Innovation

A Grade I listed abbey dating back to 1069 has been given a £1m grant for major repairs and to help tell the "largely untold stories" of its medieval origin.

Selby Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, is one of eight places of worship in Yorkshire to have received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in the last six months.

As part of the project, the stained-glass St Germain Window in the North Transept will undergo restoration and a number of community events will take place.

The abbey's vicar, the Rev Canon John Weetman, said: "With the help of the National Lottery Heritage Fund we will be able to ensure that this wonderful abbey is preserved for future generations to enjoy."

Originally a wooden complex, the abbey was rebuilt in the Romanesque style and has been extended and reconstructed over the centuries following instances of structural collapse and fire.

Since the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, it has operated as a parish church.

Some of the funding will go towards an array of events such as willow weaving, stained glass and embroidery workshops, graffiti workshops (using site hoardings) and training in biodiversity-enhancing gardening practices linked to the monastic gardens.

Mr Weetman said: "We will be able to involve many more people from the local community and beyond in discovering how the abbey and the town came to be here, and how they developed during those early years of their history in medieval times."

In the East Riding, Grade I listed All Saints Church in Hessle has been awarded £229,768 for the "Towering Presence" project, which will carry out critical repairs and deliver a programme of inter-generational events.

The Rev Gemma Turner, vicar of All Saints, said: "Not only does this save our historic 15th-Century tower, but it helps us to engage the whole community of Hessle in exploring not just the heritage of the church, but the town itself."

Other places of worship to receive funding are St Thomas' Church in Osbaldwick, All Saints Parochial Church in Helmsley and St Martin's Church in Bulmer.

Hull Minster and Sir Moses Montefiore Memorial Synagogue in Grimsby have also been awarded funding.

Meanwhile, Bradford Cathedral has been given funding to invite visitors during Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 to co-create a new tapestry using a loom installation.

Israel has not publicly said where the hubs will be, but humanitarian sources – briefed previously by Israeli officials – told BBC Verify that at least four centres will be built in the southern section of Gaza and one further north near the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land controlled by the military that effectively divides the territory.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – an organisation set up to support the plan – initially said food, water and hygiene kits would be supplied to 1.2 million people, less than 60% of the population.

On Wednesday it announced it would start operations before the end of May, and appeared to call for Israel to allow aid through normal channels until its distribution centres were fully operational. It also called for aid hubs to be built in northern Gaza, something not envisaged under the original plan and which had led to criticism that people would be forced to move south.

UN agencies have insisted they will not co-operate with the plan – which is in line with one previously approved by Israel's government – saying it contradicted fundamental humanitarian principles.

A spokesperson for the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) accused Israel of seeking to use "food and fuel as leverage, as part of a military strategy".

"All aid would be channelled through a handful of militarised hubs," Olga Cherevko told BBC Verify.

"That kind of arrangement would cut off vast areas of Gaza – particularly the most vulnerable, who can't move easily, or are otherwise marginalised – from any help at all."

Meanwhile, Bushra Khalidi of Oxfam described the new plan as a "farce".

"No logistical solution is going to address Israel's strategy of forcible displacement and using starvation as a weapon of war. Lift the siege, open the crossings and let us do our job."

It is understood that the proposed new system has not yet had final sign-off from the Israeli government.

'Secure distribution sites'

BBC Verify used satellite imagery to identify four potential sites based on the limited available information about their locations.

The sites are similar in size, shape and design to existing open-air distribution sites inside Gaza, such as at Erez, Erez West and Kisufim. The largest site we've looked at is bigger – more comparable to the area inside Gaza at Kerem Shalom crossing.

Our analysis of the imagery shows significant development at one of the sites in south-west Gaza, close to the ruins of a village that is now an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) base.

Satellite photos since early April show the construction of a road there and a large staging area, surrounded by berms – large defensive barriers made of piled sand or earth – about 650m (2,130ft) from the border with Egypt.

A high-resolution image captured on 8 May shows bulldozers and excavators working on a section of land spanning about 20 acres (8 hectares). IDF armoured vehicles are at a fortified building nearby.

A photo taken on site, geolocated by BBC Verify, also shows lighting being installed on the perimeter.

