UK and EU in last-minute deal talks ahead of summit

15 minutes ago Share Save Hollie Cole BBC News Share Save

PA Media The prime minister is expected to welcome European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to London on Monday

Sir Keir Starmer will meet EU leaders at a summit in London later in an effort to secure a landmark reset of relations since Brexit. Negotiations between the UK and the EU continued late into the night on Sunday evening, with the issues being discussed thought to involve defence, trade, fishing rights, and a possible youth mobility scheme. Sir Keir will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the second time in four days as they aim to strike a deal. Government sources say huge progress has been made, but Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have described the deal as a "surrender," despite the contents not being known.

The talks continued into the night on Sunday, and the BBC understood there was no deadline for when they will conclude. Negotiations for the UK are being led by the minister for UK-EU relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, who told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he was driven by "ruthless pragmatism" and was focused on jobs, lower household bills, and stronger borders. He told the BBC the government was "confident" a deal to cut red tape on food exports and imports to and from the EU will be agreed. But he declined to give specific details of any deal, saying: "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed." Announcements around trade and security have been expected to include British access to a €150bn (£125bn) EU defence fund, which could be a boost for UK defence companies. Fishing could also be part of a deal, with a post-Brexit deal on fishing rights set to expire at the end of June 2026. The Conservatives have warned that the government must "make it clear that giving up any rights to UK waters and natural resources would represent a betrayal to British fishermen". Reports have circulated that a youth mobility scheme with the EU could be set up - something that Sir Keir told the Times on Saturday would be a "reciprocal" arrangement in which young people would be able to move abroad for up to two years. No specific details about the ages of those who could be eligible and whether there would be a cap on numbers were given, and it has received mixed responses from opposition parties. Badenoch described the possible scheme as "free movement through the back door" while Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice said earlier this week that such a scheme would be "the thin end" of EU free movement. The Liberal Democrats have backed the idea of a "capped mobility scheme", although the party's Europe spokesperson James MacCleary has accused the government of "dragging their heels when it comes to properly negotiating on the issue".

What we know about Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis

8 minutes ago Share Save Yang Tian and James Chater BBC News Share Save

Reuters

Former US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Biden received the news on Friday after he saw a doctor last week for urinary symptoms. Here's what you need to know about prostate cancer and its treatment options.

What is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer affects tissue of the prostate gland, the part of the male reproductive system that helps make semen. It is located between the penis and the bladder. According to the NHS, it usually develops slowly, so it can often grow unnoticed for years. That means some people can live for decades without needing treatment. But it also means symptoms often don't appear until the cancer is already advanced. Biden was diagnosed following urinary symptoms, one of the most common signs of prostate cancer. That's because it is often detected only when the prostate is big enough to have impacted the urethra, the tube that connects the bladder to the penis. Those symptoms can include needing to urinate more frequently, as well as a slow or weak urinary stream. Screening for prostate cancer is part of routine presidential health inspections, according to Dr Jeffrey Kuhlman, former White House doctor under President Barack Obama. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, according to the American Cancer Society, behind lung cancer. There will be more than 300,000 new cases in the US this year, according to projections by the American Cancer Society. About one in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. While it is "not uncommon" for men in their 80s to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, the grade and stage of Biden's cancer are "more advanced than most men would encounter" at diagnosis, Dr Ryan Cleary, urologist at MedStar Health, told the BBC.

What is the Gleason score?

The former president's prostate cancer is "characterised by a Gleason score of 9", his office said in the statement announcing his diagnosis. The Gleason score is the most common way of grading how likely the disease will advance and spread - also known as metastatic cancer. Specifically, it refers to how abnormal the cancer cells look in a sample under a microscope. The scale runs from six to 10, with a higher number indicating a more aggressive cancer. The scale starts at six because it is calculated by combining the two most common patterns of cancer cells found in a patient. The lowest score assigned to cancerous cells is three. That's why the lowest Gleason score for a cancer diagnosis is six. A Gleason score of nine, such as Biden's, means it is a "high-grade cancer". Cancer cells with a score of nine look very abnormal and are likely to grow quickly.

What are Biden's treatment options?

