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Chancellor Rachel Reeves will remain in her role “for the whole of this Parliament”, Downing Street has said, as she faces criticism over the falling pound and rising government borrowing costs.

The pound fell to $1.21 on Monday, its lowest level since November 2023, while one measure of the rate at which the government can borrow money hit its highest level since 2008.

Borrowing costs are rising for many countries across the world, but some have argued that decisions made in the Budget appear to have made the UK more vulnerable.

The Conservatives said the chancellor was “hanging on by her fingernails”.

When asked at a press conference earlier whether Reeves would remain chancellor for the whole of the Parliament, the prime minister declined to answer, but did then say she had his “full confidence” and was doing a “fantastic job”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The prime minister just refused to back his chancellor staying in her job.

“The markets are in turmoil and business confidence has crashed, yet the chancellor is nowhere to be seen.”

However, the prime minister’s official spokesman later said: “You heard from the prime minister this morning.

“He was very explicit (that) he has full confidence in the chancellor and he’ll be working with her in the role of chancellor for the whole of this Parliament.”

The row comes after the chancellor defended her decision to travel to China to improve economic ties with the country, despite the uncertainty in the financial markets.

The Conservatives said she had “fled to China”, but Reeves said agreements reached in Beijing would be worth £600m to the UK over the next five years.

Reeves is a central figure in the Labour government, presented to the voters as a safe pair of hands in the run-up to the election. She also led the work to build bridges with business.

But business and some other observers were shaken by her first Budget in October, which they fear could knock the wind from the economy further, rather than spur the growth Labour has promised.

Market jitters over the past week have increased concerns over the government’s economic strategy.

Rising borrowing costs will have a knock-on effect on the government’s tax and spending plans, because it will have to pay more interest to finance its existing debt. That leaves less to spend on public services and investment.

Governments generally borrow money by selling bonds to big investors, such as pension funds. UK government bonds are known as gilts.

The yield on the 10-year gilt – the interest rate at which the government pays back a decade-long loan to investors – rose to 4.88% on Monday, its highest level for 17 years.

The 30-year gilt yield climbed to 5.44%, its highest in 27 years.

Government debt costs in Germany, France, Spain and Italy also rose on Monday.

Some experts say investors are reacting to the re-election of former US President Donald Trump and his talk of tariffs.

There is concern this will lead to inflation being more persistent than previously thought, and therefore interest rates will not come down as quickly as expected, both in the US and elsewhere.

Strong US jobs data released on Friday added to expectations that US rates will stay higher for longer, and this has helped to strengthen the value of the dollar against other currencies.

However, Emma Wall, head of platform investors at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the UK’s problems were not purely caused by global issues, arguing that measures announced in the Budget have stoked inflation.

“If you can get inflation under control, you will see interest rates come down in the UK,” she added.

Reeves also faced questions over her self-imposed rules on government debt and spending, which she said on Saturday were “non-negotiable”.

Despite her commitment, some have questioned whether she will be able to achieve the targets without making further spending cuts or tax rises because of how government debt costs have risen.

On Monday, Sir Keir said the government was going to keep to its fiscal rules.

However, he added that the government would be “ruthless” in its decisions for the upcoming spending review.

The government has made growing the UK’s economy a key objective, but recent figures indicate the economy saw zero growth between July and September, while it contracted during October.

Businesses have warned that Budget measures, such as the rise in employer National Insurance contributions, together with the higher National Living Wage could lead to job cuts and price rises.

Rupert Soames, chair of the Confederation of British Business (CBI), said the picture was “not good” but insisted that firms were still somewhat upbeat.

“I wouldn’t say confidence is gone,” he told the BBC’s Today programme. “I’d say it’s bruised.”

However, he said the government was making the situation worse by introducing the Employment Rights Bill, which he said contained “powerful dissuaders to employment”.

Unions argue the protections introduced in the bill, such as banning fire-and-rehire, make employees safer, while the government has said it “represents the biggest upgrade in employment rights for a generation”.

However, Mr Soames said the bill would lead to job losses.

“Businesses will not only not employ, they will let people go,” he said.

As part of its push for growth, the government revealed plans on Monday to make the UK the global capital of artificial intelligence through measures such as building a new supercomputer.

Sir Keir said the technology has “vast potential” for rejuvenating UK public services, but the Conservatives called the plans “uninspiring”.

Fashion photographer Oliviero Toscani, known for his shock ad campaigns for Italian clothing brand Benetton, has died aged 82, his family has confirmed.

The brand’s former art director revealed least year he had amyloidosis, a rare incurable condition that affects the body’s vital organs and nerves.

“It is with great sorrow that we announce the news that today, 13 January 2025, our beloved Oliviero has embarked on his next journey,” Toscani’s wife Kirsti said in a post on Instagram.

Toscani was admitted to hospital on Friday in Cecina, near his Tuscan country home, in a serious condition.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera last year he said he had unintentionally lost 40kg (88lb) in weight.

“I don’t know how long I have left to live, but I’m not interested in living like this anyway,” he added.

His work drew attention to social themes, such as the Aids pandemic, racism, war and the death penalty.

Paying tribute to his work, Benetton released a photograph he had taken for the brand in 1989.