Further imagery from 11 and 12 May shows this, along with three other sites, continuing to expand. One site is about half a kilometre from a collection of eight UN warehouses, and 280m from another large warehouse.

Stu Ray – a senior imagery analyst with McKenzie Intelligence – agreed the sites were likely to be secure distribution centres. He noted that some of the facilities are in "close proximity to IDF Forward Operating Bases which ties in with the IDF wishing to have some control over the sites".

Analysts with another intelligence firm, Maiar, said the facilities appeared to be designed with separate entrances for trucks to move in and out, and with other gaps in the berms that would be suitable for pedestrian entrances.

The IDF did not comment on the potential aid centres when approached by BBC Verify, but said that its operations in Gaza were carried out "in accordance with international law". Cogat – the Israeli body responsible for managing crossings into Gaza – did not respond to a request for comment.

Three of the four sites located by BBC Verify are south of the IDF's newly created Morag Corridor.

What is the Morag Corridor?

This is an Israeli military zone that runs across the Gaza Strip and separates the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.

Since the IDF established a security zone there in early April, a six-mile (10km) road has been built covering two thirds of the width of Gaza, bordered by defensive berms and dotted with IDF outposts.

This new road leads directly to one of the development sites visible in satellite imagery, and a pre-existing road connects it to two more.

This entire area has been subjected to extensive land clearance by the IDF. BBC Verify has geolocated video and images of areas throughout the Morag Corridor, and south of it, filmed by Israeli forces, which show controlled demolitions using explosives and heavy machinery, and extensive destruction of buildings.

Humanitarian sources said Israeli briefings indicated that aid would enter Gaza via Kerem Shalom crossing.

Satellite imagery shows ongoing construction work happening there too over the past few months, with the apparent expansion of its storage areas, and new roads added.

Since Israel stopped new aid supplies in March, the UN has reiterated that it has an obligation under international law to ensure that the basic needs of the population under its control are met.

Israel has insisted that it is complying with international law and that there is no shortage of aid in Gaza.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

An MP who visited the business park where three people were killed in a fire has said "lessons must be learned" from the tragedy.

Firefighters Jennie Logan, 30, and Martyn Sadler, 38, along with father-of-two Dave Chester, 57, were killed in the blaze that engulfed the Bicester Motion site in Oxfordshire on 15 May.

The Labour MP for Oxford East, Anneliese Dodds, said visiting the scene on Wednesday was "incredibly sombre and sobering".

Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive are liaising on the investigation into the fire's cause.

Two more firefighters are in hospital after suffering serious injuries in the incident, but remain in a stable condition.

Ms Dodds said "all of us are are really thinking about those two brave individuals… and really wishing them all the very best".

"It is very important that those who lost their lives are remembered, and also their families," she said.

Ms Dodds described the incident as "horrendous", and said it reminded her of "the huge debt that we owe to our firefighters".

"Clearly, in this case they had run towards the danger rather than away from it, as they always do," the MP said.

She added: "We have facilities like those at Bicester Motion in other parts of the country, so it's important that lessons are learned for the future."

The fire was reported at about 18:30 BST on 15 May and rapidly spread through a former aircraft hangar at the site on Buckingham Road.

A major incident was declared and 10 fire and rescue crews were called to tackle the blaze as witnesses reported seeing black smoke in the sky.

Thames Valley Police said post-mortem examinations showed that all three died from multiple traumatic injuries, likely caused by "the collapse of part of a structure".

Two gold plaques have been placed at the site to commemorate those who died.

Bicester Motion is home to more than 50 specialist businesses, focused on classic car restoration and engineering on the former site of RAF Bicester.

It was home to RAF Bomber Command in World War Two and became redundant in 2004.

The Scottish government failed to properly scrutinise lavish spending at a body charged with regulating Scottish Water, according to a new report.

Holyrood's public audit committee said a lack of expenditure oversight at the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (Wics) was "simply unacceptable".

A report by the auditor general detailed how public money was spent sending a senior manager on a course at Harvard Business School in the US, Mulberry sunglasses and business-class flights to New Zealand.

A Scottish government spokesperson said steps had been taken to improve management at the commission, but acknowledged previous expenditure "was completely and utterly unacceptable".

