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BBC Breakfast announced the death of acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard at age 88, sharing tributes from King Charles and Queen Camilla

BBC Breakfast was paused as today’s presenter delivered devastating news of a death just minutes into the programme.

During Sunday’s (November 30) episode of the beloved breakfast show, hosts Rachel Burden and Ben Boulos were back on our screens delivering the day’s top headlines from Britain and around the world.

But mere moments into the broadcast, Rachel broke the news of Tom Stoppard‘s passing as she disclosed that the Royal Family were amongst the first to honour his memory.

The cherished playwright, who scooped an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Shakespeare In Love, was 88-years-old when he passed away.

Addressing audiences at home, Rachel announced: “The King and Queen have led tributes to the playwright Tom Stoppard, who has died at the age 88.”, reports the Express.

“They have described him as a ‘dear friend who wore his genius lightly’. Among the awards was an Oscar for the screenplay for the film Shakespeare in Love.”

The programme then switched to a dedicated tribute segment for the legend as entertainment correspondent Guy Lambert reflected on Tom’s extraordinary career.

Returning to the studio, Rachel noted: “Tributes have been pouring in to celebrate the life of Sir Tom Stoppard.”

Just before sharing the King and Queen’s complete statement, the television host remarked: “King Charles and Queen Camilla called him a dear friend.”

United Agents released a statement at the time, expressing: “We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved client and friend, Tom Stoppard, has died peacefully at home in Dorset, surrounded by his family.

“He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language. It was an honour to work with Tom and to know him.”

King Charles paid tribute, stating: “My wife and I are deeply saddened to learn of the death of one of our greatest writers, Sir Tom Stoppard. A dear friend who wore his genius lightly, he could, and did, turn his pen to any subject, challenging, moving and inspiring his audiences, borne from his own personal history.

“We send our most heartfelt sympathy to his beloved family. Let us all take comfort in his immortal line: ‘Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else’.”

Sir Tom’s illustrious career in entertainment spanned over six decades, during which he bagged numerous Tony and Olivier awards, as well as the Golden Globe and Academy Award alongside Marc Norman for their 1998 screenplay Shakespeare In Love – featuring fellow Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow.

BBC Breakfast is broadcast daily from 6am on BBC One and iPlayer.

Yet it could have been so different after Newcastle initially handled a white-hot atmosphere so well by gaining the upper hand.

The noise levels were certainly deafening before kick-off – even referee Maurizio Mariani and the officials were loudly whistled when they emerged for the warm-up.

Flares were let off, ticker tape flickered in the air and a stunning tifo rose from the terraces with an accompanying banner reading “For my town, for my club”.

But Newcastle were ready for it.

They had travelled early, trained at the Velodrome on Monday evening and looked to prepare slightly differently on game day, “to keep the players mentally engaged and ready for this game” in Howe’s own words.

That preparation looked to have paid off against a side second in Ligue 1.

Rather than being cowed by the crowd, Newcastle made an aggressive start.

They got their reward when Harvey Barnes – fresh from his match-winning double against Manchester City on Sunday – fired his side in front in the sixth minute.

But, crucially, Newcastle failed to press home their advantage and Marseille rallied.

The visitors had enough warnings after Aubameyang spurned a series of opportunities in the first half.

However, the much-travelled Marseille forward was not so forgiving after the break, as Newcastle paid a heavy price for a sloppy kick-off.

Defender Fabian Schar punted the ball forward and his side failed to get it back under control after losing a series of duels deep in the opposition half.

It was far too easy for Timothy Weah to take a number of players out of the game with a pass to Darryl Bakola and the 17-year-old played a through-ball into the right-hand channel behind Newcastle’s defence.

A Marseille equaliser was not exactly a foregone conclusion given how far away Aubameyang was from goal.

But keeper Nick Pope rushed off his line in an attempt to get there ahead of Aubameyang, only to be caught in no man’s land as the forward nipped in and finished superbly from a tight angle out on the right wing.

Howe was keen to stress he “backed” Pope after the game, despite the poor decision, pointing to how the goalkeeper made “some really good saves against Manchester City just three days ago”.

But this was a night where his side’s vulnerabilities at the back, and on the road, reared their head again.

Saturday Kitchen host Matt Tebbutt apologised after accidentally revealing personal details about his guest star on the BBC show

Matt Tebbutt dropped a huge blunder just minutes into today’s Saturday Kitchen (November 22), accidentally revealing where one of his celebrity guests lives.

The TV chef was joined by comedian and actor Tom Allen, famous for his roles on The Apprentice: You’re Fired, Cooking with the Stars and The Great British Bake Off’s Extra Slice.

He popped up on the ITV show to promote his gardening podcast, Pottering With Tom Allen, telling presenter Matt: “I just thought what the world needs is another podcast.”