“In order to explain certain things, words simply don’t suffice. You taught us that,” a spokesperson said on Monday.

“Farewell Oliviero. Keep on dreaming.”

Born on 28 February 1942 in Milan, Toscani was the son of a well-known Corriere photographer and attended art school in Zurich.

Throughout his career, he worked for leading fashion magazines including Vogue and GQ and helped to launch the career of model Monica Bellucci.

He photographed cultural icons such as Andy Warhol, John Lennon and Federico Fellini.

But it was during his tenure as director at Benetton, a position he held for 18 years, that saw him achieve world recognition.

His use of models of all races became the label’s calling card and popularised the “United Colours of Benetton” logo – but his provocative photos stoked controversy.

Images of the blood-drenched clothes of a soldier killed in Bosnia were featured on Benetton billboards around the world.

His graphic use of a photo depicting David Kirby, a man dying of Aids, also prompted a boycott of the brand.

Three identical human hearts labelled black, white and yellow hinted at the racism in fashion, while another of his adverts – featuring a priest and nun kissing – were eventually banned.

He parted company with the brand in 2000 following disputes over his last campaign, which featured images of death row prisoners, captioned “sentenced to death”.

He has said that his campaigns, which touched on subjects such as human rights, religion and racism, were designed to raise awareness of certain issues.

“I exploit clothing to raise social issues,” Toscani told Reuters in an interview at the time, as debate erupted over whether the campaign had gone too far.

“Traditional advertising says if you buy a certain product, you will be beautiful, sexually powerful, successful. All that doesn’t really exist,” he said.

In 2007, his photo of French model Isabelle Caro for a fashion label’s anti-anorexia campaign made headlines.

Her gaunt face and emaciated body, ravaged by the eating disorder, was featured on billboards and in newspapers during Milan fashion week. The campaign coincided with the rise in concern about the use of excessively thin models on the catwalk.

The image, shot for fashion house Nolita, was banned in several countries including Italy, but provoked fierce debate online after going viral.

Toscani resumed working for Benetton in 2017, but three years later, the group cut ties with him after he played down the significance of the Morandi Bridge disaster which killed 43 people.

He is survived by his wife and three children Rocco, Lola and Ali.

Norway is the world leader when it comes to the take up of electric cars, which last year accounted for nine out of 10 new vehicles sold in the country. Can other nations learn from it?

For more than 75 years Oslo-based car dealership Harald A Møller has been importing Volkswagens, but early in 2024 it bid farewell to fossil fuel cars.

Now all the passenger vehicles for sale in its showroom are electric (EV).

“We think it’s wrong to advise a customer coming in here today to buy an ICE [internal combustion engine] car, because the future is electric,” says chief executive Ulf Tore Hekneby, as he walks around the cars on display. “Long-range, high-charging speed. It’s hard to go back.”

On the streets of Norway’s capital, Oslo, battery-powered cars aren’t a novelty, they’re the norm. Take a look around and you’ll soon notice that almost every other car has an “E” for “electric” on its licence plate.

The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has adopted EVs faster than any other country, and is on the cusp of becoming the first to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel cars.

Last year, the number of electric cars on Norway’s roads outnumbered those powered by petrol for the first time. When diesel vehicles are included, electric cars account for almost a third of all on Norwegian roads.

And 88.9% of new cars sold in the country last year were EVs, up from 82.4% in 2023, data from the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) showed.

In some months sales of fully electric cars were as high as 98%, as new petrol or diesel car purchases almost fizzled out.

By contrast, in the UK electric cars made up only 20% of new car registrations in 2024. Although this was a record high, and up from 16.5% in 2023.

In the US, the figure was just 8% last year, up from 7.6%.

Norway is undoubtedly an EV pioneer, but this electric revolution has been three decades in the making.

“It started already in the early 1990s,” says Christina Bu, the secretary general of the Norwegian EV Association, as she took me for a spin around Oslo in an electric minivan.

“Little by little taxing petrol and diesel engine cars more, so they have become a lot more expensive to purchase, whereas electric cars have been exempted from taxes.”

The support for electric vehicles was first introduced to help two Norwegian manufacturers of early EVs, the Buddy (previously Kewet) and TH!NK City. While they went out of business, the incentives for greener vehicles remained.

“It’s our goal to see that it’s always a good and viable choice, to choose zero emission,” says Norway’s Deputy Transport Minister, Cecilie Knibe Kroglund.

Even though it’s a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims for all new cars sold to be “zero emission”, starting at some point in 2025. A non-binding goal was set back in 2017, and that milestone now lies within reach.

“We are closing up on the target, and I think that we will reach that goal,” adds Kroglund. “I think we have already made the transition for passengers cars.”

Key to Norway’s success has been long-term and predictable policies, she explains.

Rather than banning combustion engine vehicles, the government has steered consumer choices. In addition to penalising fuel fossil vehicles with higher taxes and registration fees, VAT and import duties were scrapped for low-emission cars.

A string of perks, like free parking, discounted road tolls and access to bus lanes, then followed.

By comparison, the European Union plans to ban sales of new fossil-fuel cars by 2035, and the UK’s current government wants to prohibit their sale in 2030.

Petrol and diesel car sales are still permitted in Norway. But few are choosing to buy them.