Committee convener Richard Leonard told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that there had been a "flagrant misuse" of public money.

He said: "This is a body to promote value for the customers of Scottish Water, and yet by any measure it fell well below the standards of what any public body should meet in the way it conducts its own affairs."

He added there was constant excessive expenditure on hospitality, including meals and alcohol.

He said: "In 2023 a decision was taken that there should be no limit whatsoever on the organisation's expenditure on things like alcohol. It really has been an extraordinary catalogue of misuse of public money."

A match day volunteer at Walsall FC's Bescot Stadium was treated to a VIP day out at Wembley for his 80th birthday.

In a visit organised by Walsall FC Foundation, the team's official charity, Gary Edwards was presented with a signed shirt before Friday's semi-final, and then took a behind the scenes tour before Monday's final.

The pensioner has run the tuck shop at Bescot as a match day volunteer since the stadium was built in 1990.

He said Walsall's defeat on Monday was "disappointing", but his birthday tour was a "brilliant experience".

A Walsall fan since he was a teenager, he told BBC Radio WM that his son was a member of the junior Saddlers team when he was asked to run the tuck shop 35 years ago, and he is still doing it.

The top sellers at the moment are Haribo sweets and KitKats, he said.

After he toured Wembley with his grandson, he said the highlight was seeing the royal box and the media room, and he went on the pitch.

"We went round in the media room which was great," he said.

He described how he was able to sit behind the press conference desk imagining what it was like to be the England manager, while the man who showed them round sat in the audience.

"We went up into the royal box," he said, "And we went to where the players have the trophy after, which unfortunately wasn't Walsall."

Signed shirt

Remembering how he visited the old Wembley stadium 10 times, he said he still recalled paying seven shillings and sixpence for a ticket – which was 33p.

The original Wembley, which opened in 1923, had been famous for its twin towers.

It was demolished in 2003 to make way for a modern 90,000-capacity venue. Monday's visit was his third trip to the new stadium.

Walsall FC Foundation posted on Facebook: "To celebrate our volunteer Gary's 80th birthday, we presented him with a signed shirt before our play off semi-final on Friday.

"Thanks to EFL (English Football League) in the Community, we've also gifted him a VIP experience at Wembley Stadium on Monday ahead of the final."

"This is a big deal for the King to do this," says Jeremy Kinsman, former Canadian high commissioner to the UK, as King Charles prepares for a historic visit showing support for Canada, which is facing pressure from US President Donald Trump.

"I hope that Trump understands," says Mr Kinsman, ahead of the King becoming the first monarch to open Canada's Parliament in almost 70 years.

So what can we expect from his speech as Canada's head of state, to be delivered in French and English in Ottawa on Tuesday?

It will be written on the advice of Canada's government. But along with the workaday lines on policy plans, Mr Kinsman expects a message, loud and clear, that Canada will not be the 51st US state.

"It's going to be very affirmative of Canadian sovereignty. And I can say personally that it's something that King Charles will celebrate saying. I have no doubt," says Mr Kinsman, who worked as a diplomat with the King when he was Prince of Wales.

"It will say the government will protect, pursue and preserve the sovereignty of Canada as an independent state," he predicts about the speech, which follows an election won by Mark Carney on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment.

The King's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, was the last monarch to open Canada's Parliament in 1957 and was also the most recent to deliver the "speech from the throne" in 1977, in a ceremony that marks the start of a parliamentary session.

She began that speech with a few of her own personal comments – so there is scope for the King to add his own thoughts.

"I don't know what pronoun they'll use. He'll be talking about the 'government proposes'. But I don't know if they'll throw in an "I". Either way he'll be identified with it," says Mr Kinsman about the personal nature of this speech from the King in Canada – a Commonwealth country and Nato partner.

It's going to be a more dressed-down event than the pomp of the Westminster state opening of Parliament. The King will be in a suit rather than a gown and crown, reading a speech that could last about 25 minutes, much of which will be about the government's legislative plans.

There are also likely to be nods to the importance of Canada's First Nations communities, in a speech that comes on the first visit to Canada from King Charles and Queen Camilla since the start of their reign.

