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The US launched another round of air strikes against Iran on Saturday night, targeting its coastal surveillance and air defence facilities, US military officials said.

US Central Command (Centcom) said forces successfully hit Iranian military capabilities, while Iranian state media said Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz had been struck.

Centcom said it also targeted Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) responsible for the attack that killed two US troops in Jordan on Friday, where another service member remains missing.

In response to the latest strikes, Iran's army said it carried out drone attacks on two US bases in Kuwait, according to state media.

The US and Iran have ramped up attacks against each other in recent days, with both sides accused of striking critical infrastructure.

On Saturday, Iran said it carried out "large-scale attacks with kamikaze drones" against an American military "depot at Camp Udairi" and another at "Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait", according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.

The US strikes, on the eighth successive night of attacks, were "designed to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz", Centcom said.

The strikes were to "swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night," the statement continued.

It followed a week of renewed hostilities in which Washington reimposed its blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran declared the Strait of Hormuz closed, as their preliminary ceasefire collapsed less than a month after it began.

In a statement earlier on Saturday, Centcom said: "Two US service members in Jordan were killed in action as US Central Command (Centcom) and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally, one service member is currently missing.

"Out of respect for the families, Centcom will withhold additional information, including the identities of the fallen warriors, until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified."

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to the deaths with a post on X that said: "Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve."

The US death toll in the conflict has now risen to 16 after an American Navy pilot who went missing earlier this month was declared dead, marking the second increase in the toll this week.

Washington and Tehran struck a preliminary deal to end the war in June, but the agreement unravelled within weeks - with President Donald Trump declaring the agreement "over" on 8 July.

Tate brothers arrested in US after more charges laid against them in UK

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwymly9yd33o, today

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been arrested in the US after British authorities announced they were bringing further charges against them.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Andrew Tate was being charged with seven further counts of rape, as well as other charges relating to alleged crimes including sex trafficking and child pornography.

Tristan Tate has been charged with one count of sexual assault, two counts of rape and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The alleged offending is said to have taken place between July 2010 and August 2017. The Tates have previously denied any wrongdoing.

"These charging decisions followed receipt of a further file of evidence from Bedfordshire Police and bring the total number of alleged victims in this case to seven," Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Special Crime Division at the Crown Prosecution Service, said.

The US Marshals confirmed to the BBC that the Tates had been taken into custody, while a US Department of Justice spokesperson said the arrests were "pursuant to extradition proceedings".

The CPS said in its statement that prosecutors would seek the brothers' extradition.

In May 2025, prosecutors confirmed a list of 21 charges Andrew Tate, 39, and Tristan Tate, 37, will eventually face in the UK.

These alleged offences are said to have taken place between 2012 and 2016.

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Health officials identify source of US explosive diarrhoea outbreak

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gw9n1kx9do, today

A sample of iceberg lettuce from the food supplier Taylor Farms has tested positive for the parasite that caused an explosive diarrhoea outbreak affecting thousands of people in the US, officials said.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that Taylor Farms, which supplies the Taco Bell food chain, had confirmed the sample was taken from a product not part of its current recall announced on Friday.

The agriculture company announced on Friday that it was voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce from the US market sourced from central Mexico and issued a list of affected products.

No deaths have been reported but at least 94 people have been hospitalised due to cyclosporiasis infections.

A recall differs from a voluntary product removal in that it requires a company to notify customers and recover affected products from commerce, making it a broader and more costly corrective action.

The FDA said it collected the sample during targeted surveillance of the import as part of its investigation into the outbreak.

"Taylor Farms has confirmed that this positive product is not part of their current recall," the FDA said. "They are currently working to identify whether any part of this implicated lot is available in commerce or in consumers homes."

The infections were first detected on 13 May, according to the FDA.

Symptoms of the foodborne illness can take up to two weeks to present. They include watery diarrhoea that lasts for days, sudden weight loss, and a loss of appetite.

Thousands of people have been infected with Cyclospora linked to iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and sold at Taco Bell locations in at least five states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC advises not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.

The fast food chain said it had completed its removal of affected Taylor Farms lettuce from its restaurants.

In a statement, Taylor Farms said it has "stopped receiving product from the implicated lot, suspended distribution of the iceberg lettuce from Central Mexico, notified [its] customers and [is] continuing to work with the FDA, CDC, and state authorities".

The lettuce was recalled in 27 states. It also includes Marketside-branded iceberg lettuce sold at Walmart locations in 15 states, according to the FDA.

Grandmother, 82, wins law change so she can enjoy Happy Hour at care home

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70gz5y2xpxo, today

Grandmother-of-five Anita Le Brun has always loved a good glass of pinot grigio and her family's tradition of kicking off 5pm Happy Hours at their lakehouse.

The 82-year-old couldn't believe it, then, when she found out last year that her Minnesota assisted living facility was prohibited from serving drinks to residents because it didn't have a licence.

Already something of a social butterfly at Amira Choice Champlin, Le Brun agreed to become the face and voice of a mission to change the law.

After testifying twice before the state legislature, she shared a toast with Governor Tim Walz this week for a ceremonial signing of what's been nicknamed the "Grandparents' Happy Hour" bill at the very facility she calls home.

The legislation, which took effect this month, allows nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Minnesota to serve alcohol to residents and their guests for special events without a licence, as long as the state is notified beforehand.

"I'm very proud, because everybody's so excited about it," says Le Brun, adding that her fellow residents found the restrictions "ridiculous".

The rules on drinking in nursing homes or assisting living facilities are decided state by state and many facilities across the US actively promote Happy Hours and other events to encourage socialisation.

Residents at the care home Le Brun lives in have always been allowed to imbibe in their rooms, and to bring their own alcohol to community functions, said Amira Choice's Sara Luehmann.

She added that, due to older people being at greater risk of such things as falls, alcohol consumption has been limited to two drinks at social events.

Speaking at the signing of the legislation, Governor Walz said "growing older shouldn't mean giving up the traditions and freedoms you've enjoyed your whole life."

"This law cuts unnecessary red tape so senior living communities can spend less time worrying about paperwork and more time creating opportunities for residents to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, Happy Hours, and everyday moments together," he said at Tuesday's ceremony.

Le Brun's quest for change began after Amira Choice was contacted by local government saying it had broken the rules by serving champagne at an event in April 2025 following renovations.

The facility reached out to LeadingAge Minnesota, a nonprofit that helps senior care providers, saying that the cost of an alcohol licence and the conditions that go with it were prohibitive.

But financial concerns weren't the only motivating factor, LeadingAge's Erin Huppert said.

"This is their home," she said of Amira Choice's residents. "They should be allowed to take part in legal consumption of alcohol, just like they could if they lived in a single-family home in the community of their choice."

Huppert said other providers are already planning to follow suit.

One recent care home's attempt to regulate alcohol made headlines last month when 96-year-old TikTok star Lillian Droniak - whose 15.1 million followers know her as "Grandma Droniak" - defiantly shared a letter from the management of her facility in Connecticut.

She said it warned her to stop throwing parties in her room, telling her she could not serve alcohol to other residents for safety reasons.

Lillian's grandson, Kevin Droniak, told the BBC that she welcomed the Minnesota news.

"Let them drink!" she told him.

At Amira Choice, staff and residents are preparing for a bash next month.

"It'll be an all-day party for residents," said Luehmann, who added that Le Brun has been "the resident superstar" for months for getting the rules changed.

The grandmother, who testified before both Minnesota's House and Senate, practised her statement over the phone to her daughters and in front of the mirror.

"Just because we are older and live in assisted living doesn't mean that we should have fewer freedoms than anyone else," she told a Senate committee.

"My friends and I love happy hour, just like many of you do," she told them.

"Over a shared drink, we get to reminisce about parts of our life, military service, raising a family, the loss of a friend, and celebrating the golden phase of our lives."

Russia launches major ballistic missile attack on Kyiv

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2el7xpnzrpo, today

Russia has carried out a wave of ballistic missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, killing one person and wounding at least 14, officials say.

A number of areas in the region were hit overnight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it "one of the most massive ballistic attacks on Kyiv" since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian military said air defences had shot down 18 out of 41 missiles. The systems also intercepted 108 drones.

Meanwhile Ukraine has continued its own assault on Russian sites. The governor of the south-western Stavropol region said a drone attack had caused a fire in an industrial park.

The latest strikes on Kyiv involved a range of Russian weapons systems, including Iskander and hypersonic Zircon missiles, as well as 125 drones, the Ukrainian air force said.

On Sunday Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said both residential and non-residential buildings had been damaged in the latest attacks, including a supermarket and a dormitory.

Firefighters have been battling blazes at two warehouses.

In his message on Telegram, Zelensky said in the past week Russia had "used about 1,450 strike drones, more than 1,640 guided bombs and 99 missiles of various types against Ukraine".

The overnight strikes came after Ukraine sent drones to destroy two warehouses belonging to Russia's biggest online retailer, Wildberries, killing eight people and causing major fires.

Seven deaths and 25 injuries occurred at a facility in the city of Tambov, about 295 miles (475km) south-east of Moscow. One death and 37 injuries occurred at another Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal near the capital.

On Saturday, Zelensky said Ukraine's operations were in response to "Russian strikes on our civilian infrastructure and on our cities and communities".

Wildberries is often described as the Russian equivalent of Amazon. The RWB group, which combines Wildberries with advertising company Russ, was valued at about $12.6bn (£9.3bn) by Forbes Russia in 2026.

Ukraine has recently intensified its long-range drone attacks on Russia's critical energy infrastructure, causing widespread fuel shortages. Earlier this month, Kyiv said nearly 43% of Russia's oil refining capacity had 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.

Private jets flock to Montana - but locals can't afford the trailer park

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg92d8d40yo, today

Grandmother Sara Folger sits in the kitchen of her single-wide trailer, the Rocky Mountains looming in the distance, and remembers the Bozeman, Montana she fell in love with decades ago.

Back then, Folger says, the rural western outpost was filled with "back-to-the-land hippies, college students, cowboys and ski bums". But nowadays, the formerly sleepy streets are awash with diggers, orange construction cones and out-of-state license plates.

Since the pandemic, Bozeman's population has grown by about 20% - a huge jump for a town that had fewer than 50,000 people in 2019. The influx was fuelled by a unique set of drivers. The state had for years been drawing in conservatives from around the country, who were attracted to the state's historic emphasis on rugged individualism and self-reliance - as well as its lack of sales, luxury and inheritance taxes.

Their numbers increased exponentially as droves began "fleeing the Covid mess … on the East Coast and West Coast," says Mark Corner, president of Southwest Montana Realtors. And that made housing prices soar.

Many are choosing to pack and leave their hometown, while developers from elsewhere have gotten rich. A recent rent strike by two mobile home parks has epitomised the ongoing socioeconomic culture clash between the haves and have-nots - while highlighting a growing grass-roots effort to fight for the survival of the working class.

Bozeman Mayor Joey Morrison, who was elected at 28 on a platform focused on affordable housing, says the rapid change has created a sharp divide between locals and people from out of state.

"We were watching our rent double or triple in the span of a year or two," he says.

"Suddenly, every coffee shop is full of people coding on their computer or working for an organisation that has never stepped foot in the state of Montana."

One factor fuelling outsider interest in Bozeman, according to many, was the "Yellowstone Effect" – transplants drawn to the state by the fictitious runaway hit drama Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner. The show depicts the power struggles between patriarch John Dutton III, his children, the locals, and the outsiders seeking to change their bucolic ranching way of life.

"Everyone in Montana believes the Yellowstone television show, with its dramatic scenery and montages of Montana life and how beautiful it is here… had an impact on the housing market," says Jeff Michael, director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana.

Realtors and owners watched as "our home values jumped 40% in two years," says Corner - and the prices just keep going up.

Downtown has totally changed - small businesses were replaced by bespoke steakhouses, high-end retail chains and stores selling custom cowboy hats for tourists.

The airport - with a renovation under way - gets a steady stream of private traffic ferrying the rich to their homes at places like the exclusive Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, about an hour south, where stars like Justin Timberlake and Tom Brady own multi-million-dollar piles.

"Any given day out at our airport, there will be 80 to 100 private jets on the tarmac, primarily Yellowstone Club guests," says Corner.

During Covid, local buyers were systematically outbid by cash offers from out of state. So many people bought homes sight-unseen that the state realtor association added a new disclosure form to its contract library. And while Montanans were finding it impossible to get onto the property ladder, others were finding it equally unfeasible to even still rent.

"Every developer in America heard about the exorbitant rental rates in Bozeman and how attractive it was to develop here," Corner says. Apartment blocks and townhomes began materialising everywhere - fast - with rent for one-bedrooms coming in at $2000 a month or more - something no locals could afford, particularly those on single incomes.

It was on this wave of frustration that Mayor Morrison swept to victory in November 2023.

Now 30, the mayor lives with his fiancée – and two roommates. Before that, about 10 years ago, he rented a room in a duplex for $333; that same room now rents for $900, he says.

Morrison, who grew up in eastern Montana with a nurse mother and incarcerated father, was a founding member of Bozeman Tenants United, the union chapter that has since helped the mobile home parks strike. His mayoral election, he says, was a referendum on housing policy and local government's perceived abandonment of the average Montanan.

"It really was this huge groundswell… that was clearly saying: We want one of us to represent us in City Hall," he says.

He sees "a lot of hopelessness out there for the ability to stay in this state, stay in this city in particular," he says.

Many homeowners have sold up, cashed out and fled the state; renters who've stayed are working two to three jobs or living with roommates. They're moving further out of Bozeman and commuting on mountain roads. Some couples are putting off having children, the mayor says.

Even Folger's trailer park - where she has lived in her three-bedroom, two-bathroom home for 17 years - is not immune. Her lot rent has nearly doubled since moving in, even accounting for inflation.

"There are so many people here [for whom] this is their last stop," says Folger, 73, a former Bozeman city grants administrator who now works part-time at Whole Foods (which opened in 2023, the first one in the state). "They have no place to go. They don't have the money to pay the rent. There's no housing for them that they can afford. There's nothing.

"Where are they going to go?"

She and other residents of two mobile home parks unionised in May to stage Montana's first rent strike in 50 years, according to the fledgling, youth-filled local tenant union that helped them organise. The strike was a response to an almost $100 hike in monthly plot rent - the rent mobile home owners pay to park their home.

The park was soon sold, and is now being managed by a company out of California, leaving the fate of residents - and their mobile homes - in doubt.

"You can't move a mobile home that's been sitting for 25 years. It will disintegrate," says Mountain Meadows resident Ben Moore, 35, who first moved to the park with his father in high school. "The only equity I have is in this trailer. It's the same for a lot of people … even if we could move the trailer, where are you supposed to move it to?"

Although some residents have agreed to new terms with management, others say the fight isn't over.

In addition to the election of their young mayor, Bozeman local Katie Fire Thunder, 25, was appointed in December to the Montana House of Representatives. Sam Forstag, a 31-year-old union leader and former smokejumper - a person who parachutes in to fight forest fires - just won the Democratic nomination for Montana's 1st congressional district, defeating a more establishment candidate.

"Young people have seen, right in front of our very eyes, the way that our leaders currently are not making decisions that are protecting us," Fire Thunder says.

"They are making reactionary, short-term decisions that are benefiting… the wealthiest in this state, while we are all watching and are like: This is not how Montana works or Montana runs."

The coffee shop she's sitting in, near MSU's campus, is not even 1.5 miles away from JW Heist, a swanky Main Street eatery downtown - where the previous night, diners at the ornate wooden bar included a medical sales rep, an out-of-state property investor and a Colorado dad in town for his son's MSU orientation.

Looking at the whiskey list - with the most expensive pours costing $170 - the Colorado man noted he'd "seen these elsewhere for a quarter of the price."

The blonde sales rep seated next to him answered wryly.

"That's Bozeman."

Russians turn to cash, putting more strain on slowing wartime economy

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cglj255jk8ko, today

Russians are returning to cash, as mobile internet shutdowns disrupt card payments, and more businesses seek to dodge tax under mounting financial pressure more than four years into the war with Ukraine.

Russia has added 1.56tn roubles (£14.8bn; $20bn) in cash into circulation since the start of the year - the biggest rise for the equivalent period in any year outside the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Central Bank figures analysed by the BBC.

The spike comes amid a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks, which have repeatedly led the Kremlin to shut down mobile internet across large swathes of the country, leaving many unable to pay by card. The government says the aim of the shutdowns is to counter the drone strikes.

"Having cash on hand gives you some sense of control and security," one woman in Moscow told the BBC on condition of anonymity. "If there's an emergency in the city, I know I'll still be able to buy basic necessities, even if the mobile network goes down."

The latest increase follows several earlier wartime surges in cash withdrawals as Russians have sought a buffer against uncertainty.

Cash in circulation jumped after President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation in September 2022 and during a brief mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in June 2023.

Now, the shift is making it harder for the state to collect tax, just as it faces a widening budget deficit and needs every rouble it can raise to fund the war in Ukraine.

Although Russia's oil and gas sector, which accounts for about a quarter of state revenues, has benefited from a recent rise in oil prices following the Iran war, the broader economy is slowing.

In May, the Russian economy ministry cut its GDP growth forecast to 0.4% for 2026, putting the country on course for its weakest economic growth since 2022.

To boost revenues, the Kremlin hiked VAT from 20% to 22% in January, and lowered the threshold at which small and medium-sized businesses have to pay it, pushing many already struggling firms to the brink.

With margins squeezed by higher taxes and a slowing economy, pharmacies, restaurants, beauty salons and corner shops are increasingly steering customers towards cash to keep more income off the books.

"Stalls at our market have been closing one after another because it's no longer profitable to stay open," said one woman, who runs a small clothing shop at a market in the western city of Pskov.

"Most of those still trading ask customers to pay in cash whenever they can, so less money goes through the till."

Taras Skvortsov, chief financial officer of Russia's largest lender Sberbank, warned last month that there were "very serious signs" that more businesses were paying wages "in envelopes" under the table.

"This is a very worrying moment... We are not seeing cash return to the banking system through cash collection, ATMs or self-service terminals," said Skvortsov, in comments cited by state news agency Interfax. "It is staying in people's hands".

About 6% of entrepreneurs said they had turned to "grey schemes" to cope with the new tax burden, including avoiding cash-register receipts, according to a May survey by Russia's largest SME association, Opora Russia.

Cash payments help businesses understate turnover to stay below the VAT threshold, while cash wages help them avoid payroll taxes.

Cracking down on the shadow economy has become a key goal for the Kremlin. Before the VAT rise took effect, Putin warned the new rules must not push firms into the shadows and called for a "radical reduction in illegal employment".

"One arm of the government is trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of people through higher taxes, fines and other charges," Alexander Kolyandr, a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told the BBC.

"But another, in trying to counter so-called terrorist threats, is undermining that strategy by making it harder to collect tax," he said, referring to the mobile internet shutdowns.

The Soviet-era instinct to keep money "under the mattress" is making a comeback despite double-digit returns on bank deposits, which have been kept high as the central bank battles stubborn, war-fuelled inflation.

A 100,000-rouble (£950; $1,280) one-year fixed-term deposit at Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, currently pays 10% interest.

Even so, central bank data showed Russians withdrew 550bn roubles from bank accounts in May, including 200bn roubles from fixed-term deposits.

Anton, a copywriter living in Moscow, said a vendor at a vinyl shop offered him a discount for paying in cash. "He was upfront about the reason, higher taxes," he told the BBC.

When mobile internet shutdowns intensified during heightened security around Russia's Victory Day celebrations in May, he said he saw people struggling to withdraw money to spend at a flower market in central Moscow.

"There was a woman going from one ATM to another, looking for one that still had banknotes."

Cuban dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara goes into exile in US

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2k77p2r1xo, today

One of Cuba's most prominent dissidents has gone into exile in the US, after leaving Cuba where he had served a five-year prison sentence.

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, 38, is the leader of the San Isidro Movement (SIM), a group of artists, journalists and intellectuals who have campaigned for freedom of speech and democracy in the communist country.

He was arrested in 2021 during Cuba's largest anti-government protests in decades and spent five years ⁠in the maximum-security Guanajay prison near Havana.

His whereabouts have been unclear in recent days as Cuban authorities held him in an unknown location while the US approved a parole request.

Emerging from the airport in Miami, the 38-year-old was greeted by supporters who sang the Cuban national anthem as he held up his forefinger and thumb in the shape of the letter L to represent '"Libertad" - meaning freedom, a recognised anti-government symbol.

"I believe the dictatorship has to end, and the Castro dynasty has to end, as well," Otero Alcántara later told journalists. "Because as long as there is a Castro in power, there will be corruption."

Cuban authorities allege the SIM is funded by Washington and has been used to subvert the state, claims the movement denies. Many members say they have been constantly targeted by the security forces, and some arbitrarily detained.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Cuban government's "brutal crackdown against its own people five years ago is yet another reminder of the unique misery and evil that is innate to the communist system".

"Otero Alcántara's only 'crime' was refusing to stay silent and using his art to demand the basic freedoms everyday Cubans have been denied for almost seven decades," he said in a statement.

The cases of Otero Alcántara and fellow SIM member Maykel Castillo, known as "Osorbo", who is serving an eight-year prison sentence, have been a recurring source of diplomatic tension between Washington and Havana.

That tension has swelled in recent months, with the Trump administration hitting Cuba with an oil blockade, sanctions and openly threatening military intervention.

Last week the BBC's US news partner CBS reported that the Pentagon was looking at military options in Cuba, although it quoted officials as saying the briefings did not mean any decision to carry out an operation had been made.

The US oil blockade has exacerbated an ongoing fuel crisis, with Cubans facing extended blackouts and food shortages in recent months.

The US also announced in May an unprecedented murder indictment against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, over the 1996 downing of two planes, an incident that killed four people. Russia and China condemned the move.

Tourism has taken a major hit amid the US sanctions, with fewer than 360,000 people visiting the island in the first five months of 2026, a decrease of nearly 60% compared to the same period last year, according to Onei.

Washington warned in May that a peaceful agreement with the Caribbean nation was unlikely.

The 1975's Matty Healy marries model Gabbriette Bechtel in Los Angeles

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ywxp2d826o, today

The 1975's frontman Matty Healy and model Gabriette Bechtel have tied the knot in Los Angeles.

The couple announced their engagement in 2024, after dating for nine months, and got married on Saturday.

A statement shared from the couple's representatives said the pair were married "at a private ceremony in Los Angeles, attended by their family and close friends".

According to several US media outlets, they were married at Madonna's former estate in the Hollywood Hills and celebrities including Charli XCX were in attendance.

Bechtel, 28 and Healy, 37 were first linked months after he split from Taylor Swift, whom he dated briefly in 2023. Their relationship allegedly inspired some of the tracks on Swift's acclaimed album, The Tortured Poets Department.

In June 2024, Bechtel shared a photo of her wearing a large black diamond ring on her ring finger on Instagram.

She wrote: "Marrying The 1975 is very brat."

Healy's mother, Loose Women star Denise Welch, later confirmed the engagement on a podcast.

Videos of Healy performing with The 9075 - a tribute band to The 1975 - reportedly at his stag do, circulated online after the event.

Bechtel also shared photos from her Las Vegas hen-do, showing the model being handcuffed and carried onto a plane by a man dressed as a police officer.

Other snaps showed fake 100 dollar bills spread across the floor, her posing with burlesque star Dita Von Teese, and dancing with an Elvis impersonator.

The American model is also a musician, known for being the lead vocalist and songwriter of the punk rock band Nasty Cherry, which was formed by Charli XCX. Her husband, George Daniel, is The 1975's drummer.

The 1975 are known for their songs Chocolate, Somebody Else, and Girls and have had five UK number one albums including their 2013 self-titled debut, 2020's Notes On A Conditional Form and their most recent album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, which was released in 2022.

They also headlined Glastonbury last year. The band have since gone on an "indefinite hiatus" from performing live shows.

The BBC has contacted Healy and Bechtel for comment.

Why the World Cup half-time show may be a taste of things to come

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyr498vqqpo, today

Half-time at a football game is normally a chance to grab a drink or snack, make a mad dash for the toilets or vent with friends about some questionable refereeing or defending.

But at this year's World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, for the first time in the tournament's history, there will be a half-time show - complete with performances from Madonna, Shakira, BTS and Justin Bieber.

It's already caused controversy in the sporting world as the performance means the break will last up to 25 minutes - when the International Football Association Board (Ifab) states players are entitled to a maximum 15-minute stoppage.

The show will take place on Sunday night at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and has been described by governing body Fifa as a "landmark celebration at the intersection of sport, music and global impact".

Does a performance like this, during the most-watched sporting event in the world, herald something similar coming soon to a stadium near you? And do fans want that?

It is expected that both the BBC and ITV will screen the full show, with punditry filling the gap while the stadium staging is put up and taken down.

At last year's Club World Cup final, which was also organised by Fifa and held in New Jersey, there was a 24-minute half-time featuring live music from Coldplay, J Balvin, Doja Cat and Tems.

Sports broadcaster Betty Glover, who has been covering the World Cup across the US for the last month, worked at last year's Club World Cup final in the same stadium.

"There's a battle to get more Americans involved and fall in love with this game - it's obviously not their main sport, but when you're walking around speaking to people, more are getting on board with it," she tells the BBC.

James Massing, whose team at Live Nation is responsible for putting on the World Cup final half-time show, says "expectation from fans has heightened" when it comes to big sporting events, meaning music could feature more in future.

He tells the BBC the sports industry needs to innovate because it is "competing with any other live experience - going to the museum, going to the theatre, going to the cinema".

Massing, who has also worked on the Super Bowl and the Club World Cup final show, feels adding a musical performance makes "a final feel like a final".

While watching The Killers perform ahead of the Uefa Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in May this year "you felt the energy in the stadium peak," he adds.

But British football content creator Ellis Platten is "not a fan" of some initiatives at this year's World Cup, including the half-time show or the hydration breaks.

The hydration breaks take place 22 minutes into each half and have been used to show adverts on some US networks.

"I get that it's the World Cup final, but it's the most-watched event in the world already and I don't think you need to add these things to it," he tells us.

"Being a football fan in a stadium, by the end of half time people are quite restless."

Platten, 28, has been travelling around the host nations to watch World Cup games for the last month.

He says he is "curious to see how the half-time show affects the game in general".

Ifab have previously rejected proposals to extend football half-times beyond 15 minutes, citing concerns over player welfare and the potential for injury after prolonged inactivity.

"You'd almost have to make a sub at half time because of player welfare," Platten notes.

He adds: "They're not thinking about that, they're just thinking 'oh we can have Justin Bieber on stage' but Messi's in a World Cup final - I think he's slightly more important."

Glover agrees and says she is "not sure football needs" a half-time show.

"The World Cup this year feels very American, I'm watching coverage in the US and you've got so many adverts, they barely do any analysis," she says.

Massing says "there is no compromise when it comes to the integrity of the sport" and adds that "player welfare is absolutely fundamental" when organising half-time shows.

Coldplay's Chris Martin has curated the World Cup final performance - and it will feature Nigerian star Burna Boy. According to Fifa, the acts are not being paid but the event will raise money for an education fund.

It will conclude a North American World Cup where celebrities have been seen at every turn - from delivering the match ball to waving to cameras after flashing up on big screens during games.

Musical performances at sports events are nothing new - American football's Super Bowl has had a half-time show since 1967.

But in the UK and Europe the uptake has been slower - the first musical performance at the Champions League was 10 years ago, while the British Grand Prix started adding music to its F1 offering at Silverstone three years ago.

American sports appear to be setting a precedent - international NFL games, taking place in mostly European cities, added specific half-time shows to all games in 2025.

"What is starting to happen is a lot of sports are becoming more global," Massing says.

When that happens, there is naturally a shift to try and make that event "an occasion and a moment rather than a game," he adds.

Platten fears that following Fifa's move, half-time shows could become a part of domestic football - something he says would be unnecessary.

Glover is not so sure about whether the concept will catch on and says she "can't imagine this happening in Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the next World Cup".

For her, "If entertainment attracts new fans without compromising the football itself then it is a positive thing."

16 World Cup viral moments - from Posh Spice's nonchalance to Haaland's bromance

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdr4rrzypymo, yesterday

This summer's World Cup in North America has been viewed in homes, pubs and fan parks across many parts of the UK.

We've seen football stars light up our screens - and occasionally break our hearts. Plus plenty of punditry (whether on a Brooklyn balcony or in a Salford studio), travelling fans booing hydration breaks, glamorous celebrities and online watch parties with the likes of IShowSpeed.

Moments like these and from the wider tournament have spilled onto our social feeds, of course, producing many memes.

So as the tournament draws to a close, here are some of the more memorable viral moments and trends from over the past five weeks.

1. Posh keeps cool in the Miami heat

While former England captain Sir David Beckham was seen punching the air with delight as Jude Bellingham scored to help them beat Norway in Miami, his wife, Spice Girl Victoria became queen of the World Cup meme for remaining calmly seated in the family executive box.

Comedian Jenny Johnson poked fun at her nonchalant demeanour on Instagram joking that her "energy is electric".

Inter Miami FC co-owner Sir Becks came to Posh's defence, though, replying that "she was celebrating inside, I promise. Her reactions were slightly slower than mine".

2. Tartan Army take over Boston

Scotland may have exited after the group stage but their supporters left a lasting impression.

Led by bagpipers, the Tartan Army marched through Boston to see the Red Sox, taking over Fenway Park.

US baseball players hailed the atmosphere they created - by singing Scottish football anthems including Yes Sir, I Can Boogie and I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - as among the best they have experienced outside the World Series.

The fans ingratiated themselves to the locals so much that the Mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, now plans to formalise an international partnership between the city and Glasgow.

Their trip to Miami looked not half bad too.

3. Emma Hayes in the 'kitchen' with the tactics board

The popular football magazine Four Four Two last week selected USA and former Chelsea manager Emma Hayes as its pundit of the tournament.

Hayes "has made the hydration breaks must-watch TV for every game ITV have put her on", noted writer Steven Chicken.

But the network had to upgrade her tactics corner after viewers made allegations of sexism regarding her set resembling a kitchen with a chalkboard.

Hayes addressed the criticism during a break in the Brazil v Haiti game, however, by wryly encouraging viewers to focus on her match analysis instead.

"I know that's a challenge for some of us at home," she quipped, signing off with a pointed "pay attention".

4. IShowSpeed now shows games

IShowSpeed, the backflipping, barking and half-and-half shirt-wearing internet personality, will perform his song (World Cup) Champions at the closing ceremony before Sunday's final.

Revealing the news on Tuesday, he said it would be "one of my most craziest achievements".

The influencer and online streamer has been one of the real winners at this year's World Cup, hosting online watch parties from inside stadiums during games.

And while his style of commentary may be a little bit different to Lee Dixon or Alan Shearer, his 52 million followers have been able to see official feeds of certain matches via his YouTube channel, thanks to a special partnership involving them, Fox and Fifa.

Presenter and commentator Chris Latchem tells us: "Fifa want him there because, in a weird roundabout way, he is attracting the legacy stars because they want to be around him because younger people, like their kids, are like, 'Oh wow, did you see Beckham was with Speed?'."

To top it all off, the star was gifted a pair of game-worn boots by his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo. A flipping good result.

5. The Rest is Gary Lineker (everywhere)

Former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker took his podcast, The Rest is Football, to Netflix for the World Cup.

He's been based in a Times Square studio but one of his fellow podcasters Micah Richards has been commuting back and forth from the Big Apple to Salford to fulfil his BBC duties.

In a weird moment, Lineker - who left the BBC last year after an antisemitism row - briefly re-appeared on the broadcaster, gate-crashing Richards' analysis of the England v Norway match, which he was doing via video from New York.

The former England striker popped up in the background in his England shirt to declare "definitely a penalty" and "come on England" - while Richards was left speechless.

This all came a few weeks after Lineker, England's all-time second-top World Cup scorer, had presented a surprise opening link for ITV.

"Woah woah woah," joked actual presenter Laura Woods. "Gary, that's my job."

6. Cape Verde keeper reunited with mother

Cape Verde became the smallest country to make the knockout stages and won hearts in the process.

Forty-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha became an overnight global sensation after playing a starring role in his nation's opening draw against one of the favourites, Spain.

It led to him being reunited with his mother, Ana Cândida Évora, who had initially been unable to travel because of the high costs of getting a US visa.

But better late than never, and with the help of Washington officials she made it in time to embrace her son in training before attending the Uruguay game.

Vozinha's team-mate, winger Sidny Cabral provided another moment of joy, scoring an incredible extra-time equaliser against Argentina, before heading up into the crowd as if he'd just won Wimbledon to find and hug a loved one of his own.

The beautiful game.

7. Zlatan and Henry show Lalas how it's done

In the US coverage, Fox pundit and ex-USA international Alexi Lalas appeared to be losing the battle of analysis styles with Thierry Henry.

But the knockout blow was landed when the French World Cup winner dummied to roll the ball to Lalas, only to recover it with gallic flair, then putting on an impressive display of kick-ups alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the humbled American looked on.

"The studio will never forget," as Zlatan put it on Instagram.

8. The Haaland-Bellingham bromance

Despite having been the top scorer in the English Premier for several years, Erling Haaland seems to have passed North America by - until now.

It all changed this summer with the internet effectively honouring the eccentric giant Norway and Manchester City striker with his own cinematic universe of memes on TikTok and Instagram.

And there was plenty of material to draw on, with Haaland featuring alongside his stunt double Channing Tatum in an epic World Cup advert before bagging seven goals, many thousands of new followers and then returning home... with a stuffed racoon.

But it was perhaps his bromance with former Borussia Dortmund team-mate, England star Bellingham that garnered the most attention - as old images and clips of them together resurfaced ahead of their quarter-final match-up.

"He's such a good guy... we had so much fun together," noted the Norwegian afterwards. "England is lucky" to have him, he added.

9. The Viking row

Goal machine Haaland led the Norway fans in their now famous Viking row following their big win over Brazil.

After 28 years waiting for a World Cup appearance, their supporters were found rowing everywhere, from Times Square (above) to cinemas back home.

It was quite a sight.

Not all Norway fans were having it, though. Emil Anners Lappen was seen sat among the mass rowers unmoved - a la Posh Spice.

He told Sky News he found the whole thing "really stupid" and "annoying" as well as historically inaccurate.

"The Vikings sailed across the Atlantic," he stressed. "They did not row."

10. Henderson's night to remember/forget

At the Azteca, England's Jordan Henderson managed to get himself booked and then suffer a freak arm and wrist injury - all despite having not even played.

The unused veteran was stretchered off and taken to hospital after hurting himself hurdling an advertising board in the victory celebrations.

11. Harry Kane's hoarse interview

Henderson's captain Harry Kane seemed unconcerned about the injured midfielder, though, in his post match press interview.

He was more worried about the fact his voice had gone on live TV, and in comedy fashion.

If you'd closed your eyes you'd have been forgiven for thinking Kermit the Frog was answering BBC reporter Kelly Somers' questions.

Rooney, who was cracking up in the studio alongside Richards and former England goalie Joe Hart, called it "the best interview I've ever seen".

But why was Kane's voice so shot?...

12. Wonderwall becomes England anthem

...Because (maybe) he'd been singing Wonderwall.

Sang by supporters, including Beckham, and players alike after all five of England's victories - from Dallas to Miami via Mexico City - the new trend also saw the 1995 Oasis classic surge back up the UK charts.

One music journalist told us it was the "perfect football song" with its melodious mix of "euphoria and melancholy".

13. Belgium players do the Trump dance

One of the most controversial moments of the tournament saw Fifa overturn a red card given to USA striker Folarin Balogun, after a quick phone call between the US President Donald Trump and his Fifa counterpart, Gianna Infantino.

A Trump card, if you will.

It meant Balogun could line up against Belgium, who routinely thrashed the co-hosts anyway.

Belgium's own star striker Romalu Lukaku celebrated his goal by pointing an angry finger up towards where the dignitaries sit before leading his side in a dance that appeared to mock the US president's famous moves.

Footage shared online showed the players continuing the dance in the changing room afterwards to the tune of a song Trump frequently plays at rallies - YMCA.

14. Lamine Yamal's 'extremely cute' brother

That was how BBC presenter Kelly Cates described him and it's hard to disagree.

The Spain winger's three-year-old brother Keyne has been another viral sensation this summer, discovering golf to be an incredibly frustrating sport, among other things.

Keyne lost the plot in a wholesome way having caught himself on the big screen after Spain's win over Belgium.

Luckily his big brother, only 19 himself, appeared to spot it and was seen smiling up at him from the pitch.

Yamal, as a baby boy himself, was famously pictured being bathed by then Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

Now the two will meet in Sunday's final.

15. DR Congo fan stands still like a statue

DR Congo superfan Michel Kuka Mboladinga, better known as Lumumba Vea or the "living statue", became one of the most recognisable spectators early on in the tournament.

He was pictured being completely still for the duration of matches, with one arm raised while smartly dressed in his country's colours.

The stance recreates that of a statue housed in his country's capital Kinshasa - a tribute to Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the First Congolese Republic in 1960.

But it could also work well as an offside trap.

16. Merlin the duck's magic World Cup

And finally, Scotland fans found their own duck, as did Argentina. But the mightiest one for sure was Merlin, who became co-hosts Mexico's World Cup "ambassador" after videos of the family pet were shared on social media.

The two-year-old was seen proudly waddling through the streets of Mexico City in his kit.

It's fair to say, he had a quacking tournament.

Why some women are being driven out of the workplace by an illness

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79yyzw9v8xo, today

Carla Cressy worked as a model from the age of five until she was 17, but kept collapsing on shoots.

"It was really embarrassing and I couldn't do it anymore," she says.

From the age of 13, when she started her periods, she was plagued by excruciating pain but she was only finally diagnosed with endometriosis when she was 25.

By then, doctors had removed her appendix, mistakenly thinking she had acute appendicitis.

"I was hospitalised for chronic constipation several times. I wasn't able to eat, I was vomiting and in such severe pain but I kept being told it was a stomach bug."

Carla ended up retraining as a beauty therapist because she felt she was "unemployable and unreliable" due to her health.

"I would have a client, then sit in a boiling hot bath to ease my stomach pain. It was horrible, but it was the only way I could earn a living," the 35-year-old from Essex says.

One in six women with endometriosis are estimated to leave the workplace due to the condition, which causes tissue similar to the lining of the womb to grow outside it.

Carla recently gave evidence to an ongoing inquiry into how the condition affects women in the workplace.

There is currently no legislation in the UK to ensure workers with menstrual health conditions are treated fairly if they need time off work.

Because her endometriosis had been left untreated for so long, it had formed into frozen pelvis disease where "everything was stuck together".

It destroyed Carla's reproductive organs and was so extensive she was left needing bladder reconstruction surgery and a total hysterectomy.

"Thankfully, I managed to freeze my eggs but I can't now carry a baby, so if I do decide to have children I will have to go down the surrogacy route," she says.

While bedridden after surgery Carla connected with other women with endometriosis and started online support groups which evolved into her forming a charity, The Endometriosis Foundation.

"It still shocks me that this condition is so common," she says. "When I was diagnosed 10 years ago, I was told I was too young and that it was rare. We now know that it is absolutely not rare.

"A lot of people still believe endometriosis is just a period condition. It's so much more than that. We're talking about lung collapse, kidney loss, extensive surgeries, infertility and careers being cut short."

'I threw up in a bin at work'

Abi Smith, 27, who is originally from Braintree but now lives in Lowestoft, was prescribed a gut health yoghurt by doctors when she was 10 and struggling with pelvic pain.

When she started her periods soon after, she said the pain was so bad "I felt like I was dying".

"I worked in the post office," she said. "I would have periods where I was at work hunched over trying to serve customers, throwing up in the bin, running off to the toilet every three minutes."

There was a long delay before Abi, like Carla, was eventually diagnosed.

For her it was not until she was 21 and she feels doctors failed to take her seriously.

She is currently going through her third medically induced menopause, which "shuts down" her ovaries and helps manage her pain.

"I'm just completely infuriated by everything I've had to go through.

"I've become a very bitter person because of all of this," she says.

Abi has applied for disability benefits and been rejected three times. She now works as a sales administrator and despite her pain she must carry on working.

She feels hopeful the inquiry is looking into how the condition affects women in the workplace, but would like to see it widened out.

"It's encouraging because it's a real struggle to be productive and show up every day."

"I've always worked, I've always tried my best to stay in work even though I feel like absolute crap," she says.

'It's medical misogyny'

Psychotherapist Dr Sula Windgassen says women with endometriosis are often told their symptoms are "all in their head".

Many have had to quit their jobs, leaving them isolated and more anxious, she says.

"Therapy often becomes a space for exploring alternative careers, hybrid working arrangements, or other ways of maintaining employment. None of those decisions are simple.

"Some individuals spend two or three hours every morning recovering from the pain caused simply by going to the toilet.

"I've spoken with women who describe their pain as being beyond 10 out of 10, where all they can do is lie down and endure it.

"That isn't something a person can simply recover from and then continue with a normal work day. It's incredibly sad that more support isn't available."

She is currently researching medical gaslighting and gathering evidence via a questionnaire.

"There is a serious problem within healthcare around medical misogyny and unconscious bias.

"The more people are dismissed medically, the worse their health outcomes are likely to be. We see changes in inflammation, alterations in cortisol patterns, and a range of other biological effects that interact directly with health outcomes."

'Endometriosis has spread to my lungs'

Monica Thomas, 34, from Ipswich had to wait years before she was diagnosed with endometriosis.

The condition has now spread to her lungs and she is due to have lung surgery, while she is also waiting for operations on her bowels and pelvis.

Monica also lives with adenomyosis, where the womb lining grows into the muscle in the womb's wall, pelvic congestion syndrome which causes chronic pelvic pain, and Lichen Sclerosus, which is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that most commonly affects the genitals.

"Throughout that journey, I felt incredibly isolated, lonely, confused," she says. "I didn't have anywhere to turn."

Monica wonders if her health issues could have been prevented if she had been believed by doctors in the first place.

While researching the condition, she came across many other women in similar situations who felt "unheard and unsupported".

She now works to empower other women after setting up the charity Women's Health Hope.

It is due to open a women's health hub in the Unity Centre in Ipswich next month.

"For me, it's been incredibly important to actually give women somewhere they can go so that they can let their emotions out, talk to people, feel supported.

"Because we don't have it, we don't have that support.

"In a recent study 84% of women feel unheard by the healthcare professionals.

"It's a really large amount of women and to be able to give them a place to go where they can feel heard and supported, I think for me it was a no-brainer."

An NHS spokesperson said: "Medical professionals, including GPs, should follow National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines to diagnose endometriosis.

"Struggling patients can also receive specialist care for menstrual problems and endometriosis through women's health hubs, which are available in most areas."

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Can Burnham's casual style survive contact with No 10?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgq2qr9gxdo, today

Andy Burnham has lots to think about as his arrival in Downing Street draws closer - the cost of living, the ongoing war in Ukraine, how to fund defence to name just three.

At some point though, he'll have to find time to decide what to wear.

The MP for Makerfield has sometimes been accused of changing his political clothes, and on his journey from Manchester to London, he changed his actual clothes.

He boarded the train at Manchester Piccadilly in his trademark dark T-shirt, trousers and Adidas trainers only to emerge, more than two hours later, at London Euston in a suit.

Twenty minutes later, he turned up in Parliament, having added a tie to his ensemble.

Was this wardrobe change a symbolic gesture - Burnham signalling that with his move from Greater Manchester mayor to prime minister he would be adopting a more formal style in the job?

Or was it a one-off, with Burnham planning to maintain his "Manchester clothes" - which have been variously described as "normcore," "centrist dad" and "The Smiths meets Britpop" - once he gets the keys to No 10.

Emma Finamore, features editor at Drapers Magazine has dubbed Burnham "the king of the casuals".

His look is considered "smart" but "less formal than other politicians", she says.

"It's aspirational but attainable. A lot of the stuff he wears isn't outside the realm of possibility."

Harrington jackets, high-street staples such as polo shirts from Uniqlo and Wallabees from Clarks, are often part of the "smart-Manc" costume, characterised by a deliberate departure from the traditional suit-and-tie uniform of the SW1 postcode.

But if he does return to ties and suits as prime minister, it will only be a regression to his previous Westminster look.

Pre-2020, Burnham was more often seen in a suit than without one.

In photos from his second Labour leadership campaign in 2015, he is suited and booted sitting next to one of his rival candidates, the far more casual Jeremy Corbyn.

The tie-less, suit-less Corbyn romped to victory in that contest, beating Burnham into second place.

After leaving Westminster, Burnham similarly began to dispense with ties and jackets.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2022, he said: "I remember, when I left, slowly realising: 'I don't have to do this any more.'

"What I would have worn to the match at weekends, I just started wearing. It was an evolution and I'm not going back."

His Howick jacket - the one he wore when making his angry intervention in the Covid lockdown debates - has become an exhibit in Manchester's People's History Museum.

Finamore says Burnham is "a savvy enough politician to know when he can wear some things and when he can't. He will have to abide by dress codes.

"I don't think he will go back fully. He has got that confidence. He seems to have found his political identity and also his style as mayor of Greater Manchester."

One place he will have to abide by a formal dress code is in the House of Commons.

The previous Speaker, John Bercow, relaxed the rules, telling MPs they didn't need to wear a tie, but his successor Sir Lindsay Hoyle is having none of it.

Speaking at his summer reception for Westminster journalists, he said: "King of the North or not, unless Andy Burnham swaps his dark T-shirt for a shirt and tie, in my Kingdom, he's not going to get called."

Burnham's "Manchester clothes" are also unlikely to wash at the White House.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to eschew suits for military-style clothing is driven by his desire to show solidarity for soldiers fighting the Russians.

But it annoyed some Americans and his attire was a factor in the infamous bust-up between Zelensky, Trump and his Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office.

It may seem trivial, but clothes do matter in politics.

As previous British prime ministers, particularly Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher, have showed, fashion can be used as a powerful political tool.

Renowned for her signature wardrobe of high-shoulder suits, pussy-bow blouses, and her iconic handbag, Thatcher cultivated an image that sought to project a sense of authority and purpose.

In contrast, Wilson - often anchored by his ever-present pipe and Gannex coat - was famed for a pragmatic, utilitarian wardrobe that defined the "cloth-cap" socialism of the 1960s and 70s.

The dress sense of female politicians, says Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, comes under much more scrutiny than that of their male counterparts.

"There's an enormous double standard with this," Ford says. "It's harder for a female politician because you've got to make choices all the time."

At least men can always fall back on suits, he says.

Image isn't everything though, as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch argued last month, when she dismissed Burnham as "a pair of eyelashes and a black T-shirt".

In a video responding to her dig, Burnham looked down at his T-shirt before saying: "It's not black, it's dark navy."

In a speech made after he was confirmed as the new Labour leader this week, Burnham - wearing a suit and tie - could not resist bringing up his clothes again.

Labour, he said, had worn "too many Tory clothes" in the past.

"Let me tell you - I'm quite happy that Kemi doesn't approve of my wardrobe choices – because I'm not keen on theirs either," Burnham said. "From here, we do it differently."

Ironically, Sir Keir Starmer had also embraced the dress-down spirit of his successor, with the outgoing PM sometimes seen in tracksuits, a Stone Island polo shirt, and Adidas trainers.

The difference, says Prof Rob Ford, is that Burnham's fashion choices have cut through with the public.

"The fact people have noticed he has a distinctive manner of dress is a victory for his branding efforts," Ford says.

Like Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Burnham likes to be photographed swigging pints in pubs.

"The aim of his clothes is similar - to say I'm not a professional politician, I'm one of you," Ford says.

Retaining that approachable, homespun persona while adhering to the sartorial conventions and expectations of Westminster will be a challenge for Burnham.

In an era when politics has never been more visual, he'll need to dress to impress, whatever he decides to wear.

The man who balances bikes, ladders and sheds on his chin

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpq30n2v0ywo, 3 days ago

A builder who can balance items like sheds, ladders and bicycles on his chin is hoping to break a world record.

Tobey Newall, 25, from Salford, said he had discovered the talent after a trip to a DIY store with his brother six years ago when he tried to balance a plank of timber on his face.

"I don't know what possessed me to put it on my chin but I just did it and ended up being quite good at it," he told BBC Radio Manchester.

Newall, who goes by the nickname Chin-A-Rooney on social media, wants to break the Guinness World Record for the tallest object balanced on a chin, a title set by US-based juggler Cardon Firth in 2018 for balancing a 71ft (21m) object.

The objects Newall balances come in all shapes and sizes, including scaffolding boards and poles, sheeting material, and a 10ft (3m) worktop weighing 101lbs (46kg).

He has about 350,000 followers and has clocked up millions of views for the videos of his chin-balancing feats.

When he attempts to break the world record, Newall said he would have to go to more extreme lengths and use a specialist-made fibreglass pole measuring 100ft (30m).

"The heavier stuff hurts," Newall said.

"So you've just got to be careful. Don't try it at home."

Newall's friend Travis Mooney, from Wythenshawe, has stepped in to help him balance the objects, while also filming his feats for social media.

He said there could be nervy moments and recalled one incident when Newall was balancing a garden shed on his chin.

"We were in the middle of B&Q and I was just thinking if this shed goes, the whole shop will be in uproar," Mooney said.

"But he absolutely smashed it and it was fine."

He described the whole experience as "mental" and said he was "not surprised people think its AI".

"It's absolutely ridiculous but he does it," he said. "It is unbelievable."

Mooney, who normally works in IT, said the popularity of Newall's videos had brought opportunities.

"There's brands approaching us, there's people we've sort of watched since we were younger, content creators approaching us," he said. "It's all a bit surreal to be honest."

Newall has attempted the Guinness World Record challenge three times previously, but said he was "getting nowhere with it" because of the material he was using.

But with the fibreglass pole in production for the challenge, he said he was now more confident in his ability to break the record.

"Hopefully we can smash it out the park," he said. "If we don't, we try again."

Mooney added: "We have worked hard to get to this point, I'd be really proud of Tobey."

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Control, threats, disfiguring surgery: My life inside Jeffrey Epstein's 'cult'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czek5wl6p2go, yesterday

In the week after the sex-criminal financier Jeffrey Epstein died, Anya (not her real name) opened the door of her New York apartment. Outside was Epstein's brother, Mark, telling her she had to leave, she says.

Anya had lived for years in one of several flats on East 66th Street in Manhattan used by Jeffrey Epstein to house women he abused. In one moment, she lost her home but escaped a nightmare. (Mark Epstein denies he was aware of his brother's wrongdoing.)

"I'm still struggling to reconcile with the fact that I was abused for years," Anya says. "You were not chained to a door or something, right? You were not locked up in a basement. The chains were less obvious, but they were there."

Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting charges for sex-trafficking children, used to say that his operation was "like a cult, and he was the cult leader", Anya says.

She has given the BBC a rare account of life as one of Epstein's "assistants", detailing how the financier maintained a hold over so many of his victims for so long.

The assistants were a group of women - roughly a dozen at one time, Anya estimates - who were housed by Epstein, worked all hours at his beck and call, and were regularly sexually abused by him.

Anya says they were drawn in with elaborate deceptions and empty promises of work, before he began to coercively control nearly every aspect of their lives, exploiting any weaknesses he could uncover.

She says he controlled their finances, dictated who they saw and psychologically demeaned them. He monitored their bodies obsessively, Anya says, and forced her to have unnecessary, disfiguring surgery.

Her account of Epstein's control is echoed by Sarah Kellen, another former assistant. She told the US House Oversight Committee earlier this year how Epstein presented himself as the assistants' saviour. "He was very good at just decimating your ability to make your own decisions and have your own autonomy. And it made you more and more dependent on him," she said.

There is a bias which tends to make people think that only children are susceptible to this type of coercion, but "you can be groomed as an adult", says Dr Tara Quinn-Cirillo, a clinical psychologist who has worked with victims of coercive control. "You can be vulnerable to this," she says.

'A complete set-up'

After Jeffrey Epstein was convicted in 2008 of abusing a teenage girl - whom he lured to his homes with the offer of work as a masseuse - he changed tactics. He began largely targeting adult women, mostly from Russia or other parts of eastern Europe.

Anya says she and many of the other women recruited still looked like teenagers, however, and she showed the BBC photos of herself at the time to demonstrate.

Anya had grown up in a Russia emerging from communist rule, with strict parents who drilled into her that "education will be your success", she says. But opportunity was scarce and, armed with her degree, she left Russia to work as a model.

She worked in Europe for luxury brands such as Fendi and Chanel. She had friends, a support system and family she could fly back to see whenever she wanted.

In her early twenties, she came into Epstein's orbit when she visited a Paris agency and met modelling scout Daniel Siad. He complimented her intelligence, "which is not typical in the modelling industry", Anya says, and suggested introducing her to a friend of his with connections in the fashion business: Epstein.

Anya says she used to wonder what would have happened if she had not stopped by the agency that day, but now she believes she was purposefully targeted. "It was a complete set-up," she says, describing Siad as "essentially a professional trafficker".

Siad's name appears thousands of times in the Epstein files - the massive collection of documents about the financier released by the US government in January. Siad's lawyer said he was not available for comment, but he has previously denied any knowledge of the threat that Epstein posed.

Anya says she first met Epstein at his sprawling 18-room Paris apartment, decorated with pictures of himself posing with people such as Bill Clinton and other world leaders. She says she felt comfortable because there were two other women present, one Russian and the other Epstein's then-girlfriend from eastern Europe.

Epstein asked Anya to undress so he could see her body for modelling, she says. As she stood in her underwear, she says the financier told her she was "not in shape" and needed to "start working out", calling her lazy.

Comments such as these were common in the modelling industry, Anya says, and she believed his claims that if she worked hard, he would introduce her to the right people.

Anya says he asked her about her family, her interests, "what I was trying to accomplish in life, why I was doing modelling, all things that mattered for me".

"You don't get asked those questions in fashion," she says. Several women have told the BBC that Epstein liked to learn what mattered to them so that he could later use the information against them.

He also addressed her concerns head-on. "I see that you're smart and you're suspicious," she recalls him telling her. "I don't want to sleep with you."

Anya says this put her even more at ease. "I was telling myself, gosh, this guy is just incredible. He can see right through me," she says.

'Very elaborate grooming'

This was just the start of a grooming process that would unfold over many months, stringing Anya along with empty promises and an extended deception.

Over the course of almost a year, Anya began exercising "religiously" to get the body Epstein wanted, she says. Lesley Groff - his executive assistant who managed his diary - would email for updates on her progress and Epstein pressured Anya for pictures, telling her not to be "shy" when he insisted on nudes.

Epstein eventually arranged a meeting between her and the co-founder of model agency Next Management, Faith Kates, as he had promised, Anya says. She says it lasted less than 30 minutes and Anya was told Epstein would let her know the outcome.

The financier told her that Next did not want to hire her because she "wasn't good enough for the New York market", Anya says, with Epstein adding that she was "out of shape".

Anya says she was dejected. Epstein told her to visit him in Palm Beach, Florida, where he was on day-release while he served his sentence. He had blamed his conviction on a girl deceiving him with fake ID, she says.

Anya had to sign a register kept by a uniformed police officer to see him. Epstein escorted her into a back room, where he sexually assaulted her for the first time. At least two other women have said he sexually assaulted them while serving his sentence.

After the assault, Epstein ushered her out of the back room and started joking with the other assistants waiting outside that Anya was "so shy". They all laughed at her, she says, and their reaction made her blame herself.

"I thought maybe nothing wrong really happened here. Maybe it's just my reaction that is wrong," she says. "Maybe it's my Russian upbringing, maybe it's how strict my parents were, but there's something off with me and not with him."

It was only when the Epstein files were released that Anya says she realised what had really happened. Emails suggested that despite her face-to-face meeting with Faith Kates, the agency founder had in fact rejected her a year earlier.

Anya says she realised she had been strung along for months by Epstein and set up to fail, in "a very elaborate grooming". Then, when she was vulnerable, isolated and far from home, Epstein had struck.

The type of slow, steady grooming Anya describes is designed to avoid triggering the target's sense of danger, "like stealth bombers are designed just to go under the radar", says the psychologist Quinn-Cirillo.

Faith Kates' lawyer told us in a statement that any claim her client had any knowledge or involvement in Epstein's purported trafficking is false and defamatory. Suggesting Epstein would relay the agency's decision to Anya was "unusual… false and uncorroborated," the lawyer added.

The agency made its own decisions about which models to take on, and did not seek Epstein's approval for such decisions, the statement continued, adding: "Obviously, there is nothing unusual about a potential model being considered and rejected from a modelling agency, even more than once."

Next Management said in a statement that the company had no relationship with Epstein and Kates' alleged actions had been "hers alone".

'Come work for me'

Epstein continued to hold out the prospect of modelling work to Anya, introducing her to Jean-Luc Brunel, founder of the MC2 agency. Epstein did not tell her he was one of the company's financial backers. (MC2 has closed down its Miami and New York offices and the founder of its remaining branch in Israel has previously said he had no relationship with Epstein.)

"Almost zero" jobs came from the agency, she says. Instead, her agent would tell her she was going to Palm Beach for a "direct booking", Anya says. But there was no modelling job, just more abuse from Epstein.

After a while, Epstein told her modelling was not working out for her and that the industry was dead. Anya recalls him saying: "Come work for me, I'll teach you a real business. You'll travel, you meet important people all over the world."

But work as Epstein's assistant was not what Anya imagined. She says Epstein taught her nothing about business.

Instead, she says she would largely sit around waiting for Epstein to give her something to do, while Epstein berated her for sitting around doing nothing. Sometimes he would give her menial tasks to do: answer the phone, show someone to a meeting room, or announce a guest.

Nevertheless, the assistants were on call 24/7, Anya says. One time, Anya says she popped out for lunch to meet someone and Epstein "went crazy", repeatedly calling her and insisting that she could never leave the house without his permission.

Anya was completely dependent on Epstein. If she got sick and needed healthcare, she says he would tell her: "I'm your medical insurance." She did not have a bank account or the correct documentation to rent her own home, but she says Epstein kicked her out of the Manhattan apartment a few times, telling her to "figure out where you are staying". These were strong mechanisms of control, she says.

* If you've been affected by any of the issues in this story such as sexual abuse and violence, information and support is available at BBC Action Line

Epstein only started paying Anya a small salary years later because her visa required it, she says. He would often say, "don't worry, I'll always support you". The sexual abuse continued frequently throughout this period, Anya says.

Sarah Kellen painted a similar picture to US lawmakers: "I had no money, no family, no education, and no sense that I deserved any better." Meanwhile, Epstein showed off his power and connections to her. "Jeffrey made certain I knew that defying him would cost me my life," she says.

'You'll never go against me'

On one occasion, an assistant ran away, Anya recalls. Anya says the woman had called her during her escape, leaving Anya fearful that Epstein would find out they had been in contact, as he owned their phones and monitored their calls.

Epstein hired a private investigator to trace the missing assistant, Anya says. She says he showed her an email detailing the expenses he calculated the missing woman owed him, a total of $700,000 (£521,000). Anya says she got the message loud and clear: if you leave, you will owe me money and I will hunt you down to get it back.

This was not the only thing Epstein held over the women. He also gathered compromising material, Anya says, and he would casually remind her that he had naked pictures of her.

On one occasion, she says, he gathered his assistants for a photoshoot. Epstein encouraged them to go topless and dance joyfully, insisting it was filmed. Anya recalls he said "this way I know you'll never go against me", suggesting that it would be hard for them to argue they were not consenting if he showed the video. "That's his library of evidence," she says.

The financier also made his assistants write him emails which they called "gratitude letters", gushingly thanking their abuser. "I was so terrified of not saying 'thank you' enough to him," Anya says.

"I think partially maybe those gratitude letters were another mechanism of him saying, how can you go against me if you are thanking me all the time?"

Epstein would also pit the assistants against each other, Anya says. He would let slip that another woman was "mad" at her for being "useless and so lazy", but he would say he was "advocating for you" as "your biggest supporter", she says. In this way, he prevented the women from forming real relationships with each other, making them easier to control.

As Anya talks to us, she lifts up her top to reveal several scars across her stomach. Then she shows us old modelling photos where she had a small tattoo, dating back to when she was a teenager.

Epstein wanted her to remove it and a doctor came to his house, she recalls. But he did not want her to have laser treatment because it would take too long, so he suggested the doctor cut the tattooed skin off. "Only I could come up with that," she recalls him saying.

She says she had the surgery, which left scars. A year later, he insisted that it was done again because he did not like the results.

'Ecosystem of abuse'

The "most shameful" part of her time with Epstein was having to recruit other women, Anya says, her eyes welling up with tears.

Each assistant had to bring in at least one other assistant, she says, and Epstein told them to recruit young women like her.

"It's one or 10, like, you're already complicit."

Anya says she wanted to speak out now to help people understand how women became trapped by Epstein and to explain how his operation had trafficked adults like her as well as children.

"He built this whole ecosystem of abuse that was serving him," she says. "When you have people like Bill Gates come to his house for dinner and shake his hand, you think, who am I to question it? Who am I to speak up here? It legitimised the abuse."

Both Anya and Sarah Kellen have subsequently received compensation from the Epstein Victims' Compensation Fund, which was established to provide financial relief to survivors and involved sharing corroborating evidence of their abuse.

"When he was alive, I didn't speak to a single person about this," Anya says. She now hopes that her voice can help just one woman escape an abusive relationship.

"I'm not in any way special," she says. "I just somehow managed to find this strength in me to persevere and to survive. If I can do it, you can do it."

The hidden cost of the night shift and how to sleep it off

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9errxl97go, today

It is four in the morning, and the ward is quiet. A junior doctor has been on her feet for nine hours. She is tired, her muscles are sore and her eyes are straining, but when her shift ends at six in the morning and she finally gets home, she struggles to sleep.

Her internal clock, built over millions of years of evolution to tune human biology to the rising and setting of the Sun, is insisting it is morning. Time to wake up. Time to be alert. No amount of darkness, earplugs or blackout blinds can entirely silence it.

This is not a personal failing. It is a collision between the demands of her job and some of the deepest machinery in the human body. This is playing out, invisibly, in the lives of millions of shift workers. Among them are the nurses, paramedics, engineers, lorry drivers and factory workers, who keep the country running while everyone else sleeps.

And the scientific evidence about what this relentless battle with our own internal clocks and modern living costs them - in heart attacks, strokes, cancer, mental illness, and quite possibly their precious memories - is increasingly difficult to ignore.

Now scientists are beginning to explore whether changing how we sleep can play a role in mitigating the toll of night shifts, and potentially alleviate the ill-effects of disrupted nights. Their studies are also testing a surprising theory: that splitting sleep into two separate blocks - rather than attempting to force one long stretch during the day - may in fact be the most effective sleep pattern for people working through the night.

The cost of shift work

To understand what shift work does to the body, it's worth looking at what emerging research suggests about sleep itself. Sleep does far more than give the brain and body a rest.

When we are asleep, our brain consolidates the memories of the day, processes emotions, and solves problems that defied it in the waking hours. It also strengthens immune defences and repairs muscle tissue.

Prof Russell Foster is a sleep scientist at Oxford University, who has spent a career studying the biology of the sleeping brain.

"Sleep is a pillar of our health," he says, "in the same way we think about diet and exercise. We have to take control of it."

In that light, the strain of shift work becomes easier to see: it's not solely about being tired, but potentially about repeatedly disrupting a system that's doing far more behind the scenes than many people realise.

One of the most remarkable discoveries of recent years is that while we sleep, the brain cleans itself. Deep within the grey matter is plumbing called the glymphatic system. Fluid runs along tiny channels beside the brain's blood vessels, washing away the waste products that accumulate during waking hours.

So, what happens to these toxins when sleep is disrupted?

Prof Hugh Markus, a neurologist who leads the stroke medicine group at the University of Cambridge, has begun to answer this question.

Markus and a medical student, Yutong Chen, analysed the brain scans of more than 40,000 people drawn from a vast database of health records and medical scans built up over more than a decade at the UK Biobank. All of them were healthy when their scans were taken.

The researchers found they could identify those whose drainage systems were struggling. Critically though, they discovered that those with the most impaired drainage systems were significantly more likely to go on to develop dementia years later, according to Markus.

"Disruption of that flow," he says, "was playing an important role in predicting who would get dementia, in large numbers of people in the normal population."

Among the waste products the system clears are proteins called amyloid and tau, the deposits that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. A single sleepless night measurably raises amyloid levels in the fluid surrounding the brain. Do that repeatedly, year after year, and the implications are troubling.

A Swedish study by researchers at the Karolinska Institute, tracking more than 13,000 shift workers, including night shift workers, for up to 41 years, found that shift work in mid-life was associated with a 36% higher risk of dementia - with the risk rising the longer someone had worked shifts.

Foster is careful not to overstate the link. "You wouldn't say poor sleep causes dementia," he says, "but if you're vulnerable, it's a potential risk factor."

Markus's data shows a possible link, but he cautions that it is a hypothesis at this stage and there are likely to be many other factors at play.

"Sleep matters," he says, "but so do the big vascular things - blood pressure, smoking, diabetes. What's never mentioned is how much of the risk of Alzheimer's comes from those - things we could actually do something about."

There are also tentative but growing indications of how sleep disturbance might increase the risk of heart disease. An analysis of 35 studies published last year found that sleep reduced to around 4.5 hours for three or more nights significantly raised the activity of the body's immune system. This is normally a good thing when it is roused to fight infection but also causes inflammation in the body which if persistent is associated with heart disease.

Disrupted sleep raises the stress hormone, cortisol, which in turn promotes insulin resistance and pushes the body toward a diabetic state. Higher levels of cortisol also worsens sleep further, locking workers into a self-reinforcing cycle. Add to this the sugar-hit snacking that keeps some shift workers going overnight and it makes for an extremely unhealthy cocktail.

As if that were not enough, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has classified night shift work as "probably carcinogenic to humans" and put it in the same risk group as red meat, citing evidence for links to breast, prostate, colon and colorectal cancers.

This may be because disruption to the body's circadian system alters timing of the production of melatonin, a hormone thought to have tumour-suppressing properties, as well as reduced vitamin D from lack of daylight, and the chronic low-level inflammation that broken sleep promotes.

Biphasic sleep

For the more than three million people in the UK working night shifts, and who have little choice but to disrupt their sleep, this may all sound worrying. But researchers are beginning to pinpoint what might actually help.

Dr Line Victoria Moen, a researcher at Norway's National Institute of Occupational Health in Oslo, is investigating whether a planned nap may be part of the answer.

The research team came across intriguing findings from their study of shift workers in the Arctic Circle, where the sun barely sets in summer and sleep has to be won from the never-ending day. It was an ideal place to study the battle between a person's body clock and the elements.

Moen followed shift workers in the far north of Norway. The workers wore Oura Rings to track their sleep, and as Moen pored over the data, a pattern emerged. Many of them were not collapsing into one long, exhausted sleep when they got home. They were sleeping in two distinct blocks, from nine in the morning until one, then again in the afternoon before the next shift.

"Their body is forcing them to wake up," she says, "and recover some additional sleep in the afternoon."

This pattern has a name: biphasic sleep. It means two distinct sleep periods in 24 hours instead of one. And it echoes something sleep historians have long noted: in pre-industrial times before artificial lighting, humans often slept in two blocks. Researchers suggest it may be a more natural rhythm, even if the biological reasons for it are still debated.

Roger Ekirch, a historian at Virginia Tech who has spent 40 years in the archives of pre-industrial Europe, established that sleeping in two halves was the predominant pattern in the Western world until the mid-19th Century.

A typical family, he found, would go to bed around nine, wake naturally after midnight for an hour or so - for prayer, chores, conversation - then sink back into what they called their "second sleep".

The pattern persisted until artificial light changed the economics of the night: gas lamps began lighting London's streets in 1807, people stayed up later, the gap between the two sleeps narrowed and eventually closed.

Ekirch believes the old rhythm has never entirely died. "Middle-of-the-night insomnia is the most prevalent sleep disorder in many countries," he says.

"And I'd argue that, in many cases, it isn't a disorder at all. It instead represents a persistent echo, a relic of this earlier pattern of sleep."

Foster's own laboratory work supports the biological claim: in a famous experiment, the American psychiatrist Thomas Wehr gave volunteers 14 hours of darkness approximating a pre-industrial winter night and within weeks, without any instruction, they drifted naturally into sleeping in two halves.

"The default," says Foster, "is almost certainly not a single block."

What struck Moen most forcefully was not the two-sleep pattern itself but the dearth of evidence around it. She investigated the data to assess how prevalent biphasic sleep was among shift workers, what health outcomes were associated with it, and whether a split sleep was better or worse than one exhausted block. She found almost nothing. "So I thought that's really interesting. I'll go and look properly," she says.

Looking properly has involved going through 11,000 summaries of scientific papers and working through the evidence on biphasic sleep across health, performance, and the subjective experience of shift workers. Her full results are expected later this year.

So far, Moen has found that existing research on the topic is fragmented. Some studies treat biphasic sleep as one long sleep plus a brief nap; others count only two equal periods; there is no agreed definition.

Sleep anxiety

The eventual aim of Moen's research is to develop clear clinical guidelines that might help shift workers and others with disrupted sleep patterns.

"They get very anxious because they can't sleep long after a night shift," says Moen. "It would be nice to be able to tell them that, actually, a good nap in the afternoon will help."

Several studies show that napping during shift work, where possible, is associated with reduced sleepiness and improved alertness. Studies of healthcare workers suggest that even a 20-to-50-minute nap during or after a shift improves focus and reduces drowsy driving on the way home.

The questions Moen's research will try to answer, more rigorously than has been attempted before, are: how common it is, what forms it takes and whether there is evidence that splitting sleep could improve health, performance, fatigue or safety.

Her husband, a shift worker himself, illustrates the problem with quiet precision. "He always wakes very early, after only three or four hours," she says. "There's no-one home, it's dark, and still, he can't sleep. His day rhythm drags him up."

His body will not be overruled by a blackout blind. What Moen wants to give him, and the millions like him, is permission, backed by science, to stop fighting the body's signal and work with it instead.

"Since we know that many shift workers can't really avoid sleeping during the day," Moen says, "I think it's important to see how we can help them make better choices."

Top picture credit: Getty Images

BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. Emma Barnett and John Simpson bring their pick of the most thought-provoking deep reads and analysis, every Saturday. Sign up for the newsletter here

What this desert city can teach the world about tackling heat deaths

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgl3lnpxy6no, yesterday

It has been a blisteringly hot summer for much of the US and Europe.

Scientists have warned that these extreme temperatures are the new normal for these communities.

France reported an increase of more than 2,000 deaths during the record-breaking heatwave in late June. In England and Wales, scientists estimated that more than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes from a series of heatwaves since May.

And in the US, at least 44 heat-related deaths were reported over the 4 July holiday weekend from the extreme weather.

For many, the rising temperatures have been a shock to the system, a new reality people have had to adjust to as extreme weather events become more frequent and intense with climate change.

"People don't realise this is not the same heat that we were experiencing 10 years ago, it is actually worse, because in many cases nighttime temperatures are not cooling off," Jennifer Marlon, a Yale University researcher who looks at the impacts of extreme heat, told the BBC.

Our bodies rely on cooler nighttime temperatures to recover from the heat of the day.

But for one city in the US, hot temperatures are not new. Officials in Phoenix, Arizona, have spent years working on solutions to reduce heat deaths, an effort that seems to be working, and could provide a blueprint for the world.

Maricopa County where Phoenix is located, has some of the hottest temperatures in the US so it finds itself at the forefront of the battle over heat safety - working on programmes that offer residents access to cooling centres and free air conditioning.

Phoenix was the first city worldwide to hire a heat officer in 2021.

"We've had the the relative benefit of knowing that this is going to be a problem every year, but it appears to be more and more of a problem or more of a predictable event in communities across the globe," Maricopa County's chief medical officer Nicholas Staab told the BBC.

The county's efforts to reduce the number of heat-related deaths have proved successful in recent years.

After heat-related deaths reached a peak of 645 in 2023, they declined to 405 in 2025 - with many experts attributing part of the decline to the policy changes.

Much of the county's focus has been on increasing access to air conditioning, as many heat deaths were among people with low incomes or experiencing homelessness.

The county offers consistent, open access to cool spaces. They have expanded the hours those spaces are open - in some cases they are open 24 hours - getting people off the streets and out of the heat.

Another programme offers eligible residents repairs or replacements to their air conditioning systems.

"The world has a lot to learn from Maricopa County," Marlon says.

But the downward trend is not guaranteed.

Already this year, as of 11 July, Maricopa County has recorded 23 heat-related deaths, with another 282 more under investigation. Should those hold, the numbers would outpace the previous year.

Can Arizona's success be replicated elesewhere?

Ladd Keith, director of the Heat Resilience Initiative at the University of Arizona, told the BBC that other places could, like Phoenix, appoint a heat officer - someone to oversee initiatives and run communications among government offices.

"It's incredibly important to make someone responsible for heat because the problem is, if it's no one's responsibility, then no one will address it," he says.

With coordination and communication, facilities like cooling centres can be fashioned in other parts of the US not accustomed to the scorching heat, Marlon says.

But that takes widespread acknowledgement and understanding of how serious heat can be and that it is not temporary, experts say.

Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting because of human-induced climate change. The world has already warmed by more than 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising for some time even if governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

It is also essential that cities and jurisdictions understand that heat is not only a health issue but an infrastructure and economic issue as well, according to experts.

Roads will continue to buckle and flights will continue to be delayed from extreme heat, Marlon warns.

But most of all, Keith says, it's imperative people understand this oppressive heat will continue.

"We have to shift away from planning for the historic heat we've experienced and start to plan for the heat we're going to experience in the next five to 10 years," he says.

"If people think it's bad now, it's going to be hotter, and it's going to be hotter longer. The records are going to be broken, you can almost guarantee, year after year across the world."

He made history in Congress - then the Supreme Court changed its mind

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn949jvjxplo, yesterday

When a glass door shattered on the arm of 19-year-old De'Mari Benham, with blood running down his limb and with few other options, he was rushed to the fire department in a friend's car.

Firefighters bandaged him and encouraged the Tuskegee University student to go to a hospital the next town over to receive stitches and medicine.

"I decided not to go," he said. "Both because it's far and because I just simply don't have the funds."

It's a common problem. In Tuskegee, a rural Alabama city with less than 9,000 people, over 80% of them African American, nearly one in three people live in poverty. There's no general hospital. No 24-hour emergency-care clinic. The fire department is where many people go, but the building is not fit for purpose.

"We get calls, crazy calls, for all kinds of things," says Dondrell Hopson, the fire department's captain. "Treating bullet wounds. Guys bleeding out."

When Shomari Figures was elected to the US House of Representatives, becoming the first black person to represent Tuskegee in Congress in modern history - he sought to help.

Barely a year after his election in 2024, Figures helped secure $1m (£746,885) from the US government to help build a civic centre in Tuskegee. It will serve as a fallout shelter against deadly storms and also house the city's police department and the fire department that came to Benham's aid.

But just as federal funds were arriving, the political winds shifted.

This April, the US Supreme Court struck a blow to a part of the Voting Rights Act that had helped give minority voters more representation in Congress. The ruling has allowed Republican-led states across America's South to redraw congressional maps to erase majority-black districts.

The changes could help shift the balance of power in Congress in November and either halt or help drive President Donald Trump's agenda for the rest of his presidency.

Some residents and city officials in Tuskegee fear that if Figures loses under a new map, then they will lose out too.

"All of our issues, we do depend on federal funding," Tuskegee Mayor Chris Lee said.

"It's very important that we have someone who has our back."

'Tip of the iceberg'

On a drizzly morning in June, all was still on Tuskegee's South Main Street, a two-lane road that runs into the heart of the town square, where a towering Confederate monument loomed over the emptiness.

Vines snaked through broken windows on abandoned buildings, street after street.

City officials had grown optimistic with Figures in office, but worry has started to creep in since the Supreme Court allowed the state to dissolve his district.

Figures, a Democrat, now goes into November's midterm elections defending a redrawn, white-majority seat. Research shows roughly 83% of black voters support the Democratic Party, while non-Hispanic white voters are more likely to lean Republican.

"I hate that this happened, especially this early," Tuskegee's mayor said. "We're really just at the tip of the iceberg of seeing the real impact."

In the years before Figures, Tuskegee was lumped into a more white, more conservative district.

"I cannot even remember seeing our congressman before," Mayor Lee said.

The area was represented by Republican Mike Rogers who did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

'For the benefit of all'

States customarily redraw their maps every 10 years to reflect population changes in a process called redistricting. Sometimes, the party in power - Democratic or Republican - will try and draw the new lines in their favour.

Other times - as was the case for Figures' district - courts intervene when states are accused of breaking the law.

In 2023, the US Supreme Court struck down a congressional map drawn by Alabama's Republican-led legislature. It ruled that the map violated a key clause of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by unfairly dividing black voters in southern Alabama across multiple districts, diluting their voting power.

A new map was forced on the legislature, which resulted in two seats where African Americans were in the majority, or close to it.

Most liberals have supported the creation of such majority-minority districts over the past half century as a way to overcome historical discrimination - although some have worried it could limit black voting power to just certain districts. Conservatives, meanwhile, say such gerrymandering is itself discriminatory because voters are explicitly categorised by their race.

For Figures, a native of Mobile, Alabama, it was a long-awaited opportunity.

"When you come from those communities, when your people come from a line of those communities, you care more about making sure that you leverage the position that you're in for the benefit of all communities," Figures says.

But in April, the Supreme Court changed course, issuing a new ruling that makes it significantly more difficult to challenge maps based on racial discrimination.

"I think it's purely racially motivated," Figures says about Alabama's desire to use the latest map. "There's literal evidence in the record of state legislators referring to Montgomery during the redistricting process as 'monkey town.'"

That text message was cited by the three judge panel that first blocked Alabama's map. Montgomery, the state capital, is over 60% African American. Like Tuskegee, it will become part of the newly redrawn second district.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall says efforts by Republicans in the state to pry power from Democrats are partisan political battles, and not motivated by race.

"I don't believe that there's been a direct targeted history… in a way that suppresses minority voter participation," he adds.

He points out that Democrats have redrawn the maps in states that lean to the left politically, such as California, to boost their chances of winning more seats. Republicans, he says, are following the same "race-neutral" principles.

Cedric Coley, a chair of the Alabama Young Republicans, says his state is strongly conservative and deserves representatives who reflect those values. He does not want federal judges interfering in the redistricting process, not even to prioritise black Americans like himself.

"I would rather have family disputes, with the people of Alabama, instead of federal judges stepping in and saying because your past is racist, we must be racist in the future and create racial maps, and box people in racial quotas. I just don't believe that."

Coley says people should be judged on merit. "You don't base it off the content of someone's skin or where they come from," he adds. "It's based on what they've earned."

Many black Alabamians, however, simply don't buy the argument this is just about party politics.

"It's a big setback for black people," Joe Reed, a Montgomery-based civil rights activist and lawyer, tells the BBC. "You can discriminate based on politics, but you can't discriminate based on race. Well, hell, in Alabama, with the polarised voting we have, everything is race. Everything."

'I'd hate to lose anybody that cares'

The district Figures represents touches Alabama's eastern and western boundaries, stretching through Montgomery and across a region known as the Black Belt, named after its fertile black soil and the large black population that remained in the area post-slavery.

The landscape is drenched in civil rights history. And many who live here know the struggle for racial equality intimately.

In Tuskegee, monuments to the Confederacy – which sought to break from the Union and preserve slavery during the American Civil War – are erected on the same grounds where America's first black US Air Force pilots trained for World War Two to fight for freedoms abroad they were unable to enjoy at home.

Sixty-two miles east of Tuskegee is the rural outpost of Eufaula, where pickup trucks haul fishing boats to the muddy banks of the nearby Chattahoochee River. Being part of a congressional district with a majority of black voters has special significance here, where, in 1874, a white mob fired hundreds of rounds into a group of black men headed to vote, killing six.

Eufaula's population is now racially diverse, with white and black residents accounting for roughly 45% each. But inequality remains high. Black residents here experience poverty at more than four times the rate of the white population – at nearly 57%.

Resident Mary Porter lives on a fixed income with no means of transportation.

The 71-year-old recalls marching as a child to pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which made it illegal to discriminate against race in voting practices (the same landmark legislation was used to help create Figures' district - and is the same act the Supreme Court has gradually weakened in recent years).

"We should have a voice here, and it should be equality and justice for all," she says.

Porter says she relies on God and friends to get to her doctor over 50 miles away, in Columbus, Georgia. After suffering two strokes, she worries about the fate of Eufaula's hospital, which has struggled financially.

Medical Center Barbour – the lone hospital in town that serves a roughly 60-mile radius across multiple counties – does not have an MRI machine.

But since Figures was elected to represent the area, he helped the medical center receive $500,000 in federal funding for a new MRI, in addition to more than $1m in federal tax credits.

Medical Center Barbour CEO Janet Kinney said the machine will improve patient care and raise revenue. She would like to keep him in office.

"I think he cares," Kinney said about Figures. "And I'd hate to lose anybody that cares."

Eufaula's four-term mayor, Jack Tibbs, shares Kinney's concern. Tibbs, who votes Republican but is nonpartisan in his role, praised Figures' impact on the community.

"I've seen him four times since he went into office," Tibbs said. "I can't say that about the previous guy.

"The guy before him, and the guy before him, weren't doing that."

Eufaula's previous representative was Barry Moore, a strong conservative and Trump loyalist who is now running for Senate. His office did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

After the Supreme Court's ruling, he told local media that "elections should be determined by Alabama's values and candidates' ideas, not the color of anyone's skin."

'We gone fight'

In November, Figures faces off against a Republican for who will lead the newly redrawn district two. His opponent will be whoever wins the Republican primary on 11 August. State Representative Rhett Marques appears to be the favourite, after receiving a slate of high-profile endorsements, including from House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump.

Marques has spent much of his time campaigning in Alabama's wiregrass region, a mostly-white, rural farming community named after the long-stemmed grass native to the region.

It's this area that was folded into Figures' district after the Supreme Court's ruling.

In an April social media post, Marques called himself a "proven conservative fighter" who is ready to "put more money in your pocket, deport every illegal immigrant out of this country, and end the woke agenda once and for all".

While many assumed the new district and its largely white, conservative voting bloc was a shoe-in for a Republican like Marques, recent polls suggest Figures might have a chance.

On a recent Sunday in Tuskegee, parishioners gathered outside Butler Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, grappling with the Supreme Court ruling and their future in the district.

"They're trying to remove our voices and our votes, trying to make our votes less powerful," said 18-year-old Tuskegee University student Deirdre Newcomb.

"It hurts me," Gale Brown, 73, said. "I never thought this would happen in my lifetime."

"We gone fight," Emmanuel Freeman added. "That's all we ever done."

Chinese firm seeks compensation over British Steel nationalisation

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyj4ppqn41o, today

The former owner of British Steel has said it will pursue the British government for compensation after the loss-making firm was nationalised.

The UK took control of the Scunthorpe steelworks a year ago after China's Jingye Group said it planned to close the site because it was not financially viable, and fully nationalised the plant on Thursday.

In a statement on Sunday, Jingye said it will seek "full compensation through legal means to the very end" over the UK's move.

A government spokesperson said draft compensation regulations due to be released in the autumn will set out a compensation process through which an independent assessor "would determine what, if any, is payable".

Jingye bought the Lincolnshire steel plant in 2020, but in March last year the firm launched a consultation on its closure saying the plant was losing £700,000 a day.

The government took control of British Steel operations in April 2025, but until this week it remained under Jingye's ownership which limited the government's ability to shape the firm's future.

On Thursday the UK government said it was taking the firm into public hands in order to safeguard a "vital national capability", giving the government the power to decide the plant's future.

The decision to nationalise British Steel has threatened to strain the relationship between London and Beijing just as Andy Burnham prepares to enter Downing Street as prime minister on Monday.

China hit out at the nationalisation of British Steel on Friday, saying it "firmly opposes and is strongly dissatisfied with the British government's decision".

China's commerce ministry said the move "seriously infringed" upon Jingye's rights and interests, and "severely undermined the confidence of Chinese companies investing in the UK".

The statement added that Beijing would support Chinese firms to protect their rights, but did not detail what that might involve.

A UK government spokesperson said on Friday that commercial negotiations with the Chinese steelmaker had failed to reach an agreement "that represented value to the taxpayer".

"We highly value our relationship with China and remain open to Chinese investment, and we will continue to work together to deliver a successful trading relationship that provides the best opportunities for British businesses," they added.

The steelworks employs about 2,700 people and supports other industries in North Lincolnshire, but has faced significant uncertainty over the last few years.

In March, the National Audit Office released a report that found it was costing the government about £1.3m a day to keep the plant running.

But Business Secretary Peter Kyle has said letting the operation close was not an option, and the government will continue to cover the running costs "for the immediate future".

"If that business disappears, we will lose the ability for primary steel production in our country, we will become entirely dependent on global supply," he said on Thursday.

British Steel was last under state ownership in 1988 when it was privatised by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government.

Hungary's president agrees to stand down after parliament backs removal

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd7q7eev7po, today

Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok has agreed to step down, signing an amendment to the country's constitution which will end his presidency at midnight on Sunday.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar's Tisza party had used its majority to steamroll the law change through parliament to oust Sulyok - widely seen as a loyalist of former prime minister Viktor Orbán who lost power in April after 16 years.

Sulyok had five days to sign the amendment or risk a protracted constitutional crisis and impeachment proceedings.

He confirmed he would agree to the law change as the deadline passed on Saturday evening, but in a statement accused Magyar's government of violating the rule of law.

The amendment will remove not only Sulyok from office, but the head of the Constitutional Court Péter Polt.

It will also remove judges on the court over the age of 70, and forbids deputies who have served three terms in parliament from standing again - which applies to more than half the current Fidesz deputies.

It marks the latest and most dramatic move by the Tisza government - which saw Sulyok as a puppet of the former government - since it won a landslide victory in April. It has since swept through major constitutional changes.

Orbán had described the amendment as an act of tyranny and called for protests.

Since the April election, Orbán's party has been in free fall, reeling from the shock defeat. Orbán himself has hardly been seen in public, and refused to take his seat in parliament.

Indian activist on hunger strike for 20 days forcibly taken to hospital

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjej3dxxg2do, yesterday

Indian activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk, on hunger strike for the past 20 days in Delhi, has been forcibly removed from his protest site.

The 59-year-old had been protesting in support of an online satirical movement called the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) who are seeking educational reforms. The protesters had planned a march to India's parliament on Monday.

Wangchuk was sitting on hunger strike in the scorching summer, consuming nothing but salt and water. He had lost more than 9kg (1.4 stone) and was in a lot of pain.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has now begun an indefinite fast in his place. He says the march to parliament will go on and has called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resign.

Dipke told the BBC he had gone to a friend's house in the morning to freshen up when policemen turned up and refused to let him leave.

Videos from the protest site on Saturday showed chaos erupting just before 07:30 local time (02:00 GMT) when dozens of police and paramilitary personnel swooped in on the stage where the activist was lying down. Protesters who tried to stop them were pushed away.

They covered him with curtains of bedsheets before removing him from the stage. Minutes later, an ambulance was seen speeding away.

The activist's wife Gitanjali Angmo later posted on X that she was "at Safdarjung hospital where he has been admitted".

"Nothing should be administered to him orally or intravenous[ly] without taking consent from me, his family and his doctors who have been monitoring his health for the past 20 days," she wrote.

Dr Charu Bamba, Medical Superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, later told news agency ANI that Wangchuk was "fully alert and stable".

"He is somewhat weak due to prolonged fasting and is experiencing mild dehydration; otherwise, all his vital parameters are stable. He is being continuously examined and monitored, and his treatment is under way," she said.

A top police official told reporters that Wangchuk had been moved "in compliance with [a court] order, and based on health conditions and medical advice".

"Sonam Wangchuk has been moved to a government hospital for much-needed medical intervention and is currently under medical supervision," said Sachin Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police.

He was referring to a Delhi High Court order from Thursday asking the federal government to monitor Wangchuk's health regularly and provide necessary treatment if needed.

Wangchuk had refused to end his indefinite hunger strike despite growing calls for him to do so. Despite his frail health, he had been insisting that he would participate in Monday's march to the parliament.

"I've grown weak from the outside but I'm strong from within," Wangchuk told the crowd gathered at the protest venue, Jantar Mantar, a 300-year-old observatory, a couple of days back. His statement was met with cheers and applause.

"Together, we will march peacefully to the parliament and put forward our petitions at the altar of democracy," he said.

The activist then joked that if he died before the march, his "ghost would join the march".

It's unlikely that the activist will now be able to participate, but Dipke has said that Monday's march will happen as planned.

"If they think that taking Wangchuk away will end this movement, they are mistaken. We will remain here, and will march to parliament on 20 July," he said.

The CJP began in May as an online satirical movement to protest against paper leaks and other irregularities in India's top exams and has gained a massive following on social media.

The protesters, who call themselves cockroaches, have been protesting for a month now. Members of some student organisations have also joined Wangchuk in his fast.

The protesters are demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a key entrance exam for aspiring doctors was cancelled in early May following a paper leak. They say the minister must take moral responsibility and quit.

Pradhan has dismissed the CJP and its supporters as "the B-team of disruptive elements". And Modi's government has not engaged with the protesters yet.

Following Saturday's action, CJP also demanded Modi's resignation. "Until now, we were demanding Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, but after this despicable act, we will now demand the resignation of Narendra Modi," Dipke said.

MPs from several opposition parties condemned the action against Wangchuk, describing it as "shocking coercive state violence" and "an assault on democracy".

In recent days, there was growing pressure from the opposition and civil society leaders for the government to engage with the protesters.

On Thursday, former Delhi chief minister and leader of the Aam Aadmi Party Arvind Kejriwal visited Wangchuk.

In a video shared by CJP, Kejriwal is seen greeting the activist with folded hands before shaking his hand. He appealed to the government to engage with the protesters.

"Every year, exam papers get leaked and youth pay the price," he said. "I appeal to the government to listen to students and Wangchuk."

He added that "Pradhan should be removed from his post and replaced by Wangchuk".

Laos says it can't determine cause of tourist deaths linked to methanol

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx8rj99endo, yesterday

Laos says it cannot determine blame or cause for six deaths linked to methanol-tainted alcohol.

A Briton, two Australians, two Danish citizens and an American died in November 2024 following a night out in Vang Vieng.

Laos Ministry of Public Security said they did not have evidence to establish if the deaths "were caused by the actions of any individual or by any particular cause, because no autopsies were conducted on the bodies".

It emerged earlier this week that the distillery owner is facing charges for the sale of food products harmful to health and operating an illegal business, but not the deaths.

The charges collectively carry penalties of up to one year in jail and a fine of £829 (US$1,100; A$1,600) against those allegedly responsible.

In response, the Australian government said it was "deeply frustrated and bitterly disappointed" more serious charges had not been pursued following the deaths of the six backpackers.

Australia's foreign ministry summoned Laos' ambassador in Canberra.

In its statement on Saturday, the Laos Ministry of Public Security said authorities had not been allowed to conduct autopsies in 2024, and therefore "lacked the forensic evidence necessary to determine the cause of death".

However, the ministry added, officials had found "excessive levels of methanol" in vodka made by the distillery involved.

The victims included Simone White, a 28-year-old Briton, 19-year-old Australians Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, both from Denmark, and US national James Louis Hutson, 57.

Australian media reported at the time that the Australian Federal Police had offered to assist Laos with the investigation but were denied. The usual time frame for an autopsy to be performed needs to be two to three days after death.

The bodies of the two Australians were repatriated two weeks after their deaths.

It is thought that the victims drank free shots tainted with methanol, a toxic substance normally found in paint thinner but that is sometimes mixed with alcohol illegally to cut costs.

The poison is a colourless liquid that tastes similar to alcohol and drinking a relatively small amount can be lethal.

It is absorbed in the gut within minutes and then gets into the bloodstream. As the body attempts to clear methanol - breaking it down or metabolising it in the liver - an enzyme converts it to formaldehyde and formic acid.

Many of the victims were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel, where guests failed to check out after falling ill on 13 November.

Earlier this year, 10 people connected to the hostel were charged with destroying evidence, receiving suspended sentences and fines of $185 (£135) each.

Vang Vieng is a riverside town in central Laos and is a hub for backpackers travelling across South-East Asia.

Last week the British government launched a campaign warning tourists of the risks of methanol.

Some of the symptoms of methanol poisoning can include:

* Vomiting, poor judgement, loss of balance and drowsiness are early signs

* 12-48 hours after drinking symptoms can include abdominal pain, vertigo, hyperventilation, breathlessness, blurred vision and/or blindness, coma and convulsions

* Vision issues are a distinctive red flag, particularly blurry vision, trouble looking at bright lights, and in some cases complete blindness. "Snowfield vision" (seeing snowy static like an old TV) or tunnel vision can also occur

Neighbours actor Terence Donovan dies aged 90

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmrznw82j4o, today

British-Australian actor Terence Donovan - known for his roles on Neighbours Home and Away - has died aged 90, his family has said.

His son, actor Jason Donovan, confirmed his father died peacefully in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday night.

"Our Dad was a huge character, larger than life. He was our best friend ... our world! We will desperately miss him but we take comfort knowing we were all here by his side in his final days," the post said.

The London-born actor was also popular for his role in Australian police dramas Division 4 and Cop Shop, which aired in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jason's post, written alongside his brother Paul, said they will take comfort in "knowing that he lived life to the max. Knowing that in life it's either a daring adventure or nothing at all!"

"How lucky are we to have a Dad like you," they added.

After moving to Australia as a teenager, Donovan started his career as a singer before he made his screen debut in the early 1960s.

Ten years later, he secured two of his most well known roles as Detective Mick Peters in Division 4, followed by Detective Senior Sergeant Vic Cameron in Cop Shop.

Donovan joined the cast of Neighbours in the 90s as Doug Willis in Neighbours, shortly after his son Jason left the show. He also featured as Al Simpson on Home and Away.

Alongside his six-decade long career in television, his memorable film credits include his role in The Man from Snowy River and Breaker Morant, as well as appearing on stage for a number of performances.

In a tribute, Jason also said his father used his profile during the early 1970s to garner support for an Australian film and television industry after an influx of content from the US and UK.

"The result of that campaign was an obligation on commercial television broadcasters to broadcast Australian stories," Jason wrote alongside a picture of Donovan marching through the streets of Melbourne under a banner which read 'T.V. MAKE IT AUSTRALIA NOW'.

"Without people like my Dad we might not have seen the growth in the industry during the 70s and 80s and indirectly, Australian films such as The Man From Snowy River, Breaker Morant, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Priscilla, Muriel's Wedding, Crocodile Dundee [and] Strictly Ballroom."

How these twins' rare growth disorder could provide the key to preventing cancer

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jnlmek8reo, yesterday

Nestled in southern Ecuador's network of Andes mountains is the town of Piñas, whose 8,000 inhabitants live in houses scattered across a valley.

This remote town is home to an unusually high number of people living with Laron syndrome, a rare genetic condition that prevents the body from growing taller than 1.2m (3.9ft).

María Luísa Romero and her twin sister, María del Cisne, both have the condition but they say being there for each other has helped them.

"We're always strong, we pool our strength and one defends the other," María Luísa explains as she sits on a sofa next to her sister.

Living with Laron syndrome can be challenging, the sisters say. But researchers believe it may provide an unexpected advantage - the incidence of diseases such as cancer and diabetes among Laron patients is lower than in the general population.

They hope that studying this could lead to the development of treatments to prevent cancer.

"The idea is to be able to replicate, through a drug or a diet, what happens in people with Laron syndrome, in other people without the syndrome," says endocrinologist Dr Jaime Guevara, who has been studying it for 40 years.

"It would be a great contribution from this wonderful community to the world."

Those who have Laron syndrome, also known as growth hormone insensitivity, are unable to use the growth hormone that their body makes.

The genetic mutation  is named after paediatrician Zvi Laron, who identified it while treating patients in Israel, 60 years ago.

Globally, 840 people are known to have the condition, with the majority living in the southern Ecuadorean provinces of El Oro and Loja.

Originating thousands of years ago in Indonesia, it moved west as its carriers travelled along merchant routes, Prof Laron believes. He says Sephardic Jews with the mutation later migrated to different continents and some travelled to the Americas.

According to Prof Laron, they settled in isolated areas and after generations of marrying within their group, a particularly high incidence is now found in Ecuador.

Living near others who have the syndrome has helped with the challenges, the twins say, as it means they know they are not alone.

"We can tell each other about the things that happen to us, the good and the bad, because we definitely share many of the challenges we have to face every day," explains María del Cisne.

It was more difficult when they moved away to study in another area of the country, María Luisa adds.

"They had never seen short persons like us there, so everyone looked at us strangely. They pointed at us. It was odd."

A new research paper documenting all known cases of the mutation, identified between 1966 and 2025, is set to be published by Prof Laron, who is based at Tel Aviv University, later in July.

"It is the first time we know the exact number of Laron syndrome patients and the many variants of the growth hormone receptor defects," he tells BBC Mundo.

The thought that they might be helping scientific advances helps patients cope with the challenges of living with the rare syndrome, those affected say.

The twins have been part of a major study led by Dr Guevara, who had noticed that the incidence of diseases such as cancer and diabetes among Laron patients was lower than in the general population.

To try to determine why,  he joined Dr Valter Longo, a specialist in ageing from the University of Southern California in the US, to replicate what happens in the body of a person with Laron syndrome.

First, the scientists studied about 100 individuals with Laron syndrome and about 1,600 relatives of normal height who lived in the same villages.

During the following 22 years, the team did not find any cases of diabetes among Ecuadoreans with Laron syndrome and only observed one case of non-fatal cancer.

However, among individuals of normal height, 5% were diagnosed with diabetes and 17% with cancer.

Since it was assumed that both environmental and other genetic risk factors were the same in the two groups, the researchers concluded that the reason - at least among adults who had already passed their growth period - was the activity of the growth hormone.

The team bases its conclusion on the fact that Laron syndrome is caused by a mutation in the growth hormone receptor in the liver. This leaves those living with Laron unable to generate a hormone called Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1),  and means their growth stops at a short stature.

Dr Guevara says that his team's theory is that IGF-1 prevents cancer cells from dying - a process called apoptosis – and that patients with lower levels of IGF-1, as is the case with Laron patients, will have lower incidence of cancer.

The pair have continued with their research since they published their results, but point out that more work is needed before any treatment can become a reality.

While studying 70 patients in Israel over 58 years, Prof Laron has also observed and documented potential protection against cancer.

He, too, believes the syndrome could provide the molecular foundation for scientists to develop future treatments.

And he acknowledges that lack of IGF-1 in Laron patients is a "major factor" contributing to the low number of incidences of cancer.

But Prof Laron believes IGF-1 levels only account for part of the explanation, as Laron patients who received treatments containing IGF-1 as children to help them grow, also did not develop cancer.

He says that there is ongoing research being carried out on mice and pigs to determine the full reason - these animals are commonly used for research as they are genetically very similar to humans.

"I will try to find out the answer for as long as I work," he adds.

The findings from Dr Guevara's research led the twins to mistakenly believe that they were immune to cancer and other diseases - but María del Cisne was diagnosed with colon cancer two years ago.

She underwent surgery and received chemotherapy treatment.

The sisters say the diagnosis was a wake-up call for them: "That made us realise that we weren't, as we thought, completely immune to these diseases. We had to take care of ourselves, we had to exercise, we had to watch what we ate."

Laron syndrome is recessive, meaning that for people to present symptoms they must have inherited the gene from both parents.

The twins have a child each, Matías and Lucía, who do not have Laron syndrome and, at eight years old, are already taller than their mothers.

For those born with Laron, there is hope in the form of a drug called Increlex.

The medication, which was first developed 15 years ago, can result in increased height if administered during growth spurts.

But accessing the drug can be difficult and it has several limitations - it can only be given to children between the ages of two and 18 and in some cases has serious side effects.

It can cost more than $800 (£600) per bottle, as it is only produced by one pharmaceutical company.  A child with Laron syndrome needs at least three bottles per month, costing $2,400, Dr Guevara explains.

One of those struggling to get hold of the drug is Mayra Loaiza.

Her two-year-old daughter, Camila,  was supposed to start her treatment six months ago, but still has not received her first dose.

Mayra, who also lives in Piñas, worries how this could affect Camila's growth.

"I want my daughter to have as normal a life as possible. I don't want her to be discriminated against because of her size," she says, adding that she is confident the drug will boost Camila's height.

Twins María Luisa and María del Cisne, who are 40, are among those who missed the window for taking the drug.

While they wonder how different their lives might have been had it been available in their youth, they say they have learned to live with their short stature.

"We now accept ourselves as we are, but the treatment would have saved us a lot of heartache," says María Luisa.

"I've accepted myself as I am, I accept myself, and I thank God for who I am."

German politician resigns over surrogacy child controversy

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq56e9n1ddzo, yesterday

German centre-right politician Jens Spahn has resigned as parliamentary group leader of the country's governing coalition after being accused of hypocrisy over his use of a surrogate mother in the US to have a child.

Surrogacy is prohibited in Germany - a policy backed by his Christian Democrat party (CDU) and, several years ago, by Spahn himself - although raising a child born to a surrogate mother abroad is not.

He wrote in a statement on Saturday: "I have realised that my personal happiness - founding a family together with my husband and becoming a father - is not compatible with my political office."

Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who leads the CDU, called his decision "right" and "inevitable".

"Credibility is the highest asset in politics," he wrote on social media, and said he would begin the process of appointing Spahn's replacement.

The 46-year-old former health minister revealed earlier this week that he and his husband Daniel Funke had become parents, with their use of a surrogate abroad prompting criticism from politicians from several parties, including his own.

Announcing his resignation on Saturday, Spahn wrote: "The balancing act between my private decision to have a child through surrogacy and the understandable expectations placed on me as Chairman of our parliamentary group has become greater than I anticipated," he added.

He also said the "increasing relentlessness in public discourse" had given him "deep pause for thought".

"Despite all clarity and decisiveness regarding the issues, let us always remain human in our tone," he wrote.

German media reported Alexander Hoffmann, head of the Christian Social Union parliamentary group, would take over Spahn's duties until a successor was chosen.

Hoffmann said: "Jens Spahn's decision deserves the utmost respect."

The CDU signed a resolution reaffirming its support for a ban on surrogacy in February. As health minister in 2020, Spahn had rejected calls by the liberal FDP for the ban to be relaxed.

In 2015, he wrote that "as a gay man and a Christian I find it personally very hard to warm to the idea of a rented womb".

Surrogacy in Germany is punishable with three years imprisonment or a fine, rendering surrogacy abroad an important option for many couples.

Spahn is one of the most powerful figures in the CDU and has survived other political scandals - but this proved one too many for his party.

It came at a difficult time for the CDU, with Merz struggling in the opinion polls, the controversy risked hurting him further ahead of key regional elections this autumn.

In Saxony-Anhalt, the far-right AfD party could win an outright majority, marking the first time a far-right party has held power in a German state since World War Two.

Writing for Bavarian public broadcaster BR24, journalist Christian Wölfel remarked: "One of the most powerful elected representatives is flouting the very rights denied to childless couples in Germany.

"In doing so, Jens Spahn is, shortly before the state elections in the east, confirming precisely the narrative that fringe political groups are using to win votes."

Others believe Merz may welcome Spahn's departure from the political arena.

He has "made no secret of his ambitions to become chancellor", journalist Eva Fischer reported in the newspaper Taz, and is an increasingly dangerous threat to Merz.

She wrote: "In politics, the rule is: if someone could pose a threat to you, it's best to get rid of them. Now Merz still has the power to do that."

Other EU countries including France, Spain and Italy also ban surrogacy, which involves a woman carrying a baby and giving birth on behalf of parents unable to have children themselves.

France's top court, the Court of Cassation, ruled this month that babies born to a surrogate mother abroad should be legally recognised as their intended parents' children.

Meanwhile, Italy made it illegal in 2024 for Italians to have a baby abroad through surrogacy, in a policy driven by Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government.

10 of the World Cup's most striking images - as historic artworks

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260716-10-of-the-world-cups-most-striking-images, 2 days ago

As the 2026 World Cup draws to a close, the BBC rounds up some of the most stunning photos captured from the tournament – and reveals their similarities to classic works of art.

Among the countless remarkable photos captured by international sports journalists since the Fifa World Cup 2026 began on 11 June, a select set has succeeded in searing itself into cultural consciousness. Why do some extraordinary photographs endure while others are quickly forgotten?

Perhaps the most memorable images manage to gain traction because we feel we've seen them before – or some semblance of them. They echo patterns of posture and gesture long fixed in popular imagination by artists, from antiquity to modern times, whose paintings and sculptures have shaped the way perceive the world. What follows are 10 of the most enduring photos to have been captured during the World Cup, alongside the masterpieces they recall and reinvigorate.

1. England v Mexico

This image captures the collective focus of a stampede of England and Mexico players, led by Harry Kane and Jesús Gallardo, as it competes for the ball in Round 16 in Mexico City on 5 July. It appears almost choreographed in its measured momentum. Suspending the scrum's static acceleration, Julian Finney's photo recalls the velocity and vectors of a modernist masterpiece: Umberto Boccioni's Futurist formation, The Charge of the Lancers, 1916.

2. Ghana v Panama

There is an unmistakably heavyweight knockout quality to Nathan Denette's dramatic photo of Ghana's Ernest Nuamah colliding with Panama's César Blackman in Toronto on 17 June. Here, the ball appears to be less the object of the players' efforts than the suspended site of climactic impact, as Blackman absorbs the full force of the body blow. For an instant, the beautiful game of football blurs into the sweet science of boxing. It echoes the crumpling, cruciform collapse of boxer Jack Dempsey, falling through the ropes after a punch by Luis Firpo in George Bellow's most famous painting.

3. Bosnia-Herzegovina v US

Hands on cheeks, his mouth frozen open in a distended shriek of anguish, Amel Emric's affecting photo of a young Bosnia-Herzegovina fan watching in despair on 2 July as his country plays the United States, has familiar parallels. It appears almost deliberately to parody the history of horrified howls in art from Caravaggio's defeated Medusa to Edvard Munch's avatar of existential angst.

4. Morocco v the Netherlands

Witness the rotational torque of Morocco's Ismael Saibari, celebrating his winning penalty against the Netherlands in the Round of 32. The photo, by Carl Recine, seemed not so much snapped by a camera than chiselled by a sculptor. Hips sprung and shirt spiralled like a weapon, this is the instant after David in Bernini's famous sculpture of the giant slayer has released the full fulcral force of his lethal sling.

5. Norway v Senegal

Justin Setterfield's quasi-abstract photo of Norway fans performing their rowing chant during the Group I match between Norway and Senegal on 22 June is a vibrant mosaic of communal enthusiasm. The rapturous rhythmicity of reds recalls Paul Klee's resplendent painting, Rose Garden, 1920, in which the joyous energy of a place is portrayed as a pulsing engine of synchronised scarlet strokes.

6. Portuguese fans

The eccentric instinct to elevate footballers to iconic status isn't only the passion of pretentious art critics. This is clear from Thomas Coex's photo of Portuguese fans waving a banner of Ronaldo reimagined in the glorified guise of a venerated saint. Fully kitted out in the paraphernalia of canonisation (including a luminous corona for a halo, green mantle, sacred staff, chalice and scroll), the portrait of "St Ronaldo" has been meticulously crafted to echo the contours of St Jude Thaddeus – the patron saint of lost causes.

7. South Africa v Canada

Allow your mind for a moment to delete the trapped football from between the converging heads in Mark Terrill's photo of South Africa's Sphephelo Sithole and Canada's Jonathan David. They were moshing for possession on 28 June in Los Angeles, appearing to be locked in an intense dance. At once individual yet fused, colliding yet diverging, their fiercely focused physiques call to mind countless depictions of tangoed intertwinement in cultural history.

8. Argentina v Egypt

Buoyant both in body and spirit, Lionel Messi, as captured by photographer Carlos Barria, is hurled heavenward by his teammates after Argentina's defeat of Egypt in the Round of 16 on 7 July in Atlanta. The flung finesse of the figure's ascent recalls Tiepolo's Ascension of Christ, c 1745-50, where the wonder of devotees, as much as the summons of God, is responsible for the miraculous levitation.

9. Spain v Uruguay

There's a fine line between concentration and consternation. The expression on Marc Cucurella's face in a photo by Fernando Llano as the Spaniard fights against Uruguay's Agustín Canobbio in Mexico on 26 June, is an object lesson in unflinching focus. The intensity of Cucurella's stare rhymes richly with the penetrating gaze of Gustav Courbet's famous 1843 self-portrait.

10. France v Spain

Lars Baron's photo of Desire Doue in despair after France's defeat by Spain in the semi-final on 15 July was especially affecting. The image captures Doue retreating behind the blue veil of his upturned jersey. For a moment, the elastic fabric, tugged taut against the features of his masked face, alchemises Doue into sculpted monumentality. The eerie effect inverts the unsettling dynamic of a genre of marble busts from the 19th Century in which skilled sculptors managed to make stone itself seem as sinuous and translucent as silken veils.

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Diamonds and 'cab to orbit': Rocket aiming to transform India's space ambitions takes off

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyekv7rld3o, yesterday

What if launching a satellite was as easy as calling a cab?

That's the vision behind an Indian private rocket company that achieved its first orbital launch on Saturday.

Skyroot Aerospace, which recently became India's first space tech unicorn after reaching $1.1bn valuation, launched Vikram-1 from the Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) launch facility in Sriharikota in southern India.

The seven-storey rocket lifted off at 12:05 India time [06:35 GMT] and travelled 280 miles (450km) to reach the Low Earth Orbit in a 16-minute flight.

Skyroot is the first Indian private company to launch a rocket into orbit, making India only the third country, after the US and China, with a private company capable of orbital launches.

"Vikram-1 Test Flight-1 has reached orbit... History is made," the company posted on X.

The successful Vikram-1 launch will take Skyroot closer to its goal of offering what it calls a "cab service to space", where companies can hire a rocket "to ride to a unique location in the orbit to place a satellite or visit a space station".

The rocket - named after Vikram Sarabhai, who is called the father of India's space programme - is small and has the capacity to carry payloads of up to 350kg, Skyroot co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana told the BBC before the launch.

Chandana says today, access to space remains "a major bottleneck, with satellite operators often waiting for months or even years for a launch opportunity" and that their venture expects to change that.

He says Skyroot aims to cut long waits for satellite launches by offering dedicated missions for small payloads.

Instead of sharing space on large rockets that fly on fixed schedules, customers can book a launch tailored to their satellite and its required orbit - much like taking a taxi instead of waiting for a train.

"If you want to just go to a friend's house, you don't need a train, you book a cab, an Uber. What we are offering is a cab service to space, which can be used to ride to a unique location in the orbit to place a satellite or visit a station."

Skyroot's model would appear similar to that of Rocket Lab in the US, which provides small-lift launch vehicles.

The Indian test launch mission called Aagman - Sanskrit for arrival - has placed into orbit six payloads.

They include scientific instruments such as a robotic arm for removing space debris, an Earth observation camera and satellites, including one from a German company.

But they also include two symbolic payloads which have generated a buzz in India. One is a lotus made of lab-grown diamonds and a tiny gold rocket with micro-sculptures of three of India's best-known scientists.

Each smaller than a grain of rice, the sculptures pays tribute to Nobel Prize-winning physicist CV Raman and aerospace engineer and former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam, besides Sarabhai.

"We exist because of the Indian space programme, we stand on the shoulders of our early visionaries and this is our way of paying tribute to three great scientists who shaped India's space programme," Chandana explained.