For many locals, like Ståle Fyen, who bought his first EV 15 months ago, going electric made economic sense.

“With all the incentives we have in Norway, with no taxes on EVs, that was quite important to us money wise,” he says while plugging in his car at a charging station in the capital.

“In the cold, the range is maybe 20% shorter, but still, with the expansive charging network we have here in Norway, that isn’t a big issue really,” Mr Fyen adds. “You just have to change your mindset and charge when you can, not when you need to.”

Another driver, Merete Eggesbø, says that back in 2014 she was one of the first people in Norway to own a Tesla. “I really wanted a car that didn’t pollute. It gave me a better conscience driving.”

At Norwegian petrol stations many fuel pumps have been replaced by fast-charging points, and across Norway there are now more than 27,000 public chargers.

This compares with 73,699 in the UK – a country 12 times bigger in terms of population.

That means that, per 100,000 people, Norway has 447 chargers while the UK has just 89, according to a recent report.

Tesla, VW and Toyota, were Norway’s top-selling EV brands last year. Meanwhile, Chinese-owned marques – such as MG, BYD, Polestar and XPeng – now make up a combined 10% of the market, according to the Norwegian Road Federation.

Norway, unlike the US and EU, has not imposed tariffs on Chinese EV imports.

Ms Bu says there’s “not really any reason why other countries can not copy Norway”. However, she adds that it is “all about doing it in a way that can work in each country or market”.

Norwegians aren’t more environmentally-minded than people elsewhere, she reckons. “I don’t think a green mindset has much to do with it. It has to do with strong policies, and people gradually understanding that driving an electric car is possible.”

Yet Norway is also a very wealthy nation, which thanks to its huge oil and gas exports, has a sovereign wealth fund worth more than $1.7tn (£1.3tn). This means it can more easily afford big infrastructure-build projects, and absorb the loss of tax revenue from the sale of petrol and diesel cars and their fuel.

The country also has an abundance of renewable hydro electricity, which accounts for 88% of its production capacity.

“A third of cars are now electric, and it will pass 50% in a few years,” says Kjell Werner Johansen from the Norwegian Centre for Transport Research. “I think the government accepts that a few new petrol or hybrid cars will still be on the market, but I don’t know anybody who wants to buy a diesel car these days.”

Weather forecasters in California are warning fierce winds which fuelled the infernos around Los Angeles are expected to pick up again this week, as fire crews on the ground race to make progress controlling three wildfires.

Officials warned that after a weekend of relatively calm winds, the notoriously dry Santa Ana winds would pick up again from Sunday night until Wednesday, reaching speeds of up to 60mph (96km/h).

Ahead of the wind’s uptick, some progress has been made in stopping the spread of the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires, which are burning on opposite ends of the city. Local firefighters are being assisted by crews from eight other states, as well as Canada and Mexico, who continue to arrive.

The LA County medical examiner updated the death toll on Sunday to 24, while officials said earlier at least another 16 remain missing.

Sixteen of the dead were found in the Eaton fire zone, while eight were found in the Palisades area.

Three conflagrations continue to burn around Los Angeles.

The largest fire is the Palisades, which has now burnt through more than 23,000 acres and is 13% contained.

The Eaton fire is the second biggest and has burnt through more than 14,000 acres. It is 27% contained.

The Hurst fire has grown to 799 acres and has been almost fully contained.

The wildfires are on track to be among the costliest in US history.

On Sunday, private forecaster Accuweather increased its preliminary estimate of financial losses from the blazes to between $250bn-$275bn.

While crews have managed to start containing the largest fires, authorities have warned the incoming wind event could lead to “potential disastrous wind conditions”, with the whole of LA County put under fire threat.

“Unfortunately, we’re going right back into red flag conditions with some potential disastrous wind conditions between now and Wednesday, with the peak winds expected to be on Tuesday,” Pasadena fire chief Chad Augustin told the BBC.

“While we’re making some progress, the end is not even close yet,” he said.

The National Weather Service has issued a rare ‘particularly dangerous situation’ alert for Tuesday, warning of “extreme fire behaviour” – running from 04:00 local time, until midday on Wednesday.

Kristin Crowley, the fire chief for the city of LA, called for residents near evacuation zones to be prepared to flee if an order is issued, and to stay off the roads as much as possible in order to not hinder crews.

Despite the dire forecast, all schools except those in mandatory evacuation zones would reopen on Monday, the LA Unified School District announced.

Topanga Canyon resident Alice Husum, 67, told the BBC a new fire that began in the area overnight was quickly contained, but that she and her neighbours are all “dreading Tuesday” when the wind speeds are likely to peak.

But Ms Husum, who has stayed behind despite evacuation orders, notes that the forecast “is a little better than the 100 mile-gusts that were hammering us” earlier in the week.

New fires continued to flare up on Sunday, threatening communities in the San Fernando Valley and near Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

On Sunday, firefighters were able to quickly stop the spread of new fires in the Angeles National Forest, which surround the facility that is at the heart of the US space programme and contains top secret technology.

At least 29 people have been arrested for looting in mandatory evacuation zones. Two people were caught posing as firefighters in order to steal from evacuees.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a news conference Sunday he had requested more National Guard troops to bolster the 400 already in the area. California Governor Gavin Newsom has since announced that 1,000 additional members of the National Guard would be deployed.

“When I was out there in the Malibu area, I saw a gentleman that looked like a firefighter. And I asked him if he was okay because he was sitting down. I didn’t realise we had him in handcuffs,” Sheriff Luna told reporters.

“We are turning him over to LAPD because he was dressed like a fireman, and he was not. He just got caught burglarising a home. So those are issues that our front-line deputies and police officers are dealing with.”

There are now 14,000 firefighters in the southern California region, being assisted by 84 aircrafts and 1,354 fire engines, said Sheriff Luna.

Evacuation numbers have dropped, with around 105,000 residents still under mandatory evacuation orders and 87,000 under evacuation warnings.

Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), told CNN on Sunday that a significant threat remained.

“I know that so many people probably want to get back into the area and check on their homes, but with winds picking back up, you never know which way they’re going to go,” she said.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that limited access had been allowed to evacuated residents over the weekend, but that his officers are once again barring all residents from returning.

Officials have issued repeated orders for drone operators to not fly near fire zones, and are now seeking information after a drone crashed into a vital plane.

The FBI has shared photos of the small drone which on Thursday collided with a plane known as a “Super Scooper”, one of the world’s most affective firefighting aircrafts, briefly grounding it.

The drone ripped a 3-by-6-inch (8-by-15cm) hole in the plane.

Officials have also warned of scammers seeking to take advantage of victims, and issued a stern warning that anyone caught price gouging will be prosecuted.

Meanwhile the spat between California Governor Newsom and President-elect Donald Trump continues.

Trump, who takes office on 20 January and has been invited by the governor to come tour the fire damage, on Saturday blamed “incompetent” politicians for “one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our country”.

Newsom, who is a Democrat, has in turn attacked Trump for sharing “inexcusable” misinformation about the fires.

With additional reporting from Regan Morris

Standing at a lectern at Washington’s National Cathedral last Thursday, Joe Biden delivered the eulogy for former President Jimmy Carter while three other former presidents – Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama – and the once and future president, Donald Trump, looked on.

Each spectating president had achieved the validation of the American people (re-election to a second term) that has eluded Biden. And as Biden, whose term comes to an end next week, paid tribute to Carter, a fellow one-term president, it was hard not to draw other parallels too.

“Many think he was from a bygone era, but in reality, he saw well into the future,” Biden said of Carter. He went on to note Carter’s accomplishments in advancing civil rights, his work on peace and nuclear non-proliferation, and his efforts to protect the environment.

Earlier in the week, however, Biden was making the case for his own legacy and how history should judge him.

“I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America’s leadership in the world,” he said in a television interview. “And I hope it records that I did it with honesty and integrity; that I said what was on my mind.”

Whether that happens is subject to vigorous discussion – but he exits the White House with his approval ratings near their lowest mark of his presidency. Only 39% have a positive view, according to the latest Gallup survey, down from 57% at the start of his term.

Next week, the man he defeated in 2020 returns to power, marking what must feel to him like a dour end to a presidency.

Biden had his accomplishments – adroitly shepherding complex investment and infrastructure legislation through Congress despite narrow majorities, strengthening and expanding Nato, and appointing a remarkable number of diverse judges to the federal bench – but at least for now, that is overshadowed.

His current place in history is as the Democratic interregnum between the two Trump presidential terms. A blip, rather than a pivot.

“He’d like his legacy to be that he rescued us from Trump,” says author and Democratic strategist Susan Estrich. “But sadly, for him, his legacy is Trump again. He is the bridge from Trump One to Trump Two.”

It didn’t have to be this way. Biden and his team were buffeted by events – some within his control and some outside it. Many of the most damaging developments were entirely predictable, however – and, in fact, predicted – yet the president and his administration appeared to be caught flat-footed.

For that, they paid a high price.

Biden’s first misstep as president came half a world away, in the chaos that unfolded during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

The exit had been negotiated during the final months of the Trump administration, but Biden backed it – despite warnings from some of his military advisors.

Those dire predictions proved prophetic, as Kabul descended into panic and unrest.

By the end of that month, Biden’s Gallup approval rating had dipped below 50% for the first time – a mark it would never again reach.

On the domestic front, the situation for the president was equally inauspicious. By summer, US inflation had surpassed 5% for the first time in 30 years.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that she believed the spike was “transitory”. Biden called it “temporary”. Some outside the administration, most notably Obama’s Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, thought otherwise.

By the time inflation reached its peak a year later, at 9.1% in June 2022, Yellen and Biden had admitted they miscalculated.

Americans did not forget or forgive, however. And although the monthly inflation numbers had dropped below 3% by summer 2024, unemployment remained low, economic growth was steady and the US had outperformed the world’s other industrialised nations, voters continued to have a pessimistic view of the economy.

Other issues followed this pattern: The Biden administration was slow to respond to the post-Covid spike in undocumented migration at the US-Mexico border.

And it was seemingly caught off-guard by the disruptive impact the Republican-backed programme of relocating migrants to Democratic-run northern cities would have on government services far from the border.

Shortages in Covid tests and infant formula, a dramatic increase in the price of eggs, the end of Roe v Wade abortion protections, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – for every seemingly unanticipated fire the Biden administration addressed, two new ones would emerge.

The challenges were, in fact, daunting – ones that felled incumbent leaders in democracies around the world.

But for Biden and the Democrats, hoping to prove that they were a competent and effective counterpoint not just to Trump but to global authoritarian regimes, the stakes were high.

Amid all of this, responses from the administration were sometimes glaringly off-key. When asked during a television interview about raising oil production in America to reduce gas prices, in November 2021, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm responded with a laugh.

“That is hilarious,” she said. “Would that I had the magic wand.”

Biden – once regarded as a gifted communicator and orator – appeared less able to connect with the American people. Signs of his advancing years were also showing.

“Watching Biden speak, I’m like, oh my God, this is a different person,” said a senior White House official who served in the early years of the Biden administration and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“Maybe it’s simply that when you’re there every day, you don’t see it.”

A report by Robert Hur, a special counsel appointed to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents, referred to the president as an “elderly man with a poor memory”, setting off a round of hand-wringing among Democrats.

Biden’s interactions with the media were curtailed, and his public appearances tightly scripted. His verbal miscues and stumbles became fodder for Republican attacks. But Biden pressed on, determined to seek and win a second term in office.

During his presidency, Biden surrounded himself with veterans of government service. His secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had been one of his top foreign policy advisors since his days in the Senate. Merrick Garland, a distinguished appellate court judge and Barack Obama’s ill-fated 2016 pick for the Supreme Court, was tabbed for attorney general. Yellen, his pick for treasury, had previously chaired the Federal Reserve.

Within the White House, Biden chose Ron Klain – who had worked in Democratic presidential administrations for decades – as his chief of staff. Mike Donilon, another Biden veteran, served as a senior advisor.

The team was particularly successful at managing the narrow majorities in the House and the Senate, notching early legislative victories even in the face of unified Republican resistance and reluctance from centrists in his own party.

Biden’s “American Rescue Plan”, which passed just two months after he took office, included nearly $2 trillion in new government spending. It expanded healthcare subsidies, and funded the distribution of Covid vaccines and a payment programme that cut child poverty in half, to 5%.

Later that year, Democrats and some Republicans joined to pass an infrastructure investment bill, which included $1tn in new spending on transportation, clean energy, water, broadband and other construction programmes.

Others followed, marking a legislative agenda that few first-term presidents in the modern era could match – but it came with what some critics see as a fatal flaw.

Brent Cebul, an associate professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that Biden’s efforts were too focused on shifting policies that take years to translate into economic benefits for average American workers.

“I think that the time horizon associated with those big pieces of legislation was way out of sync with the exigencies of the presidential election,” he said.

Biden would have been better served finding ways to bring the tangible benefits to voters more quickly – a sentiment Biden himself expressed during a recent newspaper interview.

His team also proved less able when success was measured not in laws enacted but in the daily messaging battle against a political opposition that was growing increasingly assertive.

A senior Biden official said that the White House team was more decisive early on in his presidency.

“As things started to become a grind and you lose that sense of getting big things done, it can give way to infighting and frustration,” they admitted, adding that it was their sense that the circle around Biden became more insular as the pressure built.

After a two-year respite, his political opponents launched investigations, held hearings (into the Afghanistan withdrawal, the Biden family’s business dealings and more) and, in September 2023, formally initiated a presidential impeachment inquiry. All the while, Biden’s public approval languished in the low 40s.

Biden’s presidency should be seen in two halves, says Mr Cebul. The first was more accomplished. The second was less focused.

“Biden’s sense that the US was macro-economically doing quite well led him and his advisors to take their eyes off the ball when many, many Americans were still very much hurting.”

On 25 April, 2023, Biden made his presidential bid official in a campaign video warning that Trump “extremists” were threatening America.

Over the following months, there would be more warnings of the danger Trump posed to American democracy. He would tout his economic plan – embracing the label “Bidenomics” – and point to how inflation was dropping while the economy was still growing.

I travelled with Biden on a June 2023 trip to Chicago, where he held a reception for deep-pocketed donors and gave a speech on the economy in an historic downtown post office.

“Bidenomics is about the future,” he said.”Bidenomics is just another way of saying: Restore the American dream.”

Mr Cebul believes that was a bad move.

“For him to then spend most of the spring and the early summer basically talking about how he’s the most successful economic president in modern history, it was just so discordant,” he said.

“Not only was the message out of sync, he was also just a terrible messenger.”

In Chicago, as in many of his speeches, Biden’s delivery was at times halting. His words sometimes mumbled and his syntax mangled.

Through it all, however, Biden was telling aides that he believed he was the man best positioned to defeat Trump – that he had done it once, and he would do it again. And those aides vigorously pushed back whenever anyone questioned Biden’s abilities.

“I’m not a young guy, that’s no secret,” Biden said in a campaign advert. “But here’s the deal: I understand how to get things done for the American people.”

In the autumn, Biden confronted yet another crisis – following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, he quickly cautioned Israel not to overreact or overreach in its response to the bloodshed.

As with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the president turned his attention to world affairs. But unlike Ukraine, during which Biden assembled a unified western coalition against the invasion, the continued US support of Israel eroded enthusiasm and support for Biden in some quarters at home.