The King, invited by Mr Carney, will have to balance a message of solidarity with Canada, without jeopardising the UK's relationship with the US.

"The King has long experience and great skill in walking that diplomatic tightrope," says a royal source.

"He's held in high regard around the globe and across the political spectrum, with good relations with world leaders who understand his unique position."

Mel Cappe, a former Canadian minister and senior civil servant, has been involved in preparing such speeches from the throne, usually delivered by a governor general.

He expects the King to add a "few paragraphs of his own at the beginning" to "give his own personal view", but the overall text of the speech will be approved by Canada's prime minister and his officials.

"He's not going to poke President Trump in the eye. That would cause a problem for Canada. On the other hand he isn't going to suck up to Donald Trump," says Prof Cappe, who was also a high commissioner to the UK.

He believes this intervention could have a big impact: "Symbolically this is huge. President Trump has a lot of admiration for the monarchy. He is impressed by the royals."

This royal moment will be a platform for Canada's government to talk about tariffs and to mention the visit to the White House where PM Carney said Canada would "never" be for sale, says Prof Cappe.

"So somewhere in that speech, look for the word "never"," he says.

President Trump, as shown in his recent controversial White House meetings with South Africa's President Ramaphosa and Ukraine's President Zelensky, can be an unpredictable diplomatic partner.

"The old alliances are breaking down," says Mr Kinsman. And against a background of such uncertainty, King Charles has been part of an unexpected international balancing act.

He became a key part of the charm offensive to maintain the UK's good relations with President Trump, with an invite for a second state visit. Now he's going with a message of reassurance to the Canadians.

Sir Keir Starmer has been using the King to get closer to Trump, while Mark Carney is using him to keep Trump further away.

"He isn't anybody's tool or fool. This is something that he believes… It genuinely is something that he wants," says Mr Kinsman about the King's support for Canada.

The former diplomat remembers how much the then Prince Charles showed a personal affection for Canada and a sense of duty towards its people. A planned trip last year had to be cancelled because of his cancer diagnosis.

There are many strong links. The throne on which the King will sit to make his speech includes wood from Windsor Great Park – part of the Crown Estate.

Mr Kinsman says that many Canadians have been traumatised and upset by what he calls the "appalling" language of President Trump over wanting to take over Canada. It's shaken their view of the world and the new prime minister will be expected to stand up to the US.

Mr Carney has said that Canadians were not "impressed" by the UK's invitation to President Trump for a state visit. But Mr Kinsman says that's Canadian understatement for being "disgusted" by the invitation. It really rankled.

Nonetheless he says that many Canadians are pragmatic enough to see the UK needs to keep good relations with the US and that the King – who is head of state of both the UK and Canada – has to play both roles in this "strange duality".

That's rejected by Peter Donolo, a director of the Canadian International Council think tank, who believes there is an impossible contradiction in the King being different things for different countries.

"On the one hand they're using Charles in the UK to curry favour with the Americans and then it seems our government wants to use him to stand up for Canada. You can't have it both ways," says Mr Donolo.

He sees the monarchy as "irrelevant" to this dispute with the US. "It won't have any impact on how Trump views Canada," says Mr Donolo.

In theory the King acts in two separate and distinct roles, taking advice from the UK government on UK matters and advice from the Canadian government in Canada. There are differences too. In Canada, the reference to the King as "defender of the faith" was scrapped from his title.

Elizabeth McCallion, who teaches political science at the University of Toronto, thinks many Canadians don't really have much interest in the constitutional complications around the role of the King.

But she says people in Canada were profoundly offended by Trump's aim to annexe their country – and were "disappointed" that they had relatively little backing from the UK, which seemed to be "buddying up to Donald Trump".

They're now watching to see what the King might say to support them.

"People are recognising that this is momentous," she says.

Friends of a couple who were among four people killed in a cable car crash near Naples say they are "devastated" at their deaths.

Elaine and Graeme Winn, who lived in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, died alongside two others in Thursday's crash at Monte Faito, near Naples.

Local officials have said they believe the mountain cable car cabin plunged to the ground after one of the cables supporting it snapped.

Friends say the pair were keen motorcyclists, and on Sunday at a meeting outside the Black Horse in Foxton, fellow bikers and members of a club paid tribute.

