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Germany's AfD is heading for a big victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, far ahead of its mainstream rivals, exit polls say. It is not yet clear if that would be enough to take power in the state but the AfD says it has won a mandate to govern.

The far-right party is projected to win 44-44.5% of the vote, far ahead of the conservative CDU on 18.5%.

The AfD has hailed the result as a "historic outcome" and the charismatic leader in the state, Ulrich Siegmund, has refused to rule with any other party.

No far-right party has won control of a state in Germany since World War Two, and governing at state level would mean powers over policing, local education and culture.

Saxony-Anhalt has a small population of 2.1 million and the AfD in the state is assessed by domestic intelligence as "far-right extremist", a classification rejected by Siegmund.

The AfD's projected result is higher than earlier opinion polls suggested, but it will depend on which of the smaller parties get into the state parliament before the party's leaders know if they have enough seats to govern.

That may hinge on whether one of the smaller parties gets over the required threshold of 5%. If it fails, then the AfD's chances of a majority increase.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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Five dead after Amazon cargo plane crashes at Miami airport

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0e3p1j7n3ro, today

An Amazon Air cargo plane overshot the runway while attempting to land at Miami International Airport, killing five people and seriously injuring five more.

The Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft crashed just before 14:00 local time (19:00 GMT) after departing from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The flight also hit several vehicles on the ground.

Amazon said that it is "working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened".

All flights were ordered grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as fire crews raced to the smoking crash site. The crash comes over Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest travel times of the year.

"At least five people have lost their lives, and five others are injured," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a news conference on Sunday evening.

She added that rescue crews arrived at the scene within "seconds" of the crash.

"Right now, our focus is on the families, those who were injured, and the ongoing response," she continued.

Three of the five people injured are in critical condition, said Miami Fire Chief Raied Jadallah. The mayor said they were all taken to hospital with "unknown injuries".

Several of the injured were trapped inside or under vehicles on the ground, and needed to be extricated by fire and rescue crews, said Jadallah.

Officials say it is too early to know the cause of the crash, and that it will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. The federal agency, which investigates all air crashes in the US, plans to hold a news conference on Monday.

The Amazon flight operated by 21 Air, a charter company based in North Carolina, "overran Miami International Airport's diagonal runway and is disabled at the northwest end of the airport," the airport said in a statement.

Miami Dade Fire Rescue said crews "arrived to find an airplane that had caught on fire as a result of this crash, with heavy flames and smoke showing".

Over 200 firefighters responded to the crash. The flames were extinguished, but there is still a fuel leak at the site, said Jadallah.

Amazon issued a statement saying that it is working closely with authorities and offering condolences to the victims.

"We're heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today's incident at Miami International Airport," said Kelly Nantel, Amazon's Director of Corporate Global Media Relations.

"Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss.

"The airplane, which was operated by 21 Air, was attempting to land when this incident occurred. We're working closely with local authorities and officials to learn more and will cooperate fully with any investigation."

The BBC has emailed 21 Air about the incident, but has not received a response.

Flight data from tracking site FlightRadar24 shows that the Amazon cargo flight was travelling at 112 knots (129mph, 207km/h) as it exited the "useable runway".

In a blog post, the site says the plane came to rest near a parking lot that services an Amazon warehouse and other businesses.

There were light thunderstorms and gusting winds in Miami at the time of the incident, the site says.

The crash comes during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year in the US.

The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) predicted 17 million travellers at US airports in the week leading up to Monday's Labor Day holiday.

The TSA, which screens passengers flying in the US, predicted that 2.3 million people would fly on Sunday alone.

Miami International Airport (MIA) is located near downtown Miami, and is one of the busiest airports in the country.

"Founded in 1928, MIA is America's busiest airport for international freight and second busiest for international passengers, offers more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other US airport," according to their website.

About 60% of all international visitors to Florida arrive at this airport, it says.

Jamaica to bring slavery reparations petition to King Charles

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

The Jamaican government will hand a petition to King Charles over slavery reparations on Monday, the country's culture minister Olivia Grange has said.

It will ask the King, who serves as Jamaica's head of state, to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the country's highest court, over the legality of the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica.

Grange said it could pave the way for a "long outstanding settlement for the hundreds of years of the most horrific abuse that our African ancestors endured".

She will also meet with British Museum officials to discuss the repatriation of artefacts taken during the colonial era.

The three questions which the Jamaican government is asking the King to refer to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Court are: whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was legal under English law, whether it broke international law, and whether Britain now has a legal duty to provide redress.

The petition is not a demand for payment.

Grange said: "Once we get the answers, or once we get a response to those questions, then the next steps will be determined."

Buckingham Palace has been working closely with the Governor General to ensure the petition is correctly lodged.

A Palace spokesperson said: "His Majesty has on many occasions expressed his personal and wholehearted commitment to promoting greater understanding around the issue of slavery and finding ways to address historic wrongs for the benefit of communities today."

When slavery was abolished across most of the empire in 1833, the British government paid £20 million to slave owners in compensation. The loans taken out to raise the money were paid off in 2015.

Grange said: "Up to 2015, Britain was paying the slave masters, because we were being considered property.

"The question really should be: if in modern times we're still paying back the slave masters for the property that was our people, our ancestors, for property that was because of the abolition of slavery, then why shouldn't we be pursuing some remedy at this time?"

Grange will also meet with British Museum officials to "advance discussions on the repatriation of artefacts" taken from Jamaica during the colonial era.

She said: "They are priceless, they are significant to the story of Jamaica and we are working to bring them home."

In 2015, David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time, ruled out making reparations for Britain's role in the historic slave trade, while visiting Jamaica.

Speaking to MPs in Jamaica's parliament, Cameron said slavery was "abhorrent in all its forms". He added that he hoped they could "move on from this painful legacy and continue to build for the future".

Dozens feared trapped in collapsed building in Delhi

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r6ezx1jmro, today

A residential building in the Indian capital Delhi has collapsed with dozens of students feared trapped inside.

Eyewitnesses told local media that as many as 50 people were inside the five-storey building in the Satya Niketan neighbourhood of south-west Delhi when it came down around 13:30 local time (08:00 GMT) on Sunday.

At least one person was killed and two others are in a critical condition, NDTV reports, citing local police. Six people were said to have been rescued so far.

There had been construction work going on in the basement of the building, Hostel Daze, which sits a short distance from the Delhi University campus.

Many of the students staying there were thought to be in their rooms at the time of the collapse as there were no lessons on Sunday.

A legislative assembly member said at the scene that some of the trapped students had been making calls from under the rubble.

Eyewitnesses told local media that another building beside the hostel had also collapsed.

Chief Minister of Delhi Rekha Gupta said an adjacent building had been evacuated "as a precautionary measure".

"Every possible effort is being made to safely rescue those trapped," she added.

Delhi Police said the building had only been 40 or 50 years old.

The owner of a nearby shop told news agency ANI that it was under a 100-year lease and that the leaseholder had undertaken excavation work in the basement to increase their income.

"They strengthened the upper building, but the pillars below were weak," he said, noting that the construction workers had also been buried.

The National Students' Union of India called on the government to investigate the cause of the collapse and hold anyone found responsible to account.

"Negligence with the safety of students and common people will not be tolerated at any cost," it said.

Police are searching for the owner of the building, Times of India reports.

US envoys set for Ukraine talks after meeting Putin in Moscow

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6248nvqy8po, today

Two US envoys are hoping for "equally productive meetings" in Ukraine after holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on ending the war, US officials say.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to land in Kyiv on Sunday, having "discussed substantive plans for next steps" with Putin on Saturday, according to the White House.

It is not yet clear exactly what they are, but an announcement is expected in the coming weeks, as efforts to end the war in Ukraine gather pace.

It will be to the first trip by US President Donald Trump's top negotiators to Ukraine's capital. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to halt strikes on each other's capitals for three days.

As Witkoff and Kushner were negotiating at the Kremlin, Zelensky said he was ready for "a substantive conversation".

Saturday's talks in Moscow lasted three hours and were held behind closed doors in Putin's official residence in the heart of the Russian capital, according to Russian state media.

Details are still emerging, but both sides have given broadly positive remarks without going into specifics.

Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as "constructive, extremely frank".

"The talks were not limited to an exchange of views on resolving the Ukrainian crisis - economic issues and potential major, mutually beneficial Russian-American projects were discussed in considerable detail," he said.

Ushakov also said "note was made of the Russian army's tangible advances in the combat zone" and that there was acknowledgement that talks needed to address "the root causes of the conflict".

Despite an escalation of Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Russian ground forces have made very slow advances for most of the conflict, incurring enormous casualties. Russia still controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory - areas that it seized back in 2022.

Kushner and Witkoff have visited Russia several times but given Ukraine's airspace has been closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, it is not clear how they will be travelling to Kyiv from Moscow.

The talks come after Russia and Ukraine have intensified aerial attacks in recent months.

Ukraine says it has struggled to repel ballistic missile attacks due to a lack of interceptor missiles, while Kyiv has focused its strikes on Russian economic infrastructure targets, notably oil installations.

Peace talks rich in symbolism but fundamental differences between Russia and Ukraine remain

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c980j5m8mpro, today

The talks in Kyiv were rich in symbolism. The sight of Donald Trump's envoys setting foot on Ukrainian soil for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion.

The fact they had to travel by train because they could not risk flying and running the gauntlet of Russian drones - weapons launched on the orders of the man at whose table they sat in the Kremlin only hours ago.

The symbolism of Ukrainian President Zelensky greeting Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at Kyiv's Saint Sophia Cathedral, not only an icon of Ukraine's ancient history, but also just a few yards from where Russian drones hit the headquarters of the country's security services on Friday.

You did not have to join too many dots to work out the point Zelensky was making.

Both sides held talks for several hours; they were later joined by some European national security advisers, including the UK's National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell.

And afterwards, all sides spoke warmly of having held substantive discussions. They spoke hopefully of reviving past "trilateral talks" involving both the US and Europe.

But fundamental differences remain. The US envoys had come hot foot from Moscow where Vladimir Putin had told them Russia was making "tangible advances" on the battlefield.

The story they heard from Ukraine was different, in fact the opposite. Ukrainian officials claim that in August they gained more territory than they lost and Russia suffered 42,000 casualties, dead or wounded.

Putin had also told the US envoys the root causes of the conflict had to be addressed, shorthand for his longstanding strategic demands that Ukraine cede territory, abandon hopes of joining Nato and reduce the size of its army.

After the talks, Zelensky insisted Ukraine would require "strong and clear" security guarantees, including a strong army. Nor did he give any sign of being willing to give up any territory in the eastern Donbas region, an issue he described dryly as "difficult".

Witkoff insisted progress had been made and the ingredients for a settlement were there.

But he admitted both sides would have to make compromises to narrow the differences between them. And right now, it is hard to see either side doing that.

So for now, the expectation in Kyiv is that the fighting will continue and they will face a hard winter ahead.

Some diplomats talk of a window of opportunity for a possible settlement next spring. Others are less optimistic.

Zelensky thanked the US envoys for their visit because the short-term pause in air strikes agreed by both sides had given the people of Kyiv a brief respite. Few expect it to last for long.

Volcano eruption triggers flight suspensions at Indonesia's main airport

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgy5k4n07ko, today

A volcanic eruption has halted hundreds of flights at Indonesia's main international airport, stranding tens of thousands of passengers.

Authorities said 209 flights were suspended after ash from Mount Anak Krakatoa was detected in airspace near Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sunday morning.

The volcano had started erupting late on Friday night, generating continuous seismic activity, lava fountains, and booming sounds across surrounding regions. Two more eruptions happened early on Sunday, authorities said.

More than 22,000 people have been impacted by the suspension of flights, which has been extended until 13:30 (0630 GMT).

The transport ministry said the pause in operations mainly affected flights to and from Singapore, also other international routes including Doha, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur.

Authorities have confirmed there is no tsunami warning linked to the recent activity of the volcano, which is in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra.

The health minister has urged residents in affected areas to stay indoors and wear face masks to protect against respiratory, eye, and skin risks.

Anak Krakatoa, which means Child of Krakatoa, has been sporadically active since it emerged from the sea at the beginning of last century in the caldera formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where there is high volcanic and seismic activity.

The volunteers risking their lives to defuse Indonesia's wildfire 'carbon bombs'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kx4lgy4z4o, today

The sky grows heavy in Borneo, though not with rain. The air, amber-hued and treacle-thick, is smudged under a blanket of smog that has spilled across international borders – to Singapore, Manila, Kuala Lumpur.

Down on the ground, smoke steams from the soil.

It's like tear gas, says Dwi Sujatmoko.

"It hits your nose straight away, your eyes burn – that's more or less what it's like," he says. "People say these fires are extraordinary because of the flames and the smoke. And they're right."

The 35-year-old volunteer firefighter has spent more than a month enveloped in this haze, breathing toxic millennia-old microparticles of carbon as he toils against a seemingly inextinguishable fire front.

Using hand tools, carts and portable fire pumps, he and thousands of other volunteer firefighters – many of them indigenous Dayak or Banjar people – are up against an inferno that has carbonised some 200,000 hectares of forest and farmland across Indonesian Borneo since early July.

Underground and out of sight, giant subterranean peat fires continue to smoulder, choking the air with poisonous fumes.

"Once a fire becomes uncontrolled, it harms many people. Not just humans, but also animals and plants," Sujatmoko says. "If underground fire spreads and can no longer be controlled, the losses are enormous."

Indonesia is in the throes of a wildfire catastrophe.

Amid a so-called "Super El Niño" that has supercharged local drought conditions, thousands of active fire hotspots are spreading and multiplying across the country, fuelling a transnational haze crisis that is the region's worst in more than a decade.

But what makes Borneo's fires particularly worrying is the fact that they are burning through one of the world's largest tropical peatland ecosystems.

This 4.5-million-hectare swathe of forest and swamp, under normal conditions, serves as a valuable reservoir for ancient carbon.

When these peatlands catch fire, they risk releasing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane into the atmosphere – a "pulse" of greenhouse gas emissions that has earned them the sobriquet of "carbon bomb".

"Peatlands are incredibly effective carbon stores because their waterlogged conditions slow decomposition, allowing carbon to accumulate underground for thousands of years," explains Dr Nisa Novita, a peatland researcher at Indonesian conservation NGO Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN).

"But this also means they can become a 'carbon bomb' when they are drained or burned, because that carbon can be rapidly released into the atmosphere.

"Tropical peatlands in Indonesia are among the world's most effective natural carbon stores. The deeper the peat, the greater the carbon stock – and in Kalimantan, we have found peat deposits that can exceed 20 metres in depth."

A peatland that deep has been known to harbour more than 6,000 tonnes of carbon – roughly equivalent to the annual CO₂ emissions of 4,800 cars – per hectare. And when it burns, says Dr Nisa, that fossilised carbon can be released into the atmosphere "very rapidly".

The toxic cloud

Thousands of people across South East Asia are now feeling the effects of those emissions in their eyes, chests and throats.

Across Indonesia as well as Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, air pollution indices have soared to "unhealthy" extremes - almost 75 times the World Health Organization's recommended level, in some cases – and hospital admissions have surged.

Between July and August, Indonesia's Health Ministry recorded over 50,000 cases of respiratory infections linked to land and forest fires. More than 12,000 of them were children under the age of five.

"Everybody who's living within that pollution cloud is breathing in the products of those smouldering peat fires," says Susan Page, a professor at the University of Leicester's school of geology and the environment, who's been researching peatlands in Asia for three decades.

"They're breathing in carbon monoxide, which is toxic, and they're breathing in the very finely divided particulate matter... [which] can pass through the alveoli in the lungs into the bloodstream and cause further problems elsewhere in the body, including issues with the heart.

"Living in this kind of pollution cloud is extremely unhealthy."

Nowhere are these health impacts being felt more acutely than at the coalface of the disaster: the fire front.

Here, volunteer firefighters have been risking their lives and lungs to extinguish burning peatlands which are notoriously difficult to put out. Two volunteers in Central Kalimantan have died in recent days, reportedly after their health deteriorated from putting out fires.

Cloaked in toxic haze that can burn years off a person's lifespan, volunteers have been digging ponds, canals and borewells through bone-dry peat in a desperate attempt to keep their hoses tapped.

Some have been driving pipes into the earth, making ad hoc irrigation systems to combat subterranean fires. Others have been sleeping within a stone's throw of the frontline so they can battle the blazes through the night.

"The worst thing here has been the smoke," says Fahrin Ramadhianto, a volunteer firefighter in South Kalimantan's Banjarbaru, one of the worst-hit areas.

"The smell is like decaying wood being burned – that's the characteristic smell of peat. And that peat contains decomposed wood and organic material from many different sources."

An unnatural imbalance

Indonesia's peatland fires are not a new phenomenon.

Experts say the crisis is rooted in decades of land-use change, dating back to the Suharto era, when vast areas of rainforest and peatland in Kalimantan were opened for logging, plantations and large-scale development projects.

Yet authorities have historically avoided blaming industrial actors for causing large-scale fires.

Instead, the same indigenous communities who are now engaged in firefighting operations across the island have often been accused of triggering the blazes, due to traditional farming methods that use controlled burns to clear away vegetation.

Tono, a representative of the Dayak Kanayatn people of West Kalimantan, told the BBC that Dayak communities are frequently used as scapegoats, despite carrying out land clearing with extensive planning, caution and adherence to multi-generational customs.

Tono says these communities' traditional practices, known as uma bukit or "hill farming", are rooted in the idea of maintaining balance with nature.

But the natural balance is fast unravelling in Kalimantan, the most deforested area in Indonesia.

The region lost almost 160,000 hectares of forest area in 2025, more than one-third of the nationwide figure – much of it to make way for plantations and monocrop agriculture.

It is these same industrial-scale development projects that have been largely responsible for draining the area's peat swamps, which renders them significantly more fire-prone, Prof Page says.

"Peatlands aren't really the ideal place to set up a plantation – but of course, once the more suitable mineral soils had been exhausted it became possible, by using large machinery, to drain the peatlands and create conditions which would be dry enough," she says.

"So not only have you got the deforestation, but peatland drainage of course has also greatly increased the fire risk."

Page also points out that, whether on fire or not, a drained peatland emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere "all of the time".

"I think that's forgotten," she says. "I think it's important to recognise that when we see the fires, they're like a dramatic example of what is actually going on the whole time in a drained peatland... The fires are just the worst expression of [that]."

Now, as these latest fires continue to spiral out of control, Sujatmoko and others face a concatenation of difficulties in the coming days, weeks and months – not least of which is a shortage of water.

Fighting peat fires requires saturating the ground so thoroughly that it becomes "like porridge", Sujatmoko explains.

Even then there is a high chance the fire will reappear, like a smoking revenant, fed by hidden fuel buried in the invisible depths of the peat swamp.

In the face of these persistent reignitions, ongoing drought conditions and toxic smog, fatigue is another concern.

"We're definitely tired," says Sujatmoko.

"We get exhausted, we miss our families, our children, our wives. But for now, all of us are putting those things aside. We're doing everything we can to help deal with this haze disaster because it's our duty."

"We also hope rain comes soon," he adds. "We've spent months away from home... May all the efforts of those on the front lines be a blessing for everyone."

Additional reporting by Faisal Irfani from BBC Indonesian.

Austria's Islamic headscarf ban in force as under-14s go back to school

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyz74xn8q8o, today

As the new school year begins in Austria, a law banning headscarves in schools for girls under 14 has gone into force.

The law forbids "traditional Muslim" head coverings, such as hijabs or burkas, in public and private schools across the country.

Integration Minister Claudia Bauer, from the conservative People's Party (ÖVP), says the headscarf is "a sign of oppression and a means of controlling girls from the earliest childhood".

But critics say the new law is fuelling anti-Muslim feeling in the country and could be unconstitutional.

The law was brought in by the conservative-led coalition of three centrist parties, the ÖVP, the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos. They say the law is a "clear commitment to gender equality" and is intended to protect the rights of young girls.

Carla Amina Baghajati, from the official Islamic Community in Austria (IGGÖ), told the BBC that the organisation "firmly opposes the ban".

"We believe it unjustifiably restricts the fundamental right to freedom of religion and disproportionately affects Muslim girls," she said.

"Rather than protecting children, it singles out a specific religious practice and risks excluding the very children it claims to support."

The IGGÖ said it would support legal challenges by girls and their families "who believe that their fundamental rights are being infringed" and who wished to bring their cases before the Constitutional Court.

The court struck down a previous ban on headscarves in primary schools in 2020 on the basis that it contravened the principle of Austria's religious neutrality.

Teachers are expected to enforce the new ban if they see a child wearing a headscarf by holding a series of talks with the student and their legal guardians.

If there are repeated violations, child services must be notified and as a last resort, guardians could face fines of up to €800 (£685).

Some teachers have expressed concerns about having to enforce the ban.

The Green Party's Sigi Maurer accused Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr, from the liberal NEOS, of "creating new conflicts and offloading them onto the teachers".

She said teachers were "already under enormous strain" and that Wiederkehr wanted to "foist the role of police officers onto them" on top of their other duties.

The opposition far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) says the current ban doesn't go far enough. It is calling for a general prohibition on headscarves and face coverings in schools for students and teachers alike.

The FPÖ's Ricarda Berger said there was "no place for political Islam in Austria, and certainly not in our schools".

Austria's Chancellor Christian Stocker, leader of the ÖVP, recently called for a constitutional ban on political Islam, telling Austrian public broadcaster ORF he did not "want to live in an Islamic state".

In France there has been a ban on wearing any conspicuous religious symbols, including headscarves, turbans and kippas, in schools for more than 20 years.

The Austrian law differs from French legislation in that it specifically targets head coverings worn by Muslim women.

Austria, like several other European countries including France, Belgium and Denmark, bans the full face veil (niqabs or burkas) in public.

Baghajati said the IGGÖ was concerned about "a troubling trend" across Europe "in which complex social challenges are reduced to symbolic measures aimed at minority groups."

"Such approaches may generate political attention, but they rarely solve the underlying problems," she said.

BBC News presenter reveals she has blood cancer

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2zkyl7kwyo, today

BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has revealed she is living with blood cancer.

Moshiri, who joined the BBC in 2003 and is one of the news channel's best-known anchors, told the BBC she wanted to share her diagnosis to raise awareness about the disease.

"It's been two years since my diagnosis and I've felt that I've started to understand the disease a lot better and the way it affects my life. I've got a handle on it to a degree now, so I felt it was really important to raise awareness," the 49-year-old said.

"I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life being treated for this," she added.

Moshiri was diagnosed in November 2024 with polycythaemia vera (PV) - a rare, treatable blood cancer. Although it cannot be cured, it can be managed effectively.

In PV, your body makes too many red blood cells, which makes the blood thicker than normal.

It leads to a higher risk of developing blood clots, which can cause a stroke, heart attack or deep vain thrombosis (DVT).

Symptoms can include headaches, confusion, dizziness and blurred vision.

"I was told by my consultant that I have this incurable blood cancer," she said.

"Mostly I had no symptoms and that's one of the problems with this disease.

"The only reason mine was caught was because my GP was so fastidious in the way she did my routine blood tests and immediately sent them for further diagnosis."

As part of her initial treatment, the BBC News chief presenter underwent several "debilitating" hour-long sessions of venesections.

Venesection is a procedure where a needle is put into a vein in the arm to slowly draw the blood out.

This blood letting can be an effective way to reduce the thickness of the blood.

"In about a space of five months, I had venesection seven or eight times. So you can imagine my iron levels hit the floor and I felt even more exhausted," she said.

"After a while I started feeling extremely unwell and tired. I started losing my hair, I got itchy all over my body, but the main symptom was fatigue."

Later, Moshiri was able to get on an immunotherapy treatment called interferon through the NHS, and after some tweaks, she says she is in a better place.

"I've only needed one venosection in about 15 months, so that's been really good. The last couple of months have been better than the last two years," she said.

"I think it's really important people understand that this blood cancer is incurable but it's manageable with the right treatment and you can lead a relatively healthy life.

"It's just a question of finding the right treatment and making sure it works for you."

She admits she is "not the person I was two years ago" but says she feels "much better".

In a few cases, PV can develop into another type of blood cancer called myelofibrosis, and even more rarely can develop into a type of leukaemia called acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), according to charity Blood Cancer UK which funds research into blood cancers.

The mother-of-three said she has had to adjust to life with her condition, sometimes not being able to attend family occasions or play with her children because she is exhausted.

"It's the kind of fatigue that is not like I'm just tired and I didn't get a good night's sleep, you feel like someone has removed your battery completely, and however much sleep you get makes no difference," she explains.

"Even though I feel the best I have in two years, I don't know how I'm going to be in six months, one year, two years.

"People with PV have a higher chance of stroke, heart attack or FVT, so it's something I always have be aware of and make sure I mitigate."

Despite the fatigue, Moshiri has continued to travel across the world covering the biggest stories over the last two years for the BBC, anchoring from Qatar at the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, covering the selection of the new Pope from the Vatican and travelling to Greenland for Vice-President JD Vance's visit.

She credits her "supportive and helpful" husband Jonathan, management at the BBC and her children Iris, 13, Vivienne, 11 and Caspian, 9.

"It took me a long time to be able to tell them about this illness, because I don't want to worry them, but they have been so understanding. When I say things like 'mummy is to tired to play with you', they get it and they don't push it," she said.

Helen Rowntree, chief executive of Blood Cancer UK, said: "We're so grateful to Maryam for bravely sharing her story. When public figures speak openly about their diagnosis, it cuts through the silence that so often surrounds blood cancer – the UK's fifth most common cancer and third biggest cancer killer."

Rowntree said blood cancer can feel like a "silent" cancer as patients can present with vague, hard to spot symptoms, and highlighted that many with the disease manage their illness, treatment and side-effects alongside work and family life.

"We urgently need continued public and government support to fund the next generation of kinder, more effective treatments with fewer side-effects – so that more people with blood cancer can live well, spend less time dealing with the impact of treatment and be there for the moments that matter," she added.

"There is a lot of research going into blood cancer and scientific advancement to look forward to. Hopefully they'll be some sort of advancement that will help even more than these medications I've been given," Moshiri added.

Majority Russian-speaking city in Ukraine considers language ban in the arts

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33kzvgn8pyo, yesterday

Ukraine's third-biggest city Odesa will decide this week whether to back a controversial plan to ban the Russian language in the arts.

The proposal being considered by councillors in Odesa on the Black Sea coast aims to add to existing restrictions on Russian imposed by national legislation.

It is particularly significant because Odesa is overwhelmingly Russian-speaking, although the ban would only affect public spaces and everyday usage of Russian would remain unaffected.

For millions of Ukrainians, Russian is their first language including many of the troops defending the country in its war with Russia. But Ukrainian is the only state language and spoken by the majority, and some see Russian as a tool of Russian influence.

The proposal in Odesa, which is targeted daily by Russian drone and missile strikes, calls for a complete halt to Russian-language content in music and literature, in streets, parks, public institutions and state-run arts and entertainment venues. It would also recommend a ban in privately owned spaces.

In a city famous for Russian-language writers and musicians, it has provoked strong passions.

The ban would extend in public spaces to old Odesa songs almost universally known throughout the former Soviet Union. All Russian-language books would be removed from display in public libraries. Currently, they can be shown, but not prominently.

"The Russian language is a weapon of Russia, and we need to try to fix that," says Odesa lawyer Artem Kartashov, who has advised local authorities on an official programme to "decolonise" the city of its historic Russian legacy.

"With Russian-speaking music and other things, Russians try to deconstruct Ukrainian identity and influence especially young people, because they grow up in a Russian-speaking environment."

But comic actor Borys Barsky, one of Odesa's best-known entertainers, says: "Russian isn't [only] the language of Putin, it's the language of [writers like] Dostoyevsky and Bulgakov.

"Who benefits from setting people against other people who love Ukraine just as deeply, only love it in a different language? Only Putin benefits from this."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has often referred to what he falsely describes as repression of the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine as one of his justifications for launching his invasion of the country.

Russian and Ukrainian are closely related, but distinct in many ways. Many in Ukraine speak a mixture of the two, known as surzhyk.

Russian is the native language of President Volodymyr Zelensky, which he used often in his election campaign but has since used only Ukrainian in public.

But a 2019 law requires use of Ukrainian in many public and professional contexts including education, public services and customer service.

Public-facing workers - including waiters, shop assistants and doctors - must address customers or patients initially in Ukrainian, though they can later switch to Russian if the client prefers that.

Odesa's Mask Theatre, run by Barsky, has been fined for infringements of the legislation including using Russian in publicity materials. A later inspection found further violations such as a cafe sign with the Russian word for coffee.

"This isn't even like Orwell or Kafka, it's just madness," he says.

Barsky has been able to continue to perform in Russian because it is a private theatre.

The new language proposal - similar to one already in force in the capital Kyiv and some other cities – would urge but not require private premises including shops and cafes to adopt the ban.

Odesa's state-appointed language ombudswoman, Anna Nerush, who inspects premises to check on alleged violations of the rules, thinks if passed it will put pressure on them to comply.

"All businesses interact in one way or another with local government," she told the BBC. "They rent premises, they need advertising permits, and so on. So for many entities it's important to comply with a council decision, even if doesn't provide for sanctions for non-compliance. "

Public playing of songs by Russian citizens is already illegal across Ukraine, with exceptions for some artists who have publicly condemned the war, but Russian-language songs composed or performed by Ukrainians are still allowed.

Under the proposals they would also be banned in public places.

Anna Nerush said it would not affect someone celebrating their birthday in Russian in a private room in a restaurant, as it could not be heard outside.

"But on the streets, [hearing] the Russian language can be a real trigger, for example to [former] prisoners of war and people who've come from occupied territories," she said.

Many native Russian-speakers in Ukraine have switched to Ukrainian in recent years, particularly since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Photographer Natalia Mykhailenko switched even earlier. She has led tours of Odesa highlighting non-Russian elements of its history.

These include landmarks such as a Cossack cemetery that dates back to before 1794. That is the year Russian empress Catherine the Great is said to have founded the city, although it has been widely questioned in recent years.

A statue of Catherine was removed from a central Odesa square after a council vote in 2022, and streets have been renamed to commemorate some Ukrainian writers and activists.

"We must understand we were a colony," said Mykhailenko. "And these [language] laws are very important. I understand it's maybe sometimes not democratic. But without it, there will be no normal Ukraine in the future."

Anthropologist Anastasia Piliavsky, part of a group called Ukrainian Cosmopolis which aims to defend freedom of thought and speech, believes Russian-speakers are being made to feel like second-class citizens who are deprived of their heritage.

"In Ukraine, the vast majority of people understand both Russian and Ukrainian. So the question is not really one of language, it's one of liberty," she said.

"Ukraine has been fighting for freedom. The point of this war is not to be under authoritarian rule. That's what Russia has to offer. So when fines, or the threat of being fired [for breaking language laws] arrives, then people start wondering: what are we fighting for?"

It is unclear how much support the new language proposal has. It is opposed by an influential group of councillors linked to former mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov.

Beyond Odesa, a national poll showed 80% support for Ukrainian dominating "all spheres of communication" in 2022. However, a more recent survey of students in Kyiv found that 82% chose to speak Russian during break times, even though Ukrainian is enforced in classrooms.

One famous Odesan who found himself at the centre of the language controversy is Pavlo Viktor, a physics teacher whose online lessons have been followed by millions around the world.

Ukrainian language campaigners criticised him for putting the videos out in Russian, his first language, although he later translated them into Ukrainian. He was later criticised for saying he would talk to scared children in Russian during missile attacks, if that was the language they preferred.

Viktor is keen to take the heat out of the argument, explaining that currently about 10% of the Odesa population spoke Ukrainian in the street: "But if we wait 50 years, maybe 90% will speak Ukrainian."

"Ukrainianisation must be polite and soft… not to persuade children to move from Russian to Ukrainian, but to make an atmosphere when they want to do this. It's the best way. And I hope that gradually we'll move in that direction."

You can hear more about the language controversy in Odesa in the Crossing Continents podcast Ukraine: Fighting Russia, Fighting Russian, available from Tuesday 8 September.

TV presenter among 12 sentenced to death in Egypt drugs case

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y7gk9knnlo, today

Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other people have been sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of drugs charges.

According to state-owned al-Ahram newspaper, they were part of a criminal gang which imported ingredients used to make drugs with the intent of selling them.

They also had illegal firearms and munitions.

Khalifa, 39, is best known for her TV programme Mission Impossible which dealt with crime issues. She has denied the charges.

Nine fellow defendants have been sentenced to life imprisonment, while seven have been acquitted.

Khalifa's lawyer said she would appeal the death sentence.

The verdict was first announced last month.

However, it was only confirmed a month later after the court obtained a religious opinion from the grand mufti of Egypt - a legal requirement in death sentence cases.

During the trial, the court heard that authorities had seized more than 750kg (1,653lbs) of narcotics and the imported raw materials to make them.

Twenty witnesses had given statements to the prosecutors, al-Ahram said, in addition to electronic evidence that included conversations and video clips.

According to the state-run Akhbar al-Youm newspaper, when asked by the judge about her alleged role during a court appearance last September, Khalifa said she had never seen any drugs until she was photographed with them inside the anti-narcotics authority offices.

According to a 2025 Amnesty International report, there were 492 death sentences in the course of the year, 23 of which were carried out..

The defendants were found guilty of drug trafficking and rape, "crimes that did not amount to 'intentional killing' to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under international law and standards", the report said.

Iran warns of 'faster, heavier, more painful response' to US attacks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8d56w7d9po, today

Iran's top negotiator has warned of "a faster, heavier, and more painful response" to US attacks, as hostilities between the two sides escalate.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that Americans must understand "before it is too late" that the "rules of the game have changed", according to a translation of his comments on state media.

His comments come nearly a week into renewed fighting between Iran and the US, and a day after Washington said it struck Iranian oil tankers in response to Tehran attacking American warships in the region's waters.

The BBC has contacted US Central Command (Centcom) for comment.

Iranian state media also reported on Sunday that the country's Navy had attacked an American remote-controlled vessel that was trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military has denied the claim.

"The report came from Iranian state media and it's a total lie," said Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Centcom, according to the Associated Press.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued his own threats back at Iran, writing on social media on Saturday, "It's simple: if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers."

A 60-day ceasefire between the US and Iran formally expired last month, and that period of relative calm was shattered when the US resumed attacks last Sunday.

Fighting has continued throughout the week, with the US launching multiple strikes on Iranian targets and Iran retaliating against US targets in the region, including in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

US President Donald Trump said this week that the renewed fighting would not last "too long", echoing comments both he and his administration have frequently made since the now six-month-long war began in February.

Months of negotiations between the US and Iran have not amounted to lasting peace, and there's little sign of a further diplomatic settlement on the horizon.

India's high-stakes exam system faces a crisis of trust

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgy1g7egy9o, today

In 2017, India introduced the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct fair, transparent and standardised examinations.

Set up under the federal education ministry, it was meant to make exams more efficient, consistent and trustworthy, after years of paper leaks, administrative errors and cheating allegations.

Over the next few years, the agency took charge of some of India's largest and most competitive tests, including medical and engineering entrance examinations, university admissions and eligibility tests for teaching and research.

But eight years later, the organisation created to restore trust in India's exams is facing a crisis of confidence of its own.

In June, more than two million students had to retake a crucial medical entrance examination after the paper was leaked. The fallout triggered weeks of youth-led protests which eventually led to the resignation of the federal education minister.

In response, the government appointed a high-level task force led by tech tycoon Nandan Nilekani to recommend reforms and restore confidence in the examination system.

For many Indians, however, the announcement prompted a sense of déjà vu.

A similar panel was established in 2024 after irregularities in another medical entrance examination sparked widespread unrest. That committee proposed more than 100 reforms, a little over half of which have reportedly been fully implemented.

The cycle has repeated: an exam goes wrong, students protest, a committee is appointed and reforms are proposed - only for another crisis to expose the same weaknesses.

Experts the BBC spoke to say the problems go beyond paper leaks - from NTA's accountability and capacity to exam centralisation, design and whether India's high-stakes testing system needs a rethink.

BJ Rao, who was part of the 2024 panel and is now head of SGT University near Delhi, says India should move more decisively towards computer-based examinations to minimise the chances of paper leaks, increase efficiency and reduce human involvement wherever possible.

"Digital connectivity has vastly improved across the country, what we need to do is put in resources and focus on upgrading infrastructure and move to computer-based exams," he told the BBC.

"We currently have ad hoc centres for conducting exams. We need to replace them with standardised state-controlled online centres."

But technology alone will not solve the problem, he says.

Rao points to the NTA's reliance on contract staff: just 24 of its 221 employees are permanent, with many from bureaucratic backgrounds, according to the government.

"When you have a large portion of people who work on a temporary basis then there is no sense of belonging, and that has an impact on the functions as well. You need people who are well-versed in academia and experienced in conducting such assessments to ensure better management and oversight," he explains.

Some experts argue that repeated crises have exposed flaws not only in how exams are conducted, but also in how they are designed.

Keshav Aggarwal, an educationist and president of Educators Federation, says the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG - whose paper leak triggered this year's protests - could be restructured along the lines of the country's engineering entrance examination, which is computer-based and conducted in two stages.

Rather than relying on a single high-stakes test day, the exams could be held across multiple sessions with different sets of questions, he says.

"Different stages and days with varying sets of questions" would reduce the risks associated with any one examination and make the system more resilient to disruptions, Aggarwal explains.

Experts also question whether an annual exam can work when millions compete for limited university places.

India needs a system where students can take important entrance exams more than once a year, as is common in some western countries, said Yamini Aiyar, senior visiting fellow at Brown University.

"This would give students another chance if an exam is cancelled or they do not perform well, reducing the risk of losing an entire year," she says.

For millions of Indian students, the risk is real. Many spend years preparing and tens of thousands of rupees on private tuition. A leaked, cancelled or delayed exam can suddenly upend months or years of preparation.

Pari, 17, experienced that uncertainty first-hand. After taking NEET this year, she had to retake it after the original exam was cancelled following a paper leak.

"It was very frustrating. All our preparation had gone to waste, and we had to start all over again," she said.

The experience left her angry at repeated exam failures.

"The government can form as many panels as it likes. We need a system strong enough to prevent paper leaks from happening again."

Mansi Bansal, 23, has a similar story. She spent months preparing for UGC-NET, a qualification for entry-level college teaching jobs.

The exam was cancelled after a 2024 paper leak and again this year after the NTA cited errors in three subjects.

Bansal took the affected commerce paper and will retest on 9 September.

"I put my life on hold all these months, stopping going to the gym, hanging out with friends or even attending family gatherings," she said. "I had planned my entire year but now it has all gone into uncertainty. Can the government promise a leak won't happen again?"

Such experiences have fuelled calls from student activists and opposition politicians to scrap the NTA altogether.

Educationists argue that scrapping the agency would not solve the underlying problem.

The NTA needs deep structural reform to address recurring failures, but abolishing it is not the answer, said M Jagadesh Kumar, former chairman of India's universities regulator.

"A single national testing body offers common security standards, technology, candidate services and result procedures. Creating many new agencies could duplicate costs and produce uneven safeguards," he told PTI news agency.

Rao agrees.

"It is not a case of all bad news. The body has conducted several exams successfully, where we did not hear of any leaks," he said.

What is needed, he argues, is a statutory institution staffed by specialists with the academic, technical and operational expertise to run a secure examination system.

Yet for some experts, the debate ultimately goes beyond the NTA itself.

Aiyar says the bigger issue is not just stopping the next paper leak, but whether a highly centralised testing system can cope with the intense competition for limited educational opportunities.

The NTA may be able to make exams more secure, she says. "But it cannot, at least on its own, change a system in which millions of students compete for a limited number of seats and a single exam can shape their future."

Some experts say reform must go beyond the NTA itself: India needs an exam system less reliant on one-off, high-stakes tests, gives students multiple chances and can better withstand disruptions.

Rao remains optimistic that the task force led by Nilekani will help plug gaps in the existing system.

But for many students, another committee offers little reassurance unless it produces changes they can actually see.

"I am studying for my university entrance examination next year," said a 16-year-old Grade 12 student.

"In my head I am prepared that there might be a leak. But what can we do about it? I will prepare and hope for the best."

Aviation faces hotter, stormier skies – and passengers might have to accept more disruption

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm274p8m88lo, yesterday

As the country sweltered through one of the many heatwaves of a baking summer in late June, towering thunderclouds were gathering over the south of England and across much of northern Europe. It was a Saturday, and with the holiday season getting under way, thousands of passengers were heading to London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports to catch flights abroad. It was always going to be a very busy day.

What followed, however, was chaos for travellers. As air traffic controllers struggled to route aircraft around the storms, airspace became heavily congested and many planes due to fly were simply forced to wait on the ground. In the end, some 900 flights to and from both airports were delayed, some by up to 11 hours. Dozens more were cancelled. At airports across Europe, passengers expecting to fly into London also faced long waits and uncertainty.

The weather in the UK may now have cooled, and passengers may soon forget their experiences. But some within the industry believe what happened in June should be seen as a warning.

The timing in this case was clearly unlucky. But there are concerns that such incidents are only going to become more common as the effects of climate change mount up around the world and weather systems are likely to become increasingly unstable, making disruption more likely and adding to costs for airlines, airports and travellers.

Tim Atkinson, an airline risk consultant and former pilot, says the very crowded skies over the UK and northern Europe mean the region is particularly exposed.

He thinks there is a real risk, for example, that all of London's airports could be affected by storms at the same time, potentially with major consequences in the air and on the ground.

"What we're seeing now is very rapid climate change," he says.

"We're going from the kind of weather activity which takes out an airport, and which the system kind of copes with… to a situation where, with very little predictability, it would be possible to lose all of the London airports from real-time operation quite swiftly and with little notice".

Such a scenario, he thinks, would make the disruption for passengers caused by the incident in June seem relatively minor – and could even put lives at risk. But how likely is it?

Intense activity

For controllers at National Air Traffic Services's (NATS) main control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, thunderstorms are a major preoccupation. When I visit, it is a hot and humid day, there are ominous dark clouds in the sky, and heavy, thundery downpours are hitting the surrounding region.

In Terminal Control, the part of the building responsible for flights heading to or from airports in London and southern England, those same storm cells are being monitored continuously. Their progress is tracked on large radar screens, while at the same time weather forecasts are carefully scrutinised.

Air traffic tends to come in waves during the day. Right now, at lunchtime, it is relatively quiet and the storms have yet to affect major routes. But with activity expected to intensify in the afternoon, staff are already preparing for what could be a tricky few hours.

Stormy weather can shrink the available airspace, meaning traffic has to be restricted and rerouted. If planes are unable to land at one airport, for example due to high winds, they may need diverting to another. But that can create its own problems; if too many unscheduled aircraft land at an already busy airport, it might not have sufficient infrastructure to accommodate them all.

Planes need fuel and somewhere to park. Passengers need food and facilities. Ultimately, if there isn't space, it can simply refuse to accept all but emergency traffic.

This is where the scenario set out by Atkinson comes in. He warns of a situation where traffic is diverted from Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted at the same time, leaving aircraft coming in across the Atlantic and a large number of European flights all looking for somewhere to land at the same time, and some with dwindling fuel reserves.

This would at the very least create serious disruption for passengers, who might end up hundreds of miles from their destinations. But it could also, he thinks, create "a very serious risk event, such as an aircraft running out of fuel in the sky".

Aircraft are legally required to carry enough fuel to take them to an alternative airport if necessary, and to allow them to fly for an extra 30 minutes on top of that.

Not everyone shares Atkinson's concern. Former airline executive Andrew Charlton, who manages the Swiss-based consultancy Aviation Advocacy, thinks the risk is low.

"You've always got to imagine the worst-case scenario", he says. "But I also think we need to keep that worst case in context.

"Yes, it's possible to imagine it. But I'm also fairly comfortable with the ability of this industry to react well and make good decisions… of all the things that wake me up at 3am…this is not the top of that list."

Convective weather

Thunderstorms are caused by what is known as convective activity, where moist air close to the ground warms rapidly and rises quickly. As it rises, it expands and cools, allowing the moisture it carries to condense, forming large clouds. More heat means more convective energy, potentially creating instability. In addition, for every degree the Earth warms, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture, increasing the probability of heavy rainfall.

It is not clear whether this means we will actually get more thunderstorms in the UK and across Europe, as so many variables are involved beyond the simple matter of energy and moisture. Some parts of the world may even get fewer. However, studies have shown that higher latitudes, particularly in the northern hemisphere, will see the biggest increases in favourable conditions for storms to form, and those that do may be more violent. According to the UK's Met Office, "while we may not see more thunderstorms overall, the ones we do experience could be more impactful".

Where possible, pilots will avoid flying through convective weather. Even though aircraft are designed to cope with severe conditions, storms can produce intense turbulence, capable of damaging the structural frame of the plane, as well as throwing people around the cabin if they are not strapped in. Hail can also be a big problem, potentially cracking windscreens or causing engine problems. So, however much inconvenience it may cause passengers, crews will invariably put safety first.

Onboard weather radars can help aircrew to see up to 320 nautical miles ahead. They also have access to live weather forecasting resources online. But thunderstorms can move quickly and, according to Prof Guy Gratton, an expert in aeronautics at Cranfield University, these systems are essentially "tactical rather than strategic". In other words, although they enable pilots to see storm cells on their screens from a relatively short distance away, and request a diversion, they do not allow for detailed long-distance planning.

The result is that unplanned diversions often happen late in flight, which is likely to mean burning more fuel. If storm delays do become more common, says Andrew Charlton, then aircraft will have to load more fuel as a matter of course, in case there is trouble brewing ahead. "Aircraft are going to have to fly further, and they're going to have to factor in the assumption they're going to fly further," he says. For an airline, fuel is one of its major costs – and if the fuel bill goes up, he says, it is inevitable passengers will pay more.

More intense storms would be likely to make air traffic management in busy regions harder and potentially lead to more delays and cancellations. However, it is possible some of this could be mitigated using new technologies.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick, for example, have moved away from mandating minimum distances between incoming aircraft in favour of a system which continually calculates spacing times based on wind speeds and aircraft types. In practice, this is meant to allow controllers to reduce the distance between landing aircraft, particularly in high winds, and get them on the ground more quickly. According to NATS, it has successfully improved landing rates and reduced delays by a significant margin.

However, there could be other effects from more severe storms as well. Heavier rainfall, for instance, increases the likelihood of flooding. In a worst case, this can paralyse airport operations, as happened in April 2024 when torrential downpours hit Dubai International Airport. It briefly had to close its runways, while disruption lasted for two days. More than 1,200 flights were cancelled, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.

But even if runways and taxiways themselves are clear, and aircraft are able to fly without any difficulty, passengers may struggle to catch their flights if roads, railways or car parks are flooded.

Protecting against such risks can be expensive. Gatwick Airport, which experienced severe flooding over the Christmas period in 2013, has spent tens of millions of pounds on mitigation strategies in recent years – although those figures are dwarfed by the more than £2bn it is expecting to invest in its current expansion plans.

Clear-air turbulence

The problem of clear-air turbulence is also a real one. It cannot be seen, and is becoming increasingly common as the climate warms.

This is when air moves violently at high altitudes with no clouds or other visual cues to help a pilot avoid it. For passengers, it usually only means a little bit of bumpiness, but occasionally it can be a lot more serious. On 1 March 2023, for example, a Lufthansa flight from Austin, Texas to Frankfurt encountered what the airline described as "brief but severe" turbulence.

Those aboard described how passengers and flight crew were thrown around the cabin as the plane suddenly lost altitude. After it made an emergency landing in Washington DC, seven people were taken to hospital.

While still rare, this kind of turbulence is already much more prevalent than it used to be and is likely to become even more so.

"You know the projections are pretty dire: doubling, trebling or worse in the amount of severe turbulence on many busy flight routes around the world," says Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading. He says incidents over the North Atlantic have increased by 55% since 1979.

Nevertheless, he remains confident solutions can be found, including improvements to forecasting and making use of laser-based technology.

Sea levels rising

There is another climate-related threat to aviation, which may prove challenging to overcome: rising sea levels. When Hurricane Sandy arrived off the US East Coast in October 2012, it provoked a storm surge that flooded the city. The two runways at New York's LaGuardia airport were left under water for several days, preventing it from reopening even after the winds had subsided.

Significant flooding that would have affected the New York City area once in every 500 years in pre-industrial times is now experienced every 25 years or so – and could occur every five years by the middle of the century, according to one major study. That makes LaGuardia, built on reclaimed land next to Flushing Bay, appear highly vulnerable.

It is not alone. With some 40% of the world's population living within 100km of coastlines, many airports have been built on low-lying areas near the sea. According to research by Newcastle University, 269 airports around the world are already at risk of flooding due to rising sea levels, and that total is expected to rise. Among those potentially most exposed are the likes of Amsterdam Schiphol, London City, Bahrain International and Newark Liberty International.

Many airports do already have some degree of flood protection, especially larger ones. But stopping the flood risks from rising over the next century means expensive investment in flood defences, raising runways, or even moving airports. It could cost up to $57bn (£42bn) according to the Newcastle report. Such costs are ultimately likely to be met by taxpayers or by travellers.

The aviation industry is often criticised for its own contribution to climate change emissions. It faces a forbidding challenge in attempting to meet a target of being carbon neutral by 2050, while also accommodating growth that is expected to see the global aircraft fleet double in size over the next two decades.

Yet it is clear the impacts of climate change will also be felt by airlines, airports and inevitably by passengers -

"I think the best we can do is mitigate", says Andrew Charlton.

"We need to make sure we have enough space at air terminals for people whose flights are being disrupted and delayed, that we have enough hotel rooms and parking space and so on."

But ultimately, he says, "disagreeable moments are going to happen more".

Passengers, he thinks, will have to accept it as a fact of flying life.

Lead image: Getty

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

The next James Bond: The (00)7 questions fans want answered

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2qnq0py5vo, yesterday

James Bond is special. Playing him propels an actor into an exceptionally elite group of performers. From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, only six people have ever played him in the official film series.

In the last decade alone the UK has had more prime ministers, and twice as many people have walked on the moon than have played the British secret agent.

The last announcement of a new Bond was 21 years ago in 2005. So it's inevitable for Bond fans to want to have their questions answered about the future of one of cinema's most sought after roles, in one of cinema's biggest franchises.

1. Who will be the next person to play 007?

This is, of course, the big question fans have been talking about for the last six years. And with an announcement edging closer and closer, the speculation has intensified recently.

Many of the same well-known faces have been bandied about for months, if not years. Those names have generally included Henry Cavill, Harris Dickinson, Jacob Elordi, Jack Lowden, James Norton, Jack O'Connell, Callum Turner and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

More recently, other names have also been thrown into the mix.

Earlier this year Variety reported that stage actor Tom Francis had auditioned for the role. And in late August Page Six claimed there will be more auditions this month, and that Gladiator 2 star Paul Mescal and Heartstopper and SAS: Rogue Heroes star Jack Barton are also on the audition list.

The announcement about the next film's producers referred to keeping Bond's spirit alive "as he embarks on his next adventure", seemingly confirming that Bond would remain male.

However, it's never been clear whether the rumoured names have been well-sourced inside information, or merely guesswork and speculation.

2. Have the auditions started yet?

Back in May, Amazon MGM Studios who now control the Bond franchise confirmed the casting process was under way. But little detail beyond that was given, the statement only saying: "While we don't plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we're excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right."

It now seems that the right time is fast approaching. In an interview with Deadline Amy Pascal, one of the next film's producers, was asked whether we might have news on who would be playing Bond by the end of the year. She replied: "I would say the end of the year is a good bet."

Last month entertainment writer Daniel Richtman said on social media: "I hear they're in the final round of casting for James Bond and might have already found their guy."

His post on X was followed up by journalist Jeff Sneider who said: "Heard the same rumour. First it was down to seven, then three. Now 'they may have found their guy'. Who knows at this point? But for some reason, I don't think it's any of the so-called frontrunners, including the Aussie…"

The Aussie is almost certainly a reference to Euphoria and Wuthering Heights star Jacob Elordi, who was brought up in Brisbane and Melbourne before moving to the US to pursue his acting career.

3. How do the auditions work?

The audition process is likely to have been carried out in a similar way to previous castings.

The scene that many would-be Bonds have traditionally had to peform is taken from From Russia With Love, where 007 comes out of his bathroom to find Tatiana Romanova in his bed. It's a scene where an actor relies on their physical presence, movement and charisma. No explosions fights or gadgets.

As GoldenEye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell explained to entertainment website Gold Derby: "The word is effortless. You never see Bond fumble, he is very economic, efficient and effortless. That scene covers all the bases, basically."

And for a series where the stakes are so high, no expense is spared in ensuring that the film team know exactly how each auditionee will come across on screen. As the 007 team themselves have explained in the past: "Bond screen tests are elaborate affairs involving hair and make-up, costumes, sets, and other actors."

4. How will the new Bond be announced?

Generally, the unveiling of a new Bond has taken place at a London press conference in front of the world's media. But for the first time creative control of the franchise is in the hands of a studio like Amazon MGM.

Amazon purchased MGM for $8.5bn in 2021, which included the rights to distribute James Bond. And they're reported to have paid at least $20m more for the rights to creatively control Bond's future.

Having paid such eye-watering amounts, it seems more than possible that Amazon MGM might well wish to drive fans towards their streaming service, with any reveal of the new Bond being exclusively announced on Prime Video.

It would almost certainly see a surge in streaming subscriptions. And such an announcement would still inevitably be covered by the world's press.

Global James Bond Day on 5 October, the 64th anniversary of the release of the first film Dr No, is fast approaching. So this date might be a good day for fans to mark in their diaries for a possible announcement.

5. What is known about the next film?

We don't yet know what it will be called, or have a confirmed release date. Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is currently writing the script, and Dune's Denis Villeneuve will direct. They and the team may well already have a title in mind. Or, of course, they may just be calling it Bond 26 for now.

Most of the series have taken titles from the original Ian Fleming stories. Four of those remain unused - The Hildebrand Rarity, Risico, 007 in New York, and The Property of a Lady. Although elements from those stories have already been used in previous Bond films.

Fans have also been busy putting forward their own suggestions for potential titles. Since the accession of King Charles III in 2022, those suggestions have included On His Majesty's Secret Service, and King & Country.

As for a release date, it's been widely reported that the next film is likely to be released in 2028. That means it's almost certain that this will be the biggest ever gap between films, more than the six years and four months between 1989's Licence To Kill and 1995's GoldenEye.

6. How far ahead are the Bond team planning?

Only the Bond team themselves really know this.

But Amazon MGM do have the financial resources to plan well ahead, and explore various issues, such as how Bond will operate over multiple films; will there be an overriding arc that will cover his journey over the next decade etc; will there be a film every two years, every three years, every four or five?

Additionally, with such a huge investment, AmazonMGM will undoubtedly be keen to learn from Disney's experiences with Star Wars, and Marvel's experiences with its Marvel Cinematic Universe, in how best to use the Bond franchise.

While there might be appetite for multiple Bond spin-offs, eg Young Bond, the Miss Moneypenny adventures etc, they will also be wary that they don't over-saturate the market, and damage the films which are at the core of the Bond franchise.

7. How will the next film deal with the ending of the last?

The below contains spoilers for No Time To Die

Daniel Craig's farewell at the end of No Time To Die saw him on the island lair of the film's villain, Rami Malek's Safin, as it was struck by a volley of air strikes, with the super spy apparently finally meeting his demise.

Rumours have indicated that the next film might well reflect Bond's early years at the start of his MI6 career, in effect a reboot, which means that there won't be any pressure or sense of disappointment that the story won't reflect No Time To Die's conclusion.

And in any case, Bond fans have been reassured by the message that has appeared at the end of almost every Bond film - "James Bond will return".

It looks like soon we'll be finding out who that James Bond will be.

Why Munya Chawawa is 'jumping ship' from socials to Shakespeare

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3r02z3dxno, yesterday

Comedian, content creator and documentary maker Munya Chawawa became a star in the "golden era" of online video, but says his stage acting debut in Shakespeare is part of a move to "jump ship" from social media.

Recently, he has been immersing himself in footage of the UK's 1990s illegal rave scene.

It was a time of hedonism and freedom surrounded by political and media panic - and is the setting for a modern take on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which Chawawa will appear.

"I've obviously done a super-deep dive into rave culture and watched loads of rave footage from all these little free parties where they would find an empty field," he says.

While some footage exists of those illicit outdoor parties, they came before everyone had phones and cameras - and Chawawa, 33, feels a pang of nostalgia for that age of analogue abandon.

"I absolutely miss an era where we were dancing for ourselves and not for a digital world somewhere," he says.

"We're all phone addicts," Chawawa continues. "The average person's picking up their phone 200 times a day. I'm on a bit of a conscious mission at the moment to reduce that.

"And interestingly, the top comments under all the videos I've been watching are people who were at those raves saying, 'I loved being able to dance, maybe get a little high, maybe get too sweaty for too long, and know there was no record of that.'"

Chawawa was in his teens when social media and smartphones took off, and says he "took for granted" the brief time before any and every fun occasion was recorded and posted for posterity.

If he ventures onto a dance floor now, he admits "my two-step has become a lot stiffer" out of anxiety that a wrong move could be filmed and send him viral.

"So yeah, I do definitely pine for those non-digital, in-person experiences, and I envy my parents for having them."

This is coming from someone who owes his fame to the digital age, after making his name with comic videos as characters like upper-class drill rapper Unknown P and chef Jonny Oliver.

But Chawawa has since branched out from social media - making two Bafta-nominated TV documentaries, starring on Taskmaster and doing stand-up comedy.

"I've been making my short-form satirical videos for almost eight years now, creeping up to a decade," he says. "I have a certain skill set that I've acquired there. It's skyrocketed me to all the places I wanted to go.

"But I suppose the question at the beginning was always - if these sketches do work and they do catapult me into this new stratosphere of entertainment, where am I trying to land?"

The aim, he says, was to land on "something bigger and onto a new challenge" - such as theatre acting.

He's starting by playing Bottom in Shakespeare's romantic caper A Midsummer Night's Dream at Chichester Festival Theatre in West Sussex.

In this 90s version, his character is a member of the Young Conservatives and is "a very political Bottom", he says, while Theseus is a Tory MP who has shut down free raves in the county.

"I take it super seriously and I'm very studious when we're in the room," Chawawa explains of his preparations. "I'm taking notes. I'm learning all of these mad Shakespeare terms like couplets and quatrains and anacreontics and stuff that definitely sounds made up but isn't.

"And I think also it's the perfect time to maybe... jump ship, I think is the right word.

"Social media platforms and their algorithms have very much angled themselves against the creatives at the moment, I think."

'Lost in a sea of content'

He's not jumping ship from social media completely, but says the online battle for eyeballs has "turned into a little bit of a dogfight, where even good stuff, even really consciously thought-out material, is just instantly swiped to the bottom of people's pages".

Chawawa thinks he was lucky to "enjoy the golden era of social media" before it became harder to cut through the noise.

"To be able to experiment, to be able to trial these characters and roll the dice on big ideas was fantastic because you were never getting lost in a sea of content.

"There's some mad statistic about there being tens of millions of videos uploaded a day now - but at the time it was like, 'I'm going to try this Jamie Oliver spoof or a Nigella [Lawson] character or the UK's first posh drill rapper, what do you think?' And it felt like the whole internet would give you feedback on that creative product."

He adds: "I love the fact that social media has allowed me to have a career in stand-up, as a documentarian and now as an actor, so I don't have any sort of resentment to it and how it's changed.

"But what I will say is I was there as the sun was coming up on social media, and it was very fun."

Chawawa fell in love with the theatre when he went to see The Lion King when he was 16 and realised it was like "the best movie you've ever seen, but in real life".

However, returning as an adult, he felt out of place as a black man. "In the shows I was going to, it didn't feel as though they were too welcoming to me being there, just through the small social cues."

He had a lightbulb moment after watching For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy by Ryan Calais Cameron, which "I still think is the best play I've ever seen". Chawawa found himself thinking, "I wish every black boy in the world could watch this play."

So he took a group of teenagers to watch it, which he describes as "the most fulfilling and magical and deeply moving experience".

Inspired by their reactions, Chawawa set up the Black Boys Theatre Club to take groups every month to plays ranging from Dracula to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - followed by a post-show discussion in Nando's.

"Every time we go and see a play, it's not about the boys skipping out of it going, 'I want to be the next Billy Elliot'," he says. "It's more just them realising it's a safe space for you. It can be your home if you want it to be. You will thrive on stage or as an audience member, but just know that theatre is a part of your multiverse."

Ticket prices

In 2023, 10% of theatre audiences were from black, Asian or ethnically diverse backgrounds, according to Arts Council England data.

Chawawa praises theatres for opening their doors to the Black Boys Theatre Club and other efforts to attract more diverse audiences, but says lower ticket prices and "a societal shift" will make a bigger difference.

Next month, his club will travel to see him in A Midsummer Night's Dream - and he hopes more young minds will be captivated by the "snow globe of human emotion" that is live theatre.

"Really, truly, where else can I go in real life and watch somebody express all emotions without restraint? Sadness, anger, joy, envy. And I can be metres away, sometimes centimetres away from seeing real human emotion - not through a screen of any size, but in the room," he says.

"I believe that as more people do try and back off away from screens and digital experiences, theatre will experience a boom."

A Midsummer Night's Dream is at at Chichester Festival Theatre from 18 September to 17 October.

Why more women carry the 'mental load' - and how couples can share it

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24j1r45r49o, yesterday

"My head's always full," says mum-of-three Stacie Matthias. "I go to sleep with a mental to-do list."

She's talking about the concept of the "mental load" - the burden of planning, organising, remembering and anticipating tasks that keep a household running.

These tasks include: remembering school trips, checking for updates in parents' WhatsApp groups, noticing which parts of the house need cleaning, monitoring how much sleep children get, scheduling doctors' appointments and buying school uniforms.

According to academics, this is work that in heterosexual couples disproportionately falls to women - particularly mothers - alongside the bulk of physical household labour.

All relationships and households are different, of course, but studies suggest clear patterns.

Children in the UK have just gone back to school from the summer holidays, and Stacie, 37, from Stockport, says her mind often feels especially busy in September.

"It's that feeling of always having something to remember, organise or worry about that makes this time of year particularly full-on," she says.

For Stacie this list of responsibilities leaves her mind feeling like a washing-up bowl that's being filled up throughout the day.

"If someone's not helping you remove those pots and pans, your water's overflowing by the end of the day," she says, "and you're at tipping point."

In a survey looking into the mental load that involved 3,000 US parents, academics at the University of Bath and the University of Melbourne found that mothers handled 71% of household tasks that required mental effort, such as keeping track of when sheets and towels needed to be washed and remembering by when food in the fridge needed to be eaten.

The study found that fathers handled many of the tasks researchers described as "episodic" - things that happen less often, such as remembering when to get the car serviced.

University of Melbourne Prof Leah Ruppaner describes the mental load as being invisible, enduring and without boundaries. "You don't bring your dishes to work, but you bring the mental load everywhere," she says.

The mental load is a popular topic on forums like Reddit and Mumsnet, where women seek advice about how to talk to their partners about the exhaustion of trying to juggle so many different responsibilities.

Mums told BBC News they were often added to school WhatsApp groups - where parents discuss things like non-uniform days, school trips, birthdays and lost property - as the "default parent", while their partners never joined.

Sophia, a 35-year-old mum of three in Portsmouth, pays for school trips and makes lunch orders on her children's school's app on her phone, but says her husband has never downloaded it.

Sophia says she tried multiple times to explain the concept of the mental load to her husband - but feels he didn't understand and dismissed her concerns as "quick tasks".

"They are quick tasks if you could just do the task," Sophia says, "but I have to plan for the task, I have to anticipate the task, I have to be 10 steps ahead all the time."

Sam Berry, a deputy headteacher, content creator and married dad of two in London, says when his wife first raised the idea of mental load after his eldest was born, he "didn't really get it" and was "a bit defensive" because he thought he was doing a lot - changing nappies, feeding the baby and more.

He would ask what he could do to help, but he says that still puts the burden on the other person to do the thinking.

As Stacie explains: "I always say to my partner: 'If I have to ask you to do something, that's just adding to my mental load'."

It took a few months of talking and listening for Sam to understand that it was not only about completing the task, but the thinking around it - not just cooking dinner, but what food was in the house, planning the meal, and doing the shopping.

Clinical psychologist Natasha Wallace says some women come to her feeling stressed by the pressure they feel to organise their households.

"It's often, for them, not one enormous stressor," she says. "It's when they realise that they have hundreds of tiny demands on them and their brains and bodies just can't switch off."

Many women are running on autopilot, she adds, so they often don't realise the extent of the cognitive load they're carrying, and this constant low-level stress can have an effect on the nervous system. In turn, this can cause poor sleep, irritability and decision fatigue, she says.

Anita Cleare, parenting expert and author of The Work/Parent Switch, said the overall cognitive drain spills over into our work lives and leads to unsustainable burnout.

One piece of research found that men who earned more did less physical and cognitive labour related to the household, but that when women's earnings increase, they do less physical housework but still the same amount of cognitive labour.

Women very seldomly feel it is a choice to opt out of family life, so the choice then becomes whether to decelerate their career, go part-time, or stop and stay home - with more and more women making that decision, Cleare says.

"If you lower the domestic load, if you lower the mental load, you will create energy, capacity, interest in being able to perform more and better at work."

Why the disparity?

Many of the women the BBC interviewed said they believed the disparity began with maternity leave.

Wallace says that because women typically take much longer for maternity leave than dads do for paternity leave, they become the "default parent" very early on.

"If you become the person who knows everything, knows where everything is and has in the past done everything, everybody starts coming to you for everything," she says, "so you remain that central person even if you return to work."

In the UK, mothers can take up to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave, 39 of which can be paid, while fathers can take up to two weeks of leave with statutory paternity pay. Parents can also take shared parental leave.

Some employers offer extra parental leave to their workers, but most people earn less when on maternity or paternity leave, which affects how much leave many fathers take.

Cleare says workplaces can help by making examples of fathers taking paternity leave, not just offering it, and by setting expectations around when employees are contactable, and supporting career conversations for women.

It can also come down to what are seen as traditional roles.

Zach Watson, a married father of three and coach in the US on sharing the mental load, says his grandfather might never have cooked a meal in his married life, while his father did only a little.

In the first five years of his marriage, his wife cooked most of the time. If he offered to cook, he would ask her what she wanted - a question that could actually add to her mental load.

He learned he could come to her with options for dinner, having already looked in the fridge, and give her a default if she wanted to opt entirely out of decision-making. And if he needed help, instead of just asking "Where's the ketchup?", he could explain where he had already looked.

Sam Berry says while some men do not care, a big group - his audience online - "actually are really good husbands, are really good dads, they are trying their best and want to do the best they can, but almost haven't seen it or don't have the language".

Many women the BBC spoke to were keen for their partners to take ownership of certain tasks.

Sam calls this taking on "a category of tasks" - so dad might handle all the school admin, while mum manages the food.

However, he says equality is not necessarily about splitting everything 50/50 - because one partner might work more and another might like cooking - but about finding what works best for both partners.

And if you traditionally hold more of the mental load, you might need to accept that your partner may do things very differently, and it might not always go smoothly, says Afua Williams, 40, a mother of two in London.

How to lighten the load

Those who spoke to BBC News shared their own tips about how to manage the mental load equally:

* Communicate clearly with your partner about how you're feeling and the impact of your mental load. Zach calls it "labelling" - making the invisible cognitive and emotional labour visible. Don't have these conversations when you're feeling angry or overwhelmed, says Wallace, or it can feel like the other person is being "blamed or criticised"

* "See what you can offload", says Ana Catalano Weeks, co-author of a study on how mental load impacts work. Do you really need to organise physical birthday cards for your children's friends? Can you mute parents' WhatsApp groups and just focus on official school emails?

* Have regular check-ins with your partner - it could be daily, weekly, or seasonally

* Create a shared calendar so that everyone is aware of birthdays, school meetings and more

* Take ownership of tasks from start to finish without the need to be reminded, Wallace says

* Don't fall into the "efficiency trap" that the solution is just to be more organised, Cleare says. Remember that what matters most as a parent are moments of connection with your child - not eating certain vegetables - and that will help redefine expectations

'He was a lifeline' - Families at a loss after Haitian caregivers let go in US

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg491zp13qqo, yesterday

Long Island mother-of-two Linda Mancuso has been "praying on a daily basis" that her disabled son's Haitian caregiver will be able to come back to work.

It was "horrifying," she says, when Jean, who had a temporary work permit, was laid off from work at the end of July from his position at a nonprofit supporting individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Her son Michael is a 5ft 10in, nonverbal 23-year-old.

"Showering, sleeping, eating, tying his shoes - Michael can't tie his shoes - I mean, there's so much hands-on involvement, and Jean did all of that," she says.

Mancuso was a ball of nerves when she finally agreed to send Michael to residential care, at the age of 19, calling it "the hardest thing I've ever had to do".

When he met Jean in the adult home, however, she felt a sense of peace.

"Certain people just have it," she says of Jean. "He's literally a lifeline."

But Michael lost that lifeline weeks ago, when his employer had to lay Jean off along with 18 other Haitians.

Their temporary protected status (TPS) - which allows eligible foreign nationals from unsafe countries to work in the US - had expired.

The Trump administration first announced in June 2025 that it would be removing the TPS for Haitians, and the ensuing legal battle went all the way to the Supreme Court.

But America's top judges ruled in favour of the administration, paving the way for 350,000 Haitians to lose their status at the end of July.

The stripping of that status meant that holders can no longer legally work in the US and are at risk of deportation.

The healthcare industry, with a robust Haitian workforce, has been hit particularly hard - with legions of employers forced to fire TPS holders who work directly with patients.

Trump cancelled TPS amid a wave of measures restricting immigration, a central plank of his successful 2024 election campaign.

Immigration was one of the top concerns for voters in that election and, in Long Island, both counties decisively backed Trump.

More than a dozen countries have had their TPS terminated in Trump's second term and Haitians make up nearly a third of all TPS recipients affected.

The care industry is feeling the effects.

Haiti numbers among the top five countries from which immigrants in the direct-care workforce come, says Kezia Scales, vice-president of policy and research at the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute.

The industry was already under-staffed and waitlists for many care services - from home health aides to assisted living - were already long.

"We simply do not have enough people in our domestic market, when you exclude immigrants, to fill those jobs," she tells BBC News.

National advocacy groups are campaigning for policies that would strengthen the long-term workforce - including ones that "would expand legal pathways for international caregivers".

When asked about the impact of TPS termination, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told the BBC that "Temporary Protected Status is exactly that - temporary".

"The assertion that the only way we can support the healthcare industry is by allowing unvetted illegal aliens to remain in the country is grossly false and lazy," the spokesperson said.

At AHRC Nassau, which employed Jean, CEO Stanfort Perry sounds exasperated and exhausted. The organisation let go of 19 Haitian staff this year and 22 last year, amidst other immigration crackdowns, he says.

"It takes us months to recruit one individual to work in this field, train them and prepare them to provide compassionate, caring support to a person with an intellectual and developmental disability," he says.

"I'm competing with fast-food restaurants, grocery stores and retail for staff, because they pay more than what we are able to pay," he adds.

It's an issue across the country. At Jewish Community Services of South Florida, which lost 18 Haitian TPS holders, the remaining aides are also working overtime.

"That is a huge financial strain on a nonprofit like us," says Sarah Katzenstein, the organisation's director of strategic communications and marketing.

The loss of TPS caregivers has been especially damaging to seniors served by the Jewish organisation, as many of them are Holocaust survivors, says Katzenstein.

"They had relationships with these home care aides for years - some of them for decades," she says, adding that Holocaust survivors especially can have difficulty trusting strangers.

"It's a very intimate relationship, so to these clients, the loss of having their Haiti TPS-holding caregivers truly is devastating."

Jewish Community Services has been writing to elected officials to advocate for proposed Senate Bill 4814, which would match a bipartisan bill already passed in the House to extend TPS for Haitians. The effort has currently stalled in the Senate, blocked by Republican opposition.

Hundreds of Haitians have been deported since the Supreme Court ruling, despite widespread gang violence in the country. White House czar Tom Homan defended the deportations in a recent CNN interview.

"The judges made a decision they must go home. And they need to go home... we're just enforcing the law. And we're doing it in a way that the American people voted for."

According to polling released last month by AP-NORC, support for Trump's overall immigration policy has fallen 10% since the start of his second term but remains relatively strong compared with other issues like the economy. On deportations, about half of US adults surveyed said Trump had gone too far, which is about the same number as the start of the year.

A Pew Research survey in June 2025, before the TPS provision was withdrawn from Haitians, suggested 39% of Americans supported the ending of TPS but 59% disapproved.

Back on Long Island, Mancuso is grieving the loss of a carer who had actually managed to connect with her high-needs son.

"That's one of the things that, as a parent, you worry [about]. Does this kid know that there are other people in the world, other than me, that love him?

"And I think he sensed that from Jean - that it's not just a job."

Her son might not be able to say it, but she knows he misses Jean and doesn't understand why he's no longer there. For Mancuso, her already-high anxiety about her son's well-being is skyrocketing.

"With Jean, I had not a care in the world," she says.

She's worried not just for her son but also for the other families served by the local non-profit - and, of course, for Jean and TPS holders like him who are living with uncertainty, unsure if or when they will be deported.

"I'm hoping against hope that this thing gets resolved," she says. "I care about [Jean] as a human being, he needs a livelihood - and this has been a livelihood for him, and he's good at it, helping my son.

"And it's directly impacting my son by his lack of presence here - and I want him back."

140 migrants in single dinghy rescued in English Channel

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyegwl9vzqo, today

Around 140 migrants in a single dinghy have been rescued in the English Channel.

The people on the inflatable vessel, which launched from the Normandy coast overnight, requested help in UK waters and were picked up by two RNLI boats, the French coastguard said. They will now be taken to shore in the UK.

It comes days after Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron met to discuss how to "scale up" efforts to reduce small boat crossings.

In August a single small boat carrying a record 230 people successfully crossed the Channel.

The dinghy launched in Bay of the Seine and was shadowed for around 10 hours by French rescue boats in case it got into difficulty. The French coastguard said it was not safe to attempt to stop the dinghy on water.

It reached UK waters at lunchtime and the people on board were met by lifeboats from Bembridge and Yarmouth.

French authorities said it was unusual for the migrant boat to depart from the area - 170 miles away from the usual launches around Calais making the crossing to the UK significantly longer.

Last year local officials told the BBC there has been an increase in people trying to depart from Normandy.

A Home Office spokesperson said on Sunday: "This government is bearing down on dangerous small boat crossings and restoring control at our border.

"Joint efforts have seen over 48,000 crossing attempts prevented and 1,100 boats and engines seized since the election."

They added: "But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40% more boots on the ground on French beaches."

In bilateral talks on Thursday, Burnham and Macron agreed they were making headway in reducing small boat crossings in the English Channel but now needed to go further.

While the number of boat crossings over summer months has dropped to its lowest since 2019, smugglers appear to have started loading more people onto fewer, larger vessels dubbed "mega dinghies".

It's thought the people smugglers organising the crossings have been forced to go to much greater lengths to avoid detection following more robust policing in the Calais area.

Between 1 January and 1 September 2026, a total of 16, 513 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France.

Downing Street says 45 extra police officers are being deployed to French beaches in a "surge team" to tackle larger dinghies with more people packed onto them.

Nigel Farage tells BBC he 'wasn't listening' during foreign donor talks filmed undercover

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qxgn7q1vdo, yesterday

Nigel Farage has said he "frankly wasn't listening" during a conversation with his former chief of staff and an undercover reporter discussing what appears to have been a scheme to funnel foreign money to Reform UK.

His former chief of staff Dan Jukes and ex-head of policy James Orr have both been removed from their jobs after an investigation recorded them talking about how to get money to the party from an American donor and asking a fake company to pay for polling.

Jukes has denied doing anything wrong. Orr has told Sky News he will co-operate fully with Reform's internal investigation.

In an interview with the BBC, the Reform leader said he was not listening to the discussion and revealed his family are "begging" him to leave his job amid increasing pressure.

In a film by Verbatim Investigations and Channel 4 News, Farage and Jukes were present during a conversation in which it is suggested the US donor gives £500,000 to Reform through his UK-based son.

Under electoral law, donors to UK political parties must be a UK registered voter, or a company registered in the UK, so cannot give money from abroad through a British resident.

The proposed donation was never made as it was part of an undercover sting, but that it was seemingly entertained has sparked questions.

When asked about the exchange by reporters at Reform's party conference on Friday, Farage said he was questioning whether the arrangement was above board.

In an interview to be broadcast on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he has now said: "I am not a compliance officer. I was in the middle of canvassing in the Clacton by-election. I turn up. I frankly wasn't even listening."

"I was told there was a global family office based in London, so the money could have come from Singapore," he said of the conversation in the Channel 4 film.

"The money could come from all over the world, you know. Income could have came from all over the world into a family office based in London. I know electoral law. I know donation law better than anybody.

"Frankly, the two individuals involved here have never been involved in fundraising before and they shouldn't have been involved directly in fundraising. They should have done basic checks and nobody, nobody should be brought to me, unless they've been vetted from."

The row over the Channel 4 film has threatened to capsize Reform's conference, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats calling on the Metropolitan Police to investigate the claims. The force is assessing whether or not to investigate.

Jukes and Orr - both senior figures in Farage's inner circle - have stood down pending the outcome of the party's internal investigation, but political opponents are demanding that Farage is investigated and takes accountability.

Farage categorically denied that Reform had ever taken money from a foreign entity by channelling it through a UK donor.

But as pressure ramps up on Farage in the latest crisis to rock Reform, he also told the BBC that "for the first time", he does not have his family's support to be in politics.

"They would rather I packed it up and walked away," he said.

He added he had not considered standing down, but "when you've got your family begging you to, it's not easy".

Farage also condemned the hundreds of masked "stop the boats" protesters who descended on the Port of Dover on Saturday morning, causing major travel disruption.

Farage said he "deplored" anyone wearing masks or balaclavas at public demonstrations.

He added: "You should not be allowed to be masked up, balaclava-ed up and go out and protest on the streets of our country. It is wrong at every level. So I deplore what is happening in Dover today."

Analysis: Farage may have to pay more attention

There's no question the allegations in the Channel 4 film have been embarrassing for Reform, and disrupted what they hoped would be a conference about their plans for office if they win the next General Election.

Everywhere around the huge, draughty exhibition hall in Birmingham are giant posters and placards saying, "Reform - the first 100 days".

They wanted to herald their deal with a serious contender to be the next French President, Jordan Bardella, to deal with small boats.

They were keen to highlight the promise to cut income tax if they win the election, scheduled to be in 2029.

They wanted to talk about their proposals for education, welfare, planning, and the rest.

Party members, delighted to have a reason to get together, have taken part in those sessions, applauded and cheered in the hall; gone wild for Farage on stage.

But for the rest of the country, most of the noise from the conference will have been the huge and awkward story about the toxic mix of politics and money.

What is harder to assess is the impact this mess will have on Farage's standing with the public, after a tricky summer and a recent poll slump.

At the top of the party there is a quiet admission that what has happened here is a genuine mistake.

One senior figure told me they could brush off other claims of murky funding, confident nothing had gone wrong - but they conceded these claims do matter, and that for a certain vital percentage of voters, it would "cause them to ask questions".

No one is pretending it's just what Farage tried to joke was a "little, local difficulty".

And there is a private acknowledgement that stories like this can be off putting to voters beyond Reform's no doubt very enthusiastic base.

Another party source told me they were "totally blindsided" by the revelations; stunned "there'd just been no diligence" and in disbelief at how Jukes and Orr, who both say they'd done nothing wrong, seem to have behaved.

A different member of the party's top team said, "hopefully, it's just growing pains". In other words, Reform's developed so fast that sometimes mistakes are made. But they told me: "The party has to step up – sometimes the people that got us here, aren't the people for the next stage".

Among Farage's fans at the conference, I found different views. One member was convinced the party is treated unfairly: "It's the blob, it's all against him," she said.

But another young Reform enthusiast rejected that, telling me: "It's all documented and there on camera – Nigel has to be more careful about what party members say."

But there is a sense of "here we go again". When I asked another member what they thought of the financial scandal, a weary answer, "Which one?"

This time last year in the same conference complex, Reform felt like they were simply sweeping all before them. Twelve months on, they are having to work harder, the scrutiny is more intense, and the pressure only growing.

Farage's claim that he "wasn't listening" to the conversation was telling – to get to power without more of these kinds of serious embarrassments, he may have to pay more attention to what is going on.

What different world maps get right - and what they get wrong

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly5r60v4mro, today

The UN has just called for the predominant world map to be replaced with one that more accurately reflects the true size of continents such as Africa.

The "Correct the Map" resolution adopted by the General Assembly aims to fix the discrepancy with the Mercator map, in which the African continent is shown as being of similar size to Greenland - even though it is in reality about 14 times larger.

The UN adopted a new map, the Equal Earth projection, which better represents the true sizes of landmasses - but comes with problems of its own.

There have been many prominent attempts over the years to solve the problem of accurately representing the surface of a sphere on a flat rectangle, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.

Mercator map

The now widely used Mercator map was created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator.

Its main purpose was to help European sailors navigate the oceans, as cartography Professor James Cheshire at University College London explained.

"He wanted a straight line to be drawn on a map to look like a straight line in reality if you followed a compass bearing," he told the BBC. "That was what it was intended to do, and that's what it does brilliantly well."

To keep those angles correct on a flat map, Mercator had to stretch the grid lines wider as they moved away from the equator toward the poles.

His map accommodates for the curvature of the Earth by making countries near the equator seem much smaller than they are and countries nearer the poles appear stretched.

The distortion is a result of it being impossible to accurately represent the surface of a globe on a two-dimensional chart.

More than 450 years on, Mercator's creation is still the basis for many of the maps we see in classrooms, on TV and online, including Google Maps.

But critics of the Mercator map say there is a psychological effect to viewing some places as smaller than they actually are and others as larger, as we instinctively view bigger things as more important.

For Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo, this has implicitly downplayed Africa's vast resources, population and investment opportunities.

"Maps are more than just guides for travellers - they shape how regions are perceived politically and economically," he told the BBC.

Equal Earth map

The Equal Earth map aims to address this problem with the Mercator projection.

It was developed by a team of cartographers in 2018 to present the size and shape of landmasses more accurately, and was inspired by the 1963 Robinson projection - a map that shows the entire globe's surface at once.

As a result, the Equal Earth map was adopted by African Union members in February, before it was adopted by the UN.

But it sacrifices the straight lines that made the Mercator projection perfect for navigating with - and it cannot be used for measuring the true distance between different places.

"You can preserve area, or you can preserve shape, or you can preserve distance and direction, but not everything at once perfectly, because otherwise you'd be back to a sphere," Cheshire said.

Peters map

The Peters world map was designed by German historian Arno Peters in the early 1970s. The rectangular map is based on the projection first described by Scottish cartographer James Gall in 1855.

The projection sacrifices accuracy of shape in favour of accuracy of scale. So, polar regions are squished, while the bits near the equator are stretched.

This fixes the Greenland-Africa size issue, allowing those who use it to get a sense of the comparative size of different landmasses, all while preserving straight lines of longitude and latitude.

However, the map severely distorts the shapes of Earth's landmasses, making them all look slightly off. Russia, for instance, looks much smaller than it actually is.

The straight lines on the Peters map also do not represent true constant compass bearings and so are useless for navigation.

Flipped and shifted maps

In the same way the apparent size of a landmass can influence its perceived importance, so can its prominence on a map.

Some cartographers have attempted to orient the map so the south is at the top, to counter the psychological bias that comes from the global south being viewed as less imporant because it's lower down.

And depending on where you are in the world, which continent is placed in the centre of a map can vary.

While these alternate maps offer a different perspective on the world to the one we may be familiar with, they don't solve the issue of prominence, but rather simply change the focus of a map.

Polar-oriented maps

One way of resolving the issue of which landmass is at the centre of a map - and therefore the most prominent - is putting none of them at the centre.

This is what the map in the UN logo does: the world is centred around the North Pole, with the continents radiating outward from it.

It's known as an "Azimuthal equidistant projection", placing world regions on a circular map around a focal point. The further away from that point on the globe, the bigger the circle.

On this type of map, all points are at the correct "azimuth" - or horizontal direction - from the centre point.

But to fit the entire surface of a sphere onto a circle, the map becomes more distorted the further away from the centre it gets.

On the UN map, for instance, areas near the South Pole appear squished and stretched as what would be a ring of the same circumference as one around the North Pole becomes much larger.

Prince William to attend King Harald's funeral in Norway

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp301rw6kvro, yesterday

The Prince of Wales will attend the funeral of King Harald V of Norway on Wednesday in Oslo, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Also going to the funeral, in a personal capacity, is Princess Anne, who is godmother to Norway's new monarch, King Haakon VIII.

The late King Harald, a popular, modernising figure who had been on the Norwegian throne for 35 years, died last month at the age of 89.

Royal sources say Prince William's attendance, representing his father King Charles, follows the convention that the monarch does not usually go to the funeral of another head of state.

Large crowds are expected for the farewell to King Harald on 9 September, with a funeral procession to be followed by a service at Oslo Cathedral.

Thousands have queued to pay their respects to the late king, during his lying in state in the chapel of the Royal Palace in the Norwegian capital.

At the funeral, alongside Prince William, will be the widowed Queen Sonja, members of the Norwegian royal family including new King Haakon VIII, and other European royals.

The service will be followed by a private burial in Norway's royal mausoleum in the Akershus Fortress.

Among the tributes to King Harald was an emotional televised speech by his son King Haakon, who said: "Thank you for being such a good dad."

Harald had been seen as a down to earth "people's king" who had helped to modernise the monarchy, broken with tradition by marrying a commoner and served as a unifying figure.

His son said he represented the values of a "society built on law and justice, where everyone is of equal value".

King Charles's message praised his cousin King Harald for serving his people with "unwavering dedication, guiding Norway through times of great change with warmth and humility".

King Haakon assumes his role at a difficult time, with the Norwegian royal family facing scandals this year.

His wife, Queen Mette-Marit, came under scrutiny when it was revealed she had maintained a three-year friendship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, for which she publicly apologised.

Her son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted in June of rape and other offences and sentenced to four years in prison. He is appealing.

While Prince William will be in Norway, King Charles has returned to Scotland, after meeting President Macron of France at the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition in London this week.

The King will be hosting Andy Burnham at Balmoral this weekend, in the traditional annual visit of the prime minister to stay with the monarch.

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Trump signs order to remove endangered species protection for grey wolves

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62k677d4lzo, yesterday

Donald Trump has signed an executive order to remove endangered species protection for the grey wolf and a subspecies, the Mexican wolf.

The US president's decision could pave the way for pastoral farmers to kill the canines to protect their livestock. His order said ranchers played a "vital role" in the food supply chain and American cultural heritage.

But conservation groups have criticised the move, saying it could derail long-term efforts to recover the endangered wolf populations.

There were 319 Mexican wolves in the wild in the US in 2025, up from just four when they were reintroduced in 1998, US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) figures show.

Meanwhile, there are roughly 18,000 grey wolves across the US, though they are still considered endangered as most of their habitat has been destroyed by humans.

An attempt to de-list them at a federal level in 2022 became tied up in litigation, and some campaigners have indicated they intend to do the same of the US Department of Interior acts on Trump's order.

The executive order does not give ranchers immediate license to shoot wolves preying on livestock, but instead gives Interior Secretary Doug Burgum 90 days to determine whether the grey and Mexican wolf populations had recovered enough to warrant being taken off the endangered species list.

Noting that US livestock herds were at a 75-year low while demand for beef had risen by 10% in the past decade, the order added: "More can and should be done to support this critical industry."

However, environmental groups pointed to studies that suggested wolf attacks on livestock were rare and had little impact on ranchers' income.

"This is a huge distraction to placate a handful of ranchers and make them believe that wolves are a greater threat than President Trump's own policies," said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project, which works to conserve wildlife in western US states.

The Wolf Conservation Center noted that ranchers were entitled to up to 100% compensation for any livestock losses caused by wolves under the current system, with individual states providing funding for programmes to deter attacks.

"The Mexican grey wolf is not recovered simply because the population has grown," said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. "Weakening federal protections now would put decades of recovery work at risk."

The executive order comes as the Trump administration is seeking to lower record-high beef prices for consumers, driven by drought and an outbreak of parasites in US beef stocks.

Ranchers have been frustrated by Trump's decision to loosen restrictions on beef imports to address price rises, putting pressure on their already tight margins.

The US government launched a campaign to systematically exterminate wolves towards the end of the 19th Century. This, along with farmers and landowners trapping and killing wolves, pushed them to the brink of eradication.

Ranchers still view them as a nuisance, which tackling lethally constitutes a federal crime.

Why are European countries moving their gold out of North America?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgyn8q8gqxo, yesterday

When the central bank of the Netherlands confirmed this week that it had moved tonnes of the country's gold out of North America, it said the relocation would make it "better prepared for severe crises".

Some 86 tonnes from the combined total of about 313 tonnes held in the US and Canada were relocated to London "in view of increasing geopolitical unrest", it said, so the shiny stuff could be "readily available for use in a crisis situation".

Questions were bound to follow. Why were the Dutch doing this? Were they anticipating some major economic shock on the horizon?

It seems not, but the move was clearly in response to the unstable and uncertain state the world finds itself in, with trade and military wars prompting countries to take precautions and hold their gold closer to home.

Earlier this year, France announced it had removed its gold reserves from the US to home shores. Meanwhile, Germany's Bundesbank transferred more than 216 tonnes of the metal from storage locations abroad - 111 tonnes from New York and 105 tonnes from Paris - over a few years ending in 2016.

It is a strategy which has played out before in times of global instability. "Some European central banks moved part of their gold holdings to New York during the Cold War," said research analysts Lina Thomas and Daan Struyven of Goldman Sachs.

Joseph Cavatoni, senior market strategist at the World Gold Council, told the BBC while wars and trade tensions were "playing into some of these decisions", it didn't "top the list" of motivating factors.

Inflation, interest rates and just having gold in a place where it can be traded quickly also played a role.

"I don't get a sense that there's an impending doom," Cavatoni said, "but what I do think is people are being better educated around how to manage their reserve assets, growing their reserve assets, and actually thinking more effectively around how to make the most of those assets."

De Nederlandsche Bank said the gold removed from the US and Canada between March and August this year was now being held in the vaults of the Bank of England.

"We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness," said the governor of the Dutch central bank, Olaf Sleijpen.

London was seen as the best choice due its position in the world as a major trading centre. If you want to be able to buy or sell gold fast in a crisis, London is the place to be, which makes the Bank of England a popular storage spot.

The Bank is one of the largest custodians of gold in the world. Underneath the 300-year-old institution in central London sit about 400,000 bars worth more than £200bn.

According to industry surveys by the World Gold Council, the Bank of England remains the most popular vaulting location, but central banks are increasingly diversifying where they store the precious metal.

Where to store your country's gold is "increasingly top of mind for reserve managers", according to Thomas and Struyven of Goldman Sachs.

In the modern world, there are many ways to shift your treasure around. The Dutch sold about 59 tonnes in New York and then bought more stocks in London, meaning that amount didn't need to be hauled across the Atlantic.

But more than 27 tonnes were "physically transferred" from the US and Canada to the Dutch town of Zeist. A similar quantity was also sent from Zeist to London.

Companies that perform such services are tight-lipped on how operations are carried out, but it's fair to say the security measures and planning are extensive to avoid the risk of a real-life Italian Job.

Cavatoni, of the World Gold Council, said one standard approach to move gold stocks was to sell the commodity in one place and buy it in another. "Let's say I want my gold in New York and I have it in London. I could sell it in London, buy it in New York, same day, same time, effectively book transfer without actually having to put it on any other logistical change."

There are only a few select companies which handle gold shipments across borders, one of which is Brink's Global Services, who told the BBC it had seen "increased demand" from the likes of central banks in recent times.

"Heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty, along with gold's growing role as a strategic reserve asset, appear to be contributing to this trend," said Nader Antar, Brink's executive vice president.

The reason gold storage is such a topic in the minds of central banks is because they have been increasingly buying the stuff. But storing it at home comes at a cost, said Thomas and Struyven of Goldman Sachs.

"Domestic storage requires investment in physical security, audit infrastructure, and insurance; costs that can be disproportionate for smaller central banks," they said.

Over the past four years, central banks have accumulated an annual average of 1,000 tonnes of gold, up significantly from the 500 tonnes average over the preceding decade, according to the World Gold Council.

The trend stretches back to the global financial crisis. And that is only expected to go up in the next year.

Gold has been having a moment in recent years. Its price has surged to hit a series of record highs, passing $5,000 an ounce in January.

There are several reasons behind its value jumping, but a major factor has been the precious metal's position in the human psyche as a so-called safe haven asset, to invest during periods of financial and geopolitical turmoil caused through trade and military wars.

Inflation and interest rates also influence gold's popularity. Due to the commodity's scarcity and the value placed on it across thousands of years, it is somewhat resistant against rising prices, and so is seen as a good investment.

"Over the past half-century, gold prices have risen much faster than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) - the most closely watched measure of inflation," according to investment bank Charles Schwab.

While the price of gold has fallen from the record high seen early this year, it still remains at a high level historically.

According to researchers at Goldman, the price is forecast to rise to $4,900 (£3,624) per troy ounce by the end of 2026, $300 more than it was in August.

The demand for gold from central banks is one key reason why prices are surging, according to Thomas and Struyven.

Flock says its cameras make US safer - so why are they being sabotaged?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cew9kz1kxpvo, yesterday

Houston's historic Old Braeswood neighbourhood is affluent and tree-lined.

These are not the kind of streets where you would expect to see co-ordinated vandalism. Yet here, four surveillance cameras were attacked and cut down in the middle of the night.

The metal poles were severed, leaving the distinctive black oval cameras and accompanying solar panels lying on the ground. On some of the cameras was a red sign reading: "Notice. 24/7 video recording."

These cameras are run by a company called Flock Safety and this sabotage, which happened in late July, is a signal of growing concern over the nationwide spread of sophisticated AI-powered surveillance systems. Similar vandalism incidents have occurred in Minnesota, California and Georgia.

Proponents say they have made communities safer and have helped dramatically increase the rate at which crimes are solved. But recent examples of misuse have caused concern. Critics say the cameras, which take pictures of the rear of every car that drives past, are overly broad investigative tools that treat civilians like suspects.

They see the little black poles popping up in their neighbourhoods as visible reminders of state power, at a time when public confidence in institutions is historically low and many are concerned about the accelerating pace of technological change and the influence of AI on people's lives.

A new age of surveillance

Founded in 2017, Flock Safety has become one of the country's biggest makers of Automatic Licence Plate Readers (ALPRs). These AI-powered cameras take a picture of the rear of every car that drives past. Footage is retained for a specified amount of time.

But little is known about the extent to which Flock is being used - the company does not publish exact data, but says it works with more than 7,000 communities nationwide and estimates that there are approximately 100,000 cameras deployed.

Records obtained by the BBC provide a rare glimpse into the extensive network of cameras and surveillance tech being used in America's fourth largest city, Houston, including the use of controversial facial recognition software powered by artificial intelligence.

Flock is not just selling cameras - it is selling access to a database that can include thousands of cameras from around the country. Older ALPRs did not have this vast network, which is a major selling point for law enforcement.

For example, Houston's Metro Transit Authority owns 35 cameras. But documents show Metro has access to around 20,000 devices in the Flock network - including some as far as Albany County, New York.

And as Flock expands, so too can the scope of investigations. Documents released to the BBC show how the network has grown year-on-year. In the Cypress-Fairbanks independent school district, a typical licence plate lookup in April 2024 searched around 270 networks of cameras.

By April 2025, the typical search scope had almost doubled to around 500 networks. In April 2026, 20% of searches were conducted across more than 6,000 networks.

Critics in Houston say this national network concerns them more than individual cameras. Christopher Rivera, from the Texas Civil Rights Project, worries that authorities could use "these databases to search our everyday routines, which ultimately scrapes out our routes to work, where our children go to school, and where we worship - and that's very problematic".

There have been recent incidents of privacy breaches that have caught national attention. Last week, a police officer in Kentucky was charged after using the Flock system to track his ex-girlfriend - who filed a protection order - over 2,000 times.

He was caught using Flock's newly mandatory, AI-powered audit tool that flags suspicious use.

Others are concerned about Flock being a way for police to avoid warrants, which are usually required to search a person's property or tap their phone. In 2025, a detective in Johnson County, Texas, searched over 80,000 images to locate a woman suspected of having an abortion. He did not have a warrant.

CCTV cameras, licence-plate readers and surveillance are not new. But the scale of Flock's network and the integration of AI in modern surveillance tech is a recent development and it's turned Flock into a household name. Americans who otherwise ignored the cameras in their cities have started to notice and tune into the capabilities of the technology around them.

With AI, unlike older licence-plate readers, law enforcement can search surveillance footage with a string of words like "Caucasian man, blue shirt" - not just a licence-plate image.

One thing Flock does not use is facial recognition. But that does not mean police departments are avoiding that tech. Critics say it violates human rights, is susceptible to misidentifying innocent people, and can be biased against minorities.

The BBC has received documents revealing that Harris County Sheriff's Office, which covers Houston, uses other facial recognition technology, Clearview AI.

The tool includes a database of more than 70 billion images, many of which were scraped from public internet sources including social media. The documents, including purchase orders and a licence agreement, show that the county's Clearview AI contract currently runs through to March 2027.