In Biden's case, the cancer is aggressive in nature and has already spread to his bones. According to Dr Jamin Vinod Brahmbhatt, a urologist at Orlando Health Medical Group, this level of spread does limit the treatment options. While there are medical based treatments such as chemotherapy, steroids and hormone therapy available, none of them are "curative", he said. "There are more medical options to stabilise the patient and control the cancer, but it never gets rid of the cancer completely." Biden's cancer is also said to be hormone sensitive, which means the cancer uses hormones to grow or develop. These types of cancers can be managed by drugs that block or lower the amount of hormones in the body. Dr Brahmbhatt said while this "opens up the toolkit" of treatment options for Biden, it was going to take "weeks or months" to see how he responds. Dr Kuhlman said Biden could also have the option of entering "clinical trials for advanced disease" if he meets the inclusion criteria. Biden and his family are said to be reviewing treatment options.

What is his prognosis?

Olympic star 'broken' by top swim coach's regime

32 minutes ago Share Save Rebecca Woods BBC Panorama Share Save

Getty Images Rūta Meilutytė winning Olympic gold in 2012, recalls cutting comments about her weight

A world record-breaking swimmer has told BBC Panorama she was left "broken" by the harsh regime run by one of the UK's most successful swimming coaches. Rūta Meilutytė, who won gold at the London 2012 Olympics, said Jon Rudd's focus on weighing and swimmers' diets contributed to her struggle with an eating disorder and depression. In total, 12 ex-swimmers have told us they experienced bullying, a toxic training environment and controlling food culture at one of the UK's most prestigious clubs for young elite swimmers when he was head coach. Rudd had faced allegations of bullying and verbal abuse during his 28-year tenure at Plymouth Leander swimming club, but the BBC has learned that no action was taken by the sport's governing body. We have found that Swim England, the governing body, did not act on a confidential 2012 investigation which ruled Rudd should be suspended after hearing evidence about his behaviour from 17 witnesses. Swim England's new chief executive Andy Salmon said he did not know why Rudd had not been suspended, but he was "deeply, deeply, sorry" to Plymouth's swimmers and all of those harmed by the governing body's failings. Rudd, who is due to become high performance director of Saudi Arabia's Olympic swimming team, has not responded to the BBC.

Getty Images Jon Rudd was head coach at Plymouth Leander for 28 years, establishing its reputation for producing Olympic medal-winning athletes

Plymouth Leander attracted aspiring swimmers from around the world after Rudd established its reputation as a club that produced Olympic athletes. While head coach between 1989 and 2017, he was responsible for swimmers' success, but also had safeguarding responsibilities to ensure their wellbeing. One of Plymouth Leander's most successful swimmers was Antony James, who won silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and represented Team GB at the 2012 Olympics. He was jailed for 21 years in February for raping two girls he had met at the club. Three people who trained at Plymouth Leander told Panorama that Rudd, who had coached James since he was eight years old, should have known he was interested in younger girls. A former girlfriend of James, also an ex-swimmer, said he was well known for mixing with young teenage girls and that his status as the club's "golden boy" meant no one questioned his behaviour. "Everyone knew - he wasn't trying to hide anything that he was doing, it was very out there and open," she said. She was 16 and he was 22 when they started a relationship and she says she believes she was a "gateway" to his grooming of younger girls. Rudd was a coach at Plymouth Leander in 2010 when Lithuanian Rūta Meilutyte moved to the UK to be coached by him. She made Olympic history two years later when, aged 15, she became the youngest person to win the 100m breaststroke.

Rūta Meilutytė says Rudd's regime "made me for a while and then it broke me"

Now 28, she recalls Rudd making cutting comments about her weight. When she confided in him that she had been making herself sick after meals to lose weight, she said he laughed and replied: "Well, at least you get the calories out." She said that Rudd did seek help for her once he realised that she was not happy with what he had said. She also described him saying her "ass was fat", moments before a major competition, aged 16. Despite being hailed as the club's most successful swimmer, Meilutytė said Rudd's regime "made me for a while and then it broke me". She left Plymouth Leander in 2017. Rudd's career, meanwhile, went from strength to strength, with him becoming Swim Ireland's director of performance swimming in the same year. Rudd was employed by Plymouth College, an independent school, until 2017. It ran a partnership with Plymouth Leander between 2001-2024 and many swimmers boarded there.

