The stand-off started long before dawn. By the time we arrived in the dark, an army of police had pushed back suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol’s angry supporters, who’d camped out overnight hoping to stop his arrest. Some of those I spoke to were crying, others wailing, at what they feared was about to unfold.

As dawn broke, the first officers ran up to the house, but were instantly thwarted – blocked by a wall of soldiers protecting the compound. Reinforcements came, but could not help. The doors to Yoon’s house stayed tightly sealed, his security team refusing the police officers entry.

For several hours the investigators waited, the crowds outside growing more agitated – until, after a series of scuffles between the police and security officials, they decided their mission was futile, and gave up.

This is totally uncharted territory for South Korea. It is the first time a sitting president has ever faced arrest, so there is no rule book to follow – but the current situation is nonetheless astonishing.

When Yoon was impeached three weeks ago, he was supposedly stripped of his power. So to have law enforcement officers trying to carry out an arrest – which they have legal warrant for – only to be blocked by Yoon’s security team raises serious and uncomfortable questions about who is in charge here.

The investigating officers said they abandoned efforts to arrest Yoon not only because it looked impossible, but because they were concerned for their safety. They said 200 soldiers and security officers linked arms, forming a human wall to block the entrance to the presidential residence, with some carrying guns.

This is arguably part of Yoon’s plan, leveraging a system he himself designed. Before he declared martial law last month – a plan we now know he cooked up months earlier – he surrounded himself with close friends and loyalists, injecting them into positions of power.

One of those people is the current head of his security team, who took up the job in September.

But although alarming, this situation is not entirely surprising. Yoon has refused to cooperate with the authorities over this investigation, ignoring every request to come in for questioning.

This is how things reached this point, where investigators felt they had no choice but to bring him in by force. Yoon is being investigated for one of the most serious political crimes there is: inciting an insurrection, which is punishable by life in prison or death.

Yoon has also spurred on his supporters, who have gathered in force outside his residence every day since the arrest warrant was issued. He sent them a letter on New Years’ Day thanking them for “working hard” to defend both him and the country.

Although most people in South Korea are upset and angry at Yoon’s decision to impose martial law, a core of his supporters have stayed loyal. Some even camped overnight, in freezing temperatures, to try and stop police reaching his home.

Many told me this morning they were prepared to die to protect Yoon, and repeated the same unfounded conspiracy theories that Yoon himself has floated – that last year’s election was rigged, and the country had been infiltrated by pro-North Korea forces. They held up signs reading “stop the steal”, a slogan they chanted over and over.

Attention is also now on South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok, and how far his powers extend; whether he could and should sack the president’s security chief and force the team to allow his arrest. The opposition party says police should be arresting anyone who stands in their way.

Although investigators have until 6 January to attempt this arrest again – this is when the warrant runs out – it is unlikely they will go in once more without changing their strategy or negotiating with the security team in advance. They will want to avoid a repeat of today’s failure.

They also have to contend with the throngs of Yoon’s supporters, who now feel victorious and empowered. They believe they are largely responsible for the authorities’ climb down. “We’ve won, we did it,” they have been singing all afternoon.

As their confidence grows, so will their numbers, especially with the weekend approaching.

There were more than 100 police officers and they were armed with a warrant, but South Korean authorities failed to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol after a six-hour deadlock outside his home.

That’s how long the confrontation with Yoon’s security team lasted as they formed a human wall and used vehicles to block the arrest team’s path, according to local media.

It has been an unprecedented month for South Korean politics. Yoon’s shocking yet short-lived martial law order was followed by an impeachment vote against him. Then came the criminal investigation, his refusal to appear for questioning and, earlier this week, a warrant for his arrest.

The right-wing leader still has a strong support base. Thousands of them turned up outside his home on Friday morning to oppose his arrest.

But, by many accounts, Yoon is now a disgraced leader impeached by parliament and suspended from office, he awaits the decision of the constitutional court which can remove him from office.

So why has it proven so difficult for police to arrest him?

Although Yoon has been stripped of his presidential powers – after lawmakers voted to impeach him – he is still entitled to a security detail.

And those men played a key role in blocking the arrest on Friday.

The presidential security service (PSS) could have acted out of loyalty to Yoon or under “a misguided understanding of their legal and constitutional role”, says Mason Richey, an associate professor at Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

Given that Yoon has been suspended, the PSS should be taking directions from acting President Choi Sang-mok. “They have either not been instructed by acting President Choi to stand down, or they are refusing his orders to do so,” says Assoc Prof Richey.

Some experts believe the security officers were showing “unconditional loyalty” to Yoon, rather than the office itself. They point to the fact that the PSS’s chief Park Jong-joon was appointed to the job by Yoon last September.

“It may well be the case that Yoon has seeded the organisation with hardline loyalists in preparation for precisely this eventuality,” says US-based lawyer and Korea expert Christopher Jumin Lee.

And that Park’s predecessor was former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is accused of advising Yoon to impose martial law. He is currently being held for questioning as part of the criminal investigation into Yoon.

The “simplest” solution, Mr Lee says, is for acting president Choi to order the PSS to stand down in the interim.

“If he is unwilling to do so, that may be grounds for his own impeachment by the National Assembly,” he added.

Choi, who is the finance minister, had stepped in to lead the country after lawmakers voted to impeach Yoon’s first successor, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

This political stalemate also reflects the polarisation in South Korean politics between those who support Yoon, and his decision to impose martial law, and those who oppose it. And the differences don’t necessarily end there.

The vast majority of South Koreans agree that Yoon’s declaration of martial law on 3 Dec was wrong and that he needs to be held accountable, says Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, but they cannot agree on what accountability looks like.

“The actors involved disagree over process, procedure and their legal basis, which is adding to the current political uncertainty,” she explains.

That uncertainty is also creating tense stand-offs like the one that unfolded on Friday in and outside Yoon’s presidential residence, where his supporters have been camping out for days, leading to heated speeches and even skirmishes with police.

Law enforcement could return with more agents and use force but that would be “highly dangerous,” Assoc Prof Mason said.

The PSS too is heavily armed, so arresting officers would be looking to avoid any escalation.

“What happens if the police show up with additional warrants calling for the arrest of PSS personnel, [the PSS] defy those warrants as well and then brandish their guns?” Mr Lee asks.

Police have now said they are investigating the PSS director and his deputy for obstructing them – so there could be more charges and arrest warrants coming.

The fallout from Yoon’s martial law order is also a challenge for the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) that is investigating him.

It has only been operating for four years. It was created in response to public anger over former president Park Geun-hye who was impeached, removed from office and later jailed over a corruption scandal.

While South Korean presidents have been jailed before, Yoon is the first one to face arrest before he steps down.

Investigators have until 6 January to arrest Yoon before the current warrant expires.

They may attempt to arrest Yoon again over the weekend, although the weekend could pose a bigger challenge if the crowds of supporters grow. They can also apply for a new warrant and try to detain him again.

Given how far South Korea has now slid into uncharted territory, the uncertainty is likely to continue.

A British woman and her South African fiance have been found dead in a holiday villa in Vietnam, local police have said.

Greta Marie Otteson, 33, was discovered by staff dead on a bed in a first-floor room in Hoi An, a coastal city in the central region of the south-east Asian nation, at around 11:18 local time (04:18 GMT) on 26 December, police said in a statement on Monday.

Her fiance Els Arno Quinton, 36, was found dead on a bed in another room in the villa that had reportedly been locked from the inside.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed it was in contact with local authorities and supporting the family of a British woman who had died in Vietnam.

Ms Otteson was a social media manager, and Mr Quinton was a musician and livestreamer.

A video announcing their engagement was posted on Instagram by videography company Red Eye Studios on 11 December.

Both had registered for long-term temporary residence at the Hoa Chuong villa, in the Cam Thanh commune, since last summer.

Police said a preliminary inspection of the bodies had found no signs of external force and that the rooms showed no sign of burglary.

Local media reports that several empty bottles of wine were found at the scene.

An investigation into the cause of the pair’s deaths is ongoing.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said in a statement: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Vietnam and are in contact with the local authorities.”

Elon Musk’s attack on the government’s handling of grooming gangs is “misjudged and certainly misinformed”, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Tech multi-billionaire Musk has posted a series of messages on his social media site X, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute gangs that systematically groomed and raped young girls, and calling for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed.

Asked about his comments, Streeting said “this government takes the issue of child sexual exploitation incredibly seriously”.

He invited Musk to “roll up his sleeves and work with us” against rape gangs.

The Tories have also criticised Musk for “sharing things that are factually inaccurate”.

While visiting a care home in Carlisle on Friday, Streeting said Labour was getting “on with the job” of implementing the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Professor Alexis Jay “in full”.

He told reporters: “Some of the criticisms Elon Musk has made I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed.

“But we’re willing to work with Elon Musk who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries tackle these serious issues.

“If he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we’d welcome that.”

Musk, a key adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump, has accused Sir Keir of failing to properly prosecute rape gangs while director of public prosecutions (DPP), and has repeatedly retweeted Reform UK and Conservative MPs calling for a national inquiry.

He also suggested safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after she rejected a request for the Home Office to order a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham. She said the council should commission a local inquiry instead, as happened in Rotherham and Telford.

The decision was criticised by several senior Tories, despite the previous Conservative government turning down a similar request in 2022.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a full national public inquiry into what she called the UK’s “rape gangs scandal”.

But the party has also criticised Musk for “sharing things that are factually inaccurate” and distanced itself from his call for Phillips to be jailed.

Alicia Kearns – who shadows Phillips as the Conservative spokesperson on safeguarding – told BBC Radio 5 Live Musk had “fallen prone” to sharing things on his X platform “without critically assessing them”.

She accused Musk of “drawing away attention from the survivors and from the victims” of rape gangs, and “lionising people like [far-right activist] Tommy Robinson – which is frankly dangerous”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has told the BBC that Musk, the world’s richest man, is in talks about making a donation to the party. The two men met at Trump’s Florida retreat last month.

There have been numerous investigations into the systematic rape of girls and young women by organised gangs, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire and Bristol.

Inquiries into Greater Manchester Police’s handling of historical child sex abuse cases in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale have also been carried out.

Earlier on Friday, health minister Andrew Gwynne suggested Musk “ought to focus” on US politics, where he is set to act as an unelected adviser to the Trump administration on cutting federal spending.

Speaking to LBC Radio, Gwynne added that child grooming was a “very serious issue”, pointing to previous investigations which had taken place into sexual abuse scandals.

“There comes a point where we don’t need more inquiries, and had Elon Musk really paid attention to what’s been going on in this country, he might have recognised that there have already been inquiries,” he said.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA), which published its final report in 2022, described the sexual abuse of children as an “epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake”.

It knitted several previous inquiries together alongside its own investigations.

Professor Jay said in November she felt “frustrated” that none of her report’s 20 recommendations to tackle abuse had been implemented more than two years later.

She said: “It’s a difficult subject matter, but it is essential that there’s some public understanding of it.

“But we can only do what we can to press the government to look at the delivery of all of this.

“It doesn’t need more consultation, it does not need more research or discussion, it just needs to be done.”

US President Joe Biden has formally blocked the takeover of US Steel by a bigger Japanese company, saying foreign ownership could pose risks for national security.

The controversial decision comes a year after Nippon Steel first announced the $14.9bn (£12bn) deal, describing it as a lifeline for its smaller Pennsylvania-based rival.

But the transaction soon ran into political trouble, after leaders of the United Steelworkers union loudly opposed the deal, bringing political pressure to bear in a key state during the 2024 presidential election.

Biden decided to scrap the deal despite concerns by some advisors that it could damage Washington’s relations with Tokyo, a key ally.

BBC News has contacted Nippon Steel and US Steel for comment.

Nippon Steel has previously denied that it planned to reduce production or cut jobs, while US Steel had warned that it might have to close plants without the investment that would come with a new owner.

Those concerns had been echoed by some workers and local politicians.

Other business groups said they feared rejecting the transaction would chill the climate for international investment in the US.

But Biden has voiced longstanding opposition to the deal. The transaction has also been criticised by President-elect Donald Trump and the incoming vice-president, JD Vance.

A US government panel charged with reviewing the deal for national security risks failed to reach a consensus by late December, leaving the decision to Biden, who was required to act within a 15-day deadline.

In his announcement on Friday he said maintaining US ownership was important to keeping the US steel industry and it supply chains strong.

“As I have said many times, steel production – and the steel workers who produce it – are the backbone of our nation,” he said.

“That is because steel powers our country: our infrastructure, our auto industry, and our defense industrial base. Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.”

Nippon Steel and US Steel have previously suggested they may pursue legal action against the government if the deal did not happen.

Prof Stephen Nagy, of the Department of Politics International Studies at the International Christian University in Tokyo, said this was a “political” decision, noting that the Biden administration from its start promised a “foreign policy for the middle class”.

“This was a direct response and continuation of the Trump MAGA agenda of Making America Great Again,” he said.

“The Biden administration couldn’t appear weak on foreign businesses, whether it’s an ally or adversary.”

Just hours before the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, Jack Bech got on a phone call with his older brother Martin – an avid outdoorsman and former football star mostly known to friends and teammates as “Tiger”.

Jack, 22, was in Dallas visiting family members, while Tiger, a 28-year-old former Princeton alumnus who lived in New York, was in New Orleans, getting ready to celebrate the New Year.

“We just thought it was going to be another conversation,” he told the BBC. “I was showing him what we were eating, and he was showing us what he was eating.”

The two brothers would never speak again.

“I hung up the phone, and that was the last time I ever spoke with him,” Jack recalled.

Tiger was among the 14 people killed when a man ploughed through a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

• The rev of an engine and then screams – how revelry turned to mayhem in New Orleans
• Fans flock to Sugar Bowl in New Orleans after deadly New Year’s attack

The attacker, 42-year-old army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed in a gunfight with police after he drove a pick-up truck into the crowds, according to authorities. Though he posted videos online proclaiming allegiance to the Islamic State group before the attack, FBI officials said they believe he was acting alone.

