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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has asked for forgiveness from the families of the 57 victims of this week's train crash. In a Facebook message, Mr Mitsotakis said that "in the Greece of 2023... two trains heading in different directions cannot run on the same line and no-one notice". Clashes with police were reported on Sunday as thousands joined a demonstration in the capital Athens. They said seven officers were hurt and five arrests were made, the AFP news agency reports. Some demonstrators set fire to rubbish bins and threw petrol bombs. Police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades, clearing the central Syntagma Square of the protesters within a few minutes. The protesters also reportedly released hundreds of black balloons into the sky in memory of the dead, with some holding signs reading "Down with killer governments". On the night of 28 February, a passenger train and a freight train that were travelling in opposite directions ended up on the same track. The first four carriages of the passenger train were derailed, and the first two caught fire and were almost completely destroyed. The train crash has been widely attributed to human error. A 59-year-old station master in Larissa, who was charged with manslaughter by negligence, appeared in court on Sunday and has been taken into custody. His lawyer Stefanos Pantzartzidis said the station master had admitted to having a share of responsibility in the accident. He faces between 10 years and life in jail if convicted. But many in Greece see the crash as an accident that had been waiting to happen, and the railway workers' union blamed successive governments' "disrespect" towards Greek railways for leading to this "tragic result". A government minister told the BBC that the lack of funding was the direct result of the strict terms of international bailouts imposed after the 2010 debt crisis. The scene of the crash near Larissa Union members were joined by residents of Athens and Thessaloniki in taking to the streets throughout the past week, shocked by the scale of the disaster. The protests were also attended by many students - several of the passengers on board one of the trains were students in their 20s returning to Thessaloniki after a long weekend celebrating Greek Orthodox Lent. "The rail network looked problematic, with worn down, badly paid staff," Nikos Savva, a medical student from Cyprus, told AFP news agency. Train drivers in Greece have said there have been long-running problems with the electronic systems that are supposed to warn them of danger ahead. The transport minister, Kostas Karamanlis, also resigned as a "sign of respect" for the people who had died. Mr Karamanlis he was taking responsibility for the government's failure to modernise the country's railways in the three-and-a-half years it had been in power. Immediately after the accident, the Greek government declared three days of national mourning and said the cost of the victims' funerals would be paid for from the public purse. BBC Europe correspondent Nick Beake says the crash seems to be becoming a defining political issue for Greece as it prepares to face a general election in the spring. Media reports have given 9 April as a possible date, but analysts say that date may now be pushed back.

DUP Leader says his party is happy to be involved in talks with all political parties DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said he is hopeful of progress in the next few weeks in his talks with the government about restoring Stormont. He was speaking after parties met the head of the civil service Jayne Brady. Sir Jeffrey said discussions have reached an "important stage". He added what happens then will determine of the government will be able to meet his party's demands on the protocol and "be able to deliver what is required" to restore the Executive. He said his party's priority remained getting the solutions it needed on the Northern Ireland protocol which he said was continuing to cause harm. The DUP collapsed power-sharing in February 2022 in protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements. He added that his party was happy to be involved in conversations around how to ease the budgetary pressures "if and when" the Executive was restored. Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy says there was "consensus" within the Stormont parties that they need support with the ongoing financial pressures. Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy says there is an elephant in the room around the DUP getting back to work But Mr Murphy questioned "the elephant in the room" around when the DUP would get back to work. He said: "We are doing preparation work for negotiations that might not happen." He added that the financial situation in regards to public funding was getting worse not better. This is the first hint of a timeline in the DUP's talks with the government. According to the party leader we are reaching an "important stage" in the next few weeks and he is hopeful of progress. That will coincide with a meeting of the UK and Irish governments in London hosted by Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris. Could that be the moment when the government sets out its legislative plan to deal with the DUPs protocol concerns? The government will be keen to pass any legislation before Westminster breaks for the summer recess on 20 July. But don't expect a quick decision from the DUP. The party may want assurances around a financial package to help plug Stormont's £1.1bn black hole. They may also decide to reserve judgement until the new arrangements agreed in Windsor Framework are put into operation in October. UUP leader Doug Beattie says the pace of executive restoration is ramping up Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said the pace towards the return of a Stormont executive is being "ramped up". He said the all-party talks with the head of the civil service were positive. Mr Beattie said those around the table talked about "when" the Executive is restored. He said talks focused on the financial ask of the treasury to plug the £1.1bn black hole in Stormont's finances. Alliance MP Stephen Farry says serious work is being done to move forward Alliance MP Stephen Farry said that the talks and the progress being made should not be seen as a barrier to getting the Executive back up and running again. But he added the talks on Thursday were a positive sign and that "serious work" was being done to put together a plan from the parties for the UK government on moving forward. Mr Farry said: "There is some degree of momentum building in this process but it's still early days." Sir Jeffrey also criticised Sinn Féin MP John Finucane over his planned attendance at an IRA commemoration at the weekend in Armagh. He said his "attendance was wrong on so many levels". He added they were "building a fun day around celebrating volunteers who were one of the most feared killing machines in Northern Ireland during the troubles" He urged Sinn Féin to think again about its involvement this weekend and to think of the impact on the victims families who still carry the hurt and pain. Sinn Féin has previously said that "everyone has the right to remember their dead".

This year's Glastonbury festival is off to a rocking start as thousands of festival-goers party in the summer sun. Arctic Monkeys are headlining the iconic Pyramid stage on Friday night, mystery act the ChurnUps have been revealed as Foo Fighters to the delight of crowds and elsewhere Worthy Farm's visitors have been entertained by Texas, Gabriels, Flo and many more music acts from around the world.

We are pausing our live coverage of Travis King, the US soldier who crossed the border from South Korea to the North without authorisation. It's still unclear why he fled to North Korea. Pentagon officials are investigating the incident, and have said his safety is Washington's top concern. There has been radio silence from Pyongyang and behind the scenes, officials are desperately trying to open communication lines. We've learned from local media in the last few hours that King served two months in a South Korean jail on assault charges and was released on 10 July. His mum has also told US television that she couldn't believe what her son what had done, and wished he was home in the US safe. Our writers on this page were Kelly Ng in Singapore and Ali Abbas Ahmadi in London, with editing by Ayeshea Perera and Joel Guinto.

The report was carried out by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Some schools in Northern Ireland are teaching pupils that homosexuality is wrong in relationships and sex education (RSE). A Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) report said "many schools use language that shames and stigmatises young people" who had sex. Some told pupils that those who "engage in casual sex must bear the consequences of their actions". The NIHRC investigated schools policies on the teaching of RSE. The detailed investigation found most schools were not providing "age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on access to abortion services". "Some schools actively contributed to the shame and stigma surrounding unplanned pregnancy and abortion, by making statements such as 'abortion is not a means of contraception and those who knowingly engage in casual sex must bear the consequences of their actions'," the NIHRC report said. It also said about two-thirds of post-primaries promoted abstinence in their sex education policies. One school's policy stated that "sexual abstinence before marriage and fidelity within it, will be presented as the positive and desirable option and an achievable reality". The commission recommended that schools should be monitored to ensure sex education is taught in "an objective and non-judgemental manner". That should include "detailed assessments of the content and delivery of lesson plans". The NIHRC was established following the Good Friday Agreement. It has the power to conduct investigations and compel evidence. Its investigation into relationships and sex education focused mainly on legal and policy matters but it also made recommendations on delivery of the subject in schools. About three-quarters (149) of post-primaries in Northern Ireland provided evidence to the commission's investigation and 124 provided their RSE policies. Some schools provided lesson plans and teaching notes, and experts were also consulted by the commission. Speaking about the findings, NIHRC chief commissioner, Alyson Kilpatrick told Good Morning Ulster that "an awful lot more needed to be done by a majority of schools in relation to age appropriate, comprehensive, scientifically accurate education and sexual reproductive health and rights". "The Department for Education needs to work with schools, consult with parents and children, to work out what the appropriate content should be and that it is delivered properly," said Ms Kilpatrick. In 2018, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) said RSE in Northern Ireland should be compulsory and comprehensive. As a result, the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris recently laid new regulations in parliament making teaching topics like abortion and prevention of pregnancy compulsory in schools in Northern Ireland. He said he had a legal duty to act on the recommendations made in the CEDAW report. But the change has been criticised by Protestant and Catholic church leaders. The NIHRC investigation into RSE was carried out before Mr Heaton-Harris's move. But the commission said that there must be monitoring to "ensure that schools are meeting their new obligations". "It's very easy to have a policy or to have a list of things you are going to teach, but it is the actual teaching of them and the way in which they are taught which is so influential," said Ms Kilpatrick. At present, each school in Northern Ireland has to teach sex education but can decide what to teach "based on the ethos of their school," according to Department of Education (DE) guidance. The NIHRC said that the majority of schools who submitted their RSE policy to the investigation "still promoted the value of the 'sanctity of marriage'", and related terms, such as "permanent committed sexual relationship", and "married love" in their RSE policies and school ethos. "In addition to this idealisation and promotion of abstinence, marriage, and monogamy, many schools use language that shames and stigmatises young people who do engage in sexual practices," the report continued. "Most schools also contributed to this association of shame with sexual activity, by attributing specific moral values and personal characteristics to those who engaged (or did not engage) in sexual behaviour." The NIHRC said about two-thirds of post-primaries taught pupils about contraception, but it was difficult to know if they offered accurate information. In their RSE policies, some schools stated that "they will present the Catholic teaching that 'the use of any artificial means of preventing procreation is not acceptable'," the report said. "Some schools even outline their beliefs that "homosexuality" is wrong," in their polices, the NIHRC said. "For example, one [school] writes that 'the belief that homosexual acts are against the nature and purpose of human relationships will be presented to pupils'," the report continued. One third of schools who provided information to the NIHRC said their school would teach pupils that "heterosexual relationships was the 'main' or 'ideal' context for sexual intimacy". The report also said most schools "indirectly contribute to the societal victim-blaming and slut-shaming of women and girls." It said this was because they focused on how young people could stop themselves becoming victims of sexual abuse or violence, rather than challenging the perpetrators. The NIHRC said that while their investigation showed some schools provided "comprehensive and scientifically accurate" relationship and sex education, the majority in Northern Ireland did not. The commission concluded that the case for reforming the RSE curriculum was "compelling". It provided 13 recommended reforms, including schools involving their students in drawing up RSE policies.

This year's Glastonbury festival is off to a rocking start as thousands of festival-goers party in the summer sun. Arctic Monkeys are headlining the iconic Pyramid stage on Friday night, mystery act the ChurnUps have been revealed as Foo Fighters to the delight of crowds and elsewhere Worthy Farm's visitors have been entertained by Texas, Gabriels, Flo and many more music acts from around the world.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch Catherine, Princess of Wales, appear in surprise Eurovision cameo Catherine, Princess of Wales, made a surprise appearance playing the piano during the opening performance of Eurovision. She played an instrumental piece, created by Joe Price and Kojo Samuel, recorded in Windsor Castle's Crimson Drawing Room earlier this month. She wore a blue Jenny Packham dress and earrings belonging to the late queen. The 10-second clip appeared in a performance by last year's winners Kalush Orchestra. That performance also included contributions from Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sam Ryder, Ms Banks, Ballet Black, Bolt Strings and Joss Stone. The opening Eurovision film showed Kalush Orchestra performing their winning entry Stefania, from the Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station in Kyiv. Sweden's Loreen won the competition for the second time with her pop anthem Tattoo. The UK's entrant, Mae Muller, failed to replicate the success of Sam Ryder last year and finished in 25th place, out of 26. Sweden's victory means it will host next year's event, which will mark the 50th anniversary of Abba's historic victory with Waterloo in 1974. The instrumental piece was recorded in the Crimson Drawing Room of Windsor Castle The princess, who has grade three piano and grade five theory, previously accompanied pop star Tom Walker on piano while he sang his previously unheard Christmas song For Those Who Can't Be Here during a 2021 carol service she hosted at Westminster Abbey. The service, which was broadcast on ITV on Christmas Eve that year, paid tribute to the work of "inspirational" people who served their communities during the pandemic.

Madonna has said she is "on the road to recovery" in her first statement since a bacterial infection left her in a hospital's intensive care unit. On social media, the singer said "my focus now is my health" and thanked her fans for their "positive energy". The star, 64, said: "I assure you, I'll be back with you as soon as I can!" The pop star said her current plan was to reschedule her forthcoming North American concerts and begin her Celebration Tour in the UK in October. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Madonna This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. In the statement, she wrote: "Thank you for your positive energy, prayers and words of healing and encouragement. I have felt your love. "I'm on the road to recovery and incredibly grateful for all the blessings in my life. "My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children. "My second thought was that I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn't want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show. I hate to disappoint anyone. "My focus now is my health and getting stronger and I assure you, I'll be back with you as soon as I can! "The current plan is to reschedule the North American leg of the tour and to begin in October in Europe." She had been due to start the greatest hits tour in Canada on Saturday, 15 July. The European leg is scheduled to begin with four nights at London's O2 Arena from 14 October. She finished her statement by saying: "I couldn't be more grateful for your care and support." It comes two weeks after her manager Guy Oseary revealed the star had developed a "serious bacterial infection" on 24 June, which led to "a several day stay in the ICU". At the time, he said she would "need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour". Madonna's greatest hits span several decades - including Into The Groove (1985), Like A Prayer (1989), to Vogue (1990) and Hung Up (2005) to name a few. In announcing the tour back in January, she told fans: "I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for." It is likely that she was in the final stages of a rehearsal regime when she became ill. She called off a number of shows in her more experimental, theatre-based Madame X tour in 2019 and 2020 because of knee and hip injuries.

John McKenna played for Scotby Football Club in Carlisle, who have paid tribute to him Tributes have been paid to a popular footballer who died after apparently falling from a hotel balcony in Ibiza. John McKenna, 22, from Carlisle, Cumbria, had been on holiday when the tragedy happened on Friday at about 11:00 local time (10:00 BST). The Scotby FC player, an electrician, is reported to have fallen from the third floor of his San Antonio hotel. His Sunday league club said it had "lost a legend, a brilliant player but an even better person". It added that he would be "never forgotten but loved always. RIP big John." Friend and former Carlisle United player Josh Dixon, who went to school with Mr McKenna, also paid tribute and said he was "absolutely heartbroken". "One of my closest mates all the way through school," he wrote. "Wherever you went you would put a smile on someone's face, will be a huge miss to us all. Rest easy big man." Flowers have been left outside the club's pavilion, alongside a football shirt. Scotby FC has received messages of support from other teams across the league The Cumberland Football Association said it was "so sorry to hear this tragic news". "Our thoughts are with John's family and friends as well as his teammates in the AFC Scotby family at this time and always". Clubs from the Carlisle City Premier Sunday League have also sent their condolences, as well as other teams from the county. The UK Foreign Office said it was supporting the family of a British man who died in Ibiza and was in touch with the Spanish island's authorities. An investigation is continuing into what happened, which is being led by the Civil Guard. Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Kim Jong Un, seen here in 2017, is known to be a heavy smoker British American Tobacco is to pay $635m (£512m) plus interest to US authorities after a subsidiary admitted selling cigarettes to North Korea in violation of sanctions. The US authorities said the settlement related to BAT activity in North Korea between 2007 and 2017. BAT's head Jack Bowles said "we deeply regret the misconduct". The US has imposed severe sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile activities. Tuesday's settlement was between BAT and America's Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. BAT is one of the world's largest tobacco multinationals and one of the UK's 10 biggest companies. It owns major cigarette brands including Lucky Strike, Dunhill and Pall Mall. In a statement, BAT said it had entered into a "deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ and a civil settlement agreement with OFAC, and an indirect BAT subsidiary in Singapore has entered into a plea agreement with DOJ". The DOJ said BAT had also conspired to defraud financial institutions in order to get them to process transactions on behalf of North Korean entities. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is known to be a heavy smoker. Last year the US attempted to get the UN Security Council to ban tobacco exports to North Korea, but this was vetoed by Russia and China. At a briefing on Tuesday, the DOJ's assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said the settlement was the "culmination of a long-running investigation", describing it as "the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice". He said that BAT was engaged in an "elaborate scheme to circumvent US sanctions and sell tobacco products to North Korea" via subsidiaries. "Between 2007 and 2017 these third-party companies sold tobacco products to North Korea and received approximately $428m." Criminal charges were also revealed against North Korean banker Sim Hyon-Sop, 39, and Chinese facilitators Qin Guoming, 60, and Han Linlin, 41, for facilitating sales of tobacco to North Korea. A $5m (£4.4m) bounty was put for any information leading to the arrest or conviction of Mr Sim, and $500,000 (£402,905) rewards for each of the other two suspects. They were accused of buying leaf tobacco for North Korean state-owned cigarette makers and falsifying documents to trick US banks into processing transactions worth $74m. North Korean manufacturers including one owned by the military made about $700m thanks to these deals. Pyongyang has for years faced multiple rounds of tough sanctions in response to its ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests. However that has not deterred Mr Kim from continuing to develop the country's weapons programme. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

The Birmingham to Crewe leg of high speed railway HS2 will be delayed by two years to cut costs. The government suggested Euston station's opening could also be delayed as an "affordable" design is worked on. Transport secretary Mark Harper blamed soaring prices and said he was "committed" to the line linking London, the Midlands and North of England. HS2 has been beset by delays and cost rises. In 2010, it was expected to cost £33bn but is now expected to be £71bn. Mr Harper said "significant inflationary pressure" and increased project costs meant the government was to "rephase construction by two years". He said the decision had been "difficult" but that it was part of "controlling inflation and reducing government debt". Mark Thurston, chief executive of HS2 Ltd, recently told the BBC that he and the government were examining the phasing of the build and the timing. John Foster from business group CBI said the delay would harm investor confidence in the rail sector. "Delays to projects may create short-term savings, but they can ultimately lead to higher overall costs and slow down the UK's transition to a better, faster and greener transport network," Mr Foster added. Labour said the decision to pause the HS2 at Birmingham was "astonishing". Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said the party had committed to delivering HS2 in full if it gets into government, and to partly funding the work by its green prosperity plan. The head of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, Henri Murison, said the delay was "disappointing" and "holds back economic benefits". The project is grappling with the rising cost of materials due to the high rate of inflation. The government hopes that the delays will allow it to spread the cost over a longer period of time, making it more affordable by reducing annual expenditure. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who will outline his Budget next week, wants debt to fall as a percentage of GDP within five years - a target explicitly set by the Prime Minister. Michael Fabricant, Conservative MP for Lichfield in Staffordshire, which contains part of the HS2 line, said he would ask the government whether the delay "marks the end of HS2 north of Birmingham for good and whether HS2 will make good the damage already done in southern Staffordshire". He added: "Simply saying the project is delayed is not good enough. The area has been blighted by whole fields turned into construction sites." Last week, Mr Thurston said the impact of inflation had been "significant" in the past year, affecting the costs of raw material, labour, energy and fuel. "We're looking at the timing of the project, the phasing of the project, we're looking at where we can use our supply chain to secure a lot of those things that are costing us more through inflation," he said. HS2 trains are scheduled to carry the first passengers between Old Oak Common station in West London and Birmingham, between 2029 and 2033. Euston station in London is currently scheduled to open later, by 2035. Further stretches to Crewe and then to Manchester are due by 2034 and 2041. Most of the HS2 leg to Leeds was scrapped in 2021.

