Smart watches and wearable tech will be handed to millions of people under a 10-year plan to save the NHS.

Devices to track blood pressure, glucose spikes and even monitor how cancer patients are responding to treatment will be given out to prevent ill-health and treat more patients at home.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, will announce a “national conversation” on the future of the NHS on Monday, asking patients and staff across the country to shape major reforms.

On Saturday, he said: “If we want to save the things we love about the NHS, then we have to change it.

“Our 10-year health plan will turn the NHS on its head – transforming it into a Neighbourhood Health Service powered by cutting-edge technology that helps us stay healthy and out of hospital. We will rebuild the health service around what patients tell us they need.”

Mr Streeting will set out three major shifts that he says are necessary to make the service fit for the future.

He will add that this means moving more care from hospitals to the community, a shift from treatment to prevention and switching from analogue to digital services. 

Technology will be key to this, the Government will say, with gadgets handed out so that people can track their own health. 

This includes smart watches to allow patients with high blood pressure to monitor their levels and those with Type 2 diabetes to manage blood sugar spikes by receiving alerts on their phones.

Smart rings permitting cancer patients to track vital signs may also be rolled out more widely.

Trials on patients with lung, bowel and blood cancer in Greater Manchester have used the rings to check on heart rate, temperature, physical activity levels and sleep as patients undergo treatment.

Fitbit-style devices and other types of activity monitors will be offered to patients recovering from strokes to assess their gait and mobility, with smart watches to monitor tremors in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

The shift to home monitoring could mean far less reliance on hospitals and GP visits.

Type 2 diabetes patients are currently required to go to hospital or the GP once a month on average.

‘Technology will transform patient care’

The Government will also detail plans for a network of neighbourhood health centres, placing GPs, nurses, physiotherapists and health visitors all under one roof to stop people being passed “from pillar to post”.

The changes will also see a single patient record with all information on the NHS App.

Mr Sreeting said: “The challenges for the NHS are stark, but the opportunities are huge. Modern technology will transform how patients are cared for, making their lives infinitely easier and the NHS fit for the future.

“At the same time, we will protect what patients want from the NHS – the family doctor relationship, free healthcare at the point of need, and shorter waits for appointments. Our 10-year health plan will preserve the NHS’s traditional values in a modern setting.

“It’s going to take time, but it is our mission to take the NHS from the worst crisis in its history, get it back on its feet and make it fit for the future.”

Streeting: NHS is broken

Just an hour after being appointed after Labour’s election victory, Mr Streeting described the NHS as “broken”.

Since then, he has commissioned an independent investigation by Lord Darzi, the former health minister, which warned that the health service was in a “critical condition” in September. 

Last week, Mr Streeting said the unemployed could be given weight loss jabs to help them get back to work, describing the new class of medication as potentially having a “monumental” impact on obesity and the economy.

The plan he will announce on Monday is part of the Government’s Health Mission to build an NHS fit for the future and shorten the amount of time people spend in-ill health through “national conversation”. 

Mr Streeting already announced pilot schemes for Neighbourhood Health Centres after being inspired by a similar system in Australia.

The centres mean that patients with multiple conditions can be treated in one place – with access to scans and treatment for minor injuries such as cuts and sprains – without having to spend hours in overstretched hospitals.

Wes Streeting has refused to rule out introducing fines for patients missing NHS appointments in the future.

The Health Secretary suggested he could be convinced to implement fines for no-shows if his plans to reform the NHS do not fix the number of people missing appointments.

NHS figures show about eight million hospital appointments are missed every year, which is around one in every 15.

It costs the health service more than £1 billion a year in wasted time.

Mr Streeting said he wasn’t considering a fine-based approach to tackling no-shows at the moment, but would be “more open-minded” about it if it was still a problem in the future.

Asked whether he would think about a financial penalty for patients on Times Radio, he said: “At this stage it’s not something I’m looking at doing, but once we’ve got the system working effectively, if we still have this problem of missed appointments then I might be more open-minded.”

He said his priority was to address why patients are missing their appointments in the first place.

“I want to fix the reasons why the NHS causes people to miss appointments and improve the way in which we are able to choose and book appointments and then keep people updated,” he said.

Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed that one in four missed appointments happened because Royal Mail delays meant patients were receiving letters about their appointments after they were due to have taken place, according to research by the think tank Healthwatch.

The previous government also touted the idea of introducing fines, but did not follow through.

Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, had pledged to fine patients £10 for every missed hospital and GP appointment during his campaign to become Tory leader, but ditched the policy after a backlash.

Mr Streeting also revealed the NHS would be getting a cash boost in the autumn budget, but suggested hospitals would only get money if they make productivity improvements.

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that “the approach that the Chancellor and I are taking is to link investment to reform”.

Asked whether hospital trusts would be penalised if they did not “play ball”, he added: “We definitely need to manage performance.

“I think it’s a quid pro quo. It’s my responsibility to give system leaders the tools to do the job, and that’s my responsibility as Secretary of State, but it’s their responsibility to deliver.

“We’re a team, we’ve got to work in partnership, and the way I’m thinking about the reform agenda and how we go about it and how we involve the NHS staff in it, is a team effort.”

Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow business secretary, said the Conservatives would support some of Labour’s plans for the NHS but wanted to see an increase in productivity.

He told Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Well we welcome the reforms, the public sector needs to be more productive, it needs to be more efficient, and so we’ll support the Labour Government where we can, we want it to succeed.”

Mr Hollinrake said public sector productivity needed to return to pre-pandemic levels, and criticised the decision not to tie junior doctors’ pay rise to their performance.

“We spend £1.2 trillion every year in the public sector, and I say it is around 7 per cent, 8 per cent less efficient than it was in 2019, yet we see no plans from Labour to tackle that.

“One way you could have done that, as we have done in the past, is tie pay increases to performance improvements, that’s what they should have done, that’s what they’ve not done,” he said.

Mr Streeting also defended plans to give weight-loss jabs to unemployed obese people, saying it was not “dystopian”.

A trial to test if anti-obesity injections can increase employment and ease pressure on the NHS may be a “game-changer”, but Mr Streeting said he did not want to create a “dependency culture”.

“I’m also not interested in some dystopian future where I wander around involuntarily jabbing unemployed people who are overweight – that is not on the agenda,” he said.

In the trial in Manchester, researchers will examine the “real-world effectiveness” of anti-obesity treatment Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, over a five-year period.

It will assess whether the drug can reduce worklessness and if it has any impact on cutting sick days among employed people.

Storm Ashley has caused travel disruption and flooding in parts of the UK with heavy rain and 80mph winds.

The first named storm of the season is likely to bring a threat of injuries and danger to life, the Met Office has said.

The river Severn burst its banks in Worcester, flooding parts of the historic city including the county cricket club and streets around the cathedral.

An amber warning from 9am until midnight on Sunday was issued for the north-west of Scotland. The weather service warned that “injuries and danger to life is [sic] likely from large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and properties”.

A yellow warning for wind was issued for all of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and for parts of north-west England and Wales, from 3am until midnight on Sunday.

Dan Stroud, a Met Office meteorologist, said “very strong, severe gales” on Sunday coinciding with high spring tides could result in “very large waves”.

Mr Stroud said strong, gale-force winds were due to continue until Monday morning, meaning “fallen debris and trees” could affect commuters at the start of the week.

A spokesman said the Environment Agency expected river levels to remain high for “the next few days” and urged nearby residents to “move possessions and valuables off the ground or to safety”.

The Environment Agency’s website listed 41 active flood warnings on Sunday morning, meaning flooding was expected, and 132 flood alerts, meaning flooding was possible.

The warnings included multiple areas of the River Severn as well as the south Cornwall coast and the Wye Estuary.

Natural Resources Wales said there were three flood warnings and 13 flood alerts in place. Sixteen flood warnings were issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), along with 17 alerts.

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he underwent a heart procedure after a “sudden deterioration” in his health.

The Grand Tour presenter has said that he began having health complaints while on holiday, and felt a tingling in his arm on his return to the UK.

Clarkson, 64, had to have his blocked arteries drained to avoid an impending heart attack.

The former Top Gear presenter said that he sought treatment at hospital after thinking of former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who suffered a fatal heart attack in North Macedonia on Oct 12.

Writing in his Sunday Times column, he said that after beginning to feel weak on holiday the “sudden deterioration began to gather pace”.

While working on his Cotswolds farm – the subject of his Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s farm – he became “clammy” and felt “a tightness in my chest”, before beginning to sense “pins and needles” in his left arm.

Thinking of the recent death of Mr Salmond, he went to hospital where it was established that he was not having a heart attack, but a scan revealed that his arteries were blocked or nearly blocked.

Clarkson has said that a senior doctor told him that a potentially fatal heart attack was “maybe” days away, and took action to keep the arteries open using a stent.

The presenter, who recently bought a pub for a planned new series of Clarkson’s Farm, said of the experience:  “But it took two hours and at one point it felt like he’d put a Hoover pipe up my arm, along with a pile driver, and was busy inside my heart with a B&Q chisel and hammer gift set. It wasn’t especially painful. Just odd.”

Clarkson suffered health scare in 2017 which led the presenter to quit smoking after being a heavy smoker for more than 40 years.

He had been on holiday in Spain when he was diagnosed with pneumonia, and doctors noticed how much his lungs had deteriorated due to the effects of smoking.

However, the nicotine gum he replaced cigarettes with was found in 2023 to have played a part in increasing his blood pressure.

Speaking at the time, he said: “Six years ago I bit the bullet and replaced my 40-a-day habit with sheet after sheet of full-strength nicotine gum.

“And this week a doctor said it’s causing a worrying rise in my blood pressure and that if I don’t pack it in soon, I will suffer from an agonising and premature death.”

The BBC director-general has been battling against a planning development next to his multi-million-pound rural family home, saying that it will create a more “suburban feel”.

Tim Davie and his wife wrote an objection to a planning application to build two new homes just yards away from their farmhouse in the Oxfordshire countryside.

The £4 million property is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Beauty and boasts a barn, milking parlour and stables, according to the Mail on Sunday.

He wrote in his objection to the council: “This is a quiet, small country lane already facing increased traffic, significant road damage and ongoing flooding. This new proposal goes much further to create a more suburban feel in the village.”