Several European countries have issued the company with data protection fines, including a £7.5m penalty from the UK's Information Commissioner.

Harris County Sheriff's Office use of this facial recognition technology has not been reported before. It did not respond to requests for comment.

Police say surveillance technology like this, including Flock cameras, is important for fighting crime.

"It's a very good tool," says Chief Ray Schultz of the Memorial Villages Police Department - a small jurisdiction within Houston. "It makes the community safer."

Before purchasing a Flock ALPR, his department would recover an average of three stolen cars a year. Now, this figure is 45, Schultz says.

Some crimes solved in recent years would have been "impossible" without Flock, he adds. Last month, Schultz used the tool to find an elderly woman with dementia who had driven 60 miles from Galveston to Houston and had gotten lost. "We were able to find her and reunite her with her family."

Schultz says that it is important for agencies to have strong policies governing ALPR use and officers that misuse the system should be held accountable.

"But don't throw out a tool that is valuable, that can help recover a missing child."

'I feel like I'm being stalked'

Jasmine Khadem Gonzalez, an immigrant rights organiser, is worried that law enforcement might "use [the Flock] database to tell ICE where somebody is".

The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency does not have a contract with Flock directly. However, there have been reports of police officers citing "immigration" or "ice" as a reason for searching for a licence plate.

Jessie, an immigrant from Central America, noticed a Flock camera outside her house last month. She asked the BBC to not use her real name out of fear it could impact a pending case to extend her green card.

"It makes me feel as if I'm being stalked," she says.

In response, she's changed her commute to work. "I try to take different routes every day so there's not a pattern."

But whether individual law enforcement agencies share info with the federal government is unclear. Federal immigration enforcement cannot access Flock data directly, Flock's CEO says. But some police departments have standing agreements with federal immigration enforcement to work together.

In Harris County, a proposed Flock contract amendment initially included the explicit authorisation to share camera data with federal law enforcement, but this provision was later removed after push-back from campaigners.

Hundreds of contracts cancelled

Some jurisdictions have opted not to renew contracts with Flock as a result of these concerns, including large metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Seattle and Austin.

In total, more than 200 communities have cancelled or not renewed their contracts since 2021 - including 90 in August alone - according to advocacy group Secure Justice. Their reasons for cancelling may include cost and concerns about data privacy.

Nationally, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have suggested that there ought to be guardrails and several candidates have made it a campaign issue for the upcoming midterms. Republican Congressman Keith Self has proposed legislation that would require federal agencies to get warrants before accessing Flock data.

The company itself has also amended some of its policies, such as requiring mandatory audits and reducing the default period that data stays on a server from 30 days to seven, unless flagged as part of an investigation. But individual agencies can choose to retain data for much longer.

Flock's founder and CEO Garrett Langley told the BBC that it was up to individual cities to decide how long to store data and what information to share with whom.

"I don't think a technology company should be making decisions like that," he says.

"As long as it's a lawful investigation, we are not going to tell cities what laws they should or should not enforce."

Flock is a safety, not surveillance, company, Langley says. Yet three patents filed between 2020 and 2025 have the word "surveillance" in the title.

He boasts that the tech helped solve "about a million crimes" and helped find more than 10,000 missing people.

"The debate of how we build a society where safety and privacy coexist" is worth having, he says, but the ongoing vandalism is "disappointing".

But there is nothing Flock or law enforcement could say to make Jessie feel at ease with this technology, she says. "I just don't trust that they're doing it to keep us safe."

Minister to meet Jaguar Land Rover boss as thousands of job cuts expected

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crer948xq00o, today

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will meet the bosses of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and the Unite union to discuss the impact of thousands of expected job cuts at the car maker.

JLR confirmed to the BBC it is opening a voluntary redundancy programme, a year on from a cyber attack which brought production to a halt for more than a month.

The company did not confirm the numbers but the Times reported as many as 4,000 jobs may be lost due to the impact of tariffs and a drop in sales.

Reynolds told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the meeting early next week will focus on ways to "mitigate any job losses" but ruled out a bailout for the company.

Asked about the cuts, which are believed to impact mainly white collar workers, Reynolds said: "A company the size of JLR, which is a huge British success story, at various times in its business cycle, the number of, directly, people it employs will change.

"If this is about making sure over time that the workforce is right to make the business as competitive as possible, that's the conversation we need to have."

He said there would be no support "if it's to bail people out", but opened the door to a "long-term investment in the future" of the company.

The cuts come as Chancellor John Healey is preparing to deliver a speech in the Midlands on Monday promising to boost economic growth by changing how the government values investment in infrastructure such as transport and housing. JLR is based in Coventry, in the West Midlands.

The Liberal Democrats said the news would be "devastating" for JLR staff and called for Healey to use his speech to offer "support for those jobs at risk".

"This development lays bare that the government's growth mission is falling far short," the party's business spokesperson Sarah Olney said.

JLR has not confirmed the scale of the job cuts, but said they would "simplify" the business and "improve efficiency and build greater resilience".

"Today, we informed our colleagues, and trade union partners that JLR is opening a voluntary redundancy programme offering salaried and management team members the opportunity to leave the business," a spokesperson said.

"We will share further information with our colleagues first." It did not rule out the prospect of some compulsory redundancies as part of the plans.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the union had been warning about a "perfect storm" hanging over the automotive industry for some time.

"Death by a thousand cuts has been going on under the nose of successive governments," she said.

She added there had been "intensive" discussions over the weekend about mitigating jobs losses.

Reynolds was asked about the impact on the car industry of the UK's electric vehicle sales target, which means manufacturers must ensure a percentage of the cars they sell each year are zero emissions, with the target rising each year to reach 80% by 2030.

He said one of the first things he had done as business secretary was give the industry more flexibility to work towards that and said there was a further consultation open on it.

"It's not where it needs to be and that's why we're willing to change the regulation to work with where consumer demand is and the industry," he added.

He said he had also spoken with West Midlands mayor Richard Parker about supporting the business and its staff.

JLR in July said fewer than 300 people would leave the firm under cost savings plans announced at the time.

It employs about 30,000 people in its UK operations, with approximately 10,000 people employed at plants overseas.

The cyber attack in September 2025 led to the shut down of all manufacturing at JLR for several weeks, meaning not a single vehicle rolled off its production lines.

That led to a 27% drop in overall production at the company, which is one of the West Midlands' biggest employers.

The overall cost of the cyber-attack and the subsequent loss of manufacturing was estimated to be £1.9bn.

In June, the firm announced it planned to cut about £1.7bn in costs over the coming years to help towards its recovery from the attack.

JLR had indicated at the time that it would make the savings through cuts in areas such as materials, warranty and fixed costs.

Additional reporting by Simon Jack

Nepal bet nearly everything on hydropower - the floods show why that's a problem

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0zx368prno, yesterday

Almost 100% of Nepal's electricity comes from hydropower, and it produces so much it earns nearly $200m (£147m) each year exporting hydroelectricity to India and Bangladesh.

But the very glaciers and mountains giving Nepal this massive natural advantage are succumbing to global warming - and last Wednesday's deadly floods have laid bare the risks to the nation's hydropower ambitions.

More than 1,300 people were killed, while thousands more are still missing.

The floods, which destroyed entire villages near the border of Nepal and Tibet, severely damaged 12 hydropower plants in the Trishuli River basin and knocked out more than 10% of Nepal's total power generation capacity. Operators tell the BBC they don't yet know if any of these facilities can be brought back to operation.

The state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority, which owns six of the 12 damaged facilities, has assured Nepalese households that supply remains adequate. But its spokesman Rajan Dhakal acknowledges that with climate-related disasters becoming more frequent, "the time has come for a rethink of our hydropower policy".

Only two-thirds of people in Nepal had access to electricity in 2010, and even connected households would face power cuts for up to 16 hours a day.

An expansion of hydropower infrastructure alongside efforts to tackle corruption and boost energy imports from India to fill seasonal gaps meant that by 2018, most of Nepal was enjoying 24 hours of power supply per day.

At present, there are 225 hydropower plants across Nepal with more than 3,900MW of installed capacity, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority - capable of powering some three million households simultaneously.

Hundreds more such facilities are either being constructed or in the pipeline. Most of them are built high up in the mountains, where they can seize fast-flowing currents to generate power. These projects require little to no storage system.

However, with the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas warming 50% faster than the global average, they face greater environmental risks. Preliminary investigations have pointed to a collapsed glacier and its bedrock as the cause of last week's flash flood.

While scientists say it is too soon to draw any firm links to climate change, Nepal's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority previously said more than nine in 10 disaster events recorded between 2018 and 2024 were "related to climate".

Nepal's former Energy Minister Kulman Ghising, who called the catastrophic deluge a "once-in-a-century" event, says it holds lessons for designing plants and picking sites where they are built.

"We need to design the plants [to be more] resilient to the floods and, most importantly, adopt early-warning systems as well as robust emergency evacuation measures," he told environmental news outlet Mongabay.

Potentially hundreds of hydropower labourers, engineers and residents are thought to be trapped inside the mud-filled tunnels of these plants since the floods hit.

A "rethink" of Nepal's hydropower strategy could involve reservoir-based plants that need not be situated up in the mountains, says Dhakal from the Nepal Electricity Authority. These could allow water to be stored and released as needed, but would also involve significant economic and environmental costs.

'All our eggs in one basket'

Some question if Nepal has been too reliant on hydropower.

"We should not be putting all our eggs in one basket in these dangerous times," says renewable energy expert Kushal Gurung, who founded the clean tech firm WindPower Nepal.

"We need to seriously embrace other alternatives as well, like solar and wind. And for that we will need to revise our energy policy that is at the moment very pro-hydropower," he says.

The claim is echoed by Vivek Shastry, researcher at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, who argues that "meaningful additions of wind and solar generation is a resilience strategy that can limit single-point or interconnected electricity system failures in the future".

A report from the German aid agency suggests the technical potential for energy production from solar power in Nepal is around 10 times larger than that of hydropower.

Puspa Sharma, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Institute of South Asian Studies, agrees Nepal has to diversify its energy sources, but warns this can be done "only to a limited extent".

"While there is untapped capacity in wind and solar, hydropower really is the one that gives Nepal massive competitive advantage vis-a-vis its South Asian neighbours," he says, citing various studies comparing renewable energy potential in the region.

Hydropower continues to dominate large-scale investments in Nepal, and some climate activists say the funding has continued despite known disaster risks.

The Upper Trishuli-1 project, which has been all but destroyed after last week's floods, was one of Nepal's largest foreign direct investment ventures, valued at about $647m. Its backers include the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The Upper Trishuli 3A, which has also been severely hit, was funded by China's Export-Import Bank.

Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People, says international lenders were "acutely aware of the extreme danger to which they were exposing thousands of labourers, officials, residents, rivers, infrastructure and landscape".

"Their own reports repeatedly highlighted it. But they did not take any preventive steps, did not demand stringent checks and balances, nor were they prepared for a calamity they knew could occur," he says.

The ADB and IFC told the BBC the project design of Upper Trishuli-1 "reflected findings from independent technical assessments that looked at the risks of flooding and landslides affecting the project site, using studies of the glaciers and glacial lakes and historical evidence available at the time".

The project's early warning system was strengthened following a flood in 2024, they said, and further work to assess risks was taken out after another flood in 2025.

"The precise causes of the August 2026 disaster, the extent of the damage, the performance of the Project's design, and protective measures including the early warning system, is being gathered and remains to be verified as well as assessed."

The BBC has contacted the China's Export-Import Bank for comment.

History has already shown the Trishuli River basin to be volatile, Thakkar says, pointing to how it had been hit by floods in the last two years. In September 2024, an unprecedented cloudburst over the Trishuli and Bhote Koshi river basins sparked flash floods in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading - settlements by the river that are also among the hardest hit from last week's floods.

Then in July 2025, a glacial lake in Tibet's Gyirong county burst and swept down this very same stretch of river into Nepal, killing at least 11 people. That flood damaged critical infrastructure and halted trade along the busy Nepal-China corridor. The border crossing was shut for nearly six months and had only reopened on 1 January this year.

Dhakal from the Nepal Electricity Authority admits that even if climate risk assessments were carried out correctly, "the designing of the plants may not have been done accordingly".

"Clearly we will need to improve in the way we build and operate our hydropower plants," he adds.

Private operators are already feeling the financial impact. Insurers have paid out around $40m for flood-related damage to more than 20 privately owned plants over the past three years, according to Uttam Bhlon Lama from the Independent Power Producers' Association of Nepal.

He warns insurance premiums are rising significantly and making the cost of doing business "unfeasible".

This disaster shows climate risks are international and cannot be managed by Nepal alone, suggests Manjeet Dhakal, a member of the country's climate delegation at the UN Climate Change Conference.

Governments and international organisations must share data, assess impacts and develop early-warning systems together, he urges.

"Nepal is among the least responsible for the greenhouse emissions that led to these exacerbated risks.

"Ironically, our hydropower industry is an attempt to reduce our already minimal emissions... We cannot, and should not, be made to respond to these risks alone."

Why wait? Business grads buying firms to install themselves as CEO

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxqpqrzq01o, 4 days ago

Confined to her hospital bed as she waited for her baby to be induced, Ania Aliev was attempting to finalise a deal to buy a company and put herself in the top job.

"I was answering investors and emailing people, and the investors were yelling at me 'you need to focus on having your child right now!'," says Aliev, who was 27-years-old at the time in late 2023.

A recent MBA (Master of Business Administration) graduate from the prestigious Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, she gave birth to a boy. Just three months later she was owner and CEO of Massachusetts-based medical equipment business Life Support Systems.

It used to be the case that US business course graduates would leave university and typically either join a corporate giant to try to work their way to the top, or else form their own start-up.

But some, impatient to be the boss of an established firm, are instead now borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy such a business and install themselves as the boss.

Is such entrepreneurial go-getting to be applauded, or is it excessive youthful chutzpah? And how do the employees react when a 20-something with little experience suddenly turns up to order them about?

Aliev, who had worked in finance before doing her MBA, was wary of first impressions at the firm.

"If you judge a book by its cover, it's very easy to be like 'oh, young girl, Wall Street background, coming in here and telling me what to do'… I was really conscious about that," she says. "And I really didn't want to come off that way to my team."

Aliev says her approach was initially to just observe and learn. "Not coming in and telling them 'this is how things are going to be'."

The practice of a young entrepreneur borrowing money to buy a company and become its boss is known as entrepreneurship by acquisition or "search-fund investing".

The would-be business owner sets up a fund, called a search fund, and aims to attract money from both institutional investors and wealthy individuals.

At the last count, in 2023, a record 94 search funds were found to have been launched that year in the US, with $682m (£505m) said to have been invested in funds and the companies they bought across 2022 and 2023.

In turn, there are now investment companies in the US that specialise in backing young entrepreneurs and their search funds, such as Search Fund Partners, Aspect Investors and Anacapa Partners.

They are attracted by reported high rates of return. For while some people may question the wisdom of putting a 20-something in charge of an established business, a report by Yale School of Management found that "juicy returns by any standard" are available, and funds generally "remained relatively stable".

For existing business owners, selling to a younger entrepreneur is a chance to move on and perhaps retire. For would-be company leaders the aim is to grow the business for perhaps five to 10 years, before selling at a profit.

Now more than two years since taking over at Life Support Systems, and 30-years-old, Aliev has led the takeover of a competitor, which she says has doubled the size of the business.

She says that this focus on growth has been welcomed by most employees. One, Meaghan Richardson, says: "It can be a little bit challenging sometimes for those of us who have been here a long time... but it's been really great since she's come in because she's just turned a lot of stuff around, which is really exciting."

But not everyone has been happy with Aliev's new approach. Some workers have left and she has made others redundant as "they just didn't want to work in a growth company".

"I was a shell of a human being"

Elsewhere, entrepreneurship by acquisition can end in failure.

Scott Duncan, who gained his MBA from Harvard Business School, was back in 2018 seeking an established business to acquire and run. He secured investment to buy F&M Tool and Die, a company in Massachusetts that makes industrial parts.

It looked great on paper, and seemed to be a strong fit given his previous work in engineering.

Aged 31 when he took over the company, he said his first day was "terrifying". "All of the employees had been doing this for decades. I was this newcomer and I had really no idea what was going on. So, they were really perplexed by me as well."

Very quickly, things started to unravel in what would be a seven-year struggle to keep the business afloat.

Skilled employees left the business, including one who started a low-cost competitor and took an important customer with him. Others proved resistant to change, and Duncan realised it would be impossible to fill the previous owner's shoes.

"This whole organisation had built up around him, his personality," he says. "I bought a business that was very difficult for anyone except for that guy to run."

After this difficult start, the Covid pandemic, the rise of cheaper Chinese competition and even a flooded workshop were among challenges in a battle for survival that lasted until 2025. Duncan describes it as "death by a thousand cuts".

In February last year, he was left with little choice but to shut the business down. "I brought everybody into the conference room. I had to grab a chair and sit down in it because I was physically unable to stand. I thought I was going to pass out, but all the employees came in and I said, 'we're shutting the doors'."

Duncan, now a 39-year-old husband and father of two daughters, also had to file for personal bankruptcy. "I was a shell of a human being," he says.

Despite his experiences, Duncan – who has since found work as a consultant – isn't against the idea of young people raising money to take on firms from older owners.

But he does urge caution for "starry-eyed MBAs" who think they're immune from the risks of failure. "It's really, really hard, even when things are going well," he says.

Leadership coach and business psychologist Jacqueline Ackerman says that workforces generally don't object to a young person taking over because of their age.

"I don't think people actually resist youth. I think they resist uncertainty," says Ackerman, who is managing partner of Chicago-based Vantage Leadership Consulting. "A lot of times people would associate younger leaders with a lot of change."

Back at Life Support Systems, Aliev says that working life is much better than if she had remained in finance. "I knew I didn't want to do banking… I just was so unfulfilled by it."

Feeling nostalgic for summer? How to beat the back-to-work blues

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2d1vy0827o, 6 days ago

The alarm wakes you with a shock, the summer holiday is over and it's time to face that inbox full of unread emails.

This time last week, life was very different. You enjoyed late nights, lazy mornings balancing family fun and you time.

Even if you enjoy your job, the transition from holiday to work can be hard, particularly in September as the days begin to shorten.

Here are some ways of making the transition a little bit easier.

Tick off small tasks

It can be tempting to launch straight into tackling the hardest task first.

But careers coach Sarah Robinson says it's better to "ease back in" by starting with small, manageable tasks and "quick wins".

"It's about trying to build momentum, because I think sometimes it can just feel overwhelming when you've got a massive inbox," she says.

Counsellor Susan Carr agrees. She says it isn't possible in every industry but where viable "be a bit kinder with your expectations of what you need to do on that first day back in the office."

That could mean spending the day going through emails rather than a full day of back-to-back meetings.

Tara Humphrey, a primary care leadership consultant, advocates keeping her out-of-office on for her first day back.

"It's about hiding, if you can, just to give yourself that bit of headspace."

She also says re-entry into work life can be made easier by a clearly-written out-of-office message, encouraging people to follow up when she is back in the office - that eases the stress of whether you have missed something important while on holiday.

There is an alternative. She recalls a colleague who would simply delete all the emails he had been sent during his holiday.

"He said, 'if people want me, they'll come back to me'."

Stay touristy - but at home

Carr says it is also worth remembering what was enjoyable on holiday and "whether there's a way of integrating that more into your everyday life".

While it may not be realistic to have a siesta every day, you could try cooking some Spanish food, she suggested.

She also recommends holding on to the curiosity we have when in a new place and trying to be a tourist in our own area.

"If we go away somewhere else... we might be looking at the architecture, visiting buildings, and I think - and I know I'm guilty of this in Manchester - we don't always appreciate what's on our doorstep."

Psychotherapist Dr Joy Conlon, who runs wellbeing coaching service Alive 365, agrees.

"Bring one restorative part of the holiday home with you. This might be an evening walk, eating without looking at a screen, reading before bed instead of being on a screen or just spending more time outdoors.

Reflect on your role

Rather than treating the symptoms, it may be worth looking at the root cause of the back-to-work blues.

Before, she was a counsellor, Carr worked as a solicitor.

"I was vaguely aware before I went on holiday that things weren't right and I was quite stressed," she says.

"I went away on holiday and then I came back and suddenly I was in floods of tears every day. It wasn't just a case of needing time to adjust, it was a sign I needed a rethink."

But how can you tell between a temporary nostalgia for long lie-ins and genuine unhappiness with your job?

"It probably sounds really obvious," Carr says, "but I suppose one of the signs of that is how long it goes on for."

"It's that length of time but also maybe the intensity of the feelings."

Lying on a sunbed, it can be easy to fantasise about quitting everything and retraining as a scuba diver instructor or yoga teacher, but Carr warns against a "knee-jerk reaction".

"It's about taking time and reflecting on how you might go about making a change."

Book your next holiday – and make it active

It is not just the holiday itself that makes them so enjoyable and beneficial, the anticipation of going also plays a key role, says Dr Mark Williamson, chief executive officer of Action for Happiness, a charity.

And what type of holiday or how long you go for can make a difference to the overall impact.

Williamson points to what he says is "genuinely surprising" research which suggests physically active holidays may be better for wellbeing than simply lying by the pool.

"If you include some walking, cycling, swimming, exploring you're more likely to get back feeling refreshed," he adds.

Another factor to consider is the length of your next break, he says.

"Longer breaks give a bigger boost, but it seems to fade faster, partly because you return to a bigger mountain.

"There's some evidence that shorter but more regular breaks bring more wellbeing benefits. The refresh from five days away may feel not far off ten, but you can do it twice as often."

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From 'dog fruit' to darling: India's avocado boom

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyjzpgv29do, 3 days ago

Fifteen years ago there was almost no market for avocados in India, remembers Madhu Bopaiah.

Ripe fruit would fall off trees and be eaten by dogs, earning avocados the unappetising name dog fruit, he says.

Bopaiah has been working in India's plantation industry for 26 years, he's currently group manager at Cottanad Plantations, which grows cocoa, rubber, coffee, spices and fruits, including avocado, in the hills of Wayanad in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

"We never planted avocado as our main crop. We introduced it as a shade tree for coffee plantations, and only later realised it could become a profitable business," he says.

He says the turning point was around 2011 when Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty said she used avocado for skincare.

"Overnight, prices doubled and then kept rising," he says.

Cottanad has responded to that demand by planting avocado trees on 40 acres. Last year they harvested between 10 and 15 tonnes of fruit. In three of four years time they hope to raise that to 40 to 50 tonnes.

There's been a lot to learn.

"We completely changed the way we grow avocados after learning from South African experts. Today we use raised beds, wider spacing and different planting methods because avocado roots are highly vulnerable to diseases," Bopaiah says.

There's plenty of scope for Indian farmers to step-up production.

"When we studied the market, we found a huge gap between demand and supply. India imports around 15,000 tonnes of avocados every year, while domestic production is only about 8,000–9,000 tonnes," says Manilal Palliyath who helps promote India's avocado industry.

He sees a big opportunity for farmers, particularly as traditional crops have suffered.

"Coffee and pepper have suffered because of changing climatic conditions, making diversification essential for farmers."

While demand is growing in India, it's not always for locally grown fruit.

"Indian-grown avocados are improving and there are some great farmers working with local varieties, but the quality and availability can vary significantly depending on the season and region," says Hussain Shahzad, the executive chef at Hunger Inc. Hospitality.

The group owns four restaurants in Mumbai, including Veronica's and The Bombay Canteen.

"We have explored different varieties of avocados available in India, but the imported ones currently offer the consistency we need in terms of flavour, texture, size, and ripening," he says

But like many in the catering industry, he would like to source ingredients locally.

"We are always interested in exploring better local produce as it evolves. Supporting Indian agriculture and working with indigenous ingredients is central to how we approach food."

Matching the quality and consistency of imported fruit is the goal of some Indian entrepreneurs.

Harshit Godha is the founder of Indo-Israel Avocado Nursery in Bhopal, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

He founded the nursery business in 2021, after spending a month in Israel learning about the industry.

Since then, business has been brisk. Over the last five years Godha has supplied around 18,000 avocado plants to farmers across India.

All of the saplings are international varieties like Hass and Pinkerton.

"Israel grows avocados on approximately 13,000 hectares - a small country with almost no rainfall for eight months of the year. This is precisely why Israeli avocado technology is the most advanced in the world," Godha says.

Getting a commercial orchard up and running is not easy. It is a very different operation from the traditional way of cultivating avocados in India, where they were planted among other crops for shade.

For a start, you can't just grow a tree from seed. A commercial tree comprises a rootstock, chosen for its tolerance to local conditions, grafted to the upper half which determines what sort of fruit is produced.

Once that's done the trees need a lot of attention.

"When you put in a professional orchard, you have to know the techniques of pruning. A tree can grow up to 25 feet within six to seven years, and harvesting at 25 feet is next to impossible," Godha says.

"Aggressive" pruning is needed to keep the harvest at a height that's convenient for workers.

On top of that an avocado tree cannot easily pollinate itself. To get fruit two different varieties of avocado trees have to be planted right next to each other. One variety needs to be open as a female at the exact same time the other variety is releasing pollen as a male."

"If a farmer gets this planting ratio wrong, the trees will fail to produce fruit, no matter how advanced the irrigation tech is. This single botanical detail is what separates a highly profitable, high-yielding orchard from one that looks great on paper but fails in reality," says Godha.

Using popular foreign varieties is one way of modernising India's avocado industry. Another is improving trees that have in India for generations.

"The biggest issue with the avocado trees in India are that every backyard tree is genetically different," says Dr Ganeshan Karunakaran, the principal scientist at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru.

"That is why Indian markets are flooded with mixed fruit of varying quality. Standard varieties are essential if we want a reliable commercial market."

For 25 years he has been working on a breeding project which has released two varieties, based on local trees.

"Our objective is to provide farmers with uniform, high-yielding, good-quality planting material rather than thousands of different unnamed trees," Karunakaran says.

He is also concerned about unregulated nurseries selling unidentified, or diseased plants.

"Farmers may unknowingly buy diseased plants. The trees may look healthy initially, but after five or seven years they can suddenly die, causing huge financial losses," he says.

Despite the challenges, farmers see the potential in switching to avocado cultivation.

Shiju Sebastian was an early adopter. Eight years ago he dedicated two acres of his farm in Wayanad Kerala, to the crop.

"Farmers are willing to grow avocados, but they need proper guidance and assured markets," he says.

This year he's harvesting 3,500kg of the fruit, all of which is sold in the city of Bengalaru.

"Avocado will never fail you. It's such a loving and lovable fruit. I have fallen in love with this fruit now. I'm planning to plant another three acres — only avocado."

The £70 refund letter that isn't a scam

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23x0kd8eleo, today

You may be among the one million people, mostly women, who will receive letters explaining how you are eligible for top-up pension payments - and it's not a scam.

Those entitled are low earners who have missed out on the money because of the way their pension is administered.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will write to people over the next few months, explaining how to receive the payment. Typically they will be due £70, but that may vary considerably depending on their circumstances.

Anyone eligible will be contacted automatically but, if you receive a letter, there are various checks you can do to ensure the letter is genuine so you don't get hoodwinked.

What's the letter about?

When you pay into a pension, the government allows some of the money that would otherwise have been paid in tax to go towards your pension instead. This is known as tax relief.

For relatively complicated reasons, some low earners whose employer used what's known as a Net Pay Arrangement pension scheme received less than those whose pension was administered through a Relief at Source scheme.

Employees have no control over the type of scheme that's used, so the government has decided to top up those who have missed out, through what's called a low earner's pension payment.

Typically, they would have earned close to, but not more than, £12,570 a year (the starting point for paying income tax).

Top-up payments will initially be paid for the 2024-25 tax year, with automated payments subsequently kicking in for later years.

How can I check the letter is for real?

Customers don't need to apply. If eligible, you'll be sent information by HMRC - the UK's tax authority - in a letter or through your online personal tax account.

HMRC will not text, email or call you about it. If you receive such a call or message, it is a scam. Also, it will never ask you to transfer money, or ask for PIN codes or passwords.

Other ways to check contact is smooth and genuine include:

* Making sure HMRC has your latest address

* Searching Gov.uk for "check if a letter you've received from HMRC is genuine", and look for "Low Earner's Pension Payment"

* Customers will be asked to provide their bank details through their personal tax account. Customers who are digitally excluded will be able to phone HMRC to accept their payment instead

"We know some people may be cautious about unexpected contact, which is why we provide clear information about what to expect and how to verify the contact is genuine," said a HMRC spokesman.

"Customers can check a letter is genuine on Gov.uk and should only respond via official HMRC channels."

Is everyone expected to get paid?

Sir Steve Webb, partner at pensions consultancy LCP and a former pensions minister, said he was shocked at how few people the government expected to actually receive the payment.

The government has estimated the cost of the project to be much lower than if everyone who was eligible took up the payment.

"The process of getting these payments to the right people is going to be incredibly painful and there is a real risk of huge non take-up," he said.

"It is vital that communications are effective to make sure that people get the money to which they are entitled."

HMRC says it will run an awareness campaign using social media and other channels.

Flight price rises due to 'foolish leaders' starting wars, Virgin's Branson says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cje8wx2qw9vo, yesterday

Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson has blamed flight price rises on "foolish leaders" starting wars, in a thinly veiled reference to the US-Israel conflict with Iran.

Middle East tensions have choked the production and transportation of millions of barrels of oil, causing a surge in the price of car and jet fuels, which are made from oil.

In May, Virgin Atlantic added a fuel surcharge to ticket prices in response.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended the conflict as necessary for peace and security long-term.

However, Sir Richard said there was "no need" for the war.

"The Iran conflict was completely unnecessary. There was a nuclear agreement between Iran and the rest of the world that had been negotiated by President Obama and a lot of European people.

"It was working, so there was no need to rip it up... And this war has just resulted in much higher oil prices all over the world. And inflation has been one of the consequences."

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

The European benchmark jet fuel price had been hovering around $800 (£590) a tonne but spiked following the outbreak of the Iran war, reaching a peak of over $1,800 in April. It has since dropped to around $1,450.

Virgin Atlantic's chief executive, Corneel Koster, told the BBC that for "this level of fuel price" fuel surcharges were "absolutely required", adding that it's "hard to be optimistic at this moment about the situation in the Middle East".

The surcharge Virgin introduced added £50 to an economy class fare, £180 to premium and £360 to business class.

Several of Virgin's rivals cut flights in addition to raising fares following the start of the conflict.

In April, analysis from consultancy firm Teneo found the Iran war had led to a 25% increase in air fares.

And this week Ryanair said it would reduce its winter schedule because of higher fuel prices and warned European short-haul fares would "increase materially" if jet fuel prices continue to rise until next summer.

Yet, despite the higher costs, Koster said Virgin did not plan to make any big changes to its winter schedule.

He said winter capacity had already been slightly reduced a few months ago and added that if there was low demand on certain routes "in the depths of winter", there would be some trimming or "capacity discipline", but not "big percentages".

The airline expects to fly 95% of its regular schedule.

Sir Richard was speaking to the BBC as Virgin Atlantic announced it had secured a contract to fly Team GB and ParalympicsGB to Los Angeles for the Summer Olympics in 2028.

The airline took the contract from rival British Airways, which had been doing it since the 2008 games in Beijing.

UK petrol prices hit highest level since Iran war began

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20zgjzz0e4o, 2 days ago

UK petrol prices have risen to their highest level since the beginning of the Iran war as the conflict continues to hit drivers' finances.

The average cost of petrol has reached more than 163p per litre, according to motoring group the RAC, which warned prices could climb higher yet.

The price of fuel tends to track the wholesale price of oil, which surged when the Iran conflict began on 28 February. The fighting has severely disrupted oil supplies across the Middle East.

Prices then nosedived when US and Iran agreed to a framework deal to end the conflict in June, but they have risen again since the collapse of peace talks.

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. The price of petrol and diesel is also heavily influenced by demand and refining capacity.

Analysts say every $10 (£7.44) per barrel 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.

Generally speaking, news of further conflict drives the price up while hopes of an end to the war pushes the price down.

Before the conflict, Brent was about $70 a barrel, but the fighting saw it peak at above $120.

In early July, after the framework deal was signed, prices fell back to near the $70 a barrel mark.

When the peace talks collapsed, the price climbed back up again to above $100 a barrel, but are now around $94.

What has happened to petrol and diesel prices in the UK?

While petrol has hit its highest price since the Iran war began, according to the RAC, diesel remains below the peak of 191.54p a litre it reached on 15 April.

In early July, the RAC said the average price of petrol sank to a low of 150.59p per litre and 164.52p per litre for diesel.

Since then the prices have risen, with petrol now at 163.6p a litre while diesel costs 184.99p a litre.

RAC's head of policy Simon Williams said that, with oil prices remaining elevated, drivers will "almost certainly start paying noticeably more at the pumps in the coming weeks".

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.

In May, the then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said a planned 5p increase in fuel duty due in September would be postponed until the end of 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.

Even if a deal is agreed to reopen the strait, experts warn it will take time before normal levels of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz resume, 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, Mitchell Labiak, and Miguel Roca-Terry

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US diesel prices hit an all-time-high

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7903r0grx0o, 3 days ago

Drivers in the US are paying more than ever for diesel at the pump as the US-Israel war with Iran continues to hit Americans' wallets.

In the US, diesel is mostly used by commercial vehicles, such as trucks, trains, boats, buses, farming vehicles and construction vehicles.

The average price for one gallon of diesel in the US has hit $5.85, compared to an average of $3.71 a year ago and above the previous high following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Fuel prices have soared since the Iran conflict began at the end of February, reflecting the surge in wholesale oil prices.

In response to rising fuel costs, US President Donald Trump recently pledged to "substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans" through an oil deal with Venezuela.

In January, the former leader of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, was seized by US special forces following a raid authorised by President Trump.

The latest agreement, announced on Saturday, calls for the development of 17 strategic oil fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels, as well as "an investment of more than $100bn (£73.9bn) and more than $209bn in taxes" for Venezuela, according to Interim Venuzuela President Delcy Rodríguez.

The US government will retain 55% control of a joint venture with an "experienced private operator in Venezuela", a US official told the BBC's US partner CBS News.

But some analysts have reacted with scepticism, including questioning whether the deal would address long-running obstacles that have deterred investment in Venezuela's oil industry.

Oil is a key ingredient in car fuel and supplies have been limited by Iran responding to the war by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway south of the country through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported.

Rocketing pump prices have angered US voters ahead of the crucial midterm elections in November.

According to recent Reuters/Ipsos polling, Trump's approval rating has fallen to 33%, with just 31% of Americans approving of the conflict.

However, not all Americans face the same level of price rises. According to the AAA's data, those in the Western states pay much more than those elsewhere, due to tax differences and distance from US oil producers.

For example, in Washington, average diesel prices are $6.81 a gallon, compared to $5.03 a gallon a year ago.

As well as high diesel prices, Americans also face historically high petrol costs, with the average price per gallon reaching $4.15 compared to $3.20 a year ago.

Stock up on food to prepare for extreme weather, minister says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp931m8n3p5o, 3 days ago

Households should stock up on food to prepare for extreme weather as the strongest El Niño event in a generation develops over the Pacific Ocean, a government minister has said.

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle told the Guardian the powerful natural climate phenomenon will lead to "more extreme storms in this country".

Her comments came as the National Audit Office (NAO) warned Britain's food supply chain is at risk given the growing threat of cyber-attacks and the climate crisis.

The NAO said the government was too reliant on the private sector to deal with food supply disruption. The government is due to unveil a strategy about preparing for national emergencies later this year.

Dame Angela said: "We're about to experience probably the largest El Niño that has ever been seen, and that will lead to drier summers, wetter winters, with more extreme storms in this country.

"It will do a lot more damage in Asia with flooding, and therefore I think that we need to take it seriously.

"If you've got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you're going to be a lot better off than if you haven't.

"So some of it is that kind of preparation for just being a bit more resilient."

Her comments came as an NAO report warned Britain's food supply chain is vulnerable to plant or human disease outbreaks, cyber-attacks and extreme weather.

It also cited climate change as a longer-term chronic risk which could leave Britain's food supply at risk.

The disruptions could push up prices and leave vulnerable people struggling to buy food, it said.

The NAO said the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) was too reliant on private companies to handle disruptions to food supply.

It added the department had not done enough in recent years to improve supply chain resilience.

UK households are less prepared for emergencies than those in several other countries such as Finland, Sweden and European Union nations, the NAO added.

It said ministers should encourage households to prepare for supply chain disruptions and learn from the approaches taken by other countries.

Defra said the report showed food supply risks were becoming more complex and the government was working with farmers and industry to strengthen the UK's resilience.

"While our food businesses and supermarkets have continued to feed the nation through significant disruption, we will carefully consider the report's findings and recommendations as part of our ongoing work to build a more resilient, productive and sustainable food system," a spokesperson said.

In July, the government announced plans to set out the "small but important steps" households can take to prepare for food and water shortages in the event of extreme weather or cyber-attacks.

These will form a strategy to be unveiled by the end of 2026 aimed at bringing the UK closer into line with European countries in terms of emergency preparedness.

Phil Pluck, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, the body which represents firms transporting temperature-controlled foods, said Britain was "pretty close to crisis".

He told the BBC's Wake Up to Money programme that the country was being targeted by Russian cyber-hackers who "know that there are pinch points in the food supply system".

He added that El Niño, as well as global shipping disruption and the threat of pandemics, mean you cannot "just rely on the private sector coming through every single time".

Asked whether people should be stocking up in case of disruptions, Pluck added: "Yes, we should.

"There should be some sensible stocking in each household. And the government in the autumn will be telling all of us to do that."

Prosecco, cakes and beauty products - how to get birthday freebies and why there's a catch

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y4jr4yr2eo, 3 days ago

"It's your birthday!" Cue the influx of emails offering you all sorts of freebies.

Sign up to the right apps and loyalty schemes and you could spend the day enjoying free cake, meals out, beauty treats and even cinema snacks.

Here are some of the things you can get on or around your birthday - and why they may not all be as free as they seem.

Cakes, cookies and chocolates

Most chain coffee shops and bakeries offer a birthday treat through their loyalty apps. You can get a free sweet treat, usually a cake, cookie, muffin or doughnut, from Greggs, Costa, Caffè Nero, Krispy Kreme, Gail's, Subway and Ole & Steen if you have registered your date of birth in advance.

Lidl Plus members can claim a free bakery doughnut within seven days of their birthday, while M&S Sparks members can choose two gifts on their birthday from a range of 15 which includes cookies and chocolates.

Hotel Chocolat gives members a £5 birthday reward with a minimum spend of £5.50 and Lindt offers a free box of truffles when you meet its minimum spend requirement.

Burgers, pizza and noodles

Some fast-food chains offer a free birthday meal or snack - Burger King members can claim a free Whopper or Plant-Based Whopper, while Chopstix offers a free small noodle box.

However, most restaurant birthday offers are buy-one-get-one-free deals rather than completely free meals.

At Harvester and Zizzi's it's a free main when buying another full-price main. At Frankie & Benny's you get a free main when purchasing two or more main meals.

Byron offers a free burger with a £5 minimum spend, while Wagamama offers free gyoza when you have earned at least one stamp on your loyalty card in the last six months.

Some chains give money off instead. Turtle Bay offers members a £20 birthday credit with no minimum spend, while Bella Italia gives you £15 off your total bill when you spend a minimum of £30. Las Iguanas offers a free main when two other meals are purchased or a 20% off voucher.

Pizza Express birthday rewards depend on your loyalty level. Bronze members may get a free dessert with a £10 spend, while higher tiers can get a free pizza or drinks with a £15 minimum spend.

At Prezzo, members receive drinks or desserts when they spend at least £25, while Bill's offers a bottle of prosecco or pancakes when qualifying meals are ordered and the booking is made in advance.

Fashion & beauty

Fashion brands generally offer birthday discounts rather than freebies.

Members of schemes run by brands such as Nike, Asos, River Island, Levi's, Timberland and H&M may receive money off, but some offers are personalised and not guaranteed for every customer.

Beauty birthday gifts are often linked to your purchase history or require you to buy something.

Space NK members can receive a free set of three beauty minis, provided they have shopped with the retailer during the previous year. The Body Shop offers a £5 birthday voucher to members.

At Rituals, a birthday gift of a full-sized product or deluxe mini comes with another purchase, while Sephora rewards vary depending on membership tier. Boots usually offers double points during your birthday month rather than a free product.

Entertainment and hobbies

Odeon Extras members can claim a free large popcorn, even without buying a cinema ticket, while Hobbycraft Club members receive £5 of birthday credit with no minimum spend.

You can get 20% off at the Disney Store during your birthday month and £5 off with a minimum of £20 spend at Smiggle.

Birthday freebie tips

* Sign up to mailing lists using a second email account so your main inbox won't get clogged up with offers.

* Always check the small print as some freebies have exclusions and can't be redeemed with other discounts.

* Weigh up if it is really a freebie if you have to spend a certain amount to qualify.

What's the catch?

Many of these freebies require you to join a loyalty scheme, enter your date of birth and opt into marketing several weeks before your birthday.

Consumer finance expert Sue Hayward says the most generous freebies don't last particularly long and have to be redeemed on your birthday, within the week or sometimes within the month.

Some only unlock after a qualifying purchase or once you have reached a particular membership tier so it can encourage you to spend money you had not intended to.

Emma Richards, operations manager at Data Privacy Advisory Service, says businesses can collect more than just your date of birth when you sign up for a freebie.

"People like something for nothing without considering the implications," she says.

"So always read the small print and check to see whether your personal data will be used purely for generic marketing, or whether this will be used to build a profile of spending habits."

Volkswagen board approves plan to cut another 50,000 jobs

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2z0kvy4n4o, 3 days ago

The board of German car giant Volkswagen has approved a plan to cut another 50,000 jobs as part of the biggest restructuring in the group's almost nine-decade history.

It brings the total number of roles the carmaker plans to shed by 2030 to 100,000, after announcing in March that it would cut 50,000 roles.

The group - which includes Audi, Porsche, Skoda as well as the VW brand - is also considering the future of four of its German plants.

The move is a "strong signal" for the future of the firm, which is "taking responsibility for our entire workforce", VW's chief executive Oliver Blume said in a statement on Thursday.

Blume said in July that the firm was looking to make the additional cuts.

Shares in the company were up by around 7% in Frankfurt on Friday morning.

The Golf-maker has been hit by a drop in profits due to falling sales and fierce competition, especially from Chinese brands.

The firm also said that by 2035 it would cut the number of models it produces by 50% and reduce the complexity of its offering by 75%.

VW will also prioritise the "most compelling vehicles" and make more of each model, which will help lower costs, it said.

A "fundamental adjustment of the global workforce capability is necessary" to safeguard the competitiveness of the company, which faces shifting demand and technological change.

It added "a group-wide workforce adjustment of approximately 50,000 positions - including management roles - will be necessary."

The company is also weighing options for operations in Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm, where it has said production capacity exceeds demand.

"Alternative uses for these plants are being assessed," it said.

As of 2025, VW employed more than 660,000 people worldwide. Its brands also include Seat, Bentley and Lamborghini.

Christianne Benner - the president of Europe's largest industrial union IG Metall and deputy chair of VW's Supervisory Board - said the carmaker had "fought hard for good solutions" to address a "crisis situation".

VW's profits have fallen sharply in recent years, hit by falling sales in China, which was once one of its biggest markets.

Sales have also fallen in the US, partly due to the impact of tariffs on car imports that were introduced by President Donald Trump's administration.

Chinese carmakers have been expanding aggressively as they roll out new technologies while benefiting from lower production costs than their rivals.

In recent years, firms such as BYD have seen their sales rise sharply in markets including the UK, European Union and South East Asia.

Trump $1 coin makes him first living president on US currency in a century

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7507g9v992o, 3 days ago

Donald Trump's portrait has made its way on to a US coin - the latest move by the president to put his personal stamp on American institutions.

On Wednesday, the US Mint launched the $1 (£0.74) coin with a portrait of Trump alongside the words "Liberty" and "In God We Trust", to celebrate America's 250th anniversary.

The Mint said the coins, which are being marketed as a collectable, were not being put into circulation for daily use.

The law bans living presidents from appearing on US currency, but a design clause in legislation for the anniversary was used to overcome this.

The coins - priced at $61 for a roll of 25 and $154.50 for a bag of 100 - were "not currently in stock" on the mint's website within hours of going on sale but it said more are being made.

The coins were also being sold in vending machines at the US Mint store in Washington DC.

The BBC has contacted the US Mint, the Treasury and the White House for further details.

The coin has been "created to celebrate this historic national milestone" with a "once-in-a-generation anniversary design destined to become a standout addition to modern collections", the US Mint said.

The coins have a golden colour but do not contain any actual gold. According to the US Mint, they are 88.5% copper with the balance being made up of zinc, nickel and a manganese brass outer layer.

While they are not in circulation, they can be used as legal tender to pay off debt and taxes, although federal law states that businesses can decide whether or not to accept them.

In May, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department was planning to issue a new $250 bill bearing a portrait of President Trump.

At the time, Bessent highlighted that another living US president has previously appeared on the country's currency.

A half-dollar that was issued to commemorate America's 150th anniversary in 1926 featured then-President Calvin Coolidge.

The Trump administration has also cited the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, from Trump's first term.

While this statute prohibits portraits of living people on the reverse (tails side) of coins, it does not explicitly cover the obverse (heads side), where Trump's likeness appears on the new $1 coins.

In March, the Treasury announced that US paper money would soon bear Trump's signature - another first for a sitting US president.

Households warned gas price spike could pile fresh pressure on energy bills

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm274mwxy1vo, 3 days ago

Households across the UK are being warned to brace for higher energy bills this winter as European countries scramble to replenish their natural gas stores before the weather dips.

Wholesale natural gas prices are already at three-year highs, which could lead to increased energy bills for businesses and consumers.

Europe, which delayed its summer stockpiling due to high wholesale costs sparked by the Iran war, had been gambling the conflict would end before winter and prices would in turn fall.

Storage levels are significantly lower than usual for this time of year, with countries facing the prospect of rushing to buy gas now or paying potentially higher prices when the winter comes.

The European benchmark natural gas price topped €75/MWh on Wednesday, its highest level since late 2022, the tail end of a spike caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Natural gas prices in the UK this week topped 185p per therm, also the highest since late 2022.

The price has jumped in the past week amid a return to hostilities between the US and Iran, with analysts fearing the renewed fighting will keep the key Strait of Hormuz closed even longer. Typically, around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) is transported through the waterway.

Hamad Hussain, senior climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, said he did not expect the waterway to begin reopening until early 2027.

Even then, there will be a lag before energy is flowing freely through the strait and pressure on energy prices are eased.

"The risks to gas prices are definitely tilted towards the upside," Hussain told the BBC, warning that the gas price would top €80 by the end of this year.

Hussain recalled interviews with gas storage operators at the outbreak of the US-Israeli war in Iran saying they would wait three to four months for the crisis to ease before stocking up.

"We are about six months into the strait being effectively closed and that obviously has not happened," he added.

Higher wholesale gas prices feed through to household energy bills by helping determine regulator Ofgem's price cap.

The energy price cap rose in July, and will increase by 4% in October, leaving a typical household paying £1,723. But analysts at the energy consultancy Cornwall Insight have forecast domestic energy prices could rise a further 9% in the new year, bringing renewed concern to households during the coldest months.

Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, told the BBC on Thursday a fresh increase in wholesale prices would "increase pressure on our January price cap forecast".

However, he cautioned that there was "plenty of time to go" and a fall in wholesale prices could ease the pressure.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said gas prices are determined on international markets, dismissing criticism of the UK's own low levels of storage.

The boss of British Gas owner Centrica, Chris O'Shea, has repeatedly called for support from the government to expand its Rough storage facility in the North Sea, warning it has been unviable to fill it up and that it will close next year without a deal.

"We have almost no gas in storage in the UK for the coming winter and this is a huge concern as energy security is national security," he said on LinkedIn last week.

A DESNZ spokesman said: "We remain open to discussing proposals on all gas storage sites, as long as it provides value for money for taxpayers."

The department also pointed to Prime Minister Andy Burnham's pledge to cut VAT from energy bills from October, as well as government action to reduce Britain's reliance on natural gas altogether.

Ángel Talavera, chief European economist at Oxford Economics, said there is a "glass half full, and a glass half empty" picture unfolding.

On one hand, wholesale gas prices are significantly lower than during the crisis which followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On the other, households and businesses will still face significantly higher energy bills than usual over the coming months.

"It's serious, but not catastrophic," he told the BBC, adding "something would have to dramatically change to lower prices".

He pointed to a reduction in demand for natural gas in general as a result of the shift towards renewables, but said the overall picture depends hugely on the winter weather.

"If you have a warmer winter than average, that will be great for demand," he said. But he warned a colder than average winter would have the opposite effect, driving up demand for energy and pushing up prices.

It is not known how the developing El Niño over the Pacific Ocean will impact Britain's winter. The so-called Big Freeze of winter 2009-10 was, at the time, the coldest in three decades - and this coincided with an El Niño.

However, 2006-07 was also an El Niño winter and that was unseasonably warm.

Talavera said gas prices could come down if the weather helps reduce demand and the Strait of Hormuz reopens sooner than expected.

But, at the moment, "the weather machine remains our main hope".

It comes as a recent spike in the UK government's borrowing costs eased. After a sharp uptick on Tuesday, which took the yield on a 10-year bond - or gilt - to the highest level since 2008, it fell back slightly on Thursday.

Yields are hovering around 5.15%, however, which would still represent a post-2008 peak were it not for Tuesday's jump.

Stingy bosses and spare change: How much should you give to the office whip-round?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2el0v48v0xo, 4 days ago

Love them, hate them or barely know them, it's a colleague's birthday, wedding or leaving do and there's a collection to mark the occasion.

So how much should you give? And if you're the person organising the collection, how do you chase without feeling like a loan shark or exposing unspoken team dynamics?

'It depends if I like you'

The politics of the office whip-round are so sensitive that everyone the BBC spoke to asked us not to use their real name.

For those on a tight budget, the rule is simple: only give to colleagues you've worked with directly.

Lucy, a senior therapist in healthcare, says: "If we haven't worked together, my purse is staying shut."

There's a blunter unspoken truth beneath the surface. "It also depends on if I like you," she admits.

"One colleague's whole demeanor annoyed me, so when she moved roles, I wanted to celebrate with my own drink - not give her money."

Former music journalist Layla is similar, only contributing if she "really likes" the person.

Yet she often avoids office collections on principle, not personality, disliking how impersonal they can feel.

"I'd rather buy my own gift for someone I care about. I hate having to be forced to contribute to a joint collection out of some rubbish sense of obligation," she says.

How much to give?

The decision to give also comes with a question of how much.

Barker has a decade's worth of experience organising and contributing to various collections at a large multi-national company, where he works in research and production.

He says it's normally the same half a dozen people that contribute generously, irrespective of the person or the occasion.

The average a worker gave to a collection was £11.65 in the first three months of the year, according to analysis of over 5,000 contributions by website GiftRound.

Junior workers can often face the biggest dilemma. Felicity, now mid-career, remembers one horror story from her first job as a teenager.

Working at a car garage aged 17, she was suddenly thrust an envelope to give money for a mechanic who was retiring. The team was small and tight-knit, so everyone was expected to contribute.

"Not only did I not really know anyone at that stage, but I also had no money to give - I was still living at home and being paid hardly anything.

"As it was after lunch, I'd used my notes. In a panic I threw in all the spare change I had left, basically a load of coppers."

She says: "I thought I'd got away with it until the person collecting shouted 'who on earth put in all this change'. Everyone laughed and I couldn't ever admit it was me."

Today, Felicity usually gives between £5 and £10 but goes up to £20 for a close work friend or long-time colleague.

Office politics

Barker says it tends to be rank-and-file workers who contribute most often.

"Surprisingly – to me – they're not some of the best paid people in the department," he explains. "Often those in senior positions don't give".

Those on big wages not paying their way may seem stingy. But the reality from the top can look very different, as former senior civil service veteran Darren explains.

In a leadership position managing over 200 people, many of them contractors, office collections were common as staff churn was frequent.

Darren found the implicit expectation to give as director became overwhelming.

"Eventually I found I just couldn't keep up and would be spending hundreds, often on people I didn't know at all," he says.

As a middle ground, he decided to sign cards and only give money if he'd had direct contact. This stopped him feeling disingenuous and giving resentfully.

But the card-not-cash compromise has become harder as collections move online, with amounts often shown alongside the names of individuals by default.

Of course, these days, alongside emails, there's always the ever-present work WhatsApp group.

Healthcare worker Jeffrey says he's still reeling from seeing staff donations toward the family of a deceased patient being openly listed in the agency chat, individual donation amounts included.

Whether to chase colleagues

Should you chase contributions - and note who's given and who has not?

Lucy believes so.

"I send one email to those who haven't paid, making clear that those who have contributed are not included in the email. You'd be surprised how quickly people reply," she says.

She then gets a more junior colleague to send another, final, chaser on her behalf.

"And yes, I keep a list on paper, too. I don't forget," she adds.

Barker doesn't agree with this stance.

"I don't like to nag," he says. Instead he prefers a single reminder to all that preserves team unity.

Pssst... try these expert tips

Thomas Roulet, professor of organisational psychology and leadership at Cambridge University, says:

* Prioritise direct colleagues and close relationships: It's generally socially acceptable to limit giving toward wider team members

* Do not chase people individually: And do not chase them collectively more than once. Some may be financially struggling

* Include a card as an alternative: It costs the contributor nothing and feels like a souvenir for the recipient

* The gift should be symbolic: Choose a gift for its individual significance rather than monetary value.

Range Rover launches first fully electric model

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyk5016mpyo, 4 days ago

Range Rover has unveiled its first fully electric model, after a year‑long delay to its planned launch.

The Range Rover Electric, to be built in Solihull, marks a major shift in its electrification programme, backed by large‑scale upgrades across its West Midlands sites.

Parent company JLR said it had up-skilled 10,500 workers as it pushes ahead with modernisation despite recent financial pressures and planned job cuts.

The launch comes as the Coventry‑based carmaker faces falling profits, supply chain disruption and restructuring following a cyber attack a year ago that cost an estimated £1.9bn, making it the most economically damaging cyber event in UK history, researchers said.

JLR's electric roll-out comes after the turbulence continued into 2026, with profits dropping to £66m in the first quarter after a fire at a key Norwegian supplier.

The company said the launch was being supported by new battery and electric drive unit production lines, as well as training about 9,000 employees in Solihull for electrification and a further 1,500 across the West Midlands region.

JLR's electric propulsion manufacturing centre, in Wolverhampton, is now producing battery packs and electric drive units alongside internal combustion engines.

Martin Limpert, managing director of Range Rover, said the new model was the result of a decade of "considered engineering".

"This is a pivotal for us at Range Rover, for JLR, I really believe that for us it's also for our partners for our retailers for our communities," he told the BBC.

"This secures jobs this provides for the economy and we are really excited."

'A profound change'

David Bailey, professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham, said the launch was the "start of a new era" for the firm.

"It's hugely important, as it's the start of their proper shift into electrification and its going to mean a profound change for the company but also the supply chain in the West Midlands." he said.

The business is also undergoing restructuring, confirming that fewer than 300 roles will go less than a year after a cyber attack halted production for more than a month.

At the time of the results, the firm said new product launches would leave "JLR in good shape whilst acknowledging the continuing geopolitical, inflationary and regulatory challenges the industry faces".

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Apple Maps renames Lake Ontario as Lake America after Trump order

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddvyyz0e47o, 5 days ago

Apple has renamed Lake Ontario as Lake America on its Maps app, after an order from US President Donald Trump as part of Washington's trade spat with Canada.

The change was made for US-based users, while those in Canada will continue to see Lake Ontario displayed. The BBC has contacted Apple for comment.

The iPhone maker's move follows Trump's executive order to change the lake's name after trade talks between the neighbouring countries collapsed late last month, with Washington imposing new 50% tariffs on $20bn (£14.8bn; C$28bn) worth of Canadian goods.

Rival technology giant Google made a similar switch for its users in the US in recent days, leading to backlash on social media.

Canada has responded to Washington's levies, saying it will implement "dollar for dollar" counter-tariffs.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's administration had walked away from the trade negotiations, due to what his office has called unacceptable demands.

Carney told the Trump administration to "start being serious" and stop trying to be tough before discussions between the sides can restart.

Trump's executive order gives the US Department of the Interior 30 days to update the change with the Geographic Names Information Service - the official database of what places are called in the country.

Apple was specifically urged by Trump to rename Lake Ontario on its Maps platform to comply with the executive order signed, according to US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum

The president has also posted several AI-generated videos on social media, including a clip of him kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with another that says "Welcome to Lake America".

At the lake itself, Canada has installed a new sign with the words "Lake Ontario. Now and Always".

"Just in case President Trump or anyone else forgets, we've set up this sign to remind them, it's Lake Ontario, now and forever," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said.

The names of three of the five Great Lakes - Ontario, Michigan and Erie - come from indigenous words. Two, Lake Huron and Lake Superior, have French roots.

Lake Ontario, the smallest of the Great Lakes, sits between the Canadian province and the US state of New York.

Not all map providers have adopted the new name.

MapQuest, a free web mapping service, said "we're not changing it" in a short Facebook post on Friday.

The platform rose to the top of the most-downloaded free applications earlier this week on the Canadian Apple App Store.

Last week, Google said in a blog post that it had changed the name on its Maps service for US-based users.

The Maps app is updated to "reflect name changes in official government sources", meaning that users in the US will see Lake America while those in Canada will see Lake Ontario, Google said.

The company made a similar decision in 2025 to re-designate the Gulf of Mexico after Trump declared it would be called the Gulf of America.

Google was sued by Mexico over allegedly ignoring the country's requests not to rename the Gulf for US users.

Apple also changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps service for US users.

Correction 2 September: This article originally suggested that the names of four of the five Great Lakes come from indigenous words. We have amended this to say that only three do so, and that Lake Huron has French origins.

Fake 10 Downing Street listing exposes 'unfit' Booking.com, says consumer group

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly4e0wn452o, 5 days ago

Consumer group Which? says it was able to create a fake listing for 10 Downing Street on travel giant Booking.com.

The UK watchdog said its researchers were able to book a bogus stay at the prime minister's address - as well as leave a fake review noting "hanging out" with resident mouser Larry the cat as a highlight.

It said despite clear signs it was fake, Booking.com did not remove the listing until two months after it was uploaded.

"This limited test is not a true reflection of the experience of millions of listings or reviews published on our platform," a Booking.com spokesperson told the BBC.

They said because Which?'s listing was not "live" on its site across the two months it was present, "some of our automatic fraud controls were not triggered to completely remove the closed listing".

People could only see the listing and request to book the property during a 20-minute window opened by Which? so its researchers could try to book it.

Booking.com's spokesperson added "a range of checks and verification measures" help secure the site, and technologies such as AI "help us detect and remove the majority of fraudulent listings within 24 hours".

But Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said its checks had been shown to be "unfit for purpose".

"If Booking.com's so-called sophisticated AI systems can't spot that 10 Downing Street is not a holiday rental, then it's no wonder scammers can exploit the platform so easily," he said.

"It would be laughable that we were able to list the UK's most famous address for rent, if the consequences weren't so devastating for holidaymakers, who risk losing thousands of pounds to bogus listings and phishing links."

It is not the first time the site has faced criticism over its security efforts and customer service.

'Prime city centre location'

Which?'s listing, uploaded to Booking.com on 18 June, advertised a "1 bedroom apartment in the heart of London".

It used images of the iconic 10 Downing Street front door, listed at its address - with a description referring to the one bedroom space as "a prime city centre location".

In the 20 minutes that Which? permitted customers to request a stay at its fake 10 Downing Street property, it said 14 people asked to do so.

Only the booking request from a person known to be a Which? researcher was accepted.

The watchdog's team also sent the researcher a message within Booking.com's system asking them to click an external link to confirm their payment details - something booking sites typically block to prevent customers being scammed.

But Which? said that in this instance, Booking.com did not flag or remove the external link it sent.

Booking.com said it had "visible reminders to not click on links customers are not confident about, and booking confirmations also provide further guidance, including details of the agreed payment schedule".

The fake review left by Which? also seemingly passed the site's checks, despite bearing all the hallmarks of a joke.

"It was unbelievable that Booking.com let us stay at 10 Downing Street - the home of the UK PM!" it said.

The listing itself was removed by the platform on 27 August.

Some customers have previously accused the firm of failing to protect them from falling victim to cyber-criminals.

"Fraud affects many industries, and 80% of UK adults believe scams are becoming more sophisticated," said Booking.com's spokesperson - adding it was continuing to strengthen its defences in the face of this challenge.

Which?, meanwhile, said more should be done to force booking sites to swiftly remove false listings under the Online Safety Act (OSA).

The Act requires firms which have identified illegal content, including fraudulent material, on their sites to show they are committed to removing it.

Boland said Ofcom, which enforces the OSA, should be encouraged use it to "crack down on irresponsible online platforms that leave consumers wide open to fraud".

"For illegal content generated by users, platforms have existing legal duties that mean they must take it down swiftly once they become aware of it," an Ofcom spokesperson told Which?.

UK long-term borrowing costs highest since 1998 ahead of October Budget

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8d39vq779no, 5 days ago

Long-term government borrowing costs have risen to a 28-year high, putting further pressure on Prime Minister Andy Burnham ahead of his first Budget next month.

The yield on a 30-year gilt — a loan to the British government — rose to 5.89% on Tuesday, the highest since 1998.

Borrowing costs in the US, Japan and Europe have hit similar highs in recent days, reflecting investors' concerns about inflation, state borrowing levels and spending levels by large tech companies on AI.

Burnham told the House of Commons his government's "bedrock", as it seeks to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, would be "fiscal responsibility".

All of those factors will make the Budget process trickier for Burnham, who on Tuesday addressed MPs for the first time as prime minister, and his Chancellor, John Healey.

Burnham told the House of Commons the economy and the cost of living were "the biggest issues facing the country".

Higher borrowing costs will reduce the amount of headroom the government has against its self-imposed fiscal rules, limiting the amount Healey can spend on consumer-friendly measures to ease the cost of living.

Despite the squeezed public finances, Burnham said he would bring about "more substantial change" to ease living costs.

"Britain is not where any of us would wish it to be," he added.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Burnham of "living in the past".

"His diagnosis is completely wrong," she told the House of Commons. "His theory of growth is completely wrong. He thinks that if Government spends more money, we will all get richer.

"That is not how this works."

The chancellor has previously said he will stick to a set of fiscal rules imposed by his predecessor, Rachel Reeves, that restrict borrowing. These rules are designed to help markets have clarity about the path of borrowing.

The more that is forecast to be spent on interest payments, the more likely that there will be a squeeze on spending or some form of tax rise to meet these rules.

On top of that, higher government rates can feed through to higher business and household borrowing costs, and so weigh on the economy.

The prime minister was already facing a tough balancing act with taxing and spending, due to pressures on defence and the cost of living.

Burnham's ex-economic adviser Lord Jim O'Neill told BBC News that high government borrowing costs would force Labour to "get real" about "dealing with the triple lock" on the state pension, and "excessive" welfare spending.

Lord O'Neill, who recently turned down the offer of a formal position in the prime minister's team, said that current market pressure would force changes over "some of the things that no political figures ever seem to want to deal with".

As well as the rise to 30-year gilt yields, the yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt rose to 5.22% on Tuesday. This is its highest rate since June 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.

Gilt yields move counter to the value of the bonds, meaning their prices fall when yields rise.

Government spending around the world

Around the world there are warning lights flashing from the markets for government debt.

Global markets reacted in particular after suggestions in the US that its central bank could raise rates. Japan is also facing pressure to raise rates.

The chancellor is in the US attending a meeting of global finance ministers and central bankers. He told the G20 that the UK had the fastest growth in the G7 in 2026 so far, that productivity was improving and that the UK was cutting its borrowing at the fastest rate of the major economies.

US borrowing costs hit a fresh high on Tuesday as renewed strikes in the Middle East pushed up oil prices and heightened concerns over inflation.

Karen Ward, JP Morgan's chief market strategist for Europe, said governments around the world want to increase spending and are turning to borrowing to fund it.

And she told the BBC's World at One they were increasingly having to compete with major technology companies raising money to invest in the AI revolution, pushing up the amount of interest being charged.

"Markets are getting a lot more choice about who they are going to lend to and at what interest rates," she added.

Burnham has rolled out a series of interventions to support consumers and businesses since entering Downing Street, and is expected to prioritise further measures to ease the cost of living in the Budget on 28 October.

Ward urged Burnham and Healey to set out how they will fund any fresh spending on defence and the cost of living, and how those lending the government money will be paid back.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at investment company XTB, told the BBC News Channel: "Of course, this is red lights flashing."

"We are used to pockets of volatility, it has been volatile few months," she said.

But record levels of government debt and a record tax take mean "these are not comfortable times for the new government and the new chancellor", she added.

Every time bond yields rise, the UK has to pay more on the debt interest, Brooks said.

Will self-flying planes transform the skies?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1l123mmrg7o, 5 days ago

Over an alfalfa field in California's San Joaquin Valley, a small crop-spraying plane is flying scarily low to the ground. There's little risk to humans though, as the plane is pilot-free.

"We can actually go lower than a human pilot can," says Russ Marotzke, as the aircraft skims over the crop.

Flying lower means less spray drift and therefore less chemicals are needed than in conventional manned crop-dusting, he says.

The pilotless plane belongs to Pyka, where Marotzke works as a flight test engineer.

Based in a converted Second World War hangar overlooking San Francisco Bay, the start-up makes self-flying aircraft without cockpits, designed either to spray crops or deliver cargo.

It is among a small group of companies racing to bring autonomous fixed-wing aircraft into commercial service.

Flying urban air taxis, so called electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, have captured much of the attention around autonomous aviation.

But a quieter race is also under way to deploy self-flying planes, first for jobs like crop spraying and cargo delivery – and eventually, many of their makers hope, carrying passengers too.

"A fully scaled, ubiquitous passenger operation is the holy grail," says Michael Norcia, Pyka's co-founder and CEO, who envisions a large fleet of minibus-capacity Pyka planes ferrying passengers up and down the US east and west coasts.

"There's a decent chance we'll get to that point before the eVTOL industry."

I've come to one of Pyka's crop-sprayer test sites, about 80km (50 miles) east of the company's factory and reached by a bumpy dirt road.

Today, Marotzke and a colleague are trying out a software update on a demonstration aircraft.

About a dozen Pyka aircraft are already in Brazil where they are used to spray crops such as cotton and soybeans, work previously carried out by human pilots.

The crop-spraying plane is fully electric, with its battery in the nose. It can fly for about 35 minutes and carries up to 300L of spray in a tank in its middle.

Pyka's planes are sometimes called large drones, but it seems an understatement: they all have 11.5m wingspans.

Inside a shipping container beside the field, the engineers highlight on a computer the area they want the aircraft to spray. The software then plans the route, taking account of obstacles such as nearby power lines that have already been mapped.

The take-off, down a runway beside the field, is seamless. About 15 minutes later, after sensing that it is running low on spray – water for today's purposes – the aircraft lands itself for a manual refill and demonstration battery swap. It then takes to the air again to resume spraying precisely where it left off.

Autonomous flight is different from autopilot.

Autopilot assists, much like cruise control and lane-keeping functions in a car.

Autonomous systems aim to handle the entire flight, including take-off and landing, with little or no human intervention, using algorithms to process sensor data and control the aircraft.

Self-flying planes have been slower to emerge than self-driving cars, despite operating in what is generally considered a more structured and predictable environment.

That is partly because big tech companies "doubled down" on cars, pouring vast sums into the technology, says Mykel Kochenderfer, an expert in safe aviation autonomy at Stanford University.

But it is also because aircraft are held to stricter safety standards than cars, creating a much higher bar for deployment.

"The consequences for air accidents can just be so severe," says Kochenderfer.

Military interest has been helping propel the technology. Many of the companies have defence contracts to demonstrate and trial their systems, often with fewer regulatory hurdles than on the civilian side, and some are even already supplying military customers.

In the US, the largest autonomous fixed-wing aircraft approved for commercial civilian use so far is Pyka's crop sprayer, which won authorization last year.

Though operations are limited to a tightly defined agricultural setting and require a ground operator and visual observer. It earlier secured similar approval in Brazil, where rules are more permissive.

Pyka aims to scale up production from around two dozen planes a year currently to 1000 by 2030. Each sells for $550,000, with customers trained to operate them.

The UK has yet to approve any such longer-term operations, though British firm Windracers is seeking permission to launch an autonomous cargo service in Shetland and Orkney. Its aircraft, designed to carry goods to remote areas, are also flying missions in Ukraine.

"It would be the first heavy-lift air cargo service by drone certainly in the UK and probably anywhere," says Stephen Wright, Windracers founder and chairman.

Supporters say autonomous aircraft could address pilot shortages, remove people from dangerous work such as crop spraying, improve efficiency – for example, by allowing aircraft to carry more cargo – and cut costs if one operator can oversee many planes.

They also argue automation could make flying safer, pointing to past declines in accidents as more automated systems have been introduced.

Pilots' groups remain wary.

The US Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) calls removing pilots "a serious gamble with safety and a step too far".

The US National Agricultural Aviation Association, which represents crop dusting pilots, says small uncrewed aircraft can be hard for its aviators to see. Piloted planes, it adds, can spray a much larger area faster.

Pyka and Windracers are building aircraft from scratch, arguing this allows autonomy to be designed in from the outset and the aircraft tailored to the job.

Others are retrofitting existing larger planes.

Backed by Boeing's investment arm, US-based Reliable Robotics is currently testing its system on the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, a single-pilot cargo plane that can carry about 1360kg of payload over hundreds of kilometers.

Retrofitting on certified aircraft lets the company focus exclusively on proving the autonomous system's safety rather than also having to seek approval for a new aircraft, says Robert Rose, its co-founder and CEO.

Merlin Labs, also US-based, has been working its way up through progressively larger military aircraft and is now applying its system to the two-pilot Lockheed Martin C-130J military transport plane, with commercial multi-crew cargo planes next.

"It is a common autonomy brain that can transition between different aircraft," explains Matt George, Merlin's founder and CEO.

The companies also differ in their approach to AI.

Reliable is avoiding it altogether, arguing it would complicate certification.

Merlin, meanwhile, is taking a far more AI-centric approach.

The divide is evident in so-called detect and avoid systems.

One of autonomous flight's biggest challenges is replicating a pilot's ability to spot and maneuver safely around other aircraft and obstacles, and there is virtually no margin for error.

With no perfect solution yet, companies are adding different sensor systems as well as duplicating those that already come as standard to provide extra back-up.

Reliable has added forward-looking air-to-air radar to detect other aircraft more than eight kilometers ahead, with software that follows fixed rules to decide how the plane should respond.

It is "better than a pilot's eyeballs" says Rose.

Merlin, meanwhile, is using AI-powered cameras to detect and classify objects.

Pyka has used lidar from the outset to detect trees, vehicles, large birds and terrain. But it's short range, so the company also plans to add AI-powered cameras, its first real use of AI onboard.

"For a lot of things there's no need to use AI…but for figuring out that six pixels in the distance are an airplane versus some other smudge, it is perfect territory," says Norcia.

The AI dilemma also extends to communicating with air traffic control.

In shared airspace, aircraft must be able to receive, interpret and respond to radio instructions typically via voice.

Reliable's solution is to have a remote pilot on the ground, initially fully trained, to handle communications and make safety-critical decisions.

Merlin plans to use generative AI, trained on thousands of hours of recorded exchanges, to interpret instructions and respond itself.

"Our problem is harder… but we want to move beyond remote piloting," says George.

Merlin plans to reduce pilots in stages, from two to one and eventually none.

Pyka, says Norcia, is content to let others "blaze the trail" in finding the best way to operate in shared airspace.

Meanwhile, even if fully autonomous passenger flight remains elusive, many expect the technology being pioneered will inch into commercial aviation, potentially making piloted flying safer.

That, notes ALPA, the US pilots' association, would be a welcome development.

Kids eat free and loyalty points - six ways to eat out but not break the bank

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2dy8kz867go, 5 days ago

The price of eating out can be hard to swallow while the cost of living remains high, with more than a third of Brits cutting back on going to restaurants, according to YouGov's latest Dining Out report.

Restaurateurs say the rising cost of food, energy, wage and tax bills mean they've had to put up prices, with some top chefs campaigning for government help.

Many eateries are offering incentives to get diners through the doors. Here are some ways to save money on meals out.

1. Eat and repeat

Many restaurants offer points, freebies, discounts and birthday treats to keep customers coming back.

One of the most well-known is the Pizza Express Club. Regular diners can progress through a bronze, silver and gold system unlocking perks from free dough balls to hot and soft drinks on the house.

Nando's uses a chilli system for its loyalty programme, while other schemes such as Tastecard offer discounts at hundreds of eat-in and takeaway venues in exchange for an annual fee.

2. Go early - or late

Restaurants often want to fill seats outside of peak lunch and dinner hours so opting for earlier or later sittings can be rewarded by a cheaper bill.

Apps such as First Table, which operates across 21 UK cities, as well as Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, give diners 50% off food when they book a participating restaurant's first or last dining slot. In exchange, diners pay a small booking fee.

EatClub is another, giving walk-ins up to 50% off the whole bill at thousands of venues when they redeem an offer within its app. The biggest discounts are at off-peak times.

Shokofeh Hejazi, director of foresight and innovation at global trends agency The Food People, says earlier dining appeals because it tends to be quieter and calmer, people drink less and it allows them to get home sooner.

Meeting up for breakfast also tends to be a bit more wallet-friendly as it's usually just one course and diners get the same catch-up time with friends and family, she adds.

3. Kids eat free

In the school holidays, many places will entice families through their doors by offering free or £1 meals for kids eating with paying adults.

These range from big chains such as TGI Fridays, cafes at supermarkets including Morrisons and Asda, and even garden centres like Dobbies.

While some tie-in with school holidays, other deals are all year round.

4. Hit up soft launches

Many new restaurants will offer discounts in a bid to encourage diners to try them out and spread the word that they've opened for business.

These are known as "soft launches" and can run for several weeks. They're a cost-effective way of trying a higher-end restaurant without such a hit to the wallet.

Keep track by signing up to newsletters that list upcoming openings in the local area.

Hejazi says some restaurants are extending the period before they fully open to garner more buzz, while others are making their soft launch pricing permanent for quieter days such as Mondays.

People shouldn't assume they're priced out of fine dining-type venues because "there's access points for everybody in a lot of these places", she says.

5. Make your supermarket points work harder

Supermarket loyalty points from those weekly shops add up over time so why not put them toward a meal out?

For example, each 50p earned in Tesco Clubcard points can be exchanged £1.50 in vouchers to spend at participating Prezzo Italian venues. The chain is just one of Tesco's restaurant partners.

6. Surplus food apps

Finally, there are plenty of options to take away food for free or at a fraction of the usual price.

Surplus food apps such as Too Good To Go, or Olio, allow customers to bag goodies that would otherwise go to waste.

It's a bit of a gamble - you don't always know precisely what you'll be getting.

But there's money to be saved on items needed to buy anyway, that's more cash left over for when you do decide to dine out.

Ikea cuts prices as customers struggle with rising cost of living

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm279dk9r8no, 6 days ago

Swedish furniture giant Ikea is cutting prices across hundreds of products in Europe to woo customers struggling with deepening cost-of-living pressures.

Ikea has seen revenue decline over the past two years as the rising cost of living reduces people's ability to invest in new furniture and home renovations.

The company is spending €1.2bn (£1bn) on the price cuts to items including the Billy bookcase and Kallax storage units, with reductions of up to 28% on certain products.

Ikea said it could make the cuts by making savings throughout the supply chain, such as packaging costs, but acknowledged profits may take a hit.

Ingka, the franchisee which operates most of Ikea's European stores, said the cuts were "not an activity or short-term campaign".

"It's about making IKEA more affordable when people need it most, even if it means accepting a lower margin," said Juvencio Maeztu, chief executive of Ingka. "The cost of living is increasing and it's getting tougher and tougher for many people."

He added: "For many people, home is a bedroom in a shared house, and it's even more important to offer storage and organised solutions."

Ikea has reduced its prices several times in recent years, even as it caused a hit to the company's revenue and profit in its most recent earnings report.

The latest specific reductions vary slightly by country. Price cuts for British customers include the Kallax shelving unit going from £60 to £49 and the Billy bookcase being cut by £10 to £25.

Ikea is also trying to attract new customers by opening smaller stores in central areas, such as London's Oxford Street and Churchill Square in Brighton.

In 2024 it launched its own second-hand online marketplace in a bid to rival sites like eBay and Facebook Marketplace.

Despite a recent uptick, consumer confidence in Europe is at its lowest level for almost three years due to concerns about inflation and the cost of living, according to EU figures.

British consumers, meanwhile, are becoming more optimistic about the economy and their own finances, following a truce in the Middle East, but analysts have warned that inflation and the rising cost of living could dent consumer confidence in the coming months.

Ikea operates over 500 stores worldwide under a franchise system.

Many of its minimalist, self-assembled products have become ubiquitous in homes across Europe.

But it has faced criticism from environmentalists for contributing to a culture of disposable furniture and excess packaging.

Shein valued at $26bn after long-awaited stock market debut

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3v0qrz7z25o, 6 days ago

Ultra-fast-fashion brand Shein has been valued at $26.2bn (£19.3bn) after its first day of public trading, following a long quest to list on the stock market.

The company was once estimated to be worth nearly $100bn, but has faced heated competition, trade tensions and questions over the ethics of its supply chain.

Shein's share price fell in the early hours of trading but recovered ground before closing down just 0.12%.

The company's attempts to list in the UK and US were scuppered after supply chain concerns and criticism of its environmental impact.

On Monday, Shein priced its shares at HK$48.56 each, raising ‌13.6 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.7bn; £1.3bn) from the listing.

That gave the company a stock market valuation of $26.3bn.

Shein's shares fell by as much as 10% in early trading before the losses eased. They closed at $48.50, leaving it valued at $26.15bn.

Shein became hugely popular, especially among younger people, due to its ability to source the very latest fashions at ultra-low prices through a vast network of factories in China.

At a ceremony to celebrate the listing, chief financial officer Leigh Gui said the company's model of selling large numbers of small orders with rapid payment options now reaches about 160 markets worldwide.

"Let global consumers enjoy the sound of fashion," he said after a gong was struck to mark the start of trading.

Shein has more than 273 million active customers who placed a total of more than a billion orders in the year to the end of March 2026, the firm said in a filing ahead of the listing.

But it now faces higher costs, regulatory scrutiny and more competition, said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo.

For customers, the slump in Shein's shares is a sign that the firm's cheap prices are "becoming harder to sustain", which may lead to higher prices, she added.

A benchmark for fast fashion

The listing marks the largest new share sale in Hong Kong so far this year, which is being seen as a test of investor appetite for the fast-fashion industry.

It is a rare "standalone" e-commerce firm that can be assessed on its own merits, fashion industry analyst Louise Deglise-Favre from research firm GlobalData.

Shares in rivals Asos and Boohoo have been battered in recent years as they face regulatory scrutiny and fierce competition.

"Investors have learned to be sceptical," while concerns over sustainability and ethical issues add to the complexity of Shein's share sale, Deglise-Favre said.

Founded in China and headquartered in Singapore since 2021, Shein has spent several years touting its credentials as a global company, but ultimately was forced to return to its Asian roots to go public.

The company once looked set for one of the largest stock market debuts ever by a Chinese firm, with Wall Street in its sights.

The firm's long road to the stock market highlights the geopolitical pressures and regulatory scrutiny faced by Chinese companies with global ambitions.

Its business had surged during the Covid-19 pandemic as people, stuck at home, turned to online retailers. At the same time, social media influencers shared their hauls for millions of followers to see.

Shein faced resistance from US lawmakers, who objected to the planned listing over concerns of forced labour in its factories. In response to such allegations, the company has said it takes a "zero-tolerance policy for forced labour".

An initial public offering (IPO) in the US - by far Shein's largest market - would have offered it a chance to further increase its global profile and tap into Western financing.

It has also been accused of copying other designers' ideas. Shein has said "it takes all claims of infringement seriously" and that it respects the rights of all designers.

Shein also explored the possibility of making its stock market debut in London but faced similar opposition.

The BBC has contacted Shein for further comment.

'Only realistic path'

In 2025, Shein shifted its attention to Hong Kong, with Chinese authorities approving the move in July this year.

"Shein ran out of venues that could take it," said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of Chinese market research firm ChoZan.

The company attempted to "look less Chinese" by shifting its headquarters to Singapore ahead of its IPO bid, but it never won political backing abroad nor assurances from Beijing, she added.

Headwinds ahead

Trade tensions and regulatory concerns mean Shein is navigating a very different landscape to when it first started exploring a potential IPO.

In July, it reported a $99m quarterly loss as its sales slowed after the US struck down an import duty exemption on small packages.

The exemption, known as the de minimis rule, had helped Shein and rival Temu grow rapidly as it allowed packages worth less than $800 to enter the US without incurring import duties.

Similarly, the European Union has imposed a €3 (£2.57; $3.50) tax on low-value imports.

The Iran war has also hit demand, raised costs and caused delays to deliveries in some markets, Shein has said.

Its rivals are feeling the pressure too. In August, Temu-owner PDD reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue.

The company also needs to find ways to stand out from its rivals, that are now also using predictive technology to make their websites more appealing to shoppers, said Jason Hsu from Rayliant Global Advisors.

"Shein is no longer a unique player," Hsu said.

Shein is also being investigated by US and European regulators over its business practices.

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Forget Starbucks coffee - Gen Z like their drinks ice cold

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2r9n2mrp8o, 9 days ago

Elaine Ling splits her time between New York and California, but wherever she is and needs a coffee, she doesn't visit a Starbucks.

She only goes there for her cold drinks. Her "real coffee" comes from local cafes.

"I don't really like to go to Starbucks for coffee. I think their coffee is like too sweet," Ling, 21, told the BBC. "I'm more of a refresher girl when it comes to going to Starbucks."

Though founded as a coffee shop more than five decades ago, Starbucks says that three out of every four drinks it now sells are cold. Think iced fruity drinks, protein shakes and so-called dirty sodas - a concoction of foam, syrups and juices.

Ling's preferences are echoed by younger customers across the US.

Gen Z consumers - people born between 1997 and 2012 - are increasingly choosing cold drinks that they can customise themselves over traditional coffee.

Tristan Höver, global insight manager for hot drinks at Euromonitor International, says younger consumers increasingly see drinks as something they can tailor to a specific moment or need.

"Customisation gives them a sense of control," he told the BBC.

He says Gen Z is price-sensitive but willing to pay more if the drink feels special, larger, or functional.

With cold drinks, he says, size, layers and visual appeal help justify the higher price.

Jerry Sheldon, an analyst at IHL Group, sees these habits as part of a larger cultural shift.

"Cold drinks are a form of self-expression," he says. It is another way to signal identity, much like clothing or hair colour.

Kelly Goldsmith, a Professor of Marketing at Vanderbilt University, says consumers are "not paying for what's in the cup, but what's on the cup," comparing Starbucks to an affordable luxury handbag made by the likes of Louis Vuitton.

She says that image has helped Starbucks maintain a price premium for years.

Social media plays a role too.

Starbucks' Unicorn Frappuccino was much-hyped on TikTok and available for only three days in August.

The dense, brightly coloured blended drink with swirls of pink, blue and purple, topped with whipped cream and a crunchy topping lifted foot traffic at Starbucks by 44.3% on the day it returned, compared to the daily average for 2026 during its brief emergence, according to Placer.ai, a data analytics firm.

Other chains are trying to tap into the trend.

Dunkin' Donuts is experimenting with protein-boosted drinks and customisable cold options, recently partnering with celebrities like Kylie Jenner to promote limited‑time drinks.

TikTok food‑and‑drink creator Natalie Ludwig, who has more than 500,000 followers, has sampled Dunkin's cold drinks.

She says the campaign with Jenner is one example of how the chain is trying to tap into a younger audience, adding that if the promotion succeeds "maybe that younger audience sticks".

Fast food chains like McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, and Taco Bell have launched fruit-based so-called refreshers and coffee-adjacent options and other non-caffeine cold drinks aimed at the same audience.

UK data suggests the trend isn't limited to the US.

Isabella Reeve, a consumer insight director at Worldpanel by Numerator, says shoppers under 25 buy more cold drinks than hot when they're out of the home.

Over 60% of their drink purchases are cold, compared with just 30% for shoppers 55 and older.

She says cold drinks aren't just a summer habit either. More than 70% of people buy them year-round, while over 80% do so in the summer months.

Tirtha Dhar, a marketing professor who studies consumer choice at the University of Guelph in Canada, says cold drinks have become a "sweet spot" for Starbucks' bottom line.

The "infinite personalisation" through foams, flavours, and protein are "almost pure profit" for the chain.

Cold drinks have also helped revive Starbucks after a stretch of weaker sales, with the category making up more than 70% of its US beverage sales - a shift that has become central to its turnaround strategy.

What we know after the big Grand Theft Auto 6 preview

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3d7exngd5no, 10 days ago

After more than 18 months since the last official glimpse of Grand Theft Auto 6, developer Rockstar has shown fans a 26-minute preview of the upcoming blockbuster video game.

Its "extended look" debuted on Netflix, six hours before going live on YouTube, and was the first chance players have had to see detailed footage of the title in action.

The montage, with no commentary or explanatory captions, showed off improved graphics, detailed environments and a selection of car-chases and shoot-outs from the sequel.

The broadcast followed a week of unauthorised gameplay leaks, which the developer said it had been "heartbreaking" to see shared online.

After it got its chance to show the version of GTA 6 it wanted the world to see, here are some things we learned, and some things we still don't know.

Two's company

The extended look spent a long time showcasing the relationship between protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Camino, the couple at the centre of GTA 6's "Bonnie and Clyde" story.

In a preview published on website IGN, the developers said the characters' story - and the way it unfolds - can be affected by the player's actions, although they can "opt out" of developing the pair's bond if they want.

The Netflix preview didn't show this playing out in detail, but did show the ability to change control between the two characters at different points.

In one segment, Jason was seen lowering Lucia from a window as they escaped from a drug bust in a block of apartments.

A similar switching system was used in Grand Theft Auto 5, which had three playable main characters.

'The best-looking game'

Praise for GTA 6's graphics was more or less universal, with characters displaying photorealistic faces and lifelike movements.

Fans were also impressed by the detailed locations on show, which included the interiors of apartments, rooftop bars and sleazy underground clubs.

The preview also showcased the various environments of Leonida, the fictional, Florida-inspired US state where GTA 6 is set.

Within Leonida, GTA 6 players can explore Vice City, an area inspired by Miami, which appeared in the hit 2002 game named after the city.

The range of different body shapes and sizes among background characters - something rarely seen in video games - was also highlighted by many players watching online.

Journalist Ryan McCaffrey said GTA 6 "might be the best-looking game I've ever seen".

The impressive visual fidelity has been attributed to the amount of time Rockstar has spent working on the game, and its budget, which is thought to be among the most expensive in video game history.

And according to reports, GTA 6's map is significantly larger than the playable area in Rockstar's previous games.

YouTuber TGG, who says he was invited to Rockstar North's headquarters in Edinburgh to see the game, says the developer told him the map was twice the size of GTA 5's map.

The company hasn't confirmed this officially.

It's still Grand Theft Auto

While GTA 6 appears to break new ground in terms of visuals and scale, it is still, at its heart, a Grand Theft Auto game.

During the preview, viewers saw the armed heists, car chases and criminal underworld scenes that have become a trademark of the series.

Satirical swipes at US culture, darkly comic interactions between characters and a huge range of optional side activities were all present once again.

And Rockstar appears to have expanded on features it introduced in its last major release, 2018 hit Red Dead Redemption 2, such as an "honour" system that affects the player's reputation among other characters.

Fans of the series, which is estimated to have sold half a billion copies since it launched in 1997, will have been thrilled to see it.

No news on GTA 6 Online

Rockstar had already stated that GTA 6 will be a "single-player experience" on launch, leaving fans to assume a follow-up to the incredibly successful online element of its previous games would come later.

The Netflix preview was dedicated to showing off the story and gameplay, and was not necessarily expected to highlight any new multiplayer features.

Although the launch of the game on 19 November is widely expected to be the biggest of all time, the long-term success of GTA 6 will be judged on how well Rockstar converts players to any new online mode.

GTA online, which also launched after the release of GTA 5, remains one of the most-played games in the world, and is thought to have generated billions of dollars for Rockstar.

The previous game in the series, GTA 5, also broke records when it came out in 2013 and has sold more than 200 million copies since.

Two official trailers for the sixth game have almost 500 million combined views on YouTube, and the Netflix "extended look" on Thursday is being marketed as an event by the streaming service.

Next month the company is due to appear at an employment tribunal in Scotland to defend itself against claims it illegally sacked a group of ex-employees for trying to form a union.

It strongly denies the accusations, and says the workers were fired on the grounds of gross misconduct.

Additional reporting by Thomas Fabbri.

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Selena Gomez pushes back against 'frivolous' fraud claims

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz0z4k28804o, 10 days ago

Selena Gomez's social media accounts brim with adoring fans: two million likes for her most recent post showing her and her husband in a rose-petal strewn hotel, and thousands of comments praising her beauty, her lipstick and the perfume brand she founded.

This week the PR focus for the star – who rose to fame on the Disney channel but has moved into song-writing, films and TV drama – was supposed to be on the upcoming series six of Only Murders in the Building that sees its podcasting sleuths transfered to London for their next adventure.

But the wider chat, outside those friendly spaces, has gone off-script and is largely on a less flattering topic, namely claims from investors who allege she breached her contract by not properly backing the mental health platform Wondermind that she cofounded with her mother five years ago. As a result, the five investors argue, they were defrauded of the nearly $1.2m they invested.

Gomez is pushing back against those allegations - her lawyer has asked that she be dismissed from the case altogether, saying the claims made against her are "threadbare" and arguing she should never have been "dragged into" the case at all.

The investors claim they were told that "Selena Gomez, one of the most famous women on earth, with a billion-dollar brand and a platform unmatched in social media, would be actively building the company as its head of marketing".

Gomez's attorney Matthew Rosengart says their allegations are "vague, generalised and contradictory" and that Gomez never agreed to, and did not, manage the company, or make the kind of commitments they are suggesting.

"The claims against her are meritless if not frivolous," he said.

Mr Rosengart added that the legal team was "exploring other avenues of relief for Ms. Gomez including sanctions against plaintiffs".

The emphatic pushback from Gomez may reflect a concern for her reputation but it also leaves her mother in the hot-seat, facing the fraud allegations alongside the company itself and a third co-founder.

Crisis PR commentator, Lauren Beeching, founder of Honest London says Gomez is far from the first celebrity to try working with a close family member. At times it can come off like in the Jenner-Kardashian household or with the tennis-playing Williams sisters.

But there are plenty of examples - from the Beckhams' to Britney Spears - where family brands and business don't mix well.

Working with close relatives, whether that's a sibling or a parent, or someone else is almost always a higher risk approach, says Beeching.

"It can make the boundaries between the personal relationship with the business and the celebrity's reputation much harder to separate," she says.

The natural level of trust means that you might not apply the same rules as you would in a normal commercial relationhsip, so better guardrails are needed, she says.

"If you're going into business [as a] family, I'd put more structure around it, not less, for sure.

"Define everybody's responsibilities, bring in independent oversight, and decide what happens if something goes wrong before something goes wrong."

"A family relationship shouldn't be a company's governance structure."

At the end of the day Gomez may not need to worry too much over this case, says Beeching.

"This will generate headlines because Selena Gomez is enormously famous, but I don't think it's the type of story her core audience is particularly interested in," she says.

"There's an important difference between generating negative headlines and causing lasting reputational damage. "

Still, for celebrities considering trading on their personal brand, Beeching does have words of advice.

"Before lending your name to a company, don't ask what your reputation could do for the business. Ask what that business can eventually do for your reputation as well."

I went looking for surveillance cameras in my neighbourhood: I found so many more than I thought

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260902-how-to-watch-the-cameras-that-watch-you, 4 days ago

In the trade-off between privacy and security, it helps to know the extent of your local surveillance infrastructure. There are now easy ways to find out.

I didn't tell anyone I was meeting Michelle Dahl, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a watchdog group. But by the time I greet her in Brooklyn, New York, the system knows we're together.

"It's kind of invisible if you're not looking for it," says Dahl, pointing up to a lamppost, where two tiny cameras labelled New York City Police Department hide in black plastic domes.

They're part of the NYPD's massive AI surveillance platform: the Domain Awareness System (DAS). "Every police officer in the city can access it on their phones and pull up a profile of basically anyone walking around," she says.

The platform connects more than 80,000 cameras with drones, social media data, even systems that follow cars when you drive to another state. Dahl says it can unveil who I've seen and everywhere I've been in the last week. My whole life: tracked.

Every day, across the US, your life is also being recorded by a growing system of mass surveillance that reaches far deeper than many of us may realise. Controversy around an American surveillance company called Flock Safety exploded in recent months, but it's only one player in a giant industry.

Flock and other advocates say we need to strike a compromise between privacy and safety.

Is it worth the trade-off? To decide for yourself, it's worth understanding how comprehensive the surveillance really is. So I went looking for cameras in my own neighbourhood. You can too, and you don't even need to leave the couch to find them.

'The more you start looking, the more you'll see'

Some of those concerned about surveillance seem to think Flock is the whole issue. New York City demonstrates why that's not true. The company doesn't operate here, but we're still being watched.

Dahl is taking me on a surveillance tour to the BBC's Manhattan office, pointing out cameras and other devices along the way. I've covered privacy for 10 years, but even I was stunned by the infrastructure following our every move.

After just a few steps, we stop and look around. I count 16 different cameras.

"I would assume these are owned by businesses, buildings and renters," she says. These are additional to cameras run by the city, she says. "But the NYPD likely has easy access. They often just ask the owner if there's an investigation, and people hand over the footage."

Some camera vendors, like Amazon's Ring, even have automated systems to make it easier for police to request and receive footage directly from users.

Cameras in public are now so ubiquitous I barely notice them anymore. But with Dahl's help, my eyes refocus: small pill-shaped cameras hanging in front of stores, ageing grey devices on the corners of buildings, advanced dual-camera systems run by the city that pan, tilt and zoom to laser in on people of interest.

I try to count as we walk, but there are so many it's impossible to keep track and hold up a conversation. "The more you start looking, the more you'll see," Dahl says.

Why the Flocklash?

These systems can capture and store your every move, and Flock has become the posterchild for surveillance. In recent months, there's been nation-wide, bipartisan backlash against the company.

On reason is Flock's staggering power. The company says it operates more than 100,000 cameras spread across 6,000 American communities. It's best known for tools that track drivers, scanning cars 20 billion times a month, according to Flock. But it also makes facial recognition tools to track your body.

Such technology allows law enforcement to look far beyond its jurisdiction. A Texas sheriff reportedly accessed more than 83,000 Flock cameras across the US to hunt for a woman in an abortion case, including in states where abortion is legal.

Flock says their tools keep people safe and that every day it helps solve crimes that would otherwise go unsolved. Yet in at least 46 cases, law enforcement officers have reportedlyused Flock's systems for unauthorised purposes, including to stalk partners, exes and strangers. (After months of bad press, Flock implemented safeguards to root out abuse. A Flock spokesperson says the misuse is a "betrayal of the tool's purpose and completely unacceptable" and that officers who abuse the system should be held accountable.)

The backlash includes waves of people destroying and even urinating on Flock cameras. Over 50 cities have cut ties with Flock this year alone.

But again, Flock doesn't operate everywhere, and it isn't the only company in the businesses. Some cities that cancelled Flock contracts just quietly hired other surveillance firms instead.

"Communities continue to choose Flock at a rate far outpacing those that leave," a Flock spokesperson says. "We're adding new customers at roughly 10 times the rate of churn."

Safer, or just more surveilled?

Behind the growing world of surveillance infrastructure is a wider argument about how to police.

"Every day, Flock helps solve crimes that would otherwise go unsolved – from finding missing children to solving murders, violent crime, and recovering stolen vehicles," a company spokesperson says.

They also note Flock is "actively asking for clearer state and local regulation", so it isn't the sole decider on law enforcement's use of the tools.

The NYPD makes similar points. A spokesperson says their surveillance systems keep the city safe, and the department publishes transparency reports on its tools. "We are committed to using technology with care and precision, and ensuring our use is consistent with the law," the spokesperson says.

However, experts question the data and methodology Flock – and others –use to their promote crime-solving approach.

"The idea that surveillance makes us safer keeps being used as an excuse," says Rindala Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital rights group. In fact, she says, this technology makes the world more dangerous.

"Surveillance has been used to criminalise people for being bystanders, with stories of innocent people being pulled over and having guns drawn on them because a licence plate reader read a letter wrong," Alajaji says.

This isn't just a US issue, either. Facial recognition systems are expanding in the UK, which police credit with thousands of arrests, while critics describe an alarming and "significant expansion of the surveillance state". Across the globe, cameras are spreading.

Dahl and I walk nearly a mile and get on the subway. Cameras stare us down as we swipe at every stage, and document us when we exit. As we emerge onto the street in Midtown Manhattan, we're greeted by – you guessed it – more cameras.

