Madeleine McCann's father is calling for greater scrutiny of the UK's media, complaining that his family was subjected to "monstering" by sections of the press.

He said the media "repeatedly interfered with the investigation" into his daughter's disappearance in 2007 and believes this has hindered the search for her.

Gerry McCann told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that more than a year on from Labour coming into power, "press regulation is no longer a priority".

He wants a resumption of the cancelled second phase of the Lord Leveson Inquiry, which would have examined unlawful action by the media, plus journalists' relationships with politicians and police. It was scrapped by the Tories in 2018.

Madeleine's disappearance during a family holiday in Portugal has never been solved.

In a rare interview, Mr McCann said that for months after her disappearance his family had "journalists coming to the house, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were terrified".

"We are lucky we survived. We had tremendous support - but I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning. And it was the media, primarily," he told the BBC.

"It was what was happening and the way things were being portrayed, where you were being suffocated and buried, and it felt like there wasn't a way out."

Mr McCann and his wife, Kate McCann, are among more than 30 people to have signed a letter being sent to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and calling on him to reverse the decision not to hold the second phase of the Leveson Inquiry.

Among the other signatories are the families of Hillsborough victims, and the mother of TV presenter Caroline Flack.

The letter, seen by the BBC, requests a meeting with the prime minister, saying: "We understand that you recently had time to meet News Corp chairman Lachlan Murdoch.

"We hope you will now meet with some of the British citizens whose lives have been upended by the illegal practices and abuses associated with his company."

Mr McCann told the Today programme: "It's quite obvious that press barons can meet the prime minister, but the people who have suffered at the hands of them can't."

News UK, the UK branch of News Corp, declined to comment.

The first part of the Leveson Inquiry was held from 2011 to 2012, in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

Its findings were published in 2012, and led to the creation of the industry-funded press regulator Ipso.

Mr McCann told the BBC that the inquiry's second phase had "almost certainly" not happened because he believes that politicians in the UK are fearful of the press.

He said that in the run-up to last year's general election, Labour politicians had committed to implementing the recommendations made in the first part of the Leveson Inquiry, and that he was "extremely disappointed" that they hadn't done so.

"We're over a year into the government, and there haven't been any changes," he said.

"It's not acceptable to me now, more than a year on, that Leveson and press regulation is no longer a priority."

A DCMS spokesperson told the BBC it "recognises that for victims and their families, incidents of harassment and intrusion from the media cause significant distress".

"The Culture Secretary has met with individuals and families who have experienced this intrusion in the past and the government is committed to ensuring that these failings are never repeated," they said.

'We put our morals aside'

Mr McCann added that he and his wife had "supped with the Devil" by working with the Sun in 2011, in order to have the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance reviewed - illustrating the newspaper's influence.

"There was a front page letter published in The Sun, and [then-prime minister] David Cameron ordered the review," he said.

"That's the power they had. So we put our morals aside to work with them to achieve what we wanted."

Criticising media coverage of the investigation, he said: "Published material which should have been confidential, should be passed on to the police, witness statements, many other things that have gone out," he said.

"So if you were the perpetrator, you knew a lot more than you should have done - and as a victim, as a parent, it's absolutely dismaying."

'Making stories up'

Mr McCann gave a witness statement at the Leveson Inquiry on behalf of himself and his wife in November 2011.

In it, he described news outlets "making stories up" about them, as well as a "sustained, inaccurate and malicious series of headlines in a number of papers which gave the impression that we were in some way responsible for or involved in Madeleine's disappearance".

He also said around the time their daughter disappeared, the now-closed News of the World newspaper had published complete transcripts from Kate McCann's personal diary.

That diary had been seized by police in Portugal as part of their investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, and the couple were "unsure as to how the [News of the World] obtained a copy", the inquiry heard.

In his interview with the Today programme, Mr McCann said: "Madeleine's been missing for 18 years, and the bottom line is, we still don't know what's happened to her."

He added that there is "no evidence".

"I don't even mean 'convincing' evidence - there is no evidence to say she's dead," he said.

"Now we fully understand she may be dead, it may even be probable, but we don't know that."

A spokesperson for press regulator Ipso told the BBC that it can intervene directly in cases of press harassment.

"We encourage anyone with concerns about press behaviour to contact us for help," it said.

"Would I catch a bus? No, not out of choice now," says Andy Collett. "I feel much happier using my own car."

His sentiment isn't unusual among passengers. But Mr Collett is a bus driver.

"It can be very intimidating," he says. "I've been assaulted twice, spat at numerous times, and I've had incidents of broken windows – it's just part and parcel of the job, unfortunately."

He describes a "lawlessness" among some of the travelling public - mostly younger people - which he believes has got worse in 38 years of driving Birmingham's bus routes.

The BBC has spoken to passengers, transport staff and other bus drivers in the West Midlands about what they say is a growing national trend of antisocial behaviour on public transport.

The British Transport Police recorded 40,034 incidents of antisocial behaviour in 2024-25, an increase of 24% on the previous year.

Buses are the most commonly used form of public transport but they're also where passengers feel least safe, according to a recent Transport for the North survey.

One incident gives Mr Collett flashbacks.

"I was attacked by about 30 schoolkids," he says. "I had cuts, bruises. They actually bent the fingers back on my hand when I was trying to hold [the door] to stop them getting on the vehicle."

Mr Collett now mostly trains other drivers, warning them of the dangers. When he does get shifts behind the wheel, he tries to avoid routes known for antisocial behaviour.

Antisocial behaviour hotspot Chelmsley Wood in the West Midlands is a snapshot of this national problem. Its interchange has suffered vandalism and graffiti, while drivers have been threatened and buses damaged.

Security camera footage shows masked teenagers aiming barrages of fireworks at buses over Halloween and Bonfire Night.

Passenger Emma Banks, 52, says she has witnessed a similar incident.

"They [were] hitting the bus. I've got learning difficulties and sometimes it does scare you," she tells me on a cold evening, waiting in the interchange.

Ms Banks says she regularly sees overcrowding and people smoking on buses.

She can't drive so relies on public transport but, tonight, Ms Banks doesn't feel confident enough to catch the bus.

"I'll be getting a taxi because I know that I'll get home safely."

A Public Space Protection Order has been imposed at Chelmsley Wood to stop gatherings of young people and to require the removal of masks and hoods. But 17-year-old Elle Furlong says she's still afraid.

"They smash windows, purposely pull the fire alarm, light their lighters on the chairs. It's just horrendous."

The probability of becoming a victim of crime on public transport is very low - Transport for West Midlands estimates one crime for every 50,000 bus journeys. But perceptions can outweigh statistics and drive people like Ms Furlong away.

"If I can walk it, I'll walk it. If it's far enough, I'll get an Uber. If it's really far, I'll get my dad to drop me off. I avoid buses at all costs," Ms Furlong says.

The drivers have no choice but to carry on with their jobs, although many are afraid to speak openly about the risks. Even trade union officials have refused to go on the record.

"You come to work not knowing what you're going to face," says a driver who asks to remain anonymous. "It can cause a lot of anxiety and stress. I go home sometimes and just want to break down and cry because it's a horrible job."

They describe the daily grind of disrespectful teenagers, aggressive drug addicts, even passengers defecating on the bus. Then there's the racial abuse.

"You have to hold back. I've known a few drivers who have kicked off, but then they've lost their job because of it."

I saw for myself what drivers and passengers are facing when I sat on the top deck of the 94 from Chelmsley Wood, shortly after the school bell. A group of kids soon boarded without paying.

"I've been driving buses for 33 years and it's changed," driver Neil Evans says through the screen protecting his cab. "Society has changed. No one cares anymore. They just walk onto the bus and do what they want, when they want, how they want, and nothing's done about it."

Today, Mr Evans has backup. Esha Sheemar is one of 13 Transport Safety Officers (TSOs) patrolling the West Midlands. She warns the kids if they don't behave they'll be thrown off the bus.

TSO roles were introduced in 2019. They are not police officers, but they have limited powers to tackle issues on public transport.

Across the bus station, Ms Sheemar's colleague Lee Clarke has spotted a face from their most-wanted list: a 13-year-old accused of vandalising a bus shelter. The boy's details are taken but he is allowed to get on the bus, as Mr Clarke's limited powers mean he'll need to pass the case to police officers.

TSOs are funded by the Combined Authority and belong to the West Midlands Safer Travel Partnership, which includes West Midlands Police, British Transport Police, as well as bus and train companies.

At its control room in the city centre, hundreds of screens flicker with security camera images from stations and interchanges across the region's roads and rail lines; they can even get live pictures from most of the buses.

Kerry Blakeman is head of security for the West Midlands Safer Travel Partnership and says they have access to more than 5,000 fixed cameras. He says his staff capture about 30 incidents each day, although he is keen to stress millions of journeys are safe and uneventful.

"We are trying to do our best to keep the travelling public safe. Behind each camera is an operator looking out for your safety whilst you travel around the bus, train and tram network."

Last summer, a teenager was filmed threatening people at Chelmsley Wood bus station with a machete. He was identified and sentenced to six months in juvenile custody.

The footage of the firework attacks has been handed over to West Midlands Police - and efforts to trace the hooded youths are ongoing.

Bus driver Bryan Cook recently called police after being threatened with a weapon while working. It was one of four times in the past three months that he's phoned for assistance while driving the 72 bus to Chelmsley Wood.

On this chilly evening, he takes his chance to tell the TSOs how their timetable fails to match that of the vandals. "Where are you on the weekends? Where are you on school holidays?" he asks.

TSO Mr Clarke starts to reply, but the driver has more to say.

"We're the ones getting threatened, we're the ones getting stuff thrown at us, broken windows. Where are you lot?"

Mr Clarke emphasises the importance of reporting incidents so patrols can be targeted in problem areas.

"We keep telling everyone. No one does anything," says Mr Cook, in exasperation.

It outlines the challenge for a small team covering such a large area. The number of TSOs doubled a year ago and is set to rise to 25 across the West Midlands. Some areas have similar teams - and others have piloted them - but many places are uncovered, relying on the police. Bus routes can be especially vulnerable.

The anonymous bus driver questions the effectiveness of Transport Safety Officers and urges more support from their employer.

"They [management] know what goes on. Do they care? I don't know. Doesn't feel like it, to be fair."

National Express West Midlands told the BBC that all reports of antisocial behaviour or crime are "fully investigated to ensure perpetrators are held accountable, to identify any learnings, and to provide support for those affected".

It added that antisocial behaviour "will always be a subject we need to keep challenging and working on".

The UK government's recent Bus Services Act allows local authorities to apply for extra powers to deal with issues such as smoking, vaping and fare evasion, the sort of problems TSOs can tackle already on trains.

The legislation also requires bus drivers to receive training in dealing with antisocial behaviour and spotting the signs of harassment and abuse faced by women and girls.

The Department for Transport told the BBC that abuse of passengers and staff is "unacceptable" and pointed to the new powers the Bus Services Act will give to help tackle antisocial behaviour.

Transport for West Midlands promises greater use of drone cameras and AI technology, capable of recognising known troublemakers and even identifying concealed weapons. It recently launched a campaign prioritising the safety of women and girls.

Mr Blakeman insists his team is having a positive impact but says he recognises passenger confidence is fragile.

"I respect why some members of the public wouldn't feel comfortable travelling, but I want them to know that we're actually doing everything we can behind the scenes."

Back on the 72 bus, Mr Clarke is trying to restore Mr Cook's faith. He promises someone will make contact to explain their role and discusses the most efficient way to flag issues.

The West Midlands Safer Travel Partnership is regarded as a model of good practice. And yet, this frosty exchange reveals a clash of perspectives – one that speaks of "intelligence-led tasking" and "visible reassurance"; the other of lone working under the stark reality of sustained abuse and the risk of attack.

Mr Cook sums it up like this: "Two weeks ago I had two windows broken on my bus, I got threatened with a knife - and that's all in a day's work".

President Donald Trump has told a campaign-style rally that consumer prices are falling "tremendously" as he sought to allay voter anxiety about the US cost of living.

In a speech at a casino in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, the president told supporters he had "no higher priority than making America affordable again".

But while gas and egg prices have fallen, other food is more expensive and Americans remain unhappy about the cost of housing, childcare and healthcare.

Democrats have capitalised on Trump's political vulnerability on the economy in recent off-cycle votes, leaving many Republicans uneasy about next year's midterms elections.

Tuesday's event in a swing district of Pennsylvania was the first of what the White House says will be a series of campaign-like rallies aimed at bringing its economic message to voters.

But at one point in his remarks, the Republican president again portrayed concerns about affordability as a Democratic "hoax".

In recent weeks, his administration has removed tariffs from dozens of food products and touted its rollback of fuel efficiency standards and Trump-branded retirement accounts for children as cost-of-living fixes.

In an excerpt from an interview with Politico released on Tuesday, Trump was asked what grade he would give the economy.

"A plus-plus-plus-plus-plus," he said.

In a sign the policy pivot might be cutting through, Trump's approval rating rose three points to 41% in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

But many Americans remain downbeat on the economy.

Alaina Hunt, 37, who lost her job as a designer at a construction company in Oklahoma City, told the BBC her position was in part a casualty of Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium.

The construction sector "really took a hard hit very early on", she said. Ms Hunt says she has applied for at least 75 jobs in web design and development since April, to no avail, amid a broader slowdown in hiring.

She says rising grocery bills - about $25 extra per week - have added to the strain.

"I was able to scrape by a lot easier in years before," said Ms Hunt, who voted for Kamala Harris. "I don't think that the federal government is listening at all."

Economic data paints a mixed picture.

US consumer confidence fell in November to its lowest level since the spring.

But the stock market continues to hover near record highs. And forecasters expect the economy to expand by 1.9% this year, slower than last year's 2.8% but still better than expected.

Some recent data also indicate the job market may be picking up, after a significant hiring slowdown earlier this year.

As of September, inflation stood at 3%, the same rate as in January when the president took office and stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

It is still way below a peak of 9.1% under former President Joe Biden when the US faced its worst inflation in four decades.

Overall prices have surged 25% over the last five years, generating widespread frustration, despite wage growth over that period.

Beth Richardson, a 45-year-old from Kansas, said she had been floored by some of the prices at the grocery store near her, recalling a pack of Mentos gum she picked up recently that rang up to almost $5 with tax.

"I'm like, I'm just going to go die now because this cannot be," she said.

Ms Richardson was laid off from her job in sales support at a tech-related company in late 2023, after the firm shifted jobs overseas. She voted for Kamala Harris last year.

She said while she knew presidents were often blamed for economic forces over which they had little control, she felt in this case Trump and his policies, like tariffs, were "shooting ourselves in the foot".

On Tuesday night, Trump called tariffs his "favourite word", pointing to hundreds of billions of dollars of US revenue from import taxes.

The White House blames Biden and the Fed, arguing high interest rates are hurting the economy.

The US central bank has twice reduced rates to about 3.9% and may cut them again on Wednesday.

Many Trump supporters have said they still back the president, despite feeling the pinch themselves.

John Mohring, 60, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, has backed Trump since 2016, though rising prices worry him.

Mr Mohring, who works in construction and has lived alone since his wife died three years ago, said grocery prices started rising before Trump returned to the White House "and it doesn't seem like it's going down".

He now typically spends $100 on groceries just for himself, even when avoiding buying meat and sticking with cheaper items.

Still, Mr Mohring said he backed the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs on imported goods and his border policies.

"I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt," Mr Mohring added.

Brad Smith, a corn and soybean farmer in north-western Illinois, was hurt earlier this year when China, previously a major buyer of US soybeans, froze its purchases amid a trade war with Washington.

But the market, he said, had been gradually recovering since late October, when the two countries reached a trade agreement and China resumed some purchases.

Trump on Monday also announced a $12bn aid package for US farmers.

Mr Smith said he still believed in Trump's plans for the economy, despite being getting caught in the crossfire.

"There's probably bigger things at play other than just the soybean and corn market," Mr Smith said.

"The whole America First idea is good."

Simmering tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have once again exploded along the border - derailing a fragile ceasefire backed by US President Donald Trump.

At least three Thai soldiers and seven Cambodian civilians have been killed since Monday, with both sides accusing each other of starting the violence.

The clashes - which have seen Thailand launch airstrikes along the border - are the most serious since a ceasefire was first agreed in July.

On that occasion, at least 48 people were killed, and thousands were displaced following five days of fighting.

Trump then intervened and, with the help of Malaysia, negotiated a ceasefire.

The US president later oversaw the signing of what he dubbed "the Kuala Lumpar peace accord" in October. Thailand refused to call it that - instead referring to it as "Joint Declaration by the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia on the outcomes of their meeting in Kuala Lumpur".

Just two weeks later, Thailand suspended the deal. Then, in December, fighting broke out once again.

So, how did we get here - and where is it going?

What's behind the tensions?

This is not a recent dispute. In fact, the argument between Thailand and Cambodia dates back more than a century, when the borders of the two nations were drawn after the French occupation of Cambodia.

Things officially became hostile in 2008, when Cambodia tried to register an 11th Century temple located in the disputed area as a Unesco World Heritage Site - a move that was met with heated protest from Thailand.

Over the years there have been sporadic clashes that have seen soldiers and civilians killed on both sides.

The latest tensions ramped up in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash. This plunged bilateral ties to their lowest point in more than a decade.

In the run up to the first bout of fighting in July, both countries had imposed border restrictions on one another. Cambodia banned imports such as fruits and vegetables from Thailand, and also stopped importing power and internet services.

Both countries had also strengthened troop presence along the border in recent weeks.

• Read the full news story here

Why have they flared up again?

The two sides have given differing versions of what happened.

On Monday, 8 December, the Thai army said its troops had responded to Cambodian fire in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani Province, that it said had killed a hai soldier.

It added that it had launched air strikes on military targets along the disputed border.

Phnom Penh's defence ministry said it was the Thai forces that attacked first, in Cambodia's Preah Vihear province. Cambodia also insisted that it did not retaliate.

The next day, Thailand's military accused Cambodia of using multiple-launch rocket systems, bomb-dropping drones and kamikaze drones against Thai soldiers, with some rockets reportedly hitting civilian areas.

It later confirmed it had carried out more airstrikes.

Cambodia has also accused Thailand of firing indiscriminately into civilian areas in its border Pursat Province.

What exactly happened in July?

Again, both sides gave different versions of what happened.

Thailand's National Security Council (NSC) claimed that just after 07:30 local time (00:30GMT) on 24 July, Cambodia's military deployed drones to conduct surveillance of Thai troops near the border.

Shortly afterwards, it said, Cambodian military personnel carrying rocket-propelled grenades gathered near the border. Soldiers on the Thai side attempted negotiations by shouting, but were unsuccessful, the NSC spokesman claimed, adding that Cambodian soldiers opened fire at around 08:20, forcing the Thai side to retaliate.

Thailand also accused Cambodia of deploying heavy weapons, including BM-21 rocket launchers and artillery, causing damage to homes and public facilities including a hospital and a petrol station along the Thai side of the border.

Meanwhile, Cambodia alleged that Thai soldiers initiated the conflict at around 06:30, when they violated a prior agreement by advancing on a Khmer-Hindu temple near the border and placing barbed wire around its base.

Thai soldiers then deployed a drone just after 07:00, and fired shots "into the air" at around 08:30, according to Maly Socheata, a spokesperson from Cambodia's Ministry of National Defence.

At 08:46, Thai soldiers "pre-emptively" opened fire on Cambodian troops, leaving them no choice but to exercise their right to self-defence, according to the Phnom Penh Post newspaper quoting Socheata.

Socheata further accused Thailand of deploying excessive troops, using heavy weapons and carrying out air strikes on Cambodian territory.

Read the full story here

But what about Trump's 'peace deal'?

Thailand had already paused the agreement back in November, with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul saying the "security threat.... has not actually decreased".

At the time, Cambodia said it remained committed to the terms of the deal.

After fighting broke out again in December, Bangkok's foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told the BBC the ceasefire was "not working" - adding "the ball is in Cambodia's court".

However, Cambodia's former prime minister Hun Sen said they had only returned fire late on Monday, in order to "respect the ceasefire".

Trump, meanwhile, is reported to have called on both sides to respect the agreement, news agency Reuters said.

Under the terms of the agreement signed in October, the two countries agreed to withdraw their heavy weapons from the disputed region, and to establish an interim observer team to monitor it.

The next step was supposed to include the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers held in Thailand.

Where this leads next is unclear.

While there have been serious exchanges of fire in the past, they de-escalated relatively quickly.

Back in July, that was the path our correspondent Jonathan Head thought would be followed again.

However, he warned, there's a lack of leadership with the strength and confidence to pull back from this confrontation in both countries at the moment.

You can read more of his analysis from earlier in the year here.

Is it safe to travel to Thailand and Cambodia?

For those travelling to Thailand, the British Foreign Office currently advises against all but essential travel to border areas within 50km of the whole border with Cambodia.

While for those in Cambodia, it advises against all but essential travel to border areas within 50km of the whole border with Thailand.

You can check the latest travel advice on the FCDO site.

Simmering tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have once again exploded along the border - derailing a fragile ceasefire backed by US President Donald Trump.

At least three Thai soldiers and seven Cambodian civilians have been killed since Monday, with both sides accusing each other of starting the violence.

The clashes - which have seen Thailand launch airstrikes along the border - are the most serious since a ceasefire was first agreed in July.

On that occasion, at least 48 people were killed, and thousands were displaced following five days of fighting.

Trump then intervened and, with the help of Malaysia, negotiated a ceasefire.

The US president later oversaw the signing of what he dubbed "the Kuala Lumpar peace accord" in October. Thailand refused to call it that - instead referring to it as "Joint Declaration by the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia on the outcomes of their meeting in Kuala Lumpur".

Just two weeks later, Thailand suspended the deal. Then, in December, fighting broke out once again.

So, how did we get here - and where is it going?

What's behind the tensions?

This is not a recent dispute. In fact, the argument between Thailand and Cambodia dates back more than a century, when the borders of the two nations were drawn after the French occupation of Cambodia.

Things officially became hostile in 2008, when Cambodia tried to register an 11th Century temple located in the disputed area as a Unesco World Heritage Site - a move that was met with heated protest from Thailand.

Over the years there have been sporadic clashes that have seen soldiers and civilians killed on both sides.

The latest tensions ramped up in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash. This plunged bilateral ties to their lowest point in more than a decade.

In the run up to the first bout of fighting in July, both countries had imposed border restrictions on one another. Cambodia banned imports such as fruits and vegetables from Thailand, and also stopped importing power and internet services.

Both countries had also strengthened troop presence along the border in recent weeks.

• Read the full news story here

Why have they flared up again?

The two sides have given differing versions of what happened.

On Monday, 8 December, the Thai army said its troops had responded to Cambodian fire in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani Province, that it said had killed a hai soldier.

It added that it had launched air strikes on military targets along the disputed border.

Phnom Penh's defence ministry said it was the Thai forces that attacked first, in Cambodia's Preah Vihear province. Cambodia also insisted that it did not retaliate.

The next day, Thailand's military accused Cambodia of using multiple-launch rocket systems, bomb-dropping drones and kamikaze drones against Thai soldiers, with some rockets reportedly hitting civilian areas.

It later confirmed it had carried out more airstrikes.

Cambodia has also accused Thailand of firing indiscriminately into civilian areas in its border Pursat Province.

What exactly happened in July?

Again, both sides gave different versions of what happened.

Thailand's National Security Council (NSC) claimed that just after 07:30 local time (00:30GMT) on 24 July, Cambodia's military deployed drones to conduct surveillance of Thai troops near the border.

Shortly afterwards, it said, Cambodian military personnel carrying rocket-propelled grenades gathered near the border. Soldiers on the Thai side attempted negotiations by shouting, but were unsuccessful, the NSC spokesman claimed, adding that Cambodian soldiers opened fire at around 08:20, forcing the Thai side to retaliate.

Thailand also accused Cambodia of deploying heavy weapons, including BM-21 rocket launchers and artillery, causing damage to homes and public facilities including a hospital and a petrol station along the Thai side of the border.

Meanwhile, Cambodia alleged that Thai soldiers initiated the conflict at around 06:30, when they violated a prior agreement by advancing on a Khmer-Hindu temple near the border and placing barbed wire around its base.

Thai soldiers then deployed a drone just after 07:00, and fired shots "into the air" at around 08:30, according to Maly Socheata, a spokesperson from Cambodia's Ministry of National Defence.

At 08:46, Thai soldiers "pre-emptively" opened fire on Cambodian troops, leaving them no choice but to exercise their right to self-defence, according to the Phnom Penh Post newspaper quoting Socheata.

Socheata further accused Thailand of deploying excessive troops, using heavy weapons and carrying out air strikes on Cambodian territory.

Read the full story here

But what about Trump's 'peace deal'?

Thailand had already paused the agreement back in November, with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul saying the "security threat.... has not actually decreased".

At the time, Cambodia said it remained committed to the terms of the deal.

After fighting broke out again in December, Bangkok's foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told the BBC the ceasefire was "not working" - adding "the ball is in Cambodia's court".

However, Cambodia's former prime minister Hun Sen said they had only returned fire late on Monday, in order to "respect the ceasefire".

Trump, meanwhile, is reported to have called on both sides to respect the agreement, news agency Reuters said.

Under the terms of the agreement signed in October, the two countries agreed to withdraw their heavy weapons from the disputed region, and to establish an interim observer team to monitor it.

The next step was supposed to include the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers held in Thailand.

Where this leads next is unclear.

While there have been serious exchanges of fire in the past, they de-escalated relatively quickly.

Back in July, that was the path our correspondent Jonathan Head thought would be followed again.

However, he warned, there's a lack of leadership with the strength and confidence to pull back from this confrontation in both countries at the moment.

You can read more of his analysis from earlier in the year here.

Is it safe to travel to Thailand and Cambodia?

For those travelling to Thailand, the British Foreign Office currently advises against all but essential travel to border areas within 50km of the whole border with Cambodia.

While for those in Cambodia, it advises against all but essential travel to border areas within 50km of the whole border with Thailand.

You can check the latest travel advice on the FCDO site.

More on this story

• Get cricket news sent straight to your phone

  Published
  16 August

  

US President Donald Trump has unveiled a $12bn (£9bn) farm aid package aimed at helping farmers impacted by low crop prices and the administration's ongoing trade wars.

Most of the money – $11bn – is earmarked for one-time payments to farmers for row crops as part of the agriculture department's Farmer Bridge Assistance programme, with another billion reserved for crops not covered by the programme.

While farmers have broadly supported Trump, the agriculture sector has been disrupted by trade disputes during his second term, particularly with China.

Also on Monday, Trump threatened to hit Mexico with an additional 5% tariff in a row over water supplies to US farmers.

The White House says the aid package will help farmers suffering from "years of unjustified trade actions" and accumulated inflation.

Trump made the announcement during an event at the White House, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Members of Congress and corn, cotton, sorghum, soybean, rice, cattle, wheat and potato farmers were also in attendance.

"Maximising domestic farm production is a big part of how we will make America affordable again and bring down grocery prices," Trump said.

Sorghum and soybean farmers have been hit hard by the Trump administration's trade dispute with China, the greatest importer of their crops.

• Trump's farmer bailout raises fears about trade war winners and losers

According to a White House official, the payments are intended to help farmers market this year's harvest and plan for next year's crops, as well as act as a bridge until the administration's policies "deliver a better market environment".

Rollins said the last $1bn would be held back to help officials understand the state of "specialty crops" and ensure that the government is "making every forward moving position that we need to".

When asked if further farm aid packages were planned, Trump said "it depends" on how the market develops.

"The farmers don't want aid," he said. "They want to have a level playing field."

The announcement comes as polls suggest Americans are increasingly concerned about rising costs - an issue which Trump has at times characterised as a "hoax" and a "con job" perpetrated by Democrats.

It also followed complaints from US farmers after they lost access to customers in China as a result of Trump's trade policies.

For example, China is the world's biggest market for soybeans and has in recent decades been a major buyer from the US.

But Beijing effectively shut the door on American soybean imports for months after Trump hit Chinese goods with new levies earlier this year.

Later on Monday, Trump threatened to impose a new 5% tariff on Mexico, accusing it of violating an agreement that gives American farmers access to water.

"It is very unfair to our US Farmers who deserve this much needed water," he posted on social media.

Trump was referring to a more than 80-year-old treaty that grants the US water from Rio Grande tributaries.

For decades the US has accused Mexico of not meeting the terms of the agreement.

Mark Legan, a livestock, corn and soybean farmer in Putnam County, Indiana, told the BBC that the government aid would "help our bottom line"

As crop prices have fallen and profitability has plummeted, he could use the funds to help replace tractors and other machinery - investments he has put on hold.

During his first administration, Trump also provided aid packages to farmers, including $22bn in 2019 and another $46bn in a 2020 package that also included relief from the Covid pandemic.

Mr Legan said he believed the new package would be similar to what he received during the first Trump term, in that it would not resolve persistent cost pressures and shrinking export markets, he said.

"The problem is still that we have high costs of production," Mr Legan said, pointing to record high prices for crop protection chemicals and seeds.

"While some markets have opened up, we're still not back to exporting as much ag products as we have in the past," he added.

Another Illinois farmer, Brad Smith, heard news of the $12bn package while at the Illinois Farm Bureau State Convention in Chicago.

"None of us really love it, but we're not in a position where we can be turning it down," he said. "We hope we can reduce the need for anything like this going forward."

If he does receive funds from the government, the money will likely be in his hands for three days, he said, before spending it to clear outstanding bills and hopefully buy seeds, chemicals and fertilisers for next year's crop.

Mr Smith said that distributing government aid to farmers who need it the most, rather than to larger farms, has been a challenge in the past.

Following an October meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, the White House said China had committed to buying at least 12 million metric tonnes of US soybeans by the end of 2025, followed by 25 million metric tonnes annually for the next three years.

So far, China has only purchased approximately one-quarter of that amount.

Those purchases, however, have accelerated, and Bessent told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that China is likely to meet the goal by the end of February.

Asked why a farm aid package was necessary, Bessent said "the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in the trade negotiations".

"We are going to create this bridge because... agriculture is all about the future," he said. "You've got to start financing for planning next year when things will be very good."

On Saturday, he signed an executive order creating food supply chain security "task forces" and assessing "anti-competitive behaviour" in the agricultural sector.

Additional reporting by Peter Hoskins

US President Donald Trump has unveiled a $12bn (£9bn) farm aid package aimed at helping farmers impacted by low crop prices and the administration's ongoing trade wars.

Most of the money – $11bn – is earmarked for one-time payments to farmers for row crops as part of the agriculture department's Farmer Bridge Assistance programme, with another billion reserved for crops not covered by the programme.

While farmers have broadly supported Trump, the agriculture sector has been disrupted by trade disputes during his second term, particularly with China.

Also on Monday, Trump threatened to hit Mexico with an additional 5% tariff in a row over water supplies to US farmers.

The White House says the aid package will help farmers suffering from "years of unjustified trade actions" and accumulated inflation.

Trump made the announcement during an event at the White House, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Members of Congress and corn, cotton, sorghum, soybean, rice, cattle, wheat and potato farmers were also in attendance.

"Maximising domestic farm production is a big part of how we will make America affordable again and bring down grocery prices," Trump said.

Sorghum and soybean farmers have been hit hard by the Trump administration's trade dispute with China, the greatest importer of their crops.

• Trump's farmer bailout raises fears about trade war winners and losers

According to a White House official, the payments are intended to help farmers market this year's harvest and plan for next year's crops, as well as act as a bridge until the administration's policies "deliver a better market environment".

Rollins said the last $1bn would be held back to help officials understand the state of "specialty crops" and ensure that the government is "making every forward moving position that we need to".

When asked if further farm aid packages were planned, Trump said "it depends" on how the market develops.

"The farmers don't want aid," he said. "They want to have a level playing field."

The announcement comes as polls suggest Americans are increasingly concerned about rising costs - an issue which Trump has at times characterised as a "hoax" and a "con job" perpetrated by Democrats.

It also followed complaints from US farmers after they lost access to customers in China as a result of Trump's trade policies.

For example, China is the world's biggest market for soybeans and has in recent decades been a major buyer from the US.

But Beijing effectively shut the door on American soybean imports for months after Trump hit Chinese goods with new levies earlier this year.

Later on Monday, Trump threatened to impose a new 5% tariff on Mexico, accusing it of violating an agreement that gives American farmers access to water.

"It is very unfair to our US Farmers who deserve this much needed water," he posted on social media.

Trump was referring to a more than 80-year-old treaty that grants the US water from Rio Grande tributaries.

For decades the US has accused Mexico of not meeting the terms of the agreement.

Mark Legan, a livestock, corn and soybean farmer in Putnam County, Indiana, told the BBC that the government aid would "help our bottom line"

As crop prices have fallen and profitability has plummeted, he could use the funds to help replace tractors and other machinery - investments he has put on hold.

During his first administration, Trump also provided aid packages to farmers, including $22bn in 2019 and another $46bn in a 2020 package that also included relief from the Covid pandemic.

Mr Legan said he believed the new package would be similar to what he received during the first Trump term, in that it would not resolve persistent cost pressures and shrinking export markets, he said.

"The problem is still that we have high costs of production," Mr Legan said, pointing to record high prices for crop protection chemicals and seeds.

"While some markets have opened up, we're still not back to exporting as much ag products as we have in the past," he added.

Another Illinois farmer, Brad Smith, heard news of the $12bn package while at the Illinois Farm Bureau State Convention in Chicago.

"None of us really love it, but we're not in a position where we can be turning it down," he said. "We hope we can reduce the need for anything like this going forward."

If he does receive funds from the government, the money will likely be in his hands for three days, he said, before spending it to clear outstanding bills and hopefully buy seeds, chemicals and fertilisers for next year's crop.

Mr Smith said that distributing government aid to farmers who need it the most, rather than to larger farms, has been a challenge in the past.

Following an October meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, the White House said China had committed to buying at least 12 million metric tonnes of US soybeans by the end of 2025, followed by 25 million metric tonnes annually for the next three years.

So far, China has only purchased approximately one-quarter of that amount.

Those purchases, however, have accelerated, and Bessent told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that China is likely to meet the goal by the end of February.

Asked why a farm aid package was necessary, Bessent said "the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in the trade negotiations".

"We are going to create this bridge because... agriculture is all about the future," he said. "You've got to start financing for planning next year when things will be very good."

On Saturday, he signed an executive order creating food supply chain security "task forces" and assessing "anti-competitive behaviour" in the agricultural sector.

Additional reporting by Peter Hoskins

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A year ago, the war that President Bashar al-Assad seemed to have won was turned upside down.

A rebel force had broken out of Idlib, a Syrian province on the border with Turkey, and was storming towards Damascus. It was led by a man known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, and his militia group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Jolani was a nom-de-guerre, reflecting his family's roots in the Golan Heights, Syria's southern highlands, annexed by Israel after it was occupied in 1967. His real name is Ahmed al-Sharaa.

One year later, he is interim president, and Bashar al-Assad is in a gilded exile in Russia.

Syria is still in ruins. In every city and village I have visited this last 10 days, people were living in skeletal buildings gutted by war. But for all the new Syria's problems, it feels much lighter without the crushing, cruel weight of the Assads.

Sharaa has found the going easier abroad than at home. He has won the argument with Saudi Arabia and the West that he is Syria's best chance of a stable future.

In May, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia arranged a brief meeting between al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump. Afterwards, Trump called him a "young attractive tough guy".

At home, Syrians know his weaknesses and the problems Syria faces better than foreigners. Sharaa's writ does not run in the north-east, where the Kurds are in control, or parts of the south where Syrian Druze, another minority sect, want a separate state backed by their Israeli allies.

On the coast Alawites – Assad's sect – fear a repeat of the massacres they suffered in March.

A year ago, the new masters of Damascus, like most of the armed rebels in Syria, were Sunni Islamists. Sharaa, their leader, had a long history fighting for al-Qaeda in Iraq, where he had been imprisoned by the Americans, and then was a senior commander with the group that became Islamic State.

Later, as he built his power base in Syria, he broke with and fought both IS and al-Qaeda.

People who had travelled to Idlib to see him said that he had developed a much more pragmatic set of beliefs, better suited to governing Syria, with its spectrum of religious sects. Sunnis are the majority. As well as Kurds and Druze, there are Christians, many of whom find it hard to forget Sharaa's jihadist past.

Image of a man who outgrew his jihadist roots

In the first week of December last year, it was hard to believe that the HTS offensive was moving so fast. It took them three days to capture Aleppo, Syria's northern powerhouse.

Compare that with the tortured years between 2012 and 2016, when the regime's army and rebel militias had fought for control of the city: that had ended in victory for Assad after Russia's president Vladimir Putin deployed his air force and artillery to add decisive firepower to the regime's ruthless tactics.

When I visited the former rebel strongholds in eastern Aleppo a few weeks after they had fallen to the regime, large areas were devastated by Russian bombing. Some streets were blocked by rubble that went up to first-floor balconies.

But by the end of 2024, across the country, government troops had melted away. Both reluctant conscripts and regime loyalists were no longer prepared to fight and die for a corrupt and cruel regime that repaid them with poverty and oppression.

A few days after Assad fled with his family to Russia, I interviewed Syria's victorious new leader in the presidential palace.

It perches high on a crag overlooking Damascus, designed as an ever-visible reminder for the city's citizens of the all-seeing power of the Assads. By then Jolani had discarded his name, along with his combat fatigues.

Sharaa sat down in the chilly halls of the unheated palace wearing a smart jacket, pressed trousers and shiny black shoes. He told me that the country was exhausted by war and was not a threat to its neighbours or to the West, insisting that they would govern for all Syrians. It was a message that many Syrians and foreign governments wanted to hear.

Israel dismissed it, however. And jihadist hardliners branded Sharaa as a traitor, selling out his religion and his own history.

I had packed in a hurry to report on a war, never expecting the regime to crumble so fast. My formal attire was back at home in London. After the interview one of his aides complained that I should have worn a suit to interview a national leader.

His grumble was about more than my sartorial choices. It was the continuation of a long campaign that had started years earlier as Sharaa built up his power in Idlib. The campaign was designed to present him as a man who had outgrown his jihadist roots to become a worthy leader of all Syria, a leader the rest of the world should take seriously and treat with respect.

A weakened IS in Syria

Sharaa took power amid huge uncertainty about what he might do, and what might be done to him by his enemies. Among them were dark fears that the jihadist extremists of Islamic State, still existing in sleeper cells, could try to kill him, or cause chaos with mass casualty attacks in Damascus.

Jihadists rage on social media about Sharaa's charm offensive in the west. After he agreed to join the US-led coalition against Islamic State, prominent voices online branded him an apostate, a Muslim who had turned on his own religion. Extremists could take that as a licence to kill.

The reality is that IS in Syria is weak. Its attacks this year have been mostly against Kurdish-led forces in the north-east.

That has changed in the last few weeks, leading up to the anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime.

As security forces have raided IS cells, the jihadists have killed three soldiers and two former Assad operatives in cities controlled by the government, according to data collected by Charles Lister, a leading commentator on Syria, and published in the newsletter Syria Weekly. IS social media channels monitored by the BBC continue to tell Syrian Sunnis that Sharaa has betrayed them.

Without producing any proof, they have posted claims that he has been an agent of the US and UK, working to undermine the jihadist project.

Winning over Trump and the west

Sharaa's overtures to the west have been remarkably successful.

Within two weeks of taking power in Syria, he received a delegation of senior American diplomats. Immediately, the Americans scrapped the $10 million bounty the they had put on his arrest.

Since then, sanctions imposed on Assad's Syria have been steadily reduced. The most swingeing, the Caesar Act, has been suspended and could be repealed by the US Congress in the new year.

A major milestone came in November when Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit the White House.

Trump's welcome in the Oval Office was relaxed. He sprayed Sharaa with Trump-branded cologne, before presenting him with his own supply to take home for his wife, jokingly asking him how many he has. "One," Sharaa answered, as he blinked away clouds of fragrance.

Away from the larking around for the cameras, Saudi Arabia as well as western governments see Sharaa as the best bet – the only one – to stabilise a country that sits at the heart of the Middle East.

If Syria slipped back into civil war, there would be zero chance of reducing the violent turbulence in the region.

One senior western diplomat told me that the conditions for civil war still exist. That is because of the lasting scars of half a century of dictatorship and 14 years of a war that started as an uprising against the Assads' oppressive rule and turned into an increasingly sectarian fight.

Sharaa is a Sunni Muslim, Syria's largest religious group. His government does not control the whole country. In the last year he has not been able to persuade, or force, Kurds in the north-east and Druze in the south to accept the authority of Damascus. On the coast, the Alawite community is nervous and restive.

The Alawites are a sect that originated in Shia Islam, with their heartland on Syria's Mediterranean coast. The Assads are Alawites.

The founder of the regime, Bashar's father Hafez al-Assad built his power on the Alawite minority, around 10% of the population. Just the sound of the Alawite accent, especially coming from a man in uniform – or worse, a leather-jacketed operative from one of the regime's intelligence agencies – used to make other Syrians nervous.

Syria will not recover if sectarian killing continues. Stopping more serious outbreaks of violence in the next 12 months is the government's most serious challenge.

The slow pace of justice

Just before the anniversary of Assad's fall, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) expressed serious concern about the slow pace of justice. A spokesman said that "While the interim authorities have taken encouraging steps towards addressing past violations, these steps are only the beginning of what needs to be done."

Some Syrians have taken matters into their own hands, along, at times, with government forces. The OHCHR said that the hundreds have been killed over the past year "by the security forces and affiliated groups, elements associated with the former government, local armed groups and unidentified armed individuals".

They added: "Other reported violations and abuses include sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, destruction of homes, forced evictions, and restrictions on freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly."

Alawite, Druze, Christian and Bedouin communities were mainly affected by the violence, the OHCHR said, which has been fed by rising hate speech both on- and offline.

A big risk for 2026 is a repeat of last March's sectarian violence in Alawite areas.

In the security vacuum that followed the fall of the Assad regime, the new government attempted to stamp its authority on the Syrian coast with a series of arrests. An investigation by OCHCR found that "pro-former government fighters responded by capturing, killing, and injuring hundreds of interim government forces".

Damascus responded harshly and lost control of militant armed factions that carried a systematic series of deadly attacks on Alawites.

The UN found that some 1,400 people, predominantly civilians, were reported killed in the ensuing massacres. The vast majority were adult men, but victims included approximately 100 women, the elderly and the disabled, as well as children.

The Sharaa government cooperated with the UN investigation. Some of its forces managed to rescue Alawites and it has put some of the ringleaders of the massacres on trial.

The UN Syria Commission of Inquiry confirmed it had found no evidence the authorities had ordered the attacks. But the concern then and for the future was that the Damascus government could not control armed Sunni groups that had supposedly joined its security forces.

In July in the southern province of Sweida, serious violence between Druze and Bedouin communities shook the Sharaa administration to its roots. The Druze religion developed out of Islam around a thousand years ago, and its followers, who some Muslims believe are heretics, amount to around 3% of Syria's population.

When government forces entered Sweida, supposedly to restore order, they ended up fighting Druze militias. Israel, which has its own Druze community that is fiercely loyal to the Jewish state, intervened. Its airstrikes included the near destruction of the ministry of defence in Damascus.

It took a rapid American intervention to force a ceasefire that stopped a spiral down into much worse violence. Tens of thousands of people were driven from their homes and remain displaced.

The Israel question

It is still not clear whether Sharaa and his interim government are strong enough to survive another crisis as serious as that. Israel remains a looming and dangerous presence to Syrians.

After the fall of Assad, the Israelis launched a series of major air strikes to destroy what was left of the old regime's military capacity. The IDF advanced out of the occupied Golan Heights to take control of more Syrian territory, which it still holds.

Officials stressed at the time that Israel was acting in its own national security interests. They said the aim was to stop weapons that the regime held falling into the wrong hands or being turned in its direction.

Attempts by the US to broker a security agreement between Israel and Syria have stalled in the last two months or so.

Syria wants to return to an agreement originally negotiated by Henry Kissinger when he was US Secretary of State in 1974. Netanyahu wants Israel to stay in the land it seized and has demanded that Syria demilitarises a large area south of Damascus.

In the last month Israel has intensified its ground incursions into Syria. Syria Weekly, which collects data on violence, calculates that there were more than twice as many as the monthly average for the rest of the year.

We visited the border village of Beit Jinn, which was raided by IDF troops on 28 November. The IDF said they were arresting Sunni militants who were planning attacks.

Local men fought back, wounding six Israelis as the raiding party was forced into a hurried retreat, abandoning a military vehicle that they later destroyed with an airstrike. The Israelis killed at least 13 local people and wounded dozens, state media reported.

It was a sign of how hard it will be to broker a security deal between Syria and Israel. The Damascus government called it a war crime. Calls for retaliation intensified.

In Washington, Trump was clearly worried by the raid. He posted on his Truth Social platform that he was "very satisfied" with Sharaa's efforts at stabilising Syria.

He warned that it was "very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria's evolution into a prosperous state".

In Beit Jinn I met Khalil Abu Daher on his way back from hospital, his arm in plaster after surgery for a bullet wound. He invited me to his home, which is close to where the Israelis were exchanging fire with village men.

Khalil told me he was here with his family when the Israelis entered the village at 03:30 am. They tried to find a safe place.

"I was in my house with my children. We went from one room to another. They shot at my two daughters. One was hit, and the other died instantly. When I picked her up, I was shot in the hand."

The dead girl was 17-year-old Hiba Abu Daher, who was shot in the stomach. They sheltered, Khalil said, alongside Hiba's dead body for two hours before they were rescued and taken to hospital.

When I visited, Khalil's nine-year-old daughter was lying on a blanket on the sofa, recovering from surgery to take a bullet out of her hip.

The girls' mother, Umm Mohammad, sat with the women of the family, desperately worried about the future.

"We want peace of mind," she told me. "We want to live in our homes, and we want a clinic and medical staff because we don't have one.

"We also want a doctor because there isn't one in Beit Jinn, nor is there a pharmacy. We want security."

'We go to sleep and wake up afraid'

A year after the end of Assad's rule, Syria's new rulers have scored some important achievements.

They are still in power, which was not guaranteed when they took Damascus. President Trump has become Sharaa's most important backer. Sanctions are being lifted. The economy is showing signs of life and business deals are being done, including modernising oil and gas installations and privatising the airports in Damascus and Aleppo.

But deals that are in the pipeline have not yet changed the lives of most Syrians. The government has no rebuilding fund. Reconstruction is up to individuals. Sectarian tensions are unresolved and could ignite again. The US-mediated dialogue with Israel has stalled.

Benjamin Netanyahu insists that Damascus might demilitarise a large area of southern Syria and shows no signs of ordering the IDF to pull back. Both points amount to a major violation of Syrian sovereignty. The Beit Jinn raid makes it harder for Damascus to offer concessions.

Government in Damascus is centred on Sharaa himself, assisted by the foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani and a few trusted associates. No serious attempt seems to be happening to create an accountable framework of government.

Syria without the Assad family is a better place. But Umm Mohammad summed up the feelings of far too many Syrians.

"The future is difficult. We have nothing, not even schools. Our children are living in hell here. There is no safety for them. How will we live?

"We want safety. We go to sleep and wake up afraid."

Top picture credits: AFP via Getty Images and Anadolu via Getty Images

BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. You can now sign up for notifications that will alert you whenever an InDepth story is published - click here to find out how

A year ago, the war that President Bashar al-Assad seemed to have won was turned upside down.

A rebel force had broken out of Idlib, a Syrian province on the border with Turkey, and was storming towards Damascus. It was led by a man known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, and his militia group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Jolani was a nom-de-guerre, reflecting his family's roots in the Golan Heights, Syria's southern highlands, annexed by Israel after it was occupied in 1967. His real name is Ahmed al-Sharaa.

One year later, he is interim president, and Bashar al-Assad is in a gilded exile in Russia.

Syria is still in ruins. In every city and village I have visited this last 10 days, people were living in skeletal buildings gutted by war. But for all the new Syria's problems, it feels much lighter without the crushing, cruel weight of the Assads.

Sharaa has found the going easier abroad than at home. He has won the argument with Saudi Arabia and the West that he is Syria's best chance of a stable future.

In May, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia arranged a brief meeting between al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump. Afterwards, Trump called him a "young attractive tough guy".

At home, Syrians know his weaknesses and the problems Syria faces better than foreigners. Sharaa's writ does not run in the north-east, where the Kurds are in control, or parts of the south where Syrian Druze, another minority sect, want a separate state backed by their Israeli allies.

On the coast Alawites – Assad's sect – fear a repeat of the massacres they suffered in March.

A year ago, the new masters of Damascus, like most of the armed rebels in Syria, were Sunni Islamists. Sharaa, their leader, had a long history fighting for al-Qaeda in Iraq, where he had been imprisoned by the Americans, and then was a senior commander with the group that became Islamic State.

Later, as he built his power base in Syria, he broke with and fought both IS and al-Qaeda.

People who had travelled to Idlib to see him said that he had developed a much more pragmatic set of beliefs, better suited to governing Syria, with its spectrum of religious sects. Sunnis are the majority. As well as Kurds and Druze, there are Christians, many of whom find it hard to forget Sharaa's jihadist past.

Image of a man who outgrew his jihadist roots

In the first week of December last year, it was hard to believe that the HTS offensive was moving so fast. It took them three days to capture Aleppo, Syria's northern powerhouse.

Compare that with the tortured years between 2012 and 2016, when the regime's army and rebel militias had fought for control of the city: that had ended in victory for Assad after Russia's president Vladimir Putin deployed his air force and artillery to add decisive firepower to the regime's ruthless tactics.

When I visited the former rebel strongholds in eastern Aleppo a few weeks after they had fallen to the regime, large areas were devastated by Russian bombing. Some streets were blocked by rubble that went up to first-floor balconies.

But by the end of 2024, across the country, government troops had melted away. Both reluctant conscripts and regime loyalists were no longer prepared to fight and die for a corrupt and cruel regime that repaid them with poverty and oppression.

A few days after Assad fled with his family to Russia, I interviewed Syria's victorious new leader in the presidential palace.

It perches high on a crag overlooking Damascus, designed as an ever-visible reminder for the city's citizens of the all-seeing power of the Assads. By then Jolani had discarded his name, along with his combat fatigues.

Sharaa sat down in the chilly halls of the unheated palace wearing a smart jacket, pressed trousers and shiny black shoes. He told me that the country was exhausted by war and was not a threat to its neighbours or to the West, insisting that they would govern for all Syrians. It was a message that many Syrians and foreign governments wanted to hear.

Israel dismissed it, however. And jihadist hardliners branded Sharaa as a traitor, selling out his religion and his own history.

I had packed in a hurry to report on a war, never expecting the regime to crumble so fast. My formal attire was back at home in London. After the interview one of his aides complained that I should have worn a suit to interview a national leader.

His grumble was about more than my sartorial choices. It was the continuation of a long campaign that had started years earlier as Sharaa built up his power in Idlib. The campaign was designed to present him as a man who had outgrown his jihadist roots to become a worthy leader of all Syria, a leader the rest of the world should take seriously and treat with respect.

A weakened IS in Syria

Sharaa took power amid huge uncertainty about what he might do, and what might be done to him by his enemies. Among them were dark fears that the jihadist extremists of Islamic State, still existing in sleeper cells, could try to kill him, or cause chaos with mass casualty attacks in Damascus.

Jihadists rage on social media about Sharaa's charm offensive in the west. After he agreed to join the US-led coalition against Islamic State, prominent voices online branded him an apostate, a Muslim who had turned on his own religion. Extremists could take that as a licence to kill.

The reality is that IS in Syria is weak. Its attacks this year have been mostly against Kurdish-led forces in the north-east.

That has changed in the last few weeks, leading up to the anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime.

As security forces have raided IS cells, the jihadists have killed three soldiers and two former Assad operatives in cities controlled by the government, according to data collected by Charles Lister, a leading commentator on Syria, and published in the newsletter Syria Weekly. IS social media channels monitored by the BBC continue to tell Syrian Sunnis that Sharaa has betrayed them.

Without producing any proof, they have posted claims that he has been an agent of the US and UK, working to undermine the jihadist project.

Winning over Trump and the west

Sharaa's overtures to the west have been remarkably successful.

Within two weeks of taking power in Syria, he received a delegation of senior American diplomats. Immediately, the Americans scrapped the $10 million bounty the they had put on his arrest.

Since then, sanctions imposed on Assad's Syria have been steadily reduced. The most swingeing, the Caesar Act, has been suspended and could be repealed by the US Congress in the new year.

A major milestone came in November when Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit the White House.

Trump's welcome in the Oval Office was relaxed. He sprayed Sharaa with Trump-branded cologne, before presenting him with his own supply to take home for his wife, jokingly asking him how many he has. "One," Sharaa answered, as he blinked away clouds of fragrance.

Away from the larking around for the cameras, Saudi Arabia as well as western governments see Sharaa as the best bet – the only one – to stabilise a country that sits at the heart of the Middle East.

If Syria slipped back into civil war, there would be zero chance of reducing the violent turbulence in the region.

One senior western diplomat told me that the conditions for civil war still exist. That is because of the lasting scars of half a century of dictatorship and 14 years of a war that started as an uprising against the Assads' oppressive rule and turned into an increasingly sectarian fight.

Sharaa is a Sunni Muslim, Syria's largest religious group. His government does not control the whole country. In the last year he has not been able to persuade, or force, Kurds in the north-east and Druze in the south to accept the authority of Damascus. On the coast, the Alawite community is nervous and restive.

The Alawites are a sect that originated in Shia Islam, with their heartland on Syria's Mediterranean coast. The Assads are Alawites.

The founder of the regime, Bashar's father Hafez al-Assad built his power on the Alawite minority, around 10% of the population. Just the sound of the Alawite accent, especially coming from a man in uniform – or worse, a leather-jacketed operative from one of the regime's intelligence agencies – used to make other Syrians nervous.

Syria will not recover if sectarian killing continues. Stopping more serious outbreaks of violence in the next 12 months is the government's most serious challenge.

The slow pace of justice

Just before the anniversary of Assad's fall, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) expressed serious concern about the slow pace of justice. A spokesman said that "While the interim authorities have taken encouraging steps towards addressing past violations, these steps are only the beginning of what needs to be done."

Some Syrians have taken matters into their own hands, along, at times, with government forces. The OHCHR said that the hundreds have been killed over the past year "by the security forces and affiliated groups, elements associated with the former government, local armed groups and unidentified armed individuals".

They added: "Other reported violations and abuses include sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, destruction of homes, forced evictions, and restrictions on freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly."

Alawite, Druze, Christian and Bedouin communities were mainly affected by the violence, the OHCHR said, which has been fed by rising hate speech both on- and offline.

A big risk for 2026 is a repeat of last March's sectarian violence in Alawite areas.

In the security vacuum that followed the fall of the Assad regime, the new government attempted to stamp its authority on the Syrian coast with a series of arrests. An investigation by OCHCR found that "pro-former government fighters responded by capturing, killing, and injuring hundreds of interim government forces".

Damascus responded harshly and lost control of militant armed factions that carried a systematic series of deadly attacks on Alawites.

The UN found that some 1,400 people, predominantly civilians, were reported killed in the ensuing massacres. The vast majority were adult men, but victims included approximately 100 women, the elderly and the disabled, as well as children.

