Formula 1 tech used to rev-up train wi-fi speeds in new pilot

60 minutes ago Share Save Laura Cress Technology reporter Share Save

GWR Some of the Great Western Railway fleet will use a hybrid system including low earth orbit satellites in space to create a more-reliable wi-fi connection

A new UK-first pilot scheme is aiming to create fast and more reliable train wi-fi, using technology originally developed for Formula 1 cars. It will see a train in the Great Western Railway fleet use a hybrid system of both signals from mobile phone masts on the ground and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites in space to create a more reliable connection. The scheme has been developed by British tech company Motion Applied, in partnership with the transport body for Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay, Peninsula Transport. The pilot will last for 60 days onboard GWR's Intercity Express Train which runs in the South West region, having started in mid-November.

In a recent study by networking testing firm Ookla, the UK ranked 16th out of 18 major European and Asian countries for train wi-fi speed, with average download speeds at just 1.09 megabits per second, compared to Sweden's 64.58. Nick Fry, chairman of Motion Applied, formerly part of McLaren Group, said the issues faced in connecting to the internet from a fast moving train had "many parallels with motorsport". He added that by using technology originally developed for F1 cars, trains should be able to switch between ground and space-based networks such as LEO satellites to "reliably connect" without drop outs. In the 2025 spending review, the Department of Transport secured £41m to introduce low earth orbit satellite connectivity on all mainline trains by 2030.

'A step in the right direction'

Mysterious drones have been spotted at night at airports across Europe. How worried should we be?

31 minutes ago Share Save Frank Gardner Security correspondent Share Save

BBC

First comes the warning, that disembodied voice over the tannoy: "Your attention please. Air siren in the city. Please move to the shelter on the minus second floor." Then comes the mosquito-like whine of the incoming Russian drones, massing in their hundreds just above the clouds. It's followed immediately by the rattle of anti-aircraft fire, the distant thud of explosions, then finally the ominous klaxon call of ambulance and fire sirens. This is the grim reality of night time in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine. These are attack drones that explode on impact. Drones are now an integral part of modern warfare, but they are not confined to the battlefield. Across western Europe, far from Ukraine, unarmed drones have also been found buzzing around airports, military bases and power plants, all part of a suspected programme of "hybrid warfare" being waged by Russia, with some speculating they're arriving to test the resilience of certain Nato countries that are helping Ukraine.

Reuters Drone sightings around critical infrastructure across Europe, including in Belgium, have sparked fear in a number of Nato countries

Recent drone sightings in Poland, along with a swathe spotted around critical infrastructure across Europe, including in Belgium and Denmark, have sparked fear across some Nato countries. Now, there is talk that a "drone wall" is to be designed to protect parts of Europe - but just how necessary is this, really? And more pertinently, how realistic?

A wake-up call to Europe

On 9 September, around 20 Russian drones overshot Ukraine and flew into Poland, forcing the closure of four airports. Nato jets were scrambled and several of the drones were shot down - the rest crashed across Poland, scattering debris in multiple regions. This was a wake-up call to Europe, marking one of the largest and most serious breaches of Nato airspace since the war in Ukraine began. Which is why discussion about a possible drone wall seems ever more pressing.

AFP via Getty Images On 9 September, around 20 Russian decoy drones flew into Poland

"This momentum really driven by these recent incursions," explains Katja Bego, senior research fellow in the international security programme at Chatham House think tank. Drones - or to give them their official title, Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - have already transformed the battle space. On the killing fields of eastern Ukraine, they tend to be small short-range ones, typically measuring around just 10 inches, and they carry lethal explosive devices. But these are not currently the threat to the rest of Europe. It is the larger drones - some of which can potentially fly well over 1,000km - that are fuelling calls for a European drone wall. Previously Russia imported a type known as Shahed 136 drones from Iran but now it produces its own version: the Geran 2. Some Gerans were among the drones that flew into Poland in September.

So, what, some are now asking, if Russia one day sent over 200 drones? Or, say, 2,000? How would Nato respond - and in fact, could it respond? After all, deploying fighter jets each time would be expensive. André Rogaczewski, CEO of Netcompany, a Danish IT services firm that builds digital systems for European governments, argues: "[It] is neither effective nor a sensible use of taxpayers' money."

