US TV institution Saturday Night Live has entertained viewers and created comedy stars for 50 years. Can a British version reach the same heights?

For five decades, the phrase “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” has boldly opened episodes of Saturday Night Live, with its tried and tested mix of topical sketch comedy, celebrity cameos and big-name musical guests.

Now, the stateside staple is to come live from London after Sky announced that a “star-studded” UK spin-off, fronted by British comedic talent, will launch next year.

Overseen by the US original show’s creator Lorne Michaels, now 80, the broadcaster is promising the same “live, fast-paced style” as its American cousin.

Since being launched by Michaels in 1975, SNL has been a livewire springboard for comedic talents like Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell and Mike Myers.

Famed for its ever-revolving cast, Joe Piscopo of the 1980s cohort summed it up in a documentary marking the show’s 50th anniversary: “They took sketch comedy to a whole other level,” he said. “Comedy slowly became rock ‘n’ roll.”

The unpredictable live premise, combined with its longevity, has helped maintain its status. No other show has been nominated for (331) or won (90) more Emmy Awards.

“I don’t think you can underestimate that heritage when accounting for its current success,” says the Guardian’s TV and comedy writer Rachel Aroesti. “Which is something the UK version obviously won’t be able to emulate.”

The heritage is one reason why the show still attracts major young stars like Timothee Chalamet, who grew up watching it even as linear TV audiences have dropped sharply in the streaming age.

“In the US, the guests’ involvement is often newsworthy in itself – they also know their presence will generate a lot of publicity, so it’s a win-win situation,” Aroesti adds.

“I would be surprised if the UK version is able to attract the same calibre of guest.”

The Atlantic writer Helen Lewis says the general industry reaction has been that commissioning a UK version is a “courageous” move – wishing the team luck with the “difficult proposition”.

There are some notable differences between the two transatlantic TV industries.

The US SNL budget will be far bigger than UK TV norm, paying for a large cast and a team of writers working to the wire to keep jokes current.

“In the American version, it’s a very expensive format, having a writers’ room and keeping a cast of actors on retainer, essentially, the whole time. That’s really expensive,” Lewis told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.

The US comedy culture is also different, Lewis believes.

“The humour can sometimes be much more slapsticky. Quite a lot of the time, Americans struggle with British humour because they think we’re extremely mean.”

Comedy writer Jack Bernhardt agrees that there are different comedic traditions. UK sketch groups often form through friendships and showcase their talent at the Edinburgh Fringe, whereas many US comedians train at improv and sketch clubs, specifically honing their skills for shows like SNL.

Bernhardt says these differences “can’t necessarily be fixed by commissioning the UK version of SNL – it’s an entire comedy culture that would need to shift”.

“That’s not to say one can’t do the other,” he adds. “Just that this version of a sketch show isn’t necessarily playing to the unique strengths of the UK comedy scene. And that’s even before we get into the difficulties of doing a live show.”

Given these challenges, importing a legacy brand name like SNL may seem a gamble, especially at a time when the UK TV industry is faltering.

However, the US show’s fortunes have held relatively firm this decade, even if ratings are well below the pre-streaming era.

Vulture found that SNL averages 8.4 million weekly viewers, outperforming all other late-night shows combined. It’s also US network TV’s top entertainment series among adults aged 18 to 49.

“You rarely hear anyone asking whether SNL will ‘survive’, only how once Michaels moves on,” wrote reporter Josef Adalian. “Linear TV may be fighting for its life, yet SNL seems safe.”

Crucially, the sketch format lends itself perfectly to social media age, being easily digestible on digital platforms. According to the Economist, online SNL clips are averaging about 216 million views per episode on TikTok, X and YouTube. Sure, these viewers are not watching live, but the content undoubtedly lives.

Previous attempts to translate US late-night shows to the UK have often struggled.

However, in the 1980s, Saturday Live – later renamed Friday Night Live – ran for four seasons and helped the careers of Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry and Rik Mayall, while Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show gave breaks to Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen.

British comedy producer Jimmy Mulville, whose company Hat Trick Productions has made shows including Have I Got News For You and Whose Line is it Anyway?, says the opportunity to develop new talent will be one of the key draws for Sky, despite the risks.

“If Sky get this right, they’ll create new stars, and from that they can spin-off other shows with those performers,” he explains. “These shows can be fantastic, they can go on for years, and they can show off new talent all the time.”

He says the producers will need to assemble the right team of writers and performers.

“If it’s well-produced, I’ve no reason to see why it shouldn’t be successful,” says Mulville, who co-hosts Insiders: The TV Podcast.

He recently took the BBC’s long-running topical panel show Have I Got News For You to the US, where it has been commissioned for a second season by CNN. One US talent agent warned that the show was “too British” to work across the pond, he recalls.

“I said, ‘Yes it is, but I’m going to get it written by Americans and performed by Americans for Americans’.”

The reverse will be true for SNL. “In the UK, you’re going to have it written by British writers with British performers for a British audience. So it’s not an American show any more.”

Indeed, being “live from London” won’t be enough on its own to succeed, and SNL UK will need to feel like a truly British comedy creation and not just a reheated imitation of an American hit.

Devastating attacks on a camp hosting hundreds of thousands of people who had fled Sudan’s civil war have continued for a third day, residents have told the BBC.

One person in the Zamzam camp described the situation as “extremely catastrophic” while another said things were “dire”.

More than 100 civilians, among them at least 20 children and a medical team, have been killed in a series of assaults that began late last week in Sudan’s western Darfur region, the UN has said.

The attacks – on the city of el-Fasher and two nearby camps – have been blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It has said reports of atrocities were fabricated.

The camps, Zamzam and Abu Shouk, provide temporary homes to more than 700,000 people, many of whom are facing famine-like conditions.

News of the attacks comes on the eve of the second anniversary of the start of the civil war between the RSF and the army.

Contacting the BBC on Sunday morning, one Zamzam resident who works at a community kitchen providing food for those in the camp, said “a large number of young people” had been killed.

“Those who were working in the community kitchen have been killed, and the doctors who were part of the initiative to reopen the hospital were also killed,” Mustafa, 34, said in a WhatsApp audio message.

“My uncle and my cousin were killed. People are wounded, and there is no medicine or hospital to save them – they are dying from bleeding.

“The shelling is still ongoing, and we are expecting more attacks in the morning.”

He added that all routes out of the camp were closed and it was “surrounded from all four directions”.

• BBC finds fear, loss and hope in Sudan’s ruined capital
• Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening
• Fear and prayers in Sudan city under siege

Another resident, Wasir, said that “nothing [was] left in Zamzam”.

“A large number of civilians have fled, and we are still trying to leave, but we haven’t succeeded, all the roads are blocked, and we have children with us.

“Death is everywhere. As I speak to you now from inside the trench, there is shelling happening.”

Some camp residents have got out and made the 15km (nine mile) journey to el-Fasher, according to North Darfur’s Health Minister Ibrahim Khater.

“I am observing many people walking from Zamzam – mostly children, women and the elderly,” he said in a message to the BBC.

“Some were injured, tired and saying they lost their family – dead on the streets. The situation is catastrophic.”

The UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said she was “appalled and gravely alarmed” by reports from Darfur.

“This represents yet another deadly and unacceptable escalation in a series of brutal attacks on displaced people and aid workers,” she added in a statement.

The US State Department also said it was “deeply alarmed by reports of attacks by the RSF on Zamzam and Abu Shouk”, adding: “We condemn the RSF’s attacks on the most vulnerable of civilians.”

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is hosting a conference on Sudan on Tuesday, described the reports of “indiscriminate RSF attacks” as “shocking”.

Aid organisation Relief International said nine of its workers “were mercilessly killed including doctors, referral drivers and a team leader” in the attack on Zamzam.

The charity, which said it was the last provider of critical health services in the camp, alleged RSF fighters were to blame.

“We understand that this was a targeted attack on all health infrastructure in the region to prevent access to healthcare for internally displaced people.

“We are horrified that one of our clinics was also part of this attack – along with other health facilities in el-Fasher.”

Kashif Shafique, the charity’s Sudan director, told the BBC’s Newshour programme that what happened was not random.

Relaying what two surviving female members of staff had described, he said RSF fighters went into a safety bunker and shot the nine victims in the head and chest.

In a statement released on Saturday, the RSF said it was not responsible for attacks on civilians and that scenes of killing in Zamzam were staged to discredit its forces.

Assessing satellite images, a team of specialists at Yale University in the US said on Friday that “this attack conservatively represents the most significant ground-based attack on Zamzam… since fighting erupted in the el-Fasher area in spring of 2024”.

The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab said it had observed that “arson attacks have burned multiple structures and significant areas of the camp in the center, south, and southeast portions of the camp”.

The war – a power struggle between the army and the RSF – has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, forcing more than 12 million people from their homes and pushing communities into hunger.

It began on 15 April 2023, after the leaders of the army and RSF fell out over the political future of the country.

El-Fasher is the last major town in Darfur under army control and has been under siege by the RSF for a year.

• The children living between starvation and death in Darfur
• Civil war survivors tell of killings and rapes
• Thousands flee fresh ethnic killings in Darfur
• ‘I saw bodies dumped in Darfur mass grave’

Well, well, well.

In a US customs messaging note quietly slipped out in the early hours of Saturday, a series of numbers were listed as exempt from the 125% tariff on goods entering the country from China.

The code “8517.13.00.00” means very little to most of the world, but in the US customs list it represents smartphones.

The inclusion meant the number one Chinese export to America by value last year was exempted from the import taxes, alongside other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.

In the context of the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick just days ago announcing that part of the point of escalating tariffs on China was to bring back iPhone production to the US, this was a stunning about-turn.

The US has now excluded the single biggest Chinese export, and certainly the most high-profile finished good from tariffs, without publicly announcing it at first.

It is worth considering what would have happened in the absence of this exemption.

The effect of 125% tariffs on Apple’s Zhengzou manufacturing facility in eastern China would have started to show in weeks at most American Apple stores. It would have been a totemic “sticker shock” for the White House’s tumultuous tariff push.

According to Counterpoint, a global technology market research firm, as much as 80% of Apple’s iPhones intended for US sale are made in China.

The tech giant’s manufacturing profit margins are estimated to be between 40-60%. Typical iPhone prices might have moved closer to $2,000 (£1,528) than $1,000. The other option for Apple could have been to spread the cost across all of its global prices, but would the rest of the world accept paying a Trump tariff tax?

A very public repricing of iPhones has been avoided, but still may occur if, as the White House has said, the previously imposed 20% tariffs on China related to the powerful opioid fentanyl, remain in place.

Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, is a key player here. He can walk into a meeting with both US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It is not an outlandish prediction to suggest that, if it comes, any peace in the US-China trade war could be brokered by Mr Cook.

That’s based on his deep fundamental role in connecting the two economies. He was hand-selected by Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs for his unrivalled expertise in just-in-time supply logistics.

This is all moving rather quickly now. Weekend reports in the US press claim White House trade hawk Pete Navarro is being sidelined too, in favour of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Navarro was the author of the infamous equation that set so-called reciprocal tariff rates in proportion to the size of a country’s trade surplus with the US, calling it “the sum of all cheating”.

Bessent is now leading negotiations with trade partners seeking to avoid the reapplication of those rates after the 90-day pause.

There is a big question after 10 days of chaos. What is the incentive for other nations to offer much here? The Trump administration is clearly spooked by the bond market reaction to the president’s trade plans, and questions surrounding the safe haven status of US debt for investors.

In trying to stave off effective interest rates on bonds rising to 5%, the US needs deals more than just those in surplus countries.

Indeed this weekend’s broad range of exemptions are in and of themselves an astonishing U-turn on the principle embodied in the notorious tariff chart held up by Trump in the Rose Garden.

Just under a quarter of China’s total exports are now exempt from the 125% tariff, according to Capital Economics.

The consultancy suggests there are other big winners from the exemptions, with 64% of exports to the US from Taiwan, 44% from Malaysia, and just under 30% from both Vietnam and Thailand now also exempt.

The 10% universal tariff is now riddled with exemptions, and the biggest carve outs are for many nations with massive trade surpluses from electronics manufacturing.

The new tariff equation is to give an effective discount from the universal 10% (through exemptions) to those with the biggest surpluses. For example, Taiwan has a $74bn surplus with the US, and Vietnam a $124bn surplus.

This is the exact opposite of the infamous Navarro calculation from last week. In 10 days we’ve gone from the “looters and pillagers” will be hit the hardest, to (apart from China) those with big surpluses getting the biggest exemptions.

Meanwhile an ally such as the UK, which according to US figures has a $12bn deficit – i.e. the US sells more to the UK than the other way round, has a 25% tariff on cars, its biggest goods exports, with number two, medicines, in line for similar charges.

The White House has gone from clearly suggesting there would be no negotiation on the baseline 10% tariffs to offering exemptions to the very products causing the deficit the entire policy was supposed to solve.

This is a lot more than a “row back”. Some have called it the “Art of the Repeal”. The 4D chess has been replaced by someone playing one dimensional checkers, but unable to tell the difference between opposing pieces.

The US is now negotiating with the bond markets, and itself. The rest of the world will just see how this plays out now.

Bangladeshi authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the British MP and former Labour minister Tulip Siddiq.

The country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been investigating allegations Siddiq illegally received land as part of its wider probe of the regime of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed as prime minister in August.

The Hampstead and Highgate MP, who quit as economic secretary to the Treasury in January, was named in the arrest warrant alongside more than 50 others.

Lawyers acting for Siddiq denied the charges, which they said were “politically motivated”.

The ACC had not presented any evidence or informed Siddiq about an arrest warrant, the lawyers added.

The UK lists Bangladesh as a 2B extradition country – meaning clear evidence must be presented before ministers and judges make a decision.

The ACC is examining claims Sheikh Hasina and her family embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.

The investigation is based on a series of allegations made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Hasina.

Court documents seen by the BBC show Hajjaj has accused Siddiq of helping to broker a deal with Russia in 2013 that overinflated the price of a new nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.

In a statement seen by the BBC, Siddiq’s lawyers Stephenson Harwood said: “The allegations are completely false and have been dealt with in writing by Siddiq’s lawyers.

“The ACC has not responded to Siddiq or put any allegations to her directly or through her lawyers.

“Siddiq knows nothing about a hearing in Dhaka relating to her and she has no knowledge of any arrest warrant that is said to have been issued.

“To be clear, there is no basis at all for any charges to be made against her, and there is absolutely no truth in any allegation that she received a plot of land in Dhaka through illegal means.

“She has never had a plot of land in Bangladesh, and she has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else.