While the identities of all the victims have not been made public yet, a picture is slowly emerging of a group of mostly young people, many of whom – like Tiger – were Louisiana locals.

Jack – who remembers his brother as his best friend, role model and inspiration – says that the close-knit Bech family will never be the same.

Most of the family is in the town of Lafayette, about 136 miles (218km) away from New Orleans.

“This is something we’re going to have to deal with. Every time we wake up, and every time we go to sleep, it’s going to be something,” he added. “Every holiday, there’s going to be an empty seat at the table.”

But Jack said that his brother “wouldn’t want us to grieve and mourn”. Instead, he has encouraged his family to remember him as “a fighter”.

“He’d want us to keep attacking life… he’d want us to go and be there for each other,” he said.

“I told my family that instead of seeing him a couple of times a year, he’ll be with us every moment,” Jack added. “Whenever we’re waking up and we’re going to sleep and we’re walking, when we’re at work, doing whatever, he’ll be with us.”

Among the other victims of the attack in the early morning hours of 1 January was Matthew Tenedorio, an audio-visual technician at New Orleans’ Caesars’ Superdome.

Tenedorio, who just turned 25 in October, had spent the earlier part of his evening at his brother’s home in the town of Slidell, about 35 minutes away from New Orleans.

With him were his father and mother – who just recently recovered from cancer.

His cousin, Christina Bounds, told the BBC that his family begged him not to go into New Orleans, fearful of the large crowd and potential dangers.

Despite their pleas, he went, along with two friends. When the news broke, his mother eventually got hold of one of them.

“They said they were walking down Bourbon, and saw a body fall,” she said, noting that they now believe it was a body thrown into the air by the attacker’s truck.

Amid screams and gunshots, Tenedorio was separated from his friends.

His family says he was shot, and believe he was killed during the exchange of gunfire between the attacker and police officers on Bourbon Street.

The BBC is unable to independently verify this claim.

According to Ms Bounds, the family’s tragedy has been made more painful by the slow, nearly non-existent trickle of communications they’ve had with local authorities.

“We couldn’t get any information when my aunt [Tenedorio’s mother, Cathy] showed up at the hospital,” she said. “There has been no information from doctors, hospitals, or cops. Nobody.”

“They have zero information… We don’t even know what happened,” Ms Bounds added. “Was he carried out by the EMS? Was he in an ambulance? Did he die instantly?”

These answers, she added, would “help people accept” what happened.

“But now it’s like total shock,” she added. “It’s not registering.”

The family has started a GoFundMe page to gather funds for Tenedorio’s funeral expenses – which Ms Bounds said have been made difficult by his mother’s significant medical bills during her cancer diagnosis.

Another cousin of Tenedorio’s, Zach Colgan, remembers him as a “goofball” who was quick to make a joke, cared deeply about animals and was an avid storyteller.

“He cared. He was definitely a people person. A happy-go-lucky guy,” Mr Colgan told the BBC. “It’s sad that a terrorist attack took him… no family should ever have to bury their son, especially for something so senseless.”

Mr Colgan, who has experience working with law enforcement in Louisiana, says he believes officers have done the best they can in an extremely hectic casualty situation.

“I know it’s chaotic. But part of closure is getting answers. I know my aunt and uncle weren’t able to get much besides ‘yes – Matthew was killed’,” he said.

“It’d be nice to know a little bit more,” Mr Colgan added. “If it was my kid, I’d want to know.”

Even as his family continues to search for answers, Mr Colgan says he hopes that the government and public’s focus continues to be on the victims, rather than on law enforcement’s response or what else could have been done to prevent the attack.

“I want every single one of them to be remembered,” he said. “They didn’t deserve this. No-one deserves this.”

US law enforcement is looking for clues to unravel the mystery behind the Tesla vehicle that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas earlier this week, giving seven people minor injuries.

The man who rented the Cybertruck – then drove it to the city and parked it in front of the hotel – has been identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active-duty US special forces soldier.

Police found his lifeless body inside the charred Tesla with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They also found fuel cannisters and more than a dozen firework mortars in the bed of the vehicle.

On Thursday, there remained a heightened police presence at the hotel, located right off the busy Las Vegas strip. Yellow police tape cordoned off a small section of the hotel’s entrance as employees worked to repair damage to the facade.

Authorities continue to work and piece together information, and many questions remain.

For example, it is unclear why Livelsberger rented the car – or if the perpetrator was intending to make a political statement ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House later this month.

One of the biggest unanswered questions is why Livelsberger rented the Tesla and drove it more than 800 miles (1,300km) from Colorado to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas police said he rented the vehicle on 28 December in Denver. They were able to track his movements using photographs taken on the drive and information from Tesla’s charging technology. He was the only one seen driving it, they said.

The vehicle arrived in the city on Wednesday morning, less than two hours before the explosion, police said.

Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said on Thursday that a body inside the vehicle was recovered. It was burned beyond recognition, but the county’s coroner used DNA and dental records to confirm that Livelsberger had been inside the Cybertruck at the time of the blast. He was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“I’m comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after,” Sheriff McMahill said. He added that no motive for the incident had been established.

Another big question is whether the explosion was meant as a statement ahead of the change of US president later this month.

Police have not found any evidence that links the alleged perpetrator to specific political beliefs, but they said they were investigating whether the incident was tied to the fact that President-elect Donald Trump owns the hotel, or that Elon Musk runs Tesla.

Trump recently named Musk to co-lead a presidential advisory commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, after the two became close during Trump’s campaign.

“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, and that it’s a Tesla vehicle,” said Spencer Evans, an FBI agent based in Las Vegas, on Thursday.

“But we don’t have information at this point that definitely tells us, or suggests, that (the incident) was because of a particular ideology,” he said.

The explosion happened just a few hours after a man drove a pickup truck into New Year revellers on the crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, killing 14 people and injuring dozens of others.

That attacker has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen who also served in the US Army.

President Joe Biden has said investigators are looking into whether the two incidents are linked, though so far nothing has been uncovered to suggest that is the case.

But the question continues to be fuelled by the apparent similarities between the two incidents and some biographical details of the drivers of both vehicles.

Both incidents happened in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Both men served in the US armed forces – including at the Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) military base in North Carolina – and both completed a tour in Afghanistan. Both men also rented the vehicles they used through a mobile car rental application called Turo.

However, police have said there is no evidence the two men were in the same unit or served at the same time at Fort Liberty. Although both were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, there is no evidence they served in the same province, location or unit.

In the New Orleans attack, police recovered an Islamic State (IS) group flag from the vehicle used by Jabbar. They added that he posted videos to social media moments prior claiming allegiance to the group. Police have determined that Jabbar was acting alone.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, there is no evidence that suggests that Livelsberger was motivated by IS, or that he and Jabbar had ever been in contact. Police have cautioned that the investigation remains active.

Livelsberger was a decorated special forces intelligence sergeant who was serving in Germany, but was on approved leave at the time of the incident.

His father told BBC’s US partner CBS News that his son was in Colorado to see his wife and eight-month-old daughter.

He said he last spoke to his son at Christmas and that everything seemed normal.

The Daily Beast reported that Livelsberger was a “big” supporter of Trump. A senior law enforcement official who spoke with Livelsberger’s family told the outlet that Livelsberger voted for Trump in November’s election.

His uncle told The Independent that Livelsberger loved Trump “and he was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American.”

America’s top doctor has called for risk warnings on alcoholic beverages, similar to the labels on cigarettes, following new research that links the drinks to seven types of cancer.

The advisory from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says the “majority of Americans are unaware of this risk” that leads to about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 deaths annually in the US.

It would require an act of Congress to change the existing warning labels, which have not been updated since 1988.

Mr Murthy has also called for reassessing recommended limits for alcohol consumption and boosting education efforts regarding alcoholic drinks and cancer.

The Surgeon General, who is the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government, said that alcohol was the third most common preventable cause of cancer after tobacco and obesity.

“The direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well-established for at least seven types of cancer …regardless of the type of alcohol (e.g., beer, wine, and spirits) that is consumed,” Mr Murthy said in a statement.

This includes increased risk of cancer of the breast (in women), throat, liver, oesophagus, mouth, larynx and colon.

The new report recommends health care providers should encourage alcohol screening and treatment referrals as needed, and efforts to increase general awareness should be expanded.

The warning labels are currently required to state that women who are pregnant should not drink alcohol due to birth defect risks. It also must state that “consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems”.

Share prices of US-listed alcoholic beverage companies – including Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits manufacturer – fell by up to 4% following the announcement.

Wayne Osmond, a founding member of family band The Osmonds, who had a string of hits in the 1970s, has died at the age of 73.

Wayne was a singer and guitarist, and co-wrote many of their biggest hits, including Crazy Horses, Goin’ Home And Let Me In.

“Wayne brought so much light, laughter, and love to everyone who knew him, especially me,” wrote brother Donny. “He was the ultimate optimist and was loved by everyone.”

Merrill Osmond called his late brother “a genius in his ability to write music” who was “able to capture the hearts of millions of people and bring them closer to God”.

He continued: “I’ve never known a man that had more humility. A man with absolute no guile. An individual that was quick to forgive and had the ability to show unconditional love to everyone he ever met.”

Merrill and Donny said the cause of death was a stroke.

Born in August 1951, in Ogden, Utah, Wayne was the fourth oldest of nine children and raised in a Mormon household.

As a child, he started performing in a barbershop quartet with siblings Alan, Merrill and Jay.

By 1961, the harmonising brothers were regular performers at Disneyland in California. A year later, they made their TV debut on The Andy Williams Show.

They quickly became regulars on the show, earning the nickname “one-take Osmonds” because of their flawless, tirelessly rehearsed performances.

Younger sibling Donny joined the line-up in 1963, and they began to broaden their repertoire to include clean-cut pop songs.

Their initial singles flopped but, after the success of the Jackson 5 showed that family pop could be a commercial success, MGM Records signed the band and sent them to work at the famed R&B studio Muscle Shoals.

There, they were given a song called One Bad Apple (Don’t Spoil the Whole Bunch), which had originally been written for the Jacksons but was rejected by their record label.

Perky, bubbly and bright, the song topped the US singles chart for five weeks in 1971 and established the band as a chart presence, a decade after their professional debut.

For a while, the siblings generated the same sort of fevered excitement as The Beatles.

When the band flew into Heathrow Airport in 1973, 10,000 teenage fans packed the roof gardens at a nearby office block to see them arrive. Part of the balcony railing and wall collapsed amidst a crowd surge, slightly injuring 18 women.

On their departure, hundreds of fans mobbed their limousine. A reporter for the New York Times said “they were lucky to escape alive“, while the Guardian said the scenes almost led to a ban on pop groups entering the UK via Heathrow.

But pop is a fickle industry, and The Osmonds’ record sales started to tail off by the mid-1970s.

At the same time, Donny and Marie Osmond were offered their own TV variety show, which became a massive hit in the US and was screened by BBC One in the UK.

As a result, the band went on hiatus and ultimately dissolved in 1980, although they regularly reformed for county fairs and reunion tours over the coming decades.

Wayne Osmond suffered a number of health problems during his life. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour as a child, which resulted in cognitive problems.

In 1994, he noticed that the condition was worsening.

“I noticed I couldn’t play my saxophone any more because my head would start throbbing,” he later recalled. “And my knees would fall out from under me when I was on stage. This all began happening within a week.”

The subsequent surgery and related cancer treatments resulted in significant hearing loss that persisted for the rest of his life. He also suffered a previous stroke in 2012.

In 2019, the musician joined his siblings Alan, Merrill and Jay for their final ever performance on TV show The Talk.

Performing in front of a screen that showed a montage of their career highlights, the original quartet performed a song called The Last Chapter, written as a thank you to their fans.

Sister Marie, who presented the show, joined them afterwards to pay tribute, saying: “I am so honoured to be your sister. I love you guys. You’ve worked so hard. Enjoy your retirement.”

Wayne spent his retirement indulging in hobbies including fly fishing, and spending time with his family. He maintained an optimistic outlook, telling Utah newspaper Desert News that hearing loss didn’t bother him.

“My favourite thing now is to take care of my yard,” he said. “I turn my hearing aids off, deaf as a doorknob, tune everything out, it’s really joyful.”

He is survived by wife Kathlyn and five children, Amy, Steven, Gregory, Sarah and Michelle.

He is also survived by his eight siblings: Virl, Tom, Alan, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie and Jimmy.

Israel has confirmed it is holding Gaza hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safiya after earlier telling a local NGO that it was unaware of his case, sparking concern for his well being.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said he was “currently being investigated by Israeli security forces” in person.

The statement did not offer an explanation for the confusion but repeated that he was suspected of being a “terrorist” and for “holding a rank” in Hamas, the armed Palestinian group at war with Israel in Gaza.

Dr Abu Safiya was arrested as the Israeli military forced patients and medical staff to leave Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza last Friday, alleging the facility was a “Hamas terrorist stronghold”.

On Thursday the IDF told Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) that it had “no indication of the arrest or detention of the individual in question”.

The PHRI filed a petition with the Israeli High Court of Justice on Thursday, demanding Dr Abu Safiya’s location be disclosed. It said the court had given the IDF a week to comply.

Meanwhile Amnesty head Agnès Callamard said Israeli authorities must “urgently disclose his whereabouts”.

She said Israel had detained “hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers from Gaza without charge or trial” and said they had been “subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and been held in incommunicado detention”.

Israel denies mistreating detainees.

Dr Abu Safiya’s family previously told BBC Arabic they believe he is being held at Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel, where Israeli forces have taken many detainees from Gaza for interrogation.

Whistleblowers have previously told the BBC and other international media of extremely harsh conditions for detainees there. Israel has said all detainees there are kept “carefully and appropriately”.