The objection comes despite Mr Davie previously suggesting in a 2015 lecture that “base wiring is … suburban Britain”.

A previous application to build a five-bedroom house just yards away from Mr Davie’s home was accepted but a separate application to turn the development into two homes was rejected.

Builders Bentier are appealing the decision while also putting in a new planning application to enlarge the previously approved single-home development, which has now been accepted by the council.

Mr Davie earns £525,000 a year, reportedly making him the highest-paid BBC executive. Star presenters at the corporation can earn much more. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker receives £1.35 million, while Radio 2 host Zoe Ball makes £950,000.

Mr Davie grew up in Croydon, on the outskirts of London. He and his wife brought up their children in the farmhouse, which they have owned for around 20 years. The property is in the Chilterns, an area of outstanding beauty with green hills rolling for miles.

Mr Davie and his wife told the council that the new proposed houses would look directly into their garden which would lead to “a significant loss of our privacy”.

“We have been supportive of developing the village, but another executive house of this size in this location is a major change”, the couple said.

“The original planning permission was already building on untouched land. This proposal pushes this further and fundamentally changes the character of the area.”

Tim Davie was contacted for comment.

JK Rowling has revealed that she twice turned down a peerage.

Kemi Badenoch has promised to give the Harry Potter author an honour should the Conservative MP win the contest to lead her party.

Now, that public pledge floated during the leadership campaign has led Rowling to say she would turn down a peerage should it be offered.

The writer, 59, revealed that she had refused honours in the past, under Labour and Conservative governments.

Rowling wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “It’s considered bad form to talk about this but I’ll make an exception given the very particular circumstances.

“I’ve already turned down a peerage twice, once under Labour and once under the Tories. If offered one a third time, I still wouldn’t take it. It’s not her [Badenoch], it’s me.”

Badenoch suggested the idea after praising the author’s opposition to transgender ideology.

She said Rowling and Dr Hilary Cass, who led a review of NHS gender identity services for children, were “attacked relentlessly by all sorts of oddballs and bad people”.

Asked whether she would give Rowling a peerage, Mrs Badenoch said: “I would. I don’t know whether she would take it. I certainly would give her a peerage.”

Rowling did not give reasons for refusing a peerage and has not made any public pronouncements about the honours system.

The writer was for a long time a supporter of Labour but criticised the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, and has raised concerns with the party’s position on gender-related issues under Sir Keir Starmer.

The writer does have other state honours and received an OBE in 2000 for services to children’s literature.

In 2009, the global popularity of her books led to her being made a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the French government.

In 2012, she was granted the Freedom of the City of London for services to children’s literature, and in 2017 she was included in the Order of the Companions of Honour.

Rowling is not the only British writer to have turned down an honour. JB Priestley refused a peerage, and Rudyard Kipling twice turned down a knighthood. CS Lewis, Roald Dahl and Aldous Huxley also refused a KBE.

It is customary that both the offer and any refusal remain a private matter.

However, some refusals have been made public. John Lennon returned his MBE in protest over British involvement in the Biafran War in Nigeria.

Ribindranath Tagore, the Bengali poet, was awarded a knighthood by King George V, but later renounced it in protest at the Amritsar massacre.

Sir Chris Hoy, one of Britain’s greatest ever Olympians, has revealed he has terminal cancer.

The 48-year-old six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist has only two to four years to live, according to doctors.

Hoy has been living with his diagnosis for a year but has only now revealed his cancer is terminal.

He said he was now prepared to write his full story and added: “Because once it’s said, you can’t go back. You can’t unsay it

Violent allergic reaction to chemotherapy

Hoy was told that his tumours were at stage 4 by his doctor and that they were incurable.

“And just like that,” Hoy wrote. “I learn how I will die.”

His wife Sarra asked what treatment options were available but medics described it as the management of his condition.

“How long do I have?” Hoy asked. “Two to four years,” he was told.

Hoy, who has been undergoing chemotherapy, took the step of having a cold cap in an attempt to save his hair after his son Callum asked him if that would be a side effect of the treatment.

He said it was like your head “being in a vice”, during all six rounds over 18 weeks and said it was the most painful procedure he had ever been through. “And I’ve got a very high pain threshold,” he said.

He said he suffered such a bad allergic reaction to the chemo in round two that the session went from two hours long to four.

The impact of the treatment left him “absolutely broken by the end of it”.

Back in February Hoy said on social media that he had been diagnosed with cancer and that his treatment was  “thankfully going really well”.

He added then: “I’m optimistic, positive.”

The father of two, whose children are 10 and seven, in an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, said he originally went to the doctor in September last year.

He thought he had suffered a shoulder strain because he was “getting a bit old for lifting heavy weights”.

Tumour was found in his shoulder 

It was discovered he had a tumour in his shoulder and a further scan uncovered that the primary cancer was in his prostate, which had spread to his bones.

There were tumours in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and rib.

Hoy, in a memoir which he has written in the past year, said: “[You are told] one sentence that some person you’ve never met before has just told you.

“And in the space of one sentence, just a collection of words, your whole world has fallen apart.”

His memoir is due to be published next month.

Reveals his wife has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis

He also told how his wife Sarra has also had to deal with the diagnosis that she has  a “very active and aggressive” type of multiple sclerosis following a scan last November.

She made the devastating discovery after she started to suffer a curious tingling sensation in her face and tongue.

Hoy said the biggest challenge was having to tell their children Callum and Chloe but he was able to find perspective and positivity.

“I’m not trying to pretend that every day is amazing. But I have genuine moments of joy… I’m back to my old self,” he said.

Sir Chris told The Sunday Times: “As unnatural as it feels, this is nature.”

He added: “You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process.

“You remind yourself, aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible.”

Diagnosis came as huge shock

Hoy, who was a pundit for the BBC covering the Paris 2024 Olympics in the summer, was such a dominant force in sprint cycling that he had won six Olympic, 11 world and 34 World Cup titles by the time he retired from competitive racing in 2013.

He is the third most-decorated British Olympian of all time, with six career golds and one silver medal.

Sir Chris said the diagnosis came as a “huge shock”.

He wrote: “I have a bit of news. Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, which came as a huge shock, having had no symptoms up to that point.”

Sir Chris extended his “sincere gratitude” to medical professionals for their “amazing help and care”.

The Scot said: “While I’m thankful for any support, I’d like to deal with this privately.

“My heart goes out to the many others who are also going through similar challenges right now.

“I’m optimistic, positive and surrounded by love for which I’m truly grateful. As you might imagine, the last few months have been incredibly difficult. However, I currently feel fine.”

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, who received treatment for kidney cancer in 2021, told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “He’s such an inspirational guy, and I thought that was particularly true in the way that he has talked about his terminal cancer diagnosis today.

“I think to have two-to-four years potentially left to live and yet to maintain that optimism and positivity that has characterised his life and career is remarkable.”

He added: “I’m just in awe, actually, of how he is dealing with that, because I’m not sure how I would react in the same situation.”

Sir Mark Cavendish, who holds the record for most stages won in the Tour de France, was among those sending messages in response, describing his fellow cycling knight as a “hero of a human being”.

Former Scotland footballer turned commentator Ally McCoist said “You, my friend are a superstar in every sense of the word”, while fellow Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, Britain’s most successful Paralympian Dame Storey, comedian Jack Whitehall, British Cycling and reigning world sprint champion Harrie Lavreysen were among those replying with messages of support.

On X, fellow multiple Olympic champion Sir Matthew Pinsent said his thoughts were with Sir Chris and his family, describing him as “one of the finest to ever represent our country”.

In the final two weeks of the presidential election campaign, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are laser focussed on two groups of voters.

The first is an increasingly small number of undecided Americans, who are torn between the two candidates and considering whether to vote at all on Nov 5.

But the second group, the switchers, is much larger. They are voters who can be persuaded to disavow their choice in 2020, and back the other side.

Polling in the key swing states, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for The Telegraph, shows Trump is winning the battle for the switchers.

His success is starkly represented in the data. In all seven battlegrounds, there are more voters who backed Joe Biden in 2020 now supporting Trump than there are Trump voters switching to Ms Harris.

In Michigan and Nevada, both states Mr Biden won at the last election, the difference is especially marked.

In Michigan, 18 per cent of Biden voters and 16 per cent in Nevada polled earlier this week say they are changing sides in this election and voting for Trump.

Only 10 per cent of Trump voters in Michigan and 11 per cent in Nevada said they were voting for Harris.

The same phenomenon is replicated in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – the five other swing states that will decide the election.

Overall, the poll finds Trump ahead in two of the states, Ms Harris ahead in one, and the pair tied in the remaining four.

Support for Ms Harris remains shaky in the “Blue Wall” of northern swing states after Mr Biden dropped out of the race in July.

She is also behind by two points in Arizona, which Mr Biden flipped blue for the first time since 1996, and in North Carolina, the only one of the swing states that Trump won in 2020.

Several reputable election models now predict that Trump will win next month’s election, returning him to the White House after four years in the political wilderness. He would be the second president in US history to serve two non-consecutive terms.

The individual decisions of the millions of switchers at this election will be closely scrutinised by both parties after election day, regardless of which candidate wins.

Telegraph analysis of a separate national poll, also by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, shows that Trump’s strength on the economy and immigration is driving the exodus of voters from Ms Harris’s campaign.

Americans who voted for Mr Biden in 2020 but are now planning to vote for Trump are more likely to say those issues are among their top three priorities.

A quarter of switchers to Trump say that government spending is a major issue for them, while only 11 per cent of those sticking with Ms Harris say the same.

Trump has had less success with Biden voters who care most about abortion, election integrity and healthcare, who are more likely to say they will vote for Ms Harris.

The economy is usually the most significant issue of any presidential cycle, and this year’s campaign has been no different.

Ms Harris has proposed an “opportunity economy”, based on tax hikes for the richest and federal investment in startups and key industries, including green energy.

Trump has pledged to cut taxes and impose blanket tariffs on foreign imports, with especially high rates on Chinese goods. He has said he would abolish federal income tax on tips and overtime pay.

That strategy has paid off among his supporters, the data show. Those who care most about the economy are more likely to stick with him at the ballot box next month, along with voters who say immigration is a top priority.

His support is weaker among his own voters who care most about abortion, who are much more likely to switch to Ms Harris.

Trump has taken credit for the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which reversed federal protection for access to abortion in 2022.

He has since said that he would not sign a federal abortion ban into law, and believes that the issue should be settled by individual state legislatures.

Ms Harris has pledged to reintroduce legal protections for access to abortion through legislation, which would be put to Congress if she wins next month’s election.

Trump voters who care most about healthcare are also more likely to switch to Ms Harris.

An Israeli police officer narrowly avoided being killed as a car rammed into his vehicle on the side of a motorway in the West Bank in a suspected terror attack.

The officer had walked a step to the right a split second before a white car careened at full speed into the armoured vehicle near the city of Ofra.

No police officers were injured and the driver died, the Israeli government said.

“Earlier today, a Palestinian terrorist attempted a violent attack by accelerating towards a police vehicle,” the IDF said in an official statement.

“The attempt ended in failure, as the terrorist’s actions resulted in his own death.”

The name of the driver was revealed as Yosef Ahmed Adnan Taha, 27, a resident of Nablus.

Ukraine warned of a “huge” escalation risk on Saturday as hundreds of elite North Korean troops were predicted to enter the battlefield within days in support of Russia. 

Around 10,000 of Pyongyang’s soldiers are preparing to join Moscow’s army, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, and South Korean intelligence. 

Video released on Friday showed North Korean troops arriving at Russian bases in the country’s far east, picking up military equipment in long queues.

Some 1,500 special forces were transferred to the port city of Vladivostok, with further deployments expected in the near future, the NIS, Seoul’s intelligence service, reported.

Kyrlo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, said around 2,600 soldiers will be sent to fight in Kursk by Nov 1.

North Korea’s Special Operations Forces [SOF] is one of the most secretive units of its kind in the world and an enigma to Western powers, appearing loyal and highly trained but lacking in advanced military equipment. 

The personnel reportedly sent to Vladivostok are presumed to have been sourced from the 200,000-strong ranks of the SOF, which is primarily used to probe and test South Korean defences.

According to the NIS, the troops were issued Russian military uniforms, weapons and fake IDs, and are expected to be deployed to Ukraine once they have completed acclimatisation training.

“This seems to be an effort to disguise the fact that they are North Korean troops by making them appear as Russian soldiers,” the spy agency said.

Andriy Sybiga, the Ukrainian foreign minister, said North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia carried a “huge threat of further escalation” on Saturday. 

Though fiercely loyal to Pyongyang, it is unclear what role the non-Russian-speaking special forces will fulfil on Ukraine’s eastern front, which has slowly become a war of attrition – hardly a traditional arena for covert missions. 

Mike Turner, a Republican member of the House of Representatives and chairman of its intelligence committee, wrote to Joe Biden complaining about the lack of further detail from the White House on North Korean troop movements.

“The administration has not briefed the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence…of any assessments by US intelligence agencies or the department of defence regarding these troop movements,” he wrote, calling for an immediate briefing on the matter.

Founded around 1968, the SOF is perhaps best known for a disastrous attempt at raiding the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential residence, that year, which ended in the death of 29 out of the 31 operatives involved. 

Unlike the SAS or Israeli Mossad, little else is known about the intelligence service’s exploits, though some of its troops took part in a rare public event in 2017 that involved marching in formation alongside regular army soldiers.

In images broadcast by North Korean state TV, SOF troops were seen wearing black camouflage paint and dark sunglasses. They also carried what state media described as a new rifle fitted with a grenade launcher, and were clad in helmets with night vision goggles.

Several news reports at the time noted a distinct similarity to the uniforms of South Korean special forces – known as the Black Berets – suggesting they may have been modelled directly after them.

A report by Maxwell Goldstein, an analyst at Grey Dynamics, the London-based intelligence consultancy, in July described the SOF as aspiring to be “highly trained troops equipped with the best gear available for dangerous but essential missions”.

He said the SOF possesses 12 light infantry brigades, three reconnaissance units for operating behind enemy lines, three airborne divisions and three general sniper units, in addition to sniper brigades attached to air force and naval forces.

The SOF’s estimated size of 200,000 men is unusual in comparison to other international special forces units. The British SAS is believed to have as few as 500 active soldiers at any given time, while the US Delta Force contains some 2,000 operating members.

A 2021 report by the US Defence Intelligence Agency described the SOF as highly trained, highly motivated and fitted with the best equipment available to a pariah state such as North Korea, including chemical and biological agents.

However, it also observed: “Compared with the equipment of other worldwide SOF units, North Korea’s equipment is rudimentary and North Korean SOF probably lacks such sophisticated items as burst communications equipment, advanced signal-processing equipment, and specialised explosives.”

Ahmed Hassan, the CEO of Grey Dynamics, stressed that SOF were deemed “special” by North Korean army standards and not the criteria for Nato or Russian special forces.

“If there is a ranking between one and ten, and let’s say one is a basic soldier and ten is let’s say Delta Force or the SAS, then the NK force sits at 5,” Mr Hassan told The Telegraph. “The North Koreans don’t have a similar indication of what special operations mean, such as Nato standards. In North Korean parlance it’s more like, anything outside of a normal soldier.”

The SOF is rumoured to have been deployed to Syria in support of Bashar al-Assad, the country’s dictator, but some evidence suggested the troops were merely North Korean mercenaries.

Prof Hazel Smith, a leading UK expert on North Korea at SOAS University, advised caution over Seoul’s claim that special forces could soon be deployed to Ukraine. She noted that some of its previous intelligence assessments had turned out to be “spectacularly wrong.”

“It is very difficult to ascertain the validity of the South Korean intelligence statement,” she said. 

“If there are soldiers, the only reason they are likely to be special operations soldiers is that North Korea can’t risk sending conscripts as they don’t trust conscripts; their priority would be to defect or disappear. Special operations soldiers are considered to be more loyal to the North Korean government.”

Prof Smith also pointed out that the eastern front in Ukraine was primarily being used as a “meat-grinder” battlefield by Vladimir Putin, where the role of special operations soldiers would be unclear – especially ones who do not speak any Russian.

Bruce W Bennett, an analyst at the RAND think tank, called on the US to begin information campaigns to convince North Korean soldiers sent to Russia to defect to the West.

“It has been reported that six officers from [North Korea] were killed in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, a message that will likely anger their families in Pyongyang and thus should also be broadcast into North Korea,” he wrote this week.

North Korea’s greatest ally – the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – is “currently not that bothered by support for Russia,” according to Ian Garner, a historian and analyst of Russian culture.

On Saturday, the US announced sanctions against Chinese firms linked to the production of suicide drones being used against Ukraine.

But Beijing, which regards North Korea as a buffer zone between itself and the US-allied South Korea, has historically opposed any decisions by Pyongyang that are deemed risky or destabilising to Chinese foreign affairs, notably its trade relations with the West.

“If China does say no [to the final deployment of troops], it won’t happen,” Mr Garner told The Telegraph.

“Russia has very little to offer North Korea compared to what China offers, so if Beijing puts the dampeners on the plan, then those troops may never materialise at the front.”

There was a time, back when the calamity that befell their land moved the world to pity and horror, that those forced to flee Syria’s civil war could expect a sympathetic welcome.

Those days are long past. More than 13 years into a grinding, half-forgotten conflict that has killed more than half a million people, Syria’s refugees are more likely to encounter weariness, irritation and outright hostility than sympathy.

Sometimes the hostility explodes into violent hatred. Mobs in half a dozen Turkish cities beat up Syrian refugees and burned down their homes during three days of anti-migrant rioting in July, triggered by allegations that a Syrian man had molested his seven-year-old cousin.

Sympathy has dried up in parts of the European Union, too.

Not only are there more than 1 million Syrian refugees living in the bloc, but Syrians continue to apply for asylum at far greater rates than any other nationality, constituting 14 per cent of the applications made in the first six months of this year, according to EU figures.

Amid a hardening of anti-migration rhetoric, EU leaders met in Brussels last week to consider a call from Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, to normalise relations with Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president.

Such a step, she told the Italian senate, would pave the way for the “safe and sustainable” return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.

Ms Meloni is emerging as the leader of an eight-member faction within the EU that is challenging the body’s “three nos” policy on Syria: no lifting of sanctions, no normalising relations and no reconstruction. In July she also broke with her G7 partners by appointing an Italian ambassador to Damascus, the first time the position has been filled since 2012.

With interest in Syria waning in the US, some members of the Biden administration are also said to favour re-engagement following Syria’s readmission to the Arab League last year.

Yet the prospect of bringing Assad in from the cold – particularly without extracting any concessions in advance – has prompted horror amongst many Syria watchers as well as in the swathes of the country that still remain under the control of opposition forces.

“Returning to areas held by the Assad regime would be suicide,” says Omar al-Ashqar, a human rights activist in Idlib, a province in Syria’s Turkey-backed breakaway north-west.

“And if it is done by force it would be murder, given what the forces of the Assad regime do to returning Syrians, such as kidnapping and enforced disappearance.”

The idea that Syrians could return home without fear of government persecution is met with widespread incredulity both in rebel-held parts of the country and in former opposition-strongholds like the shattered city of Homs, which fell to government forces in 2014.

“There is no security in Syria,” says Ghaith al-Mohammed, a supermarket worker in the city. “If there is a restoration of relations between the European Union and the Assad regime, thousands of Syrians will return to Syria and the Assad regime will brutalise and torture them.”

Such claims are hardly without foundation.

Despite some two dozen amnesties announced by Assad over the years, tens of thousands of prisoners of conscience remain in detention in Syria, many of whom have been held for more than a decade simply for participating in anti-government protests.

Conditions in Syrian prisons are amongst the worst in the world. Most detainees have experienced starvation, torture and overcrowding. Tens of thousands have died, often after being executed without a trial.

Amnesty International estimates that as many as 13,000 detainees were hanged at the Sednaya military prison in Damascus between 2011, when the uprising against Assad began, and 2016 alone.

Nor is the country safe or stable. Violence continues in several parts of the state.

In the past week alone, Israel attacked a weapons depot in the coastal city of Latakia in government-held territory, while Russia, which props up the Assad regime, carried out dozens of airstrikes on rebel-held areas. One Russian strike killed 10 people in Idlib – about half of which is controlled by a jihadist group.

While the crisis remains unresolved, and economic and humanitarian conditions continue to worsen, experts warn that failed Arab League efforts to re-engage Assad should offer the EU a salutary warning against trusting the Syrian president.

