Before a new parole review last month he fired his lawyer and refused to take any part in the process, angry that his request for a public hearing had been rejected.

In a letter to Sky News, the man who has spent half a century in jail wrote: "Sacked the legal team!"

Perhaps not the wisest move so close to the hearing.

Read more: Who is Charles Bronson?

He went on to say, in colourful language, that he'd have nothing to do with "the farcical jam roll" (parole) and asked: "What are they afraid of? The truth getting out?"

Since then, a new solicitor appears to have got a postponement of the review until today, when the Parole Board panel will assess his application.

It's essentially a paper exercise, with the panel considering written statements from prison staff, psychiatrists, probation staff and Bronson's legal team.

Its purpose is to decide if a prisoner is safe to be freed. Does he pose a risk to the public and, if he does, is it low enough to be manageable with restrictions on his movements and activities?

The panel could decide to free Bronson, recommend a move to an open prison, or delay things and hold an oral hearing.

Five decades behind bars

Bronson, 73, has spent 52 years in jail, much of it in solitary confinement, and this is his ninth appeal to the Parole Board.

He was jailed for seven years for armed robbery in 1974 and, but for two brief periods of freedom, has been locked up ever since because of repeated violent attacks on staff and other inmates.

In 1999, he took a prison art teacher hostage and got a life sentence, with a minimum three years to serve.

His last conviction, for assaulting a prison governor, was in 2014.

I showed Bronson's letter to Bob Johnson, the psychiatrist who treated him 30 years ago.

He knows the prisoner better than most.

Was Bronson, who now calls himself Charles Salvador, once again scuppering his chances of parole by refusing to take part in any potential oral hearing?

"No, I don't think so at all," said Dr Johnson. "I think he's very angry, and I don't see how you could go through what he's gone through and not be angry.

"The Parole Board doesn't need to hear from him to make its decision.

"He's very provocative. I don't think he means it when he says he doesn't want anything to do with his review. Very clearly, he enjoys the battle. He likes sticking up for himself.

"He asks what are they afraid of, the truth? That's a very good question. And the truth is that he is being unjustifiably punished. What this is…he's 73 years, and in solitary confinement.

"I mean, it's unbelievable when you think what inner strength this man must have to survive."

'One simple dream'

Dr Johnson believes Bronson is institutionalised but could cope on the outside with the help of friends, and with his artwork to sustain him and earn him money.

Bronson's letter to Sky News was accompanied by four of his trademark tormented drawings, one calling for an end to his imprisonment.

His naive-style artwork is vivid and grim with repetitive themes of madness, restraint, and despair, but it is not entirely without hope. He wrote beneath an early drawing: "God save our dreams. It's all we have left. One simple dream will bring you through all this misery."

At Bronson's last parole hearing three years ago, the board members accepted his behaviour had improved.

They concluded he wasn't ready for a move to an open prison, but suggested his behaviour should be tested in a less restrictive regime, as the start of a slow process towards release.

But nothing much has changed.

Since then, Bronson's been moved to another jail, again high security, and he's still segregated and locked up on his own 23 hours a day.

Reducing his security rating and testing him with other inmates is a decision for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Will it ever allow it? The MoJ won't comment on individual prisoners.

John Podmore, once the governor at Belmarsh prison, said he did move Bronson to a normal cell and worked with him to curb his outbursts. It was 30 years ago, and the experiment lasted only a few weeks.

'It's a Catch-22'

"I got a phone call, telling me Charlie had taken the Iraqi prisoners hostage," he said. "He had them hog-tied and very frightened. It was horrendous. A bit of me was kind of heartbroken because our efforts had failed."

While the incident was unfolding, Mr Podmore had to leave the prison and hand over command as his father had died suddenly.

Bronson later sent him a card expressing condolences, the only prisoner to do so.

"He wrote that he was sorry he had caused me so much trouble," Mr Podmore said.

On Bronson's chances of a release, Mr Podmore said: "The Parole Board recommended last time what I was trying to do 30 years ago, but it's a Catch-22 situation.

"He's not being moved because of his propensity for violence, but unless he's moved, he can't demonstrate he has changed."

What hope of a 'freedom party'?

The former governor believes Bronson's chances of ever being released are diminishing, partly because of the current climate inside the prison system.

"These days you've got the added dimension of serious organised crime, the level of drugs, radicalisation, the general chaos in the system, which I think is being handled badly by governments of all colours.

"It makes it a thousand times more difficult. There's such a level of indiscipline around the system, the level of provocation Bronson is likely to face is now 10 times what it would have been 30 years ago."

Despite his despair at the parole system, Bronson hasn't given up hope of release.

His letter included an invitation to his "freedom party".

He said it will be held in 2028, adding: "Don't be late."

The match, in Lisbon, Portugal, was halted five minutes into the second half, shortly after ​Vinicius gave the away side a 1-0 lead in the first leg of the knockout playoffs.

Cameras picked up the 25-year-old telling French referee Francois Letexier he had been targeted in a comment made to him by Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni.

Prestianni has denied making a racist slur, claiming the Madrid player "misinterpreted what he thought he heard".

