US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said, marking a sharp escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro's government.

"We have just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela - a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Releasing a video of the seizure, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the vessel as a "crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran".

Caracas swiftly denounced the action, calling it an act of "international piracy". Earlier, President Maduro declared that Venezuela would never become an "oil colony".

The Trump administration accuses Venezuela of funnelling narcotics into the US and has intensified its efforts to pressure President Maduro in recent months.

Venezuela - home to some of the world's largest proven oil reserves - has, in turn, accused Washington of seeking to take its oil.

Oil prices inched higher on Wednesday as news of the seizure stoked short-term supply concerns. Analysts warn the move could threaten shippers and further disrupt Venezuela's oil exports.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who leads the US Department of Justice, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the US Coast Guard co-ordinated the seizure.

"For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations," the nation's top prosecutor wrote on X.

Footage shared by Bondi showed a military helicopter hovering over a large ship, and troops descending on to the deck using ropes. Uniformed men were seen in the clip moving about the ship with guns drawn.

A senior military official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that the mission to seize the tanker was launched from a Department of War vessel.

It involved two helicopters, 10 Coast Guard members and 10 Marines, as well as special forces.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was aware of the operation, and the Trump administration was considering more actions like this, the source said.

When asked by reporters what the US would do with the oil on the tanker, Trump said: "We keep it, I guess... I assume we're going to keep the oil."

Maritime risk company Vanguard Tech has identified the oil tanker as Skipper.

"The vessel is reported to be part of the dark fleet, and was sanctioned by the United States for carrying Venezuelan oil exports," it says.

BBC Verify has located this tanker on MarineTraffic, which shows it was sailing under the flag of Guyana when its position was last updated two days ago.

The Venezuelan government issued a statement denouncing the seizure as a "grave international crime".

"Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to attempt to deprive the Venezuelan people of what belongs to them by historical and constitutional right," it said.

It said the prolonged aggression against Venezuela has always been about "our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people".

Speaking at a rally earlier on Wednesday, Maduro had a message for Americans opposed to war with Venezuela. It came in the form of a 1988 hit song.

"To American citizens who are against the war, I respond with a very famous song: Don't worry, be happy," Maduro said in Spanish before singing along to the lyrics of the 1988 hit.

"Not war, be happy. Not, not crazy war, not, be happy."

It's unclear if Maduro knew about the seizure of the tanker before this rally.

After American forces boarded the vessel, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello called the US "murderers, thieves, pirates".

He referred to Pirates of the Caribbean, but said that while that film's lead character Jack Sparrow was a "hero", he believed "these guys are high seas criminals, buccaneers".

Cabello said this was how the US had "started wars all over the world".

In recent days, the US has ramped up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea, which borders Venezuela to the north.

The build-up involves thousands of troops and the world's largest warship, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, being positioned within striking distance of Venezuela, BBC Verify reported.

The move has sparked speculation about the potential for some kind of military action.

Since September, the US has conducted at least 22 strikes on boats in the region that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs. At least 80 people have died in these attacks.

Ione Wells contributed to this report.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in Oslo, Norway after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, waving from the balcony of the Grand Hotel after months in hiding.

Machado made the covert journey despite a travel ban, and has mostly laid low since Venezuela's disputed presidential election in 2024. She last appeared in public in January.

From a balcony on Wednesday with a crowd cheering below, Machado placed her hand on her heart and sang with her supporters, before walking outside to greet them in person.

Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the award on her mother's behalf earlier in the day.

The Nobel Institute awarded Machado the Peace Prize this year for "her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy" in Venezuela.

Afterwards, Machado went the outside to greet her supporters, who waited behind metal barricades on the street.

"Maria!" "Maria, here!" they shouted in Spanish, as many held their phones aloft to record the historic moment.

At one point, Machado climbed over the barriers to join them.

Her appearance was preceded by speculation that she would travel to Norway for the award ceremony.

The Nobel committee shared audio of Machado declaring, "I will be in Oslo, I am on my way."

After her Peace Prize win, Machado made a point to praise US President Donald Trump, who is open about his own ambitions for the Peace Prize and is locked in ongoing military tension with Venezuela.

On Wednesday, Trump announced the US military had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. His administration alleges the vessel was under sanction and was involved in an "illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations".

The Venezuelan government accused the US of theft and piracy.

At England's busiest emergency unit, all the beds are full by midday.

As one patient leaves his room at Leicester Royal Infirmary's acute unit, cleaning staff are waiting outside.

He is barely out of the room before the bed is stripped and bleach is sprayed. The next patient is already waiting to come in.

Over two days the BBC was given access to the hospital to witness first-hand how it is coping with an early surge of winter bug cases.

Flu season has hit a month earlier than normal this year, with experts warning there appears to be a more severe strain of the virus - mutated H3N2 - circulating.

Hospitals around the country, like this one in Leicester, are doing all they can to avoid becoming completely overwhelmed.

But staff at the Royal Infirmary say increasing numbers of people coming to hospital with the flu and other winter bugs - together with existing pressures - are hitting the hospital hard.

They already worry about how they will cope this winter.

Patients in every cubical

When 19-year-old Paige arrives at the hospital by ambulance, she's put on a trolley while a resus bed is cleared. She's got the flu but also has type 1 diabetes and has dangerously high sugar levels. She is curled in a ball, pale and shaking.

"There are patients in every cubical," Consultant Saad Jawaid says, as Paige is wheeled in. "Another ambulance has just rocked up."

We watch as he works with colleagues in the resus unit to find desperately needed bed spaces.

"When beds are full we have to move people - sometimes that means those who can sit are moved out of beds and into chairs," he says.

Paige is given insulin and fluids to try to stabilise her sugar levels. The doctors hope her diabetes will be controlled soon. Getting better from the flu will take longer.

The following day, Paige is in a side room on the acute assessment unit.

"I do struggle a lot in winter," she says. "I was maybe in here two or three weeks ago. Infections and stuff just seem to hit harder than usual."

The number of flu patients in hospital has hit a record high in England for this time of year with NHS leaders warning the country is facing an unprecedented flu season.

At its busiest times, the emergency unit here in Leicester saw more than 1,000 patients a day last winter. On one of the days we were here, 932 patients came through the door. That number is expected to rise in the coming weeks.

Attendance levels are already around 8% higher this year than last year. And the unit faces a daily shortage of between 50 to 70 beds.

At the Royal Infirmary around 64 beds are currently taken up by people with respiratory viruses, including flu.

We meet one patient who waited 106 hours for a bed on a ward. Another, Gary, came in with a stomach bug and finally got a bed after 34 hours.

By late afternoon, the children's waiting area is full. Parents stand rocking crying babies as every seat is taken.

Respiratory cases of flu and bronchiolitis, a condition affecting the lungs of young patients, are rising fast here too.

In just 30 minutes, 30 children arrive at the department.

At five months old this is Oscar's first winter and his first trip to A&E. His mum brought him in because he was wheezing and struggling to breathe. A few hours after arriving, he is finally seen by a doctor and told he has bronchiolitis.

"These bugs are everywhere at the moment - Oscar's older brother brought it home from school and now Oscar has it," says his mum.

Richard Mitchell has been the chief executive of University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust since 2021 - and has witnessed first-hand how it gets harder to cope with each winter that passes.

"We are already seeing very high levels of flu," he tells us. He expects numbers to climb into January. "That is one of the many things I am concerned about at the moment.

"At this point I feel we are working at the limits of our ability."

Turning minor cases away

The hospital has introduced a new system to manage the flow of patients arriving at its emergency department, as pressure grows on front-line services.

Receptionists, nurses, all the way up to consultants, now sit in a bank of desks at the entrance, assessing patients as they arrive.

This speeds up triage, moving people away from the front door and ensuring those in greatest need receive urgent care.

Staff say the range of cases has become increasingly polarised. Some of the most seriously ill patients are being driven in by relatives because of long waits for ambulances.

At the other end of the scale, people turn up with minor complaints after struggling to secure GP appointments. "Last week someone came in with a coldsore," one nurse tells us.

Experienced staff can redirect those who do not need urgent care, helping them to book GP appointments or pointing them towards pharmacies and other services. Now one in 10 patients are sent away, although staff admit it can lead to frustration.

Security has been tightened following one violent incident, with glass screens installed and 24‑hour guards now in place.

Leicester Royal Infirmary has introduced new measures each year to boost capacity and manage rising demand. Winter pressures continue to grow, while the quieter summer months have become a thing of the past.

To reduce ambulance queues, prefabricated structures were converted into a permanent unit with 14 beds - all are full during the BBC's visit. Without them that would have been 14 ambulances queueing for hours to unload their patients.

Unlike many hospitals, Leicester's emergency unit is not totally overwhelmed by elderly patients. Frail patients are streamed directly to specialist areas, including a frailty unit, or supported in the community to avoid long hospital stays.

Preston Lodge, a former care home bought by the trust, now provides 25 beds, with 14 more opening on December 15. Patients who no longer need acute care - but still require rehabilitation or support - are moved there while awaiting care packages.

"We aim to get people better ready for going home and hopefully keep them stronger and more independent so they aren't back in hospital so frequently over the winter," says head of nursing, Emma Roberts.

Looking ahead, Mr Mitchell expects waits and delays to only get worse for patients in the coming weeks.

For the first week in January - traditionally the busiest each year - the hospital plans to free up more emergency beds, but that means delaying other operations and procedures.

He says: "We will not be able to provide timely care to every patient this winter but we will continue to do our utmost to ensure that patients are treated with dignity and respect to ensure they receive safe care and we will do everything possible to manage those waiting times."

Hospital leaders here are trying to take proactive steps - rather than simply reacting to each crisis. But staff and patients alike warn that hospitals across the country are caught in the middle of a system, many believe, is close to breaking point.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said it was "under no illusions this is going to be a tough winter for our NHS".

A spokesman said: "Flu cases are rising, so it is vital that patients can get protected. Almost 17 million vaccines have been delivered this autumn - 350,000 more compared to this time last year.

"There is no national shortage of the flu vaccine and we would urge everyone eligible to get their vaccination to protect themselves and their loved ones."

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Campaigner Keira Bell has told the BBC she believes the planned clinical trial of puberty blocking drugs for gender-questioning children is unethical and children "are essentially going to be harmed".

The Pathways trial, run by King's College London researchers, will look at how to improve care for children under 16 at NHS gender clinics.

The UK medicines' regulator has approved the study to begin in January, and the research team says it has been designed "to meet rigorous scientific and ethics standards".

Ms Bell and fellow campaigner, psychotherapist James Esses, have sent lawyers' letters to Health Secretary Wes Streeting and medical research organisations arguing it should be stopped.

The threatened legal action questions the safety and transparency of the clinical trial, if it is necessary, and whether it meets the expected "ethical principles".

The government says the trial will provide evidence that is lacking about the risks and benefits of the drugs, and that there are multiple safeguards in place to protect young people.

Puberty blockers, also known as puberty suppressing hormones (PSH), are drugs used to delay or prevent puberty happening.

They are used to treat some children and young people with gender incongruence - when someone's gender identity doesn't match the sex they were registered at birth - or with gender dysphoria, when it causes significant distress.

The drugs were banned in the UK for gender treatment last year after a major review raised concerns about the lack of clinical evidence over their safety for under-18s.

The same review, carried out by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, said a clinical trial was necessary to provide solid evidence as to whether or not the drugs were beneficial.

Dr Cass recently told the BBC she was "really pleased" the KCL team was carrying out the trial.

The study will examine the physical and emotional effects of puberty blockers on about 220 children under the age of 16 attending NHS gender clinics in England, with strict criteria having to be met for any child taking part.

The children will be provided with intensive support. Researchers say they will also monitor bone density and brain development.

Keira Bell was given puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as a teenager. She regrets that and believes she should have been challenged more by staff at the Tavistock Gender Identity Clinic, which is now closed.