Buzzfeed is to close its news site and cut its workforce by 15%, chief executive Jonah Peretti has said. It comes as the digital media company faces serious financial challenges, including a slump in advertising spending. Calling the decisions "deeply painful", Mr Peretti said he could not invest more in the unprofitable news site. He said the firm would focus on delivering news via the HuffPost, which Buzzfeed took over two years ago. "Our industry is hurting and ready to be reborn," he said in a memo to staff. "We are taking great pains today, and will begin to fight our way to a bright future." Founded in 2006, Buzzfeed was once one of the trendiest names in online media, known for its quizzes and viral content, as well as a serious news operation. But the firm, which employed more than 1,300 people globally at the end of last year, has shifted away from news, as bringing in ad revenue and audiences became more difficult and other lines of business, such as producing custom content, grew more quickly. It listed on the stock exchange in 2021, but raised far less money than it had hoped. "While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we've determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization," Mr Peretti wrote to staff. Many other advertising-reliant companies, including media firms and tech giants such as Facebook's owner Meta, have been making job cuts in recent months, while investors have been forced to reassess the values of upstart news ventures such as Vice News and Vox Media. News company Insider also revealed plans on Thursday to reduce its workforce by 10% or about 95 jobs. Mr Peretti said his company, which will continue to operate HuffPost, its food brand Tasty, Complex Networks, and its namesake website, had faced wider challenges but he also blamed himself. He said he had been "slow to accept" the difficulties of making money from online news with distribution dominated by big tech platforms. The firm should have generated more revenue after acquiring Complex in 2021, which runs the music site Complex and other brands, he added. "I could have managed these changes better as the CEO of this company and our leadership team could have performed better despite these circumstances." he said. In her own memo to staff, parts of which she shared on social media, Buzzfeed News editor-in-chief Karolina Waclawiak said the company should have tried to build a business around its news site earlier, describing the closure as "avoidable". This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Karolina Waclawiak This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. She said the failure was indicative of a wider crisis in journalism and she feared the results if subscription-based news models were the only ones that survive. "The implication is that only people who can afford to pay for it will have access to high quality information while everyone else will need to parse through the rampant misinformation that is widely shared across social platforms," she wrote. "The consequences of this are dire." Buzzfeed had already announced several rounds of layoffs in recent years, including one in December that affected roughly 170 people or 12% of staff. The latest cuts involve about 180 jobs. Buzzfeed said it expected to incur $7m (£5.6m) - $11m (£8.8m) in severance and other charges connected to the move. Some of the news staff may find roles in other parts of the firm, the company said. Shares fell 20% on Thursday on the news, reducing Buzzfeed's market value to about $100m (£80m) - a fraction of the more than $1.5bn (£1.2bn) valuation investors were reportedly discussing just two years ago. • None Online news site Buzzfeed to take over HuffPost

Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has been questioned twice under police caution over five alleged sex offences. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they are now investigating five accusations of offences alleged to have happened between 1982 and 2016. Detectives say they interviewed a 65-year-old man under caution on 15 March and 4 April. There has been no arrest. It comes after BBC News and the Guardian uncovered allegations from 18 women. He denied those allegations. In April last year, a number of women accused the former Radio 1 DJ of predatory and unwanted sexual behaviour and touching, in incidents between 1992 and 2017. They also accused him of abusing his position in the music industry. Some of the women told us they encountered Mr Westwood when they were under 18. One says that she was only 14 when Mr Westwood first had sex with her. The DJ stepped down from his Capital Xtra radio show after the allegations emerged. Last August the BBC launched an external inquiry into what the corporation did and did not know about Tim Westwood's conduct during his nearly 20 years working there. That inquiry is still ongoing. BBC News has attempted to contact Mr Westwood for comment. Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? You can share your experiences anonymously by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. 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 the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Remembering Dame Deborah James: 'One of those special people' The cancer campaigner, blogger, broadcaster and former teacher, Dame Deborah James, has died aged 40. She had been receiving end-of-life care for bowel cancer at home and had raised millions for cancer research. The host of the BBC's You, Me and the Big C podcast was given a damehood in May in recognition of her fundraising. Dame Deborah, a mother of two, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016. Her family described her as "amazing" and an "inspiration". They announced her death in a post on her Instagram page. "We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Dame Deborah James; the most amazing wife, daughter, sister, mummy," it said. She passed away peacefully surrounded by her family. Her family said Dame Deborah shared her experience of cancer to "raise awareness, break down barriers, challenge taboos and change the conversation around cancer". "Even in her most challenging moments, her determination to raise money and awareness was inspiring." Dame Deborah was praised for her no-nonsense approach to talking about cancer, having shared her experiences of treatment and daily life since her diagnosis in 2016. A deputy head teacher, she started a cancer blog, before writing for the Sun and becoming a BBC broadcaster. But on 9 May she announced that she was no longer receiving active care and did not know how long she had left. "My body just can't continue any more," she said in a post on her @bowelbabe Instagram account. She also launched a new fund, called the Bowelbabe fund, to raise money for research into personalised medicine for cancer patients. It surpassed £1m in less than 24 hours - smashing her initial goal of £250,000 - and has now raised almost £7m. In May, she was given a damehood by Prince William at her parents' home in Woking, Surrey, where she had chosen to stay. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - who donated to the research fund - praised her "tireless efforts" and thanked her for "giving hope" to those living with the disease. For her part, Dame Deborah said William's visit was "surreal". "You can imagine the cleaning antics and preparation went off the scale - but it was all irrelevant because William was so kind," she said. The money raised through her Bowelbabe fund will support Cancer Research UK, Bowel Cancer UK and the Royal Marsden Hospital - a specialist cancer treatment facility. Bowel Cancer UK, of which Dame Deborah was a patron, said she had turned her bowel cancer diagnosis "into an incredible force for good" and would save countless lives through her campaigning. Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said the former teacher had an "incredible energy" and a "marvellous knack of making things happen". Paying tribute to the presenter's awareness-raising work, Ms Edwards said: "She had this incredible power to connect with people. She leaves a tremendous legacy behind her". Dame Deborah campaigned to raise awareness about bowel cancer, urging people to check for symptoms, during and after her treatment. Following one operation, while in an anaesthetic daze, she ordered a poo costume online - which she would wear while recording her podcast. Signing off her final podcast in May, she said: "Check your poo. Come on. I can't leave on any other word apart from check your poo. "I still have images of me dancing in poo outfits everywhere. So maybe I should leave on that final word. Check your poo." Regular bowel cancer screening is available to everyone aged 60-74 and this programme is expanding to include everyone aged 50-59. This expansion is happening gradually over four years and started in April last year. People in England aged 60-74 who are registered with a GP are automatically sent an NHS bowel cancer screening kit every two years. If you are outside this age group, you should still be aware of what bowel cancer symptoms are and visit your GP if you have any concerns. Prime Minister Boris Johnson described her as "an inspiration to so many", while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said her charity work was "truly inspirational... even in the most challenging moments". The director general of the BBC, Tim Davie said she was a "true inspiration" and the way she talked about cancer "moved the nation, inspired change and undoubtedly saved lives". This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Deborah James "can't really do anything more" to fight cancer Dame Deborah co-hosted You, Me and the Big C with Rachael Bland and Lauren Mahon Dame Deborah began co-presenting You, Me and the Big C alongside Lauren Mahon and BBC Radio 5 Live newsreader Rachael Bland in 2018, with the show earning praise for its frank discussion of cancer. They spoke to celebrity guests and addressed practical matters, including hair loss, tips for dealing with finances and telling your nearest and dearest about illnesses. Bland died aged 40 in September 2018, two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. BBC 5 Live presenter Tony Livesey, who was a friend of Dame Deborah and did her final broadcast interview earlier this month, said the campaigner was "one of the most remarkable women I've ever met". "All the fame she's had was a by-product of just the work she wanted to do to save one life," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. BBC News presenter George Alagiah, who is living with bowel cancer, recalled speaking to Dame Deborah at the Royal Marsden Hospital. Mr Alagiah told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme the campaigner answered his questions about the symptoms he might experience with the illness. The newsreader said he was struck by Dame Deborah's "sheer generosity" and that their chat was "typical of what I now know she was capable of doing and did for so many others". Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Lucie Kon, a BBC producer and friend of Dame Deborah, called the podcast host "the most amazing human out of anyone I know" and said she would be "alive in my mind forever". Lucie said Dame Deborah showed that cancer does not have to be a "life sentence", and that the 40-year-old "didn't want to be a victim". Dame Deborah's first book, called F*** You Cancer: How to face the big C, live your life and still be yourself, was published in 2018. Her second book, How To Live When You Could Be Dead, is due to be released on 18 August. This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Instagram The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip instagram post by bowelbabe This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Have you been affected by issues covered in this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. 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 the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.

A decision to quash a Department of Health policy on paying for care costs in nursing homes has been welcomed by the NI commissioner for older people. The commissioner, Eddie Lynch, was reacting to a decision by High Court judge Mr Justice Scoffield. The judge ruled the department failed to properly consider the impact on elderly people who could potentially lose life savings to meet health costs. He said it had been responsible for a "plain dereliction in its duty". The commissioner, Mr Lynch, took a judicial review on behalf of Robin McMinnis. The 75-year-old, who is quadriplegic and has complex medical needs, has been paying for his care while living in a Belfast nursing home. The Continuing Healthcare Policy relates to the assessment of whether a person's needs can be met in a hospital which will not cost anything or is social-care related which could incur costs. The judicial review highlighted that the criteria and threshold for when a person should pay for their care is unclear and operates differently between each health trust. Eddie Lynch said the High Court ruling was a win for older people All older people with assets worth more than £23,250 have to pay for their social care. A change to the policy, introduced in February 2021, uses a single criteria question where people are asked: "Can your care needs be met properly in any other setting other than a hospital?" Those people who are placed in a nursing home have to pay, while others who say they cannot go to a nursing home instead have their care paid for while in hospital. The judge ruled that Mr McMinnis was unfairly refused the funding and ordered the Belfast Trust to reconsider his application. He said he also proposed "to quash the decision of the department to adopt the 2021 policy". Mr McMinnis said it had been "a long journey for me personally over the past six years with many setbacks". "It has been a matter of principle for me, knowing that many others have been disqualified or were unaware of the Continuing Healthcare Policy," he continued. Reacting to the judgement, Mr Lynch said he was delighted for Mr McMinnis. "This is also a win for the many older people who have contacted my office over the past number of years in relation to issues with continuing healthcare assessments, all of whom will now be entitled to receive the fair assessment they deserve," he said. On Tuesday he told BBC's Good Morning Ulster the ruling shows the system "was not fit for purpose". "The bottom line here was older people were being failed by the system," the commissioner said. "Older people whose costs should have been picked up by the NHS were paying for their care. "People were left high and dry, people who were entitled to this [financial] support because the system was not set up properly to give them a fair assessment." He said this ruling "overturns and quashes a policy that was ageist". Mr Lynch said now that the policy has been quashed, the onus is on the Department of Health to "come up with a policy that treats people fairly". The department said it "will be considering the judgement, before deciding on next steps".

King Charles and Queen Camilla have been crowned in a ceremony steeped in tradition and symbolism inside Westminster Abbey. You will be able to catch up on the Coronation Ceremony on BBC iPlayer, but the BBC's coverage will continue throughout the bank holiday weekend. Here's a guide to following the events. A live stream and live page with coverage and analysis of The Coronation Big Lunch is continuing on Sunday morning on bbc.co.uk/news. Live TV coverage started at 12.30 with Coronation: The UK celebrates, a 90-minute special on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC News reflecting gatherings and parties all around the country. At 20:00, the Coronation Concert will be broadcast live from Windsor Castle on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds. It will be hosted by Hugh Bonneville and feature performances from British pop group Take That, international superstar Lionel Richie, pop icon Katy Perry and opera star Andrea Bocelli. Kirsty Young will anchor the live coverage for BBC TV and BBC iPlayer and Clara Amfo and Jordan Banjo will be backstage with the artists. The concert will see a world-class orchestra play a host of musical favourites and will also feature, for the first time ever, a joint performance from The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera House, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal College of Music and The Royal College of Art. Local radio in England is joining teams from around the country to hear how they are marking the historic weekend. In Scotland, BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal is covering the events in Gaelic. BBC Radio Wales will broadcast King and Country: How Wales made a monarch, on how being Prince of Wales meant more than a title to Charles, and the work he did in business, culture and conservation. BBC Radio Ulster/ Foyle have scheduled programmes in the lead-up to and on the Coronation weekend, reflecting local views on the occasion. These will include a special Gardeners' Corner programme. Read the latest from our royal correspondent Sean Coughlan - sign up here.

Chinese-owned video streaming app TikTok says it will offer text-only posts as competition between social media giants heats up. The platform says the new feature gives users "another way to express themselves". Earlier this month, TikTok launched a new music streaming service to rival platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. And on Monday, Elon Musk's Twitter ditched its famous blue bird logo and switched to a black and white X. TikTok users will now be offered three options on the app - whether to post photos, videos or text. They will also be able to customise posts by adding sound, location or Duets, which are video reactions to posts by other TikTok users. "These features make it so your text posts are just as dynamic and interactive as any video or photo post," TikTok said. TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, recently launched a new music streaming service, TikTok Music, in Brazil and Indonesia. Last week, the company also rolled out a beta version of the service in Singapore, Mexico and Australia. A spokesman said it would allow users to "listen, share and download the music they have discovered on TikTok, as well as share their favourite tracks and artists with their TikTok community". The app is testing other features including a new landscape mode with select users around the world. In 2021, TikTok became the world's most popular online destination as it had more hits than US search engine giant Google. That year, the app also said it had more than one billion active users globally. Competition between rival social media firms - such as Instagram owner Meta and X, Mr Musk's rebranded Twitter platform - have heated up in recent weeks. This month, Meta's new Threads platform went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries, including the UK. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg later said his company's Threads platform had signed up more than 100 million users in less than five days. Also this week, the blue bird branding on social network Twitter was replaced by a logo featuring a white X on a black background. The term tweets will also be changed to "x's", according to Mr Musk.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Two Greek air force pilots have died after a plane crashed while fighting wildfires on the Greek island of Evia, officials say. The water-bombing plane crashed while battling a forest fire near Platanistos, the defence ministry said. The pilots were named as 34-year-old Cdr Christos Moulas and his co-pilot, 27-year-old Pericles Stefanidis. An intense European heatwave has also sparked wildfires across Sicily, Algeria and Tunisia. Greek TV showed the Canadair aircraft flying low to drop water on a fire before turning sharply into a hillside and bursting into flames. State broadcaster ERT said the plane crashed over the town of Karystos on the island, where a fire was burning. The plane was among at least three other aircraft and about 100 firefighters tackling fires on Evia. Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said the pilots lost their lives "in the line of duty... while attempting to protect the lives and property of citizens, as well as the environment of our country". A three-day mourning period has been declared in the Greek armed forces, the defence ministry said. Rescuers at the site of the plane crash after a water drop in Platanistos on the island of Evia, Greece Emergency teams were fighting flames non-stop on dozens of fronts on Tuesday, Greek government minister Vassilis Kikilias said. Crete, the largest Greek island, has been put on high alert, with residents warned there is an "extreme risk" of fire. More evacuation flights are taking place from Rhodes, while more than 20,000 people have been evacuated from homes and resorts in recent days. An international panel of scientists has said the current conditions could not possibly have happened without human-caused climate change. Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, the Italian island of Sicily has been battling fires overnight after weeks of record-breaking temperatures. Local media warned that the city of Palermo was "encircled" by fires, including a blaze that forced the temporary closure of Palermo airport on Tuesday. Northern Italy has been reeling from violent storms and high winds that have uprooted trees and lifted roofs off buildings. In some places, tennis ball-sized hailstones injured people, damaged cars and destroyed crops. Firefighters are battling flames near the village of Vati on the island of Rhodes in Greece Algeria has also been battling to control wildfires along its Mediterranean coast that have killed at least 34 people. A number of people suffered burn injuries and smoke inhalation, while more than 1,500 were evacuated from fires in 16 provinces. An outbreak of 97 fires had mostly been brought under control, but 13 were still raging on Tuesday afternoon, the interior ministry said. In neighbouring Tunisia, where temperatures up to 49C (120F) were recorded, officials said authorities were investigating the causes of forest fires that had broken out across the country in recent days. One of the most severe fires in Maloula, near the Algerian border, has been brought under control after thousands were evacuated. A forestry official has called for anyone found to have started the fires deliberately to be prosecuted "with an iron fist". Could powerful heatwaves and summer wildfires, which have devastated communities and displaced tourists in Greece, become the new normal in Europe?