He said the diamond lotus - called Cosmic Bloom and developed by Cosmos Diamonds - is an artist's tribute to space and celebrates India's creativity. It is expected to remind us all of the line "like a diamond in the sky" - from the popular nursery rhyme Twinkle, Twinkle.

Saturday's launch is the first of two test flights Skyroot plans to do this year before they launch commercially next year.

"We have the capacity to build one rocket every month at our factory in the southern city of Hyderabad," Chandana said.

Skyroot came into being in 2018 when Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka - who were colleagues at Isro - quit their jobs and co-founded the space-tech start-up to build rocket components for satellites.

In 2020, India opened the space sector to private firms, allowing them to build rockets and satellites and use Isro's launch facilities with the aim of increasing the country's share in the global business market from 2% at present to 10% by 2030.

Since then, the Indian government says more than 400 space start-ups have been set up in India, but Skyroot remains the most successful of them - and the only unicorn in the sector.

The company first made headlines in November 2022 when it launched India's first privately developed suborbital rocket.

Saturday's launch came at a time when India's space programme has been in focus following Isro's historic Moon, Mars and solar missions in recent years.

India plans to send astronauts into space next year, an orbiter to Venus by 2028 and build its own space station by 2035.

And Skyroot's cab service could also cater to Isro's space programmes, but Chandana says that "70-80% of our market would be the global economy".

"These would include satellites supporting services that millions rely on every day, from agriculture and fisheries to disaster management, communications, connectivity, navigation and national security. So, the economic opportunity is huge."

The financial winners and losers from the World Cup

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrkek8lrzvo, 2 days ago

This World Cup has been bigger than any tournament before it.

More countries taking part and more matches means more eyeballs on the action - as well as more opportunities to make money.

As the planet's footballing stars create historic moments on the pitch, billions of dollars are being generated off it.

But not everyone is raking in the big bucks, so while there are some big winners, there are also some financial losers.

Fifa - winner

The amount of money world football's governing body Fifa makes from the World Cup is astronomical. It generated a record $7.6bn (£5.6bn) from Qatar 2022 and is expected to top that in US, Canada and Mexico 2026, especially with the expanded 48-team tournament.

Marion Laboure, senior strategist at Deutsche Bank Research, says Fifa is "without question" the main winner with its revenues over the four-year cycle period approaching $13bn.

Fifa's income comes from the sale of broadcasting, licensing and hospitality rights, sponsorship deals and ticket sales.

"Fifa also moved into the secondary market with its official resale marketplace, taking a 15% fee from both buyer and seller," adds Laboure.

We should expect more of this in tournaments to come, with Fifa considering expanding the tournament yet again to 64 teams, which could include the likes of China and India - and the billions more viewers that come with it.

Fans - losers

While fans may have achieved lifelong dreams, financially speaking, this tournament has been tough.

The vast sums being forked out to pay for the tickets alone and criticism of Fifa's dynamic pricing strategy, which raises prices when demand is high, have been well-documented.

Even US President Donald Trump admitted he "wouldn't pay" when asked about the potential $1,000 ticket price for his country's tournament opener against Paraguay.

Tickets for the final at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium were officially offered at $32,970, while some resale tickets have been listed for more than $2m.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino defended ticket costs, arguing they were in line with other US sporting events.

Away from tickets, fans have also been squeezed through flights, food and accommodation.

One example that hit the headlines was the hike in New Jersey Transit train tickets. A 30-minute train journey to the MetLife Stadium rose to $150 for the tournament from the usual $12.90 for a return fare. A backlash led to prices being cut, but they still remained higher than normal.

Broadcasters and sponsors - winners

While broadcasters have had to spend a fortune to televise the tournament, the viewing figures - and sponsors wanting their brands on show - mean they are also likely to make a killing in selling advertising slots.

Fifa brought in the much-talked about hydration breaks for this World Cup - a move Infantino said was "purely a sporting matter" with no additional revenue for the governing body.

However, the three minutes for players to get fluids on board has provided a new commercial opportunity for broadcasters and sponsors.

Fox Sports, who reportedly paid $485m for the US broadcast rights, introduced the breaks as "sponsored by" a brand.

According to experts, an average 30-second World Cup advertising slot on Fox costs between $200,000 and $300,000. It reached as high as $750,000 during US matches the final stages.

"The hydration breaks are pure advertising inventory. I'd be extremely surprised if they disappear. The expanded format will stay because scale is now Fifa's business model," says Laboure of Deutsche Bank Research.

Fans in the UK watching games on the BBC or ITV have been shielded from hydration break adverts due to the former not using any advertising and the latter being restricted by regulator rules on the amount of commercials used in a 60-minute period.

The official sponsors of the World Cup pay eye-watering sums to associate brands with the competition, but no doubt end up benefiting financially, with the likes of Adidas and Coca-Cola plastered everywhere.

The German sportswear brand has been locked in a battle with its arch-rival Nike, spending some £50m on their "backyard legends" ad featuring Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham and Lionel Messi.

However, some unofficial brands have also benefited from Fifa trying to make sure fans see less of them, such as the Levi's logo outside the Levi's stadium in San Francisco being covered up.

David Beckham - winner

Adidas's main ad also features an AI version of Sir David Beckham - who, to be honest, might not have had time to attend filming in person.

The UK's first billionaire sportsman has been in so many adverts from Home Depot to Bank of America, you could be forgiven for forgetting what brand he is actually representing.

Despite hanging up his boots more than a decade ago, Beckham continues to be the face of US soccer, with the American club he co-owns, Inter Miami, estimated to be Major League Soccer's most valuable franchise at $1.45bn.

He may not have managed to win the World Cup on the pitch, but he's arguably won the commercial game off it.

Host cities - losers

The 16 host cities across the US, Canada and Mexico have been welcoming an influx of fans and tourists boosting hospitality, hotels and local businesses.

But while the Scots drank Boston dry and have won the heart of the city and its people, experts say the long-term economic benefits are minimal.

Fifa estimated some $41bn would be added to the global economy, of which $17bn would boost the US economy alone, with 185,000 jobs created, mostly in hospitality and accommodation.

But Alexander Budzier, a fellow in management practice at Oxford University and chief executive of project management company Oxford Global Projects, says the long-term economic benefits of hosting such a big sporting event just do not materialise.

Host cities actually typically see a big drop in visitors, he says, as many seek to avoid the tournament chaos.

And while there may be a spike in hiring, he argues it is typically only for lower-paid jobs in hospitality. "It creates jobs, but it does not create wealth," he says.

Official figures show that hiring in US pubs, bars and restaurants ramped up ahead of the tournament in May, but the boom was short-lived.

The only "worthwhile" economic benefit, Budzier argues, is the regeneration projects that can be done, such as the redevelopment and housing built in Stratford in London following the 2012 Olympic Games.

But due to much of this World Cup using existing stadia, hotels, training complexes and travel infrastructure, "there won't be any economic benefits from development".

Merchandise sellers - winners

The enthusiasm of fans has fuelled sales of team kits across the world.

Nike says its national team kit sales this year were more than twice as high as in the 2022 World Cup. England was its top-selling kit, followed by France, Brazil, the Netherlands, and the US, it says.

For Adidas, the Mexico jerseys came out top.

JD Sports says it's seen a record-breaking year for England shirt sales. While earlier in the competition sales of the national kit were outperforming UK sales of kits from every other country, it said Scotland can claim the best-selling jersey overall.

Sales of Germany, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina kits also surged, it adds.

Cee Valentina, a culture journalist who talks about football fashion on TikTok and Instagram, says she isn't surprised by the popularity of merchandise.

She tells BBC Newsbeat football shirts have "become an everyday streetwear staple", with Gen Z's desire for nostalgia trickling into demand for retro shirts, and custom shirts designed for women taking on a new life as well.

The flipside is the thousands of counterfeit items on sale.

Valentina says when items such as football shirts become a fashion trend they become more expensive, "but there's always going to be the counterfeits because accessibility is an important part of football culture overall".

Hotels - losers

The expected demand for hotel rooms did not materialise, with industry bodies reporting lower bookings in host cities this year than last.

The British Columbia Hotel Association says that while final booking figures are yet to be confirmed, June and July were "pacing well behind previous years", despite Vancouver hosting seven of the games in Canada.

It says tournaments "do not create 40 straight days of sold-out hotels", but rather lead to high-demand around specific dates.

For American hoteliers, the pre-tournament buzz also did not deliver.

The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) accused Fifa of block-booking too many rooms for its own use and creating false demand. Fifa has said it does not recognise the accusation.

Laboure of Deutsche Bank Research says the same thing happened in France in 1998 when demand did not meet expectations.

"By April, 80% of US hotel operators said bookings were tracking below their initial forecasts - two-thirds of New York hoteliers reported softer-than-expected bookings, and in Seattle nearly 80% did, with many calling the tournament a 'non-event'," she adds.

Betting companies - winners

The 2026 World Cup is on track to be the biggest gambling event of all time, with an estimated $50bn placed in bets - around $500m wagered per match, according to financial services firm Macquarie, which has interests in the gambling industry.

It says this is primarily down to the expansion in teams, meaning there will be more than 100 matches played, up from 64 in 2022.

Flutter Entertainment, which owns Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet, forecast the amount placed in bets would be double that of the previous tournament because of growth in the US and also Brazil.

Chad Beynon, an analyst at Macquarie, says in-play betting has taken over from the more traditional pre-match punt.

"Now it's all about reacting to what you're seeing on the field, adjusting your views. Whereas before it was kind of sit, watch, wait - you had to place your bet before the match," he says.

Sports betting in the US is still a relatively new industry. Until 2018, betting on sports was only legal in Nevada, the home of Las Vegas, but a Supreme Court ruling paved the way for many states to legalise it.

However, there are still some states where it remains illegal, including California and Texas. In those areas there has been big engagement in prediction markets - a fast-growing, billion-dollar industry popular with young men - which are not classified as gambling, meaning they can be used to place bets on sport regardless of which state someone is in.

Additional reporting by Eleanor Doyle, Newsbeat.

China's Moonshot AI claims Kimi K3 can rival OpenAI and Anthropic

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9w4q8pgp0o, yesterday

Chinese AI start-up Moonshot has unveiled a massive new artificial intelligence model it says can rival top American firms.

The company launched Kimi K3, containing 2.8 trillion parameters, which serves as a measure of an AI's scale and processing power.

Kimi K3's full capabilities – coding, knowledge work, and reasoning – will be known when it is released as an open-source model on 27 July.

The sudden breakthrough suggests that China's tech prowess is rapidly narrowing the capabilities gap, upending long-held assumptions in the West that Chinese developers trail their American peers.

Its arrival later this month will make it the world's first open-source model in the three-trillion-parameter class that can be freely downloaded, run and customised by outside developers.

The release comes at a highly sensitive moment for the global technology sector, just weeks after the US government abruptly forced American developer Anthropic to temporarily withdraw its flagship Fable and Mythos models due to severe cybersecurity concerns.

While Washington has since lifted those restrictions, the initial move highlights how the US government now views advanced AI software as critical national infrastructure, labelling frontier models as vital national security assets subject to strict export controls.

However, the rapid arrival of Kimi K3 suggests Chinese firms are successfully bypassing these regulatory barriers and advancing independently despite US restrictions on hardware sales.

Heavily backed by domestic tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, Moonshot has quickly risen to the forefront of China's generative AI ecosystem.

In a statement the company said that K3 stands as Moonshot AI's "most capable flagship model to date".

Unlike closed, proprietary American systems from OpenAI or Anthropic, Kimi K3's open nature allows global users to modify the system for advanced reasoning and complex software development.

Moonshot AI noted that the system is uniquely built to operate with "minimal human supervision" to sustain tasks such as engineering and coding.

Third-party evaluations from Artificial Analysis and Arena.ai show the model performing on a par with leading models in the US, such as OpenAI's GPT and Anthropic's Claude.

In these independent benchmarks, Kimi K3 ranked first in web interface engineering, outperforming Anthropic's Fable system in blind human-preference tests.

While the system's massive size means running it locally requires significant computing equipment, making it open-source could heavily disrupt Silicon Valley's commercial models.

The announcement had an immediate impact on shares in Moonshot's domestic competitors Zhipu and MiniMax, which tumbled sharply in Hong Kong by about 27% and 16% respectively.

New EU border system tripling time at passport control, airport boss says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg5gg6n9x3o, today

The EU's new border system has nearly tripled the time it's taking for Brits to get through passport control even after improvements have been made, a boss at Rome's main airport has said.

It comes as Ryanair has warned passengers travelling to Europe this summer to prepare for extended waits.

Border police at Portugal's Faro airport also told the BBC the Entry Exit System technology suffered from bugs, but insisted any queues there would go down quickly.

The European Commission (EC) has said in most EU airports disruption is limited, and added that it will continue to support member states in the system's implementation.

It added: "This support will continue to the fullest extent possible."

The digital Entry Exit System (EES) requires non-EU citizens entering the Schengen area - made up of 29 European countries - to register fingerprints and a photo when they arrive. The information is checked as they leave.

It's often done using standalone, automated machines known as "kiosks" and sometimes with border officers - for example, for children under 12. The new process and machines have been phased in since October.

Some European airports have seen hours-long queues at passport control. Passengers have even reported missing flights home.

This week, Ryanair said "the failed EES rollout" was causing unnecessary delays and long queues.

The airline said UK passengers should "allow extra time for their journey and be prepared for extended waits at passport control."

In Rome, a perennially popular destination for tourists from the UK and around the globe, everyone we spoke to in the Piazza di Spagna had an EES story.

Carl and his family travelled to Rome from Yorkshire.

"It was two hours queuing, from getting off the plane to getting through with children. I knew it was going to be bad, but not as bad as that."

David, visiting from the US with his wife Marlo, said the queue took about an hour. "We actually missed our car, our driver."

We met people who'd flown into other airports too. One group had landed in Barcelona before a cruise brought them to Rome.

Barry, from Bracknell, said passport control had taken 45-50 minutes because some machines weren't working.

His friend Sarah, who'd arrived in Barcelona on a different flight, said passport control took nearly as long as the flight. "The queue was huge, nearly an hour… it was just slow".

System 'needs fixing urgently'

Rome's Fiumicino airport has found it impractical to have large volumes of passengers using the self-service "kiosks", despite their €12m ($13.7m, £10.2m) cost.

Now, UK nationals are among those who can register fingerprints and photos at passport e-gates, instead of having to use the standalone machines too. Children under-12 can't use them and must go to a border officer.

Ivan Bassato, the airport's Chief Aviation Officer, told the BBC the integration with e-gates "improved things significantly".

But still, the complexity of the system means the time taken for UK nationals to get through the border has risen from seven minutes to 20 minutes.

"We are not at the point where you have the same quality of the process [as] before the EES," he said.

Bassato added the airport prides itself on being well set with technology, so it was "absolutely not okay with" waits of one or two hours.

"I think that we need to fix urgently certain aspects of the system."

Bassato believes that authorities should remove duplication from the process.

He would also like to see more countries using the the EU's pre-registration app. Only two countries are doing so currently - Sweden and Portugal.

Countries involved are able to suspend EES under exceptional circumstances.

Airports and airlines have been pressing the EC to allow states to proactively suspend the process ahead of particularly busy times. However, a meeting earlier this month did not lead to any change.

Bugs in the system

Another country where passengers have reported holdups due to EES is Portugal.

The BBC spoke to Superintendent Pedro Oliveira, who is in charge of border control at Faro airport. He said "sometimes what used to be a ten-minute queue... takes over thirty minutes."

The high number of UK passengers arriving means some degree of queuing is to be expected, but he insisted people should "not be afraid" because things would move quickly.

Waits of over an hour were very rare at Faro, according to Supt Oliveira, but he added they could potentially happen if more planes than expected arrived at the same time.

The automated machines were generally the quickest way of getting through the border, he said.

Supt Oliveira also said the EU's new IT system has had bugs.

"[EES] makes us very dependent on the technology…. servers often are intertwined and connected, so sometimes something that happens in Warsaw affects our system here.

"At times, there are just complications with the server of the European Union. Sometimes crashes happen in all member states at the same time, and we need a few minutes to reboot everything."

He did say this was now happening less often.

More border officers have been recruited to help. In Portugal, children under the age of 16 go to a member of border police staff to have their biometric information recorded instead.

Russian online retail warehouses hit by deadly Ukrainian strikes

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyxlm877p2o, yesterday

Eight people have been killed and 62 injured after Ukrainian drones struck two warehouses belonging to Russia's biggest online retailer, Wildberries, according to Russian officials.

Seven deaths and 25 injuries occurred at a warehouse in the city of Tambov, roughly 295 miles (475km) south-east of Moscow. One death and 37 injuries occurred at another Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal in the Moscow region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks had struck "major logistics facilities" which had been used to "supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment".

He added that Ukraine had also struck targets in the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea, and Russian-annexed Crimea.

Images from the scene of one of the warehouse strikes showed flames and huge plumes of black smoke rising from a vast logistics building, with dozens of workers running into a car park area.

The attacks appear to have started at night, with some videos showing terrified and injured staff attempting to flee as explosions continue. Another clip appears to show the walls of a warehouse disintegrating as they are engulfed by flames.

Zelensky said Ukraine's operations were in response to "Russian strikes on our civilian infrastructure and on our cities and communities". Overnight into Wednesday, 14 people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine.

Wildberries is often described as the Russian equivalent of Amazon. The merged RWB group, which combines Wildberries with advertising company Russ, was valued at about $12.6bn (£9.3bn) by Forbes Russia in 2026.

Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre, told the BBC that Wildberries was a "vital component" of Russian logistics, and that its website had been used by Russian volunteers to purchase military equipment including walkie-talkies, body armour and drone components.

"The primary rationale for striking Wildberries' warehouses is to disrupt Russian logistics and the supply of dual-use goods, critical electronics, sanctioned goods and the like to the Russian army and Russian arms manufacturers," he said.

"The collateral damage from such strikes could also have a serious impact on the Russian economy, as well as a psychological effect on Russian society and, likely, on continued support for the war."

Russia has targeted similar facilities in Ukraine since the start of the war, including its postal service and some electronics distributors.

Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim - one of Russia's first female billionaires - ⁠said it had been a "terrible night" for Russia and for the company.

"Seven people working the night shift died on the spot," governor of the Tambov region Evgeniy Pervyshov wrote on Telegram, adding that 28 drones were also shot down on approach.

He said 25 people had been injured, including seven in serious condition. Most of these injuries were caused by shrapnel wounds, he said.

It was the "largest and most inhumane" attack on the region in terms of the number of drones used and the number of casualties, he added.

Meanwhile, governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov said eight of those injured in the strikes on the Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal were in a "serious condition".

He added that a total of 48 drones were shot down in the region overnight, and that a Russian oil depot had also been struck by a falling drone, which he described as the incident with "the most serious consequences".

"Firefighters, emergency services, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations continue to work at the scene," he wrote on Telegram. He did not describe the level of damage in detail. Zelensky separately confirmed Ukraine had struck "an oil facility".

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 made a rare admission in June that fuel shortages had been caused by Ukrainian attacks, and signed into law a bill aimed at boosting supplies to the domestic fuel market in early July.

New era for Gibraltar with removal of 118-year-old border controls with Spain

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwydz60j3eno, 7 days ago

Every weekday morning, Shilpi Chotrani rides her bicycle from her home in the Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción to Gibraltar. It's a short journey but it means crossing an international border.

A British Overseas Territory of around 40,000 inhabitants, Gibraltar has a border control for those entering and leaving.

That means that during the morning and afternoon rush hours, when around 15,000 Spaniards who work in the territory cross the frontier, there can be long, time-consuming queues.

"The fact that there is a border between us is ridiculous," says Chotrani, who has a job in human resources in a Gibraltarian shipping and tourism company. "I don't think a fence should separate people from one place and another."

Behind her, the 1,400-foot-tall Rock of Gibraltar is shrouded in early-morning cloud. Perched at the southern tip of mainland western Europe, it is just nine miles from Morocco, at a point where the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea meet.

It is a place that has witnessed military battles, sovereignty disputes and a 13-year blockade imposed by Spain.

But from 15 July, it is scheduled to see a new development - the removal of the border, allowing freedom of movement between Spain and Gibraltar.

This is part of a carefully negotiated agreement between the European Union and the UK following the latter's exit from the bloc. Sharing a land border with the EU meant that Gibraltar posed a particular challenge in the post-Brexit era.

"This is going to be a great step forward, both for the Spanish side and the British side," says Chotrani. "All of those of us who live [in La Línea de la Concepción] think this is a great idea. This should have been done a long time ago."

Gibraltar has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. But La Línea de la Concepción and the nearby area is one of the most deprived parts of Spain.

Unemployment, which is high across the southern Andalusia region, is close to 30% here. The removal of the border is therefore expected to have major economic benefits, facilitating the flow of people back and forth, and possibly going some way to redress the imbalance between the two territories.

"This is something historic, we've had a border fence since 1908," says Juan Franco, the mayor of La Línea de la Concepción, who is keen to underline the local economic dependence on the British territory.

"You have to realise that for an average company in this town a third of its income is from clients in Gibraltar," he says.

After a decade of uncertainty regarding Gibraltar's future relationship with Spain following the UK's vote to leave the EU, Franco says he believes "this solution to Brexit will end up having a positive effect for us".

Gibraltarians were staunchly opposed to Brexit, with 96% of them voting to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum on the issue. That staunchly pro-EU stance was driven partly by concerns that exiting the bloc would encourage Spanish sovereignty claims on the Rock.

But another major factor was Gibraltar's existing close trade relationship with the EU – particularly in areas such as online gaming, shipping and financial services – and fears about the logistical challenges Brexit would pose.

After years of negotiation involving Spain, the EU and the UK, the solution has been to align Gibraltar with the European customs union and the Schengen European free travel zone.

Travellers arriving from countries outside Schengen, such as the UK, will have to show their passports to Gibraltarian and Spanish officials at the territory's airport and port.

The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, says the new arrangements, which are due to be provisionally implemented with their approval by the UK and European Parliaments still pending, represent "a huge change" for the territory.

"One of the key things which has defined the past eight generations of Gibraltarians is the restrictions at the frontier," he told the BBC in the Gibraltarian government's headquarters.

Picardo describes the agreement as introducing "complete and utter fluidity of people and goods" between Gibraltar, on the one hand, and Spain and the EU on the other.

The most obvious economic benefit for Gibraltar, Picardo says, will be an increase in arrivals.

"Business will now be able, in Gibraltar, to see a footfall increase which is not going to be restrained by a potential queue on the way in or frontier queue on the way out."

With Spain contesting the UK's sovereignty of Gibraltar, it is an issue that occasionally flares up in the political arena. In the most notorious episode of bilateral tensions in recent times, Spain's dictator, Francisco Franco, introduced a blockade of the Rock in 1969, which was only lifted in 1982, well after his death.

The chief minister casts the new arrangement as the opposite of the blockade - a logical, mutually beneficial opening up of a border.

"This will be huge for human relations, it will be huge for business, it will be huge for frontier workers, it will be a new dawn" for Gibraltar's relationship with Spain and the EU, says Picardo.

Spain's foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, has cast it in a similar light, speaking of "a new era" for the Rock.

However, the deal also means that goods sold in Gibraltar must comply with EU regulations, something that had not been the case until now.

In addition, the lack of value added tax (VAT) in Gibraltar has meant that a new transaction tax is being introduced, replacing import duty. Charged on all goods sold in Gibraltar, it will start at 15% this year, eventually rising to 17%. There will also be higher rates of excise tax on certain goods.

John Isola, managing director of Anglo Hispano Company, which runs several restaurants and bars on the Rock, says there is a sense of relief among the Gibraltarian business community that the drawn-out Brexit issue has, finally, been resolved – and without a hard border.

He sees the new arrangement as "a good compromise" that will encourage more visitors to Gibraltar and therefore more business.

However, Isola also admits to some nervousness due to the new regulations and tax regime, which he expects will have an impact on competitiveness. "For anybody importing goods the scenario changes completely in terms of the paperwork that one is going to have to present to get the goods in," he says.

He also believes that new requirements to adhere to EU standards "is a challenge for anybody who is importing goods from the UK or anywhere else outside the EU".

Gibraltarians and residents of La Línea de la Concepción have had plenty of time to get used to the idea of the new arrangement. In recent weeks, machinery has been tearing down the border fence each night, in preparation for 15 July.

Having witnessed so much drama in the past, this territory is about to discover the significance of the latest twist in its history.

Wealthy AI workers send San Francisco house prices soaring

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9q29j47v9ro, 11 days ago

On a tree-lined street in the affluent Duboce Triangle residential neighbourhood of San Francisco, the top half of a white, Edwardian-era, detached house was drawing visitors from prospective buyers.

The opulently renovated three-bedroom apartment was on the market for almost $3m (£2.3m). And it had been attracting increased attention due to an unusual payment possibility - the seller would consider shares in artificial intelligence companies OpenAI or Anthropic instead of cash.

"The value [of the property] is questionable, but I would like to buy," says a young OpenAI employee who has just viewed the flat with his partner.

The worker, who moved to the Californian city two years ago for a technical job with the San Francisco-based company, is currently renting. He plans, he says, to ask his bosses about the stock transfer possibility.

Welcome to San Francisco 2026, also home to fellow AI giant Anthropic. The city is ground zero for the AI revolution, and its property prices have risen dramatically this year.

"They are just astronomical," says Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, a real estate company that tracks US home prices. "People are flush with cash and ready to buy."

In March, San Francisco regained its title as the most expensive city for homebuyers in the US, overtaking rival San Jose 50 miles to the south in the heart of traditional Silicon Valley.

That month, the median house price in San Francisco rose 19% on the year before, and that trend has continued, up 14.5% and 14.1% in April and May respectively, according to data provided by Redfin.

The median sale price in the city as of May 2026 is a record high of $1.76m, compared with nearly $400,000 for the US as a whole, where prices rose by just 1.4% in March, and 2% in both April and May.

The prevailing view of pretty much everyone is that AI money is the driver of the red-hot San Francisco property market. "We have come to that conclusion based on what we're seeing in the data, and what we've heard from our agents," says Fairweather.

She highlights the steep jump in prices in the wider San Francisco Bay Area's luxury zip codes – which includes Duboce Triangle – since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, a trend absent in cities with less AI wealth.

It has halted the downturn that San Francisco saw during the Covid pandemic, when the population fell and house prices softened.

Today, the high salaries and signing bonuses being paid to top AI staff in the city can be extraordinary, even by Silicon Valley standards. Yet even more generous are the stock options that the employees have been allowed to partially cash in via limited share sales.

Last October, more than 600 current and former OpenAI employees sold combined shares worth $6.6bn, an average of $11m per participant, it was recently reported.

At Anthropic, whose main product is Claude, workers were also recently said to have been allowed to sell shares totalling some $6bn.

And with both companies due to have full stock market flotations later this year or next, minting more multi-millionaire employees, many see no end in sight to San Francisco's real estate rises.

"Today's bidding wars are going to be seen as bargains, and they already are," says Rachel Swann, the listing agent for the Duboce Triangle property.

Enrico Moretti is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, who lives in the city.

He says it is still "very early" in the AI boom, and points out that while the city's population and employment levels are rising, they remain below what they were before the pandemic.

There are also opposing forces that may keep a lid on things. Big tech firms such as Meta have recently seen large layoffs.

And as the AI industry moves from its fast-growing innovation phase to one of established companies, it is likely to require less specialized workers who are less able to command the same pay.

Moretti also points out that the lion's share of the wealth from OpenAI and Anthropic's coming stock market flotations will go to investors rather than employees, and they are globally located.

But in the meantime, San Francisco estate agent Matthew Goulden says the current situation is "crazy".

Goulden, who has been doing the job for more than 20 years, says he first started noticing an uptick in prospective buyers – many from the world of AI – late last year.

The upward trend, he says, is not just confined to luxury properties but extends across the market, from single-family homes to one-bedroom flats, and while it is most pronounced in desirable neighbourhoods, it is being felt almost everywhere.

He says that bidding wars are now common, sometimes pushing sale prices millions above the asking level.

At the same time, he adds that homes are selling faster than ever, and the number of all-cash purchases seems to be surging, particularly at the upper end of the market.

Danielle Lazier, another experienced San Francisco realtor, describes similar, but adds some perspective. There has long been a tendency in San Francisco for homes to be listed below market value to get an auction effect going, she says.

And supply is chronically limited – San Francisco is small, there is a high proportion of renters and it has struggled to build new housing (even if the city's new pro-growth, recovery-focused mayor is seeking to change that).

"All of a sudden AI money can have an outsized effect," she says.

Meanwhile, as the new AI boom takes hold, the tale of who gets to stay in San Francisco and who doesn't is told by its residents.

Two San Francisco families with school-aged children, who both asked for anonymity to protect their privacy, recently succeeded in buying move-in-ready single-family homes to meet their desperate needs for more space – but only one was able to do so in the city.

That family was able to purchase in the desirable family-friendly neighbourhood where they had been long-term renters after one parent, who works at OpenAI, sold some company shares last October, giving the family the financial boost needed to buy in an all-cash offer.

The couple say they feel "conflicted and self-conscious" that it is AI money that has made it possible. "We're not ostentatious people," they add. "We've just done what we can with the opportunity."

In contrast, the other family, which doesn't derive its income from AI or the tech world, had to instead move to a more suburban Bay Area town to the north.

Their new home, bought in part with a mortgage, includes a pool and extra land.

It is a different kind of life, notes the mother, and they have mostly adapted now – though it involves a long commute for her husband, who has a senior government job in San Francisco, and they still have "what if" moments.

"We wouldn't have left if we could have afforded to stay," she reflects. "It kind of sucks and I do get a little salty seeing all this extra AI money squeeze everyone else out."

The Duboce Triangle flat, for the record, and according to its listing agent, sold for $3.2m – $200,000 over the asking price. Whether the deal included AI stock is confidential.

Is tracking your food purchases good for your health?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8wlplellvo, 6 days ago

With a packet of biscuits in one hand and her smartphone in the other in the biscuits sucrées aisle of her local Hyper U supermarket west of Paris, Nathalie sees red. Literally.

"Look at that!" she says showing me her phone. 0/100 is marked in red lettering.

"This is one of Malo's [her 12-year-old son's] favourites but it's not only full of sugar and saturated fats, there are four additives as well including one health risk," she says.

Nathalie clicks on the additive in question: E450. "A mineral which, taken in excess, can lead to bone marrow and kidney problems," she reads.

"Honestly, that they can put this sort of thing in food aimed at children drives me nuts!" she says.

We scan an Italian alternative whose packaging gives you the impression those biscuits have been hand-made by peasant women wearing black shawls.

The score is not much better: "Malo hates shopping with me now," says Nathalie. "You spend ages scanning and he can never have what he wants."

The app, having activated the red alert, suggests a healthier alternative. It's organic, containing wholewheat, fruit and fibre.

"You end up buying a lot more organic stuff so it's more expensive," she says.

Nathalie is one of a growing number of people using Yuka, an app developed in France, to shop more healthily. Not just for food but cosmetics and toiletries too.

Download it and you can use your phone to scan the barcodes of any one of the six million products on the Yuka database (about 1,200 new ones a day) and it'll tell you immediately – green for good, red for bad, yellow for could be better. If you want to know more, you can delve further. Pages and pages if you want.

Started in 2015, Yuka now has 85 million users in 12 countries: numerous European ones plus the US, Canada and Australia.

The third-biggest user is the UK with around five million, second is France with six million, but the biggest by a very long way is the US with 28 million.

Yuka has some high-profile fans in the US. For example, Donald Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, says it's his favourite app.

Yuka was founded in France where it still has its headquarters, but three years ago co-founder and CEO Julie Chapon moved to the States because the app was doing so well there.

She says the app is more successful in the US because the need is greater. "I'm thrilled to be in a country where there is still so much progress to be made," she says, diplomatically.

In France, Yuka is one facet of a wider food-tracking phenomenon.

In 2012, a French programmer called Stéphane Gigandet launched a free, online and crowdsourced food product database called Open Food Facts during the Food Revolution Day organised by English chef Jamie Oliver.

A community-driven non-profit rather than a private company, it now makes available information on over four million food products around the world.

Also, two months after Yuka's launch, the French government started its Nutri-Score labeling. Its creator was the food researcher Serge Hercberg from Paris' Sorbonne University.

"I was inspired in particular by the UK's Traffic Light system which gives green, amber or red lights for sugar, fat, salt, calories... but I wanted something simpler. The Nutri-Score gives a global score. You can tell at a glance whether a product is going to be good or bad for your health," he says.

Introduced after a bit of an arm-wrestle with the food industry, Nutri-Score is a voluntary front-of-pack label for pre-packaged food. Many big food manufacturers such as Danone and Nestlé have adopted it widely, but some brands – especially where they'd score poorly - simply opt out.

"Applications like Yuka and Open Food Facts fill that gap," says Hercberg.

They also go further than Nutri-Score, giving info, for example, about additives (chemicals added to preserve or colour food for example which are coded as e-numbers) whose presence is a strong indicator that food is ultra-processed.

The Yuka drawback? Christian Reynolds, Reader in Food Policy at City St George's University, London says tech is one of a basket of solutions but research shows the limits.

"I supported a [British government] review on how people interact with labels and information, and the take home from that was that few people have the time, capacity or inclination to engage with shopping and food choices beyond routine."

Hercberg see the limitations to food tracking systems as well: "Unfortunately, they essentially only touch the more privileged section of the population, who are not those most at risk of health problems linked to the way they eat."

He considers the Nutri-Score labeling system he created and apps like Yuka and Open Food Facts to be allies.

They are all about sharing information, which they already do among themselves. Yuka has its own food scientists but replies essentially on academic publications and publicly-available data. It incorporates Nutri-Score data in its product assessments.

Unlike Nutri-Score and Open Food Facts, Yuka is a private company and profitable says CEO Julie Chapon.

However, she stresses that revenue does not come from advertising, sponsored rankings or product placement.

"We have never accepted money from brands to influence our ratings or recommendations. Our revenue comes from users, through the premium version of the app," she says.

The percentage of Yuka users who pay for premium is tiny but that suffices because the total number of users is so enormous, she adds.

Chapon says there is evidence that Yuka has an impact on shopping habits. In 2024 a company survey of 20,000 users indicated that 94% of them put products back on the shelf when the app showed a red rating.

As for evidence of how this app is changing the food produced and sold, the most striking example is probably the French super and hyper-market chain Intermarché, France's third largest with over 2,100 stores.

It says it has changed a lot of its own brand product formulations because of their Yuka scores.

"Since 2017, we have reformulated over 3,000 recipes and taken out 160 additives… Last year alone, we re-worked the formulations of around 300 products," the company said in a statement.

In April this year it even started putting products' Yuka scores on its online shopping site.

Why has British Steel been nationalised?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y66y40kgpo, 2 days ago

British Steel has been taken into public ownership after years of uncertainty over the future of the steelworks.

It comes months after the UK government took control of the company's plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, though it was still owned by China's Jingye Group.

What is British Steel and why is it important?

British Steel's Scunthorpe plant employs 2,700 people, about three-quarters of the company's workforce.

It is the last plant in the UK producing virgin steel, which is used in major construction projects like buildings and railways. It has fewer imperfections than the recycled steel made elsewhere in the country.

Were the plant to stop producing virgin steel, the UK would be the only member of the G7 group of leading economies without the ability to make it. The government views that as a risk to the UK's economic security.

Who has owned British Steel?

In 2016, Tata Steel sold the loss-making part of its business that made "long products" like transport rails and steel sections for construction.

Private investment firm Greybull Capital bought it for £1 and renamed the business British Steel.

However, following financial collapse in 2019, British Steel was taken over by the government's insolvency service.

It was sold to Chinese steel-making firm Jingye the following year.

On 16 July this year, the UK government brought it into public ownership, and Jingye is now seeking compensation for nationalisation.

China's commerce ministry has hit out at the nationalisation, saying it "firmly opposes and is strongly dissatisfied with the British government's decision".

Why is the Scunthorpe plant losing money?

In late March 2025, Jingye said the plant was losing around £700,000 a day and launched a consultation on its closure.

It said the blast furnaces were "no longer financially sustainable," blaming "highly challenging" market conditions, tariffs and costs associated with moving to lower-carbon production techniques.

A later report from the National Audit Office in March this year noted that the Scunthorpe steelworks was costing the government about £1.3m a day.

UK steel production has been falling for several decades and the financial pressures facing the industry were heightened last March when the US imposed a 25% tariff on any steel it imports.

Global over-production has created "a glut of steel on the international market", according to a a House of Commons Library briefing, which has pushed prices down. British manufacturers also face higher costs, particularly on electricity, than firms in other countries.

What has the government said?

The government says nationalisation will protect jobs and safeguard "a vital national capability".

Nationalisation buys it time and gives it the power and freedom to decide on the future of the plant, while keeping the blast furnaces going.

Ultimately it is unlikely the government will want to remain in charge of a business that is costing it more than a million pounds a day.

The question over whether Jingye should be compensated for the nationalisation based on the value of the company will be determined by an independent assessor, Business Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC.

"But let me be really clear, there is an alternative here - that we let this business go bust," he said.

"If that business disappears, we will lose the ability for primary steel production in our country, we will become entirely dependent on global supply."

Can British Steel's blast furnaces keep running?

Scunthorpe's skyline has four blast furnaces, all named after English Queens - Bess, Mary, Anne and Victoria. Bess and Anne are the only two still working.

Both are very old - Bess started producing steel in 1938 and Anne in 1954 - and are approaching the end of their operational lives.

Blast furnaces are designed to run continuously. Allowing them to cool can cause serious damage, and extensive work is required to restart them. Even a planned refurbishment can cost tens of millions of pounds.

The supplies needed to keep them running - coking coal and iron pellets - are also running low.

Why can't a blast furnace easily be restarted?

Turning off a blast furnace without making it permanently unusable is notoriously difficult.

The furnaces operate at extreme temperatures, with iron ore and coking coal poured in at the top and liquid iron extracted at the bottom. This iron goes to the steel plant to make steel.

If a furnace stops working, the molten metal will cool and solidify. This is called a "salamander".

When the furnace is turned back on this metal heats up again and expands which can crack the furnace.

A so-called "Salamander Tap" process can be used to temporarily shut down a blast furnace by drilling a hole to remove any remaining hot metal. However, this can be a dangerous process.

Who else produces steel in the UK?

There are 1,160 businesses in the UK steel industry, directly supporting 40,000 other firms, according to the House of Commons Library.

Tata Steel at Port Talbot in Wales was once the UK's largest virgin steel producer but it turned off its blast furnace in September 2024, saying it was losing £1.7m a day.

An agreement with the UK government was reached which saw it commit £500m to help the company move to greener forms of steelmaking.

Other steelmakers in the UK include Liberty Steel, Celsa, Marcegaglia and Outokumpu.

Liberty Steel also has a plant in Scunthorpe that is facing closure. The government took control of its Speciality Steels UK (SSUK) division in August last year, and agreed to cover the ongoing wages and costs of the plant while a buyer is sought.

In 2024 the UK steel industry contributed £1.7bn to the UK economy - equivalent to 0.1% of total UK economic output and 0.8% of manufacturing output.

The latest figures for 2023 show the UK produced 5.6 million tonnes of crude steel, or 0.3% of the world's total. In comparison, China produced more than 1,000 million tonnes, 54% of global production.

The EU produced 126 million tonnes of steel in 2023, about 7% of the world's total. Compared with EU countries, the UK ranked as the eighth largest steel producer, after Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Poland and Belgium.

Where else does the UK get its steel from?

In 2024, the UK imported nearly 7 million tonnes of steel. About two-thirds of that came from the EU.

The Netherlands, Spain and Germany were the top three countries of origin for imports of finished steel in 2024, according to industry body UK Steel.

The UK also gets some steel from Asia, from countries such as India, South Korea, Vietnam and China.

'My buyers dropped their offer by £15,000 the day before exchange': Gazundering and how to avoid it

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3d39r338m0o, yesterday

Sarah was excitedly packing up to move out of the terraced house her family had outgrown to a four-bedroom home in the countryside.

But the day before exchanging contracts the buyers of her house dropped their agreed offer by £15,000. "It was awful, your heart just drops to your stomach," says Sarah, not her real name.

She had fallen victim to gazundering, a rare but growing problem in the property market in England and Wales, according to the Conveyancing Association.

It is calling for government reforms aimed at tackling this and other house buying and selling issues to be brought in "without delay" instead of 2029 as planned.

For Sarah, her husband and two children their move had all been going smoothly.

They were selling the three-bedroom terrace they'd renovated and buying her parents' four-bedroom detached house in the countryside.

But the day before contracts were exchanged Sarah received a phone call from her "befuddled" estate agent saying he had some bad news.

Their buyers said they'd done some more research about the area and would now offer £15,000 less than the price they'd agreed.

"I can't even begin to go through the financial consequences [if we lost the sale]," she says.

If they accepted the lower offer they would be out of pocket but if they refused there would be costs too.

"We had already paid one set of legal fees but would have had to pay again if we needed a new buyer. We'd also paid the removal fees already and would have to pay again if we cancelled the moving date," says Sarah.

What is gazundering?

Gazundering is when a buyer lowers their agreed offer just before contracts are exchanged.

It puts a seller under pressure to accept the lower price or risk losing their sale and collapsing their property chain - potentially losing the house they want to buy.

It is possible because in England, Wales and Northern Ireland an offer is not legally binding until parties exchange contracts. Once an offer is accepted it takes an average of 120 days to complete. One in three house sales fall through before exchange.

This costs sellers £400m and the wider economy £1.5bn each year, according to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Planned government reforms would cut that time by four weeks and save the average first time buyer £650, it says.

After speaking to her dad and husband Sarah decided to put her house back on the market that same day.

The next day, her buyers "went running into the estate agent's office saying they were happy to proceed with the agreed sale price", she says.

"Gazundering is actually awful. It's not just a business deal. It's my children's home and the fact that nothing's been done about it is ridiculous."

Beth Rudolf from the Conveyancing Association says gazundering is a small but growing problem.

"It's not actually that big, it doesn't happen very often [but] it's started increasing though because of the change in the property market that's made it a buyers' market."

There are more houses on the market than people looking to buy, she explained, which means sellers face stiffer competition, forcing them to lower prices.

The government has put plans in place to reform the house buying and selling market in England and Wales which would tackle issues like gazundering although at the moment the timetable for those reforms is by the end of the current parliament in 2029.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government told the BBC: "We're stopping gazundering by introducing legally binding agreements that prevent buyers from walking away at the last minute without a valid reason, with fines for those who do."

How to avoid gazundering

* Be clear with your estate agent that your finances won't allow any last minute re-negotiation so they can set this boundary with prospective buyers

* Instruct your conveyancing lawyer to gather all the necessary Land Registry, local authority documents and searches, drainage, water and environmental searches as well as completing the property information questionnaires when you put your property on market. This gives less time and opportunity for gazundering

* You may consider a reservation agreement when a buyer pays a fee to reserve the right to buy the property for a period of time. The seller agrees not to sell to anyone else during that time and if either pull out there are financial penalties

* A conditional binding offer means you agree to buy a house, but only if specific rules are met first such as a related sale or mortgage deal. If those rules fail, you can cancel the deal without financial penalty

Source: The Conveyancing Association

China hits out at British Steel nationalisation

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjd4kvxpd3do, yesterday

China has hit out at the nationalisation of British Steel, saying it "firmly opposes and is strongly dissatisfied with the British government's decision".

On Thursday, the UK government said that taking the loss-making firm into public hands would protect jobs and safeguard a "vital national capability".

The UK took control of British Steel's operations in Scunthorpe last year, though it was still owned by China's Jingye Group, limiting the government's ability to steer its future.

China's commerce ministry said on Friday that the moves "seriously infringed upon Jingye's legitimate rights and interests and severely undermined the confidence of Chinese companies investing in the UK".

It also called on Britain to "faithfully fulfil" its obligations under the China–UK Bilateral Investment Treaty.

"Disregarding Jingye's significant contribution to the UK economy and society, the British side forcibly took control of the company in the name of national security," the ministry said.

The statement added that Beijing would monitor developments closely and support Chinese firms to protect their rights, but did not specify what protecting Chinese companies' rights might involve.

The decision to nationalise British Steel threatens to strain the relationship between London and Beijing just as Andy Burnham is set to enter Downing Street on Monday.

The incoming prime minister will have to weigh his approach to the issue with the economic benefits of ties with the world's second largest economy.

The China-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty is a legally binding agreement that was signed in 1986. It was designed to promote and protect investments between the two countries.

On Friday, a UK government spokesperson said it had held negotiations with Jingye but it "wasn't possible to reach an agreement that represented value to the taxpayer".

"We highly value our relationship with China and remain open to Chinese investment," the spokesperson added.

The nationalisation came after Parliament on Wednesday passed legislation allowing the government to bring the steel industry into public ownership under circumstances where it met a public interest test.

Jingye is seeking compensation, having previously said the business was losing £700,000 a day. The BBC has been unable to get a response from Jingye itself to Thursday's announcement.

Small Business Minister Blair McDougall told the House of Commons on Thursday that the government will appoint an independent valuer in the autumn "to make a judgment on any compensation that is due, and that could be nil".

By taking British Steel into public ownership the government now has the power and freedom to decide on the future of the plant, while keeping the blast furnaces going.

It is unlikely the government will want to continue running the business in the long term as it is costing it more than a million pounds a day.

In March, the National Audit Office said the Scunthorpe steelworks was costing the government about £1.3m a day.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC the government would need to cover the running costs "for the immediate future".

The steelworks directly employs around 2,700 people in Scunthorpe as well as supporting thousands more jobs in the supply chain.

The UK imports most of its steel, with major suppliers including the European Union, the US, China and India.

If the plant stopped producing virgin steel, the UK would become the only member of the G7 group of leading economies without the ability to make it.

Steel output elsewhere in Britain relies on electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which recycle scrap metal to turn it into new products.

Although the government's long-term strategy is for all domestically produced steel to come from EAFs, which are cheaper and much less carbon-intensive to run, it does not want to lose production at Scunthorpe yet.

The plant produces types of steel that are not yet made anywhere else in the country, much of it needed by Network Rail and the building industry.

The fear had been that losing this output would be disruptive and make the country too reliant on imports. So the decision was made that Scunthorpe should be kept open until alternatives are available.

British Steel was last under state ownership in 1988 when it was privatised by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government.

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Why are UK fuel prices rising again?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20zgjzz0e4o, 2 days ago

UK fuel prices are going up again after the collapse of peace talks to end the US-Israel war with Iran.

When the conflict began on 28 February, fuel prices surged as the fighting severely disrupted the production and transportation of energy across the Middle East.

Prices then nosedived when US and Iran agreed to a framework deal to end the fighting in June but have started increasing as tensions resurface.

Motoring firm RAC's head of policy Simon Williams said "the increases are likely to keep coming thick and fast".

How do wholesale oil prices affect the cost of petrol and diesel at the pump?

Crude oil is a key ingredient in petrol and diesel, which means that higher wholesale costs make filling up a car more expensive.

Analysts say every $10 (£7.53) increase in the oil price pushes up pump prices by roughly 7p a litre.

Since the war began, the price of a barrel of Brent crude – the global benchmark for wholesale oil prices – has been very volatile.

Before the conflict, Brent was about $70 a barrel, but the conflict saw it peak at above $120.

In early July, after the framework deal was signed, prices fell back to the near $70 a barrel mark, but have climbed back up again since to around $87 a barrel.

What has happened to petrol prices in the UK?

According to the RAC, the average price of petrol reached an Iran war peak of 159.53p a litre on 28 May, while diesel's highest average price during the conflict was 191.54p a litre on 15 April.

In early July, the RAC said the average price of diesel sank to a low of 150.50p per litre for petrol and 164.52p per litre for diesel.

Since then the prices have been rising and according to its latest data, petrol now costs 152.54p a litre while diesel costs 167p a litre.

The RAC's Williams says they are likely to continue rising because of the jump in the Brent crude price.

Despite the conflict, petrol and diesel prices remain below the levels reached in the summer of 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when petrol reached 191.5p a litre and diesel hit 199p.

Because transporting oil is a slow process, price movements in the wholesale markets take about a fortnight to show at the pump.

Fuel retailers have denied accusations of price gouging during the conflict. The official markets regulator said it had "not seen evidence of retailers actively changing their pricing strategies to take advantage of the crisis".

A government scheme called Fuel Finder lets drivers compare the cost of fuel offered by petrol stations across the UK.

Luke Bosdet, the head of policy at the AA, said the group had been surprised at the speed that prices had fallen and put it down to the scheme.

On 20 May, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said a planned 5p increase in fuel duty due in September would be postponed until 31 December because of the conflict.

Why has the Iran war had a big impact on oil prices?

The Middle East conflict sent global oil prices soaring as it effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's key water transport routes for oil, liquid natural gas and other essential commodities - limiting global supplies.

About 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the waterway.

Despite the deal between the US and Iran, experts warn a return to normal levels of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will take time, and the impact of the war will continue to affect the global economy for potentially months to come.

Where does the UK get its oil and gas?

The UK is heavily reliant on oil and gas imports, with the majority coming from the US and Norway.

The price of oil on the global market determines how much the UK pays for it.

Although the UK does get some oil from the North Sea, most of that is exported for refining elsewhere.

You can also send us your questions by following this link

Reporting by Faarea Masud, Jemma Crew, Alex Daniel, Michael Race, and Mitchell Labiak

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Who is the frontrunner to be the UK's next chancellor?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36yj4pn7jdo, 2 days ago

Andy Burnham will be moving in to Downing Street on Monday, as he becomes the next UK prime minister following the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer.

But who will live next door in Number 11 as chancellor?

Officially, Burnham's team says no decision has been taken and cabinet position announcements won't be made until Monday.

But that hasn't stopped speculation about who may take on the top Treasury role - and attempts at influencing Burnham's choice in chancellor.

Whoever it is, that person will face quite the in-tray – high debt, low growth, welfare reform, defence spending, and the economic fallout from the US-Israel war with Iran to name a few issues.

Here are the names of those believed to be in the running for the job - and what they could mean for your finances.

Shabana Mahmood

There has been increasing talk of the current home secretary becoming chancellor.

The BBC has been told there are "live discussions" about putting Mahmood into Number 11, while the Financial Times is reporting it as a certainty based on three sources close to Burnham.

While she does not have an economics background, she is a senior minister on Labour's right and it may be felt that she could reassure financial markets and smooth the transition to a Burnham government.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the markets were already rallying in relief to reports that Mahmood would become chancellor, with the pound up about 1% against the US dollar this week.

"It tells us two things about Andy Burnham's government: firstly, the market trusts Mahmood to take a sensible approach to economic policy, and to tackle the hard questions of welfare spending, secondly, Burnham is willing to have those to the right of the Labour party in his cabinet in key economic roles," Brooks said.

However, according to separate reports from the Press Association, Mahmood is keen to remain as home secretary and see through changes she has brought in to the asylum system.

Ed Miliband

The idea of Mahmood as chancellor is causing upset on the left of the party, according to The Times. The paper said those people would much prefer Ed Miliband in the role.

In late June, he was the bookmakers' strong favourite for the number two job in British politics, with the former Labour party leader politically closer to Burnham than other rivals.

However, opinions differ on whether former Treasury adviser Miliband would receive the backing of the financial markets, which the government depends on to lend money.

Some see Miliband as an inflation risk, believing his drive for net zero as energy secretary as partly responsible for the UK's high energy prices compared to other countries.

Analysts say that reputation, whether accurate or not, could affect how bond markets react to his time as chancellor.

In recent days, several MPs close to Burnham - who have no issues with the energy secretary - believe the likelihood of appointing Miliband has significantly lessened.

But others close to Miliband believe it was both highly possible he would become chancellor, and something that was still wanted.

Yvette Cooper

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper could be a surprise compromise pick, and is seen as a potential for chancellor.

She has years of experience in government, serving as chief secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown, and sits somewhere in between Miliband and McFadden or Streeting politically.

Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at financial services firm AJ Bell, calls her a "middle of the road" option but also "a bit more of an unknown".

Wes Streeting

Wes Streeting, a former contender for the Labour leadership, was the early favourite for chancellor, with suggestions that he could be awarded the job for coming out and backing Burnham and withdrawing his own ambitions.

However, economist and cross-bench peer Lord Jim O'Neill, who has been providing advice to Burnham, has warned against this approach.

Lord O'Neill told the BBC the advice he has given Burnham is to "figure out what his priorities are as prime minister before he picks a chancellor".

Though Burnham may appreciate Streeting's backing, the pair's politics differ - with Burnham seen to be inclined to spend more than Streeting.

Simon French, chief economist at consultancy Panmure Liberum, says Streeting is a "relatively market-friendly option" because of his pro-growth comments, but also a political risk because he might someday want to be prime minister.

Pat McFadden

Though seen as a less likely option than Streeting or Miliband, some view Pat McFadden as the most qualified pick, having held shadow Treasury jobs, been a business minister in a previous Labour government, and also being the current work and pensions secretary.

It is his experience in the latter role that could help him to tackle what many say will be any future chancellor's biggest task: welfare reform.

Panmure Liberum's French believes the markets may view McFadden as "the safest pair of hands" out of those in the running and will either react positively or neutrally if he were picked.

But if Burnham is looking for a clean break from the previous government, he will likely overlook the Sir Keir-loyalist.

Rachel Reeves

It's looking increasingly unlikely that the current Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will keep her job.

A spokesperson for Burnham said no decisions had been made about who he would appoint, but reports suggest Reeves would be replaced and offered a junior or mid-level cabinet position.

Reeves has urged a Burnham-led government to stick to what she is doing because it is "beginning to bear fruit". Burnham has said previously he would stick to Reeves' fiscal rules.

She defended her handling of the UK economy in an interview with the BBC, in which she backed the former Manchester mayor, despite the reports of her potential demotion. She opted to welcome him to parliament in a photoshoot with other MPs and was notably absent from Sir Keir's resignation speech.

Reeves told the British Chambers of Commerce conference she was proud of her record so far but there was "more to do".

And the rest

Then there are the longlist of wildcards.

Former defence secretary John Healey, who very publicly quit because he did not believe the government was spending enough on defence, is another option.

However, Paul Johnson says Burnham would essentially be committing to meeting that spending demand if he chose him.

"If I was Andy Burnham, I would not want to tie myself to that particular pillar that quickly," he said.

Bookmakers and reports also mention chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones, who ruled himself out of the running for the leadership, and former chief executive of the Resolution Foundation Torsten Bell as outsiders.

While some politicians are more likely to be hired than others, each one will want the job.

As Lord O'Neill puts it: "The ones whose names are in the papers are the ones who are putting themselves forward."

I wouldn't marry him until he paid off his debt, now I'm in charge of our money

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yz4wnz6jdo, 3 days ago

When Sarah Reeve got engaged she gave fiance Lee an ultimatum: he had to pay off his debt before she would marry him.

"I was paying my mortgage and bills whereas he was giving his mum some rent," Sarah says of their situations when they met in their early 20s.

"I told him I wouldn't marry him if he had any debts," says the 45-year-old.

So they set a wedding date for two years ahead which gave Lee the time to pay off the £2,000 bank loan - £4,000 in today's money - he had taken out to buy a car.

Once Lee's debt was cleared, the couple paid everything into a joint account and Sarah took charge of bills, saving and budgeting.

"He said 'you can sort it all out and take charge with money because I'm rubbish with it,'" she says.

Sarah's experience reflects a wider trend of more than four fifths of women being actively involved in managing daily finances like day-to-day spending and household budgeting, according to St James's Place's Women and Wealth Report.

Sarah earns £24,000 working part-time in insurance and Lee worked in maintenance at the same factory for 27 years, earning about £26,000, before being made redundant four years ago.

He now works for himself in property maintenance and earns about £30,000.

The couple, who have been together for 25 years and have two daughters, aged 19 and 21, have always thought of money as shared.

"It's very much our money rather than mine or yours which is really nice especially as I took four years off work when we had children," says Sarah.

After getting out of debt, Sarah says she and Lee have never overstretched themselves and have made regular overpayments on their mortgage.

"We've also always been savers - well, I've been the saver for us," she adds.

Every month Sarah writes down how much money is in their accounts.

"That really helps as if we've had a bad month, at least you know and can find the reason."

How to manage money as a couple

Family Action, a charity that offers financial support to families, says that when money is tight the first step "is getting a clear picture of what's going on as this helps you understand your current position so you can make the best decisions possible together going forward".

'Always down to me'

But being the financially responsible one has not always been easy and Sarah wishes Lee would take more ownership as "I feel like it's all down to me", she says.

She says Lee is not money-orientated and is happy for her to make the decisions.

"He says, 'I met you and I had nothing, so I don't care if I have nothing,'" she says.

But Sarah says she felt the pressure of planning for their future.

They had "a little pot of money" but "I never knew what to do with it, I didn't have the confidence and I wouldn't even know where to start," she says.

St James's Place's research of 6,000 people found only 44% of women feel confident making changes to investments on their own, compared with 63% of men.

After her widowed mother saw a financial adviser, Sarah decided to seek advice.

"I thought deep down that I didn't have enough money to see a financial adviser. In my mind, I thought you needed half a million to do that."

The adviser talked through their spending, attitude to risk and future costs, including holidays, a new car and home improvements.

Sarah says this made her feel more secure and helped shift their thinking from day-to-day saving to longer-term planning.

Sarah says their daughters have absorbed her attitude towards money.

Her eldest saved while working part-time at Waitrose and has bought her first home. Sarah has spoken to her about overpaying on the mortgage and protecting herself financially now that her boyfriend has moved in.

"We've rubbed off on them," Sarah says. "My daughters will probably end up being more in control of their money."

Looking back, Sarah says the biggest lesson is not to ignore debt or assume money habits will simply sort themselves out.

"You have to think about a goal, what you want and how you're going to get there".

Vapes to have less enticing names and flavours to protect children

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9v29d7vml7o, 9 days ago

Vapes with colourful packaging, or with names or flavours inspired by sweets and cocktails, could be banned as part of plans to stop them being marketed to children.

The government is launching a 12-week consultation about its plans "to make vaping less attractive for children and young people". Health Secretary James Murray said it was clear too many were being lured into experimenting.

Under the new proposals, packs would need to be plain with strict limits on branding and only simple flavour descriptions like "apple" or "cola" used.

Other restrictions would move vapes out of sight in shops, similar to how cigarettes and tobacco are currently sold.

There is no legitimate reason for nicotine products to come in neon packaging, feature cartoon images, or use flavours and branding designed to catch a child's eye, say health experts.

Murray said: "The evidence is clear: there are too many young people experimenting with vapes, attracted by the array of flavours, bright colours and marketing displays.

"We must act now to reduce the appeal of addictive vapes to our children.

"Vapes are less harmful than cigarettes and can play an important role in helping adult smokers to quit, but they should never be designed or marketed in ways that tempt children.

"These proposals are about striking the right balance and I urge everyone to have their say."

The 100 day consultation follows the recent passing of the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which sets out proposals to create the UK's first smoke-free generation, protecting children from nicotine addiction, while ensuring adult smokers can still access vaping products to help them quit.

Children aged 17 or younger now face a lifelong ban on buying cigarettes, since it will be illegal for shops to sell tobacco to anyone born after 1 January 2009.

And it gives the power to ban vaping in cars carrying children, in playgrounds and outside schools and at hospitals, expanding smoke-free laws.

It follows a ban on single-use vapes and comes ahead of future bans on the sale of vapes from vending machines and a planned end to the advertising and sponsorship of vapes.

Around one million or nearly one in every five 11-17 year olds in Great Britain reported trying vaping in 2025, according to the charity Action on Smoking and Health.

The consultation also proposes inserts for cigarette packs telling buyers where to get help to quit and plans to make all tobacco products – including cigarette rolling paper and cigars – come in plain packaging.

How period trackers share your private details

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260715-how-period-trackers-share-womens-private-details, 3 days ago

Some apps are sharing users' health data. New research uncovers which apps lock down your privacy, and which don't.

Stardust is a period tracking app that combines users' menstrual cycles with astrology and horoscopes. It also makes bold privacy promises.

"Your data is private," Stardust says on its website. "Period."

The problem, according to a new report shared exclusively with the BBC, is you and Stardust may have different definitions of "private".

The Mozilla Foundation, creator of the Firefox web browser, investigated the privacy practices of six popular period trackers: Flo, Clue, Stardust, Spot On, Period Calendar and Euki.

Some apps have strong protections. Others handle data in ways you might find disturbing, like sharing information with Google, Meta and TikTok, alongside other companies you've likely never heard of.

This may be perfectly legal. But since the US Supreme court overturned federal abortion protections in 2022, experts worry that data gathered by period trackers could be used in criminal cases. Police have already obtained other kinds of data from tech companies and used it to help put women in jail.

But there's good news too. This isn't the first time period trackers have been criticised for privacy problems, but Mozilla found some apps have cleaned up their acts, and others make privacy their whole mission. Mozilla described Euki, for example, as "squeaky clean".

With Mozilla's help, I want to guide you through the different ways that period trackers handle your data.

Here are four questions that can help you protect your privacy when choosing a menstrual cycle tracker.

Who sees your health data?

Mozilla uncovered numerous privacy problems across various apps, but Stardust was the only one found sharing detailed reproductive health data with another company.

The report found that Stardust sends users' health information to a data management company called RudderStack, which isn't named in its privacy policy. That data includes pregnancy status, birth control, moods, alcohol consumption and specific symptoms like tender breasts and stomach cramps.

Companies often share data with outside services to process information and analyse user behaviour. There's nothing unlawful going on, and there's no reason to think RudderStack (or any company mentioned in this story) is doing something nefarious.

However, experts say it's inherently risky when your data spreads to more places. It creates another opportunity for security breaches or legal requests for information. Besides, you may just be uncomfortable with another company seeing your health data.

A Stardust spokesperson says the company only uses RudderStack as a "technical pipeline" to route data into its own analytics systems, and the app doesn't share anything that could allow RudderStack to identify your name or contact information. "Additionally, RudderStack is contractually prohibited from selling or using it for its own purposes," and RudderStack doesn't store the data long-term, the spokesperson says.

"People deserve better," says Shoshana Wodinsky, a privacy research analyst who conducted Mozilla's tests. At the very least, she says, you should know what's happening.

Spot On, an app made by the sexual health organisation Planned Parenthood, had its own privacy issues related to health information, but the situation was more complicated.

The Spot On app itself doesn't share data with other companies or try to track users, Mozilla says. But tapping certain features – an AI chatbot called Roo and a healthcare provider search tool – opens Planned Parenthood's website in a browser. Mozilla says the website is less secure.

The most striking example: Planned Parenthood's website shares information about what kind of healthcare you're looking for with an analytics company called AB Tasty. This includes whether you're looking for HIV testing or gender-affirming care.

Wodinsky says it would be easy to configure the website to make it harder for outside services to know what you're looking at. "Someone could probably fix this in an afternoon," she says.

This is also not Planned Parenthood's first run in with privacy criticisms. I wrote about similar problems four years ago, for example. The organisation didn't respond to a request for comment.

Who sees that you've used the app?

Mozilla says most apps in the report do not share details about your health. However, some track you in other ways.

Many of the apps sent basic user information to advertising and analytics services, including platforms run by Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok.

Typically, such data includes an ID number or other information that's used to identify you. This can be used for targeted ads, and in some cases, to help tech companies track you across other parts of the internet. You give your consent to this when you "read" the apps' privacy policies.

This may or may not bother you. But simply revealing the fact that you use a reproductive health app can have consequences, says Sara Geoghegan, director of the Consumer Privacy Program at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group.

Among other things, it could let law enforcement know there's a trove of health data to get their hands on.

"Data collected from a period tracking app can be part of a whole tapestry woven from many different threads of surveillance," says Geoghegan. "That can be very revealing."

For example, Period Calendar – also known as "Period Tracker Period Calendar" – sent ID numbers and information about your device to Google and the advertising company InMobi, Mozilla says. According to the report, there's no way to prevent this.

The report found Stardust shares the same kind of data with Facebook and AppsFlyer, an advertising analytics company, though you can opt out using your phone's privacy settings. When you access Planned Parenthood's website through the Spot On app, it shares similar information with companies including Google, Microsoft, TikTok and Pinterest, and Mozilla says there's no way to prevent this.

"We do not share any health data with advertising platforms," a Stardust spokesperson says. "We use AppsFlyer and Meta to measure and optimise our advertising campaigns."

Period Calendar didn't respond to a request for comment.

Where does the app store your data?

Euki is the only app Mozilla recommends without reservations. "Euki is special," Wodinsky says.

Unlike the other apps on this list, Mozilla says Euki keeps all your health information stored on your device, without even sending it to the company's servers.

You don't even need to make an account, so you can stay completely anonymous. Euki also offers a "decoy" feature that shows fake, harmless information if someone gets your phone and tries to snoop.

It proves there's a better way to do things, says Geoghegan. "We can and we should have technology that isn't built upon harmful practices,' she says.

Flo and Clue weren't as locked down as Euki, but they scored relatively well thanks to real transparency and granular privacy controls.

As far as Mozilla can tell, neither app shares health information with third parties under any circumstances. Flo and Clue do tell their advertising and analytics partners when you use their apps, as they explain in privacy policies and consent pop-ups, but you can easily disable this using privacy settings.

However, Mozilla criticised Flo and Clue for collecting far more health information than other apps and then storing it on their own servers. Compare that to Euki, which just keeps that data on your device instead.

Even if Flo and Clue never share this information, the fact that they keep a copy of it could expose you to data breaches or legal requests from governments, says Wodinsky. That's a trade-off you need to weigh.

Spokespeople for Flo and Clue reject the idea of a trade-off. The companies say storing this information in the cloud is necessary for their services and they have safeguards in place to make it secure.

Flo spokeswoman Samantha Wannemacher says users worried about government requests for data can use the app's "Anonymous Mode", which ensures that no one – including Flo itself – holds "both a user's identity and their health data at the same time". She says Flo has never received a subpoena for user data, which the company would fight.

Both Clue and Flo are based in Europe, which would make such legal requests form the US more challenging. "We have never disclosed private health data to any authority, and we never will," says Rhiannon White, Clue's chief executive.

What is the app's track record on privacy?

To ensure your information is truly secure, you should probably consider more than an app's current practices. Mozilla says you also need to examine their track record.

Flo, for example, settled a case with the US Federal Trade Commission in 2021 over allegations that the company shared sensitive user information with Meta, Google and others after promising to keep the data private.

According to Mozilla, Flo's practices improved dramatically in the face of this criticism. But after initially locking down, Flo's privacy policy expanded to include new advertising partnerships with services run Google, Meta and others. Though again, you can disable that with privacy settings.

A Flo spokesperson says the FTC settlement involved practices that ended five years ago and the company did not admit wrongdoing. Flo says its privacy and transparency practices exceed industry standards.

Other apps have had their own run ins with privacy scandals.

Reports of privacy problems on the Planned Parenthood website date back years, for example.

A 2022 investigation found lists of individual devices that use Clue, Period Calendar and other period trackers for sale online. (White says the data came from the mobile advertising ecosystem, not Clue's app, and that Clue has "never and will never sell user data to third parties".)

And after Stardust initially seemed to promise end-to-end encryption, which makes data particularly secure and private, the company scrubbed these references from its website after questions from reporters. Stardust's spokesperson didn't address this.

More like this:

• Not on TikTok? They're tracking you anyway

• What menstrual blood reveals about your health

• People are selling your home address online. Here's how to stop it

"People are rightfully concerned, because we live in a world that has combined ubiquitous surveillance with the criminalisation of abortion," says Geoghegan.

The risks highlight the need for regulation in the US, she says, where unlike Europe, there is no national privacy law.

Plus privacy issues have other consequences too, she says, like causing fear and anxiety that prevent people from using tools that are meant to improve their health.

For more details on each individual app in the study, complete with tips on how to choose a period tracker, check out Mozilla's full report.

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.

Midnight social media curfew proposed for UK teens aged 16 and 17

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c982857nlrlo, 4 days ago

Older teenagers in the UK will face an overnight social media curfew, the government has announced - though they will be able to opt out of it by changing their account settings.

It would mean apps such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube being set to be unavailable by default to 16 and 17-year-olds between midnight and 06:00.

The government also wants "addictive" features such as auto-play and infinite scroll to be set to be disabled, saying - combined with the curfew - the measures will improve teenagers' focus, sleep quality and family life.

However, campaigners such as Ellen Roome, who believes her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died in an online challenge gone wrong in 2022, does not think the plan goes far enough as teenagers can switch the setting off.

"I just think it's not good enough really just to have a product you can switch off, it's a bit like offering a 17-year-old a bottle of alcohol and then moving it slightly out of arms reach, they can just drag it back in, I really wish they could go stronger and harder on these things," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The new plans follow the announcement in June that under-16s in the UK would be banned entirely from a range of platforms.

It adds to a complex - and potentially confusing - mix of policies and measures from the government and tech firms intended to keep young people safe online.

They include optional parental controls over children's devices and child-only versions of popular sites such as YouTube.

Lorna Woods, professor of internet law at Essex University, told the BBC she felt the measure was designed to target apprehensions from parents and child safety groups.

"There have been concerns about the way services keep children and young people engaged on their phones for long periods, and that this can impact their sleep, amongst other effects," she said.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has previously said it wants age verification to be handled by manufacturers of devices themselves, rather than the onus being entirely on platforms.

Apple recently introduced such "device level" age checks, meaning anyone using iPhone and iPads with the latest version of their operating software will be asked to verify their ages.

Baroness Kidron, who has strongly campaigned for safety and age assurance measures to be at a device rather than app level, was critical of the government's approach.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast she said it should not be about "banning children from tech" but "banning tech from putting toxic products in the hands of children".

'Dog's dinner'

Online safety minister Kanishka Narayan defended the action the government had taken, saying on BBC One's Breakfast programme the combination of the curfew and limiting auto-play features meant that "Britain is already going to be the most robust place in the world when it comes to regulating" tech companies.

In an earlier statement, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the measures would be "crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends, all of which are fundamental to building a happy, healthy and fulfilling adult life".

Laura Trott, the Conservative shadow education secretary, described the plans as a "dog's dinner".

"Either they think 16 and 17-year-olds should be on social media or they don't, but curfews they can simply switch off won't achieve anything," she said.

The government said further measures would be aimed at helping children use AI chatbots safely - including by making providers introduce regular breaks for under-18s.

It says it will aim to lay its new proposed measures in front of Parliament by the end of 2026, with the aim that they take effect alongside its social media ban for under-16s next spring.

But some child safety charities and experts have cast doubt on the effectiveness or promise of a midnight curfew for older UK teens.

"While we welcome these measures for older teens, this latest move is yet another piecemeal set of announcements, not the comprehensive plan for children's safety that's required," said Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation.

He added that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer "leaves office having announced a social media ban without a plan" - with his likely successor Andy Burnham to "inherit a series of missed opportunities".

Prof Sonia Livingstone, an expert in children's digital rights at the London School of Economics, said a curfew could harm vulnerable children by limiting their access to social media when they might need it most.

"If it's a curfew on companies using push notifications to wake someone up in the night, absolutely have a curfew," Prof Livingstone told the BBC.

"But if it's a curfew that prevents a child in need of support or help or comfort reaching out to trusted sources in the middle of the night, I think that's quite harmful potentially."

Dame Rachel de Souza, children's commissioner for England, said: "We have to listen to young people. They don't want a ban, but they do want to be protected from addictive, infinite scrolling."

She added: "I want to know more about how the policies, such as a curfew, will be delivered and will be watching closely to make sure they are effective – alongside pushing Ofcom to make full use of its powers to make the online world safer for children."

Meanwhile, social media analyst Matt Navarra said the measure was "not a curfew" but a "mildly annoying settings prompt with a government press release attached".

"The UK Government is calling this 'world-leading' online safety, but with no VPN restrictions, it's leaving the side door open and putting up a sign asking teens not to use it," he said.

No action on VPNs

Previous attempts to restrict what young people can see online - for example Australia's social media ban - have been hampered by VPNs, which can hide the true location of an internet user.

But the government said it would not be taking any action to restrict them in the UK for now, saying they were useful for whistle-blowers, minority groups and family privacy.

It cued findings from research it commissioned which indicated there was little to show VPNs were being used by many children to get around age checks.

"We have decided not to limit VPNs today and that's the primary conclusion for now but it is something we will continue to review," Kanishka Narayan told BBC Breakfast.

In a report published on Tuesday, the government said it had trialled a selection of different options with 300 teens, and found an overnight curfew showed sleep benefits.

But Pete Etchells, professor of science communication at Bath Spa University, cautioned against the results - saying it was merely "one part of the puzzle" in restricting tech use.

Additional reporting by Chris Vallance

See if you can spot an AI deepfake with our test

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d2wgvg55jo, 9 days ago

Psychologist Dr Clare Sutherland is holding up two large photos. One shows the face of an Australian academic leading an international research study; the other is an AI-generated deepfake.

Artificial intelligence has become so adept at creating realistic images, it is increasingly hard to figure out what is real or not.

But can people be trained to spot an image of a human that has actually been created by a machine?

That's a question Sutherland, from the University of Aberdeen, and her Australian colleague have been examining.

But before we reveal the answer, have a go at this test - and note down your score.

If you found that tough, you are not alone.

It used to be far easier to spot computer-generated visual creations - often used by fraudsters - because AI would make blunders, like adding an extra finger or something else that was obviously weird.

But AI learns from its mistakes.

"Training on visual artifacts, like looking for a sixth finger or odd earrings, has had limited success, partly because the AI is getting too good, and fraudsters may avoid using pictures with obvious flaws anyway," explained Prof Amy Dawel.

She is the woman with shoulder-length hair in the picture being held by Sutherland. The man's image is the fake.

Dawel is the director of the Australian National University Emotions and Faces Lab.

She has been leading a team of researchers in Australia, Canada and the UK to find out if people can be trained to rumble the AI imposters.

The answer, for now at least, is yes - but learning to spot an AI fake requires a more subtle approach.

Getting a feel for fakes

Sutherland is leading the UK-based research at the University of Aberdeen.

She said they had noticed they were getting a feel for which faces were real or AI just by looking at them.

"So we thought, OK, it would be really interesting to see if we could teach other people this too," she said.

For the experiments a pool of thousands of AI-generated faces was created using an AI image tool called StyleGAN3, one of the most realistic face generators available.

Participants were tested before and after being given training

What were they trained to look out for?

The researchers trained participants in the studies by drawing their attention to six perceptual qualities:

* Symmetry - AI often fails to recreate the quirks that make us human - a slightly drooping eyelid or a lop-sided smile. "If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't."

* Proportionality - A similar concept. Very large noses or protruding ears are not typical of deepfake images.

* Attractiveness - "AI faces tend to look more attractive," explains Sutherland. "That one is more subjective, an aesthetic judgement, but AI often creates faces that are pleasant looking."

* Distinctiveness - "That could be something like 'what would make a face stand out in a crowd?' AI faces do tend to cluster towards the average. So they look a bit more generic."

* Expressiveness - "AI faces tend to look less emotionally expressive", says Sutherland. "They tend to show less emotion."

* Memorability - "They often look less memorable - they're difficult to remember."

AI also tends to be less proficient at recreating non-white, older or younger faces because more of its training involves young white people.

Some of these tips might sound quite similar and "fuzzy" - but that's the point.

Rarely will you encounter a surefire "tell" that will unmask an AI fake. Rather, it is about becoming attuned to their characteristics and developing a gut feeling.

Researchers found that by exposing people to images, both AI and real, then telling them which was which, they can get significantly better at it - even in the space of an hour or so.

The researchers found the participants would typically increase their accuracy score from about 40% to 80%.

A few individuals achieved close to 100% accuracy.

Ironically, what the human brain is doing here is similar to the way that generative AI models work.

Give them enough data to train on and, over time, their accuracy improves - even though we may not totally understand how they are doing it.

The studies also looked at how confident the participants were at identifying the AI images.

Previous research had indicated people were overconfident that they could spot AI faces, with the most confident people making the most errors.

After training, participants were found to have increased their confidence in spotting the deepfakes.

"That's helpful right?" says Sutherland. "Because if you don't know when you're correct or not, you can't really do anything with that information."

OK, so are you ready to take another test?

How did you do? Feeling more confident?

If the answer is no, don't beat yourself up over it. In both the human world and that of generative AI, practice makes perfect - or at least a bit closer to perfect.

There are many websites out there where, if you so desire, you can hone your skills. You can also volunteer to take part in the research yourself.

Why does learning to spot an AI fake matter?

The obvious danger is fraud.

Global consultancy firm Deloitte has predicted that losses from AI deepfake scams in the US alone could rise to £40bn next year, up from £12bn in 2023.

The report cited the example of a scam where an employee at a Hong Kong-based firm transferred £25m to fraudsters after a video call with a deepfake recreation of their boss.

Another sinister use of deepfake technology is political espionage.

As long ago as 2019, an Associated Press investigation found that a LinkedIn profile - including a photo - belonging to a woman called Katie Jones appeared to be fictitious.

Jones purported to be a Russia and Eurasia specialist with links to prominent Washington think tanks and policy circles.

The AP report claimed she was actually a deepfake produced by Russian intelligence who had successfully connected with top US political aides and national security officials.

In Australia, a politician is currently proposing a requirement to disclose and "watermark" AI-generated political content.

To be fair to AI, Sutherland also sees some positive uses of the technology - such as the ability to quickly and cheaply show how a long-missing child might look at various ages.

She says that if people are "engaging with it in good faith and people know that AI has been used, it could potentially be very useful for creative acts".

So the good news is that we're yet not living in a dystopian world where it's impossible to tell what's real and what's computer-generated.

The bad news is that AI models may have already "read" the published academic research papers. And it's learning.

The weirdest things that mess up wi-fi - and how to improve your signal

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260708-the-weirdest-things-that-mess-up-your-wifi, 10 days ago

The world runs on wi-fi, but strange things can stand in its way – including your lunch.

Alex Hills is a pioneer: he was among the first people on Earth to ever battle their wi-fi connection.

In 1993, he led the team that built one of the first large wi-fi networks, as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the US.

Hills tells the story in his book, wi-fi and the Bad Boys of Radio. But "Bad Boys" isn't a reference to his ragtag bunch of internet cowboys – it's the name he gave to the processes that stand in the way of smooth-running wi-fi.

Your home may be filled with bad boys of its own, doing everything they can to interrupt your memes. Some such disruptors are unsurprising, like thick walls. Others are a little bizarre.

Identifying these hitches might help fix your connection – and could even change how you think about one of the most important technologies in your life.

Microwaves

For 17 years, mysterious radio signals baffled astronomers in Australia. Some blamed solar flares. The public suspected aliens. Eventually, they learned the culprit was closer to home: their telescope was picking up bursts of energy from the office microwave at lunchtime.

Telescopes aren't the only technology that's vulnerably to pesky microwaves. They can also mess up your wi-fi.

Wi-fi, like most wireless communications technology, transmits information over radio waves. Governments reserve most radio frequencies for specific purposes, like law enforcement, air traffic control and AM and FM radio stations. But some are free for unlicensed public use.

For example, 2.4 GHz is one of the most common frequencies used by wi-fi networks and Bluetooth devices. Coincidentally, that's also the frequency your microwave uses to heat up leftovers.

Microwave ovens are shielded to keep the ramen-warming waves inside the machine. But if you've got a beat-up old microwave, or if you open the door before it's finished cooking, Hills says it can clash with your wi-fi signal.

"It's one of the most significant sources of interference that people talk about," says Hills. You can get the same problem from frequencies leaking out of fluorescent lights or car ignition systems.

"These days, microwaves are less of a problem," says Hills. They're built better and wi-fi can operate on 5 GHz instead of 2.4 GHz. But if you've got an older wi-fi setup or an ageing microwave, defrosting TV dinners can interrupt your memes.

Fish tanks

If you have water-dwelling pets at home, it may cause problems.

"A radio signal naturally gets weaker with distance," says Hills. "But sometimes it penetrates an object that weakens the signal. We call that 'shadowing'."

Wi-fi and water don't get along. Among other problems, water molecules can act like tiny magnets that drain the radio signal's power. If you've got a fish tank between you and your router, it can create a wi-fi dead zone.

Shadowing is the biggest problem people have with wi-fi networks, Hills says – and not just because of fish tanks.

Radio can pass through some materials like wood and drywall with relative ease. But if you've got walls made of dense material like brick or concrete, that's harder to deal with.

"Think of a straight-line path between your router and the device you're trying to serve," says Hills. Signal can bounce around a room and find other ways around objects. But the more obstructions you have in the way, the harder it gets.

A shorter distance makes things easier for wi-fi too. Putting your router in the middle of the house and getting it as high up as possible are good first steps.

If that doesn't cut it, you can try using a wi-fi extender, which boosts your signal, or replacing your router with a mesh network that distributes the wi-fi around your space with a series of small devices. That way you don't have to disturb the poor fish.

Mirrors

Microwaves can interfere with wi-fi signals, aquariums can swallow them up. But there's another common problem: reflection.

Radio is another form of light. And just as light bounces off reflective surfaces like mirrors, so can your wi-fi signal.

Any flat, reflective surface like a TV can cause the same problem. You can have the same problem if your walls use sheets of metal in the building materials.

If you have a dead spot in your house, picture a line between you and the router and think about whether there's a mirror or a big TV that might be bouncing the signal away.

You might want to consider moving the reflective surfaces around. Or if you don't want to mess around with your layout, this is another problem that wi-fi extenders can help solve.

Winter

Rain shouldn't interrupt your wi-fi, unless you use a network in another building separated by open space. But when the weather gets really bad, things can fall apart.

Snowfall can knock out the infrastructure serving a house, neighbourhood or even a whole town – whether that's extreme cold damaging the metal inside cables or snow piling up and blocking satellite signals.

Heat can cause similar problems. And even if the weather itself isn't causing a problem, networks can slow down when everyone at your house is stuck inside watching YouTube at the same time.

It means that disrupted memes may be yet another consequence of climate change. The answer? Aside from doing your part for the planet, you can pester telecom companies and local officials to take proactive measures.

More like this:

• Want to see the future of the internet? Visit the 'TikTok Farlands'

• Why people are abandoning wireless headphones

• Is your tech giving you 'phone body'?

As for Alex Hills, he lives in Alaska these days, where he's spent a large chunk of his career helping remote towns and villages get online.

Satellite internet services have made that project a lot easier, but they pose their own wi-fi "bad boys".

Sometimes, when a blizzard covers your satellite dish with snow, you have to break out the shovel.

For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Is this the electric car of the future?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c862980v374o, 9 days ago

I am driving around in a one-of-a-kind electric car that can charge its battery from 10% to 80% in 10 minutes.

It is packed with cutting edge technology, but in the fiery kiln of a British heatwave there is a bit of worry the wing mirrors might melt.

In jargonese, this is the Shell Triple 10 Challenge Concept Car - which means this is a car built from scratch, in 18 months, to pack in as much of the latest electric vehicle (EV) technology as possible.

It is a demonstrator, a project to show just what might be possible for a new generation of electric vehicles.

The result is a car that charges really fast, squeezes a lot of range out its half-size battery and that has a remarkably small lifetime carbon footprint.

There is a lot of state-of-the-art tech here, but perhaps the biggest change is the battery itself.

Parts of the car's motor and all the battery are submerged in Shell's new battery coolant fluid. This keeps everything electrical nice and cool and that means you can get a lot more work out of it.

Sitting in the back of one test car, Denis Gorman from RML Group took me through the battery.

"What we've done here is a really clever concept of flowing Shell's fluid through all of the cells. So we can work the battery really hard to charge it really quickly... but keep it in its safe working limits."

Around the battery, the team have brought together recycled materials to lower the carbon footprint and also made big efforts to reduce the car's weight, giving it the sort of range you'd expect from a car in this class, about 124 miles (200km), but with a battery half the size.

Of course pulling all this technology together and getting it to work in a car is not easy and that is where the experts at the HORIBA-MIRA testing facility in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, come in with their engineering expertise for just this sort of project.

Ben Gale from HORIBA-MIRA explained there was a lot to think about.

"So how does this new fluid interact with rubber hoses for example? There's learning around all of that and it's part of the development of this concept. But showing the potential of it is where the real excitement is."

So now the team have achieved their goal when might we see this tech, and this fluid cooled battery, available in showrooms to buy?

"There's a lot of interest from car makers and we are hopeful the next generation [of EVs] will see a vehicle like this on the market," Toby Rockstroh of Shell said.

Being driven around the car feels like a production model, there are nice screens, nifty ideas and a lot of legroom in the back thanks to the smaller battery.

Sadly we cannot stay in today's superstrong sun for too long in case the space-aged 3D printed plastic wing mirrors start to melt - but that is a prototype problem.

It will not be an issue for the real cars that Shell, HORIBA-MIRA and all the Midlands engineers involved in this project hope will follow.

Meet the crypto billionaires building a world where money buys you a vote

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8eqyj8e2o, 9 days ago

The Free Republic of Liberland doesn't look like much from the boat.

You would never guess that this flat, muddy stretch of floodplain on the Danube River, dotted with alder trees, tents and treehouses, is connected to some of the world's wealthiest men - including the biggest initial investor in the Trump family's crypto business.

By contrast, the virtual reality version of Liberland I'm currently being shown, designed by Zaha Hadid's ZHA architecture firm, features gleaming towers, floating public parks, and gravity-defying water features.

The person showing it to me is Vít Jedlička, Liberland's president. He founded the micronation on a disputed bit of territory between Serbia and Croatia with the goal of making a truly libertarian, digital country that runs on the same technology as cryptocurrencies.

I've come to Liberland for the past year as part of a BBC Two documentary, The Tech Billionaire Takeover. Liberland may look and sound like a joke. But it is bankrolled by some of the wealthiest men in crypto, and it runs on an idea they are trying to export: that government itself can be replaced.

We arrive at the country by boat because Croatian authorities have stopped people from doing so by land. A few settlers in anoraks come out to wave to us from the shore and President Jedlička, communicating via megaphone, presents one of the settlers with an official medal.

In most modern democracies, everyone has an equal vote. But things are different in Liberland thanks to a purchasable crypto token called Liberland Merits. President Jedlička tells me a person is elected through Merits. "So the people that have more Merits are able to have more say in who is going to be in the leadership of the country," he says. This effectively means you can vote directly with your money.

Liberland is also entirely tax-free, something its interior minister, Ivan Pernar, a controversial Croatian former MP who was kicked out of parliament for spreading conspiracy theories, explains to me.

"Usually, people who believe in freedom, decentralised finances and so on, they tend to be from the upper class of society," Pernar tells me. "If you make zero selection and you say whoever comes on [the] boat is welcome, we would end up like [the] UK. We don't want that."

"So it's liberty, but... some people have more liberty than others?" I ask. One of the main ways to gain power and influence in Liberland appears to be through money, I suggest.

"Of course," says Pernar. He says that if you had "a bunch of bums in your country without anything", others would have to contribute to their benefits. He goes on to compare the poor to animals. "Don't feed the animals, because if you do, they will be accustomed to that and they will lose [the] ability to feed themselves. The same is with people."

To Liberland's wealthy backers, helping the poor - or indeed any form of taxation or centralised redistribution of wealth - is an affront to their individual liberty. This view is shared, unsurprisingly, by people in this world with far more money and influence than Pernar.

The banana billionaire

Over the past year, I've been hanging out with Liberland's prime minister, Chinese crypto titan Justin Sun. With Sun's backing - and that of about 30 other tech billionaires, they claim - the Liberlanders may now actually have access to the money needed to start building the version of their micronation with gleaming towers.

Sun is worth an estimated $8.5bn (£6.4bn). He's perhaps most famous for purchasing an art piece consisting of a banana duct taped to a wall for $6.2m and then eating it. He has also been accused by US regulators of fraud and market manipulation. Sun denies the charges, and recently reached a $10m settlement to resolve them.

His company, Tron, is a blockchain, a global software network on which you can buy and sell crypto currencies. Unlike a bank, it isn't run by one single authority - it's decentralised, existing across many computers all around the world, making it harder to tax and regulate.

This same blockchain technology is being used to run Liberland's government and one day, if Sun gets his way, it could run ours too. Citizens vote on laws and referendums using digital tokens, and the voting itself is automatically tallied and enforced by code, rather than counted by officials. In reality, though, the technology is still in its juvenile phase, and human officials are still required to implement laws.

According to blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs, Tron is one of the biggest platforms for moving illicit crypto - reportedly including funds tied to Hamas and Hezbollah, alongside those of drug cartels and mafia networks. Sun says Tron has innovated new collaborations with law enforcement to tackle illegal transactions on the blockchain, leading to huge declines in illicit volume on the platform.

The Trump family welcomed him as lead token investor in their own crypto business, World Liberty Financial. Sun invested more than $75m in the company, as well as millions more in Donald Trump's memecoin, which won him a dinner with the US president.

President Trump officially stepped down from the company once he took office but his family trust still owns and profits from it, selling a cryptocurrency coin called USD1. He has made more than $1.4bn from crypto in the past year, and stands to make much more.

A planet without borders?

It's safe to say the Trumps have profited hugely from their relationship to Sun. But what do Sun and other crypto entrepreneurs who have cosied up to the Trumps want in return? Liberland may offer a glimpse.

In person, Sun is warm and friendly. Like other billionaires I met, I sensed that Sun rarely got to hang around people that didn't work for him or desire his money. Most of our conversations centred around sci-fi and video games.

Last summer, when Sun had just landed from space after paying $29m to fly there with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company, he rang me to tell me about the experience. He had been struck by the idea that "the planet itself is boundaryless", without borders, and that "there's not even a concept of the country in the first place". The notion that the nation-state is outdated, and could therefore be replaced with blockchain technology, is one of the reasons he decided to run to become Liberland's prime minister.

Liberland isn't an outlier - it's one of several prototypes of such micronations, areas claimed as independent nations but not legally recognised as such. Prospera in Honduras, Peter Thiel's Seasteading Institute, and Tim Draper's Draper Nation, a fully digital country with Bitcoin as its currency, are all chasing the same idea.

I meet Draper, a billionaire tech investor himself, at Silicon Valley's Draper University, his boot camp for young tech founders, where students pledge to "promote freedom at all costs". Draper tells me he believes government provides "bad service at a high cost", and blockchain will simply replace it: "It's just a matter of time."

Many of these ideas can be traced back to the controversial thinker and tech founder Curtis Yarvin, who has been called the "founder of the Dark Enlightenment". He has won praise from figures on the US right, including tech billionaire Peter Thiel and some in the current Trump administration, including Vice-President JD Vance. His philosophy is notoriously confusing, but it essentially amounts to a criticism of democracy (which has failed, he claims, because immigration is still too high) and concludes we should replace it with an authoritarian structure that sits somewhere in between a corporation, a monarchy, and a blockchain-run micro-nation.

Despite the fact that he views the media as one half of "The Cathedral" - his term for what he believes is the repressive ideological power made up of journalists and academics that secretly runs Western society - he agrees to meet me in Berkeley, California. We go on a short hike while Yarvin, who looks like an ageing punk rocker, speaks in circuitous, long-winded yarns that reference esoteric texts and periods of history to prove his points.

In our conversation, he outlines his "Patchwork" concept, in which traditional nation-states are replaced with a global network of sovereign mini-countries owned by shareholders and competing for citizens like a business competes for customers. He believes blockchain can be used to bring this world about and that the result would be "corporate monarchies" ruled over by "CEO-kings". These corporate monarchs would be accountable to a hidden board of shareholders, who could potentially even control the military and police through something he called a "crypto dingus" that would allow them to essentially disable all guns.

Many of these tech billionaires see Trump, and his office, as outdated, something that will eventually be replaced with their superior technology. Throughout my time meeting tech billionaires, I increasingly got the sense that they saw themselves as the real holders of power.

The crypto lobby has now surpassed the fossil fuel industry to become the most powerful lobby in the US, having contributed $238m in the most recent election cycle, according to Fox Business analysis. Yarvin, Sun, Draper, and Liberland all give a glimpse into the future some of them envision for us.

From Justin Sun, to Liberland and Tim Draper, everyone told me how blockchain technology and cryptocurrency can free us - and our money - from government control. But who would we be handing the control to instead? Every example I've seen ends in wealth and power flowing to whoever controls the technology.

How I discovered the truth about the 'herbal' sleeping pills I got hooked on

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2rnpy1vk7o, today

Fiona Cameron has struggled to get a good night's sleep for most of her adult life - but none of the medication available in pharmacies helped.

She turned to Amazon and found a product called Hypno by Bhang, which was described as "herbal sleep aid supplements, for deep restful sleep".

They worked, so she bought more. But after a year, she discovered the pills were actually Zopiclone, a prescription drug designed for short-term use.

In that time Fiona had developed a dependency and she suffered severe withdrawal symptoms when she tried to come off them.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency (MHRA) said it was investigating the products.

Amazon said it had also launched an investigation and had removed the sleeping pills from its store.

Fiona, a fiction writer who lives in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, spoke to BBC Radio 4's Your and Yours about her experience.

She said: "I suffered from insomnia for a very long time - most of my adult life - so I'm always on the look out for anything new."

On a good night, she can get four to five hours sleep.

"But sometimes I just can't sleep at all, other times I maybe get two or three hours of sleep, so I'm not a good sleeper," she said.

Her GP had offered to prescribe Zopiclone for a very short period but she refused and "soldiered on".

In January last year she found the Hypno by Bhang "herbal" treatment on Amazon.

"It gave a list a of ingredients - I wouldn't describe them as herbs - they were minerals like magnesium," Fiona said.

"They were fairly standard ingredients that you found in a lot of sleep aids but I bought a packet to try and my goodness, they worked. So I bought more."

She set up a subscription and bought more than she needed as they were often out of stock, spending about £1,100.

"I realise now it's because I was addicted to them - I wanted to make sure that I didn't run out because they really work," she said.

Then Fiona read some of the "very worrying" reviews of the product on Amazon warning that they were prescription drugs.

"I was horrified," she said.

That's when she took matters into her own hands and sent an unopened packet to WEDINOS, a free drug-testing agency funded by Public Health Wales.

"Predictably it came back saying it was 100% Zopiclone," she said.

Fiona went straight to her GP who offered her alternatives.

"Nothing was as good as Zopiclone so I did have a period of several weeks where I had 'hyperinsomnia'."

She described hyperinsomnia as feeling "wired" 24 hours a day.

Fiona believes she lost a year of productivity while she was taking the medication.

"I write fiction and I got no work done of that type over that year and looking back I think it was because I was just zonked out most of the time because I'd been taking Zopiclone every night."

Laura Wilson, the director for Scotland at the Royal College of Pharmacy, said Zopiclone was normally prescribed for a week at a time.

Fiona took the drug for a year.

"That's quite a significant period of time to be taking a medicine such as this," Wilson said.

"When used appropriately it can be a really valuable medicine to support patients to get that good night's sleep and get back into the natural sleep pattern.

"When used like that it won't cause that dependence, but that is a risk when you're taking it for extended periods of time."

She said withdrawal symptoms could include "rebound insomnia", anxiety, agitation and nauseousness.

When it is prescribed to patients, medics have to consider how it could affect other health conditions and react with other medications.

As it causes drowsiness, they also have take into account jobs like lorry drivers, train drivers and those who work with heavy machinery.

'I'm really horrified'

When Fiona complained to Amazon, they passed her on to a third-party loss adjuster called Sedgwick.

"I was appalled by Amazon's response," Fiona said.

"I got an email saying we're not liable and passing me on to Sedgewick.

"Not a word of any apology. I'm really horrified by that."

She bought the tablets from three companies using Amazon's platform - Mollienet Limited, Bullwell Limited, and BITZ4U Limited.

None of them have replied to questions put to them by the BBC.

A spokesperson for Amazon said: "We take customer safety extremely seriously and are investigating this.

"While we can't comment further on this customer's case at this time, third-party sellers are independent businesses and are required to follow all applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies when listings items for sale in our store.

"We have proactive measures in place to prevent prohibited products from being listed, and those who violate our policies are subject to action including potential removal of their account.

"The highlighted items have been removed from our store."

'Sharing my grief on TikTok gives my life purpose'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn75740ezn8o, today

When Kelsey Mulcahy first started sharing her grief online, she was creating the content she wished had existed for her.

Her fiancé, Joseph Day, died in Bristol four years ago. The couple had moved from New Zealand just months before Joseph went missing in Clifton. His body was recovered from the Avon Gorge on 3 May 2022.

In the years that followed, Mulcahy, 33, documented the reality of her grief on TikTok and Instagram – the heartbreak, the trauma, the healing.

Today, she is part of a growing grief-luencer community who help each other nagaviate bereavement.

Mulcahy, who has now lives to Melbourne in Australia, said she had been away in London over the weekend that Joseph went missing.

"I left the house the day before, kissed him goodbye, and then I never saw him again," she said.

Having only recently moved to Bristol, thousands of miles from family and friends on the other side of the world, she described feeling "extremely alone" coming to terms with his death.

"I found the circumstances of Joseph's death quite challenging because I was alone overseas, so I didn't really have anybody," she said.

"I felt like I really struggled to connect to my grief for a long time, because I don't think I ever really believed he was actually gone."

Mulcahy began posting videos on TikTok in 2023, sharing special things she had done to keep Joseph's memory alive.

Her videos on things not to say to a person who is grieving and recommendations of books to read on grief and loss were viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.

At the beginning of 2026, Mulcahy documented returning to Bristol to confront her grief "head on".

"Bristol for me was sort of like a final step," she said.

"It was almost like me allowing myself to have this final sort of bow on it."

She said the response from followers was overwhelming.

"I got a lot of messages and a lot of comments and stuff afterwards of people saying I actually want to do this now. I want to go stand in that spot," she said.

"I want to go back to where my person died."

'Easier to carry'

Mulcahy said documenting her journey online has helped her to challenge one of the biggest myths about grief: that moving forward means loving someone less.

"I think people can sometimes think online, or in person, that your grief equates to how much you love somebody," she said.

"I have never loved Joseph more than I love him right now. And yet I live such a happy life."

She said documenting her grief on TikTok has "given her purpose" and is a "continuum of my love for him".

"When you're a 'grief-luencer', whatever it is, it's not like a standard content creator where you're making money from it.

"My grief journey, it's literally just been a way for me to show up in my life with purpose. Do it for the version of myself that didn't have that.

"My community and the way that they message me and share their stories and they tell me how much it's impacted them, that gives me so much meaning and purpose, which has made my grief so much easier to carry," she said.

Karen Sutton, a widow coach from Gloucester, said social media is helping to bring conversations about grief into the open.

"I think social media is opening up conversations that previous generations often kept behind closed doors," she said.

"It's helping normalise grief and reminding people that there isn't one 'right' way to experience it."

She said platforms such as TikTok can help people "find community" and "reduce feelings of isolation", but warned against relying solely on online support.

"My advice would be to see it as one part of your support network, not your whole support network," she said.

"Alongside the online connections, make sure you have opportunities for real human connection too."

Mulcahy said sharing her story is ultimately about reaching the person she once was: a young woman facing unimaginable loss and unsure how she would survive it.

"I would just say to her, 'you're going do a really good job'," she said.

"We often question our strength and our capableness.

"Actually, humans are so resilient."

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.

Is the fear of unintentionally going viral changing clubbing for Gen Z?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgmdk0k8dxzo, yesterday

Student Freya Price will be on a night out with her friends, but she cannot truly relax.

The 21-year-old is "hyper aware" while in nightclubs - avoiding promoters' cameras and watching for strangers filming - fully aware that any embarrassing moments could end up as content.

Freya said feeling monitored had cheated her out of the carefree night life Millennials enjoyed growing up.

While, for previous generations, embarrassing moments may have been talked about or uploaded to a blurry Facebook album, now they can be filmed, shared and viewed by thousands within hours.

Neuroscientist and author Dean Burnett said more people were "more anxious about doing something which could be seen as embarrassing online".

Freya said she wished she could feel comfortable dancing, being silly and enjoying the moment, but the thought of seeing videos of herself was "quite a big worry".

The third year Cardiff University student said she and her friends had often been minding their own business when "all of a sudden there's a camera in your face" as club promoters try to capture content.

On top of that, the fear of being caught in someone's TikTok plays on her mind.

She said some of her friends had appeared on club Instagram pages a week later looking "plastered".

She described this as a background worry that leaves her "on edge".

Freya is also worried about Meta glasses, having seen videos on social media of women after nights out without them being aware, as it is hard to tell between them and typical glasses.

"I find it quite scary how easy it's becoming to film people and post them on social media without them even knowing there's a camera."

Freya said she liked the idea of a sticker being put over the camera, as clubs in Berlin have done.

Tracy Clayton, a Meta spokesman, told the BBC people should behave responsibly with any technology and the company had teams "dedicated to limiting and combating misuse, but as with any technology, the onus is ultimately on individual people to not actively exploit it".

"Usually, when you're drunk your inhibitions are lowered, you're not really thinking but then it's like, 'oh, there's a camera here'," she said.

"I see on social media the '90s babies saying 'Gen Z is unlucky, in my time there was no phone, the worst thing that would happen is your picture would end up in someone's Facebook dump'."

She said for her generation, a drunk night out where something goes wrong "could impact jobs in the future" as, if online checks brought up videos of "you being paralytically drunk, they might not want that image".

Feeling embarrassed is a natural human response, but social media has altered how big the audience watching the moment is, said Burnett.

The honorary research fellow at Cardiff University said he was not surprised that young people who grew up in an environment where your actions end up online have altered behaviour.

He believes social media can be positive as it helps people find a community, but "I don't think it's necessarily a good thing for everyone to have an audience".

"I do think that's become part of a lot of people's thinking, what are my followers going to think?"

He said a lot more people were "more anxious about doing something which could be seen as embarrassing online" while, on the other end of the spectrum, there were those who "do extreme things for likes and clicks".

The 43-year-old said: "A lot of people my age and older say 'I'm lucky I didn't have social media when I was younger because I got up to embarrassing things', but they assume they would have done the exactly the same things if they were on social media."

Burnett said, psychologically, it is unlikely these people would behave as they did in their youth if they had social media where their actions could be preserved.

Embarrassment, he added, is an evolutionary feature unique to humans.

"People say it's shallow to want people to like you, but in the first humans it was literally a matter of life or death. If you weren't part of the tribe, you died."

This year was 19-year-old Hafwen Davies' first year at Cardiff University and she said seeing people "taking videos on Snapchat and stuff of other people or taking photos of themselves" was a lot more obvious in the students' union.

As the youngest in her family, her siblings and cousins told her about their experience, making friends on the dance floor and the huge photo dumps on Facebook.

"When they're taking photos it's like they are taking them to remember something, rather than going out to take photos," she said.

For Edward Gent, being filmed or photographed did not even cross his mind when he was started university four years ago.

The 23-year-old said there was now an "ambient awareness that anybody could be filming" when out clubbing and felt it could "subconsciously change your behaviour without you even realising it".

He has seen the classic early 2000s photo dumps on Facebook and thinks "people are romanticising the anonymity of it, as much as the aesthetic".

"I think those blurry photos were almost as like a symbol of like 'we were present, we weren't performing'. Nobody was curating their night as such, and I think there's like a real hunger for that now."

Someone who has seen the dancefloor evolve is DJ Kaptin Barrett, 49, who has been getting people out of their seats across the UK since 1999.

He said people still dance at his nights, but he has noticed from events he has attended that club vibes have changed since his 20s.

"In terms of people just really letting loose on the dance floor, you don't see it as much, it does happen, but people are a lot more self conscious," he said.

"The attention span as well, it's hard for people not to stare at their phone every five minutes."

He said raves and free parties still happen and "there is still a generation of youngsters who don't care, they actively are pushing away from that".

"If you go to a more mainstream, big name DJ, it's really hard to just lose yourself in dance because everyone's on their phones and everyone's filming the DJ, it's the same with a lot of concerts as well.

"The mystique of the club is gone. It's just somewhere where you go and either you go to dance or you go to be seen."

Certainly for Freya, clubs have lost their appeal and she and her friends are choosing pubs instead.

"I think it's a lot more social because you can actually hear each other, no-one's on their phone.

"At the pub, you're more likely to like engage in conversation and not worry about taking pictures on your phone or video your friend being silly."

Smart glasses help woman keep guide dog safe in heat

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62xmzz10l4o, yesterday

A visually-impaired woman has said AI-enhanced smart glasses help her stay independent during hot weather while protecting her guide dog.

Lorraine Virco, from Preston in Lancashire, has optic nerve atrophy, a condition that was detected during a routine eye test eight years ago and is causing her to gradually lose her sight.

The 44-year-old said she loves spending time outdoors with her three-year-old guide dog, Gigi, but has to take extra care during periods of hot weather.

Guide Dogs UK said dogs should not be worked or trained when temperatures reach 24C because of the risk of heatstroke.

Lorraine, who is medically retired from her job as a teaching assistant, said she relies on a white cane and AI-powered smart glasses as an alternative form of safe mobility when it is too hot to take Gigi out.

The glasses look like standard eyewear but have built-in cameras, open-ear audio and artificial intelligence software.

"I can ask them where I am and they'll tell me what street I'm on," Lorraine said.

"If I go into a supermarket, I can video call somebody and they can see what I'm looking at and help me find things on the shelf.

"I can call Be My Eyes and that does the same thing."

Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers and AI for real-time visual assistance.

"I can take photos and ask, 'What am I looking at?' and it'll tell me. I can also ask for more description.

"They read letters, appointment information and bus timetables too."

Lorraine said the technology was not as enjoyable as spending time with Gigi, but it helped her keep the dog safe during hot weather.

"She supports me on buses, finds the kerb, finds crossing points and helps me navigate through town, busy shopping centres and train stations," Lorraine said.

"On a day-to-day basis, we've got our set routes that we can do.

"We go to my local choir, which Gigi absolutely loves."

She said she still made sure Gigi received plenty of stimulation at home.

"She's got toys and brain activities to do, like a toy where we hide biscuits and she's got to find them."

Sally McCoy, from Guide Dogs UK, said: "We strongly advise people not to work their dogs if there's an amber or red weather warning because of the heat.

"Certainly, when temperatures reach 24C, nobody should be working or training their dogs."

She said signs of heatstroke could include excessive panting, drooling and unusual lethargy.

"If that does happen, then the dogs need to be cooled down gradually, but in extreme cases heatstoke can lead to seizures or even be fatal," she said.

Ms McCoy said hot weather could make life more difficult for visually impaired people who relied on guide dogs.

"If people still need to get out to work or visit elderly relatives, they can use a long cane or another form of safe mobility and leave their dogs at home, somewhere cool and with access to water."

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Catfished student gets £10k after photos used for fake dating profiles

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8xn9exg8yo, 2 days ago

A 19-year-old woman whose images were used to create fake Tinder, TikTok and Instagram profiles leading men to believe she was their girlfriend is to be paid compensation.

Sasha-Jay Davies from Aberdare had her identity stolen by Elha Mai Weston who posed as the teenager to strike up romantic conversations on social media.

Weston amassed more than 100,000 followers, leaving Davies fearful to leave her home because she was being approached by men who thought they were in a relationship with her.

She apologised and admitted the four-year campaign and agreed to pay Davies, a student, a reported £10,000 in compensation, according to court documents.

The High Court in London was told Weston engaged in a "sustained campaign of online impersonation", known as catfishing.

Earlier this year, Davies told BBC Wales: "I used to go out a lot but now I hardly ever go out because I'm scared what man is going to approach me next.

"It is terrifying to be confronted over something you didn't do and to realise someone is using your face to manipulate others," she said.

Images were posted on Tinder, Hinge, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and SoundCloud, and used to deceive thousands of people across social media and dating apps.

The court heard Weston used Davies' images to create and run fake accounts between 2022 and 2026, calling herself "Sophie" and "Sophie Kadare".

She also used AI images based on Davies' likeness, and used the fake profiles to strike up real-life romantic relationships.

Davies said she felt anxious whenever strangers appeared to recognise her in the supermarket.

"I've had boys approach me in person, harassing me and accusing me of texting them, leading them on, or making plans to meet up, alongside conversations I never had," she said.

The court heard one man approached Davies believing he was in a genuine relationship with her, after exchanging months of messages with one of Weston's fake accounts.

Davies said about 20 men and several women had contacted her on social media, believing they knew her.

She said the first fake account emerged on TikTok in 2022 when she was just 16.

She reported it, but said the problem quickly spread to other social media and dating apps.

Even after making her real accounts private, Weston continued posting older photographs and AI-edited images, the court heard.

"It's really difficult and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," Davies said.

The court was told Weston accepted her "conduct was wrongful" and acknowledged the "very significant distress and suffering" caused to Davies.

The court heard she "deeply regrets her actions and apologises to Miss Davies wholeheartedly and unreservedly for everything she has been put through".

The court heard that Weston agreed to pay Davies a reported £10,000 in compensation and agreed not to repeat her conduct in future, as part of a Tomlin Order - a form of binding civil justice agreement.

Weston could be found in contempt of court if she breaches the agreement.

What is catfishing?

Catfishing is when somebody creates a fake online persona with the intention of deceiving others.

This could be for a variety of reasons, such as extorting money from them, to spark up a romance, or simply for their own satisfaction.

Catfishers often use stolen photographs, lie about their lives and avoid situations such as video calls, where they would be caught out.

Watch: E-bike battery explodes at recycling centre

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7w773lp45o, 3 days ago

A warning about disposing of batteries has been issued after an e-bike battery exploded at a recycling centre in Dorset.

Portland Skips & Landscaping Supplies released a video showing the battery bursting into flames as it was being processed.

The burning waste, held in a mechanical grabber, is quickly moved to one side.

The company said it was an "important reminder" that batteries should be kept out of skips, bins or mixed with any other waste.

Lithium batteries found in e-bikes, power tools, vapes, laptops and other rechargeable devices can be extremely hazardous if damaged or crushed during waste handling.

Posting the video on social media, Portland Skips and Landscaping Supplies said: "Thankfully, our exceptional team acted quickly to contain the incident in what could have been catastrophic for the safety of our staff and business."

It urged people to dispose of batteries correctly.

Earlier this year, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council said 11 fires linked to batteries had been recorded since January 2025.

In December 2024, a refuse lorry near Bridport had to dump its load after crushed batteries caused a fire, while a similar incident in Wimborne in December last year was also believed to have been started by a damaged battery.

Teenager's inquest to reopen after mum's campaign

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79y9qnp340o, 3 days ago

An inquest into the death of a 14-year-old boy, following what his mother believes was an online challenge gone wrong, is to be re-opened after its original conclusion was quashed at the High Court.

Jools Sweeney died in 2022 and an inquest into his death in September of that year lasted 23 minutes and called no live evidence before returning a narrative conclusion.

The High Court has now quashed the senior coroner for Gloucestershire's conclusion after a legal challenge from Jools' mother, Ellen Roome.

Roome, who wept in court as the decision was read out, said: "We hope this is a turning point, not only in finding the truth about Jools, but in making the online world safer for every child."

The ruling is believed to be the first in England and Wales in which a fresh inquest has been ordered specifically to allow proper examination of a deceased child's social media and device data.

The Online Safety Act 2023 - which was not in place when Jools' inquest took place - means Ofcom can now request information from social media firms, including material a child viewed or uploaded.

Roome, from Cheltenham, said she would also use the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 to request Jools' social media content via the coroner.

"I cannot live the rest of my life without trying to look for answers as to why my son's not here," she said.

"Hopefully it shows that actually going forward, social media companies must step up and protect children online."

Neither the coroner nor social media platform TikTok opposed the bid to reopen the inquest.

Roome's lawyers told the hearing new evidence had come to light concerning the role of social media in Jools' death and a "number of lines of inquiry" which were not pursued at the original inquest "bear directly upon TikTok's platform and the data it holds".

