The price of Brussels sprouts has fallen by 12%, while a 10lb (4.55kg) frozen turkey will cost you £1.21 less than it did last year, research for the BBC suggests.

But digging deeper we discovered root vegetables have gone up in price this year, after wet weather delayed the planting season.

When all the trimmings are totted up, a family Christmas is set to cost £31.66 in 2024, down from last year's figure of £32.18. It reflects food prices rising at a slower rate in the past year, as UK inflation has eased.

Since the BBC reported on Miss Hudson's case, we have been contacted by numerous other people who have been threatened with legal action for the same reason.

These included Garry Kay, who parked at the same car park as Miss Hudson - the Copeland Street car park in Derby.

Excel Parking demanded £255 from Mr Kay,](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czenn548x1no),) but he found out the case had been discontinued shortly before he was due to defend himself in court.

Mr Kay had received only one PCN from Excel Parking while Miss Hudson had received 10.

She paid the first one but decided to challenge the car park operator when she received more through the post.

Neither Mr Kay nor Miss Hudson have received any explanation from Excel Parking about why their cases were discontinued.

The Metropolitan Police says stealthing is a slang word but the practice is legally considered rape, although prosecutions are rare due to under-reporting, external, as many do not realise it is an offence.

In October, a University College London (UCL) survey, external](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2024/oct/half-young-adults-support-prison-time-non-consensual-condom-removal)) showed just over one in 10 people aged 18-25 did not consider non-consensual condom removal to be sexual assault.

Andrea Simon, executive director of End Violence Against Women and Girls, says although sex can start off consensually, if someone violates that consent by removing a condom, it is considered rape and it can be prosecuted as rape.

"It's very hard to know the prevalence of stealthing, as not many people may understand it as actually an act of sexual violence or a crime," she explains.

Two days later the 30-year-old discovered his bank accounts had been drained by about £21,000 - including a £7,000 loan taken out in his name.

"It used to be people stole a phone so they could sell on a phone," he told the BBC. "Now it seems they are stealing phones so they can get into all of your data and take money."

Niall is not alone - across Britain, reports of theft and robberies on trains and at stations shot up 58% from 2018 to 2023, according to British Transport Police (BTP) data.

The force, which polices the rail and underground networks in England, Wales and Scotland, has warned the month of December had the highest number of thefts and robbery reports in recent years.

Superintendent John Loveless said during the autumn and winter months offenders operated under the "cover of darkness" to target people. "The nights drawing in earlier, it gives people an opportunity... for offending," he added.

A woman says a GP who was struck off for having sex with multiple women at his surgery attempted to choke her during sex.

The woman, who does not want to be named, met Thomas Plimmer on a dating app in 2017.

She claimed that when they were having sex at her home on a second date, he "started squeezing my throat" without her consent.

Mr Plimmer said that under legal advice he was unable to comment due to his ongoing appeal against being struck off.

During a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing, the former GP admitted sending explicit content to colleagues, having sex during working hours and behaving inappropriately around women.

It was seen in the Pacific Ocean off Colombia in 2017, then popped up several years later near Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean - a distance of at least 13,000 km.

The experts think this epic journey might be down to climate change depleting food stocks or perhaps an odyssey to find a mate.

Ekaterina Kalashnikova of the Tanzania Cetaceans Program said the feat was "truly impressive and unusual even for this highly migratory species".

The photograph below shows the same whale photographed in 2022, off the Zanzibar coast.

Several former staff members told the BBC they saw Anthony James, a director at the company and husband of its founder, kissing and touching a junior colleague who they say appeared too drunk to consent.

And more than 30 current and former members of staff said a culture of heavy drinking led to instances when founder Benjamin Cohen and his husband behaved inappropriately towards younger male employees.

Representatives for Mr Cohen and Dr James told the BBC they were not able to provide a statement at this time, but that their position is that the allegations are false.

Run by family members of Mr Cohen - his husband and former GP Dr James is chief operating officer, and his father Richard is the chief lawyer - PinkNews says its mission is "to inform, inspire change and empower people to be themselves".

For nearly a decade it was Russian firepower that had kept Bashar al-Assad in power.

Until the extraordinary events of the last 24 hours.

Damascus has fallen, Syria's president has been toppled and has, reportedly, flown to Moscow.

Quoting a source in the Kremlin, Russian news agencies and state TV reported that Russia has granted Assad and his family asylum "on humanitarian grounds".

In a matter of days, the Kremlin's Syria project has unravelled in the most dramatic circumstances, with Moscow powerless to prevent it.

In a statement the Russian foreign ministry announced that Moscow was "following the dramatic events in Syria with extreme concern."

William and Trump met at the residence of the British ambassador in Paris.

The prince was standing in the foyer when Trump arrived. The pair shook hands and greeted one another again, before Trump gestured to the Prince of Wales and said: "Good man, this one".

Prince William asked the president-elect if he had warmed up, and Trump replied that he had and that "it was a beautiful ceremony".

Kensington Palace has described the meeting between as "warm and friendly."

During their 40 minutes together, William and Trump discussed a range of global issues but focused on the importance of the UK/US special relationship.

The president-elect also shared some warm and fond memories of the late Queen for which the prince was said to be "extremely grateful."

William had also been due to meet Trump and Dr Biden earlier in the day but Kensington Palace said he had been delayed by weather on his journey from the UK to France.

It was a candle-lit, festive occasion, but also with some poignancy – as it came at the end of a year of health problems for Catherine and for some of the guests who have faced very difficult times.

Among the 1,600 guests were families affected by the Southport knife attack, and a candle was lit by Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, who had a cancer diagnosis.

The Prince of Wales joined Catherine at the service, along with the couple's three children - Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte.