Leonard Lauder, the businessman who built Estee Lauder into one of the world's biggest cosmetic makers, has died aged 92.

Lauder took over his parents company in 1958 and served as chief executive for 17 years. He was an accomplished dealmaker and bought brands including Clinique, Bobbi Brown and MAC.

"He was an icon and pioneer, earning respect worldwide. His energy and vision helped shape our company and will continue to do so for generations to come", said Stephane de La Faverie, chief executive of the Estee Lauder.

The New York-born billionare had an estimated wealth of $10.1bn (£7.5bn), according to the 2025 Forbes rich list.

Lauder passed away on Saturday surrounded by his family, said Estee Lauder in a statement.

Born in 1933, he was the eldest son of Estee and Joseph Lauder. He served as a lieutenant in the US Navy before joining the family business aged 25.

At the time, the firm's annual sales were less than $1m - about $11m in today's money. It is now a global cosmetics giant, operating in 150 countries with sales of $15.6bn last year.

Lauder led the firm's expansion into Europe and Asia and created its first ever research and development laboratory.

He took the company public in 1995, with its share price rising 33% on the first day of trading in New York.

Lauder stepped down as chief executive in 1999. He remained involved with the business and was chairman emeritus until his death.

Celebrities and business people have been paying tribute to Lauder.

Elizabeth Hurley, who got her first modelling job with his company, said on Instagram: "I called him my American Daddy and I can't imagine a world without him."

Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief at Forbes Media, said Lauder "lived life well, & his passing is the world's loss'."

"His legacy will be felt for generations to come," said multi-billionaire and former New York mayor, Mike Bloomberg.

Away from business, Lauder was passionate about art. In 2013, he pledged his billion-dollar collection of Cubist artworks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

He was also an advocate for cancer research and served as the honorary chairman of the board of directors at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

A survivor of Saturday's deadly attacks on two Minnesota lawmakers says she and her husband are both "incredibly lucky to be alive" after they were hit by 17 bullets.

State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were gunned down at their home early on Saturday morning, but lived. Melissa Hortman - the top Democratic legislator in the state House - and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed.

Yvette Hoffman said in a statement that she and her husband John were "devastated" by the Hortmans' deaths.

Police are hunting for the suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, who wore a latex mask and posed as an officer to shoot the victims at their homes in suburban Minneapolis, before escaping on foot.

Mrs Hoffman's statement was shared on Instagram by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

"John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods," Mrs Hoffman wrote.

"He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive.

"We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark. We have no words. There is never a place for this kind of political hate."

Police have not disclosed the killer's motive.

A Facebook post from someone identifying as Mrs Hoffman's nephew said she had thrown herself on her daughter during the assassination attempt, "using her body as a shield to save her life".

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, the daughter, Hope, is in her 20s and was born with spina bifida, which her father previously cited as motivating him to get into state politics.

On Sunday, police said they had found an unoccupied car linked to the suspect in Sibley County, about 50 miles (80km) from the murder scene.

The discovery of the black sedan was alerted to local residents' mobile phones in a message that said: "Suspect not located. Keep your doors locked and vehicles secured."

A cowboy hat, similar to what Boelter, 57, was believed to have been wearing, was found nearby.

Police also said on Sunday that Boelter's wife had been detained in a traffic stop along with three relatives in a car in the city of Onamia, more than 100 miles from the family home in the rural community of Green Isle, on Saturday morning.

Jenny Boelter was released without being taken into custody because she was co-operative, Drew Evans, of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told a news conference on Sunday evening.

Police have extended the search over state lines to South Dakota and the FBI has added Boelter to its most-wanted list, issuing a $50,000 reward.

Both of the targeted lawmakers belonged to Minnesota's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party.

Authorities said they recovered a target list that included the names of state Democratic politicians from another vehicle used by the suspect.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Klobuchar and Minnesota's other US senator, Tina Smith, were on the list – along with state Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, people familiar with the investigation told local media.

"Clearly, this is politically motivated," Klobuchar told NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday morning.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, told ABC News on Sunday the attack was "a terrible thing".