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"I would encourage people to take a minute to pay attention to where you're being watched and tracked and learn where the data is going," says Dahl. "The more that people are aware, the more you can join in efforts to exert legislative pressure."

For example, one reason some communities have cancelled Flock contracts was people pressuring leaders at city council meetings – including by dressing like Darth Vader.

Dahl and I have been together over an hour, and barely a moment has passed that we weren't being surveilled. I say goodbye and walk to the BBC's office.

I step into the building and hit a button for the elevator. The doors open with a ding, and there, staring me in the face, is a gleaming black camera.  Like everywhere else, it seems, someone is watching.  

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The 300-year-old tool helping stranded astronauts get home

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260903-the-300-year-old-instrument-that-could-save-stranded-astronauts, 3 days ago

An old seafaring instrument could help astronauts on ever more far-flung and perilous missions.

Imagine you're an astronaut flying to Mars. Suddenly, disaster strikes: all your electronic navigation systems fail. How do you find your way back home?

For Nasa astronauts, the answer could be a wayfinding tool invented around 300 years ago: the sextant. Used by seafarers on Earth, and astronauts on early Nasa missions, sextants are a last-resort navigation option for missions to the Moon, and potentially, beyond – in case the high-tech ones fail.

Traditionally, sextants are used to measure the angle between celestial bodies such as stars and planets, to calculate one's own position. Apart from emergency use, these ancient star-sighting skills are also attracting increased interest from Nasa engineers as humans plan to venture to Mars and beyond.

"The further and further we go out, the less and less we can rely on some of the Earth-based navigation technology," such as satellites, says Greg Holt, the navigation system manager for the Orion Spacecraft and its Artemis missions to the Moon. "And so you now have to fall back more and more on what I would call the classical navigation techniques. And some of those now harken back to the way navigation was done way back in the 16th, 17th, 18th Centuries," he explains.

In that age of classical navigation, "you actually had to look at the stars to figure out where you were, and figure out your orientation relative to those celestial bodies," he says. These are skills that can be crucial in deep space "because those are some of the only references you have once you get far away from Earth".

In addition, knowing how to navigate by the stars can save lives, he points out: "We want to make sure that [the astronauts] have a way to safely navigate their way back home, if for some reason they lose communication with the Earth".

Sailing to the Moon

In 2018, Holt and his team asked two astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Alexander Gerst, to test a hand-held sextant, taking measurements with the naked eye and a steady hand.

"We had crew members demonstrate the use of a manual sextant, as an emergency means of back-up navigation to get the crew home from the Moon, if they had in fact lost communication," says Holt. "Because if you lose communication, you also lose that radio navigation link with the Earth, and you're on your own at that point."

The experiment tapped deep into navigational history. In the 1960s, Nasa adapted ancient star-sighting methods to space flight, though initially astronauts were not entirely sure this would work.

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, recalled that "one of the things that I was concerned with at the time was whether our navigation was sufficiently accurate [...] if we lost communication with Earth, for whatever reason, could we navigate by ourselves using celestial navigation? We thought we could, but these were undemonstrated skills."

The answer was yes – he and other astronauts on those early flights did successfully use sextants and other naked-eye sighting methods, both routinely, and during emergencies. Buzz Aldrin resorted to a hand-held sextant and chart during the Gemini XII spaceflight in 1966, due to a problem with the radar. And during the near-disastrous Apollo 13 flight in 1970, Jim Lovell famously used the sight of the Earth on the last stretch to get home.

The 2018 experiment with the sextant on the ISS was also successful. The results were accurate enough to suggest that navigating by hand-held sextant could get the crew back home in an emergency. And the astronauts reported that they found the sextant comfortable to use in microgravity – more so than using it on Earth, in fact.

Speaking by video call from Houston, Holt holds up a black sextant – essentially, the same age-old tool used by seafarers, with some small modifications for space. Its edges have been rounded off, for example, to prevent it accidentally scraping something. And it has a hook-and-loop fastener to attach it to the wall of the spacecraft, and prevent it from floating around in microgravity.

Other than that, it's exactly the same device you'd find on board a normal ship on an Earthly ocean, Holt says.

On the Orion spacecraft, astronauts use a high-tech version of a sextant – an optical navigation system – as a first back-up if other navigation systems fail. A camera attached to the spacecraft takes images of the surrounding stars and planets, "doing all of the same things that a crew member would be doing with the sextant", Holt says. Using image-processing techniques, the camera takes measurements such as the angles between stars, the angles between stars and planets, and the diameter of a planet. The readings are then used to automatically calculate course-corrections, for example.

"On the Orion spacecraft, the Optical Navigation system serves as a back-up, providing onboard navigation capability if communication and ground-based navigation support from Earth is lost," says Holt. During the Artemis missions, the system is routinely activated about once per day. "This allows us to confirm the system remains working and healthy, [to] collect valuable imagery and performance data for our engineering design team," he says. It is also "a cross-check confirmation of the navigation solution from the Earth-based tracking".

But if this high-tech system fails, the hand-held sextant comes in.

During the Artemis II mission to the Moon in April, a hand-held emergency sextant like the one Holt demonstrated was kept ready during pre-launch, he says. If there had been a problem with the cameras of the high-tech system at that point, the sextant would have been put on board at the last minute. It is not routinely packed on Orion, as it's not necessary equipment: "Every gram of mass counts when flying space missions," he points out.

If a disastrous systems failure happens after the launch, in space, the astronauts therefore won't have that hand-held sextant on board. But they are trained to know other naked-eye methods, Holt explains. One is to look for timings of when specific stars disappear behind the Earth, or the Moon, as a rough indicator of one's own position.

Holt says familiarity with the original tool is useful for Nasa's engineers, too. When leading the teams that develop the high-tech systems, "I make sure they all go out and practice with a sextant so they understand basics where all this is coming from, the maths and geometry," he says.

Guided by asteroids

There are also other timeless navigational tricks that help modern-day astronauts. For example, the bright, easily recognisable stars and constellations that have historically guided seafarers, are also useful navigational points for astronauts in space, says Holt. That's because they are easy to spot and recognise by humans – whether those humans are on Earth, or in a spacecraft.

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For Mars missions, those navigational points may include asteroids, Holt says. "We would say [to the astronaut], we expect that the asteroid is going to be half-way between the two head stars in Gemini, so look over there, find that asteroid between those two stars, take your readings, then compare that against the expectations and do the maths." If the readings are off, the astronauts correct the course to get to where they want to be.

"To me, part of the fascination of my job is seeing how all of these techniques are all interrelated, from the earliest forms of star sightings off ships, all the way to how we're looking to navigate off to Mars and even further places," says Holt.

Even the most far-flung missions still involve the same fundamental concepts, he says: looking at stars, looking at objects in comparison to the stars, and using geometric relationships to determine where we are. "Whether we are doing it manually with a stick, or a sextant, or a high-tech camera, it's fascinating to me that a lot of these same techniques are all linked and have those common heritages and mathematical foundations."

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Is India's internet boom running into an undersea problem?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2r2mzelxko, 3 days ago

One of India's biggest digital vulnerabilities sits on a six-kilometre stretch of Mumbai's Arabian Sea coast.

Around Versova, a densely populated neighbourhood on the city's northwest, at least 13 of India's 18 intercontinental submarine cables come ashore within six kilometres of one another.

Together they carry as much as 95% of India's international bandwidth to Europe, Africa and West Asia.

"This network faces a critical vulnerability due to severe geographic concentration," says Anwesha Sen of Takshashila Institution, a think tank.

"If several of those cables were cut simultaneously, either accidentally or deliberately, a bulk of India's westward bandwidth to West Asia, Africa and Europe would be impacted."

Cable architecture allows traffic to be rerouted, so a cut would not cause a total blackout.

Traffic could be diverted through other landing points, including the southern cities of Chennai and Kochi, say experts. (India's 18 subsea cables land in Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Tuticorin, and Trivandrum.)

But even performance degradation - small increases in the time it takes data to travel - could be costly for banks, stock exchanges, cloud providers and government networks. AI infrastructure may be particularly sensitive because it relies on high-volume, high-speed data transfers.

That vulnerability stems from how much of the world's digital traffic depends on these cables.

They are the internet's hidden highways - bundles of optical fibres on the ocean floor carrying data between continents as pulses of light. Humans have laid some 870,000 miles (1.4 million km) of them, "lacing the Earth tightly together", writes Samanth Subramanian in his new book The Web Beneath the Waves. These cables carry about 99% of global communication traffic.

Cheap data has helped make India one of the world's biggest internet markets. By late 2025, it had more than a billion broadband subscribers. India's growing digital economy and services sector increasingly depend on these cables.

But India's growing reliance on this invisible infrastructure sits uneasily with how little of it the country actually has.

India accounts for roughly 20% of global consumption of data, but is connected to only about 3% of the world's submarine cables.

It has 21 cable landing stations - coastal gateways where undersea cables connect to terrestrial networks - compared with roughly 1,900 planned and active globally, giving India about 1% of the world's total, according to the Broadband India Forum (BIF).

"We need to grow the number of cable landing stations several fold," says Aruna Sundararajan, chairperson of BIF.

Experts believe this is the paradox at the heart of India's digital transformation: the country is becoming an internet and data-centre powerhouse without controlling enough of the physical infrastructure that connects it to the world.

A recent paper by Takshashila Instituition finds that 11 of India's 18 international cables are more than 20 years old, approaching the nominal 25-year operating life of submarine cable systems.

"It's true that a significant share of India's landing cables are approaching economic end-of-life, and that is a legitimate area of focus," says Amajit Gupta, group CEO and managing director of Lightstorm, a digital infrastructure company.

And then there are cable faults - a far more common risk than deliberate attacks.

Globally, there are an estimated 150-200 cable faults a year, most caused not by saboteurs but by fishing, ship anchors, natural hazards and equipment failure.

"We've seen a version of this scenario play out with the Red Sea disruptions," Gupta said, when traffic was rerouted east through Singapore and onward to the US.

And when an undersea cable breaks, India has another striking weakness: it has no domestic subsea cable-repair ships.

Repair ships have to come from abroad and obtain permission to operate in Indian waters.

"Every cable fault in Indian waters depends on foreign repair ships from Dubai or Singapore. Once a foreign ship is assigned, it must obtain licences to operate in Indian waters, adding weeks to an already lengthy process," says Sen.

That dependence on foreign repair capacity is the more fundamental weakness.

"The bigger structural issue for India isn't rerouting capability - it's repair capacity," says Gupta.

"That combination – dependence on foreign repair capacity and regulatory lead times – represents the real bottleneck," he says.

But repair is only one part of the challenge.

Gupta believes the question isn't whether India is retiring old cables, but whether new terrestrial and subsea capacity can keep pace with AI-driven demand. "The industry cannot afford to catch up; it must stay ahead," he says.

That demand is also fuelling a rapid build-out of data centres - the computing hubs where data is stored and AI models are trained and run. They too depend on fast, reliable links to global cloud and internet networks.

Government figures show installed data-centre capacity has risen from 375MW in 2020 to about 1,575MW today.

That creates a potential mismatch.

"Subsea cable planning itself takes three-four years and then cable laying also takes up to two years depending upon cable length," says Sundararajan. "Thus, there can be some lag in getting subsea cable capacity to feed the upcoming data-centre capacity."

The bigger hurdle may be India's bureaucracy.

Sundararajan says 16 agencies across telecoms, defence, home affairs, shipping, ports, environment and state authorities are involved in clearing the construction, operation and repair of subsea cables.

Setting up a cable landing station alone can require around 50 clearances across at least 16 ministries, she says. "A core issue is fragmented governance, not a lack of technical capability."

She wants India's Department of Telecommunications to be the main agency, with a single-window system to speed up repair-vessel permits.

Sundararajan says the government should pre-identify and pre-approve multiple cable landing sites on both coasts and in island territories with standard conditions so cable companies do not have to start the approval process from scratch.

To become a genuine regional cable hub, she says, India needs "predictable regulation, open infrastructure and rapid repair mechanisms" - the kind of environment that has helped Singapore attract cables and data traffic.

Pooja Bhatt, an associate professor at OP Jindal Global University, says that mismatch is increasingly difficult to ignore.

"Given its young demographics and 'Digital India' aspirations, it makes sense for the nation to build and maintain its own internet infrastructure for security and governance purposes," she says.

India has already taken a step: the government now treats submarine cable systems as critical telecommunications infrastructure, recognising their importance to international connectivity.

Sundararajan says the designation should bring faster clearances, emergency repair mechanisms and an Indian cable-repair capability, along with legally protected cable zones around landing sites and routes, restricting anchoring and trawling.

Technology could help too.

A technology called Distributed Acoustic Sensing can turn optical fibres into sensors capable of detecting vibrations from ships, anchors or underwater vehicles – potentially identifying threats before a cable is severed.

But the immediate fixes are possibly more mundane: more landing stations, greater geographical diversity, faster permissions, protected cable routes and an Indian repair capability.

"Connectivity has historically clustered around Mumbai because the ecosystem, infrastructure and demand were already concentrated there," Gupta says. "But that concentration is exactly the risk the industry needs to design away from."

That shift is already beginning.

Four new submarine cable systems are being commissioned, with three more planned. Lightstorm is leading a consortium building one of them, I-2SEA, linking India with Malaysia and Singapore. The system will have dual landings in India – at Machilipatnam, providing a shorter subsea route to Hyderabad, and at a new landing location in South Chennai, adding diversity to existing routes.

For a country consuming data at extraordinary speed, the infrastructure carrying it remains surprisingly fragile. India is adding data centres and preparing for an AI-heavy future. The question is whether its cables, landing stations and repair capacity can keep up.

Overcooked? Why robotic pizza makers are failing

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxq0wgkkdjo, 10 days ago

The "dough feeder". The sauce and cheese modules – even the pepperoni-sprinkler. All lay still.

A now defunct duo of robots were supposed to be churning out pizzas at a Moto Pizza restaurant in Seattle.

However, in May the pair were rendered "basically useless" when their supplier, Picnic, abruptly shut down. Technical support for the robots evaporated at that moment, says Lee Kindell, founder and chief executive of Moto Pizza.

He was left wondering what to do with the $160,000 (£118,000), cabinet-like machines and whether buying in pizza bots was really worth it.

"I don't know if I want to do a partnership again because of the failures," he says.

The robot pizza-making business has, it's true, been littered with sorry tales of overcooked promises and melting fortunes. Besides Picnic, other companies that have come and gone include Zume and Pazzi, which used robot arms to assemble pizzas, as well as Basil Street, a purveyor of pizza vending machines.

Although so-called fast food might seem an easy target for automation, it's proved harder than many expected. Plus, bringing robots into pizza restaurants could take away entry-level jobs in the hospitality sector. Is the future really filled with robotic pizza?

"We haven't yet seen any of the success stories materialise the way some people thought they would," admits Sara Senatore, senior restaurants analyst at Bank of America. Her employer has financial interests in multiple high street pizza chains including Papa Johns and Domino's.

Food preparation bots are sometimes clumsy – dropping ingredients in the wrong places at times, she explains. Conversely, "Humans are very efficient at making pizza."

But Kindell, despite his frustrations with Picnic, is surprisingly undeterred. He is a fan of full automation. "I want to be able to walk up to, let's say, a type of kiosk, put in your order, and it makes a fresh pizza," he tells the BBC.

Kindell, who once made all his dough by hand – until an elbow tendon injury forced him to investigate using machines instead, is now working on his own version of a pizza-making robot.

He declines to share details but the contraption will make square pan-style pies and that the machine is inspired by the way 3D printers work. If things go well, he says he could have a fully operational version of the device by the summer of 2027.

Given that he admits he has "no experience" in robotics, I question why he would want to invest in such a dicey business. Kindell says that failed pizza robot companies have nonetheless generated useful data and made strides in developing their technology. It's just a matter of time before someone gets these things to work, he insists.

On jobs, he claims that even "fully autonomous" pizza robots won't threaten workers. Kindell previously used Picnic's robots at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, a baseball team.

Usually, he'd need about 10 people to make pizza in such a setup. With the robots that number fell to just two. But the other eight people were still employed, he says, in roles where they interacted with customers, and advertised the pizza around the stadium.

"We had so many more people able to hand out the pizza," says Kindell. "It was so much faster."

For some pizza robotics engineers, speed is certainly a motivator. Last year at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio, Canadian firm Appetronix installed a 24/7 robotic pizza unit for the Donatos pizza chain.

Appetronix is working on newer versions of the technology that it claims will assemble pizzas at a furious pace. The goal is to eventually have a pizza sliding out of such machines "every minute", says co-founder and chief executive Nipun Sharma.

To that end, his team is investigating methods of depositing sauce onto a pizza base far faster than the 9.5 seconds currently required. "Think of it as a shower head that blasts the sauce in 1.5 seconds," says Sharma.

The company is even investigating lasers and ultrasound as potentially speedier methods of slicing pizzas than a traditional knife blade.

Many people enjoy hand-crafted pizza, though, I suggest. Doesn't a machine making your dinner take away the human connection we might otherwise feel with food? "What we're going after is a chain market," replies Sharma. "You want the pizza to taste the same every single time."

This divide, between businesses focused on repeatability, and those who promise a more artisanal, human-fronted experience, predates robotics. But it will likely shape how and where technology arrives in the world of pizza.

Five years ago, Paul Giannone – owner of Paulie Gee's pizza restaurants – vowed to Mashable that he would "never" use a robot. "That is still the case," he tells the BBC. "Our shops offer a dining experience with personal customer service a high priority."

Senatore says that human interaction is potentially an even more important factor today than in the past, including for restaurants that do decide to introduce pizza robots.

"It's a risky proposition to not have people," says Senatore. Pizza parlours could lose their "human touch", she adds, and potentially also frustrate customers should the machines go wrong while no-one is around to step in.

But expect new pizza tech to keep appearing. Not least because the meal-assembling robot companies that have seemingly disappeared are actually still influencing food start-ups. The intellectual property formerly owned by Zume – more than 300 patents – was bought up by Miso Robotics, of California.

"Their vision for robotic pizza making was really brilliant," says chief executive Rich Hull. "I just think they were a beat too early in the market." Customers weren't "ready" for robot-made pizza, he asserts.

Miso Robotics makes a French fry-cooking bot called Flippy, already in use in some US fast food restaurants. The Zume patents could help Miso Robotics expand Flippy's capabilities, suggests Hull, though he does not cite any specific example. "That's one of those things that we're going to be learning about," he says.

The natural cut-and-thrust of the fast food pizza business looks set to continue. Kindell remains set on automating pizza production.

"There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a fully autonomous pizza robot," he says. "It's just, who's going to do it first?"

Social media inspiring new generation of bookworms

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ced7y169ll9o, today

Social media is used by millions of people around the world to connect with friends, stay up to date with the latest pop culture news and for short-form entertainment, but one corner of the internet is encouraging a shift back to a non-digital pastime.

Discussing books and sharing reviews is by no means a new trend, but the social media movement of BookTok and Bookstagram which emerged in recent years has changed the way people showcase and share their reading habits.

The BookTok and Bookstagram communities on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are made up of readers, authors and creators who share book-related content, including reviews, bookshelf tours and recommendations.

The phenomenon has led to viral titles, introduced some people to books and helped others to lower their screen time.

Among those is Mia, a 14-year-old keen reader from Bristol.

Although she watches book-related content on YouTube, she said her screen time was "definitely lower" nowadays due to the amount of time she spends reading.

Mia also credited her friends and their recommendations for influencing her to read more, including the romantasy series Powerless by Lauren Roberts which got her hooked on books.

"While reading it, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next.

"I've had such a cut from screen time like with Netflix and Disney+. I don't really go on those anymore because I think, well, what would I prefer to do? Watch a TV series or find out what happens next in my book?

"I think [reading] keeps my brain engaged. I find reading helps me do that because I'm in a different world.

"There's loads of different genres, so if you're not into one thing - like if you're not into mystery - don't give reading up because you might prefer romance or something."

Although it began online, the BookTok phenomenon can often be found in dedicated sections of many bookstores.

A BookTok chart was also launched earlier this year, which combined data from traditional charts like the Sunday Times bestseller list along with UK sales data and analysis of the #BookTok hashtag.

The inaugural chart was dominated by romance and romantasy books - the mixed genre of romance and fantasy that Holly Irwin dedicated her own bookshop to.

The 20-year-old, who relocated to the Cotswolds from Hamilton, New Zealand, earlier this year, began her Instagram account in 2021 to share reviews, find new books and connect with fellow romance fans.

Holly said she "never really got into reading" as a child and always thought books were not for her.

However, her interests changed during the Covid-19 pandemic when she read the Twilight saga.

"I loved the movies, so I started reading. I'd never really tried to read romance before that, so I thought books weren't for me.

"I read Twilight and I absolutely devoured those books and I haven't stopped since - it's been books, books, books," she said.

Holly's social media "took off" and exceeded 149,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok.

While on a trip to Oxford in 2024, Holly and her mum Maria discussed the idea of opening a bookshop specialising in romance novels.

"We got back home to New Zealand and just thought life's too short... you've got to follow your dreams and you've got to give it a go.

"We spent the last couple of years planning it all, figuring out how we wanted to do it and then we decided it was time.

"It was kind of all or nothing... it's been wild, but it's been so fulfilling and so worth it to see this dream of mine come true," Holly said.

According to the Publishers Association, the UK's publishing income hit a record high of £7.4bn in 2025.

The company said the nation's "increasing appetite" for fiction, children's books and audiobooks were among the factors behind the growth.

NielsenIQ BookData found that romance and saga book sales declined by 15% in 2025 with 10.1m units sold - a decline which comes after several years of exceptional growth.

However, the sales of the genre were still twice as high as they were in 2019.

Sci-fi and fantasy books - which encompass the romantasy subgenre - saw record sales last year, with a 42% increase year-on-year.

A total of 8.8m units were sold, which was a 183% increase on 2019, a spokesperson for the organisation said.

Since opening Hollyhocks in August, Holly said she had met local romance fans as well as many people who had made a journey to Cirencester to visit the specialist bookshop.

She also said she noticed specific titles and subgenres - like hockey romance and cowboy romance novels - selling out quicker than others.

"It's definitely because of BookTok… everyone has just been on such a cowboy romance kick.

"I think people like to escape to a whole different world, so that's definitely a contributing factor.

"It blows me away, the power of social media," she added.

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Council plea to bin batteries safely after large fire

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpq0e28vgzno, yesterday

A council is urging residents to dispose of batteries and battery-powered items properly, after a large fire at a recycling facility.

Fifty firefighters tackled a blaze caused by a battery at Total Metal Recovery Ltd in Stoke Prior, near Bromsgrove on Tuesday.

Worcestershire County Council said the fire was the "latest warning" of the growing risks posed by batteries entering the waste and recycling system.

It said residents should never place batteries, vapes, power banks or electrical items containing batteries in household bins.

"Products such as vapes, power banks, portable speakers, toys, musical greeting cards and other small electrical items can ignite when crushed, punctured or damaged in household waste," it said.

Councillor Josh Robinson, cabinet member for the environment, added: "This latest fire shows just how quickly things can go wrong when batteries end up in the wrong place."

"These items are small, easy to overlook and often hidden inside everyday products, but the fires they cause are anything but small."

The authority said batteries should be recycled at dedicated collection points at its household waste recycling centres, supermarkets and participating retailers.

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Recipe for success - the Chicken Shop Date moments that created a YouTube star

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgyqpmy01po, 2 days ago

When someone says "we need to talk", it often means one thing - it's time to break up.

After Amelia Dimoldenberg announced on Thursday her hit YouTube series Chicken Shop Date would be turning off the fryers after one last series, some fans were begging for a second chance, while others agreed it was time to move on.

Over more than 10 years and 100 dates, Dimoldenberg's awkward flirting, deadpan silences and willingness to overshare has made her channel an unmissable stop for any celeb, single or not.

Before one last slurp on an orange soda, BBC Newsbeat looks back at some of the talk show's most iconic moments.

'If someone says chicken girl, do you turn around?'

Chicken Shop Date grew out of a youth club project and interviews Dimoldenberg conducted with south London grime artists as a teenager for The Cut.

She's spoken about how hard she had to work in the early days to persuade guests to come on the channel.

Nearly five years into her series, in 2020, she bagged her first big name outside the rap scene: Oscar-nominated actor Daniel Kaluuya.

During the date, Dimoldenberg admitted she would turn around when fans shouted "chicken" at her in the street.

Her interview with the Get Out star pulled in five million views - a fraction of the audience she'd go on to attract, but evidence her hard work was clearly starting to pay off.

It laid the foundations for even bigger names to join Dimoldenberg, with Sir Paul McCartney, Lando Norris and Shania Twain among those placing orders.

'What's your name again?'

Forgetting your date's name can be a guarantee that there won't be a second one. But in Dimoldenberg's case it created one of Chicken Shop Date's most memorable moments.

During a 2023 date, she discussed marriage proposals with Jennifer Lawrence.

When Dimoldenberg said she wouldn't know how it felt to be engaged, the Hunger Games star looked the host in the eye, and began:

"Phoebe."

"Did you just call me Phoebe?" Dimoldenberg responded.

"Yeah."

"Amelia."

The pair burst out laughing, but it wasn't the only time her date was caught thinking about someone else.

Pop star Sabrina Carpenter, who appeared on Chicken Shop Date in 2024, didn't forget the host's name, but did confuse the show with Hot Ones - the YouTube series where celebrities eat progressively spicy chicken wings.

In a sign of her own rising stardom, Dimoldenberg took on the chilli challenge in the same year.

'It's been vibey'

The spice in this series was reserved for the guests - some more than others.

After a couple of red carpet run-ins where there seemed to be palpable chemistry, actor Andrew Garfield's appearance on Dimoldenberg's show set the internet alight with speculation of genuine romance.

When he appeared on Chicken Shop Date, Garfield conceded it had been "vibey" between them for a while, although for some viewers the encounter didn't live up to expectations.

The following year, Dimoldenberg insisted the pair were just friends.

Garfield wasn't the only guest to seem to really hit it off with the host. Singer Billie Eilish was especially flirty, giggling after complimenting Dimoldenberg's body.

And after rapper Aitch came on the channel, rumours circulated it had kindled a real-life relationship, although neither ever confirmed this.

Dates that jiggle jiggle

It was the clash of two interviewing titans - the master of the strategic pause and the queen of the awkward silence.

But when Louis Theroux met Dimoldenberg the big takeaway wasn't a new, personal revelation. It was a viral rap.

During the pair's 2022 date, the Chicken Shop Date host reminded the documentary maker of the time he spat some bars on his BBC series Weird Weekends, when his quest to become "the first white, middle-class gangsta rapper" took him to New Orleans in the US.

Despite the 20-year gap, Theroux was able to recall an impressive amount of Jiggle Jiggle, his rap about his love of red wine and the struggles facing the very tall owner of a compact car.

Music producers Duke & Jones added autotune to a TikTok clip of the moment, turning it into a viral sensation that's had almost 84 million views since it was uploaded.

Theroux eventually teamed up with the duo to record a new version of the song.

So, a second date?

Unlucky in love Dimoldenberg hasn't had much success when it comes to second dates - but that doesn't stop her asking.

She's been turned down by artists from Central Cee and Digga D to Rosalía.

"When I was 17, I thought that I might meet the love of my life on a date in a chicken shop," she wrote in her farewell statement. "Since then, I've spent my entire twenties sat across from the most incredible people, people I'd always dreamt of meeting.

"All of them charmed me (some more than others), and I definitely charmed them."

With one final series in the pipeline, there's still hope for some rekindled connections.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

OpenAI agents hijacked German website before Hugging Face hack, report claims

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg725z5kgzo, 2 days ago

A new report claims a swarm of AI agents, developed by OpenAI, hijacked a German website - months before the firm revealed its AI had hacked tech platform Hugging Face.

The targeted website, DseWiki, is a Wikipedia-style site for programmers that its community can all contribute to.

The report is from a group called Nightingale Collective and claims that in May OpenAI's agents started using DseWiki as their own message board, shared tips on how to avoid being detected and made 15,000 edits to it.

OpenAI said it could not "meaningfully respond" to Nightingale Collective's findings because it hadn't been allowed to review the report, which was first shared with news agency Reuters.

An email to the address on the Nightingale Collective website bounced back when the BBC contacted it.

The report claims that when DseWiki's editors started deleting pages, the AI agents shared code designed to retrieve them.

Hugging Face's systems were separately hacked by OpenAI agents in July, with the incident described at the time as the world's first AI-enabled cyber-attack.

The agents involved had also set up a secret message board in order to share information between them.

OpenAI said it had already publicly stated its discovery of some agents learning how to use message boards prior to the Hugging Face attack.

In its report into that incident, it noted "rare cases in which agents without multi-agent tools found ways to collaborate via side channels during training".

Yesterday, OpenAI unveiled a new AI model called GPT-6 Astra, which it called its most powerful product ever.

The firm's president, Greg Brockman, described Astra as the closest so far to artificial general intelligence (AGI) - a significant future milestone for the AI industry.

AGI doesn't have a specific definition but is broadly said to mean AI which is as good as humans, or better than them, on multiple tasks.

OpenAI claims Astra can do tax returns, and take three minutes to carry out a task which would take a human five hours.

The firm intends to list itself on the stock exchange later this year.

How Oasis fans cracked the Celtic Park gigs code in chip shop video

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1dlr6geeq6o, 3 days ago

Oasis fans have uncovered a set of cryptic clues in a promo video from the band, suggesting that they will stage gigs at Celtic Park in Glasgow next year.

The Manchester rockers released the 23-second teaser on their social media accounts, showing two boys in what appears to be a Scottish chip shop.

Internet sleuths spotted sets of numbers in posters around the chippy which they worked out to be the map co-ordinates for Celtic's Parkhead stadium.

It has fuelled speculation that the band will be playing at the venue next year- possibly as the first date of a new tour.

It follows the Gallagher brothers' hugely successful reunion tour which saw them perform at 41 sold-out stadium shows in 14 countries.

This included three dates at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, in August 2025, when they played to 200,000 fans.

How did fans find the co-ordinates?

The clues hinting at a Celtic Park gig include an advert for a £55.84 family chippy bundle and a poster for radio station Sol FM 98 92.

The numbers spell out the 55.849892N latitude of the stadium.

There is also a sticker on the fridge saying it should be kept at -4, a poster saying the daily special is priced at £2.05 and a taxi number featuring the area code 638.

These numbers together are -4.205638W - Celtic Park's longitude.

More clues: Robert Carlyle, Irn Bru and deep-fried Mars Bar

Other Scottish clues include the actor Robert Carlyle, who features in the video for Oasis song Little by Little which plays on a TV in the background.

The chip shop fridge is filled with Irn Bru and other AG Barr brands.

One of the boys also hands over a Mars Bar to be deep fried - a Scottish chippy delicacy.

Fans have also posted theories about other "clues" on social media.

One said the position of the two boys is similar to the positions of Noel and Liam Gallagher on the front of the Definitely Maybe album, with the fridge being in a similar position to the window.

An announcement has been rumoured to coincide with the release of Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger, a documentary covering the band's reunion tour.

Recent rumours have suggested that any Celtic Park concerts could take place immediately after the Scottish football season ends in late May with Knebworth also believed to be on the cards.

The Gallagher brothers' affection for Celtic is well documented, stemming from their family's Irish roots.

The Oasis classic Roll With It has become an unofficial Celtic anthem, having first been adopted by supporters around the 1997 League Cup final.

And Noel famously attended the Old Firm game in 2000 when Celtic beat Rangers 6-2.

Celtic Park has not hosted any concerts for a number of years with the last being Wet, Wet Wet in 1997.

Other noteable gigs there have been Rod Stewart, Status Quo and Joe Cocker in 1991, Bryan Adams and Prince in 1992, U2 and Utah Saints in 1993.

Rod Stewart performed there again in 2014 during the Opening Ceremony for the Commonwealth Games.

Glasgow's Hampden Park has become the city's main concert stadium over the past three decades.

Xbox caps cloud gaming at 15 hours a month for Game Pass subscribers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj06zd4l99lo, 3 days ago

Xbox is introducing strict monthly time limits for Game Pass subscribers who stream games online through its cloud gaming service.

The changes, which come into effect in November, will see a subscriber to the £16.99 Ultimate monthly plan able to stream games for up to 15 hours a month - before having to purchase additional cloud play time.

Xbox said the limits were due to the rising cost of cloud gaming, and they would allow the firm to "continue to invest" in the service's "reliability and performance".

While some questioned whether the service was used by many to begin with, others called out the additional limits for subscribers.

Cloud gaming allows players to stream and play games online from a remote server using a phone, tablet or controller, rather than downloading and running it on a PC or console at home.

Different tiers of subscription to Game Pass will have different limits.

Premium users will get 10 hours, while those on the basic Essential tier will get five hours a month before they have to pay for extra time.

Xbox claimed just 4% of the people who use Games Pass - its Netflix-style subscription plan for games - use its cloud gaming service.

A recent Wall Street Journal article reported Game Pass has 30 million subscribers, which would leave the number of people affected by the cloud gaming changes at roughly 1.2 million.

"This is a pretty awful change, hopefully Xbox adds an extra zero on the end cause 15hrs is abysmal. 30 minutes a day, really?" posted one commenter on X.

Jez Corden of Windows Central told the BBC the announcement showed that "absolutely nothing is safe from the AI-driven component crisis," but he added it also highlighted "where Microsoft's priorities are".

Both cloud gaming and AI use data centres to process information.

"For them to continue to offer unlimited access to Microsoft Copilot [AI] for free but restrict paid cloud gaming in this way shows some contradiction," he added.

Xbox said in a blog post that from November, users would also be able to use the company's cloud gaming feature without subscribing to Game Pass, but by buying "cloud playtime hours" through the Xbox store.

It has not revealed how much extra hours of cloud gaming would cost.

Xbox's 'reset'

The news comes as Asha Sharma, Xbox's chief executive, told the BBC in an exclusive recent interview that the company and the industry as a whole needed to "start to innovate on affordability and efficiency," amid a "crisis" in computing prices.

"As an industry, we're in the middle of 'Rampocalypse'. We're in the middle of people coming back from Covid and the patterns changing," she said.

"Rampocalypse" refers to the fact that the cost of a previously cheap hardware component, random access memory (Ram), has shot up in price with the expansion of compute-hungry data centres. Some people also call it "Ramageddon".

Sharma added: "Within Xbox, we haven't been healthy. And so a lot of the reset that will take us throughout the year is really meant to help ensure that we are here for the next 25 years and we're continuing to serve our purpose and our mission."

According to Xbox owner Microsoft's July financial filings, annual Xbox revenue dropped by $1.7bn to roughly $21.8bn (£16.1bn) - a 7% decline from 2025.

Part of Sharma's reset has seen 3,200 people let go at the company - with 1,600 job losses announced in July, and the remaining posts to go gradually over the course of Microsoft's 2027 financial year.

Studios which had been acquired by Xbox - including Compulsion Games, which made the Bafta-winning South of Midnight and Double Fine Productions, makers of Psychonauts - were also made independent again.

Sharma is betting these changes can reverse its fortunes despite concerns over its subscription strategy and rising AI-related costs.

"Sometimes you have to restructure a business when it's not doing well, and that was true with our Xbox business," Microsoft's president Brad Smith recently told the BBC.

Cloud gaming

In an interview in July, Jeff Gattiss, Amazon's head of gaming, told the BBC he believed the rising cost of tech would mean people will turn to streaming games online rather than buying new consoles.

However, despite some big names investing in the technology, it has never fully reached the mainstream.

Google launched its own cloud gaming service Stadia in November 2019, positioning it as a "Netflix for games".

The service was discontinued in January 2023 after the company said it had not attracted as many users as hoped.

For many gamers, cloud gaming remains too unreliable for regular use due to its reliance on high-speed internet - and an additional fee may further limit its appeal.

New £20m robot lab to speed up disease research

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3k4zej318o, 3 days ago

Researchers in Liverpool say a new robotic laboratory could help speed up vaccine development and reduce the need for animal testing.

The £20m facility at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine will use lab-grown miniature human organs to test treatments for infectious diseases.

The facility, which has been supported by the Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON), is due to be fully open by 2027.

Pro-vice chancellor for research and innovation, Prof Giancarlo Biagini, said: "It is really exciting to be involved and it's going to accelerate the way we develop drugs, vaccines and diagnostics."

Biagini said that the use of mini organs, such as the heart and brain, is "amazing technology", adding: "You can actually see the heart beating".

He said using tissue created from human donors, rather than animals, could improve research and provide more reliable data.

The school's former boss and founding member of iiCON, Prof Janet Hemingway, said the project will "create several hundred cutting-edge technology jobs".

She added: "Although the robots will do a lot of the work, we are training humans to develop that technology.

"Clinicians and researchers will be able to spend more of their time thinking how they do the science better rather than routine work."

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Police warn of risks when posting school photos

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyz6g2wx56o, 3 days ago

Guernsey Police has warned parents about posting back-to-school photos containing identifying information on social media.

This followed a social media post by Sussex Police that highlighted how the photos could allow individuals to create Artificial-Intelligence (AI) generated child abuse imagery or identify a family's location and schedule.

Not-for-profit organisations and supervisory data bodies have encouraged parents to be aware when posting such photos when schools return for the next term.

Det Insp Tom Lowe, from Guernsey Police, said: "We're not trying to discourage people recording these memories [but wish to] highlight the risk."

Lowe said AI allows "more opportunity for people to exploit images being posted online".

He said the police aimed to "raise awareness" so parents could "make the judgement correctly" when posting photos online.

Lowe pointed to the social media post by Sussex Police as an example of how "a picture can contain a thousand little minutiae" that could allow people with "malicious intent" to pick up on identifying information.

"Think about house names, road names, vehicle identifiers and if your son or daughter is holding specific items containing their names," he said.

Guernsey Police wanted parents to be aware what information is "out in the public and can be utilised".

Lowe said the police continued to "work with Home Affairs to ensure that the laws needed are put forward and put into place" regarding AI technology.

Ghislaine Bombusa, from online safety organisation Internet Matters, said parents should "take a pause" and think "what is identifiable" when sharing back-to-school photos online.

She said parents should "celebrate moments with their children" but be aware of what images could be used for.

"This image of your child can be turned into a sexualised or an abusive image," she said.

Bombusa added the more information is shared, the more parents were "giving opportunities for people to build a picture of your child".

"This is where they live, this is where I can find them, this is where they go to school, that is a potential risk," she added.

She made clear that the organisation was not "saying you can't share at all" but making sure parents are "taking that pause and time to check" before sharing images and information.

Rachel Masteron, deputy data protection officer at the Office for Data Protection Authority in Guernsey, said the information in school photos could allow individuals to "identify locations and possibly work out passwords".

Masterton pointed out how "even a parents name on a coffee cup" in a photo could allow "somebody who might want to do nefarious things" to win a child's trust.

She said: "As a child you are more likely to think, they do know me so maybe I will go with them."

Masterton said it was a "sad indictment of the world today that we need to be thinking like this but it is there".

The shared information could reveal families were on holiday "therefore your home is ready for someone to break into" or posting pictures of a child could mean "their images might be taken and used in a deep fake", she said.

Masterton said authorities do not want parents to "overthink to the point of paralysis" when posting online but having all the information posted online "in one place could be where it starts to cause bigger problems".

"It allows information to be linked together and used in ways that you might not expect," she said.

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'I lost my savings after a job interview scam'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk3xd8j3k5o, 3 days ago

Jobseekers are being warned to be vigilant as scammers are targeting people on job listings websites to trick them into downloading bogus interview tools.

One victim was invited on LinkedIn by a fake recruiter to take part in a job interview process and downloaded a normal-looking document which turned out to be malicious software.

Within hours the hackers had drained his cryptocurrency accounts of £18,000 of savings and disappeared.

"It's a horrible feeling to be out a substantial amount - something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," the victim, who wanted to stay anonymous, said.

Crowded and competitive job market

Professional recruitment platforms LinkedIn and Indeed have warned of growing numbers of job scams in recent months.

LinkedIn released data highlighting what it called The Gen Z "Scam Gap" - "Younger professionals face the highest exposure to scams (32%), yet nearly a third (32%) admit to ignoring red flags due to a competitive job market."

When approached by the BBC, the company said in a crowded and competitive job market, "many young people feel they can't afford to be skeptical... because they feel opportunities are so scarce".

The platform pointed to advice on its website about how to spot recruitment scams by, for example, verifying that the company and job was real and doing thorough research before engaging in talks.

The victim - who lost their savings after being hacked - had handed in their notice and made it clear on LinkedIn that they were looking for a new job.

A fake recruiter sent them a potential job offer and held a video call about the job before asking them to carry out a standard technical assessment, with instructions on the Google Sheet document.

But the document was laced with malicious software.

After completing the task, the candidate went to bed and woke up to find their online wallets emptied of their savings.

"I wiped my computer and changed all my passwords and was exhausted emotionally and mentally drained," they said.

"I felt a mixture of disbelief and anger - at the hackers and at myself. I was also confused until I figured out how they had got me."

Fake recruiters and malicious apps

Cyber-security researchers from Have I Been Squatted carried out an analysis of how the attack worked and say the new wave of recruitment scams are hard to spot.

"This wasn't a badly written email with a suspicious attachment - this person was walked through what looked like a real job interview, on real Google pages, behind a real Google login, and the software they were asked to install was digitally signed like any legitimate app," said chief executive Juxhin D Brigjaj.

The case comes as others have reported similar attacks through the job listing platform Indeed, which put out advice in July about avoiding scams.

Criminals are using the pressure and excitement of job interviews to lure people into downloading booby-trapped mobile applications like a fake Indeed Interview app or one called MyInterview.

According to cyber-security company Malwarebytes, the fake recruiters use lures such as: "Complete your interview by installing the Indeed app" or "salary agreement available after app installation".

Once downloaded the malicious apps allow hackers to access private data for extortion or to use in financial attacks.

"Interviewing through Indeed's platform happens entirely in a browser and never requires downloading a special app," Indeed recently posted online.

"Any message asking a job seeker to download an app to participate in an interview is not legitimate."

AI tools that take notes for GPs could miss vital information, study suggests

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0zylpdveqo, 3 days ago

AI tools that are used to take medical notes from patients could miss vital information and lead to medical staff being deskilled, according to new research.

The tools, called ambient AI scribes, are used by about 40% of GPs in the UK. The scribes listen to conversations between doctors and patients and convert the speech to text, generating written notes and letters.

Academics at University of Edinburgh reviewed cases involving the scribes and found the tech had some positives, such as allowing clinicians to focus on complex tasks.

However, they also said patients could be less forthcoming if they knew they were being recorded and found instances where doctors did not recognise their notes.

The findings are peer-reviewed and have been published in the British Medical Journal's digital health and AI publication.

'Cognitive offloading' for clinicians

The report concluded AI scribes can help with administrative work but more research needs to be done to understand how they work in specific healthcare settings and how their design supports both patients and clinicians.

It comes months after the BBC heard from doctors in the West Midlands, who said their workload had been significantly cut by using the transcription tool Heidi.

At one clinic in Dudley, the tool was credited with reducing a backlog of posting patient letters from six months to 14 days.

One of the key findings by the University of Edinburgh was that although AI tools can help capture what patients say, they can sometimes miss important aspects of consultations - such as facial expressions, gestures and emotional state.

The report said AI summaries tend to prioritise clinical information, which can come at the expense of the patients' stories and experiences of their illness.

It was also found that patients may be hesitant to reveal sensitive information - such as substance abuse, domestic abuse or mental health struggles - when they know the consultation is being recorded and processed by AI.

Researchers also highlighted that manual notetaking serves important functions for clinicians in their reasoning and reflection on what the patient has said.

Their report said using AI scribes could result in "cognitive offloading" for clinicians - which means the tools take on some of their mental effort.

This can have benefits, the report said, as clinicians can spent their efforts having more meaningful conversations with patients or concentrating on complex tasks.

However, it also said the tools can reduce memory recall and skill development and highlighted instances where clinicians do not recognise their own notes or remember the patient the next time they see them.

'Patients' stories lost'

The researchers concluded that in designing these systems, they must preserve the patient's voice rather than overwrite it.

They also said more work needs to be done to understand the medium and long-term use of these AI tools in specific settings and emerging risks, particularly for tools used in countries with different healthcare systems to where the AI tools have been built.

Dr Lucas Seuren, of the University of Edinburgh's centre for biomedicine, self and society, said: "Many clinicians are excited about ambient AI scribes, because they promise to cut down on paperwork.

"But the experiences of patients are poorly considered, and there are real risks that the patients' stories are lost.

"This can further disadvantage people who already face marginalisation in health and social care services."

AI data centres are booming in Australia - but at what cost?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgl3we7wdr3o, 3 days ago

The sheer size and noise of data centres are what people tend to notice first. Some say they sound like a jet plane about to take off, others complain of a high-pitched whine.

When Lucy* puts her child to bed, she hears a constant humming. "I'll hear it and think, 'What is that? What is going on?'," she says.

And then she'll remember that the noise is a data centre just 350m (0.2 miles) from her front door in the desirable suburb of Lane Cove, in Sydney's lower north-shore. Another four are in the pipeline at the local industrial park.

Australia has quickly become a global destination for data centres, with investors attracted to the country's abundance of clean energy, natural gas reserves, and land to power and house their technologies.

Earlier this year, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman said Australia could become a data centre capital of the world, if it wanted to.

Australia is already headed in the direction of big tech's wishes. There are 162 data centres across the country, with plans for 90 more, and an estimated more than A$155bn (£80bn) of investment money lined up.

If approved, one of the world's biggest data centres will be built in western Sydney. At one gigawatt, it is expected to be Australia's largest single energy user.

And in Marsden Park, also in western Sydney, the biggest data centre in the Southern Hemisphere is already under construction only 100m away from a local community.

But as more Australians find themselves living next door to data centres - triggering concerns about water supplies, energy use and the environment - many are asking whether joining the artificial intelligence (AI) race is worth it.

'What happens if we don't?'

Data centres have been essential to the digital economy since the arrival of the internet.

They were originally built to process and store data for things like emails, online banking and cloud services. But everything changed after 2022 when ChatGPT launched and AI exploded in popularity. This prompted a sudden race to build more data centres to power the technology.

The location of these large, windowless buildings filled with beeping servers and cables also became important to latency – the time it takes for data to travel from its source to its destination.

Delays for things like air traffic control, robotic surgery or even Netflix would not be tolerated today, Belinda Dennett, CEO of Data Centres Australia, says.

Australia has roughly 13.6 million users of AI every month, making them the sixth most active users of the tech globally.

And experts say having data centres in Australia will lower the barrier to building more of its own AI companies.

"If we think about it in reverse, what happens if we don't build infrastructure here", Dennett says. "We get none of the value chain, we are just importing tools from someone else and we become just a user."

Australia is also an attractive market for foreign investment, as "we've got availability of land, we've got political stability, and we've got the Five Eyes security alliance," Dennett says.

"We've also got a skilled workforce, a pretty stable energy grid, and an abundance of renewable energy potential."

Leading business experts and economists say that without Australia's data centre boom over the last couple of years, the country would likely have headed into a recession.

Jon Whittle, a former director of the digital research centre at the country's national science agency CSIRO, who is now a leading voice in AI and business, agrees with this. He says the government doesn't really have a choice but to continue down the investment path.

"There's some very serious considerations around this, but my main message would be we need to lean into it," he says.

Fears over power and water supplies

But leading energy and environmental experts argue Australia has little capacity to meet the massive energy and water demands of new data centres.

The Australian Energy Market Operator says data centre energy demands could triple by 2030 nationwide.

Without significant new renewable generation and storage, data centres could push power prices 26% higher in New South Wales (NSW) by 2035, according to the Climate Council, an independent non-profit that provides expert advice.

Because data centres need uninterrupted power at a scale and speed that wind and solar cannot match, there are fears the current boom will trigger a new generation of coal and gas power plants.

No data centre operator analysed in a recent report by Greenpeace Australia Pacific adequately proved their claim of driving the country's renewable energy growth.

In the US, many data centres are not waiting to build more renewable energy and have found it cheaper to build new gas-fired power stations instead.

Just a 90-minute drive from Sydney's central business district, the Australian-owned data group Cloud Carrier plans to build three gas-fired power stations to generate energy for an existing data centre and two more in the future.

Moreover, if energy demands place too much pressure on the grid or there is a power outage, data centres, like in Lane Cove, will rely on backup diesel generators.

But NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says Australia's investment boom in data centres is being accompanied by a boom in renewable energy.

"We don't see the two [as] unrelated," he tells the BBC. "We see data centres allowing us to replace a lot of our old coal-fired power with clean, green renewable energy with the private sector picking up a large amount of the tab because otherwise households would."

The new private investment will help with renewable energy and create "new industries that are likely to employ future generations", Mookhey says.

But data centres also consume large amounts of water - some up to 40 million litres a day, which is equivalent to 80,000 households - to prevent their servers from overheating. In a drought-prone country that is a potentially huge problem.

Sydney already needs to increase its drinking water supply over the next five to 10 years in order to provide for its growing population, according to Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA).

But if that water is used for data centres, households are likely to pay the price for sourcing water from elsewhere, such as through desalination, which costs more than traditional water sources.

Sydney Water, Australia's largest water utility, says data centres could use up to 25% of Sydney's drinking water by 2035.

In July, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a new legal obligation for "large-scale" data centres to underwrite power supplies, limit water use, and pay for any extra water infrastructure needed.

But the prime minister also told media that the legislation, which will be introduced in 2027, would only apply to new proposals, not projects that were already built or under construction.

In response, environmental and community groups want a pause on all data centre development.

"We've got the government rolling out the red carpet saying we want to be the data centre capital of the world," Sydney's Lane Cove deputy mayor, Rochelle Flood, says.

"But can we actually do that sustainably or is it going to set us back in terms of net zero and our water storage targets?"

'What is it for?'

On a rainy Monday night during a town hall event led by Greenpeace Australia Pacific at the Lane Cove library, locals say they were never consulted on their area becoming a data centre hub.

One of the proposed centres from the cluster is 16m from the nearest home and 160m from a local primary school.

In addition, Flood says if the four data centres get approved in the industrial park, 50% of the current businesses will have to move - taking their jobs with them.

Felipe Tanaka, 40, is a manager of a business in the industrial park who has been told he must relocate for a data centre.

"We never knew that something like this would happen," Tanaka tells the BBC. "Thousands of jobs are going to be gone from this area in the next few years."

While a large data centre can employ more than a thousand workers during construction, research says that number drops to more like 100 jobs once the centre is operational.

"Most of our 300 to 400 workers here are locals," Tanaka says. "Having to move will probably see half of my employees gone."

NSW Treasurer Mookhey says the jobs that data centres will bring come not from those who work in them but from those who use them.

"When Microsoft and Amazon do business here in NSW, it's pleasing to see they are committed to providing some of their more skilled operations and locating them here," he says.

But what other skilled jobs might be created is not clear, and effectively what the data centres will be used for. As some critics have pointed out, many AI users are making cat GIFs, which uses the equivalent amount of energy as running a microwave for an hour.

"They're telling us this is essential... that we need to have these centres in our neighbourhood but they're not saying what it's for," Flood says.

"When our drinking water, energy and land is being used for generative AI slop, that is not giving any value back."

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Catherine Zeta-Jones praised by fans for using Welsh accent in TV series

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyzn8r8w79o, 3 days ago

Catherine Zeta-Jones has been praised by fans as she uses her Welsh accent in an upcoming thriller series.

The 56-year-old Hollywood actor returned to her hometown of Swansea, where some of the filming took place for Amazon's Kill Jackie.

A trailer released on social media gives viewers their first glimpse of the show, as well as a snippet of Zeta-Jones using her Swansea accent.

The Oscar-winning star plays Jackie Price, an extravagant jet-setter who is trying to stay anonymous after escaping a "dangerous past as an international cocaine dealer", according to Amazon Prime.

One fan said they loved hearing the "queen of Wales sounding Welsh".

The series is based on the novel The Price You Pay by Nick Harkaway, published under his pseudonym Aidan Truhen.

Bilbao, Lisbon and London were also used as filming locations.

Zeta-Jones is known for an array of previous roles including Morticia Addams in Netflix's Wednesday, and an Oscar-winning supporting role in Chicago.

Kill Jackie will be her first major role using her Welsh accent.

She has previously spoken about her strong connection to Wales, adding in her heart she "never really left".

One fan commented on an Instagram post of the trailer, saying "her Welsh is out and I love it, can't wait".

Zeta-Jones said she had been looking forward to the opportunity to explore a female-driven plot that "encompasses empowerment, identity and redemption".

Damon Thomas, of Killing Eve, also stars in the show while Gangs Of London's Tom Butterworth is the writer and showrunner of the series.

Kill Jackie will premiere on 2 October on Amazon Prime

Nvidia strikes $12.9bn deal to buy AI platform Hugging Face

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4vnr5g1k7o, 3 days ago

Nvidia has agreed to buy artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face in a deal valued at about $12.9bn (£9.5bn), one of the AI chipmaker's biggest acquisitions as it expands into software.

Hugging Face, founded in 2016, has become a popular online platform where developers and researchers can find, share and test AI models and tools.

It recently made headlines after rogue AI agents that escaped a testing environment hacked into it, raising questions about AI safety and oversight.

The deal would bring one of the world's largest AI developer communities into Nvidia and give it control of a leading open-source platform - an alternative to systems offered by OpenAI and Anthropic.

Nvidia is best known for making the advanced chips used to train and run AI systems. Demand for those chips has surged as companies race to build AI products.

The companies already work together to help developers use Nvidia's computing services through the platform.

According to the companies, Hugging Face is used by more than 18 million developers and hosts more than three million AI models. More than 200,000 companies use the platform, they said.

Nvidia said Hugging Face would remain open to developers and that users would not be required to use its chips or services.

Nvidia shares ended Thursday trading up 1.8%.

Under the agreement, Nvidia will pay about $11.9bn to Hugging Face investors and offer up to $1bn in stock-based incentives to employees who join the company.

The deal could also help Nvidia expand its presence in AI software as some of its biggest customers, including Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI, develop their own chips.

Open-source AI models can be downloaded and adapted by users, unlike many AI systems that are controlled by a single company.

Supporters say the approach can make the technology more accessible to businesses, researchers and developers.

Yaël Ossowski, deputy director of advocacy group Consumer Choice Center, said the acquisition was "a vote of confidence in open AI" and suggested it could encourage competition by making AI tools more widely available to start ups and smaller companies.

The deal will be a "major victory for innovators and consumers worldwide" if Nvidia keeps Hugging Face open and accessible, he added.

The deal would also give Nvidia access to one of the world's largest AI developer communities as competition in the sector intensifies.

Founded by French entrepreneurs Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf, Hugging Face also provides datasets, software tools and cloud services used to build AI applications.

Hugging Face is backed by investors including Amazon, AMD and Intel.

Primetime review: Robert Pattinson is extraordinary as controversial paedophile-hunter Chris Hansen ★★★★★

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260905-primetime-review-robert-pattinson-is-extraordinary-as-controversial-paedophile-hunter-chris-hansen, yesterday

Pattinson has been having an exceptional year on screen – and that continues with his dizzying performance in this dark media satire about 2000s US reality TV show To Catch a Predator.

Has any actor as handsome as Robert Pattinson ever played so many ugly-on-the-inside people? It took him a few years to find roles that suited him after the Twilight franchise turned him into a teen idol, but the likes of Good Time, The Lighthouse, Mickey 17, and Die My Love have established him as a major figure in today's art-house cinema.

He has also shone in more conventional high-profile films, notably The Batman, but in general he prefers not to be a heroic leading man, choosing instead the least flattering roles imaginable: a rogue's gallery of losers, liars, and on-edge sleazebags. He seems to delight in playing unsavoury characters – and because he enjoys it so much, so do we.

This has been Pattinson's year, with performances to relish in The Drama and The Odyssey (and Dune: Part Three still to come). But no film has suited his mischievously oddball style more than Primetime, a darkly surreal media satire which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. The first narrative feature from Lance Oppenheim, previously a documentary director, Primetime is sure to be an Oscar contender – although it may be a controversial one.

The film is inspired by the true story of Chris Hansen, an Emmy-winning American journalist, and his most famous / notorious television show, To Catch a Predator, which ran as part of Dateline NBC from 2004 to 2007. The programme staged sting operations aimed at would-be paedophiles. Its staff would pose as minors in online conversations with adult men, and then arrange meetings with them. But when the men arrived at the houses of their imagined victims, the suave Hansen would stroll in, along with a camera crew, and ask them with devastating politeness what they were thinking.

Hansen himself wasn't involved in the making of Primetime, and has been critical of the film without having seen it. That hasn't stopped him taking advantage of it: he has paid for adverts to be shown before every US cinema screening, encouraging viewers to watch his own streaming service afterwards. But he probably won't love how he's portrayed.

The screenplay, by Ajon Singh, sees To Catch a Predator as marking the end of one TV era – Friends, the sitcom phenomenon, finished its 10-series run in 2004 – and the beginning of a grim new age of reality television. What, after all, could be grimmer than the exposure of sexual criminals being packaged as rip-roaring entertainment? The fictionalised Hansen is cock-a-hoop when his programme is moved to a mid-evening timeslot: it might be seen by more viewers than Lost, he crows.

But should he really be jumping for joy about trapping and humiliating people on television, however heinous they may be? And does he or his coolly ruthless producer (Merritt Wever) care about the programme's adult "decoys" (Skyler Gisondo and Phoebe Bridgers), who have the disturbing job of pretending to be in their early teens?

There's nothing radical about the message of Primetime: alongside Ink, it's one of the two films at Venice lamenting the arrival of a new strain of media sensationalism. What makes it so intoxicating is that it's not a straightforward drama, but a heightened, hallucinatory black comedy. Rather than detailing Hansen's back story or the creation of To Catch a Predator, it drops us into the middle of a fever dream in which everything is wholly believable yet unsettlingly weird.

Pattinson embodies that dizzying tone. As in so many of his films, his performance in Primetime is exaggerated and theatrical without ever being arch. He is completely immersed in the character's strangeness. He plays Hansen as a slippery creep, sometimes buffoonish in his self-confidence and sometimes sinister, and sometimes on the verge of madness. Talking to the BBC in Venice yesterday, Oppenheim described Pattinson's version of Hansen as a cross between Jerry Maguire and Dracula.

The key could be that Pattinson never asks us to sympathise with the character. In fact, he seems happy for us to loathe him. But it's a pleasure to watch him, anyway. This is the best performance yet from the most intriguing actor of his generation.

★★★★★

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Rollicking new film Ink makes divisive media mogul Rupert Murdoch into a hero

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260903-rollicking-new-film-ink-makes-divisive-media-mogul-rupert-murdoch-into-a-hero, 4 days ago

Danny Boyle's high-energy drama about Murdoch's early years in UK newspapers has opened at the Venice Film Festival – and its flattering portrayal of the man himself is causing debate.

Rupert Murdoch is one of the most influential media figures of the last half-century. One of the inspirations for Logan Roy in the TV series Succession, the 95-year-old mogul has reshaped the modern media world via his ownership of countless newspapers and television channels, up to and including Fox News.

Whether he has reshaped it for better or worse is a matter of debate. To some, he is a visionary businessman and a champion of the free press. Others believe that certain harmful parts of that free press can be traced back to his door.

This debate is touched upon in Ink, a rollicking new drama about how Murdoch established himself in UK media in the 1960s and '70s. Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) and adapted by James Graham from his own play, Ink opened yesterday at the Venice Film Festival to enthusiastic reviews – and some questions about whether it was too soft on the tycoon at its centre.

How the film frames Murdoch

Whereas a controversial recent dramatisation of Donald Trump's early years in business, The Apprentice, portrayed its protagonist in a less than flattering light, the Murdoch played by Guy Pearce in Ink is a plucky underdog: a fearless rebel who takes on the patronising snobs of England's outdated elite. In scene after scene, aristocratic bullies sneer at him just because he is Australian – so even when they make a fair point about the damage that he is doing, they're so loathsome that it's tempting to take his side.

Some critics in Venice were sceptical. John Bleasdale in Time Out called Ink "a toothless, apolitical film" with a "bizarrely moral" Murdoch. Boyle, for his part, has said that he sympathises with the anti-establishment Murdoch of 1969. At a press conference in Venice yesterday, the director stated that, at the time, Murdoch was "a breath of fresh air in what was a very rigid British society".

The time in question is 1969. Having made his mark in Australia, Murdoch moves to London, buys an ailing British daily tabloid newspaper, The Sun, and appoints a working-class northern editor, Larry Lamb (Jack O'Connell), to reinvent it. Initially the film is staged as a high-octane heist movie, with the fast-talking, sharp-suited Lamb zipping around England, gathering a gang of misfits who have been overlooked and under-promoted by other newspapers.

His masterplan is to pinch readers from his competitors by running stories that working people actually want to read – even if that means emphasising subjects which have been sidelined by the British press elsewhere, such as sport, sex and television. And he wants to have fun while doing it, hence Ink has enough office hedonism to rival Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. Maybe it should have been called The Lamb of Fleet Street.

Questions about responsibility

The suggestion is that Lamb's obsession with sales figures may have led to today's populist media landscape, where nothing is off-limits. But Murdoch himself is portrayed as an almost-innocent bystander. Whenever something salacious is printed in The Sun, it's Lamb who makes the decision to run it, and Murdoch who marches into his office later and demands an explanation. Did he really have so little control over his flagship newspaper's content? In Ink, his only weakness is to be a little too squeamish, a little too hung-up on conventional decency – this despite an opening scene in which he shouts, swears and mimes sex acts in full view of the other diners in a restaurant.

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Ink is Boyle's most Trainspotting-like film since Trainspotting, what with its sex and drugs, its freeze frames and captions, its frantic energy and thumping rock songs, not to mention a stomach-turning shot of a filthy toilet. But it's also a love letter to a man who is depicted as a pioneering entrepreneur, a loyal friend and a doting father with no particular political agenda. The Murdoch dynasty might take issue with parts of the film, but they couldn't object to its portrayal of the family patriarch.

Indeed, Boyle has argued that to "monster-ise" Murdoch would absolve everyone else of their contribution to the state of today's media. In his view, everyone who consumes such media is responsible for it. As he said in Venice on Wednesday, "It was important to us that the audience feels complicit."

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'A literary assassination': How Life of M sparked a Hollywood scandal

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260901-the-literary-novel-causing-a-hollywood-scandal, 5 days ago

Controversy is swirling around Rachel Cusk's new novel and its movie-star protagonist named "M". Why the fuss – and could the character be based on Natalie Portman?

From Truman Capote mining the secrets of his high society friends for his writing to The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestly bearing a striking similarity to Vogue's Anna Wintour, there's always a certain excitement in discovering that a literary character might not be entirely fictional – especially when their rumoured inspiration is a public figure.

The new novel by Rachel Cusk, Life of M, tells the story of a fictional actor, "M", some of whose biographical details bear an uncanny resemblance to those of real-life film star Natalie Portman.

Anticipation for the new novel was already high – "a blazing interrogation of fame, power, beauty and truth," said its publisher. Cusk is one of contemporary fiction's most celebrated and boundary pushing writers, and so a new book by her is always an event. But interest soon spilled beyond the literary world when the seeming Portman connection was made.

Cusk is known for taking no prisoners in her prose – she is unsentimental in her work and depicts human frailty with a cold, clinical eye. So the book was never going to be an empathetic look at the life of a film star – and sure enough, reports appeared suggesting the actress was unhappy with Cusk's portrayal. By the time the book came out last week, countless stories had been published speculating on what really went on between the pair, most of them pure speculation and gossip.

Inevitably, that gossip has turned the book into one of this year's most talked about novels. But what's the real story behind it?

Why all the controversy?

In July, several weeks before Cusk's latest novel Life of M was due to be published, culture journalist Valerie Stivers wrote an article for the website Unherd claiming that the book, about a famous actress whose life is depressingly hollow and devoid of emotion, was "a dark portrait of Natalie Portman" and that the actress was less than happy with the result.

Stivers wrote: "No one in her right mind who understood Rachel Cusk's work would allow her to write about her." It immediately sparked chatter about whether Portman – known to be a big fan of Cusk's writing – had at some point agreed for her life to be used by the author. Or had Cusk co-opted Portman's experiences without her permission? And if she had, did that matter?

The plot thickened when further details of the book emerged. We learned Life of M features two main protagonists – a nameless (and genderless) writer and a famous movie actress, M. "A little while ago, I told the actor M that I was thinking of writing her autobiography," begins the book. "She liked the idea. "Much later in the book, M is unhappy, telling the writer: "I don't like the way you portray me… Actually, it's hurtful." But is this whole set-up pure fiction, or did an exchange like this really take place between Cusk and Portman?

Both women live in Paris and their paths have crossed. Portman has twice selected Cusk's novels for her book club, interviewed the writer and stated she is "forever in awe of Rachel Cusk and the way she disrupts form and the conventions of storytelling". However, a source told Vanity Fair that they've never had "much of a relationship at all."

A 'literary assassination' of Portman

In an interview with the New York Times, Cusk was coy about her inspiration for M, stating that whether the book is based on a real person "is not really the point."

However, some parallels between M and Portman appear undeniable. Cusk's character found fame as a child actress in a movie with an older male co-star that "immediately brought her childhood to an end," and which sounds a lot like Portman’s breakout film 1994’s Léon: The Professional. M is also the face of a major brand, appearing in ads" wreathed in the pink flowers of spring," – Portman is the face of Miss Dior fragrance.

Then there are M's film roles, which include a troubled prima ballerina and a school shooting survivor who becomes a pop star – strikingly similar to characters Portman played in Black Swan and Vox Lux.

Portman herself has kept quiet over the drama, but Vanity Fair suggested disquiet in her camp, reporting: "Her friends are pretty enraged as the depiction of M has so little resemblance to Natalie outside of the résumé."

The Telegraph called the book "a literary assassination" of Portman. It's true that the character of M is not a sympathetic one. Though charming on the surface, she's also condescending, detached and obsessed with appearance. When she encounters a sales assistant who looks a lot like her facially but whose body is larger, M spends the rest of the day thinking about "the full hips and the pair of sturdy legs that would have altered her destiny."

Mostly, she's unaware that her attempts to stay connected to the real world are totally futile.

Yet, as alluded to right from the start, what we know of M is completely made up by the novel's narrator. By assuming the character is a reflection of Portman we are projecting our own narrative on to the book and the actress herself. We are told M likes to construct her own reality – but is Cusk suggesting that we also do the same?

The queen of autofiction

A new Rachel Cusk book igniting conversation – and controversy – shouldn't be a huge surprise. The British author, who published her first book in 1993 and has gone on to write 15 more, has long been a provocative literary figure.

Cusk's memoirs have been especially divisive. In 2001's A Life's Work she gave a brutally honest account of the suffocating nature of early motherhood, describing it as a "sort of compound fenced off from the rest of the world" and likening herself to an inmate trapped in a cell. At the time the book caused uproar, but now feels like it paved the way for other women to write more openly about motherhood.

Life of M is also not the first time that Cusk has caused a stir for how she depicts supposedly real-life characters. Her publisher was forced to pulp the initial print run of her 2009 memoir The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy after a man she'd met on holiday recognised himself in the book – and sued over the unflattering portrait.

After more backlash to her 2012 divorce memoir Aftermath (a review in The Sunday Times called Cusk "a peerless narcissist"), Cusk told the Guardian she'd had a "creative death". She was no longer interested in writing traditional memoir ("I could not do it without being misunderstood and making people angry") but she also found fiction "fake and embarrassing."

Instead she embraced autofiction, a genre that blurs the boundaries between the two. In doing so, she produced her most acclaimed work to date, The Outline Trilogy. The books – Outline, Transit and Kudos – feature a writer called Faye who closely resembles Cusk, and who engages in long conversations with people she encounters.

And yet, even then, Cusk still ruffled some feathers. The Scottish author Damian Barr, who met Cusk at a literary festival and later recognised a version of the encounter in Transit, described her fictional veil as "thinner than a thin thing."

Is the book actually any good?

If you pick up Life of M expecting a juicy Hollywood tell-all packaged up as a literary novel then expect to be disappointed. Despite all the headlines, the Portman parallels may actually be something of a distraction. Life of M is less about a celebrity, than the whole concept of celebrity, with M a mere avatar for this.

Cusk's works are increasingly concerned with the nature of identity, and a character who spends her life playing roles gives her the ideal vehicle to explore ideas about authenticity. She's sharp on how we perform for each other, even our closest friends, writing: "We wish that we could see them as a hidden camera would see them, alone at home, when they thought themselves unobserved."

Life of M is a slim novel – just 183 pages – with Cusk's spare prose making it feel even more slight. Cusk likes to play with form, and the book shifts between three perspectives. Besides the "I" of the narrator, there are a series of third-person observations about M (presumably scenes from the narrator's own book). More mysteriously, some interludes are narrated by an unidentified "we" – Cusk's attempt to express through fiction her belief that character no longer exists and individuality has been replaced by a collective, homogenised human experience.

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Cusk's experimentation can be exhilarating, but comes at the cost of coherence, and her emotional detachment sometimes makes the novel feel as cold and empty as the curated spaces M occupies. Reviews have been tepid. The New York Times described the novel as "chilly and abstract", while The New Yorker said it was her "weakest novel yet". The Guardian, a little more generously, called it "a book to admire enormously, but not one to love."

The novel's ending, which throws everything before it into question, is particularly polarising. Cusk has already come out on the defensive, saying: "To me, the book, it's a daring book, it's a strange book, and it isn't a scandal or a subject for gossip."

She's right on the first point – Life of M is a deliberately defiant, weird and uncompromising novel that will, once again, inspire furious debate. The many column inches it has already racked up suggests it's too late to stop the excited chatter over its inspiration.

Life of M is published by Faber in the UK and Macmillan in the US.

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Natalie Imbruglia on her worst audition: 'I remember feeling icky'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c87vpg1yvxzo, yesterday

When it comes to writing music, Natalie Imbruglia needs constant motion.

"I walk around in circles to get the melodies, to catch them," the Australian singer says.

"If I'm sat in a chair, I get nothing.

"So if I go and work with someone new and they have a shoebox-sized studio, I'm like, 'How am I going to do my circles?'"

Imbruglia doesn't know exactly how many laps she completed during the making of her dancefloor-ready seventh album, Algorithm. But it was a lot.

Inspired by Talking Heads and Grace Jones, it's a record whose shimmering surfaces disguise lyrics of deep emotional complexity.

On Who Dimmed The Lights, the 51-year-old addresses how her mental health "unravelled" as she went through perimenopause.

"It was really tough," she says. "Perimenopause is not just about hormones. It's to do with your mind. Your brain needs oestrogen to function, so when the levels fluctuate, it affects your spatial awareness.

"I've never walked into so many doorways. The brain fog's quite jarring."

Doorways weren't the only problem. Imbruglia says perimenopause exacerbated her ADHD, which she was diagnosed with in midlife. Other symptoms included heightened anxiety and anger.

"You start seeing an expression on other people of, like, 'What's happening to you?'

"I was seeing that face a lot, and it's to do with your ability to process [information]. Your fuse is shorter."

Things came to a head on tour, where her stage fright went into overdrive and she suffered "just terrible, terrible anxiety".

"I become sensitive to sound, so it feels like you're screaming at me if you're talking normally," she says. "I can't process questions very well. I act twitchy and weird, and it seemed to get worse with perimenopause."

She says her behaviour became a "nightmare" for her team. Pressed for an example, she explains: "If you asked me whether I wanted still or sparkling water, I'd say, 'That's a question, and I can't answer questions right now'.

"How diva is that?"

Well, it's not exactly Mariah Carey demanding baskets of puppies and forbidding eye contact, but Imbruglia was shaken up.

The day after one concert, she told her co-writers David Sneddon and Anu Pillai, "Guys, I think I'm going to have to quit my job because I can't cope with how I'm treating people before the show."

They helped to talk her down, putting her fight-or-flight instincts into context.

"What they helped me realise is that I was trying to stop the behaviour with willpower, and if I just relaxed into it and said to myself, 'You know, you're about to perform in front of a lot of people, it's natural that you're nervous', maybe I wouldn't be resisting it as much."

The impromptu therapy session inspired a new song, Upside Down - but Imbruglia is understandably frustrated that perimenopause isn't more widely understood, saying many women are rejected by their GP when they seek HRT treatment.

"My mum never talked to me about it," she reflects, "but looking back, I know she had a really bad one.

"Her anxiety was off the charts, too, and I have a lot more compassion now, because she had four kids. I've only got one."

As a child in Sydney, Imbruglia was drawn to performing. She'd squeeze lemon on her hair to make it blonder, and put on concerts of Whitney Houston covers for her neighbours.

Before long, she was cast in commercials for Coca-Cola and Twisties, and spent her Christmases singing carols in shopping centres.

"But when you turn 15 or 16, and you're into boys, you're like, 'Oh, that's really naff. I don't want to be doing that any more'," she laughs.

From that point onwards, Imbruglia became "basically unparentable".

"I was sneaking out and sleeping in someone's car on the beach, then getting busted.

"My parents were really strict - and my mum would turn up at parties with my picture, going, 'Have you seen this girl?'

"Socially, it was a disaster."

Music continued to be her solace. Dating a drummer, she switched allegiance from Whitney Houston to Tom Waits and Tori Amos, but the urge to sing remained.

You can see that hunger in a recently rediscovered photograph of a pre-fame Imbruglia, pressed up against the barriers of an INXS concert in 1992.

"It was my first ever concert," she says. "I was 15. I had white, tight jeans on."

In the photo, "everyone else is screaming but I'm looking at (Michael Hutchence) with this determination in my eyes.

"I'm studying him, like, 'How can I be up there too?'"

She got her chance in 1997 after quitting her role as builder's apprentice Beth Brennan in Aussie soap Neighbours.

Moving to London, she signed a deal with RCA Records and immediately scored an international hit with her first single, Torn.

Famously, the song was a cover – a fact journalists never let her forget, even though she co-wrote every other track on her debut album, Left of the Middle (lifetime sales, seven million copies).

"Yeah, I got famous on a song that I didn't write," she says now, "but there's more to what you bring to a song than whether you wrote the lyrics."

She still loves the song – "Torn was a beautiful gift" – but the furore around it fuelled her insecurities.

As a result, she essentially self-sabotaged her career. The lead single from her second album, That Day, was a free-verse stream-of-consciousness that sounded like a manic inner monologue.

"That was my rebellion against Torn," she says. "It doesn't have a chorus.

"That was my way of going, 'Can I get on with my life now? I've just started learning the craft of songwriting, I'm young, I didn't ask for this'."

In the midst of the madness, she auditioned for the lead role of Satine in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge – which counts as one of the stranger experiences of her career.

"The audition was, pretty much, 'Have an orgasm'," she grimaces. "Because I think that happens in the movie." (Indeed, Satine delivers a breathy boudoir monologue as she tries to seduce Ewan McGregor's character, Christian.)

But Imbruglia stresses it wasn't a creepy casting couch situation.

"It's Baz, that doesn't really fit," she says of the soft-hearted director.

"But I remember leaving and feeling really icky. Like, 'Ohhh, that was awful. Where's my mummy?'"

Back in the world of music, Imbruglia returned to more commercial sounds on hits like Wrong Impression (2002) and Shiver (2005). But sales dwindled and her fourth album was shelved by her label.

In the years that followed, she joined the Australian version of The X Factor and appeared in a UK production of Alan Ayckbourn's play Things We Do for Love, before making a tentative return to music with covers album Male (2015); and the more personal, introspective Firebird (2021).

"It was quitting music and coming back to it that gave me an appreciation of my abilities," she says.

"I might not be the best songwriter, even now, but there's only one me, and when I go inside myself and feel the emotion of what I'm writing about and deliver it, that's what my fans resonate with, and that's enough."

She certainly has a lot to say on Algorithm. As well as the frank discussion of mental health, the title track talks about her flirtation with internet conspiracy theories.

She won't say which ones ("I think it's irresponsible") but stresses the danger is omnipresent.

"There's a voice in my head that says, 'You don't want to click on that', and I'll click on it. It's like this compulsion.

"You have to change the settings. Don't allow yourself to be in a situation where your stress relief is scrolling on a phone in bed. It's just not healthy."

Ultimately, however, the album ends on a note of positivity.

Beautiful Love, co-written with Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, is a soaring hymn to embracing your flaws and making peace with life's highs and lows.

"I've always made the joke that I'll never be a Buddhist because it's a middle path," she smiles.

"I like the pendulum to swing. Whether it's extreme joy or extreme pain, I like to feel the experience of life."

'The tactics of a master mischief-maker': The hidden history of a controversial $6m banana

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260903-the-hidden-history-of-the-controversial-six-million-dollar-banana, 3 days ago

By sticking a banana to a wall with silver duct tape and calling it art, Maurizio Cattelan created one of the greatest cultural controversies of recent times. But the story behind Comedian reveals centuries of notoriety and shock tactics in art.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Bay and Travis Scott were among the celebrities at the VIP opening of Art Basel Miami Beach on 4 December 2019, the day that Comedian made its first appearance.

Big price tags surrounded everyone at the glamorous art fair that morning. A Helen Frankenthaler painting was sold for around $1.65m ($2.16m or £2.14m today), and a Willem de Kooning was available to anyone with a spare $8m ($10.5m or £7.8m today). But for Sarah Cascone, a reporter for Artnet News, the key attraction was Maurizio Cattelan's latest artwork: a banana stuck to the wall with duct tape.

Later in the day, Cascone wrote the first substantial news story on it, informing readers that two editions of the fruit-based artwork had sold for $120,000 each. Within a few days the third and final edition was bought for $150,000. Each buyer received a certificate of authenticity and instructions on how to display it, including the need to replace the banana regularly.

Throughout the duration of Art Basel Miami Beach, hundreds of other visitors photographed the artwork and posted their reactions online. Within just a few days of its unveiling, Comedian had become a viral sensation, attracting scorn, amazement, laughter and a new subcategory of copycat meme involving duct tape and bananas. In the mainstream press, as well as blogs and YouTube videos, people battled over its aesthetic and intellectual value: those who most hated Comedian loved writing about it the most.

If it was Cattelan's intention to attract attention to himself, Comedian was a blistering success. Few other works of contemporary art have done what Comedian achieved in just a few hours: gaining fame beyond the art world citadel and becoming globally recognisable. Its renown helped bump up its market value even more. In 2024, the second of the three editions of Comedian was resold at auction for $6.24m (£4.88m). This once again triggered opinion writers, who raged at the wasteful sums of money now being thrown at Cattelan's artwork.

Yet the irony about Comedian is that everything that shocked people about it had been done before. And when you unpeel the artwork, it reveals the hidden tactics of a master mischief-maker and a dedicated student of the dark arts of notoriety.

A 400-year-old tradition of satire

One of his strategies is provocation. Cattelan clearly realised long ago that in the competitive creative industries, just being skilled or intelligent doesn't guarantee success. But sparking controversy attracts attention, which means a bigger audience and more potential commissions.

Art history proves the point. More than 400 years ago, Caravaggio split the opinions of his contemporaries with the groundbreaking levels of violence, sexual tension and darkness of his religious paintings, factors that brought him to international prominence. The artists of the 19th Century who are nowadays most valorised, such as JMW Turner, John Constable, Manet, Monet, Gauguin, Whistler and Cézanne, had pioneered new approaches to art-making, which reaped public ridicule from critics. As a result, by the dawn of the 20th Century, artistic innovation and mainstream scorn were increasingly seen as two sides of the same coin.

Some modern artists (as well as musicians, authors and film directors) saw popular disapproval as the necessary partner of authentic experimentation. Others mistook critical unpopularity as a hallmark of genius, not realising it can also be the red flag of talentlessness. Both recognised its unsurpassed power for self-promotion. And learning from this, Maurizio Cattelan has always leaned heavily into his role as art-world provocateur, doing what he can to irritate and provoke.

But Cattelan's brand of controversy is different to his forebears because it isn't about artistic process or theory. His most notorious artworks, like 1999's La Nona Ora (a figure of Pope John Paul II struck by a meteorite) and Him from 2001 (a praying schoolboy with the face of Adolf Hitler) are based on internationally familiar subjects, the kind of things that people who don't usually frequent art exhibitions will recognise instantly.

There's nothing elitist or difficult to understand about either of them. They leverage humour as well, using irony to "punch upwards", and ask questions about powerful individuals with humour. And in doing so, Cattelan follows in an art historical tradition of satire, following pioneers like James Gillray (1756-1815) and Honoré Daumier (1808-1878), both of whom targeted universally identifiable institutions to question and lampoon their power.

In A Perfect Day (1999), the institution in Cattelan's crosshairs was the art market itself. In lieu of placing an artwork on the wall, Cattelan instead stuck his Milan art dealer, Massimo De Carlo to it with duct tape. The seller became the spectacle. Comedian, which was unveiled almost exactly 20 years later, used identical silver tape. This choice signalled to anyone who had followed his career that like A Perfect Day, Comedian's aim was to mock the values of art-world events like Art Basel Miami Beach, in the spirit of a standup comic making a snarky, industry-targeted one-liner.

'The shock of the old'

So, why a banana? As well as having a euphemistic shape, and being a familiar prop in slapstick comedy, many artists before Cattelan, including Giorgio de Chirico, Andy Warhol and Guerrilla Girls have depicted bananas in their work. It's a disarmingly familiar object, on many levels. And the very notion of depicting a foodstuff as a work of art is in itself also a comforting proposition. It has its own venerable history in the form of the still life, which has been an established, if lowly, genre of art since the 1500s.

Traditionally, these types of artworks, like Jacopo de' Barbari's Still-Life with Partridge and Gauntlets (1501) (which is among the earliest post-Classical still-life paintings) were supposed to make viewers think about the brief life span of natural life, and how art can make it endure beyond death. De' Barbari's and Cattelan's artworks, although made more than 500 years apart, reveal two essentially identical gestures: objects stuck on a wall for a viewer's contemplation. Cattelan's tactic here is the shock of the old.

The only difference is that Comedian displays an actual banana (which can and does rot over the course of around seven days) rather than an artistic representation. But here again, tradition preceded Cattelan. The idea of using a "readymade" (objects from the real world, not crafted by an artist, but platformed as "art") was more than 100 years old by the time of Comedian.

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• Why there is more to Banksy than meets the eye

• The brutal truth revealed by the Bayeux Tapestry

• The pain and passion in a Frida Kahlo masterpiece

The most renowned pioneer of this method was Marcel Duchamp, who had displayed everyday objects like bottle racks, bicycle wheels and a urinal as art objects back in 1910s. But even Duchamp's aim to question the fundamental principles of "art" as a category – radical though his presentation of the argument was in the early 20th Century – was also a well-trodden debate, originating in ancient Greek philosophy, most famously by Plato (c 428–347 BC). If anything, resorting to a readymade is a rather quaint gesture from Cattelan, and well within the guardrails of art historical tradition.

Comedian was always calculated to cause a stir. By the age of 61, wily Maurizio had become a fully adept provocateur who could generate debate and astonishment from a banana, a wall and a duct tape. But beneath the surface are other essential ingredients – controversy, satire, recognisability factor, the still-life tradition and the "readymade". And while some people might be outraged by its price tag, it wasn't the most expensive artwork sold at Miami Beach in 2019, nor is it the most expensive readymade ever sold at auction. The radical truth about Comedian is that there's nothing truly radical about it at all.

NIGHT is a new exhibition of Cattelan's work that opens at Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie on 10 September 2026.

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Oscar contender Wild Horse Nine is a fierce attack on the CIA - and may divide US viewers

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260903-oscar-contender-wild-horse-nine-is-a-fierce-attack-on-the-cia-and-may-divide-us-viewers, 3 days ago

The new film by Irish director Martin McDonagh stars John Malkovich as a 1970s agent wrestling with his conscience and in danger of spilling secrets. It's a spy yarn with real bite.

Martin McDonagh loves to make films about two men of different ages swearing at each other in scenic locations. The Irish writer-director's filmography includes a cult gangster comedy, 2008's In Bruges, and his 2022 hit, The Banshees of Inisherin, which was nominated for nine Oscars. And the latest example of this particular sub-genre is Wild Horse Nine, a farcical 1970s spy yarn starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as a pair of CIA loose cannons with loud mouths and even louder shirts.

It could be a case of, why change an Oscar-winning formula – or Oscar-nominated formula – anyway? But Wild Horse Nine has its surprises – the main one being that beneath the meandering plot and eccentric, foul-mouthed dialogue, there lurks a lacerating critique of US foreign policy. "It's definitely my most political thing," McDonagh said in Empire magazine. "I haven't expressed a political opinion, really, in my films, and this one's pretty out there."

What to expect from the film

Malkovich and Rockwell (who won an Oscar for his role in another McDonagh film, 2017's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) play Chris and Lee, two agents stationed in Santiago, Chile in 1973. They have spent their careers cheerfully destabilising foreign governments and assassinating anyone deemed too left-wing by their bosses, and they're currently plotting a coup against Chile's newly elected president, Salvador Allende. But now that Chris is close to retirement, he is having doubts about the murders he has committed, supposedly in the name of the greater good.

Chris and Lee go for a short holiday in the film's scenic location, Easter Island, the Pacific home of the monumental Moai statues. But Chris has soon had enough of sightseeing. He's more interested in working on a memoir, so he can make sense of the coups he's facilitated before old age, illness and morphine addle his memory completely. He's even started telling strangers about his classified work, including two Chilean students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas). Naturally, his bureau chief in Santiago, MJ (Steve Buscemi), isn't too pleased. Worried about the secrets that Chris might be about to spill, MJ informs Lee that his friend and partner shouldn't leave Easter Island alive.

This being a McDonagh film, there are some wonderfully rambling conversations about the relationship between democracy and cheese, and there is a heart-wrenchingly compassionate study of male friendship. After years of playing forgettable parts, Malkovich at last has a role that's worthy of him – one that uses his signature disconcerting strangeness, but allows him to be tremendously vulnerable, too. It's no wonder that he is already being talked about as a contender for next year's Oscar for best actor.

Hollywood's depiction of the CIA

Again, none of this is unusual for McDonagh. What's different about Wild Horse Nine is its frank condemnation of the CIA's interference in democracies around the world. Hollywood has had an up-and-down relationship with the CIA, sometimes portraying it as heroic (eg the Jack Ryan franchise) and sometimes not so much (Three Days of the Condor). Malkovich himself co-starred in 1993 Clint Eastwood film In the Line of Fire as a former CIA man who plots to assassinate the president, and in the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading (2008) he was another CIA veteran who is planning to publish a memoir.

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But few films are as disapproving of the Agency as Wild Horse Nine. Unlike some spy thrillers, it isn't about shadowy rogue operatives or byzantine conspiracies that can be exposed and dismantled. McDonagh's thesis is that CIA operatives do their job efficiently and happily – it's just that their job is horrifically unjust.

The question in Wild Horse Nine is whether Chris is willing to atone for his actions. The question for McDonagh is whether the film's stark message will please or annoy US viewers – and Oscar voters.

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The Grand Tour's new presenters: 'I hope we prove the critics wrong'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9865dyrjrwo, yesterday

For more than two decades, Top Gear and The Grand Tour were defined as much by the three men presenting them as by the cars they drove.

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May built one of television's most recognisable partnerships, meaning anyone taking over The Grand Tour was always going to face a daunting task.

Now YouTubers James Engelsman and Thomas Holland and, perhaps most unexpectedly, train enthusiast-turned-internet star Francis Bourgeois are stepping into their shoes for the new series.

And, with initial reviews generally mixed, they knew they had some convincing to do.

"They literally changed the car world," Holland says of the previous trio.

He understands why some fans have questions about whether the show should continue with anyone else.

"They're completely justified to feel that, because they did the same thing that we did - which is grow up watching Clarkson, Hammond and May.

"The show was a very important part of our lives as car enthusiasts."

'We've done our best'

Engelsman says they themselves initially had many of the same doubts that viewers will have.

"We've had all the same reactions that the audience has had to every part of this process like, 'Who would do that? What an idiot.'

"We've been through it all and we're just lucky enough to have come out the other side and realised, 'OK, this is actually all stuff that could work.'"

"Now we've filmed it, I'm just excited to show the world," Bourgeois says. "We've done our absolute best and the critics will be critics and I hope that we will prove them wrong."

Holland adds that he hopes people will give the show a chance before judging.

"Have a watch and if you don't like it, you're well within your rights, I can't force anyone to like anything."

For a show built around the chemistry of its three former presenters, finding a replacement trio with such chemistry was always going to be as important as finding people who knew about cars.

Engelsman and Holland are an already established double act as the presenters of Throttle House, a motoring YouTube channel with more than three million subscribers.

The bigger unknown was who would become their third presenter.

That search eventually led the show's producers to Francis Bourgeois, a social media star better known for standing on railway platforms than behind the wheel of a supercar.

Engelsman says he and Holland had done chemistry testing with a number of people, but Bourgeois immediately felt different.

"As soon as Francis showed up, we were like: 'That guy'," Holland says.

Bourgeois remembers their first meeting taking place on a leather sofa in a hotel outside Basingstoke, where they mostly talked about what cars they owned.

By the time filming began, Holland says there was no need to consciously work out how to make the three-person dynamic function as "it just worked and clicked immediately".

While the chemistry came quickly, actually finding out they had the job was much less straightforward. Engelsman says there was "no immediate moment" when they were formally told they had been chosen.

"It was the most gradual thing," he says.

He and Holland initially thought they were simply part of a wider audition process, but then found themselves repeatedly being invited into writers' rooms and asked for their views on ideas for the show.

For Bourgeois, that uncertainty may have been helpful as he admits he'd "just fall apart and start crying" if he'd found out about the job.

There is a clear generational shift with the new presenters, all three of whom built their profiles on social media - and critics have been mixed on how successfully that translates to The Grand Tour.

The Independent's three-star review described the reboot as "all rather safe" and said the presenters feel "stilted".

The Guardian's review agreed and called the trio a "decent, if slightly anonymous, presence" who seem "quite meek and pleasant, and without any obvious dynamic".

But it did praise Bourgeois, with Stuart Heritage calling him "the most enthusiastic enthusiast currently working on planet Earth".

The FT also awarded the show three-stars and said that while the big budget spectacles are enjoyable to watch, they also feel "a little muted".

It added that "the real question is whether a series that has been driven by big personalities like Clarkson, May and Hammond can survive with a new team".

Hammond tells BBC News he tuned in for The Grand Tour's return and said it was great to see the new team getting going.

"That's the most important thing for them is to make their show. We made our show and we're really good at being us. They're going to be really good at being them," he says.

Hammond says the audience need to "give them the chance" to show that.

Bourgeois may be best known for his ecstatic trainspotting videos but he says his love of cars goes back just as far.

Growing up near Willesden Junction in London, there were plenty of trains to watch, but he was also fascinated by the cars outside his home.

"There was a particular Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4 that was outside my parents' flat window and I just loved it," he tells me. "I suppose with my social media, I'm just showing one of my passions and I have really wanted to let out that car enthusiasm too.

"It's nice that these two sides of my very strong passions are in harmony together and it's been a real pleasure to drive some of the cars on The Grand Tour."

His enthusiasm for transport more generally has already rubbed off on his co-presenters who say they've become "very educated by Francis on many things during long walks and long drives".

Meeting Clarkson

Bourgeois is even lobbying for The Grand Tour to devote an episode to another of his interests: power stations. And he has found a surprisingly receptive audience in Clarkson.

When the new trio met their predecessors, Bourgeois says seeing Clarkson in person gave him "a flutter in my tummy" and the pair bonded, inevitably, over trains, before moving on to power stations, and a lengthy discussion about cheeseburgers.

Engelsman says all three former presenters were supportive of their successors and "were very paternal and caring about it".

"They all seemed quite excited for there to be a new iteration," Engelsman says, adding that Clarkson even told them: "We'll look after you".

Russell Howard 'devastated' after his baby son died shortly after birth

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg491g7rnqqo, 3 days ago

This story contains content which some readers might find distressing

Comedian Russell Howard has revealed his baby son Felix died earlier this year, shortly after his wife Cerys had given birth.

In a statement, he said he and his wife had faced "unimaginable heartache" and described it as "the most devastating time of our lives".

Howard praised the "extraordinary compassion, kindness and humanity" of the hospital staff who cared for them over the period that followed Felix's death.

He also announced the launch of a new foundation in their late son's name to help families going through similar ordeals, with a comedy fundraiser set to take place next year.

In a statement posted on his social media accounts on Friday, Howard recalled: "During our time in hospital, Felix was placed in a cool cot, which meant that my wife and I were able to spend precious hours with our beautiful boy.

"We could hold him, talk to him and tell him how much we loved him. Those hours are among the most precious memories we have of Felix."

Howard and his wife had not publicly announced at the time that they were expecting their second child.

* If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, help and support is available at BBC Action Line.

He explained he and his wife had been assigned a bereavement midwife named Lauren, who had experienced a similar tragedy and retrained in order to help other families.

"Her care meant more to us than we could ever put into words," Howard said.

"We were overwhelmed by the care we received, and we made a promise to each other: that we would try to help other families who find themselves facing the same devastating circumstances."

As a result, Howard said he and Cerys were launching The Felix Foundation, which will aim to help families affected by miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth, neonatal death or related bereavement.

A fundraising event, titled the Stand-Up Gala, will take place at London's O2 Arena in February to raise money for the charity,

Michael McIntyre, Jimmy Carr, Aisling Bea, John Bishop and Mo Gilligan are among the comics who will perform at the event.

Howard said he would "never forget the generosity" of his fellow comics, who were giving their time to the show "completely free of charge".

The 46-year-old is one of the best known stand-up comics in the UK, having appeared on shows such as Mock The Week and Russell Howard's Good News.

The comedian and his wife Cerys, an NHS doctor, have been together since 2004 and share another son, who was born in August 2024.

Howard recently played a string of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, and is currently on a stand-up tour of the UK.

Man About the House star Richard O'Sullivan dies aged 82

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8eg2nnxz0o, 3 days ago

Actor Richard O'Sullivan, whose roles included Robin Tripp in 1970s TV sitcoms Man About the House and Robin's Nest, has died aged 82.

He was also known for starring in Doctor at Large, Dick Turpin, and the 1980s sitcom Me and My Girl, alongside Tim Brooke-Taylor, Joanne Ridley and Joan Sanderson.

O'Sullivan died surrounded by close family at Brinsworth House, the Royal Variety Charity's care home, in west London where he had lived for 23 years.

In a statement, Giles Cooper of the Royal Variety Charity said: "Richard O'Sullivan was a master of effortless charm and impeccable comic timing, bringing pure warmth, wit, and unforgettable joy to millions of living rooms as a true giant of British television."

Cooper added O'Sullivan would be "sorely missed by us all at the Royal Variety Charity".

The actor's son James O'Sullivan said in his own statement: "My dad was as funny and charming in real life as he appeared on our TV screens over the years.

"Although much of his career happened before I was born, I was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy and witness his incredible talents on the countless re-runs of his shows that made him the respected and loved actor that he was."

He thanked the staff at Brinsworth House for their "love, kindness and care".

Man About the House co-starred Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy in six series on ITV.

It was about a man sharing a London flat with two single women - quite a daring storyline for that era.

In Me and My Girl, he played a widow living with his adolescent daughter.

Born in London in 1944, O'Sullivan started his career as a child actor in the 50s and 60s, playing uncredited roles in dramas in 1953.

He went on to appear in the Children's Film Foundation's first serial production Raiders of the River, and in 1956 he was in Sir Peter Hall's production of Love's Labour's Lost at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford.

He also appeared in 1961 film Spare the Rod, a social commentary drama about a teacher working in a tough, deprived area, starring Max Bygraves and Donald Pleasance. O'Sullivan played a difficult and defiant student in his final year.

After gaining steady work in dramatic roles, including 1963's Cleopatra, as Pharoah Ptolemy XIII, which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, he moved towards comedy, in shows such as The Ronnie Barker Playhouse, in 1968, and The Galton and Simpson Comedy the following year.

O'Sullivan was also in two films with Sir Cliff Richard in the 1960s – The Young Ones in 1961 and Wonderful Life in 1964.

By 1973, he took his starring role in Man About the House, which was a big success, not least because of its daring plot about a man living with two single women.

"The issue was not the living arrangement itself, but what it implied," British Comedy Classics said of the series.

"A man sharing a flat with two unmarried women would be read as sexual, and that risked the show being rejected or framed as inappropriate for prime-time viewing."

In order to bypass any potential disapproval from their landlords, George and Mildred Roper, who also got their own spin-off TV series, the two women claim their flatmate Robin is gay.

Robin keeps up the pretence for their landlords, which created the comedy and made it acceptable watching for a pre-watershed 70s audience.

Between 1979 and 1982 he took on the more dramatic titlular role of 18th Century highwayman Dick Turpin, in ITV's series.

But by the 80s he returned to sitcoms with Me and My Girl, which ran from 1984 to 1988, and Trouble in Mind in 1991, about a married psychiatrist who is having something of a mid-life crisis.

After this his career became much quieter, with an appearance in Noel's House Party and a starring role in a 1996 film called Holed, about a golfing match.

In his statement, James O'Sullivan concluded: "Always kind-spirited, good humoured, a doting grandfather and a wonderful dad – I will miss him dearly."

Weekly quiz: What has been named TikTok's song of the summer in the UK?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4v2d2q4w5o, 3 days ago

This week, Andy Burnham had his first Prime Minister's Questions, Iceland voted against restarting talks on joining the European Union, and Victoria Beckham's fashion and beauty business made its first operating profit since it was founded in 2008.

