contextualise that this is down in part to an increase in intelligence-led operations involving plain clothes officers who are specially trained to identify offenders," said Det Ch Insp Nia Mellor of British Transport Police.

Those undercover officers patrol stations looking for "people hanging about not catching trains".

"It's people moving up and down platforms trying to position themselves closer to lone females, or females that may be a bit more vulnerable because of intoxication," said Sgt Morgan Andrews.

Officers also feel men should be more aware of how women may feel about being approached.

It happened to Julia who was on a train with a friend from Bedford to London when she received unwanted attention from a group of men.

"They kept staring and speaking in a different language and it felt like they were planning something," said the 22-year old actress, originally from Switzerland but now living in London.

She said at the end of the train journey the men started to follow them.

"We ran so they couldn't follow us to the tube or follow us home, you don't know what their intentions are," she said.

"I was really anxious. I was scared, I was scared for my friend."

Anyone that experiences or witnesses sexual assault or harassment on the rail network is advised to text the British Transport Police on 61016 with details of the incident, location and time.

"No woman or girl should be made to feel uncomfortable during their rail journey," said Det Ch Insp Mellor.

"Unacceptable behaviour on the network has serious consequences and will not be tolerated.

"We are relentless in our pursuit to hold these offenders to account and ensure the railway network is a safe place to be for everyone."

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the UK's train operators, said every allegation will be "taken seriously".

"There's zero tolerance in terms of sexual harassment on our network," said their chief executive Jacqueline Starr.

The UK government has said people should be able to use the rail network "without fearing for their safety".

"A rise in reports does not necessarily mean more incidents are occurring," added a government spokesperson.

"It may reflect that more victims now feel able to come forward because of increased awareness and messaging across the network."

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.

Additional reporting by Lucy Dady and Tom Curd

R&B award-winning singer Michael Eugene Archer, known to his fans as D’Angelo, died aged 51 after a battle with cancer, his family said in a statement.

His family said the singer was leaving behind a "legacy of extraordinarily moving music" and asked fans to celebrate “the gift of song that he has left for the world”.

The influential singer was known for pioneering the genre of neo-soul, which blends R&B music with other genres including hip-hop and jazz.

His three albums won him four Grammy awards. The music video for his hit song, Untitled (How Does it Feel), gained mainstream attention after he performed in the one-shot video, naked, belting the song.

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

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves has acknowledged she is "looking at tax and spending", ahead of her autumn Budget next month.

Reeves said she would "always make sure the numbers add up", in an interview with Sky news against a backdrop of slow economic growth and mounting government debt.

The chancellor has previously hinted at tax rises, and economists have said they expect taxes to go up in the Budget if the chancellor wants to meet her self-imposed rules on borrowing. With this comment, the chancellor has also signalled that spending cuts could be a consideration.

The Budget in November is the moment when the chancellor outlines the UK government's plans for the economy.

Reeves has faced repeated questions about the prospect of tax rises in her Budget.

Some analysts have estimated that the chancellor will have to increase taxes or cut spending to fill a hole in the public finances, estimated to be £20bn-£30bn.

Reeves received the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) assessment of the economy on 3 October.

Now the chancellor's brief comments make more explicit what has been assumed across Westminster for many months – that tax rises in the Budget are inevitable.

It is likely that in the weeks before the Budget, as Reeves learns more about how much money she needs to raise and makes decisions about how to do it, she and other ministers will become more explicit still about the direction of travel.

Speaking to the BBC, Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said he wouldn't speculate on what might be in the Budget.

"The chancellor makes all her decisions on Budget day on 26 November and sets out her package there," Murray said.

"Yes, a budget focuses on tax and spend and we'll set out how we're keeping a tight grip on public spending."

The additional suggestion of spending cuts by Reeves is intriguing - many Labour MPs believe that spending cuts in most areas would be politically unviable after the failed attempts at welfare cuts earlier this year, although the government could promise to cut spending in four or five years.

Reeves told Sky News the effects of Brexit, austerity policies and former Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini-budget had damaged the UK economy.

Sky News reported that when asked how she would deal with the country's economic challenges, Reeves said: "Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme, but there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long-lasting."

In her speech to Labour conference last month, Reeves said the government was facing difficult choices and promised she would not take risks with the public finances.

The chancellor pledged to keep "taxes, inflation and interest rates as low as possible".

Labour promised in its 2024 manifesto ahead of last year's general election not to increase taxes on "working people", saying the party would not "increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT".

On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the UK was set to be the second-fastest-growing of the world's most advanced economies this year.

But the IMF also predicted the UK will face the highest rate of inflation among G7 nations both this year and next, driven by rising energy and utility bills.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said needed to get a grip on public spending, rather than raise taxes again.

He said: "Be in no doubt, this tax doom loop is down to the Chancellor's economic mismanagement.

"Under Rachel Reeves we have seen inflation double, debt balloon, borrowing costs at a 27-year high, and taxes up - with more pain on the way in the autumn."

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80, family sources have told the BBC.

Odinga died on Wednesday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in India.

Indian police told the AFP news agency that he was walking with family members and a personal doctor "when he suddenly collapsed". He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

In recent weeks, there has been speculation about his health, although family members and political allies had dismissed reports suggesting he was critically ill. Politicians and other leaders, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, have been sending their condolences.

A political mobiliser and towering figure in Kenyan politics, Odinga ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times. He rejected the results on each occasion, often saying that victory had been stolen from him.

He was vindicated by Kenya's highest court after the 2017 elections, when it annulled Uhuru Kenyatta's victory and ordered fresh polls. However, he boycotted the rerun, demanding electoral reforms.

The disputed election of 2007, in which Odinga claimed he was cheated of victory by Mwai Kibaki, led to the biggest crisis in Kenya's history.

Violence erupted around the country, resulting in 1,200 deaths and about 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

To resolve the crisis, a power-sharing agreement was brokered by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, leading to the formation of a unity government in which Odinga became prime minister.

He has often reconciled with the incumbent president after contentious elections.

After his most recent defeat in 2022, he later joined President William Ruto in a so-called broad-based government, which brought several of his allies into key positions.

He defended the move as necessary for national unity, coming in the aftermath of watershed nationwide protests last year that culminated in the storming of parliament. Dozens of protesters were killed in confrontations with security officers.

The Ruto administration backed Odinga's bid to become chairperson of the African Union Commission, in elections held earlier this year. Despite strong regional support, he lost to Djibouti's Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

Odinga inspired a passionate and loyal following throughout his political career, especially in western Kenya, where he was from.

His supporters called him "Baba" (Father), "Agwambo" (Act of God), and "Tinga" (Tractor) - drawn from his party's symbol during the 1997 elections.

He was widely regarded as a master strategist and mass mobiliser, often drawing huge crowds to his political rallies, and he had a deep ability to connect with ordinary people.

He will be remembered for his unwavering fight for democratic freedoms and human rights.

He was a former political prisoner, and holds the record for being Kenya's longest-serving detainee. His struggle against one-party dictatorship saw him detained twice (from 1982 to 1988 and 1989 to 1991) during the rule of Daniel arap Moi.

He was initially imprisoned for trying to stage a coup in 1982, which propelled him on to the national stage.

You may also be interested in:

• How Odinga's court challenges have improved Kenya's elections
• Tales of surviving the 2007 election violence
• How a handshake changed Odinga's heartland

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

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

US President Donald Trump has threatened to disarm Hamas "violently" amid moves by the group to reassert control over the Gaza Strip, targeting what it called "collaborators".

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said if Hamas failed to disarm within "a reasonable period of time" then "we will disarm them". He did not say when he expects the group to surrender its weapons.

His comments came as footage circulated online showing a public execution and other displays of force by Hamas fighters in Gaza since the US-brokered ceasefire began last week.

The execution - which BBC Verify geolocated to a junction in central Gaza City - follows Hamas's pledge to crush "lawlessness" in the Strip.

Other verified clips have shown armed men wearing insignia identifying them as members of Hamas's internal security force on patrol and masked fighters firing on unarmed men.

Analysts told BBC Verify that the show of force is at least partially intended to counter armed clans which have increasingly challenged the group's hold on the Strip over the past two years.

Tensions between Hamas and some of the groups it is now fighting stretch back before the war. Some - like the Dughmush clan - have historically been involved in smuggling over the Strip's border with Israel, an expert told BBC Verify. Recent clashes between Dughmush and Hamas left more than 50 people dead, including 12 Hamas members.