Lord Justice Warby, sitting with Mrs Justice Heather Williams, quashed the original inquest's conclusion and ordered a new inquest to take place at a later date.

Roome said she believed the fresh inquest would serve as a useful precedent for other parents who believed social media contributed to their child's death.

"To every parent facing the unimaginable, please don't give up. We never stopped fighting for our son, and today's decision shows that hope should never be lost.

"If Jools' legacy helps protect even one child or gives one family the answers they deserve, then he will have changed the world."

Roome was accompanied at the High Court by a number of parents including Mariano Janin from London, who believes his daughter Mia took her own life in 2021 because of cyber-bullying.

Janin had told the BBC he would also consider applying to reopen the inquest into Mia's death if Roome was successful.

"What Ellen is doing, it's very important," he said. "It would [make it] a little bit more easy to get the information.

"Most of the parents that lose children, they don't fight because you lost all the motivation."

He added: "Our main goal one day is for the [social media] companies to be 100% responsible and accountable.

"Why? Because they are the only ones who have the technology and the funds to change this business model in order to protect young people."

Roome has become a leading figure in the campaign to ban social media for children since Jools' death.

In January 2025, she began a lawsuit against TikTok, which claims a group of children including her son died while attempting a "blackout challenge".

No subsequent hearings have taken place.

A TikTok spokesperson said at the time: "We strictly prohibit content that promotes or encourages dangerous behaviour."

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.

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Tribute to boy killed by TikTok-watching driver

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jlpq9l3gvo, 3 days ago

The parents of a toddler killed by a driver who was watching TikTok videos say his death has left a hole in their lives and hearts that will never be filled.

Chloe Baker was travelling home from an after school club with her 20-month-old son, Finley, in March, when Hristo Iliev's car smashed into the back of hers at the Holdingham roundabout on the A17 near Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

Iliev, 32, was looking at clips on TikTok when he struck Chloe's car, shunting it forward and leaving Finley unresponsive.

Chloe and Finley's father, Daniel, said: "Appalling choices made the day we lost Finley mean we never get to hear his little voice again."

Bulgarian national Iliev, of Hide Close, Boston, was jailed for 11 years and three months at Lincoln Crown Court on 11 June after he had previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

Finley's parents said he had filled their house "with laughter, fun and perfect chaos".

They added: "No parent should ever have to outlive their child, let alone lose them in the most horrific way like we did.

"It splits your life into two, the before and the after, and we wouldn't wish for anyone to live in this after.

"The Finley shaped hole that has been left in both our lives and hearts will never be filled."

Finley had looked up to his big brother, with them both enjoying dancing together.

"We loved watching the brotherly bond that was developing between them and the future they were going to have together," Chloe and Daniel said.

They said Finley had a "great love of dogs", with his face "lighting up" when he was allowed to stroke one on a walk.

He enjoyed looking through books, his parents said, and was just starting to talk more and point out what things were in pictures.

'Beautiful little soul'

Thinking about the future, Finley's parents said they would not "get to take him to his first day of school, nativity or sports day".

"We won't ever know who he would have become as an adult. We can only guess what kind of future he would have had.

"His entire life was stolen from him for the most senseless of reasons," they added.

Chloe and Daniel thanked the public who stopped and helped following the crash.

"Your compassion in that moment will never ever be forgotten," they said.

They also thanked emergency services for their support.

"We will forever continue to honour and remember Finley for the beautiful little soul that he was," they said.

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TikTok faces Ofcom investigation over child age checks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8l1zk9dk9o, 3 days ago

An investigation has been launched into whether TikTok is doing enough to keep children off its platform.

The probe by media regulator Ofcom comes a month after the UK government announced that under-16's would be banned entirely from a range of platforms.

Ofcom will examine how the video-sharing app assesses if a user is a child and whether it has adequate systems to prevent children from viewing harmful content.

"We're confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate it," a TikTok spokesperson said.

It follows a review by regulator in May which criticised the platform for not being "safe enough" for children and called for stronger action on children's online safety.

Kate Davies, Ofcom's group director for strategy and research told BBC's Today programme: "This is where TikTok comes in. We found that some method of age checks being used by social media are not working well enough".

At the heart of the regulator's probe into the platform is its use of technology known as "age inference".

This essentially relies on estimating how old a user is based on how they use the platform, such as the videos they watch or others they interact with.

Davies said Ofcom had "serious doubts" over whether such tools are good enough at checking the age of users.

The regulator requires social media platforms, among others, to use "highly effective" methods to check users are old enough to use them and prevent children from seeing harmful material.

"We have very serious questions about whether age inference can be highly effective," she said.

But a TikTok spokesperson said: "We strictly enforce age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technologies, in line with major industry peers."

They said the company had invested "billions" in online safety since launching in the UK eight years ago.

Age check enforcement

Ofcom's review of TikTok's age checks are part of a broader clampdown on sites failing to prevent children encountering adult content, such as pornography, and other harmful material.

Under the Online Safety Act's (OSA) protection of children's codes, which took effect on 25 July last year, sites with such content must use methods such as face scans to check a UK visitor is over the age of 18.

But the regulator has since had to take action, including issuing large fines, against dozens of adult sites over suspected or proven non-compliance.

Its investigation into TikTok shows scrutiny is now being stepped up for social media sites.

TikTok is not alone in using so-called age inference tech, with Instagram also deploying it among other methods to identify where a person might be a child lying about their age.

The platform says UK users are placed into an age-appropriate experience for under-18s by default until they are understood to be an adult.

It says people who fail to enter a date of birth that puts them over the age of 13 when they create an account are prohibited from making a new one, for instance by trying to enter a different date of birth.

Further questions

Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation (MRF), welcomed Ofcom's investigation.

He criticised TikTok for what he called "egregious failures" to prevent children from "being exposed to a tsunami of harmful content".

The charity, set up by the family of Molly Russell - who took her own life at the age of 14 after viewing self-harm and suicide content on social media - cited its own research which found many teens were seeing high-risk content on TikTok.

But Burrows said any investigation must also deal with the site's "blatant failure to clean up its toxic algorithms and comply with child safety duties".

The BBC has approached TikTok for a response.

Rebecca Smart, criminal lawyer and online safety expert at law firm Payne Hicks Beach, said the OSA had clearly "made some headway" in protecting children.

But she said "the current enforcement regime may not provide a strong enough deterrent to drive full compliance".

"There should be severe penalties for services that do not have appropriate age checks in place to protect these children," she said.

"Without stronger accountability and enforcement, children will remain vulnerable to online harms that the OSA was designed to prevent."

Teen hackers who live streamed cyber-attack on TfL jailed

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gyg0y6yg2o, 3 days ago

Two men who carried out a cyber-attack which crippled Transport For London (TfL) when they were teenagers have both been sentenced to five years and six months in prison.

Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, and Thalha Jubair, 20, from east London, pleaded guilty in June to carrying out the hack in 2024.

They were described as computer-obsessed loners who carried out the hack as part of the cyber crime collective known as Scattered Spider.

The cyber-attack disrupted TfL's online services for months, stole the personal data of millions of people and left all 27,000 TfL employees needing to reset their passwords in person.

Woolwich Crown Court heard the criminals streamed their 16 hour long cyber-attack online.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the rise of young hackers in the UK as one of the biggest threats to the nation's cyber security.

Flowers was 17 and Jubair was 18 when they hacked into the capital's transport authority at 1700 on 31 August.

Telegram messages sent between the pair showed them boasting about gaining access to TfL's database of people with Oyster cards.

The teens then searched the list for the personal details of London celebrities, before attempting to access banking details.

"Scattered Spider is creating webs on the London Underground," Flowers would later joke - referring to the loosely coordinated group of young English-speaking hackers.

The group has been linked to dozens of other cyber-attacks including on retailers Marks and Spencer and the Co-op.

In the last two years young men and boys have been arrested for Scattered Spider hacks in the UK, US, Spain and Finland.

Impersonating an employee

The TfL hack saw the data of millions of customers stolen in a spree which started on a Saturday night to maximise their chances of not being discovered by staff.

As revealed by the BBC, the database is still being shared in criminal groups and contains the details of as many as 10 million TfL customers.

Jubair and Flowers, gained access to the data by tricking a phone help desk worker.

They convinced the person to reset the password of an employee they were impersonating.

TfL was alerted to the breach by the NCA and worked to kick the hackers out - but not before the criminals gained the details of millions of people.

The transport authority said the hack could have caused widespread disruption had its IT team not stopped the hackers by logging out all staff - and eventually disconnecting TfL systems from the internet.

In total, 148 technology systems became inoperable and heavily disrupted services including Dial-a-ride - used by disabled and vulnerable Londoners.

TfL says the financial impact of the hack was £29m - in addition it estimates that the incident cost £10m in lost income.

Woolwich Crown Court heard both men were loners who had few offline friends, and spent most of their time online unsupervised.

Judge Mr Justice Turner cited their young age and autism diagnoses as mitigating factors in his sentencing remarks.

Police say Flowers rarely left his house and spent most of his time in his bedroom using his computer.

As previously revealed by the BBC, he had first been given a cease and desist order for minor cyber crime in October 2023 shortly after he turned 16.

A few months later the teenager, who was living with his grandmother and uncle, committed a series of cyber offences.

Flowers was eventually arrested in September 2024 in connection with the TfL attack.

Video of his arrest shows the teenager laughing as he is taken into custody.

In the arrest raid, investigators caught Flowers in the act of hacking two US healthcare providers.

Messages he sent showed him joking about the hacks potentially "killing a 90-year-old on life support".

He pleaded guilty to offences relating to those hacks, along with the TfL cyber-attack.

Police also seized cryptocurrency holdings worth around £1m.

Although Flowers and Jubair were said to have accumulated millions of pounds in stolen or ransomed cryptocurrency, police say their motives were likely about online notoriety more than financial gain.

Like Flowers, Jubair had been known to police for years.

The court heard the single child was given his first laptop at the age of 10 by his parents - carers who moved to London from Bangladesh.

He learned how to code and by the age of 13 had begun interacting with criminals online.

He was first arrested in February 2021 at the age of 14.

In 2023, while still a juvenile, he received a Youth Rehabilitation Order for hacking with the Lapsus$ cyber crime group, which targeted major companies including Nvidia and BT.

Because he was under 18, his identity could not be reported at the time.

Jubair has 22 previous convictions related to hacking, fraud and harassment.

His defence team claimed in court the lonely and suicidal teenager was effectively groomed by older cyber criminals.

He is also wanted in the US in connection with cyber crimes against 47 US-based victims which allegedly led to $115 million paid in ransoms to Jubair and his associates.

Jubair became a high profile hacker in the community of English-speaking cyber crime known as The Com.

But a falling out led to his personal details and images being leaked online by rival hackers.

Some of the videos show Jubair apparently being held hostage and beaten but there is a suggestion this was staged by the wealthy criminal.

Woolwich Crown Court heard that whilst in prison awaiting trial, both Jubair and Flowers were discovered with contraband phones.

Recovered messages show the men continuing to discuss and coordinate future cyber-attacks.

After the sentencing NCA deputy director Paul Foster, head of its National Cyber Crime Unit, said the case highlighted the challenges posed by home grown hackers.

"The online world can expose young people to harmful influences and criminal communities far beyond their front door," he said.

"Parents, carers, educators, technology companies and law enforcement, the whole of society, we all have a role to play in helping to keep young people safe online.

He claimed Scattered Spider was "heavily degraded and disrupted" as a result of the arrests, but cyber security analyst Allison Nixon said it would do little to put off young boys from cyber crime.

"Policymakers need to address this as a violent youth gang problem, with a gang culture that idolizes the destruction of society and maximising victim harm," she said.

Celebrity influencers paid up to £1m to advertise deodorant on Instagram

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgegqrp656o, 3 days ago

The #ad posts on your feed may look relaxed, personal and spontaneous but behind many of them is a carefully planned campaign, a detailed contract and, in some cases, a seven-figure fee.

For Charlie Bowes-Lyon, the co-founder of Wild, a refillable natural deodorant, influencer marketing has been a huge part of the company's success and he calls it his "secret sauce".

Wild, which was bought by Unilever last year, uses high-profile names including Stacey Solomon, Emma Raducanu and Molly-Mae Hague to promote its products on Instagram.

Bowes-Lyon says the brand has spent millions on its partnership with Raducanu and hundreds of thousands on campaigns with Solomon and Hague.

People buy from people

Hannah Campbell, founder of influencer marketing agency One Twelve Agency, says brands are using influencers over traditional adverts because "they do actually influence".

"They have built audiences and communities that trust them, and the old adage 'people buy from people' is true.

"Consumers, especially younger audiences, aren't engaging with traditional media but they do follow and engage with their favourite influencers daily."

Influencer marketing is now such a big part of Wild's business that it employs a team of more than 20 solely dedicated to working on this.

The company's yearly influencer marketing budget is just under £10m, "but next year that may double as we look for larger brand ambassadors", says Bowes-Lyon.

How much the company spends on influencer marketing "can vary from £100,000 through to millions if you want a top-tier celebrity", says Bowes-Lyon.

He says a lot of it also depends on the depth of the campaign as "if you want them to do a one-off post you wouldn't pay too much but typically what they and you want is to develop is a bit more of a relationship".

British tennis player Emma Raducanu is Wild's current brand ambassador and has been working with the brand for the past year.

"We've done tons with her like full day shoots in New York, lots of posts and stories on Instagram and she even came in to create her own deodorant scent," says Bowes-Lyon.

"These celebrities aren't strapped for cash so it's not really about the money for them, it's more about whether the brand is a right fit," he says.

"When I tell people influencers make £2,000 for a single post, they are shocked, never mind the fact some are making £50,000 for one post."

Can an advert ever feel genuine?

Katy Howell, director at marketing agency Rethink Social, says paid ads "don't necessarily corrupt a recommendation but it changes the context in which that recommendation should be understood, and audiences have a right to know that".

"The real test is whether the creator would plausibly use the product, whether they retain enough editorial freedom to express reservations, and whether the partnership fits the relationship they have built with their audience," she adds.

Bowes-Lyon accepts audiences have become more aware that influencer ads are paid for which makes authenticity even more important.

"People are getting a little bit more savvy and if for example a gaming influencer starts talking about a flower shop or something that is not linked to anything they do, people will see through that," he says.

He adds that someone like TV personality Stacey Solomon has built her influence by being selective about what she promotes.

"I would imagine Stacey probably rejects 98% of the pitches that come her way."

Wild's campaign with Solomon created more than 100 paid ad iterations for social media each with unique selling positionings to appeal to different audiences.

Recent ASA research found that influencer advertising remained considerably harder to identify than conventional brand advertising.

In its testing, 74% of participants were certain that a conventional brand post was an advert, compared with only 54% for influencer advertising.

Bowes-Lyon says the influencers they work with need to "believe in what they're saying, not just saying it because they're getting a cheque".

He points to a partnership with Molly-Mae Hague, who had used Wild's body wash in a video before the brand approached her.

"We'd never even spoken to her and she was using our body wash in it, so we then reached out."

Howell suspects that "many people understand that influencers are paid, but underestimate both the scale and complexity of the economics".

"The most prominent creators are no longer simply individuals posting from their bedrooms. Many operate as sophisticated media businesses, with managers, agents, production teams, legal advice, licensing arrangements and several income streams."

While adverts on social media must be clearly labelled, Howell says that #ad is "legally functional but informationally thin" so more needs to be done to make paid marketing clearer.

Do influencer ads actually sell products?

Bowes-Lyon says some celebrity partnerships are designed mainly to build awareness, meaning the impact may show up gradually through stronger retail sales or wider recognition.

In Molly-Mae's case, Wild created a "targeted campaign" where they gave her a discount code to share with her followers.

"In that case you see a big spike in sales which disappears after a few days when the Instagram story is no longer visible."

Wild also tries to run several campaigns over a longer period so the partnership feels less rushed.

That means the celebrity can explain why they like the product, rather than trying to sell everything in one short post.

"They can more authentically tell the story of why they like the brand," Bowes-Lyon says.

Children taught detail about online sexual risks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23y3j0ne7po, 3 days ago

Island children are being taught about deepfakes, nudifying apps, grooming and sextortion as authorities step up efforts to tackle online sexual risks.

The Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy Annual Report 2025 found schools and services were placing a greater focus on protecting young people in a "complex world of digital safety", amid concerns about harmful sexual content.

The report revealed 20 cases of child sexual exploitation, 96 of sexual abuse and 72 of harmful sexual behaviour were referred to safeguarding services in 2025.

In response, schools have expanded lessons on grooming and AI-generated deepfakes, while parents are being offered online safety guidance.

'Predators and consent'

The report revealed work has been led through a multi-agency partnership involving education, health, police, children's services and safeguarding organisations, alongside third-sector groups such as Safer and the Youth Commission.

The States of Guernsey Digital Safety Lead, who works with schools across the Bailiwick, delivered 263 hours of digital safety education during the 2024-25 academic year.

According to the report, lessons have been tailored to children's ages and included topics such as "sexting and indecent images of children, sextortion and romance scams, online predators and consent, online friends, taking and sharing pictures, nudifying apps and grooming".

The report revealed a new lesson had been introduced in 2025 for year 10 students focusing on harmful online content and the risks posed by developments in technology "including those which come from harmful sexual content, pornography, child sexual abuse material, and deepfakes".

'Changing sexual practices'

Officials said the emphasis on prevention reflected broader concerns about children's exposure to harmful sexual content and exploitation.

The report said there was growing concern about "the sexualisation of culture, the premature sexualisation of children, harmful sexual behaviours, child sexual exploitation in all its forms, sexual assault and violence, the use of pornography and rapidly changing sexual practices".

The report said during 2025, police recorded 258 sexual offences, representing a 9% increase on 2024.

The report does not link those cases to online activity but said digital safety had become an increasingly important area for schools, police, health services and safeguarding agencies.

Parents are also being targeted through awareness sessions designed to help families identify and respond to online risks, including grooming and other forms of sexual harm.

The report said all lessons delivered by the Digital Safety Lead are accompanied by a guide for families containing "further information and signposting" for parents and carers.

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SpaceX share price drops below stock market debut

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyl33q0yl0o, 4 days ago

SpaceX's share price has dropped below its stock market debut just over a month ago, falling sharply from a post-float peak.

The price for a single share in Elon Musk's rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence (AI) company fell to $132.62 (£98.24) on Wednesday, below its initial listing of $135 in June.

SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) made Musk the world's first trillionaire. Compared to its on-the-day high so far, the stock price is now down 41%.

If the price holds, or falls further, it will mean that those who purchased stock around the time of its flotation will stand to lose money on their investment.

Even amid a tumultuous few weeks for tech stocks, SpaceX has taken a particular hit.

Compared to a 0.2% fall on the wider Nasdaq index, where SpaceX's shares are listed, the company's stock price fell more than 2% on Wednesday.

SpaceX stock has been volatile since it began trading on the public stock market a little over one month ago.

After an initial investor frenzy that saw the company valued at more than Amazon and Microsoft, the price of its shares has drifted downward.

Initially, SpaceX was treated by investors as the first chance they had to invest in an AI company, according to what financial market analysts and experts recently told the BBC,

Earlier this year, SpaceX acquired Musk's AI start-up xAI, recently renamed SpaceXAI, marking its first foray into an AI-focused business.

XAI is best known for the controversial chatbot Grok, but through that acquisition, SpaceX now leases data centre capacity to other tech companies.

The company's main business is the manufacture and launch of rockets and telecommunications satellites called Starlink.

When Starlink said it was cutting prices in the Memphis, Tennessee area amid local concerns over a massive data centre project, SpaceX shares fell by 8%.

Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, told Reuters: "There hasn't been anything that lately to remind people of some of the catalysts for why they bought SpaceX."

SpaceX is expected to release in August its first public earnings report.

Sosnick added: "The fact that a stock has fallen a couple of dollars below its IPO price in itself is not a tragedy, but SpaceX is heavily watched and has an important role in investor psyche."

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Don't panic - five ways to stop your kids' endless scrolling

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86e3q5j992o, 4 days ago

If you're a parent, you may have breathed a sigh of relief - or perhaps frustration - at the UK government's plans to implement an overnight social media curfew for 16 and 17-year-olds.

It would see apps such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube made unavailable by default to the teenagers - though they will be able to opt out of the curfew if they want.

Features the government considers addictive such as auto-play videos and infinite scrolling will also be disabled under the plans, aimed at improving teenagers' focus, sleep quality and family life.

We asked some parenting experts for their tips on how to pry those phones away from their offspring's hands – even if only for a short while.

1. Start small and be realistic

Many parents who have already given their children tablets or smartphones might wonder if the best thing is to just get rid of them. But that might not be the most productive option, believes child psychologist Dr Jane Gilmour.

"Changing a habit is always going to be hard," she says. Instead, she recommends implementing changes at a neutral moment, not in the heat of an argument about screen time. "Calm brains communicate best."

A good first step to reducing screen time could be designating a set place in the home for devices, such as a particular cupboard.

"Have one place for chargers... so when the phones go away, they go on the charger and that's it."

2. Be collaborative

Older children and teenagers can benefit from being part of the conversation around screen time, rather than having rules imposed on them, says child psychologist Dr Maryhan Baker.

Acknowledging the peer pressure surrounding social media can help get teens onside, she says, such as telling them: "I understand that that's where you connect with your friends. I understand the social pressure if you're deemed not to be on this. I really get it.

"So let's have a conversation about how we can begin to create space within our day, and your day where you're not on that phone all of the time."

Parenting coach Olivia Edwards adds that building a strong connection with your child or teenager will make it easier to regulate screen use.

"We have to have a strong relationship with our child because that is what's going to get us towards co-operation [and] teamwork."

This could include taking a genuine interest in the content your child consumes online.

3. Turn screen time into learning opportunities

Many parents feel they're struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing fads and trends on social media. But there is an opportunity for both adults and children to learn from each other through frank discussions about screen time.

Olivia says: "You might say something like: 'How do you think social media works? How do you think that app works to keep people looking at it? Did you know they make money off the more time people spend on it?'"

Jane also says parents can teach their children digital literacy in a hands-on way. "There might be content that you can look at together and say, 'OK, do you think that that is true? How would I figure out if that's true or not?'"

4. Model good behaviour

It's no secret that children mimic their parents, so encouraging good screen habits in them might have to start with some self reflection.

Maryhan encourages a light-hearted approach to this. "Even if we just do a slightly self-deprecating conversation with our kids, like: 'We're all guilty of this, I'm not as great on my relationship with [my phone] as I could be.'"

Phones and tablets have provided people of all ages with an ever-present source of entertainment, but Jane says that both adults and children could benefit from embracing boredom a bit more.

"Being on the screen, it keeps us looking at the external world. When we go into our internal world and we sort of stare into space, into the middle distance, it allows us to think about the past, it allows us to visualise the future, it predicts creativity.

"So when your kids are protesting [that] there's nothing to do, they're just staring into space - that's OK. And actually that's a positive thing."

5. Don't panic

Parenting has never been easy, but raising children in a time where screens are everywhere, while we are still learning how they affect us, can be very worrying.

Dr Tony Sampson, a reader in digital communication at the University of Essex, says parents shouldn't fall into the trap of moral panic.

"There is a tendency for anxious parents to become caught up in a prevailing media panic and see all adolescent brains as simply hardwired for social media addiction," he says.

But children and teenagers have what's called neuroplasticity – their brains are better at adapting and bouncing back than adults' brains.

"We read a lot about the ways in which social media erodes attention," he says.

"[But] social media does not shorten or erode attention. It captures it and diverts it toward engagement with commercial content.

"Positive technological use can help boost neuroplasticity for creativity, exploration and learning."

'I was so brainwashed': The 1980s doomsday cult that ensnared the young and beautiful

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260709-the-1980s-doomsday-cult-that-ensnared-models, 9 days ago

Led by an enigmatic New York socialite who claimed to be an alien in human form, Eternal Values boasted an elite membership. Now one of its most high-profile ex-followers, former male supermodel Hoyt Richards, is telling his story.

Few people have lived a double life like Hoyt Richards. Back in the 1980s, this classically handsome Princeton graduate was fronting ad campaigns for luxury brands like Ralph Lauren, Dunhill and Donna Karan. Though he has since branched out into acting, film-making and public speaking, Richards is still regularly described as "the world's first male supermodel".

He looked like the epitome of quietly confident masculinity, but when he wasn't jetting somewhere exotic to be photographed by Richard Avedon or Steven Meisel, Richards was a devoted member of a shadowy spiritual cult called Eternal Values. Though it was the subject of a 1990 Vanity Fair exposé by journalist Marie Brenner, Eternal Values has since been roundly forgotten. However, its fascinating origins in the aspirational mid-1980s and slow decline throughout the '90s are now being spotlighted in Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, a gripping and chilling documentary series that premiered on HBO last month.

This is a true story that no one could dream up. Eternal Values' founder, the well-connected but enigmatic Manhattan socialite Frederick von Mierers, claimed to be an "alien walk-in": an extraterrestrial from the planet Arcturus who had stepped into a human body to spread a message of enlightenment on Earth. His oft-stated mission was to recruit new Arcturian leaders from the human race before a so-called "pole shift" destroyed the planet in 1999.

In effect, this was a doomsday cult with lashings of added glamour. A master of reinvention who was also an inveterate social climber, Von Mierers liked to surround himself with bright young things like models and ambitious young professionals. Strictly speaking, he didn't just want beauties, but anyone who could improve his reputation and financial fortunes.

Born Fred Meyers in working-class Brooklyn – though few knew his true identity at the time – he built his following and the cult’s fortune by selling personalised psychic "life readings" on cassette tape and bespoke gem subscriptions. The prices were high, but Von Mierers claimed his precious stones had healing properties. Jacki Adams, another prominent 1980s supermodel lured in by Eternal Values, told Brenner that she gave the cult leader more than $100,000 (£75,000) for gemstones and apartment renovations he was helping with.

Richards was first targeted by Von Mierers in 1978, nearly a decade before Adams joined Eternal Values in 1987. And he only extricated himself for good in 1999, a full nine years after its founder, whom Richards calls Freddie, died from Aids-related complications. "When Freddie died, I would say that the cult died with him," Richards tells the BBC. "But we carried on in his shadow as this really toxic, dysfunctional family."

By the time Richards fled Eternal Values in 1999 with help from fellow male supermodel Fabio Lanzoni, membership had dwindled to a few rudderless diehards. Yet to this day, many of Von Mierers’ former followers refuse to believe that they ever were part of a cult.

Richards, now 64, has no such qualms about admitting he was "brainwashed" by Eternal Values' magnetic leader. "I've gone on a 25-year journey of wanting to go more public [about what happened] because I think there's real value in telling this story," Richards says.

How Richards was duped

Much of this value is rooted in Richards being such an unlikely mark. He had a privileged and loving upbringing in suburban Pennsylvania, but his "cultic relationship" with Eternal Values, as Richards describes it, stopped him speaking to his family for 12 years. He was never a physical prisoner, but he says he remained under Von Mierers' spell even as he was shuttling between Manhattan and Milan for photo shoots.

The series' director Chris Smith – who has previously made documentaries about botched music event Fyre Festival and controversial anti-ageing guru Bryan Johnson – uses Richards' story as a cautionary tale that highlights Von Mierers' charisma and cunning. The future supermodel was just 16 when he was approached on a beach in Nantucket, the upmarket Massachusetts coastal resort where his family spent their summers. Because Von Mierers wanted to present a refined, old-money image, it was precisely the sort of spot he too liked to frequent.

Though Richards had no clue at the time, Von Mierers was grooming him from the start. "Before Freddie would go into one of his [spiritual] diatribes, he would say, 'You're very smart, so you'll get this,'" Richards recalls. "So even though I didn't really understand what he was telling me, I couldn't question it, because he'd given me this compliment."

Von Mierers, who claimed to be an orphan with aristocratic European blood, also began to separate Richards from his peers. "My friends dismissed him as just another eccentric person in Nantucket," Richards says. "But he would look over at them and say, 'You're not like your friends; you're different.' And at 16, that feels like a valid question to consider – like, 'Am I special in some way?' So I went down that rabbit hole."

Three years later, when Richards went to Princeton University in New Jersey to study economics, Von Mierers' Manhattan apartment became a handy party pad. "He was so excited when he heard I was going to an Ivy League college, but he never spoke about his own college years," Richards says.

By this point, Van Mierers was in his mid-thirties, but he concealed his age and true biographical details because they didn't fit his artfully polished persona. Richards learned later that the man born Fred Meyers in Brooklyn used his brief modelling career to reinvent himself as the dazzling Manhattan socialite Frederick von Mierers. He never spoke about his college degree because he didn't have one, but in the 12 years that the two men knew each other, Richards says that "Freddie never once dropped character".

"I've since learned that people with narcissistic personalities, which is how I'd characterise Freddie, tend to self-identify according to the people they surround themselves with," Richards says. "He would always inflate my achievements when he introduced me to someone, I guess because he wanted to make us both look better."

After Richards graduated from Princeton, Von Mierers introduced him to Joey Hunter, a major player at the world-renowned Ford Modeling Agency, which is now known as Ford Models. Richards' career took off spectacularly when he was plucked from obscurity by Bruce Weber, an influential fashion photographer who has since been accused of sexual assault and misconduct by multiple male models. Weber has always denied these allegations and all cases against him have either been dismissed or settled out of court with no admission of any liability.

Richards admits that he "felt guilty for pursuing a career that I didn't consider spiritual". By the mid-1980s, with the New Age movement gaining traction, Von Mierers' disparate spiritual beliefs linking astrology with ideas borrowed from Eastern mysticism no longer seemed so marginal. He was perfectly placed to exploit Richards' insecurity.

"I thought Freddie was a great teacher and felt proud to generate money for the group," says Richards, who estimates that he gave as much as $4 to 5 million (£3 to 3.7 million) to Eternal Values. Richards says Von Mierers was always "the life and soul of the party", but believes he acquired an extra grooming tool – celebrity – when he was featured in Ruth Montgomery's best-selling 1985 book Aliens Among Us.

The growth of the cult

In the book, Montgomery corroborated Von Mierers' outlandish backstory by writing that he really was a highly enlightened extraterrestrial who had assumed human form. "I would say we really became a cult when that book came out," Richards says. "And then we built a business around the cult by selling tapes with Freddie's psychic life readings on them. At that point, we were getting letters from people in 45 countries."

Despite Von Mierers' subsequent TV appearances, which Smith deftly weaves into the documentary, Richards estimates that "no more than 100 people" ever became fully fledged members of the cult. Perhaps because of his earning power, Richards was a long-time member of "the inner circle", who slept side-by-side on the floor of Von Mierers' apartment and maintained a strictly celibate lifestyle, at least to begin with.

"We were all in our 20s with hormones raging, so I think Freddie realised it was impossible to stop us [from having sexual urges]," Richards says. At this point, Von Mierers switched tack dramatically and instructed the cult members to start having sex with one another. "It was incredibly unhealthy, especially for the women in this very male-dominated environment," Richards says. Anyone who said no was "slammed" by Von Mierers for being "sexually repressed" and unable to "separate their spirit from their body", he adds.

It later emerged that during his supposedly celibate years, Von Mierers was regularly paying male sex workers. "I was so brainwashed that I bought into his narrative that he was bringing them to the apartment to help them spiritually," Richards says.

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Richards believes Von Mierers maintained his hold over followers by "being able to turn on a dime from kind and nurturing into this strict disciplinarian figure". Cult expert Dr Steven Hassan, the author of Combating Cult Mind Control, says Von Mierers was simply "practising intermittent reinforcement, which is a very powerful behavioural conditioning technique". Essentially, he kept Richards and other followers hooked by mixing heavy criticism with just enough positive encouragement to leave them craving more.

According to Hassan, Von Mierers' abrupt about-turn from imposing abstinence to promoting promiscuity is also a common tactic. "In a cult, it's all about dependency and obedience to the leader, not to any particular principle," he says. "And if you can manipulate somebody's sex drive, you have a big lever over them."

Some 48 years after Von Mierers approached him in Nantucket, Richards is still reckoning with the cult leader's impact on his life. Happily, he has reconnected with his family and made peace with the fact that Von Mierers helped him to build a highly successful modelling career. "You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater, right?" Richards says sanguinely.

On top of Bring Me the Beauties, a recently announced biopic of Richards will star Nicholas Galitzine, with Gus Van Sant in talks to direct. How much that will focus on Eternal Values or not is unconfirmed, but when it comes to the documentary, Richards hopes his story will help people to question the way they interact with anyone who "really showers them" with attention or flattery. "When you give away your power to someone, whether unconsciously or not, I would characterise that as a 'cultic relationship'," he says. "Not every cultic relationship is abusive like mine was, but they can be unhealthy, and I think it's important to acknowledge that they seem to be part of the human condition."

Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult is available to stream on HBO Max now

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Kim Jong Un was meant to be their only idol - then North Koreans discovered K-pop

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jygjezvlwo, yesterday

On a sunny Saturday in June, Lee Yeon-su took the day off from work and hopped on a train from Seoul to Busan for yet another concert by pop supergroup BTS.

It was her third time in as many months.

She had been in the crowds that poured into central Seoul in March, when the septet launched their comeback - but the stage was too far away. In April, on the first day of their world tour, the rain poured down, drowning out the singers' voices. But this time in Busan, it was "incredible".

"Every time I come to a BTS concert, I realise how happy I am that I can like and support someone of my own free will," Yeon-su, which is not her real name, says. "That would have been unimaginable in North Korea."

That's where she was born, in the so-called Hermit Kingdom, just north of the heavily fortified border with South Korea. The outside world was out of reach, cut off by a regime built on fear, surveillance and loyalty.

"You had to be selected to attend events and if you weren't, you had to stay home with your curtains closed."

Now in South Korea, she can decide who to cheer for and how. In Busan, alongside a vast fandom, she screamed, jumped and sang at the top of her lungs, especially for her old favourites, the high-octane Fire and hip-hop hit Mic Drop.

Growing up in a military family, Yeon-su was taught the South was the enemy. When she escaped, she tried to keep her distance from South Korean culture. But music found its way into her life.

She made it out in 2011, before BTS debuted, before K-pop became a global sensation. Now, even listening to it, or watching shows from the South, is a crime in North Korea that can land people in jail or worse.

Some like Yeon-su say they had never heard South Korean music until they crossed the border. When they did, it opened up a whole world of freedom and fun, helping them adjust to a strange, new life that was now completely their own.

But other defectors tell the BBC that despite the restrictions, K-pop has cut through in Kim Jong Un's stifling dictatorship.

They say they used to listen to songs in secret, often not knowing who they were listening to, but clinging to the mysterious and hopeful lyrics. Some even managed to watch K-pop performances, shocked by the blue-haired idols wearing make-up: "Why do men look like that?"

"North Korea is a place where the whole system is set up so that there can only be one celebrity, one idol - Kim Jong Un," says Hannah Oh, a 25-year-old defector.

But as it turns out, North Koreans have discovered other idols, like BTS and Blackpink, and before them, Girls' Generation, Teen Top and 2PM.

BTS's Korean name Bangtan Sonyeondan has even become a part of everyday slang in the North, one defector says: "People say things like, 'Have you tried on a Bangtan vest?' or 'Have you worn a Bangtan backpack?'"

'Korean like us, but different'

For Kang Gyu-ri, who fled North Korea in 2023, there is one BTS hit that stands out: Dynamite.

BTS blew up streaming records when it dropped Dynamite in 2020 - a disco-flecked track to cheer up a Covid-weary world, the band said. It caught North Korea's ear despite being the group's first fully English single.

"I didn't understand the lyrics, but the melody was so good, it made you feel excited. Everyone followed along," Gyu-ri, 26, says.

At that time, she was living in Kyongsong, a coastal county in the North, where families could pick up TV signals across the water with an antenna. When reception was good, they watched weekend shows in which K-pop idols competed, all colourful hair and slick moves.

"Everything was shocking. I thought they were Korean like us, but they looked very different."

The rap was a novelty. "At first, I thought, 'Is this even a song?' But they looked so cool dancing while they rapped that boys started copying them."

Learning a song's signature dance move became a trend among teens, she says. Those who liked dancing looked to BTS and, before them, Teen Top, popular in the 2010s for its electro-pop dance tracks.

As she talks, Gyu-ri reaches for her phone and pulls up an old YouTube clip of Teen Top performing No More Perfume on You. "Like this," she says, laughing as she mimes the song's signature perfume-spraying move. "Soon, all the boys around me were doing it. Pssht, pssht. It was so much fun. Once you saw it, you couldn't forget it."

Because they listened to so many songs secretly, she cannot recall titles. She heard Girls' Generation, South Korea's biggest and most iconic girl group, and later became a fan of Blackpink star Jennie: "It's hard to explain, but there's something very driven and powerful about her music."

She says she cannot compare it to North Korean songs, which "felt like they were hitting my ears. Most of the songs I heard growing up were about revolution or politics. We had to keep the state broadcasts on, even inside the house".

Gyu-ri found out about popular songs quickly as she often caught them on TV. But many North Koreans used MP3 players or tiny SD cards. Music was spreading more easily than dramas but slowly.

In the mid-to-late 2010s, as K-pop was going global, new music sat alongside decades-old ballads on SD cards circulating in North Korea. File names were usually corrupted, so Hannah Oh rarely knew the title, singer or release date.

"Knowing wouldn't have meant anything to me back then. So I paid more attention to the lyrics," says the 25-year-old who defected in 2019.

One song really stayed with her. She listened to it over and over, writing down each Korean word. Years later, after arriving in the South, she discovered it was It's Not Too Late by Green Zone, or Noksaek Jidae, a popular male duo from the 1990s, when sentimental ballads dominated Korean music charts.

"It was all in Korean, so it was much easier to understand than the K-pop I was listening to," she says. "It was the first time I thought, 'so this is how people express love.'"

A window to the outside world

Listening to South Korean music was always risky. As a teen, Hannah carried two SD cards. "One had South Korean music. The other was an empty card I could hand over if I was caught."

Whenever students were caught watching South Korean content, schools across the city would come together for "public criticism sessions", Hannah says.

"They would announce exactly what South Korean videos that person had watched and publicly declare that they would be sent to a juvenile detention centre. It was meant to show everyone else what would happen if they were caught."

And yet Hannah continued listening and watching: "Once you've seen that world, it's hard to turn away."

Isolating North Koreans from the outside world has always been central to the Kim family's survival. Their propaganda has one message: Pyongyang excels at everything, from the economy to the arts, so nothing can beat life under the Kims. Any hint that freedom beckons just across the southern border is dangerous.

With K-culture now a soft-power giant, Kim Jong Un has cracked down harder. In 2022, three teenagers were reportedly publicly executed for distributing South Korean content.

Still, a 2023 survey found that 98% of defectors said they had watched South Korean dramas or films back home. About 80% said it increased their curiosity about the South and influenced habits such as speech and fashion.

Hannah believes this is exactly what the regime fears.

"Some start wearing shorter skirts or dyeing their hair. Once people begin expressing themselves, it affects a system where everyone is supposed to think and move together."

That's what happened to Gyu-ri. She says she did not leave North Korea because life was hard. Rather, exposure to South Korean music and TV made the contrast impossible to ignore.

"I couldn't stand it whenever I watched TV and then went outside," where surveillance officers watched people for signs of foreign influence.

Gyu-ri says there was a time when knowing about South Korean content was a source of pride. "It made you look a bit stylish. People would say 'they know how to have fun'. But after the laws became stricter, people became much more careful."

First you would hear someone had been caught, she says. Then you would hear reports of executions. The information was deliberately spread as a warning, she adds.

"I heard that two boys I knew were executed. One was around my age, and the other was younger, about 19."

But they didn't stop consuming this forbidden content, she continues. "It was our breathing hole, our window to the outside world. People risk their lives for it because they gain hope to endure another day."

That is a risk North Koreans have been taking for years.

"Do you know why the people I met in prison were there? Caught for watching South Korean dramas, or helping someone escape to South Korea," says Yeon-su who defected in the 2000s.

On her first attempt, she ended up in prison after Chinese authorities arrested her as she fled across the border and forcibly repatriated her to North Korea.

Even in prison, she says a South Korean song kept her going. "Get up. Don't let yourself be broken," she would keep singing under her breath. "I thought, I have to survive. I have to make it to South Korea."

'The courage to stop running'

And she did. But adjusting to life there was not easy. At job interviews, employers asked whether she was North Korean or an ethnic Korean from China. She says she rarely heard back afterwards.

Then one day, she stumbled across a video of BTS performing Idol, a punchy 2018 hit, and fell for them. She joined their fandom, known as ARMY, went to meetings, started a fan account, voted in K-pop contests and posted religiously.

But the biggest change was that she no longer felt the need to hide where she came from. "When I told my close ARMY friends I was from North Korea, nobody treated me differently. Just as there were fans from Brazil or Japan, I was from North Korea."

For the first time she felt like she belonged in South Korea, and the music slowly changed how she saw herself.

BTS's Love Yourself album trilogy's focus on acceptance and healing - and the group leader RM's plea to "use us, use BTS to love yourself"- resonated with fans around the world, and with Yeon-su.

One particular song, Answer: Love Myself, sung by her favourite member Jimin, really hit home: "Why do you keep trying to hide behind your mask? Even the scars left behind by mistakes are part of my constellation."

"I found the courage to stop running and face that part of myself," Yeon-su says. "As I understood myself, I found I had more room in my heart to embrace others."

Hana Kang, who arrived in South Korea 20 years ago, says she became a BTS fan because she was drawn to something which she had never known in the North: the freedom to express what you are feeling.

The song that touched her was Spring Day, a haunting yet hopeful 2017 release about separation and longing. It reminded her of the hometown and family she had left behind in North Korea. "I missed them, and they felt increasingly distant, like they belonged to another world."

Hana and Yeon-su discovered BTS as they rose to global stardom, but the women felt a kinship with them as they learned of their struggles - something the group spoke and sang about candidly.

For Yeon-su, supporting BTS a was a way of "cheering [herself] on". For Hana, the group became a mirror: "Looking at them made me think, 'If they can keep trying like that, maybe I can too."

It's different for defectors in more recent years.

They arrive in an era where Korean music is a global powerhouse, and BTS its biggest poster child. There is far more to choose from.

Hannah Oh, who arrived in 2019, says she'd imagined spending much of her time catching up on the music and dramas she had once watched in secret. Instead, she was confronted with something new: choices.

"There were so many other things I could do," she says. "In a way, I'm now living in the kind of world I used to only see in dramas."

'Full of magic and humanity': Five things you need to know about The Odyssey

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260715-five-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-odyssey, 4 days ago

As Christopher Nolan's epic blockbuster starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland arrives in cinemas – here are the key takeaways from the film.

One thing I'd never considered before seeing The Odyssey: it was quite foul-smelling inside that Trojan horse. No detail is too small and no action too big for Christopher Nolan's film, epic in its scope and ambition.

You may think of Homer's centuries-old poem as the cornerstone of Western literature or as a dreaded school assignment. Possibly both. But Nolan's extravagant adaptation is decidedly more an action-adventure blockbuster than a classics lesson.

It is also the purest Christopher Nolan. Odysseus fits in his line of morally complex heroes, from the justice-seeking vigilante Batman to Oppenheimer, the conscience-stricken father of the atomic bomb.

And Homer's digressions suit Nolan's taste for lucid, non-linear narratives. The Odyssey gracefully loops back and forth in time as it tells of Odysseus's nearly decade-long journey back to his kingdom of Ithaca after winning the Trojan War.

The build-up to the film has felt as long as Odysseus's journey itself – remember when tickets went on sale a year ago? – but we can now finally see what Nolan has done. Here are the notable takeaways from his spectacular, thoughtful drama.

1. A 'mesmerising' hero

Whoever Damon plays, you can always see that his characters are thinking, and he is at his action-fuelled, reflective, Jason-Bourne-best here as Odysseus, a mortal who interacts with gods and monsters and sometimes acts like a god himself.

A warrior who doesn't hesitate to plunge a sword into an enemy, he eventually grapples with the consequences of the godlike choices that determine the fate of the men he commands. He isn't above lying. And on a journey that literally takes him to hell and back, in the underworld of Hades the prophet Tiresias tells him to choose between sailing toward the whirlpool Charybdis, where all his men will die, or the monster Scylla, who will only kill six. He secretly chooses for them. Damon carries the action and the moral weight of the film and is mesmerising through all its turns.

2. 'Massive' action scenes

In one explosive set piece after another, Nolan uses his IMAX cameras to reflect the scale of Odysseus's journey and also how powerless mortals are next to the gods. Much of the film takes place on a sapphire-blue sea, with a wide horizon and enormous cliffs that dwarf the boat carrying Odysseus and his men. The film is so immersive that we feel like we are in the boat with them.

The massive action scenes are just as immersive – each sword, spear and arrow perfectly choreographed. Those sequences are even more impressive because Nolan relied on practical effects, with a minimum of CGI. The battle of Troy is shown in two episodes, firstly when Odysseus and his men drop out of the horse. In an especially stunning scene near the end, he recalls the battle in all its fury as we see buildings collapse and violence that he calls "fires, anarchy and pain".

Filmed in a real cave, the sequence where the giant Cyclops bites off soldiers' heads, is harrowing. And like all the action scenes, it has a point, demonstrating Odysseus's cleverness in plotting their escape.

3. A star-packed cast

Nolan has stocked the cast with leading actors willing to take smaller parts for him. Next to Odysseus they are all relatively small roles, but delivered with passion. Anne Hathaway is a standout as his wife, Penelope, no patient shrinking violet here. A savvy queen surrounded by suitors vying for the throne, she has irate outbursts about her perilous situation. Her intimate conversation with her husband before he leaves her and their infant son for war is the kind of stirring emotional scene the film could have used more of.

Tom Holland's role as their coming-of-age son, Telemachus, is underwritten. But John Leguizamo is touching as a blind swineherd loyal to Odysseus. Robert Pattinson makes Penelope's main suitor, Antinous, arrogant and wily, and Samantha Morton is chilling as the witch Circe. Zendaya serenely flits in and out as the empathetic goddess Athena. Even the stars who appear for a blip of time get some meaty scenes, like Lupita Nyong'o, beautiful and angry as the devastated Helen of Troy and her murderous sister, Clytemnestra.

4. 'Resonant' storytelling

In Nolan's swirling narrative, flashbacks are spun out of memories and second-hand stories until the nature of history and reality themselves seem uncertain. And after a slightly slow start with some clunky exposition in the dialogue, the pacing never flags and the rest of the three-hour run-time flies by.

And there is, in the end, a resonant moral to the story. Zeus's law, adapted to the modern age as the golden rule to treat others as you'd wish to be treated, is a major theme. Violating the rule comes back to haunt Odysseus, which Nolan uses to make the film relatable. The film pointedly echoes anxieties about the world today as Odysseus looks around him and talks about a civilisation in ruins that must repair itself and remember that heroes should be honest as well as brave.

5. Does it live up to the hype?

Almost. It would be easy to get caught up in the sheer astounding immensity of the spectacle. But it's also true that the action often mutes the emotional impact, which is a bit too little and becomes powerful too late. Oppenheimer, with its singular focus, is still Nolan's most perfectly wrought film. But even with its flaws, The Odyssey is so rich, so full of magic and humanity, that I'm eager to see this epic again.

The Odyssey is released in cinemas worldwide on 17 July.

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The Odyssey is a 'colossal piece of cinema', critics say in rave reviews

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20y0rn9052o, 4 days ago

The Odyssey, the latest film from Oscar-winning director Sir Christopher Nolan, has received rapturous reviews from critics.

The movie, adapted from Homer's epic ancient Greek poem, is the director's first since 2023's Oppenheimer, which won the Academy Award for best picture.

The Telegraph declared The Odyssey the "film of the year", while Metro added that the movie would "change cinema forever".

The Times, meanwhile, described it as "a masterpiece in every way", and the Standard praised the film as a "colossal piece of cinema".

The Odyssey, which will be released in the UK on Friday, stars Matt Damon, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyong'o.

It follows Odysseus (Damon), the Greek king of Ithaca, on his long and perilous journey home from the Trojan War to rescue his wife and son (Hathaway and Holland).

His fantastical journey sees him encounter mythical beings along the way. Meanwhile, the cruel antagonist Antinous (Pattinson) has his eyes fixed on the queen while her husband is still away.

Variety's Guy Lodge said: "A genuinely grand, gutsy vision, The Odyssey thrills generously for the bulk of its near three-hour running time.

"Every few minutes, it seems, it throws at its audience another mighty setpiece that, in almost any other summer studio spectacle, would be a climactic standout."

There was further praise for the "staggering" set pieces from the Standard's Nick Howells, who said The Odyssey was a "far more astonishing experience" than Oppenheimer.

In a five-star review, Metro's Tori Brazier said The Odyssey was "a watershed moment for filmmaking".

"It's somehow both the most Nolan-esque film I've seen, while being nothing like Oppenheimer, Inception or anything he's previously made," she said.

Tom Holland praised for 'newfound maturity'

The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney cautioned that the film was somewhat "uneven", but praised the ensemble cast.

"Damon is superb, going to dark places seldom if ever explored in his previous roles," he said. "Hathaway is a model of steely self-possession masking vulnerability; Pattinson bites into his character's villainy with gusto."

Another critic, Deadline's Gregory Nussen, singled out Spider-Man star Holland.

"His performance certainly seems tinged with the courageous naivety of Spider-Man, insisting on trying to influence those much more cunning and physically capable than he," he wrote.

"Holland may be playing a child, but his performance is bursting with a newfound maturity. It is his strongest one to date."

Although there were hardly any negative reviews, some critics said they had difficulty hearing the film's dialogue in places.

This is frequent complaint with Nolan films because of his tendency to only use audio that was recorded on set, rather than have actors re-record certain lines later.

There was also some scepticism about the dialogue itself, with the Financial Times's Danny Leigh saying the use of certain words "jarred me out of the past".

"Nolan has called using contemporary language 'a no-brainer'. Respectfully, in this case, I would argue it was a brainer," Leigh wrote.

"Maybe it only clangs because the rest of the dialogue doesn't, and even a harsh judge is soon distracted. As Odysseus sets sail for Homer's adventures, Nolan's spectacle slips into gear... he is a very talented action director."

Nolan's other previous films include Interstellar, Dunkirk, Inception, Memento and The Dark Knight trilogy.

"Nolan's stamp is all over the film – this is intellectual, brutalist, muscular Hollywood fare – yet it never wavers in its commitment to, and comprehension of, its source text," said the Independent's Clarisse Loughrey.

"There's not a single decision here that's been thoughtlessly made, nor that I imagine Nolan himself couldn't easily defend."

Amy Nicholson of the LA Times said the film was "epically satisfying", but added that it deviated somewhat from the source material and "skimps on the character's ego and lust".

"Damon's Odysseus is stubborn, overconfident and sacrilegious, but doesn't bear that much resemblance to the conniving, hypocritical egotist of lore who fretted over his wife's fidelity," she noted.

"The chasteness of Nolan's version bugs me as it's insulting he doesn't trust audiences to grapple with this hero's moral complexity - and I'm gut-sick that he's probably right."

The Odyssey was shot entirely on Imax cameras, and had a reported budget of $250m (£185m).

Universal Studios will have high hopes for the film at the box office, after Oppenheimer took $975m (£723m) globally.

However, Oppenheimer enjoyed a huge audience boost from the Barbenheimer phenomenon, the 2023 viral trend that prompted movie fans to buy tickets to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day.

The Odyssey is a film with "thrilling ambition, boldness, seriousness, generosity and flair", wrote the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, awarding five stars

"There are some broad-brush moments in the dialogue, yes, but even these are applied with a muscular flourish," he added.

The Odyssey is "the definition of epic", according to Empire's John Nugent, in another five-star review.

"The scale and scope here is, frankly, jaw-detaching," he said. "It is filmmaking at a magnitude few modern directors could ever realistically imagine, demand, or execute."

Also awarding five stars, the Telegraph's Robbie Collin said: "Nolan and his collaborators have constructed a strange, fearsome and trailblazing machine of a movie – by some distance, the best of the year so far.

"Its creator is known for playing tricks with time, and this may be his grandest yet: turning one of the oldest stories in literature into a vote of confidence in blockbuster cinema's future."

Bruno Mars has an unexpected opening before Wembley party starts

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyv0vvg1pqdo, today

Bruno Mars appeared determined to lift the nation's mood during the first of his six nights at Wembley Stadium.

His last UK performance came in July 2018, shortly after England had been knocked out of the men's World Cup semi-finals. Eight years later, history had repeated itself.

But wearing an England football scarf, Union Jack bucket hat and clutching a Paddington Bear, the showman energised a 75,000-strong, multi-generational crowd.

After nearly a decade away from UK audiences, Mars proved why fans had snapped up tickets in record numbers.

'London, it's time to party'

The show began with a pre-recorded video of Mars praying in a church for a good performance, before he emerged beneath visuals of a stained-glass window in a red suit bejewelled with roses.

It was a suitably theatrical opening to a two-hour, 15-minute set. But for those who had avoided spoilers, Risk It All, a slow R&B ballad from Mars' latest album, The Romantic, was perhaps an unexpected opener.

Any surprise was short-lived. Within minutes, Mars sat behind a pair of bright red congas for Cha Cha, signalling the start of a set that moved between R&B, funk, Latin influences and pop.

It was an early glimpse of what was to come as he declared: "London, it's time to party."

The crowd quickly accepted the invitation. From then on, neither Mars nor his fans stood still.

24K Magic and Treasure prompted one of the night's biggest singalongs. As Mars sang "put your pinky rings up to the moon", thousands of little fingers rose into the air.

The opening run of songs showed why Mars has remained one of pop's most reliable live performers. Rather than relying on one sound, he moved between genres without ever losing the crowd.

Romance has always been at the heart of the singer's music, and it soon became the focus of the show.

"Tonight we sing about love," he told the crowd after Treasure, before introducing the Angel Baby Cam, a segment in which fans' reactions were projected onto the giant screens as he serenaded them.

It was one of several moments that played into his trademark romantic showmanship.

Later, he even emerged wearing a cape emblazoned with the words The Romantic, which appeared to nod to soul legend James Brown.

In the years between his solo releases, Mars has focused on collaborations, most notably Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak, a partnership he has previously described as "natural and organic".

That chemistry was evident as Anderson .Paak joined Mars on stage for a four-song Silk Sonic segment, with the pair delivering tightly choreographed Motown-inspired dance routines and playful banter.

This included their attempts at British accents as they declared the evening to be "absolutely wicked".

Silk Sonic was not the only collaboration to feature. Although Mars has recently enjoyed chart success with Die With a Smile, alongside Lady Gaga, and APT. with Rosé, only the former made the setlist.

Performed during the show's ballad section, Die With a Smile prompted one of the evening's biggest singalongs, suggesting the song has earned its place alongside Mars' more established hits.

Among the crowd were Paul, 58, and his children Alex, 23, and Thomas, 20, who said the eight-year wait had been worth it.

Paul, who jokingly called the singer "Barry Bruno", said the family had grown up listening to his music.

"We've all got little emotional ties to each song," they told BBC News. "It felt right to come together."

For this family, Wembley hosting Mars' only UK dates was not an issue.

"I think this is the most iconic venue," Alex said.

As the show drew to a close, Mars returned to the songs that helped cement his place as one of pop's biggest stars.

For his 2010 hit Just the Way You Are, the singer asked for the stadium lights to be turned up so he could see the crowd, revealing thousands of fans singing every word back to him, before Uptown Funk transformed Wembley into a giant dancefloor complete with fireworks and gold confetti.

The show ended with Dance With Me, a ballad in which Mars yearns for one last slow dance to save a struggling relationship.

Like Risk It All at the start of the evening, it was an unexpected choice to end the concert.

It left the crowd on a reflective note, perhaps hoping they would not have to wait another eight years to see him again.

Bruno Mars setlist - Wembley Stadium, 18 July 2026

* Risk It All

* Cha Cha Cha

* On My Soul

* 24K Magic

* Treasure

* God Was Showing Off

* I Just Might

* Perm

* Why You Wanna Fight?

* Oh Girl/ I Miss You/ You Are Everything/ I Want to Be Your Man/Let's Get It On/Please Me

* That's What I Like

* Something Serious

* Blast Off

* Silk Sonic Intro

* 777

* Fly as Me

* Smokin Out the Window

* Leave the Door Open

* Marry You

* Die With a Smile

* It Will Rain/Talking to the Moon/Grenade/When I Was Your Man

* Versace on the Floor (Instrumental)

* Locked Out of Heaven

* Just the Way You Are

* Uptown Funk

* Dance With Me

Gracie Abrams captures pain of early adulthood in new album - but you're left wanting more

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20y0we8nz1o, yesterday

Knives. So many knives. Gracie Abrams' third album is like a cutlery drawer full of daggers.

They're stuck in her back, waiting to be twisted by a two-faced friend. She's "cut to the bone" by the careless words of a lover. Abrams even has a song called The Knife, where she proclaims she'll live with a blade "in my side", as an act of defiance.

"They're daring me to pull it out / I'll probably keep it for a lifetime."

Her lyrics are equally sharp and penetrating. The album has a broad theme of responsibility, as Abrams accepts blame for her mistakes, without letting others off the hook.

On the stunning ballad Good Reason, she struggles with the idea of a relationship fizzling out, with no major disagreements, just the gut feeling it's not working.

"I'm only half sure that I mean it," she sighs as she calls it off. "If only I had a good reason."

Broke My Heart finds her on the other side of a break-up. "How could I know you and not have a clue?" she pleads. "No difference to you / but you just broke my heart."

The knife, she's realised, cuts both ways.

Abrams' record is called Daughter From Hell, a reference to her rebellious teenage years, and it arrives to a flurry of anticipation.

The 26-year-old has been making introspective, confessional pop since the end of the 2010s, but her career really took off with the release of her debut album, Good Riddance in 2023. That year, she supported Taylor Swift on the Eras tour, and won a Grammy nomination for best new artist.

She earned her first UK number one in 2024 with That's So True, a single from the deluxe edition of her second album, The Secret Of Us. Anticipation for her new work has been building since last year, when she performed two new songs – Death Wish and Cold Goodbyes – on tour.

They hinted at a darker, more gothic aesthetic, with lyrics haunted by ghostly figures and existential crises.

Cold Goodbyes, in particular, is set to the sound of an unsettling synth drone – a world away from the gently-plucked ballads of her earlier work.

Sadly, it's an outlier. The music on Daughter From Hell is largely the same as before: low key, whisper-soft, self-interrogating, floaty and inconsequential.

The pianos are always muted, the drums all sound like they're being played next door, and the orchestra is buried deep in the mix to foreground Abrams' voice.

That's not a consistently bad choice. When Abrams sings about feeling like a burden on the lead single Hit The Wall, for example, her vocals are isolated in a way that emphasises her loneliness and disconnection.

But over the album's 16 tracks, the gossamer production – by indie-folk guru Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran) – is too insubstantial to sustain interest.

Worse still, it's at odds with the serrated edges of Abrams' lyrics.

Take the song Humming, which observes the US through the eyes of someone who's grown up knowing nothing but economic turmoil and the politics of hostility.

"Every kid I grew up with has lost their childhood house," sings Abrams. "And there's no one at the top to believe / What a way to feel in your 20s."

The power of that writing is let down by another plodding arrangement, stripping Abrams' words of their urgency.

When she sings "Let me wake up from this horrible dream", it sounds like she's sleepwalking.

Thankfully, there are a few moments when the album sputters into life.

The title track is anchored by a raw, distorted guitar (think Jesus & Mary Chain or Mazzy Star) as Abrams apologises to her mother for being "hungry and loud", and causing misery during her teens.

It's an unavoidable element of Abrams' biography that she's the daughter of producer/activist Katie McGrath, who co-founded the Time's Up movement in 2018, and the Star Wars filmmaker JJ Abrams.

During publicity for the album, the musician has admitted the atmosphere at home could be stifling.

"Just how it is in any household, I think there's so much going down all the time, you're sometimes fighting to find your own lane," she recently told the New York Times.

"And for me that included a total rejection of being around my family.

"It wasn't the craziest [expletive] you've ever heard, but there was lots of sneaking out. I think I would sometimes put myself in positions that were actually unsafe."

Still, she never really gives away the details of what caused her parents such heartache. The worst thing she admits to on Daughter From Hell is doing "light drugs", which leaves me unconvinced she had the troubled adolescence she keeps hinting at.

She's more candid on Look At My Life – spilling secrets about the music industry and her relationship with fame over a strobing synth line.

"I got what I wanted and it doesn't sit right," she observes, describing parties full of "big shots and barbies" whose empty talk makes her "ears bleed".

Co-produced with Olivia Rodrigo's chief collaborator Dan Nigro, it's one of the few songs with an elevated pulse rate.

The other is Mini Bar, a breathless account of nights out, laced with bad decisions and social anxiety.

That one's a co-write with her best friend, the pop singer Audrey Hobert – which makes you wonder what Abrams could do if she broke away from Dessner's muted production style.

It's frustrating because there are a handful of excellent songs here (Hit The Wall, Look At My Life, Death Wish, Good Reason), and Abrams generally does a superb job of capturing the restless uncertainty and of early adulthood.

If only she could deliver the songs with the conviction of her lyrics, she'd have a classic on her hands.

What she needs is a good knife sharpener.

Andrew Flintoff crash passenger 'suffered PTSD and back injuries', court documents allege

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg7l60e3nlo, yesterday

A racing driver who crashed with Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff said he suffered back injuries and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when the car he was a passenger in rolled over while filming Top Gear in 2022.

Paul Rees made the claim in a newly released document setting out his case against BBC Studios, who he is suing for damages in excess of £100,000.

BBC Studios in its legal response said Rees did not complain of any injuries at the time or after the crash. The company denied it was negligent "as alleged or at all" and said Rees' "faulty instructions" led to the accident.

Flintoff suffered serious facial and rib injuries when the open-topped three-wheeled Morgan Super 3 he was driving rolled over. Rees was offering expert driving advice from the passenger seat.

The incident occurred when Rees was employed, as part of the BBC's Top Gear programme to film a "power test" of the Morgan Super 3 versus the Toyota GR86 at the Dunsfold Airfield in Surrey between 13th and 15th December 2022.

Rees is a racing driver and has experience as a stunt driver for TV shows, but the particulars of his claim said he had never driven a Morgan Super 3 before.

The incident that injured Rees and Flintoff involved an attempt to drift the three-wheeled car around the airfield's "Chicago" bend, the document states.

"At no time no time did the Defendant [BBC Studios] indicate that such manoeuvres would be dangerous. Indeed, a slide or a skid was intended, forming part of the script written by the Defendant," the particulars of the claim said.

"About 50 minutes after starting driving, the employee entered the "Chicago" corner and accelerated whilst turning the steering wheel on leaving it. As he did so, the vehicle turned upside down, causing injury to both the Claimant [Rees] and the employee [Flintoff]", it adds.

Rees's legal case argues that BBC Studios failed to inform the driver and Flintoff not to attempt to drift the car, or the risk of rolling the vehicle, as well as the "soft signs" that this might happen in three-wheeled cars.

In a statement released before Rees's particulars of claim was made public, BBC Studios said: "We dispute this claim and are defending it. As it's now before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further."

In the court documents, Rees has set out the injuries he allegedly suffered as a result of the crash.

Rees said that he "sustained injury to his lumbar spine in the form of an acute exacerbation of lower back pain in an area of pre-existing weakness".

His lawsuit alleged that this impacted upon a ski holiday, as well as his exercise regime as "attempts at strenuous athletic activity would cause significant exacerbations of pain and stiffness".

It is also alleged that Rees suffered psychiatric injury "diagnosed... as a depressive disorder and post traumatic stress disorder".

There were microphones in the car, and BBC Studios said Flintoff expressed concern at one point when the car's front wheel lifted as he took a corner, but was reassured by Rees that it could not roll over.

Approaching the same corner again, Rees told Flintoff to "now turn right... now full power, full power", BBC Studios' defence filings said.

The document claimed that "a front wheel lifted and because on the claimant's instruction the presenter continued to apply power the Morgan turned over".

Cricketer-turned-TV personality Flintoff was one of three co-hosts of the long-running BBC motoring show at the time of the crash.

He has described being dragged face-down underneath the car for about 50 metres. "I thought I was dead," he told a Disney+ documentary last year.

He has also said he did not leave his house for six months after the crash, except for medical appointments. He reached a compensation settlement with the BBC in 2023.

The BBC then "rested" Top Gear. According to reports, the broadcaster has been exploring a return of the show.

A spokesperson for Morgan, which is not a defendant, said the case was a matter for the BBC and declined to comment further.

BBC News has contacted Paul Rees for comment.

Oscar-winning actress Brenda Fricker dies at 81

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0m70zremezo, 2 days ago

Irish actress Brenda Fricker, who won an Oscar for her role in 1989 film My Left Foot and had well-loved parts in Home Alone 2 and TV's Casualty, has died at the age of 81.

Fricker won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 1990 for playing Daniel Day-Lewis's on-screen mother in My Left Foot.

She played nurse Megan Roach in the BBC's Casualty from 1986, making her final appearance in 2010; and was the Central Park pigeon lady in 1992's Home Alone sequel.

In a statement, her agent Phil Belfield said: "We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her."

He added: "I was honoured to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over."

Fricker's former Casualty co-star Derek Thompson, who played long-running character Charlie Fairhead, paid tribute to the actress, telling BBC News: "Truly the best I have ever worked with, and I've worked with a lot of actors".

Cathy Shipton, who played Lisa 'Duffy' Duffin, added that Fricker as "one of the most authentic people I've ever met".

"She lived her life courageously warts and all. I loved her for her wit, her intelligence and her brilliant sense of humour," Shipton told BBC News.

"Life happened when you were around Brenda. We shared a love of dogs - collies and my girl Juno is named after her favourite collie.

"I love her and miss her and am so glad l knew her."

Born in Dublin, Fricker began her acting career with parts and in TV and the theatre, including Ireland's first soap opera Tolka Row in the 1960s, ITV soap Coronation Street in 1977, and Licking Hitler, a Play For Today written by David Hare, in 1978.

She was in the cast of the first episode of long-running BBC medical drama Casualty in 1986, remaining a fixture until 1990 and returning regularly in the subsequent years.

She made history in 1990 when she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award, beating Hollywood stars including Julia Roberts and Anjelica Huston.

My Left Foot told the true story of an Irish man named Christy Brown, played by Day-Lewis, who was born with cerebral palsy and could control only his left foot. The actor also won an Oscar for his starring role.

Another memorable role came two years later when Fricker was cast as the homeless bird lady befriended by Macaulay Culkin's Kevin in Home Alone 2.

Her other film credits included 1993's So I Married An Axe Murderer, 1994's Angels In The Outfield, 1996's A Time To Kill and 2003's Veronica Guerin.

However, she later claimed she would have gone on to have a better career if it hadn't been for her success at the Oscars.

"What did happen was the old curse of the Oscars, as they call it," she told the Times in 2024.

The accolade led to her being typecast and overlooked for a lot of roles, including in theatre, she said.

"So there's a lot that's not great about an Oscar. And you don't get any money. They could give you a few bob with it, at least," she joked.

'Warmth and toughness in the same breath'

Ireland's Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris said he was "deeply saddened" by the death of "a national treasure".

"She was a consummate performer who graced our screens and stages with remarkable talent and authenticity. Brenda brought depth and humanity to every role she undertook," he said.

"She truly was among the greatest exports this country has ever produced and an ambassador for Irish talent on the world stage. Quite simply, we will never see the like of her ever again."

The US ambassador to Ireland, Edward Walsh, paid tribute to Fricker as "a giant of Irish film" and praised her "unforgettable" performance in My Left Foot.

Writing on X, he said: "From Dublin to Hollywood, her work brought Ireland's stories to the world and inspired generations on both sides of the Atlantic.

"She leaves a remarkable legacy, and I extend my deepest condolences to her family, friends, and all who loved her."

Teenage trauma

Fricker told her life story in her memoir last year, revealing an unstable upbringing in which she was beaten by her mother and groomed at the age of eight by a man who gave her elocution lessons and was sexually fixated with her, but who "never touched me".

She spent two years in hospital after a bicycle accident at the age of 14, but was truly left "broken" after being raped at 17 at a party, then raped again later by an English actor.

Despite her traumas, she also had fond memories of that era. "When I was growing up, you could be wild and God bless the wild days."

In that spirit, the path her life took was not calculated, she told The Times. "It's all been luck... happy accidents."

The 1939 president's picnic that led to the US-UK 'special relationship'

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260715-the-1939-presidents-picnic-that-led-to-the-us-uk-special-relationship, 3 days ago

As the Nazis were advancing in Europe, President Roosevelt invited King George VI and his consort for a visit to his country home. It was the first time that a British monarch had set foot on US soil. Over hot dogs and beers, the conversations that took place helped shape the course of history – as a new play explores.

In early 1939, US President Franklin D Roosevelt followed events in Europe with growing dismay. In March, the Nazi army invaded Czechoslovakia, shattering the Munich Agreement brokered a mere six months previously. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's bid for "peace in our time" had come to nothing.

Roosevelt, 57, was certain Britain would soon be forced to stand up militarily to Adolf Hitler, and the US's aid in the armed struggle would be vital. But the president knew, also, that a majority of his fellow citizens were strict isolationists – they wanted nothing to do with another European war.

His solution? Roosevelt – or FDR as he was widely known – invited the young King George VI and his consort Queen Elizabeth to his beloved country home in upstate New York. A reigning British monarch had never before visited the US. The president envisioned a casual, "just folks" occasion to demonstrate to Americans how the royal couple were not grand remote figures, but friendly representatives of a democratic nation that deserved support.

The focal point of the weekend visit was to be an outdoor picnic in the grounds of the Roosevelt estate, at which hot dogs – that decidedly un-regal US summer favourite – would be served. The historic meet-up is the subject of a new play, Springwood, at London's Hampstead Theatre, praised as a "timely tale of a British monarch's mission to the US" by The Guardian. So how did this moment help shape history – and why does it resonate particularly right now?

Playwright Richard Nelson chose as his title the official name of the house in the Hudson Valley village of Hyde Park where the president was born in 1882, and where his elderly mother still resided at the time of the royal visit. Nelson, who lives nearby, previously wrote a screenplay about that long-ago June weekend. It was made into a movie – Hyde Park on the Hudson, starring Bill Murray as the president – released in 2013. The playwright was inspired to return to the material because "today we are in a somewhat similar situation as in 1939, what with the war in Ukraine," Nelson tells the BBC. "Then, as now, there is a large element in the United States which is isolationist."

In his movie script the action was narrated by Daisy Suckley, FDR's distant cousin and close friend. Nelson's new play focuses more tightly on the political – and emotional – stakes for the two couples, royal and presidential.

King George VI, 43, was prone to bashfulness and insecurity. Thrust on to the throne in December 1936 when his older brother abdicated in order to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, he felt ill-prepared for his role. He suffered from a stutter, which made public speaking difficult. And he suspected he came up short in comparison with the former king, known after the abdication as the Duke of Windsor. "Especially in America," Diane Kunz, a historian who has taught at Yale, explains to the BBC, "the Duke of Windsor was considered the superstar royal, a popular modern guy, while his younger brother looked a bit dull and old-fashioned".

Queen Elizabeth, then 38, also worried about US attitudes, Kunz notes. Would people resent her because she was a queen, a role denied to the former Mrs Simpson, now the Duchess of Windsor? Also, she was not particularly chic. Would people believe she properly looked the part?

Eleanor Roosevelt as First Lady, fully embraced her husband's goal, and recognised his methods. Of the royal visit she wrote in her 1949 memoir This I Remember: "My husband always loved taking people he liked home with him. I think he felt he knew them better once they had been at Hyde Park."

But Eleanor was not the official hostess for the weekend – that role belonged to her imperious mother-in-law Sara Roosevelt, 84, and as so often in her life, the first lady had to bow to the older woman's wishes.

A cheerful kickoff

The president, however, did buck the house rules on occasion. According to Sarah Bradford's 1989 biography of the king, when the royal couple arrived at Hyde Park after a sweaty 90-mile drive from New York City, FDR had a tray of cocktails waiting. "My mother thinks you should have a cup of tea; she doesn't approve of cocktails," the president told the king.

The monarch replied, reaching for a drink, "Neither does my mother ". It was a cheerful kickoff to what turned out to be a remarkably convivial and productive weekend – just as FDR had envisioned.

After dinner the king and the president (with Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King also in attendance) talked over the international situation, and FDR's ideas for helping Britain without violating US neutrality laws. In Springwood Nelson also imagines a second private conversation between the two men discussing their physical challenges: the king had his stutter while FDR could no longer walk after a bout with polio when he was 39 years old.

The scene is a touching and dramatic way to convey the immediate ease and pleasure the king experienced in the president's company. He had never before had a chance to talk politics with a world leader, and found FDR "so easy to get to know and never makes one feel shy," as he later wrote. He took careful notes of the president's thoughts and ideas, and carried those notes with him for the duration of the war.

'Self-consciously regal'

Meanwhile the first lady enjoyed the queen's company, recalling later in her memoir This I Remember, "She was perfect… gracious, informed, saying the right thing, and kind." But the queen, mother of Queen Elizabeth II and grandmother of King Charles, did strike Eleanor "as a little self-consciously regal".

The picnic took place the next day, 11 June, after the Roosevelts and the royals attended Sunday service at St James Church, Hyde Park. According to Sally Beddell Smith's book George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage that Shaped the Monarchy, Roosevelt drove the king and queen to Top Cottage, his hideaway three miles from the main house, in his car, specially equipped with hand controls, and the whole party – Roosevelt farm servants and a few neighbours were included – ate outside the cottage under the high trees.

The king removed his tie, chomped down on his hot dogs, drank beer, filmed some home movies, and afterwards, according to The New York Times "clinched the informality of the outing by going swimming with the president in the spring-fed tile pool". The queen, unlike her husband, resorted to a knife and fork to eat her hot dog. And she didn't swim, relaxing instead in the shade.

The royal couple departed that evening, heading for Canada and a boat home. The first lady recalled in her memoir an "incredibly moving" scene. As the king and queen stood on the rear platform of their train, in the twilight, people in the crowd at Hyde Park station began singing Auld Lang Syne – the Scottish folk ballad about long friendships. The president called out: "Good luck! All the luck in the world!"

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For their part, the royals were delighted with the visit. "The king and queen, having been quite nervous, left Hyde Park with the gratifying feeling that they conquered enemy territory and were imposters no longer," Kunz tells the BBC. "And the visit boosted the king's confidence in himself and his ability to do the job". This last proved vital once Germany invaded Poland and war was declared.

"My play is about aspiration," Nelson says of Springwood. "Roosevelt was an American president who understood his responsibility to protect the safety and humanity of the world… It's good to remember that there have been presidents like that."

President Roosevelt's one disappointment in the aftermath of the occasion was that although Americans now felt fondly towards the royals, he still faced an uphill battle on Capitol Hill trying to get direct aid for the British. Congress dragged its feet, agreeing to the Land-Lease Act only after two years in March 1941. It took the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that December for the full might of the United States to be lined up on the side of the Allies.

There's no doubt, though, that the visit was a watershed moment in US-UK relations. It was a soft-power triumph that laid the foundations for the "special relationship", and – despite a cultural difference or two – a feeling of mutual respect between the two countries.

Springwood is at the Hampstead Theatre, London until 25 July.

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What the Middle Ages can teach us about preventing burnout

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260713-what-the-middle-ages-can-teach-us-about-burnout, 5 days ago

Stress and mental exhaustion aren't new – in medieval times, they were prevalent. And the wisdom of the Middle Ages about how to deal with burnout still rings surprisingly true today.

The symptoms, John Cassian noted, were always the same. Weariness and hopelessness, a longing to be anywhere but work, and brain fog – "a kind of unreasonable confusion of mind" that left his colleagues feeling idle and useless and longing for the "solace of sleep".

If you've ever suffered burnout, exhaustion or depression, you might be familiar with at least some of these feelings, and you may assume that these afflictions are unique to the pressures of the 21st Century. But Cassian was writing in the 5th Century AD, and his intended audience were not modern-day executives, but early Christians who had become exhausted by their spiritual labours.

Could such accounts shine a light on our modern malaise, and even suggest a cure? That's the argument of historian Peter Jones's new book, Self-Help from the Middle Ages: A Journey into the Medieval Mind, which offers a fascinating glimpse into the ways that "therapist priests" – Jones's term – would guide their flocks out of spiritual anguish.

His research reveals just how common feelings of exhaustion have been throughout history – a recognition that may itself provide comfort for any of us facing a dark night of the soul. "There's so much wisdom in the Middle Ages," Jones says. We've already seen a proliferation of "lifestyle philosophy" books mining the works of the ancient Stoics, after all – maybe it's high time to take a leaf out of some medieval manuscripts.

Lost in Siberia

Jones was inspired to write the book after his own crisis – the "coldest winter of my life". For reasons that he still finds hard to fathom, he had accepted a role as Chair of History at the University of Tyumen in Siberia. The temperatures were so low that he lost all feeling in his legs after spending just 20 minutes outside. He was struggling with the language and desperately missing his family in Dublin. "I was supposed to be researching and planning my lessons, to be getting on with my life," he writes. "But I couldn't bring myself to do anything at all."

As he started formulating a new course on the Seven Deadly Sins, however, he started reading echoes of his own unhappiness in the medieval accounts that he was studying."You see that they went through exactly the same things that we do," he says. "The feelings have always been the same, and people have had the same crises."

The Deadly Sins, Jones explains, do not appear in the Bible but were formulated by early Christian thinkers such as Cassian. They were then refined by Pope Gregory the Great, who – as Jones writes in his book – "thought they would be the perfect tool for mapping out the troubles of the mind". This framework "ordering and processing all thoughts" comprised: Pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony and lust.

By the 13th Century, a series of popular manuals had emerged to guide the priest therapists in the best ways to help their parishioners overcome those issues during confession. "When you look at the materials, the picture looks a lot like therapy," Jones says. Rather than admonishing the congregation, "they encourage a conversation that's quite probing and nuanced – it gets under the skin."

Acedia – an absence of love, a vacuum of the spirit

Sloth offered the best match for Jones’s feelings in Siberia. Today, we might associate the word with wilful indolence or laziness, but medieval writers recognised the emotional void at the heart of the affliction. Known at the time as acedia, it encompassed "an absence of love, a paralysis of care, a vacuum of the spirit" Jones writes. "It's when all the things that used to light up your day now leave you cold and indifferent."

Jones reports finding great resonance in one 13th-Century text, known as MS 306 in Trinity College, Dublin. The author describes acedia as "standing in the middle of a rushing river, facing a current that froths and beats at my legs, but without the energy to move forward" – feelings of inertia that were all too familiar during his winter in Siberia.

Meanwhile the writings of the "Archpoet" – an anonymous author from 12th-Century Germany – detail the enormous frustrations of his job as a bureaucrat, with complaints that could resonate with any modern executive. "His poems were about working non-stop in a futile job that he feels is petty and pointless – giving everything while burning the candle at both ends."

Jones is by no means the only historian to find these parallels between medieval and modern ailments. In her book Exhausted, cultural historian (and executive coach) Anna Katharina Schaffner draws a direct connection between the acedia described by medieval Christians, and modern-day burnout – the symptoms of which included the tendency to comfort eat and pursue mindless distractions in place of meaningful work.

"It's a classic vicious circle: the acedic become ever less able to meditate and to contemplate things of a spiritual nature, while their ill-chosen strategies for restoring their energy aggravate their condition further," she writes. "In that sense, they are just like us – weary 21st-Century burnouts who engage in a host of similarly unproductive displacement activities."

Thorny fields and strong mountains

So what were the solutions? The author of MS 306 offers an elliptical biblical allusion. "Whether you like it or not, the Jebusites live within your borders," he wrote. "You can subjugate them, but you cannot exterminate them." The Jebusites, Jones explains, were an ancient tribe that had once invaded Jerusalem and were impossible to expel. In this way, the author is advising someone with acedia to learn to live with their feelings, without fighting them.

William Peraldus's Treatise on the Virtues and Vices take a similar tack. "He told us to remember that the field that grows over with thorns will one day bear fruit." To reorient our thinking, Peraldus suggests finding a "strong mountain" – some kind of higher purpose that will see you through the tough times. "You need the support and strength of somebody that you love or something that you love to get you through," explains Jones. "If you have faith in the things you love, eventually they'll come back to you. "

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Jones worries that, in conversation, without the gravitas of the original sources, "these things can sound trite", but his summaries are eerily reminiscent of today's treatments for burnout and other emotional issues. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, for instance, encourages us to acknowledge our emotions without trying to change them. Besides learning to sit with those emotions, we are advised to identify our personal values and take meaningful steps to living by them. Add in a few medieval metaphors of thorny fields and strong mountains, and you have something very close to Peraldus's prescription from 800 years ago.

Perhaps most importantly, these medieval thinkers remind us of the power of self-forgiveness – another recurring theme in modern psychotherapy.

Jones points to the 12th-Century writing of Bernard of Clairvaux – one of the co-founders of the Knights Templar. "He compared living a good life to running over a rough terrain, and says that anyone who runs for a long enough distance is going to fall down or stumble," explains Jones. "We will all have our moments of complete directionlessness."

There is great consolation, he says, in simply recognising that you are not alone in your suffering; whatever your affliction, people will have been feeling this way for thousands of years. "It's comforting to feel the company of people in history," he says.

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 (US & Canada) in June 2024. He is @davidarobson on Instagram and Threads and writes the 60-Second Psychology newsletter on Substack.

Self-Help from the Middle Ages: A Journey into the Medieval Mind by Peter Jones is out now.

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'At risk of horrific contamination': The Soviet nuclear submarine wreck that is a 'ticking time bomb'

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260709-the-nuclear-submarine-wreck-that-is-a-time-bomb, 6 days ago

In 1989, the Komsomolets sank off the Norwegian coast. Four years later, the BBC reported on plans to seal in its torpedoes' toxic plutonium.

"Komsomolets is a time bomb ticking away at the bottom of the Norwegian Sea.

"And unless something is done about it, and done about it quickly, we're all in danger." This is how the risk posed by a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine was described by Russian Greenpeace activist Dimitri Litvinov in a 1993 BBC news report.

Resting one mile (1.6km) deep in the sea near the coast of Norway after a fire caused it to sink four years earlier, the Komsomolets had prompted international concern. Two nuclear-tipped torpedoes inside were corroding, risking the release of 9lb (4kg) of plutonium into the Norwegian Sea.

State-of-the-art Soviet technology went into the design of the Komsomolets, which was unique for the depths it could reach. It was expected by Nato to be the first in a class of large attack submarines, but no further vessels of its kind were built. According to a 1994 BBC Horizon documentary, "The Komsomolets was to be the Soviet Union's secret invincible weapon, the only submarine in the world able to cruise and launch nuclear missiles from 1,000m [0.62 miles] deep, twice the depth at which Western submarines can operate. Today, the Komsomolets is a technical and scientific disaster."

When the fire broke out on 7 April 1989, the crew managed to bring the submarine up to the surface – but it sank after five hours afloat, killing 42 of the 69 crew members. As it went down, an escape pod shot five trapped seamen to the surface, with just one man able to climb out before it filled with water.

As the Komsomolets hit the bottom, near the Norwegian coast, an explosion ripped open the submarine's titanium pressure hull and brought seawater into contact with the nuclear torpedoes. A research mission by Russian oceanographers found that parts of the submarine's hull had "burst and crumbled from the explosion, like glass".

After the disaster, scientists were divided over what to do. Russian scientist Igor Spassky of the Rubin Institute, which designed the Komsomolets, told the BBC's Ben Brown in 1993 that it was not a catastrophic situation – although he did want the submarine to be raised out of the sea. "Within a decade, the two nuclear warheads on the ship will be fully corroded by an electrochemical reaction involving salt water… and the highly toxic plutonium will escape from the damaged torpedoes and into the environment," he told the US Naval Institute.

"According to environmentalists," said Brown in his BBC report, "if that happens, the sailors who died here would not be the only victims of the Komsomolets. The lives of many more people, they say, would be at risk, because the rich fishing grounds here would then be subject to horrific contamination." Yet a report released in 1993 by an international team of scientists concluded that the submarine was unlikely to contaminate fisheries.

Despite conflicting views on the dangers posed, efforts were made to mitigate potential contamination. Deep-sea engineering operations between 1995 and 1996 sealed hull fractures and torpedo tubes to contain radioactive material. The work finished 30 years ago, in July 1996. But investigations by the Norwegian government have since revealed that the submarine is still leaking – and the sealant was only expected to last 30 years.

An indefinite potential hazard

A report published in March 2026 found that while the torpedoes remain sealed, the reactor is degrading, periodically releasing visible plumes of radioactive material into the sea. The team from the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) said that the leak is not constant but occurs in sporadic bursts from specific locations along the hull, with a "cloud" seeping out of a ventilation duct.

They don't believe the current levels are harmful, however. "Radioactive releases from the reactor… have had little impact on the surrounding marine environment," says Ingar Amundsen, acting director of the DSA's Department for International Nuclear Safety and Security.

Yet that could change – with both the submarine's nuclear reactor and nuclear-armed torpedoes posing threats, according to Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. Corrosion of the submarine over time could impact current radiation levels, he tells the BBC. "That depends on other factors such as the oxygen level of the seawater around and inside the submarine wreckage, and the condition of the sealant."

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He also points to changing currents as a factor influencing how quickly radioactive materials might be released from the wreckage and potentially enter the food chain via bottom feeders and fish. "The fact that the submarine has already been sealed once is an official acknowledgement of that risk," Kristensen adds.

"Nuclear fuel is in direct contact with seawater and deteriorating," says Amundsen. "Further work should be carried out to understand the mechanisms behind the releases, the corrosion processes taking place, and their implications for further releases." But that isn't going to happen any time soon. "The depth of the submarine, close to 1,700m, makes it difficult to implement any mitigation actions, and we are not aware of any such plans for the moment."

Kristensen argues that more should be done. "At the minimum, a new expedition should be carried out to determine the current condition. With a half-life of 24,000 years, warhead plutonium will remain a potential hazard indefinitely by human standards."

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'A story of sex, strategy and power': How women shape the plot of Homer's Odyssey

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260708-how-women-shape-the-plot-of-homers-odyssey, 10 days ago

The epic 2,800-year-old poem – now adapted for the big screen – is so much more than a straightforward tale of heroism. The protagonist Odysseus is a heroic male – but the story is shaped by the stratagems, subterfuge and seductions of the women, nymphs, sorceresses and goddesses he meets along the way. It's what makes him seem so human.

The epic poem The Odyssey tells of the mythical Greek soldier Odysseus's quest to return to his kingdom of Ithaca after years of fighting in the Trojan War. His perilous, decade-long voyage home is full of gruelling challenges and hazards – which this month play out on the big screen in Christopher Nolan's adaptation, starring Matt Damon among many other stars.

The protagonist may be male, but The Odyssey is a story in which women predominate. Our hero's quest to return to and regain his kingdom is shaped at every turn by the stratagems and seductions of the women, nymphs and goddesses he meets along the way. The Odyssey is not a straightforward tale of heroism, but a story of sex, strategy and power that still resonates today.

The poem begins in medias res – in the middle of things – with Odysseus weeping on the coastline of Ogygia, where he has been living with the nymph Calypso for the past seven years. For all that he proved himself a hero on the Trojan battlefield, he now looks utterly powerless, an impression that is reinforced by the fact that it takes a council of the gods to secure his release from the island.

But Odysseus is not a prisoner of Calypso so much as of himself. The modern reader might reasonably diagnose his inertia – his inability to press on and fulfil his homecoming – as a symptom of PTSD. Which is not to diminish the hold that Calypso has on him. As Odysseus readily admits to the nymph, his wife Penelope cannot compare to her in beauty, for she is a mere mortal.

Odysseus's wife Penelope has been far from passive during her husband's long absence. She has valiantly and cleverly resisted the advances of 108 suitors who have descended upon the palace in their eagerness to marry her and become the new king of Ithaca. Penelope's weaving of a funeral shroud for her father-in-law Laertes – and her unpicking of the tapestry by night – is one of the most memorable episodes in the poem. She is, so to speak, a moving target, whose success in warding off the suitors will have a direct bearing upon Odysseus's ability to reclaim his kingship.

It is significant that Odysseus's chief supporter among the divinities is a goddess. The strategic Athena aided him at Troy and took the initiative in urging his homecoming. Then when he washes up in a vulnerable state on the Phaeacians' land, she cleverly orchestrates his rescue, masks his vulnerability and enhances his appearance so that he appears god-like and worthy of their legendary hospitality. This helps him to win over the seafaring Phaeacians, who then provide him with shelter, treasure and a safe passage home to Ithaca.

Tellingly, in most instances in which she appears to Odysseus and his son Telemachus, Athena disguises herself as a man. She poses, for example, as Mentes, a king friendly to Ithaca, and as a male herald of the Phaeacians. Athena knows only too well that it is men who hold power on earth, but women who shape events through subterfuge.

One need only consider the characters Odysseus meets along the way. Having landed among the Phaeacians, he narrates his own encounters so far – from the Lotus Eaters to the Cyclops – to his royal hosts. Odysseus's tales of mythical women often prove the most eerie owing to the non-threatening nature of their appearance.

Sweet facades

Odysseus readily admits to his hosts, for example, that he has been eager to hear the song of the Sirens, who inhabit an isolated, perilously rocky island in the western sea. In later tradition and Greek art, the Sirens would be represented as bird-like women or mermaids, but Odysseus focuses on describing their honey-sweet song, which has the power to seduce men to their deaths.

In front of the Sirens sprawls a meadow containing the bones of the many men who had paused to hear their song in the past. Odysseus is prepared to take the risk: he has his men tie him to the mast of his ship so that he could not jump overboard in pursuit of the haunting music. As beautiful as they sound, the Sirens are deadly.

Circe was another dangerous beauty. Few who first met her would consider her threatening, but like the Sirens, her sweet facade concealed magical powers. Homer cast her as a sorceress: she had herbs and potions with which to transform Odysseus's companions into pigs.

Like so many of the strange beings Odysseus encounters on his travels, however, Circe is there to help as well as hinder. Although she makes a lover of him, she also enables his descent to the Underworld, where he meets with the prophet Tiresias, who has advice to impart for his homecoming to Ithaca.

The enduring message is that the female monsters and seductive nymphs cannot simply be ignored. In order to prevail, Odysseus must surrender to them to a certain point – but not too far. The people he meets repeatedly test his resolve and ability to achieve moderation, a quality much aspired to by the ancient Greeks.

Readers who cast a sceptical eye on his adventures and suspect them of being pure invention – stories he made up to win over the Phaeacians in the hope that they would agree to sail him home – will be the first to embrace such an allegorical reading. Odysseus was not, perhaps, battling physical monsters so much as his own inner demons, many of which prove far more insidious than they look.

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The slipperiness of Odysseus's stories – their magnificence and colour and ability to stretch the bounds of credulity – is a large part of the magic of the poem. It is also what defines Odysseus as a hero. He is, as Emily Wilson puts it in her translation, "a complicated man". Slippery and complicated because he is a master of deception, he changes his story and identity as it suits him.

Clever, imaginative, flawed, Odysseus is, ultimately, the most human hero of the ancient Greek world. His susceptibility to the seductions of women – and of majestic worlds such as that of the Phaeacians – is both his power and his undoing. Little wonder he still speaks to us today.

Daisy Dunn is an award-winning classicist and author whose books include The Missing Thread, and the Ladybird Expert Book on Homer.

The Odyssey is released on 17 July in US and UK cinemas.

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'I never had the feeling that I was flush in cash': How J Paul Getty became the world's richest man

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260703-how-j-paul-getty-became-the-worlds-richest-man, 13 days ago

The US oil billionaire's 16th-Century English mansion was home to a stunning art collection and a lion named Nero. In 1963, the BBC visited him there to discuss his "great success".

In July 1960, J Paul Getty hosted a £10,000 (£300,000 or $400,000 today) house-warming party at Sutton Place, the 16th-Century Tudor mansion in Surrey he'd bought a year earlier. More than 2,000 socialites, aristocrats and celebrities attended, and the event made headlines when a pushy press photographer was thrown into the swimming pool.

Afraid of flying or travelling by ocean liner, the US oil tycoon was to live there until his death in 1976 at the age of 83, installing coin-operated payphones for his house guests to prevent them from running up high long-distance bills. In 1963, the BBC's Alan Whicker interviewed Getty, who was famously elusive, in the manor house that had been Henry VIII's summer residence.

The archive footage reveals the billionaire's inner sanctum inside a heavily fortified mansion, as he roams past Old Masters and eats at a 16ft-long dining table, accompanied only by his Alsatian guard dog. And it was from that rambling British country house, rather than a skyscraper in Manhattan or a potentate's palace in the Middle East, that Getty managed his vast oil business empire in his final years.

Getty entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world's richest man in 1966: he'd made his first million at the age of 24, when a field he owned in Oklahoma struck oil. By the time of his death, his fortune was estimated at around $4bn ($23.5bn or £17.5bn today), and he earned more each day than the average man earned in a lifetime. One of the tycoon's maxims for success was "Rise early, work hard, and strike oil". In a series of articles for Playboy magazine that were later published as a book called How to Get Rich, Getty expounded on "the importance of having an independent view on things, not being influenced by what everybody else says".

Yet reflecting on his wealth in 1963, he was unable to determine exactly what had made him his billions. "The difference between a successful businessman and one possibly not so successful is that maybe 37 different qualities are required for a great success, and [if] a man has 35 of those qualities, he makes a more modest success. But just what those two missing qualities might be, I don't know."

When asked by Whicker why he'd succeeded when others had failed, he replied: "I really don't know of any quality I have that many others don't have." Naming elements that he shared with others, including work ethic, intelligence and imagination, he added self-deprecatingly: "I always wish that I had a better personality, that I could entertain people better, was a better conversationalist. I always worried I might be a little on the dull side as a companion."

Despite his reluctance to single out a key to success, he did credit his father as a crucial component. "It happened because my father had built up a very substantial business, a flourishing business. I was the only child, and I had to carry on the business."

Turning a manor house into a fortress

Getty's father had started from poverty, but in 1903 bought the lease to 1,100 acres of Oklahoma Indian Territory for $5,000 ($190,000 or £140,000 today) and struck oil. When he died in 1930 at the age of 74, he was worth $10m ($200m or £150m today). A Methodist and a more religious man than his only son, he left Getty only $500,000 ($10m or £7.5m today), displeased that he'd already been married and divorced.

During his five short-lived marriages, Getty had five sons, who went on to father 19 children. One of those grandchildren, John Paul Getty III, was kidnapped in Italy in 1973. Asked to pay a $16m ($120m or £90m today) ransom, his grandfather refused, saying, "I have 14 other grandchildren and if I pay one penny now, then I'll have 14 kidnapped grandchildren." Getty's 16-year-old grandson was held for five months and his captors cut off his ear, sending it to a newspaper. A ransom of $2.8m ($21m or £16m today) was eventually paid, but Getty's contribution wasn't disclosed.

The billionaire discussed his miserliness in 1963, including waiting outside a dog show for the entry fee to come down by two or three shillings, and eating late in restaurants to avoid paying the supplement for the orchestra. "I never had the feeling that I was flush in cash," he told Whicker. "If I ever sold out… then I might have some money."

Getty did surround himself with emblems of wealth, though – the Old Masters at his 72-room Sutton Place included paintings by Veronese, Gainsborough, Renoir, Rembrandt and Rubens. His collection of more than 600 items was also housed at his ranch home in Malibu, which was opened to the public in 1954 as the J Paul Getty Museum.

And he felt sufficiently at risk to fortify his Tudor mansion after buying it in 1959, following years of running his business from hotel suites in London and Paris. Every room, including each of the 14 bathrooms, was wired up to an elaborate security system, and windows and doors barred. "No Trespass" signs were put up across the 700-acre, two-swimming-pool estate, which also featured 30 cottages and lodges, tennis courts and a trout stream.

Getty was evasive on exactly what it was that he feared, telling Whicker: "I wouldn't say that I'm frightened of anything in particular. Just, I suppose, a necessary precaution." When pressed, he explained that there could be "crackpots… dynamiting the place", adding, "I have the police dogs mainly because I like them."

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His grandson John Paul Getty III discussed those fears in a 1974 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, shortly after the kidnapping. "A lot of things scare him. That's why he stays in his castle all the time dressed up in his three-piece suits and stuffed shirts. He's got attack dogs patrolling his grounds and a pet lion named Nero stomping around and bodyguards and aides. The fences around the castle are electric with barbed wire on top of them."

Can money buy you happiness?

Apart from his entourage, the reclusive billionaire was a solitary man. Yet, he said in 1963, "I wouldn't say that I've ever felt particularly lonely. I've been too busy to feel lonely… like the squirrel in the cage. You race to stay where you are." He was not a particularly upbeat person, however, arguing that "large financial responsibilities are not any key to cheerfulness".

Told by Whicker that he often looked so miserable that people must believe his money had not brought him happiness, he replied: "Well, I suppose that's the effect of responsibility. I think that ever since my father died, and left me the responsibility of the business, that I haven't had quite the buoyant feeling that I had before."

On the burden of wealth, he explained: "I think some of the best times I ever had didn't cost me any money… down at the beach, on the surfboard, waiting for a big breaker to come in, ride it into shore, not spending any money there. The breakers are free. The sunshine is free."

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Mural exchange helps make 'meaningful' connections

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgmk74xgdxxo, today

Artists from Jersey, Antigua and Barbuda have been working on murals reflecting their "different island heritages" in an international collaboration.

They are set to start work on a new mural at Elizabeth Marina in St Helier between Monday 20 and Thursday 23 July before they work together in Antigua in October.

The project's theme is Safe Haven Across the Sea and three graduate Jersey artists and three students from Antigua State College are due to create murals inspired by the connections between their island communities.

ArtHouse Jersey's head of programming James Tyson said it "allows reflection on our different island heritages as well as how we shape their futures".

Jersey artists painter Max Corbett, artist and illustrator Aimée Cast, and filmmaker Toby Norman will work with Joyce Murray-Watkins, Trinity Hughes and Tse Pigott from Antigua and Barbuda.

The exchange is a partnership with the governments of Jersey and Antigua and Barbuda, the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority and ArtHouse Jersey.

Tyson said: "This wonderful exchange is the continuation of a growing friendship between Antigua and Barbuda and Jersey that has provided opportunities for people from both islands, whether in music, sport or art to meet together and to celebrate our respective cultures."

Mark Brown, who is the head of the department of fine arts and creative studies, at Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies, said the collaboration "offers our students an exceptional opportunity to engage with fellow young artists, broaden their creative perspectives, and build meaningful international connections".

There will be community workshops as part of the exchange so islanders can meet the artists and look at the themes inspiring them.

The second mural in Antigua will be created ready for the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and Antigua Art Week in November.

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Neglected subway transformed by colourful art

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gdlmr9e2go, today

A well-known anonymous street artist has joined forces with school children to transform a neglected subway.

Binty Bint worked with year 10 students from Parker E-ACT Academy, to create the colourful community art space in the Ashby Road underpass in Daventry, Northamptonshire.

Before the project began, offenders from the county's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner's Immediate Justice programme cut back overgrown vegetation, cleared debris and prepared the walls with a lick of white paint.

The aim is to build community pride and to stop anti-social behaviour, West Northamptonshire Council said.

The project was a joint initiative between the authority and Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone.

The students, supported by their teacher Donna Thacker, created individual pieces on the theme of artworks displayed in a gallery.

Binty then contributed her own designs and shared professional guidance and artistic techniques throughout the project.

The subway was first painted about 30 years ago and had "significantly deteriorated", the council said.

It was now a "bright, welcoming environment that showcases local creativity", it added.

Reform UK councillor Nigel Stansfield, cabinet member for environment, recycling and waste, said: "This project is about much more than creating a mural.

"It's about bringing partners together, engaging young people in a positive activity and creating a space that the whole community can be proud of.

"When young people help design and create public artwork, they develop a sense of ownership over that space.

"In turn, people are more likely to respect it and look after it."

Labour's Stone said: "Together as partners, a space that everyone can enjoy has been created that I hope will discourage further anti-social behaviour in the future."

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Hospice marks 35th anniversary with exhibition

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyxnz7x830o, yesterday

A charity is marking 35 years of providing specialist hospice care for people with life-limiting illnesses, through an art installation.

Les Bourgs Hospice was founded in 1991 and the photographic exhibition in the Brian White Gallery at Guernsey Museum, Candie, celebrates the people and community behind it.

The States of Guernsey said the gallery consisted of a series of about 70 portraits which captured "the people whose dedication, compassion and commitment" helped shape what the hospice is about.

Photographer Aaron Yeandle said it was a "fantastic opportunity to promote Le Bourgs" and was a "really powerful and emotional exhibition and project to participate in".

Called 'Here for Life: 35 Years of Les Bourgs Hospice', the exhibition runs from Saturday until 27 September.

The States said it tells a "deeply human story of care, compassion and community, through powerful photography and personal moments".

It said the gallery "honours the volunteers, staff, supporters and people who helped establish the hospice, as well as those who continue to support its vital work".

Yeandle said his "camera is like a key into people's lives and communities".

"I would never get a chance to meet any of these people or learn about their stories," he said.

Rob Jones, CEO of Les Bourgs said it was "very emotional... as the way the portraits have been presented are very real".

He said: "It's very powerful, it's about all the people over the 35 years who have got us here now.

"This exhibition has reminded me how Le Bourgs is part of the fabric of community of Guernsey, and as its part of Guernsey it will always continue."

Helen Glencross from Guernsey Museum said it was the "most amazing exhibition" with so many stories included.

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Mural of mayor who fed stray cats is unveiled

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c992e8xpep4o, yesterday

A mural celebrating an early proponent of animal rights has been unveiled.

Gloucester mayor Ralph Fletcher, who lived between 1780 and 1851, is depicted feeding stray cats, having left money in his will to feed them.

Fletcher is known for writing one of the first texts arguing against animal cruelty. The mural, by an artist known as Murmur, can be seen on the corner of Wellington Street and Arthur Street in Gloucester.

"Nobody I have spoken to has heard of Ralph – and I think it's important to celebrate this forgotten and kind man," Murmur said.

Fletcher's 1846 text A Few Notes on Cruelty to Animals included a proposal for the creation of animal hospitals, and arguments to strengthen penalties for animal abusers.

He was also known to hand out shillings to coachmen whose horses were well taken care of.

"The animals of Gloucester owe a big thank you to Ralph," Murmur said. "Some of them may even be descendants of the animals he supported."

As part of her research, Murmur found papers showing that Fletcher also worked as a doctor at Gloucester Infirmary.

She said it wasn't easy to decide how to depict him.

"There are no photos or drawings of Ralph that I could find," Murmur said.

"I did lots of research into what he might have worn – I like to think he would have rejected the idea of wearing any furs anyway as an animal lover.

"Several people have said my image of him is giving Peaky Blinders energy, which makes me laugh. Maybe he was a bit of a bad ass as well as being kind."

Murmur's work was supported by the charity Voices Gloucester and Gloucestershire Heritage Hub.

The artist is now creating a second mural to honour Fletcher, a short walk away at The Cross in the city centre.

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Brassed Off musical instruments find way to Africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gk5l2g925o, yesterday

Musical instruments used in a theatre production of the classic 1996 film Brassed Off have been donated to children in Cape Verde and Kenya.

The instruments, mainly cornets and trombones, were sourced from local restorer Dave Walker, who runs All Brass and Woodwind in Leeds when Leeds Playhouse staged their adaptation of the film.

The deliveries have been facilitated by Chris Backhouse, founder of a charity that donates old, unused instruments to communities in Cape Verde.

Backhouse said: "I've been a musician for over 50 years, I've had a great life in music. I just think all kids should have access to music."

Before starting his own charity, Backhouse said he paid a visit to Walker who told him of the charity he had set up in Kenya 10 years ago, delivering instruments to communities there.

Walker now helps Backhouse with instruments he wants donating.

"I thought that's a great idea. Maybe I could do the same in Cape Verde.

"I have a deep love for the island, I knew they were more desperate than anybody else I knew," he said.

Backhouse said since starting the charity last year, he has supplied instruments to nine different teachers on five of the Cape Verdean islands, which sit around 350 miles (570km) from the western tip of Africa.

"They just can't get hold of instruments over there, even if they had the money to buy them. There are no music shops. They can't buy anything from the internet."

Backhouse said being able to donate instruments from the stage adaptation of Brassed Off was a great opportunity, but admitted at times it was "not as easy" as he first thought.

Walker was approached by the production team of Brassed Off, who needed a few props for the play.

"I thought I'd just lend them as these instruments were allocated to go off to charity so it would actually give them a third life," he said.

Now the curtain has set on Brassed Off at Leeds Playhouse, those instruments will be shipped almost 6,825 miles (11,000km) to Kenya and 2,811 miles (4,524km) to Cape Verde.

Brassed Off tells the story of the Grimethorpe-inspired Grimley Colliery brass band as it struggles to survive against the backdrop of pit closures in South Yorkshire.

The 1996 Bafta-nominated film starred Ewan McGregor, Pete Postlethwaite and Tara Fitzgerald, with the stage version marking the film's 30th anniversary.

For Walker, being able to give the joys of music to those in need is a special feeling.

"It's so good for mental health. These kids don't have anything and they don't have any value in life," he said.

Walker added that he feels immense pride in seeing how the lives of those who have been given donated instruments in Kenya have turned around.

He said children who had been on the streets are now part of school bands and play their instruments every day.

"They actually feel valued in life. For me, I just want to help as many people as I can."

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Signed Hockney print found in a book sells for £41K

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62v5dz5zj8o, yesterday

A signed print by the British artist David Hockney has sold for more than £41,000 after being found in a book donated to a charity shop.

The print was discovered inside a 1980 copy of Hockney's Paper Pools, which had been donated over the counter to the Salvation Army shop in Lower Goat Lane, Norwich, a year ago.

When a volunteer decided to thumb through it recently, she discovered the original print depicting a swimming pool, signed by the artist, who died last month aged 88.

The book and print were auctioned on the charity's eBay site and an anonymous, but "delighted", bidder paid £41,160.

Long-serving Salvation Army volunteer and local artist Jemma Banks, who found the print, said: "It was a privilege to hold a genuine signed David Hockney print in my hands, and I was amazed that it had remained safely inside the book for 46 years, looking as fresh as the day it came off the lithographic press.

"As a local artist, I recognised that the book might be something special, but I never imagined just how significant it would turn out to be. I'm delighted that something hidden away for so long will now help raise money for people in our community who need it most."

Hockney's Paper Pools book contains some of the artist's most celebrated swimming pool artworks.

The original signed print enclosed within the book made it an "exceptionally rare collector's piece", the Salvation Army said.

Maj Tracey Bale, who leads The Salvation Army's Norwich Citadel, said: "Thanks to [Jemma] recognising that this was far more than an ordinary donated book, an incredible piece of art has been preserved and transformed into vital funds for our work."

The anonymous buyer told the charity: "I've admired David Hockney's work for many years, so acquiring such an iconic piece is incredibly special.

"I'm delighted that, at the same time, the purchase will help support the invaluable work of The Salvation Army.

"It's wonderful to know that something with such cultural significance can also make a meaningful difference to people's lives."

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'Irreplaceable' mural could be lost to demolition

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9g9edgywxo, yesterday

A mosaic mural depicting a county's history could be lost when an ageing council headquarters is knocked down, campaigners have warned.

The artwork sits on the side of Durham County Hall, which is being vacated ahead of its demolition next year.

The council's strategic manager of culture Dr Sarah Glynn said the mural had become "cracked" and moving it without causing more damage would be "almost impossible".

But Bennett Zon, who is leading a campaign to save it, said the artwork was "irreplaceable" and called to "stop the rollers from demolishing the mosaic".

"In its current position it is slightly hidden but it needs to be moved somewhere where everyone will see it," the Durham University professor said.

"It needs to become the icon of the city that really it was designed to represent in the 1963 building."

The artwork depicts key moments and figures from the county's history, including the Venerable Bede and the founding of Durham Cathedral.

Zon said the mosaic was one of the earliest examples of digital design in the country and its imagery "anticipated" the look of video arcade games from the 1970s.

"If they demolish this, that's it," he said.

"I just think it's such a potent symbol of Durham as a city and as a county and as a county within a country.

"If they destroy it, there aren't going to be little saplings that grow back from it."

'Likelihood of asbestos'

Glynn said conventional conservation methods were not viable for the artwork.

She said the only option would be to cut it into sections, which carried "significant risk" of damage and "health and safety concerns due to the likelihood of asbestos".

"Logistically, transporting, reconstructing, and reinstalling the mural would be highly complex and come with considerable costs, with no guarantee of achieving a sympathetic final result," she added.

A petition to the council to protect the artwork runs until 27 July.

Campaigners are trying to raise £250,000 to remove, restore, and relocate the mural following a meeting with the local authority earlier this week.

The C20 Society, Durham City Trust, the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Association, City of Durham Parish Council and Jackfield Conservation Studio have also backed the rescue efforts.

"I think at the moment what we need to do is to just take a breath, stop the rollers from demolishing the mosaic, take stock of what we can do, have some reports from genuine specialists, and then move to the next phase," Zon said.

Glynn said a "comprehensive" recording of the mosaic, including high-resolution photography and detailed documentation, had been carried out and would be publicly available at cultural venue The Story.

The artwork shares a similar fate to a"3D" map mural inside the building, which could not be moved for similar reasons.

However, the local authority has said it was not believed this artwork "held any design or historical significance".

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The dancers competing in a different kind of world cup

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rnxv0j8deo, yesterday

Northern Ireland may not have qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but a team of dancers have been on the road to success, representing Northern Ireland at the Dance World Cup (DWC).

They were among more than 120,000 dancers worldwide who competed to qualify for a place at this year's finals, the latest in an event which has been held annually since 2004.

Forty-two dance schools from across the country came together to represent Northern Ireland in the competition, which is known as the "Olympics of dance".

And unlike their footballing counterparts, Team Northern Ireland has been successfully collecting medals in Dublin.

'Representing my country'

Dance is a huge part of Faye's life; she is homeschooled and trains up to seven hours a day.

She has had a tough couple of years after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, but her dedication to dance was acknowledged when she was awarded team captain.

Normally the dancers from Northern Ireland are used to competing against each other, but at the DWC they are all representing the same team.

Faye said she enjoyed this element.

"It's really nice to be able to come together with different schools," she said.

"It's nice to not be competitive with each other and you want them to win just as much as yourself."

Her proudest moment was "being able to go up on the stage and represent my country whilst being able to support everybody on my team".

"Dance is my life"

Team Northern Ireland flag bearer, Sophie Bradley, said the competition had been "really wholesome".

From the age of two dance has been the focal point of her life.

"It's everything to me. Dance is just my life," she said.

Competing at her fourth DWC and qualifying with five solos she went on to place ninth in a lyrical solo and her group dances placed in the top 15.

She emphasised that dancing amongst her friends was special as "you feel like a family".

Sophie said she loved watching the younger dancers take to the stage and commended them for their bravery as they performed on the world stage.

"I know how scary it can be for them," she said.

Excited and nervous

Team mascot, eight-year-old Penny, was diagnosed with scoliosis four years ago and has to wear a back brace for 23 hours a day, except when she is dancing and showering.

She has been dancing for seven years and leading up to the finals she trained in England once a month, on top of rehearsals at home.

That paid off, with Penny taking home two bronze medals - one for a solo and one with her elite acro group routine - a mix of classical dance and acrobatics.

"Normally I just push myself through the nerves by closing my eyes and visualising my dance before I go on stage," she said.

