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In a post on Instagram, the interior design expert said the upcoming eighth season of the makeover show would be his last.
He explained it had "not been an easy decision" but a "necessary one". The 42-year-old has been on the show since its reboot on Netflix in 2018.
The Queer Eye cast said Bobby would "forever" be part of the Fab Five.
Reacting to the announcement, fellow Queer Eye presenter Jonathan Van Ness said: "One of a kind and such a star. Love you Bobby."
Speaking of Bobby, the show's food and wine expert Antoni Porowski said: "#Foreverthefab5 indeed, and don't forget it."
"I'm about to be at Netflix's door and e-mails telling them you can't leave! Who is coming with me? I love you!" said co-host Karamo Brown.
Announcing his departure from the Emmy Award-winning showon social media on Monday, Bobby said: "Although my journey with Queer Eye is over, my journey with you is not. You will be seeing more of me very soon."
Thanking the show's fans, he added they had "embraced me and accepted me for who I am".
Fans on social media have reacted with surprise to the announcement.
"Woken up to find out that Bobby Berk is leaving Queer Eye. What is this?!", tweeted one fan.
"I am officially in a state of mourning pls don't contact me for the next 7-10 working days," said another.
"So do they just like replace Bobby with someone new on Queer Eye," asked one fan.
Netflix has not provided information on whether there will be a replacement for Bobby in the ninth season of the show.
Bobby has not given an explicit reason for his decision to leave.
His announcement comes three months after he announced his father's death in August.
The designer found fame after a troubled childhood.
He has previously spoken about how, at the age of 15, he left home because he did not feel able to come out as gay in his religious family and community in Missouri.
He ended up living in his car and with friends, before later becoming the creative director of a furnishing company and then launching his own interior design business. | Queer Eye co-host Bobby Berk has announced he is leaving the Netflix show with a "heavy heart". | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67413623?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Speaking after the UK's first AI safety summit, the prime minister said the technology would improve the economy in the long term.
He added that new tools should be seen as a "co-pilot" to help people at work, rather than replacing them.
The government's job should be to improve training, he told reporters.
Mr Sunak said he recognised there was "anxiety" about the impact new AI tools could have on the workplace, but said it would enhance productivity over time.
"We should look at AI much more as a co-pilot than something which is necessary going to replace someone's job. AI is a tool that can help almost anybody do their jobs better, faster, quicker.
"My job, the government's job, is to make sure we have a world-class education system," he added.
"That is my answer in a nutshell, that's why I don't want people to be worried, because we are building a world-class education system."
Mr Sunak cited his recently-announced plan to introduce anew qualificationfor all school leavers in England, including some English and maths to 18.
He also suggested efforts to improve technical training, and plans to boost adult education, would ensure that the UK could "reap the benefits of AI economically".
His comments came at a press conference following a two-day summit on artificial intelligence safety attended by 28 countries, including the US and China, alongside tech bosses and academics.
Trade unions, which have complained about not being represented at the event, have called for stronger measures to ensure jobs are protected as AI technology evolves.
At the summit, hosted at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, several leading technology companies agreed to allow governments to safety-test their next generation of AI models before they are deployed.
The voluntary document was signed by 10 countries and the EU, including the UK, US, Singapore and Canada. China was not a signatory.
In a statement, the UK government said it would work with the Alan Turing Institute, a research body, to assess possible risks such as the potential for bias and misinformation.
Mr Sunak said the testing regime would provide some "independent assurance" - adding that the firms developing new models cannot be expected to "make their own homework".
His government has so far declined to announce legislation to regulate AI, arguing that existing regulators are best placed to mitigate the risks whilst the technology evolves.
Mr Sunak told reporters that binding rules would "likely be necessary," but stressed that the technology was still evolving and it was necessary to ensure it is done in "the right way".
Before the summit, various unions and campaign groups warned the event would prove a "missed opportunity".
In an open letter, they argued the event should have focused more on topics such as the impact of AI on employment law and smaller businesses, as well as policing and identity profiling.
The summit has seen countries sign adeclarationpledging more co-operation on research, to ensure the technology develops in a way that is "human-centric, trustworthy and responsible".
Mr Sunak said he hoped the event would become the first in a series, with Korea and France also expressing a willingness to host further summits next year.
Some had criticised the inclusion of China at the event at a time of tense relations with West, despite the country being a key player in AI technology.
Mr Sunak defended the decision to invite the country, adding it "wasn't an easy decision" but that it was the "right long-term decision".
"Any serious conversation about AI safety has to engage the leading AI nations," he added.
On Wednesday, US Vice-President Kamala Harris announced the creation of the US AI Safety Institute, which the White House said would work alongside its UK counterpart.
Ms Harris had called for a focus on the "everyday threats" of AI, such as discrimination and disinformation, as well as "existential" fears.
Earlier in the week, US President Joe Biden also signed an executive order, seeking to ensure "America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks of artificial intelligence".
Some commentators had suggested the US's moves threatened to overshadow the UK's summit.
However, Mr Sunak welcomed the US executive order, calling it "a deep and comprehensive demonstration of the potential of AI". | People should not be worried about the impact of AI on jobs because education reforms will boost skills, Rishi Sunak has said. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67296825?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The warning, from NHS Providers, which represents managers, came after the Treasury rejected pleas for an extra £1bn to cover the cost of strikes.
Recruitment to plug gaps in the workforce was also having to be put on hold, NHS Providers said.
But the government said winter planning was on track.
It pointed out the goal to open 10,000 "virtual" hospitals beds had been met. This is where doctors remotely monitor patients with conditions such as respiratory and heart problems who would otherwise have to be in hospital.
Progress was also being made on opening 5,000 new permanent hospital beds - a 5% increase in numbers, the government said.
"We recognise the challenges the NHS faces over the coming months, which is why we started preparing for winter earlier than ever," a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman added.
But NHS Providers said the steps being taken may be insufficient.
Every winter, to cope with surges in demand, hospitals open extra escalation beds for short periods.
But this year, hospital bosses say, these beds are at risk. And so is staff recruitment - currently one in 10 posts is vacant.
Industrial action is estimated to have cost the health service £1bn this year.
But last week, it was confirmed the Treasury would be giving the NHS only an extra £100m to cover the cost of strikes.
The NHS has been told to find the remaining £900m through savings in others areas such as information technology (IT) and maintenance as well as using £200m of winter money.
Bosses at just over half of trusts responded to an NHS Providers' survey.
Three-quarters said they were facing a worse financial situation than last year, putting patients' safety at risk.
There was "palpable frustration" at the Treasury's unwillingness to provide extra funding, NHS Providers Chief Executive Sir Julian Hartley said. And it would be "really difficult" to reduce the number of people waiting for treatment, which the government has made a key priority.
Figures published last week showed a record 7.8 million people on the waiting list.
There was a "sense of dread" doctors would call further strikes as winter hit, Sir Julian said, with last year having seen record waits for ambulances and in accident-and-emergency departments.
Preliminary talks between the British Medical Association and Steve Barclay had begun, before he was replaced as health secretary, by Victoria Atkins, on Monday.
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Sign up for our morning newsletterand get BBC News in your inbox. | Hospital bosses in England are warning a lack of funds means they are having to scale back on plans to open extra beds to cope with winter. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67408446?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
"Corrupt" Natalie Mottram admitted misconduct in public office, perverting the course of justice and unauthorised access to computer material.
The 25-year-old was caught when the National Crime Agency (NCA) suspected she was responsible for a leak and put her under surveillance.
Mottram was jailed for three years and nine months at Liverpool Crown Court.
The court heard she was employed by Cheshire Police but was on secondment and working as an intelligence analyst at the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit when she was arrested on 12 June 2020.
She was held as part of Operation Venetic, a nationwide investigation tackling communication devices used by criminals.
Mottram, of Vermont Close, Great Sankey, Warrington, told Jonathan Kay, 38, about a covert investigation and that officers had intelligence on him.
On 24 April 2020, a friend of Kay's messaged another user to say he had learned that day about law enforcement infiltrating the EncroChat messaging platform.
And he messaged a second contact: "I no [sic] a lady who works for the police. This is not hearsay. Direct to me. They can access Encro software. And are using to intercept forearms [sic] only at the moment. There [sic] software runs 48 hours behind real time. So have ur burns one day max. And try to avoid giving postcodes over it."
"Burns" refers to the delete-time on messages.
He added: "Her words was are you on Encro, I said no why, I only sell a bit of bud. She said cool just giving you a heads up. Because NCA now have access. But she wouldn't lie."
By 12 June 2020, NCA investigators suspected Mottram was responsible for the leak.
On that day, her bosses asked her to analyse an intelligence log referring to Kay, who was the partner of Mottram's close friend, Leah Bennett, 38.
But the log was bogus and Mottram was under surveillance.
Mottram left work that afternoon and drove to Kay and Bennett's house on Newark Drive in Great Sankey.
At 17:15, Kay - who has convictions for driving offences and being drunk and disorderly - arrived home in his car with Bennett arriving seven minutes later in hers.
The prosecution say this is when Mottram corruptly informed Kay and Bennett about the intelligence log concerning him.
Mottram, Kay, Bennett and another man were all arrested later that day and £200,000 in cash was recovered from Kay and Bennett's house.
Kay, who admitted perverting the course of justice at an earlier hearing, was sentenced to two years and six months in jail.
A charge of perverting the course of justice against Bennett was dropped by prosecutors.
John McKeon, head of the NCA's anti-corruption unit, said: "Natalie Mottram betrayed her job, her colleagues and the public she was paid to protect.
"Her corrupt actions had the potential to hugely damage the overarching investigation by alerting offenders of the need to abandon EncroChat and cover their tracks.
"Her actions were disgraceful. The evidence against her was overwhelming.
"She was left with no option but to finally plead guilty."
Why not follow BBC North West onFacebook,XandInstagram? You can also send story ideas [email protected] | A police employee who tipped off a criminal friend about a covert investigation has been jailed. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-67310315?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
"Justice was was served here," Mr Bickle said soon after, outside the Toronto courthouse. "We are dealing with a systemic monster who used his business talents for evil, to prey on others."
The six-week trial had been the first time Mr Bickle had seen his father since a dinner party in 2019, where he says he saw Nygard inappropriately touch a girl.
"That's where Kai Nygard kind of died," said Mr Bickle, who has since assumed his mother's last name.
The alleged incident was a shock to Mr Bickle, who said he had loved his father. "I knew a different man," he told reporters. "Since then, it's been a massive effort to seek justice."
A lawyer for Nygard did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment regarding his son's accusation. He has previously denied all allegations against him.
Nygard's stunning fall from grace - ending a decades-long career at the helm of a global fashion empire - has been publicly supported by Mr Bickle, who has spent the past four years cooperating with authorities and assisting those who say they were victims of his father's abuse.
After the 2019 dinner party, Mr Bickle said he reported his father to an executive at Nygard's company, but was rebuffed and ridiculed, told by his father he was "mentally unwell".
"I got a taste of what it was like to blow the whistle against a monster or a powerful predator," he said.
Behind the scenes, Mr Bickle made contact with lawyers involved in a civil case against his father, he said, volunteering information to them and to investigators. And at Nygard's company, Mr Bickle said he slowed efforts to liquidate the corporation's assets, waging business battles to delay Nygard from moving them offshore.
"I blew the whistle in September of 2020, calling him out as a flight risk," Mr Bickle said, a move that finally revealed to his father that he was not on his side. "That's when I was shut out from every point of contact."
"It's not a good association to be the son of the monster," he said. "But I couldn't bear the thought of another person being harmed."
His father's Toronto trial centred mostly on the testimony of five women, who testified they were lured by Nygard to a private luxury bedroom in his firm's Toronto headquarters and sexually assaulted. The complainants were between the ages of 16 and 28 during the attacks, which they said occurred between the 1980s and 2005.
But Nygard - who was once estimated to be worth at least $700m (£570m) - has been accused of abuse by dozens of other women. He is still facing another trial in Montreal next year, and assault and confinement charges in Winnipeg.
Once his criminal cases in Canada are completed, he is set to be extradited to the US, where authorities claim he engaged in a "decades-long pattern of criminal conduct" involving at least a dozen victims across the globe. He is currently fighting that extradition.
And two of Mr Bickle's younger brothers have also launched lawsuits against Nygard, accusing their father of hiring a "known sex worker" when they were teens.
Through representatives, Nygard has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing.
"There are so many survivors out there, this is their day," Mr Bickle said.
A sentencing hearing will be set on 21 November. | In a downtown Toronto courtroom on Sunday, as a jury found disgraced fashion mogul Peter Nygard, 82, guilty on four counts of sexual assault, his son Kai Zen Bickle sat in the front row. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67408881?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The first is burned in the memory of any athletics fan who witnessed it in 2004. Wide-open eyes betraying her disbelief, wide-open mouth indicating her cautious hope and toned arms in the air ready to celebrate the moment when she finally became 800m Olympic champion in Athens.
It crowned a career blighted by injury battles, depression and gutsy near-misses for a national hero who had combined the early years of her track career with a job in the Army.
Watch the race againand you can understand why Holmes, then a 34-year-old track veteran, did her famous double-take. She had been seventh at the halfway point and only took the lead in final few metres ahead of dominant three-time world champion Maria Mutola. Days later, the Kent-born runner doubled up with victory in the 1,500m final.
But a second picture that she values is not from that second race, the many awards that followed or even the moment she was appointed Dame Kelly Holmes as Team GB's first female double Olympic-winning athlete. Instead, it came this year when she stepped on the red carpet for an awards event and was joined by her girlfriend - ending a much longer 34-year journey of self-doubt.
Just a year ago, Dame Kelly came out as gay in an ITV documentary, which ended the years of avoiding talking about her personal life. Now she has written the third version of her autobiography and that book, Unique, is the first in which she says she is honest about her sexuality.
Speaking in anemotional interview for BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour,she opened up about why it had taken her so long to go from an 18-year-old who first realised she was gay as a young Army recruit to a 52-year-old woman who was able to deliver seminars on motivational speaking but was nervous about being true to herself.
"I was suppressing who I was as a person," she said. "When you're looking behind your back, when you're worried what people might say, when you think you might get judged or get caught out, you're just holding that back and that caused me a life of mental health problems and years of living in fear."
The reason she kept it secret early in her public life was an obvious one. Until 2000, homosexuality in the armed forces was illegal and Dame Kelly recalled: "I was fearful of losing my career and I loved my career."
She became a full-time athlete in 1997, enjoyed international success and then, after her retirement in 2006, gradually built a third career as a motivational speaker, occasional reality show contestant and regular panellist on ITV's Loose Women. But not once did she let loose on the very personal subject of her love life.
But, as for so many people, the Covid lockdown brought many chances for reflection. She was still grieving the 2017 death of her mother when she was laid low for three weeks with Covid. While ill, she envisioned friends and family speaking about her after her death and sympathetically saying it was a shame she never felt confident enough to "live her life".
One morning, after returning to work, she suffered a moment of anxiety just minutes before she was due to speak via her laptop to a waiting online audience of 500 people. She took 10 months off and decided that she needed to change her life.
Remembering the words of her late mother, Pam Norman, who always knew that Dame Kelly was gay, was a big influence in that. Recalling her grief, Dame Kelly said: "It literally destroyed me, tore a piece of my heart that has never been fixed. I remember her always wanting me to be me, [saying] 'just live your life'."
Having made her announcement, Dame Kelly said she had a new zeal for life. "That change has allowed me to talk authentically and openly, to hopefully not be scared of what people think of me any more," she said.
"It's your problem, not mine, if you judge me. If you cheered me on running around that track with two gold medals for Great Britain, standing on that rostrum with the national anthem playing and I made you proud, then me telling you I'm gay shouldn't change that."
So that is why she is so proud to now pose on the red carpet along with her girlfriend Louise Cullen, first at the Diva Awards in April and then at the European Diversity Awards last Friday.
She said: "I've been to many red carpet events but this time it was nice to be able to take my partner and to not feel embarrassed or worried.
"For her to actually be in a photo⦠was a nice moment."
There are now no regrets about her decision a year ago. "It was the fear of the unknown and I can definitely say that the fear I had for 34 years was not worth it.
"The day I was able to publicly get the words out of my mouth and say I was gay, the relief was enormous. What it allows you to do is to live your life and be you and everyone deserves to be that."
You can hear Dame Kelly's full interview onWoman's Hour via BBC Sounds. | Two dazzling images define truly golden moments in former athlete Kelly Holmes's life. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67419586?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
In the 12 months to October 2023the figure was 4.6%. That means things costing £1 in October 2022 cost almost £1.05 the same time the following year.
Our personal inflation calculator, built by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in collaboration with the BBC, shows you what the inflation rate is for your household, and identifies the items in your household budget that have gone up the most in price over the past year.
Note: in the calculator, the ONS compares your personal inflation rate with CPIH, a measure of inflation that includes housing costs for those who own their home, rather than the more widely-reported measure called CPI. In October 2023 this was 4.7%.
If you can't see the calculator, click here. | Every month there's a new figure for inflation - it estimates how much prices are rising across all the goods and services in the economy. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62558817?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The club have released details of the commemorations for the Red Devils legend, who died on 21 October.
It said his cortege would pass Old Trafford before arriving at Manchester Cathedral at 14:00 GMT on Monday.
A representative said fans were invited to "pay their respects" along the way.
Sir Bobby died after anaccidental fallat The Willows nursing home in Knutsford, an inquest at Cheshire Coroner's Court concluded.
A key member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning team, he played 106 times for his country, scoring 49 goals.
He also made more than 600 appearances for United, winning league, cup and European honours and scoring almost 200 goals between 1956 and 1973.
A club representative said the cortege was expected to pass the United Trinity statue, which depicts Sir Bobby alongside fellow greats Denis Law and George Best, at about 13:30 before journeying to the cathedral in the city centre.