In 2020, she took legal action against the clinic. The High Court ruled that under-16s were "unlikely to be able to give informed consent" to puberty blockers, but this was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, which ruled that doctors can judge whether young people can give consent to the treatment.

Ms Bell, 28, told the BBC: "Children are essentially going to be harmed from this trial."

She said children's fertility and sexual function could be affected.

Her own experience of taking puberty blockers has left her "extremely angry", she added.

"I didn't know that I was essentially trapping my own mind from developing, because puberty doesn't happen in a vacuum - it's your whole body, it's your brain sending signals to your body. So I didn't understand any of that," she said.

"There are children who have already been down this pathway – I'm one of them. Why aren't we doing follow-ups with people like me?"

James Esses told the BBC there were questions around informed consent.

"Some of the children who are going to be taking part in this trial are not even old enough to open a current account or open a Facebook profile," he said.

Legal letters from the campaigners have been delivered to the Human Research Authority (HRA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), which have given the puberty blockers trial ethical approval.

Mr Streeting, along with NHS England, King's College London and the South West London and Maudsley NHS Trust have also been notified.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said medical care "must always be based on solid evidence, and children's safety must come first".

They added: "This trial will help provide the evidence that is currently lacking. Its approval came only after extremely rigorous safety checks and with multiple safeguards in place to protect young people's wellbeing - including clinical and parental approval."

In a statement, the MHRA said the safety of participants was "always" its priority and its role was to "rigorously assess" clinical trial submissions to ensure they met "the appropriate regulatory standards of participant safety and scientific integrity".

It said it also continually reviews the approval of the trial as it proceeds.

A spokesperson for the Health Research Authority, said the Pathways trial had "all the necessary regulatory approvals that it needs to begin".

It explained that a Research Ethics Committee, made up of people including healthcare professionals and members of the public, look at research proposals and give opinions about whether they are ethical.

The KCL research team said: "Clinical care should always be underpinned by robust evidence, and this study will help provide a better understanding of how to treat and care for young people with gender incongruence."

The researchers said children taking part in the study would need the consent of their parent or legal guardian, plus the agreement of their lead clinician and a multidisciplinary team.

A spokesperson for charity Stonewall said it was "vitally important" that all LGBTQ+ people, including young people, have access to high-quality, evidence-based and timely healthcare.

Victims of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a legal claim against oil and gas company Shell in the UK courts, seeking compensation for what they say is the company's role in making the storm more severe.

Around 400 people were killed and millions of homes hit when Typhoon Rai slammed into parts of the Philippines just before Christmas in 2021.

Now a group of survivors are for the first time taking legal action against the UK's largest oil company, arguing that it had a role in making the typhoon more likely and more damaging.

Shell says the claim is "baseless", as is a suggestion the company had unique knowledge that carbon emissions drove climate change.

Typhoon Rai, known locally as Odette, was the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines in 2021.

With winds gusting at up to 170mph (270km/h), it destroyed around 2,000 buildings, displaced hundreds of thousands of people - including Trixy Elle and her family.

She was a fish vendor on Batasan island when the storm hit, forcing her from her home, barely escaping with her life.

"So we have to swim in the middle of big waves, heavy rains, strong winds," she told BBC News from the Philippines.

"That's why my father said that we will hold our hands together, if we survive, we survive, but if we will die, we will die together."

Trixy is now part of the group of 67 individuals that has filed a claim that's believed to be the first case of its kind against a UK major producer of oil and gas.

In a letter sent to Shell before the claim was filed at court, the legal team for the survivors says the case is being brought before the UK courts as that is where Shell is domiciled – but that it will apply the law of the Philippines as that is where the damage occurred.

The letter argues that Shell is responsible for 2% of historical global greenhouse gases, as calculated by the Carbon Majors database of oil and gas production.

The company has "materially contributed" to human driven climate change, the letter says, that made the Typhoon more likely and more severe.

The survivors' group further claims that Shell has a "history of climate misinformation," and has known since 1965 that fossil fuels were the primary cause of climate change.

"Instead of changing their industry, they still do their business," said Trixy Elle.

"It's very clear that they choose profit over the people. They choose money over the planet."

Shell denies that their production of oil and gas contributed to this individual typhoon, and they also deny any unique knowledge of climate change that they kept to themselves.

"This is a baseless claim, and it will not help tackle climate change or reduce emissions," a Shell spokesperson said in a statement to BBC News.

"The suggestion that Shell had unique knowledge about climate change is simply not true. The issue and how to tackle it has been part of public discussion and scientific research for many decades."

The case is being supported by several environmental campaign groups who argue that developments in science make it now far easier to attribute individual extreme weathernevents to climate change and allows researchers to say how much of an influence emissions of warming gases had on a heatwave or storm.

But proving, to the satisfaction of a court, that damages done to individuals by extreme weather events are due to the actions of specific fossil fuel producers may be a challenge.

"It's traditionally a high bar, but both the science and the law have lowered that bar significantly in recent years," says Harj Narulla, a barrister specialising in climate law and litigation who is not connected with the case.

"This is certainly a test case, but it's not the first case of its kind. So this will be the first time that UK courts will be satisfying themselves about the nature of all of that attribution science from a factual perspective."

The experience in other jurisdictions is mixed.

In recent years efforts to bring cases against major oil and gas producers in the United States have often failed.

In Europe campaigners in the Netherlands won a major case against Shell in 2021 with the courts ordering Shell to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, including those emissions that come from the use of its products.

But that ruling was overturned on appeal last year.

There was no legal basis for a specific cuts target, the court ruled, but it also reaffirmed Shell's duty to mitigate dangerous climate change through its policies.

The UK claim has now been filed at the Royal Courts of Justice, but this is just the first step in the case brought by the Filippino survivors with more detailed particulars expected by the middle of next year.

Endangered species, including tiger body parts, shark fins and pangolin scales, are being offered for sale on Facebook, BBC News has found.

One Chinese user posted videos of a tiger in a cage that was for sale as well as pictures of tiger bones and teeth, while another included two live tiger cubs in a box.

An image showed a tiger head and bones for sale piled up on scales.

A seller told the BBC his products "can be shipped to the UK".

He said a 10cm-long tooth would cost 2,000 Chines yuan (about £213) and that he could sell me tiger bones for 3,600 yuan per kilo (about £380).

Another seller, who was offering shark fins, claimed to ship from the US to the UK and charged $50 per kilo (about £37).

The sale of endangered species such as tigers and pangolin is illegal in the UK and CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, closely regulates international trade in species under threat.

The voluntary agreement, signed by more than 180 countries and other bodies, only allows the trade if it is both legal and sustainable.

It comes as Interpol has announced the results of a global crackdown on the wildlife trade, which it says led to the seizure of nearly 30,000 live animals.

Meta, which owns Facebook, says it does not allow the sale of endangered species and removes such content.

The UK has strict laws on what species can be imported legally.

However, BBC News also found British companies selling dried seahorses, which can only be traded in the UK if the seller can certify they were sustainably harvested.

In practice, that's not possible and supplying them is likely to break the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, punishable by a fine or prison sentence.

One seller was found promoting them as a tonic for mothers who have just given birth and as a medicine for combating coughs. There is no scientific evidence to support this.

When contacted, the seller - based in the north of England - immediately sent pictures of the seahorses they had in stock. Ordering online cost just over £60.

Two days after placing the order three packets containing 15 dead, dried seahorses arrived in the post.

The delivery had no documentation about the origin of the specimens but did include a recipe on how to make soup with them.

The BBC showed the samples to Neil Garrick-Maidment, from the Seahorse Trust, who said it "made him sick to his stomach". He said they could only have been supplied illegally.

Three pregnant males were among the order - male seahorses carry as many as 200 young.

Mr Garrick-Maidment says that, kilo for kilo, seahorses are currently worth as much as silver and warned further price rises could mean they are fished to extinction.

The global trade in endangered species is estimated to be worth £17bn per year and Interpol assesses it to be the fourth largest international crime type behind drugs smuggling, people smuggling and arms trafficking.

The pangolin, which is the only mammal completely covered in scales, has become the most trafficked animal on earth and is now critically endangered.

A seller in Laos was found to be offering pangolin scales for sale on Facebook. He told the BBC he charged $150 per kilo.

One user even offered to sell rhino horn and suggested making contact via private message.

In a statement, Meta said: "We do not allow the sale of endangered species on our platforms."

The social media platform says it takes down that kind of material as soon as it becomes aware of it, saying it encourages users to "report any content they think may violate our policies".

Today Interpol announced the result of Operation Thunder, a month-long global initiative to combat the trade in endangered species.

Authorities in 134 countries were involved in the operation which included the seizure of nearly 30,000 live animals and 30 tonnes of animal parts.

Interpol says the growth in live animal seizures is driven by the exotic pet trade, but the market in bushmeat is also on the rise.

Kenyan authorities seized 400kg of giraffe meat as part of the global crackdown and, in Belgium, primate flesh was found. More than 4,000 shark fins were also intercepted.

Danny Hewitt, Border Force's director for UK command operations who oversaw the British arm of Op Thunder, said there had been a 73% increase in seizures compared to 2023. That included live snakes, tarantulas and lovebirds found hidden in vehicles stopped at the UK border.

As populations move to the UK they drive demand, he added.

The trade has been driven by organised crime, and in many cases, customers who don't understand the harm they are doing.

Mr Hewitt added: "They may not have been illegal in other parts of the world, but they are illegal in the UK."

Four famous duos have travelled nearly 6,000 km, hitchhiking through mountain towns, foraging in dense jungles, and battling challenges they never imagined, as contestants in Celebrity Race Across the World.

What began on the sun-soaked easternmost tip of Mexico is about to come to a close on Thursday night as the teams race toward the windswept Península de La Guajira in Colombia, the series' final checkpoint.

The budget, £950 per person - the equivalent cost of flying the route - was one limitation, but what else made the trip the challenge of a lifetime?

Molly: 'It's given me so much more confidence'

In the lead-up to the race, Tyler West and Molly Rainford had a flicker of apprehension.

While the couple knew each others' strengths and weaknesses inside out, life in the public eye often left them feeling like "passing ships in the night."

Their occasional holidays tended to have a single goal: complete relaxation.

This challenge offered something entirely different: a chance to push their relationship into new territory, and to reconnect without the usual distractions – for presenter and DJ Tyler, that meant not even his beloved Biscoff biscuits.

"It was a big question mark in our minds whether we'd even make it to the first checkpoint," Tyler admits.

"I remember looking at the final checkpoint on the map and thinking, 'How on earth are we going to get there?' But reaching this far really puts things into perspective - we're not as bad at travelling as we thought."

For actor and singer Molly, one of the biggest takeaways is a new-found confidence.

"Talking to strangers, asking people for help - those are things you just don't do anymore, but the race forces you into it," she says.

"It's given me so much more confidence that now I'm thinking, 'What have I got to lose?'"

And as for their relationship? "It proved to us we can get through anything together," she says.

Dylan: 'There's so much kindness out there'

For actor Dylan Llewellyn and his mother Jackie, the race was less about crossing the finish line first and more about getting out of their comfort zone.

After three decades of marriage, Jackie had never been away from her husband for more than a weekend. But she filled the freezer with steak-and-kidney pies and set off with her son, determined to embrace the unknown.

They learned lessons from past contestants: save more, spend less, and never - under any circumstances - let go of your moneybelt or passport.

"I can't believe we've got this far. I thought we wouldn't make it after leg one," says Jackie.

"I'm so pleased that we pushed ourselves through the lows, and I'm proud of us both for getting to the end of leg five."

The pair leaned on each other during the toughest moments but also learned the importance of asking for help.

"I don't think we realise how much kindness there is out there. And we felt it a lot," says Dylan.

"We felt so much love and togetherness with families and it was really strong and beautiful to see."