A plague of mysterious drones

Ukraine has stepped up its own long-range drone attacks on Russian airports and critical infrastructure like petrochemical plants, bringing the war home to ordinary Russians. Then there are sea drones: uncrewed vessels that can travel either on or below the surface, as used with devastating effect by Ukraine against Russia's Black Sea fleet. But there is something that is in some ways more sinister than clearly identifiable drones used by countries that are openly at war. That is: the plague of mysterious, anonymous drones that have appeared.

Sometimes these turn up in the dead of night, around Europe's airports, including one in Belgium's main airport near Brussels earlier this month. There have also been similar sightings in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Lithuania. Unlike the clearly identifiable Russian attack drones in Ukraine, these "civilian drones" in Western Europe have not – so far – been armed with any explosives. But being anonymously launched, it's hard to prove where they come from or who activated them - or indeed if they are being launched from passing ships. Suspicions fall on Russia with Western intelligence officials believing Moscow is using proxies to launch these short range drones locally to cause havoc and disruption. The Kremlin denies any responsibility. Belgium is one significant target, as the home to Nato headquarters, the European Union and Euroclear (the financial clearing house that handles trillions of dollars of international transactions).

AFP via Getty Images 'From a European perspective, there is only one country… willing to threaten us and that is Russia,' argued Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in October

There is an ongoing debate around whether Europe should release around €200bn worth of frozen Russian assets, held in Belgium, to help Ukraine. So is it a coincidence that mystery drones have appeared around Brussels and Liege airports, as well as a military base? The UK has sent a team of counter drone specialists from the RAF Regiment, deployed from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, to help bolster Belgium's defences against the drones. Still, the mystery drones are worrying: both because of the danger posed to aircraft as they take off and land but also because of the risk of surveillance, especially around military bases and critical infrastructure such as power plants.

Drone wall: why it's not a silver bullet

The plan for a drone wall is Europe's response to the threat of cross-border incursions by drones launched specifically from Russia. The wall has been described as an integrated, coordinated, multi-layered defence system stretching initially from the Baltic states to the Black Sea. It's likely to comprise a combination of radars, sensors, jamming and weapons systems to detect incoming drones - and then to track and destroy them. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said a new anti-drone system should be fully operational by the end of 2027.

Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Russia originally imported a type of drone known as Shahed 136 drones from Iran

Not surprisingly, those countries keenest to see it deployed quickly - including Poland and Finland- are those geographically closest to Russia. Katja Bego believes it is necessary - and long overdue. But she adds: "This is not just about drones. There is really not enough in place in terms of more traditional missile defence, air defence, along the Eastern flank borders." Nonetheless, a drone wall is not a silver bullet for air defence. And others aren't convinced it's entirely realistic. Robert Tollast, a research fellow at Whitehall think tank The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), argues that the idea of some "sort of impervious wall", is, in his words, out of the question. Yet he can still see why there are calls for it and wants to try.

Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images People in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine are facing the consequences of attack drones

"For countries that are close to the Russian border – the Baltics, Poland, Germany as well because of course they're within range of those long-range drones - it is absolutely essential to try and build something like this," he says. "The idea here would be not so much to actually build a full-on wall, or something that's fully impenetrable", agrees Ms Bego. "It's not really possible - both in terms of the length and also just the available technologies are not 100% foolproof... But rather you're looking at a combination of things that hopefully can capture different types of drones and stop them."

Stopping drones: Hard kills vs jamming

Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at The International Institute for Strategic Studies in London describes a whole menu of options to detect drones. "You can have acoustic detection; airborne radars that can detect low flying targets really well; ground-based radars that have very short ranges against low-flying targets but [that] still work really well against high flying targets. "You can have optical systems, infrared systems - and once the detection is done you have either soft kill or hard kill." Hard kill means destroying the drone, either with gunfire or missiles. Soft kill means making an incoming drone ineffective, usually through electronic means.

EPA/Shutterstock People look at debris of a Geran-2, among destroyed Russian military equipment on display in Kyiv

Russia and Ukraine have been able to get around soft kills on the battlefield by packing their drones with tens of kilometres worth of fibre-optic cable that spools out as it flies, but that's not an option for something travelling hundreds of kilometres across borders. As for hard kills, Mr Hinz describes many ways of achieving them: from surface-to-air missiles to fighter jets and helicopters. "You can have lasers which could be useful as well," he adds, "but [these] are not quite the one the wonder weapon people make them out to be." André Rogaczewski believes jamming can be effective as an alternative. Ultimately, however, for any drone wall to be effective, it needs to be able to deal with a wide variety of aerial threats, possibly all coming at once.