Israel has previously said it has supplied weapons to other armed groups in the Strip. One Hamas internal security unit recently pledged to "eradicate gangs and militias" it accused of co-operating "with the enemy".

A clip which emerged on Monday afternoon showed Hamas fighters executing a group of eight men. BBC Verify geolocated the footage to a junction in the central Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City, which had been the focus of a major Israeli ground offensive in recent weeks but is now back under Hamas control after the Israeli military withdrawal.

Fighters - some of whom were wearing body armour and Hamas headbands - could be seen in the footage lining the men up in front of a large crowd, which appeared to include at least one young child.

After forcing the men to their knees, crowds could be heard shouting "collaborator" or "agent".

The assembled fighters then opened fire on the bound men, who fell to the ground. Afterwards, the men fired into the air and shouted "long live the al-Qassam Brigades" - Hamas's military wing.

Another verified video showed masked and armed fighters forcing a man to his knees in the middle of the same Zeitoun junction before shooting him in the leg.

Several other gunshots also rang out, followed by screams, but the footage doesn't show whether others were attacked. In the aftermath of the footage, several armed men stand guard around the injured man, waving away onlookers who witnessed the incident.

It is not clear what prompted the incident, which first emerged online on 10 October. Google image searches returned no earlier results.

Palestinians who spoke to the BBC expressed fear at the public executions.

"Why are people cheering for chaos? A masked man kills another masked man without any proof, without investigation, without a court, without even a waiting period for appeal what do we call this? Resistance? No, this is lawlessness," a lawyer living in Gaza said.

"You can't correct one mistake with another," one activist living in central Gaza Strip added. "Executions without fair trial are a crime. May God guide our people ."

Meanwhile, members of Hamas's internal security force have also been deployed across Gaza City in a show of force by the group.

Two such fighters, sporting the insignia of internal security units and armed with rifles, could be seen in several images geolocated by BBC Verify stationed at a crossroads in Gaza City.

Other shows of force included armed men wielding assault rifles marching through a market in the Zeitoun area followed by a small group waving a Palestinian flag.

"I think what Hamas has been trying to do is mobilise its forces, using its interior ministry forces, to assert and consolidate its control," Professor Fawaz Gerges, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, told the BBC's Today Programme.

"In the areas where it's Hamas control, Hamas will be able to destroy the various clans and gangs and looters and militias because its forces are more seasoned, more skilled, more determined," he added.

While Hamas has long had simmering rivalries with various armed groups in the Strip, Israel's bombardment of Gaza and the loosening of Hamas's grip on power has allowed some of the clans to grow in strength, analysts say.

"The collapse of other social institutions has increased the appeal of the clan, which can serve as a social network for its members," Yaniv Voller, a senior lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Kent, told BBC Verify.

"At least some of the clans have been reported to have received weapons and other support from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), to serve as proxies against Hamas," he added.

Some of the militias are also operating in IDF-controlled areas. By analysing videos circulating on social media, BBC Verify identified bases used by two rival groups deep inside IDF controlled territory, including one near the southern city of Rafah, and one ​​near the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

In response to Hamas's re-emergence and the role of its security forces in policing, Trump previously said this did not fall outside the peace agreement.

"[Hamas] do want to stop the problems and they've been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time," he told reporters on Monday.

"You have close to 2 million people going back to buildings that have been demolished, and a lot of bad things can happen. So we want it to be – we want it to be safe."

Prof Gerges said that the US and its allies had little choice but to allow Hamas to exhibit some show of force in Gaza if the ceasefire was to have any meaningful impact.

"Without security you cannot deliver aid. Without security you cannot really have life," he said. "The Americans realise that the only force is Hamas and that's the irony."

What claims do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

Brian Allison travelled more than 200 miles from Manchester to Glasgow to scatter his sister's ashes on the family grave.

As he stood at the headstone in St Kentigern's cemetery, where his father, mother and three other siblings already lay, he took a moment to remember Anne.

Her final weeks had been "haunted" by an unexplained mix-up with the ashes of their mother, Patricia, who died in April 2023.

Several months after Patricia's death, at the age of 100, it emerged the family had been given the wrong urn by funeral directors who are now the focus of a major police investigation.

Brian and Anne discovered the error just days before they planned to return to Scotland to scatter their mother's ashes.

"We had them for five months, then I found out it wasn't my mum, it was a total stranger," said Brian.

"I'd been kissing this total stranger goodnight every night and obviously it's affected my mental health."

The siblings were informed of the error when they contacted Clydebank Crematorium after questioning the lack of paperwork they had received with the urn from the former A Milne Funeral Directors.

Brian said: "Anne called Clydebank Crematorium and we were told [my mum's] ashes were never collected and were still being held there almost a year after her death."

During this time, the family also learned that the bill for Patricia's cremation was still outstanding, despite the pensioner having purchased a funeral plan at the firm's Dumbarton office.

Anne had also taken out a funeral plan with the same company and found hers to be invalid too, prompting her to contact Police Scotland.

In May 2024, one of the largest ongoing financial police investigations was launched into the practices of the former A Milne Independent Funeral Directors.

Operation Koine is currently looking into more than 70 reports regarding practices at the firm.

Last summer two women, aged 37 and 55, and a 56-year-old man were arrested in connection with the investigation and released pending further inquiries.

Brian said the need for answers "haunted" his sister after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer last December.

"It affected Anne's health with the cancer because she was worried," he said.

Brian added that the knowledge he would be the one left to pay for her funeral, despite having a plan, weighed on her.

"Even on her deathbed in the hospital, she said to me, 'I'm sorry you've been left with this'."

Last month, police issued an appeal for anyone with concerns regarding the handling of cremated remains or pre-paid funeral plans with the former funeral directors - which also ran a premises in Springburn - to contact them.

Det Supt Robert Bowie told BBC Scotland News officers were working through "hundreds of lines of inquiry."

Since that appeal, police confirmed they had "received more reports which are currently being assessed".

Brian Allison paid thousands of pounds of his own money for Anne's cremation after she died in August.

Her final request was to be brought back to Scotland, but Brian also has a memorial for both his mother and sister at his home in Manchester.

Brian said: "I keep a little shelf in the living room with candles and everything around the both of them.

"So [some of] the ashes I didn't put down today, they'll come back to Manchester and they'll be kept there in the house so that I know I can speak to the two of them."

He added: "I know it sounds strange when you're talking to a dead person but I talk to them every night.

"I say goodnight, I talk to them if I've had a bad day, tell them I love them."

Anne, who was 67 when she died, had moved from Dumbarton to live with Brian following the death of their mother.

He said they had always been close growing up.

Losing both his mother and sister in the last two years has put a strain on the 62-year-old's mental health.

"When I'm at work I leave the mental health side of me at home, but when I'm not working I don't leave the house now."

Brian's final promise to Anne was to continue to fight for answers on what went wrong with the plans she and her mother purchased.

He said: "I'll carry this on until my dying day if I have to, because I think it's all wrong.

"It's not just my mum and my sister. It's all these other innocent people.

"You can't just let it go. To me it's not about the money, it's about respect."

Vets could be made to publish price lists and reveal if they are part of a larger vet group, following an investigation by the UK's competition watchdog into the £6.3bn veterniary sector.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that pet owners pay 16.6% more on average at practices owned by large vet groups than at independent vets.

The regulator has been investigating whether a lack of competition in the sector has contributed to soaring prices.

Wednesday's findings from the CMA are provisional, with interested parties now having until next month to make submissions before a final decision is published next year.

An earlier version of the report, published before the summer, found prices for treatments grew by 60% between 2015 and 2023, compared with inflation of 35% for other general services, according to CMA research.

Other proposed fixes for the sector include price caps on medicines, prescriptions and other services like cremations, as well as a ban on bonuses linked to offering specific treatments.

The UK should be prepared to cope with weather extremes as a result of at least 2C of global warming by 2050, independent climate advisers have said.

The country was "not yet adapted" to worsening weather extremes already occurring at current levels of warming, "let alone" what was expected to come, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) wrote in a letter addressed to the government.

The committee said they would advise that the UK prepare for climate change beyond the long-term temperature goal set out in the Paris Agreement.

The CCC said they had been asked to provide advice on a timeframe for setting adaption scenarios, based on "minimum climate scenarios".

They urged the government to set out a framework of "clear long-term objectives" to prevent further temperature rise, with new targets every five years and departments "clearly accountable" for delivering those goals.

The CCC said they would be able to provide further details on potential "trade offs" in May 2026, when they will release a a major report outlining how the UK can adapt to climate change.

The committee released their last report in April this year, which said preparations in the UK for rising temperatures were "either too slow, has stalled, or is heading in the wrong direction".

• A simple guide to climate change
• What does net zero mean?
• How extreme weather is linked to climate change

Achieving "net zero" is the world's key target for fighting climate change, which climate scientists have agreed is already making a serious impact around the globe.

The Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, and saw almost 200 countries pledge to try and prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

As the CCC outlined in their letter, a global warming level of 2C would have significant impact on the UK's weather, with extreme events becoming more frequent and widespread.

They said the UK could expect increased heatwaves, drought and flooding, and wildfire season would likely extend into autumn.

Baroness Brown, chairwoman of the adaptation committee for the CCC, said: "People in the UK are already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate, and we owe it to them to prepare, and also to help them prepare.

"Adaptation in the UK is not keeping up with the increase in climate risk. The impacts on the UK are getting worse and (the government) needs more ambition," she told the BBC's Today programme.

The chairwoman also levelled criticism at Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who pledged to scrap the UK's landmark climate change legislation and replace it with a strategy for "cheap and reliable" energy.

Baroness Brown dubbed the promise "disappointing", and said she hoped that the conservative leader would "reflect on the fact that the act covers both adaption and mitigation".

The UK is already experiencing shifting weather patterns due to climate change, with four official heatwaves confirmed in 2025 across what the Met Office have said was the hottest summer on record.

Met Office climate scientists have found that a summer as hot or hotter than 2025 is now 70 times more likely than it would have been in a "natural" climate, with no human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

Reports of sexual assaults and harassment on trains have risen by more than a third over the past 10 years, according to data requested by a BBC investigation.

There were 2,661 incidents reported across England, Scotland and Wales last year, where one in 10 were children - with some younger than 13.

Rhiannon Williams said she was sexually harassed on a train earlier this year and recalled: "You can't go anywhere, you can't escape. I had to sit there and put up with it."

British Transport Police has said the rise is a "concern" and will take every allegation "seriously" while the group that represents train companies added operators have a "zero tolerance to sexual harassment".

Data gathered by the BBC via a Freedom of Information request to the British Transport Police found a 37% increase in reports of sexual offences across England, Scotland and Wales since 2015.

Warning: This story contains details some may find distressing.

Rhiannon said she was sexually harassed on a train this summer by a group of drunken men while going home in west Wales after a day out with friends at the seaside resort of Tenby in Pembrokeshire.

"It was uncomfortable and scary," the 18-year-old told the BBC.

"It's a situation of feeling quite cornered. You're on a train, you can't go anywhere, you can't escape. It definitely made me feel trapped."

A witness reported the harassment to the British Transport Police and officers are still investigating the incident, which happened in August.

"It's due to the normalisation of these situations, the attitude that boys will be boys and it's something women should put up with," added Rhiannon, who is from Llanelli.

"It shouldn't be like that, these situations make women feel extremely intimidated and uncomfortable."

Sexual offences can include rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment. Police say harassment is anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or is inappropriate, such as staring, constant questioning or catcalling.

Despite the rise, officers fear sexual assault and sexual harassment on trains and in stations is still underreported - and worry some do not report it to police at all.

Like Maddie Waktare, who said she was sexually assaulted by a man sitting next to her while travelling on a train from London Waterloo.

"It was a busy train, but he was taking up more space than he needed to," said the 30-year-old.

"His body was encroaching onto me which made me feel uncomfortable. It was summer and I was wearing a dress and he ran his hand up the side of my thigh."

Maddie said she froze. "He kept doing it," she added.

"I stood up forcefully and glared at him. I was in shock and disbelief. I couldn't believe this had happened to me."

Now Maddie is angry for not reacting.

"I never thought I would be someone who would freeze," she said.

"It made me realise how normalised it is in society. The problem is you don't know what these people are capable of, it starts with something like this and then their crimes can get worse. I should have reported it."

Of those 22,100 reports of sexual offences on trains in the past 10 years, detectives could not identify a suspect in half of the cases.

The UK government has said they have pledged £17m to improve British Transport Police's access to station CCTV to help "ensure offenders are identified and brought to justice more quickly".

Footage of a train conductor being arrested on a station platform after sexually assaulting an 18-year-old female passenger has been released by the British Transport Police as part of the BBC investigation.

Nicholas McMurray was jailed for seven years after being convicted for sexually assaulting a woman who cannot be named for legal reasons, on a mainline train between London Paddington and Swansea.

She had been talking on her phone on a journey from Cardiff when Great Western Railway (GWR) train manager McMurray asked to check her train ticket, before adjusting her dress, and sexually assaulting her.

The passenger reported the incident to British Transport Police when she arrived at Swansea Station and McMurray was arrested on the platform.

Officers placed clear bags over his hands to preserve evidence before he was taken to the police station.

The 38-year-old from Swansea was found guilty of sexual assault and assault by penetration at Swansea Crown Court earlier this year and put on the sex offenders register for life.

GWR said McMurray was immediately removed from duty.

"He resigned with immediate effect during the disciplinary process, where the likely outcome was immediate dismissal," a spokesperson said.

British Transport Police said McMurray had "completely abused his position and took advantage of this young woman".

Sexual offences involving children under 18 have trebled on the trains in the past decade from 146 reports in 2015 to 443 in 2025. In total more than 2,900 reports were made over the past 10 years involving children.

"While any rise in crime figures is a concern, it's important to contextualise that this is down in part to an increase in intelligence-led operations involving plain clothes officers who are specially trained to identify offenders," said Det Ch Insp Nia Mellor of British Transport Police.

Those undercover officers patrol stations looking for "people hanging about not catching trains".

"It's people moving up and down platforms trying to position themselves closer to lone females, or females that may be a bit more vulnerable because of intoxication," said Sgt Morgan Andrews.

Officers also feel men should be more aware of how women may feel about being approached.

It happened to Julia who was on a train with a friend from Bedford to London when she received unwanted attention from a group of men.

"They kept staring and speaking in a different language and it felt like they were planning something," said the 22-year old actress, originally from Switzerland but now living in London.

She said at the end of the train journey the men started to follow them.

"We ran so they couldn't follow us to the tube or follow us home, you don't know what their intentions are," she said.

"I was really anxious. I was scared, I was scared for my friend."

Anyone that experiences or witnesses sexual assault or harassment on the rail network is advised to text the British Transport Police on 61016 with details of the incident, location and time.

"No woman or girl should be made to feel uncomfortable during their rail journey," said Det Ch Insp Mellor.

"Unacceptable behaviour on the network has serious consequences and will not be tolerated.

"We are relentless in our pursuit to hold these offenders to account and ensure the railway network is a safe place to be for everyone."

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the UK's train operators, said every allegation will be "taken seriously".

"There's zero tolerance in terms of sexual harassment on our network," said their chief executive Jacqueline Starr.

The UK government has said people should be able to use the rail network "without fearing for their safety".

"A rise in reports does not necessarily mean more incidents are occurring," added a government spokesperson.

"It may reflect that more victims now feel able to come forward because of increased awareness and messaging across the network."

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.

Additional reporting by Lucy Dady and Tom Curd

"Big John" Fisher, a British social media star known for his viral fast food reviews, has been detained in Australia over a visa issue.

Famous for his love of Chinese takeaway and signature catchphrase "bosh", Fisher arrived in Western Australia on Tuesday ahead of a tour of the country.

However, in social media posts, he said he would have to cancel his scheduled appearances in Perth and Sydney as he would be deported to London.

Fisher said he was questioned by border officials for four hours, and though his visa was "legit", Australian authorities "weren't happy" that he was going to be working during his visit. It is understood that Fisher entered Australia on an incorrect visa.

A spokesperson for the Australian Border Force said it could not comment on individual cases, due to privacy issues.

"Will explain more when I get home but absolutely gutted," he said. "Sorry, Perth, sorry, Sydney."

In a post on Wednesday morning local time, Fisher complained about his treatment by authorities and said he was spending his 52nd birthday in a detention hotel waiting to be deported.

"I'm still smiling and I still love Australia," he wrote before signing off with his famed slogan "bosh" - a British slang word often used as an enthusiastic exclamation.

In another Instagram story, Fisher wrote that many people had offered to drop food off for him at the hotel, but he was not allowed to receive it.