At the same time, Biden was confronting his son Hunter’s growing legal troubles – a June trial and conviction on gun charges and, perhaps more concerning for the president, an indictment on tax-related violations that involved Hunter’s foreign business dealings.

The airing of family discord and pain was, at the very least, a distraction and an emotional drain on the president. His ultimate decision to pardon his son, made after November’s election, was condemned by many, including some allies.

Ultimately, Biden’s presidential bid – and his presidency – came crashing down in late June on a stage in Atlanta during a debate with Trump. His confused and at times incomprehensible performance dealt his campaign a mortal blow that seemingly confirmed Republican attacks – and Democratic fears – about his advancing age.

But eventually, after Trump defiantly responded to a failed assassination attempt and held a boisterous, unified national party convention in mid-July, Biden dropped out of the race.

Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris, Biden’s hand-picked successor, ensured that the final electoral judgement on Biden’s half-century political career would be one of rejection and defeat.

What would Biden’s legacy have been if he had simply stepped aside – “passed the torch” in his words – without seeking a second term? No video campaign launch. No grasping for campaign messages or Trump debate disaster. Instead, a robust race for the Democratic nomination with Biden floating above it all.

“We should have had primaries,” argues Ms Estrich. “His successor would have had time to make the case.”

In the end, Biden’s age and Trump’s enduring appeal were the fires that his administration could never put out, and the ones that ultimately consumed his presidency.

In exactly one week, Trump will take the oath of office and will likely set about dismantling much of what Biden accomplished over the past four years. How effective he is at doing this will go a long way towards determining Biden’s lasting legacy.

A few weeks ago, I asked Attorney General Garland how he thought history would judge Biden and this administration.

“I’ll leave that to the historians,” he replied.

That, in the end, is all Biden has left.

Top picture credit: Getty Images

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The hum of sewing machines is a constant in parts of Guangzhou, a thriving port on the Pearl River in southern China.

It rattles through the open windows of factories from morning until late at night, as they finish the t-shirts, shorts, blouses, pants and swimwear that will be shipped to fill wardrobes in more than 150 countries.

This is the sound of Panyu, the neighbourhood known as the “Shein village”, a warren of factories that power the world’s largest fast fashion retailer.

“If there are 31 days in a month, I will work 31 days,” one worker told the BBC.

Most said they only have one day off a month.

The BBC spent several days here: we visited 10 factories, spoke to four owners and more than 20 workers. We also spent time at labour markets and textile suppliers.

We found that the beating heart of this empire is a workforce sitting behind sewing machines for around 75 hours a week in contravention of Chinese labour laws.

These hours are not unusual in Guangzhou, an industrial hub for rural workers in search of a higher income; or in China, which has long been the world’s unrivalled factory.

But they add to a growing list of questions about Shein, once a little-known Chinese-founded company that has become a global behemoth in just over five years.

Still privately-owned, it is estimated to be worth about £36bn ($60bn) and is now eyeing a listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Its meteoric rise, however, has been dogged with controversy about its treatment of workers and allegations of forced labour.

Last year it admitted to finding children working in its factories in China.

The company declined to be interviewed but told the BBC in a statement that “Shein is committed to ensuring the fair and dignified treatment of all workers within our supply chain” and is investing tens of millions of dollars in strengthening governance and compliance”.

It added: “We strive to set the highest standards for pay and we require that all supply chain partners adhere to our code of conduct. Furthermore, Shein works with auditors to ensure compliance.”

Shein’s success lies in volume – the inventory online runs into the hundreds of thousands – and deep discounts: £10 dresses, £6 sweaters, prices that hover below £8 on average.

Revenue has soared, outstripping the likes of H&M, Zara and the UK’s Primark. The cut-price sales are driven by places like the Shein village, home to some 5,000 factories, most of them Shein suppliers.

The buildings have been hollowed out to make way for sewing machines, rolls of fabric and bags brimming with cloth scraps. The doors to their basements are always open for the seemingly endless cycle of deliveries and collections.

As the day passes, the shelves fill up with warehouse-bound, clear plastic bags labelled with a now-distinctive five-letter noun.

But even past 22:00, the sewing machines – and the people hunched over them – don’t stop as more fabric arrives, in trucks so full that bolts of colour sometimes tumble onto the factory floor.

“We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day,” says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. “On Sundays we work around three hours less.”

She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.

They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.

This is Shein’s supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order – some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.

The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract – and the chinos are an option.

“We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high,” she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.

“We get paid per piece,” she explains. “It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.”

Examining the stitching on the chinos is crucial for making that decision. All around her, workers are calculating how much they will get paid to make each piece of clothing and how many they can make in an hour.

The alleys of Panyu function as labour markets, filling up in the mornings as workers and scooters rush past the breakfast dumpling cart, the cups of steaming soybean milk and the hopeful farmer selling chicken and duck eggs.

Standard working hours appear to be from 08:00 to well past 22:00, the BBC found.

This is consistent with a report from the Swiss advocacy group Public Eye, which was based on interviews with 13 textile workers at factories producing clothes for Shein.

They found that a number of staff were working excessive overtime. It noted the basic wage without overtime was 2,400 yuan (£265; $327) – below the 6,512 yuan the Asia Floor Wage Alliance says is needed for a “living wage”. But the workers we spoke to managed to earn anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000 yuan a month.

“These hours are not unusual, but it’s clear that it’s illegal and it violates basic human rights,” said David Hachfield from the group. “It’s an extreme form of exploitation and this needs to be visible.”

The average working week should not exceed 44 hours, according to Chinese labour laws, which also state that employers should ensure workers have at least one rest day a week. If an employer wants to extend these hours, it should be for special reasons.

While Shein’s headquarters are now in Singapore, there is no denying the majority of its products are made in China.

And Shein’s success has drawn the attention of Washington, which is increasingly wary of Chinese firms.

In June, Donald Trump’s pick for US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said he had “grave ethics concerns” about Shein’s “deep ties to the People’s Republic of China”: “Slave labour, sweatshops, and trade tricks are the dirty secrets behind Shein’s success,” he wrote.

Not everyone would agree with Rubio’s choice of words to describe the conditions at Shein’s suppliers. But rights groups say that the long working hours, which have become a way of life for many in Guangzhou, are unfair and exploitative.

The machines dictate the rhythm of the day.

They pause for lunch and dinner when the workers, metal plates and chopsticks in hand, file into the canteen to buy food. If there is no more space to sit, they stand in the street.

“I’ve been working in these factories for more than 40 years,” said one woman who spent just 20 minutes eating her meal. This was just another day for her.

Inside, the factories we visit are not cramped. There is enough light and industrial-sized fans have been brought in to keep workers cool. Huge posters urge staff to report underage workers – likely a response to finding two cases of child labour in the supply chain last year.

The BBC understands that the company is keeping a closer eye on its suppliers ahead of plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange.

“This is about their reputation,” says Sheng Lu, a professor in Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware. “If Shein can successfully achieve an IPO then it means they are recognised as a decent company. But if they are to keep the confidence of investors, they have to take some responsibility.”

One of the biggest challenges Shein faces is accusations that it sources cotton from China’s Xinjiang region.

Once touted as among the world’s best fabric, Xinjiang’s cotton has fallen out of favour after allegations that it is produced using forced labour by people from the Muslim Uyghur minority – a charge that Beijing has consistently denied.

The only way to get around this criticism is to be more transparent, Prof Sheng says.

“Unless you fully release your factory list, unless you make your supply chain more transparent to the public, then I think it’s going to be very challenging for Shein.”

A major advantage, he adds, is that Shein’s supply chain is in China: “Very few countries have a complete supply chain. China has this – and nobody can compete.”

Aspiring rivals like Vietnam and Bangladesh import raw materials from China to make clothes. But Chinese factories rely entirely on local sources for everything, from fabric to zippers and buttons. So it’s easy to make a variety of garments, and they are able to do it quickly.

That especially works for Shein whose algorithm determines orders. If shoppers repeatedly click on a certain dress, or spend longer looking at a wool sweater, the firms knows to ask factories to make more – and fast.

For workers in Guangzhou, this can be a challenge.

“Shein has its pros and cons,” one factory owner told us. “The good thing is the order is eventually big, but profit is low and it’s fixed.”

Shein, given its size and influence, is a hard bargainer. So factory owners have to cut costs elsewhere, often resulting in lower staff wages.

“Before Shein, we produced and sold clothes on our own,” said an owner of three factories. “We could estimate the cost, decide the price and calculate the profit. Now Shein controls the price, and you have to think about ways to reduce the cost.”

When orders peak, however, it’s a bonanza. The company ships around one million packages a day on average, according to data from ShipMatrix, a logistics consultancy firm.

“Shein is a pillar of the fashion industry,” said Guo Qing E, a Shein supplier.

“I started when Shein started. I witnessed its rise. To be honest, Shein is an awesome company in China. I think it will become stronger, because it pays on time. This is where it is most trustworthy.

“If payment for our goods is due on the 15th, no matter whether it’s millions or tens of millions, the money will be paid on time.”

Shein, with its gruelling hours and sometimes lower wages, may not be a source of comfort to all its workers. But it is a source of pride for some.

“This is the contribution we Chinese people can make to the world,” said a 33- year-old supervisor from Guangdong, who didn’t want to give her name.

It’s dark outside and workers are filing back into factories after their dinner for the final stretch. She admits the hours are long, but “we get on well with each other. We are like a family”.

Hours later, after many workers head home for the night, the lights in several buildings stay on.

Some people work until midnight, one factory owner told us. They want to earn more money, he said.

After all, in London, Chicago, Singapore, Dubai and so many other places, someone is hunting for their next bargain.

The man who provided the singing voice for Robbie Williams in his musical biopic Better Man described it as “the weirdest claim to fame”.

Musician Adam Tucker, from King’s Lynn in Norfolk, had always been told by friends that he sounded like the Stoke-on-Trent pop star so sent recordings to film producers who were looking for a sound-a-like.

Between 3 January and 9 January the film’s soundtrack album was number one in the Official Album Downloads Chart which Mr Tucker described as “crazy”.

“I see people like Pink, Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron have all posted about this film, and I’m thinking ‘they’ve all just heard me sing for two and a half hours and they don’t know’. But I guess that means I’ve done the job right.” he said.

The singer added: “As a musician I’ve spent years trying to write songs that get heard… To finally be in the charts in some capacity is obviously like amazing.