A financially controversial question

As tensions between Europe and Russia have risen since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, so too have other incidents of so-called "hybrid" or "grey zone" warfare attributed to Russia, which in most cases denies them. These include cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns, incendiary devices inserted into cargo depots, surveillance and sometimes sabotage of undersea cables. And yet at a security forum in Bahrain earlier this month, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the Italian chairperson of Nato's Military Committee, told me that of all Nato's defence needs right now, air defence is the top priority.

Anadolu via Getty Images Adm Giuseppe Cavo Dragone sais that of all Nato's defence needs right now, air defence is the top priority

The first stages of the drone wall are due to be activated within months, though not all details have been finalised. Meanwhile, Nato's Allied Command Transformation (ACT) based in Norfolk, Virginia is working on longer-term solutions. This is not an easy challenge. Mr Tollast says the main challenge of the drone wall is the sheer scale of the area which needs to be protected. "You need a huge range of tactical radars for low flying drones and larger radars for higher altitude targets, across thousands of kilometres. "And you need cost effective interceptors and forces to be ready around the clock. It will never be watertight, and even as costs of some radars and interceptors fall, it's very unlikely to be cheap."

The question of finance is a complex one. "It is a really difficult defence question," says Mr Tollast. "Even with rising European defence expenditure, there's still going to be a lot of competition from other sectors in defence [for that funding] - we need more ships, submarines, nuclear weapons even, satellites as well. "So this is why a drone wall will remain this sort of slightly financially controversial issue for some people." It will potentially be funded from a mixture of EU money, national budgets (especially in Eastern Europe) and interest from frozen Russian assets. Initially, says Ms Bego, the drone wall referred to defences across the Eastern flank, but since the the EU has been spearheading this, they've been expanding it.

"Everyone recognises something needs to happen and there is a need to co-ordinate this and to mobilise money for this, but the who and what is very much under discussion... "The more foolproof you would want it to be, the more expensive it gets". As for the target date, Mr Tollast believes 2027 is very ambitious - but adds, "they can definitely achieve more protection by then".

Shoot the archer, not the arrow

While all of this is going on, the task of building the wall is becoming ever harder. Because as fast as new counter-drone measures are introduced, up pops a new form of drone threat that can overcome them. This all makes it something of a new arms race. "The development cycles for technologies in this space are hyper-accelerated, above all in conflict environments," says Josh Burch, co-founder of Gallos Technologies, a UK-based company that invests in security technology. "It means that any defence against drones will rapidly be rendered outdated as aggressors adjust. "The aggressor", he concludes, "will observe, adjust, repeat – until they get through".

AFP via Getty Images Many have died or been wounded in Ukraine from Russian drone and missile strikes

So are we asking the wrong question altogether? Rather than building a drone wall to stop the drones, is it better to target the bases launching the drone themselves - as the old saying goes, shoot the archer, not just the arrow. "It's one thing to become more resilient against it, but it would be much better if it did not happen at all," argues Ms Bego. "And that's really around making it much clearer to Russia, or whichever actor is behind this, that this kind of behaviour crosses the line. It has consequences and comes with the costs for them. And that's important. It should really be part of this." But any suggestion of Nato hitting Russian targets – kinetically, as opposed to digitally in cyberspace – would be incredibly risky and escalatory. Ever since Russia carried out its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 the challenge for Nato, and especially its most powerful member the US, has been to help Ukraine to defend itself but without getting drawn into a Nato-Russia war. Building a defensive drone wall in Europe is one thing. Attacking the places where those drones are launched from is quite another. Top picture credit: Getty Images, Sketchfab

How my on-air 'brain fog' moment sparked a big debate

42 minutes ago Share Save Zoe Kleinman Technology editor Share Save

BBC Due to "brain fog" BBC technology editor Zoe Kleinman had to hold notes during a recent live TV report

When I rather nervously shared a personal post about dealing with brain fog at work on the social network LinkedIn last week, I had no idea that it would have such an enormous impact. It's been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Women have stopped me on the street to talk to me about it. I've been overwhelmed by hundreds of messages from people sharing support and their own experiences of it. Usually I cover technology news. But given the response, it felt important to talk about this as well. "Brain fog" isn't a medical term. But you may well know exactly what I'm talking about. That moment when you suddenly can't remember the word for something really obvious, or you're mid-sentence and you lose your train of thought. It's infuriating, and it can be embarrassing.