"Thank you for the gesture but if you have got me food please take to a food bank -Bosh," he wrote.

Fisher's son - British heavyweight boxer Johnny Fisher - confirmed on Instagram that his father would be flown home.

"Rumour has it they are frightened of his express pace bowling ahead of the Ashes," he said.

Fisher, who has previously visited Australia to meet fans, was due to appear at four events in the country this week. His schedule included hosting a "Bucking Bull" challenge at a greyhound race in Sydney and doing a DJ set at a horse racing meet in Perth.

With almost 700,000 followers on Instagram and another half a million on TikTok, Fisher often films himself eating meals and gives a short review that almost always finish with him saying "bosh".

He was recently interviewed on BBC's Newsnight programme about a Chinese takeaway in York which was vandalised. He later visited the takeaway to show his support and posted a review of its food.

Specially designed singing classes are clinically effective at treating mums with postnatal depression, a major three-year study has found. The authors say they could also be cost effective for the NHS at a time when mental health services are under pressure.

At a children's centre in a housing estate in south London a group of 12 young mums sit in a circle on the floor as their babies cry, crawl and sleep on mats in front of them.

But at this music class there are no bells or tambourines and no Wheels on the Bus or Baby Shark.

Instead, the group work through a mix of lullabies, folk and gospel, switching from Spanish to Congolese to Swahili in rounds of four-part harmonies.

The whole session, from the music selection, to the size of the group, to the set up of the room itself, has been carefully designed to treat the symptoms of postnatal depression.

"I can't stress enough how much this was a game changer for me," says Holly, 30, who started the course earlier this year after it was recommended by her care coordinator.

She says she started feeling unwell in her pregnancy after "my hormones, or something, went a bit wrong".

While those symptoms did start to improve after giving birth to her daughter Ettie, she still felt "vulnerable and very anxious".

"Being a new mum is one of the loneliest times, because you're sort of in this insular bubble," she says.

"And at the very first session here, I walked in and I was like, 'oh, this is my safe place'. Like, I'm safe here."

Postnatal depression is a common problem, affecting more than one in 10 women within a year of giving birth, according to the NHS.

Symptoms are wide-ranging but can include persistent sadness or low mood, problems looking after yourself, insomnia and withdrawing from other people.

Melodies for Mums started in 2017 as a free weekly class in Southwark, south London, based on earlier research which suggested group singing could reduce stress and anxiety.

It's expanded quickly and now runs face-to-face sessions for 400 women a year in five London boroughs and online classes across the UK.

"We know that women experiencing symptoms of postnatal depression can struggle to connect with their peers," says Yvonne Farquharson, the founder of Breathe Arts Health Research, the non-profit organisation behind the idea.

"So through singing, we're getting them to really look at each other and make that kind of bond and social connection."

New mums often join the programme after it's suggested by their midwife, GP or local authority or find it through social media or word-of-mouth.

There is a screening process to check they will benefit before starting the 10-week course.

A 'long-lasting' impact

In 2019 the sessions became part of a study funded by a £2.6m grant from the Wellcome Trust to research how local arts projects might improve physical and mental health at a larger scale.

The results, published this week in the British Journal of Psychiatry, looked at almost 200 mums with postnatal depression over eight months.

The women were split into two groups with one group assigned the singing course and the other offered more typical support like community play classes.

All the mothers reported a reduction in their symptoms by week 10 but that improvement continued in the singing group for another six months beyond the end of the sessions.

"That's really important because it shows that the singing intervention is not only effective in the immediacy for depression, but it has a long-lasting impact," says Dr Rebecca Bind, a research associate at Kings College London and one of the study's lead authors.

Women in the singing group also had a much lower dropout rate and were more likely to say they found it a good match for their needs and easy to use.

The published paper didn't look specifically at why singing itself seemed to have a beneficial effect. But the researchers have their theories.

"I think part of it was women were in the presence of other mothers who were going through the same kind of experiences, even if they were not necessarily having to talk about it," says Dr Bind.

"And on top of that, the act of singing itself can have a very relaxing effect."

A second stage of the analysis has already taken saliva swabs from women to measure levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Early results suggest that mothers in the singing group saw a "nice steady decline in those levels throughout the intervention period," according to Carmine Pariante, professor of biological psychiatry at Kings College London.

The music classes also helped mums form a bond with their babies which continued after the end of the course as the songs and music were used at home.

At the children's centre Jay, holding her young son Ezra, describes postnatal depression as "feeling low when I know I should have been at the happiest point of my life".

"Just being able to be with people who are also struggling, even though that's not the focus of the session [is important]," she says.

"You're there, you're having a great time and singing, but you know that these people are also experiencing what you're experiencing."

Long NHS waiting lists

The organisers stress the singing classes don't have to replace talking therapies or medication.

But they could be either complimentary or a quicker, easier-to-access alternative for some women, at a time when there can be long waits for NHS mental health services.

Some mothers can wait up to six months for assessment and up to a year for one-to-one treatment, according to a 2024 report by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance.

The Kings College London study found the cost of the music course, at between £126 and £539 per mother and baby depending on how it's measured, was comparable to alternatives such as educational programmes and considerably lower than the cost of group therapy or home visits.

Yvonne Farquharson at Breathe says the arts organisation has now piloted its first singing sessions aimed at young dads.

And it has also been commissioned by the World Health Organization to train teams to roll out the classes in Denmark, Italy, Romania and other countries.

At the children's centre in south London the group talk not only about the friendships they have made, but also about the skills they've picked up over the 10 weeks.

"I have two very small children so things can get very stressful at home," says Stella while holding on tight to a wriggling baby Evie.

"I bring the singing back home with me so now I start humming when things get stressful, and I don't even think about it, it just happens and I can cope."

Melodies for Mums sample tracks:

• Arrorró mi niño - Spanish lullaby
• Simama Kaa - Swahili folk song
• Bele Mama - Cameroonian folk song
• Yani Yoni Ya Hu Wey Hey - Native American birthing song

• A list of organisations in the UK offering support and information with some of the issues in this story is available at BBC Action Line

Royal Mail has been fined £21m after almost a quarter of first-class post arrived late, Ofcom has announced.

It is the third-largest fine the communications watchdog has ever issued and follows its investigation after Royal Mail missed its targets for both first and second-class post in 2024/25.

Ian Strawhorne, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said: "Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren't getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp."

Royal Mail said it will "continue to work hard to deliver further sustained improvements to our quality of service".

Royal Mail delivered 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail on time in the 2024/25 financial year, which was short of its 93% and 98.5% targets.

This is the third time it has been fined over delivery delays in recent years, after Ofcom fined it £5.6m in November 2023 and £10.5m in December 2024.

Ofcom warned fines were "likely to continue" unless it urgently delivers "a credible improvement plan".

Mr Strawhorne said: "Royal Mail must rebuild consumers' confidence as a matter of urgency. And that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises."

Ofcom's investigation found the company "breached its obligations by failing to provide an acceptable level of service without justification".

It said the actions taken by Royal Mail to try and reach its targets were "insufficient and ineffective".

The fine, Ofcom said, reflected the "harm suffered by customers" as a result of Royal Mail's poor service.

Under the universal service obligation (USO), Royal Mail is required by law to deliver letters six days a week and parcels five days a week to every address in the UK.

Since July, some areas only receive second-class letters every other weekday and not on Saturday, a change proposed by Ofcom earlier this year.

Responding to Ofcom, a Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We acknowledge the decision made by Ofcom today and we will continue to work hard to deliver further sustained improvements to our quality of service.

The spokesperson said that the reduction of second-class deliveries in some areas enabled the company to "drive a step change in quality of service".

Royal Mail has also made changes in recruitment and training and has provided more support in delivery offices, the spokesperson added.

Vets could be made to publish price lists and reveal if they are part of a larger vet group, following an investigation by the UK's competition watchdog into the £6.3bn veterniary sector.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that pet owners pay 16.6% more on average at practices owned by large vet groups than at independent vets.

The regulator has been investigating whether a lack of competition in the sector has contributed to soaring prices.

Wednesday's findings from the CMA are provisional, with interested parties now having until next month to make submissions before a final decision is published next year.

An earlier version of the report, published before the summer, found prices for treatments grew by 60% between 2015 and 2023, compared with inflation of 35% for other general services, according to CMA research.

Other proposed fixes for the sector include price caps on medicines, prescriptions and other services like cremations, as well as a ban on bonuses linked to offering specific treatments.