They said fans and members of the public were "invited to pay their respects along the route".
They said the service at the cathedral, which will be led by Canon Nigel Ashworth and include eulogies by family members and the club, would "remain private and will not be broadcast or filmed".
"It is expected that up to 1,000 guests will attend the cathedral to pay their respects to Sir Bobby and celebrate his incredible life as a husband, father, grandfather and, of course, as one of the finest footballers this country has ever produced," they said.
They added that the star's family and the club wanted to "thank everyone for the outpouring of love and respect towards Sir Bobby" and had requested "no flowers", asking people to donate instead to the Children's Adventure Farm Trust, Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's UK or Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation.
Why not follow BBC North West onFacebook,XandInstagram? You can also send story ideas [email protected] | Sir Bobby Charlton's funeral will be a celebration of his "incredible life" as a family man and "one of the finest footballers this country has ever produced", Manchester United have said. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67370106?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Lord Cameron reiterated the UK's support for Ukraine, promising moral, diplomatic and "above all military support for... however long it takes".
Mr Zelensky congratulated Mr Cameron on his new post and thanked him for the UK's continued backing.
Lord Cameron became foreign secretary in a cabinet shuffle on Monday.
"This is very important, especially now, when the world is paying attention not only to the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, and dividing the focus really does not help," the Ukrainian president said, alluding to the Middle East.
"We are grateful for the unwavering support of Ukraine from the United Kingdom. We are grateful for the warm welcome of Ukrainian citizens in the UK. And we are glad that you came to Ukraine," he said.
Mr Zelensky posted a short clip of the meeting to social media, during which Lord Cameron can be heard saying "I wanted this to be my first visit."
"What I want to say by being here is that we will continue to give you the moral support, the diplomatic support and the economic support and above all the military support that you need not just this year and next year but however long as it takes," Lord Cameron said.
The former UK prime minister added: "I've had some disagreements with Boris Johnson, we've known each other for 40 years, but his support for you was the finest thing he and his government did."
Ukraine's foreign ministry said the pair discussed weapons, arms production, and security in the Black Sea.
In a statement following the meeting, Lord Cameron said: "As winter approaches, we continue to stand with the Ukrainian people as they resist Putin's illegal invasion. In the last three months, they have pushed Russia back in the Black Sea and are opening vital sea trade routes for the Ukrainian economy and global food supplies."
Lord Cameron left Ukraine on Thursday afternoon.
The UK has provided Ukraine with billions of pounds in military aid since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.
Military hardware donations have included a number of Challenger 2 tanks and long-range missiles, and tens of thousands of Ukrainian recruits have been trained by the British military on UK soil.
Lord Cameron's visit comes after Ukrainian forcessucceeded in establishing positions across the Dnipro river in southern Ukraine, a potentially significant advance. Local Russian-installed officials acknowledged on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces were present in the village of Krynky, on the Russian-occupied left (east) bank.
The river has separated Ukrainian and Russian forces since Moscow's troops withdrew from Kherson a year ago.
The news has heartened Ukrainians, whose four-month-old counter-offensive has failed to regain significant occupied territory from Russia.
Lord Cameron's new post marks his return to the cabinet table for the first time in more than seven years.
He has replaced James Cleverly, who was moved to be home secretary to take over from Suella Braverman in a dramatical overhaul of Rishi Sunak's cabinet on Monday.
Lord Cameron was prime minister from 2010 to 2016, resigning after the UK voted to leave the EU as he had backed the Remain campaign.
In the time since, Lord Cameron has occupied himself with various business endeavours, charity work, teaching and speaking engagements.
There has been some controversy about Lord Cameron's return to the cabinet, since he is no longer an elected MP and will sit as a peer rather than in the Commons.
Opposition parties and Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle have raised concerns about how MPs will be able to hold Lord Cameron to account, given he will not be in the Commons chamber to take questions during the regular departmental scrutiny sessions.
Instead, those questions will be fielded by the ministers below him at the Foreign Office, including Andrew Mitchell and Anne-Marie Trevelyan. It is not uncommon for deputies to answer for the department, although this normally occurs if the foreign secretary is on diplomatic visits around the world. | New Foreign Secretary David Cameron has made his first working visit to Ukraine, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67436126?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Tom Kelsey, 26, from Lincoln, started a YouTube channel dedicated to the popular game while he was a student at Nottingham Trent University.
He now posts about three videos a week on average and runs his channel from his bedroom at his parents' house.
"It's the freedom that I get from it, that's what I love," he said.
Football Manager, which puts the player in charge of running a football club, first grabbed the attention of gamers in 2004.
The series, developed by Sports Interactive, has continued to grow ever since, with the latest edition - Football Manager 2024 - recently released.
"As [the channel] got more popular and more people started watching it, you start to earn money from the adverts that you see," he Mr Kelsey said.
"Suddenly this became an idea - that I could do this as a job one day."
Mr Kelsey left his job as a business support assistant at Lincolnshire County Council in August 2022 to devote more time to pursuing his ambition.
"In terms of the money I make now, it's double what I was earning in my full-time job before I did YouTube," he said.
"For me to be able to earn that money whilst also being my own boss and having my own choices and not work for someone else is the best part of it."
His online channel has 118,000 subscribers and gets around one million views per month.
"I can easily spend 50 to 60 hours a week playing Football Manager, which may sound like it would drive some people crazy but it's a dream for me," he said.
Hetold the BBChis family and friends were very supportive about his career as a virtual Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.
"It's a very unusual career path when you say you're going to play video games for my job," he said.
"It keeps growing year on year, month on month, so I'll try and do this for as long as I can."
Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire onFacebook,X (formerly Twitter), andInstagram. Send your story ideas [email protected] | A YouTuber who left his council job to play the hit computer game Football Manager full time says he has doubled his salary since ditching his post. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-67406590?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Lily, not her real name, said she was in her final year at Cardiff University when she was raped in March 2021.
She described having to relive her traumatic experiences to the finance team as they chased her for £9,000.
Vice-chancellor Wendy Larner said she wanted to discuss the concerns with students affected by sexual violence.
Four students have expressed concern over a lack of information on support, saying they feel like they were "failed" by staff at the institution.
Lily, 23, said she felt "let down" and believes the university added "unnecessary stress" to her situation, adding: "If the university does offer support, it is not advertised well."
She called for stickers on toilet cubicles explaining help available, saying: "You need to be spoon fed. When you've just been sexually assaulted, your brain is like a puddle of mush".
Lily reported the man to the police and said he was interviewed, but not charged because of a lack of evidence.
After two of her lecturers helped her with coursework extensions, Lily took an interruption of study.
This meant resitting six exams the following year, and a fixed fee of £150 per exam was agreed.
However, when she returned in 2022, she was told she owed £9,000 for the entire academic year.
She said: "I was getting letters saying 'we're going to kick you off your course if you don't pay'.
"It was probably the worst time of my life and instead of getting any kind of support from uni, I was just getting more and more harassment about paying fees."
After months of emails, Lily said she had to go into detail about her traumatic experience to the finance team.
She never received an apology, or support - the finance team just stopped sending her emails.
Lily and other students affected said they had not heard of the Disclosure Response Team (DRT), which is responsible for student support and signposting.
The team received 691 reports of sexual misconduct between the 2017 and 2021 academic years, according to FOI responses.
However, the university also said it does not hold data on sexual violence reports before 2017, and could not provide any for allegations after 2021.
The university said these disclosures were "not always perpetrated by a member of the university community".
"There is a proportion where the perpetrator is unidentified, that cannot be followed up," it said, adding: "There is also a proportion where the perpetrator is not known to the victim."
When asked about the number of expulsions as a result of sexual violence each year between 2017 and 2023, it said there were "less than five" each year.
Lily called the number of reports "staggering", especially as "we know reporting is in the minority".
"You feel like you're the only person this has ever happened to you because no one talks about it," she said.
"But those numbers show you're not alone."
Hannah Norman, 21, a third year student at the university, waived her right to anonymity.
She said she was raped in the summer before starting university and said "for the first and second years of uni, I felt like there was nowhere for me to go".
Hannah only found out about the DRT when she started a support group society called Stronger Together for survivors of sexual assault or abuse.
She said she thinks sexual violence is "rife" in universities.
The 21-year-old recalled living in Talybont student halls whena student carried another drunk studentback to the accommodation where he then raped her.
Hannah "was in the same halls" at the time but only found out about the crime in the news.
"We have the right for the uni to report to us if something's happened in our facility," she said.
"It makes you feel unsafe and you're just like 'who am I living around?'"
Fourth year student Eleanor, 21, not her real name, said she was raped by another student in her second year in June 2022.
Eleanor did not want to report this because she had "heard from other people who've experienced similar things that they are not going to do anything about it".
She said "there was literally no point going to them" because she "didn't have any evidence".
"It would be my word against his," she said.
The 21-year-old searched for support but "struggled" to find anything.
"It's just been one disappointment after another," she said.
Emily Carr, 22, was the women's officer of Cardiff Students' Union and vice-president of the feminist society in 2022-23.
During her time she saw "a dismissal of rape culture that continues to fester throughout the university".
Last year there was an "epidemic" of "spiking" and "sexual harassment", she said.
"We had people disclose information to us, and there was a storm of it on social media," Emily added.
She said reports of this type of behaviour were "flat out denied" by "senior members of the student union" and not taken seriously.
However, Emily said the society committee members were "overwhelmed" with "traumatising" student experiences.
Emily, who waived her right to anonymity, said she was also "failed" by the university.
She told several staff members about her experience, but was "completely dismissed by a senior member of staff".
"When people speak out, we are not doing it for revenge," she said.
"We are not raising this issue because we are bitter - we do this because we want better for students and staff.
"The bottom line is, we as survivors should never have had to be put up in a position where we are having to speak about this."
Cardiff University said DRT staff were "trained in responding to disclosures of violence and abuse".
The university said advisors "are not therapists or counsellors" but have a "relevant first degree in a health related or social science discipline" or experience "working with victims of domestic or sexual violence".
The university has a "zero-tolerance approach to violence against women".
The university said it was "concerned by these testimonies" and "disappointed" that "for a variety of perfectly valid reasons these current and former students have chosen not to access or reach out to the specialist services we have available".
Vice-chancellor Prof Larner said she wanted to "meet these individuals to discuss their concerns" and find ways to "improve".
The university said it will also carry out a DRT promotion review.
It said it works with Women's Aid, South Wales Police, New Pathways as well as local specialist medical and forensic services.
Cardiff University Students' Union said "student wellbeing is a central priority" and it "heavily invests in safety measures that go above industry best practices".
However it said it "wholeheartedly agreed" there "is more to be done to understand why students do not report serious incidents". | A student has said she received no support from her university after she was raped, and was instead hassled to pay tuition fees after taking time out. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67240860?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
It comes after X owner Elon Musk amplified an antisemitic trope on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The boycott has also been picking up steam in the wake of an investigation by a US group which flagged ads appearing next to pro-Nazi posts on X.
Mr Musk has denied his post was antisemitic and has threatened to sue over the advertising investigation.
Left-leaning pressure group Media Matters for America said it had identified ads bought by high-profile firms next to posts including Hitler quotes, praise of Nazis and Holocaust denial.
A spokesperson for X told the BBC that the company does not intentionally place brands "next to this kind of content" and the platform is dedicated to combatting antisemitism.
Mr Musk said on Saturday that X would file a "thermonuclear lawsuit" against Media Matters "the split second court opens on Monday".
He said the group's report had "misrepresented the real user experience of X" in order to "undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers".
On Wednesday, Mr Musk replied to a post sharing a conspiracy theory which accused Jewish communities of pushing hatred against white people,calling it "actual truth".
The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur later said his comments referred not to all Jewish people but to groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other unspecified groups.
The White House denounced Mr Musk's endorsement of the post.
"We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms," said spokesperson Andrew Bates.
On Thursday, IBM became the first company to pull its advertising from the site following the Media Matters investigation, saying the juxtaposition of its ads with Nazi content was "completely unacceptable".
The European Commission, Comcast, TV network Paramount and movie studio Lionsgate have also pulled ad dollars from X.
On Friday, as controversy over the pro-Nazi posts mounted, Mr Musk announced new steps to combat what he described as "calls for extreme violence" against Israel.
In a post on X, he said anyone using such phrases as "from the river to the sea" - which the ADL considers to be a coded call for Israel's destruction - would be suspended from the platform.
The ADL, one of the most vocal critics of how X moderates incendiary content, offered rare praise for Mr Musk. Its chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt said the announcement was "an important and welcome move".
X chief executive Linda Yaccarino posted on Friday evening that the platform had been "extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There's absolutely no place for it anywhere in the world".
The platform argues it has stronger brand safety controls than other social networks and that hate speech and extremism have fallen on the platform despite large cuts to the company's safety team.
Several outside groups disagree with that assessment and say that such content has increased under Mr Musk's leadership.
It is unclear how much of X's revenue currently comes from ads, because it's now a private company and no longer publishes quarterly reports.
But before Mr Musk took over the firm, advertising made up about 90% of Twitter revenue.
Mr Musk has attempted to change its reliance on ad dollars by trying to create a paid-membership tier.
If you pay a monthly fee, you can have a blue tick by your name and your content will be boosted. Yet that still makes up a tiny fraction of revenue.
In an interview with the BBC in April, Mr Musk said "almost all of them [advertisers] have either come back or they're going to come back".
Three months later he acknowledged in a post on X that ad revenue had fallen by 50%.
His appointment of Ms Yaccarino, a former ad executive, was widely seen as an attempt to smooth relations with advertisers.
But building those kinds of relationships is difficult when the company's owner himself is the one making the controversial posts.
It is also hard to square advertisers' fears that the platform does not moderate content enough with Mr Musk's commitment to free speech.
The BBC interviewed Twitter investor Ross Gerber last month and he said advertisers were worried about Nazi content not being removed.
"I do not want my ads anywhere near Nazis and I would say that 99% of brands would agree with that," he said.
"To lose advertisers over Nazi voices is the dumbest policy you could imagine."
Although Mr Musk is the world's richest man, he borrowed billions to buy Twitter and has to pay interest on those loans.
Unless he is able to staunch the flow of ad dollars from the platform, it could become an increasing financial burden.
(Additional reporting by Kayla Epstein, Matt Murphy and Mike Wendling) | Firms including Apple, Disney and IBM have paused advertising on X amid an antisemitism storm on the site. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67460386?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The ethereal Los Angeles-born singer-songwriter is heavily influenced by the counterculture movements of the 1960s and 70s, of which her parents were a part.
But at the same time, the 35-year-old - real name Natalie Mering - believes the obsession with "the good old days" has become "really toxic" for people her own age trying to make it in the "exponentially" changing modern world.
"I do think it's a little harder to have the life that our parents had, and to potentially give that life to children that we may have," she explains, as she prepares to bring her Holy Flux tour to the UK.
"So that changes a lot of things; like when you could buy a house, and this idea of the college degree meaningthis[job or opportunity will follow].
"And I'm so American about it, too," she adds.
"I talk about the good old days because I have such an interesting relationship with the past, being simultaneously like a pagan time travel tourist and also very aware of how toxic the kind of nostalgia we deal with, politically, can be."
While the singer's soothing, timeless folk-rock/baroque-pop sound and aesthetic has been compared to the likes of Karen Carpenter and Joni Mitchell - an artist her mum loves and her dad (both musicians) once went on a date with - the lyrical content of her music is focused firmly on the issues of today.
Songs like It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody, taken from her sumptuously melodic and lusciously layered lockdown album And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, find her ruminating on urgent concerns for the planet, the march of machines into human relationships and loneliness.
"Living in the wake of overwhelming changes,"she sings."We've all become strangers / Even to ourselves."
The Times made it its album of 2022, placing Weyes Blood - who has also collaborated with Lana Del Rey, the Killers and John Cale - above artists like Kendrick Lamar, the Arctic Monkeys, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift.
The newspaper described the record as "a set of gorgeous, sweeping, cinematic ballads that delve into love and loss, but end up with buoyant hope".
The Observercalled her recent work "torch songs for the end of time", whilethe Telegraphlabelled the star "the most sophisticated and complex singer-songwriter of her generation".
On the track Children of the Empire, she sweetly urges: "We don't have time any more to be afraid."
Another chronicler of these confusing times, documentary director Adam Curtis, helped to provide the suitably disorientating visuals for third single, God Turn Me Into a Flower.
All in all, the LP constitutes a more personal response to some of the collective traumas laid out in her 2019 breakthrough, Titanic Rising.
"I think with this last record, I was definitely trying to have a little bit more empathy about the position we're all in, versus the kind of anger at our inability to figure out some kind of actionable change," she says.
"Because I think it's such a gridlocked system, it's like we're so locked in to the technology, and I think it's really difficult to feel like you can really make a change in the world."
The lo-fi world of her parents had been that of the "crazy hippies and punks", but they ultimately raised their children as born-again Christians. So church music figured prominently in her upbringing.
The "pendulum swinging" that way for her family, and many other baby boomers in the more conservative 1980s, is something the singer finds "fascinating" to this day.
Having moved with her family from California to Pennsylvania, where she attended high school, Weyes Blood rejected her religious upbringing and set about chasing her own artistic vision across the country - studying, squatting and playing music in Portland and Baltimore.
Early incarnations saw her play bass, keys and sing in noise-rock and punk bands. With one group, she would mix bananas with fake blood, put it on her shirt and rip it open on stage.
It's a far cry from the Laurel Canyon vibes of her best known, recent work, although her metamorphosis into a solo performer did see her produce some spooky ambient drone material.
Nevertheless, it was an important step on her musical journey back to the future.
"There's been a lot of chapters," notes Mering. "I feel like I've lived a million lives. It starts to get weird, the neuroplasticity a little too wild.