Where was I? Ah yes, for me, as a woman in my 40s, it's coincided with perimenopause – the stage in my life where my hormone levels are changing. There can of course be other neurological conditions for which brain fog can be a symptom too. If you're in a job where public speaking is part of what you do, it can be particularly terrifying. "I've spent 30 years being professionally articulate," wrote Janet Edgecombe, an internal communications expert. "All of a sudden I'm forgetting the words for basic things. 'That grey thing in the thingy that we cook chicken on'. My husband replies 'oh, the baking tray in the oven'. Hmm. 'Yeah, that thing'."

Getty Images Women typically go through perimenopause in their 40s

I also heard from teachers, start-up founders having to present pitches for money to investors, women running workshops, delivering speeches – and fellow journalists trying to report live on-air, like me. But of course it can also hit mid-conversation, in a more intimate but no less frustrating way. My post was about my decision to hold a page of notes on the BBC News at Ten. A story had broken late in the afternoon, following an already busy day, and by the time we reached 10pm, I knew I was getting tired and I could feel the brain fog. I was going to talk about an outage that was affecting dozens of websites and apps, and I planned to use the technical jargon for it, as given by the company affected, and then explain what it actually meant. But I just couldn't get the phrase to stick in my head and I knew that without it, I wouldn't manage the rest of what I needed to say. I was reporting live from Glasgow. Like many of my professional peers, I do not have, and I've never had, autocue. And so, for the first time, I decided at the last minute to hold a page of notes with the offending phrase on it. It felt to me at the time like an admission of failure. I have been trained never to use notes – unless there's a specific legal reason why the wording of a statement, for example, has to be precise, or there are a lot of figures to remember. Even then, I have prided myself on having a good enough short-term memory to get me through.

Using notes is discouraged in the world of public speaking. They are not permitted to anyone giving a 12-minute TED talk. The speaker is expected to memorise their speech. Looking down the barrel of the camera and clutching that paper, live on TV, felt tough. But around 10% of women report leaving their jobs due to menopause symptoms, according to the Fawcett Society. And research by insurance firm Royal London found that half of women going through it have considered giving up work. I don't want to do that – and so I stuck with my solution. To my intense relief, some people said they thought my paper looked authoritative, that they just assumed it was a breaking story and the page contained fresh information. Others asked why I hadn't used a device instead – I suppose I thought the potential of having to fumble with a screen would feel even worse. "Let's start a movement: Hold your notes," wrote Elisheva Marcus, vice president of communications at the venture capitalist firm Earlybird. And so, the hashtag holdthenotes was born.

"Have you ever checked your testosterone levels?" menopause expert Dr Louise Newson asked me. She says testosterone – despite its reputation for being a male hormone, and its association with sex drive and libido, is actually an essential brain chemical for both men and women, and levels fall in both genders. One of the results is brain fog. "It's like you've been drugged," she says. "It's really scary, a lot of people worry they've got dementia." "I remember when I had my levels done 10 years ago, and I was like 'Thank God, at least I know why I'm feeling so awful'." She adds that there are studies dating back to the 1940s indicating that testosterone can improve brain function and wellbeing in women as well as men, but the randomised control studies, where participants are given either a placebo or the product itself in order to see whether it really works, have only focused on improvements to libido. NHS-prescribed Hormone Replacement Therapy, or HRT, is traditionally a combination of oestrogen and progesterone. Testosterone is not routinely included. Instead doctors can separately prescribe testosterone to female patients, at lower doses than given to men.

Getty Images Millions of women take HRT medication

There are also a myriad of menopause supplements which claim to ease symptoms including brain fog. Estimates vary but it's a multi-billion dollar industry and its booming. Women spend an average of £147 per year on supplements to try to alleviate their menopause symptoms, according to a survey earlier this year by the nutrition news website NutraIngredients. "They might help a bit," says Dr Newson. "I do yoga every day, and that helps my brain become clear and focused, but I have a hormone deficiency, I can't eat my way out of it, or exercise my way out of it. "A lot of women spend a fortune trying to improve symptoms of a hormone deficiency with something else."