Investigators say Boelter was disguised as a police officer when he carried out the attacks and had a vehicle that looked like a police car, equipped with flashing emergency lights.

The gunman first targeted the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at around 02:00 local time on Saturday, authorities said.

Soon afterwards, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed at their home in Brooklyn Park, eight miles away.

Officers arrived at the Hortmans' home and exchanged gunfire with the suspect at around 03:35. The suspect managed to flee, leaving behind his car, authorities said.

According to Boelter's CV, he has a background in security and military training.

The city of Brooklyn Park was silent on Sunday morning as the neighbourhood came to terms with a suspected political assassination on their doorstep.

A police car was parked outside the Hortmans' house and bright yellow caution tape surrounded the property.

Taha Abuisnaineh, who lives across the street, said he and his wife had known the family for more than 20 years.

"They were very nice neighbours in a very quiet neighbourhood," he told the BBC. "You don't see police activity in this neighbourhood. We are very shocked."

Two other nearby residents who did not want to be named said the suburban community was reeling.

"My next-door neighbour heard the shots," said one. "We've all been texting back and forth."

She and her husband described how they received an annual Christmas card from the Hortmans.

"What a big loss for Minnesota," she said.

In Sibley County, where the suspect's car was found, local resident Brian Liebhard also told the BBC of his shock.

"This guy needs to get caught," he said. "I don't agree with everything they [the two politicians] vote for, but this is sad - the guy went wacko."

A survivor of Saturday's deadly attacks on two Minnesota lawmakers says she and her husband are both "incredibly lucky to be alive" after they were hit by 17 bullets.

State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were gunned down at their home early on Saturday morning, but lived. Melissa Hortman - the top Democratic legislator in the state House - and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed.

Yvette Hoffman said in a statement that she and her husband John were "devastated" by the Hortmans' deaths.

Police are hunting for the suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, who wore a latex mask and posed as an officer to shoot the victims at their homes in suburban Minneapolis, before escaping on foot.

Mrs Hoffman's statement was shared on Instagram by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

"John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods," Mrs Hoffman wrote.

"He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive.

"We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark. We have no words. There is never a place for this kind of political hate."

Police have not disclosed the killer's motive.

A Facebook post from someone identifying as Mrs Hoffman's nephew said she had thrown herself on her daughter during the assassination attempt, "using her body as a shield to save her life".

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, the daughter, Hope, is in her 20s and was born with spina bifida, which her father previously cited as motivating him to get into state politics.

On Sunday, police said they had found an unoccupied car linked to the suspect in Sibley County, about 50 miles (80km) from the murder scene.

The discovery of the black sedan was alerted to local residents' mobile phones in a message that said: "Suspect not located. Keep your doors locked and vehicles secured."

A cowboy hat, similar to what Boelter, 57, was believed to have been wearing, was found nearby.

Police also said on Sunday that Boelter's wife had been detained in a traffic stop along with three relatives in a car in the city of Onamia, more than 100 miles from the family home in the rural community of Green Isle, on Saturday morning.

Jenny Boelter was released without being taken into custody because she was co-operative, Drew Evans, of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told a news conference on Sunday evening.

Police have extended the search over state lines to South Dakota and the FBI has added Boelter to its most-wanted list, issuing a $50,000 reward.

Both of the targeted lawmakers belonged to Minnesota's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party.

Authorities said they recovered a target list that included the names of state Democratic politicians from another vehicle used by the suspect.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Klobuchar and Minnesota's other US senator, Tina Smith, were on the list – along with state Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, people familiar with the investigation told local media.

"Clearly, this is politically motivated," Klobuchar told NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday morning.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, told ABC News on Sunday the attack was "a terrible thing".

Investigators say Boelter was disguised as a police officer when he carried out the attacks and had a vehicle that looked like a police car, equipped with flashing emergency lights.

The gunman first targeted the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at around 02:00 local time on Saturday, authorities said.

Soon afterwards, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed at their home in Brooklyn Park, eight miles away.