“Millions of people have heard me sing but only a small percentage of them know they’ve actually heard me sing.”

Milton Keynes actor Jonno Davies provided the speaking voice and performance capture for Robbie Williams in the film, who is represented on screen as a CGI chimpanzee.

While Williams sang some of the songs on the soundtrack, Mr Tucker estimated “about 90%” of the music heard in the movie was him.

Filmmakers wanted new versions of the star’s best-known hits so songs could fit the energy of the big musical scenes while still sounding like the hit-maker in his youth.

Mr Tucker estimated he spent about 200 hours re-recording Williams’ songs between the summer of May 2023 and August 2024.

During recordings he had cameras trained on his mouth so artists at New Zealand special effects company Wētā FX could match the chimpanzee’s mouth movements to his own.

Working on the film has given the Norfolk musician a new appreciation for Williams.

He said: “Some of the parts on some of the songs I was on the brink of my voice… He must’ve been 16 when he sung this.

“Some of his songs are really high. I don’t think people give him credit, he still sings the songs in the same key, he doesn’t change the key of the songs.”

The other challenge was the accent, Robbie Williams is not from Norfolk.

“I have some family from Stoke, so I’m well-tuned into that accent. It was those little tweaks in the accent that we spent hours on,” he recalled.

Mr Tucker said his favourite songs to perform in the film were My Way and She’s The One as both were pivotal emotional scenes.

In the film, the latter is done as a duet with All Saint’s singer Nicole Appleton – her character’s singing voice was provided by West End performer Kayleigh McKnight from Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire.

She beamed: “Knowing that there’s people all over the world hearing my voice when they see this film blows my mind.

“There’s something kind of fun about it. I was sat in the cinema watching it, and no one knew it was me… I felt like a bit like the Masked Singer.

“I’ve been dreaming of a number one in the download chart, and now I’ve got one. Maybe not quite the way I was expecting. I was manifesting it clearly, but I just didn’t realise it would be in the Robbie Williams biopic.”

A friend of Ms McKnight invited her to audition for the role – she recorded herself singing She’s The One at home and a short time later found herself in a studio.

Unlike Mr Tucker, her recording only took about two days and filming had already finished.

The singer said: “They didn’t ask me to sound like Nicole from All Saints, mostly because their songs were so different to this version of She’s The One that we were doing.”

Ms McKnight revealed she has received messaged from fans who have described her performance as moving and emotional.

“This is my call out to Robbie, if you need a singer for She’s The One on tour. I’m available,” she laughed.

Mr Tucker made a similar offer.

The body of a missing man has been found at a landfill site.

Essex Police said the body had been identified as 46-year-old Cumali Turhan, who went missing from Chelmsford on 19 November.

It said its search for the missing man had now concluded and his family had been informed.

The force is continuing to appeal for information about a suspect who has been identified as Ceyhan Dinler, 38, from Chelmsford, who is said to have left the country via Stansted Airport on the day Mr Turhan was last in contact with anyone.

Ciprian Ilie, 44, of no fixed address, has been charged with assisting an offender and remanded into custody. He is due to stand trial at Chelmsford Crown Court on 15 September.

Police said the landfill site was in Essex but did not disclose the location.

Det Ch Insp Louise Metcalfe said: “Specialist officers have been working diligently for 45 days at the landfill site in conditions that have called heavily on their resilience.”

The force said inquiries were due to continue for several days at the landfill site.

Mr Turhan was last seen in The Globe pub on Rainsford Road in Chelmsford in the early hours of 19 November.

Police said he may have later been in Barista, a bar and restaurant in Duke Street, however, CCTV did not show him leave the venue.

Later that evening he was reported missing after he failed to arrive at work.

Det Ch Insp Metcalfe said: “Their [officers’] hard work has continued unabated even during the extreme weather to support detectives who have worked quickly to progress the extremely challenging investigation.

“Throughout this difficult time, we have been in regular contact with Cumali’s family. They will continue to be supported by specialist officers as it will take some time for them to come to terms with this news.”

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a member of staff, believed to be a nurse, was seriously injured in a stabbing at a hospital.

The woman, aged in her 50s, was left with life-changing injuries in the attack at Royal Oldham Hospital’s A&E department at about 23:30 GMT on Saturday.

Greater Manchester Police said officers believe a member of the public attacked her with a sharp instrument which was not a knife. She remains in hospital for treatment.

A 37-year-old man was arrested and remains in police custody.

Det Sgt Craig Roters appealed for information, adding: “We know that news of this nature will come as a shock.

“The local community can expect to see an increase in police presence while we carry out enquiries, but they are also there to offer reassurance and answer any questions you may have.”

Heather Caudle, the chief nursing officer at Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust – which covers Oldham – said staff were “incredibly shocked and saddened by last night’s incident and our focus is on supporting the colleague involved and their family”.

She added: “Our thoughts are also with colleagues and patients who were there at the time of the incident and for whom this has been distressing and frightening.”

She said they were working with police and all services at the hospital would remain open.

In a social media post, Oldham West MP Jim McMahon, who is also a minister for local government, also expressed his shock at what he described as “a senseless attack”.

He said his thoughts were with the staff member, her family and friends and wished her a full recovery.