A former top lawyer, he is precise and factual. He sticks to his script, he rarely misspeaks, and it's difficult to draw him out. He's not easy to outwit. He's forensic, cautious, and stiff.

But at the G7 in Evian, France, in what could be one of his final interview rounds as prime minister at an international summit, a different kind of Starmer turned up for our sit-down. One who, in the words of one of his most faithful aides, was "up for the fight".

He was less defensive, more expansive and came armed with a message - that he was going to fight on as he dared his opponents to come for him.

"I don't feel angry, I don't feel bitter," he told me when I asked him how he felt about the predicament he's in.

"I remind myself it is an incredible privilege to be the prime minister of the United Kingdom, to be here, talking to world leaders about some of the biggest issues of the day, to be able to serve your country, to grapple with the difficult issues."

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As for his main challenger, the PM didn't swerve questions on Andy Burnham.

Instead, he set out a survival strategy, telling me that he wanted Burnham back in his cabinet - "he's a huge asset" - and telling the "whole Labour movement" that the party is "tipped straight into" a Manchester Mayoralty race it has to win.

But equally, the prime minister wasn't entirely wilfully blind to his predicament.

When I asked him if he was going to lead the party into the next general election, he gave me a different answer from what he said last September - "I will" and last November - "Yes".

"That's what I want to do."

When I noted his different answer and asked him what had changed, he didn't try to swerve: "Well, that's what I want to do, but of course, when you lose elections as badly as we did in May, it hurts and it should hurt. It matters. And that has got to be turned around.

"The question is, do we pull together and turn that around as a party and as a government, which is what I think we should do?

"Or do we descend into a leadership race, which will bring chaos with it? We know that the last government did this, they went through leadership. But you and me know very well what then happened."

There are opponents circling that tell me privately that they think the prime minister, when faced with Andy Burnham back in Westminster - should he win the Makerfield by-election - as well as facing more pressure from cabinet ministers and MPs clamouring for him to go, will give way.

You can see a list of all the candidates standing in the Makerfield by-election here

They think that Starmer won't want to put the country through a leadership race. And what else can he say anyhow?

He's taken that calculation that if he wants to have any hope of pushing through some of his legacy policies and remaining in the job for a little more time, he has to project confidence, be magnanimous, rise above the fray, behave as a prime minister is expected to.

For my part, I can't see into his Starmer's soul, but his allies insist he will not give way, and I am inclined to agree.

Someone who has worked closely with him described him as "conceited" in his refusal to face up to his situation and set out a timetable.

More supportive politicians describe Starmer as honourable and resilient and say the prime minister has purveyed the challengers and concluded that, in this moment, he is the best man to be prime minister when it comes to making decisions on Iran, Ukraine, and the economy.

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Equally, his allies recognise that he will likely need to give way before a general election if he cannot win over the public.

They acknowledge the party might need a better politician, a better communicator.

As Angela Rayner told The Mirror this week when asked about whether it was too late to achieve the change needed under Starmer's government: "I'm not answering your question direct. I think it is very hard to escape the feeling the public have towards Keir."

Of course, maybe Starmer seems more relaxed now because he has little left to lose. He knows that his fate is largely beyond his control.

He managed to block Burnham from returning to government for the Gorton and Denton by-election, but he didn't have the authority to try to do that again.

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Instead, he's trying to push it long, offer Burnham a cabinet job, press him to focus on keeping Manchester's Mayoralty for Labour. Play for time and see what happens.

His detractors want to call time on his leadership, to give Labour the chance to try to win back voters before the next general election.

Wes Streeting has this week said again that he has the numbers to trigger a contest, and the PM could face a challenge next week if he doesn't agree to set out his timetable.

Another very senior colleague points out the current crisis "isn't about Andy Burnham coming for Starmer's job, it's about the PM having lost it. That if it wasn't Burnham, it would be someone else".

From every angle, it looks too far gone for Starmer, but he showed in Evian this week that he's not done quite yet.

Rex Heuermann appeared before a judge in Riverhead, New York, on Wednesday after admitting in court that he murdered eight women.

He entered the New York courtroom wearing a black suit, a blue shirt, and a light-coloured tie.

Heuermann, 62, of Massapequa Park, pleaded guilty in April to charges that he murdered seven women: Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla.

Though he was never charged in her death, he also admitted in court to killing an eighth victim, Karen Vergata.

Speaking before his sentencing, Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, told the killer: "You fill me with so much repugnance, I can't stand it."

Heuermann sat with his hands clasped and resting on a table in an eastern Long Island courtroom, looking straight ahead and lightly tapping his fingers.