“No evidence has been provided by the ACC to support this or any other allegation made against Siddiq, and it is clear to us that the charges are politically motivated.”

Before resigning, Siddiq had referred herself to the PM’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus when the corruption allegations first surfaced.

Sir Laurie said in his report that he had “not identified evidence of improprieties”.

But he added it was “regrettable” that Siddiq had not been more alert to the “potential reputational risks” of the ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh and leader of Awami League party.

ACC chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen has previously told the BBC the allegations “are by no means ‘targeted and baseless'” and its investigation was “based on documentary evidence of corruption”.

“Tulip Siddiq must not shy away from the court proceedings in Bangladesh.

“I would welcome Siddiq come and defend her case and with the best possible legal support accompanying her,” he added.

He also rejected her lawyer’s claims that the ACC was interfering in UK politics, adding: “ACC briefing to the media is a regular phenomenon, it is delivered professionally and with all accuracy.”

The Indian pot belly – once a badge of prosperity, indulgence and aging respectability – has long been a target of satire and social commentary.

In literature, it quietly signalled comfort or complacency; in films, it became a shorthand for the lazy official, gluttonous uncle, or a corrupt policeman. Cartoons exaggerated it to mock politicians. In rural settings, it was once considered a status symbol – a sign that “this man eats well”.

But what was once dismissed or even celebrated is now raising alarm bells. The obesity crisis in India is ballooning – and the seemingly harmless pot belly may be a far bigger villain than we think.

India had the second-highest number of overweight or obese adults in 2021, with 180 million affected – behind only China. A new Lancet study warns this number could soar to 450 million by 2050, nearly a third of the country’s projected population.

Globally, more than half of all adults and a third of children and adolescents are expected to face the same fate.

At the heart of this issue in India lies the pot belly, or in medical terms, abdominal obesity.

This form of obesity refers to the accumulation of excess fat around the belly and doctors say it’s more than a cosmetic concern. As far back as the 1990s, studies showed a clear link between belly fat and chronic conditions like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Obesity isn’t just abdominal. It appears in different patterns, depending on fat distribution: peripheral obesity affects the hips, thighs, and buttocks, while generalised obesity involves fat spread more evenly across the body.

The numbers on abdominal obesity in India are already troubling. According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) – which, for the first time, measured waist and hip sizes – about 40% of women and 12% of men in India have abdominal obesity.

Abdominal obesity, based on Indian guidelines, means a waist over 90cm (35 inches) for men and 80cm (31 inches) for women. Among women aged 30 to 49, nearly one in two already show signs of it. Urban populations were found to be more affected than rural ones, with high waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratios emerging as a key red flag.

• Indians are getting fatter – and it’s a big problem
• Why are Indian children getting fatter?

So why is belly fat such a big deal?

One reason is insulin resistance – a condition where the body stops responding properly to insulin, the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar. Abdominal fat disrupts how the body uses insulin, making it harder to control blood sugar.

Studies have found South Asians, including Indians, tend to have more body fat than white Caucasians at the same Body Mass Index. (BMI is a simple measure of body fat based on a person’s weight in relation to their height.)

It’s not just how much fat you have – it’s where it goes. In South Asians, fat tends to collect around the trunk and under the skin, but not always deep in the abdomen as visceral fat.

Though South Asians may have less of the more harmful deep abdominal fat around organs like the liver and pancreas, studies show their larger, less efficient fat cells struggle to store fat under the skin. As a result, excess fat spills into vital organs that regulate metabolism – like the liver and pancreas – raising the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Scientists still don’t fully understand the biological reasons behind the fat distribution patterns. Though numerous genetic studies have been conducted, no single gene has consistently explained this tendency.

One theory offers an evolutionary root. India, for centuries, was wracked by famines and chronic food shortages, leaving generations to survive on meagre nutrition.

In such conditions, the human body adapted for survival in extreme scarcity.

The body needed a depot for this energy and the abdomen, being the most expandable area, became the prime storage site. Over time, as food became more plentiful, this fat store continued to grow – eventually to harmful levels.

“It’s a conjectural but plausible evolutionary theory – one that can’t be proven, but makes sense,” says Anoop Misra, who heads Delhi’s Fortis-C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology.

Last year, in a paper doctors belonging to the Indian Obesity Commission redefined obesity guidelines for Asian Indians, moving beyond BMI to better reflect how body fat relates to early health risks.

They created a two-stage clinical system that considers fat distribution, related diseases and physical function.

Stage one involves a high BMI, but without abdominal obesity, metabolic disease, or physical dysfunction. In such cases, lifestyle changes like diet, exercise and sometimes medication are usually enough.

Stage two includes abdominal obesity – the harmful visceral fat – and is often accompanied by health issues like diabetes, knee pain or palpitations. This stage signals higher risk and calls for more intensive management.

This classification guides treatment intensity. Once belly fat appears, early action is key – new weight loss drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide are proving effective at targeting it, doctors say.

“As shocking as it may sound, even people with a normal weight can have dangerous levels of belly fat,” says Dr Misra.

Indian physicians say abdominal obesity is rising due to lifestyle changes – more junk food, takeaways, instant meals and greasy home cooking. Between 2009 and 2019, Cameroon, India and Vietnam saw the fastest growth in per capita sales of ultra-processed foods and beverages, studies found.

So, what needs to be done?

Experts say Indians need tougher lifestyle changes than Western norms recommend. While 150 minutes of weekly exercise may suffice for their European men, their South Asians counterparts need around 250–300 minutes to offset slower metabolism and less efficient fat storage, studies show.

“Our bodies simply aren’t as good at handling excess fat,” says Dr Misra.

In short, the pot belly isn’t just a punchline – it’s a warning sign. And India is sitting on a ticking health time bomb.

An Israeli air strike has destroyed part of al Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City.

Witnesses said the strike destroyed the intensive care and surgery departments of the hospital.

Video posted online appeared to show huge flames and smoke rising after missiles hit a two-storey building. People, including some patients still in hospital beds, were filmed rushing away from the site.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted the hospital because it contained a “command and control centre used by Hamas”. No casualties were reported, according to Gaza’s civil emergency service.

However, one child, who previously suffered a head injury, died as a result of “the rushed evacuation process”, according to a statement from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, part of the Anglican Church, which runs the hospital.

Surrounding buildings, including St Philip’s church, were also damaged, the diocese said.

It added that it was “appalled” at the bombing of the hospital “on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week”.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said al Ahli Arab Hospital’s building was “completely destroyed”, leading to the “forced displacement of patients and hospital staff”.

The IDF said it had taken steps “to mitigate harm to civilians or to the hospital compound, including issuing advanced warnings in the area of the terror infrastructure, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance”.

A local journalist, who was working at the hospital, said the IDF had phoned a doctor who was operating in the emergency department and asked them to evacuate the hospital immediately.

“All patients and displaced people must go out to a safe distance,” the officer reportedly said.

“You have only 20 minutes to leave.”

Footage on social media showed staff and patients leaving the building while it was still dark outside.

Dozens of Palestinians, including women and children, were also seen fleeing from a courtyard inside the hospital where they had been seeking shelter.

Khalil Bakr told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Lifeline programme that he and his three injured daughters had fled the hospital with only a couple of minutes to spare before it was bombed.

“It was terrifying,” he said. “The whole situation was difficult because I have already been injured. And as for my three daughters, one had her leg amputated, the other had her hand amputated, and the third had her body full of platinum plates.”

He added: “Only two minutes separated us from death.”

Al Ahli Arab – a small medical facility before the war – was the only fully functional hospital in Gaza City, following the destruction of Al-Shifa medical complex and other hospitals in the northern part of the Strip.

In its statement, the Hamas-run government media office condemned the attack.

Israel was “committing a horrific crime by targeting al Ahli Arab, which houses hundreds of patients and medical staff”, it said.

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy said such “deplorable attacks must end”, adding: “Israel’s attacks on medical facilities have comprehensively degraded access to healthcare in Gaza.”

In October 2023, an explosion at the same hospital killed hundreds of people.

Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli strike for the blast. Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which denied responsibility.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 50,933 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Of those, 1,563 have been killed since 18 March, when Israel restarted its offensive in the Gaza Strip, the ministry said.

US President Donald Trump is in “excellent cognitive and physical health”, says his White House physician.

In the first annual physical of his second presidential term at a Washington DC-area hospital, Trump was also found to have “scaring on the right ear from a gunshot wound”, after an assassination attempt last July.

“President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function,” his doctor, Captain Sean Barbabella, said in a memo.

At 78, Trump was the oldest president to take office in January, though his predecessor, Joe Biden, was older at 82 by the time he left.

As a part of Friday’s nearly five-hour medical examination at the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, Trump received several blood tests, a cardiac examination and ultrasounds, said his doctor.

“His active lifestyle continues to contribute significantly to his well-being,” Dr Barbabella wrote in the memo released by the White House on Sunday.

“President Trump exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.”

The president received neurological tests on his mental status, nerves, motor and sensory function and reflexes. He was also given the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and scored 30 out of 30, said the memo.

The test is commonly used to detect cognitive decline and early signs of dementia and has tasks such as naming animals, drawing a clock and repeating words back five minutes later.

Dr Barbabella also said Trump had “minor sun damage” and a few “benign skin lesions”.

He takes several medications to control his cholesterol – Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe – as well as Aspirin for cardiac prevention and Mometasone cream for a skin condition, said the memo.

Trump’s cardiac examination showed “no abnormalities”, wrote Dr Barbabella.

The examination noted the president’s medical history of “well-controlled hypercholesterolemia”, a condition which can increase a patient’s risk of a heart attack.

Other conditions noted in his medical history included a past Covid infection, rosacea, which is a skin condition often causing redness in the face, and a benign colon polyp.

The president weighs 224lb (101kg) and stands 6ft 2.5in tall, according to the records from Dr Barbabella. Trump has shed some pounds since February 2019, when he weighed 243lb.

Under the Body Mass Index calculator, he would currently be categorised within the overweight range, and not obese.

The memo noted that the president’s “joints and muscles have a full range of motion”, while crediting his good health to an active lifestyle, including “frequent victories in golf events”.

It is the first medical report on Trump released to the public since a gunman tried to kill him at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July, grazing his ear with a bullet.

At the time, Trump’s former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, released a report saying his injuries from the incident were superficial.

During Trump’s first term in office, a White House doctor said he was in good health but needed to lose weight and exercise.

On the campaign trail, Trump frequently attacked his rival, Biden, over his cognitive and physical health.

After a poor debate performance last year against Trump, Biden declined to commit to taking a cognitive test, which he said he had not undergone while in office.

Hundreds of homes and roads on Lanzarote have been flooded, after torrential rainfall swept across the Canary Island on Saturday.

Lanzarote’s government declared a state of emergency overnight after 6cm (2.4 inches) of rain poured down on the popular tourist destination in just two hours.

No injuries have been reported by the Spanish authorities – and the state of emergency was lifted on Sunday morning.

The head of Lanzarote’s emergency services told local media some homes had been submerged, with floodwaters leaving behind a “great quantity of mud”.

“We have been working all night, attending 300 calls overnight, many of them in Arrecife and Teguise”, Enrique Espinosa said on Sunday.

According to local media, emergency services attended more than 150 incidents in Costa Teguise and in excess of 70 in Arrecife.

The area of San Bartolomé was badly hit, according to Lanzarote’s government.

Dramatic footage circulating on social media shows a large surge of floodwater flowing rapidly under a bridge, leaving cars stranded on flooded roads.

The Canaries are particularly vulnerable to floods when hit with intense rain, as their dry climate and volcanic rock mean the ground does not absorb large volumes of water well.

The torrential rain came off the back of Storm Olivier, which swept over the Canaries, mainland Spain and Portugal in recent days – triggering several weather alerts.

Spain’s meteorological service has issued weather warnings for many areas of the country from Sunday to Tuesday – including storms in the north east, rain in the Balearic islands and wind in parts of both the north and south coast.

A man who was mistakenly deported from the state of Maryland to a mega-jail in El Salvador is “alive and secure”, a US official has told a judge.

The update on Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s condition came days after the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration should facilitate his release and return to the US.

“It is my understanding, based on official reporting from our embassy in San Salvador, that Abrego Garcia is being held in the Terrorism Confinement Centre in El Salvador,” State Department official Michael Kozak said.

President Donald Trump is due to sit down on Monday with his counterpart from El Salvador, where he has sent more than 200 migrants who he alleges are gang members.

The US government has conceded Mr Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”, though it also claims he is a member of the MS-13 gang, something his lawyer denies.

He was one of the 238 Venezuelans and 23 Salvadorans the Trump administration deported last month to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Centre (Cecot) under an arrangement between the two countries.

“He is alive and secure in that facility,” Mr Kozak said on Saturday.

An immigration judge had granted Mr Garcia, a Salvadoran, legal protection from deportation in 2019.

Trump’s administration fought against helping Mr Garcia return to the US, and argued Maryland District Judge Paula Xinis had exceeded her authority when she ordered the action.

However the US Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, weighed in on the case this week and unanimously backed the order to help facilitate his release.

On Friday, Judge Xinis directed the Trump administration to provide her with daily updates on what steps were being taken to bring Mr Garcia back to the US.

In court documents, Mr Garcia’s lawyers accused the US government of trying to “delay, obfuscate and flout court orders, while a man’s life and safety is at risk”.

Mr Garcia, 29, entered the US from El Salvador illegally as a teenager. In 2019, he was arrested with three other men in Maryland and detained by federal immigration authorities.

He was subsequently granted protection from deportation on the grounds that he might be at risk of persecution from local gangs in his home country.

Trump told reporters this week that if the Supreme Court said “bring somebody back, I would do that”.

“I respect the Supreme Court,” he said.

His meeting with El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele is due to take place at the White House on Monday.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he was looking forward to it and thanked Bukele for accepting “some of the most violent alien enemies of the World” – referring to those being deported as “barbarians”.

“Their future is up to President B and his Government,” Trump added. “They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!”

More than three million children around the world are thought to have died in 2022 as a result of infections that are resistant to antibiotics, according to a study by two leading experts in child health.

Children in Africa and South East Asia were found to be most at risk.

Antimicrobial resistance – known as AMR – develops when the microbes that cause infections evolve in such a way that antibiotic drugs no longer work.

It has been identified as one of the biggest public health threats facing the world’s population.

A new study now reveals the toll that AMR is taking on children.

Using data from multiple sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, the report’s authors have calculated there were more than three million child deaths in 2022 linked to drug-resistant infections.

Experts say this new study highlights a more than tenfold increase in AMR-related infections in children in just three years.

The number could have been made worse by the impact of the Covid pandemic.