"I don't like it when I get butterflies before I dance but I know it's because I'm excited sometimes as well as nervous."

Her mother Carrie said the dancing helped Penny manage her scoliosis and paid tribute to the older competitors who "know how to put her brace on and help her with it when we are away at competitions, which is lovely".

Ten-year-old Mya was really happy to secure her place at the DWC after only taking up dancing two years ago.

But her training and hard work has paid off, winning bronze in a song and dance class, ninth in a hip-hop duet and10th in contemporary.

"I would come out of school, get ready and just go straight to dance," she said.

Aside from performing, Mya said a highlight of the competition was meeting dancers from around the world.

"Making friends with people from different countries, trading pins and just being able to be at the Dance World Cup and knowing that means I actually have an opportunity at doing the stuff I want," she said.

Fourteen-year-old Mollie is bringing home silverware from this year's DWC, after her junior acro group placed second in their class.

She said that came with feelings of "shock and different emotions"

She has also made friends with dancers from Canada, USA, Switzerland and China,

And being a part of Team Northern Ireland has been a highlight for Mollie.

"It's been fun having more faces on your team and making new friends," she said.

Doctor Who fan builds 1983 Tardis in back garden

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze97k4866go, yesterday

A Doctor Who fan has brought a childhood dream to life by building a full-scale replica of the interior of the Tardis in his back garden.

Brendan Sheppard and a small team spent two years recreating the console room from 1983 at his home in South Kyme, Lincolnshire.

"This is the first time in nearly 40 years that it has been completely remade, 100% accurate," Sheppard said.

Visitors can step through a full-size police box into the Tardis, work the controls and dress up in classic costumes.

Sophie Aldred, who played Ace in the show, officially opened the experience on Monday.

At the centre of the room is a hexagonal console with recreations of the original buttons and switches seen in the TV programme, along with a scanner screen and other props.

K-9, the Doctor's lovable robot dog, can be seen, along with some of the Doctor's infamous enemies.

The costumes include a replica of actor Tom Baker's iconic scarf, Peter Davison's coat and Sylvester McCoy's umbrella.

Davison even recorded a special audio episode of Doctor Who for visitors to immerse themselves in.

Sheppard, who is a former BBC director and worked on the Doctor Who DVD range, said: "It's the only one in the country and this building was custom-made for this experience.

"When you're ready to go off into time and space, you can literally set the console going."

He added: "When you go to museums or experiences you're never able to touch these things.

"I believe you connect to an object by really touching it, feeling it, pressing those buttons and making sure it makes all those sounds."

The original console room, as seen in the 1980s show, was designed by Mike Kelt and debuted in the 1983 episode Five Doctors.

The replica version was created by Sheppard along with Simon Nash, who made the Tardis police box, and Darryl Harrison, who bought to life the electronics and interactive features.

Reflecting on the creation, Sheppard said: "It feels exceptionally weird and I also feel very proud.

"A lot of people have worked very hard and I feel very humbled to be working with a load of very good people whose attention to detail was infinite.

"I feel emotional too, because this was my childhood."

The new replica version will be open to visitors on weekends, with a 45-minute experience costing £25.

Sheppard said the fee was the lowest that could be offered and reflected the time and effort that was put into creating the room.

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The mystery of 10 green bottles on a wall

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04y44k24zqo, yesterday

Mystery surrounds who is behind a pop-up "art installation" which has appeared on a wall next to a main road.

A rapidly decreasing collection of green bottles has been entertaining people at Kea Corner, on the A39 Truro to Falmouth Road, in Cornwall.

Rachel Ogle has set up a Facebook group to celebrate the constantly evolving display of mugs, ornamental ducks - and green bottles.

The bottles have gone down in number, just like in the children's nursery rhyme Ten Green Bottles, and Ogle said they had "definitely proved a talking point". Cornwall Council said it was aware of the bottles, "but will not be taking action unless they are found to be a risk to public safety".

Ogle said her Facebook group "Just Another Mug On The Wall" had attracted thousands of people.

She told BBC Cornwall's Need to Know the collection of bottles disappeared and then reappeared, before decreasing in number.

Ogle said: "I think it started as just one person but I have a feeling now a lot of people have got a hand in it... it's nice to keep it going."

She added: "Everybody's chuffed to bits when there's new things on the wall."

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Pay what you can for 'huge circus', festival says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ywdqjwg6yo, yesterday

Night-time performances will return to Hull's Freedom Festival this year, with prices kept as cheap as possible, according to the director.

Phil Hargreaves said evening events would be included on 4 and 5 September after feedback from last year showed people had missed them.

While 90% of the festival would be free for all, Hargreaves said, a suggested fee of £1 per person would be charged for a "huge circus performance" on the Friday and Saturday nights, though people could pay what they can afford.

He added: "If you can only afford £1 for a family of five, we accept that's the case and we understand the world and climate that we're living in."

The performances by Gorilla Circus, called A.I. Thentic, will be set on a 65ft-high (20m) moving stage.

"We can keep that as low-cost as possible, but in order to keep continuing to do those big things, the rising of costs for festivals like ours, it's just impossible to keep free," Hargreaves said.

"We're really desperately trying to respond to what people are asking of us in the most affordable and accessible way possible."

The Freedom Festival is returning for its 19th year, with more than 100 performances and experiences around Hull city centre from 3 to 6 September.

Free family events on the Saturday and Sunday (5 and 6 September) will include dancing pink rhinos and a gigantic dog in the Fruit Market.

Quingo Starlequinn will feature a giant drumming puppet with a built-in DJ booth leading a "feel-good" dance party through the streets, while Babel, by French group Arrangement Provisoire, will see a 40ft (12m) high tower built in Trinity Square.

Hargreaves said: "It's a fantastic chance for people to come together, celebrate freedoms, celebrate being together, celebrating what makes us the people of Hull and bringing people from the outside into that party and having a great time."

Indoor, ticketed events will also be staged over the four days, including Gravity and Other Myths – an Australian troupe of circus acrobats – at Hull Truck Theatre and a "secret rave" in a city centre location which is, for now, being kept under wraps.

The festival was founded in 2007 as part of commemorations to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. Hull MP William Wilberforce was a leading member of the campaign to abolish slavery.

This year, the theme is peace and Hargreaves said he hoped people would experience "a wonderful moment of peace and tranquillity in this current world".

Hargreaves is in his second year as director.

"The people of Hull have been wonderfully charming and helpful to me," he said.

"It's a great festival and it's so loved in the cultural world across the country and by the people in the city.

"We're continuing to improve the festival so it's better for everybody to come and experience freedom in all its glory."

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Original watercolours by William Weston Young expected to fetch up to £25,000 at auction

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2vx171gvjo, yesterday

A series of watercolours by ceramicist William Weston Young are to go under the hammer at auction.

An album of original bird watercolours by Young are expected to fetch up to £25,000.

Young, who died in 1847, was one of the defining figures in Welsh ceramics and was best known for his work at the Cambrian Pottery and Nantgarw China Works.

He was an accomplished artist, inventor and entrepreneur and the accidental inventor of the modern blast-furnace brick.

Young lived in the Neath Valley and painted Welsh nature, depicting scientifically accurate birds and botanical specimens onto clay.

Rogers Jones Auctioneers are selling Young's original working drawings for his celebrated porcelain.

They are preserved within one bound volume of 41 sketches.

Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones said Young's name carries "real weight" among collectors of Welsh ceramics, but his original watercolours "rarely appear on the market".

He said: "As the draughtsman at the Cambrian Pottery, and the man who later rescued the Nantgarw Pottery, his hand lies behind objects now held in major museum collections.

"That combination of true rarity, his standing in Welsh ceramic history, and an appealing natural-history subject makes the album especially desirable for collectors.

"It's certainly one to watch in the sale."

The collection will be sold on 27 July in Cardiff.

'A distinct Canadian character': The 1920s paintings that changed how the world saw Canada

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260706-the-1920s-paintings-that-changed-how-the-world-saw-canada, 12 days ago

The Group of Seven was Canada's first internationally recognised national art movement, and they helped create a distinct, modern Canadian identity in the 1920s. As the official Group of Seven Day is celebrated in Canada, what is their legacy – and are their ideas in harmony or conflict with the so-called "Indian Group of Seven", founded later in the 1970s?

In the 1921 painting Stormy Weather, Georgian Bay, a lone tree perches perilously between a rocky outcrop and a vast, churning lake, buffeted by the elements yet refusing to yield to their force. Executed in rough brushstrokes and simplified lines, it celebrates not only the resilience of Canadian settlers and their ability to survive against all odds, but also the dramatic, untamed landscapes with which they joyfully communed.

The painting by FH Varley is one of the most iconic works by The Group of Seven, a groundbreaking art collective who broke with the dominant tradition of European academic painting to create a uniquely Canadian style that revelled in the country's vast natural beauty.

The group's most celebrated works are "almost like what the Statue of Liberty is for the United States," says Katerina Atanassova, senior curator of Canadian art at The National Gallery of Canada. So beloved are they that 7 July is now celebrated as Group of Seven Day. What is it about their paintings that, for many, embody the Canadian spirit and identity? And where does the group's work stand in relation to the country's Indigenous art?

The group which – in addition to Varley – comprised Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, AY Jackson, Franz Johnston, Arthur Lismer and JEH MacDonald remains hugely popular today, as does Tom Thomson, a major influence, who died before its official formation. Their most acclaimed paintings, which include Thomson's The Jack Pine, The West Wind and Harris's North Shore, Lake Superior, have become, for many, the national paintings of Canada – embodying the country's spirit.

A turning point

They began painting in the 1910s, an era when Canada – a self-governing dominion of the British Empire since 1867 – was beginning to find its own social and political identity, but had yet to find an artistic voice. The nascent group was intent on providing just that. A turning point occurred when MacDonald and Harris visited a landmark exhibition of contemporary Scandinavian art in Buffalo, US, in 1913. Norway, Sweden and Finland were all forging their own independent paths at the time. In their sparse landscapes, vividly depicted in flat, bright colours, the two artists saw an expression of national identity that was unequivocally modern.

The aesthetic and intellectual inspiration they took from the Scandinavians was strengthened by the influence of Thomson, a self-taught artist and graphic designer who frequently embarked on lengthy trips into the wilderness, often by canoe, to paint and sketch. "He embodied that ideal, that direct experience that every artist wants to have," Atanassova tells the BBC. It was Thomson who "started the images of the solitary tree", and inspired the future Group of Seven artists to see that the Canadian wilderness "can be viewed as modern and painted as modern", says Atanassova.

Thomson's death in 1917, at the age of only 40, turned him into a cultural legend, and when the group officially formed in 1920, "the goal was defined that they ought to follow in his footsteps," says Atanassova. Their intention "was not to portray what nature looked like, but how it made them feel, the emotional state created by the starry sky, the windswept pine or the barren coastal line on the north shore of Lake Superior." The initial response to their innovative approach was anything but favourable. One review of their first exhibition compared their work to "the contents of a drunkard's stomach".

Somewhat ironically, it would take the approval of the very people from whom they were trying to distance themselves to change public opinion. The group's work was selected for the British Empire Exhibition, held at Wembley in 1924, where it received a rapturous response with the British press praising its "distinct Canadian character. " Recognition abroad meant that it "suddenly became popular in Canada", explains Atanassova.

The fact that this "distinct Canadian character" excluded the Indigenous population has led to criticism of the group in some quarters, although Atanassova feels that this is unfair. "You don't see any signs of civilisation in [the Group of Seven's] paintings," she says. They were "looking for untamed nature in the tradition of modern Scandinavian art", which meant that they also excluded any sign of industrialisation.

While that may be true, we are now painfully aware that in the areas the group were travelling to, they could not have painted Indigenous populations if they had wanted to. The government's brutal policies, begun in the late 19th Century, had seen them forcibly removed to reservations or residential schools where their movement was restricted and their cultural practices suppressed.

'The Indian Group of Seven'

These policies had a devastating effect on all aspects of Indigenous life, including artistic production and recognition, a fact that led to the formation of another group of seven in the early 1970s, the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI). Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness, Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray and Joseph Sanchez first started meeting in Odjig's craft shop in Winnipeg.

"They were quite distinct in that they were the first self-organised Indigenous-artists-run arts advocacy group that was formally incorporated that ever existed in Canada," says Michelle LaVallee, Director of the Indigenous Ways and Decolonization Department and Curatorial Initiatives of the National Gallery of Canada. She herself is Ojibway and a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.

Although they all had different styles and opinions, they wanted to band together to support other artists and challenge exclusionary practices and the narrow view of what "native" art actually was. "We had no one to show our work, so we had to do it ourselves. We acknowledged and supported each other as artists when the world of fine art refused us entry… Together we broke down barriers that would have been so much more difficult faced alone," Odjig later said.

"At that time, there were no Indigenous curators, no Indigenous people working in institutions," LaVallee tells the BBC. And where Indigenous art was collected it tended to be relegated to ethno-centric galleries rather than the contemporary fine art collections in which the artists felt they deserved to be exhibited. "It really wasn't held in the same esteem as [work by their] non-Indigenous peers, even though it is the first and the most authentic art that can be and should be called Canadian," says LaVallee.

Although the media soon dubbed them "the Indian Group of Seven", LaVallee isn't sure they would have appreciated the name. "They were very intentional about what they called themselves," she says. It was very important for them to have "Professional" and "Native Indian" present in the name of the group.

While LaVallee herself likes the paintings of the Group of Seven, she points out that their approach to landscape is vastly different to the PNIAI. "A lot of the PNIAI's works you would look at and not necessarily call it a landscape." They are different ways of referencing the land". Alex Janvier often incorporated maps in his works, while Norval Morrisseau "draws those connections between land and animals and spirits". It is art by "somebody from the land versus settlers coming and appreciating the land", she says.

Even if the Group of Seven weren't conscious of doing so, they "would have contributed to the circumstances around how Indigenous people were being perceived and treated", says LaVallee. This was largely down to the way their art was used to "create this popular narrative of Canada" which was picturesque but "excluded the Indigenous populations", she says.

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The PNIAI played a vital role in correcting that, and LaVallee credits her own position – as one of the senior management of the National Gallery of Canada – to their activism. "For me to get to a place like that would not have happened had these earlier artists not fought for these types of rights and opportunities and created avenues of support and camaraderie between Indigenous peoples," she says.

The National Gallery now displays Indigenous and non-Indigenous art side by side in the same galleries. LaVallee emphasises that this is not meant to "erase or discredit any existing histories".

"Part of the change we're trying to assert is the idea that, yes, within Canada, it's very multicultural, but the first art of this land was Indigenous, and the first people of these lands were Indigenous, and that needs to be acknowledged and respected and recognised."

In the 1970s, the Group of Seven's work may have been interpreted by some as exclusionary and colonial, but in the 21st Century it is largely viewed differently. For today's outdoor-loving Canadians, the group's art is a celebration of the country's outstanding natural beauty. It embodies, says Atanassova, "that raw connection with nature – and it's exactly the nature you see [in the paintings]. The lakes are the same, the skies are the same. It's an expression of your own experience. What you see and what you feel and what you live."

Art by the Group of Seven is displayed at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

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Five key scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry, and the story they tell

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gy1xg9z0mo, 9 days ago

Power struggles, betrayal and bloody battles - these are the events shown in great detail in the Bayeux Tapestry, covering one of the most momentous periods in English history.

The artefact, almost 1,000 years old, is a 70m-long storyboard of embroidered pictures showing an epic account of the Norman conquest and the Battle of Hastings of 1066.

It depicts a medieval game of thrones as William the Conqueror fought King Harold to rule England.

The tapestry has returned to England for the first time in more than 900 years, and will go on display at the British Museum.

Here's the story in five key scenes, helped by Dr David Musgrove, co-author of The Story of the Bayeux Tapestry and content director of HistoryExtra magazine and podcast.

1. William honours heroic Harold

The tapestry begins in 1064 or 65, when Harold, the most powerful earl in England and brother-in-law of king Edward the Confessor, is sent to Normandy, now in northern France.

Harold joins William, duke of Normandy, in battle in Brittany, and is portrayed in a positive light for the first half of the tapestry.

"He's being given arms and armaments by Duke William, and this is really important because the subtext of the first half of the tapestry is essentially to present Harold as a heroic figure," Dr Musgrove explains.

2. Harold's anguished oath

The most important scene in the tapestry, according to Dr Musgrove, shows Harold reaching both arms out to touch two boxes of holy relics while making an oath.

He's thought to be swearing allegiance to William as Edward's successor as king of England.

"He actually looks physically contorted and conflicted," Dr Musgrove says. "At least that's my take on it. He looks as if he's kind of a bit anguished about having to make this oath."

Dr Musgrove adds: "This scene is basically where Harold goes from hero in the first part to zero in the second part."

3. Harold claims the throne

Back in England, Edward the Confessor dies in January 1066 - and Harold claims the throne for himself.

"So he's gone against this supposed oath, and this is where he becomes the villain of the piece. This is a really important moment."

4. An omen of doom

The appearance in the sky of Halley's Comet, which is only visible from Earth roughly every 75 years, is regarded as a bad omen following Harold's alleged betrayal.

"You can see all the people staring up and pointing at it," Dr Musgrove says.

"That is basically saying, 'Something's gone wrong here, Harold having himself crowned is going to lead to a bad result.' And that is what happens."

5. Harold defeated by an arrow in the eye (probably)

William amasses a mighty army to fight Harold for the crown, and the two sides meet at the Battle of Hastings.

Harold is shot in the eye by an arrow, which he is seen clutching in his final moments.

"This is the most famous scene in the tapestry," Dr Musgrove says.

The caption reads "Here King Harold is killed" - and the English army flee in defeat after their leader's death.

At least, that's the most famous version of events. But there's debate about whether the arrow was actually in the original version of the tapestry or added during a 19th Century restoration.

There's also disagreement about whether the figure is even Harold, or whether the inscription refers to a neighbouring figure who is slain by a soldier on horseback - or if they both in fact show Harold at different moments.

"It's undeniable that Harold is dead - the text says it - but the manner of his death is somewhat debated," Dr Musgrove says.

Either way, it was a graphic and dramatic climax to a period that changed the course of English history.

The Bayeux Tapestry will be on display at the British Museum from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027.

The Englishwoman who sketched India before photography took hold

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2drrv6q54o, 9 days ago

Long before photography became the visual language of empire, one Englishwoman was sketching the people she encountered across India with unusual curiosity and precision.

Emily Eden, a gifted artist and writer, belonged to one of Britain's most influential political families. She travelled across northern India in the 1830s while accompanying her brother, George Eden, first Earl of Auckland, the governor-general of India.

Alongside princes, generals and courtiers, she drew servants, attendants, travellers, fakirs, Afghan and Sikh nobles, Akali warriors, hill communities and even the animals that accompanied imperial journeys. Her remarkably broad gaze set her apart from many contemporaries.

More than two dozen of her sketches were published in 1844 as Portraits of the Princes and People of India. They now form the heart of Princes & People, an exhibition at DAG in Delhi curated by art historian Mary Ann Prior, bringing together the complete published series of hand-coloured lithographs made from Eden's original sketches.

Eden arrived in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in March 1836 to a whirlwind of official engagements and an unfamiliar world. Homesick and struggling to adjust, she did not sketch for three weeks or complete a painting for two months.

But her spirits were buoyed by her travelling party, which included her nephew William, sister Fanny, maids, an ayah, a cook, a valet, a physician and an assortment of pets.

Even before reaching India, the voyage had begun to broaden her outlook as she encountered new people, cultures and ways of life, notes art historian and author Mary Ann Prior.

"The diversity of people and places motivated and improved Emily's artistic output, and her natural curiosity sought out the unusual. She meticulously documented her observations through her sketches and paintings." Instead of castles, churches and English landscapes, Eden increasingly turned her attention to the strangers, costumes, architecture and unfamiliar landscapes she encountered.

Between 1836 and 1842, that curiosity took her across a region on the cusp of profound political change. Her sketches offer a rare glimpse of the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whose Punjab kingdom was one of the subcontinent's most powerful states, capturing it at the twilight of his reign and the dawn of the Victorian era.

Eden was as engaging a writer as she was an artist. Her lively journals brim with humour and observation, with names and places often spelled exactly as they sounded to her.

On arriving in the holy city of Benares (now Varanasi), the Eden party sailed along the Ganges before continuing to nearby Ramnagar, where the king had a country house. The scene so captivated Emily that she wrote: "We mean to keep our steamer here and to go out sketching in it."

Her enthusiasm had not come immediately. At first, the cultural gulf between England and India left Eden deeply homesick. She fretted over women attending church without bonnets, ravenous mosquitoes, relentless heat, the cacophony of dogs, crows, jackals and Brahminy kites, and being confined indoors for much of the day.

But as the months passed, she drew prolifically, and her paintings soon became a success, selling briskly at charity fairs in Shimla, winning admiration from the British in India and being copied by Indian artists.

Prior ranks Eden's Indian sketches among the finest produced by any British woman artist of the Regency and Victorian eras. Only Charlotte Canning, celebrated for her botanical paintings, and later Marianne North rivalled her achievement.

Yet Eden's remarkable powers of observation coexisted with an unshaken belief in Britain's civilising mission. As Prior writes, she viewed her years in India as "an unwelcome ordeal to be endured for a higher purpose", framing colonial rule as an obligation to "civilise" the country.

The Edens left India in 1842, looking forward to returning to England. Back in Britain, Emily continued to paint, although the urgency that had driven her to record unfamiliar landscapes and people in India had faded. Her later works were fewer and turned to familiar English scenes.

Writing increasingly became the vehicle through which her Indian experience reached a wider audience. Up the Country, her lively letters from India, was published in 1866, followed by Letters from India in 1872.

Although her reputation was initially became entwined with her family's association with the First Afghan War, it gradually came to rest on her own accomplishments as both writer and artist. Emily Eden died in 1869.

How new bird show hopes to help endangered flyers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly7z6gg9y6o, today

Exotic and endangered birds from across the world have found a new home in County Durham as part of a history-inspired theme park. Curators hope they can be used to help save their cousins in the wild.

When customs officers at Heathrow developed a giggling problem, they called Jimmy Robinson.

After intercepting an illegal shipment of pink-breasted cockatoos from Australia, they needed to find the birds a new home.

Thankfully, Jimmy knew of a nest being built on the outskirts of Bishop Auckland which would happily take in the giggle of galahs, alongside its impending parliament of owls and pandemonium of parrots.

He and his team have spent three years planning and developing The Lost Feather, one of five new shows launching at the Kynren site in July.

While the other performances focus on vikings, Victorians and legendary worms, and the main evening spectacle An Epic Tale of England, which began in 2016, tries to encompass most of history, Jimmy's bit is all about the birds.

It takes place within an open-air arena which not only resembles a giant bird nest but is also actually being used as one - swallows moved into the rafters within days of its completion.

Jimmy, Kynren's birds and conservation curator, and his 16-strong team care for 170 birds housed year-round in aviaries and enclosed orchards behind the 2,500-seat theatre.

There are 35 species, ranging from ravens to cranes, falcons to storks.

Among the attraction's residents are Ariadne and Arkas, a pair of enormous Steller's sea eagles normally found in Russia and Japan.

Ariadne is such a fan of the fireworks that close out the evening show, her aviary has been specially positioned to give her a full view.

The two blue and yellow macaws, Peanuts and Coco, welcome staff with an "all right" and bid them "goodbye", while the galahs chatter incessantly in their enclosure.

Most of the birds have come from other zoos and private collections in the UK and Europe and have been highly trained through positive reinforcement to fly in shows.

Each is fitted with a tracker so they can easily be found if they venture beyond the Kynren site, with a peregrine falcon recently making an excursion to Spennymoor.

The birds have been carefully chosen to be "meaningful" to people and because they are "really culturally and historically, significant creatures that we share the planet with", Jimmy says.

"They're not here just for people to look at," he says, with the show aiming to "tell a story about why humans are fascinated with birds".

Visitors should feel a "connection" to the birds, Jimmy says, returning to the days of being woken by the dawn chorus.

"The ideal goal would be to inspire people to work in conservation, but if one person leaves this arena and wants to help birds in their back garden, we've achieved our mission."

While such shows can be controversial among animal activists, using the attraction to help wild birds is a key part of Jimmy's ethos.

He and his team are already preparing breeding programmes for the critically endangered African white-backed vultures and endangered African grey crowned cranes.

The much-maligned vultures are among Jimmy's favourite birds.

"They are essential to eco-systems", he says, detailing how as scavengers they remove tonnes of waste on a "phenomenal scale".

"If we lose vultures we lose a vital ecological role, and that has devastating effects," Jimmy says.

A captive population to breed from could be the "last lifeline" for them, he says, with Kynren connecting with other programmes to increase diversity and "help birds in the wild".

Jimmy and his team are also partnering with the Hampshire-based Hawk Conservancy Trust to "try and work out" why kestrels in the North East are declining and "how we can help reverse that".

From autumn, the project will also be aiming to offer "real estate" for wild barn, tawny and little owls, with nest boxes at the Bishop Auckland site and spots from Northumberland down to North Yorkshire.

"We give them places to nest and we monitor the youngsters," Jimmy says. "Then we help to encourage the environments they live in as a more stable place for them."

A team of volunteers has also been trained to carry out spring and autumn field surveys across the area to record how wild birds are faring.

Back at Kynren, the Lost Feather's birds are fed with food from zoo suppliers and flown daily for "enrichment and exercise".

They will be kept "snug and warm" in the site's aviaries over the winter months when the attraction is closed, with Jimmy likening his role to the "ultimate hotel service for birds".

"My job is to make sure their rooms have been made when they return after flying," he says.

"We freshly fold their towels and all that sort of stuff.

"Come rain or shine, we are here looking after the birds and making sure they are healthy and happy.

"We're not asking the birds to do something unusual.

"We're asking them to just simply do what they have evolved to do for millions of years - fly."

The project, he says, is "quite literally ready for take off".

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'I never dreamed I'd go on stage completely bald'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3e36g1xqno, yesterday

"I thought 'what would happen if I went on stage and just took my wig off?' The reaction was quite big, people gasped and covered their mouths."

Actor and writer Emily Glaze has alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition that causes sudden, patchy hair loss.

The 30-year-old from Telford started losing patches of hair at 16, before all of her hair fell out at 21, when she was in her final year of university.

"It's not really what you imagine, going out into the world," she said.

Glaze is now taking a one-woman show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, based on her experiences of living with alopecia.

The show Basic Bald B*tch, revolving around the fictional character of Amy, originally started as a 10-minute monologue which Glaze wrote for a scratch night - an opportunity for theatremakers to test short excerpts of works-in-progress - in 2021.

"For a really long time I felt so much shame about the subject of having alopecia," Glaze said.

"I got to a point in my life where I was really done with having to hide all the time and I found a lot of empowerment in performance."

She decided to go on stage at the scratch night and take her wig off, eliciting a powerful reaction from the audience.

"It was quite a shock for that performance. People would come up to me afterwards and have lovely positive things to say," she said.

One aspect of the condition that Glaze wants to raise awareness of her show is the myriad of different forms of alopecia and how they can present themselves.

"A lot of people don't realise - there's an assumption that when you lose your hair, it's completely gone forever," she said.

"It did mean at one point I had no hair. It's grown back and fallen out four times in my life. I've had pixie cuts, I've been bald.

"It can feel like that rollercoaster."

Glaze hopes the show will be seen by people with alopecia or other physical differences, to help them "feel really seen and heard, and feel empowered in their own skin."

She added: "There's still not enough representation for people with physical differences. Especially when we're in such an image-obsessed society."

For the 30-year-old, her work will now be performed at the world's largest performing arts festival, after she felt like she needed to pursue her story.

She concluded: "I've got to do this for me, for younger me, who would never have dreamed of getting up on stage completely bald."

Basic Bald B*tch is at Underbelly Cowgate at the Edinburgh Fringe from 5 August until 30 August.

What is alopecia areata?

* Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition that causes sudden, patchy hair loss

* It happens when certain immune cells mistakenly attack the hair follicles, stopping them from producing new hair, and in severe cases, hair is lost from across the body

* It affects approximately one in every 1,000 people worldwide at any given time.

* Living with alopecia can also be profoundly challenging, causing anxiety and stress

* People may experience difficulty at school and in the workplace, and it can lead to social isolation

Source: Alopecia UK

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Artist painted a sunrise a day to cope with grief

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7vg5lygrdzo, 2 days ago

An artist who spent a year painting a sunrise every day to cope with her grief has been selling the artworks to raise funds for a Warwickshire hospice.

Denise Marie Walker, 60, from Sutton Coldfield, started her project on the first anniversary of her mother's death, originally to help with her own mental health.

She later started volunteering at Myton Hospice in Warwick, helping others to navigate end-of-life care as she developed fresh perspective following her own experience with loss.

Of her artwork she said: "I wanted a sunrise, not a sunset, because the symbolism is very different - the colours are similar, but it has to be about hope and new beginnings."

The artist began her sunrise-a-day painting journey in August 2023, a year after her mother Josephine died.

She had been admitted to hospital in Birmingham following an osteoarthritis flare-up and had developed Covid, sepsis and pneumonia while there.

"I was on a train on my way to work... Had a phone call to say that my mum had got two hours to live because they thought she'd got meningitis," Walker recalled. "I was in a terrible state."

Walker said her mum spent two months in hospital and later died at home.

Twelve months later, she was out in all weathers, carrying her paints and brushes in a rucksack before spending about two hours each day to capture the morning scene.

The paintings also helped Walker following the loss of her aunt Ann, who had been diagnosed with dementia shortly after the death of Walker's mother.

"My mental health wasn't good at that point," she said.

"After my mum died and after my auntie died, I couldn't really function very well at all, so on the first anniversary of my mum's death I went up to a place called Barr Beacon... and I painted the sunrise every morning for a year.

"I felt close to [my mum] because it was overlooking the cemetery, the hills... and it gave me a routine."

Now, thanks to the sale of her paintings at arts and craft fayres across the country, she is raising money for charity, with Myton, where she volunteers, as the recipient.

She said she helped out at an inpatient unit there as a way of giving something back.

"I am a new person, I am really happy," she explained.

"I've had to face a lot of very dark days, but I've done it responsibly.

"I am in a really, really good place."

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An epic Dubrovnik journey that ditches the crowds

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260717-a-new-way-to-see-the-worlds-most-overcrowded-city, today

Dubrovnik has long been one of Europe's most over-touristed destinations. Now, a new Camino footpath is revealing a different side of the city beyond its medieval walls.

"Five-thirty in the morning?" I asked, incredulously.

"Yes, before it gets too hot," my friend Ivan Vuković (no relation) replied.

After I discovered Europe's newest Camino pilgrim trail had opened in March, I convinced Ivan to lace up his trainers and join me for a three-hour hike in July – peak season in the world's most overcrowded city, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Each summer, throngs of tourists flood the medieval town's cobblestone streets, leaving a lingering aroma of sunscreen. I was staying in the heart of the bustling Old Town, and I was looking forward to escaping the crowds and connecting with nature.

Known as the Camino Dubrovnik – Međugorje, the seven-stage route starts in front of the Church of St James in Dubrovnik, and winds 145km north-west, crossing the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina and ending at the Church of St James in Međugorje, one of the Balkans' most important pilgrimage destinations. The route follows centuries-old trails used by traders and pilgrims to journey from the southern Adriatic coast into the remote Herzegovinian hinterland, offering modern-day travellers a new perspective on the history of one of Europe's most popular cities and its surrounding landscapes.

For centuries, Dubrovnik was an independent maritime republic that relied on trade, and until the early 1990s, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia were part of the same country, Yugoslavia. "Pilgrims walk along historic infrastructure, including medieval water systems, traditional rural paths, railway routes and areas marked by continuous Christian pilgrimage tradition," said Miroslav Drašković, Director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board.

Approximately 61km of the hike is in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. The entire route takes around seven days to hike and passes through Dubrovnik, the suburb of Mokošica and the villages of Orašac, Slano, Ravno and Hutovo, ending in Međugorje, luring intrepid travellers out of the Old Town tourist bubble and into rural local life.

According to the city's mayor, Mato Franković, the idea to create a Camino was hatched three years ago as part of its "Respect the City" initiative to guide travellers away from the overcrowded Old Town and focus on sustainable tourism. "We also saw it as a great opportunity that tourists, [local residents] – all those that are going to walk – would see for the first time some areas that are completely hidden," he told the BBC.

Ivan, a local tour guide, grew up in Dubrovnik, and has seen this medieval walled city's transformation firsthand. He explained that in the 1980s, 4,000 to 5,000 people lived in the Old Town. "Now, there are a maximum of 700 people living in the Old Town. It's Airbnb business." By 2019, Unesco had warned that Dubrovnik's World Heritage status was under threat as cruise ships, tour buses and record visitor numbers put increasing pressure on the city. To help control traffic flow in and out of its historic centre, the city has since installed directional ropes at the Pile Gate where most visitors enter.

In the soft early morning light, we set out to hike part of Stage 1 of the Camino, an 8km stretch starting at the Church of St James to the Strinčjera plateau on Mount Srđ, taking in spectacular Adriatic Sea views along the way. After passing Buža gate – the northern entrance to the Old Town – we followed roads leading out of the city and climbed a steep series of stairs. The crowds disappeared and it was so quiet we could hear the beats of our footsteps.

"The aqueduct is beneath us," Ivan said, explaining that part of the Camino follows this little-known monument.

Today, gaggles of visitors in Dubrovnik's Old Town fill their water bottles at the large Onofrio Fountain, yet few realise that the city owes much of its development to the aqueduct that historically carried that water. Located 12km from the Old Town, the limestone aqueduct was built in 1438 and delivered fresh water to Dubrovnik via a revolutionary system.

"It's a marvel of engineering, because you have to bring the water over the hill, through the canals to the Old Town," Ivan said. He explained that since this ingenious gravity-fed aqueduct system channels water down to the walled city, "it goes through the limestone and purifies everything and makes it drinkable".

After two kilometres, we stopped to take in the views of the Old Town at a lookout spot. Onofrio's aqueduct depositories were visible, as were the lines of tourists snaking through the Old Town below us. We then continued along part of the Camino known as the Križni put (Way of the Cross). Ivan and other guides are now encouraging visitors to walk this part of the Camino to the 412m-high peak of Mount Srđ to better understand Dubrovnik's religious roots.

"The switchbacks climbing up Mount Srđ, which once served as vital trade and military routes, have naturally transformed over time into the [Way] of the Cross," Dubrovnik tour guide Ivona Čović told me over coffee the following day.

The majority of Croatians are Catholic, and when the nation gained independence in 1991 from the former Yugoslavia, the Way of the Cross was established along this zigzagging route, with stations commemorating Christ's Passion. Fourteen bronze plaques sit on each corner of the switchbacks and represent the Stations of the Cross, depicting Christ's final journey.

I counted each station on the steep, rocky trek up Mount Srđ, sweat trickling down the back of my neck. By the fourth switchback, I could see the Old Town and the island of Lokrum. "Hello, beauty," Ivan said, stopping to take a photo of the city below. As we climbed higher and higher, the Old Town spread out before us like a grand white castle perched on a cliff, the Adriatic Sea dotted with boats that left long trails in their wake.

The Camino winds around half of Fort Imperial, which crowns Mount Srđ. This stretch of the trail offers sweeping views over Dubrovnik, but Fort Imperial is also a great pitstop for hikers wishing to learn more about the layered history surrounding them. The Homeland War Museum, which highlights Croatia's war of independence from 1991-1995, is located here, and tells one chapter of Dubrovnik's tangled history.

"Some members of my family born during World War One, when [Dubrovnik was part of the] Austro-Hungarian Empire, could live in six different countries without moving," Ivan said. "There is a saying from Dubrovnik's grannies: 'When you wake up, take a look at the top of the hill to see which flag is there.'"

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Napoleon ruled Dubrovnik from 1806 to 1813, leaving a lasting mark on Mount Srđ. "Fort Imperial was built in 1812 by the French army," Dubrovnik tour guide Lidija Begić later explained. "However, its more recent history holds particular significance for Dubrovnik and its people."

In October 1991, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by Serbian and Montenegrin forces, attacked Dubrovnik. The communication tower on Mount Srđ was heavily damaged, cutting off all telephone and radio communications and leaving the city in an information blackout during the first days of the Homeland War.

For many locals, Fort Imperial is a symbol of Croatian defence – a stronghold that helped prevent the Yugoslav People's Army from capturing Dubrovnik. After looping around Fort Imperial, Ivan pointed out the MiG-21 aircraft donated by the Croatian Ministry of Defence that commemorates the role pilots and aircraft played in the defence of Dubrovnik in July 1992.

We continued walking the Camino along the Strinčjera plateau on Mount Srđ, pausing to take in the sweeping vista. We weren't alone: some hikers had stopped to rest on limestone rocks and admire the postcard view overlooking Dubrovnik's scenic Lapad peninsula, Daksa island and the Elaphiti islands. Although I've visited Dubrovnik roughly 20 times, I'd never seen it from this vantage point.

Many locals have also embraced the new Camino, saying it's reconnecting them with the same paths their forefathers once used. "My favourite part [is] the walk along the old aqueduct in Rijeka Dubrovačka," said Begić. "I am emotionally attached to everything that our ancestors achieved and left to us, and as well the views from the trail are breathtaking – particularly at sunset."

Franković said that he's walked different sections of Stage 1, which extends 18km from the Church of St James to Mokošica, a suburb of Dubrovnik, but one part of Stage 3 (which goes from Orašac, a scenic village, to the seaside village of Slano) bowled him over: the hike from above the historic village of Trsteno to Slano.

"That route over there, it's unbelievable," Franković said. "It just suddenly opens in front of you. The sea, archipelago, Elafiti islands... you see Mljet island, you see Korčula. And it was clear weather, you could see all the way out to the Lastovo [island]. You just would want to stay there."

By the time we backtracked to Fort Imperial, we'd hiked nearly 10km; not bad for 09:00 on a Monday. We decided to treat ourselves to a gigantic bottle of water, bijela kava (white coffee) and dessert for breakfast at Panorama Restaurant and Bar, which is adjacent to Fort Imperial and aptly named for its bird's-eye views.

I took in the beauty surrounding us, gazing down at the Old Town's terracotta rooftops and the clear Adriatic Sea. "We live such fast-paced lives that sometimes we don't even know where we're going," Čović said the next day. "Camino Dubrovnik is exactly what reminds us to slow down and reconnect with what truly matters."

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The best way to explore Dublin's spectacular coast is by rail

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260717-the-best-way-to-explore-dublins-spectacular-coast-is-by-rail, yesterday

Most visitors don't realise Dublin has a coastline. Now, a newly expanded rail trail makes it easy to explore the world's only capital city within a Unesco Biosphere Reserve.

I'm heading away from Dublin city centre, watching high rises, graffitied overpasses and traffic queues give way to pasturelands and swathes of red valerian swaying against the rails. Meadows of wild carrot and hawkbit break into wide expanses of boat-flecked open sea. It’s a Monday morning in June and I have the northbound Irish Rail almost entirely to myself.

When most visitors think of Dublin, they picture Temple Bar's pubs, Georgian streets and literary legends. Yet Ireland's capital also sits on Dublin Bay, the world's only capital-city Unesco Biosphere Reserve, recognised for the way its wildlife and human inhabitants coexist in a working urban landscape.

"Most people don't even know there is a coast," says Helen Cole of Fáilte Ireland, the country's national tourism development authority. "They weren't even aware that Dublin City, our capital city, is sitting on this amazing bay."

That is why the Dublin Coastal Trail was created: to encourage travellers to venture beyond the city centre and explore more than 65km (40 miles) of Ireland's east coast. Launched in 2022 and expanded this year, the self-guided route links 16 seaside communities by rail. And while you could ride the entire route in about 90 minutes, the real reward lies in hopping off to explore fishing villages, medieval castles, dramatic cliff walks, wildlife-rich beaches and some of Ireland's finest seafood.

Beyond Temple Bar

It takes 45 minutes to reach the trail's northernmost point at seaside Balbriggan. As we glide into the station, I spot a pale beach with a lighthouse-tipped breakwater stretching into the sea. Within moments, I'm on the sand amid lulling waves. Around me seniors in swimming caps wade into the water while schoolchildren roll up their trousers to hop among scavenging ravens and gulls.

Despite being less than an hour from Dublin, it feels like another world entirely, and despite having visited the city many times, I've never ventured this far. Before setting off, I'd asked a few city-based friends if they'd ever explored the coast themselves. They looked at me as though I'd suggested another galaxy.

"A lot of Dubliners live in these villages," says Cole, who was born and raised in the area. "It's an all-round liveable coast [with] plenty to see and do for a visitor… They all have their own kind of vibe and there are very distinctive experiences you can have from one to the next."

It's possible to visit every stop in one day, but I've decided to focus on a handful that capture the trail's diversity. Back on the train, I head south to Malahide, switch to the Dart and continue to Howth, the peninsula at the northern edge of the biosphere. Here, four circular walks fan out from the station and I follow one along dramatic cliffs, scanning for harbour porpoises in the water and endangered plants like betony and green-winged orchid among the headlands.

It feels more like Ireland's rugged west coast than a suburb of Dublin, despite being less than half an hour from Temple Bar. Huffs of mist and brine gust inward with gulls and guillemots, and the weather shifts quickly to overcast and rain, reminding me that this was once a harrowing place for seafarers.

Before the North Bull Wall was built in 1820, ships and sailors perished here regularly. When it was erected, in addition to safer passage, one surprising result was a buildup of sand I can just make out across the bay: a wedge-shaped spit called Bull Island whose dunes and salt marshes helped earn Dublin its Unesco Biosphere designation.

I head down to the historic village of Howth, where ruins of a 15th-Century abbey towers over rows of brick and pastel houses, its ancient gravestones swathed in stands of orange poppies. These streets border Ireland's busiest fishing port and I stop at Kish Fish for fresh oysters and prawns, watching grey seals surface between the boats.

A city in balance with nature

One of the trail's newest stops, Blackrock, shows me how quickly the city gives way to nature. From its historic Dart station, a protected building from 1834, I follow part of the Blackrock Walking Trail towards Booterstown Marsh Nature Reserve, a bird sanctuary less than five miles from the city centre. Curlews and Brent geese, snipes and greenshanks feed in the wetlands, while across the bay, Howth's cliffs appear surprisingly close. I'm told that on weekends, Blackrock Market, Ireland’s oldest, opens on the seafront here, in a historic mid-18th Century building where local artisans sell handmade goods, along with antiques, food and coffee.

The trail's last stop is Killiney station, which opens onto a shore of wave-worn pebbles. Mixed shades of blue-grey, violet, pale pink and bone sandstone and shale stretch for miles along the steely Irish Sea. Killiney is known for being an affluent Dublin suburb, home to gated mansions and listed Georgian and Victorian buildings, but its namesake beach is for everyone.

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Solitary wanderers weave along the tide gazing out toward the liminal: Dalkey Island and Bray Head in the distance, the Wicklow Mountains flickering like apparitions out of salty, inland-billowing mist. At 18:00, families are spreading blankets across the stones, lining up picnics while children rush towards sweeping surf.

It's a reminder that this is a liveable, working coast that Dubliners make the most of – and one visitors should too.

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'NonnaMaxxing': Tourists are paying to travel like grandmothers

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260714-nonnamaxxing-tourists-are-paying-to-travel-like-grandmothers, 2 days ago

Whether it's making pasta with an Italian nonna or sightseeing with a gran in Japan, Gen-Zers and millennials are increasingly seeking out granny-led travel experiences.

My cheek presses into a cool mat and a forceful, yet reassuring, pressure travels down my right shoulder blade. Rose, a petite septuagenarian in a loose white tunic, crouches over me, digging her thumbs into my back and speaking in rapid Thai.

"She is telling you that this is the line you need to follow," explains a younger woman nearby. Face down, I clumsily attempt to nod, which makes Rose laugh loudly.

This is my beginner Thai massage course in Bangkok's Watpo Massage School, where the majority of staff are old enough to be my grandmother.

I find that being taught by grandmothers is supremely comforting. They're strict when they need to be, tease us when we make mistakes and encourage us when we doubt ourselves. When I get flustered in the final exam and start to cry, Rose envelops me in a hug. Suddenly, everything feels like it is going to be alright.

The rise of 'Grandma tourism'

I'm not the only traveller seeking out the comforting embrace of a granny. #Grandmacore, which promotes the benefits of activities like crafting and baking, has almost 800 million views on TikTok. Now, it appears to be influencing "grandma tourism", in which travellers seek out tours and classes led specifically by older women.

With more than one-third of Gen-Zers and millennials worldwide saying they often feel stressed, many of us are choosing to spend time with older generations. I've found that their calming presence helps to reduce my own anxiety, and I'm not alone. A report by tour guide company GetYourGuide showed that 76% of Gen-Z travellers from France, Germany, the UK and the US would book a "grandma-inspired" holiday activity, like learning to make pasta with a nonna (grandmother) in Italy and hiring Japanese grannies as their tour guide.

For 32-year-old Los Angeles-based fashion stylist Brittany Diego, the maternal warmth she experienced in her nonna-led pasta class was the highlight of her trip to Italy. "There were plenty of pasta-making classes [on offer]," she says. "But learning from an Italian nonna felt like the most authentic option, and it absolutely lived up to my expectations."

Diego found that the course, which took place in the nonna's home at the foothills of Rome, felt less like taking a class and more like being welcomed into a grandmother's house.

"My nonna spoke very little English, but we still connected through smiles, gestures and cooking together. We shared aperitivo and bruschetta before making the pasta." As a solo traveller, Diego appreciated how her nonna created a sense of community before the class even began. She left the experience with a fully belly and, despite the language barrier, new friends. "It was a reminder that genuine hospitality doesn't always require words," she said.

Since her trip, Diego plans to research more granny-led experiences for future holidays, citing the nurturing care as a key part of the allure. "[It] made me feel instantly at home. This showed me that some of the most meaningful travel experiences come from learning directly from locals whose knowledge has been shaped over a lifetime."

In my case, learning Thai massage from older women feels like I am benefitting from their decades-long knowledge of the traditional healing system. Learning from women, who have, in turn, learnt from their own mothers and grandmothers, feels very special. And soothing: during our breaks, as we sit sipping small stumpy glasses of Thai iced tea, my fellow classmates and I discuss how relaxing it is to spend time with our instructors. Outside the classroom walls, Bangkok's motorbikes beep and hawkers shout, but inside, there is a feeling of tranquility, thanks to the quiet confidence of our teachers. And, perhaps, being away from our phones.

The intergenerational exchange

As well as offering feelings of safety and calm, matriarchs can also pass on knowledge, traditional skills and local customs which may otherwise be lost. They may also offer younger travellers the confidence to be comfortable in their own skin.

Weeks after my Thai adventures, I find myself in an onsen (outdoor public bath) in Beppu, Japan. Bathing in a Japanese hot spring is something I have been looking forward to my whole trip, but as I undress, I'm suddenly nervous about the ritual of nude Japanese bathing. I'd hoped to slip unnoticed into the bubbling pool, but there is a shriek of excitement.

Three older women are enthusiastically beckoning me to join them. How can I refuse? I inch over and lower myself into the piping hot water, before a barrage of questions begins: "Why are you here alone?" "Where are you staying in Beppu?" "Do you know my son? He lives in London!"

Thanks to their unbridled joy, my awkwardness soon slips away. It's hard to feel embarrassed when you're squeezed between ladies old enough to be your grandmothers, gently squeezing your cheek and telling you how beautiful you are. I can see the appeal of the Japanese "rent a granny" service offers services to tourists ranging from cooking classes to 'rent a friend' to show you the sights.

Professional skateboarder Brooke Johnson, 29, spent a day with a grandma in Tokyo, visiting Tsukiji Market. Together the pair ate sushi and Wagyu beef, before trying their luck on the claw machines and doing a photo booth together.

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As Japan battles its own loneliness epidemic, Johnson felt like the benefits of the experience worked both ways. "Even though Misa and I didn't speak the same language, somewhere between the food, the laughter and the claw machines, it stopped feeling like I rented a grandma and started feeling like family," she said on her social media.

Psychologist and author Terri Apter, who specialises in family dynamics, identity and relationships, says that the benefits of intergenerational relationships work both ways. While younger people gain from years of experience, grandmas are keen to keep busy and share their skills. There are also health benefits to spending time with younger people, she says. "Young people will undoubtedly get a very warm reception from older people. Because if you look at phases of development across the lifespan, one need, or 'developmental task' of older age is generativity, which means giving. Being engaged with and teaching younger people is extremely good for older people's mood, their health and their longevity."

That's why Kate Wright began teaching tourists how to make Irish dishes like brown bread and stew in her cosy home kitchen in Galway, Ireland.

"Many of the recipes have been passed down through generations and it's very rewarding to keep those traditions alive while introducing them to younger people," she says. "I love seeing guests gain confidence in the kitchen and enjoy the social side of cooking together."

Wright also believes that younger visitors appreciate the opportunity to slow down and experience something authentic and hands-on. "In a world where so much time is spent on phones and technology, cooking classes offer a chance to switch off. Guests often tell me they enjoy meeting new people, hearing stories and taking home recipes and memories that last long after their trip has ended."

Back at Watpo Massage School, our teachers present us with certificates at the end of our course. Rose hands me mine, smiling with a maternal pride and gives me a thumbs up. My heart swells and I feel genuinely happy that I've made my Thai granny proud.

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Ride Argentina's first solar train through 10,000 years of Indigenous history

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260710-ride-argentinas-first-solar-train-through-10000-years-of-indigenous-history, 6 days ago

The zero-emissions luxury train is taking travellers through rainbow mountains, Indigenous villages and a 10,000-year-old cultural corridor.

The train – a sleek, glass-sided, two-carriage capsule – looked almost too futuristic for the landscape it was about to enter. As it eased out of the historic village of Volcán, panpipe music drifted through the carriage and the Quebrada de Humahuaca opened around us, a narrow, high-altitude valley of thorn scrub, red earth and folded peaks that has carried people, goods and beliefs for more than 10,000 years.

This is one of South America's oldest cultural corridors, a route first crossed by hunter-gatherers around 9000BC and later travelled by Indigenous traders, Inca messengers, Spanish colonists, muleteers and railway workers. Today, another chapter has been added to that long history: Latin America’s first solar-powered train.

Launched in June 2024, the Quebrada Solar Train revives part of a 19th-Century railway through Indigenous villages in Argentina's Jujuy province. The 42km (21.6 mile) route links historic villages where pre-Inca, Inca and living Andean traditions still overlap. Along the way, it follows part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the vast Inca road network that once connected communities across the Andes, from present-day Colombia to Argentina and Chile.

But the train is not just a sustainable way to sightsee through Andean mountains and adobe villages. Officials hope the zero-emissions railway will bring tourism income to communities and archaeological sites along the valley, helping younger residents remain on ancestral land while honouring the values that have long shaped life here: respect for Pachamama (Mother Earth), reciprocity and balance.

And for visitors, it offers the chance to travel through a landscape where ancient traditions remain part of everyday life.

Slow travel through a living valley

Travelling at modest 33km/h (20.5mph), the train gives me time to study the valley as we leave Volcán for our first stop at Tumbaya. Thanks to around 300 sunny days a year, the carriages glide almost silently through the landscape. Around me are mostly Argentine tourists and retired couples rather than international visitors, all settling in for a leisurely day of culture and history. Long stretches of greenery slip past the window, with deep crevices cutting into the slopes and cactus-studded hills rising on each side. The ride is so gentle that when we arrive, I barely feel the train come to a halt.

From the station, our onboard guide, Nestor Mariotti, leads us through Tumbaya's cobblestone streets, past two labourers patching the wall of a small home. "I bet you don't see this type of brick at home," Mariotti says to me, pointing out the sun-dried clay bricks used in many of the village buildings. "It's traditional here, a technique taught from father to son for over 1,000 years."

We pause again at the bold yellow Nuestra Señora de los Dolores Church. Today the village is almost silent, but Mariotti tells me that only a few weeks earlier, before Holy Week, hundreds of thousands of devotees had passed through for the Punta Corral pilgrimage into the mountains. "This is one of the most important places for us in the Quebrada de Humahuaca," he says. "It might be extremely quiet here today, but a few weeks ago it was overflowing with people."

Onwards through the valley, the land becomes drier and more barren streaks of red begin to appear in the pointed peaks. At Purmamarca Station, we transfer into minivans and snake 3.5km (2 miles) along a side road towards the village. Other than the cloudless sky, everything has a rosy hue. Behind the village's low adobe buildings, the famous Cerro de los Siete Colores (the Hill of Seven Colours) rises in bands of pink, red, purple and ochre.

In the main square, artisan stalls spill over with ponchos, blankets and belts made from hand-spun llama wool, alongside clay pots, cardón cactus lamps and baskets of coca leaves. A few streets away is the entrance to the Paseo de los Colorados, a 30-minute trail looping through the Mars-like mountains.

"If you see cans or bottles in a pile, please leave them there," says Maria Aguero, the ticket officer at the gate. "These, [along with] coca leaves and cigarettes, are spiritual offerings." The items are left on small stone cairns, known as apachetas, as a way of expressing gratitude to Pachamama and asking for safe onward travel. In Juyjuy, similar rituals continue throughout the year, and some smaller offerings remain part of daily life.

Ancient routes, everyday traditions

Back on the train, we continue to Hornillos, where branches of red, yellow and purple flowers line the path from the station. Passing an old two-wheeled farming cart, we soon reach the Postal Museum of Los Hornillos, where our museum guide, Alberto, is waiting for us.

"During the 18th Century, passing merchants and couriers came here to catch up on sleep while travelling between Buenos Aires and Upper Peru, which is now known as Bolivia," he says. "But as you'll see inside, the human history of the Quebrada de Humahuaca dates back [more than] 10,000 years before this place was built."

Inside the large single-storey estate, the valley's long human history comes to life. I learn that it was first used by nomadic hunter-gatherer communities around 9000BC, then became a trade route for the Indigenous Omaguaca people, who moved salt and clay pottery through the valley. Later, it was claimed and paved by the Inca Empire before becoming the Royal Silver Road during the Spanish conquest in the 16th Century.

As we glide towards Maimará back on the train, the landscape softens into agriculture, with vineyards, orchards and 1,500-year-old walled terraces where quinoa has been grown for more than a millennium.

Outside Maimará station, a market is filled with the sweet, earthy smell of black mint, Andean saffron and medicinal muña-muña (a native herb). Crates of red, purple, white and brown Andean potatoes sit beside ripe peaches, figs and grapes. Feeling peckish, I head to the plaza and order a quinoa and goat cheese empanada from La Casa de las Empanadas.

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Humita en chala and tamales are also on the menu, both steamed corn-based dishes that date back thousands of years. When I ask Miriam, the owner, about her business, she tells me she is "very happy that the train brings more customers every day, so I can keep cooking and share the food of our ancestors with people who aren’t from here".

At the train's final stop, Tilcara, it’s a 30-minute walk up to the Pucará de Tilcara archaeological site. This pre-Inca stone fortress was built by the Omaguaca more than 1,100 years ago and it is thought that up to 2,000 people once lived here. From its hilltop walls, it's easy to understand why communities settled here: the valley stretches in every direction, both defensible and fertile. Below, artisan markets continue the traditions of weaving and pottery that have been practised here for centuries.

Before we return to Volcán, Mariotti shares a final thought. "Years ago, there was no work here except during vacations; today, we have steady employment," he says. "By coming here, you are giving young people and future generations the opportunity to stay in our towns, to study, to professionalise ourselves, and most importantly, to work here on our land without the need to migrate to the big city.

So, while you spend a few days of rest and relaxation here in my province, it completely changes our lives."

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Mauritania: A rare glimpse at one of the world's least-visited nations

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260710-mauritania-a-rare-glimpse-at-one-of-the-worlds-least-visited-nations, 7 days ago

Located almost entirely in the Sahara, Mauritania is home to centuries-old cities, desert oases and a coastal spectacle so vast you can see it from space.

In an age when it's increasingly easy to explore the furthest reaches of the world – from the tallest mountains to the most remote islands – there are still entire countries that few travellers ever see. One such place is Mauritania.

With approximately 90% of its land located within the Sahara Desert, Mauritania is one of the world's least-densely populated and least-visited nations. Because of a lack of tourism infrastructure and security concerns, fewer than 10,000 international travellers arrive each year in the sand-swept, sun-bleached country, compared to several million who visit neighbouring Algeria and Senegal. But Mauritania hasn't suffered a terrorist attack since 2011, and according to the Global Terrorism Index, the nation is less affected by terrorism than most European nations.

During a recent three-week solo journey, I used a mixture of public transportation and 4x4 hired pick-ups to crisscross the nation, and never once felt unsafe. Along the way, I discovered mythical desert oases, fabled cities that once flourished along trans-Saharan trade routes plied by camel caravans and a fishing culture along its Atlantic coast so rich you can see glimpses of it from space.

A sea of boats

After crossing the border from Western Sahara, my Mauritanian odyssey started in Nouadhibou, the country's second-largest city and its most important fishing port. Thanks to the Canary Current, which pulls deep, nutrient-rich waters up towards the surface along Mauritania's northern coast, huge concentrations of sardinella, mackerel, sabres and octopus thrive here. As such, thousands of fishing pirogues dock along the harbour, waiting for the right conditions to cast their nets. The concentration of boats is so vast that it even is visible from space.

A capital rising from the Sahara

"Welcome to Mauritania!" a man in a small black sedan said to me when I flagged down a taxi in Nouakchott after a seven-hour bus ride south from Nouadhibou. The man refused to accept payment for the ride and then clarified: "I'm not a taxi. I only picked you up because you're a foreigner and I wanted to know what you think of my country."

Roughly one-third of Mauritania's five million people live in its coastal capital, Nouakchott. Dynamic, noisy and vibrant, Nouakchott reminded me of many African capitals at first glance, but with one important exception: it seems to rise magically from the Sahara. Beyond the city centre, where modern government buildings and mosques line paved roads, most streets remain covered in sand, giving the 1.6-million-person capital the feel of an enormous, welcoming village.

Camel culture

A 30-minute taxi drive east from Nouakchott's modern sprawl, a more traditional side of the nation emerges. There are roughly two million camels in Mauritania, and residents have long relied on them for everything from meat and milk production to transport. Members of the Mauritanian military even ride them to patrol the border in remote desert areas.

The Beila dromedary camel market is the second largest in Africa and a popular day trip from Nouakchott. Here, hundreds of camels are exhibited and shown to potential buyers, with would-be purchasers paying upwards of $1,000 (£748) per animal.

A bus-camping odyssey

Starting in the 1970s, the remote regions in the far east of Mauritania were gradually connected to the new capital Nouakchott when construction started on the Route de l'Espoir (Road of Hope). By the early 1980s, the road had reached the city of Néma, roughly 1,100km into the desert, and while it now serves as the nation's main east-west artery, it still takes more than a day to reach Néma from Nouakchott.

Néma is the gateway to the historic caravan town of Oualata, which is part of a Unesco World Heritage site encompassing four other ancient Mauritanian cities. So from Nouakchott, I piled into a bus and headed east into the desert that regularly stopped so Muslim passengers could pray. Near midnight, we suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere and the driver told us it was time to sleep. Instead of falling asleep on the bus, people laid their mats out in the Sahara and we slept under the Milky Way.

A striking desert outpost

When we finally arrived in Néma, I hired a seat in a shared 4x4 to reach Oualata. After the driver navigated through a maze of tracks in desert sand (and 51 hours after setting out from Nouakchott) I finally arrived in Oualata. Once there, I unexpectedly met the mayor, Sidaty Dieh, who told me that tourists once flocked to the city en route to Mali and Timbuktu, but since crossing the border is now dangerous, fewer than 30 international travellers now come to Oualata each year.

Oualata is one of the most striking places in the country, both for its historic importance and its geographical isolation. The town is famous for its red-earth architecture decorated with intricate geometric paintings made by local women. Sadly, there are not many economic opportunities for the new generations, and many leave for Nouakchott and other cities, leaving these stunning old houses partially abandoned. Some others rely on the informal economy, such as working as itinerant bread sellers with a wooden board that operates as a fully mobile storefront.

Ancient texts

In Oualata, ancient manuscripts from the trans-Saharan caravans survived, not because of institutions or formal libraries, but because families hid and preserved them across generations in their private homes. Many families still keep these documents, and after asking a few residents if they knew of any who still have them, they pointed me towards this family, which welcomed me into their living room to show me their ancient manuscripts.

A centuries-old desert city

Alongside Oualata, Chinguetti is another Unesco World Heritage site and one of Africa's most historic caravan cities. Yet, the easiest way to get there is from the capital, so after bumping back to Nouakchott from Oualata, I hired a seat in a 4x4 and climbed into the Adrar plateau and towards the Ebnou pass, where 720m (2,362ft) elevation and cooler temperatures awaited. After descending into the rocky desert again, I eventually saw the city rising from the sand.

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Founded in the 8th Century, Chinguetti rose to prominence during the 13th Century as a fortified trading centre for Saharan caravans transporting salt, gold and manuscripts. But after more than a millennium, Chinguetti is now threatened by the Sahara's advancing sea of dunes that engulf it. Houses are built from local stone and mud, causing the town to blend seamlessly into the desert landscape. Some abandoned houses are already half-buried by dunes.

An Islamic pillar

The minaret of the ancient mosque of Chinguetti is said to be the second oldest in continuous use in the Muslim world, and the town is often called the "seventh holiest city of Islam". Starting in the 13th Century, it became a major centre of Islamic scholarship, with pilgrims and scholars coming here to study. Today, non-Muslim visitors can only see the mosque from outside a walled enclosure, where this photograph was taken.

Ancient libraries

Chinguetti is home to several libraries that preserve ancient manuscripts and books on astronomy, geometry, medicine, poetry and Islamic law. Many of these centuries-old texts arrived via trans-Saharan caravans from North Africa, while others were authored by local scholars. According to local librarian Saif al-Islam, Chinguetti used to have many more libraries, but over the years, many families have left the city and taken their books with them.

In 2000, after a failed attempt to build a museum to preserve the most important documents, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) decided to restore the traditional libraries within Chinguetti's medieval ksar (fortified village), preserving the fragile texts right where they have been protected for centuries. Unlike Chinguetti's ancient mosque, these libraries are open to everyone. With so few international visitors, owners are often happy to open their doors to visitors for a small tip, and explain local history while showing you ancient scripts.

A desert oasis

After so much driving, I decided to rest, recover and eat dates in a desert oasis before leaving Mauritania. Within the nation's vast interior, oases offer a rare stroke of green amidst the nation's monotonous earthen colours. Famous for their clusters of palm trees, these oases sometimes grow in the innermost depths of canyons where they're shielded from the Sun's rays.

This is the case of the oasis of Terjit, located just 45km (28 miles) south of the regional capital Atar. In many ways, Terjit represents the beauty and resilience of life in the Sahara – and Mauritania in general. For centuries, even amidst some of Earth's most extreme conditions, travellers, scholars and wanderers have been lured to this land to share stories, ideas and discover a distant corner of this vast desert.

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The return of Canada's 'breathtaking, must-see hike'

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260708-a-return-of-canadas-breathtaking-must-see-hike, 10 days ago

With its glacier-fed waterfalls and turquoise lakes, the Berg Lake Trail is one of North America's most spectacular alpine treks. Now, a long-awaited backcountry hut is changing the way visitors experience this Canadian classic.

Mud squelches beneath my boots as I move through a tunnel of trees. After climbing a series of steep switchbacks up a valley wall, my legs are burning when spray from a thundering waterfall I can't see hits my face.

The steady roar of water has rung in my ears since I passed White Falls, the first in a series of cascades cutting through the Robson River Gorge and spilling into the aptly named Valley of a Thousand Falls below. When I finally emerge through an opening in the forest, I see it, rising in the distance behind the powerful rush of Emperor Falls: Mount Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

I'm 9.3 miles (15km) deep on the recently reopened Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park, located just west of Jasper National Park in British Columbia. This 26-30-mile (42-48km) round-trip route is one of Canada's most famous backcountry trails and reveals some of North America's most spectacular alpine scenery. I've hiked the trail three times, but now, a new alpine hut is letting travellers experience the area in a whole new way: by spending the night in Mount Robson's shadow.

Beginning at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre, the route rises from towering old-growth forest into a dramatic alpine valley filled with tumbling, glacier-fed cascades. Here, hikers are treated to unforgettable panoramas of Mount Robson before arriving at the turquoise Berg Lake.

In May 2026, after decades of planning, and a year after the Berg Lake Trail reopened after a catastrophic flood, the brand-new Robson Pass Hut opened near the northern end of the trail. Set directly beneath Mount Robson at Robson Pass, the two-storey backcountry hut offers an intimate, close-up view of the iconic mountain that hikers don't see from most of the trail.

From the building's front door, Mount Robson rises almost directly overhead. The hut's opening means backpackers no longer need to carry their camping gear some 12 miles (20km) up the mountain if they wish to spend the night. It also allows them to spend more time in the trail's upper reaches rather than rushing back down the valley on a day hike. And in winter, it provides would-be campers a much more comfortable base for ski touring.

For Calgary hiker Amanda Elia, the experience of hiking the trail is difficult to put into words.

"It's simply breathtaking," she says. "A must-see hike."

During the three- to four-day journey, travellers pass icefields tumbling into azure alpine lakes, glaciers calving with the force of an avalanche and snowcapped peaks dwarfed by the iconic Mount Robson itself.

Few mountains dominate their surroundings quite like this 12,972ft (3,954m) behemoth, which is capped by glacial fields that plummet some 2,625ft (800m) into the turquoise Berg Lake below. In fact, the first glimpse of the peak from the highway as you approach the park's visitor centre, can feel almost unreal.

"You need time to process how beautiful it is," says Elia.

For veteran hiker Matt Sombert, who has backpacked the trail five times, the views also inspire reflection. "It's poignant, though it is fleeting" he says. "With [the] glaciers retreating… these views are not expected to last another 100 years."

Traditionally, trekkers would sleep at one of six backcountry campsites located along the trail. Though hikers gain 2,624-3,280ft (800m-1,000m) of elevation during the hike, the initial 5-mile (8km) stretch to Kinney Lake (where the first backcountry campsite is located) is accessible to bikes, prams, wheelchairs and walkers.

The hut itself began as an early-2000s proposal to BC Parks, to increase and improve lodging options as the trail swelled in popularity. With space for 12 guests, it offers a more intimate alternative to the larger, often-crowded Berg Lake Campground. But the build was repeatedly stalled by funding gaps, shifting priorities and the pandemic.

Then in June 2021, a heat dome settled over Western Canada, accelerating snowmelt before heavy rains triggered devastating floods. More than 600 people died across the country, while the Berg Lake Trail was so badly damaged that hikers had to be evacuated by helicopter and the route was closed for the 2022 hiking season.

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The trail reopened in three phases between June 2023 and June 2025. Throughout its restoration, the aim was to rebuild the trail with climate resilience in mind. BC Parks staff, engineers and contractors worked together to reduce river crossings and limit time spent in floodplains, creating a more sustainable path up towards the new hut.

For hikers returning after the floods, the rebuilt sections have been thoughtfully executed. "All the work put into it is very apparent and well done," says Sombert, who first backpacked the trail in 2000. Walking alongside him for the first time, Stephanie Dean notices the same attention to detail, reflecting that "it was clear that a lot of effort was put into making it as safe as possible while going over different terrain".

That care is especially evident in the stretch between Kinney Flats and Whitehorn where the trail moves through a section of inland temperate rainforest. As Sombert describes it, the path "twists and undulates", following the natural contours of the forest rather than cutting through it.

Only after the trail fully reopened could the hut construction move forward. Ahead of its May opening, reservations sold out almost immediately. "I think it surprised even us how quickly it went," says Krista Robinson, from the Alpine Club of Canada, which built and runs the hut.

The hut itself is a shared, bunk-style refuge with communal spaces designed for hikers and climbers. It faces the surrounding alpine peaks and valleys, keeping the landscape constantly present and making the environment the main experience. Sleeping quarters are located downstairs for cooler, quieter rest, while the upper level opens into a light-filled common space and a large deck with sweeping alpine views of the Emperor Face wall, Robson Glacier and Mount Resplendent.

First impressions at the opening ceremony were immediate and unfiltered.

"Honestly, it was just – wow, this is nice," recalls Robinson.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests quickly gravitated to the hut's deck before gathering inside, where "it turned into a very classic hut experience", says Robinson. "People sitting together, sharing stories and reconnecting."

I also feel this sense of reconnection while treading along the newly remodelled trail, catching my first glimpse of Berg Lake since the flood. The cerulean water is an open door, quietly inviting me in. I wade into its icy water, letting the cold wash away the distance the disaster had created between me and this place.

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Fears staff car parking charges could 'cripple' Cardiff businesses

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk5d042gryo, yesterday

A business fears proposals to charge Cardiff employers thousands of pounds for staff parking could "cripple" employers in the city.

Larger firms could have to pay Cardiff Council £750 for each staff parking space, under plans due to be consulted on.

The AA said a so-called workplace parking levy could be viewed as a tax on workers, while others fear it could drive firms out of the city.

But some welcomed the extra money it would generate, which the council said would be used on public transport.

It said the money raised by the scheme would be spent on city transport projects like buses and cycle lanes, with the proposals aimed at encouraging workers to walk, cycle or use public transport.

Julie Keeler, 60, has run an engineering firm in the capital for 35 years, but believes the plan could put additional pressure on businesses.

"It's crippling them - I think it will force them out," she said.

Keeler said she had decided to close her firm and retire because of the costs being piled on to businesses.

"We go all over. We've had to lay off 25 people this year because of petrol, and [parking] zones - it's not worth taking the job.

"You can't put your prices up in this day and age - we've run it for 35 years, there's no point".

Keeler believes too much money has already been spent on cycle lanes in Cardiff.

"They should spend it on something else, I think we're desperate for a lot more than cycle lanes," she said.

However, others disagree.

Luke Moore, 33, commutes into Cardiff city centre every morning by train, and would like to see more money put into public transport.

He refuses to park in Cardiff for work because of the "extortionate" prices - recently paying £20 for two hours.

"I refuse to park in Cardiff because it's so expensive, I get the train in from outside," he said.

Even if he had a staff parking space, Moore said he would continue to use the train, and hopes the council uses any extra money to improve public transport.

"It's easier to commute by train than it is to drive in Cardiff, especially on event days because you can't get out," he said.

Living Streets, a charity that promotes walking, said Cardiff was one of the most congested cities in the UK.

Spokesperson Ruth Billingham said a levy could lead to a "greener, more friendly Cardiff".

"Busy streets, air pollution and a lack of joined-up routes from train stations and bus stops all put people off walking and wheeling more.

"In Nottingham, where a workplace parking levy has been in place since 2012, congestion has fallen.”

She added that fees from the workplace parking levy had been used to double the existing tram network, develop rail networks and create an all-electric park and ride.

"At Living Streets, we believe a workplace parking levy could be part of the solution in Cardiff," she said.

What is a workplace parking levy?

A workplace parking levy (WPL) is an annual charge paid by some businesses to a council based on its number of employee parking spaces.

Cardiff council said it would prefer to introduce a parking space charge over a congestion charge, but the scheme is in its early stages.

It is not known which businesses may be affected or how much they would be charged per space.

The council will launch a public consultation for residents and businesses to share their views this summer.

The council said it expected the levy to raise somewhere in the region of £10m per year, depending on discounts and exemptions, with an estimated set-up cost of between £3m and £5m.

A WPL is currently in operation in Nottingham, where the cost per workplace parking space is £592 per year for employers who provide 11 or more liable places, but Bristol and Oxford have outlined plans to introduce it.

Cardiff Council said the £750 figure was for "the purposes of analysis" and was "subject to change".

Engineer Paul Thornton wonders whether a parking levy may actually force larger employers out of the city, impacting the economy.

"The cost to the employers - it's a bit of a stealth tax on businesses, what does that mean long term? Does that mean they'll move out of Cardiff, it could be counterproductive," he said.

Staff parking was "essential", he said, adding it was "not always easy to catch public services".

"It's an additional cost, when they're bringing a benefit to the city.

"The employees who work in the city obviously spend their money on local services," he said.

Luke Bosdet from AA said a parking levy could be seen as "a tax on workers".

"City centre workers are some of the most regular and best consumers and customers feeding money into shops and services, at a time when town and city centres are seeing lower footfall and spending," he said.

"Undermining that source of income, because the workers are having to fork out more of their money on travel and parking means they'll have less to spend in shops - it's not very clever."

One major city centre employer, Hodge Bank, said it would follow the parking space consultation "with interest".

Charlie Ellaway, chief people officer said the bank offered season ticket loans for Cardiff Bus and Transport for Wales, along with access to the government's Cycle to Work scheme.

"Encouraging more people to make use of public transport is undoubtedly a positive step towards reducing carbon emissions so, more investment into better transport links is certainly needed," she said.

"The consultation process will make it clear whether parking space charges are the way to do that."

Speaking earlier this week, Dan De'Ath, the council's cabinet member for environment, said its current funding levels were "simply insufficient".

He described the scheme as "our chance to really give people the bus service they deserve" and build the type of transport system that "people on the continent take for granted and have had for years".

The WPL could play a large role in "unlocking the economic potential of Cardiff" and "unlocking a transport system that is fair", he said.

Disappointment as towns miss out on culture prize

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ced4dgn566qo, 2 days ago

"Disappointed - but we will build on it" seems to be the main take from those who made bids to get three towns shortlisted for the inaugural UK Town of Culture award 2028.

Fifteen towns were shortlisted last week, however neither Slough, Woodley or Newbury made the cut - the winner will be announced next year.

Vineet Vijh from Viva Slough who was leading the bid for Slough in the large towns category said everyone was "very disappointed".

"It was all done by people giving their time for free but we are now even more determined to make Slough an amazing place to live," he said.

Vijh cited several reasons why he thought Slough's bid should have been successful but said he wasn't thinking of making another bid.

"We are a town of pioneers and if you go back in history, this is where a number of new things originated from," he said.

"The different types of communities that live here and get along here is another big strength - the creative potential of this town is unparalleled.

"We now have ambitions for making Slough into a creative hub, where art and culture is embedded into every person's psyche and use that as a means of economic development over the next 10 years."

Brian Fennelly, Woodley Town Centre Manager helped put their bid forward in the medium towns category.

It's disappointing - we were keen to sell Woodley's uniqueness," he said.

"We feel that the community spirit and the cultural opportunities that we offer is our key point but we are keen to enter the next competition if there is one."

Newbury also put itself forward for the medium towns category and councillor Nigel Foot believed they had a "lot to offer" but would see how their bid can be improved in the future.

"We are definitely disappointed," he said.

Newbury is an old established town, going back to Norman Times - Thomas Hardy wrote about us. We have a thriving cultural scene, the whole package, but we'll learn from it."

Jeanette Howse, Business Development Executive at Tourism South East says she was surprised no Berkshire towns made the short-list.

"I would have thought at least one of them would have got into the last fifteen but I am also surprised some of the other towns didn't put in a bid," she said.

Kath Wynne-Hague, head of culture at Hull City Council played a key role in her city winning UK City of Culture award in 2017.

She said it took a lot of community engagement and celebrating the small stories as well as the big ones to achieve their success.

"It's a huge effort to deliver a year of culture whether it's a city or a town, so ensuring you keep that energy going forward is really important," she said.

"Having witnessed what this award does to a place I am now a firm believer of how important it is to the local community."

Shortlisted towns will now receive £60,000 each to develop their full bids, which will be assessed by the independent judging panel.

One finalist will then be selected from each category with the overall winner being announced early next year.

The competition is part of the government's ambition to restore pride in local areas in every part of Britain and deliver a decade of national renewal, following the announcement of the Pride in Place Programme last year.

New law will remove 32 million annual passenger cap at Dublin Airport

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3q8g1n7nzo, 3 days ago

The Irish president has signed off on a new law to remove a limit to the number of people who can fly from Dublin Airport each year.

Known as the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Act 2026, the legislation will grant the minister for transport powers to lift the 32 million annual passenger restriction.

The passenger cap, introduced in 2007, has been a subject of significant opposition from the aviation sector, and in 2024 was suspended by a High Court ruling.

Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien said the new legislation "recognises the strategic importance of Dublin Airport as our primary international gateway".

The law was passed in the Dáil Éireann earlier this week and signed off by President Catherine Connolly on Thursday.

The 32 million passenger-per-year cap is currently suspended pending a European Court ruling.

Irish national broadcaster RTÉ has reported the airport overshot the limit by four million passengers last year.

In 2024 it was reported that Leinster Rugby would have had to fly to some away games from Belfast due to the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

Last year Dublin Airport was granted planning permission to increase the number of night-time flights it could operate.

Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien has said he wants all environmental assessments completed within the "strict timelines set out in the act", so he can "amend or revoke the passenger cap as soon as possible".

One of the reasons the cap was introduced by planners back in 2007 was to mitigate road congestion in the area around the airport.

Some local residents still support the cap, as do environmentalists groups who see it as a way of restraining a high-emission sector.

Supporters of the new law, such as Irish, European and American airlines, warn that keeping the cap could be economically detrimental for Ireland.

How tacos became Norway's national comfort food

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260709-how-tacos-became-norways-national-comfort-food, 9 days ago

An oil boom, a supermarket opportunity and decades of adaptation transformed the taco from a Tex-Mex import into one of Norway's most beloved traditions.

It is Friday night in Bergen, Norway. Emil has rushed home from work and is busy laying the table while his wife Sofie sprinkles seasoning over a dish and their children carry bowls of toppings to the dining room. Like many families across the country, they're gathering for a cherished weekly ritual.

But they aren't eating dried cod or fresh Atlantic salmon. They're eating tacos.

The start of Norway's weekly taco obsession

Every Friday, millions of Norwegians take part in tacofredag (Taco Friday), a custom that has become a fixture of Norwegian family life.

This distinctly Norwegian tradition began thousands of miles away, in the US state of Texas. When Norway started drilling for oil in the North Sea in the late 1960s, it needed expertise from abroad. Among the arrivals were Texan oil workers and consultants, who brought not only knowledge of drilling but a taste for Tex-Mex.

A canny Norwegian shopkeeper in Stavanger began importing international food to serve this new community, and over the following decades supermarkets started stocking Old El Paso and Santa Maria Tex-Mex supermarket kits. What began as an expatriate craving slowly became a national ritual.

Today supermarket aisles across Norway are full of pre-packaged Tex-Mex food, stocked with brightly coloured boxes of taco shells, seasoning mixes and mild salsa. Tacos are now so embedded in Norwegian food culture that the country's statistics bureau has even created a "Taco Index" to track the price of typical taco ingredients. The obsession even extends to Norway's most famous footballer: in a "day in the life" video, Erling Haaland says tacos are "one of my favourite things".

"The Norwegian taco is a state of mind – it's like asking a Swedish person what fika is," says food writer Helle Øder Valebrokk, journalist and author of Taco!, an award-nominated Norwegian recipe book featuring a taco recipe for every Friday of the year. "I call it the Norwegian Happy Meal: on Taco Friday, you make your own tacos with the meat, vegetables and salsa, so everyone gets what they want."

The result is a food tradition that is neither Mexican nor entirely Texan, but something Norway has made unmistakeably its own.

The Norwegianisation of the taco

What made tacofredag take hold while other imported foods remained occasional novelties was how neatly they solved a Norwegian problem – how to make Friday dinner feel communal and low-key after a busy week. Supermarket kits made tacos simple, bowls of toppings made them customisable and the loose Tex-Mex definition of "taco" made them easy to adapt to local tastes.

"In everyday life in Norway, a family dinner is not an event," says Valebrokk. "People are busy, children go to sports clubs and many families will not sit down together to eat. On a Friday, that changes: it is a holy day for Norwegians when they finally relax together."

The Norwegian taco is a far cry from traditional Mexican tacos. It is typically hard shelled, filled with minced beef, and topped with cheese, sour cream and lettuce. It's less about culinary authenticity than simplicity and participation.

But there is room for creativity. Over time, Norwegians have adapted the taco to local tastes and ingredients. In the hunter-led northern reaches, reindeer and moose can appear in place of beef, while smoked salmon, shrimp and other fish versions crop up along the coast.

At the Bocuse d'Or in Trondheim in 2024, chef Siriyaporn Mymint Rithisirikrerg created a tortilla filled with stockfish, the historic produce of the Lofoten Archipelago where she works, in tribute to the Friday taco.

Valebrokk's own book includes recipes with reindeer, Norwegian cod and vegetarian fillings, with pickled redcurrants as a topping. She is now working on a Norwegian version of tequila, made from citrus-flavoured aquavit, to accompany them.

The authenticity debate

Not everyone sees the Nordic version as a taco in the traditional sense. Mexican chef Montserrat Garza, who has lived in Norway for nine years and runs Oslo restaurant La Mayor, was surprised when she first encountered Taco Friday.

"The first time I ate a Norwegian taco was at my ex-boyfriend's house," she said. "It was really nice to enjoy sharing food in a family style in Norway – it's not so common to do that here – and I find it a really beautiful tradition. But I would never do it myself."

Her objections are less about the ritual than the toppings like lettuce – something that, as a Mexican, she would never add – and the Norwegian habit of calling almost anything "taco" if it contains taco seasoning.

"I've seen a taco pizza on sale," she said. "It does not make any sense!"

Valebrokk, however, sees the Norwegian taco not as failed authenticity but as adaptation – a dish absorbed, altered and made local. She points to the lomper, Norway's soft potato flatbread, as evidence that the country had its own taco-like traditions long before Tex-Mex arrived.

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"You could say we have been eating tacos for longer than the Mexicans if you consider the lomper," she said. "At Christmas – in a kind of Christmas taco if you like – we serve them rolled up with fermented fish, sour cream and onion inside them."

Today, some Norwegians are making their own tortillas and seeking out more authentic versions. But after half a century of adaptation, the Norwegian taco remains unmistakably Norwegian: not quite Mexican, not quite Texan, and now as much as Friday-night ritual as a meal.

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The rainbow magic of Italy's lentil bloom

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260713-the-rainbow-magic-of-italys-lentil-bloom, 3 days ago

Each summer, the plains surrounding a tiny Umbrian village are transformed into one of Italy's most photographed landscapes – all thanks to a humble legume.

Each summer, from late May to early July, the high-altitude plateau surrounding the hilltop village of Castelluccio di Norcia explode in a rainbow of red, purple, blue and yellow. But the culprit behind this unique floral display isn't a flower – it's the humble lentil.

Sown throughout the plains for generations, the lentil crop fosters the ideal environment for wildflowers to thrive, creating a dazzling multicolour spectacle. Thousands come to witness the annual lentil bloom, known as the fioritura, for themselves.

The blooming of hope

In 2016, an earthquake devastated the Castelluccio di Norcia. Today, only nine people live there year-round. Around the main square, a handful of bars, agriturismi and shops selling local products remain, while many restaurants and businesses have relocated to temporary premises below the village. Many former locals now commute daily from nearby the nearby town of Norcia. As the village slowly rebuilds, the annual bloom has become a symbol of its resilience.

From ancient waters to a sea of colour

Arriving at the three plains adjacent to the village – Pian Grande, Pian Piccolo and Pian Perduto – it's hard to believe that this sprawling landscape was once covered by water. Over millennia, earthquakes, glaciers, rain and erosion have resulted in fertile soils and a microclimate that create perfect conditions for the bloom. The rare coexistence between traditional agriculture and wild nature allows dozens of flower species to transform the plateau into a mosaic of colour.

The shy, mighty lentil

As I stroll along the plain's designated paths, I hear visitors asking: "Which one is the lentil?"

The lentil flower itself is easily overlooked, ranging from white to pale lilac, while the plant rarely grows taller than 20-30cm (8-12in). During the growing season, the colours of the fioritura are created mainly by wildflowers that naturally grow among the crop. As a low-growing, nitrogen-fixing legume, the lentil enriches the soil while allowing sunlight to reach the native flowers growing nearby. Golden expanses of wild mustard and rapeseed appear first, followed by the intense red of poppies and, when weather conditions permit, the blue of cornflowers together with the violet-pink blossoms of roveja (wild field pea).

Harvested between July and August, the petite lentil of Castelluccio di Norcia is prized for its creamy flavour and resilient skin, which holds its shape when cooked. Rich in protein, iron and fibre, it was awarded an IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) in 1999. Traditionally, they are cooked in simple soups or served alongside local sausages.

The perfect shot

Thanks to social media, the lentil bloom is now one of Italy's most photographed landscapes. Every summer, photographers, hikers, motorcyclists and visitors come to Pian Grande in search of the perfect shot.

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"Tourism has never abandoned us," says local tour operator Angela Testa of Castelluccio Dream Experience. From late spring onwards, she sees visitors arriving from abroad, followed later in the season by many Italians.

The cost of beauty

Each summer, the people of Castelluccio welcome visitors eager to experience the fields, the village and the farming traditions that have defined this place for generations. But for the locals, the bloom is just one fleeting moment of the year. Tourism helps keep Castelluccio di Norcia alive, but protecting its fragile ecosystem from overtourism us equally important. During the busiest weekends of the bloom season, only motorcycles and shuttle buses may reach the village. Private cars can pass through but are not allowed to park. Staying on the plains' marked paths is not just good etiquette but an agricultural necessity.

A rainbow of colour

Each farmer owns scattered fields and sows them at slightly different times. As a result, the colours vary in position and intensity each year, ranging from delicate sprays to vivid rainbow stripes. Even after a dry spring, the bloom still appeared this year, this time with broader expanses of red poppies.

I overhear a woman recording a video. "Despite climate change, the bloom has made it again this year. Resilient, just like the people of Umbria."

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Seven things you shouldn't do when eating in Italy

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260709-seven-things-you-shouldnt-do-when-eating-in-italy, 8 days ago

From ordering a cappuccino after breakfast to sprinkling cheese on your fish, avoid these common traveller mistakes on your next Italian holiday.

It is a balmy night in Rome. I'm deep in a plate of pasta alla carbonara and my friends are choosing our next wine when a phrase in English cuts through the restaurant like the scratching of a record. A cappuccino, please. Our forks hover in mid-air and judgement ripples between us in an electric current. It's 22:30. Are they serious?

Every year, millions of travellers flock to Italy, many lured by its beloved cuisine. But while Italian food is found across the globe, few visitors fully understand the distinct food culture that governs meals here.

Italian food is actually quite simple. It's not highly spiced, and its dishes are flavoured by seasonal, local ingredients. Meals are never rushed and are considered one of life's chief pleasures. As a result, we have a series of unwritten rules which help enhance these flavours and ensure that each meal is savoured properly.

Can we be dramatic about them? Maybe. Travellers who unwittingly break our rules will likely earn a horrified stare. But those who understand them will gain a window into Italy's food culture – and maybe even an approving nod.

If you want to eat like an Italian on your next visit, here are seven things you should never do in our restaurants.

1. Don't order a cappuccino after breakfast

You might have heard that Italians don't drink cappuccino after a certain time of day, but there seems to be confusion about the hard cutoff. Is it 10:00? Noon?

Here's the hack: don't ask for a cappuccino at a restaurant at all. Cappuccino is enjoyed at the coffee bar with breakfast. Italian breakfasts are light, typically a brioche or pastry, which pair well with a creamy cappuccino. But that same frothy beverage is considered too rich to have with heavier, savoury meals, hence why we raise an eyebrow when you try to order it for lunch or dinner. When Italians drink coffee after our first food of the day, it will be espresso or macchiato.

2. Don't upset the order of the meal

Like a symphony, Italian restaurant meals unfold in crescendoing movements: antipasto (starter course), primo (pasta course), secondo e contorni (meat or seafood course and seasonal vegetable side dishes), dolce (sweet), caffè e amaro (coffee and digestive). The order allows the flavours to build from lightest to richest, ending with a digestion-boosting caffeine or alcohol shot. You can skip courses, but you can't change the order. Contorni are served on separate plates. "Bring it all out at the same time" is a highly irregular request.

In Italy, salad (insalata mista) doesn't come out first. Instead, it's a side dish eaten alongside the main meat course, and it will be mixed greens dressed with oil, salt and lemon juice. In more casual eateries, some stews like ribollita (Tuscan bread and vegetables) or pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans) are classified as a pasta course. Pasta is not a side.

3. Don't mix sea and mountain

"But why can't I have Parmesan on my seafood if I want it?" In Italy, we tend to think of mare (seafood) and monti (cheese and meat) as distinct culinary traditions. They developed separately, and our habit of keeping their ingredients apart has continued. Their distinct flavour profiles are believed to compete, so seafood is rarely paired with strongly flavoured aged cheeses. You wouldn't mix the flavours in your courses, either. Follow insalata di mare (seafood salad) with spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) and a frittura di calamari (fried calamari), not fettuccine alla bolognese and suckling pig.

On menus, you may find dishes that deliberately feature seafood and cheese, like pasta con cozze e pecorino (pasta with mussels and pecorino cheese). These are culturally sanctioned recipes, however. The general tradition is to keep the two culinary worlds separate, which is why asking for Parmesan on your spaghetti alle vongole will make the Italians around you wince.

4. Don't ask for substitutions

Sorry, but in Italy, restaurant dishes are not customisable. Specific ingredients traditionally belong together, or don't (see "sea and mountain"). Short pasta formats typically go with chunkier sauces that can be "gripped" by the pasta's ridges, while long or stuffed pasta shapes are generally paired with silkier sauces. You would never ask for a dish to be made with a different ingredient. This is seen as undermining the dish – and the chef's judgement.

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It is fine to mention allergies and dietary requirements, and to ask whether an ingredient that may cause gastrointestinal distress (onion, peppers, tomatoes, garlic) can be omitted. Many chefs will be happy to dream up something special for you. What's frowned upon is redesigning a dish.

5. Don't leave the region

Outside Italy, restaurants serve "Italian food". But the very concept of "Italy" didn't exist until the late 1800s, when what was then a patchwork of independent kingdoms and states were unified. "Italian" identity is still evolving, and many of us identify first with our region, then with the nation.

Italian cuisine is also fiercely regional. We prize endemic dishes and culinary products like jewels. For us, visiting an Italian city without sampling its famous local foods would be a missed opportunity. Would you visit Cornwall and not get a pasty?

Our regional foods are breathtaking in scope, and the discovery is part of the fun. A quick cheat sheet: head to Naples to eat pizza in its birthplace, then go further south to delight in limoncello made from Amalfi lemons on the Amalfi Coast. Pesto is native to Genova. For cacio e pepe and carbonara, go to Rome. Florence is renowned for its thick, juicy Florentine steaks, while Venice is the epicentre of aperitivo culture, which unfolds in its bacari (rustic bars) with cicchetti (bite-sized tapas) and rounds of Aperol Spritz.

But this is just the tip of the delicious culinary iceberg. Each village and town has a famous dish, a treasured bread or cherished fruit. Ask what the town is known for before ordering.

6. Don't rush it

Eating at a restaurant in Italy is a social ritual, not a digestive transaction. Thanks to our large, languorous scope of courses, lunch or dinner can take hours, allowing for breathing room between dishes, or maybe even a palate-cleansing sorbetto al limone (lemon sorbet). The lulls are filled with lively conversation. We laugh, we debate, we choose more wine.

If you arrive for dinner when Italians do, typically after 21:00, expect to be done close to midnight.

7. Don't skip the amaro

The end of an Italian meal is marked with a sweet, coffee (espresso or macchiato, obviously) and an amaro.

Amaro literally means "bitter". Commonly made with citrus peel, walnut shells or medicinal herbs, amari are indeed an acquired taste but there's nothing better to bring you back to baseline after a gut-busting meal. Amari are highly regional, so ask about the local specialty or better yet, if they have anything homemade. Sip, release, start again tomorrow.

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What it's like to live in the world's most liveable cities in 2026

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260706-the-worlds-most-liveable-cities-in-2026, 12 days ago

The Economist Intelligence Unit's latest Global Liveability Index names the world's top cities. We asked residents to share the everyday experiences that make their hometowns such exceptional places to live.

Copenhagen has retained its title as the world's most liveable city for a second consecutive year in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2026 Global Liveability Index.

The annual ranking assesses 173 cities worldwide across stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure to identify those offering the highest quality of life. Vienna, Melbourne, Sydney and Zurich rounded out this year's top five, reflecting both Europe's enduring dominance and Australia's continued strong showing.

To find out what life is really like in the top-ranked cities, we asked residents why they love living there – and where they take visitors to experience the city like a local.

1. Copenhagen

Taking the top spot for the second year in a row, the Danish capital earned perfect scores in stability, education and infrastructure, and one of the highest culture and environment scores of any city. For residents, that translates into a lifestyle where simple pleasures are built into the movement of the city.

"You can bike to work, jump in the harbour after and be home for dinner. It's not a special day, it's just Tuesday," said Laura Amira Kassem, an MD and PhD student who has lived in the city for eight years. "That combination of cycling infrastructure, swimmable urban water and a genuinely walkable, bikeable scale is something I haven't found anywhere else."

Kassem starts her days with an early run somewhere quiet, such as Utterslev Mose or along the lakes, followed by breakfast, coffee and, in summer, a swim.

She starts any visitor tour in Nørrebro, her culturally mixed neighbourhood. "Greengrocers, kebab shops and gold shops sit next to sourdough bakeries, natural wine bars and small dinner spots," she says. From here, she recommends grabbing bikes for a swim and coffee by the water in Nordhavn, followed by a lunch of smørrebrød, the traditional Danish open-faced rye bread sandwich, at Det Lille Apotek.

In the evening, runners can join Loopet, a 3km (1.8-mile) loop around Fælledparken where the city's running community gathers. "All are welcome," Kassem says. "Run, catch up with friends and finish with dinner sitting outside."

2. Vienna

The Austrian capital may have ceded first place to Copenhagen last year, but its perfect scores in healthcare and education keep it at number two. For residents, Vienna's liveability is found in the ease of getting around, either via public transportation or walking, and appreciating the details along the way.

"My daily ritual is my commute to work along the Ringstraße, taking one of the iconic trams," said Franziska Hochmüller, who works at the Vienna Tourist Board. "Instead of scrolling through my phone, I love to read a book or simply watch the beautiful buildings pass by. It's a small detail that reminds me every day how extraordinary the 'ordinary' in Vienna really is."

"You hardly need public transport within the 1st to 9th districts," adds Roland Eggenhofer, who works in sales and marketing at Hotel MOTTO. He likes to take visitors to the 6th and 7th districts, especially around Neubaugasse and Spittelberg, for cafes, boutiques and a relaxed atmosphere, along with the Naschmarkt for its international food scene. In autumn, he suggests a traditional Heuriger, a wine tavern in the vineyards on the city's outskirts, for a glass of local Viennese wine.

To see more of the Vienna locals live in, Hochmüller directs visitors to the Kutschkermarkt in the 18th district for its Saturday farmers' market, restaurants and cafes. "Seeing families, couples and elderly locals shopping for the week or simply enjoying their coffee is so Vienna to me," she says.

After several years in the city, the pace still wins Hochmüller over. "Even though it's a metropolis, you always have the possibility to slow down," she said. "No matter if it's in a coffeehouse, a park or at the Danube, time just runs different in Vienna."

3. Melbourne

Ranked third, Melbourne edged out its harbourside rival Sydney on the strength of its combined culture and environment score of 96, one of the highest in the index. For residents, that cultural depth comes to life in its neighbourhoods, where each suburb has its own distinct character.

"Melbourne is a big city that somehow behaves like a village," said Anne Marie Lennon, general manager of the Crowne Plaza Carlton, who has worked across the UK, Ireland and Australia. "People here are genuinely curious about you. And then there's the culture, the food, the music, the fashion, the art. Every suburb has its own vibe and identity."

Lou McGregor, a Scot who has lived in Melbourne for 20 years, agrees. "Footscray is my local [area] and one of the best places to eat and drink in the city – every culture, every cuisine and always buzzing. Fitzroy has cool little bars and vintage shops, St Kilda is perfect for a walk along the beach and Carlton is hard to beat for Italian food and a wander through the beautiful old streets."

When McGregor has visitors, she takes them to the State Library's domed reading room, Hosier Lane's ever-changing street art, the National Gallery of Victoria and the iconic laneways and arcades. "That's Melbourne to me – a city that's curious, creative and full of unexpected little moments around every corner," she says.

For a glimpse of everyday Melbourne, Lennon points visitors to the 39-hectare Princes Park. "Dog walkers, joggers, families, people just sitting and breathing. It's unhurried and real. That's the Melbourne I live in daily, and it never gets old," she said. "You can move 2km (1.2 miles) and feel like you've stepped into a completely different world."

4. Sydney

Matching Melbourne's overall score of 97, Sydney took fourth place with perfect scores in healthcare and education. But residents say it's the easy access to nature, multicultural neighbourhoods and outdoor lifestyle that make the city so liveable.

"Sydney makes it easy because wherever you are, you're never too far from a great view, whether it's the harbour, the Blue Mountains or the beaches," said Steve Kamper, the New South Wales minister for jobs and tourism. "The mix of cultures, the neighbourhoods, the incredible food and the lifestyle make Sydney special. It's a global city, but it still feels like a collection of local communities."

Venture beyond the usual tourist spots like Harbour Bridge or Bondi to see this, said Kamper, to an inner west suburb. "Burwood is the Sydney locals know and love," he said. "It's full of life, packed with incredible food and it's one of the best places to experience Sydney's multicultural character." He'd also be sure to take visitors to a [Australian rules] footy game. "Very few places in the world do sport like Sydney," he said.

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After living on four continents, French jewellery designer Julie Livni still finds herself surprised by Sydney. "People don't wait for the weekend to go to the beach or have a swim, they make it part of their daily routine," she said. For her, liveability begins with daily sunrise walks from Bondi to Bronte with her girlfriends. "As a business owner and mum of two, life moves pretty fast, so that hour by the ocean is my reset," she said. "It's the best way to start the day."

She would take visitors to Tamarama Beach for sunrise, followed by coffee in Bondi, and the ferry from Rose Bay. "Not necessarily to get anywhere, but just to enjoy seeing the Opera House and the harbour from the water," she says, stopping for lunch at Uncut Seafood.

"Sydney is also incredibly multicultural, with amazing food and people from all over the world, yet it still has such a relaxed, laid-back atmosphere," she added. "It's a rare combination for a major city."

5. Zurich

Despite slipping from joint-second spot in 2025 to fifth this year, residents say Zurich's combination of efficiency and easy access to nature underpin its exceptional quality of life.

"Zurich wouldn't be the same without the lake and the rivers. Every day I pass by either Lake Zurich, river Limmat or river Sihl and take some time for myself," says Manuela Leonhard, a Zurich native and content creator. "The waters are fresh and clear and we have more than 1,200 fountains throughout the city you can drink water from."

To show visitors why she loves Zurich so much, she takes them to Lindenhof, a once-Roman fort that is now a hilltop square with views over the Limmat and the Old Town on both banks of the river. She also recommends the terraces at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich for sweeping views across the city. "And I always walk with them through Old Town, the heart of Zurich, with its narrow streets and little shops," she said.

Even after a lifetime in Zurich, Leonhard is still surprised by how immaculately the city is maintained. "No matter what big event takes place in Zurich, the next morning you can't tell what happened the night before," she said. "That amazes me every single time."

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Walk the Scottish coast that changed science

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260703-walk-the-scottish-coast-that-changed-science, 13 days ago

The one-mile coastal walk, launched to mark the 300th anniversary of James Hutton's birth, leads visitors across the Berwickshire cliffs to the outcrop where the Scottish geologist found the evidence that Earth was vastly older than anyone had imagined.

I am standing on the grassy cliffs above Siccar Point, a rocky outcrop on Scotland's east coast, looking out over the steel blue of the North Sea from the final viewpoint of the new Deep Time Trail. This gentle one-hour return walk leads to the site of one of the most important discoveries in scientific history – a place that transformed our understanding of Earth.

The route has been created to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of James Hutton, the founding father of geology, who was born in nearby Edinburgh in 1726. Long before Hutton set eyes on Siccar Point in 1788, he developed his radical theory that the Earth's surface was formed by cycles of erosion and renewal. But it was this rock formation – known as Hutton's Unconformity – that provided the evidence he needed to convince the world.

At Siccar Point, ancient rocks standing upright are capped by much younger, horizontal layers of sandstone, revealing a vast gap in Earth's history that couldn't be explained by 18th-Century ideas. This immense span of geological time is now known as "deep time" – the concept at the heart of the new trail.

"Hutton discovered geological time," said Professor Mark Wilkinson, president of the Edinburgh Geological Society. By doing so, he laid a canvas for future scientific revelations. "You can't have evolution if you haven't got a lot of time. Hutton gave us that time."

Walking through deep time

Starting near Pease Bay, the Deep Time Trail follows the cliffs past stones engraved with Hutton's writing and interpretation panels that link out to expert audio commentary. So, as you walk, the story of the Scotsman unfolds.

The first voice I hear on the audio narrations is Dr Elsa Panciroli, a scientist, author and former chair of the Scottish Geology Trust, welcoming me to the trail, and introducing Hutton and Siccar Point. "Geology can be challenging," she later tells me. "A lot of it takes place underground, on scales beyond our comprehension. So having a person to hook the story to, like Hutton, is really useful."

As I continue, I pass St Helen's Kirk, a red sandstone church that was already in ruins when Hutton visited 238 years ago. The kirk is surrounded by dykes (impressive stone walls) made of greywacke – a hard, dark-coloured variety of sandstone that also runs up the coastline.

I make an exception to my usual no-phone rule while walking, as scanning the QR codes along the route unlocks a fascinating audio companion. As I stroll, I listen to stories about Hutton the polymath; farmer, chemist, naturalist. A figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, he established a social club with the economist Adam Smith and chemist Joseph Black, who discovered carbon dioxide. It was a time, the narration says, when "all sorts of new and intellectual ideas were being discussed" in Edinburgh.

Walking on, a craggy dyke guides me to a bench with idyllic views. The scenery on Scotland's east coast is softer than that of the west, which is sculpted by the full force of the Atlantic. Looking along the coastline, rolling green hills and farmland descend to Borderland cliffs, which tip over and plummet to golden beaches and secluded coves. "In nature there is wisdom, system and consistency," reads a quote by Hutton, engraved in a stone block and embedded in the wall.

Hutton took an observation-led approach to his research, something that was uncommon at the time. He turned his two nearby farms – between which the 51km James Hutton Cycle Trail now runs – into working laboratories and observed how soil washed away and renewed in gradual cycles.

He also travelled around Scotland gathering rock samples. On the Isle of Arran and in nearby Jedburgh, Hutton found other notable unconformities, but Siccar Point would be his prize example.

Hiking to Siccar Point

On the sunny June day of my visit, Siccar Point is backdropped by a blaze of sun-splashed blue, stretching into the horizon. Skylarks and swifts call over the lapping waves. Standing at the clifftop, I have the feeling of reaching a threshold: where water meets rock, and rock meets human comprehension. The stylish semicircular viewing point at the trail's end, which looks down on the rocks and explains how they changed the world, is built from the same stone and stacked to mirror the famous outcrop below.

When Hutton came here in 1788, he arrived by boat with friends Sir James Hall of Dunglass and John Playfair. It's easy to imagine them sailing along the coast, notebooks in hand, scanning the site. Hutton believed he'd find an unconformity here, washed clear by the sea, and was ecstatic with the result. After they docked, he explained the significance to his friends while scrambling around the rocks. Playfair later wrote that "the mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time".

When I look down from the viewpoint, it's clear that the famous outcrop is made from two types of rock. The dark greywacke stands almost vertical, sticking out of the ocean like defensive spears, while the red sandstone lies flat on top like a stack of pancakes.

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Hutton realised that for those darker rocks to have formed in horizontal layers, then tilted upwards, eroded away and buried beneath the younger sandstone, immense spans of time must have passed. So Earth, he concluded, couldn't possibly have been created in 4004BC, as was the Biblical view at the time. Rather, it must be unfathomably older.

In fact, we now know the greywacke rocks formed 435 million years ago on the floor of an ancient ocean. As tectonic plates slowly collided and that ocean disappeared, they were – as Hutton theorised – squeezed upwards into a mountain range. What remains are the eroded remnants of that range. The sandstone on top formed another 65 million years later when what is now Scotland sat south of the Equator.

The next interpretation board is in a quiet spot, looking out over boulder-strewn shorelines beyond Siccar Point that twist out of sight to the south. A QR code on the board links out to art about Siccar Point. "Sharp grey ribs rise up through horizontal bands of red sand," sings folk artist Karine Polwart. "A lost seabed lifted to the stars."

Bringing geology to everyone

One aim of The Deep Time Trail is to make Siccar Point more accessible to the public. Despite being an international pilgrimage site for geologists, it's still off most tourists' radars – even in Scotland.

"I went to high school in Eyemouth, which is literally just down the coast, but I didn't know about Siccar Point until I was at university," says Dr Katie Strang, geology curator at The Hunterian, University of Glasgow. "Hopefully this will lead to engagement with people who might not have thought about walking a geology trail. It's a beautiful part of the coast."

Looking out over Siccar Point, I feel a sense of immensity, standing on the stub of an ancient mountain range, on rocks hundreds of millions of years old. It's easy to understand why this landscape inspired one of science's greatest leaps. As Hutton concluded in his Theory of the Earth, there was "no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end".

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For 1,000 years, a cult worshipped the hero of the Odyssey

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260717-the-cult-that-worshipped-odysseus, yesterday

The Odyssey was far more than entertainment to ancient Greeks. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of a cult that revered the Homeric hero on his legendary home island of Ithaca.

At the start of the Odyssey, the epic poem's war-weary protagonist finds himself trapped on a remote island by the goddess Calypso. She promises Odysseus immortality and eternal youth if he chooses to stay with her. But after 10 years of waging war against the Trojans alongside other Greek heroes, Odysseus longs to return to his family and home on the Greek island of Ithaca and "see even just the smoke that rises from his own homeland", as Emily Wilson writes in her translation of Homer's epic.

Odysseus' perilous, decade-long journey home sees him trick a cyclops, outsmart a sorceress and survive countless disasters.

But Odysseus' legacy doesn't end there. There is one final, real-life twist in the adventures of this mythical king: Odysseus inspired a spiritual cult that lasted a thousand years. Evidence from archaeological excavations suggests worship of the Homeric hero began around the 9th Century BC, when his turbulent voyage was narrated in oral poems, and appears to have gained momentum after the Odyssey was written down in the late 8th Century BC.

Historical remains of this hero cult include a sanctuary dedicated to Odysseus on Ithaca, as well as recently unearthed coins and tiles bearing his name.

The discoveries shine a light on the fascinating interplay between real people, fictional heroes, and spirituality in the ancient world – and hold wider lessons on hero worship during this era.

From fandom to worship

In the Odyssey, as the Homeric hero is tossed around stormy seas, the thought of Ithaca keeps him going. "No country could be sweeter," he says in book nine of the epic poem.

Meanwhile, Odysseus' family and the Ithacan people desperately await his return. His wife Penelope describes Odysseus as "godlike" and a "noble, lionhearted husband, most talented and brave of all the Greeks".

In real life, Odysseus also left a mark on Ithaca, a mountainous island that lies to the west of mainland Greece. Discoveries here and elsewhere paint a picture of a mythical character who played a central role in the religious and civic lives of ancient Greeks.

Excavations on the island started in the late 19th Century and have uncovered an array of Odysseus-themed artefacts, including a miniature bronze bust of the Homeric hero. A decree found in modern-day Turkey in the late 19th Century, in the ruins of an ancient Greek city, mentions a sanctuary dedicated to the worship of Odysseus, referred to as "Odysseion", on Ithaca. The decree, which dates back to 207BC and was issued by the city-state of Ithaca, also mentions an "Odysseia", a festival held in the Greek hero's honour.

In 2025, archaeologists from the University of Ioannina in Greece shed a clearer light on the previous finds. They revealed that they had found evidence of this Odysseion on Ithaca, following excavations in the ruins of a monumental complex known as the School of Homer.

Amid these ruins, which date to the Hellenistic period (4th to 1st Century BC), the archaeologists found a series of bronze coins, inscribed on one side with Odysseus's bearded head, "so familiar to us from innumerable works of Greek and Roman art", says Yannos Lolos, emeritus professor of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Ioannina, who led the research.

The archaeologists also unearthed fragments of three roof tiles inscribed with the name of the Greek hero. These finds identify the School of Homer with the Odysseion, says Christina Marabea, an archaeologist who carried out the excavations alongside Lolos. Two of these fragments are stamped with the words "of Odysseus" (ΟΔΥCCEOC, in ancient Greek), "clearly pointing to the existence of a shrine of the hero at the site", she says.

The format of the inscription "of Odysseus" is known from other sanctuaries dedicated to well-known gods in the ancient Greek world, Marabea explains. For example, in those other sanctuaries, roof tiles were found bearing inscriptions such as "of Poseidon" and "of Apollo" – meaning, the buildings were dedicated to those gods. The phrasing "of Odysseus" on the roof tiles in Ithaca therefore suggests this particular sanctuary was dedicated to the mythical hero, she says.

The third tile fragment reads like a dedication, "to Odysseus", and was likely left there by a pilgrim, according to Marabea. Leaving a variety of votives (such as clay or bronze objects and figurines inscribed with a simple dedication or prayer) is a "widespread ritual at many ancient sanctuaries", she says.

The sanctuary of Odysseus

Together, the finds reveal "new and decisive evidence" that the School of Homer acted as a public sanctuary and assembly point for local citizens "primarily intended for the worship of the Trojan War hero", Odysseus, during the Hellenistic era and early Roman period, says Lolos.

"The civic assembly met at the Odysseion, while the sanctuary of Odysseus, as evidenced primarily by the two roof tiles stamped with his name, might well have been the epicentre of worship, frequented by local and foreign pilgrims alike in veneration of the hero," says Marabea.

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These new discoveries build on previous archaeological findings. During the 1930s, 12 bronze tripod cauldrons dating back to the 9th and 8th Centuries BC were discovered inside a "coastal cult cave" in northwestern Ithaca. These were likely "votives in honour of Odysseus," says Marabea.

The decree found in modern-day Turkey reveals different aspects of the cult.

"It contains an invitation to the demos (people of Magnesia) for a privileged presidency at the Odysseia [festival]," says Marabea. "We cannot be exactly sure what took place at this festival but it probably involved athletic games and theatrical performances of epic poems."

At the Odysseia festival, there may have been events inspired by Odysseus' exploits in the Homeric poem, such as discus-throwing and archery, says Joel Christensen, professor of classics at The City University of New York. Animal sacrifices to the hero and Odysseus' divine patron Athena, the goddess of wisdom, are also likely to have taken place, he says.

Why ancient Greeks worshipped heroes

Sanctuaries dedicated to mythological heroes were common throughout the ancient Greek world, where the lines between myth and reality were somewhat fluid.

"As the Greeks were colonising and trading throughout the Mediterranean, they took their gods and heroes and stories with them, and mythical figures who travelled a lot became really important," says Christensen.

Mythical heroes such as Hercules, also known as Heracles, who ventured out to complete his 12 labours; and Jason, who set out on a quest to steal the Golden Fleece, "all show up at different cult sites", says Christensen. There was cult worship of Heracles in Rome as early as 600BC and a sanctuary dedicated to the hero on the Greek island of Thasos, he adds.

Hero cult worship is "about the creation of identity and about affiliating your local group and your family with something bigger", says Christensen.

"The cult hero site fulfills this very important human need to have proximity to the divine," he says. The heroes were considered "demigods, who are rooted near us and give us access to the divine. The closest analogue in the modern world is probably Christian saints."