"I miss the DIY scene," she adds. "It's changed so much because of smartphone culture and the internet but there was a time when it was so innocent and naïve that you felt like you were in the centre of the world.
"It was like the focus was just there, in the moment, and people weren't thinking as much about what they looked like or what it would look like on social media or any of that. So in some ways, it created this weird safe space for crude, raw music and expression."
The arrival of internet culture, she believes, brought with it a "weird qualitative judgement: what is the value of this?, versus just experiencing and enjoying it at face value."
Lately, though, she's been seeing signs of younger people "focusing on a life of creative inspiration" over likes, follows and money. "I still believe that there are communities and people that feel the same way I do. I think that kids are smart and I have a lot of faith in them.
"I've been noticing at my shows that there's young kids, high school age, and they are so unique.
"I say so much about going back in time [but] the kids seem to be very unhinged and free and loose and seeking new forms of community outside of their phones, for sure."
While she may have missed Woodstock festival by a mere half a century, the cosmic pop star did get to play Glastonbury this year, not once but twice.
First, she performed on a candlelit Park Stage, before joining compatriot Caroline Polachek for a duet.
The event, she says, has "one of the best vibes of any festival".
"I feel like America probably had a similar vibe with Woodstock, but we just couldn't keep it going for as long as Glastonbury."
Now, after walking the catwalk in Proenza Schouler's New York Fashion Week show, she'll return to the UK to bring her "well-oiled" concerts to Glasgow, Leeds, London and Nottingham from 11 November.
Her show is like a secular communion, with added jokes between the modern hymns to lighten the apocalyptic mood - a marriage of heavenly sounds and hellish visions.
"It's a pretty wild journey," she nods. "It's kind of a light show, kind of a dance situation. But it's also just a place of catharsis.
"I say my music is like a transportation device. And I would hope that people extract and get different things from it." | Weyes Blood is - to quote US author Kurt Vonnegut - unstuck in time. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67062838?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Well, you can get a clue from this glorious new image acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Towards the centre of this object, called HH212, is a star coming into existence that is probably no more than 50,000 years old.
The scene would have looked much the same when our Sun was a similar age.
You can't actually see the glow from the protostar itself because it's hidden within a dense, spinning disc of gas and dust.
All you get are the pinky-red jets that it's shooting out in polar opposite directions.
HH212 is sited in Orion, close to the three brilliant stars that make up the "belt" of the mythical hunter that gives the constellation its name. The distance from Earth is about 1,300 light-years.
Physics suggests those dramatic outflows of gas are the means by which the nascent star regulates its birthing.
"As the blobby ball of gas at the centre compacts down, it rotates. But if it rotates too fast, it will fly apart, so something has to get rid of the angular momentum," explained Prof Mark McCaughrean.
"We think it's jets and outflows. We think that as all the material shrinks down, magnetic fields are pulled together and then some of the material coming in through the disc gets captured on magnetic fields and is thrown out through the poles. That's why we call these structures bi-polar," the European Space Agency senior scientific advisor told BBC News.
The pinky-red colour denotes the presence of molecular hydrogen. That's two hydrogen atoms bonded together (rather like the "HH" in the protostar's name). Shockwaves are moving through the outflows, energising them and making them glow brightly in this Webb picture, which was captured predominantly at the infrared wavelength of 2.12 microns (that's the second part of the protostar's name!).
The image of HH212 was acquired by JWST's Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). You can't see the protostar itself because it's obscured by a dense, infalling disc of gas and dust. There are a few mature stars in the field of view, but most of the points of light are far-distant galaxies.
In the annotated picture above, look closely at the left and right jets, and trace the knots of brightness in each of them. Count the bowshocks - where faster material has crashed into slower material just ahead of it.
The structures are remarkably symmetric... except there appears to be an additional, albeit very messy bowshock on the right.
In fact, there's probably a complementary bowshock on the other side. There are certainly pinky hints of it in a wider version of this Webb image. It's just that the density of gas and dust in space in that direction is thinner and so there's less material to excite and so the shock structure appears much more diffuse.
Astronomers have been studying HH212 for 30 years, taking pictures every now and then to see how it's changed. As you might expect from the Webb super telescope, its new view is 10 times sharper than anything we've had before and will enable scientists to delve deeper into the processes that drive star formation.
A nice feature is to run together the entire image history to make a movie, to see how elements in the jet structures change over time. Repeat observations mean you can also gauge the speed at which those elements are moving - at 100km per second and more.
I've kind of suggested the HH stands for molecular hydrogen, and it's a neat fit. But it really stands for Herbig-Haro, after George Herbig and Guillermo Haro, who did the pioneering work on this type of object in the 1940s and 50s.
They would no doubt be amazed by the capabilities of JWST. It's not just the sharpness of image that Webb can achieve with its 6.5m primary mirror, it's also the breadth of colour its instruments can now detect that makes the telescope so special.
"As we said, the main wavelength for looking at these things - for looking at shocked molecular hydrogen - is 2.12 microns, or roughly four times longer than the mid-visible. But for the first time, we now have a good colour image of this particular object because we're able to observe it at other wavelengths that you just couldn't see from ground telescopes. And that will help us get into what's really happening in the jets," said Prof McCaughrean.
Webb was intended to be transformative in many fields of astronomy, and the study of Herbig-Haro objects has definitely benefitted.
Look below and you can marvel at HH212's cousin, called HH211. This object, located in the Perseus constellation, is even younger, again measured in mere thousands of years. To think our Sun started out like this.
JWST is a joint venture between the US, European and Canadian space agencies. | Imagine you could go back in time 4.6 billion years and take a picture of our Sun just as it was being born. What would it look like? | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67243772?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Two of his fellow Tanzanians - Joshua Loitu Mollel and Clemence Felix Mtenga - were among more than 230 people taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, which is under the control of Hamas, proscribed as a terrorist group in the UK and some other countries.
The three students had landed in Israel in September, excited to start their work as agricultural interns for the next 11 months.
Since their arrival, Ezekiel Kitiku and Mr Mtenga had been living on Kibbutz Nir Oz and working at a dairy farm in the afternoons. Their friend Mr Mollel was staying and working about 30km (18 miles) away at Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Both kibbutzes have a population of several hundred people and are very near Gaza.
"That week the new timetable was prepared and my name was mentioned to work on the nightshifts, but Clemence remained on afternoon shifts," Mr Kitiku told the BBC. Mr Mollel was on day shifts at a different farm.
At around 01:00 on 7 October, Mr Kitiku says he set off in the dark on his bike and rode five minutes to the farm to start his shift.
He spent the early hours of that morning milking cows and carrying out veterinary duties. By 06:00, as the sun started to rise, he was tending to cattle inside a shed.
Thirty minutes later he heard a huge explosion. This was when Hamas began to fire rockets from Gaza.
"When I heard the noise, I remembered that we had been told that if we hear the sound of shooting or bombs we should go to the shelter, so that's what I did.
"I was so scared. It was my first time to hear a noise like this."
As he headed to the shelter, he noticed thick smoke and orange flames billowing from near his kibbutz, so he immediately contacted both of his friends.
"They told me that there were so many rockets coming from Gaza - and that they were going to the shelters too."
Unknown to him, however, Hamas gunmen had already begun raiding the two kibbutzes where his friends were.
A couple of hours later, he noticed that his WhatsApp and text messages were no longer being delivered to their phones.
"I thought maybe their phones were out of charge. The last message I sent to them was - 'Are you safe?'"
Neither replied. This was at around 10:00. He has not heard from them since.
As rockets hammered down throughout the day, Mr Kitiku was forced to remain at the farm, trying to sleep inside the shelter.
The following morning when things seemed a little calmer and desperate to find out what had happened to his friends, he begged his manager to take him back to his kibbutz. There he could see that troops from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had been deployed.
"At the gate of the kibbutz there were so many IDF soldiers. They refused me entry and told me I would have to go back to stay at the farm because it was safer."
He remained in the shelter at the farm with two others for another two days - with barely any food - and another night on his own.
In the end the IDF said he would not be able to return to his kibbutz and soldiers escorted him to another location around 30km north of Gaza.
As he left the farm, he was shocked by what he saw outside the gates.
"The water systems had been bombed, and water was flowing everywhere. I saw dead bodies on the street.
"The fear of what had happened to my friends started to grow."
The three men had met in Tanzania's economic hub of Dar es Salaam through their agriculture studies a few months before they travelled to Israel.
It was not until three weeks after the Hamas attack that Mr Kitiku finally found out what had happened to his friends.
The Israeli foreign affairs ministryannounced in a statement on Sundaythat they were being held hostage in Gaza.
He says he is grateful to learn that they are both alive, but remains concerned about their conditions. He also knows other students on their programme who have been taken hostage, including one from Thailand.
In addition to those they took hostage, Hamas gunmen killed about 1,400 people on 7 October, many of whom were living on kibbutzes.
Since then, Israel has carried out air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The Hamas-run health ministry says some 9,000 people have been killed.
Mr Kitiku says he is extremely worried about the safety of his friends being held in the Gaza Strip.
"There is so much bombing and people have few social services. I try to put myself in their shoes, but I cannot imagine what they are going through."
He says the realisation of how close he came to being caught up in the attack lies heavy on his mind.
"The first few days, psychologically I was not stable. I am trying to force myself to cope with the situation.
"If I was not on the farm that morning, I would be one of the missing."
He is now working at a different farm.
"The authorities in Israel told us we are safe and we can continue our internship here," he says.
He and other Tanzanian students - there are an estimated 260 in Israel - have been offered assistance by their embassy to return home should they wish to, he says.
"But how can I think about going home when I don't know the situation and the condition of my two friends in Gaza?" | "If I was not on the farm that morning, I would be one of the missing," Ezekiel Kitiku told the BBC from southern Israel. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-67292927?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Singers Ian Brown and Rowetta were among those sharing tributes, with the latter calling her a "beautiful friend".
Ms Mounfield, who had twin sons, was diagnosed with bowel cancer three years ago.
Alongside her husband, she raised funds for charity by organising auctions of items from David Beckham and Oasis.
She told the BBC: "I just don't want to be sat thinking about cancer and illness all the time, because it is all-consuming.
"And this was just a way to balance that out - to give myself something else to think about but something positive."
"Sometimes I have bad days and demon days and I'll have side effects. And other times people haven't got a clue that I'm ill because I try and carry on as best as I can."
Her husband Mani previously said: "This is a girl from Blackley - people from that side of town, they don't take things lightly."
After her diagnosis,he told the BBChe underwent a "whole spectrum of emotions - one day you can be paranoid and flapping and very, very fearful about stuff and then the next day you can see she's putting in the effort, there's a pride in the fight of the lady".
"It really puts you through the wringer⦠it's an old juggling balancing act of keeping your own emotions in check while also trying to offer a bit of support."
Primal Scream bassist Simone Marie described Mounfield as "a beautiful soul, a huge heart, cutting humour, the strongest spirit, a mother, a wife, a wonderful human".
"My heart breaks for the immediate family and everyone who knew and loved her."
Why not follow BBC North West onFacebook,XandInstagram? You can also send story ideas [email protected] | Tributes have been paid to Imelda Mounfield, the wife of Stone Roses bassist Mani, who has died from cancer. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67468444?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
That is despitea vote among RMT union members to accept an offerfrom rail operating companies, including a backdated pay rise.
Both Aslef and the RMT, which represents other rail workers, have taken repeated industrial action over the past 18 months.
Aslef members will stage a "rolling programme" of walk outs between Saturday 2 December and Friday 8 December with different train companies affected on each day.
Drivers are also refusing to work any overtime from Friday 1 to Saturday 9 December as part of the industrial action.
Many of the affected operators are expected to run no services at all on strike days.
Travelling on the day before or after strike days might also be affected.
On overtime ban days, there are likely to be some last-minute cancellations or timetable reductions.
Passengers are advised to check before they travel.
For the latest information, passengers should checkNational Railor individual operators' websites.
Rail workers in the RMT union havevoted to accept an offerfrom 14 train companies.
That lifts the threat of RMT strikes until at least the spring.
However, there could be more strike action later next year as the agreement does not cover future pay deals and the government and rail operating companies still want to push through changes to the way the industry works.
Strike action by thousands of RMT members who work in Tube stationswas suspendedin October following "significant progress" in talks between the union and London Underground.
Passengers with advance tickets can be refunded fee-free if the train that they are booked on is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled.â¯â¯
If passengers have a return ticket they may also be entitled to a fee-free refund if any part of the journey is cancelled due to strikes.
Season ticket holders (flexi, monthly or longer) who cannot travel can claim 100% compensation for strike dates through the Delay Repay scheme.
Unions say they want a pay offer reflecting the rising cost of living.
But the rail industry is under pressure to save money, after the pandemic left a hole in its finances.
The industry says changes to ways of working need to be agreed in order for pay to go up.
The average salary of rail workers in 2022 was £45,919,according to the Office for National Statistics(ONS).
If drivers are excluded (because they tend to be members of the Aslef union, not RMT) its estimate is £39,518. However, the RMT union said that figure was too high because it does not include rail cleaning staff.
The ONS says median pay for "train and tram drivers" is just under £59,000.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train companies, made an offer backdating a pay rise of 5% for 2022-23. It also includes some job security guarantees.
After voting to accept the deal, the RMT said it would continue to negotiate with individual operators over reforms to working practices and a second year's pay rise.
The Aslef union rejected a two-year offer which would see drivers get a backdated pay rise of 4% for 2022 and a 4% increase this year.
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan has said it had been forced into taking industrial action because the train companies "refuse to sit down and talk to us and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer".
The Department for Transport has said: "The government has met the rail unions, listened to them and facilitated improved offers on pay and reform."
Separately,a revised offer from Network Rail was accepted by RMT members on 20 March, ending a dispute with signal workers and maintenance staff.
The union said the offer amounted to an uplift on salaries of between 14.4% for the lowest paid grades to 9.2% for the highest paid.
Unions are obliged to give at least 14 days' notice of any strike action.
Sign up for our morning newsletterand get BBC News in your inbox. | There will be more disruption to rail services between 1 and 9 December, as train drivers in the Aslef union hold further industrial action. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61634959?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The renowned writer, whose full name was Antonia Susan Byatt, won the Booker Prize for her 1990 novel Possession.
In a statement,Penguin Random House saidthey were "deeply saddened" to announce her death.
They described her as "one of the most significant writers and critics of our time".
The author was appointed CBE 1990 and was made a dame nine years later.
In 2018 she received the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award. Dame Antonia's work was translated into 38 languages.
Penguin said: "She died peacefully at home surrounded by close family. A girl from Sheffield with a strong European sensibility, Antonia had a remarkable mind which produced a unique creative vision."
Dame Antonia was also known for writing 2009's the Children's Book, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Her most recent publication was a collection of short stories - 2021's Medusa's Ankles: Selected Stories (2021).
"Antonia's Quaker schooling encouraged a clear independence of thought, and throughout her career she had an unerring ability to ask direct and searching questions," Penguin said in their statement.
"Her novels showed a profound engagement with history and historical consciousness - and an understanding of the traditions in which she wrote - whether folktale or novel.
"And if her fiction offered an imaginative realm of ideas, it was also warm and engaging, and filled with unforgettable characters."
Time-jumping story Possession tells the story of the love between two Victorian poets that is uncovered by scholars in the modern age.
The book was adapted for a 2002 romance mystery movie of the same name starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart, Toby Stephens and Tom Hollander.
Last year, her 1995 short story The Djinn In The Nightingale's Eye inspired a fantasy drama film directed and co-written by Mad Max creator George Miller.
Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton starred opposite each other in 2022's Three Thousand Years Of Longing, which features a conversation between a genie and an academic in a hotel room in Istanbul.
The writer was also known for works such as Angels and Insects and The Frederica Quartet, which consisted of The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life, Babel Tower and A Whistling Woman.
Dame Antonia was born in 1936 and grew up in Sheffield and York. She studied English at Newnham College, Cambridge, Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia and at Oxford.
She began teaching at University College London in 1962, and published her first novel, Shadows of a Sun, two years later.
Her younger sister is the novelist and biographer Dame Margaret Drabble.
The pair's relationship reportedly came under strain due to autobiographical elements in each of their books, and Dame Antoniaoften declined to discuss their relationshipwith interviewers.
Dame Antonia has three daughters. Her only son died in 1972 in a car accident aged 11.
A poem she later wrote, Dead Boys, described how a child is perpetually present after their death, at every age, to their mother.
Tracy Chevalier, author of books including Girl With a Pearl Earring, was among those paying tribute,writing on social media:"RIP AS Byatt, your books have given us all such pleasure."
Fellow author Catriona Ward added:"So sad to hear of AS Byatt's death. what a richness of work she left us." | Novelist, critic and poet Dame AS Byatt has died at the age of 87, her publisher has announced. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67448696?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Linda Dwan, from Mousehole in west Cornwall, said: "There was a rumbling, like thunder and the house shook for about two or three seconds."It felt like an explosion or an avalanche."My glass ornaments were shaking in the window."Dr David Hawthorn, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, said: "We have 2-300 quakes a year, but about 30 are felt and this was at the lower end of those quakes."This was quite small by global standards."In the UK, we have a phenomenally complicated geology and that's particularly true in Cornwall."Sooner or later that stress weakens and we get an earthquake."He appealed foranyone affected to get in touch.,external"We are still getting data in, so please give us a description because we want to know how much it shakes the ground in any given location," he said.