The match was stopped for 11 minutes as Vinicius went to the sidelines at the Estadio da Luz.

Both coaches, Benfica's Jose Mourinho and Madrid's Alvaro Arbeloa, talked to him at one point.

It appears Benfica players were not happy with the forward because he celebrated his goal by dancing in front of the corner flag, and some went to confront him.

Vinicius had been shown a yellow card after the celebration.

After the complaint, Letexier responded by crossing ​his arms in front of his ⁠face, activating FIFA's anti-racism protocol and stopping the match.

Real's players threatened ⁠to leave the pitch ​as tensions rose, but the referee ​eventually allowed the match to resume.

Vinicius: Racists are cowards

Vinicius has repeatedly suffered ​racism in Spain during games. In a message on Instagram after the match, he said: "Nothing that happened here today was new in my life and my family's."

"Racists are, above all, cowards," he added.

"They need to put their shirts over their mouths to demonstrate how weak they are.

"But they have, on their side, the protection of others who, theoretically, have the obligation to punish."

He described the protocol enforced by the referee as serving "no purpose", and said he didn't understand why he was booked for his celebration.

"I don't like appearing in situations like this, even more so after a great victory and when the headlines have to be about Real Madrid, but it's necessary," he said.

In a message on his own Instagram, Prestianni said: "I want to clarify that at no point did I direct racist insults at the player Vinicius Junior, who unfortunately misinterpreted what he thought he heard.

"I have never been racist towards anyone, and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players."

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Player 'could be banned' if found guilty

The teams are due to go to Madrid to play the second leg, with the Spanish side 1-0 up, but Sky News' sports correspondent Rob Harris said there could be sanctions.

"There can be a ban for the player, if he's found guilty of the racial abuse of Vinicius," he explained.

"Vinicius himself had warned about facing racism in the past, particularly in Spain... and had said that he would be prepared to walk off... if he faced abuse.

"Football often talks about sending out a message, and imposing those bans, to hopefully try to stamp out the scourge of racism. But how often are we still talking about this in football?"

'It's disgusting,' says England star

After the game, teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold, a former Liverpool and England player, told Amazon Prime: "What's happened tonight is a disgrace to football. It's overshadowed the performance, especially after such an amazing goal.

"Vini has been subjected to this a few times throughout his career, there's no place for it in football or society. It's disgusting."

Mourinho comments draw criticism

Speaking about the incident after the match, Benfica manager Mourinho claimed he was told different things by Vinicius and Prestianni, and expressed his belief that the Madrid forward's celebration had been disrespectful.

"I told him [Vinicius] when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back," Mourinho told Amazon Prime.

"They [Vinicius and Prestianni] told me different things. But I don't believe in one or another. I want to be an independent."

The 63-year-old former Real and Chelsea boss then appeared to reference previous incidents in which the Brazilian player had been subject to racist abuse during games.

Clarence Seedorf, a former Real Madrid midfielder who was working as a pundit at the match, said Mourinho had made "a big mistake" with his comments.

Seedorf said on Amazon Prime: "I think he [Mourinho] made a big mistake today to justify racial abuse, and I'm not saying that was the case today, but he mentioned something more than today.

"He said wherever he goes these things happen, so he's saying it's OK when Vinicius provokes you, that is it OK to be racist, and I think that is very wrong.

"We should never, ever justify racial abuse."

It marks a significant setback for detectives investigating the case of the missing 84-year-old, who is the mother of NBC's Today show presenter Savannah Guthrie.

She was last seen on 31 January when her family dropped her off at her home near Tucson, Arizona, following dinner with them. The case has since gripped America and beyond.

Authorities announced they had obtained a DNA sample from a glove found near the property on Sunday.

The glove appeared to match the pair worn by a masked prowler seen in doorbell camera footage before Nancy was abducted, and forensic experts hoped to find a match on a national DNA database.

It was announced on Tuesday that no match had been found.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said he believes the man in the doorbell video is the likely perpetrator of the abduction and the primary person authorities are looking for.

The Guthrie family, who have released several public appeals for help, have been ruled out as suspects and are holding out hope that Nancy is still alive.

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The disappearance is still being treated by police and the FBI as an apparent kidnapping for ransom.

Mr Nanos has said Nancy, who has a pacemaker, was extremely limited in her physical mobility and could not have left her home unassisted, leading investigators to believe she had been taken against her will early on.

Search and rescue crews were dispatched to Frog Lake on Tuesday after an emergency services call at around 11.30am (7.30pm UK time) reported an avalanche, with people buried.

Six 'backcountry' skiers - those who ski outside resort boundaries - were trapped and subsequently reached by rescuers while another nine are missing.

Two of the six were taken to a hospital for treatment, said Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

Nevada County Sheriff Captain Russell Greene said that the six skiers had sheltered in place after being located while emergency teams tried to reach them.

Rescuers used skis and special vehicles to reach the six stranded skiers, with progress slowed by the danger of further slides.

Mr Greene said authorities were notified about the avalanche by the ski tour company which took the group to the Castle Peak area, and by emergency beacons the skiers were carrying.

The group was on the last day of a three-day backcountry skiing trip, according to Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center.