But how much attention did you pay to what else happened in the world over the past seven days?

Quiz collated by Grace Dean.

Fancy some more? Try last week's quiz, or have a go at something from the archives.

The Gentlemen to Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story: Nine of the best TV shows to watch this September

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260824-nine-of-the-best-tv-shows-to-watch-this-september, 13 days ago

From the return of hit Netflix crime drama The Gentlemen to a miniseries about the infamous Lizzie Borden murder case – these are the best series to watch and stream.

1. The Gentlemen

There is never too much crime in Guy Ritchie's universe, including the second season of this popular series inspired by his 2019 film of the same name. Theo James returns as Eddie, the dashing Duke of Halstead, whose inheritance included a title, an expansive estate, and the marijuana farm on its grounds. Bridgerton was never like this. Eddie is now all in on that criminal enterprise run by Susie (Kaya Scodelario) and her father, Bobby (Ray Winstone). Daniel Ings returns as Eddie's shambolic brother, Freddy, with Joely Richardson as their mother, Lady Sabrina, and Giancarlo Esposito as a US drug dealer, Stanley Johnson. As Bobby's empire expands, the setting moves from the UK to Italy, where Sergio Castellitto plays an Italian crime boss. Hugh Bonneville joins the cast as a character called Lord Hawthorne, who is likely a lot shadier than Bonneville's Lord Grantham from Downton Abbey.

The Gentlemen premieres 3 September on Netflix internationally

2. Last Seen

Patrick Brammall stars in two very different shows this month. Far from the comedy of Colin from Accounts (coming up below), he is in the midst of drama and suspense in this thriller set and shot in Victoria, Australia. Brammall is intense as Ian Ridley, a police dispatcher and former detective whose three-year-old daughter was kidnapped 11 years before. No trace of her was found, and since then Ian's marriage has crumbled and he has spiralled into alcoholism. When he takes an emergency call from a young woman he believes is his daughter, he becomes determined to find her even if no one else believes him. Maxine Peake also stars, and is touching in her role, as we follow where the clues lead Ian and how that will impact his already troubled life.

Last Seen premieres 9 September on Apple TV internationally

3. Colin From Accounts

This third season will be the last for the Sydney-set romantic comedy that started when brewery owner Gordon and medical student Ashley – Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, the real-life couple who created and wrote the series – found themselves co-parenting a dog they named Colin From Accounts. The previous season ended with Ashley balking at Gordon's marriage proposal, humiliatingly offered in public at a friend's wedding, and the new story picks up three years later when they accidentally run into each other one more time. The will-they or won't-they picks up again, but it can't last forever. "We don't want to flog a dead horse," Brammall told the Guardian about their creative decision to end the series. In that joint interview Dyer jumped in with the kind of dry comic line that could have come straight from the show. "It is not that the horse is dead yet – we don't even want to find it is having trouble breathing," she said.

Colin From Accounts premieres 10 September on Paramount+ in the US and will premiere on BBC iPlayer in the UK later this year

4. Agatha Christie's Tommy & Tuppence

Can an Agatha Christie mystery survive a transplant from her usual country estates and vicarages in the 1920s and 30s? The answer is a solid yes in this deft contemporary version of her stories and novels featuring the detecting pair of Tommy and Tuppence. This version of Tommy (Josh Dylan) is a mystery writer who runs into Tuppence (Antonia Thomas), his ex from university, at a friend's wedding. Of course, there is a murder, and when they team up to investigate a new detective firm is born. But their mutual attraction is a problem because Tuppence is married and Tommy is soon flirting with a helpful, pretty detective (Callie Cooke). Imelda Staunton plays Tommy's Aunt Ada, who in wry voiceover narrates the story. Christie's five Tommy and Tuppence books saw the characters grow and age from 1922 to 1973. Why not let them leap into the 21st Century?

Agatha Christie's Tommy & Tuppence premieres 15 September on Britbox in the US

5. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story

This fourth instalment of Ryan Murphy's Monster anthology, with its creepy look at human evil and violence, is about one of US culture's most iconic killers, the person who inspired a familiar rhyme starting, "Lizzie Borden took an axe / And gave her mother forty whacks." Ella Beatty (daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening) is seen in Netflix's publicity photos with a blood-splattered face as Lizzie, accused but never convicted of the axe-murders of her father and stepmother in 1892. Vicky Krieps plays the Bordens' maid, with Billie Lourd as Lizzie's sister and Rebecca Hall and Charlie Hunnam (killer Ed Gein in the previous Monster instalment) as the ill-fated parents. Beatty has said, "This season gives us our first female monster and delves into female rage and repression." In that vein, the story detours into other real-life women murderers, with Sarah Paulson as Aileen Wuornos, who was played by Charlize Theron in the 2003 film also called – homage or coincidence? – Monster.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story premieres 17 September on Netflix internationally

6. Slow Horses

In the latest season of television's best spy series, someone is systematically killing off former MI5 agents who once worked out of Slough House, people that the endlessly smart, always slovenly Jackson Lamb – played with such shrewd wit by Gary Oldman – calls "my Joes". River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) suspects his paid-assassin father (Hugo Weaving), but there are plenty of possible villains. Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas), head of MI5, is under more pressure than ever. And because the team has been targeted, many of the Slow Horses have to go into hiding together. Guess how badly that turns out. The returning cast also includes Saskia Reeves as Catherine, Christopher Chung as Roddy, Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley and a surprise. The show's previous season wasn't its best, as it inadvertently made you wonder how the often-clueless Roddy ever managed to become a spy, computer genius or not. But it returns at full strength with all its drollness, action, and impeccable acting.

Slow Horses premieres 18 September on Apple TV internationally

7. Brothers

A real-life rumour, based on a teasing hint dropped by Matthew McConaughey's mother, has it that he and his friend Woody Harrelson are actually half-brothers from a brief encounter between Matthew's mother and Woody's father. The True Detective stars have taken that idea as the premise for this heavily fictionalised meta-comedy. They play versions of themselves, but actors take over the roles of the fictitious family members in the wacky story, which has Woody, his wife and two daughters arrive in Texas to visit Matthew, his wife and their three children. Holland Taylor plays Matthew's brash, hard-drinking mother, whom everyone calls Ma Mac and who drops her explosive hint to Woody. At times the story slyly alludes to reality, as it does when the fictional Matthew decides to run for governor of Texas: that speculation has swirled around the actual McConaughey, who so far has chosen not to run. In general the series mixes sitcom silliness from Woody with a dash of serious emotion from Matthew – very on brand for both of them.

Brothers premieres 23 September on Apple TV internationally

8. American Horror Story

There have already been a dozen instalments of Ryan Murphy's horror anthology, but because this is the 13th, it has special meaning for the superstitious and also for the casting. The show rounds up an all-star lineup of actors from previous seasons, playing a number of their old characters. Among the series' most iconic and high-profile returns, Jessica Lange plays all four of her prior characters and Sarah Paulson does six. Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett and Billie Lourd also come back in a story that promises to swirl around and make fans' heads spin. Murphy has said, "It's like The Avengers. They all come together to defeat the ultimate evil." A 14th season is already in the works, so whatever these horror-Avengers banish, it's obviously not one more Ryan Murphy show.

American Horror Story premieres 24 September on Hulu in the US and 25 September on Disney+ in the UK

9. A Different World

This dramedy is not a reboot but a sequel to the spin-off of The Cosby Show that ran from 1987 to 1993. The producers have obviously decided that enough time has passed for an update to escape the taint of Bill Cosby's sexual assault scandal, and in fact the spinoff quickly veered away from that show's Huxtable family. Like the original Different World, this features a group of students at the fictional Hillman College, now centred around Deborah Wayne (Maleah Joi Moon), the daughter of characters from the first series. Alum from the original, including Jasmine Guy and Jada Pinkett Smith, will make nostalgic guest appearances here. In its day, the old show was notable for drawing attention to HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) and for tackling issues like race, class and sex. Felicia Pride, the new series' showrunner, has said it was similarly important for her team to listen to young black people today, "what they need, what they are dealing with and what they are facing," while staying true to the themes of "love, family relationships, heart".

A Different World premieres 24 September on Netflix internationally

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Gloria Steinem on her trailblazing 1972 magazine 'for women in all their diversity'

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240322-gloria-steinem-trailblazing-magazine-for-women, 4 days ago

In 1972, pioneering feminist, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem – who has died at the age of 92 – co-founded Ms Magazine, putting conversations about gender equality, reproductive rights and social justice in the spotlight.

"The foundation of this magazine, and what makes it different from others, is that it simply considers that women are human beings – that doesn't sound very revolutionary but it is," Gloria Steinem – who has died at the age of 92 – told the BBC in 1973, as she explained why she had felt compelled to launch the groundbreaking feminist magazine Ms – the first magazine owned, run and written by women.

Sitting at a desk, surrounded by papers and in front of posters advocating women's rights, Steinem was at the time already one of the best-known feminists in the US.

Articulate, energetic and committed, she had carved out a name for herself in the 1960s and '70s through her journalism, which included going undercover at the New York Playboy Club to expose exploitative working conditions. She was also a passionate activist, having founded, along with Brenda Feigen and Dorothy Pitman-Hughes, the Women's Action Alliance in 1971 – a group to empower women to combat sexism in society.

As a journalist, she felt that even publications women wrote for did not reflect her own experiences or those of women she knew. Nor did they offer advice about how to deal with the sexism, barriers and harassment they contended with on a daily basis.

"It started in desperation, I think, because there was just a great many women writers and editors who didn't feel that they were working on magazines that they read and that they had the opportunity to really be honest about their own experiences in a magazine," she said.

At the time, while there were glossy publications on the newsstands nominally for women, the vast majority of them were concerned with tips on homemaking, parenting advice or features on fashion and beauty. None of those magazines seemed to Steinem to be articulating or addressing the struggles faced by women in a male-dominated society.

"It would have been much easier to not start one, but it was just clear that there was no other way we could be honest about women's experience," she told the BBC in 1973.

At first, she planned to produce a newsletter to raise money for the Women's Action Alliance, as she told BBC Witness History in 2022, mostly "as a way of getting out the sort of writing we cared about. And Florynce Kennedy, a wonderful lawyer, outrageous woman, said: 'Nobody reads newsletters. How about a magazine?'"

They considered several potential names, including Bimbo – rejected because they didn't think they had the luxury of irony – and Sojourner, in tribute to Sojourner Truth, the African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist, which they dismissed for fear it sounded too much like a travel magazine. Eventually Steinem and the other founders settled on the name Ms – a title for a woman, married or not.

The next problem was how to fund it. "We then started to try and raise money, which turned out to be impossible, everybody said: 'You're crazy and magazines don't make money'."

Steinem had helped found New York Magazine in 1968, and convinced its editor Clay Felker to fund the launch of Ms as a 40-page insert in the December 1971 issue.

"Really the only thing that enabled us to have a test issue to illustrate and thereby to demonstrate that women did really want this kind of magazine was that New York Magazine, which I had been a founder of before, gave us enough money to put out a test issue," she said.

The cover featured a picture of the Hindu goddess Kali, pregnant and using all eight of her arms to juggle a surfeit of chores – cooking, cleaning, typing, driving – and one arm holding a hand mirror to signify the pressure to look good while doing it all. The accompanying article "Click: The Housewife's Moment of Truth" by co-founder Jane O'Reilly detailed the moment of clarity that comes to women when they recognise biases within society.

It also featured a groundbreaking "We Have Had Abortions" petition which listed more than 50 prominent women, including Nora Ephron, Billie Jean King, Susan Sontag and Gloria Steinem herself, who signed their name to a public manifesto demanding the legalisation of abortion.

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That issue, with a print run of 300,000 copies, was dated "Spring 1972" so it would be able to stay on newsstands for months without looking out of date. It sold out in just eight days, generating 26,000 subscription orders.

"And that was put out nationwide, and it was enormously successful – and that in turn enabled us to raise money for the total magazine," said Steinem.

In 1972, Ms started regular circulation as a stand-alone magazine, the first in the US to be owned, run and written by women. Steinem would remain an editor and writer on it for the next 15 years.

Pivotal role

In the years that followed, Ms Magazine would play a pivotal role in bringing feminism into public discourse. Known for its bold covers, many of which featured Wonder Woman, a childhood hero of Steinem, it covered the myriad of issues that affected women's lives.

It featured the works of writers like Alice Walker, Doris Lessing, Maya Angelou and Angela Davis, providing a platform for women to share their experiences and opinions, and challenging narrowly defined expectations of how women should look, feel and act.

Its journalism would regularly tackle head-on subjects that were often ignored by other publications or seen as taboo by wider society – domestic violence, workplace discrimination, lesbianism, date rape and abortion.

The writing, frequently told with humour and from a personal perspective, reflected the diverse interests and concerns of women, fostering a sense of solidarity with readers across the country and prompting thousands of letters to flood in.

"The biggest testimony is the letters," Steinem told the BBC. "We get thousands of letters every week. Many more letters than big magazines like McCall's or the Ladies' Home Journal get. I marked a couple that seem kind of typical to me: 'I bought Ms and it was like an explosion. Suddenly I came fully to my senses. It was an awakening of the person within me. I finally realised there was not something wrong with me. I wasn't the only one who felt the way I did, that there is an answer.' And here's another one: 'My daughter, a junior in medical school, introduced me to Ms. It is difficult to express the sense of exhilaration upon finding in print the ideas that have been smouldering in my semi-rebellious soul for some 40 years. It is comforting to know I am not alone.'"

The magazine would however also face criticism. Conservative commentators railed against it, saying that it attacked "family values", while some feminists thought that it was too cautious or that it represented a perspective that was too white, college-educated and urban. In 1986, the author Alice Walker resigned as a Ms contributing editor, citing the magazine's lack of diversity.

And despite its cultural influence, Ms Magazine struggled financially. Throughout the 1980s the magazine's economic stability was continually threatened. Along with an economic downturn, its refusal to shape editorial content around advertisers' needs and its frequent critiques of misogynistic adverts also meant it was a challenge to secure advertising dollars. But it has persevered through various ownership changes over the years, and since 2001 it has been owned by the non-profit Feminist Majority Foundation. It is now published quarterly.

While Ms Magazine may not have the reach or impact it once did, it has made an enduring contribution to the feminist movement, influencing public discourse and inspiring activism.

Steinem and its other writers' commitment to exploring women's lives and amplifying their voices in a way that mainstream media at the time could not, or would not, helped to shape the landscape and language of women's rights in the US.

"We don't feel we are editing a magazine for a peculiar few. We feel we are editing it for women in all their diversity," said Steinem.

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'Locked to the Sun and Moon': The startling 1960s theory that Stonehenge was a prehistoric computer

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260828-the-startling-1960s-theory-that-stonehenge-was-a-prehistoric-computer, 7 days ago

In August 1966, a US astronomy professor shared his astonishing findings with the BBC. He believed that the Neolithic stone circle was built to predict eclipses.

Experts have long debated the meaning of Stonehenge, the prehistoric stone circle in the south-west of England. They have speculated that the mysterious monument might have been a place to commemorate the dead, a sacrificial altar, or a site of other religious ceremonies. But in August 1966, a Boston astronomy professor, Gerald Hawkins, told the BBC's Chronicle programme that he'd solved the puzzle thanks to a peculiar configuration of numbers – and an early IBM computer.

Hawkins' theory formed the basis of his popular and influential 1965 book Stonehenge Decoded. The British-born scientist suggested to the BBC that alignments of the huge slabs and archways meant that "circles at Stonehenge could have been used as a computer to follow the Moon, and predict eclipses". Eclipses, such as those witnessed around the world this month, could have been accurately foretold by ancient Britons – more than 4,500 years ago.

In the BBC footage, Hawkins gestured to an exact scale model of Stonehenge, showing how in the biggest circle, marking the circumference of the site, there are 56 holes. "Fifty-six was the only number that would fit a certain pattern of the Moon," he claimed, suggesting that the holes "make a simple counting device for predicting eclipses".

The meaning for those who built Stonehenge was, he believed, significant. "Eclipses are spectacular events that surely aroused the deepest emotions of our primitive ancestors," said Hawkins. "The light of the Moon, which is, of course, borrowed from the Sun, is cut off. It passes into the Earth's shadow. The Moon turns from silvery white to red. The ancients regarded it as blood red and attributed ominous meanings to it."

Stonehenge Decoded had "the surprising effect of silencing speculation for several decades", said a 2007 article in the British magazine Current Archaeology.

An astronomical observatory

According to Hawkins, it was "the first theory concerning the purpose of Stonehenge that has been academically accepted and published in the scientific journals". Although the connection between the site and summer solstice had been recognised since the 18th Century, the professor took the idea further, proposing that what had been seen as a temple of Sun-worship could have been a sophisticated "astronomical observatory".

In 1961, he had visited Stonehenge to try and understand "how the monument was supposed to mark the sunrise". As he told the BBC five years later, "I looked around in the dawn light at Stonehenge… between the great stone archways. I felt that my view was controlled, confined. The archways seemed to force me to look at certain points on the horizon. What was I supposed to see?"

Struck by the way ancient architects had framed his sightline, Hawkins returned to the US with charts of the site, plotting the positions of its centre point and each stone, archway, hole and mound.

Attempting to determine "exactly what would have been seen at the time of Stonehenge… would be long and tedious and had probably deterred others before me", Hawkins told the BBC. "Fortunately, I had the use of a calculating machine, the electronic computer."

At the Harvard-Smithsonian Observatory in Massachusetts, Hawkins and his team instructed the computer to calculate what would have been seen along each alignment at the time Stonehenge was built. He used the calculations as the basis for Stonehenge Decoded.

As the BBC presenter said in 1966, "The computer yielded some tantalising results." Many of the Stonehenge alignments seemed to point to positions of the rising and setting Sun and Moon. According to Hawkins, "Stonehenge was locked to the Sun and Moon as tightly as the tides. It was an astronomical observatory. And a good one, too."

While the marking of solar positions at midwinter and the equinoxes was "natural to expect", he told the BBC, "the Moon at Stonehenge was a surprise. The Moon is a very difficult thing to observe because it changes its position so much more complicatedly than the Sun."

Critics of the theory

Hawkins concluded that the purpose of Stonehenge was clear. "There can be no argument about whether it was a temple or an observatory. It was both, because the Sun and Moon were gods in those days."

If this were true, Stonehenge was "a device that priest-rulers could have used to enhance their power", argued a 1965 article in Time magazine. "On the day or night that their stone computer predicted an eclipse, they might well have summoned their subjects to Salisbury Plain to observe a spectacle that terrorised most ancient peoples. When the eclipse started, the priests probably intoned the prayers that enabled the Sun or Moon to escape the blackness."

Even at the time, there were critics of his theory, with some pointing out that three of the 56 holes intrinsic to it might have simply been caused by the former growth of trees. As the British archaeologist Richard Atkinson wrote in the New York Review of Books in 1966, "That the layout of Stonehenge has some astronomical significance is not in doubt… The interpretation of that alignment, however, and of any other astronomical characteristics of the monument, requires the exercise of scholarly caution."

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And new investigations since the 1960s have discredited Hawkins' ideas. "It's a dead theory today, in the dustbin filled with so many discounted theories about Stonehenge," says Prof Michael Parker Pearson, who led a landmark study transforming modern understanding of the monument. The eclipse computer was, he says, "a trendy metaphor for the time… but now wildly inappropriate for understanding Stonehenge".

While Hawkins thought the construction of the monument was a more integrated assembly, "we now know that Stonehenge was built in a very different, multi-stage sequence over a period of more than 1,500 years," Parker Pearson, a professor at University College of London's Institute of Archaeology, tells the BBC. "We also know that the solstice lunar standstill orientations are not actually precise – they were to within one or two degrees only – so it was never an instrument for measuring time, but rather a monument celebrating particular solar and lunar movements.

"We do have evidence from as far back as 1000BC in Britain that people tracked and probably predicted lunar eclipses," adds Parker Pearson, "but that's 1,500-2,000 years after Stonehenge's heyday."

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People are itching to create the Gen Z version of Friends. Here are five reasons it's impossible

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260827-five-reasons-why-the-gen-z-friends-is-impossible, 10 days ago

The legacy of Friends can be seen in a new wave of US sitcoms about twenty-something pals hitting the small screen. But, unlike the classic show, they're struggling to make a mark.

No sitcom has defined its era quite like Friends, the '90s show about six twenty-something friends living in Manhattan which became the most popular portrait of Gen X (people born between 1965 and 1980). Across all ten seasons from 1994 to 2004, the show's average live viewer ratings never dropped below 20 million. The series finale alone drew around 52.5 million American viewers, making it the most-watched television episode of the 2000s.

Beyond the numbers, Friends had a huge cultural impact. It birthed haircut styles ("The Rachel"), fashion trends (slip dresses) and catchphrases (Joey's "How you doin'?"). And its popularity is enduring: in UCLA's Teens and Screens 2025 Report, Friends ranks 16th on a list of Gen Z's favourite films or TV shows, alongside current hits like K-Pop Demon Hunters and The Summer I Turned Pretty.

But is there a Friends equivalent for Gen Z (people born between 1997 and 2012) that can speak to their own lives? A wave of sitcoms have been trying to replicate its vibe, zoning in on the messy personal and professional lives of twenty-somethings today.

There's been Mindy Kaling's Not Suitable For Work, about five recent graduates in Manhattan, while the second season of FX's chaotic but cosy Adults premieres today, centring on a house-share of another quintet across the water in Queens. Beyond the Big Apple, other shows following a similar Friends-style template have included Kaling's show The Sex Lives of College Girls about four college friends in Vermont, and HBO's irreverent I Love LA: internet "It Girl" Rachel Sennott's show about West Coast wannabe influencers.

However, none of these shows have really made a strong impression. Not Suitable For Work premiered in June to modest viewership and lukewarm reviews, and this week was officially cancelled, while The Sex Lives of College Girls was cancelled in 2025 after three seasons. Adults and I Love LA have both earned second seasons, without meriting anything like the cultural capital of either Friends or today's "watercooler" shows like The White Lotus or The Pitt.

Here are five reasons why trying to make "the new Friends" seems to be an impossible dream:

1. Today's challenging TV landscape

Gen Z sitcoms are competing for attention against a vast content pool and the internet's endless scrollability. When Friends debuted in 1994, the absence of multiple screen distractions no doubt worked to its benefit. According to Activate's 2026 Media Outlook Report, 43% of Gen Z prefer YouTube or social video platforms over paid streaming (37%) or traditional TV (12%). The second a show isn't enriching, personalised algorithms can immediately serve something more dopamine-hitting.

Additionally, where traditional network sitcoms had over 20 episodes per season – in part so they could be profitably syndicated to other TV stations for daily re-runs – modern sitcoms generally have far less. All of the new Friends-style shows have between just eight and ten episodes per series – which means there's not a lot of time to actually hang out, let alone fall in love, with these new TV friendship groups.

2. Writers who are out of touch

Another persistent flaw in the Gen Z sitcom is the distance between their subjects and the show creators, who are invariably millennials or older. "There haven't been too many Gen Z TV writers who have been able to break through yet," entertainment journalist Max Gao points out. "Until more of those writers are given a platform to tell their own stories, it may be difficult to capture what it is like to be a young person in today's social and political climate."

Friends was also written by people a generation above its characters, but depicting today's faster-moving youth culture is undeniably more challenging.

For example, The Sex Lives of College Girls' attempts at Gen Z vernacular ("I'm taking screenshots, but with my brain") consistently missed the mark, feeling both forced and passé. Not Suitable For Work also falls flat, with youth slang ("facts" and "unhinged") that seems contrived in the way it lands.

3. Gen Z's despair is difficult comic material

Viewers tend to watch sitcoms as a form of comfort TV – and Friends certainly fulfilled that role. But providing comfort viewing is a struggle when Gen Z's current situation is anything but comfortable. "This generation has come through a pandemic, economic scarcity and a political environment that is combative and they don't trust," as Dr Yalda T Uhls, Founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA, tells the BBC.

In the US, Gen Z are experiencing the highest unemployment rate of any demographic: entry-level opportunities are narrowing and AI is slimming the workforce. Compare this to the state of play of Gen X when Friends aired: they entered the workforce amid tech-boom optimism and polled as "remarkably optimistic as individuals".

This means these sitcoms' creators must walk a difficult tightrope: translate Gen Z's volatile coming-of-age experience to the screen without becoming too bleak. Not Suitable for Work motioned at Gen Z's employment despair in an episode where wannabe actor Kel's (Nicholas Duvernay) exciting audition turned out to be an AI motion-capture project. Otherwise, the show felt dishonestly untethered from today's harsh realities.

Season two of Adults does include the professional trials facing Gen Z, which were absent from season one – in particular, Billie (Lucy Freyer) faces a season-long struggle to secure any full-time employment.

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These sitcoms have also taken mixed approaches towards Gen Z's problems around housing. Not Suitable For Work's characters lived in tastefully decorated neighbouring Manhattan apartments, just like Friends, but rather than being benignly aspirational, as it was in Friends' case, that now feels like an insulting fantasy. Adults offers a more astute look at Gen Z's lowered housing expectations, with all five friends squeezed into Samir's (Malik Elassal) three-bedroom childhood home.

4. The trouble of representing diversity

The Gen Z sitcom also faces challenges in being relatable to a broad audience. According to Pew Research Center, Gen Z Americans are "more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation". Because of this, Gao says: "it can be difficult to encompass the diversity of those experiences in a single sitcom." Contrast this with Friends, where the characters existed in a more homogeneous social circle of whiteness and heteronormativity – which was then the mainstream TV default.

Sex Lives of College Girls framed differences in race, ethnicity and sexual identity as non-issues, which felt shallow. By contrast, Adults really embraces its diverse cast and their distinct individualities, from the sexually fluid Paul Baker (Jack Innanen) to the social cause-hopping wild-child Issa (Amita Rao). But in sitcom terms, that can leave it feeling unfocused.

5. Everything's too online

Today's Friends-style sitcoms cannot afford to ignore the internet's sprawling presence in Gen Z’s life – but depicting it comes with its own problems. Overlaying text graphics on screen has become visually clunky, so these shows look for alternatives to incorporate the all-consuming nature of internet life – or not. Adults' workaround is, on the whole, to avoid the phone screen altogether. Meanwhile, Not Suitable For Work barely mentions dating apps, which is an oversight given the show's focus on its characters' turbulent dating lives.

I Love LA is the only one of these shows that really centres today's digital culture, set as it is among phone-obsessed influencers and other entertainment industry types. The show refreshingly recognises the online performativity that permeates the generation. As one influencer claims, "If you stop for a second", you will "disappear".

But the sitcom offers little deeper commentary on the nuances of Gen Z's double life – spent between the "real" world and the online world – beyond poking fun at the shallow, image-obsessed influencer mindset. Talent agent Maia's (Sennott) work is too ambiguous, and the content posted by the show's central influencer, Tallulah (Odessa A'zion), is never visualised.

So far, Adults is the sharpest Gen Z sitcom offering, presenting relatable characters without sacrificing effervescent humour – and, with strong reviews for the second season, it will be interesting to see how it fares with audiences. But it certainly remains an uphill battle to capture Gen Z in a way that is both funny and authentic – and find the audience to appreciate that.

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'Emotion, pain and torture': The grisly American Werewolf in London scene that took horror to new extremes

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260826-the-grisly-american-werewolf-in-london-scene-that-took-horror-to-new-extremes, 11 days ago

John Landis's horror-comedy classic was released 45 years ago, but its key sequence still astonishes – and its make-up maestro, Rick Baker, won the first Oscar in a new category.

In the history of horror cinema, there are few scenes quite as jaw-dropping as the centrepiece of John Landis's An American Werewolf in London. The 1981 classic tells the story of a hapless young US tourist, David (David Naughton), who is bitten by some sort of animal while trekking across England's North York Moors. Recovering in London, he is seen transforming into the titular wolfman – and the sequence took monster movies to graphic new extremes.

Alone in his girlfriend's apartment as the full Moon blooms, David suddenly screams that he is "burning up", falls to his knees in agony, and rips his clothes off. His hands elongate, his body gets hairier, his teeth and nails sharpen, and his face twists and warps. The soundtrack is vital: David's screaming, his bones crunching, Sam Cooke singing Blue Moon. But the scene depends on the practical effects masterminded by Rick Baker, which still chill the blood and boggle the mind, 45 years after Landis's horror comedy was released in August 1981.

"It made this huge earthquake in horror films," Hector Sotomayor, professor of film studies at Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, Florida tells the BBC. "There was a renaissance of make-up effects in the 1980s and that really begins with An American Werewolf in London. It established make-up as a legitimate movie art form."

It's such a groundbreaking scene that Baker won the first ever Academy Award in a new category, best make-up and hairstyling, in 1982. Some historians even argue that the film was partly responsible for the award's creation. The Exorcist, Star Wars, and The Elephant Man had increased calls for the Academy to recognize the skills and imagination that went into hair and make-up design, says Paul Davis, author of Beware the Moon: The Story of An American Werewolf in London. "By the time An American Werewolf came along, the Academy thought, we cannot ignore this anymore."

Baker and Landis began plotting how to make an innovative transformation sequence when they were working on Landis's first film as a writer-director, 1973's Schlock, a low-budget horror comedy about a 20-million-year-old ape-man going on a rampage in southern California.

Quickly recognizing a fellow horror and monster-movie obsessive, Landis gave Baker the script for An American Werewolf in London and told him, "I want to do a transformation in bright fluorescent lighting where you see the body change. It has to be emotional and painful," says Davis.

In earlier werewolf films, whenever characters like Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr) in 1941's The Wolf Man became beasts, noticeable techniques like stop-trick photography – where the camera stopped, hair was added, and filming commenced again – were used. Directors also relied on slow dissolves, dim lighting, showing a silhouette of the shape-shifting – and the good old falling-down-behind-a-sofa-and-sticking-on-a-wig technique.

Landis was adamant that a more seamless and visceral transformation sequence could be created. After the huge box-office successes of The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), and The Blues Brothers (1980), Polygram Pictures finally gave him the chance to put this theory to the test. "They let him do what he wanted to do and how he wanted to do it," says Jon Spira, a film-maker who contributed a video essay on the film to Arrow Video's 2022 4K release. "By filming largely in the UK, he was away from Hollywood and people looking over his shoulder. That all feeds into the latitude and freedom that he and Rick Baker were given."

What makes the sequence so harrowing

In the eight years between Schlock and An American Werewolf in London, Baker had worked out exactly how to achieve Landis's vision. Together they created a scene where viewers not only see David transform, but feel it, too. "They really convey the emotion, pain, and torture," says Davis. "You see David's humanity being taken away from him piece by piece. For a lot of the sequence, he's still mostly human and aware of what is happening. That's what makes it so harrowing."

In the six months prior to filming, Baker used a stretchy substance named polyurethane elastomer to create fake hands, heads, legs, and a body. It was chosen because it combined the elasticity of rubber with the strength and durability of plastic. Baker also made several moulds of Naughton's face contorting in different stages of pain to be used as the scene progressed.

Inside the fake hands, four syringes with their plungers out were attached to four syringes with their plungers in. "All you did was push the plungers" to stretch and distort David’s fingers, says Davis.

A similar process was used to stretch pneumatic bladders placed on David's back. This made it look as if vertebrae were popping up from his spine. Air made the cheeks, forehead, and nose on David's fake face morph into a werewolf's features, including a snout, while Baker and his assistants used levers to open the monster's snarling mouth.

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For the part where the lupine David is lying on the floor, Naughton was actually underneath it, with only his heavily made-up head and arms poking through. Speaking to the Morbidly Beautiful horror appreciation website in 2016, Naughton said, "I was in the make-up chair for sometimes 10 hours a day before I'd even get out on the set." The werewolf's body was then assembled around him, with Baker and his team controlling the movements of the legs and body from beneath.

"Baker combined make-up, prosthetics, animatronics, fake heads and hands," says Spira. "He's in this middle ground between make-up and special effects. That's what makes the scene so revolutionary."

It also explains why Baker won his history-making Oscar. He would go on to win the same award six more times, for the likes of The Nutty Professor, Men in Black and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And in 1983, Michael Jackson hired Landis to direct and Baker to create the make-up for his Thriller music video. A direct homage to An American Werewolf in London, Thriller went on to become one of the most acclaimed and watched music videos of all time – and a recreation of the video is central to this year's Michael Jackson biopic, Michael.

Meanwhile, An American Werewolf in London set the blueprint for the horror-comedy genre. In the following decade, Gremlins, Evil Dead 2 and Beetlejuice blended practical horror effects with comedic sequences, while Edgar Wright said its tone and use of make-up and practical effects changed his life and set him on course to being a director.

The transformation sequence is key to the film's continuing influence and cult success. But it's more than that, says Spira. It's "the definition of movie magic and the reason why people fall in love with cinema".

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Pulp top the bill at 20th End of the Road Festival

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn45q5qe1k2o, today

A sell-out crowd of 15,000 helped celebrate the End Of The Road Festival's 20th birthday this weekend, in one of the final events of the UK summer season.

Britpop luminaries Pulp closed the mainstage on Saturday night at the four-day event, near Blandford Forum, Dorset.

The event's anniversary line-up also included Irish indie-pop singer Cmat, New York art-rockers Geese and Canadian singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco.

More than 140 acts performed across the five music stages which showcased a mix of indie-rock, folk and alternative artists.

The festival was set in rolling countryside on Cranborne Chase – a protected National Landscape - and hosted comedians including Fern Brady and Adam Buxton in its Talking Heads arena.

Sheffield indie-rockers Pulp have never appeared at End Of The Road before but the band's frontman Jarvis Cocker has regularly attended and performed a headline solo Garden Stage set in 2019.

Throughout the set which included classics like Common People, This Is Hardcore, and Underwear, Jarvis treated the crowd to a sermon of Pulp history, with slideshows of artwork, postcards, and visuals from throughout the years.

Jarvis sang Happy Birthday to the festival and toasted to another 20 years before telling fans he will be taking a break for a while.

This year's event comes at the end of the warmest summer in the UK since records began in 1884, according to provisional Met Office figures, during which wildfires have been common across the country.

Issuing guidance ahead of the festival, organisers warned that the ground and vegetation remained "extremely dry" and that barbecues and open fires were "not permitted anywhere on site".

Mural celebrates nearly 40 years of women's centre

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3rqd5n4d3o, today

A new mural chronicling the history of a women's centre and the community around the organisation has been unveiled.

The 40ft (12m) artwork celebrating the past of the Tees Valley Women's Centre stretches along Upper Albion Street in South Bank near Middlesbrough.

The centre opened in 1987 with the aim of improving the quality of life and opportunities for women in the area.

Manager at the Tees Valley Women's Centre Donna Middleton said the mural was a "wonderful celebration" of the thousands of women who had come through the doors over the years.

She said: "This mural means an enormous amount to everyone here because it tells our story, but it has genuinely been shaped by the women themselves.

"It celebrates where we have come from, our roots here in South Bank and the women who have made the centre what it is today, but it is also about looking forward to the next chapter."

The mural will remain permanently on display across the outside of Tees Valley Women's Centre.

Local artist Jessica Leigh spent time at the centre working to find out what stories they wanted the mural to tell.

She said: "My role was to listen to their memories, ideas and experiences and find a way of bringing all of those different stories together in one piece of artwork.

"There is so much history here, both within the centre and across South Bank, and throughout the workshops you could really feel how much this place means to the women."

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Family keeping dog's memory alive around the world

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpq0e89e32po, today

A grieving family's creative project to keep the memory of their beloved dog alive is going global.

The Simpkins family, from Devizes in Wiltshire, lost their 13-year-old Australian Kelpie, Harvey, in August. To cope with their grief, they started painting rocks and hiding them in the town and surrounding areas for people to find.

Anybody who finds a rock is asked to post it on Harvey Rocks Facebook page, before hiding it again for somebody else. Some of the rocks found in Devizes have been taken to Spain and the United States.

Katie Simpkins said: "It's given us a way to talk about Harvey in a positive way and to distract away from the sadness a bit. It keeps his memory alive in a happy way."

Since the family started the project about three weeks ago, they have painted more than 60 rocks.

Katie said the family-of-four had always been creative, but they all struggled to do anything following Harvey's death.

But after they found a painted rock near their local library, the idea of Harvey's Rocks was born.

The rocks feature various designs including animals, objects and rubber ducks - which Harvey was particularly fond of.

Tris, Katie's husband, said: "We wanted to do something to help us remember Harvey.

"He was one of those very much larger than life character dogs.

"We're collecting rocks, painting them and literally now every evening when the kids are in bed we will sit down and paint rocks instead of going on our phones and watching TV," he added.

The family has hidden rocks in Devizes, Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge.

A rock is also set to be left at the summit of Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, which the family climbed years ago in heavy snow with Harvey.

The family said they hope to continue the idea for as long as possible so Harvey's Rocks can travel "as far across the planet as possible".

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Huge wallpaper artwork on display in Aberdeen's art deco swimming pool

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wxd4pp35jo, today

Just weeks after being used as a filming set for Netflix series Dept Q, the Bon Accord Baths in Aberdeen is opening its doors to the public to show a large-scale art installation.

'Divers', by Tod Hanson, was painted in the artist's small London studio on rolls of wallpaper - the parts were then assembled and taped to the pool floor.

Locals will be able to visit the art deco venue and see the temporary installation during the first three weekends of September.

The Category B listed baths closed in 2008 due to budget cuts and have occasionally reopened for cultural and community events since Bon Accord Heritage (BAH) took it over in 2020.

It is the second time this year the venue has hosted an art exhibit, after Scottish artist Robert Montgomery displayed one of his poetic light installations in the pool during the Nuart festival in April.

The installation is a part of the citywide Doors Open Day initiative.

The exhibition was accompanied by a musical performance from six local groups on Saturday.

Alison Reid, a retired art teacher and BAH trustee, said events like this could "breathe life" into the building.

She said the team felt a bit daunted when the artist contacted them to offer the idea last year.

Hanson typically creates large-scale graphic installations and public artworks, and is possibly best known for his work with Greenpeace in the 1990s.

His imagination was captured by the Bon Accord Baths when he saw it online.

"I just thought - what an amazing building," he said.

He worked on the artwork remotely from London and used the racing lanes and tiles of the surface of the pool as his grid plan.

They also helped form the meaning of the artwork.

He explained: "I try to look at the racing lanes already in the pool and to think about how we move through life.

"How we move through restraints or how we change and morph through our journey. The patterns change along the track, but also colours change.

"So I suppose it's about journeys, but you could read it as journeys in any form."

'It's kind of mental': Actor lands first TV role in Hollyoaks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cde026j3ny9o, today

An actor from Lincoln has landed a role in Hollyoaks.

Indigo Kamal-Poole, 22, made his debut appearance as newcomer Xander on the Channel 4 soap opera last week.

Indigo, who wears hearing aids, said he secured the role following a Hollyoaks visible disabilities audition at the end of April.

Reflecting on his experience so far on the show, Indigo said: "It's so exciting all the time, very dramatic and it's definitely a bit of me."

Indigo's first scene as Xander aired on 26 August on E4 at 19:00 BST and Channel 4 streaming.

Indigo said Xander could be described as "massively emotionally driven and family orientated", and was a "lost lad looking for answers".

He added the experience so far had felt "very strange" and "really full-on" but had had "lots of nice responses which has been beautiful, really".

When Indigo heard he had landed the role, he described it as "kind of mental".

"There's always a part of you that doubts yourself. I was kind of like 'can I do this? Am I good enough for this?'

"It was my first real, professional credit, so that was a bit daunting.

"But then after a little while the excitement kicked in and as soon as I got on set all the nerves disappeared."

Indigo was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at the age of four, a condition that means his hearing ranges from mild to severe.

It was caused by damage to the inner ear or the nerve that carries sound signals to the brain.

Indigo, whose first experience of acting was at the age of 11 in The Starring Lincoln Theatre Company, which was directed by his dad, said he initially refused to wear his aids, recalling a time as a child when he threw them across the Co-op on Burton Road because he did not want to wear them.

"After that I started to not care and customised them," he added.

Indigo said his hearing aids had "not been mentioned at all" on the show, and are not the driving point of why he is on there.

He added: "One thing that's really important for me is for the hearing aids to not be the centre point of the character's existence.

"It's more like an accessory. I think they've got it bang on with the writing, may it continue."

Crystal Rolfe, director at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, said: "Importantly, while the character wears hearing aids, this isn't the focus of the storyline.

"Hearing aids are part of everyday life for millions of us. Showing it in that way sends a powerful message, especially for young people who may aspire to be actors or performers, that being deaf or having hearing loss should never be a barrier to achieving your dreams."

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My journey from council estate to Dragons' Den

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wjx2wyl96o, today

"You're leaving here to draw on garage doors?" Nathan Murdoch recalls his former chief executive quizzing him.

It was the summer of 2018 and Murdoch, then in his early 30s, had decided to leave behind a decade-long career as a health and safety manager to pursue life as a full-time artist.

His boss's reaction "made me doubt myself", he says. But eight years later, the 40-year-old from Peterborough has built a successful street art business, painted murals around the world and, last week, appeared on Dragons' Den.

His week since appearing on the BBC One business programme has been "pretty intense".

"I've had messages on social media, I've gained new followers, I've had job offers. The opportunities have been insane."

It was not the first time the dad-of-two had found himself in the spotlight.

His mural of The Prodigy frontman Keith Flint was an online hit in 2020, and other artworks have attracted national media coverage.

He has got used to being recognised in his hometown, but says it has stepped up over the past week.

"I was at a petrol station on the A1 and a guy asked me if I'd been on Dragons' Den. It was surreal," he says.

The growing recognition is a far cry from Murdoch's childhood. He describes himself as a "poor council kid from Peterborough" who was arrested as a teenager for graffitiing the city.

"I say to the young kids now that in the early 2000s graffiti was hated," he says.

"Banksy wasn't popular, street art didn't exist. In 2004, camera phones didn't really exist, the internet didn't exist like it did now.

"My mum told me I had to stop doing it."

After leaving school he worked in factories, "but I needed more, so I worked my way into a health and safety role".

"When I joined that job, I thought it would be the last job I'd ever do," says Murdoch.

"It was for a prestigious British brand that made yachts. It felt like the pinnacle of my life, like I'd achieved something."

He quietly built an art business in his spare time, until one day his director asked to speak with him about his future.

"I actually told him I was thinking of leaving… no-one really knew what I did on the side. When I told him I was thinking of leaving to become a street artist, he just laughed."

'Everything about her was East Tennessee': The places that shaped Dolly Parton

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260902-the-places-that-shaped-dolly-parton, yesterday

From her Appalachian childhood to Nashville and Dollywood, a journey through the Tennessee she loved – and transformed in return.

On a sunny day on 24 June 2026, hundreds of travellers, locals and Dolly Parton fans from across the US gathered in the small rural community of Cornersville, less than an hour's drive south of Nashville, for the unveiling of her Tennessean Travel Stop. It was the country star's last public appearance before her death just two months later.

Wearing her signature fringe and rhinestones and a grin as bright as that Tennessee morning, Parton cut the ribbon and welcomed travellers to the new roadside stop, complete with a Southern meat-and-three restaurant, live music and – of course – a Dolly-themed gift shop.

It was a fitting final chapter for an artist whose life and career were inseparable from Tennessee. From crooning about the Smoky Mountains to investing in rural East Tennessee where she grew up, Parton spent decades sharing her home state with the world – and transforming it in return.

Explore Parton's Tennessee mountain home

In 1964, US President Lyndon B Johnson launched the War on Poverty, a federal effort to reduce poverty and expand economic opportunity across the United States. Southern Appalachia, one of the nation's poorest regions, was thrust into the national spotlight. Media portrayals often depicted its residents as backward and destitute, reinforcing the caricature of the "hillbilly", a stereotype that had persisted since the 19th Century.

But when Dolly Rebecca Parton came into the spotlight, this daughter of Appalachia who grew up in a two-room cabin with 11 brothers and sisters offered the world a different view of her home: one of joy, dignity and talent.

"Dolly Parton told a new story about Appalachia that was rooted in her very particular experience," said Dr Jessie Wilkerson, a history professor and Appalachian scholar at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. "Yes, her family was poor, but they weren't desperate or hopeless, and they took care of one another. There was a lot of love and beauty in the place where she grew up, and so we get a different story about Appalachia through her."

In the title track of her 1973 album, My Tennessee Mountain Home, Parton describes her Appalachian home as "peaceful as a baby's sigh". The landscape around her childhood home on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains, along with Appalachia's storytelling traditions and bluegrass heritage, inspired much of Parton's music.

In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a blue-grey mist that gives the Smokies its name settles over the peaks and valleys and waterfalls tumble through the forest. The 522,000-acre expanse is threaded with hiking trails and scenic overlooks, with autumn bringing a canvas of brilliant jewel tones and spring a kaleidoscope of wildflowers to the lower slopes. The landscape was a reoccurring muse, from the mountain blooms that inspired her 1987 ballad Wildflowers to the fog-covered peaks evoked in Blue Smoke, the title track of her 2014 album, and the pastoral idyll captured in My Tennessee Mountain Home.

In nearby Sevierville, the main town serving rural Locust Ridge, where Parton grew up, the region's pride in its local legend is evident. A bronze statue on the courthouse lawn depicts her as a young girl playing guitar. Down the street is the Wings of Wander mural, inspired by her hit song Love Is Like a Butterfly, and the Red's Cafe mural, another larger-than-life depiction of Parton as a child, this time getting a cheeseburger from her favourite childhood restaurant.

"People in East Tennessee really, really adore her, and it's something that's been important for the region to have someone who's really proud of coming from there, and who's a positive representation of Appalachia, when historically the representations of the region are the opposite," Wilkerson said.

Retracing Parton's path in Nashville

On the day Parton graduated from high school in 1964, she boarded a Greyhound bus headed west for the neon lights of Nashville. In a letter home shortly after arriving, feeling homesick and uncertain, she wrote, "Nashville isn't what I thought it was gonna be, but I think I'll like it once I get used to it."

"When she came to Nashville, she came with a very distinct East Tennessee identity and made that very clear in both her music and her accent," said Robert K Oermann, co-author of her memoir Dolly Parton: Songteller, My Life in Lyrics and a longtime collaborator. "Everything about her was East Tennessee and mountain, and I think that was the message she brought to Nashville."

Nashville looks very different today from when Parton first stepped off that bus 62 years ago, but visitors can still trace Parton's path from her early days fresh out of Sevier County to her rise as a country music icon who never lost the Appalachian sound of home even as she became one of Nashville's biggest stars.

On Music Row, the city's historic record-industry district, visitors can step inside RCA Studio B where a blue X marks "The Sweet Spot" where Parton recorded hits including Jolene and I Will Always Love You – both of which she wrote on the same day. Nearby, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is featuring Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker, an exhibition spanning her career and featuring memorabilia like her Gibson five-string banjo and handwritten music drafts. A few blocks away, the historic Ryman Auditorium is where a 13-year-old Parton made her Grand Ole Opry debut in 1959 and earned three encores.

Murals of Parton dot the city in her honour, museum exhibits display her stage costumes and in the wake of her passing, fans have left flowers on her star on the Music City Walk of Fame.

Visiting Parton's Appalachia

Nashville, however, was never the end of Parton's journey. The further her career carried her from the mountains to Nashville and eventually Hollywood, the more firmly she seemed to plant her roots at the centre of her story. In 1982, she told Barbara Walters in an interview about her dream of opening a "mountain Disneyland" in her Appalachian home region.

More like this:

• How Dolly Parton told her life story through six iconic songs

• How Dolly Parton became one of the world's best-loved stars

• How Dolly Parton became a fashion icon

Today, that "mountain Disneyland" is Dollywood, a major tourist destination in Sevier County that invites visitors into the version of Appalachia Parton spent her career sharing with the world. Beyond the thrill rides and water park are shows featuring Parton's music, some performed by members of her own family. But to Parton, Dollywood was also a way to give back to the mountains and the community that nurtured her.

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'I knew this is where I want to be for the next three years'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7zvn0g7dlo, yesterday

"I can't tell you the feeling of walking out of the door after my audition - I just knew that this is where I want to be for the next three years."

For 18-year-old dancer Evie Bradford, the start of the academic year marks the culmination of hours in the studio, and years of rehearsals and competitions.

The teen from Frecheville, Sheffield will soon be treading the boards and honing her craft at Laine Theatre Arts school in Surrey.

The well-known performing arts institution boasts famous alumni including Victoria Beckham, Warwick Davies and West End star Ruthie Henshall.

Evie jokes she's been dancing "since birth", adding: "I was on stage in my mum's belly. Honestly, I've never looked back and thought, this is not what I want to do."

A love for the arts runs in the family - Evie's mum and dad work for Manor Operatic Society as a choreographer and director respectively.

As a former student of Wakefield's CAPA College and a competitor at showcases, including Miss Dance of Great Britain, the teen is no stranger to performing under pressure.

With places on the three-year programme at Laine Theatre Arts school limited, Evie had to demonstrate she could sing, act and dance.

She explains: "I went to my audition and gave it my all because really, what have you got to lose?

"I was stressing so much because I did loads of different auditions, but Laine, as soon as you walk through the doors, you just know that it's the one."

She describes herself as "feeling extremely lucky" to land one of only a handful of coveted spots, alongside one of her best friends.

"I don't know a lot of people around me that have done any of this," she says.

"I feel like I'm quite fresh to it all."

Evie has already packed up her belongings and moved into her new home down south, ready for her new course to begin.

"I'm petrified, but also it's the start of a new beginning," she says.

"It's the start of my life really, because it's what I want to do in the future."

For the moment her focus is firmly on her studies, according to her.

"So [I'm] just going to take whatever comes my way in the next three years.

"I'm excited to make new friends and be with everybody that wants to do the same thing as me, every single day."

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

'Starring in Pressure with Hollywood stars was amazing'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp93znyyvk4o, yesterday

"I was in a room full of these amazing actors - it was the most amazing, amazing experience," says Roseanna Brown about her starring role in the latest Hollywood drama, Pressure.

The British-Irish actress and singer, who grew up in Windsor, Berkshire, plays the lead operator in US president Dwight Eisenhower's team in the film - a World War Two drama about the tough choices made in the 72 hours before D-Day.

Cast alongside stars including Brendan Fraser, Andrew Scott and Damien Lewis, it is her biggest role to date, having previously portrayed a Slytherin student in the Harry Potter series and Fandral's Wench in Thor: The Dark World.

Ahead of the film's release in UK cinemas on 9 September, Brown shares how much she learned from the filming and her dreams about future roles.

Brown says she auditioned for the film in 2024 but did not find out what role she had been chosen for until she arrived on set.

"I headed up the entire scene, nobody else spoke," she says.

"I am the first person to receive the information if D-Day was a success or not.

"Surprisingly, even though we know what happened, it was still really stressful to have that situation - even watching it in the cinema, it was still very edge of your seat."

Scott, who is best known for his roles in the hit BBC series Sherlock and the James Bond film Spectre, plays British meteorologist James Stagg, while Academy Award winning actor Fraser portrays Eisenhower.

Brown says she has taken away lessons such as the value in taking chances.

She recalls watching Fraser do the same take where he "responded differently every time", alternating between "an overwhelming amount of emotion" and other times where he "kept his composure".

"I was like, 'oh my gosh, we are all make-believing together while also knowing what the story is and how our characters should be'."

Brown also remembers Lewis, who is known for his roles in Homeland and Band of Brothers, was "really lovely" to her and said hello every morning.

She also says it was "very nice to see the Andrew Scott who wasn't playing James Stagg".

She talks of acting a phone call scene with him and thinking after each cut, "I'm really doing this with Andrew Scott".

Brown says later he praised her for "an absolutely fantastic job" and provided her with specific feedback.

"It's nice to just give space to those people who have quite complex characters to play," she says.

"Damien, for example, very different on set, he'd go into character and out of character, whereas other people very much would stay in."

She says having watched the cast "bounce off each other" had been "amazing to be a part of and learn from".

Pressure was released in the US on 29 May and Brown, who lives mostly in Los Angeles, says she thinks it would have "a different type of appeal" in the UK.

Brown says she now looks forward to landing her dream role and would "love" to star in a Game of Thrones prequel or in the Fourth Wing TV adaptation.

She says she loves historical dramas and fantasy, with her first feature film appearance having been in the Harry Potter series.

But she would also "adore to be the voice of a Disney princess or a Disney character".

As the former front-woman of sibling band The Rua, she has achieved chart success in the UK and the United States, and says she would like to simultaneously develop her acting alongside her music career.

"It's a very different creative feeling where I'm not myself and that is just so freeing," she adds.

Church organist has no plans to stop after 70 years

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyzn2pg88yo, yesterday

An organist who has played the same church organ for more than 70 years has said he has no plans to stop.

Keith Watts, 88, plays the reed organ at St Thomas a Becket Church in Lydlinch, Dorset, having started piano lessons at the age of nine before moving on to the organ.

He is thought to be one of the UK's longest-serving church organists, having played almost continuously since he was 15, with only a few breaks, including for national service and recovery from shoulder operations.

Watts said he fully intends to carry on, adding: "If I can do it I should keep going or else they chuck me out - one or the other."

Watts began cycling to nearby Henstridge for organ lessons before taking over playing duties at Lydlinch at the age of 14.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, he described how the role had changed over the decades.

He initially shared organ duties when the church held two services a day.

Arthritis in his hands later meant he again shared the role with another player.

"He sadly passed away and I've been permanent now for the last 20-odd years," he said.

Watts said very little had ever kept him away from his organ duties, including illness - but did once take a break after injuring his back when falling from a roof.

He also took time off to celebrate his wedding day.

Watts said he had lost his wife earlier this year, but that continuing to play had helped him through it.

He also spoke of the village's fundraising efforts for the church's bells, praising the "magnificent team of people" who had pulled together to raise money.

Describing the church's reed organ, which is more than a century old, he said it has "got no pipes" and works "like a giant accordion."

Slow Horses writer says Jersey shaped his career

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c986175j255o, yesterday

The lead writer behind hit television drama Slow Horses has credited Jersey with helping launch his career.

Three-time Emmy Award winner Will Smith, creator of the Apple TV+ spy drama which follows a team of failed or disgraced MI5 agents led by Jackson Lamb - played by Sir Gary Oldman, grew up on the island and attended Victoria College.

Smith said Jersey's creative community provided a "fertile, supportive environment" which helped lay the foundations for his success.

Slow Horses is up for nine awards at the upcoming Primetime Emmys in Los Angeles on 14 September, with Smith nominated in the Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series category.

"I wouldn't be doing it without Jersey and the people that I grew up with," Smith, who won the same category in 2024, said.

Smith, who is now based in London and previously won two Emmys for his work on political comedy show Veep, said he had the "fondest possible memories" of his childhood.

He said Jersey continued to inspire his work and praised the teachers who encouraged his love of storytelling.

Smith, whose acting credits include The Thick of It, Citizen Khan and Paddington, said the island "felt very safe" while he was growing up.

"It was a beautiful landscape - it was pretty idyllic really," he added.

Despite already winning international awards, Smith said attending television's biggest ceremonies still felt surreal.

"It's always amazing the company you're in with the nominations," he said.

"Last year, Harrison Ford was there and I can technically say I've been in the same room as Harrison Ford.

"If you'd told my seven-year-old self, who was a massive Star Wars and Indiana Jones fan, that one day I'd be sitting in an awards ceremony with him, it would have blown my mind."

Smith said winning an Emmy for Slow Horses was particularly meaningful because he had not expected to hear his name called.

"You can't control whether people love your show," he said.

"You've got to get into a state where if you write something and nobody reads it, you're still happy that you did it.

"If you can get into that zone, it's so much healthier because then you're always succeeding on your own terms."

Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.

Wedding dash for Emmy-nominated casting director

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20e5zd5e9po, yesterday

A casting director from Kidderminster is facing a race against the clock to get from his sister's wedding in Worcester, to the Emmy awards in Los Angeles.

Matt Lander, who left his hometown aged 18 to pursue a career in the US, has been nominated for an Emmy for the casting of the drama miniseries, All Her Fault.

Before he heads back to the US, Lander will be helping his sister, Emma, celebrate her wedding on Saturday.

He plans to leave the celebrations early on Sunday morning, taking a 04:00 BST car to London before catching an 08:00 flight from Heathrow to LA. If all goes to plan he will arrive about two hours before the awards begin.

"Family is everything to me. My sister, this is her first marriage. I really want to be there for her," he said.

He also plans to support his dad, who has dementia and may be unable to fulfil some of the traditional roles expected of a father of the bride.

Lander's sister said she was "absolutely proud" of her brother, describing him as "a fundamental part of the family".

"He flew in last November and spent three days trudging the Midlands to help me find my dream dress, and he even bought that for me," she said.

Brenda Lines, who was Lander's teacher at King Charles I School in Kidderminster, said she was not surprised by his success.

She remembers him as a popular and articulate pupil who was keen to get involved in school life.

"He was driven to be successful and that sort of made him stand out in the crowd," she said. "You knew when you met him that he was going to go places."

Lines said he was always interested in other people, a quality she believes suits his career as a casting director.

"Having the role he has in America is probably quite fitting," she said.

She added that his Emmy nomination was a source of pride for his hometown.

"News like this puts Kidderminster on the map."

Despite the Hollywood lifestyle, Lander said returning to Kidderminster was "really grounding".

"When you grow up here it's some of the most formative years you have," he said.

"I've always had a little bit of imposter syndrome, so when people say congratulations, when people say well done, in my head I'm always feeling like I need to be a step further along."

He said he moved to the US because he wanted to "do something different, experience something new", rather than because of a specific ambition to work in Hollywood.

After studying at an American college, he took various jobs in the industry before finding his way into casting.

He said the job required an "encyclopaedic memory for actors" and a "good sense of people".

All Her Fault has seven Emmy nominations including Lander's, which is for outstanding casting for a limited or anthology series or movie. Another series he worked on, Margo's Got Money Troubles, has eight nominations.

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Lauryn Hill, Wyclef and Giggs among surprise guests at Jay-Z's long-awaited UK show

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g7rxgvkgdo, yesterday

Jay-Z's first headline solo show in the UK in more than a decade saw him celebrate hip-hop culture alongside a host of special guests, including Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Giggs.

The US rap superstar rolled back the years for more than two hours - playing hits like 99 Problems, Empire State of Mind and Dead Presidents - as he took to the stage at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday night for the first of two shows in London this weekend.

The run is part of his Jay-Z 30 tour, which is marking the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, and his culture-shaping career that followed.

Fans of his wife Beyoncé had hoped she would join him on stage, like she did at two of his three New York shows this summer, as she was also celebrating her 45th birthday on Friday.

Beyoncé serenaded on her birthday

Toward the end of the show, Jay-Z mentioned it was a "young lady's birthday", sending the crowd into a frenzy, but he joked that he couldn't make her perform on her big day.

Instead he asked the crowd to join him in singing Happy Birthday to the US superstar, who was sitting in a private box, while sparkler-like fireworks erupted in the sky.

The show's opening set the tone for the star-studded evening to follow, as British actor Sir Idris Elba kicked things off by performing the intro track to his 2007 album, American Gangster.

As Jay-Z took to the stage, he recalled coming to London in 1989 with his mentor Jaz-O and seeing "what was possible" and it became a "special" place in his career.

His return to the capital this time round was explosive, with the rapper rattling through a string of hits like Izzo (H.O.V.A.), On To The Next One and Song Cry.

Throughout the show, vintage video clips and moments from his early career played across a massive LED screen, while an orchestra and a few guitarists accompanied him on stage.

There was no sign of Rihanna or Alicia Keys, who both made appearances during the New York run for their collaboration tracks, but the crowd made up for their absence by chanting back their lyrics during Run This Town and Empire State of Mind.

Jay-Z also took a moment to thank his fans who have been there from the beginning, telling them that "music saved my life".

His reflective mood continued as he performed Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) and Where I'm From, which explores his upbringing in the Marcy housing projects in Brooklyn, New York.

He cranked the energy back up for his 2011 hit No Church in the Wild, which was amplified by fiery pyrotechnics that radiated heat through the stadium.

Originally a collaboration with controversial rapper Ye, also known as Kanye West, Jay-Z left his voice in for the chorus but cut his verses out.

US DJ Khaled had a brief moment on stage while Jay-Z changed, but it was the appearance of London-born rapper Giggs which got the crowd erupting.

He appeared overwhelmed at one stage, his hand clutching his face, as he took in the packed crowd while performing his track Talkin Da Hardest alongside Jay-Z.

The surprise guests didn't stop there, as Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean from the 90s American hip-hop collective The Fugees reunited to perform their hit tracks Ready or Not, Killing Me Softly with His Song and Fu-Gee-La.

It was a full-circle moment for both them and Jay-Z as he recalled supporting them on their European tour.

The US rap superstar closed out the night with rousing renditions of Public Service Announcement (Interlude) and Numb/Encore, hailing it as a "legendary night" that he would "never forget".

The crowd appeared to agree as thousands praised him by holding up his famous diamond hand gesture.

Fans had travelled from across the UK and the world to see the rapper, including Prince Dean Sithole, who hailed Jay-Z as one of his role models.

"I think he's very impacting, especially for us black people because we don't get a lot of recognition," the 19-year-old from Leeds told BBC Newsbeat.

"Seeing him today shows that dreams are possible and you can be that person that you want to be."

Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, broke through with his 1996 debut album, but it was his third record, Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, in 1998 which landed him the top spot in the US charts for the first time and a best rap album Grammy.

He went on to establish himself as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop, releasing 13 solo studio albums and several collaboration records, which have secured him 25 Grammy Awards.

He was also the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017, as well as being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Over the years, he has also become one of the most prominent music moguls in the world, with his company Roc Nation representing a host of top talent and, in recent years, it has been behind the Super Bowl half-time show.

In 2019, he was declared hip-hop's first billionaire by Forbes, having built an empire based on music, property, fashion and investments alongside his wife Beyoncé.

The power couple have three children, daughter Blue Ivy, 14, and nine-year-old twins, Rumi and Sir.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

Argentine couple to return Nazi-looted painting to rightful owner

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0zxjp50j6o, 2 days ago

A painting which was stolen by the Nazis and only recovered in Argentina last year must now be returned to the heir of its rightful owner, a court has ruled.

The late-baroque Portrait of a Lady was lost for 80 years until it was spotted in photographs of a house for sale near Buenos Aires.

The house belonged to Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of a Nazi fugitive who had fled there after the Second World War, and she has now agreed to return the painting in exchange for not being prosecuted for concealing it from the authorities.

Portrait of a Lady was among over 1,000 artworks looted from the collection of Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940.

His daughter-in-law and sole heir Marei von Saher intends for the painting to be exhibited on a temporary loan at the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires to spread awareness of the issue, Argentine newspaper Clarin reports.

Von Saher has previously said her family "aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques' collection, and to restore his legacy".

This painting was first recognised in August 2025 by the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper on an estate agent's website of a property in the coastal town of Mar del Plata.

It was hanging above a green sofa in the living room of Patricia Kadgien, whose father Friedrich Kadgien had been a top adviser to Hermann Goring, Adolf Hitler's deputy. Goring plundered thousands of works across Europe.

Last September, Patricia Kadgien and her husband were charged with concealment and placed under house arrest after a search of her property initially failed to find the painting.

But at Friday's hearing in Mar del Plata, all criminal proceedings were suspended against the couple.

The agreement reached between the families and prosecutors means Kadgien and her husband will give up all rights to the artwork and must donate 4.8 million pesos (£2,356; $3,185) to local hospitals.

Portrait of a Lady, also known as Contessa Colleoni, is attributed to the work of the late-baroque artist Giuseppe Ghislandi.

However, experts have questioned the artwork's provenance, with some scholars attributing it to Giacomo Ceruti - another Italian artist from the same period.

Cool Machine to Land: 14 of the best books of 2026 so far

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260522-the-best-books-of-2026, 12 days ago

From a dizzyingly brilliant heist to a devastating tale of generational loss, here are the year's most acclaimed works of fiction so far.

John of John by Douglas Stuart

When 22-year-old art student Cal returns home to the Isle of Harris in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, tensions arise with his father, John, a farmer and deacon in a tight-knit, Presbyterian community. At the heart of the story is the long-held secret relationship between John and his bachelor friend, Innes MacInnes, through which is explored wrenching loneliness and different forms of alienation. From the author of 2020's Booker winner Shuggie Bain and 2022's Young Mungo, John of John is being described by some critics as Stuart's best yet. "Rarely can a novel set on such a small scale have seemed so epic" writes The Herald Scotland. "The novel is outstandingly canny and wrenching on self-contempt, on the toilsome art of deceit, and on the contradictions we all contain, as well as the friction that can exist between the personal and the collective" writes The Guardian. (RL)

Land by Maggie O'Farrell

Set in 1865, Land follows mapmaker Tomás, along with his son Liam, as he surveys for the British government the landscape of a windswept Irish peninsula after the catastrophic great hunger. Following an encounter at a mysterious spring, Tomás's mindset profoundly shifts. It is O'Farrell's best novel yet, according to The New Statesman. The author behind Hamnet is "a masterful storyteller" it says, and "the best contemporary novelist in the English-speaking world". Land is "epic and intimate, tender and crushingly devastating". The Oxford Review of Books points to O'Farrell's "adept ability to render scenes with painterly precision," and the novel's "imagery and soundscapes alike seem to demand cinematic translation". Perhaps no surprise, then, that the makers of the recent Hamnet adaptation have secured the screen rights to Land. (LB)

Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead

The third and final novel of Colson Whitehead's Harlem Trilogy – following Harlem Shuffle and Crook Manifesto – is set in the 1980s. Flawed but endearing protagonist Ray Carney signs up to an outrageous mission. The "dizzyingly brilliant" Cool Machine is an "American epic disguised as a heist novel," says the LA Times. It is "a modern masterpiece and an ode to New York, no matter that rats skitter and cockroaches scamper underfoot". The Pulitzer-winning author has delivered another "dazzling" page turner, says the Washington Independent Review of Books. "Cool Machine blends literary, historical, and crime fiction fantastically," it says. (LB)

Country People by Daniel Mason

While Daniel Mason's acclaimed 2023 novel North Woods spanned three centuries, his latest novel Country People is focussed on a single year. It follows 12 months in the life of a present-day family – Kate, Miles, their two children and their dog – who have moved from California to the New England countryside. As the family settles into its new life, Miles meets a band of local eccentrics with some elaborate beliefs who draw him into their world. "The whole thing is delivered in prose so witty and gorgeous that it calls to mind Nabokov's comic masterpiece Pnin," says The Guardian. "This is, put simply, a joyful book – and the deeper you dig, the more joyful it becomes." The Irish Times is similarly effusive. "Mason deftly delivers larks aplenty, poignancy, gentle satire and some top-tier farce. This book dispels gloom; go for it." (LB)

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

"Daring, deranged, cleverly written," is how Vogue describes the buzzy debut by Caro Claire Burke. In this satirical thriller, tradwife influencer Natalie inexplicably wakes up in the year 1855 in a crumbling homestead. The harsh reality of rural existence in the 19th Century soon becomes clear. Yesteryear, says the LA Times, "offers a bitingly funny and occasionally heartbreaking twist on the classic Instagram-versus-reality story". Natalie is "a deliciously unlikable protagonist" who is "objectively off-putting, which makes her bitingly human". The novel is due to be adapted for film, with Anne Hathaway producing and starring. (LB)

Transcription by Ben Lerner

In Transcription, an unnamed middle-aged writer travels from New York to Providence, Rhode Island, to interview Thomas, a 90-year-old former mentor and revered writer and film-maker. The stakes are high – Thomas's recent bout of Covid means this interview could be his last – and the writer breaks his phone just before the interview, rendering him unable to record the esteemed artist's words. What follows is a reflection on technology, storytelling and memory that The Guardian says is "intricate, uncanny, sometimes breathtakingly realistic", while The New Yorker writes: "Nothing in this exquisite, shape-shifting novel is what it seems – words least of all." (RL)

Look What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester

"Gleefully nasty," is how The Times describes John Lanchester's widely acclaimed fifth novel, a black comedy of betrayal, revenge, resentment and entitlement. At its centre are affluent boomer Kate and younger screenwriter Phoebe. A rivalry between them begins when Kate recognises intimate secrets from her 30-year marriage in a hit TV series. The novel "seethes with female animosity and vengeance," says the Literary Review. "Skewed scenarios and retaliatory stratagems are craftily deployed in a novel that's a kaleidoscope of tilting perspectives." Look What you Made Me Do, it concludes, is "a gleamingly accomplished black comedy". (LB)

The Keeper by Tana French

French is a bestselling author described by The New York Times as "one of the most consistently exciting mystery writers around". The Keeper is the final instalment in a trilogy that stars retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper, who becomes enmeshed in the intrigue of the fictional Irish village of Ardnakelty. As the body of a young woman is found in a river, Hooper is drawn into investigating the case. Amid the town's bitter feuds and long-standing grudges, he grapples with the future of this rural community. "Dense, compelling and superbly atmospheric," says The Guardian. (RL)

Departure(s) by Julian Barnes

Blending memoir and fiction to explore memory, ageing and love, Julian Barnes's self-declared swansong Departure(s) is brief, and with only a sketchy plot. One of the book's threads is a romance between the narrator's friends Stephen and Jean, who were in love in their university days, then reconnected again in old age. The narrator, meanwhile, reflects on memory, ageing and love. Departure(s) is a "valedictory flourish" says The Atlantic. "The whole package is a culmination of sorts, shimmering with his silky, erudite prose; beneath the suave surface is an earnest investigation into the mysterious ways of the human heart." (LB)

Questions 27 & 28 by Karen Tei Yamashita

Yamashita's first novel in 16 years centres on a dark period of US history – the internment of Japanese immigrants during World War Two. Under the order of President Franklin D Roosevelt, hundreds of thousands of people were taken from their homes on the West Coast and put in camps throughout the US. Questions 27 and 28 were part of a questionnaire prisoners were given to assess their loyalty. Yamashita's historical novel – which blends real and fictional events with composite characters – examines the period and the ensuing internal battles that arose around the loyalty test. "Yamashita is at her best when she zooms out… and meditates on the greater stakes of these scattered lives," writes Hua Hsu in the New Yorker. "We feel the weight of the past, all these accumulated voices and perspectives, within and between Yamashita's novels, as well as the process through which disparate stories, anecdotes, or experiences might coalesce as history." (RL)

This is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Having been a Pulitzer finalist back in 2010 for short story collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, Daniyal Mueenuddin now returns with a highly acclaimed novel. Exploring how power, class and the legacy of feudalism shape lives in modern Pakistan, the novel follows overlapping narratives of the landowners and staff of a family-run farm. This is Where the Serpent Lives is "sensitive and powerful" says the New York Times. "Mueenuddin makes the reader care about the romantic relationships, and the pages turn themselves." It is "a serious book that you'll be hearing about again, later in the year, when the shortlists for the big literary prizes are announced". (LB)

Kin by Tayari Jones

Announcing Kin as one of her Book Club picks, Oprah Winfrey described Tayari Jones's fifth novel as "a masterpiece… that contemplates the meaning [and] complications of friendship". Motherless since they were infants, Vernice and Annie are "cradle friends", who come of age in Honeysuckle, Louisiana in 1950s US. As they grow, the friends drift apart – one goes down the path of college and relationships; the other in pursuit of the mother who abandoned her. "A lush, beautiful novel", writes Radhika Jones in The New York Times. "When reading Kin, I wanted nothing more than to keep reading it." (RL)

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Pulitzer-winning author Elizabeth Strout is known for her series of novels featuring iconic characters Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, and her deft portrayals of small-town life in all its fraught, familial complexity. The Things we Never Say is a stand-alone novel about Artie Dam – a high-school history teacher who is navigating loneliness and a changing world – as he confronts a life-altering secret. "There is so much here to explore, so many endless human mysteries," says The Guardian. "Let's hope that this fine author continues steadily along her path, delivering unto her loyal readers story upon story, gift upon gift." (LB)

The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley

"Full of pathos and humour," according to The Times, The Palm House centres on a pair of spiky middle-aged colleagues, Laura Miller, a writer and the novel's narrator, and Edmund Putnam, an older editor who is leaving his job at a highbrow literary magazine. The friends' conversations in London pubs over drinks and shared packets of crisps are interspersed with often heartbreaking recollections about their pasts. Critics have praised the novel's dialogue, which Riley, writes the LRB, "wields… like a Swiss army knife, now corkscrewed, now serrated, but always coming to a short, sharp point." (RL)

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'Chest-thumping machismo': The Bayeux Tapestry reveals the bloody, bawdy truth about the Middle Ages

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260820-the-medieval-manosphere-of-the-bayeux-tapestry, 14 days ago

In the 11th-Century masterpiece's tale of a contested throne, about to be exhibited in the UK, virility is equated to power – and the largest and proudest appendage. It tells a story that feels familiar today.

The Bayeux Tapestry tells a bloody − and occasionally bawdy − story of the Norman conquest of England. The intricate masterpiece is embroidered on to 70 metres (77 yards) of flax linen, and weaves a tale of broken promises, greed and aggression that culminates in the death of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings.

After almost 1,000 years, the iconic artwork is returning from Normandy, France to England, where it was skilfully stitched in the 1070s, and from this September is to be exhibited at the British Museum.

It's an artwork depicting a medieval version of today's digital manosphere: an ideology and world centred on hypermasculinity and men's experiences. And a world where size matters.

It is men's contributions that form the focus of the 11th-Century society the tapestry portrays. A third of its men are armed, while others are vigorously engaged in tree-felling, boatbuilding and construction. A woodcutter straddling a length of timber readies his axe, while hunters wave large clubs about their heads as they pursue their quarry. All of this helps communicate the heightened atmosphere of an impending confrontation between two alpha males: William, Duke of Normandy and Harold Godwinson. "A more testosterone-soaked scene is hard to find," Dr Christopher Monk, a cultural historian of medieval England, comments.

This suggestive display of chest-thumping machismo reveals a medieval society made for and by men, where violence settles disputes and laddish humour scores political points. Armed pillagers rampage through Hastings, and fallen soldiers in the lower margin are stripped nude for their armour, just as Harold, slain above them, is denuded of his royal claim.

The recurring penis

If there's a recurrent motif in the iconic artwork, it's the penis. In 2018, George Garnett, professor of medieval history at Oxford University in the UK, counted 93 – mostly tumescent – specimens in the embroidery. Eighty-eight belonged to horses, and another five to men, with a pendulous scabbard (which he rules out) causing considerable debate in academic circles.

"Size matters on the Bayeux Tapestry," observes Janina Ramirez in Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It (2022). In the tapestry's tale of a contested throne, virility is equated to power and the largest and proudest appendage, she notes, "belongs to the fine stallion William is presented with on the eve of the battle". Second place goes to King Harold's mount, "the implication being that he is a worthy opponent".

Within the traditions of 11th-Century art, graphic nudity was commonplace, and it's quite possible that these penises were stitched by nuns. "They reflect what was so evident more broadly in elite medieval society – by and large, men were the primary drivers of political sovereignty," Monk tells the BBC. "The use of male genitalia, be it human or equine," he says, is "shorthand for the political machismo within the context of the transition to the new Anglo-Norman world in medieval England."

If women play a minor role in the tapestry, it's primarily because "the narrative revolves around male action", Dr Emily Joan Ward, a lecturer in medieval history at Edinburgh University in the UK, tells the BBC. "It's largely depictions of militarily active men, and in those battle scenes we wouldn't expect women."

If a ratio of one to 100 still seems unbalanced, there may be a clue in who the artwork was intended for. Historians believe the tapestry's likely patron is William's half-brother, the Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who features prominently in it and may have used the tapestry to emphasise his important role in the campaign for William's rightful rule.

"The content is probably to resonate with him and his immediate social circle, which will largely be a homosocial circle of men," says Ward. With a Norman sponsor, the messaging needed to be on brand. "Introducing too many women into the story is actually a bit risky," she adds. "William's attempts to stress his legitimacy to the throne through the female line may have made the designer or patron wary of drawing attention to this tenuous claim."

The six women in the tapestry

The women in the central story mostly serve as what Monk calls "emotional punctuation". Queen Edith, a highly influential figure in court politics, mops her tears with her scarf as her husband, Edward the Confessor, takes his final breaths; and a woman and her child flee as gigantic Norman soldiers casually torch their home. Bizarre expressions and proportions aside, it's a scene that reminds us, says Ward, "that warfare is not just a male-dominated event, not just what's happening on the battlefield."

She references the historian Catherine Karkov, who observes that the women in the main register appear at moments of shifting power relations. "If we interpret it that way," Ward remarks, "it gives them quite a powerful role in the tapestry."

The decorative borders above and below the tapestry take us into a world that is more subversive due to its coded critique of the central characters, often in the form of fables. It's here that three of the women appear.

In the lower border, a woman recoils from a sexual aggressor, thought to be her father. Later, in the upper border, two nude women gesticulating towards naked men are thought to be associated with stories of a seductress and a prostitute who used their bodies to deceive, hinting at Harold's broken oath.

We're missing William's daughter, Agatha of Normandy, who was offered to Harold in part-exchange for the crown. Ward notes that we're shown William's impressive flagship, the largest and fastest vessel in the Norman fleet named the Mora, but we do not see his formidable wife, Matilda of Flanders, who paid for the ship in order to facilitate the military success that would make her Queen.

'Medieval Me-Too moment'

One mysterious cloaked figure does however get a namecheck: Aelfgyva. A seemingly predatory priest in a green cape reaches for her face, while in the border, a naked man with impossibly large genitals mimics his pose. Proposals for who she is and why she is there are manifold. The suggestion of Dr David Musgrove, co-author of The Story of the Bayeux Tapestry (2026), that sexual harassment by the priest is being called out in "a medieval Me-Too moment" makes sense.

Others have been more dismissive. As one 20th-Century historian commented: "since it contributes nothing to the story, except a moment of confusion, we have felt justified in leaving it out".

Just as monks inserted illustrations in the margins of manuscripts, it's possible that female embroiderers were permitted a little creative liberty with these cryptic comments on the central story. "They were no doubt working to a design," Monk tells the BBC. "But that does not have to mean that they were merely executors of another's will, or indeed that every detail was dictated."

Perhaps in the border, the invisible women behind the artwork had the last laugh. "Was it a way of expressing despair at bellicose men, or at their own plight as subjugated English women? Is there any sense of mockery, particularly of William? Or were they indulging in playful, earthy humour to pass the time?" Monk asks.

"It's impossible, perhaps, to answer these questions, but it should at the very least make us reflect on the fact that the Bayeux Tapestry only exists because of the skilled and intelligent labour of women."

It was Victorian sensibilities that would eventually subdue some of the original tapestry's machismo. In a faithful replica, created in 1885 by a group of 35 women belonging to the Leek Embroidery Society (currently on display at Reading Museum), the advancing armies are still full of men, but the horses' oversized members have retreated. Unsurprisingly, the naked man with the outsized genitals who was mimicking the priest in the border is shown in the new version wearing shorts.

More like this:

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Most importantly though, by introducing an additional border where each embroiderer stitched her name, the 1885 version honoured its creators and asserted a female presence. As Ramirez points out: "While no one would think of discussing Starry Night without mentioning Van Gogh… very few begin discussions of the Bayeux Tapestry thinking about the women who made it."

A manosphere, be it modern or medieval, might tell stories of male power, but its existence may be dependent on the women it tries to leave out.

The Bayeux Tapestry is at the British Museum, London from 10 September to 11 July 2027. The 1885 version is on permanent display at Reading Museum.

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Council launches campaign to buy local theatre

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp30nz7x3kdo, yesterday

A local authority has launched a fundraising campaign to help purchase a theatre.

Sevenoaks Town Council wants to raise £100,000 towards acquiring the Stag Theatre from its higher level counterpart Sevenoaks District Council (SDC).

The town council leases the venue on London Road but has said the building should be transferred to them at no cost.

The district council has instead offered three options - purchase the theatre for £650,000, a 30-year lease at a peppercorn rent or transfer it to SDC's successor authority after local government reorganisation in 2028.

District council leader Kevin Maskell said the options appropriately balanced "supporting local stewardship and protecting public assets".

Tony McEwen, chief executive of the Stag Theatre, told councillors: "It does not feel right to spend public money buying the freehold of a property that is in every meaningful sense already a public asset."

He said the council should buy the theatre "because it gives the town certainty, control and protection for the long term".

Councillor Nick Varley said that if the town council makes the purchase it wants the "ability to start an ambitious new future for the Stag".

Another councillor, Claire Shea, said the alternative options came with "more risk".

She said: "We will be launching a fundraising campaign this week to ask residents, theatre-goers, cinema lovers and supporters to help us fill the gap in the finances we need... without increasing council tax."

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Cellist Jacqueline du Pre's belongings fetch £52k

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp80kld64d2o, 2 days ago

A collection of items belonging to the renowned cellist Jaqueline du Pre has sold for just under £52,000 at auction.

The collection featured 137 lots from du Pre's childhood and early career, and went under the hammer at Gardiner Houlgate auctions in Corsham, Wiltshire, on Friday.

Handwritten letters, photographs and sheet music were all sold to buyers from as far away as the US and Europe.

"The upper estimate would have been £35,000 or £40,000, so it's well exceeded the upper estimate," said Jamie South, director at Gardiner Houlgate.

Standout items from the sale included a photograph of Du Pre playing her first cello as a child, which sold for £1,100, her birth certificate that went for £1,000, and a collection of tunes composed by her mother, which sold for £4,000.

Du Pre's childhood teddy, Sebastian, also sold for £620.

South said the "incredibly personal" nature of the items might have attracted the buyers.

First concert aged seven

Jaqueline Du Pre performed her first cello concert at the age of seven and went on to become one of the most renowned instrumentalists of the 20th Century before her death in 1987 at the age of 42.

The sale was organised by Du Pre's sister, Hilary Finzi, who previously said many of the items had been "stored in our homes for decades".

South said Finzi "not only attended the auction but made a presentation at the start".

This is the first auction of du Pre's belongings, with a second one planned for December.

"We've tried to arrange it so it's chronological, this was very much about the first part of her career and her childhood," said South.

"The second part of the sale in December will be more about her glittering career and obviously her sad death."

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Alan Carr immortalised in street art festival

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq63gn9v524o, 6 days ago

Northampton's Alan Carr has been immortalised in a mural as part of one of Europe's largest street art events.

From Saturday 29 August to Monday 31 August the town became a "living canvas" as more than 360 artists came together to paint over walls and buildings that were earmarked as needing improvement and to cover illegal graffiti.

Wall Games was founded by artist James Thompson in the hopes of bringing more people to the town and leaving a lasting legacy.

He said: "It's a legacy we are trying to leave here to create a street art trail and a tour that doesn't just last for the weekend, but lasts for a longer period and gives people a reason to come and visit the town."

The festival and celebration of live art has become a key event in the town's calendar after previously taking place between 2020 and 2022. And with so much artwork scattered across the town, Thompson said it would take hours to see it all.

With support from West Northamptonshire Council and Northampton BID it has grown from a grassroots community project into a nationally recognised event.

Thompson said: "There's some amazing walls out there. I've seen some fantastic walls on Giles Street where there's some local artists that have done some incredible artwork. My personal favourite is Smug One, he's painted a large picture of a male in a baseball cap and a hoodie on the side of the old Corn Exchange building near Mayorhold car park.

"For me, being a Northampton resident and loving the town as I do, trying to find creative ways to bring people to the town and explore areas that perhaps they weren't aware of and didn't know about is important to me."

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This actor was told he had Alzheimer's, now he's performing a one-man show

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3nwwjd8go, 7 days ago

For four days running, Peter Marinker had arrived at rehearsals that were not even taking place. Dementia had muddled the dates in his mind.

Yet he is now preparing to do something most actors would find daunting even with perfect recall: performing a much-loved Samuel Beckett play alone on a London stage.

Marinker, 85, is best known for his voice work: from radio plays and video games to big-budget films like Labyrinth and Paddington in Peru.

On camera he was the adviser to the US president in Love Actually and one of the airline passengers in the drama United 93.

In 2023 he was playing Gandalf in a stage version of Lord of the Rings when he felt himself "switching off" and an understudy had to take over for the rest of the run.

MRI scans and other health checks followed. Then two years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

"I just had to accept it," he says. "It explained why I kept losing things and I started laughing at myself, at all the other silly things I do again and again."

At that point, some actors may have stepped back from the pressure of performing in front of a live audience.

But "out of the blue" a call came in from someone Marinker had worked with closely in the past - Dave Wybrow, the director of the Cockpit Theatre in London.

The idea was to put on Krapp's Last Tape, an intense one-man play in which an ageing writer listens back to recordings of his younger self, remembering a lifetime of regrets and missed opportunities.

"It's a dynamite show and a dynamite piece of writing," says Wybrow, whose mother also lived with memory problems at the end of her life.

Rehearsals have been running since the end of June to give Marinker extra time to practise, and a whole team assembled to make the play happen.

A stage manager will stand next to the set throughout the performances, autocue screens will be dotted around the theatre, and Marinker will be wearing a tiny earpiece so he can be quickly prompted if he forgets his lines.

Wybrow is adamant this is not about "covering up" Marinker's illness, but showing that collaborative, creative work is still more than possible after a dementia diagnosis.

From day one, Marinker says he did not have any concerns.

"Dave asked would I like to do it, and I was just 'Yes. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes!'" he says.

"I'll still get nerves [on the first night] but I know how to deal with them – that's just the adrenalin."

Echoes from the past

This is not the first time Marinker has performed the play. He first took on the same role in 1983.

The production team unearthed reel-to-reel recordings of that performance more than 40 years ago, and they will be woven into the new production as his character listens back to echoes of his younger self.

One of the striking things about Alzheimer's is that memory loss can be selective rather than uniform.

Early in the disease, regions around the hippocampus, deep within the brain's temporal lobes, are among the first to be affected.

That area plays a key role in forming and retrieving what scientists call episodic memories: memories of specific events and experiences in a person's life.

That is why people with Alzheimer's may struggle to recall a family holiday, a conversation with a friend or somebody's name, for example.

But other memories linked to highly practised skills and routines can be more resilient.

"Something stored in long-term consolidated memory is often easier to access than new memories that have just been formed," says Tara Spires-Jones, professor of neurodegeneration at the University of Edinburgh and author of Fighting for Our Minds.

That helps explain why some people with Alzheimer's can still make a cup of tea, recall song lyrics, or even perform music or a well-rehearsed theatrical script after other memories may have begun to fade.

Tackling the stigma

All the profits from the four-day theatre run are going to the Alzheimer's Society, an organisation which helped Peter after his diagnosis.

Research for the charity in 2025 suggested that 42% of people living with dementia felt ashamed about their symptoms.

One in five of those with memory problems said they had not seen a doctor about a diagnosis because they were worried about the reaction of friends and family.

Stigma is "still very much prevalent", says Taiyaba Zeria, who manages dementia support services for the Alzheimer's Society in London.

"What Peter is doing really highlights that a diagnosis is not the end, and a person living with dementia can still do so many things they enjoy and they are passionate about."

Marinker, meanwhile, describes the project as his "wonderful swan song".

"I'm in the early stage [of the disease], so I need to make the best of the early stage and prepare as best I can for the middle stage," he says with a wry laugh.

"I might just live through this [performance], or I might just drop!"

* Peter Marinker is appearing in Krapp's Last Tape at the Cockpit Theatre in London from 2 to 5 September.

How fashion returned to Scotland's former national costume museum

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c204v1wvdnzo, 8 days ago

For years, Shambellie House near New Abbey was home to Scotland's National Museum of Costume.

When that chapter ended in 2013 and its contents were transferred to Edinburgh, many people wondered if fashion would ever return to the site.

Now, thanks to a surprising new partnership, costumes are back inside the historic building.

However, this time around the set-up is completely different.

A campaign to keep the site open back in 2013 ultimately failed and work began soon afterwards to find a new life for it.

The Shambellie House Trust (SHT) picked up the keys in 2021 and has set about bringing it back into use.

After restoration work, it reopened in April 2022 as an arts and heritage centre, beginning a new chapter for one of Dumfries and Galloway's most significant historic homes.

The return of costumes came about after a collection of 173 theatrical garments was donated to the Dumfries Theatre Royal by Nonsuch History and Dance.

The company, established in London in 1966, previously used them for performances and educational workshops across the United Kingdom.

In 2019, the organisation - and its extensive wardrobe of authentic reproductions - relocated to Sanquhar in southern Scotland.

Seeking a permanent and secure home for the garments, dancer and project director Penny Boff contacted the theatre.

She explained how they used the clothes for education.

"We always try to do workshops and performances that are based on local history," she said.

"We link dances to the community because we like to show people how the dance can be related to things that they are doing now and that it brings the history alive."

Pat Phillips is the volunteer costume and wardrobes manager at the Theatre Royal.

She went to view the clothes in Sanquhar and decided the theatre had to step in and take them.

"When I saw them hanging up in the room, I was just like, wow, these are amazing," she said.

"And I was thinking, if this is exciting for me, could it be exciting for other people as well?".

Pat spent two months putting the outfits on mannequins, taking photographs, and recording them in a database.

Then, out of the blue, staff at Shambellie House called to ask if the theatre had any interesting costumes they could display.

The new exhibition is not trying to copy the old museum.

Instead, a small selection of about 10 costumes has been placed carefully around the house to match the modern craftwork currently on show.

"The costumes need to be shown, they need to be touched," Pat added.

Mags Wilson, who helped repair the collection, said it was a joy to see them brought out of storage and put in front of the public.

"Generally when you go and look at costumes in museums, they're in a glass case," she said.

"You can't really take photographs of them because of the reflection.

"To be able to get close and see the detail on these costumes and see how the seamstresses have made them back then, it's really special."

The exhibition has proved so popular that its run has been extended.

Penny and the rest of the team are thrilled with the new venue.

"I was amazed by everything," she said.

"The surroundings have this very special atmosphere and it's so welcoming and I just love it."

Mags agreed that the location was perfect.

"You can imagine how the family lived in this house and it's just nice to experience an old house with all its charms," she said.

The costumes will stay at Shambellie until at least the beginning of October.

The US's newest bikepacking trail is pioneering a whole new way to see Vermont

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260904-the-38-mile-loop-pioneering-the-uss-next-great-hut-to-hut-adventure, today

The Heart of the Greens trail threads through Vermont's stunning Green Mountain wilderness, and is the first part of an ambitious bikepacking adventure that will someday span the state.

My mountain bike tyres thud over pebbles and roots as I whizz through the darkening path. Dusk has fallen over Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest and nearly 400,000 acres of woods extend in every direction. In the distance, I spot pinpricks of light. The campsite is finally near.

In the last fleeting moments of light, I arrive at the Chittenden Brook campground. As I wheel my bike past the welcome sign, I spy a slick, modern hut with pine siding. I'd planned to simply pitch a tent – to this weary bikepacker, the hut's glass windows and wraparound porch seem like the lap of luxury.

Next time, I thought, I'm staying there.

This hut is part of the Heart of the Greens Loop, a 38-mile (61km) bike trail loop and the first completed segment of an ambitious, continuous bikepacking network that, when completed, will stretch 485 miles (780km) and span the entire state.

Blazing a path for bikepackers

My journey began that morning in Rochester, a picturesque village nestled in Vermont's mountainous White River Valley.

I've driven through it dozens of times without stopping, but since it became the official start and end point of The Heart of the Greens when it opened in 2024, the tiny town has become a magnet for bikepackers. Like me, many are eager to blend the escapism of camping with the thrill of cycling through Vermont's glacial-carved wilderness and explosion of autumnal colours.

The loop is a closed-circuit preview of the forthcoming Velomont, a bikepacking route through Central Vermont with a twist: it will be connected by 30 cleverly spaced off-grid huts allowing tired pedallers to bed down in protected forest shelter.

On track to finish the first 200 miles (321km) within the next 10 years, the project echoes a larger trend in bicycle travel: statewide bikepacking routes are in development in Utah, Massachusetts and along the entire West Coast.

I grew up near Rochester and have dreamed of such a multi-day bikepacking route. For now, I'm thrilled to take on the Heart of the Greens. Two huts are already placed along the trail, roughly 19 miles (30km) apart: the Chittenden Brook Hut, featuring simple bunks and a self-service kitchen, and Spikehorn Yurt. The yurt doesn't have electricity, and neither accommodation has running water. The route's huts will straddle a curious middle ground between camping and traditional stays, allowing bikepackers to carry lighter gear and immerse themselves in the wilderness.

The Heart of the Greens may be considerably shorter than the Velomont, but with a cumulative ascent of nearly 6,000ft (1,830m) on largely unpaved forest roads and trails, it's no less intense.

"It's a big walk on the wild side," says Doon Hinderyckx, owner of Green Mountain Bikes in Rochester, when I stop by before shoving off. Hinderyckx encourages visitors to hire e-bikes for navigating the steeper grades: "You're mixing mountain biking and the adventure of the challenging terrain. You're on and off the seat a lot."

It also requires a bike with thick tyres and suspension, a water filter and provisions, since the current route passes through only two small backcountry villages – Rochester and, 9 miles (14km) south, Pittsfield. Like the huts, eateries and general stores along the trail itself are still in development, so I've packed several meals, plus rain gear and insect repellent, despite the beautiful late summer weather. Hinderyckx checks the air pressure in my inner tubes and oils my chain. He's the last mechanic I'll see for the next two days.

Next door to Green Mountain Bikes stands the Stable Inn, run by Hinderyckx's wife, Anni MacKay. This handsome two-story guesthouse opened in 2023, with a range of rooms, Nordic-chic decor and rooftop solar panels, converted from a timber-frame warehouse from the 1840s. While not an official hut on the trail, the Stable Inn has become a base for many Heart of the Greens riders to unwind, or bookend their bikepacking journey with jaunts to the village's quaint art centres and shops.

"[The loop is] a very strategic, positive thing," says MacKay. "People always want to have access to the backcountry, in a safe way, with the benediction of the community that is providing services. It's a complete win-win."

Ups and downs in the Green Mountains

I know Vermont well and have bike-toured widely, but this is harder than I expected.

On asphalt, a 38-mile ride makes for a pleasant afternoon. The Heart of the Greens is far more demanding – and adventurous. Rugged roads lead to mountain bike trails, which scissor their way up the alpine forest.

The first day, I coast south along Route 100 and turn onto State Garage Road, into a residential area. Houses disappear beyond the canopy, and I huff up one shelf of road, then another. All at once, the road transforms into steep gravel. I grind past the Spikehorn Yurt, the Loop's first hut, a rounded fabric enclosure with bunkbeds, a futon, homey furniture and a spacious terrace with views of the mountains. The route then devolves into two dirt tyre trenches cutting through the grass – what mountain bikers call "double track". My temples pound as I climb. Summer mosquitoes drone in the sultry air.

After a couple of gruelling miles, the road finally descends, and so do the conditions. Logging lorries have shredded the ground into potting soil, my wheels sink into a mire of turned earth and broken branches. As I struggle, another cyclist pulls up behind me.

"This is crazy, isn't it?" he wheezes. "I don't think I'd have made it if I wasn't on an e-bike."

I can't help but agree. The grades are tough on my middle-aged thighs, and I frequently dismount and push. I got a late start to begin with, and as I reach the third major trail section of the day – a mile of switchbacks cheekily named "Perspiration" – my legs boil with lactic acid, and the Sun melts beyond the ridge. This is how I come to arrive at Chittenden Brook Campground after nightfall. I pitch my tent onto the cold ground and gaze longingly at the modern hut before me.

Riding high

After a decent night's sleep, I finally hit my stride. I sail down the smooth pavement of Route 73 and pedal through the pastoral scenery of the quiet, unpaved Bingo Brook Road. Dense trees all around, I pass occasional farmhouses and cottages, but most of this land is national forest. Fog lifts over a pond, and the air is cool and quiet.

I try to imagine what the Velomont will look like in future decades. The Heart of the Greens now passes through just two village centres with a loose string of businesses straddling Route 100. As the Velomont expands, it will tether together more towns and country shops, making it easier for cyclists to resupply and interact with locals. Bikepackers will traverse ever-more-varied terrain and, like me, stop in towns they might never notice by car.

"You're camping, but you're not really camping," says Georgia Grzywacz, a Maine resident who rode the loop and stayed at the Chittenden Brook Hut in June. She appreciated the kitchen, electricity and bunk mattresses, as well as the nearby brook. "You're without running water, but you have these creature comforts." Even the booking process was easy: "The [Vermont Huts] website is so navigable."

I veer off Bingo Brook Road to find a final trailhead. Two mountains remain, totalling 12 miles (19km) and more than 2,000ft (609m) of climbing, but this time, I'm prepared. Teeth clenched, I grind my way up the switchbacks of Swan's Mill Trail, fighting for every foot of elevation.

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At last, my reward: Tunnel Ridge is a five-mile-long (8km) flow trail that snakes its way back down to Rochester, for a total of 110 switchbacks. My tyres shudder over washboard terrain and swerve around S-curves. I choke the brakes, my saddlebags bounce noisily over my rear rack. The forest becomes a wash of brown and green. Gravity lures me downward, into the valley. Endorphins flood my brain as I drift into The Stable Inn's parking lot, back to my waiting car.

I'm euphoric but exhausted. For now, I'm closing the loop. But in time, there should be many miles, and many huts, more. And I'll be ready.

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'You're not to think you're anything special': Why Swedes hate standing out

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260901-jantelagen-why-swedes-hate-to-stand-out, 2 days ago

Swedes prize equality, dislike boasting and are famously reluctant to stand out – yet they're also fiercely individualistic and know how to celebrate. The century-old idea of Jantelagen helps explain these contradictions, and offers visitors a fascinating key to decoding Swedish culture.