Olympic bronze medallist Cassie Patten said Rudd made her train with an injured shoulder

Among the other 11 swimmers to make allegations to Panorama about Rudd was Olympic bronze medallist Cassie Patten. She said the coach had made her train with an injured shoulder and that it eventually ended her career in 2011. Commonwealth Youth gold medallist Phoebe Lenderyou told Panorama Rudd's regime aggravated her eating disorder. Andy Salmon, who has been CEO of Swim England since February 2024, confirmed to the BBC that no action was taken against Rudd despite evidence swimmers had suffered harm and the 2012 report's recommendation that he be suspended for four months. The report would have remained a secret but for the BBC receiving a tip-off in 2023. It said Rudd had been subjected to a lengthy probe, but that none of the complainants had been told the outcome. His case was reviewed after the BBC asked Swim England about it. According to the original investigation, Rudd's assistant coach, Lindsay Trimmings, should also have been suspended from Plymouth Leander. She was later hired by Swim England to be its head of coaching but left in 2023. When Panorama wrote to her, she said she did not want to respond. "Clearly the organisation failed to act on the independent recommendations made at the time. And I'm really sorry, on behalf of Swim England, for any suffering that that might have led to," Mr Salmon told us.

The failings of the 2012 investigation into Rudd have led to the governing body announcing it would review 1,500 safeguarding cases carried out across England between 2002 and 2022. Swim England commissioned a listening report into all aquatic sports after the BBC first shared multiple swimmers' accounts of mistreatment in 2023. Published in 2024, the governing body's report found a culture of fear at all levels of the sport that threatened its future. Plymouth Leander said it was "deeply concerned by the nature and severity" of Panorama's allegations, stating that the club was "fundamentally different" from when Rudd was in charge. It also said it had conducted a "thorough review" of its safeguarding policies and procedures to provide "the safest possible environment". It said Rudd's employer, Plymouth College, was responsible for his "oversight and jurisdiction". Plymouth College, which is now under different ownership, said the club was responsible for safeguarding and that it was "deeply concerned to hear these testimonies from swimmers who trained at Plymouth Leander". It said the partnership with Plymouth Leander had been terminated and it now ran its own swimming organisation, Plymouth College Aquatics (PCA).

Abby says she was forced to choose between swimming and her education

BBC Panorama has also found evidence of a bullying culture at Royal Wolverhampton School Swimming Club, another leading institution in the sport, as recently as last year. Complaints about the behaviour of David Painter, the club's head coach at the time were made by the parents of 11 swimmers, during 2023 and 2024. One of the swimmers, Abby, now 17, told the BBC she was forced to choose between her education and swimming because Painter would not let her have time off to prepare for her GCSEs. She attended a different school several miles away but said she was told she would still have to train on the morning of exams. "Towards the end I was literally having full blown panic attacks," said Abby, who told Panorama she was failing at school. She eventually decided to leave the sport. Alison Hickman, the club's former welfare officer, told the BBC she had given the names of 11 parents who had concerns about Painter to Swim England and said none of them were contacted by the governing body. Swim England told the BBC it had asked the school to resolve the issues. The Royal Wolverhampton School said complaints were confidential. It said the school has "clear safeguarding procedures" and "all formal complaints are investigated swiftly and appropriately". Painter, who left to coach in Canada last year, said his "commitment to athlete development and wellbeing has always been at the core" of his coaching, and that he had never been subject to "any disciplinary investigations or hearings". He added that the allegations against him were "untrue… and defamatory".

Solving the mystery of a dinosaur mass grave at the 'River of Death'

28 minutes ago Share Save Rebecca Morelle Science editor Reporting from Alberta, Canada Alison Francis Senior science journalist Share Save

A tour around a newly discovered dinosaur graveyard in Canada

Hidden beneath the slopes of a lush forest in Alberta, Canada, is a mass grave on a monumental scale. Thousands of dinosaurs were buried here, killed in an instant on a day of utter devastation. Now, a group of palaeontologists have come to Pipestone Creek - appropriately nicknamed the "River of Death" - to help solve a 72-million-year-old enigma: how did they die? Trying to work out exactly what happened here starts with the hefty strike of a sledgehammer. Brute force is needed to crack open the thick layer of rock that covers what Professor Emily Bamforth, who's leading the dig, describes as "palaeo gold". As her team begins the more delicate job of removing the layers of dirt and dust, a jumble of fossilised bones slowly begins to emerge.

Kevin Church/BBC News A hip bone of a Pachyrhinosaur is one of thousands of discoveries in the creek

"That big blob of bone right there is, we think, part of a hip," Prof Bamforth says, watched on by her dog Aster - whose job today is to bark if she spots any nearby bears. "Then here, we have all of these long, skinny bones. These are all ribs. And this is a neat one - it's part of a toe bone. This one here, we have no idea what it is - it's a great example of a Pipestone Creek mystery." BBC News has come to Pipestone Creek to witness the sheer scale of this prehistoric graveyard and see how researchers are piecing together the clues. Thousands of fossils have been collected from the site, and are constantly generating new discoveries.