Antibiotics are used to treat or prevent a huge range of bacterial infections – everything from skin infections to pneumonia.

They are also sometimes given as a precaution to prevent, rather than treat, an infection – for example if someone is having an operation or receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer.

Antibiotics have no impact on viral infections, though – illnesses such as the common cold, flu or Covid.

But some bacteria have now evolved resistance to some drugs, due to their overuse and inappropriate use, while the production of new antibiotics – a lengthy and costly process – has slowed right down.

The report’s lead authors, Doctor Yanhong Jessika Hu of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia and Professor Herb Harwell of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, point to a significant growth in the use of antibiotics that are meant to only be held back for the most serious infections.

Between 2019 and 2021 the use of “watch antibiotics”, drugs with a high risk of resistance, increased by 160% in South East Asia and 126% in Africa.

Over the same period, “reserve antibiotics” – last-resort treatments for severe, multidrug-resistant infections – rose by 45% in South East Asia and 125% in Africa.

The authors warn that if bacteria develop resistance to these antibiotics, there will be few, if any, alternatives for treating multidrug-resistant infections.

Prof Harwell is presenting the findings at the Congress of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Vienna later this month.

“AMR is a global problem. It affects everyone. We did this work really to focus on the disproportionate way in which AMR affects children,” he said ahead of the event.

“We estimate three million deaths of children worldwide associated with antimicrobial resistance.”

The WHO describes AMR as one of the most serious global health threats we face, but speaking from Vienna, Prof Harwell warns that there are no easy answers.

“It’s a multi-faceted problem that extends into all aspects of medicine and really, human life,” he said.

“Antibiotics are ubiquitous around us, they end up in our food and the environment and so coming up with a single solution is not easy.”

The best way to avoid a resistant infection is to avoid infection altogether, which means higher levels of immunisation, water sanitation and hygiene are needed, he adds.

“There’s going to be more antibiotics use because there’s more people who need them, but we need to make sure that they are used appropriately and the correct medicines are used.”

Dr Lindsey Edwards, a senior lecturer in microbiology at King’s College London, said the new study “marks a significant and alarming increase compared to previous data”.

“These findings should serve as a wake-up call for global health leaders. Without decisive action, AMR could undermine decades of progress in child health, particularly in the world’s most vulnerable regions.”

Russia’s ambassador to the UK has not denied allegations that Russian sensors have been hidden in seas around Great Britain in an attempt to track UK nuclear submarines.

Andrei Kelin said that while he did not deny Russia was attempting to track British submarines, he rejected the idea that such activities presented a threat to the UK.

Asked on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg whether he objected to the claims, Kelin said: “No”.

“I am not going to deny it, but I wonder whether we really have an interest in following all the British submarine with very old outdated nuclear warheads… all these threats are extremely exaggerated,” he said.

Pressed further by Kuenssberg, the ambassador added: “I’m denying existence of threats for the United Kingdom. This threat has been invented, absolutely, there is no threat at all from Russia to the UK.”

Kelin’s admission follows an investigation published by the Sunday Times earlier this month, detailing the discovery of alleged Russian sensors in seas around Britain.

In its investigation, the Sunday Times said the devices are believed to have been planted by Moscow to try to gather intelligence on the UK’s four Vanguard submarines, which carry nuclear missiles.

The British military discovered the existence of the devices and deemed them a potential threat to national security, the paper reported.

The devices have been characterised as being part of a hybrid – or “grey zone” – war being fought by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Other activities of such warfare could include doing damage to infrastructure assets, such as energy pipelines.

• Putin’s secret weapon: The threat to the UK lurking on our sea beds

The accusations come after the Royal Navy released images in March of a Russian warship that it tracked sailing near British waters.

Named Boikiy, it is one of several Russian vessels to have been tracked sailing near the British coast in recent months.

Defence Secretary John Healey told MPs in January that the Royal Navy had monitored a Russian spy ship after it was spotted around UK waters – accusing the vessel, called Yantar, of being used to gather intelligence and map the UK’s underwater infrastructure.

Former Conservative defence and Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood has warned that the UK is “behind the curve” in tracking Russia’s deep-sea operations.

Ellwood told the Guardian earlier this month the use of sensors was “only half the story”, claiming that Russia has established “remote seabed platforms” off the UK coast that act as recharging stations for dozens of mini-submarines “to map our undersea cable networks for potential sabotage”.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told BBC News: “We are committed to maintaining and enhancing the security and resilience of critical undersea infrastructure.

“Just as the defence secretary called out the activities of the Russian spy ship Yantar hovering over our undersea cables, let those who threaten the UK or our allies be in no doubt that we will defend our undersea infrastructure.”

Responding to the Sunday Times investigation into the sensors, an MoD spokesman said: “Alongside our NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force allies, we are strengthening our response to ensure that Russian ships and aircraft cannot operate in secrecy near the UK or near NATO territory, harnessing new technologies like AI and coordinating patrols with our allies.

“And our continuous-at-sea nuclear deterrent continues to patrol the world’s oceans undetected as it has done for 56 years.”

“I made a real decision when I was, like, 11 that I wasn’t gonna be like a typical teenager,” says Bella Ramsey.

Talk about an understatement.

By the time Bella was 13, they had been cast in the world’s biggest TV show at the time, Game of Thrones.

And when the actor, now 21 years old, speaks to BBC Newsbeat, it’s the night after walking the red carpet at the London premiere of The Last of Us season two.

The smash-hit adaptation of the PlayStation video game was a critical and ratings success, launching the young star to full-on leading role status.

“I think it’s quite a unique experience,” Bella, who’s originally from Nottingham, England, modestly admits.

Bella, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, plays Ellie in the HBO drama, set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been almost wiped out by cordyceps.

The deadly parasitic fungus turns humans into zombie-like creatures, but Ellie is immune from infection and is humanity’s last hope for a cure.

In the first season viewers saw a father-daughter relationship slowly blossom between Ellie and mercenary Joel, played by Pedro Pascal.

After escorting the 14-year-old on a dangerous journey across the USA to meet doctors working on a vaccine, it becomes apparent Ellie must die for a potential remedy to be produced.

Rather than sacrifice her, Joel kills the medics and flees with the unconscious teenager.

When she awakes, he lies to her about what happened, and season one’s cliffhanger ending leaves viewers with the strong impression that Ellie is well aware of the deception.

So when the new season begins, five years later, “obviously there’s tension in that relationship,” says Bella.

“It was quite horrible to play.”

Young Bella’s vow to not be a “typical teenager” was actually less about their career and more about their relationship with their parents, they say.

No screaming matches, no slamming doors.

“So I never went through that with my dad,” says Bella. “Me and my dad are great.”

“So it was kind of sad to do that with Ellie and Joel.”

But, Bella adds, Ellie “is very justified in her feelings about everything”.

Ellie is 19 in season two, not too much younger than Bella, who began shooting the first series back in 2021.

Number two was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, so a lot has happened for Bella in the meantime.

There’s symmetry there.

“It’s so fun getting to step back into a character but with kind of new revelations about her and about me in my own life,” says Bella.

“There’s always like a merging of me and whatever character I’m playing and that happens times 10 with Ellie because I’m spending so much time in her skin.”

Bella’s recently spoken publicly about being diagnosed with autism while working on the first series of the show.

“It was something that I didn’t really think about too much before,” Bella starts.

“Actually, no, that’s a lie. I did, because I said that I was neurodiverse before, and then I was like, ‘Why don’t I just say what it actually is, which is, yeah, I’m autistic.”

Bella says opening up has allowed them “to be a bit more free” and hopes it will inspire others.

“You can be in industries like this and openly say that you’re autistic, why there shouldn’t be sort of such a stigma around that and such a fear around that,” says Bella.

“So I’m very proud to be able to say it out loud and also just to bring more awareness.

“Autism comes in all different shapes and sizes, and and I’m not someone that people would maybe typically see and go like ‘oh, you’re autistic’.”

Bella also identifies as non-binary, and the new series of The Last of Us more deeply explores Ellie’s same-sex relationship with Dina, played by Isabella Merced.

“I feel like we’re still figuring out how to portray queer storylines in the media in a way that feels very authentic but that also feels very genuine in terms of the story,” says Bella.

“That’s what The Last of Us does so well, I think, with Ellie and Dina.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s like representation added on top to check a box – it really feels like it’s just a part of the story.

“So that was what was exciting about getting to portray this sort of relationship in this medium.”

The Last of Us has already been commissioned for a third series after a positive critical reception for season two, so Bella – and Ellie – will still be growing up in the public eye for a while yet.

It’s something that “comes with pros and cons,” says Bella.

“But it’s kind of lovely that my growth and development has been immortalised on-screen.

“I feel very grateful for that.”

But Bella says there’s one thing that doesn’t get any easier.

“The more that you grow up, you just realise how little you know, I think. And I think that’s something that Ellie is also discovering.”

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.

The Indian pot belly – once a badge of prosperity, indulgence and aging respectability – has long been a target of satire and social commentary.

In literature, it quietly signalled comfort or complacency; in films, it became a shorthand for the lazy official, gluttonous uncle, or a corrupt policeman. Cartoons exaggerated it to mock politicians. In rural settings, it was once considered a status symbol – a sign that “this man eats well”.

But what was once dismissed or even celebrated is now raising alarm bells. The obesity crisis in India is ballooning – and the seemingly harmless pot belly may be a far bigger villain than we think.

India had the second-highest number of overweight or obese adults in 2021, with 180 million affected – behind only China. A new Lancet study warns this number could soar to 450 million by 2050, nearly a third of the country’s projected population.

Globally, more than half of all adults and a third of children and adolescents are expected to face the same fate.

At the heart of this issue in India lies the pot belly, or in medical terms, abdominal obesity.

This form of obesity refers to the accumulation of excess fat around the belly and doctors say it’s more than a cosmetic concern. As far back as the 1990s, studies showed a clear link between belly fat and chronic conditions like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Obesity isn’t just abdominal. It appears in different patterns, depending on fat distribution: peripheral obesity affects the hips, thighs, and buttocks, while generalised obesity involves fat spread more evenly across the body.

The numbers on abdominal obesity in India are already troubling. According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) – which, for the first time, measured waist and hip sizes – about 40% of women and 12% of men in India have abdominal obesity.

Abdominal obesity, based on Indian guidelines, means a waist over 90cm (35 inches) for men and 80cm (31 inches) for women. Among women aged 30 to 49, nearly one in two already show signs of it. Urban populations were found to be more affected than rural ones, with high waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratios emerging as a key red flag.

• Indians are getting fatter – and it’s a big problem
• Why are Indian children getting fatter?

So why is belly fat such a big deal?

One reason is insulin resistance – a condition where the body stops responding properly to insulin, the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar. Abdominal fat disrupts how the body uses insulin, making it harder to control blood sugar.

Studies have found South Asians, including Indians, tend to have more body fat than white Caucasians at the same Body Mass Index. (BMI is a simple measure of body fat based on a person’s weight in relation to their height.)

It’s not just how much fat you have – it’s where it goes. In South Asians, fat tends to collect around the trunk and under the skin, but not always deep in the abdomen as visceral fat.

Though South Asians may have less of the more harmful deep abdominal fat around organs like the liver and pancreas, studies show their larger, less efficient fat cells struggle to store fat under the skin. As a result, excess fat spills into vital organs that regulate metabolism – like the liver and pancreas – raising the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Scientists still don’t fully understand the biological reasons behind the fat distribution patterns. Though numerous genetic studies have been conducted, no single gene has consistently explained this tendency.

One theory offers an evolutionary root. India, for centuries, was wracked by famines and chronic food shortages, leaving generations to survive on meagre nutrition.

In such conditions, the human body adapted for survival in extreme scarcity.

The body needed a depot for this energy and the abdomen, being the most expandable area, became the prime storage site. Over time, as food became more plentiful, this fat store continued to grow – eventually to harmful levels.

“It’s a conjectural but plausible evolutionary theory – one that can’t be proven, but makes sense,” says Anoop Misra, who heads Delhi’s Fortis-C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology.

Last year, in a paper doctors belonging to the Indian Obesity Commission redefined obesity guidelines for Asian Indians, moving beyond BMI to better reflect how body fat relates to early health risks.

They created a two-stage clinical system that considers fat distribution, related diseases and physical function.

Stage one involves a high BMI, but without abdominal obesity, metabolic disease, or physical dysfunction. In such cases, lifestyle changes like diet, exercise and sometimes medication are usually enough.

Stage two includes abdominal obesity – the harmful visceral fat – and is often accompanied by health issues like diabetes, knee pain or palpitations. This stage signals higher risk and calls for more intensive management.

This classification guides treatment intensity. Once belly fat appears, early action is key – new weight loss drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide are proving effective at targeting it, doctors say.

“As shocking as it may sound, even people with a normal weight can have dangerous levels of belly fat,” says Dr Misra.

Indian physicians say abdominal obesity is rising due to lifestyle changes – more junk food, takeaways, instant meals and greasy home cooking. Between 2009 and 2019, Cameroon, India and Vietnam saw the fastest growth in per capita sales of ultra-processed foods and beverages, studies found.

So, what needs to be done?

Experts say Indians need tougher lifestyle changes than Western norms recommend. While 150 minutes of weekly exercise may suffice for their European men, their South Asians counterparts need around 250–300 minutes to offset slower metabolism and less efficient fat storage, studies show.

“Our bodies simply aren’t as good at handling excess fat,” says Dr Misra.

In short, the pot belly isn’t just a punchline – it’s a warning sign. And India is sitting on a ticking health time bomb.

The UK government has taken control of British Steel’s plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, after it was put at risk of imminent closure.

MPs were called back to Parliament on Saturday from their Easter break to pass an emergency law that handed control of the Chinese-owned site to the government, in order to keep its two blast furnaces operating.

British Steel’s plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, employs 2,700 people, about three-quarters of the company’s entire workforce.

It is the last plant in the UK capable of producing virgin steel, which is used in major construction projects like new buildings and railways.

Two huge blast furnaces are used to produce the steel, which has fewer imperfections than the recycled steel made elsewhere in the country.

Were the plant to cease producing virgin steel, the UK would become the only member of the G7 group of leading economies without the ability to make it – a prospect the government views as a risk to the country’s long-term economic security.

The company was founded in 2016 when Tata Steel sold its loss-making long products division in Scunthorpe to private investment firm Greybull Capital for a token £1.

The new owners renamed the business British Steel.

Following a period of financial instability, British Steel was taken over by the government’s insolvency service in 2019 and then acquired by Chinese steel-making firm Jingye the following year.

In late March 2025, Jingye said the plant was losing around £700,000 a day and launched a consultation on its closure.