Officers arrived at the Hortmans' home and exchanged gunfire with the suspect at around 03:35. The suspect managed to flee, leaving behind his car, authorities said.

According to Boelter's CV, he has a background in security and military training.

The city of Brooklyn Park was silent on Sunday morning as the neighbourhood came to terms with a suspected political assassination on their doorstep.

A police car was parked outside the Hortmans' house and bright yellow caution tape surrounded the property.

Taha Abuisnaineh, who lives across the street, said he and his wife had known the family for more than 20 years.

"They were very nice neighbours in a very quiet neighbourhood," he told the BBC. "You don't see police activity in this neighbourhood. We are very shocked."

Two other nearby residents who did not want to be named said the suburban community was reeling.

"My next-door neighbour heard the shots," said one. "We've all been texting back and forth."

She and her husband described how they received an annual Christmas card from the Hortmans.

"What a big loss for Minnesota," she said.

In Sibley County, where the suspect's car was found, local resident Brian Liebhard also told the BBC of his shock.

"This guy needs to get caught," he said. "I don't agree with everything they [the two politicians] vote for, but this is sad - the guy went wacko."

A survivor of Saturday's deadly attacks on two Minnesota lawmakers says she and her husband are both "incredibly lucky to be alive" after they were hit by 17 bullets.

State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were gunned down at their home early on Saturday morning, but lived. Melissa Hortman - the top Democratic legislator in the state House - and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed.

Yvette Hoffman said in a statement that she and her husband John were "devastated" by the Hortmans' deaths.

Police are hunting for the suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, who wore a latex mask and posed as an officer to shoot the victims at their homes in suburban Minneapolis, before escaping on foot.

Mrs Hoffman's statement was shared on Instagram by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

"John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods," Mrs Hoffman wrote.

"He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive.

"We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark. We have no words. There is never a place for this kind of political hate."

Police have not disclosed the killer's motive.

A Facebook post from someone identifying as Mrs Hoffman's nephew said she had thrown herself on her daughter during the assassination attempt, "using her body as a shield to save her life".

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, the daughter, Hope, is in her 20s and was born with spina bifida, which her father previously cited as motivating him to get into state politics.

On Sunday, police said they had found an unoccupied car linked to the suspect in Sibley County, about 50 miles (80km) from the murder scene.

The discovery of the black sedan was alerted to local residents' mobile phones in a message that said: "Suspect not located. Keep your doors locked and vehicles secured."

A cowboy hat, similar to what Boelter, 57, was believed to have been wearing, was found nearby.

Police also said on Sunday that Boelter's wife had been detained in a traffic stop along with three relatives in a car in the city of Onamia, more than 100 miles from the family home in the rural community of Green Isle, on Saturday morning.

Jenny Boelter was released without being taken into custody because she was co-operative, Drew Evans, of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told a news conference on Sunday evening.

Police have extended the search over state lines to South Dakota and the FBI has added Boelter to its most-wanted list, issuing a $50,000 reward.

Both of the targeted lawmakers belonged to Minnesota's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party.

Authorities said they recovered a target list that included the names of state Democratic politicians from another vehicle used by the suspect.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Klobuchar and Minnesota's other US senator, Tina Smith, were on the list – along with state Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, people familiar with the investigation told local media.

"Clearly, this is politically motivated," Klobuchar told NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday morning.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, told ABC News on Sunday the attack was "a terrible thing".

Investigators say Boelter was disguised as a police officer when he carried out the attacks and had a vehicle that looked like a police car, equipped with flashing emergency lights.

The gunman first targeted the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at around 02:00 local time on Saturday, authorities said.

Soon afterwards, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed at their home in Brooklyn Park, eight miles away.

Officers arrived at the Hortmans' home and exchanged gunfire with the suspect at around 03:35. The suspect managed to flee, leaving behind his car, authorities said.

According to Boelter's CV, he has a background in security and military training.

The city of Brooklyn Park was silent on Sunday morning as the neighbourhood came to terms with a suspected political assassination on their doorstep.

A police car was parked outside the Hortmans' house and bright yellow caution tape surrounded the property.

Taha Abuisnaineh, who lives across the street, said he and his wife had known the family for more than 20 years.

"They were very nice neighbours in a very quiet neighbourhood," he told the BBC. "You don't see police activity in this neighbourhood. We are very shocked."

Two other nearby residents who did not want to be named said the suburban community was reeling.

"My next-door neighbour heard the shots," said one. "We've all been texting back and forth."

She and her husband described how they received an annual Christmas card from the Hortmans.

"What a big loss for Minnesota," she said.

In Sibley County, where the suspect's car was found, local resident Brian Liebhard also told the BBC of his shock.

"This guy needs to get caught," he said. "I don't agree with everything they [the two politicians] vote for, but this is sad - the guy went wacko."

US President Donald Trump may have called tariffs his favourite word in the dictionary. But when it comes to obsessions, business investment has got to be close.

As of last month, he said more than $12 trillion (£8.8tn) had been "practically committed" on his watch. "Nobody's ever seen numbers like we have," he said, crediting his agenda of tariffs, tax cuts and deregulation with making the difference.

If true, the figure would indeed be astonishing, potentially tripling the roughly $4tn in gross private investment the US reported all of last year.

So is a sudden gush of business spending setting the stage for a new golden economic era as Trump claims, or is it all theatre?

First things first: it is too early in Trump's tenure to have clear data to evaluate his claims. The US government publishes statistics on business investment only every three months.

January to March, which reflect two months of Trump's tenure, show a strong jump in business investment, albeit one that analysts said was partly due to data skewed by an earlier Boeing strike.

Other anecdotal and survey evidence indicates that Trump's impact on investment is far more incremental than he has claimed.

"We have hardly any data at this point and almost all the information we have is probably for investment projects that were planned and ordered last year," says economist Nick Bloom, a professor at Stanford University whose work looks at the impact of uncertainty on business investment.

"My guess is business investment is down a little bit, not massively... primarily because uncertainty is quite high and that will pause it."

Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche, which announced plans to invest $50bn in the US over five years in April, is a good example.

Some of the projects included in the sum were already in the works.

Executives have also warned that some of Trump's ideas - in particular a proposal to overhaul drug pricing - could imperil its plans.

"The pharma industry would need to review their expenses including investments," the company said.

Trump typically makes his case pointing to investment promises made by high-profile firms such as Apple and Hyundai.

The White House keeps a running tally of those announcements, but at the start of June, it put total new investments at roughly $5.3tn - less than half the sum cited by Trump.

Even that figure is inflated.

Roughly a third of the 62 investments on the list include plans that were at least partially in the works before Trump took office. For example:

• US manufacturer Corning is listed for a $1.5bn investment in a new manufacturing plant, but the core $900m of the project was announced in early 2024.

• Stellantis, on the list for a $5bn plan to reopen a factory in Belvidere, Illinois, initially made that promise in 2023.

• Other commitments include items that are not traditionally considered investments at all - like Apple's $500bn spending pledge, which includes taxes and salaries paid to workers already at the company.

• An investment promise, by ADQ and Energy Capital, is not limited to the US.

Falling 'well short' of headlines

In reality, as of mid-May, new investment stemming from the announcements likely totalled something closer to $134bn, according to analysis by Goldman Sachs.

That sum shrank to as little as $30bn, not including investments backed by foreign governments, once researchers factored in the risk that some projects might fail to materialise, or would have happened anyway.

"Though not negligible economically, such increases would fall well short of the recent headlines," they wrote.

When pressed on the numbers, White House spokesman Kush Desai brushed off concerns that the administration's claims did not match reality.

"The Trump administration is using a multifaceted approach to drive investment into the United States... and no amount of pointless nitpicking and hairsplitting can refute that it's paying off," he said in a statement, which noted that many firms had explicitly credited Trump and his policies for shaping their plans.

The BBC approached more than two dozen firms with investments on the White House list.

Many did not respond or referred to previous statements.

Others acknowledged that work on some of their projects pre-dated the current administration.

Incentive to exaggerate

Exaggeration by politicians and companies is hardly unexpected.

But the Trump administration's willingness to radically intervene in the economy, with tariffs and other changes, has given companies reason to pump up their plans in ways that flatter the president, says Martin Chorzempa, senior fellow at the Petersen Institute of International Economics.

"A firm making an announcement is a way to get some current benefits, without necessarily being held to those [spending pledges] if the situation changes," he says. "There's a strong incentive for companies to provide as large a number as possible."

That's not to say that Trump policies aren't making a difference.

The tariff threats have "definitely been a catalyst" for pharmaceutical firms to plan more manufacturing in the US, a key source of sector profits, says Stephen Farrelly, global lead for pharma and healthcare at ING.

But, he adds, there are limits to what the threats can accomplish.

The pharma investments are set to unfold over time - a decade in some cases - in a sector that was poised for growth anyway.

And they have come from firms selling branded drugs - not the cheaper, generic medicines that many Americans rely on and that are made in China and India.

Mr Farrelly also warned that the sector's investments may be at risk over the long term, given uncertainty about the government's approach to tariffs, drug pricing and scientific research.

Overall, many analysts expect investment growth to slow in the US this year due to policy uncertainty.

Economist German Gutierrez of the University of Washington says Trump is right to want to boost investment in the US, but believes his emphasis on global competition misdiagnoses the problem.

His own work has found the decline in investment is due in part to industry consolidation. Now a few large firms dominate sectors, there is less incentive to invest to compete.

In addition, the kinds of investments firms are making are typically cheaper items such as software rather than machines and factories.

Tariffs, Prof Gutierrez says, are unlikely to address those issues.

"The way it's being done and the type of instruments they are using are not the best ways to achieve this goal. It just takes a lot more to really get this going," he says.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) will carry out a nationwide operation to target and jail predators who have sexually exploited children as part of a grooming gang, according to the Home Office.

It said the NCA would work with police forces to give victims whose cases were not progressed through the criminal justice system "long-awaited justice" and prevent more children from being hurt by such crimes.

It comes ahead of the release of a report by Baroness Louise Casey on Monday on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced on Saturday there would be a full national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs covering England and Wales.

The NCA operation will aim to imprison more perpetrators of child sexual abuse, protect more victims and improve how local police forces investigate such crimes, the Home Office said.

It will also aim to "put an end to the culture of denial in local services and authorities about the prevalence of this crime".

The Home Office said police had reopened more than 800 historic cases of group-based child sexual abuse since the home secretary had asked them in January to look again at cases that were "closed too early and victims denied justice".

"The vulnerable young girls who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of groups of adult men have now grown into brave women who are rightly demanding justice for what they went through when they were just children," Yvette Cooper said.

"Not enough people listened to them then," the home secretary added. "That was wrong and unforgivable. We are changing that now."

The Home Office said the national inquiry announced by the prime minister on Saturday would be able to "compel" investigations into "historic cases of grooming gang crimes".

That would ensure complaints and allegations of "mishandling, wrongdoing and cover-ups by police, agencies and other professionals and elected officials are brought to light and those responsible held accountable", the Home Office added.

It said the inquiry would report to a single chairperson and its panel would have the power to call witnesses to hearings.

The grooming gangs issue was thrust into the spotlight at the start of 2025, fuelled partly by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who had criticised Sir Keir for not calling a national inquiry.

A row between the two centred on high-profile cases where groups of men, mainly of Pakistani descent, were convicted of sexually abusing and raping predominantly young white girls in towns such as Rotherham and Rochdale.

On Saturday, Sir Keir said he had read an independent report into child sexual exploitation by Baroness Casey and would accept her recommendation for an inquiry covering England and Wales.

In January, the government stopped short of launching a statutory national inquiry intro grooming gangs despite the idea receiving support from some Labour MPs.

Instead, Cooper unveiled plans for five government-backed local inquiries - to be held in Oldham and four other area yet to be named.

She also announced a "rapid" three-month audit, led by Baroness Casey, into the data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse.