As an utlandssvensk – a Swede who grew up abroad – I've always been fascinated by the unwritten rules that shape Swedish social life. I once got to chatting with a fellow Swede at a party. It was 4 July, and we discussed why our country didn't celebrate its national day as fervently as Americans. No fireworks, no parades – how come?

"Well, it would be fairly embarrassing wouldn't it?" she said. "All that self-celebration. It's a bit over-the-top," she added, lowering her voice, as if there was an American hovering inches away from our table.

As she explained, setting off fireworks for your nation (and therefore yourself) smacks of back-patting and ostentatiousness – two things that are anathema to much of Scandinavia. When I complimented my companion on how well she'd outlined the issue, she looked askance and waved my praise away like a bad smell. "No, please. That's just my little opinion, of course."

A modest code of conduct

To understand this aversion to basking in even the smallest of spotlights, many Swedes point to Jantelagen, or the Law of Jante: an unwritten social code embedded across Scandinavia that prizes humility, equality and not placing yourself above others.

The term comes from Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose's satirical 1933 novel A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks, set in the fictional town of Jante. Sandemose used Jante to skewer the conformism of small-town Scandinavian life, laying out 10 "laws" designed to put anyone who considered themselves exceptional firmly back in their place.

Rules such as "you're not to think you're anything special" and "you're not to think you're smarter than [anyone else]" leave the reader with a deliberately bruised ego – and that's the point.

Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård even highlighted Jantelagen on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert as the reason he hides his acting awards, to avoid being seen as boastful.

Nearly a century on, Sandemose's laws remain memorable and highly quotable, helping Jantelagen endure as cultural shorthand.

Stefan Dahlberg, a professor of political science at Mid Sweden University, has written a paper on Jantelagen's modern legacy. He sees the rules less as firm laws governing Swedish behaviour. Instead, he explains, "they are better understood as a cultural shorthand for a set of familiar norms […] that you can recognise in everyday Swedish interaction. Status differences tend to be played down, social relations are relatively informal and conspicuous self-promotion can be viewed negatively."

Visitors to Sweden will likely see this in action when chatting to locals. Compliment a Swede on their English, for example, and they may quickly play it down – switching to Swedish and muttering, "Äsch, det är ju inte flytande…" (Shucks, it's not like it's fluent…). Sandemose would be proud.

The qualities can also be seen in everyday Swedish rituals, from Fredagsmys – unpretentious "cosy Fridays" with friends or family – to Lördagsgodis ("Saturday-candy") that's practiced by parents as the one day that kids can unleash their sweet tooth after a week of modest abstention.

That doesn't mean that Jantelagen functions as a literal rulebook – or identically across Scandinavia. Dahlberg's study of Jantelagen in Norway, a geographical and cultural neighbour, found the average respondent tended to disagree with the Jante statements. After all, Dahlberg explains, Sandemose invented the list as a scathing takedown of conformity. "So there are really two things mixed together in the concept: an egalitarian idea that nobody is inherently better than anyone else, and a more negative pressure not to distinguish yourself too much."

Jante's mirror image

Jantelagen has another, less obvious side. In a culture where seeking the limelight is usually frowned upon, Swedish reserve can disappear at parties when a tradition of snappsvisor (increasingly risqué songs belted out while drinking heroic amounts of aquavit) and performative speeches create safe social spaces to open up. So, while Jantelagen is often used as a reasoning for Swedish reserve and diffidence, it can also reveal the inverse.

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As Dahlberg notes, "'Don't think you are better than anyone else' can be read in the opposite direction: don't assume that somebody is better than you simply because they are richer, more successful or have a more prestigious title."

With so much bubbling under the surface, Sweden can feel deceptively complex. Luckily, there are classes designed to help mystified foreigners. Yvonne Gossner runs Learn Swedish Culture AB – and business is booming. "I realised there was a big demand for practical insights into Swedish culture, especially for foreigners trying to navigate life here," she says. "Many felt lost or misunderstood in everyday settings, or even when trying to make Swedish friends."

Case in point: a South American client once arrived at a Swedish woman's party an hour late, carrying a big dish of food as a surprise. The hostess "was not pleased" as the guests had already eaten, and the immodestly large, late-coming dish was left untouched in a bedroom. Swedes, Gossner says, place a high value on punctuality and politeness; if you're invited to a Swede's house, she suggests sending a post-party message of thanks.

"There is even a Swedish joke: 'Don't forget to send a thank-you note for the thank-you note'," she adds. An unasked-for dish can risk looking like a statement that "my food is better than yours", while failing to acknowledge someone's politeness can jar the sense of social balance.

Cracking the Swedish ice

Lola Akinmade Åkerström, a Nigerian-American author, travel writer and photographer who moved to Sweden more than 15 years ago, was initially "a bit floored by the unspoken ethos" of Jantelagen, as well as the contradictory layers of national character.

"Sweden is the most open society, run by the most private people," she says. If you want to deeply discomfit a Swede, she advises, just make eye contact on a quiet train, and hit them with "Hi! How you doing?" Yet they're not being cold, just respectful of the idea that no one should impose themselves on a stranger's space.

That preference for understatement extends beyond social interactions. Travel through the countryside and you can see it reflected in the nation's beloved summer houses. "I think Swedes hold the world record in the number of summer houses per capita – around half the population has access to one," says Orvar Löfgren, professor emeritus of ethnology at Lund University. Yet these are rarely flashy second homes; instead, they reflect rustic, rural values, even among wealthy owners. (Don't think your cabin is better than other cabins, Sandemose might say.)

While in Sweden, visitors might also notice small Swedish flags on birthday cakes, supermarket products and during student celebrations. "Swedes who love to see themselves as non-nationalistic are actually good at waving the flag," says Löfgren.

And despite their quiet reputation, "Swedes are great at celebrating," he adds. Christmas, Easter, Midsummer, birthdays, and student exams are celebrated "with more intensity than in most European countries". You could say these occasions showcase Swedes at their best – not that they'd put it so boastfully, of course.

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Licensing laws, VAT and festivals- has it been a bumper season for tourism?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddve6qn31go, 3 days ago

It's been a summer of hot weather and big events, perfect conditions, you'd think, for a bumper tourism season.

But according to industry leaders the picture across Northern Ireland has been more mixed.

According to Tourism NI "the vast majority of tourism businesses are largely optimistic".

But are they?

Representatives of the hospitality sector say that margins are tight and that, although the number of hotel beds sold is well up, occupancy levels were flat as there are more hotels.

All seem to agree, however, that large events are a means of growing the industry.

Tourism NI says its research "found that the vast majority of tourism businesses are largely optimistic".

Figures released this week by NISRA record that July set a new record for hotel bed and room bookings with nearly 40,000 more rooms sold than the same month a year ago.

But Janice Gault of the NI Hotels Federation says hotels still face challenges.

"I think the summer was very reflective of the weather," she says. "Periods of real heat, periods of coolness and a lot of uncertainty.

"Occupancy was probably slightly down but we now have more hotel rooms so we sold more rooms across a wider portfolio. Events are the big thing. They are the thing that completely change the picture."

The All-Ireland Fleadh's first visit to Belfast was the poster child for this, delivering an estimated 1.65m visits and estimated spend of more than £53m.

Colin Neill from Hospitality Ulster agrees.

He says attracting big events and enticing visitors back must be the ambition.

"Events and experiences are what drive people," he says. "It's what brings tourism from outside and inside the province. The Tourist Board need more money to market in the Republic of Ireland because we need to attract those Fleadh people out around other towns on their next visit."

Away from the Fleadh, many smaller festivals also recorded healthy numbers. In Warrenpoint, for example, estimated numbers at the annual Wake the Giant festival rose by 5,000 to nearly 25,000.

And with school bells ringing again and evenings cutting off, this weekend perhaps marks the end of that traditional festival season.

Two large events taking place are Eats & Beats in Newcastle and Armagh's Food & Cider Weekend.

Setting up the festival village in Newcastle is Lynn Campbell.

She says the music and food event is about more than what is experienced on the day.

"This is the last wee boost for summer that will bring a big crowd into Newcastle," she adds.

"But the hope is that people who come here to the festival will then venture up the town and see what it has to offer – not just in summer but to come back throughout the year."

This year is the first time the annual event has been ticketed – that's because in recent times more people have attended than Donard Park can cater for.

"At any one time 6,000 can fit in the festival site," Lynn says. "That will fluctuate but across the weekend we are hoping for up to 15,000 visitors."

Licensing laws are 'very restrictive'

In Armagh they are also gearing up for the Orchard County's annual celebration of it's most famous product – the apple.

"We have murder mystery dinners here on Friday and Saturday night and then a tour on Sunday afternoon," says Philip Troughton of The Armagh Cider Company.

"It's obviously excellent for us as it raises the profile of the product, the apples and what's a very young industry here in County Armagh."

But it's an industry Philip feels needs less regulation if it is to achieve its potential.

"The licencing laws, at present, forbid me to sell cider on site. We have diversified into tourism and we take in groups and show them the facilities and the orchards and they can taste the ciders but if you look at any vineyard in France, you can try their product and you can buy their products.

"There has been a slackening but they are still very restrictive."

And it is this suggestion that taxation and regulation is stifling tourism growth that regularly comes up in discussion and debate.

This week the level of hospitality tax in NI compared to the Republic and its impact was discussed at Westminster.

Back in Belfast restaurateur Simon McCance says that 40% of his turnover is in some way tax related.

"There's 20% on VAT, our rates bills are big, then there's NI Contributions and other things like waste disposal, water and minimum wage increases," he says.

He says tourism has been steady but there are external pressures.

"August is usually a good month for us with tourism and you do see people from all over the world coming here but I would think that we haven't seen as many Americans coming here as we have in the past, which I'm pretty sure is due to the cost of living."

This summer, to tackle cost of living pressures, the government introduced a short term reduction in VAT charged on family days out.

Among the firms to avail of the scheme was Life Adventure Centre in Castlewellan.

According to Martin McMullan it proved beneficial.

"We were able to keep prices down and offer some special offers through the summer," he says adding that he would like to see it in place permanently.

"We saw was a good mix of national and international visitors. We are seeing more and more of them coming to places like this rather than just to Belfast for the day."

But perhaps the final thought on summer 2026 should go to the ice cream industry.

Steady flow at the ice-cream parlour

Michael Nugent of Nugelato has 13 ice cream outlets across Northern Ireland, including some in seaside locations.

He says the good summer weather was reflected in different consumer patterns compared to previous years, especially in his Newcastle shop.

"Because the weather was so good we were steadily busy rather than being busy in mad bursts as you would be in a normal summer," he says.

"People didn't have to rush to the seaside because they thought it was their only chance. So trade was up but it was a more steady flow."

However, Nugent says it balanced out a very "wet" start to the year.

"The cost of doing business only goes up so you are also trying to absorb that too," he adds.

All flights cancelled due to 'persistent fog'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c980g9312edo, 3 days ago

All flights on Thursday evening have been cancelled due to persistent fog.

Guernsey Airport said it was working with the States of Guernsey, Guernsey Ports, Visit Guernsey and airlines to support passengers, secure overnight accommodation for them and reschedule flights.

The flight cancellations had coincided with high numbers of visiting travellers, which had placed significant pressure on available accommodation capacity, the team added.

The airport team said the disruption was expected to continue on Friday and travellers were advised to allow extra time for their journeys.

Inbound flights were diverted to UK airports on Thursday afternoon due to the fog.

Guernsey Airport director Richard Thomasson, said: "We recognise that today's fog disruption will be frustrating for passengers and we would like to thank them for their patience and understanding.

"Our priority is ensuring passengers receive the support they need while we continue to manage the impact of these weather conditions."

Emergency contingency procedures had been put in place to ensure support was available for passengers unable to secure accommodation, the airport team added.

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Pine tar: The surprising, smoky goo that Finns can't stop eating

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260828-the-smoky-plant-goo-that-finns-cant-stop-eating, 8 days ago

Once used to waterproof boats and treat infections, this smoky plant byproduct is now used to flavour everything from schnapps to bread. But how does it taste?

I've been in the sub-Arctic city of Oulu, Finland for only a few hours when I'm caught under a torrent of late summer rain. I take refuge in a cafe and order a coffee and sugar-dusted pannukakku (a thick pancake). The waiter asks me, "What flavour? We have almond, tar, blueberry..."

I'm certain I've misunderstood: "Did you say tar?" He nods nonchalantly.

Welcome to Oulu, the northern Finnish city where terva (pine tar, usually translated in English simply as "tar") is on the menu. Produced by heating pine wood without oxygen, this thick, dark substance flavours everything from lager to ice cream, lending a distinct, rich smokiness.

"It's an intense flavour, so a little goes a long way," says Matti Moller of the Arctic Food Lab, an initiative showcasing northern Finland's culinary culture. "But it's brilliant to experiment with in everything from fish to desserts."

To Finns, pine tar's aroma has long been associated with wooden boats, summer cottages and sauna scents. So what's the recent culinary appeal?

I've decided to find out.

From sealant to meal

Hugging the northern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, Oulu is renowned as a tech hub, and as the European Capital of Culture 2026, this scenic Baltic port city is flooded with events this year.

Yet just two centuries ago, Oulu had a very different reputation. Encircled by dense pine forests and the winding channels of the Oulujoki delta, it was famed as the tar capital of the world.

"Oulu has been a major trading hub since the 15th Century thanks to its position on the Oulu River," says local guide Sirpa Törmä. "By the 1860s, it had become the world's largest tar-exporting port."

Essential for waterproofing wooden sailing ships, tar was produced by smouldering wood in tar pits across villages along the river, then transported in narrow boats to Oulu's harbour for global export.

Thanks to its antibacterial properties, tar had also long been used as a natural wound treatment all over Finland. "As the well-known saying goes: 'If sauna, spirits and tar do not help, the disease is fatal,'" explains Ritva Kylli, a food historian at the University of Oulu.

But how did it make its way to the Finnish palate?

Tar-as-flavour made its debut on pharmacy shelves. Archives at the National Library of Finland reveal that tar-flavoured medicinal lozenges date back to the early 1900s, and Oulu's local papers advertised tervakaramellit ('tar sweets') as early as 1902. "These were medicinal lozenges sold in apothecary shops for coughs and respiratory diseases," says Kylli.

Even if not every Finn enjoys the taste of tar, virtually everyone has tried the iconic black terva pastille. The nation's most famous brand is Terva Leijona (Tar Lion), sold to this day. Launched in 1933, the pastilles were created by Oulu pharmacist YW Jalander after watching locals inhale smoky tar fumes for their health. Facing low profits, he invented a tar essence (tervaessanssi) and infused it into liquorice pastilles, which he sold through his confectionary company, Merijal. Terva Leijona eventually changed hands, but it is still made using his recipe.

As popular as they were, tar didn't make the leap from pastille to gourmet treat until the end of the 20th Century, says Kylli, as living standards rose and interest in regional heritage cuisine grew across the country: "[It] seems to be connected to a growing interest in the cultural memory of Oulu's tar economy, a trend spreading beyond northern historical trade routes to all of Finland," she says. "It was reimagined into a distinctive heritage flavour."

'It can be addictive'

Matti tells me he buys tar chocolate and syrup a few times a year.

"The taste is unique – sweet, smoky, medicinal and completely unmistakable," he says as we walk across the picturesque island of Pikisaari, connected to Oulu's city centre by a short bridge. "Why do we love it? Perhaps we're tasting our roots, the Finnish forest and our heritage."

The Oulu region, as the historic heart of the pine tar culture, has also become the symbolic centre of pine tar cuisine, with a high concentration of restaurants, cafes and bakeries that produce terva foods.

At Pekka Heikkinen, a family bakery in Kajaani founded in 1913, owner Kaisa Marin bakes traditional bread and pastries. "Tar boats used to sail right past our bakery to Oulu," she explains. "When pine tar food innovations emerged in the '90s, it was natural to start baking tar-flavoured bread."

For Marin, the connection is deeply personal: "My grandmother washed my hair with tar shampoo in the sauna, and our cabin's boat was sealed with tar. To me, the scent is cosy, nostalgic and rooted in home. I love it!" She always keeps thinly sliced tar bread in the freezer, ready to fry in butter when guests arrive. Though not for everyone, she warns it can be addictive. "My uncle, a master confectioner, created a rich tar chocolate that we bake every Christmas. We've even made cakes with pine tar and spruce needles."

Rina Hirviniemi, owner of the cosy Kahvila Kiikku, also bakes tar bread at least once a week, usually pairing it with gravlax. "In summer, I serve vanilla ice cream with tar syrup, and in winter, we grill with tar outside," she says. "I like keeping tar products on hand, though I don't put them on the menu – I have an eye for people I can recommend it to."

So what does it taste like?

Convinced, I decide to – literally – bite. According to Marin, ice cream is the best starting point for tar newcomers, so I head to Market Square's ice cream van. Cone in hand, I sit by Toripolliisi, the brawny bronze police statue keeping watch over the square, and take my first hesitant taste.

A smoky-sweet aroma rushes from nose to palate – the unexpected whiff of bacon. Yet, it's surprisingly sweet. Intrigued, I can't stop eating. Bite by bite, it completely wins me over.

Just as Marin predicted, I find myself becoming addicted. I head next to ChocoSomnia, an Oulu chocolate maker. "We make tar pralines, chocolate bars and tar coffee. We get curious first-timers, but also loyal regulars," says co-owner Mika Lähteenmäki. Sampling a square of dark chocolate infused with pine tar and cranberry, I'm struck by the balance of smoky depth, rich cocoa bitterness and soft berry sweetness; the very taste of a pine forest in midsummer.

I can't stop there. My local friend leads me to a supermarket for Terva Leijona pastilles. Like impatient children, we tear open the box and pop the tiny black sweets. Instead of subtle sweetness, an intense, smoky rush clears my airways. My friend introduces me to two of his mates, and I discover that local usage varies widely: some drizzle tar syrup on bacon, others serve tar schnapps before nights out. For others still, tar candies reign supreme.

While most Finns buy ready-made tar products, today's skilled chefs craft them from scratch. This is what brought me to Lasaretti, a restaurant tucked into the riverfront oasis of Oulu's Hupisaaret Park. Today, head chef Laurance Robinson is serving smoked whitefish pasta with tar pearls, pickled fennel and red onion. "I can't build a tar pit, so I buy flavouring from Kujala's farm to make my syrup for sweet and savoury dishes," he says. "Balancing its strong, pungent taste took time." Resembling caviar, the tar pearls burst in my mouth against the whitefish, sharp fennel, and sweet archipelago bread. It is pure umami with subtle smokiness.

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Originally from the Isle of Man, Robinson cooked across Europe before settling in Finland. "I'll never forget my first taste of tar in 2011 – a sauna soda from my future father-in-law. It tasted like an ashtray at first, but the smokiness mellowed. Later, when I had the freedom to experiment, I said, 'I want to be the tar chef.'" His tar pavlova recently won best dessert at an Oulu culinary contest. "I wonder how far I can push it."

Watching passersby drift through the sunny park, I marvel at how tar shifted from a maritime necessity to the flavour of local identity. "You know what," says my friend. "I've had a horrible headache since morning, but after eating this dish, it's completely gone."

I can't promise it cures headaches, but in every sense, tar remains a uniquely Finnish ingredient that still works its quiet magic.

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Six places in the US where you can sleep at a drive-in

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260902-six-us-drive-ins-where-you-can-stay-the-night, 4 days ago

From retro 1950s properties to modern glamping sites, these places are reviving one of the US's most enduring pastimes – and offering travellers one last classic summer experience.

At the Frontier Drive-Inn, there are no televisions in the guest rooms. Instead, as the property rather cheekily puts it, the biggest TV in southern Colorado is right outside your door.

That would be the outdoor screen left over from the Frontier's first life as a drive-in cinema, which opened in 1955 and went dark three decades later. Today, the former cinema anchors a retro-inspired hotel where guests sleep in Quonset-style yurts and vintage trailers, then gather outside for films beneath the famously dark skies of the San Luis Valley.

As Labor Day (7 September) approaches, the Frontier and other properties like it are providing a fresh take on one of the US's most enduring warm-weather pastimes – and offering one last classic summer experience before the season winds down.

For generations of Americans, drive-ins have been inseparable from summer. The country's first drive-in opened in 1933, but they exploded after WWII, when rising car ownership, suburban expansion and the baby boom helped push their number to nearly 5,000 by the late 1950s, according to April Wright, a drive-in historian and director of Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the American Drive-In Movie in which she visits roughly 500 open, abandoned or former drive-in sites.

"Going to the drive-in was just something you did every summer," Wright said.

Though their heyday may have passed, Wright says the appeal of drive-ins isn't purely nostalgic. Plenty of younger visitors are experiencing them for the first time, drawn to the fact that a night at the drive-in is as much about the ritual around the film as the film itself.

"What it's always been about, and what it is still about today, is spending time with friends and family, and creating an experience," Wright said.

Now, a handful of hotels, motels and campgrounds around the US are turning that experience into an overnight stay. Some have revived long-shuttered drive-ins, while others let guests sleep within sight of giant screens that have been showing films for decades. At these properties, film night doesn't end with the final credits.

Frontier Drive-Inn – Center, Colorado

When the Frontier was redeveloped, its original 1950s screen and roadside sign were among the few pieces of the old drive-in still standing – and both have been preserved.

Luke Falcone, co-owner of Frontier, said the screen had survived decades of the San Luis Valley's harsh weather and was too important to the site's history to lose. "When doing historic preservation projects, if you come across something that isn't broken, you've hit the jackpot," he said.

Despite the name, the Frontier is no longer a traditional drive-in: guests don't pull up in their cars, but settle into lawn chairs or onto blankets to watch fan-favourite films under the stars. "By bringing folks out of their rooms (and cars), we provide an entirely different experience that we can all bond over," Falcone said. The programming leans into nostalgic cult classics, while the accommodation is decidedly modern.

Best Western Movie Manor – Monte Vista, Colorado

About 15 miles (24km) from the Frontier, the Best Western Movie Manor takes the drive-in hotel idea one step further: guests can watch from bed.

The motel was built beside The Star Drive-In Theatre, which opened in 1955 as drive-ins were booming across the US, and many rooms face one of its two screens through large picture windows, with the film's audio piped inside. Each room is named after a movie star, from Cary Grant to Robert De Niro, and guests can also head outside and watch from their cars. More than 70 years after The Star first lit up, it still shows films seasonally (generally from spring to the end of September).

Sutherlin/Umpqua Valley KOA Holiday – Sutherlin, Oregon

The Sutherlin/Umpqua Valley KOA Holiday campground occupies the former Cloverleaf Drive-In, where the original 100ft (30m) screen survived long after the cinema itself closed. When the current owner bought the property in 2006, they chose to keep the screen and eventually added a digital projector and FM transmitter, bringing films back to the site.

Today, films are shown most weekends. Some RV sites sit directly in front of the screen (or have private patios angled towards it), allowing guests to watch from their rigs and tune into the film over their radios, much as they would at a traditional drive-in. Tent campers and guests in the rest of the RV sites can bring chairs or blankets to a grassy viewing area just in front of the screen, where the sound plays aloud.

Hotel Caravana at Four Brothers Drive-In – Amenia, New York

Unlike most of the places on this list, Four Brothers isn't a survivor from the golden age of the silver screen. The Hudson Valley theatre opened in 2013, reviving the format decades after thousands of its predecessors had disappeared. Since then, the family-run property has added mini-golf, fire pits and Hotel Caravana, where guests can sleep in vintage trailers within the drive-in grounds or even pitch their own tent.

Ofland Escalante – Escalante, Utah

Set along Scenic Byway 12 in southern Utah, Ofland Escalante occupies a former drive-in site within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Guests spend the day hiking, exploring slot canyons or visiting nearby Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef national parks, then return in time for the nightly film. "The movie starts just after dusk and it anchors the whole evening," said Noah Ellis, CEO of Ofland Hotels. "It's a key amenity, not an add-on."

The old drive-in comes with its own fleet of vintage cars – including a 1957 Chevrolet and Ford Thunderbird – that are parked facing the screen. Guests grab complimentary popcorn and classic sweets from the concession stand, choose a car and settle in beneath the desert sky.

"The site was a drive-in long before it was a hotel, so keeping actual cars in the mix mattered to us," Ellis said. "There's something about a row of vintage cars, climbing in with a bag of popcorn, that stays with people." Overnight options range from modernised vintage Airstreams to a variety of cabins.

Tiger Drive-In – Tiger, Georgia

Tucked into the mountains of north-eastern Georgia, the Tiger Drive-In first opened in 1954, went dark in the 1980s and then sat abandoned for roughly two decades. It returned to life in 2004, and today guests can stay after the movie in one of three vintage 1960s campervans parked on the drive-in grounds (each with a private deck facing the screen), or camp in a tent or RV.

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'The forgotten empire': When Russia colonised California

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260828-when-russia-colonised-california, 6 days ago

For nearly 30 years, part of Sonoma was ruled by Tsarist Russia, and it played a pivotal – if little-known – role in shaping the US.

It's a pretty, two-hour drive north from San Francisco to Крѣпость Россъ.

After slicing through the Golden Gate fog, I wound past sunburnt vineyards to Sonoma's remote coast and rolled down the windows. To my left, California plummeted into the Pacific and seals barked from boulders cropping out of the foamy surf. To my right, cliffs rose sharply and titanic redwoods shot up from the road's switchbacks.

Suddenly, a lonely twin-domed chapel topped with Orthodox crosses appeared against the blue ocean. I got out and followed a footpath past a Cyrillic sign towards a wooden, frontier-like stronghold built 150ft (46m) atop a bluff hanging over the sea.

"Welcome to Fort Ross (Крѣпость Россъ), the southern edge of the Russian Empire," said Chris Kimsey, an archaeologist with California State Parks.

Every year, millions of travellers set out on the Pacific Coast Highway to twist and turn their way along, one of the US's most stunning roads, as it hugs the entire California coastline. But chances are, few of these road-trippers realise that hidden here on a secluded headland 90 miles (145km) north of San Francisco lies a relic from the days when part of California was ruled by Tsarist Russia.

I didn't, and judging by Fort Ross's eerie emptiness, it seems I'm not alone.

"Even most Californians don't know Russia once had a colony in California," Kent Lightfoot, an anthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley, later told me. "They all know about the Spanish and the Mexicans, but almost no one knows anything about the Russians being here. It's kind of like the forgotten empire."

While some Americans may recall that the US's largest state, Alaska, was part of Russia for nearly 70 years, the Russian Empire's only permanent overseas colony, known as Russian America, also extended into California from 1812-1842. In fact, Russians settled in California decades before newly independent Americans did.

Innovative and surprisingly cosmopolitan, Fort Ross (short for Rossiya, meaning "Russia") was intended to be a breadbasket for Russia's struggling Alaskan settlements, but it also became the source of hotly debated plans for Russian expansion across North America.

The beginning of Russian America

As European powers expanded west in the 1500s and 1600s, Russia expanded east. By the 1640s, Russian fur traders and mercenaries had swept their way across Siberia to reach the Pacific coast.

This rush led to permanent Russian settlements along Alaska's islands and coasts. In 1799, Tsar Paul I formalised the empire's Alaska claims by chartering the Russian-American Company. Modelled after the British East India Company, the for-profit venture didn't just control the fur trade; it now controlled all of Alaska as a corporate colony.

But there was a problem: while the company was growing rich on sea otter pelts, the colonists were growing hungry because they couldn't farm in much of Alaska's frozen landscape. So, the Russian settlers sailed south in search of warmer climates and Spanish trading partners.

California dreaming

In April 1806, with his colony stalked by starvation and his crew decimated by scurvy, Russian-American Company director Nikolai Rezanov steered the prow of his ship, the Juno, into San Francisco Bay. As the brig limped towards Spain's northernmost California settlement, a Spanish soldier grabbed a megaphone and demanded the strange vessel identify itself.

"Russia," a voice called back. It was a response the Spanish had been expecting for nearly 40 years.

Though Spain claimed all of California starting in 1542, it didn't actually occupy it until 1769, after getting word that Russian fur traders were rapidly moving east across the Alaskan islands. To prevent Russian and British advancement, Spain created a chain of presidios (military outposts) along the coast, starting with San Diego.

"The expansion of all of Alta [Upper] California, in many ways, was stimulated by the Russians," Lightfoot said. "The Spanish were nervous about the Russians coming south. So, the founding of San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco were a response to the Russians in Alaska."

During Rezanov's six-week stay in San Francisco, the 42-year-old statesman secured enough food from the Spanish to save the starving Alaskan colonists by getting engaged to the 15-year-old daughter of San Francisco's Spanish commandant. As he sailed back through the Golden Gate, Rezanov realised that the entire northern coast of California was undefended and far sunnier than Siberia or Alaska, so he hatched a plan to extend Russian America into California.

In 1812, after years of stealthily surveying the coast, 25 Russians and 80 Native Alaskan hunters settled on a shelf-like plateau overlooking the Pacific on what is now Sonoma County's rugged coast. Here, close enough to the area's abundant sea otter population but far enough from the Spanish Empire's sparsely guarded northern frontier, they lived in a Siberian-designed settlement hewn from California redwoods under the tsar's double-eagle flag.

Exploring Russian California

Today, Russia's far-flung California colony remains a solitary, surreal place. Set 12 miles (19km) from the nearest town or mobile phone service, the weathered wooden remnants of a once-bustling settlement open onto a 180-degree view of the sea. In two days at the 3,400-acre Fort Ross State Historic Park, I counted 14 other visitors, and except for the occasional chime from the St Nicholas chapel, the only noise breaking the stillness was the waves crashing below the bluff.

"There's a magical feel to Fort Ross," said Robin Joy Wellman, who worked as an interpreter with California State Parks for nearly 30 years. "It's something of a mystery, but once people discover it, they say it's one of the most beautiful places they've ever visited."

The site's dramatic setting straddles the San Andreas fault, and the same earthquake that flattened San Francisco in 1906 also levelled much of the original wooden outpost. But detailed displays of the partially reconstructed fortress paint a vivid picture of frontier life in Russia's wild, wild East.

The heart of the colony was the fort-like stockade, where a handful of high-ranking Russian soldiers, officers and company officials lived in barracks enclosed by a 12ft (3.6m) palisade. I followed Kimsey up the steps of two blockhouses armed with enough cannons to command the coast. He explained that while the Russians chose this natural overlook to defend against Spanish attacks, the two empires never actually clashed, and even depended on each other for survival.

"The Russians and the Spanish were at the very far edges of their overstretched empires. They both needed things the other side could provide, so they traded illicitly," Kimsey said.

In the warehouse, drying sea otter pelts worth $100 each (a year's salary for a Pennsylvania farmer at the time) destined for China, Europe and Spanish California would have hung from the rafters. Under the bulbous dome of one of the oldest Orthodox churches in the Western hemisphere, the little settlement gradually grew into a cosmopolitan colony, complete with banyas, bakeries and some 60 buildings.

"It was a bustling, pluralistic mercantile village, with lots of languages and people from different homelands living together," Lightfoot said. "The stockade was just the tip of the iceberg. The real action was outside."

Beyond the fort

As Kimsey and I walked out of the palisade, he explained that as the colony expanded to include nearly 400 people by the 1830s, it became one of the most diverse places in California – and virtually everyone there worked for the Russian-American Company.

Here, where the sloboda (village) once stood at the edge of the cape, paid Aleutian and Kodiak hunters lived with Native California women, mixed-race Russian and European Creoles married local Kashaya Pomo and Coast Miwok workers and people were buried next to each other at the Old Russian Cemetery up the hillside.

Compared to other European colonies, it was also largely tolerant. "The Russians didn't come here to 'civilise' like the Spanish," said Kimsey, who serves as the tribal liaison for the area's Native communities.

We then followed a steep path down to a crescent-shaped beach where coopers, carpenters and blacksmiths brought in by the Russian-American Company from as far afield as Finland and Hawaii once worked side by side. "This is where the first ocean-going ships in California were built," he said.

It's also where the first bricks, glass and windmills in California were made. As workers crafted longboats, forged iron, cast brass and made metal, Fort Ross became the centre of manufacturing in California. The Russians traded these highly coveted goods with their Spanish and (later) Mexican neighbours in exchange for further provisions for their Alaskan settlements – and in doing so, they unwittingly helped their rivals settle California.

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This shallow-water cove was also where cargo boats and kayak-bound hunters would set off for the colony's main deep-water port 20 miles (35km) south in Rumyantsev (present-day Bodega Bay) and its sealing station off the coast of San Francisco on the Farallon Islands.

As Fort Ross' footprint grew, so did the calls from within the Russian-American Company to heed Rezanov's recommendation of annexing North America's west coast for Russia. In 1821, Tsar Alexander I issued an imperial decree claiming Russian control over modern-day Oregon through Alaska. The US's soon-to-be sixth president, John Quincy Adams, swiftly objected and his warning to Russia that the Americas "are no longer subjects for any new European colonial establishments" established one of the most fundamental principles of US foreign policy: the Monroe Doctrine, which opposes foreign interference in the Western hemisphere.

From the beach, Kimsey and I climbed a steep hill past the stockade to the orchard the Russians started with a single peach tree in 1814 and pushed open the gate. Of the hundreds of citrus trees and crops the Russians planted, only a single branch of a 200-year-old Capulin cherry survives. Yet, the Russians actually left a far greater agricultural legacy here than most people realise.

"It was the Russians who planted the first grapes in [what is now] Sonoma County in 1817," said Megan Jones, Sonoma's official wine librarian. As Jones explained, while Sonoma is now considered "the birthplace of the modern American wine movement", Russian traders introduced the now-rare Mission grape to Sonoma and produced small batches of light red wine.

For all its innovations, however, Fort Ross never succeeded in its two main goals: turning a profit and feeding hungry Alaskans. By the early 1820s, the Russian-American Company's Native Alaskan hunters had speared so many sea otters they wiped out the local population, and a combination of heavy coastal fog and rampant rodents yielded just 13 tonnes of wheat annually between 1826 and 1833.

When the British-run Hudson's Bay Company agreed to supply Russian Alaska with provisions from its Pacific Northwest settlements starting in 1839, it was the beginning of the end for Tsarist California.

Two years later, a Swiss emigrant named John Sutter purchased Fort Ross' buildings and assets from the Russians for $30,000. He cannibalised parts of the structures to create his new settlement in Sacramento. Seven years after the Russians sailed back to Alaska, a chance discovery on Sutter's property ignited the California Gold Rush.

Russia's California legacy

Today, reminders of California's Tsarist past are still scattered across the Golden State as you drive north from San Francisco. One of the city's most famous neighbourhoods, Russian Hill, gets its name from the graves of Russian-American Company sailors discovered there during the Gold Rush (look for a plaque near 1120 Vallejo Street). A historical marker at Bodega Bay shows where Russians set sail for their Alaskan capital, Novo-Arkhangelsk (present-day Sitka). And more than a million people visit the Russian River Valley each year to splash, hike and taste some of the US's best wines.

"The Russians called this river Slavyanka, and it's one of the main arteries they used to exploit the area," said Suki Waters, a Kashaya Pomo descendant and the owner of WaterTreks, which leads eco-tours along the Russian River. As we kayaked past harbour seals and migrating pelicans, she recounted stories from her great-great-grandmother, who was alive when the Russians sailed in.

"Fort Ross was a seasonal fishing village called Metini for thousands of years," she said. "When the Russians first came, the Elders called them the 'Undersea People', because from high on the bluff, it looked like they rose out from under the ocean."

Later that afternoon, I walked back through Fort Ross' Cyrillic signs, stockade and sloboda towards a lone bench at the edge of that bluff. Peering across the Pacific, I wondered how many days it would take to reach Russia. But as a distant chime from the chapel echoed in the air, I was reminded of something Wellman told me.

"The fact that a little part of Russia was right here in California is amazing. Why would we ever want to forget that?"

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The museum charting how humans understand the world

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260828-the-museum-charting-how-humans-understand-the-world, 7 days ago

Beautiful, surreal and eerily empty, Vienna's Globe Museum the only public museum on Earth dedicated to globes, and it – quite literally – tells the story of our world.

It's a chilly afternoon in Vienna, and the line for the Austrian National Library has already spilled out the door, curling like a ribbon around the grand Josefsplatz square. I'm not in the mood to wait – I've already struck out at several crowded nearby attractions where timed-entry tickets were sold out.

Rather than join the queue, I walk down the street and stumble onto a smaller, somewhat hidden site: The Globe Museum. Tucked inside Vienna's 17th-Century Palais Mollard, it's the only public museum on Earth dedicated entirely to globes, and one of Vienna's greatest surprises.

Different worlds

I soon realise that I've wandered into another world – or more accurately, many of them.

Just steps from some of the city's most celebrated, crowded attractions, Vienna's Globe Museum displays more than 220 rare and antique spheres, most created before 1850, ranging from towering Coronelli globes to tiny, foldable pocket orbs.

Beautiful and surreal, the museum's extensive collection goes beyond geography to reveal how humanity has mapped and imagined the Earth and heavens above. It's a chronicle of human curiosity, and – quite literally – the story of our world.

"Globes show the change in our imagination of our planet," says Nikolaus Schobesberger, the director of museum. "And this is the only place in the world where you can see so many of them at the same time."

Visitors start by travelling through the Golden Cabinet, a lavish room with centuries-old frescoes depicting scenes from Greek mythology. It's the backdrop for a stunning array of globe-related instruments, like telluriums, which illustrate the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and armillary spheres, which use a framework of rings to visualise the movements of celestial bodies.

As I reach the museum's four main galleries, I realise the whole place is pin-drop quiet. I shuffle slowly from one glass case to another, holding my breath to not disturb the stillness, even though I'm alone with centuries-old objects.

I find myself marvelling at two spherical worlds suspended in time. One is terrestrial, with oceans awash in vivid blues and squiggly brown coastlines. The other is celestial, where mythological creatures and constellations spill across a tea stain-coloured backdrop. Barely bigger than beach balls, these two time capsules were made by the same craftsman 10 years apart in the mid-1500s and preserve a world as it was still coming into focus.

In one, Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa's coasts are filled with place names, while North America fades into the uncharted Arctic. Asia is distorted, a hypothetical southern continent stands in for Australia and Antarctica and the Pacific is populated by sea monsters instead of islands. In the other, Renaissance astrological observations exist alongside Pegasus taking flight and Perseus brandishing Medusa's severed head.

"They're some of the oldest globes we have in our collection," says Schobesberger.

Moving from one globe to the next, I notice how these relics extend beyond geography and depict what people once believed. Many fill the space of unexplored oceans with dragons, while some confidently depict my home state of California as an island. Some pieces also preserve colonial-era prejudices with elaborately painted scenes depicting Indigenous people as cannibals. On one, African coastlines are dotted with Spanish and Portuguese flags, showing "ownership".

"They're a part of this colonial thinking. And so, they're beautiful art, but you also have to think about the time they were created," Schobesberger says, explaining that every globe is as much a record of what people knew as what they didn't. That's why he believes the museum resonates with all types of people, not just historians or cartography enthusiasts.

One of Schobesberger's favourite objects is a lunar globe from 1961. The front portion of the Moon is meticulously mapped. The back, however, is a stark white strip, intentionally left blank because the far side of the Moon had not yet been seen. An updated lunar globe made two years later, also on display, contains the missing portion.

I can't help but circle back to a showstopper in the front hall, a replica of the Behaim Globe – completed by Martin Behaim in 1492, the year Christopher Columbus sailed west – which shows a world without the Americas. There's simply an expanse of ocean between Europe and Asia.

"A globe is such a great thing because it's a small-scale model of our planet, so you can tell stories about the world on it," he says. "Climate, geology, topography, trade routes, everything."

From curios to cultural cornerstones

Walking through the museum, visitors can see the globe's own journey unfold. The earliest examples were luxury objects reserved for aristocrats and wealthy merchants. Over time, globes lost their exclusivity, shrunk in size and became more affordable and popular. They entered schools, appeared in living rooms and even became playthings for children. Today, they are so commonplace that my son even won his desktop globe in a classroom raffle.

I entered the museum expecting to view globes as historic artefacts, but I'm surprised by how alive they still feel. Even with Google Earth at my fingertips, these tactile objects invite curiosity and imagination in a way that a screen doesn't.

"It's not just that the globe is a scientific instrument. It's also an object which lets you dream of foreign countries," says Schobesberger.

Schobesberger's own fascination began as a young child, when he became captivated by the ships, sea monsters and mythical creatures that filled the blank spaces of historical maps and globes. He began to draw his own world maps when he was just six years old.

"You can think about what's possible on the other side of the world, even when you're sitting here in Europe," he says. "Nothing else can capture the imagination quite like it."

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That sentiment resonates with author JF Penn, who stumbled onto the Globe Museum while researching her novel Spear of Destiny, based on a relic housed in Vienna's Imperial Treasury. Like me, she ended up lingering far longer than planned.

"I particularly loved the oversized antique globes with the patina of age and use," she says. "I considered how many fingertips have turned them over generations and wondered if they thought of travelling to these far-off places that I do."

Even after visitors leave Palais Mollard, the search continues. Across Vienna, some 50 globes are perched on rooftops and facades, hidden in plain sight. The museum even charts them on a virtual map in its new exhibit, encouraging people to look upward as they wander the city.

When I finally step back outside, the sky is dark and the streets are even more crowded. Earlier in the day, I had been seeking a quieter corner of Vienna. Instead, I was given a whole new way of seeing the world – a place that's constantly being redrawn and reimagined.

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'Paella is just for lunch' and other unwritten rules for visiting Spain

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260826-five-unwritten-rules-for-visiting-spain, 10 days ago

Spain is famous for its laid-back lifestyle, but beneath the long lunches and late nights are social codes that shape everyday life. Our expert explains how to read them.

While Spain is beloved for its beautiful beaches, romantic architecture and delicious food culture, one of its strongest draws is its famously relaxed pace. No hay prisa ("no rush") and tranquilo ("relax") are oft-uttered phrases here; meals are drawn out and nightlife lasts until morning. Even non-Spanish speakers know the meaning of siesta.

But "relaxed" doesn't mean there's no order. Beneath Spain's easy-going surface are silent social codes that shape everything from how people queue to how they structure their days. Instinctive rather than explicitly stated, Spain's unwritten social rules are often based on respect for regional identity, a belief that life is best lived sociably in public and a historical need to work with, not against, the searing Sun. Locals might not say them out loud, but that doesn't make them any less important to learn.

From relinquishing your personal space to skipping paella at dinner, here are five unwritten rules that will help you understand Spain from the inside.

1. Trust the invisible queue

Try to order at a covered market, pharmacy, bakery, bar or local shop in Spain and you'll typically find people standing around randomly, no clear line in sight.

It may seem confusing to the outsider, but there's a deeply ingrained system at play, rooted in a cultural preference for interaction, informality and social trust. "Queues" in Spain do indeed exist, but they are typically spread-out crowds rather than prim lines because of space constraints in small premises or market aisles; standing where it's most convenient solves the issue. But how do you know when it's your turn?

What to do: When you arrive, approach the closest person and ask "¿Quién es el último?" (Who's last?) or simply "¿El último?" They will point to whomever is. Once you know who's last, you're free to walk along the displays and peruse what to buy without losing your place. But stay alert: you will get asked "¿El último?", too.

2. Don't assume the meal is over when it's over

You've just had the last bites of Spanish tortilla and the last drops of Rioja. But before you ask for the bill, look around. The tables next to you, strewn with empty glasses and crumpled napkins, may look like they've finished too, but they're just entering another phase: the ritual known as la sobremesa.

Literally translated as "over the table", la sobremesa is the hour (or hours) after the meal when everyone settles in for a long conversation. It may involve another round of coffee or drinks, but there's no pressure: la sobremesa is all about enjoying each other's company.

The tradition is thought to stretch back to the agricultural past, when families sat around the table after lunch as it was still too hot return to the fields immediately. Most Spaniards may no longer till the fields, but the sobremesa continues its role in maintaining relationships. The joy of enjoying each meal for as long as possible has never gone out of style.

What to do: Simply relax, put away your phone and keep chatting away. Waiters are used to letting people enjoy their conversations, so just raise a hand to ask for the bill when you're (really) ready to leave. And feel free to linger even longer.

3. Follow the Sun

Spain's famously late rhythm can bewilder visitors, with dinners that last until midnight and shops that close for hours after lunch. But there's a logic behind the seemingly languorous rhythm. In Spain, people work with, not against, the Sun.

Historically, Spanish farmers started the day early to get their work done before the Sun grew too hot, saving lunch until they were through. Then, in the 1940s, General Franco moved the clocks forward to align with Nazi Germany. Though the country now found itself in the Central European time zone, many stuck to the traditional solar schedule: lunch at 13:00 became lunch at 14:00 as the sun reached its zenith an hour later than before, and dinner happened later, too, as the light now lasted longer.

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In Spain, the workday is also slightly longer than the EU average: 36.3 hours per week versus 35.9 hours. Perhaps that's why Spain's famous "siesta" is increasingly less the norm, since 80% of its population now lives in cities. Unable to head home at lunchtime and have a nap, workers now often return to the office or use the post-lunch time to tackle chores.

What to do: Shape your day around avoiding the worst of the afternoon Sun between 13:00 and 18:00 – a light breakfast. Check shop hours to avoid slogging through the heat to a shuttered destination, and keep in mind that only tourist restaurants open at 19:00. If you can hold off until 20:30 or 21:00 you'll be able to eat at better establishments. Consider a strategic siesta to help you stave off the hunger, or prepare for a long night.

4. Make room for the crowd

Spain is a tactile nation, where touching an arm for emphasis, greeting with hugs and (lots of) kisses, bumping shoulders in a bar and standing close to strangers in a line are all everyday aspects of social behaviour – though they can surprise visitors from places with stricter norms around personal proximity.

Furthermore, whether you find yourself in the city or the village, Spanish social life has traditionally been lived in public places like plazas, bars and streets. These shared spaces can get quite closely packed, meaning you end up very close to your neighbours by default.

What to do: Don't automatically read physical closeness as rudeness. Stake out your own (little) space but accept that you'll still catch accidental bumps and jostles in busy areas. If you need to squeeze past someone, a simple "perdón" (sorry) suffices, and almost always elicits "no pasa nada" (no problem) from the other person.

5. Don't order paella for dinner or sangria at a bar

Thanks to Spain's thriving tourist industry, you'll find the same supposed Spanish staples – sangria, paella and tapas – wherever you go.

But Spain is a huge country, with 17 autonomous communities on the mainland, and an equal number of regional cuisines. Traditionally, people ate what was produced locally, and that love for and loyalty towards regional identity when it comes to food is still strong today.

Embrace the opportunity to enjoy the beloved dishes of the city you're visiting. Paella is revered as a native dish of Valencia and Catalonia, but wherever you try it, do it like the Spanish and order it just at lunchtime, as it is considered a heavy meal to digest. Tapas bars will serve regional specialties depending on the city, but the sheer creative variety of pintxos is best enjoyed in their Basque homeland.

If you're in Madrid in the colder months, don't miss the famous meaty chickpea cocido stew; enjoy gazpacho in Andalusia and most of Spain in the summer. Year-round, consider swerving the sangria. Locals do drink it, but it's not regarded a bar drink: it's more commonly consumed as a punch at parties.

What to do: If a restaurant has a photo menu, it will likely be a tourist trap. To explore regional dishes, try a three-course menú del dia in local restaurants during weekdays. These menus are dying out in Spain partly because of shorter lunch breaks and the rise of new, trendier eateries, so look out for places full of locals with daily chalkboard menus, generally indicating fresh, seasonal food.

To drink at the bar like a local, order the nationally adored tinto de verano, a mix of red wine and lemonade that contains no hard liquor, or tiny caña draft beers, which stay colder longer.

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Record heat leaves flower growers short of blooms

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjw5q55p9j6o, today

British flower growers say the hottest summer on record has cost them entire crops, with some unable to bring anything to London markets.

George Stevens, a fourth-generation grower at Stevens of Sibsey in Lincolnshire, lost most of his peony season in May when temperatures jumped from 14C to 30C ((57 to 86F) within days, and has spent the months since irrigating ground too dry for seed to germinate.

"It's by far the driest year we've ever had," he tells the BBC at Chiswick Flower Market on Sunday.

Met Office provisional figures put summer 2026 as the UK's warmest since records began in 1884, with a mean temperature of 16.5C (61.7F), above the 16.10C (61F) record set last year.

England and Wales recorded their driest July on record, and by 10 August the National Drought Group reported that 71.3% of England was in drought, with more than 27 million people living under water restrictions.

For Stevens the damage was done early. A cool start to May gave way within days to temperatures in the low 30s, and the peonies never recovered. What followed was months of hard, dry ground.

"It just went from 14 degrees to 30 degrees," he says. "We missed the whole season.

"If we're putting seeds in the ground, they're not germinating because there's not enough moisture," he says.

"Then you've got to irrigate, which costs fortunes and it's so expensive to do."

The sums are what worry him: "By the time you've done it, you're near the point of 'is it still profitable to keep going, and where's the cut-off point?' That has been the biggest tackle I've known this year."

Getting the flowers to London is its own shift: Stevens had about two hours' sleep before Sunday's market.

"It's extremely hard work," he says. "Last night when we got back from all the markets we were in the field about 8 o'clock with head torches until 10, and then what we had to do was pack, process and then bring them out to the markets today."

He is not alone in a difficult year. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, which campaigns on climate policy, estimates the heat and drought could cost arable farmers as much as £390m in lost revenue, with 2026 on course for one of the worst harvests since detailed records began in 1984.

The Turfgrass Growers Association has warned its own members face rising costs and mounting climate risk.

Chiswick Flower Market is one of a number of monthly markets that let growers sell direct to customers rather than through wholesalers or supermarkets. The market's organisers say several growers have had to drop out this summer because they had nothing to bring.

British-grown cut flowers remain a small share of what the country buys. The growers' association Flowers from the Farm estimates about 90% of flowers sold through UK florists, supermarkets and wholesalers are imported, chiefly from the Netherlands but also from Kenya, Ecuador, Colombia and Ethiopia. The association, which now has more than 1,000 members, says buyers increasingly ask for seasonal, scented and locally-grown blooms.

Stevens says the answer to a hotter, drier climate lies less in emergency watering than in what happens once the season ends.

"One of the biggest ones for us is keeping your soil, your ground good," he says. "It's not now the work starts, it's at the end of the season. Take care of your land and the land will take care of you."

Asked how he stays positive, he laughs. "It's more for me probably pride, and I want to see my family so proud.

"If you didn't love the job, you wouldn't do it. I'm so eager to keep my family legacy going."

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'Significant moment' for chough reintroduction

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2regzg54po, today

Conservationists are celebrating the fledging of eight wild-born red-billed chough chicks in Kent.

The birds were born a year after the first wild chick to fledge since the species was reintroduced to the county in 2023.

Eight captive-reared choughs were released in Dover that year, with the county's population now thought to be 35 and sightings reported in Thanet and Folkestone.

The fledgings were "a hugely significant moment" that showed species restoration work was "delivering real results", according to Kent Wildlife Trust's Paul Hadaway.

The group's director of conservation and engagement said: "This recovery reflects decades of habitat restoration, conservation grazing and partnership working to create landscapes where wildlife can thrive once again.

"Seeing the birds now spreading beyond Dover gives us real confidence they can continue to expand their range, strengthen the population and once again become an established part of Kent's landscape."

The birds disappeared from the county more than 200 years ago as a result of habitat loss but, according to conservationists, decades of restoration work enabled their return.

A further eight birds are expected to be released in Kent in September.

The reintroduction scheme is run by Kent Wildlife Trust with Paradise Park in Cornwall and Wildwood Trust.

Liz Corry, chough release supervisor at Wildwood Trust, said the project's success "fills me with immense pride".

"It is a true testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff, the partnership, and volunteers, not to mention the resilience of the birds themselves," she said.

New government-backed research will use DNA analysis to examine the diet of Kent's reintroduced choughs to inform habitat management.

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Litter pick collects 50 bags of rubbish from river

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4j2eywn70o, today

A litter picking group which removes rubbish from a river collected more than 50 bags of rubbish at their latest gathering.

The Durham City Riverscape Community formed just before the coronavirus pandemic to carry out monthly litter picks along the River Wear.

The group estimated it had collected tonnes of waste from the water since the start, including a large fridge earlier this year.

Lead volunteer Graham Hollingwood said the group was approaching the 1,000 bag milestone which "just shows how much work goes into protecting our riverbanks" and the "phenomenal" efforts of volunteers.

He said pulling the full sized fridge freezer out of the river was their biggest challenge to date but the team proved equal to it.

"None of this incredible progress would be possible without the phenomenal, unwavering support of the City of Durham Parish Council," Hollingwood said.

"Their funding, practical backing, and ongoing encouragement give us the resources and confidence we need to keep getting out on the water, tackle massive fly-tipping hazards, and make a genuine, lasting impact on the local environment."

Clerk of the City of Durham Parish Council and co-founder of the litter picking group Adam Shanley said the scale of dedication from volunteers was "extraordinary".

"It is an absolute privilege for the council to support and stand alongside such a proactive, passionate team," he said.

"We will continue to back our volunteers every step of the way as they work tirelessly to safeguard the River Wear for generations to come."

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Ancient cave art discovery suggests first known humans in Ireland walked over from Wales

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y75dl0jpko, yesterday

Researchers believe the first known humans to set foot on Ireland thousands of years ago were most likely from Wales, following the "exciting" discovery of ancient cave art.

During the most recent Ice Age, when much of the British Isles were beneath a vast continental glacier, the depleted sea levels opened a "lost land bridge" between modern-day Pembrokeshire and the south-east tip of Ireland, around Rosslare.

According to rock expert Dr George Nash, from Liverpool University, the opportunities presented by this pathway would have been too good for hunter gatherers to ignore.

Now, alongside an international team of experts, Nash has located eight cave sites in south-west Ireland featuring rock art dating back from at least 15,000 years ago, around 5,000 years before the previous oldest example of humans in Ireland.

Nash, who coordinated the Lost Land Bridge Project, said there would have been a forested and grassland plateau around 46 miles (76 km) coast-to-coast.

With summertime temperatures typically -10°C to -20°C, Nash said the pathway would have supported wild horses, mammoth, bison, reindeer and other large herbivores, which fed off the hardy sedges, mosses and lichens growing through the fertile, but near-frozen soil.

Nash said he had always believed - from what he had gleaned throughout his career about human movement during the period - that it was inconceivable that people would not have utilised the opportunity the pathway presented.

This led him to assemble his multi-disciplinary team of experts from University College Dublin and the University of Adelaide, along with academics from Dubai, Wales and Portugal.

"Up until now the earliest evidence archaeologists had found - through accidental discovery - was from around 10,500 years ago, but everyone - not just me - knew that simply couldn't have been correct.

"We just weren't looking hard enough, and not in the right places. The principle we worked on was 'absence of proof isn't proof of absence'."

He said advances in artificial intelligence (AI) had been a game-changer.

"With the help of caving specialist Shane Diffily and digital mapping consultant Darren Lee, we were able to fill a computer algorithm with everything we knew about the characteristics of cave dwellings in south Wales and set it to work searching for similar sites in Ireland, without us trudging blindly around the countryside, hoping to bump into something which looked promising."

What their computer model spat out was 28 potential caves in south-west Ireland which the team investigated.

Eight of them were found to have cave art which they believe dates from at least 15,000 years ago and possibly much earlier, and around 5,000 years before the previous oldest example of humans in Ireland.

The team are currently unwilling to be more precise about the location of the caves, for fear that they may be vandalised or looted.

"We know that modern day south Wales was settled from around 35,000 to 40,000 years ago, by intrepid early modern humans from southern England, France and Spain, crossing the then dried-up land bridges of the English and Bristol Channels - seasonally settling in caves along the inhabitable strip of land stretching from Chepstow to St Davids," said Nash.

"Over 20,000 years their art progressed from primitive line drawings which may have been early tally charts, to more figurative and representative depictions of the world around them, and what we've found in Ireland is yet another progression from that."

The rock art which the Lost Land Bridge Project has uncovered includes engravings on the cave walls, paintings in ochre and charcoal and line sketches indented into clay and earth by fingertips.

Nash believes the growing population put pressure on humans to move ever more west and northwards.

"There were around 100 human-inhabited caves on The Gower Peninsula for example, in a time when the technology didn't yet exist for human groups to create their own free-standing dwellings.

"The ambient temperature within these caves would have remained between 10°C and 15°C all year round, so with bearskin covers and fires at the entrance - which also helped to ward-off predators - it would have been quite a cosy place to live, especially compared with the -20°C outside.

"Competition for these caves would have been intense.

"As family networks grew, knowledge of how to survive by following animal migration routes improved and they must have become bolder."

The Lost Land Bridge Project team believe the potential for more future discoveries is high.

"The sites we've currently explored are in south-west Ireland, but it's illogical to presume that early humans just bypassed Wexford, Waterford and Cork, and ploughed on west," said Nash.

"There must be more, and even earlier places which are just waiting for us to find them. This project is now pushing the boundaries of what we consider to be the final vestiges of a north-west European frontier. It's all very exciting."

Isle of May puffin numbers plummet after extreme weather

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7837r4kd0xo, 2 days ago

Puffin numbers in one of the UK's largest colonies have suffered after a drop in food supplies and extreme weather conditions, conservationists have warned.

NatureScot said the number of burrows occupied by the seabirds on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth had fallen by 30% in the last two years.

A joint survey also involving the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) suggested violent storms had killed a number of the birds, while rising ocean temperatures had seriously harmed populations of sand eels - their main source of food.

Researchers described the population decline as "disappointing and concerning".

About 36,500 burrows on the island – about 4.9 miles (8km) off the coast of Fife - were found to be in active use during the study carried out over the summer.

That marked a drop of nearly a third from the 52,000 burrows thought to be in use during the last survey of its kind in 2024.

The Isle of May has been a national nature reserve (NNR) since 1956 and has been home to almost 300 species of birds.

The reserve's manager, David Steel, said the drop was reminiscent of the early 2000s, when puffin numbers fell before recovering in the 2010s.

"The decrease appears to be linked to a combination of ongoing pressures on seabird food supplies, poor winter survival and increasingly extreme weather conditions," he said.

"All of this underlines the importance of continued monitoring and conservation work at sites like the Isle of May NNR, where data and research are playing a vital role in helping us to understand these trends and respond."

The survey involved researchers sweeping back and forth across the island over a six-day period, counting burrows and assessing whether they were used by puffins or rabbits.

The island is also home to guillemots, fulmars, terns and gulls, thanks to its lack of predators.

In the autumn and winter months, it also plays host to thousands of breeding seals, while about 250 species of migrating birds use it as a stopover point.

Mark Newell, UKCEH's field manager on the Isle of May, said he was concerned future "extreme weather events" could affect the breeding ability of puffins and other species.

He said: "We believe that the puffin population has recently suffered from a series of extreme climate events, including marine heat waves and intense storms affecting survival in three of the last five winters.

"The concern for puffins and other seabirds is that climate scientists are predicting an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme events."

Joanna Lumley joins vigil for Nepal flood victims

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0klxvrpvngo, 3 days ago

Dame Joanna Lumley has shared her belief that the "heartbreaking" flash flood in Nepal was caused by human behaviour and climate change, as she joined a vigil in south-east London to remember the victims.

About 50 people gathered at Panas Gurkha Restaurant in Blackheath on Thursday to observe a minute's silence, light candles and hold prayers.

The actress, who has frequently visited Nepal and has strong ties with the Gurkha community, said the flood in the north of the country on 26 August could have been predicted.

Nepal's foreign ministry said 1,252 deaths had been recorded since the flood and 4,200 people remained missing, including 590 foreign nationals.

On Tuesday, Foreign Office minister Lord Wood of Anfield told the House of Lords that 36 British people were currently unaccounted for, up from the previous total of 33.

During the vigil, Dame Joanna said: "I think... around the world our hearts have been absolutely broken by what happened in Nepal.

"The sense that it could have maybe been predicted by all the people who understood that by human activities somehow the world seems to be changing, seems to be getting warmer.

"These catastrophes, the great Himalayan glaciers melting, isn't something that we haven't heard of and thought of before.

"When you see the catastrophic outcome, I think we feel completely hopeless every day we look in the papers."

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said a magnitude 5.2 seismic event struck near the border between Nepal and China.

It added that a "glacial collapse and debris flow" caused "subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream".

Rescue efforts had previously been hampered by fears of more flooding from a lake formed by the glacier collapse which sparked the flooding.

Dame Joanna said having visited and travelled in the country, "it breaks my heart because I know how difficult it is to get around".

"It seems that we have been warned about this over the years," she added.

"I do believe that what we do here, and the fossil fuels we burn and the plastic waste in the sea and so on, I do believe that is making the world a sicker place and a weaker place.

"And the places which are melting fastest are the high mountains and places, and so the Himalayas are there."

Dame Joanna is the patron of healthcare charity Doctors for Nepal and vice patron of The Gurkha Welfare Trust, which provides aid to Gurkha veterans who served in the British Army.

Her father served in the 6th Gurkha Rifles, a regiment of the British Indian Army, during the Second World War.

Vice Lord-Lieutenant Colonel Jane Davis, former Coronation Street star Sally Lindsay, drummer Steve White and Greenwich mayor David Wardrop also joined the vigil.

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Toxic wildfire haze spreads across South East Asia as 'super' El Niño intensifies

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqw44w142o, 4 days ago

A blanket of toxic haze is enveloping parts of Indonesia and spreading into Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, as weeks-long wildfires continue to burn.

Millions of people across large swathes of South East Asia have been exposed to the smog, which in some areas has fuelled "acutely unhealthy" pollution more than 15 times the World Health Organization's recommended level.

Many of the ongoing fires have been burning across Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo since mid-July – underpinned by a so-called Super El Niño that is exacerbating drought conditions.

Between July and August, Indonesia's Health Ministry recorded over 50,000 cases of respiratory infections linked to land and forest fires.

More than 12,000 of those cases are of children under the age of five.

Rizma Nur Fatimah, a 19-year-old teaching assistant at a school in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, told the BBC that the smog in her classroom had become so thick "you couldn't even see your own feet".

"Even inside the house, with everything closed, the haze still got in," she said. "We've been living with this since I was born. It's the same every year, so we've almost become resigned to it. But this year is worse."

Misbah, a 23-year-old mother from nearby Pengayuan village, said her three-year-old daughter had developed "a cough, a sore throat and a runny nose" during the haze.

Some 1,300 kilometres away, in the Philippine island province of Palawan, residents reported similar symptoms, including itchy eyes, nose and throat.

"We are now experiencing mild headaches," said Dr Precious Bañas-Melad. "My cousin who isn't allergic to anything started developing allergies. My husband is the first one who had itchy eyes and throat."

Malaysia, meanwhile, has reported rising cases of asthma and conjunctivitis amid worsening air quality nationwide as smoke continues to drift across the border.

Indonesia's forest and peatland fires are not a new phenomenon. Experts say the crisis is rooted in decades of land-use change, dating back to the Suharto era, when vast areas of rainforest and peatland in Kalimantan were opened for logging, plantations and large-scale development projects.

Today, large-scale fires are often associated with the expansion of industrial plantations and other commercial land use. Environmental groups, researchers, and government investigations have repeatedly alleged that some companies use fire as a cheap and effective way to clear vast areas of land.

Some point out that while drought and El Niño conditions help fires spread, the severity of the haze is also linked to human activity. Drained peatlands, industrial timber estates and oil palm plantations can leave landscapes more vulnerable to burning, with fires often recurring in the same areas.

Unlike traditional practices, which are small-scale, community-managed, and closely monitored, fires linked to large-scale land development can be far more difficult to control and can cause environmental and public health impacts on a much larger scale.

What makes Indonesian Borneo's wildfires particularly worrying is that they are burning through one of the world's largest tropical peatland ecosystems.

Under normal conditions, these peatlands serve as gigantic carbon reservoirs. But under abnormal conditions, such as those currently hitting the region, they can become carbon "bombs".

"But this also means they can become a 'carbon bomb' when they are drained or burned, because that carbon can be rapidly released into the atmosphere."

Others have warned that as the current Super El Niño continues to escalate over the coming months, the fires could significantly worsen.

Last year, without El Niño, forest fires in Indonesia torched a 359,000-hectare area, says Professor Bambang Hero Saharjo, a forest fire forensics expert from Institut Pertanian Bogor University.

Citing research reports, Prof Bambang told the BBC that this year's El Niño could burn an area as large as 11 million hectares – putting it on par with one of Indonesia's worst wildfire seasons, which happened from 1997 to 1998.

Earlier this week, Indonesia's forestry minister Raja Juli Antoni told reporters that the battle to extinguish the current wildfires was entering a critical phase.

"Our problems are not over. September is the peak of El Niño," he said earlier this week. "September is the main fight for us."

Jersey's summer officially warmest on record

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgvylj0vnko, 4 days ago

This summer was the warmest since records began in 1894, the Jersey Met Office has confirmed.

It said the average temperature for June, July and August was 20.5C (68.9F), compared to a 30-year average of 17.7C (63.9F) for these months.

The hottest single day was 25 June during which 39.3C (102.7F) was recorded.

Regional meteorologists said the data was in line with evidence that climate change was driving hotter summers and increasing the likelihood of drier conditions.

The meteorologists said there had been three heatwaves and temperatures had breached 30C (86F) on 13 days during the summer months.

The previous warmest summer, according to Jersey Met, was in 2022, when sensors had detected an average of 19.6C (67.3F) in June, July and August.

Jersey Met said this summer had also been the second sunniest summer on record, with 986 hours of sunshine.

It said the sunniest summer to date had been in 1976 when there had been 999 hours of sunshine and the dullest summer had been in 1927 with 578 hours.

The team said although the summer of 2026 had brought below average rainfall at 106.9mm (4.2in), it had not beaten records.

They said just 9.8mm (0.3in) of rain had fallen in 1976.

The 30-year average between 1991 and 2020 was 158mm (6.2in), the meterologists added.

Unlike large parts of the UK, the lack of rain had not led to drought conditions or hosepipe bans across the islands.

Paul Aked, from Jersey Met, said the summer had born similarities to the famous drought of 1976, although 2026 had been hotter, with more heatwave periods and higher peak temperatures.

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Dry summer puts horse racing season under threat

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly5z4365veo, 4 days ago

The dry summer risks disrupting the early months of the horse racing jumps season, with racecourses warning fixtures could be cancelled unless significant rain arrives in the coming weeks.

Tom Ryall, clerk of the course at Wincanton Racecourse in Somerset, said "a constant wet period for the next two months" is needed to make the ground soft enough to race on for their first fixture of the season on 25 October.

Trainer Paul Nicholls, who is based in Ditcheat, Shepton Mallet, said: "It's one of the driest summers I've ever known," which is preventing some horses from running.

"We've had to water pretty much every day throughout the summer," said Jeremy Martin from Salisbury Racecourse.

"The summer months are our core period of racing, so with racing every two weeks we had to keep putting water on the racecourse to keep it in a good condition, otherwise it would get too firm," Martin added.

"This is the most watering that we've had to do in my 26 years of being here."

Salisbury is fortunate to have a license allowing them to extract water from a 400ft borehole connected to an aquifer, meaning they have been able to continue watering throughout the summer.

Despite this, Martin says there is "nothing better than natural rain" for keeping the course healthy and that not all courses are able to do the same:

"Racecourses up and down the country, however they get their water, have had to do everything they can to keep their ground safe," he said.

Ryall said it had been "one of the most extreme summers in terms of weather", leaving Wincanton's course "pretty hard" and unfit for racing.

"The forecast is changing and rain looks to be on the horizon, finally, so we're just taking every week as it comes and doing our best rain dance, really," he said.

Wincanton Racecourse cancelled its first meet last October as well as two others in March year due to the lack of rain.

Ryall said the track probably needs 200-250mm of steady rain over the next six to eight weeks to avoid cancelling it again.

While that would be higher than average, Ryall said it would not be unheard of, noting that 160mm of rain fell in September 2024.

He said it would be a "massive disappointment" to lose any fixtures, but especially the 25 October fixture, which is the course's charity race day.

The racecourse does have access to a small reservoir, but this only refills when it rains, and it would be very costly to expand it or build a new one, he said.

"If we felt this was going to become a regular occurrence every summer, we have options to start the season later."

Nicholls said: "The ground is completely burnt up, no grass at all about, it's been very dry, it's been a challenge.

"The winter horses aren't going to be ready to run normally until the middle of October," he said.

"The first big jump meet of the season is Chepstow in early October, they'll need some water soon," he said.

But he said there is hope because of the rain forecast for September.

"Once it rains, and the ground is safe, we'll go, but if it's not safe, we won't be running anywhere.

He added that although the horses have adapted to the hot weather "really well" it has been a challenge to feed them due to the lack of grass.

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Could Brussels sprouts be off the Christmas menu?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gj3gzed02o, 4 days ago

Love them or hate them you will probably find some sprouts on your plate for Christmas. Whether you choose to eat them however is up to you.

But one organic farmer in Oxfordshire has said the intense heat has created perfect conditions for a 'plague' of flea beetles that, unlike some, love to feast on the brassica.

George Bennet said his sprouts are "touch and go" after a year that has, "really pushed us to the limits". But fear not, there may still be hope for any Brussels buffs out there.

"We will still have Brussels sprouts but they are likely to be quite small, not the big ones that are much easier to peel on your Christmas dinner."

* The flea beetle is much smaller than a ladybird - about the size of a pinhead

* It attacks leafy plants in the brassica family including cabbage, Brussels sprouts and rapeseed

* It lays eggs underneath plants in the soil, not on the leaves

* Affected plants are peppered with holes and look like they have been "hit by a shotgun"

Bennet worked in IT before he decided to take over from his dad at Sandy Lane Farm in Tiddington, near Thame.

He grows a diverse range of vegetables using an organic system which he said provides better resilience to extreme weather conditions and chooses to sell his produce direct to avoid market pressure.

But, he said the pressure this year has been from flea beetles which have been "really pervasive".

"Typically they are with us after spring and when it just gets into summer. So we have about three or four weeks.

"The flea beetle now has been with us for about 12 weeks."

Flea beetles will eat away at the leaves of brassicas like sprouts.

The extent of their munching on Bennet's crop has seen some of the leaves eaten by as much as 70 percent, which reduces their ability to photosynthesise and give the plant energy it needs to grow.

He said that a lack of water is one of the reasons the beetle likes to eat away at his crops in search of food and moisture.

But other crops like potatoes and squash have done really well, which is why he advocates for a mixed system.

"We farm for all weathers and whatever is thrown at us we can capitalise on it."

"Having eggs not in one basket is definitely the way forward."

Non-organic farmers are also affected – as a pesticide that kills the beetles can't be commonly used because its harmful to bees.

Mike Hirons, CEO of Oxfordshire wholesaler, Produce Warriors, said it is too early to say whether we're likely to see an impact on sprout supply.

But he said poor yields had caused prices of other Christmas vegetables like potatoes and broccoli to increase already.

"What we can know is that if our prices have been high through the summer then it would not surprise me if they continue through the winter."

Despite feeling positive about the future in the system he manages, Bennet said support is "absolutely necessary" to help farmers cope with change.

"Our general climate is moving from very variable weather where we didn't need irrigation... to now we actually need irrigation. And that's expensive.

"That's where government support and funding can really help farmers to start putting into place infrastructure so that we can store over-winter rains and use it in the summer."

Last month the government announced funding of up to £15m to build on-farm reservoirs which it said would help farmers become more resilient to future droughts.

It comes after a spring and summer of persistent heat with five widespread heatwaves and 40 days of temperatures above 30C.

The Met Office said on Tuesday that summer 2026 was the hottest on record where drought was declared in all of Wales and more than two-thirds

As for the sprouts, there are no warnings yet to suggest we're likely to see a shortage but according to Bennet they could be smaller - which may not be a bad thing for some this Christmas.

Heathrow expansion an 'outdated' risk, mayor says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7v4zj2262vo, 4 days ago

The London mayor has formally opposed plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, arguing the expansion threatens environmental targets and transport networks.

City Hall and Transport for London (TfL) submitted a joint response to the government's draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS) consultation.

Sir Sadiq Khan claimed the strategic case relied on outdated evidence that "fails to reflect current climate laws and travel habits".

The government said it was reviewing the response, while Heathrow questioned many of the claims made in City Hall's submission.

The airport said the expansion was the "most important economic growth opportunity available to the UK".

But Sir Sadiq said he saw no evidence the proposals were compatible with a credible path to net zero.

"The evidence suggests Heathrow expansion is a risk that we simply cannot afford to take."

City Hall said additional flights could reverse the progress in reducing air pollution in communities surrounding Heathrow brought by the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez).

The submission raised several issues regarding infrastructure and finance:

* It estimates targets in the draft policy could generate 60,000 additional daily highway trips, adding 22 million road journeys annually to the M4 and M25

* Capacity upgrades would be needed for the Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines, alongside new southern and western rail links. The submission puts the potential surface access cost at £9bn, noting no funding agreement exists

* A 58% increase in flights would reduce predictable noise respite periods for local residents from 50% to 25% of the day

"The whole case for Heathrow expansion relies on outdated evidence that fails to take into account the urgent challenges we face today," Sir Sadiq said.

"I will continue to vehemently oppose these plans as I seek to build a fairer, safer, greener, more prosperous London for everyone."

Heathrow Airport Limited is preparing plans for a new 2.1 mile (3.5km) northwest runway - which would require realigning a section of the M25 - with a final decision expected following a parliamentary vote in 2029.

A spokesperson for the airport rejected claims that expansion was incompatible with net zero goals - and said the airport was committed to a completely privately-funded noise insulation scheme for local homes.

On transport infrastructure, Heathrow stated its expansion plans include widening a busy stretch of the M25, adding that it will present "viable and funded solutions" for required public transport upgrades as part of the planning process.

"This is about much more than a new runway.

"It's about unlocking growth and over 100,000 jobs for the whole country, boosting British trade by £150bn, making travel more affordable and revitalising the UK's steel industry."

The mayor's stance is backed by a coalition of London and home counties council leaders - including Wandsworth, Richmond, Kingston, Hillingdon, Southwark, Sutton, and Windsor and Maidenhead.

In a joint letter to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander following the consultation's close, the cross-party group called on the government to withdraw support for the third runway.

However, the Back Heathrow campaign pushed back against the councils, claiming their opposition was "not representative" of local residents.

Executive director Parmjit Dhanda said more than 100,000 local members support the expansion, citing the potential for jobs, trade, and economic growth, adding that a new runway was "way overdue".

The Department for Transport, which threw its support behind expansion under Keir Starmer's premiership in 2025, said ministers would "carefully consider all responses before setting out next steps later this year".

"We have always been clear that expansion will only go ahead if it is delivered in line with our legally binding climate change obligations, and meets strict environmental rules on air quality and noise pollution," a spokesperson for the department added.

Analysis: Tom Edwards, BBC London transport correspondent

The position of the mayor and TfL against expansion at Heathrow hasn't changed -they have always had concerns over noise pollution, public transport and extra traffic.

What is different this time is they think the modelling is outdated, and the language seems to have toughened.

Perhaps Ulez has empowered the mayor to be more direct?

TfL said since the pandemic, the world had changed with a decline in business travel. They also said the figures being used to back expansion are over ten years old and no longer relevant.

It leaves the mayor potentially on a collision course with the pro-expansion lobby - including those within his own party.

Additional reporting by Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporting service.

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UK must adapt to changing climate, says Tice

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7zex4z13eo, 5 days ago

The UK should "learn to adapt to the changing climate, rather than arrogantly think you can stop the power of the sun", Reform UK's deputy leader has said.

According to the Met Office, this summer is the hottest on record, with five separate heatwaves.

Ahead of the party's national conference in Birmingham this week, Richard Tice was asked about climate change, including criticism he received for previously telling people they should enjoy the prolonged hot weather.

"I get criticised all the time, but it's true isn't it? People have enjoyed the warm weather," he told BBC South East.

"I'm 61. I remember 1976, half a century ago, it was a similar summer day," Tice added.

The 1976 heatwave saw a drought declared as temperatures peaked at 35.9C in Gloucestershire.

Fifty years on and the UK is fresh from a summer that saw 40 days of temperatures above 30C (86F), eclipsing the previous record of 34 days.

Clear that he will not "resile" from his comments that the hot weather improves the quality of English wine, Tice argued that climate change is nothing new.

"The climate has always changed for millions of years, it always will," he said.

The world's climate has changed naturally throughout history, but natural causes cannot explain the particularly rapid warming seen over the last century, according to the UN's climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In addition, the world's 11 warmest years on record have all happened since 2015, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

'Celebrate our successes'

Tice added: "I think we should celebrate our successes such as the English wine and sparkling wine industry."

The deputy leader believes that the UK's efforts in this space have been unrewarded.

Tice said: "We've done more than our bit; we've halved our Co2 emissions in the last 30 years. Globally, Co2 emissions continue to soar."

According to the Office for National Statistics, an estimated 367 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted by the UK last year - a 54% reduction since 1990.

Globally, burning of fossil fuels released more planet-warming carbon dioxide than ever before in 2025.

Tice further claimed that UK energy prices have "doubled in seven years because of net zero and the cost of renewals" but this has made "no difference to global Co2 emissions".

Last week, it emerged that energy prices for millions of households will rise to the highest level for three years because the Iran war has resulted in higher wholesale gas prices.

Last month, BBC Verify cited the cost of wholesale gas as one of three reasons why bills have soared.

Another is that the UK generates a relatively high share of its electricity from natural gas, while billpayers are also helping to fund the building of electricity grid infrastructure.

According to industry body Energy UK, the typical household's dual-fuel bill is now 70% higher than it was at the start of 2021.

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Two giant warming patterns are brewing in the Pacific and warping US weather

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260828-two-giant-warming-patterns-are-brewing-in-the-pacific-and-warping-us-weather, 6 days ago

A rare but powerful combination of an immense Pacific Ocean heatwave and a "super El Niño" are set to have profound effects on US weather and marine life this autumn. Here are five changes to expect.

In the north-east Pacific Ocean, an immense and persistent heatwave is wreaking havoc on marine life and weather patterns.

"It's a really bright red eyeball in the Pacific," says Andrew Leising, a research oceanographer at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). "It's huge, it stretches across the whole [ocean]." The Pacific heatwave, which formed in May 2025, is already bringing surface temperatures 3-4C (5.4-7.2F) above average for this time of year, according to Leising.

Add to that: a massive warming pattern known as El Niño is brewing further south. El Niño is a weather phenomenon that pushes up global temperatures, and it is also supercharging Pacific Ocean warming. It is expected to intensify this autumn to become the strongest El Niño in living memory.

This combination of a massive marine heatwave and a "super El Niño" is rarely seen. Here are five impacts we can expect to see – and where they will happen.

1. California: More storm surges, intense floods

California, which has been in the grips of a marine heatwave since December, is bracing for more storm surges and flooding over the autumn and winter due to warmer coastal waters. Coastal water levels are already 15cm (5.9in) above mean sea level, says Patrick Barnard, research director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During this El Niño, that already high sea level will soar further still: to at least 15-30cm (5.9-11.8in) higher than normal, says Barnard.

"Every 5-10cm [1.9-3.9in] of mean sea level rise doubles the flooding frequency for most coastal communities along the US West Coast, so with all these expected sea level increases peaking this winter, we will have historically high flood risk," he says.

Warmer ocean surfaces also evaporate more heat and moisture into the air, which can cause heavier rainfall, says Leising. This can lead to more atmospheric rivers – huge, invisible ribbons of water vapour in the sky – in the coming months. These raise the risk of heavy inland flooding and mudslides in California too.

2. Pacific Northwest US and Canada: Less snowfall, risk of drought

Further north in the US and in Canada, the combined impact of El Niño and marine heatwaves is expected to reduce snowfall, says Larry O'Neill, professor at Oregon State University and director of the Oregon Climate Service. The last huge Pacific marine heatwave, coined "the Blob", led to a record low snowpack in the Pacific Northwest in 2015.

"It may have modified the jet stream and sent storms further north than usual. The storms we did get were much warmer than usual, so the precipitation that would usually come as snow came as rain at higher elevations," says O'Neill.

Reduced snowfall is a concern as many parts of the Pacific Northwest are currently experiencing drought conditions, he adds. "It could take multiple winters for us to recover."

3. Pacific Northwest and Canada: Wildfires and hotter temperatures

Dry conditions and above-average warming in the north-west US, exacerbated by El Niño, increase the risk of wildfires across northern California, eastern Oregon, southern Idaho and Utah this autumn. This is projected to reduce air quality for millions and result in billions of dollars of economic impact.

Meanwhile in California, warmer coastal waters have already led to warmer, more humid conditions across the state over the spring and summer this year, according to Leising.

In inland California, temperatures also tend to be "a little warmer", during a marine heatwave, as the winds off the ocean pick up a little extra heat before moving away from the coast, says Nick Bond, a climatologist at the University of Washington.

4. Fewer Atlantic hurricanes, more Pacific storms

Over in the Atlantic Ocean, El Niño tends to suppress hurricane development as it makes thunderstorms less likely to become hurricanes. But tropical storms in the eastern Pacific are stronger as warmer ocean waters provide additional energy, with heightened risk for Mexico.

These tropical storms can help weaken marine heatwaves during the autumn, says O'Neill. "Evaporation from the winds and the cold temperatures tends to cool [them] off."

A 2020 study by O'Neill found that strong storms fully destroyed marine heatwaves in the Northeast Pacific in a matter of days between 2013 and 2016.

5. Devastation for marine life in the Pacific

The heatwave off California is already "basically cooking the animals along the coast", says Leising.

During a marine heatwave, nutrients don't rise to the ocean surface as often as they usually do and oxygen levels in the water are lower, says O'Neill. "A lot of fish and shellfish will not have enough oxygen, so they'll either die or they'll go further offshore." Fisheries are likely to feel the effects of this damage to the ecosystem, he says.

The only marine heatwave to beat the current one for size led to "really big changes in the marine ecosystem", says Bond. "The Blob", which lasted from 2013-16, stretched for 1,000 miles (1,609km) between North America and Asia.

"Warm water species thrived at the expense of the cooler water species," says Bond. This was detrimental for juvenile salmon, for marine mammals and some sea birds, he adds.

The duration of these heatwaves is a major concern, says Leising. "Marine animals will have been exposed to this warm water for a really long time over a large area, and now they're just going to roll right into the warm waters from El Niño."

Some species, such as rockfish and squid, may benefit from warmer waters, "but overall the balance is more losers as the productivity is down for the whole system", he says. "There's less food out there for everyone."

Why the oceans are so hot

Large marine heatwaves have occurred each of the past seven years and six of these were among the biggest on record for the eastern North Pacific since records began in 1982.

The increase in these marine heatwaves is directly linked to climate change, says O'Neill. "Marine heatwaves are occurring more frequently now, because the ocean has been warming unrelentingly over the last 40 years."

More like this:

• The couple who married in typhoon floods

• How do you cool a 100F city?

• The most extreme hurricanes in history

Since the 1970s, there has been a marked acceleration in sea surface temperatures and the ocean has absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat from climate change. Today, ocean temperatures are hotter than they have ever been.

The heatwave in the northeast Pacific is "starting to become more or less a permanent feature of the climate system," says Bond.

It is only the second time in recorded history that a marine heatwave of this magnitude has occurred alongside an El Niño, says Leising, noting that the relationship between these two events is not fully understood. Scientists are still working out how climate change influences El Niño, but agree that the frequency of these events is likely to increase this century due to global warming.

Met Office forecasts suggest that sea surface temperature anomalies could exceed 3C (5.4F) later in 2026 as El Niño reaches its peak. El Niño events typically lasts 9-12 months, with this one expected to dissipate around spring.

It is unknown how long the marine heatwaves will last. "They certainly do have some real persistence to them. The Blob had legs," says Bond.

As long as the waters of the Pacific Ocean remain excessively hot, we can expect the weather and marine life to feel the effects.

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Dairy farmer calls for help to face climate change

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6zj71650lo, 6 days ago

A dairy farmer from Shropshire has called for more support to help make his industry more resilient to climate change.

Tim Downes is the third generation on his farm in Longnor and said this summer's hot, dry weather meant dairy farmers had had to use lots of their winter feed.

The industry may have to put up the price of milk to help tackle the problem, he said.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it understood the challenges farmers faced and had put in extra support. It added a "new £65m drought package includes an extra £50m for Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements for short and long-term resilience".

This summer, the UK farming industry has experienced significant impacts caused by consecutive heatwaves.

The Met Office said the summer is on course to be the UK's hottest on record. It was also the driest July in both England and Wales since records began in 1836.

Because of this, fields where dairy cows would usually graze have turned brown, meaning farmers such as Downes have had to resort to using feed.

"The forage stocks are just not there [on farms.] This year though, it is nationwide," he said.

"Last year, you could go across into west Wales and the fields would turn green. This year we're not seeing that. it's brown as far as you can travel.

"Maize crops that are stunted brown are being harvested now, which is three weeks earlier than normal and a lot lighter."

Because of the struggle, there have been calls for what farmers get paid for their milk to increase.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board says farmers average between 34 and 38p per litre of their milk – the equivalent of about 20p in a pint.

In most major supermarkets, a pint of milk is sold for about 85p, which they get via contracts they have with farmers.

Downes said the costs and issues with the climate were causing "an alarming drop off" in the national milk supply.

'Demand going up'

He added rates to buy milk would need to go up by 7.5p per litre (4.26p per UK pint) to make a "meaningful difference."

"We are already seeing a drop year on year in milk production by about 7% and yet the demand for dairy is going up," he added.

"Organic dairy [demand] has also gone up. All of the dairy yogurts, cheeses and liquid milk by 10%, so at some point in time [providers] are going to be short of milk."

Earlier this month, Defra announced a package to help support farmers through extreme weather.

The department said it was "backing farmers with the largest nature-friendly budget in history" so it can "support farmers and land managers to help restore nature and boost farm productivity".

It added it hoped this would "protect food security and help businesses manage future risks".

Defra also said it had removed restrictions so farmers could cut and graze land in an Environmental Land Management agreement as part of "temporary drought derogation".

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Why do pipes burst in heatwaves - and what can be done?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp30ggej871o, 7 days ago

Burst water mains, dwindling supplies and hosepipe bans across the West of England are just a few issues caused by this year's scorching summer.

On 18 August, a major road was closed in Cheltenham after a burst main sent a "raging river" down the street, threatening to flood residents' homes.

Two days later, a burst main on the edge of Bristol impacted nearly 1,500 homes, severing the water supply for much of the day.

Water companies said they were continually repairing leaks and replacing degrading pipes but, as climate change brings more extreme weather, experts are calling for renewed infrastructure and a more resilient, sustainable approach.

Why do heatwaves burst pipes?

When the ground heats up, it expands and moves - putting strain on underground pipes which are already under pressure, causing them to buckle and split.

Richard Stanbrook, a director at Bristol Water, said: "It's becoming a phenomenon that only used to happened in the winter but it's now happening in the summer because the ground dries out and moves.

"That challenges our pipes because they are more rigid than the ground.

"It's a disaster if we don't get on top of it - but we are very much aware of it."

Burst pipes are much more common in older water networks because ageing materials lose their strength and crack easily, according to Bristol Water.

Some of the company's original infrastructure from 1846 still remains in active use today, including the 11-mile (17km) aqueduct carrying water from the Mendips.

A spokesperson said the prolonged period of hot and dry weather experienced this summer had "placed significant pressure on the network".

The number of bursts increased by 109% between June and July this year, the spokesperson said.

"In response, we have proactively increased our leak detection activities and expanded our repair teams by 55% to accelerate repairs and minimise disruption to customers."

The company said it continued to invest in technology, data-driven insights and improvement programmes, alongside targeted mains replacement and network upgrades.

Dr Francesca Pianosi, associate professor in water and environmental engineering at the University of Bristol, said most UK water networks are simply outdated.

"[They] were built long ago when climate conditions were different from what we are experiencing today, and will likely experience in the future," she said.

In 2018, the National Infrastructure Commission, which advises the government on long-term infrastructure needs, published a report on "preparing for a drier future".

It recommended reducing leakage, building new supply infrastructure and reducing household demand to improve resilience during periods of drought.

"All those recommendations still hold true and, if anything, are even more urgent as changes in climate seem to be happening faster than anticipated," Pianosi said.

Pianosi described how climate projections were already being used to understand future water balances and "identify where gaps may emerge" between long-term water demand and supply.

However, she noted that investment in infrastructure - alongside variations in geology, soil and land use - meant that future water availability would be difficult to predict.

She suggested issues caused by urban expansion could be "significantly mitigated" by opting for water-saving technology, like rain harvesting or dual supply systems.

"Quantifying how exactly changes in precipitation and temperature translate into changes in demand and supply remains very difficult, as many other hard-to-predict factors affect these relationships," she said.

How are water companies responding?

On 18 August, Wessex Water announced its first hosepipe ban in 50 years as demand surged to 400 million litres per day - 30% above average for the time of year.

The utility company's reservoirs have fallen to 47% capacity following the driest spring and summer on record, while Bristol Water's reservoirs are only 55% full.

Bristol Water also imposed a hosepipe ban after the Environment Agency issued a drought order to protect the River Severn's resources.

Elsewhere in the region, Thames Water - which supplies parts of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire - issued its hosepipe ban on 23 July and South West Water's ban started on 8 August, covering parts of south Somerset.

Wessex Water said about £12m was spent each year on renewing its 7,558-mile (12,163 km) network and maintaining facilities which help store and move water around the region.

It said overall leakage rates had reduced by 60% in the past 30 years.

A spokesperson said: "With an ever-changing climate and growing population, we have a water resources management plan which ensures we're already taking further steps to meet our customers' demand from now to 2080."

While Bristol Water acknowledged performance in 2023-24 and 2024-25 was impacted by "weather extremes", it assured it was taking steps to "strengthen its network and adapt to changing conditions".

"Between April 2024 and March 2025, we successfully repaired 15,637 leaks across our network - reflecting our continued commitment to reducing water loss and improving service reliability," it said.

Since April 2025, Thames Water has also replaced more than 62 miles (100km) of ageing water mains as part of the company's biggest upgrade to its network in 150 years.

A spokesperson for the company said it plans to invest £3.3 billion before 2030 to help reduce leakage and improve long-term resilience.

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What will you tell your grandchildren about the summer of '26?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5x2yn89e2o, 7 days ago

For decades, 1976 has been the benchmark for hot summers in the UK.

But half a century later, has 2026 now claimed that position?

It has been a summer of broken records, wildfires and hosepipe bans across the South.

As it draws to a close, we look back on some of the moments that will be talked about for years to come.

Broken records

By mid-July, Reading University's Atmospheric Observatory said the year had already seen more days above 30C than the whole of 1976, with 15 by that point, compared with 14.

It also became the first year on record to reach 35C in May, June and July.

On 24 June, Gosport in Hampshire reached 36.1C, breaking the UK's June record, which had stood at 35.6C since 1976.

That original record was set at Mayflower Park in Southampton on 28 June 1976 - meaning the 50-year-old record fell to a spot on the same stretch of Hampshire coastline.

The new record was not to last. It was broken again the following day in Somerset, and again the day after in Norfolk, where temperatures eventually peaked at 37.7C - the hottest June day ever recorded in the UK.

Another record fell when Kew Gardens broke the UK's May record twice in two days, and by 9 July, the country had already recorded eight days above 34C - more than any year on record, including 1976.

Up in flames

The summer of 2026 will also be remembered as a summer of wildfires.

Fires broke out across England as the heat and lack of rain left swathes of countryside tinder-dry.

Concern over the fires came to a head on 14 August when the government issued an emergency alert to phones across England and Wales, warning of the risk and imposing a temporary ban on the sale of disposable barbecues.

Few places in the region felt that impact more than the New Forest.

On 9 August, a van fire on the A31 near Ringwood spread into the heathland and ancient woodland of the national park.

By the time fire crews finally left the scene two weeks later, more than a square kilometre had burned.

At its height, the blaze required firefighters from across the country and the A31 itself - a main route between Southampton and Bournemouth - stayed closed for more than a week, causing major disruption.

Forestry England said the fire had destroyed trees along with rare heathland and wildlife, warning it would take decades for the environment to fully recover.

In Oxfordshire, a large fire broke out at a landfill site near Didcot in August, sending a thick plume of smoke across the area and forcing nearby residents indoors.

Fire crews in Berkshire said 2026 was on course to be worse than 2022, with incidents up in both number and scale.

Among those was a blaze in Upper Basildon believed to have started when a combine harvester's blade struck a flint.

And in Dorset, the pressure became so intense that a major incident was declared on 13 August as crews battled a high number of fires simultaneously, including one which destroyed a barn at East Lulworth, believed to have been started deliberately.

Running dry

Fires were not the only consequence of the extremely dry weather.

By mid-summer, hosepipe bans had spread across almost the entire region.

Southern Water was the first to act, banning hosepipes across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from 10 July.

Thames Water followed on 23 July, restricting customers across Oxfordshire and parts of Berkshire, while South East Water brought in its own ban covering Hampshire and Berkshire from 25 July.

On 29 July, the Environment Agency formally declared a drought across parts of the region, including Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and the Thames Valley.

Rivers ran at some of their lowest levels on record and reservoir storage fell well below average for the time of year.

One of the most striking moments came on 18 August, when Wessex Water introduced its first hosepipe ban in 50 years, covering parts of Dorset and Hampshire.

The company said it was the first time restrictions had been needed in the area since the drought of 1976.

Daily life disrupted

For thousands of families, the summer of 2026 will be remembered as the summer school finished early.

At the peak of the June heatwave, about 200 schools across the region announced closures or reduced hours, with some shutting entirely and others offering early collection as temperatures topped 36C.

In Oxfordshire, about 140 schools faced disruption, while dozens more closed or cut their hours across West Berkshire.

On the Isle of Wight, three secondary schools closed or partially closed over consecutive days as the island came under a red heat-health alert.

Not every council took the same approach. In Dorset, most schools stayed open throughout, with the local council advising headteachers that school was often the safest place for children to be.

High streets felt the disruption too.

Greggs closed stores across the country, including in Gosport and Wantage, to "protect its customers and colleagues" during the worst of the heat.

Rail operators cut services and warned of longer journey times, while councils in Reading and Slough opened "cool spaces" for anyone struggling to stay comfortable at home.

An ice rink in Slough saw a rush of regulars who said it was the best place in town to exercise without overheating.

While an outdoor pool in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, reopened almost a month early after pressure from residents.

The human cost

Behind the record-breaking numbers, the heat put real strain on the region's emergency and health services.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust declared a critical incident as its buildings struggled to cope with the heat.

South Central Ambulance Service also declared a critical incident due to an "unprecedented" level of calls, driven largely by dehydration and collapses among elderly people.

South Western Ambulance Service had its busiest day on record, managing over 4,300 incidents in a single day - a rise of more than a third on typical demand.

A third service, South East Coast Ambulance Service, covering north-east Hampshire, also declared a critical incident, asking the public to call 999 only in life-threatening emergencies.

According to UKHSA, an estimated 2,877 people died from heat-related causes in England during the May and June heatwaves.

A separate rapid analysis by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London and the Met Office found that climate change was responsible for around 42% of those deaths.

It also added 3C to 4C to daytime temperatures that would not have been reached in a world without human-caused global warming.

Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Reading-based Royal Meteorological Society, said summers were only going to become hotter and drier - and that what the region had just lived through was "kind of the new norm for us in the UK".

She warned that if a dry autumn and winter followed, the region could face even greater pressure on its water supplies next year - and that wildfires, once a rarity in the UK, were now one of the fastest-growing risks in the country.

So will the summer of 2026 really prove to be the new benchmark - or just the one that set the bar for those to come?

The race to stop England running out of water

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrv84yd9ko, 8 days ago

One evening in early August, farmer Daniel Sizer's phone buzzed with a message.

It was from his local water board and it read: "River levels are low but have recovered enough to allow one night of irrigation tonight."

Like much of the lower half of England, Daniel's fourth-generation farm had seen barely any rain in nearly three months.

He shows us what is left of the peas and wheat crop at his 300-hectare site in Suffolk.

"There's no water in the river so half my crop is completely and utterly ruined."

With river levels falling so low that taking any more water out of them risked endangering wildlife, in July the Environment Agency (EA) temporarily stopped Daniel and thousands of other farmers from watering their crops from the river.

England has long been used to hosepipe bans over the summer.

But what Daniel has experienced points to something newer and more worrying.

The kind of increasingly frequent heatwaves we have experienced and greatly reduced rainfall that we could see over successive summers with climate change, plus a projected increase in demand for water, have raised the prospect that England could at some point run out of water.

The result could be that by 2055 England will face a shortfall of five billion litres in public water supply a day, almost enough to fill Wembley Stadium four and a half times daily. A mixture of low rainfall, high temperatures and demand put pressure on water supply in England more so than elsewhere in the UK.

It is all a far cry from when, in 1818, John Keats wrote: "It is impossible to live in a country which is continually under hatches… Rain! Rain! Rain!"

But what is really to blame for England finding its water supply so under threat? And are there ways of securing its future?

Growing consumption

Back in the 1980s, people in England and Denmark were using water at a similar rate. But no longer.

Residents in Denmark now consume 97 litres of water per person per day, according to Danva, the country's water and wastewater industry body. The daily consumption per person in England is 136.5 litres.

"We've actually doubled the amount of water we use per person, on average, in the last 50, 60 years," points out Nicci Russell, who runs Waterwise, a water efficiency campaign organisation.

