The new Education Secretary has vowed to launch a vocational 'revolution' as new figures revealed more than 50,000 teenagers will not receive any exam results this week.

Speaking ahead of A-level and T-level Results Day on Thursday, Lucy Powell said she will focus on technical and vocational pathways to tackle the number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neet).

The Department for Education (DfE) estimates that nearly 58,000 18-year-olds in England will get no results this week because they have dropped out of education and training, although some are in employment.

Mrs Powell said: 'It's a big number. We know that they're more likely to be not in education and employment for the years to come, already being out of the system.

'This is a clarion call for all of us in Government, and more widely, to really address this issue because this has a huge impact not just on those individuals for the rest of their lives but on society and the economy for years business and employers and society to come.'

She said 'pretty much' her first meeting as Education Secretary was with former health secretary Alan Milburn, who is leading a

Tokyo's former ambassador to Canberra has unleashed over Anthony Albanese's 'melons' comment about Japan's prime minister Sanae Takaichi.

In an episode of the Bush Deep podcast with Nikki Osborne, Albanese recalled being given a 'royal melon' by Takaichi during her first visit to Australia in May.

Osborne questioned whether the melons were 'smuggled' into Australia, to which Albanese joked that the Japanese leader has 'got a couple of melons' and made hand gestures.

Osborne joked that the Japanese leader was 'looking like Pamela Anderson' and Albanese said: 'She brought two, as you do... and they're beautiful.' 

On Monday, about a month after the comments were aired, Albanese pushed back against suggestions his remarks were a crude joke about her anatomy. 'This assertion is wrong.' 

But Shingo Yamagami, Japan's former ambassador to Australia, said the interview had undermined the Prime Minister's reputation in Japan. 

According to Yamagami, Takaichi is no stranger to derogatory remarks about her body and gender from China and her political opponents, 'the last thing she expected was to be so casually mocked by the trusted leader of Japan's special strategic partner'.

An American college student was murdered in her apartment by her abusive boyfriend before he was arrested in Germany as he attempted to flee to his home country of India, police said.

University of Arizona student Julissa Rubi Salazar, 19, was found dead with signs of trauma in her Tucson, Arizona, apartment on Thursday around 4pm after her parents requested a welfare check, according to the Tucson Police Department. 

The 19-year-old was first discovered by the fire department, which requested police backup after suspecting she had been murdered. 

Detectives examined evidence in the apartment and conducted interviews to determine that Salazar's boyfriend, University of Arizona student Varun Batchigari, 20, was the primary suspect. 

Authorities obtained a first-degree murder and kidnapping warrant for Batchigari's arrest, which was obtained by KOLD. 

According to the warrant, Salazar was discovered on the floor of the apartment with a blanket pulled up to her neck, which had strangulation and scratch marks. 

When detectives interviewed the young woman's roommates, they were told that she had been planning to break up

Amid growing scrutiny of the UK prison system, many have started to question whether the institution effectively deters crime. What do you think? Have your say in the Morning Mail poll.

Vote now and you'll find the final results in tomorrow's Morning Mail newsletter.

As a boy of seven, Matthew Jukes was pressed into service as a wine waiter, welcoming guests to his parents' Brussels home with glasses of Veuve Clicquot champagne.

Next, he found himself pouring a white German riesling, and after that a red volnay from Burgundy. He was permitted to take a surreptitious sip of each.

It sent him scurrying to the bookcase. 'I went a bit Boy Scout and got the atlas out and thought it was fascinating you could have three very different drinks from around the world,' he recalled years later. 'It made me super-curious about wine.' 

That precocious inquisitiveness, that thirst for knowledge about wine, may not immediately have fired what was to become a lifelong passion – there was an early plan to be an astrophysicist. 

But Matthew, nevertheless, went on to become one of Britain's busiest and most influential experts.

And his sudden death while on holiday in Portugal aged 58 has shocked an industry where he was a veritable star. In a brilliant 40-year career, he combined the roles of critic, author, columnist, broadcaster, wine buyer, entrepreneur and charity fundraiser.

A gifted communicator with an infectious enthusiasm, he also caused a

Margaret Thatcher backed an extraordinary secret plan to wipe out South America's cocaine crops by unleashing swarms of leaf-eating moths over drug cartel plantations, newly released files reveal.

The scheme, developed during the height of Britain's war on drugs, would have seen thousands of insects bred by scientists at Porton Down in Wiltshire and air-dropped from helicopters over coca fields in Peru.

Government papers released by the National Archives show Thatcher's administration spent around £100,000 exploring the idea in a bid to curb the flow of the Class A drug reaching Britain.

At the centre of the plan was Eloria noyesi, a species of moth whose larvae feed almost exclusively on coca leaves, the raw ingredient used to produce cocaine.

Unlike most insects, the moth can consume coca leaves safely and process the chemicals without suffering any ill effects.

Officials believed the insect could provide a cheap and effective biological weapon against powerful drug trafficking organisations operating across Peru.

Documents from 1989 show military scientists were tasked with investigating ways to breed the moths in huge numbers before releasing them over illicit plantations.