"A million years isn't enough," Ms Robinson said. "Nothing will ever make this right."

Amanda Funderburg, Melissa Barthelemy's sister, urged Heuermann to look at her as she spoke. He glanced in her direction, but his eyes were slightly downcast.

"I hope you suffer," said Ms Funderburg, who recounted getting a taunting phone call from him days after Barthelemy disappeared, when Ms Funderburg was 15 years old.

Police matched DNA from pizza crust

Heuermann said he strangled his victims, many of them sex workers, and dismembered some of their bodies.

Most of the women disappeared between 2000 and 2010, and most of their remains were found on a desolate parkway not far from Long Island's Gilgo Beach, around 50 miles from New York.

The case gained widespread attention in 2010, when investigators started to find remains along Ocean Parkway while looking into the disappearance of another sex worker - whose death was ultimately ruled an accidental drowning.

While the hunt for the other women's killer went cold for years, a renewed investigation identified Heuermann as a potential suspect in 2022.

Detectives linked him to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.

Police also managed to match DNA from a pizza crust he discarded in a bin in New York to genetic material extracted from highly degraded hair fragments found on the woman's remains.

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Other evidence, including mobile phone tracking data and what prosecutors called a "blueprint" for the killings from his computer files, was also found.

Among the documents was a checklist with reminders to limit noise, clean the bodies and destroy evidence.

He was arrested in July 2023 and had remained largely silent through multiple court appearances since then.

As part of his guilty plea, Heuermann has agreed to cooperate with the FBI's behavioural analysis unit to help catch other serial killers.

Asa Ellerup, his ex-wife, and their two grown children had said through their lawyers that they wouldn't be attending the sentencing out of respect for the victim's families.

Heuermann has spent the past three years alone in a segregated cell at the county jail in Riverhead.

According to Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon, who oversees the jail, he has spent his time reading crime novels, occasionally being visited by his lawyers or family, and striking up a brief correspondence with the infamous "Happy Face Killer".

Director-general Matt Brittin, who took up the role in May, told employees on Wednesday that £160m of staff and non-staff cost savings would be made from across BBC News and TV and radio teams by the end of the financial year.

More savings across all areas will be set out in the coming months, with 700 corporate roles also expected to go and senior leader roles to be reduced by at least 10%, he added.

In a follow-up message from Jonathan Munro, the interim chief executive of BBC News and Current Affairs, staff were told details of cuts and changes to specific shows, and that a review of chief presenter roles would also be carried out.

These cuts are the first to be announced as part of a huge savings plan announced in April, with up to 2,000 jobs to go in total - the corporation's biggest downsizing in almost 15 years.

In his memo, Mr Munro told staff: "Our news presenters have a unique relationship with our audiences. However, given the savings we need to make across the whole of BBC News, we are carrying out a review of our chief presenter roles.

"This is designed to ensure we have the right number of presenters, deployed as flexibly and efficiently as possible, to balance audience needs with best value for money."

On-air editor roles are also being reviewed and a proposal has been made to close dedicated social presenter roles.

In one positive for Newsnight, Mr Munro said it would move to a peak-time slot on Fridays, "building on the success of its refreshed format".

'A doubly difficult time for everyone'

The scale of savings needed "requires tough choices" and all divisions "will be making significant savings", Mr Brittin said in his internal note to staff.

Overall, the plan is to cut commissioning spend across the Content, News and Nations departments by about £80 million in the year 2027-28.

Broadcast TV channels and the radio network portfolio would be reviewed "as audiences move online", Mr Brittin said, and steps will also be taken to "reduce duplication, clarify accountability, and increase the speed of decision making".

"We live in very uncertain times," the BBC boss added. "Our audiences rely on us every day to keep them informed, entertained and equipped to make sense of the world. Making savings while fulfilling our mission means a doubly difficult time for everyone."

'Death by a thousand cuts'

Philippa Childs, head of media and entertainment union Bectu, responded to the announcement by saying the cuts were "far from ideal" taking place at the same time as the BBC's charter renewal - and that they would affect the broadcaster's ability to deliver its public service mission.

"In an era of fake news and an industry that is becoming more concentrated in the hands of a few multinational corporations, the UK needs a confident, ambitious and sustainably-funded BBC more than ever," she said.

"The charter renewal must put the BBC's funding on a secure, long-term pathway or it risks death by a thousand cuts."

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The union is in talks with the BBC "to mitigate the impact as much as possible", she added.

