Former home secretary Suella Braverman, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform, wrote earlier on Monday to FA chief executive Mark Bullingham asking for the target to be scrapped.

It was introduced by the governing body two years ago, covering the men's senior team down to the under-17s, with the ambition of reaching 30% of their coaching teams being non-white, or at least 25%, by 2028.

Ms Braverman, who holds the equalities brief for Reform, said the men's team targets were "fundamentally flawed, inherently racist and bad for the game" because "the best coaches should get the job, not because of their skin colour, but because they are the best person for the job".

While she requested a meeting with Mr Bullingham to discuss their diversity, equality and inclusion policies, the governing body responded publicly within hours, defending the diversity plans while agreeing the "best people" would be appointed to jobs.

In full: FA's response to Reform criticism

An FA spokesperson told Sky News: "Football has the unique ability to break down barriers and bring communities together.

"Through our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (EDI), we aim to ensure the game reflects the full diversity of our nation.

"This means opening up pathways and creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds - including those from historically under-represented groups.

"While we will always take a meritocratic approach by appointing the best people for roles, we also recognise the importance of having a broader range of participants across the sport.

"We are proud that our strategy is supporting the growth of football among men, women, boys and girls from all communities."

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Ms Braverman had said she supports the FA's fight against racism in football.

But she said: "Your DEI strategy does precisely that, it divides rather than unites. It replaces merit with quotas and implements identity politics where teamwork, ability and hard graft should prevail."

The energy secretary told a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) on Monday night that the move would be "complicated but possible", according to sources present.

Politics Hub: Follow the latest

He is said to be looking at a proposal by eco-tycoon Dale Vince, which argues Labour's clean energy drive will not bring down bills without reform to the wholesale energy market.

The UK uses a model of marginal cost pricing, where electricity is sold at the price of the most expensive unit of energy needed to meet demand at that point in time.

Gas is often the most expensive energy source, so prices of electricity generated by gas effectively set the wholesale price for all energy generation.

Mr Vince's report proposes a new bidding system that would break that link, but various other proposals have been put forward by experts as well.

Mr Miliband did not guarantee it could be done but said the government was trying to find a way.

Going green?

Labour MP for Stroud, Simon Opher, urged ministers to "grasp the chance", saying it could save households hundreds of pounds a year.

He told Sky News: "The crisis in the Middle East provides us with a real opportunity to radically rethink the way in which our energy market operates.

"Cutting the link between gas prices and electric bills could save consumers hundreds of pounds a year and show that our government is serious about alleviating the cost of living crisis."

Green Party leader Zack Polanski called for the decoupling of electricity and gas prices in a speech on the economy last week.

Rachel Reeves was asked about the measure by Green MP Ellie Chowns in the Commons on Tuesday, as she confirmed contingency planning is under way for energy bill support amid the growing fallout from the Iran war.

The chancellor made no commitment, saying Labour's Planning and Infrastructure Act would "make it easier to build" renewable energy projects. She added that "gas is setting the price of our energy something like a third less than it was just four years ago" due to a reduction of imports.

Sky News has contacted the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero for further information.

Iran war poses cost of living challenge

Forecasters have predicted energy bills will hit a three-year high when the current price cap ends at the end of June.

There have been some splits within the Labour Party about how best to protect the UK from future energy shocks - with MP Henry Tufnell calling for an end to the government's ban on new North Sea oil and gas exploration in an article for The Sun this week.

The Conservatives have also called for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, claiming the government is allowing energy security to be "smashed" by the push to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. On Tuesday they lost an Opposition Day vote aimed at ending the moratorium.

At Monday night's meeting of the PLP, Mr Tufnell is said to have been a lone voice in his demand, with most of those present "behind Ed".

Mr Miliband told the meeting that there was "one overriding lesson of the crisis: while we are dependent on fossil fuel markets, we are price takers, not price makers, and we are exposed".

He also said: "From the moment this war began, we have been determined to go further and faster in driving for clean power. We can only get energy sovereignty and national security with homegrown power we control."

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Labour's aim is to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030, saying that will cut household bills by £300 a year.