The Sharaa government cooperated with the UN investigation. Some of its forces managed to rescue Alawites and it has put some of the ringleaders of the massacres on trial.

The UN Syria Commission of Inquiry confirmed it had found no evidence the authorities had ordered the attacks. But the concern then and for the future was that the Damascus government could not control armed Sunni groups that had supposedly joined its security forces.

In July in the southern province of Sweida, serious violence between Druze and Bedouin communities shook the Sharaa administration to its roots. The Druze religion developed out of Islam around a thousand years ago, and its followers, who some Muslims believe are heretics, amount to around 3% of Syria's population.

When government forces entered Sweida, supposedly to restore order, they ended up fighting Druze militias. Israel, which has its own Druze community that is fiercely loyal to the Jewish state, intervened. Its airstrikes included the near destruction of the ministry of defence in Damascus.

It took a rapid American intervention to force a ceasefire that stopped a spiral down into much worse violence. Tens of thousands of people were driven from their homes and remain displaced.

The Israel question

It is still not clear whether Sharaa and his interim government are strong enough to survive another crisis as serious as that. Israel remains a looming and dangerous presence to Syrians.

After the fall of Assad, the Israelis launched a series of major air strikes to destroy what was left of the old regime's military capacity. The IDF advanced out of the occupied Golan Heights to take control of more Syrian territory, which it still holds.

Officials stressed at the time that Israel was acting in its own national security interests. They said the aim was to stop weapons that the regime held falling into the wrong hands or being turned in its direction.

Attempts by the US to broker a security agreement between Israel and Syria have stalled in the last two months or so.

Syria wants to return to an agreement originally negotiated by Henry Kissinger when he was US Secretary of State in 1974. Netanyahu wants Israel to stay in the land it seized and has demanded that Syria demilitarises a large area south of Damascus.

In the last month Israel has intensified its ground incursions into Syria. Syria Weekly, which collects data on violence, calculates that there were more than twice as many as the monthly average for the rest of the year.

We visited the border village of Beit Jinn, which was raided by IDF troops on 28 November. The IDF said they were arresting Sunni militants who were planning attacks.

Local men fought back, wounding six Israelis as the raiding party was forced into a hurried retreat, abandoning a military vehicle that they later destroyed with an airstrike. The Israelis killed at least 13 local people and wounded dozens, state media reported.

It was a sign of how hard it will be to broker a security deal between Syria and Israel. The Damascus government called it a war crime. Calls for retaliation intensified.

In Washington, Trump was clearly worried by the raid. He posted on his Truth Social platform that he was "very satisfied" with Sharaa's efforts at stabilising Syria.

He warned that it was "very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria's evolution into a prosperous state".

In Beit Jinn I met Khalil Abu Daher on his way back from hospital, his arm in plaster after surgery for a bullet wound. He invited me to his home, which is close to where the Israelis were exchanging fire with village men.

Khalil told me he was here with his family when the Israelis entered the village at 03:30 am. They tried to find a safe place.

"I was in my house with my children. We went from one room to another. They shot at my two daughters. One was hit, and the other died instantly. When I picked her up, I was shot in the hand."

The dead girl was 17-year-old Hiba Abu Daher, who was shot in the stomach. They sheltered, Khalil said, alongside Hiba's dead body for two hours before they were rescued and taken to hospital.

When I visited, Khalil's nine-year-old daughter was lying on a blanket on the sofa, recovering from surgery to take a bullet out of her hip.

The girls' mother, Umm Mohammad, sat with the women of the family, desperately worried about the future.

"We want peace of mind," she told me. "We want to live in our homes, and we want a clinic and medical staff because we don't have one.

"We also want a doctor because there isn't one in Beit Jinn, nor is there a pharmacy. We want security."

'We go to sleep and wake up afraid'

A year after the end of Assad's rule, Syria's new rulers have scored some important achievements.

They are still in power, which was not guaranteed when they took Damascus. President Trump has become Sharaa's most important backer. Sanctions are being lifted. The economy is showing signs of life and business deals are being done, including modernising oil and gas installations and privatising the airports in Damascus and Aleppo.

But deals that are in the pipeline have not yet changed the lives of most Syrians. The government has no rebuilding fund. Reconstruction is up to individuals. Sectarian tensions are unresolved and could ignite again. The US-mediated dialogue with Israel has stalled.

Benjamin Netanyahu insists that Damascus might demilitarise a large area of southern Syria and shows no signs of ordering the IDF to pull back. Both points amount to a major violation of Syrian sovereignty. The Beit Jinn raid makes it harder for Damascus to offer concessions.

Government in Damascus is centred on Sharaa himself, assisted by the foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani and a few trusted associates. No serious attempt seems to be happening to create an accountable framework of government.

Syria without the Assad family is a better place. But Umm Mohammad summed up the feelings of far too many Syrians.

"The future is difficult. We have nothing, not even schools. Our children are living in hell here. There is no safety for them. How will we live?

"We want safety. We go to sleep and wake up afraid."

Top picture credits: AFP via Getty Images and Anadolu via Getty Images

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Driving instructors are being offered kickbacks of up to £250 a month to sell their official test-booking login details to touts, a BBC investigation has found.

Touts use these login details to book driving tests in bulk and sell them to learners on WhatsApp and Facebook, charging as much as £500 for tests that should cost no more than £75. This makes it harder for learners to book through legitimate routes and adds to already lengthy waiting times.

We have also uncovered evidence that the outgoing head of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Loveday Ryder, was told about these operations in February - yet some sellers reported to the DVSA are still operating. In response, the DVSA said it does not comment on specific complaints but has zero tolerance for those exploiting learner drivers.

We have identified touts operating in London, Birmingham, Manchester and the Home Counties. Posing as driving instructors, we approached them on WhatsApp and were offered monthly payments in exchange for login details to the DVSA's system, where instructors can book tests.

One tout boasted he worked with more than 1,000 instructors - while another, Anil Ahmed, who goes by the name "Ahadeen", said he signed up two instructors every week. We could not independently verify either of these claims. When we later confronted Mr Ahmed in person he denied any involvement, but we have found significant evidence implicating him.

We have not been able to identify specific driving instructors selling their details but our conversations with these touts, the sheer volume of tests they are selling, and images of test-booking systems shared on WhatsApp suggest hundreds of rogue instructors might be involved.

Separately, 30 instructors we spoke to across Great Britain - England, Scotland and Wales - said they had heard of test slots being sold at huge mark-ups. Ten of them told us they had been approached by touts or had spoken to other instructors who had been.

At the end of October, 642,000 learners in Great Britain were waiting to take a test, with an average wait time of 21 weeks, DVSA data shows. There is a separate system in Northern Ireland.

Waits can be as long as six months, according to learners we spoke to - some say they are turning to touts out of desperation. A recent DVSA survey suggested about one in three learners had used "third parties" to book their driving tests.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander recently announced plans to change driving test rules, which it is hoped will stop touts and reduce the backlog. From the spring, only learners - not instructors - will be able to book test slots.

Instructors we spoke to welcomed the Department of Transport's (DfT) proposals, but also said they had been raising these issues for some time and now want to know whether the government will root out rogue teachers. Tests have been bulk-booked and resold for profit for years, but these instructors say it is now getting much worse.

We were first alerted to the concerns about touts by an instructor in West Yorkshire, who emailed the BBC's Your Voice inbox.

They told us they had been approached by someone offering £250 a month to buy their login details to the system that instructors use to book tests, called Online Business Service (OBS). Learner drivers can only book one test, but instructors can book multiple slots at different locations.

We decided to investigate and immediately found Facebook groups, Snapchat accounts and WhatsApp communities where hundreds of test slots were being posted for sale every day, costing up to £500 each.

The names of certain resellers popped up frequently and it was clear from the volume of tests being advertised that they had gained access to OBS.

The shady system we uncovered appears to work as follows.

Once touts are able to login, they then use learners' licence details - harvested from customers buying tests from them - to book slots, which they then sell at inflated prices to other learners desperate to ditch their L plates.

Using people's licenses to book tests may breach data protection laws. The behaviour of some instructors would also appear to be a violation of DVSA terms.

During our investigation frustrated instructors emailed us - alongside irate learners and their parents - many of them sick at the idea of learners feeling they had to pay touts to get a test.

Ian Pinto from St Albans in Hertfordshire - whose children, aged 20 and 18, have spent the past two years trying to get driving tests - said: "These people are taking advantage of kids and I don't want my kids' friends being taken advantage of by these guys."

One of the most popular resellers in Mr Pinto's area is "Ahadeen". We linked Ahadeen's mobile phone number to a Facebook profile connected to Anil Ahmed - a 34-year-old who lives in Luton.

Posing as a driving instructor, we got in touch with the tout via WhatsApp and arranged a call.

"I sign up two driving instructors a week," he boasted. Unlike other touts we contacted, he also claimed to have staff logged in as instructors all day, booking every test they could.

"I'm going to guarantee you £100 a month into your account every month… send me the login details," he said.

The tout told us he could get driving tests at any centre in Great Britain and sell them to learners for between £222 and £242 per test.

Practical tests cost £62 from the DVSA - or £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays - so he would make at least £140 on every test he sold.

He explained how we, as a driving instructor, could buy a test slot from him for £192 and then sell it to a learner driver for up to £300, though he did add that this mark-up is perhaps "unethical".

After our phone call, we made a fresh approach - via Facebook - to meet the tout in person. This helped us confirm Ahadeen's identity as Anil Ahmed, as he gave us a phone number that was the same one we had WhatsApped Ahadeen on, and an address that public records show is linked to the name Anil Ahmed.

We have also seen bank details used to buy a test from "Ahadeen" - the name on that account is Anil Ahmed.

When confronted in person, he refused to directly answer our questions and tried to deny being Mr Ahmed, even though he responded to the name Anil as we approached him.

Later in the conversation he told us that everything we were putting to him was a "complete fabrication".

Anil Ahmed is not the only driving-test tout we spoke to.

Khalid sells tests in the West Midlands.

We posed as an instructor again, and Khalid offered us £250 a month for our logins. He said he used a "machine that automatically picks tests" on OBS accounts, and said he had "over 1,000 partner" instructors.

For every other instructor we helped signed up, he also told us, he would add £50 to our monthly payment. He claimed some instructors were making more than £500 a month from this.

A third tout - Jamal, who operates in the Home Counties - did not try to buy our login details but offered to sell us tests.

From WhatsApp conversations we have seen, it appears Jamal and Khalid are working together.

Driving instructor Peter Brooks, who teaches in Oxfordshire, wrote a letter in February to the head of the DVSA, Loveday Ryder, providing evidence that he and colleagues had gathered on Jamal. The BBC has seen this letter.

"They never seemed to realise that we were telling them that people were paying instructors for their logins. Nothing has ever happened and this Jamal character is still selling tests to this day. It makes me very angry."

• All you need to know about the new driving test rules

We put all of this to the DVSA. It told us that it does not comment on individual complaints, but added that any instructors who are involved in these schemes may be investigated.

In a subsequent FOI response, the DVSA told us that as of the 17 November it had closed 346 OBS accounts belonging to driving instructors for breaches of terms and conditions.