Anita: 'My dad has seen my more vulnerable side'

Before the race began, broadcaster and writer Anita Rani and her father, Bal, were excited at the idea of five uninterrupted weeks in each others' company. They hadn't travelled together since a family trip to India when Anita was just two years old.

As the oldest combined duo in the competition, they worried initially whether they would have the stamina to keep pace with younger teams.

But they know they have what matters most: determination.

"We're never going to quit," Anita insists ahead of the final.

"There's obviously been disappointment so far about the things that have been out of our control, but there's a life lesson in that, isn't there?

"When Guatemala closed down, we missed a bus, or whatever, all those things are completely out of your control, and it's very frustrating, but that's part of the journey."

For Anita and Bal, the race has become about far more than reaching the finish line.

They have treasured the time together and the chance to get to know each other better.

"Honestly, this is life, and this is what we've been through," Anita says.

"I think my dad has seen a more vulnerable side of me that I don't normally show."

Roman: 'It makes you realise there's so much more to life'

Sibling duo Roman Kemp and Harleymoon were candid about their relationship not being as close as they would like: busy careers had reduced their interactions to quick spare-key handovers and dog drop-offs.

They are also, by their own admission, polar opposites. Singer-songwriter Harleymoon is the free-spirited adventure-seeker who is usually the last to leave any party.

Broadcaster Roman, devoted to his work and his beloved Arsenal, is naturally cautious about stepping outside his comfort zone.

For them, the race was an opportunity to become friends again and help them discover new sides of each other.

Roman and Harleymoon describe their time with a family on Panama's San Blas Islands as truly transformative.

Roman says the race "took me so far from where I am from".

"It was the biggest moment for me.

"It does make you realise that there's so much more to life… You see what makes these people happy and how happy they really are, which is just this family."

For Harleymoon, the experience of having nothing besides a few bananas and a hammock "in the middle of nowhere" sparked deep self-reflection.

"Your life has turned into something so simple but so beautiful — it's an amazing window to reflect and think, wow, we have so much at home, and yet we always strive for more," she said.

"Getting to experience days like that, when you're just so full of gratitude, was really amazing."

Warning: This article contains disturbing details from the start.

A group of children spotted Adel's body on their way to school, just as his parents were heading to the police station to report him missing. A grotesque, charred silhouette, reclining, with one knee raised, as if lounging on one of Marseille's nearby beaches.

He was 15 when he died, in the usual way: a bullet in the head, then petrol poured over his slim corpse and set on fire.

Someone even filmed the scene on the beach, the latest in a grim series of shoot-then-burn murders linked to this port city's fast-evolving drug wars, increasingly fuelled by social media and now marked by chillingly random acts of violence and by the growing role of children, often coerced into the trade.

"It's chaos now," said a scrawny gang-member, lifting his shirt in a nearby park to show us a torso marked by the scars of at least four bullets - the result of an attempted assassination by a rival gang.

France's Ministry of Justice estimates that the number of teenagers involved in the drugs trade has risen more than four-fold in the past eight years.

"I've been in [a gang] since I was 15. But everything has changed now. The codes, the rules – there are no more rules. Nobody respects anything these days. The bosses start... to use youngsters. They pay them peanuts. And they end up killing others for no real reason. It's anarchy, all over town," said the man, now in his early 20s, who asked us to use his nickname, The Immortal.

Across Marseille, police, lawyers, politicians and community organisers talk of a psychose – a state of collective trauma or panic – gripping parts of the city, as they debate whether to fight back with ever tougher police action or with fresh attempts to address entrenched poverty.

"It's an atmosphere of fear. It's obvious that the drug traffickers are dominant, and gaining more ground every day," said a local lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals against her or her family.

"The rule of law is now subordinate to the gangs. Until we have a strong state again, we have to take precautions," she said, explaining her recent decision to stop representing victims of gang violence.

"There's so much competition in the drugs trade that... people are ready to do anything. So, we have kids aged 13 or 14 who come in as lookouts or dealers. The young see dead bodies, they hear about it, every day. And they're no longer afraid of killing, or being killed," community organiser Mohamed Benmeddour told us.

The trigger for Marseille's current psychose was the murder, last month, of Mehdi Kessaci, a 20-year-old trainee policeman with no links to the drug trade. It is widely believed his death was intended as a warning to his brother, a prominent 22-year-old anti-gang activist and aspiring politician named Ahmed Kessaci.

Under close police protection now, Kessaci spoke to the BBC about Mehdi's death, and the guilt he feels.

"Should I have made my family leave [Marseille]? The struggle of my life is going to be this fight against guilt," he said.

Ahmed Kessaci first rose to national prominence in 2020, after his older brother, a gang member named Brahim, was also murdered.

"We've had this psychose for years. We've known that our lives are hanging by a single thread. But everything changed since Covid. The perpetrators are getting younger and younger. The victims are younger and younger," he said.

"My little brother was an innocent victim. There was a time when the real thugs... had a moral code. You don't kill in daytime. Not in front of everyone. You don't burn bodies. First you threaten with a shot to the leg... Today these steps have all disappeared."

Citing today's "unprecedented" levels of violence, French police are responding with what they call security "bombardments" in high-crime areas of Marseille.

Although one gang, the DZ Mafia, now appears to dominate the trade, it operates a kind of franchise system, with a fractious network of small distributors often staffed by teenagers and undocumented immigrants, who clash violently over territory.

According to one estimate, up to 20,000 people may be involved in the city's drug industry. Last year officials confiscated €42m (£36m) in criminal assets from the gangs.

Video footage shared on social media routinely shows gang members, armed with automatic rifles, shooting at each other in Marseille's various cités – poor neighbourhoods characterised by high-rise buildings and a concentration of social housing.

On a cold afternoon last week, we accompanied a group of armed riot police on one of their regular "bombardment" missions.

The officers sped up to a dilapidated block of flats in their vans as a youthful gang look-out on the gate promptly fled on foot. Splitting into two groups, the police ran up either side of the building seeking to catch dealers in the stairwells.

"The aim is to disrupt the drug dealing spots. We've closed more than 40 of them... and we've locked up a lot of people," explained Sébastien Lautard, a regional police chief.

"Turn him round," said an officer, brusquely, as his team pinned an 18-year-old up against a door.

In a filthy cellar nearby, the police found dozens of vials and tiny plastic bags used to distribute cocaine. Later, a policeman explained that the young man they had detained was pleading to be arrested, saying he had come to Marseille from another city, and was now being held against his will and forced to work for a drug gang.

The officers took him away in a van.

"This is not El Dorado. We have a lot of youngsters recruited on social media. They come to Marseille thinking they'll make easy money. They're promised €200 ($233;£175) a day. But it often ends in misery, violence and sometimes death," said the city's chief prosecutor, Nicolas Bessone.

In his office close to the city's old harbour, Bessone described an industry thought to be worth up to €7bn nationwide and characterised by two new developments: a growing emphasis on online recruitment, sales, and delivery; and a rising number of teenagers coerced into the trade.

"We now see how the traffickers enslave these... little soldiers. They create fictional debts to make them work for free. They torture them if they steal €20 to buy a sandwich. It's ultra-violence. The average age of the perpetrators and victims is getting younger and younger," said Bessone.

He urged local people not to succumb to a psychose but instead to "react, to rise up".

The lawyer who asked us to hide her identity described a case she had handled.

"One young person, who absolutely didn't want to be part of a network, was picked up after school, forced to participate in the drugs trade, was raped, then threatened, then his family also threatened. All means are used to create a workforce," she said.

On Tiktok, dozens of videos, set to music, advertise drugs for sale in Marseille's cités, "from 10:00 to midnight", each product with its own emoji, for cocaine, hashish and marijuana. Other adverts seek to recruit new gang members with messages like "recruiting a worker", "€250 for lookouts", "€500 to carry drugs".

For some local politicians, the answer to Marseille's troubles is a state of emergency, and far tougher rules on immigration.

"Authority must be restored. We need to end a culture of permissiveness in our country. We need to give more freedom, more power to the police and the judiciary," said Franck Alissio, a local MP for the populist, far-right National Rally party, and a prospective mayoral candidate.

Although the ancient Mediterranean city of Marseille has, for centuries, been known for its large immigrant community, Alissio argued that "today, the problem is that we are no longer able to integrate economically and assimilate. Too much immigration. It's the number [of immigrants] that's the problem. And in fact, the drug traffickers, dealers, lookouts, the leaders of these mafia, are almost all immigrants or foreigners with dual nationality."

It is a controversial claim that is hard to verify in a country that strives to avoid including such details in official figures.

Alissio claimed that billions of euros had been poured into Marseille's poorest neighborhoods by successive governments to no effect. He blamed parents and schools for allowing children into the drugs trade but added that he was focused on "solving the problem, not doing sociology".

Far-right parties have long enjoyed strong support across the south of France, but less so in the diverse city of Marseille itself. Critics of the RN, like the lawyer whose identity we have concealed, accused the party of "exploiting misery and fear," and wrongly blaming immigrants for a "gangrene" that is widespread across all communities in France.

Philippe Pujol, a local writer and expert on the drug trade in Marseille, was also offered police protection after the murder of Mehdi Kessaci last month.

"I'm not sure if there's a good reason for this terror. But... terror is taking hold. I would rather be afraid and careful than take unnecessary risks," he said.

But he hit back against calls for tougher police action, arguing it was merely nursing the symptoms "of a suffering society", rather than treating the causes of the problem.

Describing entrenched poverty as a "monster," Pujol painted a picture of a society radicalised by decades of neglect.

"The monster is a mixture of patronage, corruption, and political and economic decisions made against the public interest," Pujol said.

"These kids can be jerks when they're in a group, but when you're alone with them, they're still children, with dreams, who don't want this violence."

A high-profile Hong Kong pro-democracy activist living in the UK has been the target of a campaign of harassment involving letters containing fake, sexually explicit images of her sent from China to her neighbours.

Carmen Lau, 30, who fled Hong Kong four years ago, told the BBC she was "shocked" as the letters, delivered to addresses in Maidenhead in Kent, included her name and images made to look like she was either naked or in underwear and offering sexual services.

"The letters had a couple of very unpleasant images, AI-generated or photo-shopped, where they put my face on those images, portraying me as a sex-worker," she said.

The existence of the letters was first reported by the Guardian.

The first she knew about the letters was when the local MP, Liberal Democrat Joshua Reynolds, called her to say he had been alerted by some of his constituents who had received them.

Ms Lau had sought sanctuary in the UK in 2021 after opposition politicians and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong began being arrested following the imposition of a controversial new National Security Law.

While in the UK she has frequently criticised China's Communist leadership and has spoken out about China's controversial plans to build a 'mega embassy' in London, warning that it could become a base for trans-national repression of China's critics abroad.

Last year up to a dozen of the same neighbours in Kent had received letters sent from Hong Kong, and purporting to come from the police, offering a bounty payment of £95,000 to anyone who would take Ms Lau and hand her over to the Chinese embassy in London.

The new letters were sent last month from the Chinese territory of Macau, close to Hong Kong.

"I was quite shocked because last time it wasn't explicit and so unpleasant to see," Ms Lau told the BBC.

"When I was in Hong Kong pro-Beijing agents were trained to use gender-based harassment targeting pro-democracy activists," she said, "but AI technology has enhanced this sort of intimidation, it is beyond just transnational repression, as a woman it is very worrying".

Reynolds told the BBC "the government need to be very clear that this is not acceptable, we cannot have these letters sent to UK residents".

"We need to find out who sent these letters," he said, adding "officials in Beijing need to be held accountable".

Reynolds said he had raised the issue with both the Home Office and the Foreign Office.

A government spokesperson said "the safety and security of Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom is of the utmost importance".

Ms Lau said police had told her they would be investigating.