However, Mr Vince's "Breaking the Link" report says there will still be some degree of gas used under these plans, so high prices would persist even if 95% of electricity came from clean energy, unless market rules are changed.

His report estimates the current link between electricity and gas added £43bn to UK energy bills in 2023 - £367 per household.

He has proposed a system where each generator gets paid the price they actually bid to sell the electricity - not the highest price on the market - which he argues would reflect the truer, cheaper cost of renewables.

'This won't be the last energy crisis'

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Vince, a Labour donor, said the Conservatives spent billions suppressing energy bills during the last crisis and we "mustn't do the same again".

"We've got to solve the cause; that's the crazy link," he said.

"This won't be the last energy crisis of this decade; we will have more. If we sort out the market now, we can insulate ourselves…and make our bills more affordable and stable."

This "extraordinary, ordinary man", as a judge called him, is today being honoured with a George Medal, the UK's second-highest civilian award for bravery.

He spotted Mohammad Farooq looking upset and agitated outside St James's Hospital in Leeds on 20 January 2023.

He was there to commit mass murder at the entrance to the maternity wing, killing nurses and potentially patients too.

"[He] seemed like he might want a chat or had some bad news, so I went over and asked how it were. And it just went from there really," says Mr Newby.

Farooq, a trainee nurse at the hospital, had a pressure cooker packed with 10kg of gunpowder in a bag and hoped to kill nurses by luring them outside with a bomb threat.

Mr Newby, 35, began chatting to him as he was "fiddling about, swaying back and forth" and initially thought he might be upset about a sick relative.

"He looked out of place; I just went over to see if he was alright. Have a chat, see if I could cheer him up and make him feel better," he says.

Mr Newby - who was receiving treatment at the hospital and still had an IV line in his arm - also noticed a suspicious bag about 6ft away.

Farooq, 28, was far from an anxious family member.

His trial later heard he was a lone-wolf terrorist, inspired by Islamic State, and had chosen his target due to a grievance with nurses on his ward.

"He was watching every nurse come out when they were going for their fags. He was watching this bag all the time," Mr Newby says.

Growing concerned over why the bag was standing alone, he asked Farooq plainly what was inside.

"He ummed and ahhed at first, then told me what were in it - told me there were a bomb in it," he says.

His scepticism disappeared in a heartbeat when Farooq opened the bag and showed him the device - a DIY bomb he'd rigged up while sitting in his car outside the city's Roundhay Park.

"That's when I knew this is real. It were like a pressure cooker - like a slow cooker with wires out the top," Mr Newby says.

'Befriending' the bomber

Worried that shouting or running would panic Farooq into detonating the device, the 35-year-old stayed calm despite the risk to his own life.

"I stuck with him, trying to take his mind off what he wanted to do, get to know him, see if I could change it," he says matter-of-factly.

"You don't have time to think how you're feeling, you just think of people around you."

Farooq had earlier sent a bomb threat by text to an off-duty nurse in the hope of getting people out to the car park - but they didn't see it for nearly an hour.

He had changed his plan and was now waiting for a shift change to go inside and explode the bomb.

As the suicide attacker opened up about the likely radius of the bomb, Mr Newby was figuring out how to coax him further from the building.

"I worked out in my head if I get him to the middle - if he does decide to set it off - it'll just set the doors off.

"It won't take the building out. Less damage and less people."

Playing for time, he tried to form a bond with Farooq by "talking about my issues, his issues, why he were doing it".

"He told me he wanted to get them back for what they've done. I said 'there's ways of doing it mate - this is the wrong way'," recalls Mr Newby.

"Then I twisted it, made him feel better than me... so I looked like the one who had more problems."

But the bomb was still just feet away, and a sudden change in Farooq's mood could have been catastrophic.

Mr Newby knew he had to somehow raise the alarm, but his options were very limited as the grounds were nearly deserted.

"It was just me and him, there were no one there I could send a signal to or anything."

However, he managed to get Farooq to leave the bag near a bench while he spoke to him a few seats further along.

With the terrorist's back to the hospital, he seized his chance when a security guard appeared for a smoke about 10ft away. But agonisingly the man didn't see his gestures for help.

"I were trying to flag him down but he didn't look over. Then he walked away - and it were like back to me and him now," Mr Newby says.

'Can I have a hug?'

Returning to his strategy of trying to occupy the bomber, he was mentally preparing to be there until morning when the hospital got busier. In the end, the stand-off lasted about six hours.

However, the situation took an unexpected turn.

"He asked me to stand up and give him a hug, so I said 'yeah, have a hug mate'. And then he said, 'right, I want you to phone the police before I change my mind'."

Farooq volunteered his own phone as Mr Newby's was out of battery.

But as he entered the pin, it flashed across his mind that he could be playing into his hands and the number might detonate the bomb.

Farooq reassured him - but there was another threat.

When the 999 controller asked him to check if he had weapons on him, Farooq pulled out a gun (later revealed to be an imitation).

"He unzipped his coat and pulled a gun out to me for about three or four seconds," he says.

"[I] grabbed it and twisted it round, pointing the handle towards me. I said, 'look, I don't want to touch that, can you put it down on the bench'."

Armed police soon descended on the hospital, bundling Mr Newby into a van for his own safety and ending his six-hour stand-off with Farooq.

He was found guilty, sentenced last year to a minimum of 37 years, with Sheffield Crown Court hearing how he immersed himself in "extremist Islamic ideology" and wanted to kill as many nurses as possible.

Farooq first planned to attack RAF Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire but switched targets after finding it was too well guarded.

Investigations also revealed a poison pen campaign against colleagues after he had to repeat a year of his course because he was always sick and didn't pass exams.

Nathan Newby's humanity and bravery that night almost certainly saved lives.

He says the danger and potential repercussions didn't hit home until he was back in his hospital bed.

"If I hadn't got that chest infection, got rushed in, and had been at home, he'd have gone for it and I'd be seeing it on the news."

Emily Gregory, a first-time candidate, beat Republican Jon Maples, who had been endorsed by Mr Trump.

A mother of three young boys and an army spouse, she runs a fitness community for pregnant and postpartum women in Palm Beach.

She led her campaign on the rising cost of living and limited support for working parents. She said she would focus on these issues if she were elected.

Ms Gregory described being "pretty shocked" and "having a fairly out-of-body experience," speaking to MS NOW after her victory.

Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, declared: "If Mar-a-Lago is vulnerable, imagine what's possible this November."

That refers to the upcoming midterms, when the Democrats will be looking to inflict major damage upon the Trump presidency with potential wins in the House of Representatives and Senate.

Ms Williams went on: "Gas prices are spiking, grocery costs are up, and families can't get by - it's clear voters at the polls are fed up with Republicans."

Voters turn from Trump ahead of midterm elections

Democrats have flipped several state House seats in special elections since Mr Trump returned to the White House more than a year ago.

The president's approval rating is in the high 30s to low 40s, according to Sky News US partner network NBC News, which says the war with Iran has been met with disapproval from the majority of voters.

Mr Trump himself voted by post in the Tuesday election. He was a New Yorker for most of his life but switched his personal residence and voter registration to Florida during his first term.

He spends many weekends at his Mar-a-Lago home as president.

A young lynx tossing a rodent into the air before killing and eating it in Ciudad Real, Spain, was chosen as the winner from 24 shortlisted pictures.

A panel of judges chose the shortlist, in addition to the winning images announced in October.

Here is the winning picture and four "highly commended" photos which impressed wildlife lovers in the public vote.

Conservation efforts mean the Iberian lynx, which was on the brink of extinction in the early 2000s, has now recovered to number more than 2,000. Good news for the lynx, bad news for the local rodents.

This game lasted 20 minutes before the cat got bored and took its prey behind a bush to eat it.

A group of flamingos stands out against a stark industrial backdrop of power lines at a bird sanctuary in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

A mother polar bear and her three cubs resting in the summer heat along the Hudson Bay coast in Canada.

A silhouetted pair of young bear cubs rearing up and play-fighting in the middle of a quiet road in Jasper National Park, Canada.

A sika deer carrying the interlocked severed head of a rival male that had died after their battle on Notsuke Peninsula in Hokkaido, Japan.

The winner and four runners-up will be shown on the voting screens at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in London until it closes on 12 July. The top image will also be on the gallery wall alongside the winning images in the main competition.