That report is expected to be published on Monday and Cooper is set to address the findings of the review in Parliament.

For months, the prime minister has faced criticism for not being willing to set up a national inquiry, with the Conservatives claiming they had forced him into a U-turn.

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that the decision to launch the inquiry should have happened "far, far earlier".

Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the decision to launch a national inquiry, telling the programme on Sunday that ministers "never dismissed the concerns of victims" of grooming gangs.

Up to 100 truckloads of Scotland's waste each day will be moved to England once a landfill ban comes in at the end of the year, the BBC's Disclosure has been told.

The Scottish government is banning "black bag" waste from being buried in landfill from 31 December but acknowledges that there are not currently enough incinerators to meet the extra demand.

The ban, which covers biodegradable municipal waste (BMW), will apply to pretty much all domestic and commercial waste.

Scottish ministers said any export of waste should only be viewed as a "short-term solution".

The ban was originally meant to be in place by 2021 but was delayed because of the Covid pandemic and concerns that businesses were not ready.

It will see a string of materials banned from landfill, including non-recyclable black bag municipal waste, wood, textiles, paper and food.

Such biodegradable waste breaks down to produce methane, a greenhouse gas that is around 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Some inert material, such as ash from incinerators and building rubble, will still be allowed at landfill sites.

The Scottish government wants to stop traditional black bag waste being buried in the ground by increasing recycling rates and using more energy-from-waste incinerators.

However, four years on from the date of the original plan, environmental consultants have concluded that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubbish still have no home.

More waste is already being sent to incinerators - or energy-from-waste sites - but not enough of them will be ready by the 31 December deadline.

It is leaving a "capacity gap" which is estimated by Zero Waste Scotland to be 600,000 tonnes in the first year of the ban.

Some councils and commercial waste companies have been approaching rubbish handling operators in England to negotiate "bridging contracts".

Because most incinerators run with very little spare capacity, it would mean sending Scotland's excess waste to be landfilled in England.

The UK government also wants to eliminate biodegradable waste from landfill and it announced a consultation earlier this year but there is currently no policy in place south of the border.

David Balmer, a waste expert from ERS Remediation, told the Disclosure programme: "You're looking at the equivalent of between 80 and 100 trucks minimum running seven days a week to take this material to a facility in England or abroad."

And there are concerns that logistically the transportation might not be fully achievable.

Alasdair Meldrum, director of waste management consultants Albion Environmental, said: "We've probably not got the trucks and vehicles to actually move it."

He added: "You've got the environmental impact of all that transport, it's nonsensical, but the people who have invested in incinerators are saying 'we've invested all this money because of the ban'.

"So, we're stuck in a really hard place."

While the reason for the ban is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases coming from landfill sites, the short-term impact will be a rise in emissions from the fleet of heavy vehicles taking the waste to sites in Cumbria, Northumberland or potentially as far away as Manchester.

The long-term strategy had been to reduce the amount of "black bag" waste households generate, meaning less would have to be incinerated.

But domestic recycling rates have barely budged in a decade.

In 2013, Scottish homes recycled 41.6% of their waste but by 2023 that figure had increased by less than 2 percentage points to 43.5%.

The figures for England and Northern Ireland are slightly better but for Wales it is a massive 64.7%.

In Scotland, there are currently eight operational incinerators across the country.

Until 2022 there was a rush to build more but the Scottish government put the brakes on development fearing there would end up being an overcapacity.

The only additional ones which will now be built have already entered the planning process.

While incinerators are still responsible for a significant amount of greenhouse gases, experts say they are about a third less environmentally damaging than the methane caused by materials rotting in landfill sites.

As an additional benefit, they also produce some electricity and some recover heat to warm neighbouring homes and buildings.

Colin Church, who chaired an independent review into incineration in Scotland, believes the shift to incinerators has been the right choice.

He told Disclosure: "It's probably the best thing that we can do with waste, with our current levels of technology, and so capturing some energy from that is a good idea."

Circular economy

Environmental groups are concerned that contracts which guarantee waste being delivered by councils to incinerators will put off local authorities from investing in more recycling.