Zakhar Prilepin is one of Russia's most celebrated authors and a veteran supporter of ultranationalist politics A Russian pro-war writer who was seriously injured in a car bombing said he would not be intimidated by the apparent attempt on his life. Zakhar Prilepin, a vehement supporter of Russia's campaign in Ukraine, said he survived because he was driving. The bomb was under the passenger seat, and killed his friend Alexander Shubin, he wrote in a Telegram post. Investigators claim that a suspect, Alexander Permyakov, has admitted working for Ukraine. Initial reports suggested that Prilepin had been in the passenger seat and his driver had been killed, but Prilepin said he had been driving himself. The explosion broke both his legs, he said - and added that he had dropped off his daughter "five minutes before". "You will not intimidate anyone," he warned those behind the attack. "Thanks to everyone who prayed, because it should have been impossible to survive such an explosion," he added. The prize-winning author and veteran of Moscow's bloody wars in Chechnya is one of Russia's most celebrated writers, and before 2014 was a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin. But in recent years Prilepin - long known for his involvement in Russian ultranationalist politics - has seemingly reconciled with Mr Putin and become a strident supporter of the Ukraine invasion. The 47-year-old has admitted fighting alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and has called for the "return of Kyiv to Russia". Last year a group founded by Prilepin called on officials to "purge the cultural space" of all who oppose the conflict. Russia's Investigative Committee (SK), which handles serious crimes including terrorism, accuses Alexander Permyakov of having detonated a remote-controlled bomb, wrecking Prilepin's Audi. The bomb was allegedly planted on the road and detonated remotely The SK says he was caught in a neighbouring village. The region is more than 425km (265 miles) east of Moscow. He "admitted doing an assignment for the Ukrainian secret services", the SK alleges. The partisan group Atesh, which is made up of Ukrainians and Crimean Tartars, claimed it was behind the attack on Prilepin. "We had a feeling that sooner or later he would be blown up," they wrote on Telegram. "He was not driving alone, but with a surprise on the underside of the car." Ukraine's security service (SBU) issued its standard response, declining to comment on the attack or to a Russian foreign ministry allegation that Ukraine - backed by the US government - targeted Prilepin. The attack is the latest to target high-profile supporters of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Vladlen Tatarsky was killed last month. The blogger had reported from the Ukraine front line and gained notoriety last year after posting a video filmed inside the Kremlin in which he said: "We will defeat everyone, we will kill everyone, we will rob everyone as necessary. Just as we like it." Activist Darya Trepova, 26, was later arrested and was charged with terrorism following the publication of a video - believed to have been recorded under duress - in which she admitted bringing a statuette to the café that later blew up. And in August 2022, Darya Dugina - the daughter of a close ally of Mr Putin - was killed in a suspected car bombing near Moscow. It is thought her father, the Russian ultra-nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin, who is known as "Putin's brain", may have been the intended target of that attack.

The UK is set to review the artificial intelligence (AI) market to make sure its benefits are available for everyone and that no single firm will dominate. The investigation by the competition watchdog will look at the software behind chatbots like ChatGPT. The industry is facing scrutiny over the pace at which it is developing technology to mimic human behaviour. AI's rapid take-up has sparked fears of job losses, privacy and the potential to circulate misleading information. Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said so-called foundation models such as the software behind ChatGPT had the potential to "transform the way businesses compete as well as drive substantial economic growth". But she said it was crucial that the potential benefits were "readily accessible to UK businesses and consumers while people remain protected from issues like false or misleading information". The move comes days after Geoffrey Hinton - a man widely seen as the godfather of artificial intelligence - quit his job, warning about the growing dangers from developments in the field, which enables technology to create images or text that are barely distinguishable from the work of humans. Sir Martin Sorrell, founder of the advertising companies WPP and S4, told the BBC that AI would be an "industrial revolution" and "another major shift in technology , rivalling, maybe even more significant than the iPhone and similar developments". The digital advertising industry is already seeing the impact, he added, with firms using AI to "hyper personalise" ads for consumers. "Obviously that raises all sorts of issues around regulation as well," Sir Martin told the Today programme. He added that currently two companies dominate the AI space - Microsoft, which owns ChatGPT, and Google which has launched a rival chatbot called Bard. Sir Martin said the CMA had shown its willingness to stop tech firms having too much power, for example by blocking Microsoft's planned takeover of UK gaming giant Activision Blizzard last week which sparked a furious reaction from the tech giant. The US competition watchdog, the Federal Trade Commission, has also called for tougher regulation of AI. "The [UK's] regulator is saying bigger is bad," Sir Martin said. "But the cost of developing [AI] technologies is so huge and thereby hangs the dilemma... If you restrict it you will restrict progress." This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: AI 'godfather' Geoffrey Hinton tell the BBC of AI dangers as he quits Google Some have warned that tools such as Bard and ChatGPT - which can write essays, do computer coding and even have conversations in a human-like way - could end up displacing hundreds of millions of jobs. Mr Hinton told the BBC that some of the dangers of AI chatbots were "quite scary", and that they could soon overtake the level of information that a human brain holds. "Right now, they're not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be." In March, key figures in artificial intelligence called for powerful AI systems to halted for at least six months amid concerns about the threats they posed. Twitter chief Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak were among those to sign an open letter warning of the risks, and say the race to develop AI systems is out of control. The CMA said the development of AI had raised several other issues, including safety; security; privacy; intellectual property and copyright; and human rights. The watchdog said it would specifically be looking at the impact on competition, with a view to creating a set of "guiding principles" to protect consumers as AI develops. The heads of Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic are due to meet US Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss issues surrounding AI on Thursday. Reuters reported that the invitation to the companies included President Joe Biden's "expectation that companies like yours must make sure their products are safe before making them available to the public".

Coverage: Ball-by-ball commentary of every County Championship match across BBC local radio, BBC Sport website and app with live text commentary on each day's play There is blossom on the trees, the mowers have been dusted off and birds - and cricketers - have been migrating back to the UK from warmer climes. Oh, and it is raining. It can only mean one thing - the 2024 County Championship campaign begins on Friday. Bazball might have lost a little of its buzz but some of its biggest names will feature in the early stages of the season. BBC Sport takes a look at who will be involved and some other things to look out for this year. Surrey looking for three in a row Not accounting for the Covid-hit seasons of 2020 and 2021, last season was effectively Surrey's third Championship title win from the last four, having also won it in 2018. Their squad is largely the same as last season, with England batter Dan Lawrence a notable addition, arriving from Essex. Overseas stars Sean Abbott and Kemar Roach will return to the Oval though all-rounder Aaron Hardie's planned stint has been called off by Cricket Australia. Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart, who is leaving the role at the end of the campaign, says they are hungry for more success. "Last March I said 'we want to attack this year not defend it'," he told BBC Radio London. "My dad [Surrey great Mickey Stewart] still goes on about being part of the team that won it seven times on the trot. We have now won it back-to-back. And adding Dan Lawrence gives us another top-class player, and more appetite to win it again." Head coach Gareth Batty said the club's mentality "has to be about winning things" and they do not want to stop at one trophy. "Knowing Alec isn't going to be around in a full-time capacity next year - for those that are driven by the emotional side it's a lovely add-on, for those who aren't it doesn't matter, it's still going to be winning - this group is driven for success," Batty said. Sounds ominous for the rest, so who can stop them? Essex hung around longer than anyone last season and took the title race to the final round, though they finished 20 points adrift in second place. One veteran Test opener has replaced another at Chelmsford with South Africa's Dean Elgar signed to fill the big shoes of the retiring Sir Alastair Cook. There's also an eye on the future as all-action keeper/batter Jordan Cox has been tempted over the Thames from Kent. The loss of Lawrence will certainly sting, but there are a host of talented young batters waiting in the wings and any side who can toss the ball to Jamie Porter, Sam Cook or Simon Harmer will fancy their chances. Essex were only denied victory over Surrey by the weather last season and this campaign, for the first time in five years, the two will face each other home and away. The final game of the season sees them face-off at Chelmsford. Lancashire took a step backwards in 2023 after finishing as runners-up in all three competitions the previous year. In a winter of change behind the scenes, head coach Glen Chapple has been replaced by Dale Benkenstein. The county have pulled off a coup with the arrival of Australia spinner Nathan Lyon for the first half of the campaign. Plenty of talk has been about how they pair him with Tom Hartley, fresh from a 22-wicket haul in England's Test series in India. Hampshire have quietly gone about their business after a pair of third-placed finishes. They have added promising Sussex top-order batter Ali Orr and Australia paceman Michael Neser. Will that be enough to end a 52-year wait for the title? James Vince, Liam Dawson, Mohammad Abbas, Keith Barker and Kyle Abbott are not getting any younger, but they did beat Essex and Surrey to finish the 2023 campaign. Durham's last game in Division One came against Hampshire in 2016 before they were relegated by the ECB at the end of the season, giving Hampshire a reprieve. They make a triumphant return to the top flight with a game against... Hampshire. They have plenty of quality in the pace bowling department. Australia's Scott Boland has signed an overseas deal until the end of July and they already have Ben Raine and Matthew Potts, who bagged 50 wickets apiece last year. South Africa batter David Bedingham returns for a full summer, while England skipper Ben Stokes also hopes to be involved at the start of the season. Worcestershire have seen New Road flooded seven times across the winter and their two home games in their opening six fixtures will be played at Kidderminster - with talk of them potentially leaving the ground permanently. While they have added West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder and Nathan Smith of New Zealand, in addition to Rob Jones from Lancashire and Northants duo Josh Cobb and Tom Taylor, their quest to avoid an immediate return to Division Two has not been helped by bowlers Dillon Pennington and Josh Tongue, and batter Jack Haynes, all moving to Notts. Nottinghamshire will be skippered by Haseeb Hameed, taking over from Steven Mullaney, in what feels like a new era at Trent Bridge with Samit Patel, Jake Ball and Stuart Broad all departing. There has been another change of captain at Somerset where Lewis Gregory succeeds Tom Abell, and though Ball arrives from Notts, one player who will not be at Taunton this summer is Aussie all-rounder Will Sutherland, who has pulled out of his stint through injury. Somerset have famously never won the title and went five without a win to start last season. They will hope the return of Matt Renshaw early in the season gives them more momentum. Will Rhodes has also stepped down as Warwickshire captain, though George Garton has joined the Bears from Sussex. The Bears, champions in 2021, start against rivals Worcestershire at Edgbaston and will hope to improve on a fourth-placed finish last year. Daniel Bell-Drummond is the new Kent skipper. He will be hoping the addition of Matt Parkinson from Lancashire, and overseas players Wes Agar and Beyers Swanepoel, will help them take 20 wickets and avoid another brush with relegation. Brook to star in Division Two Yorkshire start against Leicestershire at Headingley and could select Harry Brook, who missed England's Test tour to India and pulled out of the IPL for personal reasons, but will be available for the first five games of the Championship season. Joe Root is set to start a six-game domestic stint later this month too. The man who brought Ottis Gibson in as coach, Darren Gough, has left his role as managing director of cricket while Colin Graves is back as chair for a season where the White Rose look poised for a promotion push. Elsewhere Middlesex hope the signing of Derbyshire talisman Leus du Plooy will spearhead an immediate return to the top flight, though seamer Tim Murtagh will be watching from the sidelines after retirement. Northants, who finished bottom of Division One last season, have Australian Chris Tremain and India's Karun Nair for the start of the season, while Nair's countryman Prithvi Shaw returns from June. Sussex saw Ali Orr depart for Hampshire this winter but have added the experience of John Simpson from Middlesex and Lancashire's Danny Lamb, while West Indies bowler Jayden Seales and India batter Cheteshwar Pujara are around early in the campaign. A deal for Leicestershire seamer Chris Wright was cancelled for personal reasons but they do have England paceman Ollie Robinson available for the start of the season. Leicestershire have lost Colin Ackermann and Calum Parkinson to Durham, but Liam Trevaskis is coming the other way, while Ben Mike and Ben Cox have arrived from Yorkshire and Worcestershire respectively, and Scott Currie joins on loan from Hampshire. Glamorgan have appointed Grant Bradburn as head coach and installed Sam Northeast as Championship skipper, after David Lloyd's move to Derbyshire, while Mason Crane will spend a season on loan at Sophia Gardens from Hampshire. Neser's move in the opposite direction will not help Glamorgan's top-two hopes. Lloyd, who takes over the captaincy from Du Plooy, is followed to Derbyshire by veteran Patel, and Aneurin Donald and Ross Whiteley from Hampshire. Mark Alleyne is back in charge at Gloucestershire - who were winless last season - after Benkenstein's move to Old Trafford, while Cameron Bancroft and Beau Webster have signed overseas deals after spells with Somerset and Essex respectively. Relegated from Div One: Middlesex and Northamptonshire Promoted from Div Two: Durham and Worcestershire Many of the changes in 2024 will be the undoing of alterations introduced for the 2023 season. The five points for a draw experiment was short-lived, reverting back to eight, though batting and bowling bonus points stay the same as last year. Traditionalists will probably welcome the fact that, by popular demand, County Championship matches will be played in every month of the season. The campaign begins with eight consecutive rounds, played from Friday to Monday each week across April and May. Following a break for T20 cricket, and before England men's Test summer, the season returns with back-to-back rounds in late June and early July. After no Championship cricket in August last summer, two rounds take place towards the end of the month this year. The first half of the month will again be reserved for The Hundred and One-Day Cup. The final round of the Championship campaign starts on Thursday, 26 September. While it is unlikely to be widespread, for the first time hybrid pitches will be permitted in a one-year ECB trial. Hybrid tracks, which remain predominantly grass - but contain a small amount of synthetic fibres to help prevent deterioration and allow more cricket to be played on them - have previously only been used in white-ball cricket. Another thing to look out for is the return of the Kookaburra ball in place of the Dukes ball, with the number of rounds in which it will be used doubling from two to four. The ECB wants English players to be more experienced facing or bowling with it, with half an eye on the overseas Ashes series in 2025.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The Duke of Sussex unexpectedly appeared at the High Court as legal proceedings began over alleged phone-tapping and other breaches of privacy. Prince Harry, who is one of those suing Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, was joined in the court room by singer Sir Elton John. The duke claims "suspicion and paranoia" were caused by Associated's publication of some articles. The publisher "vigorously denies" all the claims against it. Prince Harry arrived at the High Court on Monday morning, while Sir Elton, who is also involved in the legal proceedings, joined proceedings at lunchtime. Sir Elton John arrived at the High Court on Monday lunchtime The pair, along with actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, are among the individuals who allege unlawful information gathering by the company, which also publishes the Mail on Sunday. Others taking part in the legal action include Sir Elton's husband David Furnish, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racist attack in 1993. The four-day preliminary hearing in London is considering legal arguments and a judge will decide whether the case will go any further. Associated Newspapers (ANL) wants to end the claims without trial. David Sherborne, the lawyer for the group of prominent individuals, said: "The claimants each claim that in different ways they were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday." He said the alleged unlawful activity included "illegally intercepting voicemail messages; listening into live landline calls; obtaining private information, such as itemised phone bills or medical records, by deception or 'blagging'". The activity also allegedly included "using private investigators to commit these unlawful information gathering acts on their behalf and even commissioning the breaking and entry into private property". He added: "They range through a period from 1993 to 2011, even continuing beyond until 2018." Actress Sadie Frost also appeared on Monday, and sat two seats away from Harry in the courtroom In a document filed on Prince Harry's behalf, Mr Sherborne said the duke was "troubled that, through Associated's unlawful acts, he was largely deprived of important aspects of his teenage years". In particular, he said, the prince had "suspicion and paranoia" caused by the publication of articles by ANL using unlawfully gathered information. The barrister said: "Friends were lost or cut off as a result and everyone became a 'suspect' since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source of this information being provided to Associated's newspapers." He added: "The claimant regards Associated's unlawful acts to amount to a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997." Sir Elton's lawyer said the singer and his husband were "appalled" by ANL's alleged conduct The High Court was told Sir Elton and Mr Furnish's landline at their home in Windsor was tapped by a private investigator on the instructions of Associated Newspapers Limited. Mr Sherborne said they were "mortified to consider all their conversations, some of which were very personal indeed, were tapped, taped, packaged and consumed as a commercial product for journalists and unknown others to pick over regardless of whether or not they were published". The High Court heard Sir Elton and Mr Furnish had not seen a copy of their first child's birth certificate before it was unlawfully obtained by ANL. Baroness Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen was murdered in a racist attack, also attended court on Monday Mr Sherborne also told the court a private investigator acting on behalf of ANL hacked Hurley's phone and placed a "sticky window mini-microphone" outside her home. He added her ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant's car was bugged to unlawfully obtain information about her finances, travel plans and medicals during her pregnancy. He also told the court ANL paid a private investigator to unlawfully find the address of a man it believed was the male lover of Liberal Democrat politician Sir Simon Hughes. Baroness Lawrence's bank accounts were monitored to check whether she was receiving any money from other newspapers during the Daily Mail's Justice for Stephen Lawrence Campaign, Mr Sherborne alleged. "She finds it hard to believe the level of duplicity and manipulation that was clearly at play, knowing now as she does that the Daily Mail's outward support for her fight to bring Stephen's killers to justice was hollow and, worse, entirely false," he said. ANL has said it categorically denies the serious claims made in the litigation and will vigorously defend them if necessary. The group launched the legal action last year. ANL's lawyer Adrian Beltrami KC said, in written submissions, that the legal actions had been brought too late, were "stale" and the claims were "largely inferential". The barrister said the individuals had to prove they did not know earlier, or could not have discovered earlier, they might have had a claim against ANL for alleged misuse of their private information. He said none of the group said they believe they continued to be targeted by unlawful information-gathering after 2015. In a statement after Monday's hearing, it added: "A private investigator whose 'confessions' form a key element of a privacy case being brought against Associated Newspapers by Prince Harry, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Elton John and others has denied their allegations that he acted illegally against them on behalf of the Daily Mail or Mail on Sunday." It said while the Mail's "admiration of Baroness Lawrence remained undimmed", we are "profoundly saddened that she has been persuaded to bring this case". It added: "The Mail remains hugely proud of its pivotal role in campaigning for justice for Stephen Lawrence. Its famous 'Murderers' front page triggered the Macpherson report." The Duke of Sussex was last seen in the UK at the late Queen's funeral The duke's appearance on Monday is believed to be the first time he has been back in the UK since the late Queen's funeral in September. His surprise return comes nearly three months after he publicised his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also released a Netflix documentary in December, titled Harry & Meghan. The King was due to be away on Monday on the first official state visit of his reign, but the trip to France was cancelled due to rioting over pension reforms. He is due to leave for a state visit to Germany on Wednesday morning. Buckingham Palace said he was not in Windsor or London on Monday. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to vacate their UK home, Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, in a move sanctioned by the King. The duke is also taking legal action against the Home Office over security arrangements when he is in the UK, raising questions about his own security provisions during this visit.