The IDF ordered everyone inside Kamal Adwan hospital to leave last Friday morning, giving the hospital about 15 minutes to move patients and staff into the courtyard, medical staff told the BBC.

Beit Lahia, where the hospital is located, has been under a tightening Israeli blockade imposed on parts of northern Gaza since October. The UN has said the area has been under “near-total siege” as the Israeli military heavily restricts access of aid deliveries to an area where an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people remain.

On Saturday, the IDF said it apprehended 240 combatants at Kamal Adwan and said Dr Abu Safiya was among medical staff taken for questioning.

Video footage showed him walking towards an Israeli armoured vehicle before being taken for interrogation. An Israeli military spokesperson confirmed the arrest that same day, saying the doctor had been transferred for questioning.

Dr Abu Safiya was previously arrested by Israeli forces during an earlier raid on the hospital in October, but was freed shortly afterwards. During that Israeli operation Dr Abu Safiya’s 15-year-old son was killed in a drone strike. Footage from later that day showed him leading funeral prayers for his son in the hospital courtyard.

Israeli attacks on Gaza’s healthcare facilities have prompted increasing condemnation.

On Tuesday the UN Human Rights Office says Israeli attacks on and around hospitals have pushed Gaza’s healthcare system to “the brink of total collapse” and raised serious concerns about war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel’s mission in Geneva said Israeli forces operated in accordance with international law and would “never target innocent civilians”.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 45,580 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg is to step down from his current job as president of global affairs at social media giant Meta.

In a post on Meta’s Facebook on Thursday, Sir Nick, a former leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he was departing the company after nearly seven years.

He will be replaced by his current deputy and Republican Joel Kaplan, who previously served as deputy chief of staff in the White House during President George W Bush’s administration, and is known for handling the company’s relations with Republicans.

He added that he would spend “a few months handing over the reins” and representing Facebook at international gatherings before moving on to “new adventures”.

Sir Nick’s resignation comes just weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

The president-elect has repeatedly accused Meta and other platforms of censorship and silencing conservative speech.

His relations with Mr Zuckerberg have been particularly strained, after Facebook and Instagram suspended the former president’s accounts for two years in 2021, after they said he praised those engaged in violence at the Capitol on 6 January.

More recently, Trump threatened to imprison Mr Zuckerberg if he interfered in the 2024 election, and even called Facebook an “enemy of the people” in March.

However tensions appear to be thawing between the two, with the pair dining at Trump’s Florida estate in Mar-a-Lago since the US election.

Mr Zuckerberg also congratulated him on his victory and donated $1m (£786,000) to an inauguration fund.

Sir Nick’s departure is seen by some analysts as a nod to the changing of the guard in Washington.

He joined Facebook in 2018, after losing his seat as an MP in 2017. He was later promoted to president of global affairs, a prominent position at Meta.

In a statement announcing he would step down, Sir Nick said his successor Joel Kaplan is “quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time”.

Trump was photographed with Mr Kaplan at the New York Stock Exchange last month.

Social media industry analyst Jasmine Enberg said Mr Kaplan was “likely the right person for the job in this political moment”.

“Meta, like other tech companies, has been rushing to curry favour with the incoming Trump administration,” she told the BBC.

Sir Nick leaving Meta, and increased political polarisation on social platforms, suggests the company may shift how it moderates political speech, she added.

During his time at Meta, Sir Nick established himself not only as a spokesperson but also a bridge between governments, regulators and the tech firm.

As new regulation and legislation began to force social media companies to take more responsibility for the content on their platforms and the consequences of it, that role became crucial.

He oversaw the creation of the Oversight Board, an independent body set up to oversee Meta’s content moderation decisions.

He said recently, however, that the firm’s actions had resulted in some people being “unfairly penalised” on its platforms too often.

Sir Nick has also been open about his views on Trump’s close ally, Elon Musk, describing him as a political puppet master, claiming he has turned X, formerly Twitter, into a “one-man hyper-partisan hobby horse”.

The former Liberal Democrat leader moved to Silicon Valley initially but returned to London in 2022.

He said he was moving on to “new adventures” with “immense gratitude and pride” at what he had been part of.

“My time at the company coincided with a significant resetting of the relationship between ‘big tech’ and the societal pressures manifested in new laws, institutions and norms affecting the sector,” he said.

“I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the very different worlds of tech and politics – worlds that will continue to interact in unpredictable ways across the globe.”

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of US politics in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Apple has agreed to pay $95m (£77m) to settle a court case alleging some of its devices were listening to people without their permission.

The tech giant was accused of eavesdropping on its customers through its virtual assistant Siri.

The claimants also allege voice recordings were shared with advertisers.

Apple, which has not admitted any wrongdoing, has been approached for comment.

In the preliminary settlement, the tech firm denies any wrongdoing, as well as claims that it “recorded, disclosed to third parties, or failed to delete, conversations recorded as the result of a Siri activation” without consent.

Apple’s lawyers also say they will confirm they have “permanently deleted individual Siri audio recordings collected by Apple prior to October 2019”.

But the claimants say the tech firm recorded people who activated the virtual assistant unintentionally – without using the phrase “Hey, Siri” to wake it.

They say advertisers who received the recordings could then look for keywords in them to better target ads.

The lead plaintiff Fumiko Lopez claims she and her daughter were both recorded without their consent.

They allege they were served targeted ads after talking about products including Air Jordans.

Apple has proposed a decision date of 14 February in the court in Northern California.

Class action lawsuits work by a small number of people going to court on behalf of a larger group.

If they are successful, the money won is paid out across all claimants.

According to the court documents, each claimant – who has to be based in the US -could be paid up to $20 per Siri-enabled device they owned between 2014 and 2019.

In this case, the lawyers could take 30% of the fee plus expenses – which comes to just under $30m.

By settling, Apple not only denies wrongdoing, but it also avoids the risk of facing a court case which could potentially mean a much larger pay out.

The California company made $94.9bn in revenue in the three months up to 28 September 2024.

Apple has been involved in a number of class action lawsuits in recent years.

In January 2024, it started paying out in a $500m lawsuit which claimed it deliberately slowed down iPhones in the US.

In March, it agreed to pay $490m in a class action led by Norfolk County Council in the UK.

And in November, consumer group Which? started a class action against Apple, accusing it of ripping off customers through its iCloud service.

The same law firm is suing Google in a similar class action, accusing it of listening to customers using Google devices.

That lawsuit is currently going through the same court in Northern California.

South Korea’s month-long political crisis saw another day of high drama with police failing to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol after a six-hour standoff.

Authorities had sought to arrest Yoon over his short-lived martial law declaration in early December – but they spent half the day locked in confrontation with the presidential security team.

This follows an unprecedented few weeks in which the opposition-dominated parliament voted to impeach Yoon and then the man who succeeded him as acting president.

Although hundreds of Yoon supporters gathered outside the presidential residence to protest the arrest, his future remains uncertain.

Officers were seeking to arrest him as part of a criminal investigation into the martial law declaration. But his fate is also in the hands of the country’s constitutional court, which can remove him from office by upholding the impeachment vote.

It was an hour to midnight on 3 December when South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law – which had never happened since the country became a democracy in 1987.

Yoon said he was protecting the country from “anti-state” forces that sympathised with North Korea – but it soon became clear that he was spurred by his own political troubles.

Ever since he took office in May 2022, Yoon has weathered scandals and low ratings. In 2024, he became a lame-duck president after the main opposition Democratic Party won by a landslide general elections. He was reduced to vetoing bills passed by the opposition, a tactic that they used with “unprecedented frequency”, says Celeste Arrington, director of The George Washington University Institute for Korean Studies.

Days before 3 Dec, the opposition slashed the budget Yoon’s government had proposed. And the opposition was also moving to impeach cabinet members for failing to investigate first lady Kim Keon Hee, who has also been embroiled in scandal.

Up against these political challenges, and reportedly under the advice of senior aides, Yoon decided to impose martial law.

But the decison sparked protests and public anger.

MPs voted down the declaration, with many climbing fences and breaking barricades to enter the heavily guarded National Assembly to do so.

Lawmakers across the political spectrum decried the move as unconstitutional. Even the then-leader of Yoon’s conservative People’s Power Party called it “wrong”.

Days and nights of protests followed in the chilly temperatures, with tens of thousands of people calling for Yoon to be removed from office.

“No martial law!” they chanted. “Strike down dictatorship!”

Opposition lawmakers soon filed a motion to impeach Yoon – it needed a two-thirds majority to pass.

With 192 of 300 seats in hand, the oppoition Democratic Party still required eight PPP members to vote for impeachment. But Yoon’s party members toed the line in that first vote, boycotting it to walk out of the chamber en masse.

An undeterred opposition vowed to file an impeachment motion every week until passed. But their second attempt on 14 Dec was successful, with 12 members of Yoon’s party voting for impeachment, alongside the opposition.

Yoon was suspended from office and is now awaiting the decision of the constitutional court, which has to decide within six months of the impeachment vote. Analysts expect judges to reach a verdict by February.

If Yoon is removed, the country must hold an election within the next 60 days to vote for a new leader. DP’s leader Lee Jae-myung is the frontrunner by large margin in opinion polls.

Meanwhile, the politcial uncertainty continues.

Yoon’s successor, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo who had stepped in as acting president, has also been impeached – the opposition accused him of stalling Yoon’s impeachment process. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is now acting president and acting prime minister.

Several former cabinet ministers and Yoon’s presidential aides have resigned over the events on 3 Dec. Some of them have been detained by the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is investigating Yoon for abusing his power and inciting an insurrection with the martial law order.

Among those detained is former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, who reportedly suggested the martial law declaration to Yoon. Kim had tried to take his own life while in detention.

Yoon has remained defiant throughout, refusing multiple summonses to appear for questioning, leading a Seoul court to issue a warrant for his arrest.

On 3 January, about 100 police and CIO officers went up against the president’s security team at his home in central Seoul.

Finally the CIO suspended its operation after a six-hour standoff, citing safety concerns for its team on the ground.

Investigators have until 6 January to arrest him before the warrant expires – after that they would need to apply for another warrant to detain him.

The acting president has pledged to do all he can to restore stability, but if the opposition finds him uncooperative, they could move to impeach him.

It’s been an unprecedented month in South Korea. Yoon is the first sitting president to face arrest and what comes next remains unclear.

Financial markets have reacted badly to the uncertainty – at the end of December, the South Korean won plunged to its lowest level against the dollar since the global financial crisis in 2008.

South Korea is one of the world’s most important economies and a crucial US ally – so turmoil on its shores is unwelcome on many fronts.

On a chilly December morning, a group of women wrapped in colourful saris, warm shawls and woollen caps huddled outside a three-storey building in a busy neighbourhood in Delhi.

Within the walls of the building ran a unit of one of India’s oldest social enterprises, owned and run by women.

The co-operative – now called Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad – was started in 1959 in Mumbai (then Bombay) by seven housewives who made the humble papad or poppadoms, a crispy, savoury snack that is a staple of Indian meals.

Sixty-five years later, the co-operative – headquartered in Mumbai – has spread across India with more than 45,000 women members. It has an annual turnover of 16bn rupees ($186m; £150m) and exports products to countries including the UK and US.

Working mostly from home, the women in this co-operative produce items including detergents, spices and chapatis (flatbreads), but their most-loved product is the Lijjat brand of poppadoms.

“Lijjat is a temple for us. It helps us earn money and feed our families,” says Lakshmi, 70, who manages the Delhi centre.

Ms Lakshmi, who uses only one name, joined the co-operative about four decades ago after her husband died, which forced her to look for work.

“I hadn’t finished my studies and didn’t know what else to do. That’s when my neighbour told me about Lijjat,” she says.

The decision to join the women’s co-operative transformed her life, she says. She now manages 150 women at the centre.

For women like Ms Lakshmi, the co-operative offers a chance to earn a decent income while balancing their work at home.

Every morning, the women members take a bus hired by the co-operative to the nearest Lijjat centre. There, they collect their share of pre-mixed dough made with lentils and spices, which they take home to roll into poppadoms.

“I used to go home with this dough and do all my housework, feed my children and sit with my chakla [a flat wooden board] and a belan [rolling pin] in the afternoon to make small round thin papads,” says Ms Lakshmi.

Initially, it took her four-five hours to make 1kg of dried lentil papad, but she says she can now produce that amount in just half an hour.

The head office in Mumbai buys raw materials like lentils, spices and oil in bulk, mixes the flour and sends it to Lijjat offices around the country.

Once the women make and dry the poppadoms at home, they deliver them back to the centre for packaging. Lijjat’s distributor network then transports the products to retail shops.

The enterprise has come a long way since it was founded.

In the 1950s, a newly independent India was focusing on rebuilding itself, trying to strike a balance between promoting small-scale, rural industries and pushing for large urban factories.

It was also a time when the government owned most of the factories in the country. Life for women was especially challenging as they had to negotiate a deeply conservative and patriarchal society to get educated and work.

The group of women who founded Lijjat – Jaswantiben Jamnadas Poppat, Parvatiben Ramdas Thodani, Ujamben Narandas Kundalia, Banuben N Tanna, Laguben Amritlal Gokani, Jayaben V Vithalani and Diwaliben Lukka – were in their 20s and 30s, living in a crowded tenement in Mumbai and looking for ways to support their families.

Their idea was simple – work from home and earn money by using the cooking skills passed down to them through generations of women.

But they did not have money to buy ingredients and sought financial assistance from Chhaganlal Karamshi Parekh, a social worker.

He offered them a loan of 80 rupees ($0.93; £0.75 at today’s rates), which was enough to get started at the time.

But the women soon realised that there were no takers for their poppadoms. Narrating the story, Swati Paradkar, the current president of the co-operative, says that the women had to return to Parekh for help.