Karina Mottley was one of many bikers who turned out to pay their respects to the Winns.

"They were the founders of the club, so we spent most weeks and weekends together, riding bikes and doing social things," she said.

"They were literally the best people I think we've ever met really.

"The biking community is such a close community – not just our club, other clubs across the East Midlands have been in contact, so it's just [had] a massive impact on all the clubs.

"Everybody knew of them, and everybody loved them."

Don Moore said the Winns were deeply involved in the local biking community.

"They were a fantastic couple," he said.

"They lived [for biking] – Graeme had recently retired, Elaine was cutting down her working days so she could do more biking and holidays, and they enjoyed all of that tremendously.

"Everybody's been absolutely devastated, there's been lots and lots of lots of tears, and everybody's been down, hence us having a little meeting today.

"It's such a tragedy to go in the way they have, on a holiday that they were dreaming of as well… you don't expect to have a dream holiday and not come back."

Sarah Hix said she worked with Elaine, who was a school business manager at Welland Park Academy in Market Harborough, for about 10 years.

"She threw herself into school life," she said.

"You never think it's going to be someone that you know.

"I only got back last night, so I've not really spoken to anybody, but two or three of my colleagues have spoken to me, and we're absolutely devastated."

Andrew Shrive said he met the Winns through their shared passion for biking, and had previously been on holiday with them.

He said Elaine had been a major influence on bringing more women into biking, and said Graeme's lifelong love had seen him buy "about 45-50 different bikes".

"They're the nicest couple that I've ever known," he said.

"I'd just come back from France touring on a bike, and I'd seen there had been an incident in Italy, and I heard that two Brits were killed, [and] I knew that Graeme and Elaine go over there, but you don't think that two people you know would be the two people involved in that serious accident.

"I just couldn't believe it."

Estelle Ambler said it will take time to come to terms with their loss.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard the news, it's very shocking," she said.

"We'd only seen them last week, and they were all excited for going away on their holiday.

"I've been following them on their travels on their social media – they'd only been in Italy a couple of days, and looked like they were having the most amazing time.

"To hear what has happened to them is shocking and extremely sad."

"I wanted to be a bus driver when I was younger. Then I wanted to own a bus cafe. It's always been in the back of my mind, this idea of living in a bus."

Lyndzi Hargrave, 38, moved into her double-decker bus in January and now plans to tour round festivals, so people can access the library inside it.

She purchased the bus on eBay in August 2023 and said the overall cost of the project – which doubles as an off-grid home – was more than £50,000, including buying the bus and adding solar panels.

Ms Hargrave, who grew up in Anstey, Leicestershire, said the bus had now passed its MOT, meaning she could tour it round the country, offering a free library and book swap service.

She said she did not know where her desire to live on a bus came from, "but it's just always been there".

Ms Hargrave said: "I've never really wanted kids or marriage or that traditional kind of life. And then I just thought, right, you need to focus on something."

At the end of 2022, she said she gave up drinking alcohol for a year "to see what would happen".

"That was the year I ended up getting the bus and everything just aligned for that to happen.

"I don't think if I wasn't drinking and I wasn't on this kind of journey, this spiritual journey, that I would have had the right mindset to complete such a huge task.

"I definitely feel like the more you kind of pursue your best interests, the more doors open in that area."

When asked what her favourite thing about living in a double-decker bus is, Ms Hargrave said: "It's having my own space, because I've always shared. I've always had a housemate.

"The favourite part is definitely feeling like this is my space that I can decorate how I want and all the rest of it.

"I've rescued furniture from free sites and from Facebook Marketplace and upcycled it all myself.

"I didn't want it looking all posh and brand new because that's not the vibe I was going for.

"I live in a library now, so that's surely got to be the best thing ever."

Ms Hargrave had the bus parked while she converted it, but is now looking for a semi-permanent base that she can return to between tours.

She said living in the bus had "humbled" her and taken her "back to basics".

"Every resource I bring on and every bit of wastage I take off," Ms Hargrave said.

"So it's made me realise about plastic packaging and whether I really need this item and it's just really given me a wake-up call and changed my perspective."

Ms Hargrave will begin touring the bus this month, with her first festival on 21 June.

She said: "I want to bring literacy to areas that no longer have libraries and also go to festivals and provide a bit of a community space for some people to connect.

"That's the point of the library and the books, to give people a reason to come along and then they can connect with people in the local community and with me and all the work that I do."

Ms Hargrave, who worked in specialist education for 15 years, also runs a podcast talking about ADHD and autism which aims to provide an information service for well-being and mental health.

A black schoolgirl who was strip-searched by Metropolitan Police officers was told she "might be arrested" if she refused to comply, a misconduct panel has heard.

The girl, known as Child Q, was strip-searched at her school by officers in Hackney, east London, on 3 December 2020 after her teachers wrongly suspected her of carrying cannabis.

This involved the removal of the 15-year-old's clothing including underwear, her bending over and having to expose intimate parts of her body while she was menstruating, the panel has heard.

Trainee Det Con Kristina Linge, PC Victoria Wray and PC Rafal Szmydynski, who were all constables at the time, deny gross misconduct over their treatment of the girl.

'Frightened?'

On Thursday, Det Con Linge, who conducted the strip-search alongside PC Wray, told the misconduct panel in south-east London she informed Child Q she "might be arrested" when the girl asked what could happen if she refused to be searched – but claimed there had been "no threat of arrest".

Elliot Gold, for the Independent Office for Police Conduct, asked: "Will you accept you were giving Child Q the option of being strip-searched or arrested?"

"There were no options given like that," the officer replied.

"Do you accept that saying that to a 15-year-old might make them feel frightened?" Mr Gold said.

"Yes," Det Con Linge responded.

The panel heard that when asked previously what the officer had proposed to do if she found cannabis on Child Q, Det Con Linge had answered: "As per legislation, a juvenile found in possession must be arrested and brought to custody."

Det Con Linge previously said Child Q had consented to the search, but admitted under cross-examination by Mr Gold that this was not accurate.

Det Con Linge joined the Met Police in 2018 and was still in her probationary period when the search took place.

The officer confirmed she had completed equality training, including on unconscious bias and discriminatory stereotypes, and said she was aware of stereotypes relating to black people.

She told the hearing she did not "see the relevance" of the fact Child Q was being questioned by two white police officers.

Mr Gold asked whether she would accept that "a stereotype of black people is they may more likely be stopped and searched" and if she would accept that they are more likely to be "in receipt of use of force by police".

Det Con Linge replied "no" to both questions.

The 46-year-old agreed there was no adult present in the room where the search happened who could have offered the child advice, assisted her in communication with police or ensured her rights were respected.

Det Con Linge also denied she "did not recognise Child Q as a child" and was, in effect, "treating her as older than she was".

The hearing continues.

A fairy trail in York has been hit by the "biggest attack" in the family attraction's history, its founder said.

Multiple fires had destroyed various structures on the Foss Fairy Trail, a free route created by volunteers and featuring dozens of colourful fairy houses and wind chimes.

The attraction in Heworth had now been targeted by vandals a total of 108 times since launching, according to trail founder Tracy Ostle.

"It's got to the point of exhaustion and I think this is the biggest attack we've had, we're just shocked to the core," she said.

The trail was set up in 2021 to add "a little bit of magic" along the banks of the River Foss in the area.

In the most recent attack, several parts of the trail including a children's chalkboard, a pergola and nearby logs were set on fire.

A bug house that was torched in a previous attack was also smashed to pieces.

"It was basically carnage," said Ms Ostle, who runs the trail alongside a full-time job.

Ms Ostle described the repeated attacks as "mindless" and warned the deliberate fires could spread.

"If that woodland had gone up in flames it could go all the way up the cycle track, especially with the dry weather," she said.

"The effect on any nature living down there would be terrible."

Since the latest attack, Ms Ostle said she had received offers of help to tidy up the site as well as a donation of £100 for materials from a local nature reserve charity.

"My message to the vandals would be rather than destroying everything, I could really do with a hand so come along and contribute something positive," she added.

North Yorkshire Police said it was investigating the most recent attack and a neighbourhood policing team would patrol the area while inquiries continued.