The government has previously insisted that any attempt by a foreign power to intimidate, harass, or harm individuals or communities would not be tolerated.

It has said the UK continues to raise concerns about transnational repression directly with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, and has publicly condemned the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties by the Hong Kong Police Force.

About 80% of pregnant women experience morning sickness, according to the NHS, with some expectant mums having such extreme nausea that they struggle with daily life. After reporter Beth Parsons was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) during her pregnancy, she has been been speaking to other women affected by the condition.

Drawing the curtains to block out a warm summer's afternoon, I did everything I could to avoid being sick for the 10th time that day and wondered when I'd feel myself again.

It's isolating, lonely and very hard to describe to someone, especially when the "normal" version of morning sickness is seemingly considered a right of pregnancy passage; something that ginger, an early night and just getting past the first trimester will fix.

I've always wanted to be a mum, and my husband and I were over the moon about the positive test, but it wasn't quite the welcome to pregnancy we had in mind.

A hyperemesis gravidarum diagnosis followed.

While books and social media posts were describing the nutritious diet that would best help my growing baby, a lot of the time I couldn't even keep water down.

I would sip ice-cold cordial and suck ice lollies to keep dehydration at bay the best I could. Sometimes I would nibble on toast or dry cereal then try to go to sleep in the hope it would stay down.

It was all happening at a time when internally I felt so lucky to be starting a family, and was desperate not to come across as ungrateful.

After seeing my GP, I eventually found a medication which helped and it was like a light had finally been turned back on.

For the first time in months, I was able to leave the house, return to work and started to eat and drink with more normality. I'm now in week 26 and I haven't been seriously sick since week 17 of my pregnancy.

After opening up about the issue online and in conversation, other women shared their experiences with me.

I noticed how different they were, especially when it came to what support was available and what treatments they were able to access.

In particular, the drug that helped me, commonly known as Xonvea, was often held back from women who desperately wanted to try it.

Three women shared their stories with me.

Sarah Goddard, from North Yorkshire, became pregnant for the second time in August 2024.

Already mum to a four-year-old, she had been fairly sick in her first pregnancy, but HG was never mentioned. The second time round, she was seriously unwell.

"By seven weeks, I wasn't able to keep anything in me at all… I was being sick 15 or 20 times a day. I was retching to the point blood was coming out. There was nothing left in me to give.

"At times I thought I was dying, it definitely felt like that, but I thought maybe I was being dramatic, until my mum said to me, 'I think I'm watching you die'."

The 32-year-old went to hospital three times for anti-sickness injections and intravenous rehydration, but would deteriorate again as soon as she got home. She was offered some medication, but it did not work well enough for her.

"I didn't know how I was going to get through this and ultimately at 10 weeks we made the impossible decision to have a termination."

Sarah said she was "still devastated" about the decision she felt that she had to make when she chose to end her pregnancy due to the severity of HG.

"Giving my daughter a sibling was exactly what I was doing it for, and I tried and then took it away.

"I just didn't see how we were going to make it through because nobody was fighting for us. It's something I will feel guilty about until the end of time."

She has now received grief counselling and mental health support through the charity Pregnancy Sickness Support.

Sarah also sought advice from a medical consultant who told her about HG and enabled access to medication so she felt able to try a third pregnancy.

She is now due to have a baby in 2026 and has thanked the consultant, saying "without him, I wouldn't be sat here, 31 weeks pregnant, with my little girl's brother".

Millie Fitzsimons, 28, had HG symptoms throughout her pregnancy and experienced how different treatment options could be from one location to another.

In total she thinks she was admitted to hospital about 16 times.

She was living in Boston, Lincolnshire, when she discovered she was pregnant.

"It does just feel like you're dying… it's a feeling you can't explain. I've lost 3st in weight, was being sick 40 times a day. You're just exhausted all the time, and just sleeping on and off all day. Horrific."

Millie said support was "really hard to get" and often medical staff would roll their eyes and not listen to her.

She tried lots of medication, including steroids which are not advised as a long-term option.

At about 16 weeks, she got help from Pregnancy Sickness Support who advised her to ask for Xonvea medication.

She said the medical staff had "never heard of it", and it took four months from asking to be able to access the medication. She could only receive one week's worth at a time.

"They just said it was a postcode lottery and it was really expensive."

When she moved to York at the end of her pregnancy in April, she was able to access Xonvea.

Her baby was born in May. She was off work for eight months while she was pregnant and does not think she will ever have another child.

The charity is campaigning for Xonvea to be included on all drug formulary to avoid issues with access.

Ella Marcham from Yeadon in Leeds experienced the first symptoms of HG before she even knew she was pregnant.

Already mum to two toddlers, dealing with the debilitating condition while also taking care of her family was not easy.

"For me, the worst thing was the nausea. It never stopped," the 28-year-old said.

"It was just 24/7 - all the time. It made it really difficult for me to eat and drink properly, to parent my children, to just live my life normally… it's very difficult to describe."

She asked her GP and a hospital in Leeds for Xonvea, but was told they could not prescribe it. Other medication had limited success.

"The midwives tried their hardest, but we were just met with loads of barriers from doctors and it was just 'no, we can't prescribe it in this area'.

"I was at such a low point I didn't push back much because I just didn't have it in me at that point... I just sort of went a bit inside myself because I just didn't have the energy to carry on asking and asking and asking for something."

Ella briefly researched whether she could access the medication privately, but when online prices online started at £86.95 for less than one week's supply, she gave up.

She gave birth to twins in July and immediately stopped feeling sick.

Ella and husband Joe said dealing with newborn twins and two other children was significantly easier than dealing with hyperemesis gravidarum.

What is hyperemesis gravidarum?

HG patients suffer severe nausea and vomiting, which often means being sick multiple times a day, being unable to keep food or drink down, and no longer being able to continue with daily life.

The condition is thought to affect 1-3% of pregnancies, and often results in dehydration and weight loss.

Many sufferers will require medication and intravenous fluids.

If you have had HG before, it's likely you will have it in another pregnancy.

There is a variety of medications available to people experiencing HG.

Pregnancy Sickness Support has broken them down into first, second and third-line medication categories.

It suggests one of the first medications people should be offered is Xonvea, scientifically known as doxylamine succinate and pyridoxine hydrochloride.

It has been licensed in the UK since 2018, and is the only anti-sickness drug licensed for use in pregnancy in the UK.

Other first-line medications include cyclizine, promethazine and prochlorperazine.

Second-line medications include metoclopramide, ondansetron and domperidone - some of which can have negative side effects for both mother and baby.

Third-line medications are usually steroids which are often successful for treating HG in people when other measures have failed.

There is a wide variety of possible side effects for both mother and baby, but the charity says it's important to remember that if HG is not treated it may cause more harm to the baby than possible effects of a medicine, including steroids.

Intravenous (IV) fluids can be used during HG to correct dehydration. Medication can also be given through an IV port if medication is unable to be kept down.

'We're extremely cautious'

Doncaster GP Dr Dean Eggitt said he sees a woman suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum "every couple of weeks".

"When women present with hyperemesis, usually we undertake an assessment of hydration. Are they drinking? Are they weeing? Are they able to go about their daily functions?

"It may be simple things like looking at what is being eaten, what is being drunk, possibly ginger biscuits, simple stuff like that. If none of that's appropriate or it doesn't really work, then we move on to medicines."

He says the first line medicine is cyclizine and Xonvea tends to be a second or third line medication.

"It has a licence to be used in pregnancy, which means that there's been research undertaken to know that it's safe to use but in medicine we doctors are slightly more cautious than that," he says.

"In a pregnant woman and an unborn child we're extremely cautious about using a medicine that's new to the market.

"So in some cases what you will find is that the local medicines management team has sat down and said, well, first of all, is this cost effective?

"Second of all, do our GPs know how to use it? And third of all, do we think that our colleagues are going to be confident to prescribe this new drug or should we let it bed in a bit first just to prove that it's safe?"

"So in theory, yes, it's safe. In reality, we can sometimes be a bit more cautious, but that cautiousness is a postcode lottery."

The Department of Health & Social Care has been contacted for a comment.

• If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said, marking a sharp escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro's government.

"We have just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela - a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Releasing a video of the seizure, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the vessel as a "crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran".

Caracas swiftly denounced the action, calling it an act of "international piracy". Earlier, President Maduro declared that Venezuela would never become an "oil colony".

The Trump administration accuses Venezuela of funnelling narcotics into the US and has intensified its efforts to pressure President Maduro in recent months.

Venezuela - home to some of the world's largest proven oil reserves - has, in turn, accused Washington of seeking to take its oil.

Oil prices inched higher on Wednesday as news of the seizure stoked short-term supply concerns. Analysts warn the move could threaten shippers and further disrupt Venezuela's oil exports.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who leads the US Department of Justice, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the US Coast Guard co-ordinated the seizure.

"For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations," the nation's top prosecutor wrote on X.

Footage shared by Bondi showed a military helicopter hovering over a large ship, and troops descending on to the deck using ropes. Uniformed men were seen in the clip moving about the ship with guns drawn.

A senior military official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that the mission to seize the tanker was launched from a Department of War vessel.

It involved two helicopters, 10 Coast Guard members and 10 Marines, as well as special forces.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was aware of the operation, and the Trump administration was considering more actions like this, the source said.

When asked by reporters what the US would do with the oil on the tanker, Trump said: "We keep it, I guess... I assume we're going to keep the oil."

Maritime risk company Vanguard Tech has identified the oil tanker as Skipper.

"The vessel is reported to be part of the dark fleet, and was sanctioned by the United States for carrying Venezuelan oil exports," it says.

BBC Verify has located this tanker on MarineTraffic, which shows it was sailing under the flag of Guyana when its position was last updated two days ago.

The Venezuelan government issued a statement denouncing the seizure as a "grave international crime".

"Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to attempt to deprive the Venezuelan people of what belongs to them by historical and constitutional right," it said.

It said the prolonged aggression against Venezuela has always been about "our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people".

Speaking at a rally earlier on Wednesday, Maduro had a message for Americans opposed to war with Venezuela. It came in the form of a 1988 hit song.

"To American citizens who are against the war, I respond with a very famous song: Don't worry, be happy," Maduro said in Spanish before singing along to the lyrics of the 1988 hit.

"Not war, be happy. Not, not crazy war, not, be happy."

It's unclear if Maduro knew about the seizure of the tanker before this rally.

After American forces boarded the vessel, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello called the US "murderers, thieves, pirates".

He referred to Pirates of the Caribbean, but said that while that film's lead character Jack Sparrow was a "hero", he believed "these guys are high seas criminals, buccaneers".

Cabello said this was how the US had "started wars all over the world".

In recent days, the US has ramped up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea, which borders Venezuela to the north.

The build-up involves thousands of troops and the world's largest warship, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, being positioned within striking distance of Venezuela, BBC Verify reported.

The move has sparked speculation about the potential for some kind of military action.

Since September, the US has conducted at least 22 strikes on boats in the region that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs. At least 80 people have died in these attacks.

Ione Wells contributed to this report.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in Oslo, Norway after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, waving from the balcony of the Grand Hotel after months in hiding.

Machado made the covert journey despite a travel ban, and has mostly laid low since Venezuela's disputed presidential election in 2024. She last appeared in public in January.

From a balcony on Wednesday with a crowd cheering below, Machado placed her hand on her heart and sang with her supporters, before walking outside to greet them in person.

Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the award on her mother's behalf earlier in the day.

The Nobel Institute awarded Machado the Peace Prize this year for "her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy" in Venezuela.

Afterwards, Machado went the outside to greet her supporters, who waited behind metal barricades on the street.

"Maria!" "Maria, here!" they shouted in Spanish, as many held their phones aloft to record the historic moment.

At one point, Machado climbed over the barriers to join them.

Her appearance was preceded by speculation that she would travel to Norway for the award ceremony.