The company leading the trip, Blackbird Mountain Guides, said in a statement on its website that it was helping authorities with the rescue operation.

California is being hit by a powerful winter storm this week, which has brought treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

"It's particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now, just because we're at the height of the storm," said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center, based in Truckee.

The centre issued an avalanche warning for the area in the Central Sierra Nevada, starting at 5am on Tuesday local time, with large slides expected into Wednesday.

The dangerous conditions were caused by rapidly accumulating snowfall piling on fragile snowpack layers, coupled with gale-force winds.

Several ski resorts around Lake Tahoe were fully or partially closed due to the extreme weather.

Forecasters said some areas could see up to 2.4m/8ft of snow before the storm moves through on Wednesday.

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Area has dark history

Castle Peak, a 2,777m (9,110ft) peak in the Donner Summit area of the Sierra Nevada, is a popular backcountry skiing destination.

Donner Summit, which can be perilous in snow, is named after the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.

In January, an avalanche in the region buried a snowmobiler in snow and killed him, authorities said.

Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the US, according to the National Avalanche Centre.

Training in avalanche assessment and rescue and safety equipment is highly recommended for backcountry skiing.

The activity draws people wanting to glide deep into the wilderness far outside the confines of a resort's boundaries.

When you do, it quickly generates one, telling you confidently that the output is strong.

In reality, it's anything but, according to research shared exclusively with Sky News by AI cybersecurity firm Irregular.

The research, which has been verified by Sky News, found that all three major models - ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini - produced highly predictable passwords, leading Irregular co-founder Dan Lahav to make a plea about using AI to make them.

"You should definitely not do that," he told Sky News. "And if you've done that, you should change your password immediately. And we don't think it's known enough that this is a problem."

Predictable patterns are the enemy of good cybersecurity, because they mean passwords can be guessed by automated tools used by cybercriminals.

But because large language models (LLMs) do not actually generate passwords randomly and instead derive results based on patterns in their training data, they are not actually creating a strong password, only something that looks like a strong password - an impression of strength which is in fact highly predictable.

Some AI-made passwords need mathematical analysis to reveal their weakness, but many are so regular that they are clearly visible to the naked eye.

A sample of 50 passwords generated by Irregular using Anthropic's Claude AI, for instance, produced only 23 unique passwords. One password - K9#mPx$vL2nQ8wR - was used 10 times. Others included K9#mP2$vL5nQ8@xR, K9$mP2vL#nX5qR@j and K9$mPx2vL#nQ8wFs.

When Sky News tested Claude to check Irregular's research, the first password it spat out was K9#mPx@4vLp2Qn8R.

OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini AI were slightly less regular with their outputs, but still produced repeated passwords and predictable patterns in password characters.

Google's image generation system NanoBanana was also prone to the same error when it was asked to produce pictures of passwords on Post-its.

'Even old computers can crack them'

Online password checking tools say these passwords are extremely strong. They passed tests conducted by Sky News with flying colours: one password checker found that a Claude password wouldn't be cracked by a computer in 129 million trillion years.

But that's only because the checkers are not aware of the pattern, which makes the passwords much weaker than they appear.

"Our best assessment is that currently, if you're using LLMs to generate your passwords, even old computers can crack them in a relatively short amount of time," says Mr Lahav.

This is not just a problem for unwitting AI users, but also for developers, who are increasingly using AI to write the majority of their code.

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AI-generated passwords can already be found in code that is being used in apps, programmes and websites, according to a search on GitHub, the most widely-used code repository, for recognisable chunks of AI-made passwords.

For example, searching for K9#mP (a common prefix used by Claude) yielded 113 results, and k9#vL (a substring used by Gemini) yielded 14 results. There were many other examples, often clearly intended to be passwords.

Most of the results are innocent, generated by AI coding agents for "security best practice" documents, password strength-testing code, or placeholder code.

However, Irregular found some passwords in what it suspected were real servers or services and the firm was able to get coding agents to generate passwords in potentially significant areas of code.

"Some people may be exposed to this issue without even realising it just because they delegated a relatively complicated action to an AI," said Mr Lahav, who called on the AI companies to instruct their models to use a tool to generate truly random passwords, much like a human would use a calculator.

What should you do instead?

Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at cybersecurity firm Check Point, had some reassurance to offer.

"The good news is it's one of the rare security issues with a simple fix," he said.

"In terms of how big a deal it is, this sits in the 'avoidable, high-impact when it goes wrong' category, rather than 'everyone is about to be hacked'."

Other experts observed that the problem was passwords themselves, which are notoriously leaky.

"There are stronger and easier authentication methods," said Robert Hann, global VP of technical solutions at Entrust, who recommended people use passkeys such as face and fingerprint ID wherever possible.

And if that's not an option? The universal advice: pick a long, memorable phrase, and don't ask an AI.

Sky News has contacted OpenAI, while Anthropic declined to comment.

A Google spokesperson said: "LLMs are not built for the purpose of generating new passwords, unlike tools like Google Password Manager, which creates and stores passwords safely.

"We also continue to encourage users to move away from passwords and adopt passkeys, which are easier and safer to use."