Kim Pratt, from Friends of the Earth Scotland, described the current waste management system as broken.

She said: "Incineration in Scotland is out of control.

"There have been incinerators built in Aberdeen, in Falkirk, there's one this year that's going to be built in North Ayrshire as well.

"All of these incinerators have communities locally who are opposing them."

Waste campaigner Laura Young said: "One of the worries is these are expensive facilities – expensive to run, big contracts involved in this – and it means that we need to utilise them.

"We built them so we need to use them."

The Scottish government points to a range of initiatives it has launched in recent years to tackle household waste and create a more "circular" economy, where material are reused over and over.

These include bans on single use vapes, forthcoming charges on disposable cups and a planned deposit-return scheme for cans and plastic bottles.

It said the "vast majority" of councils had alternative measures in place ahead of the landfill ban coming into force but they will "work closely with local authorities and sector bodies to monitor and review any related issues which may arise as the date of the ban approaches".

The Scottish government added: "Any export of waste should only ever be viewed as a short-term solution."

US singer Chris Brown has kicked off his UK tour in Manchester, days before he is due back in court after being arrested in the city last month.

The Grammy-winning star performed to thousands of fans at Manchester's Co-op Live arena on Sunday, with a string of stadium dates to follow in other cities.

On Friday, he will appear in court in London for the latest hearing after he was charged with grievous bodily harm over an alleged assault in a nightclub in 2023. The 36-year-old, who is free on £5m bail, has not yet been asked to enter a plea.

"Thank you for coming and supporting me," he said to fans in Manchester. "And thank you to the jail," he joked. "It was really nice."

A video montage was shown of his career highs and lows, including brief clips of TV news footage from outside the Manchester court after he was arrested, which was met by a supportive roar from his loyal fans.

The star is accused of inflicting an "unprovoked attack" on a music producer with a tequila bottle at a nightclub in London while on his last UK tour in 2023.

He was arrested when he returned to the country a month ago, when detectives from London's Metropolitan Police travelled to the hotel in which he was staying in Salford, Greater Manchester.

He was held in custody for almost a week, before being released after agreeing to pay a £5m security fee to the court.

A security fee is a financial guarantee to ensure a defendant returns to court. Mr Brown could be asked to forfeit the money if he breaches bail conditions.

However, the judge agreed that the singer could go ahead with his tour as part of his bail conditions, and he played the first night in Amsterdam last weekend.

The singer's Breezy Bowl XX tour is marking 20 years in the music industry. He has had 19 singles in the UK top 10 over that time, including number one hits Turn Up The Music and Freaky Friday.

Last week, he won the prize for best male R&B/pop artist at the BET Awards in Los Angeles.

After performing a second night in Manchester on Monday, he will move on to Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Thursday.

He will then appear at court on Friday with his co-defendant, Omololu Akinlolu, a 38-year-old who performs under the name HoodyBaby, also from the US.

After the hearing, Mr Brown is scheduled to play at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday and Sunday, before further stadium shows in Birmingham and Glasgow, and two more arena dates in Manchester.

A chemical that scientists worry might have an impact on human reproduction has been found in rivers across the UK.

Researchers from York University analysed samples from 32 rivers in all the UK's 4 nations and found traces of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) at 98% of the test locations.

TFA is what's known as a "forever chemical" which means that it breaks down extremely slowly in nature, and so accumulates over time.

As with other "forever chemicals", also known as PFAS, just how much a threat to human health and at what concentrations is still being researched.

But scientists in Germany say having looked at the impact of TFA on animals they want it to be classed as toxic for reproduction.

TFA forms when synthetic chemicals from other "forever chemicals" such as those found in pesticides and refrigerants are partially broken down.

"This molecule (TFA) is everywhere," Alistair Boxall, professor of Environmental Science at the University of York who carried out the research, told the BBC. "We will all be drinking water containing TFA every day - so we'll be exposed throughout our lifetime. It's that long-term, low level exposure that is the big concern."