‘The Syrians will only ever take’

Last year, the Arab League invited Syria back into its fold for the first time since November 2011 and showered Assad with accolades after he addressed the group at a summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Restoring relations, it was hoped, would prod Assad into reducing Iranian influence in Syria, persuading refugees that it was safe to return and curtailing the illicit trade in Captagon, an amphetamine that is said to have enriched the Assad regime while causing misery across the Middle East.

The Syrian president has made good on none of these promises, however, says Heiko Wimmen of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank, something that should ring alarm bells for Europeans thinking of adopting the Arab League’s approach.

“There is this experience time and time again that whenever you deal with the Syrians, the Syrians will only take but never give anything back,” he said.

“Everyone has had the same experience as the Gulf states. You just don’t get anything from the Syrians. Maybe Bashar can’t deliver or maybe he won’t. It is unclear which, but in the end what does it matter? In the end if he doesn’t deliver, he doesn’t deliver.”

The issue is one of trust

While rehabilitating an unapologetic Assad may seem an unconscionable and futile betrayal for some in the West, others, however, note that all efforts to topple him have failed, thanks to the support of Russia and Iran – and that by deliberately keeping Syria weak through sanctions is only exacerbating the problem.

Some kind of accommodation, however distasteful, is therefore necessary both on pragmatic and humanitarian grounds, they argue.

It could weaken Russian influence over time, some say, while a stronger state built on credible institutions and with full control of the country would potentially prevent the resurgence of extremist jihadist groups such as Isis, which is regrouping in the east of the country.

Vengeful and vindictive as Assad may be, the pragmatists conclude, he must surely see that the only way to rebuild his shattered country is to ensure the safe return of the 12 million Syrians – more than half the population – still too scared to go home.

Ultimately the issue comes down to trust.

Desperate to stem and reverse the tide of refugees to the EU, particularly with the Middle East in renewed turmoil, Ms Meloni and her allies are eager to give Assad the benefit of the doubt.

Others, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, would dearly like to share their optimism.

Turkey is home to more than 3 million Syrian refugees and Mr Erdogan has ostensibly made overtures to Assad about a deal that would see Turkish troops withdraw from the north-west.

But few expect any real progress because it would expose 7 million Syrians who have fled government-held territory for rebel-controlled havens in Syria’s north that are either under Turkish or US military protection.

These Syrians do not trust Assad. Rather than risking ending up in his torture chambers or at the end of a noose, many are likely to flee again – meaning that there is a possibility that Syria’s external refugee crisis could get worse before it gets better.

However much Ms Meloni hopes otherwise, critics say her proposal would therefore not only fail to wish away Syria’s refugee crisis but would send a message to rogue regimes around the world that Western principles fade over time.

“The Assad regime, alongside its allies Russia and Iran, is still arbitrarily arresting, torturing and killing its citizens,” says Mouaz Moustafa, head of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a Washington-based body that supports the opposition in Syria.

“Any normalisation would send the message to other criminal regimes that if you stay the course, you will be rehabilitated and readmitted to the international community.”

Battered by sea spray and baked by the sun, they have clung to the precipitous slopes and black volcanic grit of the island for more than 3,000 years.

But the prized vineyards of Santorini are now facing an existential threat from tourist overdevelopment as land is bought up on the Greek island for villa complexes, hotels and restaurants.

With rampant construction on the Aegean outcrop in the last few years, vineyards have been bought by developers and covered in concrete.

In the 1960s, Santorini boasted 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) of vines but that figure has now plunged to just under 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres).

Production of grapes on the island, famed for its volcanic caldera, sugar-cube houses and sunset views, has dropped almost 50 per cent in the last 20 years, according to the Association of Winemakers of Santorini.

“The construction of tourism developments is threatening the unique landscape of the island,” Markos Kafouros, a local MP and the chairman of Santo Wines, one of the oldest wineries on Santorini, told The Telegraph.

That threat is being compounded by diminishing rainfall, probably driven by climate change.

To try to make the most of scant moisture, vines on Santorini are grown using a unique method called “kouloura”, a Greek word meaning woven basket.

Rather than growing along upright trellises, as in most wine regions of the world, they are trained to grow in a basket shape on the ground, an arrangement which protects the grapes from the intense sunshine and strong winds that buffet the island.

The result are crisp, citrusy white wines, made from the Assyrtiko, Athiri and Aidani grape varieties, and reds made from the varieties Mandilaria and Mavrotragano.

But even this ancient method, tried and tested over centuries, cannot protect the vines from extremes of drought. Annual rainfall has fallen from an average of 400mm (15.7 inches) to less than 200mm (7.8 inches) a year.

“Climate change and especially drought are the biggest threats to the vineyards on Santorini,” said Mr Kafouros, who is an MP with the governing centre-Right New Democracy party.

A lack of rainfall and scorching temperatures resulted in a disastrous harvest this year.

The island produced just 600 tons of grapes, compared with 3,500 tons in a normal year – a decrease of 82 per cent.

“The decrease in production is due to the extreme weather, particularly drought, hailstorms and summer heat. I’m worried about the future of Santorini’s vineyards, more than ever,” said Mr Kafouros, who has worked for 35 years as an agronomist on the island.

He wants the Greek government to do much more to protect the remaining vineyards from the threat of development and to confront the shortage of water. A study is underway to look at the option of using treated wastewater to irrigate farmland.

It is not just development and drought that imperil the island’s proud wine making tradition.

There are also difficulties in persuading islanders to work in the fields when there are easier, more comfortable jobs available in tourism.

“The grandpas who used to farm the vines slowly quit, and young people are turning to the tourism sector for income. Nobody goes into the vineyards anymore. The vines are struggling, the costs for fertilizers are raised, and working hands are rare,” Tzennis Dartzentas, a wine maker, told Greek media recently.

Reduction in tourism

The mayor of Santorini, Nikos Zorzos, has been calling for years for overdevelopment to be reined-in and for a reduction in tourist arrivals on the island.

His council does not have the power to impose a building ban and must instead defer to Athens.

He wants the number of cruise ship passengers allowed to disembark on the island to be limited to 8,000 a day. He hopes this restriction on numbers will be adopted next year.

“Since 2012, we have been asking [the authorities] to stop the unplanned tourist development, to protect the landscape and save the place from mass tourism. Santorini has a unique environment that should not be sacrificed for the sake of another interest,” he told The Telegraph.

The mayor is also considering introducing an entrance fee for tourists, following the example set by Venice this year when it started levying a €5 (£4.16) charge on day trippers.

He would not be drawn on when the entrance fee might be introduced or how much it would cost but said: “We want to have the ability to impose any fee deemed necessary.”

As Santorini starts to recover from another bruising summer season of saturation tourism, other Greek islands are steering a different course.

The council on Skyros, part of the Sporades island group in the northern Aegean, unanimously rejected a proposed development that would have included new hotels, docks for cruise ships and marinas for yachts.

Kyriakos Antonopoulos, the mayor, said locals are anxious not to spoil the quiet charm that draws visitors to the island. “We’d rather stay ‘undeveloped’ than lose what makes Skyros unique,” he said.

Germany is planning to increase the number of asylum seekers it detains in airports in the latest attempt to toughen its border policies.

In a draft law, Berlin proposes holding asylum seekers from countries with acceptance rates below 20 per cent across the EU on airport premises. Their cases will be heard while they are detained in specially-built facilities.

It already holds some asylum seekers in airports. Those who tear up their passports on landing, or come from countries Germany deems safe, are put up on site in five airports.

But changing the rules so that all from countries with below 20 per cent acceptance rates across the EU would significantly widen the detention scheme.

It is likely that more airport holding pens would have to be constructed, and Olaf Scholz government of  is seeking advice from the European Commission on the legality of its proposed law.

Mr Scholz has made toughening Germany’s migration policies a key plank of his agenda as he risks losing support to the Right, which has called for far tighter rules.

Fewer than 20 per cent of migrants from Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, India, Serbia, Tunisia and Georgia are granted asylum status across the EU.

Some 300, 000 asylum seekers entered Germany illegally last year. Officials have told their EU counterparts that airports and ports are the only external borders of the bloc in Germany.

Diplomatic sources told The Telegraph that Berlin was keen to clarify with Brussels how far the new airport procedure could go under the legal framework before new EU rules for accelerated asylum claims come into force in mid-2026.

“We want to get as close as possible to the new rules as possible,” said one source.

Under the airport detention scheme, asylum seekers stay in the transit area of the airport while their case is examined, which takes two days.

If thire claim is rejected, they can apply for temporary legal protection while remaining in the airport. If that application is approved, the person can enter Germany, but they are deported if it is rejected.

Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg and Munich are the only airports in Germany currently equipped for the procedure as they have asylum accommodation on site. It is thought the procedure was last used in Frankfurt in January.

Illegal border crossings into the EU fell by 42 per cent to 166,000 in the first nine months of this year but asylum claims are still high.

The European Union Agency for Asylum said that 513,000 asylum claims were made in the EU, Norway and Switzerland in the first half of this year, on course to match more than 1.1 million applications last year. That was the highest number since the migrant crisis in 2015-2016.

The data suggest that while illegal sea crossings have been curbed by EU deals with non-EU countries exchanging funding and aid for stronger policing of borders, migrants are arriving in Europe through other routes, such as airports, before claiming asylum.

At a European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday night, Mr Scholz argued for the swift implementation of new EU migration rules that will allow speeded up asylum processes.

They introduce eight-week deadlines for claims to be heard and a two-week deadline on interim legal protection. However, Poland and Hungary oppose the Migration Pact because of rules that would relocate refugees from under pressure states across the bloc.

Nancy Faeser, the federal minister of the interior, said: “We are implementing the new Common European Asylum System at full speed. This will finally ensure that the EU’s external borders are comprehensively protected and that arrivals are reliably checked and registered.

“Asylum procedures for people with little prospect of protection will then be carried out at the EU’s external borders.”

Mr Scholz’s efforts to change migration rules have accelerated since a mass stabbing attack in Solingen on Aug 23, in which three people were killed.

In September, Germany introduced passport controls at all of its land borders and is also seeking to impose a “bed, bread and soap” reform that cuts benefits for asylum seekers who are based in Germany but registered their claim in a different EU member state to an absolute minimum.

The German chancellor is under immense pressure from Friedrich Merz, the leader of the opposition CDU party, who wants much tougher measures that lead to “the rejection of people at the German external borders on a comprehensive scale”.

The hard-Right, anti-migrant AfD party, which won its first ever state election in Saxony last month, is also pushing Germany’s traditional parties to adopt a tougher stance on refugee policies.

The clampdown comes as EU leaders called for action to speed up deportations from the bloc at Thursday’s summit.

The meeting was dominated by discussions over whether the EU could set up offshore “return hubs”, which are camps for failed asylum seekers outside the bloc where they can be held before being deported.

Out of the 484,000 non-EU citizens who were ordered to leave the EU last year, only about 91,500 – less than 20 per cent – were effectively returned, according to the Eurostat agency.

Labour’s employment rights revamp will pave the way for a £5.5 billion wage rise for carers, an analysis has found.

A forecast, drawn up by officials at the Department for Health earlier this year, found that the full cost could come to £24 billion over the course of this parliament.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, is committed to establishing a fair pay agreement in the sector, under which state-backed collective bargaining would take place between trade unions and social care providers.

Under the Workers’ Rights Bill, those working in the social care sector will be given the right to collective bargaining on pay.

Senior Labour figures have argued that the policy would increase pay for social care staff and decrease reliance on foreign workers who have been issued visas to fill vast shortages. Should it prove successful, those working on the policy say it could be expanded into other sectors.

The Department for Health’s forecast, which was drawn up before the election, is based on a new salary for carers of £15 an hour, which unions have previously said is the minimum that adult social care workers should be paid.

Last night, the Government distanced itself from the analysis, saying it was based on “incorrect” assumptions and did not reflect its policies.

Jeremy Hunt, the shadow chancellor, said: “This simply confirms what we already knew. Labour’s bogus black hole is self-created, and that any decision to raise taxes at the Budget will be as a result of their own choices.

“The real scandal is that despite planning these tax rises all along, they didn’t have the courage to admit it to the public during the election campaign”.

Ministers have not stated who would be in line to foot the bill for carers’ pay rise. Local councils – who for much of the country’s social care provision – have long argued that they are already cash-strapped and would not be able to afford it themselves.

David Fothergill, the social care spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said that a fair pay agreement for care workers is “crucial” for attracting and retaining skilled professionals to the sector.

But he added that “any rise in wages must be funded by genuinely new government funding; the cost cannot be handed over to councils when their budgets are already under significant strain and incapable of absorbing such increases”.

“Any new agreements should also come alongside a fully funded workforce strategy for the sector and the resources councils and providers need to reduce their reliance on costly agency staff.”

Huge responsibility

Gavin Edwards, the head of social care at Unison, said: “Until wages rise in social care, the sector will never be able to recruit and retain the numbers of staff needed to meet the growing demands of an ageing population. That’s something employers, families, ministers and unions can all agree upon.

“It will be the responsibility of the new care negotiating body, made up of provider, union and government representatives, to agree on a minimum hourly rate that will help kickstart the long-overdue reform of this most vital service.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care said: “These figures are based on an incorrect set of assumptions and do not reflect this government’s policy. No spending decisions have been made.

“We are committed to delivering a Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care workers to properly reward hard-working staff and improve recruitment and retention.

“In order to deliver this, it is vital to first consult widely to ensure the policy is right for workers, providers and people who draw on care and support.”

Peter Mandelson has been accused of “appealing to tribal loyalties” in the race to be the next chancellor of the University of Oxford.

Undergraduate students associated with Oxford’s Labour Club have been campaigning for Lord Mandelson to become the ceremonial head of the university.

Some Labour MPs who are alumni of the university have also been helping to drum up support for the former Cabinet minister, The Telegraph understands.

Undergraduates are not eligible to vote in the election of the new chancellor, which takes place in the week of Oct 28. More than 250,000 graduates are technically eligible to vote, along with academics at the university, if they have registered to vote online.

In their efforts to elect Lord Mandelson, student activists have tried to sign up graduates to vote in order to “make the race more representative” and Labour-friendly. Some have tried to persuade their tutors to support Lord Mandelson.

Labour-supporting undergraduates have also been involved in helping the party grandee to plan events that seek to boost his profile at the university. He has no full-time campaigning team.

But some dons have expressed their displeasure at the 70-year old accepting help from current students to influence the race. On senior academic said: “At a university of all places, Lord Mandelson should be promoting his cause by the strength of his reasons, not by appealing to tribal loyalties.”

Another don said: “The chancellor of Oxford should be above party politics and should strive to represent the whole university. It’s to be hoped that an electorate as experienced and informed as Oxford’s MAs will see through his immature behaviour and vote for a better candidate who understands the chancellor’s role.”

Another said: “It’s so naff for 20-year-olds to be hassling people and asking them to vote. I think it is highly counter-productive.”

Lord Mandelson has said he would draw on his “political links with the new Government to advocate for Oxford and the university sector.”

One student supporting Lord Mandelson said: “What I’ve been doing is reaching out to people, letting them know that this election is happening because it’s almost always been a Conservative chancellor, but we want people to know that this one is different. It’s online and we can make sure it’s more representative.”

Another said: “There are a lot of Labour MPs who were at Oxford, who were previously involved in Labour student politics, who have reached out to the campaign because they want it to be a Labour result.”

Lord Mandelson told The Telegraph: “I have been a two-term chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University and I therefore know how to support a university but, as an alumnus myself, I also know Oxford University is a global university and I have the international connections and networks to help it remain so.

“I welcome the support of people of all political persuasions and none, and I hope everyone who can will cast a vote in this election.”

Candidates for the chancellorship have not traditionally campaigned in the past, instead being elected at a ceremonial gathering of the electorate. But this year’s election is the first to be held online.

Other politicians running for the position include William Hague, the former foreign secretary, who has received an endorsement from the Oxford University Conservative Association. 

In all, 38 candidates have successfully submitted applications to stand in the election. Janet Royall, a Labour peer and former cabinet colleague of Lord Mandelson, is also running for the position.

The Oxford chancellor role has often been held by former Conservative politicians including Lord Patten, who is the outgoing chancellor, and Harold Macmillan, the former prime minister, who served in the role from 1960 to 1986.

Roy Jenkins, once a Labour cabinet minister, held the position when he was an SDP and later Liberal Democrat politician.

Britain’s candidate for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was a favoured legal adviser to Jeremy Corbyn and said British bombing in Syria was unlawful.

Dapo Akande, a professor of law at Oxford, was chosen to run for membership of the court in September with the backing of the Government. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said he was “an outstanding international lawyer and has our full support”.

In 2018, when Mr Corbyn was the Labour leader, the party sought Mr Akande’s legal opinion on the UK’s bombing of Syria. Mr Akande argued that the air strikes did not comply with international law.

The strikes, conducted with America and France, were a response to the Douma chemical attack, for which the Syrian government was later found responsible. They were intended to hinder the Assad government’s ability to deploy chemical weapons.

While the former Conservative government had legal advice that the targeted strikes were “right and legal”, Labour asked Mr Akande for his opinion. 

In his advice, he argued that the government’s action had no basis in international law and claimed its legal advice was “significantly flawed”. Based on this, Mr Corbyn told the Commons that he thought the air strikes were “legally questionable”.

Tom Watson, Labour’s then deputy leader, who had approached Mr Akande on behalf of the Labour Party, described his legal opinion as “expert and impartial advice”. 

Mr Akande has previously provided legal advice to Conservative Attorneys Generals and served as the legal adviser to the all-party parliamentary group on drones from 2017 to 2018.

As part of his work with the group, he co-signed a letter to The Telegraph that said: “When Britain shares its bases, intelligence and personnel with its drone partners, it is currently at risk of acting unlawfully.”

In 2015, he co-authored an academic article in the European Journal of International Law titled Corbyn, Trident, and the Letter of Last Resort: Legality of Use of Nuclear Weapons.

In it, he and his co-author argued in a legal thought experiment that the UK “would not be acting lawfully in retaliating” with Trident after a nuclear attack.

If elected by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, Mr Akande will sit for at least a nine-year term. 

The ICJ adjudicates on legal disputes between states and gives opinions on the working of international law. South Africa recently used the court to lodge a case of genocide against Israel. That case is still under consideration by ICJ judges.

Candidates for the court must be eligible for the highest judicial appointments in their home countries or display “recognised competence in international law”. Once elected, judges act impartially and independently, not as delegates for their home countries.

Labour’s tax raid on private schools will cost the Foreign Office an extra £1 million this year, the Government has admitted.

Catherine West, the minister for the Indo-Pacific, said the department’s bill would shoot up as a result of the decision to charge VAT on fees.

It is likely to stem from increased compensation paid to diplomatic families who send their children to boarding school in the UK when they are posted abroad.

The Foreign Office currently spends about £14 million per year on placements for the children of staff who may be forced to travel at short notice or move somewhere unsafe, in order to provide stability for their education.

The department has now admitted it expects its costs to rise significantly as a result of the Government’s decision to scrap the VAT exemption for private school fees.

In answer to a written question from Dame Harriett Baldwin, the former Tory minister, the Government said it estimated that the increased cost to the Foreign Office could be about £1 million for 2024-25.

It is predicted this will rise to an extra £2.5 million in 2025-26, with the department continuing to assess the longer-term financial impact. This is “based on an assumption of how schools might apply the increase to parents and the impact on fees”.

The department did not specify why the change would lead to a rise in costs. However, it would follow that an increase in fees for diplomats would need to be compensated as allowances have risen with costs in recent years.

The Telegraph has approached the Foreign Office for comment.

The revelations will fuel concerns that the tax raid on private schools will serve to increase the burden on the taxpayer, with critics fearing an exodus of pupils to the state sector.

‘Ideological politics’

The support for diplomatic and military families is provided through a fund called the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA), which can cover up to 90 per cent of boarding school fees. 

It is currently capped at £9,080 a term for senior school pupils and £7,489 for younger pupils, with families paying the remaining 10 per cent. The cost of those placements will now be eligible to increase by 20 per cent VAT under current plans.

There has been speculation that the Government could offer mitigations, such as an exemption from the tax rise, or choose to recalculate the CEA to ensure that families in receipt of the benefit are shielded from the VAT raid. However, nothing has been confirmed, with Rachel Reeves still working on her Budget for Oct 30.

Currently, 4,210 pupils receive support through the scheme, funded by the Ministry of Defence, while a further 514 are assisted by the Foreign Office.

Dame Harriett told The Telegraph: “Labour has now admitted that its education tax is going to cost the Foreign Office millions of pounds every year. In the midst of global danger and insecurity, raiding the Foreign Office budget to pay for ideological politics is unjustifiable.

“Not only is it untenable for Labour to avoid publishing a full impact assessment of their education tax, they must do what is right by those who serve our country overseas by exempting those supported by the Continuity Education Allowance.”

Paul McCartney gave John Lennon a “step by step” plan to help his fellow Beatles star get back together with his wife, Yoko Ono.

The revelation is part of a memoir by Elliot Mintz, a radio host, that describes his close personal relationship with the couple.

In We All Shine On, Mintz describes how in 1974, while Lennon was producing an album for singer Harry Nilsson entitled the Pussy Cats, McCartney turned up at the recording studio.

Lennon was in the midst of his famous “lost weekend”, in which he had separated from Ono and spent 18 months partying in Los Angeles with other stars, including Nilsson.

During this time, Lennon also began his infamous affair with 23-year-old May Pang, who flew to Los Angeles as his personal assistant.

After Lennon expressed his desire to reunite with his wife, Mintz says McCartney reportedly offered to speak to Lennon for Ono and visited his fellow Beatles star at the recording studio. The two had not performed together since the Beatles had split.

“They were all just looking at us, thinking that something big was going to happen. To me, it was just playing with Paul”, Mintz recalls Lennon saying about the encounter.

Sometime afterwards, McCartney sat down with Lennon and “laid out, step by step, what he would need to do to win Yoko back”, the excerpt from The Times reads.

Ono has historically been accused by fans of breaking up the Beatles, and was regularly referred to by some as the “dragon lady”.

But McCartney’s actions in 1974 suggest otherwise, which is only further backed up by his interview with BBC Radio 4 in 2021, where he said that he held Lennon responsible for the band’s breakup.

We All Shine On charts Mintz’s friendship with Lennon and Ono, as well as the couple’s complicated relationship.

Mintz describes in the book how he was so close with the couple that they had a special hotline for him and a red light would flash in his bedroom whenever one of them called.

Lennon and Ono eventually reunited after their 18-month split in November 1974, when she attended an Elton John performance in which Lennon took part as a surprise guest. Later backstage the couple met in a dressing room and re-established their connection.

Lennon continued to live with Pang for a short period, but eventually returned to Ono, telling Mintz: “Let the media know the separation did not work”.

This is the moment a dog walker narrowly misses a landslide as it wipes out several beach huts.

Video footage shows a dislodged tree and other shrubbery tumbling down a cliff towards the seafront at a Bournemouth beach in Dorset.

The dog walker only realises he is in harm’s way at the last moment, escaping the landslide on Saturday morning by seconds.

The force of the impact dislodged 14 huts which were pushed onto the promenade, a popular spot for dog walking.

It is the second landslide to take place at Durley Chine beach, a few hundred yards west of the town’s pier, in the past 10 days.

A large cordon has been placed around the scene by the police and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council (BCP) to protect the public in case of further landslips.

Georgina Humphries, a visitor to the area, said: “We’ve had so much rain lately, it was only a matter of time.

“You’ve got to feel for those with beach huts – they cost a fortune.”

Richard Herrett, the cabinet member for destination at BCP council, said: “Following further heavy rainfall, we can confirm that a cliff slip near Durley Chine took place at 9.45 this morning and has affected access to a number of beach huts and parts of the adjacent promenade.

“This is in the same area of the chine that experienced a cliff slip earlier this month and a wider section has been cordoned off in the interest of public safety while the site is inspected by the council’s flood and coastal erosion risk management team.

“We are informing the licensees of the beach huts and will provide updates once a further assessment has been carried out.”

Dorset Police has been approached for comment.

Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, personally controlled the takeover of Newcastle United by the state’s sovereign wealth fund, leaked WhatsApp messages seen by The Telegraph suggest.

The messages from Amanda Staveley, who brokered the club’s sale by tycoon Mike Ashley to the Gulf Kingdom’s trillion-dollar Public Investment Fund (PIF), raise questions over guarantees made to the Premier League to secure the deal. 

The cache of WhatsApps suggest the Crown Prince, who is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, was signing off key decisions.

At one point, Ms Staveley warns the sellers that “the Crown Prince is losing patience”, and when the deal hit trouble, she said the governor of PIF was “trying to…convince the Crown Prince not to pull out”.

The messages shed new light on the extent of political involvement in the takeover. 

Ms Staveley enlisted the help of the Saudi ambassador to the UK to rescue the deal, saying on Aug 6, 2020: “The UK Saudi ambassador spoke to the Crown Prince this morning.”

Later that month, she sent another message that read: “We need to update the Saudi Ambassador at 4pm as he needs to update the Crown Prince.”

In April 2021, Boris Johnson, then prime minister, said his government “was not involved at any point in the takeover talks on the sale of Newcastle” in a written parliamentary answer. 

However, Ms Staveley was in direct contact with Lord Grimstone, then the minister for investment, and told the sellers of the club that the minister “pushed behind the scenes and made it very clear that their preference is for the deal to go ahead”.

The Premier League initially blocked the sale of Newcastle United to a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund over concerns that the club would in reality be controlled by the Saudi state.

Via lawyers, Ms Staveley said she only ever referenced the Crown Prince in his capacity as chairman of PIF. To suggest that her messages cast doubt on whether the assurances about independence from the Saudi state have been adhered to subsequently “is as illogical as it is misconceived,” she added.

The sale eventually went through after the Premier League was given “legally binding assurances” that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) – which now owns 80 per cent of the club – was separate from the Saudi state.

The sale was highly controversial because of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. A CIA report concluded that the Crown Prince was responsible for ordering the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident and Washington Post journalist, which was still fresh when the takeover was first proposed. 

Foreign states are not banned from owning Premier League clubs under its own rules, but the Saudi state was accused of illegally pirating the League’s games on a state-run channel, which presented a barrier to ownership.

The Premier League eventually removed its objections after being convinced that PIF would be acting independently of the Saudi state in the running of Newcastle United.

While the Crown Prince is chairman of PIF, the Premier League said at the time it had “received legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle United Football Club”.

Ms Staveley said at the time of the takeover that PIF was “an autonomous commercially driven investment fund”.

‘Repercussions’

The non-executive chairman of Newcastle United is Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of PIF, but the WhatsApp messages suggest it was the Crown Prince who had the ultimate say over the purchase.

On March 3, 2020, Ms Staveley told the Ashley camp: “The Crown Prince is losing patience – I need to assure him we will get there.”

On July 29 that same year, she messaged Mr Ashley’s team to say: “HE [His excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan] is trying to hang on to the deal and convince the Crown Prince not to pull out.”

But in October 2020, Ms Staveley had WhatsApped Mr Ashley’s team to say: “No10 can’t get any further involved than what they have done to date. Gerry [Lord Grimstone] said that they pushed behind the scenes and made it very clear that their preference is for the deal to go ahead, they are obviously very aware of the damage this has caused and the repercussions for future investments.”

The £305 million sale of Newcastle United went ahead in October 2021, with PIF owning 80 per cent of the club, Ms Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners owning 10 per cent and the property developers David and Simon Reuben owning 10 per cent.

Earlier this year, Ms Staveley, who had become the public face of Newcastle United, left the club after selling her shares.

Lord Grimstone told The Telegraph that he kept abreast of large potential investments into the UK in his former role as investment minister, particularly those such as Newcastle United, which was in the public domain and “attracting a great deal of public interest”.

He added: “I made it very clear to Mr Hoffman that my only role was to facilitate the passing of ideas between the PIF and Premier League and that in no way did I seek to prejudice the Premier League’s complete autonomy in this matter.”

The Premier League declined to comment.

A spokesman for PIF said: “In October 2021, following a lengthy investigation, the Premier League announced that the sale of Newcastle United Football Club had completed following the receipt of assurances that the government of Saudi Arabia would not control the Club. 

“The facts and circumstances that underpin those assurances, as confirmed at the time to the Premier League, remain unchanged.”

Ms Staveley said she was “entirely confident” that the assurances had been adhered to.

‘The Crown Prince is losing patience’: Messages reveal how faltering deal came close to collapse

In the vexed history of football club takeovers, few have been as controversial as the purchase of Newcastle United by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Initially delayed by Premier League concerns that club would be controlled by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia itself, the deal eventually went through after “legally binding assurances” were given that this was not the case.

Leaked messages obtained by The Telegraph, however, have thrown that statement into doubt by revealing how closely involved Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the Saudi prime minister and de facto ruler, was in the progress of the deal.

The Crown Prince, known by his initials MbS, is the man accused of ordering the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident journalist who was strangled and dismembered by an assassination team in Turkey in 2018.

While Premier League clubs and fans were troubled by the possibility of one of England’s biggest football clubs being controlled by a foreign government with one of the world’s worst human rights records, the British government took the opposite view.

Eager to keep a strategic and economic ally happy, ministers in Boris Johnson’s government worked behind the scenes to make the deal happen.

They have always maintained that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would operate independently of the Saudi government in running Newcastle, but WhatsApp messages sent by the woman who negotiated the deal show that the Crown Prince was regularly updated as to the progress of the deal.

News of Saudi Arabian interest in buying Newcastle United first emerged in March 2020 when it was reported that Amanda Staveley, who had previously been involved in the sale of Manchester City to an Abu Dhabi-based wealth fund, had approached the North East club as part of a group that also included Saudi Arabia’s PIF and the property billionaires Simon and David Reuben.

In fact, Ms Staveley had been speaking to representatives of Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, since July 2019, and made a formal offer in November of that year.

Mr Ashley, who made billions by founding the Sports Direct shop chain and later bought House of Fraser, was keen to sell, having put the club on the market in 2017. But there was a problem.

A World Trade Organisation investigation had concluded that the Saudi government was behind a pirate TV channel illegally broadcasting Premier League matches.

The rights to show Premier League matches in the Middle East were held by the Qatari broadcaster BeIN, which was also the League’s highest-value overseas contract.

But Saudi Arabia had banned BeIN from broadcasting in its country, and instead pirated Premier League footage was being illegally shown on a Saudi channel, beoutQ.

‘It’s not sportswashing’

Anyone suspected of piracy can be banned by the Premier League from owning a club. Even if the Saudis stopped showing the pirated matches, the Premier League could still block the takeover on the basis that they had been guilty in the past.

To pass the Premier League’s owners and directors test, Ms Staveley’s consortium needed to prove that PIF was independent of, and not controlled by, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or in other words, the Crown Prince.

Much of the discussion in public was about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record (Amnesty International and Khashoggi’s widow were among those who objected to the deal when it became public) but it was the piracy issue, not Saudi state ownership, that was the problem.

This need to show that PIF was autonomous of the Kingdom or the Crown Prince became known as the “separation issue”.

Ms Staveley was categoric about this in an interview she gave in October 2021, after the takeover had eventually gone through. “Human rights we take very seriously,” she said, “but our partner is PIF, not the Saudi state. The separation issue has been resolved. It’s not sportswashing. It’s investment.”

The Premier League also stated at the time that it had received “legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle United Football Club”.

This was a thin tightrope to walk given the Crown Prince is the chairman of PIF. 

Officially, at least, the man making the decisions was Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of PIF (and now the chairman of Newcastle United), but deference to the Crown Prince looms large throughout the correspondence seen by The Telegraph. 

On March 3, 2020, Ms Staveley WhatsApped the Ashley camp to say: “The Crown Prince is losing patience – I need to assure him we will get there.”

Then, on July 29, with news of the proposed deal now out in the open and Mr Ashley haggling over price, Ms Staveley told Ashley’s team: “HE [His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan] is trying to hang on to the deal and convince the Crown Prince not to pull out.”

Panic sets in

By the following month, the deal had run into trouble. The Premier League was expressing concerns over the ownership structure, and in particular, the Crown Prince’s role – and panic began to set in among the deal-makers.

The stumbling block was not the fact that a foreign state might own a Premier League club – which is not banned by the League’s rules – but the fact that the Saudi government stood accused of piracy on the airwaves.

Enter Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the UK, who was called upon to smooth matters with the Premier League.

“The UK Saudi ambassador spoke to the Crown Prince this morning,” Ms Staveley reported to Ashley’s team on Aug 6, 2020.

Then, on Aug 25, she said: “We need to update the Saudi Ambassador at 4pm as he needs to update the Crown Prince.” 

In another message later the same day, she said the Saudi ambassador “has been dealing with this given the public nature of the deal. He reports directly to the Crown Prince”.

She then sent a letter to the Ashley camp, saying: “This is the letter that the ambassador is willing to sign and send to the EPL [Premier League] should there be confirmation from them that it would provide the necessary evidence of separation.”

Behind the scenes, Boris Johnson’s government was doing all it could to make sure the deal went through.

Lord (Gerry) Grimstone, the former Barclays Bank chairman who was minister of state for investment at the time, was in direct contact with Ms Staveley. He was worried that Saudi Arabia might scale back other investments in the UK if it was snubbed over the Newcastle United deal.

On Sep 8, 2020, Ms Staveley sent a WhatsApp to Lord Grimstone asking him whether he thought he should “check in” with Gary Hoffman, the chairman of the Premier League. She signed the message “A xx”.

The minister replied: “He says it should be in the next couple of days. Gx.”

She responded: “Great sweetheart. Thank you. Xx.”

Former model dated Prince Andrew

Ms Staveley, a former model who once dated Prince Andrew and reportedly turned down a marriage proposal from him, often uses words like “sweetheart” and “my love” in work-related messages.

Mr Hoffman later said the government had put pressure on the Premier League to approve the takeover, which was denied by Boris Johnson. In a parliamentary answer to Chi Onwurah, the Newcastle Central MP, in April 2021, Mr Johnson said: “The government was not involved at any point in the takeover talks on the sale of Newcastle.”

On Oct 5, however, Ms Staveley told Mr Ashley’s team: “No10 can’t get any further involved than what they have done to date. Gerry said that they pushed behind the scenes and made it very clear that their preference is for the deal to go ahead, they are obviously very aware of the damage this has caused and the repercussions for future investments.”

In 2021, The Daily Mail revealed that Eddie (now Lord) Lister, Boris Johnson’s chief of staff, told the then prime minister in September 2020 that the Newcastle takeover was “hopefully” going to go ahead, to which Mr Johnson replied: “Brilliant.”

The deal stalled in Sep 2020 because of the Premier League’s concerns over the ownership structure, but Ms Staveley had other powerful friends outside of government. 

According to sources close to the deal, the Premier League was told that Newcastle United fan Sir Tony Blair, whose Institute for Global Change had been advising the Saudi government for several years, was ready and willing to get involved in the negotiations – an offer that was turned down by the Premier League.

Sir Tony would later say that the Saudi takeover was “great” for the club, adding that it “doesn’t diminish any of the things that should never have happened, like Khashoggi, but it’s important for people who are Newcastle United supporters to understand there is also huge change going on in [Saudi Arabia]”.

A spokesman for Sir Tony said he was not a broker for the deal and did not receive any payment. 

By November 2020, Ms Staveley had enlisted the help of Richard Holden, the Conservative MP for North West Durham (later the party chairman), who wrote to Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, asking about the date for a proposed arbitration hearing over the stalled takeover.

He sent it to Jamie Reuben, son of David Reuben who said: “Perfect – okay to send.”

Mr Holden replied: “Plan was to send and if I’ve not heard anything back a week on Monday to do a press thing about it.” More than 80 MPs wrote to the Premier League demanding transparency over its decision-making in relation to the owners and directors test.

There was also the matter of the price of the club to be agreed with Mike Ashley. On May 3, 2021, as both sides were becoming exasperated with each other, Ms Staveley sent a testy message to Mr Ashley’s team. It read: “I think they (the Crown Prince) [her brackets] want the chance to have the deal clean and are fed up with the world – especially the US Biden – telling them how they should do business.”

Later she added: “To be frank, Saudi are more committed than ever.”

By July 2021, with the deal heading for arbitration, Ms Staveley pushed for a resolution using all of the friends she could muster.

She messaged the Ashley camp on July 9 to say: “Can you speak with Jamie [Reuben] and us on Boris. He just wants an update before he reaches out. He is going to get a question raised to Boris in PMQs – we are also going to get Tracey Crouch [a former sports minister] to do the same.

“We had a great Zoom meeting with Chi [Onwurah] this morning. We need some written questions to present to Dowden and Boris. She’s really keen to help.” 

Ms Onwurah told the Telegraph that she was “keen to ensure transparency and to get answers for Newcastle United fans from the government and the Premier League” but did not take sides in the matter.

Lawyers for Ms Staveley’s consortium argued that the Premier League had been unduly influenced by other clubs not wanting Newcastle to have wealthy new owners.

By mid-September 2021, it looked as though the sands were shifting. Ms Staveley sent a photograph (below) of the Emir of Qatar posing with the Saudi Crown Prince and told the Ashley camp: “The fact that the Emir of Qatar is cosying up to MBS is very telling.”

Sure enough, there was suddenly a breakthrough in October 2021. Saudi Arabia announced it had lifted its ban on BeIN, meaning the piracy row was resolved. 

The sale of the club for £305 million was confirmed the very next day, with PIF taking an 80 per cent stake, the Reuben brothers 10 per cent and Ms Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners 10 per cent.

Ms Staveley assured the media at the time that PIF was “an autonomous commercially driven investment fund”.

According to one source close to the deal, the fact that the piracy row had been resolved was not the reason the Premier League dropped its objections to PIF being the majority owner of Newcastle United. 

Instead, they said they had been convinced that PIF would be independent of the Saudi state in the running of Newcastle – meaning the piracy row became irrelevant – and that the timing of the decision to approve the sale so close to the piracy issue being resolved was coincidental.

When there are winners, there must also be losers. Premier League chairman Mr Hoffman was forced out by clubs who felt they were not properly consulted over the Newcastle takeover and left his job after less than two years in the role.

Ms Staveley became the public face of Newcastle United, running the club with her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi and becoming a key ally of manager Eddie Howe. But with her role as dealmaker fulfilled and PIF apparently keen to take control of managing the club, she sold her shares and left earlier this year.

The Premier League declined to comment.

The United Nations has criticised Israel as the death toll continues to rise from an air strike in northern Gaza that is said to have killed dozens of Palestinians.

At least 87 people are claimed to be dead or missing, with terror group Hamas, which controls the strip, saying 73 died and dozens more were wounded.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) disputed the numbers connected with Saturday night’s air strike in the town of Beit Lahia, claiming they had been “exaggerated” by government media, run by Hamas.

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, said on Sunday: “The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern strip amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis.”

He also said there was a “near total lack of humanitarian aid” reaching populations in the north, adding that “nowhere is safe in Gaza”.

“This war must end, the [Israeli] hostages held by Hamas must be freed, the displacement of Palestinians must cease, and civilians must be protected wherever they are.”

The IDF’s Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said that the casualty figures “do not correspond to the information received by the IDF, the types of precision ammunition that were used and the accuracy of the hit on a Hamas terrorist target”.

He reiterated that northern Gaza remains an active combat zone. “The IDF operates precisely and with a specific target and does everything in its power to avoid harming civilians who are not involved in the fighting,” he added.

Images and video from a nearby hospital showed dozens of people, including children, receiving treatment.

The attack took place just days after the killing of the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Despite the death of Israel’s most wanted man, the IDF has continued to carry out airstrikes in northern Gaza, where remnants of Hamas remain active.

Israel has intensified attacks since the beginning of the month as it hopes to eliminate the Iran-backed terror group and stop it regrouping.

Meanwhile, the aid agency UNRWA reported that nearby Jabalia, also in the north of Gaza, was under siege on Sunday.

“Ongoing military operations in northern Gaza are putting tens of thousands of people in grave danger and cutting off access to their essentials for survival, including water,” a statement said.

“Humanitarian and rescue teams must be allowed access without delay to save lives.”

As Israel faces international pressure to allow more aid into the besieged strip, it announced on Saturday that 81 food packages were airdropped into Khan Younis in south Gaza.

On Friday, Israel also announced the transfer of 30 trucks containing humanitarian aid including food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment, to northern Gaza.

The aid arrived from the Port of Ashdod at the Erez West crossing and went into Gaza.

But calls for more support have continued from the UN.

Joyce Msuya, the UN’s acting humanitarian chief, released a statement on Sunday calling for an end to Israel’s “atrocities”.

“Appalling news from northern Gaza where Palestinians continue to endure unspeakable horrors under siege by Israeli forces,” Ms Msuya wrote on X.

Mr Adraee said that more than 5,000 Palestinians had been moved from Jabalia on Sunday.

A gang made half a million pounds running an illegal tip in a village which exposed residents to toxic fumes.

Lorry-loads of shredded waste were “regularly” taken to the site at Long Bennington, in Lincs, where it was burned and buried on a daily basis.

It is estimated that 11,000 tonnes was deposited over a seven-month period – earning the group around £500,000.

Officials believe it will cost £1.2 million to clean up the site, which is the size of a football pitch.

Ten people pleaded guilty and the remaining three defendants were found guilty following an eight-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

During sentencing on Oct 18, the gang received a collective 11 years in prison.

Environment Agency officers spent months gathering intelligence about the site and eventually conducted a raid in April 2020 – during the Covid lockdown in the UK  – alongside Lincolnshire Police.

At the time of the raid, an excavator and a lorry were actively depositing more waste at the site – leading to two arrests.

Overall, 12 people and one company were charged with either knowingly causing the operation of the illegal waste site or knowingly causing the deposit of waste.

His Honour Judge Coupland said the offending caused harm of the “highest level” and condemned the defendants for putting locals at risk from toxic fumes.

He deemed the offences had been “deliberately concealed” through the use of falsified paperwork and said their repeated nature, alongside the financial gain obtained, were aggravating factors.

Leigh Edlin, the Environment Agency’s area director for Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, said: “This was a serious illegal waste site which was highly organised and involved multiple offenders.

“Those involved sought to profit from Covid restrictions at the cost of the environment and by inflicting misery on the local community.

“The site and its operators had a major impact on legitimate businesses and our regulatory work.

“Our enforcement teams will continue to tackle serious illegal waste crime by working with partners such as Lincolnshire Police, fire services and councils, as we did in this case to hold those responsible to account.”

The Canner family trio of father Paul, 53, mother Judith, 55, and son Joshua, 29, who ran the illegal waste site, were sentenced to 26 months, 16 months, and 16 months respectively.

Sonia Surpal, 52, and Luke Woodward, 37, who pleaded guilty to depositing waste at the site, were sentenced to 13 and 11 months imprisonment.

Peter Wainwright, 32, and Nathan Jones, 43, were both sentenced to 16 months in prison for disposing of the waste at the site.

Marcus Chapman, 39, and Daniel Lippitt, 55, receiving suspended sentences of 12 months and 9 months respectively.

Landowners James Baggaley, 38 and Marc Greenfield, 46, who both “knowingly permitted the operation of the illegal waste site”, will be sentenced on Dec 16.

Robert Malone, 41, and Fletcher Plant Limited, who were found guilty of failing to comply with the waste duty of care, will both be sentenced at a later date.

Taxpayers have paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for drag bingo, rainbow fudge and pronoun badges as part of public sector Pride Month celebrations.

Spending on LGBT-themed events and merchandise totalled £655,700 across NHS trusts, councils and fire services, it can be revealed.

They include Humber Health NHS Partnership, which spent £770 on rainbow badges.

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust spent £950 commissioning LGBT rainbow colours to be painted alongside the zebra stripes on two pedestrian crossings.

Greater London Authority, Southwark Council and Newcastle upon Tyne Council were among the biggest spenders, according to data compiled by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA).

Joanna Marchong, the TPA’s investigations campaign manager, said the public sector needs to “dial down” celebrations until it gets a grip on its finances.

She said: “Taxpayers will be shocked by the growing cost of Pride celebrations. Public sector bodies from councils to the NHS constantly complain of financial pressures putting strain on frontline services, yet are prioritising extravagant events and paying for pointless gimmicks.”

The TaxPayers’ Alliance sent 786 public sector organisations a Freedom of Information request (FoI), with 667 answering in some form.

The FoI asked for the number of events organised for Pride month, including the name data and event time and whether any LGBT-themed merchandise had been purchased for Pride month since the beginning of the 2024/25 financial year.

Gloucestershire County Council, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust were found to have organised the most Pride-related events.

Elsewhere, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust organised drag bingo while Hartlepool Borough Council hosted a drag queen storytime event.

Meanwhile, Caerphilly County Borough Council spent £619.94 on a large deckchair. Croydon Council spent £3,313 on Croydon Carnival puppets.

In March, then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt ordered town halls to ditch diversity schemes as part of plans to clamp down on wasteful spending as more struggling councils risk going bust.

Six councils have announced bankruptcy in England since 2020 while others have warned they face increasing financial pressures.

Earlier this week, the government launched a major crackdown on waste in the NHS in a bid to save millions of pounds a year.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said: “The NHS is broken. It is the mission of this Government to get it back on its feet, and we can’t afford a single penny going to waste.

“Because the NHS deals in the billions, too often it doesn’t think about the millions. That has to change. This government inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, so we will have a laser-like focus on getting better value for taxpayers’ money.”

The Local Government Association, which represents 315 of the 317 councils in England, said: “It is for individual councils to make decisions about how best to invest their resources on behalf of their residents.”

An NHS spokesman said: “Every pound of public money is precious, that’s why the NHS is determined to spend taxpayer’s money wisely, and it is important our LGBT+ patients know they can come forward for the care they need.”

Eggs, paintball guns and even urine are being used by angry motorists to attack traffic wardens, it can be revealed.

A dossier of some 660 incidents obtained by The Telegraph via Freedom of Information requests shows how parking inspectors routinely come under attack from members of the public.

Councils revealed their staff were driven at, kicked, strangled, headbutted and in one case assaulted with a traffic cone.

One warden was shot with a BB gun while others were threatened with weapons including knives and scissors, the documents show.

Traffic wardens were first introduced in the UK in 1960, when 40 police officers were sent out to hand out fines in Westminster, London. More than 300 tickets were issued on the first day.

According to Telegraph analysis of government data, local authorities raked in £962 million in parking fees last year.

Westminster Council netted £72 million in profit from motorists from 2022 to 2023 – the most of any local authority. It was followed by Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham and Brighton & Hove, where profits have risen to £41 million, £35 million and £30 million respectively.

At the other end of the spectrum, Tandridge District Council in East Surrey generated just £1,000 in parking profits last year, while 45 local government authorities – including Dudley and Plymouth – made an overall loss on parking, once staffing and upkeep were taken into account.

Broken leg

Other incidents against wardens involved a mob setting upon a warden in Croydon, London, where they beat him to the ground, stole his ticketing machine and broke his leg, and another case in Wolverhampton where a warden was shot at with a paintball gun.

In Oldham, a parking inspector was assaulted, dragged along the street and kicked by a driver.

Bradford Council said it had one case where a warden was shot with a BB gun and another where the attendant was first threatened with a pair of scissors and then punched in the head.

The driver of a car in Reading became so angry that they punched the warden three times in the face and then threatened him with a knife.

Officials in Richmond, London, said they had a case where a warden had to leave their patrol area after being threatened by a driver who said they were going to “shank you up”, while in Enfield a warden was strangled in an assault by a driver.

A Local Government Association spokesman said: “Civil enforcement officers, such as traffic wardens, play an important and valued job for communities. They have every right to be able to do their job without being threatened or abused.

“Any form of abuse or intimidation, whether physical or verbal, is completely unacceptable. Everyone in public life, including those who work in local government, should be able to go about their job and daily life without fear of attack.

“Councils want to protect their employees and will take the strongest possible action against those who abuse, harass and intimidate their staff.”

Giorgia Meloni has vowed to press ahead with Italy’s controversial policy to divert migrants to Albania despite a court ruling blocking the move.

The Italian prime minister’s multi-million euro proposal to send asylum seekers to two processing centres in northern Albania was thrown into doubt after a Rome court on Friday ruled the first group of migrants taken there aboard a navy vessel should be brought to Italy.

Italy’s experiment in offshore processing is being viewed with interest by other European countries and Britain, while the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for the deportation of rejected asylum seekers.

Ms Meloni dismissed Friday’s court ruling as “prejudiced” and said it was up to her government to determine which countries were safe and which were not.

“Italians have asked me to stop illegal immigration and I will do everything possible to keep my word and stop human trafficking,” the prime minister told the media.

She is preparing an urgent decree to be put to a cabinet meeting on Monday to override the court decision, which called into question which countries were safe for the return of migrants.

The government is also considering a legal appeal. Ms Meloni’s conservative coalition had hoped to process as many as 36,000 migrants and refugees a year in Albania.

The first 16 migrants arrived at the facilities, built and financed by the Italian government in northern Albania, on Wednesday.

Four were released on arrival for health reasons or because they were minors.

The Rome court ruled the 12 others had to return to Italy because their countries of origin – Egypt and Bangladesh – could not be considered safe.

All were brought to the port of Bari on Saturday and local media reported they appeared to be in shock. Only migrants coming from a list of 22 nations Italy has classified as safe can be sent to Albania.

Egypt and Bangladesh are on the list, but a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the matter made it impossible to hold them in Albania, the Rome court said.

Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister and head of the far-right League party, attacked the judges for the decision and said: “If one of these 12 (migrants) commits a crime, rapes or kills, who will pay the consequences?’’

Government critics hailed the court decision and called for the resignation of Carlo Nordio, the justice minister, who claimed the judiciary had exceeded its powers.

“The agreement with Albania is illegal”, said Elly Schlein, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party. “To the government I say: turn around and stop. You have already wasted nearly a billion euros, money that citizens could have used for public health care.”

The five-year scheme, estimated to cost €670 million (£557 million), has been dismissed by critics as a costly public relations exercise.

Italia Viva, the party led by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, said it would file a formal complaint with the Court of Auditors on Monday, blaming the prime minister for a waste of public money.

“What we are seeing is a scandal for Italian families: that money should have gone to police, health care, youth. Not to the prime minister’s commercials,” wrote Francesco Bonifazi, an Italia Viva MP, on X.