She points to changing habits over generations - from a family having a shared bath once a week to having multiple showers a week, sometimes a day.

Households are responsible for nearly 60% of water use in England and Wales. If we had domestic water consumption patterns more like Denmark, Russell says, more than half the 2055 shortfall would be wiped out.

So how could water use in England come down to the levels seen in Denmark?

Russell says, even with projected population growth, if everyone in England knocked a minute off their shower time, for example, it would save nearly one billion litres of water a day by 2050.

But water companies have been running campaigns urging us to use less water, seemingly with limited success.

Will Willoughby, director of water supply at Wessex Water, acknowledges that the negative public perception of the water industry has limited the impact of the message, and the government may be better placed to deliver it.

"I think that would absolutely go a long way to… undoing some of the disdain towards the water companies and get people on board to help look after our water resources."

What really separates England and Denmark is price. As well as water meters being mandatory in Denmark, they also pay far more for their water than we do here.

Despite climbing water bills across the UK - and with them outrage aimed at water companies who stand accused of paying dividends to shareholders when they should have been investing in infrastructure - there is an argument to be made that consumers are actually not paying enough.

In Denmark, the average cost of water and wastewater is £9.45 per cubic metre, here it is significantly lower. Thames Water - one of the cheapest - charges £4.21 and Southern the most expensive at £7.06.

Daniel Johns, managing director of Water Resources East, an organisation working with farmers, water companies and local authorities, says water in England is "too cheap".

"People assume that it will always be readily available. And we need to wean ourselves off that kind of idea that water will always be there."

As it happens, price increases in Denmark were originally implemented for improved sewage treatment, the same reason people in England now face rising bills.

The behaviour change followed naturally as people became more careful with using the newly expensive utility, and it became embedded in the culture. School children have outings to waterworks to understand how precious the resource is, and households have embraced water-saving devices for shower heads and toilet cisterns.

This summer commentators have been discussing surge charging in England - higher rates for those using more water - but as prices are fixed in advance this is not possible under industry regulations.

Feargal Sharkey, former frontman of punk band The Undertones turned frontman of the water quality movement, summed up the feeling of campaigners towards efforts to raise prices and cut households consumption on Radio 4's Today programme earlier this month.

"All of this is nothing more than window dressing on the part of companies while they continue to abuse and exploit their customers."

The wrong kind of water

Overconsumption of water is not just an issue for households. Businesses are estimated to use nearly a third of the water supply in England and Wales, with just under half of that coming from only 1% of companies.

And businesses have actually been receiving discounted charges from water companies that offer reduced rates the more water they use. Five of the nine water companies are now phasing this out over concerns it "might be sending the wrong signal on water efficiency", the industry regulator Ofwat has said.

And there is another question - are we doing enough to make sure businesses are using the right kind of water?

Potable water is water that is free of harmful bacteria and chemicals and is considered safe to drink and cook with. Non-potable water has not been treated to the same levels and is not safe for drinking but can be used in industrial settings and for irrigation.

"At the moment, we're using world-class drinking water to cool data centres, to irrigate our golf courses," Daniel Johns says.

He wants the regulator to look at removing access to drinking water for some businesses.

"We should simply ban data centres from using potable water supplies. We should require them to use closed-loop systems".

Problematic pipes

Despite recent well-publicised problems around burst water mains, water leakage has actually been cut by 43% since 1989 according to Ofwat, the water regulatory body for England and Wales.

However, more than 45 litres per person per day is still being lost from England's water network, nearly a fifth of all the water in the system.

And this is why following Denmark's lead by making meters mandatory could have an effect that goes beyond tying consumers' actual water usage to their bills.

When metered customers get higher than expected bills, that can be the clue water companies need to identify a leak and fix it. Without the meter, leaks are far harder to detect within pipes on private property.

Lightsonic is a company working with Affinity Water to speed up identification of leaks, and their secret weapon is fibre optic cables.

Internet cables often lie close to our water supply, and when water leaks it creates vibrations which interact with the cables and change the characteristics of the light travelling down the fibre optic, explains James Ramsay, chief technology officer at Lightsonic.

"We are just three months into our deployment and the technology has already helped locate over 100 leaks, which has saved the equivalent of two million litres of water every day."

Applied across the whole water network of England and Wales he boldly estimates it could reduce leakage "by as much as a billion litres a day".

The storage question

England is already experiencing wetter winters, something climate models predict will continue. This prompts the question of whether we could just store more of this excess water for when we need it?

To do this, new reservoirs would be needed. But England has built no major new reservoirs for more than 30 years.

The reason for the lack of new storage sites has been hotly debated between water companies and campaigners, the latter saying there has been a lack of investment from the privatised sector, the former arguing they were not given permission to spend the money by the regulators because of the impact on water bills.

The government's landmark independent Cunliffe review into the water sector in 2025 accepted that both arguments were true.

Now 10 reservoirs are planned in England by 2050. But even with financial and political backing, building new reservoirs is not straightforward.

"Building enough reservoirs to hold all that water requires good places, which means places where the land is sloping, where we can find a valley," explains Dr Ross Woods, associate professor of water and environmental engineering at the University of Bristol.

"I don't think that's realistic countrywide."

One of the sites found to be suitable for a mega-reservoir serving 15 million people is near Abingdon.

This picturesque Oxfordshire town on the banks of the River Thames, was until recently, perhaps most famed for its bun-throwing traditions, but it is now at the centre of a national debate.

Public opinion on the reservoir has been split - some have objected to using the site for water, fearing high environmental costs from the destruction of ancient woodlands.

The government has now designated it and one other reservoir as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, bypassing some local decision-making processes.

But these designations do not overcome the environmental hurdles.

Reservoirs, as water bodies, have to achieve "good" status for water quality under environmental law - meaning it must be free from pollution such as from agricultural runoff and invasive species - which just 14% of bodies currently in England have achieved. The Environment Agency told the Cunliffe Review that "the treatment costs of meeting 'good' may render the new reservoirs infeasible".

Even if these challenges are navigated, most of the reservoirs are not set for completion for at least a decade and once all are built they will only make up 13% of that 2055 shortfall.

We do have access to natural reservoirs - underground stores of water called aquifers.

This groundwater provides about one third of the public water supplies in England, and for some regions as much as 100%. They are vital sources of water supply to rivers, which are the first to struggle in summer droughts, and could be another solution to water shortages.

These underground stores can be recharged artificially during wet periods, providing a constant supply through drier summers, by encouraging excess rainfall to soak into soils rather than enter drainage networks as happens in heavily built-up urban areas.

These sustainable drainage systems, which include measures such as expanding grass areas and soakaways, are encouraged in new developments. However, this is predominantly where there is a risk of flooding, not as a drought-prevention measure - and there is no legal requirement to have them.

The value of water

When water supplies are no longer plentiful, tough choices have to be made.

As well as Daniel Sizer's Suffolk farm, the EA has now suspended or limited 1,327 farm licences for abstraction - taking water from rivers.

Paul Tomkins, the Deputy President of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, says the problem is there are legal frameworks in place to ensure there is enough water for nature and to protect the supply for households, but none for growing food.

"Farming is the poor brother of the triplets," says Paul.

With no rain and no river water, farms like Daniel's are facing insurmountable water shortages now - not in 2055.

"We can't afford to have another year like that. We're pretty much on the edge of of bankruptcy."

Woods says this will only be solved if society can agree how water should be used. "The limits that we're up against at the moment are environmental limits. It's not just how much water, it's how we use it as a society, and what values we put on the different uses of water. This is going to be one of the big challenges for water in the next 20 or 30 years".

Lead image: PA

Update: This article has been corrected to say that once all the reservoirs are built they will only make up 13% of the 2055 shortfall and not 7% as originally stated and it has been updated to reflect the role of climate change in changing weather patterns.

How Massive Attack's legacy is changing festivals

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8zy9vdylzo, 9 days ago

When Massive Attack set the world record for producing the lowest ever carbon emissions at a gig, the duo hoped it would create a ripple effect across the industry.

And this weekend, as 60,000 descend on Bristol for Forwards Festival, their dream is being realised. For the first time in the music event's history, every stage will be powered by renewable energy.

Other major events including Love Saves the Day and Bristol International Balloon Fiesta also swapped diesel generators for green technology this year.

Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja said their 2024 show was always about systemic change, adding it was gratifying to see this permanent legacy of decarbonisation for festivals.

The 2024 ACT 1.5 Massive Attack music festival in Bristol produced 98% less power-related emissions than comparable shows by being 100% battery powered and selling 100% vegan food, among other things.

Following a record-breaking summer of prolonged heat and dry weather, which has been influenced by human-induced climate change, the duo are hoping more events will introduce sustainable options.

Forward Festival, which will see the likes of Lorde, Little Simz, Tems & Goldie perform, is using pioneering green hydrogen technology (GeoPura) and a fleet of scalable battery to power the event.

The changes have been made possible with funding from a Clean Power Pilot led by the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), running this summer.

Helen Godwin, Weca mayor, said: "After another exceptionally hot and dry summer, everyone can see how our climate is changing.

"Here in the West of England, we've brought together our brilliant creative industries and clean energy sectors to try to help tackle the climate crisis and clean up our air."

"We've always been a region that cares about our environment, cares about clean energy, about clean air. But we also love to have a good time," said Godwin.

She added that producing dirty air affects people's health.

"We're trying to think of innovative clean ways that we can do that better," she added.

Weca's ambition is to expand the model in 2027, extending it to multiple sectors and paving the way for adoption elsewhere in the UK and internationally.

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Lindsay Clancy murder trial has divided US on whether she's victim or criminal

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2z0xnw2d6o, yesterday

Warning: This story contains distressing details and discussion of attempted suicide

Jodi Fournier spent 15 days at the courthouse - sitting, listening and waiting. It was a personal duty, she felt, to show support for Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother charged with murdering her three children.

Katelyn Kazmirci, from North Carolina, convinced her mother to make a detour to the courthouse in Plymouth on their way to a family funeral, intrigued by the case she had followed on TikTok.

All around them, dozens of women wearing pink rallied in support of Clancy. Not everyone felt the same and across the country, on social media and at dinner tables, Americans have been debating the case with passion.

For nearly seven weeks, the trial transfixed and divided the nation on whether Clancy was a victim or a criminal who deserved to be behind bars.

The 36-year-old nurse's defence team argued she had been suffering from postpartum psychosis when she strangled her young children and so could not be held criminally responsible. The prosecution alleged the killings were intentional and calculated.

The judge declared a mistrial on Friday after jurors - who had heard the testimony of dozens of witnesses and deliberated for 40 hours - failed to come to a unanimous decision.

Their inability to agree mirrored the wider discourse around the trial - one that trial attendee Maryanne Drysdale, 65, saw play out within her own family.

She and her 28-year-old daughter believe Clancy needs mental health treatment, not prison, while her three adult sons, who have children of similar age to Clancy's, completely disagree.

"It's black and white for them, [Clancy] killed the kids and that's that," she said. "I brought these kids up - how can we think so differently about this?"

Fournier believes Clancy was wronged by the US health system and felt compelled, as a woman and a mother, to show up for a case that has given a spotlight to postpartum struggles.

"It only takes one person to change the narrative," she said. "This is a global issue. This isn't just Massachusetts-small-town. This is... women everywhere."

Clancy claims she experienced hallucinations and delusions before strangling her three children - five-year-old Cora, Dawson, three, and Callan, who was eight months old - and then jumping from a second-floor window, leaving her paralysed.

The court heard testimony from more than 10 expert witnesses on Clancy's mental and postpartum health during the trial.

But some of them seemed to dispute the defence's claim that postpartum psychosis - a rare post-childbirth condition characterised by mania, depression, hallucinations, delusions and losing contact with reality - precluded Clancy from criminal liability.

Jennifer Tufts, who treated Clancy during more than a dozen sessions over five months, testified that she had not shown signs of psychosis.

Psychiatrist Avram Mack later testified that the American Psychiatric Association did not recognise postpartum psychosis as a diagnosis.

These declarations only deepened staunch opinions for many - on both sides.

Texas mother-of-four Nicole Russell, who followed the trial remotely, noted the prosecution's presentation of how much medical care and support Clancy had received - from doctors, her husband, nanny and family - calling it "way more help" than most mothers receive.

Clancy's struggles were said to have begun following the birth of her youngest child. She repeatedly sought care, visiting a hospital emergency room, different medical professionals and even calling a suicide hotline.

Many observers took that as evidence that Clancy had been proactive and done everything within her power to heal but had been failed by the system, prompting sympathy from some.

Melissa Merrill had been treated at the same hospital as Clancy after the birth of her son.

"I see myself in her, as a mum who had suicidal ideation," she told the BBC outside the Plymouth courthouse.

Throughout the weeks of emotional testimony, Clancy, who uses a wheelchair, could be seen crying, holding her attorney's hand and making agonised utterances in court as sometimes harrowing details were shared.

After one of the trial days, Merrill rushed to Clancy's defence attorney outside the court and gave him a pink envelope holding a message of support and hope for his client, believing Clancy was a "sad, defeated woman".

But other parents, like Texas mother Russell, railed against "toxic empathy", insisting Clancy was "not a martyr or a symbol for tired mums".

"Lindsay Clancy cannot be the poster child of what difficult motherhood looks like, because millions of mothers give birth to children and endure all kinds of hardship, and they do not hurt their children," Russell argued.

The discourse around the Clancy trial was prominent on social media, with many users being hard-pressed to find a platform where the case was not being mentioned, if not being subject to myriad conspiracy theories.

Clancy's mother, sister and former husband all testified to her deteriorating mental state in the run-up to the murders, but her ex Patrick Clancy was singled out online for wild vitriol and cover-up accusations.

There were claims that he was to blame for the murders, despite his wife never denying killing their children, nor that she had been the only adult at home at the time. This thrust him into the limelight, with tabloids snapping photos of him travelling and with his new wife.

His lawyers issued a statement to CNN in August calling the facts "indisputable".

"Patrick Clancy has suffered an unspeakable and unimaginable loss," they said. "Unfortunately, the tragedy Patrick has experienced has been compounded by patently false, defamatory and injurious public statements."

The case became a flashpoint for gender discussion, too, with opinions often divided along gender lines.

Father-of-three Vincenzo Vazquez, who followed the trial from Illinois, believes gender has a lot to do with Clancy's treatment, doubting that the public would show similar sympathy if a father were on trial for the same charges.

"Whatever someone is dealing with, I don't think there's ever an appropriate time or an excuse or a justification to, you know, kill children of your own, or kill any children," he said.

He said he felt "very sad and a little disgusted to see how many people are rallying behind her", adding: "I think people should be out there rallying for justice for the children. They're three beautiful kids that had a future in front of them."

The decision to declare a mistrial after seven days of deadlocked jury deliberations has left the status of the case - and Clancy's future - unclear. A hearing at the end of the month could establish whether prosecutors will move ahead with second trial or attempt to reach a plea deal.

For now, the debates elsewhere will no doubt continue.

If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide.

A list of UK organisations that can help is available here.

Mistrial declared in Lindsay Clancy murder case, after jury deadlocks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwlrj2je1po, 2 days ago

Warning: This story contains distressing details and discussion of attempted suicide

A Massachusetts judge has declared a mistrial in the murder case against Lindsay Clancy after jurors conceded they would not be able to unanimously decide whether she should be held criminally liable for killing her three young children after a week of deliberating.

The case against Clancy has both captivated and heavily divided the American public, even spurring remarks from the US president.

There was a sense of disbelief in the courtroom as the case - and Clancy's future - were left in limbo.

Clancy's lawyer led a dramatic last-ditch attempt to halt the mistrial and force a verdict, which was unsuccessful. A hearing later this month could establish what happens next in the case.

"At this point, I'm going to declare that the jury is deadlocked and I'm going to declare a mistrial," Judge William Sullivan told the jury on Friday, dismissing them after weeks of testimony, seven days mulling Clancy's fate and the panel signalling three times that they were deadlocked.

The deadlock - known as a hung jury - does not mean prosecutors have proven their case, nor does it mean the defendant is not guilty.

A hearing was scheduled for 29 September, in which prosecutors could outline their next steps in the case.

Meanwhile, the 36-year-old former nurse will remain held on the same murder charges and continue to stay in the mental health facility in which she is currently housed.

Prosecutors could decide from a host of options as to what happens next, including holding another trial or coming to a plea agreement with Clancy over the strangulation of her children - five-year-old Cora, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan - in their Massachusetts home.

After killing the children, Clancy cut herself with a knife and jumped from a second-story window in an attempt to take her own life, which left her paralysed.

Clancy does not deny killing the children in 2023 but pleaded not guilty to the three first-degree murder charges, with her lawyers arguing she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and so should not be held criminally responsible.

The grim case led to a series of dramatic twists and turns as the jury deliberated Clancy's fate.

On Friday, a court session began with Clancy's attorney Kevin Reddington pushing for a juror on the panel to be removed, after the jury indicated a day prior in a note that a member of the panel had not been following instructions on reasonable doubt.

Under US law, a jury must unanimously believe "beyond a reasonable doubt" that someone is guilty to convict them of a crime.

The designation is the strictest standard in the US legal system. It places the burden on the government to prove that the accused is guilty, instead of the accused to prove their innocence.

The judge denied the request and sent jurors back to deliberate. About an hour later, the panel came back to say they still could not reach a verdict.

It was then that Sullivan said he had no choice but to declare a mistrial. Reddington immediately pleaded for a temporary pause so they could file an emergency appeal with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

In the filing, Reddington asked the state's highest court to order the judge to force the jury to continue deliberating and for the judge to question the panel over the alleged holdout juror that led to the deadlock.

The state's high court denied the request, paving the way for the mistrial.

Clancy appeared downcast as the judge made the ruling official. It was surprisingly quiet in courtroom.

She remained expressionless but her lawyer looked visibly upset by the decision. He continued to push back, insisting the judge had the power to dismiss the one holdout juror.

"Unfortunately, they're not holding out based on a good-faith issue," he said.

Reddington said he intended to file another motion essentially requesting that the mistrial be reconsidered. This could come up at the next hearing later this month.

"There will be no decisions made today," Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said on Friday concerning what could happen next in the case.

He said he would meet the rest of their legal team to decide whether they would pursue a new trial.

"The facts are Lindsay Clancy killed her three children and the evidence suggested to us that she was in control of her actions when she committed those homicides," Cruz said.

Outside the court on Friday, Reddington said he believed 11 of the 12 jurors would have delivered a verdict that favoured Clancy had it not been for the one holdout.

But it remains unclear what position any member of the jury took or what occurred in the deliberation room.

For weeks, the case gripped the country and sparked debate over the topic of postpartum psychosis. Many followed along with livestreams of the trial, as family members and experts testified. Each day, more than 200 members of the media crowded the court and groups of supporters in varying sizes often gathered outside.

The widespread attention even spurred comments on Friday from US President Donald Trump, who called the case a "horrible tragedy".

"She did a horrible, horrible thing. Can't be worse," he said. "I assume there's going to be another trial."

Trump added: "But you'll find out what the price to pay is. There'll be a price."

A list of UK organisations that can help is available here.

What happens next after Lindsay Clancy's murder case ends in a mistrial?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9x248npw1o, yesterday

After a week of mulling Lindsay Clancy's fate, a judge has declared a mistrial in the case of the US mother accused of murdering her three young children.

It came after the jury said it could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether Clancy was guilty of murder.

The declaration opens the door to a host of possibilities about what happens next.

Clancy, who faced three counts of first-degree murder, does not deny killing her children in 2023 but pleaded not guilty, with her lawyers arguing she had been suffering from postpartum psychosis and so should not be held criminally responsible.

The prosecution said she made a calculated, intentional decision to kill.

What is a mistrial?

Under US law, the jury must unanimously reach a conclusion "beyond a reasonable doubt". If they cannot, the judge can call a mistrial, which ends the trial without a verdict.

Jurors in Clancy's trial had been deadlocked for days and told the judge three times that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision.

Massachusetts Superior Court Judge William Sullivan, who was overseeing the trial, previously urged them to continue deliberating until there was no possiblity of a decision.

In a last-ditch effort he issued additional instructions, known as a Tuey-Rodriguez charge in the state, encouraging the panel to consider all perspectives, and ensuring jurors were questioning and examining their own views in the case.

The jury continued to indicate they could not come to a consensus, leading the judge to say on Friday that he had no choice but to declare a mistrial.

This does not mean prosecutors have proven their case, nor does it mean the defendant is not guilty.

Now, the prosecution could push forward with their criminal charges and restart the trial with a new jury or negotiate a plea agreement.

Alternatively, prosecutors could dismiss the charges altogether.

Will Lindsay Clancy go free?

No, at least not immediately.

Clancy will still be held under the same murder charges and remain at the mental health facility where she is currently housed as lawyers weigh their next steps.

If a new trial is planned, Clancy will remain in that facility until it begins - though her lawyers could ask for a review of her bail situation, said Heather Cucolo, a New York Law School professor and expert in mental health law.

Even if a new trial is being prepared, prosecutors could still negotiate a plea agreement with Clancy's team, Cucolo said.

Will prosecutors ask for a new trial?

In serious felony cases like these, prosecutors often ask for a retrial.

If they do, the jury selection process will take place once again and a new trial will be scheduled with a new set of jurors.

The time it could take to schedule another trial will depend on a host of factors, including the court schedule, any legal requests either side may file and how long it may take to line up expert witnesses.

The six-week trial in Massachusetts captured significant public interest across the globe, with crowds gathering outside the court.

"A case like this that obviously has been so high-profile and there is so much of an emotional response to this to the facts of this case, I think it's very likely that the prosecutor will ask for a retrial," Cucolo said.

Why was the jury deadlocked?

That is unclear, but it has been a complex case with each side presenting a huge amount of expert testimony.

In a note to the judge on Thursday, the panel indicated that one juror was not following guidance on reasonable doubt.

Under US law, a jury must unanimously believe "beyond a reasonable doubt" that someone is guilty to convict them of a crime.

The designation is the strictest standard in the US legal system. It places the burden on the government to prove that the accused is guilty, instead of the accused to prove their innocence.

Clancy's lawyer indicated that sole juror was holding up the proceedings and causing the deadlock. He asked the judge to remove the juror.

But the judge denied his request and officially declared a mistrial the following day.

The identities of the nine women and three men on the jury has not been made public and the judge banned any photographing or filming of them to retain their anonymity.

But once a case is over, a juror can choose whether or not to speak publicly about the case and their deliberations.

Following other high-profile trials, jurors have in some instances come forward to discuss the case, even writing books or doing media interviews.

So while it remains unclear what has gone on behind closed doors, more could be revealed in the coming days or weeks.

In the UK a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Trump's response is key as Argentina's Falklands demands get louder

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c980g0g7yyjo, yesterday

The tone over the Falkland Islands dispute has been sharpening in Argentina from well before President Javier Milei's late-night national address on sanctions earlier this week.

It's tempting to see a visual representation of the tension in the jubilant Argentine players celebrating their hard-fought win over England at the Fifa World Cup this summer holding a banner which read "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" - the Falklands are Argentine - in front of their deliriously happy fans. However, the ill-feeling has been fomenting for much longer.

President Milei began his Thursday address with a brief history of the Falklands, very much from the Argentine perspective. He repeated the refrain at the heart of their position: the islands "rightfully belong" to Argentina. The British had invaded and colonially occupied the islands in 1833, he said, violently wrestling the territory from Argentina's hands.

The UK Government would say he conveniently overlooked a few details: the islands – over which the European powers had interchanged control throughout the 17th and 18th centuries – were uninhabited at the time the British reoccupied the land. The Argentine settlement had been forced out two years earlier, not by the British but by the Americans. A warship, the USS Lexington, destroyed a fort established there in December 1831 amid a dispute over local fishing and sealing rights.

Still, if the Americans had a hand in forcing the Argentines out two centuries ago, they may now play a central role in strengthening the Argentine claim. President Milei certainly thinks so.

"Winds of change" were blowing, he assured the Argentine people, after President Trump said he was "re-evaluating" the US position on the Falklands.

That position has traditionally been one of neutrality - albeit while recognising Britain's rule over the territory. "Neutral" is relative, of course, given that President Reagan provided material support to Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands War in 1982 – an act which reinforced the long-standing alliance between London and Washington in times of conflict.

For Trump, however, that mutual support – the "Special Relationship" – was eroded by Sir Keir Starmer when the UK Government chose not to join the US war on Iran.

"You weren't there to help me", the president retorted in an interview with GB News this week. The Falklands were "a long way away", he said. The Falkland Islanders – who voted almost unanimously to remain a British overseas territory in 2013 – would point out that distance from London to the Falklands is fractionally shorter than the distance between Washington DC and the US territory of Guam, in the western Pacific.

Still, Trump's words have undoubtedly galvanised Milei. As have the opinion polls. He urgently needs a boost ahead of a presidential election next year in which one of his challengers, his estranged vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, has presented herself as a tougher defender of national sovereignty and attacked Milei's diplomatic approach on the Falklands as failing.

Domestic politics can rarely be ruled out of the equation when the Falklands issue flares back up. However, Buenos Aires argues that the matter has become urgent: "A clear and urgent danger", as Milei put it.

With two energy companies – the Israeli-owned Navitas Petroleum and Rockhopper Exploration from the UK – due to undertake work on the Sea Lion oilfield off the Falklands coast within two years, the issue has new impetus. Argentina "cannot allow" the companies to "appropriate the oil reserves under our sea", he said. "We will not stand by with our arms folded," he added.

On Saturday morning Milei's office said on X that it was launching sanctions proceedings against 45 people and companies. The announcement did not identify those targeted and it is not yet clear what impact they will have.

In his speech, Javier Milei painted Argentina as a reliable and "trustworthy partner" to Washington and he enjoys Trump's support, both ideologically and personally.

The two men are close allies in a vision of the Western Hemisphere which Trump calls the "Don-roe Doctrine", a play on words on the 19th Century 'Monroe Doctrine' which exerted American domination over the continent. In essence, the two presidents want to see only like-minded leaders in power in the Americas.

Within such a new partnership and a reordering of the spheres of influence, it's more than conceivable that Trump favours the Argentine leader over the British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, even if the issues at play transcend personality and party politics.

Perhaps the key question for the coming months, then, is whether the strength of the so-called "Don-roe Doctrine" outweighs the lasting history of the "Special Relationship".

Trump calls for interest rate cut after jobs figures raise hike bets

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0zx2pkpx9o, 2 days ago

Donald Trump has called for interest rates to be cut later this month, claiming higher rates put the US at a "very unfair disadvantage".

The president's remarks came as stronger-than-expected jobs figures in the US added to growing expectations that rates could be increased, with inflation still running high and American households feeling the pinch of rising prices.

The number of roles added to the economy increased by 162,000 in August, almost triple the 56,000 forecast by analysts, driven by a boost in hospitality and education hiring.

Trump said the US should have the "LOWEST RATE of any country in the World".

"The Fed Board, with its great new leader, must get smart - BE PATRIOTS for a change. High interest rates put the U.S.A. at a very unfair disadvantage, and I won't allow that to happen!", the president said in a post on social media.

Last week, Kevin Warsh, chairman of the US central bank, signalled that rates could be hiked if policymakers were not confident price rises were easing for Americans.

Inflation, which measures price increases over time, remains above the Fed's 2% annual target, with prices up 3.4% in the past 12 months, according to the latest data.

The next interest rate decision will be made on 15-16 September. Rates were left unchanged between 3.5% and 3.75% in July for the fifth time in a row, but concerns over inflation remain due to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, which has caused as surge in global oil prices.

On Friday, US diesel prices hit an all-time high of $5.85 a gallon on average, compared to $3.71 a year ago.

But despite the cost of living rising, wages also appear to be increasing. In August, average hourly earnings for all employees were $37.75 on average, having increased 3.1%.

"Even the most committed dove would struggle to find anything in the August employment report to justify keeping interest rates unchanged," said Stephen Brown, chief North America economist at Capital Economics.

He added that the strength in the jobs market meant that the latest inflation figures released next week would only need to be moderately above the Fed's target to fuel expectations of a September hike.

"A hike in rates just became a bit more likely," said Neil Birrell, chief investment office of investment firm Premier Miton.

Almost 60% of traders were betting on an interest rate hike in September, according to CME Group's "FedWatch" data.

An increase in employment during the final month of the summer in restaurants and bars, as well as in local government education ahead of the new school year, was behind August's labour market rebound.

Weaker job figures released earlier in the summer were revised up by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, revealing a stronger labour market than previously thought. Instead of the economy being deemed to have shed 23,000 jobs in July, some 44,000 were found to have been created in subsequent estimates.

While many more jobs were added, the US unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1% last month, with seven million out of work. Both measures have changed little over the year.

In response to the stronger jobs figures raising expectations of a interest rate hike, US stock market indexes were trading down on Friday.

Trump called the response "crazy". "We just got GREAT Numbers on Jobs, the Market should go UP, because our Credit and Economy are better but, as always, for the past 25 years, the Stock Market goes DOWN, because we're living under False Reality that if things are good, you've got to "KILL IT" because of a "fear" of Inflation," he said.

Key moments from Lindsay Clancy's trial over children's killings

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7mlmg475go, 2 days ago

A jury that sat deadlocked for a week prompted a mistrial on Friday in the case of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother charged with murdering her three small children in suburban Boston.

In a case that captivated the American public, Clancy has not disputed that she killed them but her lawyers argued she should not be held legally responsible because she was suffering from severe mental illness.

Clancy is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the January 2023 deaths. If convicted by a jury, she faces life in prison without parole.

Here are some of the notable moments from the emotional five-week trial and week of deliberations.

Defence argues Clancy had hallucinations and delusions

Warning: This article contains distressing details

Prosecutors allege that on 24 January 2023, Clancy intentionally strangled all of her children - Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, eight months - in their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home.

She then jumped from a second-floor window. Clancy, now 36, was paralysed in the fall and attended the trial in a wheelchair.

Clancy's attorneys, while defending her, have never rejected her role in the killings.

Instead, they put forth a defence of insanity, arguing that Clancy had hallucinations and delusions after giving birth to her youngest child. They pointed to treatment for mental health problems and that she checked herself into a psychiatric hospital just days before the deaths.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued Clancy made a calculated decision to intentionally kill her children and should be held legally responsible. They allege that at the time, Clancy sent her husband, Patrick Clancy, out on errands so that he would not be home.

Clancy's family, including her former mother-in-law and husband, have testified about her mental state leading up to the deaths.

The five-week trial sparked interest on social media as thousands watched court proceedings. Hundreds of women showed up outside the courthouse to support Clancy, wearing pink shirts with phrases like "She Needed Help" and "Peace For Lindsay".

'A really hard time': Clancy's ex-husband takes stand

Over two days, Clancy's ex-husband, Patrick, told jurors about his ex-wife's declining mental health after giving birth and described the day his children died in gruesome detail.

He told jurors that Clancy's "big spiral" began about a month before their deaths.

"She started to lose a lot of weight, and she became very depressed, and she was having a really hard time," he said.

He described her intermittently seeking help from doctors and taking a variety of medications, adding that he recalled her saying she was starting to have thoughts of suicide.

Patrick Clancy described his last image of son Dawson sitting on the couch eating chicken nuggets before he left to get food and medication. He came back to find his children dead.

Lindsay Clancy sobbed in court as a recording of her husband's 911 call played. He can be heard screaming, "She killed the kids", after finding their children in the basement.

Since the beginning of the trial, conspiracy theories about Patrick Clancy have swirled online, including some speculating about his involvement. But he was never a suspect or under suspicion by investigators; Lindsay Clancy admitted to killing her children and her attorneys have not denied that.

Battles between lawyers and experts over Clancy's care

More than 10 expert witnesses testified for both the defence and the prosecution, including some who clashed with lawyers over Clancy's mental health.

Over the course of her treatment, Clancy was put on over a dozen medications, and sought help from a suicide hotline and the emergency room.

Clancy's team tried to convince jurors she had postpartum psychosis, a rare condition in which postpartum women can experience mania, depression or a mixture of both. Clancy claims she experienced hallucinations and delusions.

One day in the courtroom grew particularly heated as one of Clancy's psychiatrists, Jennifer Tufts, testified for the prosecution that Clancy did not show signs of psychosis during their sessions.

There were "no serious signs that her safety or anyone else's safety was at risk," said Tufts, who saw Clancy over a dozen times for five months.

But defence attorneys pointed to Tufts' medical notes, describing Clancy's "not hyper, pressured speech". Pressured speech - a rapid, frantic way of talking - can be a sign of mania.

Tufts denied that she believed Clancy had pressured speech, saying the "not" applied to both the words hyper and pressured. As defence attorney Kevin Reddington pressed her, she replied: "I don't care what it says. I know what I meant."

Reddington also grew tense as he repeatedly questioned another prosecution expert, psychiatrist Avram Mack, about whether postpartum psychosis is a diagnosis.

The American Psychiatric Association views postpartum psychosis as only a proposed illness, he said.

Mack avoided calling postpartum psychosis a recognised diagnosis, at one point responding: "I'm not sure if that specifically answers your question."

In a frustrated tone, Reddington responded: "I don't care."

Clancy's mother testifies

In addition to Patrick Clancy, Lindsay's former mother-in-law, her mother and her sister also testified, telling jurors about Clancy's deteriorating mental health after the birth of her son.

Lindsay Clancy was "begging for help", her former mother-in-law Susan Clancy testified.

"She had insomnia. She was losing her appetite," she said. "She was very anxious and sad."

She added that Clancy had been a "very nurturing" mother until the birth of her youngest son.

Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, said her daughter told her and her ex-husband that she was having thoughts of harming the children a month before their deaths.

Musgrove said her daughter was becoming paranoid and expressed that she thought her medications were "destroying her mind".

Clancy's sister Allison Ozga told the court that her sister was experiencing suicidal thoughts every day a month before she killed her children.

Judge tells jurors to disregard testimony about Catholic faith

Two days before closing arguments, Clancy's defence team requested a mistrial after prosecutors asked witnesses about her Catholic faith.

Prosecutors last week asked Clancy's former mother-in-law, Susan Clancy, whether she was aware that murder was considered a "mortal sin" after asking her if she was Catholic, testimony that the judge asked jurors to disregard.

Then, this week, forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun, who interviewed Lindsay Clancy after the killings, testified that he had asked Clancy whether suicide was considered a "mortal sin" while discussing her Catholic upbringing.

Judge William Sullivan denied Clancy's legal team's request for a mistrial, but told jurors it was an "absolutely inappropriate area of testimony".

"It is to be stricken. It is not to be considered. I can't be any more clear of that," he said.

Jury is deadlocked, mistrial declared

After days of deliberations, multiple notes to the judge and repeated urging to keep trying to reach a decision, a mistrial was declared.

The lead-up to the mistrial came with its own drama, including a last-ditch attempt by Clancy's lawyer to have a juror removed, delaying the judge's plan to declare a mistrial.

A note from the jury on Thursday indicated that a member was holding up proceedings and not following the judge's directions about reasonable doubt. Reddington called for their removal.

Sullivan denied the request and instructed the jury again on reasonable doubt as Clancy appeared emotional, putting her head in her lap.

Clancy's lawyer slammed down papers and crossed his arms in frustration during conversations with the judge, later telling the press that the singled-out juror would be "identified" in an "inquiry" by the judge.

Moments before Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday, Reddington continued to push back, filing an appeal to the state's highest court to stop Sullivan's declaration, insisting that Sullivan had the power to dismiss the juror.

"Unfortunately, they're not holding out based on a good-faith issue," he said.

The judge denied the request, and officially declared a mistrial, sending home the jurors without further obligations in the trial.

With additional reporting from Ana Faguy and Brandon Drenon

In the UK a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

How Gloria Steinem changed the lives of generations of women

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqv5wxyp5xwo, 4 days ago

Gloria Steinem was a powerful icon of America's feminist movement and her career spanned numerous roles that changed the lives of generations of women.

With her iconic aviator sunglasses and long, blonde-streaked hair - which she considered rebellious in the 1970s - Steinem was an internationally recognised activist in the fight for women's equality.

She spoke out for the legalisation of abortion, same-sex marriage, and equal rights and pay for women, and protested against the death penalty and female genital mutilation.

Her activism was not without a backlash - from both men and women - and harassment that could be as vulgar as it was intimidating.

The early years

Born on 25 March 1934 in Toledo, Ohio, Gloria Steinem did not have an easy childhood.

Her father Leo Steinem was a travelling salesman and, together with her mother Ruth and older sister Susanne, they lived in a caravan, crisscrossing the country.

Leo abandoned the family and moved to California when Steinem was 10 years old, leaving her to care for Ruth who had long suffered with mental illness and had terrifying hallucinations.

As a result, Steinem did not go to school full-time until she was 12 years old.

She would later remark that she had never wanted children because she had already had one - her mother.

In the late 1950s she went to India on a research scholarship, and spent two years in a variety of roles, including helping village women organise non-violent protests against government policies, which sparked her interest in grassroots activism.

Steinem left India and moved to New York City in the early 1960s to start her career as a freelance writer. It was a time when male-dominated newsrooms made it difficult for women to get hard-hitting stories.

Breakthrough article

Her big break came in 1963, when Steinem went undercover as a Playboy Bunny cocktail waitress and wrote A Bunny's Tale, an exposé for Show magazine detailing the seedy and sexist reality of Hugh Hefner's empire.

As soon as she arrived for the interview, a security guard called out, "Here bunny, bunny, bunny."

Using the fake name Marie, she lied about her age - telling Playboy she was 24 years old when she was actually four years older.

Steinem lifted the lid on the underpaid life of a Bunny, and the physical pain of wearing the high-heels and tight corsets for hours.

Despite the fame - and infamy - that followed, she still found herself struggling to be taken seriously by editors.

Though the Playboy exposé helped land her assignments for the New York Times and New York Magazine, often they were about ladies' stockings and the latest hairstyles.

"To this day when people don't like me they introduce me as a former Bunny, as a put-down," she told the New York Times in 2016. "On the other hand, I did improve the working conditions for those women."

All-female journalism

Undaunted, by 1968 Steinem was a columnist for New York Magazine, focusing on progressive social issues and women's rights.

Her article, After Black Power, Women's Liberation brought her national fame, making her the face of the US feminist movement in the 1970s.

"I was the only woman, and after I wrote an abortion article, my [male] friends there said to me: 'Don't get involved with these crazy women. You've worked hard to be taken seriously,'" she told Rachel Cooke for The Guardian in 2011.

So she took matters into her own hands.

In 1972, she launched Ms. magazine with a group of feminist activists. It was the first all-female founded and operated periodical, designed to be an alternative to other women's magazines that typically focused on housekeeping and fashion.

Critics - mainly men - were quick to write it off. News presenter Harry Reasoner said he gave it six months "before they run out of things to say".

The first issue sold out within a week and generated 26,000 subscribers. The magazine is still going today.

In 1978, Steinem wrote one of Ms. magazine's most infamous and widely read essays - If Men Could Menstruate.

Her satirical reflection on how different power, political and economic structures might be if men had menstrual cycles is still referred to in discussions about gender roles.

By the end of her career, Steinem had become a prolific and award-winning writer, penning numerous books including her own memoirs, a biography on Marilyn Monroe and a collection of her own famous quotes in the wryly titled, ‪The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off.

Abortion rights campaigner

Though still considered one of the world's best-known feminist activists, Steinem came to advocacy rather late in life - in her thirties.

At an abortion awareness rally in 1969 where women were sharing their experiences of having abortions, Steinem was encouraged to share her own story about terminating a pregnancy. It had taken place years earlier in London when she was 22 years old, just before going to India.

Abortion was illegal in the UK at the time, unless the woman's mental or physical health was in danger. The doctor took a great risk for Steinem, telling her: "You must promise me two things. First, you will not tell anyone my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life."

Nearly 60 years later, Steinem broke one of those promises, when she dedicated her memoir, My Life On The Road, to Dr John Sharpe.

She described that abortion speak-out event as a "light bulb moment" - when she realised the US needed a bigger women's rights movement.

Almost overnight, Steinem became a crusader for abortion rights, calling it "reproductive freedom". The phrase she coined is credited with making the subject more approachable for political discussion and continues to be used in abortion debates.

Steinem organised marches and quickly became a draw at demonstrations, although she admitted later that she found talking to the huge crowds "utterly terrifying".

After Congress failed to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1970 - legislation granting women equal rights to men - Steinem co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus with fellow feminist leaders and more than 300 women across the US. The group worked to include women in all aspects of political and public life.

The same year, she testified at Senate hearings for the ERA, telling the predominantly male audience: "I have been refused service in public restaurants, ordered out of public gathering places and turned away from apartment rentals all for the clearly stated, sole reason that I am a woman."

Second-wave feminism continued to gain momentum and Steinem was one of its most famous figureheads.

She was also supportive of same-sex marriage, but was criticised for an essay she wrote in 1977 on transgender people. She clarified her position in 2013, saying the words in her "old essay" had been taken "out of time and context".

"I believe that transgender people, including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Those lives should be celebrated, not questioned," she wrote in an opinion piece.

Steinem was also criticised for a 1998 essay in the New York Times, where she showed support for then-President Bill Clinton after news broke of his scandalous affair with intern Monica Lewinsky - who was 22 years old at the time.

"The truth is that even if the allegations are true, the president is not guilty of sexual harassment," Steinem wrote. "He is accused of having made a gross, dumb and reckless pass at a supporter during a low point in her life."

In 2017, she said she "wouldn't write the same thing now".

Too glamorous?

Critics came from the left as well as right, targeting Steinem for everything from her looks to her motives. Some claimed she was too glamorous to be a true feminist, while others said she was successful only because of her appearance.

Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique, the book credited with launching second-wave feminism, was annoyed that Steinem became the face of the movement, accusing her of "ripping off the movement for private profit" when she launched Ms.

The media were trying "to make her a celebrity," fumed Friedan, "but no one should mistake her for a leader."

US President Richard Nixon was recorded during a secret conversation furiously ranting about Steinem, to which she responded: "There is some opinion that Richard Nixon is the most sexually insecure chief of state since Napoleon".

Al Goldstein, the notorious pornographer and publisher of Screw magazine, launched a campaign of attacks that included publishing her phone number next to fake advertisements for oral sex.

He also printed a graphic centrefold image of a Steinem look-alike, and hung it open on display at the newsstand outside Ms. magazine's office building. She had to look at it every day.

As she got older, harassment to this degree became less common. However, given she was a recognisable figure in New York City, it was not uncommon for Steinem to be stopped on the street by strangers wanting to debate - sometimes with an edge of hostility.

But she welcomed the continued debate. In 2020, she was among a cross-section of public figures who signed an open letter denouncing cancel culture, saying it weakens open debate by shutting people down.

"If you care about having the conversation, surely you want to try in a humane way to convince the other person, not do away with them," she told the New York Times.

'I can't mate in captivity'

Gloria Steinem once quipped: "I can't mate in captivity" - a reference to her disinterest in marriage. But she publicly enjoyed a healthy dating life with a number of rich and famous bachelors, giving critics more ammunition to use against her.

They included Frank Thomas who was head of the Ford Foundation; film director Mike Nichols and Olympic decathlete Rafer Johnson (who helped tackle the man who assassinated Robert F Kennedy in 1968).

"I was the one always accused of using men, of being too sexual. Someone once sent me a cartoon of a tombstone that said 'at last she sleeps alone'," she wrote.

But in 2000, aged 66, she wed David Bale, a South African-born entrepreneur-environmentalist, and father of actor Christian Bale.

At the time, the union drew gasps of surprise and even disappointment from some feminists, who had spent years following Steinem's heated debates surrounding marriage laws.

But she said those laws had finally changed. "If I had married when I was supposed to get married, I would have lost my name, my legal residence, my credit rating, many of my civil rights. That's not true anymore. It's possible to make an equal marriage," she explained years later.

Steinem also confessed to it being a "green card marriage" because Bale's US visa was running out - but said that they loved each other and were going to be together regardless.

Bale died three years later from brain lymphoma.

Steinem had her own health scare with breast cancer in 1986, and underwent a lumpectomy.

'So much to do'

Gloria Steinem once said she wanted to live to 100 because "there's so much to do".

In her near-century of life, she even became a talented tap dancer.

She was given America's highest civilian honour - the Presidential Medal of Freedom - in 2013 by President Barack Obama, who credited her work with giving more women "the respect and opportunities that they deserve".

In 2024, she reached the age of 90. She lived alone in New York, content in the knowledge that Ms. Magazine was still publishing.

Steinem seized the occasion to tell the BBC that she hoped her legacy "might help individual people... to become more the unique, valuable, loved and lovable person that they want to be."

She will be remembered for amplifying the voices of women in a way that mainstream media at the time either could not, or would not.

And, in so doing, she altered the landscape and language of women's rights in America.

Body of world's youngest traditional king returns home to Uganda amid succession row

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clylwgn8jk3o, 2 days ago

The body of a popular traditional ruler who was the world's youngest reigning monarch has been flown home to Uganda where President Yoweri Musveni was amongst the mourners gathered at Entebbe airport to pay their respects.

King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV died in the US last week aged 34 after receiving treatment for an aggressive form of cancer.

The Tooro king will be buried next Saturday - the day he had hoped to celebrate the anniversary of his coronation. He had ascended the throne aged just three and was crowned when he turned 18.

The return of his body marks the start of the Tooro kingdom's official nine-day mourning period amid a growing dispute over who should succeed him.

Uganda is governed by an elected president and parliament, but it has several traditional kingdoms that continue to have significant cultural influence despite not having political power.

Oyo, who Guinness World Records listed as the world's youngest reigning monarch, ruled over more than two million people. He was the 13th monarch of a kingdom that was founded in the early 19th Century.

After a brief ceremony at the airport, his body was flown by military helicopter to Kyegegwa in western Uganda, where the Tooro Kingdom is located, before being taken by road to the royal palace in Fort Portal.

It will lie in state at Karuziika Palace for the mourning period and members of the public will be allowed to pay their respects and prayers will be held there each evening.

On Thursday, Uganda's parliament held a special tribute to King Oyo, with MPs remembering him as a modernising monarch who championed education, health and opportunities for young people.

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja described him as a "symbol of unity" and praised his work raising awareness about HIV and Aids among young people.

Opposition MPs also paid tribute, with acting opposition leader Patrick Nsamba Oshabe saying: "Heritage and development were never rivals in his hands."

President Museveni has ordered an official burial for the monarch and national flags will fly at half-mast for three days around the funeral.

On Wednesday, the Tooro kingdom's Prime Minister, Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki, said the king had asked officials not to disclose the seriousness of his illness because he believed he would recover and return to his people.

He said the monarch had hoped to return home for this year's Empango - the annual celebration of his coronation - on 12 September.

"He was confident in his recovery," Akiiki said.

His death has triggered uncertainty over the future of the monarchy as Oyo was not officially married.

But Akiiki has said the king had a young son, whose identity would be revealed later in accordance with Tooro customs.

President Museveni also said the king's mother, Queen Best Kemigisa, had told him that her son had left an heir.

But Charles Kamurasi, who is head of the Babiito royal clan from which Tooro's kings are chosen, said he knew nothing about the reported child, prompting an unusual public disagreement among senior figures in the kingdom.

Others within the royal clan have questioned why they were apparently unaware of the child.

"The prime minister is not supposed to talk about the king's heir. It is a cultural process," one royal clan member was quoted as saying by Uganda's state-owned New Vision newspaper.

"How can we, blood relatives, not know of the child, and the prime minister says he knows? That is totally out of order," the clan member added.

Akiiki has since appealed for the dispute to be dealt with privately, saying he wanted to meet other elders to resolve their differences.

"Words spoken in moments of grief can deepen divisions that may take years to repair," he warned.

The Ugandan government has also intervened, urging people not to spread speculation about the succession on social media.

Culture Minister Henry Tumukunde said Ugandans should rely on official information from the government and the Tooro Kingdom, adding that any dispute would be dealt with under law governing traditional and cultural leaders.

"The whole world is watching how Uganda mourns its king," he said, urging people to show "restraint and respect".

The Tooro Kingdom follows a hereditary system in selecting its monarch.

King Oyo ascended the throne in 1995 and became an international curiosity because of his young age.

Before his burial, a church funeral service will be held at a local church.

His body will then be carried in a traditional procession to the Karambi Royal Tombs, with burial is expected to be completed by 14:00 local time.

According to Tooro tradition, kings are not buried in the evening.

More BBC stories from Uganda:

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At least 37 killed by toxic fumes during alleged petrol theft in Nigeria, reports say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cde024l10dyo, 2 days ago

At least 37 people have died after inhaling toxic fumes while allegedly stealing petrol from a pipeline in Nigeria's Rivers State, an environmental group in the oil-rich region says.

Many are still missing after more than 100 people descended on Okari Jetty in Okrika in small boats to collect the refined fuel under cover of darkness, according to the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC).

The police told the BBC an investigation was ongoing to determine the figures of those affected after people reportedly collapsed - with local reports saying some fell into the Bonny River while others were taken to hospital.

Theft from pipelines has been a problem for decades in Nigeria's oil hub.

Rivers is one of several states that make up the southern Niger Delta region, a vast area of swamps and wetlands with huge reserves of oil and gas along Nigeria's coast.

For years, criminal groups have tapped pipelines and siphon crude oil or other petroleum products into boats and storage tanks, to be sold on the black market or taken to illegal refineries.

The YEAC said its network of volunteers and human rights defenders had reported that people in Okrika had died after inhaling what it locally known as "Indorama fuel", which is a form of refined petrol known as PMS (Premium Motor Spirit).

Nigeria's Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has urged the public and media to rely on verified information as they work with other security agencies to establish what happened in the early hours of Thursday morning.

It condemned illegal tapping and siphoning, warning that such activities put lives, the environment and the economy at risk.

Similarly, many campaigners have also blamed the practice for contributing to environmental damage.

The government has stepped up operations against oil theft in recent years.

On Thursday, the director of navel information, Capt Abiodun Folorunsho, warned thieves there was "no hiding place" from the navy, which patrols the waterways and coastal areas of the Niger Delta.

"Their days are numbered, and if we catch you, of course, we'll ensure that you face the law," he said in an interview with Nigerian broadcaster Channels TV.

While the Nigerian navy has increased maritime security operations, the military and other security agencies have carried out operations against oil thieves, who often hid out in the area's dense mangrove forests.

Nigeria is trying to increase oil production after years of problems caused by theft, insecurity and underinvestment.

The country aims to raise production to about three million barrels per day by 2030 and is relying on better security and reforms to attract new investment.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Is Russia proving better at protecting friends than fighting enemies in West Africa?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2z75keq58o, yesterday

When mutinous soldiers seized a strategic military base in Niger's capital last Saturday, the country's ruling junta turned to a foreign partner it has increasingly relied on since coming to power: Russia.

Following a night of intense fighting in Niamey, Russia's Africa Corps helped Nigerien loyalist forces to regain control of Air Base 101 at Diori Hamani International Airport.

Africa Corps, unlike its predecessor the Wagner Group, is directly under the control of the defence ministry in Moscow. It provides combat support and military training and is thought to have some 200 to 300 men in Niger.

Russia's ambassador to Niger, Viktor Voropaev, publicly acknowledged the weekend intervention, saying his country's forces had helped "repress a mutiny".

"This is seen as a symbolic victory," according to Beverly Ochieng, senior analyst at Control Risks. "[One] that will continue to put them at the centre of not just the counter-insurgency campaign, but even in the protection and prolongation of military rule."

The attempted coup offers perhaps the clearest evidence yet that Africa Corps' role in three Sahel countries extends beyond its stated mission of helping governments fight jihadist insurgencies.

Russia is increasingly demonstrating that it can provide something perhaps even more valuable to the military rulers of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso: protection for the governments themselves.

"It was not sufficient to bring stability," said Ochieng, "but it's enough to allow these military governments to have a political lifeline."

The thwarted mutiny also highlights something the ruling junta may not want to admit - just how dependent on Moscow it has become for security.

In January, Africa Corps personnel also played an important role in repelling an attack at the same airport.

"We saw videos of the jihadists walking around the airport basically completely unimpeded," said Jacob Boswall, a security analyst who tracks jihadist activity for the BBC's media monitoring service.

"Probably there is some substance to the claim that Africa Corps was able to restore power in that case [in January]. And I think, again, in this case as well, that intervention was very significant."

One of the Nigerien military's central justifications for the July 2023 coup, which saw Gen Abdourahamane Tiani seize power, was the deteriorating security situation and alleged failure of Niger's civilian authorities, under elected President Mohamed Bazoum, to tackle it.

They also blamed Western partners at the time for their inability to contain jihadist violence.

Yet, three years later, that insurgency remains unresolved.

Militants linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have continued to launch attacks, including in the Tillabéri and Dosso regions. Some, inflicting heavy casualties on security forces.

Ochieng described this latest mutiny as evidence of longstanding grievances within Niger's own military, compounded by the pressure the soldiers have been facing.

"Counter-insurgency forces do not feel adequately supported by the military government," she said. "There have been challenges in providing equipment and replenishments."

Niger's government is facing threats on two fronts: extremist militant groups attacking the state, and grievances within its armed forces responsible for fighting them. Africa Corps may have helped contain the latter this past weekend, but it has yet to resolve the former.

Unlike Wagner mercenaries, whose status in a private military company allowed Moscow some deniability, Africa Corps is more clearly an instrument of the Russian state.

"The whole point of Africa Corps is that it brings the power back under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defence," said Boswall.

Officially, its forces are deployed to help Sahel governments combat Islamist militant groups.

But dissidents contemplating moves against military governments elsewhere in the Sahel region may now have to factor Russian forces into their calculations.

Despite the struggle to contain the jihadists, no-one anticipates Africa Corps leaving the Sahel any time soon. Keeping those governments in power protects Russia's investment.

"Wagner - and now Africa Corps - have always had a very transactional interest in Africa," Boswall said.

"If they can get mineral resources in exchange for providing protection and defence, then they will. We see that in Mali with gold… and then in Niger, it really is uranium [that] seems to be the main resource that Africa Corps is protecting."

Analysts say Russia also benefits from having friendly governments that could support it in international forums.

"Having that kind of international group of supportive countries, Russia sees as giving Russia credibility - diplomatic credibility," Boswall explained.

Like Mali and Burkina Faso, Tiani's government has built much of its legitimacy using the language of sovereignty, pan-Africanism and liberation from former colonial powers.

All three governments ordered French troops to leave. They also formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and subsequently withdrew from the West African regional bloc Ecowas, presenting the new alliance as an assertion of regional independence.

Some analysts regard this as at odds with its growing reliance on Africa Corps.

"The military governments argue that they have selected Russia on their own terms," said Ochieng.

"Russia is seen as a partner that respects that sovereignty, unlike their previous partnerships with France or even the EU and, to some extent, with the US."

An army captain on Niger state television accused foreign powers, including France and Chad, of being behind last weekend's unrest, while Russia's foreign ministry described the mutineers as "extremists seemingly incited by European former colonial powers".

France has repeatedly rejected accusations that it is attempting to destabilise Niger. Chad's government did not respond to a BBC request for comment.

"[Niger is] underplaying the role that Africa Corps has in these countries, and they're overplaying the resource-nationalism narrative - the idea that the government is in control and fighting back against the jihadists," explained Boswall.

"There is a huge media war going on in the Sahel to control the narrative around that."

Russia's war with Ukraine is another important factor shaping its strategy in the Sahel.

The conflict continues to consume Russian personnel and military equipment, limiting how far Moscow can expand its operations in Africa.

"It's quite a tightrope for Russia because ultimately its priority will always be Ukraine," Ochieng said.

"It will maintain at least enough numbers to allow it to reassure the military governments in the Sahel that it continues to be a reliable partner. They'll continue to deploy just enough weapons and supplies and logistics… to continue supporting Africa Corps."

But there are limits to what that support can achieve. "Russia cannot afford a sustained counter-offensive anywhere in the Sahel," Ochieng said.

This may help explain why protecting allied governments appears to have become such an important part of Russia's regional strategy.

Defending a capital or helping loyalist forces defeat a mutiny requires fewer resources than recapturing and securing vast areas affected by an insurgency.

"These are quite limited interventions, but with an outsized impact," Boswall said.

"I think at that level they'll be able to sustain that over the foreseeable future, even with the war in Ukraine."

Russia may have helped Tiani survive this latest security challenge, but it has not removed the conditions that could produce the next mutiny.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce30vp55dnlo, yesterday

The UN General Assembly has voted to replace the traditional world map with one that more accurately reflects the size of Africa.

The "Correct the Map" resolution, sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union (AU) members, passed with the support of 164 nations, including France and the UK. The US was the only nation to vote against it - while there were six abstentions.

The UN vote is non-binding but will see changes to the maps used by institutions around the world.

The Mercator map, which has been in common use since the 16th Century, has come in for criticism as it shows Africa as being of similar in size to Greenland, even though it is actually 14 times larger.

Critics say this leads to the development needs and potential for countries near the equator to be minimised.

The Mercator map was designed in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to help European explorers navigate across the world.

The distortion of his map is a result of the fact that it is impossible to accurately represent the surface of a globe on a two-dimensional chart.

Whenever a map of the world is drawn, compromises need to be made.

The Mercator map accomodates for the curvature of the Earth by making countries near the equator seem smaller than they are, with countries nearer the poles appearing larger.

In an effort to address this, a team of cartographers in 2018 created an equal area map they called the Equal Earth projection.

In February, the AU's 54 member states adopted it, and said it "more accurately represents the sizes of all continents, particularly Africa".

Online campaign group #CorrectTheMap said: "You could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare."

Ahead of Friday's vote, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told news agency Reuters: "A fair world begins with a fair map."

He told a UN briefing earlier: "A map is never neutral. It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood."

He had the backing of the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who said his ministry was going to stop using the Mercator map.

"Changing the map obviously doesn't change the world. But correcting a representation that distorts it is already an act of truth," he said.

But Yaryna Ferencevych, a US representative at the UN, said the resolution mocked the work and purpose of the UN General Assembly.

"Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international peace, prosperity, or good relations, this body is debating map projects from the 16th Century, and their role in promoting reparations and 'cognitive justice'," she said.

In March, the US was also critical when a resolution was adopted declaring the transatlantic slave trade "the gravest crime against humanity".

"Africa's misrepresentation on world maps is not just a cartographic error - it's a narrative issue," Lerato Mogoatlhe from Africa No Filter, one of the groups behind the campaign to ditch the Mercator map, told the BBC.

It was part of efforts to stop the "world's longest misinformation and disinformation" about Africa, she said.

For Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo, the Mercator map has implicitly downplayed the African continent's vast resources, population and investment opportunities.

"Maps are more than just guides for travellers - they shape how regions are perceived politically and economically," he told the BBC.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Kenya's chai lovers are not happy as the nation's cows run dry

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgqd9ldegjqo, 3 days ago

Kenyans love their milky tea, or chai, but some are facing the worrying possibility of doing without as the country has been hit by a milk shortage.

A breakfast here is often incomplete without a cup of chai, made by boiling tea in generous amounts of milk, sometimes flavoured with ginger and spices. It is often served at meetings and during social visits, with many people taking the hot brew several times a day.

But now some may have to do without as supermarket chilled sections are nearly empty. Retailers have upped the price and are limiting how much shoppers can take home.

The government has put the dearth of milk in recent months down to drought, which has significantly reduced pasture and hampered production.

But the recent shortages are unusual, with the country's industry regulator itself admitting to "supply constraints" and "low stock levels" across the country.

Muthoni Macharia, who runs a restaurant in the capital, Nairobi, usually buys more than 70 packets of fresh milk - and is desperate and puzzled by the scarcity.

"Where has the milk gone?" she asked when the BBC spoke to her as she was out searching for at least a few packets to quench her customers thirst for chai.

Macharia says there have been shortages for about a week - and it was especially affecting her morning rush hour. Her regulars are not happy: some opting to take their tea black - but many will not.

"If they come in groups, and there's no milk tea, you see that's a loss for me," she said.

Kenya is one of the leading milk producers on the continent.

A long-established commercial dairy industry has led to pasteurised milk being very popular, particularly in urban areas, with Kenyans ranked among Africa's highest consumers, according to industry data.

Raw and fermented milk is more widely drunk in rural areas.

The milk shortage has sparked widespread public concern with some people promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about supermarkets deliberately trying to profit.

According to the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB), the government body that oversees the dairy sector, formal milk deliveries to processors fell by 3.7% from 84.4 million litres in June to 81.3 million litres in July, while preliminary investigations suggest deliveries declined further in August.

The Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) says there has been a downward trend of supply since the beginning of the year.

It attributes this to a delay in the seasonal rains, which has reduced the grazing ground available, coupled with a 45% rise in the cost of animal feed.

Cofek has expressed concern over the rationing as well as the increasing cost, saying fresh milk prices have risen from 70 to 80 Kenyan shillings ($0.54 to $0.62; £0.40 to £0.46) a litre.

"This shortage was foreseeable, and in material part, avoidable," it says.

The consumer body says dairy processor New KCC, a state-owned company, and the KDB did not adequately absorb the milk surplus last year, adding that powder processed from the excess milk would have helped resolve the current crisis.

Some of the milk processors in Kenya often reconvert the powder into the more-preferred liquid milk during dry seasons when the supply of fresh milk goes down.

"Had these buffers been in place, today's supply shock would have been substantially cushioned," Cofek says.

It has demanded a recovery plan to include fodder and subsidy support for farmers.

This would include waiving of taxes on animal feed inputs, as well as "active retail price monitoring to deter opportunity price gouging and rationing".

In response to media enquiries, the dairy board's managing director William Maritim assured that despite the "temporary supply constraint", milk continued to be available.

Fresh pasteurised milk, which has a shorter shelf life, had been more affected than the more long-life UHT milk, he said.

Customers at Nairobi supermarkets on the hunt for milk told the BBC they were worried about rising costs.

"Sometimes when I go to the supermarket I find there is none. When I do find some, the price has gone up. Today it is this price, tomorrow it has gone up again," said Bernard Abok, who does his shopping after finishing work.

Patricia Gathoni said if the prices kept going up she would have to rethink what she gave her children, saying she had resorted to adding water to the milk that she managed to buy.

On Thursday, agriculture ministry officials held a meeting with the association of dairy processors about the problem, with the ministry committing to support farmers, stabilise milk supply and protect consumers.

The ministry's top official in charge of livestock development, Jonathan Mueke, said the immediate focus was to get more feed for farmers, including through duty-free importation of yellow maize.

He said they were also looking at longer-term solutions that would manage stability across periods when there was surplus milk and when there were shortages.

Reports of milk going to waste are not uncommon during periods of a dairy glut. Farmers have often complained about how little they are paid for their perishable produce at such times - but they have few options because of limited processing or storage capacity.

According to Mueke, the government is considering setting up a fund to help support the preservation of milk during such periods.

In the meantime, the government is also considering temporarily importing milk from the neighbouring countries to ease the shortage.

For the devoted Kenyan chai lover, that may offer some respite.

Additional reporting by Ahmed Bahajj

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'The crowd shouted that we'd stolen someone's genitals' - deadly rumours spread on social media

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg8lw7n2ddo, 4 days ago

More than 80 people were killed between October 2025 and July this year following false accusations about what is termed "genital theft", the BBC Global Disinformation Unit has found after gathering data from police forces across six African countries.

The killings are linked to rumours that a simple tap on the shoulder can cause a man's genitals to shrink or disappear. They are being fuelled by widespread misinformation on social media.

"They were shouting that we had stolen someone's genitals and we didn't have any way to escape because there was a huge crowd," Tanzanian mechanic Boniface Mgala told the BBC about his ordeal in April when he was badly beaten by those convinced he was a genital thief.

His experience was similar to those in videos seen by the BBC: men claim that their genital organs - penis and testicles - have vanished or shrivelled after coming into contact with strangers and a mob then demands that alleged perpetrators return what they have supposedly stolen.

Such claims are rooted in longstanding fears and superstitions - and are not new on the continent, particularly in communities where belief in witchcraft remains widespread. Social media has amplified these fears.

The recent wave of rumours appears to have started last year in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where similar claims had surfaced in 2008.

They progressively spread across the region to Burundi, Zambia and Tanzania as well as Mozambique, Angola, Malawi and Kenya.

In Zambia, the hearsay about disappearing genitals first gained traction in March when a woman was lynched, going on to spread panic across the border in Tanzania.

At his home in Mpemba near Tunduma, a busy trading town in Tanzania by the border with Zambia, Mgala traces his fingers along the sickle-shaped scar that runs down the right side of his head as he reflects on his traumatic experience.

"If I had known how close I would have come to death on that day, I wouldn't have gone into that restaurant to eat. Only we don't know how close death is," the mechanic says.

He and his friend had gone into Tunduma on 1 April to meet a client about a car sale and decided to eat lunch beforehand. They had not long sat down in the restaurant when they were dragged outside by a mob.

Two smaller scars on his chin and a missing tooth are other visible marks of his ordeal.

Amid the beating, he lost consciousness. Mgala regained awareness in hospital two days later to news that his friend had been killed.

Back at his house where he lives with his wife and their four children, he now walks with a limp and says he also suffers from constant headaches.

He has not been able to return to work at his mechanic shop but says neighbours and friends have helped cover the cost of some of the medicine he needs.

On the same day that Mgala and his friend were attacked, commercial photographer and businessman Michael Silavwe says he witnessed another similar assault in Tunduma, where he says anxiety had been building after videos about stolen genitalia had begun circulating on TikTok.

Outside his shop he saw people running and says he learned that a man had been accused nearby and was being beaten - and later set on fire.

"After they set him on fire, the police arrived at the scene and everyone scattered and ran away," the 23-year-old told the BBC.

In a video of the attack verified by the BBC Global Disinformation Unit and viewed more than 100,000 times across TikTok and Facebook, a group is seen beating a man while demanding he return the victim's allegedly stolen genitals.

"Those incidents kept escalating and people kept getting beaten," Silavwe said, adding that at the time young people like him did feel scared, but he understands now there is no truth to the rumours.

Asha Steven Mwakilasa, a 50-year-old tailor and fashion designer in Tunduma, which is in Momba district, agrees: "I came to realise it was not true."

This does not stop her anxiety - especially if her husband or sons are out, but she says she is grateful that the police are now mounting patrols.

Momba district commissioner Elias Daniel Mwandobo told the BBC local investigations suggested there was deliberate criminal intent behind some of the incidents: "Individuals conspired to commit a crime and incite public panic for their own benefits."

Another video recorded in Tanzania's main city of Dar es Salaam shows a crowd marching a man down a dusty market street, pushing, grabbing and striking him and insisting he returns the genitalia, as the man pleads his innocence.

The BBC Disinformation Unit verified similar videos of attacks in Mozambique and Kenya.

Dozens of these recordings of mob violence, alleged first-person accounts, warnings about alleged incidents, commentary and videos framed as reports of events in particular areas are circulating across TikTok and Facebook.

Many of those analysed by the BBC, including some showing mob violence, remain online.

"We are reviewing the content shared with us and will take action on those that are found to violate our policies," a Meta spokesperson told the BBC.

TikTok has yet to respond to a BBC request for comment.

With some social media creators, who warn viewers to be vigilant, it is often unclear whether they believe the claims or are primarily seeking engagement.

Alongside these posts, some users promote so-called charms said to protect against genital theft, while comedians have parodied the claims through comedy skits.

Smartphones and social media make rumours spread faster, reach larger audiences and become more difficult to control once they begin circulating, says author Julien Bonhomme.

His book, The Sex Thieves: The Anthropology of a Rumor, examines how hearsay about "sex thieves" spread and why people believe them.

People are not simply hearing claims that someone has lost his genitals - they are seeing distressed men say it has happened to them, or watching crowds respond to accusations, he says.

Videos shared on social media can make unverified claims appear more believable, he says, because of their immediacy, describing this as "one of the most significant differences" between the current digital environment and earlier outbreaks.

The worst-hit country has been Mozambique, where the police said in May that 55 people had been killed in six weeks, including a police officer, health workers and civil servants.

Mozambique's President Daniel Chapo publicly condemned widespread rumours and deaths, saying the claims were false and the government had found no medical evidence to suggest anyone had lost a part of their body.

The two healthcare workers were attacked at their home and workplace in April in Cabo Delgado province - a region that borders Tanzania which has been affected by an Islamist insurgency for nearly a decade.

The health facilities in the areas of the attacks had to close for weeks while the authorities launched public awareness campaigns to counter the claims.

As part of the health campaign, the government said some of the fears could be linked to Koro syndrome, a mental illness otherwise known as missing or genital retraction hysteria.

The most recent incidents of violence have occurred in Kenya, where five people were killed by mobs in the coastal counties of Kwale and Mombasa.

After the first incidents were reported in July, Mombasa County Commissioner Mohamed Noor blamed some content creators for spreading the claims to boost engagement "simply to attract views and attention".

"Such misinformation can easily lead to loss of life," Noor told the BBC.

He said police had since contained the violence and made several arrests, including a father and son who were sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a woman they accused of causing men's genitals to disappear.

Similar claims also fuelled mob attacks in Malawi, leaving eight people dead.

Back in Tunduma, in neighbouring Tanzania, even as mechanic Mgala recovers from the physical impact of the assault, the emotional pain is still raw.

"It still hurts me deeply when I think back to the senseless manner my friend died because I still don't know what was going on," he said.

"To suddenly find yourself being pelted with stones for no reason, and then end up losing your life?"

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Sharpeville massacre survivors start legal fight for justice in South Africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mvll11ll5o, 4 days ago

Abraham Mofokeng still carries the wounds of the bloody suppression of a protest in South Africa 66 years ago. In what became known as the Sharpeville massacre, police infamously opened fire on thousands of peaceful demonstrators.

A bullet is still lodged in Mofokeng's spine, and he has a gentle limp from a gunshot to the leg.

"We weren't seen as people," the 86-year-old tells the BBC as he explains the reasons he joined the demonstration on 21 March 1960 against the repressive laws of the white-minority government.

"All you were good for was working. You couldn't question them, you were supposed to just do as you're told."

The massacre at Sharpeville, which he survived, exposed to the world the violence of the racist apartheid system - yet thanks to an indemnity law passed a year after the killings, none of the perpetrators were ever prosecuted.

Mofokeng is now part of a legal case announced on Thursday that will seek to overturn this law.

At least 69 protesters were shot dead by police on that day in 1960, becoming a pivotal event in the history of the anti-apartheid movement.

Though Sharpeville may be a place name rich in historical resonance, it scarcely looks like a site that symbolises the struggle: the township is slowly crumbling.

The once tarred roads of this area south of Johannesburg are returning to dirt. Many of the houses are still the small, brown-faced brick homes built under the apartheid-era government. The earth is dry and barren - heaps of rubbish are piling up throughout the neighbourhood.

While the legalised system of racism was buried in 1994 when the country held its first democratic election and elected Nelson Mandela as president, its scars remain.

There have been attempts at redress - not least through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) - set up by Mandela's government to investigate crimes committed during the apartheid era.

But the Sharpeville survivors feel they have not seen justice.

Sharpeville's local memorial park, the Human Rights Precinct, tells the story of how the streets of township became the scene of a bloodbath.

Inside the park stand 69 white pillars, one for each life lost.

The victims were killed while demonstrating against the racist pass laws.

At the time, black people were forced to carry a document known as a passbook, known as "dompas" in Afrikaans, which restricted their freedom to move around the country.

A person could be beaten and jailed if found without it - or if found in a "whites-only" area without permission.

Many heeded the call from the leaders of the Pan Africanist Congress in March 1960 to march in protest against the dompas, including then-20-year-old Mofokeng.

"The life we were living under apartheid was a life of oppression. We could not move around freely. We ended up planning to march to the police station against these passbooks that were being used to oppress us," he says.

Thousands turned up to what they thought would be a peaceful protest.

"[The police] had rifles, machetes, even shields. We explained to the police that we didn't want the passes anymore and we were prepared to go to prison. There was a commotion, then all hell broke loose when the police started shooting."

Mofokeng was among the more than 200 people injured and recent estimates by South African researchers have revised upwards the number who died to as many as 91.

Another survivor, Lazarus Magotsi - now 90 - walks along the long row of graves in the cemetery where most of those who died are buried. Among them is a headstone marking where a 12-year-old was laid to rest.

Magotsi's eyes are filled with tears as he struggles to compose himself.

"We heard gunshots and ran and hid inside a store, peeping to see what was happening outside," he says.

"People were lying on the ground. When we looked out again, we saw that some were trying to get up, but the police were just shooting at them.

"Others were using machetes to strike the heads of people who were still moving."

It is thought that more than 1,300 bullets were shot into the crowd. Archive photos show policemen walking among the corpses, lying where they fell, in the immediate aftermath of the massacre.

The only legal case that followed the killings was a failed attempt to charge the protesters with affray.

Now, survivors and relatives of those who were killed are hoping to overturn the law they say prevents them from getting justice.

The 1961 Indemnity Act was passed by the apartheid government in the wake of the massacre and protected the police and government from having criminal charges or even civil claims brought against them in relation to what happened at Sharpeville.

Despite more than 30 years of democratic rule, that law remains on the statute books.

But now South African non-governmental organisation Lawyers for Human Rights, together with UK-based law firm Leigh Day, has filed a case at the High Court arguing that the law is unconstitutional under the new constitution that came into effect in 1994.

"Apart from the individual damages, what the community's looking for is basically reparations to enable their healing. They feel as though Sharpeville is a forgotten community," says Charne Tracey, one of the lawyers on the case.

Part of their court application includes getting a class action certified - if approved this would mean that for the first time dozens of victims and relatives of those killed could collectively sue the state. It could also possibly lead to criminal charges being brought against the alleged perpetrators, if any are still alive.

"Nothing has been done that assists with their healing and improvement of their quality of life, or remedy the long-term effects of what they've suffered," Tracey says, adding that 70 people could be involved in the class action.

Constitutional law expert Prof Frans Viljoen believes having the old law repealed is important because it would help to "clean up" the legislation and "close a chapter on the past".

"Although South Africa has a very transformative constitution… The principle of continuity of statehood still applies, which is why the case can be brought against the current state," says Viljoen.

"So if there were laws in our statute book in 1994, the constitution explicitly says they remain in force until parliament repeals them, abolishes them or changes them," he adds.

But he backs attempts to declare the Indemnity Act unconstitutional "to cleanse us of that past".

The TRC, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was generally praised for bringing together victims and perpetrators who were granted amnesty as long as they, among other conditions, fully disclosed what they had done.

But the greatest criticism of the process was that it did not bring about justice for some as people were not jailed for their acts and no police officers applied for amnesty for the Sharpeville shootings.

The government told the BBC it had supported apartheid victims over the years, and would continue to do so, but did not oppose survivors and families pursuing legal remedies.

When it comes to reparations the justice department said 560 TRC-recognised victims of apartheid-era violence had received individual grants amounting to some $31m (£23m) and though not all Sharpeville survivors and relatives had been identified it encouraged them to come forward.

For many in the community of Sharpeville, there is hope that restitution will help heal decades of lingering trauma.

"Apartheid is dead and buried. A win would bring complete healing, not just for us, but for future generations as well," says Mofokeng.

"Considering how people died, many have not completely healed."

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Somali piracy surges as the impact of the US-Iran war ripples outwards

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4vx4pneydo, 6 days ago

A surge in piracy near Somalia has increased threats to shipping already under pressure from maritime blockades and conflict due to the US war with Iran.

Two cargo vessels were seized in the Gulf of Aden within four days last week, rising to at least 13 the number of ships attacked since the start of the year and triggering unprecedented drone strikes against the pirates.

It is the biggest escalation in hijackings in more than a decade, renewing concern about security in this region vital to international trade.

"Piracy is always a crime of opportunity," says Omar Mahmood, a senior Somalia analyst for the International Crisis Group (ICG), "and right now the pirates see an opportunity."

That opportunity comes from the impact of the war on regional waterways further north.

Iran and the US continue to battle over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

And Tehran's Houthi allies in Yemen have imposed a targeted blockade in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which controls access to the Red Sea. This is focused on a dispute with Saudi Arabia but heightens insecurity for international shipping.

"I guess the pirates believe that with those two external events in Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, they believe that the international forces will be dedicated to those crises instead of looking for pirates," says Vice-Admiral Ignacio Villanueva Serrano, operation commander for the European Union's naval force that protects shipping off Somalia's coast.

Among the latest vessels hijacked by the pirates was a Cameroon-flagged ship, the MV Lutuf, which was attacked off the coast of Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region on 17 August. A few days later pirates boarded an oil products tanker, the Eritrean-flagged MT Sibu 1, in waters near Yemen, on the other side of the Gulf.

The Lutuf has since been released in disputed circumstances, but its capture triggered unexpected consequences.

Thirteen men allegedly belonging to a network that supplies the pirates on the ship were killed in two drone strikes in the week following the hijacking. No one has said they were behind the attacks, but local officials blamed them on Turkey, saying the vessel was carrying Turkish weapons.

The Lutuf was among six vessels being held for demands of millions of dollars in ransom, four of which are anchored near the fishing town of Bander Beyla known as a hotbed for piracy, the BBC has learned.

That is nowhere near the peak levels of hijackings 15 years ago that cost the global economy billions of dollars. In 2011 Somali pirates carried out more than 200 attacks and held hundreds of crew members hostage.

A co-ordinated international naval response together with private security on commercial ships successfully drove down the scourge and contained a flare-up in 2023 and 2024.

But experts stress that while the pirate networks were suppressed, they remained intact, given the failure to address the poor economic and security conditions in Somalia that feed them.

Currently the resurgence is fuelled locally by anger over foreign trawlers which overfish in Somali waters, damaging the fishing industry that sustains communities in Puntland.

And there are more targets available now with a potentially bigger payload.

The regional maritime insecurity has driven some ships closer to the Somali coast as they divert south to avoid the conflict further north. Given the high price of oil, hijacking a tanker is more lucrative.

"You have that combined effect of less naval patrolling but more commercial shipping in these waters," according to the analyst Mahmood, "and that signals an opportunity.

"And once you've had a successful attack, I think that spurs other units to do copycat type incidents as well."

He and other researchers suspect there may be collaboration between the Somali pirates and Yemenis after several vessels were seized near Yemen's coast.

But Mahmood says these would more likely be criminal elements than Iran's Houthi allies, especially as one of the ships seized last week, the MT Sibu 1, allegedly belonged to an Iranian "shadow fleet" used to transport petroleum products trying to dodge US sanctions.

"I don't see something specifically Iran-directed," he says.

Turkey, however, reportedly had a stake in the latest hijackings.

Puntland security sources and a Somali government official told the BBC that the Lutuf was carrying weapons bound for a Turkish military training facility in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Ankara has an agreement with Somalia to strengthen its maritime security, as part of a wider defence and economic partnership.

The security sources say eventually six international warships arrived in the seas close to the Lutuf - two from Turkey and one each from Spain, Denmark, the US and India, something the BBC was not able to independently verify.

"There is military equipment on the [hijacked] ship meant for Turkey's operations in Somalia," the Somali government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that the cargo included satellite equipment for a space station that Ankara is building north of the capital.

He alleged that Turkey had carried out the second drone strike that killed nine armed men on 23 August.

"The men who were killed were criminals and I don't have sympathy for them," he said, "but taking it to that level is escalating the situation even more."

Turkey's defence ministry stated that its forces are providing "necessary support" to Somali authorities regarding the incident involving a hijacked vessel in Somali territorial waters, within the framework of their security agreement. But it stopped short of addressing the accusations that Turkey had carried out deadly drone strikes.

Publicly the government in Mogadishu said only that it was aware of the operations against pirate groups and would take measures to address them.

Puntland authorities were more outspoken.

Speaking to the BBC's Somali Service, Deputy Minister of Security Abdirahman Yusuf said his administration had evidence that Turkey was responsible for the attacks, citing information about Turkish activity around the vessel and along the Puntland coast.

The BBC has not independently verified his allegations.

The security ministry also issued a statement expressing opposition to "bombings by international warships targeting civilians" that "undermined co-operation… in combatting piracy", and demanded an immediate explanation for why they were carried out.

Rival accounts have since emerged of how the Lutuf was reportedly later released.

Somalia's government said its troops carried out a joint operation with Turkey, freeing the ship and killing 14 pirates. Puntland authorities denied that claim, declaring that the pirates were actually paid a hefty ransom, something they called a "serious mistake" that could encourage further hijackings and undermine anti-piracy efforts.

Neither Turkey nor the ship's owners have commented.

Puntland is wary of Turkey's close military relationship with the Somali government, and the incidents risk further complicating a long-standing political dispute between the semi-autonomous region and Mogadishu that hinders a co-ordinated effort to fight piracy, analysts say.

There is not yet a full-blown resurgence. But without an end to the US-Iran war, or increased international efforts at deterrence, Somali piracy stands to continue raising the threat level in a crucial maritime space that is already dangerously squeezed.

Additional reporting by Mohamed Gabobe in Mogadishu and the BBC Somali Service

Update 31 August 2026: This story has been amended to reflect the fact that the MV Lutuf was released

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

'If you started running, they shot you' - inside Nigeria's growing kidnapping crisis

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2z0p3nmdro, 11 days ago

"If you ran into a room, they set the room on fire," says Fatima, describing a recent attack on her village in Zamfara, north-western Nigeria. "If you came out and started running, they shot you."

The gunmen, who struck at 02:00, split into groups to surround residents: one at the village entrance, one in the centre and one at the back.

"They opened fire without a care in the world, shooting indiscriminately," the 55-year-old quietly tells the BBC World Service.

It was one of many attacks that have caused havoc in the mainly Muslim community where residents live in fear of being kidnapped for ransom.

Fatima explains how the raids unfold: "You could have 100 motorcycles, and each one could be carrying three people."

About 70 people, including children, were killed from the village of Bia Buki in June, according to Fatima.

She describes how the attackers also targeted villagers as they fled and children were injured falling into ditches. Among the dead were her husband and six of his seven siblings.

Fatima is one of an estimated 800,000 Nigerians who the UN says have been displaced in the country's north-west. One of the main reasons people have left their homes is violence.

Some attacks have been carried out by militant Islamist groups, but the majority in this region are by gangs, locally referred to as bandits, who often move around on motorcycles and attack quickly then ride away, escaping before security forces arrive.

Thousands of people have joined government-backed vigilante groups to fight, and the BBC spoke to one who said his armed group had killed many bandits.

But the gangs keep attacking in what appears to be a deteriorating pattern of violence and abductions that is spreading southwards.

Fatima says when the bandits attacked her home, she ran into the nearby forest with other villagers to hide: "The forest became our sanctuary. We ran with our kids, if you couldn't find your child you'd take your neighbour's child."

She says people slept in the forest before moving on to the state capital, Gusau, "where we found a little bit of peace".

Fatima now lives in an informal camp in Gusau with her seven children, who are aged between nine and 30.

Dozens of women sit in groups on the dusty ground of the makeshift compound, many wearing brightly coloured hijabs. More than 1,000 people are here, she believes.

Conditions are tough with "no proper place to even lay your head". Food is scarce and assistance arrives irregularly.

Fatima describes two occasions where "good Samaritans" brought rice or potatoes. Children are sent out to gather firewood to sell so families can buy food, but 22 have been kidnapped by bandits, she says.

Gesturing towards a nearby building, Fatima says that there "you will find 100 or more women… maybe just two or three have had breakfast.

"When we had peace, we had our own wealth, but now the tables have turned and we have become beggars."

Her eyes fill with tears and she cries for a few minutes, wiping her face with her hands.

Despite being 16 miles (25km) from her village, the threat Fatima fled has not disappeared.

When she first arrived at the camp, the sound of gunshots kept her awake at night. Things have since quietened, she says, crediting patrols by the army and government-backed vigilantes, but the atmosphere is still tense.

The bandits are mostly people from the Fulani ethnic group, who traditionally make their living by raising animals. Some of them have swapped cattle trading for kidnapping and extortion, which is seen as a faster, easier way to make money.

They attack towns and villages or ambush travellers, abducting people for ransom, stealing whatever they want - and sometimes killing those who resist. They also force communities to pay protection money, only allowing farmers into their fields if they hand over large sums of cash.

Attacks are now more frequent than ever. In the bandit heartlands of north-west Nigeria, the number of incidents recorded by the international conflict monitoring group Acled rose 78% in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2025.

One security consultancy estimates that kidnappers across Nigeria collected nearly $5.8m (£4.3m) in ransoms over the past year as the number of abductions surged. SBM Intelligence estimates that 7,825 people were kidnapped between July 2025 and June 2026, a 66% increase on the previous year.

The increase in bandit activity appears to be a key driver in this trend.

Malik Samuel at Good Governance Africa, a research and advocacy non-profit group, says that "there is no region in northern Nigeria currently that does not experience one form of mass abduction or the other".

Nigeria's battle with bandits is just one part of a more complex security situation facing the country.

As well as the bandit gangs in the north-west, there is an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, separatist unrest in the south-east and clashes in central regions, where the main grievance is over access to land and water for grazing and farming and where ethnic and religious elements have also fuelled some of the unrest.

Most analysts agree that armed groups have waged campaigns of violence that affect all communities, regardless of background or belief.

Schools are a common target. When the Islamist Boko Haram militant group infamously kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the north-eastern village of Chibok in 2014, it made global headlines.

At the time the group forced its captives into sexual slavery, domestic servitude or used them as suicide bombers.

But a range of groups across Nigeria now use kidnapping to raise funds, focusing on soft targets such as schools, churches, mosques and remote villages.

This was mainly confined to the Boko Haram strongholds of the north-east or the bandit zones of the north-west - areas that are largely Muslim.

Then, in May this year, gunmen on motorcycles attacked three schools in Oyo state, south-west Nigeria, one of the few regions that was previously considered relatively safe. Thirty-nine children, the youngest just two years old, were abducted along with seven teachers. One teacher was killed during the raid, another's murder was filmed and shared online.

After 56 days, the remaining 44 hostages were released. The government said it refused to pay a ransom and that the children were released after an operation by security forces. Three men were sentenced to life in prison for the attacks and confessed to being members of an affiliate of Boko Haram.

The abduction spread fear throughout the south-western town of Oriire, with parents in the community pulling their children out of school.

"There is fear because many residents have run away and are yet to return," says the traditional ruler of the area, Oba Tajudeen Abioye, whose niece was among the kidnapped children.

"And for those of us who are left here, we are relying on the security officials, the soldiers" who were sent to protect the community, he says.

Nigeria already has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world: the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) estimates the number is about 19 million.

The multiple, overlapping security issues mean Nigeria's military and police are overstretched and as a result struggle to tackle the violence.

A 2025 UN report said that police stations were often underfunded and not fully operational, citing independent sources that accused officers of lacking skills in hostage negotiation and forensic investigation.

President Bola Tinubu's administration has allocated the largest defence and security budget in the country's history, raising it by 10% in December 2025 compared to one year before. He has recently approved the recruitment of 28,000 new soldiers.

In the meantime communities are still suffering and in Zamfara thousands of residents have joined government-backed vigilante groups to fill the gaps in security.

But there are concerns about their involvement. In 2020 Zamfara banned a large vigilante group over concerns that extrajudicial killings were driving more violence, according to AFP.

The authorities say the new vigilantes are better trained, but Samuel, from Good Governance Africa, calls them a "time bomb waiting to happen".

"If citizens arm themselves how do you control them at the end of the crisis, how are you able to disarm them?" he asks.

One of the vigilantes meets us outside his group's headquarters, a single-storey concrete building, and agrees to speak on the condition of anonymity during our visit in July.

He perches on his motorcycle, an AK-47 slung over his shoulder, a scarf across his face as a makeshift balaclava, gold and silver skull rings on his fingers.

"We are some of the people the governor hired to protect the community," he says, explaining that they are sometimes told where the bandits are and "with the help of God we fight them and defeat them".

"Let the bandits understand that when they attack a place and kill, they can also be killed," he adds.

He estimates he has fought bandits at least 20 times and says the calls for his group's help keep coming.

"It's hard to go a week without these reports," he says. "There are regions that became safer… but there are other regions where the same cannot be said."

He calls on the state governor, whom he supports, to hire and arm more people to take on the bandits. "These people won't be afraid of you unless you have proper weapons to fight them," he says.

Fatima also calls for more action: "These kidnappers are in every nook and cranny.

"I am not saying the government has failed but even if it is trying, it needs to do more. There are problems and we think with more effort and more security agents, villages will be peaceful."

She wants to return home, but is doubtful that will happen as she has heard her village has now been turned into a camp for the gunmen that attacked it.

The local bandit leader has become the de facto authority, and that families look to him to solve domestic disputes, she says.

Another nearby village "is completely empty, not even a chicken lives there… empty villages like that are countless", Fatima says.

"Even if you go back to our area, it's just difficulty you will face. There's nothing there, no food… you farm and when you go to harvest, they stop you or kidnap you."

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Anthony Joshua's driver attempted overtake before fatal crash, trial hears

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd68jv9d21zo, 3 days ago

The driver of a car carrying Anthony Joshua was attempting to overtake another vehicle when it crashed, killing two of the boxer's friends, a court in Nigeria has heard.

Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, faces charges including causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a valid national driver's licence. He denies the charges.

The court was told that the group - who had been travelling to visit Joshua's father in Ogun State, near Lagos in Nigeria, last December - were asleep when Kayode lost control of his Lexus SUV while he overtook a moving truck and collided with a parked lorry.

Joshua's personal trainer, Latif Ayodele, and strength coach, Sina Ghami, died in the crash.

A second defendant Abubakar Adamu, 35, the driver of the stationary lorry the car collided with, denies a charge against him of obstructing the free flow of traffic.

Inspector Christopher Ajayi Taiwo of the Ogun State Motor Traffic Division told the court that by the time he arrived at the scene, both the damaged Lexus and the stationary lorry had been removed.

But debris from the crash and soya beans scattered on the road from the lorry's load were found by officers, he added.

The only items recovered from the Lexus were a logbook, painkillers and an energy drink, which were found near the driver's side, Ajayi said.

The court heard police has yet to take a statement from Joshua following the crash.

During cross-examination, Kayode's lawyer questioned Ajayi over the lack of statement, to which he replied that "efforts are ongoing" and that he had not contacted Joshua because he "didn't have his number".

The trial was adjourned until 10 September.

Joshua, who was born in Watford, has family roots in Sagamu - a town in Ogun state, near the crash site.

After the collision, the boxer posted a tribute to Ghami and Ayodele on social media.

"I didn't even realise how special they are," he wrote.

"I'll just be walking with them and cracking jokes with them, not even knowing God kept me in the presence of great men.

"100% it's tough for me, but I know it's even tougher for their parents."

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Kenyan president orders crackdown on foreigners operating small businesses

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9861x5pzgxo, 4 days ago

Kenya's President William Ruto has ordered a crackdown on foreigners operating small-scale businesses, saying local traders and hawkers need to be protected.

His announcement comes amid growing debate about the increasing number of African migrants involved in Kenya's vast informal economy.

"From next week, all [foreign] traders doing those small businesses should close them," he said, also promising to fast-track proposed legislation to preclude foreigners from certain areas of trade.

Ruto said Kenya remained open to foreign investment, but argued that investors - including Chinese traders - should create jobs and expand production rather than compete with Kenyans in small businesses.

"It cannot be that a person comes from China or elsewhere to be a hawker or open a small shop," he said in an address to small-scale traders who had come to meet the president at State House in the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday afternoon.

"We have made efforts to improve the economy, we have not improved investor confidence for hawkers to come to Kenya," said Ruto, who plans to seek a second term in election next year.

It is unclear how many foreign nationals are involved in small-scale trading or how many would be affected by the new crackdown.

Kenya hosts a large refugee population, some of whom live and work outside the country's refugee camps.

Government figures show that Kenya had about 857,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers by the end of June, with nearly 14% living in urban areas.

Kenyan law recognises the right of refugees to work and operate businesses, although they are required to obtain the appropriate documentation. Refugees wishing to work or engage in a trade or business can apply for a special permit.

In Nairobi and other major towns, migrants from the region can be found working in barber shops and salons, construction, operating motorbike taxis and street vending, as well as selling clothes, food and household goods.

Some have fled conflicts or economic hardship at home, while others have moved to Kenya in search of better opportunities under the relatively free movement of people allowed within the East African Community, a regional bloc made up of eight countries.

The growing presence of foreigners has at times caused tensions with local traders and workers who accuse them of competing for scarce jobs and business opportunities.

In July, a video of a Kenyan man confronting a Burundian trader in Nairobi and accusing him of taking opportunities from locals sparked widespread criticism.

The clash also prompted Fred Ngoga, an expert on regional conflict prevention from Burundi, to appeal for the protection of his country's citizens.

"The majority of Kenyans are decent and good people who welcome their brothers and sisters from Burundi," he said at the time, adding that most Kenyans had rejected the hostility directed at the trader.

Kenya's foreign ministry also sought to reassure Burundians and other East Africans living in the country following the incident.

While Ruto's latest move is likely to prove controversial given Kenya's status as regional economic hub, it also comes amid wider concerns about xenophobia elsewhere in Africa.

This year South Africa has seen a wave of protests about undocumented migrants - and tens of thousands of Africans there have opted to be repatriated voluntarily, some saying they have been the targets of intimidation and attacks.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Nepal rescuers try to reach dozens trapped in tunnel after two found alive

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7903j1vpe5o, 3 days ago

Rescuers in Nepal are stepping up efforts to find scores of workers believed to be trapped in tunnels, nine days after the devastating flash floods which hit the area on the border with Tibet in China.

Hopes have risen after two people were pulled out alive on Friday. The body of a third person was also found in one of the tunnels used to supply hydropower stations.

The massive flash flood, believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse, swept through a Himalayan valley last Wednesday, wiping out entire villages.

There are now 1,311 confirmed dead and 5,330 still missing in Nepal and Tibet. Hundreds of foreign citizens are believed to be among those missing, from at least 34 countries.

The full impact of the flood in Tibet is unclear. China has released information through state media outlets showing the devastation around the border, but has given few details about the victims or the impact on local villagers.

In Nepal, however, rescue operations are taking place at seven hydropower tunnels in which more than 150 people are feared trapped - as well as in 19 other areas.

In the early hours of Friday morning, rescuers heard what they thought could be voices at the Trishuli 3A hydropower site.

According to local reports, they called out "don't worry, we're here to rescue you" - and heard back a faint "okay".

Crews clambered in to find Sanjaya Shah and Kabir Maharjan - both had injuries on their hands and legs, "possibly" from crawling through the tunnel. Both were airlifted to the Army Hospital in the capital, Kathmandu.

Maharjan, who was rescued second, is in a critical condition, the prime minister's office said. Shah was also undergoing medical tests.

The body of a third person was found in the same tunnel later. A local official said it was swollen and could not be immediately identified.

Officials believe another 39 people are in the Trishuli 3A tunnel, although it is not clear if all are alive.

Col Jhabindra Reshmi said that his teams had rescued more than 400 Nepali nationals and 270 foreign citizens following the flash flooding on 26 August.

He has said mud and rocks have made entering tunnels difficult and rescuers were having to dig access holes to get underground.

Engineers have been pumping air into the tunnels.

Last week's floodwaters washed away a lot of heavy machinery, making it harder for rescuers to unblock tunnels, says a representative for Nepalese power companies.

Uttam Bhlon Lama, vice president at Independent Power Producers of Nepal, told the BBC's Newsday programme that the rescue of the two men on Friday would "motivate the rescuers to do more".

"The flood level is still very high," Lama added.

Nepalese authorities have warned that rainfall may cause additional flooding in the region.

At least 1,287 people are known to have died in Nepal, with 5,083 still missing.

On the Tibetan side, the death toll reported by Chinese media on Friday was 31, with 531 people unaccounted for.

Emergency teams in Tibet appear to be focusing on helping the living rather than holding out hope for more survivors.

Scientists are still studying the exact cause, but it is believed to have been caused by a glacial collapse and climate change may have been a factor.

Moments after the seismic event, which was initially thought to have been an earthquake, a massive wall of water and debris crashed downstream, taking buildings, roads and vehicles with it.

Experts from the Asian Mountain Academic Alliance, the Stimson Centre and China's Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment said there was evidence of growing instability around the glacier in the days before the collapse and better early-warning systems could have saved lives.

Indian state gives taxi and tuk-tuk drivers a year to learn local language

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1j4g29l732o, 2 days ago

An Indian state has given taxi and tuk-tuk drivers one more year to learn the local language after a new rule making it mandatory sparked protests.

Transport officials in the western state of Maharashtra had begun testing drivers' ability to conduct basic conversations in Marathi, the state's official language, on 20 August. Those who failed were given a month to learn the language, after which they risked having their licences suspended or cancelled.

The government said the requirement was meant to improve communication between drivers and passengers and ensure safer journeys.

But the rule alarmed drivers' unions, who argued that workers should not risk losing their livelihoods while they were still learning the language. Many of the drivers are migrants who came to Maharashtra from other parts of India in search of work, including the populous Hindi-speaking states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Amid protests, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced last week that the drivers would be given another year to learn Marathi, as many had been out of the formal education system for years and needed more time.

State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik has said that drivers will be expected to learn Marathi during the year and that there will be no more extensions.

Maharashtra has almost 979,000 valid tuk-tuk and taxi permits, nearly half of them in the Mumbai metropolitan region.

The extension has brought some relief to drivers who had feared losing their ability to work.

"We were worried that if our licences were suspended, our daily income would be affected," says Lakhan Pandey, a taxi driver in Mumbai. "Now we feel somewhat relieved."