Did you experience the earthquake in Cornwall? Tell us your story by emailing:[email protected],externalPlease include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803Tweet:@BBC_HaveYourSay,externalUpload your photos/videos herePlease read ourterms & conditionsandprivacy policy
Follow BBC News South West onX (formerly Twitter),external,Facebook,externalandInstagram,external. Send your story ideas [email protected],external. | An earthquake has shaken parts of Cornwall, with people saying it felt like an explosion or avalanche.Seismologists at the British Geological Survey recorded the 2.7 magnitude quake at 00:50 GMT.Its epicentre was in the Mounts Bay area, near Penzance in west Cornwall, with people woken up by a loud bang from St Just in the west of the county to Redruth about 20 miles (32km) north-east from the point of origin.Experts said the tremor was within what was expected for the area and was among hundreds in the UK every year. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c724le759lro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Jeremy Hunt has said tax cuts are "virtually impossible" and instead warned of "frankly very difficult decisions".
But are his hands really tied? Is he being forced to be Scrooge rather than Santa? Or is it a matter of choice?
Does it boil down to what the chancellor - any chancellor in the same circumstances - decides? After all, he and the prime minister set the boundaries and their political priorities.
Here are some things to contemplate when judging any chancellor's claims:
Almost all rich countries have a set of rules, to maintain credibility with financial markets, but it's the government which sets its own rules.
The financial markets - or the bond markets to be more precise - help fund the government's plans. But if they aren't convinced of a government's creditworthiness, or if they are concerned its plans are risky, the interest rate they charge for that funding will go up. So governments want to convince them to lend at affordable rates.
To do that the UK government sets some rules for themselves called fiscal rules. These rules currently include getting the annual deficit down to less than the equivalent of 3% of national income (or GDP) within five years.And secondly making sure that by then, the total debt amassed over the years is falling when measured as a proportion of GDP.
Breaching such rules can be costly: the big giveaway in Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget of September 2022 led to a surge in borrowing rates (which also swelled mortgage rates). That's because of market concerns about the implications for inflation and the amount the government would have to borrow.
The fiscal rules are self-imposed, but it's the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that assesses if the government is meeting those rules. It produces two forecasts a year of how the economy might perform, based on technical models and assumptions about what will happen to things like energy prices for example.
Those models are used to predict what will happen to government finances. Forecasts are a best stab at what might happen in, what has of late been a particularly, uncertain world.
They'll differ from other economists' forecasts - but it's the OBR's ones that matter when it comes to assessing the government's projected finances in relation to the rules. A projected shortfall is often referred to as a black hole, any wiggle room is called headroom.
As Jeremy Hunt says higher interest rates have been deployed by the Bank of England to fight the recent stubborn bout of inflation. And that has vastly bumped up the government's borrowing costs.
But higher inflation has also delivered the chancellor a boost in revenues from things like VAT and income tax. VAT is a percentage of an item's value, so when things go up in price, the government gets more tax.
Also as prices rise, there's pressure to put up wages, then workers get dragged into higher tax brackets - known as fiscal drag - which means the government collects more income tax.
So economists reckon the chancellor could have over £10bn of headroom. But what matters is what the OBR thinks - and even headroom of this size would mean this chancellor has far less to "play" with then many of his predecessors in relation to his rules.
Whether and how the government meets its rules, how it uses headroom, depends on its policy choices, the tax and spending plans aligned with its political priorities, as well as on how the economy is performing.
Those choices mean there are trade-offs, winners and losers. So it's not a case of the chancellor unable to "afford" to do something or that he "must" adopt a particular policy. For example, if he wanted to extend the freeze in fuel duty that would cost £4bn (as the OBR is obliged to assume that duty rises annually). If he didn't have headroom, he could offset that by raising taxes elsewhere or squeezing spending.
Even if the OBR agrees the chancellor has several billions of pounds of headroom, he may not opt to splash it right now. There is after all, a general election looming - and likely a spring Budget beforehand.
It might be considered more politically advantageous to dole out sweeteners to voters then. Moreover, if the economy suffers an unexpectedly sharp downturn in the meantime, that could wipe out some of that headroom - potentially leaving the chancellor in the embarrassing position of having to claw back cash to meet his rules.
Or, come the spring, there could actually be more headroom; which he may well choose to use up rather than leave as a generous gift to whoever is chancellor following the election. So instead, this Autumn Statement may focus on the key terms and longer-term measures, such as levelling up, boosting the supply of workers, tackling growth, that the government wants to use to frame its election strategy.
So a pre-Christmas spree seems unlikely, regardless of your wishlist. That's not to say Mr Hunt won't be tempted to offer around a little platter of canapés, a taster of what could come in the spring.
But don't get too distracted by any nibbles served up. Remember, whatever a chancellor says in this or any such speech, tax cuts aren't "impossible" - they've just chosen not to put them on the menu this time. | The nights are drawing in, money for many households is tight - but the chancellor has told people not to expect treats in his Autumn Statement. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67405495?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The fabric lies bright against the grey rubble. Khalil Khader picks up the dusty and tattered child's pyjamas and is instantly overtaken by memories.
The toddler in her pyjamas. Rosa, his daughter, 18 months old, the baby of the family.
Khalil shows a video on his phone. Rosa wears the same blue nightwear and is holding the hands of two older cousins. The three of them dance in a circle.
The video was filmed in slow motion, so it seems as if the children are swaying in a gentle breeze. They are smiling. It is playtime and their lives have not yet been overtaken by war.
Khalil is a quiet spoken man, aged 36, a computer engineer at Al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, and the father of four young children: Ibrahim, aged nine; Amal, aged five; Kinan, two-and-a-half, and Rosa the last born.
Khalil steps carefully across the rubble. The house is only a few minutes walk from the hospital. There is now a mound of masonry and metal, household objects and some children's toys. A small drum. A toy piano.
On the night the missile struck - October 20 - Khalil was working at the hospital.
"A massive bomb exploded," he told one of my BBC colleagues who went with him to the scene of the attack.
"My neighbours were coming to the hospital. So I asked, 'Where was the bombing?' And they told me, 'It was around your house.' I had to run to the location to check on the family. I tried calling but no one was answering. And as you can see⦠the whole house was bombed."
Eleven members of his family were killed.
They included his four children, his two sisters, his 70-year-old father, his brother and his sister-in-law, and their two daughters. They were wrapped in white shrouds in a courtyard of the hospital.
His wife was badly wounded. She is being treated for burns and other injuries sustained when the house collapsed.
Khalil had known war before in Gaza. The small strip of land - with a total land area of just 141 sq miles (365 sq km) - has seen relentless conflict over decades. Such was the legacy of conflict that he worried about raising a family there.
"I remember in the 2014 war, my wife was pregnant," he recalls, "and our neighbours were bombed. She was in her seventh month and almost fell down the stairs from the blast. And I was thinking, how can I bring children into this life?"
But he imagined that a better life might be possible for them.
"I had a dream for each of my kids. Ibrahim was first in his school and I dreamed about seeing him as a doctor one day. Amal was very creative, she loved drawing. And she used to show me her drawings, and sometimes I would draw with her.
"Kinan was very playful - everyone loved him. And he used to take care of his little sister. He was always there to protect Rosa, and would say, 'Don't touch her, she's my baby!' And now they are all gone."
Khalil is still searching for the body of his sister under the rubble. And he must support his wife in hospital. His children are gone.
But as he shows one photograph after another of Ibrahim, Amal, Kenin and Rosa, there is a tenderness in his eyes.
He will always be their father.
Additional reporting by Mahmoud Bassam in Gaza, and Hanin Abdeen, Alice Doyard, Morgan Gisholt Minard, and John Landy in Jerusalem | There is no mistaking what he sees as he climbs across the rubble. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67277205?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
We've looked at some of the claims being made.
Speaking at prime minister's questions, Mr Sunak was referring toofficial migration figures released on 23 November.
They show net migration of 672,000 people for the year to the end of June 2023.
That figure was up from 607,000 for the year to the end of June 2022, but down from 745,000 for the whole of 2022.
Net migration is the number of people arriving in the UK who plan to stay for at least a year, minus the people leaving for at least a year.
The Office for National Statistics, which released the figures, said "while it is too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend, these more recent estimates indicate a slowing of immigration".
The figure is nonetheless at a historically high level - Mr Sunak has described it as "far too high".
The Conservatives' manifesto in 2019 promised that "overall numbers will come down". In the year that pledge was made, net migration ended up at 184,000.
Rishi Sunak criticised the Labour leader's plan to stop small boats coming to the UK.
Keir Starmer hassaid he wouldnegotiate a returns agreement with EU countries to send back some failed asylum seekers - if Labour wins power.
Mr Sunak's claim is based on an assumption that Labour would have to take 13% of all asylum seekers arriving in the EU as part of such an agreement.
The Conservatives have said this is because the EU has a policy of sharing asylum seekers between countries based on population size. They say this would mean the UK taking over 100,000 of them a year.
But although the EU has been discussing for years how to share responsibility for refugees, no deal based on population is in place.
Labour has said it would not - and could not - sign up to an EU quota scheme because the UK is not a member state, so any agreement would have to be outside that.
The prime minister was talking about small boat crossings.
He's made "stopping the boats" one of his five key pledges in government, whichwe've been tracking.
As at 13 November, 27,284 people had been detected crossing the English Channel in 2023,according to the Home Office.
At the same point in 2022, almost 42,000 people had been detected, so the number crossing is indeed down by a third.
Mr Thomas-Symonds - a Labour MP - was speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live after the Supreme Court's judgement on 15 November.
He was referring to an EU scheme - Dublin III - which allows member states to return failed asylum seekers to other EU countries, taking into consideration factors such as family reunion and irregular entry.
The scheme ended in the UK after Brexit in January 2021.
ButHome Office datashows the numbers involved were pretty small and actually more people ended up coming to the UK under this scheme than were removed in the final six years it was operating in the UK.
From 2015 to end of 2020, 3,961 people were transferred to the UK and only 1,763 were removed under the scheme.
Mr Rees-Mogg defended the government's Rwanda scheme on BBC Question Time on 23 November.
He said that the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) processes refugees in Rwanda. He argued the government's plan was "not that outrageous a thing to do, otherwise the UNHCR,which doesn't want the UK to do it, wouldn't be doing it itself".
It is true that the UNHCR,with financial support from the EU, has transferred refugees from Libya to Rwanda under a scheme called theEmergency Transit Mechanism (ETM).
However, the ETM is voluntary, not compulsory, like the UK's plan. The ETM offers vulnerable refugees, taken into detention by the Libyan authorities, a choice to have their application processed in Rwanda.
Libya - a major transit route for those hoping to reach Europe -is not considered a safe country for refugees.
People moved from Libya to Rwanda by the UNHCR are given assistance to resettle elsewhere should they choose to do so. It says that "as of March 2023, 932 refugees from the ETM centre have been resettled to Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and USA".
The prime minister was talking about the number of people who have been returned to other countries from the UK.
Mr Sunak did not make clear what type of return he was referring to, but the combination of voluntary and enforced returns this year does add up to about 20,000.
Thelatest datashows that 5,095 people were forcibly removed from the UK between January and October 2023. A further 15,204 left the country voluntarily in the same period.
About a fifth of the 20,299 people returned so far in 2023 were Albanians.
Not all of the 20,000 people returned were failed asylum seekers - some of them were foreign national offenders.
What do you want BBC Verify to investigate? | The government has been defending its immigration policies after the release of high migration figures and the Supreme Court's ruling against its plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67431602?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Alexandra Gregory, 25, from Redditch, sent Daniel Smith fake pregnancy scans and photos of a baby in intensive care.
She pleaded guilty to sending malicious communications between August 2020 and February 2021.
Chairman of the bench Kevin Lloyd-Wright said Gregory had committed a "prolonged campaign against Mr Smith".
"It was planned, sustained and relentless," he said during sentencing at Worcester Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
The court heard the pair had had a short relationship between February and July 2020, which ended amicably.
However, a month later Mr Smith received a photo of a positive pregnancy test, which was followed by a photo of her with a small bump.
The pair met up to discuss the situation where they agreed Gregory would have an abortion.
But in October, she sent him a message saying she had changed her mind.
After that, Gregory bombarded Mr Smith with messages, including faked baby scans and photos of her in her Birmingham's Women's and Children's Hospital nurse's uniform seemingly with a pregnancy bump.
She also sent child maintenance forms and told him that she had been bleeding heavily.
The court was told Mr Smith had questioned the legitimacy of the scans, and at one point requested a DNA test, but felt too guilty to confront her.
On 2 January 2021 alone, she sent more than 300 messages to him.
That month she told Mr Smith she had given birth to a girl called Aria, but added she was "born blue" and sent him photos of a baby in a hospital unit.
"Our daughter is in intensive care," she told him.
The court heard that the truth finally came to light a month later, when Gregory's father told Mr Smith's aunt that there was no baby.
West Mercia Police said Gregory had since gone on to have a baby with another partner and had refused to answer questions during interviews.
Prosecuting, Tom Wickstead told the court that the experience had left Mr Smith feeling "like a shadow of himself" while the judge later acknowledged he had suffered "continuous anxiety".
Gregory's defence team said she had indeed become pregnant, but the court was told she had suffered a miscarriage at some point before she messaged Mr Smith in October.
Her solicitor said she had become distressed with the situation as well as her work as a paediatric nurse during lockdown.
He added that the defendant "fully accepted" that she had lied about having Mr Smith's baby and that there was "no sensible explanation for what she did".
"She doesn't understand why she did it," he told the court and added that she had been off work in January 2021 due to her mental health.
Gregory was sentenced to a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, as well as a 12-month mental health treatment plan and 20 days of community service.
She was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation to Mr Smith and was given a three-year restraining order against him and his mother.
Mr Smith's family said his life had not been the same since and they were glad the truth was finally out.
A spokesperson for Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust said Gregory had been suspended pending the police investigation and that it would now "conclude its own internal investigation".
Follow BBC West Midlands onFacebook,XandInstagram. Send your story ideas to:[email protected] | A children's cancer nurse who faked having her ex-partner's baby during lockdown has been given a suspended prison sentence. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-67264932?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Tian Tian and Yang Guang will go back in December under the terms of a 10-year loan, which was extended by two years due to the Covid pandemic.
The exact date of the pandas' return is not being disclosed.
But the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which runs the zoo, has said it will be restricting access to them from Thursday 30 November.
The pair arrived in Scotland in 2011 - with the zoo paying £750,000 a year to China - but have failed to produce offspring.
The zoo and veterinarians from China made eight unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination between the pair. The last attempt was in 2021, after which the giant panda breeding programme was stopped.
David Field, RZSS chief executive, said, "With more than a million species at risk of extinction and our natural world in crisis, Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature."
"That added interest in the panda's departure this year has allowed us to connect many more people with the conservation causes that RZSS is actively involved with, and with nature more generally."
He added: "Through scientific research by our expert veterinary and keeper teams, working alongside the University of Edinburgh, we have made a significant contribution to our understanding around giant panda fertility, husbandry, and veterinary care - which has been of real benefit to efforts to protect this amazing species in China.
"It is encouraging that in recent years the outlook for giant pandas in the wild has improved, which gives real hope for the future." | Edinburgh Zoo is offering visitors a final chance to see its giant pandas before they return to China. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-67449436?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Shawn Seesahai was stabbed on playing fields near a school in East Park shortly before 20:30 GMT on Monday.
The boys, who appeared at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Friday and cannot be named due to their age, are also charged with possession of a machete.
They have been ordered to appear at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday.
Each dressed in a casual zip-up jumper and a hoodie, the boys appeared in the dock flanked by security guards during a 10-minute hearing before District Judge Graham Wilkinson.
They spoke only to confirm their names, ages and addresses.
During their appearance, the boys' lawyers confirmed that they would both deny the charges against them.
As the boys were led down the steps of the dock after the hearing, they both briefly waved to relatives sitting in the public gallery.
No relatives of Mr Seesahai, who is believed to have come to the UK in April this year, were present for the hearing.
Mr Seesahai's mother paid tribute to her son on Thursday, saying he was a "courageous, compassionate and confident young soul".
"He was looking forward to accomplish many future plans and ambitions. He cared dearly about his family and friends and he absolutely loved to help people," she said in a statement released by West Midlands Police.
"He was a generous person and had a good personality. We will always have him in our hearts."
Follow BBC West Midlands onFacebook,XandInstagram. Send your story ideas to:[email protected] | Two 12-year-old boys have been remanded into youth custody after being charged with the murder of a 19-year-old man in Wolverhampton. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-67450458?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Ahmed and Yuval. Palestinian and Israeli. Both 29 years old. Soft-spoken and intense, two writers who believed in describing things as they saw them. Ahmed lived behind a wall that confined two million people in the Gaza Strip. His friend Yuval lived on the other side in Jerusalem, the son of a middle-class Jewish family.
They were brought together by stories. Yuval read Ahmed's accounts of Palestinian lives in Gaza on another website and reached out to him with an idea. What if he could find Israelis to translate the stories into Hebrew?
"We talked for an hour and it was very, very interesting," recalls Yuval. "And when that hour ended, he told me, 'I never spoke to an Israeli person in my life.' And he said, 'Is it okay if I ask you some questions?' From the interviewer, I became the interviewee. And we spoke for hours on that first call."
Together they founded Across the Wall on Facebook. The title comes from the 37 miles (59.5km) of border barriers, 7m (23ft) high, separating the Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli territory. All movement in and out of Gaza is controlled by Israel.
Ahmed encouraged Palestinian writers to share their work. Around two hundred Israelis volunteered to translate into Hebrew.
The posts could draw angry responses from Israelis. As both men tell it, "blame Hamas for your problems" was a frequent response.
"We have a bigger responsibility, a responsibility towards our families, our people in Gaza, who need a voice, and who need someone to call for justice for them," Ahmed says.
The decades long conflict has produced dozens of groups dedicated to creating links between Israelis and Palestinians, from non-governmental organisations campaigning against the construction of settlements on Palestinian land, to womens' groups advocating peace, and organizations forging ties between Palestinian and Israeli children.
Through all the years of conflict and political failure there have always been individuals and groups willing to try and stand - metaphorically - in the shoes of others.