OpenAI plans to allow a wider range of content, including erotica, on its popular chatbot ChatGPT as part of its push to "treat adult users like adults", says its boss Sam Altman.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Mr Altman said upcoming versions of the popular chatbot would enable it to behave in a more human-like way - "but only if you want it, not because we are usage maxxing".

The move, reminiscent of Elon Musk's xAI recent introduction of two sexually explicit chatbots to Grok, could help OpenAI attract more paying subscribers.

It is also likely to intensify pressure on lawmakers to introduce tighter restrictions on chatbot companions.

OpenAI did not respond to the BBC's requests for comment following Mr Altman's post.

Changes announced by the company come after it was sued earlier this year by parents of a US teen who took his own life.

The lawsuit filed by Matt and Maria Raine, who are the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, was the first legal action accusing OpenAI of wrongful death.

The Californian couple criticised the company's parental controls - which it said were designed to promote healthier use of its chatbot - saying they did not go far enough.

The family included chat logs between Adam, who died in April, and ChatGPT that show him explaining he has suicidal thoughts.

Altman said that OpenAI previously made ChatGPT "pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues".

"We realise this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right," Mr Altman said.

He said the company has now been able to mitigate the serious mental health risks and have new tools allowing it to "safely relax the restrictions in most cases".

"In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our 'treat adult users like adults' principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults," he said.

Critics say OpenAI's decision to allow erotica on the platform shows the need for more regulation at the federal and state levels.

"How are they going to make sure that children are not able to access the portions of ChatGPT that are adult-only and provide erotica?" said Jenny Kim, a partner at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner. "Open AI, like most of big tech in this space, is just using people like guinea pigs."

Ms Kim is involved in a lawsuit against Meta that claims the company's Instagram's algorithm harms the mental health of teen users.

"We don't even know if their age gating is going to work," she said.

In April, TechCrunch reported that OpenAI was allowing accounts in which a user had registered as a minor to generate graphic erotica.

OpenAI said at the time that the company was rolling out a fix to limit such content.

A survey published this month by the nonprofit Centre for Democracy and Technology (CDT) found that one in five students report that they or someone they know has had a romantic relationship with AI.

On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill passed by the state legislature that would have blocked developers from offering AI chatbots companions to children unless the companies could guarantee the software wouldn't breed harmful behaviour.

Mr Newsom said it was "imperative that adolescents learn how to safely interact with AI systems" in a message that accompanied his veto.

At the federal level, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an inquiry into how AI chatbots interact with children.

In the US Senate last month, bipartisan legislation was introduced that would classify AI chatbots as products. The law would allow users to file liability claims against chatbot developers.

Mr Altman's announcement on Tuesday comes as sceptics have been questioning the rapid rise in the value of AI tech companies.

OpenAI's revenue is growing but it has never been profitable.

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The first series of The Celebrity Traitors is in full swing.

The Traitors have begun their murder spree, as the faithfuls endeavour to uncover them.

Many of us like to think we could handle the pressure of being a Traitor, but which celebrity Traitor are you?

Spoiler alert: the quiz will reveal who the celebrity traitors are.

Enjoyed this quiz? Try testing your memory with our latest weekly quiz, or have a go at something from the archives.

Reports of sexual assaults and harassment on trains have risen by more than a third over the past 10 years, according to data requested by a BBC investigation.

There were 2,661 incidents reported across England, Scotland and Wales last year, where one in 10 were children - with some younger than 13.

Rhiannon Williams said she was sexually harassed on a train earlier this year and recalled: "You can't go anywhere, you can't escape. I had to sit there and put up with it."

British Transport Police has said the rise is a "concern" and will take every allegation "seriously" while the group that represents train companies added operators have a "zero tolerance to sexual harassment".

Data gathered by the BBC via a Freedom of Information request to the British Transport Police found a 37% increase in reports of sexual offences across England, Scotland and Wales since 2015.

Warning: This story contains details some may find distressing.

Rhiannon said she was sexually harassed on a train this summer by a group of drunken men while going home in west Wales after a day out with friends at the seaside resort of Tenby in Pembrokeshire.

"It was uncomfortable and scary," the 18-year-old told the BBC.

"It's a situation of feeling quite cornered. You're on a train, you can't go anywhere, you can't escape. It definitely made me feel trapped."

A witness reported the harassment to the British Transport Police and officers are still investigating the incident, which happened in August.

"It's due to the normalisation of these situations, the attitude that boys will be boys and it's something women should put up with," added Rhiannon, who is from Llanelli.

"It shouldn't be like that, these situations make women feel extremely intimidated and uncomfortable."

Sexual offences can include rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment. Police say harassment is anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or is inappropriate, such as staring, constant questioning or catcalling.

Despite the rise, officers fear sexual assault and sexual harassment on trains and in stations is still underreported - and worry some do not report it to police at all.

Like Maddie Waktare, who said she was sexually assaulted by a man sitting next to her while travelling on a train from London Waterloo.

"It was a busy train, but he was taking up more space than he needed to," said the 30-year-old.

"His body was encroaching onto me which made me feel uncomfortable. It was summer and I was wearing a dress and he ran his hand up the side of my thigh."

Maddie said she froze. "He kept doing it," she added.

"I stood up forcefully and glared at him. I was in shock and disbelief. I couldn't believe this had happened to me."

Now Maddie is angry for not reacting.

"I never thought I would be someone who would freeze," she said.

"It made me realise how normalised it is in society. The problem is you don't know what these people are capable of, it starts with something like this and then their crimes can get worse. I should have reported it."

Of those 22,100 reports of sexual offences on trains in the past 10 years, detectives could not identify a suspect in half of the cases.

The UK government has said they have pledged £17m to improve British Transport Police's access to station CCTV to help "ensure offenders are identified and brought to justice more quickly".

Footage of a train conductor being arrested on a station platform after sexually assaulting an 18-year-old female passenger has been released by the British Transport Police as part of the BBC investigation.

Nicholas McMurray was jailed for seven years after being convicted for sexually assaulting a woman who cannot be named for legal reasons, on a mainline train between London Paddington and Swansea.

She had been talking on her phone on a journey from Cardiff when Great Western Railway (GWR) train manager McMurray asked to check her train ticket, before adjusting her dress, and sexually assaulting her.

The passenger reported the incident to British Transport Police when she arrived at Swansea Station and McMurray was arrested on the platform.

Officers placed clear bags over his hands to preserve evidence before he was taken to the police station.

The 38-year-old from Swansea was found guilty of sexual assault and assault by penetration at Swansea Crown Court earlier this year and put on the sex offenders register for life.

GWR said McMurray was immediately removed from duty.

"He resigned with immediate effect during the disciplinary process, where the likely outcome was immediate dismissal," a spokesperson said.

British Transport Police said McMurray had "completely abused his position and took advantage of this young woman".

Sexual offences involving children under 18 have trebled on the trains in the past decade from 146 reports in 2015 to 443 in 2025. In total more than 2,900 reports were made over the past 10 years involving children.

"While any rise in crime figures is a concern, it's important to contextualise that this is down in part to an increase in intelligence-led operations involving plain clothes officers who are specially trained to identify offenders," said Det Ch Insp Nia Mellor of British Transport Police.

Those undercover officers patrol stations looking for "people hanging about not catching trains".

"It's people moving up and down platforms trying to position themselves closer to lone females, or females that may be a bit more vulnerable because of intoxication," said Sgt Morgan Andrews.

Officers also feel men should be more aware of how women may feel about being approached.

It happened to Julia who was on a train with a friend from Bedford to London when she received unwanted attention from a group of men.

"They kept staring and speaking in a different language and it felt like they were planning something," said the 22-year old actress, originally from Switzerland but now living in London.

She said at the end of the train journey the men started to follow them.

"We ran so they couldn't follow us to the tube or follow us home, you don't know what their intentions are," she said.

"I was really anxious. I was scared, I was scared for my friend."

Anyone that experiences or witnesses sexual assault or harassment on the rail network is advised to text the British Transport Police on 61016 with details of the incident, location and time.

"No woman or girl should be made to feel uncomfortable during their rail journey," said Det Ch Insp Mellor.

"Unacceptable behaviour on the network has serious consequences and will not be tolerated.

"We are relentless in our pursuit to hold these offenders to account and ensure the railway network is a safe place to be for everyone."

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the UK's train operators, said every allegation will be "taken seriously".