Kevin Church/BBC News Prof Bamforth's dog, Aster, on lookout duties

The bones all belong to a dinosaur called Pachyrhinosaurus. The species, and Prof Bamforth's excavation, feature in a new landmark BBC series - Walking With Dinosaurs - which uses visual effects and science to bring this prehistoric world to life. These animals, which lived during the Late Cretaceous period, were a relative of the Triceratops. Measuring about five metres long and weighing two tonnes, the four-legged beasts had large heads, adorned with a distinctive bony frill and three horns. Their defining feature was a big bump on the nose called a boss. The dig season has just started and lasts each year until autumn. The fossils in the small patch of ground that the team are working on are incredibly tightly packed; Prof Bamforth estimates there are up to 300 bones in every square metre. So far, her team has excavated an area the size of a tennis court, but the bed of bones extends for a kilometre into the hillside. "It's jaw dropping in terms of its density," she tells us. "It is, we believe, one of the largest bone beds in North America. "More than half of the known dinosaur species in the world are described from a single specimen. We have thousands of Pachyrhinosaurus here."

Kevin Church/BBC News Pipestone Creek still holds many secrets

Palaeontologists believe the dinosaurs were migrating together in a colossal herd for hundreds of miles from the south - where they had spent the winter - to the north for the summer. The area, which had a much warmer climate than it does today, would have been covered in rich vegetation, providing abundant food for this enormous group of plant-eating animals. "It is a single community of a single species of animal from a snapshot in time, and it's a huge sample size. That almost never happens in the fossil record," says Prof Bamforth.

Walking with Dinosaurs/BBC Studios Pachyrhinosaurus had distinctive unicorn-style horns, as shown in this computer-generated image

Bigger beasts offering clues

And this patch of north-western Alberta wasn't just home to Pachyrhinosaurus. Even bigger dinosaurs roamed this land, and studying them is essential to try and understand this ancient ecosystem. Two hours drive away, we reach the Deadfall Hills. Getting there involves a hike through dense forest, wading - or doggy-paddling in the case of Aster - across a fast-running river, and clambering over slippery rocks. No digging is required here; super-sized bones lie next to the shoreline, washed out from the rock and cleaned by the flowing water, just waiting to be picked up. A huge vertebra is quickly spotted, as are bits of ribs and teeth scattered across the mud.

Kevin Church/BBC News A toe bone found in the Deadfall Hills, home to the Edmontosaurus

Palaeontologist Jackson Sweder is particularly interested in what looks like a chunk of dinosaur skull. "Most of what we find here is a duck-billed dinosaur called Edmontosaurus. If this is a skull bone, this is a dinosaur that's large - probably 30ft (10m) long," he says. The Edmontosaurus, another herbivore, roamed the forests like the Pachyrhinosaurus - and is helping palaeontologists build up a picture of this ancient land. Sweder is the collection manager at the Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum in nearby Grande Prairie, where the bones from both of these giants are taken to be cleaned up and analysed. He is currently working on a huge Pachyrhinosaurus skull that's about 1.5m long and has been nicknamed "Big Sam".

Kevin Church/BBC News Jackson Sweder works on 'Big Sam' for clues about this ancient world

He points to where the three horns should be at the top of the frill, but the one in the middle is missing. "All the skulls that are decently complete have a spike in that spot," he says. "But its nice little unicorn spike doesn't seem to be there." Throughout years working at the extraordinary site, the museum team has collected 8,000 dinosaur bones, and the surfaces of the lab are covered in fossils; there are bones from Pachyrhinosaurus of every size, from young to old. Having material from so many animals allows researchers to learn about dinosaur biology, answering questions about how the species grows and the make-up of the community. They can also look at individual variations, to see how one Pachyrhinosaurus could stand out from the herd – as may be the case with Big Sam and his missing spike.

A sudden devastating event

Walking with Dinosaurs/BBC Studios The herd of beasts were likely wiped out in a natural disaster

All of this detailed research, in the museum and at the two sites, is helping the team to answer the vital question: how did so many animals in Pipestone Creek die at the same time? "We believe that this was a herd on a seasonal migration that got tangled up in some catastrophic event that effectively wiped out, if not the entire herd, then a good proportion of it," Prof Bamforth says. All the evidence suggests that this catastrophic event was a flash flood - perhaps a storm over the mountains that sent an unstoppable torrent of water towards the herd, ripping trees from their roots and shifting boulders. Prof Bamforth says the Pachyrhinosaurus wouldn't have stood a chance. "These animals are not able to move very fast because of their sheer numbers, and they're very top heavy - and really not very good at swimming at all." Rocks found at the site show the swirls of sediment from the fast-flowing water churning everything up. It's as if the destruction is frozen in time as a wave in the stone.

Kevin Church/BBC News A wave can be seen in a rock found from the creek

But this nightmare day for the dinosaurs is now a dream for palaeontologists. "We know, every time we come here, it's 100% guaranteed we'll find bones. And every year we discover something new about the species," says Prof Bamforth. "That's why we keep coming back, because we're still finding new things." As the team packs up their tools ready to return another day, they know there's a lot of work ahead. They've only just scratched the surface of what's here - and there are many more prehistoric secrets just waiting to be revealed. The new series of Walking With Dinosaurs starts on Sunday 25 May at 18:25 BST on BBC One, with all episodes available on BBC iPlayer.

Met Police silent over Strand crash, says victim's mum

32 minutes ago Share Save Tom Edwards • @BBCTomEdwards Transport & Environment correspondent, London Share Save

Family handout Aalia was studying physics and philosophy at King's College

The family of a 20-year-old student who died in a crash on The Strand say they still have many unanswered questions about why and how it happened. On 18 March, Aalia Mahomed, from Mitcham, south London, was struck by a van which drove through closed gates and hit the bench she was sitting on in a pedestrianised area outside King's College London (KCL). Her mother, Samira Shafi, has told BBC London the silence from the Metropolitan Police about the investigation has felt "like a lifetime". The van driver, a 26-year-old man, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and drug-driving offences.

The suspect has been bailed while the Met Police continue to investigate the collision which also left three others injured.

PA Media A van driver was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by careless driving

Aalia was in her second year at KCL and was studying for a BSc in physics and philosophy. "I haven't got answers to what happened that day," said Samira. "It's been slow. I keep being told an investigation is being carried out and these things take time, which I appreciate. "But the silence is quite difficult for us because for us these eight weeks have felt like a lifetime." She said she understood the investigation was ongoing and hoped it would reach "the right outcome", although they were not privy to the investigation or any progress being made on it. "It is hard because we just have the silence. "And that's hard to get your head around - you try and be patient, but at the same time you want some sort of understanding on it all."

Samira said her daughter was also her "best friend"

Recalling that day, Samira said she had arrived at the scene of the crash within 10 minutes. "I got a call from Aalia's friend. There was just blue lights everywhere, it was cordoned off. "It is a pedestrian zone and it's really hard to make sense of any of it because she wasn't doing anything dangerous - she was sat on a bench in a pedestrian area in some sunshine." As the area was taped off, Samira was unable to hold her injured daughter. "I was told to stay back quietly because several people had been hurt and so that's what I did. "But later on based on the time that I got there, I worked out that I was there for nine minutes before Aalia's death was called. "Maybe if she'd heard my voice she might have pulled through."

Family handout Aalia Mahomed was pronounced dead at the scene on the Strand

PA Media Three others were injured in the collision

Samira said the past two months had been very hard for her and her family who were going from "being in denial and then reality hitting". "Aalia wasn't just a daughter, she was my best friend and my rock," she added.

Trevor Sterling from Moore Barlow Solicitors is the family's solicitor. He said: "No parent should ever have to bury their child and events where they do we have to have a process which is a speedy one. "Last year I was in touch with the mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and he supported the notion that there should be an expedited process when dealing with these types of events. "It's incredibly important that we can get to the answers without delay - delay is the enemy of justice."

Trevor Sterling says they need answers with no further delays

Samira remains determined "to get justice", saying: "[It was] the one thing I promised my daughter when visiting her in the coffin."

She added that getting answers would also help her better understand the circumstances of her daughter's death. "It won't ever bring us comfort but it will give us some sense of what happened that day," she said. "Of course we would want answers straight away. "I appreciate there's a process that needs to take place, but I would hope it's done as swiftly as possible to get us on some level of clarity."

Samira Shafi talking to BBC London's Tom Edwards

Ch Supt Thomas Naughton of the Met's Roads and Transport Policing Command said: "Aalia's family continue to be supported by specialist officers, we regularly meet with them to discuss the progress of the investigation and to ensure they are receiving the support they need. "Our investigation continues at pace and we are working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service. "A 26-year-old man remains under investigation on conditional police bail following his arrest at the scene."

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