The government held talks with Jingye aimed at keeping the plant operational.

After these appeared to have largely broken down, emergency legislation was fast-tracked through Parliament in a single day on Saturday – handing control of the plant to the government.

Jingye still owns the site, but the business secretary now has sweeping powers to control management and workers to make sure production continues.

This means British Steel has not been nationalised – which is when a government takes ownership and control of a company.

But Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds acknowledged that public ownership was “the likely option”.

While the government hopes to secure private investment to save the plant, ministers admit there are currently no companies willing to buy it.

The supplies needed to keep the blast furnaces running – coking coal and iron pellets – are running low at the Scunthorpe plant.

This added time pressure to the talks, because once a blast furnace shuts down it is a costly and complex process to restart it.

Unions said the situation was on a “cliff-edge,” while the Community Union described the lack of supplies as an “extreme emergency”.

The government offered to buy the raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running earlier this week, but Jingye did not agree to that proposal.

In the Commons on Saturday, the business secretary said Jingye had wanted “an excessive amount” of money.

He said it had become clear during negotiations that the company intended to “refuse” to buy enough material to keep the furnaces running, and “to cancel and refuse to pay for existing orders”.

“The company would therefore have irrevocably and unilaterally closed down primary steel making at British Steel,” he added.

The emergency law gives the government the ability to order raw materials to keep the furnaces running, and to direct the company’s workforce and board.

The government has told the company’s UK management to keep the site operational, and the new law will ensure that any employees who are sacked by the Chinese owners can be reinstated.

Jingye said the blast furnaces were “no longer financially sustainable,” blaming “highly challenging” market conditions, tariffs and costs associated with transitioning to lower-carbon production techniques.

UK steel production has been falling for several decades and the financial pressures facing the industry were heightened in March when the US imposed a 25% tariff on any steel it imports.

Global over-production of steel has created “a glut of steel on the international market”, according to a UK government briefing on the industry, which has pushed prices down. British manufacturers also face higher costs, particularly on electricity, than elsewhere.

There are 1,160 businesses in the UK steel industry, directly supporting 40,000 other firms across the country, according to government figures.

Tata Steel at Port Talbot in Wales was once the UK’s largest virgin steel producer but it turned off its blast furnace in September 2024, saying it was losing £1.7m a day.

An agreement with the UK government was reached which saw it commit £500m to help the company move to greener forms of steelmaking.

Other steelmakers in the UK include Liberty Steel, Celsa, Marcegaglia and Outokumpu.

Liberty Steel also has a plant in Scunthorpe which is facing closure. More than 120 jobs are at risk, with bosses blaming high energy costs.

In 2023 the UK steel industry contributed £2.3 billion to the UK economy – equivalent to 0.1% of total UK economic output and 1.0% of manufacturing output.

In the same year, the UK produced 5.6 million tonnes of crude steel, or 0.3% of the world’s total. In comparison, China produced more than 1,000 million tonnes, 54% of global production.

The EU produced 126 million tonnes of steel in 2023, 7% of the world’s total. Compared with EU countries, the UK ranked as the eighth largest steel producer, after Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Poland and Belgium.

A new Universal theme park near Bedford – the first in Europe – was announced to much fanfare earlier this week.

Set to open in 2031, construction is to begin at the 476-acre (1.9-sq-km) site, where attractions are likely to feature James Bond, Paddington and The Lord of the Rings.

But from deciding how many loops to include on a coaster, to making sure even the trees blend in seamlessly with an area’s design, building a dream world is a painstaking task.

To find out what planning lies behind the thrills, and what sort of things we could expect when the new Universal park finally arrives, BBC News spoke to some rollercoaster experts.

Of course, any good theme park needs some good rides – but maybe it’s an understatement to say that’s a tall order.

While “at least two or three iconic rides” are needed, these need not necessarily be the fastest, tallest or most innovative to stand out, explains Andy Sinclair-Harris, creative director at Katapult, which has designed attractions for the likes of Legoland and Alton Towers.

“What is more important is the depth of storytelling,” he says, so that you’re fully immersed in the experience of the ride.

A good example, says Robbie Jones, insights director at Katapult, is a Harry-Potter-themed rollercoaster called Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, located at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal’s Orlando resort. Riders sit in replicas of Hagrid’s motorbike and zoom through recreations of settings from the popular film series.

“There’s nothing particularly brand new or absolutely amazing about that ride, other than it tells a story amazingly well,” he adds.

If the rumours that there’s going to be a Back to the Future ride at Universal’s UK venture are true, those behind it will be ensuring that the DeLorean time machine is included, he says.

During the brainstorming stage of building a resort, rides are often “developed as storytelling tools” in a “specific genre or world”, says Joseph Bright, CEO at Scruffy Dog, which provides creative project management for theme parks.

While an iconic ride might help to “anchor” a zone of a park, “it’s never developed in isolation” – rather “cohesion is critical [and] every element… must serve the wider guest story”.

Dennis Speigel, founder of International Theme Park Services, says meticulous planning goes into the most immersive rides.

He adds that the size of a rollercoaster is partly dictated by the number of guests its designers hope to get on board – “between 1,500 and 2,000 an hour” at popular parks.

Usually, that means a coaster that is over 3,000ft (914m) long, with the first dip “somewhere in the 150ft (45m) range”.

Mr Speigel says that while an upcoming coaster at Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia is set to break records when it sends riders speeding at over 150mph (240 km/h) around the tracks, most coasters today reach between 70-90mph (110-145 km/h) on their first drop.

Once the larger rides are planned out, theme park designers then consider what he describes as “flat rides”, which cater to less thrill-seeking crowds.

“Those are your smaller rides that take people around and around, like a merry-go-round or a monster,” he says. “[They’re] rides that can often be bought off the shelf from a manufacturer.”

When you step foot in a theme park, you’re probably thinking about the rides you’ll be going on – but you might think less about how you get there.

During the design phase, you have to let your imagination run wild, says Mr Sinclair-Harris. “Budget is a thing, but when you have those first initial discussions, you shouldn’t be tempered by anything,” he says.

The “story” of your park is crucial, he adds. “It’s knowing the story, the characters and being true to that world.”

Discussions about potential ride dimensions and manufacturers soon follow, as well as a masterplan, which configures how attractions, pathways and amenities all fit into the space. It often determines how long people will end up queuing for.

An artist’s conception of the Universal UK park depicts a huge lake in middle of what appears to be different themed areas. Far from just looking pretty, it can allow crowds to fan out to multiple rides without congestion forming around one.

Alton Towers has a lake too. Theme park vlogger and fanatic Charlotte Branford – known as Diary of a RollerCoaster Girl – believes it means other visitors often choose to go left around it (to the Wicker Man ride), or right around it (towards the Smiler). She heads to the back of the park to try to avoid the crowds.

At the back of parks designed in this way you’ll often find a show with set times “to try and stop people running around to the back of the park to get to some big attraction”, says Justin Garvanovic, founder of the European Coaster Club, who has been involved in rollercoaster designs.

“Without realising it, they’re trying to make you do roughly what they want you to do when you’re in the park.”

Another tried and tested layout is the “hub and spoke” often seen at Disneyland resorts, says Mr Sinclair-Harris.

“In a sense you’ve got that central gathering point… like the castle in the Magic Kingdom… with different lands like spokes on a wheel, radiating out.”

Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park in Orlando will follow a version of this – allowing you to venture into different lands through portals.

So the stories behind the rollercoasters are intertwined with the story of the theme park layout itself.

Then come the finishing touches – to maintain your sense of being in a futuristic or fantasy world while you’re there.

Trees, artificial rock or even other buildings are often used to obscure unsightly but necessary objects, Mr Sinclair-Harris says. “If you’re in an amazing world with castles and dragons, seeing a telephone pole removes you from that story”.

Even the audio playing out, scent of a park and queue lines are considered because they “play a role in that illusion,” says Mr Bright.

As Mr Garvanovic puts it, “there’s tons of subtle stuff going on in the background” in a well thought-out theme park.

The sign of success, perhaps, is when you barely even notice it.

The celebratory pints have been flowing freely in a Scottish town after a historic pub was saved for the community.

The former Plough Inn in Wigtown was at risk of being turned into flats until local residents stepped in and took it over.

Now it has reopened, providing a major boost for an area which can sometimes feel like “a forgotten place in Scotland”.

Craig Hamnett, who chairs the Wigtown Community Inn community benefit society, said it was a relief not to lose the centuries-old hostelry.

The pub in Wigtown had been in continuous use for more than 200 years.

Its first licence was granted in 1795.

Unfortunately the business closed shortly after the Covid pandemic.

Craig said the prospects had not looked good for it remaining in use as a local bar and gathering place.

“It closed in 2022 and was in good condition, but market conditions meant that there wasn’t much interest in privately purchasing or leasing the pub,” he said.

“Plans were being drawn up to convert it into flats and that would’ve meant being lost as a community asset.”

Originally from Stockport, Craig moved to the town from Edinburgh about seven years ago and got involved in community efforts to save the pub.

“In that time I have seen the ebbs and flows of business but in recent times there has been more closures than openings,” he said.

“I wanted to try to commit time to a project that would help turn that tide and be of a net benefit to the community.”

He said that was not just to see the pub – now The Wigtown Ploughman – succeed but to help “all the local businesses that work so hard to keep the lights on” to benefit from an increased footfall to the town.

“The Machars often feels like a forgotten place in Scotland,” he said.

It has been a long battle but thanks to support from South of Scotland Enterprise the group was able to purchase the building for £330,000 and got the keys on Valentines Day this year.

Thanks to an army of volunteers – and more than £30,000 from a community share offer – it recently reopened its doors to great acclaim.

“The feedback has been great so far, but we know that we’re just at the start of a very long road,” he said.

“Work is under way to get the accommodation ready for the busy season and then we also have the task of renovating the kitchen to ensure we can provide an excellent food offering.”

He said their first couple of weeks had been an “incredible success”.

“Listening to locals saying that this is the first time they’ve been out to a pub for socialising in four years is exactly why we have committed so much time into the project – to bring people together again and rekindle connections,” he said.

“Our hopes for the future is to be open seven days a week, 364 days of the year and to entice people from all over the country to come and visit Wigtown, Scotland’s national book town.

“It’s pretty easy to find us from down south, head north, turn left at Gretna, turn left at Newton Stewart, and the whole of the Machars peninsula awaits you.”

The facility, the community project says, is “more than just a pub”.

The same building will be used as a community hub which they hope to open later this month.

They also intend to announce their first employees soon and bring the accommodation in the building back into use.

“This community-led project is just getting started, and we plan to be here in the heart of Wigtown for generations to come,” said Craig.

When his camera stopped working on his iPhone recently, New Yorker Richard Medina didn’t waste any time. With the threat of tariff-fuelled price hikes on smartphones bearing down, he quickly called his phone company for a new one.

“I said, ‘We’ve got to switch this out now,'” the 43-year-old recalled. “Let’s take care of it.”

The move was a sign of the pressure rising across the US, where households are being buffeted by what could be staggering price rises, and even possible shortages triggered by the sweeping tariffs that US President Donald Trump announced this month.

Some are trying to stock up. Others say they feel paralysed by the changes, which have come quickly, or hope Trump will change his mind and reverse course – not an entirely unreasonable hope given the rapid changes in policy.

Trump, facing financial market revolt over his latest tariffs, has already altered his plans repeatedly.

First, he scaled back duties that had been planned on some countries, such as the European Union, in what was described as a 90-day pause.

Then, as market turmoil continued, he exempted smartphones and other electronics from the duties, announcing the carve-out just a few days after Mr Medina felt pressure to make a purchase.

“I can’t keep up with the president. Every day is something new,” said Anna Woods, 42, who recently received a message from her son’s summer camp warning that the tariffs might affect pricing of standard gear such as T-shirts.

The 42-year-old, who works in legal operations, says she is nervous but unclear how to proceed.

“I just feel like we’re living in uncertain times,” she said, adding: “I do need to make some purchases …. Everything is going up.”

The latest tariffs include a 10% tax on the vast majority of imports – and an eye-popping 145% duty on goods from China, which is the third biggest supplier of imports to the US after the European Union and Mexico and a key source of essentials such as smartphones, shoes and umbrellas.

The measures followed previous orders that added 25% levies on cars, steel, aluminium and some goods from Canada and Mexico.

In all, Trump’s orders have pushed the average effective tariff rate on imports in the US to the highest level in more than a century.

In stores, the immediate impact has been limited, since many firms stockpiled some products in anticipation of some tariffs.

But the tariffs are widely expected to lead to higher prices in the months ahead, especially for items such as clothing, leather goods, electronics and toys, many of which are made in China.

The Budget Lab at Yale forecasts that prices for clothing could soar by more than 60% in the short run; basic pharmaceutical products could jump by 12%, and food prices rise by 2.6%.

All told, the typical US family is facing a roughly $4,700 jump in costs due to the new taxes, if purchase patterns remain the same, it estimates.

“I’m extremely worried about it,” said 38-year-old mother Jamie Casey, one of more than a dozen people shopping at a Target in Brooklyn on a recent afternoon who shared their thoughts with the BBC about the tariffs.

She was in the store picking up formula – and some onesies and outfits for her daughter, who has yet to turn one.

“I wouldn’t say I’m panic-buying yet, but I am interested in how it plays out.”

Major retailers experienced a jump in visits in the weeks leading up to Trump’s tariff announcement, according to research firm Placer.ai, while purchases at the likes of Walmart and Target increased markedly in the immediate aftermath, according to data tracked by ConsumerEdge.

There has also been an uptick in US purchases on Amazon’s e-commerce platform, where Chinese sellers dominate, CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC recently.

“I don’t know if we can necessarily conclude it’s panic-buying but there seems to be broad stock-up behaviour,” said Michael Gunther, head of insights at ConsumerEdge, noting that two separate data sets used by the firm showed a pick-up.

Cristina Montoya said she had been buying extra canned food and frozen fruit, a little at a time for a few months, anxious about possible price increases, especially as a pensioner reliant on a fixed income.

“You never used to do your shopping nervous,” the 74-year-old said. “I feel like you have to buy a lot of things because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The dynamic has added to the tariff turmoil.

Last week, as the measures came into effect, some businesses started introducing tariff surcharges, while others abruptly cancelled shipments from China, unwilling to risk being unable to recoup the cost of the duties.

The disruption has the potential to cause near-term shortages in the US of items where China dominates the supply, such as baby carriages, colouring books and umbrellas, analysts at Macquarie noted this week.

Analysts say the pickup in consumer purchases is likely to prove temporary, or an acceleration of transactions that would have happened anyway.