According to Foreign

Russia stepped up attacks on Ukraine over the weekend amid intelligence warnings that Putin could invade Nato countries in Eastern Europe.

More than 200 missiles and drones hit Ukraine, which is running short of vital air defences, in a blitz on Saturday night.

The coastal town of Odesa bore the brunt, with a dozen injured and the city's largest sports arena, the Chornomorets Stadium, damaged.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the seaport had been hit, adding: 'In this way, the Russians are at war with the world's food security.'

Missiles also struck a high-rise apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, according to reports.

Footage showed smoke rising from the ten-storey building as officials said three people had died and 37 were wounded in the eastern city.

In response, Ukrainian drones killed five people and injured 24 in Russia's border region of Belgorod.

It came as US intelligence warned Vladimir Putin could order an attack on a Baltic state within weeks.

If you're looking for a way to avoid your strawberries going off, here's an unexpected suggestion – use seaweed.

An edible coating made from seaweed can keep the fruit at its best for at least four days at room temperature, say scientists, outperforming uncoated berries stored in a fridge.

The discovery was made by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, who say it could help cut spoilage, large scale food waste and reliance on refrigeration.

The coating is made from agar, a substance derived from red seaweed that is widely used as an alternative to gelatin and as a thickener.

On its own, agar forms a thick gel, but when the team combined it with zinc, an essential nutrient, and tannic acid, a naturally occurring plant compound, the material transformed – self-assembling into tiny microparticles that create a thin protective layer around the fruit.

Strawberries could last longer with the help of an unexpected ingredient

Police told drivers to leave their cars 'if you want to stay alive' as a van fire sparked a wildfire by a dual carriageway this afternoon.

Traffic came to a halt and drivers were ordered to the side of the road after flames from the van ignited 'tinderbox bracken' by the westbound A31 near the New Forest in Hampshire.

A policewoman told drivers to get out of their cars and move to the central reservation next to the road 'if you want to stay alive'.

Later a firefighter was overheard telling a police officer: 'We want all the cars and people off the carriageway. Unattended cars are basically bombs when they go off.'

A fire officer at the scene said: 'We believe it was a van that caught fire on the road and that set alight to the shrubs at the side of the road.'

The van driver is believed to have escaped.

Another fire officer said the blaze was out of control and would not be tamed until at least tomorrow. 

Hundreds of drivers remained stuck by the spreading fire while crews worked out how to evacuate them from the area. 

Customers signed up to news publications, dating apps and streaming services such as Netflix could be hit by higher prices at the start of next year, it was warned last night.

It comes after the Government unexpectedly brought forward plans to restrict rules around subscriptions.

Firms now say this gives them 'little to no time' to comply with the changes and meet the new deadline.

A source close to a coalition of businesses including publishers and tech firms said an abrupt decision to impose the crackdown in January rather than next spring as previously promised would force companies to bring their operations in line faster – costs they would then likely pass on to their customers.

Under a package of 'everyday fixes' to help ease the cost-of-living crisis, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that from January, new rules would be put in place that would end what he dubbed 'subscription traps'. 

These are where firms make it harder for people to cancel their subscriptions or have to renew them at a higher cost than initially advertised.

The rules will mean businesses will need to provide clearer information

French police did nothing more than watch as a baby and toddlers were carried aboard a dinghy to England yesterday.

Dozens of migrants clambered aboard the boat in the waves as tourists enjoyed lunch on the beach. 

The youngest hauled aboard was a baby who appeared to be just months old. There were a number of other youngsters and women, too, alongside many young men.

Remarkably they were boarding a small boat the French authorities had closely tracked for nine-and-a-half hours – and simply let it be – as it picked up multiple groups of passengers along the French coast.

The dinghy appears to have been launched near Dieppe at around 4am. 

This is far further south than from where boats usually leave, but people-smugglers are using new launch spots away from regular police searches. 

Soon after setting off it was followed by a French coastguard vessel – but only in case of a sinking.

After 40 miles it pulled in alongside Berck beach, then 12 miles further north it approached Camiers beach at around noon, where photographer Ioannis Alexopoulos saw the youngsters taken on board after groups of migrants had emerged from the dunes.

Labour has been accused of yet another pro-trade union stitch-up - after businesses seeking government contracts were hit with fresh demands.

Under changes to the 'social value' model used since 2012, private sector companies bidding for work will get extra points for giving union representatives access to their staff.

Small print in the document released last week shows weight will also be added to bids from firms offering flexible working, pay above the National Minimum Wage and 'progressive remuneration policies' to retain staff.

Critics labelled it yet another example of Labour kowtowing to union paymasters with moves that could hinder economic recovery via higher costs and more red tape.

It follows changes brought in by the Employment Rights Act in December, allowing union representatives to enter business premises to 'meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers'.

And earlier this year, then Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, now Foreign Secretary, was criticised for demanding green energy firms introduce pro-union measures if they wished to keep access to government subsidies.

Incredibly, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham will today begin a summer cost-of-living tour in which he will ask the public for ideas on how the