"There's zero tolerance in terms of sexual harassment on our network," said their chief executive Jacqueline Starr.

The UK government has said people should be able to use the rail network "without fearing for their safety".

"A rise in reports does not necessarily mean more incidents are occurring," added a government spokesperson.

"It may reflect that more victims now feel able to come forward because of increased awareness and messaging across the network."

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.

Additional reporting by Lucy Dady and Tom Curd

A TV advert by Red Tractor, the UK's biggest certifier of farm products on supermarket shelves, has been banned for exaggerating the scheme's environmental benefits and misleading the public.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the organisation had provided "insufficient evidence" that its farms complied with basic environmental laws to substantiate the claims in its ad.

Environmental group River Action, which brought the complaint in 2023, said the ruling showed the scheme was "greenwashing" and urged supermarkets to stop using it.

But Red Tractor called the watchdog's decision "fundamentally flawed" and argued that the scheme's focus was animal welfare not environmental standards.

In 2021, Red Tractor aired an advert in which it said: "From field to store all our standards are met. When the Red Tractor's there, your food's farmed with care."

You can watch it below.

The environmental charity River Action took issue with the ad, which ran for a further two years, and complained to the watchdog that it suggested to consumers that Red Tractor farms will "ensure a high degree of environmental protection".

The charity pointed to a report by the Environment Agency, released in 2020, which looked at how many breaches of environmental law there were on Red Tractor farms in the previous five years. The report concluded that these farms were "not currently an indicator of good environmental performance".

After more than two years of investigation - one of the longest running - the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the complaint.

It said that Red Tractor had failed to provide "sufficient evidence" that its farms met "basic" environmental laws and had a good environmental outcome to substantiate the claims in the ad.

It also ruled that as a result the advert was "misleading" and "exaggerated" the benefits of the scheme.

River Action welcomed the decision by the ASA and called on supermarkets to act.

"What this shows is that for their environmental credentials Red Tractor has been misleading the public and their supplies," said Amy Fairman, head of campaigns at River Action. "So, we're looking for suppliers like supermarkets to really examine and take stock of what is on their shelves."

She added that challenging such adverts was important because of the pollution risk to the environment from agricultural pollution.

In 2022, the Environment Audit Committee concluded that agriculture was one of the most common factors preventing rivers from being in good health - affecting 40% of them. The risks to the environment include from slurry and pesticide runoff.

But Red Tractor, which assures 45,000 farms in the UK, have pushed back strongly, calling the finding by the ASA "fundamentally flawed".

Jim Mosley, CEO of Red Tractor, told the BBC: "They believe that we have implied an environmental claim. Nowhere in the voiceover or the imagery is any environmental claim actually made."

He argued that the ASA only found a minority of people would think the advert meant Red Tractor farms had good environmental standards, and in fact the scheme is focused on other issues.

"Red Tractor's core purpose is food safety, animal welfare, and traceability. Whilst we have some environmental standards, they are a small part. And as a consequence, we leave that entirely to the Environment Agency to enforce environmental legislation," said Mr Moseley.

When asked if that meant Red Tractor does not know if its farms are complying with environmental law, he said: "Correct".

But many supermarkets do refer to the environmental benefits of Red Tractor farms.

Natalie Smith, Tesco's head of agriculture said last month, on the 25-year anniversary of Red Tractor: "Certification schemes play a key role in providing reassurance for customers, and over the past 25 years, Red Tractor has established itself as a mark of quality, standing for… environmental protection."

On Morrisons' website it states: "100% of the fresh pork, beef, lamb, poultry, milk and cheddar cheese we sell in our stores comes from farms certified by Red Tractor, or an approved equivalent scheme, giving customers assurance… environmental protection."

Both supermarkets were asked if they stood by the Red Tractor logo.

Morrisons did not respond to comment and Tesco referred the BBC to their industry body the British Retail Consortium.

The consortium said that "retailers remain committed to working with Red Tractor", but that the organisation themselves are owners of the scheme.

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are demanding the Labour government publish the evidence it submitted in the now-collapsed case against two people accused of spying for China.

It follows another public intervention from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which has made clear it would not stand in the way if ministers chose to put their evidence in the public domain.

On Tuesday, senior government figures had suggested that the CPS had told them to do so would be "inappropriate".

Prosecutors unexpectedly dropped the case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry last month, prompting criticism from ministers and MPs. Both men deny the allegations.

The director of public prosecutions said the case collapsed because evidence could not obtained from the government referring to China as a national security threat.

This row within a row relates to the three witness statements submitted by Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins, on whether China had been regarded as a threat at the time of the alleged offences under the previous Conservative government.

The CPS has now said: "The statements were provided to us for the purpose of criminal proceedings which are now over.

"The material contained in them is not ours, and it is a matter for the government, independently of the CPS, to consider whether or not to make that material public."

Mr Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Mr Berry were charged under the Official Secrets Act in April 2024, when the Conservatives were in power.

They were accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the BBC: "The government should now urgently release Matt Collins's witnesses statements and the correspondence around them in the interests of full transparency.

"Since this evidence would have been cross-examined in court, it cannot be secret.

"Otherwise, there will be legitimate questions about what exactly the government is hiding."

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Calum Miller also called on Labour to release the full witness statements.

"If ministers have nothing to hide they have nothing to fear," Miller said. "Failure to come clean will just confirm people's suspicions of a cover-up and that ministers are more worried about cosying up to China than protecting our national security."

• The controversy over the collapsed China spy case explained
• BBC In-Depth: Why Labour is strengthening ties with China

On Sunday, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wrote to the prime minister asking him to address "unanswered" questions about the collapsed case.

In her letter, Badenoch accused Sir Keir Starmer, or his ministers, of being "too weak to stand up to Beijing on a crucial matter of national security", claiming the government had sought to "appease China".

There is every possibility Sir Keir will for the first time face sustained public scrutiny on the case on Wednesday, when he appears at the first Prime Minister's Question time for several weeks, after the parliamentary recess for party conferences.

The Labour leader previously said ministers could only draw on the last government's assessment of China, in which the country was called an "epoch-defining challenge", and his government has maintained it is "frustrated" the trial collapsed.

The Tories have asked the CPS if it would be able to restart prosecutions against the two men, if new evidence is brought forward by the government declaring China a threat to national security.

But there is an exceptionally high bar to prosecuting someone for a second time after an acquittal in court - and it is not possible to do so for people charged under the Official Secrets Act.

That protection against what is known as "double jeopardy" is a basic legal principle that has existed for 800 years.

Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.

Hamas has returned the bodies of four more deceased hostages, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

The Red Cross retrieved the remains in coffins and handed them over to the Israeli military late on Tuesday night.

The transfer came after Israel warned it would restrict aid into Gaza until Hamas returned the bodies of all 28 deceased hostages. The Palestinian armed group handed back 20 living and four deceased hostages on Monday.

The remains of 45 deceased Palestinians who had been held in Israel were returned to Gaza on Tuesday, the Red Cross said in a statement.

• 'You're my life, my hero': Hostages reunite with families after two years

• Palestinians celebrate return of detainees freed by Israel

US President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan, which both Israel and Hamas accepted, envisaged the handover of all 48 hostages would be completed by noon on Monday.

While all living hostages were returned, pressure is growing on Hamas and the Israeli government over the remains of 20 hostages which Hamas has not yet repatriated.

In a statement on Tuesday, the IDF said: "Hamas is required to fulfil its part of the agreement and make the necessary efforts to return all the hostages to their families and to proper burial."

Israel's defence minister has warned the Palestinian armed group that "any delay or deliberate avoidance will be considered a gross violation of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly".

Israeli officials said they had decided to restrict aid and delay plans to open the Rafah border crossing with Egypt because Hamas had violated the ceasefire deal by failing to turn over bodies of hostages.

Hamas says it has had difficulty locating the dead hostages' remains.

A copy of the ceasefire agreement, published by Israeli media last week, appeared to acknowledge that Hamas and other Palestinian factions might not be able to locate all of the bodies within the original timeframe.

An Israeli official has suggested that an international task force will start work to locate the remains of anyone who was not returned.

"A big burden has been lifted, but the job is NOT DONE. THE DEAD HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED, AS PROMISED! Phase two begins right NOW!!!" Trump said on X.

Almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released as part of the 20-point peace plan, touted by the US president as the end of the two-year war.

The first phase of Trump's plan saw the ceasefire come into effect at 12:00 (09:00 GMT) on 10 October.

