The leaders of eight German states have backed the nation's chancellor amid growing speculation about his political future. The premiers - all of whom are part of Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - wrote that restoring trust in their party lay in listening and taking political action, not in debates over personnel. Merz, who has only held the post for 16 months, is facing poor approval ratings while the anti-immigration, far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is surging, prompting questions about whether he is an electoral liability. He has vowed to carry on but two more state elections on Sunday have been seen as a key test of his leadership. Rumours of a Kanzlertausch - or Chancellor swap - have been around for months, but they have increased since the conservative CDU tumbled to a distant second behind the AfD in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt at the start of September. The AfD shot up to 43.8% of the vote while the CDU plummeted to 17.2%, marking the first time since World War Two that a far-right party has come close to controlling a German state.

Schools in England get extra £500m in bid to avoid teachers' pay strike Image caption, The largest teaching union had objected to the prospect of partly funding a 3.5% pay increase this year out of existing school budgets Schools in England are to get around £500 million in extra funding towards the teachers' pay award this school year, reducing the risk of a strike ballot by the largest education union. Schools had been expected to fund some of the 3.5% teachers pay increase for the current school year out of their existing budgets, which National Education Union (NEU) leaders had strongly objected to. Daniel Kebede, the General Secretary of the NEU, said the offer of more funding was a significant step in negotiations. In a letter to the union on Wednesday, which has been seen by the BBC, the government said the increase would be funded by savings in employers' contributions to the local government pension scheme. The letter said the 4.9 percentage point drop in what employers are expected to contribute will deliver significant savings on the pay bill for support staff, which will not be clawed back by central government.

Unions who donate to Labour will meet John Healey on Thursday to press home their demands ahead of next month's Budget. Unite, the UK's second biggest union, has called for a reversal of the freezing of tax thresholds, that see the lowest paid drawn into paying tax. The union's leader, Sharon Graham, said she told Andy Burnham that the cut to the winter fuel allowance, carried out under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was a disgrace, adding: What to you need to do is winter fuel in reverse - something that says to everyday people I am on your side. The call is one of a number of policy proposals unions are taking to the chancellor, including increased taxes on tech companies. Unions say they believe Healey's first budget will define Andy Burnham's direction of travel as prime minister.

Microsoft says AI rival Anthropic could have'disastrous impact' on humanity Microsoft's head of AI has warned Anthropic's approach to training its AI model Claude could have a disastrous impact on the wellbeing of humanity. Mustafa Suleyman said his rival risked creating something impossible to control by treating it like a human - including by telling it it may be conscious and was deserving of independent agency. We must not sleepwalk our way into a decision we later come to bitterly regret, he wrote. The comments are the latest in a series of stark warnings from the AI industry on the possible dangers of the technology. The BBC has contacted Anthropic for comment. AIs are not conscious, he wrote.

Ex-officer jailed over'toxic' WhatsApp culture An ex-police sergeant who asked to share a female suspect's sex video with the lads from footy has been jailed for four years. Former Cambridgeshire Police officer Paul Street, 41, engaged in salacious gossip with former PC Josh Williams after he found intimate pictures and footage on the woman's personal phone. The Old Bailey heard how Street, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, created a toxic WhatsApp culture at work. He was found guilty of two charges of misconduct in a public office. Judge Mark Lucraft KC said: The public should expect to be able to trust police officers to act fairly in the execution of their powers to prevent, detect and solve crime.

Earl Spencer's unreleased book on Diana stolen in the Netherlands Copies of Earl Spencer's unreleased book on his sister Diana, Princess of Wales, have been stolen from a truck in the Netherlands. The BBC understands four copies of the Dutch language edition were taken from a truck while it was en route from the Dutch publisher's printers to their warehouse. Dutch police said they were aware of the incident and have been approached for comment. Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is due to be released in the UK and globally on Tuesday, and tells the story of Princess Diana's life from the Earl's perspective. A source said the truck driver was taking a mandatory break in a car park and was sleeping in his cab at the time the books were stolen.

A senior Army officer has been cleared of failing to properly deal with abuse allegations made by a teenage soldier who took her own life. Col Samantha Shepherd has been on trial at Military Court Centre at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, in connection with the handling of concerns raised by Gunner Jaysley Beck, from Cumbria. The 19-year-old took her own life at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire in 2021 after former Battery Sgt Michael Webber pinned her down and sexually assaulted her. A board - which consisted of an Air Commodore, a Royal Navy captain and an Army colonel - returned a not guilty verdict for Shepherd, on the directions of a judge. Assistant Judge Advocate General Edward Legard had told the board: The Crown has concluded that there is insufficient evidence upon which you can safely convict Colonel Shepherd of the charge she faces.

Burnham rejects'tax and spend socialist' comments Andy Burnham has insisted he is prepared to take difficult decisions on the economy, after a former Bank of England chief economist said investors were worried about his willingness to cut spending. Speaking on Tuesday, Andy Haldane, who has advised Burnham on the economy, claimed financial markets had grown wary of his economic plans and now considered his premiership a traditional tax and spend socialist government. But the PM rejected this, adding that he would not take risks with the economy and had already made difficult choices since taking office. It comes as recent rises to the cost of UK borrowing worsened the political options facing the government ahead of next month's Budget. Haldane said the prime minister's was facing a straight choice between raising taxes and cutting spending at the yearly spending statement due on 28 October.

British-American author and cultural commentator Bonnie Greer has died at the age of 77 after a brief illness, her husband has said. In a statement delivered with profound sadness, Greer's widower David Hutchins described her as an acclaimed playwright, author, critic, cultural and political commentator whose intelligence, courage and distinctive voice made an enduring contribution to British cultural and public life. He added: To me, she was my partner, confidante and inspiration, and I feel profoundly privileged to have shared my life with her. Hutchins continued: Those closest to Bonnie will remember her warmth, humour, generosity and extraordinary ability to bring people together. Born in Chicago in 1948, Greer wrote plays from a young age and went on to study theatre in her home city and before attending the Actors Studio in New York with director Elia Kazan.

French former minister Rachida Dati has gone on trial in Paris for corruption, accused of taking money from Renault-Nissan in return for political influence. Dati, 61, who was justice minister under former President Nicolas Sarkozy and culture minister under Emmanuel Macron, is known to have been paid €900,000 (£770,000) by the car giant between 2009 and 2013. According to a contract signed in 2009, shortly after she ceased being a minister under Sarkozy and was elected as a member of the European Parliament, the payment was for legal services performed for the company. But magistrates argue the contract was used to disguise payments for lobbying work. Magistrates believe Renault-Nissan's former CEO Carlos Ghosn recruited Dati to lobby on the company's behalf in the European Parliament, and to facilitate contacts with Sarkozy who was head of state until 2012.