He went on: “We keep the bird song in, we keep the church bells in, even aeroplanes going over we leave in.”

Matt then chimed in with a cheeky comment about the background noise, which accidentally gave away where the star calls home, reports the Express.

“Please Matt! Don’t tell people where I live,” Tom shot back, before quipping: “It’s true though it’s a very desirable area,” as giggles filled the studio.

The gaffe sparked a hasty “I’m sorry” from presenter Matt, who quickly added: “I didn’t give out the full address.”

Tom then revealed that his neighbourhood was quite compact, meaning even tiny hints were too much information.

“Well it’s not a very big place so if you are in Chislehurst you’ll see me there,” he revealed before throwing a tongue-in-cheek “So thanks for that” Matt’s way.

As the programme progressed, Matt turned to chef Ravinder Bhogal to ask what was next on the agenda. Yet, he couldn’t help but make another quip about his earlier gaffe.

“Right let’s see what else is on the menu today. Ravinder! Tell everyone where you live,” he jested, sparking more laughter from the cast and crew.

Saturday Kitchen is broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer

Gogglebox returned once again on Friday night on Channel 4

Gogglebox stars Dave and Shirley Griffiths shared some huge news just minutes into Friday’s episode.

As the episode started, Dave was seen surprising Shirley by letting off a loud confetti cannon, leaving his wife shocked.

Shirley said: “What have you got there?” before adding after the confetti cannon went off: “You stupid cow! You d**k!”

This prompted a beaming Dave to declare: “Happy anniversary!” before kissing his wife. He continued: “We’ve got to celebrate, haven’t we, 50 years!”

To which a giggling Shirley pointed out: “I was going to say, you’ve covered the b****y dogs!” as their pet dogs were seen covered in the confetti.

It comes as the duo also celebrated the milestone on Instagram as they shared a throwback snap on their joint account, writing: “50years on November 15th I wed the lovely Shirley, Happy anniversary darling here’s to making more happy memories.”

Gogglebox also celebrated the anniversary as they posted on their own Instagram: “How it started… how it’s going” with yellow heart emojis.

They added: “Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary @dave_shirl_gogglebox #50years #Golden #Wedding #Anniversary #Gogglebox #FreshEveryFriday 9pm @channel4.”

The couple’s fans and Gogglebox viewers were quick to react to the lovely news and incredible milestone.

“Happy golden wedding anniversary you lovely pair,” commented Ellie Warner, whilst her sister Izzi contributed: “Congratulations both! Wishing you many more years of wedded bliss.”

Simon Minty wrote: “Hid your names and asked Jane to guess. Took a couple of clues and then she cried, ‘Jeepers!’ She guessed you first Shirl and I guessed you first Dave. A very happy anniversary to you both.”

Ex-Gogglebox star Mica Ven added: “Happy anniversary you beauties,” whilst Jenny Newby and Lee Riley joked: “Awhhhhhh Happy Anniversary to you lovely pair but who gets the medal.”

Meanwhile, one fan commented: “Happy anniversary to you both, may you share many more in the years to come,” whilst another viewer added: “Gorgeous!! Happy Anniversary to a beautiful couple.”

The Welsh couple, who first appeared on the Channel 4 programme back in 2015, have quickly secured themselves as fan favourites.

Gogglebox airs on Friday nights at 9pm on Channel 4.

The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in China has been officially opened and is now the highest bridge in the world – reducing the journey time for locals from two hours to just two minutes

China has unveiled a stunning new record-breaker after officially opening the world’s highest bridge in Guizhou province in the southwest of the country. The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge has slashed journey times from two hours down to just two minutes, according to local state media.

The remarkable structure boasts a deck-to-surface measurement of 625 metres – more than half a kilometre – making it tower above the previous record holder. It beats the Beipanjiang Bridge (Duge Bridge), also in China, which stands at 565.4 metres, by nearly 60 metres.

China’s rapid construction capabilities have recently drawn admiration from figures including Reform UK MP Zia Yusuf, who publicly expressed frustration on social media about the lengthy timescales for smaller infrastructure schemes in the United Kingdom.

Work on the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge commenced in January 2022 and was finished in under four years. The ambitious scheme resulted in a structure stretching almost 3km across a canyon dubbed the “Earth crack”.

The bridge measures 2,890 metres in total length and underwent rigorous testing before authorities gave the green light for public use.

As reported by ITV, before the bridge could be deemed safe for traffic, a dynamic load test was conducted, reports the Express.

This involved 96 lorries driving onto specific points of the structure in groups.

The new structure has now bagged the Guinness World Record for being the tallest bridge globally.

Now, globetrotters from all corners of the world are keen to witness the magnificent construction that officially opened its doors on 28 September 2025.

The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge boasts glass walkways for visitors to gaze down at the Beipan River, approximately 580 metres below.

It also features viewing platforms and a glass lift leading to its sky-high café, set to open in November this year.

For those seeking a thrill, they can bungee jump from the bridge.

State media have reported plans for professional BASE jumping events.

US President Donald Trump has appeared on the CBS News programme 60 Minutes just months after he won a $16m settlement from the broadcaster for alleged “deceptive editing”.

In the interview with CBS host Norah O’Donnell, which was filmed last Friday at his Mar-a-Lago residence and aired on Sunday, Trump touched on several topics, including the ongoing government shutdown, his administration’s unprecedented crackdowns on undocumented migrants, the US’s decision to restart nuclear testing, and the trade war with China.

Trump, who regularly appears on Fox News, a right-wing media outlet, has an uneasy relationship with CBS, which is considered centrist.

In October 2020, the president walked out of a 60 Minutes interview in the lead-up to the 2020 election he lost, claiming that the host, Lesley Stahl, was “biased”.

Here are some key takeaways from the interview:

The interview took place one year to the day after Trump sued CBS

The president’s lawyers sued CBS owner Paramount in October 2024 for “mental anguish” over a pre-election interview with rival candidate Kamala Harris that Trump claimed had been deceptively edited to favour Democrats and thus affected his campaign.

CBS had aired two different versions of an answer Harris gave to a question on Israel’s war on Gaza, posed by host Bill Whitaker. One version aired on 60 Minutes while the other appeared on the programme Face the Nation.

Asked whether Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, listened to US advice, Harris answered: “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States – to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

In an alternative edit, featured in earlier pre-broadcast promotions, Harris had given a longer, more rambling response that did not sound as concise.

The network argued the answer was edited differently for the two shows due to time restrictions, but Trump’s team claimed CBS “distorted” its broadcasts and “helped” Harris, thereby affecting his campaign. Trump asked for an initial $10bn in damages before upping it to $20bn in February 2025.

Paramount, in July 2025, chose to settle with Trump’s team to the tune of $16m in the form of a donation to a planned Trump presidential library. That move angered journalist unions and rights groups, which argued it set a bad precedent for press freedom.

Paramount executives said the company would not apologise for the editing of its programmes, but had decided to settle to put the matter to rest.

The company was at the time trying to secure federal approval from Trump’s government for a proposed merger with Skydance, owned by Trump ally Larry Ellison. The Federal Communications Commission has since approved the merger that gives Ellison’s Skydance controlling rights.

On October 19, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the Middle East, were interviewed on 60 Minutes regarding the Israel-Gaza war.

He solved rare-earth metals issue with China

After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea last Thursday, Trump praised his counterpart as a “strong man, a very powerful leader” and said their relationship was on an even keel despite the trade war. However, he blamed China for “ripping off” the US through its dominance of crucial rare earth materials.

Trump told 60 Minutes he had cut a favourable trade agreement with China and that “we got – no rare-earth threat. That’s gone, completely gone”, referring to Chinese export restrictions on critical rare-earth metals needed to manufacture a wide range of items including defence equipment, smartphones and electric vehicles.

However, Beijing actually only said it would delay introducing export controls for five rare-earth metals it announced in October, and did not mention restrictions on a further seven it announced in April this year. Those restrictions remain in place.

Xi ‘knows what will happen’ if China attacks Taiwan

Trump said President Xi did not say anything about whether Beijing planned to attack autonomous Taiwan.

However, he referred to past assurances from Xi, saying: “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘We would never do anything while President Trump is president’, because they know the consequences.”

Asked whether he would order US forces to action if China moved militarily on Taiwan, Trump demurred, saying: “You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that … I can’t give away my secrets. The other side knows.”

There are mounting fears in the US that China could attack Taiwan. Washington’s stance of “strategic ambiguity” has always kept observers speculating about whether the US would defend Taiwan against Beijing. Ahead of the last elections, Trump said Taiwan should “pay” for protection.

He doesn’t know who the crypto boss he pardoned is

When asked why he pardoned cryptocurrency multibillionaire and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao last month, Trump said: “I don’t know who he is.”

The president said he had never met Zhao, but had been told he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by the administration of former US President Joe Biden.

Zhao pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering in connection with child sex abuse and “terrorism” on his crypto platform in 2023. He served four months in prison until September 2024, and stepped down as chief executive of Binance.

Binance has been linked to the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial, and many have questioned if the case is a conflict of interest.

In March 2025, World Liberty Financial launched its own dollar-pegged cryptocoin, USD1, on Binance’s blockchain and the company promoted it to its 275 million users. The coin was also supported by an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates, MGX Fund Management Limited, which used $2bn worth of the World Liberty stablecoin to buy a stake in Binance.

This part of the interview appeared in a full transcript of the 90-minute interview, but does not appear in either the 28-minute televised version or the 73-minute extended online video version. CBS said in a note on the YouTube version that it was “condensed for clarity”.

Other countries ‘are testing nuclear weapons’

Trump justified last week’s decision by his government to resume nuclear testing for the first time in 33 years, saying that other countries – besides North Korea – are already doing it.

“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it,” Trump said, also mentioning Pakistan. “You know, we’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it, because otherwise you people are gonna report – they don’t have reporters that gonna be writing about it. We do.”

Russia, China, and Pakistan have not openly conducted tests in recent years. Analyst Georgia Cole of UK think tank Chatham House told Al Jazeera that “there is no indication” the three countries have resumed testing.

He’s not worried about Hamas disarming

The president claimed the US-negotiated ceasefire and peace plan between Israel and Hamas was “very solid” despite Israeli strikes killing 236 Gazans since the ceasefire went into effect. It is also unclear whether or when the Palestinian armed group, Hamas, has agreed it will disarm.

However, Trump said he was not worried about Hamas disarming as the US would force the armed group to do so. “Hamas could be taken out immediately if they don’t behave,” he said.

Venezuela’s Maduro’s ‘days are numbered’

Trump denied the US was going to war with Venezuela despite a US military build-up off the country’s coast and deadly air strikes targeting alleged drug-trafficking ships in the country’s waters. The United Nations has said the strikes are a violation of international law.

Responding to a question about whether the strikes were really about unseating Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, Trump said they weren’t. However, when asked if Maduro’s days in office were numbered, the president answered: “I would say, yeah.”

US government shutdown is all the Democrats’ fault

Trump, a member of the Republican Party, blamed Democrats for what is now close to the longest government shutdown in US history, which has been ongoing since October 1.

Senators from the Democratic Party have refused to approve a new budget unless it extends expiring tax credits that make health insurance cheaper for millions of Americans and unless Trump reverses healthcare cuts made in his tax-and-spending bill, passed earlier this year.

The US president made it clear that he would not negotiate with Democrats, and did not give clear plans for ending the shutdown affecting 1.4 million governent employees.

US will become ‘third-world nation’ if tariffs disallowed

Referring to a US Supreme Court hearing brought by businesses arguing that the Trump government’s tariff war on other countries is illegal and has caused domestic inflation, Trump said the US “would go to hell” and be a “third world nation” if the court ordered tariffs to be removed.

He said the tariffs are necessary for “national security” and that they have increased respect from other countries for the US.

ICE raids ‘don’t go far enough’

Trump defended his government’s unprecedented Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and surveillance on people perceived to be undocumented migrants.

When asked if the raids had gone too far, he responded: “No. I think they haven’t gone far enough because we’ve been held back by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by [former US Presidents Joe] Biden and [Barack] Obama.”

Zohran Mamdani is a ‘communist’

Regarding the New York City mayoral race scheduled for November 4, Trump said he would not back democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, and called him a “communist”. He said if Mamdani wins, it will be hard for him to “give a lot of money to New York”.

BBC Breakfast returned once again on Saturday 1 November

BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty quipped ‘what’s going on this weekend’ during Saturday’s show.

During the latest instalment, Naga, 50, and co-host Charlie Stayt reported on the world’s largest cake decorating show in Birmingham called Cake International.

Naga and Charlie, 63, were shown a series of creations from the event, which included a Jim Carrey inspired cake, a troll cake and some Halloween inspired creations.

However, Naga didn’t find the Halloween creations too appetising as she admitted: “I don’t want to eat that character’s teeth!”

To which Charlie responded: “It would be so wrong to slice into something created… they’re basically works of art, aren’t they? I do not know how they make those cakes like that!”

Naga then asked Charlie of the Halloween cake creation: “Would you eat the teeth or the eyeballs of that cake?”

To which Charlie admitted: “I think I’d choose to just leave it there and not touch it. I’d make a separate cake for eating and just have that one to look at.”

Yet weather presenter Louise Lear was quick to join in as she admitted over the creation: “I’d eat anything at the moment, I’m starving!”

To which a horrified Naga asked: “Would you eat the teeth on that one?” with Louise joking: “I haven’t had breakfast, anything, Naga, particularly if the icing is good!

“I mean, I’m one of those people. I’m a bit of a grazer, so I might just kind of, you know, have a little bit and then keep going back to it, yeah.

“But I’d have gone for the troll’s head straight away. Chopped it off. What does that say about me?”

To which an animated Naga joked: “Even more brutal. There’s no messing with you two. What’s going on this weekend?”

Cake International is the biggest cake decorating and baking event in the world.

It runs for three full days at National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. It opened on Friday the 31st of October and ends on Sunday the 2nd of November.

BBC Breakfast continues every day at 6am on both BBC One and BBC iPlayer.