He again lent them 80 rupees, but this time with the condition that they would repay 200 rupees to him. Parekh – whom the women called Bappa (meaning father) – and other social workers took the poppadoms to local shopkeepers, who agreed to stock them only if they could pay after the products were sold.

Only one shopkeeper agreed to pay the women immediately. “He began purchasing four to six packets daily and gradually the poppadoms became quite popular,” Ms Paradkar says.

As the business grew, more women joined the co-operative – not as employees, but as co-owners with a say in decision-making. The women call each other or sister in Gujarati.

“We are like a co-operative and not a company. Even though I am the president, I am not the owner. We are all co-owners and have equal rights. We all share profits and even losses,” Ms Paradkar says. “I think that’s the secret of our success.”

For decades, the co-operative produced its poppadoms without the iconic Lijjat brand name.

In 1966, the Khadi Development And Village Industries Commission, a government organisation to promote small rural industries, suggested that they come up with a brand name.

The co-operative placed an advertisement in newspapers asking for suggestions. “We received a lot of entries but one of our own sisters suggested Lajjat. We tweaked it to Lijjat, which means taste in Gujarati”, Ms Paradkar says.

Over the decades, the co-operative has allowed generations of women to attain financial independence.

“Today I have put my children through school, built a house and got them married,” says Ms Lakshmi.

“Working here, I have found not just an income but respect.”

It was the end of one year and the beginning of another. A time for reflection.

But how much attention did you pay to what’s been going on in the world over the past seven days?

Quiz compiled by Ben Fell.

Fancy some more? Try our most recent weekly quiz, have a go at something from the archives, or take on the 2024 Quiz of the Year.

Part one: January to March

Part two: April to June

Part three: July to September

Part four: October to December

Heavy snow blends into white thick clouds in Skellefteå, a riverside city in northern Sweden that is home to 78,000 residents.

It’s also the location of what was supposed to become Europe’s biggest and greenest electric battery factory, powered by the region’s abundance of renewable energy.

Swedish start-up Northvolt opened its flagship production plant here in 2022, after signing multi-billion euro contracts with carmakers including BMV, Volkswagen and Nordic truck manufacturer Scania.

But it ran into major financial troubles last year, reporting debts of $5.8bn (£4.6bn) in November, and filing for bankruptcy in the US, where it had been hoping to expand its operations.

Since September it’s laid off around a quarter of its global workforce including more than 1,000 staff in Skellefteå.

“A lot of people have moved out already,” says 43-year-old Ghanaian Justice Dey-Seshie, who relocated to Skellefteå for a job at Northvolt, after previously studying and working in southern Sweden.

“I need to secure a job in order to extend my work permit. Otherwise, I have to exit the country, sadly.”

Many researchers and journalists tracking Northvolt’s downfall share the view that it was at least partly caused by a global dip in demand for electric vehicles (EVs).

In September Volvo abandoned its target to only produce EVs by 2030, arguing that “customers and markets are moving at different speeds”. Meanwhile China, the market leader in electric batteries, has been able to undercut Northvolt’s prices.

Missing production targets (a key factor in BMW pulling out of a €2bn deal in June), expanding too quickly, and the company’s leadership have also been widely cited as factors fuelling the crisis.

“To build batteries is a very complex process. It takes a lot of capital, it takes time, and they obviously just didn’t have the right personnel running the company,” argues Andreas Cervenka, a business author and economics commentator for Swedish daily Aftonbladet.

At Umeå university, Madeleine Eriksson, a geographer researching the impact of so-called “green industries” says Northvolt presented a “save the world mentality” that impressed investors, media and local politicians.

But this “now-or-never” approach, she argues, glossed over the fact it was a risk-taking start-up that “never finished attracting investment”.

Northvolt did not respond to multiple requests from the BBC to respond to comments about its downfall or future plans.

The firm has hired German Marcus Dangelmaier, from global electronics company TE Connectivity to run Northvolt’s operations in Skellefeå, from January, as it seeks to attract fresh investment.

Northvolt’s co-founder and CEO Peter Carlsson – a former Tesla executive – resigned in November.

• Listen to Business Daily: Crisis at Northvolt

As the postmortem into the crisis continues, there are debates about the potential impact on Sweden’s green ambitions.

Northern Sweden, dubbed the “Nordic Silicon Valley of sustainability” by consultancy firm McKinsey, has swiftly gained global reputation for new industries designed to fast-track Europe’s green transition.

The region is a hub for biotech and renewable energy. Alongside Northvolt, high profile companies include Stegra (formerly called H2 Green Steel) and Hybrit, which are both developing fossil-free steel using hydrogen.

But Mr Cervenka, the economics commentator, argues Northvolt’s downfall has damaged Sweden’s “very good brand” when it comes to green technologies.

“There was a huge opportunity to build this champion, and to build this Swedish icon, but I think investors that lost money are going to be hesitant to invest again in a similar project in the north of Sweden,” he says.

Some local businesses say the publicity around Northvolt’s crisis is already having a negative impact.

“I feel it myself when I travel now – even to the southern parts of Sweden – and abroad, that people really ask me questions,” says Joakim Nordin, CEO of Skellefteå Kraft, a major hydropower and wind energy provider, which was an early investor in Northvolt.

Headquartered in Malmö in southern Sweden, Cleantech for Nordics is an organisation that represents a coalition of 15 major investors in sustainability-focussed start-ups.

Here, climate policy analyst Eva Andersson believes the nation’s long legacy as an environmental champion will remain relevant.

“I think it would be presumptuous to say that, okay, now we are doomed here in the Nordics because one company has failed,” she argues.

Cleantech for Nordics’ research suggests there were more than 200 investments in clean tech projects in Sweden in 2023.

Another study by Dealroom, which gathers data on start-ups indicates 74% of all venture capital funding to Swedish start-ups went to so-called impact companies which prioritise environmental or social sustainability, compared to a European average of just 35%.

“Sweden is still punching above its weight in this sector. And I think we could expect it to continue to do so moving forward as well,” predicts Anderson.

There are growing calls for increased state support to help Sweden maintain its position. The Swedish government refused to bail out Northvolt, suggesting all startups – sustainable or not – should be subject to market forces rather than bailed out by taxpayers. But as other parts of the world ramp up battery production and other carbon-cutting industries, the decision has faced a backlash.

“The US and China have massive support packages for green industry, and they definitely are catching up and overtaking in some sectors. And so that is definitely a threat to be reckoned with,” argues Andersson.

Just 3% of global battery cell production currently takes place in Europe – according to research for international consultancy firm McKinsey – with Asian firms leading the market.

Sweden’s minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch argues more EU support rather than funding from individual governments is the answer.

Last month she told Swedish television the situation at Northvolt was “not a Swedish crisis”, rather a reflection of a Europe-wide challenge when it comes to competitiveness in the electric battery sector.

But while the government insists it wants Sweden to play a key role in Europe’s battery industry, and the wider green transition, it has been accused of sending mixed messages. The right-wing coalition, which came into power in 2022 has cut taxes on petrol and diesel, and abolished subsidies for EVs.

“This is a very politically sensitive area,” says journalist Cervenka. “The Swedish government is being actually criticised internationally for not fulfilling its climate obligations. And that is a stark contrast to the image of Sweden as a pioneer.”

The BBC approached Busch’s media team, but was not granted an interview.

Back in Skellefteå, where it has been dark since just after lunch, Joachim Nordin is preparing to commute home in the snow.

He says there’s a strong industrial will for Sweden to remain a green tech role model, despite policymakers being “not as ambitious” as previous administrations.

The criteria that enticed Northvolt to establish its first factory in Skellefteå will also attract other big global players to the region, according to the energy company CEO.

“It’s 100% almost renewable energy up here… and that’s that’s pretty unique if you compare it to the rest of Europe. But on top of that we are among the cheapest places in the world for the electricity prices. So if you combine those two things, it’s a huge opportunity.”

Skellefeå Kraft recently announced a collaboration with Dutch fuel company Sky NRG. Their ambition is to open a large factory by 2030, making fossil-free plane fuel (produced using hydrogen combined with carbon dioxide captured from biogenic sources).

“The publicity around Northvolt is not helping now, of course. But I hope that that’s just something that will be remembered as a little bump in the road, when we look back at this 10 years from now,” says Mr Nordin.

As the world rings in a new year, lawmakers are convening on the US Capitol to kick off a new Congress.

Friday marks the start of the 119th Congress, with Republican majorities in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate.

This marks a Republican trifecta given that President-elect Donald Trump is also returning to the White House later this month. The US hasn’t seen unified control of all three branches of government since 2017, when Trump was last in office.

Republicans are eager to get started on an ambitious to-do list, but things may not come easy – and their majorities in both chambers of Congress leave little room for disagreement. The first test of the party’s unity comes on Friday with leadership elections in the House.

Here are five things worth watching as the new session of Congress begins:

Republicans may have the majority in the House, but not by much.

And it will be put to the test as soon as the session begins. The House cannot certify election results or pass laws until lawmakers select their next speaker – the leader of the chamber.

Despite an endorsement from Trump, current speaker Mike Johnson faces opposition from several members within his caucus who remain unconvinced he deserves a second chance.

The party’s majority is so small that if Johnson loses just two Republicans in his campaign, it could set off a series of ballots until Republicans coalesce around a lawmaker. In 2023, it took 15 rounds of votes and four days for Kevin McCarthy to win the speakership.

Johnson already faces one hard “no” from Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, but several other Republicans have put themselves in the “undecided” column.

The Republican Party was left with a five-seat majority when the final House races were called in the 2024 election. But that has shrunk after Trump tapped several House members to serve in his administration.

“Do the math,” Johnson said during an early December press conference. “We have nothing to spare.”

In the Senate, lawmakers have already selected their majority leader: South Dakota Senator John Thune won an internal Republican Party vote.

This means senators can move to official business on Friday, but they will face challenges in other ways. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin a string of confirmation hearings for some of Trump’s controversial cabinet appointees.

The Senate must sign off on some 1,200 appointments for the new president’s administration, but some will come with the tense hearings that attract public attention. They’ll first appear before a Senate committee and answer questions, before the full chamber votes.

The nominees include Trump’s pick for defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, who faces sexual assault allegations from 2017 which he denies, as well as his pick for health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is a vaccine sceptic with a history of spreading misinformation.

Trump’s picks were seen making their rounds on Capitol Hill last month to win over Republican senators. But nominees will have to appear before bipartisan committees – meaning the hearings could get heated as senators from both parties use their platform to address criticisms and grievances.

However, the Senate could choose to expedite confirmation hearings from some national security nominees – following a New Year terror attack in New Orleans that left 14 dead and an explosion of a vehicle outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas.

“The US Senate must confirm President Trump’s national security team as soon as possible. Lives depend on it,” Wyoming Senator John Barrasso wrote in a post on X.

A nomination that clears a committee typically does not face opposition on the full Senate floor, but given some of the initial backlash over Trump’s picks, the path to confirmation may be bumpy.

One item that rises to the top of the legislative to-do list for Congress is addressing Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which expires in 2025.

The 2017 legislation – which passed at a time when Republicans controlled both the House and Senate – involved a $1.5tn (£1.2tn) overhaul of the tax code, changed tax brackets and lowered tax rates for most taxpayers.

It marked the biggest tax overhaul in decades. The largest cuts went to businesses and the wealthy, which Democrats have called to reverse.

Trump campaigned on the economy – vowing to extend tax cuts, further slash corporate taxes, and eliminate tax on tips, overtime pay and Social Security income.

How Congress gets it done – an extension of the 2017 bill, a combination of old and new legislation or by other means – is up in the air.

Keeping provisions from the 2017 tax cuts would add an estimated $4tn to the deficit over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This may not sit well with many hard-line Republicans who are adamantly opposed to increasing the nation’s debt.

Expect to see legislation move on several key Republican priorities, ranging from curbing illegal immigration to cutting government regulations.

There could be proposals to reduce military aid to Ukraine, impose new tariffs, cut spending for clean energy and enhance border security.

In a November press conference, Johnson outlined a Republican agenda that aimed to reduce inflation, secure borders, restore the country’s energy dominance, implement “education freedom” and “drain the swamp”.

Lawmakers will also have to address the debt ceiling – the total amount the US can borrow to meet its obligations. The issue already popped up at the end of 2024 when lawmakers faced a government shutdown.

Trump demanded that lawmakers raise or even suspend the debt limit in any spending deal, but the provision was dropped from the final version of the bill that passed in both chambers.

It is possible several priorities may be combined in what is known as a reconciliation bill, which allows Congress to pass a bill on taxes, spending and the debt limit with just a majority. This method avoids the possibility of a filibuster in the Senate, in which opposing lawmakers could delay or even derail a vote.

However they choose to approach it, lawmakers may be spending more face-time on Capitol Hill to tackle their priorities in the next session.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune has scheduled notably more days and weeks for the Senate – including working days on Mondays and Fridays, which traditionally have been considered travel days.

The end of the last Congress offered a glimpse at the influence that Trump and his allies have on the congressional agenda.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tasked with advising the Trump administration on cuts to government spending, posted dozens of times on his social media platform X to condemn a spending deal Johnson spearheaded with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.

Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance joined in, and the bill was squashed.

Both Trump and Musk threatened to withhold funding and endorsements from sitting Republicans who supported the bipartisan spending bill, raising the question of how much sway they will have over the legislative agenda.

Musk and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy could have more opportunities to weigh in. The pair will be co-leading a newly-formed advisory committee focused on cuts to regulations and spending.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are re-grouping, with hopes to win back the House during the 2026 midterm elections. Expect to see centre-left lawmakers vying for influence.

Groups within the party all hope to shape its future – such as the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of lawmakers focused on advancing bipartisan legislation; the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of centrist Democrats; and the centre-left, “pragmatic” New Democrat Coalition.

It’s dawn on Darwin Harbour and government ranger Kelly Ewin – whose job is to catch and remove crocodiles – is balancing precariously on a floating trap.