Counting is continuing in local elections in Northern Ireland, with nearly half of the seats filled So far, this has been a good day for Sinn Féin with most seats returned, followed by the DUP and then Alliance. 200 councillors out of 462 have been elected. A total of 807 people are competing for 462 seats in council chambers across Northern Ireland. A total of 1,305,553 people were eligible to vote, according to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. With 200 councillors elected, nearly half of the seats were filled by 2100 on Friday Sinn Féin has made breakthroughs with its first councillors elected in Lisburn City and Ballymena. In Foyle, the party appears to have recovered ground lost at the last election. Party vice-president Michelle O'Neill has described it as a very positive day. The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said this election was always about holding ground but said that it was time to stop splitting the Unionist vote. The Alliance Party became the third biggest at the NI Assembly election last May and so far it seems on track to replicate that in these council elections. The party has taken its first ever council seats in Ballyclare, Fermanagh and Limavady. It will be hoping to increase its share of the vote West of the Bann but, while the party has made gains, it has also had a key loss in Londonderry. The SDLP hopes to retain its 59 seats from the 2019 elections, but is under pressure from Sinn Féin. The Ulster Unionist Party is also facing a battle to hold its ground but its leader Doug Beattie said Unionism was likely to take a hit across the board. It has not been a good day for the Green Party. Their leader in Northern Ireland, Mal O'Hara, has lost his seat on Belfast City Council. Mr O'Hara became party leader last August after Clare Bailey lost her seat in the Stormont Assembly elections. The deputy leader of the party, Lesley Veronica, has also failed to get elected.

California's governor had blocked previous bids to release Leslie Van Houten (right) Leslie Van Houten, a former follower of notorious cult leader Charles Manson, has been released on parole after serving more than five decades of a life sentence for two brutal murders. Van Houten, 73, was a 19-year old member of the "Manson family" when she took part in the murder of a Los Angeles grocer and his wife in 1969. Five previous bids for her parole were blocked by California's governors. That decision was later reversed by a state appeals court. A former homecoming queen, Van Houten was the youngest Manson follower to be convicted of murder for her role in the death of a California grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. During the killings - which took place just days after the murder of actress Sharon Tate and four others - Van Houten held down Rosemary LaBianca while someone else stabbed her. She later also admitted that she stabbed the woman after she was dead. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Van Houten's lawyer, Nancy Tetreault, told the BBC that she left a women's prison in California early on Tuesday morning and was likely to be on parole for three years. "She had a long job of detaching herself from the cult mentality and accepting responsibility for her crimes" Ms Tetreault said. "It took her a long time. She had decades of therapy. So she felt guilt and deep remorse." Charles Manson, considered one of America's most notorious cult leaders, directed his followers to commit nine murders and hoped the killings would start a race war, called "Helter Skelter" after a famous song by the Beatles. He died in prison in 2017. Following her life sentence, Van Houten earned both a bachelors and masters degree while in prison, where she also worked as a tutor for other inmates. After being denied parole dozens of times during her incarceration, Van Houten was finally recommended for parole in 2016. But the recommendations were rejected by California Governor Gavin Newsom and his predecessor, Jerry Brown. The last time she was blocked from parole, in 2020, was ultimately overruled by a California appeals court. On 8 July, however, Mr Newsom said that he would not block her parole this time, paving the way for her release on Tuesday. In a statement last week, the governor said he remained disappointed at her release, which he said was unlikely to be heard by California's Supreme Court if the legal battle continued. "More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal killings, the victims' families still feel the impact," the statement said. Leslie Van Houten (right) was the youngest Manson follower to be convicted of murder for her role in the death of Leno LaBianca Now out of prison, Van Houten is expected to spend about a year at a halfway house, where her lawyer said she would need to learn to navigate a reality much different to when she first was put behind bars. "She has to learn to use the internet. She has to learn to buy things without cash," Ms Tetreault told the AP. "It's a very different world than when she went in." In repeated parole hearings, Van Houten expressed regret for her role in the killings and involvement with Manson, later acknowledging that she had let him overpower her "individual thinking". "I bought into it lock, stock and barrel," she said of his beliefs in a 2002 parole hearing. "I took it at face value".

Malcolm Myers says 10-year-old rescue dog Buddy is his hero A man who was trapped under a fallen tree branch has said his life was saved by his dog. Malcolm Myers, from Thirsk, was walking his rescue dog Buddy on a footpath when he heard a loud crack. A branch from a horse chestnut tree hit him on the back and head, burying him - but he said Buddy dug away the foliage to help free him. North Yorkshire Council said it had contacted the landowner and had launched an investigation. Mr Myers, 63, was walking on a path near Thirsk and Sowerby Institute on 7 June at around 13:45 BST when he said he heard a sound like a "clap of thunder". "I was buried with a tree that had fallen on top of me, I was trapped, I couldn't move," he said. "There was a branch around my leg. It was sheer darkness, I couldn't see anything. I was really fearful for my life at this point." North Yorkshire Council has launched an investigation after the branch fell on to a footpath He said he could hear people screaming, but his terrier-chihuahua cross Buddy "frantically started digging" at the foliage. "I remember saying to him, 'keep digging Bud'. I put my hand out to his paw and then he gave me the strength to fight to get out." Mr Myers said he suffered a trauma injury and concussion as a result of being hit by the fallen branch, leaving him "mentally and physically totally wrecked". "All I can say is that he's my little hero, without Buddy by my side I would have died." Buddy helped dig his owner out from underneath the fallen tree He is now calling for the council to do more to inspect older trees that could be at risk of falling on passers-by. The tree, which is on private property, has a tree protection order on it. North Yorkshire Council's interim head of highway operations, Jayne Charlton, said the authority was investigating the situation."A member of the public alerted us to the incident, which we responded to immediately, closing the footpath while the debris was cleared," she said."We received a further report that a man walking his dog was hit on the back by a large branch, while a smaller one struck him on the head."We have made contact with the landowner to inform them of their responsibilities with regard to the tree, which is subject to a tree preservation order." Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Last updated on .From the section European Football Chelsea have it all to do if they are to advance to the Champions League semi-finals after losing to holders Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Karim Benzema's tap-in - his 90th goal in the competition - gave Real boss Carlo Ancelotti the perfect start against his former club. Real Madrid struggled to add to their lead before Ben Chilwell was shown a straight red card in the 59th minute for fouling Rodrygo as the Brazil forward threatened to go clean through on goal. Chelsea produced a battling performance but Real scored what could be a decisive second goal when substitute Marco Asensio finished well after the visitors were caught out following a short corner. Chelsea carried more of an attacking threat after the tepid performance against Wolves in Frank Lampard's first game back as interim manager, and had chances of their own. Joao Felix forced Thibaut Courtois into a smart save when the game was goalless before the former Chelsea keeper produced a fine diving stop to deny Raheem Sterling an equaliser. • None Check out all the latest Chelsea news in one place Chelsea must score at least twice in next Tuesday's quarter-final return leg at Stamford Bridge, but they are now without a goal in their past four matches. They were denied a late strike when former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger produced a superb block to deny substitute Mason Mount a goal that would have sent the Blues into the second leg in high spirits. The Champions League is their last hope of a trophy in this most chaotic of seasons and Felix almost gave the Blues a dream start in the second minute, only to be denied by Courtois. While Real struggled at times for rhythm in midfield, the return of N'Golo Kante improved Chelsea's engine room, while Felix continued to keep Courtois on his toes before he was replaced after Chilwell was sent off in the 59th minute. Chelsea owner Todd Boehly said in an interview with Sky Sports before the game that "we're excited about the future" while also predicting his club would win 3-0 against Real Madrid. It is hard to see where the excitement is coming from after a fifth game without a win and the team drifting in the bottom half of the Premier League table. This was Chelsea's ninth Champions League game of the season with their third different manager. Since Ancelotti was sacked by the Blues in May 2011 after finishing second in the table, Chelsea have gone through 10 permanent managers - sacking seven, including Lampard in January 2021. Lampard had been due to work at this game as a television pundit until he answered Chelsea's call to take charge until the end of the season. The club legend, however, has now suffered 13 defeats in his past 16 matches in all competitions across spells with Everton and Chelsea this season. Ancelotti said on the eve of this tie that he was "sad" about Chelsea's poor form yet his Real Madrid side added to his former club's problems. Real were far from their fluid best but did enough to establish a healthy advantage as they look to win the competition for a record 15th time. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo were a handful as Real registered 18 attempts, while Courtois was a solid last line of defence. Rudiger's block to deny Mount at the end was crucial. Having helped Chelsea win the Champions League in 2021, the German showed what a shrewd addition he is after moving to Real on a free transfer last June. • None Attempt missed. Kai Havertz (Chelsea) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left. • None Attempt blocked. Mason Mount (Chelsea) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. • None Attempt missed. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) header from the centre of the box is too high. • None Enzo Fernández (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing. • None Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. • None Attempt blocked. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by David Alaba. • None Éder Militão (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. • None Attempt missed. Marco Asensio (Real Madrid) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Toni Kroos following a set piece situation. • None Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) wins a free kick on the right wing. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page

Time is running out if the police and the government are to restore public trust in policing, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary has warned. In his annual report, Andy Cooke said police forces were experiencing "one of their biggest crises in living memory". "Atrocious" crimes committed by serving police officers had fuelled distrust, while too few criminals were being caught, he added. Mr Cooke has called for new powers to enforce improvements. In his annual assessment of policing in England and Wales, Mr Cooke's first since his appointment last year, he said police were failing to keep up with rising demand from the public and too often were not doing the basics right. Charge rates had fallen by two-thirds since 2014, the report stated, while victims were increasingly dissatisfied with the police and wider criminal justice system. "I can't recall a time when the relationship between the police and the public was more strained than it is now," Mr Cooke said. "The public expectation of policing is that they prevent crime, they investigate crime properly, that they're in the communities, they're visible, that they answer 999 calls quickly. These are all the basics of policing. "We've seen too many occasions where opportunities are being missed to catch offenders who are causing misery in our communities." Mr Cooke says the police are often "picking up the slack" for other parts of public services. "Mental health is a great example," he said. "Last year policing attended 600,000 mental health incidents. Most of those incidents there was no requirement for police to attend." Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley wrote to health and social care services in Greater London in May, informing them the service would stop attending mental health incidents from September, except where there is an "immediate threat to life". Humberside Police introduced the Right Care, Right Person scheme in 2020 to ensure mental health calls are dealt with by relevant professionals. Mr Cooke welcomed investment that had seen more than 20,000 police officers added in England and Wales since 2020. However, he noted difficulties in vetting new recruits and the inexperience of a workforce which lost many established officers during David Cameron's time as prime minister. Furthermore, where failings have been identified, some forces have been too slow to implement improvements, he said. Mr Cooke called on Home Secretary Suella Braverman to grant new enforcement powers to enforce compliance with the Inspectorate of Constabulary's recommendations by the end of this year. Forces had taken too long to respond to recommendations in the 2016 State of Policing report relating to officers abusing their positions for sexual purposes, he said. "Two forces did from the start what they should have done," Mr Cooke said. "That should have been 43 forces. "In those seven years, we have seen some truly horrendous acts by officers. "The chances of these things happening would have been lessened had we had those powers at an earlier time. "It would ensure police chiefs across the country would have to make the changes that are required to keep the public safe." Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called the report "truly damning" and backed major reforms. She blamed successive Conservative home secretaries for a series of failings. "These include systemic failings in policing and a totally dysfunctional criminal justice system, with more criminals getting away with crimes, victims let down, vital neighbourhood policing devastated, record numbers of forces in special measures, and confidence in policing falling," she said. Ms Braverman said the report acknowledged a fall in crime rates but conceded "there is lots more to do". She added: "This is why I've been calling for common-sense policing. With the highest number of police officers than ever before, the police must deliver for victims. "It has always been my priority to reduce burdens on policing and ensure they have the resources they need." Baroness Louise Casey, who authored a damning report on the Met earlier this year, told the BBC's Political Thinking podcast that for people to consent to policing, officers need to be seen as "beyond reproach" on issues like violence against women. She said: "The thing I still feel is fairly unforgivable is that misconduct in a police officer is totally undermining of the fact that they can arrest me, they can cuff me, they can strip search me, they can literally take my clothes off and strip search me. "They can put me in a police cell for 24 hours, all on the basis of that officer's word." Have you been a victim of crime? How did the police respond? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. 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 the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. • None How did the government meet its police pledge?

Members of the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives have voted to accept a new pay offer from the Scottish government. The unions had recommended its members back the deal which would see a 6.5% increase from April. On top of a 7.5% pay rise imposed for 2022/23, it means many staff will see their pay increase by 13-14% over two years. The votes to accept the offer ends the immediate threat of strike action. It comes after members of GMB Scotland, the union representing NHS and ambulance staff, accepted the offer last week. All three unions had mandates to strike after rejecting the 2022/23 pay offer but they were suspended in January ahead of intensive negotiations over the 2023/24 pay deal. The new deal also includes the commitment to modernising the Agenda for Change pay system, and to support workforce recruitment, sustainability and retention. The Scottish government has previously said the offer would make Scotland's NHS staff by far the best paid in the UK. The RCN confirmed just over 50% of eligible members took part in the consultative ballot with 53.4% voting to accept the offer. Among RCM members, 44% took part in the ballot, with 69% voting to accept the deal Announcing the result of the ballot, RCN director Colin Poolman praised the union's members for bringing the Scottish government back to the table. He added: "Members have narrowly voted to accept this offer but the Scottish government must be under no illusion, much more is required for nursing staff to feel valued and to ensure Scotland has the nursing workforce it needs." A new pay offer was made to staff including ambulance workers Julie Lamberth, chair of the union's Scotland board said it took "the real threat" of nursing strikes to secure the offer. She added: "While members voted by a narrow margin to accept the offer, the chronic staff shortages and low morale that led to the strike mandate are still very real." Jaki Lambert, RCM director for Scotland, added: "While pay is crucial this was also about midwives feeling seen and valued. Improving retention through better working conditions, professional midwifery issues and the wellbeing of staff are also a key component of this. "Most importantly, it was also about our members standing tall and being prepared to take action to ensure better care for women, babies, and their families." The Scottish government said it had committed an extra £568m to the 2023/24 offer to 160,000 NHS Scotland workers on Agenda for Change contracts - who includes nurses, paramedics, midwives and porters. Staff up to Band 8a would see an uplift of at least 6.5%. In addition, all staff would receive a one-off payment between £387 and £939 depending on banding. Nurses protest during a strike by NHS medical workers outside University College London Hospital in London Meanwhile, in England a 5% pay rise from April has been offered to NHS staff including nurses and ambulance workers. In addition, staff have been offered a one-off payment of at least £1,655 to top up the past year's pay award. Unions are recommending members back the deal, after nearly two weeks of talks with ministers, raising hopes the bitter dispute may be coming to an end. The offer covers all NHS staff except doctors, who are on a different contract. It comes after a winter of industrial action, with nurses, ambulance staff and physios all striking. The unions put further action on hold, after the two sides agreed to discussions last month.