Trump signed the declaration on Monday, alongside the leaders of Egypt and Qatar - the main mediators - and Turkey, which played a significant role in the latter stages of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were among more than 20 world leaders attending - including many from Muslim and Arab countries. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas did not take part.

The plan would see Gaza initially governed by a transitional committee of Palestinian technocrats overseen by the "Board of Peace", before power is eventually transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) once it has undergone reforms.

But difficult negotiations will be needed in order to move forward with the latter phases of the plan.

Among the points of contention are the extent and timeline of Israeli troop withdrawal, the disarmament of Hamas, and the future governance of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has previously said it will not disarm unless a Palestinian state was established - and has rejected the idea of foreign governance in Gaza.

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

At least 67,869 people have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

A brown hyena standing beside the ruins of an abandoned diamond mining settlement has earned wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

He set up his camera trap after spotting fresh hyena tracks in the ghost town of Kolmanskop, Namibia. It took him ten years to get the shot, he said.

The brown hyena, the rarest of all hyena species, is primarily nocturnal and tends to live a solitary life. For years, Mr. van den Heever searched the deserted town, finding only traces of the elusive animal.

"I knew they were there, but actually photographing one was just never going to happen," he says he thought.

He was awarded the prize at London's Natural History Museum.

The annual exhibition dedicated to the competition opens at the Natural History Museum on 17 October.

Keep scrolling to explore the full collection of award-winning images.

Category: Junior Grand Prize and 15- to 17-year-old winner

Title: After the Destruction

Photographer: Andrea Dominizi, Italy

Location: Lepini Mountains, Lazio, Italy

While exploring the Lepini Mountains in central Italy, an area once logged for its old-growth beech trees, Andrea spotted a beetle resting on a cut log beside abandoned machinery.

"This photo shows the story and challenge faced by many animal species: habitat loss," he says. "In this case, it's a beetle that loses the tree and the wood it needs to lay its eggs."

Category winners

Category: Animals in their Environment

Title: Like an Eel out of Water

Photographer: Shane Gross, Canada

Location: D'Arros Island, Amirante, Seychelles

After weeks of patience, last year's winner, Shane Gross, captured peppered moray eels scavenging for carrion at low tide.

He spent hours enduring the sun, heat, and flies, waiting where dead fish had washed up. Eventually, three eels appeared.

Category: 10 Years and Under category

Title: The Weaver's Lair

Photographer: Jamie Smart, UK

Location: Mid-Wales, UK

On a cold September morning, Jamie Smart discovered an orb-weaver spider curled up inside its silken hideaway.

"It's also quite special for me because I get to show something that people are usually afraid of," she says.

Category: Wetlands: The Bigger Picture

Title: Vanishing Pond

Photographer: Sebastian Frölich, Germany

Location: Platzertal, Tyrol, Austria

Sebastian Frölich visited Austria's Platzertal moorlands, a fragile wetland, to highlight its vital role as a carbon sink and a habitat for diverse wildlife, at a time when Austria has lost 90 per cent of its peat bogs.

Category: 11–14 Years

Title: Alpine Dawn

Photographer: Lubin Godin, France

Location: Col de la Colombière, Haute-Savoie, France

During an early ascent, Lubin Godin found an Alpine ibex resting above a sea of clouds. He retraced his steps as the sun broke through and captured the scene before the mist returned.

Category: Underwater

Title: Survival Purse

Photographer: Ralph Pace, USA

Location: Monterey Bay, California, USA

Battling strong currents, Ralph Pace captured this image of a swell shark egg case, revealing a glowing embryo, complete with gill slits and a yolk sac.

Swell sharks depend on kelp to lay their leathery eggs, making them vulnerable to kelp forest loss. Researchers believe Monterey Bay's kelp has declined by more than 95 per cent in the past 34 years.

Category: Animal Portraits

Title: Shadow Hunter

Photographer: Philipp Egger, Italy

Location: Naturns, South Tyrol, Italy

Philipp Egger observed this eagle owl's nest from afar for more than four years.

Among the world's largest owls, eagle owls are about twice the weight of buzzards. These nocturnal hunters nest on cliffs or in crevices and often return to the same site for many years.

Category: Behaviour: Birds

Title: Synchronised Fishing

Photographer: Qingrong Yang, China

Location: Yundang Lake, Fujian Province, China

Qingrong Yang captured a ladyfish snatching prey just beneath a little egret's beak.

He often visits the lake to document these frenzied feeding moments.

Category: Behaviour: Mammals

Title: Cat Amongst the Flamingos

Photographer: Dennis Stogsdill, USA

Location: Ndutu Lake, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Caracals are known for their acrobatic leaps to catch birds, but sightings of them hunting flamingos are rare.

Category: Photojournalism

Title: How to Save a Species

Photographer: Jon A Juárez, Spain

Location: Ol Pejeta, Nanyuki, Laikipia County, Kenya

After years following the BioRescue Project, Jon A. Juárez witnessed a breakthrough in rhino conservation, the first successful transfer of a rhino embryo to a surrogate mother.

Though the foetus of the southern white rhino, pictured here, did not survive due to infection, the milestone proved that IVF could work for rhinos, bringing scientists closer to saving the critically endangered northern white rhino.

The BBC covered this incredible story and you can read about it here.

Category: Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles

Title: Frolicking Frogs

Photographer: Quentin Martinez, French Guiana

Location: Kaw Mountain, French Guiana

In heavy rain, Quentin Martinez followed a flooded path to a pool in a forest clearing and captured the metallic sheen of lesser tree frogs gathering to breed.

Category: Photojournalist Story

Title: End of the Round-up

Photographer: Javier Aznar González de Rueda, Spain

Location: USA

Across the US, Javier Aznar González de Rueda explored society's conflicted views of rattlesnakes from deep respect to fear and persecution.

See the other images in his winning portfolio here.

Category: Behaviour: Invertebrates

Title: Mad Hatterpillar

Photographer: Georgina Steytler, Australia

Location: Torndirrup National Park, Western Australia

Georgina Steytler showcased the gum-leaf skeletoniser caterpillar's strange tower of discarded head capsules. Each moult leaves a capsule behind, forming a stack thought to confuse predators.

Category: Oceans: The Bigger Picture

Title: The Feast

Photographer: Audun Rikardsen, Norway

Location: Kvænangen Fjord, Skjervøy, Norway

During a polar night in Norway, Audun Rikardsen photographed gulls swarming around a fishing vessel, trying to catch fish trapped in nets.

He aims to highlight the conflict between seabirds and the fishing industry. Many birds drown in purse seine nets each year.

Category: Plants and Fungi

Title: Deadly Allure

Photographer: Chien Lee, Malaysia

Location: Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia

Some carnivorous pitcher plants reflect UV light as part of their display, using colour, scent and nectar to lure prey. To illustrate this, Chien Lee used a long exposure and UV torch.

Category: Rising Star

Title: Watchful Moments

Photographer: Luca Lorenz, Germany

Location: Germany

While Luca Lorenz was photographing mute swans on an urban lake, a coypu photobombed his frame.

See his other portfolio images here

Category: Natural Artistry

Title: Caught in the Headlights

Photographer: Simone Baumeister, Germany

Location: Ibbenbüren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

On a city bridge, Simone Baumeister photographed an orb-weaver spider silhouetted against traffic lights. By reversing one of the six glass elements in her lens, she created the kaleidoscopic effect, framing the spider.

Category: Impact Award Winner 2025 & Highly Commended, Photojournalism

Title: Orphan of the Road

Photographer: Fernando Faciole, Brazil

Location: CETAS (Centro de Triagem de Animais Silvestres), Belo Horizonte, Brazil

At a rehabilitation centre in Brazil, Fernando Faciole photographed an orphaned giant anteater pup trailing its caregiver.

His aim is to show the consequences of road collisions, a major threat to these animals.

Category: Portfolio Award

Title: Visions of the North

Photographer: Alexey Kharitonov, Israel/Russia

Location: Russia

A recently frozen lake in Svetlyachkovskoye Swamp reveals snow-dusted dark circles etched with crack-like veins.

Using a drone, Alexey Kharitonov captures the rapid transition from summer to winter across taiga forests and Arctic tundra.

See his other portfolio images here.

When Jess Smith uploaded a photo of herself into an AI image generator this summer, she wasn't expecting a social experiment.

The former Australian Paralympic swimmer wanted to vamp up her headshot and uploaded a full-length photo of her and prompted it really specifically that she was missing her left arm from below the elbow.