Heavy rain clouds from the storm that has recently passed are overhead. The engine of the boat has been cut so now it’s mostly silent – that is, apart from the intermittent splashing coming from inside the trap.

“You get pretty much zero chances with these guys,” says Ewin as he attempts to loop a noose around the jaw of the agitated reptile.

We’re in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), home to an estimated 100,000 wild saltwater crocodiles, more than anywhere in the world.

The capital, Darwin, is a small coastal city surrounded by beaches and wetlands.

And, as you quickly learn here in the NT, where there is water, there usually are crocs.

Saltwater crocs – or salties, as they are known to locals – were nearly hunted to extinction 50 years ago.

After World War Two, the uncontrolled trade in their skins soared and numbers fell to around 3,000.

But when hunting was banned in 1971, the population started rising again – and fast.

They still are a protected species, but are no longer threatened.

The recovery of the saltwater crocodile has been so dramatic that Australia now faces a different dilemma: managing their numbers to keep people safe and the public onside.

“The worst thing that can happen is when people turn [against crocodiles],” explains croc expert Prof Grahame Webb.

“And then a politician will invariably come along with some knee-jerk reaction [that] they’re going to ‘solve’ the crocodile problem.”

The NT’s hot temperatures and abundant coastal surroundings create the perfect habitat for cold-blooded crocs, who need warmth to keep their body temperature constant.

There also are big saltie populations in Northern Queensland and Western Australia as well as in parts of South East Asia.

While most species of crocodile are harmless, the saltie is territorial and aggressive.

Fatal incidents are rare in Australia, but they do happen.

Last year, a 12-year-old was taken – the first death from a crocodile in the NT since 2018.

This is busiest time of year for Ewin and his colleagues.

Breeding season has just started, which means salties are on the move.

His team are on the water several times a week, checking the 24 crocodile traps surrounding the city of Darwin.

The area is popular for fishing, as well as for some brave swimmers.

The crocodiles that are removed from the harbour are most often killed, because if they are released elsewhere, they’re likely to return to the harbour.

“It’s our job to try and keep people as safe as we can,” says Ewin, who’s been doing his “dream job” for two years. Before that, he was a policeman.

“Obviously, we’re not going to capture every crocodile, but the more we take out of the harbour, the less risk there’s going to be an encounter with crocodiles and people.”

Another tool helping to keep the public safe is education.

The NT government goes into schools with its programme “Be Crocwise” – which teaches people how to behave responsibly around croc habitats.

It’s been such a success that Florida and the Philippines are now looking to borrow it, in order to better understand how the world’s most dangerous predators can live alongside humans with minimal interactions.

“We’re living in crocodile country, so it’s about how we [keep ourselves] safe around the waterways – how should we be responding?” says Natasha Hoffman, a ranger who runs the programme in the NT.

“If you’re on the boats when you’re fishing, you need to be aware that they’re there. They’re ambush hunters, they sit, watch and wait. If the opportunity is there for them to grab some food, that’s what they’re going to do.”

In the NT, mass culling is currently not on the table given the protected status of the species.

Last year though, the government approved a new 10-year crocodile management plan to help control the numbers, which increased the quota of crocs that can be killed annually from 300 to 1,200.

This is on top of the work Ewin’s team is doing to remove any crocodiles that pose a direct threat to humans.

Every time there’s a death, it reignites the debate about crocodiles living in close proximity to people.

In the days after the 12-year-old girl was taken last year, the Territory’s then leader Eva Lawler made it clear she wouldn’t allow the reptiles to outnumber the human population of the NT.

Currently that stands at 250,000, well above the number of wild crocs.

It’s a conversation that goes beyond the NT.

Queensland is home to about a quarter of the number of crocs that the Top End of NT has, but there are far more tourists, and more deaths, which means talk of culls sometimes feature in election debates.

The apex predators may court controversy, but they’re also a big draw card for the NT – for tourists but also for fashion brands keen to buy their leather.

Visitors can head to the Adelaide River to watch “croc jumping” – which involves salties being fed bits of meat on the end of a stick if they can leap out of the water for their audience.

“I’m supposed to tell you to put your [life-jackets] on,” jokes the head skipper at Spectacular Jumping Croc Cruises, Alex ‘Wookie’ Williams, as he explains the house rules of the boat.

“The bit I don’t have to tell you… [is that] life jackets are pretty useless out here.”

For Williams, who’s been obsessed with crocs since childhood, there’s plenty of opportunity to work alongside them.

“It’s boomed over the last 10 years or so,” he says of the number of tourists coming to the region.

Farming, which was brought in when hunting was banned, has also become an economic driver.

It’s estimated there are now about 150,000 crocodiles in captivity in the NT.

Fashion labels such as Louis Vuitton and Hermès – which sells a Birkin 35 croc handbag for as much as A$800,000 ($500,000; £398,000) – have all invested in the industry.

“The commercial incentives were effectively put in place to help people tolerate crocodiles, because we need a social licence to be able to use wildlife,” says Mick Burns, one of the NT’s most prominent farmers who works with luxury brands.

His office is in downtown Darwin. Spread across the floor is a massive croc skin. Pinned to the wall of the conference room, there is another skin that spans at least four metres.

Burns is also involved with a ranch in remote Arnhem Land, about 500km (310 miles) east of Darwin. There, he works with Aboriginal rangers to harvest and hatch croc eggs to sell their skins to the luxury goods industry.

One of the area’s Traditional Owners, Otto Bulmaniya Campion, who works alongside Burns, says more partnerships like theirs are crucial for ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities share in the financial benefits of the industry.

For tens of thousands of years, crocs have played a significant role in Indigenous cultures, shaping their sacred stories, lives and livelihoods.

“My father, all the elders, used to go and harpoon crocodiles, get a skin, and go and trade it for tea, flour, and sugar. [However] there was no money at that time,” the Balngarra man says.

“Now, we want to see our own people handling reptiles.”

But not everyone is on board with farming as a practice – even if those involved say it helps with conservation.

The concern among animal activists lies in the way the crocs are held in captivity.

Despite being social animals, they are usually confined to individual pens to ensure their skins are flawless – as a scrap between two territorial crocs would almost certainly damage a valuable commodity.

Everyone in Darwin has a story about these formidable creatures, regardless of whether they want to see them hunted in greater numbers or more rigorously preserved.

But the threat they continue to pose is not imagined.

“If you go [swimming in] the Adelaide river next to Darwin, there’s a 100% chance you’ll be killed,” says Prof Webb matter-of-factly.

“The only question is whether it’s going to take five minutes or 10 minutes. I don’t think you’ll ever get to 15 – you’ll be torn apart,” he adds, pushing up his trouser leg to reveal a huge scar on his calf – evidence of a close encounter with one angry female nearly forty years ago as he was collecting eggs.

He is unapologetic about what he calls the pragmatism of authorities to manage numbers and make money out of crocs along the way – a way of life that, in the near future at least, is here to stay.

“We’ve done what very few people can do, which is take a very serious predator…and then manage them in such a way that the public is prepared to [tolerate] them.

“You try and get people in Sydney or London or New York to put up with a serious predator – they aren’t going to do it.”

The man who drove a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas was an active-duty US special forces soldier and shot himself dead before the blast, officials have said.

Las Vegas police have identified Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the driver of the vehicle, which he rented more than 800 miles away and drove to the Nevada hotel on the morning of the blast.

Mr Livelsberger’s cause of death was suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Clark County Coroner’s office.

Seven people were injured when the vehicle – filled with fuel canisters and firework mortars – exploded on New Year’s Day. Officials said all injuries were minor.

Mr Livelsberger drove the Cybertruck to the city on Wednesday morning, less than two hours before the detonation, police have said. Parked in front of the hotel near a glass entrance, the vehicle started to smoke, then exploded.

Las Vegas authorities said the Cybertruck helped contain the explosion, sending it vertical rather than outward. The nearby glass doors and windows of the hotel did not shatter in the blast.

Authorities said they have yet to determine any motive behind the incident.

“I’m comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after,” Sheriff McMahill said during Thursday’s press conference.

The sheriff said investigators recovered a military ID, a passport, two semi-automatic pistols, fireworks, an iPhone, a smart watch and several credit cards in Mr Livelsberger’s name from the charred vehicle.

The body in the vehicle was burnt beyond recognition and was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said on Thursday.

Mr McMahill said they found two tattoos on the driver’s remains matching ones Livelsberger had.

The Colorado Springs native rented the Cybertruck on 28 December in Denver.

Police were able to track his movements using a number of photographs on the drive from Denver, Colorado to Las Vegas, Nevada, along with Tesla’s charging technology that helped map where he stopped along the route. He was the only one seen driving the vehicle.

Mr McMahill said there are several parallels – but no definitive link – between the suspects in the incident in Las Vegas and a truck attack in New Orleans that left 14 dead, which both took place on New Year’s Day.

Both suspects served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, although there is no record they served in the same unit or were there at the same time. They also both served in Afghanistan in 2009, but there is no evidence they were in the same region or unit.

Both also used rental company Turo for the vehicles involved in the incidents, Mr McMahill said.

“We don’t believe there’s any further threat from this subject or anybody associated to him here in Las Vegas,” he said.

Mr Livelsberger had decades of experience with the US military, having served in both the Army and National Guard. He was a decorated Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant.

He was serving in Germany but on approved leave at the time of the incident.

Mr Livelsberger’s father told the BBC’s news partner CBS that his son was in Colorado to see his wife and eight-month-old daughter.

He said he last spoke to his son at Christmas and that everything seemed normal.

Author and critic David Lodge, best known for his Booker Prize-nominated comic campus novels Small World and Nice Work, has died at the age of 89.

In the books, the former literature professor satirised academic life, and both went on to be adapted for television.

His other celebrated works included Changing Places and The British Museum is Falling Down, about a poor student who is distracted while attempting to write a thesis.

His publisher Liz Foley said: “His contribution to literary culture was immense, both in his criticism and through his masterful and iconic novels which have already become classics.”

Her statement added: “He was also a very kind, modest and funny person and I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with him and had the pleasure of enjoying his wit and company over the course of his recent publications.”

His agent Jonny Geller remembered him as a “true gentleman” whose “social commentary, meditations on mortality and laugh-out-loud observations make him a worthy addition to the pantheon of great English comic writers”.

Publishing house Harvill Secker said he died peacefully with close family at his side.

A statement from his family said they were “very proud of his achievements and of the pleasure that his fiction, in particular, has given to so many people”.

It was “interesting growing up with David Lodge as a father”, his children recalled.

“Colleagues from the University of Birmingham and writers from all over the world visited our home in Birmingham,” they said.

“Conversation over the supper table was always lively, our mother Mary very much held her own meanwhile David was ready with a reference book to look up something that was being disputed.”

Born and raised in London, Lodge published his first novel in 1960 but made his real breakthrough with Changing Places in 1975.

He won the Whitbread Book of the Year award in 1980 with How Far Can You Go?, about young Catholics and their response to the Vatican’s policy on contraception.

Changing Places was followed by sequels Small World: An Academic Romance in 1984 and Nice Work in 1988, both of which earned Booker Prize nominations.

In 2018, the Times said Lodge was “probably the most distinguished novelist of his generation not to win it”.

“He has mined the great seams of frustrated ambition, bungled relationships and sexual disappointment to create superb social comedy,” literary editor Robbie Millen wrote.

In the same paper, Laura Freeman said: “His dons-off-the-leash novels are written in whirligig spirit: corridor creeping at literary conferences, mistaken identities, sexy twins, missed planes, scuppered plans.”

BBC Two’s 1989 adaption of Nice Work included the first use of the word “clitoris” on prime time TV, Freeman noted.

Lodge wrote in his second memoir Writer’s Luck that he regarded the move “as a feather in my cap”.

• Listen: Bookclub with David Lodge

In 1992, Lodge published The Art of Fiction, an influential collection of essays on literary techniques citing classic examples from a wide range of writers including Henry James, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce.

Lodge’s other books included Therapy, Deaf Sentence and A Man of Parts, and he was made a CBE in 1998 for services to literature.

That came a year after he was honoured by France’s Order of Arts and Letters.

Speaking at the Hay Festival in 2015, Lodge admitted that he was running out of ideas and he was now writing exclusively non-fiction.

“Writers who begin early like I did probably reach their peak in their 40s or 50s,” he said. “After that books become more of a struggle and take longer to write.”

The Duchess of Sussex has announced a new show on Netflix – which the streaming service describes as a lifestyle show that blends “practical how-to’s and candid conversation”.

With Love, Meghan premieres on 15 January and includes eight 30-minute episodes featuring appearances from celebrities such as actress Mindy Kaling and former Suits star Abigail Spencer.

In the trailer released on Thursday, Meghan garnishes a cake with raspberries and harvests honey in California, where she lives with her husband Prince Harry and two children.

She posted the trailer on her new Instagram account, writing: “I have been so excited to share this with you! I hope you love the show as much as I loved making it.”

The news comes a day after the duchess returned to Instagram under the account @meghan.

Her first post showed her dressed in white, running on an overcast beach, to write 2025 in the sand, before dashing past the camera laughing.

Her second post shared the trailer for her upcoming show.

In it, she is seen making food in a home kitchen, shopping for flowers, and laughing and eating with friends.

“I’m going to share some little tips and tricks… and how you incorporate these practices every day,” Meghan says in the trailer’s voiceover.

“We’re not in the pursuit of perfection… we’re in the pursuit of joy,” she continues.

In one scene with others, Kaling says “this is probably one of the most glamorous moments of my life,” making Meghan burst into laughter.

Chefs Roy Choi and Alice Waters are also among the guests in the series.

“Everyone’s invited to create wonder in every moment,” the text of the trailer says.

Meghan’s husband Prince Harry even makes a brief appearance, with the two embracing as they hold drinks on a sunny outdoor patio. One of the couple’s dogs, Guy, also has a starring role.