"I am someone who hates wars," Ahmed says. "I am someone who passionately and wholeheartedly believes in peace, and peaceful resistance. I will never call for wars."
In 2019 Ahmed was given the opportunity to study in London. From there he continued writing online about Gaza.
Then came the moment that triggered a devastating war. On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel killing 1,400 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians. More than 200 Israelis were kidnapped and are still being held hostage in Gaza. Israeli society was traumatised.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) launched a campaign of relentless airstrikes. A ground offensive would follow.
From London, Ahmed monitored the news, thinking constantly of his family, besieged in Gaza. His relatives had gathered together for safety in the same apartment.
Two weeks into the war, on 22 October, a missile hit the building killing 21 members of Ahmed's family. He lists the dead; "My father, two brothers, three sisters, 14 nieces and nephews who are children, who are kids under the age of 13."
His mother had died of cancer three years earlier. All of a sudden he was alone.
"Unless you have experienced what I have, you cannot understand what I am going through," he says. "I would not wish what has happened to me to happen to anybody, not to my worst enemy."
In the photographs taken with his lost family, Ahmed's eyes are bright and happy, particularly with the young nephews and nieces he played games with and to whom he gave treats.
These days Ahmed is constantly anxious and restless. He takes pills to try and help him sleep. "This is my life now," he says.
When Yuval saw the news about Ahmed's family, at first he struggled to find the words to respond.
"And from that moment, I cried." Yuval says."I spent the entire day trying to write him something. I didn't really know what to say. I said how sorry I felt."
Several days passed and Yuval began to wonder if he would ever again hear from his friend.
Then came a voice message. It was Ahmed, his voice wracked with grief, but still a friend. He thanked Yuval for being in touch and said he respected him even more now. Ahmed said he was able to differentiate between Yuval and the Israeli pilot who dropped the bomb that killed his family.
When I meet Yuval in Jerusalem he is careful not to try and speak for his friend. I want to know if they will work together in the future.
"I think you have to ask him," Yuval responds. "For me, I will. As I said to him, 'I made a commitment to you. I will not stop'."
The stand Yuval takes is not without consequences. He has lost friends because of his advocacy of Palestinian rights. In the current heightened atmosphere of the war he is aware that the threat of violence "feels much closer than it was a month ago."
When I put the question to Ahmed - will he write for an Israeli audience again? - he is cautious.
"I don't know if I will continue working for Across the Wall or not because right now, I feel a sense of failure. I believe that we failed in Across the Wall⦠our aim was to prevent these wars from happening, but we have failed.
"So right now, I don't know, how will I convince other Palestinians to write for Israelis after the massacres that they have endured, after the loss of lives and house?"
But then he tells me that he will keep writing.
Ahmed cannot be consoled with vague platitudes about peace and understanding. But the work he does with Yuval provides a glimpse of light in a time filled with pain.
"I want us to have a decent human life," he says. "We deserve it."
With additional reporting from Haneen Abdeen, Alice Doyard, Morgan Gisholt Minard in Jerusalem | They were the same age and shared a common language. Not Arabic. Not Hebrew. Not English. But something larger than words, a humanity that extended beyond the tongue of any tribe. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67335042?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
More than 240 hostages were snatched at gunpoint on 7 October from their homes or workplaces next to the Gaza Strip, from military bases and a big outdoor dance party.
They included some 30 children, the youngest just nine months old. But since Hamas gunmen spirited them away to Gaza, the fates of most remain unknown.
For Israelis reeling from last month's bloody massacres, it is an ongoing trauma.
"This is the last photo we have of my aunt. She was taken on a motorcycle by two terrorists," says Eyal Nouri, showing me a picture of Amina Moshe, 72, being driven away from Nir Oz, a kibbutz where she lived for 50 years.
"No children, no babies, no older women are meant to be part of any conflict. It's something against humanity to kidnap children."
Although this is the biggest, over the years, Israel has endured many hostage crises.
During the 1980s, the country showed it was ready to pay high prices for its citizens in prisoner swaps with Palestinian and Lebanese armed groups. Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, who later founded Hamas, was freed in one exchange.
Even Israeli soldiers' corpses were traded to give them proper Jewish burials.
Then in 2006, Hamas kidnapped a soldier, 19-year-old Gilad Shalit, in a cross-border raid. His father, Noam, led a painful five-year campaign to bring him home, stressing the "unwritten contract" between the state and its conscripts.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister - then as now - signed off on the biggest ever prisoner exchange for a single soldier. More than a thousand inmates were released including Yahya Sinwar, who went on to lead Hamas in Gaza, and apparently masterminded the 7 October attacks.
A key figure involved in the Shalit deal sees major differences between the circumstances then and now which he thinks will prevent any comprehensive deal being done.
"We had five years and four months to build trust with Gilad Shalit. [Now], we have days. The future of the hostages will be decided in the coming days," says Gershon Baskin, an Israeli peace activist, who led secret backchannel talks with Hamas.
The main complication this time, he says, is the scale of atrocities. "What Hamas did, they crossed the line, where it's inconceivable that they will continue to be in power in Gaza after this war is over," Mr Baskin says.
"So, there's some kind of built in contradiction to trying to negotiate with the people that you intend on killing."
Early on, Qatar did broker the release of an American Israeli mother and daughter and Egypt helped bring out two older Israeli women hostages. However, no bigger agreement has since taken shape.
This week, the military wing of Hamas said it was ready to free up to 70 women and children held in Gaza in exchange for a five-day ceasefire.
Speaking to the US network, NBC on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu raised the possibility of a deal. The US President Joe Biden has since said he is engaged in daily discussion to secure the release of the hostages and believes it will happen.
However, publicly, Israel has rejected a ceasefire, arguing that Hamas would use it to regroup. It has said it could agree to shorter humanitarian pauses in hostilities.
Polls suggest that position is supported by many Israelis. In the latest survey by the Israeli Democracy Institute, the most common response - from 38% of people - was that Israel should negotiate a prisoner deal but continue fighting. Overall, 70% of respondents did not think the war should stop.
"In return for the hostages they are ready to give Palestinian prisoners. But the popular view is to say: "don't stop the fighting,"" says Professor Tamar Hartmann who conducted the poll.
"It's because the cost of stopping the fighting right now might be greater in terms of people's lives, if we stop and the aims of the war will not be achieved."
A persistent small group of those polled - about a fifth - refuse any deal making with Hamas. Many Israelis point out how in the past, prisoners - like Yahya Sinwar - who already had blood on their hands were released and went on to plot further deadly attacks.
With the odds against them, families and supporters of the hostages are coming up with creative ways of raising public pressure.
A huge art installation filling HaBima Square in Tel Aviv features an empty bed for every adult, child and couple missing in Gaza.
Every Friday on the Jewish sabbath, relatives gather in what is now known as Hostages Square outside the Museum of Art. They set up a giant table with places set for every person missing.
On Tuesday, a large crowd began a 40 mile (63 km) march from Tel Aviv to the prime minister's office in Jerusalem to urge their government to take action.
With each passing day, fears grow for the hostages. Hamas says several dozen have already been killed in Israeli air strikes.
Past experience has taught Israelis that deals can be done but now the intensity of the ongoing war brings a new level of urgency. | Their smiling faces look down from the sides of skyscrapers, walls between Tel Aviv's restaurants and bars and a giant video screen at a shopping mall entrance. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-67418110?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
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The fire broke out on level three of Terminal Car Park 2 on 10 October and was thought to have started in a diesel car before spreading rapidly.
The airport said any cars parked on levels ground to three "are not recoverable".
However a process is still "ongoing" to remove around 100 vehicles from the top deck.
Neil Thompson, operations director at the airport, said: "Regrettably, I can now confirm that, due to the extent of the structural damage, the car park will need to be fully demolished."
The decision was confirmed by a "full structural report".
Mr Thompson said removal of around 100 vehicles from the top deck was still under way "to stabilise the structure".
"This has been a painstaking task and has taken longer than expected, not least because we have been hampered by periods of bad weather and strong winds," he said.
He advised anybody who believed their car was on the top deck to contact their insurance companies, which were working to retrieve those vehicles.
"It is reassuring to note that the vast majority of insurance claims have been settled," Mr Thompson added.
"Customers who have yet to receive a final settlement are advised to contact their insurance company as soon as possible.
"On behalf of everyone at London Luton Airport, I would like to thank all affected customers for their patience and understanding as we have worked through this unprecedented situation."
Follow East of England news onFacebook,InstagramandX. Got a story? [email protected] WhatsApp 0800 169 1830 | The car park that caught fire at Luton Airport will have to be "fully demolished", the airport confirmed. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67313813?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The former Chelsea Football Club owner has been sanctioned by the UK and EU but has previously denied any financial relationship with the Russian leader.
Now, leaked documents from Cyprus reveal new evidence linking him to a secret $40m (£26m) deal in 2010.
Mr Abramovich has not responded to requests for comment from the BBC.
The secret deal transferred shares in a highly profitable Russian advertising company, Video International - for less than they appeared to be worth - from companies ultimately owned by a trust connected with Mr Abramovich, to two members of Putin's inner circle. They in turn received millions of dollars in dividends.
BBC Newsnight, BBC Verify and Panorama partnered withthe Bureau of Investigative Journalismto uncover the revelations as part ofCyprus Confidential- a global investigation led by reporters at theInternational Consortium of Investigative Journalists(ICIJ) andPaper Trail Media.
Confidential records reveal that one of the men involved in the secret deal was Sergei Roldugin, a close friend of the Russian president.
A cellist, Mr Roldugin is the artistic director of the St Petersburg Music House. He has known Vladimir Putin since they were young men in St Petersburg, and is reported to have introduced him to Lyudmila Shkrebneva, whom the future president married in 1983 (they are now divorced). Mr Roldugin is the godfather of their first daughter, Maria.
The second man is another close associate of President Putin - Alexander Plekhov, a biochemist-turned-businessman, also from St Petersburg.
Mr Roldugin and Mr Plekhov have both been accused of being "wallets" for President Putin - secretly holding money and assets on his behalf.
Earlier this year, Swiss prosecutors alleged they were "straw men", and not the real owners of assets in bank accounts set up in connection with the Video International deal.
The court did not identify anyone as the true ultimate beneficial owner of the accounts.
President Putin's stated salary in 2021 was just over $100,000 (£72,700). However, there are rumours his fortune could be worthanywhere between $125bn (£102bn) and $200bn (£164bn), hidden away in a network of shell companies and the accounts of friends.
Mr Plekhov has beensanctioned by the UK government, and Mr Roldugin has also been sanctioned by the UK, the EU and the US, which described him as a "custodian of President Putin's offshore wealth".
The Cyprus Confidential investigation is based on 3.6 million confidential corporate records from companies providing offshore services in Cyprus, and has focused on its close financial relationship with Russia and now-sanctioned oligarchs, many of whom have used the island to manage their secret offshore holdings.
They include documents from a corporate service provider in Cyprus called MeritServus, originally obtained by the whistleblowing groupDistributed Denial of Secrets. MeritServuswas itself sanctioned by the UK earlier this year, after internal documents revealed it had breached sanctions on behalf of one of its Russian clients.
MeritServus also worked with Mr Abramovich's companies in Cyprus. The oligarch's wealth totals more than $9bn (£7.3bn) and he has made numerous public investments in sports, arts andhigh-value properties. He became one of the best-known and influential Russian oligarchs in the UK after buying Chelsea FC in London in 2003.
He has downplayed his relationship with President Putin, and challenged suggestions of a close financial relationship or that he has acted on behalf of the Russian leader.
In 2010, a spokesperson for Mr Abramovich said he had "no financial relationship of any kind with [then] Prime Minister Putin".
And in 2021 he sued journalist Catherine Belton over a passage in her book, Putin's People, referring to evidence alleging that he had purchased Chelsea FC in 2003 at President Putin's behest. The case was settled out of court with an agreement by the publisher "to record the position more accurately" and add "a more detailed explanation of Mr Abramovich's motivations".
The UK and EU placed Mr Abramovich under sanctions in March 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The EU said: "He has had privileged access to the president, and has maintained very good relations with him. This connection with the Russian leader helped him to maintain his considerable wealth."
Mr Abramovichchallenged the EU sanctionsin court earlier this year. His lawyer claimed the restrictions were prompted by the Russian businessman's "celebrity" rather than "based on evidence".
But the secret deal with Mr Roldugin and Mr Plekhov suggests a close financial relationship between Mr Abramovich and President Putin.
"This case obviously puts more information onto the table and further endorses the alleged connection between Putin and Abramovich in a way that becomes increasingly difficult to deflect," says Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the defence think tank RUSI.
A complex web of companies in Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, and a trust, concealed the football tycoon's involvement in the transaction - until now.
Leaked documents reveal the former Chelsea boss's relationship with two companies that bought a combined 25% stake in Video International in 2003.
The two companies - Finoto Holdings and Grosora Holdings - were created in early 2003. Both were ultimately owned, through a series of shell companies, by the Sara Trust Settlement - a trust of which Mr Abramovich was an ultimate beneficiary.
Each company bought a 12.5% stake in the Russian advertising giant in September 2003 for the same price - about $130,000 (£80,000) each.
The price paid was "ridiculous", says Vladimir Milov, a former energy minister in President Putin's first term and now a vocal opposition leader. "That stake was clearly worth much more, by many orders of magnitude."
At the time of the purchase, Video International enjoyed a dominant position in the domestic TV advertising market, taking a cut of any advertising airtime purchased on Russian channels.
The company was "half a step away from the Kremlin administration", according to Mr Milov.
Mr Abramovich had a stake in Video International for the next seven years. At one point, the company declared a turnover of "more than $2bn [£1.29bn]". Dividends of $30m (£19.3m) were paid out to Finoto and Grosora over that period.
Video International reported revenues of $3bn (£1.9bn) in 2010. However, Finoto and Grosora each sold their investment that year for just $20m (£19.5m), a price that appears to be below its fair market value.
Finoto Holdings sold its stake to Med Media Network, a company nominally owned by Sergei Roldugin.
On the same day as the Finoto Holdings sale, the other Abramovich-linked company, Grosora Holdings, sold its 12.5% stake to Namiral Trading Ltd, a company later linked to Aleksandr Plekhov.
Financial links between President Putin and Mr Rolduginwere uncovered in 2016 as part of the Panama Papers, which involved the leak of millions of confidential documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.
Mr Roldugin, along with Mr Plekhov, was at the centre of a suspected money-laundering scheme run by Bank Rossiya and some of President Putin's closest associates. Bank Rossiya was sanctioned by the US government in 2014, which described it as "the personal bank for senior officials of the Russian Federation".
Mr Roldugintold the New York Timesat that time that he was not a businessman and did not "have millions". However, at least on paper, he appeared to have an offshore fortune of over $100m (£61m).
"Rodulgin clearly serves⦠as a cover-up for Putin's personal beneficial ownership," says Vladimir Milov. "This guy is absolutely clearly 100% a nominal figure because he does not understand anything about business, finance, international transactions and so on."
Revelations in the Panama Papers about bank accounts held by Mr Roldugin in Switzerland, led to an investigation andthe trial of four Gazprombank employees earlier this year. The bankers were accused by Swiss prosecutors of failing to properly check accounts opened in the name of Roldugin.
They were also said to have failed to identify the Russian president's friend as politically exposed - someone whose position or relationships mean that they may be more exposed to risks of corruption, and require more checks under international finance regulations.
According to the indictment, accounts with Gazprombank had been simultaneously established for both Med Media Network and Namiral Trading Ltd with an identical "purpose and structure" to "hold shares and receive dividends" from Video International.
The prosecutors said the arrangement represented a direct extension of "assets managed... for the Russian political establishment".
Mr Roldugin and Mr Plekhov were "straw men", and not the real beneficiaries of the accounts, the prosecutors alleged.
All four bankers were convicted, but are reported to be appealing.
The BBC wrote to Mr Plekhov, Mr Roldugin, Bank Rossiya and President Putin for comment but have received no response.
Many wealthy Russians have used Cyprus, an EU member state, as part of their network of offshore investments. Through these economic relations, Russia is "worth tens of billions of dollars to the Cyprus economy each year", says Fergus Shiel of the ICIJ.
The Cyprus Confidential investigation raises "grave issues" for European institutions and EU member states, he continues. "What we can see in these documents is a European member being a conduit for the secret financial operations of the Kremlin, of Vladimir Putin and his cronies."
However, there are signs that Cyprus may be cleaning up its act.
Following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many Russians considered close to the financial assets of President Putin were sanctioned by the EU. This has had direct consequences for those with Cypriot investments.
"The sanctions brought home that Cyprus cannot be used by oligarchs to support the dirty orders of Putin," says Alexandra Attalides, an independent Cypriot MP.
Meanwhile,reports suggestMr Abramovich now spends his time between the Russian resort of Sochi, Istanbul and Tel Aviv. He has Russian, Israeli and also Portuguese passports.
The oligarch remains the subject of sanctions in the UK and EU, but not in the US, where he is understood to still hold considerable assets.
You can see more on this story onNewsnighton BBC Two on Tuesday 14 November at 22:30 GMTor on BBC iPlayer | Leaked documents reveal a money trail linking oligarch Roman Abramovich to two men dubbed "wallets" of President Vladimir Putin. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67300638?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Lisa Marie wrote to the film-maker to raise concerns four months before her death in January,Variety reported.
The film tells the story of her mother Priscilla, who met Elvis at the age of 14. Priscilla has supported the movie.
He is depicted with "sensitivity and complexity", Coppola told Lisa Marie.
The film, titled Priscilla, is based on Priscilla's 1985 memoir Elvis and Me.
In one email, Lisa Marie reportedly wrote: "My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative.
"As his daughter, I don't read this and see any of my father in this character. I don't read this and see my mother's perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don't understand why?"
Priscilla is credited as an executive producer on the film, but Lisa Marie threatened to speak out publicly against it and her mother's support for it.
"I am worried that my mother isn't seeing the nuance here or realizing the way in which Elvis will be perceived when this movie comes out," she wrote.
"I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father's legacy. I am worried she doesn't understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have."
As well as supplying the source material and being an executive producer, Priscilla has given a number of interviews to support the film.
She told Piers Morgan's TalkTV show on Thursday that it was an accurate depiction of her and her relationship with the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
Coppola, who won an Oscar in 2004 for the screenplay for Lost in Translation, "did some homework", Priscilla said. "She and I, we talked about it."
Referring to the start of their relationship in 1959 when she was just 14 and he was 24 and serving in the US Army in Germany, Priscilla told Morgan it was "a different time".
Elvis was "unique", she said. "I don't know about grooming me. I didn't take it at that. I'd never heard the word. Obviously it's all new now, but he loved to take me to beautiful stores to buy me an outfit. I didn't have any money. He would take me to the movies every night."
She said she understood why people today would think it was inappropriate.
"But I was 14 in Germany, and there was always people around," she said. "Our talks were private, but he never ever, ever, ever was aggressive, nor did he ever make love to me [until they got married when she was 21]. I was someone he trusted to talk to and pour his heart out [to]."
Coppola's representative gave Variety the message she sent to Lisa Marie in reply to her emails.
"I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I'm taking great care in honouring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity," she wrote.
Critics have questioned how modern viewers will feel about watching Priscilla and Elvis's early relationship.
"Even considering the time period, it's a creepy sight for 2023 eyes,"wrote USA Today's Brian Truitt.
"Some audiences no doubt will bristle at a 14-year-old girl in a sexually adjacent situation,"wrote The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney."But Coppola handles that aspect nonjudgmentally."
Rolling Stone's Marlow Stern said:"Elvis is depicted in the film as being gentlemanly toward his teen paramour, as off-putting as their courtship looks through 21st-Century eyes."
In the New York Times, Ben Kenigsberg saidthe power dynamic is "appalling from a contemporary standpoint".
He added: "Die-hard Elvis fans will no doubt call some of the characterization in Priscilla slander, but part of the achievement here is that Elvis is not simply a monster."
The film was released widely in the US on Friday and stars Cailee Spaeny in the title role, with Jacob Elordi playing Elvis. It will reach cinemas in the UK in January.
It comes a year after the film Elvis, in which Austin Butler played the singer and Tom Hanks was his manager Colonel Tom Parker.
Lisa Marie died at the age of 54 after a cardiac arrest caused by a "small bowel obstruction" that arose following weight-loss surgery she'd had several years earlier. | Lisa Marie Presley complained to director Sofia Coppola that a new film's script made her father Elvis out to be "a predator and manipulative", according to Hollywood outlet Variety. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67307792?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Dame Priti Patel told the Covid inquiry the penalty - introduced ahead of the August bank holiday in 2020 - was not proportionate.
She added that, along with her officials at the Home Office, she had pushed back against it at the time.
Hundreds of such fines were issued by police during the pandemic.
At the time, the government said the penalty - for hosting unlawful gatherings of more than 30 people - would act as a "new deterrent" against rule breaches.
It was subsequently criticised in a report by MPs in September 2021, who argued fines of such size should only be imposed by a court.
However, evidence heard by the Covid inquiry showed the extent to which the fines were part of the government's strategy for encouraging compliance.
A handwritten note from former PM Boris Johnson suggested he wanted them emphasised when restrictions were eased in the summer of 2020.
"I agree with the openings, but the OVERRIDING MESSAGE should be about tougher enforcement and BIGGER FINES," it read.
The lawyer for the inquiry noted the "crushing irony" of the memo. Mr Johnson was himself handed a £50 fine forbreaking different Covid-era restrictions in April last year.
According National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) datafrom June 2021, 366 fines of £10,000 were issued by police forces in England and Wales.
In its 2021 report, MPs on the Commons justice committee said the government should not rely on large spot fines to enforce public health laws, adding police could not take people's financial circumstances into account.
Elsewhere in her testimony, Dame Priti said she felt the policing of the2021 vigilto remember murder victim Sarah Everard was "totally inappropriate".
The Metropolitan Police was criticised for its handling of the unofficial event, which saw hundreds of people gather on Clapham Common, south London, after a planned event was cancelled.
The force was later found to have breached the rights of the organisers - and subsequently apologised and paid damages to two women arrested at the event.
A WhatsApp message shown at the inquiry from Lord Frost, then a Cabinet Office minister, suggested there was concern about the regulations within government at the time.
"Truth is the rules on outside gatherings are close to unenforceable and are evidently being widely ignored in all kinds of contexts now," his message read.
Dame Priti also accepted that the Covid regulations had proved confusing for both the public and police - but said drafting the legislation was "solely the domain" of Matt Hancock's health department.
Giving evidence ahead of Dame Priti, former police leader Martin Hewitt said forces had struggled to keep on top of the many rule changes.
Mr Hewitt, who was boss of the national police chiefs' council throughout the pandemic, also said officers should have been consulted more often when rules were drafted.
He added in one case officers had to delay enforcement of a new Covid regulation, having received only 16 minutes' notice before it legally came into effect.
He also said ministers had created "confusion" among the public about the requirements by conflating laws and guidance during media interviews. | On-the-spot fines of £10,000 for breaching Covid laws on large gatherings were too high, the home secretary during the pandemic has said. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67372615?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Time for one of the country's finest ceremonial occasions, when a good chunk of all the King's horses and all the King's men trot from the Palace to Parliament before the monarch makes a speech to MPs, members of the House of Lords and all of us.
Tuesday's speech will be one of those bizarrely British mashups of arcane tradition (10 points if you know what the Cap of Maintenance is) and modern politics.
It's a big moment for a new monarch. And it's the last chance for a government in trouble to introduce a programme of new laws in the hope of shaking them out of the doldrums and grabbing your attention.
New laws take a long time to go through Parliament. So while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak still has at least a year to try to turn things around before he must call an election, the speech is, insiders admit privately, more or less the last chance for the Conservatives to transform ideas into reality - if they want to get them on the statute book before we all go to the polls.
But all the fancy regal fanfares in the world on Tuesday might be drowned out by bigger realities.
Top of the list, the conflict in the Middle East. Whether it is the fraught practicalities of helping Brits get out of Gaza, or the diplomatic efforts to coax Israel to pause hostilities there, the conflict is naturally gobbling up political time and energy - and dominating the headlines. Although it is Labour leader Keir Starmer, not Rishi Sunak,who is facing more political pressure on the matterfrom many within his own ranks.
Next,days of evidence at the Covid inquiry are confirming, in ever-more gruesome detail, just how grim the atmosphere was at the top of government during the pandemic.
And much more important thanDominic Cummings' habit of inventing ever more vile swear words, evidence this week suggested that in a moment of profound national emergency,our government just could not cope.
Memories of those agonising months have been stirred. We have seen in black and white, from messages between senior officials, that the notion of spreading the virus - "herd immunity" like chicken pox - was indeed part of the initial approach that was subsequently denied. And the civil service boss of the Department for Health said, on the record, that the first lockdown was a week too late. Remember just how bitter the political arguments were about the timing of the lockdown, and whether herd immunity had ever been the plan.
The Covid evidence this week is important for the simple reason that the inquiry is trying to build a complete record of what happened during those months of emergency. But the daily drip of claims hampers Rishi Sunak's ability to move on.
He was the second most senior minister in the government that struggled so badly, described by one of itsmost senior civil servants as a "terrible, tragic, joke". His "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme, it has already emerged, wasbranded "Eat out to help the virus" by government medics.
The prime minister consistently tries to present himself to the public as a clean break from several years of chaos. But the inquiry's reminders of the problems of the pandemic, and the political failures, dredge up memories of all that.
Even without those two huge blocks in his political path, is Mr Sunak planning to seize Tuesday as a day of radical action anyway?
Erm⦠no.
Insiders caution against expecting any shiny new ideas or revolutionary plans. You canread a primer on what might be coming up here.
Some cabinet ministers worry it is all a bit "managerial", all a bit "tinkering", not really talking to the problems millions of voters are facing right now.
The AI summit, andRishi Sunak's encounter with tech billionaire Elon Musk, complete with dropped consonants and a mid-Atlantic twang, showed that No 10 can generate attention - it can make things happen.
But whether that is translated into an energetic and packed actual programme to get things done on Tuesday? Don't be so sure.
While a senior source says the King's Speech is a "chance to reset the dynamic", don't expect big surprises to make that happen.
You will see laws coming to bring in changes on sentencing that were announced at party conference last month.
You will also likely see a new law on oil and gas licences that will try to set a trap for Labour. It is one of those strange things in politics where sometimes a government will introduce a law that isn't necessarily needed, but will just make life awkward for their opponents. There are divisions in the Labour Party over whether or not new licences should be granted for fossil fuel exploration. If the Tories make them vote on it, that could be politically tricky for Keir Starmer.
So on Tuesday, the biggest fanfare may be from the real trumpets that will sound in Parliament, not political excitement.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and last week's revelations from the Covid inquiry, both make it harder for the government to be heard.
But this coming week, a coming reminder of perhaps Rishi Sunak's biggest obstacle. Like any prime minister, he has to deal with "events" beyond his control that can knock any leader off course. The real nightmare though, is how to escape from under the weight of what has gone wrong under Conservative PMs who have gone before.
As King, Tuesday will be Charles's first outing in that grandest of ceremonies in Parliament. Without a dramatic turn for Rishi Sunak, this King's Speech could be this PM's last.
PS: The "Cap of Maintenance" is a red velvet hat, lined with ermine, that is one of the Royal Family's insignia. It's normally carried by the leader of the House of Lords on these big days as part of the procession.
If you got that right, 10 points and your prize, along with everyone else, is to watch the Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden in the studio with me tomorrow morning at 09:00 on BBC One, along with our other guests and a special interview with the Succession star, Sarah Snook.
FollowLaura on Twitter | Grab your trumpet! Polish the golden carriage! Dust down the throne! It's nearly time. Time for Charles III to make history, giving the first King's Speech in 70 years. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67320861?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The inflation figure gives us an idea of how fast the cost of living is rising in the UK but here are a few things you might not know.
According to the Office for National Statistics, UK inflation was4.6% in the year to October, which is much lower than the recent peak of 11.1% seen last year.
So does this mean prices are on their way down too?
Unfortunately not. Prices are still rising quite sharply compared to a year ago, just at a slower rate than they have been.
Prices are still likely to keep going up over the next few months, but not at the rate that has caused such a shock to households and businesses across the country over the past year.
The inflation figure is an average - so your own cost of living could be rising at a very different rate to what's reported in the news, depending on what you spend your money on.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) which calculates inflation, bases its numbers on a basket of goods that reflects what most people across the UK are buying. But it doesn't include everything. So if you are buying a lot of unusual or niche items, or you have atypical tastes, you might find the cost of your own bag of shopping is going up more quickly - or more slowly - than the headlines suggest.
Food inflation is currently at 10.1%, much higher than the average overall rate of inflation, so people who spend a greater proportion of their outgoings on food will find their personal inflation rate is higher than the 4.6% headline figure.
The ONS says energy, food, and drink accounts for around 15% of lower-income households' spending, compared to 10% for high-income groups.
The Bank of England tries to control inflation by putting up interest rates which makes it more expensive to borrow money. This encourages people to borrow and spend less, and save more.
The Bank is expected to stick with that strategy - of putting up interest rates - throughout this year. So if you have a tracker mortgage or a credit card or loan you could find yourself paying more interest. That's another way your own personal inflation rate could be affected.
Occasionally prices will fall very slightly compared to the previous month, but they are much less likely to fall year-on-year.
And while this might be difficult to believe right now, falling prices aren't always a good thing - here's why.
If people expect that prices are likely to fall, they delay spending with the aim of getting a cheaper deal later on.
That means businesses have less money coming in, so they try to find ways to cut costs - most likely by cutting wages or laying off staff.
So prices falling can mean people lose their jobs, which in turn makes prices fall further. This is called "deflation", a different kind of economic crisis that brings its own set of problems.
That's why the Bank of England aims to have prices consistently rising by 2% - it's better to aim for a bit of inflation than to risk the negative effects of prices falling.
It's important to remember that the price rises we've seen recently have been primarily driven by global energy prices. These are expected to come down, but not to as low as they were before, and any fall in energy prices will take time to feed through into the wider economy. | Every month we report the UK's inflation figures, but what does this percentage going up or down actually mean for your money? | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64290160?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Some of those struggling to pay have been forced on to more expensive prepayment meters, prompting energy regulator Ofgemto strengthen rules to protect consumers.
The government launched its Energy Price Guarantee in October 2022. It replaced the previousOfgem energy price cap, and limited a typical dual-fuel household's annual energy bill to £2,500.
This remained in place until the end of June 2023, when the Ofgem cap was reinstated, at which pointa typical annual energy bill fell to £2,074.
Under the previous price cap,typical annual bills fell to around £1,923 between October and December.
The energy regulator has since changed its estimates of the typical amount of gas and electricity used by households, and recalculated the cap to £1,834.
That willrise by 5% to £1,928 in January.
If you don't agree a payment plan with your supplier, they might try to force you to have prepayment meter installed, or they mayswitch an existing smart meter to prepayment mode.
In very rare cases, if you haven't paid a bill after 28 days, you might be threatened with disconnection, but you'll normally be offered a meter first.
If you've reached state pension age, your supplier can't disconnect you between 1 October and 31 March if you either:
Suppliers can pass your details to a debt collection agency - and you might be charged more to cover the cost of this.
Many suppliers also charge extra fees for late payments.
Paying by direct debit is normally the cheapest way to pay for electricity and gas. Cancelling a direct debit means future bills are likely to be higher.
Non-payment could also damage your credit rating, and make it harder to borrow money.
The regulator Ofgem reviewed the use of prepayment meters after aninvestigation by The Timesfound debt agents acting for British Gaswrongly broke into vulnerable people's homes to fit meters.
Energy suppliers were subsequently banned from forcing a pre-payment meter on a customer while Ofgem investigated. The regulator has now said companies may resume the practice but must first get its permission and a court warrant.
Ofgem believes suppliers should be allowed to retrieve their debts. However, undernew rules, suppliers must give customers more opportunity to clear their debts, contacting them at least 10 times before installing a meter. They also have to conduct a "site welfare visit". Ofgem says no company has yet passed its new stricter tests.
The rules state meters cannot be fitted for:
Those forced onto a prepayment meter will get £30 initial credit to reduce the risk of them losing supply.
The government has said prepayment energy chargeswill be cut, bringing them in line with direct debit rates.
Suppliers have also been told to identify households where meters were wrongfully installed, return the customer to their previous tariff and offer compensation.
Check your direct debit
Your monthly payment is based on your estimated energy use for the year, andyour supplier may reduce your bill if its estimate is higher than the amount you actually use.
You can also request a flexible monthly direct debit where you only pay for your actual consumption. This requires a smart meter or regular readings.
However, two-thirds of gas usage is during the winter months, so make sure you understand the impact of reducing payments during warmer weather.
Pay what you can
If the direct debit is fair, but you can't meet it, ask your supplier for an "able to pay plan" based on what you can afford.
By paying something every month - even if it's less than the amount due - your arrears grow more slowly, and your supplier may be less worried about your debt.
You may be able to get your name added tothe Priority Services Register (PSR), a list of households entitled to extra support.
Those eligible include pensioners, pregnant women, parents of young children, and people who are disabled.
Ofgem also recommends asking your supplier to add your name to the Network Operator Register, if you rely on your energy supply for medical reasons.
If you have different gas and electricity suppliers, you need to contact them both.
Being on the PSR doesn't cancel your arrears. But it does show that you are vulnerable, which your supplier should take into account.
Claim any relevant benefits
Theindependent MoneyHelper websitehas a useful guide to available benefits, whilePolicy in Practiceand the charitiesEntitledtoandTurn2usrun benefits calculators.
You may also be able to repay your debt directly from your benefits through the government'sFuel Direct scheme.
A number of suppliers and charitiesalso offer hardship grants.
Check you're getting extra government help
There isa range of government support to help with energy bills, available to households on means-tested benefits, pensioners and people on certain disability benefits.
The next payments for some eligible groups should have been made between 31 October and 19 November.
Adjust your boiler
If you have a combi boiler at home - you don't have a hot water cylinder and there is a (usually white) plastic pipe under the boiler - you may wish to consider turning down the heating flow temperature.
On the front - sometimes behind a flap - look for a dial or set of buttons with a radiator icon. Turn the dial to the number three, or the 12 o'clock position. If it has a digital display, select 60C.
You may also want to turn off the hot water pre-heat. Many boilers come on every few hours - night and day - to ensure there's always some hot water available.
Most homes don't need this, and turning it off saves money. | Annual energy bills will rise in January when households look to keep warm during the coldest time of year. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62435432?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Actors' union Sag-Aftra announced some details of its agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers (AMPTP) on Friday.
It said its national board had voted to back the agreement with 86% approval.
It will be sent to the union's 160,000 members for final ratification next week.
But actors are able to return to work immediately.
The agreement was announced by the union on Wednesday, bringing a likely end to a four-month strike that, combined with a separate writers' strike, severely disrupted film and TV production.
On Friday, it gave more detail on its contents and said it included, among other things:
"We collectively feel this deal was made at the point it should've been made," chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in Los Angeles. "It achieves the absolute best."
He said the AI protections "make sure that performers are protected. Their rights to consent are protected. Their rights to fair compensation and their rights to employment are protected".
Studios have been experimenting with AI in recent years, and safeguards for actors formed a key part of the negotiations.