Dr Joshua Chen is part of the Harvard Medical School-Massachusetts General Hospital Photobiomodulation Research Group. The team is looking at how frequencies of red light can change the mitochondria inside the brain to improve focus. He describes it as "like a face mask, but for the brain". It can also, he says, be applied to the Vagus nerve on the neck to reduce stress. He has founded a company called Niraxx which markets a headband called a neuro espresso, which is designed to be worn for up to 20 minutes a day. He claims the results are instant. It has to be plugged in – there are no batteries in the device for safety reasons.

Niraxx The headband made by US tech firm Niraxx uses red light frequencies to try to stimulate the wearer's brain

Brazil's Amazon rainforest at risk as key protection under threat

22 minutes ago Share Save Justin Rowlatt, Climate editor and Jessica Cruz, South America producer Share Save

BBC / Tony Jolliffe

The Amazon rainforest could face a renewed surge of deforestation as efforts grow to overturn a long-standing ban that has protected it. The ban - which prohibits the sale of soya grown on land cleared after 2008 - is widely credited with curbing deforestation and has been held up as a global environmental success story. But powerful farming interests in Brazil, backed by a group of Brazilian politicians, are pushing to lift the restrictions as the COP30 UN climate conference enters its second week. Critics of the ban say it is an unfair "cartel" which allows a small group of powerful companies to dominate the Amazon's soya trade.

Environmental groups have warned removing the ban would be "disaster", opening the way for a new wave of land grabbing to plant more soya in the world's largest rainforest. Scientists say ongoing deforestation, combined with the effects of climate change, is already driving the Amazon towards a potential "tipping point" – a threshold beyond which the rainforest can no longer sustain itself.

Getty Images Soya beans imported to the UK are an important animal feed

Brazil is the world's largest producer of soya beans, a staple crop grown for its protein and an important animal feed. Much of the meat consumed in the UK – including chicken, beef, pork and farmed fish - is raised using feeds that include soya beans, about 10% of which are sourced from the Brazilian Amazon. Many major UK food companies, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, McDonald's, Greggs and KFC, are members of a coalition called the UK Soy Manifesto which represents around 60% of the soy imported into the UK. The group supports the ban, which is known officially as the Amazon Soy Moratorium, because they argue it helps ensure UK soy supply chains remain free from deforestation. In a statement earlier this year the signatories said: "We urge all actors within the soy supply chain, including governments, financial institutions and agribusinesses to reinforce their commitment to the [ban] and ensure its continuation." Public opinion in the UK also appears to be firmly behind protecting the Amazon. A World Wildlife Fund survey conducted earlier this year found that 70% of respondents supported government action to eliminate illegal deforestation from UK supply chains.

BBC / Tony Jolliffe This soya port on the Amazon River in Santarém helped spark the campaign that led to the soya moratorium

But Brazilian opponents of the agreement last week demanded the Supreme Court - the highest court in the country – reopen an investigation into whether the moratorium amounts to anti-competitive behaviour. "Our state has lots of room to grow and the soy moratorium is working against this development," Vanderlei Ataídes told the BBC. He is president of the Soya Farmers Association of Pará state, one of Brazil's main soya producing areas. "I don't understand how [the ban] helps the environment," he added. "I can't plant soya beans, but I can use the same land to plant corn, rice, cotton or other crops. Why can't I plant soya?" The challenge has even divided the Brazilian government. While the Justice Ministry says there may be evidence of anti-competitive behaviour, both the Ministry of the Environment and the Federal Public Prosecutors Office have publicly defended the moratorium. The voluntary agreement was first signed almost two decades ago by farmers, environmental organisations and major global food companies, including commodities giants such as Cargill and Bunge. It followed a campaign by the environmental pressure group Greenpeace that exposed how soya grown on deforested land was being used in animal feed, including for chicken sold by McDonald's. The fast-food chain became a champion of the moratorium, whose signatories pledged not to buy soya grown on land deforested after 2008. Before the moratorium, forest clearance for soya expansion and the growth of cattle ranching were the main drivers of Amazonian deforestation. After the agreement was introduced forest clearance fell sharply, reaching an historic low in 2012 during President Lula's second term in office. Deforestation increased under subsequent administrations – notably under Jair Bolsonaro, who promoted opening the forest to economic development - but has fallen again during Lula's current presidency.