But ChatGPT couldn't create the image she was asking for and despite various prompts, the results were largely the same - a woman with two arms or one with a metal device to represent a prosthetic.

She asked the AI why it was so hard to create the image and it said it was because it didn't have enough data to work with.

"That was an important realisation for me that of course AI is a reflection of the world we live in today and the level of inequality and discrimination that exists," she says.

Smith recently tried to generate the image again on ChatGPT and was amazed to find it could now produce an accurate picture of a woman with one arm, just like her.

"Oh my goodness, it worked, it's amazing it's finally been updated," she tells the BBC. "This is a great step forward."

It might not sound like a big deal, but for millions of people with disabilities, this shift matters.

"Representation in technology means being seen not as an afterthought, but as part of the world that's being built," Jess says.

"AI is evolving, and when it evolves with inclusion at its core, we all benefit. This is more than progress in tech it's progress in humanity."

A spokesperson for OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, said it had recently "made meaningful improvements" to its image generation model.

They added: "We know challenges remain, particularly around fair representation, and we're actively working to improve this - including refining our post-training methods and adding more diverse examples to help reduce bias over time."

While Smith’s disability is now reflected with AI, Naomi Bowman, who only has sight in one eye, is still experiencing a similar problem.

She asked ChatGPT to blur the background of a picture but instead it "changed my face completely and evened out my eyes".

"Even when I specifically explained that I had an eye condition and to leave my face alone; it couldn't compute," she says.

Naomi initially found it funny but says "it now makes me sad as it shows the inherent bias within AI".

She is calling for AI models to be "trained and tested in rigorous ways to reduce AI bias and to ensure the data sets are broad enough so that everyone is represented and treated fairly".

Some concerned about AI‘s environmental impact have criticised the creation of images on ChatGPT.

Professor Gina Neff of Queen Mary University London told the BBC that ChatGPT is "burning through energy", and the data centres used to power it consume more electricity in a year than 117 countries.

Awkward conversations

Experts say bias in artificial intelligence often reflects the same blind spots that exist in wider society and it's not just disabilities that are unrepresented.

Abran Maldonado, chief execuive of Create Labs, a US-based company that builds culturally aware AI system, says diversity in AI starts with who's involved in training and labelling the data.

"It's about who's in the room when the data is being built," he explains. "You need cultural representation at the creation stage."

Not everything is represented on the internet correctly and Maldonado adds that if you don't consult the people with lived experiences then AI will miss them.

One well known example was a 2019 US government study which found that facial recognition algorithms were far less accurate at identifying African-American and Asian faces compared to Caucasian faces.

Despite living with one arm, Jess doesn't see herself as disabled, saying the barriers she faces are societal.

"If I use a public toilet and the tap has to be held down, that impacts my ability, not because I can't do it, but because the designer hasn't thought about me."

She believes there is a risk of the same oversight happening in the world of AI, systems and spaces built without considering everyone.

When Jess shared her original experience on LinkedIn, someone messaged her to say his AI app would create an image of a woman with one arm.

"I tried to create it and the same thing happened, I couldn't generate the image," she says.

She told the person, but they never replied to her and she says that's typical of conversations around disability.

"The conversation is too awkward and uncomfortable so people back away."

Specially designed singing classes are clinically effective at treating mums with postnatal depression, a major three-year study has found. The authors say they could also be cost effective for the NHS at a time when mental health services are under pressure.

At a children's centre in a housing estate in south London a group of 12 young mums sit in a circle on the floor as their babies cry, crawl and sleep on mats in front of them.

But at this music class there are no bells or tambourines and no Wheels on the Bus or Baby Shark.

Instead, the group work through a mix of lullabies, folk and gospel, switching from Spanish to Congolese to Swahili in rounds of four-part harmonies.

The whole session, from the music selection, to the size of the group, to the set up of the room itself, has been carefully designed to treat the symptoms of postnatal depression.

"I can't stress enough how much this was a game changer for me," says Holly, 30, who started the course earlier this year after it was recommended by her care coordinator.

She says she started feeling unwell in her pregnancy after "my hormones, or something, went a bit wrong".

While those symptoms did start to improve after giving birth to her daughter Ettie, she still felt "vulnerable and very anxious".

"Being a new mum is one of the loneliest times, because you're sort of in this insular bubble," she says.

"And at the very first session here, I walked in and I was like, 'oh, this is my safe place'. Like, I'm safe here."

Postnatal depression is a common problem, affecting more than one in 10 women within a year of giving birth, according to the NHS.

Symptoms are wide-ranging but can include persistent sadness or low mood, problems looking after yourself, insomnia and withdrawing from other people.

Melodies for Mums started in 2017 as a free weekly class in Southwark, south London, based on earlier research which suggested group singing could reduce stress and anxiety.

It's expanded quickly and now runs face-to-face sessions for 400 women a year in five London boroughs and online classes across the UK.

"We know that women experiencing symptoms of postnatal depression can struggle to connect with their peers," says Yvonne Farquharson, the founder of Breathe Arts Health Research, the non-profit organisation behind the idea.

"So through singing, we're getting them to really look at each other and make that kind of bond and social connection."

New mums often join the programme after it's suggested by their midwife, GP or local authority or find it through social media or word-of-mouth.

There is a screening process to check they will benefit before starting the 10-week course.

A 'long-lasting' impact

In 2019 the sessions became part of a study funded by a £2.6m grant from the Wellcome Trust to research how local arts projects might improve physical and mental health at a larger scale.

The results, published this week in the British Journal of Psychiatry, looked at almost 200 mums with postnatal depression over eight months.

The women were split into two groups with one group assigned the singing course and the other offered more typical support like community play classes.

All the mothers reported a reduction in their symptoms by week 10 but that improvement continued in the singing group for another six months beyond the end of the sessions.

"That's really important because it shows that the singing intervention is not only effective in the immediacy for depression, but it has a long-lasting impact," says Dr Rebecca Bind, a research associate at Kings College London and one of the study's lead authors.

Women in the singing group also had a much lower dropout rate and were more likely to say they found it a good match for their needs and easy to use.

The published paper didn't look specifically at why singing itself seemed to have a beneficial effect. But the researchers have their theories.

"I think part of it was women were in the presence of other mothers who were going through the same kind of experiences, even if they were not necessarily having to talk about it," says Dr Bind.

"And on top of that, the act of singing itself can have a very relaxing effect."

A second stage of the analysis has already taken saliva swabs from women to measure levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Early results suggest that mothers in the singing group saw a "nice steady decline in those levels throughout the intervention period," according to Carmine Pariante, professor of biological psychiatry at Kings College London.

The music classes also helped mums form a bond with their babies which continued after the end of the course as the songs and music were used at home.

At the children's centre Jay, holding her young son Ezra, describes postnatal depression as "feeling low when I know I should have been at the happiest point of my life".

"Just being able to be with people who are also struggling, even though that's not the focus of the session [is important]," she says.

"You're there, you're having a great time and singing, but you know that these people are also experiencing what you're experiencing."

Long NHS waiting lists

The organisers stress the singing classes don't have to replace talking therapies or medication.

But they could be either complimentary or a quicker, easier-to-access alternative for some women, at a time when there can be long waits for NHS mental health services.

Some mothers can wait up to six months for assessment and up to a year for one-to-one treatment, according to a 2024 report by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance.

The Kings College London study found the cost of the music course, at between £126 and £539 per mother and baby depending on how it's measured, was comparable to alternatives such as educational programmes and considerably lower than the cost of group therapy or home visits.

Yvonne Farquharson at Breathe says the arts organisation has now piloted its first singing sessions aimed at young dads.

And it has also been commissioned by the World Health Organization to train teams to roll out the classes in Denmark, Italy, Romania and other countries.

At the children's centre in south London the group talk not only about the friendships they have made, but also about the skills they've picked up over the 10 weeks.

"I have two very small children so things can get very stressful at home," says Stella while holding on tight to a wriggling baby Evie.

"I bring the singing back home with me so now I start humming when things get stressful, and I don't even think about it, it just happens and I can cope."

Melodies for Mums sample tracks:

• Arrorró mi niño - Spanish lullaby
• Simama Kaa - Swahili folk song
• Bele Mama - Cameroonian folk song
• Yani Yoni Ya Hu Wey Hey - Native American birthing song

• A list of organisations in the UK offering support and information with some of the issues in this story is available at BBC Action Line