The DfT says the changes it is planning to introduce next spring will help clamp down on abuse of the system. In the meantime, however, learners who need a test may feel forced to pay the touts.

At Great Britain's busiest driving test centre, Goodmayes in east London, 23-year-old student Md Rahmath Ullah Mehedi told us he had paid a tout £120 for a slot in March.

"Going through these people seems like the only way. If I could afford it, I'd pay again for a test even sooner but they're asking for £400-£500 for tests in December."

His instructor, Asif Darbar, who runs Busy Bee Driving School, said he couldn't remember the last time one of his students booked a test through the official route.

Another instructor, Jag Singh, told us: "One of my students just failed and he was in tears because his parents are going to have to pay over £500 for another test. It's a vicious cycle."

He said the idea that other instructors were potentially involved made his "blood boil".

"We're out here trying to work, making ends meet, and these guys are sat at home making hundreds and hundreds of pounds."

Additional reporting by Sophie Wallace, Rozina Sini and Stephen West.

Driving instructors are being offered kickbacks of up to £250 a month to sell their official test-booking login details to touts, a BBC investigation has found.

Touts use these login details to book driving tests in bulk and sell them to learners on WhatsApp and Facebook, charging as much as £500 for tests that should cost no more than £75. This makes it harder for learners to book through legitimate routes and adds to already lengthy waiting times.

We have also uncovered evidence that the outgoing head of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Loveday Ryder, was told about these operations in February - yet some sellers reported to the DVSA are still operating. In response, the DVSA said it does not comment on specific complaints but has zero tolerance for those exploiting learner drivers.

We have identified touts operating in London, Birmingham, Manchester and the Home Counties. Posing as driving instructors, we approached them on WhatsApp and were offered monthly payments in exchange for login details to the DVSA's system, where instructors can book tests.

One tout boasted he worked with more than 1,000 instructors - while another, Anil Ahmed, who goes by the name "Ahadeen", said he signed up two instructors every week. We could not independently verify either of these claims. When we later confronted Mr Ahmed in person he denied any involvement, but we have found significant evidence implicating him.

We have not been able to identify specific driving instructors selling their details but our conversations with these touts, the sheer volume of tests they are selling, and images of test-booking systems shared on WhatsApp suggest hundreds of rogue instructors might be involved.

Separately, 30 instructors we spoke to across Great Britain - England, Scotland and Wales - said they had heard of test slots being sold at huge mark-ups. Ten of them told us they had been approached by touts or had spoken to other instructors who had been.

At the end of October, 642,000 learners in Great Britain were waiting to take a test, with an average wait time of 21 weeks, DVSA data shows. There is a separate system in Northern Ireland.

Waits can be as long as six months, according to learners we spoke to - some say they are turning to touts out of desperation. A recent DVSA survey suggested about one in three learners had used "third parties" to book their driving tests.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander recently announced plans to change driving test rules, which it is hoped will stop touts and reduce the backlog. From the spring, only learners - not instructors - will be able to book test slots.

Instructors we spoke to welcomed the Department of Transport's (DfT) proposals, but also said they had been raising these issues for some time and now want to know whether the government will root out rogue teachers. Tests have been bulk-booked and resold for profit for years, but these instructors say it is now getting much worse.

We were first alerted to the concerns about touts by an instructor in West Yorkshire, who emailed the BBC's Your Voice inbox.

They told us they had been approached by someone offering £250 a month to buy their login details to the system that instructors use to book tests, called Online Business Service (OBS). Learner drivers can only book one test, but instructors can book multiple slots at different locations.

We decided to investigate and immediately found Facebook groups, Snapchat accounts and WhatsApp communities where hundreds of test slots were being posted for sale every day, costing up to £500 each.

The names of certain resellers popped up frequently and it was clear from the volume of tests being advertised that they had gained access to OBS.

The shady system we uncovered appears to work as follows.

Once touts are able to login, they then use learners' licence details - harvested from customers buying tests from them - to book slots, which they then sell at inflated prices to other learners desperate to ditch their L plates.

Using people's licenses to book tests may breach data protection laws. The behaviour of some instructors would also appear to be a violation of DVSA terms.

During our investigation frustrated instructors emailed us - alongside irate learners and their parents - many of them sick at the idea of learners feeling they had to pay touts to get a test.

Ian Pinto from St Albans in Hertfordshire - whose children, aged 20 and 18, have spent the past two years trying to get driving tests - said: "These people are taking advantage of kids and I don't want my kids' friends being taken advantage of by these guys."

One of the most popular resellers in Mr Pinto's area is "Ahadeen". We linked Ahadeen's mobile phone number to a Facebook profile connected to Anil Ahmed - a 34-year-old who lives in Luton.

Posing as a driving instructor, we got in touch with the tout via WhatsApp and arranged a call.

"I sign up two driving instructors a week," he boasted. Unlike other touts we contacted, he also claimed to have staff logged in as instructors all day, booking every test they could.

"I'm going to guarantee you £100 a month into your account every month… send me the login details," he said.

The tout told us he could get driving tests at any centre in Great Britain and sell them to learners for between £222 and £242 per test.

Practical tests cost £62 from the DVSA - or £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays - so he would make at least £140 on every test he sold.

He explained how we, as a driving instructor, could buy a test slot from him for £192 and then sell it to a learner driver for up to £300, though he did add that this mark-up is perhaps "unethical".

After our phone call, we made a fresh approach - via Facebook - to meet the tout in person. This helped us confirm Ahadeen's identity as Anil Ahmed, as he gave us a phone number that was the same one we had WhatsApped Ahadeen on, and an address that public records show is linked to the name Anil Ahmed.

We have also seen bank details used to buy a test from "Ahadeen" - the name on that account is Anil Ahmed.

When confronted in person, he refused to directly answer our questions and tried to deny being Mr Ahmed, even though he responded to the name Anil as we approached him.

Later in the conversation he told us that everything we were putting to him was a "complete fabrication".

Anil Ahmed is not the only driving-test tout we spoke to.

Khalid sells tests in the West Midlands.

We posed as an instructor again, and Khalid offered us £250 a month for our logins. He said he used a "machine that automatically picks tests" on OBS accounts, and said he had "over 1,000 partner" instructors.

For every other instructor we helped signed up, he also told us, he would add £50 to our monthly payment. He claimed some instructors were making more than £500 a month from this.

A third tout - Jamal, who operates in the Home Counties - did not try to buy our login details but offered to sell us tests.

From WhatsApp conversations we have seen, it appears Jamal and Khalid are working together.

Driving instructor Peter Brooks, who teaches in Oxfordshire, wrote a letter in February to the head of the DVSA, Loveday Ryder, providing evidence that he and colleagues had gathered on Jamal. The BBC has seen this letter.

"They never seemed to realise that we were telling them that people were paying instructors for their logins. Nothing has ever happened and this Jamal character is still selling tests to this day. It makes me very angry."

• All you need to know about the new driving test rules

We put all of this to the DVSA. It told us that it does not comment on individual complaints, but added that any instructors who are involved in these schemes may be investigated.

In a subsequent FOI response, the DVSA told us that as of the 17 November it had closed 346 OBS accounts belonging to driving instructors for breaches of terms and conditions.

The DfT says the changes it is planning to introduce next spring will help clamp down on abuse of the system. In the meantime, however, learners who need a test may feel forced to pay the touts.

At Great Britain's busiest driving test centre, Goodmayes in east London, 23-year-old student Md Rahmath Ullah Mehedi told us he had paid a tout £120 for a slot in March.

"Going through these people seems like the only way. If I could afford it, I'd pay again for a test even sooner but they're asking for £400-£500 for tests in December."

His instructor, Asif Darbar, who runs Busy Bee Driving School, said he couldn't remember the last time one of his students booked a test through the official route.

Another instructor, Jag Singh, told us: "One of my students just failed and he was in tears because his parents are going to have to pay over £500 for another test. It's a vicious cycle."

He said the idea that other instructors were potentially involved made his "blood boil".

"We're out here trying to work, making ends meet, and these guys are sat at home making hundreds and hundreds of pounds."

Additional reporting by Sophie Wallace, Rozina Sini and Stephen West.

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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give the order to "kill them all" during a controversial second US military strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, multiple lawmakers have said.

The affirmations by Democratic and Republican lawmakers were made after viewing footage of the double-strike incident on 2 September and hearing from US Navy Adm Frank Bradley in closed-door hearings on Thursday.

The briefing before members of the House of Representatives and then later the Senate came as questions continued around the legality of military force used against suspected drug boats.

The White House has said Adm Bradley was responsible for the move, and that he acted within the law.

Adm Bradley "did the right thing", said Democratic congressman Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, after he heard from the admiral and viewed the video.

"But what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service," Himes said.

"Yes, they were carrying drugs. They were not in the position to continue their mission in any way," Himes added.

After the briefing, Representative Adam Smith, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, released a joint statement with Himes calling for the video to be released publicly.

"The briefing left us with more questions than answers, and Congress must continue to investigate this matter and conduct oversight," they said.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Adm Bradley and Hegseth "did exactly what we would expect them to do".

"I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound to the United States back over so they could stay in the fight," Cotton said.

Republican House Representative Rick Crawford also defended the strikes and said there was "no doubt in my mind" that they were not done in a professional manner.

Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat, said in a statement he was "disturbed" by what he saw, adding that his party would continue to investigate the incident.

The revelation there were two strikes has raised new questions over the legality of the administration's deadly ongoing campaign against boats, due to what the rules of conflict say about targeting wounded combatants.

US President Donald Trump has said he has "no problem" with video of the second strike being made public. Footage of the first strike has already been released.

During the incident, two survivors of the first strike tried to climb back onto the boat before the vessel was hit a second time, US media including CBS reported. A source said the pair appeared to be trying to salvage drugs.

Adm Bradley is also expected to tell the high-ranking US lawmakers on Thursday that the survivors were a legitimate target because their boat was still thought to contain drugs, according to a US official who spoke to the Reuters news agency.

The 2 September incident was the first in a series of ongoing US attacks that have left more than 80 people dead in both the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

While US officials have insisted the attack was lawful, a full picture is still emerging of what happened that day.

The Washington Post was the first to report that two people had survived the first strike on 2 September, and that Hegseth had allegedly ordered a second attack to kill them.

At the time, Hegseth immediately condemned the reporting as "fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory", while Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the "entire narrative was false".

The existence of a second strike was later confirmed by the White House. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the order came not from Hegseth but from Adm Bradley, who acted "well within his authority and the law".

On Tuesday, Hegseth said he had watched the initial strike as it took place before moving on to other meetings. He said he "did not personally see survivors", which he attributed to the flaming wreckage and "the fog of war".

Later that day, the defence secretary recalled, he was informed that Adm Bradley decided to "sink the boat and eliminate the threat", a move he considered justified.

The issue has drawn concern from Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike, many of whom had already criticised the military campaign more generally.

As well as the lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, the US has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean.

Venezuela itself has repeatedly condemned the strikes, and has accused the White House of stoking tensions in the region with the aim of toppling the government.

Trump has claimed that the strikes have led to a massive reduction in drug trafficking through maritime routes, without providing evidence.

Evidence that the targeted individuals in each case were drug traffickers has likewise not been publicly provided.