Bel Lyon, chief advisor for Latin America at the World Wildlife Fund - one of the agreement's original signatories – warned that suspending the moratorium "would be a disaster for the Amazon, its people, and the world, because it could open up an area the size of Portugal to deforestation". Small farmers whose plots are close to soy plantations say they disrupt local weather patterns and make it harder to grow their crops.

BBC / Tony Jolliffe Raimundo Barbosa farms cassava and fruit

Raimundo Barbosa, who farms cassava and fruit near the town of Boa Esperança outside Santarém in the southeastern Amazon, says when the forest is cleared "the environment is destroyed". "Where there is forest, it is normal, but when it is gone it just gets hotter and hotter and there is less rain and less water in the rivers," he told me as we sat in the shade beside the machines he uses to turn his cassava into flour. The pressure to lift the moratorium comes as Brazil prepares to open a major new railway stretching from its agricultural heartland in the south up into the rainforest. The railway is expected to significantly cut transport costs for soya and other agricultural products, adding yet another incentive to clear more land.

BBC / Tony Jolliffe Scientists have been monitoring detailed changes in the Amazon for decades

Scientists say deforestation is already reshaping the rainforest in profound ways. Among them is Amazon specialist Bruce Fosberg, who has spent half a century studying the forest. He climbs 15 stories up a narrow tower that rises 45 metres above a pristine rainforest reserve in the heart of the Amazon. From a small platform at the top, he looks out over a sea of green stretching to the horizon. The tower is bristling with high-tech instruments - sensors that track almost everything happening between the forest and the atmosphere: water vapor, carbon dioxide, sunlight, and essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. The tower was built 27 years ago and is part of a project - the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment (LBA) - that aims to understand how the Amazon is changing, and how close it is to a critical threshold. Data from the LBA together with other scientific studies show parts of the rainforest may be nearing a "tipping point", after which the ecosystem can no longer maintain its own functions. "The living forest is closing down," he says, "and not producing water vapour and therefore rainfall". As trees are lost to deforestation, fire, and heat stress, the forest releases less moisture into the atmosphere, he explains, reducing rainfall and intensifying drought. That, in turn, creates a feedback loop that kills even more trees. The fear is that, if this continues, vast areas of rainforest could die away and become a savannah or dry grassland ecosystem. Such a collapse would release huge amounts of carbon, disrupt weather patterns across continents, and threaten the millions of people – as well as the countless plant, insect and animal species – whose lives depend on the Amazon for survival.

'Sweeping reforms to asylum rules' and 'New humiliation for Andrew'

18 minutes ago Share Save Share Save

The home secretary will announce a raft of changes to the UK's asylum policy later, which leads the majority of the day's papers. "Most sweeping reforms to asylum rules in a generation" declares the Guardian, and points to Shabana Mahmood's earlier warning that anger over illegal immigration could "turn on second-generation immigrants" and rupture community relations.

"First states face visa ban in migrant returns push" reads the Times, reporting that Mahmood is set to announce that the UK will stop granting visas to people from three African countries if their governments do not improve co-operation on removals of illegal migrants. According to the paper, the first countries subject to the ban will be Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Daily Telegraph leads with a similar story, and notes that the visa bans mirror measures introduced by US President Donald Trump during his first term. The paper says that countries with a history of refusing to accept returned asylum seekers could be the focus of future crackdowns; it lists Somalia, Bangladesh, Iran and Egypt as the worst offenders.

"Cruel to be kind?" asks the Metro, reporting that the reforms are based on tough laws brought in by the centre-left government in Denmark. It writes that the changes have been mocked by shadow home secretary Chris Philp, who called them a "gimmick" from a government that is "incapable of getting real change past their left-wing backbenchers". The paper predicts Monday's announcement from the home secretary will "spark yet more civil war" in the Labour party, which it says is "already riven by talk of leadership challenges".

People granted asylum in the UK will need to wait 20 years before they can apply to settle permanently, according to the Metro. Amid the upcoming reforms, the paper notes that fresh protests have been held over plans to house 600 asylum seekers at a former military site in East Sussex.