Odysseus is "a figure who transcends the boundaries of life and death," Christensen adds. In book 11 of the Odyssey, the hero descends into the underworld to consult a prophet about his homeward journey. "He talks to the dead and comes back…he is a powerful vehicle for moving from one domain to another."

A living tradition

Cult hero sites also helped put Greek city-states on the map. As the independent states develop a shared Greek (pan-Hellenic) culture, "they start to write themselves into a common narrative", says Christensen. The Odyssey most likely started out as oral poems which were eventually written down.

"The epics are part of a living, vibrant mythical tradition that over time favours Trojan War narratives over others, in part because of the development of a larger Greek identity," he says. "As the Odyssey made the leap from local narratives to a pan-Hellenic narrative, the people on Ithaca identified their island and their history with Odysseus."

The Odyssey's enduring legacy

The artefacts unearthed in Ithaca date from the 9th Century BC right up until the Roman era (1st to 2nd Century AD). This shows that the Odyssey's legacy on Ithaca lasted "a very long time", says Marabea.

Cult worship lasted "roughly a thousand years after the conjectured return from Troy of the legendary king to his native island (around 1200BC) and about 500 years after the composition of the Odyssey (around 750-700BC)," Marabea says.

Christensen says it is not surprising that the hero and the tale of the Odyssey left such a mark. "We now live in a culture of television and radio. Before all that, myths were the threads that knitted different communities together," he says. "As a travelling figure, Odysseus is one of the best ancient heroes to do that."

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This Greek island has a dark past. Now it's covered in rare seals

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260714-the-rare-seal-hideaway-on-greeces-abandoned-prison-island, 4 days ago

For half a century, Gyaros was off-limits to the world as a military prison and naval firing range. Then came an astonishing photograph.

The Sun is already high above the speedboat when Gyaros appears on the horizon, a desolate silhouette in the Aegean Sea.

As we draw closer, a hulking structure of red brick comes into view – the prison which gave the island the moniker "Devil Island".

We've journeyed just half an hour from Syros, the administrative heart of the Cycladic islands, southeast of mainland Greece. Sail in any direction and you'll find quintessentially Greek islands like Mykonos or Andros – whitewashed houses scattered on hillsides like sugar cubes tipped from a bowl, ferries arriving on schedule, tavernas open.

Gyaros never got that memo. It offers only scree and scrub, appearing empty, lifeless even. But it is not.

The reason is rooted in a particularly dark and violent period of Greece's history. An authoritarian regime followed by military training left this island untouched by development, a forgotten relic of a turbulent past. Then, in 2004, an unexpected photograph focussed attention on this apparently desolate place once more, but for very different reasons.

Devil Island, it turned out, had become a wildlife haven, offering a sanctuary for a rare seal which was, at the time, threatened with extinction.

'Devil Island'

Isolation, violence and punishment long defined Gyaros, which was used to exile political prisoners as far back as Roman times. Its most brutal chapter, though, began in 1948, when the Greek state expropriated the property of its last 31 residents and turned it into a prison island.

While nearby islands built boutique hotels, Gyaros was sealed off from the world. Across two waves of political repression, more than 20,000 Greeks were sent to the island, mostly communists, writers, students and artists who had protested the people in power.

In the initial wave during the late 1940s, following the end of the Greek Civil War, prisoners were forced to live in tents through sweltering summers and freezing winters, labouring to build the brick walls of the prison.

After a pause, a second wave of imprisonment occurred during the military dictatorship of the "colonels" from 1967 to 1974. Officially a reformatory, where dissidents would be turned into "real Greeks", Gyaros was in reality a place of forced labour and torture, tucked far away from critical eyes.

After the junta fell in 1974, the navy used the island as a bombing range until 2002. It still has no hotels, ferry connections or residents.

Almost by accident, Gyaros received the strongest possible protection: human absence.

Seal hideaway

After the navy stopped its activities, fishermen began reporting sightings of Mediterranean monk seal around the island.

Then came a photograph. Taken by an amateur speargun fisherman in the early 2000s, it showed a monk seal mother and pup lounging on an open beach in broad daylight – a scene that had all but disappeared from the Mediterranean.

"Personally, I had never seen it in Greece," says biologist Panos Dendrinos of the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal, an Athens-based research group. "It looked like an ancient picture."

Once a common species, by the late 20th Century, the global population of Mediterranean monk seals had collapsed to just 350-450 individuals. Hunted for centuries for their fur, meat and blubber, coastal development also destroyed their habitat, while fishermen would kill them in retaliation for raiding their nets.

Classified as critically endangered, survivors became ghosts, retreating into remote sea caves to raise pups far from humans.

The fisherman's image prompted the first scientific expeditions to Gyaros, where a substantial colony of around 70 adult seals was found – possibly the largest in the Mediterranean at the time. But it was the animals' behaviour – seals nursing their young on open beaches – that truly stunned the experts.

"That was their natural behaviour," says Spyros Kotomatas, biologist and senior marine conservation officer at WWF Greece, who worked for the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal at the time. "Seals elsewhere behaved like Greeks in Athens – tense, alert. On Gyaros, they were relaxed."

It's unclear how long the seals had been on the island, but Kotomatas believes its long isolation created favourable conditions. While thousands of prisoners passed through, the human footprint was concentrated, he says, with the camps occupying only a small part of the coastline. Even during the bombing era, disturbance was sporadic and concentrated mainly in the south-east of the island, he adds, away from the areas where monk seals found their refuge.

"Seals are adaptable," says Kotomatas. "I've been inside a cave while a speedboat passed right by. I couldn't hear from the noise, but the seal remained asleep."

More importantly, the navy's presence meant fishing was not recommended, creating a rich feeding ground.

The discovery of the seals led to several developments in protection of the island, and in 2019 it was declared a Marine Protected Area (MPA), the first in the region.

Underwater refuge

From the speedboat, Antonios Burikas and Ventouris Bountouris scan the water. As officers from Greece's Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (Necca), which took over surveillance of Gyaros from WWF in 2023, their job is to check whether anyone is fishing in the three-nautical-mile protected zone.

Today, the water is quiet. Only two pleasure yachts are anchored in the bay below the prison. The officers politely inform the captains that fishing is not permitted.

"More than the patrols themselves, it's the idea that we are patrolling that deters people," Burikas says.

Sea life around Gyaros had serious advantages long before anyone was actively protecting it. Fishing was banned for safety reasons by the navy, and never systematically opened to large-scale mechanisation.

Still, remote and regularly battered by high winds, it is hard to guard from illegal fishing. As the bombing range fell silent in the early 2000s, more boats moved in to exploit waters that had barely been fished for half a century.

Constant boat patrols to prevent this was prohibitively expensive, so in 2017 WWF Greece built a remote monitoring system which transmits live feeds to Syros. When a vessel enters the protected zone, officers can dispatch a targeted response.

"It's more or less Big Brother," says Dimitrios Damalas, a fisheries expert at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) in Anavyssos, Greece.

Between 2015 and 2023, illegal fishing incidents involving amateur fishers fell by 57%. Those involving professional fisheries fell by 85%. Surveys led by Damalas (some published and some as yet unpublished) have recorded more than 130 different species inside the protected waters, compared to 108 outside. Fish are more numerous and larger.

Maria Salomidi, a marine biologist at HCMR who has studied seagrass beds and reefs on Gyaros since 2009, would see slipper lobsters in impossible numbers as well as giant devil rays, marine turtles, dolphins, whales and monk seals.

"When we dive elsewhere, we'll mostly get out of the water frustrated," she says. "We see the degradation in the sea. Not in Gyaros… [It's] one of the last heavens on Earth, where you can hear the silence and see the night sky."

Shearwater haven

High on the cliffs and in burrows carved into rock, Gyaros hides another species vulnerable to extinction.

In 2015, researchers from WWF heard a group of Yelkouan shearwaters – black-and-white seabirds roughly the size of a rock pigeon – approaching Gyaros at night. It was previously unknown they were even there: the birds were thought likely to be limited to smaller, isolated islets.

Long-lived and monogamous, shearwaters return to the same partner and nesting site year after year. On land, their world contracts to a single burrow and egg.

"One bird can stay on the egg for a week, completely motionless," says Danae Portolou of the Athens-based Hellenic Ornithological Society, who has been leading efforts to monitor Yelkouan shearwaters in the Aegean Sea. "The other travels, then they switch."

The Gyaros colony is the second largest in the world, accounting for 15% of the global population. It's precisely the inaccessibility of the islands cracks and crevices – a habitat untouched by humans – which has allowed it to thrive.

Even here, though, the shearwaters face threats. Introduced rats eat their eggs and chicks – up to a third of their eggs are lost in this way. Worse still, feral pigs, which dig up burrows and prey on adult birds, have now been illegally introduced. "When a predator targets adults of a long-lived, low-fecundity seabird, the damage is devastating," says Portolou.

Culling of pigs, the more pressing of the two threats, has begun, but eradicating them speedily is critical, says Portolou.

Delicate balance

It's not the only circumstance that is far from perfect on Gyaros.

While the seagrass meadows around the island are mostly healthy, the reefs are not. Overfishing elsewhere has removed large predators like groupers and sea bream, meaning smaller fish are overgrazing algal forests, which form the basis of the entire ecosystem.

Salomidi's team is now actively restoring the reefs by planting lab-cultivated algae. Large fish such as groupers and sharks are returning, but many are still immature. "We may need decades to approach something close to a pristine state," says Damalas.

Things are also fragile politically. Even after Gyaros was designated an MPA, local small-scale fishing remained permitted seasonally, under strict conditions. But in 2022, under pressure from fishing organisations, the government opened the area, leading to a free-for-all which quickly impacted fish and seals.

The government soon reversed course, declaring the island a strict no-take zone. Still, scientists remain concerned that Necca lacks sufficient capacity to protect the island. "Fishermen report that boats from other islands arrive at night and on weekends," says Damalas. "[Others] feel they have been respecting the rules for nothing."

In April 2026, a presidential decree, gave the island the highest level of protection and established a permanent legal framework. But experts also stress that Gyaros cannot be a stand-alone solution.

While Greece has protected 18% of its marine territory, only a small fraction is actively managed. "Even if you protect Gyaros perfectly, if the wider sea is unprotected, [the] animals remain at risk," says Kotomatas. "The Mediterranean is one of the most intensively used seas on earth, and pressures from shipping, offshore energy, recreational fishing and marine heatwaves are only increasing."

A proper plan is needed, he says, for how different parts of the sea are used, so fishing, shipping, tourism and conservation don't end up working against each other.

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The participatory process used to design Gyaros' protected area gives a good example for others to follow, says Portolou. "It brought together lots of stakeholders to talk and discuss what they feel Gyaros is for them and what is necessary to be done," she says. "The process has taken time, but it's been worthwhile."

In one piece of good news, monk seals are now recovering beyond Gyaros, driven by protection of key habitats and a change in attitudes among fishermen, who no longer dynamite animals in caves, says Kotomatas.

As the speedboat turns away from the island, the abandoned prison fades into the distance. Somewhere near the caves below, monk seals nurse their pups on open shores.

"Gyaros is an island of hope," Salomidi says. "But we need a thousand Gyaroses across Greece – then we might be on to something.

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Good at maths and into jazz: Nine extraordinary things you probably didn't know about sharks

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260713-nine-extraordinary-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-sharks, 5 days ago

Humans have more in common with these elite ocean predators than often thought. A little Miles Davis anyone?

Sharks are among the Earth's original vertebrate predators – and after hundreds of millions of years of evolution, they have developed some surprising traits along the way.

Here are nine extraordinary facts about sharks.

1. When almost everything else on Earth dies, sharks survive

Sharks (or their close ancestors) survived all five of Earth's major mass extinctions – including the largest and most devastating, the Permian-Triassic extinction, or the "Great Dying". This cataclysmic climate event killed the majority of life on Earth, including around 90% of marine life.

But sharks lived on. Today, they are found in just about every bit of the ocean.

2. Sharks can do maths

While sharks are often thought to be mindless predators driven solely by their instinct and voracious hunger, science suggests they're actually pretty clever and good learners. They can distinguish between subtly different sounds, as well as different abstract patterns and colourful geometric shapes.

In one famous experiment, young grey bamboo sharks were shown to remember information about shapes and optical illusions for almost a year. They can also do basic mathematics, telling the difference between quantities such as three and five, and four and seven (but not quantities as close as four and five).

3. Sharks have a taste for jazz

As far as Port Jackson sharks are concerned, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.

Examples of the Australia-favouring, bottom-dwelling species were set a challenge: swim over to a certain spot of their tank when music played, and they'd be fed a reward.

The study, carried out by researchers at Sydney's Macquarie University, showed the sharks favoured the feeding spot when jazz was being played but were not able to make the same association for classical music.

"It was obvious that the sharks knew that they had to do something when the classical music was played, but they couldn't figure out that they had to go to a different location," said researcher Culum Brown in a press release.

4. Sharks have belly buttons

While some sharks lay eggs, many – including bull sharks and hammerheads – carry their young in their uterus and feed them through an umbilical cord, just like humans. This is why, for a few weeks or months after birth, these pups have belly buttons until the scar from the umbilical cord heals.

Other sharks neither lay eggs nor raise their babies in their wombs like mammals: the embryos grow in eggs which hatch while still inside the mother. These pups are then also born live. Spiny dogfish sharks give birth like this, for instance, after a pregnancy that can last up to two years.

5. Baby sharks eat each other in the womb

Sand tiger shark babies are thrown into a fight for survival right from the beginning – while still inside their mother.

Female sand tiger sharks have two uteruses, and as many as five young grow in each. The embryos feed on their siblings, however, until there is only one left. This is known as intrauterine cannibalism or adelphophagy, which means "eating one's brother".

After having their fill of their brothers and sisters, the sand tiger shark babies enjoy exclusive access to a steady supply of unfertilised eggs that their mothers continue to release – making them fit and strong by the time they are born.

6. Sharks have besties

Sharks aren't the lone hunters they're often depicted to be. Grey reef sharks like to hang out with the same clique of friends for as long as four years, splitting up into smaller groups, going their own ways, and then regrouping throughout the seasons.

Young lemon sharks also like to live in groups and, importantly, learn new skills from each other during these social interactions – like how to find food or avoid predators. They prefer to hang out with other lemon sharks their size and ones they've met before.

Great whites may even have best friends. Usually thought of as solitary, two great white sharks, named Simon and Jekyll, were seen to travel together for 6,000km (3,730 miles) without ever separating.

7. Sharks' bodies are covered in tiny teeth

Shark skin is a wonder material. In 18th-Century Italy, craftsmen used it to smooth the delicate edges of priceless Stradivarius violins. And in Victorian Britain, it became a favoured accessory for cabinet makers (who called it "shagreen").

Instead of scales, shark skin is studded with numerous tiny "teeth" – called denticles – which are flattened by the creature's forward movement of water, reducing aerodynamic drag. Run your hand against the grain and it would feel like rubbing particularly coarse sandpaper.

Sharks sometimes bump into unfamiliar objects, feeling their texture and consistency with the rough edge of their skin – a lazier kind of "taste test" for objects that might not be a meal.

8. Sharks can sense your beating heart

Sharks have eight senses. In addition to our five basic senses of vision, hearing, smell and touch they also have super-senses that allow them to detect changes in pressure or voltage in the water, and even the Earth's magnetic field.

Rows of pores known as lateral lines run down each side of the shark's body, filled with fluid and sensory cells. Movement in the water around the shark causes these hair-like cells to sway in the fluid, allowing the sharks to detect vibrations.

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Pit organs contain similar sensory hair-like cells and are scattered all over the body. The role of the pit organs is still not fully understood but researchers think they may be mechanoreceptors, sensing movement or pressure changes in the water.

Meanwhile another series of sensors, ampullae of Lorenzini, may be both electroreceptive and magnetoreceptive. Hundreds or thousands of these pores dot the shark's head, each filled with sensitive nerve cells. These allow sharks to sense electrical impulses generated by the muscle contractions of nearby animals – for example, a beating heart – and to hunt in total darkness or find prey hiding in the sand. The ampullae of Lorenzini may also help sharks cross thousands of miles of ocean, using the Earth's magnetic field to navigate.

9. Sharks are older than trees, Saturn's rings and the North Star

Sharks are incredibly ancient. The earliest fossil evidence for the ancestors of today's sharks is a collection of scales dating back 450 million years. That's about 60 million years before the first trees, 220 million before dinosaurs, 350 million years before Saturn's rings and 380 million years before the birth of the North Star.

The first shark-like teeth came 410 million years ago, and the first group that really looked like sharks evolved around 380 million years ago. Many of these ancient fish may not have technically been sharks, but they were related to them. Then, 195 million years ago, the oldest-known group of modern sharks arrived, with their flexible, protruding jaws and speedier swimming prowess.

Today, there are around 500 species of shark. That number is far below their peak around 50 million years ago, though more are being discovered all the time.

As for our association with these elite ocean predators, human's closest common ancestor with sharks lived around 440 million years ago, although it looked a lot more like a shark than it did a human. Our lines may have split all those millennia ago – but our existence on this Earth is intrinsically linked.

For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

After record heat, could the Atlantic make Britain's weather even more extreme?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c992e8g10nmo, 5 days ago

Somewhere in the stormy waters off Greenland, a bright yellow robotic probe, known as an Argo float, is sinking silently beneath the waves.

It is roughly the size of a person, with a tough metal body and an array of sensors packed inside.

The float is part of a global effort to solve one of the great mysteries of the ocean: how its hidden movements help shape the climate above.

There is no crew, no one steering it. Instead, it drifts with the currents, measuring temperature, the amount of salt in the water and pressure as it moves through the waves.

When it rises, it briefly breaks the surface and sends its data home by satellite. Then it does it all again. Dive, drift, measure, surface, transmit. The question those floats are helping investigate is one of the most important - and most contested - in climate science: whether one of the world's great systems of ocean currents is beginning to change.

It is called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC - a vast, north-south system of currents that carries warm surface water towards the Arctic and returns colder water thousands of miles south through the deep ocean.

But scientists say the AMOC is under pressure. Most agree it is likely to weaken as the planet warms. The UK government has said that, as "a key component within the Earth's climate system" the AMOC contributes to the UK's long-term climate risks.

The disagreement is over how much and how fast the current could change, what that would mean for the weather and crucially, whether the seasons we know today could begin to change.

A current under pressure

The question matters because the AMOC is part of a vast heat-moving system that influences the climate far beyond the Atlantic. But for the UK and north-west Europe, its influence is much closer to home: it helps shape the climate we live in and the weather we get.

The tropics receive far more energy from the sun than the poles. That imbalance sets both the air and the ocean in motion. Winds, storms, rainfall and currents are all, in different ways, the planet trying to even out that difference.

The UK sits in the middle of that exchange. Heat released from the Atlantic feeds into the air above it, helping fuel storms, steer winds and influence the pressure systems that reach north-west Europe. So, if the ocean changes, the weather can change too.

That includes a possibility that might seem bizarre in a warming world: changes in the Atlantic could bring more extreme swings in the UK's weather, including colder winters, even as average global temperatures continue to rise.

The AMOC includes the Gulf Stream and helps explain why Britain and north-west Europe are milder than their latitude would suggest. Its scale is hard to grasp. It carries about one petawatt of heat northwards - roughly 50 times the total energy humanity uses.

Some researchers say the warning signs are already visible: a strange patch of cooling in the North Atlantic and changes in how salty the water is.

They point to recent studies suggesting the circulation may be less stable than previously thought - raising the possibility that it could weaken sharply or even shift into a different state. In the most extreme scenario, some scientists warn it could "collapse".

Others urge caution. They say weakening is not the same as collapse, and that the evidence may point to a slower decline or reorganisation rather than a sudden shutdown.

But if the AMOC weakens significantly, it could shift storm tracks, alter rainfall and make winters more volatile.

A severe weakening, or collapse, could go further, bringing colder, drier winters to the UK and north-west Europe even as the planet as a whole continues to heat up.

And the consequences would not stop at the Atlantic. The AMOC helps shape rainfall and temperature patterns far beyond Europe.

A major shift could tug at the West African monsoon, tropical rainfall belts and rainfall over the Amazon. These are not abstract changes on a map: they could affect harvests, water supplies and the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.

Which is why scientists are watching the ocean so closely.

A warning from history

The floats are only part of the effort. Satellites, moored arrays of sensors and research ships are gathering data from the modern ocean too.

Other clues are much older. They lie in mud, shells, ice and rock - fragments of evidence from a time when the Atlantic appears to have changed with startling speed.

New research led by University College London (UCL), for example, looked back nearly 13,000 years to the Younger Dryas, a sudden reversal in the warming that followed the last ice age.

The cooling appears to have taken hold over just a few decades. Britain and parts of northern Europe were pushed back towards colder, more hostile conditions for more than a thousand years. In Scotland, glaciers advanced again in parts of the uplands.

For the small groups of hunter-gatherers then living in Britain, it would have been a catastrophic upheaval - forcing them to adapt or retreat as the cold returned and the landscapes they depended on changed around them.

But for scientists studying the AMOC today, the real significance of the Younger Dryas is what it reveals about the Atlantic.

The new study suggests the circulation did not just weaken. It rearranged itself. The Gulf Stream shifted hundreds of miles north, sending much warmer water towards eastern Canada.

The lead author of the study, Fangjingcheng Zhu, says the study shows the Atlantic circulation can be "abruptly altered during climate change".

For Prof Stefan Rahmstorf, that is part of a much wider warning from the past.

Rahmstorf, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, is one of the world's leading experts on the AMOC. He has spent more than three decades studying the stability of the Atlantic circulation. From the start of his career, he says, he was interested in what ancient climate records revealed about abrupt changes in the North Atlantic currents.

The lesson, he says, was that "the paleoclimate evidence actually doesn't suggest that climate change would happen smoothly, but rather in some jumps and jolts and non-linear effects".

But for years, Rahmstorf treated an AMOC shutdown as a low-probability, high-impact risk. Serious, but unlikely.

That has changed.

"In the last five years or so," he says. "I really unfortunately had to change my view about the probability of this happening."

His argument begins with seawater. The AMOC depends on dense water sinking in the high North Atlantic. Cold and salt help make seawater dense.

As warm, salty surface water travels north through the Atlantic, evaporation makes it saltier. Further north, it cools. Together, those processes can make the water heavy enough to sink into the deep ocean, helping to drive the AMOC's overturning flow.

Could the AMOC reach a tipping point?

Rahmstorf's concern is not just that global warming could weaken that process. It is that, beyond a certain point, the weakening could begin to feed on itself.

Warmer surface water is lighter. Extra rainfall and meltwater from ice make the ocean fresher. Fresher water is lighter too.

If the water in the high North Atlantic becomes too light, less of it sinks. If less water sinks, the AMOC weakens. And if the AMOC weakens, it brings less salty water north.

That is the feedback loop: the current helps keep the North Atlantic salty enough for the current to keep running. Less salt makes the water lighter, so it sinks less easily and the circulation weakens further.

Rahmstorf puts it more simply: "We have this AMOC because it's salty enough in the North Atlantic. And it's salty enough because we have the AMOC. So that's a self-sustaining system."

That helps explain why one patch of ocean has attracted so much attention.

In a warming world, the ocean surface is expected to warm. But south of Greenland, part of the North Atlantic has stubbornly refused to follow the global pattern. On climate maps, it appears as a strange blue smudge in a sea of red - the so-called cold blob.

For Rahmstorf, the cold blob is one of the clearest fingerprints of AMOC weakening. If the current is carrying less warm water north, that region would be expected to warm less than the rest of the ocean - or even cool.

He says the temperature signal is only part of the story. The same region is also becoming less salty, and other studies point to changes in the Gulf Stream and signs that parts of the North Atlantic are being renewed more slowly.

"There are quite a few independent lines of evidence," he says, "that point to an AMOC slowing already well before the measurements in 2004 began."

But that is also where the caution begins. Because continuous direct measurements of the AMOC only began in 2004, the longer-term case still depends heavily on indirect evidence.

The next question is more frightening. Is the AMOC simply weakening, like a dimmer switch being turned down? Or can it flip into a different state?

Rahmstorf believes the tipping-point risk is real. He says the underlying physics was first shown in simple models decades ago and has appeared repeatedly since. "Every single climate and ocean model that has been tested for this tipping point has found it," he says.

That does not prove collapse is imminent. But for Rahmstorf, the difference between weakening and crossing a tipping point is crucial.

"Once we have crossed the tipping point," he says, "we can't do anything to stop the further shutdown."

The process would become self-amplifying, he argues. "And so basically we're losing control."

For Rahmstorf, the past shows the Atlantic can shift suddenly from one state to another, while the modern ocean is already showing warning signs of the system reinforcing its own decline.

But not all scientists read the evidence the same way.

The case for caution

Prof Andrew Watson, of the University of Exeter, is one of Britain's leading ocean scientists. A Royal Society Research professor, he has spent decades studying the ocean's role in climate.

Watson does not dismiss the risk. He agrees the AMOC has shifted before. "Clearly, its behaviour has changed in the past," he says. "So there's every chance that it can change again."

But he is wary of drawing too straight a line from the ice age to today - or of imagining the AMOC as a single conveyor belt that simply switches off.

The AMOC is part of the same planetary heat-moving system that drives weather itself. Heat still has to move away from the tropics. Water that rises in one part of the ocean has to be balanced by water sinking somewhere else.

One of the great engines of that wider overturning lies far from the North Atlantic, in the Southern Ocean. There, fierce winds blow almost continuously around Antarctica, drawing deeper water up from below.

So if deep water formation weakens in the North Atlantic, Watson argues, the system may not simply stop. The sinking may shift. The circulation may reorganise. Warm water may still flow north, even if less of it reaches the places where it now gives up heat and sinks.

The AMOC depends on deep water forming in a handful of places in the North Atlantic - including the Labrador Sea, the Greenland Sea and waters south of Iceland. But in the ocean, Watson says, that sinking is not a simple plughole. It happens through a combination of eddies, mixing, rotation and friction close to land.

Climate models, with grid boxes often tens or hundreds of kilometres wide, cannot resolve that detail directly. They have to approximate it. "The models are good in many other ways," Watson says, "but they're not good in this particular thing."

That does not mean the AMOC is safe. It means the evidence is complex, and the future of the system cannot yet be reduced to a simple story of imminent collapse.

More than colder winters

That caution is reflected in recent work led by the UK Met Office. In a study published last year, Dr Jonathan Baker and colleagues tested the AMOC across a range of climate models. Their conclusion was reassuring in one sense: a total collapse this century looked unlikely.

But it was not reassuring in every sense. The AMOC still weakened. And even a weaker AMOC, rather than a collapsed one, could reshape weather patterns across Europe and beyond.

Watson also points out that any AMOC weakening would unfold in a warming world. Some of the cooling influence of a weaker AMOC could be offset by the wider rise in global temperatures. Britain and north-west Europe would not be pushed back into an ice age, he says.

The effect could be more complicated: continued risk of extreme summer heat, greater exposure to cold winters, and more volatile weather generally.

Rahmstorf accepts that global warming could soften the cooling effect in average temperatures. But he argues that does not make the risk benign.

"Only the temperature impact," he says. "It enhances the drought impact for Europe, because both AMOC slowing and global warming increase drought in Europe."

And, he adds, averages can hide what matters most to people living through the changes. "This moderation may be in a climatological 30-year average temperature sense, but not for our weather."

A weaker AMOC, he argues, could sharpen the temperature contrast between northern and southern Europe - one of the gradients that helps drive storms and other extremes.

For now, the closest thing climate science has to an official judgement comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN-backed body that assesses climate research.

Its latest major assessment from 2021 concluded the AMOC is very likely to weaken this century, but that an abrupt collapse before 2100 was not expected.

But the IPCC does not update its verdict every time a new paper appears. Its assessment reflected the evidence available at the time.

Since then, the field has moved fast. New studies have sharpened concern. Others have challenged the methods behind some of the most dramatic warnings.

Watson says that uncertainty needs to be understood carefully.

"The basic science of climate change is very well established," he says. "But the AMOC is one of the few areas where models can disagree even when they start from the same assumptions. Normally, the big uncertainty is what people will do - how quickly we will cut emissions. Here, there is real uncertainty about how the ocean itself will behave."

The argument is over how close the system is to a threshold - and how much weight to give to each kind of evidence: ancient climate records, modern observations, statistical warnings and complex climate models.

The disagreement is also a glimpse of science doing its hardest work: weighing uncertain evidence when the stakes are high.

Living with uncertainty

Watson's instinct is to keep the uncertainty visible. For him, caution is not complacency. It is a demand for precision.

Rahmstorf draws a different lesson from the same uncertainty. He sees a risk that is low enough to remain debated, but severe enough to demand action.

"We will not have certainty before it's too late," Rahmstorf says. "So we will have to act on our uncertainty."

The science does not offer a neat ending. It offers probabilities, warnings, caveats and arguments between experts who weigh the same clues differently.

But they agree on what is driving the risk.

The AMOC is being stressed by the warming of the planet. The more greenhouse gases humanity releases, the greater that stress becomes.

Cutting emissions does not remove every uncertainty. It does not guarantee the Atlantic will behave as scientists hope.

But it reduces the pressure on a system no society can afford to push too far.

Somewhere in the North Atlantic, the floats will keep diving, drifting and surfacing - measuring a circulation that is still moving, still mysterious, and still capable of surprise.

Whether the AMOC is simply weakening, or being pushed towards something more abrupt, remains unresolved.

But the safest response is already clear.

Top image credit: Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Graphics by Erwan Rivault

Is Burnham promising a new dawn for North Sea oil and gas?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3l22ry6wo, today

The final weekend before Andy Burnham enters Downing Street is being dominated by suggestions he'll announce plans for new drilling in the North Sea.

But that could mean many things.

We can be confident the new prime minister won't be confirming approval for the controversial Rosebank and Jackdaw fields on day one in the job.

The operators of those fields were given the go-ahead by the previous Conservative government but those decisions are having to be reconsidered because of a successful legal challenge.

Environmental groups Greenpeace and Uplift argued that ministers had not considered the full climate impact from burning fossil fuels which the fields would produce.

Despite both sites having production facilities in place, a lengthy process is still underway by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (Opred).

That is now in its final stages.

Both applications are subject to consultations which close in August and jumping the gun on those would certainly land the government back in court.

But while those two decisions are the most pressing and arguably most controversial in Burnham's energy in-tray, there are plenty of other matters he's going to have to take a view on.

The next biggest relates to oil and gas exploration licences. These give operators the exclusive right to explore for hydrocarbon deposits within an area of sea known as a "block."

Labour's 2024 election manifesto pledged to ban new licences, and that promise was carried out by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband soon after Labour came to power.

The government has already agreed to a significant concession by allowing "tie-backs" - production in unlicensed areas which are close by and connected to infrastructure in already licensed areas.

That dances around the manifesto commitment but, strictly speaking, does not break it. Anything further certainly would.

There's also no great desire within the oil and gas industry for full licences to explore totally unknown areas of seabed. These require huge amounts of capital investment and are a big gamble.

Over recent decades, the oil supermajors like BP, Shell and TotalEnergies have been selling off their assets to smaller operators whose pockets are not as deep.

Their mission is not to explore but to extract what's left in known fields.

Other options for Burnham include scrapping the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), or windfall tax. This was introduced when prices spiked at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It has a headline rate of 78%, which is taken whether oil and gas prices are high or low.

The industry says it makes the North Sea one of the least favourable in the world for investors and there is strong evidence that investment has certainly dried up in those years.

It's due to be replaced in 2030 by another windfall tax, which operators like more because it's only triggered when prices are high and falls back when they are low.

While politicians have been arguing furiously over Jackdaw, Rosebank, and new exploration licences, it's the EPL which the industry would most like the new prime minister to focus on.

It's also the one which is likely to face the least opposition from environmentalists.

It does fit in with one of Andy Burnham's missions of reindustrialisation by encouraging the kind of investment that brings and secures jobs.

But it's the least politically sexy option to take.

So what he does there may help define whether the new PM is about grabbing headlines or making genuine moves to stimulate the economy.

Turbine plan for 'Hockney Country' moves closer

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62v59eqz5qo, today

A proposal to build six large wind turbines in the East Yorkshire Wolds has moved a step closer.

Formal plans have now been submitted to East Riding of Yorkshire Council for the Three Oaks Renewable Energy Park near to Burton Agnes, a landscape made famous by the late artist David Hockney.

The tip of each turbine will be 488ft (149m) high and concerns have been raised by local residents about the visual impact of the scheme.

However, developers Ridge Clean Energy said the project would have no adverse impact on the character of the wider landscape and would produce renewable electricity for 24,000 local homes.

It is one of the biggest onshore turbine proposals in England since the government lifted an effective ban two years ago.

The machines will tower over the local landscape but they will also come with what developers describe as a "community benefit fund" worth £5m over the 40-year life of the project.

Residents in nearby villages have previously expressed concerns about the plans, citing the potential for both visual and noise impacts.

Ridge Clean Energy said it would combine the turbines with an already approved solar farm and battery storage to "deliver an excellent source of secure and reliable renewable energy at a time when it is needed most", according to its website.

Detailed plans for the Three Oaks Renewable Energy Park have now been published on East Riding Council's planning portal, allowing for public consultation.

A spokesperson for Ridge Clean Energy said it had been working with communities local to the site over the past five years and said the project had been "sensitively designed following detailed technical work reviewing landscape and visual effects, biodiversity suitability and operational noise assessments".

"Our design has been prepared taking local consultation representations into account, as well as in line with the relevant planning guidance," the spokesperson added.

If the plans are approved by the council, construction work could begin in 2028.

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From coffee grounds to guinea pig bedding - the composters keeping it local

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78y2q6ve04o, today

When you put food leftovers outside the house for collection, what do you think you are doing? Getting rid of waste or giving away a valuable resource that could be used right on your doorstep?

For the founders of an award-winning community compost business, it's a no-brainer that the second answer is the correct one.

Steph Robinson and ffin Jordao of Criw Compostio collect food waste from cafes and businesses who pay them and convert it into peat-free compost, which is then used by the community.

"Local growers then take that compost, grow food that goes back to the cafes, cafes serve it, waste comes back to us and we turn it back into compost," said Steph.

Once ready, it is available on a "pay what you feel, pay what you can afford" basis and all stays within the community.

Steph and ffin met at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) just outside Machynlleth, Powys.

It was established more than 50 years ago by volunteers who wanted to find ways to live without relying on fossil fuels and grew into a leading environmental charity.

Biologist ffin, 43, originally from Portugal, moved to Wales to work in CAT's biology department while Steph, 49, moved from England to run the centre's short courses programme.

Her background was in diversity and inclusion but also systems analysis, project management and "all kinds of business skills really".

CAT attracted ffin because it "struck me as a place where you could do very hands-on biology and work on off-grid systems, and also have an education component and a visitor centre".

Criw Compostio grew out of a project ffin initially set up with a grant from the Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022.

Further funding has allowed them to focus on research and development and set up a composting school to help other projects in other communities get going.

Criw Compostio picks up waste, as well as wood shavings from a carpentry business and used rabbit and guinea pig bedding from pet owners, twice a week.

It is then taken to a processing site in Machynlleth "so we're travelling a very short distance" where they have specialised composters.

"They're like hot, rat-proof hyper composters that turn it into something that's very unattractive to pests and such very quickly," said Steph.

It take about a year to turn it into compost, which Steph said had just won an award for its quality.

"Local growers then take that compost, grow food that goes back to the cafes, cafes serve it, waste comes back to us and we turn it back into compost.

"The frame that we work within means it has to stay local, so we don't sell it on eBay or Amazon or whatever. It stays within that resources loop."

As in every other Welsh county, food waste collections from households, rather than businesses, are mandatory and carried out by Powys council.

However, Criw Compostio run sessions for households who want to improve the composting they do at home or to improve composting at allotments.

The majority of their compost users are people growing food to sell "in the Machynlleth markets, to sell in the local whole food shop, to sell directly to local restaurants".

Steph said the cost of living crisis had raised interest for individuals looking to grow their own food and allotments were "hot property here".

ffin said it was "interesting how much productivity can come from a small garden".

Local is key to their ethos - they don't operate outside of a 20-mile radius and their only ambition for growth is helping others start similar projects.

They have worked with groups in neighbouring Gwynedd to help establish similar schemes and have hosted people at their composting schools from as far afield as Birmingham.

It's not just about the practical or environmental aspects of making compost for use locally, Steph also talks about the social impact it can have, particularly for people with money worries.

"There are really vibrant growing communities that have been going quite a long time because people have been struggling economically, so they need to grow food," she said.

"They're enjoying being able to be together without having to spend any money. There's access into dealing with loneliness, and disconnection and all the social problems that we're dealing with."

As well as the two of them, there are six directors on the company's board, a "compost caretaker" and about 15 volunteers on a rolling basis who learn about compost creation and get paid in compost.

To complement ffin's biology background, they also have an expert advisory panel of academics working in soil ecology at various universities to consult with on technical and scientific developments.

The most fundamental principle for them is that the term food waste is wrong.

Steph explains: "If we turn this on its head, this is a valuable resource which could potentially be seen as being extracted from this community, which actually could remain and could be very, very useful.

"How useful is it when we as a community say 'OK, we're going to hold on to these things because we know they're really valuable'. We're going to turn them into something that adds jobs, creates nutritious soil."

ffin sums it up: "Turning it into the most valuable thing it can be turned into: Nutritious food."

Life in a heat dome: The American West is figuring out how to keep cool

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240613-how-to-cool-down-urban-heat-islands-in-americas-heatwaves, 9 days ago

From planting trees to painting streets white, US cities are fighting extreme heat.

In 2013, Los Angeles became the first large city to pass a law requiring all new homes to have a cool roof. Since then, the city – where the number of days at 35C (95F) is expected to soar by 2050 – has rolled out numerous other keep-cool initiatives, including painting pavements white and expanding its Green Standards Building Code to include cool roofs on non-residential buildings and retrofits.

Despite the mitigation efforts, however, the population is still suffering from issues linked to excess heat. A study found the number of extreme heat-related emergency calls in Los Angeles between 2018 and 2022 directly correlated with the number of days that were 32C (90F) and above.

"The opportunities for heat mitigation in the US are huge," says Steffen Lehmann, director of the University of Nevada's Urban Futures Lab. "The knowledge is there, but the things that need to be done are not being done. It is extremely frustrating."

This year, extreme heat warnings are in place across much of the western US from 11 to 13 July, as a heat dome brings dangerously hot temperatures of 100-106F (38-41C). The extreme conditions come after a heat dome led to 4 July celebrations being cancelled in parts of the eastern US due to extreme heat.

This latest heatwave is making it even more vital for cities to ready themselves for hot weather. But some experts say that cities are inadequately prepared – even though the science behind how to cool cities down is well known.

Around 80% of America's population lives in urban areas – where the heat island effect can drastically worsen the impact of hot weather. Urban heat islands are densely populated, built up areas with few trees and large areas of dark concrete and asphalt that absorb the sun's energy. As the sun goes down, the manmade materials release the stored heat – ensuring that the city stays hot, even at night. Urban heat island temperatures can be up to 11C (20F) hotter than less populated areas.

Vulnerable communities, such as the elderly, children, and low-income populations, are disproportionately impacted by the heat – with hotter temperatures even taking a toll on newborn babies.

As US cities continue to experience record-breaking, life-threatening triple-digit days, researchers like Lehmann say many areas are still underprepared. In 2022, a group of scientists examined 175 municipal city plans from the 50 most populous cities in the US. Although the majority mentioned heat, "few included" strategies to address it, the report found.

"If cities are not painting a complete picture of heat — how chronic it is, and its disparate impacts on the ground — we're not going to be able to fully protect residents, and we could end up exacerbating existing social and environmental injustices," says co-author Emma French, a doctoral student in urban planning at University College of Los Angeles.

Another study found 41 million people live in areas with extreme urban heat island temperatures. The report, by Climate Central, found 14 cities had an extreme contrast between temperatures in urban areas versus surrounding less-developed areas. These included Albuquerque, Bakersfield, Fresno and Las Vegas.

The problem is "too much talking and not enough action", Lehmann says. "It's extremely difficult to effect change." It is hard to hold one city up as a model case study when it comes to heat mitigation, Lehmann continues, because there's nowhere in the US doing it well.

"But", he continues, "I am optimistic. Because there are things cities can do to cool down. And I do think there is a mindset-change happening."

Green over grey

Tree-planting is widely known to lower surface and air temperatures by providing shade, and cooling by evaporation and transpiration. Research has shown that urban forests have temperatures that are on average 1.6C (2.9F) lower than unforested urban areas.

As a result, cities across the US have rolled out their own greening initiatives. Austin, Texas, requires 50% tree canopy coverage in the city by 2050. In Phoenix, Arizona – a place with the reputation for being the hottest city in the US – a tree-planting drive is bringing shade to some of the city's warmest neighbourhoods. More than $1.4m (£1m) has been approved to plant up to 1,800 trees across the city to provide cool corridors.

In Tuscon, Arizona, drought makes tree-planting even harder in low-income neighbourhoods, where residents often can't afford to plant or maintain trees in their gardens. The city runs a rebate programme to reimburse residents up to $2,000 (£1,563) for installing rainwater collection systems, where the water could be used for trees and green areas. This includes zero-interest loans and grants for economically challenged communities, as well as providing workshops in Spanish.

Plants are not just being planted on the ground, though, but also on roofs. In 2017, San Francisco mandated that at least 15% surface area of roofs on new buildings bigger than 2,000 sq ft (1,858 metres) must be covered by either solar panels or vegetation. A number of large buildings in the city have already installed green roofs, which not only remove heat from the air through evapotranspiration, but reduce surface temperatures of the roof surface. On hot summer days, a green roof's temperature can be cooler than the surrounding air, whereas a conventional rooftop can be over 40C (72F) warmer.

Paint it white

A recent study found that a clean white roof that reflects 80% of sunlight will stay about 31C (56F) cooler on a summer afternoon.

The idea isn't new – cities in North Africa and southern Europe have been doing this for centuries. Lehmann helped spearhead painting white roofs in Australia back in 2012, where community projects have been found to cool the insides of buildings by up to 2.5C (4.5F). Now, he says, the movement is finally making its way over to the US.

The city of New York has recently coated more than 10 million sq ft (930,000 sq metres) of rooftops white, which is reducing internal building temperatures by 30%. California, meanwhile, has updated building codes to promote cool roofs, which are seen as an important way to save energy.

Scientists around the world have been developing cool paint coatings for pavements, roofs and walls that contain special additives to reflect the sun's heat. White paint can reflect sunlight, but paint coating contains high concentrations of pigments which means the paint also has water-resistant and reflective properties. The coatings have been proven to help pedestrians feel 1.5C (2.7F) cooler.

The paint reduces surface heat absorption, meaning that at night, the lighter surfaces are not releasing heat they would have stored during the day. Los Angeles has been trialling cool paint, but there are drawbacks; the paint the city is using costs $40,000 per mile (£31,268) and lasts seven years. Also, as Lehmann points out, "white roads don't stay very white for long".

Cooling a city down at night is extremely important because it gives residents a chance to cool down too – staying hot at night can lead to serious health problems. Night time is also when the urban heat island effect can be at its most severe.

Painting pavements with cool coatings is being trialled at various locations in the country. In 2020, a study in Phoenix found coating pavements with cool paint lowered the surface temperature of the streets. After the study's findings, the city made it a permanent programme.

But it's a complicated solution; reports also show white pavements can actually make people feel hotter, as the sunlight is reflected off the white ground, and is instead absorbed by the people walking on it. And although the surface temperature of the pavement in Phoenix was 5.5C (10F) cooler, the air temperature 6ft (1.8 metre) away from the pavement measured just 0.16C (0.3F) cooler.

Community participation

Data-gathering plays an important role in planning for the future when it comes to heat.

In 2022, 60 volunteers measured the morning, afternoon and evening temperatures across Clark County, where Las Vegas sits, as part of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-funded heat mapping study. The map produced from that data shows that elevated temperatures are worst in North Las Vegas, East Las Vegas and downtown, which can get up to 6C (11F) hotter than other parts of the city. The county is now using the data to inform heat mitigation policies which include community cooling centres and tree-planting initiatives.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the city worked with local volunteers to map temperature and humidity by handing out specially-designed thermal sensors. Residents drove or bicycled around prescribed routes twice daily to record more than 67,000 temperature points. The maps showed differences of up to almost 9.4C (17F) in different portions of the city, with hottest temperatures in downtown and neighbourhoods adjacent to highways. Again, the neighbourhoods worst affected were low-income communities. The city then teamed up with Nasa to take satellite images, which were overlaid with social vulnerability data to target frontline communities.

The city had never done something like this before, and the data allowed the city government to plan for heat accordingly, according to who needed help the most. "It led to two important strategies we're implementing right now," says Albuquerque's sustainability officer Ann Simon. One is a community energy-efficiency programme, where low-income families are helped to maximise their energy efficiency in their home and lower their energy bills by around £233 ($300) a year. To date, the city has made improvements in 104 homes.

"We're a small programme but we did just receive a large $2 million grant to help more families so we can help the number of families we serve by sixfold," says Simon.

Nasa will also be imaging the neighbourhoods again, which Simon hopes will inform future planning.

Planning for the future

Planning is also crucial for cities like Las Vegas, which is the second fastest-warming city in the US behind Reno, Nevada, and where temperatures this June hit around 46.1C (115F).

"Just a couple of years ago, very few cities were talking about preparing for rising temperatures, so it's an important step that heat is becoming a larger part of the conversation," says V. Kelly Turner, professor of urban planning and co-director of the University of California's Los Angeles Luskin Centre for Innovation.

Lehmann been working with Las Vegas city officials for the past six years developing a master plan for how to cool the city by 2050. In 2021, the city's Clark County released its 2050 Master Plan, which features plans to mitigate heat. Planting low maintenance and drought-tolerant plants to provide shade, reducing hardscaped areas, and designing buildings that provide shade are just some of the policies laid out. "But I believe we'll see change," says Lehmann, "now that the city wants it."

Las Vegas has already started on other initiatives, such as opening public cooling stations for the homeless during heatwaves, and beginning a project to plant 60,000 trees by 2050 to provide shade. At the parking lot of a large basketball stadium, 1,000 parking spaces are being removed in order to plant 1,000 trees. It's a controversial move though, says Lehmann, in a city that is so car-dependent. The city is also working with engineers at the University of Vegas to develop a reflective roof coating for the hundreds of casinos and hotels in Las Vegas – but its application will be voluntary, Lehmann notes.

There is certainly a plethora of science and research on how cities can cool down. However, as with most things, the science is complex; trees can make the air feel more humid – which can also lead to dangerous health impacts – and white paint on pavements can still leave streets feeling hot.

As always, it comes down to implementing a multitude of solutions, and thinking outside the box. Despite his frustrations, Lehmann remains positive. "As architects, our job is to reimagine the future," he says. "I don't need to see what Las Vegas looks like now, I need to see what it looks like in 20 years time."

This story was originally published on 13 June 2024, and updated with details of another heat dome over the western US on 10 July 2026.

Bananas in bloom - warm weather impact on gardens

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg8edqq5g5o, today

Could bananas be common in British gardens soon? Warmer summers and milder winters might mean new fruits appearing, while we say goodbye to some old favourites.

Peter and Emma Stav, tropical plant enthusiasts from Rayleigh in Essex, were astonished to see fruit finally grow on their collection of 200 banana plants after 15 years.

Peter Stav, a 38-year-old school teacher, said: "I'm just absolutely amazed that it's happened."

Guy Barter from The Royal Horticultural Society said "heat-loving plants" like olives, figs and apricots are excelling more, while traditional British crops like gooseberries and rhubarb are on the decline in some areas.

The chief horticulturist said: "The climate is getting warmer and bananas never used to flower 20 years ago. It would be a red letter day when the banana flowers."

The Musa Basjoo banana has always been famous for being able to survive UK winters, but the flower often needs protection from frost.

Essex gardener Stav has built walls around the plants to trap heat and create a "microclimate effect" for the colder winter weather.

He said: "Over the past couple of winters I haven't wrapped them up because they're nearly 3m (10ft) tall so it's very difficult to wrap them. This year due to the heatwave, the plant's actually fruited.

"You put one in the ground and you get another 10 come up. They split. They produce more and more and more."

Elsewhere in the East of England, a 76-year-old man from Suffolk was in "complete surprise" when his banana plant suddenly produced fruit for the first time.

Stephen Hind, of Pettistree near Wickham Market, bought the tree for his exotic garden a few years ago because "they just look good", and believes scorching temperatures played a part in bringing it to life.

TV presenter and botanist James Wong said the hotter UK temperatures have made it "very easy" to grow bananas.

He said: "It's sort of impossible to water or fertilise them too much. They're incredibly fast growing if they have that heat.

"If people live in a really cold or exposed area or in the northern half of Britain, they might wrap up the stems.

"That basically creates like an insulating layer that protects a pocket of warm air around the plants and stops frost from damaging their cells."

'Mouthful of ball bearings'

Wong, 45, has presented for BBC series' Grow Your Own Drugs and Secrets of Your Food.

He pointed out that Musa Basjoos are not really for eating.

He said: "It's basically like having a mouth full of ball bearings with half a teaspoon of banana on them."

He added that growing banana plants in the UK is not new for a "geek in the plant world", but perhaps still niche to the average person.

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Trump threatens new Canada tariffs over fires sending 'filthy' air into US cities

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyq93j34lgo, today

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada after hundreds of wildfires have left much of the northern US covered by a blanket of smoke.

The threat follows complaints by US lawmakers over the wildfires and Ontario's premier Doug Ford asking the US to send support to fight the fires, rather than complain.

"The United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air," Trump said, threatening to impose new levies over Canada's "willful negligence".

As of Saturday, there were about 955 fires actively burning in Canada, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System - with the majority burning out of control.

More than 190 of those blazes are burning in Ontario, some out of control.

Trump said in his post to Truth Social that he would call Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to demand an explanation over his country's "willful negligence," accusing the country of "not properly maintaining" their forests and brush.

Fellow Republicans have used the issue to renew Trump's call to make Canada the 51st US state, a musing that has offended Canadians and prompted many to stop travelling to their southern neighbour in protest. Others online suggested a delay in opening the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a Canada-funded project that will connect Ontario to Michigan.

Carney earlier noted that it was the responsibility of both countries to fight climate change.

After Trump's remarks, Carney's emergency management cabinet minister said the two countries remain in constant contact and share a long history of working together on such disasters, citing a reciprocal fire-fighting agreement from 1982 and another assistance agreement from emerged from the 2025 G7 summit.

Canada has worked to prevent wildfires and invested about C$12bn ($8.5bn; £6.4bn) in forests sustainability and fire prevention, MP Eleanor Olszewski said in the statement.

"This is a challenge that knows no borders, and Canada is working with speed, collaboration and coordination to keep people safe," she added.

Relations between the US and Canada have been tense at times over the last year, mostly due to trade. Last year, Trump imposed tariffs on Canada - a country that had enjoyed decades of free trade with the US - and both countries have still yet to reach a trade deal.

What started the wildfires?

According to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, nearly 3 million hectares of land in Canada has already been destroyed by the wildfires.

The impacts have been far-reaching, with a thick blanket of smoke spreading across US states, from Minnesota and Michigan to Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.

"Hazardous" air quality alerts have been issued across much of the region, leading to the cancellation of many outdoor events.

As of Friday, air quality in Detroit was worst in the world, Swiss air quality tracker IQAir said, followed by the Midwestern city of Chicago, Washington DC, and New York in seventh place.

In the open letter addressed to Canadian officials, US lawmakers John James, John Moolenaar, Jack Bergman and Lisa McClain said their "patience has run out".

"We are done accepting apologies in place of action," they said, warning the US could explore direct involvement in cross-border wildfire protection and firefighting if Canada failed to act.

"We were told last year that this would be treated with urgency. It was not," they claimed, adding that instead "American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year".

They said that issues such as "chronic under-investment in forest thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed burns, along with inadequate enforcement against arson", had not been addressed "adequately enough".

But scientists BBC Verify have spoken to say the picture is more complicated.

"Weather doesn't care about international borders," says Dr Patrick James from the University of Toronto.

Once smoke reaches the atmosphere, it travels wherever the winds take it - and smoke from major US wildfires has also affected Canada in recent years.

Experts also say many of the current fires are burning in Canada's vast, remote forests, where fires can be difficult to detect or contain before they become too large.

While better forest management can reduce wildfire risk in some areas, particularly near communities, it cannot prevent fires across an ecosystem of this scale.

Wildfires are very common in Canada, but the number of outbreaks has rapidly increased in recent weeks. Experts in both the US and Canada agree that this is likely because of sustained hot weather at the end of June across northern Ontario, coupled with a below average rainfall.

Scientists also say increasingly severe wildfire seasons are being driven in part by climate change, which is creating hotter, drier conditions that allow fires to spread more easily. Some of the fires have also been sparked by lightning.

"Climate change is a global issue, and it would be inaccurate to suggest that Canada alone caused or could have prevented these wildfires," says Dr Anabela Bonada from the University of Waterloo.

Instead of complaining, send help - Canada's Ford tells US lawmakers

Ontario Premier Ford has called the rhetoric coming from American politicians "a shame" and "unacceptable", noting that Canada has peviously assisted its southern neighbour in battling wildfires in California and responding to hurricanes in North Carolina.

"That's what neighbors do," Ford said on Saturday. "You don't get on and start threatening and criticising because guess what? One day it's going to be your turn, and we're going to be down there without hesitation to support our neighbours."

The premier has also said that the US states of Michigan and Massachusetts, which are both led by Democrats, have offered assistance with water bombers, firefighters and rescue operations.

Responding to the criticism from US lawmakers, Carney said in French during a news conference in Ontario: "Climate change is everyone's responsibility - truly everyone's - including the United States."

He added that his government was "in close communication" with provinces and local communities.

Meanwhile, Ford dismissed criticism of his government's handling of the fires, noting that more than 150 fire crews are on the ground battling the blazes, along with over 80 water bombers and helicopters.

He added that his government has spent more than a billion dollars on wild land fire since 2018, and routinely spends more than its base budget allocated annually for firefighting due to the need.

"We are throwing every single resource we can," he said.

Fires burn down communities as haze grips region

Some residents in northern Ontario were forced to evacuate due to the ongoing fires. One First Nations chief reported her community was "burnt to ashes".

Fires are also burning on the country's west coast, where more than 59 active fires in British Columbia were reported on Friday. The British Columbia Wildfire Service said that 39 of those fires started in the last 24 hours and more than half (31 fires) are out of control, prompting firefighters to use more aggressive means to control them.

A large cluster of fires affecting northwestern areas of Ontario are responsible for sending thick plumes of smoke and poor air quality across the region and into the US.

On Thursday, thick haze of smoke blocked views across New York City, including the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. Likewise, national monuments across Washington DC were obstructed by the hazy conditions.

Officials have stressed for people to stay indoors, some areas even passing out free masks, due to the poor health impacts of inhaling the fumes.

It's led to outdoor activities being cancelled across the northern parts of the US, from Chicago and Detroit to parts of Pennsylvania and New England. Summertime camps were brought indoors, concerts were rescheduled - and at least one beach was shuttered along a popular lake.

Poor air quality also affected air travel in some areas where low-visibility conditions at airports caused flight delays.

The inclement weather has also sparked concerns around Sunday's World Cup final between Argentina and Spain at MetLife Stadium - an open-air venue - in New Jersey, where Trump is due to attend.

White House officials - including Andrew Giuliani, the head of the White House's World Cup task force - are holding informal meetings with Fifa officials and others monitoring the wildfires, but no larger, formal meeting has so far been planned.

Forecasters believe that rains in the area over the weekend will improve conditions before the two teams take the pitch at 1500e (2000 BST).

In addition to the hazardous smoke extending across to the US, wildfires in northern Ontario have forced dozens from local First Nations communities to evacuate, with videos showing some fleeing the remote area by boat.

Members of the Namaygoosisagagun First Nation in the northern part of the province say they are "distraught" after fires tore through the community with very little warning.

Matthew Hoppe, incident commander for the Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, told the BBC that his community was devastated by the wildfires in northern Ontario.

Community members had to "self-evacuate" via small boats on Monday afternoon with the fire rapidly approaching, Hoppe said, adding that there were no deaths or direct injuries, he says, but the community has been "completely levelled".

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation Chief Helen Paavola told local news outlet CityNews in an interview that an aerial flyover showed that her community has been "burnt to ashes".

Ford said a total of 10 communities have had to evacuate, with many now seeking refuge in southern Ontario cities.

"It's a miracle that no one lost their lives," the premier said.

With additional reporting by Katie Williams and Nardine Saad

Toronto, New York and Washington top list of most polluted cities as wildfires burn

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ywdl9ne3yo, today

Cities across north-eastern Canada and the US are continuing to suffer from intense smoke brought on by hundreds of wildfires burning across Canada.

On Saturday, Toronto, New York and Washington DC recorded some of the worst air quality levels in the world, prompting health warnings from local authorities urging people to limit time outdoors because of the risks posed by the smoke.

Many of the wildfires remain out of control, forcing evacuations and destroying homes and infrastructure. The blazes left one tribal community completely decimated in northern Ontario, ripping through the Namaygoosisagagun First Nation with little warning.

Canadian officials said on Saturday that fire activity in Ontario was beginning to ease, with air quality expected to improve in US cities later in the day.

The smoke has also fuelled political tensions across the border. US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada to offset what he described as the "incalculable" cost of the smoke's impact on his country.

Poor air quality in the New York region is also prompting concerns for Sunday's World Cup Final in New Jersey.

Where are the wildfires and how did they start?

There are 955 wildfires actively burning across Canada - nearly 200 of those in Ontario - according to the latest numbers from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

More than a dozen wildfires are actively burning along the northern edge of the bordering US state of Minnesota, spanning more than 73,000 acres. Officials have called the situation in Minnesota "unprecedented" and an emergency declaration is in place to help mobilise suppression efforts.

In Ontario, the fires are north of Lake Superior in more remote parts of the province, but within or close to national parks and First Nation communities. Officials said on Saturday that the fire activity in the province was beginning to slow.

So far, six communities are under evacuation orders with reports of damage to properties.

Matthew Hoppe, incident commander for the Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, told the BBC that his community was devastated by the wildfires in northern Ontario.

Wildfires are very common in Canada, but the number of outbreaks has rapidly increased in recent weeks.

The National Interagency Fire Centre in the US and Natural Resources Canada predicted this was likely because of sustained hot weather at the end of June across northern Ontario, and below average rainfall.

This hot weather is being caused by a heat dome - an area of high pressure that gets stuck trapping warm air and the smoke underneath.

Extreme and long-lasting heat draws more moisture out of soils and plants – this dry vegetation acts as fuel for fires.

But this hot air can also become unstable causing the risk of storms which can produce strong winds – causing the fires and smoke to spread.

Where is the smoke and what is the impact?

High pressure further west across the Canadian prairies and the Northern Plains has kept the weather dry and hot, and allowed the wildfires to burn.

Satellite images over the past few days show the wind carrying smoke primarily south-east from Ontario across to Toronto, New York State and reaching Boston.

IQAir, a company which tracks global air quality, ranked Toronto, New York and Washington DC as the cities with the worst air quality in the world on Saturday due to the ongoing smokey haze hanging over.

Air quality in Minneapolis, Detroit, and parts of northern Minnesota was among the worst in the world earlier this week, but has improved significantly as of Saturday.

Wildfire smoke is hazardous for humans as it contains a mixture of very small polluting particles like PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide.

"These particles when they get into our system get all the way down into our lungs, all the way down to our tiny breathing tubes and… they cause inflammation," said Jim McDonald, New York State Department of Health commissioner, in a public address video on social media.

The smoke can exacerbate existing respiratory, heart, kidney and eye conditions, according to the World Health Organization.

Emergency responders, and vulnerable groups such as those with chronic illnesses and children – who are closer to the ground where the smoke can sink – are most at risk.

Governments will issue warnings depending on the air quality level which advises people on precautions to take. For example, an orange alert means people are advised to:

* avoid strenuous outdoor activities

* stay indoors and close windows

* wear a well-fitting N95 mask

* seek medical attention for symptoms that include wheezing, breathlessness and chest pain

KN95 or N95 masks should be able to filter out 95% of these tiny particles – although there are still risks.

There are fraudulent copies being sold online so make sure it is government certified.

Many cities have activated their air quality emergency protocols and are distributing masks at local centres.

For further information on your local air quality alerts, consult this site if you're in Canada, and here if you're in the US.

US and Canadian leaders clash over wildfires

The fires are also reigniting existing tensions between the North American neighbours.

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada over what he called the country's "willful negligence" in stopping the wildfire threat.

"The United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air," Trump said, adding he would call Prime Minister Mark Carney over the country not engaging "in basic Forest Management".

The threat followed complaints by US lawmakers over the wildfires. This week, four Republican lawmakers from Michigan state, which borders Ontario, wrote an open letter to Carney criticising Canada and "demanding immediate action" contain the fires' impacts.

"American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year," they wrote. Carney did not respond directly to the claims, but said that both countries had a responsibility to fight climate change.

Canada's forests are largely controlled by the provinces; not the central government.

Ontario's premier Doug Ford issued a response to the complaints and pushed back on claims Canada wasn't doing enough to fight the threat, noting the massive response to the blazes and the region spending more than $1bn in recent years to mitigate wildfires.

On Saturday, Ford said it was "unacceptable" and "a shame" that US politicians were blaming Canada, particularly when Toronto helped them battle wildfires in California just last year.

"That's what neighbours do," Ford said. "You don't get on and start threatening and criticising."

Experts have told the BBC that blaming Canada for wildfire smoke misses the bigger picture.

"Weather doesn't care about international borders," says Patrick James from the University of Toronto. Once smoke reaches the atmosphere, it travels wherever the winds take it - and smoke from major US wildfires has also affected Canada in recent years.

Experts also say many of the current fires are burning in Canada's vast, remote forests, where fires can be difficult to detect or contain before they become too large.

While better forest management can reduce wildfire risk in some areas, particularly near communities, it cannot prevent fires across an ecosystem of this scale.

How long is it expected to last?

Air quality across Toronto, New York and Washington DC is predicted to begin improving on Saturday, with levels falling from the "unhealthy" range down into the "moderate" range by the afternoon and evening.

"We expect rain to bring some much-needed relief to New Yorkers experiencing poor air quality over the weekend, but with it we may see the possibility of severe storms, flooding and tornados," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Friday.

Forecasters say the low pressure system will curl further northeastwards into Saturday and Sunday, and the worst of the air with the greatest number of smoke particles will clear from the Great Lakes area into south-eastern Canada.

Conditions should improve across new England too by the end of Saturday.

There was some concern that smoke might still linger on Sunday when the final for the football World Cup is scheduled at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey - especially because it is an open-air venue.

But rain coupled with a change in wind direction is likely to help conditions in the area.

The long-term fire outlook for the season suggests the wildfire risk will continue to be above normal in the Canadian Northwest Territories, Ontario and Quebec throughout July and August.

Are Canadian wildfires getting worse?

Wildfires are a natural part of boreal forests – of which Canada has vast swathes. However, they have worsened in recent years.

The 2023 fires razed 15 million hectares (37 million acres) – an area larger than England – while the 2025 blazes burned 8.3 million hectares (20.5 million acres).

In Canada, half of wildfires are sparked by lightning and the rest from human activity – but drier soils and vegetation increase the likelihood.

Increasing global temperatures as a result of climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and severe, contributing to such conditions.

Climate change is also increasing the temperature over winter.

These milder conditions in the first part of the year can stimulate earlier plant growth providing more fuel for burning, and reduces the amount of snow cover.

Snow, with its very white surface, helps to reflect the sun's radiation and has a cooling effect. The less snow, the hotter it becomes.

Will the smoky haze affect the World Cup final?

The World Cup final is set to take place in the New York - New Jersey area, a region that has been affected by the smoky haze. Officials have been handing out free protective masks and warned residents to limit outdoor activities.

On Saturday morning, New York City had the second most-polluted air in the world, according to global air monitoring index IQ Air. The conditions were discussed at a meeting between White House officials and Fifa ahead of Sunday's final match.

But conditions are improving and rain is forecasted that could potentially help clear up the skies before Spain and Argentina take to the pitch.

With additional reporting from Bernd Debusmann Jr, Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, and Rebecka Pieder.

EU proposes slowing down cuts to carbon emissions for businesses

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgv0zd497zo, yesterday

The European Union has unveiled proposals that would slow cuts to businesses' greenhouse gas emissions limits, as part of a major climate policy overhaul.

The reforms would relax the rules of the bloc's emissions trading system (ETS) to give businesses more time to reduce their carbon output than previously planned.

The changes would mean some industries could obtain emission allowances until 2038 instead of 2034, if they commit to investing in decarbonisation efforts.

The proposals still need to be approved by EU countries and lawmakers - a process that could take a year.

"We are adopting a more business-friendly and, may I say so, savvy approach," said EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra.

The European Commission, which develops legislation for the EU's 27 member states, said the changes would ensure the ETS was aligned with the EU's goal to reduce carbon emissions by 90% by 2040, compared with 1990 levels.

The ETS, which was introduced in 2005, is the EU's main tool for curbing greenhouse gases.

But it has come under criticism from a number of member states, with Italy in particular condemning the trading scheme as a de facto tax that has helped keep energy prices artificially high.

Under the ETS, Europe's industries and power plants are required to buy a permit, or allowance, for every tonne of carbon dioxide they emit, creating a financial incentive to invest in cleaner technologies.

Companies can buy extra permits or trade them. Some businesses are given permits for free to help them compete with foreign firms that do not pay carbon costs.

The ETS also caps the number of permits released each year to make sure missions decrease.

The Commission has proposed slowing the rate at which this cap is lowered each year to around 3.7% from 2031 and then to 1.7% from 2036 - down from 4.3% currently.

As part of the changes, the EU also proposes continuing free permits until 2038, rather than ending them in 2034, when they were to be replaced by a carbon border charge on imports for some sectors.

The Commission would also offer 80% of free permits up front to companies with plans to invest in decarbonisation in Europe. Businesses would get the remaining 20% once those investments are made.

Responding to the proposals, Polish climate minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska said Poland would push to weaken the policy further.

"For the first time, we are seeing a softening of the stance rather than a toughening of it - this is a huge success for Poland. Although we will fight for more," she said.

But Green politicians were less impressed. A German member of the European Parliament, Michael Bloss, said the plans would result in "gigantic climate pollution" and the next generation would have a worse quality of life as a result.

Global temperatures have been rising over the past century due to human activities that release greenhouse gases emissions, but local or regional geography shapes the speed at which different places are warming.

As Europe is warming particularly quickly, it is being more exposed to frequent and stronger spells of extreme heat.

This year, more than a dozen countries across western, central and eastern Europe broke their June temperature record.

Some countries, such as Hungary, Czech Republic and Germany, faced temperatures above 40C.

The far-reaching impacts of wildfire smoke – and how to protect yourself

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240213-unhealthy-air-how-pollution-changes-your-body-and-mind, 3 days ago

As wildfires blaze through Canada, air quality alerts are in place there and in parts of the US. Here are the profound ways wildfire smoke influences your physical and mental health.

All but 1% of the world's population is exposed to unhealthy air that exceeds World Health Organization (WHO) limits for pollutants. In parts of the world, air quality has rapidly improved through policies that aim to limit pollution. But elsewhere, gains in air quality are at risk of being lost.

More than 25% of the US population is exposed to air considered "unhealthy" by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to a report by the climate non-profit First Street Foundation. By 2050, the number of people exposed to "unhealthy" days is set to increase by more than half. The worst days of air pollution ("hazardous" or maroon, under the EPA's system) are expected to rise by 27%.

Wildfire smoke is one of the factors driving this trend. One study of PM2.5 (see fact box: What is PM2.5?) from wildfire smoke found that levels had increased by up to five micrograms per cubic metre in the western US in the past decade – enough to reverse "decades of policy-driven improvements in overall air quality", the authors concluded.

To put this in context – one study found that a quarter of the US's PM2.5 pollution was caused by wildfire smoke. In western regions, as much as half was caused by smoke. In 2023, large portions of the US saw significant dips in air quality and visibility as smoke from wildfires north of the Canadian border billowed across the continent. Canada experienced a record number of wildfires in 2023, with the area of land burned far outstripping any previous season. In May 2024, Canada saw an early start to its wildfires season as more than 130 blazes burned around the country. At least one town was evacuated in British Colombia as flames – exacerbated by years of drought and less than average snow pack over the past winter – swept perilously close. Plumes of smoke have blanketed large areas of Canada and blown south to the Upper Midwest of the US, triggering health warnings.

With climate change expected to increase the risk of wildfires around the world, it is likely that air quality will also continue to suffer.

People who have existing respiratory conditions and newborns with developing lungs are the most affected by wildfire smoke. (See factbox: "How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke".)

As climate change makes wildfires more intense, here are some of the profound and unexpected ways air pollution affects our bodies, and what we can do to minimise exposure.

The far-reaching effects of wildfire smoke

Wildfires are not just a local problem to people who live near forests, peatlands and grasslands. Fires can send plumes of smoke up to 14 miles (23km) into the stratosphere, from where they spread all over the globe. In 2023, Siberian wildfires fuelled by unusually warm temperatures released smoke that travelled across the Pacific Ocean to reach Alaska and Seattle.

The health risks that come with wildfire air pollution depend in part on what's on fire – in Siberia, 2020, it was resinous boreal forest and peat, releasing record-breaking quantities of pollution, including high quantities of mercury. Another typical pollutant released in wildfires is PM2.5, particulate matter that measures 2.5 micrometres across or less, linked to respiratory conditions. (Read about the risks of PM2.5 and nanoparticle pollution here, and the link between air pollution and respiratory disease here.)

Wildfire smoke has been found to be harmful to certain immune cells in the lungs, with a toxicity four times greater than particulates from other types of pollution. And it gets worse as smoke ages: one study found the toxicity of smoke doubled in the hours after it was first emitted, reaching a peak of four times greater toxicity.

"Even if someone is far away from a fire source, they may still experience adverse health outcomes from the inhalation of highly diluted and oxidised smoke," Athanasios Nenes, an atmospheric chemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne told Allison Hirschlag for the BBC. Read Allison Hirschlag's full story on the health impacts of wildfire smoke.

How air pollution affects your brain

There is growing evidence that air pollution not only affects our physical health, but also our mental health. It has been linked to impaired judgement, poorer performance in school and even higher levels of crime. Researchers point to prolonged exposure to pollutants such as PM2.5.

But the picture is not a simple one. Exposure to air pollution is far from equal – despite how it might seem, we don't all breathe the same air. Often the most polluted areas in a city, for example, are in the poorest neighbourhoods. These are areas also afflicted by other problems that affect health, educational achievement and crime levels. Confounding factors such as investment in education, diet, smoking, drug use and alcohol consumption can also have an effect.

Nonetheless, researchers are increasingly concerned about the effect that air pollution may be having on our brains, as Melissa Hogenboom explains in this feature, where you can learn more about the emerging evidence.

Air pollution and weight gain

While the exact mechanism is still debated, it is thought that the inflammation caused by air pollution may also affect the body's metabolism. Research has linked airborne pollution such as PM2.5 to obesity. Children living in the most polluted areas, for example, are more than twice as likely to be considered obese.

There is also growing evidence that air pollution may also play a role in the development of related conditions such as type 2 diabetes. One major analysis estimated that a fifth of the global burden of type 2 diabetes could be attributed to exposure to PM2.5 pollution. Other studies have suggested that another type of understudied air pollution, airborne microplastics, could also be disrupting the hormones that regulate our metabolism. Learn more about how city life affects your health and happiness in this feature by William Park.

Air pollution is harming our sense of smell

Exposure to toxic air may also be eroding our olfaction. A 2021 study found that people who suffered from loss of smell, known as anosmia, in Baltimore, Maryland lived in areas with "significantly high" levels of PM2.5. An Italian study found that the noses of teenagers and young adults became less sensitive to odours following exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a component in traffic fumes.

Scientists say that pollution particles trigger inflammation and slowly wear away the nerves in the olfactory bulbs, which transmit smell information from the nose to the brain.

Anosmia disproportionately affects older people. A Swedish study also identified a strong association between higher pollution levels and poorer olfaction in people aged 60 and over. Read more in our feature by Tim Smedley on how air pollution is causing us to lose our sense of smell.

Clean air is not an option for everyone

Almost everyone in the world now breathes air that is polluted in some way. But those who are worst hit by air pollution are also those who are least able to be able to protect themselves or escape from it. An estimated 716 million people with the lowest incomes globally live in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution. Even in the relatively wealthy, developed nations of Europe and North America, the toll taken by air pollution is borne predominantly by those who are least well off or from minority communities that face systemic inequalities.

A major source of these fine particulates is the burning of fossil fuels, and in particular petrol and diesel from vehicles. They can penetrate deep into the lungs and can cross into the blood stream where they are thought to increase levels of inflammation. They have been linked to a number of chronic long-term health issues including heart disease, lung problems and cancers.

In the US, PM2.5 pollution is the largest environmental health threat, with black and minority groups facing greater exposure than non-Hispanic white people. The poorest regions in Europe too tend to experience levels of PM2.5 concentrations that are a third higher than the richest. You can read more about the story of how air pollution creates environmental inequality around the world in this in-depth feature by Kamala Thiagarajan.

Where can you find the world's cleanest air?

To map the long journeys that air pollution takes in atmospheric currents, scientists rely on monitoring stations that take near constant samples of air quality. One of those is the Zeppelin Observatory above the tiny town of Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, Norway.

* Choose a room to close off from outside air

* Wear a tightly fitting respirator, if it is safe for you to do so

* Pay attention to health symptoms and seek medical care if needed

This settlement, which boasts a population of just 45 people in winter and is 765 miles (1,230km) from the North Pole, grew up around the coal-mining industry in the first half of the 20th Century. Today, it has some of the cleanest air on the planet.

But that is also changing – levels of methane have been growing in the air around the town, while levels of sulphate, particulates and metals are also spiking.

Another candidate for the world's most pristine air can be found on the north-western tip of Tasmania, Australia. Cape Grim, or Kennaook, where winds whip across the Southern Ocean unimpeded. As it doesn't pass over any landmasses or populated areas enroute, the air is unaffected by local sources of pollution such as exhaust fumes. Learn more about Cape Grim in this feature by Dani Wright and find out more about how the air around Ny-Ålesund is changing in this feature by Anna Filipova.

Other remote clean air sites around the world include Mauna Loa station in Hawaii, Macquarie Island and Casey Station in Antarctica.

But for those 99% of us who live far from this pristine air, some of the most impactful changes to help bring down air pollution include lowering emissions in cities from road transport, moving to cleaner ways of cooking, rapidly reducing the use of fossil fuels and a range of ways to prevent wildfires in the first place.

* The article was originally published on 13 February 2024. It has been updated to include details about the LA fires in January 2025 and about the Canadian wildfires in July 2026

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Calls to rethink school exams in summer heat

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89294wzeeeo, 3 days ago

An MP says the months when schoolchildren sit exams should be reconsidered as part of a wider plan to help society cope with hotter summers.

Adrian Ramsay, who represents Waveney Valley, has called for a cross-government approach to how health, transport, education, farming and housing must adapt to climate change.

"If the temperatures we've seen this June are the coolest we will see in the future, is is that really the best time of the year for children to be able to perform at their best?" the Green MP said.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it was "taking action to understand the potential impact on all areas of life, including education, so we can prevent disruption to learning."

"We've seen how big a challenge this is for the country," said Ramsay, who led a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday.

"Our infrastructure in this country is just not set up for the levels of heat we are getting now and we've got to recognise... this is a new climate reality."

Speaking to BBC Suffolk's Wayne Bavin, he said the UK was "only scratching the surface of what we need to do", and said he had used summer exams as an example of how we needed to rethink society.

"Could exams be held at a different point in the year, maybe a couple of months earlier," he added.

"It's the sort of thing we will have to start thinking about in the next few years."

Climate we had in 20th Century 'has now gone' - Met Office

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c802041g4v8o, 4 days ago

Weather that was once considered extreme is becoming the "new normal", according to the latest Met Office report on the UK's climate.

It shows the hottest day of the year in the south of England is now typically 4.5C warmer than it was in 1961-1990.

The scientists say that the country's climate is "on the move" as northern areas of Britain now see warmer temperatures that used to only affect southern England.

Homes, schools, hospitals, and transport networks are struggling to cope with back-to-back heatwaves this summer, exposing how unprepared the UK is for climate change.

"We are right now living in a time of historic and unprecedented change, and in terms of temperature, on annual, seasonal, monthly and daily timescales, this evidence shows the climate of the 20th Century has now gone," said Mike Kendon, Met Office climate information scientist.

The report confirmed that 2025 was the warmest year on record since data began to be collected in 1884.

It highlighted that we are now experiencing the effects of climate change.

The decade 2016-2025 was 1.33C warmer than 1961-1990. Seemingly small increases in average temperatures can increase the likelihood of spikes in extreme temperatures.

The report focused on extremes in high temperatures because these often have the greatest impact on people.

The number of days over 30C and nights over 18C has more than quadrupled for Greater London in the period 2016-2025, compared to 1961-1990.

In the southeast of England, "we are seeing the emergence of new warmer climates", explains Kendon.

At the same time areas including Vale of York and Lancashire have similar temperatures now to those seen in Greater London in 1961-1990.

"Think of this warming as moving north and uphill," Kendon explains, highlighting that the UK is losing the coldest habitats from the tops of mountains.

The impacts of extreme heat have been seen this summer, as people in many parts of the UK experienced days of above-average temperatures and high humidity.

More than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the exceptionally hot weather in May and June, according to experts at Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The scientists also assessed availability of water in spring and summer, and drought frequency.

In spring 2025, most of England and Wales received less than half of the 1991-2020 average rainfall. England had its driest spring for over 100 years.

The total amount of water moving through rivers in England in March to August 2025 was the second lowest since 1961.

Climate change is expected to bring more severe winter rainfall and flooding in the UK, but hotter and drier summers are projected to bring more severe droughts in the future.

Lack of rainfall also affects soil and food production.

This year soils were drier than average for the time of year across central and southern England towards the end of June.

Plant growth can be stunted in dry soil, affecting animals or birds that rely on them for food or the success of a food crop.

Parched landscapes increase the risk of wildfires, and dry soil heats up more quickly and can amplify heatwaves.

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Wakefield Council set to scrap climate pledges

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg8g1jz7dro, 4 days ago

Wakefield Council looks set to abandon its target to become a carbon-neutral authority by 2030, and cut its climate change budget by £170,000, if Reform UK plans are passed by the authority.

The Reform-led administration voted in June in favour of overturning climate change and biodiversity declarations made in 2019.

Under Labour, the council had declared a climate emergency, pledging to become a carbon-neutral authority by 2030 and a net zero district by 2038.

Cabinet members are expected to vote in favour of a recommendation to "agree a practical approach to end some of this council's climate-related activity" at a meeting on 21 July.

Reform took control of the council in May when it won 58 out of 63 seats at the local elections.

A report to the council said the climate change decisions may have "workforce implications" that could be "subject to formal trade union consultation", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Targets 'unachievable'

It said: "This is not about denying the science behind climate change, but focusing the work of the council on action that can be delivered and will benefit our residents."

It continued to say the authority's and the district's targets were "unachievable" and "not needed [for] focused action", instead saying the money should be spent on the council's property, vehicles, recycling, improving green spaces and supporting better energy efficiency in the borough."

The council would "unpublish" its climate change action plan and scrap the role of "climate change elected member champion" if approved, the report said.

Meanwhile, 72% of the council's "ageing fleet of vehicles" would be upgraded, while recycling rates would be improved.

Residents and businesses would be supported to become more energy efficient, and more than 600 green spaces in the district would be maintained.

Wakefield Net Zero Partnership - which connects local organisations, businesses, and community groups to share sustainability best practices - would have support withdrawn, and the authority would withdraw from Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission's climate action pledge.

Instead of spending £170,000 on its climate change budget, council leader Karl Johnson said the council's property portfolio of more than 1,600 assets - including civic buildings, offices and commercial property - would be made more efficient.

The report said: "Local government decides how best to serve communities and is best placed to integrate activity on the ground so that action on climate change also delivers wider benefits - for fuel-poor households, for the local economy, for the environment and biodiversity, as well as the provision of green jobs and skills."

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Scientists sail to Greenland to study melting ice sheets

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4w43w1zzdo, 4 days ago

A group of international scientists are heading to Greenland on the UK's polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough to study how quickly melting ice sheets are pushing vital ocean currents towards collapse.

The team will depart from Harwich International Port in Essex on Thursday.

It is hoped the data gathered on tidewater glaciers can be used to improve predictions for the future of Greenland's glaciers and their impact on the surrounding ocean as they melt.

The scientists said collecting a pioneering array of data was vital because current climate models did not accurately represent the complex ways in which Greenland's glaciers interact with the warming ocean.

There are fears Greenland's rapidly melting ice will add vast quantities of freshwater into the ocean, with scientists warning that this could change a major Atlantic Ocean current system, called the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre.

This in turn affects a network of deep and surface currents that stabilise the global climate and help to keep temperatures milder in Western Europe, compared with other regions at similar latitudes, such as parts of eastern Canada and Siberia.

A breakdown of this system could potentially plunge the UK and large parts of the Northern Hemisphere into a new ice age, scientists said.

Dr Kelly Hogan, a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge, is leading the Greenland Ice sheet to Atlantic Tipping points project, also known as GIANT.

She said: "We're in a moment where our tools have finally caught up with our questions.

"With autonomous vehicles, advanced sensors and powerful modelling – boosted by AI – we can explore glacier-ocean interactions in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago."

The scientist told the BBC the six-week project should lead to crucial and better climate analysis.

"What happens in Greenland really affects what happens in the UK," said Hogan.

"So if you melt more ice in Greenland, you get more freshwater into the North Atlantic, that can slow down the transfer of heat to Europe.

"And in the short term, like in 10 years, what could happen is that would change where it rains in the UK and it would be more stormy in our winters.

"That's a real problem if you're a farmer. That's a real problem if you're looking at where our reservoirs located. It's a real problem if you count on fish stocks in the North Atlantic for your job."

A small team of researchers will also be camping near the glacier itself to collect more data about how the ice is behaving.

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Hosepipe ban in force for millions of households - is your area affected?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk661074ejo, 4 days ago

Hosepipe bans have been introduced in parts of south-east England as successive heatwaves have left water supplies under strain in parts of the UK.

But while spring and early summer have been relatively dry for much of the country - with temperatures regularly exceeding 30C - winter was much wetter than usual.

More than eight million households have been placed under hosepipe bans. This means hosepipes cannot be used for watering gardens, washing vehicles and windows and filling pools.

It has raised questions about how effectively water resources are being managed, and whether the UK is prepared for drier summers expected with climate change.

So how is your area doing and how close are you to a drought?

There is no single definition of drought, but it is ultimately caused by a prolonged period of low rainfall, which has knock-on effects for nature, agriculture and water supplies.

Environmental bodies in each UK nation decide whether to declare drought or water scarcity based on an assessment of current water levels and long-term weather forecasts.

Both of these states can trigger a hosepipe ban.

Drought is a lack of precipitation, whereas water scarcity is about a mismatch between water supply and demand - so it is not just about the weather.

This summer, bans have been introduced to manage high water demand.

Mixed picture across the country

In England, most areas are in "normal" status, according to the Environment Agency.

So far, five water companies in England have announced hosepipe bans.

In East Anglia, the Cam and Ely Ouse, North West Norfolk and North Norfolk catchments are in "prolonged dry weather" status - the category below drought. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight part of the Solent and South Downs Area are also in prolonged dry weather.

All of Wales is in "normal" status, according to Natural Resources Wales, while there are no official droughts currently in Northern Ireland.

Scotland does not declare droughts but monitors "water scarcity".

The River Lossie in north-east Scotland is in the most extreme category of "significant scarcity".

Rivers, reservoirs and groundwater - how are supplies?

Our three main sources of water are rivers, reservoirs and from deep underground.

Following the hot, dry weather, river flows were low in June for parts of the UK.

"Without significant rainfall we could see increasing impacts on wildlife, agriculture and water resources as the summer progresses," said Steve Turner, a hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).

Reservoirs are a crucial part of water supplies and levels in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are all "healthy" and above expected for this time of year.

England's reservoirs are at roughly average levels for the time of year, albeit with some variation across the country.

But south-east England relies more heavily on groundwater than reservoirs.

Groundwater originates as rainfall and is naturally stored beneath the surface in the pore spaces and fractures in rocks.

In June, groundwater levels were generally at or just below normal, having been topped up by winter rainfall but depleted by a drier spring in most regions.

But water can flow more slowly through some rock types than others, sometimes taking years to fully respond to current conditions.

These groundwater stores "respond more slowly to changes in the climate than rivers, which is why they provide a useful buffer during periods of drought", said Prof Alan MacDonald of the British Geological Survey.

It is why groundwater droughts in the south of England generally take a longer time to develop but can be longer-lasting if they do occur.

Is climate change to blame?

Droughts are complex phenomena, driven by a mix of natural and human causes.

The Met Office expects the UK to experience drier summers on average in future as the world warms, though there has been no clear trend so far.

But rising temperatures can play a more direct role by drawing extra moisture from the soil via evaporation.

"A warmer atmosphere is thirstier for moisture and this can mean water in the soil, rivers and reservoirs are depleted more effectively, leading to more rapidly onsetting droughts, heatwaves and wildfires," said Richard Allan, professor of climate science at the University of Reading.

But there are other factors that determine whether dry conditions lead to water shortages, including how we use water.

In a landmark review into the water sector of England and Wales, water companies were criticised for historic underinvestment in water infrastructure.

As part of plans to address water shortages, the government and water companies are planning nine new reservoirs for England by 2050, in addition to one under construction at Havant Thicket in Hampshire.

But the Environment Agency has warned that measures to tackle water leaks and control water demand - potentially including hosepipe bans and more smart meters - may be needed in England too.

Water companies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - which are all public bodies or non-profit - also said they were taking steps to secure future supplies.

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Millions in Canada swelter as heatwave continues to move east

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzyep6z63o, 5 days ago

Another record-breaking heatwave has hit parts of Canada and the US, bringing extreme temperatures and poor air quality.

Extreme heat warnings have been in place across multiple Canadian provinces, including most of Ontario and part of Quebec, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories - affecting millions of people.

The high temperatures are expected to continue for Canada, as well as for parts of the US Midwest and Northeast, into Wednesday as the strong area of high pressure moves eastwards.

It has already led to all-time temperature records being broken in parts of Montana and Utah, and comes after a record-breaking heatwave hit large portions of the US earlier this month.

The Canadian city of Toronto was braced for possible record-breaking heat on Tuesday, but stopped short at 98F (36C).

Commuter trains were running on delays due to "weather related track conditions", according to the regional public transit service, while Environment Canada warned that hot and humid air could result in deteriorating air quality.

Central and eastern areas of Canada have also been hot, but a cold front is set to bring lower temperatures over the next few days. It will also bring the threat of severe thunderstorms, which could also affect parts of New England in the US.

Those thundery conditions will develop more widely across the east of North America by the weekend, pushing away the worst of the heat - although temperatures in many areas will remain above the seasonal norm.

Meanwhile, millions of people are under heat advisories in the US cities of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and as far west as Buffalo, New York, that will last through Wednesday.

The northern Plains, Midwest and Northeast will bear the brunt, with temperatures in Chicago forecast to reach 97F on Wednesday.

New York could reach 100F, while Washington DC is expecting 102F. A few places could get even hotter, with high humidity expected to make it feel even more uncomfortable.

Earlier this week, the city of Billings in Montana reached 111F, where its previous heat record was 108F. In Utah's Salt Lake City, the previous record of 107F was broken when it reached 109F.

The high temperatures come not long after a record-breaking 4 July heatwave hit large portions of the US.

More than 165 million people sweltered under record temperatures along the US East Coast and Midwest, and at least 44 deaths were reported.

The heat also disrupted Fourth of July celebrations, including the Washington DC parade, which was cancelled.

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.

Tyrannosaurus rex most expensive dinosaur ever sold

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qyq800n44o, 5 days ago

A 67 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex has been sold for £37.4m ($50.1m) at a Sotheby's auction in New York - the most ever paid for a dinosaur.

The fossil of this infamous predator stands more than 12 feet (4m) tall, and with over 60% of its bones recovered is one of "the most complete" specimens ever found, according to Sotheby's.

The winning bidder at the sale on Tuesday has not yet been disclosed.

Gus, as the T. rex has been affectionately named, was discovered in 2021 on a remote ranch in the US State of South Dakota.

"This result has been years in the making," said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's worldwide head of science and natural history.

"Gus is not only an exceptional find, but a specimen that's been excavated, documented, prepared, and cared for with real excellence."

The sale exceeded the previous record set by a stegosaurus in 2024, and is the first to exceed the $50m benchmark.

Some scientists have told the BBC that the auction may herald a new era in fossil collecting by the ultra-rich.

Hatton says the price paid reflects the time and resources that went into uncovering the specimen.

The bones were excavated over three summers, when it was warm enough for the ground to have thawed, from 2021 to 2023.

But it took a further three years in the lab to piece the T. rex back together.

This work revealed the skull had bite marks, and previously broken ribs that had healed in its lifetime.

Both injuries were potentially sustained during scavenging or during a battle with other dinosaurs.

It may be some time before the buyer is revealed, but Apex, the stegosaurus who held the last record, was loaned out to the American Museum of Natural History for four years by its billionaire-owner Kenneth Griffin.

So, even if Gus has attracted an ultra-wealthy buyer it still might be coming to a museum near you soon.

Heatwave conditions in NI for second time this summer

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6v6g453npo, 5 days ago

Heatwave conditions have been met in Northern Ireland for the second time this summer after temperatures climbed above 25C for three days in a row in County Tyrone.

That heat threshold must be met for at least three consecutive days at the same weather station, according the Met Office.

Castlederg recorded 25.7C at lunchtime on Tuesday afternoon after reaching 25.1C on Monday and 26.4C on Sunday, with similar temperatures, possibly higher, expected in the coming days.

The previous heatwave, in June, was also recorded at the Castlederg weather station.

The same station holds Northern Ireland's highest temperature record of 31.3C, recorded in July 2021.

Hot conditions, especially inland, are set to continue before cooling by a few degrees towards the weekend, although temperatures are forecast to remain above average for most.

Coastal areas will remain several degrees cooler at times, especially with a sea breeze.

In the Republic of Ireland a heat warning has been issued across most of the country with 20 counties affected until Friday morning, with a further heat advisory in place across every county until Saturday.

A heatwave has been in place in the Republic of Ireland since 9 July, and is set to last into next week, especially around the midlands and further south.

Temperatures have bee recorded climbing close to 30C in several locations during the past week.

The highest temperature on record in the Republic of Ireland is 33.3C, in June 1887.

Irish weather service, Met Éireann, is warning of temperatures above 27C potentially leading to water safety issues due to increased use of lakes, beaches, and waterways.

Potential impacts also include uncomfortable sleeping conditions, heat stress, forest fires, and drought.

Meanwhile a hosepipe ban and water conservation order is set to come into place in six counties in the Republic from Thursday, lasting for six weeks.

Climate change

The conditions the UK is experiencing so far this summer mirror the warnings given by climate scientists that human-induced climate change would lead to more frequent and intense heatwaves, as well as potential summer droughts.

Met Office projections indicate hot spells will become more frequent in the future, particularly over the south-east of the UK.

More days above 30C this summer than in 1976

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gynyezrqwo, 6 days ago

More days have reached at least 30C this summer than in 1976, previously the benchmark for hot summers, meteorologists have said.

Reading University's Atmospheric Observatory said 15 days this year have hit highs of 30C compared to the 14 days it recorded 50 years ago.

It said five of this year's 15 days were in the top 20 highest temperatures ever recorded at the university since it started collecting data in 1908.

Prof Andrew Charlton-Perez, from the university, said: "For half a century, 1976 was the benchmark every hot summer got measured against. Now 2026 has taken its place."

He said the "continuous extreme heat shows our climate is shifting, not just having a warm spell."

"Summers this hot and dry used to be rare, once-in-a-generation events. Now they will be far more frequent, and that brings real dangers for public health that we cannot afford to ignore."

More than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the exceptionally hot weather in May and June, experts' estimates suggest.

Dr Stephen Burt, also from the university, said that behind recent heatwaves, a "serious drought has been building for months."

Less than half the typical average rainfall has been recorded since early March and there have only been 10 days of rain this summer.

"A wet winter has helped keep us going so far, but reservoir stocks in the south and east must be depleting rapidly, and further enforced water restrictions can't be far off," Burt added.

"This is something that will affect all of us, from farmers and gardeners to whole communities, and it's likely to matter for a long time after the current heatwave has passed."

Two US troops killed and one missing in Jordan following Iran attack

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8nynv8ze8o, today

Two US service members were killed and one remains missing after Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks in Jordan on Friday, military officials said.

The US Central Command (Centcom) said four US service members were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan but have since been discharged. Others who suffered minor injuries have returned to duty.

Jordan's military earlier said it had intercepted 10 Iranian missiles fired into its airspace overnight, without reporting any damage.

The US military said it had carried out the seventh consecutive night of strikes on Iran since President Donald Trump declared their temporary ceasefire agreement "over".

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

Taco Bell removes lettuce from menu in US after links to explosive diarrhoea parasite

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2gnglyv0jo, yesterday

US fast-food chain Taco Bell is removing lettuce from its menu in some states after investigations found it could be linked to an outbreak of explosive diarrhoea caused by a parasite.

The decision was taken "out of an abundance of caution" following discussions with health officials, Taco Bell told the BBC.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says 1,645 people in five states that had "exposure" to Taco Bell have been infected by cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection that spreads through contaminated food or water.

No deaths have been reported but 94 people have been hospitalised due to cyclosporiasis infections, which were first detected on 13 May, the FDA added.

"Do not eat food items with shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia," the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.

The company said lettuce from one of its suppliers is being removed indefinitely and will be replaced.

"While no official advisory has been issued, we believe public health is a shared responsibility among restaurants, their suppliers, and authorities," the restaurant said.

It did not identify in which states lettuce will be removed from menus, but most of the infections have been reported in Michigan where more than 3,300 cases have been detected.

Taco Bell did not identify where the lettuce reportedly linked to the outbreak had come from, but US media have named the supplier as Taylor Farms in Mexico. US health officials said the FDA had traced the outbreak to a lettuce supplier in Mexico.

In a statement, Taylor Farms told the BBC it was "voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market".

It said the tracking by officials at the FDA pointed to one of its independent farms as the potential source of the outbreak.

Symptoms of infections by cyclosporiasis can take about two weeks to present.

Watery diarrhoea that lasts for days, sudden weight loss, and a loss of appetite are some of the more common symptoms.

Experts have told the BBC the parasite is notoriously difficult to trace, a task possibly complicated in part by cuts to federal health agencies.

"This isn't like detecting a needle in a haystack. It's like detecting a microscopic portion of a needle in a haystack," said Steven Manderach, executive director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials.

Madeline Halpert, Kayla Epstein, and Grace Goodwin contributed to this report.

How the World Cup made an 'NFL-obsessed' American a football fan

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0n22eprzpo, 2 days ago

The well-documented shenanigans of Scotland's "Tartan Army" football fans in Boston was what first drew Indiana car salesman Jamie Druley to the World Cup - and now the sport has him fully hooked.

"I thought, you know what? I'm going to watch some of this World Cup and see what made these people travel, in many cases, thousands of miles, and spending thousands of dollars… to be here to support their nation in this worldwide competition," father-of-three Druley, 51, told the BBC.

Before long, his wife was texting him from the bedroom with instructions to quieten down as he screamed at the television in the living room.

When things were slow at work, he and colleagues put on matches in the showroom; the England semi-final against Argentina became "heated" with banter and yelling, he says - ending with a bet between Druley and his boss for Sunday's final.

The self-described "NFL-obsessed" Druley is even considering buying season tickets to his new local football club, Fort Wayne FC, which opened a 9,200-seat home stadium this year.

And he's not alone in this newfound passion - with countless Americans proclaiming themselves avid new football fans thanks to the United States co-hosting the 2026 tournament.

Fox reported that 30 million viewers watched its broadcast of the USA's loss to Belgium, which Fox said made it the most-watched English-language soccer broadcast in US history.

An average of 5.1 million US viewers tuned in across 72 matches on Fox, FS1 and Tubi, marking a 92% increase from the 2022 World Cup, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Pennsylvania mother Courtney Silbaugh, 33, was among those fans.

"I've watched every game, except for six games," said Silbaugh, who describes herself as "not a sports spectator at all".

"I tried to watch [American] football; it didn't work," she said. "I went to a couple of baseball games, but I don't have the best vision so it's hard to see the ball. I just couldn't comprehend most of it."

But now she is "obsessed" and said her favourite sport is "definitely soccer". "I'm understanding the game more while watching the World Cup… versus watching recreational leagues".

Banker and grandmother Heather Earhart, 54, has also caught the football bug. Her son-in-law is a high school soccer coach, and her grandchildren play, but she'd previously attended games and found herself "always just kind of scratching my head [at] what's going on".

Earhart, who lives in Indiana, said she had become "fully enamoured into this England deal with the Hey Jude and the Wonderwall song by Oasis".

She told the BBC she found herself playing those songs while cleaning her kitchen. "And I hop on YouTube first thing in the morning to see the scores."

She's been "watching the 101 on like, how to kick the ball, and how to make it curve and the rules… I've really enjoyed it."

Earhart might start following a Manchester team, she says, and possibly English star Jude Bellingham's team Real Madrid.

"There's a soccer bar in Indianapolis, and I can't wait to go back and kind of have an idea of what I'm looking at," she said.

The surge in US interest isn't limited to viewership, according to those working in the sport.

Nate Roberts, 40, is originally from Lincoln, England - but has been living in the US for more than a decade and works as a fitness instructor and soccer coach in Connecticut.

Roberts said they are starting a pickup league at his organisation in the next few weeks because of the sheer amount of phone calls and messages they have received during the World Cup.

For ages 18 and over, it will be a "beer league," he said (noting that only those over 21 will be legally able to imbibe).

"We're noticing players that are looking for that rec experience or that first opportunity to start their soccer journey," Roberts said.

He estimated he's personally receiving between 10 and 20 emails a week, the majority from parents interested in involving their children in the sport. When it comes to requests on social media, Roberts said the number is about double.

Much of the enthusiasm centres on what Americans have identified as positivity, sportsmanship and global camaraderie displayed by World Cup fans celebrating together in North America.

"It sounds cliche as can be, but the whole world getting along, in the way that I saw them doing while here in America, visiting for the World Cup, was just eye-opening to me," said Druley, who's considering following Manchester City and "maybe some MLS stuff here".

"As silly as a game or a sport may be to some people, seeing people come together the way that they did over this was just truly amazing to me," he says. "It was… maybe what the world needs right now, you know?"

Just don't ask him to call the sport "football".

"I know that the entire world outside of us pretty much calls it football, but I am so ingrained in American football that I just cannot call it anything but soccer," he said.

"I have my limits."

Trump Media to sell instant access to 'market-moving' social posts

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79gw4lj89eo, 2 days ago

Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, is launching a paid service to give Wall Street firms high-speed access to its most influential posts.

From 1 August, instant updates will be delivered from "the highest-ranking" accounts, it said. US President Donald Trump currently has the most followers on the platform.

The company behind the app hopes it will create a steady new source of money for the firm which is currently loss-making.

It is likely to be aimed at financial traders who want to see market-moving news fast. Trump’s social media posts often cause sudden swings in global markets, especially when he writes about trade and tariffs.

For firms, a delay of even seconds can be costly. Until now, banks and traders had to monitor the app manually. The new system will send posts directly to paying clients.

"Markets already move on Truth Social posts," said Kevin McGurn, the interim boss of Trump Media, adding that the service will create a steady profit.

Trump Media did not say how much it would charge for the service.

The new commercial data feed, named Truth API, promises to deliver posts to paying institutional clients in "milliseconds".

The service will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The company, which launched its social media app in 2022, said some firms have been copying its data for months without permission.

McGurn warned that Trump Media will soon block these methods, forcing firms to buy the official feed instead.

Trump could benefit substantially from the move. Since his family remains the majority shareholder in the company, the president stands to profit directly from selling expedited access to his own public statements.

The BBC has contacted Trump Media for comment on whether or not the president's posts will be included in the paid feed. The White House declined to comment.

While other social media networks already sell data, the move highlights the unique overlap between Trump’s private businesses and his public role as president.

It would be "unprecedented" if the feature did include the president's posts, said Mark Spiegel, an investment expert from Stanphyl Capital Management.

Companies that trade off the latest headlines would be "at a disadvantage" if they did not pay for quick access as they could miss out on posts that could move markets, Spiegel said.

"But to put this in context, remember that Trump's posts constitute just a tiny fraction of what moves markets," he added.

Robert Frenchman, a partner at US law firm Dynamis, told Reuters: "It certainly does not seem fair, but yes, a tech platform can tier its distribution of information without violating federal securities laws."

Additional reporting by Osmond Chia

Brad Pitt's children are dropping their dad's surname - here's why I did the same

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2ln9l60g5o, yesterday

For more than a decade, Hannah had been known by two surnames.

On social media, sports rosters, email and restaurant bookings, she was Hannah Leonard, sharing her surname with her mother.

But legally, and at work and school, she had a different surname - the one she inherited from her father.

Hannah's parents divorced when she was a toddler and she hasn't had much of a relationship with her dad since. She says she last saw him seven years ago and isn't sure where he's living now.

Last month, the 25-year-old in California legally changed her surname to Leonard-Ripley, removing the reminder of her father and replacing it with a name combining her mother's maiden name and her husband's surname.

That same month, two of the adopted children of Hollywood divorcees Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt undertook an important legal step in the process to drop their father's surname, something they began earlier this year.

In April, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt and Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, aged 21 and 24, filed documents to remove their father's surname from their names, according to media reports.

In June and July, the siblings carried out the legal requirement of publishing their name-change intention in a local paper for four weeks.

Both have already used the surname Jolie in some circumstances, including Zahara during her graduation ceremony earlier this year and Maddox in his credits on a film. Another of Jolie and Pitt's six children, Shiloh, changed her surname to Jolie in 2024.

Zahara and Maddox will have to wait until their court appearances in September to get the approval from a judge to change their names.

Jolie met Pitt on the set of the 2005 film Mr and Mrs Smith, married in 2014 and filed for divorce in 2016 following an incident on board a private plane. Jolie told Vogue in 2020 that she had left Pitt for the "wellbeing" of her family.

A source close to Pitt told BBC News that he regretted how things had unfolded with his family and that, while he was "heartbroken", he respected his children's decisions.

Hannah says she had no emotional connection to her previous surname, and it often confused people when she would use two surnames in different contexts.

She had wanted to legally change her surname for years, but had been deterred by the cost. Getting married gave her the push to finally make the change.

"I've never felt like my last name reflected the love that encompasses my life," Hannah says. "And I wanted to make sure that my name reflected that. My mother's love and also my husband's love are very abundant and so important to me."

"Surnames have a close connection to identity," says University of Chester lecturer Dr Harry Parkin, who has studied the history of names. When people change theirs, it can be a sign that they want to disconnect and disassociate from it, he adds.

Maggie, from Lincolnshire, told BBC News that she had no emotional connection to her previous surname, which she had inherited from her father.

Her parents split up when she was a child and while she isn't estranged from him, she says they've never been close.

'I feel more like myself'

She adds that she had always "hated" the surname she inherited from her father, which included a profanity that she was teased for at school. "I didn't want to be associated with it," she says.

Changing her surname to match her mother's felt like a relief and Maggie says she now feels "more like myself".

"I wanted to be part of my mum's family," she says.

Dr Becca Bland, a family counsellor and coach specialising in estrangement, says that people who are distanced from a relative or are estranged might choose to change their surname as a psychological defence mechanism to "help you separate yourself from something that could be problematic or traumatic".

She says changing their name would mean they wouldn't have to keep repeating a surname that they may associate with bad memories or that they felt connected them to a family they didn't identify with.

People who are estranged from their parents may feel a range of emotions, including grief, loss and a sense of freedom, says Dr Lucy Blake at University of the West of England, whose research focuses on family relationships. It can be an isolating experience because people worry about facing judgement from others, she says.

Blake dismissed criticism that some younger people are cutting ties with relatives "without much thought". Research shows that adults who estrange themselves from relatives often do so "with a great amount of care and consideration over time," she says.

If people want to change their names in England and Wales, they have two options. The cheaper option is by unenrolled deed poll, which a person can do by themselves or through a private company for a fee. You can also change it by enrolled deed poll, meaning there's a public record of it, through the High Court for £53.05 ($71).

If you were born or adopted in Northern Ireland, you can either change your name by deed poll or recording a change of name in the presence of a legal representative, which costs £35.

If you were born or adopted in Scotland, you can change your name by sending an application to the National Records of Scotland, which costs £40.

Changing your surname can come with some hurdles.

In England, Wales and Scotland, if you are under the age of 16 you need the consent of everyone with parental responsibility for you.

Maggie says she waited until 16 to make the change, when she did not need her father's consent.

"It was so frustrating when I was so sure it was something I wanted to do," she says.

You also have to update government bodies and companies including the Passport Office, DVLA, the Student Loans Company, your banks and your GP.

For Hannah, in California, changing her surname took around three months and cost her hundreds of dollars, including a $400 filing fee and $130 to put adverts in a local newspaper. She described the latter requirement as "so outdated and odd".

A Cold War bunker gets a luxury makeover as 'doomsday' condos

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4d3lpjkggo, 4 days ago

"From here to anywhere" is the motto of Debert's business park, but it feels like the middle of nowhere.

Just 113km (70 miles) north of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Canada's east coast, it was once a military base where thousands of soldiers trained during World War Two. Now it's a mix old buildings and empty parking lots, bordered by thin, coniferous woods.

But there is promise of a luxurious and glamorous future in the large grassy hump popping up at one end of the park.

Canadian crypto mogul Jonathan Baha'i plans to convert the 64,000 square-foot nuclear bomb shelter into crisis-proof condos where billionaires can ride out all sorts of cataclysm.

The 50-unit project, managed by Baha'is Fallout Complex Inc, will offer amenities such as gourmet dining from a "self-sustaining" food source, biometric access, around-the-clock surveillance, and onsite medical services. Tenants with private planes can land at the small Debert Airport nearby.

After buying the site, commonly called The Diefenbunker, in 2013 for C$31,300 ($22,000; £16,500), Baha'i first pursued a different business model for it that included laser tag and historical tours, along with a small data centre.

"There's more uncertainty in the world in the last two years than in the last 30 years," Paul Mansfield, a project co-owner, told the local council last autumn. "It sort of led to a rebirth of people wanting to have an insurance policy" - a 'doomsday bunker'."

The company will work with German firm Bespoke Home and Yacht Security, which Mansfield said had provided security for US Vice-President JD Vance and reality star Kim Kardashian, though their client list is not public.

Bespoke's recommended measures for the forthcoming complex, which has already sold 11 units, include flying drones to survey its perimeter, according to Mansfield.

The renovation plans also include a spa, a yoga room, and a cigar lounge. Modern OLED lights will replicate natural light, and an adjacent overground bunker will be used to grow food.

When condo owners aren't there, the units will be rented out for hotel stays and the profits will be shared. Both the cost to buy and the cost to rent are secret.

"If somebody was renting it as a hotel room and something happened and they had to get kicked out, they would get kicked out," Mansfield said.

Former Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker had seven bunkers built across the country from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, meant to house a skeleton crew of government officials in the event of nuclear war.

The bunker in Debert was designed to withstand a near-hit from a nuclear explosion and sustain 329 people for at least 30 days.

But by the time the bunkers were complete, they were already obsolete - long-range missile targeting had advanced and nuclear bombs had become too powerful. Instead, the Debert bunker became a provincial emergency warning centre before it was shuttered in 1996 as a cost-cutting measure.

Baha'i doesn't like the term doomsday bunker.

While it was built "to survive anything", he said, overall "it's not about the end of the world, it's about smart, practical storm preparedness, whatever kind of storm".

When Hurricane Fiona hit Nova Scotia in 2022, he opened the bunker to his coworkers and their families.

"It's completely off-grid and self-sufficient," he said. "If a massive storm hits our condo, the condo owners know they have a guaranteed warm, safe place with power, food, and everything they need."

He would rather focus on what the bunker will bring to Debert and its local economy: a tourist destination and "world-class" data centre.

"It's exactly like owning a really secure, beautiful Airbnb," Baha'i said. The project is expected to be completed by early next year.

While the project has mostly generated interest from people on the east coast, it has also attracted attention from around the world.

It will require over 40 hotel staff, and people with skills to run the expanded data centre – ideally locals.

The data centre is set to expand to a modest 15,000 square feet and will use the latest technology to mitigate power consumption and offer high security for its customers, Baha'i said.

The fates of other bunkers in Canada show there are few alternative places for Baha'i to make his plans a reality.

The old nuclear bunker in Borden, Ontario, is locked up while one in Shilo, Manitoba, is buried underground. After being left derelict for years and attracting urban explorers, the Nanaimo bunker in British Columbia was intentionally flooded. And in Penhold, Alberta, a bunker was demolished over fears Hells Angels would buy it for a clubhouse.

There aren't any official figures on how much it cost to build the Debert bunker, but the similarly sized Nanaimo shelter ran C$2m-3m at the time to construct– about C$30m in today's currency.

Owning the Diefenbunker currently costs about C$60,000 a year to run.

The Wessex Institute of Technology, which advocates for the heritage of British Cold War bunkers, has said options for their use are often limited to tourism, high-security facilities, and data centres.

And disaster shelters are big business these days.

In the US, there is a bunker boom, part of a larger disaster "prepping" industry now worth at least $500m, according to some projections. While estimates vary, anywhere from 20 million to more than 70 million Americans are preparing for disaster. Developers are even building homes with pre-installed bunkers.

At the same time, existing military infrastructure is increasingly being converted for private use.

In the Black Hills of Virginia, a former Air Force base has been turned into the Vivos condominium complex, a "survivalist gated community", and in Kansas, the Atlas survival condo was created in a repurposed Army missile silo.

But while there is a business case, some in Debert, like Annette Sharpe, the secretary of the Debert Military Museum, have reservations.

"As a museum, it breaks my heart to say, I'm sorry, that piece of history is now private property, and they're refurbishing it for I don't know what," she said about museum visitors wanting to see the bunker up close.

In one of the museum's rooms, Sharpe showed off the Diefenbunker's old communication equipment, and in another, she lit up the warning system, meant to alert operators how close the world was to Armageddon.

After the base closed, the population of Debert plummeted from more than 60,000, including troops, to its current population of around 1,400.

Now, "if you drive down that road, you'll see the amount of stuff that's decrepit," Sharpe said. Nearby apartments cost only C$2,000 to rent, she added.

"Who's gonna afford to buy one of those Hollywood pretend scenes?" she said, referring to the Diefenbunker condos.

Debert Councillor Marie Benoit voiced concern about the boutique hotel's uber-luxury rates, estimated to be higher than most hotels in Halifax.

"Looking at people's wages, I don't know if it will be something that they can access," Benoit said.

Debert Mayor Blair, though, said it "is a novel thing and a unique thing" to have one of the few remaining Diefenbaker-era bunkers is in her municipality.

And constituents aren't pushing back against the condo project, she said.

"They don't have any problem with it, that we know of. We haven't had any people saying 'no, we don't want this here.'"

Owner of Angelina's Pizzeria, Fady Farah, hopes the project will bring more business to the area, like when the bunker hosted laser tag.

Besides, he added, "if the situation were to pop off, you'd see me there, knocking on the doors. Someone's gotta cook their food while they're in there".

I changed jobs 10 times in 10 years to get the career I wanted

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8kxgpe3kdo, 5 days ago

Brittany Harris-Nelson describes her career journey so far as being like "a frog moving across lily pads".

"Each step brought me closer to where I ultimately wanted to be, even if the path wasn't always linear," says the 32-year-old.

Today, Harris-Nelson works in a mid-level administrative position at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a role she had long coveted.

She says that to get there, she leapt from one college job to another for close to a decade, using each new role to gain specialised skills that would help with her career advancement.

Overall, she has had 10 different jobs at six different universities over the past decade, starting with several positions when she was still a student, and then three full-time roles.

Harris-Nelson has been an office manager, an admissions counsellor and a student advisor, before reaching her current position as assistant director of student engagement.

While she does not wish to reveal how much she now earns, she says that as she changed jobs her salary didn't increase much. But she got more benefits, such as extra paid leave and bigger pension contributions from her employer.

"Each role helped me build skills and perspectives that I didn't yet have, and together those experiences prepared me for the work I do today," she says.

And she's not alone.

Gen Z job hop more

Industry professionals have identified the emergence of a new work trend among members of Gen Z (those born from 1997–2012), called "lily padding".

It refers to young adults hopping from job to job to try to improve their skills and chances of getting more senior roles and higher pay, rather than staying put in one role at one company. The idea is that they supercharge their employability.

The data seems to back up the phenomenon. The average tenure of a Gen Z employee in the first five years of their career is just 1.1 years, compared with 1.8 years for millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996), and almost three years for older generations. That is according to a 2024 global survey of 11,250 workers by recruitment agency Randstad.

This increased mobility in the job market leads to increased salaries, at least in the UK, one 2025 report found. The study by financial company Wealthify said that people who changed jobs four or more times over the previous decade earned an average of £39,276 versus £30,088 for other workers - a 31% premium.

Those who describe their career strategies as "lily padding" are always on the lookout for the next opportunity.

That's the case of Adam Smiley Poswolsky, who is now a 42-year-old public speaker and author who talks and writes about how to improve workplace cultures.

Based in San Francisco, he says that the traditional career ladder mindset of staying at one company and working your way up didn't apply to him. Instead, he adds that he was looking for "meaning and purpose" in his work and life.

He says that to achieve this he moved between government, non-profit, creative and corporate work, and had a host of jobs in 15 years.

His gigs have included – project leader for Peace Corps, the US government agency that allows young Americans to do voluntary work overseas; and being an English teacher at Harvard University.

Poswolsky has also been a location scout for Warner Bros, a film producer in New York City, worked on Barack Obama's successful 2008 presidential election campaign, a public speaker at the youth-leadership programme, and the fellow of a think tank.

Throughout his career, he says he's sought interesting work and developed skills that helped him get to where he is now - writing books and being a well-paid public speaker.

"In each of my jumps, I was very clear on being ready for something new, but I also knew the skillset I was taking from one experience to the next," he says.

Poswolsky concludes that he's glad he's found flexibility and happiness through this career evolution rather than via a vertical corporate structure. He adds that he has also eventually managed to match the $70,000 (£52,000) he earned at the Peace Corps back when he was 28.

"The skills I learned in that government job helped me as a writer, which then led to me writing a book, which led to my current career as a professional keynote speaker."

'People want variety and pace'

Nicola Grant, chief people officer at UK insurance provider Hiscox, says she's noticed a broader shift in how people think about their careers.

Increasingly, individuals – particularly earlier in their careers, she says - want to build a breadth of experience faster, rather than follow a single, linear path. They are building a portfolio of skills.

She's also found there's a greater willingness among younger employees to move if they feel their development is slowing, or their options are limited.

"Expectations have changed; people want variety, pace and to build skills that will remain relevant," she says, "It's about a desire for growth."

"That ultimately benefits both the individual and the organisation," she adds.

Lucy Kemp, a strategic brand and communications leader at the IT company La Fosse and an employee experience specialist, agrees.

To her, lily padding is the future of work, not just a trend, as people who follow the tactic try to reach more senior roles and higher pay.

"Younger people have seen that loyalty doesn't pay off," says Kemp. "They want to shape their own careers, based on skills they value.

"There's a different sense of achievement compared to older generations, a completely different experience of work," she says.

Kemp also points out that learning in the office from peers isn't occurring as much since the pandemic, with people working from home and AI taking over basic tasks.

Instead, people are looking at skills that will be relevant in five years' time. And they'll get them by switching to a project on another team, a switch to another sector, or a job at another company, Kemp says. "People just want to learn something new and have a purpose."

That's how Harris-Nelson feels. "I see my career as an ongoing journey rather than a destination," she says. "I'm always learning and growing."

Do you have a similar experience or story to share? Get in touch.

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What to know about 'explosive diarrhoea' parasite outbreak in US

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c621m66qm76o, 4 days ago

Nearly 7,000 people in the US may have been infected with a diarrhoea-causing parasite, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said.

Cyclosporiasis is an infection caused by a microscopic parasite, with the main symptom being frequent, watery and explosive diarrhoea. People can become infected by consuming food or water that contains the parasite.

The outbreak has now spread to 34 states. Michigan is hardest hit, reporting more than 3,700 cases so far, according to the state's health department.

No deaths from the recent infections have been reported in the US. While the source has not yet been identified, past outbreaks have been linked to raw produce.

Where have cases been reported?

The CDC said on Tuesday that 1,645 people nationwide were confirmed to have cyclosporiasis. Another 5,100 cases were under investigation.

No deaths have been reported, and 141 patients have been admitted to hospital, the agency added.

According to the CDC, more than 400 cases are linked in four Midwestern states: Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Each state also reports its own figures on the number of cases, which may differ from the CDC's tallies.

* Michigan - 3,762 reported cases across the state as of 15 July, according to the state's health department

* New York - 517 cases reported in New York, with more than half coming from New York City alone, according to the state and city

* Ohio - 438 cases have been reported between 1 May and 15 July, according to the state

* North Carolina - 307 people have been sickened from 1 May to 14 July, with 13 cases requiring hospital admissions, according to the state

* Illinois - 216 total confirmed and probable cases as of 15 July, including 18 hospitalisations, according to the state

Other states with a large number of cases include Indiana, Texas and New Jersey, according to the CDC.

The number of people sick with cyclosporiasis is likely higher than the number reported because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for the illness.

The CDC said it anticipates the case counts will continue to rise as new data comes in.

What is cyclospora?

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by a microscopic parasite, according to the CDC.

People can become infected by consuming food or water that contains the parasite.

The illness is not usually life-threatening, according to the CDC, and is less common than other foodborne illnesses such as salmonella and E. coli.

People who are infected with cyclospora may or may not experience symptoms. The illness usually causes diarrhoea "with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements", says the public health agency.

If untreated, the illness may last from a few days to over a month, and symptoms may return after appearing to dissipate.

It usually takes about one week after infection to become sick.

Person-to-person transmission does not occur, according to Dr Caitlin Rivers, of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

The epidemiologist wrote in an 8 July newsletter that transmission was exclusively faecal-oral via ingestion of contaminated food or water.

What's causing the outbreak?

Those who were infected "became sick after eating food in the United States", the CDC said, and did not report any travel during the 14 days before they got sick.

No specific type of produce or any grower or supplier has been identified as the source.

"Contamination typically occurs at the farm or irrigation level, making traceback investigations difficult," Rivers wrote.

Previous cyclospora outbreaks in the US and Canada have been linked to bagged salad mixes and kits, fresh cilantro, fresh basil, raspberries, snow peas and green onions.

How to stay safe

Given the large and increasing number of cases, Michigan's health department has recommended that restaurants and kitchens preparing or serving raw produce reduce risk by thoroughly washing greens, cooking raspberries and leafy greens when possible, and removing outer layers of lettuce and green onions.

Amid speculation over the source of cases across the nation, the fast-food chain Taco Bell released a statement saying it was "voluntarily and temporarily removing limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure".

While public health officials have not confirmed a link to any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant, or retailer, Taco Bell says it intends to closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of the authorities.

The BBC has asked Taco Bell and the CDC for further comment.

While the US Food and Drug Administration says rinsing produce is unlikely to be effective, the CDC still recommends it.

People who are experiencing diarrhoea are urged to contact a health provider and ask about possible infection, officials said.

Trump retreat over Hormuz tolls suggests he is struggling to end Iran war

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crele3r8j19o, 5 days ago

Donald Trump's latest Iran war demand lasted all of 24 hours and suggests a president searching for unorthodox ways out of a difficult position.

On Monday morning, in a social media post announcing the resumption of an American naval blockade on Iranian shipping, he said that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz - including those of US allies - must pay a 20% fee to reimburse the US "for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world".

The following day, he abandoned that proposal completely, offering instead that he would strike "trade and investment deals" with America's Gulf allies, implying the US would offer them safe passage through the Strait in return.

The abrupt about-face was the latest twist in a conflict that has now lasted more than four months and, despite a month old "memorandum of understanding" that secured a temporary ceasefire and set up a framework for negotiations, shows no sign of ending.

Trump may be reluctant to escalate the war given its continued unpopularity, the likelihood of rising energy prices and the risks associated with American forces and allies once again coming under Iranian attack. He might find the prospect of ending the conflict without reaching an agreement he can claim is better than the one Barack Obama's administration negotiated in 2015 also distasteful, however.

"I think the most likely ending is a non-ending," Rosemary Kelanic, Director of the Middle East programme at Defense Priorities, said. "This has turned into a war of attrition, and wars of attrition tend to go on for a long, long period of time."

The US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) - and the hopes that came with it for an end to the war - died at 10:16 EST (15:16 GMT) on Tuesday on Truth Social, when Trump announced a resumption of the US blockade of Iranian shipping, amidst a flurry of new US military strikes on targets across Iran.

The Iranians countered by stepping up attacks on US allies and commercial shipping in the region, grinding traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill once more.

After nearly a month of on-again, off-again negotiations between the two nations, punctuated by occasional hostilities that tested the definition of a "ceasefire", Trump and the Americans appear to be facing the same challenges that had been present through much of the Iran war.

While militarily, the Americans were achieving their objectives, as measured in Iranian ships, planes and targets destroyed and defence capabilities degraded, politically the conflict was far from resolved.

Iran, militarily weakened though it may be, could still deny access to the Strait of Hormuz. And unless the Americans were willing to dramatically escalate their military operations in the region, there was little they could do to stop them.

Trump's new twist of a 20% fee - possibly a means of making that military commitment more palatable to the American public - wasn't entirely new. He had suggested such an arrangement on several occasions over the course of the war.

But just last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had condemned an Iranian plan to charge "fees" on shipping through Hormuz.

"No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway," he said. "That's existing international law. That's the way it is in international waterways all over the world, and that's the way we expect it here."

Trump's Hormuz U-turn is just the latest evidence of a president who does not appear to have a clear path forward. The memorandum of understanding, which both Americans and Iranians claimed as a victory for their side, was intentionally vague, leaving much up to later negotiation.

The document envisioned some role for Iran in overseeing shipping in Hormuz. It read: "The Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge."

This is a role that Iran has been intent on asserting. The MOU also included billions of dollars in promised "investment" in Iran and an end to international sanctions.

Americans may have believed those sweeteners, accompanied by warnings of the consequences of noncompliance, would be enough to dissuade Iran from attempting to use its geographic advantages to more forcefully assert control over Hormuz. That calculation, at least for the moment, appears incorrect.

"The MOU is completely dead," said Kelanic. "All of the things that it stipulated have now been undone."

Now Trump, and the Iranians, find themselves in a familiar predicament. The latter are once again facing American military attacks across their territory, underlining their inability to defend their territorial sovereignty. With the reimposed blockade, their oil revenue - a lifeline for the Iranian regime - is again cut off.

Meanwhile, Trump is again facing a choice between escalation, which comes with domestic economic and political costs, and settling for some kind of resolution that leaves a hostile Iranian regime in power.

"We're back to where we were initially, where the question was: who's got more patience?" said Elliot Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "The Iranians, who will not be able to export oil, or the US and other countries that use Gulf oil?"

After months of concern that the Iran war was triggering a new round of popularity-crushing inflation, Trump received some good news on Tuesday that consumer prices were dropping.

A resumption of full hostilities, or even an escalation in the conflict, would inevitably push oil prices back toward previous highs, endangering that positive trend and again putting Republicans in a tenuous position heading into November's midterm congressional elections.

On Monday, after Trump's Truth Social post, the price of a barrel of oil jumped nearly 10% - the biggest one-day increase in six years.

The first time around, Trump's blockade helped pressure the Iranians to the negotiating table and paved the way for the memorandum of understanding and a framework for a more lasting peace.

Now, according to Kelanic, the president's leverage over Iran may be diminished.

"He has already tried the things he can easily do, can credibly do," she said. "He can attack military targets, regime targets. He's done that before, and it didn't cause Iran to surrender."

The latest target Trump has suggested is Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified nuclear research site south of Tehran. But there is conflicting evidence of the value of the site - or of whether US air strikes can cause significant damage to the tunnels which are deep beneath granite rock.

If Trump's latest moves do ultimately end with yet another ceasefire and face-to-face talks, the underlying, difficult-to-reconcile disagreements - over Hormuz, over the disposition of Iran's nuclear programme, over Iran's influence in the Middle East - remain.

"I think there's room for negotiation here over a Strait of Hormuz deal," said Abrams. "But not a return to the MOU."

With the war approaching its fifth month, Trump again on Monday noted that other American conflicts - including the Vietnam War - stretched on for years.

That particular quagmire, however, hobbled and ultimately ended the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson and damaged US global standing for at least a decade. That is a fate Trump is certainly hoping to avoid.

His supporters also are weary to repeat the kind of Middle East "forever wars" that Trump condemned in previous presidential campaigns.

But with the memorandum of understanding in tatters, the ceasefire ended and the prospect of further conflict looming, the end of the Iran war appears no closer to a resolution than it was in the weeks after it began.

Follow the twists and turns of Trump's second term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's weekly US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Uganda suspends school trips after 20 pupils die in bus crash

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c151gegwqv1o, 2 days ago

Uganda's government has suspended all school trips in the wake of Thursday evening's bus crash that killed at least 20 pupils and one adult who were taking part in an educational tour.

Dozens of others, including staff, were injured in the accident in Kapchorwa district, eastern Uganda.

Preliminary investigations suggest the bus had a mechanical fault before the driver lost control on Chekwatit Hill, a stretch of road that has been the site of several serious crashes, according to local officials.

Uganda records thousands of road deaths a year but this incident is one of the country's deadliest involving children in recent times.

"As an immediate precautionary measure, we must do something about the safety of our children," Education Minister John Chrysostom Muyingo said, announcing the temporary ban on trips until a full investigation was completed.

"The nation has suffered a great loss, I would like us to work hand in hand so that those who survived are well taken care of," he added.

Traffic police spokesman Michael Kananura described what had happened on Thursday.

"The driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, which veered off the road, struck a large stone along the roadside, and overturned," he said.

The bus, carrying pupils from King David Junior School in Ndejje, crashed at about 20:00 local time (17:00 GMT) at Chekwatit village.

"Sadly, 20 children and one adult, who happens to be the founder and director, Mr Tadeo Ssekade, have gone to be with the Lord," Local Government Minister Balaam Ateenyi Barugahara posted on X, while he was at the scene.

Videos shared by eyewitnesses showed the bus badly damaged, as local residents rushed to help the injured children.

The pupils were returning from a study tour, with local media reporting they had visited the Sipi Falls, a tourist area.

Speeding, poorly maintained vehicles and dangerous roads are among the leading causes of road deaths in Uganda, according to traffic authorities.

The latest crash comes amid renewed concern over the safety of school transport after several serious bus accidents were reported in the country in recent weeks.

Additional reporting by Swaibu Ibrahim

More BBC stories about Uganda:

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Air conditioner sparked deadly blaze at children's orphanage - police

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d8ylw60e9o, yesterday

A fire that killed 11 people at an orphanage in Algeria's capital was caused by an electrical spark from a faulty air-conditioning unit, police in the North African country have said.

Amid the summer heat, the air conditioner had been running continuously before the blaze broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to forensic investigators.

The civil protection department has not specified the ages of those killed or the 19 injured, but in a social media post Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune said children were among the dead.

The fire service battled the flames at the children's care home in Mohammadia, an eastern suburb of Algiers, for at least three hours.

A carer working at the orphanage was amongst those who died, according to the AFP news agency quoting a police report.

Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb has visited survivors at two hospitals, where they are being treated for burns, smoke inhalation and shock.

Algeria is experiencing an intense summer heatwave with firefighters also battling several wildfires across the north of the country.

News of the orphanage fire has shocked and outraged many.

"May God have mercy on them," the civil defence unit said as it announced the death toll on Thursday, several hours after the blaze began.

President Tebboune said in a statement: "It is with a heart resigned to the will of God that I learned of the death of children and the injury of others."

The authorities said five children with reduced mobility had been safely rescued from the blaze.

The fire has prompted opposition figures, critical media and social media users to demand answers over possible negligence.

The opposition Jil Jadid party called for a transparent investigation into the incident and legal accountability for any negligence or safety failures.

It also demanded a nationwide review of fire safety standards at orphanages, care homes, hospitals and schools.

Journalist Akram Kharief described the fire as a "national tragedy", called for fire safety audits at all public institutions and questioned why Algerians could not live "a normal life in a normal country".

Comments on the social media pages of several news outlets wanted to know who had been supervising the children overnight, while some called for resignations.

Meanwhile, Le Matin d'Algérie - a website critical of the government - noted the absence of the mayor and provincial governor during the initial rescue operation.

Pro-government news site Algerie Patriotique said the country should establish the truth "without complacency" and determine whether the deaths could have been prevented.

Additional reporting by Natasha Booty

More BBC stories on Algeria:

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

'Moment of joy' as Uganda discharges last Ebola patient

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2myxjv172o, 3 days ago

The last patient being treated for Ebola in Uganda has been discharged from hospital, leaving the country with no active confirmed cases of the deadly disease.

At a ceremony marking the occasion Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi described it as "a moment of joy".

The first case of this outbreak in Uganda was confirmed in May. He was a man who had travelled for treatment from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the epidemic where almost 800 people have died.

In his latest briefing on the outbreak, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was now the world's third‑largest on record and was spreading at an alarming speed in DR Congo.

He warned it was happening more quickly than any previous outbreak and that 80% of new cases in DR Congo were from previously unknown transmission chains.

As the Congolese authorities battle to contain the spread of the virus, the US has extended travel restrictions on its citizens who have been to DR Congo.

In Uganda, a 42-day countdown has now begun before it can officially be declared Ebola-free, as long as no new infections emerge.

"It demonstrates that with early detection, prompt treatment and a strong health system, Ebola can be defeated," the health minister said.

Nevertheless, his ministry has urged people to "remain vigilant".

"If you develop symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding, seek immediate medical care," it said in a statement on X.

In all, Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases, mostly among visitors from DR Congo, and two deaths.

Uganda has experienced several Ebola outbreaks over the last two decades and now has well established protocols to deal with the virus. These include isolation of suspected cases and contact tracing as well as targeted public health messages.

There have been more than 2,000 confirmed infections and 796 deaths in DR Congo, according to government data.

But it is thought that it could have been in the community undetected for months before the outbreak was officially declared two months ago.

"About two-thirds of deaths are occurring in communities, among people who never receive care in a health facility," the AFP news agency quotes Tedros as saying at a briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.

Earlier this week, a WHO official said the true number of infections could be four times larger than recorded.

There are currently no vaccines or approved treatments for this rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola and health workers in DR Congo are playing catch up with not enough beds for the ill, not enough contact tracing and testing.

They also face suspicion from local communities, in a region with active armed conflict.

The WHO wants $115m (£85m) to tackle the outbreak - so far it has received just $45m.

"This is not charity, it's an investment in national security," Tedros said, asking donor countries to step up.

In response to the latest situation, the US has announced that citizens who have been in DR Congo and want to return home must spend 21 days in a third country before being allowed into America.

Previously, they had been able to enter at select airports, where they went through a screening process.

The new rule could affect recruitment of US medics who want to work in Ebola-affected areas and the scale of operations, Franklin Graham, the CEO of an organisation that runs Ebola treatment centres, told the Reuters news agency.

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.

Additional reporting by Swaibu Ibrahim in Kampala

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Fraud crackdown on Ghana ID cards makes digital checks compulsory - photocopies banned

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4n9q538z2o, 3 days ago

All businesses and other institutions in Ghana must now use a biometric app scanner to check national identity cards under new rules aimed at strengthening security and curbing fraud.

Until now many of them have just visually checked or photocopied the card for their records, which has made it possible for criminals to impersonate someone.

All Ghanaian citizens and foreign residents in the country must carry a plastic biometric national ID known as the "Ghana Card".

Introduced over the last decade, the Ghana Card has become central to daily life in the West African nation and is needed to access banking services, register Sim cards and to obtain a passport or driver's licence.

The biometric data captured on the card by the country's National Identification Authority (NIA) includes 10 fingerprints, iris scans as well as a photograph and signature.

In future those checking the card will have to use a mobile phone app that checks that data after scanning the card.

"It is now an offence to photocopy or visually inspect a Ghana Card for the purpose of transaction. Biometric verification is now mandatory," said Wisdom Yayra Koku Deku, the NIA chief, in a statement.

Organisations that continue using photocopies or visual ID checks risk prosecution, with fines of up to 24,000 Ghanaian cedis (about $2,100 or £1,550). Individuals face fines of up to 6,000 Ghanaian cedis (about $525 or £390), NIA said.

The agency urged organisations that were not yet connected to its digital identity verification app to begin the process immediately.

Deku said the government would, in the coming days, brief the public on the implementation of the amended regulations and measures to ensure compliance.

Additional reporting by Thomas Naadi in Accra

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Second tanker in three months hijacked off Yemen by suspected Somali pirates

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7vg6dml34vo, yesterday

Pirates have hijacked a tanker in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen, according to a UK maritime safety organisation (UKMTO) and Somali security officials.

The UKMTO said a "vessel was boarded by unauthorised personnel" as it sailed east, adding that other ships were "advised to transit with caution". Officials from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region said the attackers were Somali.

This is the second hijacking of a vessel off the coast of Yemen since May, when the MT Eureka was seized near the port of Qana. Two other ships were boarded by pirates in the Indian Ocean in April.

There have also been several unsuccessful attacks in a region where piracy appears to be making a comeback.

Until three years ago these kinds of incidents had almost disappeared in this area once notorious for hijackings, following a concerted security operation involving several navies.

Speaking to the BBC, three Puntland security officials separately identified the craft hijacked on Friday as a tanker named MT Asana.

They added that it was seized by seven gunmen who had set off from a remote area near the Puntland port town of Garacad before making their way to the Gulf of Aden.

The MT Asana, sailing under a Tanzanian flag, was en route to the port of Bosaso in Puntland, when it was boarded 65 nautical miles off Yemen.

Whereas the Indian Ocean is heavily patrolled by the European Union Naval Force, which oversees anti-piracy operations in Somalia, the Gulf of Aden is more lightly protected.

According to the Puntland officials, this could explain why it has now become an area of operation for the pirates.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Ghana TikToker jailed after sharing false news about the president

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c171g7w058zo, 2 days ago

A Ghanaian TikToker has been sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to charges of offensive conduct and publication of false news over posts she had made about President John Mahama.

Last month and early this month, Camilla Alhassan shared a series of videos alleging, without providing evidence, that the president sacrificed 32 cows as part of a ritual to help him win the 2024 general election.

The 43-year-old also alleged that a government initiative to distribute sanitary pads to recent flood victims was an attempt to conceal what she claimed he had done.

The judge turned down an appeal for a lighter punishment, ruling that a custodial sentence would discourage similar conduct.

Prosecutors had argued that Alhassan, who has more than 70,000 followers on TikTok, had made a series of false and defamatory allegations against the president.

Her widely shared videos, which led to Alhassan's arrest earlier this month, prompted renewed debate in Ghana about misinformation on social media and how to strike the balance between criminal sanctions and freedom of expression.

The judge said that the sentence was necessary to curb the spread of falsehood, which is becoming prevalent on social media.

This is not the first time an influencer has been jailed in Ghana.

Last September, popular TikToker David Kwodwo Prah Afful, known as Kwame Nkrumah II, was sentenced to seven months in prison after being found guilty of making a death threat and producing offensive conduct conducive to a breach of the peace.

He had threatened to kill Mahama and members of parliament in a viral video.

Last year, the president said that his government was considering ways to "sanitise" social media, instructing the authorities to track down and arrest those spreading misinformation and disinformation.

"I'm sending a signal to Ghanaians that if you peddle falsehood, hate speech and make utterances to cause fear and panic, we will find you," he said at a press conference.

A year ago, Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George announced plans to introduce legislation to combat the issue.

The proposed law would create a legal framework for enforcement while seeking to safeguard free speech.

Ghana is widely regarded as one of West Africa's strongest democracies, with constitutional protections for freedom of expression and a vibrant media landscape.

However, concerns have grown in recent years over the spread of false information on social media, prompting calls for stronger regulation while rights groups warn against measures that could restrict free speech.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Former 'street kid' key to South Africa's police corruption inquiry

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpq3q75y40do, 4 days ago

The name of controversial businessman Vusimusi "Cat" Matlala has haunted the proceedings of South Africa's major inquiry into alleged police corruption.

The 49-year-old has been accused of supplying generous gifts - including 20 impalas, the weight-loss drug Ozempic and personal loans - to help him buy influence and get police contracts.

In police custody for more than a year in connection with a separate case, Matlala was due to provide his side of the story before retired Constitutional Court judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga and his panel on Wednesday. But after appearing before the commissioners in person for two hours, it was agreed that he would start his testimony in earnest in September.

The revelations at the Madlanga Commission, in progress for 10 months, have gripped South Africans and they are eager to hear how Matlala responds.

Dressed in a Fendi shirt and Gucci glasses, Matlala did give evidence at a parallel corruption inquiry in parliament last November.

He said he did not know senior police officers and politicians personally and denied corruption allegations though he admitted to having made donations for activities related to the African National Congress (ANC), the main party in the coalition government.

But he has not yet been asked to address the wider allegations made at the Madlanga Commission or the accusation that he was part of a drug trafficking cartel, allegedly known as the Big Five.

Matlala may now be a central figure, but he only came to public prominence three years ago when his name was mentioned in news reports around alleged tender irregularities at a state hospital - though he said he had nothing to do with the tender.

What little is known about his early life is based on what he told parliament last year.

He was born in 1976, when South Africa was still run by a white-minority government, and grew up in a township east of the capital, Pretoria.

He told lawmakers that he was for a time raised by a single mother, who he said then "disappeared on me".

"I had to raise myself. I was actually a street kid," he told lawmakers.

He eventually reunited with his mother in 2002, when she was terminally ill.

After she died, Matlala learned that she had been sexually assaulted, which he said was because of her albinism. Myths surround the condition include people believing that having sex with a woman with the condition would cure the men of illness.

After leaving school, he said he started an informal business to make ends meet, which led to various brushes with the law.

In 2001, he was convicted and served time in prison for the possession of stolen goods.

Over the years, he would be arrested for a string of crimes, including house robberies, a cash-in-transit heist and assault. He denied involvement in them all and was either acquitted or had the charges withdrawn against him.

He told the parliamentary committee that his nickname "Cat" was not, as some had suggested, down to his "nine lives" and ability to survive trouble, but because of his large family - he has nine children with his wife.

But things caught up with him in May 2025 when he was arrested and charged with attempted murder, which he denies. His wife is accused of the same crime and also denies the charge. Unlike her husband, she has been granted bail.

He was later charged with corruption over allegations in relation to providing health services to the police - and last month pleaded guilty as part of a deal with the prosecution but has since withdrawn the plea as the agreement has fallen apart.

He told the parliamentary inquiry last year that he turned his life around in 2017, when he registered his first formal business to provide security services.

Matlala said he later expanded his services into healthcare, and this led to him scoring lucrative contracts, first with a hospital and then the police, even though, as he admitted to lawmakers, he had no track record providing healthcare services.

But since last September, as witnesses gave evidence to the Madlanga Commission, allegations that Matlala had a close and corrupt relationship with senior police officers emerged in the public domain.

This included allegations that the now-suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu was indirectly receiving financial campaign money from Matlala to fund his "political endeavours". Mchunu denied these accusations.

Matlala has also been accused of having dealings with Mchunu's predecessor Bheki Cele.

Matlala told parliament's inquiry he had paid Cele a 500,000 rand ($31,000; £23,000) "facilitation fee", which the latter had demanded after police returned firearms seized from Matlala.

The businessman alleged that Cele also made other requests, including asking for help to purchase a home and pay for his son's studies, to which Matlala refused to accede.

Cele admitted to MPs that he had known Matlala for a couple of months and had stayed at his rented penthouse in Pretoria on two occasions but denied receiving money from Matlala.

Matlala's relationship with suspended deputy police chief Maj-Gen Shadrack Sibiya has also come under examination.

Both Matlala and Sibiya denied having a close relationship, insisting their dealings were strictly professional.

But testimony given at the Madlanga Commission painted a different picture.

It was alleged that Sibiya had received 20 impalas from Matlala around the same time Matlala was awarded the police contract. Sibiya denied this, saying he would never "receive anything from a service provider".

A witness also alleged that Matlala had bragged about his "close connections with very senior police officials", including Sibiya, following his arrest in May last year.

Matlala's alleged relationship with other senior police officers have also been brought up at the Madlanga Commission.

Brig Rachel Matjeng, who oversaw the controversial police contract awarded to Matlala, told the commission she had had an on-off romantic relationship with the businessman that included lavish romantic presents – among them shots of Ozempic.

Another senior officer, the head of the police's organised crime unit Maj-Gen Richard Shibiri, admitted to receiving a "personal loan" of $4,000 from Matlala which he repaid.

Shibiri, who oversaw anti-gang, narcotics, illegal mining investigations among others in his role, said the money was for repairs to his son's car. He denied having a close friendship with Matlala, despite speaking to him often and advising him on personal matters.

"At no stage was I aware that he was a member of any cartel or that he was a subject of any criminal investigation," he said.

Shibiri and Matjeng have since been fired from the police force.

Matlala's name was also mentioned in relation to an alleged scandal in Ekurhuleni, a local government area just east of Johannesburg.

It was alleged that while Julius Mkhwanazi was Ekurhuleni's acting police chief, he arranged for blue lights and sirens to be fitted on Matlala's personal vehicles.

Mkhwanazi, who has since been suspended, denied the allegations but did admit to receiving money from Matlala, describing him as a "blood brother" during his appearance at the Madlanga Commission.

The startling revelations that have emerged since September, when the Madlanga Commission began, have left people wondering how such things were allowed to happen.

Many South Africans, anxious to understand the mechanics of the alleged corruption, hope that come 1 September Matlala may hold the answers.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

How men with female surnames are standing up to ridicule in Kenya

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c75ygy71wdgo, 8 days ago

Many children in Kenya traditionally inherit their father's first name as their surname, but there are an increasing number of people who are taking their mother's instead.

This is particularly the case amongst the country's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu - and has become a subject of debate and in some cases ridicule for the men with female surnames.

Girls and women who have their mother's names do not face the same censure - and often when they marry may opt to take their husband's first name as their surname.

Some say the growing trend of men having female surnames reflects changing attitudes to women and their influence in what is a patriarchal society; others are critical of those who have been given - or in some cases opt to take - their mother's name.

It used to be rare to see men in prominent positions with a female surname, but now there are even several politicians who have them - like MP John Njũgũna Wanjikũ.

Brought up by a single mother, he was first elected in 2021 and goes by the nickname "Ka-Wanjikũ", meaning child of Wanjikũ.

Some like Wanjikũ were given their female surname at birth, but others have chosen theirs to honour their mothers.

One of the earlier personalities to break the norm over male surnames was Peter Kĩgia, a Kenyan musician who chose his mother's name as his stage name.

Kĩgia wa Esther (son of Esther), now in his 60s, is known for playing benga - fast, rhythmic guitar folk music with lyrics in Kikuyu.

"When you take your mother's name, it means you love and respect her," he told the BBC, saying he had even registered his record company as Wa Esther Productions.

It now comes with a certain cachet in the music industry, with other younger male musicians following in his footsteps. Posters advertising performers with their mother's surname, such as Waithaka wa Jane and 90K Ka Msoh, are often plastered to hoardings in the capital, Nairobi.

Though in these cases the formal names of these artistes remain male.

Journalist Simon Macharia Wangũi told the BBC he decided to deliberately choose his mother's name as his official surname.

"Why give somebody credit where it does not exist?" he says of his father, who was absent for most of his life and about whom he has "only heard rumours of his existence".

Mostly raised by his grandmother, he was 12 when his mother died in 2003. He had no surname until his final year of high school, when he applied for a birth certificate.

Some Kenyans still think that a child raised by a single parent "lacks certain morals", explains Evans Kibe Waceke, a broadcaster who bears a female surname.

"People perceive you as undisciplined, especially when you are raised by a single mother," he tells the BBC.

A heated debate over the pros and cons of having a female surname began two years ago when prominent motivational speaker Robert Burale said it undermined men's masculinity.

This prompted TV personality Fred Mũitĩrĩri to go public about the difficulties of having a female surname - and how he ended up dropping his mother's name, deciding to use his English and Kikuyu first names only.

"Do you know how embarrassing it is for a boy to be called out, in a room full of kids, [with] a girl's name?" he wrote on Facebook - talking about his low self-esteem.

"From some of those experiences, I developed depression at the age of 23," he said.

Wairimũ Mũkũrũ, a young Kikuyu cultural expert with a large social media following, says the rise of female surnames is largely down to the fact that single-mother families have become much more common.

Still, she adds, it is a cultural anomaly as even sons of unmarried women are usually given male surnames.

"In the event that your mother doesn't tell you who your dad is or he rejects you, your mother's eldest brother takes up that role," she tells the BBC.

However, Mũkũrũ explains that there may sometimes be reluctance to do this as it gives a child the right to inherit property.

Mũgwe wa Njũhĩ, an official of the Kikuyu cultural group Kiama Kĩa Ma, agrees male relatives of single mothers may deny the use of their name to avoid inheritance disputes.

But he also argues that there should not be such disdain for female surnames given that, according to legend, the Kikuyu trace their lineage from the 10 daughters of the community's first couple - Gikũyũ and Mũmbi.

"I am Mũmbũi by clan [derived from Wambũi, one of the daughters]. We have always aligned ourselves with women, from the very beginning," he tells the BBC.

In fact, the Kikuyu are often referred to as the House of Mũmbi, after their mythological founding mother.

Wa Esther, the veteran musician, agrees that people from other communities who criticise the use of female names by Kikuyu men do not understand "our way of life".

Academic George Gathigi explains that while Kikuyu men may have traditionally identified themselves through their mothers, that was always informal, with formal adoption of female names being a new phenomenon.

When polygamy was more commonly practised, for example, children were identified by their mother's names in large groups to avoid confusion - as culturally too there is only a small pool of first names in each family.

Late Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, whose father Thiong'o wa Ndūcũ had four wives, wrote in his memoir Dreams in a Time of War that while growing up he was generally known as Ngũgĩ wa Wanjikũ – his mother's first name.

Gathigi, who lectures at the University of Nairobi and commentates on Kikuyu social issues, believes the adoption of female surnames reflects the "strength of women" in modern society, particularly in situations where men have been abandoning their responsibilities.

"Culture changes and you now have to deal with the modern realities in division of labour," he tells the BBC, noting that women have increasingly been taking up roles that had been seen as male.

He says that in such cases, when the children "don't get that advantage of being brought up by their father… the mother becomes both the mother and the father".

He sees this as a "bad thing that it is being normalised".

Such attitudes may explain the continuing backlash - one blog has described the practice of using female surnames as "a yoke around men's necks" while another says it is an effort to "womanise the Kikuyu man and make him weak".

While journalist Wangũi acknowledges it may not always be easy to have a female surname and it brings with it a certain "identity crisis", he is proud of his decision.

And he says that if you end up being successful, despite the name, "people will see you as having beaten the odds to get to where you are".

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

How a fake presidential council ended up with a budget of almost $1m in Nigeria

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c872v7wldjyo, 9 days ago

How did an organisation with government offices, civil servants and a line in Nigeria's national budget turn out to have no legal basis for existing?

For much of 2025, nothing set the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) apart from the many other agencies that make up Nigeria's federal bureaucracy.

It presented itself as a body created to attract foreign investment into Africa's most populous country, operating from an office inside the Federal Secretariat in Abuja - the huge complex that houses Nigeria's government ministries.

Career civil servants were assigned there and ran a website on the government's official ".gov.ng" domain. It even won approval to hire more than 300 staff, at a time when the government had frozen public-sector recruitment. The website has been taken down but its Instagram account is still working.

Its director general, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, met cabinet ministers, financial regulators, the head of Nigeria's anti-corruption agency and foreign diplomats. When the 2026 national budget was signed into law, the council was in it, with an allocation of 1.3bn naira ($950,000; £700,000).

Then, last month, the government said it was all a fiction.

The presidency announced that the PFIPC had never been created by law, by presidential order nor by any other official instrument.

Its apparent legitimacy, officials said, rested on a single forged document - an appointment letter claiming that President Bola Tinubu had made Adeyemi the council's director general. Investigators say the letter carried the forged signature of Femi Gbajabiamila, the president's chief of staff and most senior aide.

Adeyemi denies this.

He insists the council was lawfully set up in 2024 and that he was properly appointed. He has also accused senior officials of demanding bribes to secure his job and later trying to seize the council's funds. The presidency denies his claims.

Although he has gone into hiding saying he fears for his life, he has said he will appear in court later this month to answer charges including forgery and impersonation. Police have launched a manhunt for him.

But the scandal has already grown beyond the question of one forged letter.

Investigators are now examining how far the machinery of the Nigerian state moved on Adeyemi's behalf - and who inside it allowed that to happen.

To do what the PFIPC did, an agency in Nigeria must pass through some of the most powerful offices in government - the secretary to the government of the federation - effectively the government's chief administrator, the head of the civil service, the accountant-general who controls public accounts, the budget office, and finally parliament, which must pass the spending into law.

Babachir Lawal has sat at the top of that chain.

He served as secretary to the government of the federation, the office that assigns agencies their space and status, under Tinubu's predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.

"There's no way [that office] in a normal system would not know that the agency is fake," he told the BBC. "You cannot create a budget code for yourself without the budget office knowing. There must be connivance with officials within."

His conclusion was blunt: "You must have officials within the system who will validate your corrupt behaviour."

Oluseun Onigbinde reaches a similar view by a different route.

He co-founded BudgIT, a Nigerian transparency group that first drew attention to the council's funding. He points out that the PFIPC does not appear in the budgets for 2023, 2024 or 2025 but then surfaces - fully formed and with its own budget code - in 2026.

"This agency actually emanated and found itself in the budget from the executive," he said - meaning it came from within the president's own side of government, not from parliament. "The functional head of the agency cannot just do that alone. It has to come from the State House [the president's office]," he told the BBC.

Onigbinde listed the checks a genuine agency must go through - an office in the federal secretariat, sign-off from the civil service, a budget code, and a multi-step approval to open a bank account. He said the "lone impostor" explanation did not add up.

"I don't know how you go through all these tracks and you still come out at the end and this agency is fake," he said. "He does it have backing. The government just has to be honest about who exactly are the people involved."

The government's own account has shifted. Its spokesman first said Adeyemi had "fraudulently opened" an account at the Central Bank of Nigeria. The accountant-general's office later said no such account was ever activated, and that no public money was released.

The distinction matters.

Even if no money left the treasury, the affair has shown how easily the appearance of a real government institution can be created in Nigeria - a country actively courting foreign investors, whom this council was ostensibly set up to attract.

The BBC asked the presidency how the agency obtained its office, staff and budget line, and why it favours an internal investigation over an independent one. The presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Lawyers for Gbajabiamila said his position was set out in a legal letter and that he was not giving interviews. In that letter, seen by the BBC, they describe Adeyemi's allegations as false and defamatory, say the two men have never met, and demand he issue a retraction or otherwise face criminal and civil proceedings, including a claim for 10bn naira in damages.

President Tinubu has ordered the country's anti-corruption commission to investigate and report within 30 days, including on "the role of any public officer" who may have helped. Critics note that he did so while publicly declaring "100% confidence" in Gbajabiamila, who is listed as a witness at Adeyemi's legal case. Opposition parties, senior lawyers and campaigners are demanding an independent judicial inquiry instead.

Nigeria is no stranger to large-scale corruption but previous scandals have tended to share a common ending: many names mentioned, few convictions.

Tinubu took office in 2023 promising reform, and points to more than 7,000 convictions and over 500bn naira recovered in two years. Critics say those numbers are dominated by low-level internet fraudsters, while politically connected figures are rarely touched.

What sets the PFIPC apart is not the amount of money, which is modest by the standards of some previous scandals, but the method. This was not money skimmed from a contract. It was, allegedly, an entire arm of government created from nothing.

Onigbinde describes it as "a symptom of the dysfunctional budgeting process". He links it to the rapid growth in the number of government bodies: a 2012 official review recommended cutting Nigeria's agencies, but their number has instead roughly doubled, to well over 1,200.

"It's a costly waste of public resource," he said - in a country heavily in debt. As the investigation widened, its sharpest effect was felt far from Abuja. Police searching for Adeyemi, who had gone into hiding, went instead to his family home in Ogbomoso in the south-western Oyo state, and detained his elderly father, Chief Adetunji Adeniyi.

Speaking to BBC News Yoruba, Chief Adeniyi described officers forcing their way in. "They tore off all the barbed wire and broke the fence and the door," he said. They searched the house, took the family's phones, and returned the next morning, he added. "I was so worried. I was just saying: 'What is this? Are they trying to kill me?'"

He defended his son. "My son is an easy-going person, not a troublemaker," he said. "I am very sad at all the reports that I am hearing. I am really confused by it all."

Adeyemi's lawyer, prominent human rights advocate Femi Falana, told the BBC that Adeniyi had since been released, and that detaining a relative in place of a suspect was illegal in Nigeria. Police spokesperson Anietie Okokon Edem Iniedu said the elderly man had not been arrested but was invited to assist with their inquiries.

Falana, who would not discuss the case itself, said Adeyemi had assured him he would appear for his trial, though Falana did not know where his client was. He echoed the wider demand for those higher up to be examined.

"This guy should not just be sacrificed alone," he said. "Those who used him to achieve their own objectives will have to be exposed."

The BBC has asked the body in charge of the investigation - the ICPC - for comment, but has yet to receive a reply at the time of publication.

Adeyemi is due to appear in court in Abuja on 27 July, with Gbajabiamila and 10 others listed as prosecution witnesses. The anti-corruption commission's report is expected soon after.

Both will be measured against the same question: whether they identify the officials who allowed a phantom agency to acquire offices, staff and public money - or whether the affair comes to rest on one man, still in hiding, and still insisting that the council he led was real.

More about Nigeria from the BBC:

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

'They said it isn't real': Ebola rumours fuel attacks on health workers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79yj09nd4qo, 10 days ago

"They grabbed me from behind and started punching me, hitting me with spades and machetes," says Daniel Uyirwoth Welo, one of four Red Cross volunteers injured when a crowd tried to open a coffin carrying someone who had died from Ebola.

The 27-year-old and his colleagues were attempting to carry out a safe burial at a cemetery in Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, last month when they were attacked. The assault was triggered by rumours - circulating locally and online - that the coffin was empty.

Some in the crowd said, "No Ebola doesn't exist," Welo told BBC Verify, adding that others believed the Red Cross team was there only "to get money".

The attack is one of a series of incidents linked to misinformation during the latest Ebola outbreak, which has infected more than 1,750 people and killed 600 in DR Congo since mid-May, according to government data.

False claims circulating in affected areas include allegations that Ebola doesn't exist, that health workers are deliberately infecting people or harvesting their organs, and that the Ebola response is a money-making scheme.

BBC Verify identified 12 cases of community resistance to Ebola control measures, seven of which we have been able to verify using social media footage. These include attacks on treatment facilities, assaults on health workers, and repeated attempts to interfere with safe burial procedures for people who died from the disease. The true number is likely to be higher as incidents may happen in remote areas and go unreported.

Most recently, on 1 July, people set fire to an Ebola treatment centre in Bafwabango, Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak. Local media reported that a police officer was killed following clashes over the body of a person suspected to have died from the virus.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids and victims' bodies can remain highly infectious after death. Health workers had wanted to bury the victim safely - though this measure has repeatedly faced resistance during the outbreak amid baseless claims that Ebola is not real.

The current outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo species. While there is still no approved vaccine or treatment for this species, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says a trial has begun of two potential treatments - though experts caution that it could take months to complete.

Response teams from aid organisations and the Congolese authorities have been carrying out safe burials, preventing practices such as washing or touching bodies that can spread infection. Funeral rites involving contact with the deceased have played a major role in the spread of Ebola during previous outbreaks, making safe burials a key way of limiting further spread of the disease.

But health officials say misinformation is undermining those efforts.

In late May, rioters set fire to equipment and two isolation tents at an Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara after relatives of a young man believed to have died from the virus were prevented from taking his body away for burial.

Funerals - often a multi-day affair in DR Congo - are among the most important communal and cultural ceremonies in the country, with deep social, cultural, and spiritual relevance.

"Women are dressed in a wedding dress with make-up… They sing, they celebrate that person, because it's a journey, it's not the end of the life," Julienne Anoko, an anthropologist working with the WHO as a community engagement officer, told the BBC last month.

Since then, medical facilities have reportedly been attacked or vandalised at least three more times.

Ebola responders in Ituri told the BBC that misconceptions about the virus and fears about what happens in treatment centres have discouraged some patients from seeking care promptly, often leaving them with little chance of recovery by the time they arrive for medical help.

Dr Aimé Mbonda Noula of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said some families had fled their homes when a relative died from Ebola, abandoning the body rather than notifying authorities because they feared being taken into quarantine.

"Most of the people in [these] communities think that these treatment centres are places where, when you go, you die," he said. "So, you usually run away from these places and run away from the health workers".

Others resisted changes to funeral practices.

"They don't believe that safe, dignified burials could really help," says Dr Babou Rukengeza from the charity Save The Children. "They say: 'this is my family member, I need to honour him… this is the last time that I can touch him'."

Last month, two Ebola response workers were attacked in North Kivu province by people who reportedly blamed them for deaths in their community.

Video verified by BBC Verify shows a female health worker trying to flee from a group of men who strike her with wooden planks. In another clip, a man appearing to wear medical scrubs crawls along a road while people throw stones at him.

A recent assessment by the charity ActionAid in Ituri suggested about a third of respondents did not believe Ebola was a real disease, instead viewing it as a spiritual phenomenon or the product of sorcery.

"Ebola misinformation is Ebola's greatest ally," Dr Wessam Mankoula from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told the BBC. "False rumours delay care for people who need help and fuel attacks on health workers and health facilities, disrupting outbreak control and giving the virus more opportunities to spread."

Experts say distrust has been fuelled by decades of unrest in eastern DR Congo — from prolonged conflict to outside interference and competition over valuable minerals, such as gold and coltan, which have drawn in foreign companies and armed groups.

"You have a very strong base of being very distrustful of anything coming from outside, including the central government," says Dr Jean-Vivien Mombouli, who has previously advised governments across the region on how to respond to Ebola outbreaks.

Health officials argue that containing the outbreak now depends as much on rebuilding trust as on medical treatment, warning that without being accepted by communities, they cannot do their work.

"Mistrust is the real battleground," WHO chief, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on social media in June. "Win trust, and we win this."

Fears of a massacre in this city on the front line of Sudan's war

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20yyjdzw7po, 12 days ago

A 27-year-old university student, Sarah was at a crowded fuel station in the city of el-Obeid, on the front line of Sudan's civil war, when a drone struck without warning.

She says the station lit up before everything went dark. "In front of us there were injured people, blood, burnt cars, and smashed cars."

We have withheld the student's real name for her safety in a city that is the latest flash-point in the three-year war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Sarah told the BBC by phone that she was fortunate to survive the attack, but had sustained injuries.

"I got shrapnel in my leg and hand because I was outside the car when the second missile struck."

Currently under army control, el-Obeid - the capital of North Kordofan state with a population of around 500,000 - has one of the largest military bases in central Sudan.

But the army has been unable to repel the drone strikes, with 27 hitting the city in June, the highest monthly total since the conflict began, according to violence monitoring group Acled.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said at least 45 people were killed and 41 injured in 15 drone strikes between 6 and 28 June.

He added that the city has been under siege-like conditions for 18 months, with summary executions, abductions, torture and sexual violence taking place along routes used by people fleeing the conflict.

"The signs from el-Obeid are clear and unmistakable: Another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan," Turk said last week in an address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Nathaniel Raymond, the executive director of US-based Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab, told the BBC that el-Obeid was strategically significant for the warring sides, lying between the RSF-controlled west of the country, with the east mostly in the hands of the army.

"If you control el-Obeid, you control the road to the capital, Khartoum and [its twin city] Omdurman, and so the army has to defend el-Obeid," he said.

A doctor at a hospital in the city told the BBC they were struggling to cope with the influx of casualties.

"We receive injured patients after almost every drone attack. Most of the injuries involve limbs while some patients suffer from head injuries," she said.

One of the most distressing cases the doctor has treated was a seven-month old baby.

"Her hand had to be amputated because of the severity of the injury, but sadly she did not survive.

"The situation is frightening. You leave your house as if you will never return," the doctor said, trying to hold back tears. "We are really suffering from the drones - no-one knows how and when they will die."

Amnesty International secretary-general Agnès Callamard has warned that al-Obeid could face violence on a scale similar to that seen in el-Fasher when the RSF captured it after laying siege to it, also for 18 months.

"What happened in el-Fasher is not an oddity. It is not a moment of madness. It is a playbook," she said.

The UN said early last year that the conflict in el-Fasher bore the "hallmarks of genocide," with more than 6,000 people killed in just three days, with the mostly Arab RSF fighters accused of slaughtering non-Arab groups.

The RSF has repeatedly denied these accusations. In a statement responding to warnings of an impending massacre in el-Obeid, the paramilitary group said it would "work diligently" to ensure the full protection of the city's residents, and that it was operating in full compliance with international law.

But Raymond said that el-Obeid does not currently display the same ethnic dynamics that characterised the violence in el-Fasher, adding: "Right now, we don't see any indication of a large-scale plan by RSF to attack."

Acled's Nohad Eltayeb said the RSF had effectively encircled the city from the north, west and south, but the army had reinforced its positions with allied militias to "continue to hold a vital supply corridor connecting the city with eastern territories".

"While it is very likely that the RSF will attack the city, this logistical lifeline and reinforcements render a complete RSF takeover improbable," she said in a report released on 30 June.

Sarah said the drones strikes have mainly targeted fuel stations or fuel tankers, with other residents saying that water and sewage trucks, apparently mistaken for fuel tankers, have also been hit.

Raymond said satellite imagery showed that at least eight fuel stations had suffered damage consistent with bombardment between late May and late June.

As a result, fuel is starting to run short in the city leading to huge price rises.

El-Obeid's main electrical substation, as well as residential neighbourhoods and markets, also came under attack in an apparent attempt to cripple daily life, he added.

"Without fuel and electricity, the water pumps in the city will stop working and civilians, including internally displaced people, will start drinking water that could be contaminated and cause waterborne disease," Raymond told the BBC.

El-Obeid's population includes about 100,000 people who have fled violence in other other areas, hoping the city would be safe.

Raymond said that in a single month, about 700 temporary structures had been built in camps for displaced people around el-Obeid.

Among those who moved to the city is a humanitarian worker whom we have named Ahmed.

He first fled Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, then Khartoum, and now fears he will have to leave el-Obeid as drone strikes intensify.

"People are always in shock and fear. They are unable to sleep," he told the BBC.

"Many of us sleep outside because of the heat. When the drones are flying overhead, making that noise, every night becomes a sleepless night."

Sarah said many people were scared to step out of their homes.

"People now leave their homes saying goodbye to their families because they don't know if they will return or not."

More on the Sudan war from the BBC:

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Teenage tennis star to play for Ghana in major event

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnv9l7q8er7o, 7 days ago

A teenage girl from Telford is due to represent Ghana at a major tennis tournament in Africa next week.

16-year-old Gwen Klu, from Hadley, will play for the West African country in the Billie Jean King Cup, which will be played in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana.

She was inspired to pick up a racket when a tennis coach came into her primary school, offering the opportunity to play at Telford Tennis Centre.

Klu said she felt "honoured" for the opportunity and hoped to set a good impression so she could get more opportunities in the future.

Klu has also been playing at the Ellesmere College Tennis Academy for three and a half years, regularly representing Shropshire's county teams.

She is eligible to play for three countries, as she was born in the UK, her dad is a former Ghanaian volleyball player and her mum is from France.

After performing well and achieving an ITF junior world ranking, she was noticed by the West African country and ultimately chose to represent them.

"Ghana gave me the opportunity first so I just took their their call," Klu said.

"I feel like this is quite a good experience and good opportunity to be able to travel different countries in Africa and also to discover the cultures.

She will be playing in the Africa III group of the tournament, where she could come up against players from ten other countries, including Algeria, Nigeria and Tunisia.

The countries will play in a round-robin format with the best two teams getting promoted to Europe-Africa II.

Klu said her only focus is playing her best, regardless of who she plays.

"I've had a few people from Nigeria, for example, that I've already played against, so I'm not bothered about who I'm playing really. I just want to go there and do my best," she added.

She added she hopes the tournament would attract sponsors for financial support because, at the moment, her family pay for her to be able to compete.

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What is Ebola and why is stopping the latest outbreak so difficult?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz72p75zg4qo, 3 days ago

The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to spread fast and has been described as the third-worst on record by the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Getting the spread of the deadly virus under control 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 38% 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 form of the disease.

In July, the UK's medicines regulator, the MHRA, said it had given permission for the first human trials of a vaccine for Bundibugyo to go ahead.

It was created by a team from the University of Oxford based on the same technology used in the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.

It took scientists just eight weeks to develop the new jab after plugging in genetic code from the Bundibugyo species of Ebola.

It will now be tested on 50 volunteers from Oxford aged 18 to 55 to see whether it triggers the correct antibody response without causing significant side effects.

Three other groups are also developing different vaccines for Bundibugyo although they have not yet entered clinical trials.

While treatments are available for other species of the Ebola virus, no drugs have been specifically approved to treat those infected with Bundibugyo.

The WHO is sponsoring a separate clinical trial in the DRC to see whether two existing antiviral therapies can improve survival rates.

The two drugs selected as the most promising are an experimental monoclonal antibody called MBP134 and remdesivir, an injection into a vein, which is also used to treat Covid.

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 in May that this outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern did not mean we were 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?

On 16 July, officials said there had been 2,073 confirmed cases and 796 confirmed deaths from the virus in DR Congo.

There have also been 377 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.

Cases have also been confirmed in North Kivu (189) and South Kivu (3), provinces partly controlled by the rebel AFC-M23 alliance. These discoveries signalled the outbreak's spread from its epicentre.

The last patient being treated for Ebola in neighbouring Uganda was discharged from hospital on 16 July. Up to that point, the country had recorded 20 confirmed cases - with most having travelled from DR Congo - and two deaths. Uganda must now go through 42 days without another confirmed case in order to be declared Ebola-free.

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 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.

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.

Only four cases have been recorded in that territory - two original cases, people who had travelled from Ituri, and two others who were infected later, Dr Freddy Kaniki, the Ebola response co0ordinator in the rebel-held regions told the BBC's Newsday programme in July.

The 400 people they had been in contact with have also been traced and currently no active cases, he added.

While UN organisations, including the WHO and children's agency Unicef, had been helping, Kaniki said that there was no co-ordination with the government in Kinshasa.

What are Rwanda and other 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.

The US has extended travel restrictions on its citizens who have been to DR Congo. Anyone who wants to return home must spend 21 days in a third country before being allowed into America.

Previously, they had been able to enter at select airports, where they went through a screening process. Measures preventing non-US citizens who had been to DR Congo from entering America were already in place.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Special police team to investigate killing of an anti-migrant leader in South Africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2d2qlgj71o, 4 days ago

A special police team has begun investigating the killing of a provincial leader of an anti-migrant group in South Africa.

Police confirmed that Andile Mvuyelwa Somgxada, the Gauteng province leader of March and March, was shot outside his home east of Johannesburg earlier this month and died several days later in hospital.

"It's a retaliation," March and March spokesperson Sandile Dube told the BBC, explaining how the movement believed he was targeted because of its campaign to get undocumented migrants to leave the country.

He said other leaders of March and March, which has been organising anti-migrant demonstrations across the country, had recently received warnings or death threats.

"This seems like an orchestrated hitman type of killing," Dube told the BBC's Newsday programme, urging the authorities to get to the bottom of the matter and the intimidation the organisation was facing.

Acting police chief Lt Gen Puleng Dimpane has announced a multidisciplinary team to investigate the shooting, which he said underscored the seriousness with which the service was treating the case.

"We are committed to conducting a thorough investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding this murder and to ensure accountability," she said in statement on Tuesday evening.

Immigration - especially undocumented migration - has become a highly contentious political issue in South Africa, with protesters accusing them of placing pressure on public services, as well as being involved in crime.

March and March had set an unofficial deadline of 30 June for all migrants without papers to leave the country. Protesters have promised to stage weekly marches until their demands are met.

The South African government has said more than 53,000 foreign nationals have been deported or repatriated since it launched a "migration management" campaign five weeks ago.

Xenophobia has long been an issue in South Africa, which is Africa's wealthiest nation and has long attracted migrants searching for better economic opportunities.

It has sometimes led to violence - and this current round of demonstrations has seen violence, intimidation and looting.

On Tuesday, five people were arrested in Limpopo province for allegedly impersonating immigration officers and unlawfully demanding foreign nationals leave the country.

The police said the incident involved a Nigerian national - who was legally in South Africa - being intimidated and forced to close his business by the suspects.

Lt Gen Dimpane issued a "stern warning" to those who "continue to intimidate, harass and perpetrate violence against foreign nationals".

"The law applies equally to everyone," she said.

"No individual or group has the authority to conduct immigration inspections, verify legal status, or remove people from communities."

When questioned on how some foreign nationals had been treated by anti-migrant protesters, Dube said March and March rejected "any form of violence - we reject any form of anti-law".

There are more than three million documented foreign nationals in South Africa, according to official figures, which does not account for those in the country illegally.

Several countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda, have been organising flights or buses for their citizens to return home in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, the last flight organised by the Nigerian government under its voluntary repatriation scheme, landed in Lagos carrying 306 passengers. More than 1,200 Nigerians have now returned under the programme.

Additional reporting by Makuochi Okafor

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Sierra Leone drops treason charge against ex-president over attempted coup

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2w2k3vklgo, 4 days ago

Sierra Leone's government has dropped its charges, including treason, against ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma, who was arrested in connection with an attempted coup nearly three years ago.

The charges had been dropped on health grounds, Information Minister Chernor Bah told the BBC.

The 72-year-old former president has always denied involvement in the November 2023 attempted coup when gunmen broke into a military armoury and several prisons, freeing almost 2,000 inmates.

Responding to his case being dropped, Koroma noted his "enduring conviction that peace, justice and reconciliation must always triumph over adversity".

In his statement on Tuesday, Koroma also expressed gratitude towards Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and the West African regional bloc Ecowas for their support.

After Koroma was charged and placed under house arrest, Ecowas brokered a deal with the government of Sierra Leone, allowing the former president to go into exile in Nigeria and seek medical attention there.

The attorney general had then filed to discontinue the case against Koroma and drop the charges, Bah said.

"The former president is therefore free to return to Sierra Leone at a time of his choosing and to go about his normal business," he added.

Koroma led Sierra Leone for 11 years until 2018, when current President Bio was elected.

Eleven civilians and 24 soldiers were found guilty of involvement in the coup attempt and received long prison terms in 2024.

Around 20 people were killed in the uprising, which came five months after a disputed election which saw President Bio narrowly re-elected for a second term.

The results were rejected by Koroma's All People's Congress. International observers also criticised the elections, highlighting a lack of transparency in the count.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Philippines condemns monkey video on Chinese media as racist

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj632307934o, 3 days ago

The Philippines has condemned the "dehumanising and racist" portrayal of the country as a timid monkey strong-armed by the US and Japan to take Beijing on over the South China Sea.

Last week, China Daily posted an AI-generated video featuring a monkey in a Filipino shirt. It screams as arms bearing the Japanese and US flags shove it onto a rickety karaoke stage set up in a boat.

After it gets scolded for singing the wrong song, it pulls out a sheet reading "South China Sea arbitration award". It is then flung into the sea and blasted by a water cannon.

Tense stand-offs and occasional violent confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the disputed waters have grown in recent years.

At the centre of tensions between Manila and Beijing are the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal (known as Huangyan Island in China), a little more than 100 miles (160km) from the Philippines and 500 miles from China.

The Chinese Coast Guard routinely uses high-pressure water cannons against Philippine vessels in the disputed shoals, which have led to damage and injuries.

"Disagreement over legal and political issues does not justify resorting to disturbing imagery, which has no place in the civil public discourse of a responsible state," Manila's foreign ministry said, demanding that the clip be removed.

"Such imagery and misinformation only serve to widen the distrust between the Philippines and China," it added.

The Philippine defence ministry called the video "contemptible propaganda", saying it "exposes the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of China's propaganda machine".

"The recent spate of schizophrenic behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party is too clear to disregard or ignore," defence secretary Gilbert Teodoro said.

The video, posted on 10 July, remains on China Daily's Facebook page at time of writing.

The past week marks a decade since the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favour of the Philippines, concluding that China's expansive claims in the South China Sea had no legal basis under international law.

Beijing has ignored the ruling, saying the tribunal lacks jurisdiction.

Tensions between Beijing and Manila have sharply escalated in recent years due to their overlapping claims, with each side accusing the other of provocations and altercations at sea, including some involving weapons such as swords, spears and knives.

In June, Beijing installed a floating barrier at the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal that was removed after the Philippines filed formal diplomatic protests.

Also in June, China barred Teodoro, Manila's defence secretary, and his immediate family from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

China Daily's caption to its post of the monkey clip reiterates Bejing's position.

"Ten years on, the so-called South China Sea arbitration award remains no remedy for peace, but a source of confrontation dressed up as law," it said.

"By clinging to external forces and stirring up trouble in the South China Sea, [the Philippines' is] turning their country into a pawn in someone else's geopolitical game," the caption added.

The monkey clip is one of a series of clips and cartoons China Daily has posted on Facebook in the past weeks, mocking the Philippines' actions in the South China Sea. They include depictions of Manila as a clown and a snake, among other things.

Chinese authorities have not responded to the Philippines' rebuke.

Japan relaxes royal succession rules - but ban on female emperors remains

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy07rz79zg9o, 2 days ago

The Japanese parliament has approved a bill to relax imperial succession rules, amid concerns over the dwindling size of the imperial family.

The bill, passed by the upper house on Friday, allows the imperial family to adopt distant male relatives over the age of 15 and lets women keep their royal status after marrying outside the family.

But it does not change the law barring women from ascending the throne despite wide public support for a female emperor, meaning Princess Aiko, the only child of the current emperor, is still not eligible to succeed the throne.

The bill cleared the lower house last week, and will move through the final legal procedures before the changes take effect.

Japan has the world's oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, with a lineage that's believed to span more than 2,600 years.

Currently first in line to the throne is 60-year-old Fumihito, the emperor's younger brother.

Fumihito's son, 19-year-old Prince Hisahito, is second in line.

Third-in-line, and the last eligible candidate for the throne, is the emperor's 90-year-old uncle.

Without any amendments to the law, the line of succession will end if Prince Hisahito does not have a male child.

However, with the new bill, male descendants of 11 former imperial branches could be adopted back into the family. These family branches had been removed following the Second World War.

Female members of the imperial family will also be able to retain their royal status if they marry commoners. They were previously made to give up their titles and leave their families - which is what Princess Mako did in 2021 to marry her college sweetheart.

This allows for a larger royal family who will be able to keep up with official duties like attending court ceremonies and making public appearances. However, descendants of female members with commoners will still not be able to inherit the throne.

The bill, the first amendment to the main text of the Imperial House Law since 1949, marks the biggest overhaul to Japan's imperial system in decades.

There has long been public concern over the lack of male heirs in the imperial family - along with debate over whether women should be allowed to take the throne.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and other conservative political leaders have voiced support for male-only succession rules, arguing its importance to imperial legitimacy.

However, opinion polls show high public support for a female monarch.

In a June survey conducted by newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, involving more than 2,000 participants, more than 70% of respondents said they supported having a female emperor.

Another poll, conducted by Kyodo News, found that 83% of respondents were in favour of allowing a woman to take the throne.

More than 500 Rohingya vanished at sea - what happened?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr59n096mrmo, 3 days ago

Two boats carrying an estimated 530 Rohingya asylum seekers left Myanmar's Rakhine state on 29 June, and have not been heard from since. The equivalent of a jumbo jet full of people has vanished.

It is very likely that they both capsized. The monsoon has started, the seas are rough, and the boats - usually old fishing trawlers converted to carry as many people as possible - are barely sea-worthy with unreliable engines.

It is also very likely that there were few, or no survivors. Half of them may have been women and children.

But we will never know for certain.

Rakhine has been in a state of war for many years, with the insurgent Arakan Army driving the Myanmar military out of most of it and besieging its last stronghold in the state capital Sittwe, which is now accessible only by air and sea. Almost all telecommunications have been cut by the military.

Chris Lewa, who runs the Arakan Project that campaigns to improve the situation of Rohingyas, has been trying to piece together what may have happened to the two boats.

This is extremely challenging. She no longer has contacts she can reach in Sittwe, or in Sin Tet Maw, the Arakan Army-controlled village from where the boats departed.

But through a series of other contacts, combined with other snippets of information, she is confident that both boats did leave on 29 June, one in the morning, the other later in the day.

She says they would have been heading for the southern coast of Myanmar, where they would unload their human cargo.

From there they would be transported by road, via rough transit camps in the forest, through Thailand to the Malaysian border.

Normally their families would expect to hear from them within a week or 10 days. Nearly three weeks later, they have heard nothing.

The Bangladesh authorities have recovered the body of one woman, washed up from the sea. Fishermen working the sea between the Irrawaddy delta and the coast of Mon state found several other bodies nine days later.

Chris Lewa believes all this suggests that the boats capsized, one several hours after leaving Sin Tet Maw, the other after several days of sailing south east.

There are more than a million Rohingyas living in over-crowded camps in southern Bangladesh, where aid is drying up, there are almost no jobs, and organised crime gangs operate freely. They are not allowed to leave.

An estimated 600,000 Rohingyas remain in Rakhine State, one quarter confined to miserable internally displaced people (IDP) camps, the rest surviving in precarious communities which have been caught in between the warring sides.

The military junta has been subjecting them to forced conscription. The Arakan Army, which draws its support from the ethnic Rakhine population, distrusts Rohingyas and is accused of serious human rights violations against them.

With such dire prospects, the Rohingyas' only hope is to get out to another country.

The 200,000 Rohingyas already living in Malaysia make that the most appealing destination. This has created a lucrative business opportunity for people smugglers, who now have networks in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The business model is simple: pack as many people as possible into the boats, find the best way of moving them to Malaysia without detection by the authorities, and ensure their families pay the $3,000 (£2,230) fee.

Those whose families fail to pay are detained and beaten, or worse, videos of their suffering sent to persuade their relatives to transfer the required fee.

Over the years the routes have changed, but the brutality of this human trade has not.

Back in 2015 the Thai government, embarrassed by its poor reputation for human trafficking, began blocking the road routes used by the smugglers and closing the primitive transit camps in mangrove swamps and rubber plantations where traffickers held their captives until sufficient payments were made.

The discovery of mass graves in these camps only added to the urgency of the Thai action.

Many of the boats heading south from the Myanmar Bangladesh border that year instead headed to Aceh in Indonesia, whose fishing communities initially welcomed these fellow, persecuted Muslims.

That welcome, though, has now been withdrawn, and there have been some hostile social media campaigns in Indonesia directed against the Rohingyas.

Malaysia remains very difficult for the Rohingyas to approach directly by sea. The Malaysian navy is efficient at intercepting them, and pushing them back out onto the open seas, and local fishing communities will not help.

Instead, says Lewa, the smugglers have gone back to using Thailand as their main transit route.

Larger mother ships pick up the Rohingyas off the coasts of Rakhine or Teknaf in Bangladesh, never staying long to avoid the authorities in both countries.

These days they carry satellite phones, and they communicate with smuggling teams in Thailand or Indonesia to pay local fishermen to take the Rohingyas to the beaches of southern Thailand or eastern Sumatra, from where, once full payment is made, they can be moved discretely to Malaysia.

Some are dropped on the southern coast of Myanmar, from where they are transported to Thailand, via land border crossings, and then by road to the Malaysian border.

But with all land routes cut from Rakhine to the rest of Myanmar, their escape must always start with a perilous sea journey.

Chris Lewa believes that at least 10,000 Rohingyas have left Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat since September last year.

This is significantly higher than in previous years, almost certainly driven by the intolerable conditions in which they are living in both Rakhine and Bangladesh.

The UN has called for safer routes to be established for the Rohingyas to leave. But no country in this region wants to take them, and so far no government has been willing to make their journeys any easier.

As heatwaves strike, Europeans turn to Chinese air-conditioners

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86262j7j75o, 3 days ago

Steven Scholtysek, 36, is no stranger to Europe's heatwaves. The German engineer has lived through sweltering summers since his childhood.

But this year the heat has been especially unbearable. Western Europe has experienced its hottest June on record, and cities across Germany saw temperatures rise above 40C (104F). The region is bracing for more heatwaves before the summer ends.

To make things worse, a few months ago Scholtysek moved into an attic apartment - the kind that's notorious for overheating.

"It's not possible to live a normal life in those flats, below the roof, in summer heat," says Scholtysek, who lives in the town of Hamelin, north-central Germany.

He soon stumbled upon a portable split air-conditioner made by Chinese home appliance giant Midea, which was specifically designed to meet European regulations.

His experience is one that is becoming increasingly common across Europe - a region with typically low air-conditioner ownership rates.

While air-conditioners exist in many households from the US to Asia, most of them are not compatible with European homes as they require drilling for installation. But some of these newer Chinese models don't, which means they meet Europe's strict historic-preservation rules.

Now, as heatwaves grow more intense, more and more Europeans are turning to air-conditioners. And Chinese brands are meeting that surging demand.

Denis Yurchak, a Vienna resident, tells the BBC that he first came across one such Chinese air-conditioner a few weeks ago, while researching his options.

During the worst of the heatwave, Yurchak said he "basically had it on 24/7".

Cooling measures

In countries like France, Spain, Germany and the UK, Midea sales surged more than 70% year-on-year, the company told Chinese state media the Global Times - though its Europe office has declined to confirm these figures to the BBC.

Ralph Kobsik, the general manager of the firm's Europe operation, told the BBC in a statement that they "see considerable long-term growth potential in Europe".

Chinese company TCL Technology told the Global Times that its air-conditioner sales have also jumped more than 300% in France alone.

Chinese manufacturer Gree, one of the world's biggest air-conditioner makers, told the BBC that their air-conditioners had seen "noticeably stronger demand this summer".

"Many of our customers are first-time buyers," Gree said in a statement. "The increasingly frequent and prolonged summer heatwaves have clearly changed consumer attitudes."

But the use of air-conditioners isn't without its drawbacks.

Air conditioning accounts for 7% of the world's electricity use, and releases 2.7% of the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels and industry, according to one 2024 report.

Environmental advocates and politicians across Europe have long opposed air-conditioners for their consumption of electricity. Some argue that the air-conditioners, which expel hot air outside, could exacerbate outdoor temperatures in densely populated areas.

Some residents simply see air-conditioners as a wasteful purchase for what is usually a week or two of uncomfortable heat - though for others, it is a necessary purchase.

In late June, hundreds of schools were forced to close as France recorded its hottest day on record. France's power utility announced days later that it would commit €80m (£68m; $91m) to installing cooling systems - including fans and air-conditioners - in schools and community leisure centres.

The World Health Organization's Europe office has recommended a "nuanced approach towards the use of AC", saying that while it is not a sustainable solution to dealing with extreme heat, it "remains crucial to protect populations at increased risk from high temperatures".

Shaking off a 'Made in China' stigma?

All of this has been hailed by Chinese media as a win for Made in China goods - a label that is commonly associated with more low-quality, often cheaply made products.

"The fact that Chinese air conditioners have become a necessity for Europeans is not merely a trade phenomenon, but a microcosm of 'Chinese-style empowerment'," reads a commentary by state media outlet People's Daily.

In fact, Europeans who have bought Chinese air-conditioners tell the BBC that they were surprised to find out where they came from.

"The marketing and design, it was not typical to what I was used to of older Chinese products. It was more modern," says Scholtysek in Germany. "Also, when I got it, the quality was comparable to what I was used to from Europe or somewhere else."

This is part of a "general shift" in the image of Chinese tech products, Scholtysek says, from drone maker DJI to electric vehicle brands.

Adrien Olar in France is one of those new consumers who recently bought not just his first air-conditioner, but "maybe my first Chinese product".

Before that, he had been squirting water on his face to keep cool at home.

But those days are behind Olar now: "It's like going into a fridge when I go into my room. It's a very, very good difference."

I thought we'd grow old together, says band leader whose girlfriend died in Thai bar inferno

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k13zj914mo, 3 days ago

One moment, Athipat Wichan was tinkering with song ideas off stage while watching his band perform to a packed crowd at a bar in Bangkok. The next, a ferocious fire had engulfed the stage and cut off power, prompting him to run for his life.

"I fumbled around until I found the entrance to the door, but flames shot towards me as soon as I reached it," Athipat told BBC Thai a day after the deadly blaze at Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, which left 33 people dead and 15 others critically injured.

"I almost didn't make it out in time."

The tragedy hit Athipat's band, Thotsakan, especially hard.

Four of its 11 members – female vocalist Nahathai Satjalert, male vocalist Thitiwat Kaewkanha, keyboardist Pruttipong Phutmon and drummer Nathaphat Thammanitha – are among the dead.

Nahathai was also Athipat's girlfriend.

"I had imagined us being together until we're old, her scolding me until we're old, but now I can't hear her voice any more."

The 32-year-old band leader spoke to BBC Thai at Nahathai's funeral, with monks chanting in the background. Many in the funeral hall were beside themselves with grief. Several members of Thotsakan were also present.

An emotional Athipat says he regrets bringing his girlfriend into the band. "I shouldn't have let you be here...

"I want to apologise and I want to say that I love her very much and will continue to love her every day."

Athipat, who sustained injuries to his head and arms, is also devastated about his bandmates who lost their lives.

Nathaphat, the drummer, had only come on board a month ago, while Pruttipong, the keyboardist, was about to leave the band.

Vocalist Thitiwat had spoken about celebrating Athipat's birthday on Sunday. "Instead of celebrating my birthday, we ended up arranging a funeral," Athipat says.

Athipat founded the band when he was 20. An avid fan of Thai literature, he named it Thotsakan, the primary antagonist in the national epic, Ramakien.

After performing for five years with Thotsakan, Athipat took a break and joined another band. But that only lasted a few months before he decided to revive Thotsakan – the band's "phase two" – with a new slate of musicians.

Most of the 11 members who were at Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao when the fire broke out on Monday had come on board during this "phase two".

The band had encountered electricity problems before while performing at other venues, but never a fire like this.

Thotsakan's guitarist Chanate Trasing says he initially mistook the smoke for dry ice used in stage performances.

But when he observed it swirling rapidly rather than spreading out as dry ice would, he dropped his guitar, jumped off stage and started running.

"It smelled like plastic burning. It stung my nose," Chanate recounts.

He also recalls seeing keyboardist Pruttipong "looking left and right" in the chaos "like he didn't know what to do".

"When I started running, I thought he would chase after me. It was only when I got out that I realised he didn't," said Chanate, who had just collected drummer Nathaphat's body from the mortuary when he spoke to BBC Thai.

The deadly inferno has raised familiar questions about fire safety standards across Thailand, especially at entertainment venues.

Thai authorities say they are investigating if negligence led to the fire, as survivors reported doors being locked and a lack of signage demarcating emergency exits.

But some question if relevant government agencies should also be held accountable for not properly enforcing regulations.

Athipat echoes these concerns. "I wish venues had higher safety standards so when we perform, we can enjoy ourselves like before without having to worry.

"These days, I believe that if I or anyone from my band goes on stage, they'll think about [the fire] and feel alarmed and uncomfortable," he says.

Thotsakan will grieve their losses for a season, Athipat suggests. "We might be a little disoriented, but we will re-establish our balance and get back on track," he continues, urging fans to hold out for what's next for the band.

Chanate says he will take time to reconsider whether he should continue performing given the safety risks and the fact he has a family, including a toddler, to provide for.

"If you ask me if I love it, I do. I quit a regular job to focus on music... [But] I have to think about it again. I believe everyone has fears," he says.

Memories of the shocking tragedy will remain with Chanate and the other survivors for the rest of their lives, but the guitarist also wants to remember the last thing he saw just before chaos unfolded:

"The smiles of the bar-goers enjoying our music."

Indian activist urged to end hunger strike as he loses 9.1kg in 19 days

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crm0mg4z7edo, 4 days ago

Calls are growing for Indian educationist and activist Sonam Wangchuk to end his indefinite hunger strike after concerns over his rapidly deteriorating health.

The 59-year-old, who has been surviving on salt water for the past 19 days, has lost 9.1kg and aides say he's in immense pain and unable to even stand without support.

The Delhi High Court, hearing a petition on Thursday asking it to urgently intervene, ordered the government to monitor Wangchuck's health regularly and provide necessary treatment if needed.

Wangchuk has been protesting in support of an online satirical movement called the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) who are seeking educational reforms.

To begin with, the protesters are demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a key entrance exam for aspiring doctors was cancelled in early May following a paper leak. They say the minister must take moral responsibility and quit.

Pradhan has dismissed CJP and its supporters as "the B-team of disruptive elements". And the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not engaged with the protesters.

Popularly known as "Sonam sir", Wangchuk is one of Ladakh's best-known public figures and a well-known name in India. His work has earned international recognition, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018, often referred to as Asia's Nobel Prize.

He was the inspiration for Three Idiots, the 2009 superhit Bollywood film, and in 2017, he appeared as a celebrity guest on Kaun Banega Crorepati - the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, hosted by superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

The activist's worsening health parameters have caused alarm among his supporters. As his condition has deteriorated in the past few days, opposition leaders, activists, Bollywood actors and musicians have called on Wangchuk to end his fast.

More than 1,800 artistes, writers, academics and activists have signed a statement requesting him to stop his hunger strike because the "government does not have a heart or a conscience."

Leader of the regional Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav said he had appealed to Wangchuk to break his fast.

"He should consider this request in the public interest. The aspiration of the entire youth power of the country, their guardians, families and relatives is the same, because the nation is in great need of his moral strength; therefore, accepting the appeals coming from the entire world, he should break his fast, take a few days for health recovery, accumulate new energy, and then rejoin a new movement," Yadav posted on X.

Congress party MP Shashi Tharoor requested Wangchuk to end his fast in a "heartfelt appeal".

"You have awakened the conscience of the nation; that is what a fast is meant to do. India needs your voice for the long road ahead," he wrote on X.

"With Parliament in session again from Monday, we will have an opportunity to raise the students' issues in the highest forum of our democracy. That's where the problem should be addressed, not by fasting unto death. Please heed my plea," the MP added.

In a post on Instagram, legendary actor Zeenat Aman implored "the government to open dialogue on this matter that concerns the future of all India".

"We must not become a society that sits back and watches one of its greatest minds be sacrificed," she wrote.

Wangchuk has so far refused to call off his fast. On Tuesday, he'd told the BBC that "I have to take what I've begun to its logical conclusion".

On Wednesday, a video that went viral showed the activist being helped by people while he walked. But a minute later, he was seen clutching his leg and wincing in pain and had to sit down in a chair.

It was in this backdrop that a petition was filed in the high court, seeking "to take him to a government hospital and force-feed him" to prevent him from dying.

The government is treating the activist "like a hardcore criminal, terrorist or traitor to the nation" and is not concerned about him, the petition said.

On Thursday, the government told the Delhi High Court that doctors were monitoring Wangchuk's health regularly and that it would intervene if his health deteriorated.

"We only observe that life of any citizen is precious and all efforts ought to be made by the government authorities to save the same," the court said, according to legal website Bar and Bench.

At Jantar Mantar, despite the heat - weather apps say the current temperature is 37C but real feel is 44C - the crowds have begun to thicken. Hundreds have gathered here and their main worry is over Wangchuk's health.

"He didn't need to fast - he's doing this for us, he's sitting here for our future. I'm appealing to more people to come here and join this peaceful protest," said Anshu Jha, a college student.

"I'll feel very guilty if anything happened to him," she added.

Dr Satish Lamba, who checked Wangchuk's health parameters, said that he has lost fat and is now losing muscle mass.

"Next stage would be if his organs are affected and that would be very worrying," he said.

The protest at Jantar Mantar, an 18th Century astronomical observatory in the Indian capital, was started by CJP, led by its founder Abhijeet Dipke.

Wangchuk is not alone. Several others, including members of student organisations, are also on hunger strike alongside him. One of them was taken to hospital after his health deteriorated sharply earlier in the week.

The protesters have called for a day-long hunger strike on Thursday.

They have also announced plans to march to the parliament on 20 July, the day the next session starts.

Actor Sam Neill died from pneumonia, agent confirms

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddj7e8v767o, 3 days ago

New Zealand actor Sam Neill, who passed away on Monday at a Sydney hospital, died from pneumonia, his agent has confirmed.

Best known for his roles in Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders, the 78-year-old's family described his death earlier this week as "sudden and unexpected".

Neill's long-time agent Philip Grenz released a statement on Thursday about the cause of death after speaking to the actor's family and due to what he said were "inaccurate and outright falsehoods" in the media.

In April this year, Neill announced he was in remission after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - a type of blood cancer - years earlier. His family said he had "remained cancer free" when he died.

"As Sam Neill's longtime rep, I spoke with his family and wish to clarify some details for his fans," Grenz said.

"Sam passed away from pneumonia. Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and beaten lymphoma through a new treatment called CAR-T therapy."

Grenz said that during the past year, Neill had "filmed four projects back-to-back... all of which will be released within the coming months".

Neill, who was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in New Zealand, was "an intensely private man who loathed a fuss", Grenz said.

He added that Neill's family "will honour him with a private family memorial at his farm in New Zealand at a still-undetermined later date."

"I'd like to thank those who were truly close to Sam for considering his privacy with the respect he earned and his loved ones need and deserve during this immeasurably difficult time," Grenz said.

News of Neill's death saw tributes flow from fellow actors, politicians and fans, with his Jurassic Park co-star Laura Dern describing him as "my beloved lifetime friend".

Australian actor Toni Collette called him a "hero", "legend" and "sweetheart" while New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was "one of the greats".

Neill played Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and also appeared in films including The Piano, The Hunt for Red October, Dead Calm and Event Horizon, as well as BBC TV drama Peaky Blinders.

Over a career spanning more than five decades, Neill amassed more than 150 screen credits.

His last film appearance came in The Fox (2025) and his last TV appearance came in Netflix series Untamed (2025). He is expected to make posthumous appearances in Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and The Last Resort in 2027.

In his 2023 memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, he revealed details of his cancer diagnosis and treatment.

"I'm not afraid of dying," he told the BBC at the time. "What I don't want to do is to stop living, because I really enjoy living."

He added: "I've regarded it as an adventure, quite a dark adventure, but an adventure nevertheless."

Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.

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Crackdown on 'objectionable' books in Indian-administered Kashmir sparks row

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jyj292xdgo, 4 days ago

Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have issued a sweeping order to all educational institutions to review books for "inappropriate and objectionable" content, in a move that has sparked a debate over who gets to shape the region's history in classrooms.

The order, issued last week, directs schools, colleges, universities and coaching centres to screen all published material on their premises - including research papers and academic theses - for content that could violate "religious sentiments, laws, educational values and established norms". They must also report books deemed objectionable to the authorities.

Authorities insist the directive is not about restricting reading but removing material they say is factually inaccurate or unlawful, including content that "promotes, glorifies, legitimises or justifies terrorism, violent extremism, secessionism, radicalisation" or any activity prejudicial to the security of the nation.

But opposition parties, academics and students say the move is an attack on academic freedom and an attempt to erase Kashmir's turbulent history.

Kashmir, which neighbours India and Pakistan claim in full but only control in parts, has witnessed decades of conflict. From the late 1980s, the Indian-administered side also saw a separatist insurgency against Delhi's rule, which India alleges was supported by Pakistan - a charge Islamabad denies.

Since Delhi revoked the region's semi-autonomous status in 2019 and brought it under direct federal rule, critics say civil liberties have narrowed and state control has expanded, despite the restoration of an elected local government.

The order follows recent protests by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs nationally but is in opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, over two government school library books it said glorified separatist leaders and promoted anti-national sentiments.

The books - profiles of "great personalities" from Jammu and Kashmir that had been in school libraries since 2023 - were withdrawn after the uproar. Police later arrested three people linked to their publication, while the administration suspended eight education department officials.

Last week's order, issued after the row over the two books, does not define "objectionable material", saying only that it includes content that could violate religious sentiments or laws, harm national interest or educational values, and that books must follow India's "age-appropriate" education guidelines.

School education director Naseer Ahmad Wani told the BBC that a committee would review books across schools and libraries, but did not define what would qualify as "objectionable" material.

Last year, authorities banned 25 books, including works by Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy and scholar A.G. Noorani, saying they promoted "false narratives and secessionism". The ban is being challenged in court.

Noor Ahmad Baba, a political scientist, said restrictions like the latest order go against the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by India's constitution.

A Kashmir studies teacher, who asked not to be named, said that in a region where history, education and identity are deeply contested, screening books raises "legitimate questions about academic freedom and the state's role in defining acceptable narratives".

Some political leaders allege that the order speaks to a broader pattern of surveillance and a crackdown on dissent by the government.

Last February, police raided bookstores in Srinagar and seized hundreds of books, alleging they promoted the ideology of a banned Islamic organisation. Critics said many simply explored conflict and political repression in the region.

Altaf Bukhari, leader of the regional Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, argues that the government can't remove every history book under the garb of banning "anti-national" content.

"This looks like a wider conspiracy to deprive us our academic content," he alleged.

Government officials and representatives of the BJP have denied these allegations.

Imran Nabi Dar, spokesperson for the governing National Conference, said the aim was not to restrict reading but to keep controversial material out of classrooms.

"Our point is that there shouldn't be any unnecessary controversies arising from what is being taught in educational institutions," Dar said.

BJP spokesperson Sunil Sethi told the BBC that people cannot be allowed to "glorify separatists in the name of academic freedom".

"Peace has been restored in the region with great difficulty, and we can't let things get out of control again," he said.

More people around the world now favour China over the US, Pew study suggests

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd959q11g54o, 4 days ago

China is now viewed more positively than the US in many countries around the world, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. It is the first time the organisation has recorded such results.

The findings from the non-partisan, US-based think tank indicate that favourable views of China have reached record highs in many countries, while perceptions of the United States have worsened.

In general, respondents expressed low confidence in both US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, though Xi scored higher than Trump.

While the US was still seen to respect personal freedoms more than China, China was seen to interfere in other countries' affairs less than the US.

Pew polled more than 42,000 people in 36 countries between February and May.

Respondents were asked if they had a very favourable, somewhat favourable, somewhat unfavourable, or very unfavourable opinion of each superpower.

The research centre found that in 25 of the 36 countries, there were more people who had favourable views of China than of the US.

It marks the first time the centre, which has been tracking global sentiments towards the superpowers since 2002, has seen such a result in so many countries, according to Jonathan Schulman, one of the study's researchers.

Pew has seen previous dips in positive views of the US - in 2008, at the end of George Bush's administration, and in 2017, at the start of Trump's first term.

Even then, however, favourable views of China tended to be on par or slightly lower, Schulman told the BBC.

Spain, Indonesia, Italy, Greece and Canada were among the countries that saw the biggest swings towards China.

Only six countries in this year's survey still favour the US more, most of which are staunch US allies: Poland, the Philippines, South Korea, India, Japan and Israel.

Separately, the centre found that the median favourable opinion of the US across 20 countries had dropped steadily in recent years while the median favourable opinion of China had been rising.

Researchers also found that favourable views of China had increased in more than a third of the countries surveyed in recent years, based on an expanded dataset including the US.

And positive views of China reached record highs in some places surveyed this year, including Italy, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Turkey.

Researchers found that in general, middle-income countries tended to have positive views of China while wealthier countries tended to have more negative views.

One exception to this pattern was Singapore, which had the highest GDP per capita of the countries surveyed and a high level of positivity towards China.

The most positive - and the most negative - views of China in the survey came from the Asia-Pacific. About 90% of Pakistanis appear to favour China, while just 11% of Japanese do.

Xi and Trump

The survey also asked respondents if they had confidence in Xi and Trump to do the right thing in terms of world affairs.

Overall, confidence levels in both leaders were generally low, with most of the scores below 50%. But many of the surveyed countries tended to have more confidence in Xi than in Trump.

The highest and lowest ratings for Xi in the survey came from Pakistan and Japan respectively, at 83% and 7%.

For Trump the highest rating was 68% from the Philippines and the lowest was 4% from the West Bank/East Jerusalem.

Schulman said their survey found in general that "people don't have that strong an opinion on Xi as they do for other leaders".

Meanwhile for Trump, "people were more likely to give an answer, and give an answer on the extremes".

The survey also found that while more people still believed the US government respected its people's personal freedoms than China's government did, the gap had narrowed.

Pew asked additional questions in several middle-income countries to find out views on the superpowers' foreign policies.

A median of 75% felt that the US interfered in the affairs of other countries a great deal or a fair amount, while 45% said the same of China.

'Volatility of US puts many on edge'

Other institutions have carried out similar research in recent years.

Polling company Gallup found that China surpassed the US in global approval ratings last year, with the widest gap recorded in China's favour in 20 years.

But US think tank Asia Society's yearly Global Public Opinion on China survey suggested that China's image, which dipped during the pandemic, had only made a modest recovery since.

Chong Ja Ian, a non-resident scholar with Carnegie China, said Pew's latest results were not surprising.

"The volatility of US policy, including the use of force and the resulting economic harm, has put many on edge," he noted.

Pew's survey began not long after Trump intensified his rhetoric about annexing Greenland and the US captured Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro. The US also launched its war with Iran during the polling period.

Dr Chong added that "whether China is absolutely popular is an open question, but it seems like a more predictable entity at present. Beijing has also been working hard to burnish its image", especially in developing countries.

On the disparity between the high favourability scores for China and the relatively lower confidence in Xi, Dr Chong said that while China "may be more predictable and therefore makes some more comfortable, it does not take away from the fact that Xi is a major authoritarian figure".

He pointed out that under Xi's leadership China had "adopted more assertive and expansive claims, including more insistence that others align with its view of the world" - and questions remained about the treatment of minorities in the country.

"I suppose people attribute the more coercive and economically less helpful policies to Xi personally but associate more positive elements, such as technological advances, to China more broadly."

'I must get out into the free world', dissident who fled China on boat tells BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2j2jw117lo, 4 days ago

As the rubber boat he was on rocked through choppy waves, fear washed over Chinese dissident Dong Guangping, who had gone without sleep for two days.

The 68-year-old knew he was taking a huge risk trying to flee China by sea, but even then, he had underestimated the challenges of this journey.

He was badly sunburned, his phone was running out of battery, and his portable charger had gone flat. Apart from the sky and the sea, there were no landmarks around him. He could only hope that the digital compass would get him to South Korea before his phone went flat.

"Not being able to navigate would have been terrifying. I could have drifted back towards China," Dong told BBC Chinese nearly two months after his perilous escape.

Forty hours after setting out from China's eastern Shandong province, Dong was rescued by the coast guard and fishermen in Korean waters on the night of 27 May.

He was briefly detained in South Korea but has since resettled in Canada, where his family had been living.

"I can never survive in China," said Dong, who spoke to BBC Chinese in a video call from Toronto.

"If I didn't leave, I will never be at peace for the rest of my life. I had to show the Chinese Communist Party I was capable of leaving. They cannot stop me, they cannot control me."

When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry told the BBC that the Chinese government "handles the entry and exit of its citizens in accordance with the law and that Chinese citizens must abide by the Constitution and the law".

Dong, a police officer-turned-human rights activist, has been jailed in China several times for his activism.

In 1999, Dong was fired from the police force after 13 years because he signed a petition to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the brutal Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Then in 2001, he was imprisoned for three years for "inciting subversion of state power". He was jailed again in 2014 for participating in another Tiananmen commemoration event, according to Amnesty International.

Dong had fled China four times previously but was sent back each time. "But I have always held fast to one conviction: I must get out into the free world," he tells BBC Chinese.

In September 2015, he travelled to Bangkok with his wife and daughter, where they were granted refugee status by the United Nations and approved for resettlement in Canada.

But days before they were scheduled to leave for Canada, Thai authorities deported Dong to China, where he was jailed for "inciting subversion" and "crossing the national border illegally". He was sentenced to three and a half years in jail.

When he was released in 2019, he tried again to escape, by swimming towards Kinmen, a small Taiwanese island, but was picked up by Chinese fishermen who handed him back to police - and he was barred from leaving the country.

In 2020, he managed to flee China and entered Vietnam. He lived in hiding for two years in Hanoi, but was eventually deported back to China, where he was sentenced to jail for almost a year.

In 2023, he was released from prison again.

These failed attempts only strengthened Dong's resolve. He came up with a bolder, riskier plan – to travel more than 300km (186mi) across the Yellow Sea, then along the South Korean coast to get to Japan.

"This is a very dangerous route, the risks are extremely high, I knew I'd be putting my life on the line," he said.

In May this year, with just a few hours of sailing practice, Dong started his journey in Weihai, Shandong, in a 3.3m long rubber dinghy equipped with an engine.

The poor weather conditions at sea prompted him to reroute and head towards South Korea, which is a closer destination.

The long hours at sea also left him dizzy and exhausted. He dozed off at one point and woke up only to realise his boat had just bobbed past a large cargo ship.

"I would have crashed into it if I stayed asleep for 20 more seconds," he said.

At about 20:30 local time on 25 May, he spotted a fishing boat nearby and shouted at it: "Help me, help me! Call police, call police!" He was eventually pulled ashore in the South Korean county of Taean.

Dong was sent to a refugee centre in Incheon and later granted political asylum in Canada.

He is not the first Chinese dissident to flee across the sea to South Korea.

In 2023, another Chinese activist Kwon Pyong fled to South Korea on a jet ski. He was initially detained on immigration charges but later resettled in the US.

Speaking about the moment when he found out his flight to Toronto was confirmed, Dong said he was "overcome with emotion holding the air ticket".

Dong, who celebrated his mother's 95th birthday just days before fleeing China, said he did not tell her about his plan to leave.

"Not being able to fulfil my filial duties towards my mother will remain my greatest, greatest regret," he said.

Additional reporting by Paklam Pun

Bangkok's bar fire is the city's latest deadly blaze - will anything ever change?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd6e68n3jz5o, 4 days ago

A sudden blast of flame across a crowded bar sends revellers in panic towards a single, narrow exit. Thick, toxic smoke chokes them. The bodies of those who have succumbed block the escape of those who have not.

These horrific scenes occurred not only at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao pub in Bangkok last Sunday night, where 32 people are now known to have died, but also in another night club called Mountain B four years ago in the coastal town of Sattahip.

Twenty six people died in that inferno, which bears a striking similarity to the recent one in Bangkok.

Both these fires are similar to one at a new year celebration in the Santika Club in Bangkok in 2009 which killed 67. After each of these tragedies there were calls for lessons to be learned to prevent them happening again.

One of those, after the Mountain B fire, was made by Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai from the Asian Institute of Technology. Now he finds himself repeating the same warnings.

"Even though the fire from these three incidents occurred in different locations, at different times and might have different causes, the pattern was very similar: multiple deaths in a crowded building, the fire spreading rapidly either in the stage area or in the ceiling, thick smoke cutting visibility and preventing people from finding the exits, and people dying from toxic inhalation, not directly from the fire."

He believes the fire may have been ignited by an electrical fault, and spread through flammable material used for sound insulation.

The terrifying jets of flame seen roaring out into the street through the front entrance were most likely being drawn out by new sources of oxygen once it was opened to let people out.

That intense fire around the entrance may have forced some customers to head to the rear of the pub, where the two exits are reported to have been partially blocked, and would have been difficult to find once the power was cut.

Many of the dead were found there.

"The key question is not just what caused the accident, but why a spark of fire that starts in one place leads to a tragedy which costs so many lives," Prof Worsak says.

The shocking death toll in the Santika Club in 2009 did result in improvements to safety regulations for night clubs.

From 2012 they were required to use fire-resistant materials for sound insulation, to have wider exits that opened outwards, and power backup systems that would keep signs illuminated. Sprinkler systems were mandatory for venues accommodating more than 500 people.

But these tighter regulations only apply to those venues in designated entertainment zones. In Bangkok there are just three. Most pubs are outside these zones, and so are categorised as restaurants with live music. The regulations do not apply to them, even if they can accommodate large numbers of people. That was the case with Rong Beer Na Ladprao and with Mountain B.

Bangkok's governor, Chadchart Sittipunt, has now acknowledged this huge, lethal loophole. The Rong Beer Na Ladprao pub was inspected just three months ago and declared safe. So he has ordered city officials to start carrying out random checks of all so-called restaurants which are actually functioning as pubs or clubs, without giving prior notice.

"From now we will apply the stricter standards to venues like these," he said at a recent press briefing.

"Even if we do not have full legal powers we will make suggestions. If they don't follow these, we will try to find ways to stop them from operating. We must be able to shut them down if there's a risk."

But there are thousands of such establishments in Bangkok.

It is not clear that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has sufficient staff to carry out that many inspections, and there would likely be strong opposition to closing down all those, probably most of them, which do not meet the higher standards applied to official entertainment venues.

Then there is the perennial issue of corruption in Thailand, among local officials and police officers.

It is an open secret that many entertainment venues in Thailand make payments to the police to be able to stay open. Even if stricter regulations are applied to pubs outside the designated entertainment zones, it is not clear that they will be enforced.

After the Mountain B fire, five police officers were suspended, the presumption being that they may have turned a blind eye to what was supposed to be a restaurant operating as a club. But nothing further has been heard of any action against them.

The owner and three other people were convicted by a lower court on various charges and given prison sentences of up to 10 years, but they remain free on bail while appealing, which can take many years in Thailand.

In the case of the Santika Club, the owner and the man responsible for organising the indoor fireworks blamed for starting the fire were sentenced to three years in jail, but stayed out on appeal for six years before the sentence was finally confirmed by the Supreme Court. No other officials are known to have been prosecuted over those disasters.

Safety lapses are prevalent in many areas in Thailand.

Road fatalities are 10 times higher per capita than in Britain. In October 2024 a bus fire killed 23 people, 20 of them schoolchildren, caused by illegally installed gas canisters.

Thirty two passengers died in January this year when a construction crane fell on a train. Earlier this month 10 monks were killed by a pickup truck driven by an 11 year-old boy.

Every one of these incidents has been followed by promises of official action. Yet they just keep on recurring.

'There was no way out': Witnesses describe how deadly inferno swept through Bangkok bar

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crr8gnx01d7o, 6 days ago

Thai indie band Thotsakan was performing at a packed bar in Bangkok on Sunday when band manager Ice Athipat Wijarn, seated off stage, saw smoke emerging from behind the keyboardist.

The keyboardist, Kwang, shouted for people to flee - and within seconds a fierce blaze tore through Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, in the city's vibrant Chatuchak district.

Ice recalls fumbling with the door in the smoke-engulfed room as he tried to escape.

"Everybody was running, squeezing into each other," he told Thai talk show Hone-Krasae. He crawled towards the exit - then something exploded, throwing him out of the bar.

"The sight of my girlfriend's body being carried out, the sight of my friend who was burned in the fire and everything that happened are still etched in my mind," he said in comments reported by Agence France-Presse.

The blaze killed at least 28 people and left dozens more injured, authorities confirmed on Monday.

Kwang, along with Thotsakan's female singer Breeze and drummer Bew, died after succumbing to their injuries, according to a Facebook post from another band member, Patchara Songphatkaew.

A fifth member, Din, was missing but later located on Monday evening, according to a social media post. His condition is unclear.

Thotsakan's lead singer Tik Chaichana managed to escape unscathed only because he went to the bathroom moments before the fire broke out, Thai media reported. Videos online showed him sobbing as he ran out of the burning bar.

"I'm safe, thank you everyone for your concern. But my phone and all my belongings burned... My mind is truly not okay right now," Tik wrote in a Facebook post.

Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, like many bars and pubs along the same street, was popular with locals. At the time of writing only one foreigner, a Laotian, has been identified among those who died.

Footage posted online showed panicked customers screaming as they fled – some with their clothes on fire – through the flaming front door.

"There was a boom – a very fast boom ... There was no way to get out at all," 41-year-old Usa Tadsree said in comments reported by Reuters, adding that her two friends died in the fire.

Witnesses have described futile attempts to get inside the bar to reach trapped friends.

"I heard people screaming. I wanted to go help my brother but I can't get in," Kaewudon Pongpanee told Reuters. "There was smoke, dust, heat."

At least 71 people were injured - 25 of whom are in a critical condition, Thai authorities say.

Several residents in the area described being stunned by the scale of the blaze.

"I saw [firefighters] trying to extinguish the flames almost everywhere," said Titi Liewcha, who lives across the street from the bar. "I saw ambulances and rescue vehicles everywhere. I didn't know what to do. I just sat there stunned for a while."

Titi and Sirinya, who also lives nearby, told BBC Thai they initially feared that the fire would spread towards their homes.

"This is the first time I've seen such a major fire," Sirinya said.

Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters were able to bring the flames under control in about half an hour.

Sirinya is worried that such a tragedy could recur "because there are so many of these pubs".

She's visited the bar once before, and recalls it being "very dark, with a low ceiling".

"The fire escape routes are not clear," she added.

Phatsara Khamloet, who visited the pub in May, was also struck by the dark and "maze-like" interior.

"It looked like it wasn't even open because of the glass. It was so dark you couldn't see anything inside," Phatsara said.

She recounted having to navigate a "winding route" to reach the bathroom, and noted that the exits were not well marked.

"The moment I stepped in, my first feeling was, 'Whoa, if there's a fire, how would we even get out?'"

Earlier on Monday, Bangkok governor Chatchart Sittipunt said the flammable decorations on the bar's ceiling may have contributed to the blaze's rapid spread.

There were also reports of people found unconscious near the building's emergency exit, suggesting that there may have been some obstruction, Chatchart added. He acknowledged, however, that a thorough investigation was needed to confirm such details.

The tragic blaze has reinforced calls for authorities to strengthen fire safety standards and for proper training for staff, especially those in the nightlife industry.

A driver who works close to the bar suggests that venue owners should hold regular fire drills to familiarise employees with evacuation procedures.

"Or when it comes to designing a place like this, the doors should be designed with more width in mind. Make them wider, make it easier for customers to escape," he says.

"I feel sorry for the people who died. I feel sorry for them because they probably had no idea what was happening."

How Indian scientists are mapping the brain's last frontier

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg53l737v1qo, 7 days ago

For more than a century, neuroscientists have studied the human brain much as early cartographers mapped unknown lands: piecing together a vast landscape from scattered observations.

Even today, pathologists diagnosing disorders such as Alzheimer's disease typically inspect a handful of tissue samples from an organ containing some 86 billion neurons. Much of the landscape remains unseen.

That is why scientists at the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre (SGBC) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) believe they have taken an important step towards filling one of neuroscience's biggest gaps.

They have produced what they describe as the world's most detailed three-dimensional atlas of the human brainstem at cellular resolution - a digital map that lets scientists travel seamlessly from MRI scans of the whole brain to individual nerve cells.

Called Anchor (Atlas of Neurochemical Characterisation of the Human Brainstem with 3D Reconstruction), it combines more than 500 tissue sections from foetal, childhood and adult brains.

Built from high-resolution microscope images rather than costlier molecular techniques, it creates a detailed three-dimensional map of the brainstem, identifying more than 200 clusters of brain cells and nerve pathways.

Eight chemical markers help distinguish different cell types, producing one of the clearest pictures yet of this vital, but poorly, understood part of the brain.

The brainstem occupies only a sliver of the brain, yet it keeps people alive. It links the brain to the spinal cord and controls breathing, heartbeat, sleep, wakefulness and movement.

Damage to tiny clusters of cells within it can prove catastrophic, but the region's densely packed architecture has long frustrated efforts to map it in detail.

Anchor's importance lies not simply in producing another anatomical map, but in linking two worlds that have largely remained separate: medical imaging, which shows the brain as a whole, and cellular pathology, which reveals it one cell at a time.

"We are seeing a visionary programme that puts India at the international table," says Shubha Tole, an Indian neuroscientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, describing the project as an "unprecedented integration" of engineering, neuroscience and medicine.

Doctors typically begin by examining the whole brain at autopsy or tissue removed during neurosurgery. An adult brain weighs about 1.2-1.5kg, and its folds and major structures can reveal important clues before microscopic examination begins.

"As a neuropathologist, I begin by examining an entire brain with the naked eye before looking at small pieces under the microscope," says Rebecca Folkerth, who is affiliated with Harvard Medical School and New York University and collaborated with the SGBC team.

"For Alzheimer's disease, we may examine only 15 to 20 sections - just a fraction of a percent of the whole organ."

That has been the practice since the pioneering work of Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal more than a century ago. Modern MRI reveals the whole brain but lacks cellular detail; microscopes reveal individual cells but only in isolated slices.

"What the Indian centre has created is essentially what I dreamed of early in my career - to have brain scans match the brain's microscopic anatomy," Folkerth, who has examined thousands of brains over more than three decades, told the BBC.

Anchor attempts to close that gap.

Users can zoom from the whole brainstem seen on MRI down to individual neurons while maintaining their precise spatial relationships. The researchers have made the atlas freely available online, hoping it becomes a reference tool for neuroscientists, neurologists and neurosurgeons worldwide.

Its applications could also extend well beyond anatomy.

By comparing healthy brainstem maps with diseased tissue, scientists may better understand disorders ranging from Parkinson's disease and stroke to Alzheimer's disease and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). More precise maps could also help neurosurgeons navigate one of the brain's most delicate regions with greater confidence.

Anchor is not a diagnostic tool. Instead, its greatest value lies in the questions it could help answer.

Partha Mitra, a brain scientist at the prestigious New York-based Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory who designed and helped establish IIT Madras's human brain histology programme during a visiting professorship, says detailed brain atlases like this could have a "transformative impact" on the study of neurological disease by revealing, cell by cell, how brains affected by conditions such as Alzheimer's or autism differ from healthy ones.

They could also help explain how infections, including Covid-19, trigger long-term neurological damage, Mitra told the BBC.

Using brain stroke as an example, Folkerth says the atlas has uncovered new features that could help doctors preserve brain tissue that is injured but not yet beyond repair, potentially improving patient outcomes. Other scientists say the atlas could also help neurosurgeons navigate the brainstem more safely.

Part of this atlas's appeal lies in its simplicity. Built from high-resolution images of thin slices of post-mortem brain tissue, the approach makes detailed, cell-level mapping affordable.

That, says Mitra, has made it possible to chart the human brainstem at an unprecedented scale.

The achievement reflects a broader transformation in neuroscience, where progress increasingly depends as much on engineering and computation as on biology.

Around 20 scientists spent 18 months at SGBC manually analysing more than 200 brain sections, combining MRI scans, microscopic anatomy and 3D reconstruction into a single digital atlas. The centre now brings together more than 200 researchers, engineers and technicians working with collaborators around the world.

The result helps address a surprising gap in neuroscience.

Scientists have mapped the brains of several animal species in remarkable detail, but the human brain remains comparatively under-charted because detailed studies of human brain tissue are scarce, Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam, who heads the SGBC, told the BBC.

That does not mean scientists have lacked brain atlases. "Different atlases do different things," says Mitra.

MRI-based atlases capture the brain's broad structure but not individual cells. Histological atlases map its architecture at cellular resolution using microscopic images of tissue slices. Newer molecular approaches go a step further, identifying the precise identity of each cell.

But scientists still know remarkably little about how the brain's roughly 20,000 proteins are distributed across different regions and cell types - a frontier likely to define the next generation of brain mapping.

"Every brain," says Folkerth, "is a treasure chest of new knowledge."

The SGBC now plans to image more than 100 whole human brains across different stages of life and neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia, creating a reference library that could reveal how disease reshapes the brain cell-by-cell.

The new atlas will not solve the mysteries of the human brain. But by giving scientists a far more detailed map, it may help them ask - and eventually answer - better questions.

India's Ganesh idol makers count the cost of devastating floods

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8r850e7z1o, today

Standing among the broken remains of hundreds of clay idols in his workshop in India's Raigad district, sculptor Dilip Mhatre struggles to hold back his emotions.

Just weeks before Ganesh Chaturthi, one of the country's biggest religious festivals honouring the Hindu deity Ganesha, floods have destroyed six months of his work.

The 40-year-old had completed about 500 clay idols of the elephant-headed god, worth around 800,000 rupees ($8,300; £6,200), which were due to be delivered across the western state of Maharashtra, where Raigad is located, over the coming weeks.

"But the flood washed everything away," he says. "We have no idols, no moulds and no raw material. We don't know how we'll fulfil the orders now."

Mhatre's loss is part of a wider crisis unfolding in Raigad.

Every year, millions of families and community groups install clay idols of Ganesha during Ganesh Chaturthi before immersing them in water at the end of the celebrations.

Most of those idols are made in Raigad, where some 20,000 workshops produce up to eight million idols each year. The industry provides seasonal employment to around 150,000 people and generates around 3.5bn rupees in annual sales, making it the economic backbone of many families in the region.

This year, however, floods have damaged thousands of idols and hundreds of workshops, disrupting supplies and threatening the livelihoods of thousands of artisans.

"Around a million Ganesh idols were damaged by heavy rains across the district," says Sachin Patil, president of the Ganesh Murtikar Utkarsh Mandal, an association representing idol makers in the region.

He said around 3,000 idol-making workshops were affected by the rain.

Local authorities have started surveying the damage. Government official Tanaji Shejal told BBC Marathi that financial assistance would be provided under government rules once the assessments were completed.

Heavy monsoon rain is a regular feature in Maharashtra, and Raigad's sculptors have long learnt to protect their workshops from seasonal flooding.

This year, however, the downpour overwhelmed their usual defences.

Raigad received more than 548mm (21.6in) of rain between 5 and 7 July - almost as much as the 663mm recorded during the whole of July last year, according to India's weather department. The deluge overwhelmed rivers and drainage systems, triggering widespread flooding across the district.

Sculptors say they are used to protecting their workshops by covering them with plastic sheets and raising the idols above ground.

But this time, days of torrential rain and strong winds overwhelmed those defences as floodwaters rose several feet.

"In the past, rainwater would collect in the village but never reach the workshop area," says Mhatre.

"This time, everything was washed away."

Many artisans lost not only finished idols but also moulds and raw materials such as clay and plaster of Paris, making it impossible to start again.

Making a Ganesh idol is a labour-intensive process involving moulding, casting, sculpting, drying and painting. Even a small idol, selling for about $5-$8, can take up to two weeks to complete. Larger idols for community celebrations can cost tens of thousands of rupees and take weeks to make.