There were some fears that background actors could be the first to lose their jobs as a result of AI. "No use of a digital replica can be used to evade engagement and payment of a background actor under this contract," Mr Crabtree-Ireland said.
The union earlier said it valued the three-year deal, which was welcomed by high-profile stars including Jamie Lee Curtis and Zac Efron, at more than $1bn (£814m).
A full summary of the contract is due to be released on Monday.
Although Hollywood's star actors earn millions of dollars, many lesser-known performers often struggle to get by, particularly amid rising inflation and industry changes.
The 118-day shutdown was the longest in the union's 90-year history.
The combination of the actors' and writers' strikes is estimated to have cost the California economy more than $6.5bn, according to Deadline.
As well as production delays, actors did not attend events such as premieres while the strike was taking place, as union rules prohibit them from taking any work, including promotion or publicity for projects. | A tentative deal between actors and Hollywood studios includes AI safeguards and requirements for intimacy co-ordinators on set. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67387475?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The Department for Education (DfE) should say how many surveys are yet to be carried out and how many temporary classrooms have been ordered, it said.
The report comes a month after the last official list confirmed 214 schools and colleges had reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac).
The DfE rejected the assessment.
A spokeswoman said the government had "taken swift action, responding to new evidence, to identify and support all schools with Raac to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers".
Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said Education Secretary Gillian Keegan "should come to the House of Commons and explain when she and her Conservative ministers are going to get a grip of this crisis".
The Public Accounts Committee, which scrutinises the delivery of public services, warned the list of schools with Raac would grow, and expressed concern that the DfE "does not have a good enough understanding of the risks in schools".
Its report set out 10 recommendations for the DfE, calling on it to:
Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the committee, said many schools were "still not sure where they stand or whether they'll get the money to sort out the problems that they've got".
The report also stressed broader concerns about the state of school buildings, noting that the DfE was yet to establish whether asbestos was present in around 1,000 schools.
It warned that the government's School Rebuilding Programme was behind schedule and would not be able to help many schools that ultimately need rebuilding.
The condition of schools was worse in the north of England, it added, as well as in rural and coastal areas.
A DfE spokeswoman said questionnaire responses had been gathered from all education settings "in affected areas" and most schools did not have Raac.
"We have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to remove Raac from the school and college estate. We are working closely with schools with Raac to ensure remediation work is carried out and disruption to learning is minimised," she said.
"Our School Rebuilding Programme is continuing to rebuild and refurbish school buildings in the poorest condition, with the first 400 projects selected ahead of schedule."
An estimated 700,000 children in England are being taught in unsafe or ageing school buildings that need major repairs, according toa National Audit Office report from June.
The presence of Raac was thrust into the spotlight at the end of August when the government told affected schools without safety mitigations to shut days before the start of term.
The sudden change in approach leftsome pupils learning from homefor weeks as head teachers scrambled to make alternative arrangements. The DfE spokeswoman said "only a small handful" of schools taught remotely "for a short period".
The DfE first published a list of affected schools on 19 September. It had suggested it would update it every fortnight, but so far that has only happened once, on 19 October.
It said 202 of the 214 were now offering full-time face-to-face education.
For some schools, that may mean things are more or less back to normal.
But at others, children are being taught in sports halls, corridors, temporary classrooms including marquees, nearby schools and external buildings.
One parent, whose children's school was waiting for asbestos to be cleared so a Raac survey could be carried out last month,told the BBC she felt her children had been forgotten.
In September, the DfE suggested 29 schools required temporary classrooms, of which 11 already had them in place, and orders have been made for at least 180 single and 68 double classrooms.
This month, the government awarded three contracts worth up to £35m to providers of temporary classrooms.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it "appears to be taking an eternity to put in place remedial measures".
"We are gravely concerned that when the government eventually gets around to permanent solutions for affected schools it will do so at the expense of other schools that desperately need upgrading," he said.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the head teachers' union NAHT, said he was "increasingly concerned", especially for exam students in affected schools.
"Many schools are still awaiting temporary classrooms and are having to repurpose dining halls, PE facilities, and spaces for after-school provision and wrap-around care," he said.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said schools needed "substantial new money to tackle a crisis in school buildings".
Are you affected by the issues raised in this story? Share your experiences by [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of theBBC websiteto submit your question or comment or you can email us [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | A "lack of basic information" about work to address dangerous concrete in schools in England is "shocking and disappointing", a report by MPs says. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-67450470?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Victoria Atkins, who is the Louth and Horncastle MP, is married to British Sugar managing director Paul Kenward.
Ms Atkins said she would recuse herself from some government business if necessary.
The Department of Health and Social Care said Ms Atkins had declared all her outside interests.
"Anyone who knows me knows that I am very, very independently minded," Ms Atkins said.
"I voted enthusiastically for the sugar tax when that came before Parliament."
Before becoming health secretary in the Prime Minister's reshuffle on Monday, Ms Atkins had previously been financial secretary to the Treasury.
It is not the first time Ms Atkins has been challenged over her husband's business interests.
In 2018, when she was a drugs minister she wasaccused of "hypocrisy"over British Sugar's licence to produce a non-psychoactive variant of the cannabis plant.
The Home Office stated the MP had declared the interest and had recused herself voluntarily from "policy or decisions relating to cannabis, including licensing".
Ms Atkins said: "I have always been scrupulous in ensuring that those interests are declared and that I recuse myself from any such decisions.
"Not because I think I am at risk of being in any way influenced but I am very conscious of the perception of that."
The secretary of state said she had a "complicated relationship" with sugar as a type 1 diabetic.
"I am focused on ensuring the health of our country," she said.
"I want to work with our healthcare professionals both in the NHS and in social care and that is how we are going to tackle some of these very big public health issues."
Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire onFacebook,X (formerly Twitter), andInstagram. Send your story ideas [email protected] | The new health secretary has insisted there is no conflict of interest with her husband's senior role in the British sugar industry. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-67448520?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
About 1,200 people were killed, while the Israeli military says more than 200 soldiers and civilians, including women and children, were taken to Gaza as hostages.
More than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in air and artillery strikes carried out by the Israeli military in response, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Britain took control of the area known as Palestine following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled that part of the Middle East, in World War One.
The land was inhabited by a Jewish minority and Arab majority, as well as other, smaller ethnic groups.
Tensions between the two peoples grew when the international community gave the UK the task of establishing a "national home" in Palestine for Jewish people.
This stemmed from the Balfour Declaration of 1917, a pledge made by then Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Britain's Jewish community.
The declaration was enshrined in the British mandate over Palestine and endorsed by the newly-created League of Nations - forerunner of the United Nations - in 1922.
To Jews Palestine was their ancestral home, but Palestinian Arabs also claimed the land and opposed the move.
Between the 1920s and 1940s, the number of Jews arriving there grew, with many fleeing from persecution in Europe, especially the Nazi Holocaust in World War Two.
Violence between Jews and Arabs, and against British rule, also increased.
In 1947, the UN voted for Palestine to be split into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem becoming an international city.
That plan was accepted by Jewish leaders but rejected by the Arab side and never implemented.
In 1948, unable to solve the problem, Britain withdrew and Jewish leaders declared the creation of the State of Israel.
It was intended to be a safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution, as well as a national homeland for Jews.
Fighting between Jewish and Arab militias had been intensifying for months, and the day after Israel declared statehood, five Arab countries attacked.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes in what they call Al Nakba, orthe "Catastrophe"
By the time the fighting ended in a ceasefire the following year, Israel controlled most of the territory.
Jordan occupied land which became known as the West Bank, and Egypt occupied Gaza.
Jerusalem was divided between Israeli forces in the West, and Jordanian forces in the East.
Because there was never a peace agreement there were more wars and fighting in the following decades.
In a war in 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as most of the Syrian Golan Heights, Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula.
Most Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in neighbouring Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Neither they nor their descendants have been allowed by Israel to return to their homes - Israel says this would overwhelm the country and threaten its existence as a Jewish state.
Israel still occupies the West Bank and claims the whole of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a hoped-for future Palestinian state. The US is one of only a handful of countries to recognise the city as Israel's capital.
In the past 50 years Israel has built settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where more than 700,000 Jews now live.
Settlements are held to be illegal under international law - that is the position of the UN Security Council and the UK government, among others - although Israel rejects this.
Gaza is a narrow strip of land sandwiched between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea, but with a short southern border with Egypt.
Just 41km (25 miles) long and 10km wide, it has more than two million inhabitants and is one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
In the wake of the 1948-49 war, Gaza was occupied by Egypt for 19 years.
Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 war and stayed until 2005, during that time building Jewish settlements.
Israel withdrew its troops and settlers in 2005, though it retained control over its airspace, shared border and shoreline. The UN still considers the territory to be occupied by Israel.
There are a number of issues which the two sides cannot agree on.
These include:
Israel-Palestinian peace talks were held on and off between the 1990s and 2010s, interspersed with outbreaks of violence.
A negotiated peace did seem possible in the early days. A series of secret talks in Norway became the Oslo peace process, forever symbolised by a ceremony on the White House lawn in 1993 presided over by President Bill Clinton.
In a historic moment, the Palestinians recognised the State of Israel and Israel recognised its historical enemy, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. A self-governing Palestinian Authority was set up.
Cracks soon appeared, though, with then opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu calling Oslo a mortal threat to Israel. The Israelis accelerated their project to settle Jews in the occupied Palestinian territories. The recently emerged Palestinian militant group Hamas sent suicide bombers to kill people in Israel and wreck the chances of a deal.
The atmosphere in Israel turned ugly, culminating in Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination by a Jewish extremist on 4 November 1995.
In the 2000s attempts were made to revive the peace process - including in 2003 when a roadmap was devised by world powers with the ultimate goal of a two-state solution, but this was never implemented.
Peace efforts finally stalled in 2014, when talks failed between the Israelis and Palestinians in Washington.
The mostrecent peace plan - prepared by the USwhen Donald Trump was president - was called "the deal of the century" by Prime Minister Netanyahu, but was dismissed by the Palestinians as one-sided and never got off the ground.
Gaza is ruled by Hamas, an Islamist group which is committed to the destruction of Israel and is designated as a terrorist group by the UK and many other countries.
Hamas won the Palestinians' last elections in 2006, and seized control of Gaza the following year by ousting the rival Fatah movement of West Bank-based President Mahmoud Abbas.
Since then, militants in Gaza have fought several wars with Israel, which along with Egypt has maintained a partial blockade on the strip to isolate Hamas and try to stop attacks, particularly the indiscriminate firing of rockets towards Israeli cities.
Palestinians in Gaza say Israel's restrictions and its air strikes on heavily populated areas amount to collective punishment.
This year has been the deadliest year on record for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. They also complain of the restrictions and military actions being carried out there in response to deadly attacks on Israelis.
These tensions could have been one of the reasons for Hamas's latest attack.
But the militants may also have been seeking to boost their popularity among ordinary Palestinians, including by using hostages to pressure Israel to free some of the estimated 4,500 Palestinians held in its prisons.
The US, the European Union and other Western countries have all condemned the Hamas attack on Israel.
The US, Israel's closest ally, has over the years given the Jewish state more than $260bn in military and economic aid, and has promised additional equipment, air defence missiles, guided bombs and ammunition.
It has also sent two aircraft carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean to deter Israel's enemies, particularly Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, from opening a second front in the war.
Russia and China have both refused to condemn Hamas, and say they are maintaining contact with both sides in the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed US policy for the absence of peace in the Middle East.
Iran, Israel's arch-enemy, is a key supporter of Hamas, as well as Hezbollah, whose militants have been exchanging fire with Israeli forces almost daily since Hamas's attack.
Questions have been asked about Iran's role in the Hamas' attack, after reports said it gave the go-ahead days before. Tehran has, however,denied any involvement. | The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel on 7 October, with hundreds of gunmen infiltrating communities near the Gaza Strip. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-44124396?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
In a surprising move, former Prime Minister David Cameron makes his return to frontline politics as foreign secretary - seven years after he left Downing Street.
Click hereif you cannot see the Cabinet Guide. | Rishi Sunak has made changes to his cabinet, replacing Suella Braverman as home secretary with James Cleverly. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63376560?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Eight million people on means-tested benefits, such as universal credit, were due to get £300directly by 19 November, without the need to make a claim. It is the second of three instalments that will eventually total £900.
But an influential committee of MPs has said these payments have been insufficient to tackle the extent of the financial problem many people face.
Some groups are receiving payments to help with higher bills, including:
All are paid directly into eligible recipients' bank accounts, and people are being warned about scammers using the situation to try to trick people into handing over personal information.
The payment, in three instalments of £301, £300 and £299, is available to households who receive the following benefits:
The payment reference on a recipient's bank account is their national insurance number, followed by DWP COL.
The 1.1 million people who receive only working tax credit or child tax credit, rather than any of the other benefits, are also now being paid the latest sum, with the reference HMRC COLS.
People are not eligible for these payments if they receive the new-style employment and support allowance, contributory employment and support allowance, or the new-style jobseeker's allowance - unless they get universal credit.
Anyone who thinks they should have received the help but did not should contact the office that pays their benefit or tax credits, orreport it here.
To qualify for the latest instalment, people had to have claimed a benefits payment between 18 August and 17 September, or received a payment for an assessment period ending between these dates. Pensioner households may be able to have a new pension credit claim backdated.
An estimated 850,000 pensioner householdsdo not claim pension credit, which is a gateway to these extra payments.
Othereligibility details are outlined here.
None of these cost-of-living payments affect the tax you pay, or the benefits or tax credits you receive.
Up to six million people on the following disability benefits received another £150:
Those payments were made between 20 June and 4 July.
Households that receive the winter fuel payment - which is worth £200-£300 and is paid to nearly all homes with at least one person of pension age - received an extra £300 in November or December 2022, and will get another £300 this coming winter.
Lower-income pensioners who claim pension credit get the money in addition to the support provided for those on benefits.
Two payments totalling £650 were made in 2022 to more than eight million low-income households.
Payments of £300 were also paid to pensioners during last winter, and a £150 payment was also made to those with disabilities.
Some people would have received all of those payments, if they were eligible.
A £150 rebate, often through people's council tax bill, was made last year. The Household Support Fund, which is distributed by local councils, helped vulnerable people, including giving fuel vouchers to those in need.
All household energy bills were cut by at least £400between October 2022 and March 2023.
The discount was made automatically by energy suppliers in England, Scotland and Wales. However, there are no plans to repeat this in the coming winter.
Separate arrangements were madefor households in Northern Ireland, which has its own energy market.
They received a single payment of £600 starting in January, which was more than in the rest of the UK because a higher proportion of households use heating oil.
Direct debit customers in Northern Ireland had the money paid into their bank accounts. Other customers were sent a voucher.
Following an inquiry, the Commons Work and Pensions Committee published a report in Novemberwhich said payments were not enough for many people, given the scale of the problem. The report said the money only provided a temporary reprieve for some.
It said payments were insufficient for those with extra costs associated with their disabilities and there was particular concern for some larger families. Disability charity Scope says some people cannot afford to power vital equipment.
The report said the payments have had an important impact, but the system was relatively unsophisticated, meaning some of those in need slipped through the net.
Significantly, it argues that, in the future, the government should consider increasing benefits rather than giving ad-hoc payments.
The government's response is that cost-of-living payments have provided "a significant financial boost to millions of households" and that the best long-term approach to financial security is to get people into work and boost their skills.
The government launchedan Energy Price Guaranteein October 2022, which limited a typical dual-fuel household's annual energy bill to £2,500 throughout last winter.
The scheme, which applied to England, Wales and Scotland, is still in place if needed, but has not been required since July.
That's because a typical bill fell below this level under regulator Ofgem's energy price cap in the summer, and fell further in October.
However, it is set togo up by 5% to £1,928 in January.
A government scheme to cut energy bills for businesses finished at the end of March.
Under anew scheme that began in April, firms get a discount on wholesale prices rather than costs being capped as under the previous deal.
Heavy energy-using sectors, like glass, ceramics and steelmakers, get a larger discount than others.
How is the rising cost of living affecting you? Please get in touch by emailing:[email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you can email us [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | Millions of low-income households across the UK should now have receivedthe latest instalment of cost-of-living payments. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61592496?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Tina Fey's "new twist" on her 2004 hit is a screen adaptation of theMean Girls musical(whose Broadway run was cut short due to the pandemic), and is released on 12 January.
Fans have been analysing the first trailer - released last week - in minute detail, with some questioning why it features no hint the new film is a musical (Paramount Pictures has since released a furthershorter clipwith a sprinkling of song).
The opening titles make an overt play for Gen Z fans, telling viewers "this is not your mother's Mean Girls". Perhaps unsurprisingly, this move has proved divisive with the millennials who watched the original film as tweens and teens.
After all, Mean Girls may be back for a new generation, but it never really went away. Social media is still awash with quotes about making "fetch" happen, wearing pink on Wednesdays and telling people "you can't sit with us".
From Ariana Grande's 2019 'thank u, next' parody music video, which featured several of the film's original stars, to a Walmart advert released just this month starring three out of four of the principal cast, the original movie remains woven into the fabric of contemporary pop culture.
But while people continue to watch Mean Girls in 2023 - and it still manages to attract new fans - it is widely viewed as a time capsule of the noughties high school experience. To a 2023 viewer, this is the period piece that made household names of Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried.
The new trailer, meanwhile, is soundtracked by Olivia Rodrigo, and features Coach Carr (who famously cautioned students not to have sex as they will "get pregnant and die") using TikTok.
Indicators that the new film is set in 2024, not 2004, have shocked some fans.
"I thought the Mean Girls musical movie would be a period piece set in the early 2000s," writes one Twitter user. "It feels wrong to set it [in the] present day."
One fan suggests the concept wouldn't work in 2024 "because of how much society has changed".
Another calls the original film a "distinctly millennial story" and says bringing it into the modern day feels "forced".
