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Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was conspicuously absent from his father's funeral, as senior regime figures joined thousands paying their respects to the late ayatollah on Sunday.

Ali Khamenei's other three sons - Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam - all attended the service on Sunday, alongside officials including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Revolutionary Guards chief Ahmad Vahidi.

Speculation about Mojtaba's condition - fuelled by rumours he was wounded in the same US-Israel air strikes that killed his father - has continued as he has not appeared in public since his appointment in early March.

The elder Khamenei ruled the Islamic republic from 1989 until his death in February.

Official funeral proceedings for late supreme leader began on Friday, with events planned across Iran and Iraq over the coming week.

Iranian authorities say 12-20 million people are expected to attend the ceremonies, which they are calling the "funeral of the century".

Khamenei's body is currently lying in state at Tehran's Grand Mosalla religious complex, with a funeral service led by prominent Shia cleric Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old scholar who teaches at seminaries in the holy city of Qom.

Sunday was declared a public holiday across Iran, and later in the day Khamenei's body will be moved out of the Grand Mosalla ahead of a processions through the capital on Monday.

Other than Mojtaba Khamenei's absence, the ceremony has been carefully choreographed

The ceremonies have been carefully choreographed and Mojtaba Khamenei's absence from the proceedings comes on a backdrop of threats from Israel to assassinate him as well.

A fragile ceasefire between the warring countries is currently holding while talks on a permanent peace deal continue - though both sides have warned they were ready to resume military action.

News website Axios quoted US President Donald Trump on Saturday as saying that peace talks had been paused for a week for the events surrounding the funeral.

With many of the Iranian regime's senior officials attending, Washington could take them all out with "one shot", it quoted Trump as saying, adding: "But we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with."

The president also said he had been surprised to see Iranians crying, saying he thought people hated Khamenei. "Maybe it's fake tears," he said.

In response to Trump's claim, mourner Zahra Safaei, 50, told Reuters: "We did not make a revolution 47 years ago to shed fake tears. We did not sacrifice all these martyrs to shed fake tears."

The Associated Press and Guardian report that people were calling for US President Donald Trump's death on Sunday, with poet Mohammad Rasouli saying at a poetry recitation before the prayer that "Trump's murder is our responsibility".

Rasouli could also be heard drawing calls of "death to America" and "death to Israel".

People in the city were seen on Sunday holding banners that included slogans "kill Trump", "kill Bibi", in reference to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and "we will avenge".

The Tehran events alone are expected to attract more than 10 million mourners from across Iran, with strict security measures imposed and official media warned of a risk of crowd crushes.

Iran's official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday that more than 4,000 people had visited medical centres located in and near the Grand Mosalla - though no deaths had been recorded.

Images from the funeral show mourners being sprayed with mist to keep them cool and medics carrying an elderly woman away on a stretcher.

Khamenei's coffin is being displayed alongside those of four relatives who were killed in the strikes on Tehran, including his one-year-old granddaughter Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani.

Throughout his rule, Ali Khamenei pursued a policy of confrontation with the West and for years provided support to anti-US and anti-Israel armed groups across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

After the processions through Tehran on Monday, Khamenei's coffin will be moved to Qom on Tuesday, then a significant Shia site in neighbouring Iraq on Wednesday, before the burial on Thursday in his north-eastern hometown of Mashhad.

Cowboys, fighter jets and US Border Patrol - inside Trump's big recruitment drive

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3ex7rnpg6o, today

It's a sweltering Saturday in Colorado Springs as 33 new recruits, some of them baby-faced, line up to be sworn in at the Air Force Academy's Falcon Stadium.

Off in the wings, there are chaps-clad bull riders waiting to battle against 1,600lb (725kg) horned bovines.

It's an in-your-face marriage of Western grit, rodeo and military strength. Billed as Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Space Cowboys, the one-off event is celebrating America's 250th anniversary. But the spectacle is not just trying to draw fans to rodeo, but also to branches of America's military and law-enforcement agencies.

Space Force - a military branch for space - co-sponsored the event and is recruiting on site, as is US Border Patrol.

It is an example of the unique ways that the US military and Border Patrol are trying to boost recruitment, as President Donald Trump focuses on strengthening the country at home, abroad - and in outer space.

Recruiting at a rodeo may seem random, but PBR CEO Sean Gleason, beaming in a cowboy hat during the day's events, says it's a natural fit.

"Our cowboys, and the cowboys in our audience, they believe in hard work, honesty, integrity, help your neighbour, some selflessness," he told the BBC. "So that's what it takes to be in the military or in the US Border Patrol or any type of first responder."

The rodeo has had a relationship with Border Patrol since 2008.

But the agency has been under a spotlight since Trump has pushed forward with his crackdown on immigration. As part of his focus on his signature election campaign issue, Trump signed a law last summer mandating the hiring of 3,000 new Border Patrol agents. Just this month, he signed another bill allocating $70bn (£52.9bn) to border security for the remainder of his time in office, including $26bn specifically for Border Patrol.

Much of that money has been earmarked for recruiting and retention, and the agency announced this week that it has surpassed 21,000 agents for the first time since its founding in 1924.

Those intensified recruitment efforts were on full display at the rodeo, when a Border Patrol SUV and recruitment tent were parked smack in the middle of the Fan Zone outside the arena. Children lined up for junior rodeo games just a few feet away from Border Patrol officers, as live country music blared from a massive stage.

Cody Price "hadn't really thought about" Border Patrol, he says, until he spotted the half-dozen recruiters. The 18-year-old has been accepted to University of Colorado Boulder but deferred for a year.

"I looked into the military for a long time," says Price. "I have asthma, and so I cannot join the military. But Border Patrol does not have an asthma [disqualifier]."

While he doesn't have a strong impression about Border Patrol, he says, " I know it's a huge thing in politics right now and everybody's debating, I guess, what's right and wrong".

The recruiter walked him through the process and the "positives and the negatives," Price says, and "it was good to see what kind of opportunities are out there".

Similarly, 19-year-old Grand Junction native Davin - who declined to give his last name - also finds himself drawn to Border Patrol for health reasons. He'd always wanted to join the military like his grandfather and older brothers but unfortunately has a disqualifying heart condition.

"The restriction's a little less heightened with the Border Patrol," he says, adding that, after speaking with the recruiter, "I feel really confident in it after that conversation".

He finds the sense of patriotism and camaraderie to be attractive, as well as "trying to make a difference for your own country... and trying to do something yourself".

The teen adds that "most" of his male friends and contemporaries are considering careers in the military or similar - and recent recruitment numbers back up that surge in interest.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol received 34,650 applications between January and April 2025 - a 44% increase over the same four-month period in 2024. DHS credits the "historic spike" to Trump administration policies and has received significant funding for incentives.

Potential recruits left the tent with flyers advertising signing bonuses of up to $60,000 and salaries starting at $50,741, which can climb as high as $110,563.

Weeks before the rodeo, an Army veteran at another Colorado Springs Border Patrol event outlined similar motivations for exploring joining up. Mike, 40, feels "stagnant" in his current job as a corrections officer and misses the sense of "belonging" he had in the military.

"Even though I hung up my uniform, I never stopped serving, and I just feel like I have this duty to protect the citizens of the country," he said, adding that he liked the idea of securing US borders.

"I see a lot of things on the news… people just not being nice, human trafficking, drugs being smuggled in," he said.

He says he's drawn to Border Patrol over an agency like ICE.

"Instead of just deporting people, I want to actually know that I'm protecting the country."

But Border Patrol must compete for new recruits with their counterparts from Space Force and the Air Force National Guard - the latter of which trotted out a trampoline that drew great interest from the crowd.

Space Force, which was created by Trump in 2019, is tasked with securing US interests "in, from and to space". It has also been in the midst of a recruitment surge, surpassing targets.

"The service is looking to double in size over the next five years," a spokesperson told BBC News. In February, Space Force exceeded their annual recruitment goal by 125%, they said.

Space Force competes "with Silicon Valley and major aerospace firms for top-tier talent," the spokesperson said. The rodeo afforded a chance to introduce Space Force to young adults and their families, "showcasing the vital role Guardians play in our national security and the outstanding career paths available to the next generation", the spokesperson said.

In addition to the bull riding and flyovers, the rodeo included a performance by country superstar Tim McGraw and a drone show lighting up the sky with images of a bull and rider, a cowboy hat and the Space Force logo. When one performer asked active duty military and veterans to stand up, nearly half the stadium appeared to rise.

The levels of spectacle and attendance were testaments not just to the growth of Space Force but also PBR itself.

"Year after year after year after year, we've seen pretty exponential growth," says Gleason.

An extravaganza at the Air Force stadium, he says, was his idea - and took years to make happen. He's "elated" now that it finally came to pass.

"Space Force, those guys are literally charting the next frontier of space," he says. "The cowboys tamed the West, and Space Force is going to tame… space."

US marks its 250th birthday with fireworks, flyovers and extreme weather

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9lppvkmz5o, today

The United States of America marked its 250th birthday with fireworks, flyovers, some intense weather across the country, much of which has simmered under an unforgiving heat wave for days.

"The American dream is back," US President Donald Trump told a cheering crowd at a delayed rally on the National Mall in Washington before the reputed largest fireworks display ever in the US lit up the night.

The 4 July federal holiday commemorates the 13 US colonies signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to end British rule.

The sharply divided country has seen Trump criticised for making himself central to the milestone and politicising it by launching Freedom 250 celebrations, which are separate from congressionally established America 250 events.

Trump's remarks - where he hit on recent political themes of rejecting communism, Save America Act legislation he favors and the right to bear arms - wrapped up just before midnight at the Freedom 250 event.

"Long live the cause of independence," he said. "May it reign forever and ever and ever, we will always be on top, we will never let our country fall, we will always be the best."

Upon closing, he told the crowd, "this is only the dawn of the golden age of America" with its destiny "written by God".

The grande finale of the fireworks show was marked by a massive flurry of blasts - reaching a much anticipated crescendo. As it concluded around 1am, the small crowd on Capitol Hill cheered and rapidly started heading for the exits in a light rain.

The celebration, which included a flyover - one featuring the new Air Force One jet - a concert - as well as the speech and fireworks was delayed by a thunderstorm that forced an evacuation of the National Mall in the early evening.

Freedom 250 asked guests in the area attending Salute to America, the Great American State Fair and Fifa fan zone events to seek temporary shelter in a nearby buildings. Throughout the day, the capital had broiled under 100F (37C) temperatures - part of a larger heat wave enveloping the eastern US.

Also in Washington, about 400 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were seen carrying US flags while marching in unison through the streets of the capital.

Videos posted to social media and the group's own Telegram channel showed the masked, uniformed members marching near the Capitol building and Union Station, the city's main passenger rail hub.

The group was founded in 2017 following violence at the Unite the Right rally in Virginia, breaking off from another group.

Concerts and naturalisation ceremonies

As part of the bipartisan America 250 celebrations, communities across the country took part in "America's Block Party" and hosted local gatherings. Musicians also performed at US landmarks, including Ne-Yo and Mary J Blige in New York City's Times Square, The Smashing Pumpkins and Chaka Khan in Los Angeles, and Christina Aguilera and Will Smith in Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia - considered the "birthplace of America" because the Declaration was signed there - members of Congress gathered at Independence Hall this week to mark the day of the vote for American independence in 1776.

A special flyover took place over the city of Brotherly Love which hosted France's match against Paraguay in the football World Cup.

America 250 organisers also buried a time capsule to be opened in 200 years, that included a Coca-Cola bottle, signed copy of the Constitution, and artifacts from the 50 states and US territories.

At Mount Vernon in Virginia - first US President George Washington's estate - a naturalisation ceremony welcomed 150 people from 50 countries as US citizens. The new Americans took an oath of allegiance promising to, among other things, obey and defend the US Constitution.

New York City hosted its annual hot dog-eating contest, a tradition since 1972, where Joey Chestnut won his 18th title in the contest. Chestnut ate 66 hot dogs in 10 minutes, according to CBS, the BBC's US news partner. In the women's competition, Miki Sudo finished 38 and three-quarters of a hot dog to claim her 12th contest title.

Heat waves and power outages

Americans tried to keep cool during celebrations during a sweltering heat wave on the US East Coast that cancelled festivities earlier this week.

On Friday, organisers of the National Park Service's Independence Day Parade in Washington DC cancelled the annual event over safety concerns. Some celebrations also were shut down in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland - and as far west as Colorado.

The highest temperatures were expected in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, where the mercury could reach 108F (42C).

On the National Mall in Washington volunteers handed out bottles of water from buckets of ice before sunshine gave way to thunderstorms.

Nearly 750,000 went without power in the east due to extreme weather with another 150,000 in New Jersey, according to tracker Power Outage.

Energy company DTE said that severe weather, including winds over 60mph (97km/h) on Friday evening in Michigan, left more than 350,000 homes in the state without power.

Other states affected include Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, New York and Wisconsin.

Former presidents reflect

All four living former US presidents also shared messages to celebrate the milestone. President Joe Biden, Trump's predecessor, recalled the Independence Declaration's edict that all people are created equal.

"We chose that path 250 years ago but that's where the work began, not where it ended," he said before warning that the nation's promise of equality for all was still a work in progress.

The country's first black president, Barack Obama, reshared excerpts of a recent speech he made at his presidential museum's opening.

"There's more to do to fulfil the nation's founding ideals," he said. "Every generation must take up the unfinished work of the last and carry it further - protecting what's right, fixing what's wrong, and making our union a little more perfect."

The 43rd president George W Bush said "the next 250 years require Americans to be citizens, not spectators".

Americans need to "take an active interest in the health and welfare of our country and the communities in which they live", he said.

His predecessor Bill Clinton took a moment to comment on US politics today.

"Today, we celebrate this milestone amid another period of deep division, renewed questions about America's future and role in the world, and serious threats to our own institutions and to our democracy itself," the 42nd president said.

Kwasi Asiedu contributed to this report.

Alex Eala's historic Wimbledon run thrills boxing-obsessed Philippines

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpv3x3p7mdvo, 2 days ago

Alexandra Eala has reached the third round of the women's singles at Wimbledon, the furthest any player from the Philippines has gone in a Grand Slam tournament.

The 21-year-old's matches have attracted viewing parties and mainstream media coverage in the Philippines - a country obsessed with boxing and basketball.

Eala's former Wimbledon doubles partner, Venus Williams congratulated her for making "history" and earlier, Filipino world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao said he was "so proud" of Eala, encouraging her to "keep it up".

On Saturday, Filipino fans will tune in to see whether she can beat defending champion Iga Swiatek and keep her Wimbledon dream alive.

Eala has beaten Swiatek before.

"I think it's going to be tough for me. I'm going to try to make it tough for her, as well," Eala said.

"I'm expecting a great challenge. But I think I'm ready for it," said the 29th seed, who is fresh off her win against Australia's Maya Joint.

"For me to be able to represent the Philippines in Wimbledon, I guess, and in the biggest stages in the world, it means so much to me," Eala told reporters after her second-round victory.

"I have been working extremely hard. My team has been working extremely hard. I really feel that it's paying off. This win means a lot," she said.

Fans have been ecstatic.

"Thank you for putting my first love tennis on the map and inspiring us all," author and former Miss World finalist Mafae Yunon-Belasco said in a comment on Eala's Instagram post.

"I am crying with jubilation. Thank you, Lord God, this is for the Philippines' pride," read a comment on social media.

During her Wimbledon run, Eala has been wearing a white sun visor from sponsor Nike etched with a Tagalog phrase that translates to "once it grows, it cannot be stopped".

She had also worn a hair tie with a white ornament shaped like the sampaguita or Philippine jasmine, in honour of her roots.

"It's a huge reason as to who I am. I think where I come from is a big part of who I am and a big part of who I want to become in the future," she said, according to a Reuters report.

"It's an amazing thing for me to be able to do that for my country, but I guess it's also very emotional every time I'm able to pass a new step or break new ground, just because it's also personal goals and personal achievements."

Eala has been steadily going up the Women's Tennis Association rankings over the years.

She trained in Spain at the eponymous tennis academy of her idol, Rafael Nadal.

In 2022, she became the first to win a junior Grand Slam title with her US Open triumph, leading to the then-teenager gracing the cover of Vogue back home.

But it was her victory over former world number one Swiatek in the Miami Open quarterfinals last year that really catapulted her to fame.

And as she has progressed in her tennis career, so has the popularity of the sport in the country.

In January, thousands of Filipinos descended on Melbourne Park during the Australian Open, hoping to watch her practice, creating a logjam outside court six and a line that stretched several hundred yards through the grounds.

In January the country hosted the first ever Philippine Open, a WTA event.

Eala has attracted Filipino fans to Wimbledon where they have been waving red, yellow and blue national flags.

Some have also been injecting Filipino humour. One sign red "Do it for the kare-kare" - a rich Filipino ox tail and peanut stew that Eala had mentioned in a viral TikTok video.

Eala acknolwedged her countrymen in the bleachers in an on-court interview after she beat Australia's Joint.

"It's absolutely incredible. Maraming, maraming salamat." That's Tagalog for thank you very, very much.

Eight of the 10 most populous countries are not in the World Cup

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c621je3we82o, yesterday

There was mayhem at the packed gathering of fans on 17 June, when Argentina star Lionel Messi scored his first 2026 Fifa World Cup goal by coolly slotting the ball past the Algerian goalkeeper.

But not a single Argentine was in the crowd: the fans jumping around - many of them wearing the famous albiceleste (white and sky blue) shirt - were locals in one of the many open-air watch parties in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.

Cities in India and Indonesia have also hosted similarly passionate street gatherings.

Messi and his countrymen have been adopted by these fans, in part because their own nations have repeatedly failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Of the world's 10 most populous countries, only two have made it to the current tournament (the United States and Brazil). Two others (Russia and Nigeria) have appeared at several previous tournaments.

China and Indonesia have only once taken part in the most popular sporting event on the planet.

India (the world's most populous nation), Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Pakistan have so far only dreamt of joining the party - although India technically qualified for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, but withdrew less than a month before the tournament started.

"It is simply unacceptable that a country with millions of football fans should lag so far behind in football," renowned Bangladeshi actor, writer and football fan Audite Karim tells the BBC.

So why is it that population size is such a poor guide to footballing success?

Does size really matter?

In theory, the larger the population of a given country, the more potential athletes there are to recruit.

Seven out of the eight nations to ever win the World Cup (Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) have relatively large populations.

The only exception is Uruguay - but more on them later...

However, population size is only one of a number of important factors, explains British academic and economist Stefan Szymanski.

"Football is very similar to how national economies work. For them to thrive, you need people. But then you also need capital and infrastructure," says Szymanski, who is the co-author of Soccernomics, a best-selling book which analyses data to examine sporting success and failure.

"In football, that means training facilities and the ability to find talent."

Szymanski observes that the vast majority of successful footballing nations share another common denominator: wealth.

In Soccernomics, Szymanski and co-author Simon Kuper found that countries typically need "a minimum annual average income per capita of $15,000 to win anything".

But Brazil and Argentina, whose average income per capita is well below this threshold, have won eight World Cup titles combined.

That, according to the British economist, shows the importance of the third factor: know-how.

"And that comes with experience. The nations that have ever won the World Cup are the ones that were dominant in playing the game 100 years ago, before colonialism ended."

A game of catch-up

In plain terms, successful footballing nations, including the ones with regular participation in tournaments like the World Cup, are also the ones that have played more games across their history, especially in regions with higher levels of competitiveness like South America and Europe.

That helps explain, for instance, why Uruguay, a South American nation of 3.5 million people, were able to win two World Cups (1930 and 1950). La Celeste's first international game - a 6-0 defeat to Argentina - took place in 1902, 12 years before Brazil played its first representative game.

African and South Asian nations, which have existed for a much shorter time or where football developed later, have had to work hard to catch up.

Some have stood out: Morocco, which became independent from Spain and France in 1956, became the only African nation to ever reach a World Cup semi-final in Qatar 2022. South Korea became the only Asian nation to ever finish in the top four, as co-host in 2002.

"But then we see other countries like Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and so forth, which are not catching up," Szymanski observes.

The economist says these countries have struggled due to a lack of resources and capabilities. But even with more investment they would still struggle with the lack of know-how, he believes.

Ethiopia's woes

Ethiopia has never qualified for the World Cup. It did win the African Cup of Nations in 1962, but its best chance to reach the main event came in the 2014 African qualifiers: Ethiopia reached the final round of qualifying but were beaten by Nigeria over two legs.

Currently, Ethiopian football is dealing with what local media describes as acute underinvestment in the game. One example is that the ongoing season of the country's professional league has suffered from a shortage of suitable stadiums to host games.

"This season, we have staged more than 380 matches using only three approved stadiums," Ethiopian Premier League Chief Executive Officer Kifle Seife told The Reporter newspaper on 27 June.

The shortage also affected the men's national team, which had to play its home matches in the African qualifiers in Morocco.

Cricket: an obstacle or an excuse in South Asia?

Some countries are also victims of their success in other sports: India is one the most dominant cricket nations on the planet and its professional league, the IPL, is the world's richest.

That, according to former India international Shyam Thapa, leads to severe recruitment difficulties. The success of the IPL, he says, has led middle-class and upper-middle-class parents to increasingly steer their children away from football and towards cricket.

"They [the parents] need to understand that there can be good money if they can make a career in football too,'' Thapa, told BBC News.

Audite Karim, however, points out that Australia and New Zealand are developing in football and making it to the Word Cup, despite being cricket powerhouses.

"The popularity of cricket is purely an excuse," she says of Bangladesh, which also adores the sport.

"We simply do not have the preparation and structural framework required for a country to play in the [football] World Cup."

Is China a sleeping giant?

China's case is perhaps more puzzling. In recent decades, it has become one of the most successful countries in Olympic history. But its forays into men's football have not borne similar fruit.

"There's no reason [in theory] why China can't produce world-class footballers," Mark Dreyer, a Beijing-based Chinese football expert, believes.

"The main problem is that in China everything is controlled by the state and everything is top-down. You need footballing people making footballing decisions, but there's far too much political interference."

China has not returned to the World Cup since 2002, despite heavy investment in the game since the 2010s - which included the flooding of its professional league with various high-profile names from South American and European football in a bid to elevate the standard of play.

Like China, Indonesia has also tasted World Cup action once before - in 1938, when it competed as the Dutch East Indies, then a colony of the Netherlands.

The South East Asian side had a good run in 2026 though, reaching the final qualifying round.

But that performance is perhaps better explained by a decision to recruit European players with Indonesian heritage rather than relying on homegrown talent.

"At times there were eight or nine European-born players in Indonesia's starting XI," says Jerome Wirawan, News Editor at the BBC's Indonesian service.

Pakistan and Bangladesh exited the Asian qualifiers at the group stage, with no wins in six matches. Pakistan was also banned from international football three times by Fifa between 2017 and 2025 for political infighting in its governing body.

Enjoying the party - one way or another

So, for football fans of many countries, World Cup glory may seem a long way off.

In the meantime, Karim says, the consolation prize is simply to enjoy the party.

"In light of reality, I do not see any possibility of seeing Bangladesh play a World Cup in my lifetime."

"But Bangladeshi football fans will still want to experience every bit of the joy of the tournament."

How Iran's new regime is very different to what came before

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg534ryp660o, today

When US President Donald Trump signed a ceasefire agreement with Iran during dinner at the Palace of Versailles last month, many saw an irony.

His host, French President Emanuel Macron, may have wanted to make sure the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed before Trump changed his mind, and possibly calculated that the gilded Hall of Mirrors would appeal to his guest.

But the choice of venue inevitably invited comparisons between the one-and-a-half page agreement and the extremely lengthy Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 at the end of World War One. The 1919 treaty reshaped Europe, but its demands for huge reparations left an angry and embittered Germany and helped to set the stage for another global conflagration just 20 years later.

Might the Iran deal, different in so many ways, nevertheless come to be seen as similarly fateful?

Almost three weeks later, a fragile ceasefire more or less holds. But after several skirmishes in and around the Strait of Hormuz, and with none of the issues that led to war anywhere close to being resolved, the situation in the Middle East looks every bit as precarious as it did before.

Meanwhile, Iran is in the midst of profound change.

The country is saying farewell to its former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed more than four months ago in the devastating joint US-Israeli airstrikes which began the war and decapitated much of the regime in Tehran.

It's a big moment: a grand reminder that the old guard has given way to the new. And with the new faces comes a new approach with its own implications.

The US and Israel may have sent many of the country's former leaders to early graves, but have they been replaced by even more formidable foes?

Reordering the chess board

"This war is much more consequential and larger than we have given it credit for thus far," Vali Nasr, professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies, told me.

"All major wars of this magnitude ultimately reorder the chess board," he says. "This will do it for the Middle East."

Back in January, Iran was wracked by popular protest which both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted might herald the collapse of the Islamic Republic.

Iran's economy was already in tatters after decades of international sanctions. The country was also still badly wounded after a 12-day war with the US and Israel six months earlier.

Iran's nuclear programme, long a diplomatic tool of leverage, had not been obliterated, as Trump boasted, but had been significantly damaged.

The whereabouts of its stockpile of uranium, believed to be enough for 10 or 11 atomic weapons if enriched further, was not certain, but much of it was thought to be buried under rubble near the Isfahan nuclear complex.

Further afield, Iran's "Axis of Resistance," a loose alliance of proxies and allies around the Middle East, had experienced a series of major setbacks.

In Syria, the regime of close Iranian ally Bashar al-Assad was gone, swept away in a few heady weeks at the end of 2024.

In Lebanon, Israel had assassinated leading members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group and decimated the ranks of its fighters with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.

In the Gaza Strip, another Iranian ally, Hamas, had suffered a similar fate. Israel responded to the group's devastating October 2023 attacks with a relentless assault that laid waste to much of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of civilians.

And when - in response to the Gaza war - Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen had launched ballistic missiles at Israel and started attacking shipping in the Red Sea, Israel, the US and UK had all launched counter strikes, some of them targeting the group's leadership.

After so many setbacks at home and abroad, the consensus was that Iran was in a highly vulnerable state. The New York Times reported that Trump had received several intelligence reports indicating that Iran was weaker than at any point since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The idea that it could fight the US and Israel to a standstill seemed far-fetched.

And yet, that's what happened. The Islamic Republic is still standing, thanks in part to its ability to close one of the world's most important waterways, the Strait of Hormuz, and strangle the global economy.

Advantage, Tehran?

Trump is fond of saying that he's achieved regime change in Iran. Vali Nasr doesn't disagree, but says this has actually worked to Tehran's advantage.

"A whole new generation has taken over," he says. "They have a very clear agenda. They managed the war and now they're going to manage the peace as well."

The new leadership is not made up of the sort of people Washington is used to calling "woolly-brained apocalyptic ideologues", says Nasr, but of generally post-revolutionary leaders ruthlessly focussed on preserving the state and willing to act more decisively than their predecessors.

At 56, the country's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is 30 years younger than his father, Ali Khamenei, who was believed to be in frail physical condition when he was killed at the start of the war.

The president, Masoud Pezeshkian, is older at 71, but the generation that mounted the 1979 revolution are all gone.

Two key figures, the parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guard, Ahmad Vahidi, are both in their 60s.

Like the new supreme leader, both have close links to the all-powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

"They're children of the revolution," says Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at London's Chatham House think tank.

"An 86-year old is no longer guiding the ship of the Islamic Republic. The big handbrake on evolution of the system was Ali Khamenei."

For decades, the cautious Khamenei pursued a strategy sometimes dubbed "no war, no peace." His successors have been bolder, launching attacks on US military bases across the region and then, a few short weeks later, willing to sit down and negotiate an end to the war on terms which, on the face of it, are far from humiliating for Tehran.

"They've shown that they're willing to engage in war in a much more aggressive way than the previous generation," Nasr says.

When Trump ordered the air strike that killed the former Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020, Iran deliberately telegraphed its intention to retaliate before launching 12 ballistic missiles at US bases in Iraq. No US service personnel were killed.

This year, in the face of an all-out assault by the US and Israel, Iran demonstrated no such restraint, launching drone and missile attacks on multiple US bases across the region, including the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and al-Udeid airbase in Qatar.

Six US soldiers were killed in Kuwait. Hundreds were injured in the course of the fighting.

Iran's willingness to attack US Gulf allies, target shipping and close the Strait of Hormuz - a vital shipping lane - also seemed to take the White House by surprise.

For decades, Washington had sought to contain Iran through its network of military facilities and burgeoning relationships with Gulf countries.

Iran's dramatic response to Israeli and US attacks suggested the strategy was no longer working.

"A lot of these countries were hoping that US military bases on their territory would provide them with security, not make them a target," says Ali Vaez, Iran project director for the International Crisis Group.

"The Gulf states are now questioning the credibility of the US security umbrella and their own deterrence strategy."

Reports suggest that most Gulf countries are putting out feelers to Iran, looking to repair relations with their dangerous neighbour. Citing an anonymous diplomat, Agence France-Presse even reported that Saudi Arabia, which restored relations with Tehran in 2023 after decades of emnity, was preparing to hold a "reconciliation summit", bringing together Iran and the Kingdom's Gulf neighbours.

But for all their anger at being caught in the middle of a war they didn't want and tried hard to avoid, Vaez doubts any are ready to sever their ties with the US military.

"They are too reliant on the US to completely cut off security arrangements," he says. "They can try to hedge their bets, but at the end of the day, they don't have anywhere better to go."

Eschewing grander historical parallels, Vaez calls the current situation a "plastic moment", pregnant with possibility as old adversaries contemplate a different set of relationships.

"I sense a degree of realism that didn't exist in the past," he says.

But what about the people of Iran?

The new pragmatists

In January, Trump promised Iranian citizens that "help is on its way." Launching the war, on 28 February, he was even more explicit.

"When we are finished, take over your government," he urged them. "It will be yours to take."

Such promises have so far proved illusory. A new generation may be in charge in Tehran, but not one that has yet offered its people the prospect of a freer, more prosperous future.

With the regime utterly focussed on its own survival, Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, a Chatham House analyst based in Abu Dhabi, does not expect to see a different approach to dissent.

"They will keep a very, very strong focus on the street," she says.

But with the hijab no longer enforced outside state institutions, even before the war, and alcohol quietly available in Tehran restaurants, there are also signs that the regime may gradually be casting aside some of the old taboos.

Vali Nasr says it's all driven by necessity: the need to restore faith in the state.

"They made a pragmatic decision that their raison d'état [literally "reason of state"] requires them to relax these things," he says.

After the shock generated by its mass bloodletting in January, the regime has shown that it can at least protect the country's sovereignty.

For Iranians, the war has been profoundly confusing. Horror at the regime's brutality gradually gave way to a different kind of horror, as American and Israeli bombs rained down on their country, killing civilians and damaging vital infrastructure.

The deaths of scores of children at an elementary school in Minab, on the first day of the war, caused some to wonder who the real enemy was. After promising to liberate them, Israel and the US seemed intent on destroying the country.

But having stood up to the combined might of the US and Israel, can Iran's new leadership capitalise on this potentially fleeting opportunity to rebuild the regime's shattered legitimacy?

"This is a sort of China-after-Mao moment," Vaez says, "in the sense that the system as a whole recognises that something's got to give. This new leadership understands that it needs a new social contract."

Whether they can deliver it is an open question. More than ever, Iran is now run by the IRGC elite, while huge numbers of well-educated young people, still grieving over the loss of thousands of their friends in January's bloody crackdown, feel they have no real say in determining the country's future.

This is an inflection point, with Iran poised precariously between old certainties and future possibilities, both at home and abroad.

Despite a series of recent flare-ups in the Gulf, Tehran has embarked on a diplomatic process with the US which could result in what US Vice President JD Vance has already called "a fundamentally transformed relationship."

Faced with the tantalising prospect of sanctions relief in return for nuclear concessions, the regime's ability to manage the economy could help to restore its shattered domestic reputation.

Since the MoU was signed, Iran has already benefited from American sanctions waivers, allowing it to export crude oil and petroleum products for 60 days.

Other forms of relief could follow during the 60-day negotiating period, including the unfreezing of billions of dollars Iranian assets and, when a final deal is reached, the ultimate prize: the lifting of all international sanctions.

The MoU also refers to the creation of a $300bn (£225bn) "reconstruction and development" plan, although it remains unclear who will pay for it.

Taken together, these financial carrots offer a powerful incentive for Iran's new leaders to strike a deal.

Sanam Vakil agrees that the region is facing "a window of opportunity", but she's cautious.

"There's a scenario where they don't get a deal, where this drags on and on and President Trump gets impatient… and says, 'okay, it's time for round three.'"

None of the experts I spoke to believe the future is assured.

Decades of tortured relations between Iran, its Middle Eastern neighbours and the US have left behind a toxic legacy, characterised by deep suspicion and an almost total lack of trust.

There's no shortage of scope for failure: disagreements over Iran's nuclear programme, the future of the Strait of Hormuz, the war in Lebanon, as well as the entrenched views of hardliners everywhere.

After six tumultuous months, the region has started to look different. But a lot has to go right for this plastic moment to solidify into something better.

Top picture credit: AFP via Getty Images

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Prince Harry and Meghan: Will they or won't they, and will we care?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c621jwpld8zo, today

If coverage of the Royal Family can seem like a soap opera, it's never more so than when Prince Harry is in town.

Brother against brother. A son seeking reconciliation with a father. Competitive sister-in-laws. A grandfather wanting to see his grandchildren. And now, will they or won't they be here?

We can expect to see all those storylines when Prince Harry and possibly his wife Meghan and their children Archie, aged seven, and Lilibet, aged five, return to the UK this week.

A detailed plan of the visit was initially issued which included the Duchess of Sussex - but because of concerns over security, she and the children now won't be at the start of the trip in London, but might be elsewhere in the UK later in the week.

Determined mood inside Team Sussex

The purpose of the trip is to get ready for the Invictus Games and to attend charity events. There are five days of engagements which begin on Tuesday in London before moving on to Birmingham, which will host the games for injured military veterans next year.

Whether fairly or not, the focus will be on family tensions and whether there are any signs of bridges being built between the returning Sussexes and their royal relations.

This latest chopping and changing over whether they are coming won't have helped that cause of reconciliation. You can almost imagine Palace officials rolling their eyes and muttering, "Nightmare". But Harry has always been intensely sensitive around the safety of his family.

But if the security concerns can be overcome, and Meghan and the children do come for part of the visit, it will be the first time the Sussexes will have all been together in the UK since Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. That seems like another era, as well as another reign.

From inside Team Sussex, the mood seems determined despite the uncertainty. It's understood Prince Harry is looking forward to seeing friends and family and that nothing is going to sour his chance to support his Invictus "second family".

But there always seems to be drama, not to mention psychodrama, wherever the Sussexes go.

This time round, while they're in the UK, we're expecting the result of Prince Harry's court case against Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information gathering. The outcome could add another flavour to events - although Meghan will not now be in the UK when the ruling is published.

That will be followed by the cliffhanger of whether Meghan appears later in the week - and whether the King will meet his grandchildren.

On Prince Harry's previous solo visit, in September 2025, the attention was on his meeting with his father, King Charles, held privately at Clarence House.

Now the speculation is about whether there will be a meeting that brings together the King, Prince Harry, Meghan and the chlidren - and whether there will be a family photo to capture the moment.

'The photo we really want to see is with the grandchildren'

From the Sussex perspective, a picture would be a sign of their legitimacy as part of the family. But you can also imagine Palace officials worrying about how such a photo might be used. They don't want to see it boosting jam sales in Montecito.

David Yelland, former editor of the Sun and presenter on BBC Radio 4's When It Hits the Fan, says "the politics around that photo are so complex that it almost certainly won't happen".

"The photo we really want to see is with the grandchildren," he says, but he thinks there would be too many arguments about who was in charge of the picture and how it was set up.

"You start to think about the negotiations between the two sides. Who stands where? Is Meghan in the photo? Where's the King? Is Camilla going to be in the photo?

"It would be easier to get a photo of Putin and Trump together after a meeting than it would be to get photos of these people in the same room at the same time," Yelland says.

Even without a photo, a meeting seems likely if the children do come to the UK, not least because King Charles, with his own health challenges, would want to see his grandchildren.

Prince Harry will want to reconnect with his family on his mother's side too - and there has been speculation about a stay at the Spencer estate at Althorp.

That would also mean the possibility of a poignant visit to the grave of Princess Diana, bringing his children to the island burial site of the grandmother they never had a chance to meet.

Inevitably, much attention will be on Meghan, who hasn't been seen in the UK since the late Queen's funeral - and whose involvement in this trip seems to be in the balance.

How the public would respond to her is a question that might never really be answered, as even if she does take appear, it's likely to be within the confines of a pre-planned event.

She remains a figure that polarises opinion. According to a recent YouGov survey, 20% of the public have a favourable opinion of her, the lowest point in her popularity in a survey going back to 2017.

"There's definitely a sharp drop. I think she's also in the past talked about how she's one of the most trolled people in the world," says PR expert and When It Hits the Fan presenter, Farzana Baduel - which means Meghan has to contend with the "level of hate that is directed at her".

Winning round the UK public is going to take more than a summer visit but a return might be a tentative start.

Meghan remains a polarising figure

Meghan has campaigned on issues that would likely connect with the public, such as trying to tackle online harm to young people.

But royal commentator Pauline Maclaran says the UK public remains unsympathetic and "probably somewhat unfairly" blames Meghan for the couple's departure from royal life.

"Everything she has done since the famous Oprah interview and the Harry and Meghan Netflix show seems only to fuel dislike of her," says Prof Maclaran. "I believe she was always in a very difficult position, coming into the Royal Family as a bi-racial American and an independent woman."

Fans of Harry and Meghan will be enthusiastic about the trip, but there is also an inescapably negative side to the fascination with the couple, particularly on social media.

"We talk about the amount of money that Meghan makes making jam, but a lot of people on social media on the west coast of the US are making a lot of money out of hate," says former tabloid boss Yelland.

William 'doesn't think about his brother'

A rapprochement between Prince Harry and Prince William seems even less likely. They remain on very different trajectories, with William's life heading remorselessly to the point where he will take to the throne.

"My sense is that the King wants to have a relationship with his grandchildren and so there is a reasonably good chance of some sort of family reconciliation on the back of this visit," says royal commentator Richard Palmer.

"But it's still a very different matter when it comes to Harry and William. I don't believe there is any relationship whatsoever between the brothers at the moment and little prospect of one developing," says Palmer, who has been on trips with both brothers.

"People close to William used to talk hopefully about time being a great healer. But as time has moved on, William has become more unwilling to reconcile with Harry. He tells friends he just doesn't think about his brother."

Buckingham Palace isn't saying anything about Prince Harry's trip. It seems to approach such visits with a sense of wariness, like when an unpredictable neighbour is calling round. They'll be politely welcoming, while not being devastated when they leave.

There might also be an eyebrow raised at how much Prince Harry's trip to the UK resembles a royal visit - like the events that Harry and Meghan seemed so keen to escape.

They went to the US and stopped being working royals, but are now returning and seem to be working at being royals.

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William talks World Cup football fever on Travis Kelce's podcast

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx7dxrwg7ro, yesterday

Prince William has shared his thoughts on the emotional rollercoaster of being a football fan in a relaxed appearance on the podcast of Travis Kelce, the US footballer who married pop megastar Taylor Swift on the day the episode was released.

The theme wasn't the wedding but the World Cup, of which the US is a co-host, and William jokingly corrected Travis that it was "football" and not "soccer".

On the 28-minute show, William revealed that his father King Charles "hates football". The King has previously described himself as a Burnley supporter, which may be a factor.

The Prince of Wales also told the podcast that he would travel to the World Cup in the US if England reached the final.

"They make it to the finals, you're gonna make the trip across the pond?" Travis asked.

"Definitely. If we're in the finals," said Prince William.

"Oh, I love it, man," said the podcast host.

"Well, maybe. Maybe. See you both there for the final," said William to Travis, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, and his co-host brother and retired NFL star Jason Kelce.

Prince William was a surprise guest on the New Heights podcast on YouTube, in another example of using non-traditional media and away from formal interviews.

Last year, he talked about his ambitions to modernise the monarchy in a conversation with comedian Eugene Levy on Apple TV.

William was also asked about another big US landmark: "America is turning 250 years this year. Be honest. Are you surprised we made it?"

"There were times... There were times..." teased William. "But I'd like to think the UK and the US would be together for those 250 years. Oh, yeah, it's a good brotherhood."

There was a chat about meeting before at a US football game at Wembley - with Jason remembering that he didn't know what to do with the beer he was holding when he met the royals.

"Yeah, it wasn't a joke. It was real. Well, you want to be respectful and know the protocols," he said.

Jason also said meeting "Princess Charlotte was still the highlight for me. I had four daughters as well, so, I mean, she was great".

"Now, congratulations. Having four daughters. I don't know how you do that," said William.

"That is definitely a difficult task. The hardest job," said Kelce.

The episode seems to have been recorded a couple of weeks ago, as it references England having just played Croatia, which was the team's opening game of the tournament.

It had been a confident start and Prince William - addressed as "Prince" in the conversation - was asked about what would constitute a successful World Cup.

"I think winning it," he said. William also spoke of England manager Thomas Tuchel's more "fluid" approach and less defensive style.

"Thomas, I think, prefers to go a bit more out there - and if we lose, we lose playing the way we want to play. And if you're going to score four goals, we'll score five. And I think that's a really good attitude," said Prince William.

Prince William was asked about football culture - and he talked about the strange attraction of the highs and lows of being a supporter.

His own support for Aston Villa became even more intense when the team was relegated, he said.

"So I think weirdly, this sounds very odd, but I got into football more than ever when we got relegated," he told the US podcasters.

"So when Aston Villa went from Premiership to Championship, I suddenly really enjoyed the battle to get back in the Premiership."

The results of his beloved club could also affect his mood: "My weekend goes from being either the best we can in the world when we win... Or frankly, I don't want to see anyone on Monday morning because I'm really down."

He said that he'd become an Aston Villa supporter after watching them play for the first time, remembering it as a game against Bolton 26 years ago.

Travis had asked about whether Prince William's love of football was inherited.

"Did your dad get you into Aston Villa or is this your own doing?" asked Travis.

"Absolutely not. My father hates football," the prince replied.

He also warned the US hosts about the rowdier aspects of football support.

"Those rowdy evenings, those long afternoons, a few drinks, the social elements of it. You know, there are plenty of chants you guys don't want to hear. They're pretty spicy. They're quite rude to broadcast."

There were also insights into the prince's thinking when he was asked about his role as president of the Football Association.

"Just don't mess up," he said, in a succinct piece of management advice.

The podcasters invited Prince William to name some of the best English players of all time - in what they imagined as footballing Mount Rushmore.

William's list included Sir David Beckham, Gary Lineker, Harry Kane, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Sir Bobby Charlton.

"Harry Kane could end up being one of the greatest English strikers we've ever seen," he said, with some prophetic accuracy, considering Kane became England's greatest goal scorer in subsequent appearances.

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After 250 years the American Dream is surviving, but only just

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2vpz2qee5o, 3 days ago

Sixteen years ago, Abdi Nor Iftin was a Somali refugee living in one of the roughest slums in Kenya when he found out he had won the lottery of a lifetime. Out of nearly eight million applicants in 2013, he had been one of the lucky 50,000 granted a US visa through a scheme known as the diversity visa scheme that the US government had begun in the 1990s.

Abdi had long dreamt of moving to America. He was so obsessed, his childhood friends even nicknamed him "Abdi America" after he learnt to speak English by watching Hollywood movies. "My whole life I have been in love with America - the best country in the world, the dreamland, the land of opportunity," he told the BBC in 2014.

That year, Abdi, now 41, arrived in the US, settled in a small town in Maine, got a job installing insulation and became a US citizen. But now, his hopes have run up against reality. He lost his job at a refugee resettlement agency this year, and consequently his health insurance.

On the eve of the United States' 250th birthday, Abdi, like many Americans, is feeling uneasy about the future of his country.

"I feel like the American Dream is alive, but not well," he told me.

Meanwhile, Luke Mullen, a 24-year-old actor from California, told me he's planning on moving to Canada because of a lack of film opportunities in Hollywood, of all places.

"Wealth is getting consolidated in this country and as that happens, the opportunities are dwindling," he said.

Survey after survey taken ahead of the 250th anniversary of America's founding shows many Americans feel the "American Dream"- the promise that anyone in the United States can create a bright future for themselves - is fading.

A recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC found that only a third of the public believes the American Dream still exists. The sentiment is the same across many surveys. One recent study from the Pew Research Center, shows that most Americans say the country's best days are behind it.

America's 250th birthday also comes at a moment of deep polarisation and partisan divide.

So what does it mean if the Dream - a brand exported around the world in movies, music and pop culture - feels out of reach?

'Not a dream of motor cars'

In those early days after the Revolutionary War and well into the 21st Century, what became known as the Dream enticed millions of immigrants to this shiny new nation full of hope, optimism and individualism. Factory workers, farmers, gold diggers, frontiersmen flocked to the US with the belief that they could create a new identity - an "American" - unshackled from the class systems of Europe.

Historians will tell you that the Dream never included everyone - certainly not Native Americans, slaves, or even women. Nevertheless, the idea of the American Dream persisted.

The concept of the American Dream dates back to the founding of the US, but the phrase wasn't popularised until later, in The Epic of America, a book published in 1931 during the Great Depression.

In it, the historian James Truslow Adams wrote: "It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable."

Over the years, the slogan has evolved. These days it's often associated with entrepreneurialism, social mobility and, above all, economic opportunity.

"It has always been about doing better in life than before," says Cyril Ghosh, author of The Politics of the American Dream: Democratic Inclusion in Contemporary American Political Culture. "For some people, the better in life is simply not being persecuted by the Church of England.

"It's not only about materialism. It's about security. It's about doing better than a previous station. That's what it's always been about."

Abdi had grown up in Somalia, hiding in dugouts to avoid getting shot by the militant group al-Shabab.

"Freedom was a huge priority. Living the next day, breathing next day, was a big, big issue, and I really wanted that," he said, explaining why he had wanted to move to the US.

Researchers say first-generation immigrants, like Abdi, are often more upbeat about the potential of America.

"Many are coming from less wealthy nations. And so they really are going to end up doing better than if they had not emigrated," says Elizabeth Suhay, author of Debating the American Dream: How Explanations for Inequality Polarize Politics.

"Immigrants, for the most part, are more likely to say that they are achieving the Dream, or they've achieved it," said Mark Hugo Lopez, director of race and ethnicity research at the Pew Research Center who has specifically looked in-depth at attitudes among Latino immigrants. They also tend to be, Lopez said, more optimistic about the prospects for their children.

American Dream interrupted

The American Dream has always been a sell for immigrants. However, fewer of them are coming these days.

President Trump has made curbing immigration a cornerstone of his presidency, after campaigning on a promise to carry out the largest mass deportation programme in history.

During his second term, Trump has not only clamped down on the number of immigrants illegally entering via the southern border, he has blocked some legal pathways to come to the US, including the diversity visa programme that Abdi used.

But today it's not just that the US is welcoming fewer immigrants, it also appears a record number of people may be leaving.

One suggestion is that many Americans who grew up in the US don't think the country has held up its end of the bargain - that if you work hard and you play by the rules, you should have a decent, comfortable life.

Last year, in a historic reversal, the number of Americans moving to Ireland was higher than the number of Irish moving into the US. The US government doesn't track the number of Americans voluntarily leaving the country, so there aren't official statistics, but reporting suggests it's not just Ireland.

A record number of Americans are applying for UK citizenship, and The Wall Street Journal reported that the number of Americans arriving to live and work in nearly all of the EU's 27 member states is rising.

Why are people leaving? Some point to current US politics, others to healthcare costs and the overall standard of living. In most cases it is likely to be for a variety of reasons, some of them personal.

For Luke Mullen, it's about job prospects.

The actor, who starred in the Disney show Andi Mack as a teen and has now become more involved with writing and production, says he has more opportunities for film projects these days in Vancouver, Canada than he does in southern California. Vancouver is covered by new government tax credits to try to help it compete with Hollywood and become a major movie hub.

The American Dream has been sold around the world, in part, through American cinema and in many ways, Hollywood epitomises the idea of making it in America. However, for Luke it's more complicated - he says it seems there were more opportunities in the past. In the last few years, spending from big studios on Hollywood films and TV has stagnated or dropped.

He said: "I can't even imagine growing up in the 90s and the boom of TV and the rom coms and all all those projects, but especially right now we're seeing just a total, total cost-cutting effort to make it harder and harder to get projects made, take less and less risks and hire less people."

He recently became a Canadian citizen thanks to a change in Canadian law last December.

"My process in becoming a Canadian citizen is very much tied to the fact that I can't get these things made here that I've been working on for years and [I'm] passionate about," he told me.

And so he's intending to move to Canada. Though, he wants to be clear, not forever.

"I'm never gonna abandon America. This is my home and I think it's worth fighting for still. There's so much that we need to do to make it better in this country," he said.

Aspiration versus reality

These days, the consensus among sociologists and political scientists is that financial success has increasingly become a central tenet of the Dream – the belief that my children or grandchildren will have a better life than me.

"Roughly speaking, the American Dream is the idea that if you work hard, you ought to achieve a comfortable life, what we might call a middle-class lifestyle - a house, healthcare, the ability to take care of your kids, a car, college," said Suhay.

Statistics also suggest that over the last 50 years, the idea that every generation will do better than the one before has been eroded.

Research by the Harvard University economist Raj Chetty found that among children born in 1940, 90% of them grew up to earn more than their parents. Today, only half of children born in the 1980s are on track to do better than their parents economically.

This perception of economic abundance spread in the 1950s with the post-WWII boom, perhaps best symbolised through the growth of single-family homes adorned with white picket fences. The Dream became particularly popular in political rhetoric, Ghosh says, in the mid-60s with the civil rights movement and more expansive immigration policies.

"It is a core part of America," said Suhay. "Almost everybody agrees that this is an important ideal. But… we have huge debates about whether or not the United States actually delivers the American Dream."

So when did the Dream start to fade?

The Dream started to decline some 50 years ago, beginning in the 1970s, with globalisation and wage stagnation, according to Mark Rank, co-author of Chasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes Our Fortunes.

"It's become much harder to attain the American Dream - this idea of an economic bargain that if you work hard and you play by the rules, you should have a decent, comfortable economic life," he said. "That idea of each generation doing economically better than the past generation is a key component of the American Dream. And that had been the case up until about the 1970s," he says.

And experts say that in the subsequent years, the Dream began to experience a prolonged decline as socioeconomic inequality increased.

Then, some experts say, there was another tipping point: the financial crisis of 2008 and the aftershocks that meant home ownership and job stability were increasingly out of reach.

And many Americans never recovered that economic optimism. Despite this, American wages remain much higher than ones in the UK, and across much of Europe.

Irrespective, wide partisan divides persist over whether the Dream is achievable. Surveys show more Republicans still appear to hold the faith, as do older Americans. Young adults seem particularly cynical. One poll found only a fifth of adults aged 18-29, people like Luke, think the Dream remains a possibility.

That being said, the Dream has never been entirely about financial success. For many, it's a dream of freedom and individual rights that trace back to America's founding documents, such as the Bill of Rights.

And in that vein, it's worth noting that many black Americans have long thought the Dream was a myth built upon lofty rhetoric from the Founding Fathers that didn't mesh with the reality of American slavery and segregation.

Martin Luther King Jr described America as manifesting a "schizophrenic personality" long before the nationwide disillusionment with the Dream began.

"In a real sense America is essentially a dream - a dream yet unfulfilled," he said in a 1960 address in North Carolina. "Slavery and segregation have been strange paradoxes in a nation founded on the principle that all men are created equal."

Reniqua Allen-Lamphere, a writer who's researched black attitudes toward the Dream, described the concept as one of America's "most enduring myths".

"Black folks have their own experiences with the American Dream partially because so much of their experience has been fighting for literal freedom," she told me. And, yet she added "the American Dream is a part of me - that hope for a better day, even though I find it hard. I find it really hard."

Keeping the Dream alive

One nugget that stood out to me as I dug through all the various polls of the last several months was a survey conducted by The Times that suggested, despite the overall pessimism about the Dream in this moment, "61% of poll respondents said they believed in the concept".

Brandon Patty, a 44-year-old clerk and comptroller in St John's County, Florida and a Navy Reserve commander, is one such American who believes passionately that the Dream is alive and working. "I'm just honoured to kind of be a part of it," he told me. "Even just by God's grace, being born here, and being a part of American experiment".

"When I hear the phrase 'American Dream', it means to me that the opportunities are limitless - that in America, you can go from nothing and find your way… it's something that is intrinsic as an American in many ways."

Brandon was the first in his family to graduate from college, the first in his generation to graduate from high school.

"I'm 44 now, and, candidly, I'm living it," he said, he said of the Dream.

Gonzalo Schwarz, president and CEO of The Archbridge Institute, a public policy think tank, agrees that it's important to focus on the positives of living in America.

The Archbridge Institute's own polling found that majorities across various demographic groups agree that the American Dream is alive and well. The organisation says this is because it has a different methodology and asks more direct questions than most other polls, which it says are more conceptual in nature.

"If we focus only on the negative aspects and on the share of people who believe the Dream is out of reach, we risk making the demise of the American Dream a self-fulfilling prophecy," Schwarz says. "We should step back, take a longer-term view, and be inspired to rekindle the American Dream as a beacon of hope for America's next 250 years."

For Mark Rank, the sociologist who's written about this, the Dream, even if more conditional than before, is still alive.

"If you say it's no longer alive... You have ripped out a key component of America's identity," he says. "I think there are questions about it, and there is uncertainty about it." But the way he sees it – in the spirit of American optimism, these questions are a chance to rethink how the US can ensure the Dream remains accessible to everyone for the next 250 years.

Back in Maine, Abdi said his brother Hassan, who couldn't immigrate to the US because of visa restrictions, instead recently became a citizen of Canada. "My brother says they have better healthcare," he tells me with a laugh.

Despite the setbacks, Abdi says if he had to do it all over, he would still choose the US. "I guess it's my first love."

Listen to the rest of The Global Story podcast series on America's 250th anniversary here

'Separate in name and power': How America reinvented English

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260630-how-america-reinvented-english, 3 days ago

From "deadline" to "lituation", from "prairie" to "amirite", America's linguistic independence has transformed the English language with a wealth of new words and phrases – shaping its own cultural identity in the process.

Did the founding of the United States of America demand a new way of speaking? President Thomas Jefferson certainly thought so. In August 1813, he wrote an impassioned letter to his friend John Waldo about the blossoming of new terms in fertile terrain of the 37-year-old United States of America.

"So great growing a population, spread over such an extent of country, with such a variety of climates, of productions, of arts, must enlarge their language, to make it answer its purpose of expressing all ideas, the new as well as the old," he claimed. "The new circumstances under which we are placed, call for new words, new phrases, and for the transfer of old words to new objects."

Let British English remain "stationary", Jefferson argued, while American English gained strength: "Its new character may separate it in name as well as in power, from the mother-tongue."

By this point, the British had long complained about American phrases "contaminating" the purity of the English language – even before Independence. In 1756, the writer Samuel Johnson defined the "American dialect" to mean "a tract [trace] of corruption to which every language widely diffused must always be exposed."

In the 21st Century, the UK and the US remain two countries divided by our common tongue – and on the 250th anniversary of American Independence, there is no better time to examine how American and British English evolved to sound so distinct. From the rise of "soccer" in place of "football" and "fall" in place of "autumn" to the spread of "cooties", the words spoken on either side of the Atlantic have been the product of social undercurrents alternately pushing the two countries apart and pulling them together again – forces that continue to shape our speech today.

The New World Order

The immediate process of colonisation would have quickly placed the settlers' language apart from the people they left behind. With a mix of populations from across the British Isles and Europe, most regional differences between individuals' initial accents and vocabulary would have been "levelled off", says Jack Grieve, a (Canadian) linguist from the University of Birmingham in the UK.

When those groups then spread out across the continent, each area would have started to develop their own ways of speaking, resulting in the distinct accents we hear across the continent today. And this natural drift was accompanied by concerted efforts to establish a new voice that was distinct from the King's English. The ringleader was the lexicographer Noah Webster. "A national language is a band of national union. Every engine should be employed to render the people of this country national," he wrote 1789. "As an independent nation, our honor [sic] requires us to have a system of our own, in language as well as government..." It was, he said, essential for their "political harmony".

To do so, he established a series of grammars, spellers and dictionaries. Webster is responsible for omission of the u's in words such as hono[u]r and favo[u]r, the single l in words like "traveled", the conversion of "draught" to "draft", and the reversal of the r and the e in centre ("center").

"It was a long hard struggle for those spellings to change, but they eventually did bed down," says American-British linguist Lynne Murphy at the University of Sussex, UK.

'Tung' and 'lether'?

Not all Webster's suggestions would stand the test of time: he advocated for spelling tongue as "tung", and "leather" as lether, for instance – suggestions that were quickly abandoned by his successors.

Even so, the sales of his American Spelling Book eventually reached an estimated 100 million copies over the following century, comparable only to the bible.

The new dictionaries included vast swathes of vocabulary that would have been unfamiliar to readers in London or Birmingham. Some were taken directly from the indigenous populations to describe the flora and fauna of the world around them. As Murphy notes in her book The Prodigal Tongue, "skunk", "raccoon", "chipmunk", "moose", "opossum", and "caribou" all come from Algonquian languages.

American English would also come to absorb words from the languages of other colonists, including "prairie", which means marshy meadows in French, and "cookie", a variation of the Dutch word for small cake.

Over time, some American coinages started to plant themselves in British soils. The US Civil War gave us the word "deadline", for instance, which originally meant, "a line that couldn't be crossed without the risk of being shot." (Don't tell my editor!)

Surprising Britishisms

Often the early Americans simply settled on old Britishisms that had started to fall out of fashion in the old country. We may think that saying "fall" to mean "autumn" is a typically American feature, but it had been used this way in Britain since the 1500s. We can even see it in the poetry of the English poet John Dryden: "What crowds of patients the town doctor kills, Or how last fall he raised the weekly bills."

Murphy suspects that the term took off in the US due to the stunning displays of foliage in New England. "Autumn in Britain is relatively drab," she writes in The Prodigal Tongue. "The early English colonists lived in parts of America where leaf-falling is truly spectacular, with red and sugar maples, red oaks, and sassafras exploding into fiery oranges and reds."

Other British terms that would take on a distinctively American flavour include "bills" for banknotes, "soccer" for football, "mad" for angry, "cooties" for the lurgy, "smart" for clever, "pet" to mean stroke, and "sick" to describe a general state of illness rather than a stomach upset.

Sometimes, it's simply the connotations of the words, and their social value, that have changed. Using the accepted term in the UK can make you sound like a "hick" in the US, Murphy points out. "Saying jug instead of pitcher, for example."

Americans also revived some archaic grammatical structures, such as "gotten". (In Britain, the past participle of "get" is "got".)

The early speakers never lost touch with the Old World, of course. "Early British colonists in America tended to send their children home back to England for schooling," says Grieve – a fashion (for the wealthy, at least) that continued into the 19th Century. That's not to mention economic trade, and cultural ties in the books being read.

The "special relationship", as it would come to be known, between the UK and US may have slowed the divergence of the two tongues, Murphy says.

"If the split in the language had happened 500 years before, then maybe we would be speaking different languages," says Murphy. "But we've got so much contact. Just the fact that the printing press existed when the split happened meant that people were always in touch with the English back in Britain."

The 'un-American dude'

The tensions between the lingering British influence, and the desire to establish a new national language, was evident in public discourse and satire. Ingrid Paulsen, a researcher at the University of Kiel in Germany, recently examined a huge corpus of 78 million newspaper articles spanning the 19th Century, for references to classic examples of Americanisation – such as the transition from "trousers" to "pants" and from "luggage" to "baggage". Her aim was to understand how such linguistic changes became imbued with American values and identity – a sociolinguistic process known as "enregisterment".

She found that jokes around the changing language often featured cartoons of the "dude" figure, for instance. The "dude" was an American-born man who failed to embrace his American identity, and instead, aspired to adopt British fashions and language. "He is this very unsuccessful Anglo-maniac who is not [acting like an] American at all," says Paulsen.

Those discussions often centred on his lower garments, and what he called them. "There's a lot about what trousers he wears, how tight his trousers can be, that he has to turn up the trousers so that they don't get wet," Paulsen says. "So trousers, as a term, becomes linked to the dude." The perceived elegance of the word has become an object of ridicule, whereas "pants" comes to be seen as the truly American term.

British humourists have often enjoyed making fun of the British/American linguistic dance. "We really have everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language," Oscar Wilde quipped in 1887.

A moveable feast

Evolution never stops – and online resources have made it far easier to study contemporary language change as it happens. In 2018, Grieve used huge sets of geocoded data from Twitter – collected in 2013 and 2014 – to identify which regions of the US are producing the greatest number of coinages. In order of importance, they were:

• The West Coast, which introduced such terms as "amirite" and "cosplay"

• The Deep South, which introduced "boolin" (relaxing) and "baeless" (single)

• The North East, which gave "lituation" (a very positive "lit" situation)

• Mid-Atlantic, which produced "shordy" (for someone small of stature)

• Gulf Coast, which produced "lordt" (an exclamation, like "Lord!")

He has found that the areas with the greatest linguistic innovation also have the highest density of African American populations. Given the pressures these communities face, "there may a bigger drive there to express social identity", he speculates.

We can see the same linguistic creativity in the use of the "double modal" – an unconventional grammatical structure that involves combining two modal verbs to express different shades of possibility and promise, such as "We might can go up there next Saturday" or "Once we get under way, it shouldn't oughta take us very long". Grieve's analyses of Twitter suggest the trend took off in African American communities in the Deep South, whereas previous theories argued that they were a relic of the language spoken by early Scottish and Irish settlers.

More like this:

• How an Antarctic research base got its own accent

• Eslei! The new generation reinventing Spanglish

• Why I can't speak my dad's language

Whether these inventive ways of speaking will spread across the whole population and onto the shores of the UK remains to be seen. Technology, after all, offers a far greater opportunity for the seeds of linguistic change to propagate and take root.

Today, Jefferson's prediction that "American" would eventually divorce its mother tongue seems extraordinarily unlikely. Instead, the proliferation of new words has only enriched the language we share. On both sides of the Atlantic, we can rejoice in both the words and phrases we hold common – and the many colourful variations that set us apart.

* David Robson is an award-winning science writer and author. His latest book, The Laws of Connection: 13 Social Strategies That Will Transform Your Life, was published by Canongate (UK) and Pegasus Books (USA & Canada) in June 2024. He is @davidarobson on Instagram and Threads and writes the 60-Second Psychology newsletter on Substack.

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Trump's new take on 250 years of American expansionism

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyery8p047o, yesterday

In the 250 years since the US declared its independence from Great Britain, the nation has grown from a sparsely populated collection of settlements scattered along the Atlantic coast into a global power spread over the breadth of a continent and beyond.

Starting from the original 13 colonies that covered 430,000 sq miles (1.1 million sq km), its geographic footprint has increased eightfold, to approximately 3.7 million sq miles.

The US population has undergone a similarly dramatic expansion. In 1790, the year of the first US Census, there were approximately four million Americans, including slaves. By 2025, this number had grown to 343 million – an 8,475% increase.

Even though the US today may be all but unrecognisable to the nation's founders 250 years ago, the cultural and political influences in the country would likely be familiar.

In hindsight, one can trace many of President Donald Trump's key political promises - limiting immigration, and expanding US power and territory - to the country's earliest distinctions and divisions.

America's founders had high hopes for their new nation. Its success, however, was far from guaranteed. Heated debates over slavery, the constitution and the economic and political system created clear fractures among the population.

While the nation nearly doubled in size following the purchase of the Louisiana territory from France in 1803, when the US went to war again with Britain in 1812 it was far from certain that the nation would hold.

"Anybody who was looking at the colonies trying to create this nation is saying, all we need to do is stay over here and wait till they tear themselves apart and go back and pick them up," said Heather Cox Richarson, an US history professor at Boston College and author of Letters From an American on Substack.

Although America's future in those early years was uncertain, the forces that contributed to the future trajectory of the nation had already been established.

Colin Woodard, director of the Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University, divides the US into a number of distinct identities, connected to those early fissures.

The northern region, which Woodard calls "Yankeeland", is rooted in the early Puritan settlers who fled religious persecution in Europe, with later additions of Germans and Scandinavian settlers helping to solidify a pluralistic outlook.

A middle belt, which he terms "Greater Appalachia", was first settled by independent-minded Scots and Irish. Their political outlook, formed in part by their experience with English oppression on the British isles, was much more suspicious of government authority.

"For them, freedom means maximising the autonomy and freedom of the individual and any growth in the power of government axiomatically means you know that individuals are less free," said Woodard. "It is the opposite of the Yankee Greater New England philosophy."

Meanwhile, the Deep South consisted of a landowning class, some of whom relocated from slave plantations in the Caribbean, who formed an "oligarchic, top-down society".

While American identity is defined by the competing cultures of those who arrived from abroad, the first full century of America's existence would include the concerted attempt to erase the culture of the indigenous people who occupied the land for centuries before the first Europeans crossed the Atlantic.

As the nation continued to expand westward, the movement took on a ideological force of its own, as some Americans believed it was the nation's "manifest destiny" to expand not just to the Pacific but across the Western Hemisphere.

This expansionist push brought these cultures into new confluence and conflict. The interior west, with its inhospitable landscape, was more akin to the Appalachian wilderness and attracted individuals with similarly rugged individualistic views. Along the Pacific coast, such values clashed with those of the merchants and seafarers who had relocated from the American north-east.

In the modern era, these divisions are obvious on a presidential electoral map - with Republican-controlled "red states" and Democratic "blue states". The north-eastern US and the West Coast are known as bastions of liberalism - and much more supportive of government involvement in everyday life - while the American south, from Texas to Florida, and the interior west have become the bulwark of Republican conservatism.

While the US mostly stopped expanding geographically by the end of 19th Century, the population continued to grow dramatically - in no small part due to immigration.

"One of the things that really is at the centre of the United States of America is immigration," said Richardson. "The one thing that does link us all is that concept that we can make a future that we want."

The first wave began in the 1840s and lasted until 1889, bringing approximately 14 million people to the country's shores, primarily from northern and western Europe nations.

The next wave, of more than 18 million migrants, came from southern and eastern Europe and stretched from 1890 into the 1920s. With each wave came an inevitable backlash, as Americans worried that the new arrivals would take their jobs and threaten their way of life. Quotas and restrictive legislation, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, soon followed.

The 1924 Immigration Act limited immigration so drastically that it can be discerned by a distinct bend in the chart of US annual population growth.

The most recent immigration wave began in the 1960s when those restrictions were lifted. Since then, more than 70 million immigrants have entered the US, many from Asia and Latin America, including approximately 18 million from Mexico alone.

In 2024, 14.8% of the US population was foreign-born – an amount equalling the historical peak in 1890, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Immigration accounted for 84% of the total US population growth.

According to Woodard, the early immigration waves - driven mostly by industrialisation - helped boost the political power of the American north.

And that geographical imbalance helped further fuel ideologically divides.

Southern leaders pushed for territorial expansion – and an expansion of slave states – to ensure they maintained political power at the national level, before they broke off altogether, beginning the Civil War.

But modern trends have reversed this geographical divide. Many immigrants - and northern transplants - are now drawn to the south, especially the bustling economies of cities in Texas and Florida. While a recent wave of illegal immigrants at the southern US border has heightened tensions.

Trump's populist conservatism, then, can be seen as a response to America's shifting centres of power.

Upon returning to the White House, Trump has delivered on his campaign promise to pursue mass deportations.

Meanwhile, he has expressed a nostalgia for the territorial expansion of the 19th Century, with talk of acquiring Greenland, repatriating the Panama Canal and adding Canada and Venezuela as America's "51st state".

His version of American expansionism is thus a kind of mirror image of last 250 years of history. The country spent its first century expanding physically, then stopped trying to get new territory and focused - sometimes haltingly - on opening the nation to immigrants.

Now, Trump has changed course, with aims to expand America's physical borders again, and limit the number of people the country lets in.

Trump and his supporters say that the character of the American nation is in danger of being fundamentally and permanently changed. "We won't have a country anymore," is a common Trump refrain about the dangers of mass immigration.

"That does not come out of nowhere," said Woodard. "We have the meta struggle in American history: are we a civic nation devoted to... a society where every individual human can be equally, universally and sustainably free over time? Or is this a state that belongs to a certain group of people that are the real Americans by blood and descent?"

In the vast stretch of world history, 250 years is a blip, a flash, a blink of the eye. But for the US, 250 years has been transformational – even if the divisions at the heart of the nation, and the concerns about its future, have been an enduring feature.

Trump presidency reignites its founding debate - how much power is too much?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9lm9j2580o, 3 days ago

President Donald Trump seems to relish creating conspicuous displays of his personal power.

He surrounds himself with cabinet members and officials who publicly praise him. He attacks world leaders who have fallen from his favour. And he pressures some of the biggest US corporations to do his bidding.

Approaching the halfway point of his second term in the White House, Trump recently told an interviewer "there are no limits" to his power.

It's a sentiment that seems the antithesis of the so-called American experiment, which began 250 years ago when the country declared its independence from British monarchical rule.

What would those revolutionaries make of the current head of state? Not much, his critics say.

Millions have marched in anti-Trump protests around the US and the world under the banners of "No Kings", "Democracy Not Monarchy" and "We have a Constitution, Not a King".

They say Trump is pushing his power further than previous presidents have dared to try.

He did not, for example, get congressional authorisation before launching a war in Iran. And he kept most lawmakers in the dark about the military operation in Venezuela to seize President Nicolás Maduro.

He also used emergency powers to bypass the need for legislation before imposing trade tariffs around the world - a move the Supreme Court later ruled to be unconstitutional.

By using the US Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute his perceived adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey, Trump is accused of ripping up the traditional separation between the White House and federal prosecutors that has existed since President Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal.

"I don't feel like a king," Trump said recently when asked about those 'No kings' protests. "I have to go through hell to get things approved."

Trump was, of course, elected having promised to enact sweeping and fundamental change to almost all areas of American policy and government. From immigration to trade to relations with America's historic allies - many voters who backed Trump in 2024 over former President Joe Biden undoubtedly expected radical change.

Four in five Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing, according to the most recent YouGov polls. However, among all US voters, his approval rating has dropped below 40%, significantly down from the start of his second term.

Trump is not the first president to try to expand his powers, according to Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. But he said he couldn't "think of another president who has gone quite so far, who is as enamoured with power".

But Joshua Treviño, a senior director at the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, warns against confusing Trump's carefully crafted image with an expansion of the powers of the office of the presidency.

"It's easy to confuse the aesthetic with the substance with President Trump," Treviño told me.

He cited Franklin D Roosevelt and Richard Nixon as past presidents who tried to expand executive power, saying: "I would push back pretty hard against the idea that Donald Trump is doing something qualitatively unique in American history."

Exactly how much power a single politician should have has long been a heated debate in the US. Back in the 18th Century, the founding fathers were so worried about investing too much power in the hands of a single head of state that some wanted an executive committee to run the country instead of a president.

Others argued for more power.

"You are afraid of the one - I, of the few," wrote John Adams, the second US president, to Thomas Jefferson, the third president, in 1787. "We agree perfectly that the many should have a full, fair and perfect Representation. You are Apprehensive of Monarchy; I, of Aristocracy. I would therefore have given more Power to the President and less to the Senate."

At one point, the founding fathers even considered some titles that sounded distinctly regal. They discussed calling the president "His Highness", "His Excellency" or "His Elective Majesty." They even pondered calling him "His Mightiness".

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin may well have debated these constitutional questions in the Middleton Tavern, a seaside pub in Annapolis, Maryland, that's older than the country itself. The tavern boasts that they all drank there in the earliest days of the new republic.

That's where I met Lorraine Ross, who was celebrating her own milestone - her 60th birthday. She said she wanted to enjoy America's birthday, too, but was concerned about the country's future.

"I'm not going to be running around saying, yay, USA, we're free," she told me.

She said she was particularly worried about cuts to financial assistance for families in need and children with special needs. She expressed anger at Congress for "just letting him [Trump] run amok and ignore all the laws" that have constrained presidents' behaviours in the past.

Other Americans I spoke to at the tavern were simply looking forward to the Fourth of July festivities which the Trump administration has promised will be bigger and better than ever.

John Knox told me he did not want to get hung up on the politics around the current president.

Knox, who was visiting from Atlanta, told me that if people disagreed with Trump, the time to express that is in the midterm elections in November - not during the Fourth of July celebrations.

Halfway across the country, at a scenic lookout in Keystone, South Dakota, military planes are flying overhead and Secret Service officers are preparing for the president's visit here on Friday. He'll be spending the eve of the 250th anniversary celebrations visiting Mount Rushmore, where four presidents' likenesses are carved into granite rock.

Donald Trump has leaned into memes that put him on the mountain face alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Many of his supporters welcome the idea. There's even a bill in front of Congress demanding Trump be added to the iconic monument.

Terry Davis and Tim Burke are among a group of old friends riding their motorbikes around the American heartland from one national park to the next. They tried to get tickets to the president's fireworks display on Friday night, but had no luck.

I ask if they can imagine Trump's face being added to the national monument.

Terry, 72, says Trump should be front and centre, and the biggest. "I have not been this passionate about any other president in the past until he took the reins of this country."

These bikers celebrate what they still see as Trump's non-politician, outsider status - and they are happy for him to use his powers as president to take on the Democrats and a federal government they perceive as too intrusive.

"Long after he's left office, 20, 30 years from now," Tim says, "I believe the historians will say that he's been one of the greatest presidents in the history of our nation for the things that he has done for it."

What the president does with his powers does not just impact the country's current citizens - it can shape the way future presidents use their power as well.

Zelizer, the historian, said that "every chapter in the expansion of presidential power has had long-lasting consequences".

"It creates actual precedents that future presidents can use that they didn't have before. And it also fuels a process of normalisation where this just becomes part of what we expect presidents to do."

The mould for a president was set in 1789, when America swore in George Washington as the country's first.

In his inaugural address, Washington appeared chastened by the power that he was given, saying a leader "ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies".

It is hard to imagine Trump - who has said "I'm the greatest president in history" - expressing a similar sentiment.

Americans are celebrating their split from Britain - how is the UK marking it?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk68z6m8l8o, 4 days ago

The forecourt of St Paul's Cathedral in London feels like an unlikely place to embark on an exploration of American independence - but a lesser-known statue in that very spot has a tale to tell within one of history's most infamous breakup stories.

The sculpture depicts America as an indigenous female figure - holding a bow and arrow, and wearing a headdress. There's been a statue here that looks like this one since 1712 - well before the United States went its own way as a nation.

The figure goes some way to showing how those far-flung lands fuelled the imaginations of people at the centre of the British empire, as tour guide Mark Grant explains at the start of a guided walk through the area.

Grant is one of many people across the UK marking the 250th anniversary of American independence by holding special events - whether walks like this, a parade, or even cookery.

Organisers are eager to show that 4 July is not just a date for fireworks and barbecues in the US. It's a cause for wider reflection - and even a little fun, too.

Given that the UK was on the receiving end of the breakup, what do Brits hope to get out of the occasion?

British spin on 1776 intrigues visiting Americans

Grant's tours are designed to reveal the often-overlooked links between the City of London and the young United States. The history buffs include people from both sides of the pond.

Grant says the two groups have been appreciating different things about the sessions, which are being run on a time-limited basis by the City of London Guides Lecturers Association.

For the Brits, "it's interesting facts among other interesting facts", Grant says, noting that there's also plenty of Roman and medieval heritage in the City to take the interest of a local. "Whereas with the Americans, they feel more personally involved."

Patricia Windham, visiting from Chicago, wanted to understand how American independence was experienced in Britain at the time of the rupture. "You only get one side of the picture from the US," she explains. "I think it's important to get various perspectives from people, not just the one that you get from home, because that's the party line."

Windham enjoys the many tour stopoffs. Whether it's the church where US Founding Father Benjamin Franklin worked for a time as a printmaker, or the sites of old coffee houses where merchants made transatlantic trade deals, the American-ness of the Square Mile runs deep.

Declaration print prompts reflection - and a little humour

Saturday's semiquincentennial, as it is formally known, marks 250 years to the day since the United States adopted its foundational document - the Declaration of Independence.

The text itself has become a focal point of special events across the UK. The events consider how those words were received by Brits at the time, and how they might be understood today.

The ancestral home of George Washington's family - Washington Old Hall, Tyne and Wear - is just one such location, where local young people are set to read from the document on 4 July itself.

Meanwhile, the American Museum & Gardens in Bath has become the first location in England to display a certain rare printed edition of the declaration.

This particular copy is remarkable not just because it was printed on 4 July 1776, but because it was intercepted by British soldiers and sent back home - with their annotations added. It would have taken weeks for the bombshell document to reach Whitehall. Meanwhile, a bloody war over the future of the US was raging.

Just as special as the loan of the paper itself is the way visitors have enjoyed thinking about what they would put in a declaration of their own, says museum director Lucy Littlewood.

"That's producing some really lovely responses, particularly from young people about what's important in the world," she says. "Peace and equity are the main two themes there, but we've also had comments about free ice-cream for children… so lots of humorous ones as well."

Puppet depicts Founding Father who helped pull the strings

The 4 July milestone might not sound like an obvious patriotic moment on these shores, but some groups in the UK are using the event to highlight that many of the ideas and thinkers behind American independence were British or had British connections.

The town of Lewes, in East Sussex, will hold a Festival of Democracy on Saturday, promising a colourful parade inspired by the same values that drove the American Revolution.

Leading the parade will be a giant puppet depicting Thomas Paine. This English philosopher, a former resident of the town, is seen by scholars as one of the US Founding Fathers on account of a pamphlet he penned in 1776 that argued for the cause.

The creator of the 8ft (2.4m) contraption, Paul Fitzgerald, sees 1776 as a moment worthy of celebration far beyond the borders of the United States: "I'd see it as a part of a global movement towards people being in charge of their own lives in their own countries."

As for the upcoming parade, organised by Thomas Paine, Legacy and the Lewes Climate Hub, Fitzgerald says there is a wider significance: "A democracy is something that wants to be constantly renewed."

The puppet depicts Paine as a skeleton because Fitzgerald - AKA graphic artist Polyp - was moved by the mysterious story of the disappearance of Paine's exhumed bones after his death.

"I travel around the country with him," he says. "I get some very interesting looks on the train."

Northern Ireland samples some culinary crossovers

Other special events have similarly been designed to celebrate the flow of people and ideas both ways across the Atlantic - a shared heritage that can still be tasted today, in a very literal sense.

The weekend programming at the Ulster American Folk Park, near Omagh, will pay tribute to the ways in which Ulster migrants helped to shape the United States - not least when it came to food.

As part of the programme, Paula McIntyre, who trained in the US and later returned there to present a BBC series on American cuisine, will demonstrate a range of Appalachian dishes. Many of them use preservation techniques that would have been known to that migrant population.

"It would have been people using what they had," she explains. "There was absolutely no waste, and I mean, there was nothing luxurious at this stage. It was all about survival."

Buttermilk, cornbread, apple butter, pork and kale, and other dishes will all be on McIntyre's menu. She proudly points out that plenty of ideas from Ireland went in the opposite direction. "We brought our whiskey… and we brought an element of sophistication to it with the triple distilling and using different grains rather than just, you know, corn."

Liquor is just one thing that helped fuel revolutionary America 250 years ago. People joining the UK events say they've enjoyed learning about the extent of the cultural crossover - not just because the US's big birthday is a milestone that resonates globally, but because it's also taught them things about their own part of the world.

Back in the City of London, participants on Mark Grant's tour say the deep-dive into American history has also had the effect of showing them a side of their city they never knew.

"It took me to a few alleys I'd never been to," says Peter Tidmarsh, a local. "I'm just amazed."

Not for nothing has Grant been a contestant 13 times on the BBC's Mastermind game show, thanks in part to his prolific knowledge of the UK capital. Blue plaques, historic pubs, and even the site of an church that was moved brick-by-brick to Missouri - all these sites feature on his tour.

For Grant, the Square Mile is its own character in the American story, and it offers an illuminating window into how a young US might have looked at a turning point in history. "The cities [in the UK and the US] would have been the same, and so this is kind of the foundation of it all," he reckons.

An Australian by birth, Grant acknowledges that he's neutral on the question of which side was responsible for the infamous 18th Century breakup. Britons on the tour, meanwhile, insist they're not taking sides either - they've just come along to learn something.

"Well, there's some regret," jokes Tim Parry from Essex. "But I think we got over it."

"I think 250 years is long enough," adds Tidmarsh.

Dior dress, Adam Sandler and a man of honour: What we know about Taylor and Travis's wedding

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg5zn58nj2o, today

After months of rumours and speculation, superstar couple Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have finally tied the knot at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The news was confirmed on Friday evening by Swift's publicist, and at the same time, giant screens outside the arena lit up with the message: "JUST&T MARRIED!"

Swift, the world's biggest pop star, and Kelce, a three-time Super Bowl champion, got engaged last August, and fans have been wondering when, where and how it would happen ever since.

While many details about the celebrations are still under wraps, here is what we know so far.

Adam Sandler officiated

In her song Wi$h Li$t, from her last album, Swift fantasised about settling down with Kelce, sketching out an idyllic future in which they have "a couple kids" and "a driveway with a basketball hoop".

That song was inspired by Adam Sandler's character in his 1996 film Happy Gilmore.

"He has this happy place where he goes into... This is where he escapes to mentally in times of stress, pressure, anxiety or chaos," Swift told Apple Music's Zane Lowe.

"And that chorus of that song is me just describing what my happy place is."

Kelce even made a cameo appearance in the Happy Gilmore sequel last year.

It made a certain sense, then, that Sandler should be the one to officiate the wedding and help the happy couple on their way to their happy place.

According to TMZ, the actor also reprised his role from The Wedding Singer by performing his own "humorous yet touching" song at Friday's ceremony.

Sandler has previously spoken about his friendship with the couple. "Taylor's so damn nice to my family and has always been," he told Entertainment Tonight last year.

"She's ridiculously nice to them and warm, and Travis is such a gentle, nice guy. Funny as hell. He's like the guys I grew up with."

Travis and Taylor may even have got the idea to hire out Madison Square Garden from Sandler's 2002 film Mr Deeds, in which his character took over the venue to propose to his girlfriend.

As for Sandler's qualifications - any adult can apparently apply for a One-Day Marriage Officiant License to oversee a marriage ceremony in New York State.

Taylor and Travis wore Dior

There are no photos of the wedding dress yet, but we do know who designed it.

"The bride and groom's wedding ceremony looks have been created by Christian Dior Haute Couture," Swift's spokeswoman revealed on Friday.

"They are designed by Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director of Dior Women's, Men's and Haute Couture Collections, in close collaboration with the Bride and Groom.

"This is the designer's first couture wedding dress for a world-renowned celebrity."

Anderson, from Northern Ireland, is a former creative director at Loewe, and took over Dior last year.

In a statement, Dior said it was "delighted to confirm it has created the wedding looks for the marriage of Taylor and Travis", which were "created in Dior's ateliers at 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris" by Anderson "in close collaboration with the couple".

Swift has worn Dior before, such as the tartan creation above, which she sported at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards.

Swift's publicist also revealed that the couple's shoes were custom made by Christian Louboutin and that Swift wore Cartier jewelry.

Louboutin has a close association with the singer, after also making the footwear for the European leg of her Eras Tour.

Man of honour instead of maid of honour

Swift did not have a traditional maid of honour, instead choosing her brother Austin as her man of honour.

Austin, who at 34 is two years younger than Taylor, is an actor and film producer. She has previously described him as "one of my best pals".

Meanwhile, Travis's brother, podcast co-host and fellow US football star Jason Kelce, was best man.

Taylor also dispensed with tradition by not having any bridesmaids, while Travis similarly did not have groomsmen, her spokeswoman said.

Star-studded guest list

About 1,000 names were reportedly on the guest list, including some of the biggest stars from music, Hollywood and sport.

Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello, Hugh Grant, Gracie Abrams, Gigi Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Tom Hanks, Millie Bobby Brown, Ellie Goulding, Graham Norton, Dakota Johnson, Steven Spielberg, were among the A-list attendees.

Many more drove straight in and out, away from the view of media and photographers.

Other rumoured names include Sabrina Carpenter, Jennifer Lawrence, Lana Del Rey, Lena Dunham, Emma Stone, the Haim sisters, Sir Paul McCartney, Zoe Kravitz, Stevie Nicks, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Greta Gerwig.

Guests are assumed to be under instructions not to give away details or photos, and rapper Nelly is one of the few to have posted on Instagram, writing: "S/O [shout out] to @taylorswift & @killatrav..!! Wedding was incredible."

BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James, whom Swift invited to the wedding live on his programme, wrote on Instagram on Saturday: "Just&t to say: true to her word, of course the invitation arrived and of course I couldn't tell anyone.

"And oh my god, what an unbelievably brilliant night."

What happened inside Madison Square Garden?

Apart from what Swift's representative revealed, details of the night have been kept under wraps - although some information has emerged.

The hosts of US TV's Good Morning America, who were there, confirmed that Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks performed.

Co-presenter George Stephanopoulos said the event was "as intimate as it could possibly be given it was Madison Square Garden".

He described the setting as a "garden inside the Garden", adding: "It was just so beautiful. It's hard to imagine that a place that big and a wedding with such stars could feel so personal and so intimate."

Robin Roberts, another co-presenter, said guests included their neighbours and high-school friends. "It was like any wedding that you would attend."

She also said the couple brought their own vows.

AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron wrote in a now-deleted X post that the indoor venue had been transformed into "an outdoor garden at a lush countryside retreat", with Kelce wearing a white tuxedo and Swift in "a stunning white wedding dress with a long veiled train".

Another guest who spoke to the Reuters news agency said the night had been "incredible".

"They cried, and they laughed and they danced, and they hugged and they kissed," they said.

An inside source told TMZ that Swift walked down the aisle to one of her songs being played on strings, and that the decor was described as "Alice in Wonderland meets The Wizard of Oz".

Elaborate sets were seen being loaded into the venue in the lead up, including a large glitterball, a white staircase railing and items labelled "garden party".

Eyebrows were raised at the choice of Madison Square Garden as the venue, but as well as being an iconic location where the worlds of music and sport collide, one possible reason is that the interior could not be photographed by paparazzi or drones.

Additional reporting by Mark Savage.

Moment of destiny for France's Le Pen in verdict to decide her future in presidential race

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzlwz34p7o, today

France is in a state of nervous excitement as it awaits Tuesday's court verdict which will determine if nationalist frontrunner Marine Le Pen can stand in next year's presidential election.

Rarely in a judicial decision in France have the political stakes been higher.

Latest opinion polls suggest that the 57-year-old leader of the National Rally (RN) is well-positioned to become France's next head of state.

But if the appeal court in Paris follows last year's initial verdict in her trial for misuse of European parliamentary funds, then Le Pen will be declared ineligible for public office and her political hopes will be in ruins.

The RN's candidate in the April-May election would automatically become Le Pen's much younger colleague, 30-year-old Jordan Bardella. Polls currently indicate that he too would be favourite in the elections – but his youth and inexperience could start to tell once campaigning gets underway.

"Because of the presidential election, the decision you must render is of dizzying significance," Le Pen's lawyer Rudolphe Bosselut told the court in his summing-up in February.

After deliberating for four months, the court will rule whether to confirm, overturn or adapt the verdict and sentence handed down on Le Pen in March 2025. Ten other RN officials – out of 25 originally convicted – are also appealing.

In that first trial, the RN leader was found to have knowingly presided over a system in which RN staffers in Paris posed as EU parliamentary assistants in Brussels and Strasbourg in order to be paid out of EU funds. The party at the time was chronically short of money.

If few – even in the RN – expect Le Pen to be acquitted in the appeal, everything depends on the sentence she receives on Tuesday.

At the original trial she was sentenced to two years imprisonment, to be served at home with an electronic tag. But the court also ordered five years ineligibility from public office. Crucially this part of the sentence – unlike the jail term – was declared to be immediately effective and not suspended pending appeal.

A furious Le Pen declared the verdict to be a "political decision" aimed at derailing her fourth - and most promising - attempt at the presidency. Under pressure, the courts arranged an early date for the appeal so there would be time for a potential change of sentence.

At the second trial, the same arguments were produced by either side. Le Pen's lawyers pleaded for acquittal. The state advocate asked this time for one year, not two, with an electronic tag, but again the key part: five years ineligibility.

If the court follows the state advocate, then Le Pen will clearly be out of the presidential race. In the unlikely event she is acquitted, she will equally clearly be in the race.

But what has French legal minds racing is the possibility of an intermediate sentence. What, for example, if the court hands down not a five-year but a two-year ineligibility?

In theory that would allow her to stand, because two years from the first verdict would end on 31 March 2027 – just over two weeks before the 18 April first round of the election.

But if the court ruled that she must also wear an electronic tag for a year, then that – Le Pen herself says – would make her candidature impossible. "A candidate needs total freedom of movement," she said. "Can you imagine having to ask permission every time to go to a meeting or a market?"

Another imponderable in the event of, say, a two-year ineligibility is recourse to the highest court of appeal, the Cour de Cassation.

If on Tuesday she is found guilty but authorised to run for president, then it would not be in her interest to appeal to the Cour de Cassation because its decision – which would come in January – might go against her and reimpose ineligibility.

However it is not only a defendant who can turn to the Cour de Cassation. The prosecution can too. In which case we might have Le Pen able to run for the next few months (because the original ineligibility would be suspended) only to be re-declared ineligible early next year.

All these uncertainties have led some to speculate whether in her heart Le Pen has already resigned herself to not running, and to handing over the campaign to Bardella.

Speaking in a French television interview ahead of the verdict, she appeared almost content at the prospect: "Whatever happens, I'll still be alive. Whatever happens, I will continue the fight for my ideas."

But there is another school of thought tipping to the theory that - despite all the excitement over Bardella - it will in the end be Le Pen facing the electorate next April-May.

According to this interpretation, apparently much-heard in government circles, the judges are not impervious to the political importance of their decision and would therefore be reluctant to deprive the electorate of so popular a candidate as Marine Le Pen.

In truth, no-one knows how the verdict will fall. All that can be said for certain is that much hinges on it. A Le Pen candidacy for the French presidency is not the same as a Bardella candidacy.

For one thing, the two represent different sensibilities within the nationalist camp. Le Pen has always declared herself to be "neither left nor right", and her appeal is strongest among the old working class. Bardella leans more to the economic liberalism of the traditional right – as shown by his recent contacts with top business executives.

Party insiders say the two are "complementary", each appealing to different sectors of the population and the combination potentially allowing the RN to break through its glass ceiling and finally win power.

But however much they minimise the differences, and however much they profess their mutual loyalty – the passing of power from the seasoned, familiar, loyalty-inspiring warrior that is Marine Le Pen to the untested squire that is Jordan Bardella would be a step into the unknown.

Glastonbury for tennis and a special aura - why fans worship Wimbledon

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg54yldw1eo, today

For many fans, Wimbledon is not simply a sporting event - it is a place where lifelong friendships are formed, traditions are passed down and memories are made year after year.

Geoff Hughes, who has made the annual pilgrimage to SW19 for three decades, says: "I wish I could bottle how I feel when I'm down there.

"The sights, the sounds and the smells of Wimbledon. Truly, there's nothing like it."

While Geoff is a devoted regular, many others are experiencing the wonder of Wimbledon for the first time.

Tennis is enjoying a surge in popularity, driven in part by a new generation of compelling young stars attracting fresh audiences to the sport.

That has been reflected in record crowds, with more than 548,000 people attending the Championships last year - the highest in Wimbledon's history.

For stalwarts like Geoff though, the Wimbledon appeal has been there from the start.

The 66-year-old, from Malpas in Cheshire, may be its most dedicated queue veteran. He has camped out there for the entire two weeks of the tournament for the past 20 years.

Rules of the queue are simple. The day before you want to watch a match, head to Wimbledon Park, go to the back of the line and receive a queue card, which marks your position. Those who join by mid-afternoon and camp overnight are usually in contention for a court ticket the following day.

"The best thing is just the atmosphere throughout the whole queue. Chatting to people, meeting new friends," Geoff says.

Geoff is also a member of fan group The Murraynators, and has numerous Wimbledon stories about British tennis player Andy Murray as well as a treasured selfie with his hero.

He remembers standing on Henman Hill in 2012 "in the pouring rain with a bin bag over my head" watching Murray lose to tennis legend and winner of 20 Grand Slams Roger Federer in the men's final.

But "redemption followed" the next year when he was lucky enough to secure final tickets in the public ballot.

He watched Murray beat Novak Djokovic in that 2013 final. "I still can't believe it to this day," he says. "That was special."

Fellow Wimbledon regular Kev Cooper, from Cotgrave in Nottinghamshire, can go one better.

A last-minute ticket swap with a fellow spectator got him on to Centre Court for a Murray victory in 2015 - and he came away with an incredible souvenir.

"Murray threw his shirt into the crowd," he says. "I'm quite big, an ex-goalie, and I put my arm up and just caught it. I was buzzing."

Since 1997, the 59-year-old has spent the first week of the Championships camping in the queue, with his campervan parked nearby full of supplies.

Kev says: "You need to put in a bit of ground work but you get access to all the best tickets and it's a great atmosphere."

Lucy Nixon, from Wymondham in Norfolk, says she first started camping in the queue in 2002 and gradually worked up to spending the entire two weeks at Wimbledon.

The 49-year-old says it has a "festival atmosphere".

"It's like Glastonbury for tennis fans," she says. "It's pretty unique and that's one of the reasons why fans travel from all over the world to come."

Lucy says the friendships fans make in the "camping community" of the queue is what makes it so special.

She says she has met "lifelong friends" there, including Richard Hess from California in the US.

"He's been coming every year since '78. We met in 2002 and we just hit it off straight away," she says. "Wimbledon is our annual get-together."

Richard even travelled to the UK to attend Lucy's wedding and she has been to visit him to watch the US Open.

They plan to meet up again at the campsite this year, although Lucy now admits she does spend a couple of nights away from the tent.

"When I was younger... budget-wise I had no choice but to camp, I had to suck it up in the rain," she says. "But now I need some days off with a proper bed thrown in."

Wimbledon, and a mutual love of tennis player Boris Becker, also brought together Jacqueline Webb-Watson and Nicola Dawson, forging a 40-year friendship.

Jacqueline, from Loughton in Essex, says her "love affair" with SW19 began in 1977 through listening to matches on the radio before her first visit with family in 1984.

"We arrived at 11:30 and walked straight in - I'm still baffled by the lack of queues that day," the 58-year-old recalls.

By then, she had connected with fellow Becker fan Nicola and the pair had "great adventures" camping at Wimbledon over the years.

But her "absolute highlight" is watching the 2013 men's semi-finals - the year Andy Murray eventually claimed his first title.

"That day was pure magic. Hot, sunny, incredible matches from a prime seat on Centre Court, and the sheer joy of seeing a British man reach the final. I'll admit, I definitely shed a tear when Andy finally won it," Jacqueline says.

She said Wimbledon's "distinct Britishness... the traditions, the immaculate grounds and the legendary organisation" of the queue made it the best tournament on the circuit.

"Having visited all four Grand Slams, I might be biased, but Wimbledon is truly in a league of its own," Jacqueline adds.

Essex fan Nigel Warner recently completed a bucket list ambition of visiting all four Grand Slam tournaments and agrees Wimbledon is the best.

The 65-year-old, from Great Eastern, says: "It's the history, it's the fact that it's the only grass court tournament, it's the premier sporting event that I go to.

"There's something about that place when you walk in, it has a special aura. It's a really great day out."

Nigel says he has been to Wimbledon almost every year since 1999.

"I was there in 2003 when Federer played. He was quite young then and no-one quite knew how good he was. But he had something about him even then," he says.

His other highlight is seeing Spanish legend Rafael Nadal's final Wimbledon appearance in 2022.

"You never appreciate the talent until you see the shots they pull off when you're there in person. It's just incredible," he says.

Sheryl Ward, from Basingstoke, has been attending Wimbledon with friend Marianne Asprey almost every year since 1996 and remembers "screaming herself hoarse" on the Hill - an area where fans gather in front of a big screen at the Championships. It has been affectionately named Murray Mound over the years or Henman Hill in tribute to Tim Henman who held British Wimbledon hopes in late '90s and early '00s.

"Wimbledon is special because it is one of the only major sporting events that you can still queue and get a reasonable priced ticket for," she says.

"The queue is great, an experience in itself [with] a terrific atmosphere. Mostly talking non-stop tennis to every nationality imaginable that I have queued next to."

Over the years, they have experienced everything the British summer can deliver.

"I've queued in rain, sun and once hail... at the age we are now it is always a joy to get tickets and not have to queue," she says.

Despite loving the Wimbledon queue experience, Geoff does admit the British climate can cause havoc.

"The worst thing about Wimbledon is the weather when it's bad," he says. "The next worst thing, if you like, is sleep. You don't get any."

But he says he likes to think of himself as "a true fan" and cheerfully accepts the lack of facilities for the full two-week stretch.

"You do have to rough it a bit. It's a tough gig, but it's just one of the best gigs in the world," Geoff adds.

Listen to BBC Radio Nottingham on Sounds and follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.

A trailblazer whose stage experiments transformed Indian theatre

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnv986rvvjyo, today

Vijaya Mehta who died last week, aged 92, was known for her trailblazing plays that transformed the landscape of Indian theatre.

Mehta, who was widely credited with modernising Marathi-language theatre (performed mainly in Maharashtra state) in the 1960s and 1970s, was one of the most influential figures in the world of performing arts.

She was best known for directing and acting in experimental plays and films, and was a mentor to many budding as well as popular Bollywood actors like Nana Patekar and Anupam Kher.

Mehta received several awards during her lifetime, including National Film Awards for her acting and direction and a Padma Shri (an Indian government civilian award) for her contribution to modern Indian theatre.

Although widely associated with Marathi theatre, Mehta was born in Vadodara in present-day Gujarat state in 1934. She came from a family of actors and could have easily pursued a career in mainstream cinema but chose the world of theatre instead.

Indian theatre, though not bereft of fans, has always occupied a less glamorous space in the performing arts. But this didn't seem to matter to Mehta, who began acting in Marathi plays during college after being encouraged by a professor.

She later trained under Ebrahim Alkazi and Adi Marzban, pioneers of modern Indian theatre, and carried their spirit of experimentation into her own work.

Theatre lovers in Maharashtra remember Mehta as the woman who transformed Marathi theatre with bold, experimental plays about ordinary lives.

The change resonated with largely middle-class Marathi-speaking audiences, who finally saw their own lives reflected on stage. Her plays captured the complexities of everyday life, with flawed, believable characters whose honesty struck a chord.

In his tribute to Mehta on X, Raj Thackeray, one of Maharashtra's most well-known politicians, celebrated her "courage" to transform Marathi theatre at a time when the state itself was coming into its own.

Mehta co-founded the experimental Mumbai theatre group Rangayan in 1960, the year Maharashtra was created when the Bombay Reorganisation Act split the bilingual Bombay state into Gujarati-speaking Gujarat and Marathi-speaking Maharashtra.

Thackeray said Mehta emerged at a time when Maharashtra was embracing social reform, industrialisation and universal education, and Marathi theatre needed to move beyond "grand sets and melodrama" to become "truly experimental". "Vijaya Tai (sister) filled that void," he wrote.

Rangayan staged some of Marathi theatre's boldest experimental plays while nurturing a generation of actors and writers.

Playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar, whose one-act plays Mehta directed and produced at Rangayan, wrote fondly about working with her in the Indian Express newspaper.

"When I joined hands with Bai [which roughly translates to madam in the Marathi language], as Vijaya was called, I knew that I had found my home ground. We were not interested in entertaining; fame and money were not even on our radar. We wanted to explore theatre, art and life through our work," he wrote.

Mehta also inspired many to pursue theatre. Among them was singer and writer Swanand Kirkire, who has said one of her workshops drew him to the stage.

The atmosphere, he wrote on X, was so "captivating" that he "just decided to settle right into it".

Mehta introduced Marathi-speaking audiences to Sanskrit classics, experimental productions of plays by Marathi playrights like Vijay Tendulkar, and adaptations of works by Bertolt Brecht and Anton Chekhov.

But Mehta's experimentation extended beyond theatre.

She directed acclaimed films including Rao Saheb (1985), about a reformist lawyer in 19th-century Maharashtra, and Pestonjee (1988), which explored love, adultery and friendship through the lives of three Parsis in 1950s Mumbai.

Actors who worked with Mehta recall her sharp understanding of the craft and her rigorous approach to directing.

In a post on X, veteran actor Anupam Kher recalled his experience working with her in Rao Saheb, in which he played the lead role.

"I had already done a few films by then and thought I understood something about acting. But every rehearsal with her reminded me how vast the ocean of this craft really is. In front of her wisdom, her understanding of human behaviour, and her extraordinary sensitivity, I happily became a student again," he wrote.

Mehta also chaired Mumbai's National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) for more than a decade. During her career, she worked with leading Indian playwrights and actors as well as international theatre figures including Peter Brook, Eugenio Barba and Richard Schechner.

Her death leaves a void in the world of Indian theatre that will be hard to fill.

Actress Sonali Kulkarni says she and other actors and theatre professionals owe Mehta a debt they might never be able to repay.

"To say that your [Mehta's] passing is our loss would be too small a thing to say. We would only diminish what you truly gave us. The richness your presence brought, the abundance you gifted to the theatre is something we can never fully repay," Kulkarni says.

With inputs from Siddhanth Ganu and Mayuresh Konnur from BBC Marathi.

Vatican excommunicates followers of global Catholic sect

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yz95188jjo, 3 days ago

The Vatican has excommunicated followers of a conservative Catholic splinter sect, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a day after it consecrated four new bishops against Pope Leo XIV's direct instruction.

In a decree, it said the Society's total of six bishops were excommunicated - and, in a highly unusual move, it added that any lay members who "formally adhere" to the group "are to be considered schismatic and excommunicated".

But those who left the SSPX would be welcomed back "with sincere affection".

The Vatican later clarified that not all members would be excommunicated automatically, but those who "habitually participate" in SSPX celebrations and "formally share its doctrinal positions" would be.

The SSPX was founded in 1970 in opposition to the modernising reforms made by the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s, at what was known as the Second Vatican Council. The Society is thought to number around 600,000 worshippers globally.

In response to the Vatican's decree, Rita Reid, an SSPX worshipper from Jersey in the Channel Islands, said: "It actually makes me feel quite strong.

"Before the consecrations yesterday I said to my husband, 'Do you know what? Even if they excommunicate us, go ahead, bring it on, it's not going to make one bit of difference.'"

The Society rejects changes made to how Mass is celebrated - for example it still holds its services in Latin rather than everyday language, and priests face the altar rather than the congregation.

In SSPX Masses the communion bread has to be given straight into the mouths of kneeling worshippers by the priest, as opposed to churchgoers being able to stand and hold it themselves.

Women in the group also tend to cover their heads for services and followers of SSPX tend to be more socially conservative in general.

The SSPX also opposes the modern Catholic Church's stance on more dialogue with other Christian denominations and other faiths.

For Rita, 76, SSPX ceremonies are much more "profound", where she feels "the true presence of Jesus".

She says there is no comparison with the standard Catholic Mass, which she describes as "so weak and wishy-washy".

The retired B&B owner used to attend modern Catholic services as well as SSPX ones, but complained that in the standard Mass traditional social values - like no sex before marriage - was no longer taught.

"I think a lot of young people now that go to novus ordo [the standard liturgy] think 'oh well, it's all right, we can do these things'."

The Society's main presence is in the US and France but it holds Masses at 26 locations around the UK, from Lerwick in Shetland down to Devon, with its main centre being in Wimbledon, South London.

At one point in the 1980s, bishops from the Society were excommunicated for disobeying Rome, but that decision was later reversed.

More recently, efforts had been made to reconcile with the SSPX, but the Vatican's response to this week's events was more aggressive than before, and more severe than predicted.

It was widely expected that Wednesday's event in Geneva would lead to excommunication of the bishops involved.

But the excommunication of all those lay people who continue to be a part of SSPX was a surprise to many, with the traditionalist group now as far from the centre of power of the Roman Catholic Church as it has ever been.

Excommunication is one of the harshest punishments that can be given by the Church, effectively expelling the offender from the religion and excluding them from Catholic life.

It means a baptised follower is "out of communion" with the Church - meaning they cannot receive the sacraments, for example going to confession, or get married within the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican said on Thursday: "The sacred ministers of the Society of St Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, while the sacrament of penance they administer and the marriages they witness are invalid."

It means SSPX members now have to choose whether to stay part of a group that is in "schism", or leave behind the things they believe are right in order to stay part of the Catholic Church.

However it is clear that many SSPX members believe it is the Vatican that has moved away from true doctrine, not them.

Large crowds gather in Tehran on first day of Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ky2zen1kgo, yesterday

Large crowds of black-clad mourners have gathered outside Tehran's main mosque to pay their respects to Iran's former supreme leader on the first day of his funeral commemorations.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's body is currently lying in state at the Grand Mosalla, ahead of his burial in his hometown of Mashhad next Thursday.

Authorities expect 15-20 million people to attend the ceremonies across Iran and Iraq over the coming days, which take place more than four months after Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes.

Masses of supporters of the Islamic regime turned out on Saturday morning, reportedly chanting slogans against the US and in support of revenge for the ayatollah's killing.

"We came [to the funeral] because we promised the supreme leader we would stand by him to the very end," 37-year-old professor Reza told news agency AFP in the Grand Mosalla's courtyard.

"For a long time, we shouted that we would sacrifice our lives for the leader, but it was he who sacrificed himself for us."

Arash Rahimi, 40, told Reuters: "Everyone here has come to avenge the blood of their supreme leader.

"As our leader has said, we have a blood feud with the United States. Our relations with the United States will never be good."

Khamenei was killed during joint Israeli and US strikes on Iran in late February, in what quickly spiralled into a wider regional conflict.

US President Donald Trump said Iran's government was "dying to settle" a peace deal to end the war after a preliminary agreement was struck between the two, adding on Friday: "We gave them [Iran] a week off for a funeral because we're nice."

Much of central Tehran will be locked down over the weekend as the funeral ceremony gets under way. It is expected to be the largest funeral ever in terms of attendees as a proportion of the country's population.

Khamenei's body will lie in the Grand Mosalla for three days, alongside the remains of family members who were also killed in the air strikes.

There will then be three further days of events outside of the capital.

On Tuesday, his body will be moved to Qom, to the south of Tehran, where a senior Shia cleric will lead funeral prayers at Jamkaran, one of Iran's most prominent and symbolic religious sites.

It will then travel to Najaf in Iraq on Wednesday. Following a procession at the shrine of Imam Ali, Shia Islam's first imam, ceremonies will continue in Karbala before the body returns to Iran.

Then on Thursday, Khamenei will be buried at the Imam Reza Shrine, the mausoleum of Shia Islam's eighth imam and Iran's most important pilgrimage site, in Mashhad.

Ceremonies beyond the six-day procession will continue across the country for the following 40 days, with commemorative events planned until the first anniversary of Khamenei's burial.

Khamenei was succeeded as Iran's supreme leader by his son, Mojtaba, who has not been seen in public since assuming the role, prompting speculation about his health.

Whether he will be seen at the funeral remains a key question surrounding the carefully choreographed ceremony.

Brutal heat cancels Fourth of July events, from DC to Philadelphia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cevlkzer7vdo, yesterday

Extreme heat has disrupted Fourth of July celebrations across parts of the US, including the cancellation of a parade in Washington DC.

The Great American State Fair in the nation's capital - marking the country's 250th birthday - was also temporarily shut after multiple people were treated for heat-related illnesses.

More than 165 million people were sweltering on Friday under record temperatures along the US East Coast and Midwest, according to the US National Weather Service.

The heatwave is disrupting the holiday weekend as US President Donald Trump hosts a celebration marking America's 250th birthday, while multiple World Cup matches take place outdoors.

The 4 July holiday is traditionally characterised by lots of outdoors activities - barbecues, community parades and fireworks at night.

But multiple events commemorating the US holiday - and the country's 250th birthday - were cancelled due to the blistering heat, from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland to as far west as Colorado.

Among the cancelled events on Friday was Philadelphia's Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade, which was tipped to be one of the biggest events across the US.

"As much as this decision pains everyone inside our organisation, we simply cannot host an event of this size and scale under these dangerous heat conditions," Michael DelBene, the CEO of parade organiser Wawa Welcome America, said in a statement to the BBC.

In Washington, an Independence Day morning was cancelled "after extensive and careful consideration of the safety of our participants, spectators and staff as the top priority", organisers said.

The intense heat also led to the closure of the fair on the National Mall for several hours on Friday, one day before the holiday. The State Fair reopened at 17:00 local time (21:00 GMT) after conditions improved, organiser Freedom 250 said.

"The safety and wellbeing of our guests, volunteers, performers, vendors and staff is our highest priority," it said.

The DC Fire and EMS Department treated several people for "heat-related illnesses" at the fair on Friday, a spokesperson for the department told the BBC. He said these were caused by "record-breaking temperatures" at the event.

At least 11 people were taken by ambulance from the fair, the spokesperson said, but did not elaborate on whether all had heat-related illnesses.

"It is going to be a very busy weekend," a spokesperson for the DC Fire and EMS Department told the Washington Post.

"We know that there are going to be heat-related illnesses on and off the Mall, and we encourage our residents and visitors to take precautions if you're going to be out in the heat."

Robin Ardito, who attended the fair, said she saw a middle-aged woman who appeared to be suffering from a heat-related illness. The woman was being tended to by fair staff with both hands in buckets of ice, she said.

"It was too hot to be holding an event like this," Ardito added.

Another event in Washington DC was affected when US Capitol Police delayed public entry for Friday evening's outdoor A Capitol Fourth concert from 15:00 to 19:00 local time.

Trump is expected to speak outside at a 4 July celebration on Saturday, despite the predicted high temperatures. The president has maintained that he wanted to gather outside for the celebration.

"I'm gonna make a really long speech just to show that I can do anything," he said.

The extreme heat was expected to continue through the weekend as the hottest spell of the year so far sends temperatures soaring to levels not seen, in some areas, in decades.

It follows an unprecedented spell of early summer heat across Europe, with record highs across the continent.

Searing heat and high humidity is not unusual across North America, but the widespread nature of this event, across central and eastern areas on Friday and then the east for the weekend, sets it apart as potentially dangerous.

Philadelphia and Washington DC are expected to reach 104F (40C) and 103F with the humidity making it feel like 112F and 111F, respectively, approaching their all-time record highs, according to the NWS.

How is the heat affecting your fourth of July plans? Get in touch by using this link or the form below.

On Thursday, New York City hit 100F (38C) degrees, its hottest day since 2012, and the heat index remained in triple digits again on Friday.

"These are extremely dangerous conditions," said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Saturday might see the heat breaking in some central areas, but not in the east where it will be dangerously hot for those at outside events.

Another concern is severe thunderstorms on the northern plains, the Midwest and across to the Great Lakes. These will bring a dramatic end to the heat with damaging hail, destructive winds, flash flooding and even a few tornadoes.

By Sunday, the heat will intensify in Virginia, the Carolinas and the south-east before building in western parts of the US and Canada into next week.

Parts of Canada including southern Ontario have already reached mid-30s (over 90F) this week.

Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting because of human-induced climate change. The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

Former chess champion Kramnik banned over cheating remarks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd6epx607dqo, today

The World Chess Federation (Fide) has banned former world champion Kramnik for at least a year over verbal attacks he made on other players, including the late Daniel Naroditsky.