But the row has reopened a much older debate in Maharashtra, where questions of language, migration and jobs have shaped politics for decades.

"The issue is not simply about communication between drivers and passengers, but about Marathi identity, migration and employment," says Prakash Akolkar, a journalist, author and political analyst.

Those tensions stretch back to the creation of Maharashtra itself. The state was formed in 1960 after a long campaign for a Marathi-speaking state.

As Mumbai grew into India's financial centre, it drew generations of migrants from across the country in search of work. Language became increasingly entwined with arguments over jobs and opportunities for Marathi speakers.

In 1966, the Shiv Sena, a regional political party rooted in Marathi nationalism, was founded on a "sons of the soil" platform, arguing that Marathi speakers were losing jobs to migrants. It went on to become one of Maharashtra's most powerful political forces, with Marathi identity at the heart of its appeal.

Today, Maharashtra is governed by a coalition led by Fadnavis's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and one faction of the Shiv Sena, which split in 2022. The rival faction and another regional party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), have also championed the Marathi cause.

Akolkar says it is reasonable to expect people who move to a state to learn some of the local language. But he draws a distinction between that and the politics around it.

"Ordinary people do not always treat language with the same intensity as political parties," he says, adding that parties have often raised the issue when it suits the political circumstances.

Deepak Pawar, a political scientist and president of the Marathi Abhyas Kendra (Marathi Training Centre), which promotes the language, takes a stronger view. He argues that people who have lived in Maharashtra for years should already have acquired at least a basic knowledge of Marathi.

Refusing to learn the local language after living and working in the state for years is "linguistic arrogance", he says.

It's a tension that has played out in other states including Karnataka, where language activists fear their local language - Kannada - is being marginalised as many migrants believe they can get by using Hindi or English.

In Maharashtra, the government says drivers are not expected to read or write Marathi, or to speak it fluently. Under changes to the state's motor vehicle rules, they are required to have a "working knowledge" of the language.

To help them learn, the government has organised classes focused on Marathi words and phrases drivers might need at work - asking passengers where they want to go, discussing fares or giving directions.

Around 166,000 drivers have completed the training and passed an oral test, according to the state's transport department.

Munawar Sheikh, a 58-year-old tuk-tuk driver, was among those who signed up.

Over four days at a training centre in Thane, near Mumbai, he and other drivers learnt 16 commonly used questions and phrases, including "Where do you want to go?", "don't worry" and "the fare will be according to the meter".

At the end, they took an oral test, with those who passed receiving a certificate they could show transport officials during inspections.

Sheikh says the course taught him enough Marathi to manage basic conversations with passengers.

But for some drivers, finding the time to learn is part of the problem.

Ajay Singh, a taxi driver in Mumbai, says he wants to learn Marathi but has struggled to fit classes around his working day.

"From the time we wake up until late at night, we have to drive. Otherwise, there is no food on the table," he says. "Taking a few hours out of the day for a class is financially difficult for me."

Singh says he earns between 1,500 and 2,000 rupees ($17-$23; £13-£17) a day and worries that losing even a few days' income could leave him struggling to pay rent and his children's school fees.

Instead, he is trying to learn while he works - listening to Marathi radio stations while driving and practising with Marathi-speaking passengers.

Lakhan Pandey says the extra year has made a significant difference.

He says he never objected to learning Marathi - he just wanted enough time to do it.

"We live here, we work here. Of course we should learn Marathi," he says. "Just give us the time to learn it without putting our livelihoods at risk."

Steve Irwin's family celebrates 'superhero' dad, 20 years after shock death

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjrx75ldydwo, 3 days ago

Australian conservationist Bindi Irwin has marked the 20th anniversary of her famous father's death with a touching tribute to the man best known as the "Crocodile Hunter".

Steve Irwin died on 4 September 2006, aged 44, after a stingray fatally pierced his chest while he was underwater filming a documentary at the Great Barrier Reef.

Bindi, who was eight when her father died, called Steve a "superhero" in an online post on Friday, saying she has "watched the world mourn my dad with our family" for the past two decades.

"I always thought that my dad's legacy is wildlife conservation; it turns out, his legacy is love. For our planet and for each other," Bindi, 28, wrote on Instagram.

She described the impact of her father's death on her mother Terri and her younger brother Robert, 22.

"My mum lost the love of her life; my brother and I lost the greatest dad," she wrote. "Grief never truly leaves us; we walk alongside it every day."

Bindi also shared details on how her daughter connects with the grandfather she never got to meet.

"I have a 5-year-old daughter who watches his documentaries every morning. She feels utterly loved by her 'grandpa crocodile' without ever having met him."

Since Steve's death, the Irwins have continued to run Australia Zoo in Queensland.

"My dad left a lasting impact so poignant that it will ripple out for generations to come," Bindi wrote, saying his life and legacy were "worth celebrating".

She thanked Steve for being the family's "guardian angel" and signed off her message saying she loved him "with my whole heart".

Steve's wife Terri also took to social media to mark the day, posting an interview where the khaki-clad wildlife advocate recounted Bindi's birth and its impact on him.

"The most incredible wildlife encounter of my life was the birth of my daughter, Bindi," Steve says in the interview, with his signature enthusiasm.

The first time he held his newborn child, the inspiration for her name hit him.

"I was flabbergasted and it was then that her name evolved. I've gone, 'Bindi!' after my favourite crocodile, Bindi," he said, with a wide grin.

Robert Irwin also posted a tribute to his father, with a photo of Steve holding him when he was a baby, alongside the caption, "Your legacy is forever".

Last November, Robert was crowned the winner of US dance competition Dancing with the Stars, a decade after his sister won the same title.

Tata Chemicals ordered out of Kenya by president

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8e3py6rx2ro, 3 days ago

One of India's major chemical companies, Tata Chemicals, has been asked to exit Kenya after the government said it had failed to generate enough benefits for the country.

President William Ruto has asked the company to "pack up and leave", saying it had been exporting soda ash instead of processing the mineral locally to make glass and chemicals.

Ruto said the government had identified new investors to take over the company's operations, with an aim to bring more employment and investment for Kenyans.

Tata Chemicals said it respected the government's decision and remains "committed to constructive engagement through the appropriate legal and regulatory channels to resolve the outstanding matters".

Ruto made the comments while on a visit to Kajiado county, where Tata Chemicals Magadi's plant is based.

The company - part of Indian conglomerate Tata Group - operates at Lake Magadi, about 120km (75 miles) southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. It exports more than 350,000 tonnes of soda ash annually, exporting it to markets including India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere in Africa.

Kenya is the world's fourth largest producer of natural soda ash - the common name for sodium carbonate - accounting for 1% of global production, according to the US Geological Survey.

It is mainly produced from natural brines or the mineral, trona, and is used in glass, chemicals, batteries and other industrial products.

Tata Chemicals is also one of Kenya's largest mineral exporters and Africa's biggest soda ash producer.

The company extracts trona from Lake Magadi, and processes it into soda ash, a key ingredient in glassmaking and also used in detergents, chemicals, water treatment, textiles and paper, according to the company website.

Its 2024 accounts reported about 245,000 tonnes of soda-ash sales and $78.7m in turnover.

The company employs about 500 people and says its community programmes benefit roughly 30,000 people around Magadi through water, healthcare, education, infrastructure and other support.

But Ruto said the company was not doing enough for Kenya and accused it of taking the country's resources abroad.

"Tata Chemicals Magadi has had a contract for 100 years, and they have done nothing. I told them the other day to pack up and leave," he said in Swahili.

"They have not built anything in Kajiado, they have not built any factory in Kajiado."

In a statement, Tata Chemicals said that since it acquired the plant in Magadi in 2005, "it has played an important role in the Kenyan economy and continues to be an integral part of our business".

Ruto's comments come five weeks after Kenya's mining minister directed Tata Chemicals Magadi to suspend operations, reportedly citing its failure to make royalty payments and meet other regulatory requirements.

The company said that it has "provided a comprehensive response to the matters raised by the ministry, including information regarding its compliance with applicable regulatory requirements".

It said it was now awaiting a review of its submissions and further direction.

The factory's history at Lake Magadi dates back to 1911, with a major mining lease signed with the Kenyan government in 1928.

Tata Chemicals took over the operation in 2005 when it acquired UK-based Brunner Mond Group.

'Layer upon layer of miracles' to find tunnel survivors, Nepal rescue adviser tells BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9dwjv96qyqo, 3 days ago

A tunnelling expert involved in the rescue operation at a blocked Nepalese hydropower tunnel has described to the BBC how they managed to reach survivors.

Arnold Dix has been advising Nepal's hydropower authorities on how to dig through the blocked tunnel to Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, which was one of several stations hit by last week's massive flash flood on the Nepal-Tibet border.

"It's like layer upon layer of miracles" that they found two men on Friday, he said, given the multiple challenges that they faced.

The first hurdle was to locate the entrance to the tunnel, in a landscape rendered nearly unrecognisable by the flood that has so far killed 1,300 people.

"I've never known a rescue operation where you had to look for an entrance of a tunnel that was previously up the hill, that was now underground. You can imagine the enormity of the avalanche, it completely buried the entrance," said Dix, who is the president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.

Using engineering techniques, old topographic maps, satellite imagery of the area after the disaster, video footage from helicopters and "anything else we could find on the surface of the mountain such as power poles", Dix and his team triangulated the likely position of the entrance and started digging.

They found it - but the next challenge was to locate the survivors.

"We knew they would be up ahead, but we didn't know where exactly. So you just have to start digging in the right direction. And you listen out if you can hear anybody," he said.

Rescuers had to get through a tunnel blocked entirely by mud and rocks - some bigger than cars - and had to use explosives to clear the way, something they would "normally never do because of the risk of blowing up people [trapped in the tunnel] and blowing ourselves up," Dix said.

He credited the Nepalese army for doing "a wonderful job" in managing the explosions with precision to ensure they would not destabilise the tunnel.

At the same time, they discovered it was still full of water.

Using excavators and pumping machines, Nepalese rescuers dug a series of trenches from the tunnel all the way to the river outside, so they could drain the water.

Finally, they had to dig a passageway, "a tiny tunnel the size of a person", through the debris at the top of the tunnel.

The advantage of this location "is that you can use the original tunnel's roof as your little tunnel's roof. Also, it mitigates risk of flooding," Dix explained.

In the early hours of Friday morning, rescuers heard what they thought could be voices.

According to local reports, they called out "don't worry, we're here to rescue you" - and heard back a faint "okay".

Shortly after that, they pulled out Sanjaya Shah and Kabir Maharjan, alive.

But with dozens of people still thought to be trapped inside the tunnel, the work is far from over.

Rescuers heading to 'Goldilocks zone'

Dix estimated that they had dug about 60m from the entrance by now, and they would need to dig another 150m more to reach the hydropower station located deep inside the mountain.

Rescuers are hoping that the debris from the flood did not reach the station, because if it did, "there would be all kinds of complications - anybody in the station could have been hit by rocks and mud or it could be flooded".

The team on the ground are still facing significant dangers.

"Up ahead, even now, we might run into water which would drown the people tunnelling," Dix said. "And we also have the risk of another flood outside happening, so water could come from behind. So there's the risk of facing water on both ends."

But, buoyed by Friday's successful rescue, the team is now hopeful it will reach more survivors in time.

"It's a big relief, that we are on the right track. And it gives us renewed energy that our thinking [on how to conduct the rescue] works... we have never done something like this before."

Dix said they are now heading towards what he called the "Goldilocks zone" which would be "more friendly to life".

This zone is at the uppermost level of the hydropower station where there is some space where survivors may be located.

"We got two people out. If we were playing at a casino, some might say it's time to walk away, but we say game on, time to take on the house."

Why Nepal floods should worry India

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8e940gz10o, 4 days ago

Nepal's devastating floods have exposed a risk that does not stop at its borders.

India and Nepal share the rivers that rise in the Himalayas, but the relationship between a flood in Nepal and a disaster in India is more complicated than a simple story of water flowing downstream, say experts.

Some floods can race out of the mountains carrying enormous quantities of mud, rock and debris. Others may lose much of their force as they reach the plains, leaving behind a more conventional flood.

And whether that water becomes a disaster in India depends not only on how much rain has fallen in Nepal, but also on rainfall, river levels, embankments, drainage and development on the Indian side.

Nepal's floods are a warning for India - not simply because water flows south across the border, but because the two countries share a vast and increasingly volatile Himalayan river system.

How many Nepal rivers flow into India?

Nepal has more than 6,000 rivers and streams, most draining south into India and the Ganges.

Three major systems dominate: the Kosi in the east, the Gandaki (Gandak in India) in the centre and the Karnali (Ghaghara in India) in the west, with the Mahakali (Sharda) along the western border.

A dozen smaller rivers rising in the Siwaliks and Chure - including the Bagmati, Kamala, Rapti and Babai - are less famous but can produce faster, more unpredictable floods because their catchments are small and steep.

Seven to nine major rivers flow from Nepal into the Indian plains, and they are responsible for flooding in India, according to Manish Shrestha, a hydrologist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

India's Central Water Commission identifies the Kosi, Gandak, Bagmati and Ghaghara as some of the main transboundary rivers.

Which Indian states are most exposed?

Bihar is by far the most exposed Indian state, with roughly three-quarters of north Bihar officially classified as flood-prone.

Almost all the major rivers that flood the state originate in Nepal, with the Kosi - the "sorrow of Bihar" - the most notorious, followed by the Gandak, Bagmati and Kamala.

But the risk extends beyond Bihar.

Eastern Uttar Pradesh is vulnerable to the Ghaghara, Rapti and Gandak rivers. Districts like Gorakhpur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri and Shravasti are regularly affected.

Uttarakhand state shares the Mahakali-Sharda rivers. North Bengal receives the Mechi and Mahananda.

"Bihar dominates in scale. Uttar Pradesh is second and often under-reported," says Pradeep Man Dangol, hydrologist at ICIMOD.

Bihar bears the greatest burden, but Uttar Pradesh is a significant and often overlooked part of the risk.

When Nepal floods, what determines India's fate?

Think of it as a three-part chain, say hydrologists.

First, the rain: where it falls and how heavily.

Flood peaks reaching India are often generated not in the high Himalayas but lower down, in the Siwaliks, Chure and Terai, where intense monsoon rain can fall on steep, small catchments.

Second, the river.

Nepal's rivers cross a sharp break in slope at the mountain front, drop their sediment, and spread across the plains as braided, shifting channels.

Third, when the water meets India.

How bad the flooding becomes depends on what the water encounters - the volume of rain on the Indian side, how full the Ganges is, embankments and barrages, and blocked drainage from roads, railways and settlements on the floodplain.

So the peak flow at the border is largely determined by rainfall in Nepal. The severity of flooding depends at least as much on conditions in India.

The 2008 Kosi disaster shows why: the river was carrying far less water than the embankment was designed to handle. The catastrophe was caused by the embankment failing, not by an exceptional flood.

So how much depends on Nepal v India?

"For the peak flow arriving at the border, largely Nepal's rainfall; for the severity of flooding once it arrives, at least as much on Indian conditions," says Saswata Sanyal, ICIMOD's intervention manager for disaster risk reduction.

How Nepal's rain becomes India's flood risk

The 2008 Kosi disaster is a powerful illustration.

Nearly 400 people died in Bihar after the Kosi breached an embankment in Nepal. But, remarkably, it was not an extraordinary high-flow event on the river.

According to Rajiv Sinha, a professor of earth sciences at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, the flow was only about a tenth of the river's carrying capacity. The catastrophe was caused by a breach in an embankment built decades earlier and inadequately maintained.

"The embankments constructed in the 1950s and 1960s had not been properly maintained. They had become eroded and eventually developed a weak point. The river breached its embankment through these vulnerable points and entered parts of India that had not seen flooding for perhaps 100 years," says Sinha.

The failure, in other words, was "structural, not hydrological", adds Sanyal.

How much warning can India get from Nepal?

For ordinary monsoon floods, India may have "roughly 12 hours to two days of warning", according to Sanyal, depending on how quickly the water travels downstream.

Water can take about a day to reach the Bihar plains from the Nepal mountain front along the Kosi and Gandak, and somewhat longer along the Ghaghara.

Flash floods from the Chure rivers can arrive within hours.

A landslide-dam burst or debris flow can be even faster - in the current floods, the peak surge from Rasuwa reached Triveni, near the Indian border, in about seven-and-a-half hours.

India and Nepal do share real-time rainfall and river-level data from a network of stations. Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology feeds rainfall and river levels to India's Central Water Commission, which uses them for flood forecasts.

But important gaps remain, says Sanyal.

They include too few real-time monitoring stations in the fastest-flowing Chure catchments. There's also no single shared forecasting model between the two countries; and limited routine sharing on embankment conditions, river-channel changes and sediment.

And then there's, crucially, the last mile.

A warning reaching a district office is not the same as reaching a family in danger.

For these transboundary rivers, Sinha says, "cooperation on information sharing and early-warning systems is extremely important. We need rapid continuous monitoring of glacial lakes, their outflows and how they are changing over time".

What is the biggest misconception around Nepal and floods in India?

A common misconception is that Nepal "releases" water into India, say scientists.

Nepal has almost no large reservoirs capable of doing this: its main storage dam, Kulekhani, holds less than a tenth of a cubic kilometre, "so there's nothing to release", says Sanyal.

The Kosi and Gandak barrages are operated by India. When floodwater reaches the border, it is overwhelmingly because rain has fallen upstream - not because Nepal has opened a gate.

But there is an important truth behind the claim: much of the water that floods north Bihar and eastern UP has fallen as rain in Nepal, so Nepal's rainfall largely determines the timing and size of flood peaks reaching India.

Nepal supplies around 40% of the average annual flow of the Ganges - and a much larger share in the dry season - making its hydrology critical to India.

"What is too simplistic is treating that as a story of cause and blame. Rain is not a decision," says Sanyal.

Whether a given flow becomes a disaster depends on conditions in India as much as in Nepal the Ganges' level, Indian rainfall, embankment integrity, drainage and sediment.

"And the effects run both ways: embankments and barrages built for India's protection have raised water levels and caused backwater flooding in Nepal's Terai, which is Nepal's long-standing concern,' says Sanyal.

Nepal and India share one river system, with one country upstream and the other downstream.

The answer is therefore not blame, but better shared data, forecasting and river management.

So what should worry India the most?

"India should be worried. but not necessarily because of the Kosi river in Nepal," says Rajiv Sinha.

In other words, experts say, the real warning is about what is happening in the Himalayas - and what happens when water, rock, ice and enormous quantities of sediment suddenly combine.

Sinha says the latest Nepal disaster resembles a series of catastrophic events that India has experienced in recent years, including the 2021 Chamoli disaster and the 2025 Dharali disaster in Uttarakhand. The Nepal event, he says, was "perhaps five to 10 times larger".

"The fundamental point is that these are not normal hydrological floods," Sinha says.

A conventional flood is largely water. But when water from intense rain, melting ice or a sudden discharge mixes with huge quantities of sediment, the result can become a thick, high-energy slurry capable of destroying almost everything in its path.

That was the lesson of the Chamoli disaster in 2021, when a large chunk of a Himalayan glacier collapsed in the valley of Chamoli in northern India, sending a cascade of debris and water downstream that killed 200 people and damaged hydropower infrastructure.

It was also evident at Dharali in Uttarakhand in 2025, after heavy rains triggered a flash flood and the flow of debris buried parts of a village under metres of material.

And then there's climate change.

Extreme rainfall is intensifying: the region is warming faster than the global average, a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, and the monsoon is delivering more rain in fewer, heavier bursts, say experts.

High-mountain hazards are also growing. As permafrost degrades, glacial lake outbursts and rock-ice avalanches are expected to increase, producing faster, debris-laden floods that are harder to forecast.

And more extreme events mean more landslides and sediment in rivers, raising riverbeds and reducing channel capacity on both sides of the border.

They are manifestations of the same broad Himalayan hazard system. And India's exposure is considerable.

India's GDP growth defies oil shock but stirs up controversy

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c804ydnp3g9o, 4 days ago

"Doomsayers were doomed and India bloomed… Yet again," wrote Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X, reacting to smart first quarter GDP data that came out earlier this week, widely beating forecasts, but also sparking a major controversy over its credibility.

On the face of it, the 7.8% number was a shot in the arm for the prime minister who's recently faced scathing student anger over his government's handling of exam paper leaks and rising youth unemployment.

While those longstanding concerns have not gone anywhere, the better-than-expected growth print suggests that his government may have deftly weathered the Middle East oil shock despite heavy dependencies on imported crude.

According to Sajjid Chinoy, chief India economist at JP Morgan, India's "cyclical growth recovery" had been visible for the past six months, driven by a huge fiscal stimulus, including direct tax cuts in February last year, a reduction of consumption taxes in September and interest rates which have come off by about 1.5% since early 2025.

"But the question was, could India insulate that recovery from events in the Middle East, and this is where the government deserves enormous credit," Mr Chinoy told India Today news channel, adding that the urgency with which Delhi diversified its energy imports in the face of the Hormuz blockade helped the country protect its growth.

What also helped Asia's third largest economy power ahead amid the disruption in global energy markets was a strong acceleration in exports and a surge in private corporate investments, which has long been a point of great concern for economists.

Exports grew by a sharp 12% despite tariff uncertainties on the back of strong global demand and a weak exchange rate. Economists reckon a 15% slump in the Indian rupee against the US dollar may have helped companies improve their competitiveness, driving up demand for Indian goods.

Corporate India, meanwhile, seems to be finally putting money into new buildings and factories. India's gross fixed capital formation, which serves as a core indicator of total domestic public and private investment rose, nearly 12% in the first three months of this year.

"Non-government data also points to the fact that investment intentions of companies have gone up in recent months, with announcements especially concentrated in industries like data centres, renewable energy and metals," Madan Sabnavis, chief economist with the state-run Bank of Baroda, told the BBC.

"Of course, private investment is not broad-based yet, but these are definitely signs of a pick up."

While the robust numbers pushed several private brokerages to revise their full year growth forecasts upwards, they also stirred up a roaring debate online and a war of words between politicians.

Opposition leaders like Jairam Ramesh called the numbers "statistical gymnastics", accusing the government of repeatedly tweaking methodology to conceal what he said was "India's dire economic reality".

A former finance secretary also raised serious doubts, saying the GDP got a pop because it was calculated on the basis of newly revised numbers and a lower base for the same period last year - a view the government strongly rebuffed, saying revisions are a part and parcel of GDP calculations.

The government's view was supported by the World Bank's executive director for the country, Neelkanth Mishra, who said the new GDP series "cleaned up the data and also significantly improved the methodology", enhancing the credibility of the estimates.

But India's new GDP series - a reworked way of measuring the size of the economy - has substantially revised down the estimated level of India's GDP in previous years, automatically making current growth look much higher than it would have been without the revisions.

Beyond the statistical minutiae, others like the former central bank governor Raghuram Rajan have also questioned why if the growth indeed was so rapid was India not creating more jobs or attracting more foreign direct investment.

To make matters worse, the stock markets also largely shrugged off the positive news.

The debate has muddied the picture for authorities who will have hoped the numbers would help them counter growing criticism about the uneven nature of India's growth trajectory.

There are also other more mundane reasons why it might be too early to celebrate a growth bump.

For starters, government spending is expected to ease off in the coming months as the compulsions to meet deficit targets get stronger. The impact of the goods and services tax cuts on spurring consumption is also soon likely to peter out, according to HSBC.

Moreover a sub-par monsoon and El Niño-like weather conditions have taken a toll on India's agrarian rural economy, which supports livelihoods for half of the country. As of 27 August, cumulative rainfall stood at 13% below the long-period average.

This will pose "clear risks to agriculture, rural demand and food inflation [even though] India appears better prepared than in past episodes", CareEdge, a rating agency, said in a note.

Sugar and onion prices have already spiked across the country, forcing the government to run special trains to cities to meet demand. India's retail inflation, meanwhile, hit a 15-month high of 3.9% in May and further rises are expected, with some economists predicting the rate will hit the upper band of the central bank's comfort level amid a weak monsoon.

Given the high-growth and high-inflation scenario, most brokerages are pencilling in a hike in borrowing costs. This, coupled with expectations of lower global growth (and hence lower demand for Indian exports), higher costs of inputs and energy because of volatile geopolitics could all mean this growth bonanza - credible or not - may well be nearing its peak.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.

Sydney police investigate second possible mistaken identity killing in two days

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23x4yd9zz2o, 4 days ago

Police in Sydney are investigating a second possible mistaken identity killing at the hands of organised crime in less than 48 hours.

About 15:15 local time on Wednesday, emergency services rushed to a home in Merrylands West after reports a man in his 40s had been targeted in a drive-by shooting. He died at the scene.

A day earlier, about 03:40 on Tuesday, a university student in his 20s with no criminal ties, was shot during a home invasion in Glen Alpine in the city's southwest. He also died at the scene.

Police say the Tuesday shooting appears to be an "innocent life" taken by organised crime while Wednesday's fatal attack may have targeted the "wrong person".

Police believe the man had arrived at the Merrylands West home just moments before he was shot in the doorway.

Asked if investigators were treating the case as a suspected mistaken identity, police said: "Tragically, that is a possibility that the wrong person has been shot by these offenders".

"The victim has no links that we are aware of to organised crime, however he has associated with people that reside at this address," Det Supt Simon Glasser said on Wednesday.

The residents of the home were "very well known to police" with links to organised crime, but the man who was shot was "quite likely" a business associate, Glasser said.

Earlier, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon had described Tuesday's killing of Marco Tapia, a university student who was only known to police over a traffic offence, as "completely unacceptable".

"The fact that what appears to be an innocent life was taken [on Tuesday] is something that no community should accept and no community should live in fear of violence," Lanyon said.

"I don't want any innocent member of the community to be impacted by organised crime. We will not tolerate it."

Shortly after Tuesday's fatal shooting, a known organised crime figure posted in a message on social media: "popped the wrong person, didn't even get the right house".

Earlier this year, a Sydney grandfather was allegedly kidnapped and murdered in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity.

Chris Baghsarian, 85, was taken from his home in a pre-dawn raid and his body was found two weeks later near a golf course. Several people have been arrested and charged in the matter.

And last year a Sydney plumber was shot dead in front of his family home in what police said was also a case of mistaken identity.

'Catch me if you can': Runaway emu sparks Australian police chase

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgw8wpeg31o, 4 days ago

Footage of an Australian police officer chasing an emu down a country road has gone viral, with authorities using the light-hearted moment as a recruitment tool.

The flightless bird - native to Australia - was reported to police by locals in Nashdale, 270km (168 miles) west of Sydney, after it was seen wandering onto a road, posing a potential danger to traffic and itself.

Attempting to get the emu off the road, a young officer gave chase on foot but failed to catch his feathered target, despite speeding up at one point.

The video has attracted many comments on the "emu-sing" chase, with one viewer referencing a famed cartoon: "Look, it's the road runner, but that's not the coyote behind him".

On Tuesday, New South Wales police posted the footage on Facebook, saying the officer arrived at the scene to find the bird creating a "serious traffic hazard".

"Following a brief game of 'catch me if you can', the officer successfully moved the emu away from the roadway before it could ruffle any more feathers or cause a collision," police wrote in the post.

"It's not every day you find yourself conducting traffic management for an emu, but that's policing," adding that anyone looking for a career where "every day brings something new", becoming a police officer in regional areas was a good option.

Chief Inspector David Abercrombie from the Central West Police District said the "keen, young" officer who gave chase was enjoying his short-lived fame as the footage had been viewed almost 90,000 times.

Abercrombie said he was glad it wasn't him who had been called to the bizarre scene.

"If anyone asked me to chase an emu, it'd be more like watching a startled gazelle on Prozac," he told national broadcaster ABC. "My speed would not be up to scratch."

Police in regional and rural areas were often called about animals on the road, he said, but they usually involved livestock or kangaroos.

"It's the trials and tribulations of the life of a country cop," he said.

The footage has captivated many in recent days, with humorous observations posted online.

"Wait until it turns around and chases him. Then we'll see how fast he can run," joked one while another wrote: "At least that bird wasn't a flight risk."

And one person posted "Emu wars revisited", a reference to Australia's failed Emu War of 1932 when the military unsuccessfully attempted to cull thousands of the birds as they ravaged crops.

Could the man who murdered a Christian missionary and his sons walk free in India?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd0x701qd9o, 5 days ago

Warning: This article contains details of violent death that some readers may find distressing

One of India's most shocking incidents of anti-Christian violence is back in the news more than a quarter of a century after it drew condemnation from around the world.

The Supreme Court is hearing a petition seeking release from prison by a man who is convicted of killing Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons in 1999.

Dara Singh - whose real name is Rabindra Kumar Pal - has been in jail since his arrest in 2000, serving a life sentence for burning alive the Australian missionary and his six and 10-year-old sons in a village in the eastern state of Odisha (formerly Orissa).

Staines had spent 30 years working with leprosy patients, but Singh and his associates from Hindu hardline groups had accused him of forcibly converting poor Hindus from disadvantaged castes and tribals to Christianity.

The viciousness of the crime sent shockwaves through India's minority Christian community and caused global outrage. Now reports that Singh may be set free have brought alive memories of the heinous crime.

Staines lived in Baripada in Mayurbhanj district, where he worked among the local tribal community.

On the night of their murder on 22 January 1999, Staines and his sons had attended a Christian gathering in Manoharpur, a remote village in the neighbouring district of Keonjhar. They were sleeping in their jeep when a mob of 60 to 70 people led by Singh surrounded their vehicle, set fire to it and prevented them from escaping.

As Singh went on the run after the crime, police put up posters all over the state, offering an 800,000-rupee (approximately $18,000 then) reward for information leading to his capture. Reports at the time said he was helped by villagers and tribals who eulogised him as "a modern-day Tarzan who plays with elephants and rides tigers". He was arrested a year later during an overnight raid on a jungle hideout.

In a sensational interview with the India Today magazine's Ruben Banerjee from prison a few months later, he denied killing Staines and his children but said he "did not like Graham Staines" and had "spearheaded the movement against missionaries".

"Missionaries have been targeting our religion. They have been converting Hindus by deceit and inducements. Our religion is under siege. As a true Hindu, it was my responsibility to oppose them," he said. "Since I was possibly the most famous name in the region, the police implicated me in the killings."

Singh added that he was "prepared to be a martyr for the cause of Hindus" but believed that he would never get convicted.

His optimism was misplaced - in 2003, a trial court sentenced Singh to death and 12 others to life imprisonment. Two years later, the high court commuted his death sentence. It confirmed the life term of his accomplice Mahendra Hembram but freed 11 others, saying there was not enough evidence to support their convictions.

In January 2011, the Supreme Court upheld Singh's life sentence, refusing the prosecutors' plea to reinstate the death penalty.

The Staines murder was not the only crime Singh was guilty of. In 2007, he was convicted for two other heinous crimes he committed against religious minorities in 1999 - the same year he murdered the Australian missionary and his children.

He received life sentences for leading a mob that set fire to a church and killed Catholic priest Arul Das with an arrow as he tried to flee the burning building and, in the second instance, for beating and burning to death a Muslim garment trader Shaikh Rahaman.

Police had registered 10 cases accusing Singh of involvement in hijacking trucks of Muslim traders transporting cows - an animal many Hindus consider sacred - and setting them free. In his interview, Singh denied being "involved personally", saying "my supporters might have done it". But he admitted that he was "actively involved in the movement against illegal trade in cows and cowslaughter" which "had to be stopped at any cost".

Church leaders had alleged the attacks were carried out at the behest of hardline Hindu organisation Bajrang Dal but Singh denied he was a member and an enquiry commission, led by retired top court judge DP Wadhwa, later ruled that he had worked alone.

Graham Staines' widow, Gladys, who stayed on in India with her daughter Esther until July 2004, said she had "forgiven" Dara Singh in the Christian spirit. "Forgiveness opens up the path of healing," she said.

In July 2024, Singh filed a plea for remission in the top court, saying he was entitled to be released because he had spent more than 25 years in prison. He said his conduct had been good in jail and expressed remorse for his actions.

The 62-year-old blamed the crime on "the fervour of youth" in his petition seeking early release.

"The petitioner acknowledges and deeply regrets the transgressions committed more than two decades ago.

"In the fervour of youth, fuelled by impassioned reactions to the brutal history of India, the petitioner's psyche momentarily lost restraint and it is imperative for the court to scrutinise not merely the actions but the underlying intent, noting that there was no personal animosity harboured towards any victim," he wrote.

Last year, the top court asked the state government to take a call on his plea, but the authorities have so far not told the court what they intend to do.

At the last hearing on 19 August, authorities told the court that the Sentence Review Board (SRB), which is examining Singh's plea, was waiting for some more paperwork and sought an adjournment.

The two-judge bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi expressed their annoyance at the several adjournments the state had sought in the case and said if the SRB failed to decide Singh's plea by 2 September, the court would. "You take a decision, whichever way you want. If you do not take a decision, then we will."

On Wednesday, though, the court did not hear the case. The date for the next hearing is yet to be announced.

Reports that Singh may walk free if the state government or the court accept his remission petition have led to some disquiet in India's 30-million Christian community - some of it because of unease over his earlier statements.

In his 2000 India Today interview, he said he had "no regrets" and "will never regret" killing Staines' children. "When Hindus die, others don't cry. Why should we weep when others die? Whatever has happened is right. Whatever will happen will also be right."

If released from prison, he said, he would "go back to what I have been doing - oppose cow slaughter and conversions".

"The government must stop them. If they are not stopped, more people might get killed. Anything can happen," he added.

In an article on the Union of Catholic News (UCN) website, human rights and Christian political activist John Dayal wrote recently that remission after decades in jail is "not unusual" in India and "the principle behind it - that punishment should allow for reform and eventual return to society - is humane".

But the anxiety among religious minorities in Odisha "is not abstract given the state's history of anti-Christian violence", Dayal points out, citing the Kandhamal riots of 2008, in which dozens were killed and tens of thousands were displaced.

"The Staines murders were not an ordinary homicide but a public, theatrical act of terror, intended to be seen and understood as a warning. The killings of Father Arul Doss and Sheikh Rehman extended that same message," he writes.

"What remains to be seen is not whether Singh will eventually walk free, but how the government conducts itself around that decision...and whether minority communities are given any reassurance," Dayal adds.

'Like fighting a dinosaur': Sydney woman recalls how she punched shark during attack

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3v4px7yv6xo, 7 days ago

A Sydney woman who survived a shark attack has described the moment she came face-to-face with a 4m great white before repeatedly punching it.

Leah Stewart, 34, was dragged under the water at Coogee Beach in June as the shark bit into her thigh and arms, leaving her with extreme blood loss and injuries so severe that doctors had to amputate her left arm.

In an interview which aired on Sunday, the mother-of-one said she was determined to live for the sake of her baby daughter.

"In my head, I was like, ... 'You are not taking me away from my daughter', and I twisted myself around and I just started punching it over and over and over again - it was like fighting a dinosaur".

Moments earlier, Stewart had just finished her regular Saturday morning swim and was heading back to shore when she was alerted to danger.

"I heard a girl behind me… a shrill shriek. I turned and there was a huge, huge fin behind her. It was massive," she told Nine Network's 60 Minutes.

"I looked at the size of it and I realised that's not a dolphin."

Stewart turned around and realised the shark was "right there … and it just was getting closer and closer and closer."

The shark's face was "horrific" with "black little beady eyes" and its "teeth and its mouth was massive".

"We were looking face-to-face," Stewart said, and at one point, the shark was just 30cm from her own.

Even in that moment, Stewart's thoughts remained calm.

"I'm right-handed, so I thought 'let's do a left hook'," she said.

"I just kind of throw my left arm and it just grabs onto my forearm and rips, rips away my skin, my muscle, everything... there's a big gap between my forearm and the hand."

The shark started to pull Stewart under the water, grabbing her leg.

"I had the thought, 'this is it, this is how I die' and then I just thought of [my daughter] August and I thought she's not going to have a mum, she's gonna grow up without a mum," she said, fighting back tears.

"I just knew I couldn't leave her... I know it sounds strange but I sort of willed myself back."

Fighting the shark felt "like punching a brick wall" but she kept going.

"I must have got a really good one in and so it let me go. It was the hardest thing in the world, but I fought my way out of there."

Stewart was pulled to the shore by other swimmers and rushed to hospital, where she was placed in an induced coma and underwent almost a dozen surgeries.

Despite her harrowing experience, Stewart said she doesn't want to be remembered as "a girl that got mauled on the beach".

"I'm the woman that punched the shark in the face," she said.

Australia usually hosts the world's biggest cuttlefish mating event - not this year

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c75gyw0nkzno, 8 days ago

Every winter, a sliver of the South Australian coast hosts the world's largest mating event for giant cuttlefish.

Some years, hundreds of thousands of the unique marine species endemic to Australia gather along the Cuttlefish Coast for the annual mating season, bringing their colourful, shape-shifting figures to the shallow waters and attracting thousands of keen divers.

But this year, the turnout was the lowest on record, sparking concerns of a "catastrophic decline" of the species.

Official figures released this month estimate just 1,811 cuttlefish turned up to mate this year, down from 63,000 last year - a 97% drop.

The state government says a toxic algal bloom that has ravaged the state's coastline for more than 18 months may be to blame for the sharp decline.

The low figures have also prompted calls for the species to be listed as endangered.

Adult cuttlefish typically die after breeding so each mating season is crucial for the species' future, but in recent months, just 440 eggs have been counted, instead of the millions that are usually laid.

Manny Katz, director of conservation not-for-profit Eyrelab, was one of four divers who spent hours along the coast last month to observe the annual breeding event, having been tasked by South Australia's Department of Environment and Water (DEW).

"Because there have been so few cuttlefish, DEW thought it would be worth going out and trying to do an assessment of how many eggs there currently are around the coastline to understand what the population is going to be next year."

Over two days in July, his team did eight one-hour dives, exploring the undersides of rocky reefs to count the eggs.

"Along the eight kilometres (five miles) of coastline, there would normally be millions of eggs," he said, as each female can lay dozens of egg and tens of thousands usually turn up to breed.

"[We] pretty much looked under every single rock that we could have and we only found about 440 eggs."

Crucially, adult cuttlefish only live about 12 to 18 months, Katz said, "so the success of one breeding season is going to determine the population next year".

"Under our current circumstances, with there being so few eggs along the coastline, we don't know if the population is ever going to be able to recover."

Marine ecosystems in 'real big trouble'

While it's too early to tell what this means for the species' future, Katz said: "we will know that answer probably in the next year or two, whether or not this year has been a catastrophic decline."

His team also tracked adult cuttlefish numbers during the dive survey, and said the dozen or so they saw - when there should have been tens of thousands - appeared to be behaving differently.

"This year, they were all really skittish... hiding under rocks. Because there's so few cuttlefish hanging out at the moment, they don't have strength in numbers."

Katz said he wasn't shocked by the low numbers this winter given the devastating impact of the toxic algal bloom in South Australia since it was first detected in March last year.

The algal bloom - a rapid increase in the population of algae in water systems – is naturally occurring but is caused by ocean warming, marine heatwaves, and nutrient pollution - all exacerbated by climate change.

"Our marine habitats have been getting wiped out for the past year and a half now... this is an indicator that our marine ecosystems are in real big trouble - the canary in the coal mine, so to speak."

Last year's cuttlefish mating season was not impacted as the effects of the algal bloom had not yet reached the Cuttlefish Coast, Katz said, but since late last year, small concentrations of the toxic algae have been detected in the area.

This was particularly worrying as cuttlefish, along with other cephalopods like octopus and squid, are particularly vulnerable to the toxic algae.

Stefan Andrews, co-founder of the Great Southern Reef Foundation, is seeking to have the giant Australian cuttlefish listed as a threatened species given its "catastrophic decline" due to the algal bloom and the impact on the next generation.

"The harmful algal blooma is a leading plausible explanation and appears likely to have contributed, but the vailable evidence does not yet allow us to say definitively that it caused the entire decline," he said.

He said with so few adults and so little breeding activity observed, the number of young entering the population is likely to be very low.

"That will make the next breeding season especially challenging."

A spokesperson for South Australia's Department of Primary Industries and Regions said cuttlefish populations "naturally fluctuate" depending on environmental conditions.

Previous surveys have reported record lows of 13,500 in 2013 to highs of 247,000 in 2020.

"The cuttlefish population estimate rebounded to more than 100,000 just two years following the low numbers in 2013," the spokesperson said.

"While it appears likely the algal bloom has impacted cuttlefish numbers, researchers are working to determine whether this contributed to the reduced population or was just one of the potential impacts."

Prof Mike Steer, executive director of the South Australian Research and Development Institute which helped carry out the underwater surveys, said the unprecedented low estimate this year was "disheartening".

But he remained hopeful as "we know from the past that this population has the capacity to recover when conditions are favourable".

He said there were "positive signs" as adult cuttlefish were continuing to lay eggs and the population may recover "over coming years".

Sydney police investigate death of teen girl from suspected choking during sex

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdr7jpzxz00o, 11 days ago

Police in Sydney are investigating the death of a 16-year-old girl in a suspected case of choking during sex, according to local media reports.

On Sunday about 17:45 local time, emergency services were called to a home in Elanora Heights in Sydney's Northern Beaches where the girl was found unconscious.

Police confirmed she was treated at the scene before being airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition but died on Tuesday night. It is understood she passed out after being choked during sex.

Experts say sexual strangulation has become more prevalent among young people in Australia despite the impacts including headaches, memory loss, brain damage and in rare cases, death.

Police have not disclosed how the girl died or what her injuries were but police sources have told several local news outlets - including the national broadcaster ABC and the Sydney Morning Herald - that she was believed to have been choked during sex.

Sexual consent advocate Chanel Contos said the girl's death was "likely preventable" and that pornography companies "have blood on their hands".

"Mainstream pornography routinely depicts violence against women - slapping, strangling, and other abuse - while showing women as enjoying or accepting it," she said.

"This is not the first tragedy of its kind and it won't be the last".

Contos, 28, founded the Teach Us Consent organisation in 2021 after she prompted a nationwide conversation about consent when hundreds of young people said they had been sexually assaulted during their school years.

She said there's no safe way to engage in choking during sex, despite recent research showing some young people believe the act is risky but safe.

"Even when young people believe they are consenting, they're often uninformed about its potential consequences, which are fatal at worst, and can cause permanent brain injury even when there are no visible signs of harm."

A 2024 report by the University of Melbourne and University of Queensland found that more than half (57%) of Australians aged between 18 and 35 had been strangled during sex at least once.

The survey of 4,700 young people also found that one third of those who had been choked during sex were between 19 and 21 year old when they first experienced it.

Songs created by AI banned from Australia's music charts

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20vl4vm2pno, 13 days ago

Songs that are largely or wholly created by AI have been banned from Australia's music charts.

From this week, all releases must be "substantially human made" to be eligible.

The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) said the new code would help "promote the human nature of artistry".

It follows a controversy around a cover of Madonna's Like A Prayer by Australian DJ Josh Fawaz which recently topped the ARIA dance singles chart and peaked at number 2 on the country's overall chart.

The song has become a staple of commercial radio station playlists and been streamed more than 48 million times on Spotify alone.

Fawaz later added generative AI credits to the song after a backlash.

ARIA said that Australian artists were competing for attention "in the most crowded market in history" and that it was "not interested in promoting or celebrating the success of AI-generated music that does not contain human artistry".

Under the new rules, AI assistance can still be used, but humans must have written the song, and have performed the lead vocal and primary instruments.

AI can also still be used for mastering songs and, for example, using drum machines and auto tune.

Earlier this year a song was banned from Sweden's music charts because it was created by AI.

And in July, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said AI guidelines would be rolled out in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia for use in their official charts.

The updated code, based on the IFPI directive, also excludes music that raises "stream or chart manipulation concerns".

ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd said: "These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is, to say the least, a rapidly developing space."

"Artists already use AI tools in their work, the charts can and should evolve to keep room for that, but music generated wholesale by services built on artists' recordings is a different matter."

She added: "A chart that rewards unlicensed AI output would undercut the very basis of the recorded music we exist to represent."

Artists will be required to declare AI use when they submit a song for chart consideration.

ARIA said that if it later emerged music was largely AI-generated it could retrospectively adjust chart positions, and if the piece topped the charts, it may request that awards given for reaching Number One were returned.

Artists and their representatives will be able to challenge their exclusion.

Among the artists supporting the move are Australian electronic act Peking Duk.

Last month, they shared an AI-assisted version of their 2014 hit High on Instagram, captioned: "When you re-record your own song with AI so Australian radio will play it."

Band member Adam Hyde told Channel Nine's Today show that AI-generated music was "removing the human experience from life".

In July this year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised "the strongest possible protection" from AI for Australian creatives.

Albanese pledged that writers and musicians would be able to choose if and how their work was used in the training of AI, saying it would be "theft" if creatives lost that control and were not paid for its use.

Australian shark attack victim grateful for 'second chance at life'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c87n792dnlno, 14 days ago

An Australian woman bitten by a shark at a popular Sydney beach earlier this year says she has been given a "second chance at life" and will be making the most of it.

Leah Stewart, 34, was mauled by a shark during a morning swim at Coogee Beach in June, suffering multiple bites to her arms and legs, amid a spate of attacks in Australia.

The mother-of-one was placed in an induced coma and had several surgeries, including having one of her arms amputated.

In an online post on Monday, she thanked her supporters who have raised more than AU$550,000 (US$394,000; £289,000) for her, saying her recovery has been "incredibly difficult" but she is making "remarkable" progress.

"After what has been an incredibly difficult few months, I'm so happy that I've progressed enough to build some independence, and I can finally see some light after all of this," Stewart wrote, in her first comments since the attack.

"I want you to know that I feel like I've been given a second chance at life, and I'm not going to waste it."

Stewart said she had been "overwhelmed" by the support from family, friends and "even strangers", adding that the "you've inspired me to get better, not bitter".

An online fundraiser for her would now be closed, she wrote, with the money raised giving her the chance to recover at home as well as "options for further medical treatment down the road".

"I still have a long way to go, but my recovery has been remarkable, and a huge part of that is because of the absolute army of love, support, prayers and encouragement surrounding my family and I from all over the world."

In an interview with Nine Network's 60 Minutes, due to be aired this weekend, Stewart described seeing the shark's "horrific" face.

"I'll never forget its face - it was a monster," she says.

"It was holding onto my leg and I just thought of (my daughter) August, and I thought, 'she's not going to have a mum. She's gonna grow up without a mum'."

Fighting back tears, she goes on: "I couldn't handle that, I didn't want her to not have a mum. I just thought, I've got to fight it, do everything I can to be here."

There have been a spate of shark attacks in Australia this year, with four attacks over a two-day period in January, including one on a 12-year-old boy who later died from his injuries.

In May, a man was killed by a shark in Queensland while spearfishing and in Western Australia, a father-of-two died after he was attacked by a 4m (13ft) shark.

Russia hits Ukrainian security headquarters in drone attack, Zelensky says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yep7y48x2o, 2 days ago

A Russian drone has hit the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) during a strike in the heart of Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into the SBU headquarters on Friday afternoon, targeting a room used by security chief Oleksandr Poklad.

It is not clear whether Poklad was in the building, but Zelensky said he had since spoken to him to order an "appropriate, tangible response".

"The drone was aimed directly at the office of the Head of the Security Service in that building," Zelensky confirmed. It suggests Russia's new drones are growing in accuracy and signals Moscow could step up strikes before possible US mediation talks this weekend.

"All emergency services are on the scene. Everyone affected will receive the necessary assistance," Zelensky added in a message on Telegram.

"I instructed Poklad to deliver an appropriate, tangible response and, where possible, one that mirrors this strike, to the Russians once everything is ready. Our military will support this response."

Images of the office widely shared online showed black smoke pouring from two windows on the front of the building.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said the attack was a "major escalation that demands resolute responses".

"Moscow launched this strike during a renewed push for peace - laying bare its true rejection of diplomacy," he added.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said five people had been hurt in the SBU attack, but did not elaborate on whether they were inside the offices.

A nearby café was damaged and one customer was taken to hospital after the strike.

Stanislav Zavertaylo, co-owner of the popular Zavertailo chain, told the BBC that this was his third café to have been damaged since the start of the full-scale invasion.

"Now I'm in shock because there's a lot of damage. All the windows are broken, there's a lot of glass, garbage" he added.

The Russian defence ministry also said on Friday it had struck a cargo vessel in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk and a tanker near Odesa.

In recent weeks Russia has escalated its daytime strikes on Ukrainian targets.

In many instances it has employed jet-powered drones which are faster and harder to intercept. It is not yet known which type of munition was used in this latest attack.

The strike on the SBU building is a rare example of Russia successfully hitting a government building.

The SBU - which is just over the road from the St Sophia cathedral, the oldest building in Kyiv - is a key part of Ukraine's war efforts as it conducts deep strikes to damage Russian infrastructure.

The drone came during yet another air raid alert. There was a brief whine before an explosion echoed across the roof tops and smoke rose into the sky.

Despite the ongoing exchanges, US mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Russia and Ukraine this weekend, reports say, as efforts to end the war continue.

The envoys will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday in Moscow, and then will hold talks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday in Kyiv, Axios said, citing US officials.

Witkoff and Kushner have led US President Donald Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal, without a breakthrough so far.

Germany's far-right AfD bids for first taste of power in eastern vote

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgypkzgy4wo, 2 days ago

Germany is holding its breath this weekend as there is a seismic election in the country's east.

The Alternative für Deutschland party is aiming to secure a majority in the regional parliament of Saxony-Anhalt.

An outright win would mark the first time a far-right party has held state-level power in the nation's post-war era.

For the AfD's opponents, this is a point of serious peril. But the party sees it as a stepping stone towards its dreams of nationwide power.

This is an election that could change German history.

The result could also spell fresh trouble for embattled conservative (CDU) Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as rumours persist about whether he can see out his term in office.

Booed during recent public appearances, Merz is hardly seen as an electoral asset.

Perhaps the chancellor regrets a pledge to halt the rise of the far right, given that the exact opposite has happened.

By contrast, the charismatic AfD lead candidate in the state - Ulrich Siegmund - appears to have enjoyed dominating discussion and media coverage.

Dubbed "Germany's Most Dangerous Man" by Der Spiegel magazine, he has brushed off reports that people previously in the neo-Nazi scene are among those to hold influential roles around him.

The 35-year-old can often be seen, including in his own many social media posts, amongst adoring crowds or happily riding a retro East German scooter.

A lingering nostalgia for the past, alongside an acute dissatisfaction with the present, has fed the party's popularity in its eastern strongholds.

Voters voice frustration with immigration, public safety, Germany's struggling economy, high energy costs and aid being sent abroad to countries like Ukraine.

Some people I have spoken to passionately believe that the AfD is offering a real chance for radical change - and say Ulrich Siegmund has given them hope.

Other supporters are less certain, but say they have lost faith with mainstream parties that have dominated politics for decades.

An AfD lawmaker once told me that if they got a shot at regional government, then people would see the "sky won't fall in".

Some of the movement's detractors may disagree. Its plans, for Saxony-Anhalt, are highly controversial within Germany.

The party wants to segregate child refugees into special classes: "The refugee children should be given the message that their stay in Germany is only temporary."

The manifesto claims that "sexual deviations and non-reproductive lifestyles" have been aggressively promoted over "normal family" structures.

LGBT rainbow flags should be banned from being flown at schools, the party argues, while children should be taught less about the Nazis and more about positive aspects of German history.

On immigration, a task-force would be set up as part of plans to detain and deport migrants who no longer have the right to be in the state, while the party also calls for an end to "illegal, culturally alien" mass migration.

The AfD's pro-Russia sympathies have also sparked claims that it cannot be trusted with sensitive intelligence. When a Russian army mug was spotted in the office of leading AfD figure Hans-Thomas Tillschneider in Saxony-Anhalt, he said it was just a souvenir, and "it's not our war".

That was as Berlin, this week, publicly blamed Moscow for a failed drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport. The Kremlin has denied involvement.

Meanwhile, German security sources have warned that Russian-backed disinformation campaigns, often against AfD rivals, have been escalating - something Moscow's representatives describe as "anti-Russian hysteria".

State-level governments hold significant powers over areas including local education, policing and culture, while their delegates sit in the federal government's second chamber – the Bundesrat.

An AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt would be able to implement changes locally and gain a louder voice on the national stage.

The party remains strongest in the former communist east Germany but it is also leading the polls nationwide.

That is despite warnings that it has morphed from a Eurosceptic party, founded in 2013, into one that flirts with, or attracts, extremist support.

At one AfD rally, we saw a man wearing a T-shirt that read Arisch - the German word for Aryan that the Nazis used to promote their false theories of a master race.

We do not know whether the man was a party supporter, a member or merely an attendee. He would not talk to us.

Saxony-Anhalt is one of several states where the party is officially classed as right-wing extremist.

Domestic intelligence charges the local branch with being infused by a "racist ideology" and anti-constitutional aims.

The AfD, which says it is a conservative, libertarian movement, dismisses these designations as politicised smears and rejects any comparisons with National Socialism.

Ulrich Siegmund has not ruled out getting rid of domestic intelligence (BfV) in the state if the AfD wins a majority.

Other parties won't go into coalition with the AfD, as part of what is known as the Brandmauer or firewall that keeps the far right from government.

That is why it must seek a parliamentary majority in order to be sure of securing power.

In Saxony-Anhalt, it is no longer about creating cracks in the firewall but rather trying to bypass it altogether.

Pulling that off will likely depend on whether other, smaller parties get enough votes in order to pass a 5% threshold that allows them to enter parliament.

Politics is maths and Germany is no different, even if the maths can be quite convoluted.

But if the AfD does score a decisive victory, then a party that uses anti-establishment rhetoric to grow its support will face a test it has never faced before.

Grievances could still be laid at the door of the federal government in Berlin, but the AfD would no longer solely be able to rail against those in office because it would be in office itself.

Saxony-Anhalt may be a relatively small state, by population, but it is about to host one hell of an election.

Europe targeted by spiralling campaign of sabotage - and Russia is the chief suspect

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y4g6meekro, 2 days ago

As summer temperatures in Europe smashed records and many politicians shifted to holiday mode, Russia remained focused on its war.

Not only did its military attacks across Ukraine intensify last month, becoming ever more deadly for civilians, Russia also appears to have escalated its sabotage campaign across Europe.

This time, military and defence sector sites were the prime target.

A full month after drones packed with explosives were found at Leipzig's airport, used by Ukraine to transport military goods, Germany's interior minister has declared that "Russia is responsible".

Russia's President Vladimir Putin is demanding proof, as always, and his officials call the accusation "absurd".

But the drones were just a dramatic start. August then brought a series of suspicious fires at defence facilities from Italy to Estonia.

Some of the affected countries have already blamed Russia; others are still investigating and some fires may eventually be ruled accidental, exactly as such attacks are designed to seem.

Poland's interior minister is clear.

"There are many, many signals that Russia is changing its strategy and intensifying its activities, including terrorist and sabotage activities," Marcin Kierwiński said, warning people to be on their guard.

August campaign across Europe

4 August Germany: The first drone at Leipzig airport is discovered.

10 August Bulgaria: A major fire breaks out at a warehouse of defence firm EMCO in Tryavna. In a statement, the company recalled previous blasts at its facilities which were investigated for links to Russia. "Human error is excluded," it said.

13 August Italy: A fire at KNDS Ammo Italy outside Rome triggers a large explosion.

The local prosecutor is looking into possible outside interference, La Repubblica newspaper reports. Publicly, his office will only confirm that a case has been opened for negligent disaster against "unknown persons".

15 August Estonia: The Milrem Robotics factory in Tallinn, which the Kyiv Post says supplies drones to Ukraine, goes up in flames. Two suspects are arrested.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal says the possibility of Russian sabotage is being "taking seriously" by investigators.

25 August Slovakia: Police announce they have averted an arson attack on a Ukrainian-owned drone manufacturer and seized a "large amount of incendiary mixture". The firm itself blames Russia and police arrest three suspects who they say were "following orders". Slovakia is Russia's close ally in Europe.

30 August Poland: A country which is heavily targeted for sabotage reports two more fires.

One is in Lublin at a company which produces helicopter components. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said arson "cannot be ruled out".

An attack on the drone producer, WB Group, is clearer cut. A masked man is caught on CCTV throwing incendiary devices. Tusk calls it a "continuation of Russia's escalatory activities".

The pattern has continued into September with two Bulgarians arrested in Munich, Germany, for suspected arson after throwing incendiary devices from a car at defence firm Rhode & Schwartz.

Separately, police say they are hunting a climate extremist suspected of sabotage attacks this week on power substations in western Germany.

Why is this happening now?

Attacks on military and defence targets are not new, although previous acts of sabotage linked to Russia include more puzzling targets - such as an Ikea store and a Polish paint store.

The novelty now is the concentration of cases.

"The intensity of military sites being attacked we've seen over the past couple of weeks is unusual," Daniela Richterova of the Department of War Studies at King's College says.

She links the spike to developments in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We've basically seen Ukraine take the war to Russia and strike deep inside Russian territory…They [Moscow] are under pressure, they have to do something."

Whilst some sabotage is staged to sow chaos or fear, Richterova believes the Kremlin's aim right now is "coercive signalling": pressuring countries to stop supporting Kyiv by raising the stakes.

After a slow start, Germany is Ukraine's biggest supplier of military aid.

There are other theories.

To some, Russia is less concerned about "turning off the taps" of supplies to Ukraine and more about testing Nato for weaknesses.

"Russia is probing the boundaries of what's acceptable and collecting information on the results. They find out what works, and what's vulnerable," argues Keir Giles from the Chatham House think tank.

He sees the sabotage campaign as preparation for the "next phase", as he puts it, of Russia's aggression in Europe.

"They're assessing the willingness of the victim country to actually do something about it."

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which tracks sabotage cases, points to a previous surge in 2024 when Ukraine's allies began allowing it to use Western-supplied weapons deeper inside Russia.

2024 was the year of the parcel bomb plot, when Russia was accused of sending packages containing liquid explosive to the UK and Poland.

One ignited shortly before it was loaded on to a DHL cargo plane. It is thought this was a test run for something significantly bigger.

"That was a marked high in terms of their willingness to inflict mass casualties," Giles adds.

It was a step so serious, the White House contacted the Kremlin to tell it to stop. Russia had probed and found the limit.

But the attacks have continued. German media on Friday quoted a federal police report that lists more than 165 suspected sabotage cases nationwide this year, though they don't say who is responsible.

Who are the suspected saboteurs?

Reports from Germany suggest the men who loaded and launched the drones at Leipzig's airport were Russian, and at least one may have entered the country specially for this job.

That would be unusual.

The vast majority of sabotage attacks in Europe have been carried out by Russian proxies: its so-called "gig economy saboteurs".

They are usually Russian-speakers from former Soviet states, recruited online and driven by the cash, not political conviction.

In one case the BBC reported from Poland, the saboteurs-for-hire had previously fought for Ukraine as volunteers.

The "handlers" are generally thought to remain in Russia, co-ordinating operations online.

The IISS likened the proxies they used to kamikaze drones: cheap and easy to launch in large numbers, but disposable.

The amateurs can be sloppy or reckless, though. In the parcel plot, one man failed to find a pick-up point and the whole mission had to be aborted.

So if Moscow did send professionals for the Leipzig drone launch, it suggests it wanted precision - and success.

In fact, the devices appear to have malfunctioned.

Nato faced with Soviet-style campaign

Russia's sabotage operations seem to come from the Cold War playbook. Daniela Richterova's research shows very similar targets on Soviet sabotage lists, and agents-saboteurs were used in much the same way.

The idea, she says, was to have small, deniable attacks in peace-time that would escalate in times of war.

"I think we are still in the grey zone between the two, but the kind of attacks we've seen in the past weeks shrink that zone," she says. "And I think that increases the risk of what happens next."

As Nato scrambles to respond, questions like how many small, individual attacks add up to a sustained Russian assault - and demand action - remain unanswered.

Perhaps riskier than all is the potential for escalation by accident.

What if the exploding parcel had gone off mid-air and caused a crash? What if the Leipzig drone had brought down a plane?

"I think it could result in a big attack," Richterova says. "Then Nato, in this heightened security environment, would not be able to ignore that, and have to react."

Tate brothers officially indicted with trafficking and sex crimes in Romania

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7v4npv1m22o, yesterday

Romanian prosecutors have officially indicted social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate with a range of trafficking and sex offences.

They are accused of making more than $1.2m (£888,000) by coercing a girl to perform sex acts on video chats, according to the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).

Andrew, 39, is charged with trafficking minors, money laundering and having sex with a minor. Tristan, 38, is charged with complicity in trafficking in minors and money laundering.

The Tates - currently in a Miami jail fighting extradition to the UK over separate charges - deny all the allegations.

The brothers - former kickboxers with dual US and British citizenship - have been under criminal investigation in Romania since December 2022.

They have been mainly based there since 2017, drawing a large social media audience - many of them young men - through misogynistic messages and images of a luxury lifestyle.

Romanian prosecutors described a case as centring on a vulnerable female who was 15 at the time of the alleged offence, in information released on Friday.

She is alleged to have been recruited by Andrew and housed in a building in Luton, Bedfordshire, so he could sexually exploit her. Tristan is alleged to have been an accessory, prosecutors say, using physical aggression to coerce the victim.

DIICOT investigators allege Andrew controlled her through surveillance and physical aggression, and coerced her to perform sex acts on video chats for his financial gain.

Andrew is also accused of moving her to Romania to carry on exploiting her in two of his homes.

He is separately charged with having sex with a minor, who was 15, in Romania.

Prosecutors have also requested four of the brothers' luxury cars worth £710,000 be confiscated. They believe money was laundered through their purchase.

The two brothers were previously indicted in Romania on trafficking charges, but in 2024 an appeals court in Bucharest sent the case back to prosecutors after deeming some evidence inadmissible.

It is not yet clear if DIICOT will seek their extradition from the US and the indictment has to be examined by a judge before any trial can begin.

The Tates have denied all the allegations and say their online personas are not their real personalities.

Their lawyer in Romania, Eugen Constantin Vidineac, said: "Today's decision by DIICOT does not determine guilt and it should not be presented as though it does. It represents the prosecution's latest attempt to bring this case before a court following the failure of its previous indictment to proceed to trial.

"The history of these proceedings matters. The previous indictment was subjected to judicial scrutiny and the court identified significant irregularities which prevented the case from moving forward to trial.

"DIICOT has now chosen to file a new indictment. We will examine every aspect of it with the same level of scrutiny and we will challenge any evidential, procedural or legal deficiencies through the appropriate judicial process.

"Our clients continue to reject the allegations against them. They have the right to the presumption of innocence, the right to properly examine the evidence relied upon against them and the right to mount an effective defence."

Correction 5 September: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Tate brothers were charged with further offences. The article has been updated to make clear they have been officially indicted with offences of which they had already been accused. It has also been updated to reflect that Andrew, not Tristan, was alleged to have recruited the 15-year-old.

More than 80 migrants feared dead after boat rescued off Canary Islands

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33kzv7kly4o, 4 days ago

More than 80 people, including a baby, are feared to have died in a boat which was adrift in the Atlantic Ocean for 27 days.

Spanish Maritime Rescue teams located the vessel some 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria's coastal town of Arguineguín on Wednesday and found 44 survivors, with five dead bodies also on board.

The boat is believed to have departed The Gambia in West Africa in early August with 127 occupants on board. Human rights activist Helena Maleno Garzón, founder of Spanish charity Caminando Fronteras, said 83 people had lost their lives.

Rescuers were forced to leave the five bodies they found due to the rough sea conditions, Maritime Rescue said.

The organisation was unable to verify how many people were originally on board.

The 44 survivors are men from sub-Saharan Africa, Maritime Rescue said in a statement.

"Once the rescue was complete, adverse weather conditions in the area - featuring 20-knot winds and 2.5m waves - made it impossible to recover the five bodies found on board the vessel," it added.

Three of the survivors were airlifted to hospital in critical condition.

The rest were transported by sea to Gran Canaria, where they disembarked in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Fernando Clavijo, head of the Canary Islands government, posted on X: "It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost. The Canaries cannot get used to or accept as normal the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a death trap."

The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world's deadliest migration crossings.

Thousands of migrants attempt the perilous journey each year seeking to reach Spanish territory despite the risks posed by rough seas, strong currents and long distances.

Embattled Spanish PM insists no prior warnings before Ceuta crisis

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07lz7rn2mjo, 4 days ago

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said no-one foresaw the influx of 72,000 migrants in the exclave of Ceuta, as pressure mounts over his handling of the crisis.

"It's absurd to think that the government knew and did nothing," Sánchez told Spain's parliament on Thursday, hours after tens of thousands of people joined protests across the country backed by opposition parties.

Sánchez also maintained there was no evidence Morocco was behind the mass crossing and there had been "close co-ordination" between the two countries.

A Spanish police report has highlighted the "total permissiveness" of Moroccan security forces, although senior officials insist it does not point the finger at Rabat.

Although most of the migrants have been sent back to Morocco, some 5,000 remain on the streets and beaches of Ceuta, on the North African coast, including as many as 1,400 children.

There have been several reports that Spanish officials had been warned of a rise in sea arrivals over the border at Ceuta, following a Spanish court ruling that many migrants misunderstood to mean they would not be pushed back if they swam across.

Opposition People's Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused the government of lying and a cover-up, and said the prime minister should resign.

Spain's handling of the migrant influx angered some of its European partners, and Italy responded by imposing border restrictions on arrivals from Spain.

The large turnout for the demonstrations in Madrid and other cities on Wednesday underlined the pressure Sánchez is under domestically too.

The protests were ostensibly held to express support for the people of Ceuta, but as frequent anti-government chants have shown, they also reflected public anger at the ongoing crisis.

As Thursday's fierce debate in Congress showed, the situation in Ceuta has developed from a humanitarian and logistical crisis into a major political challenge for the Socialist leader.

One of the issues Sánchez is having to explain is his government's bilateral relationship with Morocco.

He has tried to walk a delicate line between defending his refusal to blame Morocco while reprimanding it for the sovereignty claims it has been making in recent weeks on both Ceuta and its fellow Spanish exclave of Melilla.

Sánchez has been careful until now not to criticise Rabat and he said he would stick to "proven, verified facts", although he did complain of "unacceptable" statements by two Moroccan ministers about Ceuta and its sister city Melilla.

Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi has spoken of his country's "historical and geographical right" to the cities and proposed talks with Spain on the issue.

The two cities have the EU's only land borders in North Africa and Sánchez told parliament: "Ceuta is not the border of Spain, it is Spain on the border [of Europe]."

Politicians to both his left and right point to what they say is Morocco's track record of using the border with Spain as leverage when it has a grievance.

Many have interpreted the police report pointing to the role of Moroccan security forces in the July crossing as reinforcing this theory, although Sánchez maintained there was no solid evidence of government involvement.

The report, commissioned by a High Court judge, said security forces had "made no serious attempt" to stop the influx and quoted some migrants saying Moroccan gendarmes had even provided guidance.

Responding to the revelations, as well as media reports before the influx, Feijóo told MPs that the crisis had "originated in Morocco, was consented to by Morocco and there are indications that Morocco co-ordinated it and the government knew because it had been warned about it".

Morocco has denied orchestrating or being involved in the mass crossing.

Sánchez said King Felipe VI would visit Ceuta and Melilla in the coming weeks to convey Spain's commitment to the two cities, although officials say no date has been set.

He praised the response of Ceuta police who had chosen to "defend human life" when the influx took place, rather than defend the border. He also highlighted close co-operation with Moroccan authorities over the return of more than 90% of the migrants in the following 72 hours.

He addressed the "difficult times" faced by the residents of Ceuta, as he explained the "complexity" of what had happened on 30 and 31 July.

He spoke of an "episode in which numerous actors and interests converge", doubling down on his assertion that hoaxes and rumours spread by social media had sparked the crisis.

He has already blamed trafficking gangs and angered Russia and Israel for highlighting social media linked to both countries along with "an international far-right movement". He told MPs that there was no evidence of state actors being involved but doubled down on his allegations of accounts linked to the two countries.

Ceuta was "a humanitarian crisis and also an administrative challenge within the city itself", he added.

Channel smuggling gangs resort to 'mega-dinghies' as crackdown limits small boat supply

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3rn93de9eo, 4 days ago

A drop in small boats illegally reaching the UK is forcing people smuggling gangs to adopt new tactics, a BBC investigation has found.

And there are claims of more "mega-dinghies" being prepared, of the type seen arriving on UK shores in recent weeks.

The image of a 15-metre long small boat carrying a record 230 migrants towards the UK drew condemnation from both newspapers and politicians.

Ministers were accused of "losing control" of illegal Channel crossings, and the French police again found themselves criticised for not intervening.

But evocative as the picture was, it also represented a new strategy by the increasingly frustrated people smugglers we encountered on France's northern shores - who attacked our crew with stones, and injured our cameraman.

They are running low on small boats, we have found. And once rival criminal groups are now having to work together by loading more migrants on fewer, larger vessels - just like the "mega-dinghy".

The UK and France are announcing measures to increase the number of police officers on the French coast in order to try to stop the migrants.

The latest initiative came as Andy Burnham prepared to host French President Emmanuel Macron at Downing Street for the first time since becoming prime minister.

Gang members have told our sources that others are being prepared, to the concern of emergency teams on both sides of the Channel, because of the increased risk to more lives. On 4 August 170 people had to be rescued after theirs caught fire in the middle of the Channel.

With French officers claiming they are now intercepting two-thirds of small boats before they can reach the coast, that means fewer crossing opportunities. And for those hoping to make the journey, it means a higher price.

Today, the gangs are quoting up to €2,000 (£1,700) per person. It used to be around €1,300 just a year ago. Their passengers also have to now pay in cash, to ensure commitment.

During one early low tide on Gravelines beach, we saw the only small boat to launch that day, and it was not what we expected.

At 09:30, a dozen or so migrants emerged from the sand dunes. Their distinctive orange life jackets, purchased from a local sports shop, made them easy to identify.

A need for speed at this point would be a fair assumption, but this was not to be the case. There was no running. It was almost orderly. A refined process where instructions were obeyed.

As they waded into the calm shallows of the Channel, their "taxi boat" came into view. It is simply a small boat that has departed from further along the coastline to avoid detection. Only now, they are being forced to set off from even greater distances. This one had left from Belgium.

The reason for the group not rushing was because the boat was already in the water. French police argue they are prevented from intervening at this point over fears of people drowning. It is to the long frustration of the British authorities, who would like their neighbours to at least adopt a more "case-by-case" approach.

As they clutch their phones in plastic wrapping, the group patiently waits for what they hope will be a voyage to a better life in the UK. Some tell me they are from Afghanistan. They are eager to catch their ride. Those who make it on are visibly elated.

After the last passenger, a young boy, is almost thrown on board, it inches out to sea, but it is not leaving yet.

At 09:49, another group of migrants move into the water and wait to be collected. An hour later, the boat indeed does return, but to another gathering that has emerged on a different part of the beach. A few run the vast distance across the sand to try to secure a spot. Most manage to clamber on.

As police officers watch from the shore, the small boat goes on to make five collections like this over three hours. The boarding becomes more frantic as the window of opportunity shrinks.

By 12:11, the small boat, with 82 people on board, finally moves off into the busiest shipping lane in the world. It is dwarfed by the passenger ferries in the background.

Everyone successfully made it to the UK. Small boats typically radio for help once they are in British waters, as the coastguard is compelled to rescue them and take them to shore.

What they leave behind in Gravelines is a scene of dejection and exhaustion. A limp toddler is carried past me towards a police officer, who revives him with a light shake.

This all unfolds next to four or so men casting their fishing rods into the increasingly choppy waters. It is peak holiday season here. They and other dogwalkers barely glance at the crestfallen migrants wading back to the sand.

Before, the gangs would often launch boats in the dead of night, but with increased police patrols, charity workers tell us the gangs now see the middle of the day as a better opportunity, as it takes taxi boats longer to arrive and it allows them to better co-ordinate boarding.

"You feel guilty being there - going to the beach and having a good time, while these families are in such terrible situations," observes a woman with her young daughter. They had been playing with a bucket and spade.

"It's hard," she admits. "We regularly see people on the beach attempting the crossing. It feels like living in two parallel worlds that have nothing to do with each other; it's really strange."

The migrants remaining will wait for their next opportunity, as per their agreement with the gangs. But because of more robust policing that wait is now typically weeks, even months, rather than days.

They also need a favourable weather window: the wind needs to ideally be under 5 knots and waves need to be less than 0.8m for a small boat to have a chance of making it across.

To improve their chances of avoiding detection and to be closer to a taxi boat, charity workers tell us migrants are also sleeping closer to the beach in the woods or among the dunes, instead of at the larger camps where they can wash, or receive food, water and medication.

It is after arriving at the largest settlement at Loon-Plage, near Dunkirk, that we soon find ourselves in direct confrontation with the people smugglers.

As the intense heat bears down on a tent where people can charge their devices, we initially meet two young Egyptian men who are visibly tired and disheartened. They have been staying in squalid conditions for months and have made several unsuccessful attempts to cross.

"The police stopped us from leaving and destroyed the boats," explains one. He says he wants to go to the UK so he can work and obtain legal papers.

A young Sudanese woman and Afghan man also told us they had also tried to cross dozens of times. We have been to the camp on several occasions over the past year, but this time there was a perceptible unease.

Riot police had cleared out the tents in the same week, and the day before around 400 migrants preparing for a taxi boat in the nearby Hardelot forest were forced to return after several fires broke out.

It is evident the migrants and the gangs have been repeatedly frustrated, and the sight of our camera in one corner of the camp leads to us being attacked.

After we had agreed to stop filming, one smuggler, around 5'8" tall (172cm) and in a new grey tracksuit, tries to grab our camera. He then repeatedly throws rocks at us from close range, striking our cameraman above the eye.

We're chased to the car and make it away. Pol would later receive a few stitches.

The UK has been quick to praise the French police for reducing crossing numbers to a six-year low. Officials also cite a deeper, more joined-up level of co-ordination between the two countries.

But changes in immigration policy, the movement of people and the weather means the broader picture is more complicated.

Thousands are still illegally entering the UK every month on small boats. The numbers remain significant. And motivations to make this journey still run deep in this stretch of northern France.

For the people smuggling gangs that still means money, and a need to evolve.

Additional reporting by Marianne Baisnée

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Rosenberg: Putin's veiled threat to UK part of Russia's campaign against West

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62j50n131mo, 5 days ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin responded with one short sentence when asked at a press conference whether Moscow might strike military facilities in the UK in response to British arms supplies to Ukraine.

"That's a secret. A military secret."

Military secret is not a "yes". And not a "no". It leaves us hanging.

And that, I suspect, is the point.

Those two words feel like psychological pressure from the Kremlin: to keep Britain guessing - and stressing - over Moscow's intentions, as well as to encourage the UK to think twice about its staunch support for Ukraine.

It reminds me of a newspaper article I read a few days ago. Moskovsky Komsomolets had suggested that UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham should be seeing Russia, not in his dreams, "but in his nightmares".

Scary language. But short on detail about what those nightmares will look like.

We cannot conclude that Russian missiles are about to be used against targets in the UK.

But look what's happening elsewhere in Europe.

Germany now says Russia was responsible for last month's drone attack at Leipzig airport.

Putin accused Germany of "planting the evidence". But German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described "the well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe".

Could such "operations" now be stepped up in the UK?

Yet it wasn't just Britain that received veiled threats at Putin's press conference.

So did the West in general. Putin referred to Western countries as sharks.

"If anyone tries to drag us down the food chain, to gobble us up or devour us, they might get punched in the teeth," he said. "Russia is ready to do that, despite the rapidly growing appetites and teeth of these sharks."

Increasingly Russia's president is mixing the geopolitical with the zoological. He recently spoke about killer whales "tearing polar bears apart" to justify Russia's war on Ukraine.

The press conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, was a fascinating window on Putin's state of mind.

For forty-five minutes he took questions from Russian journalists and came across as combative, confident of victory and energised. These days Putin appears most animated when talking about the geopolitical standoff between Russia and the West and the war in Ukraine.

Even though the war has not gone to plan. Russia has suffered huge losses on the battlefield and the country's economy is under considerable pressure.

"I have no doubt that the enemy will crumble," he declared. Yet the war has lasted more than four-and-a-half years and Ukraine fights on.

Officially the Kremlin still calls this a "special military operation". But even Putin now is using the word "war".

"War is a brutal and unpredictable thing," he said at the press conference.

He claimed that he remained open to negotiations to end the conflict and left no doubt with whom he'd prefer to sit down with from the US administration: Donald Trump's envoys.

"We are absolutely comfortable working with those people we know well and generally trust," Putin said. "[Jared] Kushner and [Steve] Witkoff are always welcome guests. It's a pleasure working with them."

There was no such name check for the CIA director who had made a surprise visit to Moscow last week. The Kremlin says the Russian president didn't meet John Ratcliffe during that trip.

Is Putin likely to meet Witkoff and Kushner anytime soon?

There's nothing in the diary. Not yet.

But if they do head to Moscow, President Trump's envoys will encounter a Kremlin leader who remains determined that any peace in Ukraine should be on Russia's terms.

Why did Modi urge Putin to end Ukraine war - and will he listen?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2zy3wdqqeo, 6 days ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been urged by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a close ally, to end Moscow's war against Ukraine.

"Every day spent in war pushes humanity back, and every step taken towards peace fills humanity with new hope and enthusiasm," Modi said on Monday.

Modi, whose country's economy depends heavily on discounted oil from Moscow, has made several similar pleas to Putin since he launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

BBC correspondents in Delhi and Moscow look at what lies behind Modi's renewed appeal for peace, and Putin's response.

Modi's comments on ending the war in Ukraine are not surprising and don't suggest any tactical change in India's foreign policy.

In fact, speaking on the sidelines of a regional summit in 2022 - less than a year into the conflict - Modi told Putin publicly that "now is not the time for war".

But it would be an oversimplification to suggest that Modi's current or past statements on the war can be seen as a rebuff to Putin or Russia's strategy.

Western countries have pushed Modi hard to take a clear stand on the war - but Delhi has largely stayed neutral, urging dialogue to end the war instead.

The stand hasn't made many Western capitals happy but they have continued to court Modi and India - it's just too big and too fast-growing an economy to be ignored.

In this context, Modi's current statement cannot be seen as an attempt to please a third country.

If anything, it is very much in line with India's policy of strategic autonomy. Which then begs the question: why would Modi say something on the war so publicly?

The answer lies in the long-standing Russia-India ties - the two countries have generally found a way to work together, even when they see geopolitics through different lenses.

Moscow has continued to be one of India's strongest allies despite Delhi forging closer relationships with Europe and the US in the past three decades.

Delhi is one of the founding members of the Brics grouping of nations along with Russia and China, and it is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with the two countries.

But at the same time, Delhi is also a member of the Quad group with Australia, Japan and the US - Moscow has not been happy about this association.

Still, Moscow and Delhi tend to work through these differences. Moreover, Russia still supplies around 40% of India's defence imports and it has also been a steady supplier of Delhi's energy needs.

So, Modi's latest statement is not expected to cause any rift in Moscow-Delhi relations and analysts say it's unlikely that it would have come as a surprise to Putin or his diplomats.

As for the West and Modi's critics in India, they will feel that the prime minister should have been even more direct in his criticism of the war.

This isn't the first time a foreign leader has publicly urged Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Just five weeks ago the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev suggested Putin freeze the conflict and return to the negotiating table.

He didn't. And he hasn't.

There's no sign of these public calls for peace changing Putin's calculations.

To Modi's call for a cessation of hostilities, the Kremlin leader replied:

"Thank you very much, prime minister. We are moving forward along this path."

Polite, but vague. And non-committal.

After all, a path can be short. But it can also be long. Very long.

And "moving forward" at what pace?

And, crucially, on which path?

All the evidence suggests that Russia's leadership remains convinced it is on a path to military victory in Ukraine. To frame that in terms of peace, "moving forward" to peace on Russia's terms dictated by military success.

Therefore, for now, the fighting goes on.

Despite the fact that, after more than four-and-a-half years of war and huge military losses, the Kremlin has yet to secure victory.

And despite Ukraine's success in bringing the war back home to Russians: for example, through long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries that have sparked fuel shortages and petrol queues across the country.

In recent days Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine.

"After [Russia] intensified its strikes on Ukraine's military-industrial facilities and critical infrastructure," wrote the Kommersant newspaper this morning, "the Russian side is convinced that in the military confrontation time is working against Kyiv."

While Putin believes that, he'll be reluctant to pause his so-called "special military operation".

'She slipped out of my hand' - children missing after ferry sinks off northern Cyprus

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mv5ggg1l8o, 6 days ago

Ayten Bicer felt her 12-year-old daughter slip from her grasp and disappear as the ferry they were travelling on capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus on Sunday, killing eight people.

Her daughter Miray and six-year-old son Memhet Asaf are among 20 people still missing after the vessel sunk while en route to Turkey from the coastal town of Kyrenia, in the self-proclaimed Turkish republic on Cyprus.

She and her husband Hayri survived, and like many other families are waiting for news of their loved ones back in port as rescuers continue to search.

"She was saying, 'Don't let go'. And I didn't let go of my daughter. I swear, I didn't let her go," Bicer told reporters through tears.

Bicer said a suitcase fell on top of her, which forced her daughter from her grip. She managed to grab hold of her daughter's foot, but her shoes were coated in engine oil from the overturned vessel and she slipped through her hands.

"It was slippery everywhere. It was like oil. She slipped out of my hand," she recalled.

The family was returning to Turkey after a holiday on the Mediterranean island.

"We couldn't intervene, we lost our children," Hayri Bicer said. "Two of my three children are gone. We left them. We are leaving them on this island as we go."

The vessel had been carrying 259 passengers and eight crew members. Nineteen passengers are currently being treated in hospitals in northern Cyprus, local authorities say.

The eight crew members, including the ship's captain, and one other man were formally arrested on Monday. They will be detained for three days, while warrants have been issued for several other people.

The privately owned ferry left the popular holiday resort of Kyrenia at about 12:30 (09:30 GMT), en route to the town of Tasucu in Turkey.

It had been scheduled to travel to Turkey on Saturday but its journey was delayed due to severe storms hitting the island. The seas were still rough on Sunday.

Some eyewitness accounts say the double-hulled ferry jolted violently before slamming onto the sea surface, with part of its bow bursting open on impact.

Ünal Üstel, prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is only recognised by Turkey, told local media the boat was hit by two waves before it capsized.

While the captain of the vessel was trying to recover from the first wave, a second wave hit and it began taking on water, he said.

The boat has completely sunk and is lying at a depth of 514m (1,686ft), officials say.

Debris remains scattered across the water, including a black wheelie suitcase bobbing on the surface and a sheet of steel that appeared to have broken away from the ferry.

Authorities are attempting to recover the vessel's black box recorder to establish what happened.

A ship will be arriving from Turkey on Tuesday to help with search efforts, TRNC President Tufan Erhurman said.

Meanwhile, a three-day period of national mourning began on Monday.

The ferry - a high-speed 40m long, 10m wide Filo Jet vessel - sails under the flag of Turkey, according to Marine Traffic.

Filo Denizcilik, the company which operates the capsized passenger boat, said it was "deeply saddened by the tragic accident".

The TRNC controls the northern third of the island of Cyprus, which has been divided since 1974.

US envoys meet Putin in Moscow for Ukraine talks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2zqp46g8eo, today

US President Donald Trump's top negotiators have met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as efforts to end the war in Ukraine gather pace.

Footage released by the Kremlin showed Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner being greeted by Putin, who said the current situation "is not so easy".

Witkoff thanked Putin for agreeing with Ukraine to halt strikes on each other's capitals for three days. On Sunday the envoys will travel to Kyiv for more talks - their first such visit to Ukraine's capital.

On Friday, Trump said Witkoff and Kushner were "bringing with them a proposal to end the war". So far, efforts by the US and its allies to broker a peace deal have failed.

At Saturday's talks in the Kremlin, Putin also said that "whatever happens, such contacts are undoubtedly always useful". He also thanked Trump for his peacemaking efforts.

He told the envoys that he was "comfortable" working with them, adding: "Of course on our side there is quite a high level of trust during this work."

The talks – held behind closed doors in Putin's official residence in the heart of the Russian capital – lasted for three hours, according to Russian state media.

Details are still emerging, but Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as "constructive, extremely frank".

Ushakov also said "note was made of the Russian army's tangible advances in the combat zone" and that there was acknowledgement that talks needed to address "the root causes of the conflict".

Zelensky said earlier on Saturday that he had spoken to the envoys, who have "already begun working with the Russian side today".

"The plan for tomorrow's diplomatic engagements in Kyiv, involving the US team, has been approved. We are waiting for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and are ready for a substantive conversation," he added.

"From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same regarding Kyiv."

Russian state media reported that Putin had ordered a halt to strikes on Kyiv for three days due to the US visit.

In televised remarks, Putin said Russia had not agreed to a ceasefire for the rest of Ukraine outside of the capital.

The Russian president said he would "ensure the security of the negotiating process" and of the mediators.

Kushner and Witkoff have visited Russia several times but the talks on Sunday would be the first in Ukraine. It is not clear how the US envoys will be travelling from Moscow to Kyiv.

Ukraine's airspace has been closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Delegations from Ukraine have attended talks in the US over the past 18 months.

Earlier on Saturday, Zelensky said Russia had fired "demonstrative" strikes on airports in Kyiv and Boryspil overnight ahead of his planned meeting with the US.

Ukraine's president added: "Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport."

Zelensky said on Friday he would guarantee the safety of Russian airspace during the envoys' visit and called for Russia to do the same for Ukraine.

He also said an overnight Russian strike on a civilian building in the Dnipro region killed four people and injured five others.

Witkoff and Kushner's visit to Moscow comes just over a week after a rare visit to the Russian capital by the head of the CIA, John Ratcliffe.

There was no official comment from Washington or the Kremlin on what was discussed. Speaking last week, Trump described the meeting as "semi-routine".

Last year, the US, Ukraine and Russia separately suggested that a deal to end the war was edging closer following a flurry of talks brokered by the Americans.

European allies also held talks in Paris but discussions ultimately ended without a breakthrough. Key disagreements remain between the warring sides on issues such as territory and security guarantees for Ukraine.

In recent months, both Russia and Ukraine have intensified their aerial attacks as fighting continues.

Ukraine said it has struggled to repel ballistic missile attacks due to a lack of interceptor missiles, while Kyiv has focused its strikes on Russian economic infrastructure targets.

Toddler dies following hit-and-run

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kl3pe1z2no, yesterday

A two-year-old boy has died after being struck by a vehicle in County Limerick.

The collision, involving a Jeep and the child, happened in the Abbeycourt area of Rathkeale shortly before 16:00 local time on Saturday.

The boy was taken to University Hospital Limerick with serious injuries but was later pronounced dead.

Gardaí (Irish Police) said the vehicle involved did not remain at the scene.

A man in his 30s was later arrested at a different location on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant.

He was taken to a Garda Station in County Limerick to provide a blood/urine sample and was later released pending analysis of that test.

Gardaí say the investigation is ongoing.

Boy, 12, who died in crash was 'talented young footballer'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g7294kd7lo, yesterday

A 12-year-old boy who died when a train hit a car near Ballyhaunis in County Mayo has been named locally as Eoin Doyle.

The incident happened at about 20:45 local time on Friday, when the boy and his father were travelling in the car at a user-operated level crossing at Kiltybo.

Eoin was pronounced dead at the scene.

His father was taken to hospital by ambulance. Gardaí (Irish police) have said that his injuries are not life threatening. All passengers on the train safely disembarked.

'A smile was never far from his face'

Eoin was a sixth-class pupil in Cloonfad National School, and was a member of Ballyhaunis GAA club and Cloonfad United FC.

Ballyhaunis GAA club said Eoin was a "talented young footballer" and a "wonderful young boy who was a great friend and teammate to so many within our club".

Ballyhaunis parish priest Fr Stephen Farragher told Irish broadcaster RTÉ there was an "air of shock and sadness" in the area.

"It's the kind of thing you hope you won't be hearing on the news and you hope it won't be visited on your own community."

Fr Farragher said he was called to the scene, where emergency services were already in attendance.

"I said some prayers with the little boy and spoke to the members of the gardaí, I spoke to members of the family," he said.

Fr Farragher told RTÉ that the boy was coming from underage training at the time that the incident occurred.

"They're a very known, loved family, both families of the young boy's mam and dad are both very well known locally," he said.

In a statement, the principal of Cloonfad National School, Shane Morgan, described the little boy as a "talented artist and athlete, who loved music and a smile was never far from his face".

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to this incident to come forward.

At least two dead in blast at Bolivia military barracks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3v45xy67g5o, yesterday

At least two people have been killed after an explosion at a military barracks in Bolivia - but authorities fear the toll could be higher.

Bolivian Defence Minister Ernesto Justiniano said at least 81 people had been injured when "pyrotechnic material" detonated at the barracks, where an artillery regiment was stationed, about 14:30 local time (18:30 GMT) on Friday. Fourteen others remain missing.

Health official Rita Nebraska told local television between 10 and 15 people were believed to have died in the incident in Viacha, about 30km (19 miles) from La Paz, according to Reuters.

Police said dozens of homes had been damaged by the blast and that emergency workers were searching the rubble.

Nebraska said there was a risk of a further explosion and urged people to stay at least 150m from the military base.

Base commander Colonel Antonio Amaru told reporters on Saturday that a sergeant and 13 conscripted soldiers aged between 18 and 19-years-old were among the missing.

Bolivia's President Rodrigo Paz expressed his "deepest solidarity" with the families of those who had died and had been injured.

He wrote on social media that a "thorough, technical and transparent investigation" would take place into what happened.

Police spokesman Roger Roca told news agency AFP that fireworks had been stored at the barracks and the cause of the blast remained under investigation.

Viacha's authorities have declared three days of mourning.

UK support for Falkland Islands 'unwavering' after Argentina restates claims, No 10 says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn45jg3zlz4o, 3 days ago

The UK's position on the Falkland Islands is "unwavering", Downing Street has said after Argentina's president said the islands were "historically and legally" Argentinian.

Andy Burnham "fully supports the wishes of the islanders to remain a British overseas territory", a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Javier Milei said the "winds of change" favoured his country's claim to the islands and pledged sanctions on firms planning to exploit oil close to the islands.

A British and Israeli partnership due to begin exploration work on the Sea Lion oilfield said it didn't expect recent developments to affect its work in the region.

More than 40 years after the war over the territory, sovereignty of the archipelago in the south-west Atlantic Ocean remains hotly disputed between Britain and Argentina.

However in a 2013 referendum, residents of the islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory - with 99.8% voting in favour and just three voting against.

When asked about if the prime minister believed the UK had the necessary forces to defend the sovereignty of the islands the spokesperson said "they will remain so far as long as the islanders wish".

"Our armed forces are on standby 24/7 to protect the UK and our interests", the spokesperson added.

Announcing his plan for sanctions in a national address on Thursday, Milei reiterated that the Falkland Islands were "historically and legally" Argentinian.

He said: "There can be no argument. They are part of the Argentine territory.

"The islanders on their usurped territory do not have a legitimate right to self-determination and any argument on any such self-determination is invalid."

Milei described the Sea Lion oilfield as a "clear and present danger", and said if Argentina does not act swiftly, "they will have the material capacity to access the oil that lies underneath our sea – something that has never happened before."

He continued: "The Falklands are our future, we need to recover these islands which are nationally relevant. There is no other path forward".

It is not yet clear how or to what extent the sanctions will be imposed or tightened. In Argentina, a current law already allows for restrictions of activities of oil companies participating in projects considered unauthorised on the islands.

Two oil companies – Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum – are due to begin extracting oil in the Sea Lion oilfield off the Falklands coast within two years, something Milei said Argentina could not allow.

A joint statement from the two firms on Friday said it had the valid licences granted by the government of the Falkland Islands, "and with the full support of the UK government."

The project is due to deliver its first oil in 2028, Rockhopper and Navitas said the partnerships' timetable would not be affected.

The Sea Lion oilfield, around 130 miles from the islands, contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil - described by Rockhopper as a field containing "highly marketable crude".

Milei also announced plans for a naval base in Tierra del Fuego in the south of Argentina, saying Trump and the US were "assessing their historical position in regard to the Falklands", which Argentina refers to as Las Malvinas.

"That is not empty words as they understand that Argentina is a reliable partner and a valuable ally for decades to come," he said, describing the UK as a nation "in decline".

On Thursday, President Trump hinted the US would not help the UK in any future Falklands conflict because Britain "had not been there to help me" during his war with Iran.

Trump's latest remarks on the islands come after he previously said the US position on the Falklands is one of many under review.

On Friday, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the UK would "resolutely uphold" the self-determination of the islands.

Writing on X on Friday, Miliband said the Islands would remain British as that is the "overwhelming position of the islanders."

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting also said Britain's commitment to the Falkland Islands was "absolute and unshakeable".

"Milei's statement overnight tells us more about domestic politics in Argentina than it does about the Falkland Islands," he wrote in his own post on X.

In an earlier statement, Downing Street said it was "not the first time" the Argentine government had made economic threats against the Falkland Islands.

"We are clear that the Falkland Islanders' right of self-determination extends to the right to exploit their own natural resources," it said.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said "Britain does not surrender to bullies".

"If (Milei) wants a stronger Argentina, he should build its economy, not threaten others."

Although the US is formally neutral, Washington provided support for Britain's campaign to retake the islands after the Argentinian invasion in 1982.

Argentine forces landed on the Falklands to stake a territorial claim in 1982, sparking a 74-day war over the territory as a British military task force ejected them.

The conflict led to the deaths of 255 British military personnel, three islanders and 649 Argentine military personnel.

In a sign of the ongoing tensions between the two countries over the issue, Argentina players celebrated their victory over England in the World Cup by waving a banner in support of their country's territorial claim.

Colombia's new president approves extradition of rebel leaders to US

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgy45zv8e2o, 10 days ago

Colombia's new right-wing president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has approved the extradition of five rebel armed group members who are wanted in the US on drug-related charges.

The move is a step towards ending a plan by his left-wing predecessor Gustavo Petro who tried to end the violence that has plagued Colombia for decades by bringing rebel and criminal groups to the negotiating table.

"Since the first day it was clear: peace cannot be a refuge for criminals nor a mechanism of impunity," de la Espriella wrote on X.

Speaking later he said Petro's peace plan had opened doors to criminals without securing their cooperation.

Critics of Petro's plan say his attempts to negotiate with a number of armed groups failed as members of the illegal organisations repeatedly broke ceasefires and walked away from the talks.

The five men facing extradition are members of dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a left-wing rebel group that signed a peace deal with the government in 2016, and the Gulf Clan, thought to be Colombia's main drug trafficking cartel.

They are all wanted in the US on charges including drug trafficking, narco-terrorism and illegal weapons possession, among others. Only two of them are being held by Colombian authorities; three others remain at large.

The extraditions were approved by Petro in 2025, but they remained suspended because the men took part in the former president's peace efforts.

De la Espriella, who was sworn in earlier this month, has promised US President Donald Trump to escalate a war against drug trafficking in Latin America. Trump's administration has made targeting traffickers in the region a priority.

Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine and has long been one of Washington's closest allies in Latin America, but relations came under strain under Petro.

He openly challenged Washington's approach to combating drug trafficking and condemned the US military's deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats.

Remarkable US oil deal puzzles analysts - and angers many Venezuelans

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93vkgk5e1yo, 5 days ago

From the moment elite US troops swooped into Nicolás Maduro's compound in Caracas to forcibly remove him from power in January, President Donald Trump made clear that securing control over Venezuela's oil resources was a key goal of his administration.

The United States would "run" Venezuela, he said at the time, and manage the sale of Venezuelan oil for the foreseeable future.

The signing of a huge US-Venezuela oil deal in Caracas on Wednesday marks the fruition of that plan. The agreement grants a US-led company 100-year concessions over 17 oilfields in Venezuela, amounting to a staggering 65 billion barrels of crude. That equates to more than a fifth of the country's proven oil reserves.

Beyond the eye-watering numbers, both sides heralded the deal as good for their respective nations.

President Trump called it "the biggest oil deal in world history", while the interim Venezuelan President, Delcy Rodríguez, said the agreement was "historic", and would generate $100bn (£74bn) in investment and more than $200bn in tax revenue.

Others profoundly disagreed.

"This is a terrible deal. [Rodríguez] has given away 20% of the national patrimony for nothing," said Trump's former special representative on Venezuela and Iran, Elliott Abrams. "I think she is simply complying with the demands she's getting from Washington."

On Tuesday, the White House released a fact sheet which set out some details of the deal's framework. The US government will work alongside a private business in Venezuela called North American Blue Energy Partners (Nabep), the second largest private oil producer in Venezuela after Chevron.

One extraordinary detail of how the Trump administration will work with Nabep is that the US government will have "veto power over the appointment of any member of the board of directors, and a majority of Nabep's board of directors must be US citizens".

With the ongoing US war with Iran increasing prices at the petrol pumps, a boost in oil production outside of the Middle East could affect consumers.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum told Fox Business the pact was "shifting the geopolitical centre of the global energy markets" away from what he called the "choke points in the Middle East" and back to the Western Hemisphere.

There is a logic to the US-Venezuela partnership, Elliott Abrams argued, while Gulf oil supplies are currently so unreliable. But he said the terms are so one-sided they are a "kind of fever dream of what colonialism looks like".

The White House has spoken of the deal having "re-established the Monroe Doctrine", an 19th Century principle exerting US power across South America - "purging foreign malign influence from our backyard and ensuring American dominance in our hemisphere is never again questioned".

Despite the insistence from both governments that the plan will benefit both Venezuelans and Americans, it is not without pitfalls and clear unanswered questions.

The proposed timeframe alone is problematic. Trump has said the agreement will generate profit within two or three years. Energy experts, however, warn the dire state of the Venezuelan oil sector means a decade is more realistic.

Luis Pacheco, of the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston, told BBC Mundo that Venezuela needs to invest about $100bn over eight years in order to return to its oil production levels of 30 years ago.

"It's important to know who will manage those resources and for what purpose," Pacheco said.

"Are they going to put the same people in charge of managing that money who already squandered the biggest oil boom of the century?" he asked, referring to past mismanagement of the country's oil wealth.

The Venezuelan opposition is concerned the deal deepens President Trump's relationship with Delcy Rodríguez, whom they accuse of heading the same regime as Maduro.

The Trump administration not only decried Maduro's government as a corrupt drug cartel, but surrounded Venezuela with the biggest armada of the modern era.

The ease and speed with which Washington has now pivoted to working with Maduro's former vice-president infuriates the opposition.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner and presidential hopeful, María Corina Machado, may choose not to publicly criticise President Trump, whose support she needs if she hopes to come to power. Others, though, have been more forthcoming.

"You chose to use the power of the United States not to liberate Venezuelans, but to ally yourself with our oppressors," said Venezuelan economist, Ricardo Hausmann, on social media, directing his comments at the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"You opted to push through an asset seizure, an unconstitutional agreement with an illegitimate and oppressive government, instead of using the leadership of the United States to first restore constitutional order and democracy," he said.

The lack of an imminent election in Venezuela – or, indeed, any clear plan towards one – strikes many opponents as a betrayal.

There is betrayal felt at the other end of the ideological spectrum, too. Although the governing socialist party, PSUV, has backed Rodríguez over the US deal, many Venezuelan socialists see it as capitulation.

After almost three decades opposing Washington's influence in the region, they feel she has gifted the country's most valuable asset to the old enemy.

The deal "hands over [the oil] and opens the doors to a new colonialism of the United States," said Rafael Ramírez, who served as the head of the state-run energy firm, PDVSA, and as the oil minister under former President Hugo Chávez.

In early 2008, Chávez presented his Sunday television programme, Aló Presidente, from former ExxonMobil oilfields in the Orinoco River Belt.

Having expropriated some of the oil company's assets in the region, he was in a defiant mood.

"We have the reins in our hands and we won't ever let them go again," he said of the state-run oil company's ownership of oilfields, and denounced how previous Washington-friendly governments had turned Venezuela into "a nation of gringos".

"It was a theft of our nation but the Bolivarian Revolution has put a stop to it," he thundered to applause from PDVSA employees.

Yet it was one of his disciples – his handpicked successor's successor – who has now signed this opaque deal with Washington and praised it as a victory for Venezuela.

Former Ecuadorian president imprisoned for corruption

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgym9rz07zo, 8 days ago

A former president of Ecuador has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of taking bribes.

Lenín Moreno insisted he had not taken money from a Chinese firm which secured a contract to build a hydroelectric plant in the Latin American nation.

The 73-year-old will serve his sentence under house arrest due to his age and disability, and has already indicated his intention to appeal against the verdict after a court in the capital, Quito, found him and 19 others guilty of corruption.

Moreno, who was president between 2017 and 2021, is the third former Ecuadorian leader to be sentenced for corruption.

Prosecutors alleged that that Sinohydro, which is owned by the Chinese state, paid a total of $76.1m (£56.2m) through shell companies to people involved in the deal to secure the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam.

Among those handed prison sentences were Moreno's wife, daughter and brother, as well as former plant managers, Sinohydro representatives and a Chinese ambassador to Ecuador.

While Moreno himself was alleged to have received very little from the scheme, prosecutors said family members received tens of thousands of dollars.

Those convicted of bribery will have to repay three times what they were given, while Moreno was barred from public office.

He denied involvement in the alleged bribery scheme and instead blamed another former president, Rafael Correa, under whom he served as vice-president and who was sentenced to eight years in prison in a separate bribery case in 2020.

Moreno argued that Correa had signed off on the Coca Codo Sinclair project, and that he had launched an investigation into issues with the construction when he had assumed the presidency.

The Ecuadorian government launched legal proceedings against Sinohydro in 2021 due to cracks appearing in the dam and other technical failures. It reached a $400m settlement with the firm's owner earlier this year.

The BBC has approached Sinohydro and the Chinese embassy in Ecuador for comment.

Argentine leader threatens to sanction oil firms and reiterates Falklands claim

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyk18g1l8ko, 3 days ago

Argentina's president has heightened tensions with the UK over the Falkland Islands, warning he will impose economic sanctions on firms which exploit oil close to the British overseas territory.

In a national address, Javier Milei said the "winds of change" favoured Argentina's claim to the islands, emboldened by signs the US might reconsider its stance of neutrality on the issue.

Milei said the Sea Lion oilfield, where a British and an Israeli firm are due to begin exploration work, was a "clear and present danger".

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the UK's position on the islands was "unwavering", and they would remain British as "that is the overwhelming position of the Islanders."

Earlier Downing Street said reaffirmed its position that the islands would remain a British Overseas Territory "for as long as the Islanders wish".

"This is not the first time Argentine governments have made economic threats against the islanders. We are clear that the Falkland Islanders' right of self-determination extends to the right to exploit their own natural resources."

More than 40 years after the war over the territory, sovereignty of the archipelago in the south-west Atlantic Ocean remains hotly disputed between Britain and Argentina.

Milei announced his sanctions plan surrounded by his cabinet at the presidential palace, reiterating that the Falklands were "historically and legally" Argentinean.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting also said Britain's commitment to the Falkland Islands was "absolute and unshakeable".

"Milei's statement overnight tells us more about domestic politics in Argentina than it does about the Falkland Islands," he said on X.

In a 2013 referendum, residents of the islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory - with 99.8% voting in favour and just three voting against.

Teslyn Barkman, a former member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly, told the BBC that Milei's speech had "probably irked every single Falkland islander".

Speaking from the capital Stanley, she added that "we have a burgeoning economy for a small place... we will remain forever British".

The crux was a proposal to introduce a bill to parliament to impose sanctions on energy firms planning to begin oil exploration off the Falklands.

The Sea Lion oilfield, around 130 miles from the islands, contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil .

Rockhopper has described the field as containing "highly marketable crude".

In a video posted earlier this year, Navitas highlighted the work it is already carrying out in the Falklands including building a dock, a heliport and accommodation for oil workers.

In a statement, Rockhopper and Navitas said the two firms believed that "the recent developments are not expected to have a material effect on the development activities of the Sea Lion Project, including the timetable for completion of the Project's development".

Milei said "If we do not act swiftly in a few months, they will have the material capacity to access the oil that lies underneath our sea – something that has never happened before," Milei said.

There is both a domestic and a regional political dimension to this latest escalation on the Falklands.

At home, Milei needs to shore up votes amid his plummeting popularity, currently languishing at around 34%. There is only a year to go before he faces a presidential election and a serious challenge from his erstwhile vice-president, Victoria Villarruel.

A pro-military politician, she has criticised his diplomatic efforts to secure change on the question of Falklands sovereignty. The sanctions may be part of a wider attempt to stave off accusations that he's weak on an issue which is so fundamental to Argentine identity.

It helps Milei that this is about something concrete – the impending oil exploration of an oilfield rather than broad questions of sovereignty and self-determination. He argues that the UK is acting in violation of a UN resolution urging the two sides not to take unilateral action while the dispute remains unresolved.

"That is not empty words as they understand that Argentina is a reliable partner and a valuable ally for decades to come," he said, describing the UK as a nation "in decline".

"There are winds of change in the world that are favourable to our claim," Milei added.

When asked in an interview with GB News earlier on Thursday if the US would "come to the UK's aid" during a potential territorial dispute, Trump replied that Britain had "not been there to help me" with his country's war with Iran.

Trump's latest remarks come after he previously said the US position on the Falklands is one of many under review.

Hours before Milei's speech, Sarah Rogers, a senior official in the US state department, posted a photo of herself with Milei alongside the caption: "Exciting things are happening in the Western Hemisphere."

Argentine forces landed on the Falklands to stake a territorial claim in 1982, sparking a 74-day war over the territory as a British military task force ejected them.

The conflict led to the deaths of 255 British military personnel, three islanders and 649 Argentine military personnel.

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US and Iran trade retaliatory attacks on ships as conflict flares

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj64rrne643o, yesterday

The US and Iran traded retaliatory attacks on ships on Saturday, in the latest round of strikes since fighting flared up a week ago following a month of relative calm.

The US military said it had "permanently disabled" two Iran-linked oil tankers, including one near Kharg Island, and "completely destroyed" a third in the Gulf of Oman.

Iran's state media confirmed the strikes and said Tehran had attacked three US-affiliated vessels in response, as well as three oil tankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz along an "unauthorised" route.

The BBC has approached US Central Command (Centcom) for comment about Iran's latest claims to have targeted US ships.

The strikes come a day after President Donald Trump dismissed the conflict as "small potatoes", with little apparent progress towards ending the six-month war. He has not commented on Saturday's attacks.

The news of Iran's latest retaliation came hours after Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on social media: "It's simple: if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers."

According to US Central Command (Centcom), two US warships had been targeted by Iran before the American attack on three Iran-linked oil tankers.

Centcom said it "successfully evaded" the multiple attacks from the IRGC earlier in the day, which were targeting a US aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer. No American troops were harmed, it said.

Centcom, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, claimed that the three Iranian oil tankers it hit were "part of a multi-billion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies".

Iranian state media outlet Irib reported that there were no casualties in Saturday's attack from the US on the tanker near Kharg Island.

Kharg Island hosts Iran's main terminal to export oil. Some 90% of the country's crude oil comes through the island, transported through pipes from the mainland.

The crews aboard the two attacked tankers in the Gulf of Oman were taken to shore in lifeboats, Irib reported. One of those tankers was empty and the other was carrying a load of oil, it added.

Several hours later, Irib reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had retaliated against six ships in the region - three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and three vessels "affiliated" with the US "in other areas".

According to Irib, the IRGC said the three oil tankers were using "unauthorised" routes through the strait and it warned other ships not to do so.

The strait, which is crucial to the world's oil and gas industry, has been effectively closed since the war began in February, and has become a major source of leverage for Iran.

Tehran has insisted it will not give up some measure of control over the waterway and has previously targeted vessels using a southern route through Omani waters that avoids its preferred route through Iranian waters.

Despite the Iranian attacks, Trump has declared that the strait is "open" and the US military has been helping ships navigate the southern route.

After a period of relative calm, the US resumed attacks last Sunday, when it said it had struck two rocket launchers to prevent them being used to lay naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

On Tuesday, Trump said the US had launched a further "very heavy attack", but claimed the renewed fighting would not last "too long".

The strikes prompted Iran to retaliate against US targets in the region, including in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

On Thursday, US Vice-President JD Vance also addressed claims by Iran that American strikes killed at least four people, including two children, at a wedding in southern Iran. He said he was "extremely sceptical" over reports of the alleged strike, but confirmed the US would investigate.

Humanitarian group the Iranian Red Crescent Society said shrapnel from a missile hit the ceremony at a home in Sirik on Tuesday, prompting Tehran to declare it a "war crime".

A 60-day ceasefire between the US and Iran formally expired last month, with little sign of a further diplomatic settlement on the horizon.

Days after the ceasefire expired, Trump said the US would launch tougher economic measures against Iran, as well as any country that helps or does business with it.

On Friday, Trump repeated the US position that the conflict is not a "war".

"I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing," Trump said, referring to the ongoing attacks as "intermittent".

The US and Israel first launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran on 28 February, with Iran responding by attacking Israel, US bases and allied states in the Gulf, and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic.

The Strait of Hormuz previously served as one of the busiest oil-shipping routes, carrying about 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

The squeeze on the strait has raised energy prices globally. And, ahead of the US midterm elections in November, Trump is facing pressure over how much the war is costing American consumers.

On Friday, the average price for one gallon of diesel in the US hit $5.85, compared to an average of $3.71 a year ago.

Iran says US strike killed four at wedding in 'war crime' as US denies targeting civilians

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj06q4ynpmjo, 4 days ago

Iran has accused the US of a war crime after officials said a missile strike killed four people including two children at a wedding celebration.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said shrapnel from a missile hit a family wedding ceremony at a home in southern Iran, causing the deaths. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the incident a "war crime".

A US Central Command (Centcom) spokesperson said it "never targets civilians", adding that it was aware of the reports.

Iranian authorities said another 14 people were killed elsewhere. In response, Iran launched missiles and drones at US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain.

Most of the drones and missiles Iran launched at neighbouring countries were reportedly intercepted. Kuwait said a drone started a fire in a residential complex but caused no casualties.

Centcom said strikes on Iran followed "recent attempted attacks" by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against American forces and commercial shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, through which around 20% of global oil and gas shipments usually pass.

The Iranian military's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that operations against American forces in the region would continue until the US "regrets" its crimes.

US President Donald Trump described Tuesday's strikes on Iran as "large and powerful".

Centcom said the targets included air defence sites, radar systems and maritime assets.

Iranian media reported explosions across the southern provinces of Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman and Khuzestan.

The IRCS said at least four people were killed and 67 others were injured when shrapnel from a missile hit a family wedding ceremony at a home in the coastal town of Kuhestak, in Sirik.

Citing the Hormozgan Governorate, Iranian media named the dead as Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; Kolsum Mallahi Nazhdnia, 43; Mohammad Mallahi, 16; and Amirali Karimi, four.

Media outlets initially quoted the IRCS as saying that five people were killed.

"Unfortunately, this is a residential building. And unfortunately, this happened during my daughter's wedding ceremony," Ali Mallahi, father of the bride and owner of the building, said in a video broadcast by state TV.

"It is a very saddening incident... Thank God the casualties were not higher."

Iran's parliamentary speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said it was another attack showing the US was "Satan".

BBC Verify confirmed that a video and two images taken on Tuesday near Kuhestak's coast showed the destruction of a telecommunications tower, and that other videos from Tuesday and Wednesday showed severely damaged houses about 130m (427ft) north of the tower.

BBC Persian Forensics, by examining published videos and CCTV footage, found the telecommunications tower was about 112m (367 ft) from the house where the wedding was being held.

Centcom spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins told the BBC it was aware of reports from Iranian state media of the attack in Sirik.

He added: "The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC."

Iranian state media reported that another seven people were killed in three separate US strikes around Ahvaz and Aqajari, in Khuzestan.

The IRGC meanwhile said that four members of its aerospace force, which oversees Iran's ballistic missiles, were killed by US attacks in Kermanshah, and that three members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force were killed on Lavan island, in the Gulf.

Early on Wednesday, the IRGC and the regular Iranian military announced that they had launched ballistic missiles and drones towards US bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for the US strikes.

They said the attacks caused casualties and damage at the US Marine barracks at Camp Titin on Jordan's Gulf of Aqaba coast.

Reuters news agency cited US officials as saying there were no casualties.

The Jordanian Armed Forces said they engaged 13 ballistic missiles, 10 of which were destroyed and three of which fell in remote, uninhabited areas.

The IRGC and the Iranian military also said that a maintenance centre, warehouses and equipment belonging to the US military were destroyed in Irbil, in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, according to state media. Iraqi authorities did not comment on the attack, but local media reported that a US surveillance balloon was hit by drones.

In Kuwait, the fire service said its crews put out a fire at a residential complex that was struck by a drone and that no casualties were reported.

In a separate incident, the IRGC said two tankers caught fire after hitting mines while being guided through an "illegal route" in the Strait of Hormuz by the US military.

Saudi Arabia's national shipping company said two Filipino sailors were killed "in a security incident" involving its crude oil tanker SIDR as the vessel transited the waterway on Monday.

After about a month-long pause, the US resumed attacks on Iran on Sunday, when it announced it had struck two rocket launchers to prevent them being used to lay naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated by firing missiles at air bases in Jordan and a drone at the UAE.

The US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on 28 February, killing the country's supreme leader and other top officials at the start of a massive air campaign. Iran responded by attacking Israel, US bases and allied states in the Gulf with missiles and drones, and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

In June, 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.

However, the MoU collapsed within weeks, leading to a resumption of hostilities.

Since then, both US and Iranian forces have fired on commercial shipping in the region, with Iran targeting vessels it says have sought to transit the Strait of Hormuz without its permission and the US enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Last week, the US had indicated that it was switching to economic sanctions on Iran, rather than military options, to try to win concessions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials and state media have largely dismissed the campaign as a continuation of previous US economic measures.

Additional reporting by BBC Persian

Update: An earlier version of this story said weapons experts had identified the fragments shown on Iranian media as being from a US munition - AGM 84 Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM-ER). But after further analysis of imagery these experts think it is more likely to be a different US weapon, a JSOW, although there remains a possibility it is a SLAM-ER.

Iranian attack on Saudi tanker killed two Filipino sailors, Saudi Arabia says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2zxgg4mx9o, 4 days ago

Saudi Arabia has condemned what it said was an Iranian attack on a Saudi-owned supertanker on Monday night that killed two Filipino sailors.

The Saudi national shipping company, Bahri, confirmed on Wednesday that its vessel Sidr was "involved in a security incident while transiting the Strait of Hormuz".

Sidr was hit by projectiles north of Oman's Musandam Peninsula, according to maritime security firms. A South Korean-owned supertanker, Senegal Prosperity, was reportedly struck east of Musandam around the same time.

Iran has not responded to the Saudi allegation. But it said earlier that two tankers had caught fire after hitting mines while using an unauthorised route through the strait.

The news of the sailors' deaths came after the US military carried out a wave of air strikes on Iran and Iranian forces targeted US bases in neighbouring Arab states with missiles and drones in their biggest exchange of fire since July.

On Wednesday Iran's health minister said 18 people were killed and 108 injured in the US attacks. Iran has accused the US of a "war crime" over a strike that killed four people including two children at a wedding party in the southern city of Sirik. The US military said it was looking into the reports.

Shipping company Bahri's statement said the unspecified "security incident" affecting Sidr happened in the Strait of Hormuz at around 23:40 local time (19:40 GMT) on Monday.

"It is with profound sadness that Bahri confirms the loss of two of its Filipino seafarers as a result of the incident," it added. "The company extends its deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to their families, loved ones, and colleagues during this difficult time."

Later, the Saudi foreign ministry expressed the kingdom's condemnation of "Iran's targeting of the Saudi tanker (Sidr) while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz".

It also condemned the recent Iranian attacks on Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, and stressed the "need to halt escalation and respect the security and safety of international navigation", as well as the security of global energy supplies, national sovereignty, and international law.

The statements were issued a day after maritime risk management and intelligence firms Marisks and Kpler reported that two tankers each loaded with two million barrels of Saudi crude oil were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other as they transited outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday.

Sidr was struck by "unknown projectiles" at 19:52 GMT about 16 nautical miles (30km) north-east of Khasab, Oman, while Senegal Prosperity was struck by "three unknown projectiles" about 17 nautical miles east of Khasab, according to Marisks.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency also reported two incidents in the same locations.

On Wednesday, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said in a statement that two oil tankers sought "at the urging of the US military to transit via an illegal route" in the Strait of Hormuz before "striking mines and exploding". The vessels were "currently on fire", it added.

The US military has not commented, but it said the latest strikes on Iran followed "recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members".

The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has effectively been closed since the start of the US and Israel's war with Iran in February due to Iranian missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels and a US blockade of Iranian ports.

The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait in June, but it collapsed within weeks after the Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade.

Iran has insisted it will not give up some measure of control over the waterway and has targeted vessels using a southern route through Omani waters that avoids its preferred route through Iranian waters.

Despite the Iranian attacks, US President Donald Trump has declared that the strait is "open" and the US military has been helping ships navigate the southern route.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said 17 million barrels of oil flowed through the Strait of Hormuz by ship on Monday - a record daily total since the start of the war.

US investigating if missile hit Iran wedding, Vance says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4zvk3z2k1o, 3 days ago

The US military is investigating Iranian claims that its strikes killed at least four people including two children at a wedding in southern Iran, Vice-President JD Vance has said.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) - a humanitarian group - said shrapnel from a missile hit the ceremony at a home in Sirik on Tuesday, prompting Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei to declare it a "war crime".

US missiles were fired the same day over "attempted attacks" by Iran on American forces, but a US Central Command spokesperson said it "never targets civilians".

Speaking on Thursday, Vance said he was "extremely sceptical" over reports of the alleged strike but confirmed the US would investigate.

"I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what's happened in the conflict thus far. So I'm extremely sceptical of this," Vance told a White House briefing.

"I know that we're investigating."

Iran has launched fresh attacks on US bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in response to the alleged strike.

The IRCS said 67 people were hurt when shrapnel from the missile hit a family wedding ceremony, killing at least four people. Iranian state media said a fifth person, a woman aged 22, had died in hospital shortly after.

The four people killed were named locally as Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; Kolsum Mallahi Nazhdnia, 43; Mohammad Mallahi, 16; and Amirali Karimi, four.

BBC Verify confirmed a video and two images taken on Tuesday near Kuhestak's coast that showed a telecommunications tower being destroyed, and other videos from Tuesday and Wednesday showed severely damaged houses about 130m (427ft) north of the tower.

BBC Persian Forensics found the telecommunications tower was about 112m (367 ft) from the house where the wedding was being held.

Fighting with Iran has continued for over half a year since the US and Israel launched a joint attack on the country on 28 February.

Three farmers detained by Israel in Lebanon, village leader says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gq2my0v5po, 3 days ago

Three Lebanese farmers have been detained by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, according to the leader of their village.

Issa Abedelaal told the BBC that Israeli forces called the three farmers on their mobile phones and instructed them to report to a location, where they were detained and taken away.

It came after Israeli forces had entered the village of Halta in Hasbaya province, which lies within a roughly 600 sq km area that Israel continues to occupy.

The detentions were reported to the US-led International Monitoring and Implementation Mechanism, which oversees security coordination between Israel and Lebanon. The Israeli military has not replied to a request for comment.

Hours later, Israel released another Lebanese civilian held in the country, in what is believed to be the first known civilian release since US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon began in April.

Malek Ghazi was handed over to the Lebanese army by the International Committee of the Red Cross, while Israel says four more Lebanese civilians will be released on Friday.

More than 30 Lebanese are still believed to be in Israeli custody, as negotiations between the two countries remain stalled over a framework involving Hezbollah's disarmament, an Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south.

Ghazi was handed over at the Naqoura crossing before being taken to an army intelligence facility in Tyre for a medical examination.

His family says he disappeared last October after leaving home to exercise.

Israel's prime minister's office said four other civilians due to be released on Friday had been questioned and found to have no links to armed groups.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Ghazi's release and thanked the US for its role in securing it.

He said the government would continue working for the release of all Lebanese detainees, information about those still missing, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

The detainee issue is part of wider US-mediated negotiations, alongside separate efforts to recover the remains of Lebanese Jewish community leaders abducted and killed during the country's civil war.

The negotiations also cover a framework agreed in mid-June, under which Hezbollah is expected to disarm, the Lebanese army to deploy in the south and Israeli forces to withdraw gradually, beginning with designated "pilot zones".

But the process has made little headway, with Israel questioning the role of the Lebanese army and disagreements over how compliance would be verified.

Hezbollah rejects the talks and the pilot-zone concept outright.

The two sides have yet to set a date for the eighth round of talks.

Israel has continued attacks on southern Lebanon, and officials say the Israeli military has been expanding its positions.

Lebanese authorities said 11 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on the region in August. Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) said at the time that it had killed a Hezbollah commander in the strike, following an attack against Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian teens killed during settler attack on West Bank village

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6482r6yl4o, 3 days ago

Funerals have taken place for two Palestinian teenagers who local officials say were killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in an attack on their village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

The village council in al-Mughayyir told the BBC that Omar al-Nassan, 19, and Khalil Abu Alia, 16, were killed as they tried to stop Israeli settlers stealing sheep and that confrontations broke out.

The Israeli military stated that its forces had entered the village to provide security for an Israeli civilian and police trying to retrieve livestock.

It said the forces fired on and struck what it called "key instigators" of a "violent disturbance", in which Palestinians threw stones at its troops.

The deaths come amid a recent surge in settler violence in the West Bank, with more than three attacks per day on average recorded by the UN so far this year.

Al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah, has seen repeated settler attacks.

WhatsApp messages in groups used by settlers have indicated that they hope to force its population to move.

At least 81 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the start of the year, according to the UN's figures. At least 23 of those deaths have occurred in the context of settler attacks.

Three Israelis, both security forces and civilians, have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank over the same period, the UN says.

The Israeli military has faced mounting criticism for actively participating in settler attacks on Palestinians, standing by, or failing to prosecute those responsible.

On Thursday, Israel's police force said a 19-year-old settler had been arrested on suspicion of participating in an attack on the Palestinian village of Qusra on Saturday. It marks the first such arrest in weeks of attacks on Qusra.

Dozens of masked settlers descended on the village, surrounding a house while Palestinians were trapped inside, and throwing stones.

Israeli soldiers who were deployed to the scene reportedly detained the trapped Palestinians but not the settlers, allowing them to leave. The Israeli military said troops removed "rioters" and protected residents.

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 future state - during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The settlements are illegal under international law.

In a separate development on Wednesday, Israeli forces demolished the Palestinian village of Khirbet al-Tabban, in the Masafer Yatta area.

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said the village's 70 residents, including 28 children, were given no warning prior to the demolition and were not allowed to remove their property.

It described the demolition as the most significant in Masafer Yatta since May 2025.

In the 1980s, the Israeli military declared about 3,000 hectares in the South Hebron Hills, which includes Masafer Yatta, as a restricted firing zone for training purposes.

The military says the Palestinian homes there have been built illegally.

In 2022, Israel's Supreme Court ruled to allow the demolition of homes in the firing zone and the expulsion of their residents, who had argued that such a move violated international law and that their families had been living there since before the State of Israel was established.

B'Tselem says Khirbet al-Tabban is the 66th Palestinian community to be expelled by Israeli authorities since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, which it alleges is part of a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" being carried out in the West Bank.

BBC travels inside occupied Lebanon as officials say Israel expanding positions

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cge41d19gq9o, 5 days ago

The drive on the highway by the Mediterranean in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, is scenic and, these days, desolate. Crops lie abandoned and buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes, too many to count, are in ruins.

Near the town of Naqoura, a Lebanese military checkpoint, painted in the white-and-red colours of the national flag, is the last visible sign of the state's presence. Soldiers are positioned behind concrete walls, but the road is empty. A few minutes further south, around a dozen Israeli flags indicate the start of occupied territory. Unless authorised by Israel, no-one can enter.

This part of the country is the heartland of Lebanon's Shia Muslim community, from which Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political party, gets most of its support. It has seen three invasions by the Israeli military in wars against the group in the last two decades alone. The most recent started in March, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel following the killing of the Iranian supreme leader, at the start of the US and Israel's war against Iran.

Last month, a BBC team joined a humanitarian mission of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, which is one of the only ways to visit the area under Israeli control. There, as it did in Gaza, Israel has flattened entire villages, and air strikes and demolitions have continued even after a ceasefire was announced in June.

Led by Finnish troops who are part of Unifil, the convoy was escorting civilians to and from Christian villages near the border. Those communities were spared from Israel's attacks and invasion during the war and, with the surrounding areas under occupation, are now cut off from the rest of the country. Our presence was allowed by the Israeli military through a deconfliction mechanism with the UN.

The strip of land currently controlled by Israel constitutes around 5% of Lebanese territory and, in some places, extends 10km (six miles) from the border. Driving along the wall that separates the two countries, we saw service roads built by Israel after the invasion, intense movement of Israeli soldiers and residential buildings that were being used by them. Some were covered in netting as protection from Hezbollah's explosive drones.

We also heard Israeli surveillance drones in the sky and explosions in the distance, possibly from demolitions being carried out by Israel in villages that are under occupation.

In a visit to occupied southern Lebanon last month, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to "take all necessary steps to prepare for a long-term presence in the area". Israeli officials say their goal is to establish what they call a "security zone" to protect communities in northern Israel from rockets and drones that have been fired by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, as well as a possible ground invasion.

According to Unifil, the Israeli military has established four new bases in the invaded areas, bringing the number of such positions to nine. Israeli forces had remained in five points after invading southern Lebanon during the previous war against Hezbollah in 2024, in violation of the deal that ended that conflict.

"In the past months, we've seen the consolidation and fortification of Israeli positions, construction of protective infrastructure, and other engineering works," Kandice Ardiel, a Unifil spokeswoman, said. "We have [also] observed what appear to be Israeli civilian personnel carrying out demolition and engineering activities in support of military activities in south Lebanon."

Human rights groups say some of Israel's actions in southern Lebanon amount to the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, a possible war crime. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced, without knowing when, or if, they will be able to return.

In response to our questions, the Israeli military said the buildings that had been destroyed were used by Hezbollah for military purposes, and that it operated in accordance with international law. It did not respond to other specific questions about its actions in the occupied areas.

In June, the US and Iran announced a preliminary deal aimed at ending their conflict, which included a cessation of the violence in Lebanon. Since then, a Lebanese intelligence official told me, Lebanon's military has recorded more than 5,000 violations of the deal by Israel, including air strikes, drone attacks, shelling and near-daily incursions of Israeli soldiers into Lebanese territory beyond the area under occupation, the so-called Yellow Line.

As it does in Gaza, the Israeli military justifies some of its attacks in Lebanon as operations against what it describes as immediate threats. In many cases, however, it is not clear how immediate these alleged threats are or if there is any threat at all. Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist organisation by countries including the UK and the US, has not carried out attacks against Israel since the ceasefire came into force, but has targeted Israeli troops operating inside Lebanese territory.

"[The Israelis] are expanding their presence [in Lebanon]. They've [also] been setting areas ablaze, demolishing houses while the bombing continues, despite the ceasefire," the Lebanese intelligence official said. "It's clear that they don't want anyone to go back [to those villages] in the coming year, or even years. This isn't only about Hezbollah. This is about preventing people from returning."

Israeli officials have conditioned a withdrawal from Lebanon on Hezbollah's disarmament, something the Lebanese government cannot deliver without the group's consent. Hezbollah, observers say, is still a significant military force despite the setbacks in the recent wars. Both countries have held direct talks that resulted in a framework agreement brokered by the US: Israel would pull out of certain areas, called "pilot zones", where Lebanese army soldiers would be deployed and Hezbollah's disarmament would be verified.

Hezbollah opposes the efforts – the group's leader, Naim Qassem, called them "surrender with humiliation" last week – and says any discussion about its weapons should only happen after a full Israeli withdrawal. Israel, for its part, has claimed that the Lebanese national military, which rejects the use of force against the group saying this could pit Lebanese against Lebanese, has not done enough.

The plan has seen no progress, and there is no expectation of any significant change before the Israeli election at the end of October.

"The idea of the 'pilot zones' seems to be dead until the context changes," a European diplomat familiar with the situation told me. "It seems we're heading to a Gaza-like situation. The Israelis are entrenching themselves... and are here to stay, for now."

Bus crash on Egypt's Red Sea coast kills 22

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8mr1myy2ko, 5 days ago

At least 22 people have been killed in a bus crash in eastern Egypt, the country's health ministry has said.

Another 28 people were injured on the road between Red Sea towns of Dahab and Nuweiba in the South Sinai governorate on Wednesday morning.

Reports in Egyptian and Jordanian media say as many as 10 Jordanian nationals were among those killed in the accident.

The cause of the crash remains unknown.

The area is a popular tourist destination, attracting visitors from around the world.

It is unclear how many people were on board at the time of the crash.

In a statement, the Egyptian health ministry said all the injured people were being treated in three different hospitals.

Deadly road accidents are common across Egypt, with the authorities reporting nearly 6,000 fatalities in 2025.

Such accidents are often blamed on reckless driving and poor road maintenance.

Last month, 18 people were killed and 30 injured when two lorries collided in the north-eastern Ismailia governorate.

More than 900 killed in Gaza this year despite ceasefire, Hamas-run health ministry says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7708dy33pdo, 5 days ago

More than 900 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza this year despite the ceasefire, according to latest figures from the territory's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

It brings the total number of Palestinians killed in the Strip since the 10 October ceasefire was declared to more than 1,300, including 301 children, the ministry says.

Hamas and Israel agreed to halt the war after accepting US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan. That plan included a suspension of "all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment".

Since then, BBC Verify has analysed dozens of videos which show the impact of Israeli strikes on locations including a beachside cafe, tents where displaced people have been sheltering, and a reported funeral procession in central Gaza.

Recent months have been some of the most deadly according to the figures, with more than 100 people recorded killed each month between April and August.

The health ministry attributes the deaths directly to Israeli military action, but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The UN considers the figures reliable, and experts have told BBC Verify that their independent analysis is consistent with the ministry's data.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) disputes the ministry's figures. It told BBC Verify there is "no basis to assume" that all those listed were killed as a result of IDF activity.

It said it operates in "a precise manner to remove threats and protect its troops and Israeli civilians, in accordance with the agreement", and that it works to mitigate any civilian harm "to the greatest extent possible".

At the start of this year Israeli media reported that an Israeli security official acknowledged more than 70,000 people had been killed in the Gaza war, which it said included more than 20,000 combatants.

'Ceasefire in name only'

From the start of the ceasefire agreement on 10 October to the end of that month, the ministry recorded 251 deaths. Since then the deadly Israeli attacks have continued every month. The highest monthly death toll this year was recorded in July, when 152 people were killed including 21 children, according to the figures.

The IDF says five of its soldiers have been killed in combat since the ceasefire and one contractor was killed in an "operational accident".

It also says it has killed hundreds of military operatives since October.

Conflict monitoring group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (Acled), which uses official statements, media reports and social media to verify attacks, says it has recorded around 200 Israeli strikes during the ceasefire that have reportedly killed Hamas operatives or other armed "militants" in targeted strikes.

Acled said this includes commanders involved in planning the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war and killed around 1,200 people with 251 taken hostage.

Hugh Lovatt, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said "Gaza has seen a ceasefire in name only" since last October. He said the Israeli military has continued its almost daily air and drone strikes, and "though it claims to be targeting Hamas or imminent threats, it is Gaza's civilians that have continued to bear the brunt".

This could now be a "central stumbling block" in international efforts to implement Trump's ceasefire deal, he added.

The IDF told BBC Verify it "remains committed" to the ceasefire agreement and that there have been "continued violations and threats posed by Hamas and other terror organizations" in Gaza.

Summer of deadly incidents

Warning: The following segment of this story contains graphic content which some readers might find distressing.

BBC Verify has analysed dozens of videos of attacks in Gaza carried out since the ceasefire.

In one, emergency services are seen attending to people in the aftermath of a strike at a beachside cafe in Gaza City on 18 August, where six people were killed, according to the health ministry. The next day nine people, including a 13-year-old, were reportedly killed in a strike on a police headquarters in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood.

The IDF said it was targeting Hamas commanders and terrorists in the two incidents and that "steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians".

One of the deadliest single incidents in July was a strike on a reported funeral procession in Nuseirat. Seven people were killed and 22 injured, according to the Al-Awda Hospital where casualties were taken. Several verified images show nine people covered in blood lying on the street. Two people appear to still be alive and are being treated by bystanders.

The IDF said it was targeting a "significant military operative" of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group who was involved in the 7 October 2023 attacks.

In a strike on an apartment block on the western edge of Gaza City overnight on 1 August, a pregnant woman, her husband and their young son were killed, according to local reports. Verified footage showed the body of an unborn baby in the rubble.

A man searching the ruins said he had heard a strike overnight and saw smoke coming from the building. "I broke the door and went up and I found dead bodies scattered," he said. The IDF said it had targeted an acting Hamas commander.

Child deaths 'absurd and devastating'

UN agency Unicef has also reported more than 300 children have been killed since the ceasefire. The aid organisation has been tracking all available reports of incidents affecting children in Gaza, including via UN personnel on the ground.

James Elder, Unicef global spokesperson, said the number of child deaths was "absurd and devastating".

He added that hundreds more have been injured. "A ceasefire that paints such a grim picture can only be failing children."

Unicef and other humanitarian organisations operating inside Gaza have also reported Israeli strikes on their workers since the ceasefire. This includes two water truck drivers contracted by Unicef killed in April by Israeli fire at the Mansoura water filling point in northern Gaza.

The IDF said its soldiers "identified suspects approaching" the Yellow Line area during the incident, who were later identified as UN contractors who had not "coordinated in advance". Unicef said the drivers were carrying out routine water trucking operations with "no changes in movement or procedures".

Aid Worker Security Database, whose figures have been cited by the UN and UK government, told BBC Verify it has recorded 22 aid workers killed in Gaza since 10 October 2025.

Independent research group Airwars works to identify civilian deaths from a range of open sources including news agencies, NGOs and social media, matching names it finds to those published by the health ministry.

Director Emily Tripp told BBC Verify the ministry's data on death tolls is consistent with its own tracking and research, and that it recorded more than 60 deadly incidents in July.

"This is the highest number of fatal incidents we've seen in a month since the ceasefire," Tripp said. "Our own findings point to an increasing number of civilian harm incidents a month."

Professor Michael Spagat from Royal Holloway, University of London, is the chair of Every Casualty Counts, a charity that studies death tolls in wars. He told BBC Verify that the figures recorded by the health ministry are "testable" because it publishes names, ages and ID numbers of the dead.

He said that since April, the monthly death toll in Gaza has been roughly double what was seen in December. "July was the worst month but even August's lower toll is still high compared with the November to March period," he added.

Additional reporting Paul Brown, Benedict Garman and Lamees Altalebi

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

Israel says Hamas security chief captured as strikes kill four during Gaza raid

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wxex4vg35o, 5 days ago

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli special forces captured the head of Hamas's internal security service in a ground operation in Gaza.

Netanyahu said the man, whom he did not name, was "engaged in attempts to restore Hamas's governance in Gaza and in deception concerning the demilitarisation of the Strip".

Israel's military and Shin Bet security service said a special forces unit arrested him in Gaza City on Tuesday and then took him to Israel for questioning.

Israeli air strikes carried out during the raid killed at least four Palestinians, including two children and a woman, medics said. Hamas condemned Israel's actions as a "grave crime" and violation of their ceasefire.

On Tuesday morning, Palestinians in the crowded Katiba area of western Gaza City reported heavy Israeli bombardment, with two vehicles hit and turned to wreckage.

Videos captured chaotic scenes, with the sound of gunfire and the aftermath of strikes.

"A jeep stopped in the middle of the street and started firing indiscriminately left and right. It carried on firing at us like rain for more than 15 minutes," Wafika al-Helou, who lives in a tent in the area, told AFP news agency. "It was terrifying."

Another witness, Mutaz Abu Asr, said there were five or six strikes in less than three minutes.

Palestinian media reported that Israeli special forces and Israel-backed Palestinian militiamen opposed to Hamas entered the area, but that their presence was discovered. Some Israeli media suggested that only a local armed militia operated on the ground.

A Palestinian security source told the BBC the target of the Israeli operation was a senior official in the Hamas internal security service.

A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run government media office, Ismail al-Thawabta, said: "An Israeli special forces unit attempted to carry out a security operation in Gaza City, but the unit was exposed while carrying out the mission."

The ensuing Israeli strikes "resulted in a number of people being killed and others injured, in addition to the deaths of several members of the special forces unit", he added.

Later, Hamas issued a statement saying that the Israeli raid and strikes in a densely populated area constituted "a serious crime, a deliberate disregard for the lives of civilians, and an extension of the brutal war of annihilation against our people in the Gaza Strip".

On Tuesday evening, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet announced in a joint statement that Shin Bet special forces "entered a structure in the Gaza City area and apprehended the head of Hamas' Internal Security in the Gaza Strip".

"During the operation, the Israeli Air Force struck several targets in the area in order to remove threats to the forces. No IDF injuries were reported," they said.

Israel's prime minister commended the special forces for what he called the "daring operation" to arrest Hamas's internal security chief near his home.

"He is one of the most senior Hamas leaders, and was responsible for concealing and transporting our hostages, for sheltering senior Hamas figures, and for military build-up and attempts to restore the capabilities of the terror organisation," Netanyahu added.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, hospital officials in central Gaza said a Palestinian girl was killed by gunfire from Israeli troops east of the town of Deir al-Balah.

The IDF also said it had carried out a strike on a commander of Hamas's military wing in the Jabalia area, north of Gaza City, stressing that he had posed an immediate threat.

Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence rescue service said one of its first responders was seriously injured in a strike that targeted a person who had been passing by his station in Jabalia.

The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 73,460 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.

How could US-Iran conflict end? Three experts give their views

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgjql614glvo, 3 days ago

The prospect of an imminent agreement to end the conflict between the US and Iran again seems unlikely, with the warring sides exchanging strikes and uncompromising rhetoric.

The attacks come days after the US said it was moving into a new phase - a sweeping economic blockade against Iran and countries which trade with it.

The US aim was to force Iran to negotiate and to stop its attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The key commercial shipping route has been effectively closed since the US and Israel started the conflict in February.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the two sides signed in June and meant to result in a permanent ceasefire and a deal within 60 days has expired.

As the conflict enters its seventh month, we asked three experts for their thoughts on how it may play out.

US hopes military and economic pressure will weaken Iran's negotiating power

Jason Campbell, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, Washington DC

The problem is we still do not know definitively what the US strategic objectives are in Iran. The White House is persistently re-evaluating what it is willing to live with from a political standpoint.

It was assumed the military component would be enough for a quick victory and that has not had the desired effect.

What we are seeing is different levers - both military and economic - that the US is trying to pull at.

Right now, the administration appears satisfied with some form of stasis. I think they are satisfied with maintaining the blockade and with allowing some periodic targeting against Iran's capability to upset the shipping lane in the strait.

US officials are hopeful that the new sanctions will be enough to compel the Iranian regime to come to the negotiating table in a weaker position.

US forces have seemingly been able to facilitate a sufficient trickle through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days to avert an oil-price shock or a global economic collapse. But those were not the US objectives when starting the war.

My sense is that Iran is likely to demand a high price to get to a resolution, which is likely to remain politically untenable for the Trump administration.

Iran will wait for US concessions

Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, Associate Fellow with Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Programme, London

I do not think the latest strikes really alter Iranian calculations on the war. I think Tehran is preparing for an increased squeeze on its economy, and a continuation of the on and off attacks which we have seen over the past couple of months. Their intent will be to respond to these attacks in a proportionate manner in order not to spiral a larger conflict.

On the economic side, obviously this is likely to hurt the Iranian economy which has already been affected by the war and has had underlying structural issues anyway, as we know from the December and January demonstrations in Iran.

But I do not feel like there is the sense from the Iranian side that the economic squeeze is going to alter the Iranian calculation any time soon, including on any negotiations.

That does not mean Iran is not looking for an off ramp, but I think what we are seeing is that it is waiting for the US to go back to the MoU, or to at least offer some sort of concession. Tehran does not want to cave in to US pressure or alter its own approach in response to sanctions or additional attacks.

US knows what to do - go back to the ceasefire deal

Nicholas Hopton, Distinguished Fellow in international security at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London and former UK ambassador to Iran

The latest spike in military action is not going to produce Iran's capitulation - it is just the latest twist. Economic pressure is also unlikely to work because China, Russia and many other countries which trade with Iran are not going to support unilateral US sanctions.

Iran can continue to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz - they have a thumb on the jugular of the global economy.

What is the White House's exit strategy?

Well, the US has already found it. If Trump was able to put a sustained effort into negotiating the deal outlined in June's MoU, that is the off-ramp.

Not only would a deal give the US a kind of victory because it would weaken the hardliners in the Islamic Republic, but also reassure everyone that Iran is not going to get a nuclear weapon.

There is a silver bullet in the MoU which is the lifting of all US sanctions on Iran.

What lifting those sanctions would do over time is weaken Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC). Economic engagement between the outside world and Iran in a new way would gradually force radical political and social change - so you end up with an Islamic regime, but of a very different nature.

Of course, that would not be straightforward to achieve, because of extensive IRGC penetration of the Iranian economy. But it should work, if given enough time and if the US and its partners exercised strategic patience which, sadly, is in short supply at this point.

For the time being, I think we're going to carry on with a messy, inconclusive situation that is bad for everyone.

Trump hopes sanctions will topple Iran's regime - its leaders are betting otherwise

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr50n9gnljgo, 13 days ago

The US says it has launched an "economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe". Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said sanctions included digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. Any nation financially partnering with Iran would be isolated.

However, Bessent's announcement of what he termed an "economic D-Day" may have sounded more dramatic in Washington than in Tehran.

Shortly after the announcement, Iran's Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh called it "the same old talk" and said Iran was ready for "every scenario". He said Tehran had expected the measures and had plans to deal with them.

His reaction points to the main question Iranian leaders are likely to be asking: What can the US do now that it has not already tried?

Bessent has threatened wider secondary sanctions against countries, banks and companies that continue doing business with Iran. But the basic policy is not new. Iran has faced US sanctions for years, including penalties against foreign companies trading with it.

What matters to Tehran is whether Washington can enforce sanctions more widely than before.

The US blockade has already made a difference. It has reduced Iran's ability to export as much oil by sea as it did before and made it harder to import goods and equipment. Iran has long land borders with seven countries and years of experience using them to bypass sanctions. But land routes cannot easily replace trade by sea, especially oil exports.

The pressure could therefore become much more serious if Washington manages to close channels that survived previous sanctions, particularly those involving China and Iran's neighbours. That is a big ask. China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it firmly opposed the sanctions, calling them illegal.

If the sanctions fail, Bessent's announcement could strengthen those inside Iran who oppose a deal with the US.

They could argue that Washington has returned to economic pressure because its other choices are limited. A new military campaign carries risks, while years of sanctions have failed to force Iran to accept US demands.

Washington has also left little room for diplomacy.

Although Pakistan and other mediators are still trying to revive talks, the US has not ruled out further strikes. The renewed threats could weaken Iranian officials who favour a deal.

It was already in deep trouble before the war, with high inflation and a rapidly weakening currency, and has deteriorated further since the fighting began with US and Israeli air strikes on 28 February.

The weakening of the Iranian currency, the rial, is felt sharply and widely. Imports cost more, businesses struggle to plan, and people's savings lose value. Restrictions on oil exports also reduce the government's access to foreign currency.

Negin - not her real name - is a 34-year-old woman who says her monthly income is now about $100 (£73). She told the BBC: "I don't go to the cinema, theatre, or concerts. I don't buy gifts for anyone. I don't attend birthday parties. I can only buy meat with the government subsidy voucher; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to afford it."

Mona, a housewife with two kids, says her husband has been out of work since the beginning of the war. She adds: "We feel scared, especially after the sanctions that began yesterday. Ever since the war, my spouse has not gone back to work. He used to work on ships."

She adds: "We're trying to manage our expenses as best we can, but we've definitely had to cut back on all of our extra spending and small luxuries."

Iran may believe time is working against US President Donald Trump. Further disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could push oil and petrol prices higher, add to US inflation and become a political problem before the US midterm elections in November.

That gives Tehran an obvious date to watch, but relying on American elections is a gamble.

Iran's economy could be much weaker by then.

And beyond the midterms lies another problem. With Trump not seeking re-election in 2028, his outgoing administration may feel it has more freedom to continue the confrontation with Iran and accept the costs.

Iran is, therefore, watching two clocks.

One is political and runs in Washington. The other is economic and runs inside Iran. Every month of lower oil exports, disrupted trade and pressure on the rial makes waiting for a deal to end the war more expensive.

That leaves Iranian leaders with a difficult choice. Making concessions now could look like surrendering under pressure and strengthen hardliners who say Washington will only demand more.

Waiting could improve Iran's position if Trump's strategy runs into political or economic problems. But Tehran could also find itself negotiating later with a weaker economy.

Much now depends on what happens outside Iran.

If Chinese banks, regional trading partners and companies start pulling back because they believe Washington will punish them, Bessent's campaign may change Tehran's calculation.

If they do not, the opposite could happen. Those Iranians arguing against compromise will say Washington has played another supposedly decisive card without changing the balance and that Iran should continue to wait or resist.

Israel warns it will retaliate if UK imposes sanctions

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7degkkv5go, 5 days ago

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has warned his country will retaliate if the UK imposes sanctions against it over the potential expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

Addressing Parliament for the first time as foreign secretary, Ed Miliband said he would introduce a "comprehensive reset" of policy on Israel "in the coming weeks".

He said the government would examine how to stop UK companies "financing, constructing or advertising new settlements" in the occupied West Bank.

Responding, Gideon Saar told Hebrew-language news website Ynet: "If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain."

"If they act, I think they will be making a big mistake," he said.

Last month, Israel opened up tenders for the construction of some 1,200 settlement homes in the so-called E1 area - a strategically important area east of Jerusalem. The plans have drawn widespread international condemnation.

The development would in effect divide the West Bank in two and isolate East Jerusalem.

Miliband said the plans are "illegal under international law" and called them "the crossing of a red line, as it cuts through the heart of the West Bank and risks making a Palestinian state unviable".

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham also warned that Israel's statement about the E1 area could "imperil or end" the two-state solution in the Middle East.

All settlements are illegal under international law and, under global pressure, Israel held off for decades on plans to build in the area.

The "two-state solution", which has received international backing, proposes an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, that would exist alongside Israel.

Israel rejects a two-state solution. The Palestinian Authority backs a two-state solution but Hamas does not because it is opposed to the existence of Israel.

UK raises case of British activist detained by settlers in West Bank with Israel

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3d7xgge7vgo, 7 days ago

The UK Foreign Office says it has raised the detention of a British national in the occupied West Bank with Israeli authorities.

Finn Joughin, a 22-year-old student activist, was arrested in Umm Al-Kheir on Saturday after he was forcibly detained by Israeli settlers who had advanced on the Palestinian village.

There has been a surge in attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

All settlements are illegal under international law. Outposts are also illegal under Israeli law, although they are often supported by state services and funding.

The confrontation on Saturday took place in a town near Hebron that has been recently surrounded by settlers.

According to other activists who witnessed what happened, Palestinian children were playing football when children from settler families started intervening. They then ran to a house and started to dismantle a fence.

Footage posted online by both settlers and activists and seen by the BBC appears to show Joughin standing by the fence and trying to protect it using his body as a child pushes against him.

Settlers removed Joughin forcefully and took the London-based student to an outpost.

Israeli police said a foreign national "who disrupted public order" was detained by security personnel of a settler community who suspected him of an indecent act against a minor and other offences.

In a statement on Sunday, police said the suspect was transferred to their custody for questioning before documents relating to the case were sent to the Population and Immigration Authority for review.

"This was carried out as part of ongoing cooperation and efforts to prevent provocative activity involving confrontations and disturbances," police said.

A lawyer for Joughin said: "We absolutely deny all the allegations."

Inbar Shaked Vardi told the BBC that the student was initially accused of assault.

But Shaked Vardi said police later added to the paperwork an allegation of an indecent act.

Joughin is being deported back to the UK on a flight scheduled for Monday afternoon, according to his lawyer.

"So far they have not decided officially on closing the case," Shaked Vardi said.

Joughin is the only one being investigated and as he is being deported, "it's safe to assume they won't continue to pursue charges against him", she said.

"Police use deportation in order to get what they want – which is to get activists outside of the West Bank while continuing to allow settlers to do what they do", she added.

Activists who were with Joughin at the time deny there was any inappropriate behaviour.

"In every single instance, it was the settler kids who approached Finn," fellow activist Matthew, who declined to give his surname, told the BBC.

The Foreign Office confirmed to the BBC that it was aware of the incident.

"Officials from the British embassy [in] Tel Aviv have raised the case with the Israeli authorities and are seeking further information," a spokesperson said.

Violence over the weekend across several areas of the occupied West Bank even prompted condemnation from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who accused settlers of harming Israel's standing in the world. President Isaac Herzog called it the "crossing of a red line".

In addition to the incident at Umm Al-Kheir, dozens of settlers attacked the West Bank village of Qusra on Saturday before the military was called to remove them. Foreign journalists were also injured by masked settlers in an attack in the West Bank town of Jalud.

"The half-million Israelis living peacefully … are most disgusted by a small group of thugs," said US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee who welcomed the Israeli leaders' condemnation.

The overlooked factor driving the childhood obesity crisis

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70de1ny92wo, 4 days ago

"I loved school. I loved to learn."

Ibbie, 16, always struggled with her weight, but it was during the Covid-19 lockdowns that she started eating even more. She was bullied by classmates over her size, and in her first year of secondary school she stopped attending completely.

Away from the routine of the school day, her weight problems worsened.

"When you are at home 24/7 it is very easy to go into the kitchen to get a snack. It's not the same if you are at school," says Ibbie, from Doncaster.

By the age of 12 she weighed nearly 22 stone (140kg) and was diagnosed with liver damage. "I was told that I might need to have a liver transplant if I didn't lose weight. That was scary to hear."

Ibbie's experience is one of the more extreme examples of children living with obesity in the UK – but her story is not unique. She is one of more than 6,000 children who have been treated at a pioneering weight-loss service for the most obese children in the country. These Complications from Excess Weight (CEW) clinics are a network of 39 specialist NHS hubs across England designed to treat severe obesity in children.

Some of the young people treated at the clinics have mental health problems and learning disabilities; others are neurodiverse or autistic.

But there's one characteristic that unites nearly all the children: they do not attend school.

The scientific picture is still emerging, but senior doctors who have spoken to the BBC say that school attendance is emerging as a key, overlooked factor in the battle against childhood obesity.

In the 2000s, when Jamie Oliver was touring British schools for his influential Channel 4 series, it was argued that children were getting fat from buying too many turkey twizzlers at the school canteen.

Now, it's being away from school that seems to be a problem, scientists say.

Fewer children in school

Childhood obesity has been rising in the UK for decades, and scientists have generally identified a simple culprit: increased consumption of junk food.

But then, in 2020, it became more complicated. While childhood obesity had been rising steadily long before the pandemic, the rates exploded during the lockdowns. The proportion of overweight and obese 10 and 11-year-olds rose from 35% to 41%, with poorer children disproportionately affected.

Although obesity levels have come down since, they have never returned to pre-pandemic levels. The most recent government data shows that one in 10 children starting school in England is obese, but that figure rises to one in five by the time children leave primary school.

Prof Ken Ong, the lead clinician at Cambridge University Hospital's CEW clinic, believes that the current high level of childhood obesity is rooted in the school time that was missed during the pandemic. "We do know that diets got worse. We do know that children did a lot less physical activity. We know that for many children, they became quite isolated being taken out of schools," he says. "I think these are the same factors that are and have been contributing to overweight and obesity."

It's well-documented that even short periods of time out of school, like the summer holidays, can lead to an increase in children's weight. And since the pandemic, fewer British children are attending school altogether. In 2019, about 10% of pupils at English state schools were classed as "persistently absent", meaning they missed at least 10% of classes. Now, it is 18%.

We don't have official, UK-specific data tracking the connection between obesity and school absence, but international research has historically suggested a connection. A meta-analysis published in 2017, which looked at research across seven countries, suggested that an obese child was 54% more likely to be absent from school compared to a child with a healthy weight.

Junk food and step counters

There has been no extensive research in Britain on why school absence might be causing obesity, but doctors who have spoken to the BBC have their theories.

One factor is diet. Since the 2000s - when all four UK governments passed laws to make school lunches healthier - it's become much harder to find high-sugar or high-fat foods in most canteens. At home, those restrictions don't apply. By 2010, a few years after the new laws were introduced, a study from the University of Leeds found that only 1.1% of home-packed lunches met the nutritional requirements that would apply to a meal bought by a child at school.

And a US study from earlier this year found that child obesity rose in states where a universal free school meal programme was withdrawn in 2022 (presumably because it prompted children to eat unhealthy food at home).

"While school food is not as good as it should be, there are some regulations around it," says Keith Godfrey, an epidemiology professor at the University of Southampton. "Whereas in the home environment, it's much more variable in terms of what children receive."

Exercise also matters. A British study from 2014 looked at step counts measured with electronic sensors, and found that most children are more active on school days than weekends.

Dr Catherine Falconer, a leading researcher who has looked at the link between child health and school absence (and who also works for the UK Health Security Agency), says there's "quite strong evidence that going to school has a big impact on health". She adds: "The very act of leaving the house and walking to school is beneficial."

The science is not yet settled, of course, and it can be difficult to disentangle cause from effect. School absence might be driving obesity - but it's also possible that obesity is making children miss school.

And everyone agrees that if school absence is causing obesity, it's just one of many causes. Other factors - like the proliferation of ultra-processed foods - also matter. And there are thousands of home-schooled children in Britain who maintain a perfectly healthy weight.

But scientists who have spoken to the BBC say they are confident that, at least in some cases, school absence is playing a key causal role.

"School attendance is key," says Prof Simon Kenny, NHS England's national clinical director for children and young people, and the man who launched the first CEW clinics in 2021. "I hadn't quite clocked how absent these children are not just from school but from life. You don't see them in the street or youth clubs or sports centres. They are outside of society."

And it can lead to unhappiness. Prof Julian Hamilton-Shield, a consultant paediatrician at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, says that the severely obese children he treats are "the most unhappy children I have come across".

Ibbie, the 16-year-old treated at Sheffield's CEW clinic, remembers some dark days. "The bullying got so bad… there was physical bullying as well as verbal," she remembers. "I had suicidal thoughts. It got to the stage where I actually tried to take my own life."

Extra snacks for obese children

So, how can the problem be fixed?

One approach is to send health workers directly into schools to deliver personalised health plans. The CEW clinics have tried just this approach.

Tessa Saunders, a family therapist at Cambridge's CEW clinic, says that schools should in some cases allow children to follow their own diet plans - even if it means breaking school rules. Obese children could be given extra time in the canteen, she says, to help them slow down their eating so their bodies have more time to feel full. And they could be offered an extra snack in the afternoon so they're not tempted to overeat when they get home.

She admits it might "seem weird" if obese children are given more food than other children. But, she says, "there's a reason behind it. It's not the mum trying to make her kid the special one."

She says teachers could also closely monitor the water intake of obese children (sometimes when children think they feel hungry, they are actually thirsty).

"I think in this country we have been focused on school attendance being a school problem," Dr Falconer says. "School absence should be treated as a public health issue."

She also thinks that reversing the decline in school nurses could help spot vulnerable children sooner. "I think there is a real potential around schools being a place you can receive some level of healthcare, whether it's around healthy eating, vaccinations or dental care."

Weight-loss drugs?

Of course, it takes work to get a child back into school after a long period of absence. Some parents who attend the clinic hope there might be an easier solution to their child's obesity: weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro and Ozempic, known as GLP-1s.

The drugs are only licensed for children aged 12 and over, and they aren't routinely recommended for anyone under 18, under guidelines from the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Prof Ong says he has encountered parents at his clinic who want access to weight-loss jabs - an easier option, perhaps, than getting a child back into school.

And many doctors see their promise. They point out that obesity in children is a potentially life-threatening condition if left untreated for decades. Prof Julian Hamilton-Shield says he's seen weight-loss drugs have a transformative effect on the self-esteem of severely obese teenagers.

Around the same time as she dropped out of school, Ibbie was given GLP-1 injections as part of her treatment at the Sheffield CEW clinic. She was just 12 years old. She lost 10 stone (64kg) and is now much healthier. "It has completely changed my life," she says. "I actually started losing weight before taking the drugs just to prove to myself I could do it. After losing the extra weight I no longer have liver failure, I am no longer prediabetic. I am a lot happier and more confident in myself."

Some parents who are desperate to find a solution to their child's obesity have resorted to buying the drugs privately online. "These parents have the best possible intentions," Prof Hamilton-Shield says, "but I can't advocate for that."

But Prof Ong cautions that weight-loss drugs alone aren't going to offer severely obese children the life-changing health benefits they need.

"Some families see weight-loss medication as a quick fix," he says. "Families who come here have very complex needs and if those aren't addressed then either the weight will come back very quickly, or the medication is papering over the many other needs of these children."

Ultimately, he thinks, it's more important for a child to build a healthy routine - and that means regular attendance at school.

£12bn price tag

Doctors say that getting obese children back into school could be a key tool to address the childhood obesity crisis. But obstacles remain. The current network of 39 CEW clinics in England reaches just 5% of the obese children that are eligible. The annual cost of treating obesity-related ill health (for all ages) in the NHS is now estimated at £12bn.

Although Ibbie became fitter and healthier, she never did return to school. She says the bullying she received from classmates was so bad she developed symptoms of PTSD. Instead she was home-schooled by her mother, Andrea, with a schedule that included plenty of history field trips. Ibbie's year group took their GCSEs this summer; Ibbie is yet to take them.

But she hasn't given up on education. Inspired by her time at the clinic, she now hopes one day to study healthcare at college. "I just know how life-changing the support in the clinic was for me," she says. "I want to help other people too."

Top image credit: Getty Images.

The mystery of why so many black Britons still can't swim

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx27vxkpdz1o, 6 days ago

As I push through the doors, the smell of chlorine hits me. Instantly, I feel sick, and I remember why I don't go swimming. I'm getting ready for my first swimming lesson in over 10 years, trying to convince myself it won't be so bad.

Before I know it, I'm in the water.

I glance around the pool; I'm surrounded by other black women learning to swim, all at different levels. Some are confidently swimming lengths; others, like me, are learning how to feel at home in the water.

I'm learning to breathe properly, dunk my head under and let the water carry me, rather than fight against it. There are so many things to remember.

At the age of 27, I'm still unable to swim - and I'm far from alone.

Swimming ability is not spread evenly across the population; figures compiled by Swim England, swimming's governing body, based on a survey of 4,500 people suggest poorer people, for example, are much less likely to be able to swim, as well as Muslims, people of South Asian descent and children known to social care.

As a black woman, it's the figures for the black community that always jump out to me. Swim England's figures suggest that 67% of black women and 44% of black men in England cannot swim 25 metres unaided - far higher than the national average, and far higher than the numbers for white people (17% of white women and 12% of white men cannot swim 25 metres). Behind those figures, published in 2022, are very different stories.

Over Britain's record-breaking hot summer, we've seen a number of tragic deaths in lakes, rivers, and at sea, all of which will contribute to the UK's annual total of drownings. There's no official data yet for 2026, but in previous years we've seen black children and adults over-represented in the drowning figures (along with those other groups mentioned above).

I see this as a stark reminder: learn to swim. Across the UK, many children receive swimming lessons at school and in England all children are supposed to leave primary school age 11 able to swim. But just why are there so many black people, like me, who can't? It's a trend that's existed for decades, but one that has never been fully explained.

A myth with a long history

Everyone can float.

That was the conclusion of the University of Portsmouth, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the Black Swimming Association (BSA) in 2023; together, they set out to test one of the most persistent myths surrounding black people and swimming: that black people have denser bones than white people, which makes it harder to float.

It's an idea with a long history. European accounts dating back to the 15th Century recorded that many west Africans were highly skilled swimmers and divers. But racial exclusion from pools in some countries, like the United States, helped to create the idea that black people were poor swimmers. In 1974, only a few years after the end of segregation in the US, an article by two white doctors in a respected US medical journal asked: "Can Blacks Float?". They concluded that black people were simply less buoyant than white people.

In fact, the Portsmouth study found that bone density could not predict whether someone could float. Of the 101 participants in the study, 89 floated unassisted for two minutes.

The UK did not have the same system of formal segregation that the US had in the 20th Century. But Alice Dearing, a former Olympic swimmer and co-founder of the BSA, thinks that the US's history might have reverberated in parts of British culture too. Some black people have "ingrained within themselves to think that they can't swim", she says.

For Dearing, this is not just history. At 17, she says a coach used a racial slur about her to another swimmer. She later complained to her swimming club and school but ultimately decided not to take the matter further. "Why am I being victimised for swimming and for being black? It just didn't make sense," she says.

Experiences like these can shape how black people see themselves in the water. Heather Massey, a physiology professor at the University of Portsmouth who was involved in the floating study, says it's important to challenge those myths.

"If people believe they can't float, then they may be dismissing something that could eventually save their life," she says. "We need to make sure that we get the right information out there."

Parental influence

For most British children, swimming starts with their family. If parents swim, children grow up seeing the water as something familiar.

But if parents have not learned to swim - as is the case in some black families - then children are less likely to start swimming lessons at a young age.

I come from a family of non-swimmers: I'm one of five siblings and none of us can swim, neither can my parents. We still enjoyed days at the beach, but that usually meant walking along the coast or paddling in the shallows. Rarely did we go much deeper than knee height.

It's a pattern seen by Nathaniel Cole, co-founder of Swim Dem Crew, a swimming group encouraging more people of colour to get into the water. He remembers coaching children whose parents could not swim, and encouraging them to get into the pool with their children after lessons.

"But then the parents would be like, 'Well, I can't swim'," he says.

Cole says having parents who cannot swim can make the water seem dangerous. "Swimming underwater is something to be avoided. You don't go in there, there's danger. And unfortunately that's driven from parents that can't swim."

Dearing's experience was different. Her mother grew up swimming in the ocean in Accra, Ghana. "When she came over to the UK, she was going to make sure all of her children knew how to swim," she says.

Swimming was passed down in Dearing's family. In mine, it wasn't.

For those who never learnt as children, Cole says starting later can feel particularly exposing. "To be a beginner swimmer, you are humbled by the water," he says. "You have to be very vulnerable."

The role of class

The barriers to swimming start long before you reach the water.

For Kevin Hylton, emeritus professor of equality and diversity in sport at Leeds Beckett University, that started with his childhood. "I grew up in a working-class Caribbean family where swimming wasn't a thing that was done," he says. "We had almost zero leisure as a family together. It was done through school."

His three children had a very different experience. By then, he and his partner had more disposable income and lived closer to swimming facilities. He says the difference, in his case, was not ethnicity. "It's because of class. And also because of location and the proximity to swimming facilities," he says.

That gap is reflected in the figures. Sport England figures said that 47% of children and young people in the most deprived areas could swim 25 metres, compared with 69% in the least deprived areas.

Access to pools can make that gap harder to close. More than 500 public swimming pools have closed across the UK since 2010, with almost half closing since 2020, according to Swim England and ukactive, the trade body for gyms and leisure centres. The charity classes one-fifth of local authorities as "water deprived", meaning they don't have enough swimming pool space to match their population.

But even when you take class into account, there's still a particular problem among black people. In 2022 Swim England also looked specifically at those in the most deprived neighbourhoods. On average, 73% of adults living in those poorer neighbourhoods could swim 25 metres; but for black adults in those neighbourhoods, it was just 38%.

And there are other thorny cultural factors too. In a 2023 survey by the BSA of more than 1,400 people, 33% of black British respondents named issues around their hair as a barrier to getting in the pool. The BSA wrote that "traditional aquatic headwear", like swimming caps, "doesn't cater to children with longer, thicker afro hair, nor does it cater to traditionally Black hairstyles including braids, dreadlocks and twists with extensions".

'You're floating'

Back at my swimming class, I'm still struggling to hold down my fear.

Then something changes.

I'm floating, first on my front and then on my back. I'm doing things I never thought I'd be able to do. And somehow, I'm enjoying myself.

My fear started in primary school when I had compulsory swimming lessons. I would arrive armed with what I liked to call my anti-drowning armour: armbands, floats, goggles, and a swimming hat.

But it still wasn't enough to make me feel safe. There were dozens of children in the pool, all at various levels, and I remember feeling overwhelmed rather than taught. Swimming became something I associated with fear.

"See, you can do it, you're floating," my instructor, Omie Dale, tells me proudly.

Swimming is different from other sports; not learning the skill can have consequences far beyond missing out on exercise.

England's National Child Mortality Database found that black children were over three times more at risk of drowning as white children between 2019 and 2025. Putting ethnicity aside, risk was also more than twice as high for children living in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived.

And Hylton points out another startling figure: 71% of children who drown (of any race) had been known to social care at some point in their lives, according to the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK).

Hylton calls for more research into why these children are so much more likely to drown.

The cost of learning to swim

Standing at the edge of the pool, I wondered how different things might have been if I'd kept learning after school.

Dale says many of her students have also not had a lesson since primary school, leaving years to pass before they get another chance to build confidence.

Despite the fact that swimming is part of the national curriculum in England and Northern Ireland, financial pressures are making it tough; even just the cost of paying for a coach to a swimming pool is too much for some schools.

Dale believes getting black children into the water early, and giving them the chance to keep returning, can help. "We run free lessons and we get so many young people who are natural swimmers and just love the water. If we hadn't been there at that stage, they could have grown up thinking they can't swim."

Seeing yourself in the pool

Seeing people like yourself in the water can make a difference. But at the highest levels of swimming, black representation remains low.

In 2019, the BBC found that of the 73,000 competitive swimmers registered with Swim England, just 668 - less than 1% - identified as black or mixed race. (About 4% of England's population is black).

In 2020, Dearing became the first black British woman to represent Team GB in swimming at an Olympic Games, competing in Tokyo. Her achievement matters beyond the pool. Sport England research found that a lack of visible role models can reinforce negative stereotypes about the abilities of people from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

"No one wants to be the… only black person in the pool," says Cole.

When I got out of the pool after my lesson, I felt something I hadn't expected: I wanted to get back in. For years, I had accepted being unable to swim. It was easier to avoid the water than to confront something that had frightened me since childhood.

I'm still a long way from being a confident swimmer, but already the world feels a little more open to me: the sea, rivers and lakes; kayaking and paddleboarding.

Dale describes swimming as a "gateway", saying that once you learn, "it opens a whole new world".

At 27, I am not a swimmer. But I am ready to learn.

Top image credit: Getty.

Update 1 September: This article incorrectly stated that all children in the UK are supposed to leave primary school able to swim. It has been corrected to say the target applies to England only.

Why Pride is facing a backlash - from inside and outside the LGBT community

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj63jyl09jxo, 3 days ago

Matt left Crewe as soon as he could, aged 18, feeling that he wasn't accepted as a young gay man. The only LGBT scene to mention was a tiny, makeshift bar behind a curtain in the back of an out-of-town pub.

He left in 2015, but this June found himself returning home, for Crewe Pride.

For Matt, it was a significant homecoming. "It really took me back to when I was a kid growing up here, trying to navigate my identity. It felt so important to be there and see how a town that wasn't particularly welcoming… has changed and flourished."

For many, these small, community Pride events feel a world away from the huge celebrations in the UK's largest cities.

But Matt's happy weekend in Crewe masks a growing culture war over Pride. Over the last few years, a number of councils have withdrawn their support for Pride festivals, while some big brands - perhaps nervous about being seen as too "woke" - have become hesitant to associate themselves with them. On top of all that, there's a long-running complaint from some LGBT campaigners that Pride has become overly commercialised; while the argument over trans issues has also made matters more fraught.

It's leading some to ask: what future do Pride events have?

The roots of Pride

Pride started as a protest, with Britain's first official Pride march in London in 1972. Homosexual acts between men were illegal in England and Wales until 1967 (and for longer in Scotland and Northern Ireland), and LGBT people lost jobs and housing because of their sexuality, while police forces frequently targeted the community with raids and surveillance that made everyday life precarious.

In Manchester, Pride started small in 1985. A bring‑and‑buy sale on Canal Street was organised to raise money to spruce up the rather drab-looking hospital ward treating those with HIV and Aids at the height of the epidemic.

Little did those early attendees realise how big Manchester Pride would become: a four-day, city centre extravaganza over the August bank holiday weekend, with colourful floats, loud music, and every inch of pavement filled with enthusiastic spectators dressed to the nines, streaked with rainbow face paint.

By 2019, the event had outgrown the city's famous Gay Village. That year's headline act, American superstar Ariana Grande, performed in a purpose-built stage in another part of Manchester - for a premium ticket price. It prompted criticism, and the organisers of Manchester Pride would later come under fire for ending funding for various charities (including an HIV charity, and a scheme that distributed free condoms).

The company behind Manchester Pride went into voluntary liquidation last year, owing more than £1m to suppliers and performers, including Nelly Furtado. Since its collapse, local businesses and charities have created a not-for-profit group - Manchester Village Pride - with the aim of organising a much cheaper festival more rooted in the community.

Carl Austin-Behan, who is helping to organise this year's scaled-back event, says he's been "frustrated for a number of years" by the direction of Manchester Pride. "When things were being taken out of the village, that was the first sign that things were going in the wrong direction… It should be about the community. We certainly don't need to be spending the amount of money that was spent on Manchester Pride."

And Manchester's problems aren't isolated. London Pride has faced criticism for feeling overly corporate and overcrowded; Brighton has struggled with the financial burden of staging large‑scale concerts and policing. Against that backdrop, smaller events like Crewe seem to be the direction many Prides are going in 2026.

A corporate 'nervousness'

But the political winds have also changed - with seemingly less corporate enthusiasm for diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Phil Douglas, organiser of Newcastle Pride, says: "There is a general nervousness from organisations and companies to be front and centre in their support. We see some wanting to still support us but not wanting their logo attached… they don't want the backlash which is right there ready in the online community. It's quite a complex time to navigate support for Prides as a whole."

A few years ago, you couldn't go on social media in June - known as "Pride month" - without seeing what felt like every corporate logo incorporating the Pride flag. Critics called it "rainbow‑washing", arguing that the displays of solidarity were more about marketing than meaningful action.

But now, according to Guardian analysis, the corporate presence has been waning. Last year, mentions of Pride on social media by the UK's 10 biggest listed or headquartered companies had fallen by 92% compared with 2023 - a drop that suggests brands are pulling back from overt LGBT messaging.

"There has been a general rowing back of corporate support for LGBT causes globally," says Paul Martin, chief executive of the LGBT Foundation charity. "We've seen that with politics changing in some countries and diversity and inclusion being seen as too woke… We don't get support from some quarters like we used to.

"And that has played out with Pride festivals as well. Corporate funding has been pulled back and that has caused a real challenge for Pride organisers to balance the books."

A survey by the pollster Ipsos found that the share of British adults who want companies and brands to promote LGBT rights dipped from 52% in 2021 to 44% this year.

Flags stop flying

In Liverpool, Merseyside Police did not take part in the city's Pride parade last year after legal advice warned that uniformed participation by a public body could breach rules on political impartiality.

This summer, firefighters and police again stayed away: Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said it was taking a "pragmatic approach" following a High Court ruling that found officers in the north‑east should not have been allowed to join a Pride event. West Midlands Ambulance Service also withdrew from Birmingham Pride on similar legal advice.

Back in May's local elections in England, Reform UK won power on 14 councils, adding to the 10 they already controlled. Last month, the party's leader, Nigel Farage, said he is "fine" with Pride events going ahead but did not want local authorities to promote them.

A few weeks after taking power in Durham last year, the town's new Reform administration removed a rainbow flag from the council headquarters. Councillors also withdrew their funding contribution of £2,500 for Durham Pride. In the Merseyside town of St Helens, meanwhile, the Reform council leader instructed officials to cease engagement with all aspects of Pride; the council also removed displays celebrating the festival from libraries.

Explaining the cuts to funding, Reform's Darren Grimes, deputy leader of Durham Council, says: "I feel that we've moved away from that laudable aim of gay equality. We achieved same-sex marriage and that was the final frontier."

Durham Pride organiser Mel Metcalf says taking the flag down made LGBT people in the community "feel unwelcome". The festival did still take place; organisers said it was their "biggest" year ever, after raising around £25,000 from individual donors and trade unions.

As well as Reform's approach, the new Conservative council leader in Enfield, north London, has said they will only fly certain flags outside Enfield Civic Centre - and the rainbow flag is not one of them.

The trans dividing line

Debate around trans rights is also fuelling the Pride culture war. Some gay and lesbian people who describe themselves as "gender critical" - and whose beliefs mean they're sceptical of some of the aims of the trans rights movement - say they feel sidelined by Pride; while some trans people say they no longer feel safe attending.

A lesbian woman who describes herself as gender critical, and did not want to be named, told me she no longer attends Pride because she thinks it has become dominated by a focus on trans issues.

Grimes, one of Reform's highest-profile gay members, argues that Pride has moved away from its focus on gay equality and become bound up with the wider gender identity debate: "You've slain the dragon in the pursuit of equality and now all you are left with is a few rambling sheep." He says that "public subsidy" for LGBT issues has become a "cash cow" that fuels "narratives of victimhood".

For some, the focus on trans rights is a reason to step back from Pride; for others, it underscores why events like Sparkle matter.

Sparkle is the UK's biggest transgender celebration. It takes place in late June in Manchester's Gay Village, a few months before the Pride weekend. This year's event had live music and comedy. Lauren, a transgender volunteer at the event, told me: "We've got a lot of stigma and hatred against us… You've got people trying to push us back into the dark and it does make it harder to live our lives."

Another transgender woman I spoke to, who was staying in a hotel in Manchester's Gay Village, said she wanted to be in the city for the event, but was wary of leaving the hotel because she felt unsafe.

Security has also become a central consideration, especially after the events of last month in Berlin, when 21-year-old Abdul Ballout drove a car into a crowd at the city's Pride festival, killing one woman and injuring 29 others. Guy Mathias, from the Security Commonwealth - a trade group for security firms - says he thinks many Pride organisers will review their plans following the Berlin attack.

"Smaller events generally would cost less individually, but they still need many of the same safety measures in place," he adds.

Others think that Pride festivals can create headaches for local residents. Andy Winter, a columnist for the Brighton Argus, attended Pride marches in the 1980s in his role as a Brighton councillor. He recalled in one piece how he was vilified by the press at the time for supporting a pro-LGBT council motion. But last year, he wrote that Brighton's Pride weekend comes with "alcohol and drug-fuelled excesses".

He wrote: "Even though I am not gay, Pride impacts on me. One of the parks I use is 'closed' for ten days... to allow largely straight performers to entertain those able to pay the large entry fee." He added: "The streets are littered with plastics and broken glass. I pity neighbours of the park and surrounding streets who see their driveways and gardens used as toilets."

The future of Pride

I've been to dozens of Pride events over the years. Manchester has always been a must. When I was a teenager in Ulverston, Cumbria - a place where I was pretty certain I was the only gay in the village - Manchester always seemed like the bright lights, a land where you could be free and your true self.

This year I'll return again, excited to catch up with my friends and intrigued to see what the new community-focused Pride is all about.

But I suspect there'll be a slightly different mood in the air this year; an awareness that in some parts of the country, Pride has become controversial.

Younger LGBT people still say Pride matters. A 2024 YouGov survey of more than 500 LGBT Britons, aged 16 to 24, found that 90% say it is "very" or "fairly" important that Pride month still exists.

As a young man, I eventually left Ulverston to live in Manchester. But this summer I took a trip back to my old hometown for their Pride festival, a tradition still in its infancy.

The once-familiar cobbled streets looked so different to how I remembered them, lined with cheering locals clapping and filming on phones as a procession bedecked in rainbow flags swept past, led by a brass band playing upbeat gay anthems. It felt a world away from Manchester's famous pop stars and stages covered in corporate logos.

Matt had a similar reflection on returning to Crewe. "What really resonated with me and blew my mind was the fact that it was so family-centred. These small towns put on events that are for the community first and foremost."

As I looked around Ulverston, the national debates that have shaped Pride in recent years felt distant. I was distracted by the small things: people laughing, the spread of ages in attendance. It was the community my teenage self never would have imagined he'd see.

Correction 3 September: This article previously stated that homosexuality was illegal in the UK until 1967. It has been corrected to make clear that it was homosexual acts between men that were illegal, and that the partial decriminalisation of 1967 only applied to England and Wales (not Scotland and Northern Ireland).

Top image credit: Getty Images.

The grieving family who say the coroners' courts aren't working

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgydn9k4p2o, 13 days ago

Sarah thought she knew what she was getting into when she attended a coroner's court in May 2024 to discuss the death of her second cousin.

Her day job as a murder detective meant she was used to courts, to judges, to legal argument. What she wasn't prepared for was a coroner's court. "I felt like I was on trial," she recalls of her first hearing, in Woking, Surrey. "I remember just feeling completely railroaded… It [was] far more hostile than I had ever expected."

Her cousin, Daniel Lindsay, died in 2023, aged 41. He had lived at a home in Surrey that specialises in caring for people with learning disabilities. Daniel also had Down's syndrome and type 1 diabetes.

As his death was unexpected, his case was referred to the coroner for an inquest.

What followed was one of the most stressful experiences of Sarah's life. She discovered new details about how her cousin lived, and his cause of death. The family initially thought Daniel died from a heart attack - but over the course of the inquest, they learnt that was wrong. She had expected the process to be emotional; what she didn't predict was just how complex and frustrating it would be, at times leaving her tearful and furious.

Coroners examine deaths that are not straightforward, like unexpected or violent deaths, or those that take place in state custody. Every year, thousands of British families rely on these courts for crucial answers. For many, an inquest provides the key interaction with the arms of the state at a time of trauma.

But many observers, from MPs to legal experts, say the whole system is in peril. There are large backlogs in cases, as well as difficulties in carrying out post-mortems. As people live longer, caseloads are becoming more complex - but at the same time, resources are ever more limited, with little funding from government, regardless of party, say critics.

I've sat in various inquests over the last decade. In some, I couldn't hear the coroner through the noise of a busy train line, or because of poor acoustics in a vast room; in others, rooms became so hot that regular breaks were required.

"We're beyond crisis now," says Dr Georgia Richards, an epidemiologist at King's College London who studies the prevention of future deaths. "The government really doesn't realise the impact of the broken system."

Post-mortem delays

In photos of Daniel Lindsay, two things stand out: his big smile and black hair. His family say he only had three passions in life - Chelsea, TV wrestling, and trainers. Visitors who turned up at his care home in new trainers would have to take them off so Daniel could walk around with them.

Sarah and her sister, Laura Lindsay, were Daniel's next of kin and have spent the years since his death navigating the coronial system. "Every time that we end up in court it feels as though we've got another fight," says Laura.

Coroners' courts - which operate in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - set out to answer four main questions. Three of those questions – who died, where, and when - are usually quickly answered. It's the fourth, the cause of death, that's overwhelmingly the coroner's focus.

Last year, almost 148,000 deaths were reported to coroners in England and Wales, almost a quarter of which resulted in an inquest.

After Daniel's death, the first thing the coroner did was order a post-mortem. In that regard the family was fortunate – they only had to wait a fortnight to get the results. Other coronial areas aren't so quick. Despite coroners ordering post-mortems for 51% of deaths reported to them, a dearth of pathologists willing to work for coroners is leading to huge backlogs of up to a year. There aren't enough pathologists being trained, and the basic fee of £96.80 for carrying out a post-mortem for a coroner hasn't increased in well over a decade.

Some pathologists say they get paid less than minimum wage because of the hours the work takes. "It's not just the examination. It might be reading files of hospital notes or talking to clinicians," says Dr Kathryn Griffin, an NHS pathologist in Leeds. "That's all supposed to be incorporated in the fee."

Due to the lack of pathologists, some coroners are turning to CT scanning. Popular with Jewish and Muslim families as they are non-invasive, the high-powered X-ray beams create a 3D image of the body, uncovering bone fractures or internal bleeding, for instance. "Post-mortem CT scanning [is] very good for trauma-related deaths, like a car crash," says Griffin. "It is less good for some of the reasons why people might die at home, like a clot in the lungs."

A CT scan will identify the cause of death in "about 70% of cases. [But] then you'll be left with very complex deaths and who's going to do those if you don't have well-trained autopsy pathologists?"

The government said it recognised the shortage of pathologists, but there was "no quick fix".

The merits of a post-mortem were starkly revealed in Daniel Lindsay's case. His family believed his sudden death was due to a heart attack. A phone call from the coroner's office changed all that: they were told Daniel had undiagnosed advanced oesophageal cancer, and that the main cause of death was an obstruction in his throat from some food. "So he had effectively choked," said Sarah, who didn't want to use her last name.

Acrimonious hearings

Of the 36,000 inquests held in England and Wales each year, only a small minority of families have legal representation; the restrictions on legal aid mean most families have to represent themselves. Institutions where people often die, such as NHS trusts or prisons, have ready access to state-funded legal teams, while many private companies choose to pay for lawyers. The new Hillsborough law should, however, make it easier for families to get legal support.

At the first court hearing, called a pre-inquest review, Sarah discovered that she was facing a legal team representing Ballater House, Daniel's care home. Feeling "railroaded" and "powerless", she left in tears and concluded the family would need their own lawyers if their questions about the care Daniel received were to be fully answered.

Daniel's family did secure legal representation through the law firm Leigh Day, after speaking to a charity. By the time his inquest opened in November 2025, they were one of several legal teams in the courtroom.

Inquests are officially meant to be inquisitorial - their aim is to find facts in a calm, sober way. But increasingly, as society becomes more litigious, they are adversarial; more like a courtroom TV drama. Despite being explicitly prevented from blaming any party for a death, hearings can often descend into a blame game, with barristers trying to save or sully an organisation's reputation. In part that's driven by lawyers realising they can use an inquest as a stepping stone to civil legal action; and by legal teams trying to ensure an organisation doesn't suffer reputational damage.

Alexia Durran, the chief coroner for England and Wales, told the BBC that coroners are seeing "increasingly complex cases" that are creating a "greater volume of work" and "greater stress" on staff.

The coroner, she says, "is not [there] to apportion blame, and so the coroner's inquest is a relatively limited one. It's not a surrogate public inquiry that is designed to answer every question."

She wants coroners to step in robustly if proceedings get too acrimonious. "The coroner should be ensuring that the family's understanding of the death is not being overtaken by advocates representing public authorities, [such as] hospitals, prisons [with] a desire to absolve themselves of responsibility, because ultimately that's not what it's about," she says.

After the revelation about Daniel's choking incident, his inquest then had to be abandoned on the second day. A former carer at the care home told the court that she had become worried about his "excessive vomiting" and had emailed her bosses about her concerns. The coroner was unaware of the email and felt further investigations would be needed.

In evidence to MPs in 2024, the former chief coroner for England and Wales, Thomas Teague KC, said the service "with very few exceptions, is chronically under-resourced and underfunded. There comes a point at which underfunding imperils the rule of law."

In a follow-up letter, MPs supported his sentiment and urged the government to invest; their pleas were turned down due to a lack of money.

'Coroners are humans'

One change that would not require any investment is the attitude that some coroners appear to show towards bereaved families. While I've seen some coroners check on the family daily, others have barely acknowledged them after the first day.

Daniel's family repeatedly described their coroner as being blunt and brusque, failing to put Daniel at the heart of the process. Laura said her cousin "got completely lost" in the process. The coroner who presided over the inquest, Caroline Topping, told us she was unable to comment.

Durran, the chief coroner, urges families to raise a hand or write a note if they have concerns. "Coroners are humans, they respond to human concerns."

The second inquest into Daniel's death started in June, and a month later the coroner delivered her conclusion. While finding that his care home had made some errors, she concluded that their actions had not contributed to his death. On the balance of probabilities, she ruled that Daniel had died of a choking incident caused by his undiagnosed oesophageal cancer.

Sarah and Laura were shell-shocked, and felt the conclusion had downplayed the failings in Daniel's care.

In a statement to the BBC, the care home said they respected the coroner's conclusion and extended "sincere condolences to Daniel's family", adding: "As aspects of the coronial process remain ongoing, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this stage."

Learning from deaths

Following the conclusion, the coroner said she was considering issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report. Such reports are written when a coroner thinks they have heard evidence that could prevent other deaths. Around 6,500 reports have been issued since the system was introduced in 2013 - but while coroners issue them, they have no power to monitor whether their recommendations are adopted.

Dr Georgia Richards, the epidemiologist, thinks those reports are too often ignored. She created and initially self-funded a "Preventable Deaths Tracker" - a system that aims to collate the reports to stop similar deaths. "The information is there, it's just not being used," says Richards. She wants coroners here to learn from her native Australia, where learning from every inquest is examined.

The Ministry of Justice says the government is considering how to strengthen the PFD system to improve oversight.

Coroners have been around so long that they're mentioned in the Magna Carta. Each day they make decisions that can help or hinder a family to understand how their relative died.

As Sarah says: "The coroner does this every day. We only do this once."

Remembering that lesson will surely help bereaved families through a process that many find bewildering at best; incomprehensible at worst.

Top image credit: the Lindsay family.

Satellite images reveal scale of flood devastation in Nepal villages

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd68vpjv21do, 9 days ago

New satellite imagery has revealed the scale of the devastation along Nepal's Trishuli River caused by Wednesday's deadly flash flood, triggered by a glacier collapse.

Before-and-after images show how sections of the valley, where a torrent of floodwater and debris surged through, destroyed villages, bridges and hydroelectric power stations.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands more are missing, Nepalese officials say.

Among the worst-hit locations reviewed by BBC Verify was a key Nepal-Tibet border crossing, which was engulfed by a rush of floodwater and captured on camera.

The satellite imagery from US-based intelligence firm Vantor, shows the site has been almost entirely washed away. Shocking CCTV footage showed the moment as the deluge of water swept over buildings as people tried to escape.

Damage and mud can be seen more than 2.5km (1.5 miles) upstream, reaching 100m (330 ft) above the area it first hit.

A few miles further south is the village of Timure, which has now largely disappeared.

The walls of the valley at this point are steep, reaching up to 50m above the water line. The image shows most of the houses perched on this slope are now gone or covered in mud.

A further 10km (eight miles) downstream, where the Trishuli River winds through Syapru Besi, satellite imagery now shows the village covered by mud, rock and other debris. Houses and other structures have disappeared, including bridges and a hydroelectric power station.

One of the larger villages to be struck by the full force of the flood was Trishuli, where some of the earliest verified footage of the disaster emerged from.

A satellite image of the town and surrounding agricultural land, which is about 45km (28 miles) downstream from the border, show an entire neighbourhood has been essentially washed away.

Verified videos of the town show a bridge collapsing as the river surges forward. At the very same moment from ground level, footage filmed from inside a bus shows people crying out in distress and trying to flee as they see the water rushing down the river.

Other dramatic videos show people sheltering inside a house, peering over the edge of a balcony as they watch a torrent of floodwater wash away almost everything around them, knocking large metal debris and a vehicle toward the building.

Somehow the house remains intact and survivors can be seen in a second verified video standing surrounded by mud once the floodwater had receded.

Imagery from satellite provider Planet Labs released today has also provided a clearer view of the disaster's origins at the collapsed glacier, the moment of which has been captured on a verified drone video.

The satellite image shows an enormous chunk of the glacier has fallen away, carving an enormous path of rock and debris where water rushed through the valley.

At the base of the landslide, trees and other vegetation have been stripped at a height of more than 300m above the riverbed.

This destructive path continues westwards along with the swelled river, before heading southwards.

Satellite images also show the formation of a barrier lake at the base of the landslide's path, which Chinese authorities have warned poses a major risk of further flooding and has hampered rescue efforts.

Dr Argha Banerjee, a glaciologist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, told BBC Verify that it was not possible determine from the images how stable the barrier was or how likely the lake was to drain suddenly.

But he said there was no significant increase in its surface area between Wednesday and Thursday, despite water continuing to flow into the lake.

Dr Banerjee said there was a visible drainage channel, which suggests some water was already escaping downstream, adding that the its volume was "not alarmingly large" and appeared to have stabilised.

The extent of the damage on the Tibetan side of the border remains unclear. It is a strictly controlled region which China annexed in the 1950s, where foreign media access is heavily restricted. BBC Verify has so far been unable find verifiable footage from the area.

The satellite imagery - which only provides an initial glimpse into the damage of the flood - has been published by Vantor as part of its Open Data Program to help aid authorities establish where best to focus their efforts to locate the missing, rescue survivors and recover the dead.

Additional reporting Shruti Menon, Merlyn Thomas and Alex Murray. Graphics by Mesut Ersoz and Mike Hill.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

18 deaths from battery fires show hidden danger of UK's e-bike boom

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2z8lr9l7wo, 10 days ago

Eighteen people have died and nearly 700 have been injured in fires caused by e-bikes and e-scooters, new data shows.

Fatalities recorded by fire and rescue services across the UK from these fires include cases where people became trapped inside burning homes, died while trying to escape from a fire out of a high window, or from inhaling toxic smoke.

More than 2,000 fires were started by e-bikes, e-scooters or their batteries between 2019 and 2025, Freedom of Information requests made by BBC Verify show.

The number of incidents has risen year-on-year and nearly half the fires started in homes or garages, the data shows.

London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Pam Oparaocha told BBC Verify the service is "increasingly concerned by the significant fire risk" some of these vehicles can pose, especially when modified or bought second hand.

"From our investigations we know many of the fires we've attended have involved second-hand vehicles or the bike has been modified using parts bought online. We urge people to be extremely careful about where they buy their e-bike or e-scooter from," she added.

Footage of fires caused by e-bikes and e-scooters show how quickly the vehicles can start smoking and then apparently explode, causing blazes that spread within minutes.

An average of 153,000 new e-bikes have been added to the UK's roads each year since 2020, according to cycling industry trade body, the Bicycle Association.

The cost of a new e-bike ranges from around £400 to £4,000 in high street retailers such as Halfords or Decathlon, while second-hand vehicles and unregulated e-bike conversion kits can be found on online marketplaces for as little as £150.

Any lithium-ion battery sold in the UK for these vehicles must meet safety requirements set out by the government that ensures the batteries can be charged safely, do not overheat and are protected from damage.

The government's "Buy Safe, Be Safe" campaign states that while millions of people use these vehicles safely every day, the risk of fire can increase if they don't meet safety rules, are damaged, modified or used with an incompatible charger. It also says people should look for UKCA or CE product safety marks when buying an e-bike or e-scooter.

The number of fires caused by e-bike and e-scooter batteries has increased dramatically from 32 in 2019 to 605 in 2025, according to the data gathered by BBC Verify.

The highest numbers of incidents were recorded by fire and rescue services in urban areas, with 793 recorded in London over the seven year period, 128 in Manchester, 93 in West Yorkshire, 74 in Merseyside and 73 in Avon.

Lithium-ion batteries are useful because they store a huge amount of energy in a small space, Dr Simon Jones at the University of Warwick, who led research into the safety of e-bikes and e-scooter batteries for the Office for Product and Safety Standards, told BBC Verify.

"However, if these batteries are faulty, over-charged or damaged, the stored energy may be released rapidly in the form of flame jets and burning projectiles," he said.

"If this occurs in the home this is likely to result in a fast spreading fire that can engulf a room in seconds and block escape routes, trapping people inside. These fires also release toxic fumes from the batteries that pose a serious risk to health."

Jahmell Campbell, 24, from London, said when his e-scooter caught fire "it was the loudest explosion I'd ever heard".

He was at his grandmother's home in Hither Green in March last year when the vehicle burst into flames by the front door.

"The only way out was through the window, so I jumped straight out," he said.

Campbell said he ran to the back of the building, and realised his grandmother was trapped. He made his father throw a blanket down for her to escape.

"My dad had to throw her out the window and we had to catch her," he said.

His grandmother suffered minor injuries after hitting a windowsill on the way down.

"Somehow we all made it out with our lives intact, which honestly shouldn't have happened," he added.

Six fire engines attended to fight the blaze. The flat, where his grandmother had lived for over 20 years, was destroyed.

Several coroners have warned about the dangers posed by these batteries and have issued at least five Prevention of Future Deaths reports since 2023, with recommendations to improve public safety.

Among those cases was eight-year-old Luke Albiston-O'Donnell from Birkenhead, who died after inhaling toxic fumes from a house fire caused by an e-bike battery on charge in 2024. Following an inquest, coroner Anita Bhardwaj warned: "The general public do not appreciate the life-threatening risks involved with having lithium-ion batteries, from electronic bikes in this case, stored in domestic properties."

Mohsin Janjua, a 28-year-old man from Bradford, died in similar circumstances in 2023. Later investigations found a "catastrophic failure" of the battery in an e-bike conversion kit purchased online from China was "more likely than not" responsible for the fire.

Other coroners linked fatalities to e-bikes and e-scooters that did not conform to UK safety standards.

Steve Garidis from the Bicycle Association said retailers have invested in developing safe and legal e-bikes but this can be "undermined by illegal and unsafe products often sold through online marketplaces to unsuspecting consumers".

The Bicycle Association and the Association of Cycle Traders run an "E-Bike Positive" scheme to help consumers identify distributors, retailers and manufacturers that have met current safety standards.

They have also called on the government to crack down on the sale of unsafe e-bikes through online marketplaces and tackle the demand for cheap e-bikes and scooters driven by the gig economy.

A government spokesperson said: "Unsafe e-bike and e-scooter batteries can pose a serious fire risk, which is why we are taking action to protect consumers.

"This includes strengthening the responsibilities of online marketplaces to better protect consumers, working with local authorities to identify and remove unsafe products from sale, and helping people make informed choices through our 'Buy Safe, Be Safe' campaign."

Methodology

BBC Verify sent Freedom of Information requests to all 49 fire and rescue services in the UK, asking for data on fires where the source of ignition was recorded as an e-bike or e-scooter, including associated batteries. Forty-one provided comparable responses. Greater Manchester and West Sussex were unable to provide data on casualties, fatalities, and the number of fires that happened in dwellings.

While some fire and rescue services log e-bikes and e-scooters as a distinct category, others provided data by performing a text search for "e-bike", "e-scooter" and similar keywords. While this provides a reasonable estimate of incidents, some reports may not have been picked up in this search if e-bikes or e-scooters were not mentioned directly.

In analysing this data, BBC Verify removed any clear incidents of arson, as well as any incidents that related to mobility scooters.

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