The bonus handouts among staff at the Department for International Development (DfID) saw more than half of its 2,436 staff being rewarded with extra cash.

EXCLUSIVE: The fires of the Amazon rainforest continue to wage, as do opposing politicians. But experts and green activists are calling for more to be done to tackle the ongoing issues.

Ahead of today's United Nations climate summit in New York, the PM will unveil plans for fund aimed at developing practical technology to help the world's poor reduce their impact on the planet.

Hundreds of millions of pounds in foreign aid may be being wasted because nobody is keeping track of how effectively the money is being spent, a damning report claims.

The Trump administration is considering tying foreign aid payments to how countries treat their religious minorities.

The cash went on 'lifestyle interventions' between 2005 and 2018, according to the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) think-tank. More than 80 per cent of the money has been spent since 2016.

Miss World Australia 2017 winner Esma Voloder and two other beauty queens headed to Canberra with World Vision to ask Australia to boost its foreign aide budget.

The Department for International Development (Dfid) controls most of Britain's £14billion aid budget and has faced frequent criticism for waste and muddle since it was set up by Labour in 1997.

Rudy Giuliani alleges the U.S. Embassy - led by then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch - 'quashed' corruption probe into the disappearance of foreign aid that was going to George Soros.

The Daily Mail has discovered that tens of millions of pounds of UK foreign aid is helping fund schools in Gaza and the West Bank that use such material in lessons.

Foreign aid chiefs have been told to improve how they manage the £4.2billion being spent on boosting gender equality overseas. In the past £4million has been spent on Yegna, Ethiopa's answer to the Spice Girls.

JONATHAN McEVOY AT YAS MARINA: Lewis Hamilton signed off from qualifying in style - ending his nine-race pole drought - by setting the pace ahead of Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

A new mural has been unveiled at the Farm Bridge section of Silverstone, depicting the Mercedes driver in front of the Union flag following his sixth world title this season.

Aston Martin, one of the most iconic names in British motoring, could enter Formula One as the new identity of the Racing Point team.

The 34-year-old racer became just the second driver in the sport's history to win six titles - and needs just one more to match all-time great Michael Schumacher's record.

All 10 Formula One teams have unanimously voted to keep the current specification of Pirelli tyres after testing and analysing results of a new prototype in Abu Dhabi, the sport's governing body (FIA) said.

If you look at the Sports Presonality of the Year shortlist, Lewis Hamilton stands supreme in terms of achievement. He has made extraordinary deeds appear routine.

The £120m deal for Sky to show every Grand Prix bar one on their subscription channel was signed off by Bernie Ecclestone last year. Channel 4 previously showed 10 races a season.

The prospect of a woman competing in F1 for the first time in 44 years has moved a step closer, when the W Series announced that its 2020 champion will receive 15 points towards a 'super licence'.

Red Bull's 22-year-old star Max Verstappen is convinced that, with the right car, he can become Formula One's world champion in 2020 as he insists rival Lewis Hamilton 'is not God'.

Lewis Hamilton has switched up his look ahead of Formula One's pre-season winter testing period, with the six-time world champion Mercedes driver revealing a scruffier style. 

Although Liberty Media, the sport's owners, left open the possibility of the Chinese GP being rescheduled, the chances of finding a replacement date look remote to non-existent.

Hamilton, whose Mercedes contract is set to expire at the end of the year, had held informal talks about joining Ferrari last year but any move now looks dead in the water.

Mercedes' reinvention of the steering wheel has been banned just a day after it broke cover. Not that Lewis Hamilton and his boffins will mind because it won't be outlawed until 2021.

INTERVIEW BY NATHAN SALT: Jenson Button has warned Charles Leclerc that his honeymoon at Ferrari is over and he must now put up a fight with Lewis Hamilton for the title.

Formula One's most prominent woman, Claire Williams, has criticised the sport's 'disgraceful 19th Century' accusation that her becoming a mother has caused her team's decline.

JONATHAN MCEVOY: Seven Formula One teams have threatened to take Ferrari and the governing body, the FIA, to court for hushing up a potentially illegal Ferrari engine.

On Wednesday, seven of Formula One's 10 teams published a joint statement expressing surprise and shock at the FIA's confidential agreement with Ferrari.

Nico Rosberg has backed one of Formula One's crop of exciting youngsters to make a breakthrough this season and seize the Formula One title.

Pre-season testing has left us with more questions than answers as the new F1 campaign prepares to get underway at the Australian GP. Here are the 10 biggest talking points for the new season.

It is understood that the team member reported symptoms associated with the disease in the Albert Park paddock on Wednesday morning.

FIA president Jean Todt accused the seven teams angered by their investigation into Ferrari's suspect engine of making 'false, injurious and defamatory' allegations.

Hamilton said it was 'shocking' that the Australian Grand Prix could go ahead amid the threat of the coronavirus and suggested organisers had put financial concerns ahead of people's health.

The boss of the British Grand Prix has told Formula One's owners that he needs to know by the middle of next month whether the showpiece event is going ahead on July 19.

The reigning Formula One champion is waiting to agree terms over a new contract with Mercedes, with his current £40million-a-year deal expiring at the end of this season.

JONATHAN McEVOY: Grand Prix races are falling like green bottles. Nine so far have been postponed or cancelled, and the event in France on June 28 looks set to topple.

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has warned that a number of Formula One teams could fold if a crisis meeting on Thursday does not endorse money-saving plans.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has bought a stake worth about £37million in Aston Martin, the British sports car company that will return to the Formula One grid as a works team next year.

Tonight's Celebrity Apprentice saw the five remaining celebrities tasked with creating a four page campaign for the CHI Touch Digital Touchscreen hair dryer.

Last week’s Celebrity Apprentice ended on a cliffhanger with either Clay Aiken, Arsenio Hall or Aubrey O’Day facing the chop.

Could not believe his luck

Katherine Webb, who shot to fame after ESPN's cameras panned to her as she cheered on her quarterback boyfriend in the BCS Championship game, let the news slip on Twitter on Thursday.

He returned to the show as conquering hero. So it came as shock when former Celebrity Apprentice winner Bret Michaels was the first contestant to be eliminated on the All Star version of the show.

Calm after the storm

According to RadarOnline, the 41-year-old is 'furious' that ex-husband Eddie Cibrian and new wife LeAnn celebrated her son Jake's seventh birthday while she is in New York working on Celebrity Apprentice.

Despite the fact they were on friendly terms prior to filming, the show has reportedly brought out the worst in them both, with the feisty women said to be 'at war' with one another

Donald Trump Jr pursued Aubrey O'Day after meeting her on the set of Celebrity Apprentice and told her that he would leave his wife Vanessa so the two could be together according to a new report.

Singer and model O'Day appeared on the Wendy Williams show in 2012 shortly after being fired from The Celebrity Apprentice.

Vanessa Trump reportedly pleaded with Aubrey O'Day to end her relationship with Donald Trump Jr. in a furious phone call. They met on US TV show The Celebrity Apprentice in 2011.

SPORTS AGENDA - EDITED BY LAURA WILLIAMSON: There were raised eyebrows in the England women's camp when a picture of the men's Under 21s on a private jet emerged.