The body said it had found Kramnik "responsible for multiple violations" of its ethics and disciplinary code after the Russian accused other players of cheating.

US grandmaster Naroditsky died last October at the age of 29. Before his death, he had denied any wrongdoing and indicated the controversy had taken its toll on him in his final Twitch broadcast.

Kramnik wrote on X that he will appeal his suspension.

Another 12 months of the ban have been suspended for a probationary period of three years, Fide said. It means the active suspension is one year provided no further breaches occur during probation.

Naroditsky was a popular player, teacher and commentator. He was a leading figure in online chess with hundreds of thousands of followers - who knew him as Danya - across Twitch and YouTube.

A toxicology report released in 2026 said he had had multiple drugs in his system at the time and was killed by an abnormal heartbeat caused by an accidental overdose.

Some prominent figures in the chess community - including world number two Hikaru Nakamura, former world champion Magnus Carlsen and Indian grandmaster Nihal Sarin - have previously condemned Kramnik's conduct.

Fide said its findings were not intended to determine the validity of Kramnik's remarks, but were concerned with the manner in which the allegations were communicated publicly.

The chess body said combating cheating remained one of its highest priorities, but it stressed that such allegations must be handled through its established procedures.

Kramnik was the world champion from 2000-07 and is a self-declared "advocate for fair play in chess".

Naroditsky earned the title of grandmaster - the international chess federation's highest-ranked chess competitor - while he was still a teenager, after winning the 2013 US Junior Championship.

Farage denies rules broken after reports benefits from ally were not declared

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0424end7vo, today

Nigel Farage's spokesman has denied fresh allegations the Reform UK leader may have broken parliamentary rules, after reports the MP failed to declare benefits provided by an ally who was once convicted of fraud in the US.

The Sunday Times says George Cottrell supplied support including security and social media staff who worked on Farage's online content in the year before he was elected. It also claims Farage used a property rented by Cottrell near Buckingham Palace.

Farage is already facing a parliamentary probe over a £5m gift from a billionaire Reform UK donor which was not registered. He has argued that money was for personal security and was not political because it was received when he was not involved in politics.

His team have made a similar argument for why the "in kind" - non-cash - benefits allegedly from Cottrell were not registered.

Cottrell, 32, who admitted a count of wire fraud in the US in 2017, is a long-standing ally of Farage. He was involved with UKIP as a volunteer in the run-up to the Brexit referendum.

In 2017, Cottrell was jailed for eight months in the US after pleading guilty to a charge of wire fraud after admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by posing as a money launderer.

Farage was with him when US authorities pounced as the pair were returning to the UK from a Republican convention.

According to the Sunday Times, Cottrell is a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and is involved with offshore gambling website Tether.bet.

Farage served as Reform's honorary president between March 2021 and June 2024. On 3 June 2024, he confirmed he was returning as party leader and standing in the general election. He became Clacton MP in July 2024.

Under parliamentary rules, new MPs must declare financial interests and "registrable benefits" received in the 12 months before their election.

The guidelines say purely personal gifts or benefits do not need to be registered.

When he became an MP, Farage registered a £9,253 trip to Belgium in April 2024 donated by Cottrell, and later added a £15,276 donation from Cottrell for a US domestic flight he provided in December 2024.

No other support from Cottrell is listed in the Register of Members' Financial Interests.

A spokesman for Farage said: "It comes as no surprise that the Sunday Times has chosen to publish this baseless and contrived story, covering a period of time when Nigel Farage was not even an active politician let alone an elected one, given that the newspaper backed the Labour Party at the last general election.

"Contrary to the story's tone, no parliamentary rules have been broken."

A source said Reform paid for Farage's security and staff after his return to politics.

The source also denied Farage received accommodation from Cottrell - saying the MP did not stay at the London property.

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is currently investigating whether Farage broke the rules over the £5m gift from British cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne in early 2024.

Farage has said Harborne gave him the money to pay for his personal security, adding the gift was "purely private" and "wasn't political in any sense at all".

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "Nigel Farage and Reform are engulfed in a huge and growing scandal.

"These new allegations of secret payments from a wealthy convicted criminal are on top of the ongoing scandal of his secret £5m gift from a crypto billionaire.

"How much money has he been given, what did his donors get in return, and why has he tried to cover them up and avoid legitimate questions?"

Pope urges Europe to do more for migrants as he visits gateway island

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yz83n7q5no, yesterday

Pope Leo XIV has called on European leaders to rise to the "momentous challenge" of handling migration as he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The pontiff urged Europe to help new arrivals integrate better and improve conditions in their home countries, during a mass on the island, which receives tens of thousands of migrants a year.

"Those who have lost their lives in this sea are victims both of decisions that were made and of decisions that were not made," the Pope said.

Since becoming the head of the Catholic Church in May 2025, the Pope has repeatedly called for greater support for migrants and criticised anti-migrant policies.

His trip comes two weeks after the EU approved tougher migrants rules that allow stricter border controls and broader detention powers.

It marks a wider trend of governments hardening their stance on undocumented migration, with many, including the UK and Italy, adopting measures aimed at deterring it.

The Pope began the trip with a visit to a cemetery on Lampedusa and prayed at the graves of migrants who had died while making the dangerous journey from Africa to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.

He also stood at the "Door of Europe" memorial for those who had perished attempting the crossing and spoke to a migrant family.

"From this far-flung corner of Europe on the Mediterranean Sea, one can more clearly perceive the momentous challenge that the phenomenon of migration poses to European societies," the Pope told Catholics on the island.

"Europe is capable of addressing the crisis in this region in a comprehensive manner, integrating immediate relief efforts into a long-term strategic plan capable of receiving, protecting, supporting and integrating migrants" while "assisting developing countries so that no one is forced to emigrate", he said.

The island of Lampedusa - which sits 90 miles (145km) off Tunisia's coast - is home to a migrant reception centre that is overcrowded with challenging living conditions.

Those who make the journey often travel in poorly maintained and overcrowded vessels, making sea crossings more perilous for those aboard.

More than 1,400 people have died or gone missing while attempting to cross the ⁠Mediterranean this year, including 28 children, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration.

New migrants, rescue officials, members of aid groups and the Italian Coast Guard were among those to gather to see the Pope.

The Pope "continues to accompany you, support you and encourage you", he told the gathering.

"The pope's visit speaks to every one of us," Kandeh Abdourahman, a migrant who arrived in Lampedusa in 2015, told news agency Reuters.

It was "a reminder that our stories are seen, that welcome is not just a word but an act of humanity", said Abdourahman, now a cultural mediator with the International Rescue Committee.

The Pope has made support for migrants a central theme of his papacy, frequently putting him at odds with US President Donald Trump, whose anti-immigration stance he has called "inhuman".

In a letter addressed to fellow Americans on the 250th anniversary of US independence, the pontiff said the Catholic value of defending life included "welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants".

He recalled how "immigrants' sacrifices and contributions have shaped the nation's history".

"To receive them with compassion and generosity is not only an act of charity, but also a recognition of the dignity that belongs to every human person," he wrote.

Keiko Fujimori declared winner of Peru's presidential election weeks after vote

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5jpvv06e1o, yesterday

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has been declared the winner of Peru's tight presidential election, nearly a month after the vote took place.

The 51-year-old won 50.135% of voters' support in the runoff, held on 7 June, to 49.865% for left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez - a margin of less than 50,000 votes, figures certified by Peru's electoral court show.

It is the fourth time the daughter of disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori has sought the South American nation's presidency, promising this time to oversee a crackdown on organised crime.

Her election, coinciding with the election of Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia, marks a shift towards the right in Latin American politics.

Fujimori said she would assume the role of president "with responsibility, humility and a deep sense of duty".

"Each day of this transition process is an opportunity to listen, engage in dialogue and arrive prepared at the start of the new government," she added, with what appeared to be a nod to her thin mandate.

Sánchez, 57, has alleged the runoff election had been "seriously compromised" and threatened legal action, arguing that strong support for Fujimori among Peruvian voters abroad was a sign of irregularities.

After the result was declared on Friday, his party appealed against the electoral court's proclamation, calling for the vote to be nullified.

While Sánchez, a former foreign trade minister, stood on a platform of broad economic reforms, Fujimori benefited from concerns over crime and political instability dominating the race.

Throughout the campaign, she leant on the controversial legacy of her father, promising a military crackdown on organised crime, in particular extortion incidents that have soared in recent years.

Alberto Fujimori was eventually jailed for crimes against humanity over extra-judicial killings and forced sterilisations undertaken during his increasingly authoritarian leadership.

Keiko also pledged to attract private investment to promote economic growth and to immediately expel any undocumented immigrants found to be committing crimes in Peru.

She stood unsuccessfully in 2011, 2016 and 2021, losing by similarly tight margins, during a period of intense political instability in Peru. She will become the Andean country's ninth president in a decade.

Her swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place on 28 July.

When she assumes office, she will be the latest addition to a host of ideologically aligned, right-wing leaders in Latin America who have assumed power in recent years, often unseating left-wing governments.

Colombia's president-elect, de la Espriella, will take office a few days later, having won a similarly razor-thin election on the promise of combatting organised crime.

He and others like El Salvador's Nayib Bukele and Ecuador's Daniel Noboa have sought to align themselves with US President Donald Trump, who has taken more of an interest in Latin American political affairs in his second term.

The trend means Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva - who is facing the son of convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro in elections later this year - is now the region's predominant left-wing standard-bearer.

We spent 17 years fighting for the truth about our mother's murder

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg7zxjdy05o, today

It started with a phone call from Interpol in 2009.

Officials had contacted Jean Hanlon's parents to say their 53 year-old-daughter was missing in Crete.

Jean's youngest son Michael Porter got a call from his older brother Robert to tell him the news: "I was like, what do you mean she's missing?"

The lives of three brothers from Dumfries were about to change in ways they could never have predicted.

"I was automatically thinking the worst but didn't know what the worst was," Michael said.

Jean Hanlon had been due to babysit a child with learning disabilities in Crete and when she didn't turn up alarm bells rang.

"The one thing mum was very good at was being loyal. She always gave everybody everything and stuck to her word." Michael recalled.

He was living in Mansfield at the time and his two brothers Robert and David were in Dumfries. The three of them got on a plane to Crete.

"I wouldn't say we're all emotional people but that was a powerful, emotional moment where we didn't say anything. We just kind of hugged, cried and it was the quietest plane journey ever because what could we say?"

The brothers had been told the body of a woman in her 30s had been recovered from water in Heraklion. Their mum was in her early 50s so while they were sad for another family they still had some hope.

All the same they were taken to see if the body was Jean. Michael saw his mum's clothes in a pile and said they were instantly recognisable.

His brothers Robert and David had experience of working in hospitals and were trying to prepare him for what he was about to see: "As much as I appreciated that, if this was mum, this was going to be the last time I saw her."

Suspicious injuries

Nothing could have prepared the three brothers for what they saw: "You couldn't possibly touch or hug her or anything and I think that was the hard part."

The brothers were instantly suspicious. There were reports their mother had been seen with a man in a nearby café in Heraklion the night she went missing and they didn't believe the injuries she had, including a blow to the back of the head, were the result of an accident.

The Greek authorities originally ruled that hear death was accidental but they pushed for a second review of the post-mortem report. That took time but within two years it revealed injuries consistent with a struggle.

"It just infuriates me that if we hadn't kept fighting we would never have known about all those other injuries," Michael said.

The brothers' campaign for justice was under way.

Jean had worked for the NHS in Scotland, but her first holiday abroad, to Crete at the age of 40, helped convince her to try something different.

She worked for a time in the travel industry, before moving to Greece, working in tavernas. It was "her place" - she loved Crete and its people, which made her violent death there all the more shocking.

"It's the duty of the living to speak up for the dead," Michael said. That's a line he has repeated during hundreds of media interviews since 2009.

In the following years the Greek authorities would close and then reopen the case four times. Two men were falsely accused of involvement in Jean Hanlon's death.

The case appeared on the Greek equivalent of Crimewatch but every time the investigation looked to be gaining momentum it would hit a brick wall.

In 2019 Michael, and Robert's daughter Rebecca travelled back to Crete to highlight Jean's case and raise awareness. A number of British and Greek journalists covered the trip but there was no conclusive breakthrough as a result.

Michael said the fight has been endless: "You can't describe what it does to you…my motivation every day was to think of something new to keep it [his mum's story] fresh to get people's attention, to come up with another fundraising idea."

The turning point came late in 2023 when the brothers decided to hire a private investigator called Haris Veramon who worked with his colleague Nikos Arkoulis.

He took on the case with a fresh pair of eyes and focused on Jean Hanlon's diary. In it she mentioned a man who she had briefly dated at the start of 2009 but she ended the relationship.

The investigators said that Jean's diary along with other evidence led them to believe the suspect was a "rejected stalker" who didn't accept the separation and wrongly believed she was having a relationship with another man.

Veramon spoke to witnesses and went over old testimony. One of the key questions in this case was who Jean Hanlon was with in Café Marina the night she went missing.

There was no CCTV, no DNA but the private investigator's report concluded she had been out with the suspect.

Veramon's report was enough to get the case to court.

Seventeen years after identifying their mother's body Michael, Robert and David were back in Crete to face the man accused of murdering her.

All three gave evidence at the start of the trial. They believed their mum had politely broken up with the suspect but he continued to "bully her."

A turning point on day two of the trial was when the suspect's sister gave evidence. She said her brother had been diagnosed with mental health conditions and if he didn't take his medication he would become aggressive. The prosecution case was that he hadn't been taking his medication during his time with Jean Hanlon.

The suspect's evidence was contradictory. At one point he said they had only been together four or five days despite Jean's diary suggesting it was longer than that.

Some of the most difficult evidence for Michael, Robert and David to listen to was that of a forensic pathologist.

She told the trial the most likely cause of death was a blow to the back of the head and that in her opinion Jean Hanlon would still have been alive when she was placed in the water.

In the end it took a mixed jury of judges and members of the public around three hours to unanimously convict the suspect of murdering Jean Hanlon, albeit the court acknowledged his diminished responsibility because of mental health illness.

Michael, Robert and David were in tears, and not for the first time during this trial. After 17 years a man had finally been convicted of murdering their mum.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but won't go to jail until after his appeal is heard.

Under Greek law a convicted person is not usually named until the end of the legal process and that includes an appeal.

Outside court the brothers spoke to journalists.

Michael said he was happy and relieved his mum was finally free: "We've all fought so hard for this day."

But all three brothers were concerned the convicted man hadn't been sent straight to prison: "It's disappointing that he's free until the appeal. Everybody has a right but that is sad and worrying for us," Michael added.

'I'm grateful mum's voice was heard'

Robert Porter, Jean's eldest son said: "I'm just grateful that a roomful of strangers just listened to my mum's voice and came to the right decision…ultimately it is a victory and I'm grateful mum's voice was heard.

Jean's middle son David Porter said: "I'm very happy it's came to a near end although I'd rather the person was in prison."

Their lawyer Aspostolos Xiritakis has worked with the family since 2012: "This is the case I have worked longest on in my career. It's a great victory because the family now feel, after 17 years, that justice has been served.

"We could say there is partly a bittersweet feeling because we have a conviction, but he was not kept in prison because it was recognised he has a mental health illness."

These brothers have come to expect the unexpected during the last 17 years. They have endured endless ups and downs and know they still have an appeal to get through.

But for now, after years of hurt, they finally have some sense of justice for their mum.

Australia probes mystery space balls that washed up on beach

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jyydr7jnjo, today

The authorities in Australia are investigating the origins of mysterious large silver spheres that washed up on a beach in northern Queensland this weekend.

The six solid objects discovered on Forrest Beach, to the north of Townsville, are thought to be space debris, and the Australian Space Agency (ASA) is now trying to determine where they came from. The BBC has approached the agency for comment.

Crews in protective suits were reportedly seen placing the spheres in hazmat barrels under police guard, over concerns they may contain hazardous substances.

Queensland's fire department said on Sunday that a 50m exclusion zone remained in place, urging anyone who found a suspicious object in the area not to touch them.

It said members of the public who encounter them should immediately move away and call the emergency services.

There has been some speculation online that the spheres are propellant tanks for spacecraft, and so could contain residual amounts of a highly flammable or reactive substance.

But what vehicle or its owner they came from remains unclear.

Forrest Beach Takeaway owner Lisa Scobie said the local community was curious to know their origin.

"It's very quiet, not a lot happens here. So having a lot of extra activity... that definitely created a little bit of excitement," she told public broadcaster ABC.

It is not the first time, however, that such mysterious objects have been spotted on Australia's shoreline.

In 2023, India confirmed that a giant metal dome that washed up on a Western Australian beach near Perth was from one of its rockets.

India's space agency spokesman later told the BBC that it was from one of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV).

A spherical object similar to those discovered this weekend was also found in remote grassland in Namibia, southern Africa, in 2011.

Experts at the time said they believed it was most likely a fuel tank or bladder tank containing hydrazine - a highly volatile propellant - from an unmanned rocket.

Why Wonderwall has become England's World Cup anthem

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2wllrlrxgo, 3 days ago

"Cmon England cmon Wonderwall."

That was the message from Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher on Wednesday, after England's travelling supporters once again sang his band's most famous song with the players at full-time following a nervy late World Cup knockout win over DR Congo in Atlanta.

It has become a new tradition in recent weeks, being belted out after all three of the men's team's wins in the US.

Speaking to the Sun after their opening win in Dallas, the man who wrote it, Liam's brother and bandmate Noel Gallagher said: "Wonderwall belongs to the people, and it was a magical moment between the people and the players."

And he claims not to be an England fan.

Captain Harry Kane told the Lions' Den podcast that the first impromptu singalong was one of his "favourite ever moments in an England shirt".

His old teammate and now BBC Sport pundit Joe Hart said such "phenomenal" moments allow players to "drop the mask, just for a few minutes, of being an elite professional".

"It resonates with being English," one fan told BBC Sport.

While traditional England anthems including Three Lions, Vindaloo, World in Motion, as well as Sweet Caroline - the accidental breakout hit from Euro 2020 - have still been heard in pubs around the country, Wonderwall appears to be the song of the summer so far.

The number two hit, taken from Oasis's all-conquering 1995 album (What's the Story) Morning Glory, re-entered the UK singles chart last week as a result of the initial viral moment.

In 2008, shortly before Oasis split up, Liam declared that he "can't stand singing that song" - the acoustically-driven ballad that launched a thousand buskers.

But since then he has done exactly that, many times and to great effect for adoring fans around the world throughout the band's big-selling reunion tour last year.

'Song for the moment'

Author and broadcaster PJ Harrison, who last year released the biography Gallagher: The Rise and Fall of Oasis, finds the process of pop songs being adopted by football fans fascinating.

In the 1960s, the Evertonian tells BBC News, there was a tradition for fans simply singing pop hits of the day.

He thinks what is happening now with England and Wonderwall could not have been contrived.

"You have the long lifespan of Wonderwall, then you have the renewed interest with the tour," he notes. "And obviously, if you've got to put one song on from that tour, that fits.

"Then it's just a case of the DJ having the situational awareness to think, 'This is the song for the moment', put it on and everybody just embrace it."

He adds: "Once it takes root and it becomes melded to an emotional moment, like winning a first World Cup game, it just takes on this emotional life and quickly gathers an immediate nostalgia."

As for the song itself, Noel told Uncut magazine around the time of its release that it was a musical love letter to his then-wife Meg Mathews. But he subsequently changed his story, telling Q Magazine it was about "an imaginary friend who's going to come and save you from yourself".

The ambiguity in the lyrics allied to the familiar, easy melody, Harrison believes, allows fans to "express an outpouring of love without necessarily specifying what it's towards".

"What is a Wonderwall? I'm not really sure what it is but I can sing about it and it can be whatever I think it is," says the former Plymouth Argyle director and co-founder of the LA-based City of Angels FC.

"If I think it's Jude Bellingham or if I think it's England winning, it can be that, or it could be my girlfriend or whatever."

Unlike some of the other more upbeat, hopeful England songs, he feels the reflective nature of Wonderwall means it "would also still work in consolation if the team get knocked out".

'Euphoria and melancholy'

The term Wonderwall is originally taken from the psychedelic and surreal 1968 film of the same name.

It stars Jane Birkin as the object of obsession for a man who lives next door, slowly making holes in his wall so he can watch her through it (not creepy at all).

George Harrison provided the soundtrack - the first solo album by a Beatle - which is where avid record collector Noel came across it.

The original working title for his tune had been Wishing Stone, but a smart tweak to the lyrics resulted in his best-selling song - millions of records and billions of streams - and probably paid for his swimming pool.

Louder Than War writer and Membranes musician John Robb, who also released an Oasis book last year titled Live Forever: The Rise, Fall And Resurrection Of Oasis, tells us Wonderwall is the perfect song for football fans due to it's heady mix of "euphoria" and "melancholy".

"There's something really melancholic about being a football fan because any second you're about to lose but any second you're about to win," says the Blackpool supporter.

"The song captures both - it's the perfect football song."

He continues: "It has that thing where you can sing along to it but it's got that undertone of sadness, it's also got that lift in the chorus."

Although not written as a football song, Noel has spoken of the influence of his time spent on the terraces at the old Maine Road watching Manchester City on his songwriting, Robb recalls.

"Football is about community and camaraderie and everybody being together in the moment, and those kinds of songs are perfect for it," he adds.

"The ultimate choir is a football terrace, because it's a lot of people who can't really sing, singing together and in harmony.

"That's quite a beautiful thing."

England fans will be hoping their team is on song this month so they can continue their new tradition all the way to the final in New York.

All the roads that lead them there are winding, though, starting in Mexico City on Monday morning.

Wonderwall lost its own final of sorts, back in November 1995. It was cruelly kept off the top of the chart by Robson and Jerome's double A-side, I Believe and Up On The Roof - which remain unsung by hordes of England fans as far as we're aware.

If England do win the World Cup for the first time in 60 years, look out for the song maaaaaybe ending 30 years of chart hurt too.

"Let's keep the biblical vibrations going," as Liam put it on X.

If not, supporters may be crying their hearts out instead.

Can the World Cup's viral stars turn social media fame into fortunes?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy04k0vzqrdo, 5 days ago

It took 90 minutes for Vozinha, Cape Verde's 40-year-old goalkeeper, to become a world-wide sensation with more Instagram followers than NFL legend Tom Brady.

Vozinha's impressive performance against Spain in the World Cup group stage led to a 0-0 draw, a huge surprise against one of the tournament favourites. It led to Vozinha's 50,000 Instagram followers ballooning to 17.4 million, surpassing athletes such as Brady (15.5 million).

World Cup stars, like Vozinha, can harness their new social media fame to generate lucrative financial opportunities.

But media expert Mike Serazio said those prospects can be fleeting. "It's viral - it goes up very fast and it goes down equally fast," he said.

Brooke Duffy, a digital and social media scholar at Cornell University, said influencers with millions of followers can demand payments that stretch beyond six-figures.

A prominent social media presence can lead to brand partnerships and advertisers paying for individual posts.

"Followers are a form of currency that matters now… more followers tends to translate into a higher income," she said.

Social media offers a different path to stardom

Tim Payne, a defender on the New Zealand team, was dubbed the "least-known" World Cup player by one Argentine influencer ahead of the tournament. Valen Scarsini, known as 'elscarso' online, shared a video calling on his hundreds of thousands of followers to help boost Payne's profile.

Payne leaned into this, posting more and engaging with the influencer. Over a few days, Payne's Instagram follower count grew from about 5,000 to nearly six million. He has a larger following, he pointed out, than the population of the country he hails from (New Zealand's population is just over 5.3 million).

Unlike in the case of Cape Verde's Vozinha, Payne's new-found fame didn't come from his efforts during a match.

It is a phenomenon that's becoming more prominent in the sports world, said Boston College professor Mike Serazio, who has researched the intersection of media and sport.

"You have had, in the last five to 10 years, the rise of athlete-stars who are all hype, all social media following," Serazio said. "Their fame is not commensurate to their athletic talents."

Serazio said that anyone who makes it to their country's national team is highly talented. But in previous eras, athletes had to be among the very best to book a television commercial or appear on a cereal box.

"You simply don't need the mass media in the way that you did previously and athletes understand this," he said. "Athletes have been taking to social media and using it ambitiously to cultivate followings, to strike brand deals, to make money, to leverage their popularity."

Will fame last after the World Cup?

Viral clips are the direction in which sports viewership is headed, Serazio believes.

"Your performance across the whole arc of the game doesn't matter as much as having a signature moment that'll play well, that'll reverberate in the viral confines of social media," Serazio said.

"The viral moment has greater currency," he said. "It's the thing that matters more than the game itself."

The question, though, is whether a World Cup athlete who finds themselves with millions of new fans can turn that into a career beyond the white lines of the football pitch.

"You have a window there of attention," Sezario said. "Nobody knew who the Cape Verde goalie was... and I don't know that they'll know who he is after the World Cup ends."

"Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Mbappe, after they retire, they're still going to be able to do deals," he said. Sezario said there are less examples of "athletes who have one big moment being able to leverage that post career".

One example of successfully harnessing a social media audience is Ilona Maher, the US rugby player whose popularity soared during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Maher has her own podcast, brand ambassador roles, modelled for Sports Illustrated, and finished as runner-up in the television series Dancing with the Stars. Maher also won the Best Breakthrough Athlete Award at the 2025 ESPY Awards.

Duffy said there are long-term career opportunities available for new social media stars, but exactly how much money can be earned is hard to calculate.

The price paid for sponsored posts on social media is not as standardised as rates in traditional media, such as television commercials, Duffy said. "There are very few safeguards on what a sort of reasonable income looks like," Duffy added.

"These are individuals whose careers so far have been hitched to soccer. So thinking about how they navigate the variability of a kind of shadowy ecosystem of the digital media economy is curious."

The cultural currency for these viral World Cup stars is at a high point right now. What it means for their futures could depend on how well they can keep new fans engaged after the tournament ends.

Staying up for the match? How to handle a 1am kick-off

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wyel830w8o, today

The England football team have a huge challenge taking on Mexico, on their home turf, in the last 16 of the World Cup.

But fans back home have an equally daunting task - surviving that 01:00 kick-off on a Monday morning.

The match will go on until at least 03:00 and that's without extra time, penalties or watching any of the post-match analysis and pubs can open until 05:00.

That is a sleep-wrecker - especially if you've got school, university or work on Monday.

"It's perfectly designed to screw things up," says sleep scientist Prof Russell Foster, from the University of Oxford. He says you won't fall asleep the second the final whistle blows either because "you're going to get so energised, it'll be difficult to wind down".

Well don't worry, I've got you covered… forget solving England's leaky defence, this is the tactical plan you need for the football.

We'll look at sleep hacks and the sweet spot for coffee and we'll offer a little bit of relationship advice and some tips for children. (Be warned they will not make you popular).

The three sleep strategies

The first thing we need to decide is when to sleep. There are three key plans:

* The full American

* The sandwich

* The squeeze

The most hardcore England fan who has no other commitments in life - or at least a very understanding family - could go for the full American.

"Put yourself on North American timing," says Dr Victoria Revell, from the University of Surrey.

It'll take you a few days to fully adapt, but after that you'll be almost nocturnal and will manage to take in the England game and all the other late-night fixtures. The only price will be human contact, but that'd only be a distraction anyway.

If that sounds too much, then try the sandwich or the squeeze depending on what feels right for you.

The sandwich strategy involves two sleeps – one before and one after the game.

So you're going to bed early, setting an alarm for just before kick-off and then enjoying the game. The downside is you're likely to a bit groggy and you may be watching the start of the game with your brain only half awake. But the adrenaline rush should take over so you enjoy it, although you "might struggle to then fall back asleep", says Revell.

The squeeze method involves staying up all night to watch it and squeezing in a couple of hours sleep before you have to get up. It's the simplest plan, but "you're going to cut your sleep very short and there are consequences the next day," says Revell.

If you're naturally a morning person who likes to be tucked up in bed early - then you might find the sandwich easier. Whereas a night owl who can easily work into the night might favour the squeeze.

Be warned

Odds are you will end up cutting your sleep short somehow. Just keep in mind that the tired brain is not you on a good day.

And if you've had a couple of beers while watching the game then things are going to be even worse. Alcohol is a sedative, but it dents your sleep quality.

"Lack of sleep, fuelled by alcohol consumption is an even worse recipe for functioning the next day," says Foster.

Not sleeping enough leads to mood swings, being irritable, high levels of anxiety and you won't care much about others as your empathy does a runner. And if you've got work or studies to do then concentration, decision-making, creativity and productivity all take "a nosedive" says Foster.

You're also more likely to take risks and be impulsive.

"It's bad for safety. Even after a one-hour clock change, there's a higher incidence of road traffic accidents," says Revell.

So you might want to weigh up if you need to drive on the Monday.

And you know that make-or-break conversation you've been meaning to have about the state of your marriage - just don't do it the morning after.

"It's alright to push the boundaries, as long as you know that you're going to be screwed up the next day and that you don't make any important life decisions," says Foster.

Dose up on caffeine

It's a no-brainer that some of us are going to be surviving on caffeine – whether that's coffee, tea or energy drinks.

The drug changes the way the brain works so it stops paying attention to the signals saying we're tired – it's the chemical equivalent of a toddler sticking their fingers in their ear and ignoring you.

But caffeine is a double-edged sword because the stimulant lingers in the body for a long time – a strong coffee at kick-off could be a disaster for sleep.

Normally, we're advised to knock coffee on the head around lunchtime - that's about eight hours before bedtime.

So if we shift the rules a bit and assume England get the win in normal time - so around 0300 - and we're going straight to bed, then we're downing our last caffeine dose around 1900.

Of course if you're doing an all-nighter - then you do whatever you want.

A good cup of coffee is going to be part of our survival plan for Monday. We know we're going to be exhausted so "make it a strong one" says Revell to get you up and going in the morning.

Get your boss to let you nap or have the day off

Experts advise getting up at the normal time (sleep purists hate the weekend lie-in) to avoid throwing the rhythms of your body out of whack.

You probably won't have a choice about getting up if you're off to work, but some early morning bright light will help tell your tired brain that it's time to be awake.

Strategic napping is also a World Cup watcher's power move.

On Sunday, you can take one in the build up to the game to help you stay up late and enjoy it rather than yawning constantly (although no amount of napping with overcome a turgid performance).

Another nap on Monday daytime will help refresh our tired brains. The perfect nap time is just after lunch as the body has a natural dip then – siesta time.

"Employers might even want to encourage people to do that," says Foster.

But keep them to around 20 to 30 minutes. If you go into a deeper sleep then it is harder to wake up and you'll be super groggy.

Although this is all just about survival - your best plan may be to just take Monday off!

What about the kids

When it comes to children it depends how old they are. Younger children are generally ready to sleep earlier.

"I would never wake my child up once she's asleep, I want her to stay asleep," says Revell.

Teenagers, however, tend to have body clocks that skew very late. They will cope relatively easily staying up late to watch the match. The problem comes in the morning and hauling themselves out of bed.

And children/teenagers will face the same cognitive and emotional challenges that adults do if their sleep is cut drastically short.

"I think potentially them watching it before they go to school, maybe waking up early and watching it might be better," says Revell.

Although I will warn you – this is what my parents used to do to me and it was not a popular decision. It's not the same even if you can avoid the scoreline.

"But that is a completely brilliant strategy and is exactly what you should do in terms of defending your sleep and ability to perform and function," says Foster.

How to watch the match on the BBC

Whatever you choose to do the BBC has got you covered with a special 'Stay Up or Catch Up' offer for its live coverage.

The last-16 tie will be broadcast exclusively live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with presenter Kelly Cates joined by Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Micah Richards.

In addition, there will also be a full no-spoiler re-run of the game on BBC Two from 07:10 BST, while a full re-run will be available on demand on BBC iPlayer immediately after the match.

There will also be live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds, alongside live text coverage and in-match clips across the BBC Sport website and app.

An extended 15-minute highlights programme on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport Football YouTube channel will be available as well.

Why does a Dutch World Cup star share his name with a Scottish town?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gy7lw8dn5o, yesterday

For the past decade or so, there has been an international football star whose name provokes a smile of recognition among residents of a south of Scotland town.

Denzel Dumfries has played in World Cups with the Dutch national team and the Champions League final with Milanese giants Inter.

The story of his first name - in honour of the actor Denzel Washington - is fairly widely known.

His surname, however, has a more complicated history which has much more to do with the Caribbean than the town known as the Queen of the South.

Suzette Dumfries is a cousin of Denzel's father Boris, and has a long-standing fascination with the family name and its history.

She works in Dubai as what she describes as a "nation builder" - helping countries "function at their highest potential" - but is originally from the island of Aruba.

With a population of about 100,000, it is also home to a large number of people with her Scottish-sounding surname.

"To understand the name Dumfries, and to understand what Denzel carries when he steps on to the world stage, one has to understand the family history behind the name," she said.

"I do not look at the Dumfries name only as a family name, I look at it as an archive.

"A name that carries slavery, freedom, migration, education, football, and the Caribbean's place in the wider world."

The story starts in Suriname on the South American mainlaind which, Suzette explained, although considered a Dutch colony, was shaped by many nations - including Scottish slave-owners.

"Dumfries is, of course, a town in Scotland but in our family line, we know the name did not enter Suriname first as a Scottish surname," she said.

"There was an enslaved man whose first name was Dumfries.

"At emancipation in 1863, when formerly enslaved people were formally registered with family names, his first name appears to have become the surname of the family line."

Suzette said the family had something of a tradition of founding organisations which Denzel has followed with his own specialist youth care and development centre in his native Rotterdam.

"Denzel's great-grandfather, Johannes Paulus Dumfries, born in 1874, was the first male born free in our lineage, which begins in Suriname," she said.

He would go on to co-found a credit bank for farmers.

It was Denzel's grandfather - George Remus Dumfries - who moved from Suriname to Aruba in the 1940s, where he would later co-establish the Mon Plaisir School.

He settled in the capital, Oranjestad, and - like many migrants - his family followed and grew.

His brother, Heinreich Waldemir Dumfries, moved too and they had no fewer than 26 children between them.

More generations have come along since then as well as others moving to the island.

"Today, the name Dumfries is not uncommon in Aruba," said Suzette.

"In fact, Aruba may well have the highest concentration of people with this specific surname anywhere in the world."

The family is aware of the town of Dumfries, with Denzel's uncle Morris having honeymooned there.

"I would personally also like to visit," added Suzette.

"I am a bit of a genealogist in my family and have done a lot of research on every dimension of our history.

"And I am keen to learn more about the town of Dumfries itself and also what the historical link is between the city and Suriname itself."

There's a big difference between Aruba and southern Scotland in many ways but she said there was, nonetheless, "something poetic" about their connection.

"One Dumfries is a Scottish town, another Dumfries became a Caribbean family name," she said.

"And now, through Denzel, the name travels again, across Aruba, the Netherlands, Europe, football, identity, and history."

Although he was born in the Netherlands, she said Arubans were "very proud of Denzel" who has recently been linked with a move to Real Madrid but suffered elimination from this World Cup at the hands of Morocco.

"Denzel is not just a footballer with a famous surname," said Suzette.

"For many Arubans, he represents possibility.

"He shows that a name connected to a small Caribbean island can stand on the biggest stages in the world: the Dutch national team, the World Cup, the European Championship, Champions League nights, and Inter Milan."

For the family that is "even more meaningful" and about much more than just football.

"Denzel makes visible a larger Caribbean truth: small islands are not small in destiny," she said.

"A name can travel from Scotland to Suriname, from Suriname to Aruba, from Aruba to the Netherlands, and from there onto the world stage.

"Denzel carries that story every time his name appears on the back of his shirt."

How Wimbledon is supplied with iconic strawberries

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c932j434y7jo, today

Strawberries and cream is a treat synonymous with Wimbledon, but how does the championship keep tennis fans in supply?

The BBC followed the berries from farm to fork to find out.

Farmed in Kent

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which runs the Grand Slam event, sources its strawberries from Hugh Lowe Farms in Mereworth, Kent.

The family farm has delivered several tons of fruit to SW19 every year for decades.

"It's probably the most photographed berry on the planet and so we're really conscious of making sure that people get the right iconic treat when they go to Wimbledon," said Amelia McLean, of the fifth generation to work on the farm.

She told the BBC that growing conditions so far in 2026 "meant that everything has ripened up really perfectly" and produce "should have really good quality".

Recent hot weather "presented a few challenges" too but the farm was "pretty resilient and well set up for it", according to McLean.

The consensus among scientists is that human activities are causing climate change, posing serious threats to people and nature.

What was previously a once-every-10-year heat event was now "looking like once every three", she said.

The farm has adapted by installing a new reservoir in 2025 and collects water runoff from its polytunnels to help manage dry spells.

McLean said: "I think all farmers of our kind of crops are really looking at investing in their water storage."

Strawberries are dispatched daily to London throughout the tournament.

Berries arrive at venue

After strawberries arrive at Wimbledon, they have to be distributed around the venue.

Ryan Stanton, Wimbledon's culinary purchasing manager, said his team receives "15 to 16 pallets a day that would come to us early morning".

"As they arrive we would receive them and then basically distribute them around site, mainly to the Strawberry Centre," he told the BBC.

He described the tournament's 24-hour logistics operation as "a labour of love for all of us here".

"A lot of planning goes into what we do," he said.

'Hulled' by hand

Before the strawberries can be sold ready to eat, they need to have their leafy tops removed.

This process, known as hulling, takes place at Strawberry Centre.

Emily Ostrowska started work as a strawberry huller when the tournament got underway on Monday, using a spoon to take off the green and leave as much of the strawberry behind as possible.

"You've got to maintain flow to keep up with the demand," she said, describing the work as "good fun".

Ostrowska told the BBC she loved strawberries but conceded "maybe after the two weeks" she would start to get a bit sick of them.

After being hulled, the berries are then boxed and distributed to kiosks, ready for tennis fans to enjoy.

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram and listen to BBC Radio Kent on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

What Sky buying ITV could mean for your favourite shows

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04yx44xq19o, today

One of the biggest takeovers in British media history is about to take place with the creation of a new British media company - albeit American owned.

Sky is expected to buy ITV's TV and streaming channels with the announcement likely imminent, but if you don't read the business pages, you might have missed it.

The pay-TV, broadband and mobile company, owned by the American company Comcast, has been in talks to buy ITV's media and entertainment business including ITVX since last year.

For Sky, buying the broadcast arm of Britain's most watched commercial public service broadcaster makes sense. It will get access to millions of people, as well as scale and prominence on a free to air platform.

It's believed to want to create a commercial streamer that will be a true rival to the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus in the UK. But what does it mean for you?

Your favourite shows aren't going anywhere… yet

Crucially, this takeover won't mean your favourite ITV shows are suddenly moved behind a paywall.

Caroline Frost, TV and podcast editor at Radio Times, says ITV is required by law to provide a free-to-air service until at least 2034 due to the public service broadcasting licence.

"Gradually, though, content which might debut on free/live-to-air ITV might end up on a subscription platform," Frost says.

In the short to medium-term, the big shows - Coronation Street, Love Island, Emmerdale, I'm a Celebrity - won't look any different. You'll still find them on ITV and ITVX, and they'll still be made by ITV Studios - that's ITV's production arm, which owns more than 60 production companies in Britain and around the world.

They also make programmes including Line of Duty for the BBC, Rivals for Disney Plus, and America's most streamed show, Love Island USA.

ITV Studios isn't being bought by Sky. If the deal goes ahead, it will become a company in its own right (ITV Studios PLC), still owned by the current ITV shareholders. Part of the Sky takeover agreement is expected to be a "supply deal", in other words, that ITV Studios continues to make those ITV shows and that they remain on ITV.

Of course, at some point Sky could decommission some ITV shows - or renegotiate their contracts. You don't take over another company without believing there are savings to be made (and some are pointing to synergies that could be made on the tech platform side, with ITVX and Sky's streaming services potentially merged in the future).

Longer term, Frost believes users of both current streaming platforms ITVX and NOW can expect to see more "integrated services, for example, bundling titles in terms of genre instead of channel, as a natural way to cut production costs, and to cross-advertise".

But when it comes to programmes, they won't be able to make significant changes to those beloved shows until the supply deal comes to an end.

Producer Patrick Spence thinks the deal is "exciting". He won a BAFTA for Mr Bates vs The Post Office which was a huge hit on ITV in 2024, with around 15 million tuning in. He's currently producing Two Birds, a thriller starring Sheridan Smith for ITV.

He's also made dramas for Sky and told me ITV and Sky "are very good bedfellows in many ways".

"When they get behind a show, they really get behind it," Spence says. "They want to make water cooler shows that bring audiences together."

He believes the deal is a sign that the regularly predicted end of so-called linear TV is overplayed.

"We get told so often about the death of broadcast TV," he adds. "For producers it's said we're looking at a cliff edge where the only places that will be left for us to sell our programmes will be the streamers, or some version of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 all joining together.

"What I take away from this deal as a producer and an audience member is that Sky must really like and believe in ITV to be only buying the network. They think there is a business to be grown and driven that uses the audience reach and loyalty that the ITV network has."

I've picked up a nostalgia from others that ITV - one of Britain's best known brands, which has played such an important role in shaping the culture here for decades - is being sold to the Americans.

Others ask whether passing more of the UK media to US owners is bad for Britain. Will it lead to a lack of distinctiveness in the programmes commissioned?

But Camilla Lewis, founder of Curve Media, behind Chess Masters: The End Game among other shows - argues "the streamers are realising the importance and power of parochial programme making".

Netflix didn't anticipate supremely British-focused drama Baby Reindeer would be so popular globally. Disney commissions Rivals, also very British in taste.

"There is a constant battle between LA and London as to what gets commissioned by the US streamers," Lewis adds. "But there is demand for British content which has influenced commissioners.

"A Sky-ITV company would be foolish to pivot away from commissioning programmes with a national identity. It wouldn't make business sense."

Sport and public service broadcasting

For many, Sky is best known for its sports coverage (the majority of televised Premier League games are still shown on Sky Sports, for example, and it now has the rights to broadcast Formula 1 in the UK until 2034).

Part of the appeal of the takeover from its perspective is that, as a public service broadcaster, ITV can bid for the 'listed' crown jewel tournaments that have to be shown live on a free-to-air channel such as the Olympic Games, Grand National and British Grand Prix.

It's why Wimbledon is on the BBC and why the BBC and ITV show the World Cup - which is bringing in millions of eyeballs (and - for ITV - millions in advertising revenue).

Former ITV Chairman Peter Bazalgette told me "sport is a massive driver of live viewing and advertising revenue".

"Putting together the sports powerhouse of Sky's football Premier League deals with the sport that is on ITV - the World Cup, the Rugby Six Nations - is probably one of the most attractive things for Comcast."

For audiences it could also mean in future you'll see Sky using ITV's platforms as a shop window for programmes that are usually behind its paywall - rights-depending, perhaps a Premier League match shown free on ITV as a way to entice new subscribers to Sky platforms.

It isn't just some of Sky's sport offer that could turn up on ITV. You might find the first series of its Eddie Redmayne drama The Day of the Jackal there, ahead of the premiere of series two on its subscription channel. Or its comedy show Saturday Night Live UK, which could reach millions more if it was platformed on the UK's biggest commercial broadcaster.

Coronation Street may no longer get the audiences it once did. But it is still watched by four to five million people. ITV's top shows are still some of the best performers in the UK. Sky will be buying access to those audiences.

A Sky show like The Dyers' Caravan Park which sees father-daughter duo Danny and Dani Dyer trying to revive the British holiday industry could potentially reach a much wider audience on ITV after this deal.

Being a public service broadcaster also means ITV (like the BBC and others) must be given a prominent position when you turn on your TV or set top box.

In an ever more competitive world, prominence matters which is why UK law says public service broadcaster TV channels and on-demand services must be easy for audiences to find and access, so at the top of electronic programme guides on TVs and smart TV home screens.

That's another appeal for Sky. But there are prescriptive terms that come with ITV's public service broadcasting licence, which runs until 2034.

In return for the benefits, ITV must broadcast a defined amount of national and regional news and 85% of the content it shows during its peak schedule must be original programming.

It also must commission a proportion of programmes made outside London. For the next eight years anyway, until the licence is up, none of that would change.

Who makes the news?

There is though some disquiet at ITN, which has made news bulletins for ITV ever since the channel launched in 1955.

It also now makes Good Morning Britain and its contract with ITV has just been renewed until 2031. After a takeover, Sky would have to honour that. But once it expires in five years, would it make sense for the company to have two newsrooms operating separately?

Sky News is a rolling 24-hour service. It doesn't make regional news (an ITV strength) so there are differences. But after 2031, could ITV's News at Ten, for example, be made by Sky News? Or indeed could ITN (which also makes Channel 4 and Channel 5 News) provide Sky's rolling news channel?

We're in the territory of hypotheticals and there are also questions around whether Sky will want to continue as a public service broadcaster after 2034 when ITV's licence expires. The media landscape may look very different by then.

No-gift policy for Taylor Swift, but how much should you give at a wedding?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78yj9p0m91o, 2 days ago

Being a wedding guest can be expensive, though the lucky few invited to megastar Taylor Swift's rumoured wedding bash are likely to be able to afford it.

There's travel, accommodation, you might even treat yourself to a new outfit - then there's another cost to factor in: the present.

While Swift and Kelce have a no-gift policy, it's now commonplace for invitations to read: "Your presence is enough, but if you would like to give us a gift, please donate to our honeymoon fund."

But replacing the traditional gift list with bank transfer details, can leave guests with a new etiquette dilemma: how much are you expected to give?

Wedding list service Prezola says it has seen a rise in couples inviting guests to pay for specific experiences rather than a generic cash pot. It says the average guest contribution is £116.

But expectations can vary widely, depending on everything from closeness and culture to the cost of attending.

Jonny, 34, says he and his wife Lottie contribute between £250 and £400 depending on how close they are to the bride and groom and what they can afford at the time.

"We don't have that many friends, so it's nice to give generously," he says.

At his own wedding, most close friends gave between £100 and £200, one couple gave £400 and they received £2,000 from Jonny’s dad.

They used it as spending money on their 17-day honeymoon in Canada which Johnny says they'd saved for "because it's not worth the risk of relying on donations".

'QR codes at the bar'

But not everyone is giving hundreds of pounds.

Hannah Rose-Thorn, 30, says she "always gives £50 in a card" and found that the average contribution to her own honeymoon fund was the same.

"We mentioned money on our invitations and also created print-out QR codes for people to scan at the bar," she says.

She received £3,000 which will be used as spending money for the honeymoon which she had already paid for.

According to Hitched, a UK-based wedding planning website, the average UK couple spends around £4,000 on their honeymoon.

Hannah says she also received physical gifts despite asking for money.

"We got a lot of champagne and some flute glasses from my boss at work, which were nice, but we have a lot of that so it will most likely get regifted," she says.

Jonny says some wedding guests will ignore the request for money because they want to give something more meaningful.

"They mean well, but it probably means you'll get a bunch of John Lewis and M&S vouchers, like we did, as well as some physical gifts too," he says.

'Nobody wants a random dish'

Chelsea Chivers, who is getting married in August, takes a stronger view.

"Some people see money as impersonal and think it's awkward to give but it's kind of standard now, so either give nothing or give money.

"Nobody wants that random dish."

She usually gives around £200 for friends and more for family, but says it depends on the wedding - when a friend got married in South Africa, she did not give a gift because attending had already cost thousands.

She often disagrees with her partner on how much to contribute to wedding funds and says he would "give £50 if left to him".

'A little impersonal'

Even as cash gifts become more common, not everyone is convinced they make the best wedding presents.

Ollie Hickey, 28, has contributed between £30 and £50 to several honeymoon funds in recent years, but says he finds them "a little impersonal".

"I like the idea that you can tie something specific to someone who shared your day with you, rather than a pot of money," he says.

He is not engaged, but has already spoken to his partner about what they might ask for if they get married.

As record collectors, they hope to ask guests to bring a record that brings them joy as "it's a piece of the people that are part of our special day".

'Our guests paid for my IVF'

Not all newlyweds use cash gifts for their honeymoon.

Roxie Westood ended up using money gifted for a honeymoon towards IVF.

She married abroad in Ibiza and "didn't expect any gifts", but guests still gave about £100 per couple.

"We had hoped we'd conceive naturally, but we'd started trying long before our wedding and it wasn't happening," she says.

When "reality kicked in", using the money for IVF felt like the right thing to do. It covered a large chunk of the cost, and she says she is grateful to friends and family for "playing a part" in bringing her son into the world.

Georgia Finch, 26, says she asked for money towards a loft renovation and received £2,500 from 80 guests, which "was amazing" and covered roughly half the cost.

As a wedding guest, Georgia says she likes to contribute cash and particularly liked it when a colleague set up a site where people could pay towards specific honeymoon experiences, such as a couples' massage, scuba diving or a luxury breakfast.

It made it easier for her to buy an experience as the most she would personally give to a fund at the moment is £20, because "money is tight right now".

How much to give can also expose cultural differences.

Ewa Lewszyk-Howes says her Polish relatives gave between £250 and £400, while the usual contribution from her husband's English friends and family was around £100 per couple.

"But that comes with different expectations," she says, explaining that Polish weddings are often expected to include a large celebration, endless food, an open bar and free accommodation.

"In the UK, guests are more likely to spend that money on travel, hotels, taxis and other costs that come with attending," she says.

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From Truman's pension to Trump's billions - a White House windfall unmatched by any president

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70yk07vq0po, 4 days ago

Harry Truman left the White House without any income other than his Army pension of $113 (£85) per month. The 33rd US president later wrote that it was wrong to "commercialize on the prestige and dignity of the office of the presidency".

George W Bush put his investments in a blind trust before running for president, and said in his last week in office that he had no idea how the 2008 economic crisis affected his net worth.

Donald Trump, in contrast, made at least $2.2bn (£1.7bn) in his first year back in office, according to a new financial disclosure report - a sum historians said was unprecedented and shattered the norm of US presidents avoiding financial conflicts of interest in the White House.

"There's just no precedent for this," said Barbara Perry, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. "It's beyond anything we've ever seen in the presidency."

Trump's massive 2025 earnings laid bare just how much he has benefited from his return to office, through money-making ventures that often blurred the line between official government policymaking and private business dealings by the president, his family and close advisers.

Trump made $1.4bn in the cryptocurrency industry alone, according to the mandatory financial disclosure that was made public on Tuesday.

Trump reported $635m in royalties from Celebration Coins, the entity thought to be behind the $TRUMP meme coin he launched just before starting his second term.

The president also reported more than $500m from the cryptocurrency business World Liberty Financial. The firm was founded by his sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, and the sons of Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East and Ukraine.

Trump's 2025 income was nearly four times higher than the $622m he reported in 2024, the year before he returned to office.

The White House has denied that Trump and his family were profiting from the presidency.

"Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged - or will ever engage - in conflicts of interest," White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.

She added: "All actions by President Trump and his administration are taken in the best interest of the American people – and any so-called 'reporters' pushing otherwise are recycling the same, tired, false narrative that Democrats and the legacy media have been pushing for a decade."

Past presidents have been involved in financial scandals that raised questions of corruption.

Historians point to the period after the Civil War, when officials in the treasury department under President Ulysses Grant were involved in scandals around gold sales and customs collection, among other controversies.

The interior department secretary accepted bribes in exchange for awarding oil leases during Warren Harding's presidency in the 1920s, an episode known as the Teapot Dome scandal.

But in those cases, the president was not directly involved or accused of personally enriching himself while in office.

In the modern era starting with Franklin D Roosevelt's presidency in 1933, several presidents have had relatives who sought to profit from their ties to White House.

Jimmy Carter's brother promoted a beer brand.

While Joe Biden served as vice-president, his son Hunter Biden made money from a Ukrainian energy company.

But historians said those past examples pale in comparison to the profits made by Trump and his family business since he returned to office.

"This is the big distinction between Trump and his family and other presidents," said Perry, the presidential historian.

"Making money hand over fist in office, it's not illegal but it is unethical. Most [past] presidents didn't want to do that."

Before starting his first term in 2017, Trump handed control of his family business, the Trump Organization, to his adult sons. But the move broke with the precedent set by past presidents because Trump did not place his business interests in a traditional blind trust or divest from his real estate holdings and other investments.

Trump took similar steps ahead of his second term.

The Trump Organization said before his second inauguration that he would not be involved in the company's day-to-day dealings while serving as president.

Eric Trump said at the time that the Trump Organization would follow "robust ethical standards" during the president's second term.

Pardon for a crypto tycoon

Still, Trump has made a number of moves in the White House that have benefited his business as well as businesses tied to other senior administration officials.

Last July, Trump signed legislation supporting stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency, just four months after World Liberty Financial launched its own digital currency venture. The firm made Trump at least $500m in 2025, according to his financial disclosure report.

Last October, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of the cryptocurrency firm Binance.

The move came as Trump praised the crypto industry in his first months back in office, after having dismissed it in the past as a "disaster waiting to happen".

Trump's family business and some close associates have profited in other industries beyond cryptocurrency since he returned to the White House.

Last year Trump struck a deal with the president of Kazakhstan giving an American company access to a major critical minerals project in the country, according to a New York Times report.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr later took a minority stake in a company involved in the mining project. The investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald - which is run by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's sons - also worked on the deal.

On Wednesday, Trump attributed his profits in office to stock market gains and claimed he was not involved in his family's business dealings.

"I don't get involved in my personal [finances], we have funds that run my money," Trump told reporters. "I've made a lot of money before I became president, and they invest my money, and I don't talk to them."

Ethics watchdogs argued Trump's profits from cryptocurrency in particular were problematic.

"Of course it's a conflict of interest," Richard Painter, the former chief White House ethics lawyer under George W Bush, told the BBC.

"This is a very, very troubling situation for the American people to see their president making so much money."

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Instagram running ads promoting child sexual abuse material in India, BBC finds

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgm4e0316zo, yesterday

Warning: This story contains descriptions of abuse

Instagram has been running paid adverts promoting child sexual abuse material in India, a BBC Eye investigation has found.

The ads, seen by the BBC World Service, use terms including "rape video" and "child video" and link users to channels on the messaging app Telegram, where they can buy the material for as little as 99 rupees (about 80p).

Hours after this investigation was published, the Indian government said it had summoned representatives of Instagram's parent company, Meta, over the adverts.

Ads on Instagram are only published after first being approved by its moderation technology.

When the BBC reported one of the ads to Instagram, the social media platform responded 24 hours later saying the post did not violate its "community guidelines".

Later, when the BBC asked Meta for comment, it said it had already disabled several adverts and suspended the accounts posting them. The company said it had removed additional ads, disabled more accounts and blocked URLs for other content that violated its policies in response to the BBC's findings.

Telegram said it had removed more than 274,000 groups and channels related to child sexual abuse material in 2026.

The BBC set up an alias account on Instagram after we noticed that the platform was pushing sexually suggestive content, even when a user hadn't searched for such material.

This included women posting about food, weather and daily life in India, who were dressed in revealing clothing and using sexual innuendo in their posts.

The new alias account, which was set up in India, started following these women and other similar people - 10 in all - to investigate sexualised content on the platform.

In less than a week, Instagram started showing advertisements on the feed featuring women offering video calls and showing clearly naked couples having sex.

Days later, it began showing adverts of children with adults in sexually suggestive situations, with links to Telegram channels.

In total, about 30 unique adverts appeared promoting child sexual abuse, although some of these were shared by multiple accounts.

The alias account was also shown about 20 ads featuring adult pornography.

The distribution of both child sexual abuse material and adult pornography are criminal offences in India, while Meta's policy states that ads must not contain adult nudity, genitals or content that sexually exploits or endangers children. The BBC has reported all of the ads and the Telegram channels to the Indian authorities.

One ad showed a boy and girl, both of whom appeared to be about 12 years old, engaging in a sexual act.

Another showed a man with his arm around a girl, with text saying he was 52 and the girl was 12. "Click to watch more," it said, linking out to a Telegram channel.

The BBC reported an advert to Instagram showing a very young girl in tears, with wording indicating that she had been sexually assaulted.

But 24 hours later, Instagram replied saying it hadn't removed the advert because "our review team found that the advertiser's ad does not go against our community standards".

Meta later told the BBC that "no system is perfect, and our review process may not detect all policy violations".

"We continue to run proactive detection technology on ads once they're live, and anyone can report an ad to us that they think breaks our rules," Meta said.

It added that when it becomes aware of apparent child exploitation it reports it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), in compliance with the law. The NCMEC is the centralised global reporting system for the online sexual exploitation of children.

We reported two channels to Telegram for selling child sexual abuse videos.

One of them was subsequently taken down and replaced with a message saying: "This group can't be displayed because it violated Telegram's Terms of Service," but the other continued to post new videos for sale.

Critics have previously accused the platform of not doing enough to prevent the sharing of criminal content.

The Dubai-based company is not a member of the NCMEC. It joined the Internet Watch Foundation, which also works with most online platforms to find, report and remove such material, in late 2024.

Telegram told the BBC that the company uses both automated and human moderation to eradicate child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from the app, and as a result it says it has "virtually eliminated the public spread of CSAM from its platform".

Adverts are an important source of income for Meta.

In January, it reported that almost 98% of its $200bn (£152bn) revenue for the financial year ending 2025 came from advertising. Analysts estimate that ads account for more than 90% of Instagram's revenue.

While standard posts are not generally checked by Meta's technology until they are published, Meta says every advert is reviewed before being allowed on its platforms.

Its review system relies primarily on automated technology and is designed to check images, video, text and audio, as well as who the ad is targeting and where links send them to.

This software then rejects or approves adverts, escalating cases for human review when it is uncertain.

In March, Meta announced it was reducing its reliance on third-party human moderators and increasing the use of AI, adding that "experts will design, train, oversee, and evaluate our AI systems".

The BBC described the ads we had seen to a retired justice of India's Supreme Court, Madan Lokur, who was concerned that Instagram was "making money by participating in a criminal activity".

"This is a serious enough issue for the Supreme Court of India to take suo moto cognisance [when a court initiates legal proceedings without waiting for a case to be brought by someone else] and get the government to act against any social media platform," he says.

Justice Lokur added that despite Indian law protecting social media companies from being held liable for content uploaded by users, "the platform cannot, cannot shirk its responsibility".

A former vice-president of Facebook, as Meta used to be known until it changed name in 2021, said he was "horrified and unsurprised" by the BBC's findings.

Brian Boland, who worked for the company between 2009 and 2020 and helped build the advertising and marketing business, said he left because he believed "they didn't care about users anywhere".

He said Instagram's algorithm was designed to keep users on the platform by showing them "something more extreme, more tantalising".

"It's not like an algorithm that says 'let's make people paedophiles', but because they're not responsibly guiding and controlling it - and it's just pursuing the goals of revenue and clicks - it will create these outcomes if people aren't being truly, aggressively protective over these systems."

Boland said that between 2009 and 2010 he led a project to remove adverts that were scamming users, which meant he "was allowed to, at the time, remove a massive part of the revenue of the company in the sake of user safety and user experience".

"I think what's sad and tragic is over time, the trade-off of revenue and user experience became a more core part of the conversation."

He says he deleted his Instagram account in 2025, adding: "If people en masse started to say, 'I'm out, I'm done, forget it,' the company would pay attention."

In a statement sent to the BBC, Meta said: "Child exploitation is a horrific crime and Meta works aggressively to fight it on our apps."

It said it was "categorially inaccurate" to suggest that Meta knowingly and deliberately targeted ads featuring children to users with an inappropriate interest in such material.

The company denied prioritising revenue over safety and said that in 2025 it automatically disabled more than four million accounts for showing "enough signals of potentially suspicious behavior".

"While determined criminals try to evade detection, our expert teams are constantly working to improve our defenses, developing new technology to root out predators, blocking links to violating websites, and sharing intelligence with other companies so they can take action too," Meta added.

Boland testified against Meta in a trial in the US state of New Mexico earlier this year, in which it was accused of misleading users over the safety of its platforms for children.

The court ordered Meta to pay $375m (£279m) to New Mexico. At the time, a spokeswoman for the company said it disagreed with the verdict and intended to appeal.

US-based social media companies are mandated to report child sexual abuse material on their platform to the NCMEC Cyber Tipline.

The tipline then refers the report to the appropriate law enforcement agency in the country it believes the incident occurred.

In 2025, India received 1.9 million reports, second only to the United States with two million.

One of India's top cyber police officers, Shikha Goel, who is director of the Cyber Security Bureau in the Indian state of Telangana, said Instagram and Facebook, both owned by Meta, generated the most tiplines.

"But that does not mean they are the largest," she said. "If they have a good algorithm to track child sexual abuse material, then obviously more alerts will be generated."

A Mumbai-based NGO, the Rati Foundation, which runs a helpline service for children facing online harms, also said that the vast majority of reports it receives on child sexual abuse material come from Meta platforms.

It collaborates with social media platforms to help get harmful content removed, but co-founder and director Siddharth Pillai said that "criminals use the seamless navigation from Instagram to Telegram to evade our moderation efforts, and keep reuploading the content we help take down".

Experts said child sexual abuse material in India was usually created by criminal groups, such as human traffickers, although family and community members were also sometimes responsible.

Bhuwan Ribhu, the founder of Just Rights for Children, a network of more than 250 organisations working to prevent violence against children in India, said the crime was not reported enough and police were still trying to develop the technical skills to tackle it.

And to do that successfully, he said international co-operation and intelligence sharing across borders was vital.

In order to "find the tentacles of organised crime, the entire chain of demand and supply needs to be tracked", he said.

Correction 4 July: This article originally stated that Telegram was not a member of the Internet Watch Foundation. It has been amended to say that Telegram joined the IWF in late 2024.

World Cup boom falters as US hospitality jobs fall in June

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr471w6ykxno, 3 days ago

A World Cup jobs boom in the US has failed to materialise, with employment in restaurants, bars and hotels falling in June.

Analysts had expected the tournament, being hosted jointly by the US, Canada and Mexico, to lead to an increase in leisure and hospitality jobs.

But the sector saw a decline of 61,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Thursday.

Overall employment in the US rose by 57,000 in June, which was lower than expected, while the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.2%.

The BLS's previous release reported early signs of a jobs boom in May, with bars and restaurants ramping up hiring to prepare for the World Cup.

And a report by Goldman Sachs analysts expected June's figures to show the competition boosting employment by around 40,000 jobs.

But, despite reports of travelling football fans drinking bars across the US dry, the growth went into reverse in June.

ING's chief US economist James Knightley said leisure and hospitality was a "real area of weakness" in Thursday's figures.

He added that the decline was "a major surprise given the World Cup is on and bars and venues are busy".

"Admittedly, this sector had seen a 44,000 jump in May, but even so that is a surprising outcome," he told the BBC.

Thursday's jobs report included significant downward revisions to increases reported in previous months, with the number of jobs created in April and May now 74,000 lower than the BLS thought.

Knightley said June's lower-than-expected overall increase, combined with the downward revisions, suggest "the decent uptick in jobs over the previous three months is not necessarily the start of a new trend".

He added the figures make an interest rate hike later this month less likely.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said the slowdown in jobs growth opens the door to a "Goldilocks scenario" for the US economy, in which it could stay "not too hot, but not too cold".

"Expectations of multiple rate hikes are fading away, with only one hike now fully priced in, and not until next year," she added.

Why the expected fight over the North American trade deal never kicked off

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70yd58y27yo, 3 days ago

For months, policymakers, businesses and trade watchers in Washington had been bracing for a turbulent spring and summer around the future of the USMCA, the trade pact binding the United States, Canada and Mexico.

But, to quote former UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, "Events, dear boy, events." The war with Iran has dominated Washington's attention, stripping away much of the political heat that was expected to surround the pact's renewal.

Instead of a noisy fight over the agreement's future, the USMCA has slipped into the background. The Iran conflict has absorbed the White House's attention and, in practical terms, has become one of the best developments for keeping the trade pact out of the headlines.

Earlier this year, there were concerns the US might use the renewal window to force a confrontation with Canada and Mexico, or even threaten withdrawal. President Trump had already cooled on the deal he once signed, raising questions about how aggressively Washington would approach the next phase.

But with foreign policy dominating the administration's agenda, the US has taken a more measured approach. It has confirmed it will not extend the agreement for another 16 years, while stopping short of more dramatic action.

Part of that restraint reflects a belief inside the administration that the trade relationship has already been reshaped.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer argues the White House's tariff strategy has fundamentally altered North America's economic ties, changing the balance with Canada and Mexico in ways that make a more confrontational approach unnecessary. But if trade does become more politically driven, the US auto industry could be the biggest loser.

The timing is significant. Washington's effort to recalibrate its relationship with China depends in part on closer co-operation with its two largest trading partners. Introducing uncertainty into North America's economic framework risks undermining that strategy.

As Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's former ambassador to the US, put it, in World Cup terms it would be "a huge own goal".

As a result, the 1 July virtual meeting between the three countries, once seen as a potential flashpoint, proved subdued.

The US has begun formal talks with Mexico and remains in contact with Canadian officials, suggesting negotiations are proceeding without the expected political drama. And with midterm elections approaching, analysts expect that calmer tone to continue.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that he won't rush to sign a bad agreement - but is ready to cut a deal if the right one arises.

US-Canada Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Thursday that Ottawa's focus was now on "substantive discussions" over current US tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium, autos and lumber.

While the USMCA has sheltered much of the continental trade from Trump's tariffs, those sectors in Canada are struggling under US levies ranging from 10% to 50% on select sectors.

The decision not to renew the pact now starts a 10-year countdown. If no extension is agreed by then, the USMCA will expire. For now, however, annual reviews and steady diplomacy have replaced the brinkmanship many once expected.

The legal fight to get equal pay for Germany's disabled workers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0v1d24elo, 11 days ago

A test case before a German court could have implications for hundreds of thousands of disabled people in the country who currently work for less than the legal minimum wage.

The legal action has been brought on behalf of 57-year-old Jürgen Linnemann, who has spent all his working life in a "Werkstatt für behinderte Menschen" – a workshop for disabled people.

In English these would be called sheltered workshops, and in Germany some 300,000 disabled people work in them.

The workshops produce a range of goods for companies and brands that are often known internationally, but the people who make them are paid less than the minimum wage, less than a worker in the mainstream economy would be paid for doing the same work.

This is possible because disabled people in sheltered workshops are technically not employees. That means not only that the right to the minimum wage does not apply to them, but also that they do not enjoy other rights, such as the ability to join a trade union.

Linnemann is asking the court to rule that people like him should be treated as employees and be paid the minimum wage.

According to Hubert Hüppe, a former federal commissioner for the interests of disabled people, and a prominent critic of the workshop system, once you become part of what is a segregated system it's very hard to get out of it.

"You go from a special kindergarten to a special school and then into one of these sheltered workshops," he says.

This is what happened to Dirk Hähnel, now in his 50s, who spent most of his adult life in sheltered workshops near the central-western city of Paderborn.

He was sent initially to a regular school, but before long was transferred against his wishes to a special school. "My parents were told that a special school was the best choice," he tells me.

Later, when he was preparing to leave that institution, he was told his only option was to go to a workshop. "I didn't want to do that," he says.

So he tried to find an apprenticeship instead. He remembers one devastating job interview. "I told my potential employer that I had epilepsy and he said, 'we don't employ idiots here'."

I have heard many similar stories. I myself was born blind, and remember very well my first school report, when I was six, which advised my parents to send me to a school for children with learning disabilities.

I grew up speaking both German and Arabic and constantly mixed them up, not understanding that they were separate languages. If my parents had not ignored that first school report, I too might have ended up in a workshop. Instead, today I'm one of only a handful of journalists in Germany with a visible disability.

Hüppe says the workshop system fails in one of its most basic responsibilities – to rehabilitate disabled people in order to prepare them to work in the mainstream economy.

"This responsibility just isn't taken seriously," he tells me.

The reason for that is in part the economic incentives that are offered to German companies to support the system. In Germany, any company that employs more than 20 people is legally obliged to employ at least one disabled person.

Larger companies have a minimum quota of 5%. Those who fail to meet this commitment have to pay a sum in compensation into a central fund that supports disabled people in the workplace.

Many companies choose simply to pay this money rather than meet their quota. They are offered a further incentive by the system, in that if they outsource production to a workshop the compensation they have to pay is reduced.

The result is that fewer than 1% of disabled people make a successful transition from workshop to a job with a mainstream company.

Hüppe also says workshops are reluctant to see their best staff move on. "Obviously a workshop is a commercial enterprise that survives on what it produces," says Hüppe. "And so obviously they want to hold on to their best workers, the ones that would have the best chance of making it out in the mainstream economy."

He points me to a 2023 report by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which criticised Germany's record on disability.

Specifically, it noted "the high number of persons with disabilities enrolled in sheltered workshops and the low rate of transition to the open labour market".

Not everyone, however, is unhappy being employed in a workshop, including Medina Arnaut, 35. She works for one in Paderborn that is operated by a charity called Caritas.

Arnaut is also the chair of the local workshop council, which represents the interests of the workers in a similar way to a trade union.

"We have colleagues here who are so grateful that workshops exist," she says. "These are colleagues who quite simply need this workshop environment because of their disability."

Arnaut adds many of her colleagues have worked in the mainstream economy and the pressure there is completely different. "People come to me and say, I've experienced life out there in the commercial world and it made me sick."

Karla Bredenbals, the boss of the Caritas workshops in Paderborn, agrees that the rate of transition to the mainstream economy is too low.

"Quite often we'll find companies that, for example, don't have any accessible toilets," she says. "Or we might have someone with the potential to move on, but they are not able to use public transport."

Bredenbals acknowledges, however, that on occasion she does hear colleagues express reluctance to let the more productive workers leave the workshop.

"That's the one sentence that makes me really angry," she says. "When I hear someone say 'I can't let this person leave because I don't know how we'll get the work done without them'.

"Hanging onto people means we are robbing them of the chance to take responsibility for their own working lives."

On the question of workshop workers receiving the minimum wage, Bredenbals responds carefully.

"If you are talking about what it means to be employed and you are talking about rights, then you also have to talk about obligations," she says.

"Someone who is in employment is obliged to perform certain tasks, to perform to a certain level, as per their contract. But many of the people in our workshops are not in a position to fulfil these obligations fully, and we have to talk openly about this."

Linnemann's legal case is against a different set of Caritas-run workshops near the city of Münster, so separate to those where Karla Bredenbals works. It has been brought on his behalf by Berlin-based human rights organisation Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (The Society for Civil Rights).

The next hearing at Münster Labour Court is due in September. A decision is not expected for a year.

Additional reporting by Tim Mansel.

Is Germany looking again at coal-powered electricity?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy04ykxrj5eo, 14 days ago

They have a word for it in German – kohleausstieg, which means "coal phase out".

Germany is the biggest user of coal for power generation in Europe, and the fourth largest in the world after China, India and the US. But it has pledged to stop using it altogether by 2038.

For lignite, the low-quality soft coal that is the most polluting, Germany has even brought the phase out forward to 2030.

Currently some 20% of German power generation comes from coal, but it wishes to end this as it focuses on growing wind and solar.

In fact, Germany already gets more than half of its electricity from renewables, 59% last year.

As back-up to wind and solar, especially for the winter months, it wants to replace coal with more natural gas power stations. These generally release half as much carbon dioxide as coal, and gas currently accounts for 13% of German electricity generation.

However, the recent jump in global gas prices following the US-Israel conflict with Iran, has encouraged a number of countries to reconsider coal as an energy source.

Japan has loosened rules to allow for the increased use of coal-fired power plants, Italy is delaying the closure of its remaining stations until 2038, and India has postponed maintenance shutdowns.

But what about Germany? Back in March, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: "We must supply this country with electricity. I am not prepared to jeopardise the core of our industry simply because we have adopted phase-out plans that have become unrealistic."

Was this the start of a phase-out of the phase-out? Is Germany going to keep coal power after all?

The problem for the German government regarding what the country burns to make electricity is a two-fold one of supply and price. Germany has an abundance of readily available, cheap lignite. It has the largest reserves in Europe and the third biggest globally. It is entirely self-sufficient in the fuel.

By contrast, it has to import 95% of its natural gas supplies. So when the global cost of gas shoots up, switching back to the much cheaper lignite is financially very appealing. And Germany doesn't have to worry about supply shortages.

Meanwhile, nuclear is not an option, as Germany closed the last of its nuclear power stations in 2023.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, German energy firm LEAG, which is the country's second biggest miner of lignite, is upbeat at the suggestion that coal-powered energy power could get a reprieve.

"We very much welcome the fact that the German federal government is placing not only medium, but also long-term, security of supply at the heart of its energy policy considerations," it said in a statement.

It also highlighted that it increased supplies of lignite to compensate for the halting of Russian gas imports after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "We already demonstrated our ability to quickly draw on reserves to return to the market when the situation demands it."

By contrast, Hauke Hermann, a senior researcher with the Öko environmental research institute insists that more coal is not the answer. Instead, he wants to see a further increase in the use of renewables.

For some in German industry, they just want a decision regarding gas or coal. "Our industry needs reliable energy," says Wolfgang Große Entrup, director general of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI).

"Renewable energy alone cannot yet guarantee this… Companies will only invest billions if they can trust that energy will remain reliably available at competitive prices in the future."

While practically no-one outside of the far-right AfD party is calling to scrap the coal phase-out altogether, some loosening of the phase-out is another matter.

One possible compromise being put forward concerns six coal power stations that use imported hard coal, which is less polluting than the domestic German lignite. These are currently only used as back-up, to top up the national grid as and when required, such as during a cold winter.

The owner of some of these power plants, Steag Iqony Group, says they should be allowed to operate all the time.

"If they were temporarily allowed to resume regular production, they could deliver electricity to several million homes," says a spokesman for the company. "We think these plants should be used in order to strengthen security and affordability of supply."

A parliamentary committee set up in March is studying this possibility.

The difficulty for the German government is that it is a grand coalition comprising the centre-right CDU/CSU parties and the left-wing SPD. The former are more favourable to extending the use of coal, while the latter is against.

The SPD's energy spokeswoman Nina Scheer warns that relaxing the rules for coal would be "counterproductive for the energy transition and mean new fossil lock-in effects".

By contrast, the deputy leader of the CDU, and Minister-President of the German region of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, says: "Germany, as a major industrial nation, must do everything in its power to ensure that energy remains affordable."

He adds: "The energy transition must be completely recalculated. It should not be a matter of cost, but rather a matter of realistically considering security of supply and affordability."

The government must decide this year whether the 2030 deadline for lignite phase-out must be respected, or whether some capacity may be maintained for a limited period as a strategic reserve.

And in August, the government will publish a statutory review of the coal phase-out which will include the impact it is having on energy supply, security and prices. The original purpose was to see if the Kohleausstieg could be accelerated. It is now quite possible that it will be used to slow it down.

AI is 'not smart' so what's next in artificial intelligence?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6gr0xkyr3o, 3 days ago

"We don't have robots that are nearly as good at understanding the physical world as a rat," says Yann LeCun, one of the leading figures in the world of artificial intelligence.

He worked at Facebook-owner, Meta, for a decade, where he was chief AI scientist, but left in 2025 and founded Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs (AMI Labs).

His goal is to move AI beyond current systems like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. They have their uses, he says, but will never be able to tackle complicated situations in the real world, like getting a robot to do household chores.

"They're not a path towards human level or human-like intelligence, or even animal-like intelligence, because they cannot deal with real world data, they just are not built for that," he tells me on the sidelines of VivaTech, France's leading technology conference.

So, Paris-based AMI Labs is busy developing a new type of artificial intelligence not based on the tech behind ChatGPT and its rivals.

Investors think it has potential. Earlier this year AMI Labs announced that it had raised more than $1bn (£760m), with investors including US computer chip giant Nvidia and the fund that manages the private wealth of Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos.

That so-called seed funding round - the earliest round of start-up fundraising - was one of the biggest of its kind in Europe.

Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are extremely good at some things like coding, mathematical problems and generating text, LeCun says.

But he argues that these are well defined and predictable problems.

"They [LLMs] basically just accumulate knowledge... They can regurgitate something, you train them to regurgitate, but they're not particularly smart. They don't have an underlying understanding," he says.

In the real world there is a bewildering array of outcomes to any action, which requires a more flexible type of artificial intelligence.

LeCun holds a pen upright on its tip. What happens when you let go, he asks? Even a toddler would know that the pen would topple over. But no human would bother to guess in which direction the pen might fall, there's no way to tell.

But an LLM might try to generate a single prediction about the pen's next move based on statistical patterns from its training data.

The prediction would almost certainly be wrong, because the system is not reasoning about the physical reality of the situation - it is generating what appears to be statistically plausible.

LeCun says the system his company is developing, called Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture (JEPA), is set up to deal with problems like that.

It creates abstractions of the real world that allow it to assess the outcomes of actions.

Creating these abstractions involves difficult maths, but essentially they filter out useless information, just leaving the AI with useful pictures of the world.

In the case of the pen, the AI would know that there's no point in trying to predict which way the pen would fall.

Building a more flexible artificial intelligence is a priority for the robotics industry.

Billions of dollars have been invested in building humanoid robots and their feats get more impressive every year.

But training them to safely perform household tasks like ironing or stacking the dishwasher is proving difficult and costly.

And, according to LeCun, current AI models are unlikely to ever be any good in that environment.

"LLMs are largely hopeless for robotics," he says.

"The claims that somehow by just scaling up LLMs, we're going to reach super human intelligence, that is simply not going to happen."

Many in the AI industry agree with LeCun.

Ingmar Posner is one of them. He is professor of Applied Artificial Intelligence at Oxford University and directs its Applied AI Lab. He is also an Amazon Scholar.

"My view is that the next decade will really be about systems that can explain... You need models that can answer questions like: What matters? What causes what? What would happen if I did something else - like if I took a different action?"

Posner and his team of around 10 researchers have been working for four years on an alternative form of AI, which falls into a loose category called World Models.

While World Models have conceptually been around for decades, one inspiration for this work was an influential paper published in 2018 by David Ha and Jurgen Schmidhuber.

Their insight was that, given advances in machine learning and compute power, an AI can learn how to do something purely from a learnt, "mental" simulation of what the world looks like.

Since 2018 that idea has catalysed a significant amount of research into world models, including the Dreamer World Model from Google. Last year a Dreamer variant worked out how to collect diamonds in the video game Minecraft, by imagining future scenarios to help it with decision making.

Posner hopes the AI system his team are working on will be another step forward. He calls it a "mechanistic world model", which will structure knowledge in a way the AI can use efficiently.

"You need systems that are able to compartmentalise and organise knowledge in such a way that it can be recalled, combined and modified when it matters," Posner says.

It's very difficult to say how long it will take to develop these new models, he adds.

"If you asked anyone in 2017 or 2018, how long it would be until you can have a ChatGPT sort of thing, they would go: 'Decades, decades of work'."

The original version of ChatGPT was launched in November 2022.

Other work on World Models is being done by DeepMind (part of Google-owner, Alphabet) with its Genie model and London-based Wayve has a system called Gaia.

Meanwhile, AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li founded World Labs in San Francisco in 2023 to develop a new AI model.

LeCun says that AMI Labs will spend the rest of this year refining their AI model and next year hopes that it will be put to use, at first in industrial settings.

If that's successful, then it will be time to think big.

"Eventually down the line we'll have sort of general generic intelligence systems that can be applied to just about anything in the world with minimal training or fine tuning."

What will happen to humans in a world where robots can operate independently?

"We're still going to need humans to figure out what questions to ask, what to build, what to create, which is really the properly human aspect," he says.

The AI will work for us he adds.

"Our interaction with future AI systems - even if they are smarter than us - is going to be like the interaction between a captain of industry or a political leader with their staff of assistants - many of whom are smarter than they are."

'Start work at 11' - but will other bosses be as flexible over England's 1am match?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8x27k180x8o, today

England's middle-of-the-night World Cup clash with Mexico has prompted calls for employers to use their "common sense and understanding" and allow flexible working where possible.

While some industries such as manufacturing and retail may be less able to provide flexibility, others are offering bleary-eyed fans later starts on Monday so they can catch up on sleep.

Joshua Elash, who runs London-based firm MT Finance Group, is allowing his staff to start work at 11:00.

"It wasn't a dilemma at all. This was as close to a no-brainer as a business can get," he says.

The company does not have a work from home policy, and under normal circumstances all 125 employees would be in the office at 08:45 or 09:00 Monday morning.

Joshua says he and other senior managers will be staying up to watch the game, and if he fancies a lie-in it's only fair to extend that to colleagues.

"It's good for morale," he says, adding it will be worth it even if Monday isn't particularly productive.

"Some things are more important than, you know, a day's revenue," he adds.

Digital marketing company MadebyShape, based in Manchester, is giving its 21 staff the day off on Monday - providing they are on track with their work and rearrange any client meetings.

"As long as the work gets done, it doesn't really matter whether you work that day or catch up the next," says co-founder Andy Golpys.

"They [staff] appreciate you more, but from a business point of view, we're not really losing that much."

On Thursday, the government said pubs would be able to stay open until 05:00 on Monday - after earlier that day ruling this out. It was welcomed by some hospitality groups, but police criticised the "late" announcement.

Reports on Friday then suggested the 01:00 kick-off was set to be brought forward by six hours due to concerns over storms, before Fifa decided against this hours later.

The TUC, the umbrella group for trade unions, is calling for "common sense and understanding" concerning morning-after working arrangements.

The match will "have implications for workers across the country", says its assistant general secretary Kate Bell.

She says employees should check what their contract says and what their rights are, and hopes bosses where possible will allow staff to work from home, start later and make up their hours in the near future, or swap their hours.

"It won't be possible for everyone, but we do know that where employers make that extra effort to show flexibility to their employees, people really appreciate it," she says.

John Palmer, senior advisor at conciliation service Acas, says firms must treat requests for time off fairly - there will be Mexico fans as well as England supporters in the workforce. Employees should be aware it might not be possible to book time off at short notice.

The British Chambers of Commerce says businesses where flexibility will be challenging include manufacturing production lines, frontline retail and hospitality.

Its director of policy, Kate Shoesmith, says: "Ultimately, there will be some jobs, such as shift work, where it won't be possible but we're confident most employers will be thinking about how they can keep everyone onside.

"Talking to staff and customers about plans, can also help reduce disruption and decrease any impact on productivity."

Supermarkets Sainsbury's and Aldi say it will be business as usual in their stores on Monday. There's also no change for the car manufacturer Nissan.

'These days are special'

Kevin Craig, founder and chief executive of communications agency PLMR, is a huge football fan and went to see England v Panama game last weekend.

He's given his staff - around 100 employees across four offices in London, Coventry, Birmingham and Ipswich - permission to start at 12:00 if they want to stay up and watch the match.

"I just instinctively knew it was the right thing to do," he says.

"We try to be pro-family alongside making money. I know it's not possible for all organisations in the land but... these days are special."

Octopus Energy is allowing its engineers to start home visits a couple of hours late, while staff in office or home-based roles looking after customers can start and finish later.

"We want to make sure before people drive and do safety-critical work you've had a bit of rest but also that you're able to watch the game," says chief executive Greg Jackson.

He says they will fill gaps with cover from colleagues in Bosnia and South Africa, and staff who come in will be thanked with snacks in the morning.

Zaid Patel, director of estate agency Highcastle Estates, has cancelled his team's usual Monday morning meeting and is allowing staff to start late or book last-minute leave.

"I don't want people to be conflicted over watching the England game and coming into work," he says, adding he'll "get the black coffees ready" for those who do come in.

He thinks the decision will help with "trust and culture" in the business. "We have conversations about the World Cup every day," he adds.

Michelle Last, partner at Keystone Law, says employees don't have a statutory right to take short-notice annual leave to watch a football match - "or to recover from watching one".

But she says it might be prudent for employers to agree to short-notice leave requests.

"The alternative is that the employee might call in sick or turn up for work tired and unproductive in any event.

"Given this risk, employers might sensibly proactively encourage employees to apply to take annual leave in anticipation of the match. And hopefully, the ensuing celebrations."

Alison Loveday, a consultant with LLM Solicitors, says letting employees take unpaid or annual leave "may generate some good will and is likely to be preferable to insisting employees come in".

But given the short timescale, she says it might not be possible for employers to approve such requests.

Additional reporting by Mitchell Labiak, Emma Simpson and Marc Ashdown.

Tackle workplace sickness to unlock hidden growth, former John Lewis boss says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq61j11r577o, 2 days ago

Tackling unemployment linked to long-term illness will unlock economic growth that's "hiding in plain sight", former John Lewis chair Sir Charlie Mayfield has said.

More than 250 of the UK's biggest employers, including British Airways, Tesco, Royal Mail, and several government departments, have signed up to his Get Britain Working taskforce.

The group aims to prevent people dropping out of work due to ill-health and encourage those signed off to come back, with official figures showing the issue costs the UK £212bn a year.

However, some employers have said previously that tax rises mean many firms cannot afford to invest, while others have warned against pushing ill people into work.

The companies signed up will track sickness absence, return-to-work outcomes, and disability participation, which the government said would make workplace health performance visible for the first time.

Many big UK businesses, including Sainsbury's, EDF Energy, and Currys, as well as 10 mayoral authorities, including London and Manchester, have agreed to take part.

Sir Charlie told the BBC: "I can't tell you how many people I've met who said: 'I was signed off work for three months, or six months, and I never had any contact with my employer at all.'

"That's not because the employer is a bad person. It's because we've got a situation at the minute where people don't talk to each other when they really need to."

Sir Charlie's comments come as pressure grows on Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to take over as prime minister later this month, to reduce the UK's welfare bill to free up money elsewhere.

According to government figures, total welfare spending in Great Britain is forecast to be 23.6% of the total amount the government spends in the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

Sir Charlie said his plans could help cut that bill.

"Fixing these problems at the fundamental level, could make a really big contribution to getting this economy working better — for employers, for employees, for the taxpayer, for all of us."

He added: "This is not a zero-sum game. It's not a question of employers win and employees lose and vice versa. Everybody can win."

Sir Charlie suggested Burnham would back his plans.

"I can't see any reason why he wouldn't because of what Andy has said about good growth. If this isn't good growth, I'm not sure what is, quite frankly."

He said getting people back into work who are currently not working due to ill-health would be a simple way of boosting the workforce.

"You wouldn't have had to build a single house, open a new channel of immigration, you wouldn't have to wait for a cohort of young people to join the workplace. This is basically growth hiding in plain sight."

Pubs allowed to stay open until 5am on Monday for England Mexico match

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kyr8747m9o, 3 days ago

Pubs in England and Wales will now be allowed to stay open until 05:00 on Monday, allowing football fans to watch the Three Lions' World Cup clash with Mexico to the final whistle.

The round-of-16 match in Mexico City kicks off at 01:00 UK time.

The government had initially said it would not relax licensing laws further than they already have been for the World Cup.

But in a U-turn later on Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said pubs could stay open until the final whistle.

Monday's match is not expected to finish until at least 03:00.

Sir Keir said the decision was good news for both supporters and pubs.

"Football might be coming home but we're making sure fans don't have to," he said on Thursday afternoon.

Publicans and businesses welcomed the change. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "We all know the best place to watch the match is down the local."

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said it was "fantastic news" that would be "hugely welcomed by operators".

Greene King pubs said more than 600 of its venues across England would stay open for the game, including in Birmingham, Bristol, London, Carlisle, Liverpool and Folkestone.

Licensing hours had already been extended for the World Cup from 23:00 to 01:00 for games with kick-offs from 17:00 up to 21:00 and up until 02:00 for kick-offs between 21:00 and 22:00.

The original opening hour extensions followed a six-week public consultation which opened in December.

Individual pubs normally have to apply to their local council for extended opening hours, at least five working days in advance.

Earlier on Thursday, business minister Kate Dearden said pub opening hours would not be extended further for Monday's 0100 kick off.

She had been responding to a question from Liberal Democrat MP Max Wilkinson in the House of Commons, who said pubs would "miss out on a real opportunity to get money in the till if ministers do not make a blanket extension for licensing hours".

Local Government Secretary Steve Reed told broadcasters the government was now passing emergency legislation through parliament on Friday "so every England fan that wants to go to the pub and cheer their team on gets the chance to go".

He said the previous relaxing of licensing measures "hadn't covered the eventuality of England playing so late in the night", adding: "This is one of the fastest changes in the law that we've seen."

There are concerns that pubs opening late will lead to road accidents.

The hot weather coming this weekend means dehydration is a higher risk than normal, especially when combined with alcohol.

The motoring organisation RAC said people who stay up "shouldn't drive until they're fully rested and hydrated".

That may mean not driving until "much later in the day", its spokesperson Rod Dennis said.

"Tiredness, dehydration and alcohol can be a lethal combination behind the wheel."

Employers have also been advised to set "clear expectations" for the work day on Monday.

The CIPD, which represents HR professionals, said any flexibility needs to be agreed in advance.

"Employers are under no obligation to make special arrangements around World Cup matches," said David D'Souza, the organisation's director of profession.

"Employees should not assume arrangements will automatically be available."

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Ryanair warns of 'queue chaos' from new EU border system

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8x2y74wp9eo, 3 days ago

Ryanair and the boss of Berlin Airport have warned of severe disruption to summer travel because of the new digital EU border check system.

Ryanair said families could face "queue chaos" and urged governments to postpone the system until after the summer holiday period.

Berlin Airport's Aletta von Massenbach said non-EU nationals were having to queue for up to two hours under the new system, and warned the situation is "not bearable over the summer".

Under the EU's Entry-Exit System (EES) travellers from outside the bloc must register biometric information when entering most European countries, which is checked when they leave. The European Commission (EC) says it is willing to offer more support.

Von Massenback told the BBC's Today programme that at one terminal in Berlin, where Ryanair and Wizz Air operate, waiting times can run between "an hour to two hours".

Ryanair's chief operations officer, Neal McMahon, said: "Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights and unnecessary stress at airports this summer."

The airline said airports such as Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Krakow and Paris Beauvais were experiencing major disruptions.

Last week, the head of Europe's airports trade body said worries over the EES were keeping him and other industry bosses awake at night.

The EES is meant to modernise the EU's system of border control, making it more secure and eventually making travel smoother.

It has been fully operational since April. While the system has worked fine in some places, there have been regular reports of long waits at passport control, especially at peak times.

Some passengers say they have missed flights home because they've been held up in queues.

Von Massenbach said one issue was that EU countries used different systems.

"There are so many sub-systems for each and every member state," she told the BBC. "We see that the complexity doesn't really support smooth processing at the border."

Technology issues have prevented EES from being used in the UK at the Port of Dover where French border checks take place.

A new processing area has 84 kiosks to record fingerprints and photographs but currently is not being used because the technology for the kiosks - the responsibility of the French authorities – cannot be activated.

Port of Dover chief executive, Doug Bannister, told MPs on Thursday "time is rapidly running out" to fix it.

"We are rapidly heading towards the start of the critical summer period and are yet to receive the assurances we need to avoid what has the potential to be a very challenging six weeks," he said.

'I'm not going back to Europe'

Anne Robinson from Dunbarton has first-hand knowledge of EES and its idiosyncrasies - to the point it has put her off returning to Europe this year.

In June, she and her 13 year-old-son Jack missed their flight home from Rome because of the system. It was already challenging when they landed in the Italian capital.

"We ended up in a queue, I'd say, for about 90 minutes just to get into Rome," she said.

"Everyone was kind of surprised and complaining, because we couldn't understand why it was taking so long."

Flying back to the UK, Robinson said they arrived at Rome airport three-and-a-half hours before their scheduled flight.

But she found that "most of the [EES] machines were out of order. In fact, you could see a lot of machines just laying around, not working."

She estimated they queued for up to 90 minutes: "By the time we got through, we unfortunately missed the flight."

Robinson said they had to pay £250 for a replacement flight two days later - which was not covered by travel insurance.

"I'm not going back to Europe this year," she said. "That was too stressful."

Under the EES system, digital records linked to passports track when "third country" nationals - including British and American travellers - enter and leave the so-called Schengen free movement zone, which includes 29 European countries.

However, Airlines UK and Airlines for America said the EES rollout had been inconsistent.

They added "with peak summer travel approaching and the system not yet working as it should, airlines need the commission and member states to get serious about contingency measures and take a pragmatic look at whether the current timeline is realistic".

Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2, said his airline found "the continued pursuit of a policy so baffling - in cases where it has clearly not been implemented in a robust manner".

He said allowing EES checks to be paused where systems were not ready would "result in a much better experience for holidaymakers".

Von Massenbach said there had been a "very high level meeting in Brussels" on Wednesday, "and we see now that they start to understand that this is a situation that is not bearable, not bearable over the summer".

Airports lobby group, ACI Europe, have written to EC president Ursula Von Der Leyen, claiming wait times at border control had now reached up to five hours in peak traffic periods, and things could worsen as the busiest time of the year approached.

It warned "airlines face half-empty planes at gate closing time, while passengers are stuck in border control queues".

An EC spokesman said that "all efforts are being made to limit the impact [of EES] on travellers from outside the EU".

He said the impact was "limited" in "most" EU airports and where there were issues, member states had not been able to provide sufficient numbers of border guards, appropriate infrastructure and automated equipment.

The EC will meet members of the aviation industry next week to discuss the system.

Car finance compensation payments delayed until next year

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2l9vvj097lo, 3 days ago

Millions of drivers who were mis-sold car finance agreements must wait until at least 2027 to receive compensation, regulators have announced.

Average payments of about £829 are expected under the rules published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

However, legal challenges to the scheme mean compensation calculations and payments have been delayed.

Who could receive car finance compensation?

The vast majority of new cars, and many second-hand ones, are bought with finance agreements. Customers pay an initial deposit to secure the vehicle, then a monthly fee with interest.

Compensation could be given to many of those who took out a car loan between April 2007 and November 2024.

The decision by the FCA, the financial regulator, applies to about 12 million car loans - just over 40% of the total number during the period.

In 2021, the FCA banned deals where car dealers received commission from lenders, based on the interest rate charged to the customer. These were known as discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) and customers were often not told about them.

The FCA said this provided an incentive for a buyer to be charged a higher-than-necessary interest rate, leaving them paying too much.

Other car buyers were also judged to have signed unfair contracts because the commission paid to the dealer was so high - accounting for at least 35% of the total cost of credit and 10% of the loan.

Some customers were not given accurate information about the best finance deal because of exclusive arrangements between car dealers and lenders.

How much compensation could victims receive?

Under the latest proposals, the FCA expects average payouts of £829 per mis-sold agreement.

The total cost of the compensation, including administrative costs, could hit £9.1bn.

How much individual consumers receive will depend on the degree of harm suffered.

For some customers - especially if their contact details have changed - it could take many months before compensation is paid.

What do victims need to do to claim compensation?

Complaints have already been made about four million finance agreements. Those people do not need to do anything.

The regulator urged anyone who has not yet complained to contact their car loan provider directly, rather than using a third-party claims management company.

The regulator's central compensation scheme allows people to complain and potentially receive compensation for mis-sold deals without the need for a lawyer or to go through the courts.

Motorists have also been warned to be on the alert for scammers posing as car finance lenders offering fake compensation.

The FCA has published this guidance on how to complain.

Under its plans:

* lenders will respond to claims, explaining if you are owed compensation and how much – but timing of those letters is now uncertain owing to the legal challenge

* those who complain before the scheme gets up and running are likely to receive compensation faster

* people who complained by 30 June and are not owed compensation should be told by 18 November, those who complained by 31 August will be told if they are not owed compensation by 18 January 2027

* those who have not complained will be contacted by their lender. People will be asked if they want to opt in to the scheme to have their case reviewed

* those motor finance borrowers who do not receive a letter - for example because lenders no longer have their details and cannot trace them - can still make a claim

Regulators have warned claims management companies and law firms involved in motor finance commission claims to make sure consumers do not have multiple representatives for the same claim and are not charged excessive termination fees.

FCA boss Nikhil Rathi told the BBC's Today programme there are "many law firms out there who would like to get 30% of any compensation", stressing that the regulator's scheme was "free to use" for consumers.

When will drivers receive compensation and who will pay?

Millions of drivers were in line to receive compensation this year, and most of the remainder should have got compensation by the end of 2027.

But the FCA has confirmed that no compensation will be paid before 2027 as a result of legal challenges to the scheme.

Consumer Voice said the scheme left "too many people short-changed". The FCA has also received challenges from three lenders: Volkswagen Financial Services, Mercedes Benz Financial Services, and Credit Agricole Auto Finance.

The UK's Upper Tribunal has agreed to hear legal challenges to the scheme, either in December or February next year.

It means that lenders will no longer need to calculate or pay compensation to people owed money under its scheme, until the legal process concludes.

The FCA said it would need to decide what to do next if the courts decided to overturn the programme. Without a scheme in place, the FCA has estimated that up to 19 million complaints would need to be handled individually, taking three years and costing lenders £6bn more.

It said it would "defend the scheme robustly as lawful and the best way to resolve such a widespread, long running and complex issue".

Ultimately, the industry is expected to cover the full costs of any compensation scheme, including any administrative costs.

Lenders - including some of the UK's biggest banks and specialist motor finance firms - have already set aside billions of pounds for potential payouts.

The body that represents the lending industry, the Finance and Leasing Association, said it had "concerns" about the programme but that it was choosing not to raise a legal challenge.

Santander, Barclays and Lloyds also accepted the scheme, despite raising concerns that the level of redress is disproportionate to those who suffered harm.

Even if drivers are entitled to compensation from these lenders they will need to wait.

There were some concessions made to lenders in a scaled-down final compensation plan from the FCA.

The Supreme Court considered three test cases which influenced the FCA's decision and, ultimately, limited how broad the compensation programme could have been.

It focused on whether the car dealers had a duty to act on behalf of their customers, rather than in their own interests. The test case which was upheld was that of Marcus Johnson, who bought his first car - a Suzuki Swift - in 2017.

In his case, the Supreme Court said the terms of his finance deal were unfair due of the size of the commission payment, and the fact he appeared to have been misled over the relationship between the finance firm and the dealer.

Weak hands and blurry vision: Is your tech giving you 'phone body'?

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260630-is-your-tech-giving-you-phone-body, 4 days ago

Your devices are changing your body in ways you might not realise. It's not too late to do something about it.

When we worry about the effects our screentime might have on us, we tend to focus on the mind. But recently, I looked down and noticed a little calloused bump on my pinky finger. It's exactly on the spot where I prop up my phone. It got me thinking: what's my phone doing to the rest of my body?

I called some experts to find out. The answer – maybe you saw this coming – is not encouraging.

The latest science suggests your phone and its digital comrades may be altering the shape of your neck, hurting your vision, affecting your motor skills and reducing your muscle strength. People even worry our tech-driven lives are causing more wrinkles. And some of these physical issues could in turn lead to cognitive decline or other more serious problems.

I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take all that sitting down (especially because all the sitting is part of the problem). Fortunately, if you don't want technology ruining your body, there are a few things you can do about it.

Deformed spines

If you're reading this on a phone, chances are you're tilting your head to look down at it.

This "forward head posture" can put up to 60lbs (27kg) of pressure on your neck. Over time, that can damage the discs in your spine, degenerate joints and muscles and even reduce your lung capacity. It even has a nickname: "tech neck".

It can also permanently change the way your body looks.

Special exercises can help correct the problem, with the approval of a doctor. But there are simpler changes you can start right now: lift your phone up higher.

Position the screen at eye-level, ideally around arm's length away from your face. The same advice applies to computer monitors. Some experts say taking screen breaks can help. Try a 20-minute break every half hour.

Irritated skin and wrinkly necks?

Recently a new worry has emerged – is tech neck causing neck wrinkles?

"It makes sense, in theory," says Justine Hextall, a consultant dermatologist and fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in the UK. Repetitive stress causes wrinkles, so leaning forward and folding your neck up all the time could be a problem, she says.

But there haven't been any good studies proving the link, Hextall says. She advises against buying any special "tech neck" skin products that have showing up online.

There are other skin problems to worry about though, particularly for smart watch devotees who never take them off.

"A dark, damp environment [like the area under your watch] is great for yeast, so you might get irritation or even eczema," she says. And because this can damage the skin barrier, Hextall says it could also lead to sensitivities to some of the ingredients in tech products, including nickel, rubber, latex and a group of chemicals called acrylates.

The solution there is simple: take off your smart watch more often and wash your skin. She also recommends wearing a barrier cream if you're going to have a watch on all day.

Decaying vision

Rates of myopia (near sightedness) have been skyrocketing for decades.  If you consider what's changed, it's easy to blame technology.

That may be true, but not in the way you might think, according to Donald Mutti, a professor of optometry at Ohio State University in the US.

"We did an over 20-year longitudinal study of kids' eye development, looking at risk factors for the onset and progression of myopia," Mutti says. A key question was whether there's a connection between myopia and "close work", tasks that keep you focused on something close to your face like a phone. "The answer was 'not really'," he says.

But the study uncovered something else: time spent outdoors seems to have a protective effect. "The idea is the bright light of the outside stimulates a release of dopamine from the retina," Mutti says, and it appears that could affect the way your eyes develop.

Technology is part of a global shift towards more of our time spent indoors. In that sense, Mutti believes, your devices may have an indirect negative effect on your eyes.

The solution here is a simple one, says Mutti – you just need to spend more time outside. It's not just good for your eyes, it can also help you sleep better. Just make sure to wear sunscreen and sunglasses to avoid the harmful effects of sunshine. (Find out if you're applying sunscreen correctly in this article by my colleague Jessica Bradley.)

Weak hands

Grip strength is increasingly recognised as a key marker for your overall health.

One study found it predicts early death better than blood pressure. And grip strength is on the decline in many countries, especially among younger people.

"A generational decline isn't just about weaker hands, it may be an early warning sign about the future health of younger cohorts," says Johannes Beller, a professor of medical sociology at the Medical University of Lausitz, Germany.

"There's a reasonable case that the shift toward computer-based, sedentary work is contributing to declining physical fitness," and it's plausible that would affect grip strength too.

You should be able to squeeze a tennis ball as hard as you can and maintain it for 15-30 seconds. If you can't, this article by my colleague David Cox has advice for special wrist curls. But this is about more than grip, it's also about improving your overall fitness. In other words, hit the gym.

Hand-eye coordination

It seems technology affects motor skills, abilities that tie the mind and the body together for precise movements.

It could make you better at stuff like clicking and swiping, says Sebastian Suggate, a professor of developmental psychology and education at the University of Regensburg, Germany. "But if you look at broader motor skill development, particularly fine motor skill development, the evidence converges on a negative effect."

We know a lot more about the effects on children than adults. Suggate's own research shows an association between more screen time and worse motor skills.

That's especially alarming because there's a correlation between motor skills and cognitive and academic development in children and adolescents.

His advice isn't to panic or ban screens. Instead, consciously introduce hands-on activity in daily life.

More like this:

•Your phone's blue light isn't ruining your sleep

• AI might turn your brain to mush. Here's how to stop it

• AirPods with cameras - could this be the end of screens?

Sustained hands-on tasks such as preparing a meal or physical arts and crafts can help. Suggate does wood working, but you could learn an instrument or even just write by hand.

"It's not the end of the world. These are subtle effects," Suggate says. "But even if the effects are moderate to small at the individual level, collectively, across generations, we're talking about a potential dumbing down of society, and an inability to think in reality, because the hands are such a central point of contact we have with the world."

For more insights, sign up to our Tech Decoded newsletter, where Thomas and Lily Jamali break down the biggest stories of the tech world, and help you live a better digital life. Sign up for free here.

For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

PlayStation will stop releasing games on discs in 2028

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ryjyvjq41o, 4 days ago

New PlayStation games will no longer be released on discs from January 2028, the gaming giant has announced.

Sony said in a blog post new games would still be able to be bought in shops, but they would come with a digital code.

It comes just days after Rockstar announced the hotly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI would similarly launch without a physical disc.

It marks a significant moment for the gaming industry, which has in recent years begun to rely more and more on digital distribution.

Sony said the move came "as consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital".

"This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs," it added.

But it has been met with some pushback online, with gaming journalist Vikki Blake calling it a "body blow to consumer rights".

"It's of huge concern for game conservation and a massive problem for gamers with lower disposable incomes who rely on part-exchanging or loaning games from friends to keep up with the AAA price tags," she said.

"Just one console cycle ago, Sony made a tongue-in-cheek advert about how easy it is to share games on PS4 as a dig at competitor, Xbox.

"It's not funny anymore, is it?"

Christopher Dring, editor of The Game Business, said the news surprised him despite digital downloading being the "dominant form of buying PlayStation games today".

"We still see millions and millions of PlayStation games sold as physical goods," he said.

"It's a significant business and there are lots of players that prefer to buy this way. It's tough news for retail."

Meanwhile Lootbox Gaming, an independent retailer in Delaware which declined to stock the discless physical edition of GTA 6, said the move was "an attack on not only gamers and collectors, but also developers, publishers, distributors and retailers around the globe".

"Essentially, this is an attack on anyone who cares about video games or cares about the right to own your purchases," a spokesperson said.

PlayStation said the move would have no impact on games which are already released, or would be released before January 2028.

Sony has also come under criticism for pulling over 500 films and TV shows purchased on the PlayStation Store from people's collections with no compensation.

The firm said its arrangement with the film production company StudioCanal has ended, meaning it no longer has the rights to sell those TV shows and movies, and they will disappear from people's collections on 1 September.

Gamers previously told the BBC they were concerned about GTA being released without a disc - with one criticising it as this meant they would not be able to lend the game to a friend or sell it on.

The BBC has asked Sony whether it plans on making it possible to transfer ownership of a digital game in the future, in light of this announcement.

The firm has yet to comment.

I'm in therapy for my 14-hour-a-day phone addiction and I'm determined to beat it

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg7v7j3wqwo, 8 days ago

Marios's phone pings and lights up. He's just received a WhatsApp message from me asking for an initial chat about this story.

He wants to answer straightaway. The urge, he later tells me, feels overpowering.

However, he's currently in the middle of a therapy session about his phone addiction. He can't answer it now.

He holds his nerve. But as soon as the meeting finishes, he's back on his phone and an hour later, we meet on a video call.

"I'm so sorry," I say. "The last thing I wanted to do was disturb your session."

"Don't worry," Marios sighs. "This is the feeling I've had for many years: this uncontrollable need to be on my phone.

"It's like carrying around your own drug dealer.

"My drug is always in my pocket, flashing, beeping me and reminding me to take a dose."

On a bad day, Marios, a personal trainer from north London, can spend more than 14 hours staring at his screen (Instagram, he says, is the killer for him). But now, he is trying a 12-session course of private therapy to try to curb this compulsion, which he believes is driven by loneliness.

One look at my screen time statistics tells me I checked my phone 116 times yesterday. I also spent over three hours gawping at it.

Is Marios addicted? Am I addicted?

It's difficult to know.

Phone addiction does not yet exist as an official condition, but in a recent survey of 1,000 adults by Deloitte, 70% of respondents said they spent too much time on their phones. As a growing number of academics warn that smartphones are changing our brain chemistry, experts in addiction have told me they are seeing more clients completely dependent on their devices.

Last year, one in three clients treated for drug dependency by UK Addiction Treatment Centres (UKAT), which supports 3,500 people a year, also had a secondary phone dependency. That's up from just one in 10 in 2019.

Some clients even back out of treatment for their primary addiction because they refuse to surrender their device when they enter the clinic, says UKAT.

But when does someone tip over from being an overkeen texter to needing professional help?

As I drive up the tree-lined driveway to Rainford Hall, I'm greeted by huge stained-glass windows dating back to Jacobean times, overlooking manicured gardens.

It's an unlikely venue for treating people with a digital addiction.

This Steps Together rehab centre in St Helens, Merseyside, also hosts people struggling with other addictions (including drugs, alcohol and gambling) but its therapists are seeing an increasing number of people who cannot switch off from their devices.

"It can affect anyone from any background," lead therapist Kelly Watson explains. "We all have phones, we all have similar brain circuitry, and so many of us can become addicted."

Part of our brains work on a reward system, she says. We get a message, a like on social media, or even read some new information on a website and then dopamine (a chemical messenger in the brain that regulates pleasure and motivation) is released.

Eventually, for some of us, the need for this hit becomes too much. It can take over, causing hours - or even days - of our lives to disappear into the online world, she explains.

James, who is being treated at another Steps Together centre in Leicester, knows how that feels.

The 48-year-old initially sought help for alcohol addiction but it soon became clear his digital dependency was also out of control.

After James lost his job, his day became consumed with scrolling on social media, checking news websites and obsessing about what was happening in different parts of the world.

If he posted anything on social media, he would be awake in the middle of the night checking for likes and comments. He tells me it felt like the digital world was holding him hostage.

But any enjoyment of using his phone was gone. "I would be dreading it," James recalls. "It felt like bit of my soul had been sucked out of me, but I couldn't stop."

Watson says when clients first come to Rainford Hall, they are worried, confused and don't want to let go of their phones.

"They say: 'But I need it for work, I need it for keeping in touch with family.'

"I can hear the fear in their voice. It's their safe place."

Many spend at least 28 days at the residential centre, receiving group and one-to-one therapy for the issues driving their addiction, while being helped to slowly break their dependency.

Watson works with them to gradually reduce their screen time and discover what thoughts and feelings appear when they are not on their device.

"That's often the issue – life can be too much, by scrolling on their phone they can disassociate from the real world."

Away from the luxury of Rainford Hall, people across the world are coming together to support each other with digital addiction.

In 2017, several people concerned about their tech and internet use banded together to create Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous (ITAA), a global fellowship inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

Jenny is one of their members. At the height of her phone addiction, she would not sleep for days. She would barely eat or drink, her dependency was so strong.

"I would lose chunks of my life," explains the 30-year-old, who doesn't want the BBC to use her real name.

She didn't care what popped up on her screen - a film, a series, a short video - as long as she was watching something.

"I did not realise how I addicted I was until I was in withdrawal and I had to ask friends and family to keep my devices under lock and key," Jenny recalls.

"It was so bad, I thought I am going to die if I don't watch something."

If she relapsed, she would resort to taking or "borrowing without permission" a laptop or a smartphone from her family.

But then the guilt and shame would kick in, and she would want to stream more content to block out the feelings.

After years of "searching for help", she came across ITAA and followed their 12 steps. She is now in recovery and has not streamed or watched anything for five years.

Jenny says she feels comfortable with having a basic phone, and going online for her job. "I'm now in control," she says.

Another ITAA member, Tom, says his addiction led him to dark places. He could lose whole months of his life to his phone and other screens.

"I would binge for 10 hours straight – I could be listening to music, watching something on YouTube, scrolling through social media and playing a video game – all at the same time.

"Then I would go for a two-hour walk, and binge again. This could go on for months."

Tom's addiction was so overpowering that it led to him losing his business and his sense of purpose in life.

"I became suicidal," he says.

"I am starting to get real joy in life again. I play lots of pickle ball, I get outside and I go to the gym."

Hilda Burke, a psychotherapist accredited by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), recently wrote a support book called the Phone Addiction Workbook after seeing an increasing number of clients coming to her with a digital dependency.

If you are worried you are spending too much time on your screen, she recommends analysing your own behaviour and reflecting on what might be behind it.

"Ask yourself questions like: 'What was going on that day? Was I waiting for someone to message back?"

Often, it's waiting for a response to a message that causes our initial discomfort, Burke explains. This then triggers us to use our phone as a distraction.

"Instead of going online, maybe do something else to distract you. Call a friend, go for a run, read a book.

"And try not to feel any guilt or shame - instead, think about how you could manage it next time."

Phone companies have also introduced features which help people track their screen time and restrict access to certain apps in an attempt to counteract the addictive loop many of us get caught in.

Back in north London, Marios is hopeful that his course of therapy can help him crack his phone dependency. He is also on the way to becoming fluent in Spanish - thanks to various apps on his phone.

"It's not all bad," he says.