Meghan, formerly an actress, married Prince Harry in 2018. The couple stepped down as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California.

Since then, the pair have started a production company and charitable foundation, and pursued various ventures, including another Netflix show, called Harry & Meghan, about their relationship.

In April, the couple’s media company Archewell said two new series were in production, one celebrating “the joys of cooking & gardening, entertaining, and friendship” (now known to be With Love, Meghan), and another exploring the world of professional polo which aired in December.

Meghan also previously hosted a Spotify podcast Archetypes about stereotypes against women, and launched a lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard in 2024.

Two people have died and 18 others were injured after a small plane crashed into a commercial building in southern California, officials say.

Ten people were taken to hospital with injuries, the Fullerton Police Department said in a post on X on Thursday afternoon. Eight others were treated for injuries and released at the scene.

The single-engine Van’s RV-10 crashed at 14:15PST (20:15GMT), according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Officials have provided no further details about how the crash occurred. It is unclear whether the two people who died were workers or were on board the plane.

Police say they are evacuating buildings in the area, and are asking the public to stay away from the crash site.

Congressman Lou Correa, who represents the area of Orange County, about 25 miles (40km) south of Los Angeles, said that the building that was struck is a furniture manufacturing business.

In a post on X, Correa said that at least a dozen of the victims are factory workers.

Aerial photos of the scene show parts of the plane inside the building. The crash also sparked a fire which was extinguished by fire crews.

Security footage recorded from a building across the street shows a fiery explosion, according to local news outlets.

“People are just shaken over the situation,” witness Mark Anderson told KRCA-TV.

“It was just a large boom, and then one of the people went out and said, ‘Oh my gosh, the building’s on fire.'”

The area where the plane crashed is near the Fullerton Municipal Airport, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Disneyland.

The plane appears to have been turning back to the airport shortly after takeoff, according to KRCA-TV.

Around 100 people were ultimately evacuated from the Michael Nicholas Designs furniture factory, according to the Orange County Register newspaper.

Juanita Ramirez, an employee, told the newspaper that she heard a loud bang before seeing a large ball of fire flying towards her.

“It felt like a dream,” she said.

This is the second plane to crash in the area in the past two months, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

On 25 November, another plane crashed into a tree roughly one block away from this most recent crash. No major injures were reported in that crash.

A killer whale, which captured the world’s attention in 2018 when it was spotted pushing the dead body of its newborn calf for 17 days, appears to be grieving again.

The whale, known as Tahlequah, has lost another calf and is again pushing the body, according to the Center for Whale Research.

Tahlequah has this time been spotted off the coast of Washington state in the US.

Killer whales have been known to carry dead calves for a week but scientists in 2018 said Tahlequah had set a “record”.

The Center for Whale Research said the death of any calf was a “tremendous loss” but added that the death of Tahlequah’s newborn was “particularly devastating” given its history.

The centre, which studies the Southern Resident killer whale and works on its conservation, said Tahlequah had now lost two out of four documented calves – both of which were female.

Both Canada and the US list Southern Resident killer whales as endangered.

The whales depend on Chinook salmon – which have been in dramatic decline in recent years – for food.

Failures to reproduce are linked to nutrition and access to these salmon, according to research from the University of Washington.

Whales can travel an average of 120km (75 miles) a day.

The 2018 sighting of Tahlequah pushing a dead calf happened when it was off the shores of Victoria, British Columbia.

From superhero blockbusters to Netflix romantic comedies, Scotland has become an increasingly familiar location for Hollywood to use.

In the autumn, Twisters star Glen Powell could be seen in Glasgow shooting scenes for sci-fi tale The Running Man, while Edinburgh and Aberdeenshire will be the backdrop for a new version of Frankenstein.

Those productions join a lengthy list of films and TV shows filmed in the country over the past decade.

Tourism bosses hope successful productions can see Scotland follow the likes of New Zealand – where the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films were shot – and Northern Ireland, which saw a tourism upswing from Game of Thrones fans looking to visit locations used in the fantasy series.

For some films, such as Orkney-set drama The Outrun or smash-hit TV show Outlander, filming on location in Scotland is a natural option given the stories themselves are set there.

Scottish scenery and wilderness is distinctive, and can mostly be accessed relatively quickly from major cities, which helps.

However, the past decade has seen cities across the country stand in for other places – something Ray Tallan, the head of film at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, suggests is down to architecture cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh.

He says it “lends itself beautifully” to the big screen.

Mr Tallan also points to the increase in studio provision in the country, with the likes of First Stage Studios in Leith and Wardpark Film and Television Studios in Cumbernauld.

Mr Tallan told BBC Scotland News: “This gives productions the flexibility to not just use Scotland for its scenery but now also its studio facilities.

“As more of these productions shoot here successfully, this provides confidence in the sector and an increase in reputation.”

There is another reason too – money.

Like the rest of the UK, Scotland is able to offer tax breaks to productions, which adds to its appeal, as well as additional funding.

For example, Glasgow City Council gave Warner Bros around £150,000 to shoot DC Comics film Batgirl in the city – only for the finished movie to never see the light of day after bosses at the studio decided not to release it.

Glasgow has been particularly adaptable, with its streets doubling for London in the Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw, as legendary comic book location Gotham City in the opening of comic book adventure The Flash, and as 1960s New York for a parade scene in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Cheryl Conway, the head of Screen Commission at Screen Scotland, told BBC Scotland News the country has “versatility”, which makes it appeal to studios.

Of course, this can work the other way too: cheesy festive romcom A Merry Scottish Christmas used Duns Castle in the Scottish Borders for exterior shots, but nearly the entire film was, despite the title, filmed in Ireland.

A considerable amount. Recent fare includes…

• Frankenstein (Netflix)
• The Rig series 2 (Prime Video), Fear (Prime Video),
• Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (Sky)
• One Day (Netflix),
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Amblin)
• The Outrun (Arcade Pictures)
• Tetris (Apple TV+)
• Andor (Disney+)
• The Batman (Warner Bros.)
• California Schemin’ (James McAvoy)
• Avengers: Infinity War (Marvel Studios)
• Avengers: Endgame (Marvel Studios)
• The Princess Switch Trilogy (Netflix)

This is a more complicated issue.

A regular concern when massive productions take over parts of the city is whether the disruption negatively hits local businesses.

When the Batgirl film was axed, Glasgow City Council told the Daily Record that the production still provided “a very significant economic benefit” for the wider city.

However, businesses in areas where filming occurred were less convinced, telling the BBC at the time that their trade had been adversely affected.

The Social Recluse clothing shop on King Street in the Trongate area was given £1,000 in compensation after having to close for 10 days for filming – something staff said didn’t make up for a “wasted month”.

Other productions, such as Indiana Jones and the Running Man remake, have seen swathes of Glasgow altered and streets and roads blocked off, raising the question of whether those being directly affected are actually seeing any benefits.

Dr Ewelina Lacka, of the Business School at the University of Edinburgh, told BBC Scotland News that economic benefits of films in Scotland were a “mixed perspective”, particularly in regards to tourism.

She explained: “It’s not only the film being made there but whether certain conditions are met, mainly related to destination management and marketing.

“It highlights the importance of something like Visit Scotland, in having a marketing strategy implemented before and after filming.”

The clearest example of a film or TV production boosting Scotland is Outlander, the hugely popular TV show based on books by American author Diana Gabaldon.

Several companies now offer Outlander tours around Scotland, visiting locations used throughout the long-running series.

Dr Lacka said: “It’s a diversion effect – people plan trips, and work in the filming locations as part of a wider visit.”

Mr Tallan agrees, saying: “Outlander has an amazing reach globally and there is no doubt it has had an impact on tourism at locations where the production is shot.”

Screen Scotland believes the local film industry gains advantages from visiting big productions.

Ms Conway said it enabled trainees and Scottish crews to gain “vital experience” and help secure “sustainable careers” in the long term.

Mr Tallan agrees, saying more experienced crew members can move onto big productions, which in turn “gives that opportunity for new blood to come in” on smaller shoots.

Glasgow was recently taken over for The Running Man, based on Stephen King’s book and already adapted once in a 1980s action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This time Glen Powell is the man forced to fight to survive on a ruthless game show, with Glasgow portraying a dystopian, futuristic city.

Edinburgh and Aberdeenshire will be stepping in for 18th Century Germany in a new version of Gothic horror Frankenstein for streaming giant Netflix, directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

The Hellboy director had an interesting experience while in Scotland – he posted on social media saying that he believed his hotel might be haunted.

New Sky drama Lockerbie: A Search For Truth will be shown in January, with shooting having taken place in Linlithgow.

Police are investigating after the father of Sara Sharif was reportedly assaulted in prison weeks after being jailed for the 10-year-old’s murder.

Urfan Sharif is said to have been attacked at Belmarsh Prison on New Year’s Day by two other inmates in a cell, the Sun newspaper reported.

Sharif reportedly suffered cuts to his face, and it is understood he received medical treatment inside the prison. The weapon alleged to have been used in the assault was part of a tuna can.

Sharif, 43, and Sara’s stepmother were sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted at the Old Bailey last month of killing Sara at their home in Woking, Surrey.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Police are investigating an assault on a prisoner at HMP Belmarsh on 1 January.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further while they investigate.”

Belmarsh is a Category A jail in south-east London housing some of the UK’s most dangerous prisoners.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “Police are investigating an allegation that a prisoner was assaulted at HMP Belmarsh on 1 January.

“The victim, a 43-year-old man, suffered non-life threatening injuries.”

Sara was hooded, burned and beaten during a “campaign of torture” that lasted two years before her body was found at the family home in August 2023.

Urfan Sharif was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison for murder, while his wife Beinash Batool, 30, received a minimum of 33 years.

Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for causing or allowing her death.

The three fled to Islamabad, Pakistan, with Sara’s five siblings, the day before her body was found, prompting an international manhunt.

They hid out there for four weeks before returning to the UK, where they were arrested.

A British woman and her South African fiance have been found dead in a holiday villa in Vietnam, local police have said.

Greta Marie Otteson, 33, was discovered by staff dead on a bed in a first-floor room in Hoi An, a coastal city in the central region of the south-east Asian nation, at around 11:18 local time (04:18 GMT) on 26 December, police said in a statement on Monday.

Her fiance Els Arno Quinton, 36, was found dead on a bed in another room in the villa that had reportedly been locked from the inside.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed it was in contact with local authorities and supporting the family of a British woman who had died in Vietnam.

Ms Otteson was a social media manager, and Mr Quinton was a musician and livestreamer.

A video announcing their engagement was posted on Instagram by videography company Red Eye Studios on 11 December.

Both had registered for long-term temporary residence at the Hoa Chuong villa, in the Cam Thanh commune, since last summer.

Police said a preliminary inspection of the bodies had found no signs of external force and that the rooms showed no sign of burglary.

Local media reports that several empty bottles of wine were found at the scene.

An investigation into the cause of the pair’s deaths is ongoing.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said in a statement: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Vietnam and are in contact with the local authorities.”

Elon Musk’s attack on the government’s handling of grooming gangs is “misjudged and certainly misinformed”, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Tech multi-billionaire Musk has posted a series of messages on his social media site X, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute gangs that systematically groomed and raped young girls, and calling for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed.

Asked about his comments, Streeting said “this government takes the issue of child sexual exploitation incredibly seriously”.

He invited Musk to “roll up his sleeves and work with us” against rape gangs.

The Tories have also criticised Musk for “sharing things that are factually inaccurate”.

While visiting a care home in Carlisle on Friday, Streeting said Labour was getting “on with the job” of implementing the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Professor Alexis Jay “in full”.

He told reporters: “Some of the criticisms Elon Musk has made I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed.

“But we’re willing to work with Elon Musk who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries tackle these serious issues.

“If he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we’d welcome that.”

Musk, a key adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump, has accused Sir Keir of failing to properly prosecute rape gangs while director of public prosecutions (DPP), and has repeatedly retweeted Reform UK and Conservative MPs calling for a national inquiry.

He also suggested safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after she rejected a request for the Home Office to order a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham. She said the council should commission a local inquiry instead, as happened in Rotherham and Telford.

The decision was criticised by several senior Tories, despite the previous Conservative government turning down a similar request in 2022.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a full national public inquiry into what she called the UK’s “rape gangs scandal”.

But the party has also criticised Musk for “sharing things that are factually inaccurate” and distanced itself from his call for Phillips to be jailed.

Alicia Kearns – who shadows Phillips as the Conservative spokesperson on safeguarding – told BBC Radio 5 Live Musk had “fallen prone” to sharing things on his X platform “without critically assessing them”.

She accused Musk of “drawing away attention from the survivors and from the victims” of rape gangs, and “lionising people like [far-right activist] Tommy Robinson – which is frankly dangerous”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has told the BBC that Musk, the world’s richest man, is in talks about making a donation to the party. The two men met at Trump’s Florida retreat last month.

There have been numerous investigations into the systematic rape of girls and young women by organised gangs, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire and Bristol.

Inquiries into Greater Manchester Police’s handling of historical child sex abuse cases in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale have also been carried out.

Earlier on Friday, health minister Andrew Gwynne suggested Musk “ought to focus” on US politics, where he is set to act as an unelected adviser to the Trump administration on cutting federal spending.

Speaking to LBC Radio, Gwynne added that child grooming was a “very serious issue”, pointing to previous investigations which had taken place into sexual abuse scandals.

“There comes a point where we don’t need more inquiries, and had Elon Musk really paid attention to what’s been going on in this country, he might have recognised that there have already been inquiries,” he said.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA), which published its final report in 2022, described the sexual abuse of children as an “epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake”.

It knitted several previous inquiries together alongside its own investigations.

Professor Jay said in November she felt “frustrated” that none of her report’s 20 recommendations to tackle abuse had been implemented more than two years later.

She said: “It’s a difficult subject matter, but it is essential that there’s some public understanding of it.