Multiple experts who spoke to the BBC have raised serious doubts that the second strike on alleged survivors on 2 September could be considered legal under international law.

A former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) previously told the BBC that US air strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats would be treated under international law as crimes against humanity.

"These are criminals, not soldiers. Criminals are civilians," he said.

The survivors may have been subject to protections provided to shipwrecked sailors, or to those given to troops who have been rendered unable to continue fighting.

The Trump administration has cast its operations in the Caribbean as a non-international armed conflict with the alleged drug traffickers.

The rules of engagement in such armed conflicts - as set out in the Geneva Conventions - forbid the targeting of wounded participants, saying that those participants should instead be apprehended and cared for.

Adm Bradley is yet to give any public comment on the matter.

General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to join him for the classified congressional hearing on Thursday, a US official told CBS.

One of the dozens of people who have been killed in the ongoing strikes is believed to be Alejandro Carranza, a Colombian, who was last seen on 14 September.

Carranza's family have now filed a complaint with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington, BBC Mundo has confirmed.

William Li has struggled with the label "hero" since helping his neighbours escape the fire which engulfed the Hong Kong block of flats he had called home since birth.

Instead, he is haunted by guilt that he could have saved more people from the blaze at Wang Fuk Court, which left at least 159 people dead.

"My heart breaks every time someone calls me a hero," says the 40-year-old, breaking down in tears.

A week on from the disaster, firefighters are still combing the complex of seven burnt-out high rises for the remains of 30 of Mr Li's neighbours - people who, like him, had the misfortune to be at home when the deadly fire began.

What caused the fire to start, and why more people did not escape, is now the subject of an independent committee's investigation, ordered by Hong Kong's chief executive.

Already, it has been revealed that non-fire resistant netting had been fitted around the building, and the fire alarms were not working properly.

The fact alarms did not go off was the reason why Mr Li was not more worried when his wife called to tell him a fire had started in their building, Wang Cheong House.

Instead of rushing, he spent almost 10 minutes packing belongings.

But the moment he opened the door, the extent of the disaster was all too clear: he was engulfed in billowing smoke and had to retreat inside his flat.

On the other end of the phone, his wife became hysterical, but Mr Li didn't have time to panic.

He had to put wet towels under the door to stop the smoke from getting in, and tried to work out what to do next.

It was then he heard voices in the corridor, where the air was now so dense with smoke he was unable to see who was calling out. Covering his face with a wet towel, he found two of his neighbours by touch, dragging the couple inside to the relative safety of his flat.

In a neighbouring block, Bai Shui Lin was also trying to help her neighbours.

The 66-year-old is thought to have saved at least three families, banging on their doors to warn them of the fire.

Mrs Bai did not survive, however. Her sons identified her body at the weekend.

"If I'd asked her to leave a minute earlier, I think she would have survived," Yip Ka-Kui told the BBC's US partner, CBS. "But we know her. She wouldn't have left without warning others."

Back in Mr Li's flat, the middle aged couple revealed they had heard another voice in the corridor: a domestic worker calling for an elderly woman. But now, the voice had gone quiet.

This time, Mr Li was unable to help.

"I feel very guilty," he said. "Some people weren't saved and I didn't open my door again and try to find them."

Mr Li does not know yet what happened to the voice in the corridor. Nine Indonesian and one Filipino domestic workers are reportedly among the dead, but others survived - including Rhodora Alcaraz, 28, who was trapped in another flat looking after her employer's three-month-old baby and elderly mother. She too has been hailed a hero for staying by their side.

All three were rescued by firefighters eventually - but not before Ms Alcaraz had sent a series of voice messages to her sister.

"I'm feeling very weak. I can't breathe," she said in one of the clips, Reuters news agency reported.

Mr Li and the couple - named in local media as the Chows - realised they too needed to escape. Several hours had elapsed, and their options were running out.

One fire exit was blocked by the flames, while Mr Li's neighbour believed the other was locked. They decided not to jump out of the second floor window due to the intensity of the fire, and the constant explosions.

A subsidiary of Danish company ISS, the property manager of Wang Fuk Court, has not responded to a BBC inquiry over reports that the emergency exit was locked.

"It was the first time I felt death had something to do with me," says Mr Li.

That's why he started saying goodbye to friends one by one via WhatsApp: "I can't escape," he told them. "If something happens to me take care of my children. Look after yourselves."

About two and a half hours after the blaze began, firefighters finally reached them on an aerial ladder. Mrs Chow told HK01, a Hong Kong-based news outlet, that Mr Li insisted the firefighters should get them out first. "We are older and told him he should leave first. He refused and said he was young and could handle this."

When the firefighters came back for him, Mr Li felt reluctant to leave his home, which was filled with fond memories and treasured collections of photography equipment and toys.

"The fire was telling me that I couldn't take anything away, that I had no right or power to stop it from devouring everything."

Mr Li reunited with his family at a nearby fast food restaurant.

But after he'd reached hospital it took until the early hours of the morning for the true extent of the horror he'd endured to make itself felt.

"I no longer had any strength in me and when I got to the emergency room, my knees gave in. A burning smell lingered in my nose," he says. "I really wanted to wash away the smell."

After being admitted to a ward at 03:00, Mr Li finally had the space to cry and start trying to process the ordeal he had gone through.

"When I had been to hospital before, I wanted to go home as soon as possible," he says. "But this time when the nurse asked me [if I wanted to go home], I wasn't willing to leave. I felt like I was avoiding what I would have to face in the future."

He has however decided to face the trauma upfront – by doing as many interviews as he can.

"I hope many people will come forward to help find the truth," he says. "I hope Wang Fuk Court residents will be given answers and justice."

Additional reporting by Phoebe Kong and Grace Tsoi

Authorities in Hong Kong have ordered the removal of scaffolding mesh from buildings undergoing renovations by Saturday, as investigations continue into the Chinese territory's deadliest blaze in decades.

It is now known that 159 people died as a result of the fire last Wednesday at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex - with 31 still missing.

Investigators have found that a protective netting used around the complex, which had been undergoing extensive renovations, failed to meet flame retardant standards.

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said new guidelines for testing materials used in scaffolding would be issued next week.

Around 200 private residential and 10 public buildings are currently undergoing renovations in Hong Kong.

The South China Morning Post, which is based in the territory, says about 300 buildings will be affected by the removal order.

"I assure the public that we will chase to the end the accountability of any contractors using substandard scaffolding mesh," Linn was quoted as saying.

Samples had already been taken from mesh for testing, she added.

At Wang Fuk Court, flames spread quickly across the separate tower blocks on protective mesh netting and other flammable materials on the outside of the buildings, officials said.

Police have made at least 15 arrests for manslaughter as the investigation into the cause of the fire proceeds.

On Wednesday, they said they had completed their searches of the interiors of all seven of the complex's towers and would now look for bodies in other parts of the buildings such as the remnants of the bamboo scaffolding.

"We have not finished our work," Police Commissioner Joe Chow said.

"As you can see... a lot of bamboo has fallen down. We still need to do some work... to see if any bodies were covered by the bamboo."

He added that 140 of the 159 bodies found to date had been identified and were those of 49 males and 91 females, aged between one and 97, Radio Television Hong Kong reports.

A married couple in their 70s, who lost their home in the blaze, returned to the charred site with their daughter on Wednesday, Reuters news agency reports.

"It all happened within just an hour or two," said the mother, whose name was given only as Leung.

She continued: "I stood there watching as one block after another went up in flames, my legs felt so weak I could hardly stand. When I saw it, I felt completely helpless. I still don't understand how the fire could spread so fiercely, devouring one building after another. It was terrifying.

"The bamboo scaffolding cracked and there was banging that sounded like exploding windows, the flames were completely out of control."

Her daughter, Bonnie, added: "We also hope the truth will come out - whether there were hidden hands behind this, corruption or any improper dealings."

A top US Navy commander ordered a second round of military strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat, the White House has confirmed.

"Admiral (Frank) Bradley worked well within his authority and the law" in ordering the additional strike, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.

Leavitt confirmed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strikes but did not give an order to "kill everybody", as the Washington Post reported. The second strike was reportedly done after two people survived the initial blast and were clinging to the burning vessel.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern over the report and vowed congressional reviews of the strikes.

"President (Donald) Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war," Leavitt said during the Monday press briefing.

The press secretary neither confirmed the first strike left two survivors, nor that the second attack was intended to kill them.

Media reports that Hegseth had given the directive to kill all those on board the vessel during the 2 September strike have renewed concerns about the legality of US military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

Hegseth has pushed back against accusations in the report, calling them "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory". On Monday, he tweeted that Admiral Bradley "is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support.

"I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since."

In recent weeks the US has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean and carried out a series of lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in international waters off Venezuela and Colombia, as part of what it calls an anti-narcotics operation.

More than 80 people have been killed in the strikes since early September.

The Trump administration says it is acting in self-defence by destroying boats carrying illicit drugs to the US.

The attacks have also significantly ramped up tensions with Venezuela. Trump has repeatedly said he is considering the deployment of US ground forces into the country.

They have also led to increased scrutiny among US lawmakers.

Over the weekend, the Senate Armed Services Committee said it would be "conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts" related to the strikes.

Republican chairman of the committee, Senator Roger Wicker, said on Monday that the lawmakers are planning to interview the "admiral that was in charge of the operation". He added that it was also seeking audio and video to "see what the orders were".

The Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives also said it would lead a "bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question".

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a body of the highest-ranking US military officers, met both the House and Senate's armed services committees over the weekend.

Discussions centred around the operations in the region and "the intent and legality of missions to disrupt illicit trafficking networks", the group said.

Multiple experts who spoke to the BBC have raised serious doubts that the second strike on alleged survivors could be considered legal under international law. The survivors may have been subject to protections provided to shipwrecked sailors, or to those given to troops who have been rendered unable to continue fighting.

The Trump administration has said its operations in the Caribbean is a non-international armed conflict with the alleged drug traffickers.

The rules of engagement in such armed conflicts - as set out in the Geneva Conventions - forbid the targeting of wounded participants, saying that those participants should instead be apprehended and cared for.

Under former-President Barack Obama, the US military came under scrutiny for firing multiple rounds from drones, in a practice known as the "double tap", that sometimes resulted in civilian casualties.

On Sunday, Venezuela's National Assembly condemned the boat strikes and vowed to carry out a "rigorous and thorough investigation" into the 2 September strikes.

The Venezuelan government has accused the US of stoking tensions in the region, with the aim of toppling the government.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Trump's allegations stem from "great envy" for the country's natural resources.

He also called for a direct dialogue between the US and Venezuelan governments, "to clear the toxic atmosphere we have witnessed since July of last year".

On Sunday, Trump confirmed that he had held a brief phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in which he pressured him to resign and leave Venezuela with his family.

According to reports, during the call last month, Trump told Maduro that he could go to a destination of his choosing, but only if he agreed to depart immediately. After he refused, Trump posted on social media that the airspace over Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety".

Maduro requested amnesty for his top aides, and that he be allowed to continue control of the military after giving up the government. Trump refused both demands, according to The Miami Post and Reuters, reporting the BBC has not confirmed.

US officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of a "terrorist" organisation called the Cartel of the Suns, which they say includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking. Maduro has denied the claims.

With additional reporting by Lucy Gilder and Thomas Copeland