If price rises start to hit, many economists expect Americans to opt for cheaper substitutes, delay purchases, or simply do without – a pullback with major consequences for an economy driven by consumer spending.

Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, is predicting the US economy will grow just 0.5% this year, and the unemployment rate will rise to 5% – the highest level since 2021 amid Covid.

Other firms, such as JP Morgan, are forecasting an outright recession.

“In terms of the consumer, it does get a little tricky,” Ms Bostjancic said.

“We could see consumer spending actually be strong in March and April but it’s just because of this surge ahead of the tariff increases,” she added. “Going forward, consumer spending is going to be weaker.”

On surveys, fears about both the economy and price rises are flaring, even though hiring has been solid and inflation cooled to 2.4% in March, down from 2.8% in February.

Some people shopping in New York said it felt like a whole way of life could be coming to an end.

Louis Lopez, an elevator mechanic in New York City, said he was so worried about the economy he had started to squirrel away cash under the mattress. But he was also holding shopping bags with new work clothes and a pair of Nike trainers for the summer.

“You might as well buy it now … while you have it good,” the 56-year-old said. “It’s going to change everything for everybody.”

“Russians are trying to ban everything Ukrainian here: language, and also traditions. Even Ukrainian holidays are forbidden.”

This is the sorrow and fear of a rarely heard voice from within Ukraine – that of someone living in one of the Russian-occupied areas of the country. We are calling her Maria.

As the US leads efforts to negotiate peace in Ukraine, those living under Russian occupation face a brutal, repressive future.

Already, the Kremlin has put in place severe restrictions designed to stamp out Ukrainian identity, including harsh punishments for anyone who dares to disagree.

Now, there are fears that Kyiv could be forced to give up at least some of the territory occupied by Russia as part of a potential ceasefire or peace deal.

Ukrainian officials reject this, but Moscow says that at the very least it wants to fully capture four Ukrainian regions it partly controls – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – in addition to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Due to repression by the Russian authorities, speaking to the media and even your own relatives in occupied territories can be fraught with danger.

The Kremlin has also launched a wide-ranging campaign to force Ukrainians in occupied territories to take Russian passports. Evidence suggests that Ukrainians are being denied healthcare and free movement unless they take up Russian citizenship.

Maria (not her real name) said she was a member of an all-female underground resistance group waging a campaign of peaceful resistance in those territories, mainly by distributing leaflets and newsletters.

In an interview with the BBC’s Today programme, she used a Ukrainian proverb to describe the danger she is facing: “You have fear in your eyes, but your hands are still doing it. Of course it’s scary.”

The BBC cannot reveal her real name or location so as not to put her in danger.

The atmosphere of fear and suspicion is such that when I was trying to contact residents of occupied Mariupol, I was accused of being a Russian journalist.

“You won’t like what I’ve got to say. People like you kill if you tell them the truth,” one person told me via direct message on social media. They claimed to be from the port city, captured by the Russians in May 2022 after a bloody siege that left it in ruins.

Later, I asked some Ukrainian friends if I could speak to their relatives living in occupied areas. All said no – that would be too dangerous.

Sofia (also not her real name) is from a village in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region. It was occupied at the start of the full-scale invasion of 2022.

Sofia is now in the UK but her parents are still in her village and she told me about the care she needs to take when talking to them.

“About a year ago, my parents were searched by the [Russian security service] FSB. They confiscated their phones, accusing them of telling the Ukrainian army about where Russian troops were stationed. That wasn’t true, and later the Russian military told my parents that they had been reported by their neighbours. That’s why I try not to provoke anything like that,” Sofia tells me.

“I have to read between the lines when they tell me about what’s going on.”

And just speaking to them at all is becoming more difficult. Sofia says that her parents are unable even to top up their mobile phones or insure their car because they refuse to take Russian passports.

“It’s getting really awkward living without Russian IDs,” she says.

Yeva, whose name we have also changed, has a sister working at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

“Whenever we move from the weather or our children on to our subjects, her tone changes,” Yeva says. “She tells me: ‘You don’t understand!'”

“What I do understand is that being a nuclear power plant worker, her phone is likely to be bugged,” Yeva tells me. She also says that her sister often repeats pro-Russian narratives when speaking to her.

Another friend, Kateryna, tells me that someone she knows in the occupied part of Kherson region was thrown into a punishment cellar for talking to her brother who had been helping the Ukrainian army. “I can’t put them at risk,” Kateryna told me when I asked to be put in touch with her friend.

According to Maria, Russian administrations have been installing surveillance systems to monitor any manifestations of dissent. “They are putting up a lot of CCTV cameras to control everybody, to find all the activists,” she says.

Numerous Ukrainian activists have been killed or disappeared under Russian occupation. According to the Ukrainian rights group Zmina, at least 121 activists, volunteers and journalists have been killed during the full-scale invasion, most of them during its first year.

Prior to the invasion, Russia had drawn up lists of activists to be arrested or killed, the group says.

More recently, Russia-installed authorities have been applying a host of repressive laws against dissenters. They can be penalised for alleged transgressions such as spreading “false information”, “discrediting” the Russian army or supporting “extremism”.

In Crimea alone, 1,279 cases have been launched so far on charges of “discrediting” the Russian armed forces, says the Ukrainian government office for Crimea. According to it, 224 people have been jailed in the occupied Ukrainian region for expressing dissent, most of them members of the indigenous Crimean Tatar community.

Despite the dangers, a number of underground resistance groups are active in occupied parts of Ukraine.

Zla Mavka, which takes its name from a Ukrainian mythical creature, is a non-violent all-female movement mostly focused on distributing posters and leaflets across occupied regions.

In Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, partisans have been targeting occupation troops and their transport while the Crimean Tatar group Atesh has been involved in reconnaissance and subversion.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Ribbon movement distributes Ukrainian symbols in occupied territories.

Because of the absence of independent media in occupied parts of Ukraine, it is hard to verify the impact of such activities. There is no evidence, however, to suggest that they have caused significant disruption for occupation forces.

Maria says whole streets are lined with Russian propaganda.

“In city centres, everything is covered with Russian propaganda: billboards with Putin’s face, Putin’s quotes, people they call heroes of the special military operation. There are flags everywhere,” she tells the BBC.

The Kremlin has banned Ukrainian and independent media including the BBC, and propagandists have been despatched from Russia to set up friendly media in the occupied territories. After many professional journalists fled, they have been forced to employ local teenagers to spread Moscow’s narratives.

Pro-Russian propaganda starts early at school, where children are forced to attend classes glorifying the Russian army and join quasi-military groups such as Yunarmia (Youth Army).

One Russian schoolbook even justifies the invasion of Ukraine by falsely portraying it as an aggressive state run by nationalist extremists and manipulated by the West.

Tens of thousands of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s supporters have held a rally in Belgrade following months of unrest across the country.

A monitoring organisation said around 55,000 people had gathered in front of the National Assembly. Despite some Vucic followers travelling from neighbouring countries, attendance was significantly lower than last month’s huge anti-government protest.

There have been regular demonstrations in Serbia since November when the collapse of a railway station canopy in the city of Novi Sad killed 15 people, triggering widespread public anger.

A number of Serbians blamed the incident on alleged corruption and corner-cutting by Vucic’s Progressive Party.

The Serbian leader had promoted the rally on Saturday as the launch of a “Movement for the People and the State”, which would “save” Serbia from forces working to “destroy” the country.

In a speech at the event, he called on prosecutors to work to restore order and peace.

He claimed the student-led protests had been threatening Serbia’s peace and stability, accusing attendees of being paid by “foreign intelligence agencies”.

“Certain foreign powers cannot bear to see a free, independent and sovereign Serbia”, he said, without clarifying which “powers” he was referring to.

Vucic also criticised national broadcaster RTS, describing it as a “key participant” in an attempted “colour revolution”.

After the Novi Sad incident last November, some blamed what had happened on more than a decade of governing by the Progressive Party of Vucic – who closely associated himself with the station’s prior renovation.

It was considered a key part of the government’s flagship infrastructure project – the high-speed line from Belgrade to Budapest in Hungary.

The demonstrations that followed the disaster saw attendees use the slogan “corruption kills”.

They claimed that the opaque procurement procedures the government used for infrastructure projects had enriched a few favoured contractors while putting public safety at risk.

Despite multiple resignations – and Vucic’s insistence that he was going nowhere – protests grew.

Last month, hundreds of thousands of people descended on Serbia’s capital.

An independent monitor estimated 325,000 – if not more – had gathered, making it Serbia’s largest protest ever.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from “reciprocal” tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports.

In a notice, US Customs and Border Patrol said that the goods would be excluded from Trump’s 10% global tariff on most countries and the much larger Chinese import tax.

It marks the first significant reprieve of any kind in Trump’s tariffs on China, with one trade analyst describing it as a “game-changer scenario”.

Late on Saturday, while travelling to Miami, Trump said he would give more details of the exemptions at the start of next week.

“We’ll be very specific,” he told reporters on Air Force One. “But we’re taking in a lot of money. As a country we’re taking in a lot of money.”

The move came after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, as many of them are made in China.

Exemptions – backdated to 5 April – also include other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.

“This is the dream scenario for tech investors,” Dan Ives, who is the global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, posted on X. “Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game-changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs.”

Big tech firms such as Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can breathe a huge sigh of relief this weekend, he added.

The White House indicated the exemptions were made to ensure companies had more time to move production to the US.

• Why Trump is hitting China on trade – and what might happen next
• Was Trump’s 90-day tariffs pause really a grand plan?

“President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

“At the direction of the president, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”

Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida home, told reporters on Friday he was comfortable with the high tariffs on China.

“And I think something positive is going to come out of that,” he said, touting his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

These electronic goods are still subject to the 20% tariff on China related to fentanyl, White House Deputy Chief of Staff on Policy Stephen Miller posted on X.

Some estimates suggested iPhone prices in the US could have as much as tripled if costs were passed on to consumers.

The US is a major market for iPhones, while Apple accounted for more than half of its smartphones sales last year, according to Counterpoint Research.

It says as much as 80% of Apple’s iPhones intended for US sale are made in China, with the remaining 20% made in India.

Like its fellow smartphone giant Samsung, Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chains to avoid an over-reliance on China in recent years.

India and Vietnam emerged as frontrunners for additional manufacturing hubs.

As the tariffs took effect, Apple reportedly looked to speed up and increase its production of India-produced devices in recent days.

Trump had planned for a host of steep tariffs on countries around the world to take effect this week.

But on Wednesday he announced he would implement a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs – except China, whose tariffs he raised to 145%.

Trump said the tariff increase for China was because of the country’s readiness to retaliate with its own 84% levy on US goods.

In a dramatic change of policy, Trump said all countries that had not retaliated against US tariffs would receive the reprieve – and only face a blanket tariff of 10% – until July.

The White House then said the move was a negotiating tactic to extract more favourable trade terms from other countries.

Trump has said his import taxes will address unfairness in the global trading system, as well as bring jobs and factories back to the US.

Queen Camilla says that King Charles “loves his work and it keeps him going” and that as his health is “getting better… now he wants to do more and more”.

The King has been receiving cancer treatment for over a year, but this week he successfully completed an intensive schedule of public events on a four-day state visit to Italy.

The Queen’s comments were made to the UK press on the trip that also coincided with the royal couple’s 20th wedding anniversary.

She said “dream on” to suggestions that the King might take it easier with his workload.

“I think he loves his work and it keeps him going. And I think it’s wonderful, you know, if you’ve been ill and you are recovering, you’re getting better and now he wants to do more and more and more. That’s the problem,” said the Queen.

“That’s what he’s driven by – helping others,” she said, while on the tour of Italy.

Royal sources have echoed that the King’s treatment has been going well, reflected in how his doctors have let him continue with his work and travels, with more overseas trips expected this year.

“He knows he is fortunate to be in a position to make a difference, and is determined to do just that,” said a senior Palace official about the 76-year-old King’s determination to keep working.

In terms of getting him to slow down, the official added: “We’ve all tried! But as people will have seen the King enjoys his work, he enjoys engaging with as many people as possible.”

A recent adverse side effect to the cancer treatment saw the King have a brief hospital stay, but that was described as a minor setback in a bigger picture of positive progress.

On his Italian visit he managed a busy schedule of ceremonies and events.

It included a private meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican, where the pontiff, who has been seriously ill, gave them his best wishes for their 20th wedding anniversary.

This was said to have been one of the highlights of the trip for the royal couple, with a senior Palace official saying they “both came away feeling that it had been a very significant and special moment”.

“Who could believe it was 20 years,” the Queen said of their marriage.

“What is the secret? I don’t know, well, I suppose it’s just the sort of friendship really, laughing at the same things, getting on with life,” she said.

She said that much of their time was taken up with official duties.

“We are always going in different directions, like ships that pass in the night really. We whizz past each other.”

The King and Queen had been given a warm welcome by Italy’s public and politicians – and Buckingham Palace officials seemed delighted with how the state visit had gone.

“It really showed soft power at its best,” said a senior Palace official.

There were enthusiastic crowds in Ravenna to see the royal couple on the final engagement of the trip, where they attended a festival celebrating local food.

The King received a standing ovation after a speech in Italy’s Parliament, where he called for Italy and the UK to stand together to defend democratic values.

He praised how the UK and Italy “stood by Ukraine in her hour of need”.

One of the personal highlights for the King was seeing the stunning Byzantine mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, a church dating to the 6th Century.

The King had been “genuinely deeply moved by what he had seen”, said a senior official.

They added: “I think the King and Queen also loved the final engagement in Ravenna – including, you may be surprised to hear, the huge crush of the crowds.”

Such state visits are carried out on behalf of the government and the backdrop to this trip to Italy had been a wave of international economic and diplomatic turmoil.

The UK government has been keen for a post-Brexit “reset” with its European partners and the visit saw multiple references to the military links between the UK and Italy.

“We are living in a very precarious and fragile world,” the King had told the state banquet.

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A Liberal Democrat MP has spoken of her “shock” after being barred from entering Hong Kong this week.

Wera Hobhouse said she flew to the Chinese region with her husband on Thursday to visit their newborn grandson but she was detained at the airport, questioned and then deported on the first flight home.

The MP for Bath, who is one of more than 40 parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) which criticises Beijing’s handling of human rights, said she had been given no reason as to why she was refused entry.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We will urgently raise this with the authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing to demand an explanation.”

He said it would be “unacceptable for an MP to be denied entry for simply expressing their views as a parliamentarian”, adding: “Unjustified restrictions on freedom of movement can only serve to further undermine Hong Kong’s international reputation.”