“But we can only do what we can to press the government to look at the delivery of all of this.

“It doesn’t need more consultation, it does not need more research or discussion, it just needs to be done.”

The stand-off started long before dawn. By the time we arrived in the dark, an army of police had pushed back suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol’s angry supporters, who’d camped out overnight hoping to stop his arrest. Some of those I spoke to were crying, others wailing, at what they feared was about to unfold.

As dawn broke, the first officers ran up to the house, but were instantly thwarted – blocked by a wall of soldiers protecting the compound. Reinforcements came, but could not help. The doors to Yoon’s house stayed tightly sealed, his security team refusing the police officers entry.

For several hours the investigators waited, the crowds outside growing more agitated – until, after a series of scuffles between the police and security officials, they decided their mission was futile, and gave up.

This is totally uncharted territory for South Korea. It is the first time a sitting president has ever faced arrest, so there is no rule book to follow – but the current situation is nonetheless astonishing.

When Yoon was impeached three weeks ago, he was supposedly stripped of his power. So to have law enforcement officers trying to carry out an arrest – which they have legal warrant for – only to be blocked by Yoon’s security team raises serious and uncomfortable questions about who is in charge here.

The investigating officers said they abandoned efforts to arrest Yoon not only because it looked impossible, but because they were concerned for their safety. They said 200 soldiers and security officers linked arms, forming a human wall to block the entrance to the presidential residence, with some carrying guns.

This is arguably part of Yoon’s plan, leveraging a system he himself designed. Before he declared martial law last month – a plan we now know he cooked up months earlier – he surrounded himself with close friends and loyalists, injecting them into positions of power.

One of those people is the current head of his security team, who took up the job in September.

But although alarming, this situation is not entirely surprising. Yoon has refused to cooperate with the authorities over this investigation, ignoring every request to come in for questioning.

This is how things reached this point, where investigators felt they had no choice but to bring him in by force. Yoon is being investigated for one of the most serious political crimes there is: inciting an insurrection, which is punishable by life in prison or death.

Yoon has also spurred on his supporters, who have gathered in force outside his residence every day since the arrest warrant was issued. He sent them a letter on New Years’ Day thanking them for “working hard” to defend both him and the country.

Although most people in South Korea are upset and angry at Yoon’s decision to impose martial law, a core of his supporters have stayed loyal. Some even camped overnight, in freezing temperatures, to try and stop police reaching his home.

Many told me this morning they were prepared to die to protect Yoon, and repeated the same unfounded conspiracy theories that Yoon himself has floated – that last year’s election was rigged, and the country had been infiltrated by pro-North Korea forces. They held up signs reading “stop the steal”, a slogan they chanted over and over.

Attention is also now on South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok, and how far his powers extend; whether he could and should sack the president’s security chief and force the team to allow his arrest. The opposition party says police should be arresting anyone who stands in their way.

Although investigators have until 6 January to attempt this arrest again – this is when the warrant runs out – it is unlikely they will go in once more without changing their strategy or negotiating with the security team in advance. They will want to avoid a repeat of today’s failure.

They also have to contend with the throngs of Yoon’s supporters, who now feel victorious and empowered. They believe they are largely responsible for the authorities’ climb down. “We’ve won, we did it,” they have been singing all afternoon.

As their confidence grows, so will their numbers, especially with the weekend approaching.

US President Joe Biden has formally blocked the takeover of US Steel by a bigger Japanese company, saying foreign ownership could pose risks for national security.

The controversial decision comes a year after Nippon Steel first announced the $14.9bn (£12bn) deal, describing it as a lifeline for its smaller Pennsylvania-based rival.

But the transaction soon ran into political trouble, after leaders of the United Steelworkers union loudly opposed the deal, bringing political pressure to bear in a key state during the 2024 presidential election.

Biden decided to scrap the deal despite concerns by some advisors that it could damage Washington’s relations with Tokyo, a key ally.

BBC News has contacted Nippon Steel and US Steel for comment.

Nippon Steel has previously denied that it planned to reduce production or cut jobs, while US Steel had warned that it might have to close plants without the investment that would come with a new owner.

Those concerns had been echoed by some workers and local politicians.

Other business groups said they feared rejecting the transaction would chill the climate for international investment in the US.

But Biden has voiced longstanding opposition to the deal. The transaction has also been criticised by President-elect Donald Trump and the incoming vice-president, JD Vance.

A US government panel charged with reviewing the deal for national security risks failed to reach a consensus by late December, leaving the decision to Biden, who was required to act within a 15-day deadline.

In his announcement on Friday he said maintaining US ownership was important to keeping the US steel industry and it supply chains strong.

“As I have said many times, steel production – and the steel workers who produce it – are the backbone of our nation,” he said.

“That is because steel powers our country: our infrastructure, our auto industry, and our defense industrial base. Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.”

Nippon Steel and US Steel have previously suggested they may pursue legal action against the government if the deal did not happen.

Prof Stephen Nagy, of the Department of Politics International Studies at the International Christian University in Tokyo, said this was a “political” decision, noting that the Biden administration from its start promised a “foreign policy for the middle class”.

“This was a direct response and continuation of the Trump MAGA agenda of Making America Great Again,” he said.

“The Biden administration couldn’t appear weak on foreign businesses, whether it’s an ally or adversary.”

There is concern growing in Syria that the new Islamist-led authorities have already decided on changes to the school curriculum, without the input of the rest of society.

The Facebook page of the transitional government’s education ministry has posted the new curriculum for all age groups, which will take on a more Islamic slant, as well as dropping any reference to the Assad era across all subjects.

The phrase “Defending the nation” has been replaced by “Defending Allah”, among other changes.

The Education Minister, Nazir al-Qadri, downplayed the move, saying the curriculum is essentially unchanged and will remain so until specialised committees have been set up to review and revise it.

Other proposed changes include Evolution and the Big Bang theory being dropped from science teaching.

References to the gods worshipped in Syria before Islam, as well as images of their statues, are also being dropped.

The significance of the great Syrian heroine Queen Zenobia, who once ruled Palmyra in the Roman era, seems to have been downplayed.

The Assad era has essentially been excised from the curriculum, including poems celebrating both Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, in Arabic language courses.

In a statement, al-Qadri said the only instructions he had issued were related to the removal of content that he described as glorifying the “defunct Assad regime” and the instatement of the Syrian revolutionary flag in all textbooks.

The minister also said that “inaccuracies” in the Islamic education curriculum had been corrected.

The changes have been welcomed by some Syrians.

But the move has set off alarm bells among resurgent civil society activists, many of whom have returned to Syria for the first time in many years.

They fear it is a sign that their voices – and those of groups and communities across the country – may not be listened to as the country develops under its new leadership.

There have already been calls for protests ahead of the start of the new school term on Sunday.

Activists want to make clear their opposition to any moves by the transitional government to bring in changes to the education system – or any other state institution – without the participation of all sections of Syrian society.

The new authorities have made much of the fact that they are to hold a National Dialogue Conference.

Officials have been holding meetings with many different communities – from Christians to Kurds, to artists and intellectuals.

The message has been that they want to create a new Syria with the involvement of all sections of society so that all will have a stake in the country’s future.

But activists believe the unilateral changes in the school curriculum undercut such promises and want to make a stand right from the start for the values of freedom and inclusion that the removal of Bashar al-Assad has now made possible.

There were more than 100 police officers and they were armed with a warrant, but South Korean authorities failed to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol after a six-hour deadlock outside his home.

That’s how long the confrontation with Yoon’s security team lasted as they formed a human wall and used vehicles to block the arrest team’s path, according to local media.

It has been an unprecedented month for South Korean politics. Yoon’s shocking yet short-lived martial law order was followed by an impeachment vote against him. Then came the criminal investigation, his refusal to appear for questioning and, earlier this week, a warrant for his arrest.

The right-wing leader still has a strong support base. Thousands of them turned up outside his home on Friday morning to oppose his arrest.

But, by many accounts, Yoon is now a disgraced leader impeached by parliament and suspended from office, he awaits the decision of the constitutional court which can remove him from office.

So why has it proven so difficult for police to arrest him?

Although Yoon has been stripped of his presidential powers – after lawmakers voted to impeach him – he is still entitled to a security detail.

And those men played a key role in blocking the arrest on Friday.

The presidential security service (PSS) could have acted out of loyalty to Yoon or under “a misguided understanding of their legal and constitutional role”, says Mason Richey, an associate professor at Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

Given that Yoon has been suspended, the PSS should be taking directions from acting President Choi Sang-mok. “They have either not been instructed by acting President Choi to stand down, or they are refusing his orders to do so,” says Assoc Prof Richey.

Some experts believe the security officers were showing “unconditional loyalty” to Yoon, rather than the office itself. They point to the fact that the PSS’s chief Park Jong-joon was appointed to the job by Yoon last September.

“It may well be the case that Yoon has seeded the organisation with hardline loyalists in preparation for precisely this eventuality,” says US-based lawyer and Korea expert Christopher Jumin Lee.

And that Park’s predecessor was former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is accused of advising Yoon to impose martial law. He is currently being held for questioning as part of the criminal investigation into Yoon.

The “simplest” solution, Mr Lee says, is for acting president Choi to order the PSS to stand down in the interim.

“If he is unwilling to do so, that may be grounds for his own impeachment by the National Assembly,” he added.

Choi, who is the finance minister, had stepped in to lead the country after lawmakers voted to impeach Yoon’s first successor, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

This political stalemate also reflects the polarisation in South Korean politics between those who support Yoon, and his decision to impose martial law, and those who oppose it. And the differences don’t necessarily end there.

The vast majority of South Koreans agree that Yoon’s declaration of martial law on 3 Dec was wrong and that he needs to be held accountable, says Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, but they cannot agree on what accountability looks like.

“The actors involved disagree over process, procedure and their legal basis, which is adding to the current political uncertainty,” she explains.

That uncertainty is also creating tense stand-offs like the one that unfolded on Friday in and outside Yoon’s presidential residence, where his supporters have been camping out for days, leading to heated speeches and even skirmishes with police.

Law enforcement could return with more agents and use force but that would be “highly dangerous,” Assoc Prof Mason said.

The PSS too is heavily armed, so arresting officers would be looking to avoid any escalation.

“What happens if the police show up with additional warrants calling for the arrest of PSS personnel, [the PSS] defy those warrants as well and then brandish their guns?” Mr Lee asks.

Police have now said they are investigating the PSS director and his deputy for obstructing them – so there could be more charges and arrest warrants coming.

The fallout from Yoon’s martial law order is also a challenge for the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) that is investigating him.

It has only been operating for four years. It was created in response to public anger over former president Park Geun-hye who was impeached, removed from office and later jailed over a corruption scandal.

While South Korean presidents have been jailed before, Yoon is the first one to face arrest before he steps down.

Investigators have until 6 January to arrest Yoon before the current warrant expires.

They may attempt to arrest Yoon again over the weekend, although the weekend could pose a bigger challenge if the crowds of supporters grow. They can also apply for a new warrant and try to detain him again.

Given how far South Korea has now slid into uncharted territory, the uncertainty is likely to continue.

Could the influence of pornography, OnlyFans and so-called “natural family planning” techniques explain the drop in teenagers’ use of condoms?

YMCA sexual health educator Sarah Peart said some boys were not willing to use them “because they’re not seeing that in pornography”.

She said young girls were often “targeted on social media” by those endorsing hormone-free, period-tracking apps to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

Young people have also said that controversial OnlyFans adult content creators set poor examples, who made headlines after bragging of having sex with several young men in a day.

Footage also emerged of one OnlyFans creator saying she had not used condoms during oral sex, putting her at risk of HIV.

“We’ve had multiple young people say “natural family planning” is their main form of contraception,” said Ms Peart, adding that the lack of positive role models and influencers was a challenge for those providing sex education.

The YMCA sessions at schools, colleges and youth services attempt to inform, bust myths, discuss healthy relationships, but also hammer home the message that pregnancy is not the only risk.

“It’s such a difficult barrier convincing young people that birth control isn’t enough, and that you do need to protect yourself from STIs (sexually transmitted infections).”

She added they would also explain that “natural family planning” was not always reliable, “especially at that age when maybe periods aren’t regular and young people don’t tend to be the most strict with keeping notes”.

“Our sessions also cover pornography and OnlyFans does sometimes come up as a strand of that.

“We try to educate young people to make their own healthy choices – and hopefully that includes not opening an OnlyFans account, but we can only provide the education.”

When BBC Wales asked young people for their thoughts, while many were too uncomfortable to speak publicly, most said buying condoms was seen as too embarrassing.

Liz Vieira, 20, from Llandysul, Ceredigion, said the decline in use of condoms – reported by the World Health Organization – did not surprise her given the prominence of adult content creators and their attitudes towards risk.

“I guess it’s up to them, but as long as it’s not meaning women in relationships are having a hard time. Because it sends a message it’s OK to use women as you please. I don’t think that’s a good thing,” she said.

Mason Down and Dylan Steggles, from Cardiff, said sex education in school was also limited.

“We only had two days of it at school,” said 18-year-old Dylan. “And that was only an hour or two each time.”

“There’s more of that content online now [porn] so you can easily access it at a young age, which might influence how young people feel about condoms,” said Mason.

The sessions delivered by YMCA for young people include information on the C-Card scheme, which is a supported service across the UK, providing training on sexual health awareness, as well as free condoms, lubrication and dental dams.

“Condoms are really expensive, so it’s a fantastic service to make them accessible, but also acceptable, and not some weird, dark hidden corner of the pub toilets,” said Ms Peart.

She is aware of fears the scheme could be seen as encouraging under-age sex but said research suggested more information at a younger age was likely to delay that.

“We try and persuade them to wait until they’re at least 16. But if they are going to, then we can make sure they can do it in a safe way.”

The World Health Organization recently reported that 56% of 15-year-old girls in Wales, and 49% of boys, had not used a condom the last time they had sex.