"I fear the contemporary Mean Girls redux will only end in disaster given how firmly rooted the original was in early 2000s culture," warns one 22-year-old woman.
Movie posters for the new film feature the strapline "plastic is forever", while Tina Fey and Tim Meadows are set to reprise their original roles as teachers at North Shore High. But a lot has changed since the "Plastics" (the bullying trio portrayed by McAdams, Seyfried and Lacey Chabert) ruled the school in 2004.
Diet culture, slut-shaming and female stereotypes are not just one-liners but intrinsic plot points for the 2004 film. Protagonist Cady Heron's big sabotage of queen bee Regina George involves making her gain weight by giving her nutrition bars designed to help malnourished people.
The noughties were filled with storylines like this which would now likely attract accusations of sexism and fatphobia. Take 2001 rom-com Shallow Hal, for example, in which Jack Black's lead is shown falling in love with plus-size woman Rosie (Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit) only after being hypnotised into seeing inner beauty.
While the Mean Girls Broadway show was technically set in 2018 (and incorporates the social media of that time into its telling), its plot, characters and aesthetic remain true to the noughties classic.
Being thin, disengaged with academia and having a hot boyfriend are portrayed as the best ways to be liked (or feared) both in the 2004 film and the later musical. But more recent high school stories have started to look at the age-old concept of teenage cliques from fresh angles.
In the 2023 series of Netflix's drama Sex Education, the popular group is a progressive gang of socially-aware students who turn the tropes of Mean Girls on their head. Teen Vogue describes the "coven" at Cavendish College as "a fresh Gen Z trope that we see all around us but often struggle to make sense of: The politically aware bully".
Similarly, in 2022 comedy film Senior Year, Rebel Wilson's character wakes from a 20-year coma to find the rules of high school have drastically changed. Her competition for queen bee is now a self-described "authentic, socially conscious, body positive, environmentally aware and economically compassionate" influencer.
While fans have expressed excitement at having something new in the Mean Girls canon, and many have praised the casting of 23-year-old Reneé Rapp (who starred in the Broadway musical), others have said it's time to let the franchise be.
"Mean Girls belongs to the aughts," wrote one fan, who asked: "Would there be a burn book in 2023?" | Twenty years on from the release of Mean Girls, the much-quoted cult classic is coming back to cinemas in musical form. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67434696?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
While average wages have been increasing, they're still not keeping up with the pace of price rises, which means many people are finding it harder to get by.
Recent months have seen waves of strikes, with tens of thousands of workers walking out in disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Many of these strikes have taken place in the public sector, where workers often do not have the power to negotiate individually.
And whether you work in the public or private sector, even if you do have a conversation with your manager there's no guarantee that it will result in a pay rise.
However, there are ways to give yourself the best chance of success.
We spoke to recruiters, a manager and a workplace psychologist to get five tips on how to best negotiate for more money.
Jill Cotton, a career trends experts at jobs site Glassdoor, says scheduling a talk in advance will allow you and your boss time to prepare, and means you're more likely to have a productive conversation.
"Don't spring this on your line manager," Ms Cotton says. "Be upfront and say that you want to book in a conversation that is specifically about pay."
Rowsonara Begum, who helps her brother run Saffron Indian takeaway in Salisbury, says it also needs to be the right time for the business.
The takeaway has five members of staff and occasionally takes on additional workers during busy periods.
She says if workers pick a time when the business is doing well, they will have the best chance of successfully negotiating more money.
If you're asking for a pay rise, you should have lots of evidence of why you deserve one.
"Know what you've achieved either from a work setting or what you've done to develop yourself, maybe to support your team, support your line managers. List all the pros of what you've done," says Shan Saba, a director at Glasgow-based recruitment firm Brightwork.
This evidence also helps your manager rationalise why you should be paid more, according to Stephanie Davies, a workplace psychologist.
"The brain needs a 'why' - why should I pay you this amount?" she says.
However, it's not just about bringing a list of all the things you've done. You should also be clear about what you want to do next, says Mr Saba.
"If you have aspirations of moving up through your organisation, have a plan of what you're looking to do over the coming year."
When asking your boss for more money, it helps if you're confident and know your worth.
That's something Ms Begum has noticed, from her experience of having these talks with staff.
"Here in Salisbury, it's quite difficult to get the staff we need," she says.
"It's also become harder to recruit from overseas. So workers have negotiating power because they know there's a shortage."
Often people don't feel confident because there is a "stigma" around talking about pay, says Glassdoor's Jill Cotton, but it's "an important part of work".
Women and people from minority backgrounds can often find it particularly hard to ask for more more, adds psychologist Stephanie Davies.
Her advice to them is to ask for a mentor or role model, who can help guide them through those conversations.
Most experts agree it's best to have an exact figure in mind before embarking on a conversation about pay.
Do your research, advises James Reed, chair of recruitment firm Reed.
"You can go online and look at job adverts and see what other comparable jobs are being recruited for and what the salaries are," he says.
Ms Cotton warns the figure should be realistic.
"We would all love to be paid millions of pounds every single year. But we are being paid to fulfil a role with the skillset we have," she says.
If the above steps don't result in a pay rise, try not to be disheartened.
"Sometimes these conversations can take a while, even months, but it's important to keep the communication open," says Ms Begum.
Pay is also not the be-all and end-all, says Mr Reed.
"It's not just necessarily about money. You might be able to get more holiday or more flexibility around working hours," he says, adding you could also negotiate extra training and development.
And if you don't feel you're getting what you want from your employer, remember, there are other opportunities out there.
"You can always look elsewhere, that's the really big lesson," says Ms Davies. | If you feel like you're not getting paid enough, you're probably not alone. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64288791?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
All photos subject to copyright | A selection of powerful news photographs taken around the world this week. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-67378797?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Armed officers stopped a car on the A52 Bingham bypass in Nottinghamshire on Thursday morning.
After the car stopped, police found the driver, 46, had a serious head injury and he died at the scene.
His death is being linked to an inquiryprompted by the discovery of a man's body in a field in Leicestershire.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said a non-police issue firearm was discovered in the car.
The watchdog said it had launched an investigation after being notified about the incident by Leicestershire Police.
The force said officers gave first aid to the man in the Mazda Tamura but he was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 00:30 GMT.
It came after a man his 40s was found dead in an area off Highgate Lane, Plungar, on Tuesday afternoon.
A 56-year-old man from Grantham, Lincolnshire, was arrested on suspicion of murder. He has since been released while investigations continue.
A cordon remains in place along the A52 after a 13.6-mile (21.8km) stretch of the road was shut between the A46 in Saxondale and the A1 in Grantham.
On Thursday evening, National Highways said the stretch of the A52 remained shut and was "expected to remain closed until at least 12:00" GMT on Friday.
The IOPC said the coroner had been informed following the driver's death.
A statement added: "We have since declared an independent investigation, and that will consider the circumstances of the police involvement.
"Initial accounts have been provided by officers involved and we have also gathered police body worn footage for review."
Leicestershire Police has renewed their appeal for witnesses and information in connection with the Plungar murder investigation.
Follow BBC East Midlands onFacebook, onX, or onInstagram. Send your story ideas [email protected]. | A man has died after the car he was travelling in was pulled over by officers involved in a murder investigation. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-67365533?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Prosecutors told a Toronto court that Nygard, 82, used his "status" to assault five women in a series of incidents from the late 1980s to 2005.
Nygard denied the charges, and his defence team accused the victims of "gold-digging" for financial gain.
He was found not guilty on a fifth count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.
Nygard appeared to show no emotion as the verdict was handed down on the jurors' fifth day of deliberations.
According to prosecutors, Nygard lured the women - aged 16 to 28 at the time - to a private luxury bedroom in his firm's Toronto headquarters.
One prosecutor described the room as having "a giant bed...and a bar and doors, doors with no handles and automatic locks controlled by Peter Nygard".
Prosecutors alleged that Nygard would assault the women once they were trapped in the room.
After Nygard's conviction, his son Kai Zen Bickle told reporters outside the Toronto court that the jury's ruling was "a victory" for all those "who came forward and were denied justice".
"One more child won't be affected, one more woman won't be affected, " Mr Bickle said. "(Nygard) has to actually sit down and think about all of these things."
Mr Bickle has become an outspoken supporter of his father's alleged victims and described the moment Nygard was found guilty on Sunday as "emotional".
"There are so many survivors out there, this is their day," he said.
Nygard's lawyer Brian Greenspan said "we will consider the options" when asked by reporters whether Nygard would seek an appeal.
A sentencing hearing will be set on 21 November.
During closing arguments earlier this week, Crown prosecutors and Nygard's defence team painted dramatically different pictures of the man who once hobnobbed with celebrities and stood at the helm of a lucrative global apparel empire.
Mr Greenspan told jurors that the state's case rested on "revisionist history" built on "contradictions and innuendo", Canadian media reported.
He also claimed that four of the five women - who are also part of a US class action lawsuit - were motivated by financial gain.
Over five days of tense testimony and cross-examination earlier in the trial, Nygard said he could never have acted "in that kind of manner" and that he did not recall four of the five women, according to CBC.
Prosecutors relied heavily on the evidence of the women in court.
Crown Attorney Neville Golwalla addressed the media on Sunday after the verdict and thanked the women who had come forward.
"This is a crime that typically happens in private and profoundly impacts human dignity," Ms Golwalla said.
"To stand up and recount those indignities in a public forum such as a courtroom is never easy and takes great courage."
Nygard - who was once estimated to be worth at least $700m (£570m) - is still facing another trial in Montreal next year and assault and confinement charges in Winnipeg.
Once his criminal cases in Canada are completed, he is set to be extradited to the US, where authorities claim he engaged in a "decades-long pattern of criminal conduct" involving at least a dozen victims across the globe. He is currently fighting that extradition.
The guilty verdicts on Sunday cap a stunning fall from grace for Nygard.
In February 2020, he stepped down as chairman of his firm, Nygard International, shortly before it filed for bankruptcy after US authorities raided its New York headquarters.
He has been jailed since his arrest in December the same year. | A Canadian jury has found the former fashion mogul Peter Nygard guilty of sexual assault after a six-week trial. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67360004?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
The services, while not formal weddings, will be able to include the wearing of rings, prayers, confetti and a blessing from the priest.
The amendment to back the services on a trial basis passed the Church's parliament by one vote.
The Church of England's official teaching is that marriage is only between one man and one woman.
Earlier this year, bishops refused to back a change in teaching which would have allowed priests to marry same-sex couples, but said theywould allow prayers of blessings for people in gay relationshipsas part of wider services.
It had been thought approval for standalone services might not come for well over a year from now.
But Wednesday's vote, which passed narrowly in the General Synod, the Church's legislative body, means distinct services of blessing could now be allowed, rather than simply prayers within a normal church service.
While there is no set timeframe for temporary trial services to begin, it is understood these could be authorised in the comings weeks with the first services in the new year.
The proposal for stand alone services on a trial basis came in an amendment to a motion. The full formal process of authorisation, which will take around two years, will take place while the trial is running.
The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Stephen Croft, who has campaigned for a change in the Church's stance, said he was "delighted".
Noting the services would not be official weddings, he added: "I hope there will be a similar joy and affirmation and those that come to receive these prayers will feel fully welcomed into the life of the church."
The Church of England's official position on marriage is at odds with its Anglican equivalent in Scotland - The Scottish Episcopal Church - and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which both allow same-sex weddings.
The Anglican Church in Wales has provided an authorised service of blessing for gay couples but does not allow same-sex weddings in church.
Jayne Ozanne, a prominent LGBT campaigner who sits on the Church of England's General Synod, called for the Church to change its position to allow gay couples to marry.
"The Church of England remains deeply homophobic, whatever bishops and archbishops may say," she said.
"I fear that much of the nation will judge the Church of England as being abusive, hypocritical and unloving - they are, sadly, correct."
Meanwhile, conservative clergy described it as a "watershed" moment.
Revd Canon John Dunnett, national director of the Church of England Evangelical Council, said he felt "grieved and saddened" by the decision.
"It will tear local parish congregations apart, damage the relationship between large numbers of clergy and their bishops and cause churches across the dioceses to feel as though their shepherds have abandoned them," he said. | Gay couples will be able to have special services of blessing in Church of England parishes for the first time. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67432854?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
Shawn Seesahai died when he was fatally stabbed in Wolverhampton on Monday evening. The boys were arrested a day later.
The pair, who cannot be named due to their age, are set to appear before Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Mr Seesahai's mother has described her son as a "courageous, compassionate and confident young soul".
The boys have also been charged with possession of a bladed article.
West Midlands Police said the incident happened on open land off Laburnum Road shortly before 20:30 GMT on Monday.
The force added patrols in the area were continuing to offer reassurance to the public.
In a tribute issued through the police earlier on Thursday, Mr Seesahai's mother, who was not named, said her son was a "generous person" who had a "good personality".
"He was looking forward to accomplish many future plans and ambitions," she said.
"We will always have him in our hearts."
Follow BBC West Midlands onFacebook,XandInstagram. Send your story ideas to:[email protected] | Two boys aged 12 have been charged with murdering a 19-year-old man. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-67445850?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
On Wednesday, Mr Musk replied to a post sharing an antisemitic conspiracy theory, calling it "actual truth".
Mr Musk has denied that the post was antisemitic.
But a White House spokesman said his endorsement of the post, which drew anger online, was "unacceptable".
"We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms," said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.
He noted that the post Mr Musk was responding to referred to a conspiracy theory that motivated the man whokilled 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
"It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust," Mr Bates said, referring to the 7 October Hamas assault against Israel.
X Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino wrote in an earlier tweet that the company has been "extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There's no place for it anywhere in the world - it's ugly and wrong".
On Wednesday, Mr Musk responded with his "truth" comment to a post that accused Jewish communities of pushing "hatred against whites" and which included anti-immigrant sentiments.
It appeared to be an endorsement of a racist and antisemitic conspiracy theory known as "white genocide," which argues that Jewish people systematically plot to encourage immigration of "non-white" people to Western countries in order to "eliminate" the white race.
The original post that Mr Musk responded to "is using specific language that has been used in the past to justify violent attacks on synagogues," Zahed Amanullah, senior fellow at the London-based Institute of Strategic Dialogue, told the BBC.
The conspiracy theory motivated a mass murderer who entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 and shot dead 11 worshippers.
Mr Musk denies he is antisemitic and later said his comments referred not to all Jewish people but to groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other unspecified "Jewish communities".
ADL Chief Executive Jonathan Greenblatt posted: "At a time when antisemitism is exploding in America and surging around the world, it is indisputably dangerous to use one's influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories."
The controversy over antisemitism comes as some organisations have stopped buying ads on X, formerly known as Twitter, citing extremist content on the social network.
IBM stopped its ad spending after a report from a left-wing media watchdog saidits content was placed next to posts praising Adolf Hitler and Nazism.Apple later said it too would halt ad buys on the platform, Axios reported.
X told the BBC on Thursday that ads are not deliberately placed next to extremist content, that the Nazi-promoting accounts will not earn money from advertising and that specific posts will be labelled "sensitive media".
Separately, the European Commission has asked its departments to stop buying ads on X because of concerns over misinformation in relation to the Israel-Hamas war, according to a report by Politico.
On the platform on Friday, Mr Musk did not directly address his own statements but criticised Media Matters and responded in support of other posts critical of IBM and "media".
The billionaire has on several occasions repeated conspiracy theories and has also lashed out at social media watchdogs - including the ADL and other groups - for criticising his content moderation changes at X.
X claims that it has stronger brand safety controls than other social networks and that hate speech and extremism has fallen on the platform despite large cuts to the company's safety team. Several outside groups disagree with the company's assessment and say that extremism and hate speech have increased under Mr Musk's leadership.
Earlier this year Mr Musk threatened to sue the ADL, claiming it was "trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic". He blames pressure groups, rather than misinformation and extremist posts, for a sharp drop in advertising revenue since his takeover.
While he has not carried through with his threat against the ADL,the company has sued another research and campaign group, the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
On Thursday, CCDH filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit under California's anti-SLAPP - "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" - law, calling the X suit "an attempt to censor, intimidate, and silence".
With reporting by Chris Vallance. | The White House has accused Elon Musk of repeating a "hideous lie" about Jewish people, after the X owner appeared to respond approvingly to an antisemitic post on the platform. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67446800?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
In a statement on Instagram, the US comedian and actor, 68, said the "terrible tragedy" had happened on Wednesday night, adding: "We will miss him forever."
He later posted a picture of himself and Dex working together, saying it had been "a joy".
The two had starred in several TV series together.
"Dex packed a lot into those 32 years," Carvey wrote, in a joint statement with his wife Paula Zwagerman.
"He was extremely talented at so many things - music, art, film making, comedy - and pursued all of them passionately."
The couple also have another son, Thomas, aged 30.
Carvey said that his eldest son "loved life" and that when you were with him, "you loved life too".
"He made everything fun," he wrote. "But most of all, he loved his family, his friends and his girlfriend, Kaylee.
"Dex was a beautiful person. His handmade birthday cards are a treasure. We will miss him forever."
Carvey ended by saying to anyone struggling with addiction, or who loved someone struggling with addiction, "you are in our hearts and prayers".
Fans reacted to the news on social media, with one saying her "heart aches" for the family as they come to terms with their loss.
Another wrote: "Love the focus you are putting on telling us about Dex. Such a lovely tribute to your boy."
Dex starred alongside his father in a range of shows, including The Funster and Beyond the Comics.
He also opened Carvey's TV comedy special titled Straight White Male, 60, in 2016.
Carvey is best known for his work on the US sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, which earned him an Emmy award for outstanding individual performance in 1993. | Wayne's World star Dana Carvey has announced his "beloved son" Dex, 32, died from an accidental drug overdose. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67449086?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA |
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