But a second later, he reaches for his phone, on impulse. As soon as he touches it, he appears to remember his resolve. He jabs the phone, defiantly.

"Every day, I set myself an intention to not be on it as much and it is making a difference," Marios says. "And every day, I am slowly beginning to enjoy things again. It can be done, I'm sure."

Why the tech industry wants to take away your screen

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260624-why-tech-companies-want-to-take-away-your-screen, 11 days ago

Some tech leaders have a vision for a world where you spend a lot less time looking at your phone. Is it the solution to screen time, or just a new dystopia?

If you've ever wanted your ears to have eyes, then I've got great news. It seems Apple is gearing up to release AirPods with cameras in them as soon as next year.

Apparently, these cameras aren't for taking pictures. According to Bloomberg, they'll feed information about your surroundings to its virtual assistant Siri, unlocking a whole set of new possibilities for how you might interact with your devices without looking at them.

Apple hasn't confirmed or denied the news, but the Bloomberg report comes from a journalist with a stellar reputation for leaking the company's secrets. And it's part of a broader trend.

For the past 60 years or so, screens have been the predominant way we have interacted with computers. Now it's possible they could fade further into the background.

Together with smart glasses and other wearable products like AI pendants you hang around your neck, some of the biggest tech companies are building a suite of devices that could let you spend far less time with screens. If this vision comes to pass, it might revolutionise the way we interact with computers.

This may or may not be a rosy picture. It would usher in either a softer and more humane relationship with the technology we use every day, or a future where tech invades even more of our lives.

But before we get there, you and millions of others will answer a more fundamental question: does anybody actually want this?

A farewell to screens?

Last week, Snap, the company behind Snapchat, unveiled a new pair of AI-powered smart glasses called Specs. They come with a spectacular price tag: £1,995 in the UK and $2,195 in the US.

And the biggest news about Specs was a TV appearance where the glasses seemed to be crushing chief executive Evan Spiegel's ears in a way that looked decidedly uncomfortable. (He later said his ears just look like that.) The Specs are significantly larger and heavier than most competing smart glasses – though a spokesperson tells the BBC they're comfortable enough to be worn for hours.

But Specs may have unprecedented features. Most importantly, the company says you can use them independently of other devices. Smart glasses usually need to be paired with your phone.

"For decades, computers have asked us to look down, sit still or step out of the moment," said Spiegel in a press release. "Specs are the beginning of a new era in computing."

To be clear, the specs have a display in the lenses, as do some models of Meta's smart glasses, but they're not designed to replace your field of vision or even be a constant presence. Instead, the glasses will temporarily overlay a display on top of the world as you see it through your glasses.

There may not be a large group of people with the wallet and ear strength to bear a product like this. But for those who fit this unusual demographic, Specs offer something that really is new.

The market for smart glasses and other computers you wear on your body, meanwhile, is booming. Meta's smart glasses are the most popular with a reported seven million pairs sold, and just this week the company just announced a new line of cheaper models. However, these devices raise serious privacy concerns.

Smart glasses are controversial, to say the least. There's an entire genre of people on the internet who make money using the Meta smart glasses' built-in camera to harass strangers and surreptitiously record them. It can often be difficult to tell whether they're filming. (Meta and Snap's glasses have a little light that turns on that's supposed to alert people. Many argue this isn't enough.)

I talked to CNBC reporter Brandy Zadrozny on The Interface, the podcast I host for the BBC, about the privacy concerns.

"I was on my morning run and I asked a parks department worker when the water fountains were turning on, and he had the Meta glasses on," said Zadrozny. "Even for me, a tech reporter, it was so jarring. There's going to be so much backlash."

But Meta is reportedly considering audio-only smart glasses that don't use cameras. And if anyone can navigate this privacy minefield, it might be Apple. Privacy is core to Apple's marketing. And it's easy to imagine how its rumoured new product could skate around the privacy concerns.

Assuming the reporting is correct, the AirPods cameras won't let you take pictures or video like a regular camera. And Apple could – theoretically – process all of the camera's visual information on your on your phone without sending it to the cloud or saving it afterward.

So if we set the privacy concerns aside for a moment (and to be clear I'm not saying we should) what might this new world look like?

I see two ways to look at it. One is positive. Cameras in your AirPods could let you interact with all kinds of information about your physical environment without ever touching or looking at a screen.

You could ask questions about things you're looking at, open your fridge and get recipe ideas based on the ingredients you have without typing them in, or get navigational directions based on what's in your field of vision. And it would unlock new, far less intrusive ways to control devices, like hand gestures.

Maybe you don't want to do any of that stuff, but think of it this way. Right now, there's an extremely limited number of computing tasks you can accomplish without staring at a big glass rectangle.

Don't throw away your phone just yet

"Apple would not embed technology like this unless they had very credible use cases in mind," says Ben Wood, chief analyst at the tech industry market research firm FDM CSS Insight, and a noted expert on wearable tech. "It's almost limited by our imagination – what people will be able to do with these devices."

This surrounds what I think is one of the more interesting promises about AI. At its most successful, AI would let us talk to computers the way you would talk to a person who can operate your device on your behalf.

More like this:

• The unsettling world of the 'TikTok Farlands'

• The spy in your driveway: How cars sell your data

• Wired headphone sales are booming. What's with the Bluetooth backlash?

And Apple is already launching a revamped, AI version of Siri which takes baby steps in that direction.

It all means you could move through the world, doing things with your devices, without taking your eyes off what is around you. In an era where screen time continues to be a persistent worry for some, this could be a very welcome change.

But here's a potentially grimmer vision of what may come. The tech industry is heavily invested in screens. Apple, for example, is a company that makes almost all its money selling products with screens on them.

If screenless devices go mainstream, there it could just be another way to get us to interact with technology more often. We'll could start at screens just as much as we do now, and then have new screen-free technology for those moments when need your eyes for something else, like when you’re walking around.

"I'm a firm believer that the smartphone is going absolutely nowhere, it's part of the fabric of society," says Wood. "But I think there is a desire, by the tech industry and by some users, to lift our heads."

For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Kunal Shah: The Indian entrepreneur taking charge of WhatsApp

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0my4n38myjo, 12 days ago

Until recently, Kunal Shah was a familiar name mainly within India's startup and investor circles.

The founder of fintech company Cred had steadily built a following beyond the businesses he created. His podcast appearances often ventured into topics such as trust, incentives, wealth creation and human behaviour. His social media posts ranged from artificial intelligence to philosophy.

Now, with Meta appointing him to lead WhatsApp, he has been propelled into the global spotlight.

The appointment follows Meta's $900m (£679m) investment in Cred and comes at a time when WhatsApp is seeking to expand beyond messaging into payments, business services and AI-powered products.

While Indian-origin executives have led some of the world's biggest technology companies, it is less common for a founder who built his career within India's startup ecosystem to be handed control of a global consumer platform of that scale. WhatsApp has more than three billion users worldwide.

Long before Meta came calling, Shah had become a recognisable figure in India's startup ecosystem.

His first major breakthrough came with FreeCharge, a mobile recharge platform he co-founded in 2010 as India's internet economy was beginning to take shape.

The company grew rapidly and was acquired by e-commerce firm Snapdeal in 2015 in what was then one of the largest startup acquisitions in the country.

But Shah's reputation would eventually expand beyond the companies he built.

After leaving FreeCharge, he spent several years investing in young technology firms and advising founders.

He also worked as an adviser with startup accelerator Y Combinator and Sequoia Capital - roles through which he became closely involved with a generation of founders, especially in the technology sector, as India's startup ecosystem expanded rapidly.

Raised in Mumbai, Shah studied philosophy in college and did not follow the path taken by many of India's best-known technology founders through elite engineering or management institutions.

In a post on X, Indian entrepreneur and investor Sanjeev Bikhchandani once recalled Shah telling him that he chose philosophy largely because the subject's morning class schedule allowed him to continue working full-time after his family's business ran into financial trouble.

In interviews and podcast appearances over the years, Shah has also spoken about taking up odd jobs while studying. Those early experiences, according to him, were followed by the launch of FreeCharge, the company that first brought him national attention.

Founded in 2018, Cred came up with a simple business model centred on rewarding people for paying their credit card bills on time.

In public appearances, Shah has often linked the company's origins to questions of trust and incentives. The company later expanded into lending, insurance, commerce and wealth management products.

Meta's latest investment values Cred at about $4.5bn, above its previous funding-round valuation but below the peak valuation it achieved in 2022, according to a Reuters report.

Cred also became a recognisable fintech brand, especially with its advertising campaigns that often relied on humour, nostalgia and unexpected celebrity appearances.

But its rise also brought scrutiny. For years, the company was admired for its brand and growth but frequently questioned over its path to profitability.

Critics questioned whether investor enthusiasm and lofty valuations were justified by the company's financial performance, while supporters argued that many successful technology businesses had also endured long periods of losses while building scale.

The debate resurfaced last year when a social media post questioned why entrepreneurs were often celebrated despite a lack of sustained profits.

Shah responded by agreeing that profitable businesses deserved recognition but argued that entrepreneurship itself should be encouraged because it creates jobs and involves taking risks.

To his supporters, Shah represents a generation of entrepreneurs who helped shape India's modern internet economy, first through digital payments and later through financial technology.

Shweta Rajpal Kohli, chief executive of the Startup Policy Forum, who has worked with Shah on policy issues for several years, described him as someone with "a rare ability to bring a product lens to regulatory complexity, and a regulatory lens to product design".

"His creativity and problem-solving instinct have been consistently fascinating," she told the BBC.

To critics, he embodies a startup culture that has sometimes prioritised valuations, fundraising and rapid growth over sustainable business models.

The latest appointment also reflects several themes that have run through Shah's career.

WhatsApp is increasingly expanding beyond messaging into payments, commerce and business services - areas where Shah has spent much of the past decade building products, investing and advising companies.

India, which is WhatsApp's largest market, has also been the centre of much of his entrepreneurial career. With this appointment, Shah is set to become the first Indian to lead WhatsApp.

But some observers caution against viewing Shah's appointment solely through the lens of fintech or payments.

"There's a tendency to assume Shah was chosen for this role because of his background in fintech and payments. I think that's too narrow a view," Nikhil Pahwa, the founder and editor of tech news website MediaNama, told the BBC.

"He's someone who has spent years thinking about products, consumer behaviour, incentives and growth. And in his businesses, payments have been a mechanism for consumer acquisition, so that products can be marketed to them. This looks less like a payments appointment and more like Meta choosing a founder with experience in scaling the business side of a consumer business."

Meta has not publicly detailed why it chose Shah for the role. In announcing the appointment, however, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg praised his "builder mentality" and "global perspective".

Those qualities are likely to be tested as WhatsApp seeks to deepen its presence in payments, business tools and AI-powered products while serving billions of users around the world.

The challenge before Shah is also quite different from anything he has faced before.

At Cred, he was building products for financially active users. His audience consisted largely of founders, investors and technology enthusiasts.

At WhatsApp, he will now be responsible for a service used by people far beyond those circles.

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I'm a Facebook sperm donor and I've fathered dozens of children

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czj81enx3x8o, today

Kyle Gordy does not drink alcohol or smoke, takes 30 supplements day, eats only organic food and drinks nothing but filtered water.

"Everything I do is to maximise my fertility," he says.

The 35-year-old American, who currently lives in Ireland, is an online sperm donor who says he has fathered "dozens" of children all over the world, including three in Scotland.

As well as being a donor himself, Gordy runs several Facebook groups, some of which have more than 40,000 members worldwide - and he also has a website for meeting potential recipients called 'Be Pregnant Now'.

Selling sperm for profit is illegal in the UK but the number of men offering to provide their services via unregulated online platforms is increasing.

It only takes a few clicks to find a Facebook page which says something like: 'Sperm Donors UK - Get Your BABYDUST Here!'

However, such arrangements can come at a cost, with many women reporting being coerced into sex acts or harassed by men they have contacted through social media sites.

Why is there a market for sperm donors?

Fertility treatment, or IVF, using a sperm donor is possible for some women on the NHS but there are limited rounds, lengthy waiting lists and a shortage of donors.

For instance, the average wait time for beginning the IVF process in NHS Tayside is almost two years because of the limited supply of donors.

Private clinics, regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), also offer treatment but they are expensive, with the average cost of a round of IVF reaching more than £10,000.

Former SNP MP Hannah Bardell is campaigning for more access to fertility treatment.

She says she was "completely taken aback" when she was told women who are part of a couple can get three rounds of IVF on the NHS but single women are not entitled to any.

She argues this is one of the factors driving single women towards using online sperm donors.

Kyle Gordy insists he choses to donate directly to women because it is more personal than a "cold and clinical" regulated clinic.

"You don't know who's getting it," he says of donating sperm via the official route.

For him, another motivation is the chance to be actively involved in the lives of some of his children.

He says: "I feel [clinics] are not great because there's no contact until they are 18, and that doesn't seem right because kids get curious and might want to contact you.

"I believe I have a moral obligation to keep in contact with the mothers and children that want to."

However, another online sperm donor, based in Scotland, told the BBC he was concerned about women putting themselves in vulnerable positions due to their "desperation".

James, who did not want us to use his real name, says the private donor environment encourages a "very dangerous situation".

"I think the majority of donors want to donate for the wrong reasons," he says.

"Many want sex and I have heard a lot of times women saying that they agree to artificial insemination but are then forced into natural insemination on the day."

James describes himself as an "ethical donor" - one who wants to help women give birth without any conditions attached.

He says it was his wife at the time who encouraged him to investigate becoming a donor after they had children of their own with no issues.

"The more I looked into it, the more I realised there is a huge shortfall of ethical donors that aren't looking for sex, don't have a god complex and can handle no contact," he says.

The social media pages for sperm donors also have comments from women who have experienced the dark side of the online world.

One woman posted screenshots showing a potential donor harassing her for nude images while another displayed abusive messages from a man targeting her size and sexuality.

A woman who wished to remain anonymous told the BBC she was motivated to go online for a sperm donor after she was informed by the NHS that she would be on a waiting list for between three to four years.

The woman, who we are calling Emily, says going private was not an option due to the costs involved.

"I did a lot of research, and I filtered a lot of people out," she says.

"I only spoke to six men out of the hundreds who responded to my first post.

"I was ready for the creepy people and the stupid questions, so I just deleted and blocked as soon as they came."

Emily says one man responded with deliberately graphic imagery of what he wanted sexually in order for him to donate to her.

The donor Emily eventually used successfully, who we are calling Ryan, has fathered four children through Facebook groups.

Ryan is involved in the lives of his children, although he says he wouldn't be opposed to helping someone who did not want him involved.

'Prolific private donors'

The HFEA, which regulates the fertility industry, has issued its own warning about online donations.

It said it was concerned that apps, websites, or social media sites were helping exploitative or serial sperm donors expose people to serious medical, legal, and emotional risks that could have lifelong impacts.

Clare Ettinghausen, the director of strategy and corporate affairs at the HFEA, says there are concerns about the lack of regulations around the number of children one donor online could father.

The UK fertility industry has a limit which states that no donor can be used to create more than 10 families within the UK.

"What we know from some of these prolific private donors is some of them have 100s, if not more, children across the UK," she says.

Meta, which owns Facebook, told the BBC that the discussion of sperm donation was allowed on its platforms but it was against its rules to buy or sell sperm.

It said it would review any groups or posts where concerned was raised and remove content which violates its rules.

Scientist who cleaned space toilet on work experience now leading Mars exploration teams

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz758x04g83o, today

Cleaning a space toilet while on work experience was Claire Parfitt's first introduction to a career away from Earth's orbit.

But she never imagined her time at the National Space Centre in Leicester, when she was 14, would one day see her lead a team exploring future Mars missions.

Parfitt, originally from Nottingham, now works for the European Space Agency's European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands.

The 42-year-old joined the space industry after securing a physics degree and a PhD in spacecraft power systems engineering.

She has since worked on missions such as the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover, which will explore the surface of Mars.

She has also worked on the SMILE mission - officially known as the Solar wind, Magnetospheric, Ionic Link Explorer mission - which uses four science instruments to study how Earth responds to the solar wind from the Sun.

But Parfitt still recalls how support in her early years, including from her science teachers at Fernwood School in Wollaton, helped pave the way for her career.

She had initially applied for work experience at NASA, which was turned down, but she was eventually able to secure a placement at the National Space Science Centre.

During her time there, staff were planning and collecting artefacts for the opening of the country's flagship space science attraction - the National Space Centre.

"I just knew that's always what I wanted to do," she said.

"The Director of the Space Centre in those days was a lady called Alex Hall.

"To see someone in that position, I think it really helped me to envisage my own career in the space industry."

Parfitt recalled exhibits being delivered to the offices ahead of the opening of the space centre in June 2001.

"One of those was a space toilet, which I had never seen before and I helped to unpack it," she said.

"There was obviously some preservation that had to happen, some cleaning.

"It was just an unusual piece of technology that is used for space missions, so it was really interesting to see."

Since it opened 25 years ago, the National Space Centre has welcomed almost six million visitors.

Parfitt described the attraction as incredible, and added: "The Space Centre is such an inspirational place for people to go. I know I was involved from a very, very early age.

"I'm pretty sure it put me on the track that I'm on now for my space career."

Following a period in the UK space industry, Parfitt moved to the European Space Agency's European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands in 2019.

Parfitt, who described her career as a "dream come true", now leads a team planning for the future human and robotic exploration of Mars at the European Space Agency.

She is also chair of the International Mars Exploration Working Group.

Parfitt said Mars is a "really scientifically important place to study and explore".

She added: "When Rosalind Franklin launches in 2028 that will be extremely exciting.

"For future Mars missions afterwards, there's a lot to do to prepare for human exploration.

"We have to plan the next decades carefully to make sure that we preserve Mars and get the best science data that we can back for Europe."

Listen to BBC Radio Leicester on Sounds and follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.

TikTokers on how Manchester became an 'influencer heaven'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8p8y937ydo, today

Towers of luxury apartments loom over waterside bars beside Deansgate-Castlefield station. On hot sunny days, the area is packed.

"Everyone is always there during the summer," Ruwaydah says. "It's like influencer heaven."

She began making TikTok videos about her favourite places in Manchester six years ago, after moving into one of the city's sky-scraping apartments.

It seems the city is having a moment. Its economic success is being celebrated, its former mayor might become prime minister, and its influencers, like Ruwaydah, are showing the world why they think this is such a great place to live.

'Nothing is too far away - I walk everywhere'

Content creators like her have an audience hungry for recommendations - everything from food and drink to advice on apartments and dance classes - because Manchester has a young and growing population.

For Ruwaydah, the city's compactness is another big reason why her videos have become so popular.

"I can walk everywhere in 30 minutes," the 33-year-old says. Much of her content is recorded as she goes about her daily life, whether that's meeting friends or going out with her toddler.

If she finds a cafe or bakery along the way she likes the look of, she'll try their coffee or cake and make a video about it.

Because she "never feels like anything is too far away", it encourages her to post on TikTok more often - another reason she thinks her online audience has grown since moving to Manchester from London.

The fact there are so many businesses and shops now in Manchester city centre is a result of efforts by local leaders to rejuvenate it many years ago, says Paul Swinney, chief economist at The Data City.

He points specifically to efforts that started in the 1990s, when the council was led by Sir Howard Bernstein, to revamp the city centre with the aim of attracting new money and white-collar jobs.

"There was a lot of investment that went into clearing out old buildings, converting them, and constructing new buildings for office space."

With new facilities and a tram network to help people get around, national and international businesses began setting up outposts in Manchester, says Swinney.

This influx of new employers and their employees marked the city's shift from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-driven one, he explains, including sectors such as finance, law, and the creative industries.

To house the new office workers, towers of luxury apartments were built. Bars, restaurants and cafes - like those Ruwaydah reviews - were established to entertain them.

One such worker is Harry. The 23-year-old, from Chester, earned a graduate job at a solicitors' firm after finishing university.

He lives in a new apartment complex near Piccadilly and is studying for a legal qualification. He began posting about his revision, fitness and nutrition routines on TikTok last autumn.

Harry says being around other people making content helped him overcome his qualms about doing it himself.

"I always saw people recording in the gym and I was like... why are they doing that?"

'People here are just different'

Soon he realised he was judging them because he was feeling insecure himself. He made his first video in October and, with his audience continuing to grow, now plans to launch a YouTube channel.

Coincidentally, his flatmate began creating similar content on TikTok around the same time.

The pair are an example of Manchester's youthful population. Census data from 2021 shows its largest age group was 20-24-year-olds, and that this group's total population had increased by 9.7% since 2011.

There are about 70,000 students living in the city, according to council documents. And in terms of online mentions, an analysis by the consultancy ING found Manchester was the joint fastest rising city in Europe last year.

Harry says making videos for social media has been a big boost to his confidence and only possible because of the atmosphere the city has imbued in him - a self-confidence with little regard for what others might think.

"It's a swagger," he says. "It's so distinctly Mancunian... people here are just different."

Andy Spinoza, who wrote a book about the city's transformation called Manchester Unspun, noticed something similar after moving here as a student in the 1970s.

"There's this thing called Mancunian exceptionalism, which is 'we're the best city in the world and everyone else can do one.'"

He says that confidence has deep roots going back to the city's emergence as an economic powerhouse during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th Century.

Heavily bombed during World War Two because of its huge manufacturing capacity, Manchester became a creative hub from the 1980s onwards with bands like New Order and Oasis achieving global fame.

Spinoza says that feeling of exceptionalism was central to the city's creative rebirth 40 years ago, which helped it feel like an exciting place long before a new generation of workers and content creators moved here for office jobs and towering flats.

"I call it a social experiment of, mainly young, people living in the sky," he says.

One of those is Sufia, who moved here from New Zealand three years ago.

The 25-year-old knew no-one in Manchester beyond a few extended family members and initially planned to stay only temporarily, using it as a base to travel across Europe and explore other parts of the world.

But all that changed when videos she posted of her dance classes on TikTok took off. What started out as a hobby quickly turned into a business.

"We've been sold out for seven months," she says. Her classes cater to different dancing abilities and she can have as many as 40 people in each one.

"Northerners are so friendly," Sufia tells me over matcha in a cafe near her apartment in Ancoats. "I've felt so welcomed."

She says things are going so well she left her full-time marketing job in February to concentrate exclusively on her dance business.

High-rise buildings like those in Ancoats, which suffered huge deprivation after the war, are clear evidence of Manchester's redevelopment but Swinney says its economic "growth miracle" has been overestimated by official statistics.

"There hasn't been this huge explosion of [economic] productivity," he says.

He also points out that median average wages in Greater Manchester have not increased as much as you might think, just 1% since 2019 when adjusted for inflation.

There are also concerns about the high-rise apartments that have been constructed with some requiring repairs for safety problems. One developer was taken to court by the government in April for using taxpayers' money for such remedial works.

Away from the city centre high-rises, Swinney thinks the council has adopted policies that could encourage economic growth in the surrounding areas.

He says transport is a good example as Greater Manchester was the first area in England, outside of Greater London, to have local control of its bus network since deregulation in the 1980s.

'The tram is so good that I sold my car'

The buses operate as part of the Bee Network alongside trams and bicycles, which helps connect Manchester city centre with the areas around it like Salford, Bury and Rochdale.

But trains, which aren't fully part of the Bee Network yet, are often criticised by residents for being inadequate. There are also complaints about the slowness of some tram routes and concerns that the £2 cap on bus fares is financially unsustainable.

Lamar, 29, lives in one of the new apartment buildings that has gone up in Trafford, a borough south-west of the city centre.

He moved here three years ago from Milton Keynes and works at an IT firm near Deansgate. "I leave my house and I'm in the office in about 30 minutes," he says.

Lamar even ended up selling his car shortly after moving to Trafford because he feels the public transport where he lives is so good. "There's about four tram stops within a 15 minute walk."

In his spare time - there's not much of it as he's doing an Open University degree in economics - he makes TikTok videos about personal finance and investing.

He began posting about 18 months ago and, like the other influencers I spoke to, thinks there's something about the atmosphere in Manchester that encourages creativity.

When Lamar was interviewing for his IT job, his hiring manager told him how much he liked his TikTok videos - even though it wasn't mentioned on Lamar's CV. "That was quite cool," he tells me.

As we part ways outside Trafford town hall, a student recognises Lamar and says his videos prompted him to start saving into an ISA two months ago. They take a picture together.

Lamar laughs at my suggestion he's TikTok's answer to Martin Lewis. "I swear this has only happened to me once before."

The success of Ruwaydah's TikTok led her to set up a social events business, which she plans to expand next year.

"This has all started from Manchester," Ruwaydah explains during our coffee - hers is a vanilla mascarpone matcha - in Deansgate.

"The vibe of Manchester is everything. And I think you need to be here and experience it to get that."

Texan moves to Suffolk and becomes a social media sensation

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce95ymyyez3o, yesterday

The idea of upending your entire life and moving nearly 5,000 miles away might prove a daunting prospect.

But that's what Darrell Fishbeck did last summer when he and his wife moved from Blanco, in Texas, to Felixstowe, Suffolk.

After touching down on airport tarmac in the UK in August, the 54-year-old was braced for a settling-in period of adapting to an alternative culture and a new way of living.

But, as he told the BBC, the town he now calls home has more in common with where he is from than one might imagine.

"It actually reminds me of the Texas towns I'm from – the people are very similar, there's kind of a smaller town mentality and a slower pace," he said.

And that's only been helped by the support he has received on social media for his videos in which he compares life in Texas with life in Suffolk and the UK.

Across TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, Fishbeck has amassed more than 180,000 followers, millions of likes and just as many views.

"When I moved here I thought I'll throw up some videos so my friends and family can kind of keep up with me. That was my original intent," he said.

"I had no idea it was going to do what it did. It's just been incredible... the different types of reactions and the positivity.

"I get a lot of people who actually love the videos of me just walking around Felixstowe."

'Brits do it better'

In Fishbeck's clips, nothing is off limits, be it the weather, banter, electricity, food, history, postcodes or even contactless payments.

"My social media is about trying to say in a tongue-in-cheek way that Brits do it better, and the whole heart and soul of it is me coming to appreciate the differences," he said.

"So, a lot of times my posts are subtle attempts to educate Americans on why it's different, how it's different and that it really is actually different."

He's also not afraid to tackle the tough topics – such whether or not we Brits can handle the hot weather.

"It's hot, it's humid and you can't really get out of it, and that's the difference," he said about the UK's climate.

"In Texas, you can always dip into a shop or a store. Air conditioning is everywhere, so you can get cool. The problem here is sometimes you can't get out of the heat."

Fishbeck was talking to BBC Radio Suffolk's Sarah Lilley during the recent heatwave, which saw record-breaking temperatures sweep across the country, reaching highs of 37.3C (99.1F).

While most of us stayed indoors to escape the sweltering conditions, for Fishbeck it was business as usual – he even went out for a "few jogs".

"I loved it. The only reason I didn't hate it was because it wasn't miserable at night and I still had a breeze at night, so I was loving the daytime heat," he said.

"We did go for a dip in the sea and after the initial chill it was quite pleasant, so I can understand why Felixstowe has been heaving with swimmers."

'They suck it up and endure it'

The heatwave saw people across the country scrambling for air conditioning units, with suppliers seeing a surge in sales as households tried to cool down.

In Texas, they are a common fixture. But should they be here?

"A lot of people that live here just suck it up and endure it, but I also know heat here in Suffolk is different than heat in London and it's hard to get relief," he said.

"Trying to cool your body off and not overheat, staying hydrated and just finding a way to get your body temperature down really is a challenge."

Fishbeck, whose morning commute sees him walk through the town's Spa Gardens, moved to Felixstowe to live with his English wife, with whom he had been in a long-distance relationship for several years.

He will soon be celebrating a year in the county, and he doesn't plan on going anywhere else, anytime soon.

"I know it's probably not everyone's experience, but people have been so kind, gracious and welcoming, and that's made the adjustment that much easier," he said.

Do you have a story suggestion for Suffolk? Contact us below.

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Parents warned not to publicly share children’s images amid AI abuse risks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7wj7d0jzzo, yesterday

Parents should not publicly post images of their children online due to the growth of AI-generated abuse imagery, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned.

Along with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), it said there is a growing threat of children's images online being used to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

More than 8,000 AI-generated images and videos of realistic child sexual abuse were identified by the IWF in 2025, it said - adding this was a 14% increase on the year before.

"While we and policing colleagues tackle offenders, prevention remains vital," said Tim Wright, a senior manager at the NCA.

In partnership with the IWF, the organisation has released fresh guidance for parents outlining steps they can take to help keep their children safe online.

It says parents should review their privacy settings or make a "close friends" group for parents keen to share images

"AI is becoming a part of everyday life," the guidance states.

"Whilst it has many benefits, it can also be misused – including by those who use it to make, manipulate and share nude, semi-nude or sexual images and videos of children."

The IWF said its analysts had identified 13 AI-generated videos of child sexual abuse in 2024 - but in 2025 this number had increased to 3,440.

This imagery is considered CSAM in the UK.

The government has sought to tackle AI abuse threats to children, in particular young girls, by banning so-called "nudification" apps and tweaking laws to help AI firms make sure their systems cannot be used to produce CSAM.

Steps for parents

The NCA and IWF said the guidance aims to support parents in understanding the particular threats about CSAM and the increasing role AI is playing in it.

"Hearing about this as a parent or carer can feel alarming, but you are not alone," it says.

"It's important to know there are steps you can take, many of which you may already be doing, to help better protect your child."

The guidance points to three main things parents and guardians do:

* Review privacy settings - use privacy controls located in most social apps under Settings to limit visibility of posts, or make an account private

* Check social media accounts - look over content already shared by parents or family to make sure identifying details that could expose a child, such as their face or school uniform, cannot be seen, or if an image should be deleted

* Revisit image consent - check in with friends, family and even places attended by your child, like schools or clubs, about images being taken of them or used, or review signed consent forms.

It adds that may be helpful for parents to include children in discussions about how and where their image is taken or shared - especially in helping them feel more comfortable in saying no.

Sharenting concerns

The advice follows years of warnings from child safety experts and organisations about the risks of so-called "sharenting".

The term, added to the Collins English Dictionary in 2016, is used to describe the act of parents sharing images or videos of their child on social media.

Experts have said that doing so can expose children to unforeseen risks such as identity theft, fraud or impede their privacy as they grow up.

But the increased availability and capability of AI tools which can be used to manipulate imagery - including to make it look like a person's clothing has been removed - has now become an added concern.

"We don't want to say don't share your children's images with the people you love and trust, but we want everyone to be aware of the potential risks and make an informed decision with the full facts at their disposal," said IWF boss Kerry Smith.

"These are not hypothetical threats, they are real."

Culture secretary quits X in protest at 'misinformation'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrx1ee2r4o, 2 days ago

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has announced she and her department are leaving Elon Musk's X platform.

Explaining her decision in what seemingly will be her last post on X, Nandy said the platform "isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities and I don't want to support it".

"A platform originally designed for free speech and expression now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate," she wrote.

Responding on X, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said "DCMS [the Department for Culture, Media and Sport] is supposed to counter and deal with misinformation, not run away because it's all too much."

On Friday, Downing Street indicated it would continue using X.

A spokeswoman for No 10 said it kept its use of social media "under review", and that it was up to individual ministers and their departments as to whether they continued to use the platform.

DCMS is the second government department to stop using X after the attorney general's office. Several MPs also left the platform earlier this year over reports its AI tool was being used to create sexualised images.

Nandy said she would continue to use Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Attorney General Lord Hermer defended his decision to ban his office from posting on X last month, telling MPs it "constantly descends to racism and misogyny" and that his department "can do better".

"I can understand why other departments feel they need to be on the pitch engaging with people, but that is not where the attorney general's office needs to be," Lord Hermer told the Justice Committee in June.

"For the work that I can do, I can engage with people in serious debate, detailed debate, respectful debate, without being on a platform that constantly descends to racism and misogyny."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has accused Musk of using his platform to "whip up division" in the UK over the murder of student Henry Nowak last month.

There were violent protests in Southampton following the release of bodycam footage showing police handcuffing 18-year-old Nowak as he lay dying. His killer Vickrum Digwa had claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack.

The footage of Nowak's final moments has prompted a wave of political reaction in the UK, as well as X owner Musk criticising the police treatment of the teenager.

Several MPs, including Liberal Democrat Layla Moran and Vikki Slade, and Labour's Darren Paffey, left the platform after reports the Grok AI tool was being used to create sexualised images, including of children.

X has previously said: "Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content."

Meta glasses wearers hit with paywall to use built-in feature

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wy317d71jo, 3 days ago

Owners of Meta's AI glasses have been told they must pay a monthly fee if they want full access to a feature that was previously free.

Users will have to shell out $19.99 every month to use "Conversation Focus", which uses the microphones on the glasses to make it easier to hear people you're talking to, for more than three hours a month.

Meta says those who hit the "free monthly usage limit" will have to wait for their free hours to refresh each calendar month unless they subscribe.

The social media giant declined to provide a statement, but a spokesperson said the move formed part of its experiments with offering subscriptions for some features while keeping core services free.

Meta's plans to test "premium" subscription experiments across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp were first revealed in January.

The firm later confirmed its tests would include trialling paid access to expanded AI features, including those on its smart glasses.

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC on Thursday users of its glasses would still have access to other built-in AI features, such as live translation and its voice assistant, without needing a subscription.

"All AI glasses owners get free monthly usage for certain features," it says on a help page.

The company says subscribers to its Meta One Premium tier will be able to use Conversation Focus for up to 15 hours each month.

Meta One subscriptions are only available in some countries - not including the UK.

"Putting Conversation Focus behind a paywall feels wrong," said one user who wrote to Meta Ray-Ban product lead David Woodland.

"I would gladly subscribe to Meta One, but only if it genuinely offers unlimited access."

'Power users'

Meta's spokesperson told the BBC the majority of its glasses users would not be impacted by its move to limit lengthier Conversation Focus use to subscribers.

"The subscription is for power users who want expanded access and additional benefits like premium device support," a Meta spokesperson told The Verge.

Conversation Focus is also not yet available to Meta glasses owners in the UK.

It is designed to help users have face-to-face conversations while using glasses features, such as reading notifications aloud, by amplifying the voice of people in front of them.

Revealed by Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg at a product showcase last September, it was among features hailed by some as providing an accessibility boost.

While Meta says Conversation Focus should not be used as a hearing aid or medical device, it has championed the accessibility benefits of the feature, and of its glasses more widely.

The company's Ray-Ban smart glasses are the most popular devices of their kind on the market - with Snapchat and reportedly Apple among firms keen to rival its success.

Meta recently expanded its partnership with the Italian eyewear brand to produce its own line of Meta Glasses, priced from £269 in the UK and $299 in the US.

But its smart glasses have also been subject to criticism and concern about their privacy impact.

Women have complained of being filmed without their knowledge or consent - with some only discovering they have been covertly filmed after seeing videos of themselves online.

Meta has said its glasses should not to be used to harass or abuse others, and that they have a light to let people know if a wearer is filming - with recording prevented if this is detected as covered.

But the company has faced continued pressure over their safety and use.

It was recently pressed to explain why it cancelled a major contract with a company it was using to train its AI, shortly after some of its Kenya-based workers alleged they had to view graphic content captured by its smart glasses.

Meta told the BBC it ended Sama's contract because it failed to meet its standards.

Data centre planned for Microsoft's UK HQ

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpv3xremevlo, 3 days ago

A major gas-powered data centre could be built on the site of Microsoft's "underused" UK headquarters, according to a proposal.

Developers, including Arup and Hilson Moran, said the data centre would respond to "falling demand for office space" at Thames Valley Park near Reading, Berkshire, while supporting other nearby businesses.

Microsoft, which is not involved in the redevelopment, said it plans to move staff into the existing HERE building, also in Thames Valley Park, by August 2027.

A public consultation event is due to be held at Pearson Hall in Sonning on Tuesday from 15:00 BST to 19:00.

Data centres are the facilities that store, process and run large amounts of data and software which power the internet.

Building the data centre would support about 250 jobs, while about 115 full-time employees would work there once it is open, developers said.

They want to use natural gas-powered fuel cells for the facility "while additional grid capacity is brought forward" to run it.

A spokesperson for Microsoft said: "This move is part of our continued investment in the UK, ensuring our workplaces keep pace with how people work today and what teams will need in the future."

Slough Trading Estate is now thought to be the largest data centre hub in Europe.

Another major data centre in the town was given planning permission by the government in June following a planning inquiry.

Manor Farm Propco Limited said the development on the 20.2 acre (8.2 hectare) green belt site will be of national importance.

Support floods in for influencer Nara Smith after daughter's cancer diagnosis

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyd3nxr5ggo, 3 days ago

Support has flooded in for US influencer Nara Smith after she revealed that her two-year-old daughter has cancer.

The TikToker, a mother-of-four, said Whimsy-Lou was diagnosed late last year after she and husband Lucky Blue Smith spotted "something suspicious" and took the toddler to hospital.

She said the couple were referred to a paediatrician for tests which confirmed their child had cancer that had spread to other parts of her body.

Celebrities including singer Raye and influencer Haley Baylee were among those who posted well-wishes underneath Smith's video about the diagnosis.

Her two-and-a-half minute video, posted on Wednesday, has been viewed by more than 25 million people across Instagram and TikTok.

In it, the 24-year-old says: "After a lot of X-rays, ultrasounds and a biopsy they immediately called us and said she had cancer.

"They told us it had spread and that she needs to come and start chemo treatment immediately."

Commenting under Smith's Instagram post, award-winning singer-songwriter Raye wrote: "My beautiful superwoman friend."

Fellow British artist Leona Lewis said she was "sending so much love", accompanied by three love hearts.

Popular New York influencer Haley Baylee added: "Sending so much love and strength to your family."

Writing on TikTok, US artist Charlie Puth said "the whole world" was with Smith and her family.

"Our prayers are with you," he wrote.

During the video, Smith explains that processing the news as a family has been "really hard" and that she is posting less online as a result.

"Navigating this while post-partum, also loving and caring for our other kids at home and also being at the hospital with Whimsy a lot and balancing work on top of that has been really challenging," says Smith.

"And finding that balance has been something that I struggle with on a daily basis."

Smith said she hoped her daughter's news encouraged others to get their children's health issues checked by professionals if something doesn't feel right.

"I hope that by sharing this I can bring someone else a little bit of comfort and make you feel less alone in your journey in whatever way that may be," she added.

The star, who has more than 17 million followers across Instagram and TikTok, rose to fame by sharing parenting and traditional family content.

Viewers often see Smith interacting with Whimsy and her three other children Rumble Honey, Slim Easy and Fawnie Golden, who was born in October 2025.

Her videos will often feature her whipping up elaborate meals and snacks, usually in designer or eye-catching outfits.

Despite the focus of her channel, Smith has previously pushed back against the "tradwife" label often applied to similar content.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

Google must pay €4.1bn fine for using Android to 'block' rivals

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgj0pp5p62o, 3 days ago

Europe's top court has ruled Google must pay a €4.1bn (£3.5bn) fine handed down for using its Android mobile operating system to block rivals.

The European Commission had originally handed out a €4.3bn (then £3.9bn) fine in 2018, but this was trimmed to €4.1 bn in 2022. An appeal brought by the tech giant has now been dismissed.

It is the largest penalty the Commission has ever imposed against Google.

A Google spokesperson said the judgement "fails to recognise" the firm's "significant investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free".

"In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial decision back in 2018 and we remain focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers," they continued.

When the fine was first announced in 2018, it was alleged there were three ways in which Google had acted illegally:

* requiring Android handset and tablet manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search app and its own web browser Chrome as a condition of allowing them to offer access to its Play app store

* making payments to large manufacturers and mobile network operators that agreed to exclusively pre-install the Google Search app on their devices

* preventing manufacturers from selling any smart devices powered by alternative "forked" versions of Android by threatening to refuse them permission to pre-install its apps

It was acknowledged that Google's version of Android does not prevent device owners downloading alternative web browsers or using other search engines.

Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai blogged in response at the time to the original fine that the decision "rejects the business model that supports Android, which has created more choice for everyone, not less."

This is not the first case brought against Google and its parent company Alphabet by the European Commission.

In September 2024 it ruled Google must pay a €2.4bn (£2bn) fine handed down for abusing the market dominance of its shopping-comparison service.

Then in September 2025, it fined the search giant €2.95bn (£2.5bn), finding it had breached competition laws by favouring its own products for displaying online ads, to the detriment of rivals.

The fine is not the largest ever imposed on Google, however.

In October 2024 a charge was brought against the firm by a Russian court for restricting Russian state media channels on YouTube.

The fine was for two undecillion roubles - more than the world's total GDP.

India asks WhatsApp to pause username feature rollout over fraud concerns

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg8e0n9l41o, 3 days ago

India has asked WhatsApp to pause the rollout of a new feature that would let users chat using unique usernames, saying it could increase online fraud and phishing scams.

The feature - which will let people chat without revealing their phone numbers - is expected to be rolled out to WhatsApp's three billion global users over the next few months.

In a notice, the government asked WhatsApp to explain why action shouldn't be taken against it under Indian law "for launching a feature that may increase cybercrimes".

In a statement, WhatsApp said that the feature is not yet live and that it has built in safeguards, including reserving high-profile usernames and ways to detect impersonation and scams.

With more than 850 million users, India is the biggest market for WhatsApp, owned by Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta.

The move is the latest in a series of steps by Indian authorities to scrutinise how global technology companies design and operate their products in the country.

The notice, sent on Wednesday by India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said it had taken note of WhatsApp's announcement this week allowing users to reserve unique usernames and, once fully introduced, contact other users by exchanging usernames instead of sharing their phone numbers.

The ministry said it believed the feature "may materially increase the incidence of online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks" by allowing criminals to contact potential victims without disclosing their phone numbers.

It also warned that the feature could "facilitate impersonation and identity spoofing", including of individuals, government authorities, financial institutions and public agencies, by permitting usernames that closely resemble genuine ones.

The notice - a copy of which the BBC has seen - also asked the company "not to roll out this feature until the consultation on this point is achieved to the satisfaction of the government".

The notice cites provisions of India's Information Technology Act and the country's technology rules governing intermediary due diligence, identity theft and impersonation offences.

Cybercrimes and digital fraud are a big concern in India, where millions use digital platforms and payment options every day but often without enough awareness of online safety.

Nearly 102,000 cybercrime cases were registered in 2024, the latest year for which federal data has been published, up by 18% from the previous year. Nearly three-quarters of those cases involved online fraud.

A Meta spokesperson said the company only planned to roll out the feature in phases later this year.

"To protect against impersonation, we have held the highest-profile names - think public figures, government entities, celebrities, verified Meta accounts - so they can only ever be claimed by their legitimate owners and lookalike derivatives of known names are held as well," said the spokesperson.

The company said users would still need a phone number to create a WhatsApp account and that it had built multiple safeguards into the feature as "layers of defence against scams".

"Other users need to know the exact username to message you, we will limit how many new people an account can contact, block repeated attempts to guess someone's username key, and have systems to detect and remove activity showing common impersonation and abuse patterns," the spokesperson said.

It also said recipients would be shown information about first-time contacts, including whether they were a new account, already in their contacts, shared common groups or were based in another country, to help them decide whether to respond.

The Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights organisation, has criticised the government's notice, saying it had "no clear basis in law".

In a statement, the organisation argued that the notice amounted to an attempt by the government to decide what software features a company could launch, even though the laws cited by the ministry did not give it that power.

"The power to require prior permission for a feature is not in the [Information Technology] Act, not in the Rules, and cannot be created by a notice," it said.

The notice is the latest in a series of changes or announcements by India aimed at increasing oversight of global technology companies.

In February, the government amended its rules to require social media platforms to remove unlawful content within three hours of being notified, replacing the previous 36-hour deadline.

Last month, authorities also temporarily banned Telegram during the retest of a national medical entrance examination.

The government argued that features such as username-based interactions and concealed phone numbers created challenges for law enforcement, a position the platform unsuccessfully challenged in court.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Singapore seizes $42m mansion over Nvidia chip smuggling

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2d9y18g73o, 3 days ago

Police in Singapore have seized a multi-million dollar luxury home that was allegedly bought using proceeds from smuggling Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

The property last changed hands for 55 million Singapore dollars (£32m; $42.5m), with at least two-thirds of its purchase price allegedly funded by illicit earnings, authorities said on Wednesday.

The home was seized as part of a probe into the alleged illegal trade in servers containing highly sought-after advanced Nvidia chips, which are subject to US export controls.

The US Department of Justice has previously flagged Singapore as a key transit hub to conceal illegal shipments to China.

The police said an order was in place to stop the property being sold during the investigation.

Located a short walk from Singapore's famous Botanic Gardens, the property sits in a prime district of the land-scarce city-state.

Wei Zhaolun, who is also known as Alan Wei, will be charged with money laundering for allegedly using around 38 million Singapore dollars of criminal proceeds to fund the purchase of the house, police said.

He is the chief executive of Aperia Group, which sells servers and other tech hardware to businesses. The BBC has contacted Aperia Group for comment.

Authorities have also seized around one million Singapore dollars held in bank accounts.

The police said a total of four people, including Wei, have been accused since February 2025 over fraud and other alleged crimes linked to the case.

The individuals allegedly placed orders for servers from global suppliers under the pretence that they would be used by companies they worked for.

Authorities have not said where the servers were shipped to.

The police said the servers in the case were bought from three suppliers - Dell, Super Micro Computer and Asus. The BBC has contacted the three companies for comment.

If convicted of fraud, the four, who face multiple charges, could face jail time of up to 20 years.

Singapore-based tech companies, Luxuriate Your Life and three firms under the Aperia Group, also face charges in what the police say is the first instance of corporate entities being prosecuted under these investigations.

The BBC has been unable to reach Luxuriate Your Life for comment.

The police said it holds a "zero-tolerance stance towards such offences" and will act against anyone who violates Singapore's laws to protect the country's integrity as a trusted global business hub.

The US and Singapore have cracked down on the illegal shipping of Nvidia chips since Washington restricted their export in 2022 over concerns that they could be used by the Chinese military.

Authorities in Singapore said in 2025 that servers containing chips under US export controls were believed to have been shipped via the island-state.

The US has since approved the sale of some of Nvidia's semiconductors to China, under certain conditions.

Clinical trial aims to help heart failure patients

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6ve2jx6gjo, 3 days ago

Jersey has been chosen to run a clinical medical trial to test new technology it is hoped will lead to improved patient care.

Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) have been selected to be part of the trial to test if iron injected into the vein improves heart failure symptoms and improves ability to exercise.

They will wear a smart ring and a patch on their thigh for 14 weeks which will be able to analyse if the treatment has been effective.

Dr Aaron Henry works in Jersey Hospital's cardiology department and said "it's really exciting... we've all got a duty to keep up to speed with the latest technology".

Henry is helping oversee the clinical trials and believes new data gathered from the devices could make a difference to patient treatment.

He said traditional cardiology tests to see if iron injections have been effective involve a six minute walk test, but "this is a single snapshot in time".

"What the rings and the patches allow us to do is monitor physical activity continuously for a long period of time, so in this case 14 weeks," he added.

"The data from the ring or from the patch will be synced to their phone and uploaded to the cloud for us to then analyse to see if the treatment has made a benefit".

The patch measures step count, physical activity, time from sitting to standing and the ring measures physiological variables like heart rate.

Henry added the trial is available to all patients of all ages.

He said: "The patients enrolled in our trial tend to be quite elderly so in their 70s, 80s and even in their 90s.

"Bringing technology to them and making sure they're not excluded with the technological revolution we're undergoing is really important."

Digital Jersey has spent £200,000 on the trial through its Impact Jersey Fund.

CEO Tony Moretta said: "There's no greater challenge than health, and particularly preventative health... Jersey is a great sandbox for testing new ideas."

He added: "If Jersey can be at the forefront for the development of new digital health techniques and technologies, then actually the island will benefit.

"Technology is being used to improve health outcomes around the world more and more so it's about time Jersey followed that trend."

Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.

How a town is encouraging young people away from smartphones

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crlw405wrz8o, 3 days ago

A town is encouraging its young people away from their smartphones. But how is Solihull in the West Midlands going about it and why?

The government has already introduced a legal ban on the devices in schools in England and a social media ban for under 16s is due to come into force next year.

But the 'In Real Life' (IRL) campaign launched in Solihull has already made similar steps, encouraging organisations to sign up to be smartphone free environments.

With the slogan "Smartphones can wait, childhood can't" it aims to highlight the activities young people can get involved in, to tempt them away from their screens.

The campaign has been driven by Solihull's schools who wanted to create something that reached beyond the school gates.

Since February, it has been compulsory for Year 7 and 8 pupils at Alderbrook School to lock away their devices at the start of the day. This was implemented after a voluntary scheme started last year.

Headteacher Tom Beveridge said they knew young people were using their phones late into the evening.

"The more that we can do, not just in schools, but with all agencies that work with young people in our community, the bigger impact we can have in a positive way."

He said they were trying to change the social norm around young people and their devices.

"Just like things like smoking, the norm has changed over time, the same will happen with children's use of smartphones and social media, and that's what this campaign is all about."

It is thought to be the first time a community has come together in this way with schools, businesses, charities and the local authority backing the scheme.

Project lead Katie Washbourne said it was "a positive movement to support families to make sure that tech was used in a balanced way."

Washbourne is also founder of the not-for-profit mental health service, Ordinary Magic, and said more than half the young people referred to them had poor mental health because of what they had experienced online, from bullying to social media pressure.

Supporting the movement is 14-year-old Trinity who said she spent seven to eight hours a day on her phone.

"It does impact you because you lose your social interactions with people."

She said she had had bad experiences online and believed spending less time on her device would boost hers and others self esteem.

Elsie, 14, said she spent on average four to five hours on social media every day checking notifications and scrolling on TikTok.

She said she thought the campaign was positive because it would "bring people together and get people to spend more time together, instead of on their phones".

Among businesses signing up to the campaign is board game cafe, Game Guru, at the town's Touchwood shopping centre.

It has a smartphone locker in the shop and offers families 10% off food and drinks if they lock their devices away.

Manager Melika Latif said: "We try to create an environment for kids to come in and not just be on their phones because it can affect their mental health".

Customer Baldan Devecioglu said "having the option of spaces that are phone free can be a great way for people to connect".

The 26-year-old, originally from Switzerland but now living in Solihull, said young people were used to having communities online so it was good to have spaces that encouraged friends to meet up in person.

Another company supporting the initiative is Robocode in nearby Shirley, which provides hands-on robotics, coding & game development courses.

It aims to turn children from being passive users of technology to creators.

Managing director Khaled Ayad said it was a common misconception that young people were tech savvy.

"They may be digital natives but their usage goes as far as double tapping, scrolling, liking videos and commenting, it doesn't translate to real digital literacy."

He said many 18-24 year olds did not have the digital skills required for the workplace.

At their learning centre they equip children as young as six with real-world tech skills from building robots to creating video games and learning GCSE Computer Science.

Ayad said by "widening their horizons" it helps them move on from 'over-consumption of technology and doom scrolling'.

He also supports parents who are worried about their child's screen time, among them Michelle Thompson.

She said her 11-year-old son now "thinks deeper about what he's doing and where he gets his knowledge from".

At Meriden Adventure Playground, in Chelmsley Wood, they are passionate about getting young people of all ages to play.

The charity, which is staffed by a team of volunteers, has a zip wire, towers, platforms, ropes, swings and areas where they can build their own stuff

"Play is the thing that enables children to grow, to become resilient, to mature to become people who can relate to others and navigate things in the world", said chair Alison Wood.

She feels young people's freedom and independence has been taken away under the guise of protection and there needs to be more places for them to express themselves.

"If we take away their phones and we don't have alternatives, that's going to be a problem."

In pictures: Stars and fans celebrate Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7vyqgy4r5lo, yesterday

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding took over New York City on Friday, as the star-studded ceremony drew dozens of fans outside Madison Square Garden.

The two-day event shut down one of the busiest areas of New York, with a barrage of A-list celebrities, such as Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello, Hugh Grant, Gracie Abrams, Ellie Goulding, Graham Norton and Dakota Johnson, on the guest list.

No official pictures from inside the venue have been released, and many of the estimated 1,000 attendees entered without being photographed, but some were spotted on their way in and out.

China's internet got so mad about a celebrity's 'bad' singing, her concert was cancelled

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx7d254lrjo, yesterday

Popularity can make or break a career in show business. But for one celebrity in China, even a legion of devoted fans was not enough to stave off the wrath of the internet.

Xie Na, one of the most recognisable faces on Chinese television, realised this recently when her attempt to hold a nationwide concert tour ended in ignominy.

Her first leg of the tour, slated to begin in Beijing later this month, was cancelled abruptly over the weekend, after her singing talent was mocked and questioned online - and even admonished by state media.

This is the latest reminder of the pitfalls celebrities face navigating China's entertainment scene, where observers say they have become outlets for young people's social and economic frustrations.

For two decades, Xie was a main member of Happy Camp, a popular variety show. Initially known for minor roles in dramas, her bubbly personality and comedic chops soon won her recognition as one of China's top TV personalities.

But she has apparently long harboured the dream of being a singer. "This year, I finally have the chance to seriously fulfil this dream," she wrote on social media site Weibo in April, announcing that she would hold her first solo concerts in Chengdu, a snazzy city in the southwest.

When thousands of tickets went on sale days later, they were snapped up immediately, much to even Xie's surprise. "My hands are trembling," she posted on Weibo eight minutes after the tickets were launched, announcing that they had sold out.

The two concerts, held in Chengdu in May, were warmly received by fans, who were treated to nostalgic performances featuring Xie's celebrity friends.

Her confidence soared after the shows. In a livestream, she expressed disbelief at her own singing skills. "By the end, I was not even out of breath," she said, adding that she could have been a "pop queen".

"Do you think I can do a tour?" she asked her viewers.

Buoyed by the success, Xie soon announced that she would embark on a nationwide tour. First stop: Beijing, with tickets reportedly priced between 380 yuan to 1,180 yuan ($56-$174; £42-£130).

But then public opinion began to sour. Some questioned if she deserved to hold a concert given her "bad" singing. Others accused her of relying on her friends' star power for the shows. Yet more wondered if this was just an easy way for her to rake in more money.

As the disgruntlement grew, some claimed they had lodged official complaints against Xie's concert for not getting the right approvals. A widely circulated screenshot appeared to a show a direct message from someone to Xie's husband, a professional singer, telling him to "control your wife".

All this might have been dismissed as frivolous chatter - until state media and authorities chimed in with stern words for Xie.

According to an article published last month by a department of the Zhejiang province party committee, Xie's nationwide tour had given rise to the suspicion that she was not trying to fulfil her dreams but rather "chasing profits".

The controversy is a "reminder", the article said, that "mere superficial popularity will not only fail to generate sustainable profits, but also lead to a loss of cultural refinement".

Days later came another article, this time a commentary from state newspaper People's Daily, about an unnamed "popular celebrity whose main job is to host who lacks well-known musical works".

"Excellence and brilliance often lead to wider recognition, but those who gain recognition without real ability may eventually run into trouble," it read.

The public pressure eventually proved too much for even Xie's devoted fanbase. Her concert organiser announced over the weekend that it would cancel the Beijing show and refund those who have purchased tickets.

It's unclear if the concert was cancelled because of a government directive. Xie has not commented on the cancellation.

It might have been a "risk-management calculation" by the event organiser and artist's management team, says Dr Jian Xu, an associate professor who studies Chinese internet and pop culture at Australia's Deakin University.

To be sure, Xie is not the first TV celebrity to venture onto the concert stage. Many actors have done the same in recent years. Like Xie, most of them boast a modest discography, marketing the concerts as treats for their fans rather than serious musical pursuits.

But the backlash against Xie's touring ambitions "reflects growing public resentment towards celebrities who are perceived to be 'cashing in on their online popularity'", says Xu, the academic.

Just last month, when acclaimed Chinese singer Han Hong lent her star power to the promotion of a spy thriller, urging audiences to "give her some face", she was accused of emotionally manipulating them into watching the film. She later issued an apology.

Xie's concert also "serves as an emotional outlet for broader frustrations over income and wealth inequality in contemporary China", Xu adds.

Since the pandemic, millions of Chinese youth have dealt with increasing financial pressure, high unemployment rates and a flagging economy. In contrast, celebrities appear to be earning exceptionally large incomes with "relative ease", Xu adds.

In recent years, the Chinese internet has gone after people perceived to be enjoying unfair privilege. Last year, an up-and-coming actress had her name scrubbed from drama credits after social media users accused her of leveraging her mother's connections to enroll in a prestigious drama school; a month before that, another actress was the subject of online speculation after she was seen wearing exorbitant earrings.

Criticism of celebrities may be "one of the 'safest' forms of criticism in China", according Zichen Wang, founder of the Pekingnology newsletter.

"It allows people to express frustration about competence, privilege, money and social fairness without directly touching more sensitive subjects," he tells the BBC.

It also allows them to direct their anger at someone other than those in power.

But the bigger question, Wang says, is whether anything should be done about such criticism.

"A society can have strong opinions about taste. But taste should not easily become administrative power, or an excuse for it," he says, adding that "dislike should not become cancellation power".

Such questions were also raised by some Chinese internet users as Xie's saga unfolded.

"If you don't like it, just don't go for it or follow it. Why the possessiveness over other people's wallets?" someone wrote on Weibo.

Another said: "If her singing is bad and she holds a concert, she should face market consequences, not personal humiliation."

Masked men to morphine addiction: The original TV Little House on the Prairie was a true American horror story

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260701-the-original-tv-little-house-on-the-prairie-was-a-true-american-horror-story, 3 days ago

A Netflix spin on the classic children's books is about to launch. It remains to be seen how it compares to the 1970s adaptation – which is much darker and grimmer than most remember.

When it comes to TV credits sequences, few evoke as much nostalgia as that for Little House On The Prairie, the 1970s series about family life on the American frontier in the 19th Century. "This song reminds of the good old days...carefree and unburdened," says one fan, commenting under a video clip of the NBC series intro on YouTube that has currently been viewed 1.6 million times. Someone else notes: "They simply do not make television like this anymore. It is real, it is wholesome."

But the show's famous introduction gives a false impression of the show – as in fact it was much much darker than it is commonly remembered to be.

Warning: This article contains details that some might find upsetting.

Based on the much-loved semi-autobiographical 1930s children's book series of the same name by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie ended up becoming a genuine TV phenomenon. Centring on the lives of the Ingalls family – father Charles, mother Caroline and their four daughters Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace – in the frontier town of Walnut Grove in Minnesota in the 1870s, it ran for seven series, from 1973 to 1984, and pulled in an estimated 15 to 20 million viewers per episode in the US alone. It went on to be syndicated in more than 100 countries; and in 2025, Nielsen Media Research declared it "a top streaming legacy programme" based on how many viewers were still watching it.

Now, though, it faces competition from a new Netflix adaptation of the show, which premieres next week. The new version sticks quite faithfully to the family-friendly tone and spirit of Wilder's books. By contrast, the first TV adaptation was a much more horrifying affair. Alongside tales of schoolyard japes and pie-baking competitions came storylines involving child abuse, murder, drug addiction, suicide, mental health issues and cancer.

Robert J Thompson, professor of popular culture at New York's Syracuse University, points out that much of the show's darkness merely reflected the reality of 19th-Century life. "The things the show covered – its chronic dealing with pregnancy troubles, for example – reflected real issues. Pregnancy was dangerous in the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s, especially in a frontier setting. The show dealt with malaria outbreaks, pregnancy issues, and the deaths of young children. It didn't pull many punches."

Its unexpected evolution

By the show's final seasons, however, its depiction of hard-hitting issues began to veer into actual horror-style storylines. One especially grim two-parter from the seventh series saw a 15-year-old girl being kidnapped by a masked man, and then, it is implied, sexually assaulted, resulting in her becoming pregnant. The episode, called Sylvia, shows her father punish her and she is shamed by other Walnut Grove residents; then her rapist returns and she dies in an accident trying to escape him. Dr Elizabeth Erwin, co-creator and editor of Horror Homeroom – a website which analyses works of horror through critical theory – recently wrote an article about this particular episode in which she argued that "[its] premise is something straight out of a horror movie" and that it "meshes together elements from a variety of horror sub-genres, most notably Giallo – a highly stylised Italian horror subgenre – and slasher".

"I'm Gen X and I was talking to someone of my same age group about what scared her most on TV as a kid," Erwin tells the BBC. "And I was expecting her to say Friday the 13th or any of the '80s slasher films, and she said: 'Little House on the Prairie'. I said: 'Was it the Sylvia episode?' She said: 'Yes – that's exactly it'."

As Erwin points out, though, "Sylvia is not this weird, outlier episode that's a one-off". She describes the show as being part of the subgenre of "Frontier Gothic", which originated in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries and maps Gothic conventions on to stories of US expansion and frontier life. "The show also does body horror, in season two, where Caroline Ingalls gets her leg infected after a scratch, and takes a knife to it," she adds. "All the tropes are there, all the conventions are there."

Erwin also notes that the show reflects what cinema studies professor Barbara Creed in 1993 conceptualised as "the Monstrous Feminine", whereby on-screen female monsters or creatures are created to reflect societal fears around female bodies, sexuality and maternal traits. "You see this in My Ellen," Erwin explains, "a season four episode where a woman loses her daughter and then hallucinates that Laura [played by Melissa Gilbert] is her child and puts her in the basement."

The most upsetting episode ever

Another episode that is discussed regularly among fans for being utterly gruesome is season six's two-part May We Make Them Proud, which is set in the Harriet Oleson School for the Blind, where Mary Ingalls, who is herself blind, teaches. The episode sees a fire at the school resulting in the deaths of both Mary's colleague Alice and Mary's baby, Adam Jr.

"This is probably on most people's lists as the darkest episode of Little House," says Thompson. "It's a main character's baby, a blind school burns down, and Mary almost becomes catatonic from grief. But I don't remember it generating much controversy at the time. He continues: "If it aired today, people would probably slam it online as 'torture or emotional pornography'." Erwin agrees that it was indeed a deeply traumatising watch: "Alice is literally breaking the glass and then you see the charred bodies. I watched that as a child and that has stuck in my brain. It's never going away."

"Mary just went through trauma after trauma after trauma," she adds, "then she has a psychotic breakdown after [the loss of her baby]. It was a lot to put on the plate of kids just randomly tuning in. What most interests me about Little House in the Prairie is the spectatorship of it all. Because when you go to a horror movie, I purchase a ticket and I know I'm about to have that adrenaline rush, that fear. With this, you just randomly turned on the television and didn't know what to expect."

Thompson points out that whereas the books sanitised the perils of frontier life for younger readers – for example, not including the real-life tragedy of Laura Ingalls Wilder losing an unnamed baby boy just 27 days after he was born – the opposite was true for the TV show: the danger and threats would have been amplified to create more drama.

"I think some of our assumptions about Little House on the Prairie being sweet and wholesome come from judging it through the books," says Thompson, "which were written that way. So we go from the lived story, which naturally had dark sides, to the books, which cleaned much of it up, and then to the television show, which brought a lot of it back and added things that never existed in either the books or Laura Ingalls Wilder's life – like a morphine addiction storyline [for example] – for melodramatic voltage."

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The children's books naturally had very different target markets to a multi-generational TV drama, continues Thompson: "If you're making a network television series, it can't appeal only to girls between five and 15 years old. It has to appeal to everyone. So you're going to add some dramatic juice."

For all the show's darkness, however, that was always offset with a sentimental sweetness. The warmth of the familial relationships, and the lessons of the importance of looking out for one another – as taught to Laura and Mary by their almost beatific Pa, Charles (Michael Landon) – kept a legion of fans committed to the story long after the production wrapped in 1984.

While the new series of Little House on the Prairie once again centres the heartwarming bond of the family, it steps away from the high melodrama of the previous show, making it far less horror-centric. Showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine has also incorporated a Native American point of view, bringing in well-crafted Osage characters (developed alongside Osage professor of American literature and culture Robert Warrior) to make the story more historically correct.

Whether it will be received as well as the original 1970s series remains to be seen. Thompson, however, credits the original with taking big swings, even if it did take it to leftfield places: "It was willing to be more than just a kid's show. Occasionally it went over the top – and some episodes almost became a horror film. But for all its melodramatic qualities, it was a well-executed series."

The new Little House on the Prairie premieres on Netflix on 9 July. The original series can be streamed on Peacock in the US.

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Taylor Swift marries Travis Kelce in NYC ceremony officiated by Adam Sandler

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c982ry2pen3o, yesterday

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have officially tied the knot at New York's Madison Square Garden, in a star-studded ceremony officiated by actor Adam Sandler.

The pair wore Christian Dior, Swift's publicist said, and did not have bridesmaids and groomsmen. Swift's brother, Austin Swift, served as her man of honour, and Jason Kelce, Travis's brother, was his best man.

The event shuttered one of Manhattan's busiest corridors and brought out Hollywood A-list stars, such as actors Hugh Grant and Jason Sudeikis, singer Benson Boone and model Gigi Hadid.

Fans huddled outside the venue throughout the day, with some onlookers climbing scaffolding to try catch a better view.

The wedding celebrations began on Thursday with a much smaller "'pre-party" event, according to permit filed with New York City officials.

The ceremony on Friday was much a larger event, with a stream of blacked-out SUVs seen driving through a pop-up tent erected outside the stadium to shield guests' arrival.

Some celebrity guests were still spotted upon their arrival, including model Gigi Hadid, her actor boyfriend Bradley Cooper, actress Dakota Johnson, and members of Kelce's football team, the Kansas City Chiefs.

As Swift's publicist, Tree Paine, said confirmed the pair had officially wed, an announcement appeared on a display outside Madison Square Garden that read "JUST&T MARRIED" - a play on Taylor and Travis's names.

Jonathan Anderson, a creative director at Dior, designed Swift and Kelce's outfits, Paine said.

"This is the designer's first couture wedding dress for a world-renowned celebrity," Paine said in a statement.

Their shoes were custom made by Christian Louboutin, she added, and Swift wore Cartier jewellery.

The New York City Police (NYPD) closed the streets around the arena midday, closing them off to vehicles and pedestrian traffic.

Swifties - the singer's legion of fans - lined nearby blocks around the arena, braving sweltering temperatures of up to 37C (98.6F).

Some chanted lyrics to their favourite Swift songs and cheered: "We love you Taylor".

"I thought it was going to be more gardens, more flowers, more tropical. Something more fancy, something more Taylor Swift," Canadian teen Emily told the BBC outside the venue.

New York resident Rose said it was "sort of absurd" that the couple shut down the busy streets around the arena, but believed the ceremony would be beautiful "because it's Taylor Swift".

"I hope it's a beautiful wedding... but I think they should do it somewhere that's less inconveniencing to [the] general populace of New York City," she laughed.

The couple likely spent tens of millions of dollars to rent out Madison Square Garden, planning experts told the BBC.

The spectacle showcased the power the couple holds, with Swift widely recognised as one of the world's most powerful and famous people.

The two-day wedding celebrations led news broadcasts, lit up the Empire State Building in NYC and spurred millions in online betting markets as details of their nuptials left people speculating for weeks.

Pop culture critic Kristen Meinzer told the BBC that their marriage was meaningful because Swift and Kelce are from two important worlds when it comes to pop culture and American identity.

"We worship at the throne of music and football, these are all the things we love in America married together," she said.

New York City also has a long-standing ethos of treating celebrities as part of the fabric of everyday life.

"We aren't people who run up to our celebrities, we usually leave them alone," Meinzer added.

The Pennsylvania-born singer has been based in New York since 2014 - when she bought two adjoining Tribeca penthouses for $20m (£15m) and combined them into one massive living space.

She fell in love with the city after discovering she could go shopping without being bothered, saying she was "physically different since" moving there. The move also inspired her 1989 album track Welcome to New York.

Ahead of the celebrations, the couple donated $26m (£19.5m) to more than 20 charities - though made no mention of a wedding.

To many, though, the 20,000-capacity arena - which hosts concerts and sports matches with beer-drinking fans - felt like an unusual choice for a wedding, though the venue does boast an unusual level of privacy because it lacks windows and underground access points.

Fan Tara Rosales was one of the many who were unconvinced the wedding would actually take place at the arena.

"I knew that she was going to get married in New York but I had no idea where. So I can't believe it, I'm actually shook and I'm so excited," she said.

"She's never an inconvenience. Taylor can do whatever she wants."

From friendship bracelets to wedding rings: A Taylor and Travis timeline

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqj19p112qjo, yesterday

It's official: Taylor Swift's publicist has announced that the singer and Travis Kelce got married at New York's Madison Square Garden on Friday.

Speculation about the ceremony has been rife ever since the couple announced their engagement in an Instagram post last August.

The couple have said almost nothing about it in the lead-up, but you can't book New York's biggest indoor concert venue for an entire weekend without causing a few whispers.

The nuptials represent more than two celebrities tying the knot.

They are now one of the most powerful married couples in America, with a combined wealth of almost $2.2bn (£1.6bn), and huge sway across the music, sport, film, podcast, publishing and television industries.

But for Swifties, their wedding is the culmination of a two-decade fairytale.

To mark the big day, here's a look at how their relationship evolved.

A bumpy start

Travis was spotted attending Taylor's Eras Tour when it hit Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium on 8 July 2023. He watched from a private box – but was seen meeting fans and trading friendship bracelets.

He later revealed on his New Heights podcast that he'd tried to meet Swift – but his advances were rejected, because she was protecting her voice.

"If you're up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it," he said later that month. "I was a little butt-hurt I didn't get to hand her one."

The clip went viral and got Taylor's attention. It felt like "he was standing outside of my apartment, holding a boom box saying, 'I want to go on a date with you'," she later recalled.

Going public

After the podcast, Swift had "a lot of people whispering in my ear", encouraging her to hook up with Travis. She caved in over the summer.

The couple went public on 24 September, when Taylor spent the day cheering on Travis's American football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, alongside his mum Donna.

When he scored a touchdown, cameras caught her celebrating with an enthusiastic, "Let's ****ing go!". The couple later left together.

Taylor's fans were amazed. The star had usually gone to great lengths to protect her privacy – but this was a very public launch for a new relationship.

A few days afterwards, Travis confirmed as much. "Shoutout to Taylor for pulling up!" he said on his podcast. "That was pretty ballsy."

Two months later, in Argentina, Travis caught the Eras Tour for a second time – and Taylor made a significant change to the set in his honour.

For the last song of the night, she swapped the lyric "Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me" for "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me".

When the concert wrapped, she ran into his arms for a kiss.

Temperature rising

By this point, Taylor had completely dropped her guard.

In January 2024, the Kansas Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens to secure their place at the Super Bowl - and the star rushed onto the pitch for a lingering smooch with their star player.

A month later, she jetted to the Super Bowl from a concert in Tokyo, and scored another floodlit kiss when the Chiefs won.

Her presence at the games reportedly had a significant impact on viewing figures, especially among female audiences.

Taylor's first songs about the relationship appeared in April on her double album The Tortured Poets Department.

The Alchemy appeared to reference their post-Super Bowl PDA, with the lyric "Where's the trophy? / He just comes running over to me".

The couple's names were combined among some Swifties to become "Tayvis".

Tayvis hits London

Taylor and Travis went Instagram official with a photo taken backstage at a London date of the Eras Tour in June 2024. The snapshot showed the couple with Prince William and his two elder children – who'd attended the show to celebrate William's 42nd birthday.

The following night, Travis made his stage debut as one of Taylor's dancers. Dressed in a top hat and tails, he carried the singer across the stage to a couch where she changed outfits before performing I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.

It was his only cameo during the 149 dates of the two-year Eras Tour, but he spent most of the summer attending shows across Europe before returning to the US for the Kansas City Chiefs' training camp.

Meanwhile, his brother Jason talked about the pressure on the couple during an appearance on Andrew Santino's Whiskey Ginger podcast.

Comparing their relationship to the scrutiny of his own marriage to Kylie Kelce, he said: "I think we have it bad, and then we go hang out with one of them for a second.

"This is a whole other situation here… Like, you can't be a normal person at that point."

However, he said his brother had "evolved" along with the relationship.

"I haven't seen him change one bit," Jason said. "He stayed true to himself. He's still humble. He treats everyone with the utmost respect."

Engagement announced

After a year of Easter egg hints and shoutouts, Tayvis confirmed their engagement with a joint Instagram post on 26 August 2025.

"Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married," read the caption, signed off with a firecracker emoji, under photos of Travis proposing in a garden in Missouri.

According to US reports, the ring was purchased from Artifex Fine Jewelry. Prices for rings on its website start at about $29,000 (£21,500).

Travis's father Ed later told ABC News that the proposal took place about two weeks before the couple shared their photos.

"He got her out there, they were about to go out to dinner, and he said, 'Let's go out and have a glass of wine'... they got out there, and that's when he asked her, and it was beautiful," he said.

"They started FaceTiming me and their mother and her folks to make sure everybody knew. So, to see them together is great."

Wedding rumours and wedding plans

Taylor's 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, dropped in October 2025, with a flurry of lovestruck lyrics about her now fiancé.

She reminisced about date nights spent on Ferris wheels, and dreamt of raising kids in a house with "a driveway with a basketball hoop". There's also an entire song about his, ahem, manhood.

On the promo trail, she was peppered with questions about the wedding, but gave away very little, except to tell the BBC's Graham Norton it wouldn't be a small affair.

Since those interviews, Team Taylor has gone quiet.

A rumoured wedding date of 13 June 2026 passed without incident. A few days later, a flurry of activity at Swift's Rhode Island mansion had fans speculating that a bachelorette party was in full swing.

Then the New York Times reported that Swift had hired the entirety of Madison Square Garden for a mega event just before Independence Day weekend.

In the run-up to the event, TV cameras captured trucks unloading drapes, lights, food and even a "40-inch mirror ball" for a rumoured celebration.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce tied the knot on 3 July, according to a statement provided by Swift's longtime representative, Tree Paine.

The couple wore Dior for the ceremony, which was officiated by US actor and comedian Adam Sandler.

The star is one of Kelce's favourite actors - he claims to be able to quote every movie Sandler has ever made - while Swift's song Wi$h Li$t was partially inspired by the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore.

The couple did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen but Swift's brother Austin served as her man of honour, while Kelce's brother Jason served as his best man.

One guest who spoke to the Reuters news agency as they left the wedding said the night had been "incredible".

"They cried, and they laughed and they danced, and they hugged and they kissed."

A strict no-phones policy means that no images have been shared from the ceremony at the time of writing.

But, given that Taylor has recently been spotted at New York's Electric Lady recording studios, there's also speculation that further details could come in the form of a wedding song.

Watch this space.

Harry Styles beats Taylor Swift's and Coldplay's Wembley records

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly004391wno, today

Harry Styles has wrapped up his record-breaking residency at Wembley Stadium after performing 12 sold-out shows.

The stint tops records previously set by Coldplay and Taylor Swift, with the singer now holding the record for most concerts performed at the venue by any artist during a single year or a solo artist during one concert run.

Styles, 32, kicked off the London leg of his Together, Together tour on 12 June, with the final show taking place on Saturday.

During his final gig, he paid tribute to his former One Direction bandmates as being "a massive part of this journey".

Styles' latest tour was originally billed for six nights at Wembley but was extended due to high demand.

His record surpasses Coldplay's 10-night run last summer, as well as Swift's eight nights at the stadium in 2024.

Speaking during the final gig on Saturday - attended by about 80,000 people - Styles paused to reflect on his time with boyband One Direction.

"I wouldn't be on this stage if it wasn't for four friends of mine that were a massive part of this journey," he said.

"I wanna thank Niall, Louis, Zayn and my dear friend Liam for these nights and everything that I learned in this time, the friendship, everything… none of this would be possible, I wouldn't be here without you, thank you so much."

One Direction formed in 2010 on the TV talent show The X Factor and went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. Bandmate Liam Payne died aged 31 in 2024.

Styles also told fans he wanted to "take a moment" to reflect on his career during the show, 16 years after The X Factor was filmed there.

He said: "16 years ago… just outside of this building, just next door… I was put into a band that changed my life.

He added: "As I drive through this area, I'm flooded with memories from that time.

"And every time I have the privilege of returning to Wembley, it's meant an incredibly great deal to me. Thank you so much."

Styles launched his solo career in 2017 and has since received six Brit Awards, three Grammy Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards. His fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, was released in January.

Ahead of Saturday night's concert, Wembley Stadium said it had unveiled a commemorative banner to mark Styles' record.

In a post on X, it added: "12 shows. One record. A place in Wembley history".

Styles' tour will continue onto Brazil, Mexico and the US, before wrapping up in Australia in December.

Woman denies consensual encounter in Top Boy actor rape trial

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24y2303ev8o, yesterday

A woman who claims she was raped by Top Boy actor Micheal Ward has denied suggestions the encounter was consensual.

Ward is accused of raping the woman in a car after meeting her at a nightclub in east London in January 2023.

The 28-year-old denies two charges of rape and three counts of sexual assault against the woman, and has said all sexual activity between the pair was consensual.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke down as she told the jury she "did not understand the situation" she was in and that she "never would have got in that car with him" if she had known.

Jurors previously were told she knew Ward had been in films and on TV and felt flattered when he asked for her Snapchat handle.

Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC, defending for Ward, told the woman "what happened in the back of the car was consensual", to which she replied: "No, Micheal raped me."

The alleged victim became emotional as she recalled she "did not use the word no" and "completely shut down" during the encounter on 2 January 2023.

She said she repeatedly told the Blue Story actor she needed to leave "on multiple occasions".

The woman looked upset when she got into a friend's car to go home after the alleged assault, the court heard.

The friend, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court the woman's "demeanour was off" and "she kept on crying" when asked what had happened.

"Because I knew something was wrong with her. I said, 'Are you OK?'" the friend said. "I asked her if he had raped her. I realised how intense that was and asked her, 'Has he assaulted you?'"

The alleged victim ordered an STI kit while returning home and ticked a box asking if she had been sexually assaulted, the court also heard.

In a prepared statement following his arrest on 18 January 2023, Ward told the police: "I deny the allegation of rape. I want to put on record that we had consensual foreplay and consensual sex."

Ward was awarded the Bafta Rising Star Award in 2020 and was later nominated twice for roles in the BBC's Small Axe and the 2022 film Empire of Light.

The trial continues.

Spider-Man to The Odyssey: 10 of the best films to watch this July

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260624-10-of-the-best-films-to-watch-this-july, 9 days ago

With Tom Holland and Zendaya starring in two of the biggest releases, here are the films to watch at the cinema and screen at home this month.

1. Evil Dead Burn

Sam Raimi's Evil Dead franchise roared back to life in 2023 with the smash hit Evil Dead Rise. Now there's some more gleefully over-the-top comedy horror in Evil Dead Burn, directed by Sébastian Vaniček. Souheila Yacoub stars as a young woman who goes to dinner with her late husband's family shortly after he is killed in a car accident. It's the definition of an uncomfortable social situation – but it gets worse when the family starts mutating into demonic zombies known as Deadites. Vaniček believe that cinemagoers needn't have seen any previous Evil Dead films to enjoy this one. "My goal was to craft a powerful, singular – almost personal – story that could stand on its own," he said in Variety, "while still resonating deeply within the rich, complex world that Sam has built. I want people to feel physically drained when they leave the theatre, like they've been through an emotional and intense journey."

Released on 8 to 10 July internationally

2. The Odyssey

The director of The Dark Knight, Inception, and the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan doesn't make small-scale films. But his latest epic looks set to be his grandest undertaking to date: a near three-hour adaptation of one of the most important works of literature ever written, Homer's Odyssey. Matt Damon plays Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, who is making the long and perilous journey back to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) after the Trojan War. The star-studded cast includes Charlize Theron, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong'o and many more. And the whole thing is shot on 70mm IMAX film – the first feature film to do so. "I think what separates him from other directors is the stories he wants to tell are incredibly ambitious," Matt Damon said on 60 Minutes. "And the way he wants to tell them is incredibly ambitious. In this case he wanted to do it 100% in IMAX, which had never been done."

Released on 15 to 17 July internationally

3. Spider-Man: Brand New Day

This is the fourth Spider-Man film with Tom Holland in the red-and-blue costume, but, as the subtitle suggests, it's also a new start: the first film in a proposed trilogy. It has a new director, with Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) taking over from Jon Watts. And Peter Parker is in a new situation: following a spell cast by Doctor Strange in the last film, none of his friends remember that he exists. "It's that time in your mid-20s, when the harsh realities of life can sometimes slap you in the face," Cretton said in Screenrant. "Peter is dealing with some real grown-up problems both personally and professionally, and for the first time, he's learning how to deal with them completely on his own." If that weren't enough, he's got to deal with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), the Punisher (Jon Bernthal), and a gang of ninja assassins.

Released on 29 to 31 July internationally

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4. Enola Holmes 3

Sherlock Holmes's younger sister (Millie Bobby Brown) is off on another fast and furious adventure – this one written by Jack Thorne and directed by Philip Barantini, the screenwriter and the director of Adolescence. Enola isn't an adolescent anymore, though, but a young woman who is due to marry her boyfriend, Lord Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge). The only snag is that Sherlock (Henry Cavill) has been kidnapped, so she has to rescue the great detective with the help of his sidekick Watson (Himesh Patel) and the siblings' mother (Helena Bonham Carter). "Millie's totally different to the Millie that I first met when first thinking about Enola Holmes," said Thorne in the Radio Times. And so [the new script] was trying to capture what it is to be a grown-up Enola Holmes." The films are also Victorian history lessons, added Thorne. "The first film was about land reform and vote reform, the second film was about the birth of the unions, and the third film looks at our colonial history."

Released on 1 July on Netflix

5. Minions & Monsters

In the third Minions film – and the seventh Despicable Me film – the yellow humanoids aren't hanging around with supervillains, for a change, they're hanging around with actors and directors in 1920s Hollywood. There's a certain logic to that setting, as the franchise's love of slapstick and non-verbal humour connects it to the world of silent comedy. "All the Minions stuff is heavily inspired by silent-movie stars," the film's director, Pierre Coffin, told Empire. "The whole point of it is that you don't understand them when they speak – but you understand them nonetheless." The twist is that the Minions decide to make their own monster movie – and that means venturing to a remote island to find a real live monster…

Released on 1 to 3 July internationally

6. Moana

Disney has made plenty of live-action remakes of its classic cartoons, but Moana is different. The original film was released just 10 years ago – and Moana 2 came out two years ago in 2024. Meanwhile, the character voiced by Dwayne Johnson in the cartoons is played by him on-screen in the live-action version, and the various monsters are CGI creations rather than physical puppets. The question is, then: will this Moana film be so similar to the cartoon that it's a waste of time? The director, Thomas Kail, promises otherwise. "I'm from the theatre, where the idea of doing a revival is commonplace," he said in Polygon. "There's something about taking a text and having it evolve… But there's tons of new dialogue, lots of new jokes."

Released on 8 to 10 July internationally

7. Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

An episode in the third series of Friends popularised the concept of a "celebrity sex pass", the idea being that there are certain famous people that your partner would allow you to sleep with – not that you'd ever have the chance. In this comedy from David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer), a young woman's boyfriend makes use of his pass when he spots his favourite celebrity in Kansas, so Gail (Zoey Deutch) tries to even the score by travelling to Los Angeles and seducing Jon Hamm. Along the way there are cameos from Jennifer Aniston, Henry Winkler, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, and Hamm's Mad Men co-star, John Slattery, all playing themselves. And there are postmodern references to The Wizard of Oz (which is why its heroine's name is a bit like "Dorothy Gale"). According to Richard Lawson in The Hollywood Reporter, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is "proudly stupid, a scattershot, oddball comedy that satisfies in visceral, pleasurable ways that a more sophisticated comedy could not".

Released on 10 July in the US

8. Remake

Ross McElwee is an independent film-maker who has built up a cult following by putting himself and his family in his quirky, thoughtful, bittersweet documentaries. His last film, Photographic Memory (2011), examined the friction between McElwee and his grown-up son, Adrian. His new one, Remake, looks back on their relationship in the wake of Adrian's death of a drug overdose in 2016. Like a non-fiction version of Richard Linklater's Boyhood, it sifts through Adrian's life – including when he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and went into rehab. "There is so much pain present in Remake, but there is so much love too – love that seems to radiate through the screen from McElwee's footage of Adrian and his sister Mariah from birth to adulthood," says Hannah Strong in Little White Lies. "Remake is his most nakedly intimate and devastating work, the culmination of a life lived in public for the sake of art."

Released on 10 July in the US

9. Reading Lolita in Tehran

Golshifteh Farahani stars in this inspiring adaptation of writer and academic Azar Nafisi's bestselling 2003 memoir. Eran Riklis's drama covers Nafisi's life in Iran in the 1980s and '90s as the post-revolutionary regime tightens its grip. At first, she teaches literature at the University of Tehran, but she is eventually reduced to running a secret weekly book club in her home. Behind closed doors, a small group of women analyse not just Lolita, but The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice, and they discuss how the novels relate to their own ever-more-constricted and dangerous lives. "This is a stirring, if conventionally made story of courage and curiosity in the face of oppression," says Wendy Ide in Screen International. "Farahani is a powerful and charismatic presence. Her Azar is a strong woman whose face speaks volumes even when she chooses to stay silent."

Released on 10 July in the US

10. Her Private Hell

Nicolas Winding Refn is back with his first film since The Neon Demon in 2016. It's his most extreme and divisive work to date – and considering that his filmography includes Drive, Pusher and Only God Forgives, that's saying something. Sophie Thatcher stars as an actress who moves into a luxury skyscraper in a mist-shrouded future metropolis. She is about to start shooting a science-fiction film, but a supernatural serial killer is on the loose. Meanwhile, in the dark streets below, an American soldier (Charles Melton) is on a noirish quest that pays homage to the fight scenes in Marvel's Daredevil comics. Chase Hutchinson in The Wrap calls this surreal and stylised fairy tale "a captivating cinematic experience… a series of visceral, vibrant and increasingly violent visions that you have to let wash over you".

Released on 24 July in the US and Canada

The Hawk to Little House on the Prairie: 10 of the best TV shows to watch this July

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260622-10-of-the-best-tv-shows-to-watch-this-july, 12 days ago

From a Will Ferrell golfing comedy to a Legally Blonde prequel and a new adaptation of the famous novels about 19th-Century frontier life – these are the best series to watch and stream.

1. Elle

Twenty-five years after she made Elle Woods an indelible pop-culture figure in Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon is a producer of this prequel. In 1995, six years before heading to Harvard Law School, Elle (newcomer Lexi Minetree) is in high school, already an underestimated, misunderstood, chihuahua-carrying heroine. She is horrified when her parents, played by June Diane Raphael and Tom Everett Scott, tell her the family is moving from posh, sunny Bel Air to Seattle. Sure enough, at her new school she is a fluffy pink vision in a sea of grunge, dismissed as a bubble-head by judgmental peers. Is there any doubt she will prove them wrong? Witherspoon has said she was inspired to make a prequel after watching the Netflix series Wednesday, which worked so well by sending Wednesday Addams to school.

Elle premieres 1 July on Prime Video internationally

2. Little House on the Prairie

Few books have been as beloved as Laura Ingalls Wilder's autobiographical Little House novels about 19th-Century frontier life, and few television families as embraced as that in the classic series inspired by Wilder's stories, which ran from 1974-83 and endlessly in reruns. This new version, starring relatively unknown actors, takes a fresh look at the family. In the first season (with a second already ordered) Pa and Ma Ingalls, along with young Laura and her older sister, Mary, leave Wisconsin in a covered wagon for a new home in Kansas. Set in 1868, the story deals with the trauma of the recently-ended Civil War, in which Pa's brother died, and gives the Ingalls family sympathetic neighbours from the local Osage Nation. But while those themes and characters reflect 21st-Century expectations, there is still plenty of the old-fashioned family sentiment that made the books and original series so popular.

Little House on the Prairie premieres 9 July on Netflix internationally

3. The Five Star Weekend

In this adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's 2023 novel, Jennifer Garner plays Hollis Shaw, a cook and best-selling author whose husband has recently died. To deal with her grief, she orchestrates a gathering of four friends from various stages of her life for a weekend in pretty-looking Nantucket, also the location of Netflix' hit Hildebrand adaptation, The Perfect Couple. Chloe Sevigny plays a friend from Hollis's teenage years, Regina Hall plays her college roommate and D'Arcy Carden's character raised her children at the same time as Hollis did. Gemma Chan plays a new friend who carries a secret (what would a reunion be without one?) that threatens to explode Hollis's sense of her own past. The series' creator, Bekah Brunstetter, has compared it to "a marshmallow that's good for you", saying: "We set out to make a show that's uplifting, funny, and gorgeous to look at – but which also has surprising depth around friendship, grief and identity."

The Five Star Weekend premieres 9 July on Peacock in the US and 16 July on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland

4. The Westies

JK Simmons is in tough-guy mode in this crime drama set in New York City in the 1980s. He plays the fictional Eamon Sweeney, head of the real-life Irish mob known as The Westies. The series laces actual period details into the story of a younger generation challenging Sweeney. The plot is set against the real-life backdrop of a convention centre being built, which offered plenty of opportunities for grift and corruption for the Westies and their more powerful rival, the Italian mob. "Who's making more money for you now, me or John Gotti?" Sweeney asks a collaborator, referencing one of the most famous Mafia figures of the day. Tom Brittany (Grantchester) plays an upstart young Westie and Allen Leech (Downton Abbey) plays an IRA cell leader. Titus Welliver (Bosch) plays Sweeney's boyhood friend, now a cop. But he's a corrupt cop, so they haven't diverged all that much.

The Westies premieres 12 July on MGM+ in the US and UK

5. Ride or Die

Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham team up in this action buddy comedy as best friends of 20 years who assumed they knew each other well. It turns out that Judith (Waddingham) has been an international assassin all this time, and Debbie (Spencer) has just learned that her husband has been embezzling from the mob. Now they're both in danger. They go on the run like Thelma and Louise, racing across Europe trying to evade other assassins, assorted criminals and law enforcement officers, with Bill Nighy playing the director of the clandestine operation Judith works for. There are also disguises, flamethrowers and speeding trains that Thelma and Louise never encountered. The trailer promises droll comedy along with the action. "I kill terrible people," Judith explains. When a shocked Debbie says, "For money," you can't argue with the logic of Judith's reply: "Well if I did it for free I'd be a serial killer."

Ride or Die premieres 15 July on Prime Video internationally

6. The Hawk

Will Ferrell has starred in some wonderfully silly sports comedies, skating in Blades of Glory, playing basketball in Semi-Pro and driving a race car in Talladega Nights. It was just a matter of time before he got around to golf. In this series he plays Lonnie Hawkins, known as The Hawk, a 2004 champion now trying to make a comeback. No one else thinks that's a a good idea, including his ex-wife, played by Molly Shannon, and their son, Lance (Jimmy Tatro), also a pro golfer. Luke Wilson plays Golden Fisk, The Hawk's biggest rival from the past. Watching real golf is very, very slow and quiet – this should be faster and wilder.

The Hawk premieres 16 July on Netflix internationally

7. Heartstopper Forever

Dramas about teens go on too long at their peril. Prime example: the botched last season of Euphoria, which took its characters past high school. Heartstopper is getting in just under the wire with this feature-length final episode. After three seasons it wraps up the story of friends finding their way toward adulthood and discovering their sexuality. The central couple, Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke), are at a turning point, with Nick heading to university while Charlie, a year younger, stays behind. Alice Oseman, who created the series based on her graphic novels, has said the finale asks, "Are Nick and Charlie a forever couple? If they are, why?" Anna Maxwell Martin takes over from Olivia Colman as Nick's mother. Her response to his coming out in season one – "Thank you for telling me" – captures the warmth and acceptance that has made the series a hit with viewers and critics.

Heartstopper Forever premieres 17 July on Netflix internationally

8. Lucky

Anya Taylor-Joy dodges gunfire and gives as good as she gets in this crime thriller created by Jonathan Tropper, who also created a less gritty crime story in Your Friends and Neighbors. Taylor-Joy plays Lucky, a con woman who is abandoned by her boyfriend after a major heist they were trying to pull off goes wrong. All she can do, without money or resources, is run and try not to be killed. Annette Bening plays a scary, cold crime boss who threatens her. Aunjanue Ellis Taylor is an FBI agent trying to find her before the mob does. And Timothy Olyphant plays Lucky's convict father, who has given her advice on how to survive in the family business. The show is based on Marissa Stapley's 2021 bestselling novel. Stapley has a sequel, No Such Thing as Luck, set to be published next year, so it's safe to assume Taylor-Joy's character somehow stays alive.

Lucky premieres 15 July on Apple TV internationally

9. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe

The hugely popular sitcom Big Bang Theory has already been spun off into two successful shows, Young Sheldon and the spinoff of that spinoff, George and Mandy's First Marriage. In the latest adjunct to the franchise, Kevin Sussman recreates his Big Bang character, the hapless comic-book store owner Stuart, who here somehow breaks a device created by Sheldon and Leonard, the geniuses from the original show. Stuart, his girlfriend, Denise (Lauren Lapkus) and two friends are propelled into an alternate universe, and must try to restore reality. Failure is right there in the title, but we'll see. Chuck Lorre, the mastermind behind all the Big Bang shows, told People "I just wanted to do something that challenged me," including action and special effects, and added "I think it will be revered or reviled." This new spinoff moves the franchise from middle-of-the-road CBS to the more adventurous HBO Max, which does seem like landing in an alternate universe.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe premieres on HBO Max 23 July in the US and 24 July in the UK

10. Furious

Emmy Rossum leads the cast of this thriller as an FBI agent, Alice, trailing an enigmatic serial killer, Catherine (Lola Petticrew). As Alice learns more about her target, she realises they have unsettling similarities in their pasts. Rossum told EW, "They're both victims of violence who are looking for justice both for themselves and also on a much larger scale in unconventional ways. And because they are constantly underestimated they are both able to – and have to – work outside the lanes of convention." The title she said, alludes to "The Furies, who are Greek goddesses seeking vengeance". Scoot McNairy plays a police officer who is Alice's friend, and Jake Lacy is another police officer who is Alice's ex. (Hmm. Might be a good idea to expand her social circle beyond the police.) Elizabeth Meriwether, the show's creator, based it very loosely on the 1987 film Black Widow.

Furious premieres 27 July on Hulu in the US and Disney+ internationally

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'Americans love when something's extra Canadian': How a Canadian Back to the Future parody became a cult hit

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260702-the-back-to-the-future-parody-thats-a-global-hit, 2 days ago

A low-budget riff on the time-travelling classic set in Toronto, Nirvanna the Band the Show was never intended to be more than a passion project for its two creators. But it has found a devoted following, from the US to South Korea.

One of the funniest moments in Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, the widely acclaimed Canadian comedy that has become a surprise global success, hinges on a brief glimpse of an outdated billboard plastered across the side of Toronto's MuchMusic building – a municipal landmark legendary to locals and the former nexus of one of the country's largest media empires.

Based on the cult web series Nirvanna the Band the Show, the film stars director Matt Johnson and his co-writer Jay McCarrol as a pair of ambitious but air-headed musicians attempting to make it with their two-man musical group, Nirvanna the Band. In the film, as in the show, they banter, plot zany schemes, and interact with real people who have no idea they're being filmed, like a more polite version of Borat.

In the scene in question, Matt and Jay have just taken a Back to the Future-inspired journey to the past, travelling in their jerry-rigged time machine from modern-day Queen Street West to the same downtown strip in 2008. At first, the duo is unaware that their sci-fi gambit has worked – until they spot the relics of a distant, quaintly un-politically correct era. The cover of a defunct alt-weekly boasts a profile of Bill Cosby. An ad on the back of a bus features the smiling face of disgraced Subway spokesman Jared Fogle. A sightseeing bus passes blaring a Black Eyed Peas hit with an unfortunate title.

The punchline is a billboard emblazoned with the visage of Jian Ghomeshi. The long-time host of CBC Radio's Q, a hip talk show with a rotating cast of celebrity guests, Ghomeshi was a somewhat obscure but beloved big fish in Canada's constitutionally small-pond media ecosystem – until 2014, when a sexual abuse scandal made him into a figure of national notoriety. For Canadian viewers who cringingly recall the controversy, the callback is darkly hilarious.

But it also raises the question: would anybody outside of Canada get it?

The film's surprise impact

Johnson and McCarrol have been somewhat amazed by the reaction to that moment – and the film as a whole. Since its premiere last September at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was rapturously received by local audiences, the offbeat, charmingly idiosyncratic Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie has been doing the seemingly impossible – reaching escape velocity from the atmosphere of Canadian cinema and touring to enthusiastic crowds across the globe.

In the US, the film was picked up by respected boutique distributor Neon and opened to rave reviews and packed cinemas earlier this year, and now this weekend the movie arrives in the UK, ready to prove itself to an international cohort of fans all over again. And so far, the Ghomeshi joke seems to have landed.

"We went on tour with the movie, and we watched it with all these American audiences, and everybody would laugh at the photo of Jian Ghomeshi," McCarrol tells the BBC from his home in Toronto. "I don't know if they somehow knew who he was, or if they just thought it was some irrelevant man that we were showing, but it gets a big laugh every time. Americans seem to love when something's extra Canadian."

That must be a relief for the duo – because an almost unbelievable percentage of the humour in Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie would qualify as "extra Canadian". There are jokes about Toronto's CN Tower and the Skydome (officially, but never casually, known as the "Rogers Centre"), about baseball team the Toronto Blue Jays, the Toronto-based morning talk show Roz and Mocha, and the retail franchise Canadian Tire.

The plot itself – that the boys wind up in the past and accidentally alter the future – revolves around a decades-old soft drink called Orbitz that was produced exclusively in Canada. And as in the original series, Nirvanna the Band's key objective is to land a gig at the Rivoli, a shabby, run-of-the-mill club near Toronto's Spadina Avenue that they treat as if it were Madison Square Garden. It's funny – assuming you know what the Rivoli is.

"We have to trust that audiences are smart," McCarrol explains. "I mean – how funny will it be when they realise that the Rivoli is not even that crazy a venue. That's going to be a fun thing for the audience."

As a director, Johnson has been steadily growing a respectable career: his previous feature, the corporate drama Blackberry, was a modest hit in the US, and he has just completed the Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony for A24, which is set to be released next month. Nirvanna the Band, with its oddball humour and quasi-documentary style, was always a passion project more than a mainstream play for Johnson – a brief diversion before moving onward and upward. No one anticipated its success.

McCarrol says that he and Johnson had "no big expectations" for the Nirvanna the Band film, assuming their ceiling was "maybe a limited theatrical run in Canada". But lack of expectations also liberated them creatively to lean in to the Canadianness that had defined the original series – first on the web in 2008, and later as a short-lived but critically acclaimed show for the Vice network in Canada in the mid-2010s – rather than avoid Canadiana for the sake of some hard-to-define international appeal. "Anything that seemed too Canadian was going to give us an edge," McCarrol says. "We'd be proudly saying, 'Look, this is a strange environment that we're in. Look at where we are.' And never explain it."

That cultural specificity – and off-kilter national pride – has indeed been regarded as a kind of highlight among critics abroad. "By focusing so minutely on the if-you-know-you-know details of Toronto, Johnson plays up the idea of it as being oddly intimate despite being a major cosmopolitan city," Jake Cole, a US film critic who has been a fan of Johnson's work for many years, tells the BBC. "And this perfectly fits the ongoing mission of Johnson's persona, who aspires not to the American rock star dreams of diamond sales and world domination but merely to play one of Toronto's small clubs."

Flying the flag for Canada

It's been surprising to Johnson and McCarrol to witness first-hand what audiences around the world have found surprising. After one of the first screenings, Johnson has said, a group of tourists from Germany confronted him about something they found shocking. "There was so much jaywalking!" they exclaimed. Earlier this year, the film opened in South Korea, where Nirvanna the Band has "been building a following", McCarrol says. "We have probably hundreds of thousands of fans around the world now. To our younger selves, we would have been like, 'Are you kidding me? That's insane!'"

Family drama Blue Heron is another Canadian film that has enjoyed widespread international acclaim recently (Credit: Janus Films)

McCarrol is well aware that the film's success has been near-miraculous, especially in a film landscape that rarely sees Canadian movies making headway in the US or elsewhere. But this year, in addition to Nirvanna the Band, Sophy Romvari's Blue Heron and Chandler Levack's Mile End Kicks, both also unmistakably Canadian, have received rave reviews and robust theatrical distribution across the States, suggesting that things may be changing. (Blue Heron also opened in the UK last week.)

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For Nirvanna the Band in particular, however, "there were a lot of barriers to entry" for a prospective audience, McCarrol says.

"There's two non-star 40-year-old dudes starring in this, just indulging themselves in something that looks very strange and lo-fi. There are a lot of things working against us being the kind of movie where you see the trailer and go, 'I have to see that.'"

But both Johnson and McCarrol are immensely grateful that their "inside joke" of a project has found an audience eager to be on the inside. "It's been a really pleasant surprise that so many people have found this movie," McCarrol says. "We never expected Nirvanna the Band to make it so far out there – and around the world, too."

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is released in UK cinemas today and is available to stream in the US.

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'A powerful piece of propaganda': The bloody 1770 image that fuelled the American Revolution

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260629-the-bloody-1770-image-that-fuelled-the-american-revolution, 4 days ago

How a gory depiction of the 1770 Boston Massacre by Paul Revere ignited fury against British rule, becoming arguably the most effective example of propaganda in US history.

On the evening of 5 March 1770, in Boston, Massachusetts, icy snow coated the ground, and a lone British sentry stood guarding the Custom House, his breath forming clouds of white mist in the freezing air. Stepping out of the darkness, a teenager began taunting him and pelting him with snow, soon joined by a growing crowd.

Warning: This article contains a graphic image that some readers may find upsetting.

When soldiers were called to the sentry's aid, the confrontation escalated. The crowd hurled oyster shells, coal and hunks of ice at the soldiers, until the disturbance took a devastating turn. The British opened fire, leaving three men killed and two mortally wounded.

In Britain, the event was known euphemistically as "the incident on King Street", but locally it was named "the Boston Massacre". It proved a major catalyst for American Independence, which marks its 250th anniversary on 4 July and is being commemorated by cultural institutions across the US.

Three weeks after the massacre, a copperplate engraving made by the prominent silversmith Paul Revere, appeared for sale in Boston newspapers. It was titled The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street, Boston on March 5, 1770, by a party of the 29th Regiment.

Its gory depiction of felled patriots streaming with blood being fired on by a line of smirking soldiers served to stoke anti-British sentiment and fan the flames of the rebellion.

One of 29 existing prints of the engraving resides at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art in Texas. The museum is marking the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with the exhibition Printing the American Revolution, which explores the role print media played in American Independence.

"Revere's rendering of the Boston Massacre was a powerful piece of propaganda, especially in a world where literacy rates ranged across regions and populations," Mary Draper, co-curator of the exhibition and associate professor of History at Midwestern State University, tells the BBC. "By arranging the British soldiers in an orderly line and capturing the chaos of the unarmed colonists, he conveyed a clear message about who was at fault and who were the victims. It rallied colonists to resist British rule."

Hidden messages

The work also contains hidden messages about who is at fault: a "Butcher's Hall" sign hangs over the British soldiers, while a dog, a symbol of loyalty, is prominent among the colonists. "This image is obviously intended to incite in the viewer outrage at what is happening because it's showing defenceless citizens being gunned down by soldiers," Constance McPhee, co-curator of Revolution! at The Met Fifth Avenue, New York, tells the BBC.

The engraving is a highlight of the show, which unites artworks that provide insights into the origins of the American Revolution and the ensuing events. The image implied that the British were no longer "a friendly, paternal force" but an "oppressive force", she says. "It starts changing people's minds."

For those who could read, Revere's impassioned inscription beneath the image hammers home the brutality of the British, who are described as "fierce barbarians", acting with "murd'rous Rancour". And it urges patriots to "appease The plaintive Ghosts of Victims" who are listed beneath the text. As the historian Steven L Danver notes in a 2022 essay on the engraving, the work "played a pivotal role in shaping colonial attitudes towards British rule" and "succeeded in uniting colonists under a common cause and fostering a sense of urgency for independence".

Crucial timing

The timing of the engraving was crucial. Tensions were running high among American colonials, embittered by a growing British military presence, eroded civil liberties, and a series of unelected taxation policies that had Americans plugging the British national debt. This incident outside Custom House, the very symbol of unfair taxation, was too good an opportunity to miss.

Revere was a member of the patriot resistance group The Sons of Liberty. He was later hailed a national hero for his "midnight ride" of 1775, where he helped defeat the British army by riding ahead to warn patriots of their advance - one of several riders to do so. He seized on the Boston massacre to galvanise support for the group's mission, capitalising on the heightened emotion. Plagiarising a sketch of the event made by Henry Pelham, Revere rushed his engraving to market. He neither credited nor compensated Pelham, who sent him a bitter letter deploring his "dishonourable actions".

'It whipped up fury'

Part of the artwork's impact stemmed from its rarity. "It's one of the few prints by an American printmaker," says McPhee, and its wide and speedy distribution, she adds, "indicated how important people felt it was". During that era, she says, "there's no other work where so many copies were created". As the engraving spread news of the massacre, it whipped up fury.

Broadsides of it were displayed in shops and taverns or sold as prints to raise money for the Sons of Liberty, whose numbers swelled as this once-underground group became a standard bearer for the patriot cause. Meanwhile, plagiarised versions of the engraving circulated, such as Jonathan Mulliken's, giving Revere a taste of his own medicine but echoing his call to action.

Revere's engraving also became the frontispiece for the 1770 pamphlet A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston. The propaganda travelled thousands of miles when the pamphlet, and versions of the engraving, were printed in London. The horror and injustice of the Boston massacre now confronted the British people on their home soil.

'The fervour of our zeal'

With its aim to hammer home a strong message, the image is full of exaggerations and falsehoods. It sets the event in daylight and omits any evidence of patriot aggression. Even the snow that was hurled at the soldiers in provocation has melted without trace. Most importantly, as witnesses would later testify in court, it incorrectly depicts the British as initiating the conflict, with Captain Thomas Preston (on the right) giving the command to fire on a powerless crowd – something he denied and was later acquitted of.

The word "fire" was heard, reported some, but from the mouth of patriots, daring the soldiers to shoot. In his opening statement, the defence attorney Josiah Quincy appeared to caution the jury on the engraving's power to influence and mislead. "The prints exhibited in our houses have added wings to fancy," he declared. "And in the fervour of our zeal, reason is in hazard of being lost."

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The engraving's propaganda lingered in the public consciousness long after its creation. When, on the massacre's first anniversary, Revere incorporated it into a giant illuminated display in the windows of his home, thousands of spectators flocked to see it. A century later, portrayals of the event by artists such as W L Champney and Alonzo Chappel made factual adjustments but kept the main narrative alive.

According to the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, "Paul Revere's historic engraving… was probably the most effective piece of war propaganda in American history." It is certainly one of the most recognisable images of the American Revolution, and its effect is still felt today. "Despite its small size, the piece still evokes emotions among viewers," says Draper.

"Part of its power lies in its continued relevance. Each generation can interpret this piece in ways that reflect their own ideas about authority, violence and protest." It's also "a striking reminder", she says, "that the past is just as contested as the present."

Revolution! is at The Met Fifth Avenue, New York until 7 September 2026.

Printing the American Revolution is at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art until 22 August 2026.

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'There was an audible gasp': How a flash of a player's pink underwear scandalised Wimbledon

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260629-how-a-flash-of-a-players-underwear-scandalised-wimbledon, 5 days ago

In 1962, when Brazilian player Maria Bueno wore a tennis dress lined in bright pink with matching pink knickers, it led to outrage and an even stricter dress code. It wasn't the first – or the last – outfit to raise eyebrows. But why all the fuss?

It was a summer's day in 1962. The Brazilian tennis player Maria Bueno was back at Wimbledon after time away due to injury. Returning to Centre Court, the "tennis ballerina" was wearing a white dress that seemed to be in line with the All England Club's preference for all-white attire. Until she served.

Then the truth was revealed: her dress was lined in pink – and her knickers were the same colour. As Sunita Kumar Nair, author of the new book, Ace: The Times & Style of Tennis, tells the BBC: "It caused a stir."

Years later, Bueno, who had by this time won two Wimbledon ladies' singles trophies – and would go on to win one more – recalled how "there was an audible gasp from one end of the court". However, "the people at the other end didn't know why, until I changed ends and served from there."

"Later," she said, "I wore panties that resembled the club colours [green and purple], which outraged the club committee, and they brought in the all-white clothing rule.

The requirement that members dress in white dated back to the establishment of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) in 1877, but it was largely a matter of custom. It was Bueno's outfit – which was the work of designer Ted Tinling – that reportedly catalysed the new strict codification. As Kumar Nair writes: "Wimbledon retaliated with its 'predominantly white' rule in 1962, which meant all competitors had to wear almost all white."

'Distasteful and unbecoming'

But who exactly was scandalised by a flash of pink underwear? Tennis historian Rob Lake sheds some light: "As a conservative (big C and small c) organisation, the AELTC would have found the frilly bits of her dress… distasteful and unbecoming of a lady," he tells the BBC. "They were not really on board with the social changes outside of the club in the 1960s."

At this point in time – and until the 1980s – Lake points out, all of the committee members were men. They were "the established order, with political affiliations and connections in other elite institutions. They were certainly not willing to promote social advances that might bring disrepute."

According to Lake, "the AELTC seemed to have a stronger view of how women should present themselves than men, or at least it seems as though women were more frequently reprimanded for their appearance."

In 1967, sartorial controversy came again in the shape of Italian tennis player Lea Pericoli's short dresses, again a collaboration with Tinling. The role of Tinling – the designer otherwise known as "the Wizard of Wimbledon" – in women's tennis style was massive. He was a looming presence over the game for much of the 20th Century – as noted in Ace, "from 1940 to 1980, 75% of women who competed at Wimbledon wore his dresses".

He was "the first dedicated sport couturier", writes Kumar Nair.

White made sense as Wimbledon's colour of choice. In the late-19th-Century, when the convention was set, white was loaded with class status. As Kumar Nair writes: "Only the wealthy could afford to wear, own, and maintain it. The rest had neither the means nor the staff to have and keep separate athletic attire." For tennis historian Christopher Bowers, Wimbledon's increasing dogmatism when it comes to white originated "at the beginning, it was just the colour of tennis. Then it stuck to its white rule as a way of imposing its sense of tradition on the sport."

'Vulgarity and sin'

Bueno flashing a bit of pink wasn't the first time a female player at Wimbledon had fallen foul of the dress code, and it wasn't the first time one had done so wearing a Tinling design.

More than a decade previously in 1949, Californian player Gussie Moran – or "Gorgeous Gussie", as she was dubbed in the tabloid newspapers – had caused a stir in an earlier Tinling creation.

As Kumar Nair writes in Ace, "Gussie Moran's lace-trimmed undershorts" had "red-faced officials claiming that he had drawn attention to her 'sexual area'." While the undershorts didn't in fact at the time break any colour rules, they seem to have gone against standards of taste. The committee even accused her of bringing "vulgarity and sin into tennis".

But arguably it wasn't Moran who behaved inappropriately. As Tinling said later: "The titillation was that you only saw [the panties] about once every three minutes... You had photographers, for the first time in history, lying on their backs. Everyone went wild."

How big a deal it was feels hard to grasp from the viewpoint of 2026. But Moran, as the Times once noted, "became known less for her ability on court than scandalising the prim world of Wimbledon in 1949". And Tinling, who had acted as player liaison since 1927, was subsequently expelled as a member – and not invited back for more than 30 years.