Jason, six-months old, is currently up for adoption at All Dogs Matter Illegal imports of puppies have continued to thrive following the pandemic, a study into UK purchasing practices suggests. The Royal Veterinary College says the rise means dogs are at risk of being exposed to infectious diseases and a "very impoverished environment". The report highlights other irresponsible practices from breeders such as only offering online viewings. The government said buyers must go to a reputable seller or rehoming centre. The rise in puppy smuggling came amid a surge in demand for puppies during the coronavirus lockdowns, with prices in some areas more than doubling to an average of almost £1,900 each. In a study published on Thursday in the journal Animals and shared with the BBC, the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) highlighted trends in puppy purchasing across the UK. Dr Rowena Packer, first author of the study, said the rise in imported puppies was concerning. The study estimates 10% of puppies purchased in 2021 were imported, more than double the figure from 2019. Babaloo's owner, Ms Papantoni, describes her as "a very lovely, happy, energetic, kind, sensitive, and a bit of a naughty dog" In December 2020, Vasiliki Papantoni, in London, legally imported a puppy from Serbia after carefully planning the dog's journey to the UK. She said the breeder had a "good reference" from a friend and provided lots of paperwork. Ms Papantoni said she started her search for a puppy in the UK, but found that waiting lists were "very long". She said a previous attempt to purchase a puppy in the UK ended in her being "scammed" when a breeder stopped contact after receiving a £300 deposit. Dr Packer warns not all imported puppies receive good care when taken across Europe. "These could be puppies that were transported for several days without appropriate provisions, rest, food, water," she said. The RVC say puppies brought into the UK are "often under the minimum legal age" of 15 weeks, unlike Babaloo. The organisation asked UK puppy purchasers the same questions over three years via an online survey. They analysed 1,148 responses from 2019, 4,369 from 2020 and 2,080 from 2021. Dr Packer warns "poor welfare sources" also exist within the UK, such as "a breeder or a dealer or somebody who produces puppies without due regard to their health and welfare". "You can very rapidly and cheaply rear a puppy if you don't care about some of those factors," she said. Introduced in April 2020, 'Lucy's Law' requires puppies bred in England be shown with their mother and purchased from the place they were born. The law does not apply to rescue and rehoming organisations, Defra said. Dr Marc Abraham OBE, a vet, founded the campaign. He calls it a "first step in combating irresponsible breeding and selling practices". But he adds it was overshadowed by the pandemic. Ira Moss, founder of charity All Dogs Matter, says she knows of multiple puppy purchasers who were only shown pictures of the dog's parents, or were not allowed into the property where they were said to have been born. The RVC's study estimates people purchasing puppies in 2021 "were more likely to rely on online viewings, rather than in person, and to collect the puppy from outside the breeder's property". In 2019, only 7% of respondents viewed the puppy they purchased via a live video call. In 2021, the figure was 18%. The pandemic restrictions still in effect for parts of 2021 may have factored into that year's figure. Dr Abraham says the pandemic also led to a "huge surge in demand" for dogs, pushing up the price for a puppy and leading to more first time owners. He adds: "There's so many inexperienced dog owners around that I'm not not sure people did enough investment in how to look after a dog." In turn, he warns this has led to a "spike in dogs being abandoned". In October 2022, RSPCA data showed the charity had seen a 25% rise in abandonment cases. All Dogs Matter says the rescue sector now faces a "rehoming crisis". Ms Moss explains "there are too many dogs, not enough spaces". Furthermore, the cost of living crisis means "charities are losing money with less donations coming in". Dr Abraham says "rescue shelters have rules for a reason". "Please don't think…if they say no, that you should then go online and have a puppy delivered," he added. A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: "Buyers must do their research and ensure they go to a reputable seller or rehoming centre when looking for a pet. "We are committed to delivering the Kept Animals Bill measures individually, including on puppy smuggling, during the remainder of this Parliament and look forward to progressing these. We will be setting out next steps in due course."

Oil prices have risen after Saudi Arabia said it would make cuts of a million barrels per day (bpd) in July. Other members of Opec+, a group of oil-producing countries, also agreed to continued cuts in production in an attempt to shore up flagging prices. Opec+ accounts for around 40% of the world's crude oil and its decisions can have a major impact on oil prices. In Asia trade on Monday, Brent crude oil rose by as much as 2.4% before settling at around $77 a barrel. Opec+ said production targets would drop by a further 1.4 million bpd from 2024. The seven hour-long meeting on Sunday of the oil-rich nations came against a backdrop of falling energy prices. Oil prices soared when Russia invaded Ukraine last year, but are now back at levels seen before the conflict began. In October last year Opec+, a formulation which refers to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, agreed to cut production by two million bpd, about 2% of global demand. In April this year the group agreed to a further cuts, which were due to last to the end of this year. But Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Sunday's talks led to "the extension of the deal until the end of 2024". On Sunday, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that his country's cut of one million bpd could be extended beyond July if needed. "This is a Saudi lollipop," he said, in what is seen as a bid to stabilise the market. Before the two-day Opec+ meeting started, it was widely expected the oil cartel would make production cuts to prop up prices. It appears most members were against the idea, as any cuts would impact oil revenues, which are crucial to keep running their economies. Saudi Arabia's decision to make a voluntary reduction of one-million barrels per day was unexpected but does not come as a huge surprise. As the leader of the pack, and also the largest exporter of oil, it was the only one in a position to be able to lower output. From Riyadh's point of view, it is crucial the price of crude remains over $80 a barrel for it to break even. Saudi officials want elevated prices to keep spending billions of dollars on ambitious projects spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as he tries to diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil. The move by the Saudis also underlines the uncertain outlook for demand for fuels in the months to come. Concerns about the global economy, especially recessionary fears in the US and Europe are expected to put further pressure on crude prices. Oil producers are grappling with falling prices and high market volatility amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The West has accused Opec of manipulating prices and undermining the global economy through high energy costs. It has also accused the group of siding with Russia despite sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. In response, Opec insiders have said the West's monetary policy over the last decade has driven inflation and forced oil-producing nations to act to maintain the value of their main export.

The crossing forms part of the Strathspey Railway Safety barriers have been installed at the last automatic open railway level crossing in Scotland. Dalfaber Level Crossing in Aviemore was built in the early 1980s and is on a private line used by Strathspey Railway's steam locomotives. It was an open crossing with warning signs and lights but no barriers before the new improvements were made. New footways have also been constructed as part of the £1.1m upgrade to improve safety at the site. The crossing has been the scene of collisions and near misses involving cars and trains - including an incident in March last year. Police Scotland previously warned of motorists failing to stop as trains approached the crossing. The work is a condition of Scotia Homes' planning approval to build 75 new homes on a nearby site. Access to the new development involves using the crossing. Scotia Homes worked with Strathspey Railway and Highland Council on the upgrade. Strathspey Railway has been operating steam locomotives for 40 years. Its takes railway enthusiasts and other visitors on trips between Aviemore, Boat of Garten and Broomhill.

Last updated on .From the section Tennis Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details Andy Murray dazzled under the Wimbledon lights again as he led Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a Centre Court thriller stopped by a 23:00 BST curfew. Britain's Murray is ranked 40th but showed his pedigree on the SW19 grass to lead 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4. The second-round match was stopped at 22:39 because of the restrictions put in place by the local council. Murray, who has regularly played late in recent years, and Tsitsipas will resume a captivating contest on Friday. Moments after 36-year-old Murray had wrapped up the third set, tournament referee Gerry Armstrong walked on to the court and discussed stopping play for the night with each player. Murray, who screamed out as he fell just before serving out for the lead, signalled to his team the match was being cut short, while 24-year-old Tsitsipas quickly packed his bags. The pair will return to Centre Court after Spanish top seed Carlos Alcaraz plays France's Alexandre Muller in the first match, which starts at 13:30. • None Djokovic set for 'duel of the veterans of the tour' Eyes were instantly drawn to this potential blockbuster when the draw was made last Friday and, after both players negotiated their opening matches on different paths, it was billed as the box-office match of the tournament so far. Further fuel was added by the memories from their feisty clash at the 2021 US Open, where Murray said he "lost respect" for Tsitsipas after a lengthy bathroom break before a final set which the Greek won. This time, all the drama remained on the court. Murray is a two-time champion at the All England Club and has been talking bullishly about his chances of going deep in the draw this fortnight. Despite missing out on a seeding, which left him vulnerable to a tough early test, the former world number one insisted he had the ability and nous to cause anyone problems. For many people, Tsitsipas felt ripe to be on the end of an upset. With grass not his favourite surface and a patchy record on the surface this year, there was an optimism among the home fans that Murray could earn his most notable Grand Slam win since having career-saving hip surgery in 2019. After cruising past Ryan Peniston on Tuesday, the Scot also had the benefit of a day off, while Tsitsipas only came through a five-set duel with Dominic Thiem at almost 20:00 on Wednesday. But the 2021 French Open runner-up and 2023 Australian Open finalist looked sharp - physically and mentally - as he showed glimpses of the form which has seen him long tipped to win one of the sport's four major titles. There were tense moments in a tight first set where both players dominated on serve, Tsitsipas taking control of the tie-break to move ahead. The second set followed a similar pattern. Tsitsipas was edging the rallies as he continued to find range with his forehand, leaving Murray struggling to cope with his ferocious and consistent hitting from that side. But, like he has done so often over the years, Murray continued to battle and managed to hold his service games with few issues as neither player conceded a break point. That teed up another tie-break - and this time it was Murray who dominated it after finding his first serve when it mattered. Murray playing under the floodlights on Centre Court always creates a special atmosphere and the player, by now demanding more noise from the almost-capacity crowd, thrived on the energy. After not having a serious look at Tsitsipas's serve in the opening two sets, Murray broke to love right at the start of the third and maintained the momentum to move into the lead. However, there was a serious scare when he fell on the baseline. The sound of his scream, along with the knowledge of his injury history, left the whole of Centre Court anxious and there was relief when he clambered to his feet before serving out. It had long felt the end of the third set was the natural point to suspend the match and once that was agreed, Murray walked off to a thunderous ovation. • None Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

Thursday's blast damaged a number of buildings - it's not known if the explosive found on Saturday was from the same aircraft More than 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the Russian city of Belgorod after an undetonated explosive was found. It comes two days after Russia accidentally dropped a bomb on the same city, damaging houses and injuring several people. It's not known if the bomb discovered on Saturday came from the same aircraft - a Russian Sukhoi-34 fighter-jet. The city is located about 40km (25 miles) from the border with Ukraine. The local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed on Telegram that 17 apartment buildings had to be cordoned off "within a radius of 200 metres", affecting 3,000 residents. He later said people were starting to return to their homes after a "shell" had been removed. The undetonated device was found in the same area as the bomb that was accidentally dropped on Thursday evening, leaving a huge crater about 20 metres (60 ft) wide close to the city centre. The explosion was so large it blew a car on to the roof of a nearby shop. After that incident, the Russian defence ministry admitted that one of its Su-34 jets had "accidentally discharged aircraft ordnance" over the city. Dramatic CCTV footage of Thursday's blast shows an object landing near a crossroads with passing cars, and detonating about 18 seconds later. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. It's not the first such incident - last October a Sukhoi fighter-jet - again, an Su-34 - crashed in the Russian city of Yeysk killing at least 13 people. Russian jets regularly fly over Belgorod, a city of 370,000, on their way to Ukraine. It lies just north of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, and has come under periodic Ukrainian attack since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine last year.

President Joe Biden's call for a ceasefire in Gaza is the lead in the Guardian and the Telegraph. The Guardian's headline describes it as America's "strongest rebuke" yet to Israel since the start of the conflict. The Daily Telegraph quotes a confidante of President Biden as saying that the US is "at that point" where it must consider putting conditions on arms sales to Israel. The i reports that the prime minister is being urged to publish legal advice received by the government on arm sales. It says Rishi Sunak is preparing to suspend the sales to Israel if new guidance suggests the country has broken international law. The i also says that civil servants, who are overseeing the export of arms to Israel, are threatening legal action against the government over concerns they will be held "personally responsible" for any breach of the law. Israel strongly rejects the claim it is responsible for genocide in Gaza. President Biden said ongoing US support for Israel was dependent on "specific, concrete steps" Both the Times and the Daily Mail lead with stories about Conservative MP William Wragg, who has said to have admitted handing over colleagues' phone numbers to a man he met on a dating app. Speaking to the Times, Mr Wragg said he was scared that the man "had compromising things" on him and said he was "so sorry" his weakness had hurt other people. The paper says the incident has "heightened" concerns over the vulnerability of MPs to cyber-attacks. The Daily Telegraph carries a warning from French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia will seek to disrupt the Paris Olympics this summer. It reports that Mr Macron told Nato foreign ministers about a "bizarre and threatening" phone call between Russia's defence minister and his French counterpart. Sergei Shoigu is said to have "suggested", without evidence, that France was involved in the recent attack on a Moscow concert hall. Asked whether he was concerned that Russia may target the Games this summer, Mr Macron reportedly replied: "I have no doubt." William Wragg told the Times: "They had compromising things on me. They wouldn't leave me alone." The Sun carries a photo of King Charles and Queen Camilla during their visit to Australia in 2018 on its front page. The paper reports that the couple are planning a two-week return visit in October, after what it calls a "positive" start to the King's treatment for cancer. The Daily Express reports that every "loophole" is being closed to foil any attempt at blocking migrant flights to Rwanda. It says a source close to Home Secretary James Cleverly has confirmed there's been a real "step up" in preparations to deliver on the deportation scheme since Easter. A couple who won £2.7m in the lottery in 1995 are featured in the Daily Mirror. Elaine and Derek Thompson, who are big horseracing fans, used their winnings to buy three racehorses and set themselves the challenge of visiting all 57 racecourses in the UK. The paper says that this week they passed the finishing post after making their final trip to Ludlow in Shropshire. "National Trottery" is the headline. Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.

Glory day: David Trimble, Bono and John Hume pictured together on stage in Belfast in 1998 It was the night that produced the defining image of Northern Ireland's progress to peace. To one side, the then Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble. On the other, the then SDLP leader John Hume. The man in between, holding their hands aloft like triumphant prize fighters, was the world's biggest rock star - Bono. The Concert for Yes, which took place on 18 May 1998 in front of about 2,000 schoolchildren, achieved its aim. Three days later, Northern Ireland overwhelmingly endorsed the Good Friday Agreement in a referendum. Tim Wheeler, lead singer of County Down band Ash, had a stage-side view of the historic moment - but his memories of the night are not quite so romantic. Instead, he remembers putting together songs on the fly and loaning guitars and equipment to the biggest band on the planet. "U2 just flew in before the whole thing and they didn't bring any of their gear, they had to use all our gear," Wheeler told BBC News NI's The Sunday News. U2's The Edge on stage with Tim Wheeler, David Trimble, John Hume and Bono He recalled how The Edge from U2 had borrowed a guitar belonging to Charlotte Hatherley, Ash's then lead guitarist. "He was trying to figure out the controls. He was trying to get more of a louder kind of sound and he stepped on one of her pedals and it was too huge a jump - and he sort of jumped. It was pretty funny." They may have been overshadowed by Bono et al, but it was Ash who did most of the on-stage heavy lifting on the night, delivering a 40-minute set and then performing a few hastily-arranged covers with U2. At the time, the young Downpatrick band were riding an upsurge of rising hype and popularity - their debut album, 1977, was a critical and commercial success, buoyed by heavy radio rotations for singles such as Girl from Mars and Oh Yeah. Charlotte Hatherley, Rick McMurray and Tim Wheeler from Ash in 2002 Wheeler and co were in the studio recording the follow-up when they got the call - would they like to get involved in a concert campaigning for a yes vote? "It all came about within a few days as far as I remember. I think it was just looking quite dicey whether the yes campaign would succeed. "I think it was maybe U2's management got in touch with our management a few days before. We were in the a studio in London and they were like: 'Can you make it over to Belfast in three days time?' "It was very important for us to be involved. I think U2 felt they needed a Northern Ireland band to make the concert really work - it was great." Wheeler, who was 21 at the time, added with a laugh: "U2 were a massive, worldwide, legendary band from the south and they needed some youngsters from the north - it was a really good pairing, I think." The free concert for young people was envisioned as a last push to help get the yes vote over the line in the week of the referendum. Mo Mowlam, Northern Ireland Secretary in 1998, at the referendum count While a huge turnout of Northern Ireland voters would comfortably vote the agreement through by 71% to 29%, the security of a "yes" vote was less certain beforehand. Catholics were expected to strongly support the agreement, but the deal needed cross-community backing and a solid majority to go ahead. As the Washington Post reported at the time, David Trimble had his concerns. "Over 70% we're safe. Under 60%, we're in difficulties. In between, you've got to look carefully at turnout, geographical variations to try to get an idea if we've got a secure enough base to proceed." Just three days and a couple of phone calls with Bono later, Ash were on stage at the concert in Belfast's Waterfront. Ash on stage at The Brickyard, Carlisle "Everything was last minute," said Wheeler. "I remember being on the tour bus driving there the night before - I think we were put on a mobile phone with Bono, trying to figure out what songs we'd do together and how the show would go." It was decided that Ash would play their own show, with U2 coming on at the end to do a few numbers with an assist from the local lads, including covers of The Beatles' Don't Let Me Down and John Lennon's Give Peace a Chance. According to Wheeler, Bono was "brilliant" although he did throw him for a loop by calling for a Ben E King classic. "Towards the end, Bono just turned round and said 'let's do Stand By Me'. He just pulled that out of thin air, no warning whatsoever. "It's four very simple chords, we just started winging it and then he just looked at me and said: 'You sing the next verse'. "I was like, I have no idea what the lyrics are at all, so I said 'you just do it'." Despite these understandable hiccups, the concert was a major success and, of course, produced that iconic image. Tim Wheeler says Belfast was "a very different place to grow up" Wheeler remembered "a great feeling of positivity" after the concert that resonated with a band whose three founding members had lived all their lives under the shadow of the Troubles. "Coming to Belfast always felt very edgy. The Army was everywhere, of course, and always bomb threats and incidents in our town. "I do remember I was up in Belfast and saw a policeman had just been shot and was being covered in a body bag. "Being children you just get on with it and think it's normal. And when we started travelling the world you realise it was a very different place to grow up." Two decades on from that night, and the 1998 agreement referendum, devolved government in Northern Ireland is out of action. It is a "very sad" situation, said Wheeler, but "at least we're living in a time that's a lot more peaceful". Maybe another star-studded night at the Waterfront could help? "I wonder! he said with a laugh. "Yeah, get it together - if a concert could work in a same way for that, we need to sit down and sort it out." You can hear the full interview with Ash's Tim Wheeler on The Sunday News at 13:00 GMT on Sunday.