The Nobel committee shared audio of Machado declaring, "I will be in Oslo, I am on my way."

After her Peace Prize win, Machado made a point to praise US President Donald Trump, who is open about his own ambitions for the Peace Prize and is locked in ongoing military tension with Venezuela.

On Wednesday, Trump announced the US military had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. His administration alleges the vessel was under sanction and was involved in an "illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations".

The Venezuelan government accused the US of theft and piracy.

I like to think of myself as a law-abiding driver. But it was not a total shock earlier this year when I received one of those official notifications in the post, informing me that I had been caught exceeding a speed limit (driving out of Wandsworth in South London, if you're interested).

I had to accept either three driver penalty points, or attend a speed awareness course. Having no points on my licence, and wanting to keep it that way, I chose to take the course (like so many others given the choice).

And so it was, on a warm Saturday morning earlier this year, that I found myself in a London hotel conference room, with about two dozen other people learning about the dangers of speeding.

First thing to say about the course is that it is so good, it should really be compulsory for everybody who drives. It was shocking to learn of some basic confusions about the speed limits that I and others were harbouring.

But my main observation that day was that we are seeing a dramatic change in driving culture.

As the course instructors went around the room asking us all why we were there, it turned out that almost none of us had been driving "fast" as you might have once defined the word. Most of us had been speeding at something like 26mph. But we were unarguably guilty as charged, having breached the limit on a 20mph road.

I had not given it much thought until then, but it is clear we are in the midst of a significant lowering of urban speeds. And many motorists are struggling to keep up. (Or more accurately, slow down.)

The number of tickets issued for 20mph speed offences was almost half a million last year, according to data collated from police forces in Great Britain by campaign group, 20's Plenty For Us.

Why do many drivers find it so difficult to keep to 20mph? As a driver myself - but also an occasional cyclist, pedestrian and resident of a neighbourhood of 20mph roads - I am increasingly fascinated by the complicated layers of debate. And how a deeper psychology and sense of habit also plays a part.

So, given the number of 20mph roads around the country, will our brains gradually adjust, making it eventually seem normal - and how can we speed that process up?

'Frankly ludicrous - a war on motorists'

In Wales, no-one can have missed the debate over the Cardiff government's decision to lower speed limits in built-up areas in September 2023. It became a hot political issue.

Mark Drakeford, the former First Minister and Labour politician who introduced the policy, said it would "keep people from losing their lives"; while the Welsh Conservatives called it "disastrous, frankly ludicrous and a war on motorists".

Since then, the change has been partially unwound by the re-introduction of 30mph limits on certain roads. But with far less fanfare, swathes of the rest of the country have also moved towards a 20mph norm.

Over half of London's roads now have a 20mph speed limit, according to Transport for London (TfL). In Leeds, dozens of roads are set to become 20mph as part of the council's "Vision Zero 2040" strategy (which aims for zero road deaths or serious injuries by 2040).

Various towns across the country are following the same path.

No-one can say this has been rushed. The first 20mph limit in the country came into effect in 1991 in the Sheffield suburb of Tinsley. Eight years later the law was changed, making it much easier for highway authorities to introduce 20mph zones. In the last decade, that change has accelerated.

And that is not only true in the UK. Across the continent, 30km/h speed limits (equivalent to 19mph) are increasingly common.

Transport planners across the West have evidently been receptive to the same arguments for making an historic change in the relationship between the car and other road users.

Psychological flow at the wheel

Figures from the Department for Transport show that in 2024, while 43% of cars exceeded the 30mph limit (and 44% exceeded 70mph on motorways), 20mph roads, it was 76%. Yes, three-quarters of drivers break the 20mph speed limit. In fact, the average speed on 20mph roads (when they are free-flowing) was 24mph.

It has got a little better over the last few years, but still one in 10 drivers exceed the 20mph speed limit by at least 10mph.

So, what's going on?

When I did my speed awareness course, we were asked - hands-up - why we thought we had driven too fast. People proffered sensible answers like "I was in a hurry" or "I wasn't paying attention to the speed limit" or "someone was tailgating me".

But for me, it was different. I felt almost silly admitting it: it is just that on a free-flowing road in a car, to me 20mph feels unnaturally, uncomfortably, slow.

Evidently, there is a lot of psychology at play.

Richard Stephens, senior lecturer in psychology at Keele University, talks of the importance of the "flow state".

"Psychological flow is this state that we can get in when you're on a roll or you're in the zone, you've been totally absorbed in what you're doing," he explains.

To enter flow state, your task needs to be "enough of a challenge to engage us, but not too much of a challenge to stress us out".

It applies to driving too, he says. "Sometimes the speed limit might feel a bit slow for the road you're on, and you might feel a bit under-challenged. And there's a temptation [to] put your foot down.

"In a flow analogy, what you're doing is you're increasing the challenge a little bit to get more into that sweet flow spot and a more enjoyable experience."

But he argues that drivers can help themselves enter that "flow state" while sticking to 20mph. He suggests listening to something stimulating, or even turning driving into a game.

"The car I drive has a display that encourages eco-driving," he says. "It encourages you to not accelerate too sharply, not break too harshly, and things like that. That sort of gamification of the driving experience can add elements that would bring flow in without changing the speed that you're driving."

For some drivers, faster speeds are simply more satisfying.

"I do think there's almost something inherently attractive about speed," admits Dr Stephens. "Once a child learns to walk, then they learn to run, and then they just run everywhere, because it's more fun."

Then there are habits: we can habituate ourselves to speed - so fast can feel slow, and vice versa, depending on what you're used to.

Shaun Helman, Chief Scientist at the Transport Research Laboratory, points out: "If you're barrelling along a motorway at 70mph, the moment you leave on to the slip road and slow right down, you will notice that it suddenly feels a lot slower than you're used to because of that short-term fast speed that you've been doing."

Add to that the fact that modern cars - with their active suspension and their noise-optimised tyres - give some drivers an extra sense of security.

"Quiet cars, finely engineered for a really comfortable drive, will simply give you less perceptual cue that you're travelling at a particular speed. So that makes it easier to slip over a limit."

One-third reduction in collisions

Of course, there's a clear reason why many councils have rolled out 20mph speed limits: safety.

It is obvious to most drivers that slower speeds are generally safer than fast ones. And it's easy to see why many people, including those whose loved ones have died in accidents, might push for a lower limit.

A pedestrian who is hit by a car travelling at between 30mph and 40mph is between three-and-a-half and five-and-a-half times more likely to be killed than if hit by a car driver travelling at below 30mph, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, a charity.

TfL looked at more than 100 roads in London that introduced 20mph limits between 1989 and 2013.

Analysing a period of three years before, and three years after, the limit was lowered, their research suggested that 20mph limits brought a 35% reduction in collisions, as well as a 34% reduction in serious injuries and deaths.

The number of child deaths on those roads fell from a total of four to one.

But, as they concede, other road safety measures were also implemented over that period, and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what caused the improvements.

In Wales, too, the government has found a 25% reduction in the number of people injured or killed on low-speed roads in the most recent 18 months, compared with the 18 months before a speed limit reduction.

Of course, as with any knotty academic question, there are anomalies.

A study from Queen's University Belfast in 2022 looked at 76 streets in the Northern Irish capital. It found that casualties dropped by 22% three years after 20mph speed limits were introduced - a fall, but not a statistically significant one, the study's authors said (in other words, it could have been explained by mere chance).

But broadly speaking, the data shows that slower equals safer. A European meta-study from last year at the National Technical University of Athens, reviewed 70 studies of the 30km/h limits in 17 cities and found a 23% reduction in road crashes, and a 38% reduction in fatalities.

Hazel Peacock, a road safety campaigner in Harrogate, was delighted this summer when her council imposed 20mph limits on almost 200 roads in the town. She now feels safer cycling with her nine-year-old son to his school.

"It's less intimidating," she says. "When a driver sees you, they're already going slower. I really think they see you as a human. They're not having to change their behaviour or their speed when they see you."

She also feels more comfortable letting her older son, aged 12, walk to school.

New speed-lowering technology

Looking ahead, there remains one big, unanswered question. Will our brains gradually adjust to 20mph, or will it continue to feel unnaturally slow, ensuring its survival as a hot and sometimes divisive political issue?

Mr Helman predicts most drivers will get used to it.

"Once you get people behaving in a particular way, they change their outlook and their attitudes on those behaviours," he says. "There's this idea that your attitudes determine how you behave, and there's an element of truth in that.

"But the opposite is also true, your behaviour actually defines your attitudes."

And then of course, there is the really big transformation under way, with which anyone with a newish car is familiar: the technology of speed control.

"Intelligent Speed Assistance", as it's known, may feel like a nuisance, beeping away when you are at the wheel. But use it wisely. It can cap your speed, taking away any need for you to concentrate as you stick to the limit.

I'm happy to say that since my speeding ticket earlier this year, not only have I been schooled in the dangers of speed and the merits of driving slowly, I now have a new car, in which it takes just a quick flick of a finger to cap the speed.

Suddenly 20mph is achievable with little to no effort. My guess is that it is here to stay - if I can handle it, I think most people can.

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At England's busiest emergency unit, all the beds are full by midday.

As one patient leaves his room at Leicester Royal Infirmary's acute unit, cleaning staff are waiting outside.

He is barely out of the room before the bed is stripped and bleach is sprayed. The next patient is already waiting to come in.

Over two days the BBC was given access to the hospital to witness first-hand how it is coping with an early surge of winter bug cases.

Flu season has hit a month earlier than normal this year, with experts warning there appears to be a more severe strain of the virus - mutated H3N2 - circulating.

Hospitals around the country, like this one in Leicester, are doing all they can to avoid becoming completely overwhelmed.

But staff at the Royal Infirmary say increasing numbers of people coming to hospital with the flu and other winter bugs - together with existing pressures - are hitting the hospital hard.

They already worry about how they will cope this winter.

Patients in every cubical

When 19-year-old Paige arrives at the hospital by ambulance, she's put on a trolley while a resus bed is cleared. She's got the flu but also has type 1 diabetes and has dangerously high sugar levels. She is curled in a ball, pale and shaking.

"There are patients in every cubical," Consultant Saad Jawaid says, as Paige is wheeled in. "Another ambulance has just rocked up."

We watch as he works with colleagues in the resus unit to find desperately needed bed spaces.

"When beds are full we have to move people - sometimes that means those who can sit are moved out of beds and into chairs," he says.

Paige is given insulin and fluids to try to stabilise her sugar levels. The doctors hope her diabetes will be controlled soon. Getting better from the flu will take longer.

The following day, Paige is in a side room on the acute assessment unit.

"I do struggle a lot in winter," she says. "I was maybe in here two or three weeks ago. Infections and stuff just seem to hit harder than usual."

The number of flu patients in hospital has hit a record high in England for this time of year with NHS leaders warning the country is facing an unprecedented flu season.

At its busiest times, the emergency unit here in Leicester saw more than 1,000 patients a day last winter. On one of the days we were here, 932 patients came through the door. That number is expected to rise in the coming weeks.

Attendance levels are already around 8% higher this year than last year. And the unit faces a daily shortage of between 50 to 70 beds.

At the Royal Infirmary around 64 beds are currently taken up by people with respiratory viruses, including flu.

We meet one patient who waited 106 hours for a bed on a ward. Another, Gary, came in with a stomach bug and finally got a bed after 34 hours.

By late afternoon, the children's waiting area is full. Parents stand rocking crying babies as every seat is taken.

Respiratory cases of flu and bronchiolitis, a condition affecting the lungs of young patients, are rising fast here too.

In just 30 minutes, 30 children arrive at the department.

At five months old this is Oscar's first winter and his first trip to A&E. His mum brought him in because he was wheezing and struggling to breathe. A few hours after arriving, he is finally seen by a doctor and told he has bronchiolitis.

"These bugs are everywhere at the moment - Oscar's older brother brought it home from school and now Oscar has it," says his mum.

Richard Mitchell has been the chief executive of University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust since 2021 - and has witnessed first-hand how it gets harder to cope with each winter that passes.

"We are already seeing very high levels of flu," he tells us. He expects numbers to climb into January. "That is one of the many things I am concerned about at the moment.

"At this point I feel we are working at the limits of our ability."

Turning minor cases away

The hospital has introduced a new system to manage the flow of patients arriving at its emergency department, as pressure grows on front-line services.

Receptionists, nurses, all the way up to consultants, now sit in a bank of desks at the entrance, assessing patients as they arrive.

This speeds up triage, moving people away from the front door and ensuring those in greatest need receive urgent care.

Staff say the range of cases has become increasingly polarised. Some of the most seriously ill patients are being driven in by relatives because of long waits for ambulances.

At the other end of the scale, people turn up with minor complaints after struggling to secure GP appointments. "Last week someone came in with a coldsore," one nurse tells us.

Experienced staff can redirect those who do not need urgent care, helping them to book GP appointments or pointing them towards pharmacies and other services. Now one in 10 patients are sent away, although staff admit it can lead to frustration.

Security has been tightened following one violent incident, with glass screens installed and 24‑hour guards now in place.

Leicester Royal Infirmary has introduced new measures each year to boost capacity and manage rising demand. Winter pressures continue to grow, while the quieter summer months have become a thing of the past.

To reduce ambulance queues, prefabricated structures were converted into a permanent unit with 14 beds - all are full during the BBC's visit. Without them that would have been 14 ambulances queueing for hours to unload their patients.

Unlike many hospitals, Leicester's emergency unit is not totally overwhelmed by elderly patients. Frail patients are streamed directly to specialist areas, including a frailty unit, or supported in the community to avoid long hospital stays.

Preston Lodge, a former care home bought by the trust, now provides 25 beds, with 14 more opening on December 15. Patients who no longer need acute care - but still require rehabilitation or support - are moved there while awaiting care packages.

"We aim to get people better ready for going home and hopefully keep them stronger and more independent so they aren't back in hospital so frequently over the winter," says head of nursing, Emma Roberts.

Looking ahead, Mr Mitchell expects waits and delays to only get worse for patients in the coming weeks.

For the first week in January - traditionally the busiest each year - the hospital plans to free up more emergency beds, but that means delaying other operations and procedures.

He says: "We will not be able to provide timely care to every patient this winter but we will continue to do our utmost to ensure that patients are treated with dignity and respect to ensure they receive safe care and we will do everything possible to manage those waiting times."

Hospital leaders here are trying to take proactive steps - rather than simply reacting to each crisis. But staff and patients alike warn that hospitals across the country are caught in the middle of a system, many believe, is close to breaking point.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said it was "under no illusions this is going to be a tough winter for our NHS".

A spokesman said: "Flu cases are rising, so it is vital that patients can get protected. Almost 17 million vaccines have been delivered this autumn - 350,000 more compared to this time last year.

"There is no national shortage of the flu vaccine and we would urge everyone eligible to get their vaccination to protect themselves and their loved ones."

One of the world's most bootlegged recordings - Fatboy Slim's Satisfaction Skank - is finally being released, after the Rolling Stones gave belated approval for the song's pivotal sample.

Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, created the track 25 years ago by grafting the riff from the Stones' Satisfaction onto his platinum-selling single The Rockafeller Skank, after he grew "bored" of playing the original.

"It was my secret weapon," he told BBC News. "I had this tune that nobody else had, and it was a really good encore."

In the 2000s, the song spread like wildfire on file-sharing sites like Napster and Kazaa but, until now, The Stones had refused to clear it for commercial release.

Even Cook bought bootleg copies of the song, some of which had been taped off his live sets on BBC Radio 1 and pressed to vinyl.

Over the years, there have been several attempts to get the sample approved.

"I got a call from Mick Jagger and he said he'd heard it and he liked the mix," recalled Cook.

"But his management was just like, 'No, not even negotiable'."

Later, the Stones asked Cook to remix their 1968 single Sympathy For The Devil. Satisfaction Skank was due to be the b-side - but the deal ultimately fell apart.

"We've had a pretty flat 'no' for 20 years," said Cook. "I think we asked four times, and I wouldn't have dared to ask them again."

Instead, the initiative came from the Stones' side. They even gave Cook their master tapes, so he could create a higher-quality version of the original mix.

It's a sign of how the band have become more relaxed about the re-use and re-contextualisation of their songs in recent years.

In 2019, they even signed over their publishing stake in The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony.

Previously, writer Richard Ashcroft had been forced to surrender all his royalties from the song, due to its sample of an orchestral cover of the Rolling Stones' The Last Time. He called the reversal "life-affirming".

Satisfaction Skank has been a staple of Fatboy Slim's live set for over a quarter of a century, but Cook says he can't remember the first time he played it.

"That's more of a testament to my state of mind and partying in those days, than to the historical importance of it," he said.

However, he could recall debuting The Rockafeller Skank itself, at Brighton's Big Beat Boutique in early 1998.

"I was so excited, because I'd just finished it," he said. "I remember playing it and everyone just going nuts.

"I got really, really excited and started shouting, 'That's me, that's me! That's my new single!'

"And everyone just went, 'Yeah, we guessed'."

It went on to become a Top 10 hit, with promotional copies of the single describing it as "dance music's Bohemian Rhapsody".

"That was me, but I wasn't being self-aggrandising," he confessed to BBC News.

"As a music production fan, it's famous that Bohemian Rhapsody was made up of three different segments that they had to edit together.

"And with Rockafeller, we had to do the same. It was the early days of the internet, so I had to go round to my engineer's house to do the 'slowy down bit', because he had the software to make it work.

"Then I had to take that file back to my studio and edit all the bits together.

"So it wasn't my Bohemian Rhapsody in terms of being a Stone Cold classic. It's just that it was more complicated to make than everything I'd ever done."

'I'll never retire'

The release of Satisfaction Skank comes at the end of the busiest year of Cook's career.

He's played 115 gigs ("a personal best") in dozens of countries, and published his first book - It Ain't Over... 'Til the Fatboy Sings.

Filled with photos and memorabilia, the coffee table book reflects on the "40 years since I quit my day job and ran off to join the circus".

He first found fame in the indie band The Housemartins, and was also the founder member of the dance music collective Beats International and funk-soul outfit Freak Power.

Cook has also DJ'd and remixed under a variety of monikers, including Pizzaman, Mighty Dub Katz and latterly Fatboy Slim.

Now aged 62, he shows no signs of slowing down. In October, he announced the continuation and expansion of a DJ workshop series for people dealing with serious mental health problems in Sussex - a programme which he helps to fund.

"Music has played a vital role in my own mental health journey, and it's a privilege to share that healing power with others," he told BBC Sussex.

He'll start 2026 with gigs in Indonesia and Bali, followed by an extensive UK tour, and the resurrection of his Big Beach Boutique festival on Brighton's seafront.

"I think I've kind of realised now that my career will never be over," Cook said.

"I got a glimpse of what retirement looked like during lockdown - this abyss of lunches and golf - and I have no interest in that.

"So now I think I'll keep working 'til I drop."

People who might otherwise turn to friends, family, or social media influencers for financial advice are to be given new help to invest their money.

Targeted support from registered banks and other financial firms is being given the go-ahead by the City regulator and should start in April.

This will allow firms to make investment and pensions recommendations based on what similar groups of people could do with their money.

It still falls short of individually tailored advice, which can only be provided by an authorised financial adviser for a fee.

Nearly one in five people turned to family, friends or social media for help making financial decisions, according to a survey by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive of the FCA, said the new regime would be "game changing".

"It means millions of people can get extra help to make better financial decisions," she said.

"We also hope it will build greater confidence to invest. While investing will not be right for everyone, we know people in the UK invest less compared to the EU or US."

'Advice gap'

Investing money is not an option for millions of people. The regulator said that one in 10 people had no cash savings, and another 21% had less than £1,000 to draw on in an emergency.

However, FCA data suggested about seven million adults in the UK with £10,000 or more in cash savings could receive better returns through investing.

Investing does come with some risk as the value of an investment can go down as well as up, but the spending power of cash savings can be eroded by rising prices.

The regulator said that many consumers who were in a position to invest but chose not to did so because they were unsure of their options, felt overwhelmed,  or needed more support. Only 9% of people surveyed received regulated advice on their pensions and investments in the 12 months to May 2024.

Targeted support aims to bridge a gap between general guidance and information, and financial advisers who charge a fee.

For example, banks could explain how a large pot of cash savings could be invested, or how investments could be spread out to reduce risk.

"The FCA's new rules mark a significant step towards closing the advice gap and will empower millions," said Yvonne Braun, director of policy at the Association of British Insurers.

Some consumer groups have made clear that the new rules must not be a pathway to firms exploiting customers.

The FCA said firms taking part would need to be authorised in advance. They might include banks, building societies, investment platforms and digital wallet providers.

They would also be required to show that their recommendations were suitable and should only be offered when it put people in a better position, the regulator said. Any customer vulnerabilities would need to be identified and taken into account.

Consumers will have the right to take any disputes that arise to the independent financial ombudsman.

There will also be a move to allow people to make more informed decisions with their pensions.

The regulator's new rules will require legislation, but the government has made it a clear objective to encourage people to invest. The Treasury believes this will help to create economic growth.

It was one of the reasons for the decision by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to cut the annual allowance for cash Isas (Individual Savings Accounts) from £20,000 to £12,000 a year for under 65s, from April 2027.

Separately, the FCA has launched a "firm checker" tool to help prevent people from losing money to fraudsters through investment scams.

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Schools across the UK are trialling the use of deepfake teachers and even employing remote staff to deliver lessons hundreds of miles away from the classroom.

It comes as the use of AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in schools.

The government says AI has the power to transform education, and improve teacher workload, particularly around admin for teachers.

The BBC has spoken to teachers, school leaders and unions who seem divided on what the future of the UK's classrooms should look like.

Emily Cooke is a maths teacher at The Valley Leadership Academy in Lancashire, which has hired a virtual maths teacher - a decision Mrs Cooke is strongly against.

"Will your virtual teacher be there to dance with you at prom, hug your mum during results day, or high-five you in the corridor because they know you won the match last night?" she says.

Since September, top set pupils in Year 9, 10 and 11 at Mrs Cooke's school have been taught by the remote maths teacher, who is based 300 miles away in Devon.

Teachers went on strike over the move last week and this week.

The school said it was a "small-scale initiative" but the National Education Union (NEU) called it an "unacceptable situation".

Mrs Cooke says: "As a parent, as a teacher, I don't think that teacher-student relationship, which is so important, can be formed or replicated over a screen."

The school told the BBC that its approach is a "win-win", where "pupils benefit from lessons delivered by an outstanding specialist teacher online" who is supported in the classroom by a second teacher.

'It's like having a digital twin'

At a different academy, AI experiments are going further than most.

Shane Ierston, CEO of Great Schools Trust, says giving children in his schools in Liverpool, Warrington and Bolton a "top class, world-quality education" is his priority.

Mr Ierston believes clever use of AI can help to free up teachers' time to focus on building students' character, leadership and resilience.

Teachers there can already use its AI system to mark assessments and mock exams, which they say is more accurate.

Director of AI at the trust, Benjamin Barker, says the AI technology can identify gaps in students' learning and help teachers to plan future lessons.

After marking, the AI deepfake will produce a bespoke feedback video for each child.

The technology is due to be trialled this year, before getting feedback from staff, students and parents.

Using AI "as a leveller" will make sure every child gets "personalised tuition", with the teacher in the room making sure they understand, Mr Ierston says.

Having a deepfake will be "completely voluntary for teachers", he adds.

"What we're not trying to do is replace teachers," says Mr Ierston. "We're trying to use technology - things that have got a bad reputation - and see how it can be used to benefit society.

"That's the future."

Deepfakes will also be used to help absent pupils catch up from home, or to translate parent messages into the 46 languages spoken across the schools.

When asked what they would say to those who oppose children interacting with deepfake technology, Mr Ierston says it's "only natural" that people will fear change.

"But we would much rather be leading the change than Silicon Valley doing it for us," he says.

"We know that what we're doing has got children and the right values at the heart."

Nicola Burrows works for the trust, and has a daughter, Lucy, in Year 11.

When asked for her thoughts on Lucy getting feedback from an AI deepfake of her teacher, she says it would be "really quite special having that very specific personalisation with a face you know".

But adds that it is "really important that we bring the parents with us" when it comes to new initiatives, including addressing any concerns over safety.

'There's a long way to go to convince parents'

Technology, screens and AI in the classroom are divisive topics, particularly among parents.

"I think it's fair to say that parents are deeply sceptical about AI," says Frank Young, chief policy officer of charity Parentkind, a national charity that aims to give parents a voice in education.

Just 12% think AI should be used in the classroom, according to its annual survey results, which over 5,000 parents responded to in April this year.

"But I think we can get there if parents are provided with reassurance over how this AI will be used and how it will benefit the children," Mr Young says.

There are no official figures on how many schools are using AI in the classroom with students, but Ofsted is gathering evidence about how AI is being used in schools and FE colleges.

Data from survey tool Teacher Tapp, which asks thousands of teachers a series of questions each day, found that in October 2024, 31% of teachers said they'd used AI in the past week to help with their work. By October 2025, that had risen to 58%.

John Roberts, chief executive at Oak National Academy, which provides lesson planning resources for teachers funded by the DfE, says more than 40,000 teachers have used its experimental AI lesson planning tool since it launched in September last year.

'This approach is a win win'

Back at The Valley, Mrs Cooke says she does not think online learning is as effective as face to face, pointing to the "huge gaps" in learning from Covid, when schools closed and millions of lessons moved online.

"I thought we were trying to get teenagers off screens, not give them to them for five hours a week in their maths lessons?" she says.

"The fear is, if we do not stop this, if it goes unchallenged at The Valley, it will spread," she says.

"And in 20 years time, what is education going to look like? And are we okay with that?"

A spokesperson for the academy says remote teaching in the school is "not comparable" to pandemic-era teaching, as it is "structured, supported, and takes place in school".

It says hiring a remote teacher is a "small-scale, targeted response to the national shortage of specialist maths teachers. Our priority is, and always will be, to ensure pupils receive the highest quality teaching."

There are now three virtual teachers being used across the trust "deployed in very specific circumstances where recruitment of high-quality subject specialists has been exceptionally difficult", it says.

The Department for Education says technology must be "carefully managed to enhance – not replace - the deep thinking, creativity and critical engagement that underpin effective learning".

But NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede says the union is against remote teaching, and will "never tolerate the imposition of a virtual teacher".

The trust in charge of The Valley says it is committed to working positively with its NEU colleagues to resolve this matter.

The US Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates for the third time this year despite growing divisions, as policymakers aim to prop up the slowing labour market.

The central bank said on Wednesday it was lowering the target for its key lending rate by 0.25 percentage points, putting it in a range of 3.50% to 3.75% - its lowest level in three years.

It remains unclear where rates will go in the months ahead. Policymakers disagree about how the Fed should balance competing priorities: a weakening job market on the one hand, and rising prices on the other.

The Fed's economic projection released on Wednesday suggests one rate cut will take place next year, although new data could change this.

The decision to lower rates on Wednesday was not unanimous, suggesting widening divisions among central bankers over the outlook for the US economy.

Three Fed officials broke ranks and dissented.

Stephen Miran, who is on leave from his post leading Trump's Council of Economic Advisers, voted for a larger 0.5 percentage point cut.

Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Jeffrey Schmid, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, voted to hold rates steady.

A data blackout during the longest-ever US government shutdown, which ended in November, has left policymakers partially in the dark about the state of the economy. But concerns about a slowing job market continue to outweigh inflation fears, at least for now.

The unemployment rate ticked up from 4.3% to 4.4% in September, Labor Department figures showed in a delayed report released last month. Cutting interest rates is aimed at stimulating the job market by creating lower borrowing costs for businesses.

Fears about tariff-driven inflation had taken centre stage earlier this year when Trump pushed forward with sweeping tariffs on many of the country's largest trading partners.

Inflation is still above the Fed's 2% target. In September, it hit 3% for the first time since January.

But while tariffs appear to be boosting some consumer prices, recent milder-than-expected inflation readings have allowed the Fed to focus on boosting the labour market by lowering rates, analysts said.

Dissents and disagreements

Still, policymakers remain divided over the path forward for interest rates.

"The current committee is more divided than it has been in a very long time," said Matthew Pallai, chief investment officer at Nomura Capital Management.

"The Fed's policy over the next few meetings will come down to a risk management exercise where one risk is considered more significant than the other," he added.

The central bank's so-called dot plot, a quarterly anonymous economic forecast, showed on Wednesday a median expectation for one additional 0.25 percentage point cut in 2026.

That prediction was unchanged from the previous dot plot in September.

Central bankers are poised to have a bit more clarity next week, with the expected release of official data on the labour market and inflation for November.

The incoming data could shift policymakers' outlook, potentially bolstering calls for further easing next year if there are new signs that the job market is stalling.

The central bank's latest cut also comes ahead of an expected announcement from the White House about Trump's pick to replace Jerome Powell, whose term as Fed chair ends next May.

Trump could announce his pick as soon as within the next few weeks.

Kevin Hassett, a long-time conservative economist and key Trump economic adviser, is seen as the front-runner to succeed Powell.

A Trump loyalist, Hassett served as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during Trump's first term and now leads the National Economic Council.

He has been a stalwart defender of Trump's economic policies, downplaying data showing signs of weakness in the US economy, doubling down on allegations of bias at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and backing Trump's handling of the Fed.

Hassett's allegiance to the president has drawn questions from analysts about whether he would act independently and how much sway he would have with other members of the board.

Other names that have been floated for the Fed chair include economist Kevin Warsh, current Fed Governor Christopher Waller and even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Trump is "still making up his mind, and he's looking for someone who will be in his way of thinking," Thomas Hoenig, a distinguished senior fellow at the Mercatus Center, told the BBC.

The candidates, he added, "have to project that they will be independent, or the markets will become quite nervous - and that will create more volatility".

Fans of codebreaking, maths and brainteasers can now try their hand at the latest cryptic Christmas challenge set by GCHQ, the UK's intelligence agency.

GCHQ released their annual Christmas card on Wednesday, filled with puzzles and hidden codes designed to help children aged 11-18 test a range of problem-solving skills.

The card was created by "schoolchildren as well as spies", according to GCHQ, after hundreds of young people entered a design competition in the lead-up to the festive period.

It contains seven puzzles set by "GCHQ's in-house puzzlers", geared towards testing a range of problem-solving skills, including "intuitive reasoning" and "lateral thinking".

The quiz starts with Question 1:

Somewhere on the card is a special seven letter word which has no repeated letters, and no letters which are next to each other in the alphabet. Can you find it? * Answer at the bottom of the page

Students were asked to draw their response to the question: "What do you think GCHQ looks like on Christmas Day?". They were challenged to embed hidden codes, and ciphers into their designs.

Three winners were selected by a panel of judges across three age groups.

The famously tricky puzzles "aren't meant to be solved alone", GCHQ said, adding: "We believe the right mix of minds means we can solve seemingly impossible problems."

"Puzzles are at the heart of GCHQ's work to keep the country safe from hostile states, terrorists and criminals; challenging our teams to think creatively and analytically every day", said GCHQ Director Anne Keast-Butler.

She said she hoped the puzzle encourages the next generation "to explore STEM subjects and consider the rewarding careers available in cybersecurity and intelligence".

Meanwhile, the spy agency's "Chief Puzzler", known only as "Colin", said the puzzles are designed to test "the same blend of skills our teams use every day to keep the country safe."

* The answer is: Special (the clue is written into the text)

Rushed out in under three weeks, Nicolas Sarkozy's new book "A Prisoner's Diary" has plenty of colour about what it's like for a former president to find himself in the isolation wing of a French jail.

We learn that prisoner number 320535 had a 12 square metre cell, equipped with a bed, desk, fridge, shower and television. There was a window, but the view was blocked by a massive plastic panel placed outside.

"It was clean and light enough," writes Sarkozy. "One could almost have thought one was in a bottom-of-the-range hotel – were it not for the reinforced door with an eye-hole for the prison guards to look through."

Sarkozy, 70, was released from La Santé prison in Paris last month after serving 20 days of a five-year jail sentence for taking part in an election campaign funding conspiracy. This is his 216-page memoir.

Told he would have to spend 23 hours out of 24 in his room – and that contact with anyone other than a prison employee was forbidden – the former president chose not to take the option of a daily walk in the yard, "more like a cage than a place of promenade".

Instead he took his daily exercise on a running machine in the tiny sports room, which "became – in my situation – a veritable oasis".

There is plenty more like this: how he was kept awake on his first night by a neighbour in the isolation wing singing a song from The Lion King and rattling his spoon along the bars of his cell.

How he was "touched by the kindness, delicacy and respect of the prison staff… each one of who addressed me by the title Président".

And how he was able to cover the walls of his cell with postcards from all the people writing to express their support.

"Touching and sincere, it bore witness to a deep personal bond even though I'd left office so long ago," he writes.

The details fascinate. Perhaps more consequential are the ruminations on fate, justice and politics.

Sarkozy was sent to jail after a court found him guilty of criminal association for allowing subordinates to try to raise election money 20 years ago from Libya's Colonel Gaddafi.

At the end of the trial in October, the judge – who could have allowed Sarkozy to remain at liberty pending his appeal – ruled instead that he should go to jail. Three weeks after his incarceration, he was allowed out following a plea from his lawyers.

The former president strongly denies the charges against him, and claims to be the victim of a politically-motivated cabal within the French justice system.

This is all rehearsed again in the book. Indeed at one point Sarkozy compares himself with France's most famous victim of justice, Alfred Dreyfus – the Jewish officer who was sent to Devil's Island on a trumped-up espionage charge.

"For any impartial observer who knows their history, the similarities are striking," he writes.

"The Dreyfus affair originated from fake documents. So did mine… Dreyfus was degraded in front of the troops, when they stripped him of his decorations. I was dismissed from the Legion of Honour, in front of the whole nation.

"And Dreyfus was imprisoned in the Santé – a place which I now know well," he writes.

Sarkozy's dismissal from the Legion of Honour - in which as president he had served as Grand Master – is the occasion to settle accounts in the book with France's current president Emmanuel Macron.

From being a close supporter of Macron, Sarkozy now says he has "turned the page – without going so far as to enter systematic opposition to his politics or person.

"Emmanuel Macron already has too many declared enemies, vilifiers and disappointed friends for me to add to their number."

Sarkozy's beef is that Macron never had the "courage" to call him in person to explain why he was being discharged from the Legion. "Had he telephoned, I would have understood his arguments and accepted the decision," he writes. "Not doing it showed his motives were at the very least insincere."

But it is Sarkozy's relations with another political leader – Marine Le Pen – which have attracted most attention in France among reviewers of the book. This is because of the unwonted affection that the former president displays to his one-time arch-rival.

"I appreciated the public declarations she made following my conviction, which were brave and totally unambiguous," he writes.

Sarkozy telephoned to thank her and he says they had a friendly conversation, at the end of which he undertook not to be party to any future "Republican Front" designed to keep her National Rally from winning an election.

Later he goes on: "Many voters [for the RN] today were supporters of me when I was politically active… Insulting the leaders of the RN is to insult their voters, that is to say people who are potentially our voters.

"I have a lot of differences with the leaders of the RN… But to exclude them from the Republican fold would be a mistake."

Such accolades from the mainstream are rare for Marine Le Pen and her young co-leader Jordan Bardella.

Coming from a former president who still wields much influence among the traditional French right, the words are like political gold dust.

Italian cooking has been awarded special cultural heritage status by the United Nations' cultural agency Unesco.

National favourites including pizza are already on Unesco's list of "intangible cultural heritage", but now Italian cooking traditions and the way they are practiced and transmitted have been awarded.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been pushing for her country's cuisine to be recognised since her election, said: "For us Italians, cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes. It is so much more: it is culture, tradition, work, wealth."

For millions of fans the news confirms what they already believed - from Sicilian Cannoli to Calabrian 'Nduja - Italian is the best.

The announcement was made during a Unesco assembly meeting in the Indian capital Delhi on Wednesday.

The cultural agency described Italian cuisine as a "means of connecting with family and the community, whether at home, in schools, or through festivals, ceremonies and social gatherings".

Koshary, the spicy dish of lentils, rice, and pasta available at countless Egyptian food stalls, was also added to the list of intangible cultural heritage.

Other countries have had their "practices, skills, traditions and social practices related to foodways" recognised by Unesco, a spokesperson from the agency told the BBC.

Previous examples include "Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, notably for the celebration of New Year, Breakfast culture in Malaysia: dining experience in a multi-ethnic society, or the Gastronomic meal of the French," the spokesperson added.

Speaking to La Repubblica, the Rome-based daily newspaper, chef Michelangelo Mammoliti said the news filled him with a great sense of pride both personally as an Italian, as well as professionally as a chef.

"Italy is one of the nations where regional cuisine has a very big impact on culture and traditions," said the chef, whose restaurant La Rei Natura in Piedmont is the only new three-star restaurant in the 2026 Michelin Guide.

Italy's industry leaders and government ministers will be hoping that the move further boosts tourism to the country, which already welcomes 80 million international visitors annually.

Luigi Scordamaglia, CEO of Filiera Italia, which represents all the food and wine companies in the production chain, told Ansa news agency that the move from Unesco marked a success "for the entire Made in Italy supply chain".

Mr Scordamaglia also spoke about the role of the Mediterranean diet in promoting good health.

He added: "When we talk about the Mediterranean diet, we're talking about our wonderful Italian cuisine, which shares its principles, first and foremost those of balance and variety."

Swimming pool culture in Iceland; the practice of Cuban Son music and dance; and the art of playing, singing and making the lahuta from Albania also entered Unesco's list of intangible cultural heritage.

A member of the UK armed forces who died in Ukraine has been named as Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence said the 28-year-old was killed observing Ukrainian forces test "a new defensive capability, away from the front lines".

Paying tribute to the paratrooper in the Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "His life was full of courage and determination.

"He served our country with honour and distinction around the world in the cause of freedom and democracy, including as part of the small number of British personnel in Ukraine."

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Olympic medal-winning swimmer and campaigner Sharron Davies has been named as one of three new Conservative peers.

Ms Davies, a vocal critic of trans women in women's sport, was nominated by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.

The Tories said it was in recognition of her sporting achievements and her campaigning on women's rights.

Iceland supermarket chairman Richard Walker and former Number 10 communications director Matthew Doyle are among 25 new Labour peers nominated by Sir Keir Starmer. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey nominated five new peers.

A Labour spokesperson said the new titles would allow the government to "deliver on our mandate from the British people" and "correct" the imbalance against Labour in the House of Lords, where the Tories currently have more representation.

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Four famous duos have travelled nearly 6,000 km, hitchhiking through mountain towns, foraging in dense jungles, and battling challenges they never imagined, as contestants in Celebrity Race Across the World.

What began on the sun-soaked easternmost tip of Mexico is about to come to a close on Thursday night as the teams race toward the windswept Península de La Guajira in Colombia, the series' final checkpoint.

The budget, £950 per person - the equivalent cost of flying the route - was one limitation, but what else made the trip the challenge of a lifetime?

Molly: 'It's given me so much more confidence'

In the lead-up to the race, Tyler West and Molly Rainford had a flicker of apprehension.

While the couple knew each others' strengths and weaknesses inside out, life in the public eye often left them feeling like "passing ships in the night."

Their occasional holidays tended to have a single goal: complete relaxation.

This challenge offered something entirely different: a chance to push their relationship into new territory, and to reconnect without the usual distractions – for presenter and DJ Tyler, that meant not even his beloved Biscoff biscuits.

"It was a big question mark in our minds whether we'd even make it to the first checkpoint," Tyler admits.

"I remember looking at the final checkpoint on the map and thinking, 'How on earth are we going to get there?' But reaching this far really puts things into perspective - we're not as bad at travelling as we thought."

For actor and singer Molly, one of the biggest takeaways is a new-found confidence.

"Talking to strangers, asking people for help - those are things you just don't do anymore, but the race forces you into it," she says.

"It's given me so much more confidence that now I'm thinking, 'What have I got to lose?'"

And as for their relationship? "It proved to us we can get through anything together," she says.

Dylan: 'There's so much kindness out there'

For actor Dylan Llewellyn and his mother Jackie, the race was less about crossing the finish line first and more about getting out of their comfort zone.

After three decades of marriage, Jackie had never been away from her husband for more than a weekend. But she filled the freezer with steak-and-kidney pies and set off with her son, determined to embrace the unknown.

They learned lessons from past contestants: save more, spend less, and never - under any circumstances - let go of your moneybelt or passport.

"I can't believe we've got this far. I thought we wouldn't make it after leg one," says Jackie.

"I'm so pleased that we pushed ourselves through the lows, and I'm proud of us both for getting to the end of leg five."

The pair leaned on each other during the toughest moments but also learned the importance of asking for help.

"I don't think we realise how much kindness there is out there. And we felt it a lot," says Dylan.

"We felt so much love and togetherness with families and it was really strong and beautiful to see."

Anita: 'My dad has seen my more vulnerable side'

Before the race began, broadcaster and writer Anita Rani and her father, Bal, were excited at the idea of five uninterrupted weeks in each others' company. They hadn't travelled together since a family trip to India when Anita was just two years old.

As the oldest combined duo in the competition, they worried initially whether they would have the stamina to keep pace with younger teams.

But they know they have what matters most: determination.

"We're never going to quit," Anita insists ahead of the final.

"There's obviously been disappointment so far about the things that have been out of our control, but there's a life lesson in that, isn't there?

"When Guatemala closed down, we missed a bus, or whatever, all those things are completely out of your control, and it's very frustrating, but that's part of the journey."

For Anita and Bal, the race has become about far more than reaching the finish line.

They have treasured the time together and the chance to get to know each other better.

"Honestly, this is life, and this is what we've been through," Anita says.

"I think my dad has seen a more vulnerable side of me that I don't normally show."

Roman: 'It makes you realise there's so much more to life'

Sibling duo Roman Kemp and Harleymoon were candid about their relationship not being as close as they would like: busy careers had reduced their interactions to quick spare-key handovers and dog drop-offs.

They are also, by their own admission, polar opposites. Singer-songwriter Harleymoon is the free-spirited adventure-seeker who is usually the last to leave any party.

Broadcaster Roman, devoted to his work and his beloved Arsenal, is naturally cautious about stepping outside his comfort zone.

For them, the race was an opportunity to become friends again and help them discover new sides of each other.

Roman and Harleymoon describe their time with a family on Panama's San Blas Islands as truly transformative.

Roman says the race "took me so far from where I am from".

"It was the biggest moment for me.

"It does make you realise that there's so much more to life… You see what makes these people happy and how happy they really are, which is just this family."

For Harleymoon, the experience of having nothing besides a few bananas and a hammock "in the middle of nowhere" sparked deep self-reflection.

"Your life has turned into something so simple but so beautiful — it's an amazing window to reflect and think, wow, we have so much at home, and yet we always strive for more," she said.

"Getting to experience days like that, when you're just so full of gratitude, was really amazing."

European leaders say "intensive work" will continue in the coming days on a US-led plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war, after a joint phone call with President Donald Trump.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they "agreed that this was a critical moment - for Ukraine, its people and for shared security across the Euro-Atlantic region".

A White House official confirmed the call took place but did not give details.

It comes the day after Trump called European leaders "weak", suggesting the US could scale back support for Ukraine.

In the wide-ranging Politico interview published on Tuesday, Trump also claimed Ukraine was "using war" to avoid holding elections, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to reply he was "ready" for them.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

The three European leaders issued identical statements shortly after their call with Trump on Wednesday.

They read: "The leaders discussed the latest on the ongoing US-led peace talks, welcoming their efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, and to see an end to the killing.

"Intensive work on the peace plan is continuing and will continue in the coming days."

Earlier on Wednesday, Zelensky wrote on social media that a 20-point document on how to end the war would be handed over to the US in "the near future" after "our joint work with President Trump's team and partners in Europe".

The Ukrainian leader provided no further details.

The original US draft peace plan - widely leaked to media last month - had 28 points, and was seen as favouring Russia. Ukraine has since held separate talks with US and European negotiators, seeking to change some key clauses such as territorial issues and security guarantees.

Zelensky is under increasing pressure from Trump to agree to a peace deal to end the war, with the US president urging Kyiv to "play ball" by ceding territory to Moscow.

Zelensky has repeatedly refused to do so, seeking instead an immediate ceasefire on the vast front line and iron-clad security guarantees for Kyiv in any future settlement.

The Ukrainian leader is on a diplomatic tour of Europe following intensive talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators over the weekend which failed to produce a deal to which Kyiv could agree.

Zelensky has been pressing his European allies to help deter the US from backing an agreement that could leave Ukraine exposed to future attacks by Russia.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Trump's "very important" statements on Ukraine, including saying Moscow would win the war and that Kyiv would need to hand over land, align with Russia's view.

"In many ways, on the subject of Nato membership, on the subject of territories, on the subjects of how Ukraine is losing land, it is in tune with our understanding," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Last week, Putin repeated his warning that Ukrainian troops must completely withdraw from Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it, rejecting any compromise over how to end the war.

Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband bars can no longer be called chocolate after maker Nestle changed their recipes.

To be described as milk chocolate in the UK a product needs to have at least 20% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids, a level each product fell below once a higher amount of cheaper vegetable fat was used.

Nestle said its reformulations were needed due to higher input costs but were "carefully developed and sensory tested" and there were no plans to alter the recipes of other chocolate products.

As many ingredient costs, such as cocoa and butter, increased food companies have altered recipes to use less of the expensive ingredients, as well as shrinking serving sizes.

A spokesperson for Nestle said the food giant had seen "significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products. We continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible".

The change to the bars' ingredients was first reported by The Grocer.

Nestle is not alone in recent reformulations.

In October, McVitie's Penguin and Club bars switched to be labelled as as "chocolate flavour" because the amount of cocoa they contain has been reduced after parent company Pladis chose to use cheaper alternatives to the main ingredient in chocolate.

Although cocoa commodity prices have recently eased slightly, a surge in costs over the past three years, driven by poor harvests and droughts, has pushed up the cost of chocolate.

Changing ingredient proportions in food and drink manufacturing due to cost is sometimes called "skimpflation".

It has become more recent years as inflation has increased producers' costs.

Supermarkets were found in 2024 to have reduced the amount of costlier ingredients such as beef and chicken in their ready meals.

A member of the UK armed forces who died in Ukraine has been named as Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence said the 28-year-old was killed observing Ukrainian forces test "a new defensive capability, away from the front lines".

Paying tribute to the paratrooper in the Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "His life was full of courage and determination.

"He served our country with honour and distinction around the world in the cause of freedom and democracy, including as part of the small number of British personnel in Ukraine."

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

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.