Earlier controversies

Even before Moran, female players had elicited reactions with their attire on the grass courts of SW19. Eyebrows had apparently been raised when, in 1919, French player Suzanne Lenglen, who became known as La Divine (the goddess), ditched the corsets, petticoats, full-length skirts, and broad hats, and opted for a fashionable Jean Patou short-sleeved calf-length dress minus a petticoat.

Then there was Spanish player Lili de Alvarez, who, in 1931, dared to wear an Elsa Schiaparelli-designed pair of culottes to play at Wimbledon. Given their width, it was reportedly only when she did one of her trademark leaps that it became apparent that it wasn't simply a skirt. Many commentators link her fashion choices with her lifelong commitment to the promotion of equality for women.

Then and now

When in 2014 a strict "almost entirely white" mandate for undergarments – bras, knickers, straps, lace, soles, and other accessories – was formalised at Wimbledon, it didn't take long for Serena Williams to fall foul via a pair of purple and pink undershorts. But then so did Roger Federer, thanks to a pair of Nike trainers with an orange sole that he was apparently asked to change out of.

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Over the past 20 years, says Bowers, "Wimbledon's dress code has become unbelievably strict". He thinks "the motivation is now one of branding. Wimbledon likes to think of itself as 'tennis in an English garden', and the white clothing just goes with the striped lawns, the Virginia creeper, the strawberries and cream, etc. It's all part of the brand, and the players are expected to play along."

The reasons Wimbledon is keen to hang on to its traditions are to do with a sense of it being a bastion of tradition, according to Nair. "I think there's almost a fairy-tale idealism linked to Wimbledon," she says, "and, and they are very keen to retain that image that's been held for a long time."

It has its own special atmosphere that she describes in the book. "A tinge of a librarian hush in the air, the muffled pop of picnic Champagnes uncorked across the courts, the clean scent of the cut pastoral green lawns, and the pictorial gleam of competitors wearing crisp white – this is the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ladies and gentlemen, as it was, is, and ever shall be."

Ace: The Times & Style of Tennis by Sunita Kumar Nair is published by Abrams Books.

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'Real missiles and bombs were going off': How Saddam Hussein made an epic Hollywood-style film in Iraq

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260626-how-saddam-hussein-made-an-epic-hollywood-style-film-in-iraq, 6 days ago

In July 1983, Clash of Loyalties was screened for the first – and almost last – time. In 2020, its producer told the BBC about conscriptions, interrogations, and a drunk Oliver Reed.

The biggest threat to Saddam Hussein's epic Hollywood-style film Clash of Loyalties was not the outbreak of war between Iran and Iraq in 1980, a few weeks after filming began in the desert near Baghdad. It wasn't the steady stream of cast and crew being called up to fight, disappearing from the film set without notice. It wasn't the challenge of transporting World War One prop weapons across the border of Turkey, where customs guards stopped the film's lorries, believing they were importing a real arsenal to aid Iraqi troops.

Instead, the film was closest to being derailed by a drunken incident in a hotel restaurant involving the film's star Oliver Reed urinating in an empty wine bottle. "He asked the waiter to take it over to the next table, and said, 'With my compliments,'" the film's Iraqi-born British producer, Lateif Jorephani, told the BBC's Witness History in 2020. "The authorities were absolutely flabbergasted… I had Telexes from ministers in Iraq telling me, 'Pull this guy out, we don't want him here now.' How do I, as the producer of a multi-million-pound picture, pull the major star out of it halfway through production?"

Jorephani managed to persuade the authorities to let him keep Reed, rather than having to reshoot the whole film – but it was a close call. "I had to fight it tooth and nail," he recalled. The incident was just one jaw-clenching moment in a production that spanned three years and cost $30m ($100m or £76m today), roughly the same budget as its contemporary, Return of the Jedi. And when it was finally completed, Clash of Loyalties was only screened a few times – winning an award after it premiered at the Moscow Film Festival in July 1983 – before being consigned to canisters in Jorephani's garage in Surrey, England.

Its ignominious end was a long way from the ambitions of Hussein. Soon after the Iraqi dictator came to power in July 1979, he set out a vision to establish an Iraqi film industry that could make patriotic blockbusters for a Western audience. "Hussein was very enthusiastic about encouraging Iraq to become a centre of international film productions," Jorephani told the BBC. "Perhaps he'd thought that one day Baghdad could become Bollywood on Tigris."

Hussein envisaged a series of projects that would boost the image of Iraq globally. To start, he wanted to make a motion picture of Hollywood proportions connecting his Ba'ath party to the Iraqi revolutionaries who overturned British rule in 1920. Clash of Loyalties, or Al-mas'ala Al-Kubra (The Great Question), told the story of Iraq's formation out of Mesopotamia, and was described by one of the actors as "Saddam's version of Lawrence of Arabia".

"It's based on a real incident in 1920," said Jorephani. During a nationalist movement to rid Iraq of colonial occupation, the British Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Leachman was killed by a rebel near the city of Fallujah. Clash of Loyalties would be Hussein's epic retelling of the birth of a nation.

Jorephani had worked in the film business since the 1950s, making several low-budget films in the Middle East, and was approached about the project by his contacts in Hussein's government. With Iraq bolstered by an influx of cash from the booming oil prices of the 1970s, finance was not a problem. "Our friends in Baghdad went to the big man and they said to him, 'To get into the international film business, we have to talk money'. He said to them, 'Whatever it takes'."

The big-budget Clash of Loyalties had Hollywood-style sets, special effects, and hundreds of cast and crew members, all transported to Baghdad. And then Hussein invaded Iran. "I had 140 people out in Iraq during a war," Jorephani recalled in the 2016 documentary Saddam Goes to Hollywood. "These people were accustomed to making movies in Shepperton, Pinewood, Hollywood – not being in the middle of nowhere while real missiles and bombs were going off all over the place."

Filming in a war zone

The invasion led to a few hiccups. "We had to stop production, but the word came from upstairs that you must give the impression that life goes on as normal," Jorephani told the BBC's Outlook in 2016. "As far as the Iraqi leadership was concerned, 'It's fine, it's going to be over in a few weeks' time, carry on, boys, and everything would be OK.'" Filming resumed after a fortnight.

Despite the authorities' desire to pretend that there was nothing to be concerned about, there were clues, according to the cast. One actor recalled flying out to Iraq with Reed and other cast members, and noticing a fighter jet accompanying their plane when they entered Iraqi airspace. They landed without lights to avoid a missile attack. Scenes had to be reshot after local actors were called up to the army suddenly, and there were logistical problems in delivering military props from the UK across the Turkish border.

According to Jorephani, "The Turks said, 'Hang on a second mate, we are neutral in the war, you can't get this stuff through.'" He tried explaining to them, "Look, this is First World War film stuff, you can't shoot with it, this is a gun for film-making." But to no avail. Instead, recalled Jorephani, they had to send their lorries "through Greece, on ships, across Lebanon, across Syria, which was then more friendly with the Iranians than the Iraqis, and across the desert to Baghdad. I was really quite frustrated by then."

But the most notorious episode in the production involved a sequence with an exploding train. "It's supposed to be a troop train with ammunition… attacked by Iraqi rebels," said Jorephani. Although they were mostly filming in locations away from the real-life fighting, the only disused railway line they could find was close to the Iranian border. "The day after the shoot, Iranian media claimed that the Revolutionary Guard attacked inside Iraq and destroyed a military train, killing many Iraqi soldiers."

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Events were almost as dramatic among the actors. Beyond the incident with the wine bottle, Reed's antics included arm-wrestling, kicking in doors and picking fights. Fellow cast member Marc Sinden, son of actor Donald Sinden, said in a 2014 Esquire interview that the first time he saw Reed, he was being dangled by his ankles out of a fifth-floor window of the Al-Mansour Melia Hotel in Baghdad, after upsetting his minder, a French ex-special forces soldier. Reed was apparently screaming with laughter. "We never did find out what Olly said," recalled Sinden. Another actor in the film, Virginia Denham, said: "Oliver Reed was a weapon of mass destruction."

Sinden had a memorable experience of a different kind while shooting Clash of Loyalties. He said in the 2014 interview that before he flew out to Iraq, he was recruited to take photographs of Baghdad for a shady British secret agency. "I was visited by two gentlemen in suits. They claimed they were from the Foreign Office… They asked if I was going to Iraq, and I said yes. I didn't have to tell them the date. They already knew when I was leaving."

Shown then shelved

Sinden was told that security services would be interested in seeing his holiday snaps – anything that looked like it might have military value, such as communications antennae, government buildings, or palaces. Unfortunately, Sinden said, these photos landed him in an interrogation centre in Iraq, after Hussein's secret police followed him. Soon after his arrival, he was taken for questioning – but managed to talk his way out, telling his interrogator: "I'm here at the behest of your glorious leader, Saddam Hussein. He is funding the film I am doing. Look, I had supper with him a week ago." They quickly released him, and Sinden flew out of Iraq the next day, dressed in his costume of a 1920s military uniform, complete with pith helmet and pistol.

Jorephani edited Clash of Loyalties back in London, but after a few festival screenings, it was shelved. After Hussein's occupation of Kuwait in 1990, the UN imposed international sanctions on Iraq that lasted until Hussein's fall from power in 2003, and the film was never shown again. The dictator's grand vision of a series of major international productions made in Iraq was reduced to one film that was viewed by only a few hundred people. "Had things worked out as the Iraqis hoped it would, we would have been in our sixth or seventh major picture of this kind," Jorephani told the BBC's Nick Erikson in 2016.

He was disappointed that he never got to make another film with the Iraqis, although he told the BBC in 2020: "After 30-odd years of war and bombs and destruction and killing and sectarianism… What is film-making? It's nothing really compared to that."

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'His life was one of fantasy': How John le Carré's spy novels were shaped by his con-man father

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260619-how-john-le-carrs-spy-novels-were-shaped-by-his-con-man-father, 13 days ago

The author's childhood was rocked by bankruptcy and deceit. In 2008, he told the BBC that his "hectic background" trained him to be an author – and a spy.

David Cornwell was steeped in secrecy throughout his life – long before he took on the nom de plume John le Carré, long before his first novel, Call for the Dead, was published in June 1961, and long before he became one of the UK's most critically acclaimed, bestselling spy novelists. He learned deception and self-reliance from an early age, later recalling one particular childhood memory with his older brother, at the start of a day out from school.

"My father told us to wait at the end of the drive at our boarding school in Berkshire. And the reason he didn't want to present himself to the school was that he hadn't paid the bill, but we didn't know that," Le Carré told the BBC in a 2008 interview. "So we waited at the lodge at the end of the school drive with our suitcases. And he never showed up."

Let down by their father Ronnie Cornwell, a con man who was in and out of prison throughout their childhood, the boys did what they could to save face in front of their schoolmates. "We just stayed away for the whole day. We had no food. We had no money. But we wouldn't go back to school. We went back in the evening and pretended we'd had a wonderful day."

It was the first time he remembered feeling disillusioned about his father – and yet it also taught him something that was to prove useful later. "It's very interesting in espionage terms: the rendezvous collapses. You work out a cover story. You come back and dissemble."

As a child during World War Two, when other boys at his school were talking about the daring feats of their fathers, Le Carré invented a double life. "He grew up at a time when what your father did in the war was terribly important," his biographer Adam Sisman told the BBC in 2015. "He was embarrassed by his father… [who] was the most shaming of all, he was a spiv [a small-time crook who sells blackmarket goods]. He was profiteering while other boys' fathers were away fighting." To hide this, Le Carré made up stories that Ronnie was a spy.

That complicated relationship with heroics played out in the novels he wrote. His recurring protagonist, George Smiley, was the "anti-James Bond" – someone who is "bureaucratically dowdy, rarely spotted in the field… discreet to the point of self-erasure", according to The Atlantic. He "drops no one-liners, romances no tarot-card readers, roars no speedboats through the Bayou". Le Carré deliberately avoided the fast-car flashiness of Bond in Smiley, telling the BBC that he "made him tubby and physically graceless and a bad dresser".

In novels such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), Le Carré – who died in 2020 at the age of 89 – focused on the mundane reality of espionage. It was a reality that he knew firsthand, working as a British intelligence officer for MI5 and then MI6 from 1952, after running away from boarding school and ending up in Bern.

A 'psychopath' who loved his sons

Again, his father directly shaped his career. "If I hadn't had a wildcat dad, I wouldn't have run away," he told the BBC. "If my father hadn't taken me to St Moritz to ski in 1936, Switzerland wouldn't have been imprinted on my memory as a romantic spot to go to, a kind of natural place of exile."

And this complicated relationship with his father continued throughout his life, according to Sisman. "Ronnie had no boundaries – he was in many ways a psychopath. He was a man capable of robbing old ladies of their life savings. At the same time, he clearly loved his sons."

While Le Carré's mother abandoned him at the age of five, Ronnie stuck around, albeit in a sporadic fashion. "Whenever Ronnie in later life would get in touch with David and say, 'I need bailing out, son', David would reach for his cheque book and often burst into tears," said Sisman. "So David had this peculiar love-hate thing about his father, this unresolved thing."

Le Carré recognised that Ronnie not only honed his skills in spycraft, but also shaped the books he wrote, and his ability to create fictional worlds. Coming from a respectable family in Bournemouth, Ronnie first went to prison as a young man, before being sentenced to hard labour. "From then on, he lived an extraordinarily flamboyant life," said Le Carré. Constantly reinventing himself, Ronnie "became a racehorse owner. He mixed with younger royals… [with a] chauffeur-driven Bentley and all of that."

On whether Le Carré was a writer who became a spy for a brief period, or a spy who turned his experiences into novels, he said: "I will never know… But I think actually behind both of them is the great shadow of my father and the duplicitous life that we lived as children, where we knew when we filled up the car with petrol at the local garage that it was never going to be paid for, where we pretended to live like middle-class English boys.

"We went to school. We didn't talk about our hectic background. So in a sense, we were spies." Although all of his father's family spoke with regional accents, the moment Le Carré got to private school, he adopted the speech of his fellow students. "And I started learning deportment and all the curious ways in which... people of that class communicate with each other. I never felt part of it, but I think very many creative people don't anyway feel integrated in life."

Le Carré's ability to spin fictions – and lead a double life – was in turn influenced by his father's choice to "live a criminal life, but under the guise of orthodoxy". He recalled: "My father's life was one of fantasy, he was a superb con man, and could build castles in the air, invent characters, anything. Since that gift was already an example to me, it was a natural thing to flow into writing fiction."

'Home was a very dangerous place'

His upbringing also determined the type of fiction he would write, one populated by morally conflicted characters in which no one could be trusted. "Home was a very dangerous place, as it was for George Smiley, as it is for most of my protagonists in that world," he told the BBC. "Home is where you can be found, home is where they come and arrest you, home is where the bailiffs come and turf out your toys and your clothes." That tension meant that Le Carré said he never felt safe. "Insecurity is a wonderful spark for writing."

Le Carré created his own genre of spy fiction, one in which his characters questioned themselves and the amoral methods of their agencies. It's a world away from Ian Fleming's 007. "I'm not sure that Bond is a spy," Le Carré told the BBC in a 1966 interview. "He's more some kind of international gangster… he's a man entirely out of the political context." In contrast, Le Carré's novels illuminated the Cold War ideological battleground, the political picture playing as large a role as the espionage.

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They also featured a succession of highly solitary characters, with the author describing The Spy Who came in from the Cold as "a story of loneliness". And Le Carré related to that himself, his own solitariness playing out on the page. "The condition of secrecy was a refuge for me," he said in 2008.

Although Le Carré acknowledged the scars from his unusual upbringing, he recognised the value of what had been hardwired in him from childhood. And despite the trauma of being continually disappointed by his father, Cornwell attributed much of his later success to Ronnie.

"The combination of exotic bouts of life with my father, then the hectic intermissions when he was bankrupt or at Her Majesty's Pleasure somewhere, the range and the scale of experience, in retrospect, was extremely rich. Those things contributed to the way I write, and to the sense of tension which I can never get rid of. I'm grateful for those inheritances. I often quote Graham Greene – 'the credit balance of the writer is his childhood' – and in that sense I was a millionaire."

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Tom Grennan proud to sing in 'beautiful Bedford'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c982r8q4lzqo, today

Singer Tom Grennan hailed his homecoming gig in Bedford, saying it "wasn't just my show, but everybody's show".

He took to the stage at the Bedford Summer Sessions festival, in Bedford Park on Saturday.

Speaking to the BBC before the gig the 31-year-old said: "I've always wanted to make my home town proud and I feel like tonight I'm gonna do that.

"It's a celebration of somebody who has done alright from Bedford and I'm very happy to be the one on this stage shouting about this town. It's a beautiful town."

During his set, the Lionheart singer made several references to Bedford, including playing football, busking in the town and even having his first kiss in the park.

Fan, Orla, was given tickets to see Grennan as an 11th birthday present from her parents on Friday.

Her big day was made even more special when, while driving her daughter to school on Friday, her mother, Leanne, spotted Grennan on a Bedford street doing some filming.

After she pulled over, he agreed to take a photo with the family.

"He was really friendly, he said 'of course I'll take a picture'. "He said 'happy birthday, I hope you have an amazing day'," said Leanne.

Orla added: "He was really friendly and happy," calling it the "best present ever".

Alfie, 10, was attending his first gig with his mum and dad, Lisa and Kevin, all from Luton.

He got the chance to meet Grennan backstage, describing it as an "absolutely incredible" experience.

Asked by the singer what he was looking forward to he agreed it was the "energy" of the gig.

The two even also discussed England's chances at the World Cup.

Alfie told Grennan "I'm not very confident with Mexico," with Grennan agreeing.

The singer added: "But you know what, whatever happens, we'll still scream and we'll still shout won't we?"

Grennan also told the youngster he had never been a Luton Town supporter despite having previously played for them, saying he was actually a Coventry City fan.

Among those attending was St Thomas More Catholic Secondary School deputy head, Carole Soraghan, who was Grennan's form tutor for three years.

She said: "He always had star quality. I'm so proud of him. He's amazing.

"He really found his voice in sixth form and we realised what a star he was".

Ceri Hodgkin was wearing her Grennan T-Shirt and had travelled from Stratford-upon-Avon. She has seen him perform 12 times previously.

"I love him. I want him to be my best friend. I want us to go bowling and sing songs together," she said.

Her friend, Claire Morton, was seeing Grennan perform for the first time.

"I think it must be really special for him to come back home and sing his songs to a home crowd," she said.

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Death Valley star says ADHD diagnosis made her feel 'so lucky' she found acting

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9lvd5pedyo, today

One of the stars of detective drama Death Valley says finding out she has ADHD made her feel "so lucky" she found a career in acting.

Welsh actress Gwyneth Keyworth said she was only diagnosed with the condition about two years ago, having found school particularly challenging.

She said it helped her to identify with her neurodiverse character detective Janie Mallowan in the BBC whodunnit.

The second series, which concluded its six-episode run in June on BBC One, saw her team up once again with Timothy Spall's John Chapel to solve murders in the Welsh countryside.

"I believe with Janie, and what I share with Janie, I know that personally I am so lucky to have found acting," Keyworth told BBC Radio Cymru.

"These things like thinking on the spot, being talkative and bringing a lot of ideas was something positive.

"Janie too has a diversity, and what I wanted to show, especially in the second series, is that she doesn't deal very well with paperwork and how she can change from one subject to another.

"It's part of her character, but what I didn't want to do was make a sob story."

Keyworth, who's also appeared in shows such as Game of Thrones, Black Mirror and The Crown, added: "This is part of her. This is the reality. It doesn't have to be something negative, just something that 'is'."

Keyworth, who was born in Aberystwyth, said ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) was not spoken about much in the area while growing up there in the 1990s.

"And definitely not a lot of people were speaking about it in terms of women, because it looks very different," she said.

"I remember teachers saying 'you're not trying enough', and I was crying because I was trying my very best - but I just couldn't do 'this thing'. I'm writing, and I'm not very good behind a desk."

She added: "Almost every school report I have says that 'Gwyneth dreams and doesn't concentrate, is talkative and has a lot of ideas but can't finish reading'."

Keyworth said she eventually received helped from teachers at school who gave her more time to complete work.

"Now you look back on it, it's so obvious," he said about her ADHD diagnosis, which she received "about two years ago".

Spall a 'national treasure'

Keyworth returned to Death Valley for its second series earlier this year alongside acting royalty Spall, with the show set in and filmed across several locations in Wales including Penarth, Little Haven, and Bannau Brycheiniog.

Keyworth said working with Spall was an "amazing" experience.

"We both work quite similarly. Take the work seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously," she said.

"He is so good at what he does and he brings so much energy to the work. To think of all the things he has done in his career, he is a national treasure."

Constable descendants feature in family exhibition

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd95pz43g2ko, today

An exhibition marking 250 years since the birth of landscape artist John Constable features work by multiple generations of his descendants.

Constable's great-great-great-granddaughter, artist Sasha Constable, lives near Dorchester, Dorset, and has curated the show at the town's Corn Exchange.

The family's connection with the county began when Suffolk-born Constable and his wife, Maria Bicknell, spent their honeymoon in Osmington, near Weymouth, in 1816.

The exhibition, entitled Generations, brings together works by Sasha, her father - the late Richard Constable - and her son Valya, as well as pieces by other family members.

Sasha said: "Every generation has had at least one artist. It's quite a continuity of creative genes.

"It hasn't always been the case that they have been professional artists but they've always had art as part of their life and [they are] good artists as well.

"In this show, I've tried to represent each of those artists with one or two pieces of work just to show this connectivity with creativity through the generations."

One of the exhibits, by 12-year-old Valya, depicts his grandmother's feet and was previously featured in the Royal Academy Young Artists' Show.

Portrait of Nana was created when Valya was just six and he is happy to confess it did not turn out as planned.

"I wanted to do a quick portrait of her and she was sitting the other side of the room," he said.

"I started drawing and it was landscape - I don't know why I made it landscape - then I realised I didn't really have any more space to draw and it ended at her feet.

"It was a happy little accident because that's how it ended up."

The drawing also featured recently in an exhibition about Constable's life at Ipswich Museum.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent's Dorset Breakfast Show, Sasha explained that Constable and his wife "weren't allowed to marry because he was seen as unsuitable for his wife" so it was not until "after seven years of courting" that they eventually tied the knot.

She said: "They went to Osmington for three weeks on their honeymoon, in 1816.

"Those were some of the first seascapes that he created, Weymouth Bay and Osmington Mills.

"He spent three weeks with his newly wedded wife, roaming around the Dorset countryside and coastline."

Last month an sound project was held in Osmington as part of the events marking the 250th anniversary.

Sasha moved to Dorset in 2018, having been brought up in Somerset before moving overseas.

She said: "When we came back in 2018, I gravitated to the south west. I absolutely love this area of the UK.

"It's interesting being back in a part of the country where Constable roamed around himself."

The free exhibition continues until 8 August.

A presidential snub? The mix-up that left the Beatles feeling fear in the Philippines

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3vy69dyx6zo, today

It was a Beatles tour that pivoted from triumph to disaster in a matter of hours and turned into the most terrifying time of the Fab Four's career.

At the height of the band's fame in July 1966, more than 80,000 people flocked to see them in two huge shows at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in the Filipino capital of Manila.

But within hours the stars found themselves marred in a desperate and dangerous situation over what was seen as an apparent snub of the country's first lady Imelda Marcos.

Now the story has been recounted in detail in a book by Manila-based author David Guerrero, who told how Marcos had been under the impression the band would meet her during a private reception with 300 people.

It turned out they were exhausted from their Far East travels and, in any case, manager Brian Epstein had a policy of not attending state receptions - and no meeting was arranged.

The mix-up led to president Ferdinand Marcos and his supporters feeling deeply offended and extracting "revenge" by making their departure as awkward and menacing as possible.

"The mix-up was a combination of Vic Lewis - new to the Beatles management team - in charge of the concert arrangements in Manila, and an inexperienced local promoter Ramon Ramos," said Guerrero, author of You Won't See Me - When The Beatles Ghosted Imelda.

"They gave Imelda Marcos and her people a false impression that the Beatles would be happy to attend a lunch reception on the morning of their Manila concerts."

At some point before their arrival, invitations were sent directly to the band, via the local promoter, to lunch at the Presidential Palace.

Guerrero said: "Whether those invitations were responded to or not is disputed but, when escorts arrived to collect them their manager Brian Epstein refused to go."

Meanwhile, Imelda Marcos, her family and the hundreds of guests were left standing - waiting for the band to show up before live television cameras.

The no-show led to a hostile reaction from citizens loyal to the Marcos regime, government officials and even the military.

Archive photographs show empty seats in the VIP enclosure for the concert later in the day.

Beatles historian Spencer Leigh said the snub became national news and "an insult to the president and his wife."

The episode left The Beatles deeply disturbed, fearful for their security and desperate to leave the country.

A headline in local newspaper the Manila Bulletin read: "Beatles Here, Cry Help And Run For Their Lives."

Guerrero explained the band's security had been placed in the hands of airport security boss Willie Jurado, who was hand-picked by the president.

It led to him taking measures in "revenge" for the slight on his boss's wife, the author said.

The retribution was said to have included a withdrawal of police protection, the switching off of airport escalators and harassment by intimidating plain clothes security officers.

However, contrary to some accounts, Guerrero said the only documented case of any of the band's entourage actually being physically attacked was driver Alf Bicknell.

Local reports and rumours mistook him variously for Brian Epstein, road manager Mal Evans or even one of the band, he said.

Guerrero said thousands of fans at the airport were there to see the band off safely "or to tearfully regret seeing them subjected to official harassment".

The incident became etched in Beatles history and a "negative narrative" grew, suggesting the wider relationship between the band and the country had been soured forever.

However, Guerrero believes that is a myth and has been vastly overblown.

Penultimate tour

"The Beatles said in their fan magazine after the tour they were pleased with the reception from the fans in Manila," he said.

"And there are still fans in the Philippines who name their children after Beatles songs."

As it turned out, the visit to the Philippines marked the band's penultimate tour.

"What happened in Manila wasn't so much a nail in the coffin more a bag of nails," the author said.

He said they were moving on creatively and becoming tired of being on the road, a month later releasing their album Revolver.

"It was technically more sophisticated and would have been harder to play live given the technology of the time," Guerrero said.

Leigh added: "They just hated touring by then - hence they created a fictitious band, Sgt Pepper.

"They were operating in a new territory and you can see that all the major acts were wondering about what was coming next - Presley, Stones, Dylan."

The president and his wife were also going through a transition - from being described by Life magazine as the "JFK and Jackie of Asia" to Ferdinand and his regime becoming synonymous with corruption and human rights abuses.

Meanwhile, Imelda's massive indulgences became legendary, with stories abounding including her 3,000-strong collection of designer shoes.

It was, perhaps, a meeting between music royalty and Filipino extravagance that was destined never to have happened, Leigh said.

He added: "Looking back of course, the Beatles were glad not to have met the Marcos family."

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South Asian stories told through personal artwork

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2j8qln1p0o, today

Personal stories of family, migration and identity are being shared through a community art exhibition.

The display, at St Albans Museum + Gallery during July, coincides with South Asian Heritage Month.

It is the first exhibition to be held in a new community space, created to give local groups a platform to present their own work and experiences.

It features artwork by women from the Saheli Women's Day Centre, part of HAWA (Hertfordshire Asian Women's Association Multicultural Services CIC).

The pieces were created during a workshop led by local artist Suman Gujral.

She said the project explored how craft can be used to reflect personal histories and "how we can hold on to our culture and heritage through craft".

Participants created individual pieces during the workshop, drawing on their own experiences.

"The stories are about their families and their histories. As they were working, they were sharing their stories with each other and finding things they had in common," she added.

Gujral's own work is influenced by her family's past.

She has a British-Indian-Sikh background, and her parents were displaced during the Partition of India in 1947.

"My own parents were forcibly displaced, leaving everything they owned behind," she said.

Her piece, Phul, meaning flower, is inspired by embroidery created by her mother and grandmother after they resettled.

She said her mother would have been proud to see the work on display.

"It's very important to be able to tell my parents' story in my artwork, especially now when many of those who experienced Partition are no longer here to tell their stories," she said.

Another contributor, Dina Mandalia, focused her work on a photograph of her sister Lila, who has died, and she keeps her wedding picture close to her.

"We treasure that photo all the time. My sister's photo is so beautiful," she said.

Mandalia said seeing it included in the exhibition was emotional.

"I wish she was here to see it," adding: "I talk to her before I go to bed. It helps me, and I don't feel as sad."

She joined the workshop after being introduced to the group and began attending sessions.

"As soon as I went, every single face had a lovely smile on it, so we got connected straight away," she said.

She added that the experience helped her meet new people.

"Sometimes people just stay in their own environment, so it's important they connect with others," she said.

The exhibition reflects this year's South Asian Heritage Month theme, Unity in Diversity.

Preet Cox, community engagement officer at the museum, said the new space allows communities to present their stories in their own way.

"The community space gives local groups a platform to share their stories in a way that feels authentic to them," she said.

"When communities feel represented in museums, it creates a sense of belonging."

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Organist to perform concert for her 100th birthday

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1myk4pkmnvo, today

A woman is celebrating her 100th birthday by holding her own church concert where she will play the organ.

Julia Josephs, from Walberswick in Suffolk, is the village's organist and choir leader at St Andrew's Church.

She learnt several instruments as a child and said the secret to her long life had been music.

The service to celebrate her centenary will see her playing the organ alongside a brass quintet, a choir and with some champagne thrown in.

"When people ask me what's the secret [to a long life], I'd like to say a few other things, but I have to say it is music," she said.

"My mother got me up with a cup of tea very early in the morning and I had to do half an hour's practice before I went to school from the age of four or five."

Born in 1926, Josephs was a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music and during World War Two she would commute into London so she could entertain the troops on the train with her viola practice.

She later taught herself the organ.

Away from music, she was the owner and head of a girls' school in Leicestershire and she bought her cottage in Walberswick in about 1986 after developing a love for nearby Southwold during summer visits.

She has lived there ever since, but retiring and slowing down is not on her agenda.

Once a month she enjoys an evensong at the church where she plays the organ.

While her eyesight is not what it once was, she has specially printed sheet music.

"What I have to do now is have it enlarged and then memorise it," she explained.

"I try to do it last thing at night, I always think that's good for your memory, then it's sunk in."

The choir, which Josephs described as "lovely", will also come back to her home where they will all enjoy a drink together after their performances.

Ahead of her birthday, Josephs received a birthday card from King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

"I am so pleased and absolutely delighted because Charles was married roughly at the same time as I was, and our children are roughly the same age," Josephs said.

"I've always been in line with him and I was in line with the Queen [Elizabeth]."

Josephs noted that as she had aged, she noticed people getting kinder, but she was adamant for now that she would not be moved into a care home and would remain in her own home.

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The day 3,200 naked blue people took to the streets of Hull

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2dy2nxy504o, yesterday

Ten years ago, the people of Hull were preparing for their year as UK City of Culture in an unlikely way - by stripping naked and painting themselves blue.

The Sea of Hull art installation involved 3,200 men and women, who paraded through the streets and past historic landmarks as a blue mass while being photographed.

Now, participants in Spencer Tunick's shoot that day in 2016 have been asked to share their memories of an unforgettable experience.

The Ferens Art Gallery is collecting their stories as part of its centenary celebrations next year.

Hull Museums and Galleries audience and programmes manager Malcolm Dunn was one of those who took part, and recalls being taken aback by the sight of naked people "lying down on Parliament Street and bending over in front of the Guildhall".

"I made sure that I was right against the wall, and there was nobody behind me," he remembers.

"I've heard a lot of people say that even up to the point of arriving in Queen's Gardens in the morning, they still weren't sure if they were actually going to take that final step (and undress).

"There's so many stories like that - people saying, well, I didn't really know why I signed up for it, and I was slightly dubious right up to the moment that Spencer said, 'Right, go and take your clothes off' - but everybody did it."

New York-based photographer Tunick was commissioned to oversee the project by the Ferens as part of Hull's City of Culture events programme in 2017.

The blue body paint was to represent water, and they posed in front of some of Hull's most celebrated buildings, many of them associated with its maritime past.

Dunn says the day was daunting, but a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"Once everybody was undressed and once the paint was applied, it was like everything changed- you really didn't notice that everybody had no clothes on."

This weekend the gallery is open between 11:00-15:00 BST and showing a film about the day alongside a display of images. Anyone contributing a memory card will be invited to cast their handprint in blue.

Dunn says participants who visited the Ferens on Friday talked about how the event had boosted their confidence, and some said they had made lasting friendships among the 3,200.

"It's like it happened yesterday - people talk about it so passionately. I'm quite taken aback by it really.

"It's been really nice for people to actually see the photos again, bringing back those memories."

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Reggae walk of fame launched in Harlesden

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ryxr0l4elo, yesterday

A walk of fame celebrating Harlesden's reggae heritage has been launched in north-west London.

The Harlesden Walk of Music's commemorative discs pay homage to musicians, producers and record shops that made the area the reggae capital of the UK, from the arrival of the Windrush generation onwards.

Inspired by the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the project was created by community group Harlesden Bassline in partnership with Brent Council, using £70,000 of funding from the government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

It launched on International Reggae Day, 1 July, honouring artists with links to the area including Janet Kay, Aswad, General Levy, and The Cimarons.

Harlesden became home to one of London's largest Jamaican communities after World War Two, and organisers say record shops and labels such as Orbitone and Jet Star Records, originally Palmer Records, made it a hub for reggae, ska, dub and lovers rock.

Cleon Roberts, co-founder of The Harlesden Walk of Music and Harlesden Bassline, is the daughter of Sonny Roberts, the Jamaican-born producer credited with opening Britain's first black-owned recording studio, Planetone, in nearby Kilburn in 1961.

He went on to run the influential Orbitone record shop and label in Harlesden from 1970 until returning to Jamaica, where he died in 2021.

She said her father's generation had to build the industry from scratch.

"There was nowhere for musicians to record, black musicians from the Caribbean, and they were coming over," she said.

"There was loads of them in the Windrush era."

Tony Gad, of Aswad, said the project would preserve the music's history for future generations.

"In the early days there wasn't many things like this to document what was going on," he said.

"When we grew up, we never had no YouTube, we never had no social media. Everything that we knew, we were looking in books. So these things are important."

Roy Forbes-Allen, of the Harlesden reggae label Hawkeye Records, said: "Harlesden is known as the UK reggae capital, so we have many legends and I'm hoping that we will commemorate many more.

"The history needs to be told."

Tina Amadi, Brent Council's cabinet member for communities and culture, said the council's pledge was "to put pride and investment back into the high street".

She said that meant "investing in the community, investing in the culturally rich heritage of Harlesden from our Afro-Caribbean community and our Brazilian communities", as well as making streets safer.

Residents at the launch welcomed the project, with one saying: "It's like a Hollywood strip but we have it down here, and people should appreciate what comes from little old Harlesden."

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The seaside town where Stormtroopers patrol the beach

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy73j4pneyjo, yesterday

A Star Wars superfan who moved "halfway across the globe" from the US to Lancashire said she has been amazed at how her newly adopted home has become a draw for fans from all over the world.

Jessica Monger grew up in California not far from the franchise creator George Lucas and moved to Cleveleys on the Fylde Coast in 2012.

She was ecstatic when Andor, a Disney+ Star Wars spin-off series, was filmed on the seafront and has turned the town into an attraction for Star Wars fans from across the world.

"I still get giddy thinking about it, especially since I grew up in California next to Modesto where George Lucas was from," the 41-year-old said.

Filmmaker Lucas scored a global hit when the swashbuckling sci-fi movie Star Wars was released in 1977, creating a cultural phenomenon and enduring franchise.

Andor, a prequel to the standalone Star Wars film Rogue One, tells the story of Cassian Andor and his fight against the evil empire.

Cleveleys was transformed into the planet Niamos as part of the filming for Andor in 2021.

"So I move halfway across the globe and it's right here at my doorstep - yeah, it's brilliant," said Monger, who has lived in the UK for more than 15 years."

"Star Wars is just all over the place, especially where I grew up.

Since the film crews left, the location has become a magnet for fans thanks to Monger and her fellow Blackpool-based fan Neil Trickett.

Trickett, 41, said the pair teamed up on a social media after realising they live near each other and agreed to meet at the filming location in Cleveleys.

He added: "We very quickly put a plan together for some kind of free public event."

Four years later, hundreds of devotees, some from as far away as eastern Europe, come to meet like-minded fans, take photos, buy merchandise and talk all things Star Wars.

Trickett said the pair had tried to lean into the TV show's connection with Cleveleys promenade.

"There is a famous scene where the droid K-S20 picks up Andor and holds him against the wall.

"So we put a replica droid in that position and let people be held up against the wall by the droid for photos.

"I love the atmosphere it creates, it is just fantastic to see older people interacting with younger people and they're all there for the same reason - the love of Star Wars."

Monger said she loves the contrast of seeing people wandering around dressed as Darth Vader in the Lancashire seaside town.

"One of my favourite things is when I'm out just kind of like wandering, watching everything and seeing people who didn't know what was going on.

"But they happened to be at the beach and there's a bunch of Star Wars characters and they're like, 'this is great, this is amazing'.

"It's funny seeing dogs reacting to a guy dressed as Chewbacca.

"I have seen kids lose their mind over seeing Stormtroopers on the beach."

This year's meet up is on Sunday from 10:30 BST to16:00.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

Alice Day theme nod to Carroll's 'nonsense poem'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7x145lnpeo, yesterday

A family-friendly museum has announced that the theme of this year's Alice in Wonderland festival is Snarks, Rhymes & Riddles.

The Story Museum in Oxford, which co-ordinates the annual one-day festival, says the theme of the celebrations on Saturday mark the 150th anniversary of author Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem, The Hunting of the Snark.

During the festivities, the city is transformed into a Wonderland with talks, street theatre, storytelling and workshops that celebrate the beloved literary character.

The museum's chief executive Conrad Bodman said they were "proud that Alice's Day has become such firm fixture in Oxford's cultural calendar".

Alice's Day takes place on the first Saturday in July, the date nearest the first telling of the tale in 1862, when on a "golden afternoon" on 4 July Oxford don Charles Dodgson took Alice Liddell and her sisters on a boating picnic up the River Thames from Folly Bridge.

He told them a story about a little girl who finds herself tumbling down a rabbit hole into a topsy-turvy world.

As per Alice's request, Dodgson wrote it down and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland got published in 1865, under the pen name Lewis Carroll.

Everyone is welcome on Alice's Day and dressing up is encouraged.

The museum says events will be taking place city-wide, including

* Alice's Shop;

* shadow puppetry and live singing at the Westgate Shopping Centre;

* talks from the Lewis Carroll Society at The Bodleian Library;

* croquet in the Master's Garden at Christ Church;

* hands-on history at Museum of Oxford,

* performances and an Alice-themed trail at Oxford Botanic Garden.

"You may catch a glimpse of Alice herself as she chases the White Rabbit, in a street theatre performance by Creation Theatre," it added.

Activities at the Story Museum will include Rhymes and Riddles with Oxford Poetry Library and a giant interactive boardgame called Snarks and Riddles, designed by the museum's young story curators.

Bodman said that over the years, they had "welcomed Alice fans from around the world who want to celebrate an enduring literary icon".

The Specials' last ever album 'a fitting tribute to Terry Hall'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05yvyn3186o, yesterday

Achieving seven consecutive top-10 singles between 1979 and 1981, The Specials are arguably one of the most politically significant and influential bands of their era.

Their 1981 hit Ghost Town, widely regarded as a classic, captured the social unrest and economic decline of the time, becoming the soundtrack to riots that swept across England during that summer.

More than four decades on, the band believes their music remains as relevant today as it was then.

Following the death of frontman Terry Hall in 2022, The Specials are preparing to release what will be their final album.

Recorded during four performances at Coventry Cathedral, the album captures live shows that the band said were "more than just concerts".

"For us, they were some of the most memorable and emotional shows we have ever played, and these recordings serve as a fitting tribute to, and celebration of, our wonderful and brilliant friend Terry," the band added.

"I didn't realise how special the recordings were until we listened back and thought 'oh my god, we were really on fire,'" guitarist Lynval Golding told BBC Radio 2.

"The band was kicking, everyone was so tight, every night we nailed it and every night was an absolutely amazing performance," Golding said.

"It's a piece of work that needed to be put out there because obviously people know Terry Hall is spiritually with us but no longer physically with us."

The cathedral provided a fitting backdrop for the band's homecoming and last album, bassist Horace Panter explained.

They had previously played at a city venue he described as a "big concrete shed".

"Okay, it could hold 10,000 people but it was soulless and just horrid," he said.

"So the opportunity to play in the city centre, in the ruins of the cathedral, we were like, 'wow, this could be really good'.

"So rather than doing one big show, we played four shows."

For Panter, the atmosphere extended beyond the music itself.

"It was like a reconnection of people in Coventry, but also I think it was like a reconnection of the band back to Coventry as well," he said.

"They were more than just concerts, they had a real vibe to them."

Hall, who died aged 63, remains central to the legacy of the band, the musicians explained.

"I've been blessed to work with one of the best writers, best lyricists in England, which is Terry Hall," Golding said.

"He was very shy, he was very reserved," Panter added.

"But he was a real craftsman and on stage he was so charismatic.

"Even before he joined The Specials, when he was with Squad in Coventry, he had charisma."

The band's influence was built on a sound that fused genres.

"We were trying to form a new type of music which used influences from reggae and punk rock and funk and whatever," Panter said.

"Ska music unified that."

"I was born in Jamaica, so that's in my blood and my DNA - ska music," added Golding.

Their reputation as a live band was forged early on.

"We got our live act together through The Clash," Golding explained.

"We opened for them and they were so powerful."

Panter said watching the punk band night after night proved invaluable.

"We were able to sit side-stage and watch how they put on a show and it was like, 'if we're going to be good, we're going to have to be at least as good as this'.

"So The Clash set the benchmark."

The album's release has a certain symmetry with the band's first number one single - Too Much Too Young - also a live recording.

"In 1980 we ruled the world," Panter said. "It really was fantastic."

The following year Ghost Town topped the charts.

Written by founding member Jerry Dammers, "it was recorded on eight-track in a tiny little basement in Royal Leamington Spa," Panter recalled.

"At a time when people were going to Compass Point in Nassau and recording in enormous studios with bongos in stereo and all that kind of rubbish, we did this really cheaply.

"But what a great song."

The success brought strains, with Golding and Hall leaving to form Fun Boy Three with other band member Neville Staple.

"Looking back now, I think it was time for a break," Golding said.

"We were a live band and we really did work hard. We put a lot of mileage on.

"When I listen to Fun Boy Three's albums I think, 'weren't we creative?' That's Terry, I've got to give him his credit, that was his idea."

The Specials Live from the Cathedral spans 24 songs and, according to Golding, includes "all the hits you know and love, but also a fair smattering from the Encore album as well".

The 2019 gigs were "history in the making," he added.

The Encore album, their first new material in 37 years, gave the band its first number one album in 2019.

"I think it was our best album," explained Golding, "you listen to the songs and Terry's writing, that guy should have been voted the best songwriter in England from years ago."

The new live album "to me is the most important record coming out this year," he explained.

The themes were as important today as 40 years ago, such as weapons of mass destruction, nuclear war, gun violence and disaffected youths, he said.

"How many songs are there about teenage pregnancy now, " Golding added.

"We talked about it yesterday and we're here with it today, and I think hasn't anybody learned anything from what we said?"

He described the album as being "very, very close and very personal".

"I didn't want to listen to it with anyone but me at first," added Golding, "we didn't know that we were going to lose Terry.

"But I'm ready to let go of it and give it to the world now, because it's so, so good."

On the album Hall can be heard dedicating Friday Night, Saturday Morning to The Parsons Nose, a nod to the popular local chip shop where the band had been photographed early in their career.

"Terry's humour and banter was just incredible," Golding added, "it makes me laugh when I hear the man's voice".

"He'd never dedicated a song to a fish and chip shop before."

"When anybody listens to the album they'll have tears laughing and crying at the same time ."

The Specials Live from the Cathedral is released on 10 July via Island Records.

Coventry Music Museum will be holding an album launch event on the same day.

Lynval Golding and Horace Panter will appear at HMV Empire in Coventry on 9 July to celebrate the release.

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The book club 'taking the shame out of smut'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ry4j8y2yxo, yesterday

When Analise Taylor launched a book club called The Smut Society, the name made clear exactly what joiners could expect.

Analise, who works in retail, said: "If you've got a book club coming straight at you with that name, you know there's no shame there."

A year on from its first meeting in Boston, Lincolnshire, the 21-year-old says her club's success has proved there is a growing appetite for romance fiction and for the communities being built around it.

What began as a gathering of strangers who enjoy erotic fiction has expanded beyond its original home town, with branches now meeting in King's Lynn, Norfolk, and Lincoln.

She added: "You don't have to hold back what you're reading, you don't have to hold back what you enjoy reading, you can just enjoy it."

The club's reading list spans traditional romance novels, as well as romantasy and dark romance titles.

Romantasy, a blend of fantasy and romance, has become one of publishing's biggest recent success stories, with readers devouring stories featuring dragons, vampires and magic alongside central love stories.

Revenue from romance novels increased from £29m in 2019 to £69m in 2024.

For Analise, part of the attraction lies in the escapism.

"My day-to-day is quite mundane. I do the same thing most days.

"So being able to sort of step in someone else's shoes and in a way live life through them, in your own little world, I really enjoy."

Dark romance, meanwhile, often tackles more difficult themes, including stalking, kidnap and abuse.

Discussing the appeal of some of those books, Analise says: "I know there's a lot more books that go down the kink route, and the different dynamics of relationships route, and I think that has quite a positive impact.

"It allows our generation to understand that it is OK to like different things and in some ways, explore yourself more."

In an era when many friendships are maintained through screens, the gatherings offer something increasingly difficult to find: a room full of strangers with an instant connection.

"Meeting new people for the first time in a general social setting can be quite daunting, because you don't know what you've got in common, you don't know what to talk about.

"Having that shared interest and one person has read this book, I've read this book too, etc. It just starts that little bit of conversation and then it flows from there."

Analise says that is particularly important for younger women navigating major life changes, from moving away from home to starting a new job or becoming a parent.

"Mental health is a big thing at the moment and as much as you can create connections online, I think that in-person relationships are really important," she says.

"We've got some girls in the book club that are new mums that struggle to get out, and we've got some that just struggle with getting out of the house with anxiety."

She says the welcoming atmosphere has helped members grow in confidence.

"Once they're there, they realise 'OK I can do it and it's not as scary as I thought it would be' and because it's such a welcoming place, they come back time after time," she added.

Following on from the success of the book club, The Smut Society is now holding social events, including pottery painting, meditation circles and yoga workshops.

For a club built around novels often described as escapist, its biggest impact may be happening away from the page.

What started as a love of romance fiction has become something else entirely: a place where readers can find friendship, confidence and a sense of belonging with no shame attached.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North.

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'Created amid high drama': The animals that symbolise pain and passion in a Frida Kahlo self-portrait

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260625-the-pain-and-passion-in-a-frida-kahlo-masterpiece, 9 days ago

A hummingbird, a spider monkey, a black cat and dragonflies – what the animal imagery in an iconic 1940 painting tells us about the artist's trauma, resilience and defiant desire.

"Fridamania" is in full force. Mexican painter Frida Kahlo's superstardom was sealed after her death (in 1954, aged 47), and she remains an unmistakably present cultural figure today. Her imagery – bold, sensuous, immediate yet fabulously intricate – inspires modern artists and activists, and adorns copious merchandise.

Kahlo's tumultuous life story – including her catastrophic injury, lifelong disability, her rocky marriage to painter Diego Rivera, and her many affairs with men and women – is evident in her powerful self-portraits. Her art helped revolutionise the genre: transforming the self-portrait from formal pose to fluid expression, revealing unapologetic beauty, raw trauma and defiant desires.

Of the 55 self-portraits she painted, a significant majority also feature animals – a lifelong love of the artist. The lead image of a new exhibition at Tate Modern, Frida: The Making of an Icon, is an arresting 1940 masterwork, Untitled Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.

Within this powerful painting there is a wealth of information about Kahlo and her life, and by exploring its nuanced animal imagery it's possible to unlock the artist's most intimate vulnerabilities, strengths and passions. At the same time, the portrait is a glimpse into the important role that her own beloved creatures played in her life.

The painting's dense, verdant foliage backdrop seems to emit a tropical heat; the lush green leaves contrast with the darker hues of the animals around Kahlo, though these, too, are astonishingly detailed – the cat's glinting eyes and arched back with raised fur, the monkey's look of engrossed mischief. We are up close and personal with Kahlo herself: her cheeks and lips flushed; the trickles of darkening blood seeping down her collar; her expression stoical in her suffering.

This particular painting was created amid high drama. Kahlo had just divorced Rivera (they would remarry later that year), and her long-standing affair with US photographer Nickolas Muray was also ending.

'Ready to pounce'

She is depicted as the central figure in a scene that is densely loaded with symbolism. Around her neck, Kahlo wears a hummingbird (a creature traditionally associated with freedom, as well as the Aztec god of war, seemingly lifeless here); at her right shoulder, her pet monkey (gifted to her by Rivera) toys with her thorny necklace, drawing blood; at her left looms a portentous black cat.

"The way that she stares at the viewer directly: not confrontationally, but without any resistance or reticence, is quite striking," Tate Modern curator Tobias Ostrander tells the BBC. "There's also a folklore reference to the hummingbird itself: a tradition of wearing a hummingbird as a talisman, to get a lost love back." He also points out that the hummingbird's shape echoes that of Kahlo's distinctive "monobrow": "it's bringing this dialogue between that object and her own face."

Ostrander says, "She lived with a lot of animals, so it's her daily life. The monkey is the symbol of the suffering that she was emotionally feeling from Rivera, but then the cat is ready to pounce." Rather than a bad luck omen, this sleek feline arguably represents Kahlo's guardian animal, poised with latent power. "There's that sense of vulnerability, but also the strength, or a protector spirit next to her.

"Her hair is braided with this beautiful purple yarn, and silver butterfly pins that she actually owned," says Ostrander. "Above them are what look like dragonfly flowers: a more metaphoric or magic realist reference in the top of the painting. They're a fantastical hybrid that couldn't exist in reality, and there's symbolism from different cultural contexts [in Indigenous Mexican culture, both dragonflies and butterflies are associated with the rebirth of the soul]. It shows the sophistication of her references."

These rich details also reflect Kahlo's own mestiza (mixed Indigenous and European) heritage. In pre-Hispanic cultures, the spider monkey represented irrepressible creativity, playfulness and fertility. At the same time, Kahlo's thorny attire alludes to religious martyrdom and Mexican colonial religious paintings. "For a woman artist to show herself as Christ is kind of wild at the time," Ostrander says, pointing out that she created some of her most ambitious paintings during 1939 and '40.

What Kahlo's animals mean

Kahlo's use of animals in her artworks is often regarded as "exotic" or surreal. Arguably, though, they heighten the relatability of her work. In a 1953 interview with Time magazine, Kahlo explained: "They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality."

She grew up surrounded by animals at her home of Casa Azul, on the outskirts of Mexico City. They provided companionship and solace, when she was bedridden with childhood polio (which left her permanently disabled), and at 18, when she experienced a devastating bus crash (which shattered her spine, and left her in long-term pain). In adulthood, she kept many beloved pets, including spider monkeys, birds, Mexican hairless dogs and a fawn, and Rivera built a pyramid structure to house her menagerie.

Kahlo regularly portrayed herself alongside her animals – in lush works such as Self-Portrait with Monkey (1938) and the serene Me and My Parrot (1941). Occasionally, their identities become entwined; in The Wounded Deer (1946), Kahlo appears in the form of a woodland stag, her body brutally pierced with hunters' arrows. The word "carma" (karma) is at the base of the scene: the fundamental notion of suffering as fate (Kahlo once declared that "pain, pleasure and death are no more than a process for existence".

In an essay for the exhibition, Beatriz Garcia-Velasco notes that Kahlo's depicted wounds evoke "the style of a painting of Saint Sebastian, alluding to her lifelong disability and suffering but finding strength and healing in her connection with nature."

As with all Kahlo's work, her animals invite multilayered interpretations. Saatchi Art's Megan Wright observed that Kahlo regarded her pets as "soulful and insightful creatures" but also suggested that "Kahlo's fluid sexuality... resonated with that of her pet monkeys due to their rambunctious and unapologetically sexual nature, which might also explain why she had depicted them as her equals." A different perspective appears in the 2017 children's book Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos by Monica Brown, which shows Kahlo's pets as empowering friends.

Surrogate children or sites of affection

Often, it's argued that Kahlo's animals represented the children she longed for. Certainly, her artworks deal candidly with trauma including child loss, but this also seems like an over-familiar assumption around a childless woman.

In Kahlo's hypnotic 1949 painting The Love Embrace of the Universe, The Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego, and Señor Xólotl, it's actually her husband who appears as a man-baby, nakedly cradled in Kahlo's arms. Her splendidly named dog Señor Xólotl – Xólotl is a figure from Aztec mythology – is a tender, protective presence at her feet.

More like this:

• Unlocking the hidden life of Frida Kahlo

• The unseen masterpieces of Frida Kahlo

• How 3rd-Century Saint Sebastian became a gay icon

"Kahlo had lots of animals that were sites of affection for her," says Ostrander. "She was very confined to her house, and so her house became kind of a world – it's more of a Noah's Ark situation than something sad. I don't want to simplify that they're like children, but they sometimes stood in for children or a representation of youth around her."

Our appreciation and understanding of Kahlo continually expands, and her bond to animals and nature feels timeless. She would face intense challenges throughout her life; in 1953, when her right leg was amputated following a bout of severe gangrene, she wrote in her diary: "Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly?".

Kahlo's most heartbroken self-portraits ultimately resound with vivacity. As she declared: "I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint."

Frida: The Making of an Icon is at Tate Modern London until 3 January 2027.

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'The cult of Saint Sebastian': How a brutally tortured 3rd-Century saint became a gay icon

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260623-how-3rd-century-saint-sebastian-became-a-gay-icon, 11 days ago

A Roman soldier who was killed for his Christian beliefs, Sebastian has been a hero for gay men over the centuries – from Oscar Wilde to Keith Haring. Here's why.

Loaded and emotive, the term "gay icon" is often applied to resilient female celebrities like Judy Garland (embattled), Cher (high camp) and Madonna (tireless). When Dusty Springfield died in 1999, Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant was asked why his friend and collaborator had become "such a gay icon". Tennant's response, as he recalled in a 2024 interview with Mojo, was pretty dismissive: "To call her a gay icon is simply to marginalise her. It's to say, 'She's only of interest to gay people.'"

Tennant made a good point regarding Springfield, but attaining "gay icon" status can also be celebratory and subversive. This is certainly the case with Saint Sebastian, a Roman soldier who was killed for his religious beliefs in AD288, during a sustained persecution of Christians by the emperor Diocletian.

Sebastian is venerated as a saint in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, which have long disseminated the legend that he was clubbed to death after berating Diocletian for his "sinful" pagan views.

However, it is an earlier attack on Sebastian by the emperor's henchmen, in which he was tied to a tree and pelted with arrows, that has made this unknowable martyr an enduring muse to artists of repute – there are no fewer than 14 depictions of Sebastian in the National Gallery, London's collection – and a perennial conduit for gay desire.

How the cult of Saint Sebastian grew

Sebastian's emergence as a gay icon can be traced back to the culturally transformative Renaissance period of the 14th to 17th Centuries, when prominent artists including Guido Reni, El Greco and Sandro Botticelli depicted his arrow-pierced body with a smouldering homoerotic subtext.

Daniel Fountain, a senior lecturer in art history and visual culture at University of Exeter in the UK, tells the BBC that these arrows are generally perceived by art historians as a phallic "symbol of penetrative sex and queerness". People's History Museum director Clare Barlow, who curated Tate Britain's 2017 exhibition Queer British Art 1861–1967, believes the arrows "take on a huge psychosexual significance" in a lot of these paintings whether this was the artist's intention or not. "And the fact that Sebastian is often painted as a very beautiful youth only makes him more entrancing," she adds.

During the Renaissance period, when attitudes towards homosexuality were much less tolerant, artistic depictions of Sebastian's lithe, desirable body became fashionable and fascinatingly ambiguous. Much like Michelangelo's 16th-Century masterpiece David, which crystallised an ideal of male beauty in marble form, paintings of this beautiful, persecuted saint served as an acceptable conduit for gay male desire.

Still, Barlow points out that it is "often very hard to track whether this was a particular artist's overt intention, or whether it was simply read into their work by a community of viewers who were hungry for representation". In some cases, it may well be a little of both.

Over time, though, it's fair to say that Sebastian blossomed into what we might now describe as a highbrow queer reference. According to writer performer and educator Holly James Johnston, who paid tribute to Sebastian in 2025 with a living sculpture performance at The Wallace Collection in London, the "cult of Saint Sebastian reached its peak" during the late-19th Century, when eminent intellectuals such as Oscar Wilde, English essayist Walter Pater and French writer Marc-André Raffalovich claimed an affinity with him that telegraphed their sexuality.

Raffalovich wrote extensively about homosexuality in decades when it was taboo, but ultimately struggled to reconcile his own gay desires with his religious beliefs. When he joined a Catholic order in 1896, he chose the name Brother Sebastian in tribute to his favourite saint. "Sebastian became part of a sort of queer-coded language at that time," Johnston says. "For well-educated men, it was a way of sharing and expressing your queer desires through an icon who was immediately recognisable to other queer individuals."

What Sebastian has been seen to represent

At the same time, Sebastian's queer appeal runs more than skin deep. In her 1962 essay The Artist as Exemplary Sufferer, the cultural critic Susan Sontag cites Sebastian as an archetypal example of the "exemplary sufferer", partly because his brutalised body has been glamorised by artists. "He is almost always depicted in the same way, which is in contrapposto, so his leg gives slightly and the body slumps beautifully. And then he looks up to the heavens, in this pleading or even desiring way," says art historian Professor Dominic Johnson of Queen Mary University.

The penetrative symbolism of the attacking arrows in paintings becomes even more suggestive when it is combined with an apparent expression of sexual ecstasy etched on Sebastian's face. "In one painting by El Greco, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, it almost looks as though his loincloth is falling off," says Johnston. For this reason, Daniel Fountain suggests that Sebastian can be viewed as an historic embodiment of "contemporary BDSM (bondage, discipline, dominance and submission) practices". Though these aren't exclusive to the LGBTQ+ community, they enjoy greater prominence in certain queer subcultures.

The nature of Sebastian's emotional pain is also ripe for projection. Johnson suggests that Sebastian's story may particularly appeal to anyone with a "nihilistic" or bleakly "romantic vision of homosexuality", especially in less welcoming times. "He was someone who tried to hide who he was – a Christian – before being shunned by society and persecuted for his beliefs," Fountain says. "A lot of queer artists have found a resonance with this narrative of exclusion."

These include Oscar Wilde, who adopted the pseudonym Sebastian Melmoth in tribute to him during his final, exiled years in Paris, following his imprisonment for gross indecency for relationships with men in 1895. Late in post-war Japan, provocative author Yukio Mishima revealed that a famous painting of Sebastian prompted his sexual awakening and recreated the saint's arrow-stricken martyr pose in a series of celebrated photographs.

His impact in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Sebastian's gay icon status has burned just as brightly since the 1969 Stonewall uprising ignited the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

In 1976, the influential artist, film-maker and gay rights activist Derek Jarman celebrated him in Sebastiane, a film deemed groundbreaking for its unselfconscious male nudity and positive depictions of gay sexuality. While Sebastian (Leonardo Treviglio) is lusted over by his commanding officer (Barney James), who eventually kills him, two fellow soldiers are shown enjoying a loving gay relationship.

"It's an important film partly because it was so controversial, especially when it was shown on British public television in 1985," says Dominic Johnson. "But it’s also significant because it’s such a beautiful, thoughtful and provocative film about gay men and desire."

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• Has pop artist Keith Haring been 'sanitised'?

• Why a gay BDSM 'romcom' is dividing opinion

Johnston believes Jarman's tender and erotic film "helped to blow the lid off" his status as a semi-veiled gay icon. Barlow agrees with this interpretation of Sebastiane, arguing that Jarman embraced the "homoerotic subtext" in numerous Renaissance paintings of the seductive saint, then "dialled it up to 11".

Because Sebastian's gay icon status is so layered and deep-rooted, it has also proved malleable. At the height of the HIV/Aids epidemic in the 1980s and early '90s, his image was referenced in works by contemporary artists including Keith Haring and David Wojnarowicz, both of whom would die of the disease. In medieval times, Sebastian was perceived as a saint who could protect people from the plague, perhaps because of the way Irene was able to heal his arrow wounds. "There are clear parallels with the way he is embraced in the 1980s, during a very different plague, when depictions of Sebastian herald him as a kind of patron saint of queerness, sickness and perseverance," Fountain says.

And Sebastian is still inspiring LGBTQ+ artists and performers and artists today.

In 2022, when London's Residence Gallery put on a group show inspired by Britney Spears, multi-disciplinary artist Gray Wielebinski created a starkly evocative installation that referenced the whip she brandished on her 2009 world tour, the live python she performed with at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, and Sebastian's signature attacking arrows.

The Dallas-born artist was making a connection between Sebastian’s persecution and the way Spears, a modern-day gay icon, has arguably been targeted for her intense fame. "There's a sort of knowingness to Sebastian's gaze [in many artworks] as well as a grace and gravitas in his posture," Wielebinski tells the BBC. "I wanted to give Britney that same grace and a bit more agency in terms of knowing her fate."

Having been painted by artists and embraced by queer thinkers for centuries, Sebastian's gay icon status is now as complex as it is unequivocal. But at this point, there is nothing marginalising about the way he is perceived. On the contrary, this historical figure, whom we know very little about, has become a bottomless wellspring of strength and creative inspiration.

For as long as queer people can see aspects of themselves in his image, his legacy will continue to flourish and evolve in fascinating ways.

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Exploring the life and work of 'reclusive' writer

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj3g7zyrzjdo, today

Her dark novels allowed generations of readers to fall in love with dramatic Cornish landscapes and the multi-dimensional characters her books evoked.

Best known for novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn, interest in Daphne du Maurier's work and private life has never waned; new adaptions of her stories continue to grace cinema and television screens decades after her death.

Yet little is known about the enigmatic writer who ensured her privacy would continue long after her death by signing a 50 year embargo on her most private journals and notebooks until 2039.

Now a new play being shown in Devon and written by a local author has used biographies and letters which are available to tell the life story of one of Cornwall's most famous authors.

The official Daphne du Maurier website describes her as someone often thought of as reclusive: "She was perhaps solitary, comfortable with her own company and the make-believe world that she lived in and which enabled her to bring us her wonderful novels and short stories."

Daphne, The Secret Lives of Daphne du Maurier, which opens this weekend at the Northcott Theatre, delves further into the enigmatic personality of the writer.

The play begins with du Maurier, who was born in 1907 and died in 1989, preparing to sign a 50-year embargo locking away her most private journals and notebooks until 2039.

The audience is then taken on a journey through the author's private life, from the age of seven and into her 80s, exploring her relationships with those around her.

It shows a life that defied the conventions expected of women of her generation. But there were still aspects of it, that she clearly wanted to keep private, even after her death.

Emma Stansfield is the actor portraying a woman who resisted any kind of pigeon holing.

"She blazed a trail in her own glorious way and that's so exciting to play," Stansfield said.

But there's also scenes in this, where she has to put her mask on, and has hidden parts of herself."

She added: "I think that's what created the darkness and tension in her stories."

Rosie Race, the Totnes playwright behind the play, said the intriguing embargo on du Maurier's notebooks was what led her to explore the writer's attempts to control her own life story.

She said: "It's her saying no-one owns me completely. Everyone has a different version of Daphne du Maurier."

We are lucky to have her biographies and all of her back catalogue, and at Exeter University campus we have her archive.

"I spent days leafing through her hand written letters, but we never know of course exactly who she is."

Race said she was "surprised and delighted" no one had created a stage play about the author's life, and would love to revisit it in 2039 when the embargo on the journals and notebooks was finally lifted.

Both du Maurier and her work defied classification. Critically and commercially successful, she rejected being called a "romance novelist" and spent much of her life fighting definition by others.

Helen Taylor, author of the Daphne du Maurier Companion and professor of English at the University of Exeter, said the writer was a "feminist really before her time" who "stood up for herself."

She added: "People have greatly underestimated the great variety of her writing. She has a very dark side to her writing as well as romantic side."

Global fan base

Her most successful novel Rebecca, gave Daphne du Maurier a global fan base and after the film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock, interest in her private life only intensified.

It was exacerbated by a court case in America which claimed the novel had been plagiarised. She was exonerated in court, something which is also examined in the play.

The du Maurier family have not yet had the opportunity to see the play to comment on this latest portrayal of the writer life.

It was commissioned by the Northcott Theatre and directed by Martin Berry.

Daphne, The Secret Lives of Daphne du Maurier, runs from Saturday 4 July for one week.

Painting hung at care home 'worth thousands'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4gzkeq818o, today

A painting which has hung in a hallway at a care home for decades could be worth thousands, according to experts.

The painting at St Teresa's Care Home in Marazion, Cornwall, appeared to be the work of renowned Cornish painter Stanhope Alexander Forbes.

Leonard Cheshire, which runs the home which supports up to 27 disabled adults, said the artwork piqued the interest of a "new, art-loving member of staff".

The charity said it took the painting to the BBC's Antiques Roadshow tour at the Dartington Estate in Totnes, Devon, in May, where experts valued the piece, titled Taking a Rest, A Girl Seated on a Stool, at "several thousand pounds".

Leonard Cheshire said the painting was moved from hallway to the attic during refurbishment works.

It said staff spotted Forbes' name on the painting, so decided to take it to be valued after encouragement from the show's presenter Steven Moore.

Forbes founded the Newlyn School of Art across the road from the care home.

The charity said the piece purchased from London art dealers David Messum Fine Arts, was gifted to the home's former treasurer more than 50 years ago.

St Teresa's staff believed the charity's founder Leonard Cheshire was most likely to have gifted the painting.

The charity said both national and local experts were trying to discover more about the artwork.

Laura Sanders, the charity's regional director for the south west said some of the residents first saw the painting when they joined the home decades ago.

"We're proud to have an amazing piece by such a superb Cornish artist."

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Praise for children's artwork on utility boxes

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crlw1gzgxlxo, yesterday

School children who designed art murals to decorate utility boxes in an area of York are "thrilled" to see their work on show, teachers have said.

About 120 children from five schools in the Holgate area created art depicting local landmarks, including the Severus Hill water tower, windmills, trains and animals.

Their work was sprayed onto five utility boxes in May and coated in anti-graffiti resin in June.

Lee Haynes, head teacher at Acomb Primary School, said: "Projects like this are vital to show children how important it is to be part of a community and to care about where they live. The children are thrilled with the results."

Artist Tom Jackson, of Wood Street Walls, ran the project and said it was particularly rewarding to be working so close to home, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said: "As someone who has been creating murals across the UK for more than 15 years, I've had the opportunity to work with communities, schools and organisations nationwide, but collaborating with Holgate schools in Holgate makes this project especially meaningful.

"It's a privilege to create something that the wider community can enjoy for years to come."

Neil Brookfield, Year 4 teacher at Poppleton Road Primary School, also said his pupils were "thrilled" with the results, which they see every day on their way to school.

"My class all designed their own work and Tom has done an incredible job at combining and bringing their ideas to life," he said.

The project was backed by City of York Labour councillors Lucy Steels-Walshaw and Jenny Kent.

Kent said: "People of different ages have already said they have been for a walk to spot them all, which is a great reason to get outside, look at our local area with fresh eyes, maybe spark ideas for further improvements, and be more active.

"They have received a lot of love and spread cheer."

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

New mural recreates famous Japanese wave painting

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzjn1jplzo, 2 days ago

Manx artist David Britton has unveiled what is believed to be the Isle of Man's largest mural - inspired by a famous Japanese artwork.

The mural, entitled Shining by The Sea, has been painted on the rear of Ramsey's bowling alley near St Paul's Square.

Inspired by the instantly-recognisable Great Wave off Kanagawa, it was commissioned by Ramsey Town Commissioners as part of efforts to brighten up the town and support local artists.

The mural re-imagines Katsushika Hokusai's work by placing its familiar wave image in Ramsey Bay with a Viking longboat riding the swell, as the sun rises behind familiar Manx landmarks.

For Britton, the project marked the largest mural he has undertaken.

He said he wanted to take the dramatic Japanese work and create "a more hopeful scene", using brighter colours and depicting the Viking boat riding above the waves rather than being overwhelmed by them.

Britton said working on the mural had given him the opportunity to meet residents and visitors who regularly stopped to watch its progress and discuss the artwork.

He also thanked his sister, Rachael Britton, along with fellow artists Andrew Kaighen and Loki Stonehouse for helping complete the project.

Funding for the mural came from the Department for Enterprise's Local Economy Fund.

The Commissioners said the mural formed part of a wider programme of public art across Ramsey and hoped it would add to the town's appeal.

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Constable's Essex links explored in exhibition

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzl9z0d3zo, 2 days ago

An exhibition of art by one of Britain's most celebrated painters hopes to offer a fresh perspective on his work, according to organisers.

John Constable: Celebrating 250 Years, at The Minories in Colchester, brings together a selection of works with links to the local area.

The artist, who was born 250 years ago, had close ties to north Essex and the Stour Valley, where he developed the landscapes that would define his career.

"Colchester has a strong connection to Constable," said Darius Laws, the city council's portfolio holder for culture, heritage and the environment.

"This exhibition is a fantastic opportunity for residents and visitors alike to explore that connection and see a different side to the country's greatest landscape painter," said Laws.

The artist frequently visited his second cousin, Jane Anne Mason, who lived in Colchester, and sketched the famous Roman walls numerous times.

She became godmother to his youngest child, Lionel, in 1828, and when her daughter Jane Anne Inglis showed an interest in art, she benefited from Constable's guidance and access to his art collection.

Constable (1776-1837) was born in East Bergholt, Suffolk and made many open-air sketches, using these as a basis for his large exhibition paintings.

His pictures are extremely popular today, but they were not particularly well received in England during his lifetime.

The Minories has a "small but significant selection" of his works, according to the exhibition organisers.

Emma Howe, the gallery's director, said: "We're delighted to be marking this milestone anniversary with an exhibition that draws on strong local connections and partnerships."

The free exhibition will run until 16 August.

Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich is also celebrating Constable this year, with three exhibitions.

One of the highlights of the exhibitions will be a loan of Constable's The Hay Wain, which will be making its first ever visit to the county it depicts.

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Artist happily reunited with lost tea towel art

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wy4pl8944o, 3 days ago

A textile artist from north-west London says she is "so so so happy" after a box containing 206 pieces of her tea towel art display was returned, after she thought it had been lost.

Holly Searle, from Ruislip, posted a large box via a 48-hour Parcelforce delivery on 22 June for her show at Alton Arts Festival in Hampshire this weekend.

However, the box did not arrive, and then could not be found. It sparked a search by Royal Mail across depots and, once mentioned on the BBC, prompted offers of help by the public.

The box has now unexpectedly been returned back to Searle's home address, containing the seven years' worth of work thought lost, much to the artist's relief and delight.

Searle, who originally contacted the BBC via BBC Your Voice, said she had not been able to sleep this week knowing the work might be lost.

But after her artwork was returned to her, she said she was "over the moon and absolutely delighted".

"It seems as though they went out of London and went to Coventry because there was water damage to the label."

The artist said the box was just sitting on her doorstep when she opened the door at lunchtime, and the postman was already walking away, seemingly unaware of the drama surrounding the parcel he had just delivered.

"I've looked in the box and they're all fine," she said. "I think I might have a little cry later," she added.

Searle thanked the public for all the help she was offered, including the man who donated 80 vintage tea towels to help replace those lost.

Royal Mail had apologised to Searle for the box going missing, and said they were pleased that the item had been safely returned.

They added that they would arrange a refund for Searle.

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Venue's warmth attracted police chief to theatre

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czde7y108deo, 3 days ago

A police chief who has taken a senior role at an opera house says he has "no obvious background in the performing arts", but is committed to making the venue a success.

Robin Smith, who is Jersey's chief police officer, is now also the new chairman of the board of Jersey's Opera House.

He said his paid day job would still be his priority and his voluntary role at the Opera House "won't distract me from that".

He told BBC Radio Jersey he wanted to work with the team at the Opera House, and its new chief executive, to bring in more audiences and exciting performers.

The venue reopened in October after a five year closure - for a £12m refit subsidised by the government.

Smith said he would have no artistic influence but he hoped to capitalise on the passion of the venue's staff and volunteers.

He said when he visited while he considered the role "the first thing I was struck by was our staff, many of whom are volunteers and the warmth, and you could see it in their eyes and I thought 'this is a very special place'".

"What you do find there is an enormous ambition and I want to to be part of that."

'Excellent opportunity'

He said "my job is to ensure the team provide an excellent opportunity for islanders" and it was important to have a mix "of interesting and enjoyable events".

The chief executive Sebastian Warrack said he wanted the venue to appeal to all kinds of audiences.

He said "we want to build the programme and make sure it's a mixed programme".

He said they were planning to "broaden the range of producers and promoters that we work with to bring a variety shows over from the UK".

Warrack said the theatre would always need some degree of subsidy from the government and would talk about "further investment" with the new ministers.

"We want to make sure the Jersey Opera House has something for everyone and we want for work with the government in order to achieve that."

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Monarch of the Glen sister painting sells for £5.9m at auction

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6gd6e706jo, 3 days ago

A little known sister painting of the iconic Monarch of the Glen has sold for £5.9m at auction in London.

Scene in Braemar, by Queen Victoria's favourite artist Sir Edwin Landseer, fetched five times the previous record for one of his works.

Featuring a 12-point stag on a Scottish Highland peak, it was commissioned by railway magnate Edward Betts and has passed through various private collections.

Sotheby's had estimated it would sell for up to £4m.

Monarch of the Glen, which hangs in the National Galleries of Scotland, is one of the most recognisable and reproduced paintings in British art.

Although lesser known, Scene in Braemar is much larger at almost 9ft (2.74m).

The painting's last appearance at auction was in 1994 when it sold for £793,500. It fetched £5,946,000 in this latest sale.

Julian Gascoigne, senior director in Sotheby's paintings department, said it was one of Landseer's great Highland masterpieces.

He described it as an atmospheric sister painting of the Monarch of the Glen.

Gascoigne said: "Where the Monarch shows the stag in the brilliance of youth, this is a darker, more epic vision: majestic, charged with tension, and iconic in its vision of the Highlands."

In 1857, The Times praised it as "masterly in conception and effect" and a worthy partner to Monarch of the Glen.

Edward Betts originally paid £800 for the work, but a banking crisis forced the industrialist to sell the work along with the rest of his collection in 1868.

The painting has been exhibited in public galleries on a number of occasions since.

Travellers are now stuffing their bags with sun cream

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260702-travellers-are-now-stuffing-their-bags-with-sunblock, today

From Seoul to Paris, pharmacies and beauty stores have become must-visit stops for travellers hunting cult sun cream formulas.

Before her last trip to Seoul, Caitlin Francis-Agnew spent weeks crafting her itinerary, including stops at Olive Young, South Korea's premier cosmetics retailer. Her objective: to buy as much Korean sun cream as she could haul back to Canada.

In Lakeland, Florida, Anna Clark is preparing for her family's summer trip to Cartagena. She sends me a Google Maps screenshot, where she's highlighted the route to Colombian pharmacy chain Farmatodo. "An eight-minute walk from our hotel. I will be stopping by," she writes. She will buy viral EU sun cream formulas available abroad but not in the US.

Gone are the days of bringing home destination-themed fridge magnets. For a growing number of beauty enthusiasts, sun cream has become the must-have holiday souvenir.

Why, of all things, sun cream?

According to behavioural psychologist Carolyn Mair, attitudes towards sunbathing have shifted drastically since the 2010s. While tanning was once associated with vitality and leisure, "today, sunscreen is increasingly viewed as part of everyday self-care and healthy ageing". Skincare culture on social media, she adds, has helped reinforce this mindset – and introduce conscious consumers to innovative sun cream formulas from around the world.

The most coveted options come from the Asia-Pacific region and the Mediterranean, where summer temperatures can be intense. Rena Kim, Olive Young's global communications lead, told the BBC that foreign visitors from over 190 countries accounted for more than 25% of the company's offline revenue in 2025, with sun care emerging as a standout K-beauty staple, particularly among US and Brazilian shoppers. Olive Young's new Central Myeongdong Town location is reportedly flooded with tourists who arrive with suitcases and large shopping bags.

In 2023, EuroNews reported that TikTok had turned French pharmacies into tourist destinations. Three years on, beauty magazines call visiting them a "must", citing products their beauty editors restock when in Paris. Sun cream is always on the list.

American consumers, in particular, are drawn to other countries' sun creams because FDA regulations mean their advanced filters aren't available in the US. "Sunscreen is one of the easiest things we can do every day to prevent [cancer and premature ageing]," says Patrick Coleman, a dermatologist based in New Orleans. "[Overseas sun creams] are decades ahead."

But sun cream fever spans nations and ages. Zoe Karlis of Melbourne, Australia, visited Greece last year and delighted in buying sun cream at Greek pharmacies. "Overall, I have a lot of confidence in Australian sunscreens because our regulations are so strict," she says. "[But] I love browsing the pharmacy aisles for brands we can't get at home. It's less about one being 'better' and more about the joy of discovering what's out there. Losing an hour in a Greek pharmacy is half the fun of the holiday."

Meanwhile, social media buzzes with hauls and recommendations. "It's a rabbit hole," says Francis-Agnew. "What's available in Canada is very limited. Our regulations around UV filters are really restrictive, so we're stuck with options that leave a white cast or feel greasy."

The timeless allure of global beauty

Coveting other cultures' beauty secrets is nothing new, says Mair. "French beauty has long been associated with effortless elegance, while Korean skincare has become linked to flawless skin and innovation. Admiration in one area spills over into perceptions of products and lifestyles."

EU sun creams are renowned for using newer generation UVA filters not approved in the US, like Mexoryl 400 and Tinosorb M. Korean sun creams have a reputation for superior cosmetic elegance. "Korean SPF is coveted largely because the user experience is exceptional," says digital creator and beauty entrepreneur Chriselle Lim. "They blend seamlessly into the skin without leaving the heavy or chalky finish that people historically associate with sunscreen."

American dermatologist Ellen Gendler, a longtime proponent of international sun creams, educates her patients and Instagram followers on which sun creams to try and which UV filters are most effective. Because some international skincare companies have expanded to the US but altered their sun cream formulas to comply with FDA regulations, both Gendler and Patrick also tell their American patients where to buy the original overseas products. Popular online purveyors include Care to Beauty, Stylevana and Cult Beauty, but there's often a high markup, and "the last few months with the tariffs, it's pretty much impossible", says Gendler. "[So] I tell them they should take a trip to Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and buy them."

Markups and tariffs equal far less than flights and hotels. But Patrick's wife, skincare educator Melissa Coleman, believes that adventure trumps surcharges.

"You get a vacation out of the deal!" she says. It's traveller maths.

The thrill of the hunt

Like international supermarkets and convenience stores, pharmacies and beauty retailers are havens of the everyday, yet thrilling in their novelty. Shelves of gleaming bottles bear unfamiliar brand names and indecipherable writing, but the promise of beauty needs no translation.

In the EU, La Roche-Posay and Spain's ISDIN produce some of the most Insta-popular sun creams. Tourists in Korea look for Beauty of Joseon and RoundLab, to name a scant few. Japanese sun creams are renowned for their watery feel.

An avid tennis player, Clark is constantly under the searing Florida sun. High factor sun cream, she says, is non-negotiable. "There's a joke in my family that no matter where we are, I can spot a pharmacy from a mile away," she says. "The green cross that represents European pharmacies might be my favourite sight while travelling."

She sends a photo from Cartagena: I count 11 bottles from La Roche-Posay, Eucerin and ISDIN. "Round one," she reports. "I tried the ISDIN Fusion Water [MAGIC SPF40] today. I like the consistency and smell. We're having a boat day, so I'll see how well it holds up."

Clark's family doesn't share her sun cream proclivities. "My daughters laugh at me," she says. "If I see a pharmacy sign, I'll say, 'I'm just going to stop in real quick.' Because if they come in with me, I will be rushed. I cannot be rushed when sunscreen shopping."

She'd planned to buy a particular spray formula, but Farmatodo didn't stock it. She'll wander Cartagena's candy-coloured colonial streets in search of more pharmacies: "I'll keep popping in until I find what I want."

Thrills aside, buying in situ is practical. Seeing products in person allows shoppers to feel the textures before they buy, and assures a fresh product. Buying in the brand's country of origin also gives travellers access to the original formulations and entire product line.

And strategy is key. "I always research weeks before," says Francis-Agnew. "I'll go through Reddit posts, check what's new on beauty blogs and build a list in my Notes app." She avoids shopping on her last day so she doesn't feel rushed, and targets Seoul's Myeongdong Olive Young flagship for their frequent sales. Go on weekday mornings, she suggests. "Evenings and weekends are absolute chaos."

In Paris, queues at Citypharma – a discount pharmacy renowned for its massive selection – are often around the block. "I never go because it's a madhouse," says Melissa, who travels overseas three or four times a year. "It's cheaper, but not that much cheaper." In Paris, she prefers Pharmacie de la Mairie and Pharmacie Des Archives. "No matter how many times I see those walls of pretty European products I think, 'This whole wall is going to make me a better person.'"

Lim builds her holiday around skincare shopping: "A perfect travel day for me might look like coffee in the morning, a museum or gallery, lunch, then a pharmacy or beauty stop in the afternoon before dinner."

She considers skincare shopping in vibrant cities like Seoul, Tokyo, Paris or Sydney a "reset" that helps her connect to the culture. "Beauty reflects how a place thinks about wellness, aesthetics and self-care. I always come home with products, but also with inspiration."

Memories that run skin deep

Melissa has already been to Rome this season and is now in Greece. Each trip, between glamorous selfies on cobblestoned streets she photographs her sun cream hauls. She brings home as much as 60 bottles. "I don't keep most of them," she assures me. "I wouldn't have the cabinet space!" Instead, she gifts much of it to loved ones and holds giveaways for her followers.

On her most recent trip overseas, Francis-Agnew brought home 15 SPF products – some for herself, some for friends. "Customs haven't flagged me yet!" she says.

More like this:

• Why do we dress like someone else when we go on holiday?

• Seven travel trends that will define 2026

• Chriselle Lim's self-care guide will have you googling flights to Seoul

Though Gendler has spent two decades championing the superiority of overseas UV filters, she believes that the recent appeal is partly due to the chase and exclusivity. "It gives [travellers] something to do. It's like waiting online for a movie that just came out. You feel like you're part of something." Nonetheless, when she travels, she, too, brings back various formulations to test for patients and followers. "I usually go with a carry-on and come home with a checked bag," she admits.

But whether the goal is to protect your skin or be part of a cultural zeitgeist, overseas sun cream is both a practical and indulgent travel souvenir, says Lim – one that reminds you of where you discovered it each time you use it. "Emotionally, it becomes tied to the trip itself. It's the same reason people bring home a fragrance or a box of chocolates," she says. "It becomes part souvenir, part ritual, part memory."

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'I see tourists pee in front of my house': The campervan problem on the Isle of Skye

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crlwj7z7481o, 6 days ago

More than 30,000 trips by campervans and motorhomes are made to the Scottish Highlands every year - with many of them touring the Isle of Skye.

For islanders, the tourists play an important part in the local economy.

But some visitors bring significant challenges too - leaving litter and even toilet waste in the stunning landscape.

NatureScot's Scottish Outdoor Access Code asks people to access the countryside responsibly and "leave no trace".

Julia Dawber's home overlooks an expanse of scenic coastline, and she says as many as nine campervans can park up near the shore at any one time.

"When I'm having dinner people are coming out and going for a pee - I can see it," she told BBC Alba's Eorpa programme.

"There's tissue sometimes left. It's just absolutely disgusting."

Julia added: "I know that there's no toilet facilities here but there are trees and there's rocks and you could easily be discreet, but some of the people are just choosing to be brazen and they're just doing it right by the road."

Facilities such as public toilets and waste disposal points - particularly the lack of them - are a big issue in parts of Skye.

Home to just over 10,000 people, it has few urban areas and is largely an island of dramatic mountains, rugged coastlines, and crofts.

There are 10 public toilets in Skye, according to Highland Council, but some local businesses also allow people to use their toilets as part of the Highland Comfort Scheme.

Photographer Danielle Stewart travels all over the Highlands in her campervan in her free time and for work.

Skye is one her regular destinations.

"It's freedom - you can wake up in beautiful places. That's the best thing for sure," she said on the benefits of owning a campervan.

She added: "Over last winter I went to Spain and Portugal for three months and that was great – it's a very different van life in Europe though, because they have facilities."

Crofter Calum Beaton has found chemical toilet waste dumped in his household bin, and human excrement left on the land he farms.

He blames people who stop overnight by the sides of roads in campervans and cars for the mess.

"I remember a day last year, another lad was with me and waste and paper had been left there and he had taken sheep in and the next thing we noticed that the dog was covered in it," said Calum.

"The dog had to be cleaned before being put back in the van."

Sarah MacKinnon, who runs Mrs Mack's takeaway in Torrin, in south-west Skye, said most visitors acted responsible.

But she added that customer numbers seemed to be lower than in previous years.

"We've been at this for six years now, so it's definitely a little bit quieter this year," she said.

"I must say that this place is clean and tidy.

"We had 16 campers up there, young teenagers, last night. There's no mess. I would say on the whole, 95% of people are pretty good."

Responsible access to the countryside is covered by the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

Scotland's nature body NatureScot said the code was based on three principles: respect the interests of others, care for the environment and take responsibility for your own actions.

Access rights cover wild camping, an activity involving small numbers of people in lightweight tents and leaving "no trace" of being in a landscape when they pack and leave.

But NatureScot said the code did not give people the right to park a car or stay overnight in a campervan or motorhome by the side of a road.

For campervaners Beate and Heiner Delbach, respecting the local environment is just common sense.

Beate said: "It's very important for us because we want to respect nature and it's also the respect for other people.

"I think for us it's normal."

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The view that inspired America's most beautiful song

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260701-the-view-that-inspired-america-the-beautiful, 2 days ago

In 1893, a teacher scaled Pikes Peak in Colorado and penned one of the US's most cherished songs, "America the Beautiful". Today, travellers can retrace her historic ascent.

The tip of my trekking pole bites into the rocky path. "Hang on," I wheeze to my husband, who is plodding several paces ahead. Pausing to gulp water, I survey the landscape below. Pine-stubbled peaks surround us, dappled in cloud shadows and sloping downward to meet a lush valley criss-crossed with roads.

"Ready?" my husband asks. I reluctantly get back to my feet, and our trekking poles resume their clacking rhythm. The mountaintop is still hours away.

We're hiking up to America's most-visited mountain summit: Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs, Colorado. One hundred and thirty-three years ago, the view from the top inspired Katharine Lee Bates to pen "America the Beautiful," a poem that became one of the nation's most well-known patriotic songs, played at sporting events, recited on the Fourth of July holiday and taught to American school children. But not all of us know about the author or why she wrote it.

Having moved to Colorado just a few years ago, I too was unaware of the backstory. But in honour of America's 250th anniversary, I'm attempting to follow Bates' journey up this 14,115ft (4302m) high peak to see if the view of our country's landscape still inspires the same way.

A teacher goes West

In 1893, 33-year-old Katharine Lee Bates was teaching English literature at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, when an exciting opportunity arose: the chance to lead a summer session at Colorado College.

Colorado had only become a state 17 years earlier, and the college was then barely two decades old. It was a period of social and political unrest – Grover Cleveland was in his second presidency, the US stock market was nosediving and unemployment was at a high. Nonetheless, Bates was eager to see the expansive views of the American frontier. She boarded a steam engine train and headed west.

In Melinda M Ponder's biography of Bates, Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea, she writes that upon arriving in Colorado Springs, the intrepid teacher was instantly charmed by the progressive energy of the young city. She and her companions made the most of their free time. "We were driven to Manitou, to The Garden of the Gods… to canyons... and cascades innumerable, all so marvelous that our stock of exclamations gave out," Bates journalled. "An enchanted summer!"

Leah Davis Witherow, curator of history for the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, explains that many travellers at the time were captivated by the American West. "This was the era of the picturesque, so this scenery would have been wildly fascinating to her," she says. "It would have been exciting and strange, and it must have inspired awe."

It wasn't long before Pikes Peak tempted the group of adventurers. Forgoing the ease of the recently built Cog Railway in favour of a more nostalgic, pioneering journey – a horse-pulled wagon up the carriage road – Bates and her colleagues started their bumpy ascent.

My journey begins

Today, the Cog Railway still runs along its original 1890s path, but the tracks have been replaced and the steam locomotives swapped out for diesel-electric trains. For an experience that more closely resembles the slow, arduous uphill climb of Bates' wagon we also chose to skip the train and take the journey on foot.

At 05:30, we pull into one of the last spaces at the parking lot for Barr Trail, which leads to the summit. Gaining 2,255m in elevation over 21 uphill kilometers, this route is one of the region's most strenuous hiking trails. We apply suncream and begin our pilgrimage. The trail glows pink from the rising Sun, a crimson orb peeping over the hills. Hummingbirds trill and alight on spindly branches to watch our ascent. Half an hour flies by, and my sports watch chimes the one-mile (1.6km) mark. Just 12 more (19km) to go!

After three miles (4.83km) of steep, sweaty climbing, we spot two local hikers ambling down the trail and strike up conversation. One of them, Ben Johnson, shares that he has ridden his bike to the top of the mountain twice. "Getting up high on Pikes Peak and looking out, it's beautiful," he says. "America is phenomenal. E pluribus unum: out of many, one. I still believe that."

His words energise us. Less than two hours later, we arrive at the hike's halfway point, Barr Camp, a rustic backcountry lodge and campsite.

The camp host heats up some coffee for us. "You've got six miles (9.7km) left and that last climb is rough," he warns. I shrug – it can't be much worse than our exerting ascent up to this point.

From sea to shining sea

Bates' wagon also paused halfway up the mountain, where its tired horses were swapped out for sure-footed mules. Her final ascent was a slow upward slog, as the mules strained up the frozen carriage road. At last, they reached the summit.

Exhausted from the jostling ride, Bates and her friends were nonetheless awestruck by the views. Alas, one professor in the group promptly fainted from the altitude, and the visit was cut short. Before their hasty retreat, Bates drank in the sight of vast golden plains and rugged mountaintops rippling into the distance. "Most glorious scenery I ever beheld," she journaled.

"Combined with her journey across America on the train – seeing the plains of Kansas, the corn fields, the wheat fields – coming to the top of Pikes Peak and looking out on this vastness deeply impressed her," says Witherow. That picturesque vista at the summit galvanized Bates to write a four-stanza poem titled "America." In July 1895, it was printed in Boston's weekly newspaper and in 1910, it was paired with a musical arrangement by Samuel A. Ward, re-titled "America the Beautiful."

While the lyrics begin as an ode to the American landscape –

O beautiful for spacious skies/ For amber waves of grain/ For purple mountain majesties/ Above the fruited plain! – Bates balances praise with critique, urging the nation to uphold its principles of freedom, equality and unification – America! America! God shed his grace on thee/ Till selfish gain no longer stain the banner of the free!

Witherow notes that it is both a song of exhortation and a song of praise. "She's calling out imperialism, Gilded Age wealth and inequities in America," she explains. "Because she loves America, she wants it to live up to its ideals."

My view at the top

At 14:30, nine hours after our start, we finally reach the summit. Our friend at Barr Camp had not exaggerated: the final third of the hike was a series of cruelly steep and rocky switchbacks. Panting, I manage a triumphant grin as my husband takes a photo. Then I turn to behold the hard-earned view.

On a clear day you can see five states – Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Wyoming. But heavy clouds are rolling in, and haze shrouds the horizon. Our pride of achievement is tinged with disappointment. Like Bates and her friends, our time on the summit must be cut short. We find the Cog Rail conductor in the visitor centre and request a ride down.

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Once aboard, we collapse gratefully into our seats. I've been told that the view from Pikes Peak is different each time, so naturally, I didn't see exactly what Bates saw when she looked out. But here on the train, I observe the variety of ages and ethnicities present on the train, people who have travelled from near and far to see "America's Mountain," seeking a reminder of what unites us.

One hundred and thirty-three years after her historic summit – and 250 years after the United States was founded – much has changed and much hasn't. The nation is still wracked with upheaval, uncertainty and inequities. And yet it remains our beautiful home despite hazy horizons.

As we descend, a cog train going up the mountain chugs past, packed with faces eager to take in the famous view. They wave to us through the windows. I wonder what they'll see.

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What a British etiquette expert would never do in a hotel

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260619-what-a-british-etiquette-expert-would-never-do-in-a-hotel, 12 days ago

From noisy corridors to thieving toiletries, William Hanson reveals the hotel habits that horrify him most.

People often behave differently in hotels than they do at home, and not always for the better.

Prominent British etiquette expert William Hanson, who directs The English Manner institute in Central London, puts bad hotel behaviour down to the "commercial" factor. "It's a transactional proposition, so some people wrongly feel they are entitled to behave in a way that they wouldn't at home. Whether that's leaving their room an absolute bomb site or being rude to the staff."

A new etiquette report by Hotels.com found Brits committing all sorts of dark hotel deeds, including breakfast buffet queue-jumping, reserving sunbeds with towels, smoking inside their rooms and washing their underthings in kettles. Yet, the same study found that Brits rank themselves among the world's most polite travellers. Hanson wasn't surprised by the self-appraisal: "We are a tiny, tiny, tiny island nation and one thing that we pride ourselves on is our good manners."

Nonetheless, Hanson says he is "relatively horrified" on a daily basis by social faux pas. Here, he explains some of his biggest hotel pet peeves – and how he thinks we should all do better.

Take a cue from the Yanks

Brits consider Americans and Germans the rudest guests, [but] in my opinion, Brits can learn something from Americans. There's that lovely sketch in [the 1970s British sitcom] Fawlty Towers where there are two diners sitting at the table complaining about the meal to each other saying, 'The beef is terrible!' and then Basil Fawlty comes over and says, 'Everything alright?' They go, 'Oh, yes, lovely! Thank you so much!' Whereas if there's a problem. an American has less resistance to talk about it sooner.

We're all human, things do go wrong. You can still deal with this in a courteous way. I think that's where Brits sometimes lack the confidence to say, 'Well, actually, this isn't quite up to par' or 'The towel's a bit dirty' or 'My room hasn't been cleaned and it's now 18:00'. Brits sometimes mistake being polite for being a pushover, and they are very different things.

Want an upgrade? Start with dignity

Treat the staff with respect; everyone in any industry deserves that. Just like we judge hotels when we walk in, the staff are forming a first impression of us. If you've used a reward scheme, that's probably going to put you in good solid footing for some sort of upgrade or additional perk. But you can probably get upgraded just by being decent human being. If you scowl at them when check in is taking far too long – even if it is – you're not going to stand yourself much luck.

Call them by name! They've got name badges for a reason. Or if they introduce themselves, "Hello my name is William, I'm your concierge for today", remember the name and use it back. They will go the extra mile because you have seen them as a person rather than as a function. In my phone, I always write down names of staff in restaurants and hotels I go to frequently – yes, I look at it before I turn up again.

Last night I was in a bar, and the manager had moved from somewhere else but because I've trained my brain to get better at names, he brought over three glasses of Champagne – just because I had used his name. In this slightly anonymous society that we now seem to live in, actually using someone's name and giving them the recognition goes the extra mile.

Leave a thank you note

I think Brits are particularly susceptible to this; hotel reviews are not just there to complain, they are there to praise as well. If something's gone wrong, we're more programmed to think, "Right, when I get home I'm going to write a damning review" and that's going to be like a therapist and get it all out of [your] system. We are less predisposed as a society to use a review site to write "The most fantastic pain au chocolate I had at breakfast" or "The staff were really helpful and went the extra miles for my mother who was staying with us." If there are 10 bad reviews of the hotel there will be 100 positive reviews that were not written. So sometimes I do think reviews can be a bit skewed to the negative, particularly Brits who are slightly more pessimistic.

The hotel corridor is a cathedral

Do remember that people don't just sleep in hotels at night; people might be sleeping in the day because they've been working overnight. It's amazing how many times I've been in rooms getting ready and there's a child tearing down the hallway chasing another child. Hotel corridors should be cathedral-like in their quiet serenity because you don't know what is happening behind the doors. The primary function of the hotel, other than to rest and have a nice time, is to sleep.

When it comes to hotel toiletries, there's a line between souvenir and theft

If it is the hair dryer, that's just theft. The cotton pads that you get in the amenities kit, sometimes you get a nail file and a sewing kit, all of that is fine. Most hotels are now going down the sustainable route of fixing bottles to the wall that they will refill so you can't take those away. [No to] towels, bedding, robes… the slippers will be fine, you can absolutely take the slippers.

Don't commit this luggage faux pas

In a really nice hotel, I have a real aversion to seeing luggage. Concierge are there to assist you with [it]. You are meant to phone up and go, "Please, could someone come and collect my luggage? We're checking out in 15 minutes" and they come and get it for you rather than you schlepping it down the carpeted corridors. You can of course do it; it's not the end of the world, but the concierge, porters and bellboys are there to assist with that so don't feel as if you have to overcompensate or be too nice – "Oh, I can't possibly phone up and get someone to take my case" – because that is the service that they are providing and that's why they are charging the prices they do.

This interview has been condensed for length and clarity.

BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.

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The Ardèche: France's stunning outdoor playground

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260623-the-ardche-frances-stunning-outdoor-playground, 10 days ago

It's filled with rock-strewn ravines, stunning villages, more than 6,000km of cycling trails and blissfully few crowds.

My bike glides downhill and the wind washes over me in an exhilarating wave. To the right, a waterfall tumbles down an emerald hill. Stone houses line the road up ahead. Minutes later, the medieval village of Chambonas appears, its charcoal-turreted castle perched on a hill. I pedal on, take a sharp left after crossing a bridge, and roll into the village of Les Vans, exhausted and elated.

I've just spent three days cycling around rolling mountains, past rock-strewn ravines and through forests and stone villages in the western Ardèche, where signs for homemade goat cheese, chestnuts and honey frequently appear on the roadside.

Despite its beauty, many international travellers never explore the Ardèche. Located between two of France's popular destinations (Lyon and Provence), it's one of the nation's most rural corners, which adds to its appeal. Its forested mountains, rushing rivers and steep karst valleys have made it a veritable playground for outdoor enthusiasts and a refreshing alternative to the crowds who descend on the streets of Paris or the beaches along the Riviera each summer.

Due to its unruly mountainous geography and low population density, the Ardèche is the only of France's 101 departments without passenger train service, an airport and a highway. Instead, its historic Train de l'Ardèche tourist steam train, centuries-old vineyards, medieval villages and ancient caves evoke a sense of France as it once was.

As I'm discovering, the Ardéche boasts more than 6,000km cycling trails and a rushing river, making it easy for adventurous travellers to explore the region's hills and rivers on two wheels and with a paddle. So, after filling up on Dauphiné ravioli at Don Camillo restaurant and strolling Les Vans' cobblestone lanes, I head east and explore the best of this rugged region.

Serpentine river

It's a 35km cycle (or drive) east from Le Vans along section six of the Grande Traversée de L’Ardèche to the village of Vallon Pont d'Arc. As I pass by rock formations, forest and sprawling vineyards, I'm lured by the sparkling Ardèche River snaking along the trail, and decide to take a 7km guided kayaking tour through some of its most scenic spots with Base Nautique du Pont d'Arc.

"You can drive for two hours and feel like you're crossing five different countries," Fabien Pignede, my guide with Base Nautique du Pont d'Arc, says of his home department as we paddle along the Ardèche River. "Different altitudes result in different ecosystems. That creates a lot of diversity."

This serpentine river was carved a canyon out of limestone 30 million years ago. Today it's the 1,575-hectare protected Réserve Naturelle des Gorges de l'Ardeche (Ardèche Gorges Nature Reserve), and one of the most striking natural landscapes in France. Ripe with opportunities for hiking, canyoning, climbing, water sports and spelunking, it's also home to some 500 plant and 100 animal species.

On the water, Pignede and I paddle through forests of holm oak and Aleppo pine, under towering limestone cliffs and past sandy beaches where eager swimmers embrace the unusual May chill. After about an hour, the stunning Pont d'Arc emerges: a 54m-high (177ft) natural rock bridge carved by the currents 124,000 years ago. At the height of summer, this place is clogged with canoes and kayaks, but in late spring there are just a handful of other kayakers and cliff climbers.

Chauvet Cave was discovered next to Pont d'Arc in 1994. With paintings dating back 36,000 years to the Paleolithic era, it's 14,000 years older than the better-known Lascaux cave in Dordogne. Though the cave is too fragile to be open to the public, the nearby Grotte Chauvet 2 offers a visitor-friendly replica with a museum, and I'm soon wandering amongst replicas of a cave lion and woolly rhinoceros in its Aurignacian Gallery.

After my visit, I return to Vallon Pont d'Arc. From here, experienced cyclists could continue along route D290, known as the "Route des Gorges", which starts in Vallon Pont d'Arc and offers nearly a dozen incredible viewpoints of the river's oxbow bend and surrounding cliffs. It's not unusual to cross paths with wild goats as you navigate the winding, narrow mountain roads. Instead, I opt to head south.

Subterranean worlds

After winding 20km south along route D217, I arrive at the Aven d'Orgnac, the only cave classified as a Grand Site de France, a label that both recognises its importance and guarantees it is sustainably managed. I don't like heights or tight spaces, but I find myself strapped into a harness, teetering over a 50m drop into a dark passage below.

Locking ankles with my descent companion, Chloé, we steadily lower our ropes, careful to keep the same pace. We pass through darkness until everything expands into a glorious yawning space resembling an underground cathedral, expertly lit to reveal a cluster of towering stalagmites like gravity-defying sandcastles.

"It's like the Sagrada Familia!" Chloé says, as if reading my mind.

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Though I chose to enter the cave the same way as those who discovered it in 1935, travellers don't have to rappel like I did. In addition to a standard tour, they can descend into this 121m-deep cavern for wine tastings (Les Vignerons Ardéchois actually age their wine inside this cave) or embark on an aerial climbing course along the cave's ceiling called the "via-cordata".

From the land

There are countless signs advertising châtaignes (chestnuts) and chestnut-based products across the Ardèche. After stopping to taste everything from chestnut sorbet to a chestnut-baked financier cake to a Chestnut Kir Royale cocktail, I venture to the medieval village of Joyeuse to learn more about the region's most prized product at the Espace Castena museum.

The museum shows how the Ardèchois have long relied on chestnuts for food and its trees to help build their homes. Today, half of France's chestnuts, (about 5,000 tons per year) come from the Ardèche. The region holds a huge chestnut festival each autumn, and as a sign in the museum attests, the nut is a strong source of local pride: "The chestnut is not a wild tree, it is the fruit of the labour of its people."

Signs for lavande (lavender) also dot southern Ardèche. One of the best places in the area to learn about them is La Maison de la Lavande, a 23-hectare estate with an on-site museum in Saint-Remèze. When I arrive, the fields have not yet exploded in purple, but I can still see violet speckles emerging in tidy lines of squat bushes. Nicolas Jouve, my guide, explains how pesticide elimination slows down cultivation but allows for a competitive product. "It remains artisanal," he says. "We're trying to showcase French craftsmanship."

According to vintner Nelly De Boel France, owner of Famille De Boel France winery in Lemps, the region's steep slopes have historically thwarted large-scale agriculture. Instead, growers have had to create terraced faïsse gardens to survive.

"The land is wild and dynamic and that has impacted everything," she tells me. "Everything had to be worked by hand. The land makes the people as well. It shapes their character."

Perhaps the most intimate way to explore this wild, dynamic land is the way its earliest residents did: on two feet. In addition to the Ardèche's 6,000km of cycling trails, it also boasts 6,000km of hiking paths. So after exploring the area by bike and kayak, I lace up my boots, follow a trickling stream up a rocky incline and climb past jagged rocks and pines to hike along the Tour du Tanargue trail.

As I step up the path, I turn around and gaze over the treetops behind me. Green mountains fold into one another in the distance and a breeze ruffles the nearby chestnut and pine trees. A couple of cyclists clad in Tropicana orange whirl past along the mountain road below. Apart from them, I seem to have this corner of France to myself.

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Beach parking fees lifted to boost visitor numbers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5171vjl6yo, yesterday

Free beach parking has been introduced this summer in a bid to boost income and footfall following the closure of a major holiday park.

Somerset Council has suspended parking charges on Brean and Berrow beaches as part of efforts to boost local businesses after a decline in visitor numbers.

The scheme is being funded by EDF Energy to mitigate the loss of Pontins holiday park, which is now being used to accommodate workers building Hinkley Point C.

Some business owners have welcomed the "nice gesture", while others say more "could and should have been done" to help the coastal area's economy.

Beachgoers will be able to park for free from 1 July until October after the council, Discover Brean and EDF agreed to temporarily remove the charges.

Previously, motorists paid £8.40 to park at the beach for the day.

Discover Brean said it hoped the scheme would encourage more visitors to the area and benefit local attractions, shops and hospitality businesses.

Councillor Mike Rigby, lead member for economic development, planning and assets, described it as "great news" for the area.

"We have been working hard with our partners to find ways to support the local visitor economy and are delighted to be able to announce this initiative," he said.

"The area has so much to offer visitors: great beaches, a friendly welcome and now free parking."

Sue and Dave Chedzey, who own the Sundowner Beach Bar located just a stone's throw from Berrow Beach, welcomed the initiative.

"We're very excited. The fact they're helping and offering to pay is lovely," Sue said.

But the couple acknowledged businesses closer to the former Pontins site had "suffered quite significantly" with the downturn in visitors.

"I don't think they've done enough [to offset the loss of income]," Dave said.

"There is more they could and should have done within the vicinity to promote businesses and increase footfall."

But Alex Ainsworth, manager of the Seagull Inn, does not believe it is solely EDF's responsibility to offset the impact on local businesses.

"They still put money into the town and they're just looking for somewhere for their workers," he said.

He added that free parking was likely to increase their trade during quieter weekdays, although he did not expect it to transform the area's fortunes.

"The weekends seem to be okay in Brean, it's still quite a popular destination," he said.

"I don't think we'll see ridiculous amounts of change but it's certainly a nice gesture."

The council's beach team will continue to run the beaches and the number of cars allowed on either beach will not change.

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Air and sea passenger numbers continue to rise

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4rvk22d1yo, 2 days ago

The number of passengers travelling via sea and air has risen for a second quarter.

Ports of Jersey said air passenger numbers had increased by 1.9% and the number of people travelling by ferry had risen by 7.9% from April to June compared to the same period last year.

The authority said 400,000 passengers had travelled through Jersey Airport after new routes between Jersey and Amsterdam, Bordeaux and Paris had been added and 10,000 passengers had used the ferry services.

Ports' head of connectivity Paul Holley said he was confident the growth would continue through the summer with "enhanced connectivity vital in providing greater choice and flexibility" for islanders and visitors.

He said Jersey had up to six weekly flights to France as well as Finistair's Brest route, Jet2 would continue to expand and EasyJet had launched flights to London Southend.

Holley added: "May was particularly strong for DFDS with passengers up 20% compared to 2025 and alongside the welcome return of summer services from Islands Unlimited and Manche Îles Express."

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A sweet bun so good it inspired a national holiday

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260630-a-sweet-bun-so-good-it-inspired-a-national-holiday, 3 days ago

Each summer, Poland awaits bilberry season in order to eat jagodianzki, traditional berry-filled buns. But this humble comfort food has had a glow up, and is more desired than ever.

As the days grow warmer in Poland, our forests teem with beautiful fruits like strawberries and plums, which we will eagerly fold into light, delicious summer dishes. By far, the most anticipated seasonal crop is the bilberry, the blueberry's smaller and tarter European cousin.

So essential is this little summertime staple that we call it jagoda, which simply means berry. "Bilberries hold a sentimental value for us," says Basia Starecka, a food journalist and former editor-in-chief of the Polish food magazine Kukbuk. "[They] appear right after the school year is over and symbolise the start of the summer holidays."

We eat them fresh off the bush with sugar and sour cream, in sweet pierogi or in a fruit sauce for various kinds of dumplings. But our most beloved bilberry treat is the jagodzianka (pronounced ya-go-jan-ka), a bilberry-filled yeasted sweet bun.

They have been a summer-time bakery staple for decades, dusted with sugar, covered in icing or crumble. "There is no person in Poland who hasn't eaten a jagodzianka," Starecka says.

But in the years since the Covid-19 pandemic, the humble jagodzianka has been given a modern makeover, in turn becoming something of a social media star. Influencers now post content of the fruit-filled buns they've either made or bought, and offer bakery recommendations. The classic move: tearing a jagodzianka in half to show off the filling.

But can perfection be improved upon? Thousands of Polish people are clamouring to find out.

A star is reborn

During the lockdowns and uncertainty of the early 2020s, Starecka says that Polish people naturally turned to familiar comfort foods. At the same time, an artisanal baking revolution was brewing.

"It all started with a new generation of bakers who wanted to make bread that required long fermentation times, which is much healthier for us," says Starecka. When they succeeded with basic breads, they began reinterpreting and redefining the whole spectrum of sweet, yeasted pastries. This naturally included the jagodzianka.

Monika Walecka, owner of the award-winning Warsaw bakery Cała w Mące and a pioneer of Polish artisanal breadmaking, adds: "We started looking at seasonal Polish pastries and making them in true artisanal style. With a lot of fruit, with good quality dough, with good-quality streusel. Made the same day, without rushing the process."

While some bakers preferred to keep things traditional, other creators experimented with the dough, fillings and toppings to get the consistency and flavour they wanted. The results were untraditional, but eye-catching and palate pleasing.

For example, contemporary baker Agata Stankiewicz, known online as SugarLady, uses the Japanese bread-making technique of tangzhong to make the dough softer, while Walecka relies on long fermentation times. Walecka also brushes her freshly baked jagodzianki with brown butter flavoured with tonka beans. Other bakeries, like Warsaw-based Bread Morning, pride themselves on using the same amount of berries as dough, resulting in an especially richly filled pastry. Urszi Cakes in Warsaw tops off the finished bun with fresh bilberries rather than the more traditional crumble or frosting, while the Warsaw-based Blacha adds so much crumble to their yeasted buns that people can ask for a bag of crumble to take with them.

The responses to the pastry's renaissance have been mixed. "It’s a good thing because the jagodzianka are made from Polish bilberries and you have to promote what’s good and Polish," says jagodzianka aficionado Kamil Augustyn. Maks Krajewski has a different perspective: "They used to be more seasonal, available for a short time, but supermarkets have begun selling them year-round, filled with jam or American blueberries. But they’re best during bilberry season."

The new wave of artisanal jagodzianki are considered superior to the supermarket version, and the high quality has a price. The cost of jagodzianki keeps increasing with every year, which turned the yeasted bun into something of a status symbol. Many bakeries now have lines forming in the early hours, before they even open, and jagodzianki disappear quickly.

"We had a situation where a gentleman bought the last jagodzianka. And he was feeling so sorry for the other people in line that he paid for everything ordered by the woman behind him," remembers Anna Frelak, owner of the Warsaw bakery Ciastko z Dziurką. She adds that such situations are a common occurence.

"I compare them to a Birkin bag; the emotions you get from scoring such an expensive jagodzianka are similar, you boast about it, you post photos of it like a fashion trophy," Starecka says. "I think it underlines our status, it means I can afford a jagodzianka for almost 40PLN (£8) and I'm in on the trend. I'm in the know about what's happening."