"Lawyers and Labour MPs to torpedo Mahmood's asylum plan" reports the Daily Mail, reporting that the home secretary has been warned that asylum seekers will be able to avoid deportation "as long as Britain remained signed up to human rights laws". The paper says the proposed reforms have resulted in significant backlash for Mahmood from various Labour MPs and charities.

The Mirror says Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is facing a "fresh humiliation", and report that Falklands' authorities have removed "every plaque" that bears his name. The former prince has previously received a warm welcome in the archipelago, after he served as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War. A source told the paper that the Falklands were Andrew's "last remaining source of pride".

"Trump trade negotiator lashes out at Europe over delays in reducing tariffs" reads the headline of the Financial Times. US trade representative Jamieson Greer told the paper that the negotiations remain a "flashpoint" with Washington, despite the deal struck between Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen earlier this year. Officials say the delays are in danger of "squandering a period of better relations" between the US and Europe.

The front page of the Sun features a photograph of what it claims is the woodland "lair" of Christian Brückner, who was released from prison earlier this year. The German national has been named by prosecutors as a prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Brückner has never been charged with any crime in relation to the case and denies any involvement.

Government moves to ease prison overcrowding is a "betrayal" of victims and their families, says the Daily Express. The paper reports that Labour is "ramming through sentencing reforms" that would see "killers and abusers" released early. The early release scheme kicked off in September 2024, and has been criticised in recent weeks following several high-profile mistaken releases.

I'm A Celebrity cast member Kelly Brook is front and centre of the Daily Star, which has made a public bid to crown the model this year's "Queen of the Jungle".

Communist and far-right candidates head to Chile presidential run-off

The Communist Party's Jeanette Jara (above) will face José Antonio Kast in the December run-off vote

The result is expected to give a boost to Kast, as Jara was the only left-wing candidate running against several right-wing candidates, which split the right-wing vote.

The Communist Party's Jeannette Jara, from the governing coalition, narrowly won the first round followed closely by far-right candidate José Antonio Kast.

The election campaign was dominated by crime and immigration, as migration to the country has grown in recent years and candidates pledged to fight foreign gangs like Venezuela's Tren de Aragua.

Chile's presidential election will go to a run-off vote in December between a Communist Party and a far-right candidate, after the first round on Sunday produced no outright winner.

In the 14 December run-off, voters will have to coalesce around one of these two candidates.

Kast is expected to pick up votes from other candidates who did not make the final two, including the centre-right senator Evelyn Matthei and the radical libertarian congressman Johannes Kaiser.

If this happens, it would make Chile the latest country in Latin America to shift to the right.

Kast is a conservative lawyer and former congressman who lost the 2021 election's run-off to President Gabriel Boric. This is his third time running for president.

The father of nine has promoted a tough crackdown on immigration including a Trump-style "border wall", opposes abortion even in cases of rape, has criticised environmental and indigenous activism, and wants to shrink the state.

His brother was a minister during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship and his father was a member of the Nazi party.

Speaking on election night, he said Chile needed to avoid "continuity of a very bad government. Perhaps the worst government in the democratic history of Chile."

Jara is a member of the Communist Party but many see her as centre-left in practice. She was a minister in President Boric's government and her platform has included pledging to increase lithium production, raising the minimum wage, building new prisons and deploying the army to protect Chile's borders.

Both candidates talked up their pledges to tackle crime and immigration, as organised crime and kidnappings having risen in the country.

Chile's foreign population has grown since 2017. The National Migration Service said in December 2023 it reached more than 1.9 million people. Official estimates suggest at least 330,000 are undocumented migrants living illegally in the country, many from Venezuela.

Kast has blamed rising crime on immigration, although several studies suggest that those born abroad commit fewer crimes on average than Chileans.

Chile, perceived as more prosperous and safe compared to some other Latin American nations, is a desirable destination for migrants in the region, and for those returning from the US after President Trump's migration crackdown.

Kast has pledged to build ditches along Chile's northern border with Peru and Bolivia, as well as mass deportations of undocumented migrants and people who entered the country illegally.

He has also promised new maximum-security prisons, like those that have been built in El Salvador.

Jara has promised to build new prisons and expel foreigners convicted of drug trafficking.

This election was the first time that all eligible voters were automatically registered to vote, and voting was compulsory in Chile.