Cathy Sweet, head of TV and film at entertainment and performing arts trade union Equity, described the cuts as "devastating" and said they risked the BBC becoming "unable to live up to its aim to inform, educate and entertain".

Mr Brittin, a former Google executive, replaced Tim Davie as director-general in last month.

Mr Davie announced his resignation from the corporation in November last year, amid controversy and a $10bn (about $7.5bn) lawsuit over the editing of a BBC documentary about Donald Trump.

The employee at the London Clinic, who no longer works there, has been cautioned by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) over the "deliberate misuse" of the Princess of Wales's private medical records for financial gain.

It involved "highly sensitive personal information and an offer to disclose it for financial gain, representing a clear breach of trust", the ICO said.

In this case, the ICO "concluded that a caution was the appropriate and proportionate enforcement response".

The ICO, which is the UK's privacy and data protection watchdog, said on Wednesday: "Following a full assessment under the Code for Crown Prosecutors and the ICO's Prosecution Policy, the ICO issued a now former healthcare professional from London with a formal caution."

The watchdog said it did ​not find there were any wider failings at the ⁠London Clinic, one of the largest private hospitals in the UK, which has also treated King Charles for cancer.

Ian Hulme, the ICO's executive director for regulatory supervision, said: "People should be able to trust that the personal information they're giving to healthcare settings is safe and protected from exploitation."

The princess was admitted to the hospital for abdominal surgery in January 2024, and in March of the same year, revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.

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A spokesperson at The London Clinic said: "We all take considerable pride in delivering the very highest standards of care and discretion for every patient at The London Clinic.

"We are pleased our work with the ICO has brought this sad and isolated incident to a conclusion. There were no regulatory breaches by the hospital."

In January 2025, Kate revealed she was in remission from cancer and has now returned to official duties.

Via a personal video message to mark World Cancer Day in February, Kate told other sufferers they "are not alone".

Then in May, the Princess of Wales visited Italy, her first overseas trip since her cancer treatment.

She had not undertaken an official foreign tour since 2022, when she went to Boston in the US for her husband's Earthshot Prize award ceremony.

Some areas of the country are set to be hotter than Barbados, according to forecasters.

The Met Office said temperatures are expected to climb steadily into the high 20s later this week, with southern England close to 30C (86F) by Friday and 32C (89.6F) on Sunday, with the potential for 33C by Monday.

Also, East Anglia could have temperatures of 32C on Friday.

See the weather forecast where you are

The eastern Caribbean island of Barbados is set to see temperatures fluctuate between 26C and 30C on Sunday, according to the Met Office.

Heatwave criteria are likely set to be met in some areas in the south and southeast of England by Saturday, and more widely on Sunday.

That comes after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued the yellow heat health alerts earlier this week, which apply to the East of England, East Midlands, London and the South East from 3pm on Wednesday until 8pm on Monday.

Sky News meteorologist Christopher England said: "High pressure will bring hot continental air and plenty of sunshine across southern parts of Britain over the next few days, and especially the South East, with 33C possible by Monday."

However, he added that a "briefer, somewhat cooler, cloudier and damper interlude" is set for Saturday, while "prolonged high temperatures will bring the chance of heatwave conditions over some southeastern parts by Saturday".

Elsewhere, Met Office deputy chief forecaster Gregory Wolverson said that "more unsettled conditions passing to the northwest of the UK while heat builds in the South and East" is what we're likely to see from Friday.

"As we move towards the weekend, we'll see conditions become more widely settled and temperatures rise all round," he added.

He then said that "while temperatures may be high, we might not all see the wall-to-wall sunshine and blue skies we experienced back in May", during a record-breaking heatwave across the UK.

That heatwave saw at least 15 people die in water-related incidents across the UK, including nine children.

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"There is also a chance of thunderstorms developing in places," Mr Wolverson added, "particularly later each day, which could bring heavy showers and localised impacts".

After peak heat on Monday, the Met Office said temperatures could peak again across southern and southeastern England on Tuesday, but added there is uncertainty on how quickly conditions will begin to cool after.

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What is the heatwave criteria?

For a heatwave to be declared, temperatures must exceed a daily maximum for three days in a row.

That max temperature varies from area to area:

• For Scotland, Northern Ireland, much of western Wales and northern England, and Cornwall and Devon, temperatures must exceed 25C;
• In areas like Hull, Cardiff and Bournemouth, that threshold is 26C;
• Some of the Home Counties and part of the Midlands declare a heatwave when it's 27C;
• And London, Surrey, Cambridge and Oxford have the highest thresholds at 28C.