In a letter to Lammy, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey asked him to summon the Chinese Ambassador.

“We are sure you will agree that this is a deeply concerning situation,” Sir Ed wrote in the letter seen by BBC News.

“The UK cannot allow the Chinese government to attempt to undermine our democracy by intimidating our parliamentarians.”

Sir Ed said the bar was “apparently simply because she is a British Member of Parliament”.

A joint statement from other British MPs who are members of Ipac also urged the government and House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to “take a very strong stand in addressing this affront to democratic principles and personal freedoms”.

On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he was “greatly concerned” by the incident.

“We need an account of exactly what has happened and there hasn’t been an account provided at this stage,” he said.

“Obviously if Wera has been denied access because she is a British MP that is something we would take very seriously.”

The Sunday Times reported that Hobhouse’s husband was allowed to enter but decided to return to the UK.

The couple had travelled to visit their son who has lived in Hong Kong since 2019.

Ms Hobhouse, 65, told the Sunday Times: “My son was waiting at the other end at arrivals…

“I couldn’t even see him and give him a hug and I hadn’t seen him in a year.

“When I was given the decision my voice was shaking and I was just saying: ‘Why, please explain to me?'”

She added that she was not given an explanation – something she described as “cruel”.

“I am obviously devastated,” she said.

“I was obviously looking forward to holding [my grandson] and cuddling him and establishing a relationship.

“They are quite a long way away, so each month you lose is a bit of a loss for the relationship I will have with my grandson.

“Having to fly back, it was so hard. I didn’t cry but I was very close to tears.”

In 2021, China banned several British MPs from entering the country, including Ipac members Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Nusrat Ghani, and former security minister Tom Tugendhat.

Earlier this month, two Labour MPs – Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang – were refused entry to Israel while on a trip to the occupied West Bank.

Hobhouse’s treatment is likely to raise further questions about the government’s engagement with China.

The Chinese Embassy has been approached for comment.

Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke has left Celebrity Big Brother after “further use of inappropriate language” and “instances of unacceptable behaviour”, ITV has said.

On Saturday, Rourke, 72, used behaviour and language considered to be threatening and aggressive towards fellow housemate Chris Hughes, the BBC understands.

No physical altercation took place between the pair.

Just days ago, the Bafta-winning star of The Wrestler received a formal warning from Big Brother for “unacceptable language and behaviour” directed at another housemate, JoJo Siwa.

Siwa accused Rourke of being “homophobic” for saying he was “going to vote the lesbian out real quick” and making other comments about her sexuality.

Love Island star Hughes, 32, had comforted Siwa, 21, in Wednesday’s episode after Rourke’s comments.

A spokesperson for the ITV show said: “Mickey Rourke has agreed to leave the Celebrity Big Brother House this evening following a discussion with Big Brother regarding further use of inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behaviour.”

The Oscar-nominated star entered the ITV reality show on Monday alongside TV and social media personality Siwa, Hughes and 10 other celebrities.

According to a transcript released by ITV ahead of Wednesday evening’s episode, Rourke first asked Siwa if she liked boys or girls. She replied: “Girls. My partner is non-binary.”

He then told her: “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay any more.”

She responded: “I can guarantee I’ll still be gay and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.”

He then made the comment about voting her out, and apparently referred to an earlier conversation about the smoking area when he said: “I need a fag,” before gesturing to Siwa and adding: “I’m not talking to you.”

After being told he couldn’t say that by Hughes, Rourke claimed: “I know. I was talking about a cigarette.”

Rourke was called into the diary room, where Big Brother told him his “language was offensive and unacceptable” and gave him the formal warning.

He responded: “I apologise. I don’t have dishonourable intentions – I’m just talking smack, you know. I wasn’t taking it all so serious. I didn’t mean in it any bad intentions and if I did, sorry.”

After going back into the main house, Hughes told him Siwa “was very upset earlier”, and she informed Rourke it was “not an acceptable word”.

He told her: “I want to apologise. I’ve got a habit of having a short fuse. And I don’t mean nothing by it. I do mean it [sorry]. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t say it to you.”

Siwa replied: “I appreciate your apology.”

Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into an attack on three prison officers by Hashem Abedi, one of the men responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing.

The Prison Service said three officers have been treated in hospital after Saturday’s attack at HMP Frankland in County Durham, as the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) said the life-threatening injuries included burns and stab wounds.

Abedi, 28, who was jailed for life for helping his brother carry out the 2017 suicide bombing, threw hot cooking oil over the officers and used “home made weapons” to stab them, the POA said.

The Ministry of Justice said there will be a full review.

The female officer was discharged by 16:00 BST on Saturday. Her two male colleagues suffered “severe stab wounds” and remain in hospital where their conditions have “stabilised”, Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the POA, said on Sunday.

Saturday’s attack took place in a separation centre at HMP Frankland where Abedi has been a long-term inmate.

That centre, which holds fewer than 10 inmates, is used to house prisoners regarded as the most dangerous and extremist.

Fairhurst said separation centres are “very well resourced – for obvious reasons” but “to allow that type of prisoner to access the kitchen and use utensils that can be used as weapons… [that policy] needs to be removed immediately”.

“We are demanding that with immediate effect they restrict and remove cooking facilities from separation centres,” he said.

“We are worried about the knock-on effects and copycat incidents.”

The separation model was introduced in 2017 with the aim of separating and controlling prisoners who present a risk that cannot be managed in a mainstream location, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Fairhurst, who is due to visit the prison on Monday, told the BBC he was “appalled” that offenders in these locations were being “allowed the same privileges as normal location prisoners”.

“A separation centre is there for a reason,” he said. “All we need to do with those types of prisoners is give them their basic entitlements.

“Separation centres should be for control and containment because these people are not going to change their ideologies and they are intent on inflicting harm on everyone they come into contact with.”

Later on Sunday, Fairhurst added the POA will be writing to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to request an urgent meeting around the levels of protection for staff working with these category of prisoners.

He said the organisation had been asking for “several years” for the government and employers to provide stab-proof vests for frontline staff.

“Now is the time to issue staff with the appropriate levels of protection they need when dealing with prisoners who pose such a risk and such a threat,” he said.

A prison officer at HMP Frankland told BBC News “staff are shaken by what’s happened”.

“You can’t help asking yourself why you do this job when something like this happens.”

Abedi’s brother Salman Abedi carried out the Manchester Arena suicide bombing which killed 22 people.

Hashem Abedi was found guilty in 2020 of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life and sentenced to a minimum term of at least 55 years before he could be considered for parole.

The sentence was a record for a determinate prison term.

In 2022, Abedi, along with two others, was found guilty of a previous attack on two prison officers at Belmarsh Prison in south-east London.

A sentence of three years and 10 months for this attack was added to his previous minimum term.

Counter-terrorism policing (CTP)’s Cdr Dom Murphy said: “Given the nature of the incident [on Saturday], it has been agreed that CTP North East will lead the investigation, supported by Durham Constabulary.

“This is an ongoing investigation which is in its early stages, and we are working hard to establish the facts. Therefore, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

Following the incident, former prison governor John Podmore told the BBC this incident was a “catastrophic security failure” as he underlined this unit holds the “most violent and dangerous” offenders.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.

“The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick called the attack “extremely concerning”.

“There are serious concerns about the prison leadership’s ability to contain the threat from Islamist extremist inmates,” he said.

“This deeply serious security failure must be a turning point,” he added as he referenced a previous social media post of his titled “Britain’s prisons are being overrun by Islamist gangs”.

A spokesperson for the Prison Service said violence in prisons “will not be tolerated”.

“We will always push for the strongest punishment for attacks on our hardworking staff,” they said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said on Sunday their thoughts are with the two officers who remain in hospital.

“There will be a full review into how this attack was able to happen, alongside the separate police inquiry,” the spokesperson added.

“The government will do whatever it takes to keep our hardworking staff safe.”

Well, well, well.

In a US customs messaging note quietly slipped out in the early hours of Saturday, a series of numbers were listed as exempt from the 125% tariff on goods entering the country from China.

The code “8517.13.00.00” means very little to most of the world, but in the US customs list it represents smartphones.

The inclusion meant the number one Chinese export to America by value last year was exempted from the import taxes, alongside other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.

In the context of the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick just days ago announcing that part of the point of escalating tariffs on China was to bring back iPhone production to the US, this was a stunning about-turn.

The US has now excluded the single biggest Chinese export, and certainly the most high-profile finished good from tariffs, without publicly announcing it at first.

It is worth considering what would have happened in the absence of this exemption.

The effect of 125% tariffs on Apple’s Zhengzou manufacturing facility in eastern China would have started to show in weeks at most American Apple stores. It would have been a totemic “sticker shock” for the White House’s tumultuous tariff push.

According to Counterpoint, a global technology market research firm, as much as 80% of Apple’s iPhones intended for US sale are made in China.

The tech giant’s manufacturing profit margins are estimated to be between 40-60%. Typical iPhone prices might have moved closer to $2,000 (£1,528) than $1,000. The other option for Apple could have been to spread the cost across all of its global prices, but would the rest of the world accept paying a Trump tariff tax?

A very public repricing of iPhones has been avoided, but still may occur if, as the White House has said, the previously imposed 20% tariffs on China related to the powerful opioid fentanyl, remain in place.

Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, is a key player here. He can walk into a meeting with both US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It is not an outlandish prediction to suggest that, if it comes, any peace in the US-China trade war could be brokered by Mr Cook.

That’s based on his deep fundamental role in connecting the two economies. He was hand-selected by Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs for his unrivalled expertise in just-in-time supply logistics.

This is all moving rather quickly now. Weekend reports in the US press claim White House trade hawk Pete Navarro is being sidelined too, in favour of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Navarro was the author of the infamous equation that set so-called reciprocal tariff rates in proportion to the size of a country’s trade surplus with the US, calling it “the sum of all cheating”.

Bessent is now leading negotiations with trade partners seeking to avoid the reapplication of those rates after the 90-day pause.

There is a big question after 10 days of chaos. What is the incentive for other nations to offer much here? The Trump administration is clearly spooked by the bond market reaction to the president’s trade plans, and questions surrounding the safe haven status of US debt for investors.

In trying to stave off effective interest rates on bonds rising to 5%, the US needs deals more than just those in surplus countries.

Indeed this weekend’s broad range of exemptions are in and of themselves an astonishing U-turn on the principle embodied in the notorious tariff chart held up by Trump in the Rose Garden.

Just under a quarter of China’s total exports are now exempt from the 125% tariff, according to Capital Economics.

The consultancy suggests there are other big winners from the exemptions, with 64% of exports to the US from Taiwan, 44% from Malaysia, and just under 30% from both Vietnam and Thailand now also exempt.

The 10% universal tariff is now riddled with exemptions, and the biggest carve outs are for many nations with massive trade surpluses from electronics manufacturing.

The new tariff equation is to give an effective discount from the universal 10% (through exemptions) to those with the biggest surpluses. For example, Taiwan has a $74bn surplus with the US, and Vietnam a $124bn surplus.

This is the exact opposite of the infamous Navarro calculation from last week. In 10 days we’ve gone from the “looters and pillagers” will be hit the hardest, to (apart from China) those with big surpluses getting the biggest exemptions.

Meanwhile an ally such as the UK, which according to US figures has a $12bn deficit – i.e. the US sells more to the UK than the other way round, has a 25% tariff on cars, its biggest goods exports, with number two, medicines, in line for similar charges.

The White House has gone from clearly suggesting there would be no negotiation on the baseline 10% tariffs to offering exemptions to the very products causing the deficit the entire policy was supposed to solve.

This is a lot more than a “row back”. Some have called it the “Art of the Repeal”. The 4D chess has been replaced by someone playing one dimensional checkers, but unable to tell the difference between opposing pieces.

The US is now negotiating with the bond markets, and itself. The rest of the world will just see how this plays out now.

Bangladeshi authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the British MP and former Labour minister Tulip Siddiq.

The country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been investigating allegations Siddiq illegally received land as part of its wider probe of the regime of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed as prime minister in August.

The Hampstead and Highgate MP, who quit as economic secretary to the Treasury in January, was named in the arrest warrant alongside more than 50 others.

Lawyers acting for Siddiq denied the charges, which they said were “politically motivated”.

The ACC had not presented any evidence or informed Siddiq about an arrest warrant, the lawyers added.

The UK lists Bangladesh as a 2B extradition country – meaning clear evidence must be presented before ministers and judges make a decision.

The ACC is examining claims Sheikh Hasina and her family embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.

The investigation is based on a series of allegations made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Hasina.

Court documents seen by the BBC show Hajjaj has accused Siddiq of helping to broker a deal with Russia in 2013 that overinflated the price of a new nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.

In a statement seen by the BBC, Siddiq’s lawyers Stephenson Harwood said: “The allegations are completely false and have been dealt with in writing by Siddiq’s lawyers.

“The ACC has not responded to Siddiq or put any allegations to her directly or through her lawyers.

“Siddiq knows nothing about a hearing in Dhaka relating to her and she has no knowledge of any arrest warrant that is said to have been issued.

“To be clear, there is no basis at all for any charges to be made against her, and there is absolutely no truth in any allegation that she received a plot of land in Dhaka through illegal means.

“She has never had a plot of land in Bangladesh, and she has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else.

“No evidence has been provided by the ACC to support this or any other allegation made against Siddiq, and it is clear to us that the charges are politically motivated.”

Before resigning, Siddiq had referred herself to the PM’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus when the corruption allegations first surfaced.

Sir Laurie said in his report that he had “not identified evidence of improprieties”.

But he added it was “regrettable” that Siddiq had not been more alert to the “potential reputational risks” of the ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh and leader of Awami League party.

ACC chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen has previously told the BBC the allegations “are by no means ‘targeted and baseless'” and its investigation was “based on documentary evidence of corruption”.

“Tulip Siddiq must not shy away from the court proceedings in Bangladesh.

“I would welcome Siddiq come and defend her case and with the best possible legal support accompanying her,” he added.

He also rejected her lawyer’s claims that the ACC was interfering in UK politics, adding: “ACC briefing to the media is a regular phenomenon, it is delivered professionally and with all accuracy.”

The Indian pot belly – once a badge of prosperity, indulgence and aging respectability – has long been a target of satire and social commentary.

In literature, it quietly signalled comfort or complacency; in films, it became a shorthand for the lazy official, gluttonous uncle, or a corrupt policeman. Cartoons exaggerated it to mock politicians. In rural settings, it was once considered a status symbol – a sign that “this man eats well”.

But what was once dismissed or even celebrated is now raising alarm bells. The obesity crisis in India is ballooning – and the seemingly harmless pot belly may be a far bigger villain than we think.