It comes amid a rise in STIs in the past year: 22% in chlamydia, 127% in gonorrhoea, and 14% in syphilis.

Ellie Whelan and Megan Grimley, both 21, from Cardiff, said the move away from condoms surprised them given more of their peers had turned away from the pill or coil as forms of contraception.

Use of long-acting, reversible contraception – such as an intra-uterine device (IUD) or hormonal implant – has fallen 22% in the last five years, with terminations up by a third.

“I think it’s a lot to do with false information or bad experiences – or people are too scared to get information and talk about it,” said Megan.

Testing is the best way to find out if you have a sexually transmitted infection.

The Sexual Health Wales service offers a free test kit for over-16s which can be sent and returned by post or collected from community venues.

Sexual health clinics across Wales also provide testing and support.

Infections can take several weeks after contact to show up in a test.

HIV takes seven weeks to be detected, hepatitis C and B can take 12 weeks or more, and chlamydia and gonorrhoea can show up within a fortnight.

But it is not solely an issue for young adults. Ms Peart said the YMCA sessions explain the range of contraception available, but at the back of most classrooms is a teacher also taking notes, as the gap in STI knowledge in particular is on “a national, societal level”.

It is also reflected in the rise in sexually transmitted infections in the over-40s, according to Public Health Wales’s Zoe Couzens, as people enter new relationships after divorce or bereavement.

“And I’m not putting an upper age on that – we’ve had a 72-year-old with chlamydia,” she said.

“It’s about ensuring the message goes out across all age groups.

“But the issue for the women especially is that pregnancy is not the concern they have any more, so they’re not going to take the precautions. So that’s another group that needs to be educated.”

Arguably the rise in cases is a result of increased testing, as the free “test and post” service by Public Health Wales has made that far more accessible.

“Chlamydia is the most common [STI] in Wales, followed by gonorrhoea – and while it’s all treatable with antibiotics, gonorrhoea is a nasty little bug that is developing resistance to antibiotics.

“Twenty years ago we had two cases of syphilis in Wales – last year it was 507.

“It tends to be a silent infection, but it can develop into neuro syphilis and cause cardiac problems.”

Given other STIs can cause infertility, pain and pelvic inflammatory disease, the notion they are easily remedied is one many professionals wish to tackle.

• Chlamydia is passed on through unprotected oral, vaginal or anal sex, sharing sex toys, or genital-to-genital contact
• Gonorrhoea can be spread through oral, vaginal or anal sex without a condom, or the sharing of sex toys
• HIV is passed in infected body fluids such as semen, vaginal or rectal secretions, blood and breast milk, and the most common way to pass it on is through sex without a condom or sharing drug equipment
• Syphilis is transmitted during unprotected oral, vaginal or anal sex, or through sharing sex toys, and it is also possible to pass on from mother to baby
• Herpes is highly contagious and is passed by skin-to-skin contact like vaginal, anal or oral sex, sharing sex toys, or oral sex with someone who has a cold sore
• Genital warts is shared by skin-to-skin contact, including vaginal or anal sex and by sharing sex toys.

Chlamydia: often described as a silent infection as most people do not have obvious signs. Symptoms can include pain when urinating, unusual discharge from the vagina, penis or rectum. Women may get pain in the tummy, bleeding during or after sex and in between periods, while men can have pain and swelling in the testicles.

Gonorrhoea: some people have no symptoms, but those who do may have a yellow or green discharge; a burning sensation when they wee and pain or tenderness in the stomach.

Syphilis: many people won’t have symptoms. But for those that do, it will start with a small, painless ulcer in the mouth or genitals, followed by a rash. If left untreated, the infection can result in visual impairment, dementia and death. In pregnancy it can also lead to miscarriages, still births and infant mortality.

Herpes: again, some people have no symptoms, but they can include small blisters that burst to leave red, open sores around the genitals, rectum, thighs and buttocks. Blisters and ulcers can also be on the cervix; it can cause vaginal discharge, pain when having a wee, as well as general flu-like symptoms.

Genital warts: in women they start as small, gritty-feeling lumps that become larger. In men the warts will feel firm and raised, with a rough surface. They can be single warts or grow in clusters.

Shoppers in China are getting rare discounts on iPhones as Apple faces growing competition from local brands.

The four-day promotion, which starts this Saturday (4 January), includes discounts of as much as 500 yuan ($68.50, £55.30) on some of the US technology giant’s newest handsets.

Chinese phone maker Huawei has also cut prices of its high-end mobile devices by as much as 20%.

The discounts come as consumers in China remain hesitant about spending because of the country’s economic challenges.

The offer covers Apple’s top models as well as older handsets and some other devices.

The biggest discount of 500 yuan will apply to Apple’s flagship iPhone 16 Pro, which has a starting price of 7,999 yuan, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max which currently costs 9,999 yuan.

The firm held a similar promotion in China last year ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. This year, the festival starts at the end of January.

“Apple’s strategy has changed to adapt to the change in Chinese consumers’ shopping behaviour,” said Will Wong, a senior research manager for market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

“The value-seeking trend has made price discounts more attractive to consumers. Apple may fall behind other competitors if it doesn’t adopt such a pricing strategy.”

The discounts being offered by Apple and Huawei reflect a wider trend in China.

From online retail giants to the country’s car makers, deals are being offered in a bid to attract customers who have been reluctant to spend as the world’s second largest economy slows.

The Chinese government has also stepped up efforts to boost consumption.

Last year, Beijing launched a trade-in programme to encourage consumers to replace old products such as cars and household appliances.

The plan was expanded on Friday to include mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches and fitness bands.

Against this backdrop, Apple’s share of the Chinese market has come under increasing pressure from local rivals, such as Vivo and Xiaomi.

The US firm re-entered China’s top five smartphone makers in the third quarter of 2024 after briefly dropping off the list.

According to IDC’s latest research, Vivo was China’s best-selling smartphone maker in the period as its sales jumped by more than 20%.

During the same period, Apple saw sales dip by 0.3%. Huawei’s jumped by more than 40%.

“We’ve seen market competition increase with almost everyone launching a flagship last quarter,” said Ivan Lam, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.

Huawei has seen demand for its products surge after its return to the premium smartphone market in August last year.

The Shenzhen-based firm has since launched several new devices powered by advanced technology despite the company facing US restrictions.

US law enforcement is looking for clues to unravel the mystery behind the Tesla vehicle that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas earlier this week, giving seven people minor injuries.

The man who rented the Cybertruck – then drove it to the city and parked it in front of the hotel – has been identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active-duty US special forces soldier.

Police found his lifeless body inside the charred Tesla with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They also found fuel cannisters and more than a dozen firework mortars in the bed of the vehicle.

On Thursday, there remained a heightened police presence at the hotel, located right off the busy Las Vegas strip. Yellow police tape cordoned off a small section of the hotel’s entrance as employees worked to repair damage to the facade.

Authorities continue to work and piece together information, and many questions remain.

For example, it is unclear why Livelsberger rented the car – or if the perpetrator was intending to make a political statement ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House later this month.

One of the biggest unanswered questions is why Livelsberger rented the Tesla and drove it more than 800 miles (1,300km) from Colorado to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas police said he rented the vehicle on 28 December in Denver. They were able to track his movements using photographs taken on the drive and information from Tesla’s charging technology. He was the only one seen driving it, they said.

The vehicle arrived in the city on Wednesday morning, less than two hours before the explosion, police said.

Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said on Thursday that a body inside the vehicle was recovered. It was burned beyond recognition, but the county’s coroner used DNA and dental records to confirm that Livelsberger had been inside the Cybertruck at the time of the blast. He was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“I’m comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after,” Sheriff McMahill said. He added that no motive for the incident had been established.

Another big question is whether the explosion was meant as a statement ahead of the change of US president later this month.

Police have not found any evidence that links the alleged perpetrator to specific political beliefs, but they said they were investigating whether the incident was tied to the fact that President-elect Donald Trump owns the hotel, or that Elon Musk runs Tesla.

Trump recently named Musk to co-lead a presidential advisory commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, after the two became close during Trump’s campaign.

“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, and that it’s a Tesla vehicle,” said Spencer Evans, an FBI agent based in Las Vegas, on Thursday.

“But we don’t have information at this point that definitely tells us, or suggests, that (the incident) was because of a particular ideology,” he said.

The explosion happened just a few hours after a man drove a pickup truck into New Year revellers on the crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, killing 14 people and injuring dozens of others.

That attacker has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen who also served in the US Army.

President Joe Biden has said investigators are looking into whether the two incidents are linked, though so far nothing has been uncovered to suggest that is the case.

But the question continues to be fuelled by the apparent similarities between the two incidents and some biographical details of the drivers of both vehicles.

Both incidents happened in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Both men served in the US armed forces – including at the Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) military base in North Carolina – and both completed a tour in Afghanistan. Both men also rented the vehicles they used through a mobile car rental application called Turo.

However, police have said there is no evidence the two men were in the same unit or served at the same time at Fort Liberty. Although both were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, there is no evidence they served in the same province, location or unit.

In the New Orleans attack, police recovered an Islamic State (IS) group flag from the vehicle used by Jabbar. They added that he posted videos to social media moments prior claiming allegiance to the group. Police have determined that Jabbar was acting alone.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, there is no evidence that suggests that Livelsberger was motivated by IS, or that he and Jabbar had ever been in contact. Police have cautioned that the investigation remains active.

Livelsberger was a decorated special forces intelligence sergeant who was serving in Germany, but was on approved leave at the time of the incident.

His father told BBC’s US partner CBS News that his son was in Colorado to see his wife and eight-month-old daughter.

He said he last spoke to his son at Christmas and that everything seemed normal.

The Daily Beast reported that Livelsberger was a “big” supporter of Trump. A senior law enforcement official who spoke with Livelsberger’s family told the outlet that Livelsberger voted for Trump in November’s election.

His uncle told The Independent that Livelsberger loved Trump “and he was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American.”

After a dramatic six-hour long standoff with security, South Korean police have called off an attempt to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The 150 officers involved found themselves helplessly outnumbered – first by the large number of pro-Yoon supporters who had gathered outside his residence before sunrise, and then by a human wall of security staff inside the property.

Police were trying to carry out an arrest warrant issued earlier this week after Yoon ignored three summonses for him to appear for questioning.

The politician is currently under investigation for abusing his power and inciting an insurrection when he tried to impose martial law in early December.

Dozens of police vans lined the street outside Yoon’s residence in central Seoul early on Friday morning, before the arrest team – made up of police officers and members of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) – began moving towards the building at about 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT).

The operation started out with a 20-strong team, but quickly multiplied to some 150 people. Even then, they were outnumbered.

While about half of the team was able to get inside, they were locked for hours in a standoff with presidential security officers – who are still responsible for protecting Yoon, despite him being stripped of his powers – and a military unit responsible for protecting the city of Seoul.

At one point Yoon’s security team engaged in a “confrontation” with the investigating officers, an official with Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told news agency AFP.

If they had been successful, Yoon would have become the first sitting president to be arrested in South Korea’s history.

Yoon’s “refusal of the legal process” is “deeply regrettable”, said the CIO, which has been investigating Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration last month.

It added it planned to call on the acting president – who is in charge of Yoon’s security service – to intervene on their behalf.

“Considering the situation at the site, as long as the security service continues to stand guard, the arrest is practically impossible,” it said.

Yoon’s supporters, who have been camped out in front of the presidential residence for days, cheered in song and dance as the suspension was announced. “We won!” they chanted. Some carried “Stop the Steal” signs – an echo of the call used by US President Donald Trump’s supporters after he lost the 2020 election.

The presidential security service has said they will hold the CIO and police accountable for trespassing, adding that the team had injured some of their staff members.

This development is not unexpected, given Yoon’s defiance throughout the investigation process.

Experts say that as a former chief prosecutor, Yoon is well aware of the legal loopholes available for his defence.

Investigators have until 6 January to arrest him before the current warrant expires.

This means they may attempt to arrest Yoon again over the weekend, although this could be logistically challenging as the crowds are likely to swell.

They can also apply for a new warrant and try to detain him again.

Before the attempt was stood down, Yoon’s security team told the news agency they had been “in negotiation” with the investigators who sought to access the president.

Police have opened a criminal case against the chief of Yoon’s security service and his deputy, and summoned them for questioning, according to Yonhap.

Yoon’s legal team was also seen entering the residence slightly past noon local time.

His lawyer Yoon Gab-keun earlier said they would take legal action over the arrest warrant, arguing that investigators lacked the authority to detain him.

Meanwhile, Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, has criticised Yoon for not upholding his promise to take legal and political responsibility for his botched martial law attempt.

“[It was] a complete lie,” Park said, urging the CIO to attempt to arrest Yoon again today.

The CIO, which has only been operating for four years, was created in response to public anger over former president Park Geun-hye and her excesses. She was impeached by parliament in December 2016, and removed from office three months after.

The extent of the CIO’s jurisdiction, however, has been challenged by other agencies – and its failure to deal with Yoon could be seen as an embarrassing loss.

South Korea has been in political chaos since the martial law attempt on 3 December, with wide rifts opening in parliament between Yoon loyalists and those seeking to unseat him.

Days and nights of protest culminated in the opposition-dominated parliament voting to impeach Yoon on 14 December, their second attempt to do so after the majority of his ruling party members boycotted the first vote.

Two weeks later, parliament voted to impeach his replacement, acting president Han Duck-soo – the first time an acting president had been impeached since South Korea became a democracy.

Han was supposed to lead the country out of its political turmoil, but opposition MPs argued that he was refusing demands to complete Yoon’s impeachment process.

On Friday, prosecutors also indicted on insurrection charges army chief Park An-su, who was named martial law commander during the brief declaration, and special forces commander Kwak Jong-geun, according to Seoul-based news outlet Yonhap.

They are to face trial while in prison.