The crash caused damage to the road's barrier A lorry was left hanging off a bridge after crashing into a barrier on the M1 in Leicestershire. Police were called to reports the vehicle had crashed on the southbound carriageway at junction 19 Catthorpe Interchange just after 04:30 BST. The southbound carriageway was closed at junction 19 as well as both sides of the A14 while the vehicle was removed. Both roads have since reopened. The driver safely left his vehicle and was not injured, police said. The lorry crashed at the Catthorpe Interchange between the M1 and the A14 in Leicestershire In a statement, Leicestershire Police said the lorry had "collided with the barrier leaving part of the vehicle and the barrier resting over the edge of the carriageway". National Highways thanked motorists for their patience during the lengthy road closures. The lorry has since been recovered No-one was injured in the crash Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Melissa Caddick went missing in 2020 after police agents raided her home When conwoman Melissa Caddick vanished from her luxurious eastern Sydney home in November 2020 - with only her partially decomposed foot found washed up on a beach months later - it set off a frenzy in Australia. The case blindsided investors, baffled police, and captured the imagination of a nation. The fraudster has inspired a hit podcast, a TV dramatisation, and countless outlandish theories - including that she had been swallowed by a shark or had severed her own foot to throw police off her scent. A long-running inquest into the case heard of a flawed police investigation, conflicting accounts from her husband, and all the extensive speculation surrounding her fate. But a coroner on Thursday ruled that exactly what happened to her would remain a mystery. "The conclusion I have reached is that Melissa Caddick is deceased. However... I do not consider the evidence enables a positive finding as to how she died, or when and where this happened," Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan wrote. For most, the Melissa Caddick story began with the news that the seemingly successful financial adviser was missing. But her life had actually begun to unravel months earlier when Australia's financial watchdog was tipped off that she had been using a friend's financial adviser's licence, having simply pasted in her own name on the document. Regulators suspect the 49-year-old stole up to $30m (£15.8m; $19.5m) from more than 60 clients, including many of her family and friends, to help fund a lavish lifestyle. There were overseas trips on private jets, high-end cars, designer clothes, and expensive jewellery. Her methods were not "particularly complicated", the coroner said. As new clients gave her money to invest, she would pay some out as dividends to existing clients before keeping - and spending - the rest. Coroner Ryan said she was struck by the "powerful impression of wealth and success" Caddick made on her clients and would-be investors. "Equally significant was the trust they had in her... almost all were either immediate family members, or close personal friends of herself and her family," she said. One would-be investor recalled: "I wanted to model myself and our family on successful people, and Melissa appeared to be successful". But everything fell apart on 11 November 2020 when police knocked on her door at dawn. The last confirmed sighting of Melissa Caddick was by officers at the raid on her home. Her husband, Anthony Koletti, told police they believed she had gone for an early run the next morning. Her car and all her personal belongings had been left behind. But she was not reported missing by Mr Koletti for more than 30 hours, and only after he had dialled in to a court hearing that she was due to attend and appeared surprised she had not turned up. Police initially explored two theories - that Caddick was still alive and had gone into hiding to escape justice, or had taken her own life. But the inquest heard how Mr Koletti, a hairdresser and part-time DJ, behaved erratically in the wake of his wife's disappearance, leading police to suspect he could be involved. Mr Koletti has denied any knowledge of his wife's crimes or any involvement in her disappearance, and police say they have uncovered no evidence to dispute that. Anthony Koletti has denied any knowledge of his wife's crimes But an investigator told the coroner's court Mr Koletti "didn't appear to be overly concerned" when his wife vanished. Lead Detective Sergeant Michael Kyneur also said Mr Koletti had visited a cliff top area near their home and taken a photograph of a shoe print, an action the policeman described as "extraordinary". "That's a dog park. It's like saying I found a footprint on Bondi beach." The inquest also heard that Mr Koletti had sent texts from Caddick's phone pretending to be her, told police he was "too busy" to attend an interview, and gave conflicting versions of events. For example, he was able to provide a description of what his wife was wearing on the morning she vanished, despite also saying he had not actually seen her, police said. Mr Koletti had also recounted his version of events by releasing a musical concept album containing tracks with titles such as "Melissa Is Missing" and "Above the Law". It was "regrettable" that Mr Koletti had not given a "full and frank" account of what had happened, Magistrate Ryan said on Thursday. The case took a grisly twist in February 2021 with the discovery of a rotting, trainer-clad foot on a remote beach 500km (310 miles) south of Sydney. Experts matched the body part to Caddick through DNA, but an autopsy couldn't determine if it was separated by force or decomposition. The inquest heard a slew of theories to explain how it ended at Bournda Beach, including that a shark ate and later regurgitated body parts. Police even considered throwing pig carcasses with running shoes on their trotters into the sea to determine how shark behaviour or ocean currents could have played a role, the inquest heard. An orthopaedic surgeon told the inquest it was unlikely Caddick could have severed her own foot, as it would require "significant force" to cut through bone, cause major blood loss, and require specialist post-surgical care. But scientists put forward a simple explanation at the inquest. Oceanographers said currents could have easily carried the foot that distance, while a pathologist described how human feet can detach from bodies during decomposition. The inquest also heard criticism of police handling of the case. Officers assigned to the Caddick case stuck too closely to their view that she had voluntarily vanished, some said. Police combed the cliffs in Dover Heights for any trace of Ms Caddick A crime scene examination of the house was not done until 19 days after Caddick disappeared, and a lawyer assisting the coroner questioned why the homicide squad wasn't brought in immediately, if only to rule out foul play. Another detective expressed surprise that NSW Police only sought out the corporate watchdog's affidavit on Caddick - which outlined its case against her - some months after her disappearance. The inquest was also told that Caddick had a life insurance policy, which included suicide cover, and had made a number of references to ending her life over the years - but police initially devoted limited resources to this line of inquiry. Magistrate Ryan on Thursday said the uncovering of Caddick's deception may have triggered a "narcissistic injury", with the illusion of her wealth and success shattered. "The Asic investigation and search warrant very likely caused her a catastrophic level of shame and despair," she said. "She may well have reached the conclusion that ending her life was the only option." But the manner of her death will ultimately remain unresolved, she said. Equally unresolved are the losses of her clients, many of whom saw huge sums of money vanish. "I sold my business as I was under the impression my money was safe, and I retired in 2017," one victim testified. "To rub more salt in the wound she has also stolen my mother's money, wife's, mother-in-law, son, brother and sister… wiping out three generations of my family's savings."

Kate Forbes, who finished second to Humza Yousaf in the SNP leadership race, has announced that she is leaving the Scottish government. Scotland's finance secretary was on maternity leave after the birth of her daughter when Nicola Sturgeon suddenly announced that she was quitting as SNP leader and Scotland's first minister. Within a couple of days of confirming she would be standing in the contest to succeed her, Ms Forbes found herself at the centre of a political storm. Her views on issues such as gay marriage, abortion, trans rights and having children outside of marriage were savaged by Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who had been standing in for the deeply religious Ms Forbes since last July. Ms Sturgeon herself also made thinly-veiled barbs at the woman she had appointed finance secretary at the age of 29, just hours before she had to deliver a budget speech. Scotland is a progressive country, Ms Sturgeon stated, and the views of the next first minister therefore matter. Ms Forbes saw several supporters desert her campaign in response to the furore, which was ignited when she told journalists that she would not have voted for gay marriage had she been an MSP at the time. She subsequently told Sky News that she believed that having children outside of marriage is "wrong" according to her faith as a member of the evangelical Free Church of Scotland, while stressing that: "In a free society you can do what you want." Ms Forbes has never hidden her religious beliefs, leaving pundits wondering why they had appeared to come as a shock to some of her supporters. The Free Church, of which she is a devout follower, has strongly opposed gay marriage since it was legalised in Scotland in 2014. Ms Forbes and her husband Ali celebrated the birth of daughter Naomi last year In 2018, Ms Forbes spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast for Scotland a day after a Westminster debate on abortion, when she called on politicians to "recognise that the way we treat the most vulnerable - whether the unborn or the terminally ill - is a measure of true progress". She was among the 15 SNP politicians who wrote an open letter to Ms Sturgeon the following year asking for a delay to gender recognition reforms that would allow people in Scotland to self-identify their sex. The final vote on the proposals was held when Ms Forbes was on maternity leave, but when she launched her leadership campaign she made clear that she still had significant concerns about self-identification and would not have been able to vote for the legislation in its current form. Several senior figures within the Scottish government reacted with fury to her comments, with Mr Swinney saying he profoundly disagreed with her views despite also having deep Christian faith. Humza Yousaf warned that independence could only be won if the SNP sticks to "progressive values" and avoids a "lurch to the right". This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The bubbling tensions boiled over in a televised STV debate, when Ms Forbes launched an attack on Mr Yousaf in which she slated his performance as a government minister. Ms Forbes told Mr Yousaf: "You were transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were justice secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister we've got record high waiting times. "What makes you think you can do a better job as first minister?" Ms Forbes presumably did little to endear herself to the SNP hierarchy watching at home - although Ms Sturgeon says she didn't tune in for the debate - when she declared that it was time for a new generation to lead the party and that "more of the same is not a manifesto - it is an acceptance of mediocrity". The remark could be read as a dig at Mr Yousaf, who to some extent pitched himself as the "continuity candidate", and the record of Ms Sturgeon herself. She later doubled down by saying she would potentially have space for Mr Yousaf in her cabinet if she won the contest - but not as health secretary. Ms Forbes was born in Dingwall in the Highlands, but was partly raised in India as her parents travelled there twice as missionaries, the first time when she was four years old. Her parents are reported to have been members of the more liberal Church of Scotland, with Ms Forbes claiming that she had chosen to join the Free Church after returning from India as it was "just down the road". Ms Forbes (centre) had two spells in India during her childhood She went to a Gaelic school while in Scotland and became a fluent speaker of the language as a child. When she returned to India at the age of 10, she studied at Woodstock School - an international residential school in the foothills of the Himalayas. She went on to complete degrees at Cambridge University and Edinburgh University and became a chartered accountant for Barclays in London. She worked as an assistant to the SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Dave Thompson, for two years before being selected to replace him when he stood down. On the backbenches, the then 26-year-old campaigned to ban plastic straws and delivered a speech in the Holyrood chamber entirely in Gaelic. In 2018 she entered government as public finance minister working alongside Derek Mackay, who she would go on to succeed as finance secretary when he was forced to stand down just hours before delivering his budget speech after it emerged he had sent inappropriate text messages to a 16-year-old schoolboy. Ms Forbes became Scotland's first female finance secretary and was widely praised for delivering the budget speech with just a few hours' notice, having only received the call from Ms Sturgeon at 7am that morning. She has said the SNP needs to win over No voters by using the Scottish Parliament's existing powers to show that Scotland can flourish if it is to secure independence. Ms Forbes had only a few hours to prepare for a budget speech after being appointed to the finance brief Ms Forbes told the Guardian: "We keep holding ourselves as hostages to fortune by setting a timetable rather than by focusing on what is really going to shift the dial. "So day one, I would start the campaign for independence. But I would do that through gentle persuasion, making the economic case and earning people's trust back. The more successful and effective we are at that, the shorter the timetable becomes." She has said she would not raise income tax for higher earners and would instead focus on growing the economy and expanding the tax base by cutting red tape for businesses, improving transport infrastructure and having a "cautious" transition away from North Sea oil and gas. Ms Forbes has also described the government's bottle return scheme as well-intentioned but "badly executed". During a Channel 4 debate, presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy told Ms Forbes that her views on taxation and economic growth sounded "a bit like Liz Truss". The three candidates were Ash Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes Little of this would be popular with the Scottish Greens, whose power-sharing deal with the SNP would have been very unlikely to survive under Ms Forbes - particularly because of her views on social issues. The SNP's social justice secretary, Shona Robison, said she would have to think long and hard about whether she would serve in government under Ms Forbes, while the party's deputy leader at Westminster, Mhairi Black, warned of a possible split if the finance secretary had won the leadership. Several of her colleagues were said to have been furious over her attack on Mr Yousaf's record, which they believe will be quoted repeatedly by opposition parties as they seek to attack the SNP's record in government. The Scottish Conservatives have already said they want to use Ms Forbes' remarks in their next party political broadcast.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Iran's Revolutionary Guards say seven officers have been killed in an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate building in Syria's capital, Damascus. Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the elite Quds Force, and Brig-Gen Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahimi, his deputy, were named among the dead. Iran and Syria's governments condemned the attack, which destroyed a building next door to the Iranian embassy. The Israeli military said it did not comment on foreign media reports. However, it has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years on targets in Syria that it says are linked to Iran and allied armed groups which are armed, funded and trained by the Revolutionary Guards. The Israeli strikes have reportedly been stepped up since the start of the war in Gaza in October last year, in response to cross-border attacks on northern Israel by Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups in Lebanon and Syria. But Monday's attack will be seen as a serious escalation. The Israelis appear to be testing the resolve of the Iranians and their allies and signalling that they are serious about increasing pressure on their enemies. The Israelis are looking at the fact that both Iran and Hezbollah have not been pushing as hard as some might expect. Now they will see if Iran and Hezbollah are going to push back. There will be a response, but it may not be the one people expect. Rather than missiles, it may be some sort of cyber-attack. The Iranian embassy (left) does not appear to have been damaged in the strike on the next door consulate building Syria's defence ministry said Israeli aircraft targeted the Iranian consulate building, which was on a highway in the western Mezzeh district of Damascus, from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights at about 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Monday. Syrian air defences shot down some of the missiles they launched, but others made it through and "destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside", the ministry added. The ministry said work was under way to recover the bodies and rescue the wounded from beneath the rubble, without saying how many casualties there were or naming any of them. Photos and videos from the scene showed smoke and dust rising from the remains of the collapsed multi-storey building. The Iranian embassy next door did not appear to have sustained any significant damage. The Iranian ambassador, Hossein Akbari, said Israeli F-35 fighter jets "brutally targeted my place of residence and the consular section of the embassy, along with Iran's military attaches". He told Iranian state TV that between five and seven people were killed, including some diplomats. Later, the Revolutionary Guards put out a statement saying that seven of its officers were killed, including Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brig-Gen Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahimi, whom it described as commanders and "senior military advisers". Iranian media said Zahedi, 63, was a senior figure in the Quds Force - the Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations arm - and served as commander in Lebanon and Syria between 2008 and 2016. Haji-Rahimi was meanwhile identified as Zahedi's deputy. Zahedi is one of the most high-profile Iranian figures believed to have been killed by Israel in the country's long campaign of targeted assassinations. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported that eight people were killed - a high-ranking leader of the Quds Force, two Iranian advisers and five members of the Revolutionary Guards. Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said he strongly condemned what he called "this heinous terrorist attack", adding that it had killed "a number of innocent people". In a telephone conversation with Mr Mekdad, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian described the strike as "a violation of all international obligations and conventions" and "blamed the consequences of this action on the Zionist regime", the Iranian foreign ministry said. He also "stressed the need for a serious response by the international community". A White House spokeswoman said US President Joe Biden was aware of the reports. In a briefing to journalists on Monday, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said an apparent drone attack on a naval base in the southern Israeli city of Eilat was "a very serious incident". The drone was "made and directed by Iran", he said. This attack followed suspected Israeli strikes on Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo last Friday, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said killed 53 people, including 38 Syrian soldiers and seven members of the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. In January, another strike in Mezzeh that was blamed on Israel killed five senior Revolutionary Guards and several Syrian security personnel. Israel has previously acknowledged carrying out strikes in Syria to combat what it calls Iran's "military entrenchment", as well as shipments of Iranian weapons to allied groups which it proscribes as terrorist organisations. Iran has said Revolutionary Guards have been sent to Syria to "advise" President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the country's civil war, but it has denied they have been involved in combat or established bases.