Mhatre estimates this year's floods have cost him about 1.2m rupees.

Idol-making is his family's only source of income and has paid for household expenses and his children's education for three decades.

Now he has been forced to tell customers that he cannot fulfil their orders.

"People were disappointed but we simply had no alternative," he says, adding that he is planning to take a loan and return customers' advance payments.

For many artisans, the damage is irreversible. Most rain-soaked idols cannot be sold, they told BBC Marathi, and only those with minor damage can sometimes be dried, repaired and reused.

Some workshop owners had insurance, but they say the payouts are unlikely to cover their losses.

Anita Patil, 53, who owns an idol-making workshop in Kalve village, is one of them.

"If the actual loss is 1m rupees, the insurance payout may be only around 10,000 rupees," she says.

"There are many conditions attached to these policies and getting meaningful compensation is not easy."

She says the floods have thrown off their entire production cycle. "So many of our idols have been soaked that we don't even know which ones can be salvaged."

Recovery could take months - or even years - for some workshops.

The impact is likely to extend beyond Raigad, with sculptors warning that some international orders may now be delayed.

"International demand had already slowed because of the global economy," says Patil.

"Now the floods will delay some overseas orders. We may have to rely on sculptors outside Raigad to fulfil them."

The floods have forced many sculptors to rethink how they prepare for future monsoons.

Some plan to install permanent plastic roofing, raise platforms and strengthen barriers, while others say they will move idols indoors or to higher ground when heavy rain is forecast.

But those changes will have to wait. With Ganesh Chaturthi just weeks away, the immediate priority is salvaging whatever they can and honouring customer orders.

Sculptor Mahendra Patil has spent days calling neighbouring workshops in the hope of sourcing replacement idols, but says the chances are slim.

"With the festival so close, it is impossible to remake the same number of idols," he says. "If we cannot source idols from elsewhere, we will have to refund the advance payments."

Across Raigad, workshops submerged only days ago are slowly returning to life. Artists are drying and repairing whatever idols they can save, clearing debris and trying to salvage a season many feared was lost.

Few expect to recover financially anytime soon, but most say abandoning the craft that has sustained their families for generations is not an option.

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Indian activist on fast for 20 days refuses to end hunger strike

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yrpn4zgx3o, 2 days ago

Indian activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk has refused to end his indefinite hunger strike despite growing calls for him to do so.

The 59-year-old has been on a fast for the past 20 days, consuming nothing but salt and water, and has lost more than 9kg.

"I've grown weak from the outside but I'm strong from within," Wangchuk told the crowd gathered at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, where the activist has been protesting. His statement was met with cheers and applause.

The activist has been protesting in support of an online satirical movement called the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) who are seeking educational reforms.

On Friday, the official X account of CJP shared a short video of Wangchuk speaking to the crowds gathered in front of the dais on which he has been sitting in protest.

Wangchuk looked noticeably frail and even though he spoke into a mic, his voice sounded feeble.

He urged the crowd to participate in a protest march that has been organised by the CJP on Monday.

"Together, we will march peacefully to the parliament and put forward our petitions at the altar of democracy," he said.

The activist then joked that if he died before the march, his "ghost would join the march".

Pradhan has dismissed CJP and its supporters as "the B-team of disruptive elements". And the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not engaged with the protesters yet.

But there have been growing pressure from the opposition and civil society leaders for the government to do so.

On Thursday, former Delhi chief minister and leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal visited Wangchuk.

In a video shared by CJP, Kejriwal is seen greeting the activist with folded hands before shaking his hand. He appealed to the government to engage with the protesters.

"Every year, exam papers get leaked and youth pay the price," he said. "I appeal to the government to listen to students and Wangchuk."

He added that "Pradhan should be removed from his post and replaced by Wangchuk".

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and leader of the National Conference party Omar Abdullah said that "politics has its place, but there must also be a room for humanity and compassion".

He recalled the time when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government sent ministers to engage with Anna Hazare, an anti-corruption campaigner, who went on a hunger strike in Delhi in 2011.

"But no attempt has been made so far to initiate a dialogue with Mr Wangchuk," Abdullah said, adding that the activist's demands were "legitimate".

The Delhi High Court, hearing a petition on Thursday, asked the government to urgently intervene and ordered it to monitor Wangchuck's health regularly and provide necessary treatment if needed.

The Times of India newspaper reported that the federal health ministry has directed three government hospitals to examine the activist twice each day.

Olympic cyclist admits to driving despite ban after crash that killed wife

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62q3ywep1ro, 2 days ago

Australian Olympic cyclist Rohan Dennis has pleaded guilty to driving despite a five-year ban placed on him after a 2023 incident where he struck his wife with a car.

Dennis, 36, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday to face a charge of driving while disqualified after police pulled him over last month when he was behind the wheel with two children as passengers.

Last year, Dennis received a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to one aggravated count of creating the likelihood of harm under a plea deal where prosecutors dropped two more serious charges.

The court found he was not criminally responsible for Melissa Hoskins' death but had been reckless in his actions.

During last year's case, the court heard that the couple - who got married in 2018 - had been arguing about kitchen renovations before Dennis got into his car to leave.

Hoskins, who was also an Olympic cyclist, jumped onto the bonnet of the car and later held onto the car door as Dennis continued to drive. She fell off and was later struck by the car. Hoskins later died in hospital from her injuries.

Dennis was spared jail time when he was sentenced last May, with the judge suspending the 17-month prison term by placing him on a two-year good behaviour bond.

He was also disqualified from driving for five years, with the start date from the day of the car incident in December 2023.

On Friday, the court heard that prosecutors have asked for the matter to be referred to the District Court to deal with both the driving while disqualified offence and his breach of the good behaviour bond.

The father-of-two is due back in court in September.

Australia 'deeply frustrated' over Laos methanol poisoning charges

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5d4z343wlo, 3 days ago

The Australian government has said it is "deeply frustrated and bitterly disappointed" that Laos is not pursuing more serious charges in relation to the deaths of six backpackers who died after drinking methanol-laced alcohol in 2024.

Australians Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19, were among six people who died at a hostel in Vang Vieng in November 2024.

The statement comes after reports in Australian media that Laos would press charges that collectively carry penalties of up to one year in jail and a fine of A$1600 ($1100; £829) against those allegedly responsible.

Australian Foreign Ministry Penny Wong said they have summoned Laos' ambassador to Canberra.

Laos has yet to confirm any charges but the BBC understands authorities there will hold a press conference later on Friday.

"This devastating news will only add to the immense pain and grief suffered by the families and friends of Holly and Bianca," Australia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"We have consistently made clear our expectations that charges should reflect the gravity of the tragedy. This includes the Prime Minister and I expressing these expectations directly to our respective counterparts."

Jones and Bowles were among six foreign tourists who died after consuming free drinks at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng. The other victims include British, American and Danish tourists.

It is thought the free shots were tainted with methanol, a toxic substance normally found in paint thinner but that is sometimes mixed with alcohol illegally to cut costs.

Earlier this year, ten people connected to the hostel were charged with destroying evidence, receiving suspended sentences and fines of $185 (£135) each - something described by the brother of one victim as an "absolute joke".

And on Thursday, Australian media ran reports saying that the Laos ministry had written to the families of the Australian victims with information that the most serious charges expected for those responsible carried only the possibility of a fine and a one-year prison sentence.

Bianca's father, Mark Jones, told Australian broadcaster ABC that "[feeling] furious would be an understatement" while Holly's father, Shaun Bowles, said it was "very hard to comprehend" the expected charges.

"To think that the lives of my daughter, and another five people, are worth less than a year in prison and less than $1,600," Jones told the ABC.

"I'm calling on the Australian government to do all they can to intervene. For Prime Minister Albanese to reach out to his counterpart in Laos to insist that some form of genuine justice is served for the deaths of two Australian citizens."

The Laos embassy in Canberra has been contacted for comment.

Wong has said Australia has appointed Pablo Kang, Australia government's special envoy, to "explore all avenues" in the investigation, adding that he has been asked to travel to Laos on Friday to convey Australia's objections.

She also added that she would put forward Australia's views directly to her Lao counterpart at an ASEAN meeting in Manila next weel.

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Identity of Sydney daycare worker facing 329 child abuse offences revealed

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzy0lpello, 6 days ago

A Sydney childcare worker who was charged with 329 offences over his alleged abuse of 136 children at multiple daycare centres across a 16-year period can now be named.

Hamish Tait was first arrested in July last year but his identity was only revealed on Monday, when a court order sought by police while they tried to identify victims and contact families was lifted.

The charges against the 35-year-old, who remains in custody, include 162 counts of producing child abuse material and 81 counts of filming a person engaged in a private act without consent.

Police said they had contacted 121 families affected by the alleged offending but are still trying to identify 22 victims.

"Any form of child sexual abuse is confronting and horrific, even more so when the alleged perpetrator is an individual trusted with the care of our youth," Australian Federal Police (AFP) Acting Commander Luke Needham said.

Tait worked at or attended 62 early childhood education facilities in Sydney between 2009 and 2025, although police say he primarily worked in the city's north-west.

The alleged offending occurred at five facilities including four childcare centres and his own private business.

Police have published a website identifying the centres where he worked and offering support for families.

The charges also include 22 counts of aggravated use of a child under 14 years for the production of child abuse material and 18 counts of intentionally sexually touching a child under 10 years.

Police said they first linked Tait to illegal online activity in June last year. They then found child abuse material on electronic devices seized during a raid on a property in Glossodia, just outside Sydney.

Australians have been shaken by a string of cases of alleged child abuse at daycare centres in recent years.

They include the case of Ashley Paul Griffith who in 2024 confessed to 307 offences committed at childcare centres in Queensland and overseas over a 20-year period.

And last year police urged that more than 1,200 children in Victoria be tested for sexually transmitted diseases after Joshua Dale Brown was charged with dozens of child abuse offences allegedly committed at four daycare centres.

'Hero, legend, sweetheart': Tributes to Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill, who has died aged 78

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy06e5e1lygo, 6 days ago

Tributes have been paid to actor Sam Neill, famed for his starring role in Jurassic Park, following his death at the age of 78.

The news was announced by his family, who said his death in Sydney, Australia, was "sudden and unexpected".

Neill played Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and also appeared in films including The Piano, The Hunt for Red October, Dead Calm and Event Horizon, as well as BBC TV drama Peaky Blinders.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described him as "one of the greats", while Australian actress Toni Collette wrote: "I love you, dear Sam. You hero. You legend. You sweetheart. Our great friend. You are already missed so very much."

Neill, who was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in New Zealand, died "surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life", a statement said.

In March 2023, he revealed he had been undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

He later said the disease was in remission but he would require monthly chemotherapy for the rest of his life.

In April 2026, Neill said a scan showed no cancer in his body, and his family's statement on Monday said he "remained cancer free" at the time of his death.

The statement thanked hospital staff and added: "More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss."

In his tribute, Luxon said: "For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today – one of our greatest cultural exports."

Former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern wrote that Neill was "such a thoughtful, curious, and decent person".

"We've lost another incredible kiwi, and I feel profoundly sad," she added.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also paid tribute, writing on X that he "starred in so many beloved Australian stories and he earned a special place in Australian hearts".

Laura Dern, who starred alongside Neill in Jurassic Park, described him as "my beloved lifetime friend".

"He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit," she said in a statement to E! News.

"He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man," she added. "I will love you forever, Dr Alan Grant."

Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg told Variety that he "adored" making the franchise with Neill, who he described as "exceptionally collaborative".

"Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our 'Jurassic' family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world," he said in his statement.

Goldblum, who played Dr Ian Malcolm in the films, shared a photo of himself alongside Dern and Neill with the caption: "The next great adventure begins. Love, always and forever."

'Deeply soulful and beautiful man'

Australian pop superstar Kylie Minogue responded to the announcement of Neill's death with "Vale [goodbye] Sam" alongside a broken heart emoji.

British actor Richard E Grant wrote that he knew his fellow actor for three decades, saying Neill had "guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my life", and describing him as "an officer and a gentleman in the truest sense".

Also paying tribute, Colin Trevorrow, who directed Neill in 2022's Jurassic World Dominion, described him as "a deeply soulful and beautiful man".

"He was a friend and collaborator at a challenging time, and his strength gave us all strength," he said.

"I'll remember him for his tranquillity, his love of wine, and for the calm assuredness he brought to his characters. It's not every lifetime you get to befriend a legend."

Joe Cole, Neill's co-star in Peaky Blinders, posted: "Rest in peace big dog."

Daisy Ridley, who is set to star alongside Neill in the not-yet-released film The Last Resort, posted a picture of herself with Neill on her Instagram story alongside three broken heart emojis.

Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Omagh, Northern Ireland, in 1947, he moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, with his family as a child.

He adopted the name Sam at the age of 12 because there were several Nigels at his school.

He began acting while studying at the University of Canterbury and made his film debut in 1971's The City of No. After a number of television and film roles in New Zealand, he gained wider recognition in the 1977 film Sleeping Dogs, one of the country's first films to achieve international distribution.

He later moved to Australia, where he starred in My Brilliant Career (1979), a film that helped establish him as a leading actor.

Neill achieved global fame in 1993 through his performances in Jane Campion's Oscar-winning The Piano and as palaeontologist Dr Grant in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.

He reprised the role in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022), and voiced the character in three video games based on the series.

Neill also found success on television, playing the sadistic, corrupt police officer Major Chester Campbell in the first two series of the BBC's Peaky Blinders.

Over a career spanning more than five decades, he amassed more than 150 screen credits.

Neill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1991 for services to acting. He was later made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007 and accepted a knighthood in 2022 after changes to New Zealand's honours system allowed recipients to adopt titular honours.

In his 2023 memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, he revealed details of his cancer diagnosis and treatment.

"I'm not afraid of dying," he told the BBC at the time. "What I don't want to do is to stop living, because I really enjoy living."

He added: "I've regarded it as an adventure, quite a dark adventure, but an adventure nevertheless."

Sir Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.

Australian police reveal unseen photos 25 years after British backpacker murder

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crlwln0gkzlo, 6 days ago

Police in Australia have released previously unseen photographs from their investigation into the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio 25 years ago.

Falconio, from Huddersfield, was shot on a remote stretch of highway near the Northern Territory town of Barrow Creek, about 186 miles (300km) north of Alice Springs on 14 July 2001.

His body has never been found and police hope the images could jog memories that could lead to a tip-off. His killer, Bradley Murdoch, died of throat cancer aged 67 in jail last year, without disclosing where Falconio's remains might be.

The images include a full length picture of Murdoch staring straight at a camera during the police investigation.

Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees escaped from Murdoch, hiding in scrubland for several hours before she was able to wave down two men driving a truck.

One of the photographs taken by police shows Lees looking traumatised in the hours after the attack. Others show injuries she sustained, including after her wrists were bound with cable ties.

Northern Territory Police Force Commissioner Martin Dole said that 25 years was a "significant milestone" and that he hoped the release of new images could jog memories or lead to a tip-off.

"This was a traumatic and horrific event for Ms Lees, and for Peter's family, who have now gone such a long time without the answers they deserve," Dole said.

"While a murderer has been held accountable for his crimes, this investigation can never be considered closed until Peter's remains are found and his family can lay him to rest."

Other photos released by NT Police show the orange Volkswagen Kombi van the couple had been driving as they travelled around Australia. It was found abandoned just off the Stuart Highway close to where the attack took place. Pictures of the crime scene are also among the tranche of pictures.

During his trial in December 2005, the court heard Murdoch, who was then 43, pulled up beside their vehicle, claiming to have seen sparks coming from the camper van Falconio was driving.

He then shot Falconio in the head as he inspected the vehicle, before taking 28-year-old Lees into his car and binding her wrists with cable ties, although she managed to escape.

Murdoch was convicted of Falconio's killing by a unanimous jury verdict, and he was also found guilty of the assault and attempted kidnap of Lees.

He had always maintained his innocence, despite DNA evidence linking him to the crime, and unsuccessfully appealed to overturn his convictions twice.

A few days ago police released bodycam footage of an interview with Murdoch a week before his death, as they tried to get him to reveal the location of the body.

In a statement on Tuesday, Commissioner Dole said: "It is deeply regrettable that Murdoch died without, as far as we know, ever disclosing the location of Peter's remains. His cowardly silence has denied his family, friends and loved ones the closure they deserve."

NT Police remained "committed to bringing this investigation to its fullest conclusion" and would "continue to pursue every avenue available," he added.

A reward of up to A$500,000 is on offer for information leading to the discovery of Mr Falconio's remains.

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Acclaimed pianist loses Gaza speech case against Melbourne orchestra

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gyvwwep30o, 10 days ago

An acclaimed British-Australian pianist has lost his workplace discrimination case against the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) over comments he made about Gaza during a performance.

Jayson Gillham sued the MSO after it cancelled one of his performances in 2024, days after he said during another show that Israel had killed more than 100 Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

But Justice Graeme Hill ruled that Mr Gillham's concert was not scrapped because of his political beliefs.

Rather, it was to "address the anticipated adverse impacts" of the pianist's comments on the orchestra's business and reputation, he ruled.

"I find that the MSO did have a policy for not expressing support for either side of the Israel-Gaza conflict," Justice Hill said.

"I find that there is a custom or practice that classical musicians do not make statements on sensitive political or social issues from the stage without approval of the host."

In a short statement after the ruling, Mr Gillham said: "I am disappointed and I need time to process the judgment before saying more."

The case centred around a short introduction that Mr Gillham read out during a performance in Melbourne on 11 August 2024, when he premiered a five-minute piece called Witness, written by composer Connor D'Netto, which was dedicated to the journalists of Gaza.

He said more than 100 Palestinian journalists had been killed by Israel since October 2023 when the war in Gaza began and that Israel was carrying out "targeted assassinations of prominent journalists".

"The killing of journalists is a war crime in international law, and it is done in an effort to prevent the documentation and broadcasting of war crimes to the world," he told the audience of about 150 people during the Sunday morning concert.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent organisation that promotes press freedom, reports that 207 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.

The MSO received three complaints about Mr Gillham's comments and decided to cancel a recital he was due to perform on 15 August - prompting almost 500 complaints - though it later said that move was an "error" and sought to reschedule the show.

During the trial, the MSO argued that its stage was not a platform for "expressing personal views" but Mr Gillham's legal team said it was his legal workplace right to express his political belief and should not be mistreated because of it.

On the last day of the trial, Hill had urged both sides to try to resolve the matter between themselves to avoid him "having to say the things I need to say in a judgment".

The Federal Court's decision came after a three-week trial which wrapped up last month, in which about two dozen witnesses gave evidence including Gillham and senior MSO executives.

Trains and emergency calls affected after major outage at Australia's largest telecoms company

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgevw0d95pdo, 11 days ago

A major outage at Australia's largest telecommunications company has led to cancelled train services, left thousands of customers without mobile coverage, and sparked an investigation into emergency calls that were not connected.

Telstra's chief financial officer Michael Ackland apologised for the issue which began at 04:30 local time on Wednesday and affected "some mobile calls and data services".

Services were fully restored about 12 hours later, he said. A software defect related to time-keeping servers at data centres in Sydney and Melbourne was to blame - not a cyber attack, Ackland added.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the outage was "deeply concerning".

Telstra described the outage as "intermittent" but acknowledged the impact had been "national".

Ackland said the telecoms company had conducted welfare checks on customers who had called emergency services during the outage, with six requiring immediate help.

Back-up systems, which divert emergency calls through other mobile carriers, largely worked as they should, he added.

Asked if the country could still rely on its largest mobile network, Ackland said: "Australia can absolutely have faith in its biggest telco... we take these outages very very seriously.

"Our investment in resilience and cyber security and redundancy in our network is significant but it is a big and complex network and from time to time, issues do occur."

Communications Minister Anika Wells said the country's telco regulator, the Australian Communication and Media Authority, will investigate the outage.

In Victoria, all regional train services were cancelled due to the outage while some regional services in New South Wales were also disrupted. National freight services were also affected.

Payment systems were also down with about 80,000 businesses using the Tyro app affected.

Last September, a systems outage at Optus - the second largest telecoms company in Australia - led to three deaths after hundreds of people across more than half the country were unable to call emergency services for 13 hours.

Optus was also fined after an outage in 2023 left thousands unable to call emergency services.

Many Ukrainian soldiers outraged over removal of defence minister, troops tell BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg8w4dpjkwo, yesterday

"My operation is scheduled for tomorrow," says the disfigured soldier, still recovering from his terrible injuries.

"I hope when I wake up after the anaesthetic, Fedorov will be back at the Ministry of Defence," the unnamed soldier says in a video posted on Telegram. "Otherwise, everything I was fighting for will have been in vain."

Among Ukraine's battle-weary soldiers and wounded veterans, there's a collective sense of outrage at this week's political developments.

President Zelensky's decision not to re-appoint his successful young defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, in his latest cabinet reshuffle, has caused bafflement and fury in equal measure.

"It is a blatant slap in the face to all service members," said a soldier we're calling Maryna, to protect her identity.

"It is truly difficult to put this into words without venting in frustration."

Despite the noisy protests breaking out across Ukraine, Maryna doubts popular anger is going to change anything.

"A dictatorship is already unfolding here," she says, "with its own petty tyrants who think they have caught God by the beard."

With army chiefs reportedly warning the ranks not to engage in political debate, soldiers are reluctant to speak openly or do so only on condition of strict anonymity. We have given made up names to all those who replied.

Another soldier, Natasha, said the protesters with their makeshift cardboard placards, were a long way from the daily brutality of the front line.

"Yesterday our positions here got hit by MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems), so nobody cared about Fedorov or the cardboard signs."

But in the messages we've received, there's clear admiration for what Fedorov has been able to achieve, both as Minister for Digital Transformation and during his brief tenure as Defence Minister.

More than anyone, he's identified as the man who has single-mindedly driven innovation in the military, helping to elevate the role of drones and other modern technologies to a point where Ukraine has, in recent months, been able to turn the tide of the war against its much larger enemy.

When I met him in Kyiv last summer, Federov described how data was being used to perfect a scheme dubbed "Army of Drones: Bonus", whereby frontline units could earn points for each Russian soldier killed or piece of equipment destroyed.

The scheme was popular, credited with speeding up procurement and driving innovation.

Fedorov came across as someone deeply committed to promoting Ukraine's war effort in the most creative ways possible, and, as he put it, "how to use limited resources more effectively."

But as members of a military still led by an officer class which emerged out of the old top-down Soviet era system, the soldiers know only too well the sorts of obstacles Fedorov has faced.

"If you can't come to an agreement with the old fossils," Natasha said, "they'll eat you alive."

Chief among the "fossils", in the eyes of some of the soldiers who responded to our requests, is Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, the austere 60-year-old commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces.

He was regarded as a national hero four years ago, following his successful defence of Kyiv in the weeks following Russia's full-scale invasion. But Gen Syrskyi's name has since become linked with an outdated way of fighting which places little value on human lives.

"Syrskyi commands no authority or respect," Andriy told us. "To us, he remains the General 200," a derogatory nickname referring to a Soviet military code for casualties.

Others simply call him "The Butcher".

To be fair, not everyone in the military shares such a dim view of their leader.

"Currently there is no replacement for Syrskyi in the army," Andrii, a former front-line soldier now working in the General Staff told us.

"Yes, he is Soviet-minded and graduated from a military school in Russia, but we do not have another military commander of such calibre. He conducted all the successful operations of this war."

One thing is clear: Mykhailo Fedorov and Gen Syrskyi had clearly fallen out by the time President Zelensky made his move this week.

Explaining his decision not to reappoint Fedorov, Zelensky said the two men were unable even to be in the same room together, while the ousted minister blamed the general for blocking all his reforms.

"It was snowballing," Andrii told us. "Everyone knew about it. Zelensky had to make a decision."

With their 25 year gap in age (Fedorov is 35), the two men at the centre of this explosive row represent very different versions of Ukraine.

"Fedorov is an iPhone 16, Syrskyi is a telephone from the 1980s," military analyst and former intelligence officer Ivan Stupak told me.

"You know, the same purpose but with different approaches."

Stupak credits Fedorov with achieving something no-one would have imagined possible ten years ago: dragging the sclerotic, rigidly inflexible military into the digital world.

In his short time at the Ministry of Defence (he was only appointed in January), Fedorov pulled off a number of coups, including persuading Elon Musk to block Russian access to his Starlink satellite-based internet service.

The move is thought to have caused havoc among Russian front-line positions, helping Ukrainian forces to halt and even repel Russian advances.

There have been rapid advances in the use of AI and cheap interceptors to help protect Ukrainian cities from the scourge of Russian drones.

Fedorov also conducted a forensic analysis of procedures and practices in the ministry, aimed at reducing bureaucracy and improving efficiency.

Arguably, it was a never-ending task.

"The Ministry of Defence is a swamp," Stupak said. "It's made of very solid material and it's very difficult to establish new technologies because lots of people have been there for decades and they are don't share his vision of digitalisation."

The concern among many observers is that Fedorov's departure will bring his ambitious reform and innovation programme to a screeching halt, despite Zelensky's assurances that nothing will change.

With autumn and winter on the horizon and Russia likely to launch yet another assault on Ukraine's battered energy grid, some fear that the country will be more vulnerable.

"I'm very upset that all this progress, which was built by Fedorov, will be just destroyed and reversed in one of the most critical periods of the war," Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Action Centre, said.

Kaleniuk says the crisis also reflects badly on Ukraine's leader.

"It sends a very bad signal," she said. "President Zelensky doesn't care what the people of Ukraine think, and he is also not accepting inside his team people with legitimacy, subjectivity, who are able to initiate solutions and results. That is very destructive for Ukraine."

The president's record of sacking or sidelining effective or popular officials has led some to accuse him of increasingly dictatorial behaviour.

"He can't stand the people who don't admire him," Stupak said.

The irony, Stupak said, is that Zelensky is starting to behave like the sort of politicians he used to lampoon when he was still a comedian.

"He's collected all the factors which were the subject for his jokes. Maybe it's because he's been in his position for seven years."

To activists like Kaleniuk, the sight of thousands of young people out on the street also brings on a strong sense of deja vu.

It's been almost exactly a year since people gathered in huge numbers to demand that Zelensky veto a bill stripping two of Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies of their powers.

The protests – the first anti-government demonstrations since Russia's full scale invasion - succeeded. Zelensky announced a new draft law restoring the independence of the two organisations.

Today's protesters are hoping for a similar result, even though the president has already appointed an interim minister, the current acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Yevhenii Khmara.

But while the current protests are so far smaller in scale, Kaleniuk said the stakes are much higher.

"These events are even more dangerous, because they directly impact our war effort," she said.

A number of the president's critics point to the fact that despite Fedorov's widely praised loyalty and success, Zelensky has seen fit to dispose of him.

"You can become a key architect of the strategy of technological victory over the enemy," Maria Berlinska, founder of an NGO which trains volunteers in aerial reconnaissance, wrote in a post on Facebook, "No matter how cool you are, it will not help you. At some point, you will simply be removed from the field."

One anti-war critic fined, another held as Russia clamps down on dissent

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0n3y6ewn4o, yesterday

Russian authorities have continued to clamp down on dissent against the war by detaining a well-known blogger and moving to prevent a local politician from running for parliament.

Blogger Ilya Remeslo was a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin until he staged a dramatic about-turn last March, calling the president a "war criminal and thief" and saying he should resign.

He has now been remanded in custody for two months on suspicion of spreading false information against the military.

Separately, Boris Nadezhdin has been convicted of "displaying extremist symbols", a ruling that bars him from collecting signatures for parliamentary elections in September.

Nadezhdin, 63, came to prominence two years ago, when he tried to stand for the presidency on an anti-war platform, but was eventually barred because electoral authorities ruled that signatures he had submitted were flawed.

Few genuine opposition politicians are left in Russia, and former MP Nadezhdin has styled himself more as a pro-peace politician.

Most have gone into exile abroad, while the most prominent figure, Alexei Navalny, died suddenly in a penal colony in the Arctic in February 2024. Russia said he died of natural causes but the UK and four European countries have said they are confident he was "poisoned with a lethal toxin".

Nadezhdin was initially declared a "foreign agent" last week before being detained on Monday over a video he reposted in 2023 that briefly showed an image of Navalny. He has also been barred from leaving Russia.

Being declared a foreign agent would most likely have barred him from running for office, but until he was convicted for "extremist symbols" a legal loophole meant he could still have gathered signatures to register as a candidate.

He can still appeal against the ruling, which fined him 1,000 roubles (£9.50; $13).

Nadezhdin suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes, and briefly fell when he appeared in court in his hometown of Dolgoprudny just to the north of Moscow.

Denying the charges against him, he said their real aim was to shut him up and stop him running for the Duma (Russian parliament). He also told the court he would not be able to pay any fine because all his accounts had been frozen.

Later on Friday, blogger Remeslo also appeared in court and was remanded in pre-trial detention for two months. His lawyer said he had been taken to Moscow after being detained hours earlier in his home city of St Petersburg.

Remeslo said he was being accused of disseminating fake news about the military because of his March 2026 blog post entitled Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin.

The post on the Telegram messsaging app came as a surprise in Russia, as Remeslo had previously backed Putin over the war and denounced the opposition - especially Navalny.

He complained about damage to Russia's economy and the government's restrictions on internet and media freedom, and was then sent to a psychiatric hospital for a month. After he was discharged he alleged he had been sent there against his will.

On Thursday, on the eve of his arrest, Remeslo posted on Telegram that "the situation is getting worse rapidly for Putin", citing what he said was Russia's energy crisis and intensifying conflicts among the elites.

Ukraine has targeted oil refineries and storage depots across Russia, leading to fuel shortages in many regions including Moscow.

Two opinion polls in Russia suggest Putin's popularity has dropped this month.

The Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) said his approval rating had fallen to 66%, down five points in the week to 12 July.

State-owned pollster VTsIOM said the fall was smaller, but put his rating at 65.1%, the lowest since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022.

"Everything is moving toward a situation where even a small push could lead to Putin losing power," Remeslo claimed.

Italian officials handed jail terms for Genoa bridge disaster that killed 43

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36dnz1zez5o, 3 days ago

The former head of Italy's motorway operator has been given a 12-year prison sentence over the collapse of Genoa's Morandi bridge in August 2018.

Prosecutors had asked for a far longer jail term for Giovanni Castellucci, ex-chief executive of Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi).

Forty-three people died when the motorway bridge running through the city came down in a rain storm at the height of the holiday season, sending cars and lorries plummeting to the ground.

Castellucci, who is already serving a six-year jail term for a 2013 road disaster, was one of 57 defendants on trial in Genoa. Another top motorway official, Michele Donferri Mitelli, has been given 11 years in jail.

Emmanuel Diaz, whose brother Henry died in the bridge collapse told Italian TV he was "very satisfied" with the verdict, while Egle Possetti, whose sister and her family were all killed, said she thought the 12-year term handed to Castellucci was "acceptable".

It was a first stage that "opens up a ray of light", said Possetti, who heads the Morandi bridge victims' memorial committee.

Giovanni Castelucci was not in court to hear the verdicts, read out by Judge Paolo Lepri, and his lawyer said they would continue to fight for his innocence on appeal, describing the verdict as profoundly flawed.

The former number two at the motorway operator, Paolo Berti, was handed a five-and-a half-year jail term, seven years less than prosecutors had sought.

Thirty-two people were found guilty by the court on Thursday, and several officials were given sentences of just under two years in prison. Another 25 were either acquitted or cleared because the offences came under a statute of limitations.

In total, prosecutors had asked for the 57 defendants to be given 400 years in jail on charges including manslaughter and failing to maintain the viaduct, which was designed by Riccardo Morandi in 1967.

All the defendants had denied doing anything wrong.

While prosecutors had argued that maintenance of the ageing structure had been repeatedly delayed and that warning signs had been ignored, defence lawyers blamed the disaster on a design flaw, and the fact that a specific cable was encased in concrete.

It took almost four years of investigation before the case came to trial and another four years for the trial to be heard, during more than 280 hearings.

Among the defendants on trial were engineers from the maintenance firm Spea and former officials from both the transport ministry and the Aspi motorway operator's parent company Atlantia.

Spea's former chief executive, Antonino Galatà, was given a five-and-a-half year prison term, while Mauro Coletta, the former top official in charge of the ministry's motorway directorate, received five years.

On the eve of the trial, the current head of Aspi, Arrigo Giana, made his company's first public apology for the bridge collapse, saying that "the actions and decisions of some people left indelible scars".

Giana stressed that his company was different now, with new managers monitoring the network and planning ahead to eliminate risks.

For one 18-year-old called Cesare, whose father Andrea Cerulli was among the 43 victims, the apology from Aspi was nothing but "crocodile tears". Cesare was 10 when his father was killed.

"Unfortunately, these people lack tact and humanity," the teenager told La Repubblica newspaper.

Genoa Mayor Silvia Salis, who attended Thursday's court hearing, described the day as one of "immense historical and emotional weight".

"Finally, a first step has been taken towards establishing responsibility for the collapse of the Morandi bridge - it is a moment owed by the state, which the families have been waiting for since that cursed 14 August 2018," she said.

Thursday's verdicts will not be the end of the judicial process, with appeals expected to drag on for some time.

The remains of the old bridge were blown up in early 2019 and a new structure called the San Giorgio bridge was inaugurated the following year, just two years after the disaster.

Designed by Genoa-born architect Renzo Piano, the new viaduct features sail-like pillars, evoking the port city's long maritime history.

Zelensky's removal of popular defence minister sparks protests in Ukraine

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx76069n3do, 3 days ago

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's surprise move to replace popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has caused an outburst of anger from civil society and protests from MPs.

A crowd of mostly young people gathered in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Thursday morning, holding up signs reading "Hands off Fedorov" and "Stop sabotaging victory!" and chanting "Shame!".

By evening, Zelensky had put forward the name of Maj-Gen Yevhenii Khmara, the acting head of the Security Service (SBU), as acting defence minister.

"Khmara has gained extensive and, in many respects, unprecedented experience with technological combat operations," Zelensky said.

Initial rumours that the end of Fedorov's tenure was related to tensions between him and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi were all but confirmed by Fedorov himself and Zelensky.

On Thursday, Fedorov revealed he had suggested to Zelensky that Syrskyi and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov should be replaced.

Zelensky, speaking at a press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, acknowledged that the conflict between the General Staff and the defence ministry had been "systemic" and occurred "at various levels", and that Syrskyi and Fedorov would only work together with his mediation.

"When the president said he did not plan to replace Syrskyi, I... said I would learn to work with him," Fedorov said at his own press conference. But "all the initiatives we proposed were blocked," he added.

"Instead of finding a way of defeating Russia asymmetrically - which is the commander-in-chief's job - he's found a way of splitting our country," Fedorov said of Syrskyi.

In a curt message, Syrskyi wrote on Telegram that he was "proud" of the defence operation that was mounted around Kyiv in 2022 when Russian troops were closing in and said he would continue to "focus on the war and on an effective strategy", before wishing Fedorov "continued success".

Fedorov, 35, was appointed only in January but has been credited with energising the ministry, heading a drive against corruption and using data to analyse and try to improve performance on the front line.

MPs were due to vote on Thursday on the proposed replacement as defence minister, Ihor Klymenko, who currently heads the interior ministry - but Zelensky said his was only one of the names being considered and that no official proposal had been submitted yet.

As part of Zelensky's reshuffle, parliament approved the appointment of state oil and gas boss Serhiy Koretsky as prime minister, after Yuliia Svyrydenko resigned earlier this week.

Fedorov also revealed that Zelensky offered him to stay on his team as an adviser, but that he refused.

He was not seeking to antagonise the president, he explained, saying he was "confident" that Zelensky "hears the Ukrainian people, knows what to do, and the situation will be 100% resolved".

"I don't believe he has yet chosen a side in the Syrskyi matter. I spoke with him today and said that I am acting according to my conscience," he said.

"This is the worst mistake Zelensky has made during his entire presidency," Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier, told the BBC.

He had signed up to the army earlier this year because he trusted Fedorov's team and vision, he said: "I don't know anyone who supports the decision to replace him. Not within the army, not in society."

"I have lots of friends in the military. Lots of them died. I don't want this to go on," Maria Lavrynets, 31, told the BBC at a protest in Ivan Franko square in central Kyiv. "We see [Fedorov's] results. We see the motivation of the soldiers, we should stand for them."

"People wanted to come out, and that's right. I understand, I hear, and I even react to what society is saying," Zelensky said when asked to comment on the protests.

When he was brought in, Fedorov set off to restructure the defence ministry, which many in Ukraine see as too bogged down in bureaucracy and old Soviet-era attitudes.

A former minister of digital transformation, he was active from the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 in setting up a volunteer "IT Army of Ukraine" to launch cyber-attacks against Russians.

Later, he led a successful fundraising campaign called the Army of Drones and brought in elements of "gamification" to the war, designing a system that awarded Ukrainian military units with credits for hitting Russian assets.

Fedorov's focus on drones, high-tech warfare and procurement continued after he became defence minister.

In the early days of his tenure he also asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to stop Russia from using Starlink satellites for drone attacks - a move that caused considerable disruption to Russia's frontline operations and advance.

His ministry also played a significant part in Ukraine's recent attacks on the Moscow-occupied Crimean peninsula, which last month Fedorov vowed to "cut off" from Russia entirely, with the use of mid-range drone strikes.

In a Facebook post shortly after his dismissal, Fedorov listed his achievements and said he would "continue... to defeat the enemy through asymmetry, speed of innovation, and organisational strength".

Prominent blogger Serhii Sternenko, whom Fedorov brought in as an adviser, hailed his former boss as "the best minister of defence in our entire history" and bemoaned the "bureaucratic obstacles and artificial delays" he said had stood in the way of deeper reform.

Another former adviser - a tech expert nicknamed "Flash" - said being part of Fedorov's team had been an honour and added: "I had access to various systems and could analyse the actions of our enemy. I could predict their next steps. I will no longer be able to do that."

Pavlo Yelizarov, a renowned drone unit commander, resigned from his position of deputy commander of the Ukrainian Air Force in protest at Fedorov's sacking - a move he called "a great evil for the country's defence capability".

Teenager accused of carrying out sabotage actions in Poland for Russia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp305dx493do, 3 days ago

Prosecutors in Poland have charged an 18-year-old Ukrainian man with carrying out sabotage acts on behalf of Russian intelligence aimed at inciting tensions between Poland and Ukraine.

The suspect, identified as Illia K, under Polish privacy laws, was charged with 47 criminal acts between November 2024 and August 2025, when he was arrested.

The alleged sabotage included desecrating memorials to Polish victims of the UPA, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army that took part in the murder of tens of thousands of Poles during World War Two known as the Volhynia massacre.

"The aim was to incite ethnic tensions between Poland and Ukraine," Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) said in a statement.

Prosecutors said that although the suspect himself had acted for financial rather than ideological reasons most of the alleged acts were "for the benefit of foreign intelligence".

The ABW said in May that it had launched 48 espionage investigations last year, more than double the number in 2024. Russia's secret services had focused on discrediting Poland internationally and exploiting "historical ethnic antagonisms, mainly in Polish-Ukrainian relations", it said.

The 18-year-old was also charged with making preparations to fly a drone over Polish president Karol Nawrocki's vehicle during last year's Polish Armed Forces' Day parade in Warsaw on August 15. He was arrested three days before the event took place.

The suspect, who faces life in prison if found guilty, allegedly recruited people to take part in the crimes, using cryptocurrencies registered in Russia and China to pay them, the ABW said.

According to prosecutors, Illia K was given tasks by an unidentified person via a messaging service. He sent photos back proving he had carried out the tasks.

He allegedly vandalised the Monument to the Jewish Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto in the Polish capital and monuments to the Polish victims of the Volhynia massacre in Domostawa and Wrocław, by placing inscriptions and symbols that glorified the UPA.

Up to 100,000 of the minority Polish population of what was then Poland and is now western Ukraine were killed during the Volhynia massacre between 1943 and 1945 as the UPA fought to create an independent Ukraine for Ukrainians.

The painful issue has bedevilled relations between the neighbours ever since. At times Kyiv banned Polish requests to exhume the victims' remains from mass graves, although exhumations have resumed.

The massacre was resurrected in May when Zelensky issued a decree naming a Ukrainian military unit after the "Heroes of the UPA".

In response, Nawrocki stripped the Ukrainian leaderof Poland's highest state honour - the Order of the White Eagle - something that had happened only once before in 300 years.

Poles and Ukrainians view the UPA very differently, said Wojciech Konończuk, director of Warsaw's Office for Eastern Studies.

"For Ukrainians they are heroes because they fought the Soviets," he told the BBC in a recent interview. "Many years after the Second World War, the UPA were fighting the Soviet occupation, so Ukrainians only want to remember that part of the history of the formation after 1945. So they don't know, or don't want to know what were the UPA activities before 1945."

"For Poles, the UPA were a criminal structure which was responsible for the mass killing of the Polish population. At the same time the level of knowledge in Poland of the history of UPA after the Second World War - basically they were fighters against the Soviets - is usually non-existing knowledge in Polish society," he added.

Starmer pledges 'unwavering support' for Ukraine on final visit as PM

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2myl1erj8o, 3 days ago

Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK's "unwavering" support for Ukraine will continue, on a final visit to the country as prime minister.

He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce fresh funding worth £255m (300m Euro), including 16 new advanced aircraft, for Ukraine's fight against Russia.

Speaking in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, he said: "Anyone who thinks that Ukraine is somehow a drain is just plain wrong - The truth is Ukraine's stand has preserved European security."

Sir Keir's visit, where he was awarded Ukranian honour the Order of Freedom, comes amid protests in several Ukrainian cities over Zelensky's surprise dismissal of popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Zelensky has not yet explained his decision to get rid of 35-year-old Fedorov, who was appointed in January and credited with heading a drive against corruption.

Ukrainian MPs are expected to vote in Ihor Klymenko, who currently heads the interior ministry, as Fedorov's replacement on Thursday.

Today's visit comes on Sir Keir's final day as leader of the Labour Party, with Andy Burnham set to replace him on Friday before becoming prime minister on Monday.

Asked whether Burnham would continue the UK's steadfast support for Ukraine, Sir Keir said: "The fact that there'll be a new prime minister in days to come doesn't change that dynamic at all.

"The resolve of the UK will remain the same - We will not waver."

Sir Keir leaves a legacy including the signing of a 100-year partnership between the two countries, aimed at fostering closer defence and trade ties, and has led efforts to establish a future peacekeeping force.

Standing alongside Zelensky, he said Ukraine would always be at the forefront of his mind even though his time as prime minister was ending.

Support for Ukraine's cause was "in our bones", he said, highlighting how Ukrainian flags are still flying above Downing Street, churches and town halls across the UK, even five years into the conflict.

"Your fight is our fight, your security is our security, and the UK will not waver," Sir Keir assured Zelensky.

"The shift in momentum is real and Ukraine is now in its strongest position since the start of Russia's full stage invasion.

"Bravery takes you through unimaginable hardships but finally - I am certain - it will reward you with victory."

Asked if he was concerned about changes of leadership in Britain, and in France next year, Zelensky said: "Of course I'm afraid of changes, of course we are afraid because we are in the war each day.

"But again the priority is the relation between nations, not just between just people. I'm sure that these relations will not change, or we have to do our best not to lose such very good relations."

He added: "I hope we will never lose strong relations with the UK during or after the war." Sir Keir replied: "You won't."

In an interview with Sky News, Sir Keir said he believed Ukraine would win the war against Russia.

"I think that the last six months have been a real turning point because at the beginning of the conflict, everybody assumed that Russia would win within a matter of weeks," Sir Keir said.

He said Ukraine had "begun to push back on the front this year" and showed "it's not just the size of your army, it's how you fight a modern conflict".

Sir Keir also insisted UK support for Ukraine was behind the UK's new drone industry, which he said had grown from almost nothing over the last two years to become world-leading technology.

The UK has given £3bn in military support to Ukraine this year, including a commitment to deliver 150,000 drones and thousands of air defence missiles.

The latest announcement is for a squadron of 16 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets, capable of air-to-air combat, strikes on ground targets, and reconnaissance missions, is expected to support 5,000 highly-skilled jobs across more than 50 UK-based companies.

Families of 43 victims await verdict in Genoa bridge disaster

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20y00712ezo, 4 days ago

On the morning of 14 August 2018, Claudia Possetti, 47, was in the car with her new husband Andrea, and her two children, aged 12 and 16.

The couple had just married and were driving to the Italian Riviera with the youngsters for a holiday when the Morandi bridge in the northern city of Genoa collapsed beneath them.

Their car was among those that plunged from the viaduct on to the railway tracks below. The four of them were among 43 people killed in one of Italy's worst infrastructure disasters in decades.

Nearly eight years on, Claudia's sister, Egle Possetti, will be among relatives gathering in a Genoa courtroom on Thursday to hear a first-instance verdict in the trial over the collapse. The children's father, who survived them, is also expected to be in court.

"I feel anxious, worried, very emotional," Egle told the BBC. "After so many years, so many hearings, we may be able to see some light. It would be so important for us to know if someone's been held accountable."

The bridge came down during a summer storm at the height of the holiday season, sending cars and lorries plunging to the ground below.

The collapse triggered years of investigation into how the viaduct, built in the 1960s and part of a key route linking Genoa to the French border, had been allowed to fail.

Fifty-seven people have stood trial since July 2022. Among them are former executives of toll road operator Autostrade per l'Italia and its parent company Atlantia, engineers from the maintenance firm Spea, and former transport ministry officials. The charges range from multiple manslaughter to falsifying documents.

All the defendants deny wrongdoing.

At the heart of the Morandi bridge case is a basic disagreement over why the bridge fell.

Prosecutors say maintenance was repeatedly delayed, even as warning signs were ignored, while profits kept flowing.

Defence lawyers argue the real cause was a design flaw in the specific cable that failed, and that no maintenance regime could have prevented it as it was encased in concrete. Some lesser charges, including document forgery, have already lapsed under Italy's statute of limitations.

The trial has run for almost four years and 284 hearings.

Francesco Pinto, the former deputy chief prosecutor who worked on the case, has described the length of the proceedings as symptomatic of deeper problems in Italy's justice system, and believes an appeal and a final Supreme Court ruling could together take another two and a half years.

Giovanni Paolo Accinni, who is defending former Atlantia chief executive Giovanni Castellucci, points instead to the prosecution's lengthy pre-trial technical investigations, much of which he says had to be gone over again once the trial began.

Castellucci is already serving a six-year sentence over another fatal incident on a viaduct in southern Italy which killed 40 people in 2013.

But the collapse of the bridge also prompted a fierce and ongoing debate about the condition of Italy's infrastructure, highlighting concerns over aging structures and long-standing maintenance issues.

Families of the victims are calling for answers after so many years of uncertainty.

Egle Possetti, who also represents the victims' families committee, says she and other relatives of the deceased hope responsibility will be clearly pinned down.

"For so many years, lawyers told us that what happened was no-one's fault, that it was just an accident. But this decision could be symbolically so important. Finding who is responsible could give us some sort of peace and a sense of justice."

On the eve of the verdict, Autostrade per l'Italia issued its first apology over the disaster, in an open letter from chief executive Arrigo Giana published in two Italian newspapers.

Giana, who took over last year, wrote that he had long wondered why the company never apologised at the time, calling it a "further, incomprehensible wound" for a community already in shock.

He said the current company operates under different ownership and management, and that making amends now, even if it cannot undo the families' pain, was a moral duty. Aspi and Spea are no longer defendants in the criminal case, having reached a settlement to pay around €30m (£25m) in damages.

The old viaduct's remains were blown up in early 2019 with two explosions.

A new viaduct, designed by Genoa-born architect Renzo Piano, opened just 18 months later, in August 2020.

Known as the Genoa San Giorgio Bridge, its sail-like white pillars are meant to evoke the city's maritime history.

The victims' families committee is due to hold a press conference in Genoa on Thursday evening, once the verdict has been delivered.

Briton tells of surviving Spain wildfire in car as wife and friends died trying to run to safety

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9ld3p324jo, 6 days ago

A British man whose wife and 12 friends and neighbours are feared to have been killed in the Spanish wildfires has told how he became separated from them as the flames raced towards his home.

Malcolm Timbrell, 70, and his wife Annette Kilgore, 69, lived in the village of Bédar, in Almeria province, which was consumed by flames last Thursday evening, leaving 13 people dead.

He spoke to the BBC outside his destroyed home high on the hillside.

"You'd never imagine it could happen," he said. "And when it does, and you're the only survivor, then you're left in a situation of, 'What can I do?'"

Malcolm and Annette had found their property when they appeared on the Channel 4 programme A Place in the Sun.

"She was such a happy, outgoing person," Malcolm said of his partner of 17 years. "We have had an amazing life together - and now it's stopped."

Thursday's wildfire is among the deadliest in Spanish history. It spread quickly, tearing through Bédar, leaving Malcolm, Annette and their friends having to make the quick decision to flee.

As the flames - aided by strong winds - neared their property on Thursday, the couple and their neighbours decided to try escape by car.

But Malcolm chose to head back to their house for their cats, Charlie and Lilly.

"If we'd have done the sensible thing and gone the other way and let our cats die, we both would be alive. But when you've got animals, you don't think like that."

With both cats secured, Malcolm says he attempted to catch up with the group - but saw they were now out of their vehicles.

"My wife and our other seven friends and neighbours - against me screaming at them not to - decided the only safe way was to walk out in front of the firewall.

"I've subsequently heard that that fire wall was moving at 20 kilometres per hour, plus. They had no chance."

Finding himself on his own in the chaotic situation, Malcolm said he attempted to take refuge in the now-abandoned cars: "Of the six cars, four of them instantly combusted and as each one started to go, I moved back one car.

"For some reason of fate, the last two cars, although very, very badly singed and paint bubbled and burnt, survived.

"And I survived inside the last one with a cat."

The flames eventually passed by and Malcolm was rescued by emergency workers.

However the bodies of eight people were subsequently discovered on a path down from the couple's house.

There are still four large scorch marks where four vehicles were discovered burnt out.

Local authorities have said four more victims of the fire, recovered in a right hand drive vehicle, were thought to be British.

Not all of those killed in the wildfire have yet been identified, but Spanish authorities have said that three Britons and one national each from France, Belgium and Spain were among the victims.

One of them was a 93-year-old woman, believed to be British, who died of her injuries in hospital on Sunday.

Many British expats in the village of Bedar have criticised the lack of a mobile phone alert - but Malcolm did not want to apportion blame.

Local authorities "didn't have time to get the seaplanes here before dark," he said, adding: "The helicopters couldn't get up because of the smoke."

With high winds, dry land and soaring temperatures, Malcolm believed there could not have been a worse combination.

"It's nobody's fault. Nobody can be blamed for this."

Malcolm says he has been overwhelmed by the support of friends of all nationalities.

He and Annette moved to Spain after many years sailing together. They had each previously lost their partners to terminal illnesses and shared a love of travel and making new friends.

The couple had hoped to live out their final years together in the tranquillity of the Andalusian countryside.

"There's just that little spark of hope, even though I know a body has been found clutching a cat. Hard cold facts are pointing to the bodies they've found."

Malcolm said the local police have also been a huge help and have been keeping him up to date with their work.

But he fears what will happen in the coming days as the magnitude of his loss hits him.

"So we are just waiting now for DNA clarification. And after that, I will probably just fall apart."

Additional reporting by Kostas Kallergis and Juan Dominguez

British couple return to village at heart of deadly Spanish wildfire

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx24e09x79no, 7 days ago

As we climbed the winding road to Bédar, we emerged into a charred and desolate landscape.

Molten car parts littered our path and out of the window we saw the whole hillside now coated in a dusty black.

At least 13 people, including five believed by Spanish authorities to be Britons, were killed by Thursday's wildfire in Spain's Almeria province, one of the country's deadliest ever.

The toll rose on Sunday after a 93-year-old woman, believed to be British, died of her injuries in hospital. The identities of those killed have not yet been officially confirmed.

The fire, which has now been contained, burned through about 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of land, authorities said.

The breadth of the damage on display was a vivid sign of the ferocity of the flames, which had been powered by winds of up to 50 km/h (31mph).

But as we drove further into the village it dawned on us just how many of the bright white Andalusian homes had seemingly been spared.

"This is our house and it survived," Emma Mitchell told us with a huge sigh of relief.

She pointed across the valley to a property ringed by darkened trees and vegetation. But her eyes filled as she described driving past friends' houses that had not been so lucky.

The couple were among about 600 of the nearly 1,500 people evacuated from the fire zone in Almería province who were told they could return on Sunday.

Emma and her husband Simon moved three years ago to Bédar, where they looked after 15 chickens and spent time with their three dogs.

"When I look over there and I see how close we were to disaster like some of those people, that is terrifying," she said.

The Mitchells said they had never been given clear instructions on how they should flee in the case of a fire.

"Next time it would be good to get an alert on our phones. We get an alert for earthquakes that are 50 miles away but we don't get an alert for a fire that is a quarter of a kilometre away."

We followed them back to their house where they found all of the chickens still alive.

The power and water were still working, too – despite the inferno that took hold around the house.

The couple said the local police and firefighters had been outstanding.

But Emma was particularly angry with those local officials who said some people who were killed – including Britons – had not followed instructions.

Addressing the authorities, she said: "You need to get your act sorted and please don't try and victim-blame afterwards.

"These people that died, they had no instructions to follow, they did the best they could in the circumstances they could and they paid the price."

Local officials have said previously they did not issue an alert on Thursday night because it may have reached people beyond the affected area and could have complicated evacuations.

Authorities have also said police went door-to-door or telephoned residents with instructions on how to shelter or evacuate safely.

The Andalusian regional government and the Spanish Civil Guard police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is scheduled to visit the devastated area of Los Gallardos, home to many foreign residents, on Monday.

Among those caught up in the fire were a British couple, who were found down a ravine, badly burned and semi-conscious, local media reported.

The pair are thought to have been out hiking as the blaze spread rapidly through the province on Thursday. They were evacuated and taken to hospital where they are in intensive care.

This is already among the deadliest wildfires in Spanish history.

In 1984, 20 people died in a fire on the Canary Island of La Gomera, while in 1979, 21 people, including nine children, died in a forest fire near Lloret de Mar in north-eastern Spain.

Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world, causing increased summer heatwaves and more intense wildfires.

Additional reporting by Kostas Kallergis, Juan Dominguez.

If it is safe to do so, you can also get in touch by following this link

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The photo that shows who's really on top in Le Pen's party

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn7558gdvjro, 9 days ago

A stern-looking Jordan Bardella squinted in the sun as a reporter asked him whether he was relieved or disappointed that he would not be the 2027 presidential candidate for the National Rally (RN).

"Neither," he said in a flat voice during a campaign event in the village of La Flèche. "I am glad Marine can represent us. We will work together hand in hand like we've always done."

The previous evening his mentor Marine Le Pen announced she would run for the presidency next year, and not him. In the space of 20 minutes on primetime TV on Tuesday, she put an end to the prospect of handing the party's candidacy to her protege.

Thirty-year-old Bardella has had a dizzying career up the RN ranks, but he was always measured about his prospects of becoming president.

"I want Marine to be the candidate," he had said repeatedly, making it clear he would stand only if an appeal court confirmed she was barred from running for office over a fake jobs scam.

But as party president he had been growing into the role of stand-in candidate - even going on a statesman-like visit to Poland last month. As the date of Le Pen's appeal verdict drew near he appeared increasingly excited to launch his own presidential campaign.

Instead, on Tuesday, a Paris court ended her ban on holding public office and said she should wear an electronic tag for a year. That evening Le Pen announced she and Bardella would run together as "a winning ticket". She would be president, and he prime minister.

But that is not how France's political system works.

France's next parliamentary election is not due until 2029. It is possible a victorious Le Pen could trigger a snap election soon after taking up the post of president and make Bardella prime minister - but there is no guarantee this might happen quickly.

So Bardella is left waiting.

Many National Rally supporters will be relieved Le Pen is running instead. She has made politics her life, has already run three presidential campaigns, and her decision has boosted her lead in the polls.

Bardella's age and lack of experience, many feared, would have come under close scrutiny and could have become a liability.

Still, Bardella's body language at Wednesday's campaign event in the north-west was telling.

While Le Pen beamed at the cameras, brushing off suggestions her deputy would mind being sidelined and insisting "our personal ambitions are absolutely irrelevant", he barely reacted and scarcely smiled.

The speedy climb in National Rally ranks that has characterised his political career seems to have stalled.

Had he been allowed to run, with his party's sizeable lead in the polls and his own strong approval ratings, by spring 2027 he could have succeeded Emmanuel Macron as France's youngest president – and the first hard-right head of state in modern French history.

Born in 1995, Bardella was brought up by his Italian-born single mother, Luisa, on the outskirts of Paris.

Although he has often said she struggled to make ends meet, his father Olivier, also of Italian origin, ran a drinks distribution business and lived in the more affluent town of Montmorency. That detail undercuts the hard-luck narrative surrounding Bardella's early years which he would later use to appeal to a wider electorate.

Neither parent was particularly political and, according to an interview a friend from his teenage years gave to Le Monde, nor was the young Bardella, preferring to spend time on his PlayStation and streaming his Call of Duty sessions on a YouTube channel called Jordan9320.

Yet when he decided to join the far-right National Front as a 17-year-old in 2012, he climbed the ranks quickly. He was made local departmental secretary at 19 and regional councillor for the Paris region at 20. Along the way, he dropped out of university to focus on his political career.

Bardella would later attribute his initial decision to join the party to a fascination with Marine Le Pen, who had taken the reins of the party from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 and was working to turn it from a fringe, extremist movement into a respectable political force.

"There's something about her that others don't have," Bardella said in 2021. "She has a character, an energy... a courage that speak to me."

That interest was reciprocated.

Early on, he entered the RN's inner circle through his relationship with the daughter of an old National Front hand, Frederic Chatillon; by 2017, Le Pen had named Bardella party spokesman. Around the same time, Bardella started dating Le Pen's niece, Nolwenn.

Two years later he became the European Parliament's second-youngest MEP, and at 27 – already one of the party's most visible figures – he was elected National Rally president.

In 2024, it looked like Bardella would make another leap ahead. National Rally emerged with 33% of the vote in the first round of snap parliamentary elections, bringing him within touching distance of becoming prime minister. Eventually, a centre-left alliance won the second round.

But in the two years since, Bardella's popularity has remained solid. In early July, his approval rating was at 40%; Marine Le Pen's has remained stable at 39%.

Bardella's appeal has always been, in great part, his capacity to appeal to a large part of the electorate.

He speaks to the youth vote through his social media channels, where he has two million followers.

His relationship with Italian socialite Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies has given him a glamorous edge, but he frequently references his modest upbringing.

His politics broadly follow Le Pen's talking points - a standard anti-immigration stance and populist rhetoric.

Mass immigration was "shaking the balance of European countries, of Western societies, and namely French society", Bardella told the BBC, and he said his first move as president would be to trigger a referendum on immigration to "allow France to take back control of [its] borders".

In a nod to business leaders, he has promised to shield entrepreneurs "from an unbearable fiscal and regulatory straitjacket".

He pleases Eurosceptics, sayings he wants to renegotiate France's membership of the EU, viewing it as "profoundly old-fashioned" and "obsolete", and he has even suggested halving France's contribution to the EU budget.

But he insists he is not looking to "destroy anything", reassuring more cautious voters.

His chameleon-like qualities have led some to call Bardella an "incredible blank canvas" upon which RN voters can project their ideal candidate. But he is also "a huge question mark", Lecturer Pierre-Henri Tavoillot says. His true ideological make-up "is unclear... and his smooth image allows him to cast a wide net".

In the year he spent acting as Le Pen's Plan B, most of his focus was on domestic politics.

But he has talked of looking at France leaving Nato's integrated command, after the end of the Ukraine war, and has condemned Macron's proposal to extend France's nuclear deterrence to European allies as a potential "national betrayal".

He has also been building ties with Europe's nationalist right - from Giorgia Meloni to Poland's PiS - while distancing himself from US President Donald Trump, whom he has called "erratic".

For a year, he had to pull off a delicate balancing act ahead of the Le Pen appeal verdict: to appear as both poised for the presidency and prepared to make way if Le Pen was ultimately allowed to run.

He spoke of being "calm and ready to accept the consequences".

Now the decision has been made for him, all Jordan Bardella can do is allow his mentor and maker to return to the spotlight she feared would never be hers again.

Ship at centre of record cocaine seizure finally leaves Cork

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9w4y7xy4go, yesterday

A ship detained at Cork port since 2.2 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated €157m (£133.5m) was seized on it in September 2023 has finally left the harbour.

Managing and maintaining the MV Matthew since then has cost the Irish state around €17m.

The 28,000-tonne Panama-registered freighter could not be disposed of until December 2024 as it was needed for evidential purposes.

An international shipping company later acquired the vessel for a nominal price of $1 with an agreement to tow the vessel to Varna in Bulgaria.

The Republic of Ireland's Revenue service confirmed its departure on Saturday.

While berthed at Cork the costs included maintaining engine, electrical and ventilation systems.

Eight men were jailed for a total of 129 years last summer in connection with the record drugs seizure.

Dr Atanas Rusev, from the Centre for the Study of Democracy, said managing "such big, complex, high-value assets is a big drainage for public finance".

"You usually need to coordinate between various authorities and deal with various legal proceedings," he said.

Rusev added that this happening to a vessel this large is "rare" and that Irish authorities had dealt with the ship "relatively quickly".

"Sometimes it takes five, 10, 15 years."

Ferry carrying 116 passengers sinks off Guyana coast, authorities say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2gm99nrm7o, today

A ferry carrying 116 passengers has sunk off the coast of Guyana with 53 people so far rescued, local authorities have said.

The MV Barima capsized near Iron Punt, on its route from Georgetown to Port Kaituma.

A distress call was received at 23:01 local time (03:01 +1 BST), triggering an urgent search operation involving state and private boats, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said in a statement posted on social media.

The state of the operation is currently unclear and it is not known whether authorities expect to rescue the remaining passengers.

The MV Barima was built in 1939 and is 40m (131ft) long, according to a listing on VesselFinder.

Edghill said it was fitted with 250 life jackets, two rigid life crafts and six inflatable life crafts.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips is said to be leading the government response.

Venezuela government to launch formal talks with opposition members

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1eye5320g5o, 4 days ago

Venezuela's interim government says it will start holding formal talks with some members of the opposition from 1 August.

The announcement comes just over six months after US troops seized Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader at the time, in a dawn raid on the capital, Caracas, and took him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.

Former Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez, a Maduro loyalist, has been in power since then with the backing of the Trump administration, much to the frustration of the opposition, which had hoped Maduro's ouster would be followed by a change of government.

An opposition statement said the talks would lay down "a route map towards democracy".

The plan for formal talks was announced almost simultaneously by a group of opposition politicians on the one hand, and Jorge Rodríguez, who heads the government-controlled National Assembly, on the other.

Jorge Rodríguez, who is the brother of interim president Delcy Rodríguez, cited the devastation created by the recent twin earthquakes which struck the north of Venezuela on 24 June as the reason behind the talks.

At least 4,734 people are already confirmed to have died but the death toll keeps on rising as more bodies are found beneath the rubble.

"Only through unity can we move forward with reconstruction and maintain peace," Jorge Rodríguez's brief statement said.

The opposition statement was more detailed and expressly referred to the support the United States has lent since the quakes, which it said showed that "Venezuela is not alone".

The opposition group is made up of former lawmakers who were elected to the National Assembly in 2015, the last time opposition parties won a majority in the legislative body.

National Assembly elections held since then have either been boycotted by the opposition or widely dismissed as neither free nor fair, as Maduro and his PSUV party tightened their grip on all branches of government.

The opposition team will be led by Dinorah Figuera, who returned to Venezuela in June after almost eight years in exile.

Upon landing in Caracas, she told reporters that she had travelled to her home country "on invitation from the [US] State Department" with the aim of pushing for the renewal of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

The CNE has been dominated by staunch loyalists of the Maduro government for years.

It was CNE which declared Maduro the winner of the 2024 presidential election even though voting tallies gathered by electoral observers and verified independently showed an overwhelming victory for the opposition candidate, Edmundo González.

In its statement, released on Tuesday, the opposition group said that the priority of the talks would be the strengthening of the democratic institutions and the electoral system, as well as providing guarantees for political participation.

Opposition politicians and those who have expressed criticism of the Maduro government have for years faced persecution.

Many have been jailed and many others have fled into exile.

Despite the release of scores of political prisoners following the ouster of Maduro, 372 remain behind bars, according to a tally by prisoners' rights group, Foro Penal.

The best-known opposition leader, María Corina Machado, has not yet been able to return to Venezuela after slipping out of the country secretly in November to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting democracy.

Despite dedicating her Nobel Prize to US President Donald Trump, his administration now seems to favour Dinorah Figuera over Machado as the person to negotiate a democratic transition in Venezuela.

Machado tried to return to Venezuela shortly after the twin earthquakes but failed to make it into the country.

And while President Trump has denied that his administration blocked her efforts to enter Venezuela, US media had earlier quoted unnamed officials as describing her attempts to return as "potentially disruptive" to the post-earthquake rescue and reconstruction efforts.

Machado has not yet commented on the announcement of the talks but called on the coalition of opposition parties she leads to meet later on Wednesday to discuss it.

Colombian national killed by ICE agent during operation in Maine

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2ly580kxnko, 5 days ago

An ICE agent has fatally shot a Colombian national during an immigration enforcement operation in the US state of Maine, a week after the agency used deadly force against another migrant in a Texas traffic stop.

In the latest incident, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said agents were watching an address for a person with a final order of removal in Biddeford at around 07:00 EDT (11:00 GMT) on Monday.

When ICE tried to stop someone driving from that address, "the vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon", ICE said, adding "the driver of the vehicle was struck".

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in Biddeford afterwards.

ICE did not share details on why the officer feared for safety.

Maine's top prosecutor said the incident involved an officer from ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations department, and the agent has been placed on leave pending an investigation.

Initial statements indicate "the subject attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot", said Maine's Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat.

The name of the deceased man is not being released until he is formally identified and his family are notified, the statement added. Although investigators have not named him, local lawmakers and neighbours have identified him as Joan Sebastian Guerrero.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, who represents the region in the House of Representatives, identified the man as Guerrero and added that she has a three-year-old daughter who "will never see her dad again".

The inspector general's office for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, is taking over the investigation, according to Senator Susan Collins, a Republican representing Maine.

Maine Senator Angus King, a political independent, said he was initially told by DHS chief Markwayne Mullin that the person who was shot dead was a target of an arrest warrant in an immigration operation.

But hours later, King said Mullin called him to say the man was actually not the target of a warrant, his office told the BBC.

Maine Governor Janet Mills said the death of a man the government was not even looking for "makes this tragedy even more disturbing and infuriating".

"It underscores the reckless and haphazard manner in which immigration enforcement operations are being conducted in Maine and across the country," she wrote on X.

The person who was killed was a Colombian national, the Embassy of Colombia confirmed.

The Embassy said it has "requested information and clarification" from DHS "regarding the circumstances surrounding this lamentable death and will continue to follow the case closely as the investigation progresses".

According to the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition, the person who was killed was a 26-year old Colombian authorised to work in the US.

"He was a member of our community, a neighbor, and a human being whose life was cut tragically short," the organisation said in a statement, which did not name the man.

Protests broke out in Biddeford, 18 miles (30km) south of Portland, following the shooting. Others gathered outside the entrance of Collins' office, to protest against her vote to fund ICE.

One witness told the Biddeford Gazette that at around 07:20 local time, he saw lights flashing from an unmarked white SUV, and "at least two officers wearing green ICE vests".

Lucas Scott, a Biddeford resident, said the agents were shouting as they surrounded a white sedan. He then heard at least four gunshots.

Another witness told the Associated Press (AP) news agency that the man who was killed lived nearby with his wife and daughter.

"I watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband's dead body on the ground," Mary Hayes said.

"I watched a little girl crying with a little pink backpack on because she's never going to see her father again."

Senator King said that Mullin, the head of DHS, had told him the man was shot after attempting to drive his car at police.

"He was in a vehicle - pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was 'weaponised' the vehicle and was shot by an ICE agent," King said.

He added that officers involved did not wear body cameras, and that officials would be investigating whether deadly force was necessary.

"That's what this investigation is all about and I certainly intend to stay after it to do everything I can to be sure the investigation is as transparent and thorough as possible," King said, according to the AP.

The incident draws renewed scrutiny on DHS and ICE.

On 7 July, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old builder Lorenzo Salgado Araujo as he was driving to a construction site in Houston.

Federal officials later acknowledged that the Mexican man was not the intended target of the enforcement operation, but they said he had tried to run over an ICE agent.

Mullin took over leadership of DHS in March, replacing Kristi Noem after she was fired by US President Donald Trump.

Noem's tenure saw fatal shootings by immigration officers of two protesters, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, both American citizens.

The deaths of Pretti and Good came after the Trump administration announced immigration enforcement surges in Minnesota and other states.

Federal officials launched a similar operation in Maine, in January, dubbed Operation Catch of the Day.

Civil rights organisations filed a lawsuit against alleging aggressive tactics by federal agents during enforcement surges.

Magnitude 7.3 earthquake quake strikes off Mexico coast

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyjv3815yxo, yesterday

A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of southern Mexico on Friday, triggering a tsunami warning for parts of the Pacific.

No fatalities or significant damage have been reported in Mexico or Guatemala from the quake, which was also felt in El Salvador.

Mexico's navy secretary Admiral Raymundo Morales told a press conference that there was "no serious impact", but that people were being advised to stay away from beaches.

The US Tsunami Warning System had warned of possible "hazardous tsunami waves" along the nearby coasts of Mexico and Guatemala. It later recorded waves of 0.3m (1.1 feet) above tide level in Puerto Madero and Chiapas in Mexico.

Several hours after the initial warning was issued, the centre said the threat had passed but advised people in affected areas to "remain observant and exercise normal caution near the sea".

The quake, which struck near the fishing town of Puerto Madero in Mexico at 08:49 local time (14:49 GMT) on Friday, had a depth of 15.2 km (9 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Governor Salomón Jara Cruz, of the southern Mexican state Oaxaca, said the quake was felt with "moderate intensity" but no significant damage had been reported.

Eduardo Ramírez, governor of the state of Chiapas closest to the epicentre, also said there had been no serious impact, but added he had instructed his cabinet to suspend administrative activities and urged the private sector to do the same.

In Guatemala and El Salvador, the tremor shook buildings, triggering evacuations and causing some people to run from their homes, Reuters news agency reported.

A series of aftershocks, with magnitudes between 4.7 and 6, have been recorded.

Guatemala's President Bernardo Arévalo said the country's emergency management agency had been deployed in response to a magnitude 5.6 earthquake with its epicenter in Quetzaltenango. No fatalities have been recorded so far, he added.

"I call on the population to remain calm and to follow the recommendations," he said on X.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which operates the tsunami warning center, forecast waves of less than 0.3m above tide level along the coasts of El Salvador, Colombia, Costa Rice, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Honduras.

A tsunami is a series of waves, with times between crests ranging from five minutes to an hour, that can persist for many hours, according to the agency. In this case, the waves lasted for 12 minutes in Puerto Madero and 28 minutes in Chiapas.

"Persons caught in the water of a tsunami may drown, be crushed by debris in the water, or be swept out to sea," NOAA said.

It added that government agencies in the threatened coastal areas should instruct populations at risk, and advised people located in those areas to "stay alert for information and follow instructions from national and local authorities".

White House defends Argentina team over Falklands banner

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2rmjk0740o, yesterday

The White House has defended the Argentinian football team's right to free speech after they controversially waved a banner in support of their country's territorial claim to the Falkland Islands while celebrating their World Cup win against England.

Argentina face potential disciplinary action from Fifa over the incident which could breach rules on political statements.

Asked whether players were in the wrong, Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House Fifa task force, said on Friday that the team had the opportunity and ability to "make those statements" in the US.

The comments could further fuel the row over the incident, which has seen Downing Street back calls for Fifa to investigate.

The Falklands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remains the subject of a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina.

Players for Argentina held a banner after Wednesday's semi-final match reading "Las Malvinas son Argentinas", which translates as "The Falklands are Argentine".

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Giuliani referenced free speech protections in the US Constitution, saying: "We believe in our First Amendment rights here in the United States of America."

Downing Street backed calls for Fifa to investigate the incident, with the prime minister's official spokesperson saying: "The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our commitment to the Falklands will never waver."

No 10 added that any potential action against Argentina players who unveiled the banner was "a matter for Fifa", but echoed the view of Business Secretary Peter Kyle that world football's governing body should investigate.

For its part, the government of the Falkland Islands said it was "disappointed but not surprised" about the banner and it hopes Fifa will "sanction all behaviour of this nature in line with its own rules".

"We do not wish to see politics being brought into sport" a statement added.

"Nor do we wish the Islands and their people to be used as a political football in every conversation about England and Argentina".

In 2013, the people of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory.

Of 1,517 votes cast in the two-day referendum - on a turnout of more than 90% - 1,513 were in favour, while just three votes were against.

Argentina vice-president Victoria Villarruel posted on X after Wednesday's victory that "it wasn't just another match" alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.

"The Falklands are Argentine," Villarruel posted. "They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts."

Argentina players also sang chants which referenced the Falklands and Argentina greats Maradona and Lionel Messi following their dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt in the last 16.

A brief but bitter war arose between Britain and Argentina over the territory in 1982.

A British military task force ejected Argentine forces, who had landed on the Falklands to stake a territorial claim.

The 74-day conflict led to the deaths of 255 British military personnel, three islanders and 649 Argentine soldiers.

The Chinese graduate accused of being Mexico's 'fentanyl king'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39ymggglxeo, 7 days ago

"Brother Wang was very important. He was number one," says Enrique, chuckling knowingly.

Enrique – not his real name – describes himself as a high-level co-ordinator in Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's most powerful criminal organisations.

On the outskirts of Sinaloa's state capital city, Culiacán, sitting in a parked car where no-one can overhear him, he explains how ingredients to make the deadly drug fentanyl are shipped thousands of miles from Chinese factories to laboratories in Mexico. Members of his cartel credit Brother Wang with establishing this supply chain.

Known in the criminal world as the "king of fentanyl", Brother Wang is a 39-year-old Chinese national, whose real name is Zhang Zhidong, according to the US Department of Justice. Arrested in Mexico in 2024, Zhang later made a dramatic escape before he was recaptured and extradited to the US in 2025.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin. It kills tens of thousands of people each year, mostly in the US, where the finished drug often ends up. A dose as small as a few grains of salt can be lethal.

US President Donald Trump has labelled fentanyl dealers "narco-terrorists", classified the drug and its components as weapons of mass destruction, and used the fentanyl trade as a reason for imposing tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada.

When Zhang appeared in court in New York in 2025, the Deputy Attorney General at the time, Todd Blanche, described him as one of "the world's most dangerous traffickers".

He also accused him of "running a global enterprise that pumped massive quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine" into the US and laundering "millions in narcotics proceeds".

Zhang has pleaded not guilty and is now awaiting trial. We contacted his lawyer, who declined to comment while the case was ongoing.

Cartel members and former colleagues agreed to speak to the BBC to give a rare glimpse into how they believe Zhang - a graduate of China's most prestigious university - allegedly became a key link in the chain between Chinese chemical manufacturers and Mexcian drugs laboratories.

Zhang the man

Zhang graduated from the prestigious Peking University in Beijing with a Spanish degree in 2010, and a year later travelled to Mexico to work for a Chinese-owned company that mined iron ore. He soon secured a senior role.

Those that knew him at the time saw him as a bright young professional, with an appetite for life abroad.

"He was capable of negotiating with people, very resourceful, and able to adapt to all kinds of environments," says Alex – not his real name - who studied at the same university and later worked in the same mining company as Zhang in Mexico.

He says Zhang spoke excellent Spanish, with an instinct for street language and the ability to talk to anyone – always with a strong Beijing accent.

Alex says doing business in Mexico sometimes involved dealing with the underworld, including the cartels, which control significant areas of the country. Zhang was able to establish relationships with "whoever mattered locally - both the official side and the unofficial side", Alex says.

Zhang loved this aspect of Mexico, according to Alex, who paints a picture of a man drawn to risk and recklessness. He recalls him crashing his boss's car, unconcerned about repercussions, and describes how Zhang drove him out of town one night to shoot pistols at road signs on a deserted highway.

In 2013, the mining company collapsed and Alex returned to China but Zhang stayed in Mexico.

Viewers in the UK can see more on this story on Global Eye at 1900 on BBC Two.

Alex says that a year or two later Zhang began to post on the Peking University Spanish alumni group on WeChat, offering to change dollars at preferable rates. Alex believes he was laundering money.

In addition, cartel member Enrique says Zhang also got involved in drugs. Court filings in the US accuse Zhang of operating "a massive narcotics trafficking and money laundering organization" since June 2016.

Enrique believes Zhang got into a romantic relationship with a female relative of one of the cartel's leaders and suggests this helped him become close to its inner circle.

The supply chain

Another cartel member who ran errands for the organisation, Luis - not his real name - recalls a hot afternoon in 2019, when his bosses asked him to stand guard for a meeting where Zhang "came to offer his products".

Luis says these products were the precursors – the chemical building blocks – needed to manufacture fentanyl. He sees Zhang as the person who effectively introduced him to fentanyl and started this side of the group's business.

Luis says he soon became a fentanyl cook, making the drug in an clandestine laboratory. He says has seen at least five other cooks die in front of him, and believes this is because the substances they were handling seeped through gaps in their protective clothing.

"Sometimes people just pass out, and we have to carry them out of the room," he says.

Enrique describes how orders for precursors would be placed with Zhang, who he says used his contacts in China to secure the chemicals.

The ingredients would then be shipped by air or sea to Mexico, according to Enrique. He says his own network would then distribute them to fentanyl cooks, such as Luis, in the illicit laboratories in Sinaloa.

Pressed on whether he feels guilty for being involved in an industry that causes so many deaths, Enrique says one of his relatives died from a fentanyl overdose. "It shakes your conscience," he says, but adds, "work is work and we don't know another way to make a living".

When asked the same question, Luis says he once tried to stop working in the laboratory, but his boss told him the alternative was to go out on patrol. He says his boss gave him a choice: "You put on the vest, the gear, and you go out and fight - it's either that or working as a cook."

According to Mexican security agencies, Zhang ran illegal operations spanning the Americas, Europe, China and Japan.

Victoria Dittmar, a researcher at InSight Crime, a think tank, has spent years investigating the flow of precursor chemicals into Mexico. She says that brokers – the role it is suggested that Zhang played - sit at the crucial intersection between the chemical producers and the cartels.

She says that people with the kind of reach Zhang is said to have had are "quite unique" and "are key to the supply chain".

"He was a broker that connected Mexican trafficking organisations with Chinese suppliers of precursor chemicals," a world she says it's hard for outsiders to navigate.

"He also had a huge presence in the US," she says. "You don't see that often… one person that can connect three regions."

Mexican authorities said Zhang was responsible for exporting and distributing more than 1,000kg of cocaine, 1,800kg of fentanyl and 600kg of methamphetamine. They also accused him of handling more than $150 million in annual drug proceeds.

The US Department of Justice issued a press release in 2025 with details of the indictment against Zhang. As well as accusing Zhang of drug trafficking, it said he recruited people to open bank accounts on behalf of more than 100 shell companies.

It says they would pick up money, at various locations in the US "deposit that money into the shell company bank accounts, and wire the funds to other beneficiary accounts to be laundered outside of the United States".

At the other end of Zhang's alleged operations sits China. The country is one of the world's top producers and exporters of the precursor chemicals used to make synthetic drugs, according to a 2025 US State Department report.

It says China's chemical industry is "massive", with 160,000 companies, and despite steps by authorities to implement controls, oversight is "insufficiently staffed and equipped".

The Chinese embassy in Washington told the BBC that China is "one of the world's toughest countries on counternarcotics".

It noted that the country scheduled all fentanyl-related substances in 2019, which means they are tightly controlled by the government. They are not banned because some have legitimate uses across multiple industries.

The embassy said China's "extensive and in-depth" counternarcotics co-operation with the US had been "highly productive'.

Escape and arrest

Zhang's alleged involvement in the drugs trade came to an abrupt end when he was arrested in Mexico on 31 October 2024.

A judge took the controversial decision to place him under house arrest, but Zhang managed to slip out – reportedly through a hole in a wall – and flee by private jet to Cuba and then on to Russia.

Russian border officials detected his forged papers and he was sent back to Cuba, which returned him to Mexico, from where he was extradited to the United States.

His arrest made headlines around the world. The alumni network of Beijing's Peking University, where Zhang had studied Spanish, was stunned.

"Everybody was talking about it," says Alex. "It was such a shocking story and he's probably one of the most famous people Peking University produced."

In Culiacán, the cartel members say Zhang's absence was felt immediately.

Luis says it became "really hard to get the precursors".

"They took the man and that caused a mess," says Enrique. He says Zhang was "the one with the connections" in China, and the cartels had to "start from scratch and build a new route".

Around the same time, the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration began to detect a decline in fentanyl purity, which it said was "consistent with indicators that many Mexico-based fentanyl cooks are having difficulty obtaining some key precursor chemicals".

But disruption in drug supply chains is usually temporary, in what Dittmar describes as a "constant game of cat and mouse".

Her research has tracked how, when brokers are removed or key chemicals controlled, fentanyl producers adapt by finding substitutes and learning new processes.

Individuals in the supply chain can also be replaced – even, according to the cartel members, ones as deeply and widely connected as Zhang is alleged to have been.

Enrique says there is already someone in the frame – another Chinese person, but he says he can't say more "for my own safety".

Another cartel member, who describes himself as a coordinator responsible for moving goods and personnel within the cartel, says that although "all this started because of him [Brother Wang]… he left lots of connections to help us keep going".

"If he's gone, someone else will step in… the business will not stop."

Additional Reporting by Ruth Evans and Miguel Angel Vega

'I ate ketchup and cheese,' says Venezuelan girl trapped under quake rubble for 32 hours

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9922x87nj8o, 13 days ago

Karina Blanco was just about to start the spinning class she teaches when the earth began to shake. The tremors kept getting stronger, so she grabbed her bag and ran outdoors with everyone else.

"When I realised the magnitude of it, I started screaming 'my daughter, my daughter'. I sat in my car and drove as fast as I could," said Karina.

Her only daughter, Fabiana, 12, was at their home when two powerful earthquakes rocked Venezuela within seconds of each other on 24 June. The second quake was one of the strongest tremors to hit the country in a century, at a magnitude of 7.5.

When Karina reached her building in Caraballeda, in northern La Guaira state, she could hardly believe her eyes. "I could see one building, then a gap where my building stood, and then another building."

Inside their first-floor flat in the 10-storey building, Fabiana was in her mother's bedroom when she felt the earthquakes. She ran into the kitchen, and was holding on to the counter, when the walls around her collapsed. She was thrown to the ground.

"I saw things shaking, falling, breaking, and then the walls cracked. The wall separating my apartment from a friend's collapsed. At that moment, I thought, 'I'm going to die. I won't survive this. No-one is going to rescue me,'" said Fabiana.

From then began an excruciating 32 hours.

Outside the collapsed building, Karina saw half of her daughter's bed sticking out of the debris.

"I was running from one end of the complex to the other screaming 'She's dead. My daughter is dead'. I didn't know what to do," said Karina.

Under the collapsed building everything had gone quiet for Fabiana. She was lying face up, trapped by rubble on all sides, with the ceiling almost touching her face.

"I'm someone who gets very anxious and claustrophobic. But I don't know why, a strange calm came over me. Maybe my mind was in shock," she said.

A little while later, a nurse who worked as a carer for her upstairs neighbours started calling out to see if anyone could hear her. Fabiana responded.

"She told me to stay calm and that everything would be alright," said Fabiana.

Six hours after the earthquake, at around midnight, the nurse was rescued. She told the volunteers who pulled her out that a girl named Fabiana was alive inside.

"I had surrendered to God asking for strength to begin a new life without Fabiana. And then someone told me, 'Your daughter is alive'," said Karina.

She ran back to the building screaming into gaps in the debris, calling out her daughter's name.

Through the pile of rubble, Fabiana could hear nothing.

"For some reason, I had hope and faith," she said. "One of my legs was bent in a painful position, and I moved some of the rubble so I could straighten it out. While doing that I got scrapes and cuts, but I found a bottle of ketchup and some grated cheese. That's what kept me conscious."

At dawn a group of Venezuelan firefighters came to the building. They went into the rubble and called out for Fabiana, but they heard nothing in response.

It was one of many moments that Karina swung from hope to despair.

"They told me nothing could be done, and they left. I had a sinking thought that maybe she had suffocated to death or had suffered a heart attack. Then a volunteer came up to me and asked me what was going on. He - Viktor - was my hero," she said.

Under the rubble Fabiana found her phone. There was no signal as mobile phone networks had gone down, but she decided to record a video of herself. She thought she would eventually be able to send it to her mother or someone who could help.

"Apartment - Ritamar Palace. There was a tremor and lot of rubble has fallen. There is no light. There is no-one to rescue us. I am alone. Many neighbours are trapped in the rubble. We need your help," Fabiana can be seen saying in the video.

Meanwhile Viktor had clambered up the debris and began calling out to Fabiana. This time she heard him and replied. He told Karina.

"I turned to everyone and screamed, 'my daughter is alive'," said Karina. "People started arriving in droves, they started bringing tools. But the firefighters who were there said it was impossible to get through, and they left."

A few hours later another group of firefighters arrived. They assured her they would bring Fabiana out. But they couldn't manage to reach her, either.

Meanwhile, Viktor - the volunteer - kept going back to the spot from where he could speak to Fabiana to reassure her.

The firefighters called for a rescue group from Caracas - but by the time they arrived, it had become dark.

Karina ran around looking for torches and begged people to help. Seven motorcycles and a couple of cars pointed their headlights at the collapsed building.

Bit by bit they chiselled away, and finally they made a hole large enough that they could see Fabiana.

The video of this moment - of a smiling Fabiana peering through the hole - has gone viral in Venezuela.

"After so many hours of being shut in, I was filled with joy when I saw them. I realised I was going to be rescued," said Fabiana.

At around 02:00 local time on Friday - 32 hours after the earthquakes struck - they managed to dig a tunnel wide enough to pull Fabiana out. She walked out of the debris with the support of the rescuers and collapsed into the arms of her mother.

"When I came out, I saw my family, I saw the building completely collapsed, and it felt like it wasn't real, like it was a TV series," said Fabiana.

Karina says that of the nearly 50 people who lived in her building, only three were rescued alive.

As of Sunday, 3,342 people were confirmed to have died in the quakes, with tens of thousands still missing.

Apart from a fracture in her left foot and a few scrapes and bruises, Fabiana suffered no other injuries.

She is now living with her grandmother.

"Initially I was scared to lie down, especially on my back, as I would remember the time I spent in the rubble," she said.

In the streets just outside their current home in La Guaira, there are many collapsed buildings.

"There is a great sadness outside of this house. I feel so much pain when I think of my neighbours and my friends. It will take us a while to recover. But we will move on," said Karina. "What more can a mother want? My daughter is alive."

Additional reporting by Aakriti Thapar, Yesman Utrera, Maria Ines Calderon, Sanjay Ganguly

Men disguised as police kill Ecuadorean drug lord's brother

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20yx84g103o, 6 days ago

A brother of Ecuador's most notorious drug lord was killed on Sunday by gunmen who had disguised themselves as police officers.

Police said David Macías, 35, was a regional leader in Los Choneros, the powerful criminal gang which was until recently headed by his brother, Adolfo.

Adolfo Macías, also known by the alias "Fito", is awaiting trial in the United States following his extradition from Ecuador last year.

Los Choneros has been declared a Foreign Terrorist Organisation by the US and is accused of being one of the crime groups behind Ecuador's skyrocketing murder rate.

Officials said David Macías was killed in the early hours of Sunday local time.

Witnesses said men dressed like police officers entered the home Macías had rented in an upscale neighbourhood in the town of Olón, on Ecuador's Pacific coast.

The gunmen fled after the attack and so far there have been no arrests in connection with the case.

It is not unusual for gang leaders to be targeted either by members of rival criminal organisations or even by members of their own group as part of internal battles for control.

Last month, a local gang leader was shot dead by two teenage gunmen as he was leaving the international airport in Guayaquil.

In that attack, the gunmen had hidden their weapons behind stuffed toys and a bouquet of flowers in order not to arouse suspicion.

Police said David Macías had pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of criminal conspiracy.

During his time behind bars, he reportedly recruited inmates for Los Choneros and managed to place the prison he was in firmly under the control of his gang.

His killing is the latest blow to Los Choneros after the arrest last year of Adolfo Macías, and that of another brother, Javier, last month in neighbouring Colombia.

Small plane crash in Bahamas kills 10 people

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg47lz10p7o, 8 days ago

Nine passengers and a pilot have died in a small plane crash in the Bahamas, officials said.

The light aircraft was making a short trip from Lynden Pindling International Airport, near capital Nassau, to San Andros Airport when it "reportedly encountered difficulties" and crashed into bushes prior to landing, the country's Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority said in a statement.

The fatal crash occurred on the day of the Bahamas' 53rd independence anniversary.

"Today is a day of celebration but it has become a ⁠day of mourning," Prime Minister Philip Davis told a media conference.

He added: "Once again, a chapter in our nation's story has been marked by tragedy."

Davis initially said there was one survivor, although he confirmed hours later that the person had died from their injuries.

The details of the people on board, including their age and names, have not been released.

The Cessna 402 aircraft was operated by Flamingo Air, ⁠a Bahamas-based airline. The Ministry of Aviation said it was temporarily suspending the airline's air operator certificate "as a precautionary safety ⁠measure."

The grounding measure "should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air," the ministry said.

It noted there had been "two safety incidents" that had occurred on Friday.

Aviation Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis told reporters a plane had earlier routed back to Nassau when the pilot reported an issue. A fire broke out on board once the aircraft landed and passengers had disembarked, the BBC's US partner CBS News reported.

The BBC has contacted Flamingo Air for comment.

In remarks to local media, the airline said: "At this time, the details are being gathered, and we are committed to cooperating with the relevant authorities."

Cubans protest after third nationwide power cut this year

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm20g0d3ry4o, 11 days ago

Cubans in several locations on the island banged pots on Tuesday evening to express their anger about the latest nationwide power cut.

While public dissent in the Communist-run country is often punished with long prison sentences, there have been spontaneous protests in areas worst affected by the outages.

Fuel shortages have been exacerbated by tight US sanctions and an effective US oil blockade, meaning that even those who have generators often do not have the fuel to run them during power cuts.

Cuban officials said on Tuesday that most of the country had had power restored but locals shouted "turn on the lights!" in areas still in the dark.

Monday's nationwide outage was the third this year and comes on top of state-imposed rolling electricity cuts aimed at conserving the little remaining fuel.

Some rural areas are plunged into darkness for up to 70 hours at a time, while urban areas have seen planned outages of up to 30 hours.

The state electricity company did not say what had caused this latest unplanned incident.

The country's second-largest city, Santiago de Cuba, was among places where power had not yet been restored on Tuesday evening local time.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has acknowledged the spreading discontent among Cubans.

"There are shortages of transport, food, medicines, there are lengthy power cuts lasting more than 20 hours, that causes dissatisfaction, nobody can be happy, the people are suffering," he told reporters from Claridad, a Spanish-language weekly newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

But he urged Cubans to direct their anger towards the US government instead of his, adding: "People bang pots, some with more anger than others. I say: direct your pot-banging towards our northern neighbours, who are the ones behind these power cuts."

The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Michael Waltz, however, placed the blame squarely with the Cuban government.

Speaking at a meeting of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, he urged it to "change your ways and turn the lights back on for your people".

He added that "there always seems to be enough power for the Cuban dictatorship".

But Cuba's foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, accused the US of waging "multi-dimensional, non-conventional warfare" against Cuba, which he said had "become ever more cruel" over the last seven months.

US-Cuban relations, which have been strained for decades, have deteriorated rapidly since the start of the year, when US President Donald Trump accused the island's government of posing a threat to the national security of the US.

Shortly after US forces seized former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro - a close ally of the Cuban government - in January, Trump also openly mused that Cuba was "ready to fall".

Since then, the Trump administration has imposed fresh sanctions on Cuba as well as an effective blockade on oil shipments to Cuba, threatening to slap tariffs on countries which provide it with fuel.

The US has also levelled murder charges against Cuba's former president, Raúl Castro, who remains an influential figure on the island despite being 95 years old.

Despite trading barbs publicly, the two countries have been holding talks over recent weeks in private.

The Cuban foreign minister said on Tuesday that those talks "show no progress", but left the door open "to dialogue based on mutual respect and non-interference in Cuba's internal affairs".

Briton's Iran jail sentence extended by two years, family says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gygp4pk31o, 4 days ago

A British man jailed in Iran after being accused of spying has had two years added to his decade-long sentence, according to family members.

Craig Foreman was arrested with his wife, Lindsay, in January last year while passing through Iran on a motorcycle journey from Europe to Australia. Both adamantly deny espionage.

In February they were each sentenced to 10 years in jail, but relatives of Craig Foreman said he had been told his punishment is being extended for talking to the media from his cell in Tehran's Evin prison.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said the department was "urgently following up with the Iranian authorities about the reported increased sentence".

"We understand he was told he was being taken to see his lawyer but was instead brought before a judge and informed of the additional sentence," said Joe Bennett, Lindsay Foreman's son and a spokesperson for the family.

Bennett, of Folkestone, Kent, added that, despite requests, his step-father "was allowed no lawyer, no translator and no opportunity to defend himself".

"We didn't think we could be any more shocked at their appalling treatment, but in this case we are absolutely flabbergasted," he added.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman, from East Sussex, have both been on hunger strike since May, when prison authorities prevented them from calling their families.

The family, who are growing increasingly concerned for their health, are now appealing to the Iranian authorities to show mercy, and set them free.

Last week, a US-based human rights group, HRANA, said it had received information that Craig Foreman had lost about 16kg (35lb) and Lindsay Foreman was suffering from dizziness and body tremors.

Their family now says that a letter written to them asking them to end their hunger strike had not been delivered, nor had medication and other basic supplies.

"My mum and Craig are 18 months into an ordeal they should never have known," said Bennett.

"They are weak, they are hungry, and now Craig is being punished simply for being heard. To add two more years to an innocent man's sentence, in secret and with no chance to defend himself, is a flagrant abuse of the most basic rights any person is owed."

Last month, two United Nations human rights experts called on Iran to release the couple, saying that proceedings against them had been marked by grave irregularities.

"Lindsay and Craig Foreman should not be in prison," said UN special rapporteurs Dr Alice Edwards and Mai Sato.

"They appear to have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted on highly questionable grounds, and sentenced after proceedings that failed to meet basic fair trial guarantees."

'Totally unjustified'

The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Iran since 2022, saying that people can be detained there simply for having a British passport or connections to the UK.

It has previously said it is working to ensure the Foremans are returned safely to the UK, and stressed the couple's health and welfare was its "priority".

The government described the couple's 10-year sentences as "completely appalling and totally unjustifiable".

It says officials continue to provide consular support to the couple, and have told Iran that, if true, the increase to Mr Foreman's sentence is unacceptable.

The couple's family have welcomed the appointment on Monday of the UK's first ever envoy to support British nationals detained abroad in complex cases where there are concerns about welfare, due process or human rights.

The role will be held by the former Conservative MP and Middle East minister Alistair Burt.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman's family said they look forward to meeting him and hope his appointment will have a positive impact on their case.

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US strikes oil tanker with missiles as it enforces new Iran blockade

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqwkegqk0o, 3 days ago

The US has attacked an oil tanker in the Gulf, which it said was heading towards Iran's largest oil export terminal, as it reimposed a blockade of Iranian ports.

US Central Command (Centcom) said on Wednesday that Belma "ignored multiple warnings" as it was heading towards the Kharg Island oil terminal and an aircraft disabled the tanker by "firing Hellfire missiles into the ship's smokestack".

President Donald Trump reintroduced a blockade of Iranian ports on Tuesday, in response to a series of alleged Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and days of tit-for-tat strikes by the US and Iran.

He had previously declared a ceasefire "over" following days of escalating attacks.

A naval blockade on ships going to or from Iranian ports was in place between 13 April and 18 June. The US said it redirected more than 140 vessels and disabled nine ships during that time.

Both the blockade and key US sanctions on Iranian oil were lifted as part of a ceasefire deal signed on 17 June - and experts estimate Tehran exported at least 74 million barrels of oil worth up to $6bn before they were reimposed.

In addition to the strike on Belma, Centcom said it redirected two other commercial vessels which did comply with its instructions to change course.

Belma, which had previously been sanctioned by the US under a former name for links with Iran, entered the Gulf on Tuesday after passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.

It was reporting no cargo on board and last broadcast its location about 100km (63 miles) south-east of Kharg Island on Thursday.

Another crude oil tanker under US sanctions for links with Iran reversed course on Thursday, returning to Iranian waters in the Gulf of Oman, ship tracking data shows.

It is not clear whether the vessel - Fuyao - which was listed on MarineTraffic as heading for Pakistan with a cargo of oil changed its course in response to US enforcement of the blockade.

As part of the ceasefire deal Washington also eased decades-old sanctions by issuing a temporary license to allow the sale of Iranian oil and payment to Tehran in US dollars.

In the weeks that followed, Iran was selling oil at prices roughly 20% higher than before the war, according to its chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Analysts with advocacy and monitoring group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and shipping experts TankerTrackers.com estimate that between the end of the blockade and its resumption Iran has exported at least 74 million barrels of oil. UANI has said this has an estimated value of more than $6bn (£4.4bn).

The US restricted this licence last week after Iran carried out a series of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Crossings through the critical Strait of Hormuz have fallen over the last week and remain far below the pre-conflict average of 138 per day.

Just 11 fuel tankers and cargo vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, according to preliminary data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

This is down from 17 ships on Monday and 16 on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by Libby Rogers and Shruti Menon

US launches fresh strikes on Iran as Trump warns Tehran it 'better behave'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9323zgq6wvo, 4 days ago

The US said it had launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday as President Donald Trump warned Tehran it "better behave".

The US military said "Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels" moving through the Strait of Hormuz had been targeted. Air defences also sounded in the capital Tehran, according to state media.

Iran meanwhile said it had struck US military targets in the region, including in Bahrain and Kuwait, as a fifth day of renewed hostilities strained their preliminary deal to end the war.

Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told state media Tehran had "no reason" to abide by the deal if it did not benefit from it.

Trump had threatened late on Tuesday to attack bridges and power plants should Iran not return to talks next week.

Asked by reporters late on Wednesday whether he would give a deadline before doing so, he responded: "I ‌don't like giving deadlines, but they pretty ⁠much know, they know the story... they better behave."

He later told delegates at a defence summit that Iran was "not happy right now".

"They want to settle so badly. They don't like what we're doing," he said. "We'll find out whether we want to settle with them or if we just finish it off."

Ghalibaf, however, said Iran's national security depended on Tehran maintaining "Iranian arrangements" in the strait.

He added that negotiation - along with war - was part of Iran's strategy of resistance as it engaged an "existential" conflict with the US.

A previous threat by Trump in April to bomb Iran's civilian infrastructure drew condemnation at the time from UN human rights chief Volker Türk, who said it would be a war crime.

Despite the renewed fighting, Trump welcomed what he saw as a potential olive branch from Tehran in freeing an American detainee that the US president said had been "wrongfully detained" in December 2024.

"She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition," Trump wrote on Wednesday evening on his Truth Social social media platform. "The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!"

The woman, Dena Karari, was on her way back to the US, according to her attorney, Jared Genser, in a post on X.

The latest US strikes marked the second wave its military said it had carried out during daylight hours on Wednesday. It said it had "further degraded Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz" earlier in the day, and that it had also fired on a ship attempting to violate its renewed blockade of Iran's ports.

A 90-minute wave targeted Iran's coastal defences and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island, US Central Command (Centcom) added.

At 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT) on Wednesday, Centcom said the second wave of US attacks had been completed.

Its statement said the US had hit Iranian "command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities", including in Bandar Abbas, an Iranian city on the Strait of Hormuz.

In addition to the air defences sounding in Tehran, state media reported that in Ahvaz, near the head of the Gulf, a hospital was evacuated due to nearby missile strikes.

In response to the US strikes, Iran said it had targeted US army communication systems and storage facilities in Jordan using drones, state media reported. Jordanian state media reported that its military had intercepted eight drones and that the attack led to no injuries or material damage.

Centcom also said it had redirected two commercial vessels since reimposing its blockade on Iranian ports on Tuesday evening, which stops vessels from transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas.

The blockade had previously been lifted as part of a deal that was struck by the two countries last month - known as a memorandum of understanding - that aimed to end the months-long conflict.

However, a dispute over the strait has become a key point of contention.

In response to the renewal of the US blockade, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned the US that it should "expect the closure of other oil and gas export routes that serve the interests of the United States and its allies". It did not elaborate on which routes could be affected.

Ongoing US-Iran hostilities have underscored the strategic importance of the Strait to the global economy, with a sharp rise in oil prices triggered by tanker traffic virtually stalling through the key shipping lane.

Trump threatens to bomb bridges and power plants unless Iran resumes talks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0608wy8pro, 4 days ago

US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Iran's bridges and power plants next week if the country does not return to talks.

The comments, made in a Fox News interview, aired as the two countries exchanged fire for the fourth day in a row.

Trump earlier reversed a threat of a 20% fee on all Strait of Hormuz cargo shipping but resumed blockading Iranian ports.

"Next week it gets really bad for them," Trump said. "We're going to knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."

Back in April, Trump threatened to bomb civilian infrastructure in Iran, including bridges and power plants.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk responded at the time by saying: "Under international law, deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime."

The 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians.

"I'll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we'll hit energy targets," Trump said in an interview on Special Report with Bret Baier that aired on Tuesday night.

He said US negotiators had conveyed to their Iranian counterparts on Tuesday evening that they "better make a deal, or you're not going to have anything left".

The escalation in rhetoric comes after Trump said a 20% toll he had threatened to impose in the Strait of Hormuz would be replaced by "massive" trade and investment deals with Gulf states.

The announcement came hours before the US military carried out a seven-hour wave of strikes on Iran and resumed a blockade of its ports.

US Central Command (Centcom) said it hit "dozens" of Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz, with the aim to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews".

At least seven Iranian military personnel were killed in US strikes on a base in the southeastern city of Bampur, Iran's army said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Tehran fired missiles and drones on US targets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, Iranian state-run television IRIB reported.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Kuwait's military said it was intercepting Iranian attack drones, while Bahrain's military said it had "succeeded in intercepting and destroying" aerial attacks.

The US also said Iran had "intentionally targeted civilians" in the region by attacking seven commercial ships, which had resulted in "nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing, or injured", the commander of Centcom said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Monday night that Iranian cruise missiles had targeted two national tankers, killing an Indian crew member and wounding eight others, four seriously.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later confirmed the strikes via a statement to Telegram, where it said two tankers had ignored warnings, turned off navigation systems and attempted to pass through a mined route.

It was unclear which other attacks the Centcom statement was referring to. The IRGC did not immediately comment.

Separately, an Indian sailor who went missing after his ship was attacked off the coast of Oman last week was found dead, his family confirmed on Wednesday.

The other 23 crew members aboard the Cypriot-flagged GFS Galaxy were rescued after the vessel was disabled on Sunday. Centcom accused the IRGC of launching the attack, but Tehran is yet to respond.

Renewed strikes between the US and Iran triggered a sharp rise in oil prices as tanker traffic through the Strait has virtually stalled.

It underscores the strategic importance of the waterway - with Iran accusing the US of interfering in its management of Hormuz - but controlling it means Tehran can also threaten the global economy.

On Monday, Trump declared that the US was now the "guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz, and vowed to impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the waterway to pay for protecting it.

Raising the stakes further, Trump said the US would also reimpose its naval blockade on Iran in a bid to further squeeze the country's struggling economy.

In his latest post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.

"Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future."

The US president provided no further details.

He also said the strait "is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran" and that "oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome Power of the United States Military".

Speaking later, after talks in Washington with the new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Trump said: "I don't like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it's not fair that we're protecting this Strait for the entire world."

He said he had changed his initial fee plan after receiving numerous calls from Gulf leaders.

In response to Trump's announcement, Iran said it would remain in control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Trump's blockade decision "has, in a way, dismantled" an earlier agreed truce deal, the AFP news agency reported.

Gharibabadi also told state television, as quoted by Reuters news agency: "If the US thinks that by tightening its measures against us, its military actions and its economic blockade, we will return to negotiations, it is making a mistake."

The US first imposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports in April to put pressure on Tehran. Roughly five weeks later, the US military said it had redirected 100 commercial vessels and disabled four under the blockade.

The US lifted the blockade in June as part of a deal - known as a memorandum of understanding - between the two countries that aimed to end the conflict, but a dispute over the strait has become a key point of contention.

Meanwhile, shipping data shows traffic through the strait has slowed to a two-month low. The benchmark Brent Crude oil price has also risen sharply.

Additional reporting by Ella Kipling

US strikes hit Iran for seventh consecutive night

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy748n8zx8ro, today

The US military said it carried out the seventh consecutive night of strikes on Iran since President Donald Trump declared their temporary ceasefire agreement "over".

US Central Command (Centcom) said its forces "hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities".

Iran said it responded by targeting US allies in the region including Kuwait, which said a power plant, water distillation plant and an oil facility had been hit.

Centcom said two US service members had been killed and one was missing after Iranian attacks in Jordan on Friday.

The week of renewed hostilities also saw the US reimpose a blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran declare the Strait of Hormuz shut, as their preliminary deal to end the war faltered within a month of its signing.

They agreed to stop fighting in mid-June to enable talks for a permanent peace, but negotiations appeared to make little headway and Trump declared the deal over on 8 July.

Late on Saturday, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written statement that America's "repeated breaches" of the agreement had "laid bare a fundamental truth: the signature of the US president is utterly worthless and devoid of credibility".

Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the attack which killed his father at the start of the war, said the "dark episode of criminality and broken promises" was evidence of American "dishonesty" and its "malicious nature".

It came after Kuwait's state news agency said an oil facility had suffered significant damage and reported injuries resulting from "repeated Iranian attacks".

Jordan's military also said it had intercepted 10 Iranian missiles fired into its airspace overnight, without reporting any damage, while Bahrain said its air defences had "thwarted" Iranian attacks.

The secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council said the attacks on Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain were "a grave violation of international law" and accused Tehran of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in action constituting "war crimes".

Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, who leads the council representing six states - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman - said the "dangerous escalation" required international accountability.

It came as Iran's Deputy Foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state media that Tehran had been "engaged in negotiations" but had suspended its obligations under the deal after the US "carried out these aggressive actions".

The ceasefire was largely observed, despite Iranian attacks on oil tankers to force them to comply with its demands that ships seek authorisation to cross the Strait of Hormuz - through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas ordinarily transits - followed by US strikes.

Centcom said its latest wave of strikes had ended after several hours at 21:30 ET on Friday (02:30 BST Saturday).

"US forces employed fighter aircraft, aerial drones, and warships in addition to other assets," it said in its statement.

Explosions were heard in the central city of Yazd and at Qeshm island and the port of Bandar Abbas next to the strait, Iranian state media reported.

BBC Persian has verified two videos showing damage and debris on and near the twin Shahid Mirzaei tunnels, a route running north of Bandar Abbas.

Local authorities also said an attack on electricity facilities and desalination pumps at a plant near Jask had left about 10,000 people in 20 villages without drinking water.

Meanwhile, more than 100 telecommunications masts were knocked out of service, disrupting landline, mobile and internet services in northern Hormozgan province.

The US military also denied a report in Iran's Fars news agency that two oil tankers "exploded and caught fire while passing through a mined route south of the Strait of Hormuz". Centcom said: "Like most IRGC claims, this is false."

The latest attacks came after Iran's armed forces claimed on Friday to have attacked multiple US military facilities across the Gulf region in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and – for the first time – Syria, which the US denied.

Sources told the BBC's US partner CBS news that several American service members were injured during Iranian attacks on two Jordanian bases over the past week.

Centcom confirmed in a post on X that four members had been medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals following Friday's strikes but had since been discharged.

It also stated that the identities of the two killed soldiers would be withheld until 24 hours after the next of kin had been notified.

The US meanwhile denied Tehran's earlier claims that the US attacked civilian infrastructure in Iran, including bridges, a train station and an airport.

BBC Verify and BBC Persian verified footage of damage to Gariveh Bridge, after night videos showed a ball of flames on top of it.

Daylight images showed a crumbled stretch of road with rubble around the broken bridge. Provincial authorities in the affected region, Hormozgan province, said seven people were killed in the attacks.

A White House spokesperson told the BBC the US had "carried out strikes exclusively on military targets, including military logistics infrastructure".

The US also said it had destroyed a control tower in the port of Chabahar, with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sharing an image of the tower collapsing as it was hit by a strike. Centcom said the tower was part of an IRGC maritime surveillance network.

Strait of Hormuz 'faultline' exposes weakness of the US-Iran deal

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0ydn033yo, 5 days ago

The fragile "no war, no peace" situation since the US and Iran signed a tentative deal last month now seems to have tipped into war.

This on-again off-again truce could again wobble back into life through the efforts of increasingly exasperated Arab and Pakistani mediators, and the preference of both sides to avoid a return to a drawn out, all-out war.

But its biggest fault line is the status of the strategic Strait of Hormuz - and Iran is again making it clear that its control over this vital maritime corridor is a big, bright red line that neither military, economic nor diplomatic pressure can break.

"We told you: keep your word or pay the price," is how Iran's lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf recently phrased it on social media, quoting the agreement.

Tehran has found backing for that word in the very vague details of the deal - known as a memorandum of understanding - which was drafted in haste in June.

It has been understood differently by both sides from the start.

Iran sees in point five of the 14-point plan a green light, which gives it sway over the management of this critical maritime corridor. Point five reads: "The Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels."

The US reads that as saying Tehran has to open this strategic strait to the free flow of global oil and gas supplies, along with other vital commodities, including ingredients to produce fertiliser.

"You can drive a truck through those clauses," an Arab oil executive working in the region said.

While the new leadership, which emerged in Tehran from weeks of all-out war and waves of US-Israeli assassinations, appears to be aligned on their broad strategic vision for this new chapter of the Islamic Republic, there are clear and growing signs of splits over how to move forward.

"Some want to cash in on battlefield gains through diplomacy and some believe the ceasefire came too soon before Iran had inflicted enough pain on the US," assesses Robert Malley of the International Crisis Group, who was part of the US delegation that negotiated the landmark 2015 nuclear deal US President Donald Trump pulled out of in his first term.

Recent Iranian attacks on three vessels including a Qatari-flagged liquefied natural gas tanker, moving through a shipping corridor close to Oman's coastline to the south, were described by a diplomatic source in the region as the work of a "rogue unit" within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In a system where the IRGC now plays a dominant role, Iran's non-negotiable red line is that vessels must now stick to its designated routes.

Last night, far from the thunder of this escalation, its parliament quietly introduced a new bill to manage the strait called the Strategic Action for the Security and Sustainable Progress of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.

That news was posted on X by Ebrahim Azizi, head of the assembly's national security commission, who told us in April that controlling the waterway was Iran's "inalienable right".

When asked when Iran would cede control, his reply was short and sharp – "never."

He described it as an "asset to face the enemy".

Iran's zero trust in the US' promises, fuelled by the repeated eruptions of war or threats during negotiations, have cemented its resolve.

Control over the strait is seen not just as a bargaining chip in this impasse, it also sees it as its new leverage, a new form of deterrence, as well as an economic lifeline - in case sanctions never get lifted, and its assets worldwide remain frozen.

