It's clean and brightly painted, the local football team's shirt displayed on one wall. Two young men, awaiting customers, hair and beards immaculate, tell officers they commute to work here from London.

Step through the door at the back of the shop and things look very different.

In a dingy stairwell, a bed has been crammed on to a landing, and a sofa just big enough to sleep on is squeezed under the stairs. The floor and steps are covered with empty pizza boxes, food containers and drink bottles. There's a pair of socks on the floor and a T-shirt on the bed. An unopened prescription sits on a table.

At least one person is clearly living here, but possibly not by choice.

"This could be linked to exploitation, this could be linked to some forms of modern slavery," says John French, the modern slavery vulnerability advisor for Suffolk Constabulary.

"You have to ask yourself when you come across this sort of situation, why would someone want to live in these sorts of conditions?"

Behind a second door, this one padlocked, is a second room. This one cleaner, but clearly not safe.

Phrases in Turkish and English have been scribbled on post-it notes stuck to the wall and officers find a driving licence with a local address.

"Judging by the state of the room, this could be an 'Alpha' living in here," says Mr French.

"An 'Alpha' is someone who's previously been exploited," he explains. "They have been given a little bit of trust and act like a kind of supervisor. They are very important to us, because we want to get them away from others before they can influence them."

A brand-new Audi SUV is parked at the back.

What's going on here?

We are in Haverhill, a small town in Suffolk bypassed by the rail network and the prosperity enjoyed elsewhere in the county, its central street bearing the familiar markers of town-centre decline.

There's a Costa, a Boots, a branch of Peacocks, and several pubs and cafes, but they're punctuated by "cash intensive" businesses including barbers, vape stores and takeaways, and several vacant premises that stand out like missing teeth.

It's the cash intensive businesses that have brought the attention of police, these local raids part of the National Crime Agency's (NCA's) Operation Machinize, targeting money laundering, criminality and immigration offences hidden in plain sight on high streets across England.

There are 17 premises of interest in Haverhill alone, among more than 2,500 sites visited since the start of October, resulting in 924 arrests and more than £2.7m of contraband seized.

In a single block of five shops on the High Street, four are raided. A sweet shop yields a haul of smuggled cigarettes stashed in food delivery boxes.

In the Indian restaurant three doors down a young Asian man is interviewed via an interpreter dialling in on an officer's phone. They establish his student visa has been revoked, and he has had a claim for asylum rejected.

The aim is to disrupt criminality using any means possible, be they criminal or civil. Criminal or not, the living conditions at the barbers are likely to fall foul of planning and building regulations enforceable with penalties including fines and closure, so officials from the council and fire safety are on hand.

Trading Standards are here to handle counterfeit goods seizures, and immigration officers are on hand to check the status of those questioned, pursuing anyone without permission to be in the UK.

'A full spectrum of criminality'

Sal Melki, the NCA's deputy director of financial crime, explains why the agency is targeting apparently small operations.

"We're finding everything from the laundering of millions of pounds into high value goods like really expensive watches, through to the illicit trade of tobacco and vapes, and people that have been trafficked into the country working in modern slavery conditions. We're seeing a full spectrum of criminality.

"We want to disrupt them with seizures, arrests, and prosecutions and make sure bad businesses are replaced with successful, thriving businesses that make us all feel safer and more prosperous."

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The last visit is to a small supermarket. Through the back door is another hidden bedroom, this one not much larger than a broom cupboard, with a makeshift bed made from a sheet of plywood and a duvet.

The man behind the counter, who says he's from Brazil via Pakistan, claims not to live in the shop, but his luggage is in a storeroom. He's handcuffed and questioned by immigration officers, and admits working illegally on a visitor visa.

"If he is proven to be working illegally he'll be taken to a detention centre and administratively removed," an immigration officer tells me. "That's not the same as deportation, the media always gets that wrong. He'll be given the chance to book his own ticket, and if not, he'll be removed."

Shortly afterwards he's put in a police car, his large red suitcase squeezed onto the front seat, and driven away.

It was the first visit to the Oval Office by a Syrian head of state since the country gained independence in 1946.

Mr Sharaa, 43, who once had a $10m US bounty on his head, led rebel forces that overthrew dictator Bashar al-Assad last December, and was named interim leader in January.

The US president called Mr al Sharaa a "very strong leader" after their meeting and suggested the US would work to help the country succeed.

"He comes from a very tough place," Mr Trump said, adding Mr al Sharaa is a "tough guy" and "I like him".

Mr Sharra has "had a rough past", but added, "we've all had a rough past", he added.

Mr Trump has become one of the Syrian president's more enthusiastic backers, considering the nation of strategic importance.

He didn't provide any policy details about the meeting, but said "we'll do everything we can to make Syria successful because that's part of the Middle East".

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'What the hell are we doing?'

Mr al Sharaa was greeted by a cheering crowd of supporters, some waving Syrian flags, upon his arrival on Monday.

But not everyone was overjoyed at the historic meeting.

Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a self-proclaimed "Islamophobe" who wields influence in Mr Trump's MAGA movement, posted on X that Mr al Sharaa was "the ISIS 'President' of Syria".

"What the hell are we doing?" she wrote of his White House visit.

Days before the meeting, Mr Trump told reporters "a lot of progress has been made" on Syria and Mr al Sharaa was "doing a very good job".

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Last week, the US voted to lift a series of sanctions on the Syrian president and members of his government.

Mr al Sharaa is hoping for a permanent repeal of sanctions placed on Syria for allegations of human rights abuses by Assad's government and security forces - but congressional action would be needed for a permanent repeal.

Mr Trump and Mr al Sharaa first met in May in Saudi Arabia. At the time, the US president described Mr al Sharaa as a "young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past, very strong past. Fighter".

Monday's meeting came after Syria launched raids against Islamic State cells.

It was the first official encounter between the US and Syria since 2000, when then president Bill Clinton met Hafez Assad.

It said 90% of people referred to the scheme are turned away because they have no obvious ideology, even though they can go on to commit violent crimes.

In a wide-ranging report, the commission also recommended narrowing the definition of what constitutes terrorism to provide greater clarity.

And it called for decisions by government to proscribe organisations to be reviewed every five years to ensure proportionality. That recommendation comes as the Home Office faces a legal challenge over its decision to ban the activist group Palestine Action.

'Not fit for purpose'

Full details of the commission's findings - based on a three-year review into the UK's counter-terrorism measures - will be unveiled at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank in London today.

The starkest conclusions are about Prevent.

"The evidence we had shows that the present approach to Prevent is not fit for purpose," said Sir Declan Morgan, a former chief justice of Northern Ireland who chaired the commission.

Underlining the failure of the scheme, Axel Rudakubana - the Southport murderer who stabbed three girls to death and attacked 10 other people at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July last year - had been referred to Prevent three times.

But no evidence had been found of a fixed ideology, so his case was closed in 2021. The teenager committed the atrocity three years later.

"The Independent Commission on Counter-Terrorism says that Britain's counter-terrorism strategy is no longer keeping the country safe," according to an executive summary of the report.

"It calls for a radical overhaul of Prevent to make it part of a broader initiative dealing with violence and no longer based on a flawed radicalisation model."

A changed terror threat

The commission found there is no evidence that radicalisation is a predictor of whether a person will become a terrorist.

It said terrorist threats in the UK have morphed from plots by groups such as al Qaeda or Islamic State to "self-initiated" individuals with "complex, mixed, unclear or unstable ideologies".

As a result, there has been a surge in referrals to the counter-terrorism scheme.

"This risks overwhelming Prevent and missing individuals being drawn into terrorism," the report warned.

It said more than 58,000 people have been referred to Prevent since 2015, but more than 90% had no counter-terrorism concerns.

The other 10% showed no evidence of criminal activity.

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The commission also said the majority of referrals are children and young people, even though they only comprise 21% of the population.

"Prevent needs a major overhaul and integration into a wider system to which all those susceptible of being drawn into violence can be referred," it said.

The commission described this as a "single access point" that would be the first port of call for concerns about the susceptibility of individuals to being drawn into violence.

Those at risk of involvement in terrorist violence would then be passed to Prevent, while others would be dealt with by different agencies.

On tightening the definition of terrorism, the commission recommended what it called a more focused statutory definition.

"Terrorism should be defined narrowly as acts intended to coerce, compel, or subvert government or public institutions, and the threshold for property damage should apply only to conduct causing serious risk to life, national security, or public safety, or involving arson, explosives, or firearms methods inherently capable of causing unpredictable harm," it said.

Sir Declan said: "Our narrower definition provides greater clarity while ensuring the government can tackle terrorism effectively."

For some, however, it is longer than others. Figures released by the AA Driving School today reveal one learner has spent £2,944 taking their theory test 128 times without success.

Another passed the exam only at the 75th attempt, which cost them more than £1,700 in total.

Each attempt at the theory test - which must be passed before a practical exam can be booked - costs £23.

It evaluates knowledge and understanding of road rules and safe driving practices through multiple-choice questions and ability to assess danger via hazard perception videos.

For those who do pass, the practical test presents a further obstacle.

Last year, the record number of attempts taken before passing was 21. That would have cost between £1,302 and £1,575, depending on when the person took the tests.

Two people have taken the practical test 37 times without passing, spending up to £2,220 each.

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The figures were obtained following a freedom of information request to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

According to the body, pass rates for the theory and practical tests in the 2024/25 financial year were 44.9% and 48.7% respectively.

Emma Bush, managing director at AA Driving School, said revision was the "the key to success" in the theory test.

She added: "It is easy to underestimate the level of knowledge required to pass the theory test."

Earlier this year, driving test waiting times in Britain reached a record high.

Driving instructors have told Sky News that it has become almost impossible to book a driving test on the government website due to bots on the system.

Individuals and companies use bots to block-book driving test slots and then resell them at a profit. While not illegal, this is a violation of the DVSA's terms of use.

Recent data shows the agency has closed over 800 business accounts for misuse of its booking service in the past two years.

The drug, named M102, works by protecting nerve cells damaged by MND.

Preclinical studies of the drug conducted with mice show improvement in movement and nerve function.

Researchers are now hopeful the drug can be tested on humans with the neurological condition, for which there is currently no cure.

MND causes the messages from motor neurones - the nerve cells that transmit signals from the brain and spinal cord to muscle - to gradually stop.

This leads to muscles becoming weak and stiff and gradually reduces the ability of patients to walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe.

There are around 5,000 people in the UK with MND. Those who develop the condition usually die within two to five years following the onset of symptoms.

Last year, rugby league star Rob Burrow died aged 41 after being diagnosed with the condition in 2019.

Following a decorated sporting career in which he represented Leeds Rhinos, England and Great Britain, he raised millions of pounds for charities doing research into the degenerative brain and nerve disease.

MND left him unable to speak and confined him to a wheelchair.

But he increased the public prominence of MND in the UK.

After his death, Tanya Curry, the chief executive of the MND Association, said Burrow "made a huge amount of difference".

She said: "Not only for donations and financial influence for the organisation, but actually in the campaigning arena."

"It's a rare disease, but actually something that people understand now. So, he has done so much for the community and we are honestly so grateful for that."

Former Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir died in 2022 at the age of 52 after a lengthy battle with MND.

Last month, England's 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Lewis Moody announced he had been diagnosed with the disease.

The 47-year-old former England captain said it had been "incredibly hard to process and a huge shock to me and my family".

Moody won 71 caps for England and also five for the British and Irish Lions, and was a seven-time title winner with Leicester.

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M102 was developed by scientists at the University of Sheffield's Institute for Translational Neuroscience (Sitran) working alongside in collaboration with Aclipse Therapeutics, a US biotech company.

Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, director of Sitran and lead investigator of the study, said: "MND is one of the cruellest diseases, robbing people of their mobility and independence often at an alarming speed.

"We are now at a point where scientific understanding is finally catching up.

"Our discovery of M102 gives real hope that we can substantially slow the progression of this disease.

"The preclinical studies not only showed improvement in movement, gait, and nerve function in mouse models, but it also protected motor neurones grown in the laboratory from damage caused by MND patient cells."

Dr Richard Mead, senior lecturer in translational neuroscience at Sitran, said researchers could now move closer to a treatment that can "truly make a difference".