India had the second-highest number of overweight or obese adults in 2021, with 180 million affected – behind only China. A new Lancet study warns this number could soar to 450 million by 2050, nearly a third of the country’s projected population.

Globally, more than half of all adults and a third of children and adolescents are expected to face the same fate.

At the heart of this issue in India lies the pot belly, or in medical terms, abdominal obesity.

This form of obesity refers to the accumulation of excess fat around the belly and doctors say it’s more than a cosmetic concern. As far back as the 1990s, studies showed a clear link between belly fat and chronic conditions like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Obesity isn’t just abdominal. It appears in different patterns, depending on fat distribution: peripheral obesity affects the hips, thighs, and buttocks, while generalised obesity involves fat spread more evenly across the body.

The numbers on abdominal obesity in India are already troubling. According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) – which, for the first time, measured waist and hip sizes – about 40% of women and 12% of men in India have abdominal obesity.

Abdominal obesity, based on Indian guidelines, means a waist over 90cm (35 inches) for men and 80cm (31 inches) for women. Among women aged 30 to 49, nearly one in two already show signs of it. Urban populations were found to be more affected than rural ones, with high waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratios emerging as a key red flag.

• Indians are getting fatter – and it’s a big problem
• Why are Indian children getting fatter?

So why is belly fat such a big deal?

One reason is insulin resistance – a condition where the body stops responding properly to insulin, the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar. Abdominal fat disrupts how the body uses insulin, making it harder to control blood sugar.

Studies have found South Asians, including Indians, tend to have more body fat than white Caucasians at the same Body Mass Index. (BMI is a simple measure of body fat based on a person’s weight in relation to their height.)

It’s not just how much fat you have – it’s where it goes. In South Asians, fat tends to collect around the trunk and under the skin, but not always deep in the abdomen as visceral fat.

Though South Asians may have less of the more harmful deep abdominal fat around organs like the liver and pancreas, studies show their larger, less efficient fat cells struggle to store fat under the skin. As a result, excess fat spills into vital organs that regulate metabolism – like the liver and pancreas – raising the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Scientists still don’t fully understand the biological reasons behind the fat distribution patterns. Though numerous genetic studies have been conducted, no single gene has consistently explained this tendency.

One theory offers an evolutionary root. India, for centuries, was wracked by famines and chronic food shortages, leaving generations to survive on meagre nutrition.

In such conditions, the human body adapted for survival in extreme scarcity.

The body needed a depot for this energy and the abdomen, being the most expandable area, became the prime storage site. Over time, as food became more plentiful, this fat store continued to grow – eventually to harmful levels.

“It’s a conjectural but plausible evolutionary theory – one that can’t be proven, but makes sense,” says Anoop Misra, who heads Delhi’s Fortis-C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology.

Last year, in a paper doctors belonging to the Indian Obesity Commission redefined obesity guidelines for Asian Indians, moving beyond BMI to better reflect how body fat relates to early health risks.

They created a two-stage clinical system that considers fat distribution, related diseases and physical function.

Stage one involves a high BMI, but without abdominal obesity, metabolic disease, or physical dysfunction. In such cases, lifestyle changes like diet, exercise and sometimes medication are usually enough.

Stage two includes abdominal obesity – the harmful visceral fat – and is often accompanied by health issues like diabetes, knee pain or palpitations. This stage signals higher risk and calls for more intensive management.

This classification guides treatment intensity. Once belly fat appears, early action is key – new weight loss drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide are proving effective at targeting it, doctors say.

“As shocking as it may sound, even people with a normal weight can have dangerous levels of belly fat,” says Dr Misra.

Indian physicians say abdominal obesity is rising due to lifestyle changes – more junk food, takeaways, instant meals and greasy home cooking. Between 2009 and 2019, Cameroon, India and Vietnam saw the fastest growth in per capita sales of ultra-processed foods and beverages, studies found.

So, what needs to be done?

Experts say Indians need tougher lifestyle changes than Western norms recommend. While 150 minutes of weekly exercise may suffice for their European men, their South Asians counterparts need around 250–300 minutes to offset slower metabolism and less efficient fat storage, studies show.

“Our bodies simply aren’t as good at handling excess fat,” says Dr Misra.

In short, the pot belly isn’t just a punchline – it’s a warning sign. And India is sitting on a ticking health time bomb.

US President Donald Trump is in “excellent cognitive and physical health”, says his White House physician.

In the first annual physical of his second presidential term at a Washington DC-area hospital, Trump was also found to have “scaring on the right ear from a gunshot wound”, after an assassination attempt last July.

“President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function,” his doctor, Captain Sean Barbabella, said in a memo.

At 78, Trump was the oldest president to take office in January, though his predecessor, Joe Biden, was older at 82 by the time he left.

As a part of Friday’s nearly five-hour medical examination at the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, Trump received several blood tests, a cardiac examination and ultrasounds, said his doctor.

“His active lifestyle continues to contribute significantly to his well-being,” Dr Barbabella wrote in the memo released by the White House on Sunday.

“President Trump exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.”

The president received neurological tests on his mental status, nerves, motor and sensory function and reflexes. He was also given the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and scored 30 out of 30, said the memo.

The test is commonly used to detect cognitive decline and early signs of dementia and has tasks such as naming animals, drawing a clock and repeating words back five minutes later.

Dr Barbabella also said Trump had “minor sun damage” and a few “benign skin lesions”.

He takes several medications to control his cholesterol – Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe – as well as Aspirin for cardiac prevention and Mometasone cream for a skin condition, said the memo.

Trump’s cardiac examination showed “no abnormalities”, wrote Dr Barbabella.

The examination noted the president’s medical history of “well-controlled hypercholesterolemia”, a condition which can increase a patient’s risk of a heart attack.

Other conditions noted in his medical history included a past Covid infection, rosacea, which is a skin condition often causing redness in the face, and a benign colon polyp.

The president weighs 224lb (101kg) and stands 6ft 2.5in tall, according to the records from Dr Barbabella. Trump has shed some pounds since February 2019, when he weighed 243lb.

Under the Body Mass Index calculator, he would currently be categorised within the overweight range, and not obese.

The memo noted that the president’s “joints and muscles have a full range of motion”, while crediting his good health to an active lifestyle, including “frequent victories in golf events”.

It is the first medical report on Trump released to the public since a gunman tried to kill him at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July, grazing his ear with a bullet.

At the time, Trump’s former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, released a report saying his injuries from the incident were superficial.

During Trump’s first term in office, a White House doctor said he was in good health but needed to lose weight and exercise.

On the campaign trail, Trump frequently attacked his rival, Biden, over his cognitive and physical health.

After a poor debate performance last year against Trump, Biden declined to commit to taking a cognitive test, which he said he had not undergone while in office.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from “reciprocal” tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports.

In a notice, US Customs and Border Patrol said that the goods would be excluded from Trump’s 10% global tariff on most countries and the much larger Chinese import tax.

It marks the first significant reprieve of any kind in Trump’s tariffs on China, with one trade analyst describing it as a “game-changer scenario”.

Late on Saturday, while travelling to Miami, Trump said he would give more details of the exemptions at the start of next week.

“We’ll be very specific,” he told reporters on Air Force One. “But we’re taking in a lot of money. As a country we’re taking in a lot of money.”

The move came after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, as many of them are made in China.

Exemptions – backdated to 5 April – also include other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.

“This is the dream scenario for tech investors,” Dan Ives, who is the global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, posted on X. “Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game-changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs.”

Big tech firms such as Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can breathe a huge sigh of relief this weekend, he added.

The White House indicated the exemptions were made to ensure companies had more time to move production to the US.

• Why Trump is hitting China on trade – and what might happen next
• Was Trump’s 90-day tariffs pause really a grand plan?

“President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

“At the direction of the president, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”

Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida home, told reporters on Friday he was comfortable with the high tariffs on China.

“And I think something positive is going to come out of that,” he said, touting his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

These electronic goods are still subject to the 20% tariff on China related to fentanyl, White House Deputy Chief of Staff on Policy Stephen Miller posted on X.

Some estimates suggested iPhone prices in the US could have as much as tripled if costs were passed on to consumers.

The US is a major market for iPhones, while Apple accounted for more than half of its smartphones sales last year, according to Counterpoint Research.

It says as much as 80% of Apple’s iPhones intended for US sale are made in China, with the remaining 20% made in India.

Like its fellow smartphone giant Samsung, Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chains to avoid an over-reliance on China in recent years.

India and Vietnam emerged as frontrunners for additional manufacturing hubs.

As the tariffs took effect, Apple reportedly looked to speed up and increase its production of India-produced devices in recent days.

Trump had planned for a host of steep tariffs on countries around the world to take effect this week.

But on Wednesday he announced he would implement a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs – except China, whose tariffs he raised to 145%.

Trump said the tariff increase for China was because of the country’s readiness to retaliate with its own 84% levy on US goods.

In a dramatic change of policy, Trump said all countries that had not retaliated against US tariffs would receive the reprieve – and only face a blanket tariff of 10% – until July.

The White House then said the move was a negotiating tactic to extract more favourable trade terms from other countries.

Trump has said his import taxes will address unfairness in the global trading system, as well as bring jobs and factories back to the US.

The UK government is taking control of Chinese-owned British Steel after emergency legislation was rushed through Parliament in a single day.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told MPs the government’s likely next step would be to nationalise the Scunthorpe plant, which employs 2,700 people.

But he said he was forced to seek emergency powers to prevent owners Jingye shutting down its two blast furnaces, which would have ended primary steel production in the UK.

MPs and peers were called back from their Easter holidays to debate the legislation in an extremely rare Saturday sitting of both houses of Parliament. It has now received Royal Assent after being passed by the Commons and Lords.

The BBC understands UK government officials are at the Scunthorpe site ready to take control of operations.

After the legislation was given royal assent, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Today, my government has stepped in to save British steel.

“We are acting to protect the jobs of thousands of workers, and all options are on the table to secure the future of the industry.”

He said steel made in Britain “will be the backbone as we get Britain building once more,” adding: “Our industry is the pride of our history – and I want it to be our future, too.”

Speaking to steelworkers earlier on Saturday at a village hall near Scunthorpe, Sir Keir said: “You are the people who have kept this going.”

It came as several hundred people, including steelworkers and their families, took part in a march and a rally at Scunthorpe United’s Glanford Park stadium, chanting “we want our steel back”.

British Steel worker Rob Barroclough told the BBC: “Our family, like many others, is built around the steelworks. Who knows… my boys might end up working there one day, if it can be saved.”

He added: “We’re hoping for the best but planning for the worst.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that police were called to the steel works this morning after a suspected breach of the peace.

Jingye officials have been on-site regularly in recent days, and it’s thought that relations between them and the workers have become increasingly tense.

Sources told BBC News that when Jingye executives arrived at the plant this morning, the automatic number plate recognition scanners didn’t allow them through the site barriers.

Humberside Police said officers conducted checks and spoke to individuals but that there were no concerns raised and no arrests were made.

The legislation going through Parliament was not resisted by opposition parties – but the Conservatives said the government should have acted sooner and made “a total pig’s breakfast of this whole arrangement”.

The new law hands Reynolds sweeping powers to control management and workers at the plant to ensure production continues, including entering it by force, if necessary, to secure assets.

But Jingye will retain ownership of it for now.

The government remains hopeful it can secure private investment to save the loss-making plant, but ministers concede there are currently no companies willing to make an offer.

In the Commons, Reynolds acknowledged that public ownership was “the likely option”.

He said the government would “pay the fair market rate” to shareholders in the event of nationalisation but added: “In this case the market value is effectively zero.”

Keeping a loss-making plant open could come at a high cost to taxpayers.

But Reynolds insisted it was in the “national interest” to retain the ability to make steel from scratch and he believed the company had a future, particularly as the government was boosting infrastructure spending.

“Steel is fundamental to Britain’s industrial strength, to our security, and to our identity as a primary global power”, he told MPs.

He said he had been forced to take over the running of the plant because Jingye, which bought British Steel in 2020, had rejected the government’s offers to buy raw materials to keep the blast furnaces running.

“Despite our offer to Jingye being substantial, they wanted much more. Frankly, an excessive amount. We did however remain committed to negotiation.

“But over the last few days, it became clear that the intention of Jingye was to refuse to purchase sufficient raw material to keep the blast furnaces running, in fact, their intention was to cancel and refuse to pay for existing orders.

“The company would therefore have irrevocably and unilaterally closed down primary steel making at British Steel.”

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice urged the government to “show your cojones” and go further by fully nationalising British Steel “this weekend”.

Several Conservative MPs also spoke in favour of nationalisation. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said recalling Parliament had been “absolutely the right thing to do” but urged ministers to use the “unprecedented legislation judiciously”.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, now an independent MP, urged the government to nationalise all steelmaking in the UK.

Green MP Ellie Chowns said steel is integral to the “green industrial transformation” – including making wind turbines, trains and tracks – and nationalisation would give the UK the control it needs to renew the industry.

The government came under fire for acting to save the Scunthorpe plant but not taking the same action when the Tata Steel works in Port Talbot was threatened with closure.

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Robert said it was a “bitter day for the people of Port Talbot”, as she urged the government to change the legislation to take control of what is left of the steelworks there.

The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn asked why the legislation only applies to England, when a Scottish oil refinery is facing closure.

“Why is this not being extended to Scotland? Why is Grangemouth not being included?” he asked Reynolds, adding the UK government was “not interested in Scotland”.

Reynolds said Grangemouth was “not comparable” with the situation at Scunthorpe, which he said was “unique”.

“The question for all members is whether we as a country want to continue to possess a steel industry, do we want to make the construction steel and rail we need here in the UK, or do we want to be dependent on overseas imports?” he told MPs.

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When his camera stopped working on his iPhone recently, New Yorker Richard Medina didn’t waste any time. With the threat of tariff-fuelled price hikes on smartphones bearing down, he quickly called his phone company for a new one.

“I said, ‘We’ve got to switch this out now,'” the 43-year-old recalled. “Let’s take care of it.”

The move was a sign of the pressure rising across the US, where households are being buffeted by what could be staggering price rises, and even possible shortages triggered by the sweeping tariffs that US President Donald Trump announced this month.

Some are trying to stock up. Others say they feel paralysed by the changes, which have come quickly, or hope Trump will change his mind and reverse course – not an entirely unreasonable hope given the rapid changes in policy.

Trump, facing financial market revolt over his latest tariffs, has already altered his plans repeatedly.

First, he scaled back duties that had been planned on some countries, such as the European Union, in what was described as a 90-day pause.

Then, as market turmoil continued, he exempted smartphones and other electronics from the duties, announcing the carve-out just a few days after Mr Medina felt pressure to make a purchase.

“I can’t keep up with the president. Every day is something new,” said Anna Woods, 42, who recently received a message from her son’s summer camp warning that the tariffs might affect pricing of standard gear such as T-shirts.

The 42-year-old, who works in legal operations, says she is nervous but unclear how to proceed.

“I just feel like we’re living in uncertain times,” she said, adding: “I do need to make some purchases …. Everything is going up.”

The latest tariffs include a 10% tax on the vast majority of imports – and an eye-popping 145% duty on goods from China, which is the third biggest supplier of imports to the US after the European Union and Mexico and a key source of essentials such as smartphones, shoes and umbrellas.

The measures followed previous orders that added 25% levies on cars, steel, aluminium and some goods from Canada and Mexico.

In all, Trump’s orders have pushed the average effective tariff rate on imports in the US to the highest level in more than a century.

In stores, the immediate impact has been limited, since many firms stockpiled some products in anticipation of some tariffs.

But the tariffs are widely expected to lead to higher prices in the months ahead, especially for items such as clothing, leather goods, electronics and toys, many of which are made in China.

The Budget Lab at Yale forecasts that prices for clothing could soar by more than 60% in the short run; basic pharmaceutical products could jump by 12%, and food prices rise by 2.6%.

All told, the typical US family is facing a roughly $4,700 jump in costs due to the new taxes, if purchase patterns remain the same, it estimates.

“I’m extremely worried about it,” said 38-year-old mother Jamie Casey, one of more than a dozen people shopping at a Target in Brooklyn on a recent afternoon who shared their thoughts with the BBC about the tariffs.

She was in the store picking up formula – and some onesies and outfits for her daughter, who has yet to turn one.

“I wouldn’t say I’m panic-buying yet, but I am interested in how it plays out.”

Major retailers experienced a jump in visits in the weeks leading up to Trump’s tariff announcement, according to research firm Placer.ai, while purchases at the likes of Walmart and Target increased markedly in the immediate aftermath, according to data tracked by ConsumerEdge.

There has also been an uptick in US purchases on Amazon’s e-commerce platform, where Chinese sellers dominate, CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC recently.

“I don’t know if we can necessarily conclude it’s panic-buying but there seems to be broad stock-up behaviour,” said Michael Gunther, head of insights at ConsumerEdge, noting that two separate data sets used by the firm showed a pick-up.

Cristina Montoya said she had been buying extra canned food and frozen fruit, a little at a time for a few months, anxious about possible price increases, especially as a pensioner reliant on a fixed income.

“You never used to do your shopping nervous,” the 74-year-old said. “I feel like you have to buy a lot of things because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The dynamic has added to the tariff turmoil.

Last week, as the measures came into effect, some businesses started introducing tariff surcharges, while others abruptly cancelled shipments from China, unwilling to risk being unable to recoup the cost of the duties.

The disruption has the potential to cause near-term shortages in the US of items where China dominates the supply, such as baby carriages, colouring books and umbrellas, analysts at Macquarie noted this week.

Analysts say the pickup in consumer purchases is likely to prove temporary, or an acceleration of transactions that would have happened anyway.

If price rises start to hit, many economists expect Americans to opt for cheaper substitutes, delay purchases, or simply do without – a pullback with major consequences for an economy driven by consumer spending.

Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, is predicting the US economy will grow just 0.5% this year, and the unemployment rate will rise to 5% – the highest level since 2021 amid Covid.

Other firms, such as JP Morgan, are forecasting an outright recession.

“In terms of the consumer, it does get a little tricky,” Ms Bostjancic said.

“We could see consumer spending actually be strong in March and April but it’s just because of this surge ahead of the tariff increases,” she added. “Going forward, consumer spending is going to be weaker.”

On surveys, fears about both the economy and price rises are flaring, even though hiring has been solid and inflation cooled to 2.4% in March, down from 2.8% in February.

Some people shopping in New York said it felt like a whole way of life could be coming to an end.

Louis Lopez, an elevator mechanic in New York City, said he was so worried about the economy he had started to squirrel away cash under the mattress. But he was also holding shopping bags with new work clothes and a pair of Nike trainers for the summer.

“You might as well buy it now … while you have it good,” the 56-year-old said. “It’s going to change everything for everybody.”

US TV institution Saturday Night Live has entertained viewers and created comedy stars for 50 years. Can a British version reach the same heights?

For five decades, the phrase “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” has boldly opened episodes of Saturday Night Live, with its tried and tested mix of topical sketch comedy, celebrity cameos and big-name musical guests.

Now, the stateside staple is to come live from London after Sky announced that a “star-studded” UK spin-off, fronted by British comedic talent, will launch next year.

Overseen by the US original show’s creator Lorne Michaels, now 80, the broadcaster is promising the same “live, fast-paced style” as its American cousin.

Since being launched by Michaels in 1975, SNL has been a livewire springboard for comedic talents like Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell and Mike Myers.

Famed for its ever-revolving cast, Joe Piscopo of the 1980s cohort summed it up in a documentary marking the show’s 50th anniversary: “They took sketch comedy to a whole other level,” he said. “Comedy slowly became rock ‘n’ roll.”

The unpredictable live premise, combined with its longevity, has helped maintain its status. No other show has been nominated for (331) or won (90) more Emmy Awards.

“I don’t think you can underestimate that heritage when accounting for its current success,” says the Guardian’s TV and comedy writer Rachel Aroesti. “Which is something the UK version obviously won’t be able to emulate.”

The heritage is one reason why the show still attracts major young stars like Timothee Chalamet, who grew up watching it even as linear TV audiences have dropped sharply in the streaming age.

“In the US, the guests’ involvement is often newsworthy in itself – they also know their presence will generate a lot of publicity, so it’s a win-win situation,” Aroesti adds.

“I would be surprised if the UK version is able to attract the same calibre of guest.”

The Atlantic writer Helen Lewis says the general industry reaction has been that commissioning a UK version is a “courageous” move – wishing the team luck with the “difficult proposition”.

There are some notable differences between the two transatlantic TV industries.

The US SNL budget will be far bigger than UK TV norm, paying for a large cast and a team of writers working to the wire to keep jokes current.

“In the American version, it’s a very expensive format, having a writers’ room and keeping a cast of actors on retainer, essentially, the whole time. That’s really expensive,” Lewis told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.

The US comedy culture is also different, Lewis believes.

“The humour can sometimes be much more slapsticky. Quite a lot of the time, Americans struggle with British humour because they think we’re extremely mean.”

Comedy writer Jack Bernhardt agrees that there are different comedic traditions. UK sketch groups often form through friendships and showcase their talent at the Edinburgh Fringe, whereas many US comedians train at improv and sketch clubs, specifically honing their skills for shows like SNL.

Bernhardt says these differences “can’t necessarily be fixed by commissioning the UK version of SNL – it’s an entire comedy culture that would need to shift”.

“That’s not to say one can’t do the other,” he adds. “Just that this version of a sketch show isn’t necessarily playing to the unique strengths of the UK comedy scene. And that’s even before we get into the difficulties of doing a live show.”

Given these challenges, importing a legacy brand name like SNL may seem a gamble, especially at a time when the UK TV industry is faltering.

However, the US show’s fortunes have held relatively firm this decade, even if ratings are well below the pre-streaming era.

Vulture found that SNL averages 8.4 million weekly viewers, outperforming all other late-night shows combined. It’s also US network TV’s top entertainment series among adults aged 18 to 49.

“You rarely hear anyone asking whether SNL will ‘survive’, only how once Michaels moves on,” wrote reporter Josef Adalian. “Linear TV may be fighting for its life, yet SNL seems safe.”

Crucially, the sketch format lends itself perfectly to social media age, being easily digestible on digital platforms. According to the Economist, online SNL clips are averaging about 216 million views per episode on TikTok, X and YouTube. Sure, these viewers are not watching live, but the content undoubtedly lives.

Previous attempts to translate US late-night shows to the UK have often struggled.

However, in the 1980s, Saturday Live – later renamed Friday Night Live – ran for four seasons and helped the careers of Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry and Rik Mayall, while Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show gave breaks to Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen.

British comedy producer Jimmy Mulville, whose company Hat Trick Productions has made shows including Have I Got News For You and Whose Line is it Anyway?, says the opportunity to develop new talent will be one of the key draws for Sky, despite the risks.

“If Sky get this right, they’ll create new stars, and from that they can spin-off other shows with those performers,” he explains. “These shows can be fantastic, they can go on for years, and they can show off new talent all the time.”

He says the producers will need to assemble the right team of writers and performers.

“If it’s well-produced, I’ve no reason to see why it shouldn’t be successful,” says Mulville, who co-hosts Insiders: The TV Podcast.

He recently took the BBC’s long-running topical panel show Have I Got News For You to the US, where it has been commissioned for a second season by CNN. One US talent agent warned that the show was “too British” to work across the pond, he recalls.

“I said, ‘Yes it is, but I’m going to get it written by Americans and performed by Americans for Americans’.”

The reverse will be true for SNL. “In the UK, you’re going to have it written by British writers with British performers for a British audience. So it’s not an American show any more.”

Indeed, being “live from London” won’t be enough on its own to succeed, and SNL UK will need to feel like a truly British comedy creation and not just a reheated imitation of an American hit.

An Israeli air strike has destroyed part of al Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City.

Witnesses said the strike destroyed the intensive care and surgery departments of the hospital.

Video posted online appeared to show huge flames and smoke rising after missiles hit a two-storey building. People, including some patients still in hospital beds, were filmed rushing away from the site.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted the hospital because it contained a “command and control centre used by Hamas”. No casualties were reported, according to Gaza’s civil emergency service.

However, one child, who previously suffered a head injury, died as a result of “the rushed evacuation process”, according to a statement from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, part of the Anglican Church, which runs the hospital.

Surrounding buildings, including St Philip’s church, were also damaged, the diocese said.

It added that it was “appalled” at the bombing of the hospital “on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week”.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said al Ahli Arab Hospital’s building was “completely destroyed”, leading to the “forced displacement of patients and hospital staff”.

The IDF said it had taken steps “to mitigate harm to civilians or to the hospital compound, including issuing advanced warnings in the area of the terror infrastructure, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance”.

A local journalist, who was working at the hospital, said the IDF had phoned a doctor who was operating in the emergency department and asked them to evacuate the hospital immediately.

“All patients and displaced people must go out to a safe distance,” the officer reportedly said.

“You have only 20 minutes to leave.”

Footage on social media showed staff and patients leaving the building while it was still dark outside.

Dozens of Palestinians, including women and children, were also seen fleeing from a courtyard inside the hospital where they had been seeking shelter.

Khalil Bakr told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Lifeline programme that he and his three injured daughters had fled the hospital with only a couple of minutes to spare before it was bombed.

“It was terrifying,” he said. “The whole situation was difficult because I have already been injured. And as for my three daughters, one had her leg amputated, the other had her hand amputated, and the third had her body full of platinum plates.”

He added: “Only two minutes separated us from death.”

Al Ahli Arab – a small medical facility before the war – was the only fully functional hospital in Gaza City, following the destruction of Al-Shifa medical complex and other hospitals in the northern part of the Strip.

In its statement, the Hamas-run government media office condemned the attack.

Israel was “committing a horrific crime by targeting al Ahli Arab, which houses hundreds of patients and medical staff”, it said.

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy said such “deplorable attacks must end”, adding: “Israel’s attacks on medical facilities have comprehensively degraded access to healthcare in Gaza.”

In October 2023, an explosion at the same hospital killed hundreds of people.

Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli strike for the blast. Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which denied responsibility.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 50,933 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Of those, 1,563 have been killed since 18 March, when Israel restarted its offensive in the Gaza Strip, the ministry said.

A man has died in a house explosion that wrecked multiple properties and led to dozens of evacuations.

Homes in John Street, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, were evacuated and emergency services were called to the scene just before 20:00 BST on Saturday.

Two terraced houses were destroyed in the blast while neighbouring properties were also damaged.

On Sunday, police confirmed the body of a man, in his 50s, had been found in the wreckage.

Nottinghamshire Police said emergency services treated the man but were unable to save him and he died at the scene.

The explosion was declared a major incident by emergency services on Saturday evening.

Everyone else who may have been in the area at the time has been accounted for, police added.

An investigation is under way to establish the cause of the explosion.

A total of 35 properties in the area have been evacuated, with 48 residents needing alternative accommodation, said Julie Leigh, leader of Bassetlaw District Council.

She said the council had provided alternative accommodation at the nearby Crown Place Community Centre, while others have been staying with family and friends.

Ch Insp Clive Collings said: “This is an extremely serious incident that has led to a man’s untimely death.

“The man’s family have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers.

“I have no doubt that this incident will have come as a shock to the community in Worksop.”

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) said specialist urban search and rescue teams were called in to search the area after the blast.

Later, demolition workers – including a cherry picker vehicle – attended the scene after midday on Sunday.

Residents, who live near John Street, described “chaos” in the wake of the explosion.

They said they had heard a loud crashing sound which immediately prompted a large number of people to rush out into the street.

One resident told the BBC there was thick black smoke in the street as some people ran towards the wrecked house to try to help.

Bryony Wilkinson, who lives in John Street and was in her house at the time of the explosion, said: “It started off with a really loud bang and afterwards the whole house felt like it was shaking.

“It put me into shock and I froze for five seconds. I could hear a commotion outside and saw the black smoke outside.”

On Sunday afternoon, a police spokesperson at the scene told the BBC that firefighters had ended their search operation.

Meanwhile, demolition company Elite Group Demolition said it was waiting for permission to remove a dangerous wall.

A Cadent gas van also passed though the cordon.

Purvi Srikenthan, who runs the Today’s Local shop on nearby Sandy Lane, said she had been helping provide free food to families who were staying at the community centre.

The 43-year-old said: “We are here to help local people because we are part of the community.

“There’s a lot of families and children affected so we thought we might be able to help them and provide food.

“I only just heard the news that a man has died which is really sad. I feel so sorry for that family and all of the people who are affected.”

Crews from fire stations in Warsop, Worksop, Mansfield and Clowne arrived at the scene soon after the explosion.

Andy Wade, 59, says he lives 2.5 miles (4km) away but arrived at the scene because he knew the man who died.

He said he “kept himself to himself most of the time”.

“I just heard a bang and I thought that’s loud,” Mr Wade said.

“About 20 minutes later it all started appearing on Facebook and everyone got in touch with me to say there’s been an explosion on John Street.

“When the photos started coming through I knew whose house it was. I don’t know the circumstances but I’m obviously very upset.”