Poised to go global

But despite becoming a status symbol in Poland, the jagodzianka has also become a community experience. This is one of the reasons why Starecka started Jagodzianka Day in 2022, an homage not only to the pastry itself but to the many people who are involved in its creation, from the foragers looking for bilberries in the woods to the bakers experimenting with new ingredients and techniques to the people enjoying them every summer. The unofficial holiday's website lists rankings of the best buns as well as recipes so people can try their own hand at making the sweet.

Starecka chose 2 July because it's right in the middle of jagoda season, believing a summer food-related holiday would provide a great counterpart to Fat Thursday (Pączki Day), which is usually celebrated in winter.

"You can eat a jagodzianka by yourself, but in that large, richly filled version, it's a dessert for more people and there is a happy atmosphere of celebration," says Starecka of the holiday’s community aspect. "People get together, they go to a bakery, they stand in line, they bring different kinds of jagodzianki as gifts – with cream, with farmer's cheese or with tonka beans, they organise jagodzianki tastings."

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But Starecka's main reason for creating Jagodzianka Day was her desire to improve the image of Polish food worldwide. While Polish cuisine is changing, old stereotypes still remain. And even if tourists have heard of pierogi or pączki, jagodzianki remain largely unknown outside Poland.

"Cinnamon rolls are great and croissants are great, but jagodzianki are a typical Polish thing. No one else knows them. Nowhere else is the bilberry so popular," says Frelak - also noting that she has seen an increased number of tourists from all over the world coming to her bakery accompanied by their Polish friends, asking for this summery treat. Mouthwatering videos and images of crumbly jagodzianka bursting with bilberries continue to proliferate on social media, and Polish bakers keep stretching the limits of the traditional recipe, even using freeze-dried bilberries in the dough to give it a vibrant purple hue or creating a Georgian-influenced khachapuri version. Perhaps most tellingly, English language jagodzianka content is creeping into the algorithm. Is it just a matter of time?

Though the jagodzianka wave shows no signs of slowing down, for Starecka, a lot of work still remains to be done.

"I started this holiday because I wanted people around the world to know about our jagodzianka," she says. "It is definitely worth the journey from the most faraway parts of the world."

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Is the World Cup ranch craze real or hype?

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260630-the-truth-about-the-world-cup-ranch-dressing-craze, 4 days ago

This creamy, herby salad cream has existed overseas for decades and visitors to the US are now allegedly shipping cartons of it home. But is there any truth to the reports?

Kev Footitt of Gainsborough, England, was in Dallas, Texas for the World Cup, when his server suggested he dip his chicken strips into ranch dressing. "I gave it a bash, and it was to die for," he said. Footitt later purchased a carry-on bag, which he loaded with 20 bottles, paying nearly $300 (£227) to ship it home. "I'll be having it on my roast dinners and fish and chips for the next two months."

For the past few weeks, ecstatic World Cup visitors like Footitt have chronicled their appreciation for all-American foods like tater tots, Texas brisket, buffalo wings and free drink refills. But it's ranch dressing that has dominated World Cup tourism discourse. Visitors have become so enamoured with the creamy, herbaceous condiment that they're not just lugging it home, they're discussing, photographing it and arguing about it on social media.

But is the World Cup ranch fandom real or an online-only sensation?

The ranch-sanity

Ranch's World Cup break-through moment likely occurred 8 June when Swede Elsa Thora posted on X, "Why did no one tell me ranch sauce is like crack? EUROPE WE NEED RANCH ASAP". The tweet received thousands of likes and reposts and later that day, the US's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued a playful advisory to visitors that they couldn't actually smuggle four bottles of ranch home in their luggage.

For more than a week afterwards, ranch ruled the TSA's social media accounts. Along with imploring travellers to pack it in their checked luggage (and refrain from chugging it outside security lines) the agency shared pictures of bottles abandoned at checkpoints.

Americans, both confused and bemused, shared recipes with ranch-obsessed World Cup fans. More earnest social media users suggested visitors buy packets of powdered ranch and just add liquid at home.

Meanwhile, brands dived into great ranch exchange. Applebee's posted a video of a driver dipping a chicken wing into a ranch-filled car console. Kraft announced plans to release TSA-compliant ranch packets. Heinz even launched a ranch giveaway for fans returning to the UK.

Why the decidedly commonplace ranch? Why now? After all, the dressing has been sold abroad for decades.

The American difference

There's nothing inherently American about ranch dressing's ingredients, said KC Hysmith, a food historian based in North Carolina. Mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, lemon, dill, parsley and garlic all originated in the Old World. Heinz Salad Cream (ranch's English cousin), developed in 1914, predates the US condiment by more than three decades. "Ranch comes from a long line of salad dressings," said Hysmith. "It was just branded in a very American way."

In the early 1950s, while working as a plumber in Alaska, Steve Henson put ranch's familiar ingredients together for the first time. Later, he and his wife purchased property in the Santa Barbara mountains, which they transformed into a combination dude ranch, steakhouse and country club named Hidden Valley Ranch. Visitors were so smitten with Henson's dressing that the couple sold it to-go and eventually started shipping dried packets of it across the country.

This was the height of the Spaghetti Western era, the Marlboro Man and cowboy-themed packaged goods, so the name added cachet, said Hysmith. "[The dressing] grew popular because it had this association with dudes, cowboys and ranches."

Clorox bought the Hidden Valley brand in 1972 and started bottling the dressing 11 years later. Ranch is now ubiquitous in America – the stuff of fast-food joints, diners and even pedigreed restaurants. It tops iceberg salads and serves as a zesty sauce for chips, chicken wings and crudités. Home cooks pour it into casseroles and pasta salads.

Ranch's true talent is making foods more palatable. The crust of a mediocre pizza is transformed by the bright and creamy condiment. Parents use it to convince children to eat vegetables.

There are ranch dill pickles and dill pickle ranch. In US supermarket aisles you'll find ranch-dusted tortilla chips, popcorn, crackers, potato chips, pretzels and rice cakes. It's that versatility that gives the dressing its essential American-ness.

"If there was an alien who dropped out of the sky, landed here and said, 'Tell me about your people', I would give them a bowl of ranch," said Ham El-Wally, chef of New York City's Strange Delight seafood restaurant. "This is everything you need to know about us as a society."

So yes, the dressing may have lived on Tesco shelves for years, but American restaurants are presenting overseas travellers with ranch in its full and creamy context.

"Visitors are experiencing ranch the way Americans actually consume it, and that makes a difference," said Suzy Badaracco, owner of Culinary Tides, Inc, a food trends think tank. "It also travels well as an idea. You can buy a bottle, take it home, show friends or recreate the experience after the trip."

But is the hype real?

However, an informal survey I conducted of England fans in New York City's Times Square casts doubt. Phil Nichols said that though his wife and daughter asked him to bring home a bottle, he did not plan on hauling any ranch back to Northamptonshire.

Had a group of four friends I spoke to eaten ranch dressing? No.

One Englishman I met said he'd tried ranch, but wasn't falling for social media hype. "I'm not some kind of moron."

On 26 June, Londoner Dave Chambers slathered his first-ever taste of ranch onto a slice of pizza. His verdict: "It was like a confused mayonnaise and mustard with a bit of cheese in it that was a bit sour." Would he bring any bottles home? "No." Would he eat it again in America? "No."

Even online, ranch's virality isn't straightforward. Seizing on the trend, content creators are harvesting and reposting ranch videos recorded years ago. A popular clip of a woman chugging ranch was first posted in 2020, as was this video of a red-headed Brit sampling the dressing.

There was also a fair amount of branded ranch chatter in the months leading up to the games. In May, Hidden Valley announced a "Ranchbassador" programme that would pay American ranch fans to promote the condiment abroad. Heinz launched a UK ranch dressing in April 2026; it has since reminded England football fans that there's no need to buy it overseas. "It's already home," the brand posted on Instagram. Hellman's, fresh from a 2025 UK release of Creamy Ranch and Spicy Ranch, introduced Blue Cheese Ranch and Buffalo Ranch this March.

Whether it's coincidence or savvy marketing, there are conspiracy theories on Reddit, pointing to a global ranch psyop. Would it be the most American play of all for a federal agency to funnel customers into the hands of Big Ranch?

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Badaracco, however, insists that the World Cup ranch enthusiasm is real. "The viral videos aren't creating interest in ranch so much as amplifying an experience that people are already eager to have," she said. "Mega-events like the World Cup expose millions of people to foods they might never have tried otherwise. While most visitors won't become daily ranch consumers, some will develop a genuine preference for it and look for it when they return home. That's how international food adoption often begins – not through advertising, but through memorable experiences."

Ranch sales in the UK are indeed climbing. Hellman's is on track to break ranch sales records in June, and Heinz reports a 5% uplift in sales since the start of the tournament.

Aditi Hilgers, director of taste elevation at Kraft Heinz, also notes demand from retail shelves to pubs, where ranch is becoming this summer's staple. "We're actually ramping up production to keep pace with demand, which is a good sign of where things are heading."

Whether or not ranch is maintains its saucy stardom, for many World Cup fans it will forever remain the quintessential taste of the United States.

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New Sweden: The US's long-lost 'secret' colony

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260629-new-sweden-the-uss-long-lost-secret-colony, 5 days ago

It was the smallest, least-populated and shortest-lived colony in the US. But despite being virtually unheard of today, it helped shape the nation's birth 250 years ago.

The 125-year-old elevator wheezed to a halt somewhere above Philadelphia's skyline. When the door creaked open, I was inside the clock tower of the US's tallest municipal building, gazing down at "The Birthplace of America" from a 500ft (152m) observation deck atop City Hall.

From my glass perch, I could make out City Tavern, where the Founding Fathers plotted the American Revolution. Just west, I spotted Carpenters' Hall, where the Colonies united against the British at the First Continental Congress. Nearby was Independence Hall, where the US Constitution was signed in 1787.

Squinting, I then followed a parade of red-white-and-blue American flags down Market Street, towards the Delaware River and New Jersey in the distance.

"So, everything I can see from up here was once part of… Sweden?" I asked our guide.

"I think so," he said, hesitantly. "Though you're the first visitor to ever ask about that."

Ask most Americans and they'll tell you that the United States started in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776 when the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. Fittingly, the city is the epicentre of the US's 250th anniversary celebrations this week, and as many as 1.5 million people are expected to descend on it for what will be the nation's largest Fourth of July festival.

But chances are, almost none of those coming realises that the US's political and ideological birthplace was once part of a little-known Swedish colony known as Nya Sverige (New Sweden). In fact, very few Americans (or Swedes) have any idea that there ever even was a Swedish colony in America.

From 1638-1655, this forgotten Swedish settlement extended across the Delaware Valley, encompassing parts of modern-day New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. In addition to being the smallest, least-populated and shortest-lived European colony in the US, it was also the most clandestine.

"It started as sort of secret colony," said Deborah-Jean Hoffman, a board member at the New Sweden Centre, which promotes the Delaware Valley's colonial history. "The Swedes weren't flag-planting like the French or the Spanish. The idea was to create an under-the-radar colony where the Dutch wouldn't see them."

Despite lasting just 17 years, New Sweden would play a pivotal role in forging the nation's culture to come. New Swedish settlers introduced the most iconic of American frontier buildings: the log cabin. They also brought Lutheran Christianity to the New World, led one of the earliest civilian uprisings in the US colonies and left their mark on two future US cities.

And as I was discovering, there are still traces of this long-lost Swedish outpost scattered across the Delaware Valley – if you know where to look.

A covert colony built on revenge

By 1637, European powers had already carved up much of the US's Atlantic coast when Peter Minuit, the disgruntled former governor of the New Netherland colony, approached the Swedish Crown. Minuit had famously purchased the island of Manhattan for the Dutch and spent years scouting the Mid-Atlantic for a place to establish New Netherland. But after being abruptly dismissed in 1632, he sought revenge against his former employers.

"To get back at the Dutch, Minuit went to Sweden and essentially said: you are the only major power in Europe without a colony and you're missing out on the beaver and tobacco trade. I know where you can start one," Hoffman said.

With map in hand, Minuit showed Swedish officials that in between England's claim to Virginia and New Netherland, there was a vast area unoccupied by Europeans. Minuit knew that even though the Dutch claimed the entire Delaware River, they had only actually purchased one side of it along their southern border from the Lenape. He also knew that they were far more concerned with defending New Amsterdam (modern-day Manhattan) than the Delaware Valley.

So in December 1637, Minuit led two ships out of Gothenburg with 25 would-be settlers to covertly cut in on the Dutch's trade lucrative trade monopoly with the Native nations. After four months at sea, they quietly dropped anchor along a narrow, winding tributary of the Delaware River claimed by the Dutch in present-day Wilmington, hoping its secluded location wouldn't draw too much attention.

There was only one problem: "The Dutch found out about it almost immediately," said historian and best-selling author Russell Shorto. "From the beginning, the Dutch considered [the Swedes] to be squatting in their territory, but Minuit knew the Dutch didn't have the manpower to kick them out, so he ignored them."

Soon after landing in March 1638, Minuit purchased a 67-mile (108-km) stretch of Delaware riverfront land from five Native American tribes, and the settlers built a stronghold that they christened Fort Christina, after the 12-year-old Queen of Sweden. It was the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley, and the first permanent European structure in what would become the US's first state.

Mutiny and a 'Swedish Nation'

Just five months after Minuit founded New Sweden, he drowned in a Caribbean hurricane while searching for tobacco to make his new colony profitable. Broke and hungry, the 25 settlers he left behind likely wouldn't have made it through the winter were it not for their Indigenous neighbours.

"The Swedes got a lot of help from the Native people. They knew that if you got along, you could not only trade, but survive," Hoffman said. "Unlike the Dutch and English, Swedes understood and respected the Native tribes. About 80% of the settlers were actually 'Forest Finns', because Finland was then part of Sweden, and they had a deep appreciation for living off the land."

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The colony remained little more than a fledgling, far-flung outpost until 1643, when a 7ft-tall, 400-pound (2.13cm, 181kg) mammoth of a man named Johan Printz was appointed governor. Nicknamed "Big Belly" by the Lenape, Printz had a commanding presence and set out to secure Sweden's foothold in the Americas.

During the next 10 years, Printz built two more bastions along the Delaware River (Fort Elfsborg and Fort New Gothenburg); expanded the colony from present-day Cecil County, Maryland, to Trenton, New Jersey; and established a new capital just south of Philadelphia on Tinicum Island – all while issuing strict orders to maintain peaceful relations with Indigenous tribes.

Despite its territorial expansion, New Sweden never became the profitable venture it was conceived to become because it was chronically under-populated and neglected. The colony never counted more than about 400 people, and from 1648-1654, the Swedish Crown didn't send a single supply ship. Interest in emigrating was so low that the Swedish Empire resorted to sending petty criminals and military deserters as a form of punishment.

With the colony all but abandoned by the Swedish government, Printz ruled with an iron fist to keep his few settlers from deserting. In 1653, when one-quarter of the colony's male population signed a petition accusing Printz of abusing his powers, he declared it a "mutiny", but stepped down – marking one of the first successful political protests in US colonial history.

By 1655, New Netherlands' hot-tempered governor, Peter Stuyvesant, had had enough of the Swedish squatters and sent seven armed ships down the Delaware. The outnumbered Swedes surrendered without a shot, marking the end of Swedish sovereignty in the Americas. New Sweden was soon absorbed into New Netherland, but Stuyvesant allowed it to continue as a "Swedish Nation", and settlers were allowed to choose their own government, form their own militia and keep their land.

When William Penn arrived in 1682 after creating his namesake Pennsylvania colony for the English, he found Swedish and Finnish farmers living alongside the Lenape in Philadelphia. "That's why, on top of City Hall, directly below the statue of William Penn, there are four statues: two are Lenape and two are Swedes," Hoffman said. "Have you seen those?"

I hadn't. In fact, despite growing up near New Sweden's former territory, I had never seen or heard anything about it. So, I set out on a road trip to discover it for myself.

New Sweden today

"The first three log cabins in America were built right here," said Herb Conner, the lead interpreter at Fort Christina Park in Wilmington, Delaware, where the Swedes' first fortress once stood.

As we walked under a tree-lined path towards the Swedes' original landing spot, known as "The Rocks", Conner said that even as a kid growing up in Wilmington, he had also never learned about the area's Swedish history in school. Later, he discovered that New Sweden was the only European colony in the US that never went to war against the Native people.

"One of the most important lessons [New Sweden] left us is the importance of living peacefully with your neighbour," he said. "We could stand to learn a lot from them today."

A short walk from the park, a 141ft (43m) replica of that 17th-Century ship, called the Kalmar Nyckel, now bobs on the river and offers narrated cruises. The three-masted merchant vessel is sometimes called the "Swedish Mayflower", but as we plied through Wilmington's newly revamped Riverfront neighbourhood, Captain Lauren Morgens explained why that nickname isn't really apt.

"The Mayflower barely made it across the Atlantic once," she said. "The Kalmar Nyckel made four round-trip crossings with Swedish and Finnish settlers." During the 90-minute trip, you can help hoist the sails, peer into the captain's quarters and see the cramped spaces where the would-be settlers slept. Visitors also get a crash-course in New Swedish history.

Back on land, I explored three storeys of that history at the adjacent Copeland Maritime Center and Museum. Stepping inside a reconstructed log cabin, I learned that it was actually the "Forest Finns" who introduced this most quintessential of "American" buildings later adopted by so many pioneer families – including future US President Abraham Lincoln.

After a short drive down Swedes Landing Road in Wilmington, I arrived at the aptly named Old Swedes' Church. Built in 1698, it holds the distinction of being both the first Lutheran church in the New World and the oldest church in the US still used for worship in its original state. As we strolled through a cemetery towards the colonial-brick structure, the church's director of communications, Betsy Christopher, directed my attention below.

"This burial ground dates to 1638 and is where many of the original Swedish and Finnish settlers from Fort Christina are buried," she said. Christopher explained that nearly 400 years later, many of the area's Swedish descendants still pack the pews each December for the church's candlelit Sankta Lucia Christmastime celebration.

Just 30 miles (48km) separate Wilmington and Philadelphia. As I headed north along I-95, I spotted signs for Governor Printz Park in Tinicum Township, where Fort New Gothenburg and New Sweden's last capital once stood. Today, a reconstructed Swedish farmstead, the foundations of Printz's royal residence and a life-size statue of "Big Belly" himself are scattered along the seven-acre waterfront. But heeding Hoffman's advice, I had an appointment atop City Hall that I couldn't miss, so I kept moving.

Like the relics of New Sweden itself, the two bronze-cast Swedes standing atop Philadelphia are easy to miss unless you know where to look. But there they are on the tower's southern side, gazing back towards the river that brought them here, and watching over the city that grew from their farms.

"You know, it was a descendent of New Sweden [John Morton] who cast the deciding vote here in Pennsylvania to support the Declaration of Independence and separate from Britain," said Tracey Beck, the executive director, as she led me through the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia the following day.

The sweeping, 12-gallery mansion in South Philadelphia's FDR Park chronicles the nearly 400-year history of Swedish and Finnish influence in the US – starting with the surrounding area's first settlers. And while it's designed to educate Americans about their little-known colony, it often proves to be just as revelatory for Swedes.

"This is a lost part of our history," said Allan Elfström, a Swedish immigrant to the area, while eyeing a timeline of New Sweden. "When I tell many of my [Swedish] colleagues about all of this, they're baffled."

After exploring the museum's halls, I followed some 300 people clad in flower crowns, flowy dresses and traditional folkdräkter costumes outside for the museum's annual Midsommarfest. As the Carlsberg beer flowed and I tucked into smörgåstårta sandwich cakes and lingonberry sherbert, I soon found myself following a fiddler towards a towering maypole topped with Swedish flags.

"This is like our Fourth of July," said the Swedish woman next to me, reaching for my hand. As we spun around in a giant circle, singing Swedish songs under a Nordic cross, I looked up at the Philadelphia skyline in the distance, and thought about something Beck had told me earlier.

"It's so interesting to wonder what-if. There was this whole other European colony we were never taught about that once lived here. How would this country have been different if it had survived?"

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Why 'Asia's cleanest village' bans tourists on Sundays

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260625-why-asias-cleanest-village-bans-tourists-on-sundays, 7 days ago

Tourism transformed Mawlynnong's fortunes. But after decades of welcoming visitors, residents decided one day a week should belong to themselves.

Each Saturday up to 1,000 tourists stream into Mawlynnong, a village of 600 people in India's far north-east. Visitors come to wander its flower-lined lanes, take selfies in its spotless streets and see whether it deserves the title that made it famous across India: Asia's cleanest village.

But since January 2026, the black metal gates built across the single road leading into the village have been locked and guarded once a week. Residents have taken the unexpected step of banning day-trippers on Sundays, turning away tourists and the income they bring.

Why would a village whose fortunes were transformed by tourism choose to shut itself off for one day each week?

According to residents, the ban is an attempt to reclaim what they call "real village life".

A culture of cleanliness

Located a few kilometres from the border with Bangladesh in India's Meghalaya state, Mawlynnong became a popular tourist attraction after Discover India magazine named it Asia's cleanest village in 2003. In a country known for its lack of sanitation, this is no small feat. But in Mawlynnong, children are taught to tidy up from a young age, with many taking to the streets each morning before school to sweep the town of dead leaves and empty rubbish bins. Villagers see to the disposal of biodegradables and take pride in public landscaping.

Shortly after launching his national Clean India Mission campaign in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew further attention to the village in a radio address.

"It has become the habit of the residents to maintain cleanliness," he said. "All this infuses confidence in us that our country will surely become clean through the efforts of fellow citizens."

The accolades made Mawlynnong famous across India. Residents pivoted from agricultural work to tourism, opening guesthouses and restaurants. They built a car park bordered with souvenir and tea stalls, all serving the daily procession of tourist vans filled with visitors.

Two decades after tourists first started coming to the village, with social media attracting new generations, Mawlynnong's village committee decided that rebalance was needed and imposed the Sunday ban on day trippers. The main reason, residents said, was that it allowed the village's predominantly Christian population to spend Sundays at church rather than catering to visitors.

Precious Khongdup, a committee member, told Indian media that the proposal was introduced "to preserve both the cultural identity of the village and the discipline that once made Mawlynnong stand out in the first place".

"It's good for us," said local resident Festival Kharrymba, who charges tourists 30 rupees (23p) to cross the large bamboo walkway in the village centre. "We have time to go to church, for service, for praying," she added. "If tourists are here on Sunday, it's a problem for us."

Even before the ban, most tourism businesses chose not to open on Sundays. Khongdup said only two restaurants operated, leaving visitors able to walk around the village but with few places to eat or buy drinks.

"We don't want visitors to feel uncomfortable," Khongdup said. "If they want to buy a water bottle [on Sundays before the ban] they couldn't get it, because all the shops were closed… We want visitors to feel the hospitality of the villagers, so that's why we are closing on Sundays."

The cost of success

Visitors who book guesthouse rooms in Mawlynnong through Saturday and Sunday are exempt from the Sunday ban. Taking advantage of this exemption, I decided to spend a weekend here to learn more.

On arrival, I strolled from the carpark towards the village centre, passing wooden benches and "Do not spit" signs warning that "violators will be fined". The gentle snip of secateurs accompanied my walk as I passed men pruning bushes. A tourist in a red dress asked a gardener if she could buy the cuttings piled at his feet. "Have some free!" he said, offering her a handful of branches.

I passed a large, red-roofed church whose sign stated it was founded in 1902. Around 80% of India's 1.5 billion population is Hindu, but European Christian missionaries' visits to Meghalaya from the mid-19th Century influenced strong Christian faith among many members of the Khasi: the state's largest indigenous group.

The church's central role in village life helps explain why residents were willing to prioritise worship over tourism income. Yet tourism has also transformed Mawlynnong in ways that would have been difficult to imagine a generation ago.

Khongdup told me that before 2003 Mawlynnong wasn't connected to nearby villages by proper roads, and its change from isolated village to beautiful tourist destination had been swift. When I asked if this change had been good for the villagers, he pointed to some new concrete homes, which he said were bought with tourism income. Just one generation ago, he added, many families here could only afford thatched grass houses.

I wondered if some business owners were frustrated with the church-inspired tourist ban limiting weekend income. But if such dissent existed, it wasn't revealed to me. Outside the church, a local man told me that the village's population was "100% Christian" and that support for the ban was unanimous.

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Khongdup was quick to acknowledge the benefits tourism has brought. But as well as giving the villagers more time to praise God, the Sunday ban gives them a break from visitors who don't respect the hygiene standards embedded in Mawlynnong culture.

During my trip most visitors seemed to follow the locals' cleanliness lead, carefully placing rubbish in the handmade wicker baskets that lined the village paths. But around the time the Sunday ban was introduced, a video showing plastic bottles tourists had left strewn around Mawlynnong went viral. "If you can't keep our beautiful Northeast clean… please don't come here," one video comment read.

When pressed for reasons for the ban beyond church, Khongdup suggested that after two decades of daily tourist visits, the villagers had finally reached the point where they needed an enforced break from the influx. A chance to briefly revert to a time when people didn't walk around Mawlynnong with GoPros strapped to their heads and throwing bottles on the ground was unthinkable.

"We have to have a break," Khongdup said. "If we close one day from the tourists, then we can have real village life."

Sundays belong to the villagers

On Sunday morning the tourists were gone and the only people I saw on Mawlynnong's paths were locals in their Sunday best, strolling to church, Bible in hand. Wood panels were padlocked over souvenir stalls, the car park was empty, and as I walked to the village gate, I heard hymns floating from houses.

On the other side, I met Vijaya Debnath, a language professor from New Delhi who was exploring Meghalaya on holiday. The gate guard had politely but firmly turned her and her husband away. Some tourists have complained about the ban, saying it should have been implemented on a weekday instead, but Debnath said she accepted that church time was important for the villagers.

"These people are continuously keeping this village so neat and clean," she said. "We wanted to see that. It's very unusual here, seeing this kind of thing."

Modi's Clean India Mission aimed to transform sanitation standards across India. However, almost 12 years on, Mawlynnong's community-driven cleanliness still remains an exception rather than the norm.

Debnath said that simply learning about Mawlynnong's existence gave her hope that India's reputation for grime and questionable public hygiene might one day be scrubbed away. "We can learn through this example that we can – we should – keep places clean," she said.

She added she would return to visit Mawlynnong, just not on the village's new day of rest. As she climbed back into her rental car, I could still hear the faintly joyful sound of hymns drifting up through the village, past the closed restaurant doors and between the gate's bars. For six days a week, Mawlynnong works for its visitors. On the seventh, it rests.

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The US that World Cup fans didn't expect to love

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260625-the-us-that-world-cup-fans-didnt-expect-to-love, 9 days ago

From roadside convenience stores to lonely landscapes, travellers are discovering little-known slices of Americana away from the host cities.

In the build-up to this summer's Fifa World Cup, much of the attention was on the host cities and stadiums where the matches would be held. But after two weeks, something I never expected is happening: social media is flooded with feel-good videos of fans discovering the US that exists between skylines.

Some travellers were so struck by Costco and Walmart that they declared, "I'm in love with America." As soon as a Norwegian man entered a Bass Pro Shop, he said, "Oh, gawd damn!" And when a Brit first laid eyes on a Buc-ee's convenience store, restaurant, petrol station and supermarket wrapped in one he said, "This place is absolutely insane."

With each wide-eyed video of travellers documenting their first encounters with everything from roadside convenience stores to ranch dressing, fans are highlighting the real America – one that's rarely portrayed in films and TV, has nothing to do with politics and that many visitors often miss. Along the way, they're not only reminding those of us who live here of the many quirks that make this country special; they're also helping us fall back in love with it.

From sea to shining sea

Because the US is roughly 2,800 miles (4,500km) wide and World Cup matches are being played on both coasts, many fans are flying between host cities. But some are adopting our love of the open road by driving from match to match. In doing so, they are discovering kitschy roadside stops along Route 66 and the majesty of the US National Park system.

Watching videos of World Cup travellers stand in awe under the golden orange arches of Zion National Park, peer down on the Grand Canyon and marvel at Louisiana's lowland swamps is a reminder of how stunningly diverse this nation is.

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"I don't think people realise how big, large, wild, full of wildlife, full of animals America is," said the British man who visited Zion. "There is nothing quite like American national parks and state parks. It's just incredible."

After watching the reactions of these fans, I sought out Charlotte Russell, a clinical psychologist and the founder of The Travel Psychologist, to ask why I felt so moved. She suggested that, as an American, I might take my country for granted: "Just like we don't notice our wallpaper at home, we don't spend much time thinking about our own culture in our day-to-day lives; it's normal to us."

Little-known foods

Overseas, fast food is perhaps the best-known element of US cuisine. But while most travellers coming to the World Cup have likely enjoyed a McDonald's burger, others have been struck by our regional cuisine during their road trips.

Fans are discovering Southern US institutions like Waffle House, the wonder of tater tots (fried potato nuggets) and partaking in another American past time: filling up on petrol station food, like Beaver Nuggets at Buc-ee's.

One Scot who has been eating his way around the country, from Dunkin' Donuts to Jamba Juice to an Atlanta seafood boil, needed to experience one final sugary breakfast before flying home. It was an emotional goodbye as he started crying, saying, "It's so good" while eating his last syrupy, butter-covered takeaway waffle in the backseat of a car en route to the airport.

Two of my favorite football podcasters, Ali and George from The England Pod, spent time in Kansas City. Along the way, they detoured to feast on ribs, brisket and barbecue. They marvelled that the US is so vast and diverse that the nation has myriad ways of barbecuing meats. After devouring Kansas City barbecue, they're now planning a road trip to Dallas to try their local variety, even though they're sceptical: "It's tough to imagine anything beating this."

So many fans have discovered the US's ubiquitous calorie-rich ranch dressing and are apparently trying to smuggle it back in their suitcases that airport authorities have had to issue a warning about the legal carry-on limit.

American hospitality

While many of the viral videos show travellers marvelling at American culture, they're also quietly displaying American generosity. Many are filled with comments recommending other sights to see along fans' itineraries. Others even have offers of home-cooked meals en route to their next World Cup destination. In a country that has come under such heavy scrutiny and criticism for imposing travel bans, tighter restrictions or high visa rejection rates on many of the nations participating in this World Cup, it's uplifting to see Americans open their doors and hearts to strangers.

In fact, for almost every video of visitors embracing American culture, there seems to be an instance of Americans embracing visitors. In Houston's sweltering heat, a traveller reported that mass transit workers were handing out free cold drinks to fans. Across the nation, police officers have been recorded hyping up international fans.

But perhaps no place has been more welcoming of its visitors this summer than Lawrence, Kansas.

The Algerian national team chose Lawrence as their training base this summer, and the small college city's 96,000 residents have gone all out to give the team a warm welcome. The school marching band has learned and played the Algerian national anthem, artists in the community have made a massive Algerian flag and workers at a local pub have learnt some Arabic to properly greet their Algerian guests. Hundreds of fans – many with no connection to Algeria at all – waited in the pitch black to welcome them when they arrived, with one fan saying: "Thank you to team Algeria for choosing [to stay in] our hometown."

These stories of human connection have made me and many other Americans emotional during this World Cup. They are examples of our country at its best, and they are coming exactly when I and so many other Americans need them the most.

"Many US citizens have been feeling down on their country, and sad that their nation is seen in a negative light overseas," Russell told me. "With the negative news in the run-up to the World Cup… seeing people actually enjoying the US and its people feels more intensely joyful."

She's right: after consuming so many of these social media posts and videos, I find myself overwhelmed with a sense of national pride that I haven't experienced for some time.

Before long, this summer-long cultural exchange programme will end, one country will be crowned the winner of the 2026 World Cup and everyone will return home – likely a few kilos heavier thanks to all the ranch dressing.

Here's to hoping we continue to find tiny joys in the quirkiness of our own culture, take pride in the beauty of our wild landscapes and keep our doors open so that others can continue to see who we really are.

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The hidden Edo-era bathhouse that embodies Tokyo

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260618-the-hidden-edo-era-bathhouse-that-embodies-tokyo, 13 days ago

There is no more intimate way to understand Tokyo's unique blend of past and present than shedding your clothes and engaging in "naked friendship" in this Edo-era insitution.

There are few cities where the future and past feel as present as in Tokyo. Neon-lit skyscrapers rise above centuries-old temples, bullet trains speed past meticulously tended Japanese gardens and robot cafes sit nearby family-run businesses that have existed for generations.

But there may be no better place to experience Tokyo's unique blend of innovation and ancient roots than inside Konparu-yu: a 163-year-old sento (public Japanese bathhouse).

First-time visitors could easily walk past Konparu-yu without noticing it. Hidden amidst a sea of modern glass towers, Michelin-starred restaurants and high-end department stores in the ritzy Ginza shopping district, a narrow side street leads to discreet doorway marked by a traditional lantern and a faded indigo noren curtain.

As I push past the noren, shed my clothes and sink naked into a steaming-hot tub, I begin one of the most uniquely Japanese experiences you can have.

A 1,200-year-old tradition

Sento have played an important role in daily life among Japanese people for more than 1,200 years. Born during the spread of Buddhism in the 700s when cleansing one's body and spirit was thought to be an important duty to serve Buddha, these temple-shaped structures became particularly popular during the Edo period (1603-1868) and spread throughout the archipelago. Since most citizens didn't have private bathtubs at home, the local sento (literally: "coin bath") was a place to cleanse oneself relatively cheaply while socialising with friends and neighbours.

"In Edo, when society was sharply divided by class, bathhouses were among the few public places where samurai, merchants and labourers could bathe together," said Shinobu Machida, a researcher of Japanese bathhouse culture. "Samurai removed their swords before entering. Once people stepped into the bath, they returned to being simply human."

Centuries later, this sense of hadaka no tsukiai ("naked friendship"), where everyone is nude and equal, is still true at Konparu-yu. Outside, the world's largest metropolis might often feel frenetic and status-obsessed, but inside this Edo-era institution, watches and handbags disappear into lockers, job titles and salaries melt away in the steam and people from all walks of life sit nude in the same soothing water.

Over the years, I've shared steaming-hot baths at Konparu-yu with elderly regulars, white-collar office workers, young creatives and even the occasional visitor from overseas. Its tranquil tubs attract a perfect snapshot of life in Tokyo – past and present.

Entering Konparu-yu is also – quite literally – an immersion into Japanese culture. While no two sento are the same, visitors always follow the same time-honoured bathhouse etiquette: place your shoes and belongings in wooden lockers, wash yourself thoroughly and then enter a gender-divided room.

Inside, strangers sit side by side in the same steaming water in near silence, greeting familiar faces with a quiet "konnichiwa" (hello). Long hair is tied up, towels are kept out of the bath and voices remain low, reflecting the shared understanding that – in the sento as in Japan itself – everyone is expected to abide by the unwritten rules of social etiquette to preserve the calm atmosphere and environment.

A singular sento

While hundreds of sento are scattered across Tokyo's outskirts, Konparu-yu is one of the last surviving ones in central Tokyo. The bathhouse has stood in Ginza since 1863, and over the years, it has witnessed the city rise, burn and transform from its unique location.

Ginza is often considered the birthplace of modern Tokyo. When Japan opened to the West following its centuries of self-imposed isolation at the end of the Edo period, Ginza was rebuilt with brick buildings and broad streets. By the 1930s, it had become the centre of Tokyo's urban culture, filled with cafes, theatres and jazz halls.

Visitors experience this layered history before they even enter the bathhouse. After wandering through Ginza's polished main streets full of international chain brands, Konparu Street feels like a time capsule: the narrow, brick-lined backstreet brims with small, locally owned restaurants, bars and long-standing shops. A few steps away from the sento, a wooden Edo-era wooden water pipe and bricks from Ginza's early development are hiding in plain sight.

Like Tokyo itself, Konparu-yu fell victim to the city's turbulent 20th Century. The original bathhouse was destroyed in the March 1945 firebombing of Tokyo during World War Two, when much of the capital was reduced to ashes, and rebuilt in its original location in 1957.

When Tokyo redeveloped in the decades after the war, many of its newer homes were designed with private bathrooms. As a result, the number of sento across Tokyo – as well as in Japan – has been steadily vanishing for decades. To help attract a new generation of bathers, many sento owners have renovated their bathhouses in recent years with sleek contemporary designs, social media marketing and even in-house craft beer bars.

Tokyo resident Akihiro Fujimoto has visited bathhouses across the capital and believes that what makes Konparu-yu so unique is that it has stuck with tradition. Visitors are greeted by the receptionist from an elevated wooden bandai (welcome desk), retro wooden lockers line the changing rooms and tiny plastic stools are placed in each gender-separated bathing area for patrons. "Konparu-yu has stayed true to the classic Tokyo sento. The baths are simple, the water is hotter than most, and the atmosphere still feels like the Tokyo of decades ago."

After sinking into the piping-hot 43C tub alongside a group of elderly regulars, I leaned back against the smooth tiles and looked up at a hand-painted mural of Mount Fuji's snow-covered summit. Below it, a vivid Kutani porcelain mural depicted plump koi carp gliding through a pond, their scales shimmering in crimson, yellow and cobalt blue. Back in the changing area, another painted wall showed sparrows and ducks flying through the changing seasons of cherry blossoms giving way to hydrangeas and crimson maple leaves.

These bucolic landscapes (especially those showcasing Japan's most iconic mountain) are one of the defining features of traditional Japanese sento, as the soothing scenes help transport bathers into a Zen-like oblivion. But because there are just a handful of sento mural masters left, these once-iconic murals have become increasingly harder to find.

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To first-time visitors, the tiles may simply seem decorative. But according to bathhouse historian Shinobu Machida, they reflect a uniquely Tokyo tradition of transforming ordinary spaces into unexpectedly elaborate oases that help residents escape the bustling city outside.

"If bathing were only about washing, there would have been no need to paint Mount Fuji or decorate the walls," he said. "Konparu-yu's owner wanted ordinary people to experience something extraordinary."

More than a century later, that sense of escape still draws people through Konparu-yu's indigo noren.

Tokyo office worker Kaho Nagashima says she frequents Konparu-yu so much that it has become a home away from home for her. "Before going home, I stop by and switch myself off," she said. "It is a place where I reflect on the day and put my thoughts in order. The traditional atmosphere helps me relax."

Tokyo-based journalist Emiko Yodogawa says she had visited Ginza more than 100 times before she discovered this "oasis in the city".

"I had no idea such [a traditional] bathhouse existed in the middle of Ginza," she said. "Being able to wash away sweat for a few hundred yen [about £3] in the middle of Ginza is something I am truly grateful for," she said.

During my last visit, I ended up staying at Konparu-yu far longer than I'd intended. Time seemed to slip away as I watched the mist rise beneath Mount Fuji's brush-stroked crater. When I eventually stepped back out onto the streets of Ginza, the city was still racing forwards. But behind an old noren, Tokyo had reminded me that its future has always made room for its past.

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This super-cooled squirrel could revolutionise emergency care

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260703-the-arctic-ground-squirrel-could-revolutionise-emergency-care, yesterday

No other mammal can survive colder body temperatures than the Arctic ground squirrel. Its chilly hibernation is inspiring new treatments for heart attacks, stroke, and brain injury.

In August, as summer draws to a close and the days shorten, a female Arctic ground squirrel knows it's time to fatten up. The small, copper-hued rodent scouts the tundra for whatever food she can find – grasses, sedges, and leaves – until she retreats to her burrow to sink into a deep wintry slumber. About a metre underground, her body winds down into slow motion. At just a few breaths and heartbeats per minute, it would be easy to mistake her for dead.

As the ground above her freezes solid, reaching temperatures of -20C (-4F), her body temperature plummets. Astonishingly, her brain cools to 0C (32F), her abdomen to -2C (28F) and her hind limbs even down to -2.9C (27F) – colder than any other mammal has been recorded alive. For eight months she lies here without food or water, rousing only occasionally, until the ground warms and she returns to life aboveground.

Like many mammals of northern climates, Arctic ground squirrels survive the harsh winters of Canada, Alaska and Siberia by hibernating, but they're somewhat unusual in the sheer length of time they spend in this state and unique in that they survive at such cold body temperatures.

These extreme features have made Arctic ground squirrels, alongside some close relatives, a popular study subject for scientists striving to better understand what makes hibernation biologically possible – not just out of scientific curiosity, but also in the hopes of someday applying this to humans.

Being able to slow down human metabolism could help doctors buy more time in treating severe conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and traumatic brain injuries, and induce beneficial cooling to protect vital organs. And, in the distant future, this research might even pave the way to putting astronauts into states of suspended animation to help them weather long-distance space flights.

This research is young, but it's already showing how studying the animal kingdom's extreme survivors could help unlock new strategies to boost human health. "Their physiology is just so different," says physiological ecologist Cory Williams of Colorado State University. "At the same time, you can see [how] if you could harness this attribute and apply it to humans, there could be real practical function."

Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have been studying Arctic ground squirrels for more than 50 years. The rodents seem to have an internal clock which – alongside the changing length of daylight – tells them when it's time to hibernate; for females this happens around August while males start a few months later.

Staff then transfer the squirrels from their enclosures into a dark refrigerated room that mimics the conditions inside the rodents' natural hibernation burrows. The animals lie curled up inside cotton or wood shavings inside plastic cages. For certain studies, staff cuddle the animals in the beginning to get them used to being handled so they don't stir when scientists take blood and other measurements, says hibernation scientist Sarah Rice of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Their bodies are so cold, and their breathing and heartbeat so slow, she says, that "sometimes it's hard to tell if they're alive or not".

Rice's colleagues, including hibernation scientist Kelly Drew, have been investigating what exactly triggers the slowdown in the animals' metabolism that allows their body temperature to drop so low.

Doctors have often used ice or specific medications to cool down certain patients who have had a heart attack or stroke to help protect their vital organs like the brain from the deprivation of oxygen that occurs during these conditions. That strategy doesn't always work and it can be challenging, because the body eventually starts to fight against the cooling and tries to warm itself by shivering.

But if scientists could identify a way of winding down patients' metabolism – which would then naturally allow their body to cool – that might prove more effective, "because the body doesn't fight it", Drew says.

Slowing down metabolism could help to preserve organs destined for transplantation for longer time periods outside the body. It could also help to protect cancer patients against the harmful effects of radiation, which causes dangerous byproducts under normal metabolism, says neurophysiologist Domenico Tupone of Oregon Health and Science University and Italy's University of Bologna.

And importantly, slowing metabolism could buy time for patients suffering medical emergencies – from those suffering strokes who live long distances from hospitals, to soldiers wounded on battlefields (which is partly why the US Army Research Office and the Department of Defence have funded research on Arctic ground squirrels).

"If you could really genuinely, safely slow down metabolism for a long time, you could buy time for critical illness," Rice says.

More than a decade ago, Drew and her colleagues discovered one important trigger for hibernation in Arctic ground squirrels: adenosine, a natural molecule that accumulates in the human brain throughout the day and is thought to make us drowsy by the evening; in fact, caffeine works by blocking our body's receptors for adenosine.

In one 2011 study, Drew and her colleagues injected a drug with a similar structure to adenosine, called 6N-cyclohexyladenosine, or CHA, into the brains of Arctic ground squirrels. Sure enough, the animals would fall into a hibernation-like state, at least when the scientists did this close to the animals' natural hibernation time. Their metabolisms slowed down, their bodies stopped generating heat, "and then they cooled in a manner very similar to hibernation", Drew says.

Remarkably, the molecule has a similar effect in ordinary rats, even though the species doesn't naturally hibernate. In a 2013 study, Tupone and his colleagues injected CHA into rat brains and observed the animals' core body temperature fall from 38C (100F) to roughly 28C (82F). (Their bodies didn't cool any lower because the surrounding temperature was purposefully maintained in a mild, safe range, Tupone says.)

And, compared to hibernating Arctic ground squirrels, the rats exhibited similar patterns of electrical activity in their brains and similarly slow and irregular heartbeats.

It's a mystery why rats would have the ability to fall into a hibernation-like state; perhaps ancestral mammals hibernated and many species retained the molecular machinery that allows for this, Tupone speculates. To him, the experiment proves that it's possible to induce hibernation in animals that don't naturally do so, he says.

That said, translating this into humans is easier said than done; injecting adenosine-like drugs into the brain would be too invasive to be feasible in emergency medical situations, Drew says. And giving adenosine via blood infusions could have side effects, including dangerous fluctuations in blood sugar levels or even heart failure, she adds. (And in any case, Rice says it is – at least currently – impossible to cool human body temperatures as low as those of Arctic ground squirrels, which have special ways of super-cooling their tissues.)

While Drew is exploring ways of making adenosine safer for human use, Tupone has been investigating another strategy to induce hibernation. Just last year, he published a study showing the effects of chemically blocking a specific cluster of nerve cells inside the brains of rats, called the ventromedial periventricular area, which lies in the hypothalamus, a region that controls body temperature.

When these nerve cells are active, the body's temperature regulation system acts to maintain a warm core body temperature – for instance, preventing overcooling through shivering or avoid overheating by widening the skin's blood vessels to shed heat. But blocking these nerve cells turns the system on its head, in what Tupone and his colleagues call "thermoregulatory inversion": striving for a cooler body temperature, the animals' metabolism, heart rate, and breathing slows down and the body cools. And adenosine, Tupone speculates, might act as a signal that prompts the switch between the normal temperature regulation circuit to the alternative one.

Tupone is now collaborating with Drew to see if this alternative temperature control circuit is also what induces hibernation in Arctic ground squirrels. The research could help pave the way for developing drugs that block the responsible nerve cells. "If we can do that, we can create a very nice, regulated hibernation-like state in… humans for therapeutic purposes," Tupone says.

There isn't yet any evidence that this alternative temperature control circuit exists in humans. But, while cases of hypothermia in humans are often fatal, there are occasional cases where people have survived extremely low temperatures for some period of time. Over 10 years ago in Tresckow, Pennsylvania, a man survived intense hypothermia after passing out in 2ft (0.6m) of snow on a walk home from a night out. When he was found, his body temperature was just 18C (64F) – yet when he was medically warmed, he was found to be alive.

"Maybe hibernators and non-hibernators are not so different when they're presented with extreme circumstances," says biochemist and cell biologist Mark Roth of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in the US. "Maybe the ability for rodents or ground squirrels to do it is more apparent and less apparent in people, but maybe it's still there."

He and other scientists have been interested in Arctic ground squirrels' ability to resist certain kinds of injuries. One example is ischemia-reperfusion injury, the damage that happens when blood finally returns to an organ that has been deprived of oxygen due to a stroke or heart attack, for instance. The sudden rush of oxygen and immune cells can cause inflammation and cell death. Arctic ground squirrels seem to be resistant to this, perhaps because they're adapted to the low blood flow and little oxygen characteristic of hibernation, Rice says.

In one 2020 study, Drew, Roth, Rice and their colleagues discovered one possible reason: they found that Arctic ground squirrels' blood concentrations of iodide – a substance obtained from animal diets which plays important roles in the body – surge up to three times their normal levels during hibernation. The substance seems to protect against ischemia-reperfusion injury; when the scientists applied a tourniquet to the limbs of mice to cut off blood flow and then injected iodide, the animals suffered less tissue damage compared to animals that received a saline injection.

These and other findings motivated Roth and a company he founded, Faraday Pharmaceuticals, to explore the benefits of giving iodide to human patients. In a 2022 phase 2 clinical study, doctors administered an iodide-containing drug to dozens of patients about to undergo angioplasty treatment (a procedure used to widen narrow or blocked blood vessels) after suffering a severe heart attack. Compared to patients who received a placebo, the iodide-treated patients showed fewer signs of heart damage and stress, although the authors noted that a larger trial is needed to test the drug's effectiveness.

Rice, meanwhile, is trying to understand how Arctic ground squirrels manage to preserve so much of their muscle while they hibernate – knowledge that could be used to develop treatments that prevent muscle loss in patients on long-term bedrest, for instance. Williams, for his part, is studying how ground squirrels switch from a ravenous appetite in the weeks leading up to hibernation to fully suppressing appetite during hibernation – which could help pinpoint the neurological processes that suppress appetite in humans. "If we're thinking about drugs that can be used to combat obesity, we can potentially target the same neural pathways," Williams says.

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• Inside a trafficked pangolin's return to the wild

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Eventually, scientists speculate, Arctic ground squirrel research could even be useful for astronauts weathering long-term space flights, which is partly why Nasa has funded some of Drew's research.

In theory, putting astronauts in a state of suspended animation could reduce the amount of food required and waste produced, while also helping to combat the loss of muscle that occurs in anti-gravity and protecting astronauts from dangerous radiation in space, Drew says. "Also, the state… would alleviate some of the psychological challenges of being in a small spacecraft with lots of people," Drew says.

Deep inside the ground in the Arctic tundra, the female Arctic ground squirrel has months to go until the spring. As she lies transfixed in frozen slumber, scientists will continue to explore how her unique biology could help humans aboveground survive and thrive – and perhaps, one day, even fly to the stars.

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'Hotter and hotter and hotter' - Europe's new climate in seven charts

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8e2j0j87reo, yesterday

We might only be a few days into July, but two record-breaking summer heatwaves have already provided the UK and Europe with a snapshot of their new climate.

Hot on the heels of May's heat, June saw temperature records not only broken but smashed in what the UN's weather agency called an "extraordinary" event across the continent.

And after a brief period of respite, another heatwave is on the way.

If this feels unusual, that is because it is. But it is also exactly what scientists predicted in our warmer world, driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels releasing heat-trapping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.

"Human-induced climate change has made events like this more likely and more intense," said Prof Stephen Belcher, chief scientist at the UK Met Office.

The intensity of these heatwaves is evident from how far temperatures were above normal in May and June averaged across the UK, marked here in red.

While the June heat was strongest in southern England and south Wales, few areas escaped the warmth.

Temperatures peaked at 37.7C in Lingwood, Norfolk, according to provisional figures. It was one of several stations to surpass the UK's previous June high of 35.6C, set in 1957 and tied in 1976.

"To see temperatures like this in the UK in June is sobering," said Belcher.

Not every weather station has data as far back as the famous summer of 1976, but even some of the longest-running stations saw their previous records broken by 2C or more.

"We normally expect the records broken by small amounts – tenths, maybe up to a degree or so," said Ed Hawkins, professor of climate science at the University of Reading.

"So to have it shattered by such a large amount is noticeable and extraordinary, and of course this comes after a similar event in May."

June's heatwave may have felt particularly oppressive because it brought a double whammy of high temperatures and humidity. High humidity means it is harder for our bodies to cool down by sweating.

It also stayed very warm even after the Sun had set, making it difficult to sleep. Our bodies rely on cooler nighttime temperatures to recover from the heat of the day.

In Cardiff, temperatures did not drop below 23.5C on the night of Wednesday 24 June into Thursday – the warmest June night ever recorded around the UK.

Most of England and Wales experienced at least one tropical night in June, where temperatures do not fall below 20C. Historically, these have been very rare in the UK.

"We would definitely expect to see more and more tropical nights, as global temperatures keep rising," said Hawkins.

The same "heat dome" that brought extraordinary heat to the UK in June also saw records tumble across Europe.

The German weather service, Deutscher Wetterdienst, named it "a heatwave for the history books". The French weather agency, Météo-France, described it as "exceptional" and "historic".

More than a dozen countries across western, central and eastern Europe broke their June temperature record – with gaps of up to two or three degrees between old and new highs.

Some countries faced temperatures above 40C and set a new record for any time of year - even though June is typically cooler than July.

France and Spain also recorded their hottest June days in terms of a national average, although higher temperatures had been reached before at individual weather stations.

"Compared to historical measurements, this was obviously very unusual," said Sonia Seneviratne, professor at the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

The Alpine nation reached 39C, surpassing the previous June record by more than 2C.

"[But] I would say as a climate scientist, I was not that surprised to see this happen... when you know that we have a warming climate," she added.

Global temperatures have been rising over the past century due to humanity's emissions of greenhouse gases, but local or regional geography shapes the speed at which different places are warming.

And as Europe is warming particularly quickly, it is more exposed to frequent and stronger spells of extreme heat.

Europe's rapid warming is partly the result of the melting of bright snow and ice, and a drop in the number of tiny polluting particles in the air. This means that less of the Sun's energy is reflected back into space, leaving more energy to heat the Earth's surface.

Some scientists also argue that the warming climate may be changing atmospheric circulation patterns around Europe in a way that brings more of the high-pressure systems that can lead to heatwaves, although this is not certain.

Europe's seas are exceptionally warm this summer too. Marine heatwaves conditions around the UK's coast have strengthened partly because of last week's record-breaking air temperatures.

But as water takes longer to cool down than the air, sea heat can be longer-lasting. This can help to intensify future heatwaves on land by reducing the cooling effect from sea breezes.

Scientists are certain that climate change has already made warm spells like the June heatwave significantly hotter than the same weather systems of the past.

"The only way to explain [such strong heatwaves] is to taking into account this [long-term] warming," said Seneviratne

"When you have a high-pressure system, this heatwave will tend to be much hotter [now]. This is very well understood."

And scientists warn that as average temperatures continue to rise, hot spells of the future will be able to reach even higher temperatures.

Only a few decades ago, the UK reaching 30C in June was a relatively rare event. Now it has become the norm.

The long-term warming trend across the UK and Europe does not mean that the next heatwave will be hotter than the last, nor that next summer will necessarily be hotter than this one.

But scientists warn that UK and European summers will inevitably keep getting warmer on average as carbon emissions continue to heat up the planet.

"Our heatwaves will get hotter and hotter and hotter until we get to global net zero greenhouse gas emissions [and] we stabilise the climate," said Hawkins.

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Why the French are painting their windows with chalk to beat the heat

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260625-why-the-french-are-painting-chalk-on-their-windows, 9 days ago

A simple, low-tech remedy may help cool homes. Here's the science behind the trend.

As record-breaking heat sweeps over France, some shops are running out of a simple, cheap and unexpected product – crushed chalk.

Known as Blanc de Meudon, or Meudon whiting, it is normally used to make paints or as a cleaning product. But faced with punishing temperatures, there are reports that ingenious people have been using the chalky material as a home remedy against the heat, covering windows in schools and private homes.

Mixed with water, then painted on glass, the result is a milky, whitish coating that lets in some light but reflects the heat. And a growing body of research suggests that there may be some solid science behind the DIY cooling hack.

With heatwaves growing ever more frequent and intense due to rising global temperatures – and posing a particular danger to populations in cities – could a simple lick of white paint help people cope better when it hots up?

Radiative cooling

White paint – on walls and roofs, usually – is widely known to have a cooling effect. Generally speaking, white surfaces reflect sunlight and heat, while dark surfaces absorb it. This principle can be used to cool buildings and cities. Commercially available white paint on a surface can reduce temperatures on the other side by at least 1.7C (3F) compared to the ambient temperature at noon.

Paints specially developed to maximise cooling, such as ultra-white paint, have been shown to reduce the indoor temperature by several degrees by not only reflecting sunlight but also shedding heat through a process know as "radiative cooling".

One study on a form of ultra-white paint by researchers at Purdue University in Indiana, US, found it could reflect up to 98.1% of sunlight, while typical white paint reflects about 85% of sunlight. Another study showed that combining it with a layer of ultra-black paint underneath could lower daytime temperatures by up to 7.6C (14F).

One of the reasons why chalk might be effective, however, lies in the properties of its main component, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which is not only highly reflective but also resistant to solar radiation.

"Chalk is mostly CaCO3," says Xiangyu Li, a researcher at the Cooling Technologies Research Centre at Purdue University. "It absorbs very little sunlight, including the visible range, which makes it white. Additionally, it does not absorb UV and very little near infrared light, making it a great option for reflect all of the sunlight."

This property has led some researchers to use nanoparticles of calcium carbonate in new kinds of "super cool" paint.

"These kinds of particles are widely used in radiative cooling paint, also in our super cool paint," says Jiashuo Wang, a student at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, who is part of a team also working on cooling paint.

Chalk has also been used as a coating for fabric that keeps the wearer cool. Particles of calcium carbonate – the main ingredient in chalk – are good at reflecting ultraviolet and near-infrared light (the portion of sunlight that transmits heat).

In addition, chalk is considered to be relatively benign in terms of its health and environmental impact – though there may be some risks to respiratory health from indoor chalk use, and inhaling particles.

White windows and 'le cool roofing'

According to French media reports, demand for Blanc de Meudon is leading to stock shortages around the country as people struggle against temperatures of more than 40C (104F).

Blanc de Meudon is traditionally used to whiten shop windows during renovations or by gardeners in their greenhouses. But after the chalk-paint trick circulated on social media, demand for the product soared, French newspapers report.

"We'd known about the idea for a while, we talked about it during the last heatwave but forgot to buy any," Ouest France quotes a shopper called Philippe. "Now it's too late! It's sold out everywhere!"

Some French schools have also used the chalk paint on their windows, though an official warned that it's "not a miracle solution" and that properly insulated roofs are needed instead.

People have also whitened the windows of their apartments.

"If the windows are painted white, it will significantly reduce the indoor temperature, with stonger effects compared to walls," says Li.

The chalk, as well as white paint more generally, is cheap. And unlike air conditioning, which worsens the overall heat effect and emissions problem by consuming energy and releasing heat outside, paint only uses energy when it's produced.

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• The white roofs cooling Indian slums

• The simple ways cities can adapt to heatwaves

• How to exercise safely in hot weather

White-painted cool roofs – also known as "le cool roofing" in France – are also getting more attention there as a sustainable, low-tech way of combating extreme heat. The idea taps into a long tradition in many southern parts of Europe, such as Greece, of painting houses white to ward off the heat.

One study suggests that cool roofs – roofs painted white or with reflective coating – could have cooled London "by about 0.8C (1.4F) on average during a heatwave, preventing the heat-related deaths of an estimated 249 people". (Read about how women in India are using white paint to cool their homes.)

For those interested in another home remedy, there is an alternative: yoghurt. An experiment by researchers in the UK found that the indoor temperature of a house with yoghurt-painted windows was on average 0.6C (1.08F) cooler. They found that a thin film of the dairy product could lead to rooms being up to 3.5C (6.3F) cooler when it was "hot and sunny". While a smelly solution at first, the odour apparently disappears quickly as the yoghurt paint dries.

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Droughts are transforming the Turkish landscape with massive sinkholes

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260624-droughts-are-transforming-the-turkish-landscape-with-massive-sinkholes, 10 days ago

The "breadbasket" of Turkey, Konya's valleys are filled with the farms needed to feed a growing nation. But the available groundwater is drying up and causing fields to collapse.

In a green field of freshly-watered ground, patrolled by four dogs with short legs and big barks, a stretch of thin razor wire twists in a circle. On the other side of the wire, the ground falls away. A chasm has opened in the middle of this field, deep enough that standing on the edge could make anyone treacherously dizzy.

Two years ago, the ground collapsed, adding one more to the large number of sinkholes in Konya, a province in central Turkey. Mehmet Akıf Işıklı gazes into this sinkhole on his neighbour's farm, a match for the one that opened up in the middle of his own field.

Işıklı's farm outside of Karapınar is a family business, and he's been farming since 1995. He grows alfalfa, corn, wheat and other contract crops, and he has the first company growing seed corn in Karapınar. Smack in the middle of his own field is another crater – a sinkhole that opened nearly 20 years ago and punctuates a lush field like an asteroid crater. "We were in our field when the villagers informed us [about the sinkhole]. When we arrived, the land had just begun to collapse, and there was water bubbling and boiling within it," Işıklı says.

Konya is plagued by rapidly proliferating sinkholes. In central Anatolia, where the agricultural fields of corn and wheat and beets stretch out for miles and miles, the ground looks like it has been attacked by a cosmic hole punch, punctuated by a plague of craters. According to the Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), 684 of these massive abysses have opened in the Konya basin, with one of the largest stretching to 228m (752ft) in diameter and 171m (564ft) deep, marring the region often called the "breadbasket of Turkey". But they are not the result of bombs or meteors or anything from above. The problem is below the surface.

A perfect storm

Turkey has been seized by ongoing drought, with a United Nations report predicting that Turkey would become a water-poor country by 2030. This is exacerbating existing water scarcity problems throughout the country, making lakes dry up and agriculture falter. Konya's sinkhole problem is a perfect storm of geology, drought and intensive agriculture draining the groundwater.

In order to compensate for the lack of water brought on by the drought, local farmers are illegally tapping into the groundwater. The natural disaster, combined with irresponsible agricultural practices that include siphoning away the groundwater for crops, has left a devastating mark on Konya, creating these new hazards that pockmark the land in all directions, and potentially harming Turkey's food security.

Konya is located in a closed basin, a rare geological quirk that means the rivers and underground water that feed it never reach the sea, instead pooling in a series of lakes. The groundwater is key to the entire water system of this agricultural region. The Konya Basin is full of salt lakes, freshwater lakes, marshlands and other biodiverse water spots, all sustained by groundwater that balances out the soft karst rock of the ground. But without the underground water, those structures quickly weaken.

"Water, underground rivers in this case, act as underground structures that hold the humidity and the stability, strength of these karstic areas," says Güven Eken, founder of Doğa Derneği, a an environmental agency based in Turkey. "The water capacity is decreasing there because of the wrong excess irrigation policies; these underground rivers have virtually dried out. So the water which once flowed underneath the Konya basin is no longer there. The whole system has dried out."

In the closed basin, farmers have relied for many years on underground wells, including a large number of illegally dug wells, to water their fields. This irresponsible siphoning of groundwater has been going on for many years. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Türkiye did a study in 2014 in the Konya Basin on the water issues that were already plaguing the region, and found that of the 100,000 wells in the region at the time, 66,000 were illegal.

"Back in 2014, WWF Türkiye identified that there was 50% over-consumption of the water available. We call it water budget. You have water availability, and then you have the demand, then there was already an overconsumption issue, mainly because of the illegal wells," says Eren Atak, freshwater programme manager at WWF Türkiye.

The extraction of the groundwater might let the farmers water their fields for now, but without allowing time for the groundwater to replenish, they are borrowing from the future to succeed in the present – and causing the ground to collapse under their feet.

"Sinkholes right now are the final stage of the whole story. It is visible now, but it was visible way before, [just] not as sinkholes," says Atak.

An expanding problem

Sinkholes have been a feature of the Konya plain throughout history. "Sinkhole formations were formed thousands of years ago in the region. The plateau where the Kızören sinkhole is located is already known as the Obruk Plateau. "'Obruk' is a local Turkish expression for 'sinkhole'," says Fetullah Arık, head of the Geological Engineering Department at Konya Technical University. The area has experienced natural sinkholes over generations, with paleo-sinkholes from thousands of years ago formed due to the limestone caves and crevasses collapsing into themselves.

But the number of sinkholes has expanded rapidly in recent years. When the İnoba sinkhole was formed in 2008 right next to a village and the Yarımoğlu Sinkhole appeared close to the Konya-Adana highway in 2009, some began to realise the threat.

"The sinkholes are dangerous structures," says Arık. So far, they have not killed anyone, but there is always the threat that it could happen as the ground collapses, and that the way local farmers treat the sinkholes could exacerbate the problem. "Most of the time, [the farmers] try to close [the sinkhole] in panic… However, it is quite dangerous to fill it randomly without awareness. Because there is a cavity at the bottom that swallows the existing material, the collapse can be repeated and new hazards can be created," says Arık.

Back in the 1960s, Turkish authorities brought in agricultural policies for water allowances, establishing subsidies and recommending appropriate practices. However, those policies are outdated and haven't been adapted to reflect the current water issues facing Turkey and, specifically, the Konya Basin.

"Turkey requires a drastic political change immediately in these areas, which will both generate sufficient income to the agricultural community in the area and to the citizens of Konya Basin," says Eken. "It requires a very systematic agricultural basin-wide planning and implementation of it. Unfortunately, at this stage, we cannot see the signs of these.

"The symptoms are diverse, very different, but the solution is really simple: design a new agricultural strategy." (The Turkish authorities were contacted for a response, but declined to comment.)

Currently, water-thirsty crops such as sugar beets and maize, which are subsidised by the government, are grown throughout the Konya Basin. While these crops might be profitable, it is at the expense of the ecosystem where they are grown; there is not enough water to support expansive fields of water-thirsty crops in central Anatolia.

Incentivising crops that are better-suited to the climate and water budget of the Konya Basin, like grapes or native wheat varieties, would lead to a healthier ecosystem overall and slow the depletion of Konya's groundwater. Otherwise, the agricultural industry in the region could collapse as it dries out, and the consequences would reverberate throughout the country, authorities say.

Simmering issue

"It's very important for our food security…we as a country depend on fisheries, forestry, agriculture, so we need to sustain these resources. Livelihoods are dependent on that," says Atak. "I never blame the farmers. I never blame the local communities. I mean, they were born into a traditional system: fisheries, forestry, farming. And it is the government duty to plan, to inform, to guide, provide incentives and everything." (Turkish authorities declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.)

There are efforts to track the sinkholes, led by Arık and his team at Konya Technical University Sinkhole Research Center. "Currently, efforts are underway to create sinkhole sensitivity and hazard maps," says Arık. "The Obruk Susceptibility Map for Konya Province was made by a team including us. These maps are taken into account in zoning plans. In addition, in the zoning planning studies, special research is carried out for the sinkhole problem and measures are determined."

But ultimately, unless the larger issue of water usage and agricultural practices are addressed, the problem will continue to grow. It's easy to blame the drought, but the drought has only brought a simmering issue into closer focus. "The conditions that we observe in the Konya basin, these sinkholes… this is a fully anthropogenic problem. We have created this problem. The climate crisis, yes, has accelerated the problem further, but it's not the underpinning cause," says Erek, referring to the drought throughout the region. "The sinkholes are really the tip of the iceberg."

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• The Croatian village where the land became 'Swiss cheese'

In Karapınar, the area most plagued by the sinkholes, Işıklı and his friend, another farmer named Caner Çorakçı, sit drinking tea and reflecting on the strange phenomenon of farming in a region where the ground might give out. There's a sinkhole in Çorakçı's field, and he tries to farm around it.

"We've gotten used to this situation, because this kind of mess is happening in all regions now. As a result, we're seeing that many parts of our fields are being affected and their surface area is sinking." He knows ultimately the government is responsible for dealing with the water issues that affect his farming and his field, and fears where the sinkhole will strike next. (Turkish authorities were contacted by the BBC, but did not respond.)

Çorakçı and Işıklı are most concerned about their pressing issues now: drought and the economy and farm yields and water availability. But if the problem isn't addressed, the future of the Konya Basin could be bleak.

"The risk is the whole basin is sinking. What's going to be in the future in 10 years' time? Twenty years' time? Will these people migrate elsewhere? Will agriculture be completely out of the agenda of Turkey in the Konya Basin?" says Atak from WWF. "[The farmers] are aware of what's going on. They are concerned. But in the end, this is their income. They depend on the harvest; for harvest, they have to dig these wells and get water. So I think it's an example of tragedy of the commons."

But the farmers hold onto their optimism in the face of the uncertain ground they stand on. "We are not happy with how things are going," says Çorakçı, but adds: "We believe that everything will get better, God willing."

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Endangered pygmy hogs released in India

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn94ewlrpndo, today

A wildlife conservation trust has released 15 of the world's smallest and rarest pigs in India.

Jersey's Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has been working in the Kuribeel grasslands of Manas National Park in Assam.

The trust said in1996, six pygmy hogs were taken from the grasslands to help set up a captive breeding programme nearby to safeguard the species from extinction.

Rebecca Brewer, the trust's chief executive said it was "proud" to lead the initiative that had "saved the pygmy hog from extinction and helped the wild population to grow and thrive in their historic home once again".

The trust said the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme was set up to protect the pigs which were once thought to be extinct.

It said they were rediscovered in 1971 when a group was found sheltering from a grassland fire in a neighbouring tea plantation.

The trust said it had successfully bred and released 194 hogs.

It said it had also worked for eight years to restore the grassland, where there have been no signs of a wild population for about a decade.

Over the next five years, it said it hoped to release about 80, with the goal of rebuilding a thriving wild population of 300 by 2040.

'Remarkable conservation achievement'

Dr Parag Jyoti Deka, director of the conservation programme said it would continue to strengthen its post-release monitoring strategies.

"The most recent release involving camera-trap and sign surveys along with a radio-telemetry tracking of five pygmy hogs to assess their behaviour, survival, and habitat use after reintroduction," he said.

Deka added every additional step taken would allow them to "learn and create a better, stronger future for this fascinating species".

Dr Vinay Gupta, principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden of Assam said the reintroduction was a "remarkable conservation achievement" and such efforts "are vital for restoring grassland ecosystems and safeguarding threatened species".

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Evacuations in Guam as super typhoon Bavi approaches

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7xpgx50jxo, today

Emergency evacuations are taking place in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as a super typhoon bears down on the US Pacific territories.

Bavi is forecast to make landfall early on Monday morning, with winds of up to 257km/h (160mph), according to the US National Weather Service (NWS).

It warned the "very dangerous" storm could cause "catastrophic" damage, with "significant flooding from torrential rains" possible and waves potentially nearly 11m (35ft) high on Monday.

The western Pacific region is particularly prone to tropical cyclones - though storms of this strength are unusual for the US islands.

Bavi is expected to pass directly over Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands by Monday afternoon, but the NWS warned that destructive conditions could be felt eight to 10 hours from the storm's centre.

"The window is rapidly closing to evacuate if directed to do so by local officials, or if your home is vulnerable to high winds or flooding," the agency said, adding that winds "will pose a deadly threat to those venturing outside".

Guam, usually a sun-soaked tourist destination with a population of about 170,000, has opened five evacuation centres in its schools. These sites have a maximum capacity of around 1,700 and are primarily intended for vulnerable people.

The island's civil defence office said at 13:00 local time (03:00 GMT) on Sunday that one of the evacuation sites had already reached maximum capacity and that people were being redirected to another site.

Bavi has been classified as a super typhoon by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), a part of the US Navy responsible for monitoring tropical storms in the western Pacific.

A super typhoon has winds in excess of 130 knots (150mph). JTWC predicts that Bavi will have winds of 150 knots (173mph) when it arrives over the islands, with gusts reaching as high as 180 knots (207mph).

The NWS considers super typhoons to have the equivalent destructive potential as a category four or five hurricane.

Pinky Cubacub, 55, told news agency AFP that she had been boarding up the windows of her eatery in Guam with $500 (£373) worth of plywood.

"I cannot afford to lose so many days. It hurts," she said. "Because I just started, whatever we're making right now is just for rent, utilities, and my people, and supplies. I don't even pay myself yet."

Japanese tourist Miku Sakurai, 25, told AFP that her return flight to Tokyo on Sunday had been cancelled.

"We will stay in the hotel when the storm comes. I am scared," she said.

The western Pacific region regularly sees powerful typhoons - but scientists say climate change is making them more frequent and intense.

Bavi will be the 11th category four or five tropical cyclone to hit US territory in the past decade - one more than the total recorded in the prior 57 years.

A strong El Niño event - a periodic warming of an area of surface water in the Pacific that contributes to weather patterns - is expected to push more tropical storms into these higher intensities.

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have already experienced one super typhoon this year - Sinlaku in April, which killed 17 people and caused about $1.5bn (£1.1bn) in damage.

Warmer sea surface temperatures drive more moisture into the atmosphere, supercharging storms.

Battery storage site given go-ahead after appeal

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyxejj8221o, today

A decision to reject plans for a battery energy storage system (BESS) near a village in Wakefield has been overturned following an appeal.

The government's Planning Inspectorate has given the go-ahead for the facility, which releases the power it stores back to the National Grid when demand is high, to be installed at Heath following a public inquiry.

More than 2,000 residents, along with MPs and councillors, had objected to Harmony Energy's plan to install 72 containers for lithium ion batteries on nearby farmland.

However, the government's inspector ruled the need for the facility, which stores power from renewable energy sources, "far outweighs the low level of harm" to the village.

In July last year, members of Wakefield Council's planning and highways committee unanimously voted against its own officers' recommendation to approve the plan.

Harmony Energy then made an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, saying the scheme would contribute to the government's green energy targets.

In his decision published on Thursday, planning inspector John Braithwaite said: "Storage has a key role to play in achieving net zero and providing flexibility to the energy system."

"The world is in crisis: a climate crisis caused by carbon emissions. One of the remedies to the crisis is to reach net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible," he stated.

According the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Braithwaite added that if the climate crisis was "not successfully addressed, then the green belt might become no longer green and might have to be renamed the brown belt".

Jon Trickett, Labour MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, previously described the scheme as "environmental vandalism".

Following the ruling, he said he was "very annoyed" about the decision.

"I firmly believe that local people know what's best and am aghast at what has happened," Trickett said.

"I understand that a range of matters still may need to be resolved and I call on the new leadership of Wakefield Council to stand up for the local community."

During the inquiry, one of the main issues raised related to the impact on the green belt and on buildings close to the site.

The site lies within the setting of the Grade II listed Dame Mary Bolles Water Tower, which dates back to the 17th Century, and the Heath conservation area.

Harmony Energy claimed the site should be redefined as "grey belt", a concept introduced in 2024 aimed at freeing up some green belt areas for development.

Stephanie Hall, for Harmony, said the scheme would "assist the council and the UK in delivering meaningfully on climate and biodiversity agendas".

The council had failed to allocate any sites for renewable energy in its latest Local Plan, a document which outlines future development within the district, Hall said.

The heritage impacts would be reversible and temporary, and at a "lower level" than assessed by other parties, she added.

A spokesperson for the company said they were "pleased that the project can move forward following a thorough examination".

"We are committed to supporting a homegrown UK energy system that the nation can be proud of, and this decision is an essential step in reducing our reliance on foreign imports and exposure to global energy supply shocks," they said.

"Sites located next to existing substations play a vital role in strengthening energy security and reducing the nation's reliance on carbon-intensive resources and imported energy."

They added the company remained "committed to delivering significant heritage enhancements which are of clear importance to local residents and to the heritage of this part of Wakefield".

'Voices ignored'

Representing the council, Philip Robson had told the public inquiry that the authority "supported the principle of renewable and clean energy development", but the proposal "would physically alter the historic landscape".

"It would also harm the open, rural character of the fields in the west of the designated area through the introduction of modern infrastructure, as well as the expanding development of Wakefield city centre into the historic landscape itself," he said.

Local groups who also opposed the scheme included the Heath Residents' Association, Wakefield Civic Society, Wakefield and District Gypsy and Travellers' Association and The Forgotten Women of Wakefield.

A spokesperson for the I Love Heath Common campaign group, which was formed in opposition to the proposals shortly after they were submitted in 2022, said the result of the appeal was "a sad day for the thousands of people who have ever enjoyed the unique landscape of Heath".

"Over 2,000 people objected to this plan, including seven MPs from across the political spectrum and a host of heritage experts," they said.

"The people of Wakefield will not forget their voices were ignored."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

Wildfire on heathland started deliberately

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg5547j357o, today

A fire service believes a wildfire on heathland which was tackled by crews from 13 fire stations was started deliberately.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to Bere Road, Wareham, following reports of a blaze at 14:50 BST on Saturday.

Multiple off-road vehicles and water carriers, including one from Hampshire, were at the scene, along with a command unit.

The service urged members of the public to avoid the area during the operation. Later in the evening it said firefighters had surrounded the fire and were dampening down hotspots.

Village facing 'existential' threat from climate change

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg7eyd5lnno, today

After a year of winter storms, heatwaves and record rainfall, communities are grappling with how to adapt to climate change. In Torcross, a £20m sea defence scheme is planned amid warnings the Devon village faces an "existential" threat from the sea.

Some people were "thinking about demolition and walking away" after violent winter storms battered their homes in the Devon village of Torcross earlier this year.

It was "a disaster that happened overnight," added George Arnison, the Environment Agency's coastal engineer for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

During January and February 2026 huge waves smashed into the sea defences which protected the coastal community around Start Bay, badly damaging seafront properties, washing away part of the main road and leaving the village facing what Arnison described as an "existential" threat.

Later this summer work will begin to position 55,000 tonnes of rock in front of the existing sea defences as part of a £19.8m improvement scheme that Arnison said would "buy the community some time".

But research by the University of Plymouth shows the level of the beach in Start Bay has dropped by around 2m (6.6ft) in places, making the old sea defences less effective.

The latest on Torcross was unveiled this week just as scientists and experts were meeting for the Exeter Climate Forum, with some calling for more to be done to cut emissions and adapt to a warming world.

'Wake up call'

"Torcross was a real wake up call," Arnison said. "This is what climate change can look like.

"Torcross was very unlucky on this occasion, another day, another year, it would be somewhere else.

"But we've got to start having the conversations and work out what we do. Not just for places like Torcross but for other places around our coastline that are similarly at risk."

Arnison said the scheme was "value for money" but admitted it was not a permanent solution and there were "no easy answers".

"It will buy the community some time, buy the government some time, buy the Environment Agency some time, to think through what is the long term future here?"

Villagers are still coming to terms with the enormity of the damage.

"It was absolutely terrifying," said Gail Stubbs, owner of the family-run Start Bay Inn.

"We were waiting for buildings to collapse. The storms were relentless."

Sue Dob, lives in the nearby village of Stokenham.

"Torcross is very special, for it not to exist, I can't imagine," she said.

"Mainly for the people that live here for the terrifying experiences they had whilst those storms were coming in. This work has to happen."

As experts and leaders gathered for the Exeter Climate Forum, scientists renewed calls for faster action to tackle climate change and adapt to it.

"Climate change isn't a far away thing," said glaciologist and ice sheet modeller Helen Millman from the University of Exeter.

"We talk about the 'tragedy of the horizon', which means that politicians are always looking at what's happening now and climate change is always something that's on the horizon.

"But actually, it is happening now and it is affecting everybody," Millman added.

"And it's only going to keep getting worse until we get to Net Zero."

The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero said a target to reduce emissions by at least 81% by 2035 was already in place, with more than £100bn of private investment announced for clean energy in the UK.

So, should the Environment Agency - and other authorities - be doing more to plan for situations like Torcross?

"It is our job but it's not just our job," Arnison said.

"In practice, adaptation means social change, moving houses, moving people, businesses, infrastructure, roads and that involves a whole host of organisations; local government, other agencies, national government.

"As a country we are only just beginning to grapple with this and come to terms with it. And it's not easy."

Heatwave ready?

Following the winter's storms, the UK and Europe have been dealing with record-breaking temperatures in June and forecasters predict we could be heading for another heatwave in July..

But experts say we are unprepared for extreme heat.

"Our built environment is generally designed to keep the heat in and not keep hot temperatures out," said Jennifer Lay from the University of Exeter who researches the impact of heatwaves and high temperatures on people.

"Air conditioning is very rare, particularly in homes. People may have fans but they may circulate hot air rather than bringing the cold air in."

"Building materials are not always conducive with hot temperatures, so people can be at risk, especially those with mobility constraints and those who are older," Lay added.

Climate vulnerable communities

Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon Caroline Voaden is calling for urgent action to save communities like Torcross and tackle the much wider impact.

"Start Bay isn't unique, around England's coastline many communities are facing a version of what's happening here," she said.

"Whether it's coastal erosion or extreme heat, our governments have been on the back foot for years and we've wasted so many opportunities to prepare for changing climate.

"There's no more time to waste - we have to find the political will and the money to support our climate vulnerable communities."

The Environment Agency project does not include the repair of the A379 coastal road - known as the Slapton Line - which was also partly washed away and has been closed since February.

A separate bid for government funding has been made to help cover the estimated £20m repair bill for the route.

Meanwhile Bude in Cornwall is part way through a £3m project to help coastal communities adapt to coastal erosion and climate change, as part of the Defra and EA backed Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme (CTAP) programme.

In June, the Climate Change Committee published its report into the progress being made on the UK Government's progress to date in reducing emissions, saying it was not moving fast enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to protect households and businesses from volatile fossil fuel prices.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said the government was taking action.

"We are acting to protect people and places from the impacts of climate change that are already being felt across the UK - from flooding to extreme heat and drought," she said.

"We have already invested a record £2.65bn to repair and build flood defences, protecting tens of thousands of homes and businesses, and have deployed the largest nature-friendly farming budget in history to support sustainable food production and security.

"Robust, independent science is essential and we will carefully consider the Climate Change Committee's latest recommendations to drive further action."

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Heatwave conditions forecast as health alert issued

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1ey24qle78o, today

Somerset is facing another heatwave in the coming days, with temperatures set to jump to highs of 28C.

To meet the definition of a heatwave, the mercury will have to rise above 26C for three consecutive days or more.

This threshold is set to be breached every day in Somerset from Sunday to Friday, but it will be nowhere near as hot as late-June when Merryfield, in the south of the county, set a new UK June temperature record of 36.7C.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a yellow heat-health alert for Somerset and other parts of the UK from 12:00 BST on Sunday until 20:00 on 11 July, meaning there is greater risk to the lives of vulnerable people.

The alert warns there is likely to be higher use of healthcare services by vulnerable people, indoor environments may become very warm, while water-related deaths, including from cold-water shock and drowning, may increase.

BBC meteorologist Linda Ludlow said Somerset would start to see heatwave conditions over the weekend, while counties in the far south-west were more likely to meet heatwave conditions from Wednesday.

"The dry weather will continue thanks to high pressure which remains dominant until the start of the following week," she said.

"This heatwave won't be as hot as the previous one two weeks ago though, as the wind is not drawing in from the continent."

Meteorologists warn summer heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more severe due to climate change.

The world's 11 warmest years since records began have all occurred since 2015. While natural weather patterns have contributed, scientists warn human-driven climate change is the primary factor pushing temperatures to extremes.

Our widespread use of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These gases act like a blanket, trapping extra energy and causing the planet to heat up.

Akshay Deoras, senior research scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, said climate change "has provided the springboard" for successive heatwaves.

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Scientist dubbed The Bogfather is restoring peatland to fight climate change

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy498d400pro, yesterday

Dr Peter Jones has spent the past 30 years immersed - quite literally - in bogs, fens and wetlands, trying to help save the planet and earning himself the nickname The Bogfather in the process.

These landscapes are now at the forefront of the climate crisis and Jones has been making an offer that policymakers are finding hard to refuse, a nature-based solution that tackles climate change, flooding, wildfires and biodiversity loss all at the same time.

Peatlands store 30% of Wales' land-based carbon, despite covering only 4% of the surface, but they are about 90% degraded, meaning they leak greenhouse gases instead of storing them.

Healthy peatland can slow the flow of water, helping prevent flooding, and act as natural firebreaks during wildfires - both of which are expected to become more common as the climate warms - and protecting them has become Jones's lifelong mission.

"I certainly wouldn't have come up with that myself," he laughs when asked about his nickname.

"A couple of our younger, enthusiastic colleagues started calling me that."

But the name stuck and, given how much work he has done to restore peatland, few would argue with it, said colleague Hanna Huws.

Jones's interest in the natural world began with birds, but his passion for peatland was ignited at age eight during a drizzly visit to Cors Caron, a national nature reserve near Tregaron.

Now in his 60s, his love of peatland has endured and it often means he stops on walks to investigate, "probably much to the annoyance of my long-suffering family," he laughed.

Jones said wetlands were among the UK's last truly natural places and "endlessly interesting".

"They're quite wild... with a lot of the characteristics of genuinely natural habitat."

But it is what lies beneath that fascinates him most.

"A peat soil is basically composed of the partially decomposed remains of plants.

"As the peat grows, it traps within it anything that falls on the surface... grains of pollen, dust, even bits of volcanic ash and even bigger objects," including bodies, he said.

The reason 90% of Wales' peatland is damaged is because it was historically "perceived as having relatively little value" so trees were planted and farmers were encourage to drain them for agriculture.

Jones said it had also played "an immensely important part of the cultural and social history of Wales".

"In past centuries rural communities may not have had very much money, there often wasn't very much wood around to burn and so peat was seen as a really important source of fuel."

Damaged peatland is also "much more prone to erosion" leading to "peat cliffs" where "all the peat around it has been slowly eroded away by wind and rain right down to bedrock".

Jones said the best way to spot healthy peatland was the plants growing on it, "there'll be grasses, sedges, heathers, critically there will often be bog mosses of the genus sphagnum".

This moss, which can hold 20 times its own weight in water, is "really good at building peat".

Jones and his colleagues help farmers and landowners restore peatland which, when healthy, is home to "a whole range of animals, including many scarce or threatened invertebrates".

Jones said his favourite species was the fly orchid found in fens on Anglesey, where he lives.

"It's a fascinating plant," he said.

Despite the flowers looking like flies, they actually attract digger wasps, according to The Wildlife Trusts.

They release a scent mimicking a female's pheromones, luring in males that attempt to mate with them.

They are dusted with pollen, which they then carry to the next flower which deceives them.

Such interesting biodiversity relies on healthy peatland, which Wales does not have much of.

But there is hope.

There are more than 100 ways to restore peatland, including blocking drains and ditches and re-establishing bog vegetation.

If treated right, peat accumulates "about a millimetre a year," Jones said.

To put this into perspective, 1m (3.3ft) of peat can take up to 1,000 years to form.

Jones said Wales has been looking after some peatlands for more than 50 years, but society's wider awareness has started to improve in recent years.

"We're committed to getting up to restoring around about 1,800 hectares per year by the end of 2030-1."

"It is a pressing issue," Jones said.

"As climate change gradually progresses, the task of restoring some of our peatlands is going to be made a bit more difficult because there'll be less rainfall in the summer."

He said there were teams like his "all over the place" and when they come together at conferences, "you realise you're part of a much bigger effort".

"People might not at first sight think this is a special place, but it is," he said.

"Every peatland in Wales has got a different story to it, it's evolved in a different way."

Circus combines tradition with climate message

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8j2mlmwzd3o, yesterday

Think of a circus and the big top, clowns, acrobats and trapeze artists come to mind - but there is a circus with a difference on tour this summer.

Young people in Gloucestershire have been given the opportunity to combine traditional circus skills with voicing their concerns about the environment.

The Great Big Climate Circus is a four-year project, funded by a National Lottery grant, which will visit 12 locations across Gloucestershire.

Devised by Dursley-based World Jungle, the circus is a mix of music, performance, visual arts and hands-on activities, co-created by more than 700 young people.

'Positive action'

Director Ben Ward said the aim was to make the issues surrounding climate change accessible, fun and relevant to everyday life.

"Rather than using fear or blame, the arts are a brilliant way to engage young people and build confidence," he said.

"The circus enables participants to express their thoughts and feelings about the planet and to inspire others in positive action."

Since April, The Great Big Climate Circus has hosted free arts workshops to allow participants to work on their performances and create costumes and backdrops to decorate the big top circus tent.

"We wanted to create a clear scene using our acrobatic skills to put forward our message of green energy versus fossil fuels," said Robyn Beaudro, 18, who attends the School of Larks circus school in Stroud.

"As someone who's always been quite an activist for climate change, inspired by Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough, it's nice to be able to inspire more young people to do the same," she said.

The show was first launched in Stroud on 20 June with further performances taking place in Dursley and Gloucester later in July.

"The audience thought the message was really well conveyed and really quite provocative," said Beaudro after the opening night.

'Golden thread'

Daisy Koos, 20, who also trains with the School of Larks, said her circus act was a great way to combine her acrobatic skills with a climate message.

"Being able to put it into body movement and a routine that we've worked really hard towards making has been really inspiring, even for me as well," she said.

"It's been really nice to put the message out to the younger generation."

Stroud-based Creative Sustainability, which has co-led the project, will continue to support about 120 young people throughout the year to develop confidence to take further action.

Project manager Honor Binning said: "The golden thread throughout all this work is young people's voices.

"We are excited to see their ideas come to life."

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Sixteen wheelbarrows of jellyfish wash up at pool

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4rvkr083xo, 2 days ago

About 16 wheelbarrows worth of jellyfish have washed up at a seaside pool, staff have said.

Jodie Harper from Bude Sea Pool, in Cornwall, said the concrete terrace at the tidal swimming baths "was completely covered" and the shallows filled with them after high tide on Thursday.

She said: "We have never seen anything like it. Once they're stranded out of the water they don't survive for long so there was nothing we could do to save them."

Experts said in recent days more jellyfish had been seen inshore, due to calmer waters, and some species often seen in the Mediterranean had also been spotted off the UK coast.

"Lots of blue jellyfish" have been seen off Wembury Marine Centre, Devon, said the county's wildlife trust, with compass jellyfish seen in other parts of the UK.

Devon Wildlife Trust's Coral Smith said jellyfish sightings were "quite common and expected at this time of year" and "they rely on the ocean currents to move around, so they will have got swept in perhaps on windy days", then staying inshore in calm weather.

She said there had been "a few reports" in the region of mauve jellyfish from the Mediterranean linked to warmer seas and heatwaves.

Smith, marine education officer, said the mauve jellyfish "can pack quite a sting" and explained they sting "what they think is prey".

"Some people can be quite sensitive to them and other people tolerate them better."

She advised if stung to get the tentacles off with a credit card or similar and have a "really good rinse with lukewarm water," take an antihistamine if needed and get help from the emergency department "if it is really bad".

Smith said: "The species of jellyfish do tend to change" and "the early signs are there" that more jellyfish are being seen in warmer weather.

"The species that favour warmer waters are likely to do quite well."

Harper added in Bude mainly moon jellyfish were seen at the outdoor pool with "a couple of blue and a barrel jellyfish both of which can give a mild sting and are best observed from a distance".

Smith urged people to report any sightings to help build up a picture of species appearing.

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France records 2,025 excess deaths at peak of heatwave as Europe braces for more extreme weather

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ry307rxqro, 2 days ago

France has said it recorded an increase of more than 2,000 deaths during the last week of a record-breaking European heatwave in June as forecasters warn of further extreme temperatures on the continent in the next few days.

Deaths rose 29% in the last week of June compared to the week before, with French health minister Stéphanie Rist adding there had been a "clear increase" in deaths among those over 45.

France saw its hottest day ever on average country-wide on 24 June, with temperatures hitting almost 41C in Paris and half the nation placed under a red heat alert.

News of the death toll comes with parts of Europe, including the UK, braced for more searing temperatures from this weekend.

BBC Weather says a large area of high pressure is currently building from the Azores towards Portugal and Spain and that by the weekend, heat is forecast to climb across France and southern Britain.

And as Europe braces for sweltering conditions, millions of Americans celebrating the July Fourth holiday weekend are already being affected by prolonged extreme heat and high humidity in parts of the central and eastern US.

Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world - but particularly in Europe. It is the fastest warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus climate service.

This is causing increased summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe's water supply, and more intense wildfires.

This summer's record-breaking temperatures have already proved particularly deadly.

Belgium recorded 1,222 excess deaths during the heatwave – 39% more than usual – with almost half being people aged 85 and over.

The country's health ministry said the number of deaths during a heatwave was "unprecedented".

In France, the number of deaths recorded between 22 and 28 June increased by 2,025 - nearly 30%, the Public Health France agency announced on Friday. Deaths rose by 62% in the Paris region alone.

The French health ministry said the figure was likely an "underestimate" and mortality would "therefore be higher than these initial figures".

Drowning deaths soared during the heatwave, with French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez saying on Saturday that 72 people had died by drowning since 18 June.

Meanwhile, unprecedented heat in the Netherlands last week led to about 480 excess deaths, Dutch authorities said on Thursday - most of whom were aged 80 and older.

Temperatures reached almost 40C in parts of the country, with most of the deaths reported in the south and east of the Netherlands where temperatures were highest.

While the Netherlands is expecting a cooler week ahead, hot weather is predicted again over the weekend elsewhere.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 40C in the south of France, with peaks of 36C to 37C expected around Bordeaux, Toulouse and Agen.

Météo-France has issued red alerts for Friday and Saturday for forest fires in the southern part of the country, warning that weather conditions meant the risk of an outbreak was "very high" compared to summer norms.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said nearly 7,000 fires had broken out since the start of the summer season, with about 8,700 hectares burned so far.

Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated after a wildfire ignited in the town of Sainte-Marie-la-Mer and spread to Canet-en-Roussillon on Thursday.

In the Iberian Peninsula, Aemet weather service has warned of the possibility of another heatwave.

Portugal's government declared a state of alert which will remain in place until midnight on Tuesday. Temperatures are forecast to exceed 40C in some areas, with overnight temperatures above 25C.

In Spain, areas of the southwest are on orange alert as 40C is expected in some parts.

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Jersey had hottest June since records began

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2eyvnv4xddo, 2 days ago

Jersey has had its warmest June since records began in 1894, experts have said.

Jersey Met said Thursday, 25 June, was "the hottest day on record for the island", when the temperature soared to a record-breaking 39.3°C (102.7F).

The previous record was on 18 July 2022 when the temperature reached 37.9C (100.2F).

The heatwave between 21 to 25 June had four consecutive days with temperatures of 30C (86F) or more, it said.

There were also three tropical nights when the temperature did not dip below 20C (68F), it said.

The coldest Jersey June temperature recorded was in 1916 and 1972 when the mercury hit 13C (55.4F).

The average sea temperature this June was 16.2C (61F), Jersey Met said, and the coldest June sea temperature was 13.5C (56.3F) in 1986.

Jersey had 49.1mm (1.9 inches) of rain with 44% of it falling on 1 June when 21.7mm (0.8 inches) fell.

Jersey Met said 1925 and 1976 were the driest Junes on record with 0.2mm of rain.

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Old British fridges 'cannot cope with the heat'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77yejxnvpxo, 3 days ago

As Britain braces itself for another hot week, experts are warning that many fridges in UK homes and supermarkets are unable to cope with the sort of record-breaking temperatures we have been experiencing.

Bristol-based refrigeration expert Dr Alan Foster said the appliances were "designed decades ago in a much cooler world".

Fridges are typically designed to operate in air temperatures up to about 32C. When temperatures rise above that – as they did last week and may again next week – they can struggle to stay cool or fail completely.

Shoppers in Somerset and Bristol reported supermarket fridges switched off and empty, while engineers in Wiltshire reported record call-outs to home fridges that have "given up the ghost".

As the Met Office warns that heatwaves are becoming more common in the UK, the question is whether the nation's fridges can keep up.

Why do fridges struggle in hot weather?

In a testing lab in Lower Langford, Somerset, Foster runs experiments to see how fridges cope with rising temperatures.

Inside a climate-controlled chamber, a standard fridge is fitted with sensors and filled with gel blocks to measure how evenly it cools.

"We can test the temperature across different parts of the fridge," he explained. Crucially, they can also make the room warmer or cooler, to see how the fridge survives in a warming world.

His team at Refrigeration Developments and Testing, (RD&T) work for many of the big retailers, advising them how to cope with climate change.

"In most of the supermarkets out there, the fridges were designed for 32C, which obviously isn't enough, because these were designed decades ago.

"It was a much cooler world."

He said once temperatures go beyond what the system was designed for, the compressor works continually to keep things cold – eventually leading to breakdown.

Why are supermarket fridges switching off?

When systems are under pressure, supermarkets may reduce the number of chilled cabinets in use to keep others working.

The systems run on central refrigeration units, so by closing some cabinets they can keep enough crucial ones cool.

A study commissioned by the UK Climate Change Commission found that the food industry was badly hit by the UK heatwave of 2022, which saw a maximum temperature of 40.3C for the first time.

The study noted increased energy costs, and failure of refrigeration systems in numerous retail facilities.

At that time, they noted, supermarkets were forced to empty shelves as chillers stopped working.

Shoppers noticed the same thing in the high temperatures last week.

As the Somerset village of Merryfield recorded a record high of 36,7C, shoppers in the nearby town of Cheddar spotted empty fridges in the shops.

David Morris, who was shopping in Cheddar, said the situation was worrying.

"It reiterates the fact we're entirely unprepared for this climate situation."

He said people need to "pull together" to help resolve issues for the next generation.

Another shopper said a local express store had "hiked up prices yet they can't keep the fridges going".

But surely, I wonder, don't they have fridges in hot countries that cope just fine?

"It's just down to money," Dr Foster smiled.

Supermarkets are already designing fridges for 35C, even 38C, he said.

But to replace all the older supermarket fridges overnight is "impossible", he warned.

"It's very expensive, there are lots of systems out there, they've got a life of 20 years and they can't just replace them all now, because the investment is too expensive."

What about fridges in home kitchens?

The problem isn't limited to supermarkets. Engineers repairing domestic appliances said demand has surged during hot weather.

"The phones were ringing off the hook," said Cindy Nellis, from Bath Domestic Appliances.

"High temperatures in the fridges, compressors being ever so noisy, or completely packing up altogether."

For Nellis and her colleagues at their base in Westbury, Wiltshire, the problem is simple- old fridges can't take the heat.

"The older ones are set between 18 and 25C," she explained. "Compared to the new ones, which work at 35C.

"So therefore when you hit 35, which we've been having, the compressor goes into overdrive. They really just give up the ghost, poor things!"

What are supermarkets doing?

The food industry has recognised that heatwaves are causing it a problem.

Rupert Ashby, from the British Frozen Food Federation, said freezers are breaking down or being switched off in supermarkets in the extreme heat because the systems find it hard to deal with the high temperatures.

"The way the fridges work is to cool everything down and expel the hot air," which normally works well in the ambient air in the UK.

"[However,] with heat like this, trying to expel that air is very difficult," he added.

He said older stores tend to have a remote compressor on refrigeration units with the condensers outside. Because the system is on the outside, it is finding it hard to expel that hot air.

A spokesperson for Tesco said: "There were a few isolated issues affecting our refrigeration units in stores; however, these were not indicative of any broader issue across our estate."

They said they had maintenance teams working hard to resolve any isolated issues "as quickly as possible... with customers still able to access fresh and frozen products across the vast majority of our stores".

Next week, the Met Office is predicting another hot spell, with temperatures in the "low to mid 30s" across much of the UK.

Back at his research lab, Dr Foster's team is working with many of the supermarkets to redesign fridges for a warmer world. But, he warned, there is no magic wand.

"It could take 20 years before all the refrigeration systems out there are at the maximum temperature they are being designed for today. And by then that will be too low."

Top tips for a cool fridge

The Food Standards Agency have given the following advice for buying and storing food:

* Keep your fridge at 5°C or below and avoid overfilling it so cold air can circulate

* Keep chilled foods out of the fridge for as little time as possible to stop bacteria growing and making you ill.

Meanwhile Cindy Nellis and her team at Bath Domestic Appliances have their own tips for keeping your fridge cool in the heat.

* Make sure the back of the fridge is clear of dirt and debris, so air can circulate round the coils that cool the refrigerant liquid

* Put a bag of ice in the top of the fridge on hot days to help it stay cool

* Above all, think what you want before you open the door, so you reduce the amount of hot air you let into the fridge.

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The heatwave of 1976 - and how we have adapted since

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx7zv1pj4vo, 3 days ago

For those who were around in 1976, memories of that summer's heatwave have stuck.

Spells of hot weather, as seen in June, conjure up thoughts of 50 years ago – one of the driest and hottest summers on record, which caused concerns for many.

"The challenge pretty much for all livestock farmers countrywide was making enough food to feed their cattle in the summer and then sustain them over the following winter," Peter Appleton, who grew up on a farm in East Sussex, said.

With experts warning similar conditions will become part of normal life without cuts to emissions, has society in south-east England adapted?

The 1976 heatwave saw temperatures peak at 35.9C in Gloucestershire. A drought was declared and a minister appointed to deal with water problems.

About £500m of crops failed that summer and food prices rose.

It has proved even hotter 50 years later, with the year's highest temperature in the UK already surpassing 37C.

Appleton, who now runs the family dairy farm, said that 2026 had so far been "okay for rain" but that he was "seeing extreme heat events more often".

He told the BBC: "The farm now is way more resilient than it would have been in '76.

"We've adopted completely different cropping strategies and the way we manage our soils are far more focused towards water retention."

Other than areas that his father and grandfather were able to irrigate, most of the farm was "completely brown" in 1976, Appleton said.

The farmer added that his team now "don't plough if we can possibly help it" and were growing "drought resistant" maize crops for animal feed, which they were not doing 50 years ago.

Meanwhile, Guy Barter, chief horticulturalist at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), warned that photosynthesis did not work for plants as well as it should do when temperatures are above 30C.

"In 1976, it was a once in a generation sort of thing," he said.

"There were similar heat waves in 1911 and 1921. I think we've still got the records from our weather station here, but 1976 was the bolt out of the blue."

Barter, based at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, said that following high temperatures in May and June, he did not want any more heatwaves.

"Plants are brilliantly adapted to put up with bad weather, but it does mean that things are not going to grow as well as we hoped," he told the BBC.

The horticulturalist said that lawns would suffer particularly and go brown during hot weather but that hedges would not grow as fast and need less clipping.

But desert plants such as tender geraniums were "absolutely designed for this sort of weather" and would leave gardeners "very happy this year", according to Barter.

He said that people would need to move towards no water in gardens to adapt, using plants resistant to drying out.

"We'll be looking at things like lavenders, phlomis and cistus in the Mediterranean, which are designed to swelter in the heat," he added.

The consensus among scientists is that human activities are causing climate change, posing serious threats to people and nature.

The UN's climate body – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – concluded in 2023 that "human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming".

The Met Office has said it was plausible that temperatures in June 2056 could peak at 45C in England without further action on climate change.

Climate scientists have warned events like 1976 will become more common over the coming decades.

Between 2015 and 2024, the number of days exceeding 30C in the UK more than trebled compared with the 1961 to 1990 average, according to the Met Office.

While 1976 was once an example of a rare event, UK temperatures have passed 35C in six of the past 10 years. Provisional data shows that June was the warmest in England since records began.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram and listen to BBC Radio Surrey on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

Lake permanently closed after spate of illnesses

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36y3lpjxp7o, 4 days ago

A West Sussex lake has been closed "until further notice" after multiple people who entered the water got sick.

Horsham District Council (HDC), working with the UK Health and Security Agency, said it has confirmed a number of illness cases believed to be related to Southwater Country Park lake since 25 June.

The paddling beach area was temporarily shut as a precautionary measure, though the closure has since been extended following a risk review.

The local authority called the situation at the lake "another impact of climate change".

HDC added: "A long dry period, combined with two heatwaves in recent weeks, has helped to create an environment in which bacteria can thrive.

"The nature of the lake, which is rainwater filled, and without an inflow or outflow, will have contributed towards that."

The council said that it would review longer-term options to use and access the lake.

'Harmful bacteria'

HDC has been responsible for Southwater Country Park for more than 40 years, it sad.

"This is the first time that the decision has been taken to close access due to concerns around water safety," it added.

"The lake is an open body of water which is untreated and so water quality is variable," the council said.

"There are dangers and risks associated with accessing all open water areas that may well contain harmful bacteria".

The council said that the lake could only be used through Southwater Watersports Centre, who provides managed access with "mitigations in place".

It earlier urged people not to climb the fence to attempt to enter the water.

The Environment Agency previously told the BBC that the lake at Southwater Country Park was "not a bathing water so is not regularly tested for bacteria".

"There are more than 450 sites across the country where regular testing is carried out," it added.

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Demand for water use highest since 2022 drought

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c992j5y77j2o, 4 days ago

Islanders are being urged to use water "wisely" after the demand during June's heatwave was the highest since the 2022 drought.

Jersey Water said people used 159 million litres (35 million gallons) or nearly 5% of stored water last week as temperatures reached a peak of 39.2C (103F) on Thursday 25 June.

It said water levels at reservoirs at Queen's Valley and Val de la Mare are in a "good position" at 89% capacity but warned it "could drop fast with another heatwave on the horizon".

A spokesperson said water supplies were "finite", with supplies for 120 days when reservoirs were full "so every drop counts".

They urged customers "to use water wisely and avoid waste - small changes by everyone make a big difference".

Jersey Water said its desalination plant at La Rosière, Corbiere, was ready if it needsed to boost supplies and added if islanders cut their water use now it would "make the quickest difference and help avoid restrictions later in the summer/autumn".

Tips include using water from washing fruit and vegetables for watering plants in the garden and not leaving the tap running while cleaning teeth.

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Farming worries after India records driest June in over a decade

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzk5rqyr4o, 4 days ago

India has recorded its driest June in 12 years, and the fifth-driest since nationwide rainfall records began in 1901, according to the country's weather department.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also forecast below-normal rainfall for July, raising concerns over the progress of crop sowing this year.

Government data shows the area planted with summer crops until the end of June is down by nearly 23% from the corresponding period in 2025, with rice sowing falling by a quarter.

Millions of farmers rely on seasonal monsoon rains to sow their crops and a shortfall or delay significantly affects their output.

Data released by the federal agriculture ministry showed farmers had sown summer crops across 18.27 million hectares till 30 June, down from 23.65 million hectares during the same period last year.

India's main summer crops include rice, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds, cotton, sugarcane and jute. These crops depend heavily on the southwest monsoon, which normally provides about 70% of India's annual rainfall.

The rainy season usually reaches the southern state of Kerala around 1 June before moving northwards across the country.

This year, the onset was delayed by three days and the monsoon's advance slowed for around two weeks across parts of western India, delaying field preparation and planting in several agricultural regions.

Rice planting has slowed more sharply. Farmers have planted the crop on 2.58 million hectares so far this season, compared with 3.44 million hectares a year earlier - a fall of about 25%.

Nearly half of the country's net sown farmland has no assured irrigation and depends largely on rainfall, making the timing and spread of the monsoon critical for millions of farmers.

Experts say poor monsoon rains will also reduce domestic oilseed production, increasing the country's reliance on imported edible oils.

To be sure, the eventual impact on harvests remains uncertain. The monsoon season continues until September, leaving time for rainfall to recover and farmers to make up some of the delayed sowing.

India also entered the season with record rice stocks in government warehouses.

Official data showed government rice stocks stood at 39.7 million tonnes on 1 July, nearly three times the official buffer requirement of 13.5 million tonnes, providing a cushion against any short-term disruption in supplies.

A further 29.8 million tonnes of rice is expected to be added once paddy already procured from farmers is milled.

But the immediate concerns follow an exceptionally dry June. The IMD had forecast June rainfall at 92% of the long-period average. Instead, India received 39.8% below that prediction.

"This was the fifth-driest June for India since 1901, and the driest in 12 years," IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra told the BBC.

Although the IMD was established in 1875, rainfall analyses begin in 1901, when India's first continuous, nationally comparable climate records became available. By that measure, only 1905, 1926, 2009 and 2014 had drier Junes.

Attention is now turning to July, the wettest month of India's monsoon season.

It typically contributes about one-third of the rainfall received during the four-month monsoon and coincides with the peak sowing period for most monsoon crops.

Meanwhile, the government says it has stepped up preparations for the possibility of a weak monsoon and El Nino conditions - a climate pattern characterised by the abnormal warming of surface ocean waters in the eastern tropical Pacific.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said authorities have identified 315 districts at risk of below-normal rainfall and prepared contingency plans, including short-duration crops, less water-intensive varieties and stronger water conservation.

"We are preparing in advance, not waiting for a crisis," said Chouhan, after chairing a meeting on the issue last week.

Seeking to reassure farmers, Chouhan said there was "no need to panic", adding that buffer stocks of rice and wheat remained comfortable and there was no immediate threat to the country's food security despite the weak start to the monsoon.

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Map shows risk to coastal towns as sea levels rise

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crr8x58edwno, 4 days ago

Parts of seaside towns are at risk of disappearing under rising sea levels, according to research.

Coastal areas along the Bristol Channel, which has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world, are vulnerable to flooding. Researchers at Climate Central predict that by 2050, parts of villages and towns could be submerged underwater.

The group, made up of independent scientists, have created an interactive map based on current data and global mapping tools.

A North Somerset Council spokesperson said rising sea levels are a genuine long-term challenge, but there has been significant investment in sea walls and flood management systems to protect communities.

Why are parts of Somerset at risk of disappearing?

Sea level rise is already happening and is being measured around the UK coastline.

For North Somerset, this matters because the Bristol Channel has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world.

Several coastal and low-lying communities are already dependent on flood risk management including sea walls.

But rising sea levels increase pressure on those systems over time. A defence that provides a high level of protection today may provide a lower standard of protection in future unless it is maintained, improved or adapted, a council spokesperson added.

The UK has a well-established national tide gauge network, including gauges in the Bristol Channel area.

These gauges continuously record sea levels and the data is used for flood warning, storm surge forecasting, coastal science and understanding long-term sea level rise. This monitoring shows that UK sea levels have risen over the last century, and that the rate of rise has increased in recent decades.

Daniel Gilford, climate scientist at Climate Central, said: "The effects of human-caused climate change are already here.

"We will continue to face growing threats like increasing coastal flood risks unless we immediately and sharply reduce our climate pollution."

What is the council doing to protect the area?

North Somerset Council said it is developing a long-term coastal transition and investment plan to identify where and when future upgrades are likely to be needed.

The aim is to make sure future funding is targeted to the right locations at the right time, based on the latest modelling, Environment Agency evidence, sea level projections, asset condition information and the needs of our coastal communities.

Council chiefs said flood maps like Climate Central's help people visualise how rising sea levels could affect low-lying coastal areas, but often do not account for existing flood defences.

The council spokesperson added: "Working closely with the Environment Agency, we are maintaining and improving these defences now, while planning ahead to ensure the right upgrades are in place for the future.

"Our focus is on managing risk over time, supporting community resilience, and making sure North Somerset remains a safe and viable place to live and work."

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Researchers find millions more insect species

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clye273m70xo, 5 days ago

New research has found the Earth has millions more insects species than previously thought.

An international team of experts, including Dr Robert Puschendorf from the University of Plymouth, has estimated a minimum of between 14 and 30 million insect species on the planet - not six million as previously estimated.

The team analysed more than 1.6 million DNA-barcoded insects collected from Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), a renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site in Costa Rica.

Puschendorf said: "Diversity is really hard to quantify, but what this new study shows is that we have completely underestimated the insects."

For the new study, the associate professor, who is originally from Costa Rica, highlighted how populations of amphibians had changed over recent decades as a result of issues such as climate change and deforestation.

He said there was "always a big debate about how much life exists on our planet".

"The argument we, as conservationists, make is that, if you do not know what you have, how can you manage it?"

"While it [the study] is focused on Costa Rica, a place very close to my heart, these same techniques can be applied anywhere in the world – including here in the UK.

"Only by doing that will we truly understand the species we share our planet with, the species we have already lost and how we can best protect the survivors going forward."

The researchers combined multiple collection techniques, ecological observations, DNA barcoding, and statistics with ACG estimates which were then cross-referenced to multiple different groups, including trees, amphibians and moths.

They found different methods consistently revealed an extremely large number of cryptic species which underscored how much biodiversity remained hidden.

The team's conservative estimate suggested between 93 to 97% of insect species remain nameless.

The research was led by scientists at the University of Cornell, University of Colorado and the University of Kentucky.

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Researchers go wild for animal project

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77yk3d23n3o, 5 days ago

Researchers have taken a new approach to protecting animals - by attempting to live like them.

The aim of the work undertaken as part of the Risks Beyond Human Eyes project, a joint venture between risk research company ASRA and the University of the West of England, was to identify the risks animals face around the River Tone.

The volunteers lived like five different species for a few hours at a time over a six-month period - red deer, otter, earthworm, kestrel and salmon - to see what they experience.

Artist Fiona MacDonald, who replicated life as an otter, said: "I used a body board and underwater camera. I surfed down the river... just to feel what it was like to be in the flow."

She said the experience was "dramatic".

MacDonald said that one of the "most bizarre" things about being an otter was thinking about crossing the road, something otters have to do when roads are built across their usual paths.

"How can you predict when a car is going to turn up when you are only 30cm from the ground?" MacDonald said.

"You haven't had that experience of hold your mum's hand, look right, left. Otters get killed on our roads."

Scientist Phil Tovey, who is overseeing the project, said he wanted to understand the systematic risk some species face.

"Something happens in one part of the system and it cascades through and contaminates everything," he said.

"We don't just tackle one particular road crossing site.

"We also look at how that integrates with hedgerows, voles and tackling how we can do that at a community level rather than depending on other agencies to do that."

'New perspective'

Helen Lewy, part of the Friends of Longrun Meadow in Taunton, decided to be a kestrel as part of the project.

She said: "I went out and sat at the side of a meadow and got my mind into being a kestrel in this landscape.

"You look around and see if there's anywhere to nest and most importantly - where can I catch my food?

"We wanted to view the landscape in a new way and see the animals within the whole system."

She said the experience gave her a "new perspective" on what animals experience.

"It all began to make sense," she said.

The results of the group's research will be published in scientific journals.

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Former Olympian indicted for allegedly vandalising Washington Reflecting Pool

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2ky3p9jlveo, 3 days ago

A former US Olympian has been charged with vandalising the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.

Authorities say David "Davey" Hearn, 67, a three-time Olympic canoeist, was seen reaching into the water last month after renovations to the pool.

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro told a press conference on Thursday that Hearn had caused $1,000 (£750) worth of damage and is facing a felony charge of destruction of property.

Hearn's attorneys said in a statement that he is innocent and that the "indictment reflects the administration's effort to shift blame for their own failures".

President Donald Trump has blamed vandals for the peeling of newly applied coating on the bottom of the pool.

"The indictment is in response to an incident that occurred on June 19th of 2026, in which the defendant, Hearn, ripped a piece of recently installed sealant on the bottom of the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial," Pirro said.

"This was a deliberate act to damage the reflecting pool at the National Mall that members of the National Park Service actually have worked hard to restore."

Hearn previously told the BBC he did not do anything wrong, but was detained by the pool's edge as he was finishing a long bike ride.

He said he had been curious about the state of the pool and touched material that had already been damaged, adding that he "didn't destroy, rip, tear, peel, or remove any part" of the paint.

Hearn described his arrest as "arbitrary, capricious prosecution".

"Davey Hearn is innocent. These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American," his attorneys said on Thursday in response to the indictment.

Despite undergoing a recent $14 million renovation project, the Reflecting Pool has encountered problems with algae and large pieces of the new sealant have been seen peeling from the bottom.

Five people have been arrested for vandalism in connection with the Reflecting Pool, according to US Park Police, and five others have been issued federal citations. An official at the National Park Service had previously said the pool's lining had been cut with a sharp object.

Trump said on social media on 20 June that "work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool".

"I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing? SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!"

The Reflecting Pool, built in the 1920s and stretching 2,030ft (619m) between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, has long been beset by leaks, structural deterioration, faulty pipes, algae growth and bird droppings.

With additional reporting by Max Matza.

Rare copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrkl104ly5o, 3 days ago

A rare surviving copy of the Declaration of Independence has been discovered at The National Archives in Kew, the only known example of its kind outside the US.

The document was uncovered by a volunteer in February while cataloguing the papers of Royal Navy captains from the American Revolutionary War.

It is one of 11 copies printed in Exeter, New Hampshire in July 1776 to spread news of American independence through the colonies before it was seized by British forces.

Volunteer Michael Scurr, recalled feeling butterflies in his stomach after he opened up the paper and realised what it was.

"I called over to my boss and said, 'I think you need to come and have a look at this'," he told BBC News.

Following restoration works, the copy will be displayed in the archives' exhibition on the path to American independence, which opened last month.

Saul Nassé, chief executive of The National Archives, praised the find as "an extraordinary discovery".

He added: "It's a vanishingly rare surviving copy of the Declaration of Independence, found not in America, but here in the UK."

The document was seized by the Royal Navy on Christmas Eve 1776 when the HMS Raisonable captured an American ship, the Dalton, off the coast of Portugal following a seven-hour pursuit.

Dr Graham Moore from The National Archives said the discovery is "one of the rarest forms of the Declaration we know about", adding that it was not meant to be preserved due to the intention to distribute it quickly.

"After the original printing on 4 July, the news of the Declaration is travelling fast around North America and its being reprinted as it reaches each successive colony," he told BBC News.

"The copy we have is one of only 11 surviving from the first ones printed in New Hampshire."

The captured ship was then brought back to Britain and its papers seized, including the privateer's commission, printed instructions from the Continental Congress, and the Declaration itself.

Moore says the Declaration was found folded among the letters of Captain Thomas Fitzherbert and was brought to Plymouth in January 1777 before being moved to Whitehall in London.

The document was listed without distinction by the Royal Navy captain, being described as "another paper" at the time and had stayed hidden in the state's archive for centuries.

Moore said the treasure is the only known copy of the Declaration taken by military action.

The rare copy has undergone conservation works to stabilise its paper and repair a slight tear, making it safe for handling, study and future display.

It will go on display as part of Revolution 250: America's Independence Story, 1763-1783 at The National Archives.

The National Archives already holds three of the original official copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by John Dunlap in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776.

Around 200 copies are likely to have been printed on the night, of which only 26 are known to have survived until today.

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'I spent $6,000 on a World Cup trip but was left stranded at the gate'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkvlekgy07o, 3 days ago

When Sergio Enrique Alvarado Montalvo paid $1,700 (£1,300) on StubHub to surprise his father with World Cup tickets, he envisioned an unforgettable Father's Day watching Lionel Messi play.

Instead, after flying his parents from Mexico to Dallas for the Argentina v Austria match, and spending nearly $6,000 (£4,600) on travel and hotels, the family was left stranded outside the stadium gates.

Just one day before they were set to travel to Dallas, StubHub abruptly notified Montalvo that the seller could not deliver the tickets, refusing to provide comparable replacements due to soaring prices.

They turned up at the stadium anyway, hoping they could still get their tickets, with Montalvo on the phone to StubHub up until an hour before kick-off.

"I was so sad and so frustrated, and so filled with rage, anger," the 45-year-old told the BBC. "It was a mix of feelings that is hard to explain."

Montalvo's nightmare is part of what industry insiders are calling one of the largest ticketing collapses in history. As the 2026 World Cup sweeps across 16 cities the US, Canada and Mexico, many fans are finding their bucket lists ruined by last-minute cancellations on secondary marketplaces.

The primary culprit is believed to be an industry practice known as "speculative ticketing", where unverified sellers list tickets they do not yet own, hoping to source them cheaper and closer to the event.

When ticket prices soar, these sellers simply back out of the deal to resell them for a higher profit, leaving buyers like Montalvo empty-handed with a refund for their tickets that doesn't cover their expensive travel costs.

'My son was devastated'

Eben Pingree, 44, from Boston, faced an identical scenario after his wife Caitlin paid $2,800 on StubHub for tickets to the Scotland v Haiti match to surprise their 11-year-old son Cole.

They had co-ordinated an extensive trip with another father-son duo, only for the tickets to vanish on match day. "They basically had to just leave us there, and so my son was just devastated," Pingree told the BBC.

Back in Dallas, Montalvo and his family spent their match evening at a local fan festival instead of watching from the stands.

"It was a super sad weekend... inside, outside... [but] we enjoyed the time together," Montalvo added.

Separately, two World Cup fans have filed a lawsuit against StubHub in a proposed class action on Tuesday, accusing the resale platform of failing to deliver tickets they had paid for.

It was filed by Julie Reeker Moghal and Reuben Renteria, who said in a court filing that they were acting on behalf of themselves and all others in a similar situation.

The pair said they had paid StubHub at least $1,900 each for World Cup tickets that were never delivered.

"[Fans] were lied to and purchased World Cup Tickets for large sums of money - only ‌to ⁠incur tremendous financial losses," the complaint said.

This marked a "new low" for an industry that has been "rampant with consumer protection issues", the filing said.

StubHub declined to comment on the case. Fifa did not comment directly on the lawsuit when contacted by the BBC.

Corporate finger pointing

The scale of the crisis has sparked a massive game of corporate finger pointing.

All tickets for the World Cup are only accessible on tournament organiser Fifa's website or app, so any bought on resale sites such as StubHub have to be transferred within the Fifa site or app.

StubHub has blamed Fifa, claiming its new ticketing app launched right before the event suffered "significant performance issues that have affected transfers across all resale platforms".

Fifa shot back directly, stating that its official platform is the only guaranteed sales channel and that it cannot vouch for tickets bought via third parties. The governing body said that it "rejects any suggestions" that the technical issues hitting secondary marketplaces are the fault of Fifa's own system.

It added that its ticketing platform was "operating reliably" and said more than 5 million people had attended matches so far.

But experts say the platforms cannot hide behind software glitches.

"I blame StubHub 100%," said Scott Friedman, co-founder of the Ticket Talk Network, who has already compiled more than 600 consumer complaints from this tournament alone.

"Fifa is no angel. Their ticket tech is absolutely terrible. It's like software out of 1999," he added.

While StubHub maintains that it strictly prohibits speculative ticketing on its platform, industry watchdogs and frustrated users widely believe the practice remains rampant.

Some sellers are also feeling the crunch. One seller in Austin told the BBC he lost $2,600 after listing a legally purchased Fifa Marketplace ticket on StubHub. Though he sold it for $1,200 and sent it to the platform's auto-generated e-mail address, StubHub cancelled the sale for "non-fulfilment" - withholding his payout and charging him a $1,400 penalty fee.

For the average consumer, fighting back against a big corporation can seem like an impossible uphill battle.

Bradford Clements, an attorney who currently represents clients with over $2.4m in claims against StubHub, the majority of which are not related to the World Cup, notes that the company's complex dispute process often forces regular fans seeking redress to give up entirely.

"People don't understand that StubHub's name of their game is to intimidate you, defer you, and deny you," Clements told the BBC, also citing legal dispute notices that were mailed to the company but returned.

StubHub declined to comment on Clements' accusation.

It remains unclear how many people have had problems with tickets bought on StubHub or other ticket resale sites. Hundreds of fans have been complaining online, while one report suggested thousands have had their tickets cancelled.

A StubHub spokesperson said it was increasing its capacity to source replacement tickets for affected customers and that every order was backed by its FanProtect Guarantee, meaning that if customers don't get the tickets they ordered, or comparable or better replacement ones, they will get a refund.

However, the fine print means little to fans who are out thousands in non-refundable travel.

As the World Cup moves into the high-stakes rounds, industry watchdogs warn the cancellation crisis may intensify, leaving more families stranded outside stadium gates with little to show for an experience meant to last a lifetime.

Additional reporting by Osmond Chia

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How are Trump and America celebrating 250th independence milestone?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y8nnj33e1o, 3 days ago

Events are taking place across the US to celebrate one of the biggest milestones in American history, the 250th anniversary of the nation's independence.

Congress has reportedly allocated $150m (£112m) in federal funds for the birthday celebration, and millions more is being spent by a group that was started by US President Donald Trump.

The programming has included a giant state fair honouring all the regions of the US, a flyover of fighter jets, and the opening of a presidential library. Festivities will culminate in a "Salute to America" fireworks display on 4 July, Independence Day.

Some of the celebrations have not been without controversy, as they have raised questions about whether Trump has politicised the occasion.

America250, one of the groups planning celebrations, was established by Congress a decade ago to plan non-partisan events. Meanwhile the organisation running its own events that was created by Trump - called Freedom 250 - is a public-private partnership.

Trump has spoken at several of the America 250 events and will also deliver remarks in the midst of a severe heatwave at the National Mall on 4 July.

What is Trump doing ahead of 4 July?

As part of independence week, Trump has attended the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota.

Trump gave a speech a the museum, calling Roosevelt "a man who I have long admired", and went on a tour of the space.

On 3 July, the eve of Independence Day, Trump will travel to South Dakota for the first fireworks display in six years at Mount Rushmore National Memorial - a sculpture in the Black Hills that depicts four historical US presidents.

Trump is set to deliver remarks there before he heads to the biggest day of celebrations on 4 July.

American state fair

A massive 16-day State Fair, from 25 June to 10 July, is taking place across the National Mall from the US Capitol to the Washington Monument.

All 56 US states and territories are showcased in the exposition, according to Freedom 250, which is organising the event.

Several musicians were expected to perform at a concert series, but a number of them - including Martina McBride, The Commodores and Young MC - backed out beforehand.

In turn, Trump axed the planned musical acts and instead said in a social media post that he would host "the Greatest Rally, EVER!"

"We don't want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we've told them all to stay home," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Country singer Alexis Wilkins, the longtime girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, performed the US National Anthem at the event.

UFC Freedom 250

Trump celebrated his 80th birthday alongside America's 250th with an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event on the White House lawn - the first ever professional sporting event held at the presidential residence.

He and thousands of other mixed martial arts fans watched on as US fighter Justin Gaethje beat Spanish-Georgian opponent Ilia Topuria to win the lightweight championship in the main event.

Other administration officials attended, along with UFC chief Dana White, Trump's longstanding friend. At one point in the evening, the crowd sang happy birthday to the president.

The White House said that the event was planned by Freedom 250, but UFC were paying for it. White said the same, telling the Sports Business Journal in January: "We're eating the whole thing."

The event was free and ticketed. A federal judge threw out a lawsuit that had sought to shut down the event.

The FBI thwarted an alleged plot to attack the event, arresting eight people who it said had been involved in the plans.

4 July fireworks display

Across America on 4 July, it is a tradition for fireworks to fill the skies. In Washington, every year, there is a massive display run by the National Park Service.

This year, the 40-minute show will be run by Freedom 250.

It will reportedly include more than 860,000 fireworks in a show that will last some 40 minutes. A typical display would include 10,000 fireworks and lasts less than 20 minutes.

The only request from Freedom 250 to Pyrotecnico, the company tasked with creating the show, was for the show to beat the Philippines' 2016 record for the largest fireworks display in history, according to USA Today.

Outside Washington

It is not just the nation's capital that is hosting events to celebrate America's semiquincentennial, there will be celebrations across the country.

A ball will drop in Times Square on 4 July, similar to the New Year's Eve drop.

But unlike on New Year's Eve, the ball will drop eight times to mark midnight in each of the American time zones, and each time with its own special design, according to America250.

In Philadelphia, a time capsule will be buried and remain sealed until 2276, according to America250.

"When it is opened in 2276, we want future generations to have a clear, authentic window into who we were at 250 – what we valued, what we built, and how we saw ourselves as a nation," Rosie Rios, Chair of America250, said.

Across the country, in Los Angeles, America250 will host a concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with musical artists and a crowd of up to 50,000.

And block parties are planned in cities such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Reflecting Pool renovations

In an effort to prepare Washington DC, the nation's capital, for the anniversary, Trump began a number of beautification projects across the city.

Some projects have been viewed as gaudy or unnecessary, while others have been applauded by local residents.

Among the sites has been the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

In April, workers began repainting in a blue shade the pool, which stretches 2,030ft (620m) between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

Trump has said his project to restore and paint the monument would solve a leaking problem, the paint would last for 40 or 50 years and "there'll be no leaks, there'll be no anything".

But after its completion, the blue paint began to peel, catching the eyes and criticism of onlookers as it floated to the surface. Blooming algae also started to form, prompting officials to drain the pool again. Trump blamed the developments on vandals.

The painting had faced legal challenges from a non-profit group asking for the work to be halted. The group argued Trump ignored laws that limit changes to historical landmarks.

Before a court order was issued in the case, Trump said in a Truth Social post on 3 June that a final coat of protection on the pool was to be completed that day, writing that "the water will start flowing, shortly thereafter".

All we know about Taylor Swift's rumoured New York wedding celebrations

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70yj1749j0o, 2 days ago

When pop star Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce, got engaged last summer in the backyard of his Kansas City home, there was an immediate, pressing and singular question on fans' minds: when and where will the wedding be?

Fans may finally be about to get their answer.

Swift, known for dropping hints to bigger plans in everything from her wardrobe to music and tours, has kept mum about her upcoming nuptials, but that has not stopped the world from speculating.

Endless rumours about where and when the two would tie the knot began to become clearer once the New York Times reported that permits had been requested for a large event at Madison Square Garden (MSG).

These requested permits run from Thursday into the weekend and will shut down several blocks in the busy Manhattan area.

Intrigue reached a fever pitch, with everyone from potential guests to New York city officials being quizzed for any information on what the long weekend could bring.

The Big Apple is also hosting World Cup games and America's 250th birthday events while sweltering in a heatwave.

Details continue to trickle out through news reports, following a Thursday night gathering of celebrities known to socialise with the couple.

Clues range from what trucks are unloading into the area, to an apparently leaked wedding weekend schedule - and who might be in attendance.

Here is everything we do - and don't - know about the possible celebrations, with the big day itself rumoured to be Friday 3 July.

Are Swift and Kelce getting married at Madison Square Garden?

The short answer: maybe.

City officials confirmed to the BBC that someone applied for a street closure permit near the arena over the 4 July Independence Day weekend.

The BBC's US media partner, CBS News, said on Tuesday that the couple are planning a rehearsal dinner for about 100 people at the arena's Infosys Theater.

And high-profile friends of the couple, including actress Lena Dunham and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, were spotted on Thursday evening in formal attire.

On Thursday night, Swift and Kelce donated $26m (£19.4m) to charities in the US close to their hearts, including organisations in New York, Nashville - where Swift started her music career - and Kansas City, the home of Kelce's NFL team.

Swift's representatives, while not mentioning anything about a wedding, told BBC News the donation was for "charities across the United States". Food banks are among the recipients of the donations.

A second, larger celebration has reportedly been set for Friday night into Saturday morning that could accommodate about 1,000 people.

The event will reportedly feature musical talent and a massive set is being constructed inside the arena for the event, CBS reported on Wednesday.

Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the New York City mayor's office, told the BBC a permit was filed in early June to close roads around arena from 2 to 4 July.

Access to Penn station - the busiest rail hub in the country, situated beneath MSG - will also be restricted, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.

The New York Times (NYT) first reported the news and that several players on Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs American football team had booked hotel rooms nearby. The paper has not explicitly said the arena event is a wedding.

TMZ and other outlets have been speculating that MSG, a 22,000-seat arena that is typically used for large concerts and home to the New York Knicks basketball team, would host the wedding celebrations.

Swift herself has performed there eight times during her two-decade career, at awards shows and during her Fearless and Speak Now tours.

During a news conference on Wednesday, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch noted the department was staffing an event at the arena later this week.

She said police have a detail in place, but did not disclose specifics. When asked about a previous terror plot surrounding one of Swift's concerts in Europe, Tisch said that the NYPD's intelligence and counterterrorism divisions had examined this event like they do all major events in the city.

"We will make sure that we have the appropriate resources based on their assessments for that specific private event as we do for all major events," she said.

Crews have been spotted unloading foliage and boxes labelled "branches" into the arena, along with boxes of food - including one with lobster.

Who might attend?

Speculation has swirled for weeks about who might attend the wedding, and family and friends have remained mostly tight-lipped about the guest list.

NFL San Francisco 49ers player George Kittle, singer Benson Boone and English actress Suki Waterhouse have been some of the few to confirm they will be going, but revealed no details.

And stars from all over the globe have gathered in the Big Apple ahead of this weekend and the potential celebrations.

Among those in New York with links to the couple are BBC presenter Graham Norton, who Swift invited to the ceremony on his chat show last year. Another BBC man in the city is Radio 1 host Greg James, who was also personally invited by Swift during her recent album promotion tour.

Singer Ed Sheeran, Fleabag actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge, singer Camila Cabello and actress Anya Taylor-Joy, all of whom have been known to socialise with the star, have spotted in the area. Singers Dua Lipa, Camila Cabello and close pal Sabrina Carpenter have also been spotted recently.

Longtime friend Selena Gomez and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff are expected to be guests. Childhood friend Abigail Anderson Berard, who has been in multiple Swift music videos, will likely be in attendance.

Mother of the groom Donna Kelce was seen arriving in New York City on Thursday, hours before the supposed rehearsal dinner at Madison Square Garden.

Some fans are curious to see whether her one-time bestie actress Blake Lively, who drew Swift into a bitter legal battle with Lively's It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, will be invited. Model Karlie Kloss is among those who have reportedly received an invite.

Other speculation has revolved around potential performers, including Stevie Nicks and Tim McGraw - music legends who have inspired the superstar throughout her career.

The speculation is likely connected to Swift wearing a T-shirt that read "Stevie Knicks" when she was at MSG earlier this month for a Knicks basketball game.

Who might design Taylor Swift's wedding dress?

According to the Guardian newspaper, about nine top designers could be in line for the wedding dress commission of the century, including Dior's Jonathan Anderson, Swiftie favourite Oscar de la Renta, and all-American icon Ralph Lauren.

The newspaper says several looks are in the running, with a number of outfit changes throughout the celebrations likely.

Fashion editor Savannah Bradley told the BBC that the singer also has close relationships with designers Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and Sarah Burton.

Something from Oscar de la Renta or Christian Siriano could be right up Swift's alley, she said. "A corset wouldn't shock me. She loves a corset."

And Sarah Chapelle, writer and founder of fashion blog Taylor Swift Style, pointed out that Kelce "genuinely loves fashion" and might make an eye-catching groom.

"You will often see Travis sporting patterns or bright colors - pieces that are bold, playful, and fun. A colourful jacket for the reception and beyond seems up his alley."

What other clues have appeared in New York?

More and more signs of wedding preparation have emerged, as media reports continue to mount.

Large trucks were seen at the venue throughout the week, with loading signs that read "Garden Party" and "GP". Crews have been seen in recent days unloading stage equipment, lights and other gear.

Crews were spotted unloading one large black box labeled "40-inch mirror ball" and a large white staircase railing. Many of the items, though, were indistinguishable, draped in black wrappings or in wooden boxes.

Journalists have also seen workers unrolling a large red carpet on the steps of the arena on Tuesday but it was removed quickly.

Some were spotted bringing boxes of food inside the arena - including what appeared to be lobster.

The vast number of deliveries might help answer how the couple would transform the sports arena into the wedding venue of their dreams.

Media reports have included possible plans to build a massive set inside the arena, with some speculating it could include a castle and garden area. The couple also reportedly plan to include several musical acts.

On Thursday - hours before what may have been the couple's rehearsal dinner - crews were seen setting up a large canopy tent in front of the arena.

The BBC was told this is where many guests are expected to enter but others - including VIPs and the bride and groom - will arrive through underground parking areas, away from the swarm of media and fans outside.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been offering cheeky hints. He previously noted the city was hosting a World Cup match on the same weekend as "Taylor Swift's wedding", adding that "we are used to big events" in New York.

Mamdani dropped another hit on Tuesday during a news conference about the heatwave expected to hit the city this weekend.

"If you happen to be getting married at MSG, you will be staying inside and staying cool, and I think it's a good example to set for the city at large," he said.

If the wedding is in fact at the arena, the couple would not be the first to wed there.

Kathy Silva and singer Sly Stone married at the Garden, as it is often dubbed, in 1974.

Eight years later, in 1982, 2,075 couples simultaneously got married in a mass wedding sponsored by The Unification Church. This was not the first time the church hosted an event like this, but it was the first time at MSG.

A leaked wedding timeline and when is the big day?

Information has also surfaced purportedly showing a timeline of how the wedding celebrations on Thursday and Friday will run.

The BBC's news partner CBS reports that on Thursday, a smaller rehearsal dinner took place at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden. About 100 people are expected.

The event was set to begin around 18:00 ET (23:00 BST) and run till 22:30 ET - though CBS noted their sources said the times could change.

The big day is expected to be Friday, 3 July, CBS reports, when about 1,000 people will gather at the arena for a much larger celebration.

Doors will open around 15:30 ET and a cocktail hour will be hosted on the 6th floor concourse of the arena. Typically, this area of the arena is used as a large walkway for sports fans and features food and drink concession stands.

After that, a reception will run from 18:30 ET to 02:00, though the times could change.

Plans are said to include guests entering MSG through a special VIP area that will be covered with a tent, CBS reported.

Security officials are expecting about 500 vehicles to bring guests.

Is it an elaborate ruse by Swift?

US media and devoted fans have acknowledged that the permit, hotels and apparent preparation could still be part of an elaborate ruse, a decoy event so Swift and Kelce have privacy during their actual wedding.

Speculation has been ramping up to incessant levels and media coverage of the high-anticipated event has equated their nuptials to America's version of a royal wedding.

Online prediction market Kalshi has said the nuptials have already generated more than $4.5m (£3.4m) in wagers.

No-one has confirmed to the BBC that the wedding is happening over Independence Day weekend, or that the wedding is happening at the arena.

The alleged event is one of several that some suspect could happen that weekend, celebrating the couple's possible wedding. Several US media outlets have reported the couple will marry in a small ceremony before the large celebrations at the arena.

Might the couple get married elsewhere in the US?

Just like when Swift releases new music and her lyrics are dissected for any hints about her personal life, her legion of fans around the world have been scavenging for clues to her nuptials.

When it comes to New York, Swift's love of the Big Apple can be found in her music and some have even pointed to her recent appearance at Madison Square Garden during the Knicks playoff series in early June as a possible clue. The star also owns a home in the city.

There have been some other geographic theories about where the couple's wedding could be.

Swift owns a home in the US state of Rhode Island, a picturesque coastal location for a summer wedding.

She was at that estate just before she met Kelce.

In a now-famous Instagram post shared just after Independence Day weekend of 2023, Swift posted: "See you tonight Kansas Cityyy."

Many fans have latched on to the idea that Swift would appreciate the symbolism of marrying Kelce nearly three years to the day since she met her future husband.

There was the debunked theory that Swift wanted to hold her wedding at a Rhode Island venue nearby her coastal estate, and offered another couple a significant amount of money to move their wedding date so Swift and Kelce could host theirs. The venue refuted that account.

Speculation of a possible Rhode Island wedding mounted in June, with paparazzi snapping photos of weddings in the area (that they later found weren't celebrating the famous couple) and fans swarming the area. Swifties who turned up at the site last month were left disappointed.

Then there were other theories: Kansas City, where Kelce lives and works, Swift's home state of Pennsylvania, and the NFL star's home state of Ohio.

But on timing, the singer is a big fan of the 4 July holiday, giving further credence to the theory that she would choose the US holiday weekend as a possible date.

Have the couple said anything?

To many fans' dismay, no, the couple have not said anything about their upcoming nuptials or if all the speculation about the weekend wedding festivities in New York is accurate.

The BBC has contacted representatives for the pair, but they have not commented.

But like the rest of the world, we'll be waiting to see their happily-ever-after.

Additional reporting by Tom McArthur

The US deported them to Venezuela - hours later earthquakes struck

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3eyxjy01y3o, 3 days ago

Venezuela native Abelardo Rincón built a life for six years in the US state of Georgia - working in a car dealership, marrying and looking forward to the upcoming birth of his daughter - before US authorities detained him amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

The 23-year-old's bereft parents and pregnant wife waited for any and all news while he was held by American authorities, before he was put on a deportation flight to his homeland last month alongside more than 140 other Venezuelans.

He landed on 24 June and while still in custody, called his family back in Atlanta.

He and other deportees were being housed in a hotel near the coast.

Just hours later, twin earthquakes hit the country - killing at least 2,200 people, injuring more than 10,000 and, according to UN figures, leaving 50,000 missing.

Rincón, along with a number of fellow deportees from Flight 164, was among those missing.

And their devastated families were left to desperately search for any word about their loved ones - all after struggling to process the quick succession of arrest, detention, deportation, repatriation and, then, natural disaster.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees US immigration enforcement agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), shared a statement, but offered no details on the case when asked by the BBC.

"This flight safely reached Venezuela and all illegal aliens on board were returned home," a DHS spokesperson told BBC on Tuesday. "When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, ICE is no longer responsible for them."

As part of its campaign of mass deportations, the Trump administration has detained and deported thousands of migrants who entered the US illegally, while millions of others have left voluntarily, according to US officials.

Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced in February that, over the previous 13 months, "nearly 3 million illegal aliens have left the US … including an estimated 2.2 million self-deportations and more than 713,000 deportations."

Venezuelan authorities housed last week's deportation-flight passengers - reportedly including 19 women and seven children - in Hotel Santuario La Llanada in the city of La Guaira after they underwent medical exams and received documentation. The area has been particularly hard hit with widespread damage and collapsed buildings.

The Venezuelan government has posted numbers for the general public to call, but information has been limited in the wake of such a devastating national disaster.

Many flight passengers like Rincón had contacted family to let them know they were back in Venezuela - right before the earthquakes hit.

Rincón's grandfather, Jose Rincón, told BBC Mundo that he viewed at least 200 bodies, including at a morgue in Caracas, searching for his 23-year-old grandson.

He even tried unsuccessfully to visit the remnants of the destroyed hotel, where his grandson and the other deportees were staying.

Access was blocked by Venezuelan authorities, who told the grandfather there was "no life" at the site.

"If we could just see what we need to see - if I could see the rubble, I'd be satisfied - but days have gone by and I still haven't found him, alive or dead... So what am I supposed to do?" Rincón told the BBC.

Darwin Eliecer Serrano Lopez, 35, called a cousin at 17:32 local time to say he'd returned home after four years of living in the US. The first quake struck barely half an hour later.

"We drove all night," said his cousin, Paola Chacón, whose brother had received the phone call first alerting the family that Serrano Lopez had returned to Venezuela.

Lopez had been originally detained in Chicago, then held in four detention centres before US authorities put him on the flight out of the country, relatives said.

Chacón resigned herself to the belief that her cousin was dead, she told BBC Mundo on Monday - with the family searching for nearly a week without any sign of him.

"So many days have passed… we aren't getting any answers," she said.

But "we are going to stay here until we can take [Darwin's body] home", she added.

The family of flight passenger Daniel Alejandro Nunez, 28 - who'd also called his mother upon returning to Venezuela while still in state custody - was struggling to make sense of conflicting reports, too.

"We've searched for him in hospitals, in morgues – everywhere," his stepfather, Jose Alejandro Abache, told BBC Mundo.

For families already separated for years by immigration status, the potential loss of their loved ones - immediately following their involuntary return - has been unimaginable.

Mildrey Sarazo, wife of Darwin Serrano Lopez, hadn't seen her husband in three years - and on Monday still had not told their daughters, aged nine and 15, about any of this.

She, too, was waiting for proof - and for the body of her husband who "didn't want to come back yet" from the US.

"We want to bury our relatives," she said, adding: "We want them to hand him over so we can identify him and be certain."

Other Flight 164 passengers, however, survived the hotel collapse and were stunned by the series of events that left them climbing out of rubble in a country they thought they'd left far behind.

Lisbeth Portillo, 58, was lying on a bed in a second-floor room shared with 16 other women when the building crumbled.

"I saw the woman next to me start to fall… they were all screaming for help," she told the Associated Press news agency.

"I was born again - God gave me a second chance."

Days went by before some families received word that relatives had made it out alive.

Relatives found Anderson Daniel Salcedo, 22, at Caracas's university hospital and alerted his mother, who immediately travelled to the Venezuelan capital, Reuters reported, only to find they had already amputated his legs.

Salcedo had lived in the US for three years, sending money home, before he was put on Flight 164 - then trapped under rubble for nearly two days.

"He spent 40 hours in that hole, he didn't have an ID, they couldn't account for him because he had no documents," his grandmother, Marlene Lozano, told Reuters.

"We had no way to communicate with him and didn't know anything."

"Here we are praying, asking God to give him strength and courage," Lozano added. "We know he won't be the same anymore - he's missing his legs - but we love him, just the way he is."

Fireworks, flyovers and a 'really long' Trump speech ahead as US celebrates 250th

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp36l4e6v9po, today

US President Donald Trump will head to Washington DC's National Mall on Saturday for what he has billed as a "spectacular rally" celebrating America's 250th anniversary.

The event, taking place as a sweltering heatwave grips swathes of the eastern and central US, will include flyovers by hundreds of aircraft and a fireworks display organisers hope will be the biggest of all time.

Military flyovers over Washington DC will happen every hour between 13:15 local time (17:15 GMT) and sunset, the organisers said, and Trump's new Air Force One will feature in one of the formations over the capital.

The president, however, has been accused by opponents of politicising the nation's anniversary event and several music acts dropped out soon after being announced.

Extremely hot, humid temperatures of approximately 38C (100F) and a later-than-anticipated start time may also have an impact on the size of the crowd that attends.

The intense heat has already led to events being cancelled. On Friday, organisers of the National Park Service's Independence Day Parade in Washington DC said they had cancelled the annual event over safety concerns. Some celebration events have also been cancelled from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland to as far west as Colorado.

There is also the potential for evening thunderstorms that could disrupt the events, which have been organised by a White House-backed public-private partnership.

President Trump used a speech on the eve of Independence Day to claim that American identity is under threat from what he called domestic "radicals" and "extremists".

Speaking at the Mount Rushmore national monument in South Dakota on Friday, the president warned of a resurgence of what he called "the communist menace" and "newcomers" who embraced ideas opposed to the American way of life.

His comments reflect a growing political line of attack ahead of the November mid-term elections, with Republicans seeking to brand Democrats as communists.

The Washington DC event, formally known as the Salute to America 250 Celebrations & Fireworks - is due to begin at 19:00 local time, with Trump expected to speak a few hours later at approximately 21:45.

He has promised to make a "really long speech" at the Fourth of July festivities, despite the heatwave, "to show that I can do anything".

The Fourth of July fireworks display is an annual tradition in Washington DC and Trump has promised that this year's version - which is scheduled to begin after his remarks - would be the "largest fireworks show in history".

Approximately 850,000 fireworks will be launched from 10 sites across the city, including eight barges on the Potomac River, according to the event's organisers. It is expected to last for 40 minutes - twice as long as the usual display, which features about 20,000 fireworks.

It is aiming to secure the the Guinness World Record for the largest official fireworks show ever, surpassing the current record set in 2016 by a megachurch in the Philippines.

There are concerns, however, that the display could cause dangerous levels of air pollution in the city.

Internal National Park Service documents obtained earlier this week by outlets including the Washington Post and Politico said the fireworks were likely to cause "very unhealthy" conditions in the centre of the capital.

Soaring temperatures, potential storms and airport-style security checkpoints and could potentially put a dampener on the event, with administration officials reportedly concerned about the potential crowd-size.

The event has also courted political controversy in recent weeks.

The White House group organising it - Freedom250 - has been accused by critics of effectively supplanting the separate, bipartisan America250 commission created by Congress a decade ago, with some Democrats accusing Trump of hijacking the event - a charge organisers deny.

"President Trump couldn't help but try making America's 250th birthday all about himself," California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla said in a 24 June hearing.

Freedom250, for its part, has brushed aside those accusations, describing them as a "partisan smear" from politicians seeking to score "political points" rather than celebrate the US milestone.

Elsewhere in the country, the Times Square Ball in New York will drop eight times to signal midnight in every US time zone. There will also be a fireworks display in the city at 21:25 local time.

And in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed in Independence Hall 250 years ago, there will be a celebration concert featuring stars including Christina Aguilera and Meek Mill. The city is also hosting its final World Cup game earlier in the day.

Nigeria says two nationals killed in South Africa amid rise of anti-migrant attacks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqj11lxwnn0o, today

Nigeria says two of its citizens have been killed in South Africa "at a time when foreigners are being unduly targeted" there.

A statement from the foreign ministry said Emeka Charles Iroegbu was "reportedly killed" on 28 June by police officers "using gruesome interrogation techniques", while unidentified assailants had killed shop owner Musa Yunana Joe on the same day.

The authorities in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, are yet to comment.

Nigeria's foreign ministry said the incidents came amid a rise in anti-migrant sentiment in South Africa, which has led to roughly 25,000 citizens from other African countries being repatriated by their nations, including some 700 Nigerians.

Protesters in South Africa have urged the government to do more to curb illegal migration. They say foreigners are taking jobs and unfairly benefiting from public services.

In its statement, Nigeria's foreign ministry said Iroegbu was reportedly killed in Pretoria by officers from the Tshwane Metro police department.

Joe, killed on 28 June, was attacked outside his shop in the city of eMalahleni, the ministry said.

Abuja said it was placing the South African government "on notice" and that "all options remain on the table... if the uncultured and provocative trend of intolerance and apartheid-style behaviour of South Africa against foreigners is not addressed".

Nigeria has said it will seek compensation from South Africa for its citizens who have left the country, adding that Abuja had begun documenting businesses and properties left behind by Nigerians.

However, at a media briefing on Friday, South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said her government would not pay compensation and that Nigerians can sell registered properties they left behind on the South African market.

She also said: "We would be interested to know where the drug dens of Nigerians are, so they can show us where they have been holding the drugs so we can clean the drugs in South Africa quite urgently."

Nigeria's foreign ministry strongly condemned this comment in their statement on Sunday, calling it "unacceptable".

"Such derogatory, unprofessional and uncensored generalised public statements by highly placed government officials constitute hate speech," the ministry said.

Some anti-migrant groups in South Africa had given undocumented foreigners a deadline of 30 June to leave the country.

Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria are among African countries which repatriated some of their citizens ahead of the deadline.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the world - at more than 30% - and anti-migrant sentiment has been rising in recent months.

The continent's most developed economy remains a magnet for people from poorer countries seeking work often in low-paid jobs.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

US withdraws troops from Nigeria after Islamic State mission

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwylkvpl80xo, yesterday

The United States has withdrawn most of the troops it deployed in Nigeria earlier this year in an effort to help fight Islamist militant groups.

In December, US and Nigerian forces launched a joint operation in the Lake Chad Basin area, which involved strikes against militants on Christmas Day, followed by the deployment of about 200 soldiers two months later.

Senior Islamic State (IS) leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was killed during the months-long mission.

On Thursday, the US said the operation had been a success, while Nigeria's military spokesperson told the BBC the withdrawal of US soldiers would "not affect our momentum in any way".

Despite the operations, jihadist groups continue to stage attacks, especially in north-eastern Nigeria.

Maj-Gen Michael Onoja said intelligence-sharing between the two countries would continue, which the US military also said in its briefing.

Military cooperation between Nigeria and the US increased after Washington accused Nigerian authorities of not doing enough to protect vulnerable groups against Islamist militants, and alleged there was a "Christian genocide" in the country.

Nigeria has firmly rejected this claim, saying the violence is complex and affects people from all communities.

Organisations monitoring political violence in Nigeria say most victims of the jihadist groups are Muslims because they mostly operate in the north of the country, where most people follow Islam.

Earlier this year, the US said it would deploy about 200 troops to support Nigeria's counter-insurgency efforts, while stressing that its forces would not take part in ground combat.

Announcing that most of these troops had now left, General Dagvin Anderson, Commander of US Air Forces in Africa, said on Thursday that the operation had been successful and that IS' leadership in Nigeria had been "significantly degraded".

IS has radically shifted in recent years, with around 90% of its attacks now taking place in sub-Saharan Africa, analysts say. Its Nigeria-based branch is by far the most active.

Anderson said that the group's local command structure and its wider global network had both been disrupted by the joint operation, limiting its ability to communicate.

Despite the withdrawal, US military personnel stationed in Nigeria before the Lake Chad Basin operation have remained in the country, military spokesperson Major General Samaila Uba told the BBC.

Nigeria faces multiple security challenges. Along with Islamist militants, banditry and criminal violence plague the country, having spread from the north into parts of central and southern Nigeria.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Ebola treatments trial begins in DR Congo

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c75ykve4zzxo, 2 days ago

A trial of potential treatments for the species of virus behind the current deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has begun, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced.

The first patient has been enrolled in DR Congo, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.

More than 1,400 cases and 438 deaths have been confirmed in the country, according to the WHO.

There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus species of the disease, which is highly infectious.

The current trial is sponsored by the WHO, and is being co-ordinated by scientists at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in DR Congo, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, and the University of Oxford in the UK.

Patients will be tested on two antiviral drugs.

Speaking to reporters from the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, Tedros said: "Even without approved therapeutics, people are recovering from this disease, but of course, we could save many more lives with safe and effective therapeutics in our toolkit."

DR Congo's Health Minister Dr Samuel Roger Kamba said the launch "represents a significant step forward, offering renewed hope to patients, their families, and affected communities".

The current outbreak of Ebola in DR Congo began in May, though transmission had been going undetected for some time.

The situation has been declared a public health emergency by the WHO, which says there have been 1,460 confirmed cases in DR Congo, with 150 suspected cases and 452 deaths, as of 1July. According to the WHO, 213 people have recovered.

There have also been 20 confirmed cases in Uganda, leading to two deaths, and one confirmed case in France, as of 1 July.

Ebola is caused by a virus which attacks the body's immune system and organs.

It normally infects animals, typically fruit bats, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people handle infected animals. It is spread through bodily fluids like blood.

Congolese health authorities have said the outbreak is currently restricted to three eastern provinces - South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri.

However, the Reuters and AFP news agencies report that the body of a pregnant woman tested positive for Ebola in the neighbouring Tshopo province. The woman reportedly died in Ituri, before her body was transported by motorbike to Tshopo's main city, Kisangani, which has a population of about 1.5 million people.

Additionally, an individual suspected of having Ebola reportedly fled from an isolation unit in Ituri and later tested positive in the nearby Haut-Uele province.

Authorities are said to have launched contact-tracing efforts across Tshopo and Haut-Uele. Earlier this week, public gatherings were banned in both these provinces, along with neighbouring Bas-Uele and the capital, Kinshsasa, in order to prevent the spread of Ebola.

People with Ebola usually only become contagious after developing symptoms, and it takes two to 21 days for symptoms to appear.

They come on suddenly and start like flu or malaria with fever, headache and tiredness.

DR Congo's health ministry said it has improved diagnosis across the affected region. Previously, four laboratories were testing for Ebola, but that number has now increased to 10 .

According to both Africa CDC and US public health authorities, the current outbreak has the potential to be one of the largest ever, because it was spreading for weeks before it was confirmed to be Ebola.

International organisations also warn that conflict in eastern DR Congo is making it more difficult to tackle the outbreak. The M23 rebel group is in control of large parts of both North and South Kivu.

Vaccines must be developed for each individual species of Ebola, of which there are six, but only three are known to cause outbreaks.

More cows than pupils - what is behind mass school closures in rural Kenya?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy72mn3m7l3o, yesterday

On what should be a busy morning at Kaliluni Primary School in southern Kenya, only cows are in attendance, grazing between broken classroom doors that hang open to reveal rows of empty chairs.

Three years ago, more than 200 children filled this rural school with noise and activity. Now there are only five pupils - and on the day we visit they, and the only remaining teacher, are absent.

As we leave the dilapidated compound, with books strewn across the floors of some classrooms, we spot a schoolgirl in uniform walking forlornly towards her home.

Maureen Mwisiwa, 12, says she has been turning up to school for the past week to find herself on her own.

"I feel bad missing lessons all those days while pupils in other schools are still in class," she tells the BBC.

Her mother, Josephine Muasya - like the remaining parents with children there - is planning to transfer her daughter to another school where most of Maureen's friends are now. It is quite a distance away - 8km (5 miles) on rough roads.

But as there is no public transport in this remote area of Kitui county, which is more than 200km east of the capital, Nairobi, the children opt for a short cut, trekking over fairly rugged terrain.

It will still take Maureen just over an hour to walk to the new school, instead of the 10 minutes to Kaliluni Primary.

"I was hoping the government would restore operations here - bring more teachers and facilities to accommodate the new curriculum - but there is no hope," her mother says.

Muasya is referring to a major shake-up of Kenya's education system that was introduced in 2017 - a less exam-orientated and more creative and practical approach to teaching, known as Competency-Based Education (CBE).

But it is having a devastating effect on rural junior schools - and Kaliluni Primary is one of more than 2,000 across the East African nation now facing possible closure as enrolment numbers plummet.

Under the old system, primary schools would teach children until grade eight and then aged around 14, they would move to senior school.

Now the final year of primary school ends in grade six and there is a new intermediary stage, known as junior secondary school, for grades seven to nine, which includes more science and practical subjects.

It was decided that primary schools would accommodate these intermediary grades with children moving to senior school at around 15 years old.

But it meant that suddenly under-resourced primary schools needed more classrooms, science laboratories, additional teachers with subject specialisations and new learning materials.

"Infrastructure gaps are acute. Many rural schools lack basic facilities such as laboratories, yet learners are expected to pursue science and technical pathways," Mark Kasyoki, an education expert, told the BBC.

He warned that the new curriculum, which was designed to address inequality in education - free for all children in Kenya - could end up doing the opposite if the problems were not urgently addressed.

Other schools in Kitui county have also been affected. Sooma Primary School shut in 2023 after its enrolment dropped to just six pupils and the following year Manooni Primary School closed its doors after only three pupils registered.

There were no farewell assemblies, no tearful speeches under a mango tree. The children just quietly migrated, one by one, to better-equipped schools.

"The CBE curriculum should strengthen schools, especially for low-income communities, not weaken them," said Tabitha Katingu, a mother from the area, who has transferred her two children, meaning they now have a 3km walk to school.

"We want the best for our children. If a school has not enough trained teachers and other required facilities - why would we waste time there?"

It has left many teachers frustrated too.

"The challenge is not that teachers are unwilling to embrace CBE. It's that many of us have not been adequately prepared for it. The training has been inconsistent, especially in rural schools," said a teacher based in Kitui county.

Not all Kitui residents put the blame for school closures solely on the curriculum. Some note that people are having fewer children, while others are moving away for better job opportunities.

"Young people want to marry, but life is hard. Everything is expensive, and many fear they cannot provide for a family. That is why there are fewer children growing up in our villages nowadays," Sarah Mumbua from Kilukuya village told the BBC.

Those who secure jobs in towns often relocate with their families, further draining rural communities of school-age children.

About 70% of Kenyans lived in rural areas in 2023, according to national statistics. Should the current trends continue, UN-Habitat predicts more than half of Kenya's population will be living in towns or cities by 2050.

The decline in pupil numbers is also affecting rural secondary schools. According to government data, 2,700 of the country's 9,605 public secondary schools, mostly located in remote areas, have fewer than the required 150 learners.

Ten secondary schools were closed earlier in the year when teachers arrived to take up posts to discover not one single student, local media reported.

January marked the moment when approximately 1.1 million pioneer grade 10 students - the first full cohort to have gone through the new system - moved to senior school, something the government celebrated as an important milestone for the country.

Education Minister Julius Ogamba has acknowledged there is a rural enrolment problem, saying earlier this year that 2,145 public primary schools would be closing or merging with others to optimise resources.

He also announced an audit of all schools - explaining the minimum enrolment needed for a primary school to remain viable was 45 students.

"It makes no sense to have a school with just 10 students when you need a headmaster, a classroom, a watchman and a teacher. It doesn't make sense. This tells us that we need to face reality," he said.

"We now need to change course and ensure that our schools have all the necessary facilities and the right number of students."

However, the closure of rural schools is also leading to an overcrowding crisis for other institutions struggling to absorb the influx of students.

Dr Emmanuel Manyasa, the head of Usawa Agenda, a non-profit Kenyan education research group, cautions against closing so many schools, warning about overcrowding and safety risks elsewhere.

"CBE is a good curriculum but we're failing in the implementation. We skipped critical early stages like a cost and implementation plan. We have been just crisis-managing the transition, which is not sustainable," he told the BBC.

Bernard Musyoki, a teacher who spent seven years teaching in a rural part of Machakos county, which borders Kitui, could not agree more.

He loved the community school, but with fewer than 20 pupils it was merged with another one and he transferred to a much larger institution.

"We are moving from one extreme to another," the 36-year-old said about the overcrowded classes.

Musyoki believes the government should cap the number of pupils in each school and distribute teachers more evenly to allow the new system to flourish for all.

"Every child, whether they are in a small rural school or a large one, deserves equal access to teachers, classrooms and learning materials," he said.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Zuma showing South Africa 'middle finger' by meeting Gupta brother - minister

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvge0gd6lnqo, yesterday

Former President Jacob Zuma is "showing the middle finger" to South Africa, a minister in the country has said after it emerged Zuma had met one of the Indian businessmen allegedly at the heart of a huge corruption scandal.

A photograph of Zuma and Ajay Gupta in an Indian temple was shared by Indian media this week.

Around a decade ago, the Gupta brothers were accused of profiting from their close links to then-President Zuma and influencing South African policy.

Both parties denied wrongdoing, while the family left South Africa in 2018 after a judicial commission began investigating allegations they were involved in massive fraud, known as "state capture".

South African authorities cancelled their arrest warrant for Ajay Gupta the following year.

The two younger Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, went to the United Arab Emirates where a court in 2023 turned down a South African request to extradite them.

In a press briefing on Friday, cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said it was "very disturbing that a former state president openly and unapologetically shows the middle finger to South Africans who have lost a lot of money through the Gupta brothers' shenanigans".

Zuma, a long-standing member of the African National Congress (ANC), was forced out of office in 2018 following a string of corruption allegations concerning the Guptas. He has always denied any wrongdoing.

In 2022, a commission investigating state capture concluded that Zuma had hired and fired ministers central to the running of the country's economy at the behest of the Gupta family.

In particular it describes the 2015 sacking of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene because he would not comply with the Guptas' wishes, and the appointment of two subsequent ministers - Des van Rooyen, and Malusi Gigaba - who were friendly to the family's interests.

The commission also detailed a web of corruption at the state electricity utility Eskom, culminating in key members of the company's executive being put in place by the Guptas.

After meeting Ajay Gupta at the temple in India, Zuma, who now heads the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, reportedly said he would stand for re-election in South Africa's next elections.

In response, Ntshavheni said 84-year-old Zuma "continues to show a middle finger and claim that he wants to run this country again".

She also said it was a "disgrace" that the South African high commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, had accompanied Zuma to the meeting with Gupta.

South Africa will launch an investigation into the meeting, international relations minister Ronald Lamola said.

Lamola said it seemed Zuma was running "a parallel foreign policy".

Under Zuma's leadership, the MK party got about 15% of the vote in the 2024 elections that saw the ANC lose its majority for the first time since the democratic era began in 1994, when Nelson Mandela became president.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Hit South African show gets the world talking about polygamy and cheating

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2djde7v2do, 9 days ago

One of Netflix's hottest and sassiest new dramas has not only South Africa but the world talking about marriage, betrayal, revenge and the contentious issue of polygamy - the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time.

The Polygamist, a 22-episode Zulu-language series, is about the tangled love life of wealthy Johannesburg businessman Jonasi Gomora.

It begins at the fictional tycoon's funeral where we learn that his widow Joyce, a social media influencer wearing a striking white outfit, is not his only partner. In fact, he has two other wives and a mistress - who are all there dressed in black.

Emotions explode as secrets are laid bare - and in a dramatic rollercoaster, the plot spirals back over five years to explain their relationships and toxic family dynamics.

Released by the streaming giant on 12 June, the show topped trend lists within hours and social media has been lit up since with reactions to the controversial plot twists - some people sharing memes and their own experiences about polygamy and faithless marriages.

Some minibus "matatu" taxis in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, have been redecorated with Jonasi's face or name such is the show's popularity there and the debate around his behaviour.

Even Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido tweeted: "Yo JONASI is WILD" - and Hollywood celebrities have chipped in too.

"I thought Crazy Rich Asians was something, but crazy rich Africans is a whole 'nother level," Emmy-award winning talk-show host and actress Sherri Shepherd said on Instagram.

In reply to the post, Taraji P Henson - star of hits including Hidden Figures and Empire - said the show had had her in a "chokehold" and she had binged it in one day.

Based on the 2012 novel by Zimbabwean author Sue Nyathi, The Polygamist has been adapted for the screen by Netflix in collaboration with South African production company Stained Glass TV.

The executive producers include two daughters of Jacob Zuma - South Africa's former president and a proud polygamist who is greatly respected by his supporters for upholding his cultural and traditional Zulu beliefs. The 84-year-old currently has four wives, has been married six times and is estimated to have 20 children.

Gugu Zuma-Ncube and Thuli Zuma's parents divorced in 1998 after 16 years of marriage - and another of their half-siblings is also credited as a writer on the series.

Zuma-Ncube says their upbringing and other issues she and others in the team experienced influenced how they told the story.

"A lot of the scenes that you see in the show are taken directly out of our lives. I famously come from a very polygamist family… [so] I brought that in," she told the BBC.

The 41-year-old producer said her team at Stained Glass TV had been "floored" by the show's reception not just locally, but across the continent.

It was the most watched show on Netflix in South Africa and Kenya and made it to the top 10 in Nigeria and Mauritius within the first week of its release. It attracted two million views and was number four on Netflix's top 10 list for non-English series globally, also in the first week.

"The fact that Africa has embraced the show means a lot to us, especially considering the climate," Zuma-Ncube said, in reference to the wave of anti-migrant protests that has sprung up across South Africa and sparked a massive backlash on the continent.

Beyond Africa, it was among the most watched shows in Trinidad and Tobago, Romania and the Dominican Republic among others, the streaming giant told the BBC.

Zuma-Ncube said that while the producers had been convinced the show would entertain viewers, they had been pleasantly surprised by the "emotional chord it struck with women in relationships [and] children who've come from particular fathers or… households".

It is the character of Jonasi, the patriarch of the Gomora family, that has stirred up the most feelings.

As avid viewer Ziya M, posting on X just two days after the show's premiere, put it: "Jonasi has the whole nation riled up."

Letlhogonolo Mogale, who binged the show days after its release, described Jonasi as a "serial cheater" and "opportunist who would do anything to satisfy himself".

The 35-year-old is not from a polygamist family herself, nonetheless The Polygamist's storyline resonated and highlighted "social ills that happen and [are] normalised in South Africa".

"What stuck out for me personally was how broken families are and how broken society is," she told the BBC.

Polygamy is legally recognised in South Africa and within Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Venda cultures, among others, it is not uncommon for a man to have multiple wives - as happens in some other African and Muslim societies.

The women tend to be set up in their own households though there is usually co-operation between co-wives in terms of child-rearing - something that can be less realistic in urban settings.

For Mogale the polygamy in the show is duplicitous, secretive and "forced".

It is "not supposed to be that way", she said, adding that the scene that best illustrated this was between Jonasi and his eldest daughter Mpume.

Jonasi has six children altogether, with three women, and is closest to Mpume who is known as "Daddy's Girl".

But as a teenager, broken by her father's deceit, neglect and unfaithfulness, Mpume tries to express her feelings in a letter that she starts to read out loud to him.

His reaction - turning up the volume on the TV and ignoring her - stunned many, including Mogale.

The show does not shy away from tackling other issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, gender-based violence and the trauma these often inflict on African families.

There is also a controversial plotline about HIV.

With 13% of South Africa's population living with the virus – polygamous unions have divided opinion in the country with many pointing to the dangers plural families face.

But the show does have its detractors. Kenyan civil servant Geoffrey Mosiria, who has a big following on social media, has called for the Netflix show to be banned in Kenya as it is gives polygamy a bad name.

"Kenya is a polygamous nation - and polygamy is the best way to find love," the Nairobi county official told the BBC.

He explained that he was the product of a happy polygamous family - his father had three wives and he was the last born of 22 children.

"Polygamy builds a community," he said, criticising how the series would fuel distrust in marriage.

South African film and TV critic Phil Mphela said The Polygamist was less about cultural polygamy and more about "the outrageous behaviour of this husband" - someone he sees as a narcissist.

He told the BBC the show marked a "pivotal moment" for the country's film and TV industry.

While South Africa was known for its world-class productions "being able to have our stories shared globally and being appreciated for their authenticity and impact in the social discourse" was important, he said.

"It's doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing because these stories are supposed to evoke something within our society."

For 39-year-old viewer Mpiletso Motumi, it was the strong female leads that kept her glued to the screen in Johannesburg.

In an interview with the BBC, she praised the "amazing" cast and crew for their interpretation of Nyathi's novel, who has also had a boost in demand for her book.

The 48-year-old author even took to Instagram this week to warn her fans that counterfeited copies of The Polygamist were being sold in a bookshop in Nairobi.

"Please don't buy pirated copies. I am working day and night (like Michael Jackson) to make sure the book becomes available in the East African region. Copyright infringement is a crime and a violation of my rights," she said.

While Netflix and the producers bask in the show's reception, viewers are already asking if there will be more seasons.

"I think ultimately what we'll be guided by is serving the story and serving the audience… [but] who knows where we end up," a coy Zuma-Ncube said.

Additional reporting by Wycliffe Muia in Nairobi

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Twins marry twins in joyous Nigerian joint wedding

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvglvkxwxj8o, 13 days ago

When guests gathered at a church in the south-west Nigerian city of Ibadan at the weekend, they knew they were witnessing something rare.

A pair of twin brothers - Taiwo and Kehinde Oguntoye - were marrying twin sisters Taiwo and Kehinde Adediran in a joyous joint ceremony.

The Yoruba people, who predominate in south-west Nigeria, are known for having an unusually high number of twin births, but it is not every day two sets of twins tie the knot.

"We know many twins, but this marriage feels like it was arranged by God. We have always dreamed of marrying twins," Taiwo Oguntoye told BBC Yoruba on his wedding day.

"With God's grace, we pray for twins in our first and second children. That is our heart's desire."

Twins are considered a blessing in Yoruba culture and their names are predestined. The older child is called Taiwo, meaning "the one that tests the world", while the younger is called Kehinde, meaning "the one that came after".

The Oguntoye-Adediran love story began a decade ago, when all four were studying at the University of Ibadan.

A lecturer told the Oguntoyes that she knew a set of twin sisters they should meet, which piqued the brothers' interest.

"It's not that we haven't met other twin sisters before. We did date some, but sometimes things just didn't work out," Taiwo Oguntoye said.

The Adedirans initially resisted an introduction and did not answer the lecturer's phone calls. Then, eventually, a meeting was set up.

Taiwo Oguntoye, now in his early 40s, remembers: "We eventually visited them, we had a talk but they were not interested in a relationship then."

Instead, the foursome became friends. Life took them in different directions, however.

The sisters, who had been studying for master's degrees in Ibadan, moved abroad for further studies, while the brothers travelled and worked in several countries, including the United States and South Africa.

Years passed before the brothers reached out again.

Over time, despite some initial scepticism, their connections became undeniable.

The couples' families were thrilled by the relationships - Taiwo Oguntoye recalls bonding with his in-laws instantly.

"Everyone was so happy to see us, it felt like we had known them all our lives," he said. "We were treated like sons in our own father's house."

Proud relatives showed up in style to the wedding, where the couples co-ordinated their outfits.

Several other pairs of twins were in attendance - perhaps unsurprising as the grooms are well known locally for promoting twin culture. Known as the Oguntoye Twins, the brothers are active in culture and tourism initiatives.

The Oguntoyes have some physical differences, being fraternal twins, but their wives are identical.

"Our wives look so alike that even their family members sometimes confuse them. We don't mix them up, we know our own wives very well," Kehinde Oguntoye said.

The brothers say they share similar personalities to their wives, describing themselves as ambiverts - sometimes quiet, sometimes outgoing, depending on the situation.

Although they are very close, the married couples will live apart, Taiwo Oguntoye said.

"We have our unique plan about that, over time people will get to know about that."

For now, the newlyweds are enjoying a new chapter of their love story, which began with a near-perfect meeting, but was paused for years, before eventually blooming into two of the area's most talked-about unions.

Additional reporting by BBC Yoruba's John Alabi

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Nigeria to seek compensation for property abandoned by citizens fleeing South Africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d2n8elwdlo, 2 days ago

Nigeria says it will seek compensation from South Africa for its citizens who have left the country following recent protests targeting undocumented migrants.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa on Wednesday told the BBC that the issue would be discussed between the two governments "at the highest levels".

Acting High Commissioner to South Africa Alexander Ajayi said on local television on Tuesday that the government had begun documenting businesses and properties left behind by Nigerians.

One Nigerian trader waiting to be repatriated told the BBC he had lived in South Africa for nearly a decade and had abandoned his business and home because he feared for his safety.

Oghodero Erejor Wilson, 32, said he was losing "everything because of fear".

"I left everything in my house including clothes."

He is among hundreds of Nigerians still waiting to be evacuated from South Africa. More than 600 Nigerians have already been repatriated in recent weeks.

The South African authorities say those who have been flown home were in the country illegally - though this is disputed by Nigeria.

About 25,000 nationals of other African countries have left South Africa following a wave of protests in recent weeks by groups demanding that the government does more to curb illegal migration.

Some anti-migrant groups had given undocumented foreigners a deadline of 30 June to leave the country and organised marches attended by thousands of people on Tuesday. These were largely peaceful but there were isolated incidents of violence against foreigners.

The South African police say that about 900 people were arrested, mostly for immigration-related offences and looting.

Chrispin Phiri from South Africa's foreign ministry on Friday told the BBC that "transparent claims for compensation can be assessed on the facts and a case-by-case basis".

Nigeria's acting high commissioner said he had asked all of those who had left South Africa "to document very accurately those things they were leaving behind in terms of businesses, in terms of even cars, movable and immovable properties".

Foreign ministry spokesperson Ebienfa told the BBC that all claims would be verified before any formal request was made.

"We have not severed ties with South Africa, we are still engaging them at the highest level, we will sort those details using our usual diplomatic channels," he said.

Wilson, the trader, said he had run a clothing business in the South African city of Centurion in Gauteng province for several years.

But he said he had now closed his shop and fled to stay near the Nigeria High Commission in South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

Scheduled to leave on the next repatriation flight to Nigeria on Friday, he estimates the goods left in his shop are worth more than 16,000 rand ($975; £735).

Wilson said his residency documents had expired in 2021 and he had been unable to renew them.

He said he was not very hopeful about the prospect of getting compensation.

"If South Africa government can compensate it, it will be nice, but I know they won't," he said.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Killers of British couple in South Africa sentenced to life

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgm49j9692o, 3 days ago

Three people have been sentenced to life in prison by a South African court for the kidnapping, robbing and murder of a British couple in February 2018.

Rachel Saunders, 64, and her husband Rodney, 73, were kidnapped while in the Ngoye Forest, 150km (93 miles) north of the port city of Durban.

The British botanists had been collecting indigenous plants and seeds, before their bodies were found days later in a river.

Saffydeen Aslam del Vecchio, 46, his wife Fatima Patel, 35, and Malawian national Ahmad Mussa were convicted of the murders last month and were each sentenced to two life terms by the KwaZulu-Natal division of the Durban High Court on Thursday.

The trio were also found guilty of stealing the couple's belongings, including bank cards which were used to purchase various items near Durban, the country's police service said in a statement.

Shortly after the couple's disappearance, their car was found with blood marks and 734,000 rand (£42,000; $44,700) was reportedly drained from their bank accounts.

In addition to the life terms, the accused were each sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances and four years for theft.

Del Vecchio was also sentenced for five years' imprisonment regarding an unrelated case of malicious damage to property.

The sentences of the accused will run concurrently.

Patel had previously been arrested, with her brother, in 2016 during a separate anti-terrorism raid closer to Johannesburg. Neither of them were charged. She and del Vecchio were alleged to have hoisted a flag of the Islamic State group in the reserve where the couple disappeared in 2018.

Rachel and Rodney had dual South African and British citizenship, and owned a seed business in Cape Town.

They were on a trip in KwaZulu-Natal province when they were taken and were travelling in a vehicle carrying their research equipment and camping gear, the national prosecuting authority of South Africa said in a statement last month.

The couple were last seen alive on 10 February 2018, with Rodney's body being found by fishermen in the Tugela river and identified several weeks later. Rachel's body was identified on 13 June of that year.

Police said that del Vecchio and Patel had been arrested by authorities on 15 February 2018, when their property was searched and items belonging to the deceased were found.

Musa was arrested three weeks later and charged accordingly, the police added.

Residents of Ethiopian town forced to kill hundreds of their own dogs after rabies deaths

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wy4d5p4pxo, 3 days ago

Residents of an Ethiopian town have been forced to kill hundreds of their own dogs after three children died from rabies.

Powerful community groups in the central town of Hossana told residents they would be fined and arrested if their dogs were not killed, even if the animals had been vaccinated for rabies, residents told the BBC.

The community groups issued the orders after three children died from dog bites and 80 other people were hospitalised, local mayor Samuel Shigute said.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that after the order was imposed, some reluctant owners hanged their dogs or beat them to death, while others were handed over to be killed.

The BBC has seen photos, which are too graphic to publish, of the bodies of dogs hanging from trees. Another image showed several dead dogs lying on a field with ropes around their necks.

The community associations behind the directive are affiliated with the local government, but Mayor Samuel called the dog killings "illegal" and told the BBC they were not ordered by his administration.

One resident, who did not wanted to be named for fear of reprisals, told the BBC he was ordered to kill his dog, but could not bring himself to do so.

"I decided not to kill him myself, but to let them do it without me seeing. I handed him over, and he was killed a little far from the settlement," he said.

"I am very saddened by the loss of the dog that lived with me for five years and was the pride of our house," he said, adding that his dog had been vaccinated for rabies.

Samuel said roughly 70% of Hossana's 10,000 dogs were guard dogs which had received rabies jabs.

Local vet Alaazar Ayele said he was "deeply saddened" by the deaths.

"We estimate that 400 to 450 dogs were killed in just a few days," he said.

"People dragged dogs out and killed them in shocking ways. This is immoral and unacceptable in religion, culture, and law. Videos show owners crying as their dogs were killed."

Rabies is a serious disease which humans usually catch from the bite or scratch of an infected animal, such as a dog.

It is almost always fatal once symptoms appear in humans, but treatment administered before this point can be successful.

Unvaccinated dogs, in most cases, cannot survive the disease as there is no treatment for animals. Therefore, dogs across the world are usually put down if they are known to have rabies.

Samuel said local police and security forces stopped the dog killings "within a day".

However, Feven Melese, who runs an animal rights organisation in the capital, Addis Ababa, and has been receiving reports from Hossana, said that although the mass killings had stopped, individuals were still "going door to door asking people to get rid of unvaccinated dogs". Alaazar also said the killings were continuing.

Along with the threat of being arrested, dog owners were also told they would be fined 50,000 birr ($300; £225) if they did not put their animals down, one resident told the BBC.

In Ethiopia, it is illegal to kill animals in public spaces, or cause them to suffer in cruel and abnormal ways.

Samuel said he had ordered the police to investigate the killings, while Feven called for the authorities to take swift action.

"The local government bodies say that they did not do it and did not give the order. If not, they should hold the criminals accountable," she said.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

South Africa and Ghana in diplomatic row over alleged killing of migrant

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c982k1j3d70o, 3 days ago

A diplomatic row has erupted between South Africa and Ghana, over claims that a Ghanaian man was killed during anti-migrant protests, which South African officials deny.

Ghana's Foreign Affairs ministry said it had received with "profound shock" reports that Bashiru Isak, 40, had been shot dead on Tuesday in Cape Town's Khayelitsha's township. It said it had sent a formal protest note and filed a complaint with the police.

South Africa's justice minister responded by expressing concern "that Ghanaian authorities continue to communicate false information about South Africa regarding developments on irregular migration".

The police said they had "no record of the Khayelitsha murder".

They did say they were investigating the killing, a day earlier, of 35-year-old Ghanaian Kwabena Boagen allegedly in extortion-linked crime in a different Cape Town township, Nyanga.

South African police said Boagen lived in Khayelitsha area but worked in Nyanga, where the crime occurred. It said a post-mortem was being done in line with its protocols.

The police had earlier told the BBC that suspects allegedly entered the barbershop where Boagen was working and demanded money from him before he was shot. The suspects fled the scene and so far no arrests have been made.

Referring to the statement by Ghanaian authorities, the police said: "An earnest plea is made to the authorities in question to provide details of the Khayelitsha incident to the [police] in order for the matter to be probed further."

South African foreign ministry official Clayson Monyela told the BBC that claims linking the Ghanaian's death to the anti-migrant protests were a "fabricated tale".

Tuesday was the unofficial deadline set by South African anti-migrant groups for all undocumented foreigners to leave the country, with thousands marching across main cities.

Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria are among the African countries that have been repatriating some of their citizens seeking to escape violence and intimidation in South Africa ahead of the deadline. Some 25,000 people have left so far.

The police said Tuesday's protests were largely peaceful. They said about 900 people were arrested, mostly for immigration-related offences and looting.

In the statement condemning the attack against Isak, Ghana said "taking of any life is unacceptable, and those responsible must be brought to justice without delay".

"Ghana demands from the South African authorities a full, transparent and expedited investigation leading to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators," it said.

It urged South Africa to abide by its international obligations to "guarantee the safety, dignity and rights of all foreign nationals on its territory, including Ghanaians".

Ghana's Joy FM media outlet described Isak as a tailor who had lived in South Africa for about 20 years. He was reportedly approached at his shop by people who allegedly accused him of taking South African jobs, before shooting him.

Plans were under way to repatriate his body back to Ghana for burial, according to the Ghanaian foreign ministry, which also sent its condolences to the family.

The ministry advised its citizens who had chosen to remain in South Africa to remain vigilant and avoid high-risk areas.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the world at more than 30% and anti-migrant sentiment has been rising in recent months.

The continent's most developed economy remains a magnet for people from poorer countries seeking work often in low-paid jobs.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

What is Ebola and why is stopping the latest outbreak so difficult?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz72p75zg4qo, 4 days ago

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared a public health emergency of international concern, by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The latest outbreak is challenging because it involves a rare species of Ebola for which there is no vaccine, and the epicentre is in an area affected by conflict.

What is Ebola and what are the symptoms?

Ebola is a rare but deadly disease caused by a virus.

Ebola viruses normally infect animals, typically fruit bats, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people eat or handle infected animals.

It takes two to 21 days for symptoms to appear. They come on suddenly and start like the flu or malaria, with fever, headache and tiredness.

As the disease progresses, vomiting and diarrhoea develop and it can lead to organ failure. Some, but not all, patients develop internal and external bleeding.

The virus spreads from one person to another by contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit.

Ebola outbreaks used to be small and contained to remote rural areas. However, urbanisation is pushing larger populations closer to these natural reservoirs of Ebola and increasing the risk of transmission.

Why is this Ebola outbreak different and is there a vaccine?

This outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which had not been seen for over a decade.

Named after a district in Uganda where it was first detected, Bundibugyo has only caused two previous outbreaks - in 2007 and 2012.

One study showed that it killed about a third of those infected, far less than the more common Zaire (66.6%) and Sudan (48.5%) species. About 28% of those known to have been infected in the current outbreak have died.

Initial blood tests for Ebola in the affected areas were negative as they were designed to identify the more common species of the disease.

There is no approved vaccine for Bundibugyo, but experimental ones are in development. It is possible that a vaccine for the Zaire species may offer some protection.

There are also no drugs that target Bundibugyo, making it harder to treat. The WHO has recommended the evaluation - under strict protocols - of the experimental anti-viral drug obeldesivir, developed during Covid, to see if it is effective in stopping those who have been in contact with Ebola patients from getting sick.

A further complication is that the outbreak is taking place in a conflict zone, with a quarter of million people displaced from their homes and people moving across porous borders into neighbouring countries.

Trish Newport, from medical charity Doctors Without Borders, who is heavily involved in efforts to tackle the outbreak, told the BBC World Service that territory constantly changed hands between different armed groups, making it difficult for emergency response teams to simply drive to Ebola hot-spots.

She pointed out that a further problem was bad roads, with a 90km (56-mile) journey from Bunia city to Mongbwalu, one of two gold-mining towns where the majority of cases have been reported, taking more than three hours.

However, the WHO's declaration of a public health emergency of international concern does not mean we are in the early stages of a Covid-style pandemic. The risk Ebola poses outside Central and East Africa is minimal.

How did the current Ebola outbreak start?

The first known case was a nurse who developed symptoms on 24 April, which means the virus had been spreading undetected for weeks.

The nurse died in Bunia, the capital of eastern DR Congo's Ituri province, according to Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba.

The victim's body was repatriated to Mongbwalu.

Kamba said one of the reasons the virus spread so quickly was the number of people exposed to the body during the funeral ceremony.

Africa's public health agency, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told the BBC World Service that funerals were a particular concern, as they also helped spread the disease during previous outbreaks.

Africa CDC director Dr Jean Kaseya said public health information campaigns were "providing information on how to handle funerals" and the importance of basic hygiene and sanitation, as well as providing protection measures for health workers.

Kamba said there had been delays in reporting Ebola cases because infected communities believed the disease to be "witchcraft" or a "mystical illness", resulting in people seeking treatment from prayer centres and witchdoctors rather than hospitals.

How many Ebola cases have been reported and where are they?

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic".

On 29 June, the WHO said there had been 1,333 confirmed cases and 399 confirmed deaths from the virus in DR Congo.

There have also been 189 recoveries from Ebola so far, including four nurses whose discharge from hospital was celebrated at a special ceremony.

Ituri province is the epicentre of this outbreak and accounts for the vast majority of confirmed infections.

Officials in neighbouring Uganda have so far confirmed two deaths from Ebola - individuals who had travelled to Uganda from DR Congo. The authorities there have also confirmed 20 cases, with 15 people recovering from the virus.

France confirmed its first case on 24 June - a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in the DR Congo.

American doctor Peter Stafford tested positive after treating patients at Nyankunde Hospital in Bunia, where he has worked since 2023.

In early June, he was discharged from a hospital in Germany, where had been evacuated to for treatment.

Cases have also been confirmed in North Kivu (44) and South Kivu (3), provinces partly controlled by the rebel AFC-M23 alliance. These discoveries signalled the outbreak's spread from its epicentre.

What is being done in DR Congo to tackle the current Ebola outbreak?

Mass gatherings have been banned in the provinces with confirmed cases - Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu - as well as three neighbouring provinces - Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele.

Capital city Kinshasa - which has no confirmed cases and is located some 1,800 km (1,100) miles from the outbreak - has also been ordered to ban mass gatherings. The French doctor had travelled through the city on his way home.

The Congolese government has established four laboratories in Ituri - in Bunia, Mongbwalu, Beni and Aru - which can test blood samples for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola. Results can now be delivered within 24 hours, removing earlier delays.

Surveillance systems, contact tracing and the treatment infrastructure, with dedicated centres in several affected towns, have also been expanded, according to the health minister.

The WHO has dedicated $3.9m (£2.9m) to tackling the outbreak, while Africa CDC has announced a $319m budget. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged an initial $5m to support the agency's plan.

A toll-free number, 151, has been provided for reporting symptoms and people are being reminded to:

* avoid contact with bodies of people who died with symptoms, or with dead animals

* not eat raw meat, as undercooked food may transmit the virus

* practise social distancing.

How have the rebels responded to the latest Ebola outbreak?

The AFC-M23 group has created an Ebola response team in an effort to prevent transmissions in the areas it controls.

Spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said the group was working with health services and local medical facilities.

Neither the government nor the rebels have explicitly said whether they are prepared to work together to tackle the outbreak.

However, a case in Goma, North Kivu's provincial capital, was confirmed by a state-run body, the INRB.

Caitlin Brady, the country director for the Danish Refugee Council, said that earlier on in the outbreak, the M23 told her they were using contact tracing and all appropriate measures to contain the virus.

"A lot of the health officials and healthcare workers stayed and continued working" after rebels seized the city, meaning "the capacity to respond has remained", Brady told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme.

What are Rwanda and other neighbouring countries doing about the Ebola outbreak?

Rwanda closed its borders with DR Congo earlier on in the outbreak. According to Congolese media, authorities began to reopen parts of the border late in June following a lull in local infections.

Uganda has temporarily suspended flights, buses and all other public transport crossing the border with DR Congo.

After the first cases were detected in Uganda, authorities there told people to avoid hugging and shaking hands.

Several other African countries are tightening border screenings and bolstering health facilities.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Dissident Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee dies aged 70

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0wy0nenvo, yesterday

Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, who defied China and fled to Taiwan, has died aged 70.

Lam passed away at Mackay Memorial Hospital late in Taipei on Thursday after suffering from lung cancer, regional media said.

He was one of several booksellers detained in 2015 after selling material critical of the political elite on China's mainland.

He fled to Taiwan - which is seen by Beijing as a renegade province that must be reunited - in 2019 for fear he would be sent back to China under Hong Kong's proposed extradition bill.

Taiwan's authorities said at the time that the reopening of Lam's Causeway Bay Books bookshop was a symbol of democracy and freedom on the island.

Lam was taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei on Tuesday and later fell into a coma, reported the South China Morning Post citing local media. He died late on Thursday.

In a post on Facebook, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te wrote that he was "deeply saddened" about Lam's death, sending condolences to his family and friends.

Lam's life "bore witness to the value of freedom of expression, and to the fear and suffering inflicted by authoritarian repression.

"He chose not to remain silent. Instead, he reopened Causeway Bay Books in Taiwan, turning it into a place where friends from Hong Kong could gather, speak out and support one another," Taiwan's leader added.

Last year, Lam told BBC Witness History: "Everyone has their own values. You can't go against your values, nor can you betray others.

"If you believe something is right, you should continue to stick to it. It's not like you're harming anyone. If everyone could do that, this would of course be a better place," Lam said, in what was his last BBC interview.

In 2015, he was arrested during a visit to mainland China and held for more than 400 days.

He was among several bookshop owners and staff who disappeared and were later found to have been detained by Chinese authorities, as part of a crackdown on bookshops in the former British colony that sold publications critical of China's leaders.

A confession broadcast on Chinese television was, he said, staged and acted out to a script.

His case fuelled fears of China's increasing encroachment on Hong Kong's freedoms, fears which led to the months-long mass protests in 2019 in Hong Kong - China's special administrative region since 1997.

At least 32 dead after overcrowded bus plunges into ravine in Pakistan

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrxezg60x1o, 2 days ago

At least 32 people were killed and 16 others injured after an overcrowded passenger bus plunged into a ravine in south-western Pakistan.

The bus was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, when it crashed in the Dana Sar mountain range, on the border between Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, at about 08:00 local time (03:00 GMT) on Friday.

A government official at Zhob Hospital told BBC News that a total of 48 people, including a number of women and children, had been on board when the accident happened.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, but preliminary reports suggest a steering fault may have led the driver to lose control before skidding off the mountain range.

Photographs from the scene showed the badly damaged bus following its plunge to the bottom of the ravine.

Officials confirmed the injured were taken to the District Headquarters hospital in Zhob, about 68km (42 miles) from the crash site.

"The bus fell approximately 70 to 80 feet [21-24m] into the ravine," Sanaullah Sherani, the head of Zhob district's emergency service, told AFP news agency.

Dozens of emergency responders and ambulances were deployed to the scene following the crash, but rescue and recovery efforts were hampered by the difficult terrain.

The bodies of those killed were also taken to the hospital and following identification, will be transported to their hometowns by ambulance.

Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for Balochistan's chief minister, said initial information showed the bus had been overcrowded after taking on additional passengers from another bus that had broken down.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed their sorrow over the deaths.

In a post on X, Balochistan's Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said he was "deeply saddened" to hear of the accident, and ordered an inquiry into how it had happened.

"I extend my condolences to the families of the deceased and pray for the swift recovery of the injured," he said, adding that immediate medical support was being provided to the injured.

Fatal accidents are common on Pakistan's roads - often caused by reckless driving, bad road surfaces and poorly maintained vehicles.

In 2024, at least 17 pilgrims were killed and 40 others injured after their bus fell into a ravine while travelling to Balochistan for Eid celebrations.

India crèche worker arrested after allegations of putting toddlers in washing machine

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjeg4j3kjego, 2 days ago

Police in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru have arrested a crèche worker for allegedly abusing toddlers at a daycare centre set up for children of the employees of a major tech company.

The arrest was made days after videos, allegedly showing female crèche workers assaulting and intimidating crying children by shutting them in toilets and washing machines and spraying them with a bidet, surfaced online.

Police have registered a case against five employees of the crèche at Capgemini and say more arrests are likely.

Many corporates in India have begun setting up daycare centres on campus to attract and retain talent, but the regulatory frameworks governing them remain loose.

Capgemini has temporarily shut the daycare centre.

"Capgemini's foremost priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of its employees and their families. We are cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and assisting them in their efforts to establish the facts," the company said in a statement.

"As a precautionary measure, we are temporarily closing the Bengaluru on-campus daycare facility," it added.

Unlike schools that are governed by well-defined regulations, children's daycare facilities in India operate under a clutch of state-level rules, municipal regulations and local licencing requirements.

Their standards differ from state to state and implementation of rules remains lax.

The recent incident came to light after an anonymous caller reportedly informed the city's child protection unit that toddlers at a crèche inside Capgemini's Brookfield campus were allegedly being abused and shared videos of the abuse with officials.

Thilakesh Kumar, a child protection official, followed up on the complaint and found that the alleged abuse had taken place inside a toilet, where there was no coverage of CCTV cameras.

Based on a complaint from Kumar, police registered a case against five employees at the facility under sections of India's penal code and the juvenile justice law.

Bengaluru police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh told BBC Hindi that the arrested accused was Vijayalakshmi and that she had been sent to judicial custody.

Another police official who did not wish to be named told the BBC that two other caregivers had been questioned over the incident on Thursday.

Karnataka's Home Minister Priyank Kharge said the government was looking into the matter and that action would be taken against those found guilty of flouting rules.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is also investigating the case and is scheduled to visit the daycare facility on Friday.

Row after Indian state drops eggs from school lunch menu

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33yldyd62po, yesterday

Eggs or no eggs?

This question has dominated Indian social media and headlines after the eastern state of West Bengal announced last week that eggs would be replaced with vegetarian alternatives in some government school lunches as part of a pilot project.

The scheme, better known as the midday meal programme, provides free cooked lunches to children in government and government-aided schools.

For millions of underprivileged children, it is the most nutritious - and sometimes only - meal they eat all day. The scheme has long been credited with improving nutrition, reducing hunger and encouraging children to stay in school.

The row erupted after West Bengal's recently elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government said meal preparation for schools run by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation would be handed to International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), the Hindu group best known as the Hare Krishna movement.

Meals will be prepared by Iskcon's Annamitra Foundation, which serves only vegetarian food, replacing eggs with other sources of protein, an Iskcon official said last week.

The project has not yet begun and it is unclear whether it will be expanded to other schools. Iskcon told the BBC that discussions were still under way and nothing had been finalised.

But it has already reignited a familiar debate across India: what belongs on a school lunch plate?

Nutrition campaigners say eggs are among the cheapest and most effective sources of protein for growing children, especially those from poorer households. Attempts by several state governments - many led by the BJP - to replace or limit eggs in school meals have repeatedly sparked controversy.

Critics say governments are letting religious or ideological beliefs dictate nutrition policy by removing eggs. Supporters argue that carefully planned vegetarian meals can provide the same nutrients.

The opposition All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which ruled West Bengal until May, has accused the newly elected BJP government of trying to "impose vegetarianism" on schoolchildren.

Others say substitutes such as soybeans or kidney beans, suggested by an Iskcon official, are not widely eaten in the state and may not be readily accepted by students.

Some politicians and activists have proposed a middle path: let students choose between eggs and a vegetarian alternative.

Eggs have long been considered one of the cheapest and most efficient sources of high-quality protein. They usually cost around eight rupees ($0.08; £0.06) each and have been part of Bengal's food culture for generations.

Defending the decision, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the project was aimed at providing students with "good and pure food".

"You don't have to say Hare Krishna [the movement's devotional chant]. No one will force you," he said, rejecting criticism that the move was driven by the BJP's Hindu nationalist ideology.

Iskcon says the criticism is misplaced. Through the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which it founded, it provides school meals to about one million students across 16 states, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and parts of Delhi.

Radharaman Das, Iskcon's Kolkata vice-president until last week, told local media that the organisation takes special care to ensure its meals are nutritious and hygienic.

He said the vegetarian menu would provide enough protein and vitamins to match the nutritional value of eggs.

Das has since been removed from his organisational posts, although Iskcon has not publicly explained the decision.

The BBC has contacted Iskcon for further comment.

The row has also renewed focus on India's school meal scheme.

Launched nationwide in 1995, and rooted in a school feeding programme begun in Madras (now Chennai) in 1925, it has grown into one of the world's largest, serving more than 110 million children.

The federal government sets calorie and protein targets, but states decide how to meet them. As a result, there is no single national menu, and meals vary across the country.

In Bihar, children are typically served rice with pulses or chickpeas, plus an egg once a week. In Tamil Nadu, school lunches often include rice, sambar (lentil-vegetable stew), vegetables and eggs.

Other states serve only vegetarian meals. In Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, menus usually feature rice- or wheat-based dishes with pulses and vegetables, sometimes accompanied by milk, paneer (cottage cheese) or fruit.

How meals are prepared also varies.

In many government schools, they are cooked on site by dedicated staff. Elsewhere, state governments contract non-profit organisations to prepare and distribute meals that meet prescribed nutritional standards and state menus.

For nearly a decade, students in Kolkata's government schools have been served an egg on some days of the week, alongside rice, pulses and vegetables. Now, that could change.

Reactions have been mixed. Some primary school students told the BBC they welcomed the change as a break from familiar meals. Others were disappointed, saying they looked forward to the days eggs were served.

Chaitali Mitra, 37, whose daughter attends a government school, said school meals are better with an egg.

"It would reassure me that my growing child's protein needs were being fulfilled," she added.

For nutrition experts, the debate is less about food preferences than whether vegetarian substitutes can match eggs for nutrition at the same cost.

Fareha Shanam, a nutritionist at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, says eggs are among the most complete and affordable sources of protein.

"Eggs contain all nine essential amino acids that the body needs," she said, noting that pulses - while also nutritious - contain more fibre and a higher share of non-essential amino acids.

"Eggs are also rich in vitamins D and B12, making them an efficient source of nutrition for growing children."

Foods such as paneer can provide similar nutrition, Dr Shanam says, but they are far more expensive than eggs, making them difficult to serve regularly in a publicly funded programme.

"For many children, the school meal is the most nutrient-dense food they get all day," says Dr Vamshi V, a consultant in internal medicine at Gleneagles Aware Hospital in Hyderabad.

Dr Vamshi says replacing eggs without carefully matching their nutrients could leave children short of essential protein and micronutrients. The effects may not be immediate, she says, but over time they can impair growth, learning and immunity.

For teachers in government schools across the country, it all comes down to a simple reality - for many underprivileged children, these meals are indispensable.

"The mid-day meals have been among the biggest reasons for students getting admissions in primary schools," says a primary school teacher in Delhi who did not want to be named.

Many children, she said, come to school hungry and wait eagerly for lunch every day.

Meanwhile, in Bihar, teacher Bimla Singh* says the choice should be left to children, as it already is at her school. Every Friday, students are offered an egg, while those who do not eat eggs receive a banana instead.

"No one is forced to eat one or skip the other," she added.

*Name changed on request

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Pakistan syndicate allegedly smuggled human placentas, say police

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r2485pngyo, 2 days ago

Pakistan is investigating a syndicate suspected of smuggling alleged human placenta from hospitals to make anti-aging injections.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have accused the ring of buying 200kg (440lbs) of the organ from various hospitals each month. They dry and process them before shipping it abroad, the FIA told BBC Urdu.

During a raid in Islamabad last week, officials uncovered 500kg of what is believed to be human placenta at an illegal processing facility, leading to the arrest of five people.

Photographs shared by the agency show trays of dried placenta arranged in trolley carts inside a house which has been "converted into a facility for storing and processing placenta".

Separately, FIA officials on Wednesday intercepted a 100kg shipment of the human body tissue at the Islamabad airport that was bound for Vietnam.

The five suspects bought the placentas from hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi at about 800 rupees ($2.90; £2.20) per piece, says Hina Kanwal, an officer at Pakistan's Human Organ Transplant Authority.

They were meant to be exported to be made into anti-ageing injections, each of which would cost 700,000 rupees ($2,530; £1,890), according to the FIA.

The agency believes that the syndicate's operations extend beyond the capital, into other large cities like Lahore, Peshawar and Rawalpindi. It is also investigating immigration officers, waste management companies and hospitals for possible complicity.

In Pakistan, those found guilty of harvesting human organs for commercial purposes can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to 1m rupees.

An FIA official told BBC Urdu the agency had previously "taken several actions against illegal human organ transplantation", but this is the first case involving an "organised, international network dealing in human placenta".

The five suspects had initially claimed they were handling sheep's placenta, but said upon further interrogation that it was human placenta, officials say.

Sadaf Tariq, a gynaecologist in Pakistan, says there are strict regulations around the disposal of placenta, which is considered "highly infectious medical waste".

In most countries around the world - as is the case in Pakistan, the placenta is typically discarded as clinical waste once the baby is delivered.

Only government-approved companies are allowed to handle such disposals, which hospitals have to keep stringent records of.

The placenta is a temporary organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy and sustains life in the womb. It fulfils its primary purpose once it leaves the mother during childbirth.

But some people believe the placenta, which is rich in protein, iron and fat, is nutritious for adults too. It has also been made into pills and injections that some say can help with tissue regeneration. Scientific evidence behind these practices vary, as do regulations across the world.

A mayor in Japan announced her maternity leave - and got the whole country talking

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mykzj15xno, 3 days ago

When the mayor of a small town in western Japan announced she was taking maternity leave, she expected some raised eyebrows.

But the reaction was far stronger - and more divided - than Shoko Kawata had ever anticipated.

The 35-year-old has been plunged into a national debate about whether elected officials should take time off for childbirth, in a country that's struggling to lift birth rates.

"I was so surprised because the reaction was so big," Kawata tells the BBC.

Sitting on a blocky, cushioned armchair, she's flanked by two older men - her deputies - in a fifth-floor meeting room at City Hall in Yawata, a town south of Kyoto known for its shrines and cherry trees.

As there is currently no legal framework for local elected officials to take time off when they have babies, Kawata won't be taking maternity leave officially. Instead, she is assigning the man on her left, Shigeto Nose, to temporarily carry out her role.

She laid out her plans at a news conference in May, where she said she'd be off two months before and two months after her mid-September due date. She will be making history as Japan's first ever mayor to take maternity leave.

Everyone at work, where the average age is 39, was supportive, she says.

But that wasn't the case among members of the public, who've expressed varying views in thousands of X posts and several YouTube videos.

Some say having a baby is tough and Kawata is doing her best. Japanese society has failed to design systems with pregnancy in mind, one claims.

Another says Kawata is setting a wonderful example by putting her family first and making it easier for other women to enter politics.

But critics argue that stepping away from public duties is "irresponsible", and if she wanted to get pregnant "she should have done so before taking office". One says top officials wanting to take extended leave "should resign". Others insist salaries should be cut during maternity leave.

Kawata has brushed off the criticisms, proudly declaring she enjoys her job and believes now is the time for her to have a child and start a family.

"If we were to criticise politicians taking maternity leave, it means we are effectively excluding all women in their 20s through 40s - women who are capable of becoming pregnant - from public office."

Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of Akitakata city in the Hiroshima prefecture, believes the real issue is figuring out how to make sure duties are carried out during maternity leave.

People agree maternity leave is good, he suggests on his YouTube channel, but he wants this case to spark a constructive discussion on finding a solution that doesn't disrupt municipal work.

Kawata became Japan's youngest-ever female city mayor aged 33. She graduated from Kyoto University with a degree in economics before pursuing a career in local government and politics. She enjoys tea ceremonies, wearing kimonos and visiting shrines and temples, according to her official profile page.

And she's risen through the ranks in a very male political scene. As of last year, only about 4% of Japan's 1,720 municipal leaders were women.

While the country may now have its first female prime minister, the government has regularly come under fire for not doing enough to encourage more women into politics.

Some say the male-dominated cabinet and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan for much of its post-war history, are part of the problem.

A Cabinet Office survey released in July 2025 identified several barriers preventing women from entering politics: pregnancy, an assumption politics is a man's job and harassment.

Japan is the world's fourth-largest economy but consistently ranks low on the gender gap index. In the most recent report released by the World Economic Forum in June 2025, Japan ranked 118th out of 146 countries. It is the worst performing G7 nation when it comes to gender equality.

Although there is statutory maternity and paternity leave - which guarantees time off and partial income compensation - not everyone takes it.

Women can get six weeks before their due date and eight weeks after giving birth. Fathers get up to four weeks of flexible paid leave within eight weeks of a child's birth.

Both parents are also entitled to childcare leave until the child turns one, during which eligible employees receive 67% of their wages for the first 180 days and 50% thereafter. Since April 2025, some parents can receive more support for the first 28 days if both parents take leave.

"I do think many people are watching to see how situations like this - when a woman gives birth while serving as a mayor - can be handled in practice," Deputy Mayor Shigeto Nose says.

The 62-year-old father-of-two is set to exercise all mayoral authority during Kawata's absence, discussing major matters with her remotely once a week.

He never took any parental leave himself and left virtually all of the childcare to his wife. "When I came home, I was tired. Even if the baby cried during the night, I left it to my wife. Looking back now, I genuinely feel that's something I should reflect on."

Now, his son-in-law is taking six months off work to help his daughter take care of their second child. "Seeing that makes me happy. Times have really changed and it's great to see them working together like that."

Kawata says part of the criticism against her stems from the strongly held belief that those in certain positions - like public office - must abandon their private life and devote themselves entirely to the people.

When asked what her future child will think about the attention surrounding her pregnancy, she says: "I really hope they will be surprised."

"I think we really need to create a society where it's so common for women to do both - and not have to choose between working and having a family."

China says pilot crashed small plane into skyscraper for 'personal reasons'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr47129ky6do, 3 days ago

The pilot who crashed his small plane into Beijing's tallest skyscraper last week was suffering from "chronic insomnia and anxiety" and did so for "personal reasons", authorities said Thursday.

The crash had killed the pilot, officially identified only by his surname Liu, and wounded 13 others.

Liu, a 66-year-old Beijing resident, was a divorced freelancer who lived alone, the Chaoyang district government said in a statement, adding Liu's diary contained "multiple expressions of ending his life".

"The comprehensive investigation concluded that this was a case of endangering public safety caused by personal reasons," the statement said.

One of the injured has been discharged from the hospital, officials said.

Videos of the crash at the CITIC Tower had been widely circulated on social media before being scrubbed off the Chinese internet, as authorities investigated what many observers viewed as a huge security breach.

The 109-storey CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun, is located just a few kilometres from Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party's headquarters.

The building has long been treated by many locals as a lucky charm. But shortly after the crash last Friday, even unrelated photos and memes of the skyscraper were taken down from Chinese social media platforms.

In the days after the crash, at least three aviation firms told the BBC that they had been told to suspend light aircraft operations.

On the afternoon of the crash, Liu had taken off from an airport in Pinggu district and conducted both accompanying and solo flights, the Chaoyang government's statement said.

"During his solo flight, he deviated from the designated area and lost contact with the airport, subsequently colliding with the high-rise building and dying at the scene," the statement said.

According to authorities, Liu had obtained his sport pilot's licence in 2021 and his private pilot's licence in 2024.

The plane he flew last week was a two-seat, single-engine Aurora SA60L manufactured by Chinese company Sunward Aircraft, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.

At 6.9m long, with a wingspan of 8.6m, it is designed for touring, aerial photography and recreational aviation.

If you are suffering distress or despair, details of help and support in the UK are available at BBC Action Line. Details of help available in other countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide. Readers in the US and Canada can call the 988 suicide helpline.

Nine Thai monks killed after 11-year-old driver collides with procession

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23y90lygpzo, 3 days ago

Nine Buddhist monks were killed and several others in their procession injured when they were hit by an 11-year-old boy driving his parents' pickup truck in north-east Thailand, police said.

The group of 35 monks and five lay followers were walking along a road in Mukdahan province during a pilgrimage when the incident occurred.

Footage posted online shows saffron robes and belongings scattered by the roadside, and a wrecked vehicle. Five of the monks died at the scene and four others later in hospital, according to police.

They said the boy took the pickup without permission before losing control and crashing into the monks, according to Agence France-Presse.

Police Major General Pairoj Thaiphutsa said they were still determining the legal process for the boy going forward.

"The suspect is a child. The vehicle has been taken for forensic examination to determine the cause," he said.

Later, Thaiputsa told BBC Thai the boy was still being cared for by a team of officials, including his guardians and his doctor.

Preliminary information indicates that he is a child with special needs, but no further details are available yet, Thaiputsa said.

Mukdahan Hospital has appealed for urgent blood donations to help the injured monks.

Three monks remain in a critical condition and at least five others were seriously hurt. More are being treated for lighter injuries, health authorities said.

Phra Sompong, who was a monk in the group, said he was chanting the meditation mantra "Buddho, Buddho" before the crash happened.

"I saw a boy driving a pickup truck approaching ... then suddenly the truck hit at full speed and crashed us," he said in a video posted online by local rescue workers.

"Luckily another monk and I managed to jump out of the way in time.

"The first nine monks in line survived, but others who were hit were thrown into the air."

Buddhist monks are highly respected in Thailand as they are entrusted with preserving and passing on the Buddha's teachings.

Public processions are not uncommon, with members of the public often giving monks alms of goodwill - such as food and basic necessities - as a sign of respect.

Police further said initial inquiries have found that no one was home before the incident except the child suspect, who did not go to school because he was unwell.

When the boy's guardians realised the car was missing they notified police.

Mukdahan provincial governor Worayan Bunnarat said the case should serve as a wider warning for road safety in Thailand.

"We've been very strict on road safety in recent years. This case should be a lesson not just for our province, but for the public in general when it comes to preventing road accidents," he said.

"I think everyone involved, especially parents, needs to help, because no one wants something like this to happen."

Chinese tycoon sentenced to 30 years in US jail

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjeg15vw3z9o, 5 days ago

Guo Wengui, who was once believed to be one of China's richest businessmen, has been sentenced to 30 years in jail in the US for running a billion dollar scam.

The former property tycoon fled China to the US in 2017, where he reinvented himself as a Communist Party critic and built a loyal online following.

But Guo was later convicted on charges of racketeering, fraud and money laundering.

New York court judge Analisa Torres said Guo had "preyed on those seeking to bring democracy to China", taking their money to fund his lavish lifestyle.

Guo's lawyer, Melinda Sarafa, said the sentence is "excessive" and that it fails to take into account thousands of his investors who have said that they were not defrauded.

Guo maintains his innocence and will appeal his conviction and sentence, Sarafa told the BBC.

Guo - who goes by several names, including Miles Guo and Ho Wan Kwok - was sentenced in a courtroom packed with his supporters.

Attorney for the US Sean Buckley told the BBC: "Rather than being satisfied with the many legitimate opportunities afforded to him, Guo exploited the trust that thousands had placed in him for his own greed."

"Today's sentence shows that fame and wealth do not place you above the law, and that fraudsters who victimise families to enrich themselves will be met with significant consequences," Buckley said.

Before fleeing China, Guo built a fortune as a property developer and had good ties with the country's government.

But he sought asylum in the US after being accused by top Chinese officials of corruption.

Guo became a critic of China's Communist regime and cultivated a wide online following among the Chinese community in the US.

Prosecutors said Guo raised more than $1bn (£760m) from online followers, who joined him in investment and cryptocurrency schemes between 2018 and 2023.

The money he raised was used to fund Guo's lavish lifestyle which included a 50,000 square foot mansion, a $1m Lamborghini and a $37m yacht, they said.

Guo denied the allegations, saying the funds were used for his political activism.

He had built ties with other China critics, including Steve Bannon, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump.

Bannon and Guo often appeared in online videos and, in 2020, launched a campaign called the New Federal State of China, with the goal of overthrowing the Chinese Communist Party.

Later that year, Bannon was arrested on Guo's yacht in Connecticut. Bannon was charged in an unrelated case with fraud in an alleged scheme to defraud people who funded a not-for-profit company to build a US-Mexico border wall.

Bannon entered a guilty plea in a Manhattan court to a first degree scheme to defraud charge and received a sentence of conditional discharge for three years.

He also faced federal charges over the wall campaign after he was indicted by a federal grand jury, but the prosecution came to a halt after Trump pardoned him in the final hours of his first White House term.

Can China target critics abroad with its new 'ethnic unity' law?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx23dwx0232o, 4 days ago

Zhang Yadi, 23, also known as Tara, is supposed to be studying at a prestigious university in the UK.

Instead she is believed to be in detention in China.

In one of her last posts on the social media platform "X", she wished the Dalai Lama a happy 90th birthday. She had also helped edit an online Chinese language platform promoting Tibetan rights while studying in France.

Her words of support for Tibetans, posted while abroad, are believed to have put her in prison. Beijing views the exiled spiritual leader as a separatist and what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region, which it annexed in 1950, as an integral part of China.

Tara was reportedly arrested in Shangri-La in Yunnan province in July last year while on a visit to China, and is thought to be facing charges of "inciting others to split the country and undermine national unity."

Her story is a grave lesson in China's tolerance for dissent, or what it sees as separatism, as a new law takes effect: one that could even give the government the right to target people outside of its own borders.

Beijing has long been accused of intimidating dissidents overseas, from pressuring Uyghur activists to tracking down government critics in exile to offering bounties for Hong Kong's pro-democracy campaigners. But the "Ethnic Unity Law", which comes into effect on Wednesday, will now give the Chinese government legal cover for its actions.

This comes at a time when Beijing is polishing its image abroad as it cements its role as a global power.

It is throwing open its doors to foreign leaders and tourists. Several world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have walked the red carpet outside the Great Hall of the People to shake hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Loosened visa restrictions and online campaigns encourage people from as many as 77 countries, including most of Europe, to visit China. Social media posts by influencers travelling across the country, including to tightly-controlled regions like Tibet and Xinjiang, focus on the country's diverse geography and beauty.

This new law may help Xi control China's critics abroad, whose accounts and narratives challenge Beijing, and its own reputation. But it also has the potential to damage it.

Members of the European Parliament have already written warning member states to consider suspending extradition treaties with China and that if this law targeted European citizens, it could "lead to severe consequences for EU-China relations."

Why are critics abroad worried?

The law on ethnic unity aims to create what it describes as "unity," "social harmony" and a "shared" national identity among the country's 56 ethnic groups, which include Tibetans and Uyghurs, who have in the past rebelled against Chinese rule.

But critics fear it will further erode the rights of minority groups in Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.

Buried in the law is a clause that is especially causing concern for many Chinese citizens overseas.

Article 63 gives Chinese authorities the right to act against organisations and individuals outside China that "undermine ethnic unity and progress or create ethnic division". This appears to give the Chinese government the legal authority to go after advocates for ethnic minorities who live abroad.

"Rather than protecting diversity and equality, the law requires conformity," says Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director Sarah Brooks.

"Peaceful advocacy for minority rights in China by anyone, anywhere could be characterised as undermining 'ethnic unity'. This law puts a national legal framework behind policies that have already devastated the rights of Uyghurs, Tibetans and other non-Han ethnic groups."

This law would be difficult to enforce on foreign countries, and experts believe it is likely aimed at discouraging any debate.

For prominent activists in foreign countries, who still have families in China, it is a signal that their words, even from a distance, could have real consequences for loved ones within the country. And they may never be able to safely return to their homeland.

A number of prominent voices outside the country who have raised concerns about the Chinese government's treatment of ethnic minorities such as Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians have told rights groups that their family members in China have been increasingly threatened in the last year.

Tibetans in exile are particularly worried as this law comes into effect just days before the Dalai Lama's 91st birthday.

'Sinicisation' of China

The Chinese government started to push for what it describes as the "sinicisation" of minority groups in the late 2000s. It is aimed at creating a more unified national identity by assimilating ethnic groups into the dominant Han culture. Han Chinese make up more than 90% of the country's 1.4 billion people.

Xi himself has often urged ethnic minorities to integrate more, telling them to "hug tightly like pomegranate seeds" to create a stronger China.

This new law is part of that effort. On paper it claims it will promote more integration among ethnic groups, dominated by the Han Chinese, through education and housing. It mandates that all children should be taught Mandarin before kindergarten and up until the end of high school. Previously students could study most of the curriculum in their native language including Tibetan, Uyghur or Mongolian.

Beijing argues this is about offering the next generation an opportunity as learning Mandarin, the language used by the majority of Chinese people across all provinces, will help improve the job prospects of ethnic minorities.

But critics say assimilation has often been forced on minority groups - a state-led policy that has accelerated under Xi who has taken a harder line on dissent and protests.

In Tibet, authorities have arrested monks, and taken control of monasteries to ensure they do not worship the Dalai Lama. When the BBC visited a monastery in July last year that had once been at heart of Tibetan resistance, monks spoke of living under fear and intimidation.

In Xinjiang, human rights groups have documented the detention of a million Uyghur Muslims in what the Chinese government calls camps for "re-education", while the UN has accused Beijing of grave human rights violations.

In 2020, ethnic Mongolians in northern China staged rare rallies against measures to reduce teaching in the Mongolian language in favour of Mandarin. Parents even held children back in protest at the policy as some ethnic Mongolians viewed the move as a threat to their cultural identity. Authorities moved quickly to crack down and the protestors fell silent.

The new law also provides a legal basis to prosecute parents or guardians who may instil what it describes as "detrimental" views in children which would affect ethnic harmony and it calls for "mutually embedded community environments", which some analysts believe could result in the break up of minority-heavy neighbourhoods.

At a press conference last month to introduce the law deputy justice minister Hu Weilie criticised foreign media for "smearing" the law as "long-arm jurisdiction". Instead he said it was "legitimate, lawful, necessary and a workable legal provision".

"Safeguarding national unity, territorial integrity, and social stability falls within the sovereign rights of all countries, and is a basic principle established under international law," he added.

But critics say otherwise.

A report released earlier this year by PEN America and the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center claims to document the systematic removal of Mongolian-language content from Chinese online platforms – social media groups shut down, accounts deleted, and informal digital communities dismantled.

"As the Ethnic Unity Law goes into effect, the Chinese government's fist of repression will continue to squeeze as it unabashedly weaponises cultural institutions, technology, and the media to further dictate a state-controlled version of Mongolian culture", says Erika Nguyen, senior manager at PEN America's the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center.

She is also the co-author of the study, "Save Our Mother Tongue": Online Repression and Erasure of Mongolian Culture in China.

She believes Article 63 of the law should be "seen as a call to action for other countries to shore up their protection and support for the exiled Tibetan, Uyghur, and Mongolian writers, artists, journalists, and activists who continue their work at great personal risk".

As the law takes effect, rights groups believe ethnic minority languages will be pushed out of schools and official life, and there will be even fewer places within China where they are taught or spoken. They also fear that the law will close off spaces for debate about what this means even beyond China's borders.

Why Kim Jong Un never talks about his mother - or her controversial bloodline

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvp3xn489no, 8 days ago

Among the many mysteries shrouding North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the secrecy around his mother stands out.

In his 15 years of rule, he has never once publicly mentioned her by name.

The legitimacy of Kim's dictatorship rests heavily on his "Mount Paektu" bloodline - a lineage tied to the mythical founder of the Korean people.

And in a country that prides itself on this hereditary purity, the identity of Kim's mother is not just a secret - but a threat to the regime itself.

A mythological birthplace

The story of the Koreas, according to popular belief, begins on Mount Paektu - a mountain located on the China-North Korea border that is said to be the birthplace of Dangun, the mythical founder of what became Korea's first kingdom.

Thousands of years later, Kim Il Sung - the founder of North Korea - reportedly used the mountain as a hideout when fighting against the Japanese. His son, Kim Jong Il, was said to be born on those same sacred slopes - despite reports indicating he was in fact most likely born in Russia - and for decades since the mountain has been used to legitimise the Kim dynasty.

"Kim Jong Un became heir in his 20s despite having no achievements, solely because of the Paektu bloodline," Ryu Hyun-woo, an exiled North Korea diplomat, wrote in his book, Kim Jong Un's Secret Vault.

But the reality of Kim's maternal lineage paints a different picture.

Hundreds of miles away from Mount Paektu lies the city of Osaka in Japan, the place where Kim's mother, Ko Yong Hui, was said to be born.

From what biographers have pieced together, Ko was born in Osaka in 1952 to parents originally from Jeju Island, which sits off the southern coast of what is now South Korea.

As residents of Japan, Ko's family were "Zainichi Koreans": immigrants during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the peninsula.

But when she was about 10 years old, Ko's family emigrated to North Korea.

They were among the estimated 93,000 Koreans who moved to North Korea between 1959 and 1984, lured by a resettlement scheme that promised an idyllic life of free healthcare, education and jobs.

Migrants to the North were first viewed with envy as they brought cash, clothes and home appliances from the country's capitalist neighbour to the south.

But they were also labelled "jjaepo", a disparaging term for a group considered to be contaminated by foreign, dangerous ideologies.

North Korean society is deeply hierarchical, with some analysts comparing it to a caste system. And in this strict social classification - known as songbun – the jjaepo belong to the "wavering class", somewhere between the core and hostile classes.

They are subjected to heavy state surveillance and often denied admission to good universities or promising jobs.

It is a stark contrast to the Paektu narrative that Kim's family has long promoted.

"The [regime's] Paektu bloodline is seen as sacred," says Kim Hyung-su of the Northern Research Association. "So the idea of the leader being a jjaepo's son is unimaginable."

A Cinderella story

Ko managed to escape the fate of her fellow Zainichi Koreans, however, after she caught the attention of Kim Jong Il, who had already been groomed for succession.

Intelligence shows he was already wedded to Kim Young Sook, the daughter of a high-ranking military official, in a marriage hand-picked by his father. He was also known to have two other mistresses.

Despite this, Ko - a member of the elite Mansudae Art Troupe - was said to have caught Kim's attention due to her "natural beauty and dancing skills", says Yoji Gomi, a Japanese reporter who published a book on Ko in 2025.

Reports suggest that Kim fell passionately in love with Ko, and went on to have three children with her.

But children born out of wedlock face severe stigma in North Korea. And so, while Kim's official wife resided in the capital Pyongyang, Ko and her children were tucked 210km (130 mi) away in the coastal town of Wonsan.

Though she never married the supreme leader, and their union was not acknowledged by the regime, Ko managed to live what Gomi calls a "Cinderella-like life".

Yet it remained a fact that Ko was "never recognised as a daughter-in-law by Kim Il Sung", wrote Ryu - and nor was he ever publicly seen with her children.

Had Ko won Kim Il Sung's approval, photos of him and his grandchildren would have been circulated far and wide, says Dr Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute.

Following Kim Il Sung's death, Kim Jong Il rose to become North Korea's supreme leader, and Ko became the country's de-facto first lady, accompanying her partner on military inspections and befriending his entourage.

Kim would even seek her opinion before making policy decisions, wrote Fujimoto, Kim's former chef.

An official documentary produced in 2011 showed footage of Ko accompanying Kim on local tours - though it never revealed her name nor her songbun.

The documentary was also never publicly released, but shown only to senior party officials in June 2012, says Dr Cheong - though it was later leaked and spread among ordinary citizens via smuggled USB drives.

"As it spread... people's curiosity about Ko Yong Hui skyrocketed, so the regime quickly recalled [the documentary]," Dr Cheong explains.

Her background, he adds, could call the regime's legitimacy into question.

In 2004, Ko passed away from breast cancer at a hospital in Paris. Her death went unremarked by North Korean state media.

Illegitimacy and succession

But the question remains: How did a mistress's second son – and Kim Jong Il's youngest – end up inheriting power?

Kim Young Sook, Kim's official wife, gave birth to two children - but since they were both female, neither of them were up for succession.

Kim Jong Il also had two other mistresses aside from Ko: Sung Hae-rim and Kim Ok.

While Kim Ok did not bear any children, it appeared for a while that Kim's firstborn son with Sung Hae-rim, Kim Jong Nam, could have been considered.

But Kim Jong Nam, who studied abroad for more than a decade and was known to be fluent in both English and French, fell out of favour early because he questioned North Korea's hereditary succession and advocated reform, says Goji, who exchanged emails with him for years.

He also developed a reputation as a partier because of his frequent trips to casinos and jet-setting lifestyle.

In 2017, after a few years of living in Macau in exile, Kim Jong Nam was assassinated in Malaysia - poisoned with a lethal nerve agent.

There was also Kim Jong Un's older brother, Kim Jong Chul - but he was ruled out as an heir because of a severe opium addiction, according to ex-diplomat Ryu.

And so Ko was believed to have actively lined up her second son, Kim Jong Un, for succession. This was done on the advice of Ko's sister, who said her son had to become the next leader or their family would be at risk, wrote journalist Anna Fifield in her book, The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Un quickly became his father's favourite, largely due to his leadership potential and competitive nature, analysts say. While he also briefly studied overseas in Switzerland, he was said to be a lot more insulated than his half-brother Kim Jong Nam.

So when Kim Jong Il passed away in 2011, Kim Jong Un, who was 27 at the time, secured his spot on the throne.

Kim has since entrusted great power to his sister, Kim Yo Jong, who is believed to head the influential propaganda department, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry.

But the question of Kim's parentage hangs over the supreme leader to this day.

Analysts believe it is why his birthday has not been declared a national holiday, unlike his grandfather's and father's, since drawing attention to his birth could raise thorny questions about his mother and why he was raised outside of Pyongyang.

The secrecy around his parentage could also be part of the reason why he was quick to publicly present his wife Ri Sol Ju.

Unlike his mother, Ri is believed to have come from an upper-middle class family in Pyongyang, according to South Korea's intelligence service. A former singer of a prestigious performance group, she was also sent to study classical singing in China in her youth - an indicator of good songbun.

"The sense of illegitimacy and resentment Kim Jong Un experienced because of his mother's background paradoxically became a powerful motivation for him to publicly reveal his wife Ri Sol Ju and daughter Ju Ae at an early stage," says Gomi.

These public displays, Gomi adds, could stem from a "perceived 'deficiency'" surrounding Kim's mother's origins.

So, what would happen if the origins of Kim's mother ever became public?

"If it becomes known that his mother was of ethnic Korean origins from Japan, it would not only shake his legitimacy but also destabilise the hereditary system at its roots," said Ryu.

"It would have the impact of a nuclear bomb on North Korean society."

Note (03/07/26): An earlier version of this article referred to Kim Jong Il as Ko Yong Hui's husband. It has now been amended to reflect that he was her partner.

Top image by Andro Saini of East Asia Visual Journalism and additional reporting by Grace Tsoi and Laignee Barron

The Bhojpuri singers fighting vulgar tag on one of India's oldest languages

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20y56y391do, 9 days ago

On a recent season of an Indian music show, a young singer from the northern state of Bihar performs a haunting, century-old folk song about separation, colonialism and longing.

It tells the story of a woman watching her husband leave to fight in a distant war under British rule. She mourns his absence, curses the empire that claimed him and, at one point, imagines taking up a dagger herself.

Performed by Bihar folk singer Utpal Udit in collaboration with acclaimed vocalist Rekha Bhardwaj, Kachaudi Gali went on to attract millions of views, becoming one of the breakout successes of the show Coke Studio Bharat, the Indian edition of the popular music franchise that has introduced regional and folk traditions to new audiences across South Asia.

The success thrust Udit into the national spotlight. More unexpectedly, it also brought renewed attention to Bhojpuri, a language often stereotyped as the tongue of migrant labourers and low-brow entertainment despite a rich literary and cultural history that stretches back centuries.

Spoken by tens of millions across northern India and a diaspora stretching from the Caribbean to the Pacific, Bhojpuri is one of South Asia's most widely spoken languages, with a vast canon of folk songs, poetry, storytelling and theatre.

Yet that is not how many Indians encounter it today.

For many, Bhojpuri is synonymous with a hugely popular music industry known for songs rife with sexual innuendo, misogyny and double entendres. In films and television, Bihari accents and characters are often reduced to comic sidekicks, migrants or rustic outsiders.

Regional artists have spent decades preserving Bhojpuri folk traditions, but these are often eclipsed by the language's more visible - and more stereotyped - image.

Now musicians like Udit are trying to broaden the picture.

"It hurts when you are deeply connected to the music of your roots, yet others perceive it poorly," Udit told the BBC. "I really want to change that."

Born in Saharsa district, Udit grew up moving across different parts of the state because of his father's work, absorbing folk traditions along the way.

He says that at first, the melodies stayed with him more than their meanings. Later, curiosity led him deeper into the works of Bhikhari Thakur and Mahendra Misir, the poets and playwrights who helped shape Bihar's folk imagination.

Many of those stories revolve around migration - a defining theme of Bhojpuri folk music and of Bihar itself.

One of India's poorest states, Bihar has long been shaped by people leaving in search of work: first under colonial labour systems, later for the factories, construction sites and expanding cities of modern India. That journey has echoed through its music for generations.

One song Udit frequently performs, Jani Ja Bideswa Ke Or, from Bhikhari Thakur's celebrated play Bidesiya, tells the story of a woman pleading with her husband not to leave home in search of work. The house will feel empty without him and her soul will suffer, she sings.

Written more than a century ago, the song emerged from a period of mass migration, but its themes remain strikingly familiar today.

Udit says preserving that connection between past and present has become central to his work.

"I want people to realise that Bhojpuri and Bihari music have much more depth than the stereotypes suggest," he said. "I want them to hear the stories the music conveys."

On social media, Udit often accompanies his performances with detailed explanations of their history and cultural significance. A short rendition of a folk song might be paired with a reflection on migration, colonialism or the work of a playwright.

It was what drew Khwaab, the producer of Kachaudi Gali, to Udit's universe.

About a year ago, he came across a video of Udit performing the song in his village on Instagram. The video caught Khwaab's attention. The caption held it.

"Utpal is obviously a brilliant singer," Khwaab said. "But when I read his explanation of the song's history, I literally sat up in bed. I knew then that something significant had to come from this."

What also struck him was the sense that an entire cultural archive had been obscured by stereotypes.

So he and Udit decided to reimagine Kachaudi Gali for a new audience.

For the Coke Studio version, Khwaab wanted the production to feel modern while remaining faithful to its roots. Traditional instruments - including the shehnai, tabla, dholak, harmonium and dotara - were recorded live, while the arrangement drew on the scale and polish of popular music.

The challenge, he explained, was not simply preserving folk music, but translating it for listeners unfamiliar with the tradition.

"It's about preserving what might be lost while creating something fresh. I wanted others to realise that folk music can be cool too."

Not every artist seeking to reshape perceptions of Bhojpuri looks to the past, though.

A few hundred kilometres away, rapper Sanket Shikriwal has arrived at the same question from almost the opposite direction.

Over the past few years, Shikriwal has emerged as one of the most distinctive voices in India's independent music scene, described as a rapper challenging assumptions about what Bhojpuri music can sound like.

If Udit's work is rooted in recovery, Shikriwal's thrives on collision.

In his music, Bhojpuri shares space with jazz, spoken word and hip-hop. Village memories coexist with references to Franz Kafka and John Coltrane. Bihar appears alongside Mumbai; migration alongside internet culture. His songs sound less like a folk revival than an ongoing conversation between past and present, village and city, belonging and escape.

The music can also be abrasive. It contains street language and profanity, complicating any attempt to cast him as a clean alternative to the excesses often associated with commercial Bhojpuri music.

But Shikriwal rejects the idea that profanity itself is the problem.

"I'm not using profanity for the sake of a tough-guy persona," he said. "It's my way of expressing agitation."

The distinction matters, he argues, because Bhojpuri is often judged by standards that other genres are not.

Hip-hop has long used profanity as a vehicle for anger, social commentary and self-expression. Closer to home, Punjabi music - despite controversies over violence and hypermasculinity - has evolved into one of India's most successful cultural exports. Artists such as Diljit Dosanjh and the late Sidhu Moosewala transformed regional identity into a source of pride and aspiration.

Bhojpuri, Shikriwal argues, has rarely been afforded the same generosity.

"The question isn't whether Bhojpuri can be made respectable," he said. "It's why Bhojpuri speakers are always expected to prove that they are."

What he hopes for is not a sanitised version of Bhojpuri culture, but a more confident one - secure enough to define itself on its own terms.

"I want people to look at Bihar and see philosophers again," he said.

"We call it the Land of Buddha, yet we treat its people with such disrespect."

Udit believes that shift may already be under way.

The response to Kachaudi Gali, he says, offered a glimpse of what that future might look like.

"It was a reminder," he said, "that one of India's most widely spoken languages is still waiting to be heard on its own terms."

Chinese underground church figure Jin Mingri freed from prison

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gy51ky75vo, today

Underground church leader Jin Mingri has been released from prison in China and has travelled to the US, less than two months after his incarceration was raised directly by Donald Trump.

The pastor and founder of the Zion Church had been imprisoned following overnight raids across China in October, described by Christian groups as one of the strictest crackdowns on religious activity in the country's modern history.

The Chinese government tightly controls religion and officially promotes atheism.

Jin's family thanked supporters in a statement, adding: "We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling so overwhelmed with joy". The Chinese foreign ministry has not officially commented on his case.

The family thanked the US president and the Trump administration "for their tremendous leadership", and said they knew "this could not have happened without the direct intervention from [Chinese President] Xi Jinping".

"We hope this is a signal of a positive turn for people of faith in China and relations between our two nations."

US-based rights group ChinaAid, which monitors relgious persecution, confirmed Jin, also known as Ezra Jin, had arrived in Los Angeles in the US following his release.

Its founder Bob Fu welcomed his release, while noting that "countless" religious practitioners, including eight belonging to the Zion Church, remained incarcerated in China.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of Western lawmakers that includes dozens of UK MPs, said it was "overjoyed" with the news.

Trump had urged Xi to release Jin during direct talks between the two while in Beijing for a state visit in May.

"He said he's gonna strongly consider the pastor," the US president said afterward.

Trump also raised the detention of pro-democracy Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison for colluding with foreign forces under the city's controversial national security law.

Jin started the Zion Church in 2007 with just 20 people. It grew into one of China's largest unregistered churches, with a network of some 10,000 people in 40 cities across the country.

It was officially banned by the Chinese Communist Party in 2018 after resisting government pressure to install security cameras at its property in Beijing.

Many of its branch congregations across the country have since been investigated and shut down.

Christians have long been pressured to join only state-sanctioned churches that are led by government-approved pastors and toe the party line.

Thirty church leaders were reported to have been detained in overnight raids last October.

This was followed by a similar crackdown against another church in January, in which nine people were detained.

Christian Brothers granted pause in abuse victim payouts in Australia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0vw800ddwo, 3 days ago

An Australian court has granted the religious order Catholic Brothers a pause on payouts to child sex abuse victims after it claimed that it was running out of money to settle millions of dollars in civil claims.

The group had told the court it was going broke and that it planned to sell its remaining properties to fund a partial settlement. It sought the payment moratorium to give victims time to consider this scheme, local media reported.

The order estimates the group owes victims A$774m ($534m; £400m), which exceeds its $23m cash and $216m property holdings.

Founded in Ireland, the Christian Brothers has run schools and orphanages in Australia and New Zealand since the 1850s.

According to its website, the Oceania chapter's work involves "adult education, social justice activities with refugees, asylum seekers, indigenous people and disadvantaged youth".

But investigations have found that the Christian Brother's schools and orphanages have been the sites of widespread child sexual abuse since the 1950s.

In 2013, a royal commission looking into institutional responses to child sexual abuse concluded that the Christian Brothers "completely failed... to protect the most vulnerable children in their care", with several of its brothers later convicted of sexual assault.

The commission also found that the leaders of the order had been aware of the abuse but did nothing to stop it.

ABC News reported that as of last week, there were 32 cases of alleged abuse by Christian Brothers due for trial and 540 applications before the National Redress Scheme, which helps survivors of child sexual abuse access payment and other forms of support.

Given the moratorium, these cases will be suspended until the next hearing in September.

Some complainants awaiting trial say they have been blindsided by this sudden development.

"I was hoping to resolve my claim quickly to move on," one told Guardian Australia, while another said they felt as though they had been stabbed in the back by a "sharp, long, bladed knife".

Judge Scott Nixon said he granted the moratorium "in order to preserve the opportunity for the scheme to be considered by claimants, given that opportunity may be lost".

Earlier this week, the Christian Brothers became the first Catholic order in Australia to propose a liquidation.

The Australian government has raised concerns around property transfers the Christian Brothers made to another entity, Edmund Rice Education Australia, which had contributed to the order's financial troubles.

Edmund Rice Education Australia, named for the Christian Brothers' Irish founder, was set up in 2007 to run the order's schools. An EREA spokesman has said that it is "not responsible for the financial affairs or liabilities of the Christian Brothers".

Some of these properties changed hands for as little as $1, according to records seen by Guardian Australia. Altogether, the transferred properties would now be worth $2bn, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Sera Mirzabegian, the lawyer representing the government, said it would be "very disturbing and concerning if arrangements were made to shield assets or limit institutional liability".

Meanwhile the proposal to liquidate its real estate has sparked anxiety in schools.

The board at the St Thomas of Canterbury College in Christchurch, New Zealand, has said it would fight to keep the school operating on its current site, which is owned by a charitable trust overseen by the order.

Hundreds of cases of child abuse involving Christian Brothers institutions in the UK, the US and Canada have also come to light over the years.

In 2013, the North American chapter paid A$16.5m to 400 victims of child sexual abuse across the US.

Australian man charged with murder after dead girl found in suitcase in Thailand

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0my5zy821o, 6 days ago

An Australian man has been charged with murder after the body of a 17-year-old girl was found in a suitcase in Thailand.

Police in the coastal city of Pattaya said they found Tunchanok Donhomla "stuffed" in the bag, which had been discarded near a railway track, in the early hours of Saturday.

Thai police said they arrested Simon Peter Carman at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport in connection with the death as he was allegedly "preparing to flee the country".

He denies the charges. In a message issued to the victim's family after his arrest, Carman said: "I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control."

Pattaya City Police said the 17-year-old had been reported missing at 17:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on Friday.

In a statement on social media, the force said it reviewed CCTV footage that allegedly showed Carman entering a condominium with Donholma at 03:34 on Thursday. Late that evening, he emerged alone "carrying a large suitcase".

The statement said he loaded the bag onto a motorbike before driving towards a railway line.

Officers questioned and arrested Carman at the airport in Bangkok, some 150km (93 miles) north of Pattaya, at 01:15 on Saturday.

The teenager's naked body was found in a suitcase about 15 minutes later, the force said.

Carman denied murder and further charges related to moving or concealing a body and taking a minor for sexual purposes, and claimed he had acted in self defence.

Media reports state that Carman told police he had agreed to pay Donholma 1,000 baht (£23, US$30, A$43) for sexual services, but that they had an argument when they returned to his apartment and he offered only 500 baht.

Thai police told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that Carman also claimed Donhomla had "disappeared from the room" while he was asleep.

In a video recorded while he was in custody, the suspect issued a message to the Donholma's family, saying: "I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control."

"I know you'll be very sad, upset… same [as] me."

He added: "Please tell other girls… just to be careful."

Colonel Anek Srathongyoo, Superintendent of the Pattaya City Police Station, told the ABC that Carman "has fingernail scratches across his body that are consistent with a struggle, but he denies killing her".

In another police video clip Carman is seen being asked about the scratch marks.

"I think it's a spider; they always get in here," he replies.

Donhomla's family told the ABC she was an only child who lived with her father and step-mother in the province of Kalasin, about 480km northeast of Pattaya. The teen, whose nickname was Cake, had told her parents she wanted to go on holiday with a friend, and had travelled to Pattaya on 16 June.

Her father, Thongchai Donhomla, said he was "deeply saddened" by his daughter's death.

"My daughter had no mother, so whenever she wanted anything, she would find a way herself, and she always helped me too," he told a local reporter.

Her step-mother, Oradee Bussarakum, said: "We were scared. We just hoped it wouldn't turn out the way we feared. Now our eyes are swollen from crying."

"I just want him executed ... I even asked the police if I could hit him, if I could beat him," she added.

If convicted of murder, Carman could face the death penalty.

Australia to double maximum penalty for platforms in breach of social media ban

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78yv5g74e9o, 8 days ago

The Australian government has announced it will double the maximum penalty for breaches of the nation's social media minimum age law to $99m (£51.7m).

As part of the updated legislation, the eSafety Commissioner will also be able to compel social media companies to provide evidence of what steps they have taken to comply with the ban.

Children under the age of 16 have been prevented from 10 key social media platforms in Australia since 10 December 2025, but it has been widely acknowledged that many are still able to access and use the banned apps.

Investigations have been opened into the alleged non-compliance of five banned platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

Though Australia's ban was brought in late last year with huge fanfare, it has been difficult for the Australian government to enforce.

In February, the BBC visited a school in Sydney where the majority of students who used social media before the ban said they still had access.

In its own report, the eSafety Commission, which is the nation's independent regulator, said that seven out of 10 children aged under 16 who had a social media account before the ban still had "some access".

In its statement on Saturday, the government acknowledged some of these challenges, and said the harsher penalties were evidence that it was "doubling down on platforms that are not doing enough".

It added that the increased powers for the eSafety Commissioner, which is an independent regulator, would support "more effective investigation and potential enforcement action".

"I'm heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we've seen since introducing the social media minimum age, but it's clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law," said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

He added: "There are still too many children on social media."

The sentiment was echoed by Australia's Minister for Communications, Anika Wells, who said she was "not satisfied" that tech companies are doing "everything they can" to keep children off social media.

"It is clear to me that social media platforms are adopting tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by," she said.

In the months after the introduction of Australia's social media ban, a number of other countries have indicated that they will follow suit, including the UK.

In June 2026, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that it would introduce a similar ban for children under 16, with plans for it to come into effect by spring 2027.

A complete list of affected platforms has not yet been released, but the government said it would cover those "whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material".

It added that an overnight curfew and measures to stop infinite scrolling for under-18s were also being considered as part of the legislation.

Australia sues Amazon for making allegedly unfair contracts with subscribers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20yz9rzwy0o, 5 days ago

Australia's consumer watchdog has sued Amazon, claiming the tech giant introduced adverts in Prime Video using allegedly unfair contract terms.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said Amazon had broken consumer protection law by making the unfair contracts with over a million annual subscribers between November 2023 and August 2025.

"Consumers who wanted to avoid ads were left with no choice but to pay more to maintain the service they'd initially signed up for", ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

A spokeswoman for Amazon told the BBC the company is "reviewing the case filed by the ACCC in detail."

"We have cooperated with the ACCC throughout its investigation and remain focused on providing the best experience for our Australian customers", the she added.

For more than a decade, Prime Video was a commercial-free streaming offering that was included as part of Amazon's popular Prime subscription, which is sold as an upgrade on its core delivery service.

Prime became available in Australia in 2018. It started to roll out advertising in the service globally in early 2024.

When Amazon began that year to include ads within Prime Video, it told subscribers in Australia they would need to pay an additional fee each month in order to keep the service free of ads, driving the monthly price up to 12.99 Australian dollars.

At that point, the ACCC said over 850,000 people in Australia had already paid for a year's worth of Prime service.

"Those subscribers were provided with a degraded, ad-supported Prime Video service for the balance of their prepaid term unless they paid for the ad-free option", the ACCC added in a filing.

The ACCC said Amazon did this by relying on five unfair terms in contracts with over a million customers signed between 1 November 2023 and 18 August 2025.

"Those contracts included five terms permitting [Amazon Australia] to unilaterally make materially adverse changes to its services (including, but not limited to, Prime Video) and the terms governing those services, without any contractual entitlement for subscribers to receive refunds or other meaningful redress," the ACCC said.

Amazon's treatment of its users has come under government scrutiny before.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in recent years has taken legal action against Amazon on claims that the company would sign people up for Prime without their consent, and then make it difficult for people to cancel a subscription.

The company on Tuesday also agreed to pay an FTC fine to resolve claims that it created a "Kafkaesque ordeal" for people who were victims of online shopping fraud.

In the UK, the government has previously investigated Amazon's method of listing goods for sale, and the proliferation of fake reviews of products.

Could you handle a 20-plus hour flight? This airline is banking on it

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2j7v51l5ko, 9 days ago

On a stage at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, the chief executive of Australian airline Qantas declares: "The tyranny of distance has finally been conquered".

Vanessa Hudson was in the French city last week to announce the world's first 20-plus hour flight route.

The airline first flew what it named the Kangaroo route between London and Sydney in 1947. At the time, it was an odyssey spanning seven stops and four days.

Those stops have been gradually reduced, with Qantas now stopping only once, in Singapore, on the way through.

But 80 years after that 1940s venture, the first non-stop flight between the two cities is set to take off from October 2027.

Using specially designed ultra-long-haul Airbus planes, Qantas expects to shave about four hours off the current journey time. It is expected to last around 22 hours.

The much anticipated - and delayed - breakthrough comes after a turbulent few years in the airline's history, and bosses are banking on customers embracing the premium but marathon flight.

"We feel really confident that this is going to be a success," Hudson tells the BBC.

Some analysts say it is a major milestone in aviation history. But is it really what people want?

One stop too far in price - or not?

Qantas has overcome some challenges to get this far - and still faces others.

The flight will save money on landing fees by eliminating a stop, but Hudson admits the longer flight has a higher relative fuel bill.

There are also fewer seats, nearly half of which (40%) will be premium economy, business, or first class.

To counter the increased risk of issues such as deep vein thrombosis which can occur from flying for such long periods, Qantas has increased the legroom in economy and also created a dedicated "wellness" space where passengers can follow stretching exercises on a screen and have a little more room to move about.

Hudson points to the success of the Perth to London route, saying "customers have been prepared to pay a premium" for that service.

Australian travel agent Karis Heemskerk is among the fans of spending more time on one plane to get to their destination faster.

The 41-year-old has taken the roughly 18-hour flight from Perth to London a couple of times, including with her husband and two children, and says being able to fly direct is "amazing" and an efficient use of time.

"I think the direct flights cut time and there is no risk of missed connections and the stress of your luggage being lost," she tells the BBC.

"Cons are that it can be gruelling and it is a long time for some individuals to be confined to a cabin. [But] overall, I'm a big fan of the direct flights."

However, some frequent fliers such as Tom Gill are less interested.

The 33-year-old cultural consultant, who is originally from London but lives in Melbourne, travels at least once a year to London plus other trips to Europe.

"I don't mind an airport stopover at all: the idea of sitting in a plane for 20, 21 hours non-stop would be quite unbearable for me," he says.

For Gill, the main factor is cost. Given the new route is expected to cost about 20% more than its current Sydney to London offering with a stopover, he doesn't think it will be a flight he'll catch anytime soon.

"To be clear, I'd try anything once. If it was cheaper I would definitely consider it."

Research from ABTA suggests an increase in the number of people who travelled from the UK to Australia in the past year, particularly among 18-24-year-olds.

"Australia is for many of us a bucket list destination," the UK travel industry body tells us.

But Bryan Terry, managing director of Alton Aviation Consultancy says demand for this sort of service is narrow - posing a risk for the airline.

"Qantas is targeting premium and time-sensitive travellers willing to pay a meaningful premium to avoid a Dubai, Singapore, or Los Angeles connection," he says.

Singapore Airlines currently has the world's longest flight - between Singapore and New York - and Terry notes the route proves people are willing to pay "significantly more" to eliminate a stopover.

The last frontier

Terry says Qantas is conquering "one of the last frontiers in commercial aviation".

"Every generation of aircraft has chipped away at Australia's isolation, but a non-stop Sydney to London or New York has always been just out of reach," he adds.

It's an effort that has been years in the making, but which has also faced several setbacks and delays.

The programme to develop the non-stop London to Sydney route, dubbed Project Sunrise, was launched in 2017 - around the same time as the first direct London to Perth flights were announced.

Previous announcements about the route launching have stalled, but the project now seems to be coming to fruition with the first of 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft being delivered to Qantas in April 2026.

These come with an extra fuel tank to help increase the plane's flying time to 22 hours, with cabin lighting and meal times optimised to minimise jetlag on arrival.

Airbus chief test pilot Malcolm Ridley says it has taken a relatively modest engineering change to adapt the aircraft for ultra-long-haul flights.

While the first 12 aircraft must be delivered to Qantas before other airlines can buy them, he says there has already been some informal interest in the modified planes from competitors.

"When the aircraft goes into service and people can see what it's capable of, we may see more interest," he adds.

'Leaps and bounds'

The unveiling of the new premium aircraft and world-first route comes after a tumultuous first half of the decade for Australia's flag carrier.

In 2024, Qantas agreed to pay a A$100m ($66.1m, £52.7m) penalty to settle a legal case with Australia's consumer watchdog after it was accused of selling tickets for flights that had already been cancelled, affecting up to 880,000 consumers.

The next year, Qantas was fined a record A$90m following a years-long industrial relations dispute after it outsourced its Australian ground handling operations, sacking 1,800 staff.

The controversies and poor punctuality led to Qantas plummeting in the industry benchmark Skytrax Awards to rank the world's 24th-best airline in 2024, its worst-ever ranking and down from 5th just two years prior.

Hudson, who began her tenure as chief executive in 2023 by apologising for the airline's failings, says Qantas has been focused on rebuilding trust.

"It's been hard work in lifting on-time performance, investing in the customer experience and that's in all of our fleets, all of our networks," she says.

While she says customer satisfaction and the airline's reliability has come on "leaps and bounds", she doesn't ever want to say the job is done.

For this airline, Project Sunrise is another step forward in delivering more of what customers want - and many in aviation are watching closely.

Independent MPs launch new Australian centrist party

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg76mgz0m1o, 10 days ago

Two independent Australian MPs have banded together to launch a new centrist political party which they say is a response to an increasingly divisive landscape.

The Community Strong Australia party - launched in Canberra on Thursday - will offer "unity over division and reason over rage", will have no leader and will allow members to vote freely, rather than along party lines.

Its two members - Sydney MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender - are from a group of independent MPs known as "teals" who share socially liberal values and want greater climate action.

The party will offer an "alternate political force" to the current two-party system in Australia, the pair said.

Australia's political landscape had traditionally been dominated by the two major parties - the centre-left Labor and the Liberal-Nationals Coalition, which leans conservative.

Labor won a landslide victory at last year's federal election, securing a second term in power, while the Coalition suffered its worst defeat ever, followed by months of in-fighting.

In recent months, right-wing party One Nation - led by Pauline Hanson - has seen a surge in support, including one poll that found she was the preferred prime minister.

Asked if the recent rise in support for One Nation and its anti-immigration rhetoric had spurred their decision to form a new party, Steggall and Spender said they had been guided by what their voters were telling them.

"We absolutely hear those grievances," Spender said. "People are frustrated and tired of the status quo," she said, adding that "if I wasn't in politics, I wouldn't know who to vote for".

Spender, who won her seat in 2022, said the party wants to "hear from communities beyond our own that want a voice that genuinely reflects them".

Steggall, a former barrister and Winter Olympian, has been a federal MP since 2019, after she unseated the former prime minister Tony Abbott in an electorate that had been held by the Liberal Party for more than a century.

"We don't want the in-fighting, we don't want the blame game. We want solutions that will make a difference to us," Steggall said.

The new party "offers unity over division and reason over rage," she said, and was an "invitation" to voters "to come and build the kind of Australia we want".

Key issues for the party will be housing affordability and cost of living pressures as well as climate change, childcare, education and healthcare.

The pair also told local media that Climate 200, a political organisation that has helped fund independents that have won several Liberal seats in recent elections, was not involved with the new party.

New electoral funding laws allow political parties a much bigger budget for campaigning, which some independents have said will disadvantage them.

Several other independents have ruled out joining, with another two "teal" independents considering their options.

The party has lodged an application with the Australian Electoral Commission with registration expected to be finalised in October.

Bondi Beach shooting hero pleads not guilty to alleged assault on his father

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8q33gdgjjo, 11 days ago

The man hailed a hero for tackling one of the gunmen who killed 15 people at Bondi Beach has pleaded not guilty to allegedly assaulting his father, a Sydney court has heard.

Ahmed al Ahmed, 44, appeared before Bankstown Local Court on Wednesday to face charges of assault as well as stalking and intimidation in relation to an incident in March.

Outside court, Ahmed's lawyer said the case has been "very difficult" for his client and it is a "family situation he never expected".

On 14 December, Ahmed jumped on Sajid Akram from behind as he opened fire on a crowd at a Jewish event, wrestling a long-arm gun from the gunman. A second alleged gunman shot Ahmed several times in the arm.

The attack was Australia's deadliest mass shooting since 1996 with police declaring it a terrorist incident that had targeted the Jewish community.

Video footage of Ahmed's actions received international coverage, prompting a fundraiser that collected more than A$2.5m (£1.24m; $1.7m) for him.

After he was charged earlier this month, Ahmed told local media that the claims of assault were "not true at all".

In a separate matter, two of Ahmed's brothers have recently been charged over allegations they threatened him and tried to extort some of the donations he had received.

Hozifa al Ahmed and Sameh al Ahmed moved to Australia after the shooting and lived with Ahmed, but their relationship broke down. It is alleged that the two brothers threatened to hurt Ahmed if he did not hand over $100,000 to each of them.

As he left the court on Wednesday, Ahmed replied "no comment" when asked if his family was lying and if he thinks he can make peace with his father and brothers.

In the days after the Bondi Beach shooting, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Ahmed as he recovered in hospital, calling him "the best of our country".

In a TV interview, Ahmed - who was born and raised in Syria - described the moments before he tackled the gunman, saying he wanted to stop innocent people being killed and that "my soul" was "asking me to do that".

The case is due back in court in August, with a hearing set for December.

Sydney woman wakes from induced coma more than a week after shark attack

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8drk2dk3no, 11 days ago

A woman who was bitten by a shark more than a week ago while swimming at a popular Sydney beach has woken briefly from an induced coma, her family has said.

Leah Stewart was attacked by a shark on Saturday 13 June at Coogee Beach, suffering multiple bites on her arms and legs and extreme blood loss.

The 34-year-old mother was taken to hospital in a critical condition and underwent several surgeries including having her arm amputated.

On Tuesday, her brother said doctors had reduced Stewart's medication so she could wake up briefly from an induced coma. She said "I love you" to her mum and partner who were both by her bedside and asked if her daughter was ok.

"This is a lot faster than anyone expected, and for us this feels like a miracle and is everything so many of us have hoped and prayed for over the past week," Joshua Stewart posted in an online message to his sister's supporters.

He said she remains in intensive care and had five days of surgery in the past week, with more scheduled in the coming weeks.

"Leah has a long road ahead and still remains in critical care, but this is such a positive first step and gives us hope for Leah's long term recovery."

Stewart, who works as a teacher, had gone to Coogee Beach on Saturday morning for a swim and was in the water close to the shore when the attack happened.

There have been a spate of shark attacks in Australia this year, with four attacks in a two-day period in January including a young boy who was bitten at a Sydney beach and later died from his injuries in hospital.

Last month, there were two fatal shark attacks with one man killed by a shark in Queensland while spearfishing and in Western Australia, father-of-two Steven Mattaboni, 38, died after he was bitten by a 4m (13ft) shark.

Spider which uses spring trap to capture prey discovered in Australia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70y138y995o, 12 days ago

A new species of spider which weaves a catapult-like silk trap to snare a single type of ant has been discovered in the remote rainforests of northern Australia.

Researchers believe the nocturnal predator developed the unique hunting method to make meals of aggressive ants which are notoriously dangerous - and unusual - prey for arachnids.

The snare's "exceptionally high power" flings the ant into a bigger web at "15 times the most extreme g-forces experienced by jet pilots", said lead researcher Prof Ajay Narendra.

Though it is yet to be formally named, scientists have nicknamed the tiny spider "ballista", after the ancient weapon used to hurl stones in battle.

"The snare mechanism seems to have evolved as a highly specialised way of allowing the spider to 'pick off' potentially hazardous prey one at a time and transport them a safe distance away from ant trails and nests," researcher Dr Jonas Wolff said.

Ants have chemical defences, including the ability to sting in some species, and can recruit throngs of other ants rapidly as backup to overcome potential predators, Narendra explained.

Their team, from Australia's Macquarie University, spent 10 nights in the tropical rainforests of northern Queensland, capturing the spider's behaviour using high-speed and infrared cameras.

According to their findings, published in the journal Current Biology, the ballista spider resides on trees occupied by the aggressive and territorial green tree ant Oecophylla smaragdina, spending the day in webs hidden beneath the underside of leaves.

After nightfall, it drops down some 50cm to a leaf, a branch or the forest floor and creates an anchor point using a silk line.

It then spends hours creating a cone-shape "scaffold" of dozens of tension lines, around which it finally wraps a thinner type of silk before retreating upwards.

Within moments, scientists found green ants approached the trap and bit it - causing the snare to spring and the prey to be launched into the spider's web at "extreme" acceleration.

The scientists found that these green ants were the only prey captured by the spider, even when they released other nocturnal ants near the trap. They suspect the spider adds pheromones to the trap to lure and anger the green ants alone.

That is unprecedented, Narendra said.

"This seems to be the only case where a spider's web is designed to catch a single prey species, and where the mechanism is triggered by the prey rather than by the predator."

The spider, which belongs to the genus Propostira, was initially observed by biomedical researcher Greg Anderson - also a spider researcher and photographer.

Ukraine hits major oil terminal in Russia's St Petersburg

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8j2vmzxezro, today

A major oil terminal in Russia's north-western city of St Petersburg was struck overnight by Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The Ukrainian president described it as key "infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia's war". Ukraine also said a major Russian naval base in the region was hit.

St Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov said the city had been under a "massive" drone attack, admitting the oil terminal was hit but saying there had been no casualties.

Ukraine has recently intensified its long-range drone attacks on Russia's critical energy infrastructure, causing widespread fuel shortages. Kyiv says nearly 43% of Russia's oil refining capacity has been "disabled" as a result.

The BBC has not independently verified this figure.

Ukraine says Russian oil and gas facilities are legitimate targets as Moscow relies heavily on fossil fuel exports to finance its full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin - who last week made a rare admission that fuel shortages had been caused by Ukrainian attacks - on Saturday signed into law a bill aimed at boosting supplies to the domestic fuel market.

Zelensky said on Saturday morning that the targets hit in St Petersburg and the surrounding region had been about 850km (528 miles) from Ukraine's border.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear, but a video posted by the Ukrainian president showed a drone flying towards a target and a huge column of black smoke billowing from the area following the strike.

The BBC later verified that St Petersburg's oil terminal had been hit.

Ukraine's military described the terminal as "one of the largest" in Russia, capable of producing 12.5 million tonnes of petroleum products per year.

It also said it hit a key naval base of the Russian Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt.

Russia has not publicly commented on the claim.

Governor Beglov said that 72 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over St Petersburg and the wider Leningrad region.

He urged city residents to stay indoors until the drone threat was over and warned that mobile internet services may have also been disrupted.

More than five million people live in St Petersburg.

In a separate development on Saturday, Ukraine's military denied that the key eastern Ukrainian town of Kostyantynivka was now under full Russian control.

Military spokesman Maj Andriy Kovalyov told the BBC that "Kostyantynivka remains under the control of the Defence Forces of Ukraine".

He admitted that there had been "cases of infiltration by small infantry groups deep into the combat formations of our forces", but added that those groups were being identified and destroyed.

His comments came a day after Putin said that Russian control had been established over the town in June. The Kremlin leader provided no evidence to back up his claim.

Zelensky wrote on Telegram later on Saturday: "If Kostyantynivka is now under Russian control, then Putin will probably have no problem meeting me there and finding diplomatic solutions to finally end the war.

"But still, he will not cross the front line: the truth is very different from Putin's words."

Kostyantynivka is one of several heavily fortified towns that make up Ukraine's "fortress belt" in the eastern Donetsk region, most of which is occupied by Russia.

In its latest operational bulletin on Saturday afternoon, the Russian defence ministry said it had shot down more than 500 Ukrainian drones and missiles launched overnight and in the morning.

It described the Ukrainian attacks as an attempt by Zelensky to "distract the attention" of Ukrainians and "foreign sponsors" from the consequences of one of the biggest and deadliest Russian strikes on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, on 2 July and also a "catastrophic failure" of Ukrainian forces in Kostyantynivka.

Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian facilities "will not go unanswered", the ministry said.

Both sides - it would seem - want to gain the upper hand ahead of next week's Nato summit in Turkey.

On Saturday, Putin sent US President Donald Trump a congratulatory note to mark the 4 July celebrations in the US and calling for "constructive relations" between their countries.

The Russian leader had visited commanders wearing military fatigues the day prior, at which point he had made his claim about capturing Kostyantynivka.

Zelensky said Putin had chosen to lie to the world about the situation on the front.

Additional reporting by BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale in Moscow

Russia looks to students to make up for mounting losses in Ukraine

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8lnnr080go, yesterday

"He studied drones for three months - and yet they still threw him into a frontal assault, into the meat grinder," said Valery Averin's foster mother Oksana Afanayeva.

The 23-year-old is among the first Russian students known to have been killed in Ukraine after signing up as part of a new large-scale drive to recruit young people from universities and colleges into Russia's drone forces.

"He had never even served in the army," Afanasyeva complained.

The campaign to encourage students at universities, technical colleges and vocational schools to sign army contracts began early this year, as Russia sought to sustain its war effort into a fifth year. It has focused particularly on those struggling academically or considering taking a break from their studies.

Drone units have been presented as a more elite and technically advanced path through the war.

Averin grew up in an orphanage in eastern Siberia until he was taken into foster care aged 11. By the time he was recruited into the army he was in his final year at the Buryat Republican Technical School of Construction.

Early in April, he called his foster mother to say he was being sent somewhere "with no [phone] signal", and that she should not worry.

Initially he said he had gone away to earn money at Wildberries, a Russian online retailer, and she was shocked to find out he had signed a military contract and had completed training as a drone operator.

"He told me: 'Nothing will happen to me, everything will be fine.'"

A week later, on 8 April, she learned he had been killed in a mortar strike near Russian-occupied Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Vladislav Gorbunov, an 18-year-old from the small town of Unecha 70km (43 miles) north of the Ukrainian border died 4 months after signing a contract - on 6 April.

He had studied railway construction and maintenance at his local State Technical School of Sectoral Technologies and Transport and was initially sent to an infantry frontline assault unit before being transferred to a drone operators' unit.

Rakhim Abdullin had enrolled at Kumertau Mining College to train as a welder two years ago, but his studies did not work out and in January, little more than two weeks after his 18th birthday, he signed a military contract aiming to become a drone operator as it seemed a safe option.

"But once he got there, it turned out not to be safe at all," his mother Elena explained. "Because they see the assault troops too, and they are right on the front line."

By 13 March he was dead. "He left quickly, and he came back quickly," she said.

The three former students - Abdullin, Gorbunov and Averin - are among 230,407 Russian soldiers and officers whose deaths have been verified by the BBC, based on analysis of cemeteries, war memorials, government registers and obituaries.

The real death toll is believed to be far higher, and military experts believe our analysis of open-source data reflects 45-55% of the total number. That would put the real death toll at between 417,000 and 509,500. The UK's biggest spy agency, GCHQ, said in May the number was almost 500,000.

Ukraine's losses are also very high. President Volodymyr Zelensky last acknowledged 55,000 deaths in February 2026, as well as a large number who were missing.

An anonymous Ukrainian website suggests the total number of military deaths may reach 213,000, and Dutch military intelligence puts the number of dead, wounded and missing at about 500,000.

Replacing the dead and wounded has become key to maintaining Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, and authorities have presented the scheme that Averin was recruited through as a voluntary route into a modern, high-tech and relatively safe branch of the military.

Students are offered a special one-year contract to serve in a new branch of the military known as "unmanned systems troops" - as drones have become central to the war in Ukraine.

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said in November 2025 that the force would primarily seek to attract under-35s, as younger recruits were considered more receptive to "new technologies and speeds".

Within weeks, recruitment meetings began appearing at educational institutions across Russia.

BBC Russian found evidence of recruitment activity in at least 95 universities and colleges by late February, and in April student publication Groza put the number of universities and colleges that had promoted contracts for the drone forces at almost 270.

The pitch is carefully designed.

Students are told they can sign up for only one year, including training, and serve specifically in drone units rather than regular infantry, acquiring large payments and valuable technical skills, before returning to their studies.

In some universities, students are promised additional benefits, including lump-sum payments, budget-funded places, easier admission to postgraduate courses, or better accommodation.

In the capital Moscow, leaflets distributed to students say volunteers could receive at least five million roubles (£43,000; $57,000) in the first year.

But lawyers and rights activists warn these promises may not be enforceable.

Since President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilisation decree of September 2022, military contracts have in effect been extended until mobilisation ends, so a recruit is highly unlikely to leave after 12 months.

A central part of the defence ministry's pitch is that the job of a drone operator is safer than other combat roles, away from the front line.

But they have become high-value targets in this war, hunted by both sides because of their importance on the battlefield.

At least 920 Russian drone operators have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to analysis by BBC Russian, Mediazona and a team of volunteers. That number comes from publicly available sources, so again the true figure is likely to be higher.

Confirmed losses among drone operators are already comparable to those recorded in artillery units - one of the army's most exposed combat specialisms.

And students may not even make the drone forces as it is up to the defence ministry to decide whether a recruit is suitable. Failure could mean transfer to another branch of the army.

As well as financial incentives and patriotic appeals, students are sometimes pressured into signing up.

BBC Russian has found evidence of students being targeted if they were on the verge of expulsion or considering academic leave.

In one Novosibirsk college, a director was recorded calling students cowards for refusing to sign contracts.

Some institutions have also reportedly faced recruitment targets.

A former adviser to the rector of Far Eastern Federal University said the institution had been given a quota to send 32 students to the war in February. However, the university has denied it and called the report fake, adding that it supports students who have voluntarily decided to sign contracts.

Russia's focus on students shows how the war is moving deeper into civilian institutions, from universities and colleges to vocational schools.

Young men are offered money, status and the promise of a short, specialist path through the war. But the death of Valery Averin lays bare how fragile - and how fleeting - such promises can be.

His foster mother believes he was not used as the protected technical specialist he had expected to become: "He said nothing would happen to him."

'Flamingo Revolution' takes off as thousands demand Albanian PM's resignation

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8925jnl0z3o, yesterday

First they protested about flamingos, now the crowd on the streets below Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's office has begun to chant about schools, jobs and living standards as well – and wants him to resign.

The pink migratory birds became the symbol of Albania's nightly rallies because they flock to Narta Lagoon, a protected area near the coastal city of Vlora.

A group of international investors – including US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner – want to develop a luxury resort nearby, and the government has granted them "special investor" status.

There's no planning permission yet and Rama's government says an environmental impact assessment has not even begun, but fencing and bulldozers have been seen on the site.

Small-scale local protests about the potential environmental impact went national a month ago, when a video of private security guards beating up a protester spread on social media. The incident has been confirmed by the prime minister.

Anger has now spread, bringing in wider concerns about the way Albania is developing – and how it is governed.

"I'm here for our schools," a young protester called Helena tells the BBC.

"I'm here for our hospitals, I'm here for our infrastructure, I'm here for my family that's outside [Albania], and wanted to be here. And for all of that, I'm mostly here for myself, because I want to stay in my country, and I don't want to leave."

Rama and his Socialist Party have now been in power for 13 years. Much has changed in Albania in that time.

The skyline of the capital, Tirana, has been transformed, with a plethora of towers mostly designed by international architects. At the same time, the tourism industry has boomed – transforming the country's international image and accounting for more than a fifth of GDP.

Perhaps most impressively of all, Albania has made significant progress towards membership of the EU. From a standing start in 2022, it is on course to complete accession negotiations by the end of next year. Of the six countries in the Western Balkans, only Montenegro is further ahead – and it has been in talks for a decade longer.

But that does not cut much ice with prominent protester Fatos Lubonja. The writer and human rights activist served 17 years in a forced labour camp during the rule of the notorious communist dictator, Enver Hoxha.

Now, he alleges, the current government is propped up by "oligarchs, organised crime, the media and corrupt internationals" – and the building boom is little more than money laundering.

"We want to push justice to investigate," he says, gesturing to the towering new buildings surrounding Tirana's central Skanderbeg Square.

"If you see all these skyscrapers, it comes out that this is a plan by organised crime, plus oligarchs, plus functionaries of the state."

Taking a quiet moment in his office in the middle of the afternoon – before the nightly protests begin – Rama characterises the protests as a sign of a healthy, democratic society.

But several of his closest political allies have come under investigation by Albania's anti-corruption prosecutors (SPAK), including his former deputy and the mayor of Tirana.

So should Albanians also be concerned about the integrity of the prime minister?

"I've said it since day one: I want a justice that doesn't look left, doesn't look right, but looks straight," Rama says. "Justice that cannot be bought, cannot be pressured and cannot be remotely controlled.

"And I have said also that this is the biggest contribution the Socialist Party will give to this country, because it will not contribute just by making reforms, but by giving its own skin for the country."

But the youngest member of Albania's parliament has decided that working with the Socialist Party is no longer the answer. Rama hand-picked 25-year-old Marjana Koceku as a candidate for last year's elections after she established a reputation as an environmental campaigner in the northern county of Shkoder.

Now she has quit the party, saying her youth meant she "couldn't just stand there and clap the government and pretend like nothing is happening". She adds that Rama is a big part of the problem.

"He doesn't inspire people anymore – and I think that this brought him to a huge crisis of legitimacy. It took me some time to realise that beyond these beautiful facades that look so nice and shiny, the reality is not the same. And people are realising it every day more and more."

For the moment, it seems there is a stand-off. The protesters are not going anywhere – and neither is Rama. So, flamingos are likely to remain a familiar sight on the streets of Tirana.

Ukrainian suspect hunted by police after Monaco bomb attack was 'disguised as a man'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gy603z2qlo, yesterday

A Ukrainian woman identified as the main suspect for a parcel bombing in Monaco was "disguised as a man", according to the city-state's deputy prosecutor.

Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, is suspected of leaving a package in the entrance hall of an apartment building, before fleeing the scene on foot and then driving to Germany.

A sanctioned Ukrainian multi-millionaire, his partner and 13-year-old son are the reported victims of the attack, which left them seriously injured.

An Interpol Red Notice has been issued for Berezovska, who speaks German and is wanted for attempted murder, placing an explosive device on a public road with criminal intent and criminal conspiracy.

A package was left at the property just before 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Monday, followed by an explosion shortly afterwards.

Monaco's deputy prosecutor Morgan Raymond said investigators were also looking for possible accomplices as they continue to search for the suspect.

The explosion happened just as the three residents were entering the building on Monday evening.

Authorities in Monaco have not confirmed the victims' identifies but according to local reports, the attack targeted Vadym Yermolaiev, his partner and his son.

Yermolaiev, 58, is a wealthy real estate developer who has been living in Monaco.

Officials believe Berezovska had spent some days casing out the residence.

Raymond said the suspect, pictured on CCTV cameras wearing a dark bucket hat, left the scene on foot after depositing the parcel but is then believed to have picked up a hire car and driven to Italy and on to Germany.

Photos of Berezovska released by Interpol show a woman with dark shoulder-length hair. She has a tattoo on her right arm which "possibly" depicts a snake, according to officers.

Interpol is not a police force itself, but helps forces across the world to co-operate.

A Red Notice is an alert to all of its 196 member countries, asking them to locate and arrest a person.

Monaco's public prosecutor Stephane Thibault thanked police from Monaco and France for their co-operation, which made it possible "to identify, in a particularly short time, the person suspected of having carried out the attack".

Meanwhile, police in the state of Hesse, Germany, confirmed in a statement that special forces had searched the rented apartment of a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman in the Main-Taunus district on Thursday.

A vehicle she used was also searched and seized.

"Evidence has been secured and will be handed over to the Monegasque authorities. The Hessian security authorities are supporting the Monegasque authorities in their investigations and are in close contact with them," the statement said.

"The woman being sought is currently on the run. An international arrest warrant has been issued."

Prince Albert II of Monaco has described the incident as a "heinous crime".

Authorities in Monaco have confirmed the three victims were treated in hospital.

The adults were seriously wounded and taken to the Nice University Hospital (CHU), while the child, who suffered minor injuries, was admitted in a non-critical condition to the Lenval children's hospital in Nice.

On Wednesday, the man was no longer in a life-or-death situation, but the woman's condition had not yet stabilised, news agency AFP reported.

Yermolaiev, widely believed to be the presumed target of the blast, is a Cypriot citizen after renouncing his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019.

He has big interests in the wine and alcohol business in Russian-annexed Crimea, and since 2023 has been the subject of sanctions imposed by the government in Kyiv.

He was named the 39th richest Ukrainian by Forbes magazine in 2020, with a fortune of $230m (£173.8m).

German row over plan for workers to need sick note on first day of illness

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gyxnj38m1o, yesterday

A row has broken out in Germany after the coalition government announced changes to sick-leave rules, requiring Germans to provide a doctor's note to their employers on the first day of their illness.

The changes also mean workers will not be able to obtain the note by phone, scrapping a measure brought in due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The number of sick days in Germany is too high," said Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Under the current rules, a certificate is only required if a person is unfit for work for more than three days – in other words, on the fourth day, although employers are entitled to request the sick note earlier.

The plans were agreed by Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and his coalition partner the Social Democrats (SPD).

"This is a tough decision," the chancellor said. "But we can no longer afford this competitive disadvantage caused by long periods of absence from work."

Merz said the government would not accept what he called "exorbitant" levels of sick leave in the wake of the pandemic.

Germany was "returning to the arrangements we had before the coronavirus pandemic," he told ARD TV on Thursday night.

"At the same time, it is up to individual businesses to agree on other arrangements as well."

Medical groups have strongly criticised the plans.

The KBV, a national association representing statutory health insurance physicians, said that it "bordered on madness" to force thousands of people to visit doctors' surgeries simply to fill in forms.

"Anyone who is coughing or has a gastrointestinal infection belongs in bed – not in an overcrowded surgery," it said in a statement.

The Association of General Practitioners warned that infection cases – which would only have required one or two days in bed – would fill up doctors' waiting rooms.

The leader of the SPD, Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, attempted to calm the situation, telling RTL TV he was looking for "workable solutions".

"We now need to put sensible arrangements in place for what has been proposed in the coalition committee," he said.

Labour Minister Bärbel Bas, also from the SPD, said she would investigate the requirement to provide a doctor's certificate on the first day of illness.

"That wasn't my proposal," Bas told RTL.

"We will look into whether this actually has any effect at all, or whether it is more likely to cause difficulties."

But Jens Spahn, leader of the CDU's parliamentary group, defended the plans.

He said Germany's rate of sick leave was among the steepest in the EU.

"We have one of the highest numbers of sick days – around 18 per year per employee," he said.

"And those who are genuinely ill should, of course, be able to stay at home."

The changes were agreed as part of sweeping tax, labour and pension reforms aimed at reviving Germany's economy.

Stand-up comic held for jokes about Erdoğan and Islam in Turkey crackdown

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36yrlzew39o, 2 days ago

Stand-up comedian Deniz Göktaş has been placed under arrest by a court in Istanbul after he was held at the city's main airport over a performance that has attracted 9.4m views on YouTube.

Göktaş is accused of "inciting hatred and hostility" in his stage routine, as well as insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

He is the latest performer to be hit by a crackdown on dissent in Turkey that has also targeted campaigners, journalists and other public figures.

In recent weeks, access to the social media accounts of numerous LGBT+ organisations and activists has been blocked, while more than 200 people have been detained ahead of next week's Nato leaders' summit in the capital Ankara.

Tens of thousands of security personnel are being deployed for the 7-8 July summit hosted by Erdoğan where US President Donald Trump will meet his European counterparts and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.

Last month journalists, lawyers, academics, trade unionists, environmental activists and LGBT campaigners were detained.

Authorities have imposed a ban on demonstrations in Ankara until 10 July and independent Turkish media outlets have complained of being denied accreditation to the summit. Nato said it relied on the host nation to ensure access but was in contact with Turkish authorities.

Among those detained late in June were volunteers from one of Turkey's best-known environmental organisations, the Tema Foundation. Tema said many of those detained were retired people returning from a nature trip, and most were later released.

Deniz Göktaş was arrested as he returned to Istanbul from a holiday, and images of the performer being led away with his hands handcuffed behind his back drew immediate criticism from supporters.

After the comedian was questioned by prosecutors at the Çağlayan courthouse in Istanbul on Friday, the court agreed to a request for his pre-trial detention over part of the performance that covered Erdoğan and the Quran.

Istanbul's chief public prosecutor's office said authorities had received 185 complaints about Göktaş's video.

Turkey's religious affairs directorate mentioned the stand-up show, without naming Göktaş, in its weekly sermon on Friday which is read out in all the country's mosques. The top mufti's office complained that the use of digital platforms "and occasional mockery of our sacred values under the guise of humor are distancing our children from our values day by day".

In his statement to the prosecutor, Göktaş said he had no absolutely no intention of offending anyone religious.

He also denied insulting the president, insisting he had been performing the show in various Turkish cities for nearly three years, and his use of the word "dictator" was a topic discussed widely in Turkey.

His video was recorded at Istanbul's best-known open-air performance venue on 1 June and released on YouTube on 24 June.

"More than 100,000 people have watched this performance, and not a single complaint has been made by anyone saying they were offended by this particular section," he said.

Critics see Göktaş's detention as part of a broader pattern in Turkey targeting public figures. Human Rights Watch has warned of "far-reaching restrictions on the main political opposition party, the media, and freedom of expression in general".

Erdoğan's biggest political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, has been in jail for more than a year and went on trial last March on numerous charges including corruption.

Imamoğlu's opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has faced a broader crackdown, which the CHP has condemned as a "judicial coup" against Turkish democracy.

In May a court in Ankara removed the CHP's entire leadership including chairman Özgür Özel, and replacing him with veteran party figure Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost to Erdogan in the last presidential election.

A crowd turned out on Friday at the Çağlayan courthouse in Istanbul in support of the detained comedian, and chants of "traitor" were heard inside the courthouse as Kılıçdaroğlu arrived.

Kılıçdaroğlu has criticised Göktaş's airport arrest in handcuffs, saying he should be released. However opposition supporters see his reinstatement as CHP leader as an official attempt to neutralise the party.

Protesters also partly blamed the 77-year-old for young people being targeted by authorities.

The freedom-of-speech monitor, Media and Law Studies Association, said Göktaş was facing prison "for telling jokes", and pointed out that satire was protected under Turkey's constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Turkish police beat us with iron rods before we lost limbs to frostbite, Afghans say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8k4pz91n5o, 4 days ago

Warning: This article contains images and descriptions of violence that some readers may find distressing.

A dozen young Afghans who tried to reach Europe in January have told the BBC they were among a group of 50 migrants beaten and stripped by Turkish border guards before being stranded in the snow.

They say they were forced from the eastern Turkish city of Van towards the Iranian border, where temperatures were sub-zero. The group added that at least 20 people froze to death.

Eleven of the 12 men and boys who spoke to the BBC - including a 13-year-old - eventually lost limbs to frostbite.

The group, all aged 25 or under, was eventually returned to Afghanistan.

One of the migrants, Shahsawar, says he regained consciousness in a Kabul hospital to discover both his hands and legs had been amputated.

"I raised my hands - they felt light. Both had been cut off," he tells the BBC. "My throat closed up and I couldn't speak."

When approached for comment, Turkish authorities did not specifically address the migrants' allegations.

But the foreign ministry said border forces followed national and international laws and provided detained undocumented migrants with all necessary assistance, including food, water and medical care.

In mid-January, around 50 undocumented Afghan migrants were arrested after people smugglers helped them cross the Iranian border into the city of Van, where temperatures had dropped to -15C.

Shahsawar, 21, says he was detained immediately on entering the city.

Turkish border guards then lined the migrants up and beat them, he says.

"They kept us for several nights in a warehouse, where snow was falling on us. And they gave us only water and dry bread once a day."

"They forced us to do hard labour," adds Alawaldin, 23. "We had to carry wood and clear snow."

Alawaldin was neither able to contact his family nor the trafficker who had promised to take him to Europe.

The migrants who spoke to the BBC describe an exceptionally violent incident on 25 January when they say they were again lined up by border guards, but this time beaten with iron bars.

Stripped of their clothes and with their hands tied, they were forced to crawl on their stomachs toward a hill, Alawaldin says. "Some people's heads were broken and blood was flowing over their shoulders."

Some had been beaten so badly they could no longer use their hands, according to Shahsawar.

With their clothes, shoes and socks removed - left with only a pair of trousers each - the Afghans were released in groups of eight and pushed through barbed wire towards Iran, he says.

It was a stormy night, with heavy snowfall and almost no visibility.

"The paths were covered in snow. And we didn't know which direction to go or whether we would survive."

One member of the group, a boy named Danial, got lost almost immediately. The migrants later learned his body had been found in the snow.

Meanwhile, exhausted and hungry, Shahsawar says he had to take shelter by a large rock. He was soon joined by Asim, 13, and a fellow migrant called Ahmed, whose hands were frozen stiff.

"In the morning, Asim moved on," Shahsawar says. "But we were so frozen that we couldn't even speak.

"Ahmad was lying in my arms. And after a while, I noticed that he had stopped breathing."

A video posted on social media the following month apparently shows Asim being found in the snow by other migrants who had been searching for their companions. The teenager is wet, frostbitten and poorly dressed.

When his rescuers ask if he is alone, Asim, seemingly too cold to speak, points with his hand to the rock where Shahsawar was sheltering. Shahsawar says this simple gesture saved his life.

But that was not the end. The migrants subsequently sought help in Iran but say they were refused hospital treatment.

On 29 January, the Afghan embassy in Tehran said it had taken urgent steps to identify and aid a number of Afghan migrants stranded on the Iran-Turkey border.

Four days later, the boys and men were transferred by the Red Crescent Society overland to Herat Province, Afghanistan, and from there to the capital, Kabul, for further medical treatment.

At this point, the frostbite Shahsawar and ten others had suffered was turning parts of their bodies black.

Shahsawar watched his hands and feet darken. His entire body started itching.

When they arrived at the Kabul hospital, his father and brother signed a document, and he was taken into an operating theatre, where both his legs and his hands were amputated.

Frostbite can be successfully treated if medical care is provided quickly - but for these boys and men, it was too late.

Şafak Bozkurt, who chairs the Van Bar Association Human Rights Centre Migration and Asylum Commission, said he was familiar with this type of push-back in the region, and aware of cases of hypothermia.

Afghan migrants have reported multiple similar incidents since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Kabul, according to Turkey-based activist Zakira Hikmat. She said increased border surveillance in Turkey had forced them onto more dangerous routes.

Mahmout Keçen, another migrant-rights activist based in Van, said the nature of the mountains "most commonly used by Afghans entering Turkey irregularly" meant crossings had to be made in difficult, risky weather conditions.

He has worked on numerous cases involving Afghans and other migrants who alleged "ill-treatment, push-backs, denial of access to asylum procedures, and forced returns" around the Iran-Turkey border region.

The Turkish foreign ministry told the BBC such allegations were unfounded and "unfairly cast a shadow on Turkey's successful efforts in combating irregular migration".

"Due to its geopolitical location on migration routes and hosting a significant migrant and refugee population, Turkey aims to implement a human-centred and sustainable migration-management system that is compatible with civilisational values, that balances security and freedom.

"Thanks to Turkey's effective measures and successful fight against irregular migration, irregular migration flows towards the European Union have been almost completely halted."

The Iranian authorities have also been approached for comment.

'Absolute madness': Row over plan to demolish Nazi bunker under Berlin

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy09753nq3o, 5 days ago

There are plans in Berlin to tear down one of the last remnants of Adolf Hitler's power centre.

Almost nothing remains of the Nazi leader's chancellery in central Berlin, except a bunker.

But now there are plans to demolish it to build flats and offices.

The New Reich Chancellery, built by Hitler's favourite architect Albert Speer, was severely damaged at the end of World War Two and then torn down by order of the Soviet forces in 1949.

However the bunker is still visible in a patch of wasteland.

Berlin's Housing Senator Christian Gaebler (SPD) believes it is time for the structure to go.

"We are not standing in the way of new housing developments just to preserve a bunker that might then even become a place of pilgrimage," he told the BZ newspaper.

But others say the bunker should be preserved.

Dietmar Arnold, chairman of the Berlin Underworlds Association, told the BBC it would be "absolute madness" to demolish the bunker.

"It is a site of the perpetrators," he said. "It was the power centre of Nazi Germany, Hitler's New Reich Chancellery, and these are the last remains."

He wants to work with the Holocaust Museum to turn the site into a museum and memorial site, with an exhibit about the end of the war.

"So much history has been destroyed here in Germany, both Communist history and Nazi history. We can't keep doing that."

Arnold last went into the bunker in 2007, when he said it was in very good condition.

He said this was not the more famous Führerbunker, where Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide and which lies about 120m to the north.

Instead this was used by people who worked in the Reich Chancellery. At the end of the war a hospital was set up inside the structure.

According to Arnold, 1,200 sq m (12,900 sq ft) of the bunker complex remain intact; the walls and ceiling are each 1.7m (5.6ft) thick.

He believes it would even be possible to build on top of them without demolishing the entire bunker.

Last year, the Berlin State Monuments Council said it was critical of plans to tear down the bunker, which it said had "significant historical value".

"The New Reich Chancellery was the planning centre and starting point of World War Two and also symbolises the catastrophic end of the Nazi regime," the council said.

"In view of its potential significance as a historic monument, its state of preservation and its inclusion on the list of listed buildings should be assessed by the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments."

How population decline is exposing Germany's old divides

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24ylyv40y5o, 6 days ago

Jan-Niklas Hustedt remembers going to techno parties in the abandoned canteen of a pump factory that had drastically downsized after reunification, in his hometown of Oschersleben.

He was born in East Germany in 1989, just a few weeks before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He describes himself as a "wendekind"; a child of the turning point.

Now, at 36, he recalls how that time would change his community.

Many businesses in the communist east struggled or simply collapsed as they were thrust into a profit-driven, highly competitive, global economy.

"You hear all the stories," says Jan-Niklas. "Lots of people left because the opportunities were in the west."

In the 35 years after reunification, the country's overall population grew by 3.8 million, a 5% increase - driven by immigration.

But in the five states that were part of the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR), the population has fallen by 16% (this figure excludes East Berlin).

The state of Saxony-Anhalt, where Oschersleben lies, recorded the most dramatic decline at 26% - according to official statistics published last year.

Now, across large swathes of the more rural east, further population falls are expected as the east's post-reunification "brain drain" combines with a national trend: low birth rates.

Look at the map by government demographers; the deep blue areas – where the starkest drops are expected – are highly concentrated in the less urbanised parts of the east.

Only the state of Brandenburg, which encircles Berlin and sees spillover from the capital city, bucks the trend.

Longer term, as Germany's population ages, the country's federal statistics office says there will "in all likelihood" be fewer people by 2070. For eastern states outside of Berlin, that's projected to be the case "under all scenarios".

Such projections are based on certain assumptions and are not set in stone. But this demographic change may be helping drive up support for Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party that's classified, within Saxony-Anhalt, as right-wing extremist by domestic intelligence.

Yet it's in this state that the AfD could win power in elections later this year. It's a potentially seismic moment for Germany.

'Tear down this wall'

News footage from 1989 shows the euphoric scenes as people poured across what had, for decades, been a heavily guarded no man's land; the Berlin Wall.

Those on foot swarmed across in crowds while the sudden influx of fume-belching East German Trabant cars sparked complaints about pollution in the west.

But it would also become a time of an enormous sense of loss for people in the east who found their socialist society absorbed, almost overnight, into the capitalist west.

A satellite state of the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) - as East Germany was known - was a centrally-planned, state-owned economy.

The regime relied on strict media censorship and the Stasi, a large and feared secret police force to keep citizens in line.

There were also heavy restrictions on people's ability to leave as the authorities tried to prevent people from fleeing west - as so many had over the decades.

East Germans did, however, get subsidised housing, generous childcare support and guaranteed employment.

But it was built on an increasingly inefficient and debt-ridden economy, which meant that the rapid process of privatisation, when it came, was brutal and led to mass unemployment.

Graphs show how fertility rates in the east plummeted while there was a huge exodus west, which came in two main waves. The first began right after the wall fell, while the second peaked in the early part of this century.

That second wave was "smaller in scale but no less consequential because it was highly selective," says Dr Katja Salomo, a sociologist at the University of Kassel who grew up in a rural part of east Germany.

"Young people, highly educated people and especially women, were more likely to leave."

One reason for women leaving was that the east's female workforce was treated as an "afterthought" during the reunification process - argues Katja Salomo.

"And so they went to West Germany and got them [jobs] there."

Fewer women naturally meant fewer children. And while the big exodus ended years ago, the east still has a more pronounced shortage of young people and skilled workers than the west. As well as emptying kindergartens.

The baby bust

This is an emerging phenomenon in east Germany: "Kitasterben". It literally translates to "daycare dying".

It's driven by low birth rates within an already depleted population in regions that, during the communist era, had built up an extensive network of childcare settings.

"There are now [newspaper] articles where kindergartens [say they] need children, which is crazy," says Jan-Niklas.

He says the kindergarten his daughter goes to asked if he and his wife knew of other families needing a place.

I met Jan-Niklas in the centre of his hometown, Oschersleben. Including surrounding villages, it has a population of roughly 19,000 people.

It's a Wednesday lunchtime. The centre isn't quite deserted, but it's not busy either.

It doesn't take long to spot an empty shop front, or several of the area's growing number of elderly people.

Now Jan-Niklas, who sees reunification as a "success story" overall, is on a mission to bring younger people and families back.

It's "home", he says. "I like the people. I think they deserve [to do] well."

He left when he was in his late teens, to later return having built a career as a recruiter for a major German bank. His move home made the local news.

"Back in Oschersleben after 13 years," read the Volksstimme (People's Voice) headline. "Returnee calls for ways to combat the skilled-worker shortage."

That's just one problem with population decline; filling vacant jobs, including crucial social and healthcare roles to support the increasingly elderly population.

Fewer people can also lead to fewer services, such as shops, maternity wards, and schools.

While a large number of migrants or refugees have come to Germany from countries including Ukraine, Syria and Turkey – as well as from other EU nations – those immigrants have mainly headed to big cities, such as Berlin, and the more urbanised west.

And even when accounting for these people, Germany has an ageing population as the baby-boomer generation increasingly retires, and the nationwide birth rate stays stubbornly low.

It means a shrinking workforce is having to shoulder the cost of a growing number of retirees.

Birth rates began falling in the late sixties, after the introduction of the contraceptive pill and at a time when women became more likely to enter the workforce. But last year the number of births reached their lowest level since 1946, according to preliminary figures.

Professor Martin Bujard, from the Federal Institute for Population Research, a government agency, says data suggests that the impact of global crises like covid and the war in Ukraine have exacerbated the trend.

"After Russia launched its full-scale invasion, nine or ten months later, birth rates in Germany fell," says Professor Bujard.

The latest figures show that women without German nationality have more children than German citizens, with rates of 1.84 and 1.23 respectively (known as the fertility rate).

But both are below the "replacement rate" of 2.1; the level at which a population stays steady from one generation to the next.

Germany's not alone in this. The UN has warned of an "unprecedented decline" in global fertility rates, driven by factors such as affordability and a lack of suitable housing.

What's unique about the east of Germany today is that these birth rates are happening within a population that was so recently – and so rapidly – hollowed out.

Heading east

There have been many initiatives over many years to increase the population in the east of Germany.

Katy Löwe runs one of them from Halberstadt, a town that lies at the northern foothills of Saxony-Anhalt's Harz Mountains, 120 miles west of Berlin.

We met in Cathedral Square, near the Gothic-style St. Martini church which was destroyed at the end of World War Two and then rebuilt.

It's one of the attractions for passing tourists, but Katy's mission is to get people to actually live in the region.

Funded by local firms who need workers, Heimvorteil Harz (which translates as Home Advantage Harz), tries to match people with vacancies and promote the area's perks.

Driving through the region, you'll find well maintained roads and picturesque towns.

Standards of living in the east have significantly improved since reunification, even if wages still lag behind the west, particularly when compared to wealthy states like Bavaria.

For Katy, who's from a nearby village, bringing people back is personal: "I think the main thing is the fear that towns will be half empty. Villages will be half empty."

"That's what we have to reverse in order to maintain a good quality of life in rural areas."

Heimvorteil Harz doesn't have precise records of how many people they've lured back and campaigns like hers, Katy says, can only go so far. "The problem is too big."

It's about trying to get your area noticed, she says, as regions are "competing" against each other for people.

Academics have spent decades trying to understand the lingering divide between east and west Germany; "Ossies" and "Wessies", and these are divides that cut across numerous spheres.

For example, all firms listed on the Dax, Germany's stock market index, are headquartered in the west or in Berlin while east Germans also have far less inherited wealth.

After the upheaval of reunification, Katy believes it's also a matter of mentality.

The east German mindset, she says, is marked by a "collective experience of huge loss."

"They are very fearful that they may experience it again. That's the main driver of people either leaving or voting the way they do."

And the way people vote in Saxony-Anhalt could be about to change the political landscape in Germany.

It may be where the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party forms its first state-level government.

This would be an explosive moment in a country where the far-right hasn't held that kind of power since World War Two, although AfD leaders strongly reject comparisons to Nazism and insist they are a conservative, libertarian movement.

The social-media savvy Ulrich Siegmund is the AfD's lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, where the party is polling at more than 40% ahead of elections in September. This could be enough for an overall majority.

Population decline may be among the reasons behind the AfD's popularity.

According to sociologist Katja Salomo, "Research shows that electoral support for far-right parties, including the AfD, tends to be higher in the regions most affected by population decline."

While it's difficult to prove precise links, she says - for example- a sense of stagnation and dwindling infrastructure can make communities feel that the political system, "is not working for people like them."

Such areas can also have a more "sceptical view of immigration" even though more immigration would, in principle, "help to stabilise East Germany's demographic situation."

In 2023, domestic intelligence found that the AfD's Saxony-Anhalt branch was permeated by a "racist ideology" in violation of the German constitution which guarantees "human dignity" for all.

As a result, it's one of the states in which the party's been classed as right-wing extremist. It generally rejects such designations as politicised persecution.

In its manifesto, the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt argues that immigration is an, "Unsuitable remedy for the extinction of the local population."

Instead, it wants to incentivise larger families by, for example, handing out baby bonus payments to parents.

Critics say the AfD's wider anti-immigration and deportation plans would be both a disaster for Germany's already ailing economy and potentially illegal. But many Germans see it differently.

According to surveys, the AfD is now the country's most popular party with polling numbers in the high twenties, although its support remains heavily skewed to the east.

Some may point to possible benefits of depopulation, such as less traffic and cheaper accommodation.

"It can make housing more accessible," says Professor Martin Bujard, who notes our ecological footprint "reduces a little bit with population decline."

But Bujard says low birth rates are a bad thing overall, due to the imbalance it creates between young and old - while population decline can cause frustration in local communities.

Bujard says more must be done to support people in the "rush hour of life", such as those trying to hold down jobs and raise young families.

"Policy should help potential parents realise their hopes," he says, through improved childcare, financial support and living space.

German reunification is often celebrated as a moment of great hope and change that brought families and friends back together - as well as an entire country.

But its legacy has proven complicated and enduring; the old border may be gone but it's cast a long shadow.

Additional reporting: Michael Steininger

Lead image: Getty

Meloni and Trump: A very public fall-out that is proving very hard to fix

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze962pgk27o, 9 days ago

There is an AI-generated meme doing the rounds on social media in Italy that shows Giorgia Meloni doing all the things you might expect from someone fresh out of a tough break-up.

In one fake photo she has a new haircut; in others she is imagined booking herself on a singles' holiday, training for a marathon and creating a profile on a dating app.

Of course none of the images are real, but the joke has landed because it captures the very public political fall-out between the Italian prime minister and US President Donald Trump.

Their relationship has over the past few months gone from public attacks to personal insults and back again, cooling what used to be one of the most watched alliances in European politics.

It was not that long ago that Meloni was being called the "Trump whisperer", and she was the only European leader with a front-row seat at his January 2025 inauguration.

Last April, she was also the EU leader of choice to head to the White House for a meeting aimed at easing tensions over US tariffs on European goods.

For someone who started out on the fringes of Italian politics, with her roots in Italy's post-fascist tradition, and who has spent years trying to rebrand herself as a moderate, credible face of the European right, that closeness to Trump was never just seen by observers as a useful diplomatic tie.

It was proof, on the biggest stage available, that she belonged there.

But Trump's unpredictability has proved difficult for Meloni to handle, denting her credibility both nationally and internationally.

The first real fracture came in late March, when Italy's defence ministry refused to let US military aircraft bound for the Middle East use the Nato airbase at Sigonella in Sicily without parliamentary approval, a decision rooted in Italy's constitution and the public's deep opposition to the war.

Weeks later the row deepened.

Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social in April over the pontiff's criticism of the war, calling him "weak on crime".

Meloni, governing a deeply Catholic country, called the attack "unacceptable".

Trump did not take it well. "I'm shocked at her," he told Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "I thought she had courage, but I was wrong." He added: "She is unacceptable... she is not the same person, Italy is not the same country."

By June things seemed to be getting better. At the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains in France, Trump and Meloni were photographed deep in conversation on a sofa, and Italian officials spoke of a "clarifying discussion".

Meloni told reporters the atmosphere had been "very positive," with "no friction".

Journalists barely had time to file the story before it fell apart again.

Days later, Trump told Italian broadcaster La7 that Meloni had "begged" him for a photo at the summit, in a phone interview dubbed in Italian that was later published on the broadcaster's website in English.

"She wanted a picture with me so badly," Trump's Italian voiceover said. "I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her."

Meloni did not wait long to respond. She posted a video, delivered in Italian, calling Trump's account "completely fabricated."

"I don't know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies," she said. "I can only say it's a pity he doesn't show the same resolve toward the enemies of the West... But there's one thing he must remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg."

Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, cancelled a planned trip to Washington.

Reaction in Italy was swift and across the political spectrum.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella phoned her to express solidarity. Meloni's government colleagues and MPs called the remarks offensive, damaging to Italy's dignity and deserving of an apology, while opposition members condemned the comments as an unacceptable affront to the country as a whole.

Trump doubled down from Camp David, insisting on Truth Social that she had asked "over and over" for the photo and accusing her of trying to be "friends again" now that the US had "defeated Iran militarily".

Just as that dispute seemed to be cooling, a separate row re-opened over military bases.

Last Wednesday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte told Fox News that around 500 US aircraft had taken off from American bases in Italy in support of "Operation Epic Fury", the codename for the US-Israeli campaign against Iran. It was part of what he described as broader European support running into thousands of flights across the continent.

Rome did not take it well.

Italy's defence ministry called Rutte's account "fallacious" and "totally misleading", insisting it had only ever authorised technical and logistical flights, not combat operations, and had refused any request that crossed that line.

A Nato spokesperson later clarified that Rutte had simply meant to highlight how allies, Italy included, had honoured existing bilateral basing agreements.

Those remarks have stirred a political row in Italy where Meloni's government has repeatedly said it did not authorise the use of Italian territory for direct military action against Iran.

For Meloni, who has had a difficult few months following her recent defeat in a constitutional referendum and faces an election in the coming year, some big questions remain.

How will she reposition herself on the international political spectrum? What next for her uneasy alliance with France's Emmanuel Macron, for so long her political "frenemy" but now increasingly important to her standing? And most of all, will she and Trump ever make up?

"This might be a tough situation to turn around," said Gianni Riotta, author and vice chairman of the Council for the United States and Italy.

"Meloni's ability to build a bridge now looks like a mere illusion, she couldn't stand between Europe and the US," he told the BBC.

"She tried to please both sides, on Ukraine, on tariffs. Then the Pope broke it: she had to back him, and Trump doesn't accept that. Trump has had a friend-or-foe outlook since his property days in New York, you're either with me or against me, and once that understanding broke down, he pushed harder, and Meloni played up her tough-woman image."

In Rome's diplomatic circles, nobody wants a full rupture.

Reports earlier this week suggested several government ministers were ready to skip the US Embassy's Independence Day reception at Villa Taverna, brought forward this year to 2 July, in solidarity with Meloni, who is not expected to attend regardless.

That mood has since softened. Tajani has said he will go "with my head held high", and allies of the prime minister now suggest the boycott talk has cooled into a quieter "everyone's free to do as they please".

But the real test will come at the Nato summit in Ankara early next month, when Trump and Meloni are due to be, for the first time since the G7, in the same room again.

Man shot dead in County Dublin

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3665zn06yo, today

A man in his 40s has been shot dead in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin.

The incident happened about 08:30 on Sunday.

Gardaí (Irish police) said that the man's body remains at the scene and a post-mortem examination will occur in due course.

They have appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

Three men die in separate weekend crashes in the Republic

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gyy07r1xeo, today

Three men have died in separate road traffic accidents in counties Donegal, Kildare and Cork.

A man in his 20s died in a two-car crash at Kinnego Cross, Ballymagan, County Donegal, around 21:10 local time on Saturday.

A motorcyclist in his 30s died in a collision with a jeep on the N20 at Castlewrixon, Ballyhea, County Cork, at 20:00 local time on Saturday.

In County Kildare, a motorcyclist in his 50s died in a single vehicle collision at Killick, Kilcock, at 10:45 local time on Saturday.

Gardaí (Irish police) said the coroner had been notified in relation to all three deaths.

A number of people were also injured in two of the collisions.

A man in his 20s, a teenage boy and girl were taken to Letterkenny University Hospital for treatment but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

A man in his 80s who was driving the jeep in the County Cork crash was also taken to hospital. His injuries are believed to be non-life threatening.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collisions or who has dash-cam footage to contact them.

Businessman and philanthropist Martin Naughton dies

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm20px0mdylo, today

Martin Naughton, the businessman and philanthropist, has died aged 87.

Naughton founded Glen Electric in Newry in 1973, which became Glen Dimplex in 1977 after acquiring its much larger British rival.

He grew it into a huge multinational electrical goods business which owns brands including Morphy Richards and Lec.

He used his considerable wealth to support education and the arts across the island of Ireland.

In 2007 he and his wife Carmel donated £1m to the project to rebuild the Lyric Theatre in Belfast.

In 2001 the couple endowed the Naughton Gallery at Queen's University Belfast with £500,000.

Its president and vice chancellor, professor Sir Ian Greer, described Naughton as an "exceptional entrepreneur, philanthropist and lifelong champion of education".

"Martin's vision, generosity and commitment to supporting universities have left an enduring legacy."

He said the Naughton Gallery "continues to inspire creativity, culture and public engagement", while his "longstanding commitment to our university has benefited generations of students and researchers".

In 2018 the family made what is believed to be the single largest private philanthropic donation in the history of the Irish state when they gifted €25m (£21.4m) to Trinity College Dublin.

In a statement, Trinity's Provost, Dr Linda Doyle, said Naughton's "legacy at Trinity will be felt for generations to come".

"It's been my great honour and privilege to have known such an inspiring and generous man."

Naughton, who was from Dundalk in County Louth, had a deep interest in cross border cooperation.

He was the inaugural chairman of InterTradeIreland, the body set up under the Good Friday Agreement to encourage cross border trade.

US blocks long-term renewal of North American trade deal

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8j2lmrvrdo, 4 days ago

The US has declined to renew the landmark US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form, according to a senior US official.

This decision means the trilateral trade pact will miss out on an automatic 16-year extension.

The official said the administration "chose not to rubber stamp a USMCA renewal without addressing existing issues" and that "the United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form".

If the countries fail to unanimously agree to renew the agreement, "it essentially sets a 10-year shot lock to termination", the official said.

Under the pact guidelines, each country must decide whether to renew the agreement for another 16-year term.

While the free-trade deal remains in place for now, the lack of a long-term commitment creates fresh economic uncertainty across North America.

The agreement, which underpins around $2tn (£1.5tn) in trade each year, is facing pressure over unresolved disputes. US trade officials are pushing for major changes before committing to a long-term extension.

Washington has consistently raised concerns over rules of origin for automobiles, dairy market access and stopping third-party countries like China from exploiting the regional agreement.

Under the USMCA's original terms, unanimous agreement on an extension would have seen the trade deal kept in place until 2042.

The US opting out will force the nations to meet every year to negotiate changes. Business groups across the continent had called for the pact to be extended. The decision also kicks off a 10-year countdown towards the deal expiring as early as 2036.

The US Chamber of Commerce had warned that sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture relied heavily on cross-border certainty.

However, US domestic trade groups such as the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Steel Manufacturers Association welcomed the shift, arguing annual reviews would give US negotiators leverage to fix parts of the deal.

The friction comes six years after the USMCA entered into force, replacing the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

It updated rules around digital trade, workers' rights and regional manufacturing, specifically requiring more vehicle parts to be made within North America.

Anguished families left to identify Venezuela quake victims at makeshift morgue

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20y2p9qqqko, yesterday

Warning: This story contains distressing details

At a port storage facility transformed into a makeshift morgue in La Guaira, the same scene repeats itself again and again.

Families - many of whom have already spent days searching hospitals, shelters and rubble - wait hours to try and confirm the deaths of their loved ones.

As the death toll of Venezuela's twin earthquakes surpasses 2,600, officials face the challenge of not only recovering victims, but identifying them.

The scale of the disaster has overwhelmed local services, forcing institutions to improvise.

With little infrastructure left standing nine days after the tremors, bodies have been put outside or in temporary tents.

Under the blazing sun, dozens of families wait with a mixture of anguish and dread.

Rows of chairs have been placed inside and outside Los Silos, where sadness is contagious.

No one speaks. Some stare blankly into space, others check their phones, reading the news or answering messages.

Just a few metres away, armed personnel from the Bolivarian Armed Forces control access to the site.

"I'm afraid of what I'm going to see in there, but it's the only way to end this agony," a woman says before passing through the gate.

She has been searching for her nephew for nearly a week.

"I've looked for him everywhere: in the building, in the hospitals, I've spoken to everyone… and no one knows anything."

Inside, the smell of decomposition is the first thing that greets you.

Some family members cover their mouths with their hands. Most wear cloth masks, which offer little relief. Within minutes, many stop reacting. They seem to grow used to it.

Nearby, hundreds of bodies lie in rows, wrapped in plastic bags and exposed to the sun. In the sweltering heat, decomposition is rapid.

The bodies are arranged according to when they were recovered.

At one end of the site, a tent offers free cremation services. At the other, forensic specialists use dental records to help identify victims whose bodies have become difficult to recognise.

Families face two options. Those who think they can identify a loved one by their clothing are taken to one area.

Most relatives, however, are directed to two television screens. There, a different ordeal begins.

More than 1,000 images of bodies flash across the screens in a sequence that feels endless. Many are swollen, have darkened skin or bear the marks of injuries, making identification difficult.

Families search for any trace that might help identify their loved ones - a tattoo, a bracelet, a piece of clothing, or an item from their home.

Sometimes there is a pause, a moment of hope. The two workers scrolling through the photos on an iPad zoom in on teeth, tattoos, or scars.

In front of one of the screens, a woman bursts into tears as she recognises her son thanks to a dusty blanket. Another woman, a stranger, embraces her.

A phone rings and breaks the silence.

A young man whispers into the phone that he is trying to identify his mother. But he says the state of the bodies is making it difficult.

"This is like a horror movie," Liliana González, a 60-year-old resident of Catia La Mar, says as she leaves.

She had come to look for her aunt, but in the end identified her 37-year-old nephew by his tattoo.

"He wasn't on the list," she says. "I had to look at the images."

"I saw my mum when she died, but this... this isn't the same."

'No one could get them out'

Modesta Alemán, 56, travelled from Carayaca, in western La Guaira, to look for her older sister Matilde.

Her sister lived in Playa Grande - one of the hardest-hit areas.

"They told us there were no survivors," she says. Volunteers later said they could hear voices calling from the building, "but no one could get them out".

Modesta does not enter the makeshift morgue and waits outside while other relatives handle the identification process.

Perhaps, she says, it is better this way.

The process can take hours. Once a body is identified, the arrangements to remove the remains begin. After identification, fingerprints are taken, if possible.

Then, the bodies are placed in coffins. Later, the paperwork for the death certificate begins - an essential document so funeral homes can collect the remains.

Jéssica Soto, 42, sits in a chair at the entrance to Los Silos.

For two days, she has been waiting for the remains of her 15-year-old daughter and three-year-old granddaughter, who got trapped in their apartment after the earthquakes.

Their bodies were recovered on Tuesday, nearly a week later.

"They keep you waiting and waiting for the paperwork, the trucks, and who knows what else," she tells BBC Mundo.

"They have had them there in a coffin, sitting out in the sun since yesterday. I have no choice but to wait and trust in God."

Liliana says she panicked when she was told she would have to identify her nephew by herself.

"But then, seeing me like that, two workers accompanied me to the body. They helped me find him so I wouldn't suffer as much," she recounts.

"Thank God, because in a moment like that, it's good to feel someone's hand."

Her aunt remains buried in the rubble. She fears having to return to the morgue in the coming days to repeat the process all over again.

Venezuela quake survivor pulled out alive after eight days

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce375v12z0qo, 2 days ago

A man has been rescued alive after being trapped for eight days in the rubble of a building that collapsed after twin earthquakes in Venezuela.

Emergency workers managed to free Hernán Gil more than 100 hours after they had first located him under 140 tonnes of rubble.

Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodríguez visited Gil in hospital on Thursday, calling him a "living miracle" in a video shared on social media.

As of Thursday evening, 2,595 people are confirmed to have died in the quakes which hit Venezuela on 24 June, and tens of thousands are still missing.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Rodríguez called the earthquakes "a natural tragedy on a scale we never imagined".

She rejected criticism that her government had reacted too slowly, saying that thousands of officials had been deployed after the quakes.

"We've done everything in our power, and we'll continue to do everything in our power and more," Rodríguez told journalists.

A Chilean firefighter had earlier described the operation to rescue Gil as "without doubt the most complex and technically difficult which I've had to tackle".

Allan Madrigal, a paramedic with the Costa Rican Red Cross, told journalists at the site that Gil had "emerged just perfect" from the ordeal.

Madrigal is the rescuer who heard Gil's faint cries for help emerging from the rubble on Sunday.

"It was an emotional moment," he recalled, explaining that at first he had not trusted his own ears and asked a colleague to confirm that he "wasn't just imagining it".

From that moment on, rescuers raced to try and dig the security guard out.

Gil had been on duty in a small concrete booth in the basement of the parking lot adjacent to the Galerias Playa Grande mall in Catia La Mar when the twin quakes struck.

It appears that the booth created a shell around him, protecting him from the 140 tonnes of rubble which collapsed around and on top of him.

"He has told us that he does not even have a crushed nail," another Costa Rican Red Cross worker said shortly before Gil was pulled from the rubble.

Gil had been given water and medics had attached him to an intravenous drip while teams from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Portugal and the United States worked to free him.

Parts of the access ducts rescuers built to reach him collapsed several times, highlighting the dangers the work posed to the rescuers as well as Gil.

Overnight, the search teams were finally able to establish visual contact with the survivor.

In footage recorded by a small camera inserted into the rubble where Gil was trapped, a Chilean firefighter could be heard asking him to turn his head towards the camera.

One of his eyes was bloodshot and he was wearing a face mask, which rescuers had earlier passed to him through a small hole to protect him from the dust and debris created by their efforts to free him.

The firefighter also asked him to don goggles to protect his eyes as rescuers continued to carefully dig away at the rubble surrounding him.

Marco Antonio Franco from the Mexican Red Cross described Gil as "a cheerful man".

He told Mexican news site Milenio that the survivor "even asked for hydration drinks of specific flavours he likes", adding that "of course we indulged him".

"He himself drives us on, telling us to carry on. He recognises our team members, saying 'how nice that you came back and that you're with me again'."

According to Franco, the rescuers and Gil kept up a steady chatter about his family and about the challenging rescue.

Madrigal, the paramedic who located Gil, was on his first international rescue mission and said the work he had carried out in Venezuela had changed him.

"The lad who came here a week ago is not the same one that will return to Costa Rica, believe me," he told reporters.

Aunt of Venezuelan boy pulled from rubble tells BBC she will give him 'mother's warmth'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05yv34qlnlo, 4 days ago

The aunt of a two-year-old boy who was rescued after six days under rubble in Venezuela has spoken to the BBC of her elation at being reunited with her nephew and her hopes that his parents might still be found.

Kleiber Moran was pulled from the rubble of his home in Venezuela's northern La Guaira state by Jordanian rescuers early on Tuesday.

Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodríguez has described the rescue as a "source of hope for our people" as the death toll from two major earthquakes last Wednesday continues to rise.

The boy's aunt, 23-year-old Andreína Sarmiento, told the BBC she would "take care of Kleiber with a mother's warmth until my sister appears, which is what we long for".

"I'm praying a lot to God to give me strength because he is only two years old and I am not a mother," she said, sitting at Kleiber's bedside and holding his hand in a hospital in the capital Caracas.

"It hurts me a lot because my sister always used to tell me that he is my son, and now it's like she's handing him over to me and saying 'this is your son, he is your responsibility,'" she said.

When a friend phoned Andreína from La Guaira to tell her of Kleiber's rescue she fell to the floor and screamed and wept, before heading to meet him.

She said rescuers from the UK had also tried to reach him before the Jordanian team's efforts were successful.

When the two were reunited, Kleiber looked at Andreína and immediately said "she Auntie".

Andreína said Kleiber was in a "state of shock, screaming and screaming" when he arrived at the hospital. But he slept through the night and by Wednesday "he had stabilised".

She said that "today he's giving me little kisses, he talks to me, he tells me where it hurts".

As she spoke, Kleiber lay next to her, wrapped in a Spiderman blanket and surrounded by toys, pushing a small car around the bed. He was in a ward with other children who had also survived the earthquakes.

"He doesn't even have a single fracture. Everything is very good. All he has are some scratches here on his arms and on his legs, but nothing more," Andreína told the BBC with a broad smile.

But while she is elated at being reunited with her nephew, Andreína said "it hurts because I can't find my sister".

She said she and 31-year-old Ana Luz were extremely close and would talk every day on video calls. Her sister always had Kleiber by her side.

"Wherever she went, her son went too. Whatever Kleiber wanted, she would please him. If she didn't have money, she would call me: 'Kleiber wants this' or 'he's missing this,'" Andreína said.

"She is my older sister and I always trusted her and could tell her my problems and whenever I spoke to her on a video call, the child was by her side."

Andreína said she was certain that her sister would have been next to Kleiber in the rubble.

As she sat with her nephew in hospital, desperate search and rescue efforts were continuing after the earthquakes.

Some 2,295 deaths have been officially recorded, but the final toll is expected to be many times higher. Tens of thousands have been reported missing, and the United Nations has said it is procuring 10,000 body bags for the country.

Andreína said she had not lost hope that Kleiber's parents would be rescued.

"Just as they found my nephew, I have faith that they are going to find my sister and my brother-in-law," she said.

Looking affectionately at Kleiber, she said she believed "he has a purpose in the world".

"When this child grows up, God willing, this will be his story," she said.

Additional reporting by Euridice Ledezma

Angry Venezuelans accuse government of negligence over earthquake response

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzd18dxzxo, 5 days ago

"Silencio" the rescuers scream turning towards the road with their fists up in the air, motioning to everyone to remain silent.

The vehicles on the road stop plying. People stop talking. The diggers fall silent.

A rescuer puts his ear to a hole they've just managed to drill through a concrete slab. Another one shines a torch into it.

They're listening to see if they can hear any sounds of survivors calling from under the rubble of a 12-storey building that stood by the side of a busy road in the coastal town of La Guaira.

It's one of the areas worst hit by the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday last week and killed at least 1,700 people.

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has called the earthquakes the "most brutal natural catastrophe" in Venezuela's history.

Standing by the side of the collapsed structure, Miguel Oscar Nunez holds his breath, huddled together with other families who had loved ones in the building. Miguel's only child – 34-year-old son Angel – lived in the building.

Moments of anticipation pass by, but the rescuers hear nothing. The silence ends and work resumes.

"My son, like hundreds of others is trapped under the rubble. But we need more support from authorities urgently to dig them out. It's possible that the earthquake has not killed him, but can you imagine if he is killed because of the negligence of the authorities," Miguel Oscar says, anger showing on his face.

Kevin Montilla's home was also in the building. He was away at work, but his wife Luzmary and 16-year-old daughter Jhoerliyzmar were at home when the earthquake struck.

"The rescue operation started very late and it's been slow. Initially it was only people who live in the community who came in to help. The police just came to check, but they didn't help. The government's response has been frustrating and impotent," the 34-year-old says.

When we visited the site, rescue teams from Venezuela and Colombia were conducting operations. Two diggers, as well as a crane that was lifting up concrete slabs was also there.

But the families waiting by the roadside said precious days had been wasted before this effort started.

"I have not lost hope but I feel devastated. Nature's law is that a father should die before his son. Imagine if your son dies suddenly," says Miguel.

The building was one of several in a government owned complex. This factor, as well as the structure's prominent location, is perhaps what has drawn the attention of the rescue teams to it.

Because there are parts of La Guaira state where search teams have so far not even reached.

We met Deilisbeth Herreira at a hospital in La Guaira town where she was going through the list of injured and dead. She's looking for her daughters – Greydelys, 12 and Graybelys, 13.

A single parent, Deilisbeth was away at work when the earthquake struck.

She thinks it's likely the girls would have been at home, but she's also searching everywhere, just in case they were outdoors and have survived.

"I have help from no one. No machines or rescuers have been sent to dig through the rubble. It's like you've been left on your own to find your loved ones," she says, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"My daughters were quiet, studious girls. I just want them back at any cost," she adds.

Everywhere we went, residents told us they felt let down by the state.

On a road that hugs the coastline, two high-rise apartment blocks – part of Bello Horizonte complex – have collapsed into a heap. We saw families and volunteers, wearing masks and rubber gloves, trying to dig through the rubble with spades and crowbars.

"The stench is horrible here. But I'm still trying because I'm looking for my uncle. We cannot just stand by idly when there's the possibility that there might be people alive under the rubble," says William Rodrigues. "Help arrived very late in most places, and in some, it has still not arrived."

While the police were present near the complex, they were not engaging or helping in rescue efforts.

Sixty-year-old Juan Avendo – who lives across the road from Bello Horizonte – and whose home has also been destroyed says: "We could hear the screams and shouts of people trapped under the rubble. So we tried to help them ourselves, using our bare hands, clawing through the debris with our nails."

He and his nephew Enyer Musics described how they managed to pull one woman out alive.

"We heard her screaming in the night. But it was dark and we couldn't do anything. So the next morning we went and tried to find her. First we were able to pass her a bottle of water. And then we worked to pull her out," he says.

The first official rescue team – Venezuelan firefighters – arrived on Friday, nearly two days after the earthquake struck. Teams from El Salvador and the US also helped out. A few more survivors were found, and then on Sunday the operation was called off.

Juan estimates that hundreds are likely lying dead under the debris.

It's possible that their bodies might never be found, and that we might never know the true scale of this disaster.

Additional reporting by Aakriti Thapar, Maria Ines Calderon and Sanjay Ganguly.

Aftershock frays nerves as many Venezuelans left to fend for themselves

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqj1210rj0yo, 5 days ago

Many areas of Venezuela devastated by last week's twin earthquakes have yet to receive significant government help, leaving residents to carry out much of the rescue effort.

In the port of La Guaira, one of the hardest-hit cities, the BBC saw people using crowbars, mallets and pickaxes to try to dig out loved ones and neighbours. Tens of thousands of people are still believed to be missing.

Early on Monday, nerves were frayed by an aftershock, although no further damage was reported.

More than 1,700 people have been killed in what Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said was the "most brutal natural catastrophe" in Venezuela's history.

International aid has mobilised but hopes of finding survivors are fading. Overnight into Monday, a 21-year-old man became the latest person to be pulled alive after being trapped for over 100 hours.

The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes on Wednesday struck within 39 seconds of each other in the northern state of La Guaira, causing almost 800 buildings to collapse.

Monday's aftershock again shook La Guaira and the capital Caracas and was measured at magnitude 4.6.

In nearby Catia La Mar the main search-and-rescue efforts were also still being carried out by local volunteers and international teams and there was anger at the authorities.

The BBC saw signs of the Venezuelan police and army on the streets in the worst-affected areas, but not in the rubble.

Ruben Rojas, a 32-year-old electrician who has been digging in the rubble with only gloves and a hard hat, said: "The civil protection people decided to help, but they don't have the equipment. The government doesn't give it. They are just like us, working with their hands."

In La Guaira city the deployment of earth-moving equipment was patchy and sporadic, with local people working for days on a single building and the heavy machinery only arriving after it was too late.

Carolyn Zerpa, 39, was searching for her father and brother under the rubble by hand.

"You can't really do much with just a pickaxe," she told BBC Mundo.

Her focus has shifted from rescue to recovery, to find the remains of her family and give them a proper burial.

Zuly Marín, a La Guaira resident of 15 years, said she believed it was impossible to prepare for such a disaster but that the response had been too slow, exacerbated by Venezuela's dire economic situation.

"I lost my niece and my brother-in-law. I think that if they [the rescuers and digging equipment] had come sooner, many people could have been saved," she said.

In El Junquito, a mountainous area west of Caracas, residents told Reuters agency they had seen few public officials, while farmers and other residents have been providing basic supplies to the community.

"We are waiting for answers, for debris to be cleaned up, for inspections, for people who have been really affected to be helped," resident Keily Ibarra, 33, told Reuters.

On Monday Rodríguez said more than 25,000 emergency workers, police officers and soldiers had been assisting Venezuelans affected by the earthquakes.

"Every life saved is a victory for hope," she posted on social media platform X.

She has also announced a commission to assess the damage, to be chaired by her brother, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez.

Speaking on state television, she said the group would determine who could return home using a colour-coded traffic light system to classify safety. Temporary camps to house those displaced were being set up in the meantime, she added.

The rescued 21-year-old was found in the town of Caraballeda by teams from Venezuela, Mexico, and El Salvador, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced on Monday.

The man, Aaron Levi Cantillo Vargas, is receiving specialised medical care, Bukele said, adding that the rescuers would "continue working with the hope of being able to save more lives".

The UN's resident humanitarian coordinator Gianluca Rampolla Del Tindaro said on Monday that there had been more than 500 aftershocks and that at least 2,500 structures had been affected by Wednesday's initial quakes, most of which had fully collapsed.

The UN was obtaining 10,000 body bags as part of its rescue operation, he added, saying that a rise in the death toll was unavoidable.

"It is very sad and we truly hope that actually the number is going to be smaller than that and that's why we are focusing now on the rescue operation," he said.

Meanwhile more international aid has been pledged. The US has announced more than $300m (£227m) to help Venezuela - an increase from its previous commitment of $150m.

"These funds will provide emergency medical care, food assistance, water and sanitation, shelter, protection, and logistics," the US state department said.

The US military has repaired and re-opened the Port of La Guaira to speed up aid delivery, with a frigate, the USS Fort Lauderdale, currently docked and offering support.

Sailors and Marines have been seen using landing and amphibious craft to deliver aid to the most affected coastal areas.

The Netherlands has also said it is sending a vessel carrying emergency supplies, while China has promised almost $15m in assistance.

Mum rescued from Venezuela rubble with newborn baby tells BBC how he helped her survive

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyw3rkj2p7o, 6 days ago

A mother who was pulled from the rubble of her wrecked home in Venezuela with her 18-day-old baby has told the BBC of how her son helped keep her alive.

Dayana Patino said her son Juan David gave her "motivation to be awake and alert".

"As long as he was alive, I was going to be alive. Every now and then I was touching his nose for proof that he was still breathing," she said.

Footage of the rescue has been shared around the world, with Juan David becoming a symbol of hope in Venezuela, which has been devastated by the twin earthquakes that hit the country on Wednesday - killing at least 1,450 people.

Tens of thousands more are missing in what the country's interim president has described as the "most brutal natural catastrophe" in Venezuela's history

Search efforts are continuing, but hopes are diminishing that more survivors will be found.

At a clinic in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Sunday, Dayana told the BBC of the terrifying hours she had spent underground, holding her tiny son close and praying that they would be saved.

She had been doing the washing up in her eighth-floor apartment in the northern coastal region of La Guaira when the earthquakes hit. She instantly rushed to cradle her son, thinking it would be "only a light tremor".

"I felt like I was flying. After that, I felt like I was sinking in water and dirt, and then I fell into the pit where I remained. I don't know how I didn't let go of my baby because I was flying. I got crushed against furniture," she said.

Instantly, she said she started to scream but soon realised that no one could hear her.

"I said to myself I'm not going to waste my energy - I'm going to scream when it's needed, when I hear voices or steps nearby," she said.

"I don't know how I kept so calm because my left leg was trapped under concrete. I couldn't move. My temple was pressed against a rock."

Dayana said she found hope when she felt a bible beneath her.

"There began my journey of survival," she said.

In the darkness of the rubble, she could see a "pinprick of light that looked like the moon".

She said her rescue came after she heard her brother calling her name.

"I said to myself, this is my only chance. From the top of my lungs I cried out… I screamed 'Here I am' with all my might, and he said 'I found you, and I promise you that I won't leave until I get you out'."

He kept that promise, and a delicate rescue operation followed to bring both mother and baby out of the rubble on Thursday night.

Dayana suffered injuries to both of her legs when the earthquake hit, while Juan fortunately only sustained minor injuries.

Dayana's husband Gerson had just returned home and parked the car when the earthquakes hit. He managed to jump over a fence to safety.

When he saw what had become of their apartment building, he feared the worst.

The moment of his baby and wife's rescue was "a miracle", he said.

In widely shared footage of the rescue, Gerson can be seen clenching his eyes shut and tilting his head back to the sky as he embraces his son, overwhelmed with emotion.

"It was indescribable. I thought they were dead. And when I saw my son I felt like I was born again. I couldn't believe it… I felt the life come back to me," he told the BBC of that moment.

Gerson and Dayana's home has been destroyed, along with all their possessions, and they are devastated that their pet dog is still missing, but they say they will now "begin from scratch".

"We lost almost everything but here we are.… We will rebuild everything we lost," Gerson promised.

Additional reporting by Euridice Ledezma

Dogs, drones and sound detectors: How rescuers search for quake survivors

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn75jk07y5do, 6 days ago

Rescuers are racing to find remaining survivors beneath the rubble of Venezuela's twin earthquakes, in which at least 1,700 people are known to have been killed - with the number expected to rise.

The 96-hour window during which survivors were most likely to be found passed on Sunday evening, and residents in many devastated areas have been left to search through the rubble themselves in the absence of significant government help.

Rescue teams working on the ground are still hopeful of finding survivors and continue to conduct searches "to the same level of detail as on day one", search and rescue expert Lee Ivory tells the BBC.

Ivory is deputy national coordinator for UK International Search and Rescue (UK ISAR) - which is among dozens of foreign rescue teams who are working alongside locals in Venezuela.

Armed with equipment ranging from search dogs to sound detection devices and cameras, rescuers are using a range of methods to reach those who are still alive.

Search dogs

Specially-trained search dogs are used to sniff out where potential victims may be located, says Ivory - who has been deployed to relief efforts following earthquakes in Haiti, Japan and Nepal and is currently helping to coordinate efforts in Venezuela from the UK.

They can identify a person's smell even when they are buried as far as 10m (32.8ft) under rubble - and will let out a "really strong and sustained bark" when they do, alerting rescuers to a potential survivor.

The dogs are trained using toys imprinted with a human's smell, Ivory explains. Then, when they actually locate a human on the ground, they are handed the toy as a reward by their handler.

Search dogs can also be very useful during the technical part of rescue operations, says Sakthy Selvakumaran of the UK-based charity Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters (SARAID), which deploys personnel to large-scale disasters worldwide.

They can find hard-to-navigate paths through rubble to follow a scent or identify different access points to the victim, Selvakumaran tells the BBC.

Sound detectors

One of the most effective ways of locating victims is "by having a really good listen", Ivory says.

Rescuers will shout out into rubble, he says, stating who they are and using some of the local language to see whether they can hear anybody trapped within.

Teams also use seismic and acoustic listening devices, which resemble little pots or cans on wires linked up to devices, to try to locate survivors.

"In essence, if someone was just scratching on a bit of concrete, we'd be able to pick that up," he says, "even if they are entombed in the building".

Cameras and thermal imaging equipment

Technical search cameras are especially useful because they can be poked into holes that are hard to access.

There are several different models, but Selvakumaran - who was deployed with SARAID to Turkey after the 2023 earthquake - says they can often come in the form of small pods on long sticks, with a camera at the end.

Some cameras can give a 360 degree view which can be recorded and viewed on another device. Video cameras are also used so rescuers "can actually speak to casualties", says Ivory.

The UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher has said micro drones - nicknamed "cockroach drones" - are also being used on the ground in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, thermal imaging equipment is carried by some teams and can be used to locate people "not directly in a rescuer's line of sight", says Selvakumaran.

She explains that the trapped person's body heat can warm the rubble around them, allowing rescuers to "see through some types of walls".

Manual tools and heavy machinery

Tools ranging from disk cutters to saws and handheld angle grinders are used when conducting technical rescues.

"Anything that can help the process of breaching and breaking to get through heavy bits of concrete, or just trying to get through furniture, filing cabinets, refrigerators, anything that can help cut all of that through," Selvakumaran explains.

She says some teams will have tools that are electrically-powered, or will carry diesel generators to power devices.

Heavy machinery is key when trying to rescue people who are trapped under many layers of debris.

Bulldozers, diggers and cranes can be used to shift three storeys of concrete, for instance, to find someone trapped, Selvakumaran says.

It is often local teams that try to coordinate access to heavy machinery to do the bigger heavy shifting and lifting, she adds.

Four die in Mexico City World Cup celebrations

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2xjwj8p39o, 4 days ago

A 19-year-old woman is among three people to have died from suffocation during World Cup celebrations in Mexico City on Tuesday.

A 48-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man also died after crowds descended on the city following the country's 2-0 victory over Ecuador, the capital's health authority said on Wednesday.

City authorities later reported that a 30-year-old man also died in an epileptic crisis.

More than one million people took to the streets, mainly around the Angel of Independence monument in downtown, to mark the country's first World Cup knockout win since 1986, the city government said.

City Mayor Clara Brugada expressed her "most sincere condolences" to the victims' families and pledged support in the coming days.

Health authorities said emergency services had treated three unconscious people at different locations around Paseo de la Reforma before transporting them to hospital.

"After performing first aid and CPR techniques on the patients, they were transferred to a hospital for specialised medical care," the city's health authority said.

Three people were confirmed to have died from suffocation and identified by their families, it added.

In a social media post after the deaths were announced, Brugada urged fans to "always celebrate with responsibility, care, and empathy".

Mexico's victory sparked wild celebrations in the Estadio Azteca and across large parts of the city, where fireworks could be seen being lit long after the final whistle.

Prior to the football match, Brugada had told fans hoping to watch the game near the Angel of Independence monument to look elsewhere due to the huge crowds already gathered there.

More than 20 million people live in Mexico City's metropolitan area - making it one of the most densely populated places on the planet.

Tuesday's win sends Mexico into the World Cup's round of 16, where they now face England who beat DR Congo 2-1 on Wednesday.

Two-year-old rescued and taken to hospital six days after Venezuela quake

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jykwk8n18o, 4 days ago

A two-year-old boy has been pulled alive from the rubble six days after the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, a Jordanian rescue team has said.

The child, named as Kleiber Moran, was pulled from wreckage in La Guaira state, interim President Delcy Rodríguez said. Rodríguez described the child's rescue as a "source of hope for our people".

It comes as UN warned that tens of thousands of people were urgently in need of food and shelter.

The death toll from last week's quakes - with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 - has risen to 1,943 with more than 10,000 people injured and tens of thousands more unaccounted for.

The massive tremors probably damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings, according to an initial assessment of satellite data from Nasa.

The Jordanian civil defence said Kleiber had been given first aid treatment, taken to a hospital and his vital signs were good. He was being treated in the capital Caracas, Venezuelan Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said.

The rescue comes well after the initial three-day period immediately after the quake during which experts say people trapped under debris have the best chance of being found alive.

La Guaira is one of the hardest hit areas, with many local people trying to carry out rescue efforts themselves.

The UN's refugee agency said on Tuesday that food shortages were widespread, basic services had broken down and communications had been largely severed in La Guaira.

"Community tensions are rising as access to assistance remains constrained," the UNHCR said in a statement on its website.

Daniela Armas, an 18-year-old vendor in La Guaira who was injured falling from a motorbike when the quakes struck, told AFP that some supplies were being distributed "but sometimes people nearly kill each other for food... it's like a cockfight."

The UNHCR said that it needed an initial $15m to "scale up protection, core relief items, and temporary shelter support for 30,000 earthquake-affected people over six months".

Meanwhile the World Health Organization (WHO) said health services were under "extreme pressure."

"There's an increased risk now of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases" such as measles and diphtheria due to low vaccination coverage, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.

Jorge Rodríguez said Klieber's rescue showed there was still hope of continuing to find people alive and that domestic and international teams were still searching through rubble. Shelters were already open in La Guaira and other states, he added.

International rescue teams from the US, Mexico and dozens of other countries searched for survivors with trained dogs and heavy equipment.

Some international aid is arriving in the country. A UN spokesperson said a 47-tonne shipment of humanitarian supplies arrived on Tuesday including emergency health kits for urgent medical care, supplies for safe births, newborn care and disease prevention.

Meanwhile Venezuelans have begun burying the dead who have been found so far. Many more are waiting for the remains of loved ones who are presumed dead.

At the makeshift morgue at La Guaira's port, Wilker Molalla told AFP he was waiting to identify the remains of his sister, her children and the children of his brother.

"There were 11 people in my household," he said. "Only two of us survived because we were at work."

Update 1 July: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Kleiber Moran's name and his age based on information from his aunt

US envoys in Doha to meet mediators but not Iranians, Qatar says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd38x1dy4no, 5 days ago

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law ‌Jared Kushner are in Doha to discuss the US-Iran negotiations with mediators, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman says, but they will not meet Iranian officials there.

Majed al-Ansari told reporters that no high-level meetings or direct talks between the two sides were scheduled in the coming days.

The US and Iran agreed to stop attacking each other and send delegations to the Gulf state following a four-day exchange of strikes triggered by a dispute over the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway.

The strikes threatened the preliminary agreement to end the four-month war between the US, Israel and Iran.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) brokered by Pakistan and Qatar less than two weeks ago committed the countries to halt military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of global oil and gas shipments pass.

They also gave themselves at least 60 days to reach a final deal that covers Iran's nuclear programme, US sanctions and a permanent truce.

Pakistani and Qatari mediators said encouraging progress was made at the first round of talks held in Switzerland a week ago, which US Vice-President JD Vance and Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf attended.

They also said a "communication line" had been formed to enable the safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

But that failed to prevent the recent exchanges of strikes, which began when Iran attacked a cargo ship on Thursday following efforts to open Oman's territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic on the southern side of the strait. Iran had warned vessels that the only route was through its own waters on the northern side.

On Sunday night, a US official said both sides would "stand down for now", and that vessels could "move freely" in and around the strait. Technical talks would also "continue on all areas of the MoU", the official added.

The next day, Iran's deputy foreign minister and lead technical negotiator, Kazem Gharibabadi, denied that there were plans for technical talks this week.

US President Donald Trump responded by saying that Iran had requested a meeting in Qatar's capital on Tuesday, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Witkoff and Kushner would fly to Doha for "high-level meetings".

On Tuesday, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman told a news conference that the two US envoys had arrived in Doha for talks with mediators but not Iranian officials.

"The talks will be around all regional issues which are of concern, including, of course, the negotiations with Iran, but also including Lebanon and other files in the region," he said.

"So, they are not here for direct negotiations with the Iranians or related meetings."

He added: "To the best of my knowledge, there are no direct meetings scheduled between the two parties in the coming days."

A senior Trump administration official told the BBC's US partner CBS News that very positive conversations had been held between Witkoff, Kushner and regional leaders.

CBS reported the official as saying good progress in technical talks continues.

Ansari confirmed that technical talks between lower-ranking officials would continue this week and could later be elevated to a senior level.

"We have a track on the nuclear side. We have a track on the economic and state performance issue. We have a track on security and the regional security," he added.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai told a news conference in Tehran that Iranian officials were likely to hold talks with mediators in Doha on Wednesday to discuss implementation of provisions in the MoU, including one concerning the release of Iranian assets frozen under US sanctions.

"No meeting at any level with the American side has been scheduled for the coming days," he added.

Ansari said the release of $6bn (£4.5bn) of the $12bn in frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar depended on progress in talks between the US and Iran that had not yet happened.

Baqai also said that Iran would "do whatever is necessary to safeguard its interests" over the Strait of Hormuz and implement related provisions in the MoU.

US says it has agreed to 'stand down' after exchange of strikes with Iran

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c872rjw17qpo, 6 days ago

The US and Iran have agreed to "stand down" following an exchange of strikes over the past few days, media reports cite a US official as saying.

It comes after several attacks in and around the Strait of Hormuz, with both nations accusing each other of violating their ceasefire.

The US official told the BBC's US partner CBS News on Sunday that vessels would be able to move through the Gulf waterway "freely", and that talks on a deal to permanently end the war would continue.

On Monday, Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied that there were plans for technical talks this week. But US President Donald Trump said a meeting would be held in Qatar's capital at Iran's request.

"IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!" he wrote on Truth Social, without giving any details.

Later, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner "will be flying to Doha for high-level meetings this week, as we continue to discuss the memorandum of understanding".

On 17 June, the US and Iran signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which included an "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts".

As part of the MoU, Iran agreed to use its "best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days".

But the ceasefire agreed less than two weeks ago has been under threat in recent days because of renewed attacks by both sides.

Strikes resumed on Thursday after an Iranian projectile hit a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Over the weekend, the US retaliated with a series of strikes on Iran, hitting multiple targets in what US Central Command (Centcom) called a direct response to the "continued aggression" against commercial shipping.

On Saturday, Iran responded with strikes on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. The US has said none of these attacks reached their targets, and there were no casualties or damage.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for oil and gas shipments, and was effectively closed by Tehran after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February.

On Friday, the US also mediated the signing of a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon aimed at paving the way to a lasting peace.

Due to ongoing fighting between Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, that ceasefire also looked shaky.

The leader of Hezbollah rejected the agreement and accused the Lebanese government of undermining Lebanon's sovereignty.

On Sunday, two days after the agreement was signed, the Israeli army said it had struck a 200m-long tunnel used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, which it said contained hundreds of weapons.

The US was informed ahead of the attack, according to a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz.

Tehran says hostilities in Lebanon must stop for a wider ceasefire deal to stick.

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'Two weeks after her death I got a call': Gaza patients face agonising delays for evacuation

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn75ex1dv61o, 3 days ago

When Gaza's medical board approved Amina Abu al-Kas to leave the Strip for treatment abroad, her son Saber said it felt like the beginning of a new life.

"It brought life back into her. She knew there was no treatment in Gaza, so she was happy and excited," he told the BBC.

Amina was suffering from an aggressive necrotising infection that had spread to her skull. Doctors in Gaza told her they did not have the medicines or the therapies to treat it.

Saber said the pain was unbearable.

"My mother couldn't sleep day or night; she stayed awake, crying out from the pain. Painkillers caused stomach ulcers and inflammation, and the doctors banned her from taking them."

After receiving the medical referral, Saber said the family waited for news that Amina had passed security clearances and had been accepted by a foreign country for treatment - both necessary to leave Gaza.

"We knew that at any moment God might take her. And we also knew that at any moment a miracle might happen, that we might get a call saying, 'Get your bags ready and prepare to travel through the crossing,'" Saber told the BBC.

"We waited a long time, but no response came. My mother died [on 29 May], and two weeks after her death, I got a call from the hospital informing me that her paperwork was ready."

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says Amina is one of 300 Palestinians who have died waiting for medical evacuations since the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began there last October.

The figures are also used by the World Health Organization (WHO), which assists with patient transfers via Gaza's Israeli-controlled border crossings with Israel and Egypt.

Thousands of others - the health ministry currently says 15,000 - are still waiting for treatment abroad - some for war-related injuries; others for conditions such as cancer.

The list of evacuees is constantly fluctuating, as patients' conditions and decisions change, meaning not all deaths may be recorded.

Since the ceasefire began over eight months ago, the WHO says 1,977 people have left Gaza for medical treatment. Unless the process speeds up, it could take years to evacuate all those in need.

"We are talking about something that feels like a miracle," Saber said. "If a patient's name is selected and they are granted permission to travel for treatment abroad, it is almost a miracle."

After being approved by Gaza's medical referral board, patients must pass security checks by Israel, the host nation and any transit countries – and also be accepted by a host nation for treatment, which is not always a simple process.

"Many recipient countries are quite specific in the type of patients they can support - for example, some only want children; others only want patients for shorter treatments," said Dr Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, WHO Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory.

"Then patients and their companions need visas for the host country, and to pass security checks by Israel, Egypt/Jordan and the host country."

In early June, the Gaza health ministry's acting undersecretary, Maher Shamia, said the primary causes of the delays were the lengthy security screening process and the limits imposed by Israeli authorities on the number of departures.

He added that Palestinians were only allowed to leave via the Rafah crossing with Egypt three days a week, and that medical evacuations via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel took place only one day a week.

The Israeli defence ministry body responsible for civil affairs in Gaza, Cogat, said departures were subject to the receipt of an official request from a receiving country willing to accept a patient and the completion of security screening by relevant authorities.

The "vast majority" of requests submitted by countries and organisations had been approved since the start of 2025, it added.

Israel has not allowed international news organisations into Gaza to report independently since the start of the war, so the BBC relies on trusted freelance journalists to report from the ground.

Between the bombed-out buildings of Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital, they witnessed dozens of people gathering to protest against delays in the process.

Nidal al-Arir wailed on the ground, pleading for his son, who needs a corneal transplant.

Raeda Nuaizi said cancer led to the removal of her breasts, ovaries, uterus and pelvic bone before the war.

"What is my treatment [in Gaza]? Painkillers!" she cried. "But what can painkillers do for a cancer patient?"

Beside them, 14-year-old Muath al-Dini, balanced on crutches after a leg amputation, is waiting for two separate medical evacuations.

His mother, Umm Samir al-Dini, told the BBC that Muath lost his leg in an air strike on their family home, which also killed another of her children, and injured her husband and younger son.

But she said Muath had also been battling spinal cancer since he was a baby.

"Before the war, I used to receive treatment outside Gaza at a hospital in Jerusalem, and had surgery to stabilise my vertebrae. Here, there is no treatment for me," Muath said.

Some Gazans received permission before the war to travel to hospitals in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem for treatment, but Israel has since closed that route almost entirely, with just one Gazan patient travelling to the West Bank for cancer treatment.

Umm Samir said four of the screws holding Muath's spine in place have come loose and are affecting his breathing. Doctors in Gaza had also recommended a further amputation to his leg.

After being told they had security clearance for evacuation, the family have heard nothing more since they were asked to resubmit documents in May.

"We are still waiting," Umm Samir said. "My son's childhood has been lost. He is bullied and refuses to leave the house. There are no medicines, and no doctors [here] who understand my son's condition."

The desperation of patients haunts Gaza's hospitals - their exterior walls eaten away by gunfire and Israeli strikes, the health-care system inside them still unrepaired.

Eight months after the ceasefire deal instructed that "full aid" be sent into the Gaza Strip, aid workers say the continued lack of essential medicines and equipment has meant doctors are rationing or loaning each other essential life-saving drugs, or turning patients away from chemotherapy or dialysis appointments.

"The fact that the medical evacuation list is thousands long is a sign that people in Gaza don't have access to what they should have - which Israel, as the occupying power under international humanitarian law, has an obligation to allow them access to," said Pat Griffiths, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Jerusalem.

Shortages, he said, run from basic consumables like gauze dressings and painkillers, all the way up to advanced medical equipment.

"There is no doubt in my mind that people in Gaza are dying because they can't receive the care they need - and that there are preventable deaths happening because of the limits on what can be brought in, in terms of healthcare."

Asked about the reports of critical shortages, Cogat said in a statement that 17,000 tons of medicines and medical aid had entered Gaza since the ceasefire, including wheelchairs, cancer medications, insulin pens, anaesthetics, X-ray machines, CT scanners, dialysis machines and medical consumables.

"Despite claims to the contrary," it said, "Israel has approved every request for medicines submitted by international aid organisations."

In response, one humanitarian official involved, speaking to me anonymously, said that Israeli authorities often used anecdotal examples to mask shortages of key medicines and equipment, and that aid supplies continued to be restricted.

"You don't count medical aid in terms of trucks and pallets; that's not a denominator we use," said the WHO's Reinhilde Van de Weerdt. "We talk about the needs patients have, and the needs that are met."

"If medical supply is unrestricted, you don't have these discussions about what is given versus what is needed," she said. "We need certain buffer stock levels of medical supplies, [and] you can't run a hospital hoping the generator doesn't break down."

Mazen al-Arayeshi, director of engineering and maintenance at Gaza's ministry of health, said Israel was now allowing enough fuel in to run the generators hospitals rely on for power, but that surgeries were still being cancelled because the power they supplied was too low, and that Israel had refused to allow them to swap in new generators for old.

"If spare parts, filters and new generators are not allowed in, we are heading towards a catastrophe," he told the BBC. "Yesterday, one of the main generators at Nasser Medical Complex [in Khan Younis] stopped working, and we had to cut electricity to several departments."

Some desperate patients on the long list of evacuees have reportedly begun paying self-declared agents thousands of pounds to try to move their cases forward.

A warning notice has appeared on the WHO website, telling patients in large red letters to "Beware of fraud", and not to pay anyone who claims to be able to speed up the evacuation process.

"During this war, we have learned everything, adapted to everything, trained ourselves to endure everything," Amina's son, Saber, said.

"Most of those who came to offer condolences for my mother said, 'At least she is at peace now.' That sentence sums up everything. Because a patient in Gaza is different from any patient elsewhere in the world."

Bomb blast at Damascus cafe kills nine, Syrian state media say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0vwxyz40zo, 2 days ago

A bomb blast at a crowded cafe in central Damascus has killed at least nine people and injured 22 others, Syrian state media say.

The interior ministry said an explosive device was planted inside the cafe, which is located only 100m (330ft) from the Palace of Justice, a major government building in the capital's Hejaz district.

There was no immediate claim from any group for the attack.

It was the deadliest bombing in Damascus since a suicide attack on a church in June 2025 killed 25 people.

A shadowy jihadist group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, said it was behind that bombing, but authorities blamed the Islamic State (IS) group.

Mohammed al-Dahabi, the owner of a glasses shop located next to the cafe, said Thursday's bombing was reminiscent of those seen in Damascus during Syria's civil war.

"I felt strong pressure, and the whole place shook," he told the AFP news agency. "I ran to the place and saw people lying on the floor with blood pooled around them everywhere."

Graphic video footage posted on social media showed at least two men lying motionless on the floor of the cafe's outdoor terrace.

During a visit to the scene, Damascus Governor Maher Marwan Idlibi said those responsible for the bloodshed would be punished.

"Each time the country sees a period of stability, malicious parties try to destabilise it," he added.

There have been several attacks in Damascus since Islamist-led rebel forces overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, ending 13 years of devastating civil war.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has struggled to consolidate control over the whole country and restore security since he came to power.

There have been several bouts of deadly sectarian fighting between government forces and members of Syria's Alawite and Druze religious minorities.

Syria's president names final 70 lawmakers to new post-Assad parliament

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jyk4985xwo, 4 days ago

Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed the final 70 members of the country's new parliament, paving the way for it to hold its first session next week.

Fifteen of the new lawmakers are women and 13 were imprisoned during the rule of Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown in 2024. It is not clear how many are members of religious and ethnic minorities.

Last October, regional electoral colleges selected two-thirds of the 210-seat People's Assembly, which will be responsible for legislation during the transitional period.

After only six seats were won by women and 10 by minority candidates, electoral officials said Sharaa would use his appointments to address the imbalance.

Mohammed Taha al-Ahmed, chairman of the Higher Committee for the Syrian People's Assembly Elections, said the president's selections combined "the voice of sacrifice and the voice of experience" within the People's Assembly, represented the diverse segments of Syrian society, and reinforced national unity.

They included "relatives of martyrs and survivors of detention and chemical attacks" during the 13-year civil war, as well as academics, experts, professionals, community leaders and national figures "known for their experience, integrity and public service", he added.

Syria TV said the actress Rouzaina Lazkani was among the appointees.

Ahmed also said the new appointees hailed from across all 14 provinces, including two from Suweida, which has a predominantly Druze population.

The electoral college polls have not yet been held in Suweida because the southern province has remained outside state control since 1,700 people were killed in sectarian fighting between government forces, Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze militias last July.

"When conditions become suitable to hold elections in this good and blessed governorate, God willing, we will conduct the elections there," Ahmed said.

The polls were also delayed by seven months in parts of the northern provinces of Raqqa and Hassakeh, which government forces captured from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia alliance at the start of this year.

More than 20 Kurdish parties rejected the lawmakers who were selected by electoral colleges in May, saying the process revealed "an approach of exclusion and marginalisation".

Fourteen Syrian civil society groups also criticised the electoral system last year, describing it as "plagued by deep structural flaws".

They said the president's direct and indirect influence over the membership of the Higher Committee and the electoral colleges rendered the elections symbolic.

And they expressed concern that the president's power to appoint one third of the members of parliament and name a replacement for anyone who lost their seat would allow him to dominate an institution meant to be independent and reflective of popular will.

Last week, UN deputy special envoy Claudio Cordone told the Security Council that Syria's transition was "at a critical phase, with opportunity and fragility existing side-by-side".

"Syria needs the People's Assembly to begin its work. And it needs all Syrians - in particular, Syria's women and its various components - to feel meaningfully represented in it," he said.

He added: "The scale of the challenges facing this transitional parliament cannot be overstated. New laws need to be debated and adopted, executive actions need to be reviewed, diverse voices must be heard, and progress made on the transition."

Cordone said the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the SDF was moving forward, with four SDF brigades integrated into government forces receiving state salaries and 1,300 SDF-affiliated detainees released.

But he warned that there had been no progress on the implementation of the roadmap for confidence-building and reintegration in Suweida.

He said the underlying issues that contributed to the sectarian violence remained unresolved, including accountability measures, and that calls within Suweida for secession threatened to undermine Syria's unity and territorial integrity.

US and Iran exchange strikes and accuse each other of violating ceasefire

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxdwkgqgq0o, 7 days ago

The US has conducted new strikes on Iran, following a drone attack on a Panama-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.

US Central Command (Centcom) said it hit multiple targets across Iran in direct response to "continued aggression" against commercial shipping.

In retaliation, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it has launched missiles and drones at US infrastructure in Kuwait and Bahrain, in a statement shared to state media.

Following the exchange of fire, the US and Iran accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.

Centcom said in a statement, "Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit MT Kiku," a Panama-flagged tanker.

In response, it said, US fighter jets conducted strikes on 10 Iranian military targets at multiple locations in and near the Strait of Hormuz. These included military equipment, communication systems, air defense sites and drone storage facilities.

In the IRGC's statement, it said the US had attacked five coastal posts in Iran under what it called "the pretext of the IRGC Navy confronting the offending ship".

In retaliation, the IRGC said it had launched ballistic missiles and drones at "eight key pieces of infrastructure" at the Ali al-Salem base in Kuwait and the Fifth Naval Fleet in Port Salman, Bahrain, "destroying them".

A US official has told Reuters that there were no reported US casualties or major impacts or damage to US facilities in the Middle East.

The IRGC said that under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed earlier this month, Iran has arrangements for controlling passage and navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and from now on, violating ships will be dealt with more forcefully than in the past.

"Any potential enemy aggression, under any pretext, even if the aggressions are against minor targets, as happened last night and tonight, will have a crushing response," read the statement.

It also accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreed to in the MoU between the two nations, warning that it "will lead to a complete halt to the process".

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has also condemned what it described as the "brutal attacks" a violation of the ceasefire, adding it showed that the US "does not place the slightest value and credibility on its commitments, and breaking promises is part of its nature."

Shortly after the latest US strikes on Iran were announced, Trump said on Truth Social that it was "very possible" that Tehran would "never learn".

"There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started," he wrote on Saturday evening.

The post went on: "If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!"

In the hours following the US strikes, Kuwait and Bahrain both reported that their air defence systems had been activated.

"Kuwaiti air defenses are currently confronting hostile missile and drone attacks," the Kuwaiti Armed Forces said in a statement shared to X, asking the public to adhere to security instructions.

Bahrain's Ministry of Interior has urged citizens to "remain calm and head to the nearest safe place".

Centcom said that commercial vessels are continuing to operate in the Strait of Hormuz.

The latest strikes come less than a day after the US launched retaliatory strikes on Iran that it said were in response to a drone attack on Singapore-flagged cargo ship, MV Ever Lovely, on 25 June.

Centcom described the American strikes as "a powerful response" to the attack on the cargo ship, adding that the "unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire".

Tehran said the cargo ship was attacked because it was using an unauthorised route to transit through the Gulf waterway, and said that the retaliatory strikes qualified as a ceasefire violation by the US.

In a statement released on Saturday morning, Iran's foreign ministry said it had carried out more strikes against targets linked to American forces in response, and blamed the "treaty-breaking US regime" for the situation.

The US and Iran agreed on 17 June to end hostilities under a 14-point MoU, which had also called for Iran to use its "best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days".

The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for oil and gas shipments, and was effectively closed by Tehran after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February.

The shutdown of the critical channel caused a spike in global oil prices and prevented shipments of other crucial commodities such as fertiliser.

In recent days, Trump and other US officials insisted negotiations with Iran were progressing well, saying Iran had given up any suggestion of tolling vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said Iran had informed the US that there would be "no tolls, no insurance costs and no other charges of any kind being sought or received".

"If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately," he added.

The US has condemned reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the strait, and many see any tolling system as breaking with international maritime law.

On Tuesday, Iranian and Omani officials held talks in Oman's capital of Muscat to discuss "the future management of navigation", although Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi said both countries were committed to "toll-free safe passage".

However, Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, told state-affiliated news outlets that "everyone should know that the administration of the Strait of Hormuz will never go back to the way it was before the war."

Fourteen killed in Saudi Arabia helicopter crash

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3eyd9j5g7xo, 7 days ago

Fourteen people were killed when a helicopter crashed in Saudi Arabia, state media reported on Sunday.

The helicopter, belonging to state oil giant Aramco, crashed in the eastern coastal city of Ras Tanura at 06:00 local time (03:00 GMT) killing all those on board, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

All 14 victims were Saudi citizens, it reported, with investigations under way to determine the cause of the crash.

Aramco did not immediately comment.

The Saudi energy ministry shared its condolences with the victims' families.

Ras Tanura is home to a major Aramco oil refinery - one of the largest in the Middle East.

The Reuters news agency reported that the company had resumed crude oil loading at the site on Friday after an almost four-month pause due to the war in the Middle East.

Israel strikes southern Lebanon as Hezbollah condemns new deal

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2kpn0eeweo, 8 days ago

Israeli air strikes in Lebanon have killed one person, the country's health ministry said, a day after the two countries signed a deal aimed at paving the way to a lasting peace.

Lebanon's state news agency said an Israeli drone hit the southern town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and later reported further strikes in the area, with at least two more people wounded.

The Israeli military said it carried out the drone strike on an individual who posed a threat ⁠to its forces, without providing details.

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group - which was not involved in negotiating Friday's US-brokered agreement - rejected it and accused the Beirut government of undermining Lebanon's sovereignty.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the agreement reached in Washington "historic" and "a blow to Iran and Hezbollah".

Under the four-point framework, Israel will withdraw its forces from the South Litani area, with the Lebanese army taking exclusive control of the vacated territory.

But Israeli forces are permitted to remain in an expanded security area in southern Lebanon.

On Saturday Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem accused the Lebanese government of making damaging concessions.

"The framework agreement in Washington is humiliating, shameful, and a surrender of sovereignty. This agreement is null and void," he said.

Qassem criticised provisions linking Israel's withdrawal to the group's disarmament, saying ‌they crossed "all red lines".

He accused Lebanese authorities of committing a "grave blunder" which "may even lead to the annexation of these lands", and vowed that Hezbollah would continue its armed resistance.

Later on Saturday Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces had been ordered to "prepare for an extended stay in the security zone" - referring to an area up to 10km (six miles) inside Lebanese territory.

Lebanon was pulled into the conflict on 2 March, when Iran-backed Hezbollah launched missiles into Israel in retaliation to an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader.

Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 4,192 people since the current round of hostilities began, according to the Lebanese health ministry. More than 11,600 have been injured, and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced, Lebanon says.

Israel say 36 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border.

A US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on 16 April failed to stop the fighting.

Israel and Lebanon agreed in June to renew their fragile ceasefire, and the US said it would help guide the creation of "pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors".

US strikes Iran after attack on cargo ship

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg590wqxwpo, 8 days ago

The US military has conducted strikes on Iranian targets after President Donald Trump accused Iran of a "foolish violation" of its truce following an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command said it had struck missile and drone storage facilities and coastal radar positions on Friday, in response to a drone attack on a cargo ship on Thursday which halted a planned evacuation of sailors stuck in the region.

Tehran said the cargo ship was attacked because it was using an unauthorised route to transit through the Gulf waterway.

After the US strikes, Iran in turn accused the US of violating their interim deal and said it had struck targets linked to American forces.

US Central Command - or Centcom - described the American strikes as "a powerful response" to the drone attack a day earlier.

"The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire," it said in a statement.

"Furthermore, Iran's dangerous behaviour undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor."

Centcom said the US military would "continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait".

Iran's foreign ministry released a statement on Saturday morning, saying the country had carried out strikes against targets linked to American forces in response, and blamed the "treaty-breaking US regime" for the situation.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its navy had struck US military positions in the region, without providing further details. The BBC contacted the Pentagon for comment.

Bahrain's foreign ministry said the country had come under attack from "several Iranian drones" early on Saturday, condemning the action as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty and accusing Tehran of undermining peace efforts.

Also on Saturday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz.

The vessel sustained damage to its bridge, but all crew were safe and no environmental damage had been reported, UKMTO added.

Tehran effectively closed the strait after US and Israeli attacks against Iran began at the end of February.

The shutdown of the critical waterway for oil and gas shipments caused a spike in global oil prices and choked off shipments of other crucial commodities such as fertiliser.

The US and Iran agreed on 17 June to end hostilities under a 14-point memorandum of understanding, which had also called for Iran to use its "best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days".

In a post on X following the US retaliatory strikes, Vice-President JD Vance said that if Iran "has disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone".

"But violence will be met with violence," he added.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security commission, though, said on social media that the US had "attacked Iran in the middle of negotiations once again".

He continued in his social media post: "This reckless violation of the ceasefire will, as always, lead to retreat and regret on their part. The blame game does not work anymore."

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump refused to be drawn into questions on how the US might respond to the drone attack, or whether he viewed the ceasefire as still intact.

"You'll find out," he said. "I don't like the fact that they took a shot yesterday. They shouldn't be doing that."

Asked why he believed Iran would conduct such an operation, Trump said only that "they're a little bit different".

In recent days, Trump and other US officials insisted negotiations with Iran were progressing well, saying Iran had given up any suggestion of tolling vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said Iran had informed the US that there would be "no tolls, no insurance costs and no other charges of any kind being sought or received".

"If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately," he added.

The US has condemned reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the strait, and many see any tolling system as breaking with international maritime law.

The cargo ship hit by a projectile on Thursday was the Ever Lovely, a Singapore-flagged vessel.

According to British maritime security agency UKMTO, the ship was struck 7.5 nautical miles south-east of Oman's port of Dahit.

The Ever Lovely had been following the UKMTO's recommended route through the strait when it was struck, the ship's owner, Evergreen, said.

"All crew members remain safe as does the vessel itself and all cargo," it added.

In response, the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) paused its planned evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors who have been stranded in the key shipping lane since the war erupted.

Israel and Lebanon sign framework agreement after US-brokered talks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5315n1v5go, 9 days ago

Israel and Lebanon have signed a framework agreement in Washington after several days of negotiations brokered by the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the agreement will begin to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security.

It comes as limited fighting has continued between Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, despite an existing ceasefire.

Hezbollah is not party to Friday's agreement, and it is unclear whether it will agree to withdraw its fighters from the South Litani area in southern Lebanon.

Washington has feared that ongoing tension between Israel and Hezbollah could undermine its peace deal with Iran, which includes a commitment to end fighting on "all fronts", including Lebanon.

In the 14-point framework agreement, Israel and Lebanon both "affirm" the right of each state to "live in peace", and express "mutual desire to live in security as neighboring sovereign states".

It makes specific note to a "cessation of all hostile or adverse actions in international political or legal fora" between Israel and Lebanon, with both nations pledging to work towards the release of detainees, as well as the return of any remains.

However, both governments acknowledge that "nothing in this Framework prevents them from exercising their inherent right to defend themselves".

The agreement says that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will restore effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory, "pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups and dismantlement of associated infrastructure".

In order to achieve this, Lebanon makes a specific request for the support of international and "particularly Arab partners, under the leadership of the US".

A US-supported military coordination group will also be established to help implement the framework.

From a diplomatic perspective, the signing of some kind of an agreement is a step forward, but the situation on the ground in Lebanon has shown little sign of shifting, despite several ceasefires.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded cross-border fire, with both accusing each other of violating the agreement, but the intensity has dropped off in recent days.

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun said the framework was a first step to restoring sovereignty.

But shortly after the signing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah disarms. The Israeli army is currently occupying around 5% of the country's territory.

He said Israel was "allowing the Lebanese army to begin organising to take over some territory" in two pilot zones - one south of the Litani River and another north of it.

Israeli strikes on targets in southern Lebanon have threatened to derail efforts to settle the conflict in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump on one occasion held a terse phone call with Netanyahu, in which he reportedly uttered an expletive. He also publicly criticized Netanyahu and Israel's conduct in the conflict.

While Trump has insisted that Israel has a right to defend itself from Hezbollah rocket strikes on its territories, he has also claimed he can "control Israel from attacking Lebanon".

"They have a lot of respect for me," Trump told Axios in an interview last week. "They do as I say."

In the final point of the framework agreement signed on Friday, both Israel and Lebanon acknowledge role of the US in supporting their efforts to bring "comprehensive peace" between the two nations, and express "deep appreciation for the vision and leadership of President Donald J. Trump".

Israeli authorities say 36 Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border during the conflict.

Lebanon was drawn into the war between the US and Israel against Iran on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south.

A US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on 16 April failed to stop the fighting.

Earlier on Friday, Trump accused Iran of a "foolish violation" of the truce after a cargo ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz was attacked. Iran has not issued any official response.

In response, US Central Command said later on Friday it had struck missile and drone storage facilities and coastal radar positions.

There has been no comment yet from Iran.

Additional reporting by Ghoncheh Habibiazad and Tabby Wilson

Iran begins public mourning for Ayatollah killed in February

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2k4k7jqeno, yesterday

Iran has begun several days of public mourning and funeral processions for its former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, more than four months after he was killed in strikes launched by the US and Israel.

The former Ayatollah's body is currently lying in state at Tehran's Grand Mosalla, ahead of his burial in his hometown of Mashhad next Thursday.

Iranian authorities said 12 to 20 million people were expected to attend the ceremonies, which are part of what they are calling the "funeral of the century".

It comes as Iran and the US observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt their conflict, in which Khamenei was killed in an air strike.

Footage showed Khamenei's coffin, bearing the colours of the Islamic Republic, being carried aloft at the Grand Mosalla on Friday.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian was among those paying their respects after the coffin was placed at the vast religious complex.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has mediated peace talks between the US and Iran, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the Afghan Taliban's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi were in attendance.

Representatives from Iraq, Armenia, Turkey and several Gulf states – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman among them – have also arrived for the processions.

There will be an official funeral ceremony in Tehran on Saturday, which the Tehran-based Mohammad Rasulullah Corps is leading, as part of six days of ceremonies.

Khamenei's body will lie in the Grand Mosalla for three days, alongside the remains of family members who were also killed in the US and Israeli strikes in February.

Mohammad Rasulullah Corps commander Hassan Hassanzadeh said Khamenei's coffin would be displayed on an elevated platform, with crowd flows designed to allow visitors to enter and leave within 15 to 20 minutes.

The supreme leader was killed during joint Israeli and US strikes on Iran in late February, precipitating a major regional war in the following months.

US President Donald Trump acknowledged the week of mourning taking place in Iran on Friday night, adding that the country was "dying to settle" as negotiations to end the war continue.

"We gave them [Iran] a week off for a funeral because we're nice," he told a crowd gathered at Mount Rushmore for his address on the eve of 4 July celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

Authorities have ordered public and private offices in Tehran to close from Saturday through to Monday, while traffic restrictions will shut down most of the city centre to private vehicles, AFP reported. The airspace over Tehran was partially closed on Friday and will be fully closed on Monday.

On Tuesday, events will move to Qom, just south of Tehran, where a senior Shia cleric will lead funeral prayers at Jamkaran - one of Iran's most prominent and symbolic religious sites.

Khamenei's body will then travel to Najaf in Iraq on Wednesday. Following a procession at the shrine of Imam Ali, Shia Islam's first imam, ceremonies will continue in Karbala before the body returns to Iran.

Iranian officials say the Iraq events follow requests from Iraqi groups, with some analysts seeing them as representative of Khamenei's influence across the Shia Muslim world and Iran's religious and political ties across the region.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Baghdad to co-ordinate the arrangements, saying the funeral had a "symbolic importance".

On Thursday, Khamenei will be buried in the city of his birth, Mashhad, at the Imam Reza Shrine, the mausoleum of Shia Islam's eighth imam and Iran's most important pilgrimage site, which attracts millions of visitors each year.

Ceremonies will continue across the country for 40 days, with commemorative events planned until the first anniversary of Khamenei's burial.

Khamenei was succeeded by his son, Mojtaba, who has not been seen in public since becoming supreme leader.

Key questions around the ceremony centre on whether Mojtaba will attend the funeral.

Last week, secretary of the organising committee, Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, said any decision on Mojtaba's attendance would be announced by the offices of the armed forces commander-in-chief and the supreme leader.

Questions also remain about who will lead the funeral prayer, as in Shia tradition the role carries religious and political significance.

Syrian ex-colonel accused of crimes against humanity deemed 'unfit to plead'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly87w9z0e5o, yesterday

A former Syrian Air Force intelligence colonel accused of shooting protesters has been deemed "unfit to plead" and "unfit to stand trial" for crimes against humanity charges.

Salem Michel Al-Salem, 58, is charged with three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, three counts of torture and one charge of conduct ancillary to murder. The charges relate to alleged events in Damascus in 2011 and 2012.

Justice Cheema-Grubb deemed Al-Salem "unfit to stand trial" at London's Old Bailey following the "unified" opinion of four medical experts considering his motor neurone disease (MND) diagnosis.

Al-Salem, who is on conditional bail, appeared in court via video with an oxygen mask on his face.

Defence counsel Patrick Gibb KC told the court that the defendant was suffering from the advanced effects of MND, was paralysed and cannot communicate.

Prosecutor Tom Little KC said the Crown accepted the decision.

He cited a consultant neuropsychologist, saying: "His opinion is that the motor neurone disease is now advanced in addition there is associated depression, apathy and cognitive impairment as well as severely restricted speech.

"The defendant is monosyllabic and only really understandable to close family."

Al-Salem is also paralysed in all four limbs, the court heard.

Cheema-Grubb ordered that not guilty pleas be entered for the defendant so the trial of the facts could be held next year.

In April and July 2011, Salem was allegedly involved in the deaths of Omar Al-Homsi, Nizar Fayoumi-AlKhatib, Mohammed Salim Zahrak Balik and Talhat Dalal.

The allegations state he was "part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population" and is accused of "conduct ancillary" to the murder of Balik.

Salem also faces claims of torture against three people "in the performance or purported performance of his official duties" on dates between August 2011 and March 2012.

At the time, Salem was serving as a colonel in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence (SAFI) and leading a group of militants that attempted to end demonstrations in the village of Jobar, near Damascus, a court has previously heard.

Salem was arrested in December 2021 and released on bail until the charges were announced on Monday.

He was served with a written notice of the allegations after a four-year investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing's (CTP) war crimes unit.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it is the first time charges of murder as crimes against humanity under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 have been brought.

It is thought to be the first time someone alleged to have been part of ex-President Bashar al-Assad's security forces has been prosecuted in the UK for crimes relating to the Syrian civil war.

A trial on whether Salem did the acts he is accused of will take place in 2027, although the defendant will not take part in the proceedings.

At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Emilie Pottle said: "He was tasked with quelling civilian protests against the regime and the defendant ordered officers under his command to shoot protesters and he himself shot protesters.

"As a result some individuals died and the defendant is charged with their murder as a crime against humanity."

On the Strait of Hormuz, BBC finds seized ships and shark fishermen as uneasy calm returns

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg53ngvvpxo, 3 days ago

It's a sweltering summer's day and fishermen are unloading their catch on the docks.

One proudly holds several baby sharks tangled in his nets. Shark sandwich is a local delicacy, he explains. Another rides off with two large fish strung over his motorbike.

In many ways this looks like an ordinary fishing port, but the docks are in Bandar Abbas, an Iranian city on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most vital shipping lanes and a key focal point of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

This is the first time journalists from a UK broadcaster have visited the Iranian side of the strait since the conflict began.

When the US and Israel launched attacks on 28 February, the Iranian regime responded by attacking Israel and neighbouring Gulf states hosting US forces and turned its geography into one of its greatest sources of leverage.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) began firing on commercial ships attempting to go through the strait without its permission, effectively making the waterway impassable.

Seafarers from around the world were stranded and oil prices surged, pushing up the cost of energy and fuel, along with a vast range of goods that are shipped around the world.

The US retaliated with a blockade of its own, targeting any ships using Iran's Gulf ports.

As a result, these waters have been too dangerous to fish for months. Many fishermen stopped going out, while others continued, knowing they were heading into a battlefield.

Now, weeks after Iran allowed the partial reopening of the strait - under a ceasefire agreement with the US that is mostly holding - the sea is calm once more and fishermen are returning.

One of them, Abdol Rahman, took the BBC through the strait for a close-up view of how the war has affected life in and around Bandar Abbas.

As we sailed through the strait, two container ships seized by the IRGC in April, at the height of the conflict, came into view.

At the time, the IRGC said the vessels had endangered maritime security "by operating without the necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems".

Despite the ceasefire, the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas, which were flagged to Panama and Liberia respectively, have not been released.

Dozens of other cargo ships could be seen offshore, waiting for permission from the Iranian authorities to pass through the strait.

As we approached Hormuz Island, 8km (five miles) off the coast of Bandar Abbas, our guide Rahman pointed out an old fortress overlooking the sea.

Its weathered red walls are a reminder that control of the strait has been fought over for centuries. Built in the early 16th Century, it was central to the Portuguese Empire's control of this vital waterway - until 1622 when Portugal was driven out by Shah Abbas I of Persia, after whom Bandar Abbas is named.

Today, Bandar Abbas remains just as strategically important. Sitting on Iran's southern coast, close to the narrowest point of the strait, it is home to Iran's Navy and the naval arm of the IRGC.

Around a fifth of the world's oil and gas shipments pass through these waters in peacetime, making the city central to the world's economy and key to Iran's military doctrine of "asymmetric warfare" designed to fight more powerful adversaries.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened an escalation of the conflict, warning that Iran "won't have a country" if it did not reopen the strait.

Yet, despite his threats and the ceasefire, Iran has not fully reopened the strait and analysts argue it remains a key point of leverage for Tehran in the ongoing talks to reach a lasting peace agreement between the US and Iran.

When the BBC reached Bandar Abbas city, there were signs of life returning to normal.

Families have gone back home, shops have reopened and traffic once again fills the streets.

The market, for centuries the place where goods arrive by sea before making their way into southern Iran, is once again bustling.

Yet, nearby, the effects of war remain.

On Khushnoodi Street, behind Bandar Abbas's main university, an apartment block is in ruins. It was hit on 26 March by an Israeli strike.

Half of the building is standing, while the other half has collapsed into a pile of concrete and twisted metal.

Exposed rooms where families once lived can be seen, and Iranian flags fly from the shattered façade.

The building also had some offices and Fatima, a 40-year-old business owner who worked there, was elsewhere at the time of the strike.

"I knew many of the families who lived here," she said.

"There were mothers and children. They were asleep when the attack happened. Some survived, but three people were killed. One of them was a military officer who lived here with his family. But it wasn't a military base."

Israel Defense Forces said the intended target was IRGC Navy commander Alireza Tangsiri - and four days after the strike, Iran confirmed he had been killed.

Iran's Fars news agency reported that three people were killed and seven injured when two missiles hit the building.

According to the Red Crescent, 261 people, including civilians and military personnel, have been killed in Hormuzgan province, of which Bandar Abbas is the capital.

The strike illustrates how closely civilian and military life can overlap, blurring the distinction between military targets and residential dwellings.

There were at least 96 separate US strikes in and around Bandar Abbas between 28 February and when the ceasefire came into effect on 8 April, according to data compiled by the monitor Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled).

It says that more than a third were reported to have targeted military infrastructure, including IRGC facilities, missile sites, naval assets and the air base at Bandar Abbas International Airport. Many of these locations are close to residential neighbourhoods.

Acled was not able to confirm what was hit in other attacks.

US-Israeli strikes during the war killed senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, destroyed military and economic infrastructure and damaged the country's nuclear programme.

Yet Bandar Abbas's mayor rejects suggestions the war has left Iran weakened.

Speaking to the BBC from a government compound with a gleaming golden minaret, Mehdi Nobani said neither Israel nor the US had achieved their military objectives, including regime change.

He also argued the appointment of the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Ali's son, had united Iran rather than divided it.

If the ceasefire were to break down, "Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz for sure", he said.

At the market, many of the people the BBC approached were reluctant to speak to us - not all gave a reason but some said they didn't trust the way the media portrays Iran.

Eventually, a young woman, who had recently returned from living in China, told us she had come back to be with her family during the conflict.

"Iranians have come together to support each other," she said.

Further down the market's winding alleyway, 55-year-old Fatemeh sits selling peaches.

There are sections devoted to almost everything: fresh fish brought in that morning from the Gulf, dates from southern Iran, imported electronics, perfumes, household goods, and traditional Bandari clothing.

She tells us her son lost his job during the war, and the family now relies on what she earns from her stall.

"We didn't want a war. When the bombings happen, we are scared. Trump wanted a war. He attacked us unexpectedly. We didn't want this."

Nearby, 40-year-old Masoumeh overhears our conversation and joins in. "Every war creates problems," she says. "It affects the economy and people's lives. But we have to be patient."

As negotiations continue, and the ceasefire is tested, the Strait of Hormuz is likely to remain central to the stand-off between Iran and the US.

But for the people who live here, the conflict is measured in different terms - livelihoods lost, nights spent under the threat of air strikes, and the hope that this fragile ceasefire will endure.

Additional reporting by Jasmin Dyer

Nawal Al-Maghafi is reporting from Tehran on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian Service. These restrictions apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said this is the first time international journalists have been to the Iranian side of the strait. This has been updated to say it is the first time journalists from a UK outlet have been there.

Why Gen Z are planning for life without a state pension

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8e2yp1gg37o, 5 days ago

Joel has finally landed his first graduate engineering job after several years of lower‑paid roles. He's in his early 20s, lives with his parents and works in London. But instead of splashing the extra cash, or saving up for holidays or a house deposit, he's decided to squirrel more of it away into his workplace pension.

The reason? He doesn't think he'll get any kind of state pension. Like Joel, around half of Gen Z (those born from 1997–2012) say they don't expect the state pension to exist by the time they retire. It's pretty stark to hear, but growing up with constant headlines about an ageing population, a proportionally smaller working-age population, and the pressure that government finances are under, Joel thinks it's his generation that will suffer.

"I don't believe that I'll be a recipient of a state pension. I know a lot of people my age don't think they're going to be... There just won't be enough money," he says.

Retirement has always felt distant when you're in your 20s - something to think about later. But what's emerging among today's under‑30s is something different: not just distance, but doubt.

"It just mathematically doesn't make sense… There has to get to a point where that state pension is taking up too much of the budget and can't exist in the way that it exists right now," Joel says.

The state pension age is shifting. At the start of April, the age at which you receive it began to gradually creep up, rising from 66 years to 67 years by March 2028. It's due to go up again in 20 years' time to 68, though that might happen earlier as the government has an ongoing independent review.

That's a frustration for 27-year-old retail manager Connor, who got in touch via BBC Your Voice, because he says "the goalpost keeps moving". "At the minute I'll be 68 by the time I can retire, but I do think I'll be probably closer to 75, if I'm honest."

More than 13 million people - 19% of the population - are currently of state pension age. By 2050, even with the state pension age rising to 68, that group is projected to exceed 15 million people, nearly a quarter of the population, with numbers projected to climb towards 17 million by the 2070s. In other words, there will be lots more people qualifying for the state pension, and fewer working people, as a proportion, paying taxes into the pot to cover the bill.

At the same time, almost half of working‑age adults are not paying into a private pension pot. That means many will be relying solely on the state pension for their retirement income - and with relative poverty rates among pensioners now at 14%, we can already see how difficult that can be.

Experts warn that if a whole generation stops believing the state pension will be there, it could push people towards more risky investments, prompt overly restrictive behaviour, or lead others not to save at all.

So, are we heading towards a major pension crisis for many in Gen Z? And if we are, might the Gen Z generation end up redefining what retirement looks like?

Scrapping the triple lock

For those hitting the state pension milestone today, as long as they've made 35 years of National Insurance contributions, they're entitled to £241.30 a week.

That amount rises each year to help people keep pace with rising living costs. Since 2011, pension increases have been guaranteed by the triple lock - which means the rise will either match the rate of inflation, average earnings or 2.5% - whichever is higher.

But in recent weeks, several organisations have called for the rules to be rewritten.

The centre-left Resolution Foundation think tank has argued for scrapping the triple lock, saying that continuing to prioritise the incomes of pensioners over working-age adults and children would be unfair.

Meanwhile, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), a think tank set up by the former prime minister, takes things a step further and has called for the whole state pension to be scrapped and replaced with a new "Lifespan Fund". Thomas Smith, director of economic policy at the TBI, argued: "Britain's state pension system was built for a different era. We can't keep pouring money into a system that is increasingly unaffordable."

It suggests scrapping the triple lock and allowing people to access some of their state pension early if they need it because of redundancy and frequent job changes.

That's an idea that might appeal to Connor in Chesterfield. He's facing redundancy from his job at a global cosmetics firm, and the ability to draw down a small amount - effectively a withdrawal from his future state pension - might tide him through.

"There's not that many jobs out there at the minute, unfortunately. I still live at home with my parents luckily, but I pay board to them. I still have a car payment, I still have my insurance to pay."

But former pensions minister Steve Webb argues those changes would be "a huge backward step". He says the benefit of the current system is its simplicity which shouldn't be replaced with "something fiendishly complex and highly intrusive, which would take many decades to implement in full."

The government says it has committed to the triple lock for the rest of this parliament, and that the Pensions Commission, an independent body set up to review the regime for UK private pensions, is examining "how we can ensure secure retirements for tomorrow's pensioners".

It's likely that those in their 20s will not have a triple‑locked pension. That means living on the state pension alone will become more difficult, as its value may rise more slowly than the cost of food, travel, clothing and household bills.

For those who doubt the triple lock will endure, the debate often shifts to how the state pension can be sustained at all. One idea that regularly surfaces is means‑testing. In some ways it already is: very low‑income pensioners can receive an additional benefit called Pension Credit. But 24‑year‑old Joel believes that for the state pension to survive, the choices may need to be more radical.

"I don't think a means-tested state pension is necessarily a bad thing. But it would be a bad thing if it only applies to people in 50 years and not now when we should be saving some of that money."

Opting-out

Engineer Joel is one of life's squirrels. His fear about the future of the state pension means he's doubling-down on his private pension. He contacted BBC Your Voice because he feels that consecutive governments have sheltered current pensioners, leaving the consequences for his generation to face.

"I'm going to have to increase the amount of my paycheck that goes into a private pension, which obviously isn't good with cost of living through the roof," he says.

The scale of what younger workers may need to save adds to that anxiety for some. Investment company Rathbones estimates that a single person retiring today at 65 (with the state pension) may need around £796,000 in savings to fund a "comfortable retirement". If the state pension remains, a 25‑year‑old today would need a pot of around £1.68m to retire comfortably as a single person. Without the state pension, the figure for Gen Z jumps to more than £2.4m.

Against this backdrop, Joel says many of his friends are considering opting out of private and workplace pensions altogether and investing independently instead, mostly in "crypto or index funds and things like that.

"There's a sense, whether it's right or wrong, that that's more secure than putting it in a pension where they're also going to take a chip on top."

It's possible that individual investment choices could earn more than a pension scheme, but it's a big gamble.

Behavioural economics suggests that when people lose trust in a system, they tend to either opt out entirely or over‑compensate. Both can be problematic. Saving extra in a private pension may limit current life options, but opting out can leave many with riskier retirement savings, or indeed none at all.

In central Manchester, 23‑year‑old Ashleigh agrees with Joel that the state pension is unlikely to be coming her way: "At this rate I don't think anyone's ever going to retire, I think everyone will just have to fend for themselves in the end."

But as someone on a lower income, her pension choices are less squirrel‑like. When working for a big retailer, she says that she chose to stop contributing to her employer's auto-enrolment pension.

"I opted out of it. I need the money now." She explains: "I'd rather save for a house and then at least I have something to show for it".

Some experts warn that the gap between rich and poor in retirement could widen significantly for this generation.

Dr Suzy Morrissey, deputy director at the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), believes that alongside how much Gen Z save privately, another factor will widen the divide: far more of them will be renting.

"Renting in retirement increases your chances of pensioner poverty, and they do face challenges to save, as younger people, that previous generations didn't face when they were at the same age," she says. "If we have people paying rent in retirement who don't have large pension pots to cover those expenses, then that equals higher risk of pensioner poverty."

But Morrissey sees a silver lining: pensions auto-enrollment, the system that automatically puts most employees into a workplace pension unless they opt out. If they've been employees, "they will have spent their working life contributing into a pension pot, and they will be the first generation that will have spent their whole life doing that."

It'll be a backstop for many, but the minimum contribution rate is unlikely to be enough for a comfortable retirement. It's not automatic for the self-employed and people like Ashleigh have opted out because of immediate financial pressures, so it looks like plenty won't see the benefit of that silver lining.

Grown-up gap years

For some, the response to an uncertain future is to focus on the present.

Lauren, from Hull, says: "Money always comes back, time doesn't. The world is so vast, we shouldn't wait till the last 10/20 years of our lives to go out and see it!"

At 24, she's about to take six months off from her job as a business coordinator. She's one of a growing number planning to take regular career breaks, or "grown-up gap years", which many are terming "mini retirement". HSBC's 2025 UK survey found that 63% of Gen Z plan to take at least one mini‑retirement, compared with 32% of Gen X and 13% of Boomers.

"The majority of my friends don't pay into pensions and instead decide to take their whole wage [after taxes] and spend it how they see fit. A large proportion goes on travels or holidays," says Lauren.

"I currently don't pay into a pension, actually I never have. I'd way rather have my money now and use it to live life," she says.

But there's a warning for Gen Z from the experience of the Waspi women - hundreds of thousands born in the 1950s who campaigners say have suffered because of poorly communicated rises in the state pension age. Their financial shock shows that costs may only become clear when it's too late to course-correct.

If Gen Z's suspicions are right, and the state pension becomes a less dependable part of income in later life, then more will have to take a totally different approach to retirement, savings and life choices to navigate the new landscape.

Additional reporting: Kris Bramwell and Harriet Whitehead

Top picture credit: Getty Images

Ten years on, Brexit's economic impact is becoming clearer

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyv0m164m84o, 12 days ago

Not long after the UK left the EU in 2020, a Bristol-based firm called Eskimo started selling a new kind of high-fashion and energy-efficient electric radiator, based on new technology developed by academics in the city.

They planned to send them around Europe using the Channel Tunnel.

It was a timely product given Europe's green ambitions, and with orders flowing, its Birmingham factory was being kept busy.

The boss Phil Ward tells me his start-up has continued to grow, but that in his view it could have been so much more without what he calls "the Long Brexit effect": in 2020, 40% of his exports went to the European Union, and by 2025 it was just 5%.

The post-Brexit deal agreed with the EU by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in December 2020 guaranteed zero tariffs on exports to the EU, but Ward says that despite this, red tape and paperwork not directly related to tariffs were enough to create delays, costs and the expectation of hassle for prospective customers.

Eskimo did manage to export some goods to agents in France but it stopped selling directly to European consumers entirely. A planned expansion to Germany floundered.

And as Eskimo discovered when it attempted to export towel rails to Australia and New Zealand, both countries abide by international safety standards that are heavily influenced by the EU's CE mark.

This matters because one theoretical potential Brexit benefit was that it would allow UK regulators to not follow the EU's safety regulations and take a more pro-innovation, less regulatory approach for high-tech inventions.

Eskimo's experience is one example of a broader trend reflected in export figures. The UK Trade Policy Observatory at Sussex University calculated a rapid 26% reduction in the different types of UK exports by 2023, while a new study from Aston University Business School using five years of more detailed trade data concludes a loss of 53.8% of the type of exports and 31.5% for imports.

These figures for "trade varieties" are falls in the number of products sent to different EU countries.

A decade ago, many economists argued the UK would sustain longer-term economic damage by leaving the EU and many believe that damage has come to pass.

But to make that call you have to compare what did happen with what might otherwise have happened were it not for Brexit and doing that is a matter of method and statistical judgement.

And that judgement has to account for the fact that the period since Brexit has been a time of huge global flux. The pandemic that struck in the spring of 2020, the war in Ukraine that began two years later and, more recently, the energy price shock sparked by the conflict in Iran all have to be accounted for.

So too does the question of whether a Brexit-free UK would have really kept up with the Silicon Valley tech boom in recent years to the extent Brexit Britain has.

The clear consensus of economists making the calculations say they have factored in the global turmoil when assessing Brexit's impact. Others question their methods and the extent of Brexit's impact.

Some of the most negative predictions back in 2016, including those that said the UK could experience a Great Depression‑style hit, proved unduly pessimistic. Whatever economic hit there was, it was not sudden enough to cause an instant recession.

But those who believe the UK did sustain longer-term economic damage by leaving the EU say the hit was no less profound.

"Among economists there is not much debate, but there still is among policy folks. The experts were right. It was, if anything, worse than we thought, but it's taken longer to get there," says Nick Bloom, a British Stanford University professor and author of one of the most prominent recent major studies using Bank of England data.

His work sits among dozens of academic economics papers that have analysed vast amounts of data to try to assess what effect Brexit had on the UK's economy.

UK trade with Europe

UK trade with Europe had been on an upward trend before 2016. But official figures show that compared to 2019, 2025 UK exports to the EU were 14% down and imports were down 10%.

And they've been getting worse. Last year, 2025, was the worst year for UK goods export volumes to the EU this century, apart from one year in the depths of the financial crisis.

Think tank Niesr calculates exports were 16.9% lower and imports 16.1% less than what could have been expected based on positive pre-2016 trends. The Centre for European Reform uses a different method, trying to take account of what could have happened if the UK had not been excluded from a more recent surge in intra-EU trade, leading to a goods trade hit of 16% to exports and 14% to imports. It's all in the same ballpark and there is other research from European countries that suggest similar drops in their trade with the UK. Again, these calculations rely on selecting a method and statistical judgment.

Most studies conclude similarly, but using raw trade figures, so not accounting for significant inflationary spikes, you see a 4% rise in cash terms since 2019 of UK goods exports to the EU, which some analysts have used to argue there has been minimal impact.

Services trade boom

One area that has performed more strongly since 2016 is services, which make up over 80% of total UK economic output. Services sector exports from the UK to the EU are up 57% over the last decade, driven by a category that includes accountancy, legal services and consultancy. Non-EU services exports are up 49%. Imports from the EU are up 35% in the same time, and up 60% from outside the EU.

It is also true that there has been a service boom across the advanced world and some argue Britain might have done even better without Brexit. But either way, financial services clearly remained in healthier shape than the worst projections during the referendum.

Business investment

Investment by businesses was significantly lower than what might have continued after Brexit, according to two studies. Former Bank of England independent economist Jonathan Haskel calculates a £29bn or 1.3% reduction in the size of the economy from lower investment than would have been expected since 2016.

Business investment flattened in real terms immediately after 2016, and notably underperformed various measures of UK long term-trends and comparisons with other countries. Professor Haskel's latest calculation is a shortfall of 13% against the pre referendum trend from 1997-2016.

Using different methods, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and the top US economic research body the NBER find that UK business investment is down 12-13% against where it would have been, compared to a representative basket of advanced economies.

Much of these findings predate the energy shock in 2022, and attribute the hit to uncertainty in the first years after Brexit. The latest analyses show the UK still behind most of the G7 but having overtaken Germany after the hit to its economy from the 2022 energy crisis.

The currency

The most visible sign of economic shock was the fall in the value of the pound in the minutes and then years after the referendum. This makes imports and travel more expensive, and makes UK assets worth less in the world.

Pre-referendum, the pound had reached new highs against major currencies. It then fell sharply after the referendum and has since traded lower, particularly against the dollar and the euro. It fell again further at various points of post-Brexit uncertainty and then too during the mini-budget in 2022 when Liz Truss was prime minister. Since then, sterling has broadly strengthened and taken advantage of a weaker dollar and is currently near the top of its post-Brexit range.

The impact of an overall weaker pound has raised prices for imported goods, from fresh foods to manufactured goods. But it has also helped cushion disruption for exporters by making their goods cheaper in international markets. In turn, some food prices have been helped a little by lower tariffs on international imports not produced in the UK.

The new trade deals

One potential Brexit benefit was the UK's ability to sign its own trade deals outside the EU. The UK-India deal stands out as an example of where the UK broke ground well beyond what might have happened within the EU.

The UK also signed the first "deal" to alleviate the impact of President Trump's tariffs. The Government itself calculates that the trade deals Britain has signed will only slightly boost economic growth, by fractions of a percentage point over decades.

It is worth noting that even former Prime Minister Tony Blair, an avowed Remainer who was previously a backer of a second referendum, recently suggested the UK had enjoyed some benefit from being able to have its own AI regulations and that this would have implications for any attempt to rejoin the EU or single market in the future.

But it is also the case that it is not all one way. The EU has signed a deal with South America, the Mercosur deal, which gives access to EU car exporters to Brazil, the world's sixth biggest market, at zero tariffs, versus 35% for the UK.

And while Britain also achieved the first and best deal to alleviate President Trump's tariffs, the EU has since received many of the same benefits. The rate at 10% is better for the UK than the EU at 15%, but there is no quota for EU car exports to the US, and there is one of 100,000 for the UK.

It could be that the quiet competition between London and Brussels prompted by Brexit has motivated dealmaking that might have otherwise taken years.

The overall hit

There is a place that is as central to the UK's relations with the EU as the Strait of Hormuz is to global energy markets: the Channel Tunnel. When Britain was in the EU, the tunnel was the living embodiment of frictionless goods trade.

Back in 2016, 1.64m trucks went through the tunnel. Last year, post Brexit, there were 1.16m. So there are almost half a million missing lorry journeys a year - nearly 30% of this economically critical, high-value cross-Channel traffic has been lost.

Exactly how many trucks there would have been were it not for Brexit is impossible to say, but the hit from the pandemic, for example, would have subsided by now.

An industry participant describes the pattern as "pure Brexit" with small exporters leaving, unable to afford to invest in systems and surviving business models changing from "just in time" to increased stock-holding. HMRC trade data analysed by LSE also pointed to 16,400 firms - 14% of EU exporters - stopping exporting to the EU between 2019 and 2023 altogether, and that falls in exporting were concentrated among smaller firms.

What has happened in the Channel Tunnel tallies with the academic consensus that the UK economy is smaller now than it would have been based on the trajectory it was on in 2016.

The numbers range from about 3% to 8%. "The fact that it is harder to trade with the EU is about half the hit, in line with previous forecasts," says lead author of the NBER research, Nick Bloom.

He attributes the rest to the consequences of what at times felt like near-nightly political meltdown during the Brexit negotiations. "The other half is the uncertainty from the fact the Brexit process itself was such an enormous mess… We can never get that second 4% back."

These calculations are based on modelling how a UK still within the EU could have been expected to perform economically had it still experienced the pandemic and the 2022 energy shock but not Brexit.

The most recent study by the NBER takes account of population growth, and says the UK lost 6-8% of per capita output.

Bloom says he has used a variety of approaches including accounting for distance, economic gravity, the size of the economy and selectively omitting potential outliers.

There are, however, other figures. The authors, including Bank of England economists, also used a special survey of thousands of firms, accounting for a tenth of private employment, that was created by the Bank in 2016 to track Brexit reaction. The first Brexit analysis based on this survey was only published this year and updated on Friday and it shows how prolonged Brexit uncertainty hit commercial decision-making.

This entirely different firm-level method also leads to a conclusion of an economy about 6% smaller than without Brexit. That means an economy that would have otherwise grown about two thirds of a percentage point faster every year over the past decade.

Next ten years of Brexit

The world that post-Brexit Britain entered in 2016 has changed beyond any recognition.

Back in 2016, Brexiteers talked up the prospects of a free trade deal with the US when the reality in 2026 is a US that has put up higher trade barriers and weaponised tariffs. A decade ago, the idea was floated that the EU could collapse - it hasn't, and has introduced protections for its manufacturers. And China is now increasingly assertive.

The questions the above raise about UK global economic strategy are almost entirely different questions to those posed a decade ago.

It's possible an economically independent UK is well placed to deal with this volatile world. It's also possible that the opposite is true and that UK exporters would benefit from rejoining the EU single market.

What's clear from the data is that many UK goods exporters, especially smaller ones, have not become used to Brexit and that in certain sectors it's not getting any better.

Does the UK align itself with the US and its focus on lightly-regulated tech and in particular AI? Can a closer UK-EU relationship be squared with that? The EU has responded to the new economic nationalism with "Made in Europe" legislation that may require a certain percentage of parts to be made in Europe - it's unclear if the UK is included or not. An early test will be steel next month, and then a deal to avoid UK-EU electricity car tariffs at the end of the year.

UK officials recently suggested establishing a single market for goods trade with the EU as part of the next phase of a Brexit reset, something the EU says is incompatible with current government red lines around freedom of movement.

Unions have shifted position from wanting to rejoin the customs union, to looking for a Swiss-style deal in the European Economic Area.

In recent weeks government ministers have begun to quietly say that these red lines are specifically for this Parliament and will be looked at again. What path Sir Keir Starmer's replacement as prime minister decides to go down, we don't yet know.

Next month's UK-EU summit has now been postponed. Sir Keir had wanted to seal a deal to row back many of the post-Brexit frictions on food and farm trade that have impacted the cross-Channel trade flows. Other political parties have vowed to rip up the government's EU reset or even try to row back on elements of the post-Brexit deal.

Put bluntly, the status quo will not hold. Ten years on, Brexit, and its impacts on the economy, remain very much with us, and the policy debates may be about to return.

Top picture credit: Getty Images

Graphics by Miguel Roca-Terry

Is Andy Burnham Labour's saviour, or just its best bet?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c621e13n2dvo, 8 days ago

"Do you want a chat about the saviour?" a long-time Labour contact joked when I asked to pick their brains about their old colleague Andy Burnham, who is poised to enter No 10 in less than a month.

It certainly is time to talk about the Greater Manchester mayor. Only 10 days ago, he pulled off an impressive victory, in what one former minister described as a "Russian roulette" by-election in Makerfield, beating Reform and defying Labour's lack of popularity.

But can he pull off the far bigger task ahead, and really be the "saviour" that Labour craves?

Labour MPs desperately want Burnham's project to work. You could see how they crammed into Westminster Hall to surround him for a giant photo on his first day back in Parliament.

One MP says Parliament has had a "strange atmosphere all week, with people crawling over each other to try to get to him".

Another member of the government said "ministers are sweating their connections to try to get an audience".

It's not just about red boxes and posteriors on the seats of government cars. We've seen Labour MPs gulping down the Burnham Kool-Aid this week, turning eager hope into belief that, as prime minister, he can face down Nigel Farage, help Labour keep its seats, and preserve at least a decent chunk of its epic 2024 majority at the next election.

The simple reason for this hope? He's a popular politician at a time when most politicians are not. That's not to say that every single member of the public is going to be enamoured. Another colleague from Burnham's first time round at Westminster says: "He'll have to go from cock of the north to national champion".

The "north", of course, is also not just Manchester.

Another contact told me: "He needs to drop this man of the north a bit – he'll hack off people. It's deeply upsetting to people from Leeds and Newcastle to think that Manchester is THE north, let alone Scotland. It's trite."

But Burnham has a rare ability to grab public attention and make voters feel heard – often literally.

An ally from his time in Manchester told me: "It used to drive me mad that he was late, but every conversation is important to him. I could be stuck waiting having to make small talk with an ambassador, because he was stuck outside having a conversation with someone about the buses".

In a profession where politicians are only too happy to be rude about each other, Andy Burnham is very well liked.

"Affable", "warm", and a close ally says he's a "really nice person – politics is a contact sport and it's not contrived".

One MP calls him a "good bloke", adding that "sound would be the Manchester word". They describe his "social dexterity": an ability to communicate with colleagues and the public in real life and on social media.

But there is a niggling question among many of his colleagues and, in fact, expressed neatly on his Facebook page, where a member of the public wrote: "I have no doubt I'd enjoy a beer with you and we could talk about Joy Division and other important cultural things. But when did that become the thing that determined whether someone becomes the prime minister or not?"

There are nerves in Labour circles about what Burnham would actually do with power. One old friend of his told me: "Andy has huge skills but there have been questions about the extent to which [his] thinking on some of the really tricky stuff has been properly developed".

Another wondered: "Can he shake off the perception that he is a bit of a lightweight?"

Not everyone is convinced he is up to it.

One senior party figure told me: "The eyelashes will deliver for a day, maybe a week. But the scrutiny is brutal. Won't last three months, never mind three years."

Ouch.

Multiple sources believe Burnham appointing his old flatmate and fellow cabinet minister from the New Labour days, James Purnell, as chief of staff is a positive sign. Not just because of Purnell's experience, but also because it has inevitably raised hackles on the left (Purnell has recently worked with big business and is perceived as a Blairite).

The choice was cited to me as evidence that Burnham was willing to make decisions that would upset people. This has been reassuring to some in the party. A prime minister's job is to make choices bound to infuriate one group or another and frankly, there is concern that Burnham might find that hard.

One government source told me: "The thing is he loves to be loved and likes to be liked. He has to be ready to be unpopular – and he will have to face the trade-offs – mayors don't face trade-offs".

One of his old colleagues says: "He is quite emotional, he has feelings." They question "how you balance that with the need for tough skin, the need to see things through and to take very exposed positions".

But you don't spend more than two decades in politics worrying only about pleasing people. Burnham gladly irritated the Labour leadership on a regular basis when Keir Starmer was in charge.

And one ally who worked closely with him in government in the late noughties said his talent was not just being nice: "He never takes no for an answer".

They recall battles between the government and "hostile permanent secretaries" towards the end of Labour's time in power, who they say were "hoarding money for the incoming Tory government".

"He went to war with them and won," Burnham's ally recalls. "It was astonishing".

Some of the doubt stems from a perceived lack of clarity over what Burnham wants to do, beyond get into No 10. And we know he really wants to do that.

This will be third time lucky after running for the leadership and failing in 2010 and 2015. We're used to hearing his rhetoric about change, about making the country more equal, about looking after communities that have been left behind like Makerfield, his new constituency. "Vote Andy - For Us'" goes the tagline.

But when it comes to specifics, it can feel like a bit of a blur.

That's why there is a hot political frenzy around who'll be his chancellor. All the talk in Westminster is of whether he'll pick Ed Miliband, on the soft left, or Wes Streeting, from Labour's right, or Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Whoever he picks in the end (and perhaps it will be someone else altogether like Welfare Secretary Pat McFadden, less eager to see himself in a political story), the argument has become a proxy for Burnham's overall sense of direction.

The lack of clarity is a cause of concern for some in the party. One source told me: "Is the political north star still missing? The contenders talked about are in entirely different places on all sorts of things".

We'll see. Burnham is expected to make a speech about the economy on Monday, when perhaps there'll be more of a hint. But many sources say his time as Manchester mayor has changed him and that he has incredible confidence and conviction about what he wants to do. One close colleague says: "He thinks about things more deeply than people give him credit for - don't underestimate how much he has thought about it".

If you look, there is actually a lot of evidence out there about what he would like to do. He talks often about his track record in Manchester: the public bus network, the MBacc qualification, the partnership with business that's helped Manchester's economy grow.

He's also been plain that he has unfinished business on trying to sort out social care in England. As health secretary, his efforts to get the parties to work together to reform it were dashed by the reality of politics in the run-up to the 2010 general election. It's highly likely that, in office, he'll want to go back and try again somehow.

Burnham even wrote a book about his vision with his friend, Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotherham. They make a passionate argument about how unequal the country has become. And they came up with a 10-point plan that would be radical by any measure if it was followed through.

They'd pass a "basic law" that would give every part of the country equal funding based on need.

There'd be a written constitution, a move to proportional representation and they'd scrap the rules that force MPs to vote for their party, the "whip". They'd give much more power to mayors and councils under devolution.

The book argues that technical and university education should be treated equally. There's a plan for a legal right to the basics (starting with housing), a "Grenfell law", as well as the Hillsborough Law, which would force public officials to tell the full truth. And they argue for bringing back industry to the north to provide jobs and to aid Net Zero.

Before some of you hyperventilate, that huge agenda is not what Andy Burnham is likely to argue for on day one. The book is a call for long-term reform over a period of many years, and it makes clear where Burnham is coming from.

But there are gaps in knowledge over the specifics. Will he find the extra £10 billion the Ministry of Defence believes is needed to keep us safe? Will he continue with the government's social media ban for under-16s in the format announced last week? Will he try again to tighten up the rules on benefits to cut the ballooning welfare budget? Will he abandon the new rules on immigration that the home secretary is trying to bring in?

And what we really don't know much about is how he will approach foreign affairs. It's hard to imagine he'd stray much from the existing government positions on war and peace, but how would he deal with Donald Trump?

He's expected to take over at a time of huge international turmoil, with big challenges for every government going: demographics, debt, division, and a real sense in the country of disillusionment with our political system.

One of those old former colleagues reckons: "There is no escaping there are some bloody awful issues to deal with. He is going to have to make very tough decisions which are going to be really unpopular – you can't govern on vibes."

Then there is the real test for any prime minister - how would Burnham respond to our old friend "events"?

Leaders' successes or failures are rarely based on the perfect plans they often clutch to their bosom on the day they walk into No 10. What tends to be more important is the question of how they react to events totally beyond their control, or how they correct mistakes when their backs are up against the wall.

"He's more steely than people think," one ally says.

You don't spend 30 years in British politics if you can't pick yourself up when things go wrong. Burnham has run for the leadership once and failed. He ran again in 2015, for the second time, and lost again. Burnham tried to run in Gorton and Denton, and failed. Then he took the massive gamble of running in Makerfield and won - and now is on his way into No 10.

After the horror of the last few months, when Keir Starmer's rivals were slowly trying to force him out, this week there's been hope in the voices of Labour MPs and insiders. There are those who worry about Burnham's ability, with even one of his own colleagues telling me: "I just really wonder if he's up to it".

But after all the angst and anger of 2026, a member of Starmer's circle told me: "We have to pull our socks up, get behind him and on we go".

An MP shouted when Burnham was being sworn into Parliament this week: "He's not the Messiah".

But after two overly miserable years, Andy Burnham's talent and long-burning ambition give him a chance at No 10 and offer Labour a chance to resurrect themselves.

The "saviour" might be pushing it, but the mood in the party this week suggests he is the best chance they've got.

Top picture credits: Getty Images and PA

How male infertility is still not getting enough attention

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2w4kz7z1ko, 10 days ago

In mid-2020, while Covid lockdowns gripped the country, Luke and his wife decided to start a family.

"All through my teens the message was clear: don't have sex without a condom or you might get someone pregnant," he says. "So, when you're older, you expect everything to just happen normally. When it doesn't, you don't know what to do or where to go."

After 18 months without success, the couple saw their GP and were referred for further tests in hospital and at a fertility clinic.

Over the next year or so, Luke says the focus was entirely on his wife. Appointments were all in her name. When he had to fill out paperwork, his wife was contacted even though all his details were on file.

"At the heart of it, the whole system is based on the assumption that it's a woman's problem," he says. "The male side gets totally overlooked."

It took more than a year, and a failed round of IVF, until Luke was told there might be an issue with his sperm. "I was like, 'Now you're telling me?'" he says. "There were things on my side that could have been looked into much sooner, rather than treating me as an accessory to the process."

Infertility affects roughly one in six couples and about half of those cases are linked to male problems, either alone or alongside female causes. Under the latest clinical guidelines from NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), couples still struggling to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sex should be assessed together as one unit, with men and women offered further checks in parallel. Yet experts say men are often sidelined in diagnosis, treatment and in fertility conversations.

"There can be genuine exclusion even if it's unintentional," says Prof Bola Grace from University College London. "Men tell us it can happen across services - in how care is delivered, in fertility clinics and in counselling."

A study led by Grace in 2019 found many men wanted to be more involved in the fertility process, but often felt their voices were not heard. The result, she argues, is often self‑perpetuating - some fertility services don't include men, so men engage less, which reinforces the idea they are simply not interested. "We've created a cycle where men are excluded, but then they're also blamed for not showing up," she says.

This can have real consequences, she adds - not just for men but for women, who often end up having to deal with far more of "the coping, the planning, the worrying, the decision-making".

It can also mean problems are picked up later, tests and treatment can be more invasive, and couples may face a tougher, more expensive path through fertility care. So how could the system offer more support when a man has been told he may have a problem? And what more could be done to get men to talk more openly about fertility?

'Ignored by the system'

Since the first IVF birth in 1978, fertility treatment has largely been framed around women, partly for biological reasons. IVF involves stimulating the ovaries to produce eggs, retrieving them, fertilising them in a laboratory and then implanting the resulting embryo back into the womb. By contrast, most men provide a sperm sample and wait for science to do its thing.

That imbalance has shaped how fertility care has developed, argues Allan Pacey, professor of andrology (a medical specialty focused on male reproductive health) at the University of Manchester. He says fertility units and clinics are typically led by gynaecologists, whose training focuses on female reproductive health, while male fertility can often be treated as a secondary concern.

"Now, there are some really good gynaecologists that do it well, because they're interested in this, but at the level of the GP or the secondary care clinic or the tertiary care clinic, men can be an afterthought."

At a policy level, there are similar imbalances, he says.

The Department of Health has recently published separate men's and women's health strategies, setting out the government's 10-year vision for healthcare in England. Fertility features around 20 times in the women's version, with a page devoted to support and clinical guidance. In the men's document it is mentioned just five times, and mostly in relation to obesity, alcohol or other health issues.

Pacey, also a former chair of the British Fertility Society, calls this a "missed opportunity to level the playing field".

"This is absolutely not saying that we should do less for women, we should probably do more for women as well," he says. "But by giving men a proper role, we can fundamentally change what happens in the future, both in terms of their experiences, but also in the terms of what we can do research-wise or treatment-wise."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "It is right that men receive the same level of support, information and care as women when navigating fertility problems". It says it will continue to work with NHS England to make sure men's fertility is "properly reflected in how services are designed and delivered".

At one point, Luke had an ultrasound scan of his testicles but didn't hear back for more than a year - until he reminded the clinic about it. A review revealed a varicocele - a swelling of veins in the scrotum that can affect sperm quality. He was treated, but the couple's fertility problems persisted.

It took another nine months, after paying to see a private andrologist, for Luke to receive any detailed one-to-one advice on lifestyle and diet.

"It's been a pretty tough, lonely place," Luke says. "There's the blow of finding out there's a male factor involved - which goes against all sorts of stereotypes about masculinity. But then there's a second level: feeling completely left out and ignored by the system."

Now, the couple are in the middle of another round of IVF using ICSI, a technique in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg with an ultra‑fine needle, rather than allowing fertilisation to occur by exposing the egg to thousands of sperm in a laboratory dish.

An ostrich moment

Clinicians say the picture is beginning to shift, but only gradually. "Things are moving in the right direction, but we are still well behind," says Prof Hussain Alnajjar, a consultant urological surgeon at University College London Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic London.

For example, it is starting to become more common for a man to see a specialist before his female partner - if an initial semen analysis suggests a potential problem. "That's what I mean by things are changing but it's happening slowly," he adds. "Overall, women are still far more likely to be assessed first when it comes to infertility."

For men like James, 34, from North Yorkshire, that slow pace of change has shaped their experience.

After James and his wife had difficulty conceiving, he had what he describes as an "ostrich moment"; months of burying his head in the sand while his partner went through all the checks and tests. "Every day, I think about that moment and the time wasted," he says.

James was away for work on a construction site when the results of his semen analysis eventually came through. He was told his sperm were "weak, slow and malformed" and later found out he would struggle to conceive naturally. The near three-hour drive home that day was "like a blur, very painful".

There were delays with his diagnosis. It took another two years - and a private consultation with a urologist - before he was given a full physical examination and more advanced hormonal tests. After years of trying, and multiple rounds of IVF, the couple's fertility treatment was ultimately unsuccessful.

"You're the partner of someone who you love unconditionally, but you view yourself as the cause of their pain," he says. "You feel you're the reason they can't have a child."

Male infertility can often be mixed up with ideas of virility and masculinity, making it more difficult for some men to acknowledge or discuss the problem. Prof Pacey recalls hearing about a barbecue where "all the women were at one end talking about IVF, and all the men at the other talking about football".

James did not see his fertility problems as a challenge to his masculinity, but the stigma surrounding the issue meant he struggled to find support during that time. "It's just you and your partner dealing with this, so it feels like you're an island and there's no-one else out there like you," he says. "You don't know where to go, who to turn to, or what to say."

Under UK law, fertility clinics must offer counselling before treatment, but it need not be free or ongoing. The fertility regulator, the HFEA, says that there are far fewer support groups - either online or in the real world - for men than for women. But there are some signs that may be starting to change.

Shaun Greenaway, 43, was diagnosed in 2018 with azoospermia - a condition in which no sperm are present in the semen. The cause is unclear, although he had severe mumps as a teenager - a virus known to be linked to male infertility.

He and his wife eventually had children through sperm donation, but Shaun says he navigated much of that experience alone. "There was absolutely no support, and no-one was talking about it from a personal perspective, so I decided I was going to share my story," he says.

Along with a friend, Ciaran Hannington, 40, he co‑founded the Male Fertility Podcast and a support network for men experiencing fertility problems, with WhatsApp groups and in‑person meet‑ups. They compare the conversation around male infertility today to where mental health was a decade or so ago - still taboo but slowly becoming more open.

"There's such a deep-rooted stigma but, sadly, it's one of those topics that you don't really take any notice of until you have to," says Ciaran, who was also told he had fertility problems in 2012. He says it took two years until he "started to take control" of his situation and make lifestyle changes – improving his diet, cutting out alcohol and adjusting his exercise regime.

After seven rounds of IVF and two miscarriages, his wife, Jennifer, finally gave birth to a boy and a girl.

Studies show that stress, poor sleep, smoking, alcohol and diet can all damage sperm quality. But small, short-term changes are unlikely to have much impact, says Prof Pacey.

"Any lifestyle change needs to be sustained," he says. "It takes three months to produce sperm from start to finish, so if you stop drinking on a Friday night then don't expect an improvement by Monday morning."

Not all men act on that advice.

Shaun says he's spoken to some women – "never blokes, by the way" – who say their partners have refused to give up cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, despite being told it could affect their chances of having children.

"We know the healthcare system needs to catch-up but ultimately it's a two-way street," he says. "And some guys – and some women – need to catch up as well."

A small study by researchers at the University of Dundee in 2022 found that roughly one in six European fertility specialists said they regularly struggled to persuade men to take a sperm test.

On a global basis, some men were uncomfortable providing a sample, while others assumed they had no fertility problems because they were sexually active or had previously fathered a child.

Signs of a shift

There are indications that awareness is starting to shift.

New PSHE lesson plans for schools in England, developed by the British Fertility Society and Cardiff University, now give male fertility risks - from poor diet to smoking and steroid use - the same prominence as those faced by women.

And at this year's giant Fertility Show in London's Olympia, attended by around 2,000 people over two days, organisers said male infertility would be placed centre stage for the first time. Stalls offering high-tech sperm testing kits sat alongside more established services such as egg freezing and pregnancy supplements, while seminars focused on sperm quality and the latest treatment options for men.

"[It's] not a token addition. Not a side conversation," said the show's content director, Sophie Sulehria. "It's about recognising that male fertility is not a niche topic. It's a fundamental part of reproductive health. And it deserves the same visibility, the same investment, and the same compassion."

Doctors working in the field also say they are seeing a shift and that it matters for reasons beyond having a family. Growing evidence suggests male infertility can be a marker of wider health problems from obesity to smoking or hormonal abnormalities, according to Prof Alnajjar, who also speaks for the British Association of Urological Surgeons.

"Healthier men tend to have better reproductive health, and an abnormal sperm test can sometimes be the first sign that further medical assessment is needed," he says. "That's why I believe male infertility should not be viewed solely as a pregnancy issue; it should also be recognised as an important men's health issue and an opportunity for early intervention."

For men like James, whose lives have been shaped by infertility, progress like this cannot come soon enough. "We're not going to change the stigma that still exists by burying our heads in the sand and ignoring it anymore, but by getting it out there," he says.

"As soon as we're more open, then fewer people are going to think it's taboo, or that anyone is any less of a man for actually talking about it."

Top picture credit: Getty Images

A decade on from Brexit, the new PM has big calls to make on Europe

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9r883l87ro, 13 days ago

With its nostalgically-painted, golden-maned horses, wistful French chanson music wafting as it turns, the Carrousel de St Pierre, by the venerated Sacre Coeur Church, is a firm favourite amongst tourists to Paris. But recently, as I watched the merry-go-round rotate to those romantic French tunes, more than anything else, it reminded me of Brexit.

It's 10 years since the UK voted to leave the European Union. Almost immediately, from an EU perspective, the UK collapsed inwards, embarking on what would be years of political crisis as the country splintered, fought and went round and round in circles - not unlike the painted carousel.

And now, here we are again.

Seven UK prime ministers in this post Brexit-vote decade - after Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday. And the fraught - seemingly circular - EU debate: to what extent the UK should edge closer to Brussels economically - is very much back on the UK domestic political agenda, launched by Starmer's Labour government.

Shocked a decade ago at the apparent social and political implosion following Britain's vote to leave (the UK parliament had traditionally been regarded as the European Union's most stable and venerated), EU partners say they've since got used to the roller-coaster that is modern-day UK politics.

Frankly, if you look at big EU players France and Germany, their domestic political scene is hardly what you'd describe as a sea of calm either.

But doesn't UK political volatility impede the new negotiations with the EU, launched by Starmer, in a declared attempt to tear down post Brexit red tape and boost Britain's ailing economy?

Brussels assumes these talks will continue under his successor, though it said on Monday it was reviewing whether to go ahead with a summit planned with the Starmer government for late July.

Michel Barnier was the EU's chief negotiator throughout the years of often bitter Brexit talks. Nowadays, he's still a big cheese in French politics - a centre-right MP who was briefly PM two years ago and is expected to throw his hat into the ring in the country's upcoming presidential election.

I met Barnier at his compact office adjacent to the French parliament. His attitude is essentially that the EU must take the outstretched hand of whomever the UK puts on the dancefloor to represent them.

"We have to deal with this situation and respect it," he told me. There will be a (new) UK prime minister and we will work with them. Look at what happened during the (Brexit) negotiations. I faced in four years four different UK negotiators. That was also a situation of instability, but we... deal with it."

During those long years of often fractious Brexit talks, Barnier was famous amongst us journalists for printing up a coffee mug emblazoned with the phrase: Keep Calm and Carry on Negotiating, a rather cheeky play on the Keep Calm and Carry On catchphrase that originated in Britain in 1939 as a government-planned World War II propaganda poster, designed to keep up public morale and determination.

Barnier was also famous for being seemingly implacable in the face of British demands for a 'special deal' from the EU.

And, not unlike that Paris carousel, similar UK arguments seem to have come round once again with the Labour government looking to get much closer to parts of the EU single market, yet without sending too much money across the Channel, or accepting the free movement of EU workers to the UK, where an immigration debate rages.

This is the "cherry-picking" Brussels said 10 years ago it wouldn't entertain. The UK couldn't leave the club and still keep its favourite perks.

The EU's threat from within

I reported for the BBC on all the twists and turns of those negotiations but the world outside has changed dramatically since.

Europe's former best friend, the United States, has become unpredictable, even aggressive towards its presumed allies under Donald Trump. Then there's Russia, conducting a kinetic war on European soil in Ukraine, and a hybrid war, in terms of disinformation, sabotage and more, across much of the rest of the continent. And who can forget China?

Europe's mainstream believes the EU faces an existential threat from within the bloc too, with eurosceptic parties performing strongly in many countries.

Would increased synergy with the UK - Europe's second-largest economy and a military power, despite its well-documented problems - not be advantageous for the EU under these new circumstances? Closer defence ties have been well under way for some time now. So what about the economy?

Speaking to me shortly before Sir Keir Starmer's resignation, Michel Barnier told me that in his view the EU "sincerely welcomed" any UK request for closer relations.

He said he still viewed the British decision to leave the single market as "lose-lose" for both parties. But he was as insistent as ever that the single market was the jewel in the EU crown. Especially in view of the challenging times Europe now found itself in, Barnier insists Brussels couldn't and shouldn't compromise its biggest asset to make special deals with the UK.

"We are in a much more dangerous, unstable, fragile world, and we need to keep our assets and keep our unity. This is the point for us. There is no aggression, no spirit of revenge with the UK, but the UK must understand that it will not be possible to unravel or to fragilise the single market... We can't take the risk."

Barnier then went on to describe what he sees as the added threat to the EU from within its own ranks, drawing parallels with the leader of the UK's Reform party, Nigel Farage, who before Brexit was a member of the European Parliament (MEP). Farage was famous for campaigning long and hard for the UK to leave the bloc.

"In many of our countries we have our Farage, like Mrs Le Pen or Mr Bardella [Rassemblement National's presidential candidate if Le Pen is unable to run because of corruption charges] in France from the far right," mused Michel Barnier. "There are many Farage's in Europe who want to destroy us. No way, no way."

Farage has often said he "hates" the EU though he loves Europe. He's denied his aim is to destroy the EU altogether.

What 2027 could bring for the EU

What Michel Barnier frets about (and he is far from a lone voice in EU circles) is that if you compromise Brussels' rules and you make attractive economic deals with non-member nations, like the UK, that strengthens eurosceptic parties calling for their countries to leave the EU or to drastically weaken common rules and regulations that bind EU countries together.

That's exactly what Fabrice Leggeri has in mind. He is an MEP for Marine Le Pen's hard right National Rally (RN) Party and very close to the party leadership. I chatted to him in the gossip-filled, overcrowded cafe at the European Parliament in Brussels. He was very upbeat.

"We are confident that 2027 is going to be a very important year, a turning point, if we win the elections in France," he told me.

Opinion polls suggest that Marine Le Pen's eurosceptic party is better positioned than ever before to win France's presidency. The French President holds huge sway over foreign policy, including EU affairs. As the EU's most high-profile nation, alongside Germany, that could have a massive impact on Brussels.

Leggeri told me the RN wants the EU to be far tougher on non-EU migration and to roll back ambitious green regulations, which he describes as "nonsense" and damaging to European industry. His party wants to reduce France's contributions to the EU budget. It has long opposed sending military aid to Ukraine.

Across Europe, 2027 is a mega election year. Leggeri and the RN hope like-minded eurosceptic parties will win majorities or significant roles in coalition governments in big EU powers Italy, Spain and Poland as well as France.

Together we have the possibility to change the EU from the inside, says Leggeri.

Even alone, France could bring the EU to its knees in many respects.

Just consider how the heavily eurosceptic former prime minister of far smaller Hungary, Viktor Orban, was able to freeze and frustrate common EU decisions in the past.

"We are preparing [for] the future," Mr Leggeri told me confidently. "I had the honor to accompany Mr Bardella to London, when he met Mr Farage, before Christmas. If Mr Farage becomes the next British prime minister, and if Rassemblement National is going to rule France next year, I can tell you that I see a lot of possible cooperation."

The EU after Brexit

Nigel Farage's political fortunes are being watched here. Much as the EU would like the UK to be closer economically, Brussels wants to know definitively what a strong majority of British people desire from the EU and will cede in return.

Only then, I'm told, will the EU consider making really significant deals with a UK prime minister. Until then, apart from those EU countries that do most trade with the UK (like Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands) and therefore suffer from Brexit red tape too, most say they are satisfied with the status quo - the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed by the EU and UK at the close of their post Brexit negotiations.

As for changes to the EU itself, what's fascinating is that in 2016, after the UK's Brexit vote, there was widespread prediction of a "domino effect". Italy would leave next, then Denmark or Sweden. France would go too. The EU's burgeoning eurosceptic parties called for Frexit, Swexit, Italexit and more. But that didn't happen.

Why? According to the German conservative MEP David McAllister, EU voters saw the UK dissolve into crisis after voting for Brexit; they witnessed the long and painful ensuing negotiations with the EU and decided it just wasn't worth it.

A decade after Brexit, a new survey from the Pew Research Centre suggests the vote that severely strained UK unity may have helped bring the EU closer together. Across the UK and seven EU member states, tracked consistently since 2016, 62% of respondents now have a positive view of the EU, compared with 49% a decade ago.

Armida van Rij from the Centre for European Reform points to re-invigorated efforts by a long list of European countries clamouring to join the EU's ranks - none more insistently than Ukraine.

At the same time, as we've discussed, amongst existing EU member states, nationalist eurosceptic parties are popular. While more traditional European leaders from Germany's Merz, to France's Macron and Poland's Tusk look beleaguered, even weak.

Most Europeans say they believe the EU is far from perfect but, especially after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, they've decided that in our turbulent world, there is safety in numbers. Better to stick together.

France's RN, Germany's AfD, Austria's Freedom Party and others have adjusted their slogans to appeal to as many voters as possible.

Brexit as a topic is history, Michel Barnier told me. The potential power of EU eurosceptics going forward has Brussels worried. Really worried.

Top image credit: Getty Images

Iran nuclear and military damage revealed after restricted satellite images released

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5j1qn6deno, 2 days ago

The extent of damage to some of Iran's military and nuclear sites has been revealed for the first time after more than a quarter of a million previously restricted high-resolution satellite images were released.

A leading satellite imagery provider, Planet Labs, restored access to images from nearly 800 locations in Iran which they had chosen to restrict following a request from the US government.

BBC Verify analysed satellite imagery from two key locations - Esfahan and Bushehr - captured since restrictions began on 9 March.

The images show a variety of targets hit from ammunition storage areas to ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear and surface-to-air missile sites, and naval bases, according to military intelligence company Janes.

Verified videos have previously shown these locations were subject to US-Israeli strikes but these newly available images provide an insight into the specific targets of the attacks and the extent of the damage.

Bushehr

Several sites around the coastal city of Bushehr have been damaged or completely destroyed since 9 March, images show.

Military buildings and government facilities including aircraft hangars, ammunition storage, dockyards, piers, and missile launch sites have been visibly damaged, according to Janes, with the affected sites belonging to both the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Many buildings have caved-in roofs and some appear completely flattened. Other images show destroyed aircraft and sunken ships. Craters can also be seen on multiple runways, including at Bushehr International Airport - some of which have since been repaired.

In some areas - designated as "military" on online maps like OpenStreetMaps - nearly every single building has been destroyed.

The damage seen "correlates with the US and Israeli reports of a wide-ranging strike campaign, not only designed to engage standing forces, but degrade the infrastructure behind them", Janes Middle East defence specialist Jeremy Binnie said.

Construction and repair sheds at a naval dockyard have also been damaged, according to Janes analysis.

Esfahan

Images of the province of Esfahan, which is home to two nuclear facilities - in the city of Esfahan and Natanz - reveal the extent of damage to military infrastructure.

At military bases in the region, damage to buildings are clearly visible. Buildings - identified by Janes as an ammunition storage area for an airbase - have been damaged at the strategically important Shekari 8 Iranian airbase.

More than 60 structures have been severely damaged or destroyed at a military base in the south of the city.

Another dozen were hit at another base further south in the region, near the town of Baharestan.

The controversial decision to restrict access to images has limited how journalists, humanitarian groups and analysts assess the impact of the US-Israel war with Iran, including damage to military targets and civilian infrastructure.

Restrictions still remain in place for Planet's imagery across most of the Middle East including Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and Gaza.

The California-based company said that a "delay remains in place over other parts of the region and we will continue with managed distribution for those areas in accordance with ongoing national security and personnel safety concerns".

In the absence of Planet's services, its news clients - such as the BBC and the New York Times - have been turning to non-US based solutions.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

Will Starmer's plan for defence help UK hit Nato's spending target?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn07ey43xpeo, 5 days ago

The government has published the much-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP) and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the additional spending represents a "huge historic shift for our nation".

BBC Verify has been looking at how much extra the government is committing to spend on defence in the coming years - and whether it puts the UK on track to hit its promised commitments.

How much does the UK currently spend on defence?

The Ministry of Defence's overall budget for 2026-27 is £68.3bn, according to the Defence Investment Plan.

However there is a measure known as Nato-qualifying defence spending which is wider than the MoD's budget, because it includes state spending on things like military pensions.

According to this measure the UK's spending was estimated by the military alliance to be £70bn in 2025, equivalent to 2.4% of the UK's GDP in that year.

What has the government committed to spend?

In February 2025 Sir Keir committed to raising Nato-qualifying defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027.

The prime minister also announced that the activities of the UK's security and intelligence agencies would - by 2027 - be classified as Nato-qualifying defence spending. As a result spending would hit 2.6% of GDP by 2027.

The prime minister also stated a "clear ambition" to increase spending to 3% of GDP "in the next parliament".

At a Nato summit in the Hague in June 2025 the UK and other members committed to spend 5% of GDP on defence and security with 3.5% going to Nato-qualifying "core defence" by 2035.

The alliance's members agreed that the rest of the 5% (1.5% of GDP) could be made up of spending to "protect critical infrastructure, defend networks, ensure civil preparedness and resilience, innovate, and strengthen the defence industrial base".

Sir Keir said on Tuesday that the measures in the DIP "takes us to 4.2% under that commitment".

How much extra does the Defence Investment Plan commit to?

When he resigned on 11 June, former Defence Secretary John Healey said that the DIP he had been presented with only committed to take Nato-qualifying defence spending to 2.68% by 2030.

He said this was insufficient "to defend the country at this time of rising threats" and the government should be committing 3% of GDP to defence by 2030 rather than in the next parliament.

The actual DIP says that "based on latest projections" UK defence spending will rise to 2.7% of GDP by 2027-28.

It does not provide a year-by-year estimate for later years but states that the money spent on defence "by the end of the decade will be 2.7% of GDP".

That suggests that the proportion of GDP spent on defence is not planned to change between 2027 and 2030.

That 2.7% figure suggests an increase on the original DIP of around 0.02% of GDP, which the government has found since Healey resigned - that's equivalent in today's money to £600m extra in 2030.

Healey posted on X after the DIP was published on Tuesday that a "target date" was needed to achieve the 3% target and a "clear plan" for how the UK gets to Nato's 3.5% of GDP by 2035.

Will this be enough to hit the government's targets?

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that as a result of this Defence Investment Plan the UK is on a "trajectory" to achieve the ambition of spending 3% of GDP in the next parliament.

And the DIP states that the separate commitment to Nato of 3.5% of GDP by 2035 "will be met".

However, it is hard to see how reaching 2.7% of GDP by 2030 would put the UK on a trajectory to meet that target.

Future spending reviews could potentially change that picture if they commit more money for the MoD's budget and other defence activity in future years.

What about the other figures being used?

The prime minister has frequently claimed the government is spending £270bn on defence over this parliament which he says is "the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the 1980s".

This number represents the total cash spending figure for the MoD budget set out in the 2025 Spending Review, covering the four years to 2028-29.

Sir Keir said today that the DIP increases this by "a further £15bn".

So this £15bn figure is an increase in defence spending over four years relative to previous plans.

Reports suggest that the original DIP would have increased spending by £13.5bn over four years.

That suggests that, over four years, the government has found an additional £1.5bn for defence since Healey resigned from Sir Keir's cabinet.

Rachel Reeves said in a statement that of the £15bn, £10.3bn had been identified now, and "a further £4.7bn over four years will be confirmed at Budget 2026".

It has also been widely reported there was a £28bn "shortfall" in the UK's defence budget.

The figure was originally reported by the Times in January.

The paper said the Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, had warned Sir Keir at a meeting late last year that the MoD faced a £28bn shortfall over the next four years.

The MoD has said that £28bn number did not come from them and it has not been officially confirmed.

It might represent an internal MoD estimate of the gap between its available budget funding over the next four years and the cost of existing commitments.

Dozens of ships head through Strait of Hormuz after US-Iran deal

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx23rnzdgl8o, 12 days ago

At least 172 vessels have crossed through the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Iran signed a deal aimed at ending the war, including 42 ships on Saturday alone, according to new data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

The number of vessels making the transit from 18 June, the day after the deal was signed, is still well below the pre-conflict average of some 138 crossings each day.

Ship-tracking data analysed by BBC Verify shows more than 200 tankers appear to be waiting inside the strait on Tuesday, with at least 10 ships moving west into the Gulf so far.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, has dropped to its lowest level since the war began.

Many of the tankers that have transited the strait in recent days have been linked with Iran following the lifting of the US naval blockade as part of the deal.

At least 30 tankers have departed from the Gulf laden with Iranian oil and petrochemicals since the deal was agreed, according to Jemima Shelley, a senior research analyst at the United Against Nuclear Iran campaign and monitoring group.

The US Treasury has also eased decades-old sanctions by issuing a license to allow the sale of Iranian crude oil, petrochemicals and other oil products until 21 August.

On Monday at least five tankers previously sanctioned by the US for links with Iran moved through the strait, ship tracking data shows, carrying up to four million barrels of oil.

"That said, there has been an increase in 'normal' trade too," said Martin Kelly of crisis management firm EOS Risk Group.

Four liquefied natural gas tankers were seen on ship-tracking platforms heading through the strait to Qatar's Ras Laffan port on Monday and at least three tankers and three cargo vessels sailed out of the Gulf on Tuesday.

All of these transits were made along the Iranian-approved northern route through Iranian waters, rather than the US-recommended southern route close to the coast of Oman.

And, according to ship-tracking data, more than 250 tankers and 440 cargo ships are still inside the Gulf, based on their last reported positions. More than 80% of the tankers are stationary or at anchor and about one in six appears to be carrying cargo.

Despite the US and its Gulf allies repeatedly rejecting Iranian attempts to exert control over the strait during the conflict, the deal signed last week committed Iran to using its "best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days".

The agreement also said Iran will work with Oman to "define the future administration and maritime services" of the strait.

Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) published its terms for transiting the strait on Friday. "No vessel is permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without a valid passage permit issued by the PGSA," the authority said.

The PGSA has been sanctioned by the US and Kelly said this may be holding some ship owners back from requesting Iranian permits.

There have also been conflicting messages from Iranian officials about the status of the strait.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday the strait had been closed in response to Israeli strikes on Lebanon, but some traffic continued to flow.

Then on Tuesday Tehran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva reportedly said the strait was open while a military source told an Iranian news agency the number of daily transits would be capped.

Concerns about sea mines in the internationally recognised shipping lanes through the middle of the strait used before the conflict have also played a part in holding ship traffic back from its pre-war levels.

The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), a multinational maritime group which includes the US, has warned ships to avoid this central part of the strait "due to the existence of mines".

So far, the JMIC has issued warnings and co-ordinates for two mines and said "active mine clearance operations are ongoing".

The JMIC has recommended vessels take a narrower southern route through the strait, closer to the coast of Oman, which it says "has been confirmed clear of mines".

"We saw tankers passing along the southern corridor at the end of last week and then when Iran declared the strait closed again on Saturday 20 June the transits stalled," said Shelley.

"There has been some resumption of tankers passing today but still only a trickle," she added.

At least four tankers appeared to be transiting the strait through the southern route on Tuesday, ship-tracking data showed, including a Norway-flagged ship sailing to Singapore and a Liberia-flagged vessel heading to Taiwan.

Additional reporting by Ghoncheh Habibiazad, BBC Persian

Will Andy Burnham's devolution plan raise economic growth?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yz4x9ew49o, 6 days ago

Andy Burnham promised the "biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen" as part of his plans for the UK if he becomes the next prime minister.

In his first major policy speech, Burnham said on Monday he would seek to take power away from Whitehall and devolve it to all parts of the UK. This would include Greater Manchester and other city regions in England.

But the former Mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority also said he would further extend devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - though not giving detail - and also promised to give Greater London more devolved powers.

Burnham, who was sworn in as the new MP for Makerfield last week, said this radical devolution of power was essential for delivering higher economic growth in all parts of the UK. "We will never get growth up to the level Britain needs unless every single postcode in the land is set up to contribute to it," he said.

BBC Verify has looked at what impact further devolution could be expected to have on economic growth across the UK.

What powers are devolved?

Scotland has had extensive devolution, with the Scottish parliament now holding powers covering health, education, local government, environment, justice and policing.

Holyrood also has powers to set most income tax rates (although not the level of the tax-free personal allowance) and has some control over welfare.

The Welsh Senedd's devolution powers are more limited compared with Scotland, though it does include running the NHS in Wales, education, local government and housing.

The Senedd also has some tax powers, including the ability to to vary income tax rates. But, unlike Scotland, it has no justice or policing powers.

Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly has significant devolved powers, including over health, education and housing.

There has also been some devolution to English city regions over the past decade, albeit less extensive than for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Manchester has some of the most extensive devolved powers of any of the English city regions, with some authority over transport, housing, skills and health spending.

Has devolution helped growth in the nations?

Most economists who have studied the impact of devolution have not identified any significant increase in overall economic growth rates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the past quarter of a century.

There is also no clear evidence of those nations catching up with the UK average, although it's important to stress the UK average is heavily influenced by the performance of London and the South East of England.

Official statistics show that the GDP per capita - a measure of productivity - of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2023 was broadly similar relative to the UK average as it was in 1998, with Scotland at around 93%, Northern Ireland at 83% and Wales at 74%.

However, analysts say this does not mean that devolution has been an economic failure, as it is possible that the nations might have experienced economic decline relative to the rest of the UK if they had still been centrally governed.

Events like Brexit might also have had a disproportionate effect on some parts of the UK, making it harder to separate out the impact of devolution.

And some Scottish nationalists argue full independence is required for Scotland to realise its underlying economic potential. Some Welsh nationalists argue similarly for Wales.

Has Manchester grown faster due to devolution?

Burnham has argued that Greater Manchester is a case study in how devolution can lift economic growth.

The city region has been progressively granted more powers in successive devolution deals since 2009.

When George Osborne was chancellor in 2014 the city region was granted an uplift in powers over transport, housing and strategic planning.

Official statistics suggest that Greater Manchester has grown faster than other English city regions, including London, since 2015.

And those statistics point to impressive productivity growth in the city of Manchester and the greater Greater Manchester region since 2020.

Some analysts have questioned whether those recent productivity figures are reliable, in part, because some of the high growth spots are in residential areas, and that they could be explained in part by errors in the data.

Nevertheless, many economists do think Greater Manchester has performed better than other UK city regions over the past 15 years - and they argue it's justified to partially attribute this to the devolution of powers, particularly on transport, planning and housing.

Devolution has helped to deliver this record on housing because the Greater Manchester mayoralty is empowered to set the city-region's housing strategy, direct housing investment funding and co-ordinate affordable housing programmes. Devolution has enabled the increase in investment because one of the devolved roles of the mayor of a city region is to encourage companies to invest in an area, particularly multinationals, to create jobs and drive local growth.

Some economists also point to the Bee Network of buses which brought the system under control of the mayoralty, and the encouragement of private sector investment in Manchester city centre.

"There's been a recognition [among the Greater Manchester leadership] that the future of Manchester is a big city that is offering lots of different opportunities, but particularly to higher value added activity," says Andrew Carter of the Centre for Cities think tank.

"They're prepared to do what is required - build the housing, support the expansion of the university, support research and development, try to introduce a transport system which really supports all of that kind of stuff. And as a result you become more attractive to investment, whether it's foreign or domestic."

Would devolution help the wider UK economy to grow faster?

Many economists argue that one of the things that has held the overall UK economy back over many decades has been the fact that economic activity has been heavily concentrated in London, while cities in the Midlands and the North of England - such as Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Newcastle - have been relatively weak.

Evidence suggests that in other European economies such as France, Germany, Spain and Italy, their second-tier cities are closer in terms of their economic productivity to their capital cities.

For instance, the output per worker in French cities such as Toulouse and Lyon are considerably closer to the levels in Paris, than Birmingham and Manchester are to London.

The productivity of big Germany cities such as Munich and Frankfurt and Spanish cities such as Barcelona and Madrid are also relatively similar, avoiding the kind of extreme inequality between London and other UK cities. Analysts point to the much greater level of devolution in those countries as a reason for this.

The Resolution Foundation has argued that closing these gaps between London and big UK cities would not just boost jobs, incomes and prosperity in those regions, but would improve the performance of the national UK economy, both by lifting the overall level of economic activity and increasing its long-term potential growth rate.

How much would devolution cost?

Burnham is not the first politician who has sought to boost growth in the North and Midlands.

Boris Johnson's Conservative government had an objective of "levelling up" the UK economically.

Some analysts say that Johnson's project failed in part because it did not put sufficient state resources and investment into achieving it.

That government established a £5bn levelling up fund to, among other things, regenerate high streets and upgrade local transport.

But analysts pointed out that the post-reunification plan to bring up East Germany closer to the productivity of West Germany after 1990 had cost around €2 trillion in state spending between 1990 and 2014, or the equivalent of £70bn a year.

Burnham on Monday pledged "to strive for equivalent living conditions in all parts of Britain" and said that this would borrow from Germany's "basic law", which has a similar wording.

However, he also said that he would stick to the "current fiscal rules" and the existing Labour manifesto, which would likely limit how much his government would be able to borrow or raise tax to finance devolution.

Additional reporting by Aidan McNamee

Sir Keir Starmer's premiership in six charts

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8p9qellmqo, 13 days ago

After losing the confidence of his MPs and key members of his cabinet, Sir Keir Starmer appeared outside Downing Street on Monday to announce his resignation as prime minister.

BBC Verify looks at the record of his time in government in key areas from immigration to energy bills since he took office in July 2024.

Popularity plummeted

In August 2024, just a month after taking office, a YouGov poll suggested that only 36% of people thought Sir Keir was doing well as prime minister and 43% said he was doing badly, giving him a net popularity rating of minus 7.

This month 74% said he was doing badly, versus 18% who thought he was doing well, suggesting his net popularity had slipped to minus 56.

Other polling from Ipsos suggests that Sir Keir's personal ratings among voters fell below his predecessors as prime minister in modern times, including Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson and Theresa May.

Economic growth picked up

Labour's manifesto pledged "to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7", made up of the US, the UK, Japan, France, Italy, Germany and Canada.

There had been some progress.

Between the second quarter of 2024 - just before Labour came to power - and the first quarter of 2026 data from the OECD suggests that the UK economy grew by 2.3% in total, faster than the rest of the G7, apart from the US which grew by 3.7% over that same period.

And the UK economy did register the fastest growth among the G7 nations in the first quarter of 2026, when it expanded by 0.6%.

But most forecasters do not expect this performance to last, partly because of the energy shock from the US conflict with Iran.

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest forecast suggests UK GDP growth over 2026 as a whole will fall to 0.8% in 2026, which would be lower than the forecast for the US (2.3%), Canada (1.5%) and France (0.9%).

The IMF also projects weaker growth for the UK than the US and Canada in 2027.

Immigration fell

On small boats, Sir Keir pledged to "smash the gangs" behind them but these Channel crossings have continued under his premiership.

Last year's total was the second highest after 2022's peak under the previous Conservative government and total crossing under his premiership have passed the milestone of 200,000 since 2018.

However, there are signs of a slowdown in the rate of arrivals.

The number of crossings detected so far in 2026 is down 40% on the same period in 2025.

Under Labour overall immigration to the UK and net migration (the difference between immigration and emigration) have both fallen significantly.

In the most recent official estimates for 2025 net migration was 171,000, down 48% over the previous year and down from a peak annual rate of 944,000 in 2023, under the Conservatives.

NHS waiting lists down

On health Sir Keir pledged that 92% of patients in England would be seen within 18 weeks by the end of the Parliament.

The latest official data for April 2026 shows 65% of patients being seen within that time, up from 58.9% in June 2024, the month before Labour took office.

The overall number of waits for treatment in England in April was 7.22 million, down from 7.62 million in June 2024, a decrease of 400,000.

Energy bills up

Labour promised to reduce average household energy bills by more than £300 over the course of the Parliament, but in reality bills have gone up.

The latest domestic energy price cap set by Ofgem, the energy regulator, for the summer of 2026 is an annual rate of £1,862 for a typical household - in part reflecting the impact of global events like the Iran war.

That's an increase of just under £300 on the £1,568 price cap that was in place in the summer of 2024, which Labour inherited.

Benefit spending increased

Sir Keir attempted to curb the rising working-age welfare bill, but was forced by his own backbenchers to retreat in June 2025.

The latest forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) show the total UK welfare bill, which includes the state pension, rising from 10.7% of UK GDP in 2024-25 to 11.1% by 2029-30.

A major driver of this increase is projected to be health and disability welfare payments to working-age adults, in particular more grants of Personal Independence Payments (PIP).

The total working-age adult health and disability benefit bill is forecast to rise from £58.2bn in 2024-25 to £78.1bn in 2029-30.

Sir Keir also legislated to remove the two-child limit on Universal Credit.

The official impact assessment suggests that this will result in 450,000 fewer children in relative poverty - after housing costs - by the end of the Parliament than there otherwise would have been.

Additional reporting by Tom Edgington, Becky Dale, Aidan McNamee, Jess Carr, Wesley Stephenson, Christine Jeavans and Daniel Wainwright

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Is Andy Burnham facing a £5bn defence 'black hole'?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14ymy41v5go, 4 days ago

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) increases military spending by £15bn over the next four years and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described this as "a historic shift", although critics say that this new money is still insufficient to keep the country safe.

Attention has turned now to how the extra spending in the DIP will be funded, with the Treasury revealing that the savings identified from other departments do not cover the full planned rise for defence.

This has resulted in talk of a "£5bn defence black hole" which could be a problem for Sir Keir's presumed successor Andy Burnham.

BBC Verify has looked into these figures to put them into context.

Is there a £5bn hole?

The Treasury has released a table showing that in the four years to 2029-30 defence spending will rise by an average of £3.75bn each year compared with its previous plans following the publication of the DIP.

The government has added up those annual increases to produce the figure of £15bn of extra spending on defence over four years.

The Treasury table also shows that around £1.2bn a year of that annual £3.75bn a year rise still has to be found and will be outlined in the Budget later in the year.

Adding up these annual funding shortfall figures over four years gives a total of £4.7bn.

However public finance experts say it's better to talk about budget shortfalls in annual terms, rather than cumulative totals spread over several years, which can produce exaggerated and confusing numbers.

So a clearer way to discuss the size of the DIP funding shortfall is around £1.2bn a year.

It is true that the next Budget - due in the autumn and Burnham's first assuming he becomes prime minister - will have to fund that gap whether through additional spending cuts, tax rises or additional borrowing.

Is £1.2bn a big number?

Total Whitehall departmental spending in 2026/27 is projected to be £678bn so £1.2bn represents only a small fraction of that - 0.17%.

£1.2bn is an even smaller fraction (0.1%) of total tax revenues which are forecast to be £1,170bn in 2026/27.

However, it's probably more appropriate to compare the funding gap figure to the amount of headroom - or leeway - that the Chancellor Rachel Reeves left herself against meeting her chosen fiscal rule, which is to balance day-to-day spending with tax revenues by the final year of the Parliament.

The 2026 Spring Statement left her headroom of around £24bn against meeting this goal, so £1.2bn would represent around 5% of that.

Ruth Curtice of the Resolution Foundation said this does create a relatively large figure in the context of budget gaps, pointing out to BBC Radio 4's Today programme that a decade ago all the new tax and spending measures outlined in a Budget sometimes added up to only £2bn a year in cash terms.

Though it's also worth putting this £1.2bn in the context of other decisions that governments take that throw public finance forecasts off course, such as the regular last minute decisions by chancellors in budgets over the past 16 years to freeze fuel duty rather than increase it in line with inflation.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has estimated that the extension of the fuel duty freeze through to 2029-30 would cost around £5.5bn a year.

How common are these funding gaps?

Ministers have argued that it is not unusual for governments to make decisions with spending implications which are then funded in subsequent Budgets.

Last year, for instance, Rachel Reeves announced a reversal of the cuts to the winter fuel payment without announcing where the money would come from.

There was major spending during the Covid pandemic for things like the furlough scheme which were announced outside of a Budget.

And in 2018 then-Prime Minister Theresa May announced announced a big five-year NHS funding package and left it to the next spending review and Budget to explain where that money was going to come from.

"It's not that unusual," says Thomas Pope, chief economist at the Institute for Government (IFG). "It's not best practice but it does happen."

He adds that the funding gap created by the DIP fits in the more "modest" category by historic standards of spending decisions taken between Budgets.

How credible are the other promised savings?

The Treasury says it has cut all other Whitehall departments' capital spending budgets by 1% over the next four years raising £1bn a year to help get extra money for defence.

There are also additional cuts to the budgets of the energy department (£500m per year on average) and transport department (£200m per year) which will involve cutting investment in roads.

There is also a contribution from public sector "asset sales" - such as government-owned land - which is set to raise around £275m per year on average over the next four years.

Another source of savings - £600m per year on average - comes from "Treasury support for ongoing international objectives and more efficient defence procurement". This means the Treasury will take responsibility from the MoD for future financial commitments to Ukraine if there is a ceasefire.

This could create more resources for the MoD, but it simply shifts those costs to another part of the public sector.

"If these new Treasury responsibilities require any spending, this will need to be paid for from somewhere else, potentially squeezing other budgets further," says Max Warner of the IFS.

It says this will be delivered through plans, among other things, to automate 20% of the MoD's human resources and finance departments by 2028 and by cutting spending on consultants.

It also expects savings from accelerating the use of Artificial Intelligence, with around £50m a year of "digital" efficiencies.

The biggest efficiency savings - around £1bn a year - are supposed to come from reforms of "acquisition", which means buying new defence equipment.

Defence procurement has historically been a source of major budget overruns for the MoD.

Public finance experts warned that it cannot be guaranteed that these savings will be delivered.

Carl Emmerson, a partner at consultancy London Economics, noted the government already has ambitious efficiency targets baked into its 2025 Spending Review settlements with individual departments, which set their budgets over the coming years.

"This just makes that challenge harder," he said.

"Sometimes efficiency savings just means cuts and doing less and therefore delivering slightly less," said Thomas Pope of the IFG.