This new study was funded by environmental charity Fidras and involved sampling in 5 rivers in Wales, 3 in Northern Ireland 14 in Scotland and 10 in the north of England. The highest concentration was recorded on the River Kelvin in Glasgow.

The River Ness, which flows from Loch Ness to the Moray Firth, was the only river sampled not to show traces of TFA.

Recent studies in the EU have found TFA to be widespread, including in wine and food, human blood and breast milk.

Authorities in Germany have been looking with interest at rising TFA levels in drinking water. In the last two decades its concentrations have gone up fourfold and researchers have been trying to establish what impact - if any - it might have on human health.

Citing scientific studies that showed TFA affecting rabbit and rat foetuses, the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has applied to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for TFA to be classified as toxic for reproduction and harmful to the environment. That could eventually lead to recommendations being made in the EU as to how products containing TFA should be controlled.

"Currently, there are no expected adverse health effects from consuming water or food contaminated with TFA," said Andreas Hensel, president of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). "The new classification is an important step in preparing further measures to ensure that this remains the case in the future".

There aren't currently any rules or regulations in place to identify or reduce the concentrations of TFA either in the environment or in drinking water supplies in the UK.

But aware of concerns, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which monitors and regulates drinking water quality in England and Wales, has just commissioned its own research. It will look at how much TFA is already in drinking water and what risk - if any - it poses.

"The information signposted by the University of York suggests that TFA can be formed from the degradation of PFAS-containing pesticides," Ann Bunting, Principal Inspector of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, told the BBC. "It is important that the fate of pesticides and other chemicals in the environment is understood, in order to protect drinking water sources."

A spokesperson for Water UK, which represents the UK's water companies, told the BBC: "We want to see PFAS, including TFA, banned and the development of a national plan to remove it from the environment which should be paid for by manufacturers."

The manhunt for a suspect in deadly attacks on Minnesota lawmakers continued into its second day on Sunday, as police extended the search over state lines to nearby South Dakota.

Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed in their home early Saturday morning .

Another lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot multiple times and injured.

Police are searching for Vance Luther Boelter, a 57-year-old who they say impersonated a police officer while carrying out the attacks. Federal authorities announced a $50,000 reward for information.

Both lawmakers belonged to Minnesota's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party.

Senator Hoffman and his wife underwent surgery on Saturday, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he was "cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt."

• What we know about the attack on two Minnesota lawmakers

"Clearly, this is politically motivated," US Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who represents Minnesota, told NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday morning.

Authorities said they recovered a target list from a vehicle used by the suspect that reportedly contained the names of several Democratic politicians who supported abortion rights, as well as abortion providers. The office of Tina Smith, Minnesota's other US Senator, confirmed to BBC News she was on the list.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) added Boelter to their most wanted list, and issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

"It is really not about any of us, it is this incredible woman that we lost, Melissa Hortman," Klobuchar said. "We think about her family today."

"I just wish everyone in the world political world knew this woman like we know her in Minnesota. Loved by Democrats and Republicans," Klobuchar said.

President Donald Trump is aware of the situation, but it was not clear if he would reach out to the state's leadership about the attack.

Governor Walz, a Democrat, was presidential candidate Kamala Harris' running mate in the 2024 election.

Despite the frantic search under way across the region, the city of Brooklyn Park, where Rep. Hortman lived, was still and silent on Sunday morning as the neighbourhood came to terms with the deadly attack.

A police car stood guard outside the Hortman's house, and bright yellow caution tape surrounded the home, now an active crime scene.

Taha Abuisnaineh, who lives across the street, said he and his wife had known the Hortmans for more than 20 years.

"They were very nice neighbours in a very quiet neighbourhood," he told the BBC. "You don't see police activity in this neighbourhood. We are very shocked."

Two other nearby residents who did not want to be named said this suburban community was reeling as news spread of the attack.

"My next-door neighbour heard the shots," said one. "We've all been texting back and forth."

She and her husband described how they received an annual Christmas card from the Hortmans - and recounted how Representative Hortman got along with local Republican politicians.

"What a big loss for Minnesota," she said.