But Tehran's determination to rewrite the rules in the region is also causing tension with its neighbours including Qatar, one of the main mediators in this crisis, as well as Iran's longstanding traditional ally Oman, which has played a role for decades behind the scenes.

Countries like the United Arab Emirates have made it crystal clear that Iran's plans to play a controlling role, including charging some form of "service fees" is unacceptable and sets a dangerous precedent.

A source informed on the back and forth said Oman had objected to Iran's inclusion of a specific mention in the agreement in that same contested fifth point - that Iran "will conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services".

Muscat now finds itself caught between the wishes of Washington, and Tehran wants to maintain, above all else, its longstanding reputation as the region's discreet diplomatic middleman.

"Oman has been very patient with the Iranians trying to keep good neighbourly relations," Omani analyst, Professor Abdullah Baabood, told the BBC's Newshour programme.

"This particular episode has driven Oman to take quite a substantial stand...but we want this conflict to be resolved through dialogue."

Some observers still see a small possibility of an eventual compromise.

"I don't think there are any great solutions out there but the sweet spot could be in some sort of arrangement in which no tolls were charged for ships passing through the strait but there could be some sort of shipping fees which allow Iran to show it retains its authority," said former senior British diplomat Simon Gass, who was part of Britain's team during the negotiations on the 2015 deal.

Beyond this dispute, there sits a fundamental misreading by each side of its enemy.

Both believe they emerged from this war with the upper hand; both believe the other will be forced by its own weaknesses to back down first.

It is always noted that Iran has a capacity "to absorb pain".

It did manage to exploit the window in this deal, which has now been shut by the US, where sanctions on exporting its oil were briefly waived.

But we saw during recent visits to Iran how its deepening economic and financial crisis is hurting. Inflation is soaring around a staggering 80 percent, and millions of jobs have been lost not just through this conflict but also by one of the longest internet blackouts in history.

Add to that the two wars in less than a year, as well as the major anti-government protests crushed with lethal force which killed many thousands.

President Trump has his own political and economic pressures, which may yet bring his team back to talks, however sporadic.

The crisis over the closure of this key corridor - an issue created by this war - has meant there has been almost no discussion on the core issue - the shape of Iran's nuclear programme.

The memorandum's 60-day window for intensive negotiations, which was never realistic, is yet another weakness.

"I give the truce a fair chance of recovering in some form because neither side can completely get its way as they will find out soon enough," said Malley, adding: "But given dysfunctionalities on both sides, I wouldn't entirely wager on it."

Israeli strike on police post in north Gaza kills seven, officials say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqj1jqeyl5ro, 5 days ago

An Israeli air strike on a post belonging to Gaza's Hamas-run police force has killed at least seven people, including a senior officer and a woman, health and police officials say.

Witnesses told the BBC that an Israeli drone fired four missiles at the post near a busy market in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza.

The Palestinian territory's Hamas-run interior ministry said the head of the local police station, Col Mohammed Marwan Salem, and several other officers were among those killed in what it condemned as a "massacre".

The Israeli military said Marwan was the head of military security for Hamas's Central Jabalia Battalion, and that three other "terrorists" were killed alongside him.

It identified them as Abdul Malik al-Jabin, Ghassan al-Daqas and Yaman Abu Obeida, and said the first two men were police officers.

The casualties were taken to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where the uncle of another dead police officer insisted he was a civilian.

"He was on duty - part of the civilian police force - patrolling the Fallujah roundabout in a civilian vehicle when he was targeted by surveillance aircraft," Mohammed Moussa told Reuters news agency.

"I want to understand: what was the purpose of targeting him?" he asked.

Another two people were reportedly killed by Israeli fire in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

An air strike killed a man and injured three other people in the Khan Younis area, medics told Reuters. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas operative.

In nearby Rafah, a 10-year-old boy named Muataz Abu Shaar was killed by Israeli gunfire, according to the medics.

The boy's aunt, Suzan Abu Shaar, said he had been "sitting in his tent, getting changed".

"He was her [his mother's] support. What is she supposed to do? May God grant her and her heart patience," she said. "Wherever we go, there is no safety. We want them to stop these massacres. We want them to stop the war."

The Israeli military has not yet commented on that incident.

Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of near-daily violations of the ceasefire that took effect in the Palestinian territory last October.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 1,110 people have been killed by Israeli fire since then, while the Israeli military has said four of its soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,230 people have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry.

UAE condemns Iran's 'brazen' attack on tankers as US launches fresh strikes

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8d2vn38dy1o, 5 days ago

The UAE accused Iran of a "brazen" attack on two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, killing one and wounding eight, as Donald Trump said the US would impose a 20% charge as part of a new blockade on the waterway.

The US president said they were hitting Iran "very hard" as strikes were launched for the third consecutive night amid escalating attacks between the two countries.

Iran's foreign minister responded to the announcement of a blockade by saying that Tehran would remain the Strait's "GUARDIAN" - using Trump's word.

The dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz threatens to derail efforts to end their war, but Trump insisted a deal was still possible.

As tensions over the international waterway ramped up, the United Arab Emirates said on Monday night that Iranian cruise missiles targeted two national tankers, killing an Indian crew member and wounding eight others, four seriously.

Six of those injured were Indian, while two were Ukrainian, the UAE Ministry of Defence said in a statement on X.

"The Ministry of Defense condemns this brazen attack, which constitutes a serious violation and a clear breach of international law, threatening the security and stability of the region," it said.

In response, the IRGC said it had hit the tankers and disabled them.

It added that "co-operation with the aggressor enemy" would only lead to regret, damage and delays in opening the Strait - as well as the "creation of an energy crisis in the world".

Oil prices edged higher in Asian trade on Tuesday. Brent crude was up by 0.7% at $83.87 (£62.79) a barrel, while US-traded oil was 0.9% higher at $79.04.

That followed a more than 9% jump in the price of Brent on Monday as the conflict escalated.

The strait remains a key flashpoint between the US and Iran, with both sides clashing over the waterway's control on Monday after exchanging strikes in the region over Sunday night.

In a Truth Social post earlier in the day, Trump said the US was reinstating a naval blockade of Iranian ports and would impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

He said this would stop "Iran's ships or customers" from entering or leaving the key oil shipping route, but "all other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait". The blockade will be in effect from 16:00 Eastern Time (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

"The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as "THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT," but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World," he wrote.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the US was "hitting them very hard".

"We're knocking out all of their offensive capability. And we're controlling the Strait," he added.

Asked about peace talks between the two countries, he said: "Yeah, I think a deal is possible, sure, I do."

US Central Command (Centcom) said the strikes were launched at 16:45 Eastern Time (20:45 GMT) on Monday at "the Commander in Chief's direction".

Several hours later, it confirmed it had struck military targets across Iran, including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas, which it says was to "further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping".

Iran's army said it had targeted US military assets in Kuwait in response, Iranian state media reported.

Attacks were also launched on Bahrain, where the IRGC said it destroyed several weapons depots, a satellite communications centre and a building housing US forces.

Early on Tuesday morning, the IRGC also confirmed they had targeted an air base in Jordan with ballistic missiles.

Trump earlier told Fox News the US would "probably run" the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that Iran "broke" a deal that was made with the US.

"We are taking over the strait," he said.

Centcom said its forces "will resume blockading maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports" on 14 July.

"The US military continues to support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade," a Centcom statement said.

Last Friday, Trump notified Congress in a letter, seen by the BBC, that the US had resumed military action in Iran on 7 July.

Federal law requires congressional approval to continue military actions for more than 60 days. The White House can also extend the deadline for another 30 days, citing national security.

Responding to Trump's Strait of Hormuz announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X: "POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service."

He continued: "Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER."

"20% is of course too much. We will be fair," Araghchi added.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization - the UN agency regulating global shipping - was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying that "IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation".

"There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait," the spokesperson added.

Before Trump's announcement, Iran's top military headquarters said it would not allow the US to "interfere in the management" of the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement shared by Iranian media, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson of Khatam al-Anbiya, said "repeated adventurism and malicious actions" from the US in the strait have "seriously endangered regional security, international trade and the passage of oil tankers and commercial vessels".

Any co-operation with the US would be considered an act of "war" against Iran's sovereignty, he added, warning that if the conflict spreads "the flames of war will engulf all the countries of the region".

What Trump's latest announcement means in practice remains unclear.

United Nations rules allow countries to exercise control of territorial seas up to 12 nautical miles (13.8 miles) from their coastline. At the narrowest point, the Strait of Hormuz and its shipping lanes lie entirely within Iran and Oman's territorial waters.

Iran effectively shut down the strait - through which some 25% of the world's oil and 20% of global liquefied natural gas previously passed - after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on 28 February.

Tehran retaliated by firing missiles and drones on Israel and US military bases in a number of Gulf countries.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) also earlier fired on commercial ships attempting to go through the strait without its permission, and seized two vessels. Maritime traffic through the strait dropped dramatically, triggering a rise in oil prices.

The US lifted the blockade in June as part of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries that aimed to end the conflict, but disputes over the strait resurfaced.

Now, many US allies are likely to baulk at the prospect of reimbursing the US and paying 20% of all cargo shipped - and Trump detractors at home and abroad are likely to point out that the strait was open and unencumbered before the war began.

The announcement could also become politically complicated for the president domestically.

Some lawmakers - including fellow Republicans - had openly questioned what the US gained from the ceasefire, its extension and further negotiations.

Many Americans are also likely to wonder why - despite repeated promises to the contrary - oil prices are inching up again. Trump is not on the ballot for the upcoming midterm elections, but other Republicans are and will be hearing from constituents concerned about prices.

The announcement could also be a bid to restart negotiations and push other countries to be more involved, a tactic that Trump has used in the past.

Additional reporting by Ghoncheh Habibiazad

Yemen's Houthis launch missiles at Saudi Arabia after strikes on Sanaa airport

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9ldle3d3xo, 5 days ago

Yemen's Houthis said they launched missiles at Abha airport in south-western Saudi Arabia on Monday in response to air strikes on Sanaa's airport that they blamed on the kingdom.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, which backs the country's internationally-recognised government, said its air defences "dealt with" the missiles and no casualties were reported.

The Houthis, who control north-western Yemen and are backed by Iran, earlier accused Saudi Arabia of "blatant aggression", saying it had struck the runway of Sanaa's airport.

The strike was claimed by Yemen's government, which said it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.

It was the most significant escalation in the largely dormant conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia since an informal truce took effect four years ago.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa, the capital. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government's rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than 22 million people in need of some form of aid, according to the UN.

On Monday afternoon, footage on social media showed plumes of smoke rising above rooftops in Sanaa after the strikes at the city's international airport.

The Houthis' al-Masirah TV said the "departure and landing runways" were targeted.

The internationally-recognised Yemeni government, which is based in the southern port of Aden, said its forces had carried out the strikes amid a dispute over the plane used by a Houthi delegation returning from Iran after the funeral of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The terrorist Houthi militias, backed by the Iranian regime, prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the airport in the capital, Sanaa, while insisting on allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted," the Yemeni defence ministry said.

The Iranian plane had to divert and later landed in the Red Sea city of Hudaydah, about 150km (93 miles) to the south-west, according to the Houthis.

For more than a decade, aircraft entering Yemeni airspace have required clearance from the Saudi-led coalition, which says it is acting at the Yemeni government's request.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia of being behind the Sanaa strikes, which he said had ended "the de-escalation phase" of their conflict and would not go "unanswered or unpunished".

Saudi authorities did not comment on the strikes before Saree announced on Monday evening that the Houthis had launched a number of ballistic missiles and drones at Abha International Airport "in response to this criminal Saudi aggression".

He also warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace "until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted".

The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen later wrote on X that "air defences have dealt with ballistic missile threats launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the Southern Region".

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, Assistant Secretary General Khaled Khiari expressed concern about the strikes.

"Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation," he said.

"We call on all actors to constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices."

The UK's representative at the UN said it strongly condemned the "reckless Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, which threaten regional security".

Iran's foreign ministry, meanwhile, condemned the attack on Sanaa's airport, saying it was a "clear violation of international law".

Bowen: For all his bluster, Trump has no better option than talks with Iran

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8we3j14ndo, 11 days ago

Donald Trump's latest pronouncements on Iran and the chances of a negotiated agreement have to be taken seriously, as he is after all the president of the United States.

This is what he said at the Nato summit in Turkey.

"I don't want to deal with them anymore, they're scum. You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And they're vicious, violent people.

"And if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd use it. As far as I'm concerned, it's over."

But are they his last words on the subject? Certainly not. He has kept up a running commentary on the war and the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that is being negotiated. His words have swerved through claims of victory to threats of annihilating Iranian civilisation to support for negotiations.

Later he doubled down on his latest threats, saying the US "will probably hit them harder again tonight", adding "I gave them a little warning. We're going to hit them hard again tonight".

America's capacity to hit Iran, doing great damage, is not in doubt. But what it has not been able to do is to break the will of the regime to drop any of its fundamental demands, starting with control of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Buried in his latest verbal onslaught was an acceptance that the talks will continue. They have been on hold while Iran goes through days of funeral obsequies for its former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by Israel and the US on the first day of the war on 28 February.

Trump was asked if the exchange of strikes between the US and Iran - and by extension some of America's Arab allies in the Gulf – meant the talks between them were over.

Referring to his chief negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, he said "I don't care, they can talk. But I think they're wasting their time."

Then, on the Iranian regime: "They're a bunch of lying guys."

That can be read as another admission that the president of the US, for all his bluster, does not have a better option than negotiations. With Israel, the US tried and failed to destroy the Iranian regime.

But the negotiating process is fragile. A source among the mediators trying to make them work described what has happened as "a setback for sure". The atmosphere is said to be "very tense".

That is a diplomatic way of saying that events of the last few days are a terrible backdrop for talks between two powers that have zero trust that the other will keep its word if a deal is made.

At the heart of the latest military exchanges between Iran and the US is the Tehran regime's determination not to return to the way things were before the US and Israel attacked on 28 February.

The regime is determined to keep control of the Strait of Hormuz. The ability to stop shipping carrying global essentials including a fifth of the world supply of oil and gas gives it a chokehold on the world economy.

It is a much more usable weapon than the possibility that it will try to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran will not agree to relinquish control of the Strait of Hormuz. That is why it is prepared to risk the MOU – which is laden with potential sweeteners for Iran – to make the point that there is no going back. It is prepared to gamble on continued war to protect what it believes are its strategic rights in the Strait.

The regime in Tehran has been emboldened by the failure of the US and Israel to destroy it. The funeral rituals of the supreme leader killed when they launched their campaign have demonstrated that the Islamic regime has a strong core of support.

Domestic opposition has not gone away. But the regime's ruthless use of force to crush protests, killing thousands, back in January for protesting in the streets means that it is keeping a low profile.

If the escalation between the two sides can be stopped, mediators involved in the negotiating process believe it is possible to do a deal with Iran that will allow shipping to transit the Strait. It would have to be part of a wider agreement that unfreezes Iranian assets held abroad, allows Iran to sell its oil and most critically for the regime acknowledges Iran's authority over the Strait.

In return Iran would have to accept limits on enriching uranium, allow UN nuclear inspectors back in, and to account for stocks of what Trump calls "nuclear dust" – in other words uranium already enriched close to levels that could be used to make a nuclear weapon.

But events of the last 24 hours show how hard that will be.

Resistance and revenge - Iran wanted to send a message with its farewell to Khamenei

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07yy3j3nljo, 13 days ago

Three days of public mourning in Tehran for its slain supreme leader ended with a major political spectacle the men now in charge wanted the world to see.

The hulking funeral cortège, carrying the coffins of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and four family members, inched along a 10km route – slowed, and often stopped, by millions of mourners in one of the largest public gatherings in many years.

In a week of funeral events, Monday's march was the most significant in carefully choreographed ceremonies steeped in political messaging of resistance and revenge.

But many also stayed away, hurting from two wars in less than a year, inflation spiralling at around 80%, and the pain of January's anti-government protests.

Some blame Khamenei, who was also the commander-in-chief, for the security crackdown which killed many thousands.

"Of course I'm not going to the funeral," one man told us outside one of the many "mookebs", the rest stations set up in the city and on its outskirts to provide free food and water, most of it from private donations.

"Many people don't have work and are so unhappy," he explained.

Aerial footage from Monday's procession showed one of Tehran's main arteries chock-full of loyalists consumed by grief and chanting the Islamic Republic's signature slogans of "death to America" and "death to Israel".

"Tears arise from the pain and sorrow that surges within a person, and the world sees this truth," declared Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, rebutting US President Donald Trump's claim that these were "fake tears".

The commemorations now move to some of the most sacred sites for Shia Muslims, including in Qom, south of Tehran, on Tuesday, and then to Najaf and Karbala in neighbouring Iraq.

The final burial is on Thursday at the sprawling Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, the ayatollah's birthplace and Iran's holiest city.

"The funeral proceedings are designed to frame him as more than a national leader but a transcendent religious and political figure whose authority extended across the Muslim world, and particularly Shia Islam," observed Mohammad Eslami, research fellow at Tehran University.

There's a harsher view of his legacy. "The revolution he preserved was for a world which no longer exists," assesses Karim Sadjadpour, author of Reading Khamenei: the World View of Iran's Most Powerful Leader.

In Tehran, a flatbed truck, decorated with intricate latticework and Arabic Islamic script, carried five caskets, painted in the green, red and white of Iran's flag, including the smallest for Khamenei's 14-month-old granddaughter Zara.

All were killed by Israeli-American air strikes on 28 February, in the first hours of the war.

Red was the loudest colour in the huge crowds of bereaved wearing black. Religious flags symbolising blood and martyrdom amplified calls to avenge the supreme leader's assassination.

Posters in English singling out Trump as the main target were held high for the hundreds of foreign journalists given rare access to cover this funeral.

An Iranian messaging app had advised government supporters to use slogans such as "Our revenge is inevitable," and "They will pay. Hard."

"I want to say one sentence to President Trump and the world," declared a grey-haired man named Mojtaba, who came to us saying he had a message.

"Soon, very soon you will see signs of revenge at the top of the White House, and soon the colour of the White House will be the colour of my red flag."

"Some of these calls are just ritualistic," a government official told me. "But the anger is real among hardline critics within the system who oppose the new deal with the United States which killed our leader. "

To address a dire financial situation, Iran's new leaders, after surviving weeks of war, must now keep negotiating if they wish to see badly needed relief through the easing of sanctions and unfreezing of assets.

Government supporters in what were welcoming crowds kept approaching foreigners - including what the government says were 400 social media influencers - to ask "where are you from?" They often urged visiting media to "tell the truth".

But even in this throng there were other voices too. Two young Iranian women, clad in the black cloaks of most female mourners, pulled us aside to whisper that the "real voices of revolution" had been heard in the protests just months ago on these same streets.

The road ahead is still uncertain as Iran buries the last of the first-generation founders of its 1979 revolution.

Nearly four decades ago, I was in Iran when it buried its first supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini. In the frenzied stampede, his flimsy wooden coffin broke and his white shrouded body tumbled into the crowds.

Iran enters a new era with its third Supreme Leader, 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamanei, who's still not been seen in public since the air strikes which killed his father severely injured him.

The sight of his three brothers at the open-air Grand Musalla mosque compound, where their father lay in state made his absence all the more conspicuous.

Iranian officials point to Israel's continuing threats to assassinate him too.

"He's in my heart and I hope he is safe from Trump and Netanyahu," insisted one woman who had travelled with her family from Hamadan, a four-hour drive away, to join the procession.

But the organisers of what they've called the "event of the century" have tried to maximise other symbols.

The biggest of all is the colossal statue of a clenched fist that now towers over Enqelab or Revolution Square – the "fist of defiance" meant to send a message to enemies outside and inside Iran that their Islamic Republic cannot be defeated.

The BBC's chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet 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.

Former Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani dies aged 74

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cql1qdq14xro, 7 days ago

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former leader of Qatar, has died aged 74, the country's government announced on Sunday.

"The Bureau of the Emir mourns the great loss to the nation of the late, may God have mercy on him," a statement read.

Sheikh Hamad was one of the key masterminds behind modern Qatar and had taken power from his father in June 1995 in a bloodless coup.

He is credited with transforming its economy into the wealthy global powerhouse it is today, thanks to its huge gas reserves. But his reign also had controversies - including Qatar's World Cup bid in 2010.

Funeral prayers will be held on Sunday evening before several days of public mourning across the country to mark his death.

Flags will be flown at half mast, while government offices and public institutions will be shut as a mark of respect.

King Charles and Queen Camilla paid tribute, saying Sheikh Hamad had "dedicated many years of distinguished service to Qatar".

"His leadership, vision and commitment to the welfare of the Qatari people were widely admired, both within Qatar and around the world," they added.

India declared a day of national mourning and said that all entertainment events would cancelled during the period.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said: "A visionary leader who led Qatar to great levels of development and prosperity.

"We remember him also as a true friend whom I had the honour of meeting during my last visit to Qatar in February 2024."

When Sheikh Hamad took power 31 years ago Qatar was struggling for money with its oil reserves dwindling.

His coup - carried out while his father Sheikh Khalifa was abroad - changed the country forever.

It became a leading producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas, thanks to international partnerships and investments that had been brokered.

In 1996 Al Jazeera was launched there before becoming a big name in international broadcasting.

And Sheikh Hamad founded the Qatar Investment Authority which put money into businesses abroad, including Harrods and football team Paris Saint-Germain.

It would be football where he secured one of Qatar's biggest - and controversial - triumphs.

The country was awarded the right to host the 2022 World Cup in 2010, despite allegations of corruption it was later cleared of.

It hired 30,000 foreign labourers just to build the stadiums. In 2021 it was reported some 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died since it won the World Cup bid.

The Qatar government said not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects and many had lived there a long time.

There was also criticism over Qatar's human rights record and laws against same-sex relationships.

Sheikh Hamad voluntarily abdicated for his son in 2013.

Qatar was a British protectorate until 1971, with the Al Thani family as monarchs since 1851.

US Democrat Ro Khanna says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qyk9jwq9no, 8 days ago

US congressman Ro Khanna says he was detained for 90 minutes by armed Israeli settlers during a visit to the occupied West Bank.

Khanna, 49, had been in a van with his team when they were surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles on Wednesday, he told Reuters news agency.

Writing on X, Khanna said that when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) arrived, "they sided with the settlers and continued our detention".

The BBC has reached out to the IDF for comment. The Israeli military said in a statement troops and police officers took action after getting a report settlers had blocked vehicles in the area.

"Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way," the IDF said.

Khanna was visiting the ruins of Khirbet Zanuta, on a fact-finding visit to look at the impact of Israeli occupation of the area.

The politician, a father-of-two, is mulling over a presidential run in 2028.

"We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed, they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it," he said.

"And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – M4, an American-made machine gun – and they detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans," Khanna said.

While they were detained, an aide who was with Khanna said they made appeals to the US Embassy in Jerusalem for help, and were released after a group of police officers intervened.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state - during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The settlements are illegal under international law.

Huge crowds in Mashhad as Iran's late supreme leader is buried

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzm8m4peeo, 10 days ago

Huge crowds lined the streets of the holy city of Mashhad for the burial of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei was laid to rest at the shrine of Imam Reza, Iran's holiest Shia Muslim site, marking the end of six days of public mourning ceremonies in five cities across Iran and neighbouring Iraq.

The burial, reported by the state news agency IRNA, came after an exchange of strikes between Iran and the US that threatens to derail a preliminary deal to end the war in which he was killed.

Earlier, Iran's Revolutionary Guards accused the US of bombing two bridges on the railway line from the capital, Tehran, to Mashhad overnight "in an effort to overshadow" the funeral.

Khamenei and several members of his family were killed in an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran on 28 February, the first day of Iran's war with the US and Israel.

He was succeeded as supreme leader by his son Mojtaba, who has not been seen in public since he was reportedly seriously wounded in the same attack.

The 56-year-old did not participate in the funeral ceremonies in Tehran and Qom, and there was no indication that he attended the burial.

On Thursday morning, a plane carrying the coffins of Ali Khamenei, his granddaughter, son-in-law, daughter and Mojtaba's wife landed in Mashhad after flying from Iraq, where huge crowds took part in processions to two Shia shrines in the cities of Najaf and Karbala.

In the afternoon, Iranian TV footage showed thousands of mourners dressed in black walking along a main boulevard in central Mashhad. Many were waving Iranian flags and red banners symbolising vengeance.

Some people were also holding photos of the late supreme leader and placards calling for the death of US President Donald Trump, who, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the joint attack on Iran four months ago that triggered the war.

Hanging above the boulevard were banners with official slogans including "We must rise".

"The loss of the leader is heavier than losing our parents," Hoda, a 35-year-old housewife, told AFP news agency. "Only the death of Trump and Netanyahu will soothe our pain."

Later, a lorry transported Khamenei's coffin slowly through the crowds towards the Imam Reza shrine, eventually reaching the complex as night fell.

Imam Reza was the eighth Shia imam and the only one of the 12 believed to have been buried in Iran. His mausoleum, which dates to the 9th Century and has a towering golden dome and minarets, is visited by millions of pilgrims each year.

Khamenei was born in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city located in the north-east of the country, and studied at seminaries in the city before moving to Qom, the centre of Iran's Shia clerical establishment.

He was appointed supreme leader in 1989 after the death of the Islamic Republic's founding father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

During his 37 years in power, he maintained a firm grip on Iran's politics and its armed forces, and suppressed domestic challenges, sometimes violently. He also took consistently hard-line stances on external matters, including Iran's confrontation with the US and Israel.

Iran's leadership wanted the choreographed funeral ceremonies for Khamenei to project unity and strength after a war, during which thousands of people have been killed, and the mass protests in January, when a crackdown by security forces left thousands more people dead.

The public mourning has, however, been marred by the renewed hostilities with the US.

Trump warned that US attacks could get "much worse" after a second night of strikes on Thursday, which the US military said were intended to degrade Iran's ability to target commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Revolutionary Guards said Iranian forces had attacked US military facilities and infrastructure in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar in response.

Three weeks ago, the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that called for an end to hostilities on all fronts and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It also gave them two months to reach a final deal that covers Iran's nuclear programme, US sanctions and a permanent truce.

Last week, mediator Qatar said Iranian and US negotiators made progress at indirect talks in Doha following a four-day exchange of strikes, and that their next meeting would take place after the conclusion of the ceremonies for Khamenei.

But on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he believed that the MoU was now "over".

Palestinians mourn Gaza World Cup screenings organiser killed in Israeli strike

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwylznzjk04o, 10 days ago

The killing of Palestinian aid worker Mohammed al-Wahidi in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Tuesday has triggered an outpouring of grief across the Gaza Strip, where for many people he was one of the most recognisable humanitarian figures.

Within hours of his death, social media platforms were flooded with photographs and videos documenting his work, alongside hundreds of messages of condolence from people who said they had encountered him during aid distributions or while living in displacement camps.

An Israeli missile struck the taxi al-Wahidi was travelling in through the Sabra neighbourhood. He was killed along with three other people, including two brothers aged eight and 10 who were passing by and another man.

The Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas operative and was aware of claims that uninvolved individuals were killed in the strike.

Al-Wahidi, 65, was an English teacher before the war but became a senior official with the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza, an Egypt-backed organisation that has played a prominent role in humanitarian relief efforts in the Palestinian territory during the war between Israel and Hamas.

For more than two-and-a-half years he helped co-ordinate emergency food assistance, oversaw the establishment of camps for displaced families and worked to deliver aid to communities affected by repeated waves of displacement.

Many Gazans say he became a familiar face in shelters across the territory because he preferred to remain in the field rather than directing operations from an office.

Volunteers who worked alongside him describe a man who was regularly present at aid distribution points, speaking directly with displaced families and responding to their immediate needs.

In recent weeks, al-Wahidi became more widely known after helping organise public screenings of World Cup matches in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza.

The initiative aimed to offer families, particularly children, a brief escape from the realities of war.

Egypt's matches attracted large crowds, reflecting the long-standing popularity of the team among many Palestinians in Gaza who have long shared cultural, emotional and political ties with their neighbours.

Videos of children and families gathering around giant screens among destroyed buildings spread widely online, offering rare scenes of celebration amid the conflict.

Al-Wahidi was killed only hours before one of those screenings, Egypt's last 16 match against Argentina, deepening the sense of loss among many Palestinians.

"He was not simply an aid worker in a humanitarian committee," wrote activist Mohammed Hmeid, who documented al-Wahidi's work. "He was a door to hope that opened every day for displaced people and those who had lost everything."

"Everyone who knew him speaks of his kindness, integrity and generosity," he added.

"In Gaza, even those who dedicate their lives to helping others are not spared. But good deeds cannot be killed. They live on in the hearts of the people."

Al-Wahidi's death comes as humanitarian workers in Gaza continue to face significant risks.

As of late April, the UN had recorded the killing of at least 593 of them since the war began, including eight since Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire 10 months ago

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

At least 73,118 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen as reliable by the UN.

Khamenei's coffin carried through Shia shrines as ceremonies held in Iraq

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9le3kjj8eo, 11 days ago

The remains of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have been carried through two of Shia Islam's holiest shrines in neighbouring Iraq, as funeral ceremonies continue for a fifth day.

Huge crowds filled the city of Najaf for a procession that ended at the mausoleum of Imam Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law and first Shia Imam. Inside, mourners jostled to touch the coffin before prayers were held.

It was later flown to the city of Karbala and taken through more crowds to the mausoleum of Imam Hussein, the prophet's grandson.

Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of Iran's war with the US and Israel, will be buried on Thursday in Mashhad, in north-eastern Iran.

Among the tens of thousands of mourners who gathered in Najaf on Wednesday morning was Mohammed al-Bayati, 30, who told AFP news agency: "This is an opportunity not to be missed - to take part in the funeral of the person who challenged the power of America and Israel."

Chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" were also heard as Khamenei's coffin was transported by a lorry towards the shrine of Imam Ali.

Video footage showed mourners pushing and shoving each other to get close to the casket as it was carried by hand through the mausoleum's halls. A senior cleric from Najaf's Shia seminaries then led the funeral prayers.

Later on Wednesday, Khamenei's coffin arrived in Karbala, about 60km (37 miles) north of Najaf, for another funeral procession that ended at the shrine of Imam Hussein. His death in battle there in the 7th Century cemented the schism between Shia and Sunnis.

On Tuesday evening, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior Iranian figures flew to Iraq to take part in the ceremonies for Khamenei.

The Iranian delegation was welcomed on arrival by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Zaidi, whose government declared Wednesday a public holiday.

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father, once again did not make an appearance. He has not been seen in public since he was reportedly seriously wounded in the same Israeli air strike in Tehran on 28 February that killed his father, his wife and several other family members.

Pezeshkian reportedly flew home to Tehran early on Wednesday, after the US and Iran exchanged strikes following attacks on several tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US blamed the attacks on Iran and said its forces in the region carried out strikes on dozens of Iranian military targets in retaliation. Iran said it responded by attacking US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he believed the three-week-old preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war was "over".

Iran's Parliamentary Speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the US of violating the deal and warned that Iranians "don't fold".

The memorandum of understanding signed by Trump and Pezeshkian called for the reopening of Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf waterway through which 20% of global oil and gas shipments pass, and gave them two months to reach a final deal that covers Iran's nuclear programme, US sanctions and a permanent truce.

Last week, mediator Qatar said Iranian and US negotiators made "positive progress" at indirect talks in Doha following a similar exchange of strikes, and that their next meeting would take place after the conclusion of the ceremonies for Khamenei.

Burnham's 'Manchesterism' got him to No 10 - but will it work for the UK?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyl3z2xld8o, 2 days ago

It was just five months ago when Andy Burnham retreated to his mayor's office in Manchester, having been blocked by Labour's ruling executive from standing for parliament.

When I met him there a few weeks later, he told me he planned to deal with his disappointment with some ambitious plans for his city region.

Burnham told me he wanted to appeal directly to Fifa to host the final of the women's football World Cup in 2035 Manchester instead of Wembley. "Imagine how electrifying that is for any girl growing up in the north of England," he said.

He said he was also joining forces with other mayors for a "Great Northern" Olympic bid across the north of England, and a plan was also afoot to host the Ryder Cup in Bolton. Sports bodies needed "re-educating" about the rest of the country, he said.

Manchester has already poached the Brit Awards from London after half a century in the capital.

Big, bold gestures like these tell part of the story of what has happened in the city. Burnham's civic ambition is a byproduct of Manchester's status as the fastest-growing city economy in the country. As Burnham prepares to become prime minister, will he be able to apply the same model to the whole of the nation?

Manchester's rise

Even before Burnham returned to parliament in June, there has been talk of Manchesterism as a political-economic philosophy that offers a programme for national transformation, rooted in a critique of a currently unresponsive, over-centralised British state.

The city has a long history of blending the freest of free markets with a strong social spirit. Manchester's cotton traders championed free trade and liberal economics, at the same time as the emergence of the co-operative movement, the trade unions and the Suffragettes. Even the Manchester Ship Canal, the emblem of monopoly-breaking free trade, required local government intervention backed by the workers.

But for an understanding of contemporary Manchester, you need to go back to the summer of 1996.

Andy Burnham had left the north-west of England by then. He told me how when he first looked for a local media job after graduating in the early 1990s, all he could get was a role as an unpaid reporter on the Middleton Guardian.

"I had to do what so many people of my generation, born in the 60s or 70s in the north-west of England had to do to get on in life," he said. "We had to go south."

By 1996, Burnham was an MP's researcher. That year, back in Manchester, the IRA detonated the largest bomb in the UK since World War Two, devastating the city centre,

The reconstruction in the aftermath of the attack marked the start of Manchester's ascent from the doldrums of de-industrialisation. The essential idea provided by a group of local political, cultural and business leaders, and an architect called Ian Simpson, was that the city centre should be reshaped by demolishing, not repairing, many of the damaged buildings.

From disaster could then arise a great opportunity to reshape the city's geography and economy. Council leader Sir Richard Leese and his top civil servant, the late Sir Howard Bernstein set the tone for a variety of bold centrally driven strategic plans that were actually largely delivered by private capital and then significant international investment.

The council leadership was ruthlessly focused on transforming brownfield industrial sites. The private sector would go nowhere near them, but the council de-risked those investments with public money. It also sometimes stepped in to tide projects over during financial crises.

At the end of this process, private capital poured in, lining up the cranes and the hard hats. The council offered a flexible interpretation of requirements to build a proportion of "affordable housing", sometimes effectively waived, sometimes met by funding building in cheaper areas of the city.

Paul Thwaite, the chief executive of NatWest, which has funded some of these projects, and who is on the board of the University of Manchester, says Manchester's success story over the past 20 years was "built on there being a clear plan the private sector can get behind".

Why hanging on to students matters

Such a shift would have been unthinkable a generation ago. The model of Manchester's city centre development has succeeded in creating a critical mass of population, housing, jobs and service sector activity that has allowed it to turn its significant undergraduate population into a goldmine.

According to the mayor, more people from London had moved to Manchester (13,000) than the other way round (11,800) in the latest set of internal migration figures.

He put this down to a flow of young workers into the Manchester city centre service economy.

In a reverse from the 1990s, "no-one here has to leave to get on in life", Burnham told me. "And in fact, there's a net inflow of young people from London."

Manchester now retains over half its graduates, more than any other city apart from London, according to the Centre for Cities, and Manchester also attracts almost as many young graduates as it produces.

Tom Beahon, the CEO of Manchester-based sports brand Castore, who has not been shy about criticising some of the government's business policies, told our Big Boss podcast earlier this year that the mayor had helped "attract inbound investment, making it a place that students want to stay after they graduate from the fantastic universities". That in turn means more businesses want to launch in the city, he added.

It is a case study in agglomeration effects - the economic power of locating similar types of jobs close together. And if its infrastructure can keep up, Manchester's economy will continue to fly.

Burnham's Manchester

Andy Burnham is a product of this Greater Manchester and spent his decade as its first mayor trying to shape it. As Andy Spinoza, the foremost chronicler of Manchester's turnaround, puts it: "Burnham jumped into a moving car, and by the end he was driving it."

But what else is there to Burnham beyond driving that moving car?

While he has managed to ascend to the Labour leadership and the cusp of No 10 without revealing his wider policy plans, there is a fairly recent text already out there. In 2024 with his fellow north-west regional mayor, Merseyside's Steve Rotherham, he published a book called Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain.

It was the basis for Burnham's speech earlier this month on Manchesterism and remains his national political-economic-constitutional prospectus. The 10-point plan to "rewire" the country argues that better "homes, transport and jobs" across the country can only come from "a new set of principles and rules for the running of the British state".

What underpins this is a determination to tear up two formulas that have long formed the backbone of how UK governments allocate money. The first is the Treasury's Green Book, which decides infrastructure spending and which has traditionally valued existing areas of high growth and land value the most. In Burnham's view, this drags investment in transport to the south of England.

The tangible example of all of this can be found on Platforms 13 and 14 of Piccadilly station in central Manchester. The only east-west train link for the entire region is here, and it is often jam-packed with trains and 40,000 daily commuters attempting to cross the Pennines and get to the airport. Burnham has long advocated for an underground four-platform "Kings Cross of the North" with a northern version of London's Elizabeth Line.

He relays a story about his time as chief secretary to the Treasury in 2007 when he was told: "No project in the north passed the Green Book, Minister." He told me the same in 2020 when there were murmurings of reform to the formula. Chancellor Rachel Reeves pursued pilot projects to change the approach that could favour local investment.

In the book, Burnham also advocates tearing up the Barnett formula, which allocates public spending, topping up spend for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland so they do not lose out to England as a whole. The effect, Burnham argues, is that the north of England is left squeezed in a "pincer".

In Head North and his recent speech, Burnham points to Germany's "Basic Law", with its duty of "equivalent living standards" across the regions. Such a law, he argued, would protect local government and give regions a right to be consulted on long-term decisions.

Burnham also advocates significant constitutional change, including a form of proportional representation and the replacement of the House of Lords with a "Senate of the Nations and the Regions", alongside devolution of powers over large swathes of public services to regional level.

On Net Zero he proposes a "Northern Way", which subsidises the transition, retrofits, cutting bills, and building exportable locally owned industry. He contrasts this with a "Whitehall way", which he characterises as bans, charges and taxes that hit the poorest.

The actual policy consequence of this will have to reckon with rising global energy prices, pressure on household budgets, and some impatience from North Sea energy interests to pump more oil and gas. There are some contradictions in for example, full tax and spend devolution for every region. Would the south-east get to keep the taxes it raises? Some aides recently played down any changes to the Barnett formula amid concerns from Scottish politicians.

The national stage

The fundamental difference between running a city region and a country is the need to raise the entire spectrum of tax revenues to fund spending. Or to borrow more money. The picture is rather constrained on both right now. Manchester has been agile in attracting private capital to build infrastructure, especially housing, partly because it had to. Can that stretch across the whole country?

With Manchester's cotton traders in mind, I asked Burnham back in February if he considered the Manchester model to be politically left or right - an example of statism, perhaps?

"When it comes to right versus left, well, we've always been very pro-business, pro-enterprise here. We want people to succeed individually and businesses to succeed, but give back at the same time," he said.

Some campaigners say that the dash for the gleaming towers and spires in the centre has left behind much of the rest of the region, and that the centre of Manchester is becoming a mini-London. While Burnham has criticised decades of "neoliberalism" and the "trickle-down effect", the reality is it has been core to the Manchester model.

At the same time, Margaret Thatcher's 1985 bus deregulation has been reversed and over the years public money from central and local government, from the EU, as well as from the partly council-owned airport, has been spent on trams - a nod to the importance of spreading the proceeds of growth in the centre around the region.

To greater or lesser degrees Burnham has floated more "public control", cost of living support, small business rates relief, and higher infrastructure investment and higher defence spending. They sound difficult to reconcile with sticking to promises to limit borrowing and not raise major taxes.

For example, the Defence Investment Plan is "funded" by cuts to capital investment in transport, energy and elsewhere. These are precisely the areas that Manchesterism would suggest might get more central capital investment.

Burnham the mayor has beaten the drum for the new Liverpool-Manchester Northern Powerhouse Rail and the high speed Manchester-Birmingham line he worked up with former West Midlands Mayor Andy Street. But what will Prime Minister Burnham do?

And what about the paused Brexit reset? There was a deal ready to go for closer relations at a UK-EU summit originally planned for next week. The government had started to explore different red lines for the next Labour manifesto and a turn back towards Europe's single market. Does he go with Remainy Manchester? Or do the feelings of his Leave constituency, Makerfield, trump all?

NatWest's Paul Thwaite says there could be a "powerful recipe for sustained growth" from the private capital that flows from "long-term certainty and genuine collaboration". There isn't, however, a "single blueprint" from Manchester or anywhere, he says. For devolution to work "the institutions, the leadership and the commercial capability matter as much as the powers themselves".

Burnham in his speech quoted the famous line attributed to Tony Wilson in the film 24 Hour Party People: "It's Manchester, we do things differently here." Now it's time to reveal what exactly it means for the nation.

The dark side of the Brazilian butt lift boom

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20y39wy760o, 14 days ago

When Alice Webb went for a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift (BBL) – a procedure involving the injection of large volumes of dermal filler into the buttocks – at a pop-up clinic inside a rented beauty salon one morning in September 2024, she expected to be finished in time for the afternoon school run.

But Alice, 33, never returned home.

The mother of five died less than 24 hours after undergoing the treatment, becoming the first person in the UK known to have died following a non-surgical BBL procedure. An inquest will be held in the autumn to establish the cause of her death.

Her story has become a focal point in a growing debate about Britain's booming aesthetics industry, where cosmetic injectables are now available everywhere, from High Street beauty salons to rented office spaces and hotel rooms.

Over the past two years, I have investigated this industry, going undercover to find out what is really happening behind clinic doors. I found practitioners willing to inject hundreds of millilitres of filler into my body from makeshift treatment rooms in office blocks. I was offered prescription-only medicines without proper consultations and sold unlabelled weight-loss injections on social media.

I've spoken to dozens of women who have told me about the excruciating pain they experienced caused by cosmetic injections that were marketed as pain-free and low-risk, and the resulting infections that left them in hospital.

The cosmetic accreditation service Save Face says it has seen numerous cases of serious harm linked to cosmetic procedures - including one patient who was left unable to close her eyes following a botched eyelid surgery, and another who sustained perforated intestines during a liposuction procedure.

"It's so horrific that it sounds like some sort of horror film, but these are procedures being carried out on our high streets," says Save Face director Ashton Collins.

The UK is one of Europe's least-regulated markets for cosmetic injectables. Unlike many European countries, anyone can legally train to inject dermal fillers and offer treatments to members of the public.

Now ministers in Scotland and England say they are tightening regulation of this multi-billion pound industry. But will this work? And why, more than a decade after experts warned that dermal fillers were a "crisis waiting to happen", are patients still being exposed to preventable harm?

From the Kardashians to the High Street

In June 2024 Joanne (who only wants us to use her first name) went for a non-surgical BBL procedure at a pop-up clinic in a flat in Essex because she considered it less risky than flying to Turkey for a surgical BBL – this was before Alice had died.

"I just wanted a peachy bum," says Joanne, a mum of two from South Wales. "I should have turned and ran". Shortly after treatment, in which she was injected with 1 litre (1.8 pints) of filler, she ended up in hospital with sepsis. Two years on, she says she still has scars on her thighs and buttock from the treatment.

Cosmetic injectables were once associated with wealthy, middle-aged clients seeking subtle anti-ageing treatments, but the industry has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past decade.

Treatments such as dermal fillers – injectable gels, usually made from hyaluronic acid, that are used to add volume and shape – and Botox are now marketed to a much younger audience and promoted as routine beauty treatments rather than medical procedures.

Ashton Collins of Save Face believes social media and reality television have played a significant role in driving that change: "The Kardashians, Love Island and social media made it fashionable for younger women to have bigger lips, cheeks and frozen faces."

At the same time, injectable treatments have become increasingly widely available and are often offered from beauty salons - which can make them appear similar to routine beauty services, according to Collins.

"People might be getting their nails or eyebrows done and see these treatments as an extension of that," she says. "If you're under 35, it's very likely you perceive these treatments as beauty treatments rather than something medical."

The result, Collins argues, is that consumers often focus on convenience, popularity and price rather than safety credentials.

"We repeatedly find that people don't know Botox is a prescription-only medicine. They don't know they should be assessed by a healthcare professional," she says.

All this has helped fuel extraordinary growth across the sector. But Collins says it has also created the conditions for unsafe practitioners to thrive.

"The way these treatments are presented on social media removes much of the perception of risk," she says.

Striking growth

The scale of that market is still unclear as there is no central register of practitioners and no official database tracking the sector's growth.

Dr Alexander Zargaran, an NHS plastic surgeon and researcher at University College London, set out to quantify one of the largest parts of the market: Botox.

His analysis identified nearly 20,000 practitioners operating across the UK in 2025, compared with just over 3,500 identified as recently as 2023. "We know that the industry is growing," Zargaran says. While some of this increase reflects more comprehensive mapping of practitioners advertising online and through social media, the scale of the growth in just two years remains striking.

Some of the sector's growth has been driven by non-medical practitioners, Zargaran's research suggests - according to his study, the proportion of non-medical aestheticians doubled from 12% to 24.8% between 2023 and 2025.

The study also found that Botox treatments were more widely available in the most deprived communities. Practitioner density was more than six times higher in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived. But at the same time, people in the most deprived areas had less access to medically qualified practitioners.

And this leads us to a broader question: if the UK now has tens of thousands of cosmetic injectors operating across the country, should someone be responsible for regulating them?

A lighter touch?

Under current laws across the UK, anyone can legally undertake training, purchase dermal filler products and offer treatments to members of the public.

While doctors, nurses and dentists are regulated by professional bodies with the power to investigate complaints and impose sanctions, there is no equivalent statutory regulator for non-medical aesthetic practitioners.

In Austria, by contrast, botulinum toxin and dermal filler treatments are classified as medical procedures and are typically reserved for doctors. In France, non-medical practitioners are prohibited from administering injectable cosmetic treatments.

Andrew Rankin, chief executive of the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP), said the UK's lighter-touch approach reflects a broader regulatory culture that has historically prioritised consumer choice and economic growth.

"We have an inclusive philosophy to economic activity where government tries to find the balance between public safety while maintaining an innovative and effective economy," he said.

In 2023, when the government consulted on a licensing scheme for England, some respondents warned that any new regulation would need to be proportionate. While there was broad support for improving safety, concerns were raised about the potential impact on small businesses, which make up much of the sector, and the risk that overly restrictive rules could limit consumer choice or drive parts of the industry underground.

But the current situation across the UK can make it difficult for consumers to assess qualifications, understand what training a practitioner has received and know where to turn when treatments go wrong, says Zargaran.

"If you are a medical professional, you will have gone through certain types of training, including the important principles of consent, carrying out procedures, follow-up and recognising complications," he adds.

More than a decade ago, the government commissioned an independent review of the cosmetic interventions industry following the PIP breast implant scandal, which saw thousands of women receive implants made with silicone that had not been approved for medical use.

The review, led by then-NHS Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, examined the wider cosmetic sector, including dermal fillers, Botox and other non-surgical procedures.

It warned that people undergoing non-surgical cosmetic procedures had "no more protection and redress than someone buying a ballpoint pen or a toothbrush" and concluded: "It is our view that dermal fillers are a crisis waiting to happen."

The review called for practitioner licensing, stronger training requirements and tighter controls over who should be allowed to perform cosmetic procedures.

Following the Keogh Review, the government introduced a system of voluntary self-regulation. Organisations such as the JCCP were established to set standards and encourage practitioners to join accredited registers.

But Rankin says this approach has not worked and many practitioners remain entirely outside voluntary schemes: "What was underestimated was the extent to which, in a self-regulatory framework, practitioners would not be interested in meeting those standards."

The enforcement problem

Four days after undergoing a liquid BBL at an Essex clinic in October 2023, 28-year-old Louise Moller from Bolton was rushed to hospital with sepsis.

She rang her mother, Janet Taylor, from A&E: "Mum, I think I'm going to die," she said.

To stop the sepsis spreading through her body, surgeons removed large areas of dead tissue from her left buttock.

Janet reported the incident and the practitioner who carried out the procedure - Ricky Sawyer, a well-known rogue injector who also performed the non-surgical BBL that left Joanne with sepsis - to police. But because the procedure took place in Essex while Louise lived in Greater Manchester, she says she was told the case would need to be passed between forces.

When BBC News approached Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Essex Police about this in 2025, both said responsibility for the investigation lay with the other force.

We contacted GMP for this article but it did not respond. Essex Police said: "We understand the frustration felt in this case," but insisted again that responsibility sat with GMP.

For Collins, Louise's experience illustrates a wider failure of enforcement. "People assume there must be somebody regulating these practitioners and holding them accountable when things go wrong," she says. "Very often that simply isn't the case."

While Janet tried to get justice for her daughter, I went undercover as a client inside a temporary clinic operating from an office block on the outskirts of London in which Ricky Sawyer was still operating. During the appointment, Sawyer offered to inject up to a litre of filler, provided prescription-only medicines without a prescription being issued and suggested administering local anaesthetic without a prescriber present.

Plastic surgeon Dalvi Humzah, who reviewed the footage, described these practices as "shocking" and "very dangerous".

Since our reporting on Sawyer aired in February 2025, he has been banned from practicing following a legal injunction brought by Trafford Council. He recently appeared in court over breaking this injunction but was found not guilty - during his evidence he said he knew the procedures were dangerous.

While Sawyer can no longer practise anywhere in England and Wales, it took several years for this to happen.

And it's not just the practitioners but also the products that are unregulated. Concerns about illegal medicines and counterfeit products have surfaced repeatedly across the sector in recent years.

A BBC undercover investigation in 2025 found nurses and pharmacists supplying Botox without carrying out the face-to-face consultations required under professional guidance.

Authorities have also repeatedly warned about unlicensed and counterfeit products entering the UK market. Police in Northern Ireland seized more than 700,000 counterfeit and unlicensed medicines in 2023, including Botox products. In Glasgow, officers later recovered thousands of pounds worth of dermal fillers, needles and botulinum toxin products during a raid linked to the aesthetics trade.

Campaigners say enforcement is often fragmented between councils, police forces, medicines regulators and professional bodies, with no single organisation responsible.

"You can walk into beauty salons across the country and have Botox the same day without ever having a proper consultation with a prescriber," says Collins. "That shouldn't be happening, but it does because there is very little enforcement."

Repeated delays

Since 2013, successive governments have acknowledged the case for reform, yet comprehensive regulation has repeatedly been delayed.

A significant step came with the Health and Care Act 2022, which gave ministers powers to introduce a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. In 2025, ministers confirmed their intention to introduce a licensing scheme.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We will soon consult on tough new measures that will ensure only qualified healthcare professionals will be able to perform the highest-risk procedures." They say they are also planning a licencsing scheme for what they describe as lower-risk procedures.

Meanwhile, a law passed this year in Scotland will restrict procedures like Botox and injection of dermal fillers to specific settings, such as regulated clinics. It will also make it illegal to provide procedures to those under 18. A Scottish Government spokesperson said all this is expected to come into effect from September 2027, as will a local authority licencing scheme for less risky procedures.

Northern Ireland's Department of Health says it has "no current plans" to introduce mandatory regulation of non-surgical cosmetics or to introduce a licencing scheme. However, it says it takes "decisive action" against the illegal supply, misuse and promotion of medicines like Botox.

The Welsh Government says it is monitoring the implementation of mandatory licencing schemes for acupuncture, dry needling, body piercing, electrolysis, tattooing and semi-permanent makeup and this "will inform any potential future extension to other procedures".

Despite the developments in Scotland and England, substantial work remains to be done before any licensing system becomes fully operational. Further legislation is required, detailed regulations must still be drafted and local authorities will need the resources necessary to enforce any new framework.

In the meantime, ministers in England have indicated that the highest-risk procedures will be prioritised under a proposed "red category" of treatments. These are expected to include non-surgical BBLs, face lifts and filler-based body contouring treatments, which alter the shape of areas such as the stomach, thighs or buttocks.

Rankin said there was broad agreement that some procedures "really should be restricted to appropriate professionals".

Supporters of reform hope the proposed licensing scheme will eventually require both practitioners and premises to be licensed, too.

More than a decade after the Keogh Review warned dermal fillers were a "crisis waiting to happen", campaigners argue the problem is no longer a lack of warnings.

But even if new rules are introduced, the challenge will remain of ensuring those that already exist are enforced.

We are living fewer years in good health: Is the NHS part of the problem?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r2nz82z3vo, 8 days ago

Angie currently lives in the English Midlands but is preparing to move to Bulgaria. She has suffered for years from multiple chronic health issues including ME and an autoimmune thyroid condition. She says holidaying in Bulgaria has been transformative - enough that she has decided to leave the UK.

A strong sense of community and the fresh air of the Bulgarian mountains are part of the pull.

But she also feels the Bulgarian healthcare system is more responsive than the one she is leaving behind in the UK.

"You have to pay a small fee to see a doctor, but then you see one quickly," Angie says, describing her experience in Bulgaria.

While she is "very glad" the free at the point of use NHS exists,  she believes it is failing to deliver. "People aren't getting a service - particularly with chronic health issues - that actually makes a difference to their health outcomes or quality of life," she says.

"Once you're diagnosed, that's it, you're left to your own devices. I've had to spend a fortune on private healthcare because I couldn't get any improvements [with]in the NHS."

A 2025 study from National Voices charity found 37% of people with a long-term health condition did not feel supported by the NHS to manage their physical health, compared with 16% of those with no long-term conditions.

Unlike the UK, Bulgaria's healthcare system is a mix between public and private. Employees, including foreign nationals, pay a compulsory 3.2% of their pre-tax salary into a healthcare insurance fund topped up by their employer. However, there are many extra costs for non-emergency medical treatment, such as doctor's appointments. Despite progress, Bulgaria's health outcomes are ranked relatively poorly by the OECD. But other countries without tax-funded systems do perform strongly.

Angie has become one of a growing number of Britons living with ongoing poor health. More working‑age adults are reporting long‑term health conditions, with 36% saying they had at least one in early 2023, up from 31% in the same period of 2019.

Healthy life expectancy - the years in which a person can expect to live in good health – has fallen in the UK in recent years, while it has increased in most other wealthy countries. While life expectancy has stagnated, in more than 90% of areas, healthy life expectancy has dropped below the state pension age, with Britons now living about a quarter of their lives in poor health.

While life expectancy in the UK has recovered after the Covid-19 pandemic, healthy life expectancy has worsened, particularly in the most deprived areas.

Across the country, healthy life expectancy in 2022-2024 was 60.7 years for men and 60.9 years for women, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).  This was a drop of 1.8 and 2.5 years respectively compared with 2019 to 2021, and the lowest level since the analysis began in 2011. The UK was one of only five of the world's richest 21 countries to see healthy life expectancy decline.

Meanwhile, many countries without tax-funded healthcare systems record more years lived in good health than the UK, according to the World Health Organization.

Healthy life expectancy is not a perfect metric; it is self-reported and so relies on how people feel about their own health. However, the Health Foundation describes it as a "key measure" of the population's health, because it can provide a more comprehensive picture of what's happening under the surface than life expectancy alone.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the BBC it is shifting the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention. "We are committed to reducing health inequalities, GP patient satisfaction is up, and waiting lists are down by 340,000 compared to July 2024," they said.

So what is driving the UK's fall in healthy life expectancy? And why is a nation with a system specifically designed to give everyone equally good care lagging behind others?

What's the alternative?

The UK is facing similar issues to many of its peers; an ageing population, cost of living pressures and a growing burden of mental health problems.

But while citizens of many other countries report improvements to their health, those in the UK say it is getting worse. Health Foundation analysis of ONS figures shows the share of adults rating their health as "good" or "very good" dropped from 76% in late 2020 to around 71% in late 2025, a decline of 5%. Meanwhile in countries such as Bulgaria and the Netherlands the proportion of people reporting good health has risen.

Gareth Lyon, head of health and social care at right-leaning think tank Policy Exchange, argues the UK's decline can partly be laid at the door of its "creaking" National Health Service. "The UK is becoming an outlier… we're not prepared to look at how we make our system sustainable for patients in the long run," he says.

He points to Health Foundation figures suggesting access to GP appointments and early medical intervention lag behind the Netherlands, with half of Britons reporting they "always or often" receive a same-day response from their GP, compared to eight out of 10 Dutch people.

Meanwhile, one in five British patients wait over a year for non-urgent surgery; in the Netherlands the figure is zero.

Lyon blames this on the UK healthcare model in which the state both funds and provides treatment; this lack of competition means there is little motivation for contract holders to become more efficient, save costs or respond quickly to patient concerns, he says. Although patients in the UK can opt to go private if they can afford it.

Instead, he argues the UK should largely replicate the Dutch healthcare system, in which adults pay for compulsory health insurance, with subsidies offered to those on low incomes, which he says has created a highly competitive environment among insurers and healthcare providers, incentivising the best treatment for patients.

Since this model was adopted 20 years ago, Lyon says the Dutch have seen a "massive expansion of primary care, early diagnosis and treatment" while still offering universal healthcare.

But Sebastian Rees, head of health at the left-leaning think tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), rejects the idea that competition between providers or insurers improves healthcare or boosts healthy life expectancy.

He points to IPPR's recent analysis of 22 high-income countries which found no evidence insurance-based systems like the Netherlands' outperform tax-funded models on measures such as access or quality.

Instead, the report suggests performance varies far more within funding models than between them, and claims the NHS's poor performance against other countries is partly driven by chronic underinvestment.

'A sense of hopelessness'

Rees also points out that the UK and the Netherlands have markedly different population profiles, which he argues is a far more powerful driver of healthy life expectancy. For example, the Netherlands' obesity rate is almost half that of the UK. It also has lower child and family poverty, lower unemployment and higher disposable incomes.

"All of that is likely doing far more for population health in the Netherlands than competition between providers," he says.

For Rees, this is the heart of the UK's problem, and helps explain why countries can offer universal, free health services and still fall behind. Different parts of the UK show a stark disparity for health life expectancy: a woman in Richmond‑upon‑Thames can expect to enjoy a healthy life two decades longer than one in Hartlepool.

Prof Martin McKee from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has spent his career comparing different countries' healthcare systems.

He argues the NHS has suffered from years of underinvestment since austerity policies were introduced. "The  UK has constantly been scrimping and saving… we are low on scanners, low on everything, way behind everybody else," he says.

Like Rees, he suggests the roots of the UK's healthy life expectancy lies in poverty and lack of opportunity.

Austerity worsened the problems of regional inequality, he says, and that has been further exacerbated by a growing burden of mental health problems since the noughties.

"There's a lot of young people, particularly young men, who are in poor mental health and to some extent poor physical health too. Basically, groups who are marginalised, left out, left behind… A lot of it is to do with a sense of hopelessness," he says.

Around one in four adults aged 16 to 29 years were experiencing moderate to severe depressive symptoms in April last year, the ONS says, while across the UK, those in the poorest fifth of the population are twice as likely to be at risk of developing mental health problems as those on an average income.

Much of the UK's decline in healthy life expectancy is concentrated among marginalised groups, who are more likely to live in Scotland and the North of England, McKee points out.

It is no coincidence that these areas also contain the hotspots for "deaths of despair" – deaths resulting from drugs, alcohol and suicide. Many of the factors behind these deaths of despair, including addiction, poor diet and stress, also contribute to people spending more of their lives in ill health.

The 15-minute GP appointment

Some doctors are testing new approaches, seeing if tweaking the way NHS works can deliver better health. Dr David Blane is a GP in Glasgow's Possilpark, and academic lead for GPs at the Deep End, an organisation led by doctors in Scotland's most deprived communities.

He says patients in these neighbourhoods typically develop multiple long‑term conditions 10 to 15 years earlier than those in wealthier areas.

"Not only is there a good chance that you've got more long‑term health problems, but there's also other things going on in your life impacting on your mental health - lots of low mood, depression, chronic pain… These things have a big impact on your quality of life, your sense of self, your sense of purpose."

Part of GPs at the Deep End's role is to pilot new strategies to try to reduce healthcare inequalities.

One strategy has been to extend all appointments to 15 minutes. "That certainly helps with empathy. It helps with managing potentially more than one problem in a consultation and GP stress as well," Blane says.

But the most important factor, he argues, is continuity of care - seeing the same clinician each time. "Continuity of care saves lives, and it can also help to facilitate better access, better follow ups, and just better health outcomes," he says. "Over the last 10-15 years, the political emphasis has been much more on rapid access [to treatment], which is important for some things, but not for everything".

Blane is also helping evaluate new family wellbeing support workers in Glasgow. These staff link patients to money advice, housing help, trauma counselling, language support and physical activity programmes. The model, he says, creates "sticky" engagement with those who might otherwise drop out of the system and could, he adds, be replicated with families across the country.

Looking to the future

The issue, of course, is how these services should be funded in the long term.

Dr Kristian Niemietz, head of political economy at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a right-leaning free-market think tank, says no health system is insulated from the wider economy, but his view is that in an insurance‑based model, funding tends to be more stable. He says it avoids the "feast and famine" cycles that have characterised NHS budgets.

He argues that a more competitive market is best placed to deliver improvements. "So if it turns out that, say, continuity of care, greater integration, that improves outcomes - then a competitive market would lead to that, like it does in other sectors.

Others say the NHS should be retained because tax‑funded systems are best placed to deal with the challenge of aging populations.

McKee argues this is the "by far the best way of doing it" as the costs are borne by more of the population. He argues that with fewer people in paid work supporting a growing number of older citizens, who typically need more healthcare, systems that rely on insurance premiums or employer‑based coverage come under strain.

In Rees' view, there's no such thing as a "best" system for health outcomes. He argues that high performers exist across every system type, and their success owes far more to factors outside healthcare than within it: tax-funded systems like Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Spain do well, but so do social insurance systems in Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Israel.

For patients, those debates surface in more immediate ways. Although Angie is preparing to move to Bulgaria, she hasn't given up on the NHS. She describes it as under incredible pressure, but still believes "we're incredibly lucky to have an NHS". Her frustration, she says, is with how hard it has become to access care.

Top picture credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock / PA

The youth clubs fighting to stay relevant in the social media age

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8j2mv0zw82o, 10 days ago

It's 17:00 on Thursday in Bradford and as I approach a three-storey former country pub, drill music booms from the basement.

The snappy, rhythmic beats are not what you expect inside this old, listed building.

This is where teenagers from Gypsy, traveller and Roma communities get together every week. Older generations would call this a youth club but when I meet 16-year-old Sterling, he's quick to correct me: "Youth clubs are out of style."

As he fiddles with his cap, I suggest that this very building is in fact a re-branded model of a youth club.

"I mean, like, all right, it's similar, it has a resemblance to a youth club," he says. "But I view it more of a place to hang out, eat food and hustle."

Sterling has been coming here for two years. The club is called Romalandia and calls itself a "cultural centre" on its social media pages.

The basement music studio is by far the most popular space, where, as Sterling puts it, "if you're a young rapper you get yourself a free producer", as well as the chance to socialise and have fun.

But whether you call it a youth club or a cultural centre, places like this are becoming increasingly rare in England and Wales.

Youth clubs have been closing for years, while the number of youth workers has also fallen.

Spending on youth services by local authorities in England has slumped by 73% since 2010 according to the latest data from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. In Wales, it's not as drastic, but has still fallen by 27% over the same period.

For many communities, that has meant losing youth clubs altogether. More than 1,000 council-run youth centres have shut in England alone since 2010 according to the same government data.

Many independent youth groups operate on tight budgets, relying heavily on volunteers and short-term grants. Without secure funding, some are forced to close after only a few months.

The YMCA charity, the oldest provider of youth services in England and Wales, says there's been a real-term cut of more than £1.2bn pounds between 2010 and 2024. This means there are now far fewer leisure, cultural and sports activities being run from youth centres.

Many youth centres like Romalandia don't get local authority funding or government support. It relies on private donations with some money coming from local businesses, charities and project-led community grants.

But now, in London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has allocated £50m of this year's budget for youth services across the capital. And across England, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has also started opening hubs which it says will help teenagers with jobs, wellbeing and stop them falling into a life of crime.

But even if the money is there, how do youth clubs make themselves appeal to Gen Z? And if they can appeal, how do they need to be set up to really help the people who use them?

Sleepless nights

I've spoken to youth workers around the country who describe the pressure they face as budgets are squeezed.

Funding is a constant headache for Daniel Balaz, founder of Romalandia, who says the centre faces temporary closure if more funding cannot be found.

"Honestly, I don't sleep," he tells me. Daniel says he spends most of his time chasing and following up funding opportunities and this means dealing with lots of bureaucracy.

"We have to work through different departments, different services," he says. "We have to keep on our toes over how we're going to keep generating that income."

The number of full-time youth workers fell by 34% in 2023-24 compared with 2012-13 in England according to YMCA data. It was even more pronounced in Wales with a 46% drop over the same time period.

Even if they manage to get their hands on cash, some youth workers argue that they face an even bigger challenge: making their services relevant to today's teenagers.

Nowadays, "nobody wants to go to a youth club", says veteran youth leader Paul McKenzie, who's worked in London and the south east of England for more than 30 years.

I meet Paul at a new venture he's co-founded in Essex called Youth Unity, which is partly funded by the Metropolitan Police.

In an era where young people have access to social media, the traditional concept of a youth club just doesn't work any more, he says. "Everything's changed. It's a 'space'."

Working for free to cut crime

So what can "spaces" like his do to stay relevant?

Paul is talking to me from a side street in Romford. You wouldn't know the hub was here because the outdoor space for basketball, chess and boxing is blocked off by high steel fencing.

Youth Unity also has an area indoors for podcasting, gaming and debating - things he says are all relevant in modern Britain.

Funding and having attractive facilities make a big difference, but Paul says he's only been able to keep going because he's prepared to do whatever it takes to keep it going.

"For me if they pull the funding on this, I'll still be here on a Friday. I'll bring a candle if the lights go out and I think that explains it all."

Staying open, in Paul's view, means making an unequivocal commitment especially in places where anti-social behaviour is rife: "The crime rate in this area is very high so if these doors close you may end up sitting in the park, then we have grooming or drugs."

And this link between crime and closures of youth clubs is plain to see, according to charities trying to prevent children from becoming involved in violence.

Caleb Jackson, head of change at the Youth Endowment Fund, says research shows youth clubs can reduce offending by 13%. He says they are often open during the hours when youth violence is most likely to happen, between 16:00 and 20:00.

But he says simply opening more youth clubs is not enough.

"It's really important that those children connect with trusted adults," says Jackson.

A survey by the charity found 73% of youth workers said they informally mentor children at risk, while 65% said they de-escalate conflicts and 55% said they tackle dangerous misinformation.

Paul McKenzie says he is used to seeing disorder regularly and tells me about a recent situation where he helped save a boy's life after being stabbed.

"Three weeks ago we had up to 300 young people out there fighting, just where you came in today. Now for me if the lights go out here, if we can't secure funding, what do those young people do?

Paul says he will always find a way to stay open: "One thing we don't do is close the door to anybody so some weeks we might have to go without money, but it's super important not to close the door." But he understands why that's not possible everywhere.

And for charities, that raises a broader question. If youth services increasingly rely on staff going beyond what they are paid to do, is that model sustainable?

Keeping out of trouble

Even though the latest Home Office figures show knife crime has fallen by 8% in England and Wales, many people say they don't feel safe, especially those living in areas where violent crime is more visible.

The government says youth centres play an important role in tackling these problems.

Their purpose is to help young people feel safe - and some teenagers I spoke to say youth clubs have done this while keeping them out of trouble.

Seventeen-year-old Adam, who's on a traineeship programme with Youth Unity, says he's had to make some tough life choices.

"I was in a bad group of friends for about a year and it was one of the most important years of my life," he says.

"It just kind of ruined that time of my life. I started coming here and it made me want to give back to the young people that might be in my situation."

At Youth Unity, I also meet 15-year-old Zipporah, who is verbally sparring with other girls in this week's debating session about the benefits and pitfalls of social media.

Drifting away from the huddle, she says she feels safe coming here and wants to be a paramedic.

"Romford is a very active place. Quite a few fights have happened and in the time I've been coming here, there [have] been two major ones."

"You can see the way that the staff here work in that situation. They'll be the first ones out and looking around to see what's happening, who's hurt and how to help the people that are involved."

Stepping in early

Staff on the front line say a major factor in whether a youth centre succeeds or fails is how deeply embedded it is in the community.

A good example of this is Lambton Street Youth and Community Hub (LSYCH) in Sunderland, one of the oldest youth centres in Europe, dating back to 1901.

"It's so established in Sunderland," says Marie Mould who has been managing LSYCH for two years and used the centre as a teenager. "It's ingrained in the community."

She adds: "You could walk around the streets and somebody you know will have either gone there, the parent went there, the grandad went there or the great-grandad went there."

And this is a major part of why the centre is flourishing, she believes. Thanks to the community goodwill it can draw upon, LSYCH has 44 volunteers, and without them "none of this will be happening right now".

One of those volunteers is Sophie, who is 20 and first started coming here when she was six. She says life at home was unsettled.

The support Sophie received from LSYCH has left an indelible mark and she's now doing a degree in youth work: "I want to be on the other side and be there for the next generation."

She adds: "I don't think I'd be a youth worker if it wasn't for being here. I couldn't actually imagine what my life would have been like."

And early interventions like the ones LSYCH made in Sophie's life are crucial, experts say.

According to Kate Roberts Fox, Policy and Public Affairs Manager from The Children's Society, 82% of local authority youth funding is focused on so-called "late intervention services", for example, taking children into care or providing crisis support.

"Funding in local authorities has overwhelmingly concentrated on that late intervention."

But it's more effective to intervene at an earlier stage, says Roberts Fox - and youth centres allow services to do that. "You don't want young people to feel like they have to end up in that situation and have that high level of need in order to be able to get support," she says. "They should be able to access support from an early stage."

Staying afloat

Ultimately, many youth workers say, the benefit of youth clubs is that they are usually staffed by people with deep roots in their communities - in contrast to solutions imposed externally.

This is personal for Sayce Holmes-Lewis, CEO of the Mentivity House youth centre in Walworth, south London, which opened in 2024. He grew up locally on the Aylesbury estate, where Tony Blair famously made his first public appearance after becoming prime minister in 1997.

A year later, Blair referred to some estates as "sinking ships".

Sayce was struck by this depiction of his estate as "something that was sinking, that needed to be rescued. It was kind of that whole white saviour approach."

Mentivity is on the Aylesbury estate. "I still remember what it was like to grow up on the estate, the negativity and stereotypical views of growing up on a council state but I have nothing but positive things to talk about when it comes to the Aylesbury estate," says Sayce.

Sayce says it was important to give back to his community and was the sole reason for opening Mentivity in the first place. It's a brand new, shiny space with a podcast studio in one corner and gaming screens in the another. The hall bellows with young people. Here they are offered free meals, wellbeing days and in some cases support to help fast-track mental health assessments for conditions such as ADHD.

"We're in the Faraday ward in Southwark which is the [borough's] most underserved ward," he says. "One in five young people have issues of mental health, there are high exclusion rates and nearly 3% of young people are not in education, employment, or training."

It took Sayce and his team eight years to open but the service is growing fast. With more than 200 teenagers on its books, it's available every weekday and will soon be welcoming people on weekends.

It has a mixed funding model from corporate entities to the Mayor of London's Violence Reduction Unit which secured money from the Home Office to help drive down crime.

Mentivity is in a healthy financial position compared with other youth groups but, it lost almost half a million pounds of funding last year due to what Sayce says is a growing anti-diversity and equality movement.

Sayce says he is determined to beat the drum for youth spaces: "We have to recreate the village, we have to recreate communities."

"When services are pulled back, there's a real distinct lack of trust for adults. They take that mistrust, that anger and that frustration back into society," he says.

"When you're feeling let down as a young person and you're heartbroken that now this youth club is not there, you're willing to go into other areas just to try and make up for that void."

Oh, and he's not bothered about the term "youth club".

He says: "They can call it what they want, but they are here."

"They are voting with their feet so we're not precious around what it's called, it's about how they feel when they're here."

Additional reporting: Anthea Lee

Top image credit: Getty Images

How the leasehold revolution could transform neighbourly relations

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8llpp67l1o, 12 days ago

When Sally, 74, bought her two-bedroom flat in 2021, she hoped it would be the home she could peacefully retire in.

But she says buying a leasehold home has led to terrible stress.

There are around five million leaseholders in England and Wales. Sally is one of over 1,000 people the BBC spoke to in an attempt to understand the pressures on leaseholders. Most said that fast rising service changes and ground rent costs make them feel they have little control over their own homes.

When she moved into her London flat, Sally says service charges were around £2,600 a year. One year, they totalled more than £5,400.

"That was a really bad year. Me and my fellow owners were very stressed and anxious. There were tears and I remember us talking about how we were going to pay."

Now, the government wants to fundamentally change how flats are owned.

Under its Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, new leasehold flats will be banned and replaced with commonhold, a system where residents collectively own and manage their buildings.

"The people who should own buildings, and who should exercise control over their management, shared facilities and related costs are not third-party landlords but the people who live in flats within them and who have a direct stake in their upkeep," said Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook, in a speech in April.

Freeholders argue that the English Housing Survey suggests 93% of leaseholders living in flats are satisfied with being an owner occupier (the survey doesn't ask specifically about being a leaseholder).

Despite this, the government is introducing reforms widely seen as the biggest shake-up of home ownership in decades.

But as commonhold moves closer to becoming the default for new-build flats, questions remain over whether it can avoid creating a new set of challenges for homeowners. And can a system that has existed for centuries really be replaced - or will a whole new set of problems emerge?

"Feudal" system

To understand the complexities of today's leasehold system, described by many, including Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook, as "feudal", we have to go back almost 1,000 years.

In the Middle Ages, William the Conqueror took control of England's land and granted parts of it to loyal nobles, who leased it to others for a fixed term.

While today's leasehold system is very different, critics argue the basic principle remains the same - homeowners pay for the right to occupy land they do not fully own.

For almost 60 years, successive governments have tried to reform it, with one alternative repeatedly put forward: commonhold.

It was first introduced into law under Tony Blair's government in 2004, but developers have rarely chosen it. According to the Land Registry, there are only 18 commonhold developments in England.

Commonhold is a type of home ownership where flat owners have a share in running their building. There is no freeholder, and residents vote on decisions about shared spaces and maintenance. Homeowners are expected to pay into a reserve fund and either manage the property themselves or appoint a managing agent.

Nick Hopkins, Professor of Land Law at UCL and specialist adviser to the House of Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee - the group of MPs scrutinising the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill - says that after years of looking into the issue he is "convinced" commonhold is the right direction for the government to go in.

He says flat owners would still have to pay towards the upkeep of their building, but they would have "much more autonomy" over decision-making under the proposals.

John Bartholomew, 81, and his wife have lived in one of England's commonhold developments, in Somerset, for around 12 years.

The development consists of two blocks of flats and five town houses. They have an annual general meeting and come together to discuss issues such as the shared car park.

He says he has been lucky to live in a place where people agree on the work that needs to be done.

"If a renegade came in, we might struggle," he says.

"If we want something done, we have to agree that part of the fee will be put to that purpose, like the repainting of the sheds."

Freeholders argue that they act as "stewards" of buildings.

They point to research by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which they say suggests Scotland's commonhold-like system has created "major hurdles" in carrying out essential building maintenance, with 28% of buildings in critical disrepair.

Similar concerns were raised in evidence to MPs scrutinising the draft legislation.

Mari Knowles, a landlord and tenant lawyer, told the Select Committee there was a risk of a "stalemate situation" where residents may not agree on paying for maintenance and investment in a building.

She said she had worked with resident-managed buildings that "traditionally have not paid into the reserve fund... now the buildings are severely dilapidated, and they are all looking at five-figure or six-figure bills."

Freeholders

Under the leasehold system, the freeholder appoints a managing agent to maintain and service the common parts of a building. Flat owners are then given the bills.

Leaseholders are also legally obliged to pay ground rent - a fee paid for the land beneath their building - to the freeholder. Depending on the terms of the lease, the amount can either double at fixed intervals or increase in line with inflation, which can make a property harder to sell, mortgage or remortgage.

Freeholds can be bought and sold between investors who do not live in the building, and sometimes not even in the country, meaning the English system of flat ownership has become "financialised", according to Hopkins.

He believes a move to commonhold would change that, ensuring "the only financial interest in the block is with those living in it."

Under the proposed plans, ground rents will also be capped at £250 before falling to a "peppercorn" rate - effectively zero - after 40 years. In a debate in Parliament on Thursday, a number of MPs called for that process to be sped up - and described ground rents as "money for nothing".

Freeholders say this overlooks the long-term oversight and legal accountability they provide, including maintaining buildings and acting as an independent party when disputes arise.

Arguments over costs

The BBC wrote to all of the groups that run commonhold developments in England and Wales, and not all described a harmonious way of living.

One resident described commonhold as a "nightmare".

He says one flat owner has refused to pay towards maintenance and other residents now have to pay more to cover that share. The collective is now £10,000 in debt.

"The government is pushing commonhold forward, but it's not the way to go. It's terrible - a disaster."

Due to the ongoing dispute, the man did not want to be named for this article, but said the leasehold system would have offered more protection in his case because, "if a leaseholder doesn't pay there is something in the contract that will say 'you forfeit the lease'. With commonhold, that doesn't happen, so the payments fall on everyone else."

A freeholder can seek to repossess someone's home if a leaseholder doesn't pay service charges, something that will also be abolished under the reforms. In a commonhold, disputes between owners must be resolved through the courts. Under the changes, in the most extreme cases, homeowners who refuse to pay could be forced to sell their home to settle debt.

Hopkins accepts that commonhold is "not a panacea for everything that can go wrong when you own a flat," but says it is "the right legal basis to have to deal with the issues that can go wrong".

He says commonhold will require "a bit of a cultural change" and that people will need to view themselves as "stewards" of their building.

English system is a global outlier

One of the main arguments from Hopkins and many others is that commonhold, or similar forms of ownership, already work in much of the rest of the world.

Dr Cathy Sherry, Professor at Macquarie Law School in Australia, has studied property law and ownership across the world. She agrees there is no perfect way of owning buildings but believes England and Wales should move to commonhold.

Australia uses a system known as strata, which Sherry describes as a form of commonhold similar to the condominium model used in the United States and other countries.

"The reason why we have strata and condominiums is ex-British colonies were settled by people, the working class of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland, and they actively did not want the emergence of a landed aristocracy."

Sherry, who was also a technical adviser to the Law Commission's review of commonhold, describes leasehold as "deeply unfair".

She says the Australian system is "much better than leasehold" because ownership and building management are set out in legislation, rather than relying on millions of different leases.

Under the government's proposals, there would also be standard rules around how commonhold buildings are managed.

The Residential Freehold Association (RFA) argue the picture is more complicated.

They point to research from Your Strata Property suggesting only 30% of committee members in Australia's strata system considered themselves "very knowledgeable" about strata law, while 70% admitted to having limited or no confidence in their legal understanding.

They argue this can result in poor governance, legal non-compliance and deferred maintenance - all risks in collectively owned building

Converting to commonhold

Although commonhold has been an option for developers for more than 20 years, they have continued to build leasehold blocks. One reason was reluctance from lenders to provide mortgages for commonhold properties because they were seen as an untested risk.

John Bartholomew says that when he tried to draw equity from his home he was told: "We don't lend to commonhold."

He believes one of the biggest challenges is getting institutions to treat commonhold owners "like any other householders" rather than "second or third-class citizens".

Charles Roe, former Director of Mortgages at UK Finance, which represents around 120 mortgage lenders, told MPs in March that estate agents, valuers, surveyors and conveyancers would all need to be brought up to speed, and that the transition for consumers and the industry would be a "big piece of work".

He said lenders' main concern is what happens when existing leasehold buildings convert to commonhold.

And that is arguably the most complex part of the government's plans.

Campaigners are calling for "commonhold now" and a select committee report released in May called for the government to "go further and faster". But Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has sought to manage expectations.

In April he said the "outright and immediate abolition of the leasehold system in England and Wales" would be "almost certainly impossible".

Converting a block to commonhold means transferring ownership from the freeholder to the residents, and how existing freeholders should be compensated is disputed.

The previous government tried to make buying a share of freehold cheaper through the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. But those changes were challenged in the courts by freeholders, who argued the reforms breached their human rights.

The government won that case, but the decision is now under appeal.

Barrister Dr Douglas Maxwell told MPs it was "almost inevitable" that further legal challenges would be brought under human rights law once the new legislation is introduced.

Meanwhile, court battles could slow attempts to make it easier for residents to convert their buildings.

Can England follow Scotland?

Despite what has happened in Australia and other countries, there is no direct comparison for dismantling a leasehold system on the scale of England and Wales.

Scotland did not so much reform leasehold as remove a much smaller version of it.

Ken Gerber, a solicitor in Glasgow, explains that most residential properties in Scotland are already owned outright after a feudal-style system of land ownership was abolished in 2000. Long leases were automatically converted to ownership in 2015.

But he says the scale was very different. In 2006 there were around 2,500 long leases in Scotland - roughly 2% of all residential properties.

"Leasehold in England is much, much more common than in Scotland," he says.

Scottish landlords were entitled to compensation, but Gerber says it was relatively modest. "It was roughly 40 times the amount of annual rent. But it was only leases where the rent was less than £100 a year."

The compensation likely to be sought by English freeholders would be far greater.

On Scotland's current system, which has similarities to commonhold, Gerber says it "generally works".

"You'll always find one that doesn't want to stump up their money... that can be a problem," he says.

Most of the experts agreed there is no perfect system where multiple people share responsibility for a building.

Hopkins believes commonhold will happen, regardless of further legal challenges. "The judicial review failed at first instance and failed quite comprehensively. A lot of the arguments, I think, have really been lost."

He says there is now broad political support for reform.

Former housing secretaries Angela Rayner and Michael Gove both backed reform when giving evidence together to MPs. The Liberal Democrats and Greens also support commonhold, while Reform UK has stopped short of supporting the complete abolition of leasehold.

A spokesperson at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said their reforms would "transform the experience of flat ownership in England by giving homeowners "more power and control over high costs".

Professor Sherry accepts that "stuff can be tricky, but it's workable".

"Commonhold is better because I don't believe that people who don't live in homes should own the underlying land and get the benefits that flow from that."

Whether that vision becomes reality now depends on politics as much as policy.

The likely next prime minister, Andy Burnham, has previously expressed support for leasehold reform, but who he appoints as housing secretary will matter. With the draft bill described as "technical and long", there is still a long way to go before the manifesto pledge comes to fruition.

Top image credit: Getty Images

Do declassified files support Trump's election security claims?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz64wx8yjjdo, yesterday

In a 26-minute speech from the White House, President Donald Trump revived some familiar claims about US election fraud and interference.

Standing in the East Room – the same venue where Barack Obama announced the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 - Trump said the current election system was "catastrophically short" of being secure and that hundreds of declassified intelligence files would reveal these "shocking vulnerabilities".

BBC Verify has reviewed these documents, although some of them have been heavily redacted.

There appear to be no bombshell revelations and no evidence that interference or fraud actually changed the outcome of previous elections - including the 2020 contest which Trump lost.

Here are some key themes.

What do files show about Chinese interference?

Many of Donald Trump's most successful political narratives have a villain – a malign actor that presents a pressing threat that demands attention.

In Thursday night's speech, China took centre stage as Trump's villain and he presented Beijing as a nefarious force engaging in "sinister election meddling".

The released documents provide support for claims that China took steps to acquire voter data – some of which is in the public domain or available for purchase – and explored ways to influence public opinion.

That's well short of the kind of election tampering that Trump at times implied and smaller in scale than actions taken by Russia in 2016, which received a single mention from the president.

A previously released 2021 report by the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) found with "high confidence" that China did not interfere in the 2020 US election.

In his address Trump said: "Over a period of years starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People's Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history, resulting in China's illicit acquisition of 220 million US voter files."

He claimed that "tens of millions of voters' data in 18 states" had been "bought, stolen or hacked by China".

The White House later published four sets of "election integrity" documents, which BBC Verify has analysed. Within these files is a statement by the "Government Transparency Task Force" dated 13 July 2026.

Without specifying a timeframe, it said that "the declassified intelligence reveals that voter registration rolls from at least 18 states have been compromised by the People's Republic of China (PRC)". It added: "Additional intelligence records reveal that more than 200 million voter records were also compromised by the PRC, without state-specific affiliations."

One heavily redacted document - marked "declassified" - mentions the PRC and "likely leaked, compromised data". The same document includes a table with a row labelled "unspecified U.S. voter data", which shows 204,822,241 records and is dated 2016. But it is heavily redacted making it difficult to work out the full context of the table.

What do files say about voting machines?

Protecting America's "election infrastructure" has been a bipartisan goal for years. The US made efforts to establish standards to strengthen and streamline the mechanics of voting after the contested 2000 presidential election and again following evidence of Russian election interference in the 2016 election.

While election procedures are managed by state governments, most votes are now recorded on some form of paper ballot.

Trump may have a more partisan purpose behind his re-airing of these claims. He appears to be using these concerns to cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election he lost and to potentially question the validity of future elections.

In his speech Trump said previously classified US intelligence assessments proved that the US government had known voting machines "are extremely exposed to attack".

"As one assessment states, we judged that the United States' adversaries, including, at a minimum, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, as well as non-state groups have the capability to compromise US election infrastructure," he said.

The documents released by the Trump administration include a January 2020 declassified NIC assessment of vulnerabilities in the election of that year, which acknowledged that "ballot and voting machine preparation is vulnerable to cyber, supply chain, or insider threats".

It said that machines with no paper backup were "particularly vulnerable to cyber operations".

However, the NIC assessment also stated that "security and mitigation measures used in these processes, and the distribution of voting machine storage facilities countrywide, would make it difficult for an adversary to coordinate a campaign to manipulate voting results across an entire state or multiple states".

The specific assessment Trump may have been referring to is another declassified NIC report from August 2020, which said "foreign states or other actors may seek to compromise our election infrastructure".

It is also important to note that Trump has taken steps to cut funding and undermine the independence of some of the government programmes and agencies that have been tasked in recent years with monitoring election security.

What do files say about claims of voting fraud in Michigan?

Michigan, a battleground state Trump won in 2016 and 2024 but lost in 2020, has long been central to the president's allegations of voting fraud.

It was one of the few states he specifically mentioned on Thursday night. In this instance, however, the concerns appear to centre on voter registration drives, not actual balloting.

Political parties often rely on paid efforts to gather signatures for ballot drives and to register new voters when volunteers are in short supply. That can create negative incentives when people are paid by the signature.

Trump claims there was significant evidence of fraud in Michigan before the 2020 election that had "been buried and covered up".

The files released by the White House show election officials in the city of Muskegon were investigating allegations of fraudulent voter registration applications in October 2020 and one document mentions "8,000 to 10,000 registrations".

The case was referred to police and the FBI tested a sample of applications and found that 91 out of 107 applications "returned no results in database checks".

The case was active for almost five years until the FBI closed it on 25 September 2025, stating the "investigation to date did not identify a criminal violation".

Trump says he has now asked FBI director Kash Patel to fully investigate the matter.

However, local news reported at the time that police were looking into the matter after Muskegon election officials identified "irregularities" with some voter register applications.

What do files say about non-citizens and voting?

Trump provided some very specific numbers when he spoke about non-citizens being allegedly registered to vote.

He announced the White House was "releasing the results of a stunning investigation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)" which he said had "identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens who are registered to vote in federal elections".

A one-page DHS document which was released states that "over 250,000 non-citizens are illegally registered to vote in just the four US states for which public data files have been reviewed".

The document does not, however, link to these files or show any other evidence for this figure or provide an explanation of how the numbers were collected and verified.

Without further information, it is impossible to ascertain their validity.

There have been very few documented instances of non-citizens casting ballots in past elections.

Trump, however, regularly asserts that Democrats rely on the votes of millions of undocumented migrants. It is one of the reasons he argues that if his proposed election-security legislation is enacted by Congress, Republicans would solidly control the American government.

Five headaches Andy Burnham will have to deal with as PM

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62122pgjqdo, 2 days ago

When Andy Burnham enters No 10 Downing Street, he will inherit some formidable and complex problems that successive prime ministers and governments have attempted to address - mostly without success.

BBC Verify has looked at five big policy challenges Burnham will face and the approaches he might take to address them.

Welfare: Cutting £58bn sickness and disability bill

The cost of sickness and disability benefits for people of working age has grown rapidly since the Covid pandemic and now stands at around £58bn a year.

And it's projected to rise to £78bn a year by 2030.

The biggest driver of the increase is the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payments (Pip) - a working age benefit designed to support people with disabilities that increase their living costs.

The number of people claiming Pip is forecast to rise from four million today, to five million by 2030.

The share of people who are younger and claiming Pip for mental health problems or neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD is also rising fast.

The previous Conservative government attempted to reform the working age disability welfare system but the cost continued to rise during their time in office.

Last year, Sir Keir Starmer's government tried to reduce the Pip bill by £5bn a year by 2030 by tightening eligibility - but had to do a U-turn after a revolt by Labour MPs.

A recent interim report by the disability minister, Sir Stephen Timms, co-produced with disability groups, accepts that Pip is "not fit for purpose".

The final Timms report is expected to propose reforms to the system later this year, which Burnham could adopt.

There has been speculation this could involve offering young people with mental health problems therapy or other support rather than cash.

But there remains the risk of backlash from disability groups and potentially Labour MPs if the reforms are considered unfair.

Burnham has recently said he does want to reduce the welfare bill, but by encouraging people into work and not through "crude cuts".

Defence: Finding £9bn extra a year

After a delay of almost a year, Starmer finally published the government's Defence Investment Plan in June.

This led to an outcry in some quarters because it only took defence spending to 2.7% of GDP by 2030.

And it was not fully funded, requiring savings to be extracted from other Whitehall departments.

The pressure on Burnham to lift defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 from the former defence secretary John Healey, who resigned over the issue, and the defence establishment will continue.

But this would cost an additional £9bn a year relative to the current plans.

Another challenge for Burnham is the new Nato target of raising defence spending to 3.5% by 2035. That would cost an additional £24bn a year relative to current plans.

Some have suggested this could be paid for by the Treasury issuing special "war bonds", to avoid the need to raise taxes or cut spending elsewhere.

Another challenge for Burnham if he does spend more on defence is reforming defence procurement - buying and developing planes, ships, vehicles and weapons - which has been historically wasteful.

Of 47 major defence investment spending projects only three were rated "green" by the National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority in 2025, meaning likely to be successfully delivered on time and at the right quality.

Social care: Two million older people living with unmet care needs

The social care system in England - which is delivered mainly by independent providers rather than the NHS - is widely perceived as underfunded and unfair.

Public funding is means tested and it is estimated that there are two million older people in England now living with some unmet need for social care.

And around 10% of people aged 65 and over face lifetime care costs above £100,000 for their care.

Burnham has himself described it as a "broken" system.

And he made an attempt to reform it when he was health secretary in Gordon Brown's cabinet, though his plan was abandoned after Labour lost the 2010 election.

A government-commissioned report by the economist Andrew Dilnot in 2011 proposed a state-funded cap on lifetime care costs, of around £35,000, meaning no one would be required to pay more than that to fund their own care.

The principle of a state-funded cap was accepted by Conservative ministers, but the Dilnot system was never implemented.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May put a separate plan for a new system of social care support into the 2017 Tory manifesto, which proposed including the value of a person's home in the means test for care received in an individual's home - and did not initially mention a cap on lifetime contributions.

This proved controversial because homeowners could have been required to contribute more towards their care costs based on the value of their property.

But the former PM was forced to reverse course within days and the proposal was blamed for the loss of the Tory majority in that election.

Labour's 2024 manifesto pledged a new "national care service".

But Starmer kicked the reform can down the road when he became PM and commissioned Baroness Casey to produce a review on options for reform, instructing her to deliver her final report by 2028.

Burnham has suggested he will ask Baroness Casey to report back sooner - by the end of 2026 - and could choose to implement her recommendations.

But any reform is likely to cost money, likely billions of pounds a year.

In the past, Burnham has suggested changing inheritance tax to pay for social care reform, floating the idea of a 10% levy on all estates.

However, polling frequently suggests inheritance tax is widely regarded as the least fair tax. It should be said more recently he has said he is open to getting rid of inheritance tax completely and instead moving to tax "the wealthy properly while they are alive".

Housing: 1.5m new homes promised, only 204,000 delivered last year

The government promised to deliver 1.5m new homes in England over the five years of this Parliament, which would imply an average annual rate of 300,000.

But it is badly off track, with only 204,000 delivered in the 12 months to March 2026.

Burnham has said he wants to deliver "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period", though he has not defined what this means.

But the facts are stark. English councils built just 1,970 homes to rent in 2025, down from a construction rate of almost 200,000 a year in the 1950s.

The Starmer government has already committed to spend around £4bn a year in state subsidies to deliver around 30,000 "social and affordable" homes a year, which includes homes for people to buy.

Burnham could devote all of this money to councils or housing associations to try to increase the amount of new council and social housing being built.

But it is estimated that to deliver major uplift in these forms of housing would require an extra £13bn per year of state subsidy on top of the existing £4bn per year spending commitments.

Burnham could potentially attempt to borrow to fund more public housing, but he would have to ensure this was consistent with the fiscal rules he has also said he will retain.

Neets: Getting a million young people into work

Just over one million young people in the UK aged 16-24 are not in employment, education or training (Neets), around one in seven of the total.

The UK's Neet rate was in the middle of the pack of European Union countries in 2015. But in 2025 it had risen to the second highest, after Romania.

One of the possible contributing factors to that rising Neet rate is that the number of 19- to 24-year-olds starting apprenticeship courses has fallen by a fifth since what is widely regarded as a botched reform of the system in 2016 by the previous government.

A recent government-commissioned report by former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn described the Neet rate as an "urgent national crisis"; he will propose policy recommendations later this year.

Burnham will be able to pick up these proposals, although they might come with an up-front cost attached if they involve greater investment in training opportunities or guaranteed work placements.

Is it possible we will see more support for vocational training?

Burnham has said recently that the school system is too focused on the university route.

But many governments in recent decades have proclaimed a need for a greater focus on support for non-graduates, yet have often still tended to focus more attention and resources on university students and higher education, rather than on vocational qualifications and further education.

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Big fall in oil, gas and cargo ships taking US-backed Hormuz route after new strikes

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c621k5r8764o, 10 days ago

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen steeply after a series of tit-for-tat strikes by the US and Iran following an attack on three tankers earlier this week.

Just 23 tankers and cargo ships crossed the critical Gulf waterway on Wednesday, according to the maritime intelligence firm Kpler, down from 47 from a week before.

The three ships that were struck this week were using a US-recommended route through Omani waters. Iran has repeatedly said the only "safe" route is separate route through its waters.

For decades vessels have been given free passage through the strait, through which more than a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies as well as fertiliser shipments and other vital goods flow.

Before the conflict began an average of 138 ships crossed through the strait each day, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), a multinational maritime group including the US.

After the US and Israel launched its first strikes on Iran on 28 February, this fell to just a handful of ships per day,

Iran effectively closing the strait by attacking ships attempting to cross and laying mines and the US responded with a blockade on all shipping to and from Iranian ports.

A deal to end the war, which was signed on 17 June, included steps to re-open the strait. Washington also agreed to lift its naval blockade and ease sanctions on Iranian oil exports.

Following the agreement overall traffic levels in the strait did initially increase to a peak of 72 ships on 24 June.

What led up to this latest violence?

Throughout its negotiations with the US, Iran has insisted it has the right to control movement through the strait and introduce fees for ships to pass.

The US and its Gulf allies, as well as governments in Europe and Asia, oppose this and say passage through the strait must return to being free and open as it was before the conflict began.

After the deal to end the war, the Iranian government set out a system of lanes through the north of the waterway close to the Iranian coast, which it said all traffic must use.

"The only safe route for the passage of commercial ships and oil tankers in the strait is the route determined by the Islamic Republic of Iran," Iran's top military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, reiterated after this week's ship strikes.

After the deal was signed, the JMIC recommended instead that ships take a different route through Omani waters in the south of the strait.

The number of ships using this Omani route grew to a peak of 28 vessels on 25 June, Kpler's data shows, overtaking the number of transits via the Iranian route.

Then on 25 and 27 June two ships in Omani waters were struck with Iran warning all vessels to only use its approved routes.

President Donald Trump accused Iran of a "foolish violation" of its truce and the US military conducted strikes on Iranian targets.

Iran in turn accused the US of violating their interim deal and said it had struck targets linked to American forces in the region.

The number of ships transiting via the Omani route initially slumped following the strikes, before continuing at a lower level than before.

What has happened to movement now?

The attacks on three ships this week has led to a slump in the number of vessels using the US-recommended Omani route.

All three ships - a Qatar-owned liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, a Saudi-owned crude oil tanker and a Liberia-flagged crude tanker - were crossing the strait close to the Omani route when they were attacked.

After the incidents the number of vessels using the Omani route through the strait has ground to a halt, according to Kpler.

No ships used it on Wednesday, falling from just three ships the day before. The number had averaged about 10 a day in the week before the latest attacks.

Martin Kelly, senior intelligence analyst at security firm EOS Risk Group, believes the current round of strikes will follow a familiar pattern to the last.

"There will now be a bit of back and forth between the US and Iran before they make friends again, shipping will peak and trough cautiously until Iran attacks another ship and the cycle starts again," he said.

What did the US-Iran peace deal say about the Strait of Hormuz?

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Iran and the US on 17 June committed Tehran to use "its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days".

It also said Iran would "conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz".

Tehran said these parts of the deal give it control over the strait but critics noted there was no commitment from Iran to honour free passage on a long-term basis.

"The MOU was vague, particularly on issues surrounding the Strait of Hormuz," said Jennifer Parker, a maritime security expert at the University of New South Wales, "but even on a generous reading, it does not permit Iran to attack civilian shipping in Omani waters."

Concerns about sea mines laid by Iran in the internationally recognised shipping lanes used before the conflict have also played a part in holding traffic back from its pre-war levels.

On Thursday Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement through its affiliated news agency saying that "foreign powers have no claim to this land or to the Strait of Hormuz".

It went on to warn that "any interference in determining shipping routes" would "provoke a crushing response" and "seriously disrupt the gradual reopening process".

Strait reopening a 'challenge' for the US

Speaking at the Nato summit on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said the memorandum of understanding was "over" but negotiations between Iran and the US could continue.

Iran has also accused Washington of violating the agreement after it revoked a US Treasury licence which had temporarily eased sanctions on Iranian oil exports.

"The US had clearly hoped that the generous, some would argue overly generous, financial incentives in the deal would discourage Iran from using shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as leverage. It will now need to rethink that approach," said Parker.

"Neither the promise of economic relief nor the threat of military punishment has, so far, changed Iran's behaviour.

"The challenge remains finding the right balance between the carrot and the stick," she said.

Additional reporting by Joshua Cheetham

Can Andy Burnham solve the housing crisis?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wygjz632qo, 3 days ago

Millions of people are facing unaffordable rents, long waits for social housing, or are priced out of the market when they are ready to buy.

The average house price in England was £300,000 last year - almost eight times average earnings.

The Labour government has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes in England over the course of this Parliament - but it is already falling behind on this target.

Andy Burnham is credited by some people with overseeing a building boom in Manchester as mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, although critics say there remain serious housing problems in the city region.

BBC Verify has looked at the scale of the housing challenge facing Burnham once he becomes PM, and examined whether there is anything we can learn from his record as mayor to see how he might tackle it.

What has Burnham said about housing?

Burnham has said the UK is in the grip of a "housing crisis" and he wants to deliver "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period" - but has not provided details on exactly what this means.

Keir Starmer's government had already pledged £39bn to fund the construction of 300,000 new "social and affordable houses" over the course of 10 years during the 2025 Spending Review, and said this money would "reinvigorate" council housebuilding.

That would equate to around 30,000 new homes a year, but the majority of those were expected to be social housing built by not-for-profit housing associations using government grants.

Council house construction has collapsed across England since the 1980s and much of the stock of local authority homes has been sold off since then under the right-to-buy policy for tenants introduced by the Thatcher government of that era.

In the 1950s, councils were building almost 200,000 new council homes a year. In 2025 that figure was just 1,970 - and only around half of all councils now either own or build homes directly.

If Burnham intends for councils themselves to directly build all the new homes he has promised, they would be required to construct tens of thousands a year, when many have not built any for decades.

It would also probably require a considerable increase in council budgets, allowing them to rebuild their internal teams needed to plan, commission and manage large-scale housebuilding.

If, as some believe likely, Burnham's definition of "council housing" ultimately includes new social housing - delivered by housing associations and made available at social rents - this might be more achievable.

Social rents are typically around half of equivalent local market rents.

How many houses are currently being built in England?

Labour pledged a major step up in overall housebuilding - covering private as well as social housing - when it took power in 2024, pledging to deliver a total of 1.5 million new homes in England over the course of a five-year parliament.

But that implied an average of 300,000 new dwellings each year, a rate of construction not seen in decades.

BBC Verify has been tracking the target using government statistics on the number of Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) issued by each local authority. Each newly created dwelling must have an EPC by law, making it the most timely indicator of new homes being built.

The latest EPC data suggests only 204,000 new homes were delivered in the 12 months to March this year, far short of the required annual building rate to hit Labour's target - and with only around three years remaining until the next general election to meet what was already a very stretching goal.

A BBC Verify tool enables people to see housing delivery in their own local authority area by entering their postcode.

What did Burnham achieve on housing in Manchester?

Burnham's record on delivering new housing in the Greater Manchester city region - which encompasses boroughs from Wigan to Stockport - during his time as mayor was not extraordinary compared with other city regions in England.

There were 3.8 new homes built per 1,000 people between 2018 and 2025 - a lower rate than Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (5.6), the East Midlands (4.3), Greater London (4.2), and the West of England (4.2).

But the housing delivery rate in the city of Manchester itself during that time was more impressive. The city added 5.3 homes per 1,000 people, more than any other highly populated local authority area in England.

Burnham inherited a housing policy in Manchester's city centre that stemmed from a 1990s regeneration project encouraging private property developers to invest in the area.

Property developers in London have long been required to provide a considerable proportion of social rent housing on new projects. But in Manchester there was generally less emphasis on developers being required to do this.

In his 2024 mayoral manifesto, Burnham promised to deliver 10,000 new council homes across Greater Manchester by 2028.

But the number of council homes across the 10 boroughs of the city region fell slightly, from around 61,000 in 2016 to 59,000 in 2025, although the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has said national policy has been partly responsible for this record, particularly right-to-buy.

The delivery of new social rent housing increased in Greater Manchester during his tenure, rising from 76 in 2017-18 to 633 in 2024-25, and rose faster than in other northern English city regions.

What problems could he face as PM?

Analysts say the Starmer government's planning reforms for England - including changing the rules on green belt development to increase the area homes can be built on - should help increase construction in the long term.

But some argue that, in the immediate term, housing construction by private sector developers is being held back by high house prices relative to average household incomes and elevated mortgage interest rates, which make housing unaffordable to many prospective buyers.

The average house price in England was estimated at £300,000 in 2025, almost eight times the average annual earnings of a full-time employee.

Private housing developers have also cited factors such as a shortage of skilled labourers from Europe since Brexit and a jump in construction material costs in the wake of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as barriers to delivery.

Some argue government environmental and safety regulation is also holding back construction.

One option for Burnham to increase the supply of new social housing would be to prioritise the construction of homes for rent by councils and housing associations and direct the entire £39 billion, 10-year investment package towards that goal, rather than using part of it to subsidise the building of affordable homes for purchase.

But it's estimated that to deliver a major uplift in these forms of housing would require an extra £13bn per year of state subsidy on top of the existing commitments.

Burnham also said in a speech on 29 June that "we will use public land, vacant public land, to reduce costs".

Housing analysts believe there is potential to use publicly owned land to increase the delivery of housing, but some warn previous governments also attempted to do this without significant success and that there are inherent constraints which are challenging to overcome, such as the fact that the land might be part of a school's grounds or be too small and costly to develop.

Analysts argue that, though there is a case for higher state investment in council and social housing on a national scale, the UK still also needs a massive step-up in the construction of private housing - and that if Burnham is to have a chance of dealing with the housing crisis as prime minister he will need to deliver on the this front too.

Additional reporting by Daniel Wainwright

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How a rise in ADHD benefits claims is adding to welfare spending challenge

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24ym9yd8p6o, 10 days ago

Andy Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister in a matter of weeks, has said he wants to get the UK's benefits bill down by encouraging more people into work.

The total bill for working age sickness and disability benefits has been increasing rapidly since 2020. It currently stands at £58bn and has been projected to rise to £78bn by 2030, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

More than 100,000 people with ADHD as their main condition now receive Personal Independence Payments (Pip), the latest government figures show, an increase of 40% in these cases since Labour came to power two years ago.

It comes as an interim report into Pip by Disability Minister Sir Stephen Timms says it is "not fit for purpose" and argues a sweeping overhaul of the assessment system is needed.

BBC Verify has been looking into the official figures around Pip claims and the wider numbers on the working-age welfare bill.

What's happening to Pip claims?

Pip is the working age benefit which helps individuals deal with the extra costs of having a physical or mental health condition or disability.

It was introduced in 2013 as a replacement for Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

You do not have to be out of work to claim Pip and it does not come with requirements to seek work.

People currently receive between £1,580 and £10,120 per year depending on the severity of their condition.

Official figures show total Pip claims in England and Wales now stand at 4 million, up from 3.6 million when Labour took power, an increase of around 400,000.

The overall rise in claimants continues an earlier upward trend that was clear under the previous Conservative government.

A growing share of new Pip claims since the 2020 pandemic have been related to mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions, with the share of total claims related to ADHD, autism, depression or anxiety rising from around 16.5% in 2020 to 24% in 2026.

What about ADHD?

The latest official statistics show the number of people claiming Pip with ADHD as their main condition was around 100,000 in April.

Just over half of these were aged 16 to 24.

That is up from around 70,000 when Labour took office in July 2024, an increase of 30,000 over that time.

An initial independent review for the Department of Health and Social Care this year found that the increase in people diagnosed with ADHD was likely due to a combination of factors from an improved recognition of the condition to more people seeking help and changing expectations of support.

It also stated that "where access to support is closely linked to diagnosis, demand for diagnostic assessment may increase".

How much is it costing?

Pip is the fastest growing part of the total working age sickness and disability bill, which was £58 billion in 2025.

That's roughly the same size as the budget for schools in England, which will be £66bn in 2027.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, the official forecaster, expects the total sickness and disability bill - which includes Pip and the health-related element of Universal Credit - to rise to £78 billion in cash terms by 2030.

What about overall welfare?

The overall share of GDP spent on all non-pensioner welfare has actually fallen since 2010.

This decline reflects real-terms cuts to working-age benefits during the austerity years after the 2010 general election, including cuts to housing benefit and to elements of Universal Credit.

The OBR projects that this overall non-pensioner welfare bill as a share of GDP will remain broadly steady in the coming years rather than increasing sharply.

Some policy analysts argue that cuts to the welfare system since 2010 may have created a counterproductive incentive for people to claim sickness and disability benefits instead of other forms of support.

The previous Conservative government said it was necessary to cut welfare spending to help reduce the budget deficit.

Many experts agree that reform of parts of the working age welfare system is needed, but warn that is important to bear the overall context in mind too.

A government spokesperson said: "We inherited a broken welfare system and we are fixing it - a package of measures already coming into effect will save nearly £2 billion by the end of the decade, and the Timms Review, working with disabled people and their representative organisations, is looking at how to make Pip fit and fair for the future."

Has your area gone football-mad? We've mapped World Cup viewing

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9gxwynrlwo, 10 days ago

Fans have cheered and despaired at the World Cup's most exciting - and nail-biting - moments in pubs, watch parties and sitting rooms across the country. But some places have embraced it more than others.

We've analysed BBC iPlayer viewing figures to see where the tournament has been most popular. The figures cover all World Cup content on iPlayer - including live matches, highlights and analysis programmes - but do not include games shown exclusively on ITV.

The map of postcode areas below shows the proportion of signed-in iPlayer users who watched BBC World Cup content between 11 June and 7 July. The darker the green, the higher the level of interest.

London has been the tournament's viewing capital, with 13 of the top 14 postcode areas for iPlayer viewing located in and around the city.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of UK iPlayer accounts have streamed at least some of the World Cup, but this rises to almost 80% in the leading areas of Southall, Ilford and East London.

Outside London, Manchester is the highest-ranked postcode district, followed by Luton, Oldham and Birmingham.

But matches involving England and Scotland have consistently divided audiences either side of the border.

Scottish households have been less likely to switch on for England matches than households in Wales and Northern Ireland, despite both nations having failed to qualify for the tournament.

The pattern was mirrored in England. Neither of Scotland's two BBC matches - against Haiti and Brazil - made the top five most-watched group-stage games among English postcodes.

England's dramatic 3-2 win over Mexico kicked off at 02:00 BST on Monday morning and broke TV records for a live broadcast at that time.

But unlike other games, people in London's eight inner postcode areas did not tune in live or catch up in the same numbers as the rest of the country.

Blackburn, Oldham, Bolton, Birmingham, Bradford, Sunderland and Wolverhampton all entered the top 10 instead, while some London areas barely made the top 100.

Aside from home nations' matches, kick-off times and star players have had a significant influence on audience size.

France's opener against Senegal, which benefitted from a primetime slot (20:00 BST) and featured Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, drew the second-biggest group stage audience across the UK, behind England-Ghana.

Portugal's meeting with DR Congo and Argentina's clash with Austria were also among the most-watched, helped by their early start times (18:00 BST) and the superstar appeal of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The least popular matches have generally involved smaller nations and been scheduled at midnight (00:00 BST) or later.

There are also clear signs of club loyalty in certain areas.

For example, of the 50 matches broadcast by the BBC up to the Round of 16, Manchester ranked highest relative to other areas for Portugal v DR Congo and Norway's meetings with Ivory Coast and Iraq.

Portugal's squad includes past Manchester United legend Ronaldo and current club captain Bruno Fernandes, while Norway are spearheaded by Manchester City's Erling Haaland.

It's a similar story in Liverpool, which was outside the top 40 for overall engagement but rose inside the top 10 for Belgium v Egypt and Netherlands' games against Tunisia and Sweden.

Egyptian Mo Salah recently signed off on a hugely successful nine years at Liverpool, and the Dutch squad includes three Reds' regulars including captain Virgil van Dijk.

But perhaps the biggest show of club support came in Sunderland, which ranked as the number one postcode area tuning into Tunisia v Netherlands - possibly a result of striker Brian Brobbey breaking into the Dutch team.

How we analysed viewing figures

The figures cover BBC iPlayer streaming from 11 June to 7 July.

Percentages refer to the number of signed-in UK users who streamed any World Cup content (or a specified match), as a share of the number of users who streamed any iPlayer programme during the tournament.

World Cup content includes full matches, highlights, analysis, and other programmes such as visual podcasts and radio streams. Full matches broadcast on ITV are not included.

A stream must last longer than three seconds to be included.

Signed-in accounts make up for the vast majority of iPlayer streaming, but anyone watching on live TV will not be included.

According to last year's Ofcom report on the BBC, TV reached around twice as many UK adults as iPlayer in 2024-25.

Around one in six signed-in iPlayer accounts have no postcode attached to them so are excluded from the maps. Many of these will be children.

Additional reporting by Jess Carr