The Euclid telescope has successfully launched into space on a mission to understand some of the Universe's greatest mysteries. The €1.4bn (£1.2bn) telescope was primed to go up on a Falcon-9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Saturday. Euclid's goal is to make an immense 3D map of the cosmos in a bid to better understand so-called dark matter and dark energy. Researchers know virtually nothing about these phenomena, which appear to control the structure and expansion of the cosmos. Although primarily a European Space Agency project, the mission also has significant scientific and engineering inputs from the US space agency Nasa. Euclid will carry out its work from an observing position on the opposite side of our planet to the Sun.

Protester Matt Turnbull is one of the people arrested in the build up to the Coronation. Dozens of people have been arrested during the King's Coronation, including the leader of a prominent anti-monarchy group. London's Metropolitan Police said 52 arrests were made for a range of reasons, and all remain in custody. The arrest of anti-monarchy protesters earlier in the day has been labelled "alarming" by human rights groups.

Manchester City 4-1 Arsenal: Kevin de Bruyne scores two and makes one in dominant display Last updated on .From the section Premier League Manchester City delivered a masterclass to overwhelm Premier League leaders Arsenal and strike a huge psychological blow in the title race at Etihad Stadium. The confrontation billed as a potential title-decider turned into an embarrassingly one-sided affair. Pep Guardiola's side, now two points behind Arsenal with two games in hand, were inspired by the devastating partnership of Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne. Haaland sent De Bruyne away for a silky opener after seven minutes, and Arsenal then survived a constant bombardment of attacks before John Stones headed home from a free-kick in first-half stoppage time, the goal given by VAR after originally being ruled offside. City goal machine Haaland was outstanding throughout and again set up De Bruyne for the third in the 54th minute, the Belgian passing a classy finish between the legs of Gunners defender Rob Holding. Holding pulled one back for Arsenal late on before Haaland, denied four times by Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale earlier in the match, sealed a memorable night with his 49th City goal. City can go top with victory at Fulham on Sunday while Arsenal must somehow pull out of a slump that has seen them go four league games without a win at a crucial stage of the season. • None Title in our hands and we must use that - Guardiola • None Reaction from Man City-Arsenal, plus the rest of Wednesday's Premier League games • None How did you rate Man City's performance? Have your say here • None Go straight to all the best Arsenal content • None What did you make of Arsenal's display? Send us your views here City still have work to do to retain their title but, in the biggest game of the Premier League season, they delivered a brutal message. Guardiola was as fired up as his players in the early stages, raging in his technical area, even giving an animated lecture to goalkeeper Ederson after De Bruyne put them ahead. City were at their magnificent best as they tore holes in the Arsenal rearguard, the Gunners miraculously surviving all manner of close shaves after the opener before Stones' header gave them the cushion they deserved. Haaland had a rare night when his golden touch in front of goal deserted him until virtually the last kick of the game - although Ramsdale played his part in that - but the Norwegian demonstrated just how much his all-round game has improved under Guardiola by giving an exhibition in link-up play, twice assisting for De Bruyne and playing with an air of constant menace. And De Bruyne once more showed his enduring class with two precision finishes. The title is not run yet and no-one at City will be complacent, but this performance carried all the hallmarks of a side on a mission to keep their crown and who now have all the momentum with them. Another missed opportunity for the Gunners Manchester City 4-1 Arsenal: Mikel Arteta says team need to look in the mirror It was only a few short weeks ago that Arsenal's title challenge looked like it might well end with a first Premier League triumph since 2003-04. But that was before they carelessly threw away a two-goal lead at Liverpool, repeated the failing at West Ham and then faltered at home in a 3-3 draw with struggling Southampton. City presented the toughest of tests but also an opportunity to reassert themselves at the Premier League summit - but instead Mikel Arteta's team found themselves on the receiving end of a chastening beating. Arsenal looked nervous in the face of City's intensity and threat, the gap between the sides resembling a chasm right up to the final seconds when Haaland finally got on the scoresheet. The Gunners have desperately missed the authority of injured William Saliba in defence while they barely mounted an attack worthy of the name until it was too late. Arsenal have been outstanding this season and there will be no shame in coming up just short against this City team. If they do miss out - and remember, there is still hope - their recent dip in form will unquestionably leave them rueing a massive missed opportunity. If they are to somehow regroup from this mauling, they must do it quickly while also hoping City slip up somewhere along the line. On this evidence, however, that looks highly unlikely. • None Goal! Manchester City 4, Arsenal 1. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Phil Foden. • None Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing. • None Rodri (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. • None Reiss Nelson (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing. • None Goal! Manchester City 3, Arsenal 1. Rob Holding (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Leandro Trossard following a corner. • None Attempt missed. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high from a direct free kick. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page • None Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment

Last updated on .From the section Tennis Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with comprehensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, BBC Sport mobile app and Red Button. Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from Wimbledon 2023 with a wrist injury. The Australian, 28, lost to Novak Djokovic in last year's men's singles final and has only played one tournament this year because of a knee injury that required surgery. Kyrgios announced on Sunday evening that he had torn a ligament in his wrist during his comeback. "I'm really sad to say that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon this year," he posted on Instagram. "I tried my hardest to be ready after my surgery and to be able to step on the Wimbledon courts again. "During my comeback, I experienced some pain in my wrist during the week of Mallorca. "As a precaution I had it scanned and it came back showing a torn ligament in my wrist. "I tried everything to be able to play and I am disappointed to say that I just didn't have enough time to manage it before Wimbledon."I'll be back and, as always, I appreciate the support from all my fans." Kyrgios was seeded 30th in SW19 and was set to face Belgian David Goffin in the opening round. Wimbledon responded to Kyrgios' withdrawal by wishing him a "swift recovery" on social media. "Sorry to hear your news Nick Kyrgios. Wishing you a swift recovery and hope to see you back on our courts next year," Wimbledon tweeted. • None Who's playing who? Details of the Wimbledon draw • None Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone The start of an injury-hit season saw Kyrgios pull out of the Australian Open in January, a decision made on the eve of the tournament that left him "devastated". Surgery on a cyst growing in his meniscus quickly followed and he was not able to return to competitive action until June. Kyrgios suffered a first-round loss to China's Wu Yibing at the Stuttgart Open, struggling with his movement during a straight-set defeat, then pulled out of the Halle Open the following week. He had been practising at the All England Club this week, saying his body felt "OK" after sets against fellow Australian Jordan Thompson and American Maxime Cressy. Kyrgios, known for his fiery temperament as well as his exciting tennis, reached his maiden major final at Wimbledon last year. He took the opening set before losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic. Britain's Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram, three-time major men's doubles champions, were due to face Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinaki in their opening doubles match.

The jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is facing a new trial on charges of extremism that could keep him in prison for decades. Mr Navalny is already serving a nine-year sentence for parole violations, fraud and contempt of court. He and his supporters insist his arrest and imprisonment in 2021 was politically motivated. The latest trial will begin on Monday in the penal colony where he is being held, 250km (150 miles) east of Moscow. Mr Navalny is facing multiple charges, including creating an extremist network and financing extremist activity. He has said that could extend his prison term by up to 30 years. The 47-year-old has long been the most prominent face of Russian opposition to President Vladimir Putin and has exposed corruption at the very heart of Russian power for more than a decade. A charismatic campaigner, he seemed to be the only Russian opposition leader capable of mobilising people in large numbers across Russia to take part in anti-government protests. He was arrested in 2021 upon returning from Germany, where he recovered from a poison attack the previous year that he blamed on the Kremlin. The Russian authorities denied any involvement. In 2020, a report by the investigative outlet Bellingcat and Russian news site The Insider implicated several agents of Russia's internal security service, the FSB, in the attack. He was initially jailed for two and a half years for breaking bail conditions while being treated in a German hospital, but was then given an extra nine years for fraud and contempt of court. The latest case comes as the Kremlin intensifies its crackdown on opponents, more than a year after invading Ukraine, with most key opposition figures behind bars or in exile. Mr Navalny said that prosecutors provided him with 3,828 pages outlining all the crimes he is alleged to have committed while behind bars. "Although it is clear from the size of the tomes that I am a sophisticated and persistent criminal, it is impossible to find out what exactly I am accused of," Mr Navalny said. He has been charged with financing extremist activity, publicly inciting extremist activities and "rehabilitating the Nazi ideology", among other crimes.

Thank you for following our coverage We will now be closing this page - thanks for following along with us. For further updates on the crash at The Study Preparatory School in Wimbledon, you can read our news story here. The day's coverage was edited by Heather Sharp and Alex Binley. The writers were Adam Durbin, Thomas Mackintosh and Laura Gozzi.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Rishi Sunak on US providing cluster bombs to Ukraine Rishi Sunak has reiterated that the UK "discourages" the use of cluster bombs after the US agreed to supply them to Ukraine. The UK is one the countries to have banned the weapons, which have a record of killing civilians, under an existing convention. The PM emphasised the government's continued support for Ukraine. On Friday, US President Joe Biden said he had made a "very difficult decision" to supply them to Kyiv. Spain and Canada, two of 123 nations to ban cluster bombs, have criticised the decision to send them, which has also been condemned by human rights groups. Cluster munitions are a method of dispersing large numbers of tiny bomblets from a rocket, missile or artillery shell that scatters them in mid-flight over a wide area. They are meant to detonate on impact, but a significant proportion of them fail to explode initially - often when they land on wet or soft ground. This means they can explode at a later date, killing or injuring people. Neither the US, Ukraine or Russia are signatories of the international treaty - the Convention on Cluster Munitions - banning the use or stockpiling of them over the indiscriminate damage they can inflict on civilian populations. Speaking to reporters in Selby, Yorkshire, on Saturday, Mr Sunak said the UK is "signatory to a convention which prohibits the production or use of cluster munitions and discourages their use". "We will continue to do our part to support Ukraine against Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion, but we've done that by providing heavy battle tanks and most recently long-range weapons, and hopefully all countries can continue to support Ukraine," he added. "Russia's act of barbarism is causing untold suffering to millions of people." Mr Sunak is due to meet with Mr Biden in London on Monday, ahead of a Nato summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Tuesday. Rishi Sunak spoke carefully when asked for his response to the US now giving cluster munition to Ukraine. He didn't criticise the US's decision but did point out that the Convention discourages use of the bombs. The UK is the second largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine - only behind the US. As the conflict in Ukraine evolves, so too are the responses of Kyiv's allies - on this issue the US and UK have gone in different directions. Mr Biden justified supplying the weapons by saying the "Ukrainians are running out of ammunition". Speaking to CNN in an interview due to air on Sunday, he said it had taken "a while to be convinced" to make the "very difficult decision" to send them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed the "timely" move to deliver the bombs. Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said his troops would not use them in urban areas to avoid risking civilian lives, adding "these are our people, they are Ukrainians we have a duty to protect". But Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles has said her government's position is that cluster bombs should not be used for the "legitimate defence of Ukraine". Germany, which has also signed the convention, said it would not provide them to Ukraine but that it understands the American position. In a statement, the Canadian government said it does not support the use of the weapons and emphasised its commitment to "putting an end to the effects cluster munitions have on civilians - particularly children". Human Rights Watch said both sides had used the weapons in the war, causing "numerous deaths and serious injuries to civilians". These comments were echoed by Amnesty International, who said cluster munitions pose "a grave threat to civilian lives, even long after the conflict has ended". The UN human rights office has also been critical, calling for their use to "stop immediately". Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said the military alliance takes no position on cluster munitions. Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the UK's defence select committee, urged the US to "reconsider" its decision - which he said was the "wrong call and will alienate international goodwill". "Their use leaves deadly unexploded ordnance over the battlefield, killing and injuring civilians long after the war is over," the Conservative MP added. Russia described the US decision as an "act of desperation" in the face of the "failure of the much-touted Ukrainian counteroffensive".

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rishi Sunak was challenged over his attendance record at PMQs Rishi Sunak has refused to say whether Tory MPs accused of undermining the Commons Partygate inquiry into Boris Johnson should apologise. The Privileges Committee said last week that the MPs, including Nadine Dorries and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, had tried to "interfere" with the probe. Asked whether they should say sorry, the prime minister didn't say, adding he hadn't read the committee's report. MPs will decide whether to approve the findings at a debate next Monday. Last month, the Commons backed the committee's finding, in a separate report, that Mr Johnson misled Parliament over Covid rule-breaking in No 10. Mr Sunak has never said whether he agrees with the findings of that report - and missed last month's vote to approve it, blaming a diary clash. The follow-up report by the Privileges Committee, published last week, said several allies of Mr Johnson had sought to "influence the outcome" of its original probe into the former prime minister. It accused the seven MPs and three peers, all Conservatives, of mounting attacks on the committee designed to "discredit" its findings. The report has led to a free speech row, with several of those named, including Ms Dorries and Sir Jacob, saying there is no reason they should not be able to criticise its conclusions. At a scheduled appearance at the Commons Liaison Committee, Mr Sunak did not respond to a question from Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant about whether the MPs named should apologise. Instead, he said he had not read the report - which runs to a handful of pages - from "cover to cover," although he was aware of its findings. He confirmed he had asked Lord Zac Goldsmith, one of the Tory peers named in the report, to apologise - but said this was because of his then role as an environment minister. Lord Goldsmith quit his government post last week, citing unhappiness with green policies. He has denied a claim from Mr Sunak that he had refused to apologise over being named in the report. Sir Chris, who chairs the Privileges Committee but did not take part in its probe into Mr Johnson because he had criticised him before it began, also criticised Mr Sunak for missing the Commons vote on its findings. The prime minister replied he couldn't attend because he was scheduled to speak at a charity event, but the Labour MP accused him of choosing "not be in Parliament". "But yesterday, you opined on the rule of cricket. Take us through that," he added, in an apparent reference to Mr Sunak's criticism of the Australia team on Monday. In a series of testy exchanges, he also took a swipe at Mr Sunak's attendance record in Parliament, noting that he is scheduled to miss the next two sessions of Prime Minister's Questions. Mr Sunak replied he will miss this week's session because he is attending an event marking the 75th anniversary of the NHS, whilst next week he is at a summit of Nato leaders in Lithuania. He denied that he had any control over the timing of the NHS event, telling Sir Chris "I did not decide when that was."

Violence has erupted across France since the killing of a 17-year-old during a traffic stop on Tuesday A French policeman has been charged with homicide and is now in custody over the killing of a teenager during a traffic stop near Paris on Tuesday. The 17-year-old, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed soon afterwards. Anger at his killing has sparked violence across the country. A march led by the boy's mother was marred by clashes on Thursday afternoon. In a third night of unrest, 667 people were arrested, French officials say. In Paris, shops were ransacked and cars set on fire overnight despite a heavy police presence. Across France, 40,000 police officers were deployed, with 249 of them injured in Wednesday night's clashes, according to the interior ministry. Earlier, bus and tram services in Paris and the wider region stopped operating at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Thursday. Night-time curfews were in place in some suburbs. In the town of Nanterre, where the teenager was killed, a huge fire engulfed the ground floor of a building where a bank is located. Video and pictures on social media also appear to show piles of rubbish ablaze in several places. Officers were injured on Thursday afternoon as well, during violence in Nanterre that followed a largely peaceful march calling for justice. It was attended by more than 6,000 people. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said she understood the outpouring of emotion following the 17-year-old's death, but condemned the riots. "Nothing justifies the violence that's occurred," she said. The teenager's death has sparked a wider conversation about the power of the police and the relationship between the authorities and people from France's suburbs, who feel segregated from the country's prosperous city centres. "We have a law and judicial system that protects police officers and it creates a culture of impunity in France," Nahel's lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme. But Nahel's mother said she did not blame the police in general, or the system, for the killing - just the officer who fired the lethal shot that killed her son. The officer accused of killing him said he had fired because he felt his life was in danger. His lawyer told French radio station RTL that his client discharged his firearm "in full compliance of the law". Speaking to the BBC on Friday morning, Thierry Clair, deputy secretary general of Unsad-Police trade union, said an investigation would "determine whether this is a case of a legal or illegal use of a weapon". He said that by law, police officers may use their weapons in certain circumstances. "The key thing is the principle of proportionality with the nature of the threat," Mr Clair said. "For instance, one of the cases refers to stopping a vehicle whose occupants refuse to comply and present a risk for someone else if they attempt to escape. "And the incident we're talking about - in which a weapon was used - might fall into that category." This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: 'They've taken my baby' - Mother of teen shot by police

Less than a year after the late Queen appeared on screen tapping out the beat of We Will Rock You over tea with Paddington Bear, the man who wrote the song - and whose band shared her moniker - has attended Buckingham Palace to receive a knighthood. Guitarist Brian May was given the honour on Tuesday for services to music and charity, with pictures showing him chatting with King Charles and posing with his medallion after the ceremony. As per tradition, King Charles tapped May on the shoulder with a sword during the investiture The pair were pictured chatting and laughing during the ceremony May has spent decades playing with Queen and is also known for his animal rights campaigning May's wife, actress Anita Dobson, who is best known for her role as Angie Watts in BBC soap EastEnders, also attended the event May posed with saxophonist YolanDa Brown, who was awarded an OBE May and the other members of Queen wrote numerous hit songs in the 1970s and 80s This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. From June 2022: The Queen meets Paddington Bear for Party at the Palace

Comedy legend Peter Sellers played the title role - and two more - in Dr Strangelove The family of director Stanley Kubrick have given their blessing for one of his classic films to be adapted for the stage for the first time. His 1964 apocalyptic Cold War comedy Dr Strangelove will be staged by Armando Iannucci, who is known for TV political satires The Thick of It and Veep. "As a story, weirdly it hasn't gone away," Iannucci told BBC News. "It seems the right time to remind people of the mad logic behind these dangerous games that superpowers play." The show will be staged in London's West End next autumn, co-written and directed by double Olivier Award winner Sean Foley. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday Iannucci joked: "In these sad times, what better way to cheer the nation up than a stage show about the end of the world." Director Stanley Kubrick (left) with Sellers in character as the US president Kubrick's widow Christiane said: "We have always been reluctant to let anyone adapt any of Stanley's work, and we never have. It was so important to him that it wasn't changed from how he finished it. "But we could not resist authorising this project: the time is right; the people doing it are fantastic; and Strangelove should be brought to a new and younger audience. I am sure Stanley would have approved it too." Daughter Katharina Kubrick added: "The subject matter of this film is particularly relevant again in our prevailing political climate. "People often laugh when they would rather cry, and this is exactly how the film, and now the play, handles the possibility of the ultimate destruction of life on Earth; certainly, an important topic amongst many, to concentrate the mind." The late director's family also granted access to Kubrick's archive, in which Iannucci said he had found papers relating to the film including "some discarded scenes, first drafts [and] moments that they were going to shoot and then decided not to". He added: "There are little shards of ideas there, and one or two of them have developed into full-scale new moments and new scenes in the final [play]." Armando Iannucci is known for his TV and film work, but this is his first theatre project Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - to use its full title - was released two years after the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Foley said it's not hard to see "the relevance to the idea of a type of Cold War between the West and Russia" today. "That's sadly come very much back into our lives," he said. "You don't have to look very far to understand a kind of relevance about the potential for nuclear conflict, given what's going on with the invasion of Ukraine and everything that Putin is saying." Iannucci added: "Not just with the war in Ukraine, but also the whole apocalyptic sense of global warming and so on - it feels like a very relevant reassertion of the message that, this is the madness staring at us if we don't do anything about it. "And currently, we aren't doing anything about it. So the outcome is not good. "But if you can leave the theatre with that message and a smile, then all the better." The pair have decided to keep the story set in the 60s, and Iannucci said it would feel both "retro" in its setting, and up-to-date with some of his trademark dialogue. "It's got one foot in the 60s and one foot in the present day," he said. Foley added: "There's something about how the men of that era behave in the film, and there was a specificity around the Cuban missile crisis and all of those things. "And the look of it is great, so we quickly decided we're going to keep it in that period and let the obvious resonances just echo." The film famously starred Peter Sellers in three main roles - the titular German scientist, a British officer who discovers a US general has unilaterally ordered a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, and the American president who must attempt to avert all-out annihilation. The stage version is now seeking a star to play multiple roles - albeit without the luxury of the time Sellers had to change costumes and make-up. "They've got to be a great comic actor, of which we have very many," said Foley, who is artistic director of the Birmingham Rep. "They've got to be of that shape-shifting kind of quality. They've got to want it. "It's going to be a really tough gig. I'm sure some people, when we approach them, are going to go, 'No way, I'm not going to be compared with Peter Sellers in those roles.' "But there will be someone who has the appetite and skill and talent and sees the opportunity to do it in their own way." In Dr Strangelove, many of those holding great power over millions of lives are depicted as often actually being inept, ridiculous, reckless or unhinged. That's a strand of political satire that Iannucci picked up in his work like The Thick of It, US version Veep, and 2017 black comedy The Death of Stalin. "It's these individuals who are very human and very fallible, and yet on whose word and actions ride the fate of, in Stalin's case millions, and in Dr Strangelove's case humanity," he said. The writer and director is now also working on another theatre project about Boris Johnson and his role in the pandemic and Partygate, although full details have not yet been announced. "Rather than trying to do a TV exploration of what's happening now, doing something live on stage feels like just the right moment to do it," Iannucci said of that play. "Also, in the last three years, we've been so enclosed in our homes because of the lockdown, and have got addicted to our screens, so actually going out and seeing something live and in the flesh is all the more exciting. That's what excites me about actually doing it as a live stage show."

Carrick's sentencing hearing was told he had taken "monstrous advantage of women" between 2003 and 2020 More than 10 people have reported further offences by serial rapist and former police officer David Carrick since he was jailed, a force has said. Carrick was sentenced to 36 life terms after admitting 49 charges, including 24 counts of rape, in February. The 48-year-old committed most of his offences in Hertfordshire. The county's police force said it was working with prosecutors and investigating the new reports, which included allegations of sexual assault. Carrick's sentencing hearing was told he had taken "monstrous advantage of women" between 2003 and 2020, while serving as an officer with the Metropolitan Police. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The former police officer used his occupation to "entice victims", said Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb Ordering him to serve to a minimum term of 32 years in jail, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said he had been "bold and, at times, relentless, trusting that no victim would overcome her shame and fear to report you". She said "for nearly two decades", he had been "proved right", but a combination of the 12 women who reported him and the police colleagues who gave evidence against him had "exposed you and brought you low". Following the hearing, Det Insp Iain Moor, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit, said officers had set up a special reporting portal for people to share information about Carrick. "If anyone else thinks they have been a victim, we still want to hear from you and we will support you," he said. In a statement, Hertfordshire Police said since February, "more than 10 people have contacted their local forces or the investigation team directly, to either report further offences, including sexual assault, or to share information relating to him". "The team are now working with the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] and investigating these new allegations," a representative said. They added that they would not be releasing "any further details relating to the new allegations". Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

The DUP withdrew from the Stormont executive in February 2022 The DUP leader has said he is hopeful his party can get the progress it needs to go back into power sharing. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was speaking after a meeting with the head of the NI Civil Service, Jayne Brady. He will continue to engage with the government and has made "his summer available" for further talks on the Windsor Framework, he said. The party has insisted new legislation is needed before it will end its 18-month boycott of the executive. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) walked out of Stormont's power-sharing executive in February 2022 in protest over a Brexit deal which introduced new checks and restrictions on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said new legislation may be required at Westminster and the government now has "a lot more clarity" about what the DUP is seeking. Ms Brady's talks with the parties focused on how to run government in a future executive, in the context of a challenging budget position. Speaking after the meeting, Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill said this "process has come to the end of the road". Ms O'Neill added she didn't share the secretary of state's "overly optimistic assessment" that a Stormont executive would return in the autumn. Michelle O'Neill said the DUP needed to get over internal party wrangling and put people first Last week Chris Heaton-Harris said he was "hopeful" about the return and believed a resolution was "getting much closer". "I don't think there is any evidence to back that up," Ms O'Neill said. "I hope that changes but I don't think anyone who was sitting in that meeting today is under any allusions that anything has changed in terms of the DUP's and the British government's game of chicken." Stephen Farry described Thursday's meeting with Ms Brady as a "stock take exercise", and said discussions had gone as far as they could. The Alliance deputy leader said the current situation was "stalemate", with no progress over the past few weeks. Mr Farry said he was deeply worried about the future of Northern Ireland and believed excuses were being made for parties to stay out of government. The power-sharing government at Stormont collapsed in February 2022 Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said: "I don't think it's about getting a bigger stick to beat the DUP with; I don't think that's going to work." He stressed that pressure was already on the DUP to return to the executive and he hoped Mr Heaton-Harris would assist in the restoration of Stormont. Mr Beattie said he remained optimistic about a return of the executive by the autumn. The SDLP was not at the talks as it has confirmed it will form the official opposition. It feels like a process which has now passed its best before date. It served a purpose in keeping the parties engaged with civil servants in the absence of Stormont. It also allowed preparations to be put in place for the executive's return in the face of mounting budget pressures. But with no hint of when or if Stormont might return, these talks have "run out of steam", to quote one party source. With no best before date set for the talks between the DUP and the government, the political drift is likely to continue for some time. Jayne Brady, who was appointed head of the NI Civil Service in June 2021, met political leaders on Thursday morning Ms Brady has previously warned that even if ministers are to return to an executive this year, an overspend of this year's budget was "now unavoidable". Ms Brady outlined her position in a letter to Mr Heaton-Harris earlier this month. She said Stormont departments have "reached the limit" of what they can do to manage budget pressures this year and the remaining gap did not stem from an "unwillingness" to act, but from a legal position.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been evacuated unharmed from a public event after what appeared to be a smoke bomb was thrown at him. A man was detained at the scene in Wakayama, where Mr Kishida had been due to give a speech, local media reported. A witness said they saw a person throwing something, followed by smoke, while another said they heard a big bang. No injuries were reported. Video showed officers piling on top of a person, believed to be a suspect. He was arrested on suspicion of obstruction of business and later identified by the authorities as 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura. His motivation is still unclear. Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, quoted Mr Kishida as saying there was a "loud blast" at the venue. "Police are investigating details, but I'd like to apologise for worrying many people and causing them trouble." NHK broadcast footage in which crowds of people appear to be running away from the scene. The footage also shows people swarm around one man, hold him down, and then carry him away. A man believed to be a suspect in the smoke-bomb throwing was held by police officers Mr Kishida had just started to deliver a speech after touring the fishing harbour in Wakayama for a campaign event when the object was thrown and he took cover. After the incident, Mr Kishida addressed a crowd in another location and said the incident should not disrupt the electoral process. A woman at the scene told NHK: "I was stunned. My heart is still beating fast." A person who said they saw an object flying through the air said it gave them a "bad feeling, so we ran away unbelievably fast". "Then we heard a really loud noise. It made my daughter cry," they added. Another witness told NHK that the crowd began to disperse in panic before the blast was heard, as someone said an explosive had been thrown. Hiroshi Moriyama, a member of Mr Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party, said: "That something like this happened in the middle of an election campaign that constitutes the foundation of democracy is regrettable. It's an unforgivable atrocity." Violent attacks are extremely rare in Japan. But there is nervousness about security around politicians, after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead while on the campaign trail last year.

From left to right: Footballer Mykhailo Mudryk, tennis player Elina Svitolina and boxer Oleksandr Usyk Ukraine's top athletes have paid defiant tributes to a Ukrainian prisoner of war (POW) shown apparently being killed by Russian troops in a video that has shocked the nation. The unarmed prisoner is seen smoking in a trench. "Glory to Ukraine!" he says, before being shot. Tennis star Elina Svitolina, Chelsea footballer Mykhailo Mudryk and others responded with "Glory to the Heroes!" in their video tribute. It is a battle cry in Ukraine's army. The saying became popular among ordinary Ukrainians after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula in 2014. It has seen a resurgence after Moscow's full-scale invasion launched last year. In the tribute video posted online, Ukrainian athletes representing several sports appear one-by-one saying "Glory to the Heroes!" It comes after a passionate call by President Volodymyr Zelensky. "I want us all to respond to his words together, in unity: 'Glory to the Hero! Glory to the Heroes! Glory to Ukraine!'" he said earlier this week. Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko and Taras Stepanenko, who plays for Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk feature in the video. Legendary former player and now coach Serhiy Rebrov is also shown. Separately, Ukraine's boxing heavyweight world champion, Oleksandr Usyk, recorded a video of himself reciting a poem dedicated to the shot soldier, whose identity remains unclear. "Glory to Ukraine! - for these words you got a bullet," he reads. "You're no more - but memory is eternal of you, fighter". The graphic video first emerged on social media on Monday. In the footage, one of the shooters - believed to be a Russian soldier - is heard saying "die" and using an expletive after the POW is shot dead with automatic weapons. A screenshot from the video purportedly showing the Ukrainian prisoner of war before he was shot dead On Tuesday, Ukraine's military named the soldier as Tymofiy Shadura, citing preliminary information. However, there is some doubt over his identity, with one well-known Ukrainian journalist naming him as somebody else. The alleged killer or killers - who are not seen in the clip - have not been identified. The BBC has not verified where and when the footage was made, or how the soldier was captured. Ukraine's authorities have said the killing is "another proof this war is genocidal" and launched a criminal investigation, vowing to hunt down the perpetrators. Russia has not publicly commented on the video. Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Russian troops of committing mass war crimes - including torture, rape and murder - since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion. Russia denies the allegations. Last July, a video emerged that showed another captured Ukrainian soldier being castrated in the Russian-occupied Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. There have also been accusations against Ukrainian forces, with Moscow accusing soldiers of executing a group of Russian prisoners in November. A Ukrainian official said the surrender was "staged" by Russian troops in an attempt to attack their captors.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has been in the UK for talks with the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The visit came ahead of a Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russian forces, expected to begin in the coming weeks. Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the UK has been a major supplier of weapons and equipment to Kyiv, though on a much smaller scale than the US. So what exactly is being sent, and how much of a difference is it making? The UK confirmed that it had supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles earlier this month. The Storm Shadow cruise missile has a range of over 250km (155 miles), according to the manufacturer. By contrast, the US-supplied Himars missiles used by Ukraine only have a range of around 80 km (50 miles). Currently, Storm Shadow has the longest range of any missile available to Ukraine, and can therefore strike targets previously believed to be safe by Russian forces. Russia claims the system has already been used against its forces. The UK is the first country to supply cruise missiles to Kyiv. The UK also led the way in supplying Nato standard main battle tanks to Ukraine. In January the UK announced that 14 Challenger 2 tanks would be sent, alongside around 30 AS90 self-propelled guns. The Challenger 2 was built in the 1990s, but is significantly more advanced than Warsaw Pact standard tanks used by Ukraine. Following the UK's announcement, several others committed to sending tanks to Ukraine, including Germany with its Leopard 2 model. Many military analysts believe tanks, in co-ordination will other weapons systems, will be vital to any attempt by Ukraine to dislodge Russian forces from heavily fortified positions in the expected counter-offensive. On Monday, Downing Street said that it would supply "hundreds" of attack drones and air defence missiles. The statement did not reveal what kind of drones would be supplied, but it said they would have a range of over 124 miles (200km). It is anticipated they may be used to hit logistics and control facilities deep behind Russian lines. In 2022, the Ministry of Defence announced supplies of heavy lift drone systems to provide logistical support to isolated forces. Analysts say that drones can be very effective in getting supplies over the "last mile" to front line troops, particularly under threat of Russian artillery fire and in situations where there is a risk of encirclement. "It's the sheer quantity of stuff needed by troops," says Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi). "Every time you can use a drone instead of a soldier to get supplies forward is one less time someone is exposed to extreme danger." The donation of M270 multiple-launch rocket systems with M31A1 precision munitions to Ukraine was confirmed in 2022. The UK's M270 system is similar to the American Himars launchers. Jack Watling Rusi told the BBC: "These systems are precisely what Ukraine needs. They allow the Ukrainians to out-range a lot of the Russian artillery systems and also to strike with precision." The UK has sent more than 5,000 next generation light anti-tank weapons, or Nlaw, to Ukraine. Nlaws are designed to destroy tanks at short range with a single shot. Crucially for Ukraine's armed forces who need weapons immediately, the missiles are easy to transport and simple to use. A soldier can be trained to use them in less than a day. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Many analysts believe they had a major impact on the course of the conflict in the days following Russia's invasion. "Nlaw was absolutely critical to the defeat of Russian ground thrusts in the early stages of the war," says Mr Bronk. The weapons have been "particularly effective" when used in combination with artillery, he says. Maritime Brimstone missiles were also sent to Ukraine in 2022. Brimstones can be used against tanks, artillery and some smaller vessels such as landing craft, according to Capt Chris Carlson, formerly of the US Navy. The missiles are normally fired from aircraft, but in Ukraine they are being modified to be fired from trucks. Launching them from the ground reduces their effective range, says Capt Carlson. When used as anti-ship missiles, Brimstones are far too small to sink larger vessels, but could cause substantial damage. "It all depends where you hit," he says. "If you went through an engine or near the water line, you could give an enemy some serious trouble." Britain has donated at least 120 armoured vehicles to Ukraine, including Mastiff patrol vehicles. Mastiffs were very popular among British troops in Afghanistan as they provide a high level of protection against landmines and improvised explosive devices. Analysts say that in an area which as been as heavily mined as the Donbas, Mastiffs are likely to be very useful. It is understood that both sides in the conflict have used landmines extensively. Britain says it has donated at least six air defence systems, including Starstreak missiles. Starstreak is designed to bring down low-flying aircraft at short range. It ignores counter-measures such as flares and chaff deployed by many aircraft. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "From a pilot's point of view, Starstreak is a very unpleasant thing," says Mr Bronk. "There's very little you can do about it." He says Russian forces may deem some operations too risky if they are aware that a weapon as deadly as Starstreak is on the ground. The UK has also supplied Stormer vehicles to act as a mobile platform for Starstreak missiles. Other equipment supplied by the UK includes: