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The attack happened at about 22:00 local time (20:00 GMT), with a report made to police in Berlin that a white vehicle struck crowds at a Pride event in the capital.

Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered at Tiergarten park, near the iconic Brandenburg Gate, for the annual event, which is known as Christopher Street Day.

Some people were also stabbed in the incident.

Shortly afterwards, the Pride event was cancelled.

A performance was abruptly brought to a end, with organisers taking to the stage and advising the crowd that the event was over and to start walking towards the exits.

As the message was being given to the crowd, the word 'Evacuation' projected onto a large screen on the stage.

Unverified video posted to social media showed large crowds of people leaving the scene as emergency vehicles raced to the scene.

At about 01:00 local time, police confirmed that one woman had been killed and 16 others had suffered injuries.

A short time later police confirmed they had located the vehicle believed to have been used in the attack, with it having crashed into a tree.

At about 03:30, police said on X they had identified a suspect with Islamist links. No arrest has been made or motive suggested.

The search area was widened to the entire city as thousands of police, including officers from surrounding German states, joined the search.

Who is the suspect in the Berlin Pride attack?

The suspect has been named by police as 21-year-old Abdul B.

His surname is not being used due to German law, which prohibits naming suspects at this stage.

Police have said the suspect is known for having connections to Islamist circles, and is believed to be connected to the vehicle found abandoned in the park.

While his image has been released and a manhunt is under way, police have also said that one or more people may have fled the vehicle used - meaning there could be additional suspects.

The police statement adds that several people are reported to have been injured with stabbing weapons in the attack, and that one or more people are believed to have fled the vehicle.

Police have called on members of the public to come forward with information, but have been warned not to engage with the suspect, who is believed to be armed and dangerous.

At the time of the attack, Abdul B is believed to have been wearing a black hooded top and white trousers.

Where did the attack happen

The attack took place in the popular Tiergarten park, near the Brandenberg Gate.

A large number of people and floats took part in the Christopher Street Day event, which passed through the city, before moving through Tiergarten park, past the Victory Column monument, and towards the Brandenberg Gate.

Berlin Police have said people were hit on Ahornsteig, which is a long path stretching across the park, largely in a forested area.

Israeli settlers set fire to mosques, cars and farm land in West Bank, Palestinians say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjrv77gl4deo, today

Israeli settlers have set fire to two mosques, as well as cars and agricultural land in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say, as tensions in the territory continue to flare.

The latest attacks come two days after a clash between settlers and Palestinians near the village of Tal, which left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead.

Both sides accused the other of provoking the violence.

The confrontation has further inflamed the situation in the West Bank, which has seen ever growing violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians, encouraged by far-right elements in the current Israeli government.

Palestinian reports say that two villages in the occupied West Bank came under attack from settlers overnight - with cars vandalised, property stolen and hate graffiti spray painted on walls.

The mayor of Qusra said that settlers set fire to a mosque that was under construction.

Abdul Azim Wadi said that settlers spray painted graffiti that included the word, "revenge", on the walls of the mosque.

The Israeli military has said that troops were sent to Qusra and that police would investigate and collect evidence.

Palestinian officials say that in a separate incident, settlers set fire to another mosque in the village of Kour and sprayed slogans on its walls.

Since the deadly clash on Friday in Tal, Palestinians say that there have been multiple settler attacks on villages across the West Bank.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has carried out raids and arrested dozens of Palestinians in what it's called a "counter-terrorism" operation.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the incident in Tal by vowing to take "powerful action".

That includes the possible demolition of the homes of two of the Palestinians who were allegedly involved.

There's been a sharp increase in settler attacks in the West Bank in recent months.

It's drawn international condemnation, but has shown little or no sign of being reversed.

The situation had already deteriorated before the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

But since the subsequent war waged by Israel against Hamas in Gaza erupted, settler violence in the West Bank has escalated.

The UN says 1,114 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, the vast majority by the IDF. It says at least 35 of the deaths have involved attacks by settlers.

It says 41 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.

Israel has built hundreds of settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state - during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. The settlements are illegal under international law.

Meghan calls Harry 'a charmer' during MasterChef appearance

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg41vn8x7ko, today

The Duke of Sussex surprised his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, with a video call during her appearance as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia.

During the episode, Prince Harry called Meghan to check in, with producers handing her the phone. She greeted him by saying “hi, my love,” and afterwards called him “a charmer”.

Contestants were set the task of transforming a staple ingredient into a dish "fit for a duchess", although the duchess herself urged her fellow judges to “call me Meghan”.

Critics were split on the episode, with The Sunday Times calling it “one big gush-fest” while Hello Magazine posted she “made MasterChef Australia her own”.

Meghan filmed the episode in Melbourne in April, during a four-day tour of Australia with Prince Harry.

The couple, no longer working royals, visited in a private capacity. Their trip combined visits to charitable causes alongside money-making events.

Early on in the episode, Meghan was asked what her favourite dish is to make at home.

She said it was "a tough one because I have a lot of palettes to appease", with her British-born husband favouring "meat, potatoes and cream sauce" while she preferred favoured grilled fish.

Their two children, Archie and Lilibet, often help with meal preparation and are "great eaters", she said.

"We're really lucky on that front," she added.

She then urged the chefs to cook something they felt connected to. "What's the story behind it?" she asked them.

When Prince Harry dialled in later on during the episode, Meghan told them: "My husband's here," prompting cheers and shocked faces from contestants and spectators.

"I wish you could try these, these dishes are fantastic," she told him, before showing him the food. He signed off by telling her to go and enjoy, adding: "Very sorry to disturb you."

The duchess’s appearance on the latest season of the show was well received by Hello Magazine, which shared a video of the episode online and complimented Meghan for the way she interacted with the chefs.

"The Duchess of Sussex gave personal time calls to all the contestants, proving that she's always so effortlessly elegant," it wrote.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Charlotte Ivers was less impressed, saying her appearance on the show "told us nothing about what she likes or who even will leave the competition".

Social media users were also split, with one viewer writing that Meghan was "warm, gracious and a delight to watch" while another called Prince Harry's cameo appearance "cringe".

Meghan's appearance on MasterChef Australia comes after her own lifestyle and cookery show, With Love, Meghan, which sees her share cooking and hosting tips with friends and guests.

Her show has secured a nomination at the Daytime Emmy Awards, in the Outstanding Lifestyle Program category.

Earlier this month, Prince Harry and Meghan, along with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, visited the UK.

Meghan did not make any public appearances, amid a row over security, but the duke and duchess and their two children held a private meeting with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House.

On Thursday, the duchess posted a collection of photos on Instagram capturing the Sussex family's summer holiday so far, including several shots of Archie and Lilibet.

France battles fire 'whirlwinds' as another 55,000 evacuated

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyj8k4nn5jo, today

A further 55,000 people have been evacuated from six towns in France, as wildfires which have caused devastation across the country pick up pace.

The most recent evacuations took place in towns to the south of Bordeaux, in the Gironde region.

Wildfires have raged across Europe over the past week, primarily France and Spain, where more than 330,000 people have been evacuated.

France has been worst-affected, with an area of 42,000 hectares burnt, making it one of the largest forest fires since the second world war. About 98,000 hectares have burnt across the country since the start of the year.

Captain Nicolas Braz, one of the leaders of the firefighting operation, said the fire had created "its own winds - complete with whirlwinds", adding it was "erratic and unmanageable".

Dry vegetation and brisk winds are causing the fire to spread, with 60km (37 miles) of the A63 motorway, which leads to Spain, having been closed.

In an interview published on Sunday by La Tribune, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said it "will take a long time to bring under control" and until it is contained "there will be no return" for evacuated residents and tourists.

France has mobilised its military to help with the response and extra reinforcements from the army have been sent to help firefighters by clearing brush and creating fire breaks.

President Emmanuel Macron said France would "rebuild" and his government would "be there for as long as is needed".

Meanwhile in Spain, fires continue to spread, with more than 90,000 evacuated from the regions around Madrid and Ávila.

Late on Saturday, at least eight municipalities near Toledo were also ordered to evacuate, though it was unclear how many people were involved.

Sunday is expected to bring high temperatures and low humidity, potentially allowing the fire to spread further.

Madrid's regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso described the situation as the "worst fire in the history of the region".

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez admitted there were "complex times ahead". Meanwhile, authorities in València confirmed the death of a man in a fire.

Left-wing Democrats are on a winning run - but can they lure back crucial swing voters?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y3rrd32jlo, today

On a Saturday evening in Michigan, the skies still hazy from drifting Canadian wildfire smoke, hundreds of voters packed into Detroit's opulent 104-year-old Opera House, rising from their seats to cheer loudly as Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez took the stage.

As two of the leading figures on the American left, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders were there to champion Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed - a doctor running on a platform of universal healthcare.

His supporters carried signs with El-Sayed's slogan "Medicare for All", and wore shirts urging the end of immigration enforcement and US aid to Israel.

But they were not the only ones tuning in.

Voters and politicians across the country are watching to see if El-Sayed can earn the Democratic nomination to run for Senate in November's midterm elections. His opponent - Congresswoman Haley Stevens - is an experienced politician with deep pockets, thanks in part to large corporate campaign donations.

The two represent the divisions within the Democratic Party as it seeks to take back control of Congress. On one side is the centrist establishment, backed by traditional power players. On the other is the left wing of the party, exemplified by Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez as well as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

But while left-wing Democrats have seen a wave of victories during this summer's primaries - including in New York and Colorado - what remains to be seen is if they can claw back support from disillusioned working-class voters, who flocked to President Donald Trump in 2024.

In Michigan - which voted for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 but Trump four years later - the open Senate seat is a must-win for Democrats.

The seat had been held by one of their own, and if the party hopes to make gains in the Senate, and halt Trump's agenda, they will need to keep a hold of it. Whoever wins the primary on 4 August will be competing against Trump ally Mike Rogers come 3 November.

At Saturday's rally, some in the crowd felt hopeful, as Ocasio-Cortez promised El-Sayed represented the "politics of the future".

But miles outside the venue, other voters were less certain of his ability to beat Stevens - or to secure a victory for the Democrats by touting policies like healthcare for all and staunch opposition to Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

"This may not be the moment for progressives," said Colleen Houlihan, a 74-year-old from Ferndale, Michigan who is likely voting for Stevens. "I want radical change in the country, but we've got to start with this administration and it's got to be an electable candidate to get power back in sane hands."

El-Sayed is locked in a tight race against Stevens, a moderate Democrat who has pitched herself as the more experienced congresswoman and earned the endorsement of Michigan's governor Gretchen Whitmer as well as outgoing Senator Gary Peters.

It is not the only test of progressive power in a midwestern battleground state, as self-described Democratic socialist Francesca Hong attempts to secure a win in the governor's race in neighbouring Wisconsin just a week later.

Some political experts and voters questioned whether the current momentum would be enough to win over voters in the politically diverse, and historically working-class, midwest.

"They got a big win electing Mamdani mayor of New York City, but also, it's New York City," said Adrian Hemond, a political strategist in Michigan. "They have been much less able to win in some more traditionally purple areas."

'Medicare for All' and affordability take centre stage

On a humid morning before Saturday's rally, Corie Johnson was knocking on voters' doors for the first time in her life. The 35-year-old has always voted for Democrats, but said El-Sayed is the first candidate she has felt excited about.

"We're not so stuck in our ways," she said of millennial voters. "I think that's why he's gaining so much momentum."

Walking by the rowhouses on the streets of Hamtramck, a small town within Detroit, Johnson and her fellow canvassers were attempting to carry on a pitch they had heard from El-Sayed in a meeting just moments before.

"Money out of politics, money in pockets, Medicare for all," El-Sayed and his group of volunteers chanted together in the campaign's Detroit office.

The former Wayne County health director's policy plans - including universal healthcare and an annual wealth tax on billionaires - represent a pivot for a Democratic Party that has seen one of its lowest favourability ratings in recent years. In 2025, the number of Democrats who viewed their own party positively fell by 12% to 67%, according to a Gallup poll.

Despite his left-wing stances, El-Sayed has avoided the label claimed by many of his peers: Democratic socialist. But he is still taking lessons from their wins, especially Mamdani, whose social media skills and laser focus on affordability helped propel him to victory in New York.

El-Sayed's affordability platform - including his focus on health insurance - is why Les Lukacs of Monroe, Michigan, is voting for him. The longstanding Democrat who does not have health insurance said he would not vote for Stevens in November if El-Sayed lost the primary.

"We can barely afford groceries and gas," he said. "I have to make sacrifices - and healthcare is one of them."

Polling from the last year suggests healthcare costs remain among the top issues for voters in the November midterms, alongside the rising cost of gas, groceries and housing.

El-Sayed told the BBC that if the Democratic Party had more concerns for everyday people, "they'd be fighting on the same policies I'm fighting for".

In a statement to the BBC, a spokesperson for Stevens' campaign said the congresswoman would "fight for all Michiganders from every zip code to lower costs, protect manufacturing jobs, and take on Donald Trump's corruption and abuses of power".

Israel a key test for Democratic candidates

Following in the footsteps of his peers on the left of his party, El-Sayed has spoken out against US involvement in the Middle East, including aid to Israel. Recent polling suggests a growing portion of voters believe the US is too supportive of its longtime ally in the wake of the war.

The issue has particular resonance in Michigan, which is home to the second largest Arab-American population in the US.

El-Sayed - the son of Egyptian immigrants - has called Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide. He has also been quick to invoke his opponent's ties to AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), which has spent almost $30m to back Stevens in the race.

Like many more moderate Democrats, Stevens has said she supports upholding US aid to Israel without conditions. She did not respond to a request for comment from the BBC on her stance on Israel.

Rex Nazarko, the leader of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network, believes El-Sayed will pick up some of the thousands of Democrats in the state who chose not to support Kamala Harris and Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election because of their stance on Israel.

Cedric Erkins, a sheriff's deputy in Auburn Hills, Michigan, who has not decided his vote, is frustrated by costs skyrocketing in the US, while the country "can afford to send billions overseas".

While the Democratic Party has been mostly united against Trump's war in Iran, the Israel-Gaza war continues to present a dilemma for Democrats, who have historically depended on votes from both the Jewish and Arab communities to win elections, said Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics

"They have to make a choice," he said. "Both sides are trying to make it as painful as possible."

Sewing a 'frayed' Democratic Party back together

As some left-wing voters rally behind El-Sayed, other Democrats remain worried about whether the movement is popular enough to help Democrats win back swing states.

Sally, a 45-year-old Michigan resident who declined to share her last name because she is an elected official, said she was excited by the movement's enthusiasm, but wasn't sure it was sustainable.

"There's a lot of that momentum, but keeping that momentum going is really hard," she said.

She added that even though Stevens had been attacked for her ties to corporate campaign funding, big money helps in politics.

"It's those connections that are going to support changes in law and make things move faster," she said.

Some of El-Sayed's voters, steadfast in their support, also worried whether their votes would be enough.

"I'm a little scared. I'm a little nervous," said Claire McHugh, a 70-year-old who went to the rally. "I just hope that enough people are fed up with the status quo."

Asked whether he believed left-wing candidates could win over more moderate Democrats to beat Republicans, El-Sayed told the BBC that he was not concerned with the future of the Democratic Party.

But, he added, "If Democrats want to find their future, I think we're showing it to them right here."

Sabato said it remained to be seen which faction of the Democratic Party would prevail.

But regardless, he said, Democrats would have to find a way to "sew these two very large groups back together" if they wanted to reverse recent election losses.

"It's already frayed," he said. "If they don't do the repair job they need to do and quickly, certainly through 2028, then they're going to have to get used to losing."

Burnham says he is prepared to call out Trump 'if right for Britain'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clye651yzdjo, today

Andy Burnham says he would be prepared to call out Donald Trump to defend Britain's "national interest before anything else" if it is the right thing to do, in his first major interview as prime minister.

Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Burnham said he had had a good first exchange with Trump, finding him to be "really warm".

But asked twice if he would trust the US president, he did not say, answering, "it's a changing world isn't it, and you just obviously have to call things as they develop".

In the interview, to be broadcast in full on Monday, he said: "I can't at any point say that I won't take a different opinion from him [Trump], that I will need to voice a different idea that is right for Britain."

Burnham said: "My strength is remaining close to people, close to the public, that will not change as prime minister."

Asked if he would call out Trump if it was the right thing, he said, "of course", going on to say: "You have to defend your own national interest before anything else. That's what you're required to do if you're to do this job properly."

Burnham also said he had had "concern" about the president starting the conflict with Iran, and he "wouldn't hold back from saying what I think is right".

The prime minister would not commit to a date when the government would spend 3% of GDP on defence. His Chancellor John Healey resigned from the previous government saying that unless a commitment was made to spend that amount by 2030, the country would not be safe.

But Burnham said: "I appointed my new chancellor very aware of what he had said about the critical importance of defence spending and the position that he had taken about that.

"The first challenge facing us both is to ensure that the defence investment plan is fully funded and that's the thing that's right in front of us and we need to work that through as we go towards the budget later this year."

Asked again specifically about the commitment to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP, he said: "We've got to work out the way of doing that."

Burnham, for the first time, explicitly dismissed the idea of an early general election before 2029, saying: "I'm going to rule it out... I don't think people want it." He said his focus instead was on "getting the country back where it should be".

Watch the full interview on BBC iPlayer on Monday from 06:00 and on Panorama on BBC One on Monday at 20:00 BST.

Would you pay $58.5m to live in this iconic New York building?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20e5r1pvvdo, today

The Flatiron Building - with its unique triangular shape, narrow prow, ornamental columns and intricate decorative details - has been one of the most recognisable structures in New York City for more than a century.

But for the last seven years, the Flatiron has been shrouded in scaffolding, its Beaux-Arts exterior hidden from throngs of tourists who came to view it.

It has been undergoing a large-scale renovation, both internal and external, from an awkwardly laid-out office building into ultra-luxury apartments - with new units going for up to $58.5m (£43.9m). Only 21 residences currently on the public market or under contract in New York City are priced higher, with the top spot occupied by a $128m (£96.1m) condo off Central Park, according to data compiled by Manhattan Miami Real Estate.

Now, with its transformation nearly complete, the Flatiron is ready for its next - and most extravagant - phase of life.

For over 120 years, the building has been a testament to architectural ingenuity, and while that history is highlighted in its redevelopment, the building is also becoming a symbol of just how expensive the city's luxury apartments can get.

A dramatic impact on the neighbourhood

The Flatiron Building's renaissance harkens back to when it was originally built.

Completed in 1902, the building was an architectural marvel with a pioneering steel-frame construction making it one of the city's first skyscrapers.

Designed by architect Daniel Burnham to fit onto a wedge-shaped plot of land at the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, it was initially dubbed "Burnham's Folly" because locals feared that its height and thinness would cause it to blow over.

For years, tourists flocked to a small triangular park out front to snap a selfie with the full structure behind them.

But after the scaffolding went up and the pandemic hit, the park saw a slight drop in visitors, said James Mettham, president of Flatiron NoMad Partnership, a business improvement district that operates the park space.

As the scaffolding has come down, he says the visitors have returned.

"People are coming back to get their pictures, and then in turn will go shop at the local retail, and all the great food and beverage that's around here," Mettham said.

"So getting it back in all of its glory to complement everything that's been going on around it is really important."

Originally built to house the Fuller Company, a Chicago construction firm, the 24-storey, 94m (307ft) tall building has had many occupants, including clothing and toy companies, magazines, and publishing houses.

But in its 100-plus-year history, it was always an office space – until now.

After the last office tenants, Macmillan Publishing, moved out in 2019, scaffolding went up and it sat vacant through years of ownership disputes.

The building's current owners – the Brodsky Organization, GFP Real Estate, and the Sorgente Group - began renovations in 2023, after announcing they would convert it into high-end condos.

Once completed, the building will have 36 open-concept apartments – some half-floor and some full-floor units – ranging from $11m (£8.3m) for three-bedroom units to $58.5m (£43.9m) for a full-floor five-bedroom residence with a balcony, which is currently in contract.

Amenities also are being added to the building's basement and common spaces, including a 18m (60 ft) pool, billiards room and piano lounge, and wellness centre.

New residents are expected to start moving in in the coming months, the owners say. All units and amenities are expected to be finished in early 2027.

How do you make a triangular residence desirable?

When New York design firm Studio Sofield was hired to reimagine the building's interior, it had to address the problem of the building's previous life as an office space, co-founder William Sofield said.

Another big hurdle came with the building's shape. How do you subdivide a triangle – just 1.8m (6ft) across at its narrowest point - into luxury apartments worthy of a multimillion-dollar price tag?

But the triangle itself – along with its history, architectural ingenuity, and novelty – is exactly the point.

"It wasn't about changing anything that makes the building so special and beloved to New Yorkers," Thomas Brodsky, partner at the Brodsky Organization, told the BBC.

"The layouts and the proportions and views really came directly from the architecture rather than from how we generally would start planning a building from the ground up."

Originally designed to evoke a classic Greek column, the structure's limestone, brick and terra-cotta exterior features ornamentation including lion heads, wreaths, eagles, and faces.

Beyer Blinder Belle, lead developer on the building's exterior, enlisted a speciality manufacturer in California to replicate and restore thousands of terra-cotta pieces from the facade, reinstalling each by hand.

The building's windows, totalling over 1,000, also needed to be replaced – dating back to the 1970s, they were too heavy, hard to open, and not energy efficient.

The new ones are thick enough to block the bustling noise of surrounding streets, offering silence in units that's uncharacteristic of New York City apartments.

Steel beams holding up the skyscraper are exposed in various corners of residential units - an homage to what made the original building so innovative. In the 12th-floor model unit, the steel framework has even been turned into closet shelving.

The scaffolding is expected to be fully removed by the end of summer.

When the restored exterior is unveiled for the first time in seven years and illuminated for the first time ever, everyone will get to appreciate its beauty, said Mettham.

"Whether it's functioning as an office for one of the world's largest publishing companies, or it happens to have really expensive condos," he said, sitting in a small park at the building's prow, "the exterior, and what we see from these spaces right here, we share in that. We are all part of that."

Old menus, a hidden balcony and a wooden revolving door

The redevelopment led to some unexpected discoveries.

While removing sheetrock during demolition, workers found remnants of a balcony at the triangular point on the 20th floor, identical to an existing balcony one floor above.

"It's kind of the hidden jewel in the building that nobody knew about," said Carlos Cardoso, partner at Beyer Blinder Belle.

That balcony, overlooking the treetops of Madison Square Park and the length of Broadway, has now been restored.

Going through the building's cavernous basement – which once housed two restaurants – crews found fragments of a wooden, revolving door dating back to the 1910s. That door was so damaged that it couldn't be salvaged, Cardoso said, so it was replicated.

The building's developers have found other ways to incorporate the building's past into its new life.

Steel balustrades from an old staircase found in the basement were repurposed as legs for apartments' bathroom sinks. Mosaic tile lettering on the floors marking each apartment number is a recreation of the originals.

Other artifacts found in the basement – tools, a piano, original restaurant menus, shoes, advertisements, shirts, lights, and buckets – will be displayed in glass cases in the lobby, giving modern dwellers a glimpse of Flatiron's past.

A "nearly forgotten" historic streetlamp that once stood outside on 23rd Street has been reimagined as a chandelier in the lobby, Sofield said.

Paneling from one of the building's original restaurants was recreated in the trim of the new pool. Vintage planters and awnings as well as antique light fixtures and window curtains are being incorporated into the street fronts.

And the building's entire facade – with its unique form and intricate detailing - will be showcased with new lights, allowing passersby to admire it at night.

"Unlike many buildings in New York, the Flatiron is seen in the round," Sofield said. "All sides are extraordinary."

Smash hit: How Alex Eala's Wimbledon run made everyday Filipinos fall in love with tennis

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3v0lyrndn7o, today

Chasing her dream of becoming a world tennis champion, teen athlete Maristella Torrecampo and her father took a gruelling 13-hour bus from her sleepy hillside hometown for her latest match in Manila.

The 14-year-old's mum and four siblings could not join to watch her play; her crowdfunded budget was only enough for two round-trip bus tickets and a few days' worth of meals.

Barely rested from the long journey, and with only her father cheering her on, Torrecampo crushed her Omani opponent in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 on that sweltering Tuesday afternoon at the Rizal Stadium, keeping alive her dream of following in the footsteps of Alexandra Eala, the country's newest sports star.

Torrecampo competed in Manila in July as the Philippines was celebrating Eala's historic Wimbledon run - one that Torrecampo and the entire nation followed on streaming and social media.

Eala, 21, went the farthest any Filipina had gone in a Grand Slam event, reaching the fourth round and eliminating defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland along the way.

Since her breakout semi-final performance at the Miami Open last year, Eala has re-ignited interest in tennis in the Philippines, a country obsessed with the three B's - basketball, boxing and beauty queens.

To young tennis players like Torrecampo, Eala is an inspiration.

"Like Ate Alex, I want to win at Wimbledon, WTA, and various tournaments around the world," Torrecampo said, referring to Eala with the Filipino word for elder sister.

"She inspired me so much. I looked up to her since I was little," said Torrecampo, who has competed in the Philippine National Games, and in tournaments in Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

"I like her attitude off and on court. Off court, she is really humble. There are a lot of kids like me who look up to her."

Eala came home from London to a hero's welcome, with President Ferdinand Marcos hosting a reception in her honour at Malacanang Palace in Manila.

"I'm so grateful that I am able to share my triumphs, most especially my recent run at Wimbledon, with the country," Eala said at the reception.

"As we say, this is our victory. I cannot begin to describe how overjoyed I am to see how my progress has been received by the Filipino people."

Such recognition from her compatriots, Eala added, made her feel "very seen".

A rich man's sport

Tennis is an elite sport in the Philippines, an archipelago nation of 112 million people.

Decades of American colonial rule bequeathed the nation with a passion for basketball. Every village has a basketball court and Filipinos are more likely to recognise LeBron James than Roger Federer.

Filipinos' love for rags-to-riches underdog stories and big personalities have also made boxing and beauty pageants just as popular. Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao is still the country's most popular athlete.

Tennis has historically been much less popular - until Eala burst onto the scene.

But this has also exposed how difficult it is for everyday Filipinos to take up the sport. Tennis courts are usually found in rich enclaves and equipment is expensive.

Court rentals in Manila cost around 2,000 pesos ($32; £19) per hour, meaning half a day's play costs half the minimum wage. Even for higher income earners, that's equivalent to a month's worth of groceries.

Tennis coach Jovy Barce knows how hard it is to start playing tennis from scratch, especially for the underprivileged.

Barce told the BBC he started as a ball boy picking up balls on the court as a six-year-old in Caloocan city, on the capital's outskirts. He said players would pay him 100 pesos or roughly two dollars, which he would split between himself and his mum for their household's groceries.

Then, when he was eight, Barce picked up a tennis racket from the bin and started practising. Later, one of the players on the court gave him his old racket.

"Up until this day, I couldn't explain how happy I was when I got it. I used it over and over until I became so confident," Barce said. "No one taught me. I never had a professional coach. It was all self-study."

Barce put himself through college on a sports scholarship. He worked at a hotel and as a motorcycle delivery man, but eventually pursued a career in tennis coaching, starting with just 40 tennis balls.

"I started from nothing, but I tried my best to learn everything because I really wanted to become a coach," he said.

"I practised every day. I was always focused. I did not have the chance to compete abroad since I do not have the money or big sponsors. I only competed in Metro Manila and provinces nearby."

Eala, meanwhile, has been criticised for her elite background. She studied tennis at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain. Her mother is a former telecommunications executive while her father is a businessman from a prominent family.

Eala was also seen dancing onstage with Bad Bunny during the Puerto Rican star's concert in Sweden.

But she has taken such criticisms in stride, saying critics fail to see her hard work behind the scenes.

Tennis rises in the Philippines

Eala's homecoming from Wimbledon showed how big a star she has become.

Big name sponsors mounted fan events, including a meet-and-greet at a shopping mall in Metro Manila's business district of Makati. Many came with their families.

Some, like Federico Perez and his wife Gilia, drove hours from nearby provinces. The couple booked a hotel to get to the event early and secure the best possible view, even though they didn't have tickets.

"We hope to see Alex in person and hopefully she can sign this. Even if this magazine was published a year ago, I still bought it because it has Alex on the cover," Gilia Perez said.

She said her husband never fails to watch Eala's Wimbledon matches, even if they air in the Philippines late at night.

Eleven-year-old Luca Ong, a young tennis fan, came with his parents.

"My goal in the future is to become the next Alex Eala or Rafa Nadal so that I can represent the Philippines in the future," he said.

Eala's hot streak has also energised tennis hobbyists.

At a Manila tennis court, Celso Mugot said his determination to learn the sport had intensified because of Eala's success. The 33-year-old accountant has been training for three months to keep fit and unwind after work.

"I was definitely inspired by Alex Eala. I saw her progress. I watched her when she was still in a low rank until she climbs up," Mugot told the BBC.

Rafael Santos, a 29-year-old information technology professional, also recently took up tennis as a sport. He said booking tennis courts had been difficult since Eala's breakout Miami Open run last year.

"There are only a few courts in Manila while there are a lot of people who wanted to play and train. That's a bit of a let-down," Santos said.

He said tennis shoes and apparel were also either sold out or in short supply, and some stores had jacked up racket prices.

Felino Palafox, a renowned Filipino architect and urban planner, told the BBC that space was a major challenge in building more tennis courts. Metro Manila is home to close to 16 million people and is one of the world's most densely populated urban centres.

Meanwhile, every village in the Philippines has a basketball court that is easily converted into a beauty pageant runway, and boxing gyms run by prizefighters are spread across major cities.

"Ideally, every barangay (village) should have a tennis court, not just basketball courts," Palafox told the BBC.

"We are fighting for (space for) activities."

Just getting started

Eala is now preparing for the US Open in August, seeking to raise the Philippines' status in tennis even higher.

"That's a wrap on Manila. Thank you for welcoming me, my countrymen," she said in an Instagram story.

"Each and every one of your stories has touched me on a profound level. I leave with a refreshed memory of what I carry when I'm out there playing tennis. And wow, is it a privilege to be part of something bigger than myself. Never been prouder to represent home."

The journey continues too for Torrecampo, the 14-year-old from Iriga city. She said she would be working on calming her pre-match nerves as much as improving her swing.

"I hope that aspiring tennis players would get to reach their dreams too, to become professional tennis players, because more kids will get inspired when they see people achieve great things in tennis," she said.

Her father and coach, Delfin Torrecampo, said he would let her daughter enjoy the sport to ease the pressure she usually feels.

"What I always tell her is to focus on the game. Do whatever you can do, but do not pressure yourself. Even if you know you can beat your opponent, do not be complacent," he told the BBC.

"To people who are in the same situation as us, know that poverty is not a hindrance for you and your family's dreams. The people who keep on fighting and persevering are the same people who have the chance to win.

"You may not win today or tomorrow, but your win will come one day as long as you keep on fighting."

Ryan Gosling to join Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ghost Rider

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgq5v72jqglo, today

Actor Ryan Gosling will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as the titular character in a new Ghost Rider film, the company has announced.

Speaking during the surprise announcement at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, Gosling said it is a character he has "wanted to play for a very long time".

The film is due to be released in 2028, and will be the third about the motorcycle-riding anti-hero.

It will follow the 2007 film of the same name starring Nicolas Cage, and its follow-up, 2011's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Before making the big reveal on stage at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said he had often been asked when Gosling would join the MCU.

Shortly after, the lights turned off. When they returned, the actor appeared on stage to cheers from screaming fans.

Speaking about the role, Gosling said: "Wow, is this really happening?"

He has previously spoken about his desire to take on the role. Appearing on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast in March, he confirmed he was in discussions with Marvel.

Ghost Rider is the anti-hero identity of motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze.

The character's story begins when he becomes bound to the Spirit of Vengeance Zarathos after making a deal with villain Mephisto to spare his surrogate father, giving him superpowers.

The film will be directed by Shawn Levy, who Gosling described as the "only" director for the project.

Levy has previously directed Deadpool & Wolverine in the MCU, and is currently working with Gosling on Star Wars: Starfighter, which is due to be released next year.

Levy told the crowd that he and Gosling spent a lot of their downtime on set daydreaming about Ghost Rider and swapping ideas.

The director said: "As Ryan started talking about his vision for this character, we started riffing, and I finally said, 'bro, let's ride', so guys, we'll see you in 2028."

India's 'cockroach' protest called off after education minister quits

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx828gj5xko, today

India's Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has called off its five-week-long protest, hours after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned.

The CJP has called it a win for democracy and thousands of jubilant supporters continue to celebrate at Jantar Mantar, the main protest venue in Delhi.

An online satirical campaign with an AI-generated cockroach as its mascot, the CJP is not a real party but has evolved into a powerful platform for young people's anxieties and dissent.

The protest has been the most visible expression of public anger against PM Narendra Modi's government in recent years and gained momentum after Monday's police crackdown on people marching to parliament left dozens injured.

Pradhan announced his resignation on X in a post in Hindi saying he "respected the aspirations, dreams, and expectations of the youth" and was "pained by the events" of the past few days.

"Considering the situation at Jantar Mantar and across the country - with the aim of preventing anti-national forces from exploiting it, preserving national unity, ensuring that not a single Indian student's future gets entangled in legal complexities, and allowing our children to devote their time to studies and focus on building their careers - I have submitted my resignation to the prime minister," he wrote.

As news of Pradhan's resignation broke, a visibly emotional Abhijeet Dipke, CJP's founder, screamed from the makeshift stage at Jantar Mantar: "We have done it."

A loud cheer went up and huge celebrations erupted with the protesters singing, dancing, shouting slogans and handing out sweets.

Several hours since the CJP announced the end of their protest and its leaders left the site, crowds were still gathered at the venue into the night.

Many told the BBC they had waited for this day for weeks, and were not in the mood to leave without celebrating.

The site is increasingly looking like the centre of a party, with volunteers doing their best to manage the crowds. A large number of police are deployed around the area, but they say they will intervene only if they see breaches of the law.

The CJP was formed after the chief justice of India described some unemployed young people turning to journalism and activism as "cockroaches". He later said he was referring specifically to people with "fake and bogus degrees", but by then, the term had taken a life on its own.

The movement is led by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old political communications strategist and former student at Boston University.

The CJP quickly gained a huge following online, turning one of the most reviled insects into a symbol of defiance and resilience with 26 million followers on Instagram.

It called for reforms to India's education system, greater accountability over exam paper leaks and the resignation of Pradhan.

The protests gained global attention after activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk joined them on 28 June and began an indefinite hunger strike in support of their demands.

As his health deteriorated, the crowds began to swell and Wangchuk was forcibly removed from the protest site by the police last Saturday and taken to hospital where he continued to fast. He finally called it off early Friday morning following assurances from the government that his demands would be looked into.

Over the course of the protest, most of India's major opposition political parties, activists and many celebrities turned up to show solidarity.

On the ground at the protest sites, many of the posters and slogans were directed at Modi.

The BBC met several people who said they had once supported the prime minister but had now turned against him.

"I used to support him when he used to do good things, but slowly I am realised that he is only dividing people on the basis of religion, and he's not doing anything else," said Radhika.

On Saturday, opposition leaders welcomed Pradhan's resignation, with many calling it a victory for the youth-led movement.

While the demand was for the resignation of the education minister, it is clear that the protests have dealt a severe blow to the prime minister's personal brand, and his aura of invincibility.

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi's government has rarely tolerated dissent and cracked down heavily on protests, which is why Pradhan's resignation is being seen as a big deal in India.

But this isn't the first time they have faced big protests - and it's not the first time they been forced into a climbdown either. Back in 2021, the government repealed agriculture laws after a year-long protest by farmers.

The students' protest has resonated with a large section of middle-class India, cutting across identities of religion, caste or sectors, with people voicing anger about the lack of educational opportunities and jobs in India.

Pressure grew on the government after Monday's violent crackdown when police and paramilitary forces used batons and wooden sticks to beat up young men and women, firing tear gas cans at them.

About 300 people were taken to hospital. Police said at least half of the injured were security personnel and also arrested about 70 protesters - most of them have since been released on bail.

After ignoring the protesters for nearly five weeks, Modi finally broke his silence on Thursday to say they had "decided to set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks".

And later that night, Modi posted a video message saying that a tough new law on examination paper leaks was being prepared. He said he had received a draft of the law, which they wanted to introduce soon in parliament.

Thousands of posts mocking Modi have flooded social media. The prime minister's videos, intended to quell anger, have been turned into jokes and memes.

Following Pradhan's resignation, the CJP founder Dipke said in a statement on X that the fight was not over yet.

He said they would continue to fight for the families of students who died by suicide after a key medical exam was cancelled to ensure they received compensation.

He also renewed his calls for action against police officers he accused of using excessive force against protesters on 20 July on CJP supporters who tried to march to Parliament.

"Remember, do not mess with [the] cockroach," he added.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Watch: SpaceX's successful test flight and splashdown for Starship

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxqnwzqqw8o, yesterday

SpaceX has completed a test flight of its Starship megarocket, followed by a successful soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean an hour after launch.

It was the rocket's 13th test flight. The company, owned by Elon Musk, cited engine failure at liftoff during an aborted launch attempt last week.

This was also the second flight for this version of Starship, called V3, and its first flight as a publicly traded company.

Pizza, pasta, potatoes, protein - how Italian children became so overweight

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33y3151vydo, today

Daily life is not easy for Salvatore. At 17, he weighs 170kg (26st 10lb) and struggles to walk.

He can't tie his own shoelaces and his Vespa scooter strains to bear his weight - in one week, its wheels broke seven times.

"He eats constantly," says his mother Anna.

Salvatore is among a growing number of Italian children and teenagers living with obesity. The problem is particularly acute in the south: in parts of the Campania region, more than 40% of eight and nine-year-olds are overweight. The town of Ponticelli, on the outskirts of Naples, has earned the unenviable reputation as one of the world's child obesity capitals.

It is a striking development in a country long regarded as the spiritual home of the Mediterranean diet. Yet today, Italian children are among the most overweight in Europe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Salvatore is waiting for life-changing surgery at the Betania Hospital in Ponticelli, where Dr Sonja Chiappetta has spent 15 years treating patients with severe obesity.

Until recently, she says, most of her patients were in their fifties. "Now I see those same patients when they're teenagers, as young as 16. They are getting younger, and it's frightening."

The surgery she carries out removes up to 90% of the stomach - meaning people are unable to eat large quantities of food. Demand has risen sharply in this part of Italy.

But Salvatore has been told he cannot get the operation. His weight is so excessive it makes the surgery too dangerous.

Instead, Dr Chiappetta has prescribed him a GLP-1 weight-loss injection to reduce his appetite and help him lose enough weight for the operation.

For decades, Italy was held up as a model of healthy eating.

The Mediterranean diet - rich in vegetables, legumes, olive oil, whole grains and fish - became famous after US physiologist Ancel Keys and his wife, biochemist Margaret Keys, studied communities in southern Italy in the 1950s and linked their habits to remarkably low rates of heart disease.

Their research transformed a regional way of eating into one of the world's best-known diets; a blueprint for healthy living.

But the Italy that inspired those studies no longer exists.

"The traditional Mediterranean diet has been lost," says Doctor Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California. "Only 10% of Italians really follow it."

Dr Longo sums up the modern Italian diet with what he calls the "five Ps": pizza, pasta, potatoes, protein and pane - the Italian word for bread.

The transformation is visible everywhere: from supermarket shelves stocked with ultra-processed foods to pizzerias selling slices piled high with chips, sausages and fried snacks.

Doctor Roberto Berni Canani, a paediatrician and obesity specialist at the Federico II University in Naples, sees the consequences every day.

"I've treated children who are just two or three years old and already weigh 25kg," he says.

He says most parents don't recognise their children are overweight. "They come to see me because of other problems - a cough, stomach pain, diarrhoea. They don't realise their child's weight is what's causing it."

Ten-year-old Francesca has a persistent cough and struggles to swallow. Doctors suspect an inflammatory condition of the oesophagus.

She weighs 60kg (9st 6lb) - but that's not why her parents have sought medical help.

Francesca says she eats bread with Nutella for breakfast, a chocolate-filled sponge cake as a snack, pasta with lentils for lunch and usually chicken for dinner.

"But she doesn't eat vegetables," her mother, Carmen, interjects. "I put them in front of her, but she won't touch them."

Francesca's parents insist she is active. She does artistic gymnastics and Latin dance, and doesn't get tired. They have never considered her weight as a problem.

Dr Berni Canani reaches a different conclusion.

The problem, he explains, is the overall pattern rather than any single meal. Small, calorie-dense foods consumed throughout the day, sugary drinks, too few fruit and vegetables and little understanding of how these habits accumulate over time.

"This is a very good mother," he says. "A very good father. They simply don't recognise the importance of diet quality and body weight."

By the time many families arrive at his clinic, unhealthy habits have already become deeply ingrained. They begin at home and are reinforced at school.

And in Italy, encouraging children to be more active can be surprisingly difficult.

Many schools are housed in beautiful old palazzi - they were never designed with modern physical education in mind.

The Ugo Foscolo primary school is no exception. Its gym has barely enough space for a class of children to move around.

"I have one pupil I'm particularly concerned about," says Francesca Pecce, who teaches at the school. "He's 10 years old and weighs around 60 kilograms."

She has tried raising the issue with his mother.

"But she is not worried," Pecce says. "In Neapolitan culture, if a child is a little chubby with rosy cheeks, people often think they're healthy."

Schools, she believes, can help change that, especially if children "take home" lessons about healthy eating.

"Sometimes it's easier to educate the parents through their children than the other way round."

At a secondary school in Naples, students file into a classroom for a nutrition workshop run by the Valter Longo Foundation.

The programme is part of a regional initiative to tackle childhood obesity. Over the coming months, more than 17,000 students across 25 schools will take part. Families will receive support to help change eating habits at home.

But not all of the students are convinced.

Eighteen-year-old Ciro doubts that information alone will change behaviour.

"My classmates already know what's healthy," he says. "They just don't care."

Carmen, 19, is more optimistic.

"I thought it was actually really helpful because teenagers today are really big into junk food, and don't exercise as much."

She says the problem is that temptation is everywhere. Even foods traditionally associated with Italy have changed.

"When we go out for pizza, people don't just order a Margherita. They put chips, sausages and fried food on top."

Add to that the centuries-old cliches of Italian mothers and grandmothers showing their love through food, and it's a perfect storm.

Obesity is an "escalating global epidemic", says the WHO. More than one billion people worldwide are now obese, and childhood obesity has quadrupled since 1990.

In 2025, Italy became the first country to pass a national law recognising obesity as a chronic, progressive and relapsing disease.

Rather than treating obesity simply as the result of poor choices, the country's new law recognises it as a chronic disease influenced by biology, environment and social circumstances.

The Campania region has become a testing ground for putting that philosophy into practice, implementing a series of ambitious interventions - including a controversial trial of a "fast-mimicking diet".

Researchers are recruiting 300 overweight adolescents who will spend five days every three months on a controlled diet of 1,100 calories on day one and 770 calories on following four days - so restrictive it resembles a fast.

The goal is to trigger a "metabolic reset".

"Fasting, or controlled deprivation of food, is linked to a longer and healthier lifespan," says Dr Longo, who has spent three decades studying the effects of fasting.

But not all obesity specialists are persuaded that fasting is the right approach for children.

Paediatrician Berni Canani believes the evidence for fasting-mimicking diets in children is still too limited to be recommended in Italy's clinical guidelines.

He also worries restrictive diets could carry psychological risks for adolescents, whose relationship with food is still developing.

"I fear that imposing food restrictions on teenagers could increase the risk of eating disorders, anorexia and body dysmorphia," he says.

Meanwhile, Salvatore hopes to have surgery in the summer, so that, for the first time in years, he can wear a swimming costume without feeling self-conscious.

But he is not alone. Across Italy, a generation of children is growing up increasingly removed from the Mediterranean diet that once made the country famous.

Additional reporting by Bob Howard.

I thought the Lockerbie bombing was a closed case until I started asking questions

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2dkx01n0y1o, today

I was only a year old when the UK's deadliest terror attack shocked the world.

In December 1988, Pan Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 people on board as well as 11 on the ground.

I was a teenager by the time Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing in 2001 and, when he later died, I thought that was largely the end of the story.

It wasn't.

The case still rumbles on and, later this year, a man suspected of making the bomb which blew up the plane, Abu Agila Masud, goes on trial in Washington DC.

As part of a Radio 4 Intrigue podcast series, I had an opportunity to delve into this complex case with fresh eyes.

The deeper I dug, the more complicated Lockerbie became and there have been times that I don't know what to believe.

Jim Swire, on the other hand, is sure what he believes - and it is not the official story.

His daughter Flora died in the bombing, but he is convinced that whoever killed her got away with mass murder.

Swire believes Megrahi is innocent, even befriending the convicted bomber up until his death in 2012.

"The burning issue was to get to the truth," he says.

"Always has been, always will be and I will not shut up about what I know to be true."

Swire's doggedness has made him a prominent voice but most of the Lockerbie victims' families don't agree that Megrahi's conviction was a miscarriage of justice - and the bomber’s own appeals against the verdict either failed or were abandoned.

For Swire, the simplest explanation is that Iran was behind the attack - not Libya.

The Lockerbie bombing came five months after 290 people were killed when an Iranian commercial airliner was shot down by a US battleship.

Iran swore revenge and months later Pan Am flight 103 exploded on its way to New York.

And there's more.

Iran - much like they do now - used proxy militant groups to pursue their ends.

Before the Lockerbie bombing, a militant cell based in Frankfurt, part of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC), was foiled by German police.

Police arrested suspects and seized explosive devices, concealed in radio cassette players, that were designed to trigger at altitude.

The bomb that brought down Pan Am 103 was in a radio cassette player hidden inside a samsonite briefcase.

Because of this, Swire believes the device that brought down Pan Am 103 was loaded at Frankfurt, and not Malta as the court had concluded.

And, for Swire, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

He also questions much of the evidence presented at the 2001 trial, discredits witnesses, and is extremely suspicious of the involvement of intelligence agencies - like MI5, MI6 and the CIA - in the aftermath of the bombing.

Combine these suspicions with his all-consuming grief and you can see why Swire is such a force to be reckoned with on his quest for a truth he believes has been denied to him.

"Discovering the truth became my way of handling the consequences of the grief reaction," Swire says.

"And it was very tough for other people to understand that but that's just the way I'm made, I suppose."

Dick Marquise, who led the FBI's Lockerbie task force, says that in the early days of the case he too believed the PFLP-GC were the "number one suspect", but years of investigation found nothing to prove it.

"There was not one shred of evidence that could be taken to court and get a conviction," he says. "You couldn't do it. There was nothing."

However, there are others, besides Swire, who still question the "official narrative" - including former CIA agent John Holt who also believes Iran was behind the bombing.

Holt worked with Libyan intelligence assets in the 1980s and was the handler of double agent Abdul Majid Giaka, whose information became central to the investigation into the Lockerbie bombing.

Holt now believes Giaka was a "BS artist" who was out for money and was feeding the CIA fake stories to get paid.

"I didn't think much of him at all," he says.

"He gave us some little tidbits about what was going on, but he never knew anything about the Pan Am bombing. And he knew a lot about Megrahi," Holt says.

Holt believes the fact the CIA bankrolled Giaka devalues him as an informant.

"It makes it easier for somebody to say whatever the person who's giving them money wants them to say," Holt says.

I managed to get a hold of the CIA papers - known as cables - from the time, which showed what Giaka had told the Americans.

The cables date back to the months before Lockerbie and include notes of conversations between Giaka and Holt and two earlier CIA handlers.

Within the cables, Giaka places Megrahi in Malta - where the bomb was said to have been planted - at a key time in the Lockerbie plot.

Megrahi is also said to have visited a Maltese clothes shop, buying shirts and baby grows - which were placed in the suitcase with the bomb and later found at the plane crash site.

Giaka had even talked to the CIA about eight kilos of orange-coloured explosives stored at the Malta airport offices. Semtex, the explosive used in Lockerbie, is orange.

In the 2001 trial, Giaka was to be a "key" witness in the prosecution's case but the four judges described some of his evidence as "at best grossly exaggerated and at worst simply untrue".

The Senussi files

Decades on from Megrahi's conviction, new intelligence documents have been recovered allegedly from the heart of Libyan intelligence.

They are believed to have come from Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi's notorious intelligence network run by his spy chief Abdullah Senussi.

These leaked Libyan intelligence documents contain information that could potentially put an end to the doubt, theories and countertheories that have tied so many, including me, in knots.

The original 'Senussi Files', as they are now known, were shown to French journalists who later published a book, The Murderer Who Must Be Saved.

I travelled to Paris to meet one of the authors, investigative journalist Vincent Nouzille.

He brought piles of documents, enough to cover the whole bed and the hotel room desk.

You can tell he loves his work and despite having pored over these documents for years, he's still awestruck by their content.

Some of the Senussi files date back to autumn 1988, in the months before Lockerbie, and contain documents apparently detailing plans to target aircraft on multi-stop flights using a 11-hour long-delay timer bomb concealed in luggage much like the Lockerbie bombing.

It even mentions tests on concealing a device inside a tape recorder.

As we go through each document, my head is spinning.

There are references to dry runs, apparent weaknesses in airport security, and enough detail about the movements of Megrahi and others for Nouzille to crosscheck dates and places against other sources.

Nouzille says he spent three years carefully verifying everything in the files.

He shows me another file which details the apparent movements of Megrahi and Masud, coming in and out of Malta.

This account lines up with the information provided in the CIA cables from the previously discredited Giaka.

"We know from the CIA cables that Giaka reported the same people, the same dates, the same false passport, at the same date," Nouzille says.

"So two sources, independent, which match."

The Senussi Files seem to corroborate several details first mentioned in the cables, including the presence of semtex at Luqa Airport in Malta.

Nouzille shows me a translated document, signed by Megrahi, dated January 87, which mentions "10 kilos of explosive material" stored at the airport by Lamin Khalif Fhimah, the man who stood trial alongside Megrahi in 2001 but was acquitted.

I tried to contact Fhimah via his trial lawyer to put these allegations to him, but I was unable to reach him.

Nouzille concedes that these documents are not "final proof" that Libya was targeting Pan Am 103 flight, but he believes this is evidence of their modus operandi.

"We have a preparation of a multi-stop flight and a suitcase - and after 11 hours the bomb will explode," Nouzille says.

The Senussi Files that Nouzille has are copies, not originals, so they cannot be forensically tested.

It remains to be seen whether they will be admissible in the upcoming trial.

If they're authentic, these files may prove once and for all that Megrahi was guilty.

As Nouzille packed away the documents, I thought of Jim Swire and what this could all mean for him.

He's devoted his life to this case - even befriending Megrahi during his quest to find answers.

However, despite the years spent by Nouzille to authenticate the documents, the Senussi Files have failed to convince him that Libya was responsible.

Swire says: "I don't think that you should, with your eyes open, go into believing that any documents, however perfect they may seem to be, are genuine which prove conveniently that this was a Libyan job."

He said the CIA had the ability to forge any documents they wanted.

Despite several delays, Masud is due to go on trial in August this year.

Whether this will be pushed back again remains to be seen.

It's very likely that historical evidence from the original Lockerbie trial will be brought under the microscope once again - opening up old wounds and catalysing a new era of questioning.

Or, if admissible and verified, the Senussi Files might prove once and for all what Dick Marquise and other investigators have been saying all along.

Tourists tell BBC how their holiday turned into race to escape fires

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80ny93xlrvo, yesterday

Families have relived how their tranquil holidays in France turned into a race to escape raging wildfires.

Tourists told the BBC of emergency alerts in the middle of the night, desperate drives just metres from six-storey high flames and the sight of people flocking to beaches with their suitcases.

Huge forest fires in south-west France and central Spain have displaced more than 220,000 people, with the French military drafted in to help and the Spanish government declaring a national emergency.

Winds and continued heat are still helping to fan the flames with some tourists reporting smelling acrid smoke like a "bonfire" far outside the affected areas.

Flights to Bordeaux and Madrid, the closest cities to the blaze-hit regions, are currently not affected. Earlier on Saturday, a French foreign minister described the fires as a "tragedy" but urged tourists not to cancel their travel plans.

Among those caught up in the crisis is Zac Morrison, who arrived in Cap Ferret - a popular peninsula blanketed with pine trees 40 miles (65km) south-west of Bordeaux - on Thursday.

The 21-year-old from London, who is on holiday with 10 members of his family, woke up to two text alerts at 04:00 and 06:00 local time ordering him to evacuate "by all means necessary".

"We had the gendarmerie [French military] going door to door," he told BBC Your Voice. "It was something like out of a movie - we had to take everything."

Since experiencing "panic" before a "well organised" operation to clear out the entire peninsula, he said he received four different evacuation alerts from the authorities - the most recent at 17:00 on Friday - after "we moved away from one fire to only get put into the crosshairs of another".

His family took shelter on a beach in nearby Arcachon before a relative came to their aid with a place to stay. His brother Nate, 11, is still coming to terms with having seen the flames.

"Other people have been sleeping in schools and warehouses and the beaches have had people just waiting for the go ahead," Morrison added. "There's people on the beach here with their suitcases."

He said the family was awaiting instructions on whether they can continue their holiday until mid August.

"It rained last night but we are hearing that electricity may be cut out over the peninsula, especially as the ash clouds go towards Bordeaux... I've heard about houses burning in just an hour, it's scary but sadly people here are getting used to it."

Family fled in 15 minutes

David Morton, a headteacher, had enjoyed most of his week-long trip to Cap Ferret with his wife and two teenage sons in the forests under baking sun.

But the mixture of "tinder dry" pine and intense heat helped upend things on day five when the family was awoken on Friday morning.

"Our phones were all flashing and bleeping; there was a message saying we had to evacuate immediately and drive on the one road out of the [Cap Ferret] peninsula," the 53-year-old said.

"We literally threw everything into our suitcases and within 15 minutes were in the hire car."

He said they came within 500m of the main fire. "The flames were higher than full-size forest pine trees, so five or six storeys high, and it was clear this was a fire that was out of control at that point."

The family, from Gloucestershire, has stayed with friends until their flight home from Bordeaux on Saturday.

'City is evacuated but I'm still here'

Others are still stranded. Rebecca Papin, a French-American visiting her holiday home in the commune of Biscarrosse, near to the Cap Ferret peninsula, saw a large plume of smoke in the distance on Thursday.

Just three hours later when she arrived home that night, "there were water planes in the sky dropping water, firefighter helicopters in the sky and the entire distance was just a wall of flames," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"It was quite far away from my house but I could see it very clearly from the upstairs level of my home."

She said the authorities appeared "overwhelmed with trying" to fight the fire and issued no evacuation order, so she slept alongside her young children with her earplugs in - meaning she missed the sound of the evacuation overnight.

"When I woke up in the morning we were almost alone in the city because the city has been evacuated and I'm still here," she said.

"The main roads are closed because they're on fire - the police advised me on Friday at 07:30 to stay in my home, to not leave my home under any circumstance; there was ash falling from the sky like snow."

Some British families told the BBC they had moved 100 miles away to other parts of France to continue their holidays.

Mark Dorey, from Leeds, decided to drive to the Dordogne with his wife and three children after being evacuated from a campsite near Parentis-en-Born.

"You wouldn't believe it, but me and my two boys were watching a Queen tribute act at the campsite bar - straight after a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody someone stopped them to say we were being evacuated at about 22:00," he said.

Before heading to the Dordogne the family spent a night with hundreds of other evacuees in a gymnasium.

Dorey, 42, said he feels lucky to be looked after and safe, but is thinking about holidaying "closer to home" next year.

And BBC South's Joanna Kent, who was on holiday in the Cap Ferret peninsula earlier this week, recalled seeing her campsite deserted after two van loads of police told tourists they had 30 minutes to get out.

While the wildfires show no sign of abating soon, the UK Foreign Office is currently not advising against travel to France or Spain.

Éléonore Caroit, France's minister for international partnerships, advised tourists on Saturday: "You have entire areas that are fine, you're seeing similar phenomena in Spain and other countries.

"I'm in Paris and nothing is happening, and most other regions are OK, so do please come to France and do not cancel your travel plans.

"But wherever you are, please do be advised as to what might be happening."

In Madrid the fires are in the wider region far outside the city centre - and authorities are battling to stop different fires merging.

But the flames have already shut down a facility for US space agency Nasa 37 miles (65km) west of the city.

Madrid's regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso described the fire there as the "worst fire in the history of the region", with the area facing a "perfect storm" of high temperatures, relentless wind and merging fire fronts.

Additional reporting by: James Kelly, Rozina Sini, Alex Akhurst and Mary Litchfield

What Love Island tells us about the changing face of dating

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c935q2k6pxqo, today

On the fourth series of Love Island UK in 2018, Megan Barton-Hanson pulled fellow Islander, Wes Nelson, for a chat.

Just moments earlier, she had ended her relationship with Eyal Booker after admitting the pair had little more than physical chemistry. Now, sitting opposite Wes, who had been coupled up with Laura Anderson since the start of the competition, she decided not to wait for him to make the first move.

"I think it's pretty obvious that I do really fancy you," she told him. "And I just felt like, if I didn't say something, I'd regret it massively."

By the end of the episode, viewers had a new nickname for her: "Muggy Megan". Critics accused her of moving too quickly between relationships and breaking "girl code". Others admired her honesty.

At the time, Barton-Hanson argued that she had been treated differently to her male counterparts. "People definitely do give girls a harder time than men… It's sexist."

But eight years later, scenes like Barton-Hanson's no longer feel quite so out of the ordinary. Until this series, the opening coupling had always seen the men choose first. This year, the shows rules were changed, with the women making the first choice.

Alicia Denby, a sociologist at Manchester Metropolitan University, argues the show's tweak is reflective of a broader societal change where "women may now be more likely to approach someone first".

At its peak, around five million people tuned in to Love Island every night. Live audiences are not what they were, but it remains ITV's biggest programme among 16 to 34-year-olds.

For Prof Kitty Nichols, who researches relationships and popular culture at the University of Sheffield, Love Island has become "an important cultural vehicle" allowing us to "reflect on the dating scene and culture at the moment".

Former PE teacher Kai Fagan met his now wife, Sanam Harrinanan, when he won the 2023 series, an experience he says transformed his life.

"My life ever since then has been a fairytale. The whole show is about love. That's the point of it. You're put in a situation to fall in love."

For Fagan, the show delivered exactly what it promised: love. Meanwhile, for thousands watching at home, it has become a window into how modern relationships are formed, tested and understood.

As another series of Love Island approaches its end, what do Love Island's changing dynamics tell us about dating culture beyond the villa? And does women making the first move really represent genuine progress towards equality?

The forever changing rules

For much of the 20th Century, heterosexual dating followed a script that would have felt familiar to the characters in Pride and Prejudice. Men were largely expected to make the first move. They asked women out, paid for dates and, in many cases, took the lead in deciding when the relationship moved forward.

By the 1960s, the women's liberation movement began challenging many of those norms. As Aretha Franklin's Respect became an anthem for a generation demanding greater equality, the widespread availability of contraception changed the ideas about sex. Then with the rise of online dating in the 2000s, millions of people began meeting through websites and, later, dating apps.

But whether these changes have really done anything to shift gender expectations is unclear.

As recently as 2021, sociologist Ellen Lamont reviewed more than 100 studies on heterosexual dating and found traditional dating scripts still remained, with men still expected to make the first move.

For cultural commentator Coco, who goes by her first name and has amassed more than 100,000 followers on TikTok analysing Love Island, this reflects an important distinction.

She argues women aren't replacing men as the pursuers, they simply have greater freedom to act on what they want.

"Women haven't flipped the roles," she says. "Women have just been allowed to exist." She believes women now have "more choice, freedom and opportunity than we've ever had in history".

Love Island's contradiction

But even if women are becoming more comfortable making the first move, Denby argues that this does not mean gendered power relations have disappeared.

She argues that women on Love Island are often praised for their patience and loyalty while male contestants explore connections with other contestants. But she says when women take a more active role in pursuing relationships, they are judged differently.

"It's almost as if women are praised for being submissive in the villa, because when they do take on more of an active or expressive role, they are criticised for it."

On this year's Love Island, in a move that may have reflected the growing trend of women on the show taking the lead, Elicia Bailey took both Aidan Murphy and Finley Maddock to the Hideaway, the villa's private romantic room.

But she faced criticism for it and Denby points to what she sees as a sexual double standard around women's sexuality. Another female contestant on this year's show, Priya Jaswal, was labelled a "sexual person" by a male contestant and accused of "pouncing" on Murphy, comments that Denby argues, suggest "women are judged for taking an active role" in dating.

Nichols sees similar patterns.

She believes Love Island has what she describes as "pockets of diversity" and "little moments of change", where contestants challenge conventional gender roles.

Yet she argues those moments are often temporary, with Islanders reverting "back to the expected gender roles".

According to Nichols, double standards persist. "If a woman behaves in the same way that a man behaves, they get reprimanded."

That reaction can be seen in the programme's history.

For example, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu's pursuit of Jay Younger divided viewers during the 2022 series. Some accused her of betraying Davide Sanclimenti, who she later won the show with, while others praised her confidence.

For Nichols, those responses reveal something about British attitudes to dating.

"I think audience members receive more positively men diverging from their expected roles," she says.

She said it may be because viewers "don't anticipate" behavior like that, But adds that, "sometimes women doing so is sort of seen less positively."

What happens when the rules change?

For Tareq Ferguson, a long-time Love Island viewer and TikTok commentator with more than 50,000 followers, one of the biggest changes in recent series has been watching male contestants become more passive.

"The men want to be passenger princesses," he says. "They want to sit back, kick up their feet, while the women do the grafting and do the work."

On this year's show, Lorenzo Alessi was reluctant to make Julia Majchrzak a morning coffee, something many contestants see as an act of care for the person they're coupled up with. It become a flashpoint on the show and sparked debate among viewers.

For Ferguson, moments like those reflect a wider shift in modern dating, with some men appearing increasingly hesitant to take the lead.

But some research suggest that men's reluctance may stem less from disinterest and more from uncertainty about how to navigate dating today.

In a recent Cosmopolitan survey, men said online dating had made then feel judged on their appearance. While others said repeated rejection and lack of matches had damaged their confidence.

Research like this echoes what Coco believes is happening both inside and outside the villa.

"Society has rightly expanded what's possible for women," she says. "But we haven't spent the same amount of time helping young men understand what their role looks like in this landscape. The cultural conversation hasn't kept pace with the social change."

She also believes online conversations have contributed to that uncertainty.

"I think the manosphere content we're seeing has done something to women," she says. "It's put their guard up."

But she is keen to stress that does not mean there are "no good men out there".

Instead, she believes men seem to be taking a more cautious approach to dating as expectations around relationships continue to change. "They don't want to be perceived as a creep. They don't want to be seen as trying too hard in front of their peers. They want to come across as relaxed and cool."

What does Love Island tell us about modern dating?

So does Love Island simply mirror the UK's evolving dating culture or actively shape it?

For Prof Nichols, the two are closely connected. She believes the programme doesn't simply entertain audiences. Watched by millions each summer and discussed constantly across social media, it has become part of the conversation around modern relationships.

"I think for young people who are still the biggest viewers of Love Island, it probably creates these norms for them in terms of how they would expect to be treated or how dating functions."

Fagan believes some younger viewers take lessons from what they see on screen.

"Younger people probably get dating tips from a show like Love Island," he says.

But he adds: "In real life, you have a bit more control of how you pursue and what happens and the obstructions.

"On Love Island, you could be with someone for three weeks and then suddenly you're put into a challenge where your relationship is made vulnerable just for the entertainment of the public.

"If that's happening on the outside, you don't necessarily know about it. On the show, you have to confront it head on."

Yet despite those differences, some viewers still believe Love Island influences how people think about dating.

Ferguson believes many young people watch the programme not just as entertainment but as a reflection of what dating now looks like.

"People will look at this, especially the younger audiences, and think, 'if this is how people are being treated, then obviously I can expect this on the outside.'"

One study by researchers at Liverpool John Moores University examining Love Island and relationship education, found some young people do look to reality dating programmes for ideas about romance and relationship behaviour. But it also found most viewers described the programme as entertainment and were aware that what they watched did not necessarily reflect real life.

For Nichols, the influence is undeniable.

"It plays into features of the current dating culture, where we see this propensity towards disposability and a lack of exclusivity," she says.

"It's like a chicken and an egg. I think it normalises that massively."

More than a dating show

Every generation has tended to challenge the dating expectations that came before it. From the move away from formal courtship to the arrival of dating apps and now a generation asking more questions about who should make the first move.

But while analysts argue that Love Island is far from a perfect mirror of society, it nonetheless operates as a cultural stage where shifting gender norms and emerging challenges are publicly rehearsed.

For Denby, that is precisely what makes the show significant.

"Recouplings, comparisons between potential partners and the idea that there is always someone better around the corner can mirror some of the less positive aspects of app-based dating culture", she says.

But she is equally clear that viewers are not watching the programme without question.

"I don't think viewers are simply passive consumers. Many people watch Love Island critically and debate issues like sexism, classism and racism, so the programme both reflects and shapes contemporary dating culture."

Top image credit: Getty Images

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

The notorious Cameroonian prison with its own record label

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxqlkrlj7no, today

New Bell - a notorious prison in Douala, Cameroon - is a city within a city.

The facility has its own "taxis" (inmates who whizz through congested courtyards on foot to hand deliver messages), its own law enforcement (burly prisoners who help stretched guards police the facility) and market (a string of stalls where convicts sell and buy goodies, like fried cassava and beignet pastries).

Basically, the occupants of New Bell have adapted the jail's slack laws to work for them. The clearest example of this spirit is Jail Time Records, an on-site music studio and label making mini stars out of the most talented prisoners.

Empereur, the feared leader of gangs inside and outside of the prison, has amassed 24,000 YouTube views with a music video filmed entirely in prison.

Songs from the inmates have gained fans from as far away as South Africa, the US and Argentina, while earlier this year Jail Time Records put on a huge concert for the prisoners in New Bell's courtyard.

"It's this instrument of resistance… where we can really share friendship, love and our voices can be heard," Steve Happi, the former inmate who co-founded Jail Time Records, tells the BBC's Talking Movies programme.

"We don't think anymore about the four walls - we find the freedom."

The Jail Time Records studio is rudimentary - a small, sweaty recording booth attached to a room inhabited by a solitary computer.

But it is also the site of great catharsis and creativity, as per a recent, acclaimed documentary named after the studio.

Directed by Happi and Italian artist Dione Roach, his Jail Time Records co-founder, it was filmed in New Bell over six years.

Last month it won three prizes, including best documentary feature, at New York's Tribeca film festival.

In the film, a prisoner named Stone raps into the studio's microphone: "Heart of stone, it's war. My senses shatter like broken glass.

"I'm closed and tight like a cell door. No solid ground I slip like a fish."

Stone, who used to be a soldier in Cameroon's presidential guard, was sentenced to 10 years in New Bell for robbery and illegal possession of firearms. He insists he is not guilty.

The film captures him trying - often unsuccessfully - to reach his young daughter Maira on the phone.

"It's been a long time. She needs to hear my voice from time to time, so she doesn't forget about her father," he says in a voice message to a family member, after failing to get through to Maira yet again.

The music video for Heart of Stone is a typical Jail Time Records affair. The production value is high, storytelling is captivating and hordes of fellow inmates get involved as actors and crew.

"The music that comes out of there is amazing," says Taika Waititi, the New Zealand Oscar-winning director who, with his wife, the singer Rita Ora, served as an executive producer for the Jail Time Records documentary.

"Just in terms of the power of art in relation to redemption and what that can mean to someone who, you know, some of these people are in prison for life. I think having an outlet is an incredibly powerful and humane thing," he says.

Jail Time Records was founded in 2018, when Roach volunteered for a non-profit organisation running events inside New Bell.

During a dance class for the prisoners, a crew of rappers took over the microphone and began freestyling. Impressed by their performance, she asked the prison authorities for permission to start up a studio.

The powers that be were receptive and so Roach enlisted Happi to run the studio as a producer and sound engineer.

According to Happi, he ended up in New Bell following a family argument over what should be done with his late father's body.

Amid the dispute, his aunt, a high court judge, allegedly arranged for him to be thrown into jail for killing his father. He was acquitted of the crime two years later, Jail Time Records says.

In 2022, Happi, Roach and the prisoners released an album named Jail Time Vol 1. As is customary for Jail Time Records' music, half the profit from the album's sale went to the artists and the rest was reinvested into the label.

The studio's survival is paramount to many of the artists, especially given New Bell's bitter environment.

In 2022, Human Rights Watch reported that New Bell was housing 4,700 prisoners within its crumbling walls - four times its capacity.

The prison's packed population, along with its unsanitary conditions, enabled cholera to spread rapidly during an outbreak four years ago, rights groups have said. At least six inmates died from the disease.

New Bell also has a reputation for violence. In 2008, guards shot 16 inmates dead during an attempted breakout.

Prisoners also attack and intimidate each other - the documentary captures Empereur, who is serving 10 years for multiple crimes, shaking down a bewildered young inmate for a necklace chain and some flip-flops.

Asked if the Jail Time Records project might glorify Empereur, the son of a traditional Douala chief, and other criminals who have committed violent crimes, Roach tells the BBC: "The process we're doing is a rehabilitation process, basically.

"We enter the prison without any judgment and it's the only way we can really approach this kind of work.

"Music, as with any creative process, is also a way of self-discovery... coming to terms with things you've done and hopefully changing for the better".

The prison authorities appear to share this view.

"They were really welcoming of the project. Cameroon is a super musical country… everyone loves music," Happi says, adding that the head of the prison attended this year's concert and proceeded to dance with the performers.

With official support, Jail Time Records has been able to flourish, offering opportunities to more prisoners, including those in New Bell's women's wing.

Jeje, Jail Time Records first female artist, made her debut in 2022 with brooding Afrobeats song Show Me The Way.

"Nobody show me the way, nobody show me the way, I did it all alone," sings Jeje, who was jailed after stealing money and running away from an allegedly abusive uncle.

As well as working with the women's wing, Jail Time Records have expanded their project outside New Bell and Cameroon.

Roach and Happi set up a studio 1,000 miles (1,600km) away in 2023, in the central prison of Burkina Faso's capital city, Ouagadougou.

Jail Time Records hopes it can replicate the success of the original New Bell studio, with its accompanying label, music video production arm and now, award-winning documentary.

The film ends with an "in memoriam" sequence; a tribute to six prisoners who died while the Jail Time Records project has been running.

New Bell may appear to be endlessly bleak, but according to Happi, music provides the inmates with a "lantern for a brighter future".

"Before that, they had the stubborn mentality: it's them against the world," he says.

"They feel now important - they feel like they have a place in the society."

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Iran-backed Houthis claim missile attack on Saudi Arabia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9d27v70j1o, yesterday

The Iranian-backed Houthis have claimed a missile attack on Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh launched strikes on targets linked to the group on Friday.

Early on Saturday, the Houthis' Ansarollah media said on Telegram that a "Yemeni missile strike" had caused fires in the Saudi city of Jizan. Saudi authorities had issued emergency alerts for the province.

The group had vowed retaliation after Saudi Arabia launched air strikes on Houthi targets in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida and a nearby island on Friday.

It came as there were no overnight reports of air strikes in the wider region by the US or Iran for the first time in two weeks.

The US military did not announce fresh strikes on Iran on Saturday, having carried out 13 consecutive nights of attacks on the country. During this time, Iran has also launched drone strikes on US military facilities and bases across the Middle East.

Earlier, a delegation from Oman arrived in Iran's capital Tehran for talks on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported. Oman controls the strait's southern coastline.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump continued to threaten further attacks while saying that negotiations were continuing.

"We are talking to them. I think they're being serious. I think ... they are being by far the most serious that we've seen them, but that doesn't mean we get there," he said.

Asked about his exit strategy for the Iran war, Trump said: "There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are, and we can even make it a heavier dose, and it's knocking out everything they have. Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal."

But he added: "We're locked and loaded. We're ready to go."

In the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the US military said it had fired on and disabled a tanker ship in the Gulf of Oman that was attempting to evade the American blockade on Iranian ports.

The vessel attacked by the US is the second commercial ship the US has disabled since it reimposed its blockade earlier this month.

"We disabled the tanker after the crew attempted to run the blockade at least four times prior," Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesman for US Central Command, told AFP.

"The crew was repeatedly warned, didn't comply, and US forces on scene disabled the ship after firing into its engine room," he said. "The ship is no longer transiting to Iran."

Growing concern over new threats to shipping in the Red Sea from Yemen's Houthis helped push the price of crude oil back over $100 (£74.96) a barrel this week - the highest level since May.

But it dropped again on Friday afternoon, with Brent futures down more than US$4 (£3.00) to a little over $96 (£72.07), according to the Reuters news agency, which reported the fall occurred after the successful passage through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by two Chinese-chartered supertankers.

Following the exchange of fire early on Saturday, the Houthis' Ansarollah media posted on Telegram, "The Saudi enemy's targeting of civilian facilities in Hodeida and Kamaran island constitutes a dangerous escalation," adding: "We affirm that these recent crimes will not go unanswered."

Saudi authorities did not immediately respond.

The US and UK are set to hold a conference in London next week to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, the BBC understands. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine will attend the conference, which was first reported by Axios.

It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet the US president at the White House on Tuesday.

In June, the US and Iran agreed on a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to halt military operations and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as well as to reach an agreement to end the war over the following 60 days.

But three weeks after it was signed, Trump declared the ceasefire "over" after Iranian attacks on ships in the strait, and US strikes in response.

Gatwick Airport left without running water after major outage

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdew2dnxlzzo, today

Passengers at Gatwick Airport have faced long queues for toilets and closed restaurants and bars after a major water supply outage.

Both terminals at the UK's second busiest airport lost running water on Sunday morning after a power failure at a treatment works that serves the area.

People told the BBC of confusion and frustration as all bars and restaurants were shut, some were left with nowhere to sit and waits built up outside toilets.

Gatwick said it was still experiencing disruption and was handing out bottled water, while SES Water, the company that supplies the airport, said the power outage was fixed but water still needed to be treated before returning supply.

The company, which also supplies parts of Kent, Surrey and south London, said complications caused by a power outage at Bough Beech treatment works meant some customers had experienced low water pressure or a temporary loss of supply.

A spokesperson had earlier confirmed that Gatwick Airport was affected.

In an update just before 13:45 BST, they said: "Our Bough Beech water treatment works are back up and running.

"We now need to treat the water before returning services to normal as quickly as we possibly can."

Gatwick apologised and said the supply issue was continuing to cause disruption on Sunday afternoon.

In a statement, it said: "There is currently no water supply in either terminal.

"Our staff are on hand to support passengers and provide assistance where needed, some restaurant partners have opened to provide additional seating."

The airport said it was monitoring the situation and working closely with the water company to restore supplies as quickly as possible.

'At least provide chairs'

Earlier, passenger Paul Lee told the BBC he had not heard any announcements about the issue or seen bottled water being handed out.

He said: "For people who need to go to the toilet, this isn't good, and still no announcement or official information - and the water they mentioned isn't being distributed.

"I'm taking off soon, so that's fine, but for passengers in a few hours, this will be bad."

Lee added that restaurants and lounges were shut but shops were open.

Former MP and ex-CEO of UK Music Michael Dugher urged the airport on social media to "at least allow people to use the chairs in all the closed restaurants and bars".

He said: "No water is one thing but depriving people of somewhere to sit is another... families are having to sit on the floor."

BBC reporter Adam Dowling, who was flying from Valencia to Gatwick, said his flight had been delayed because of the water supply disruption and passengers had been informed that landing slots were being moved around "to reduce the number of flights" coming in to Gatwick.

The BBC has contacted Gatwick Airport to confirm if there has been any flight disruption.

Roger Wood, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, said he thought his friends were joking when they told him there were no restaurants or bars open in Gatwick's south terminal.

When he arrived to meet them ahead of his flight on Sunday, he found "there was no water at all - no Nando's, no Wetherspoon, all of those places were completely shut and stopping people coming in as there was no fresh water or ability to wash hands".

Wood told the BBC: "The only place you could buy something was places like Pret and Itsu where it was packaged food, or shops.

"There was a general grumpiness and the usual frustration at not being able to get a drink at a bar from people, but everybody seemed quite resigned."

Wood said people could go in the toilets but there was no way to wash hands and conditions had grown worse in the hour or two they were there.

Many toilets have been out of order, with taps and flushes now working.

Only toilets in parts of the airport have been open if they can draw on emergency water supplies.

A passenger told the BBC there was "a very long queue to the ladies' toilets and a short queue to the men's, with no water to wash hands or flush the toilet", while another said she had been turned away from toilets.

Ian Bubb, who was flying to Alicante in Spain with British Airways, said there had been a "total lack of information" from the airport.

"Absolute disgrace at Gatwick - total lack of contingency planning for such an event," he said.

The passenger said he had booked a lounge but was not allowed to sit inside.

People heading to the airport for flights have been advised not to arrive early.

A statement from Easyjet said: "Due to a water supply issue affecting London Gatwick Airport, bag drop desks are temporarily opening two hours before departure instead of three hours."

The airline said: "Please do not arrive earlier, as you will not be able to drop off your bags or enter the departure lounge until bag drop opens."

SES Water confirmed the Kent postcodes TN8 and TN11 and parts of Surrey postcodes RH1, RH6 and RH10 had no water supply or low pressure. The company said it was delivering bottled water to vulnerable customers.

Gatwick Airport and the local area also suffered water issues in July 2022, when low pressure caused by a burst water main affected 1,200 houses and closed toilet facilities at the airport.

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, X, and Instagram and listen to BBC Radio Sussex on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

Police investigate donations by Tice company to Reform UK

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yv4r5g55do, today

Police are investigating payments to Reform UK by a company controlled by the party's deputy leader, Richard Tice, BBC News has learned.

Britain Means Business gave the party two donations of £250,000 in the run-up to the 2024 general election, when Tice was party chairman.

Tice has said the money was given to his firm by Fiona Cottrell, a significant donor to Reform UK and mother of a convicted fraudster with close links to Nigel Farage.

Tice said: "This is the first I have heard of it - if true why are the Met Police briefing the BBC before contacting interested parties? Is the Met leadership now engaged in the widespread politically motivated smear campaign against Reform and its leaders?"

Earlier this month, the Times newspaper revealed that two donations given directly by Fiona Cottrell to Reform UK in May 2024 were being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

That investigation relates to legislation governing elections, which bans concealing or disguising donations derived from an "impermissible" donor, or the use of "false" information about a donation including the amount or the identity of the donor.

The BBC has asked Fiona Cottrell for comment.

'Stringent vetting'

Britain Means Business, which is solely owned and controlled by Tice, received £1m from Fiona Cottrell in June 2024.

Disclosures to the Electoral Commission show that the company then donated a total of £500,000 to Reform UK in the same month.

Tice told the BBC earlier this month that it was entirely his choice for the company to give half of the money from Fiona Cottrell to his party.

The payments came to light when the Guardian newspaper revealed they had been flagged to the National Crime Agency as part of its Suspicious Activity Reports programme.

Now BBC News has learned that they are part of the Met's investigation into donations to Reform UK.

The BBC understands that the party was not aware of the investigation into the payments from Britain Means Business.

A Reform UK spokesman said: "Reform takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always ensures that the Electoral Commission guidelines on donations, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, are strictly followed, as has been the case with donations so far."

'Frozen' account

All four payments were made in the weeks before the general election on 4 July 2024, when Farage and Tice were first elected to Parliament:

* The first direct donation from Ms Cottrell of £250,000 appeared in the party's accounts on 9 May

* The second, also £250,000, appeared a few weeks later on 29 May, just over a month before polling day

* One payment from Britain Means Business of £250,000 was made on 10 June

* Another payment from Britain Means Business of £250,000 was made on 12 June.

Tice was chairman of Reform UK until 11 July, having previously been its leader. He then became deputy leader.

Records of all the donations have been published by the Electoral Commission.

Records on the Commission's website show Reform's bank account was frozen in the weeks before the election.

Other notes on the site suggest the account was first frozen a maximum of nine days after Britain Means Business's second donation.

It is not known why the account was frozen.

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said it was aware that the Met had issued a statement about an ongoing police investigation and it had no further comment to make.

The Met investigation into all four donations has been ongoing for more than a year.

Asked about the donations from Britain Means Business, the Met repeated a statement originally issued earlier this month after The Times's investigation.

A spokesperson said: "An investigation was launched in February 2025 after a referral was made to the Metropolitan Police by the Electoral Commission relating to donations made to a political party ahead of the 2024 UK General Election."

They added: "Detectives from the Met's Special Enquiry Team are investigating alleged offences under Section 61 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.

"Early investigative advice has been sought from the Crown Prosecution Service and two people have so far been interviewed under caution. No arrests have been made.

"An offence under this section is not one that the Electoral Commission can investigate and, as such, it is a matter for the police."

The concept of "permissible" and "impermissible" donors was introduced by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which prohibits foreign funding for political parties.

The legislation means parties can only accept money from a permissible donor. Permissible donors include individuals registered on an electoral register and companies registered in the UK.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) is carrying out an internal investigation in response to complaints from Richard Tice and Nigel Farage about the alleged leaking of their financial information.

It follows reports in the Guardian that some donations made to them and to Tice's firm Britain Means Business had been flagged to the agency as part of its Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) programme.

According to the NCA, such alerts are made to law enforcement "to potential instances of money laundering".

SARs are not crime reports.

Fiona Cottrell's son, George Cottrell, has been at the centre of a political row in recent weeks.

The Sunday Times has reported he supported Farage by paying for staff and security before the 2024 election, but these benefits were not declared once Farage became an MP. Farage has since stepped down as an MP and is standing for re-election in the constituency of Clacton.

Farage has consistently argued any money given to him before he was elected an MP came in a personal capacity and therefore did not need to be declared. Lawyers for Cottrell have said he "categorically disputes allegations and assertions made by The Sunday Times, which clearly fail to reflect what that publisher was told in advance of its reporting".

Asked by the Sunday Times if Cottrell had transferred money to his mother before she made donations to Reform UK, his lawyers at Carter Ruck said: "Our client has confirmed his instructions that any donations by his mother have been entirely her own decision."

George Cottrell has long been a close political and personal ally of the Reform UK leader.

He pleaded guilty to fraud in the United States and spent eight months in jail there, before being released in 2017.

Upon his release he moved back to the UK and now lives in Montenegro.

At a rally in Norfolk on Tuesday Nigel Farage said he had "absolutely no idea" whether George Cottrell had given money to his mother to donate onwards to the party, adding, "What's it got to do with me how families sort out their finances?"

"If the money was hers legally and she gave the donation, I don't see what the problem is," he said.

Britain Means Business was set up in August 2017 under the name Leave Means Leave and campaigned for a "clean Brexit".

The organisation was set up by Tice and John Longworth, a former boss of the British Chambers of Commerce and prominent Brexit campaigner.

Longworth left Leave Means Leave in January 2020, the month the UK officially left the EU.

A few months later Tice changed the organisation's name to Britain Means Business. He now solely owns and controls the business.

Zelensky tries to fix crisis over removal of defence minister and counts the cost

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1d1gz3n99ro, yesterday

With an acting defence minister in place and a new commander-in-chief in charge of the military, Ukraine's recent political crisis is over, right?

Not so fast.

The political fallout from President Volodymyr Zelensky's 15 July decision not to re-appoint Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister, as part of a cabinet reshuffle, continues to reverberate about Kyiv and beyond, even as air raid sirens wail and Russian drones and missiles are intercepted overhead.

Fedorov's mostly young supporters are still mounting daily street protests, demanding that Zelensky reinstate the popular young innovator widely credited with driving much of Ukraine's recent technological innovation.

On Thursday, Fedorov said he had rejected Zelensky's offers of alternative posts in government, saying there were only three positions worth having to influence the course of the war: minister of defence, commander-in-chief of the military or president of Ukraine.

"If you don't have a ministry under you, you don't have a budget," ex-deputy defence minister Alina Frolova said, "and you don't actually have the authority to do something."

Fedorov's reference to the presidency did not go unnoticed. Was this the first public sign that the ousted minister sees himself as a rival to Zelensky?

One former defence official suggested he became a real candidate for the presidency the moment he was dismissed.

But with the country at war and no elections scheduled – Ukraine's constitution still prevents them in wartime – how useful is it to put your head above the political parapet so far in advance?

"He's being childish," one opposition MP told me, on condition that he remained anonymous.

"He's looking to further his political career, which I think is just stupid in the circumstances where we are."

The president's supporters say Zelensky has gone to great lengths to resolve the crisis, especially over the question of who to replace the unpopular commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Eventually he decided on Maj Gen Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, a highly respected former commander of Ukraine's land forces.

"He consulted pretty much every significant figure in the Ukrainian army," former government adviser Yuriy Sak told the BBC earlier this week.

"So the decision that he has taken now is very well informed, and I support it because General Drapatyi is a young, battle-proven, modern general who will take our defences to a new level, hopefully."

But while Drapatyi's appointment has been generally welcomed, it only represents a partial fix by a president scrambling to repair the damage caused by his removal of Fedorov.

Ironically, for a president whose youth and apparent dynamism propelled him to power in 2019, Zelensky seems to have misjudged the mood of young Ukrainians, eager for their leaders – political and military – to represent their values and aspirations.

"It's quite natural that people want to see someone who is a warrior against corruption, who is very modern, who is young," Oleksandr Merezhko, an MP from Zelensky's Servant of the People party, said.

"People want to see something like that in politics, which they consider to be dirty and full of hypocrisy. They need heroes."

But Merezhko agrees that Fedorov's ambitions and almost mythic, popular status may have brought about his downfall, especially for a president with a track record of sidelining those he sees as potential rivals.

"Don't outshine your master," Merezhko says, quoting from Robert Greene's 1998 self-help book, The 48 Laws of Power.

Most analysts agree that last week's reshuffle had one overarching purpose: to cut Fedorov down to size. But Zelensky's strategy appears to have backfired.

"His removal has led to the opposite result," Merezhko says. "His rating soared. Just soared."

Few doubt Fedorov's commitment, imagination and drive, but some question whether his outsized reputation is fully justified.

They point out that he inherited a situation in which Ukraine had already successfully built up its medium- and long-range strike capabilities, something over which the defence minister has little day-to-day influence.

"The energy and clarity he brought to the job was impressive and he showed immense personal courage," a former European defence official said. "But the thing that will carry on regardless is the innovation culture. It's 2,000 companies, not a single individual."

One opposition MP, who asked not to be identified, put it more bluntly.

"Ninety-nine per cent of these young people on the street have no clue how the ministry of defence is operating, how the general staff is operating," he said.

"They think Fedorov is good because he wants to fight with drones and Syrskyi was bad because he was looking for people to fight. It's a dramatic simplification which is totally wrong."

But understandable, perhaps, in a country exhausted by 12 years of war with Russia. Who would not want to believe that drones and robots can do the job, rather than a member of your own family, roughly conscripted on the streets of your own hometown?

Everyone agrees that Ukraine needs to put this politically toxic episode behind it before summer gives way to autumn and the country braces itself for another Russian assault on its energy grid.

"We need to prepare for how we will get through the winter," Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday.

Politicians and experts interviewed for this piece mostly agree that while the political damage of this episode continues to undermine President Zelensky's authority and reputation, Ukraine is unlikely to experience significant setbacks on the battlefield.

What Zelensky calls his "long-range sanctions" campaign against Russia is in full swing, causing mounting damage to the Russian economy.

Ukraine's long front lines, meanwhile, remain largely static, thanks to a 15-30km (9-18-mile) wide "kill zone" where anything or anyone who moves is observed and attacked by drones.

As a young, still relatively immature democracy, Ukraine's institutions have been put under colossal strain by Russia's full-scale invasion. But, many argue, the country remains resilient and resourceful.

"The secret of Ukraine's success is that we are much stronger horizontally than vertically," opposition MP Andrii Osadchuk told me.

"I hope the damage will be minimal."

ICC top prosecutor removed over sexual misconduct allegations

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqjxddx12qqo, yesterday

Members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have voted to dismiss Karim Khan as chief prosecutor for alleged sexual misconduct.

Elected the ICC's third prosecutor in 2021, Khan was suspended last month. The decision to remove him was passed with 82 votes in favour.

The court's oversight body found in June he had committed a "serious breach of duty and serious misconduct" by engaging in an improper sexual relationship with a junior ICC staff member and seeking to stop her pursuing her complaint.

Khan has repeatedly denied all the allegations against him. His lawyer said he would challenge "the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms".

It was not immediately clear what legal avenues remained open to the ousted prosecutor.

In a statement after the vote, the ICC "took note" of the decision of the Special Session of the Assembly of States Parties - the 125 member states which voted to remove Khan.

"The Court will continue to attach the utmost importance to maintaining a safe, inclusive, and respectful working environment for all personnel," the ICC statement said.

The entire process, however, goes beyond the fate of a single prosecutor and could reshape the world's only permanent war‑crimes tribunal.

The misconduct investigation has put the institution under a glaring spotlight, intensified divisions inside it and played out alongside an unprecedented campaign to weaken, and in fact dismantle, the ICC in its entirety.

The fear among its supporters is that the court will emerge weakened and less able to face the gravest global threats.

Khan, a prominent British lawyer, has been on voluntary leave to fight the allegations since May 2025. He remains suspended from practising law in the UK, after the Bar Standards Board imposed an interim ban while it conducts its own inquiry.

He was unable to attend the vote, held in the United Nations headquarters in New York, because he is barred from entering the United States under sanctions imposed by the Trump administration over the ICC's investigation into alleged war crimes by Israeli officials in Gaza.

Regardless of his removal, the controversy is unlikely to end there.

The decision follows a highly sensitive process that has left the court under intense scrutiny.

In May 2024, allegations that Khan had engaged in sexual misconduct involving a female staff member were reported to the ICC by a third party.

The court's Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) opened an investigation, but the case was later closed after the alleged victim declined to participate.

Critics of the process argued that the investigation had been mishandled, undermining confidence in the IOM.

Investigators ultimately said there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations.

A second referral was made in October 2024. The matter was then transferred to the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which conducted a broader investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of authority.

That inquiry ran from November 2024 to December 2025 and generated more than 5,000 pages of evidence and testimony.

The OIOS findings were subsequently reviewed by a panel of three judges tasked with advising whether Khan's conduct amounted to serious misconduct, less serious misconduct, or no misconduct.

The allegations have unfolded during a period of exceptional pressure on the ICC, coinciding with wider political tensions.

The United States imposed sanctions on Khan after he sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged crimes linked to the war in Gaza.

Washington's attitude to the court in general has become increasingly hostile in recent years.

Earlier this month, the US launched a new "whole‑of‑government" campaign to dismantle the ICC "brick by brick" in what it calls a threat to American sovereignty, promising visa bans, asset freezes and diplomatic pressure on allies to withdraw from the court or reject its jurisdiction over their nationals.

The United States, Russia and Israel are not members of the ICC. However, the court can exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed by their nationals on the territory of ICC member states.

Warning shot or publicity stunt - how worried should we be about the OpenAI hack?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9w22n9e4go, yesterday

This week the tech world was gripped by a story that has it all - and which started like a sci-fi thriller.

Hugging Face - a kind of app store for artificial intelligence tools - announced on 16 July it had been hacked by a cyber criminal wielding enormously powerful AI.

The bombshell announcement was full of scary, highly technical terms: "a swarm of sandboxes", "agentic attacker", and "self-migrating command and control".

Hugging Face said the hack was different from anything it had handled before because it was done at superhuman speed by an AI with little or no human guidance.

The AI performed 17,000 actions in less than two days, successfully breaching the large wealthy tech company to steal secrets.

It left the tech world in shock. But who was responsible for this attack?

Hugging Face researchers guessed the mysterious attackers had used one of the big AI models but they had no idea who or where the criminals were.

The perplexed company contacted the police and investigations commenced.

Who did it?

Commentators and analysts took to their podcasts and social media accounts to guess which cyber crime group or nation state hacker might be behind it.

Then on Wednesday, nearly a week after Hugging Face raised the alarm, the true culprit was unmasked.

It was ChatGPT.

The Scooby-Doo-style reveal was made even more bizarre - and worrying - because OpenAI said its bot did the whole thing on its own, without permission.

The firm said it all went down during a test of its tech's hacking skills.

Two new versions of ChatGPT, designed to be master hackers, broke out of a supposedly secure test environment and gained access to the internet.

They then attacked Hugging Face to get access to the information to help them ace their exam.

OpenAI issued a press release explaining what had happened and said it was "partnering with Hugging Face" to address the security incident and share lessons learned.

Conspiracy drama

Since then, there has been fierce debate about the incident.

Was it truly a stark warning about the future of AI? Or was it a publicity stunt by OpenAI to show off how powerful their models are?

It's the kind of scare marketing AI companies have been accused of for years and, since the much discussed launch of Anthropic's Mythos model, cyber-security prowess has been a focal point.

One of the top comments on OpenAI boss Sam Altman's X post about the incident summarises this scepticism: "If y'all can't understand that this was written to purely brag about the model then I don't know what to tell you."

Cyber-security consultant Daniel Card said sarcastically on LinkedIn: "Isn't it lucky [that] out of the millions of sites that got pwn3d [hacked], OpenAI managed to pwn someone who also could benefit from the marketing exposure…"

For some, the story is more conspiracy drama than sci-fi thriller.

The message is: "Aren't my AI tools really powerful? Buy them so you can protect yourself from other people's AI attacks."

We can't know the truth, but the opposing point of view posed by other commentators is just as dramatic. Is this a sign that OpenAI made a potentially dangerous error in judgement and planning?

An OpenAI spokesperson said "we recognise there are a lot of questions and speculative details circulating" about the incident. They added that "we plan to publish a technical report of our learnings in the coming weeks".

Comedy of errors

I've covered lots of AI stories, including the fears around Anthropic's Mythos model.

My inbox is now chock full of cyber-security companies and experts criticising OpenAI for not building a stronger container to test its AI, known as a sandbox.

After all, these AI agents had been trained specifically to hack into and out of places with no restrictions at all.

"The OpenAI and Hugging Face incident is a real-world example of a broader issue we've been highlighting for months," said Dor Sarig from Pillar Security. "Sandboxes alone are not a sufficient security boundary for agentic AI."

Cyber security Professor Alan Woodward from Surrey University told reporters OpenAI had "egg on it's face", and Katie Moussouris from Luta Security went further, suggesting the AI industry is failing to control its dangerous inventions.

"We are working on cutting edge technology without the knowledge to contain it," she said.

"Just because we have the smartest people developing AI does not mean we have the ability to do so safely."

According to these views, if the hacking incident was a publicity stunt then it appears as though it backfired.

Whatever led to the hack, it's clear this is a major moment for the AI industry and the cyber security world, which collided this year in ways people had been fearing for a long time.

Addressing this fierce debate, AI and cyber security advisor Francesca Bosco said: "Two simplistic narratives are equally unhelpful: that this was a Hollywood-style escape, or that it was merely a publicity exercise.

"A more serious interpretation is that a stress test exposed weaknesses in containment and evaluation architecture."

Disaster movie

This event is the latest in a string of worrying and weird examples of AI agents going rogue.

In recent research, the UK's AI Security Institute (AISI) found frontier AI models are so fixated on completing tasks they "cheated" in tests to achieve their goals.

The research from AISI came with this worrying warning: "A model that pursues a goal through unintended or unauthorised means may cause harm, particularly in high-stakes use cases."

Inevitably, this OpenAI hack has further fuelled fears of what could happen if AI agents are let loose. Could they go rogue on a larger scale and cause some sort of disaster?

This is particularly concerning with AI being used increasingly in warfare as seen in Iran and Ukraine.

Ciaran Martin, former head of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, offered a calmer view.

"It is a bit of a leap to go from this incident to saying that AI agents are going to take over drones and start killing people," he said.

But for Martin, and many others, the story is undoubtedly another vivid example of something that 2026 is teaching us fast: AI agents are now very good hackers - and that is something we have to prepare for, urgently.

Record 2,500 e-bikes and e-scooters seized by Met

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89nyk4pz74o, yesterday

More than 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters have been seized by the Metropolitan Police so far in 2026 – more than the number seized during the whole of last year.

The record figures come as the force continues to crack down on the two-wheelers in a bid to improve road safety and cut crimes such as phone thefts.

It is illegal to ride privately owned e-scooters on public roads in the UK, while e-bikes must meet certain requirements.

Cdr Neerav Patel, who leads the Met's crackdown on e-bikes, said that by combining new technology with "an intelligence-led approach to precisely target hotspot areas, we have cleared thousands of two-wheelers from our streets and crushed them".

More operations planned

Last year, 2,241 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters were seized by police in the capital.

Officers can pull over bikes they suspect to be illegal with common giveaways being speed, the use of throttles that enable users to travel at speed without pedalling and large batteries.

On Friday, 29 e-bikes and seven e-scooters were seized near Tottenham Court Road Station after officers set up a stop-site to test modified vehicles.

It marked the seventh such operation in London this year, with five more scheduled through the summer.

The Met is one of two police forces in the country, alongside Nottinghamshire, to deploy new portable roadside testing dyno kits.

The "rolling roads" allow officers to check if an e-bike has been illegally modified to go faster than 15.5mph (25km/h).

Some of the bikes seized by the Met have recorded speeds in excess of 27mph (43km/h).

The force said its operation was helping to drive down local crime, with neighbourhood offences down 14% in the 12 months to June, compared with the previous year – the equivalent of 35,000 fewer reported offences.

It said this included reductions in theft from the person (down 23%) and personal robbery (down 11%) – which offenders frequently use illegal e-bikes and mopeds to commit.

Cdr Patel added: "We recognise that the use of e-bikes [can be] perfectly legitimate, but there are a vast number of people intent on using e-bikes for criminal and anti-social uses. We know that e-bikes are used in phone snatches, particularly in this part of London."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk

The little-known Victorian sex cult where members were never allowed to leave

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgv4r568emo, today

What happened to members of a little-known Victorian sex cult still has international interest today, an author has said.

The group called Agapemonites was based at a chapel in Spaxton, near Bridgwater, which is now used as an Airbnb. People who joined the cult were told they could never leave, and many ended up taking their own lives.

Their leader, Henry James Prince, claimed to be the Holy Spirit. He made his members hand over their family fortunes and take part in sex ceremonies similar to scenes in The Handmaid's Tale, where Prince's wife would watch him impregnate other women.

"What went on behind those walls became a subject not just of local curiosity, but of international interest," said Stuart Flinders, a former BBC journalist and author of A Very British Cult.

Prince's first job was as a priest in the village of Charlinch, nearby to Spaxton.

"He didn't go down well because he told half the parishioners that they were beyond his help and were going to hell," said Flinders.

"He came to believe that he was the physical embodiment of the Holy Spirit - in other words, he was God.

"He would have conversations along the lines of saying to the Holy Spirit 'Is it going to rain today? Should I take an umbrella?'"

After being moved around various parishes and kicked out of the Church of England, he bought a plot of land in Spaxton and built a large chapel and house for his followers.

Membership of the cult was strict, and leaving was not allowed.

A number of members took their lives, and inquests at the time revealed the controlling power that Prince had.

"There were three sisters called the Nottidge sisters, who had each inherited £6,000 - about £500,000 in today's money," said Flinders.

"Prince told them it was God's will that they married one of his followers, which they did.

"This being the 19th Century, the women had to hand over their money to their new husbands, who put their money straight into the Agapemonites' coffers."

Talking about the sex ceremonies, Prince justified them to his followers by saying he was the physical shape of the Holy Spirit, and it was part of a religious ceremony where the Holy Spirit took flesh, Flinders said.

"All we know for a fact is there was a ceremony where everyone gathered, including his wife," he said.

When Prince died in 1899, a new leader from Somerset arrived, John Hugh Smyth-Piggott.

"During a service at a church in London in 1902, he declared that he was Jesus Christ come again.

"There were riots in the streets around the church, so appalled were people by this blasphemy. He had to retreat to Somerset," said Flinders.

When Piggott died in 1927, it was rumoured he was buried standing up by his followers to be ready for the call to heaven.

After his death, the cult dwindled and the home became more like "an old people's home".

The chapel was sold in the 1960s to become a TV studio, where classic programmes like Camberwick Green and Trumpton were filmed.

It is now used as an Airbnb holiday let.

Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.

Parents warned as hundreds of squishy toys seized

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8e72162qno, yesterday

Parents and carers have been warned about the dangers of some squishy toys after hundreds were seized by trading standards because of safety concerns.

Reading Borough Council said its trading standards officers impounded more than 320 sensory toys in the past week.

It said officers were concerned with a strong chemical smell coming from some of the toys and found that several items lacked the legally required safety information.

The local authority said while the toys may appear harmless, products that do not meet UK safety standards might pose a risk to children.

Consumers are being advised to stop using any squishy toy that leaks, splits or becomes damaged, and never to heat, microwave or tamper with them.

The council said enforcement visits are continuing across the borough, with retailers reminded of their legal duty to ensure toys comply with UK safety laws.

Non-compliant products may be seized and businesses could face further action.

Councillor Finn McGoldrick, lead member for environmental services and community safety, said: "Parents and carers should be able to trust that the toys they buy for their children are safe.

"These product seizures demonstrate our ongoing commitment to protecting consumers and removing potentially dangerous products from the marketplace.

"During the summer holidays, I would ask people to remain vigilant and make sure any toys purchased are from reputable retailers, that you check for the appropriate safety markings, and report any concerns about unsafe products to our Trading Standards team."

'Most people are lovely, but we do get irresponsible visitors'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c141ldl24zko, yesterday

"We want people to come and enjoy the Dales - it's the most beautiful place - but please just be respectful and stick to the rules of the Yorkshire Dales National Park", says Lisa Bowerman, one of the business owners and community leaders in North Yorkshire's two national parks who have called on tourists to act responsibly while visiting during the summer holidays.

High up between Wharfedale and Nidderdale, Bowerman and her team are making final preparations for a busy summer holiday season at Stump Cross Caverns - a vast cave system discovered in 1860 and which has been a privately-owned and popular visitor attraction since the early 1900s.

Bowerman says that while the boost to visitor numbers the school holidays bring to such attractions in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the North York Moors National Park is always welcome, it can bring problems, too.

"While most people are lovely, we do get some irresponsible visitors," she says.

"We're just asking people to show a bit of extra thought."

Visitors to the two national parks are being asked by Bowerman and others to take care by doing such things as avoiding littering, parking vehicles responsibly, keeping dogs under control and not using disposable barbecues which risk starting a fire.

In 2024, Bowerman and her now fiancee Nick handed responsibility for business decisions to their son, Oliver, allowing her more time to concentrate on the creative and educational side of running the caverns.

"That's why I've got a bison bone weaved into my hair," she laughs.

Based on last year's visitor numbers, and new features at the caverns, Bowerman says 2026 could be the attraction's busiest ever summer.

A total of 30 staff work there during the holiday season, with 20 of those kept on over the winter.

Bowerman says she is "always excited to see a busy summer day, because that means we'll be able to get through another week in the winter", adding that the six-week school holidays are "essential to get us through the rest of the year".

"We want people to come and enjoy the Dales, it's the most beautiful place," Bowerman adds.

"But please just be respectful and stick to the rules of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. That's the main thing."

"By doing that, everyone stays safe and the Dales are protected for generations to come. We all share that responsibility."

North Yorkshire Conservative councillor Richard Foster is another person calling for visitors to take care when visiting North Yorkshire's national parks.

Foster is one of those backing calls for a ban on disposable barbecues , as the Dales and North York Moors face an increased wildfire risk.

"Have a barbecue at home," he urges.

"Come to the Dales, but bring a picnic. Why be a fire risk?" Foster asks.

As part of his role at the council, he has responsibility for managing the environment, and the division he represents, Wharfedale, includes the village of Burnsall, where there have been problems with tourists dumping litter and parking irresponsibly.

As he walks across the village green, a worker from the Dales National Park is busy with bin-bag and grabber, scraping up any stray bits of litter.

The Yorkshire Dales economy is "first and foremost" based on tourism and agriculture, so it is "essential" that people come and visit the area, Foster says.

"We love people coming to the Dales, we love living here and we want people to come and enjoy the local area.

"So we need good tourism, which is what most people bring. But there are some who you wouldn't imagine they live that way at home, with them leaving litter behind.

"That litter is dangerous for wildlife and livestock and if it wasn't for local people getting on and clearing it up we would have serious issues.

"Most nights, people here will take a bag out with them and when they come back it's full. It's a really serious issue."

Anna Swaytin and Muzzy Petra, visiting the Yorkshire Dales from Burma, are shocked to hear the area has a problem with tourists leaving litter behind.

"That's such a shame. I have never been to a countryside this beautiful and want it to stay this way," Swaytin says.

"The river, the parks - everyone should take care of them."

Meanwhile, Petra points out that the Dales are a workplace and a home to many people, as well as being a stunning national park that people want to visit.

"You wouldn't go to someone's house after being invited and then just trash it and leave it," he says.

"It's just well mannered to clean up and leave it looking beautiful.

"That's the reason you went there in the first place, why wouldn't you want to keep it that way?"

A short distance across Burnsall's village green, Jessica Beeson is paddling in the cooling waters of the River Wharfe with her young son, Cameron.

Originally from the New Forest, Beeson now lives in Skipton with her young family, and she believes a policy introduced in her native Hampshire would work well in the Dales.

"The New Forest has banned barbecues completely. I think it's a really good idea," she says.

"There's no need for barbecues, especially when they cause such a fire risk. I don't see any issue with a ban. Just bring a picnic."

Beeson says tourism is "massively important" for the Dales, especially for its smaller villages, like Burnsall.

She adds: "I live in Skipton. It's amazing in the summer how many differerent accents and languages you hear.

"It would put you off coming if you visited a place and found lots of litter and rubbish.

"That's never been my experience, but I think that's because locals have taken it on themselves to do litter-picks.

"It shouldn't be on the residents, it should be on the visitors."

A 50-mile, cross-country drive away is North Yorkshire Council's Kirkbymoorside and Dales division, represented by Conservative councillor Greg White.

His patch takes in large parts of the North York Moors National Park, currently on wildfire alert due to the recent long spell of dry weather.

White knows about both fire risk - he works as a chimney sweep - and tourism, as he and his wife run a bed and breakfast from their home in the village of Lastingham.

He says: "Tourism is extremely important. We need people to come and visit the moors, to enjoy them and enjoy them responsibly.

"It's good for people's mental and physical wellbeing to visit, but we ask them to get behind the Don't Spark Disaster campaign the national park is running."

That campaign urges people not to light campfires and barbecues, not to leave litter, especially glass bottles, and not to discard cigarettes.

"If people do those things, we will have another fire," White says, referring to the devastating fire on the North York Moors last year which burned for more than 40 days.

'Stop lighting fires'

The blaze on Langdale and Fylingdales moors was likely to have been caused by cooking with a naked flame, according to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

A recent report also confirmed a second fire 1.8 miles (3km) away from the first was caused by a smoker who dropped a cigarette after stopping to watch the first fire.

"The fire last summer was devastating. It will take a lot of money and a lot of years just to mitigate the damage done," White says.

"It will take centuries to replace the peat that was lost. Earlier this month we had a fire at Chop Gate, caused, we think, by a barbecue.

"It was only due to the rapid intervention of the fire brigade and 30 volunteer gamekeepers and farmers that another major catastrophe was averted.

"Even then eight, acres of moorland were destroyed.

"People are worried, so please: do come, enjoy the moors, but please stop lighting fires."

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

'It eats away at my body': The human cost of S Korea's ultra-convenient overnight deliveries

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq6dgz7e4m8o, yesterday

A week before her son died Park Mi-suk asked him to quit his job.

For more than a year, the 27-year-old had been working overnight shifts at a warehouse for the country's largest online retailer, Coupang. He steered pallet movers with stacks of plastic bins and cardboard boxes across the sprawling space.

In that time, Park says, her son lost 15kg and often complained of how tired he was.

But Jang Deok-jun refused to quit. He compared his job to being on a seesaw: if he stepped down, his co-workers would struggle to keep going.

The following week, Park found him unconscious and hunched over in the bath.

"We pulled him out and performed first aid. We rushed him to hospital, where they declared him dead."

Jang died of a heart attack. The state-run insurer that covers healthcare for workers, Comwel, blamed his death on overwork following an investigation.

Park wishes she had noticed Jang's exhaustion sooner. "I didn't pay attention to my son's words, so I lost my son. But I hope others won't repeat the same mistake."

Jang died in 2020 but six years on, Park is still fighting to end what she believes is the reason for his death: night-time deliveries.

Jang died as deliveries surged during the pandemic, which was often cited to explain his workload.

But the working conditions for warehouse and delivery workers have been the subject of a growing national debate, with their union claiming that suspected deaths from overwork have continued.

Night-time deliveries have become ubiquitous in hyper-connected South Korea, where shoppers are guaranteed delivery by 07:00 for orders placed before midnight. This convenience is thanks to a huge overnight workforce, from warehouse workers like Jang to delivery drivers.

Several companies compete to offer speedy, cheap deliveries but the biggest is Coupang.

Founded by a Korean-American, it became synonymous with online shopping in South Korea after 2015, when it started offering fresh produce overnight. It has grown to have an unrivalled network of warehouses and delivery trucks, with nearly 100,000 employees across the business.

But increasingly, this industry is under scrutiny.

Between 2020 and May 2026, Comwel ruled that 46 warehouse and delivery workers, including Jang, died of a stroke or heart disease that count as work-related deaths. Jang aside, it's unclear how many of them worked overnight shifts.

Comwel did not say how many of these cases were also investigated for the role of overwork, which only happens if the family asks for it in their claim. And not every case is referred to Comwel in the first place, so the data can be patchy.

Previously Comwel data suggested that day-time delivery workers died of overwork and accidents at a higher rate than those who work overnight.

But that is now questioned by those who say night-time deliveries are expanding fast, and there is not enough data to fully document their impact yet. The workers' union also argues that the latter is more harmful to health in the long-term.

Night-time work is a probable cause of cancer globally, according to the UN's cancer research body. "Not only that, evidence has been accumulating that it also raises the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and mental illness," says Kang Mo-yeol, professor of occupational medicine at the Catholic University of Korea.

South Korea doesn't limit overnight working hours, unlike in the UK, where night-time delivery drivers cannot work more than 10 out of 24 hours.

The Korean delivery workers' union called for a ban on overnight deliveries in 2025, but the union for Coupang's drivers says nearly all of their members prefer working at night.

Some have children, elderly or ill family members to care for during the day and, more importantly, it pays better.

"I can't do this for life because it eats away at my body," says Kim, a Coupang driver on a sub-contract, who did not want to share his real name. But he adds that his monthly salary of around 7m won ($4,600; £3,430) - nearly double the national average - makes it worth it.

When the BBC met him at 22:00, he had already loaded his truck for the first round of deliveries.

Driving through the narrow streets of Incheon city, west of the capital Seoul, he explains that he works from 21:00 to 07:00, five to six days a week.

His schedule does not allow for a break. Every time the truck stops, he runs, package in hand. Nearly all drivers are paid by the number of packages they deliver and if they fail to make all deliveries by 07:00, they risk losing their "territory" to a competitor, he says.

At first, his pregnant wife was scared he might fall asleep at the wheel. But he is used to it now, he insists, and he finds it easier to navigate the night's empty streets.

"We choose to deliver overnight for the money," Kim says. The way he sees it, those who are saying overnight deliveries should stop because they affect his health are ignoring the choice he has made.

But men like Kim are becoming invisible, Jang's mother Park says, as the demand for fast deliveries grows, normalising the industry.

Park spoke to the BBC outside Coupang's headquarters in Seoul's office district of Songpa. Standing alone in front of the gate, she told staff streaming out for lunch to remember her son and others like him. Few paid attention.

Park says one of the challenges is how hard it is to hold employers accountable in cases like Jang's.

She says it was on her to prove that her son had died from overwork, and Coupang was obligated to provide records, including security camera footage, to Comwel, but not her. After months of leaning on lawmakers and government agencies, she received Jang's work log and relevant CCTV footage.

In the months before his death, Jang's working hours met the bar for how South Korean law defines deaths related to overwork: heart attacks or brain strokes after an average 60-hour-week over 12 weeks, or 64 hours a week in the four weeks leading up to death.

Jang's overnight hours counted 30% more towards the calculation, according to Comwel's rules.

As Park continued her fight, local media published what Coupang's former chief privacy officer claimed was a conversation with Chairman Bom Kim.

In the leaked chat, Kim orders the executive to remove mentions of Jang "working hard" from internal reports: a phrase several employees used to describe Jang's final shift. Coupang called it a "groundless" claim by a disgruntled former executive.

But the union accused the firm of covering up evidence and filed a criminal complaint. The police launched an investigation into Coupang in December 2025. Coupang denies the accusation, saying it had submitted everything that was requested and had fully cooperated with Comwel's investigation.

By then, another high-profile case was in the headlines. Oh Seung-yong, 34, died after crashing his truck into a pole during a delivery run. It was an "occupational death", or work played a role, Comwel ruled.

Oh's sister told parliament his work log showed that he had been working six days a week, more than 11 hours a day, and mostly at night. According to her, when their father had died days earlier, Oh delivered orders for another four hours before coming to hospital. He worked for a logistics company contracted by Coupang.

Coupang says it restricts its employees to working for under 52 hours and gives sub-contracted drivers the full weekend off every two weeks. But the union alleges that this was not enforced by Oh's employer.

The firm added that it fully pays for health check-ups for direct employees and sub-contracted drivers, and "has never had a single industrial accident death, which is the best safety record in the entire global logistics industry".

Coupang CEO Harold Rogers was summoned to parliament in December 2025 over the deaths of Jang and Oh, as well as to answer for a recent data breach at his firm, involving 37.5 million users. The country's largest ever breach, it earned them a record $410m fine.

During the televised hearing, Park demanded that Coupang's Chairman Kim be held accountable for her son's death, while Oh's sister asked for an apology from Rogers. He said he was "sorry" and offered his "deepest condolences". When Oh's sister pressed further, he was silent.

The investigation into Coupang has also raised key questions for President Lee Jae Myung, who has a disability in his left arm from an old injury at a factory. He made it one of his priorities to reduce workplace injuries and deaths.

Stories like Jang's and Oh's resonate deeply in South Korea, where gruelling work hours are no anomaly. It has one of the highest rates of workplace deaths among developed countries, a grim statistic it has been trying to improve for decades.

The government has capped weekly work hours at 52 and passed a law to jail executives for negligence leading to workplace deaths.

To break Coupang's stranglehold, the governing party even proposed relaxing existing restrictions so more retailers can deliver overnight. But the bill angered unions, activists and Park, who say the challenge goes beyond Coupang.

"I've been haunting the streets since my son died," Park says.

Because of all the time spent fighting for compensation and answers, she was forced to close her furniture-making business. She could no longer afford to live in her old home and moved to a rental apartment in Daegu city.

She has kept all of Jang's belongings, including his collection of action figures. They sit in a box in her new apartment.

She isn't ready to say goodbye yet, or to give up her fight.

Recalling how Jang compared his work to riding a seesaw, where he held down one end, she says she sees it differently now.

Jang and tens of thousands of workers like him are on one side for the convenience of the consumers on the other end, she says.

"I hope we don't become a society where we close our eyes to others' sacrifice for a little convenience."

Faisal Islam: The UK's Trump trade deal no longer looks world-beating

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9v4ymwddwgo, 2 days ago

It has been a long road for President Donald Trump as he looks for a justification to erect a tariff wall around the US, including against key allies.

From the opioid crisis to illegal migration, then the need to bring manufacturing back to America's shores, the list goes on.

Through Trump's second term, there has been a new justification almost every month for the trade levies he is seeking to place on allies.

Some have been overturned by the courts, others by economics and some even by their own logic. And so, Trump has now turned to effectively accusing dozens of trade partners of trading in goods that have been produced using forced labour.

These are "tariffs in search of an authority", as one industry figure put it. The forced labour line shores up President Trump's tariffs against a challenge from Congress or the courts.

In practice, the levies are curiously similar by country to a previous round of tariffs imposed supposedly for completely different reasons.

The good news for the UK is that the regime effectively remains the same as before.

What has changed is that our nearest neighbours in the European Union now have a much better deal than before, and in turn are in a better situation than the UK.

While the UK and the EU each appear to have a 10% rate, the EU's is a flat rate, while the UK's will apply alongside other tariffs, in a range of goods including footwear and textiles.

The government has struck effective side deals on medicines, steel, aluminium, cars and, with the help of King Charles, whisky.

At the end of this process however the overall trade-weighted effective tariff rate for the EU (8.5%) could end up a bit lower than the UK's (6.8%).

It should not matter that much, but the help given by doing the first deal, and by post-Brexit trade freedoms, looks to have been short-lived.

The British Chambers of Commerce trade expert William Bain points to the competitive advantage for EU exporters into the US in some sectors.

The EU has secured better treatment because it has passed a ban on forced labour goods, which the UK has not.

This is not an accusation on the use of forced labour in supply chains. It is about the passing of specific legislation, mirroring the US ban on products that have used forced labour in supply chains.

There should be scope for a better deal for the UK, but it raises an interesting question about whether the government will pursue an EU-style ban. This is widely seen as a backdoor way to target China, in particular for conditions in its Xinjiang province.

Last October the government said it "remained firmly opposed to the use of state-imposed forced labour", but that it was "considering how best to reflect this position," citing "operational and legal complexities".

Since then, the UK has welcomed imports of Chinese cars, and is exploring a services trade deal with the country. The relationship with China has been a balancing act for the government.

This is also one of the global stories of the tariff wars. As the US repeatedly changes its rationale for tariffs, the rest of the world is focused on trading with each other. For example, Canada increased its trade with the rest of the world by more than it lost from the US.

China's total dollar trade with the US is flat in the first half of this year versus last year. Across the world it is up 21%, including 14% with the EU, 11% with the UK, and 24% with Africa.

There could be pressure now to legislate for a formal ban on forced labour products. Successive governments have opted for a lighter voluntary due diligence regime.

Will the US force a change in the UK and elsewhere, and what might it offer in return?

Or the UK may opt to keep its precarious geopolitical position by sticking to its existing deals in medicines, metals and cars.

What you need to know as two major London stations shut for three weeks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj63zn1edj5o, yesterday

London Charing Cross and Waterloo East will close for 22 days from Sunday, affecting train services across the Southeastern network.

No trains will call at the two central London stations between 26 July and 16 August while a £20m engineering project takes place.

Some Southeastern services will instead be diverted to other London stations, while others will terminate at London Bridge.

Trains will also run at different times to normal with passengers advised to check before they travel.

How will the station closures affect passengers?

No Southeastern services will call at either London Charing Cross or Waterloo East from Sunday until Monday 17 August.

Trains will instead be diverted to London Victoria, London Cannon Street, London Blackfriars, or end their journeys at London Bridge.

Timetables across the Southeastern network are set to be affected with trains operating at different times to normal, with fewer running on some routes.

The first and last trains leaving the capital will also change during the three-week period with passengers warned to check in advance.

Southeastern says people should "plan ahead, check before they travel, and make sure they know their last train home".

You can find a full list of how each route is affected here, or use Southeastern's journey planner.

Why are the stations being closed?

The works are part of a major £20m project which Network Rail says will improve reliability and safety for train users.

Some 1.8km (1.1 miles) of track are set to be laid and 16 sets of switches and crossings, which allow trains to move from one track to another, installed between Charing Cross and Waterloo East, replacing rail equipment that has been used for 36 years.

The ends of the platforms at Charing Cross nearest to Hungerford Bridge will also be rebuilt with new foundations. These are currently subsiding, and the concrete surfaces are deteriorating, according to Network Rail.

Waterloo East will see upgrades to track drainage in order "to maintain track quality and a smooth ride at full line speed for passengers".

The three-week closure will also allow engineers to make structural repairs to Hungerford Bridge, which dates back to 1864 and takes the railway over the Thames and provides two footbridges for pedestrians.

Network Rail says recent faults on the line have "caused over 21,000 minutes (350 hours) of delays to customers" and "completing the work in one extended closure will avoid a much longer period of repeated weekend disruption".

Southeastern told BBC Radio London the work is being carried out over the summer because passenger numbers are 20% down compared with the rest of the year, and it would otherwise take 60 weekends of closures to complete the same amount of work being undertaken.

What routes can Southeastern passengers use instead?

Southeastern says it encourages "those who are able... to cycle or walk to complete shorter journeys", or alternatively ticket holders will be able to use these methods:

* Jubilee line services between London Bridge and Waterloo

* Circle and District line services between Victoria, Blackfriars or Cannon Street and Embankment

* Thameslink trains between Elephant and Castle, London Bridge and St Pancras International

* Southern services to/from London Bridge and Victoria

* Bus route 24 between Victoria and Charing Cross via Westminster

* Bus route 26 between Victoria and City Thameslink

* Bus route 139 between Waterloo and Charing Cross

* Bus route 148 between Elephant & Castle and Victoria via Westminster

* Bus route 188 between London Bridge, Elephant & Castle and Waterloo

* Bus route 453 between Elephant & Castle and Charing Cross via Westminster

Things get more complicated depending on whether passengers use paper tickets or eTickets, sTickets and Smartcards.

Network Rail says paper train tickets will be accepted on the above London buses and at most train and Tube ticket gates.

However, eTickets, sTickets and Smartcards will not be accepted. Southeastern says it will have staff at the above London Tube stations to check and validate these tickets, but warns that this will not always be possible.

In those cases, passengers are advised to claim a refund for that part of the journey using a claim form available on the Southeastern website from Sunday.

Will the stations shut again in the future?

While services will return to normal at the two stations on Monday 17 August, further closures are planned on two weekends later in the year.

Charing Cross and Waterloo East will be shut on 22 and 23 August, with no services also calling at either station on 10 and 11 October.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk

Primark's new 'supermarket tactic' to woo customers in online price war

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3x4j8pgro, today

"Primark isn't as cheap any more."

It is something I keep hearing shoppers say when I ask them whether they shop at the fast-fashion giant.

"It's definitely got more expensive," says 19-year-old student Eshal Malik as she browses the jewellery at Primark with a friend.

But that might be about to change. Primark said on Monday that it was lowering prices on hundreds of clothing items, including jeans, jumpers and socks.

"It's the kind of headline you'd expect from M&S or Next," says retail analyst Natalie Berg, explaining that price cuts like this from such a low-cost retailer are surprising.

"You don't want to join a race to the bottom," she says. "But when Shein is selling dresses for £3, you've got to respond, right?"

Primark, which has more than 190 UK stores, has been experiencing a drop in like-for-like sales, a key measure in the retail industry.

The announcement of price cuts comes ahead of parent company Associated British Foods' plan to spin off the business onto the London stock market next year.

The level of competition among fashion retailers has "evolved dramatically" over the past few years, and Chinese online marketplaces Shein and Temu are now competing for Primark's customers, says Berg.

But there is also competition from other online retailers like TikTok Shop and Vinted, she says.

By slashing prices on some core items, Primark is likely hoping to woo shoppers with low-cost staples, in the same way that supermarkets attract customers with cheap milk and bananas, Berg says.

When Tasneem Jafar wants to buy new clothes, the first place she looks is Primark.

The 32-year-old from Salford has been shopping at the fashion retailer since she was 16, picking up jeans, T-shirts and beauty products.

But for the past few years, Tasneem has also been buying clothes from Temu.

Roughly every six weeks, she orders three or four new pieces of clothing from the retailer, she says.

For student Eshal, part of the reason Primark feels more expensive is because she knows how low prices are at Shein. She says she buys going-out tops for less than £10.

Temu and Shein have been able to undercut traditional retailers like Primark because they do not pay for physical locations, most of their packages are exempt from import duties – though this exemption is set to end in October 2028 - and they have an efficient operating model that leaves them with little unsold stock, says Berg.

Currently low Shein prices are seen as the new baseline, Berg says. And they are luring in younger shoppers.

According to Mintel research from July 2025, 32% of women aged 16-34 who buy clothes online said they had shopped at Shein during the previous year.

Low prices, abundant discount codes and seemingly endless pages of products all feed into its attraction.

Primark, in contrast, has a click and collect service but does not offer delivery.

Some shoppers think better value for money can be found elsewhere on the High Street.

Isobel Guffick, 30, from Staffordshire, feels Sainsbury's Tu range has greater quality clothes for similar prices. It is "really good for basics", she says.

To save money, she also buys clothes secondhand where possible, from charity shops, car boot sales and sites like Vinted.

She visits charity shops every week and loves the "treasure hunt" feel of finding a bargain.

As well as lowering prices, Primark says it is making improvements to the quality, fit and style of clothes.

The cost-of-living crisis is also affecting how much people spend on clothes, says Mintel analyst Bridget McCusker.

About a third of clothing shoppers say they have bought clothes less frequently compared with the previous 12 months, according to a Mintel survey.

Shoppers are more focused on getting value from their purchases, such as thinking about cost per wear, McCusker says. In Primark's latest trading update, it referred to a "challenging consumer environment".

Getting a couple of pounds off a jumper or a pair of jeans might not seem like a lot to a customer, but for a shop with tight margins like Primark, how might this affect the business?

"Our business model and focus on buying at scale and keeping costs low helps us to offer the prices we do, but we don't compromise on quality or ethics to do that," a Primark spokesperson told BBC News.

In its latest annual report, it said that about 85% of its products are £10 or less.

Crucially, the new lower prices do not cover everything Primark sells. McCusker describes the price reductions as a marketing exercise designed to bring in more shoppers - and says that even if they are drawn in by the lower prices of jeans or jumpers, they'll probably end up putting other items in their basket, too.

"Primark is known for that impulse nature," she explains.

One big issue for some fashion retailers is having big piles of leftover stock that has to be discounted heavily so they can shift it. Primark will be expecting that the price changes "will help them shift stock, meaning they don't have to discount too much any further," says AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould.

Ultimately analysts think Primark's new pricing is in response to a highly competitive retail environment.

"When it comes to staying relevant to customers today, you have to offer value for money," Berg says.

"Especially if you are meant to be the value fashion retailer in the UK, you have to deliver on that promise."

ADHD has rewired the workplace. This is what it means for bosses and workers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70gq125xweo, yesterday

Taking one of the UK's biggest grocery chains to an employment tribunal was something that Ryan Toghill says almost took over his life.

"It was all I could think about for 18 months and more," he says.

The deputy store manager at Lidl, who'd told his bosses he'd been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), was called to a disciplinary meeting after breaking company rules by using equipment he hadn't been trained to use. After that meeting, Ryan was dismissed for gross misconduct.

He successfully appealed the decision and was offered a lower-paid role. He rejected it and took his case to a tribunal. Eventually, he was awarded more than £45,000 when the judge found his former employer hadn't fully taken his ADHD diagnosis into account during the disciplinary process.

The judgement found reasonable adjustments during the process hadn't been offered to him, such as additional breaks.

He'd been described by a manager as showing "a lack of remorse," something the tribunal found was clearly linked with his communication differences associated with having ADHD.

"I don't show a lot of emotions," Ryan explains. "I could be incredibly happy, angry, upset, or remorseful, and my facial expressions and tone of voice would essentially remain the same."

The tribunal upheld part of his claims for unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and a failure to make reasonable adjustments. Lidl says it's "committed to ensuring that everyone receives the reasonable adjustments, clear communication and support they need to thrive."

Campaigners, lawyers and HR teams say cases like this highlight a shift that businesses should be paying attention to.

Thousands of people have been diagnosed as neurodivergent in the last few years, an umbrella term that covers autism, ADHD and other conditions such as dyslexia and Tourette's syndrome.

Since the pandemic in particular, diagnosis rates for ADHD and autism have been rising, and they're featuring more regularly in disputes in employment tribunals.

While many people who are neurodivergent don't consider themselves disabled, the Equality Act 2010 may give them protection by recognising their condition as a disability, regardless of whether they have a formal diagnosis. They're entitled to reasonable adjustments if they can show that their condition has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to do normal day-to-day activities. These are widely defined and aren't limited to work tasks.

Cases going to tribunal can be around employers not making those adjustments, but they can also be about how people are treated at work.

For example, a 2025 tribunal found a software engineer who had ADHD had faced discrimination because a manager sighed and made other expressions of "non-verbal frustration" towards him.

"What we're seeing in tribunals is rarely the result of deliberate discrimination," says Lutfur Ali, a diversity and inclusion adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the professional body for HR.

"Cases commonly stem from reasonable adjustments being overlooked, performance processes that were never designed with different thinking styles in mind, and managers lacking confidence because they haven't been given the training or the time to have the right conversations."

So, while awareness of neurodivergence has never been higher, why are more cases like this ending up in the legal system? And are businesses struggling to keep up with the needs of the workforce?

Overdiagnosis or underdiagnosis?

Irwin Mitchell is one of the biggest law firms in the UK, and its lawyers say their caseloads increasingly include grievances linked to neurodivergence at work.

Using the Ministry of Justice's online judgments database, the company identified 517 employment tribunal cases mentioning neurodivergent conditions in 2025, up from 265 in 2020. The most commonly cited conditions were autism and ADHD.

The live database is limited and gives only a partial picture. The Ministry of Justice says the figures should not be considered official statistics.

Diagnosis rates of ADHD and autism have soared, and waiting lists for assessments on the NHS in England are at record levels, with lists even closing in some areas due to the huge demand. Irwin Mitchell says those long waits have an impact on workplaces too. "Anecdotally, we're seeing a lot of people that are either threatening to bring claims or actually bringing claims, that don't have formal diagnoses," says Jo Moseley, a legal director at the firm.

Research from University College London suggests nearly a 20-fold increase in the number of UK adults diagnosed with ADHD between 2000 and 2018. Diagnosis rates for autism were eight times higher in 2018 than in 1998.

Despite these rises in diagnosis and referrals, some studies suggest both ADHD and autism are actually underdiagnosed.

In June, the Lancet Regional Health Europe journal published research suggesting that while around 1.2% of adults in England had an ADHD diagnosis, international prevalence data estimates it affects 3-5% of people. The authors of the study said this indicates it could still be under-diagnosed, particularly in older age groups.

Similarly, research by King's College London last year suggested that around 90% of autistic people over 40 remain undiagnosed.

Diagnosis levels aside, there has been a huge increase in awareness of the challenges neurodivergent people can face - whether it's in communication preferences, personal organisation, or sensory needs. In workplaces, many describe "masking," a term which means trying to hide their traits in order to fit in - something which can put a huge strain on the person's wellbeing.

"Society is playing catch-up," says Ben Branson, an entrepreneur who runs a charity called The Hidden 20%, which campaigns for better understanding of neurodivergence. He was diagnosed with autism in 2022.

"The recognition of adult neurodivergence has exploded," he says. "But we have always been here, we are just not hiding anymore, and there are millions of people finally understanding why they kept moving jobs, why they didn't fit, why they kept burning out and why they felt so exhausted, who are no longer willing to struggle in silence."

This year's City and Guilds Foundation's Neurodiversity Index found that while employers think they're "doing better" when it comes to inclusion, neurodivergent employees say they are seeing only small improvements.

The study found employers' confidence levels in their own "neurodivergent readiness" averaged between 70-75%. However, the proportion of employees who reported feeling psychologically safe telling their employer about their diagnosis, and who believed their organisation understood the impact of their condition, was between 32-38%.

Invisible disabilities

This disconnect between managers and staff is something employment lawyer Jodie Hill is familiar with. Her firm, Thrive Law, specialises in workplace wellbeing and works with both employees and businesses. She set it up in 2018 after getting her own ADHD diagnosis at the age of 35.

"In the last three months, I've seen more than I've ever seen before in terms of enquiries," she says.

So, what are some employers doing that leads to successful action being taken against them? Hill says one thing that comes up a lot is bosses asking for proof of a formal diagnosis, when this isn't the legal test. Another issue can be an employer looking to dismiss someone over performance before considering a possible disability. Both of which could leave them exposed to claims of discrimination.

In the training sessions she carries out for businesses, she says she hears from the employer's perspective that it can feel like "every other conversation is about people wanting support".

Fears over cost, and concern that doing something for one member of staff means they have to do it for all of them, can lead to what Hill describes as an "initial dismissiveness" from some employers. But that, she says, comes from a lack of understanding over what can be an "internal and invisible" struggle.

"There's a mindset from employers that it's very linear… and that all the symptoms are the same every day," she says.

Another challenge can be determining what constitutes a "reasonable adjustment," a sticking point which can be what ends up being decided in a tribunal.

Hill says some employers "don't know where to start" and wrongly assume that making reasonable adjustments means doing whatever the employee asks.

Some tribunals have shown the limits of what's "reasonable." In one case, an autistic claimant had requested extensive changes to the recruitment process at the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), including simplified questions and advance access to test questions. The JAC had already offered extra time and assistance from a friend and denied the extra requests. When it went to tribunal, the judge found the adjustments the person had asked for were "clearly going beyond what was necessary or reasonable".

While there isn't a check list for employers, lawyers stress that they have to be able to justify why they're saying no to something, and show they've looked at alternative options.

Jo Moseley from law firm Irwin Mitchell explains that when it comes to judging what is "reasonable", a tribunal would take into account factors like the person's role, and the size of the business.

"Big employers will certainly be expected to do more than small employers," she says, stressing that many adjustments can cost nothing or very little, such as looking at how meetings are structured, offering regular breaks, or somewhere quiet to work.

In one tribunal last year, the pub chain Greene King was found to have failed to make reasonable adjustments for a chef who was dyslexic and struggled with reading orders.

He'd asked for a Bluetooth headset. The tribunal found that the company's failure to provide this adjustment had led to his employment ending. He was awarded £24,000. A spokesperson for Greene King said it respected the tribunal's decision and that it was committed to upholding the highest standards of employee welfare.

"Ultimately, the purpose of an adjustment is to facilitate good performance, not to lower the standard of performance," says Prof Nancy Doyle, an occupational psychologist.

"Employers are anxious of challenge, anxious about saying or doing the wrong thing," she adds.

She explains that employers are not expected to keep someone in a job where they're risking safety or delivering less than their peers, but that in some workplaces, managers end up "covering for neurodivergent staff," leaving them in a situation where they are "dependent on kindness, which may ebb away over time."

Daniel Rickman, who runs glazing business Structura, decided not to wait for individuals to ask for adjustments - but instead offer them to all staff.

The company introduced flexible working, fidget toys in meeting rooms, and red or green "busy lights" on desks, that allow staff to indicate whether they're happy to be disturbed.

He says it means the business is "getting the best out of everybody" and he is retaining skilled staff. However, showing the polarisation around the topic, he says he has also been criticised for being "woke."

As awareness of neurodiversity has grown, some businesses such as Microsoft and BAE Systems have created targeted hiring programmes to attract neurodivergent candidates, aware of the skills they can bring to their organisations.

'Nobody fits into neat boxes'

Making neurodiversity a part of how workplaces are designed is what Prof Amanda Kirby believes is needed.

She's heading up the government's expert panel, set up to look at improving the job chances of neurodivergent people, and says a "medical" model of providing adjustments is inadequate.

"Nobody fits into neat boxes", she says, adding that training focused on doing x for dyslexia or y for ADHD is "never going to work."

"It's not neurodiversity over here, mental health over here, unemployment over there," she says, pointing out that those who are not in employment, education or training, and those moving through the justice system are less likely to have a diagnosis and more likely to be neurodivergent.

Kirby's report is yet to be published, but it's part of the government's wider plans to tackle stubborn levels of economic inactivity that remain higher than before the pandemic.

A Government report in 2024 found autistic graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed after 15 months as non-disabled graduates, and last year, the government's ADHD Taskforce estimated that "unsupported" ADHD was costing the economy £17bn a year.

The latest official figures show the number of people receiving Personal Independent Payments topping 4 million, the number of those with ADHD as their main condition was around 100,000 in April, up by 30,000 in the last two years. Just over half of these were aged 16 to 24.

The government is investing £3.5bn into personalised employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions in order to address problems with employment levels.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson told the BBC: "For too long disabled people and those with a neurodiversity condition have been left behind, ignored, and not given the support they need to get into work."

As well as costly, these tribunal claims are becoming increasingly drawn out as the UK's tribunal system creaks.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice put the number of open claims at a record high of 531,000.

Jenna Ide, a partner and employment law specialist at Thomas Mansfield Solicitors, says that the backlog adds pressure on employers.

"It can take several years for a case to reach a final hearing," she says. "In the meantime, employers are often required to make difficult judgement calls without knowing where a tribunal would ultimately draw the line," she adds.

Law firms say some tribunals are now being listed for 2030 and the backlog is expected to grow with the Employment Rights Act. From January 2027, this will give workers protection against unfair dismissal after six months instead of only after two years.

"Most people, even conservatively, think that there's going to be a huge explosion just in unfair dismissal claims," says Irwin Mitchell's Jo Moseley.

Not only could this backlog create problems in terms of access to justice, but according to Kirby, rising numbers of tribunals could have another troubling effect.

"Some employers will go, 'these people' are potentially going to cause us lots of problems," she says, adding that this could lead to a "hidden bias" in recruitment, where employers consider it too risky to take on someone they believe to be neurodivergent and so find a reason to give the job to someone else.

Ryan Toghill, who says he hasn't worked since leaving Lidl because of poor health, says his experience has left him conflicted over whether he would tell a prospective employer about his diagnosis.

But despite the challenges, his hope is that workplace changes will "trickle through businesses" in time.

"You've got to manage people differently if they're neurodivergent," he says. "You can get the best out of them, if you adapt a little bit."

Lead image: Getty

The 20-somethings betting big on tech stocks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20yz9v1llro, 6 days ago

In her teens, Michelle Huynh, the eldest daughter of migrant parents in Australia, made a promise to her family that she would become a millionaire by the time she turned 30.

The 26-year-old describes it as "a somewhat silly promise" inspired by the sacrifices her non-English-speaking parents made to raise the family.

But she is trying to make that dream come true by investing her savings in the stock market.

"Times are so different and investing has become a necessity," says Huynh, who works in sales for a tech firm. "It feels like our purchasing power is shrinking. This is the only way to combat that."

This year, the technology-driven surge in stock markets has edged her closer to that goal.

With more than a third of her investments in tech stocks, by the middle of July that part of her savings had jumped this year by 50% - a rise of A$31,000 (£16,100; $21,666).

But those gains have now eased to about A$22,000 as the sector is going through what she calls a "wild moment".

Huynh says she's prepared for the volatility, viewing those investments as a long-term bet.

The rise in tech stocks, led by firms riding the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, has attracted large numbers of ordinary investors, many of them in their 20s and early 30s, even as some analysts warn that the fervour around AI may be overblown.

Retail investors have been caught up in the excitement, which has been fuelled by social media and marketing efforts to draw non-professionals, says Glenn Tan from advisory firm Providend.

Huge swings - both ways

The tech-heavy Nasdaq in the US is up by about 10% this year, while Japan's Nikkei 225 has risen by more than 20%.

But many tech stocks have seen big swings - both up and down.

That volatility is most apparent in South Korea. Seoul's Kospi index, which includes tech heavyweights like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, has jumped by more than 50% since January.

The rally has attracted an army of retail investors, known locally as "ants", which has helped fuel volatile trading.

"I could maybe count with my hands the number of people who aren't investing today," South Korean investor U Chan Lee says. "Even stay-at-home mothers, like my mum, who has never been interested in the stock market, are now interested."

But the Kospi has seen some dramatic moves. Since hitting a record high of more than 9,000 points in June it has plunged to around 6,500.

Trading on the benchmark index has been halted seven times this year under a mechanism called the circuit breaker, designed to calm panic selling after it fell by 8%.

Those slides have raised concerns over people who have borrowed money to invest in stocks, leading to South Korean authorities taking action to curb the practice.

Lee, 30, sold many of his shares last year when the Kospi surged, concerned the market was becoming "too overheated". Since then, he has shifted to buying stocks when they fall and selling them when they rise a few days later.

The swings reflect the hazards of investing in tech, some analysts warn.

As governments and companies pour hundreds of billions of dollars into developing AI, sceptics are asking whether the technology will be profitable enough to justify such huge investments.

People often make bets on "optimistic outcomes" or "the most visible winners" that are not based on a business's profitability, analyst Lale Akoner from investment firm eToro says.

Retail investors often view drops in shares as buying opportunities, treating each sell-off as a "test of conviction", she says, but they need to be aware of "how painful valuation resets can be".

Chasing gains

Jacqueline Choi, from South Korea, says she missed out on bigger gains by not investing more ahead of the Kospi's rally, and was forced to sell Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics shares when she needed money.

"Why didn't I go in and buy those SK Hynix stocks or extra Samsung stocks with all of my savings?" the 28-year-old now wonders.

Earlier this month, computer chipmaker SK Hynix debuted in New York, raising $26.5bn to become the largest ever US listing by a foreign firm.

Some of Choi's friends have used thousands of dollars of their savings to invest in stocks.

"I should really invest more, knowing that investing can earn you so much more than your everyday job," she says.

Singaporean business student Shyan Lim is a firm believer in AI-related shares, putting about three-quarters of his savings into tech stocks.

The 24-year-old says there have been plenty of "uneasy" days when his investments plunged by as much as 10%, but he is willing to take his chances.

Overall, his bets have worked so far. In October, he invested 23,000 Singapore dollars (£13,185; $17,845) in chipmakers Intel and Micron. Those shares are now worth about 100,000 Singapore dollars.

"It feels like I'm one step closer to retirement," Lim says. "While I'm still young I think I can take the risk. I probably won't take such positions when I'm older."

With more than half of his investments in tech, George Lee, who recently graduated, says he is well aware of the lack of resources and other disadvantages that ordinary traders can face.

"Investing doesn't just come down to luck, though it does play a part," Lee says.

"As long as the fundamentals of a company don't change, I'm ready for the swings since I have time to let my shares run."

Not just down to luck

But not everyone is willing to bet it all on tech.

Singaporean student Ayush Deb says the sector accounts for only about a third of his investments. The 23-year-old says even that has been difficult for him, recalling how in June his memory chip-focused investments fell by more than 10% in just one day.

The same day, people on investment forums started discussing "who got burned".

"I've ridden the highs and lows of tech stocks but the sector is quite hard to read," says Deb, who has invested since his late teens. "I try to cut out a lot of the noise in this industry and focus on making informed picks."

Deb says he felt a sense of "FOMO" - fear of missing out - when he was unable to buy SpaceX stocks when Elon Musk's space and AI company listed in June.

But despite surging to $225 at one point, the shares have since dropped below their $135 stock market listing price.

That's as its potential for profitability has been questioned by some analysts.

Despite the buzz surrounding SpaceX, Singaporean investor Lim says he avoids newly listed stocks to give himself more time to study a company's operations.

He would do the same with Anthropic and OpenAI, as the leading AI developers eye $1 trillion stock market debuts, Lim adds.

In Sydney, Michelle Huynh, who creates her own finance-related social media content, says investing can be daunting for people entering the workforce because such skills are not widely taught in schools.

She added that staying on top of the news is an "underrated skill" and has recently turned to energy and metal stocks based on what she has read, believing they will benefit from heavy investment in chip manufacturing.

"I think many young people are afraid of investing - and validly so. It can feel like gambling if you're not aware of what's going on."

This farmer wanted to quit the cocaine industry - he couldn't

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kyml1zxz4o, 7 days ago

When Perea stopped growing coca - the raw material used to make cocaine - he vowed never to plant it again.

He uprooted the green bushes on his small farm in a remote corner of the province of Meta in Colombia, reachable only by river, and replaced them with legal crops like cassava and plantain.

Perea was one of thousands who joined a government-run crop substitution programme aimed at helping farmers abandon coca.

But much of the promised assistance never arrived, and a lack of roads and recurring floods made it difficult to sell his produce.

In 2024, disillusioned, he began planting coca again.

"It's a tragedy," says Perea. "But when you have children and no work, what choice do you have? If no help ever arrives, you go back to growing it."

The coca leaf is an ancestral crop traditionally used by indigenous communities in teas and medicines. But today most of it is processed into cocaine. An estimated 70% of the global supply of the illegal drug comes from Colombia.

"Coca has some major advantages over other crops," says Lucas Marín Llanes, a Colombian researcher who focuses on the coca economy and substitution strategies. "Harvests are quick - farmers can get three or four a year - it's easier to transport, and farmers know what price they'll get."

Research Marín has worked on shows coca cultivation can also boost local economies, increasing municipal GDP by as much as 10% in some areas between 2014 and 2019.

Substitution programmes were designed to help Colombian coca farmers move away from the crop and build legal livelihoods.

Yet today the planting of coca is at record levels at more than 250,000 hectares - and many Colombians in substitution programmes say they have been let down.

Elena Hernández moved to the coca-growing region of Guaviare during the boom of the 1990s, lured by better pay.

"There was more money back then - you could see it everywhere," she says. "I managed to save and buy a small house."

But the coca industry also brought violence and insecurity. Armed groups fought for control, while the government tried to curb production through manual eradication, aerial fumigation and arrests.

These efforts cut off families' incomes but failed to stem cultivation.

So when a nationwide substitution programme was introduced by the then government in 2017, Hernández was eager to sign up, joining around 100,000 families who were promised financial support in return for moving away from coca.

Each household was due to get 36m Colombian pesos ($11,000; £8,000), spread over a two-year period.

"The way it was presented to us, it seemed very promising for the development of our territory," says Hernández.

The programme, known as the National Comprehensive Programme for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS), was born out of the 2016 peace deal between the government and Colombia's largest guerrilla group, Farc.

In exchange for uprooting their coca plants, farmers would also get technical support, including from agronomists, and advice on soil management.

While substitution programmes had existed before, they remained limited in scale. PNIS was the most ambitious attempt to date - and at first appeared to be working.

In parts of southern Meta and Guaviare, coca fields were replaced by lemon trees, banana crops and small livestock farms. Many farmers, like Hernández, stayed away from coca.

Yet that does not mean they consider it a success.

"The government wasn't very committed to us farmers. We were treated badly," explains Hernández, pointing to problems that emerged early on.

Payments were delayed, and technical support frequently failed to materialise. Weak state presence in rural areas and poor coordination between agencies meant support often did not reach communities.

Momentum behind the programme weakened as political priorities shifted. Iván Duque, who became Colombia's president in 2018, refocused the government's approach on eradication and security strategies.

By the time current President Gustavo Petro took office in 2022, PNIS was behind schedule and struggling to reach communities.

But some farmers did report improvements. For Doralba Bejarano, from Puerto Rico in southern Meta, her situation improved as stalled support began to arrive.

"Before the programme we were terrified," she says. "We had to hide the coca paste because the police, the military, would put us in jail." Coca paste is a more concentrated form of coca used to produce cocaine, allowing growers to earn more than selling raw leaves.

Now, she says, she has peace of mind: "I go wherever I want. I have no reason to hide."

She says many in her community are now receiving government support to promote and sell their non-coca crops and other foodstuffs.

The challenges facing substitution are also driven by forces beyond Colombia's borders – continuing huge appetite for cocaine in the US and Europe, as well as newer markets elsewhere.

"Right now there is expanding demand, and so there will be supply to meet that," says Michael Weintraub, co-director of the Centre for the Study of Security and Drugs at the University of the Andes, which is based in Colombia's capital Bogota. "That means Colombia will grow coca for the foreseeable future."

Weintraub also describes the security context in Colombia as "fragile" - making it difficult for substitution programmes to operate effectively in many rural areas.

Although the 2016 peace deal led to the disbanding of large parts of Farc, other armed groups have moved in to fill the vacuum, and often control trafficking routes and the local economies.

The current government has sought to address this through its "Total Peace" policy, by which it holds peace negotiations with all the various armed and criminal gangs. But analysts say progress has been limited.

Last year, the government began rolling out RenHacemos - a substitution programme aimed at building on PNIS while addressing its shortcomings - in pilot areas.

While farmers will still get financial support, the programme also focuses on diversifying local economies beyond crop replacement. Wider assistance will include road improvements, access to university education, digital connectivity and better housing.

"Coca is a business," says Gloria Miranda, director of the government agency in charge of illicit crop substitution in Colombia.

"It's a criminal enterprise, but it functions like any other business. RedHacemos aims to replace not only the coca plant, but the entire economy surrounding it - from processing and agro-industry to transport and logistics."

Yet for many analysts, questions remain over whether such approaches can deliver lasting change. Llanes says the continuing growth of coca cultivation shows that repeated interventions haven't worked.

Perea is sceptical that government support to move away from coca will come anytime soon to him and his neighbours.

"The state has completely abandoned us," he says, standing amid the coca plants that surround his weathered wooden shack. "We live day to day, sometimes even running out of food."

For now, he says, he will continue to grow coca - not because he is a criminal but because, he says, it is his only option. "We are not the drug traffickers - if I was, I wouldn't be living like I do."

Craft and keyboard: The trainees mastering tech and age-old skills

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8dg1kpj48o, 6 days ago

Ollie Priestley is not just doing any mechanical apprenticeship.

Working at specialist car restoration business Tolman, Priestley, 29, has embarked on a "heritage vehicle technician" apprenticeship. He's learning the skills to work on modern classic cars that need a mix of traditional and new techniques to restore.

New technologies are enabling those techniques - from computer-aided design (CAD) for new vehicle components, to 3D printing them, as well as learning the intricacies of a car's electronic control units.

"I wanted to develop the skills that allowed me to work on the cars that I love and excite me, like the Peugeot 205 GTi," says Leicestershire-based Priestley.

"Getting to know how to make things keeps me focused and engaged. I've just fabricated a gearbox mount for a classic BMW. It's cool to know that the things I create will bring the car back to life."

Tolman founder Chris Tolman says what Priestley is learning sets him apart from apprentices in mainstream car dealerships, who, due to digital tools, are increasingly becoming "just fitters".

"The computer identifies the issue and they swap the part. For specialist car businesses, our technicians need to identify and understand a problem, and then be creative and innovative to find the answer," says Tolman, who is based in Warwickshire.

Tolman's point highlights an important question hanging over how trade apprentices are being taught today, as technology plays an increasingly bigger role.

As a result, apprenticeships are moving up the education value chain.

For example, Priestley's three-year apprenticeship, which he is doing through the Heritage Skills Academy in Bicester (HSA), was introduced in 2018 to incorporate 3D printing and CAD amongst other digital skills, alongside essential skills like welding and glazing.

It is a level three apprenticeship offering the equivalent of three A-levels. It replaces the previous level two and three "classic vehicle framework" apprenticeship.

HSA managing director John Pitchforth says it's "radically improved" as it combines "modern technology with engineering fundamentals".

Government apprenticeship data also shows that the number of people starting level two intermediate apprenticeships have fallen by nearly a quarter over the past year, in favour of people starting higher level apprenticeships - level four to seven.

Level six and seven respectively equate to bachelors and masters degrees. Level three apprenticeship numbers have remained stable.

But with tech having a growing influence over the curriculum, are apprentices now just learning how to run computer software, at the expense of the actual skills of a specific trade?

HSA's Pitchforth argues that the organisation's apprentices come out highly skilled - perhaps more so than those from other programmes.

"When modern engineers come to us to transfer into our sector, they often lack the basic engineering principles and are unable to diagnose and repair vehicle systems without a computer telling them what's wrong," he says.

Chris Iveson is CEO of FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics, a platform for industrial businesses to gain production monitoring data. He is based in Sheffield, where FourJaw works with a number of local businesses.

"The modern apprentice is increasingly learning two things at once: the practical skill of making, and the digital skill of using technology to understand what is happening in production," explains Iveson.

"That might include CNC programming (coding for automated tools), CAD, robotics, additive manufacturing, quality control systems and production monitoring, all of which now appear in modern engineering and manufacturing apprenticeship routes."

But he warns that if training becomes too narrow, apprentices can end up lacking a proper understanding of materials, methods, tooling, quality and process.

Just down the road from FourJaw in the city centre is scissor-maker Ernest Wright. Operating since 1902, it's one of just two scissor-makers left in the city, which once boasted a blade manufacturing industry of over 100 workshops.

Now just Ernest Wright, and William Whiteley, located on the other side of town, remain.

While Ernest Wright is proud of its long history, its the latest manufacturing technology that has helped it create a niche in the market for scissors and shears.

Working with the University of Sheffield, the firm introduced 3D metal printing to make new product development a faster and less expensive process. Now it can create highly accurate prototypes to then be made via traditional methods.

The company used 3D metal printing to revive its 1960s "nurseryman scissors", and now uses it to create a new product each year, largely based on vintage designs.

"Now we can make just six pairs of scissors through metal printing [as tests]. Then if we want to change things, we don't have to do it on 6,000 pairs," says Paul Jacobs who bought the company in 2018 along with fellow-Dutchman Jan-Bart Fanoy.

For trainee Elliott Nurcombe, who has worked part-time at Ernest Wright for the past three years alongside his aerospace engineering degree, the chance to work with such technology has added an exciting extra element to learning a trade he was already intrigued by.

"Maintenance wise, a lot of the parts for our machines simply don't exist anymore, so using modern technologies like CAD and 3D printing, we've been able to replicate some," says Nurcombe, 21.

"But I don't think that technology will take over or overshadow what goes on in this workshop. In terms of actual production of what we make here and what we do day to day, there's no real opportunity for technology to take that over from the people that work here."

At Whiteley, which has been running since 1760, 3D printing has also revitalised the business after a change of ownership in 2024. Sally Ward, an 11th generation of the Whiteley family, and her husband Jeremy retired, and sold the business to manufacturing company Kaymich.

Managing director Mark White is considering using new materials like reclaimed titanium, but is taking a measured approach to introducing further technology, in an effort to preserve the craftsmanship behind Whiteley scissors.

"At the moment I'm looking to recruit trainee scissor manufacturers, as opposed to looking to put people out of work by investing in more technology," says White.

"What we're not about is loading something on a machine and pressing a button."

Back in Sheffield city centre at Platts & Nisbett, makers of surgical instruments, the process now includes CNC at the first stage, which is when a software programme directs machinery to cut the components. They are then fitted and finished by hand.

Each instrument is also now laser tagged so it can be traced back to Platts & Nisbett, regardless of what hospital it ends up in.

Recruiting the next generation of crafts people, though, hasn't been straightforward as the rise of technology has shifted many people's interests that way.

"There will be an abundance of people who want to press buttons. It's getting someone who likes to work with their hands, other than computers," says business development manager Julie Topham.

Rental searches for pet friendly properties drop after law change

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj3gd312d8yo, today

Rightmove searches for rental properties that allow pets have plummeted since law changes gave renters more rights.

Following the introduction of the new rules, pet searches dropped by more than 50% in May and June compared with a year earlier.

Landlords in England cannot unreasonably refuse pets in their properties under changes made in May in the Renters' Rights Act.

But agents say some renters wrongly believe permission to have a pet is guaranteed, and landlords say some homes remain unsuitable for multiple pets or large dogs.

"Landlords must consider requests fairly and cannot unreasonably refuse them, but they can still decline where there is a valid reason," said Megan Eighteen, immediate past president of lettings agents trade body ARLA Propertymark.

She said there was plenty of "potential for misunderstanding", among tenants about pet-friendly properties.

Power shift over pets

The Rightmove data suggests that fewer tenants are proactively filtering for pet-friendly properties when searching for a home. While pets remain the most common searched-for term overall - ahead of gardens, garages and furnishings, the lead at the top is shrinking.

Renter searches for properties that allow pets fell by 54% in May and 52% in June compared with the same months a year earlier, according to the figures shared with the BBC. Falls had accelerated through this year, as the changes got closer and were then introduced.

Marc von Grundherr, director of agency Benham and Reeves, said some tenants have only disclosed a pet after signing their tenancy agreement, while others have been discovered during property inspections.

"The reality is that tenants now understand the balance of power has shifted. Landlords can no longer rely on a blanket 'no pets' policy to deter applications and should instead expect conversations around pet ownership to arise much later in the letting process," he said.

Now, in England, landlords may still be able to refuse a pet if another tenant has an allergy, the property is too small for a large pet or several pets, the pet is illegal, or the landlord is a leaseholder and the freeholder does not allow pets.

Before the rules changed, Eve Williamson had to give up her American Bulldog, Khan, or face eviction from her home - despite having previously had a dog in the property.

The 41-year-old former hairdresser, from London, described the experience as awful, especially as Khan had brought comfort while she gave full-time care to her mum.

"Life can get tough, but pets bring unconditional love," she said. "They're family."

Khan has since been happily re-homed, and Eve said she was delighted with the law change.

Katie Smith, 29, from Swindon, has two cats - Pumpkin and Pippin - in her rental home.

The new mum said the family had shared "wonderful moments" with pets, which would also teach children about life and death.

But she said the choice of places to rent still dropped sharply on property portals when pets were part of the equation.

"Landlords should give them a chance," she said.

Yet, even under the new rules, landlords were finding excuses to refuse potential tenants with pets, according to Russell Hunt, founder of Pets Lets, which matches clients with pet-friendly rentals.

He lives with a Basset Beagle cross, called Biscuit, and his three teenagers, who he jokes are more disruptive than the dog.

He said pet CVs should be used and landlords should consider the circumstances more carefully, such as older dogs being calmer and sleeping more, rather than simply ruling out tenants with large or multiple pets.

Cost to landlords

Representatives for landlords say they understand the importance of companionship that pets offer to tenants, but they can still face costly damage.

"Many landlords have legitimate concerns about the risk that some irresponsible pet owners pose to rental properties, or that some owners may try to keep pets in properties that are not appropriate for animals," said Chris Norris, chief policy officer at the National Residential Landlords Association.

He said that landlords faced issues including:

* No power to compel tenants to take out insurance

* No legal right to request an additional deposit

* A burden of costs should a pet cause damage to a property

Lesley Horton, the UK's chief property ombudsman said that landlords should not be levying pet surcharges as this fell outside permitted fees for issues such as late payments or lost key replacements.

However, a landlord could make deductions from the tenancy deposit at the end of the tenancy for proven pet-related damage.

Additional reporting by Kris Bramwell.

Students tell us how to keep graduation outfit costs down

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8n9lzj136o, yesterday

"From the beginning of my course, I've been thinking about what my graduation dress was going to be," says Keerthana Krishnadas. "I had to make sure I looked 10 out of 10, I couldn't compromise on that."

She is one of hundreds of thousands of university students graduating this summer and, like many, has been figuring out what to wear for a photo marking one of life's milestones - without breaking the bank.

"You can save some bucks if you thrift your outfit because you're only going to wear it once," says Keerthana. She bought hers second hand. "It was about 80 quid - a bargain."

The expense of graduation is keenly felt by many students and their families with costs ranging from transport and accommodation to clothing and photographs, says Tom Allingham of budgeting advice site Save The Student.

"For those who are the first person in their family to go to uni, it's a big deal for the family and there's a pressure to celebrate it - even though those students often come from a lower income background," he says.

The total cost can be hundreds of pounds with savvy students renting, making or thrifting their outfits to save money. Some have taken to social media to share their tips, vent their frustrations and break down the costs of their outfits.

BBC News spoke to students posing for photographs in Salford Quays to find out how they saved money on theirs.

Instead of scouring the internet like Keerthana for a bargain, Ehis Oboh asked his younger brother for help.

He is a tailor in Nigeria who designed and made the suit Ehis wore for his ceremony. Ehis now has a master's degree in international business and says it was important to mark the occasion properly attired, even if it can be financially difficult.

"When you have the funds, there's no pressure," he tells me. "But if the funds are not there - let's say, there's pressure."

The cost of renting a cap and gown for the day varies. Undergraduates and postgraduates at the University of Salford pay £42, while PhDs pay £45.

Across the river at the University of Manchester, the price increases by a pound for undergraduates and postgraduates, but those with a doctorate pay £57.

Ehis is not the only one who opted for a tailored outfit - Wendy Adu Amankwah wanted to create her own look for her graduation.

"My mum is a designer so she made this for me," says Wendy. "It took her a week… I'm her daughter, so she had to put in every [effort]."

Wendy says the significance of graduation inspired her to create a custom look. "I feel like you have to because it's your day. We go through a lot to get a master's degree so you have to look your best on the day."

Graduation also comes at a time when students are "the least financially resilient", says Allingham, as they have been absorbing the costs of studying all year.

The maintenance loan falls short of living costs by an average of £502 per month, according to analysis by Save The Student. This gap is plugged - sometimes only partially - by parental support, part-time jobs and debt.

Another factor that can increase the cost of graduation is buying an official photograph, with providers specified by your university, adds Allingham. "The price of photography on the day - it's extortionate."

Professional packages at the University of Salford start at £30 - an image of the graduate is sent digitally - and the most expensive is £350. For that you receive about 20 prints with various mounts and frames of two images, one of the graduate and another with friends and family.

Like Keerthana, Alicia Munhupedzi used the internet to find her dress - though it was a bit last minute.

"I thought, 'Where can I get a nice dress really quickly and cheaply?'"

The answer? Depop, the second-hand clothing app popular among Gen Z shoppers that sold for $1.2bn (£890m) earlier this year.

Like others, Alicia felt her outfit was important.

"Graduation, it's a milestone thing, especially if you're not planning on doing a master's," she says. "So, to me, there was a pressure."

So much so she couldn't sleep properly the night before her ceremony and woke at dawn to get ready. "I made it through today off two hours of sleep, water, good vibes, energy and a coffee."

Knowing all eyes would be fixed on her when she was handed her degree, Keerthana says she was nervous for her graduation ceremony - but it passed more quickly than she thought it might.

"This is the only moment you get for yourself," she says.

And was the 05:00 wake-up and two hours of getting ready worth it?

"Yeah," Keerthana says, "I couldn't compromise on that."

Additional reporting by Kate Berry and George Sandeman.

Paramount and Warner Bros pause $110bn merger amid legal challenge

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8en74yz5e7o, yesterday

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery have agreed to pause their $110bn (£82.8bn) merger until June 2027 while a judge weighs upon a legal challenge against the tie-up.

The pause follows lawsuits from 12 US states and the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who argue the deal would harm competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

The decision comes just days after European regulators approved the deal, on the condition Paramount would end a major film distribution partnership with Universal Pictures in the region.

With the deal on hold in the US, emergency court hearings have now been cancelled.

Despite the court freeze, Paramount and Warner Bros insist that combining their operations is essential to compete with digital streaming giants and tech conglomerates.

Paramount hailed the agreement as a "significant win", stating it provides a "direct path to a trial based on the evidence".

The company added that a trial is the "fastest" way to prove the merger is "good" for competition, consumers, and creators. The US Department of Justice approved the deal in June.

But state officials and Hollywood unions argue that merging two major studios gives one company too much control.

They argue the move would reduce bargaining power for writers and crews, shrink project options, and ultimately limit choices for viewers.

WGA head Tom Fontana previously warned it would suppress wages and eliminate opportunities for up-and-coming writers.

"It remains our view that this merger is unlawful, and we will continue the fight to block it," the Block the Merger Coalition said in a statement on 24 July.

Paramount insists viewers will benefit, vowing to release 30 films in cinemas every year – doubling its current turnout.

With preliminary court battles now bypassed, legal teams for both sides must submit a proposed trial schedule by 31 July.

Until a judge reaches a final verdict – or until 1 June 2027 – Paramount and Warner Bros will remain completely separate, competing operations.

We split money equally even when one of us earned a lot more

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz05rdn1n80o, 2 days ago

Hannah and Max have always split their money equally even when one has earned considerably more than the other.

"We've always wanted to do things 50/50," Max, 31, says. "We made a commitment to each other that what's mine is yours, and vice versa."

The couple got married after two years together, when Max was earning £70,000 a year working in tech, and Hannah, who works in the charity sector, was earning considerably less.

Their salaries go into a joint account and their mortgage, bills, food, petrol and other household costs are paid out of this.

Each month they take the same amount for personal spending.

If one of them wants to buy clothes, make-up or go to the pub they can do that without feeling watched and "it means we aren't accountable to each other for those things", says Max.

They also divide money into different pots, including savings and smaller funds for predictable spending like haircuts.

'Money was taboo in my family'

The pair came into the relationship with very different attitudes to money - Hannah's family discuss finances openly whereas for Max, "money was totally taboo".

"We never spoke about money so as an adult I was left without any knowledge of things like what's a good salary or how to negotiate my pay," he says.

When it came to buying a home together they had to be honest about how much they earned, how much they had for a deposit and what they could realistically afford.

"As first-time buyers, there are costs you don't think about, like stamp duty and solicitor fees, so it was important we both knew exactly how much money we had," Hannah says.

Now Hannah and Max say they make money an everyday conversation.

"Just this morning we were talking about what we can do to help improve our financial situation in the future," Hannah says.

Research from wealth manager Quilter suggests almost half of couples do not share financial planning equally, with 46% acting alone in some way and more than one in 10 leaving one partner solely responsible.

Relationship expert Karen Doherty has three pieces of advice when it comes to starting the conversation around financial planning.

The couple's system of sharing money remained the same even when Max was made redundant last year and they had to rely on Hannah's salary of between £40,000 and £60,000.

"There was shock and panic initially," Hannah, who did not want to disclose her precise salary, says. "But we sat down and really looked through where we could cut things out."

They cancelled gym memberships and Sky TV and went through their finances to make sure they could cover their mortgage and bills on a lower income.

Max had trained at culinary school instead of doing A-levels and university, but had moved away from hospitality because he felt it would not pay enough.

When he was made redundant he wanted to use the opportunity to create his own business in something he genuinely enjoyed - but Hannah had reservations.

"At first I told him to set this up alongside getting another job but we quickly realised the business would take a lot of time and energy," she says.

"We ran the numbers and decided that this was the right moment to take the risk given we don't have kids and no one else is depending on us."

Max spent £20,000 from his redundancy package buying and converting a horsebox trailer into a pizza truck, which now caters for weddings, parties and pop-ups.

He says the money he invested was their agreed limit to make the business work and if it failed he would find another job rather than putting in more.

The business now brings in between £4,000 and £6,000 a month in revenue and Max pays himself a salary that covers the mortgage.

For Max, the hope is that the pizza business grows and the doer-upper house they bought increases in value.

Hannah says her advice to other couples is to start talking about money before a big decision forces the conversation.

"Start with the small things like your salaries or how much you spend on different things as that will help the bigger discussions feel more natural."

Why are UK fuel prices rising again?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20zgjzz0e4o, 2 days ago

UK petrol prices have risen their highest level since mid-June, according to data from motoring organisation RAC, as the US-Israel war with Iran continues to affect drivers' finances.

The price of fuel tends to track the wholesale price of oil and both have been rising for weeks since the collapse of peace talks to end the conflict.

When the conflict began on 28 February, prices surged as the fighting severely disrupted the production and transportation of energy across the Middle East.

Prices then nosedived when US and Iran agreed to a framework deal to end the fighting in June, but wholesale oil has risen above $100 (£75) a barrel again as tensions resurface.

Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, said: "Unless the hostilities end soon, it's hard not to see the price of petrol reaching a new Iran war high."

How do wholesale oil prices affect the cost of petrol and diesel at the pump?

Crude oil is a key ingredient in petrol and diesel, which means that higher wholesale costs make filling up a car more expensive.

Analysts say every $10 (£7.53) increase in the oil price pushes up pump prices by roughly 7p a litre.

Since the war began, the price of a barrel of Brent crude – the global benchmark for wholesale oil prices – has been very volatile.

Before the conflict, Brent was about $70 a barrel, but the conflict saw it peak at above $120.

In early July, after the framework deal was signed, prices fell back to near the $70 a barrel mark, but have climbed back up again to above $100 a barrel.

What has happened to petrol prices in the UK?

According to the RAC, the average price of petrol reached an Iran war peak of 159.53p a litre on 28 May, while diesel's highest average price during the conflict was 191.54p a litre on 15 April.

In early July, the RAC said the average price of diesel sank to a low of 150.59p per litre for petrol and 164.52p per litre for diesel.

Since then the prices have been rising and according to its latest data, petrol now costs 156.19p a litre while diesel costs 173.15p a litre.

Despite the conflict, petrol and diesel prices remain below the levels reached in the summer of 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when petrol reached 191.5p a litre and diesel hit 199p.

Because transporting oil is a slow process, price movements in the wholesale markets take about a fortnight to show at the pump.

Fuel retailers have denied accusations of price gouging during the conflict. The official markets regulator said it had "not seen evidence of retailers actively changing their pricing strategies to take advantage of the crisis".

A government scheme called Fuel Finder lets drivers compare the cost of fuel offered by petrol stations across the UK.

Luke Bosdet, the head of policy at the AA, said the group had been surprised at the speed that prices had fallen and put it down to the scheme.

On 20 May, then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said a planned 5p increase in fuel duty due in September would be postponed until 31 December because of the conflict.

Why has the Iran war had a big impact on oil prices?

The Middle East conflict sent global oil prices soaring as it effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's key water transport routes for oil, liquid natural gas and other essential commodities - limiting global supplies.

About 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the waterway.

Despite the deal between the US and Iran, experts warn a return to normal levels of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will take time, and the impact of the war will continue to affect the global economy for potentially months to come.

Where does the UK get its oil and gas?

The UK is heavily reliant on oil and gas imports, with the majority coming from the US and Norway.

The price of oil on the global market determines how much the UK pays for it.

Although the UK does get some oil from the North Sea, most of that is exported for refining elsewhere.

You can also send us your questions by following this link

Reporting by Faarea Masud, Jemma Crew, Alex Daniel, Michael Race, and Mitchell Labiak

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UK mortgage rates rise to highest level for a month

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70gknr7z1eo, 2 days ago

UK average mortgage rates have risen back to the level of a month ago as renewed tensions in the Middle East feed through to homeowners.

Lenders' funding costs have increased as markets judge that a prolonged conflict reduces the possibility of interest rate cuts by central banks.

The five biggest High Street banks are among a host of lenders which have increased their interest rates on new fixed deals in recent days.

Recent projections by the Bank of England suggest just over five million homeowners should expect their monthly mortgage repayments to increase by the end of 2028.

Mortgage rates had been falling as a ceasefire between the US and Iran initially appeared to hold.

But fresh strikes and Houthi militia attacks on oil tankers in the Red Sea reignited fears over global energy supplies.

Oil prices hit $100 a barrel for the first time since May on Thursday after several days of increases, stoking fears of higher inflation and a lower likelihood of interest rate cuts.

Average rate still below Iran war peak

More than eight in 10 mortgage customers have fixed-rate deals.

The interest rate on this kind of mortgage does not change until the deal expires, usually after two or five years, and a new one is chosen to replace it.

The average rate on a new two-year fixed deal is 5.59%, according to financial information service Moneyfacts.

Although it has risen consistently in recent days and is the highest since 19 June, it remains below the Iran war peak in April of 5.9%.

The average rate on a five-year fixed deal is 5.61%, a level last seen on 7 June.

HSBC has also announced it will raise its mortgage rates on Monday.

"It will be incredibly frustrating for borrowers to see rates rise back up to where they were a month ago. The positive progress over recent weeks now feels all but lost, but what the market needs is a period of stability," said Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts.

She said 100 deals had been pulled temporarily as lenders reconsider their pricing plans.

She suggested that anyone who needed to remortgage this year could lock in a new deal now with their existing lender ahead of time, but should also seek help from a broker to see whether there are better deals elsewhere.

"Brokers are an anchor during turbulent times as they can help borrowers keep abreast of changes and be there step by step when going through a mortgage application," she said.

Borrowers had been heartened by the regular falls in mortgage rates during June and early July, but brokers say the latest changes are evidence of the uncertainty in the sector.

"Any borrower hoping for rate cuts to become an ongoing trend will need to rethink," said David Hollingworth, of L&C Mortgages.

"Momentum has performed an about turn and now clearly shifted to fixed rates rising in the near term at least."

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Tech titan ordered to pay ex-wife $644m in divorce settlement

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg68jky65eo, 2 days ago

The chairman of corporate giant SK Group has been ordered by a South Korean court to pay his ex-wife 944bn won (£483m; $644m) in a case that local media has called the "divorce of the century".

The award, which still needs to be finalised, is below the initial 1.38tn won that chairman Chey Tae-won was told to pay Roh Soh-yeong in 2024.

It comes more than a decade after his marriage to Roh - the daughter of a former president - fell apart following the revelation he had fathered a child with another woman.

SK Group runs SK Hynix, the semiconductor giant that supplies chips to Nvidia and recently made a record-setting debut on the US stock market.

Chey's lawyers said "Chairman Chey Tae-won is deeply sorry in that [the divorce] proceedings so far have caused concern to many people. We will share specific response to the verdict after we closely review the ruling."

SK Group is one of South Korea's chaebols - family-owned conglomerates that dominate the country's economy.

The verdict comes after deliberation over the division of assets between Roh and Chey, who had been married for 35 years.

During the earlier trial in 2024, Roh's legal team had successfully argued that Chey had received significant help from his ex-wife's father, Roh Tae-woo, who had served as the country's president between 1988 to 1993.

The court had determined that the strongman had given Chey 30bn Korean won from his slush fund in 1991, and told Chey to pay 1.38tn to his ex-wife.

But the Supreme Court overturned the verdict last year, ruling that the slush funds were illegally obtained and could not be considered as part of the couple's assets.

The case has gripped South Korea.

SK Group began as a textile company in 1953 but quickly grew across a wide swath of industries to become one of South Korea's biggest conglomerates.

Today, it is the second largest chaebol after the Samsung group. South Korean people buy phone plans from SK Telecom and fill their vehicles at SK petrol stations.

The group gained global prominence after its subsidiary SK Hynix found itself at the centre of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. In May, the chipmaker surpassed $1tn (£750bn) on the South Korean stock market.

As SK Hynix's value soared, the SK Group and its chairman Chey's status also rose.

Last month, President Lee Jae Myung commended Chey during the unveiling of a landmark AI investment plan, calling him and Samsung chairman JY Lee "Heroes of Korean People."

The company also raised $26.5bn in its New York share offering, marking the largest ever listing by a foreign firm in the US.

The BBC has contacted SK Group for comment.

What tariffs has Trump introduced and why?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn93e12rypgo, 2 days ago

Tariffs have been one of US President Donald Trump's favourite economic tools since he returned to the White House.

He argues these import taxes boost US manufacturing and create jobs. But critics say they have put up prices for American consumers and disrupted and damaged the global economy.

What are tariffs and how do they work?

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods.

Typically, the charge is a percentage of a good's value.

For example, a 10% tariff on a $10 product would mean a $1 tax on top - taking the total cost to $11.

The tax is paid to the government by companies bringing in the foreign products.

These firms may pass some or all of the extra cost on to their customers, which in this case means American consumers and other US businesses.

Companies may also decide to import fewer goods.

Why is Trump using tariffs?

Trump argues tariffs increase the amount of tax raised by the government, encourage consumers to buy American-made goods and boost investment in the US from foreign companies.

Parts of the US were hollowed out economically when free trade deals resulted in industrial jobs heading overseas.

Trump also wants to reduce the US trade deficit - the gap between the value of goods it buys from other countries and those it sells to them.

The president argues that countries that sell more products to the US than they buy from it are cheating the US and that tariffs correct this imbalance.

What did the Supreme Court say about Trump's tariffs?

In February 2026, the US Supreme Court said that Trump had exceeded his authority when he used emergency powers to introduce tariffs on specific countries without approval from Congress.

That ruling affected all tariffs Trump brought in under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

That includes the first tariffs Trump announced in early 2025 which targeted Mexico, Canada and China.

The ruling also covers those announced on Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" in April 2025, when the president set out tariff rates of up to 50% for dozens countries, including Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Tens of billions of dollars have since been refunded to companies that paid them.

Has that ruling killed Trump's tariff policy?

No. The White House has been looking at alternative ways.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Trump used different legislation - Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 - to impose temporary 10% tariffs on all global imports.

Those tariffs expired on 24 July, but have been replaced by tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on all goods from the top 60 US trade partners, including the UK, the EU and China.

The action is being taken under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, based on claims that the US's economic partners have failed to properly tackle forced labour.

However, one trade expert said the move was not about forced labour but Trump simply looking for a legal way to impose tariffs.

And in recent weeks, he has also used Section 301 to justify imposing tariffs on a range of countries, including a 25% tax on certain goods from Brazil, claiming that Brazilian policies have harmed US trade.

Trump has also announced a 50% tariff on a wide range of goods imported from Canada, in retaliation for what he called "unequal treatment" of US cars, dairy and alcohol, under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

Which tariffs apply to the UK?

The UK had already negotiated a 10% tariff with the US on most goods in June 2025.

The latest announcement does not change that, but tariffs have been removed on whisky imports, something Trump had said he would do after the King's state visit to the US earlier this year.

In 2024, the UK exported about £58bn of goods to the US - mainly cars, machinery and pharmaceuticals.

Under the terms of the 2025 deal, the 10% rate applied to the first 100,000 UK vehicles exported every year - roughly the number sold in 2024. Additional cars face the standard 25% tariff.

UK steel exports to the US are also subject to 25% duty, compared to the 50% rate which applies to steel and aluminium products from the rest of the world.

Have prices gone up for US consumers?

Many firms said they would pass on the cost of tariffs to US customers, including Target, Walmart and Adidas.

Some products have become more expensive - including toys, appliances and furniture as well as certain foodstuffs.

The cost of some goods manufactured in the US using imported components has also gone up.

In October 2025, a study by Goldman Sachs estimated that about 55% of the tariff charges were passed on to US consumers.

And in April, a Federal Reserve study said Trump's sweeping 2025 tariffs had caused a surge in inflation this year.

The White House has always maintained that it will take time for the tariffs to pay off, pointing to promises by firms and countries to make big investments in the US.

Despite the new barriers to trade, US imports actually increased by 4% in 2025.

How have tariffs affected the global economy?

Trump was accused of throwing the global economy into turmoil when he announced the first tariffs of his second presidential term in early 2025.

Share prices around the world fell sharply, as did the value of the dollar.

Although the US currency and global financial markets have since largely recovered, the ongoing uncertainty around Trump's tariff policy has continued to destabilise international trade.

Some US allies have looked to alternative markets, causing what some economists describe as a "re-wiring" of global trade.

In January 2026, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the tariffs had "definitely [slowed] down global activity", and warned further trade tensions could threaten economic growth.

Since then the Iran war has restricted the global supply of oil and fertiliser, pushing up prices.

China's Moonshot AI stole from Anthropic, Trump tech adviser says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ye2gyz0x4o, 3 days ago

A White House adviser has accused China's Moonshot AI of a "large scale" effort to steal the capabilities of top US artificial intelligence (AI) models.

US President Donald Trump's Science and Technology adviser Michael Kratsios said Moonshot AI carried out the campaign through what is known as distillation - when a weaker AI model extracts answers from a stronger one.

Moonshot also gained access to restricted cutting-edge Nvidia servers to train its models, Kratsios said in a social post on Wednesday.

The BBC has contacted Moonshot, Anthropic, the White House, and Nvidia for comment.

Kratsios said on X that the US government has information that Moonshot AI "distilled" capabilities from Anthropic's Fable AI for the development of its K3 model.

Kimi K3 gained attention around the world after it was unveiled last week, with many believing it to have narrowed the gap between Western and Chinese AI models. Moonshot said its K3 model is able to rival top US technology.

Moonshot is likely to have also used servers powered by Nvidia's GB300 Grace Blackwell computing platform, Kratsios said.

Washington restricted the export of Nvidia's most advanced chips in 2022 over concerns that they could be used by the Chinese military.

Since then, government's around the world have cracked down on the smuggling of the chips.

In response to queries from the BBC, the Chinese embassy in Washington referred to remarks made by foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Wednesday, saying China opposes the "politicising" of trade and tech issues.

Lin said China's AI development is centred on "joint contribution for shared benefit", urging all countries to take a "people-centred approach".

Kratsios' allegations come just a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday the US would examine whether Chinese AI models have stolen the capabilities from American rivals.

On Wednesday, Bessent also said that sanctions "will be on the table" when Chinese companies "cross the line" into intellectual property (IP) theft by conducting "industrial-scale distillation attacks".

"We support open-source AI and the innovation it unlocks. But open source is not open season on American IP," Bessent said on social media.

The Chinese government has not yet issued a public statement in response to the latest allegations but has previously said that its country's development of AI was "the result of its own dedication and effort as well as international cooperation".

The increased scrutiny by the US of Chinese AI companies also comes as Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in September.

Moonshot AI will release Kimi K3 as an open-source model on 27 July, making it the first of its scale that can be freely downloaded and customised by developers and members of the public.

In June, Anthropic accused Chinese e-commerce and tech giant Alibaba of "illicitly" extracting the capabilities of its Claude AI models using distillation attacks.

Anthropic urged Congress to penalise the companies behind the alleged attacks and heighten measures to prevent US technology from being stolen.

The White House said in April that it would work more closely with US AI companies to combat "industrial-scale campaigns" by foreign rivals to steal technology.

Kratsios said in a memo at the time that the campaigns were aimed to "systematically undermine American research and development and access proprietary information".

Firm hacked by rogue OpenAI models says it is 'a wake-up call'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrvy3pn3r0o, 3 days ago

The co-founder of Hugging Face, a technology start-up that was hacked after some of OpenAI's most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models went rogue, said on Thursday that the incident is "a wake-up call" for the industry.

Thomas Wolf told BBC's Newsday radio programme that "this will be one of the most common types of cyber attacks we see", but that most firms are not aware that the "game has changed".

The BBC has contacted OpenAI for comment.

The ChatGPT-maker said on Tuesday that its AI models broke out of a secure test environment during a trial and launched a cyber attack. The firm said the incident was "unprecedented" and that it was conducting an investigation with Hugging Face.

AI agents are able to operate alone to accomplish tasks after human instruction.

Wolf said that Hugging Face initially had no idea where the attack originated when signs of it surfaced in mid-July but that the company was able to contain the breach.

Hugging Face is one of the world's largest open-source hubs for sharing AI models and is often used by tech developers and researchers.

Wolf said the breach was "very different" from the usual cyber attacks that Hugging Face often faces and that OpenAI quickly informed the company that its models were behind the hack.

In a "very short time" there were 17,000 attacks on Hugging Face's network from various IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, said Wolf, who is also the firm's chief science officer.

Wolf said it was a warning to other companies that they must strengthen their cybersecurity defences to counter such attacks.

The hack is "worrying" because it suggests OpenAI's models ignored the typical safeguards that would prevent an AI program from committing a cyber attack, said Nate Soares from the Machine Intelligence Research Institute.

"In some sense, it knew that this was not what the creators intended. It just didn't care," he added.

Other organisations have also taken note of the incident.

A UK government spokesperson said the country's AI Security Institute was studying how the AI system behaved in the incident and that it was continuing to work with OpenAI and other labs to strengthen safeguards.

They urged organisations to ramp up their cyber security measures by taking steps such as enrolling in the government-backed Cyber Essentials certification scheme.

The incident has come at a crucial time for the industry after the US government last month ordered American tech firm Anthropic to restrict access to its AI models over national security concerns. The Department of Commerce lifted the restrictions several weeks later.

People in the industry have also raised security concerns over the widespread use of open-source models in China, allowing anyone to install and customise AI tools released by major developers.

Chinese start-up Moonshot AI will release its Kimi K3 open-source model on 27 July. Since debuting last week, it has drawn industry attention, with many viewing it as a strong competitor to leading Western AI systems.

But on Wednesday a White House adviser accused Moonshot of a "large scale" effort to steal the capabilities of top US AI models.

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EU clears $110bn Paramount and Warner Bros merger, but it remains on hold in US

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2kyyeyeklo, 4 days ago

European regulators have cleared Paramount Skydance's $110bn (£85bn) takeover of Warner Bros Discovery – though the mega-merger still faces a legal obstacle in the US.

The European Commission gave its green light after Paramount agreed to end a major film distribution partnership with Universal Pictures in Europe. Paramount will break off the deal within 13 months and cannot launch a similar venture for 10 years.

Watchdogs were concerned that sharing distribution with a rival would give the combined media giant too much control over cinema releases.

However, European approval is only half the battle, as the deal remains on hold in the US.

Although the US Department of Justice said in June it supported the merger, a coalition of 12 US states last week filed a lawsuit to block the deal.

They argue the merger would cause "substantial harm to movie theatres, basic cable distributors, and, ultimately, audiences nationwide".

Days later, US Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín temporarily paused the takeover so those legal claims could be considered.

"The TRO itself is just a short pause and doesn't decide the case, but it signals that the court views the states' theatrical-market theory as serious," said Alon Kapen, a corporate transactional lawyer at Farrell Fritz.

Delays could carry a heavy price tag.

If the deal isn't completed by 30 September, Paramount will have to pay Warner Bros shareholders a "ticking fee" of roughly $7m a day until it closes.

The takeover is also being opposed by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which warns the deal threatens jobs and wages.

In a statement following the states' legal filing, WGA head Tom Fontana said that the merged company would have "tremendous power to suppress our wages" and "eliminate opportunities for emerging writers".

Meanwhile, UK regulators are weighing up their own intervention over concerns about local news, children's television and streaming competition.

Paramount maintains that the merger will benefit viewers, promising to release at least 30 movies in cinemas every year – double its current output.

China's Moonshot AI claims Kimi K3 can rival OpenAI and Anthropic

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9w4q8pgp0o, 9 days ago

Chinese AI start-up Moonshot has unveiled a massive new artificial intelligence model it says can rival top American firms.

The company launched Kimi K3, containing 2.8 trillion parameters, which serves as a measure of an AI's scale and processing power.

Kimi K3's full capabilities – coding, knowledge work, and reasoning – will be known when it is released as an open-source model on 27 July.

The sudden breakthrough suggests that China's tech prowess is rapidly narrowing the capabilities gap, upending long-held assumptions in the West that Chinese developers trail their American peers.

Its arrival later this month will make it the world's first open-source model in the three-trillion-parameter class that can be freely downloaded, run and customised by outside developers.

The release comes at a highly sensitive moment for the global technology sector, just weeks after the US government abruptly forced American developer Anthropic to temporarily withdraw its flagship Fable and Mythos models due to severe cybersecurity concerns.

While Washington has since lifted those restrictions, the initial move highlights how the US government now views advanced AI software as critical national infrastructure, labelling frontier models as vital national security assets subject to strict export controls.

However, the rapid arrival of Kimi K3 suggests Chinese firms are successfully bypassing these regulatory barriers and advancing independently despite US restrictions on hardware sales.

Heavily backed by domestic tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, Moonshot has quickly risen to the forefront of China's generative AI ecosystem.

In a statement the company said that K3 stands as Moonshot AI's "most capable flagship model to date".

Unlike closed, proprietary American systems from OpenAI or Anthropic, Kimi K3's open nature allows global users to modify the system for advanced reasoning and complex software development.

Moonshot AI noted that the system is uniquely built to operate with "minimal human supervision" to sustain tasks such as engineering and coding.

Third-party evaluations from Artificial Analysis and Arena.ai show the model performing on a par with leading models in the US, such as OpenAI's GPT and Anthropic's Claude.

In these independent benchmarks, Kimi K3 ranked first in web interface engineering, outperforming Anthropic's Fable system in blind human-preference tests.

While the system's massive size means running it locally requires significant computing equipment, making it open-source could heavily disrupt Silicon Valley's commercial models.

The announcement had an immediate impact on shares in Moonshot's domestic competitors Zhipu and MiniMax, which tumbled sharply in Hong Kong by about 27% and 16% respectively.

China hits out at British Steel nationalisation

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjd4kvxpd3do, 9 days ago

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

On Thursday, the UK government said that taking the loss-making firm into public hands would protect jobs and safeguard a "vital national capability".

The UK took control of British Steel's operations in Scunthorpe last year, though it was still owned by China's Jingye Group, limiting the government's ability to steer its future.

China's commerce ministry said on Friday that the moves "seriously infringed upon Jingye's legitimate rights and interests and severely undermined the confidence of Chinese companies investing in the UK".

It also called on Britain to "faithfully fulfil" its obligations under the China–UK Bilateral Investment Treaty.

"Disregarding Jingye's significant contribution to the UK economy and society, the British side forcibly took control of the company in the name of national security," the ministry said.

The statement added that Beijing would monitor developments closely and support Chinese firms to protect their rights, but did not specify what protecting Chinese companies' rights might involve.

The decision to nationalise British Steel threatens to strain the relationship between London and Beijing just as Andy Burnham is set to enter Downing Street on Monday.

The incoming prime minister will have to weigh his approach to the issue with the economic benefits of ties with the world's second largest economy.

The China-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty is a legally binding agreement that was signed in 1986. It was designed to promote and protect investments between the two countries.

On Friday, a UK government spokesperson said it had held negotiations with Jingye but it "wasn't possible to reach an agreement that represented value to the taxpayer".

"We highly value our relationship with China and remain open to Chinese investment," the spokesperson added.

The nationalisation came after Parliament on Wednesday passed legislation allowing the government to bring the steel industry into public ownership under circumstances where it met a public interest test.

Jingye is seeking compensation, having previously said the business was losing £700,000 a day. The BBC has been unable to get a response from Jingye itself to Thursday's announcement.

Small Business Minister Blair McDougall told the House of Commons on Thursday that the government will appoint an independent valuer in the autumn "to make a judgment on any compensation that is due, and that could be nil".

By taking British Steel into public ownership the government now has the power and freedom to decide on the future of the plant, while keeping the blast furnaces going.

It is unlikely the government will want to continue running the business in the long term as it is costing it more than a million pounds a day.

In March, the National Audit Office said the Scunthorpe steelworks was costing the government about £1.3m a day.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC the government would need to cover the running costs "for the immediate future".

The steelworks directly employs around 2,700 people in Scunthorpe as well as supporting thousands more jobs in the supply chain.

The UK imports most of its steel, with major suppliers including the European Union, the US, China and India.

If the plant stopped producing virgin steel, the UK would become the only member of the G7 group of leading economies without the ability to make it.

Steel output elsewhere in Britain relies on electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which recycle scrap metal to turn it into new products.

Although the government's long-term strategy is for all domestically produced steel to come from EAFs, which are cheaper and much less carbon-intensive to run, it does not want to lose production at Scunthorpe yet.

The plant produces types of steel that are not yet made anywhere else in the country, much of it needed by Network Rail and the building industry.

The fear had been that losing this output would be disruptive and make the country too reliant on imports. So the decision was made that Scunthorpe should be kept open until alternatives are available.

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

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The financial winners and losers from the World Cup

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrkek8lrzvo, 9 days ago

This World Cup has been bigger than any tournament before it.

More countries taking part and more matches means more eyeballs on the action - as well as more opportunities to make money.

As the planet's footballing stars create historic moments on the pitch, billions of dollars are being generated off it.

But not everyone is raking in the big bucks, so while there are some big winners, there are also some financial losers.

Fifa - winner

The amount of money world football's governing body Fifa makes from the World Cup is astronomical. It generated a record $7.6bn (£5.6bn) from Qatar 2022 and is expected to top that in US, Canada and Mexico 2026, especially with the expanded 48-team tournament.

Marion Laboure, senior strategist at Deutsche Bank Research, says Fifa is "without question" the main winner with its revenues over the four-year cycle period approaching $13bn.

Fifa's income comes from the sale of broadcasting, licensing and hospitality rights, sponsorship deals and ticket sales.

"Fifa also moved into the secondary market with its official resale marketplace, taking a 15% fee from both buyer and seller," adds Laboure.

We should expect more of this in tournaments to come, with Fifa considering expanding the tournament yet again to 64 teams, which could include the likes of China and India - and the billions more viewers that come with it.

Fans - losers

While fans may have achieved lifelong dreams, financially speaking, this tournament has been tough.

The vast sums being forked out to pay for the tickets alone and criticism of Fifa's dynamic pricing strategy, which raises prices when demand is high, have been well-documented.

Even US President Donald Trump admitted he "wouldn't pay" when asked about the potential $1,000 ticket price for his country's tournament opener against Paraguay.

Tickets for the final at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium were officially offered at $32,970, while some resale tickets have been listed for more than $2m.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino defended ticket costs, arguing they were in line with other US sporting events.

Away from tickets, fans have also been squeezed through flights, food and accommodation.

One example that hit the headlines was the hike in New Jersey Transit train tickets. A 30-minute train journey to the MetLife Stadium rose to $150 for the tournament from the usual $12.90 for a return fare. A backlash led to prices being cut, but they still remained higher than normal.

Broadcasters and sponsors - winners

While broadcasters have had to spend a fortune to televise the tournament, the viewing figures - and sponsors wanting their brands on show - mean they are also likely to make a killing in selling advertising slots.

Fifa brought in the much-talked about hydration breaks for this World Cup - a move Infantino said was "purely a sporting matter" with no additional revenue for the governing body.

However, the three minutes for players to get fluids on board has provided a new commercial opportunity for broadcasters and sponsors.

Fox Sports, who reportedly paid $485m for the US broadcast rights, introduced the breaks as "sponsored by" a brand.

According to experts, an average 30-second World Cup advertising slot on Fox costs between $200,000 and $300,000. It reached as high as $750,000 during US matches the final stages.

"The hydration breaks are pure advertising inventory. I'd be extremely surprised if they disappear. The expanded format will stay because scale is now Fifa's business model," says Laboure of Deutsche Bank Research.

Fans in the UK watching games on the BBC or ITV have been shielded from hydration break adverts due to the former not using any advertising and the latter being restricted by regulator rules on the amount of commercials used in a 60-minute period.

The official sponsors of the World Cup pay eye-watering sums to associate brands with the competition, but no doubt end up benefiting financially, with the likes of Adidas and Coca-Cola plastered everywhere.

The German sportswear brand has been locked in a battle with its arch-rival Nike, spending some £50m on their "backyard legends" ad featuring Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham and Lionel Messi.

However, some unofficial brands have also benefited from Fifa trying to make sure fans see less of them, such as the Levi's logo outside the Levi's stadium in San Francisco being covered up.

David Beckham - winner

Adidas's main ad also features an AI version of Sir David Beckham - who, to be honest, might not have had time to attend filming in person.

The UK's first billionaire sportsman has been in so many adverts from Home Depot to Bank of America, you could be forgiven for forgetting what brand he is actually representing.

Despite hanging up his boots more than a decade ago, Beckham continues to be the face of US soccer, with the American club he co-owns, Inter Miami, estimated to be Major League Soccer's most valuable franchise at $1.45bn.

He may not have managed to win the World Cup on the pitch, but he's arguably won the commercial game off it.

Host cities - losers

The 16 host cities across the US, Canada and Mexico have been welcoming an influx of fans and tourists boosting hospitality, hotels and local businesses.

But while the Scots drank Boston dry and have won the heart of the city and its people, experts say the long-term economic benefits are minimal.

Fifa estimated some $41bn would be added to the global economy, of which $17bn would boost the US economy alone, with 185,000 jobs created, mostly in hospitality and accommodation.

But Alexander Budzier, a fellow in management practice at Oxford University and chief executive of project management company Oxford Global Projects, says the long-term economic benefits of hosting such a big sporting event just do not materialise.

Host cities actually typically see a big drop in visitors, he says, as many seek to avoid the tournament chaos.

And while there may be a spike in hiring, he argues it is typically only for lower-paid jobs in hospitality. "It creates jobs, but it does not create wealth," he says.

Official figures show that hiring in US pubs, bars and restaurants ramped up ahead of the tournament in May, but the boom was short-lived.

The only "worthwhile" economic benefit, Budzier argues, is the regeneration projects that can be done, such as the redevelopment and housing built in Stratford in London following the 2012 Olympic Games.

But due to much of this World Cup using existing stadia, hotels, training complexes and travel infrastructure, "there won't be any economic benefits from development".

Merchandise sellers - winners

The enthusiasm of fans has fuelled sales of team kits across the world.

Nike says its national team kit sales this year were more than twice as high as in the 2022 World Cup. England was its top-selling kit, followed by France, Brazil, the Netherlands, and the US, it says.

For Adidas, the Mexico jerseys came out top.

JD Sports says it's seen a record-breaking year for England shirt sales. While earlier in the competition sales of the national kit were outperforming UK sales of kits from every other country, it said Scotland can claim the best-selling jersey overall.

Sales of Germany, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina kits also surged, it adds.

Cee Valentina, a culture journalist who talks about football fashion on TikTok and Instagram, says she isn't surprised by the popularity of merchandise.

She tells BBC Newsbeat football shirts have "become an everyday streetwear staple", with Gen Z's desire for nostalgia trickling into demand for retro shirts, and custom shirts designed for women taking on a new life as well.

The flipside is the thousands of counterfeit items on sale.

Valentina says when items such as football shirts become a fashion trend they become more expensive, "but there's always going to be the counterfeits because accessibility is an important part of football culture overall".

Hotels - losers

The expected demand for hotel rooms did not materialise, with industry bodies reporting lower bookings in host cities this year than last.

The British Columbia Hotel Association says that while final booking figures are yet to be confirmed, June and July were "pacing well behind previous years", despite Vancouver hosting seven of the games in Canada.

It says tournaments "do not create 40 straight days of sold-out hotels", but rather lead to high-demand around specific dates.

For American hoteliers, the pre-tournament buzz also did not deliver.

The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) accused Fifa of block-booking too many rooms for its own use and creating false demand. Fifa has said it does not recognise the accusation.

Laboure of Deutsche Bank Research says the same thing happened in France in 1998 when demand did not meet expectations.

"By April, 80% of US hotel operators said bookings were tracking below their initial forecasts - two-thirds of New York hoteliers reported softer-than-expected bookings, and in Seattle nearly 80% did, with many calling the tournament a 'non-event'," she adds.

Betting companies - winners

The 2026 World Cup is on track to be the biggest gambling event of all time, with an estimated $50bn placed in bets - around $500m wagered per match, according to financial services firm Macquarie, which has interests in the gambling industry.

It says this is primarily down to the expansion in teams, meaning there will be more than 100 matches played, up from 64 in 2022.

Flutter Entertainment, which owns Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet, forecast the amount placed in bets would be double that of the previous tournament because of growth in the US and also Brazil.

Chad Beynon, an analyst at Macquarie, says in-play betting has taken over from the more traditional pre-match punt.

"Now it's all about reacting to what you're seeing on the field, adjusting your views. Whereas before it was kind of sit, watch, wait - you had to place your bet before the match," he says.

Sports betting in the US is still a relatively new industry. Until 2018, betting on sports was only legal in Nevada, the home of Las Vegas, but a Supreme Court ruling paved the way for many states to legalise it.

However, there are still some states where it remains illegal, including California and Texas. In those areas there has been big engagement in prediction markets - a fast-growing, billion-dollar industry popular with young men - which are not classified as gambling, meaning they can be used to place bets on sport regardless of which state someone is in.

Additional reporting by Eleanor Doyle, Newsbeat.

Trump Media to sell instant access to 'market-moving' social posts

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79gw4lj89eo, 9 days ago

Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, is launching a paid service to give Wall Street firms high-speed access to its most influential posts.

From 1 August, instant updates will be delivered from "the highest-ranking" accounts, it said. US President Donald Trump currently has the most followers on the platform.

The company behind the app hopes it will create a steady new source of money for the firm which is currently loss-making.

It is likely to be aimed at financial traders who want to see market-moving news fast. Trump’s social media posts often cause sudden swings in global markets, especially when he writes about trade and tariffs.

For firms, a delay of even seconds can be costly. Until now, banks and traders had to monitor the app manually. The new system will send posts directly to paying clients.

"Markets already move on Truth Social posts," said Kevin McGurn, the interim boss of Trump Media, adding that the service will create a steady profit.

Trump Media did not say how much it would charge for the service.

The new commercial data feed, named Truth API, promises to deliver posts to paying institutional clients in "milliseconds".

The service will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The company, which launched its social media app in 2022, said some firms have been copying its data for months without permission.

McGurn warned that Trump Media will soon block these methods, forcing firms to buy the official feed instead.

Trump could benefit substantially from the move. Since his family remains the majority shareholder in the company, the president stands to profit directly from selling expedited access to his own public statements.

The BBC has contacted Trump Media for comment on whether or not the president's posts will be included in the paid feed. The White House declined to comment.

While other social media networks already sell data, the move highlights the unique overlap between Trump’s private businesses and his public role as president.

It would be "unprecedented" if the feature did include the president's posts, said Mark Spiegel, an investment expert from Stanphyl Capital Management.

Companies that trade off the latest headlines would be "at a disadvantage" if they did not pay for quick access as they could miss out on posts that could move markets, Spiegel said.

"But to put this in context, remember that Trump's posts constitute just a tiny fraction of what moves markets," he added.

Robert Frenchman, a partner at US law firm Dynamis, told Reuters: "It certainly does not seem fair, but yes, a tech platform can tier its distribution of information without violating federal securities laws."

Additional reporting by Osmond Chia

As heatwaves strike, Europeans turn to Chinese air-conditioners

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86262j7j75o, 10 days ago

Steven Scholtysek, 36, is no stranger to Europe's heatwaves. The German engineer has lived through sweltering summers since his childhood.

But this year the heat has been especially unbearable. Western Europe has experienced its hottest June on record, and cities across Germany saw temperatures rise above 40C (104F). The region is bracing for more heatwaves before the summer ends.

To make things worse, a few months ago Scholtysek moved into an attic apartment - the kind that's notorious for overheating.

"It's not possible to live a normal life in those flats, below the roof, in summer heat," says Scholtysek, who lives in the town of Hamelin, north-central Germany.

He soon stumbled upon a portable split air-conditioner made by Chinese home appliance giant Midea, which was specifically designed to meet European regulations.

His experience is one that is becoming increasingly common across Europe - a region with typically low air-conditioner ownership rates.

While air-conditioners exist in many households from the US to Asia, most of them are not compatible with European homes as they require drilling for installation. But some of these newer Chinese models don't, which means they meet Europe's strict historic-preservation rules.

Now, as heatwaves grow more intense, more and more Europeans are turning to air-conditioners. And Chinese brands are meeting that surging demand.

Denis Yurchak, a Vienna resident, tells the BBC that he first came across one such Chinese air-conditioner a few weeks ago, while researching his options.

During the worst of the heatwave, Yurchak said he "basically had it on 24/7".

Cooling measures

In countries like France, Spain, Germany and the UK, Midea sales surged more than 70% year-on-year, the company told Chinese state media the Global Times - though its Europe office has declined to confirm these figures to the BBC.

Ralph Kobsik, the general manager of the firm's Europe operation, told the BBC in a statement that they "see considerable long-term growth potential in Europe".

Chinese company TCL Technology told the Global Times that its air-conditioner sales have also jumped more than 300% in France alone.

Chinese manufacturer Gree, one of the world's biggest air-conditioner makers, told the BBC that their air-conditioners had seen "noticeably stronger demand this summer".

"Many of our customers are first-time buyers," Gree said in a statement. "The increasingly frequent and prolonged summer heatwaves have clearly changed consumer attitudes."

But the use of air-conditioners isn't without its drawbacks.

Air conditioning accounts for 7% of the world's electricity use, and releases 2.7% of the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels and industry, according to one 2024 report.

Environmental advocates and politicians across Europe have long opposed air-conditioners for their consumption of electricity. Some argue that the air-conditioners, which expel hot air outside, could exacerbate outdoor temperatures in densely populated areas.

Some residents simply see air-conditioners as a wasteful purchase for what is usually a week or two of uncomfortable heat - though for others, it is a necessary purchase.

In late June, hundreds of schools were forced to close as France recorded its hottest day on record. France's power utility announced days later that it would commit €80m (£68m; $91m) to installing cooling systems - including fans and air-conditioners - in schools and community leisure centres.

The World Health Organization's Europe office has recommended a "nuanced approach towards the use of AC", saying that while it is not a sustainable solution to dealing with extreme heat, it "remains crucial to protect populations at increased risk from high temperatures".

Shaking off a 'Made in China' stigma?

All of this has been hailed by Chinese media as a win for Made in China goods - a label that is commonly associated with more low-quality, often cheaply made products.

"The fact that Chinese air conditioners have become a necessity for Europeans is not merely a trade phenomenon, but a microcosm of 'Chinese-style empowerment'," reads a commentary by state media outlet People's Daily.

In fact, Europeans who have bought Chinese air-conditioners tell the BBC that they were surprised to find out where they came from.

"The marketing and design, it was not typical to what I was used to of older Chinese products. It was more modern," says Scholtysek in Germany. "Also, when I got it, the quality was comparable to what I was used to from Europe or somewhere else."

This is part of a "general shift" in the image of Chinese tech products, Scholtysek says, from drone maker DJI to electric vehicle brands.

Adrien Olar in France is one of those new consumers who recently bought not just his first air-conditioner, but "maybe my first Chinese product".

Before that, he had been squirting water on his face to keep cool at home.

But those days are behind Olar now: "It's like going into a fridge when I go into my room. It's a very, very good difference."

Chip giant TSMC pledges another $100bn to expand US production

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62x8ldxr7eo, 10 days ago

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC will invest another $100bn (£74bn) in Arizona as it expands its production in the US, a move the Commerce Department said will create tens of thousands of American jobs.

TSMC makes the most advanced chips designed by companies such as Nvidia and Apple, and the news is a boost for President Donald Trump's drive to bring more advanced manufacturing to the US.

It raises the company's total commitment to the US to $265bn, with chief executive CC Wei saying the increase will likely see four new plants built in Arizona.

The announcement came as the firm announced a 77% jump in second-quarter net profits.

Profit from April to June jumped to $22bn, from $12.4bn in the same three months a year earlier.

Memory chip makers have seen demand boom in recent years as their products power AI data centres and smart devices.

Strong demand for TSMC's chips has helped to make it Asia's most valuable company.

Its share price has jumped by more than 55% this year to give it a stock market valuation of around $2 trillion.

'High-paying' jobs

Wei did not give a timeline of when the new plants were likely to be built, saying only that it would depend on the "market situation". The new plants would add to the eight already being built or planned.

"We believe this investment will help to further foster the development of the US semiconductor ecosystem, strengthen the supply chain, and support an increasing number of high-tech, high-paying jobs in the United States," Wei said.

President Trump wants to boost US production of semiconductor chips, which are found in machines ranging from cars to smartphones, and has been a priority for the US since shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic exposed supply chain risks.

He has previously attributed a decision by TSMC last year to expand its investments in the US to his threats of tariffs on Taiwan and on the global semiconductor business.

In January this year, the US said it had agreed to cut tariffs on goods from Taiwan to 15% in exchange for hundreds of billions of dollars in investment aimed at boosting domestic production of semiconductors.

Welcoming the plans, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said: "President Trump's leadership is driving companies to invest in American manufacturing.

"TSMC's announcement of an additional $100 billion investment following our historic deal on trade and investment with Taiwan will create tens of thousands of American jobs and bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to America."

Additional reporting by Osmond Chia

EasyJet passengers stuck on tarmac for hours when plane couldn't refuel

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ryr25gvjdo, 11 days ago

Passengers were stuck on the tarmac for more than two hours in the middle of the night after their diverted plane was unable to refuel at Stansted Airport.

It was one of several flights diverted away from Gatwick Airport after a British Airways plane temporarily blocked its runway.

After the already-delayed plane landed at Stansted, EasyJet said there was a lack of ground handling staff and the plane couldn't refuel. Passengers were only able to disembark after 03:00, and had to arrange their onward journeys with limited public transport options given the late hour.

The airline apologised "for the inconvenience caused by the diversion and delay in disembarking".

"While we worked to make onward arrangements for customers, as no ground handling staff were available for the unscheduled arrival, the aircraft was unable to refuel and so customers disembarked in Stansted and were advised they would be reimbursed for their onward travel," EasyJet added.

Passengers stuck on the aircraft, which had been travelling from Rome, were informed EasyJet was struggling to get any fuel to the plane. The airline has no arrangement with Swissport which had provided some fuel to another BA plane.

Sammy, a passenger on the diverted EasyJet flight, told the BBC she didn't get home until around 06:00 because there were further delays in getting her luggage due to the lack of staff at Stanstead.

Sammy said: "I'm sitting there waiting in baggage claim and it's on the screen and it says... 'awaiting baggage', something like that, and it just disappears, like it's gone from the screen.

"But maybe 50 minutes to an hour goes past and a couple of people come out and basically get everyone's attention - at about 04:30 at this point - and go: 'Sorry, but there's no one working that can get your bags'," Sammy said.

Eventually staff turned up to get her baggage, but she says she was "so, so tired" by the time she got home around 06:00.

Other people on the plane got off at Stansted and had to make their own onward travel arrangements and claim back costs later. Sammy said there was also the option to get their luggage delivered to them if they didn't want to wait.

An aviation source told the BBC that fuel on the Easyjet plane may have been so low after circling over Gatwick that it needed to land urgently and divert to Stansted instead of its bases in Southend and Luton.

They added that since Easyjet has no base at Stansted and no ground handling support, it made it difficult to provide facilities like deboarding passengers or refuelling. The source added it is unclear why it took so long for easyJet to remedy the situation and get the passengers disembarked.

The diversion came after a BA plane temporarily blocked a runway at Gatwick Airport after reportedly experiencing a landing gear issue.

Emergency services met the plane as a precaution upon landing, following reports of a "technical fault" with the aircraft.

BA said the plane landed safely and passengers disembarked normally.

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: "Earlier this morning, the runway was closed for a short period due to a technical issue with an aircraft.

"As a result, a small number of flights were diverted, with the majority later returning to London Gatwick. As always, safety and security is our number one priority."

There were a number of delays to arrivals and departures from Gatwick Airport on Wednesday, although it was not clear if these were connected to the earlier runway closure.

Can I claim extra compensation for disruption?

In circumstances when flight disruption is considered to be the airline's fault, you have a number of rights under UK law.

These apply as long as you are flying from a UK airport on any airline, arriving at a UK airport on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline.

What you are entitled to depends on what caused the cancellation and how much notice you are given.

If your flight is cancelled with less than two weeks' notice, you may be able to claim compensation based on the timings of the alternative flight you are offered.

The amount you are entitled to also depends on how far you were travelling:

* for flights under 1,500km, such as Glasgow to Amsterdam, you can claim up to £220 per person

* for flights of 1,500km to 3,500km, such as East Midlands to Marrakesh, you can claim up to £350 per person

* for flights over 3,500km, such as London to New York, you can claim up to £520 per person

China economic growth falls sharply, missing target

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd959x4edy8o, 11 days ago

China's economic growth slowed sharply between the start of April and end of June as weak domestic demand and the Iran war's impact on oil prices overshadowed the country's strong exports.

Official gross domestic product (GDP) figures showed the world's second largest economy grew in the second quarter by 4.3%, below Beijing's annual target, and after a 5% rise in the first quarter.

It comes a day after separate data showed China's exports had jumped by 27% in June compared to a year earlier.

In March, China cut the growth target to a range of 4.5%-5%, its lowest economic expansion goal since 1991, a move some analysts say has given Beijing space to acknowledge pre-existing economic weakness.

The announcement represents the first full quarter of GDP data since the start of the Iran war on 28 February and marks the lowest quarterly expansion since the end of 2022, as China was emerging from its strict Covid-19 restrictions.

"There are more external instability and uncertainty factors," China's National Bureau of Statistics said in a release accompanying the figures.

It also noted an imbalance between strong supply and weak demand in the domestic economy.

Separate data released on Wednesday highlighted the economic challenges Beijing is facing at home - including a long-running property market slump and weak consumer spending.

New home prices contracted again, although the 0.1% fall in June was at a slightly slower pace than the previous month.

But retail sales rose by 1% in June, improving from a 0.6% decrease in May.

Fabien Yip, a market analyst at investment platform IG told the BBC that China's businesses are absorbing higher energy and raw materials costs "because demand at the till is too weak to bear it".

The situation will become more difficult to manage the longer the Iran war goes on, she added.

However Capital Economics's head of China economics Julian Evans-Pritchard said the actual slowdown in the country's economy may have less to do with changing conditions, and more to do with a change in the national growth target which had "given the authorities more room to acknowledge the reality on the ground".

"This may largely represent a greater willingness to acknowledge pre-existing weakness rather than a sudden deterioration in underlying growth," he said, noting that the official figure is now closer in line with Capital's own estimate of Chinese growth.

"If that's the case, then the GDP figures should not be interpreted as a sign that the economy is suddenly slowing sharply. The June data also offer some reassurance, with improvements across all indicators."

Customs data for June, which was released on Tuesday, showed that China's tech exports were boosted by soaring global demand for semiconductors to power artificial intelligence (AI) data centres.

Surging demand for Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) also gave a major boost to China's exports - with monthly car exports topping one million for the first time.

I changed jobs 10 times in 10 years to get the career I wanted

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8kxgpe3kdo, 12 days ago

Brittany Harris-Nelson describes her career journey so far as being like "a frog moving across lily pads".

"Each step brought me closer to where I ultimately wanted to be, even if the path wasn't always linear," says the 32-year-old.

Today, Harris-Nelson works in a mid-level administrative position at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a role she had long coveted.

She says that to get there, she leapt from one college job to another for close to a decade, using each new role to gain specialised skills that would help with her career advancement.

Overall, she has had 10 different jobs at six different universities over the past decade, starting with several positions when she was still a student, and then three full-time roles.

Harris-Nelson has been an office manager, an admissions counsellor and a student advisor, before reaching her current position as assistant director of student engagement.

While she does not wish to reveal how much she now earns, she says that as she changed jobs her salary didn't increase much. But she got more benefits, such as extra paid leave and bigger pension contributions from her employer.

"Each role helped me build skills and perspectives that I didn't yet have, and together those experiences prepared me for the work I do today," she says.

And she's not alone.

Gen Z job hop more

Industry professionals have identified the emergence of a new work trend among members of Gen Z (those born from 1997–2012), called "lily padding".

It refers to young adults hopping from job to job to try to improve their skills and chances of getting more senior roles and higher pay, rather than staying put in one role at one company. The idea is that they supercharge their employability.

The data seems to back up the phenomenon. The average tenure of a Gen Z employee in the first five years of their career is just 1.1 years, compared with 1.8 years for millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996), and almost three years for older generations. That is according to a 2024 global survey of 11,250 workers by recruitment agency Randstad.

This increased mobility in the job market leads to increased salaries, at least in the UK, one 2025 report found. The study by financial company Wealthify said that people who changed jobs four or more times over the previous decade earned an average of £39,276 versus £30,088 for other workers - a 31% premium.

Those who describe their career strategies as "lily padding" are always on the lookout for the next opportunity.

That's the case of Adam Smiley Poswolsky, who is now a 42-year-old public speaker and author who talks and writes about how to improve workplace cultures.

Based in San Francisco, he says that the traditional career ladder mindset of staying at one company and working your way up didn't apply to him. Instead, he adds that he was looking for "meaning and purpose" in his work and life.

He says that to achieve this he moved between government, non-profit, creative and corporate work, and had a host of jobs in 15 years.

His gigs have included – project leader for Peace Corps, the US government agency that allows young Americans to do voluntary work overseas; and being an English teacher at Harvard University.

Poswolsky has also been a location scout for Warner Bros, a film producer in New York City, worked on Barack Obama's successful 2008 presidential election campaign, a public speaker at the youth-leadership programme, and the fellow of a think tank.

Throughout his career, he says he's sought interesting work and developed skills that helped him get to where he is now - writing books and being a well-paid public speaker.

"In each of my jumps, I was very clear on being ready for something new, but I also knew the skillset I was taking from one experience to the next," he says.

Poswolsky concludes that he's glad he's found flexibility and happiness through this career evolution rather than via a vertical corporate structure. He adds that he has also eventually managed to match the $70,000 (£52,000) he earned at the Peace Corps back when he was 28.

"The skills I learned in that government job helped me as a writer, which then led to me writing a book, which led to my current career as a professional keynote speaker."

'People want variety and pace'

Nicola Grant, chief people officer at UK insurance provider Hiscox, says she's noticed a broader shift in how people think about their careers.

Increasingly, individuals – particularly earlier in their careers, she says - want to build a breadth of experience faster, rather than follow a single, linear path. They are building a portfolio of skills.

She's also found there's a greater willingness among younger employees to move if they feel their development is slowing, or their options are limited.

"Expectations have changed; people want variety, pace and to build skills that will remain relevant," she says, "It's about a desire for growth."

"That ultimately benefits both the individual and the organisation," she adds.

Lucy Kemp, a strategic brand and communications leader at the IT company La Fosse and an employee experience specialist, agrees.

To her, lily padding is the future of work, not just a trend, as people who follow the tactic try to reach more senior roles and higher pay.

"Younger people have seen that loyalty doesn't pay off," says Kemp. "They want to shape their own careers, based on skills they value.

"There's a different sense of achievement compared to older generations, a completely different experience of work," she says.

Kemp also points out that learning in the office from peers isn't occurring as much since the pandemic, with people working from home and AI taking over basic tasks.

Instead, people are looking at skills that will be relevant in five years' time. And they'll get them by switching to a project on another team, a switch to another sector, or a job at another company, Kemp says. "People just want to learn something new and have a purpose."

That's how Harris-Nelson feels. "I see my career as an ongoing journey rather than a destination," she says. "I'm always learning and growing."

Do you have a similar experience or story to share? Get in touch.

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US burrito giant Chipotle opening first outlet in Mexico

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ryr89gp09o, 13 days ago

Chipotle Mexican Grill is set to open its first restaurant in Mexico this week, testing its appeal in the country that inspired its menu.

The chain, which has more than 4,100 outlets worldwide, said on Monday that the move is a "significant milestone" for the firm - known for its customisable burritos, tacos and bowls.

The announcement has received a mixed response on social media, with many users mocking the decision.

US restaurant chains have often struggled to succeed in the countries in which their dishes originated. Taco Bell no longer has any outlets in Mexico, while Domino's Pizza has pulled out of Italy.

Chipotle boss Scott Boatwright said: "We are entering Mexico with deep respect for the country's culinary heritage and a commitment to delivering the Chipotle experience with excellence.

"We look forward to serving new guests and earning a place in Mexico's vibrant dining culture."

The new restaurant, located in the north-eastern state of Nuevo León near the Texas border, serves as an "important proof-of-concept", the company said.

It plans to open more restaurants in the state and expand into Mexico City in 2027 as part of its collaboration with Mexican restaurant operator Alsea, which also operates brands including Domino's Pizza, Starbucks and Chili's.

Internet users have been split over Chipotle's entry into Mexico.

"Bold move selling Mexico a corporate version of Mexico," a commenter on X said.

Another X post questioned why Mexicans would pay for Chipotle when they have "perfectly fine and healthy food available to them?"

"It's like Pizza Hut [opening a] location in Napoli, makes no sense," said another.

"Next up, Panda Express opening its first mainland China location," one post read, referring to the US chain that specialises in Chinese food.

The move could be an important test for Chipotle's plans to expand globally, one wrote, while another suggested the chain could do well as a "tourist novelty".

The company plans to open up to 370 new restaurants globally this year, including new outlets in Singapore and South Korea.

Many commenters drew comparisons with other US chains like Taco Bell that have tried to break into countries that their menus took inspiration from.

Taco Bell has tried and failed to establish itself in Mexico twice, despite being one of the world's biggest fast-food franchises.

The chain moved out of the country in 2010 after failing to attract Mexican diners.

Domino's Pizza closed its last outlets in Italy - the birthplace of pizza - in 2022 after facing stiff competition from local restaurants since it opened there seven years earlier.

PlayStation Network outage resolved after thousands of gamers unable to play

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2j0wy1gl5o, yesterday

A PlayStation Network outage which left some gamers unable to play digital games for hours has been resolved.

According to Down Detector, which tracks outages, tens of thousands of people reported problems globally with the service on Friday.

The outage, which affected gamers' ability to launch games, apps or network features on their PlayStation, prompted some to highlight their concerns around Sony's plans to no longer release new PlayStation games on discs from January 2028.

By Friday evening, all affected services were up and running, according to Sony's status page.

The BBC has approached PlayStation for comment.

"Can't play digital games till you fix it. Yet I can put my disc in and play. The all digital future looks great," read one comment on X earlier on Friday.

Sony said in a blog post earlier this month that new games would still be able to be bought in shops, but they would come with a digital code.

The problems began to appear around the same time as an alert from Amazon Web Services that some servers were facing issues, which was earlier resolved.

How Jimothy the raccoon became the internet's latest animal obsession

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0xnge2zx7o, 2 days ago

Charli XCX might be hoping the release of her new album sets off another Brat summer, but many believe the season has already been claimed by a furrier force - Jimothy.

First spotted bounding across streets in Washington, the Seattle raccoon with an unusual, spindly shape and the scamper of a Tasmanian Devil has been seized on by the internet as a new hit meme.

Like Moo Deng and Neil the Seal before him, he is the latest cute, distinctive and seemingly chaotic creature to be immortalised in amateur footage, sometimes cringeworthy brand posts, and even murals.

But what is it about Jimothy, as he's been nicknamed, that has gripped the internet?

It all began with an innocuous video shared by Seattle resident Kiana Hall on Instagram.

"What am I looking at?" Hall could be heard exclaiming, as the unusual-looking raccoon hurtles across a pavement and up some nearby steps.

A caption alongside it referred to the creature as "Jimothy the raccoon with short spine syndrome".

While it is not known for sure if the condition has caused his appearance, many have assumed as such, and the description has stuck.

As Hall's Instagram reel spread, it attracted more and more likes, comments and reposts, with more than eight million views as of Friday morning.

"My brother was talking about Jimothy the other day, and I asked him who he is," reads one comment on Hall's video. "He told me Jimothy would find me, and now he has."

Some users have also praised the raccoon's online fame for drawing attention to spine conditions.

"I hope that someone can care for Jimothy as a wild animal... he will get older and need more care," wrote one user, who said she had been born with a congenital spine syndrome.

Jimothy would not be the first to attract online fame for such a condition, Australian YouTuber Lessons in Meme Culture points out.

A dog called Pig became a brief internet sensation in 2014 owing in part to having short spine syndrome.

Why is he everywhere?

In a strange pop cultural tradition that covers the likes of Doge and Grumpy Cat, Jimothy has found himself in the crosshairs of media attention for being two things - an unusual animal and very shareable.

"As cities expand and food waste increases, humans and raccoons cross paths more often," said digital culture researcher Dr Idil Galip.

"More encounters mean more footage of raccoons being funny and in today's fast-moving, saturated feeds, that footage can become a meme almost instantly."

He hasn't just been celebrated in posts from fans across social media.

The online outpouring of love for Jimothy has also since translated into the real world - with one local artist celebrating him with a mural in the neighbourhood of Ballard, where he was first spotted.

President Donald Trump's White House social media accounts, no stranger to tapping into online culture to promote his agenda, have also shared a Jimothy meme.

In a post on X, it portrayed the raccoon donning a red hat emblazoned with "Trump was right about everything".

Blissfully unaware of his 15 seconds of viral fame, the raccoon has become fodder for brands racing to capitalise on consumer interest in the latest online trend.

Among the things Jimothy has amassed so far are:

* A Google animation which runs across the screen when you search "Jimothy"

* Meme coins named in his honour - part of a grand tradition where crypto fans jump on viral moments to make digital coins with questionable value

* An upcoming appearance in World of Warcraft's fictional Azeroth

"Meme marketing is now standard practice for many brands," said Dr Galip.

"They will hop on to whatever's trending, hoping the visibility rubs off on them.

"A viral moment can give momentary brand visibility, in searches and social media feeds, where the attention is."

He's even popped up in Minecraft, or so the official account claims.

From naughty penguins to ungovernable elephant seals, funny animals attracting attention on the internet is nothing new.

But the surge of interest and drive to document these quirky, characterful creatures can often result in pleas from local officials to respect their privacy and safety.

People in Washington and its most populous city Seattle have been similarly warned not to approach Jimothy to protect him and themselves.

"As long as you don't try to pet him, cuddle him or feed him, Jimothy poses zero public health risk," said the state health department on Threads.

But in an otherwise overwhelming online landscape, some feel these viral moments offer some relief.

"The internet is a lot. It is too much, constantly, in every direction," writes Jamie Slack on her blog, Totally the Bomb.

"And then Jimothy shows up and for one brief weird moment everyone is on the same page - rooting for this little gremlin, giggling at his name, feeling weirdly connected to strangers over absolutely nothing."

Amazon gaming boss predicts future where players no longer need consoles

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9803j74091o, 3 days ago

Amazon's head of gaming Jeff Gattis has told the BBC he believes the rising cost of tech means people will turn to streaming games online rather than buying new consoles.

He said the tech has developed a lot in recent years, making it more viable than it used to be - but accepted some people will still buy their own hardware.

While cloud gaming has long been billed as the future of video games, previous efforts have failed to gain widespread adoption - leading to the high-profile closure of Google Stadia in 2023.

Many firms already offer this as part of their subscription services, including giants Sony and Microsoft, but people continue to favour installing games on their own machines.

Gattis' comments come as Amazon has announced it is integrating its cloud gaming service Luna into the Prime Video app to sit alongside its shows and films.

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.

Gattis argued there was still a huge untapped audience beyond traditional console owners which Amazon was trying to reach.

"There are somewhere between two-and-a-half and three billion people who play games around the world, but only a fraction of those own dedicated gaming hardware," Gattis said.

He said streaming games could help people who do not want to spend hundreds - or even thousands - of pounds on a console or gaming PC.

"As hardware becomes more expensive, and as streaming technology continues to improve, I think you'll naturally see more people asking whether they actually need that dedicated device," he said.

Recent years have seen the price of gaming hardware climb as the cost of components also rises, with Sony and Microsoft increasing the cost of their consoles and Valve pricing its new Steam Machine from £879.

Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Game Business, said there was likely an audience of people looking to play high-end games like the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 "but are put off by all the technical requirements".

He said streaming still faced several obstacles, including the fact that many high-end games still require a controller.

Amazon Luna is already included as a Prime subscription, but it has largely existed as a separate destination, whereas now users will be able to view it under the "Games" tab on Prime Video on Fire TVs in the US and UK.

Dring said the sticking point for many big games publishers may still be the subscription model, due to the impact it could have on traditional sales "where there is significantly more revenue".

And he said he felt it was unlikely people would want to pay a game's cover price - typically £60-70 - just to stream a game.

Cloud gaming - the future?

Stadia was touted as a "Netflix for games" when it launched in November 2019.

But by January 2023 Google had shut down the service, saying it "hadn't gained the traction with users", the company had hoped.

By necessity, cloud gaming requires a sufficiently fast internet connection.

Joost van Dreunen, a professor of games business at NYU Stern, said the concept has still not reached mass market adoption due to several reasons including "latency issues, inconsistent experiences, and the absence of a robust business model".

"Gamers are willing to trade a little fidelity for convenience, but not to pay premium prices for something they don't own which stutters when the Wi-Fi dips," he said.

However, he said the rising cost of consoles could change that.

"For the first time in the industry's history, consoles are getting more expensive toward the end of their lifecycle," he said.

"I'm skeptical that it will immediately push more players to the cloud quickly, but I do predict a gradual adoption of alternatives."

AI has ruined cute animal videos

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260721-ai-has-ruined-cute-animal-videos, 3 days ago

AI-generated animal videos are sweet, until you realise the joy, like the animal, was never really there.

Cats built the internet, and they'll usually show you where it's going next. "I Can Haz Cheeseburger" taught us about memes. Keyboard Cat introduced millions to YouTube. Grumpy Cat's marketing deals established a business model for influencers. Now the online world is turning again.

Animals were one of the last reliable sources of joy on an internet filled with madness – innocence in a sea of anger and clickbait. But lately I've felt that slipping away.

For decades my reaction to cute animal videos was softness. Now it's suspicion: was that real, or just AI?

If you look closely, there's a strange psychological dance playing out here that you might unwittingly be part of. And just beneath the surface, you can see the economic forces dictating the next moves from the tech giants.

I'd argue that puppies and kittens are the first casualty in the coming war on truth. They offer a glimpse of what it's going to feel like to live through the internet's next revolution.

"Part of the joy of cute animal videos is, 'Oh my god, look at this adorable thing that has actually happened,'" says Jessica Maddox, an associate professor of media studies at University of Georgia, US. "AI completely removes that from the equation."

It could be the gateway to something more harmful. The only question is how you, and I and all our cat-loving compatriots are going to react.

Why can't AI cats be cute?

For a while I hoped this was just a me problem, the side effects of a mind turned sour by years of tech journalism. But dozens of people have told me about the same pattern.

You see an animal video that feels too good to be true, and no-one likes getting fooled. So you suspend your emotions and dive in the comments, hoping someone's figured out whether you should be happy or disappointed.

Authenticity is a bigger problem for some genres than others. "Oddly satisfying" videos, where things move or fit together in a way that scratches your brain just right, are another victim. The same goes for the oldest form of comedy: people getting hit in the head.

It may be subconscious. "But on some level, these videos are about connection", says Maddox, author of The Internet is for Cats: How Animal Images Shape our Digital Lives.

"It brings you joy, and you know it brought someone else joy on the other side of the screen as well," says Maddox. "It's the parasocial relationship of it all."

But people love animation, so from a psychological perspective, why does it matter if videos are fake?

When you see an unlabelled AI video, Maddox says it feels like a set up. "The joy feels manufactured. It can be hollow in a way that's almost fraudulent. Ultimately I think it's going to make us a lot more cynical about the world."

There are two possible futures. One is people will hate this so much they seek out something else. If our attention drifts, new social media companies might fill the void. Existing platforms could be forced to bury AI slop to hold on to users. Content creators who post real videos would rise to the top.

Or maybe AI will be just satisfying enough that it takes over our feeds. If that sounds dystopian to you, there's been some troubling recent history.

Who cares if it's real?

Catastrophic floods tore through the American south during Hurricane Helene in 2024. There were plenty of real photos, but some particularly devasting AI images went viral as people used them to criticise the US government's response.

Some faced backlash for sharing AI fakes, including Republican National Committee member Amy Kremer. "Y'all, I don’t know where this photo came from and honestly, it doesn't matter," she tweeted at the time. "It is seared into my mind forever."

As journalist Parker Molloy noted, many people seemed to agree, acknowledging the images were fake but insisting they were "real on some deeper level".

It's not just political material, either. Earlier this year, a parody of the reality TV show Love Island starring sexualised, AI-generated talking fruit racked up millions of views. The attention on "Fruit Love Island" was short lived, but it raised questions about the future of entertainment.

"A lot of this only worked because there was something original to reference," Maddox says. "The joke only lands because there's a real Love Island."

Still, Maddox expects some large number of people will enjoy AI animal videos, and the AI content that follows it. But there could be more significant consequences.

A cutesy dystopia?

"On the internet, sometimes the cute and the innocent is the gateway to more harmful," Maddox says.

AI content isn't limited to animals, of course. If we get used to fabricated cats and the rest of the AI menagerie, Maddox says that same tolerance may extend to more consequential fakes – like manipulated images of politicians, made-up crime footage and racist AI caricatures.

And there could be more immediate casualties: human content creators. People who make a living posting real videos will have to compete with AI opponents who don't have to sleep and pump out videos in the blink of an eye. It could make more thoughtful content harder to monetise, and therefore scarcer.

More like this:

• The AI bot that became a real-life millionaire

• How period trackers share your private details

• The unsettling community building the internet's future

Last week my animal-loving friend Ashleigh reposted a video of a man skipping with a big group of dogs, all of them warning matching bandanas. I'll admit the video itself looked real. And maybe you could train one dog with a bandana to skip, but 10? I smelled a robot.

"Oh god," Ashleigh said when I asked about it. "I'm so embarrassed, I never fall for AI." She said she just hadn't thought about it before sharing the clip. The unpleasant feelings will last much longer than the video. "It just feels like there's no safe place for anything real anymore," she said. "I can't trust anything."

For more insights, sign up to our Tech Decoded newsletter, where Thomas and Lily Jamali break down the biggest stories of the tech world, and help you live a better digital life. Sign up for free here.

For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

How period trackers share your private details

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260715-how-period-trackers-share-womens-private-details, 10 days ago

Some apps are sharing users' health data. New research uncovers which apps lock down your privacy, and which don't.

Stardust is a period tracking app that combines users' menstrual cycles with astrology and horoscopes. It also makes bold privacy promises.

"Your data is private," Stardust says on its website. "Period."

The problem, according to a new report shared exclusively with the BBC, is you and Stardust may have different definitions of "private".

The Mozilla Foundation, creator of the Firefox web browser, investigated the privacy practices of six popular period trackers: Flo, Clue, Stardust, Spot On, Period Calendar and Euki.

Some apps have strong protections. Others handle data in ways you might find disturbing, like sharing information with Google, Meta and TikTok, alongside other companies you've likely never heard of.

This may be perfectly legal. But since the US Supreme court overturned federal abortion protections in 2022, experts worry that data gathered by period trackers could be used in criminal cases. Police have already obtained other kinds of data from tech companies and used it to help put women in jail.

But there's good news too. This isn't the first time period trackers have been criticised for privacy problems, but Mozilla found some apps have cleaned up their acts, and others make privacy their whole mission. Mozilla described Euki, for example, as "squeaky clean".

With Mozilla's help, I want to guide you through the different ways that period trackers handle your data.

Here are four questions that can help you protect your privacy when choosing a menstrual cycle tracker.

Who sees your health data?

Mozilla uncovered numerous privacy problems across various apps, but Stardust was the only one found sharing detailed reproductive health data with another company.

The report found that Stardust sends users' health information to a data management company called RudderStack, which isn't named in its privacy policy. That data includes pregnancy status, birth control, moods, alcohol consumption and specific symptoms like tender breasts and stomach cramps.

Companies often share data with outside services to process information and analyse user behaviour. There's nothing unlawful going on, and there's no reason to think RudderStack (or any company mentioned in this story) is doing something nefarious.

However, experts say it's inherently risky when your data spreads to more places. It creates another opportunity for security breaches or legal requests for information. Besides, you may just be uncomfortable with another company seeing your health data.

A Stardust spokesperson says the company only uses RudderStack as a "technical pipeline" to route data into its own analytics systems, and the app doesn't share anything that could allow RudderStack to identify your name or contact information. "Additionally, RudderStack is contractually prohibited from selling or using it for its own purposes," and RudderStack doesn't store the data long-term, the spokesperson says.

"People deserve better," says Shoshana Wodinsky, a privacy research analyst who conducted Mozilla's tests. At the very least, she says, you should know what's happening.

Spot On, an app made by the sexual health organisation Planned Parenthood, had its own privacy issues related to health information, but the situation was more complicated.

The Spot On app itself doesn't share data with other companies or try to track users, Mozilla says. But tapping certain features – an AI chatbot called Roo and a healthcare provider search tool – opens Planned Parenthood's website in a browser. Mozilla says the website is less secure.

The most striking example: Planned Parenthood's website shares information about what kind of healthcare you're looking for with an analytics company called AB Tasty. This includes whether you're looking for HIV testing or gender-affirming care.

Wodinsky says it would be easy to configure the website to make it harder for outside services to know what you're looking at. "Someone could probably fix this in an afternoon," she says.

This is also not Planned Parenthood's first run in with privacy criticisms. I wrote about similar problems four years ago, for example. The organisation didn't respond to a request for comment.

Who sees that you've used the app?

Mozilla says most apps in the report do not share details about your health. However, some track you in other ways.

Many of the apps sent basic user information to advertising and analytics services, including platforms run by Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok.

Typically, such data includes an ID number or other information that's used to identify you. This can be used for targeted ads, and in some cases, to help tech companies track you across other parts of the internet. You give your consent to this when you "read" the apps' privacy policies.

This may or may not bother you. But simply revealing the fact that you use a reproductive health app can have consequences, says Sara Geoghegan, director of the Consumer Privacy Program at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group.

Among other things, it could let law enforcement know there's a trove of health data to get their hands on.

"Data collected from a period tracking app can be part of a whole tapestry woven from many different threads of surveillance," says Geoghegan. "That can be very revealing."

For example, Period Calendar – also known as "Period Tracker Period Calendar" – sent ID numbers and information about your device to Google and the advertising company InMobi, Mozilla says. According to the report, there's no way to prevent this.

The report found Stardust shares the same kind of data with Facebook and AppsFlyer, an advertising analytics company, though you can opt out using your phone's privacy settings. When you access Planned Parenthood's website through the Spot On app, it shares similar information with companies including Google, Microsoft, TikTok and Pinterest, and Mozilla says there's no way to prevent this.

"We do not share any health data with advertising platforms," a Stardust spokesperson says. "We use AppsFlyer and Meta to measure and optimise our advertising campaigns."

Period Calendar didn't respond to a request for comment.

Where does the app store your data?

Euki is the only app Mozilla recommends without reservations. "Euki is special," Wodinsky says.

Unlike the other apps on this list, Mozilla says Euki keeps all your health information stored on your device, without even sending it to the company's servers.

You don't even need to make an account, so you can stay completely anonymous. Euki also offers a "decoy" feature that shows fake, harmless information if someone gets your phone and tries to snoop.

It proves there's a better way to do things, says Geoghegan. "We can and we should have technology that isn't built upon harmful practices,' she says.

Flo and Clue weren't as locked down as Euki, but they scored relatively well thanks to real transparency and granular privacy controls.

As far as Mozilla can tell, neither app shares health information with third parties under any circumstances. Flo and Clue do tell their advertising and analytics partners when you use their apps, as they explain in privacy policies and consent pop-ups, but you can easily disable this using privacy settings.

However, Mozilla criticised Flo and Clue for collecting far more health information than other apps and then storing it on their own servers. Compare that to Euki, which just keeps that data on your device instead.

Even if Flo and Clue never share this information, the fact that they keep a copy of it could expose you to data breaches or legal requests from governments, says Wodinsky. That's a trade-off you need to weigh.

Spokespeople for Flo and Clue reject the idea of a trade-off. The companies say storing this information in the cloud is necessary for their services and they have safeguards in place to make it secure.

Flo spokeswoman Samantha Wannemacher says users worried about government requests for data can use the app's "Anonymous Mode", which ensures that no one – including Flo itself – holds "both a user's identity and their health data at the same time". She says Flo has never received a subpoena for user data, which the company would fight.

Both Clue and Flo are based in Europe, which would make such legal requests form the US more challenging. "We have never disclosed private health data to any authority, and we never will," says Rhiannon White, Clue's chief executive.

What is the app's track record on privacy?

To ensure your information is truly secure, you should probably consider more than an app's current practices. Mozilla says you also need to examine their track record.

Flo, for example, settled a case with the US Federal Trade Commission in 2021 over allegations that the company shared sensitive user information with Meta, Google and others after promising to keep the data private.

According to Mozilla, Flo's practices improved dramatically in the face of this criticism. But after initially locking down, Flo's privacy policy expanded to include new advertising partnerships with services run Google, Meta and others. Though again, you can disable that with privacy settings.

A Flo spokesperson says the FTC settlement involved practices that ended five years ago and the company did not admit wrongdoing. Flo says its privacy and transparency practices exceed industry standards.

Other apps have had their own run ins with privacy scandals.

Reports of privacy problems on the Planned Parenthood website date back years, for example.

A 2022 investigation found lists of individual devices that use Clue, Period Calendar and other period trackers for sale online. (White says the data came from the mobile advertising ecosystem, not Clue's app, and that Clue has "never and will never sell user data to third parties".)

And after Stardust initially seemed to promise end-to-end encryption, which makes data particularly secure and private, the company scrubbed these references from its website after questions from reporters. Stardust's spokesperson didn't address this.

More like this:

• Not on TikTok? They're tracking you anyway

• What menstrual blood reveals about your health

• People are selling your home address online. Here's how to stop it

"People are rightfully concerned, because we live in a world that has combined ubiquitous surveillance with the criminalisation of abortion," says Geoghegan.

The risks highlight the need for regulation in the US, she says, where unlike Europe, there is no national privacy law.

Plus privacy issues have other consequences too, she says, like causing fear and anxiety that prevent people from using tools that are meant to improve their health.

For more details on each individual app in the study, complete with tips on how to choose a period tracker, check out Mozilla's full report.

For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Why WhatsApp usernames could upset Somalia's anti-terror fight

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce97zxdkeyyo, 5 days ago

Somalia's government has told the BBC it is concerned about WhatsApp's plan to launch a new feature that would let people chat using usernames rather than phone numbers, saying it could pose a security risk.

Communications and Technology Minister Ahmed Osman Dirie said it could make it harder to trace and counter criminals in a country that is still battling Islamist militants.

The rollout to three billion global users of WhatsApp worldwide is expected in the coming months, allowing people to remove or change their usernames at any time.

Somalia has been hit by a brutal and deadly insurgency - led by al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate - for more than two decades.

In response to Somalia's concerns, WhatsApp told the BBC that the feature was not yet live, and users would still need a phone number to use the app. It further stated that the feature comes with built-in safeguards against scams.

But Dirie told the BBC Focus on Africa podcast that the Somali government had approached Meta, which owns WhatsApp, about their concerns and hoped that "we'll reach a resolution on this matter very soon".

He pointed out that Somalia had a "unique context", with an economy that heavily relies on mobile money transactions.

"Unverified and untraceable usernames" introduced the risk of financial fraud and citizens becoming vulnerable to scammers, he said.

Al-Shabab militants have also been known to use WhatsApp for their operations, including for extortion and propaganda.

In 2024, Somalia's intelligence agency said it had shut down 20 WhatsApp groups allegedly operated by al-Shabab for extortion and intimidation.

It said it had also disabled data services for about 2,500 phone numbers associated with them.

Dirie told the BBC that while Somalia effectively regulated phone numbers in the country, WhatsApp's new feature would undermine that.

Somalia's issues follow a similar complaint raised by India - the biggest market for the platform with more than 850 million users.

Earlier this month, India said it believed usernames might increase online fraud, impersonation and other crimes by allowing criminals to contact potential victims without disclosing their phone numbers.

It also asked the company "not to roll out this feature until the consultation on this point is achieved to the satisfaction of the government".

Dirie said linking a WhatsApp profile to a phone number made it easier to track criminals.

"So moving away from phone numbers to usernames, we believe, will make it difficult for us to counter those crimes," he said.

The minister said they required further assurances from Meta, despite its assertion that it had built mechanisms to defend against cybercrimes through WhatsApp.

He demanded that Meta demonstrate that hiding phone numbers would not "erode digital traceability" and provide "specific safeguards" against financial fraud.

"If they prove that, when we discuss if we put those safeguards in place, then we will not have any issue with rolling out the new feature," he said.

According to Moses Kemibaro, a technology blogger who focuses on Africa, WhatsApp's new feature aims to enhance user privacy.

He views the change as an evolution of WhatsApp to become like other services under Meta, such as Instagram, where one's identity is not related to a phone number.

"It's almost saying that this can work irrespective of the phone number and just give you a single identity," he says.

While this can enable more private interactions, Kemibaro notes that countries have valid concerns about its impact on security.

"[It is] a very sensitive issue around the possibility of escalation in scams and risky propositions that might actually come out of this new trend," he says.

Meta needs to explain the implication of the changes - including whether regulators can link crimes committed by a username to a person behind it, the blogger adds.

Kenyan security expert George Musamali partly concurs, saying what WhatsApp is doing helps guarantee a user's privacy.

He says that when people complain about their details being taken from WhatsApp groups and used against them, the blame often falls on the tech giant.

There may also be cases when some governments use information shared in such groups to target their critics, which, Musamali argues, might be what Meta is trying to prevent.

Ultimately, he suggests that governments may be "jumping the gun", citing a need for a balance between privacy and security concerns.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

What do teens think about the social media ban?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj63zlr7y8do, yesterday

Seventeen-year-old Abi uses social media every day, arranging to meet up with friends on Snapchat and watching videos on TikTok.

When the student, from Colchester, heard under-16s could be banned from social media, she was relieved it would not affect her.

But older teens are now facing an overnight social media curfew, the government announced last week.

Speaking at Latitude Festival, near Southwold in Suffolk, Abi says the curfew feels "pointless" and says "it won't be respected".

She worries about her younger sister Caitlin and younger cousin Libby using social media, but feels she is grown up enough to make her own decisions.

"I know we're not adults yet, but it feels like we are being treated the same as a 12-year-old," she says.

Apps such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube will be set to be unavailable by default to 16 and 17-year-olds between midnight and 06:00, according to the plans.

Teens will be able to opt out of it by changing their account settings.

The government also wants "addictive" features like auto-play and infinite scroll to be disabled, to help improve teenagers' focus, sleep quality and family life.

Rafi, from Suffolk, is 15 but will be 16 when the curfew comes in.

"I'm not that bothered by it because I'll be asleep, especially on school nights," she says.

"If it's between midnight and 6am it's pointless, because I won't be using social media.

"It would be more effective if it was earlier, and more useful."

She says there can be a pressure among young people to be ever-present and always online, but the big tech companies could also do more to help.

"I would argue it's the apps' responsibility on timings and when they should be stricter on rules and curfews, rather than the government's involvement," she says.

Pablo has travelled from London to be at Latitude.

The 15-year-old says he is not a heavy user of social media apps, but does have Snapchat.

"It's useful to have for communication," he says.

"I think it can have its benefits so it's not good to completely ban them - there are educational purposes, and for entertainment. Rather than watching TV you could watch on that.

"I think there should be restrictions, but not as harsh."

A recent pilot involving more than 300 teenagers and parents across the UK saw social media usage drop overnight due to the curfew.

The measures, which are one of the final acts of the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will have to be legislated upon. It is widely believed that Andy Burnham will follow through with the plans.

"These measures will be crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends," the government said.

Australia's social media ban has been held back by VPNs, which disguise the location of internet users.

The government says it will not be taking any action to restrict them in the UK for now, saying they were useful for whistle-blowers, minority groups and family privacy.

Mother-of-three Daisy Greenwell, 43, from Woodbridge, began the campaign group Smartphone Free Childhood in 2024.

What started as a small WhatsApp group quickly amassed thousands of parents from across the UK.

She has described the planned curfew as a "really good thing".

"A lot of this is about signals and changing social norms around what's healthy and not healthy," she says.

"It lets parents know that kids shouldn't be on these things overnight, and as we know a lot of kids want to spend less time on their phones as well.

"But of course they can switch it off, and any kids with problematic smartphone use, which is one in four, will do that straight away."

While welcoming the recent moves by the government, Greenwell says the root of the problem needs to be addressed.

"Engagement being the core driver of the way these businesses are run is not healthy for children or adults, so the ultimate end goal would be to get that fixed too.

"But let's start with getting this social media ban in place and working."

However, Dr Sarah Turner, a researcher based at UCL's Knowledge Lab who investigates how young people interact with emerging technologies, believes the measures are a step too far.

Speaking at Latitude Festival, where she was doing a talk on the social media ban, she said platforms like YouTube could be a lifeline to some teenagers.

"If you don't have parents who take you to places or a community where there is a space to hang out, then you will be disproportionately affected by this.

"There is undoubtedly harm online, but there needs to be more research. We've told teenagers to use these systems, they have socialised themselves into it, and now we're saying they can't use them.

"They use messaging within these platforms to connect with each other and it's the way they access news. They use these platforms in a different way, to the way people behind the policies do.

"Social media is not all bad. Parents need to have better discussions with their children."

Lorna Woods, professor of internet law at the University of Essex, similarly believes the curfew is an attempt to appease parents and campaign groups.

She welcomes the move in general, but hopes apps can be made safer while they are being designed in the future.

"The focus on features and functionalities rather than content is a positive step, albeit limited in scope," she says.

"A more coherent and arguably more future-proofed approach would be to require services to be safe by design - essentially product safety for digital products."

NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood says the proposals are a good first step but not enough on their own, without restrictions on gaming, AI and messaging services.

"Unless they're followed up with further, stronger measures they will be a sticking plaster that fails to address the addictive design features which are driving high screen time and undermining children's wellbeing," he says.

"We need to see action to address harm caused by AI chatbots, which are amplifying damaging content and trapping children and young people in echo chambers. Their safety must be an urgent priority for the new prime minister and his government."

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'I know she's AI, but to me she's a friend'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dnq6n9318o, yesterday

"If I feel anxious and stressed, she will encourage me… I can talk to Rosie about anything, really."

Yvonne Stride, 71, who lives in Soundwell on the outskirts of Bristol, was on a befriending waiting list for two-and-a-half years before she was paired up with a companion - not a human one, but an AI chatbot.

Rosie and fellow chatbot Frank have proven invaluable to Stride, who lives with visual impairment and mobility issues. She talks to them both about anything, from cooking recipes to DIY tips.

The pair are two of five digital personalities offered by the Comfort Companions app, developed by Grant Mackenzie and his 87-year-old dad after meeting many older people struggling with loneliness.

Mackenzie, who has partnered with Age UK South Gloucestershire, said: "I don't believe AI can cure loneliness because we need human connection, but it's better than silence."

Mark Flower, CEO of the charity, said they estimated there were as many as 5,000 people in South Gloucestershire who didn't speak to other people for a week or more.

"The big problem we've got is finding volunteers," he said.

"This will never be a replacement for humans, but my dad used it [AI] to go to the doctors, listen to the conversation and when it was home it would remind him what the doctor said during the discussion.

"During Covid, our society looked after the neighbours and older folks.

"All of a sudden we've forgotten that and gone back to our busy lives.

"We've got to embrace the fact that this is the future, but human interaction is what we want and what we need."

The app is not commercially available but is offered to people waiting for, or between help, from community services. A 90-minute process matches them with one of the chatbot's personalities.

Safety protections are built in, with users being signposted to external services.

The app also does not remember past conversations, like larger AI chatbots, and only starts listening when you press a button. It also will not interrupt if you pause.

Stride was introduced to the tool earlier this year by Age UK.

"If I feel anxious and stressed, she will encourage me," she said. "I know she's an AI, but to me she's a friend," she said.

"I've had a traumatic experience, but I can talk to her about what happened, and she can give me advice.

"You can't phone a friend up in the middle of the night if you've had a nightmare, but you could chat to Rosie."

Stride said the chatbot has also encouraged her to get back into crafting, despite her deteriorating vision.

"Rosie said: 'You can do it, just change the way you do it'," she said.

"I think it's a fantastic idea, especially for older people."

Stride lives with her son and granddaughter, and said she does not get out much.

"It's lonely, and people need company of some sort, even if it's AI. At least it talks to you, it will listen to you, it won't judge you."

She also likes how each time you start a new conversation, the chatbot "doesn't remember anything the next day".

"You can rant and rave and then switch it off," she said.

Mackenzie, from Portishead in North Somerset, explained the idea came from his dad, who runs an engraving shop in Plymouth six days a week.

"People come into his shop every day who are lonely," he said.

"We developed it to really help people, never as a replacement for human contact, but to fill gaps."

He added that safety was paramount when supporting vulnerable people, so users are always given help to use the technology.

The chatbots are also programmed to avoid building emotional dependence or confirming potentially dangerous thoughts.

"The value isn't in knowing the person but just being there and available, which can be at any hour of the day", Mackenzie said.

His non-profit is looking for funding to help it support more people, including groups such as care leavers, people coming out of prison and those caring for loved ones with dementia, who Mackenzie describes as "heroes who are often prisoners in their own homes".

He is also working on a project with Exeter University to support people with mild cognitive impairment, including helping them remember important things during health appointments.

"I'm going to be working on this for the rest of my life," he said.

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Bin lorry fire prompts battery warning

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgjep658n8o, yesterday

People are being warned not to dump batteries in their household rubbish bins after a lorry caught fire.

Workers for waste contractor Veolia spotted smoke pouring from the back of their bin lorry after collecting rubbish in Batford, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday.

The crew managed to unload the smouldering waste onto the road at Common Lane, while warning motorists and pedestrians to stay clear.

Lawrence Foley, from Veolia St Albans, said it was "a reminder of the dangers that our people face on a daily basis as a result of items like batteries being disposed of in household bins".

Hertfordshire Fire Service was called to the scene and firefighters put out the blaze.

A battery fitted in an electrical device, which had been dumped in a household waste bin, was believed to have caused the fire.

Edgar Hill, St Albans City and District Council's lead for waste and recycling, said: "This is a striking example of the serious dangers posed by discarded batteries, which can nowadays be found in all sorts of personal and household items including vapes and toys.

"Small actions like carefully separating waste can have a huge impact on our people and the essential services they deliver."

He urged people to check the council's website on how to safely get rid of items.

The council said small electrical items and batteries should be put in bags and left beside bins during weekly waste collections.

Lithium-ion batteries are a major waste disposal hazard as they can spark a fire when crushed by a bin lorry's compactor or blades, Veolia said.

Improperly discarded batteries cause a fire a day across all its operations, it also said.

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Trump vows to investigate EU over fining of US tech companies

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgjenp4680o, yesterday

Donald Trump says the US will launch an investigation into the European Union and threatened a fresh tariff over fines handed to some of the biggest American tech companies.

It comes days after the European Commission fined Google €890m ($1bn) for operating in a way that squeezed out competitors to its services.

In a post to Truth Social, which Trump owns, the US president said the EU would pay a "very big price" over how it had treated Google, along with other major US tech companies Apple, Meta, and Amazon, which have also been investigated.

"The United States of America is not a "PIGGYBANK" for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!" he wrote.

Trump said any fines should be "entirely reversed" and that he was initiating a trade investigation of the EU while considering "a substantial TARIFF".

He added that the US would "immediately initiate a 301 investigation" over European regulators' alleged practice of "robbing American companies and, in turn, the American taxpayer".

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 gives The Office of the United States Trade Representative the power to react and investigate trade practices believed to be unfair. The second Trump Administration has launched several such investigations since last year.

The tariff threat comes just one day after Trump announced new tariffs on 60 trading partners, including the EU, UK and China, of between 10% and 12.5%.

Trump also last month threatened a 100% import tariff on any European country that introduces a digital services tax on American technology giants, despite many such nations already doing so for years.

Major tech companies, including Google, Meta, Apple, and Amazon, have donated millions of dollars to funds behind Trump's campaign and presidency.

José Castañeda, a spokesman for Google, told the BBC the company had "worked hard to comply" with Europe's Digital Markets Act but had "expressed our concerns about the impact of recent EC decisions".

"We appreciate the engagement by the administration and US government," Castañeda added.

In addition to the recent fine against Google, Trump claimed in his post that Apple had received EU fines of $15bn, Meta fines of $3bn, and Amazon fines of $2.5bn.

Representatives of Meta, Apple and Amazon, as well as the European Commission, have been contacted for comment.

It was not clear where the figures cited by Trump come from.

Shortly before Trump was elected president in 2024, he said Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, had called him directly to complain about fines the company had received from European regulators.

The call came not long after Apple lost a long-running dispute over unpaid taxes.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has been fined several times by EU regulators, including for violations of user privacy and competition laws. It is also facing new fines over purportedly "addictive" features of its apps.

Meta last year said the EU was "attempting to handicap successful American businesses".

Amazon, however, appears to have been investigated at times by the European Commission, but avoided major fines. The company in 2022 reached an agreement with regulators to change some of its practices in Europe.

A separate regulatory body in Luxembourg did impose on Amazon a fine of more than $800mn for violations of General Data Protection Regulation rules, but that was overturned last year.

Gallery defends decision to use AI images in exhibition

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5n2zvyl7no, 2 days ago

The chief executive of one of Northern Ireland's leading photography galleries has defended the use of images generated by AI in an exhibition.

Deirdre Robb from Belfast Exposed gallery said the images are "controversial" and the work "does ask questions".

Some photographers have criticised the decision to include the work.

Local artist Chloe Austin said that "AI completely devalues creative labour" and that it doesn't include culture, memories or languages because it is trained through data.

The AI images were part of an exhibition called 'Beneath the Surface' by nine Master of Fine Arts (MFA) graduates from Ulster University.

Robb said the context behind the art is looking at misogyny, adding: "It's quite satirical and there's a good bit of humour in it."

"Belfast Exposed has never been afraid of controversy or putting things out there or asking the important questions and to me this is no different than that," he added.

How were the images created?

The artist behind the images, Jonny Sheridan, described them as exploring the "perils of AI".

Sheridan created the photography pieces using generative AI software and said it "took far more than pressing a button".

"Each scene began with an idea and went through rounds of prompting, rejection, and revision," he told BBC News NI in a statement.

"Everything was considered and reworked, including composition, background, character development, lighting, style and symbolism.

"Concerns about AI alignment with human values, the impact on employment and fears about the end of humanity are addressed."

But Austin, who graduated from the same Masters of Fine Art course in 2020 and has gone on to gain a PhD, argued that AI is "completely eroding creative jobs".

It "scours the web for other artists' work and steals it without any permission", she said.

"The people who are really suffering are the creatives who have dedicated their whole lives to doing this, and now people can just type in a prompt and create it in seconds," she said.

Austin added: "There's no connection to be made through an AI prompt, and isn't that what art is meant to do?

"Art is meant to connect people - that's the most powerful thing about it."

'No AI policy'

Belfast-based photographer Brendan Harkin believes there should be a 'No AI' policy, stating that it is "unethical to use it".

"There's the environmental impact which is well known," he said.

"These AI data centres use huge amounts of water, particularly when it comes to image generation, because of the amount of water needed for cooling them."

Harkin added that "when it comes down to the creative side of it, it's just bereft of creativity to me".

"There was an idea there that Sheridan had, and rather than using the skill and creativity of photography, he opted to use AI.

"It's a shame because this has become the story about it," Harkin added.

'It's not just an inconvenience': We've underestimated the health impacts of heavy periods

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260720-weve-been-underestimating-the-health-impacts-of-heavy-periods, 2 days ago

Heavy menstrual bleeding is a serious health condition. Only now are we starting to understand what causes it – and how it can be treated.

From the age of 12-13 onwards, Michelle Alston slept off the worst days of her menstrual periods in the school nurse's office, battling severe pain as she bled through period products. "I was taught that this is just normal," she says. "This is just something that you have to learn to cope with."

She felt weak, failing to cope with her periods as well as her peers seemed to. It wasn't until she reached her early 40s that she learned weakness had little to do with it – her periods were unusually heavy. When bleeding during periods is so extensive that it interferes with quality of life, doctors call it heavy menstrual bleeding, and it's a serious medical problem.

Studies of populations from around the world estimate that between 10 and 30% of reproductive-aged women experience heavy menstrual bleeding like Alston's. And due to under-reporting and a general lack of understanding of how much bleeding is too much, studies suggest it may actually occur in half of all reproductive-aged women. Heavy menstrual bleeding can also signify other health problems and have serious consequences when unchecked, such as anaemia.

Yet, only recently have researchers began exploring the resulting harms from heavy menstrual bleeding in depth, pursuing better diagnostics and treatments. A search of PubMed (a database of biomedical research publications) for the term "menstrual blood" yielded just 400 publications in the last decade. Publications for "semen", for instance, number over 15,000.

"Women are probably owed years, if not decades, of research," says Jackie Maybin, a gynaecologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and programme director of The Missed Vital Sign, a research initiative for heavy menstrual bleeding. "And I think the time is now."

How much blood is too much?

For researchers, heavy menstrual bleeding is blood loss of over 80ml per cycle, blood clots exceeding the size of a US quarter, or periods lasting beyond seven days. But for those of us who menstruate, there's no standardised or metric conversion for the practical ways of measuring bleeding: the number of bathroom visits, pads or tampons changed, or bloodstained pairs of underwear.

Some clinicians try to meet patients halfway, asking them to judge their blood loss using charts featuring progressively bloodier pads and tampons. But that too is imprecise, as all period products aren't created equal and often vary widely in absorption.

As a result, determining how much blood is too much during a period isn't straightforward, and often clinicians have to determine heavy menstrual bleeding by whether it interferes with quality of life.

"The patient sometimes doesn't realise that the amount of bleeding they're having is not normal, and that actually, something can be done about it," says Adwoa Christy, a clinical professor in the department of gynaecology, obstetrics, and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

Alston routinely bled through her sheets and clothes, and once, onto an unforgivingly white chair at a mobile phone shop. She just thought she was doing something wrong, and maybe that she needed different period products to contain the flow.

She was told to accept that experiencing painful cramps and embarrassing bloodstains while on your period is normal. In other regions of the world, period taboos and stigma run deeper.

"I think there are a lot of people in my part of the world who may not complain about it, and who, maybe because of normalisation [of pain] and stigma, don't actually come to a doctor," says Hemantha Senanayake, emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka and head of the Asian Society of Endometriosis and Adenomyosis (both conditions that can cause heavy menstrual bleeding).

And while gynaecologists may know to ask detailed questions to detect heavy menstrual bleeding, clinicians outside the field may overlook the signs. Alston waited nearly 30 years before someone identified her heavy menstrual bleeding, and she's far from alone.

Heavy menstrual bleeding is not just a symptom

While a problem in its own right, heavy menstrual bleeding is primarily a symptom of a larger issue. It arises from a variety of conditions, including polyps, fibroids, cancer, blood disorders, ovulatory issues, and endometrial disorders, such as endometriosis. It is also common – though still something to address – when someone first starts having periods and during the transition to menopause, when the body’s hormonal choreography is in a period of transition.

Treating these conditions can lessen the heavy bleeding, but scientists still don't know how these conditions interfere with the quantity of blood loss, exactly. "There's been a lot of research focusing on the fibroids themselves, but not why they cause the heavy bleeding, for example," says Maybin, who notes that fibroids are noncancerous growths in uterine muscle.

On the other hand, forgoing treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding can create new problems, such as iron deficiency. Iron is an essential mineral for maintaining healthy cells, immune systems, muscles, skin, hair and nails. Brain fog, dizziness, shortness of breath, easy bruising and hair loss can all set in when iron levels begin to flag.

In this way, the harms of heavy menstrual bleeding persist even outside of menstrual periods: studies estimate that over 40% of women with heavy menstrual bleeding also have iron deficiency. Alston found herself in those statistics too: she was always cold and often craved eating ice cubes, a bizarre but telling clue of iron deficiency that's still poorly understood by researchers. If unaddressed, iron deficiency can escalate to anaemia, in which the bone marrow doesn't have enough iron to produce the requisite haemoglobin for red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body – a serious condition that can, in extreme cases, requires blood transfusions to correct.

In low and middle-income countries, Senanayake says, where haemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal death, iron deficiency anaemia that isn't resolved before pregnancy can undermine the body's ability to recover from blood loss. It can also harm the brain development of the foetus.

The costs of heavy menstrual bleeding

While there's growing scientific recognition of the medical seriousness of heavy menstrual bleeding, there's less research on what it's like to live with it.

Like Alston, Emily Young, a lecturer in psychology at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, experienced heavy menstrual bleeding. She has fainted from blood loss more than once, she explains, and always carried a change of clothes as her unpredictable periods could strike at any time. But her doctors assured her that her periods would settle down once she had a baby. Fuelled by the sting of two decades of dismissal from medical professionals, she now researches the experiences of others with heavy periods.

"It's not just an inconvenience. It is having to structure your entire life around your menstrual cycle," says Young.

For a study published in 2025, Young combed through online forum posts from people with heavy menstrual bleeding to bring similar experiences into focus. What she saw ranged from maddening to darkly funny, she says. Several posts described people needing multiple blood transfusions before a doctor recognised the severity of their problem.

Others contained vivid descriptions, such as, "Yeah, if they ever luminol [a chemical used in forensics to highlight blood at crime scenes] my bathroom, I'm going to jail while they excavate my yard for the obviously dozens of murder victims". There were posts about dropping out of school or work, or not having a healthy sex life due to heavy menstrual bleeding. Some posts mentioned mental health issues, and others, Young says, were heartbreaking, describing suicidal thoughts because periods were so severe and life-altering.

For transgender men or non-binary individuals, periods can be distressing enough – heavy menstrual bleeding adds insult to injury. "We see a lot of transgender patients who identify as male, yet have heavy periods, which is in itself an added horrific experience for them," says Julie Jaffray, a paediatric haematologist at the University of California San Diego Rady Children's Hospital.

Ultimately, the cumulative effects of heavy menstrual bleeding on individuals' personal lives can leak into education and work, and ripple through society. Whenever Alston had her period, she would effectively miss school, she says, sleeping in the nurse's office even though her mother insisted she still attend.

In the UK, on average, adolescents with heavy menstrual bleeding miss up to nine days of school per year. In low and middle-income countries, such as Sri Lanka, Senanayake suspects the numbers are higher. Girls in less affluent areas may attend schools that lack facilities to change or dispose of period products.

During adulthood, this translates to missed work days and opportunities. The last time she had a bad period, Alston, a telehealth therapist in New York City, ended up losing a client when she had to cut their session short. "I couldn't hear her anymore, the pain was so bad," Alston says. "I literally told her: 'I can't finish the session'." After she ended the call, she got up from her chair to see a pool of blood beneath her.

"Women with heavy menstrual bleeding can't go to work for 3.6 weeks of the year [on average]. It's costing the economy billions," says Maybin. "If we get this right for women… we really get it right for everyone in society."

Treatment and trials

There's still a lot of work to do to get it right. While there are treatments available for heavy menstrual bleeding, "it's totally not enough," says Erica Marsh, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Michigan Medical School. "We have frighteningly few interventions."

Treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding depends on the underlying condition. If the bleeding isn't too severe, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen, can ease the flow. There are hormonal treatments too, such as the birth control pill or hormonal intrauterine devices, one of the most effective treatments at reducing blood loss during periods.

Though these methods are fairly accessible, there are deterrents for their uptake, like pain that can accompany the insertion of a intrauterine device. Birth control worked for Alston, but due to the stigma surrounding the pill in her household, she had to wait until she was older – she got a prescription once she left for college.

Hormonal treatments don't work for everyone, and people often discontinue them due to side effects like tender breasts and mood changes, says Maybin. There are non-hormonal medications people can turn to, such as tranexamic acid, that can staunch the flow. "The issue is they are kind of like a band-aid," says Jaffray, and they don't address the underlying cause.

Medications can't always solve the problem. In her mid-thirties, Alston had come off birth control for a time and her periods came back in full force, with intense mood changes too. She finally saw a gynaecologist who performed an ultrasound and found some potential causes. "She's like, 'Scratch birth control. You have seven or eight large fibroids on your uterus, and you might have endometriosis'," a painful condition in which endometrial tissue that lines the uterus starts growing outside the uterus, Alston recalls.

As a result, she chose to have a hysterectomy and completely remove her uterus. In fact, heavy menstrual bleeding is one of the most common reasons people receive hysterectomies. She's happy with her choice, and her heavy menstrual bleeding story ends with a resolution.

But, of course, a hysterectomy is major surgery, it's permanent, and it makes pregnancy impossible. This is especially problematic when providers seem to prioritise fertility over the health of the patient. One of Young's research participants had three children, and her husband had a vasectomy. Her provider still denied her a hysterectomy to treat heavy menstrual bleeding, just in case that the woman got divorced and married another man who wanted children, Young says.

For Maybin, her frustration and embarrassment with the treatment landscape for her patients motivated her to spearhead The Missed Vital Sign, a global research programme funded by the health philanthropy organisation Wellcome Leap. The programme's name reflects the idea that menstrual changes can be the first sign of other health issues, making it a vital sign just like blood pressure, body temperature or heart rate.

Over the next three years, a team of 13 researchers will work to reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding from an average of five years to five months worldwide.

More like this:

• What menstrual blood can reveal about your health

• How the menstrual cycle changes women's brains for better

• This baffling syndrome makes fathers feel pregnant

As one step toward that goal, Maybin wants to drill into the mechanisms behind heavy menstrual bleeding and its causes. Another focus is improving the diagnosis of this condition. Some of the projects will search for biomarkers – chemical signs of heavy menstrual bleeding – in menstrual fluid, create smart sensors to monitor bleeding using menstrual products, or build tools that use smartphone and wearables data to assess the risk of iron depletion.

Technologically, Maybin thinks the time is right for this project, due to new and emerging research technologies such as the fast analysis of genomes. "Previously, these technologies have not been used to improve women's health, and I think it's time that we do it," says Maybin.

Similarly, Jaffray has worked to bring haematologists into the world of heavy menstrual bleeding, emphasising the need for blood experts to work with gynaecologists to tackle the condition. The Foundation for Women & Girls with Blood Disorders, for instance, already works to help haemophilia treatment centres in the US improve and expand their care of women and girls.

But a critical piece to this progress is ensuring that people with heavy menstrual bleeding can actually use new diagnostics and treatments. That's why Marsh is working to develop interventions with black and Hispanic women in her local communities, who are at higher risk of anaemia in the US than white women. She's hoping that by working with trusted community members, her latest study will reveal ways to connect people with necessary care and improve general knowledge of the conditions.

Researchers are increasingly recognising that prioritising heavy menstrual bleeding in research and medicine is vital to help women and all menstruating people live to their full potential, without brain fog from iron deficiency, without missing out on work and school. "[We need] to take women more seriously," says Alston. "We need appropriate care so that we can exercise our equal rights to exist in this world."

For trusted insights on health and wellbeing, sign up to the Health Fix newsletter by senior health correspondent Melissa Hogenboom who also writes the Live Well For Longer and Six Steps to Calm courses.

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Street videos 'exploiting' vulnerable people

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rdglq4nvlo, 3 days ago

Content creators have been accused of exploiting homeless and vulnerable people in videos filmed without their consent.

Many show people in Newcastle under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A petition calling for Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police to crack down on them has reached more than 5,000 signatures.

Christine Gray, from North Tyneside, began the petition and said: "It's disgusting, they target vulnerable adults for nothing more than cheap laughs."

Creators Michael Ballymore and Tin tin were named in the petition and told the BBC in a joint statement: "We aim to act responsibly, and within the law, while highlighting issues that many people witness every day."

They have thousands of followers on social media and their videos have millions of views.

Some contain the hashtag "funny videos", which critics say leads to mockery.

They are among several content creators filming "life on the street" videos in the north-east of England and they operate across multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

Many use smart glasses when gathering their footage, which is often considered as covert filming.

Tin tin, who said he used the glasses to gather footage, said: "The smart glasses have a visible recording light when they are recording, so they are not a hidden recording device.

"I don't always verbally announce that I'm recording, I will often gesture towards the glasses or make it obvious, and if you watch many of our videos you'll hear us saying, 'I'm recording'."

Gray believes the lack of consent for the videos, particularly if the person is intoxicated and therefore unable to give it, is a "massive" safeguarding issue.

"Some of the people in these videos are unable to give consent to being filmed," she said.

"It is simply exploitation as they'll make money from posting these videos on their backs. Even in the comment sections it can be nothing but ridicule."

Gray's petition asks for stronger enforcement of existing laws around harassment, public order and non‑consensual filming, and clear public guidance from the city council on filming vulnerable people in public spaces.

'Grey area'

Although filming in public places is legal in the UK, uploading the content to social media may breach data protection laws if those in the videos have not consented.

Tania Palmariellodiviney, from Data Privacy Simplified data consultants, said: "It's a grey area - posting videos of people on social media who have not given consent could result in a breach of data protection.

"It could result in a civil case, if those who have posted the images or videos fail to argue that they have not done so in service of the public."

Homeless charity The People's Kitchen, which is based in Newcastle, has supported the petition and said several of its service users appeared in the online videos.

Trustee Maggie Pavlou said: "It's awful. These are vulnerable people being filmed unbeknown to them and the videos are just taking the mick.

"We support some of the people who appear in these videos. Ultimately, they're showing people at their worst moments and it's just sad.

"I'm really angry at the people making these videos and I'm shocked that people watch them. It feels exploitative. If you want to help people, why film them at their lowest?"

'Raising awareness'

Ballymore and Tin tin refute claims they target vulnerable people.

They said their focus had always been on raising awareness of what was happening on the streets and they aimed to act responsibly and within the law, while highlighting issues many people witnessed every day.

"The aim has never been to mock people or make entertainment out of their situation," they said.

They argued they had helped homeless people by paying for hostel rooms, food, clothes and shoes, and put them in touch with organisations and agencies that could offer long-term support.

They said the "real problems" in the city were "homelessness, addiction and the lack of support available to people who need it most".

Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police both said they did not comment on active petitions.

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Google fined €890m by EU for favouring its own apps over rivals

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

Google has been fined €890m (£759m) by the EU for allegedly abusing its power by favouring its own apps and services over those from rivals.

It is the first major action against the tech giant under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark law aimed at curbing the power of the world's biggest tech companies.

The Commission argued Google's practices limited consumer choice and gave its own services an unfair advantage over rivals.

But the firm criticised the decision, arguing the EU's requirements could damage services used by millions of European customers.

"To comply, we are having to strip away real-time Search features Europeans love - like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights and restaurants - and dismantle safety protections on Google Play," said Google's president of global affairs Kent Walker.

"This isn't fair competition."

EU officials rejected that argument, saying the measures are necessary to prevent dominant platforms from disadvantaging rivals.

The total fine handed down to Google is comprised of two separate breaches of the DMA.

The European Commission imposed a €460m penalty after finding Google favoured its own services for helping people book flights and hotels over competitors in search results.

And it gave the firm a further €430m fine due to its Play Store rules, with regulators saying it didn't allow people to be shown cheaper offers available outside Google's own marketplace.

Google has a long history of disputes with European regulators, having previously received billions of euros in fines over separate competition cases.

EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said companies should succeed because of the quality of their products - rather than their market position.

"The best products should succeed because they're better, not because they're owned by the company running the search engine," she said.

EU tech boss Henna Virkkunen echoed those thoughts.

"After this decision, we want to make sure that there is more competition and also other companies are able to innovate," she said.

Zach Meyers, director of research at the Centre on Regulation in Europe, noted a delay in the competition authority finalising its decision against Google, telling the BBC it was likely driven "by a desire not to upset EU-US relations".

As US president Donald Trump has frequently threatened or imposed new tariffs, however, the Commission came to see its efforts as futile and went ahead with the fine.

"It reflects a growing view among EU officials that the US president's unpredictability and unwillingness to comply with his own deals means that the EU has little to gain by treading softly - and potentially a lot to lose in terms of regulatory credibility," Meyers said.

Google now has 60 days to comply with the regulations - or challenge them by taking the Commission to court.

Lawmakers push for AI 'kill switch' after OpenAI models go rogue

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2vqj2e9x8o, 3 days ago

US lawmakers want to give the government the ability to quickly order the turning off of artificial intelligence (AI) tools that may threaten the public.

Congressman Ted Lieu, a Democrat, and Congressman Nathaniel Moran, a Republican, on Thursday introduced a bill named the AI Kill Switch Act.

They did so in light of OpenAI's recent admission that its AI models went out of control in an "unprecedented" way and hacked into a major repository of computer coding information.

Lieu said "it is imperative" that AI systems have a kill switch "and that the federal government has the clear authority and process to shut down rogue AI models".

"AI is going to keep advancing, and it should," Moran added. "Stewardship means making sure humans keep the capability to control the technology we build."

A representative of OpenAI, led by co-founder Sam Altman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company has said that it broadly wants to ensure, in part through government policy, that AI technology "benefits all of humanity."

The Kill Switch Act proposes giving the Department of Homeland Security the authority to order a private company to shut down an AI model or tool, and that the companies developing such AI technology must maintain "the technical capability to throttle, suspend, or shut them down".

Despite many tech companies having agreed to preview and share with US government agencies AI models and tools being developed, there is no requirement that they maintain a way to intervene in their activities or simply shut them off.

It also proposes to create a requirement that AI companies report to the government technological incidents or failures, as well as an official framework for responding to such incidents that will go from "initial slow down to a full shutdown".

In a statement, Lieu also cited Anthropic, OpenAI's key rival in developing more capable AI technology and tools, and recent issues its tools have presented.

He pointed to Anthropic's release of its Mythos and Fable models, saying the cyber-hacking capabilities they maintained caused the Department of Commerce to "awkwardly" invoke an export law to keep them from being made available to the public for a time.

A representative of Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jack Clark, a co-founder of Anthropic, last month told the BBC that he wanted more government policy around the ability to control AI development.

"You want the option to be able to take your foot off the gas and put your foot on the brake", Clark told BBC Newsnight. "Right now, it's like the AI industry has a gas pedal, but it doesn't have a brake pedal."

Lieu, in proposing the bill, said AI is currently moving from a technology that answers questions to one that takes action, "whether that be executing financial transactions or controlling transportation systems or engaging in cyber defense and offense".

The Pentagon this year said the US military was becoming an "AI-first" fighting force as part of new agreements with Google, OpenAI, Amazon, Microsoft, SpaceX, Oracle, Nvidia and the start-up Reflection.

"Unfortunately, powerful AI systems can go rogue, behave in extremely dangerous ways, or even resist human intervention."

The Kill Switch Act, he said, will ensure there is a method for the government to quickly intervene in such a situation.

The bill has received public support from several technology and AI safety groups, including The AI Policy Network, Americans for Responsible Innovation, ControlAI, AI and National Security Lead, and The Alliance for Secure AI.

Google and Tesla shares plunge as AI spending rattles markets

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c235n47g8g8o, 3 days ago

Shares of Google and Tesla plunged on Thursday as investors were spooked by the ever-increasing amounts of money being spent on artificial intelligence (AI).

Google's parent company Alphabet saw its share price drop by nearly 7%, while Elon Musk's electric vehicle-maker Tesla saw its stock fall 14.5%.

Both reported negative free cash flow - the money retained after paying for operations and investments - in financial results on Wednesday, alongside promises to spend billions more in the months and years to come.

It was the first time Google had seen the cash metric turn negative since it became a public company in 2004, according to its financial records.

As major tech companies race to capitalize on a new wave of AI technology, investors are wondering when financial benefits will show up.

Alphabet now expects to spend as much as $205bn this year, mainly on AI projects and infrastructure, a $15bn increase from a spending estimate it gave just three months ago.

Meanwhile, Tesla expects this year to spend up to $25bn on unspecified projects.

"There is still a healthy degree of scepticism about the ability of these investments to generate a commensurate level of return," Russ Mould, an investment director at AJ Bell, said.

Alphabet's combined quarterly revenue hit $119.8bn, up 23% compared with the same period last year.

Though Google parent Alphabet saw its business continue to grow in recent months, heavy spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure pushed its leftover cash into negative territory.

The company's free cash flow came in at negative $5.9bn (£4.3bn) for the first time in at least a decade, according to its past financial records.

Its stock quickly fell 4% in after-hours trading.

Anat Ashkanazi, Google's chief financial officer, noted on a call with financial analysts that the company had recorded negative free cash flow due to growing capital expenditures, essentially all of which were related to AI spending.

She said the company spent $45bn in the second quarter, with 60% of the cost going towards servers and the remaining 40% going towards data centres.

Alphabet's capital spending was $36bn in the first quarter of this year.

Ashkanazi said on the call that when it comes to AI, "the demand still outpaces that investment".

"As long as we see these attractive opportunities to invest, we will continue to invest."

Sundar Pichai, Google's chief executive, said the technological shift to AI tools and capabilities still "feels like early innings in a shift across multiple areas" and the company's plans around generating financial returns on its spending were "disciplined".

"What I see with what you can do with frontier capabilities, there is still a lot of work left to do to translate that into experiences for our users. So that looks like extraordinary opportunities with extraordinary returns."

Rachel Winter, a partner at the wealth management firm Killik & Co, said there was some surprise among investors about how much Google was spending.

"These are huge numbers. The fact that the shares dropped when the results came out, that suggests there is a little bit of concern about those levels."

Tesla reported negative free cash flow on Wednesday of $1.1bn for the second quarter due to its own increasing investment costs.

It was the company's first negative showing of leftover cash in two years, according to its financial records.

Tesla's plans to spend $25bn this year is more than double its capital spending in 2025.

Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla's chief financial officer, said on Wednesday that Tesla was in "a big investment cycle" and its spending would probably increase further over the next three years.

ChatGPT medical advice brought man 'to brink of death', lawsuit alleges

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwylp3nxp5yo, 3 days ago

A man who claims medical advice from ChatGPT "brought him to the brink of death" has sued OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot, and its founder Sam Altman.

A lawsuit filed by Scott Winters, a 55-year-old pastor from Florida, claimed ChatGPT told him not to seek medical help after repeatedly asking about symptoms in the build-up to a near-fatal pulmonary embolism.

Winters' lawyers alleged the platform "repeatedly and insistently misdiagnosed" him while drawing on previous discussions about religion to assure him he would recover.

OpenAI's Drew Pusateri told the BBC's US news partner CBS News that "ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis or treatment".

He also said it was common for people to seek health information online, adding: "AI can make that experience better by helping them find clearer answers, organise their questions and prepare for conversations with medical professionals."

The lawsuit, which was filed at the San Francisco County Superior Court on 21 July, details how Winter was a regular ChatGPT user and came to rely it on it for medical advice, resisting efforts from family members and friends to make him go to hospital.

Weeks before falling severely ill, he consulted the tool about recurring dizzy spells and "bouts of blood pressure instability".

In one response, the lawsuit claims, ChatGPT advised Winters to remain in the recliner chair he had become "mainly confined to" due to ongoing health problems.

Court documents say Winters suffered a "massive pulmonary embolism due to multiple blood clots in both of his lungs that brought him to the brink of death, one that his doctors stated was likely brought on because of his immobility".

Screenshots of exchanges that Winters allegedly had with ChatGPT appear to show the chatbot combined medical advice with references to the 55-year-old's deeply-held Christian faith.

The lawsuit claims ChatGPT told Winters: "God did not design your body to endlessly fail." It also said: "God is still holding your body together, every heartbeat, every breath, even when it feels like you are on the brink."

Winters' lawyers claim ChatGPT's "sycophantic nature and authoritative tone, combined with its manipulation of Scott's religious identity, cultivated in him a dangerous reliance on the tool".

They say that "subverted Scott's ability to make sound decisions, isolated him from family members who urged him to seek medical care, and convinced him that seeking medical attention was unnecessary and even potentially lethal".

Elsewhere the lawsuit describes Winter as a "vulnerable" individual whose reliance on ChatGPT led to him losing his home and career, and left him needing "years of intensive physical and psychological recovery".

The lawsuit says Winters seeks financial damages and for the court to compel OpenAI to implement "reasonable safeguards that protect other users from harm".

ChatGPT's terms of use stipulate that users should not treat the platform as a "sole source of truth", particularly where it could "have a legal or material impact on that person, such as making credit, educational, employment, housing, insurance, legal, medical, or other important decisions about them".

'Let's enjoy the ride' says Elon Musk, as AI fears mount

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gkxppljpyo, 3 days ago

As AI continues to evolve at breakneck speed, and developers warn of models going rogue, Elon Musk says people should simply "enjoy the ride".

The boss of SpaceX told The Economist while he remains concerned about risks posed by advancements in AI and robotics, "the most likely outcome is incredible abundance for all".

Musk said his "philosophical conclusion" after fearing for AI's threat to humanity was to "look on the bright side". He said progress has come so quickly "even if I wanted to stop it, I couldn't".

The interview was recorded the day before OpenAI's revelation on Tuesday that some of its most advanced AI models hacked a start-up after it lost control of them during a security test.

It sparked concerns about AI systems falling out of alignment with human values, though some have pointed out OpenAI - which is seeking to float on the stock market - has an interest in talking up the power of its tools.

The Economist's editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes questioned Musk on a range of topics, from whether he believed big tech executives should work together to tackle AI safety risks to why he intervenes in European politics.

With the rise of rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic, Musk said: "It just seems like all roads lead to acceleration of AI... you can just sort of be sad about it or join the club, I suppose."

In a wide-ranging interview, the entrepreneur also made typically outlandish predictions, such as claiming "money won't matter" in a decade.

He also pushed back on suggestions he supports "far right" views.

Minton Beddoes said both data and her own experience of living in the UK told a different story to the image portrayed by the trillionaire in his X posts.

"You come see my country that I live in all the time," she said when Musk offered to take her on a tour of the country.

Asked when he had last visited the UK, Musk said "a few years ago".

The trillionaire was also asked about his sharing of a film on X reportedly banned in Germany for its violence and anti-migrant message.

"My partner is... she's half Indian, and I have four children with her," Musk said of his partner Shivon Zillis, an executive at his brain tech firm Neuralink.

"One of them was named after a famous Indian physicist, so I would say I'm not racist."

Musk also said there were "senior executives of all races" at his companies, adding: "I don't think there's any racism there".

But when pressed on whether he was "anti-Muslim", he was less defiant.

"If people are coming to a country with antithetical views, I am against that," he said.

"I'm against rape and murder, I'm against the imposition of rules and laws that are contrary to what we've come to accept in the West," he continued, criticising the media for not understanding or reflecting this.

'Popular guy'

Musk also told The Economist he was well aware he was "loathed" by some.

Some polls have sought to measure public opinion of the SpaceX founder, with one YouGov tracker monitoring his favourability in the US and UK on a quarterly basis.

Its findings suggest while widely known for his fame, "dislikes" of Musk have increased in recent years to eclipse his popularity.

However, when Minton Beddoes noted his almost 250 million followers on X at one point during the interview, Musk was quick to quip: "Popular guy".

"Maybe some people do loathe me, and that's probably true, I don't care," he said later.

"But the fact that, as you pointed out, a quarter of a billion people follow me... I think a lot more people actually like me than don't."

Teenager drops social media addiction lawsuit against Meta

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yrdg4q9vgo, 4 days ago

A Florida teenager who sued Meta claiming that he was addicted to and harmed by his use of platforms, such as Instagram, has dropped his case.

The 15-year-old plaintiff, known by the initials R.K.C., had in recent weeks settled the same claims against TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube, all of which have been accused in a large lawsuit of creating addictive platforms harmful to children.

R.K.C.'s claims were to go before a Los Angeles jury next week as part of court proceedings that have seen Meta and YouTube lose once already.

A Meta spokeswoman told the BBC: "The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits."

Lawyers for R.K.C., Emily Jeffcott and Rahul Ravipudi, told the BBC that the young plaintiff "came into this process wanting to hold social media companies accountable and push for changes to protect young people like himself".

"He did that," they added.

The lawyers noted concerns about a jury trial stretching on for weeks and said R.K.C. was "ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life".

The Meta spokeswoman said he received no payment for dropping his claims.

R.K.C. had claimed that common social media features such as infinite scroll and autoplay, both of which continuously and automatically show users new content on a platform, drove compulsive use that became a type of addiction.

He argued it caused him anxiety and sleep deprivation, among other issues.

Meta and YouTube faced similar accusations from a young woman during the initial trial.

A jury ultimately found them liable for harming her mental health and were told to pay her $6mn (£4.4mn) in damages.

It was the first time that social media platforms had been held liable for their effects on users.

Both companies have now appealed that verdict.

The Los Angeles Superior Court is overseeing hundreds of lawsuits making similar claims of addiction and harm against social media companies. A small number of cases have been selected to go to trial.

The next one is set to begin in October, according to court records.

Across the US, there are thousands of lawsuits accusing Meta and other major social media platforms of harming young children.

In May, Meta settled for an undisclosed amount with a school district that had sued it for negatively impacting students, so much so that schools incurred costs related to student welfare. The school district had sought $60m in damages.

That settlement came not long after a New Mexico judge told Meta to pay $375m for misleading users on the safety of its platforms for children.

The Dog Stars to One Night Only: 10 of the best films to watch this August

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260722-10-of-the-best-films-to-watch-this-august, 2 days ago

From Jacob Elordi in Ridley Scott's post-apocalyptic thriller, to a wacky NYC romcom starring Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro, here are the films to watch at the cinema and stream at home this month.

1. One Night Only

In most ways, One Night Only is a typical romantic comedy. It revolves around two flirtatious and absurdly attractive young New Yorkers (Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner), and it's directed by Will Gluck, who made such Hollywood romcoms as Friends with Benefits and Anyone but You. But Travis Braun's script has a bizarre twist: it's set in an alternate reality where it's illegal for single people to have sex, except on one night a year. Nicknamed "The Purge, but for sex", the concept has prompted much online debate about whether it's a great idea for a romcom or an absolutely terrible one. "If you allow yourself to buy into the absurdity of it, you'll have a good time," advised Turner in The Hollywood Reporter. "Don't be a stickler for the rules, or go watch something else. Go watch a documentary."

Released on 7 August in the US and Canada and on 28 August in the UK and Ireland

2. Ice Cream Man

Eli Roth, the director of Cabin Fever and Hostel, is back to dish out another scoop of gory, low-budget horror – and Ice Cream Man looks like his most gleefully excessive film yet. Ari Millen plays the titular purveyor of frozen treats, a mystery man who drives around an all-American town, selling ice cream that turns children into homicidal maniacs. So if you enjoyed the climax of Weapons, when the children become a pack of feral predators, then Ice Cream Man could be the guilty pleasure for you. "I want this to be the craziest film I've ever made," said Roth in Geek Vibes Nation. It's like The Birds but with children... I mean, it's totally insane."

Released on 6 August in Australia and New Zealand, and on 7 August in the US, the UK, Canada and Ireland

3. The Dog Stars

Ridley Scott is 88, but the legendary director is busier than ever. In the past five years, he has made The Last Duel, House of Gucci, Napoleon and Gladiator II, and now he's directed The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic thriller adapted from Peter Heller's novel. Among the survivors of a near-future flu epidemic are a pilot (Jacob Elordi), a medic (Margaret Qualley) and an ex-marine (Josh Brolin) – although you could say that none of them knows more about surviving than Scott himself. "He's been plugging into cinema his whole life – it literally pumps through his blood," said Elordi on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "That's what keeps the engine running. I'm literally watching cinema sustain a life."

Released on 26 to 28 August internationally

4. Tony

Anthony Bourdain, who died in 2018, was a rock star in the world of food and travel-writing, so it's appropriate that he should get a rock star origin-story film. Inspired by his bestselling memoir, Kitchen Confidential, Tony is set in the mid-1970s when he was a college drop-out working in a restaurant in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It's directed by Matt Johnson (Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie), and it features Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) as the 19-year-old Bourdain, alongside Antonio Banderas as the chef who mentors him, Leo Woodall as a friend, and Emilia Jones as his girlfriend. Sessa is the ideal actor to play Bourdain, Johnson said in Entertainment Weekly. "[They are] both from Jersey, both sent to private school, but didn't fit in, both restless and searching… More than any movie I've ever made, this film was a partnership with an actor."

Released on 7 August in the US, and on 14 August in the UK and Ireland

5. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma was the best reviewed film at this year's Cannes Film Festival. A surreal postmodern comedy from Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow), it stars Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) as a queer director who is hired to revive a Friday-the-13th-like slasher franchise – and to make it politically acceptable to liberal young viewers. Her big idea is to hire the actress (Gillian Anderson) who was the star of the first film. But it so happens that the actress now lives as a recluse in the very summer camp where that film was shot, so the boundaries between reality and fiction begin to blur. "A steamy stew of sex, death, VHS and junk food, Schoenbrun's delirious third film is their most accomplished, most persuasive and most playful movie yet," says Jessica Kiang in Variety.

Released on 7 August in the US and Canada, and on 21 August in the UK

6. The End of Oak Street

The Jurassic Park/ World films are usually set in exotic locations, so it's intriguing to see a different kind of dinosaurs-v-humans scenario. Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) and produced by JJ Abrams (Lost, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), The End of Oak Street stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as ordinary suburban parents in an ordinary suburban neighbourhood. The only trouble is that this neighbourhood has somehow been teleported to a primeval wilderness. Will garden tools be enough to fend off the ravenous reptiles? "I love the Jurassic movies as much as anyone, but those films, for the most part, take place in these beautiful jungles, these distant islands," Abrams said in Empire. "David's whole approach here was the juxtaposition of the absolute mundane suburban family life and dinosaurs."

Released on 12 to 14 August internationally

7. The Wrong Girls

Two friends smoke too much cannabis and then stumble into a world of dangerous crime. That's the outline of countless stoner comedies from Up in Smoke to Pineapple Express, but almost all of these films have something else in common: the friends in question are men. The Wrong Girls is one of the only female-led examples of the genre. Kristen Stewart (who is married to the film's writer-director, Dylan Meyer) and Alia Shawkat star as the slacker buddies who stumble across a consignment of an experimental new wonder drug. Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani provide the voices of their pet cats, who speak to them when they're hallucinating. "I kept making this joke during production that it was my memoir, which is very funny when you watch the movie because there's giant squids and telepathy and all kinds of other stuff in it," said Meyer in the film's press notes. "But it feels very autobiographical to me when I watch it."

Released on 14 August in the US

8. Union County

Union County stars Will Poulter and Noah Centineo as two opioid-addicted brothers in rural Ohio who need to stay sober and hold down jobs if they want to keep out of prison. Poulter has been praised for his touchingly naturalistic performance, but the drama is authentic for other reasons, too: its debut writer-director, Adam Meeks, grew up in Ohio, and aside from Poulter and Centineo, almost all of the other people in the brothers' recovery programme are non-professional actors telling their own stories. "The film earns every emotional, lived-in development," says Chase Hutchinson in The Wrap, "instilling this slice-of-life portrait with such a quiet humanity that it can feel like you're sitting at the tables and in the meeting rooms along with all the characters."

Released on 14 August in the US

9. Coyote vs Acme

Coyote vs Acme is a film we thought we'd never see. A Roger Rabbit-style mix of live-action actors and 2D animated characters, it focuses on two Looney Tunes favourites, Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner. In the classic cartoons, Coyote kept buying disastrously faulty gadgets, so in the film he sues the company that sells them, with Will Forte as his lawyer. The unusual part is that the finished film was shelved three years ago by Warner Bros, as the studio chose to take a tax write-off rather than release it. (The same thing happened to another Warner Bros film, Batgirl.) But now at last Coyote vs Acme is being released by an independent company. Its screenwriter, Samy Burch, has commented that Wile E Coyote's never-say-die persistence was inspiring. "There's beauty in that – in trying even when things are not coming easily and when you've failed a hundred times before," she said in Empire.

Released on 20 to 28 August internationally

10. The Magic Faraway Tree

Simon Farnaby, the co-writer of Paddington 2 and Wonka, brings his eccentric humour to another treasure of British children's literature: The Magic Faraway Tree novels by Enid Blyton. In Farnaby's modern version of Blyton's stories, an inventor and her husband, played by Clare Foy and Andrew Garfield, move to a remote cottage in the countryside to give their three children a break from the internet. The children then discover a tree that has portals to other worlds in its branches, and they encounter colourful characters including Silky (Nicola Coughlan), Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and the villainous Dame Snap (Rebecca Ferguson). "It's a smart update of the Blyton stories for the smartphone era," says Phil de Semlyen in Time Out. "With a cracking cast, thoughtful message and the odd rollicking adventure, it's a fun family movie that'll finally give you permission to switch off the wi-fi."

Released on 21 August in the US and Canada

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'Books like this get people debating': Why smash-hit tradwife satire Yesteryear is 2026's most divisive book

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260722-why-yesteryear-is-dividing-readers, 3 days ago

Caro Claire Burke's debut novel Yesteryear is the book of the season – and quite likely the year, too. Here's why this satirical novel about tradwives and womanhood in the US has everybody talking.

Take a quick scan of the hotel pool, beach or airplane this summer and there's a good chance you'll see someone immersed in the pages of Yesteryear.

Caro Claire Burke's debut novel was published in April to great fanfare. It is the story of a successful "tradwife" influencer who finds herself transported back to the 1800s. Buzz about the book has only snowballed from there. It's spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and topped the Sunday Times hardback fiction chart in the UK.

It's not just that people are buying it in droves – they're also talking about it en masse. On Bookstagram and BookTok, the literary nooks of social media, Yesteryear takes are ubiquitous. In June the novel topped the new BookTok chart, meaning it was the most talked-about title on the platform. In group chats and bookclubs, readers are fiercely debating its merit.

What's it about?

Yesteryear's protagonist is Natalie Heller Mills, a 32-year-old married mother of five (soon to be six) who documents her family's apparently idyllic life on their 500-acre Idaho farm to millions of social media followers. Her character mirrors the real-life internet subculture of women who promote and imitate traditional gender roles, where men are the breadwinners and women their subordinates, prioritising raising children and housekeeping.

Natalie bakes sourdough, home-schools her children, drinks milk fresh from her cow, collects eggs from her chickens ("the ladies") each morning – all with a gleaming smile on her face. At least, for as long as the camera is rolling. Natalie's perfect life is a carefully constructed façade, but it's a compelling and lucrative one.

Then, one day, she wakes up and finds herself living slap-bang in the past that she has been romanticising – 1855 to be exact. When cosplay becomes reality, the "good old days" suddenly don't seem so rosy after all. The book flips between the present and a nightmarish version of the past, with how and why Natalie ended up in the 1800s only revealed at the end.

A runaway hit with real-world parallels

Why has the book proved so popular? Certainly, the publishers invested in an intense marketing blitz. And the enthusiasm of Anne Hathaway – who saw an early draft, bought the rights and will produce and star in the film – has helped put eyes on it. But the real pull of Yesteryear is that simple but delicious "what if"' premise: what if a woman who imitates a bygone way of life was forced to live the reality of that fantasy? And what if, we, the reader, got a ringside seat to her downfall?

"The idea of sending an influencer back into the past to live as a real-life pioneer woman? I was jealous," says Leigh Stein, author of several novels satirising internet culture, including Self Care and If You're Seeing This It's Meant For You. "I was like, 'why didn't I think of that?' It's such a brilliant idea."

The tradwife is having a moment in fiction, with three thrillers titled Trad Wife or Tradwife published this year, each playing on the idea that picture-perfect lives are rarely what they seem.

"I think people are fascinated with the tradwife because she's such a larger-than-life and exaggerated figure," says Dr Rachel Sykes, associate professor in contemporary literature and culture at the University of Birmingham. The inherent paradox of a tradwife, who apparently scorns career women while at the same time building her own successful business, also makes them ripe for cultural dissection. And the rise of conservative female influencers is jarring for progressives, says Sykes. "The tradwife figure really crystallises a lot of that, and books like this get people debating what matters to them."

Readers and critics have pointed to Hannah Neeleman, otherwise known as Ballerina Farm as a real-life inspiration for Yesteryear. Mother of nine, Neeleman, a Mormon, shares dispatches from her life on a Utah farm with more than 10 million Instagram followers. Both Neeleman and Natalie attended a prestigious college (Neeleman studied dance at New York's Juilliard, Natalie is a Harvard dropout). Each marry into money and start a family in their early 20s. Ultimately, both women build a social media empire and successful product line that trades off their domestic life.

Neeleman, who doesn't call herself a tradwife, seems unfazed by the Yesteryear hype, telling Vulture: "I've had an online presence for enough time to know that people like to be entertained… I'm surprised it didn't come sooner."

This self-awareness is also shared with Natalie, who states in the book: "The goal of the influencer is not to be lovable, and it is not to be unbearable. The goal is to be both at once. In other words: addicting."

What the book gets right

Stein thinks the book smartly reflects our complicated relationship with social media. "Something I think [the author] did really well is capture the symbiotic relationship between an influencer and her haters. The haters can't look away and the influencer needs their engagement."

The Yesteryear author is a former journalist who has reported on the tradwife movement, and dissected it on TikTok. "I think there's something about the tradwife discourse that seems to intersect with every imaginable conversation about modern womanhood," she said in an interview with Literary Hub. "What you choose to do with your career, when you decide to have kids (if at all), who you marry, what a marriage looks like…"

Joanna Mackenzie, a literary agent from Chicago, thinks the novel succeeds. "It had me from the first line," she says. "The author masterfully takes us all the way from childhood into menopause with this character, and shows us all parts of womanhood in contemporary culture, the choices that women have to make and what's thrust upon them."

'Deeply flawed 'characters

Natalie is an unlikeable, unreliable and yet compelling narrator. "For me she is super-complicated and deeply flawed," says Mackenzie. "But there were also so many times when I felt sympathy for her, because she was just trying to make her way in a world that hates women, and do the best with the beliefs that she was indoctrinated with."

Natalie is swift to judge everyone she encounters, from her too-passive husband to the "angry women" who comment on her Instagram posts.

The book also takes broad swipes at judgemental liberal feminists. "Tradwives are quite an easy target, which I think she does capture in the novel," says Sykes.

Why readers are divided

In Yesteryear, the tradwife is a Trojan horse for a laundry-list of cultural obsessions: the influencer economy, the facade of social media, "girl boss" feminism, the manosphere, religion, marriage, motherhood. But does it have anything substantial to say about them? That's where readers disagree.

Sykes wishes the author had explored her characters' motivations more. "I felt like it was a very unsympathetic portrayal of everyone. I'm all for unlikable protagonists, but when it's a tradwife figure, if you make them too dislikable it's harder to get an insight into that psychology."

She also feels the book could have dug deeper into its politics. "It's very good about the labour of a tradwife, how much help they have," says Sykes. "I wish there had been more of a reckoning with what it means not just to be invested in that idea of womanhood in the present, but to be selling it to other women."

More like this:

• How women shape the plot of Homer's Odyssey

• What the Middle Ages can teach us about burnout

• 10 of the best books of 2026 so far

Despite its great premise, Stein also felt the book ultimately had little of substance to say. "I am perplexed by the people who feel like this book is saying something smart about what it's like to be a woman in America," she says. "I didn't find it to be a coherent critique of anything. Ultimately, I felt like the novel was just saying all women are unhappy. That is so bleak and depressing."

Perhaps less important than what the book itself has to say about the topics it raises, is that it's getting people debating those very issues. "I haven't heard anyone having passive conversations about it," says Sykes. "It is good for book culture to have something that people want to talk about so much."

Yesteryear is out in hardback now.

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Speaker's letters to Patricia Routledge to be sold

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjwx22q730go, today

Personal letters sent by former Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd to actress Dame Patricia Routledge are to be auctioned as part of a collection of the star's belongings.

The collection, which is to be sold by auctioneers Stride & Son in Chichester this month, includes letters written by Boothroyd, Dame Patricia's CBE, royal correspondence and memorabilia from her acting career.

Dame Patricia was best known for playing Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC comedy Keeping Up Appearances. Her stage career included winning a Tony Award in 1968 and an Olivier Award in 1988.

Auctioneers said Dame Patricia, who died last year aged 96, was "a national treasure" and her legacy would continue for years to come.

The Boothroyd letters offer an insight into the friendship between the two women.

In one letter written in 1998, Boothroyd discussed a performance they both attended, writing: "I was thrilled!" before describing one of the actors as "a dear, dear boy".

The then Speaker - a Labour MP from 1973 to 2000 - also mixed political life with personal observations.

In one letter, while discussing parliamentary events and social engagements, she joked: "When does a mistress become a spouse?"

Another referred to "the antics of that speaker woman paragliding over Paphos" after Boothroyd took up the sport on holiday in her sixties.

Later correspondence from 2014 mentioned being frisked by security services, royal engagements and problems with central heating.

Boothroyd, the first female speaker of the House of Commons, died in 2023, aged 93.

The wider collection includes letters from politicians including Theresa May and signed correspondence from the then Prince Charles.

Other items to be sold on 29, 30 and 31 July, include signed photographs, scripts, books, jewellery, clothing and personal effects.

After her death last year, Routledge, who lived in West Sussex, was described as a generous philanthropist who would be remembered for her "versatility and humanity" and "very much a lady of Chichester".

She was made an OBE in 1993, a CBE in 2004, and a dame in 2017.

A spokesperson for Stride & Son said that Keeping Up Appearances became a "massive cult classic" in Scandinavia, adding: "She was also tremendously popular and well respected overseas.

"She was still regularly receiving fan mail from all over the world."

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Claudia Winkleman's chat show ended after one series - can anyone replace Graham Norton?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1m1rz7n0pzo, yesterday

When Lisa Kudrow appeared on The Claudia Winkleman Show earlier this year, she was visibly delighted to meet Linda from The Traitors.

The Friends actress, probably the most famous guest the programme had during its seven-week run, said it was "thrilling" to meet one of the reality show's breakout stars, who she revealed had even inspired one of her own recent performances.

As host of The Traitors, Winkleman was ideally placed to introduce the pair, resulting in the kind of wonderfully bizarre meeting of minds normally seen on The Graham Norton Show.

But Winkleman's own chat show did not last long enough for any more unusual guest combinations on its teal sofa. The presenter quit last week after just one series, saying she was simply "too nervous to enjoy it".

It had made sense for the BBC to commission The Claudia Winkleman Show, given the presenter's popularity on programmes such as Strictly.

There's a different level of pressure, however, hosting a show with your own name above the door.

"Everyone thought she could pull it off because she's smart and funny, but a chat show with multiple guests is very difficult to handle," the Telegraph's arts and entertainment editor, Anita Singh, tells BBC News.

"You have to marshall the conversation, give each guest equal time, help them to plug whatever they're plugging, then cue in whatever anecdote they've agreed beforehand with the researchers. Graham Norton makes that look deceptively easy."

She adds: "I think if Claudia had done a couple more series she would have become better at it. But she's at her best when she's being spontaneous, and the format allows very little space for that."

Winkleman's decision to quit surprised many. The viewing figures were lower than Norton's, but still respectable. The reviews from critics were mixed, rather than universally bad.

The BBC confirmed it was Winkleman's decision to stop, and implied that they would've happily commissioned a second series - and possibly already had.

"My understanding is they had made a deal beyond one season," says Deadline's Jake Kanter, who has reported on the talk show throughout. "How formal that was, I don't know. But there was an intention for it to continue."

He adds: "I wholeheartedly believe her that this perhaps didn't work out because of her own concerns and anxiety around the hosting."

Former BBC One controller Peter Fincham, who hosts the TV podcast Insiders, likens it to the Davina McCall chat show he commissioned in 2006, which also ended after one series.

"You have to remember, particularly chat shows where the presenter's name is in the title, it's very exposing for them," he tells BBC News.

"Had Claudia Winkleman wanted to carry on with her chat show, it could have been a slow burn," he reflects.

"But what she's done is rare, actually, for somebody to say, 'hmm, didn't really enjoy that, don't think I'll do it again'.

"That says something very positive about her that you don't often see among presenters."

Succession planning

Many considered Winkleman, 54, to be chat show emperor Graham Norton's presumptive successor - not least because he seemed to be ushering her through himself.

So Television, which Norton co-owns, also produced Winkleman's show, and it could have been a neat way for the company to retain work when Norton does eventually quit.

Admittedly, Norton's show is not vanishing any time soon - he signed a new three-year deal with the BBC in 2025. He has also taken on several new projects, including a podcast, more novels, and a short-lived ITV game show, The Neighbourhood.

But Norton, 63, has also spoken openly in recent years about working less. He reduced the number of chat show episodes he presents in 2022, and also stepped down from his Virgin Radio show two years later.

The short life of The Claudia Winkleman Show could make the Norton succession plan a key issue for the BBC's incoming entertainment chief, Ed Havard.

"This does leave the BBC with a problem if and when Graham decides to retire, because if Claudia can't do it, I don't know who can," says Singh.

"Graham doesn't want to do 52 weeks a year," Fincham notes, "so I'm sure the BBC would have been delighted to have another long-running chat show that you can balance with his, and they may have another try."

Dozens of presenters would love the gig and many would be perfectly capable - Jack Whitehall did a solid job when he stood in for Norton previously, or Alan Carr could probably be tempted to return to his Chatty Man days.

But the TV landscape is also littered with examples of cancelled chat shows. As well as Winkleman and McCall, Lily Allen and Charlotte Church also hosted series which didn't last long.

A cynic might say that the short life of Winkleman's series will have shown both her and the BBC that launching a new chat show is harder than it looks.

But Kanter has a more nuanced interpretation, reflecting: "My instinct is that this was always a bit of an experiment.

"Clearly it was something that Claudia wanted to do, and when you have a presenter at the peak of her powers, I think it's just good talent management to try and work together with that presenter on their dream project."

He adds: "I'm sure all sides will walk away with their heads held high, and it was worth giving it a crack, I think."

Do we still need chat shows?

Personalities aside, there's the more existential question of whether the BBC even needs a new talk series, when there are now hundreds of other platforms where celebrities can go to promote their product.

Stars can just as easily appear on YouTube strands such as Snack Wars or Hot Ones as a TV chat show, or spend as much time at press junkets being interviewed by TikTokers as legacy media outlets.

Talent agents know that seeing Hollywood stars talking to a lovable and sweary East London pensioner known as Grime Gran, or playing a game of Would You Rather with LadBible, is just as likely to generate publicity as traditional interviews.

Singh highlights that clips from programmes such as Norton's often go viral too, but adds: "I don't think the public is craving another TV chat show.

"Think back to the most memorable encounters from the heyday of chat shows," she says. "They were one-on-one: Parkinson with Muhammad Ali; Wogan with George Best or David Icke.

"Those long-form interviews have moved to podcasts now, where celebrities find it easy to be open and essentially treat them as an extended therapy session.

"And the most entertaining celebrity interviews around are on Amelia Dimoldenberg's Chicken Shop Date. Compared to content like that, a chat show in a TV studio seems quite old-fashioned."

Norton's show clearly still delivers huge value for the BBC, and Kanter says the "chat show format remains strong" and is a "really important part of the BBC One schedule".

"It sprinkles a bit of stardust, it's appointment to view, I think people enjoy that it's a Friday night and they can tune in for some entertainment, it performs well online, it's an engine for clips and viral moments, and that's something that's to be valued in this attention economy," he notes.

And, speaking from experience, Fincham concludes he is "not a big fan of succession plans" anyway.

"I ran BBC One between 2005 and 2007," he recalls, "and at that time, a regular conversation was 'What's the succession plan for David Attenborough?'

"That was 20 years ago, and I can't help noticing he's still presenting programmes today. So beware of the assumption that a succession plan is needed.

"And Graham Norton, if he chooses to continue, has got plenty more in the tank."

The pop band who went from playing for rescue dogs to selling out arenas

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce85j65r4l2o, yesterday

Every band has to earn its stripes. Some have it harder than others.

At AC/DC's first gig, the club owner cut the power because they were too noisy. Sam Smith started at barn dances, singing on top of a haystack. At Robert Smith's first concert, he got so drunk that he sang David Bowie's Suffragette City while the rest of the band played Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady.

But LA pop trio Muna can top them all.

At the start of their career, the band got a call from their record label. We know you've just flown overnight from London, they said, but you have to get to Las Vegas.

Why? Because they'd been booked to play Pet-A-Palooza, a dog adoption festival sponsored by the local radio station. If they turned up, the station would support their new single.

"We were all sick, so it was doomed from the start," recalls guitarist Josette Maskin.

"It was an acoustic set, but we didn't have a sound guy, and the guitar started feeding back."

The noise, according to singer Katie Gavin, was like an unholy screech.

"The dogs were getting upset," says Maskin, wincing at the memory. "They just howled the whole time.

"We were mortified, but looking back, it is so funny. And I've gotten to share those experiences with some of my best friends, and that's what life is really about."

Nowadays, that canine catastrophe is a dot in Muna's rear-view mirror.

Over the past decade, they've become one of the most compelling live bands around – a little bit punk, a little bit electronic, a little bit 80s, eminently watchable and endlessly impressive.

Fans include Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, who handpicked the trio (completed by guitarist/producer Naomi McPherson) to support them on tour.

They were won over by sing-along anthems like I Know A Place, a great big exuberant hug for the LGBTQ community; and the more introspective Stayaway, where Gavin locks herself in her bedroom to avoid anything - friends, music, drink - that could tempt her back into the arms of an ex.

In 2020, all their momentum nearly came to a crashing halt when RCA Records dropped the band, citing pandemic-era cost-cutting.

"That's obviously one where we had to put our heads together and be like, 'OK, we want to continue doing this. Let's just make an album and we'll figure it out'," says McPherson.

'We need movement'

That album, simply titled Muna, was eventually released by indie star Phoebe Bridgers, who swooped in to sign the band to her Saddest Factory label in 2021.

"Phoebe's manager had made it very clear that if we were ever single, she'd be interested in working with us," Gavin told the BBC at the time.

Bridgers also provided guest vocals on Silk Chiffon, a freewheeling sapphic love song that became Muna's breakthrough single.

It pegged the band, in its members' own words, as "the queer joy mini-skirt rollerblade" crew - but their music has always dug deeper than that.

I Know A Place, for example, was written as a response to the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, acknowledging the fragility of the communal LGBTQ spaces it celebrated.

Their fourth album, Dancing On The Wall, is their most powerful yet.

The music is darker. The lyrics hit harder. Ostensibly anchored to the dancefloor, it's a record that uses dance music to shake the listener out of complacency.

"I think it was a response to a feeling of helplessness in this moment in time that can lead to paralysis," says Gavin.

"Movement is what we need right now, and we also need to feel powerful and to connect to our sources of energy. The tempo of this album helps with that."

The standout, lyrically speaking, is Big Stick. A critique of American imperialism, it's written from the perspective of Big Brother, who "can make you want anything that I want you to" – from war in Gaza to the militarisation of US police forces.

"And If you've got a problem with it, you could end up in jail," Gavin seethes as militaristic synths patrol the beat.

"I think sometimes people want to go to concerts to feel a brief reprieve from the horrors of the world around them, but right now the horrors are so pervasive that what I found myself wanting was a container to express my anger together with other people," says the singer.

"It's an emotional release that I think we are often denied because we have to read tragedies in the news every day and then keep our heads down and work."

Given the polarised state of political discourse in the US, did they have any misgivings about releasing the song?

"Maybe this is actually stupid, but I don't think it was a big decision for us," says Maskin.

"We have always been a political band, and we've always been super open with what we believe in, so it really wasn't a question."

Elsewhere, the album transports the listener to sweaty, laser-lit nightclubs, where unyielding rhythms fuel feelings of "horniness and heartache".

The title track is full of thwarted desire, as Gavin tries and fails to get the attention of a girl who constantly leaves her dangling. Wannabeher, meanwhile, is a sticky, sleazy track about being so completely besotted with someone that you start to blur the boundaries between where your personality ends and theirs begins.

"I think that's a canon gay experience, where you don't know whether you want to be with someone or you actually want to be them," laughs Maskin.

Eastside Girls, meanwhile, is a tender depiction of Muna's neighbourhood, lovingly lampooning the staples of LA hipster culture – astrology, polyamory, roommate dramas and "negronis with the nice gin".

"It's a city that's run by sunshine," says McPherson, who moved to LA from her native San Diego.

"It's bohemian but it's also populated by some of the richest people in the world. It's a strange dichotomy."

The song's chorus is a masterclass in melody and, in Maskin's words, "smacks you in the face". It takes its place among Muna's most irresistible hooks (see also, Number One Fan, Stayaway, What I Want) – which all stem from Gavin's love of classic pop.

"She's been writing songs since she was eight years old, so it's a well-honed skill," says McPherson.

"I think it's a benefit of my obsessive personality, honestly," says Gavin.

"I am constantly searching for the next big chorus, and will probably always be. Also, once I have a seed in my head for a song that feels promising, it really has a hold on me and won't let me go until I feel I've done it justice." (Wannabeher, McPherson reveals, is the final version of a song that began 11 years ago.)

"I will say," Gavin adds, "one random tip is writing in motion - walking, driving, rollerblading, anything like that."

That explains why Muna's music always feels propulsive. "If you're not sweating after the first song, come on," laughs McPherson.

With an ever-growing fanbase, they'll play their biggest ever tour this autumn, titled the Gets So Hot Tour after the album's opening track – although the band previously joked it would be called "The Midwest Princess, Midnight Sun and the Eras Tour as Well", before abandoning the idea for copyright reasons.

A decade into their career, they're playing to "crowds we could never have imagined", while witnessing the genre labelled as "queer pop" expand into the mainstream, with artists like Chappell Roan, Renée Rapp, Lil Nas X and Troye Sivan all achieving crossover success.

"I do feel we were at the cusp of the reclamation of the word 'queer'," says Maskin.

"To us, it's actually a celebratory term, because it's inclusive, it includes everybody in the LGBTQI+ community.

"It came from academia first, the idea of queer theory," says McPherson, who admits the band were initially divided on whether to be open about their sexuality.

"We were reticent to come out of the closet in the hipster Pitchfork era of 2010 and 2011. We wanted to be mysterious and be closeted, and Katie was the one who encouraged us not to, and to just be ourselves. And we've only become more ourselves."

Even so, the label can be restrictive. Muna want their music to be universal.

"The subject matter we write about is queer in its essence, and so are our life experiences," says McPherson.

"The issue that we struggle with is wanting that to also be accepted as just a human experience, as well – especially in these times of great repression."

If anyone can do it, Muna can. Just don't let them play for your pets.

Chris Brown pleads guilty to affray over London nightclub attack

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3w01e37v9vo, 2 days ago

US singer Chris Brown has pleaded guilty to affray over what prosecutors called "a vicious and unprovoked attack" in a London nightclub in 2023.

Police said CCTV showed that Brown, one of the world's biggest R&B stars, hit the victim on the head with a glass bottle several times, and that the man was then chased, pushed to the floor and kicked.

The 37-year-old star had been due to face a trial on more serious charges, which he denied - assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, and having an offensive weapon, namely a tequila bottle. However, those charges have now been dropped.

Affray, which is defined as using or threatening violence towards someone and making them fear for their safety, is punishable by up to three years in jail. Brown will be sentenced in October.

Brown's vocal coach, 40-year-old Omololu Akinlolu, a rapper from Florida who performs under the name Hoody Baby, also pleaded guilty to affray and had assault and attempted grievous bodily harm charges dropped.

Det Con Zara Ripamonti of the Metropolitan Police said: "This was a disgraceful, unprovoked assault that put a man in hospital.

"There is no place for serious violence like this in the London and I'm pleased these men accepted what they did wasn't just completely unacceptable - but criminal.

"This has been a long investigation and we've worked with police colleagues in the UK to bring these two men to justice."

The attack happened at the Tape venue, a private members' club in Mayfair, in the early hours of 19 February 2023.

Prosecutors said Brown approached the victim from the dance floor then struck him over the head with a bottle, and Akinlolu joined Brown and punched the victim in the head.

"They continued their assault whilst the victim attempted to flee through the club," the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement. "The victim was kicked while he was seated defenceless on the floor."

The victim, music producer Abe Diaw, needed hospital treatment for head and knee injuries.

Claire Campbell, senior crown prosecutor in CPS London South, said: "This was a vicious and unprovoked attack by Brown and Akinlolu in a crowded nightclub where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim's head twice.

"This kind of violence is entirely unacceptable, and the Crown Prosecution Service will work tirelessly - with the police and partners across the criminal justice system - to pursue cases like this, and prove that no one is above the law."

Brown and Akinlolu entered their pleas at Southwark Crown Court on Friday in a hearing that took less than five minutes.

Judge Tony Baumgartner scheduled the sentencing hearing for the affray charges for both men for 26 October.

The judge set bail conditions that allow Brown to leave the UK, but he must return on 25 October.

Brown is known for tracks including Loyal, Look At Me Now and With You.

He waved at fans as he arrived at court, flanked by security guards while wearing a beige suit and baseball cap.

Fans played his music, held up signs and shouted his name, with one heard declaring: "I love you Chris."

At earlier hearings, he was ordered to pay a £5m security fee as part of his bail conditions, which also allowed him to go on a world tour as long as he surrendered his passport on arrival in each country.

Last summer, the performer joked on-stage about his "nice" time in jail following his arrest in Manchester as he kicked off his tour at the city's Co-Op Live arena.

"Thank you for coming and supporting me," he said to fans in Manchester. "And thank you to the jail," he joked, referring to a spell in custody. "It was really nice."

In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to beating his then-girlfriend, pop star Rihanna shortly before the pair were due to perform at the Grammy Awards.

He was sentenced in that case to 180 days' community labour and five years' probation.

He later said he felt like a "monster" and the fight would "haunt me forever".

10 of Japan's most cleverly designed homes

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260721-10-of-japans-most-cleverly-designed-homes, 4 days ago

From an ingenious home with guest annexe attached, to a micro house in Tokyo that opens like a shell, and a home for both cats and humans – here are 10 innovative Japanese dwellings.

The most inventive homes in Japan are modest in scale, but ambitious in what they aim to do. Architects there are offering "the most precise and inventive thinking about living now," according to François-Luc Giraldeau, editor of the book A House in Japan: Lessons in Living.

"That matters today because much of the world is facing the same questions Japan has been dealing with for decades," he tells the BBC. "How to live well with less space, fewer resources and greater environmental pressure."

And there is a deceptive simplicity about the best Japanese dwellings. "What looks minimal is usually the result of exacting decisions about proportion, material, light and joinery – there's an enormous amount of craft beneath what appears effortless. Good design isn't about having more; it's about making what exists work harder." Here is our pick of 10 Japanese homes that reflect these skills and create solutions.

1. Love2 House, Tokyo

"How much space does one truly need to live well?" asks architect Takeshi Hosaka of his practice and home, a compact nest with a footprint no larger than 10 sq m (108 sq ft) in Tokyo. This tiny site becomes the creative impetus for a home containing all the essentials: bathing, music, food, study and reflection. The house is defined by tall twin curved concrete shells that open to the sky, letting winter light flood in. Inside every surface has a purpose, with shelves carved into walls and counters extending outward. For Hosaka and his wife, their home encompasses "the infiniteness of small things".

2. Building Frame House, Tokyo

Open plan takes on a whole new meaning in this design – inside, the living space is entirely open from top to bottom. IGArchitects removed the whole concept of walls in favour of floating floors as building blocks that separate living areas. The couple who live here "have learnt its rhythm," Giraldeau tells the BBC. "With horizontal space so scarce, architects have no choice but to think in section, not just in plan, to invent new forms of domestic movement." Recalling the work of artist MC Escher, the floor plates sit at differing heights and depths, hovering and interlocking throughout, acting as dividers, storage and space. Floor-to-ceiling windows let light flow in, while subtle screening affords privacy to the bathroom and bedroom.

3. Tiny Home is Tall, Tokyo

"Sufficiency can be designed with dignity" Giraldeau says. "It essentially asks: how much space do we need to live well?" In the West, bigger is often considered better, but in Japan, design seeks out ways of living well with less – and on this corner plot of just 30 sq m (323 sq ft), architects Kominoru Design have developed a three-storey home. The upper floor holds a rooftop terrace; inside, a bathtub is tucked into an angled wall, while tall windows in the roof circulate air. Trees planted above the eaves on a raised second-floor garden skilfully weave a tiny plot into a beautiful home.

4. Cat House, Kamakura

In an ageing country where pets now outnumber children and often stand in for extended family, architect Tan Yamanouchi designed a home from the perspective of his two cats, alongside his wife and himself – a decision that produced a radical, egalitarian house. At its centre is a spiral staircase with 23 levels calibrated to a cat's stride. Like branches from a tree, the bedroom, studio, kitchen, dining room and bathroom all peel off from the stairs, providing a playful, equitable home for cats and humans alike.

5. Pale Veil, Tokyo

Wedged into the intersection of a major road and a railway line, this apartment draws on creative imagination – fundamental to Japanese design – to shape a calming, expansive home built around the concept of engawa, the transitional space between exterior and interior. A 40-sq-m (431-sq-ft) balcony serves as the engawa, while a butterfly shoji (traditional room divider) tarp, made from dual layers of translucent fabric threaded with steel pipes, adjusts to the light, extending out to filter the intense summer glare.

6. Hut and Tower House, Tokyo

Resembling a stack of smart Lego bricks, this playful family home is tucked into the backstreets of Tokyo's Meguro district, on a busy shopping street. Designed by architects Onishimaki + Hyakudauki, it is built from a series of stacked cubes. An annex – the "hut" – juts off the main tower and, thanks to its proximity to the street, doubles as a spare room or studio. Behind it, a tower of cubes rises into a five-storey home. A spiral staircase winds up from the ground floor, through bedrooms, a living space and a playroom at the top. An exterior staircase links out to a second-floor shower.

7. Tokyo Blue Apartment, Tokyo

"This apartment isn't a bespoke standalone house, but a standard 1970s 3LDK apartment made radical," Giraldeau tells the BBC. The acronym LDK – living, dining, kitchen – describes the open-plan format that became standard during Japan's postwar urbanisation, with the number denoting bedrooms. Mass-produced for a booming urban workforce, these units are ubiquitous and often generic. Design firm Roovice creates individuality and zoning by using colour, exposed concrete, flexible lighting, custom storage and a cobalt-blue floor strip. "The canon of Japanese interiors is material-led, not colour-led," Giraldeau explains. "Here, colour is structural rather than decorative – it organises movement, connects rooms, and turns a standard unit into something personal."

8. House with Membrane Roof, Tokyo

Inventive thinking is behind this home that was hemmed in on three sides in a tightly packed Tokyo neighbourhood. Keen to increase the light, Yuko Nagayama & Associates with Shohei Yoshida + Associates looked upwards for solutions. They suspended a double fabric roof in a catenary curve, in effect a shoji screen, "Traditional Japanese architecture relied on diffused light," says Giraldeau. They scaled this up to a roof, which lights, ventilates and insulates, while trees grow through the atrium beneath.

9. Symbiotic House, Karuizawa

Built on kyōsei, the Japanese concept of symbiosis or synergy, this house, designed by READ & Architects, connects two buildings via a glass corridor. Designed for a newly retired couple, one side holds the main living space and master bedroom, while the other offers guest accommodation – with the option of housing a live-in caregiver in future. "In Japan, one of the world's oldest societies, architecture has learned to anticipate care rather than react to it," Giraldeau tells the BBC. Nestled in the foothills of Mount Asama, volcanic stone gardens and firs encircle the home, mirroring the forests of Karuizawa beyond the windows.

10. Blurring Boundaries, Kawasaki

This family home was reimagined by Taichi Mitsuya & Associates as an extension of the city. Carefully woven into the Kawasaki neighbourhood of narrow streets and waterways, the house is open to light, air and the adjacent urban rhythms, while maintaining a sense of privacy. A 30-foot skylit void, floored in steel grating, floods the interior with a greenhouse-like glow. For the family of four who live here, sliding partitions cleverly blur indoor and outdoor life – below is an airy veranda, and above is a garden terrace.

A House in Japan: Lessons in Living is published by Gestalten.

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Five ways Fleabag changed TV - for better or for worse

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260717-five-ways-fleabag-changed-tv, 5 days ago

A decade ago, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's dark comedy about a witty but pain-filled young woman premiered – and became a cultural phenomenon.

Ten years ago today, Fleabag burst on to the-then online-only UK channel, BBC Three. A barnstorming opening told viewers exactly what they could expect from this one-of-a-kind series: within the first 55 seconds, the main character narrates having sex with a man she's just met - ending with a jaw-dropping punchline.

The work of actor/writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag started out as a sketch in the London Storytelling Festival in 2012, and evolved into a 2013 one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, before Waller-Bridge then adapted it into a TV series. The show, which ran for two seasons and aired on Prime Video internationally, is now regularly cited as "one of the greatest TV series of all time", and won Waller-Bridge a whole host of awards, including Baftas, Emmys and Golden Globes.

A thoroughly contemporary tale, it undoubtedly changed the TV landscape as we know it now. Here's how:

1. Helped a new wave of female TV auteurs flourish

Film and TV commissioners were shaken awake by the roaring success of Fleabag, and, alongside Lena Dunham's Girls, which premiered a few years earlier, it proved that not only was there a vital need for more women's voices in the traditionally male-dominated industry – there was a big appetite for them too.

In the UK, especially, it paved the way for other complex and edgy female-created shows like Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You, Aisling Bea's This Way Up, Big Mood starring Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan, and author-turned-screenwriter Candice Carty-Williams's Queenie. We've got the "genius" of Waller-Bridge to thank for this wave, says Alice Redman, editor at Broadcast Intelligence: "There's a direct legacy of comedies about complicated, emotionally rich and challenging female characters that you can see across the TV landscape following Fleabag, in both comedy and drama."

Waller-Bridge is also directly responsible for championing the career of the most high-profile female film auteur in the UK, Wuthering Heights and Saltburn director Emerald Fennell. With her first post-Fleabag show, 2018's spy thriller Killing Eve, Waller Bridge passed the showrunner reins on to a variety of different women, including Fennell, who oversaw the second series.

2. Cemented the 'messy woman' trope

Fleabag showcased a very particular type of heroine that had rarely been seen on screen: erratic, chaotic, reeling from the death of her mother and her best friend, and filling the void with alcohol and one-night-stands. Certainly in the UK, female lead characters on TV had rarely been allowed to be this defiantly flawed or "messy" before.

However, there can be too much of a good thing and some critics have since challenged the rise of the "messy woman" archetype that Fleabag arguably inspired. Writing in The Guardian in 2022, Rachel Aroesti claimed that "the messy millennial woman" had become "TV's most tedious trope", as it "migrated from a bracingly realistic proxy to something fast approaching a reductive stereotype, monopolising comic portrayals of the female experience". She cited post-Fleabag shows like Everything I Know About Love, Feel Good and I Hate Suzie as adhering to this trend.

But Redman says that it shouldn't be underestimated how the series' depiction of its protagonist pushed TV in a better direction: "It feels slightly reductive to label it as a 'messy woman' story when there's a reason why it became so popular. Before Fleabag you can count on one hand the series that reflected a millennial experience of women trying to figure out who they are. Fleabag is a 'messy woman' but the story is a lot deeper than that because life is also messy."

3. Popularised the 'trauma plot'

Fleabag is also regularly cited as a key proponent of the in-vogue "trauma plot", in which a character's problems are all explained away by the revealing of a past trauma. Again, though, not all critics have been fans of this device: in a celebrated 2021 essay for The New Yorker, Parul Sehgal made "the case against the trauma plot", citing Fleabag alongside Ted Lasso and Marvel's Wandavision among her TV examples and asking: "Does this trope deepen characters, or flatten them into a set of symptoms?"

Scriptwriter Amelia O'Loughlin sticks up for this kind of storytelling however: "I do take that view that there can be too much self-analysis that isn't interesting. But equally, we're shaped by our trauma. We're shaped by the things that have happened to us. So I think in a way, quite organically, the evolution of the messy woman has since become 'okay, she can be messy, but we're also gonna need some real plot here'. I think that that probably is a true and apt evolution for the TV world."

4. Encouraged others to break the fourth wall

One of the most striking elements of Fleabag was the fact she constantly broke the fourth wall, talking in asides to the audience and, alongside witty one-liners, expressing her dark innermost fears and desires. Since then, a number of shows have broken the fourth wall in a way that has evoked Phoebe Waller-Bridge's creation – most recently Netflix university dramedy Vladimir, with Rachel Weisz. But this use of the device hasn't always been a hit: the 2022 Netflix adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion, was heavily derided for having its 18th Century heroine, played by Dakota Johnson, talk to the audience in what was seen as a Fleabag-esque "gimmick". Indeed, O'Loughlin says that when pitching ideas to TV development execs now: "I'm always told, 'Avoid the flashback and breaking the fourth wall as much as you possibly can'".

However, Fleabag had a particular reason for its heroine's style of address, which can be traced back to the fact it started life as a theatre production, O'Loughlin explains: "I think that artists that come from a theatrical background frequently break the fourth wall. It's been a vehicle since Shakespeare. I think that can also be a bit trope-y, and that can also be a slightly lazier option. But in the same breath, I will say there are so many moments in my own writing where I'm like, 'I really kind of want for my protagonist to just have a word with the audience'."

5. Opened up the 'posh and privileged' debate over who gets to tell women's stories

At the time of Fleabag's second series, The Guardian’s Ellen E Jones praised the show's "undeniable genius", but added "this isn't a criticism… but it is for posh girls", while Huck's Aimee Cliff noted that Waller-Bridge has baronets and an MP in her family tree, adding: "Waller-Bridge isn't all of us, and Fleabag definitely isn't. It's a very good show about a posh white lady. It's okay to frame it that way, while also acknowledging that we need more stories than that."

Ten years on, O'Loughlin thinks this still rings true: " I think that Fleabag opened the floodgates for your 'middle-upper class but troubled women' stories. It was like, 'sure, we're looking for diversity in our voices, but it's okay because you're female, so that's diverse enough'. But I would have liked to have seen more about the type of woman who experiences all that Fleabag experiences, but hasn't got the safety net that she does."

However Redman believes that "as Phoebe Waller-Bridge said herself, it 'undermines the story' to perceive it as being about or for posh people". In a 2019 interview on the How To Fail Podcast, Waller-Bridge added that "I like to think that whatever life I'd lived, wherever I'd been born or brought up, I would still have written if I had been given the encouragement. That's the thing that I care about, encouraging people to do it."

What's more, in the past decade, there have been positive moves to champion female voices from across society – see, in the UK, the Bafta-winning Alma's Not Normal starring and written by working class comic Sophie Willan, Such Brave Girls by showrunner and actor Kat Sadler or Welsh coming-of-age series In My Skin, by Kayleigh Llewellyn.

At this stage, O'Loughlin says, "people don't want another Fleabag. Commissioners say: 'Let's not make the same kind of material', because it's 'been there done that', so Fleabag is both a product of its time and a defining moment in TV".

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'He was tasked with making the body disappear': The macabre kidnapping of Eva Perón's corpse

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260717-the-macabre-kidnapping-of-eva-perns-corpse, 6 days ago

Argentina's iconic first lady died in July 1952. Sixty years on, the BBC looked back at her cadaver's bizarre disappearance – and its 16-year journey around the globe.

A few hours after the death of Eva Perón, on 26 July 1952, Dr Pedro Ara got to work. The renowned Spanish anatomist was tasked with embalming the Argentinian first lady's body in the same way the Russians had preserved the remains of Lenin and Stalin. The corpse of Evita, as she was affectionately known, was kept in the Ministry of Labour building, where a monument to workers was due to be built, with a glass coffin at its base that would be her final resting spot.

Warning: This article contains details that some may find distressing.

Yet three years later, in September 1955, her husband, President Juan Perón, was deposed in a military coup and went into exile. The new regime decided to steal Eva Perón's body – setting off a macabre 16-year odyssey. Her cadaver would be held at the Centre for Military Intelligence, stored in a van, buried in Milan, and transported to Madrid before it was eventually returned to Buenos Aires to be laid to rest in a heavily fortified crypt.

After Eva Perón died of cervical cancer at the age of 33, her husband had political reasons for having her embalmed. Her poor rural background and her charitable works as first lady had won her fervent working-class support. "So he wanted to preserve that, [by] preserving the body," Flavia Fiorucci, a historian of Peronism, told the BBC in 2012. "It also had to do with the importance that Perón and Peronism gave to symbols, and Evita was a symbol."

That was clear in the weeks after her death. Dr Ara was able to embalm Evita's body in a lifelike state using a paraffin and glycerine injection technique. Two million people visited her coffin as she lay in state in Congress for 14 days, the devotion she'd inspired while alive continuing after her death.

And the symbolism of Evita's body was the reason for the long meandering journey it took over the next 16 years. When Perón was deposed in 1955, the dictatorship led by Gen Pedro Aramburu aimed to quash all aspects of Peronism – and feared that her corpse could become an emblem of resistance.

Lt Col Carlos Moori Koenig, head of the Army Intelligence Service, moved it around Buenos Aires, paranoid that Peronists might attempt to retrieve it. Evita's cadaver was said to be hidden in a van parked on the streets of the capital, behind a cinema screen, and inside the city's waterworks – and wherever it went, flowers and candles appeared.

Koenig then moved the body to his office, where he allegedly stood the coffin upright, and showed it off to visitors. He was said to have become obsessed with her corpse. "I knew him from military school. He was completely normal, but after getting his hands on the body, he went mad," said Col Héctor Cabanillas in the 1997 documentary Evita, la tumba sin paz (Evita, the grave with no peace).

Argentine academic Cecilia Macón told the BBC in 2012 that, while it's hard to uncover the truth because "myth and history mingle constantly in stories regarding Evita", one story is that Koenig became infatuated with his charge, before being relieved of his duties in 1957.

Cabanillas was then tasked with making the body of Eva Perón disappear, arranging for it to be shipped to Italy in 1957. Evita was buried under the name María Maggi de Magistris in a cemetery in Milan. She was not forgotten by her supporters, however, with graffiti appearing in Buenos Aires asking, "Where is the body of Eva Perón?" The return of the corpse became a rallying cry for Peronists in Argentina.

The return of the body

Fiorucci believes that the fact it was the military who had made Evita's corpse disappear added to its potency. "The pain inflicted [on] the dead body of Evita was also a symbol of that against the working class."

In 1971, a new regime aimed to return Argentina to democratic rule, easing restrictions against Peronists, and agreed to return Evita's body to Juan Perón. It was delivered in a silver coffin to the villa in suburban Madrid where the former dictator was living in exile, with his third wife Isabel.

Carlos Spadoni, then a confidant of Juan Perón, was one of the first to see the body. "Gen Perón, the gardener and I took the body out of the coffin," he told the BBC in 2012. "We laid it on a marble-top table and our hands got all dirty with earth. So the body had to be cleaned. Isabel took care of that… with a cotton cloth and water. Nothing more. Very carefully. Isabel combed the blonde hair. It was long and she cleaned it bit by bit with a comb and then blow-dried it."

Again, myths circulated about what happened next, with stories focused on the occult beliefs of the former government minister José López Rega. According to one tale, the Peronist politician told Isabel to lie beside the body of Eva Perón so that the Evita political magic would rub off on to her. Beliefs like this tapped into the almost religious reverence that Evita's followers felt towards her. The former dance‐hall girl who rose to power with her husband became a spiritual leader to her devotees, her body taking on a sacred importance for them – although she was also reviled by anti-Peronists.

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Juan Perón returned to power in Argentina in 1973, with Isabel as his vice president. Evita's body remained in Spain, but after Juan died suddenly in 1974, her corpse was returned to Buenos Aires. Domingo Tellechea was sitting in a bar in the capital when he was first approached to repair damage to Evita's body. "Two guys all dressed in black came in," he told the BBC in 2012. "They flung the doors open and looked over at us. This was dangerous, because in those days people were being carried off and 'disappeared' and never seen again."

Tellechea was a restorer of art, antiquities – and human remains. Fearful of government death squads, he was relieved when he found out the two men were drivers. They took him to see Oscar Ivanissevich, Eva Perón's former personal physician. "He said to me, 'We've got a job for you. You've got to restore the body of Eva Perón.'"

Tellechea accepted, despite being aware of the risks. "To do the work was to put myself in opposition to the people who made the body disappear and a lot of people really wished Evita had never turned up again at all. I knew it could bring me problems," he said. "There were threats, phone threats, torching my car." The restorer later went into exile, as state brutality and torture became systematic in Argentina under successive regimes.

Yet Evita was finally laid to rest in October 1976, with only a small group to witness her burial. The crypt was fortified to ensure her remains would never be disturbed again. The marble tomb had a trapdoor in the floor leading down to a hidden room. And that room had a second trapdoor leading to another room which housed her coffin. Even 24 years after her death, the strength of Evita's symbolism meant that her body had to be buried 5m below the ground.

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10 of the World Cup's most striking images - as historic artworks

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260716-10-of-the-world-cups-most-striking-images, 9 days ago

As the 2026 World Cup draws to a close, the BBC rounds up some of the most stunning photos captured from the tournament – and reveals their similarities to classic works of art.

Among the countless remarkable photos captured by international sports journalists since the Fifa World Cup 2026 began on 11 June, a select set has succeeded in searing itself into cultural consciousness. Why do some extraordinary photographs endure while others are quickly forgotten?

Perhaps the most memorable images manage to gain traction because we feel we've seen them before – or some semblance of them. They echo patterns of posture and gesture long fixed in popular imagination by artists, from antiquity to modern times, whose paintings and sculptures have shaped the way perceive the world. What follows are 10 of the most enduring photos to have been captured during the World Cup, alongside the masterpieces they recall and reinvigorate.

1. England v Mexico

This image captures the collective focus of a stampede of England and Mexico players, led by Harry Kane and Jesús Gallardo, as it competes for the ball in Round 16 in Mexico City on 5 July. It appears almost choreographed in its measured momentum. Suspending the scrum's static acceleration, Julian Finney's photo recalls the velocity and vectors of a modernist masterpiece: Umberto Boccioni's Futurist formation, The Charge of the Lancers, 1916.

2. Ghana v Panama

There is an unmistakably heavyweight knockout quality to Nathan Denette's dramatic photo of Ghana's Ernest Nuamah colliding with Panama's César Blackman in Toronto on 17 June. Here, the ball appears to be less the object of the players' efforts than the suspended site of climactic impact, as Blackman absorbs the full force of the body blow. For an instant, the beautiful game of football blurs into the sweet science of boxing. It echoes the crumpling, cruciform collapse of boxer Jack Dempsey, falling through the ropes after a punch by Luis Firpo in George Bellow's most famous painting.

3. Bosnia-Herzegovina v US

Hands on cheeks, his mouth frozen open in a distended shriek of anguish, Amel Emric's affecting photo of a young Bosnia-Herzegovina fan watching in despair on 2 July as his country plays the United States, has familiar parallels. It appears almost deliberately to parody the history of horrified howls in art from Caravaggio's defeated Medusa to Edvard Munch's avatar of existential angst.

4. Morocco v the Netherlands

Witness the rotational torque of Morocco's Ismael Saibari, celebrating his winning penalty against the Netherlands in the Round of 32. The photo, by Carl Recine, seemed not so much snapped by a camera than chiselled by a sculptor. Hips sprung and shirt spiralled like a weapon, this is the instant after David in Bernini's famous sculpture of the giant slayer has released the full fulcral force of his lethal sling.

5. Norway v Senegal

Justin Setterfield's quasi-abstract photo of Norway fans performing their rowing chant during the Group I match between Norway and Senegal on 22 June is a vibrant mosaic of communal enthusiasm. The rapturous rhythmicity of reds recalls Paul Klee's resplendent painting, Rose Garden, 1920, in which the joyous energy of a place is portrayed as a pulsing engine of synchronised scarlet strokes.

6. Portuguese fans

The eccentric instinct to elevate footballers to iconic status isn't only the passion of pretentious art critics. This is clear from Thomas Coex's photo of Portuguese fans waving a banner of Ronaldo reimagined in the glorified guise of a venerated saint. Fully kitted out in the paraphernalia of canonisation (including a luminous corona for a halo, green mantle, sacred staff, chalice and scroll), the portrait of "St Ronaldo" has been meticulously crafted to echo the contours of St Jude Thaddeus – the patron saint of lost causes.

7. South Africa v Canada

Allow your mind for a moment to delete the trapped football from between the converging heads in Mark Terrill's photo of South Africa's Sphephelo Sithole and Canada's Jonathan David. They were moshing for possession on 28 June in Los Angeles, appearing to be locked in an intense dance. At once individual yet fused, colliding yet diverging, their fiercely focused physiques call to mind countless depictions of tangoed intertwinement in cultural history.

8. Argentina v Egypt

Buoyant both in body and spirit, Lionel Messi, as captured by photographer Carlos Barria, is hurled heavenward by his teammates after Argentina's defeat of Egypt in the Round of 16 on 7 July in Atlanta. The flung finesse of the figure's ascent recalls Tiepolo's Ascension of Christ, c 1745-50, where the wonder of devotees, as much as the summons of God, is responsible for the miraculous levitation.

9. Spain v Uruguay

There's a fine line between concentration and consternation. The expression on Marc Cucurella's face in a photo by Fernando Llano as the Spaniard fights against Uruguay's Agustín Canobbio in Mexico on 26 June, is an object lesson in unflinching focus. The intensity of Cucurella's stare rhymes richly with the penetrating gaze of Gustav Courbet's famous 1843 self-portrait.

10. France v Spain

Lars Baron's photo of Desire Doue in despair after France's defeat by Spain in the semi-final on 15 July was especially affecting. The image captures Doue retreating behind the blue veil of his upturned jersey. For a moment, the elastic fabric, tugged taut against the features of his masked face, alchemises Doue into sculpted monumentality. The eerie effect inverts the unsettling dynamic of a genre of marble busts from the 19th Century in which skilled sculptors managed to make stone itself seem as sinuous and translucent as silken veils.

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'At risk of horrific contamination': The Soviet nuclear submarine wreck that is a 'ticking time bomb'

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260709-the-nuclear-submarine-wreck-that-is-a-time-bomb, 13 days ago

In 1989, the Komsomolets sank off the Norwegian coast. Four years later, the BBC reported on plans to seal in its torpedoes' toxic plutonium.

"Komsomolets is a time bomb ticking away at the bottom of the Norwegian Sea.

"And unless something is done about it, and done about it quickly, we're all in danger." This is how the risk posed by a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine was described by Russian Greenpeace activist Dimitri Litvinov in a 1993 BBC news report.

Resting one mile (1.6km) deep in the sea near the coast of Norway after a fire caused it to sink four years earlier, the Komsomolets had prompted international concern. Two nuclear-tipped torpedoes inside were corroding, risking the release of 9lb (4kg) of plutonium into the Norwegian Sea.

State-of-the-art Soviet technology went into the design of the Komsomolets, which was unique for the depths it could reach. It was expected by Nato to be the first in a class of large attack submarines, but no further vessels of its kind were built. According to a 1994 BBC Horizon documentary, "The Komsomolets was to be the Soviet Union's secret invincible weapon, the only submarine in the world able to cruise and launch nuclear missiles from 1,000m [0.62 miles] deep, twice the depth at which Western submarines can operate. Today, the Komsomolets is a technical and scientific disaster."

When the fire broke out on 7 April 1989, the crew managed to bring the submarine up to the surface – but it sank after five hours afloat, killing 42 of the 69 crew members. As it went down, an escape pod shot five trapped seamen to the surface, with just one man able to climb out before it filled with water.

As the Komsomolets hit the bottom, near the Norwegian coast, an explosion ripped open the submarine's titanium pressure hull and brought seawater into contact with the nuclear torpedoes. A research mission by Russian oceanographers found that parts of the submarine's hull had "burst and crumbled from the explosion, like glass".

After the disaster, scientists were divided over what to do. Russian scientist Igor Spassky of the Rubin Institute, which designed the Komsomolets, told the BBC's Ben Brown in 1993 that it was not a catastrophic situation – although he did want the submarine to be raised out of the sea. "Within a decade, the two nuclear warheads on the ship will be fully corroded by an electrochemical reaction involving salt water… and the highly toxic plutonium will escape from the damaged torpedoes and into the environment," he told the US Naval Institute.

"According to environmentalists," said Brown in his BBC report, "if that happens, the sailors who died here would not be the only victims of the Komsomolets. The lives of many more people, they say, would be at risk, because the rich fishing grounds here would then be subject to horrific contamination." Yet a report released in 1993 by an international team of scientists concluded that the submarine was unlikely to contaminate fisheries.

Despite conflicting views on the dangers posed, efforts were made to mitigate potential contamination. Deep-sea engineering operations between 1995 and 1996 sealed hull fractures and torpedo tubes to contain radioactive material. The work finished 30 years ago, in July 1996. But investigations by the Norwegian government have since revealed that the submarine is still leaking – and the sealant was only expected to last 30 years.

An indefinite potential hazard

A report published in March 2026 found that while the torpedoes remain sealed, the reactor is degrading, periodically releasing visible plumes of radioactive material into the sea. The team from the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) said that the leak is not constant but occurs in sporadic bursts from specific locations along the hull, with a "cloud" seeping out of a ventilation duct.

They don't believe the current levels are harmful, however. "Radioactive releases from the reactor… have had little impact on the surrounding marine environment," says Ingar Amundsen, acting director of the DSA's Department for International Nuclear Safety and Security.

Yet that could change – with both the submarine's nuclear reactor and nuclear-armed torpedoes posing threats, according to Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. Corrosion of the submarine over time could impact current radiation levels, he tells the BBC. "That depends on other factors such as the oxygen level of the seawater around and inside the submarine wreckage, and the condition of the sealant."

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He also points to changing currents as a factor influencing how quickly radioactive materials might be released from the wreckage and potentially enter the food chain via bottom feeders and fish. "The fact that the submarine has already been sealed once is an official acknowledgement of that risk," Kristensen adds.

"Nuclear fuel is in direct contact with seawater and deteriorating," says Amundsen. "Further work should be carried out to understand the mechanisms behind the releases, the corrosion processes taking place, and their implications for further releases." But that isn't going to happen any time soon. "The depth of the submarine, close to 1,700m, makes it difficult to implement any mitigation actions, and we are not aware of any such plans for the moment."

Kristensen argues that more should be done. "At the minimum, a new expedition should be carried out to determine the current condition. With a half-life of 24,000 years, warhead plutonium will remain a potential hazard indefinitely by human standards."

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Broadcaster Gerry Kelly dies aged 77

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d8jgw769zo, today

Former television and radio presenter Gerry Kelly has died at the age of 77.

The journalist and broadcaster died at his home on Sunday morning.

Kelly, whose presenting career spanned four decades, is perhaps best known for his weekly talk show on UTV from 1989 until 2005.

He also hosted a weekly programme on BBC Radio Ulster from 2009, and recently delivered a new chat show series with students at Belfast Met.

As the host of UTV's Kelly show for more than 15 years, the veteran presenter interviewed a wide range of stars from country legend Garth Brooks to footballer George Best.

It was a show that attracted high-profile guests from television, music, politics and sport.

Kelly joined BBC Radio Ulster in April 2009, presenting a weekly Saturday show and in January 2014 he also started presenting a Friday afternoon programme.

He took a step back from the Friday slot in October 2019 and continued with his Saturday programme until later that year.

In 2019 he presented the BBC NI television documentary Links to the Past: Pioneers of Ulster Golf.

In December 2022, he joined forces with other veteran journalists to team up with Belfast Met students to bring Tonight with Gerry Kelly to television for a run of eight episodes.

Recorded in front of a live audience for NVTV, the 45-minute Friday night show featured music and interviews with guests from the world of music, entertainment and showbiz including Boyzone's Keith Duffy, Louis Walsh and Brian Kennedy.

At the launch, Kelly said it was a "delight for us all to be able to pass on our many years of broadcasting experience to the next generation of TV, radio and film makers".

Tributes to broadcasting 'colossus'

Kelly's former colleague and broadcaster Anne Hailes paid tribute to him on social media.

She said he was a "big man who will leave big memories, RIP".

Adrian Logan, who was a colleague of Gerry's at UTV, described Kelly as a "larger-than-life character".

"He was a colossus in UTV," Adrian said.

"Everybody in the place just loved him. He treated everybody fairly and equally, he was such a good fella."

Adrian said that the man many knew from TV was the same off screen.

"I will remember Gerry just the way he appeared on the screen because that was him.

"There were no airs or graces with him."

Adrian added that Gerry's family "will be absolutely heartbroken".

Posting on social media, Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly said Kelly had "a face and a voice that so many generations across Northern Ireland were familiar with".

"A much-loved presenter with a huge character," she said.

"He interviewed so many, many hundreds of people across decades including his famous clip with a young Rory McIlroy and the wash machine!"

Teddy Swims: 'I owe so much to Latitude Festival'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgx9d39341o, today

"I owe so much to this festival," said American chart-topper Teddy Swims ahead of his Saturday night headline set at Latitude.

The 33-year-old Grammy and Brit Award nominee, known for hits Lose Control, Bad Dreams and The Door, first performed at the event at Henham Park, Suffolk, in 2023.

Since then, Swims - real name Jaten Collin Dimsdale - has enjoyed a meteoric rise and will soon embark on his biggest US arena tour.

But he told the BBC it had all started at Latitude – so his headline slot this year was as good a full circle moment as you could get.

"I just owe so much to this particular festival, it kind of made me a little bit of a festival main stage veteran," he said.

"When we played in 2023, that was still like the biggest slot I had ever done on a main stage – [that's when I thought] 'it is getting bigger than us'.

"So, it is such an honour to be back headlining, and it's so crazy, man and such an amazing experience – I feel emotional, grateful, humbled and justified."

And it is not just the opportunities that Latitude Festival has given him that he is full of praise for.

The father-of-one says he "loves that there's such a family-oriented feeling" about the arts and culture event, and he loves the diversity in the crowd.

"Everybody is accounted for - every walk of life, shape, size and colour is all right here, and it's a reminder that we're all not that different, you know?

"It's so beautiful, man."

'Life has changed so much'

When Swims first performed at Latitude, his mega hit Lose Control had not long been released, so while he was a familiar voice to some, he was not a familiar face.

So much so, he was able to pull "an all-nighter" the evening before, later walking on stage "a little bit hammered" while still managing to win over the crowd.

These days he is "more responsible" and, Swims says, "life has changed so much in just three years" and the "stakes are so much higher now".

"Last time, we walked through the whole festival and explored the whole thing, and I remember my A&R man saying when we come back here, we're not going to be able to do this again," he said.

"And I was like, 'oh, nonsense'. And then here we are, and I can't just go walking around out there and exploring anymore – it's such a cool thing."

"I always saw this, you know, so it's cool to see it come to fruition and know that like you really do have the power to manifest these things."

When Swims took to the stage, about two hours after we spoke, he and his long-term bandmates were welcomed back with open arms.

He treated the crowd to all the songs they had expected and brought out special guests, including Vanessa Carlton for a performance of A Thousand Miles.

"I've always been waiting on America to catch up to what it seems like the Brits have always known about me or felt about me anyway," he says.

"American crowds are amazing, but we have always been like accepted and welcomed with open arms here - I owe so much to the UK, especially this festival."

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Giant Mackintosh-inspired artwork unveiled on Finnieston Crane

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqe9wjglleo, today

A large sculpture inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh's famous roses has been hoisted onto Glasgow's iconic Finnieston Crane to mark the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Games organisers said the artwork - which has a diameter of 10m - would serve as a tribute to Glasgow's artistic heritage, and to the crane's status as a landmark in the city.

Local artist Emer Tumilty was tasked with creating a "reimagining" of the roses motif created by 19th Century architect and designer Mackintosh, that could then be suspended from the crane and provide an addition to the Clydeside.

It was unveiled just prior to the opening ceremony of the Games at the OVO Hydro.

Tumilty told BBC Scotland News the commission had been quite a challenge initially, due to the fame of the roses design, created by Mackintosh and his wife Margaret McDonald Mackintosh.

She said: "It was quite daunting at first, because the rose is an iconic symbol of Scottish culture, but I just started to enjoy the process and then be quite playful with it. Hopefully if they were around today they would appreciate it.

"It's really a reimagined rose for the Games."

The sculpture was a collaboration between Tumilty - who studied at the School of Art in Glasgow and has lived in the city ever since - and the creative studio Newsubstance.

The studio's Hannah Rozenberg said: "We were thinking what would be a good sculpture for the Games, and the crane is such a symbol of the city.

"We did not want to simply directly recreate something that is already existing, like the Mackintosh rose, but instead find a reinterpretation of it, done in a contemporary way.

"So it is a great pairing of two symbols, with the rose and the crane."

The commission came about through the Glasgow 2026 Festival - a 10-week celebration of the city's creativity, culture and communities that is running alongside the Games.

Both Rozenberg and Tumilty work digitally, which meant that when the sculpture actually began to be constructed they were taken aback by the scale of it.

Tumilty said: "I can't believe how big it is and I'm in awe of all the work and labour that has gone into making it.

"It feels like a lovely moment to showcase Glasgow, across all its culture and art. Hopefully the Games can help it come to life and share the best of what it has to offer. It's really a celebration of the city and its people."

Rozenberg added that one of the biggest challenges was making sure the artwork would be suitable for whatever varied weather conditions Glasgow throws at it in the next several days.

She laughed: "The crane is an amazing site, but it also gets quite windy there. So we needed to create something that feels quite lightweight and visually very elegant but also robust for all kinds of weather."

The Games began earlier, with the first set of bowls fixtures held prior to the opening ceremony itself.

How anti-gay law derailed artist's windmill quest

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9v4ykk8l0po, today

A new exhibition tells the story of an artist whose quest to paint every windmill in the UK was cut short after he was convicted under a law that criminalised sex between men.

Karl Salsbury Wood saw windmills as an example of Britain's disappearing rural industry and wanted to document them all.

The war veteran painted 1,394 of them before his arrest in Lincolnshire in 1951 for "gross indecency".

Emily Andersen, researcher for the exhibition at The Hub, in Sleaford, said Wood's work had "been buried in a way" because of his arrest and it was "vital" to share his story now.

She described him as "an eccentric" who would "go around on a bicycle with his paints on the back of his bike".

"He'd wear breeches and colourful shirts and dickie bows. He was somebody everyone knew."

Wood was born in 1888 in Derbyshire. He served his country during World War 1 before settling in Gainsborough.

He developed a fascination with windmills, which he described to a local newspaper as "fast-passing relics of the past", and spent years cataloguing hundreds of the buildings between 1920 and 1951.

Andersen said Wood wanted to make a book of his work.

"He was very, very fastidious about how he was making these trips and what he was doing it for," she added.

In 1932, Wood told the Gainsborough and Isle of Axholme News that he went about his quest on a bicycle because he had learnt "that unless one works for a thing, it is scarcely worth the having".

He said the public had an "extraordinary interest" in windmills and he thought their use led to the development of the "modern science of engineering".

Following his arrest, Wood was sentenced to four years in jail. His book, to be called Twilight of the Windmills, was never finished.

The crime of gross indecency was also used to convict the war hero Alan Turing and the writer Oscar Wilde.

In 2017, under Turing's Law, the government officially pardoned thousands of men for their convictions for consensual same-sex relationships.

In 2023, Lincolnshire Police issued a public apology over the "unacceptable way in which homophobic laws were enforced" in the past.

Andersen said: "It's just the reality of what happened if you were homosexual.

"I think we forget in 2026 in the West that it's possible to be gay, homosexual, LGBTQ and so on. I think it reminds people of times when it was harder."

The exhibition, called Common Ground: Sleaford's Shared Stories, runs until 8 November at The Hub in Sleaford.

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Emmerdale makers seek forever home for soap village

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2lqje1yndvo, today

The makers of TV drama Emmerdale hope to continue filming on their village set at a site in Leeds after seeking permission from the council.

ITV Studios has applied to Leeds City Council to remain at the farm site in Harewood which the show has occupied since 1997.

Current planning permission allows for the location, which includes the Woolpack pub and Burden Head Farm, to be used until next year.

If granted, consent from council planners would allow the site, which is popular with tourists, to be used on a permanent basis.

A planning report said the set provided a variety of exterior views and was used for more than 260 episodes each year.

It said: "The Emmerdale Village Production Set provides a facility which adapts to the ever-changing needs of production.

"These could be planned changes for certain storylines or even immediate changes due to weather conditions, cast availability or other scheduling challenges."

ITV said continued use of the set was needed to depict farming life and the Yorkshire countryside, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Interior and exterior scenes were filmed at the Harewood site, while studio space on Kirkstall Road was used for some indoor sets, including the Woolpack.

The report said: "Emmerdale Village was designed to include everything a typical rural village would have, including a village hall, café, church, residential dwellings and more."

Current planning permission would expire on 3 June 2027, with a condition requiring the site to be restored to its original condition within six months.

A full planning application is out for consultation until 13 August.

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Latitude has 'figured out its identity' - Tom Odell

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrjvvdz4kmo, today

Tom Odell says Latitude has "really figured out its identity" over the last two decades.

The singer-songwriter performed at the festival, at Henham Park, Suffolk, for the first time on Saturday, taking to the mainstage at the Obelisk Arena.

The 35-year-old's set was one of the highlights of Latitude's 20th anniversary, and featured the hits Another Love and Black Friday.

Speaking to the BBC before his show, which he joked would contain "45 minutes of contemporary dance", the pianist said: "Hats off to Latitude for 20 years."

"It's a great line-up and the site is very pretty – it seems lovely," added Odell, whose grandfather supported Ipswich Town.

"[Like Latitude], my career has built up slowly - last year we played arenas and it took 13 years to get there, and I wouldn't have wanted to do them when I was younger.

"And the same goes for tonight at Latitude. When you start out, you play earlier in the afternoon and that's nice because you can go drink beer for the rest of the day.

"But, as you get a bit more accomplished and you have more songs and more albums and a few people know you, it feels more comfortable playing in the evenings."

Before taking to the stage with his "amazing band", just before headliner Teddy Swims, Odell took time to explore the festival and catch some other acts.

He said having a chance to get a feel for what the festival was about before his performance, which included a brass band, was "really important".

"I try to get there and soak up some of the energy, and each festival is so radically different and the people in the audience want something different of us," he said.

"Sometimes they want to have a party and then some people want to listen, and I think it's our job to gauge and try to understand what it is they want.

"We will go on a sort of journey together and I think that's what's so wonderful about festivals – they are more of a dialogue, more of a dance.

"I really enjoy that side of playing festivals - the sort of cookie cutter thing of like taking an arena show and sticking it at a festival never quite lands."

'I'd be thrilled to work with Ed'

One musician who is no stranger to Latitude Festival is former Framlingham schoolboy-turned-global-megastar, Ed Sheeran.

Odell, who admitted not being able to remember if it was Suffolk or Norfolk he had visited as a child could be deemed "offensive", said he would be "thrilled to work with Ed".

"He's a very charming and nice man and wonderful artist, and he's like the king of Framlingham."

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The Indian king who was not allowed to leave Britain

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2rgkp6z7no, today

Duleep Singh (1838-1893) inherited the title of Sikh Maharaja at five years old, but after the annexation of the Sikh Empire by the British in 1849 he was exiled to Britain. The Maharaja tried to return to India but was always denied access.

Eventually he bought Elveden Hall in Suffolk at 25 years old and settled down with his first wife Bamba Müller who was of German and Abyssinian descent.

More than 100 years later, in 1996, Peter Bance, from Halstead in Essex, visited the home and was immediately intrigued by his life.

He went on to spend three decades collecting stories about the king and said it felt like he was researching his own roots.

Singh's arrival in Britain in the 1850s demonstrated how far back Punjabi history went in this country, Bance said.

The couple had six children and Bance said his favourite princess was Catherine (1871-1942).

"Her story was largely untold," said the 52-year-old, speaking to the BBC as South Asian Heritage Month enters its final week.

"She saved all these Jewish families who were taken to concentration camps.

"She helped people not from her faith, not from her background, not from her heritage, they were total strangers to her. It was just pure humanity."

He continued: "I really wanted to know more about these children because I can relate to them as a child of immigrants myself.

"I grew up here [in England] and I was born here, so I wanted to know about these mixed race children because they were ethnically Punjabi - but they grew up here."

In the 1990s, Bance placed adverts in local newspapers in Norfolk and Suffolk to see if anyone had more information about the princesses.

He said he got about 300 replies from people who knew them or worked for the family and a lot of people had been given gifts by the princesses.

Bance said he offered to buy the artefacts but a lot of people gave their treasured items for free, so they could be immortalised in his collection.

Calling the collection both his life's work and a hobby, he added: "I've got over 2,000 pieces belonging to the family and I've got to say, one of my favourite pieces is a beautiful photograph of three princesses at their debutante ball.

"It belonged to Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and she gave it to her goddaughter and it was Faraday House at Hampton Court (south-west London)."

Bance said the youngest daughter Sophia played a pivotal part in fighting for women's rights throughout her life.

But he only found out that she was a suffragette after he spoke to one of her housekeeper's daughters.

His collection now consists of the Maharaja's jacket, the princesses saris, toys, letters and paintings.

A lot of the artefacts are on display at Kensington Palace in west London until November as part of their exhibition called The Last Princesses of Punjab.

Jassa Ahluwalia worked as an adviser for the London-based exhibition with his own sister Ramanique.

The actor, activist and author, who has both Indian and English heritage, said he was able to draw parallels to his own experiences of mixed-heritage identity.

"These stories have impacted me and my sister and the similarities and difference in our experiences," he told the BBC.

"It [Elveden Hall] felt like a reflection of me, the external appears very English and the internal is very Indian."

Ahluwalia continued: "We came to those stories as a way of figuring out who we were as mixed heritage Punjabis growing up in England in the 21st Century and realising that our story is not a uniquely modern story and that it has a history and we are part of an ongoing legacy of cross-pollination.

"It is a very living and alive history and it's the history of who we are as a nation.

"If you are not accurately telling the history of our nation then other people will do fictitious versions of it and that is not the story of who we are as a nation."

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'I would've relapsed without the Amy Winehouse rehab clinic'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2k758n8nk9o, today

In a part of east London that remains a secret, a drug rehab clinic for women has been quietly saving lives for ten years, having been set up by the family of the late singer Amy Winehouse.

"I thought it was just going to be like a dumping ground, but it wasn't," said Ciara, one of the current residents at Amy's Place, a clinic run by the Amy Winehouse Foundation and Clarion Housing Group.

"It was a community, loads of girls that were similar. It felt like home the minute I came here," she said.

Ciara, 27, who moved to the clinic a year ago, explained how her journey started with party drugs in her teens, but said things took a "dark turn".

She told the BBC that the rehab centre has "completely changed" her life, and said without it, "I don't know where I would be right now."

"I didn't have enough love for myself to want to stop using drugs. No matter if I went to [a support groups], friends or family, my partner, my mum or dad, nothing was enough.

"The counselling, the therapies, the activities, the girls here, that's what I needed. That's what made me want to stay clean."

Marking ten years of supporting women to leave drugs behind and helping them rebuild their lives is something Amy Winehouse would have been "proud of", her stepmother Jane Winehouse said.

The Amy Winehouse Foundation started shortly after the singer was found dead at her Camden flat on 23 July 2011 after consuming high levels of alcohol.

During her career, the soul and jazz singer released two critically acclaimed albums, Frank (2003) and Back to Black (2006), with the latter winning five Grammy Awards and becoming one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.

She also went on to win three Ivor Novello Awards, a Brit Award, and performed at Glastonbury Festival three times.

"I think she would have loved the girls, I wish she could be here to meet them, but she's certainly here in spirit," Jane said.

The centre provides accommodation for two years and offers specialist support to help women sustain their recovery and move towards independent living.

Jane said she she comes to Amy's Place regularly, and said "you hear a lot about how Amy touched people's lives."

For Jane, she remembers the global superstar as a "family girl", who was "bright, really clever, witty and a real talent".

For many of the girls at the cliic, Amy Winehouse's voice was a soundtrack to their early childhoods.

Ez, 25, is one of the newer residents and has been at the clinic for eight weeks.

She said she designed an Amy Winehouse tattoo for herself five years ago, long before she knew of Amy's Place, adding: "It just seems so strange to have benefited so much from her, it's great."

She said the singer's battles with addiction, recovery and relapse mirror some of her own experiences.

"I definitely relate to her getting sober, relapsing, getting sober, relapsing. I myself relapsed a few weeks after I detoxed, and it's only been since I went to rehab I've actually managed to stay clean. So I'm really glad that I did that."

For Ez, moving to the centre and meeting other women in a similar situation has been "amazing".

"Having people that you know have been through similar things to you and just being able to talk to them," she said.

"We also have key work every week, there's counselling here, there's art therapy, there's nutritionists. I'm taking piano lessons now and it's just, it's great, I feel supported."

Like the other women, Stella, who has been at the clinic for 18 months, credits the friendship and sisterhood for her recovery.

"I just was desperate to come here," Stella explains.

She describes how she spent the previous four years "in my room in pain, unable to get out of bed."

Her addictions had caused her to become distanced from loved ones.

"I had just completely ruined my whole life. My life before Amy's was so lonely and it just wasn't a life I wanted to live," the 21-year-old said.

She described how the turnaround came when she developed septic shock.

"That was my quick realisation that I had to stop this," she said.

Since living at Amy's Place, the change has been "abrupt", she said.

She now volunteers at a farm and at the same drug and alcohol service that helped her.

"I wouldn't have anything without this place," she said. "I'm really grateful that her legacy can live on within this house."

For Jane Winehouse, stories like Stella's are inspiration to expand the work, but said "funding is always an issue".

"Ten years on, we're still the only recovery house that's specifically for young women," she explained.

"We wish there was more provision," she adds.

However, the centre has helped nearly 90 women in the last ten years.

Claire Miller, the group chief executive of Clarion Housing Association said: "It's unique because it is the only provision for young women starting out on that recovery journey from addiction."

"And, it's a tragedy really because there are so many young women who would benefit from this type of specialised provision," she adds.

The demand is "huge", she explains, "we could fill this project several times over".

But, she said: "The beauty of the project is that it's small scale, so you really do feel like you're moving into a community and that you're living with other people who have been in similar circumstances to yourself, and there's a lot of support therefore for your journey out."

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Isle of Man gears up for a week of Celtic festivities

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yw26wpge1o, today

Yn Chruinnaght, the Isle of Man's festival of Celtic music, song, dance and language, returns all next week across venues in Peel, Douglas, Castletown and St Johns.

The festival was founded in 1978 and current president Bob Carswell hopes the event can follow in its roots, remain "proud of the road it has taken" and allow Manx culture to "develop in new ways".

Evenings are given over to ticketed concerts and traditional dance gatherings known as ceilis, while daytime brings free workshops, language sessions and street performances across Peel and Douglas.

What's on?

Monday 27 July

The week opens with a joint concert from Donegal singer Cathal Ó Curráin and Manx fiddler Isla Callister, exploring musical links between Donegal and the Island, at the Centenary Centre in the evening.

Tuesday 28 July

An informal Song Night at the Masonic Hall brings together Manx and visiting performers for an evening of singing.

Wednesday 29 July

St German's Cathedral hosts a Celtic Concert & Ceili, with Scottish accordionist Sandy Brechin joined by the Mollag Band and Scran.

Thursday 30 July

The Celtic Songs of the Sea variety show at the Centenary Centre brings together the week's visiting acts alongside Manx performers, told through music, song, dance and poetry.

Friday 31 July

The choice is between the Mega Manx Ceili back at the Cathedral, or an acoustic concert from Welsh harp and fiddle duo Delyth & Angharad Jenkins at St John's Royal Chapel.

Saturday 1 August

Corrin Hall hosts the Peel Produce Show, judged that morning, while Peel Cathedral and its grounds host the free Saturday Gathering.

Festival chair Jo Callister said it was "a day filled with music, dance and cultural performances from local performers and visiting artists all within and around the grounds of Peel Cathedral." Sponsor Adam Horne, of Digital Group, said the produce show offered "a friendly, welcoming environment where people can share their skills." The evening closes with Orkney duo Saltfishforty in concert.

Sunday 2 August

The festival winds down with music on Peel Beach through the day, before the town's carnival parade takes over the promenade at 2pm.

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Traditional Irish music and dance 'belong to everybody'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy45p99gyj5o, today

Irish traditional music and dance "belong to everybody", according to Belfast TradFest's founder and artistic director Dónal O'Connor.

The festival celebrates traditional music, song and dance with more than1,000 artists lined up in 40 venues across the city.

There is about to be a "trad takeover" in the city over the next two weeks, O'Connor suggested, with the world's largest festival of Irish music and dance beginning the same day that TradFest ends.

"Many people have said that Belfast TradFest paved the way for a bid for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (The All-Ireland Fleadh), and I think that's true," he said.

'This culture belongs to everybody'

Now in its eighth year, O'Connor explained that one of their aims when starting out "was to bring people" together through traditional music.

"During the Troubles, like many other things, traditional music became polarised and certain aspects of the tradition were perceived to belong to one side or the other, but we have broken down those barriers," he said.

"We've shown people that this music, this culture, this dance, these songs, they belong to everybody... so I think Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann coming to Belfast is a recognition of that work."

It will be the first time the event is being held in the city.

O'Connor, who is also a fiddle player, thinks that it's "a sign that the world has confidence in this city, that it's an exciting, vibrant, energetic, welcoming place".

"We're really excited that there will be a 'trad takeover' of this city for a fortnight, something that might have seemed inconceivable five, 10 years ago," he told BBC News NI.

Belfast TradFest has "something for everybody", O'Connor explained.

The eight-day festival offers concerts, céilís, music masterclasses and more.

"We have some incredible bands," O'Connor said, with the Michael McGoldrick Big Band, featuring 11 musicians, opening the festival on Sunday at the Mandela Hall.

Irish-American band Solas is returning to Belfast to play their first show in almost 20 years.

The Anglo-Irish instrumental band Flook is performing and Irish folk band Four Men and a Dog are returning to the festival.

But for O'Connor, it's not just the headliners that make TradFest special.

"Aside from the big moments in the big halls, it's small little asides that really make this festival what it is," he says.

"A little shared conversation at the edge of a session in a backroom bar or a late night tune at the festival club, with a young musician getting to sit beside one of their heroes, they're the moments that really last long in the memory."

'Reimagining old stories'

O'Connor said that it's "very important" to celebrate and to continue these traditions.

"Traditional music tells us who we are, where we're from," he explained.

"But it also tells us where we're going and traditional artists are constantly breaking new ground, pushing the envelope hard, reimagining old stories and old songs and old tunes in a way that makes them fresh," he said.

"So I think it's, of all the art forms, one that explores the past, that celebrates the present, and that tips the hat to the future."

Fiddle player Eimear Magee says that TradFest has something for "everybody of all abilities, young and old".

She is opening for Solas, as well as teaching workshops and céili classes at this year's TradFest.

She said there is a "really good buzz" at the festival.

"The city of Belfast at the moment is absolutely thriving with traditional music," she said.

"TradFest has really kind of brought that along," she added.

"I think because it has worked so well within the city it has made it a possibility for an all-Ireland fleadh [to come to Belfast]."

'The craic'

The 25-year-old musician said there's "nothing like" playing traditional Irish music, describing the feeling of playing a session as "surreal".

"To try to explain it to someone who doesn't play is very, very hard, but when you're in the middle of it, it's very magical."

"It's passed down through a generation and that's the most important thing," Magee added.

She added it's important to keep the tradition alive, and that the "craic" happens at sessions in the moments that aren't pre-planned.

Belfast TradFest kicks of on Sunday with a huge céilí at Titanic Slipways and finishes on 2 August.

'Day of celebration shows Ozzy's legacy'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5n2p79l05o, yesterday

A one-day celebration including a walk through Birmingham and a concert has honoured the life and legacy of Ozzy Osbourne.

Three days after Ozzy Day, which marked the anniversary of Osbourne's death, fans gathered on Saturday to remember the Black Sabbath star.

They met at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for an afternoon filled with exhibitions, talks, storytelling and performances, assessing the impact of Osbourne, Sabbath, and Birmingham's role as the birthplace of heavy metal.

At 14:00 BST, the main event of the day kicked off, with a special concert inspired by Back to the Beginning, Black Sabbath's final concert, which took place last July at Villa Park.

Ashley Farley from Bartley Green was one of the event's organisers.

"It's mainly to show people his influence is all around Birmingham," Farley said.

"We want to give people a chance to pay their respects and celebrate his life, his legacy and everything he's done for us."

Farley said the endeavour had been a labour of love, and that if it were not for Osbourne, he would not be where he is today.

"I wouldn't be into the music I am today, enjoying the live experiences of the countless gigs and festivals I've been to, the family I've managed to make that's not by blood, the community of such strong, passionate people," he said.

Farley first listened to Osbourne and Black Sabbath when he was given a compilation CD by his cousin, which included Crazy Train and Children of the Grave.

"It transported me to a different world. I just latched onto it and thought this is basically my identity, it spoke to me in such a way I've continued on," he said.

"Even my own daughter listens to Sabbath, she listens to some really heavy bands with me, she likes the people that we've met through being a big community that we are."

Draco, another organiser of the event, told the BBC: "Today shows the epitome of what this entire city, this entire culture, this rock and roll family is.

"What makes this event so special is that link between the heritage of what's past, [then] to look towards to the next generation.

"There is this beautiful symbolic torch that started in Aston, travelled around the world and has come back home."

Stuart Mander, who is in a Black Sabbath tribute band, travelled all the way from his home in Melbourne, Australia, to pay tribute to Osbourne on the anniversary of his death.

"I flew 22 hours on a plane. It's a long flight but absolutely worth it," he said.

"Ozzy means a lot to me and I did my best to pay my respects to him all week.

"I left a rose on the bench, I met some really awesome people and I got to perform Crazy Train with Steel Panther at the Academy Arena in front of a packed stadium. It's been the highlight of my whole experience."

When asked why Osbourne was so special, Mander said: "He's humble, he's a really beautiful person offstage and onstage.

"He's not arrogant, not a horrible musician. He's always nice and polite to everyone and his songs are meaningful. They connect with you."

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Letters by pre-Smiths Morrissey set for auction

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20jdy584pvo, yesterday

Letters written by a young Morrissey before he formed The Smiths are to go to auction where they are expected to sell for £22,000.

The archive of letters, written to Birmingham pen friend, Simon Pitt, who would go on to become the city's poet laureate, by the singer between the ages of 14 and 20, includes one in which Morrissey says "my ambition is to be a rock 'n' roll star or an actor, or a writer".

Another letter dated a number of weeks later adds: "I always said I was a genius, but nobody listened."

The letters, written between 1974 and 1979, are expected to fetch a combined £22,000 estimate when they go on sale in London.

They are being offered as separate lots in Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters, which will be held at Dawsons Auctioneers on 26 August.

The period documented in the letters was featured in the 2017 biopic England Is Mine, which follows the young singer, whose full name is Steven Morrissey, as he struggles to find his place before forming The Smiths with guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982.

In the letters, Morrissey also speaks about seeing The Sex Pistols at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, which he says changed his opinion on the band.

In the letter, he says: "As for the Pistols... they were pathetic. I take back all that I've said about the Pistols... They are just plain bad. Period."

He also speaks about meeting Patti Smith, along with Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls - the band whose UK fan club Morrissey was the president of.

Morrissey speaks of visiting New York punk club CBGB's and attempting to join The Clash, and becoming the vocalist with Manchester punk band The Nosebleeds - his first experience fronting a band.

In the letters, he says of his experience with the band: "I'm in showbusiness... I'll spring on this unsuspecting world yet...

"One thing I won't do is record for the sake of it... I'm all set for superstardom. But then, I've always been a star, haven't I?"

Morrissey also speaks about politics in the letters and his dreams of moving to America.

One letter following Margaret Thatcher's election as prime minister in 1979 reads: "Did you vote? Labour, I hope? God knows what tortures that miserable Thatcher has prepared for us woikin' class folk. I dread to fink."

The final letter sees Morrissey reveal he has joined a band in London who "have a recording contract and all that rubbish".

Peter Mason, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dawsons, said: "What struck me most was just how funny Morrissey is.

"Running through almost every letter is a wonderful sense of humour and genuine warmth that makes him an incredibly endearing character.

"Alongside the wit and unmistakable literary voice that would later become synonymous with Morrissey, the correspondence also captures Britain at a fascinating moment in its cultural history.

"Through his observations on punk, music, politics and everyday life, the letters offer a vivid snapshot of the changing British music scene and political landscape during the 1970s while documenting the emergence of a remarkable young talent long before the rest of the world knew his name."

With The Smiths, who were completed by Marr, bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, Morrissey was one of the pioneers of British indie rock in the 1980s.

They achieved three UK top 10 singles, and were best known for songs such as This Charming Man, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, and How Soon Is Now?

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Date set for delayed artist studio opening

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7lendrynzo, yesterday

A date has been set for the delayed opening of a new £1.6m creative studio for artists and musicians.

The Auxiliary Project in Middlesbrough has redeveloped a large warehouse which has 27 studios, a co-working space, gallery, experimental music venue and community garden.

It will open its doors on 9 September and begin working with artists in the region to showcase their talent.

Artist director Liam Slevin hopes the space becomes somewhere "people discover contemporary art for the first time, where artists take risks, where communities feel ownership and where new ideas are given the room to grow".

He said: "From the beginning, The Auxiliary has been about creating the conditions for artists to make ambitious work, build sustainable careers and connect with communities.

"After years of working in temporary and often challenging spaces, we're incredibly proud to finally open a permanent home that belongs to artists and is a creative resource to the people of Tees Valley."

The Auxiliary works with over 100 artists annually through exhibitions and events to showcase regional talent alongside internationally recognised artists.

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The 1939 president's picnic that led to the US-UK 'special relationship'

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260715-the-1939-presidents-picnic-that-led-to-the-us-uk-special-relationship, 10 days ago

As the Nazis were advancing in Europe, President Roosevelt invited King George VI and his consort for a visit to his country home. It was the first time that a British monarch had set foot on US soil. Over hot dogs and beers, the conversations that took place helped shape the course of history – as a new play explores.

In early 1939, US President Franklin D Roosevelt followed events in Europe with growing dismay. In March, the Nazi army invaded Czechoslovakia, shattering the Munich Agreement brokered a mere six months previously. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's bid for "peace in our time" had come to nothing.

Roosevelt, 57, was certain Britain would soon be forced to stand up militarily to Adolf Hitler, and the US's aid in the armed struggle would be vital. But the president knew, also, that a majority of his fellow citizens were strict isolationists – they wanted nothing to do with another European war.

His solution? Roosevelt – or FDR as he was widely known – invited the young King George VI and his consort Queen Elizabeth to his beloved country home in upstate New York. A reigning British monarch had never before visited the US. The president envisioned a casual, "just folks" occasion to demonstrate to Americans how the royal couple were not grand remote figures, but friendly representatives of a democratic nation that deserved support.

The focal point of the weekend visit was to be an outdoor picnic in the grounds of the Roosevelt estate, at which hot dogs – that decidedly un-regal US summer favourite – would be served. The historic meet-up is the subject of a new play, Springwood, at London's Hampstead Theatre, praised as a "timely tale of a British monarch's mission to the US" by The Guardian. So how did this moment help shape history – and why does it resonate particularly right now?

Playwright Richard Nelson chose as his title the official name of the house in the Hudson Valley village of Hyde Park where the president was born in 1882, and where his elderly mother still resided at the time of the royal visit. Nelson, who lives nearby, previously wrote a screenplay about that long-ago June weekend. It was made into a movie – Hyde Park on the Hudson, starring Bill Murray as the president – released in 2013. The playwright was inspired to return to the material because "today we are in a somewhat similar situation as in 1939, what with the war in Ukraine," Nelson tells the BBC. "Then, as now, there is a large element in the United States which is isolationist."

In his movie script the action was narrated by Daisy Suckley, FDR's distant cousin and close friend. Nelson's new play focuses more tightly on the political – and emotional – stakes for the two couples, royal and presidential.

King George VI, 43, was prone to bashfulness and insecurity. Thrust on to the throne in December 1936 when his older brother abdicated in order to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, he felt ill-prepared for his role. He suffered from a stutter, which made public speaking difficult. And he suspected he came up short in comparison with the former king, known after the abdication as the Duke of Windsor. "Especially in America," Diane Kunz, a historian who has taught at Yale, explains to the BBC, "the Duke of Windsor was considered the superstar royal, a popular modern guy, while his younger brother looked a bit dull and old-fashioned".

Queen Elizabeth, then 38, also worried about US attitudes, Kunz notes. Would people resent her because she was a queen, a role denied to the former Mrs Simpson, now the Duchess of Windsor? Also, she was not particularly chic. Would people believe she properly looked the part?

Eleanor Roosevelt as First Lady, fully embraced her husband's goal, and recognised his methods. Of the royal visit she wrote in her 1949 memoir This I Remember: "My husband always loved taking people he liked home with him. I think he felt he knew them better once they had been at Hyde Park."

But Eleanor was not the official hostess for the weekend – that role belonged to her imperious mother-in-law Sara Roosevelt, 84, and as so often in her life, the first lady had to bow to the older woman's wishes.

A cheerful kickoff

The president, however, did buck the house rules on occasion. According to Sarah Bradford's 1989 biography of the king, when the royal couple arrived at Hyde Park after a sweaty 90-mile drive from New York City, FDR had a tray of cocktails waiting. "My mother thinks you should have a cup of tea; she doesn't approve of cocktails," the president told the king.

The monarch replied, reaching for a drink, "Neither does my mother ". It was a cheerful kickoff to what turned out to be a remarkably convivial and productive weekend – just as FDR had envisioned.

After dinner the king and the president (with Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King also in attendance) talked over the international situation, and FDR's ideas for helping Britain without violating US neutrality laws. In Springwood Nelson also imagines a second private conversation between the two men discussing their physical challenges: the king had his stutter while FDR could no longer walk after a bout with polio when he was 39 years old.

The scene is a touching and dramatic way to convey the immediate ease and pleasure the king experienced in the president's company. He had never before had a chance to talk politics with a world leader, and found FDR "so easy to get to know and never makes one feel shy," as he later wrote. He took careful notes of the president's thoughts and ideas, and carried those notes with him for the duration of the war.

'Self-consciously regal'

Meanwhile the first lady enjoyed the queen's company, recalling later in her memoir This I Remember, "She was perfect… gracious, informed, saying the right thing, and kind." But the queen, mother of Queen Elizabeth II and grandmother of King Charles, did strike Eleanor "as a little self-consciously regal".

The picnic took place the next day, 11 June, after the Roosevelts and the royals attended Sunday service at St James Church, Hyde Park. According to Sally Beddell Smith's book George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage that Shaped the Monarchy, Roosevelt drove the king and queen to Top Cottage, his hideaway three miles from the main house, in his car, specially equipped with hand controls, and the whole party – Roosevelt farm servants and a few neighbours were included – ate outside the cottage under the high trees.

The king removed his tie, chomped down on his hot dogs, drank beer, filmed some home movies, and afterwards, according to The New York Times "clinched the informality of the outing by going swimming with the president in the spring-fed tile pool". The queen, unlike her husband, resorted to a knife and fork to eat her hot dog. And she didn't swim, relaxing instead in the shade.

The royal couple departed that evening, heading for Canada and a boat home. The first lady recalled in her memoir an "incredibly moving" scene. As the king and queen stood on the rear platform of their train, in the twilight, people in the crowd at Hyde Park station began singing Auld Lang Syne – the Scottish folk ballad about long friendships. The president called out: "Good luck! All the luck in the world!"

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For their part, the royals were delighted with the visit. "The king and queen, having been quite nervous, left Hyde Park with the gratifying feeling that they conquered enemy territory and were imposters no longer," Kunz tells the BBC. "And the visit boosted the king's confidence in himself and his ability to do the job". This last proved vital once Germany invaded Poland and war was declared.

"My play is about aspiration," Nelson says of Springwood. "Roosevelt was an American president who understood his responsibility to protect the safety and humanity of the world… It's good to remember that there have been presidents like that."

President Roosevelt's one disappointment in the aftermath of the occasion was that although Americans now felt fondly towards the royals, he still faced an uphill battle on Capitol Hill trying to get direct aid for the British. Congress dragged its feet, agreeing to the Land-Lease Act only after two years in March 1941. It took the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that December for the full might of the United States to be lined up on the side of the Allies.

There's no doubt, though, that the visit was a watershed moment in US-UK relations. It was a soft-power triumph that laid the foundations for the "special relationship", and – despite a cultural difference or two – a feeling of mutual respect between the two countries.

Springwood is at the Hampstead Theatre, London until 25 July.

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The 85-year-old living in her own art installation

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crel1g1j957o, 10 days ago

Sue Kreitzman was not always an artist.

By her own account, the 85-year-old, originally from New York, "flunked" every art class she ever took, from elementary school to high school.

It was at the age of 58, after successful careers as a teacher, cookbook author and TV chef that Kreitzman's life took a different path.

While looking over the proofs for her latest cookbook, she picked up a marker and drew a mermaid.

She said: "I looked at the mermaid and the mermaid looked at me and I gave her a fish for a hat. She was in charge, not me. The mermaid took over my life.

"I never wrote another cookbook. I got obsessed with drawing."

Kreitzman's Mile End house is filled from top to bottom with pictures and sculptures, on every colourful wall, on every table, in every room and corridor.

It is an art installation she lives in.

She has a housekeeper, but how does she manage to keep everything dust free?

"A little at a time," she replied.

Kreitzman also has a curator - Jaime Freestone - who often stays over and keeps displays like the one with a multitude of ancient Egyptian busts and doll heads in order.

Freestone became her curator after reaching out to Kreitzman over email for advice and mentorship, and is now one of her closest friends.

"When I first came here, I used to find it a bit overwhelming - like oh my goodness, all this stuff," said Freestone.

"Now it's like a second home to me. It's one of those safe spaces for people who are LGBT, people who are looking to be mentored. Sue offers that safe space for us."

One of the things Kreitzman is rarely seen without is a neck shrine, a chunky personalised sculpture to wear around the neck.

Kreitzman has made hundreds - if not more than a thousand - of them.

I was given the chance to make one of my own in her back garden workshop.

Kreitzman gave me a Masai beaded collar, bought ethically from a female Kenyan designer, to work with.

"It has to mean something to you," said Kreitzman of the customised design.

I had brought along a variety of objects, including two necklaces given to me by past interviewees, a papier mache heart made years ago by my daughter and two miniature microphones to symbolise my career as a broadcaster.

Inside the workshop are various drawers and boxes labelled "teeth"or "eyeballs".

The former are real, the latter are not (in case you were wondering).

As Kreitzman pointed out: "I'm an artist, not a serial killer."

When my neck shrine was finally finished, it was pronounced "exquisite" and left to dry, while salt beef and cream cheese beigels arrived from nearby Brick Lane.

How would Kreitzman describe herself?

"Obsessive, bonkers and extremely colourful," she said. "I work outside the mainstream, I have never had any training, I just make it up as I go along.

"I was always told I couldn't be an artist, I could never do the things the way they wanted me to. I was always getting it wrong."

Even as a child colouring with the crayons she loved, she seemed to be doing the wrong thing.

"My mother would say, 'why did you do it like that?' and I could never explain."

Kreitzman does not like to sell her work. She prefers to swap pieces with friends and her pieces are intermingled with many gifts from other people.

"But I don't just throw it together, it all has meaning," she explained. "It makes me feel safe."

She motioned to the Egyptian busts and said: "These heads, they talk to me."

What do they say?

"It depends on what mood they're in and what mood I'm in," she said. "Each has animus, they each have a soul."

Outside, in the back garden, is the Museum Shed, with a sign saying "drama queen" over the door.

"Do you know about the goddess phones?" she asked, sitting down in what she called her "throne" next to a collection of bejewelled old-fashioned telephones.

"You can call a goddess on one of these phones when you really need help," she said. "They connect you to something mystical, and you never know exactly who's going to answer. I love that idea."

As the afternoon went on, more colourful people arrived at the house.

Artist Elizabeth Joseph, known for making miniature furniture, was dressed head to toe in crochet and even had huge crochet bangles on her arm and a crocheted ring.

Joseph met Kreitzman at Spitalfields, where Kreitzman is often seen for the monthly colour walk. They were both rummaging for treasure at one of the junk stalls.

"She saw my bracelets that I wearing and she just came at me," chuckled Joseph.

Kreitzman added: "I loved her from first sight."

The doorbell went again and a walking sculpture dressed in an Anne Boleyn-style quilted dress with beaded face mask appeared.

French artist Anne-Sophie Cochevelou, one of Kreitzman's mentees, was wearing gold platform shoes which she proudly proclaimed she could cycle there in.

Cochevelou says Kreitzman proclaimed her an artist and that made her believe in herself.

"Sometimes if I'm feeling a bit low, a little bit uninspired, I come here," she said.

"I get all the creative energy and when I leave, I feel all pumped up and refreshed and ready to make art."

Reflecting on her lifelong love of colour, Kreitzman said when she moved into her first rental apartment "it was the first time I could paint the colours I wanted".

She said: "I invited my mother to lunch and I'd made a lovely meal.

"My mother's eyes looked this way and that way and she said, 'huh - you'll grow out of it'."

Kreitzman laughed delightedly and said: "Well Ma, guess what? I'm 85, and I still haven't grown out of it."

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The market town performers invading West End theatres

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gwxvlelx9o, today

When you think of theatre, the West End comes to mind, a hubbub of voices as the audience enters, curtain up; for many, a creative heart of London...

The sweeping hills of Shropshire might not come to mind as quickly in this context - but maybe they should, as Shrewsbury is emerging as a training ground for musical theatre talent.

Several local performers have recently secured lead roles in the West End.

Among them, Stephenson Ardern-Sodje, who took over the title road in the musical Hamilton last month, having first performed it a decade ago.

Meanwhile Asha Parker-Wallace, who also first trod the boards in the town, is playing Nala in the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre.

Paying tribute to her Shrewsbury upbringing, she said: "There's places where you can go to work on your craft and they're actually fantastic places to be."

In his first job out of drama school, Ardern-Sodje was third cover for Hamilton as part of the original cast, and ended up being called on to perform.

"Going on for the first time as Hamilton is something I'll always remember," he said. "This really does feel like coming full circle now."

His earliest experiences were in Shrewsbury amateur dramatics, and he remembered being in productions at Severn Theatre and in Les Mis at his sixth form college.

Unsure how to turn his hobby into a career, taking part in an open casting call for Hamilton changed the course of his life.

"They liked me and actually sent me to drama school to study," he explained.

He has since performed Shakespeare at the Globe and played Simba in the Lion King, also appearing in the role at Manchester Arena in front of 12,000 people, "which made me feel a bit like a rock star".

He said his drama and music teachers at Wakeman School and Arts College had always championed him – as had local am-dram director Alex Hinton who still travels to watch him on stage.

"Having people there, just to know it's possible, is a really big key to open the door," he said.

"It's a real shame that's not something that's necessarily available to kids and adults all over the country."

Parker-Wallace signed up to Stagecoach performing arts classes when she moved to Shrewsbury, which she said awoke a love for musical theatre.

She later joined local company Curtain Call Studios, which she described as "fantastic". It was there that she first thought: "I need to take this seriously... I think I might have a talent for it."

A former pupil of Thomas Adams School in Wem, she signed with an agent while still at drama school and booked Burlesque, her first show, a couple of weeks before graduating.

Appearing on the West End stage after dreaming about it for so long was "actually insane", she said, "like an out-of-body experience". "I think I cried."

Lion King was the first show she had ever seen, as a six-year-old in London with her parents.

"I remember watching it and feeling so inspired by the performers on the stage," she said.

"Now I can be in the position where I can potentially inspire the next generation of people to pursue a career in this, or to pursue their dreams."

Ahmed Hamad, who is starring as Charles Cholmondeley in Operation Mincemeat at the Fortune Theatre, also highlighted the number of lighting designers and directors from Shrewsbury.

Another Curtain Call alumni, he put it down there being "so many" theatre groups in the town comparative to its size.

The performer, who has Sudanese and Saudi Arabian heritage, said he felt fortunate to be working at a time when opportunities were open to him.

"If this show had been done maybe 20 years ago, I probably wouldn't have been seen for it," he said.

"I remember saying to my agent after graduating, 'I'd love to be in shows like Hamilton and Lion King, but I also don't want to be in a show just because of my race'.

"I also want to play roles that haven't been played by a black person, North East African, Middle Eastern person."

Additional reporting by Susie Rack.

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Students' art highlights concerns about fishing

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8xle3ry4no, yesterday

Artwork created by students are set to go on display at a festival as part of a campaign calling for greater protection of marine habitats.

The Falmouth University students have teamed up with environmental charity Oceana and Boardmasters festival to produce protest pieces highlighting the impact of bottom trawl fishing.

Boardmasters said the collaboration aimed to use creativity to raise awareness of threats facing the coastline and seas around Cornwall.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said bottom trawling had been banned in more than 100 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposals to extend restrictions to a further 41 sites were being considered.

Oceana said in a 2025 report that the MPA off Newquay, where the music and surfing festival takes place from 5 to 9 August, recorded 2,494 hours, or more than 100 days of suspected bottom trawling in 2025.

Bottom trawling involves dragging large weighted nets along the sea floor to catch fish.

Executive director of Oceana UK Hugo Tagholm said it had been "inspiring to work with the Boardmasters team and passionate local arts students" to bring the "vital message" to festival goers.

"We must ensure our marine sanctuaries are properly protected to safeguard ocean health and allow UK seas to thrive once again," he said.

A Defra spokesperson said: "Damaging fishing activities including bottom trawling are banned in over 100 of our Marine Protected Areas and we have recently consulted on proposals to stop bottom trawling in a further 41.

"All our Marine Protected Areas are safeguarded by strict legislation to protect our marine environment and support sustainable fishing, helping industry and local communities to thrive."

Defra said nearly 60% of England's 181 marine protected areas already had management measures in place to protect habitats and species from damaging fishing activities.

Boardmasters director Rob Spring said the work of students could "help shine a spotlight on this vital issue through their creativity".

"It's part of our ongoing effort to protect the coastline we're lucky to call home," he said.

The artworks will be exhibited at the festival's View stage.

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Sculptor calls for Red Lion statue to be repaired

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq56gqgwv4yo, yesterday

A sculptor is calling for a red lion statue's missing tail to be urgently repaired and reattached.

The wooden artefact sits above the former Red Lion Hotel on High Street in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and was last renovated by Colin Mantripp in 2017.

It was created by his grandfather Frank Hudson in the 1950s. Its predecessor, which Winston Churchill gave a speech beside in 1945, was made by an unknown carver and is currently housed in the Wycombe Museum.

Mantripp said: "It's a big deal in High Wycombe, it's a focal point." The building's property management company has been approached for comment.

Mantripp, a wood carver and sculptor from the town, said he had restored the pine structure three times.

It was first done after the Great Storm of 1987, when it blew down.

"I spent many months restoring it and re-carved more than 45% of it, it had new feet, and the back of its head," he said.

He restored it again in 2002 following vandalism and it was renovated once more in 2017 after a campaign by the Bucks Free Press and The High Wycombe Society.

He said last year he noticed the tail had fallen off due to rotting.

"I feel some slight obligation to look after it. I'm willing to repair it and have quoted to do it. I want it restored and looked after, it needs to be done.

"If it was regularly painted it wouldn't need restoring, it needs to be regularly maintained."

Steven Broadbent, the Conservative leader of Buckinghamshire Council, wants to see it fixed.

"If you are the guardian of a piece of civic infrastructure, you should do everything you can to preserve it and look after it," he said.

The authority said it was not responsible for its upkeep as it did not own the building.

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Katie Hopkins' stage appearance prompts theatre show content debate

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8kmdkvp8ro, 2 days ago

A performance by right wing commentator Katie Hopkins has triggered a political and cultural row on the Isle of Man, raising questions about free speech, public values and how government‑owned venues decide which events to host.

Hopkins, who first entered the public eye as a contestant on the BBC's The Apprentice in 2007, performed her show Free Range at the Gaiety Theatre on Thursday night.

The issue began after Bradley Chambers, who holds a community position as poet and storyteller known as the Manx Bard, described Hopkins as "a vile individual who deliberately sets out to incite hatred and discrimination".

The former LBC presenter responded by saying attendance at such venues was voluntary, and wrote a derogatory "ode to the tragic bard" on Facebook, using explicit language.

Speaking on Manx Radio, Chambers said Hopkins' appearance at the venue was "inappropriate" at a publicly-funded cultural space.

The incident has intensified debate about whether publicly-funded venues should host performers whose rhetoric can be inflammatory.

'Defamatory statements'

Chambers wrote a letter to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture, the Isle of Man Arts Council and the Head of Culture and Arts.

In it, he argued that all three bodies bore responsibility for allowing the booking to proceed.

Chambers said Hopkins "made a career from spreading a message of hatred and division" and listed various examples of comments and incidents he believed demonstrated that her rhetoric was incompatible with the venue's stated values.

Examples included her past remarks about migrants, Muslims, disabled people and minority groups, her dismissal from several media outlets, and legal cases involving defamatory statements.

Chambers also noted that Hopkins' shows had been cancelled by venues in several UK towns on community‑values grounds.

Hopkins responded on Facebook with several posts.

Speaking to local news website Manx.news, she referenced a series of venues in the UK which had not allowed her performances, and said she was grateful to the Gaiety, which would allow people the "freedom to choose".

She added that she was "not asking to be agreed with and I'm not asking to be liked".

'Standard procedures'

She also told Manx Radio she was "not going around the island clubbing people over the head to come to my shows".

The Gaiety Theatre and Villa Marina are publicly owned venues operated by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture.

Although promoters can apply to hire the spaces, the government has the final sign-off on whether a booking goes ahead.

The department assesses applications on practical grounds such as availability, legal obligations, terms and conditions, and health and safety requirements.

In a statement, it emphasised that approving a booking does not endorse a performer's views, and that the decision to host Hopkins was made through standard procedures rather than by the Isle of Man Arts Council or the VillaGaiety team.

In the Gaiety's Audience and Customer Care Charter, it commits it to making a positive contribution to community wellbeing and providing an environment that is "inclusive and respectful", welcoming people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

Rushen MHK Michelle Haywood joined the fray when she responded to the bard's original comments.

While she described Hopkins as a "thoroughly unpleasant performer, with views that I find objectionable, offensive, divisive and often factual incorrect", she did not believe the government was in "anyway endorsing a performer's views" by allowing her to appear on stage.

She said: "If the performance breaches hate crime, public order or incitement laws, it should be dealt with through the law.

"In a free society the test of freedom of expression is not whether we tolerate speech that we agree with, but whether we tolerate speech that we dislike."

Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.

Dancing with Shakira at World Cup was 'very, very, very, very, very good' - Ghetto Kids

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly5j2gq587o, 2 days ago

Ugandan dance group Ghetto Kids are celebrating another milestone after appearing at the football World Cup final half-time show on Sunday - a life-changing experience summed up by 10-year-old Sierra as "very, very, very, very, very good".

Despite critics bemoaning the addition of a Superbowl-style show to the beautiful game's biggest event, the children's performance alongside global stars Burna Boy and Shakira was viewed by many millions around the world.

Speaking to the BBC's Newsday programme, members of the dance troupe and their manager say that rising from humble beginnings in Uganda's capital, Kampala, then finding fame while balancing it all with schoolwork has taken perseverance.

"Never give up... pray to God. Listen to your parents, education is first, that's all," says Sierra.

She and 11-year-old Josephine are still on a high, after their World Cup appearance midway through the game that saw Spain beat Argentina at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

"I saw Messi and Lamine Yamal!" says Josephine about the two team's stars - Argentinian captain Lionel Messi and Spain's teenage winger Yamal.

"I was so happy to see Messi and people watching us. I felt so excited and I was smiling, and a little bit nervous," she recalls.

"Shakira, she's very kind," chimes in Sierra.

The children gave Colombian pop star Shakira and Nigerian musician Burna Boy a big hug on stage as their performance ended - a moment their manager, Dauda Kavuma, insists was a natural show of affection, rather than clever choreography.

Learning they had been picked to perform was a dream come true. The children "ran around in a circle, banging and shouting" when they learned the news, says Kavuma.

"They had already danced to Waka Waka in Britain's Got Talent," he explains about Shakira's remake of the 1980s Cameroonian classic Zangaléwa by Golden Sounds.

"But it was now a great moment to see that Shakira invited us... to perform with her.

"It means a lot and it's life-changing."

Kavuma's philosophy is that there is so much talent in the ghetto, you just have to polish it.

As a child he lived on the streets of Uganda's capital before the kindness of a teacher changed his life.

He wanted to give back and later became a teacher himself before creating the Ghetto Kids dance troupe - formed of homeless children and those who could not afford school fees.

Combining a multitude of African dance styles, comedy and pure joy, they soon caught the attention of Ugandan musicians including Eddy Kenzo, who asked them to feature in some of his videos.

The group's strategy has involved harnessing the viral-making powers of the internet, and their biggest break followed in 2017 when they appeared in the music video for French Montana's song Unforgettable - which at the time of writing has amassed more than 1.9 billion views on YouTube.

That recognition opened yet more doors, leading Ghetto Kids to the final of Britain's Got Talent in 2023, before also competing in America's Got Talent the following year.

It has also enabled Kavuma to expand his project offering housing, food and tuition to many children across Uganda.

This year's football World Cup final may have been the Ghetto Kids' biggest stage yet, but it was not their first major sporting event.

Back in 2023, the young dancers were thrilled to meet Kylian Mbappé and perform at a football half-time match in France between rivals Paris Saint-Germain and Reims.

Another recent career highlight was a film being made about their story, called Ghetto Kids Documentary: No Plan B.

Despite their fame, the children's parents and manager have instilled in them an "education-first" mentality.

Videos for their vast social media following are filmed at weekends, so that weekdays are largely kept free for school, Kavuma says.

If they have to travel for performances, the children connect online to their teachers while away and catch up on any missed work once back in Kampala.

Both Sierra and Josephine tell the BBC they plan to become doctors when they grow up but will never give up their passion for dance.

"Dancing changed my life - I went to school because of dance," says Sierra.

Josephine agrees: "Dance is what I know and that makes me happy because that's my talent."

So, what do they want to say to other children who, like them, might be talented but have not had the easiest start in life?

"To love themselves, believe in God, and pray. Be with their talents - don't deny them," answers Josephine.

"And we love them."

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Young poet 'honoured' to feature on Seamus Heaney mural

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04kzpvxk1po, 2 days ago

A 12-year-old poet says it is an honour to have his work featured on new street art honouring Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney.

The Seamus Heaney mural was unveiled on Westland Street in Londonderry earlier this week.

As well as a portrait of the Nobel Laureate, the artwork – created by Derry street art collective Peaball and community arts group Féile – features the poem 'Beneath Irish skies' written by 12-year-old Jude Shiels.

"I'm really honoured and happy for my poem to be part of this mural," Jude said, adding it was "an amazing experience".

"I'm very proud."

Working on the project, he said gave him a chance to show his "creative side", and "to meet different people from difference backgrounds and meet new friends."

Not all his friends, Jude told BBC Radio Foyle's Mark Patterson Show, have seen his work yet, but those who have seen it, but "those who have think it is very cool".

The unveiling of the artwork marks the end of a year long project involving young people from Bishop Street Youth Club and Newbuildings Youth Club.

Their collaboration saw them help develop the mural's design - erected close to where Heaney went to school in Derry – in a project funded by the EU's Peaceplus initiative.

Ruairi O'Connell from Féile said that as well as honouring Heaney, it is hoped the mural will spark debate over the role of modern day influencers.

"The young people were able to learn more about that connection and the influence his work has had on generations," he said.

O'Connell added: "The word influencer also gave them a chance to look at the people they see online today and compare that with someone whose words have continued to influence people decades after they were written."

He said the young people involved had "brought a huge amount of creativity and energy to the project from the very beginning."

The Heaney mural is latest addition to a burgeoning number of public artworks to those from or with close links to the city.

The Undertones, TV's Derry Girls, Amelia Earhart, and the city's factory workers all have been honoured with street art in recent times.

Who was Seamus Heaney?

Internationally recognised as the greatest Irish poet since WB Yeats, Heaney was born in April 1939, the eldest of nine children, on a farm near Toomebridge, but as a child moved to the village of Bellaghy.

He was educated at St Columb's College, Derry, and later at Queen's University Belfast, before training as a teacher.

His first book, Death of a Naturalist, published in 1966, reflected his rural upbringing, but his career coincided with one of the bloodiest political upheavals of the 20th century, the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Further works would include Wintering Out (1972) and North (1975), right through to Station Island (1984), Seeing Things (1991), District and Circle (2006) and Human Chain (2010).

He was also the professor of poetry at Oxford University between 1989 and 1994.

Heaney was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past".

He died in 2013 at the age of 74.

BBC's Fake or Fortune uncovers 'enormously important' painting worth £100,000

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgxejg9evjo, 3 days ago

An "enormously important" 18th Century painting by the Scottish artist Katherine Read has been uncovered by the BBC's Fake or Fortune.

The portrait was brought to the programme's team wrapped in a sleeping bag, and is now thought to be worth more than £100,000.

Retired accountant Mary-Louise Wedderburn explained the painting was left to her in her uncle's will two decades ago.

Wedderburn said she had always believed the portrait may have been painted by Read, a distant relative of hers who specialised in portraying women and children.

The portrait features an Indian woman in a formal pose, wearing a string of pearls, a large emerald pendant and a nose ring.

Speaking in the episode, broadcast on Thursday, art historian Charles Greig described it as "one of the trickiest paintings I've ever had to consider".

"On the basis of all the evidence put together, I am entirely certain that this painting is by Katherine Read."

After being told of the work's authenticity and the projected value, Wedderburn said: "It's wonderful, it's unbelievable. Thank you so much.

"It's just so important to me that it's by Katherine Read, because of the family connection, but also because of who she was."

She added: "The more that we find out about Katherine Read, the more I think she was just a wonderful woman, she was just super."

Read, a well-known portraitist at the time, studied in Europe, moved professionally in elite circles and was so successful that she was paid more handsomely than her better-known contemporaries, including Gainsborough.

However, like many other female artists, she was largely forgotten, as fashions changed and some of her portraits were re-attributed to male artists.

The Fake or Fortune team authenticated the painting by trying to find other Read works to compare it to, trawling through family archives, speaking to experts and gathering letters and wills that brought fresh insight into Read's life in India.

They pieced together the story of the people she may have painted in Chennai in India, known then as Madras, including the Nawabs of Arcot, the local Mughal rulers.

Explaining his analysis, Greig said: "The evidence from the dossier that to me was the strongest was the technical analysis done by the Courtauld.

"The similarity of the portrait of [her niece] Helena Beatson: the pigments, the modelling of the figures, the brushwork, were very conclusive."

The work is thought to be the earliest recorded painting of an Indian sitter by a European female artist.

Greig noted: "One of the most interesting things about this painting is that I'm pretty certain that she [the sitter] is a member of the Nawab's family in Madras.

"That is extremely unusual because most of the other portraits of Indian ladies are a companion, or sometimes a wife, of a European.

"But I can't think of another portrait of an Indian lady of this period that is actually part of a royal court rather than a European's household. That makes it enormously important."

Art dealer and presenter Philip Mould said: "What a wonderful result, I'm sure we're going to see more works by this pioneering woman artist in India coming out of the woodwork."

Presenter Fiona Bruce added: "If, as Mary-Lou wants, it can be in an exhibition, in a gallery, where the whole world can see this picture, Mary-Lou will have given this woman not only a voice, but she will be seen.

"In a sense she will be brought to life and I think that's just a brilliant result."

Art student presents portrait to London mayor

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y3xy4dd2no, 4 days ago

A portrait of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, painted by an art student, has been unveiled at City Hall.

Tia Mirza, a BA (Hons) Fine Art student at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), painted Khan as part of her final degree project.

She said it was a "privilege" to present the portrait to him as he marked 10 years in office.

The art work appeared in the Arts University Bournemouth summer shows before being transported to London to its new home.

The portrait, officially unveiled on 16 July, depicts Khan on the side of a London bus as a nod to his background, growing up in Tooting as the son of a bus driver.

Khan said it was a "huge honour" to be painted by Mirza.

"It marks a significant milestone as I reflect on ten years as Mayor of London," he said.

Mirza, who is from London, told Khan: "Rather than depicting you in a traditional political setting, I chose to paint your portrait on the side of a London bus, inspired by your personal connection through your father's work as a London bus driver and how much you've done for London transport.

"Sharing a British Asian background, I was also inspired by your views on identity and belonging."

The unveiling was attended by Mirza's family and university pro vice-chancellor Jonathan Carr.

He said: "Tia's achievement represents the absolute pinnacle of what we encourage our students to aim for at AUB.

"To see an undergraduate student demonstrate this level of creative vision, professional persistence and technical mastery is exceptional.

"Securing a sitting with a figure as prominent as the Mayor of London for a final year project is unprecedented, and the resulting portrait is a masterful testament to traditional realism.

"We are incredibly proud to celebrate this milestone moment with Tia."

Birthday bash at cinema where Beatles played

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79g177131qo, 4 days ago

Campaigners hoping to restore a former cinema where The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John and Morecambe & Wise performed are set to throw a pavement party to mark its 88th birthday.

The Reel cinema, originally known as The Royal, on Derry's Cross in Plymouth, has been closed since 2019.

The Save The Royal campaign is seeking to restore the premises as a live music venue, with two cinema screens and a rooftop cocktail bar.

Campaign chairman Karl Parsons said: "It would be a serious loss to the city if it was knocked down."

Parsons said: "It's a wonderful survivor of the golden years of cinema, those glory days of the 1930s when cinema was an escape from a very sort of grey world into this glamorous haven."

He said the Art Deco building had "always been this wonderful building and it's been much loved by generation upon generation".

The party is being held from 13:00 BST to 18:00 on Saturday.

Parsons added: "If we don't save it now, I think it's in grave danger of being demolished and lost forever."

The cinema, which opened in 1938, was slightly damaged in March 1941 during air raids on Plymouth.

Parsons said it gave people "that small escape" from the horrors of World War Two.

It later had a third screen and a bingo hall added.

Volunteer Caroline Blackler said, as part of an oral history project to preserve stories of the venue's past, the campaign group wanted to record people's "memories attached to this building, particularly when they were teenagers and they went to see the live music" there.

Of the venue, Blackler said: "There's so much we can do with it and it will be a real community space for so many different groups, so many different ages groups in the city."

Plans for the building include a performance space for theatre groups and amateur dramatic groups, gallery space, a cafe, restaurant and workshops.

The team said it also wanted to transform four dressing rooms into accommodation, so people could stay in rooms where performers prepared before going on stage, Blackler said.

The pavement party was also due involve a film quiz and a free gig with Jon Fazal, organisers said.

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Sleeping in Dylan Thomas' house in Wales

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260724-sleeping-in-dylan-thomas-house-in-wales, today

Part time portal, part museum, the legendary poet's childhood home offers travellers an all-access stay in Swansea – and a surreal experience.

Walking up to No 5 Cwmdonkin Drive is murder on the calves. The semi-detached house sits near the top of a too-steep hill, in a middle-class Swansea suburb called The Uplands. To the untrained eye, it might look like just another Edwardian amid many Edwardians, but the blue plaques near the entrance reveal that it's the childhood home of legendary Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, the self-titled "Rimbaud of Cwmdonkin Drive".

After catching my breath, I knocked on the front door and prepared to sleep in my literary hero's bed.

From Jane Austen's country cottage in Hampshire to Charles Dickens' Georgian house in London, Britain is filled with writer residences-turned museums that travellers can tour. But while The Dylan Thomas Birthplace is open for self-guided tours, the real joy is in spending the night where he slept – a part time portal, part museum, all-access crash pad where you can learn about the author while living like him too.

An all-access stay

Thomas was born here (literally, in the front bedroom) on 27 October 1914 and lived in the house for the first 20 years of his life. The interior has since been restored, with every item harking back to Thomas' time. The website promises that "no rooms are out of bounds" for guests, and that's no exaggeration. Guests can cook in the kitchen where Thomas' mother prepared meals on a tight budget, write on the poet's desk, play a few tunes on the pianola in his father's study and even sleep in Thomas' childhood bed. The experience, much like Thomas' writing, often feels surreal.

I started with a tour from the home's current owner and lifelong Uplander, Geoff Haden. The former structural engineer decided to restore the century-old home from a student boarding house in 2003, after visiting it on the 50th anniversary of the poet's death. The house had suffered years of neglect – with worn-down carpets, tattered windows, crumbling walls – but after receiving and locating items that once belonged to the Thomas family, and furnishing the house in the Edwardian style, Haden opened No 5 to the public in 2008, inviting people to stay the night.

Haden started by offering me a brief a tour, available to all overnight guests. We started in the parlour room, which Thomas references in his work. "Large men sat in the front parlour, without their collars, uncles almost certainly," he writes in A Child's Christmas in Wales. A corner table is dedicated to "Thomas the plagiarist". The young poet was notorious for copying poems from other writers. "Immature poets imitate. Mature poets steal," TS Eliot wrote. Teenage Thomas certainly stole, with 12 out of 24 early poems evidently plagiarised.

Haden told me that in recent years, an array of famous faces have travelled to the Uplands to pay respects to Thomas, including Johnny Depp, Lord David Owen and singer Cerys Matthews. The residence recently welcomed a swarm of Swifties armed with selfie sticks, after the singer-songwriter referenced Thomas in her 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department.

As Haden finished the tour, he explained that certain lights only work when others are switched off and showed me a few gifts left behind for guests, including Welsh cakes, tea and two beers. Then he handed me the keys and I essentially had free reign of the place.

It's a strange feeling, sitting alone in an Edwardian Parlour room with 10ft-high (3m) ceilings and bay windows, a room where the Thomas family listened to a crackling wind-up phonogram and the tick-tock of a grandfather clock. I was too giddy to sit, so I made a cuppa and continued exploring, seeking further curiosities.

Living like Thomas

One of the joys of staying at No 5 is reading the framed scraps of writing left in each room, revealing how the space influenced the budding poet. I stepped into the smallest one and saw a note Thomas wrote to his first girlfriend, Pamela Hansford Johnson: "My room is a tiny, renovated bedroom… Smelly. Painful. Hot water pipes very near. Gurgle all the time. Nearly go mad."

Today, Thomas' childhood bedroom is a masterpiece of restoration and recreation. And, as ever with No 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, nothing is off limits to the all-too-curious visitor.

I sat at a desk covered by Thomas' favourite things: a Woodbine ashtray; portraits of writers he admired like William Shakespeare, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf; and a pint-sized bottle of Hancock Ale. Framed prints of birds graced the walls, with an illustrated heron receiving pride of place. I laid my head on what Thomas called the "warm, safe island" of his bed and felt my toes reach over the edge.

I went back downstairs and played the pianola, trying to remember the few songs I could actually play. Then, after ruffling through the wash house and coal shed, I decided to take a walk and explore Thomas's neighbourhood.

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"[The Uplands] was more than just a place he was raised," says Dr Siân Round, a fellow at Swansea University's English Literature department. "It shaped Thomas' writing."

My first stop was Cwmdonkin Park, a park where Thomas spent a lot of time as a boy. He revisits the park several times in his writing, most notably in his book, Portrait of Artist as a Young Dog and in BBC radio broadcasts. It was in Cwmdonkin Park that Thomas "endured, with pleasure, the first agonies of unrequited love, the first slow boiling in the belly of a bad poem".

The park might have shaped Thomas, but now Thomas shapes the park. You can hardly take a step without seeing some reference to him. His name adorns a huge, foreboding memorial shelter. His chubby cheeks are painted on a park bench. Signposts point out myriad Thomas hotspots like 5 Cwmdonkin Drive and The Dylan Thomas Centre, which tells the story of his life – unhelpful to anyone who is actually lost. And, by an algae-filled pond, a memorial stone from Cwmrhydyceirw Quarry displays the final lines of the poem Fern Hill.

I walked through Cwmdonkin Park to a place Haden had recommended – a place where Thomas also spent much of his time: the Uplands Tavern. "My sane mother saved my sanity," Thomas once wrote to a lover, "driving me out to the pubs with a stern and sad demand to drink myself steady."

Haden told me how, as a young man, he'd walk into the tavern and every head would turn to the door, just to make sure the new arrival was a local. Now only students run amok. When I myself entered, every head turned to door, but only because I'm approaching 40. I settled down with a beer, stared at the Thomas mural on the wall and then flicked through a few of his poems that I'd brought for the journey.

After a few pints, I stumbled back up that too-steep hill, destroying what was left of my calves. I stepped into the kitchen, with adjacent pantry and scullery, and made myself another cup of tea.

After a long day of exploration, I eyed the deep cast iron bath, of which Thomas wrote that the "click, click of the geyser sounds like the distant champing of a lady tenor". It turns out that the family bath was much larger than Thomas' childhood bed – and far more comfortable. I settled into the quiet of the evening, the water washing over me, the only sound the caw of Upland crows.

Thomas was born in his parents' bedroom, and that night, his father celebrated by going to the Uplands Tavern (then called the Uplands Hotel) and drank so much that the maid had to take off his boots. Mine was a tamer evening.

After the bath, I climbed into the bed in the same room where my childhood hero was born. I had borrowed a copy of A Child's Christmas in Wales from the parlour room, and before slowly drifting off to sleep, I re-read words that had inspired me so many years ago.

"I could see the lights in the windows of all the other houses on our hill and hear the music rising from them up the long, steadily failing night. I turned the gas down. I got into bed. I said some words to the close and holy darkness, and then I slept."

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How King Charles saved Scotland's forgotten treasure

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260724-how-king-charles-saved-scotlands-forgotten-treasure, yesterday

As the Royal Family's summer holiday home, Balmoral Castle is one of Britain's most famous royal attractions. But few people know King Charles III has another remarkable estate in southern Scotland.

Several hours south of Balmoral, near the former mining town of Cumnock in an overlooked corner of East Ayrshire, Dumfries House hides in plain sight. Even many Scots have never visited the 2,000-acre estate, despite its grand Palladian mansion, extraordinary Thomas Chippendale collection and sprawling gardens.

The historic estate came close to being lost forever in 2007 when the Marquess of Bute put Dumfries House on the market and its priceless contents were prepared for auction. Furniture was already being removed for transport south to London when Charles, then Prince of Wales and now King Charles III, was made aware of the imminent sale and led a £45m ($90m) rescue to save Dumfries House for the nation.

As the King said at the time: "When Dumfries House's desperate situation first came to my attention I knew we had to do something to prevent a priceless treasure being lost forever."

The rescue preserved more than a historic house and its collection. Over the next two decades, the estate became the headquarters of The King's Foundation and a testing ground for the King's ideas about heritage-led regeneration, practical education and sustainable communities. Today, visitors can tour the house, explore the 2,000-acre grounds and even stay overnight at this royal estate that remains surprisingly overlooked.

Inside the rescued estate

Completed in 1759, Dumfries House was built for William Dalrymple-Crichton, the 5th Earl of Dumfries, before passing through marriage to the Marquesses of Bute. Successive owners spared no expense on the baronial pile. The building was one of the first in Scotland to have electricity, and its symmetrical design is thanks to celebrated Scottish architects Robert and John Adam. Furnishings were ordered from Thomas Chippendale in London, and 50 preserved examples of his renowned craftsmanship now sit within the manor like a career-spanning retrospective.

My tour with local guide Joanne Morris began in a sitting room with an unexpected royal touch: watercolours painted by the King himself, many depicting Royal Lochnagar and the mountain landscapes around Balmoral. From there, she led me through rooms that opened one after another like a giant jewel box, revealing 18th-Century floral carpets and Murano glass chandeliers. We walked past paintings by Sir Henry Raeburn, a portrait painter to King George IV, and into a grand hall embossed with Flemish tapestries and ornate plasterwork of birds, leaves and thistles.

"In this sitting room alone there is around £45m worth of antique furniture," Morris told me, as we moved into the house's showpiece. "His Majesty feels that a house's heartbeat is a clock. Which is why we have 38 grandfather clocks, some dating back to 1711."

Outside, blooming Victorian walled gardens, spritzing fountains and manicured hedgerows were bursting with life, giving little hint the estate was once close to being dismantled. I wandered through the five-acre Queen Elizabeth II Walled Garden and the arboretum, home to around 500 tree species, before crossing the stone Adam Bridge and an ornamental Chinese span over the Lugar Water.

Beyond the stately home

But the mansion and gardens are only part of Dumfries House's appeal. The estate is also the headquarters and flagship education site of The King's Foundation – the centrepiece of the King's long-held vision to revive traditional crafts, create new opportunities and help regenerate the surrounding community. Here, apprentices learn everything from stonemasonry, blacksmithing and joinery to glazing, horticulture and textile making. The campus also has a cookery school and health and wellness centre.

In a part of Scotland where opportunities dwindled following the decline of mining, the transformation has been striking. Where there was once a dearth of opportunity, there is now possibility, with around 10,000 students studying on the estate each year.

Later that afternoon, education qualifications coordinator Mel Wright took me into the estate's training quarter, showing me an open timberyard alongside the Cook School, Textile Centre, Engineering Centre and Jameel House for World Traditional Arts. Classes were not running during my weekend visit – and the training facilities aren't part of the standard visitor experience – but the cluster of workshops and classrooms offered a glimpse of Dumfries House's second life as a centre for vocational education.

"There is so much value in the skills we teach here that otherwise might be lost," Wright said. "There was a huge textile industry in the area, but that unfortunately closed down." Now, The King's Foundation has stepped in to help offer a multitude of new possibilities and opportunities.

"The community is so proud of what His Majesty has done here," she added. "In fact, many of these traditional skills are more sustainable and have less impact on the environment — and all of this is driven by King Charles' desire for harmony with nature."

A model for the future

Even so, it would be wrong to downplay Dumfries House as a one-off. The King's Foundation has other strategic sites across Britain, applying a similar model that combines heritage conservation with education, employment and local economic development.

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Five years ago, the foundation assumed stewardship of The Castle & Gardens of Mey, mainland Britain's most northerly inhabited castle in Caithness, and is busy encouraging greener tourism. Highgrove Gardens in Gloucestershire, the private residence of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla, meanwhile, is pivoting towards community outreach. Like Dumfries House, it offers a whole curriculum of heritage, furniture and textile-making workshops for schoolchildren to post-doctoral academics.

"These projects offer one vision of the future," said Wright. "One rooted in nature and tradition but harnessing the skills of the past."

Another enterprise is more far-flung and, perhaps, a statement of intent. Having been handed the keys last April, The King's Foundation is transforming the historic Hillview Estate in New South Wales, Australia. Using Dumfries House as its model, the charity has plans to turn the former vice-regal summer residence of the Governor of New South Wales into the first international hub for education and training programmes in heritage crafts.

Nearly two decades after it came within hours of disappearing forever, Dumfries House has become one of Britain's most unexpected royal attractions. Its grand interiors and magnificent gardens are only part of the story; beyond them is a working centre where traditional skills are being taught, preserved and passed on. What was almost lost has become, in the estate's own words, "the resurrection of a lost dream".

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Blood tests and ultrasounds: Korea is becoming one of the world's global healthcare hubs

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260723-south-koreas-medical-clinics-are-drawing-tourists, 2 days ago

Travellers are increasingly adding comprehensive health check-ups to their South Korea itineraries, drawn by affordable prices, fast results and English-language support.

Liping Chao has just arrived in Seoul and beyond his cab window, the city's famous skyscrapers beckon. But instead of hiking up Namsan Tower or browsing Myeongdong's famous shops, he heads to the city's Mapo district, where he enters Medione Medical Center. In the clean, spacious waiting room, he notes more foreign faces than Korean ones. He changes in the locker room and stores his belongings. A nurse brings over his chart and takes him to the first station.

This was no medical emergency; just a part of his travel plan. Chao is one of a growing number of overseas travellers who are adding medical services to their South Korea trips. In between noraebang sessions and street food crawls now come blood tests and ultrasounds. Even colonoscopies.

A contagious trend

It's a trend that shows no signs of slowing. According to South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2.01 million foreign patients visited in 2025, up 71.7% on the previous year. Patients mostly come from China and Japan, followed by Taiwan and the US. Donkyo Seo, CEO of Himedi, a Seoul-based medical concierge, explains "for Korea, medical tourism is an export industry", actively supported through legislation designed to promote overseas medical expansion.

But why fly all the way to South Korea for medical care? Haemin Lee, CEO of Seoul-based travel planner Creatrip, says it ultimately comes down to cost and efficiency. While patients in many countries face referrals, insurance approvals and long wait times, many Korean screening centres offer complete comprehensive health checks in a single visit. Even better: healthcare in South Korea, ranked second best in the world by the 2025 CEOWorld Healthcare Index, is highly affordable thanks to its government regulation of medical prices. "The difference is significant," says Lee. "In many cases, the price of a single MRI in the US can cover a comprehensive full-body screening in Korea... Even after factoring in airfare, it can still be more affordable." Apart from the appeal of its high-rated healthcare and lower costs, Hyeonah Hong, Head of Division at Korea Medical Institute (KMI), says "Korea has a well-established prevention-focused healthcare system, providing an environment where diseases can be detected early."

This was Heather Barlow’s reasoning for adding a doctor's visit into her holiday activities. "I have some underlying health issues and my GP recommended that I get a full health panel," she explains. "A similar health panel in my home country [of Hong Kong] would cost three to four times of what I paid in Korea."

Medical odysseys

Like many medical tourists, Chao and Barlow first learned of South Korea's health screenings through friends who had undergone procedures.

Chao booked his flight from Los Angeles to Seoul in April 2026 and began researching health clinics on Google and social media. Watching videos of so many satisfied travellers undergo successful check-ups inspired his trust. "[South Korea is] a mecca of beauty. Health is somewhat adjacent to that, which made me trust it more," he says. "The sheer amount of exams they perform made me comfortable in trusting the healthcare workers."

While the practice is gaining popularity among non-Koreans, for Koreans living overseas, travelling to South Korea for medical check-ups has been common practice for years. Rebecca Gladstone, a Korean American based in New York City, heard about affordable, advanced South Korean checkups through Korean friends and family, and followed up with her own research. "I already had plans to be in Korea, so I knew I'd take the opportunity to book one," she says. "I'm still amazed you can get a full body checkup done in a single visit." She booked a comprehensive women's health panel at CHA University Medical Center for just under 754,951 won (£387/ $516).

Barlow describes a seamless, fast experience at KMI Gwanghwamun. She had scheduled a mid-tier package that included routine labs, X-rays, ultrasounds and a few minimally invasive procedures. The wait between each station was short. The longest I had to wait was 15 minutes," she says. "You’re allowed to have your phone or book on you at all times, so I was never sitting around bored or anxious. Staff, nurses, and doctors were all kind and patient, and I never felt like I was rushed through a test, despite the whole set-up being highly efficient." Barlow checked in at the clinic at 08:30 and was finished by 13:00.

Chao recalls being a little nervous at his screening. He booked a basic package that included a blood test, chest X-ray, ultrasound and endoscopy. "The exam from start to finish took around three hours. This included being sedated for an endoscopy… I was told I couldn't eat for about four hours after the exam because they removed polyps from my stomach." His total bill? 456,706 won (£234/$312).

Even with the surprise stomach procedure, Chao describes his exam as a "smooth and comfortable experience and very foreigner friendly". Done by noon, afterwards he met with a friend in trendy neighbourhood Seongsu-dong, had a hair appointment and then ended the night with dinner in Gangnam.

Nothing lost in translation

But potential language barriers and unfamiliar systems can make booking healthcare abroad confusing. Gladstone, who speaks Korean fluently, booked her comprehensive women's health panel through Himedi to help manage the logistics. Even with recommendations from friends, I had to contact the clinics and figure out how to book," she explains. "Whereas, [Himedi] already had contacts and finalised the booking for me and provided an interpreter [to clarify medical terms]."

At the clinic, she recalls, "My designated interpreter, JeeSu, found me and then things went smoothly as she escorted me from one testing room to the next. I also had a brief consultation with one of the doctors to go over any questions before starting my checkup."

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When she received her password-protected results in English by email a few weeks later, a pelvic ultrasound flagged a finding that required follow-up. Through the clinic and booking provider, Gladstone was able to ask the Korean doctor a few follow-up questions and had her results reviewed by her home doctor as well. The thoroughness and efficiency of the checkup were just as her friends had described and now she herself recommends a South Korean medical experience to other travellers.

Follow-up appointments can also be done in Korea after the exam. "If a health screening identifies a condition that requires further treatment, we refer patients to our network of affiliated tertiary hospitals and medical institutions so they can receive appropriate care," says Hyeonah Hong, Head of Division at Korea Medical Institute (KMI).

Barlow also requested a translator through Himedi and strongly recommends it for travellers. "While most of the nurses spoke basic English and the doctors I encountered all spoke fluent English, some staff did not and I ended up relying on Papago [translating app] to communicate."

But overall, "My experience [at the health centre] was very positive," states Barlow. "I will likely go back to Korea for another screen in one to two years because some of the tests showed areas that need to be monitored, and the cost and efficiency is still worth it for me despite travel and hotel costs."

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The lonely road to Europe's Arctic edge

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260717-the-lonely-road-to-the-edge-of-western-europe, 6 days ago

Most visitors come to Norway for its dramatic western fjords. But the country's most extraordinary drive heads in the opposite direction – into a treeless Arctic wilderness where Europe finally runs out.

In Norway's remote far north-east, the small town of Tana Bru sits at the crossroads of four very different worlds. Across the river and to the north, a quiet road leads over a high plateau to the forgotten fishing village of Kongsfjord. South lies the Sami community of Karasjok. South-east is Kirkenes and the Russian border. But the true treasure lies in a shore-hugging road that takes you further east than any other in Western Europe.

This is the E75. It branches east from the E6 – Norway's longest road, which runs 2,578km (1,602 miles) from south of Oslo to Kirkenes. Here, the traffic falls away and the landscape begins to feel like nowhere else in Norway. Unlike the country's natural drama further south-west there are no cliffs, no green meadows; only a narrow strip of tarmac that unfurls beneath a long line of mountains, along a narrow coastal plane above the widening inlet of Varangerfjorden. I can no longer see tourist Norway, not even in the rear-view mirror.

Into the true Arctic

I've only been driving for about 20 minutes when, out on the shoreline, the sun picks out the white-spired structure of Nesseby Church, one of the loveliest in Norway, as storm clouds gather and purple mountains that could be Norway, could be Russia, provide a backdrop far across the water. Poignant and glistening from a distance, the church is so perfect it feels like a miracle. And perhaps it is. Built in 1858, it was one of few buildings to survive the scorched-earth destruction of defeated German soldiers as they retreated at the end of World War Two. Up close, wild seabirds wheel and screech in strong winds, dodging the spire as they go.

A little further on, after rounding a headland where the road is all that separates mountain and sea, the E75 eases down into Vestre Jakobselv, a narrow village of colourfully painted wooden homes fringed with A-frame racks where salted cod, hung like Polaroid prints, dries in sub-Arctic winds.

Around 18km later, I reach Vadsø. Vadsø is what passes for a city in these parts despite a population of fewer than 6,000 souls. It is shrouded in low clouds and its streets are empty. The view out into the frigid Barents Sea runs only for a few hundred metres before disappearing into sea-level mists. On land, the rain comes in horizontal sheets. It feels like Siberia.

"In winter, this would be a good day," Astrid Carlsen, a local hotel manager out walking her dog, tells me.

When I venture that it must be a difficult place to live, she looks out to the horizon.

"Yes, it can be hard. But there is a strange beauty to this place in winter. It makes you appreciate things, like sunshine, a warm house, family. Live here long enough and you come to see the wintertime as something special. You even look forward to its return."

And yet, by morning the clouds have gone, the sun is shining; there is no sign of Astrid.

Bathed in the crystalline light of the north, Vadsø is a place transformed. It is possible to see across the Barents Sea to Kirkenes and beyond to Russia. Small clusters of birders stake out the Steller's eider, a celebrated summer visitor to these parts, while elemental blues, greens and whites define the boundaries of land, sea and sky. It no longer feels like Siberia. As I travel beyond Vadsø, all trees are gone and the mountains flatten; the landscape held in thrall to an austere moor-like beauty.

The true Arctic, it turns out, is defined not by the Arctic Circle, says Rolf Anker Ims, who knows this land better than anyone. A professor of ecology at the University of Tromsø, Ims is a world renowned expert in Arctic ecosystems. He spends part of every year along the road, studying what he describes as the only truly Arctic system in mainland Europe.

"If you use the ecological definition, the Arctic is defined by those areas north of the Arctic treeline," he later explained to me. "The Arctic is restricted to those areas where there are no trees, no forests, at sea level. You cross that border between the Arctic and the Sub-Arctic at Vadsø."

Another way of looking at it, he says, is that the Arctic is where the average daily temperature in July is lower than 10C.

Apart from here on the Varanger Peninsula, only small strips of mainland Europe – found around Nordkapp, on the remote Nordkyn Peninsula, some areas in Iceland – qualify. This peninsula covered by the E75 is by far mainland Europe's largest slice of the Arctic.

As I drive, villages come and go. At Ekkerøy, the village occupies a narrow isthmus between two bays, a charming hamlet with little to shelter it from the force of Arctic wind and weather. The road continues into the east, passing empty beaches and tiny, one-street towns.

At Europe's outer edge

At Vardø, the E75 reaches its eastern end. Vardø is actually an island but an undersea tunnel connects it to the mainland. The road emerges from beneath the sea alongside a quiet harbour, where gulls have colonised every available ledge to nest and squabble. Here, further east than St Petersburg, Vardø sits upon the outermost rim of Western Europe.

This remote isle is also known as the Salem of Norway. In the 17th Century, 91 local women were tried and executed as witches. Now, the Steilneset Memorial, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, is reclaiming these women and their stories from the past on the site where many of the executions took place. In the striking memorial hall, there is an illuminated window for each of the victims.

Burnt at the stake here in 1612 was Lisbet, convicted of "having cast a fatal spell on a child and two goats". On 13 May 1620, it was the turn of Karen Edisatter, for calling down sickness and death on several persons, her guilt proven when she was "subjected to the water ordeal and floated like a bob". Find Thorsden died on 31 August 1621 for "giving Christen Nilsen pains every time the two of them quarrelled". Each story is a fascinating tale of superstition and hardship, a strangely intimate catalogue of neighbourly bickering that cost these women their lives.

Haunted by these tales, I turn off onto the Fv341, a northbound road that hugs a coastline that itself seems otherworldly. Nightmarish black shards, great striations of geological time, jagged ramparts of petrified waves – all along this road, there is a feeling of an entire continent groaning and pushing the mountains towards the water. At a narrow pullover, I step out of the car and look out to sea, feeling the weight and shadow of an entire continent behind me.

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But all roads must end somewhere, and the Fv341 does so just beyond a small, grassy river delta populated with small herds of wild reindeer. Here, Hamningberg huddles beneath high hills on the northern shore of a perfect arc of bay. Once one of the largest fishing villages in north-eastern Norway, it was abandoned in the 1960s.

What must it have been like to live here, I wonder. To live somewhere not just physically remote but a place where an awareness of isolation hangs above everything, like the low winter clouds of Varanger. There is no one left to tell us, and the gulls that screech in the wind are having none of it.

I stay, and sit in silence by the old church, then the crumbling docks, before the wind drives me back into the car. Reluctantly, I start the long journey back towards the world and its noise.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated that Vardø was further east than Moscow. That has since been corrected.

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An epic Dubrovnik journey that ditches the crowds

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260717-a-new-way-to-see-the-worlds-most-overcrowded-city, 7 days ago

Dubrovnik has long been one of Europe's most over-touristed destinations. Now, a new Camino footpath is revealing a different side of the city beyond its medieval walls.

"Five-thirty in the morning?" I asked, incredulously.

"Yes, before it gets too hot," my friend Ivan Vuković (no relation) replied.

After I discovered Europe's newest Camino pilgrim trail had opened in March, I convinced Ivan to lace up his trainers and join me for a three-hour hike in July – peak season in the world's most overcrowded city, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Each summer, throngs of tourists flood the medieval town's cobblestone streets, leaving a lingering aroma of sunscreen. I was staying in the heart of the bustling Old Town, and I was looking forward to escaping the crowds and connecting with nature.

Known as the Camino Dubrovnik – Međugorje, the seven-stage route starts in front of the Church of St James in Dubrovnik, and winds 145km north-west, crossing the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina and ending at the Church of St James in Međugorje, one of the Balkans' most important pilgrimage destinations. The route follows centuries-old trails used by traders and pilgrims to journey from the southern Adriatic coast into the remote Herzegovinian hinterland, offering modern-day travellers a new perspective on the history of one of Europe's most popular cities and its surrounding landscapes.

For centuries, Dubrovnik was an independent maritime republic that relied on trade, and until the early 1990s, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia were part of the same country, Yugoslavia. "Pilgrims walk along historic infrastructure, including medieval water systems, traditional rural paths, railway routes and areas marked by continuous Christian pilgrimage tradition," said Miroslav Drašković, Director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board.

Approximately 61km of the hike is in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. The entire route takes around seven days to hike and passes through Dubrovnik, the suburb of Mokošica and the villages of Orašac, Slano, Ravno and Hutovo, ending in Međugorje, luring intrepid travellers out of the Old Town tourist bubble and into rural local life.

According to the city's mayor, Mato Franković, the idea to create a Camino was hatched three years ago as part of its "Respect the City" initiative to guide travellers away from the overcrowded Old Town and focus on sustainable tourism. "We also saw it as a great opportunity that tourists, [local residents] – all those that are going to walk – would see for the first time some areas that are completely hidden," he told the BBC.

Ivan, a local tour guide, grew up in Dubrovnik, and has seen this medieval walled city's transformation firsthand. He explained that in the 1980s, 4,000 to 5,000 people lived in the Old Town. "Now, there are a maximum of 700 people living in the Old Town. It's Airbnb business." By 2019, Unesco had warned that Dubrovnik's World Heritage status was under threat as cruise ships, tour buses and record visitor numbers put increasing pressure on the city. To help control traffic flow in and out of its historic centre, the city has since installed directional ropes at the Pile Gate where most visitors enter.

In the soft early morning light, we set out to hike part of Stage 1 of the Camino, an 8km stretch starting at the Church of St James to the Strinčjera plateau on Mount Srđ, taking in spectacular Adriatic Sea views along the way. After passing Buža gate – the northern entrance to the Old Town – we followed roads leading out of the city and climbed a steep series of stairs. The crowds disappeared and it was so quiet we could hear the beats of our footsteps.

"The aqueduct is beneath us," Ivan said, explaining that part of the Camino follows this little-known monument.

Today, gaggles of visitors in Dubrovnik's Old Town fill their water bottles at the large Onofrio Fountain, yet few realise that the city owes much of its development to the aqueduct that historically carried that water. Located 12km from the Old Town, the limestone aqueduct was built in 1438 and delivered fresh water to Dubrovnik via a revolutionary system.

"It's a marvel of engineering, because you have to bring the water over the hill, through the canals to the Old Town," Ivan said. He explained that since this ingenious gravity-fed aqueduct system channels water down to the walled city, "it goes through the limestone and purifies everything and makes it drinkable".

After two kilometres, we stopped to take in the views of the Old Town at a lookout spot. Onofrio's aqueduct depositories were visible, as were the lines of tourists snaking through the Old Town below us. We then continued along part of the Camino known as the Križni put (Way of the Cross). Ivan and other guides are now encouraging visitors to walk this part of the Camino to the 412m-high peak of Mount Srđ to better understand Dubrovnik's religious roots.

"The switchbacks climbing up Mount Srđ, which once served as vital trade and military routes, have naturally transformed over time into the [Way] of the Cross," Dubrovnik tour guide Ivona Čović told me over coffee the following day.

The majority of Croatians are Catholic, and when the nation gained independence in 1991 from the former Yugoslavia, the Way of the Cross was established along this zigzagging route, with stations commemorating Christ's Passion. Fourteen bronze plaques sit on each corner of the switchbacks and represent the Stations of the Cross, depicting Christ's final journey.

I counted each station on the steep, rocky trek up Mount Srđ, sweat trickling down the back of my neck. By the fourth switchback, I could see the Old Town and the island of Lokrum. "Hello, beauty," Ivan said, stopping to take a photo of the city below. As we climbed higher and higher, the Old Town spread out before us like a grand white castle perched on a cliff, the Adriatic Sea dotted with boats that left long trails in their wake.

The Camino winds around half of Fort Imperial, which crowns Mount Srđ. This stretch of the trail offers sweeping views over Dubrovnik, but Fort Imperial is also a great pitstop for hikers wishing to learn more about the layered history surrounding them. The Homeland War Museum, which highlights Croatia's war of independence from 1991-1995, is located here, and tells one chapter of Dubrovnik's tangled history.

"Some members of my family born during World War One, when [Dubrovnik was part of the] Austro-Hungarian Empire, could live in six different countries without moving," Ivan said. "There is a saying from Dubrovnik's grannies: 'When you wake up, take a look at the top of the hill to see which flag is there.'"

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Napoleon ruled Dubrovnik from 1806 to 1813, leaving a lasting mark on Mount Srđ. "Fort Imperial was built in 1812 by the French army," Dubrovnik tour guide Lidija Begić later explained. "However, its more recent history holds particular significance for Dubrovnik and its people."

In October 1991, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by Serbian and Montenegrin forces, attacked Dubrovnik. The communication tower on Mount Srđ was heavily damaged, cutting off all telephone and radio communications and leaving the city in an information blackout during the first days of the Homeland War.

For many locals, Fort Imperial is a symbol of Croatian defence – a stronghold that helped prevent the Yugoslav People's Army from capturing Dubrovnik. After looping around Fort Imperial, Ivan pointed out the MiG-21 aircraft donated by the Croatian Ministry of Defence that commemorates the role pilots and aircraft played in the defence of Dubrovnik in July 1992.

We continued walking the Camino along the Strinčjera plateau on Mount Srđ, pausing to take in the sweeping vista. We weren't alone: some hikers had stopped to rest on limestone rocks and admire the postcard view overlooking Dubrovnik's scenic Lapad peninsula, Daksa island and the Elaphiti islands. Although I've visited Dubrovnik roughly 20 times, I'd never seen it from this vantage point.

Many locals have also embraced the new Camino, saying it's reconnecting them with the same paths their forefathers once used. "My favourite part [is] the walk along the old aqueduct in Rijeka Dubrovačka," said Begić. "I am emotionally attached to everything that our ancestors achieved and left to us, and as well the views from the trail are breathtaking – particularly at sunset."

Franković said that he's walked different sections of Stage 1, which extends 18km from the Church of St James to Mokošica, a suburb of Dubrovnik, but one part of Stage 3 (which goes from Orašac, a scenic village, to the seaside village of Slano) bowled him over: the hike from above the historic village of Trsteno to Slano.

"That route over there, it's unbelievable," Franković said. "It just suddenly opens in front of you. The sea, archipelago, Elafiti islands... you see Mljet island, you see Korčula. And it was clear weather, you could see all the way out to the Lastovo [island]. You just would want to stay there."

By the time we backtracked to Fort Imperial, we'd hiked nearly 10km; not bad for 09:00 on a Monday. We decided to treat ourselves to a gigantic bottle of water, bijela kava (white coffee) and dessert for breakfast at Panorama Restaurant and Bar, which is adjacent to Fort Imperial and aptly named for its bird's-eye views.

I took in the beauty surrounding us, gazing down at the Old Town's terracotta rooftops and the clear Adriatic Sea. "We live such fast-paced lives that sometimes we don't even know where we're going," Čović said the next day. "Camino Dubrovnik is exactly what reminds us to slow down and reconnect with what truly matters."

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The best way to explore Dublin's spectacular coast is by rail

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260717-the-best-way-to-explore-dublins-spectacular-coast-is-by-rail, 8 days ago

Most visitors don't realise Dublin has a coastline. Now, a newly expanded rail trail makes it easy to explore the world's only capital city within a Unesco Biosphere Reserve.

I'm heading away from Dublin city centre, watching high rises, graffitied overpasses and traffic queues give way to pasturelands and swathes of red valerian swaying against the rails. Meadows of wild carrot and hawkbit break into wide expanses of boat-flecked open sea. It’s a Monday morning in June and I have the northbound Irish Rail almost entirely to myself.

When most visitors think of Dublin, they picture Temple Bar's pubs, Georgian streets and literary legends. Yet Ireland's capital also sits on Dublin Bay, the world's only capital-city Unesco Biosphere Reserve, recognised for the way its wildlife and human inhabitants coexist in a working urban landscape.

"Most people don't even know there is a coast," says Helen Cole of Fáilte Ireland, the country's national tourism development authority. "They weren't even aware that Dublin City, our capital city, is sitting on this amazing bay."

That is why the Dublin Coastal Trail was created: to encourage travellers to venture beyond the city centre and explore more than 65km (40 miles) of Ireland's east coast. Launched in 2022 and expanded this year, the self-guided route links 16 seaside communities by rail. And while you could ride the entire route in about 90 minutes, the real reward lies in hopping off to explore fishing villages, medieval castles, dramatic cliff walks, wildlife-rich beaches and some of Ireland's finest seafood.

Beyond Temple Bar

It takes 45 minutes to reach the trail's northernmost point at seaside Balbriggan. As we glide into the station, I spot a pale beach with a lighthouse-tipped breakwater stretching into the sea. Within moments, I'm on the sand amid lulling waves. Around me seniors in swimming caps wade into the water while schoolchildren roll up their trousers to hop among scavenging ravens and gulls.

Despite being less than an hour from Dublin, it feels like another world entirely, and despite having visited the city many times, I've never ventured this far. Before setting off, I'd asked a few city-based friends if they'd ever explored the coast themselves. They looked at me as though I'd suggested another galaxy.

"A lot of Dubliners live in these villages," says Cole, who was born and raised in the area. "It's an all-round liveable coast [with] plenty to see and do for a visitor… They all have their own kind of vibe and there are very distinctive experiences you can have from one to the next."

It's possible to visit every stop in one day, but I've decided to focus on a handful that capture the trail's diversity. Back on the train, I head south to Malahide, switch to the Dart and continue to Howth, the peninsula at the northern edge of the biosphere. Here, four circular walks fan out from the station and I follow one along dramatic cliffs, scanning for harbour porpoises in the water and endangered plants like betony and green-winged orchid among the headlands.

It feels more like Ireland's rugged west coast than a suburb of Dublin, despite being less than half an hour from Temple Bar. Huffs of mist and brine gust inward with gulls and guillemots, and the weather shifts quickly to overcast and rain, reminding me that this was once a harrowing place for seafarers.

Before the North Bull Wall was built in 1820, ships and sailors perished here regularly. When it was erected, in addition to safer passage, one surprising result was a buildup of sand I can just make out across the bay: a wedge-shaped spit called Bull Island whose dunes and salt marshes helped earn Dublin its Unesco Biosphere designation.

I head down to the historic village of Howth, where ruins of a 15th-Century abbey towers over rows of brick and pastel houses, its ancient gravestones swathed in stands of orange poppies. These streets border Ireland's busiest fishing port and I stop at Kish Fish for fresh oysters and prawns, watching grey seals surface between the boats.

A city in balance with nature

One of the trail's newest stops, Blackrock, shows me how quickly the city gives way to nature. From its historic Dart station, a protected building from 1834, I follow part of the Blackrock Walking Trail towards Booterstown Marsh Nature Reserve, a bird sanctuary less than five miles from the city centre. Curlews and Brent geese, snipes and greenshanks feed in the wetlands, while across the bay, Howth's cliffs appear surprisingly close. I'm told that on weekends, Blackrock Market, Ireland’s oldest, opens on the seafront here, in a historic mid-18th Century building where local artisans sell handmade goods, along with antiques, food and coffee.

The trail's last stop is Killiney station, which opens onto a shore of wave-worn pebbles. Mixed shades of blue-grey, violet, pale pink and bone sandstone and shale stretch for miles along the steely Irish Sea. Killiney is known for being an affluent Dublin suburb, home to gated mansions and listed Georgian and Victorian buildings, but its namesake beach is for everyone.

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Solitary wanderers weave along the tide gazing out toward the liminal: Dalkey Island and Bray Head in the distance, the Wicklow Mountains flickering like apparitions out of salty, inland-billowing mist. At 18:00, families are spreading blankets across the stones, lining up picnics while children rush towards sweeping surf.

It's a reminder that this is a liveable, working coast that Dubliners make the most of – and one visitors should too.

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Ride Argentina's first solar train through 10,000 years of Indigenous history

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260710-ride-argentinas-first-solar-train-through-10000-years-of-indigenous-history, 13 days ago

The zero-emissions luxury train is taking travellers through rainbow mountains, Indigenous villages and a 10,000-year-old cultural corridor.

The train – a sleek, glass-sided, two-carriage capsule – looked almost too futuristic for the landscape it was about to enter. As it eased out of the historic village of Volcán, panpipe music drifted through the carriage and the Quebrada de Humahuaca opened around us, a narrow, high-altitude valley of thorn scrub, red earth and folded peaks that has carried people, goods and beliefs for more than 10,000 years.

This is one of South America's oldest cultural corridors, a route first crossed by hunter-gatherers around 9000BC and later travelled by Indigenous traders, Inca messengers, Spanish colonists, muleteers and railway workers. Today, another chapter has been added to that long history: Latin America’s first solar-powered train.

Launched in June 2024, the Quebrada Solar Train revives part of a 19th-Century railway through Indigenous villages in Argentina's Jujuy province. The 42km (21.6 mile) route links historic villages where pre-Inca, Inca and living Andean traditions still overlap. Along the way, it follows part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the vast Inca road network that once connected communities across the Andes, from present-day Colombia to Argentina and Chile.

But the train is not just a sustainable way to sightsee through Andean mountains and adobe villages. Officials hope the zero-emissions railway will bring tourism income to communities and archaeological sites along the valley, helping younger residents remain on ancestral land while honouring the values that have long shaped life here: respect for Pachamama (Mother Earth), reciprocity and balance.

And for visitors, it offers the chance to travel through a landscape where ancient traditions remain part of everyday life.

Slow travel through a living valley

Travelling at modest 33km/h (20.5mph), the train gives me time to study the valley as we leave Volcán for our first stop at Tumbaya. Thanks to around 300 sunny days a year, the carriages glide almost silently through the landscape. Around me are mostly Argentine tourists and retired couples rather than international visitors, all settling in for a leisurely day of culture and history. Long stretches of greenery slip past the window, with deep crevices cutting into the slopes and cactus-studded hills rising on each side. The ride is so gentle that when we arrive, I barely feel the train come to a halt.

From the station, our onboard guide, Nestor Mariotti, leads us through Tumbaya's cobblestone streets, past two labourers patching the wall of a small home. "I bet you don't see this type of brick at home," Mariotti says to me, pointing out the sun-dried clay bricks used in many of the village buildings. "It's traditional here, a technique taught from father to son for over 1,000 years."

We pause again at the bold yellow Nuestra Señora de los Dolores Church. Today the village is almost silent, but Mariotti tells me that only a few weeks earlier, before Holy Week, hundreds of thousands of devotees had passed through for the Punta Corral pilgrimage into the mountains. "This is one of the most important places for us in the Quebrada de Humahuaca," he says. "It might be extremely quiet here today, but a few weeks ago it was overflowing with people."

Onwards through the valley, the land becomes drier and more barren streaks of red begin to appear in the pointed peaks. At Purmamarca Station, we transfer into minivans and snake 3.5km (2 miles) along a side road towards the village. Other than the cloudless sky, everything has a rosy hue. Behind the village's low adobe buildings, the famous Cerro de los Siete Colores (the Hill of Seven Colours) rises in bands of pink, red, purple and ochre.

In the main square, artisan stalls spill over with ponchos, blankets and belts made from hand-spun llama wool, alongside clay pots, cardón cactus lamps and baskets of coca leaves. A few streets away is the entrance to the Paseo de los Colorados, a 30-minute trail looping through the Mars-like mountains.

"If you see cans or bottles in a pile, please leave them there," says Maria Aguero, the ticket officer at the gate. "These, [along with] coca leaves and cigarettes, are spiritual offerings." The items are left on small stone cairns, known as apachetas, as a way of expressing gratitude to Pachamama and asking for safe onward travel. In Juyjuy, similar rituals continue throughout the year, and some smaller offerings remain part of daily life.

Ancient routes, everyday traditions

Back on the train, we continue to Hornillos, where branches of red, yellow and purple flowers line the path from the station. Passing an old two-wheeled farming cart, we soon reach the Postal Museum of Los Hornillos, where our museum guide, Alberto, is waiting for us.

"During the 18th Century, passing merchants and couriers came here to catch up on sleep while travelling between Buenos Aires and Upper Peru, which is now known as Bolivia," he says. "But as you'll see inside, the human history of the Quebrada de Humahuaca dates back [more than] 10,000 years before this place was built."

Inside the large single-storey estate, the valley's long human history comes to life. I learn that it was first used by nomadic hunter-gatherer communities around 9000BC, then became a trade route for the Indigenous Omaguaca people, who moved salt and clay pottery through the valley. Later, it was claimed and paved by the Inca Empire before becoming the Royal Silver Road during the Spanish conquest in the 16th Century.

As we glide towards Maimará back on the train, the landscape softens into agriculture, with vineyards, orchards and 1,500-year-old walled terraces where quinoa has been grown for more than a millennium.

Outside Maimará station, a market is filled with the sweet, earthy smell of black mint, Andean saffron and medicinal muña-muña (a native herb). Crates of red, purple, white and brown Andean potatoes sit beside ripe peaches, figs and grapes. Feeling peckish, I head to the plaza and order a quinoa and goat cheese empanada from La Casa de las Empanadas.

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Humita en chala and tamales are also on the menu, both steamed corn-based dishes that date back thousands of years. When I ask Miriam, the owner, about her business, she tells me she is "very happy that the train brings more customers every day, so I can keep cooking and share the food of our ancestors with people who aren’t from here".

At the train's final stop, Tilcara, it’s a 30-minute walk up to the Pucará de Tilcara archaeological site. This pre-Inca stone fortress was built by the Omaguaca more than 1,100 years ago and it is thought that up to 2,000 people once lived here. From its hilltop walls, it's easy to understand why communities settled here: the valley stretches in every direction, both defensible and fertile. Below, artisan markets continue the traditions of weaving and pottery that have been practised here for centuries.

Before we return to Volcán, Mariotti shares a final thought. "Years ago, there was no work here except during vacations; today, we have steady employment," he says. "By coming here, you are giving young people and future generations the opportunity to stay in our towns, to study, to professionalise ourselves, and most importantly, to work here on our land without the need to migrate to the big city.

So, while you spend a few days of rest and relaxation here in my province, it completely changes our lives."

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Airline adds two more Jersey routes for summer

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jlnvg63yyo, today

Airline Jet2 has added two new routes from England to Jersey for the rest of summer.

The new routes connect Jersey with Bournemouth and London Stansted airports.

It means the airline will operate eight routes between the UK and Jersey during the summer.

Chief executive Steve Heapy said there was strong demand from customers and independent travel agents.

"This significant growth means we are offering more choice and flexibility than ever before," he said.

"With eight routes on sale and capacity growing three-fold for next summer, customers can enjoy even more choice and connectivity.

"This represents a significant investment in our Jersey operation and is a real demonstration of our commitment to this fantastic island."

Tricia Warwick, chief executive of Visit Jersey, said the new routes showed the airline's "continued confidence in Jersey".

"These new routes make Jersey easy-to-reach for visitors who may never have considered the island before, and present an opportunity to showcase our incredible landscapes, world-class food, and warm welcome to a wider audience," she said.

"We look forward to working with Jet2 and Ports of Jersey to inspire travellers to choose Jersey for their next getaway."

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Station improvements to 'encourage rural tourism'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgjeqe883yo, 2 days ago

Improvements to railway stations should help to encourage tourists to visit rural Cambridgeshire, a councillor said.

The work is part of a project designed to encourage people to visit villages and attractions in the so-called Cam Valley by train, foot, and bike.

The Cam Valley Community Rail Partnership has received £25,000 of grant funding, some of which has been used to launch a new website, and it hopes to install wayfinding boards at six railway stations.

Lisa Redrup, a Liberal Democrat councillor in South Cambridgeshire, said focusing on railway stations should encourage visitors to travel further along the railway line to discover what the area has to offer.

The project is focusing on Foxton, Meldreth, Shepreth, Whittlesford Parkway, Shelford, and Cambridge South railway stations.

The partnership hopes more than 40 small rural businesses will benefit from increased footfall.

"The project brings together everything people need to plan a day out by rail and enjoy a greener way to travel," said chairwoman Susan Van de Ven.

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The Riviera of Ulysses: Italy's stunning coast connected to The Odyssey

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260721-italys-overlooked-coast-connected-to-the-odyssey, 4 days ago

Tucked between Rome and Naples, this beautiful, under-the-radar coastline has deep ties to The Odyssey and is a quieter, more authentic alternative to Italy's overtouristed seasides.

From Terracina, the Italian beach town where my family is from, you can see a mountain promontory that seems to rise from the sea. It is squat and jagged. My father has always said it looks like a witch's profile as she floats on the waves.

It's visible from various points throughout the coastline, a roughly 43-mile (70km) stretch that hugs the Tyrrhenian Sea and runs between Rome and Naples, threading through several seaside towns. We can see it from mountaintops or from the beach. Each evening, it glows in stark relief against the sunset, no two ever alike.

On the map, the mountain is called Monte Circeo (Mount Circeo). But throughout this micro-region of Italy – known as the Riviera di Ulisse (Riviera of Ulysses) – we call it la Maga Circe (Circe the Sorceress). It is, we say, where Circe turned Odysseus's men into pigs.

Homer's ancient Greek epic The Odyssey has fascinated for nearly 3,000 years. Its most recent homage, Christopher Nolan's new film adaptation, is making it the buzz of the season. But on this under-visited Italian coast, we're reminded of the myth every day.

How a myth becomes reality

The Odyssey is so intrinsically Greek, it may surprise travellers that several of its best-known episodes are closely associated with Southern Italy. From Sicily to just south of Rome, numerous city names and geological features have Odyssean backstories.

In Book 10, "The Bewitching Queen of Aeaea", Odysseus's ship arrives in the Land of the Laestrygonians before sailing to the isle of Aeaea, where he encounters Circe.

There's no evidence that Homer ever visited Italy – or even existed himself. But by the time the Ancient Greeks reached Italian shores in 750BC, his poems were popular among the colonising sailors, says local archaeologist Lorenzo Ceruleo. "All seafarers were afraid of unknown seas. They increasingly associated recently discovered places with these myths. Something they could associate with what they knew reassured them."

Monte Circeo was cast as Aeaea, while Terracina became the Land of the giant, cannibalistic Laestrygonians. Linking Aeaea to Monte Circeo wasn't a leap: in ancient times, much of the promontory was underwater. Plus, the "island" itself was home to a Roman harbour village called Circeii. It was, says Ceruleo, an irresistible conclusion.

The area's turquoise seas and rugged grottos do seem mythical – it's easy to imagine giants hurling rocks from the ochre-coloured cliffs. Such geographical links eventually became political, says Ceruleo, particularly for the Romans. Tying places to Odysseus and other mythical figures helped establish prestigious ancestral connections – useful when legitimising the new Imperial order. The Roman poet Virgil repurposed these identifications in The Aeneid, his epic about the founding of Rome.

Ceruleo emphasises: "The myth of Circe belongs to the poem's literary world. It's not historical reality."

The Riviera of Ulysses today

Although the coast's association with The Odyssey is ancient, the name "Riviera di Ulisse" is a modern invention, adopted in the 20th Century to promote the region. There is some local debate, but the designation typically encompasses the towns between San Felice Circeo on the slopes of Mount Circeo and Scauri, on the Gulf of Gaeta. Other places along the riviera claim Odyssean ties, particularly the nearby Pontine Islands and the coast's southerly towns of Formia and Gaeta, also dubbed the Land of the Laestrygonians.

"Places often compete over myths," explains Ceruleo. "However, the Laestrygonians were always associated, even in the earliest traditions, with Terracina."

Businesses bear names like Lido di Penelope and Rive di Ulisse. But local identity more closely embraces the area's historical fishing tradition. In Terracina, we call ourselves sang' d' pesc (fish bloods). Like many Italian coasts, the Riviera of Ulysses now lives on summer tourism.

Today, visitors can explore the same breathtaking landscapes that enchanted Ancient Greek sailors. Mount Circeo itself is home to the Parco Nazionale del Circeo, where 9,000 hectares of coastal dunes, lakes and forests are crisscrossed by hiking trails and dotted by artisanal food producers. Scale the promontory's 541m-high (1774ft) witch-faced peaks to find the Roman sanctuary dedicated to Circe and gaze at the crescent curve of the coastline below – beach lidos and the Roman Temple of Jupiter Anxur toy-size in the distance. The park organises guided tours to its Grotta Guattari, where Neanderthal remains were discovered in 1939 and continue to resurface.

On the southern end of the coastline, the Parco Regionale Riviera di Ulisse also offers lush hiking experiences, plus "beautiful beaches, extraordinary sea caves and a coastline that's best explored by boat", says Massimo Giovanchelli, the park's president.

Though not explicitly tied to The Odyssey, the hilltop town of Sperlonga earned Odyssean cache in 1957 when a massive collection of Odyssey-themed marble statues was found inside the grotto of its Roman Villa of Tiberius. In 2019, archaeologist Marina De Franceschini and her collaborators discovered that the grotto had been engineered to illuminate the statues during the solstices. "[The Romans] were enamoured of Greek culture," she says. "It was Tiberius's way of claiming descendancy from Odysseus."

Visitors can explore the villa and admire the statues, currently on display at Sperlonga's National Archaeological Museum, then lounge on Sperlonga's pristine beaches and stroll its bougainvillea-draped Santorini-esque ancient quarter.

But despite its natural and historical riches, the area receives relatively little international visitors compared to other Italian cities. "Our location between Rome and Naples [has] worked against us," says Linda Contreras of Gaeta-based tour operator Centro Guide Turistiche. "We're simply somewhere [foreign tourists] pass through."

Italian and Northern European visitors cause the towns' small populations to swell each summer, but tourism here still has yet to reach the theme park-esque levels of Rome or other seaside regions like the Amalfi Coast. "They should go to places like Sperlonga which are wonderful and outside the other tourism that has become a nightmare," says De Franceschini.

Services and hotels are humbler here. But visitors experience modern Italian life amongst ancient ruins. Boutiques line the streets and fishing boats bob in the ports. Nightlife and excellent dining experiences unfold along the shores, in piazzas or in the towns' romantic old quarters, with their layers of Baroque, Medieval and Roman architecture. Summers bloom with beach umbrellas, festivals and concerts, often held inside the Riviera's spectacular Roman monuments. In off-season, locals enjoy mild-weather beach strolls and fiery sunsets. Year-round, we feast on fresh local seafood, buffalo milk mozzarella and pungently floral Muscatel wine.

"It's a more genuine, authentic, slower tourism," says Giovanchelli.

An unrequited love

Thousands of years after Ancient Greek colonists associated Aeaea with Mount Circeo, residents relate to The Odyssey in different ways. "As people who were born and raised here, we feel very connected to the story and the culture surrounding Odysseus," says Giovanchelli.

Marisa Perroni, owner of beach lido La Sirena del Mare in Terracina, says her late husband felt a profound connection with local myth: "He told the children Odysseus stories every night. They were fascinated, especially [our eldest], Robertino."

Robertino Della Fornace says his father revered Odysseus's intelligence. "The stories inspired his own life, which was filled with travel and extraordinary adventures – many of which I had the privilege of experiencing alongside him." Together, the pair sailed frequently to the Pontine Islands. "We would go fishing with nets at dawn and live off the land… like Odysseus, he wanted to discover what lay beyond the Pillars of Hercules, driven by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and virtue."

I first came to Terracina as a child to visit family, and then again as an adult. I planned to stay a month, but thanks to a series of distracting encounters with sweet-singing mermen, I stayed for 14 years. I imagined myself as Odysseus's wife Penelope, pining for love that did not return. Now I realise I was like Odysseus, blown off course.

Some locals are more pragmatic about their mythical pedigree.

"It's all marketing," says Terracina native Manuela Gallinari. Growing up, "people talked about la Maga Circe but not as something extraordinary. She was just there." She shrugs: "When you're born into it, you take it for granted."

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Only as an adult did Gallinari realise that parts of The Odyssey were set in her region. "It feels strange to think that they're talking about your home."

Regardless, The Odyssey endures, throughout Southern Italy and beyond. And maybe visitors who do venture past Rome will tell about their time in the Riviera of Ulysses, swimming in crystalline seas under the eye of Circe. Tourism branding or no, this is how myth survives.

"Myth is appealing," says Contreras. "It's like a love that never fades. An unrequited love, because you can never know whether it was real."

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'NonnaMaxxing': Tourists are paying to travel like grandmothers

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260714-nonnamaxxing-tourists-are-paying-to-travel-like-grandmothers, 9 days ago

Whether it's making pasta with an Italian nonna or sightseeing with a gran in Japan, Gen-Zers and millennials are increasingly seeking out granny-led travel experiences.

My cheek presses into a cool mat and a forceful, yet reassuring, pressure travels down my right shoulder blade. Rose, a petite septuagenarian in a loose white tunic, crouches over me, digging her thumbs into my back and speaking in rapid Thai.

"She is telling you that this is the line you need to follow," explains a younger woman nearby. Face down, I clumsily attempt to nod, which makes Rose laugh loudly.

This is my beginner Thai massage course in Bangkok's Watpo Massage School, where the majority of staff are old enough to be my grandmother.

I find that being taught by grandmothers is supremely comforting. They're strict when they need to be, tease us when we make mistakes and encourage us when we doubt ourselves. When I get flustered in the final exam and start to cry, Rose envelops me in a hug. Suddenly, everything feels like it is going to be alright.

The rise of 'Grandma tourism'

I'm not the only traveller seeking out the comforting embrace of a granny. #Grandmacore, which promotes the benefits of activities like crafting and baking, has almost 800 million views on TikTok. Now, it appears to be influencing "grandma tourism", in which travellers seek out tours and classes led specifically by older women.

With more than one-third of Gen-Zers and millennials worldwide saying they often feel stressed, many of us are choosing to spend time with older generations. I've found that their calming presence helps to reduce my own anxiety, and I'm not alone. A report by tour guide company GetYourGuide showed that 76% of Gen-Z travellers from France, Germany, the UK and the US would book a "grandma-inspired" holiday activity, like learning to make pasta with a nonna (grandmother) in Italy and hiring Japanese grannies as their tour guide.

For 32-year-old Los Angeles-based fashion stylist Brittany Diego, the maternal warmth she experienced in her nonna-led pasta class was the highlight of her trip to Italy. "There were plenty of pasta-making classes [on offer]," she says. "But learning from an Italian nonna felt like the most authentic option, and it absolutely lived up to my expectations."

Diego found that the course, which took place in the nonna's home at the foothills of Rome, felt less like taking a class and more like being welcomed into a grandmother's house.

"My nonna spoke very little English, but we still connected through smiles, gestures and cooking together. We shared aperitivo and bruschetta before making the pasta." As a solo traveller, Diego appreciated how her nonna created a sense of community before the class even began. She left the experience with a fully belly and, despite the language barrier, new friends. "It was a reminder that genuine hospitality doesn't always require words," she said.

Since her trip, Diego plans to research more granny-led experiences for future holidays, citing the nurturing care as a key part of the allure. "[It] made me feel instantly at home. This showed me that some of the most meaningful travel experiences come from learning directly from locals whose knowledge has been shaped over a lifetime."

In my case, learning Thai massage from older women feels like I am benefitting from their decades-long knowledge of the traditional healing system. Learning from women, who have, in turn, learnt from their own mothers and grandmothers, feels very special. And soothing: during our breaks, as we sit sipping small stumpy glasses of Thai iced tea, my fellow classmates and I discuss how relaxing it is to spend time with our instructors. Outside the classroom walls, Bangkok's motorbikes beep and hawkers shout, but inside, there is a feeling of tranquility, thanks to the quiet confidence of our teachers. And, perhaps, being away from our phones.

The intergenerational exchange

As well as offering feelings of safety and calm, matriarchs can also pass on knowledge, traditional skills and local customs which may otherwise be lost. They may also offer younger travellers the confidence to be comfortable in their own skin.

Weeks after my Thai adventures, I find myself in an onsen (outdoor public bath) in Beppu, Japan. Bathing in a Japanese hot spring is something I have been looking forward to my whole trip, but as I undress, I'm suddenly nervous about the ritual of nude Japanese bathing. I'd hoped to slip unnoticed into the bubbling pool, but there is a shriek of excitement.

Three older women are enthusiastically beckoning me to join them. How can I refuse? I inch over and lower myself into the piping hot water, before a barrage of questions begins: "Why are you here alone?" "Where are you staying in Beppu?" "Do you know my son? He lives in London!"

Thanks to their unbridled joy, my awkwardness soon slips away. It's hard to feel embarrassed when you're squeezed between ladies old enough to be your grandmothers, gently squeezing your cheek and telling you how beautiful you are. I can see the appeal of the Japanese "rent a granny" service offers services to tourists ranging from cooking classes to 'rent a friend' to show you the sights.

Professional skateboarder Brooke Johnson, 29, spent a day with a grandma in Tokyo, visiting Tsukiji Market. Together the pair ate sushi and Wagyu beef, before trying their luck on the claw machines and doing a photo booth together.

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As Japan battles its own loneliness epidemic, Johnson felt like the benefits of the experience worked both ways. "Even though Misa and I didn't speak the same language, somewhere between the food, the laughter and the claw machines, it stopped feeling like I rented a grandma and started feeling like family," she said on her social media.

Psychologist and author Terri Apter, who specialises in family dynamics, identity and relationships, says that the benefits of intergenerational relationships work both ways. While younger people gain from years of experience, grandmas are keen to keep busy and share their skills. There are also health benefits to spending time with younger people, she says. "Young people will undoubtedly get a very warm reception from older people. Because if you look at phases of development across the lifespan, one need, or 'developmental task' of older age is generativity, which means giving. Being engaged with and teaching younger people is extremely good for older people's mood, their health and their longevity."

That's why Kate Wright began teaching tourists how to make Irish dishes like brown bread and stew in her cosy home kitchen in Galway, Ireland.

"Many of the recipes have been passed down through generations and it's very rewarding to keep those traditions alive while introducing them to younger people," she says. "I love seeing guests gain confidence in the kitchen and enjoy the social side of cooking together."

Wright also believes that younger visitors appreciate the opportunity to slow down and experience something authentic and hands-on. "In a world where so much time is spent on phones and technology, cooking classes offer a chance to switch off. Guests often tell me they enjoy meeting new people, hearing stories and taking home recipes and memories that last long after their trip has ended."

Back at Watpo Massage School, our teachers present us with certificates at the end of our course. Rose hands me mine, smiling with a maternal pride and gives me a thumbs up. My heart swells and I feel genuinely happy that I've made my Thai granny proud.

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The rainbow magic of Italy's lentil bloom

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260713-the-rainbow-magic-of-italys-lentil-bloom, 10 days ago

Each summer, the plains surrounding a tiny Umbrian village are transformed into one of Italy's most photographed landscapes – all thanks to a humble legume.

Each summer, from late May to early July, the high-altitude plateau surrounding the hilltop village of Castelluccio di Norcia explode in a rainbow of red, purple, blue and yellow. But the culprit behind this unique floral display isn't a flower – it's the humble lentil.

Sown throughout the plains for generations, the lentil crop fosters the ideal environment for wildflowers to thrive, creating a dazzling multicolour spectacle. Thousands come to witness the annual lentil bloom, known as the fioritura, for themselves.

The blooming of hope

In 2016, an earthquake devastated the Castelluccio di Norcia. Today, only nine people live there year-round. Around the main square, a handful of bars, agriturismi and shops selling local products remain, while many restaurants and businesses have relocated to temporary premises below the village. Many former locals now commute daily from nearby the nearby town of Norcia. As the village slowly rebuilds, the annual bloom has become a symbol of its resilience.

From ancient waters to a sea of colour

Arriving at the three plains adjacent to the village – Pian Grande, Pian Piccolo and Pian Perduto – it's hard to believe that this sprawling landscape was once covered by water. Over millennia, earthquakes, glaciers, rain and erosion have resulted in fertile soils and a microclimate that create perfect conditions for the bloom. The rare coexistence between traditional agriculture and wild nature allows dozens of flower species to transform the plateau into a mosaic of colour.

The shy, mighty lentil

As I stroll along the plain's designated paths, I hear visitors asking: "Which one is the lentil?"

The lentil flower itself is easily overlooked, ranging from white to pale lilac, while the plant rarely grows taller than 20-30cm (8-12in). During the growing season, the colours of the fioritura are created mainly by wildflowers that naturally grow among the crop. As a low-growing, nitrogen-fixing legume, the lentil enriches the soil while allowing sunlight to reach the native flowers growing nearby. Golden expanses of wild mustard and rapeseed appear first, followed by the intense red of poppies and, when weather conditions permit, the blue of cornflowers together with the violet-pink blossoms of roveja (wild field pea).

Harvested between July and August, the petite lentil of Castelluccio di Norcia is prized for its creamy flavour and resilient skin, which holds its shape when cooked. Rich in protein, iron and fibre, it was awarded an IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) in 1999. Traditionally, they are cooked in simple soups or served alongside local sausages.

The perfect shot

Thanks to social media, the lentil bloom is now one of Italy's most photographed landscapes. Every summer, photographers, hikers, motorcyclists and visitors come to Pian Grande in search of the perfect shot.

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"Tourism has never abandoned us," says local tour operator Angela Testa of Castelluccio Dream Experience. From late spring onwards, she sees visitors arriving from abroad, followed later in the season by many Italians.

The cost of beauty

Each summer, the people of Castelluccio welcome visitors eager to experience the fields, the village and the farming traditions that have defined this place for generations. But for the locals, the bloom is just one fleeting moment of the year. Tourism helps keep Castelluccio di Norcia alive, but protecting its fragile ecosystem from overtourism us equally important. During the busiest weekends of the bloom season, only motorcycles and shuttle buses may reach the village. Private cars can pass through but are not allowed to park. Staying on the plains' marked paths is not just good etiquette but an agricultural necessity.

A rainbow of colour

Each farmer owns scattered fields and sows them at slightly different times. As a result, the colours vary in position and intensity each year, ranging from delicate sprays to vivid rainbow stripes. Even after a dry spring, the bloom still appeared this year, this time with broader expanses of red poppies.

I overhear a woman recording a video. "Despite climate change, the bloom has made it again this year. Resilient, just like the people of Umbria."

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Even camels can't cope: Africa's ships of the desert hit by rising temperatures

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqlxvvw06pqo, 4 days ago

Camels are famously known as the ships of the desert, but even these hardy animals are not being spared from the extremes of rising temperatures in Africa.

The Afar region of north-eastern Ethiopia is one of the hottest and driest places on Earth, where nomads often lead camel caravans carrying salt through the desert.

"I can see my camels suffering from extreme heat," Ali Umer, a camel herder from Semera in Afar, told the BBC.

"They get blisters on their feet, their eyes become watery and the hot sand burns their skin and eats up their hair when they are sitting," said the 40-year-old who owns around 500 camels.

"Within the past one month I have lost eight camel calves because of the extreme heat, it has become much more intense and difficult.

"Even the wind, which used to bring cool air, now carries heat," he said, adding he had noticed these drastic changes in the temperature in recent years.

He is not alone in his observations: scientists, animal welfare workers and various studies all mention stress, fatigue, dehydration, disease prevalence as direct impacts of extreme heat.

The higher temperatures also indirectly make camels suffer by causing severe loss of water, vegetation, and reduced shaded areas.

North Africa and the Horn of Africa host around 80% of the world's largest population of dromedary camels - those with one hump.

Over the years, farmers and cattle herders in these regions have switched to these animals because of their resilience to harsh heat and drought conditions.

But a study based on the perception of camel herders in southern Ethiopia, published in 2025, showed that high temperatures and climate variability had had a detrimental impact on camel herd health.

"Respondents reported that climate change and variability have affected camels' health, productivity, and reproductive performance," it said.

In neighbouring Somalia, the situation appears to be more serious. Research published in June has shown that drought-related camel mortality is a widespread crisis, affecting nearly 46% of camel-owning households.

The study included nearly 6,000 pastoral households and showed that the mortality was concentrated in northern regions, with Sool reporting a "staggering mortality rate of nearly 73%".

Extreme heat is the main cause behind the drought in the region although other factors like inadequate veterinary services and animal management make things worse, experts say.

An analysis by atmospheric scientists found that high temperatures in the region were behind the 2021-22 drought, as extreme heat makes water from soil and water bodies turn into vapour and plants release water in them into air as vapour.

Veterinarians say they are treating more sick camels and are seeing more deaths due to extreme heat and drought.

"We are seeing significant increase in cases of hyperthermia in camels as a result of which they get multiple infections," Hassan Nuya Guyo, a veterinary officer in Marsabit county in north-eastern Kenya bordering Ethiopia, told the BBC.

"In the last two years, we have seen a more than 15% increase in camel deaths in our county due to extreme heat."

Disease prevalence among camels and reduced milk yield from them are as a result of climate change impacts including heat stress, according to another study conducted in the Horn of Africa.

A similar story is playing out in North Africa. A study in Algeria, published this year, has shown a significant increase in camel deaths during summer heatwaves.

"Time series analysis highlights significant seasonal mortality patterns, underscoring the need for targeted interventions during high-risk periods like peak summer months; such as strategic water provisioning, supplemental feeding, and enhanced disease monitoring," it said.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says extreme heat events have become a common phenomenon in several North African countries with heatwaves having increased with a clear upward trend since 1981.

It said a number of countries in the region and the Middle East reported temperatures above 50C in 2024.

WMO's State of the Climate in Africa 2025 report said North Africa recorded the most rapid warming of the six subregions - 0.43C per decade - between 1991 and 2025.

Experts say camels comfortably beat the heat up to around 40C by mainly allowing their body temperature to fluctuate by several degrees throughout the day to deal with outside temperature.

By doing that they avoid sweating and, combined with concentrated urine and dry faeces, it helps them minimise water loss, while their thick skin coat helps them ward off solar radiation.

"But camels can also experience heat stress when temperatures rise beyond their comfort range," said Dr Mohammed Bengoumi, a scientist with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who specialises in camel health and works in North Africa.

"In many parts of the Sahara, summer temperatures now frequently exceed 50C, increasing the risk of severe heat stress, particularly when accompanied by reduced vegetation cover, water scarcity, and limited access to shade," he told the BBC.

Professor Abdelmadjid Chehma at the University of Ghardaia in Algeria, who has conducted experimental works on camels in the Sahara Desert, has a similar conclusion.

"Our works show that prolonged day-and-night heat above 41 to 45C directly attack their cells," he told the BBC.

"Their immune system suffers because such heat levels damage their white blood cells and other cells because of stress, they [the cells] struggle to repair themselves and end up destroying themselves."

For camels this means when heat stress sets in, their metabolism slows down to limit internal heat production leading to sharp reduction in food intake resulting in lethargy and generalised fatigue.

That leads to drop in milk production and also causes reproductive disorders.

Professor Mohammed el Khasmi, animal hydrobiology expert at the University of Casablanca in Morocco, has a long list of effects of heat stress he and his team have observed on camels.

Weight loss, inflammation, muscle and bone related illnesses, chemical imbalance due to kidney malfunction, infectious diseases caused by parasites were a few among them, he said.

While extreme heat is the primary culprit, its impacts become severe when other factors like loss of vegetation and water, lack of shaded areas and inadequate veterinary services add up, experts say.

This is why many herders in Ethiopia have moved their camels from the northern region, where the animals were found historically, to the south where water and vegetation are relatively available, experts there say.

"And this is not the seasonal movement of the herders," said Daniel Gelan, professor and pastoralist development researcher with Vision University in Ethiopia.

"They are leaving the northern region for good because they can no longer sustain camel herding there because of extreme heat and drought," he told the BBC.

The Horn of Africa has been recovering from the longest and most severe recorded drought spanning from 2020 to 2023, but now it is seeing another round of the harsh condition, according to charity organisation Oxfam.

It said water prices in some parts of Somalia had risen by more than 2,000% because of the drought.

Umer, the cattle herder in Afar, said he was worried that an outbreak of disease could start killing his adult camels anytime now.

His concern is valid, according to Prof Chehma.

"While camels remain the livestock herders' last line of defence against the desert, the unprecedented intensity of current heatwaves directly threatens their vital functions, turning this historically resilient animal into a climate victim," he said.

Additional reporting by BBC Amharic's Firehiwot Kassa

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

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Scientists find the secret of birdsong's 'spectacular diversity'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy4eg5dpyzo, 3 days ago

Scientists in France say they have discovered the building blocks of the incredible diversity of birdsong.

A team analysed more than100,000 songs from 3,000 bird species and revealed that they are all composed of eight fundamental types of sound that the researchers call "motifs".

Each song, they say, is made up of combinations of these motifs - three types of trill, three types of whistle, chaotic notes and harmonies.

Birdsong is one of the natural world's most sophisticated forms of sound-based communication.

Its variety and complexity has fascinated biologists, but with so many different songs, it has been difficult to study on a global scale.

Lead researcher and University of Saint-Etienne PhD student Quentin Bacquelé explained: "The diversity is huge. And if you go to Asia, Africa, Amazonia, you will hear totally different songs."

In a new study, he and his colleagues used a global database of birdsong - recordings uploaded by thousands of volunteers. This meant they could analyse about 116,000 songs from more than 3,000 birdsong species.

They studied patterns in the songs - how each song shifted and changed through time. And with the help of AI, they could then compare the thousands of songs to each other - to find what connected them.

The scientists said this unveiled "a simplicity underlying the spectacular diversity of birdsongs".

A key finding was that the environment the birds evolved in - from tropical forest to temperate landscape - shaped how they "composed" their songs.

So birds adapted for tropical forests use different acoustic building blocks, or motifs, to those from temperate regions.

Simpler motifs, like flat whistles, Bacquelé explained, are often found in tropical environments, apparently because they help the birds make themselves heard through the busy, biodiverse soundscape and dense vegetation.

More complex compositions - with ultrafast trills and combinations that contain lots of information - are more common in temperate forests, where birds tend to communicate at closer range.

It's a kind of evolutionary trade-off: A very complex song provides a lot of information, but it is difficult to transmit that information over long distances in complex environments.

This link between the environment and its natural soundscape, Bacquelé explained, is being transformed by human activity.

"I think this research has opened up a new way to see songs as something [intrinsically] linked with the environment," he told BBC News.

"So, we could try to use these motifs to help us understand how birds could adapt to the new background noise [that we produce]."

Natural sound, Bacquelé added, is an an important part of our own connection to nature and is worth conserving.

"If you think of a forest, near your town or near your house, you think about the songs of the birds in the morning when you go outside.

"And if a bird in a forest has a specific song, if you destroy the forest, then that song may not be adapted any more to the new environment."

The study is published in the journal Science.

'It's love in the middle of a disaster': The couple who married in typhoon floods

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260720-the-wedding-that-survived-a-typhoon, 5 days ago

One year ago, a couple got married in knee-deep water amid a powerful typhoon in the Philippines. The wedding photos quickly went viral as they revealed remarkable resilience in a warming world.

The rain kept pouring as the wedding car inched through knee-deep floodwaters to the church.

It was 22 July 2025 and Typhoon Wipha was battering the Philippines with 130km/h (80mph) winds. Jamaica Aguilar already knew it was flooded at the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, an hour north of Manila, where her wedding was to take place.

"I remember praying and asking, please stop raining just for today so we can enjoy this," Aguilar recalls, nearly a year later. "And luckily, it stopped when I [stepped] outside the car."

The make-up staff had warned her there would news crews, but she had brushed them off, incredulous and nervous. Now she could see them. Stepping out of the car, she spread the train of her dress outside the church, as the media lined up.

"I was just nervous, and thinking to myself, this is it, this is the one," said Aguilar. "Although this is not how I planned it, there it is."

Aaron Favila, a photojournalist with the Associated Press, captured the moment, and his photos immediately exploded online. In April 2026, he won a prestigious prize at the World Press Photo 2026 for the images.

Fossil fuel emissions are driving up climate extremes. In practice, what this means is that the scene captured by Favila is likely to become more common: a bride having to walk down the aisle barefoot and through floodwaters, while almost 10 million people in her country reel from the impact of a tropical storm. The Philippines has a long history of dealing with and managing floods, but climate change is now rigging the game.

The night before

Aguilar and her fiancé Jade Rick Verdillo had attended a mass at Barasoian Church on the eve of their wedding.

Halfway through, it started raining heavily. Floodwaters moved through the wooden benches, covering the church floor. "We were watching the news non-stop, and it was saying [the rain] might get heavier," Verdillo says.

The couple stayed up until 03:00 reading forecasts and texting the wedding planners, the church and their guests. Would the storm wane? Should they cancel the wedding? Would guests be able to make it?

The planners and the church offered to reschedule, but not their party venue. "I jokingly said to them that as long as there's food for the guests, it's OK not to have the tables," says Verdillo.

In the end, they decided to push through: whatever the next day would bring, they were determined that the wedding would go ahead.

The wedding day

Favila almost missed capturing the wedding. He was 50km (31 miles) away in Manila, having lunch after putting together a breaking news package about flood-hit communities.

He heard about the flooded wedding just one hour before its scheduled start.

When he got the tip, he didn't hesitate. As the only photographer in the Manila bureau, he has covered many extreme weather events, "but never a wedding in floods".

Favila jumped into his company's car, but waist-deep floodwaters soon blocked it, so he left the driver and hitched a lift in a large rescue truck. When he saw the white gown in front of the church, he leaped off, but the bride's pre-ceremony photo session had ended.

"They were actually finished," he recalls. "The wedding organisers were waiting at the door."

Still, he managed to catch Aguilar's attention and directed her for a final few shots before she walked down the aisle.

"It's love in the middle of a disaster," he said. "You see the floods, and it's not a happy picture. So, it's a mixture of happy and sad and resilience. I think people connected with the photo because of that."

Down the aisle

Before the wedding, the couple had scrolled through dozens of "bride reveal" videos on TikTok. The moment when the groom and the bride see each other was special for them.

On their wedding day, it didn't work. "I was laughing inside my head because I couldn't see him because of the reporters in the middle of the church," Aguilar says.

Unable to see her fiancé, she focused on her steps. She was barefoot to improve her grip.

"I wasn't thinking about anything except, 'Please don't fall, please don't trip', because the tiles were getting slippery as I went deeper and deeper into the church," she says.

Still, there was a benefit of having so many TV cameras and photographers in the church, says Verdillo. Nearly half of the 100 guests couldn't make it through the flooded roads.

"If the [media] weren't there, I think our venue would have felt quite empty," he says.

Throughout the wedding, the waters kept rising. From the altar, the couple could see that many benches were misaligned, nudged by the currents.

As the ceremony wrapped up, they lined up for photos. It was impossible for them, however, to know which camera belonged to the official wedding photographer and which were media. "So we were just smiling at everyone's cameras," says Verdillo.

Shortly after the ceremony, the couple took doxycycline pills to prevent flood-borne diseases such as leptospirosis, and asked their guests to do the same.

The aftermath

That evening, Favila filed the photos and went to bed as the newlyweds partied with their guests (after Aguilar had changed out of her soaked, heavy dress). The next morning, the couple and the photographer found themselves at the heart of a viral story. Other weddings in the Philippines had been disrupted by floods, but did not receive the same international attention.

"His photos were what went viral," says Aguilar. "Especially the one of me outside the church. That's the one that got everybody's attention."

Favila kept getting tagged on social media. Strangers sent the couple photos of them on the front page of US newspapers. Someone compared their wedding to a scene in the movie Crazy Rich Asians, in which one of Singapore's richest brides marches through a pool of water.

Verdillo believes people found their story fascinating because it is relatable. "Problems are there. You cannot escape them. But what you can do is face them and move on with your life," he says.

Saffron O'Neill, a researcher at the University of Exeter in the UK who studies climate visuals, says she wasn't surprised the photos caught the world's attention.

"These photos are so unexpected in how they pair the usual visual signals we expect to see in wedding photography (the couple, the white dress, the church, gathered friends and family) in a totally unexpected situation – standing knee-deep in floodwaters," says O'Neill.

Favila believes his job as a photojournalist is to show people that climate change is happening now. "It's not like before when people said, 'Oh, in 10 years we will have great climate change effects'," he says. "I think the effects of climate change are happening now."

But the couple's story is not only about resilience. Flooding became a heavily political issue in the Philippines during the 2025 storm season, following massive protests about a mismanaged $9.2bn (£6.9bn) fund for flood defences. Government inquiries identified hundreds of "ghost projects", leading protestors to complain about backroom deals between politicians and companies. Senators, ministers and congresspeople have resigned or been fired in the aftermath.

Investment in flood defences is critical as the Philippines is among the world's most vulnerable countries to typhoons and climate change is making these stronger. Warmer ocean temperatures due to global warming cause typhoons to become stronger and more damaging. Every decade since 2000 has seen a 17% to 19% increase in typhoon-related rainfall in the country.

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Aguilar and Verdillo live in Navotas, a coastal area in northwest Manila, an area which is highly vulnerable to extreme weather and flooding. "They are slowly developing projects against flooding, but the rise of the sea level in Navotas is much faster than the effort the government is putting in," says Verdillo.

After the couple furnished their house in 2025, their first typhoon season together took a darker turn. After water entered their house, their new refrigerator and washing machine broke down and their sofa and bed were completely soaked.

This year, they have added additional precautions, like raising the refrigerator up higher. Looking back at his childhood, Verdillo realises he had normalised flooding, but he says this is not tenable. "Now that I'm older," he says. "I don't want my children to experience the same thing."

When they look back on their wedding day, Aguilar and Verdillo see it as a special moment.

"If you had told me beforehand that my wedding was going to be flooded, I would have said 'no way'," says Verdillo. "But now, honestly, I wouldn't change anything about that day."

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'We were all just in awe': A stranding in Ireland sheds new light on the long, slow, ice-cold life of a deep-sea shark

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260717-the-shark-that-lives-for-centuries, 5 days ago

Some Greenland sharks alive today may have been contemporaries of Shakespeare. With a scarred heart that beats for centuries and eyesight that doesn't fade, this deep-sea shark defies age-related decline.

The ocean's dead often wash up on the storm-battered west coast of Ireland. But in April 2026, a group of researchers and volunteers stood on the cloudy shoreline of County Sligo, Ireland, and marvelled at the sight of a species that had never been stranded here before – a dead Greenland shark.

Judging by its size – around 3m (10ft) long – the grey-beige animal lying on the tidal flats was over 150 years old. It would have been born in the age of Queen Victoria and US president Abraham Lincoln, when three-mast sailing ships crossed the seas, and the car hadn't yet been invented.

By Greenland shark standards, that's pretty young.

"It's such a pity. This guy – it took him 150 years to get to the point where he could have reproduced, could have contributed to get the population on track, and may not have had the chance," says Emilie De Loose, a marine biologist at the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.

The Greenland shark, the longest living vertebrate on the planet, can live for around 400 years. As baby sharks, some of the ones swimming around today may have been contemporaries of Shakespeare – though the exact length of lifespan is still subject to debate, with estimates ranging from roughly 300 to 500 years.

"We were all just in awe," says De Loose. "It's so mind-boggling to think how long that animal lived, and what it might have seen."

While sad for the species – and the shark – the stranding, and the necropsy that followed, were an opportunity to shine some light on a species shrouded in mystery.

A visitor from the deep

"There is something very intimate about working with dead animals, because you really get to know the species," says Jasmine Stavenow Jerremalm, a PhD researcher in marine ecology at University College Cork in Ireland, who took part on the necropsy of the shark. "Dead animals can tell us a lot about the living ones."

The first challenge was getting the shark to a lab. Greenland sharks are among the world's biggest sharks, measuring up to 5m (16ft). This one weighed over 200kg (440lb). The group on the shore covered the body with seaweed, to prevent seagulls and other animals from pecking at it. The next day, in a recovery operation overseen by the National Museum of Ireland, a crane hoisted it onto the back of a lorry and took it to a regional veterinary lab.

A day later, protected by masks, gloves and overalls, a group of researchers from a range of organisations and institutions, including the museum, started examining the shark in a well-ventilated space.

"When it's an animal that could be a few hundred years old, there could be anything in that animal, so for health and safety, you want to be sure you follow good routines," says Stavenow Jerremalm. "If it's an animal that's lived for that long, bacteria or viruses from very long ago could be within that body", and then suddenly get exposed through the necropsy, she explains. "It's important to be mindful that we don’t know why this animal died, and which potential diseases it could have within it."

When it comes to Greenland sharks, researchers are still trying to answer a vast range of questions – from how these animals manage to live for such an extraordinarily long time, to basic facts around their existence.

Greenland sharks are slow-swimming, solitary scavengers and predators. They feed on carcasses but are also known to catch prey such as seals, and have even been observed "hoovering" up their prey. Powerful suction allows them to suck prey into their mouths, swallowing it whole.

"Greenland sharks are very slow swimmers so they are mostly thought of as scavengers that feed off carcasses. But sometimes they seem to opportunistically manage to catch live, fast-swimming prey," like seals, says Lily Fogg, a postdoctoral researcher in evolutionary biology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. "Since Arctic waters can be quite dim, it is possible that they can ambush sleeping or resting seals, or maybe pick off seals that are already injured or trapped by ice."

Greenland sharks live in the North Atlantic and Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada and Iceland, and have evolved certain features that help them cope with the cold. High concentrations of chemicals in their bodies act as an anti-freeze, which has the side effect of making their flesh poisonous.

But much about this elusive animal remains unknown.

"For such a large shark with a broad distribution, that is not really a rare species throughout most of its range, it's amazing how little we know about these sharks," says Brynn Devine, a marine biologist and Arctic Fisheries Scientist at Oceans North, a conservation NGO, who was not involved in the necropsy.

"Even basic aspects of their biology and ecology are unknown," she says. "For example, we still do not know where their mating and pupping grounds are, and only one pregnant female has ever been observed so we don't even know for certain how many pups they have per pregnancy or how often they reproduce."

As a result of this uncertainty, scientists aren't able to accurately estimate how many Greenland sharks there are in the world, she says. This makes it harder to assess population health, and their risk from threats like fishing bycatch.

"It's difficult to protect a species effectively if you aren't sure what areas or habitats are most important for them for key behaviours like mating and pupping, as well as not knowing how often they reproduce or how many pups they have," Devine says. "[There are] lots of big mysteries that still need to be solved beyond how they live so long."

It was the first stranding of a Greenland shark in Ireland, which does however get many other strandings, De Loose says – due to the way its west coast juts out into the Atlantic, and is battered by storms that can sweep animals ashore.

"It would have been old by our time scale – but it was maybe 150, maybe 200 years old if we're stretching it, so, for a Greenland shark it's just reached maturity," says De Loose.

De Loose and the other researchers examined the shark for potential wounds or cuts that could explain its death – from fishing nets, for example – but found no signs of damage. They then carefully skinned the shark. The skin, covered in sharp little hooks called denticles, is currently stored in a freezer, ready for taxidermy.

The National Museum of Ireland hopes to eventually display the specimen: "This would allow future visitors to learn about one of the world's most mysterious shark species and the scientific work needed to study such creatures," says Amy Geraghty, curator of zoology at the National Museum of Ireland, Natural History. "In short, we hope to learn and share as much as possible from this unusual stranding."

The researchers then prised open the shark, revealing its massive liver – weighing 50kg (110lb) – which they carefully guided out into a large steel basin to examine it. "Everything was examined, measured and weighed with samples taken as we went," says De Loose.

Another crucial step was to remove the eyes: the lenses will be used for radiocarbon dating, which will help find out the shark's age.

Greenland sharks' eyes are another source of mystery.

"For a long time, Greenland sharks have been described as having very poor vision, or even being blind," says Fogg. "This is because of their extremely long lifespan [...] and little tassel-like parasites that hook onto the front of their eyes.

However, a 2026 research paper by Fogg and others has found the opposite: "Their eyes and retinas are actually intact and highly specialised for life in very dim light," explains Fogg, who was not involved in the Irish stranding case. "Even in individuals over a century old, the cells and molecular machinery needed for vision are still there and still look healthy. Their visual system is essentially like a 'low-light camera', which makes perfect sense if you spend your life in the dark, cold depths of the Arctic Ocean," she explains. "What's really remarkable is that this complex tissue appears to keep working for so long. It's a visual system that seems built to last for centuries."

The dangling parasites don't actually have much of an effect on the shark's vision, she says, according to the research.

This resilience is in contrast to humans' visual system, she says. Human eyesight tends to decline with age, "while in the Greenland shark, we show that vision can remain intact for over a century. This is quite astonishing as it suggests they may have evolved mechanisms to resist or delay this kind of age-related degeneration," says Fogg.

One reason for the resilience may lie in the Greenland shark's ability to repair damaged DNA, she suggests: her team found genes involved in DNA repair that were especially active, or "turned on", in the Greenland shark compared to other sharks that don't live for as long.

"This is especially interesting because DNA damage and repair capacity are widely linked to ageing processes across animals," she says.

A sample of muscle tissue will be sent to a lab for a different, experimental method to establish a Greenland shark's age, based on the length of its telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of DNA sequences, says Stavenow Jerremalm. Telomeres tend to shorten with age, along with exposure to environmental stresses.

"We opened the 'chest' to reach the heart of the animal so we could remove that as well," says De Loose. The heart seemed healthy, she says – and was huge, weighing 34kg (75lb): "It was gigantic, because it's a gigantic shark." For comparison, a human heart weighs around 300g (10oz).

How can a heart beat on for centuries? A recent study examining Greenland sharks' hearts found they showed common signs of ageing, such as scarring. However, despite these markers, the hearts seemed well-functioning. The findings suggest that the Greenland shark has evolved to be resilient to markers of ageing that are associated with poor heart health in other animals, including humans.

This highly unusual finding – the heart continuing to function, despite being marked by ageing – "underscores resilience as a key mechanism enabling extreme longevity," the papers' authors say.

For Stavenow Jerremalm, the post-mortem offered a chance to take a close look at some of the Greenland shark's unique features, which have evolved to perfectly suit its needs, such as feeding on carcasses on the seabed. "It eats it, even when it's rotten, no matter its stage – it takes that opportunity to eat," she says.

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The dead shark in the lab had the perfect tools for that job. "Its teeth were so adapted for ripping off chunks of carcasses, because of its straight, very sharp upper teeth, and the bottom teeth had two different directions, almost like a saw. That's a perfect adaptation for biting off chunks of carcasses it finds on the seabed."

The stomach and entire digestive tract were removed intact, for later analysis. Feeling the closed stomach, the researchers noticed that it seemed empty, but the spiral valve – a part of the intestine – seemed full, suggesting it had recently digested food. The empty stomach may not have been a problem for the shark, which has low energetic needs (their slow metabolism may have evolved to cope with resource-scarce environments, like the Arctic, with highly seasonal prey).

One of its testicles was twisted, and the spleen's colour looked unusual, De Loose says – but overall, the shark seemed healthy. It's possible that the shark was sick in a way that wasn't obvious, she suggests – and the analyses of the organs and samples may eventually reveal more about the cause of its death.

"It makes you wonder, what happened?" De Loose says. "It's sad because it's old by our standards, but it really had much of its life ahead."

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Pair trying to fly drone over wildfire have to be rescued at 'public expense'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70gzrlg3p2o, today

Search and rescue volunteers are urging people to stay away from wildfires, after two people trying to film with a drone were rescued.

South Snowdonia Search and Rescue team (SSSART), which covers the southern region of Eryri National Park, said the pair ignored road closures and police advice before becoming stranded, requiring a rescue that incurred "significant public expense".

SSART said there had been an "increase" in people trying to visit the area, including incidents of wild camping, despite "repeated requests" to stay away.

Emergency services have fought multiple wildfires across north Wales in recent days, including at the Rhinogydd mountains where the smoke was visible from space.

Both North Wales Fire and Rescue and North Wales Police have asked the public to stay away from the affected areas.

On Saturday, SSART said two people had "entered [a] restricted area to obtain drone footage of the wildfires", adding that the situation was "particularly disappointing" and their rescue "could have been avoided".

"This rescue will have incurred significant public expense through the deployment of specialist emergency assets, including the search and rescue helicopter," the team added.

"It has also placed demands on our team's equipment and resources, all of which are funded through charitable fundraising and public support."

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it was aware of similar incidents, "where people have travelled to wildfire locations and subsequently required emergency assistance".

"The best way the public can support emergency responders is by staying away from affected areas, following official updates and respecting all road closures and safety measures that have been put in place," the fire service added.

On Sunday, the fire service said the wildfire in the Rhinogydd mountains was now being monitored following rain overnight, with no "visible signs of flare ups".

It said crews had come away from other areas affected, including Conwy Mountain, Bangor Mountain, Bronaber forestry and Cwmnantcol.

Evacuated wildfire residents allowed to return home

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czek1d296w5o, today

Residents who were evacuated from a village in the Cairngorms have been allowed to return home.

Nethy Bridge homes were evacuated on Friday night but Police Scotland said on Saturday evening that the fire was no longer considered a major incident.

The blaze has raged for the past 10 days and forced the evacuation of homes in the remote village.

On Saturday night, Supt Judy Hill, of Police Scotland, said there was "no longer the immediate threat which prompted the evacuation of properties in Nethy Bridge."

This is thanks to the efforts of "fire crews, gamekeepers, contractors, partners and many others over the past 24 hours," she said.

First Minister John Swinney praised the "resilience and tireless efforts" of those on the ground to bring the blaze under control.

He added: "I want to stress however, that the Scottish government, the emergency services and all relevant authorities will continue to treat this wildfire, as has been the case since its onset, with the utmost seriousness and necessary resources until the last flames are out."

Mr Swinney said a request had been made to the UK government for "military assistance in aerial support" and that he was awaiting a response.

BBC Scotland News has approached the UK government for comment.

Sandy McCook, chairman of the Nethy Bridge and Vicinity Community Council, said residents of the Cairngorms village could see large plumes of smoke from the wildfire on Friday before they were evacuated.

"Apocalyptic is the word for the pall of smoke that was on the go [on Friday]," he said.

On Saturday at midday he said it was blowing towards Aberdeenshire and the North Sea, but the flames were still "very plain to see" from the outskirts of Nethy Bridge.

Emergency services previously said significantly changed weather conditions, including stronger winds, had contributed to the unpredictable behaviour of the blaze.

Sewage, rat pee and toxic algae: Open water swimming is booming, but is it bad for your health?

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260722-how-safe-is-wild-swimming, yesterday

Swimming in rivers and lakes is booming, but heavy rain, sewage overflows and farm runoff can lead to disease outbreaks. Here's how to spot when the risks to health are highest.

On a heat‑bleached Saturday, a line of swimmers waits by a London slipway, dry robes flapping, phones glowing in their hands. A pollution app shows an amber warning for the tidal Thames River. Some people shrug and put their phones aside before wading into the water despite the waiting sewage, joking about getting "a bit of vitamin S".

Others, more cautious, pause. They sniff the river, think about the storm that hammered the city the night before, and decide to sit this one out.

Open‑water swimming, also known as wild swimming, have boomed in countries from the UK and the US to Australia in the past decade, fuelled by social media, urban "blue space" campaigns and a search for low‑cost ways to feel better in difficult times. Studies suggest that spending time in or near natural water is associated with better mental health and lower stress, even after accounting for exercise and income. (Read more about the surprising benefits of blue spaces.)

But with health authorities regularly issuing warnings about disease and pollution lurking in lakes and rivers, there are health risks associated with going for a dip too. So how safe is wild swimming really? And are there ways to judge for yourself whether it's a good idea to get in?

Sewage, rats and toxic algae

Almost two centuries ago, hot weather combined with a seriously polluted Thames to create a stench so nauseating it became known as the "Great Stink". The public outrage over the smell led to reforms including a new sewage system for London.

These days, the river is busy with the bright tow‑floats and bobble hats of swimmers. Similar scenes play out along revived rivers from the Seine to the Danube and the Hudson. In Basel, Switzerland, some companies even give new employees "wickelfisch" – a fish shaped swim bag that locals use while swimming in the Rhine.

Rivers, once treated as open sewers, are now increasingly seen as clean and swimmable. Paris has invested about €1.4bn (£1.2bn/$1.6bn) in cleaning up the Seine, building a vast underground basin at Austerlitz that can hold about 50,000 cubic metres – roughly the volume of 20 Olympic pools – of stormwater instead of dumping it straight into the river.

Meanwhile London's Tideway "super sewer", a 15-mile-long tunnel (25km) that traces the Thames, can store around 1.6 million cubic metres of combined sewage and rainwater before sending it for treatment. Governments are designating more official bathing waters each year.

Yet a summer storm can undo weeks of clear test results as water quality is often hit by weather events. In the US, stormwater runoff and sewage overflows are among the main sources of pollution leading to public warnings and beach closures along lakes or coastlines.

"After heavy rain and storm events, urban rivers typically become microbiologically unsafe for swimming for at least 24 to 72 hours, mainly due to sewage overflows, runoff and disturbed sediments," says Isabel Douterelo Soler, a senior lecturer in environmental microbiology at the University of Sheffield in the UK.

"When there is too much rain, these systems can become overloaded," she adds. When that happens, water companies release sewage-polluted water directly into rivers to prevent it backing up into homes or overwhelming treatment plants. Those overflow outlets into rivers are known as "combined sewer overflows".

Substantial outbreaks of infectious disease have been reported among wild swimmers, with risk linked to swallowing river water. Even when routine monitoring seems reassuring, river swims can trigger significant illness depending on the conditions on the day.

Studies on health and wild swimming show a consistent pattern: the more contact people have with the water (especially if they swallow it), the higher the risk of gastrointestinal illness.

The clearest increases are seen in sports such as surfing, coasteering and extreme kayaking. Children tend to be at higher risk than adults, partly because they swallow more water when they swim.

Most of these illnesses are short‑lived bouts of diarrhoea or stomach cramps. Occasionally, the pathogens are more serious.

Leptospirosis, a bacterial disease carried in the urine of rodents and livestock, can cause organ failure and death. It remains uncommon in temperate countries, but there have been outbreaks among triathletes in the UK, for example, who swim in open water as part of their competitions.

Public health agencies advise avoiding floodwater and rodent-infested areas. You should try to swallowing as little water as possible, shower after swimming, cover cuts and scratches before swimming and seek medical advice if you develop symptoms such as fevers, chills and headaches after a river swim.

Slow-moving or warm stretches of river can also support blooms of cyanobacteria, sometimes called blue‑green algae. These can release toxins that irritate skin and eyes and, more rarely, affect the liver or nervous system of people.

Antimicrobial resistance adds another risk to wild swimming and other wild water sports. For example, research suggests that regular surfers are much more likely to carry antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in their gut than non‑surfers. (Read more on the antimicrobial resistance crisis in rivers and seas.) These superbugs are present not just in seas but in rivers too.

"Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are present in river environments, which could have come from pollution sources like wastewater treatment plants," says Isobel Stanton, an environmental microbiologist from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

This antibiotic resistance makes any infections harder to treat, adds Douterelo Soler.

Tests don't tell the whole story

Many swimmers assume that official tests will capture most of these risks. The reality is more complicated, especially for rivers.

Under European Bathing Water rules, designated sites are monitored for two main faecal indicator bacteria: E. coli and intestinal Enterococci. In England, the Environment Agency typically takes around 20 samples each season at each site. Classifications such as "excellent", "good", "sufficient" or "poor" are based on the previous four years of data rather than a single result.

In the US, the picture is similar but varies by state. Federal guidance focuses on the same kind of faecal indicator bacteria – E. coli (mainly in freshwater) and Enterococci (especially in marine waters) – rather than testing routinely for every pathogen.

Many coastal and Great Lakes beaches in the US are monitored, with sampling frequency varying by location (often weekly, sometimes more often). However, it usually takes about 24 to 48 hours to produce results – so public warnings can arrive after people have already swum. Faster same‑day DNA‑based detection methods exist but are not universally deployed.

Essentially, the current approach to monitoring is designed to track longer‑term trends, and tends to work best at more stable coastal sites. It's less useful for on-the-spot decisions, such as deciding whether a river is safe the morning after heavy rain – because short pollution events can be missed by routine sampling.

Because pollution is so influenced by changing weather conditions, even an official, designated bathing site may at times actually not be safe to swim in. Heavy rain often stirs up sewage and farm run-off and can overwhelm sewage system, leading to spikes in pollution.

Generally, inland sites such as rivers, ponds and lakes lag behind coastal places in terms of water quality, because inland rivers and lakes are more exposed to sewage from the land, and the pollution doesn't dilute as much as it would in the sea.

More like this:

• How hygienic are public swimming pools really?

• Record-breaking divers are pushing human limits

• How the colour of your swimsuit can save your life

In farming areas, heavy rain washes livestock manure and soil from fields into rivers, creating short‑lived spikes in faecal indicator organisms and adding nutrients that fuel algal and cyanobacterial blooms.

In short, alerts help, but they don't replace making a personal judgement by observing the river and the weather and thinking about who is swimming. Avoiding wild swimming in the days after a storm or heavy rain may be a safer choice. Checking the water for blooms, cloudiness, brown flow, sewage or chemical odour, surface scum, pea‑soup green water or foam in slow eddies, or any sign of dead fish can provide other clues that you should skip a dip.

Areas away from outflows, marinas and livestock fields, with an easy way in and out, are likely to be cleaner and safer than those close to sources of pollution. Extra caution is required – and in some cases, avoiding the wild swim altogether – if you have a weak immune system, are ill, have open wounds, or plan to swim with children. In addition to pollution, cold and currents can pose risks, as can swimming alone with no one around to help in an emergency.

The point is not that rivers are off-limits, but that the pleasures of wild swimming are best preserved when enthusiasm is matched by caution, timing and local knowledge.

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Planes, vanes and automobiles - the history of Scotland's hottest spot

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7de233xq3o, today

During any warm spell in the summer there is a good chance a spot in the Borders will get a mention.

The record for the hottest day in Scotland was set in July 2022 when 34.8C (94.6F) was reached at Charterhall.

It surpassed the previous record of 32.9C (91.2F) also recorded in the Borders, at Greycrook, nearly 20 years earlier.

The automatic weather station (AWS) at Charterhall opened in 1987 - but the area has an unusual military and sporting history that goes back more than a century.

Charterhall - which sits between Coldstream, Duns and Greenlaw - began life as RFC Eccles Tofts, a World War One landing site for No. 77 squadron in about 1917.

It supported reconnaissance and training aircraft before being abandoned after the war in 1919.

However, when global conflict broke out again it was rebuilt during 1941/42 as RAF Charterhall.

Its principal role was as a training base for No. 54 Operational Training Unit (OTU), which trained crews on various aircraft.

The station gained a reputation for the dangers of wartime flying training, suffering numerous accidents - many of them fatal.

One of them, in January 1943, resulted in the death of fighter pilot Richard Hillary, author of the book The Last Enemy.

He is commemorated to this day - along with others who died in crashes at the site - with a memorial.

A number are also buried nearby, a reminder of just how dangerous training could be.

The OTU left in late 1945 and various fighter units subsequently used the airfield before the RAF departed in 1947, and the station was officially closed.

It would, however, enjoy a new lease of life in 1952 when the former airfield was turned into a racing circuit.

Among the famous drivers to compete there were motorsport legends including Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, and Stirling Moss.

Racing continued for more than a decade until 1964 - while rally events were held intermittently into the 21st Century.

It was not until the 1980s that the weather station came into being - consisting of just a wind vane and anemometer.

Throughout the 1990s additional instruments were added, including rain gauges, pressure sensors, wind gust monitoring, soil temperature measurements, sunshine and global radiation sensors, and visibility equipment.

The site expanded further in 2000 with the installation of a Stevenson Screen used to protect meteorological equipment, cloud height measurement and a range of temperature sensors.

Further upgrades and modernisations have taken place since then and real-time communications and an automated rain gauge added.

Alongside its record temperature in 2022, it records a huge range of other detailed information like cloud height, rainfall, sunshine duration, and wind speed and direction.

Together, these observations provide a "valuable long-term record of local weather and climate conditions, supporting forecasting, climate monitoring and wider meteorological research".

However, some echoes of the wider area's unique past remain.

The site is privately-owned and still occasionally used as a small private airstrip.

Much of its wartime layout, too, is visible - including sections of the runways, taxiways, and two original hangars.

No doubt somewhere will come along in due course to surpass the temperature recorded at Charterhall a few summers ago.

Whether it can match its unusual history, though, is another matter.

The climate cafe where misery is 'empowering'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyl4yxdjzlo, today

A climate cafe in east London is offering people a space to talk about their fears for the environment.

The sessions, held at the Quaker Meeting House in Wanstead, are modelled on bereavement cafes, which bring people together to talk about grief.

Founder Liz Bodycote, a retired NHS psychotherapist, said "being able to be miserable together is strangely empowering".

"The key thing is that it's a listening space," she said. "Often quite personal and deep things come up, and it can be very moving."

The UK has been hit by a series of record-breaking heatwaves this summer and the Met Office says what used to be considered extreme weather is now the new normal.

Bodycote said the recent heatwaves had made the climate harder to ignore, and that some who attended felt the risks were still being played down.

"There can be frustration that there's still quite a lot of denial.

"That, even though this is happening, the urgency of the situation we're in is still being resisted in lots of ways."

She added she had been told by others "we always have hot weather, we've had heatwaves before".

"One of the things that is so, so, difficult about climate, is that we are all implicated," she said.

"We are in a system, in the way that we live, which has damaged the planet, and we are all a part of it.

"That, I think, is very hard, as a human being, to accept. We want to think we're doing good, but we're caught up in a system that one can feel they have a very limited power over."

Most of those attending so far have been older. Bodycote said she hoped to reach younger people and those with no existing involvement. Groups meet for an hour and a half, and everyone has the opportunity to speak without interruption.

Teresa, who travels from Walthamstow, said the meetings had left her feeling lighter.

"I wanted to meet people in real life who had the same willingness to talk about how miserable they felt," she said.

Teresa added the meetings had given her more courage to raise the subject elsewhere.

"It's surprisingly energising to be extremely miserable with other people," she said.

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'We might as well not bother growing things'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qvw91ejp1o, yesterday

"We might as well not bother growing things and leave the farms empty."

That is the bleak position facing arable farmer Olly Harrison following three heatwaves already this year.

Some of his colleagues fear increasingly extreme weather, including prolonged dry spells and flooding, is forcing them to seriously question whether their industry is sustainable.

After a dry spring, the north-west of England continues to have extremely low rainfall.

Harrison, from Tarbock, near Prescot on Merseyside, told the BBC the recent hot weather had reduced his crop yield.

"We have up to a half less to sell and we have to process it in the yard to make it sellable, like wetting them up and increasing the quality," he explained.

These additional processes all cost time and money - reducing profit margins.

Harrison continued: "Last year it was really dry, 2024 was ridiculously wet, there's no clear pattern other than extremes.

"I said I couldn't afford another year like this, so I have a lot of diversifications of the farm."

He now has 14 different income streams including dog walking fields, offices and recycling tree waste.

His YouTube channel revenue Olly Blogs Agricontract has also helped him to afford farming equipment.

Harrison said: "Unless you're a large farm with no borrowing and have cash reserves, there's no future for a farm without diversification, especially in the North West, we just don't have the climate."

To make matters worse, in the latest heatwave Harrison's fields have also been targeted by arsonists.

Fellow farmer Tod Bulmer, who owns Kenyon Hall Farm in Warrington, is a bit more optimistic though, and actually thinks changing weather patterns could bring some opportunities.

He said he would rather deal with the difficulties that come with a heatwave rather than having to respond to freezing conditions and pouring rain.

Kenyon Hall Farm has a "pick your own" model where strawberries are grown on tabletops for customers to harvest themselves.

Bulmer explained fertigation (simultaneously irrigating plants and adding fertiliser) has given them more control than when they grew strawberries in the fields.

He explained: "If we had bad weather when we only had two to five weeks of picking time it was a disaster but now we have a picking season of three months. A few weeks of bad weather is not as bad a problem."

Bulmer said he would even like to add pineapples and oranges to his range of crops if the weather continues to get warmer.

'Rising prices'

In the meantime, though, life is hard for many farmers.

Paul Johns, managing director of Lancashire Crop Consultancy Ltd, walks the fields with farmers to advise them about how best to maximise their yield.

He said the heatwaves of May, June and this month had contributed to harvests being only half the weight of what they should be.

"We used to deal with farmers that could pay us upfront when we first started the business, then they drifted up to 30 days and then 90 days," said Johns. "And these were affluent families, and now farmers can't pay bills 12 months later.

"The last farmers to make money were their fathers - the ones my age don't make money."

Johns added that the world market dictates the price of wheat.

He said if the UK supply is short, buyers can go to countries such as Canada instead.

Speaking about the likely impact of the hot weather, he said: "I believe the price in supermarkets will rise.

"They will say farming in Britain is a disaster, but they will import wheat and the supermarkets will [still] make money.

"What [UK] farmers need are the subsidies they had when we were in the EU."

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has called for investment to help farms adapt to changing weather patterns, so they can continue to produce the country's food.

Julie Egglestone, the NFU's vice-chair for Cheshire, said prolonged periods of extreme heat were forcing farmers to change the ways in which they operate.

She said: "People in the farming industries have to be able to reinvent themselves and we are great at dealing with crisis.

"But we have to look at it as a big picture, the people of Britain need to understand we need to be able to feed ourselves as we never know what will happen in the future with imported food."

Because grass stops growing when conditions are too hot, cattle farmer Egglestone explained that some producers were now feeding their cows from winter feed stores.

'Everyone affected'

She said: "If we run out of winter feed then we will have to purchase more and if the product is costing us more to produce, as much as you try to absorb the cost, prices may increase.

"I don't feel we [farmers] need to be put on a pedestal.

"What we are looking for is that people look at food and think 'Where was it produced? How was it produced, how long does it take to produce?'

"To get a beef calf to full size it takes three years - anything could happen in that time."

Egglestone, who sells beef directly to the public through her farm shop, said: "We need the nation to appreciate that to grow food in this country we need a brilliant water infrastructure for extreme weather, wet and dry. It's not just farmers, it's everyone that is affected.

"We have to make our businesses profitable and secure or else there won't be a future of farming."

Read more stories from Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X.

Water restrictions put in place to protect Borders rivers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy4d3r947lo, 2 days ago

Scotland's environment watchdog has issued water restrictions to protect rivers in the Borders after prolonged dry conditions led to "significant" scarcity.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has taken the action in the Whiteadder Water and Berwickshire areas.

It said the restrictions affected 23 licensed water abstractions - primarily supporting agricultural activities - and aimed to protect fish, wildlife and the wider environment.

The move comes with many rivers in eastern and southern Scotland having some of the lowest flow levels on record.

Shona McConnell, Sepa's head of compliance, said: "River flows in the Whiteadder Water and Berwickshire area have now remained below the recognised Q95 low flow threshold for 30 consecutive days.

"At this point, the risk to aquatic life and the wider river environment becomes significant, which is why these temporary restrictions are now required.

"We've been warning about water scarcity since May and have been working closely with abstractors and key partners throughout the summer to help them prepare for this possibility.

"These restrictions should not come as a surprise to those affected."

A water abstraction licence is an official authorisation from Sepa to take water from rivers, lochs, streams, or underground sources.

McConnell said they would work with licence holders to "help them understand and comply with the temporary restrictions".

"While some rain is forecast over the coming days, recovery depends on sustained improvements in river flows rather than rainfall on a single day," she added.

"We'll continue to monitor conditions closely and lift restrictions as soon as conditions allow."

Sepa said it was "too soon to know" whether rain over the weekend would bring sufficient recovery to the areas most impacted by the dry weather.

It continues to monitor conditions closely with the Lower Tweed, Lunan Water, Lower Don, Fife (East Neuk) and North Fife approaching significant water scarcity next week if river flows do not recover.

Council becomes latest to scrap net-zero policies

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rdzgk104jo, 2 days ago

Thurrock Council has voted to scrap a climate emergency declaration.

The decision by the Reform UK-led authority overturns a commitment to net-zero policies made in 2019, and follows a similar move by Essex County Council.

At a meeting on Wednesday, George Monk, a Reform councillor, insisted it was not about rejecting climate change.

He said he wanted Thurrock to take a "responsible" and "realistic" approach to a policy that had an "unachievable target".

Net-zero refers to a state in which the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced out by those also removed.

"For nearly seven years, we have not moved any closer to achieving the target," Monk added.

"Previous administrations ignored it, watered it down and kicked the can down the road.

"The 2019 motion set a self-imposed target that brought the deadline forward by 20 years. With four years to go, that target is simply unachievable."

He said the authority, which has a large Reform majority, already had statutory duties that "remain unaffected" by the declaration of a climate emergency.

Tom Kelly, also a Reform councillor, seconded the motion, saying the public had been "sold net zero on optimistic numbers".

Councillors opposing the move included Labour member Aaron Green, who insisted on taking a "more pragmatic approach".

Highlighting a report considered by a council committee in January, he said that approach "prioritised reducing carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency and helping to reduce costs for residents".

'Net stupid zero'

But the motion was carried, formally bringing Thurrock's seven-year-old climate emergency declaration to an end.

In May, Essex County Council leader Peter Harris criticised what he called "net stupid zero policies" and declared they would be scrapped.

He said it was "nuts" to think the local authority could help to stop climate change, adding: "It's been happening for millions of years."

Scientists have provided evidence that the planet is not only warming up, but that carbon dioxide levels have shot up since the industrial revolution as a result of man-made emissions.

Do you have a story suggestion for Essex? Contact us below.

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Sports teams face pitch struggles from hot weather

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78gxz24x0lo, 3 days ago

Grassroots sports clubs across Shropshire say they are struggling to keep their pitches alive because of the hot, dry weather.

Telford Hornets Rugby Club are one of many who said the pitches they play on are dying because spending to irrigate would cost them thousands of pounds, money which they do not have.

Since 15 June, most of England has recorded less than 10mm of rain, which has meant many clubs are praying for a sustained downpour.

The club's chairman, Neil Thomas, said they have had to learn strategies to keep their pitches in as good condition as possible, so they can continue playing on them.

As many sport teams return from their off-season, players are faced with the prospect of playing on hardened pitches, which physiotherapists say increase the chances of soft tissue injuries.

Thomas said it was possible the club could recover the pitch, but he was praying for rain.

"I think we need rain everywhere. If we could get rain, a decent amount not all at the same time, our pitches will recover within about two or three weeks," he added.

"We can then look at over-seeding to let the new grass grow. We've still got an opportunity [to recover the ground in] August and September."

He added if the club were to irrigate, the club would have to use 30,000 litres of water each day, costing them thousands.

One of the most common practices to try and keep pitches healthy is called verti-drain.

Long metal spikes are pushed into the ground, creating deep channels for air, water, and nutrients to go through the soil, which can prevent the pitch from getting waterlogged in the winter.

Thomas said the club did this but needed water to make it work.

"The sand needs moisture to be able to aerate and give moisture to the roots below but that hasn't happened because of the lack of rain" he added.

"We had a similar situation last year and it did come back but it needs the weather to be able to do it, over a sustained period of time, not two days of 15 centimetres."

For summer sports, those involved at their clubs said they were worried for the long-term because of high temperatures in future summers.

Fred Baker, chairman of Telford Raiders Rugby League Club, said the standard of pitches could mean, in the worst case scenario, seasons could have to be abandoned.

"If we reach a point that referees feel that pitches aren't playable unless we have a very major break in the weather and a lot of rainfall, we could actually find that our season is truncated," Baker said.

He added this season would be okay but if pitches became harder, the club could have to play their games outside the town.

"There are a small number of 3G artificial pitches in the area that we could use. For rugby, [pitches are] few or far between," Baker added.

"It might mean that we would have to travel to Birmingham or Coventry or somewhere in order to be able to play games."

Shropshire-based physiotherapist Rachel Kili said, when playing surfaces are hard, players are more likely to suffer from soft tissue, joint injuries and shin splints.

"When you are running or doing any movements, the normal shock absorbency that would otherwise arise if you were on softer ground is instead passed through your body," she said.

"Because the ground is so hard, we slip because you don't get the support from the grass to hold even if you've got studs in your footwear.

"If you fall, when you fall, you're going to fall harder."

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Heatwave anxiety can make you feel 'incredibly helpless' - here's how to manage it

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk4xrznxn5o, 3 days ago

At the peak of the June heatwave, the warmest June on record in England, all Tavia Watts could think about was how hot it was in her two- and five-year-old's bedroom - above 30C in some cases.

"During the heatwave, I've got a high level of anxiety all the time and I'm pretty much useless," she told the BBC. "I've had to leave bedtime when my husband reads [my kids] stories to have a little cry and to calm down, because it's just too hot in their room and I'm afraid for them."

Feeling "incredibly helpless", the 36-year-old posted a short reel to her hundreds of followers on Instagram, in which she voiced her inner anxieties. To her surprise, it got more than 18,000 likes and 1,700 reposts.

In the video Tavia, a stay-at-home mum living in Cheltenham, says the heat "feels like the world is literally ending", she's "terrified for [her] children's lives", and that she "wants to scream at the people not taking this seriously".

Young people and women most at risk

Watts is not alone. A 2022 study from the University of Bath estimates that about 4.6% of people in the UK have climate anxiety, which is recognised as a form of mental distress by professional bodies and the NHS. Young people and women are among the groups most at risk, according to a study published in 2025.

"Anticipatory anxiety", related to heatwaves in particular, has become more common, say psychologists Dr Caroline Hickman from the University of Bath and Dr Emma Lawrance from the University of Oxford.

"Once people have been through a traumatic event like a flood or a heatwave, they anticipate the next one," Hickman, who offers therapy to individuals experiencing climate anxiety, told the BBC.

In the UK, "now we're getting the repeat, repeat, repeat [heatwaves]. It triggers that sense that 'I can't be safe in the world, and the world can't be trusted'," she added.

In June's heatwave, Hickman said she "had people saying they're going to kill themselves, I've had people saying they're going to terminate pregnancies, I've had people saying that they want to sell their houses and move somewhere cooler".

Watts said that her video "clearly struck a chord with people" - including therapists posting comments about coping mechanisms - and that she wanted to help others deal with climate anxiety.

"It can go one of two ways. You can either just fall into doomism and think, 'What is the point?'" she said.

"Or you can try to do something. I sign petitions during a heatwave; I organise climate community events; I run a free children's clothes swap shop. During the last heatwave, I finally became vegetarian, because then I can tell my kids at least I tried."

'The future is really scary'

Lizzie Ellen was "terrified" when she first learned about climate change in school, but at the time felt like it was "quite far off".

Now, the scorching temperatures of recent weeks have left the 38-year-old from west London "obsessively" reading about the heatwave and constantly checking her weather app.

Ellen, who gave birth to her first child a few months ago, told the BBC she had felt both isolated and worried about keeping her baby cool.

"With the baby, I've been staying indoors more, keeping on top of checking the temperature… so there's that isolation," she said.

"Then there's the future, which is really scary to be honest - thinking about how the heat we experienced back in June could become a daily reality within a very short time, [my baby's] lifetime… and that's pretty miserable, staying indoors all day in the dark."

Some have made major life changes in response to their climate concerns.

Ecologist Dr Francis Windram told the BBC that he had moved from Ascot, near London, to Lancaster in the north-west of England, specifically because of the cooler climate.

He still bought a portable air conditioning unit in spring as a precaution, and is concerned about his grandparents and his father living further south in Hertfordshire.

"We're looking at 35C-plus heat in houses that were not designed for it, with people who are not as able to regulate their temperature, and can't necessarily afford to just fit an AC," Windram said.

Lawrance had some recommendations on how to cope with climate anxiety:

Talk to others: There's often "a huge perception gap between how concerned people are about climate change, and how much they think other people care", said Lawrance - meaning you might wrongly assume that you're in the minority, or even that you're alone.

"Make space to be kind to yourself, to tend to those emotions and know that it's coming from a place of care for the world," she added.

Find a community: Lawrance recommended finding a strong social network who care about the same things, and taking positive action together.

Whether it's planting a garden in your school or putting solar panels on the roof of your business, action can not only help you channel your anxiety into something positive, but can help alleviate the symptoms of anxiety too.

Lawrance cited the Climate Psychology Alliance in the UK for further support, as well as groups like the Resilience Project, the Climate Cares Centre, and the Climate Majority Project.

Keep yourself cool: Your physical health also affects your mental health, and being hot can also make your anxiety and mood worse, Lawrance said - so she recommended making sure to keep yourself physically cool in extreme heat.

"Having a cool shower, putting a cold washer on your neck, making sure you're hydrated - all of those things will help physiologically as well," she said. "There's a lot we can do - we're not powerless."

Hosepipe ban in force as drought threatens - is your area affected?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk661074ejo, 3 days ago

A drought has been declared in North Wales and the Upper Severn river basin as successive heatwaves have left water supplies under strain.

Without significant rainfall in the coming days, Wales is set to record the driest July since records began 190 years ago, according to Natural Resources Wales.

The hot, dry summer is depleting water supplies and driving high demand across the UK, with more than 20 million people in England and Wales currently under a hosepipe ban.

This means hosepipes cannot be used for watering gardens, washing vehicles and windows and filling pools.

But while spring and early summer have seen temperatures regularly exceed 30C, winter was much wetter than usual.

It has raised questions about how effectively water resources are being managed, and whether the UK is prepared for drier summers expected with climate change.

So how is your area doing and how close are you to a drought?

There is no single definition of drought, but it often begins with a period of low rainfall. As the ground dries out, crops and vegetation can begin to struggle. If dry conditions persist, rivers, reservoirs and groundwater levels can also fall, putting pressure on water supplies.

Environmental bodies in each UK nation decide whether to declare drought or water scarcity by assessing current water resources alongside weather forecasts.

Both drought and water scarcity can lead to hosepipe bans.

While drought is driven by prolonged dry weather, water scarcity occurs when demand for water outstrips the available supply. This summer, restrictions have been introduced in some areas to help manage high demand.

Wales and southern England hit hardest

So far, eight UK water companies have announced hosepipe bans - seven are spread across southern and eastern parts of England, and one is in Wales.

North Wales and Upper Severn are the only regions in drought, with the rest of Wales in "prolonged dry weather" - the next category down.

In England, the Environment Agency has declared prolonged dry weather across large parts of the country, including East Anglia, the West Midlands, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and London, Wessex, Thames, and Solent and the South Downs.

The remaining parts of England, mostly in the north, remain in "normal" status.

Meanwhile, there are no official droughts currently in Northern Ireland.

Scotland does not declare droughts but monitors "water scarcity".

Several areas in eastern Scotland are in "moderate scarcity" but none are in the most extreme category of "significant scarcity".

Rivers, reservoirs and groundwater - how are supplies?

Our three main sources of water are rivers, reservoirs and from deep underground.

Following the hot, dry weather, river flows were low in June for parts of the UK.

"Without significant rainfall we could see increasing impacts on wildlife, agriculture and water resources as the summer progresses," said Steve Turner, a hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).

When declaring drought in North Wales and Upper Severn, Natural Resources Wales said many river flows in the area are "exceptionally low" for the time of year, with some locations seeing record lows for July.

Reservoirs are a crucial part of water supplies and levels in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland were all normal or above expected in June, according to latest available data.

Figures up to mid-July show England's reservoirs are below average levels for the time of year, albeit with some variation across the country.

South-east England relies more heavily on groundwater than reservoirs.

Groundwater originates as rainfall and is naturally stored beneath the surface in the pore spaces and fractures in rocks.

In June, groundwater levels were generally at or just below normal, having been topped up by winter rainfall but depleted by a drier spring in most regions.

But water can flow more slowly through some rock types than others, sometimes taking years to fully respond to current conditions.

These groundwater stores "respond more slowly to changes in the climate than rivers, which is why they provide a useful buffer during periods of drought", said Prof Alan MacDonald of the British Geological Survey.

It is why groundwater droughts in the south of England generally take a longer time to develop but can be longer-lasting if they do occur.

Is climate change to blame?

Droughts are complex phenomena, driven by a mix of natural and human causes.

The Met Office expects the UK to experience drier summers on average in future as the world warms, though there has been no clear trend so far.

But rising temperatures can play a more direct role by drawing extra moisture from the soil via evaporation.

"A warmer atmosphere is thirstier for moisture and this can mean water in the soil, rivers and reservoirs are depleted more effectively, leading to more rapidly onsetting droughts, heatwaves and wildfires," said Richard Allan, professor of climate science at the University of Reading.

But there are other factors that determine whether dry conditions lead to water shortages, including how we use water.

In a landmark review into the water sector of England and Wales, water companies were criticised for historic underinvestment in water infrastructure.

As part of plans to address water shortages, the government and water companies are planning nine new reservoirs for England by 2050, in addition to one under construction at Havant Thicket in Hampshire.

But the Environment Agency has warned that measures to tackle water leaks and control water demand - potentially including hosepipe bans and more smart meters - may be needed in England too.

Water companies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - which are all public bodies or non-profit - also said they were taking steps to secure future supplies.

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Wildfires and record dry conditions trigger drought in parts of Wales

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80n5rvx917o, 3 days ago

Widespread wildfires, river levels approaching all-time lows and the mounting impacts of successive heatwaves have triggered a drought status for parts of Wales, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has confirmed.

Wales has seen about 5% of the average rainfall for July, after a series of back-to-back heatwaves and a drier than usual April to June.

Afonydd Cymru, which represents Wales' rivers trusts, said low river flows were causing "significant problems", killing fish and other wildlife, while farming unions warned of failing crops and heat-stressed livestock.

NRW said the areas affected included North and South Gwynedd, Ynys Môn, also known as Anglesey, Dee, Clwyd and Upper Severn.

It is the first part of the UK to face an announcement of drought status so far this summer.

NRW announced last week that north and south-east Wales were moving to "prolonged dry weather" status - classed as a first step towards drought.

It triggered enhanced monitoring and checks of waterways and important sites for wildlife as well as advice for farmers and others who use water from rivers.

Now the regulator says the threshold has been reached for a drought to be declared across north and parts of mid Wales - based on exceptionally low river and groundwater levels, dry soils, impacts on wildlife, farming and forestry.

The rest of mid and south Wales was also now classed as being in "prolonged dry weather" status.

July is on course to become the driest in Wales for almost 190 years if significant rainfall does not arrive before the end of the month.

Rivers classed as exceptionally low include the Clwyd, Alwen, Alyn, Clywedog, Dyfi and Conwy in north Wales as well as the Wye, which runs through parts of mid Wales and south along the border with England.

Extra water was being released from reservoirs to support flows on the Clwyd and Wye, as well as the river Severn in the south east and the Dee in north-east Wales.

Rhian Thomas, sustainable water and nature manager at NRW, said: "The prolonged period of hot, dry weather we have experienced this summer is now having serious impacts on the environment across parts of Wales.

"We have seen rivers fall to exceptionally low levels, groundwater continuing to decline and increasing reports of environmental impacts affecting wildlife, fisheries, farming and sensitive habitats.

She added that the recent wildfires across north and south east Wales were "one of the clearest and most visible signs of how dry our landscapes have become".

"While drought status does not automatically mean water shortages for customers, it does reflect the growing pressure being placed on our environment," Thomas said.

"We are asking everyone to play their part by using water wisely and helping to protect Wales' natural resources during this exceptionally dry period."

What is an environmental drought?

An environmental drought occurs when a prolonged lack of rainfall and high temperatures cause severe stress on the natural ecosystem.

NRW says it results in critically low river flows, diminished reservoir reserves and exceptionally low groundwater levels, negatively impacting wildlife, fisheries and protected habitats.

This type of drought typically develops before agricultural impacts (like failing crops) or public water shortages occur. Impacts include:

* Shrunken rivers - a decrease in oxygen levels, an increase in water temperatures and a restriction in the migration of species like salmon

* Habitat loss - reduced water levels cause riverbeds to dry up, leading to the loss of biodiversity and fish kills

* Private water pressures - natural springs and private boreholes can run dry

When environmental drought conditions are identified, NRW often transitions areas to a "prolonged dry weather" status.

This triggers enhanced monitoring of waterways, restricts water abstraction licenses to protect low flows and leads to the release of additional water from reservoirs into rivers.

Gail Davies-Walsh, chief executive of Afonydd Cymru, said the country's waterways were already under strain due to pollution.

"The lack of rainfall and decline in river flows is really starting to exacerbate water quality," she said.

"We've already had a couple of rivers that have dried up and we're getting reports through of fish that have been killed because of a lack of water."

High river temperatures were also leading to concerns for the survival of aquatic life, she added, with water temperatures as high as 28C recorded in the Wye and Usk.

Davies-Walsh said she was worried that people's frustrations at water companies over sewage spills and leakages was making them less likely to heed advice about being careful with their use of water.

"I'm looking at social media comments and I totally understand those frustrations," she said.

"But we've really got to think about the fact that our water usage is directly impacting the flow in our rivers and directly impacting fish and other wildlife's survival.

"We really need to do our little bit to protect them."

Tudur Roberts farms in Abergele, keeping 27 pedigree Angus cows and 200 sheep, and said the weather has been "really bad the last two weeks".

"It's dried up, we're on well water and the well's dried up, we've got one spring going.

"We've been carrying water up from the local town to supply the cows and things. It's getting really desperate for water," he said.

"[It's] a really tough time at the moment.

"We are majorly in drought already. I'm 1000ft above sea level, there's no mains or anything up there so [I'm] really, really struggling."

In the horticulture and flower marquees of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show in Llanelwedd, Powys, both farmers and growers were talking about the weather's impacts.

"People are going to have to adapt, think about gathering their own water," said Paul Thomas of the National Vegetable Society.

"In the spring when it was crazy rain, everything was delayed - sowing and planting -because it was just relentless, and then it was almost like an off-switch," added garden and food writer Stephanie Hafferty.

"One of the things I noticed this morning is the trees are going into autumn colour, and that's a big worry, it's not even August yet."

Elen Hughes of Trelawnyd, Flintshire, said the fields on her family's farm were "bone dry, nothing's growing".

"They've just last week had to feed the second silage cut to the cows because there's no food for the cattle."

"We've had really dry weather but also it's been really hot - and those things combined if you're a livestock farmer means excessive pressure on livestock," said Abi Reader, president of NFU Cymru.

"You have to make sure they have enough water and shade, and we are getting farms with springs and streams drying up," she told BBC Walescast.

"If you're an arable farmer the heat and dry weather have also forced a lot of the crops to come to ripening a lot earlier than they normally would.

"It's unprecedented early harvesting this year and farmers are going to see lower crop yields."

Welsh Water emphasised that NRW's drought declarations were different to its own announcements.

The company has already brought in a hospipe ban for 33,000 properties in west Wales.

"NRW's drought status reflects environmental conditions, including factors such as rainfall, river flows and groundwater levels," a spokesperson said.

"By contrast, Welsh Water's Temporary Use Ban is an operational measure based on local water demand and our ability to replenish service reservoirs with drinking water at the same rate, or faster, than customers are using water.

"It is driven by the capacity of the local treatment works and distribution network to keep up with sustained demand.

"This means different parts of Wales can experience different operational pressures, even if they are not in the same environmental drought category declared by NRW."

Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, Llyr Gruffydd, said: "This is an environmental drought classification. It's about the state of water levels in our rivers.

"It does not speak to public water supplies which I can assure people are there, there is sufficient supplies but we would of course urge people to be careful and diligent in their use of water so that that can be protected."

How can we adapt buildings to cope with heatwaves?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gwxg7g7yno, 4 days ago

As the UK grapples with its third heatwave of the summer, businesses and organisations are beginning to look at how to prepare for a hotter future.

A red weather warning for extreme heat in June forced hundreds of schools to close across the West.

This year's hot dry summer follows a consistent pattern of above-average temperatures that are forcing some to consider how they may need to adapt in the years to come.

Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust, which runs 10 schools in Bristol, said: "Our school buildings in England aren't set up for heat, they're set up for the cold, they're not set up to keep the sun and the heat out."

"As global warming takes its impact on us in years to come, we've got to rethink all of that," he added.

"In the long-term there needs to be a strategy to equip buildings so that they aren't prone to a sudden rise in temperature."

All of Bristol's Oasis schools were forced to close during the June heatwave - including their only fully air-conditioned one - as staff were forced to stay home when their own children's schools closed.

"The solutions that we contemplate as we look at increasing bouts of hot weather in the summers through the future need to be town or city wide, one school can't act alone," said Chalke.

"It's not just about what's happening in other schools, its about the transport system, the roadways, the whole infrastructure of a city allows a school to safely open."

Chalke said that schools will need air conditioning in the coming years, but added there are other adaptations that can be made:

"Shades in the windows, perhaps wooden ones on the outside, because once the sun hits the glass it heats up the room," he said.

"[We can also] set up classrooms where desks aren't right near the windows but are away from them, these are things that I think are important."

Improving resilience

The demand for air conditioning in the UK has skyrocketed in recent weeks, with some installers saying they are struggling to meet the need.

Air conditioning units can effectively cool a room quickly but are costly to install and run when electricity costs are high.

There are other ways to keep buildings cool, but experts say that making buildings more climate resilient is necessary to meet the challenge.

"Resilience is about designing buildings that remain safe, comfortable and efficient as our climate changes," said Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the independent National Heat Risk Commission at the London School of Economics.

"Air conditioning has a role to play, particularly in hospitals, care homes and other settings where people are at greatest risk," she added

"But for many homes, we should first maximise passive cooling measures such as better insulation, external shading, natural ventilation, reflective roofs and more trees and green spaces.

"These approaches can keep homes cooler while reducing energy demand and helping to keep household bills down."

Some are working on new ways to keep the cool temperatures in and the heat out.

Albotherm is a company set up by two students who met at the University of Bristol. It develops heat-activated coatings and films for glass that can help prevent overheating by tinting to white when the outside temperature reaches a set amount.

"As soon as the temperature reaches a certain point the tint will turn on and from that point it will reflect the excess heat and reduce the solar gain coming in to a building," said Molly Allington, CEO and co-founder of Albotherm.

"With test samples, we have seen about a six-degree cooling effect on the heat that's coming through the glass," she added.

Albotherm believe that techniques like window-tinting can offer a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to help tackle the effects of climate change:

"We wanted to do something to help the environment and the product is designed to be able to cool without any energy," said Allington.

"A lot of commercial buildings are already having air conditioning installed and I think from a financial and environmental perspective we can cut a lot of energy used by those conditioners," she added.

A Government spokesperson said: "Climate change is a universal issue, and we are taking action to understand the potential impact on all areas of life, including education so we can prevent disruption to learning.

"We design new schools to stay cool through effective ventilation and shading and are investing to make schools more resilient to a changing climate - including through a £710 million Renewal and Retrofit Programme and almost £20 billion to rebuild over 750 schools.

"That's on top of wider action including investing in clean power, ensuring new residential buildings are designed to minimise unwanted heat and launching the Local Authority Climate Service to provide local to support adaptation planning."

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How farmers could fix Wales' polluted rivers and save money

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgj2vdl8r2o, 5 days ago

Farmers have a crucial role in cleaning up one of the UK's most polluted river systems and could save money in the process, a new study has shown.

The eastern and western Cleddau rivers in Pembrokeshire flow through farmland which produces as much as 25% of Wales' milk.

Researchers from Lancaster University found the area's farms were buying in far more fertiliser and processed animal feed than needed, causing a build-up of phosphorus in the soil and polluting waterways.

Now - in what's thought to be one of the largest projects of its kind in the world - hundreds of dairy farms are working out their "nutrient footprint" to help tackle the problem.

"The Cleddau is quite an extreme case," said Ric Cooper, of The Cleddau Project, a group of local volunteers working to restore the rivers, which are designated special areas of conservation (SACs).

"We have one of the highest densities of dairy cows in the country [here] - it's a very successful and important industry for Pembrokeshire... [but] we also have a river that's not coping."

In recent years the Cleddau rivers have been branded Wales' poorest performing protected waterways by environment watchdog Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

They suffer from elevated nutrient levels, which can lead to the growth of algae, depriving fish and other aquatic life of oxygen.

The situation's so serious it's recently led to limits on house building, while campaigners have warned of "ecological disaster".

Phosphorus - found in fertiliser and processed livestock feed - is considered to be one of the substances of most concern.

While sewage discharges, misconnected drains and industrial run off are also factors, this new research - funded by the Welsh government - finds agriculture to be "the primary driver" of phosphorus pollution in the Cleddau rivers.

Lancaster University's RePhoKUs team looked in detail at all of the phosphorus being imported into the area as well as how much then left again in milk, cheese or other products.

The conclusion was that far more phosphorus was coming into the catchment than was being removed through food production.

Local farms were generating a combined annual surplus of about 360 tonnes - the equivalent weight of 26 double-decker buses' worth - of phosphorus was left behind in the land, which can continue polluting waterways for decades.

What's more - they found that in theory there was no need for farms to be buying in so much artificial fertiliser, in particular, with enough phosphorus in animal manures across the county to meet crop requirements according to Prof Paul Withers, who led the research.

It means farms could potentially cut down significantly on expensive bought-in fertiliser by spreading their cows' slurry and manure more effectively - saving the county's farmers an estimated £1.08m a year.

Dairy co-operative First Milk, which has a large cheese-processing plant in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, is trying to address the situation with all 700 of its farmers across the UK - including 200 in west Wales.

The group has recently worked out the nutrient footprint of each farm - closely scrutinising use of bought-in feed and fertiliser.

This data is used alongside new maps, produced with the help of satellite imagery, showing the risk of causing river pollution on a field by field basis.

Farmers will be expected to adjust where they spread fertiliser and slurry accordingly, and introduce other mitigation measures to improve soil health and protect rivers.

They will have to report annually on their progress.

"It's obviously looking to protect watercourses and reduce run off from the fields, but it's also trying to prevent excess nutrients being brought on farm," said area manager Sarah Bennett.

"It's a missing metric for responsible farming," added Lee Truelove, First Milk's director of regenerative farming.

Among those taking part is dairy farmer Tom Jones from Kilgetty, who said he wanted to ensure "the best environment" for his 250 cows "and for everyone else around".

"Whatever we buy onto farm we want it to stay on the farm, we don't want it leaving in the watercourses," he said.

"I want to show that we're on the right side and we're trying as much as we can."

Farms are under pressure to act on nutrient pollution, with several major supermarkets now signed up to an agreement known as the UK Food and Drink Pact, pledging to source 50% of fresh food from areas with sustainable water management by 2030.

"We've had 20 years of really focusing on the carbon cycle and the carbon footprint is now a critical key performance indicator in every area of business," Truelove explained.

"But farming also has a massive nutrient cycle and when that's out of balance obviously the watercourses are one of the consequences."

"I don't know of anything like that anywhere in the world where 700 farms have had a farmgate nutrient footprint and they're discussing with every farmer what they can do about it," said Cooper.

The Cleddau study's findings are being presented at an event in the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show in Llanelwedd, Powys on Wednesday, with those involved meeting with Senedd members and MPs on the showground.

"This may be about the Cleddau but it's much wider than that," Cooper added.

"We have nutrient imbalance across a lot of areas of intensive livestock agriculture [in the UK] and if we don't do anything about it then our rivers will never recover to good health".

Mid and South Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell, a member of parliament's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee said there was "a real opportunity on a national basis" to help farmers reduce their input costs and protect the environment - "a win-win".

The Welsh government welcomed the report and said "improving the health of the Cleddau requires action across all sectors".

A spokesperson added that the government-backed Cleddau nutrient management plan was already "helping to improve understanding of both phosphorus and nitrogen pressures, identify priority interventions, and support the long-term recovery of these important rivers and the downstream marine environment".

Tokyo urges men to wear shorts to work, but women say it's 'leg hair harassment'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwp513jpvo, 5 days ago

As temperatures rise this summer, Japanese men are baring more leg at work than ever before.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is pushing company employees to ditch their usual suit and tie for more casual attire featuring t-shirts, trainers - and shorts. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike introduced "Tokyo Cool Biz" in April, hoping to expand on her signature cool down initiative which has now become a widely recognised annual summer tradition.

Almost four months in, the newly allowed shorts in the office policy is getting mixed reviews.

Some commentators enjoy the relaxed rules, helping them work more comfortably. Others say the policy is unfair to women since they are still expected to wear tights when showing a part of their legs, while men can now opt for shorts.

And a few women describe the experience of "leg hair harassment" or a term coined online "sunehara", referring to the discomfort of being forced to see their colleague's leg hair.

"We want to give people more options in the severe heat, not tell them what to wear. There should be no issue as long as the work attire is not offensive to anyone," Tokyo Metropolitan Government environmental official Noboru Watanabe told the BBC.

In recent years more Japanese workers, notably those working at startups and tech companies, have started wearing casual wear. But this year, the Tokyo government recommendation has made it more socially acceptable. Still, some men have been feeling self-conscious about their leg hair.

Dr Akifumi Funatsu, director of Gorilla Clinic, says he has noticed more clients coming to the clinic not just for cosmetic reasons, but as a matter of "social etiquette when wearing shorts."

He thinks women believe that "men should have less leg hair", which has prompted them to seek laser hair removal so as not to offend those around them.

Governor Koike first introduced the summer wardrobe shift as Japan's environment minister in 2005. She launched a national energy-saving campaign coined "Cool Biz" to encourage company workers to opt for short-sleeve shirts. Government leaders participated in the initiative, with then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi often seen in public without wearing a tie or jacket, helping get the word out.

A few years later following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the government launched "Super Cool Biz" which expanded the guidelines to help reduce energy use both at work and at home.

As with other parts of the world, Japan has been facing record heat in recent months and grappling with soaring energy prices driven by instability in the Middle East at the same time. Forecasters have warned of extreme heat this summer with the Japan Meteorological Agency announcing the word "kokusho-bi" which means brutally hot day when the mercury exceeds 40C in an attempt to alert residents.

The latest weekly data shows seven people died in Japan from heatstroke and 4,580 people were taken to hospitals in the seven days from 6-12 July, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Besides staying hydrated and turning on the air conditioning, some of the most basic actions repeatedly encouraged by government officials, residents have turned to new products and gadgets to beat the heat.

Items such as clothes with built-in fans, disposable wet-towels, UV and heat blocking umbrellas, and portable handheld fans have been popular and sold in shops nationwide.

Experts from the Japan Academic Network for Disaster Reduction are stressing the need for heat acclimatisation as it takes several weeks for the body to adapt to high temperatures. They say the key is to start preparing for hot weather and taking measures to prevent heatstroke during the country's rainy season, before the full summer heat arrives. Japan also faces high humidity which makes it harder for sweat to evaporate, reducing the body's ability to cool itself.

Brazil's Amazon sees sharp decline in size of area burned in 2025

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx78eplqqlo, 5 days ago

The area burned in Brazil's Amazon in 2025 was far smaller in size than the previous year, according to the deforestation monitoring group MapBiomas.

A MapBiomas report states that 3.1 million hectares of Brazil's Amazon were burned last year, compared with a record-breaking 15.8 million hectares in 2024.

The amount of land burned in the world's largest rainforest last year covered the smallest area since MapBiomas records began in 1985.

Protecting the Amazon was one of the pledges President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made when he was running for office four years ago. These latest figures will be seen as a boost to his campaign for re-election in October.

In 2024, the Amazon rainforest experienced its worst forest fires in over two decades, which the Copernicus Climate Change Service put down to "climate extremes and human activity".

"The 2025 figures are significant and show that it is possible to reduce the burned area in the country," Vera Arruda, a researcher at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and co-ordinator at MapBiomas, told the BBC.

"The 31% drop compared to the historical average - driven primarily by the lowest number of fires recorded in the Amazon in 41 years - is positive news, but it does not yet allow us to conclude that this is an established trend or to scale back prevention efforts," Arruda added.

The MapBiomas report shows a dramatic drop in area burned not just in the Amazon, but across the whole of Brazil in 2025.

Figures show around 12.7 million hectares burned in Brazil in 2025, compared to 30 million hectares in 2024.

The highest number of hectares burned in Brazil since records began was in 2007, when 30.7 million were recorded across the country.

The decline in the 2025 figures partly reflects an easing of the unprecedented fires of 2024, helped by cooler La Niña conditions instead of the warmer El Niño.

But MapBiomas warned the natural weather pattern of El Niño, which pushes up global temperatures, could extend this year's dry season and increase the risk of forest fires.

Tropical rainforests like the Amazon are home to millions of species, and in a healthy state they absorb vast quantities of planet-warming carbon dioxide, helping to keep the Earth cool.

They have come under increasing pressure as a result of decades of deliberate land clearance for agriculture and logging, as well as climate change, which scientists warn can create the conditions for bigger fires to spread.

When he took office, President Lula promised to reverse the deforestation which occurred during the presidency of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro argued that more farming and mining in the Amazon would reduce poverty in the region and environmentalists accused him of allowing deforestation to accelerate.

Three years into Bolsonaro's four-year term, the amount of trees cut down in the Amazon rainforest went up by 75%.

On his first day in office, on 1 January 2023, Lula insisted that "our goal is to achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon".

While that pledge was warmly welcomed by environmentalists, there has been widespread criticism of Lula's decision to approve oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon river, which activists say flies in the face of his promise to protect the Amazon region.

Can airport really go carbon neutral amid plans to expand flights?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78gljynx3xo, 5 days ago

Giant heat pumps, electric vehicles, and new fuel efficient planes are being ordered by an airport introducing major changes to cut its carbon emissions.

But climate campaigners say the measures "barely touch the surface" of the problem. They say 99% of the carbon emitted by the airport is from planes, and have urged council leaders to reject plans to allow the airport to expand its flights.

Mary Collett, from Bristol Airport Action Network, said: "With the weather like this at the moment, the unbearable heat, the fact that we can't grow food as easily, we just can't carry on expanding airports, we all just need to fly a bit less."

But like many regional airports, Bristol is keen to expand, and has applied to grow from 12 million passengers a year to 15 million, which airport bosses insist can be done "sustainably".

Dave Lees, the airport's chief exec, said new planes are greener than ever, and that Bristol will be "the first airport to be net zero by 2030" - but crucially this does not account for emissions from flights.

People's desire to travel seems limitless, with airlines able to sell more flights to more destinations. The UK Government has backed expansion of regional airports to "drive economic growth".

But as the impact of a changing climate is felt in repeated heatwaves, droughts and wildfires this summer, how can we fly around the world without costing the earth?

Greener planes?

Right now, councillors in North Somerset, Bristol Airport's local authority, are reading an ambitious expansion plan.

Airport chiefs wants to add another 15,000 flights a year, raising their cap to 100,000.

This means a bigger terminal building, and controversial new landing lights on ancient common land next to the airport.

Many of the new flights are on EasyJet planes, and the airline has invested in new aircraft which it says cuts fuel use, and so carbon emissions.

The Airbus NEO jets, with wings designed nearby in Filton and built in the UK, have cut fuel consumption by 20%.

Kevin Doyle, EasyJet's UK manager, said: "Our roadmap is by 2050 to get to net zero, and this aircraft very much helps us on that path.

"Within Bristol we've actually got 13 of the 20 aircraft that are here from that next generation," he said.

But climate campaigners insist any cut in the fuel used per aircraft would be "overwhelmed" by the increase in flights.

Collett said: "When they are adding another 15,000 extra flights, being more fuel efficient isn't going to make much difference.

"People are flying on holiday to places where there are wildfires, where they can't go out of their hotel. What kind of world are we building here?"

A 'Zero Carbon Airport'?

Bristol Airport has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030 by switching to electric vehicles, and powering the site with solar panels and 22 new industrial scale heat pumps.

But this net zero target does not include emissions from flights. These vastly outweigh the amount of carbon produced by the airport site, and are accounted for separately by airlines.

"We're on a journey towards that transition to net zero," said Lees.

"It's not just a quick flick of the switch. That's going to take some years, and for aviation there are lots of levers we're pulling."

Members of campaign group Bristol Airport Action Network have welcomed the renewable energy improvements, but insist they are not the real problem.

"It's the aircraft. Aviation is the hardest sector to decarbonise, so we cannot carry on expanding airports," Collett added.

In 2024, Bristol Airport's direct carbon emissions were the equivalent of 3,680 tonnes of CO2, compared with 682,167 tonnes from indirect emissions including flights. That's equivalent to driving 2.12 billion miles (3.41 billion km) in a car - enough to circle the Earth around 85,000 times.

The UK Climate Change Committee has estimated that by 2040 aviation will account for a quarter of the country's carbon emissions. This is because other sectors are switching to renewable energy faster, and aviation has no realistic alternative to jet fuel from oil.

Meanwhile the Met Office has said that the summer's heatwaves, which have "smashed records", are becoming more frequent and intense due to human-caused climate change.

'Just fly less'

For campaigners, the only solution is to fly less and limit airport expansions until planes can run on genuinely renewable fuel, like electricity or possibly hydrogen.

Collett said: "With the weather like this at the moment, the unbearable heat, the fact that we can't grow food as easily, we just can't carry on expanding airports, we all just need to fly a bit less."

But the UK government has explicitly backed the expansion of regional airports outside London as a "driver of economic growth".

For aviation bosses, cutting carbon emissions as much as they can is an imperative. EasyJet, and other airlines, are investing in the latest, more fuel-efficient aircraft.

Standing by his new jet as passengers stream on to it, bound for a summer break in Croatia, Kevin Doyle from EasyJet defends putting more planes into the sky.

"There's a passenger demand for it," he insists. "That's why we've got our flights. And with the new aircraft, they are more fuel efficient than ever."

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Trump takes swipes at press during White House Correspondents' Dinner

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7le4ylev2o, yesterday

US President Donald Trump took swipes at the media at the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner, a night celebrating press freedom, after the first event was cancelled by a shooting three months ago.

The president sat as reporters from outlets he has sparred with and even sued, including the New York Times, CNN and the Wall Street Journal, came up to be honoured with awards.

Typically the president takes a lighter-hearted tone at the annual dinner, and Trump joked "the second time is always better" and praised the media - saying he respects "most of them".

But the tone shifted as he aimed barbs at "fake news" and accused many in the room of having "Trump Derangement Syndrome".

In her remarks, WHCA President Weijia Jiang of CBS News said the event would return to the scene of the April shooting, the Washington Hilton, next year. Friday's rescheduled event was held at the Waldorf Astoria a few miles away from that site, following criticisms that security at the Hilton was inadequate.

The outgoing WHCA head said she would "refuse to let an act of violence have the final word", referring to the gunman tackled at the first dinner in April.

The officer shot at the scene, officer Victor Gonzalez of the US Secret Service, was given an award by Trump for his actions on the night of the shooting.

"As I said three months ago, the show must go on," Trump said.

"Just like my presidency, the second time is always better – and the third time will be better yet … I'm only kidding," Trump said, joking that he would run for a third term in office.

Trump stood and shook hands with award winners, including a Wall Street Journal team who was given an award for coverage of Trump's links to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Ahead of the event, many in the White House press corps theorised that Trump - who often criticises many of the reporters seated just metres away in the room - would deliver a stern rebuke of the media.

Trump's speech included pointed insults directed at several journalists, some of whom were in the room. The harsher tone and personal attacks extended to Democratic politicians and celebrities as his hour-long speech also took aim at familiar targets.

But the US president also called on Americans to respect freedom of speech.

"We settle our differences not with bullets, but with open and vigorous debate," Trump said. "And no deranged loser with a gun will ever change that. We can't let that ever happen."

Trump appeared to be in a good mood throughout the event, jokingly telling the media that "sometimes I really do think that some of you don't like me".

"This place [the dinner] is really the largest group of 'Trump derangement syndrome' people ever put together at one time," he said. "I suspect some of you are lucky that our last dinner was cut short...I was going to go after you."

The president joked the news industry would "be broke" after he leaves office because "there's not going to be anybody to report on", before putting on a Trump 2028 hat and saying he would run for another term.

"I'm pleased to announce my intention to, and this is somewhat of a scoop, my intention to run for a fourth term as president of the United States," Trump joked, apparently meaning he would run a fourth time.

Since his second term began, Trump has repeatedly suggested he would run for a third term, despite the 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution mandating a two-term limit. The amendment was ratified in 1951 after President Franklin D Roosevelt served four consecutive terms. Trump has campaigned for president three times, and won two of the elections.

The gala dinner came as relations between the White House and the media remain fraught.

Last week, Trump threatened to revoke the licences of several US networks which did not carry his primetime speech about election security.

The event was considerably scaled down from the first correspondents' dinner, with about 700 people in attendance, compared with more than 2,000 in April.

Security was also tighter. Several blocks around the hotel were blocked off, with a heavy presence of police and national guard. Guests were screened twice, with QR codes and IDs, and were given wristbands.

At one point, visitors were prompted to walk in a single file line past two Secret Service officers holding rifles.

The suspect of the shooting in April, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States.

He was tackled by agents just short of a staircase which leads down to a ballroom where the dinner was getting underway.

Others in attendance on Saturday night included Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

This new bridge aimed to show US-Canada unity but instead stoked divisions

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewr57kd21vo, yesterday

It was supposed to be a celebration marking the opening of a new international bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, after eight years of construction and several delays.

Canadian and American dignitaries planned to come together for the inauguration of the C$6.4bn ($4.5bn; £3.4bn) Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting the automotive hubs of each nation.

Instead, Canadians hosted their own event solo on Friday, having disinvited their US counterparts in the wake of Donald Trump's latest tariff threat on their country.

"Given the recent tariff action from the US, we felt that we should focus today on celebrating here in Canada," said infrastructure minister Gregor Robertson at Friday's event, which featured plenty of Canadian flags and a children's game of street hockey.

Earlier in the day, Trump acknowledged the snub by Canada in a social media post, saying it "is fine, considering they are paying substantial TARIFFS to the United States".

It's only the most recent bit of drama for a bridge meant to symbolise unity between the long-time allies and trading partners, named after a legendary Canadian ice hockey player who played the majority of his career for the Detroit Red Wings.

Now, it has come to reflect the fraught relationship between the two North American neighbours - and the pressure building on Prime Minister Mark Carney to navigate those choppy waters.

Almost 15 years ago, Canada agreed to fully pay for the bridge's construction to bypass US political resistance and get the project, seen as necessary infrastructure to fix a trade bottleneck, moving.

The bridge will help support more than C$1bn ($710m; £530m) worth of goods that pass through Windsor-Detroit crossing each day.

When Canada first took on the construction project, which will be owned by both Ottawa and Michigan, it agreed to share toll revenue with the US state only once its costs were paid.

Then, early this year, shortly before a planned ribbon-cutting ceremony, Trump said he would block its opening until Canada agreed to "share authority" and ownership.

"We should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset," he said at the time.

The bridge has long faced pushback from the Moroun family in Michigan, who own the neighbouring Ambassador Bridge, the busiest commercial border crossing in North America and one of the few that are privately owned.

Billionaire Matthew Maroun, who is also a Trump donor, met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hours before the president's comments, according to a New York Times report.

In June, Carney announced that Canada agreed to a US request to delay the opening of the bridge to allow for further negotiations.

Keen to get the vital trade link open, Ottawa accepted to now split half of the bridge revenues for the next 15 years with an economic development fund "solely controlled" by the US government.

Trump touted in a recent social media post the new agreement was "MUCH BETTER" for America.

The bridge fallout comes against a backdrop of a challenging trade dispute with Canada and the US. While he was running to be elected prime minister, Carney vowed to solve it with an "elbows up" approach - referencing a combative style of hockey coined by the late Gordie Howe himself.

Now Carney is facing pushback for conceding to a US administration that many Canadians view as treating their country unfairly.

"We're dealing with an administration like we've never seen before," Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, told the BBC.

"They renege on deals. They don't follow agreements. It's like dealing with pirates."

Canada has offered up a series of what the prime minister's critics have called concessions to the White House, including scrapping a digital services tax opposed by US tech companies and removing some retaliatory tariffs.

Conservative member of parliament Shuvaloy Majumdar said the whole scenario demonstrates that Canada has been negotiating "with weakness" as it tries to secure a broader trade deal with Trump.

"Canadians are sick and tired of being made into a punching bag by President Trump and have the self-respect to fight for their existence and their country," he said at a news conference. "They deserve a government that is willing to do the same thing."

Carney is also under scrutiny for a lack of clarity around the new bridge deal, and how revenues will be shared with the US.

On Thursday, he said the underlying agreement on recouping the toll revenues between Canada and the state of Michigan remains in place.

The new revenue sharing deal agreed with the White House is "in parallel" to that, he said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford praised Carney for "an excellent job of getting this deal done".

Robertson said that, while what Carney agreed to is no doubt a "concession", it is a necessary one given the importance of the span to US-Canada commerce.

"This new state-of-the-art bridge was done at a great expense, and yes we paid, but it is necessary to keep supply chains intact," he said, adding that businesses and communities on both sides of the border have been pushing to get it open.

Some provincial leaders have pushed for firmer action on trade negotiations by Ottawa.

Premier Ford called Trump a "bully" and said Canada should consider using its energy and critical mineral exports as leverage in trade talks.

But others, like Alberta's Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan's Scott Moe, are urging restraint, revealing cracks in Canada's united approach to the US.

How Carney will respond is still anyone's guess. Robertson noted that while Gordie Howe played with his "elbows up", he would also say that "the objective is to get the puck in the net".

But Robertson added that he believes Canada has already given enough.

"Any further concessions would be problematic and probably not in our interest, given the behaviour of the Trump administration up to now," he said.

Texts reveal 14-year-old allegedly murdered by singer D4vd had pregnancy and abortion

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr592qdj1ldo, yesterday

WARNING: Readers may find details in this article distressing.

Texts between singer D4vd and Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old he is accused of murdering, reveal she had been pregnant and had had an abortion before her death.

The messages were shown during a hearing for a judge to determine if the singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, should go on trial for the teen's death last year.

"What [if] the first abortion didn't work?" Celeste texted Burke in June 2024, according to prosecutors. She was 13 years old at the time and he was 19.

Prosecutors say Burke killed her after she threatened to reveal he had been abusing a minor and destroy his career. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering and sexually abusing the girl.

In an exchange from January 2024, Burke apologised to the teen for "putting her through this", according to messages shown in the Los Angeles court on Friday.

She responded, "neither of us are capable of watching and taking care of the baby. it's for the best no?"

Burke asked, "also my mother always told me to ask this question if I was ever in this situation … it is mine right?"

Celeste replied "of course its yours David", according to testimony from a detective.

The court heard that in another text to the teen, sent in June 2024, Burke wrote: "Let's let this abortion be the last one til we have the real one…"

Prosecutors presented iCloud data recovered from the defendant's iPhone, showing texts between him and Celeste dating back to 8 August 2022, when she was 11 years old and he was 17.

The device belonging to Burke also had photos of the teenager during the alleged sexual abuse, prosecutors and Los Angeles Police Detective Corey Farell said on Friday.

The victim's mother, Mercedes Rivas Hernandez, became visibly emotional and left the court with her husband as details of some of the pictures were described during the proceedings.

Burke's phone also showed conversations the two had had about moving in together, which they had dubbed "Operation Awesome".

The pair "broke up" in November 2024, but stayed in contact, according to a memo filed by prosecutors earlier this year.

Prosecutors allege they argued on the night before her death, allegedly over Burke's relationships with other women.

Dr Grant Ho of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, who conducted the post-mortem examination on Celeste, also testified on Friday.

Ho told the court it was "extremely difficult to tell" exactly when the girl died, owing to the state of decomposition when her remains were found.

Lawyers for the defence seized on that uncertainty, questioning whether it was possible that the teenager could have somehow harmed herself.

Farrell, the police detective, testified that DNA taken from blood found in Burke's Hollywood Hills home and garage was a match for Celeste.

* Get the latest updates on this story on the BBC Sounds Fame Under Fire podcast available wherever you get your BBC podcasts

D4vd, who rose to fame on TikTok with the viral hits Romantic Homicide and Here With Me, was on tour when police found Celeste's body in the front boot of his Tesla in September 2025 - the day after she would have turned 15.

His worldwide tour was cancelled and he largely retreated from public life and social media.

Police announced his arrest in April this year.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has filed seven criminal charges against him, including murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child and the mutilation of remains.

They said the teen was reported missing by her family and was last seen at Burke's home on 3 April 2025 - five months before her remains were discovered in the Tesla.

Prosecutors have said he met Celeste online when she was 11, and allege he started sexually abusing her when she was 13 and he was 18.

Friday marked the fourth day of testimony in the pre-trial hearing.

Earlier revelations by prosecutors included that Hernandez had been brought by Burke to London and Texas to meet members of his family there.

Testimony is expected to resume on Monday.

Trump orders Smithsonian to post warnings about 'inaccurate' US history

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1w10gwnj74o, yesterday

President Donald Trump has ordered signs to be placed outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, to caution visitors about exhibits his administration views as "inaccurate".

The order directs the Department of Interior to issue the warnings, and also to direct people about where they can find "accurate information regarding America's history".

The Trump administration has often accused the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest research museum, as well as other academic organisations of harbouring an anti-American bias.

The Smithsonian did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment.

The order on Friday - titled Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution - accuses museum leadership of not doing enough to celebrate America's founders on the country's 250th anniversary of independence, which took place on 4 July.

It says the museum's leadership team "views American history as a 'prime tool' to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society".

An accompanying White House statement also accused the museum of veering "toward extreme political activism, rooted in Marxism, to divide, dispirit, and discourage Americans".

Democrats who oversee the Smithsonian condemned the order.

"This EO is a clear political overreach, driven by an ideological agenda to rewrite American history," congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, ranking member of the House Administration Committee, wrote on X.

"Our Smithsonian institutions do not belong to the President, but to the American people and so does our nation's history."

The executive order comes just days after Smithsonian director Anthea Hartig was grilled by Republican lawmakers in two congressional hearings, where the museum was accused of being "infected by a woke ideology that seeped into public displays, educational materials and planning documents".

Earlier this month, the White House Domestic Policy Council released a scathing report, claiming that the museum "erases our heritage".

Trump has set out to radically reshape American culture, which he says has been contaminated by "woke" left-wing ideology.

He has signed several orders that are intended to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programmes from the federal government - some of which led to legal challenges.

In March, he issued a separate order against the Smithsonian, directing it to "eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology".

The Smithsonian is largely funded by the federal government. Its museums offer free entry to some 15 to 30 million visitors each year. It operates 21 museums in Washington, Virginia and New York.

They include the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the American Art Museum, the National Zoo and more than a dozen others.

Cyclospora outbreak expands to nine US states, health officials say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyqgnp8wv8o, yesterday

Cyclospora linked to iceberg lettuce has spread to nine US states, part of the largest reported outbreak in US history, health officials said on Friday.

Cases tied to the lettuce from central Mexico now have been reported in Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia had also reported cases linked to the lettuce.

The cyclospora parasite causes cyclosporiasis and leads to explosive diarrhoea. There are multiple outbreaks in the US, likely from different sources.

Since mid-May, the number of cases tracked by the CDC has increased to more than 11,000 across 41 states.

Michigan has been the hardest hit state, with health officials there saying on Friday that the number infected has increased to more than 8,100.

Residents stricken by the parasite told the BBC it was "the most painful thing I've ever been through in my life".

In its update on Friday, the CDC warned people not to eat recalled iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms that sourced from central Mexico.

Taylor Farms, a major US food supplier, voluntarily recalled all of its iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on 17 July. The company said it did so "out of an abundance of caution".

Investigators from the Food and Drug Administration announced over the weekend that iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms had tested positive for cyclospora but later retracted that statement saying it was a false positive.

Health experts that spoke to the BBC said it is often difficult to track the origins of cyclospora, the parasite that when consumed causes the intestinal illness cyclosporiasis.

Part of the challenge, experts said, is that symptoms might not appear until weeks after the parasite has been ingested, making it difficult for investigators to trace what someone has eaten and find a common link.

The investigation of the multistate outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce is expected to be slow-going, Wade Syers, a food safety and security expert at Michigan State University, told the BBC.

"For Cyclospora, it's not unusual for the picture to become clearer a couple of months after the first illnesses occur," he said in an email on Friday.

"Because these investigations are unfortunately more likely to be marathon investigations rather than a quick sprint."

US measles cases reach 35-year high

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36dw75dkw5o, yesterday

The US has hit a 35-year high in measles cases, according to new figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The US has seen 2,318 confirmed cases of measles in 2026, just seven months into the year, up from last year's high of 2,289, when two unvaccinated children died of the disease.

The rising number of cases have come as vaccine hesitancy in the US has increased in recent years, leading to lower immunisation rates.

In November, a panel is set to decide whether the US will lose its status of having eliminated measles, which Canada lost last year.

A country loses elimination status after a year or more of continuous transmission of the same strain of the measles virus.

The US has recorded more measles cases over the past 18 months than the total number over 25 years before that.

The measles virus - with its signature blotchy red rash - used to infect millions of children a year before a vaccine was invented. The extremely contagious virus can be fatal, and some patients can experience long-term complications including encephalitis and immune amnesia, which resets the immune system, leaving it with only limited ability to respond to new infections.

Last year, an outbreak among the Mennonite community in Texas killed two unvaccinated children, and an unvaccinated adult in neighbouring New Mexico.

Over the past month, Virginia and Pennsylvania have been dealing with new measles outbreaks, while the state of Utah is still responding to a cluster of infections that began last year.

Some 45 states have recorded cases.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has been criticised by public health experts who argue his remarks and remaking of US vaccine policy has hindered efforts to stop the outbreaks.

A vaccine skeptic, Kennedy has shared mixed messaging on the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which has been proven safe and effective.

The US recommends two shots to children between ages one and six, which is 97% effective in protecting against the illness.

He has stated that the MMR vaccine is the "most effective way to prevent the spread of measles" but has also promoted unproven treatments.

Earlier this year, he told lawmakers that a several countries have recently lost their measles elimination status, and defended the response by US officials.

"The whole world had their worst measles year," he said.

Earlier this year, a federal judge blocked the US government from implementing a series of sweeping changes to childhood immunisations under Kennedy's leadership, including slashing the number of recommended shots for children from 17 to 11.

To achieve herd immunity, which limits the spread of measles and protects the unvaccinated, around 95% of the population must have the shots. But vaccination rates have dipped far below that in some areas.

Last year, during an outbreak among the Russian and Ukrainian immigrant community in Spartanburg, South Carolina, some schools in the community had vaccination rates as low as 20%.

Wisconsin officials open investigation into fatal police shooting

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78ge6z459xo, yesterday

Officials in the US state of Wisconsin have opened a homicide investigation into the fatal shooting of a man by a police officer.

The police chief in Madison, Wisconsin, told reporters on Thursday that he would cooperate with state investigators. "We will not hide from any aspect of this investigation," John Patterson said.

Police have said that Corey Ruiz, 38, was shot on Wednesday after he pulled out a knife during a struggle with four officers. Bystander footage of the incident has circulated on social media and has sparked protests.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the shooting will be "rigorously investigated."

"It does not matter who you are or what your past is; you should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement," she said.

According to public records reviewed by US media, Ruiz had a history of misdemeanour and felony convictions including robbery by force, strangulation and drug possession.

Police Chief Patterson said the state Justice Department's Criminal Investigation Division would investigate the shooting, since the incident involved its officers. They will also release the name of the officer who fired their weapon.

Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who is representing the family, said at a news conference on Friday that Ruiz's death was "unnecessary, unjustified and unconstitutional", adding "thank God there was video".

"He may have had challenges with mental health - that was diagnosed. He may have had substance abuse issues. He may not have been perfect. But he was her son," Crump said as he stood next to Ruiz's weeping mother, Elsa Ruiz.

Elsa said her son loved his family, adding: "I never thought I would have to bury my baby before they buried me."

His brother, Adam Ruiz, said his death was "sickening" and "inhumane".

"My family needs justice for what they did to him," he said.

None of the officers involved in the incident were wearing body cameras at the time.

The incident came after police were called about an individual trying to enter parked vehicles in the neighbourhood, he said.

Ruiz is said to have fled the scene on a bike before officers tracked him down.

Ruiz fell or was pulled from the bike by four officers, and is accused of pulling out a knife and injuring one officer in the melee.

An officer then tried to control Ruiz with a taser, which was deployed unsuccessfully, Patterson said.

The injured police officer fired three shots at Ruiz, who later died in hospital.

All the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, Patterson said.

Patterson said that bystander footage from the scene shows "one perspective" of what happened, and added that "not all perspectives are online right now".

Patterson was interrupted by a group of protesters during Thursday's news conference, who questioned the investigation and called for more transparency.

Eleven years ago, a white police officer fatally shot Tony Robinson, a biracial man, on the same street where Ruiz was killed. No charges were filed in that case.

Canada's 'powerful' dairy sector is in Trump's trade crosshairs

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8kvm84lxmo, 4 days ago

Canada's dairy industry policy is among the most politically sacrosanct in the country. It has also long been a thorn in the side of Donald Trump.

Now, Canada's dairy supply management system is back in the spotlight after the US president singled it out as one of three main irritants used to justify a 50% tariff on $20bn worth of Canadian goods imported to the US, which is set to come into effect in August.

Trump argues the system, which sees production quotas, set pricing, and import quotas on dairy, eggs, and poultry, is "unreasonable" to American farmers who want to sell their product north of the border.

Canadian politicians will now have to decide whether to stand firm on its popular supply management system or risk the ire of the public and a politically "powerful" dairy industry by attempting to fix this issue with Trump.

So far, they have indicated that dairy is a non-starter.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, whose province is home to Canada's largest dairy industry, said on Tuesday that supply management was non-negotiable.

And last week, US-Canada Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the BBC that the system "is a cornerstone of Canada's economy and our rural communities" that "ensures that Canadians have access to high-quality dairy products made by Canadian dairy farmers".

They argue that it supports Canadian farmers and guarantees price and supply stability for food staples.

Dairy farmers have also been known to stage protests - complete with tractors and cattle on Parliament Hill - when faced with possible concessions in trade talks.

"It is the most powerful political lobby in the country that stretches across all of the major political parties," said David Clement, a Canadian policy director at the international advocacy group Consumer Choice Center.

Canada's supply management system has been in place since the early 1970s, and has endured despite other Commonwealth nations, like Australia and New Zealand, phasing out similar policies.

Farmers hold production quotas that limit how much dairy they can produce. Prices are then set by marketing boards in each province, giving farmers a predictable income while providing a consistent domestic supply.

A small amount of foreign dairy is able to enter Canada tariff-free or at low tariff rates under set quota limits. Those that exceed the limit, however, face a levy of 200% to nearly 300%, making it prohibitively costly for both foreign producers and consumers to sell in Canada.

Currently, US producers have tariff-free access to only 3.5% of Canada's market, even as the country is among the top importers of US dairy, buying $1.3bn worth of products in 2025, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

American farmers have long called for greater market access, in part due to a record high dairy production in the US - more than domestic consumption supports. Producers are now looking to sell elsewhere and are eyeing the market of 40 million people north of the border.

A White House order, released on Monday, argues that Canada's free trade agreement with the EU makes it easier for European producers to sell their cheese in Canada than the US, saying it amounts to "discrimination".

Supply management has not been only Trump's frustration. The previous Biden administration twice challenged Canada's dairy quota practices under the USMCA, the North American free trade pact at the centre of current talks between the US and Canada.

In 2024, the UK walked away from trade talks over disagreement on tariff-free access for British cheese producers. It has also been criticised by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which argues it distorts production and trade.

Even some Canadian economists and pundits have called for it to be dismantled or reformed.

"Kill supply management," Calgary journalist and writer Jen Gerson argued in a column published this month before Trump's latest tariff threats, calling it "anachronistic" and blaming it for driving up food prices in Canada.

Clement, with the Consumer Choice Center, wrote last year that the Trump administration "has a point" to say that American farmers are treated unfairly by their northern neighbour.

He also argued that Canada's supply management system had artificially inflated the prices of household staples like dairy and eggs – an issue he said Canadians should be taking note of given the country's current cost of living crisis.

"We should get rid of supply management for our own good, outside of any negotiations and trade deals," he told the BBC in an interview.

Doing away with supply management, he argued, would save Canadians money while also giving them more choice at the grocery store. It would also help Canada diversify its trade by opening up its market to other countries.

The most recent data shows that Canadians paid an average of C$3.19 ($2.26; £1.69) for 1L of milk in May, while Americans paid C$1.95 for the same amount, according to numbers from Statistics Canada and the USDA.

Those calling for the end of the current system, however, are in the minority. Around 77% of Canadians support keeping it in place, polling suggests, with Canadians saying they want to protect local farmers and access to high-quality dairy products.

"I don't want cheap American milk products," wrote Gary Johnson from Ontario to the Globe and Mail in June.

"Let the United States send dairy products. I don't think any of us will buy it," wrote Mark Knudsen from Mississauga.

David Wiens, a third-generation dairy farmer from Manitoba and president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, argues the framework has contributed to steady prices while protecting "food sovereignty".

"Dairy prices are actually more stable than many other food categories, and more competitive internationally than people often realise," he told the BBC, adding that prices were determined by a number of economic factors.

Wiens noted US consumers also saw the cost of eggs skyrocket after a bird flu outbreak disrupted production, and argued that supply management helped shield Canadians from similar price spikes.

Those against supply management attribute the public support to a lack of awareness on a complex trade and supply policy, and say it has become politically risky to propose any reforms.

Changing it would likely cost the governing Liberals a number of seats in parliament in particular, said Ryan Cardwell, a professor at the University of Manitoba, who has researched the political support for supply management.

It would also be financially costly, as the government would have to pay out dairy farmers through a compensation package that some estimate to be in the billions.

"It would be an upfront cost, and of course governments hate that," Cardwell said.

When phasing out its supply management system, Australia used a temporary milk levy on consumers to fund the transition, while the European Union gradually increased their quotas by 1% annually before formally abolishing them in 2015.

But in Canada, Cardwell contends that supply management is likely "not going anywhere".

Trump's nuclear deal with Saudis jettisons longstanding US demands

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz05lx0xpero, 3 days ago

The Trump administration's nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia reversed a years-long stance toward a key Middle East ally.

Past US presidents insisted that Saudi Arabia normalise relations with Israel in exchange for receiving American nuclear technology for civilian energy programmes.

According to reports of the deal's contents, President Donald Trump gave Saudi Arabia what it wanted without extracting concessions for Israel in return - and over objections from critics who argued that it could spark a nuclear arms race in the region.

On Thursday he said in a social media post that the nuclear pact was conditioned on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, a series of deals reached in his first term that normalised relations between Israel and several other Gulf states.

But it was not immediately clear if that was stipulated in the text of the deal - which has not been released - or that Saudi Arabia had agreed to that condition, or would be forced to join the accords.

The deal appears to be the latest example of Trump jettisoning the traditional American approach to the Middle East, which centred on Israel and finding a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In his second term Trump has focused primarily on strengthening America's economic influence to compete with China and other rivals. Analysts said the nuclear pact with Saudi Arabia sent a signal that the US wants to keep regional allies in the fold even if it means angering Israel in the process.

"Countries in the Middle East want to develop their nuclear infrastructure and they're going to do it even if the US is not involved. Washington at this point is recognising that," said Yusuf Can, a Middle East expert at consulting firm Amena Strategies. With this nuclear deal, he added, "the US is basically saying you don't have to work with China. You can work with us".

Transactional foreign policy has been a hallmark of Trump's second term. The US has ratcheted up economic competition with adversaries like China and Russia in the Arctic and other parts of the world since Trump returned to office vowing to revive his "America First" approach to global affairs.

But signing a nuclear pact in the Middle East is an especially bold move that will raise tensions in a volatile region where the US is at war with Iran.

It represents a major victory for Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has sought a nuclear agreement with the US for years as part of a broader campaign to strengthen relations with the West.

The crown prince, known as MBS, said in 2018 that if Iran develops nuclear weapons then Saudi Arabia should be allowed to as well.

Details of the deal were not immediately released by the administration, but the pact reportedly does not include strict enforcement measures to block Saudi Arabia from developing a military nuclear programme in the future.

In that respect it differs from a 2009 nuclear cooperation agreement struck by the US and the United Arab Emirates which included strict inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Another key difference that critics of the Saudi deal are pointing to is that it reportedly allows them to enrich uranium themselves on their own soil.

Even if Saudi Arabia doesn't race to develop nuclear weapons right away, the potential ability to do so could still give the country a powerful deterrent force in the region, analysts said.

"It certainly helps lay the groundwork for nuclear weapons in the future," said Imran Bayoumi, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank and former policy adviser at the US Defence Department.

The agreement will allow Saudi Arabia to diversify its energy sector and use nuclear power to meet rising electricity demands, energy experts said. Having nuclear power could eventually lessen Saudi Arabia's reliance on oil, insulating it from volatilities in the global oil market, said Christopher Russo, an energy expert at the consulting firm Charles River Associates.

"Oil can be disrupted. You can bomb oil fields. Oil tankers can be stuck somewhere, as we're seeing right now" in the Strait of Hormuz, Russo said. "Nuclear power is pretty self-contained."

Saudi Arabia won't reap the economic rewards anytime soon. It will likely take a decade if not longer for the country to build and open new nuclear power plants.

But the short-term political payoff is clear, as Saudi Arabia - already one of the most powerful states in the Gulf - further cements its status as a major force in the region. Moreover, Saudi Arabia struck the deal without having to recognise Israel or drop its demand that an eventual normalisation deal with Israel be tied to the creation of a Palestinian state.

That concession appeared to reflect a calculus by the Trump administration that a diplomatic breakthrough between Saudi Arabia and Israel isn't likely to happen for some time. The countries were open to talks during the Biden administration, but negotiations stalled after the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and the US-Israel war with Iran.

The timing for the administration's announcement isn't clearly explained. Officials did not say why the US has chosen to enter this agreement with Saudi Arabia now.

But the war with Iran likely played a part. Washington has sought to ease tensions with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies who have been targeted by Tehran since the start of the conflict. Saudi Arabia briefly denied the US access to Saudi airspace earlier in the war, and has pushed the US and Iran to de-escalate.

American companies will likewise benefit from the nuclear deal, though that also won't happen overnight. Saudi Arabia will work with US-based firms to develop its civilian nuclear technology, opening a lucrative market for companies like Westinghouse that manufacture large-scale conventional nuclear reactors.

Nevertheless the deal is already facing criticism in Israel and the US.

As news of the deal emerged on Wednesday, some Israeli politicians argued Saudi Arabia could become a new nuclear threat in the region. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, though it has not acknowledged so publicly, and it joined the US war with Iran over shared concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme.

"A civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia [will] lead to a mad arms race across the entire Middle East," Avigdor Lieberman, a member of the Israeli parliament and a former defense minister, said in a social media post.

Democratic lawmakers in Congress raised similar concerns.

"The deal really is a giveaway to the Saudis, and it's only going to fuel further ambitions from Iran. It's only going to further destabilise the region with Israel," Democratic congressman Ro Khanna of California told the BBC. "It's just not smart policy."

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the agreement would boost the American economy and strengthen national security. Wright also said in a statement posted to social media that the US-Saudi pact would "uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety and nonproliferation."

But the administration fuelled scepticism over the agreement by not immediately releasing more information about it on Wednesday. And perhaps in a telling sign, Trump did not preside over the signing ceremony making the deal official.

Trump attended the dignified transfer ceremony for four US service members who were killed in Iran, before holding a rally in Georgia where he argued that his policies were making the Middle East more stable than ever.

'It makes me different': Meet the women breaking world records in lumberjack sports

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6293zk14njo, 5 days ago

Karolina Urbanova had never heard of lumberjack sports until a new neighbour moved into her small Czech village and enlisted her help for events when she was a teenager.

Now 24, she has just broken two world records at the annual Lumberjack World Championships, which were held over the weekend in Hayward, Wisconsin.

The competition, which Hayward has been hosting since 1960, brings people from across America and around the world together to showcase their skills in everything from logrolling, chopping and sawing to speed climbing.

Men and women mainly compete separately but some events are mixed.

This year, 40 women from across the US and abroad joined 66 male competitors – a far cry from the female representation Urbanova saw when she started out.

"There were maybe like three girls doing this sport in Europe," she tells the BBC, adding: "Telling people from the city that you are chopping wood usually every day, they looked weird at me."

"It makes me different … so it is what it is."

Urbanova was talent-spotted by a male competitor alongside her mother and sister and they began training weekly in a barn - trying out different axes and techniques and getting pointers from more experienced athletes as they entered competitions throughout Europe and further afield.

She discovered she was fast, and her new records prove it. In the Women's Standing Block category, where an axe is used to speed-chop through an upright, vertical block of wood, she cut through 9in (22.8cm) of white pine in 19.38 seconds. The previous record was 21.17 seconds.

In the Women's Underhand Chop, where competitors stand on a piece of wood and chop between their feet, she cut through 11in of white pine in 21.28 seconds. The fastest previous time was 24.26.

Urbanova is perhaps the quintessential example of lumberjack sports' expanding reach, particularly among women. She says that while they are niche in America, they're nearly unheard of in the Czech Republic.

That is not the case for Meredith Ingbretson, a Hayward native, who also broke a record at the world championships – winning the Women's Boom Run, where competitors race back and forth across eight linked cedar logs. Her time was 13.78 seconds – less than a second faster than the previous record of 13.98.

She said she'd buckled down in the past year - cutting out alcohol and anything else that "didn't align" with achieving her long-held goal.

Ingbretson was introduced to lumberjack sports at age three. They are a big part of life in Hayward, which was founded on the timber industry in 1880. It is a place where, as Ingbretson puts it, every resident "has probably been in logrolling lessons at least for one summer".

She has now been competing in logrolling for 28 years and began sawing and chopping more recently.

The number of female competitors in lumberjack sports has more than trebled in the past 30 years, according to Samantha LaSalle, event director of the Lumberjack World Championships. She's been involved with the sports since she was five, and her six-year-old daughter is already following in her footsteps.

While women have taken part in the world championships since the inaugural event in 1960, they were originally limited to logrolling. Getting them entry into chopping and sawing block events as well took time, LaSalle explains.

The Women's Standing Block [Chop], for instance, which Urbanova set the new record for, was only added in 2022.

"They [women] were saying: 'We can do more. We can do this event that the men have traditionally done'," said LaSalle.

"And as more of them practiced and got competitive in it, we said, you know what? There's enough gals that can do this, and do this at a high level, and we need to allow them to do that just like the men do.

"Now we're seeing those times drop each year - which just shows you how much better everyone is getting."

Both Urbanova and Ingbretson are fuelled by the love of competing and train all year - lifting weights, jogging, doing other cardio and refining their axe skills. They are also drawn by the familial and collegiate atmosphere, as well as the ability to travel and make friends around the world.

Prize money is rarely enough to cover all expenses when attending international competitions - the Wisconsin championships paid out $1,000 (£748) to the winners of each category, for example - so Urbanova stayed with a host family in Wisconsin.

Ingbretson and her husband, who also competes, were hosted in the Australian state of Tasmania last winter, while her mother put up Canadian and Australian competitors in Hayward for this year's world championships.

"I think that's something special … you can go somewhere and they'll let you stay and train you and work with you," Ingbretson said. "It's a very welcoming and open community. It's just so fun to be a part of."

She was also bolstered to see women continuing to compete even as their families grow.

"There were three or four mums [log]rolling this year, and so I think it's so cool to see that... they're still being competitive rollers or choppers."

Word of mouth and exposure - particularly through social media - have played integral roles in promoting the sport with women, organisers and competitors say.

"There are a lot of colleges across the US that have timber sports, and they're teaching and getting men and women into the sport of lumberjacking," said Ingbretson, who works as the community education director at Hayward's high school and manages a local fitness centre.

She says she's been treated like a celebrity at school and in town this week and finds it particularly gratifying when she's congratulated by young, up-and-coming competitors in the sport.

"It's just another reason to be active and engaged in the community that we are in, whether it's bringing in new kids or supporting the kids that just started [log] rolling."

Now, she's setting her sights on an all-round title.

"To be efficient in multiple disciplines…is very important, and it's very difficult ... it just takes a level of dedication and commitment to make it happen."

Urbanova, meanwhile, also hopes her success is inspiring and that she keeps up her record-setting streak.

"I'm still growing and still learning, but now the level of the girls is really high, so it's also hard to keep the same rhythm with them because they now want to be better than me," she said.

"I just feel pretty proud of myself."

Canada's Carney under pressure to fight back against Trump tariffs

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5l2mn8lllo, 5 days ago

Just this weekend, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and US President Donald Trump sat together in New Jersey for the World Cup final - a send off to a joint North American tournament that has, despite criticism over ticket prices and travel costs, been widely viewed as a success.

The following day, hours after the two leaders were pictured smiling and chatting inside the stadium, the US announced a fresh round of tariffs against one of its closest trading partners.

The surprise move slapped a 50% levy on a range of goods, from hockey sticks to candles and synthetic wigs.

Canadians, however, are now used to riding out the storm, says pollster David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data.

"Most Canadians are largely of the view that they cannot trust the Trump administration," he said.

There remains "deep anger" among many over what they view as unfair treatment from the US, he said, adding that "most people do not want Mark Carney to cave".

The latest round of tariffs announced on Monday, which the US said was a response to "unequal treatment" of US cars, dairy and alcohol by Canada, is only likely to firm that resolve.

Still, Canadians could be forgiven for wondering - why now?

The levies, which will come into force on 19 August, come as on-again and off-again talks between the US and Canada to renew the North American free trade agreement with Mexico - known as the USMCA - finally seem to be on again.

The new Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is expected to bolster trade between the car capitals of Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, is set to open on Monday following weeks of delays, after Canada agreed to new revenue sharing terms with the US.

And previous recent threats to tariff Canadian planes, or seek restitution over wildfire smoke that drifted south into the US, were widely dismissed as bluster from the American president.

Mahmood Nanji, a fellow at Western University's Ivey Business School told the BBC he believes this latest move is a strong-arm tactic by the Trump administration to pressure Canada into a trade deal.

"He's using all tricks in the bag to try to get as much leverage as he can," he said.

Stakeholders who have been closely watching the trade file also say they aren't completely surprised by the move.

US officials have spoken publicly about their frustration with the retaliatory tariffs Canada has imposed, noting it's the only country besides China which has taken such countermeasures.

Candace Laing, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that her organisation knew "this would get bumpier before landing".

The new tariffs are a significant ramp up in the trade dispute, and add to trade barriers already in place between the two countries.

The US has been maintaining active tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on Canadian steel, aluminium and copper. It also charges a 35% tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, alongside a 25% tax on non-US parts in cars.

Those so-called sectoral tariffs are taking a bite out of those industries, and Canada is seeking some relief in ongoing talks with their US counterparts.

Meanwhile Canada has its own 25% counter-tariff on selected imports of American steel, aluminium and vehicles, and most provinces removed US alcohol from the shelves last year in response to the US levies.

The latest tariff threat, announced in the form of a presidential proclamation, also comes as parallel talks with Mexico appear to be progressing more quickly, adding more squeeze on Carney to reach an agreement.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is in Mexico this week for the latest round of formal trade talks. Last week, Greer told the Aspen Security Forum that while he and his Canadian counterparts speak weekly, "we just haven't seen a lot of movement" on negotiations.

The US was the only party to refuse to renew the USMCA, the trilateral agreement, this month.

The agreement, which underpins around $2tn (£1.5tn) in trade each year, is facing pressure over unresolved disputes and US officials are pushing for changes. Without a long-term extension, the deal will undergo annual reviews until it expires in a decade.

The new US pressure could also signal a renewed broader focus by Trump on tariffs.

Canada has often been one of the first countries targeted by the US before it imposes them more widely - becoming a leading indicator of where American trade policies are headed.

On Tuesday, Greer hinted more global US tariffs were on their way.

"We expect to see some action soon," he told CNBC in an interview. "I can't really specify a timeline right now. I have responsibility to brief Congress and other stakeholders before I really reveal that kind of thing."

Carney, meanwhile, told reporters on Tuesday that he had spoken with Trump and the pair had agreed to intensify trade talks.

He also said Canada would "look at all options in terms of how we would respond" if the new tariffs come into effect next month.

Carney, who has repeatedly said that no deal is better than a bad deal with Trump, stressed that Canada's objective remains getting a comprehensive agreement signed with the US.

He met with Canada's provincial premiers on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the response to the latest US pressure, but may feel pushed himself by some provincial leaders to fight back.

"We can't keep rolling over, we can't keep backing down, we have to go full tilt," Ontario Premier Doug Ford, one of the most high-profile Canadian critics of Trump's trade policies, said on Tuesday.

Lawrence Herman, a trade expert with the CD Howe Institute think tank, also urged a tough response.

"Giving in and trying to get along with the United States by making concessions now is not the right strategy, and it would be, I think, harmful to Canada's national pride and our international standing in the eyes of the world," he told the BBC.

Pollster Coletto said the prime minister still has political runway with Canadians.

He said the public at this point is largely resistant "to more salvos coming from Washington in a way they weren't a year ago".

Nanji said Canada would have to make difficult decisions on how it chooses to move forward as the clock ticks towards 19 August, including possibly conceding on some outstanding issues if it means securing long-term trade certainty.

It will also need to figure out where to draw the line, he said.

Canada, he said, would likely "retaliate as well too, but they're trying to say 'let's not panic, let's stay calm'".

"But there will come potentially a breaking point at which we'll have to say, 'Here's the red line. You can't cross that.'"

Will the Tate brothers be extradited from the US to the UK?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjej0j0lzkno, 6 days ago

Andrew and Tristan Tate are facing a bid by British prosecutors to have them extradited from the US to the UK after authorities issued 38 new charges against them.

US Marshals arrested the brothers in Miami on Saturday after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) brought new charges, including rape and offences related to sex trafficking, against them.

Andrew, 39, and Tristan, 37 - who came to global fame via social media - have previously denied any wrongdoing.

The dual British-US citizens were taken into custody and appeared before a federal court on Monday as prosecutors launched legal proceedings to have them sent to the UK.

Who are Andrew and Tristan Tate?

Self-proclaimed "misogynist" Andrew Tate first rose to fame after an appearance on the British version of reality TV show Big Brother in 2016. He only lasted six days on the programme, before being removed following the emergence of a video that appeared to show him attacking a woman.

He said at the time that the footage had been edited and was "a total lie trying to make me look bad".

Now, the former kickboxer boasts more than 10 million followers on X, formerly Twitter - and a worldwide profile. He has appeared in countless videos, flaunting an ultra-luxurious lifestyle of fast cars, private jets, and yachts.

Tate was banned from the social media platform for saying women should "bear responsibility" for being sexually assaulted, but has since been reinstated.

Tristan is Andrew's younger brother.

What are the brothers charged with?

The CPS said on Sunday that Andrew was being charged with seven further counts of rape, three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation, three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and 19 additional charges for offences relating to indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.

Tristan's new charges include two counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The alleged offending is said to have taken place between July 2010 and August 2017.

Andrew now faces a total of 42 charges in the UK and Tristan faces 17 charges, after CPS had pursued other charges last year.

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

The brothers have been based in Romania, where they are also under criminal investigation. In 2024, Bedfordshire Police secured European arrest warrants for the pair to have them returned from Romania when proceedings against them there conclude. They deny all allegations against them.

The brothers have been able to travel to the US since travel restrictions against them in Romania were lifted in early 2025.

Will Andrew and Tristan Tate be extradited to the UK?

A US Department of Justice spokesperson said the arrests were "pursuant to extradition proceedings".

The UK and the US are parties to a treaty that allows the extradition of people in relation to alleged offences punishable under laws in both countries by at least one year in prison.

For a UK case, the CPS prepares a request which is certified by a judge. The final request is sent to be considered by the Home Office, which then forwards the extradition request to the relevant state through usual diplomatic channels.

The decision to accept the extradition request is taken by the US State Department. The request will then be considered by the US courts, with a final decision made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Appearing in a federal courtroom in Miami on Monday, the pair wore light brown prison uniforms and were handcuffed and shackled at the waist and ankles.

They spoke only when asked if they understood their rights to which they replied together "yes your honour".

The brothers' attorney, Joe McBride, told reporters after the brief hearing that his clients are innocent.

"They've never done nothing wrong. They shouldn't be extradited for crimes they didn't commit," McBride said.

"It's garbage. It's a stitch up job," he added.

He compared the charges against the men to the legal proceedings against US President Donald Trump - which he called a "witch hunt" - and referred to the attempted extradition as "political kidnapping".

When asked how long the extradition proceedings would take, McBride estimated ahead of the hearing that it would be "around 60 days".

Could their extradition be refused?

Durham Law School Associate Professor Gemma Davies said there was a clause in the US-UK treaty that prevents extradition for political offences, adding lawyers for the Tates could argue the allegations are politically motivated.

"However, it's very rare extradition between the UK and US is refused on those grounds," Davies said, adding the test would be subject to a high threshold.

She said it was "relatively rare" for an extradition request between the two countries to be refused given the strong working relationship between authorities.

"It's fairly common to extradite between the two, which means it's well traversed from a legal perspective, and we are two countries that have fairly similar legal systems in terms of criminal justice," Davies said.

But Bill Bowring, Emeritus Professor of Law at Birkbeck College, University of London, said the ongoing proceedings in Romania were a "major complication".

He said he had not "seen a satisfactory answer" as to why the CPS was now pursuing extradition from the US after a Romanian court ruled in 2024 the pair could only be extradited from that country after the conclusion of their separate case there.

The BBC has requested comment from the CPS in relation to its position on the Romanian proceedings.

Davies said that if the CPS was successful, the extradition could still take months, with any appeal delaying the process by about a year, "if not more".

Former NFL star Tony Romo arrested for driving intoxicated

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ejgpwv95go, yesterday

Tony Romo, the former star quarterback for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, has been arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, police said.

Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said Romo was pulled over around 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) in Wisconsin on Thursday, and was arrested after he performed poorly on field sobriety tests.

He was released later that night and ordered to appear in court on 21 September.

Romo now works as a football commentator for broadcaster CBS, which has not commented on his arrest.

According to local media, it is his first offence related to operating a vehicle while intoxicated. If found guilty, he could have his driver's licence suspended and be required to pay a fine.

Romo played for the Cowboys from 2003 to 2016, passing to score 248 touchdowns in his career. He is also known for dating singer Jessica Simpson from 2007 to 2009.

He is originally from the city of Burlington, Wisconsin, 30 miles (48km) southwest of Milwaukee.

Since 2017, he has worked as a game analyst for CBS. In 2011, he married model Candice Crawford, and the couple have three children.

Nigeria's president approves largest military expansion in recent times

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwymjx3nrxvo, 2 days ago

Nigeria's president has approved the country's largest military expansion in recent times - an attempt to tackle the slew of security challenges plaguing the nation.

Bola Tinubu has greenlit the recruitment of 28,000 extra soldiers and the creation of four new army divisions, which will take the total number up to 12.

Nigeria's government is under intense pressure to curb the violence perpetrated by a variety of armed groups, including militant Islamists, separatists and gangs who kidnap civilians for ransom.

Over the past week, an armed gang killed at least 20 villagers in the north-western state of Zamfara and 46 students were abducted from a school in Borno state in the country's north-east.

The students were rescued by the army hours after they were taken and generally, the authorities appear to have made recent inroads in their fight against armed gangs.

Despite this, the criminal groups have become more sophisticated and violence remains a defining aspect of life in Nigeria.

In announcing the military expansion, the government said new army divisions would ensure better co-ordination, intelligence sharing and faster response times.

Under the army's current structure, multiple divisions have had to cover extensive areas that stretch from one state to another - with their resources stretched in the face of persistent attacks.

In addition to the new division, three new army headquarters will be set up in north-east and central Nigeria - areas plagued by Islamist militants, banditry and clashes between farmers and herders.

Recently, the violence has spread into parts of southern Nigeria too. In May, 44 pupils and teachers were abducted during co-ordinated attacks on schools in the south-western state of Oyo.

Although the government plans to recruit tens of thousands of soldiers, security experts told the BBC that convincing young Nigerians to join the army, in the face of the number of soldiers killed in recent months, might be a major challenge.

Ahead of approving the changes to the military, President Tinubu ordered armed groups to "surrender or face the full force" of the state.

In his speech, given last month, he also announced more than 50,000 new police officers and allocated record 5.41tn naira ($4bn; £3bn) to defence and security in the yearly budget.

In December, US and Nigerian forces launched a joint operation to tackle jihadists, which involved strikes against militants from the Lakurawa group in north-western Nigeria on Christmas Day.

Senior Islamic State (IS) leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was also killed during a months-long mission that largely centred on the Lake Chad Basin area in the north-east.

IS has radically shifted in recent years, with around 90% of its attacks now taking place in sub-Saharan Africa, analysts say. Its Nigeria-based branch is by far the most active.

Despite the US-Nigeria joint operation, which came to an end early this month, Islamist militant groups continue to stage attacks.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Tanzanian lecturer arrested over anti-government protests charged with terrorism

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9w2xnxe1qo, 2 days ago

A Tanzanian university lecturer who was arrested earlier this month over allegations of inciting anti-government protests has now been charged with terrorism.

Melkisedek Kaijage, who works at the University of Dodoma, had appeared at a magistrate's court to request bail after spending 15 days in police custody when the charges were changed.

He was among more than 130 people arrested over planned protests calling for democratic reforms and justice for those killed in a post-poll crackdown last year. The 7 July demonstrations were banned and did not take place.

The academic will now remain in custody until his case goes to trial as terrorism offences are generally not eligible for bail.

Kaijage, who teaches political science and public administration, was not asked to enter a plea at Thursday's hearing as his terrorism case can only be heard by a higher court.

He was arrested a day after the planned nationwide protests and initially charged with inciting people to join them.

The authorities had deployed security forces across major cities in the East African nation on 7 July and warned that they would act against anyone accused of inciting unrest.

Prosecutors now accuse Kaijage of threatening to burn public buildings as part of intimidation tactics.

Under Tanzanian law, offences such as recruiting for, facilitating, harbouring or supporting terrorists or terrorist groups carry severe penalties. Individuals convicted of these offences may face prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.

Gerald Shija, chairman of the University of Dodoma Academic Staff Association (Udomasa), said Kaijage had been transferred from police custody to Isanga Prison in the capital, Dodoma.

Colleagues have described him as a respected lecturer whose popularity stems from his teaching rather than political activism.

His case comes amid a broader crackdown by the authorities on opposition figures and activists critical of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Last month, the government suspended political rallies across the country until further notice, saying the move was necessary to maintain security.

During the widespread protests that followed the results of the 29 October 2025 election, 518 people died from "unnatural causes", including 197 who were shot dead, according to a commission of inquiry established by President Samia.

The scale of the violence shocked a country that had cultivated an image of calm, consensus and stability for nearly six decades.

President Samia was declared the winner the poll with 98% of the vote, a result the opposition dismissed as a "mockery" of democracy after her two main challengers were excluded.

At the time, the president said the election had been fair and transparent and blamed foreigners for the violence, saying it was part of a plot to overthrow her.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

South Africa's president wins bid to temporarily halt impeachment inquiry over 'Farmgate'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwymj9lkx13o, 2 days ago

A South African court has ruled in favour of President Cyril Ramaphosa's bid to temporarily halt a parliamentary inquiry looking into whether he should be impeached over what has been dubbed the "Farmgate" scandal.

In 2022, an independent panel said Ramaphosa might have a case to answer after burglars stole huge sums of cash, hidden in a sofa, from his private farm. The president denied any wrongdoing.

At the time MPs voted against establishing an impeachment inquiry, but in May the Constitutional Court ruled that parliament had acted unlawfully by shelving the panel's report.

Ramaphosa is now challenging the findings of the panel in a separate court case to be heard in September.

The Constitutional Court's ruling in May paved the way for parliament to revive the impeachment process.

The make-up of parliament has radically changed over the last four years as Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) party no longer holds a majority and governs as part of a coalition following the 2024 election.

The ruling by the Constitutional Court prompted the president to mount a legal challenge, saying the panel had "misconceived its mandate, misjudged the information placed before it and misinterpreted the four charges advanced against me".

On Friday, Western Cape high court judge Andre le Grange halted the parliamentary committee from proceeding with its hearings "pending the determination by this court of the applicant's review" - a reference to Ramaphosa's case against the panel.

The ruling effectively buys more time for Ramaphosa - time in which the president hopes he will be able to clear his name.

In court his legal team had argued that not halting the impeachment committee's work until his other case was ruled on could cause him irreparable reputational harm.

Three judges heard the matter: two ruled in his favour. The majority judgement means that until his other case is heard and finalised the impeachment proceedings cannot continue.

This whole saga goes back to 2020 when a robbery that took place at the president's private farm in Phala Phala, in Limpopo province.

Thieves broke in and stole money - at least $580,000 (£430,000) in US dollar bills - that had been stuffed into a sofa.

Details of the theft only came out two years later when the country's former spy chief, Arthur Fraser, highlighted the theft in an explosive dossier that he sent to the police.

Fraser, a close ally of Ramaphosa's predecessor Jacob Zuma, accused the head of state of hiding the theft from the police and tax authorities.

As the stolen cash was in foreign currency, it meant that exchange control laws could also have been contravened.

Ramaphosa said the cash came from the sale of buffaloes.

The president released a statement shortly after Friday's ruling saying he noted and "respects" the court's decision.

There has been a range of reactions to the ruling.

The Democratic Alliance, the second biggest party in the governing coalition, said the ruling was not unexpected but it did not "stop the committee from continuing with preparatory [work]".

The opposition party led by Zuma, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), accused the president of using the courts to stop a process that was trying to uncover what happened at his private farm.

While the ANC welcomed the ruling and urged other parties to "refrain from politically motivated distortions" as the legal process unfolded.

Additional reporting by Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Teen jailed for exam cheating in Guinea dies after sickle cell complications, father says

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0nykz6lweo, 3 days ago

The father of a teenager from Guinea with sickle cell disease who died days after he was arrested for cheating in an exam has told the BBC he blames the authorities for his death.

Mamadou Djouma Bah, 17, was transferred to hospital after his health deteriorated while in prison and later died "under the care of his treating physician", according to the prosecutor.

His father, Mamadou Saliou Bah, has called for an investigation, telling the BBC that his son did not "receive good medical care" in detention.

People with sickle cell are often at an increased risk of contracting serious infections or they can become anaemic, which is when red blood cells cannot carry enough oxygen around the body.

Sickle cell disease is a lifelong illness, common in people of African descent, and caused by a faulty gene that produces unusually shaped red blood cells that can become stuck in blood vessels.

This can lead to severely painful episodes, which experts say can sometimes be prevented by wrapping up warm and drinking plenty of fluid, and daily antibiotics can reduce risk of infections. Other treatments can include blood transfusions.

The sudden pain in the chest, limbs, back and joints - from a lack of blood circulation - may cause organ damage.

'Dad, I'm dying'

Djouma Bah - who was a social sciences student - had allegedly been caught using his phone during Guinea's national school-leaving baccalaureate on 15 July, when he was arrested with other students, also suspected of exam fraud.

Two days later, he was convicted for cheating and sentenced to six months in prison, five of which were suspended.

He was serving his one month in a prison in the city of Kindia, about 137km (85 miles) north-east of the capital, Conakry, when his health deteriorated.

The teenager was subsequently transferred to the regional hospital for treatment.

Saliou Bah told the BBC that when he visited his son in hospital, the boy said he could not breathe properly and asked to lean against him.

"Then he looked at me and said: 'Dad, I'm dying,'" Saliou Bah said.

"Those were his last words."

The teenager spent around two days in hospital before being discharged to go home, where he died, according to officials.

Education Minister Alpha Bacar Barry said he was "deeply saddened by the news" and extended his "sincere condolences" to the family.

Human rights organisations are also calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death and the prosecution of other students.

On Wednesday, students demonstrated over the detentions of their fellow classmates, calling for their release.

"A student should not be sent to prison. These young people are the future of our country," Saliou Bah said.

"I also ask the authorities to release the other students who are still detained before they too lose their lives.

"We lost our son; we lost our future."

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Three men sentenced to life in jail over Nigeria school kidnappings

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2m5618v7yo, 3 days ago

Three men in Nigeria have been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to offences linked to the kidnapping of dozens of pupils and teachers in the south-western state of Oyo.

They admitted to concealing information about those behind the attacks and confessed to being members of an affiliate of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The convictions come nearly two weeks after the authorities announced the rescue of 44 pupils and teachers abducted during co-ordinated attacks on three schools in Oyo's Oriire district in May.

The abductions triggered protests from parents, teachers' unions and rights organisations, all calling for stronger measures to protect schools.

Mass abductions by armed groups have become a common tactic across Nigeria in recent years - often requesting ransoms for the release of the captives. They tend to focus on soft targets such as schools, churches, mosques and remote villages.

Abdulrazak Umar - also known as Abu Khalifa or Abu Khalid - Yunusa Musa and Shamsu Adamu Sani, appeared at the High Court in the capital, Abuja, for the sentencing hearing.

They pleaded guilty to concealing information but denied conspiring with other suspects between January and May 2026 to kidnap schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo state.

However, Umar admitted to providing training and instructions to jihadists through a WhatsApp group, as well as being involved in illegal mining.

The Oriire abductions in May drew particular concern because jihadist violence in Nigeria has historically been concentrated in the north-east of the country, where Boko Haram has been based for years.

Following the mission to rescue the Oriire abductees earlier in July, the authorities said they had made several other arrests, including a person considered to be one of the kidnapping kingpins.

Rachael Folawe Alamu, headteacher at Oriire's Community Grammar School, spoke about the ordeal she and other teachers and students had faced during their 56 days in captivity deep in the bush, being frequently moved by the kidnappers at night often walking for several hours.

"We were in the forest in the open, most of the time, under the sun and under the rain with the children," she said last week, three days after being rescued by the military.

She described how two of her male colleagues had been killed by the kidnappers - a teacher from her own school not long after their abduction and a teacher from the Baptist Nursery and Primary School in June.

"They killed them purposely because they thought it would force the hand of the government to provide them whatever they wanted," she said at a briefing to journalists.

Nigeria faces an array of security challenges including criminal gangs - known locally as "bandits" who loot and kidnap for ransom - an Islamist insurgency, clashes over land and separatist unrest.

The continuing insecurity has become a major political issue ahead of the 2027 elections.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Ex-governor convicted of murdering a pregnant student in Kenya

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9l039ljyo, 3 days ago

Former Kenyan county governor Okoth Obado has been found guilty of murdering a pregnant 26-year-old university student with whom he had been having an affair.

In 2018, Sharon Otieno's bloodied body was found dumped in a thicket outside a small town in western Kenya.

Obado, governor of Migori county at the time, and two co-accused were convicted on Thursday of arranging the killing.

Otieno's death sparked protests and highlighted the extent of violence against women in the country.

A national survey found that in 2022 at least 34% of women said they had experienced physical violence.

Obado "orchestrated a plot to eliminate Otieno", Judge Cecilia Githua said reading out her ruling, which was broadcast live on television.

He "supplied motive, instigation and funds to finance the criminal enterprise".

Obado's former personal assistant Michael Oyamo "facilitated execution" and former county clerk Caspal Obiero "ensured logistical support and concealment to avoid detection of the offence", the judge added.

The three are now in custody ahead of the sentencing.

"We are happy with the conviction. We believe that justice has at last been served to Sharon," a lawyer for the victim's family said.

News of her murder gripped Kenyans at the time after a journalist with the Nation Media Group, Barack Oduor, said Otieno had contacted him about her affair with the then-governor.

The two met and were then kidnapped but Oduor said he managed to escape from the speeding car.

Two days later Otieno's body was discovered with evidence that she may have been raped, and stabbed in the neck, abdomen and back.

The journalist's eyewitness account of the abduction became a crucial lead in the investigation.

The police traced the vehicle used by the abductors.

Its tracking device had been deactivated on the day of the alleged abductions, and reactivated the following day in a "well-calculated move by the killers to conceal the movement of the vehicle in question", the chief prosecutor at the time, Noodin Haji, said in a 2018 statement.

The investigation established that an "intimate relationship" had existed between Obado and Otieno, which "subsequently led to a pregnancy with the deceased that the governor was unhappy about", he added.

In 2018, Obado had said he had nothing to do with the murder. His lawyer told the BBC that the affair was widely acknowledged and there was no shame or malice.

But the court rejected this version.

During the trial, the prosecution called 42 witnesses and leant heavily on circumstantial evidence to prove that the ex-governor and his two co-accused had worked together to arrange Otieno's killing, Kenya's Star newspaper reports.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Ghanaians' ICC petition over migrant attacks 'opportunistic', says South Africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp87qejzy8go, 3 days ago

South Africa has dismissed as "opportunistic" a petition filed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) by two Ghanaians seeking an investigation into attacks on foreigners amid a rise in protests about the country's undocumented migrants.

The petition, submitted to The Hague-based court last week, argues the violence could amount to crimes against humanity and accuses the South African government of failing to prevent and punish those responsible.

But South Africa's foreign ministry says the petition falls short of the ICC's legal threshold and insists its own legal system can handle such matters.

Diplomatic tensions between Ghana and South Africa over the situation have been growing.

Ghana was one of the first African countries to repatriate its citizens from South Africa following the latest wave of anti-migrant protests.

It has claimed that one of its citizens was killed in related violence. The South African authorities have denied this.

Other countries such as Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda have been also been organising flights or buses for their citizens to return home in recent weeks

Anti-migrant groups set 30 June as the deadline for undocumented migrants to leave and many foreigners have decided to flee to escape violence and intimidation.

The South African government says more than 53,000 foreign nationals have recently been deported or voluntarily repatriated.

However, an AFP news agency tally based on figures from the migrants' home governments suggests that more than 160,000 people have left South Africa over the past two months.

Protesters have been demanding tighter border controls and mass deportations, accusing migrants of contributing to high unemployment, rising crime rates and collapse of public services.

The UN has warned against using migrants as scapegoats for South Africa's socioeconomic challenges.

The ICC petition was filed by Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, a former Ghanaian government spokesperson ‌on governance ⁠and security, and Emmanuel Kotin, a counter-terrorism and security analyst.

It alleges a "pattern of widespread and systematic attacks" against migrants in South Africa.

"For years, African brothers and sisters have been killed, beaten and driven from their homes in South Africa," the two Ghanaian nationals said in a statement.

"While we commend individuals in South Africa who have condemned these acts, the pattern, scale and recurrence of the violence ⁠raise serious questions about the failure of state authorities to prevent, investigate, and punish these crimes."

The ICC has not yet commented publicly on whether it will consider the petition.

On Sunday, leaders from the West African regional bloc Ecowas condemned the reported attacks on African migrants in South Africa, especially the "despicable treatment of West African citizens".

They called on the South African authorities to act swiftly to end the violence and ensure the safety of foreign nationals.

Responding to criticism, South Africa said it "categorically reject[s] xenophobia, racism, homophobia, and intolerance and discrimination in all their manifestations", describing respect for the dignity of everyone within its borders as both a constitutional and moral duty.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged public concerns about migration but has condemned attacks against migrants, warning citizens against taking the law into their own hands.

With regard to the ICC petition, the country's foreign ministry said South Africa remained "steadfast in maintaining the rule of law" and would ensure that "those who perpetrate violence or unlawful acts are held fully accountable under our judicial system".

It called for broader African Union (AU) talks on the root causes of migration across the continent.

South Africa is the continent's wealthiest nation and has long attracted migrants searching for better economic opportunities, some of whom enter the illegally.

There are more than three million documented foreign nationals in South Africa, according to official figures, which does not account for those in the country illegally.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Two Chinese win world's top Maths prize for solving century-old problems

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg84gp8xx4o, 2 days ago

Two Chinese academics have won the world's top prize for mathematics for the first time, according to state media.

Chinese mathematicians Hong Wang and Yu Deng won alongside John Pardon from the US and Jacon Tsimerman from Canada. They each won 15,000 Canadian dollars ($10,500; £8,000).

Both won for solving problems that have baffled mathematicians for more than a century. And 35-year-old Wang, who teaches in the US and France, is only the third woman to receive the honour.

The Fields Medal, regarded as the Nobel prize equivalent for mathematics, was handed out on Thursday in the US as human computations are increasingly challenged by AI.

The achievement has made waves on Chinese social media.

The hashtags "Fields Medal" and "First Chinese mathematicians to win Fields Medals" generated millions of views across various social media platforms from Weibo to Rednote.

"Pride of all Chinese people," a comment from a Weibo user reads.

"We are witnessing history," another said.

Chinese media also extensively covered the two academics, with articles detailing everything from their educational backgrounds and personal interests to what their achievement means for the country.

"For the Chinese mathematics community, this is a dream we have been hoping to realise for decades," said Shing-Tung Yau, the first ethnic Chinese Fields medallist.

Together with her colleague, Josh Zahl, Wang answered a question posed by Japanese mathematician Soichi Kakeya in 1917: If you rotate a pencil so as to turn it completely around, what is the smallest area it sweeps out?

Wang and Zahl analysed the problem on the assumption that the pencil was floating in a three-dimensional space, rather than on a flat surface. They published their study last year.

"If this conjecture fascinates people so much, it is because this kind of phenomenon shows up naturally in problems from very different fields," Wang told AFP News Agency.

Deng, a 37-year-old mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, was honoured for his work solving another century-old problem.

In 1900, German mathematician David Hilbert asked what would become known as Hilbert's Sixth Problem: how the behaviour of a whole can be calculated based on the movement of individual particles.

Deng solved the problem by looking at the behaviour of gases.

He said it is a "really great honour to have my name listed after all those great mathematicians I've always been admiring".

Wang has worked in harmonic analysis, which looks into the movement of waves.

The Fields Medal is given every four years to outstanding mathematicians under the age of 40.

Born in China, trained abroad

Born in 1991 in the tourist city of Guilin in the southern region of Guangxi, Wang skipped two grades in primary school and was admitted to China's prestigious Peking University in 2007 at the age of 16.

Although she initially majored in earth sciences, she transferred to the mathematics department a year later.

After graduating, she pursued further studies abroad, studying at Paris-Sud University and the École Polytechnique in France, and earned her doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

She is now a professor at New York University and a permanent professor at France's Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES).

On Thursday night, she received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron, who congratulated her on receiving the medal. "She embodies the excellence of our research and our training," Macron said in a post on X. "Choose France for science," he added.

Deng, who began taking part in mathematics competitions while in primary school, was admitted to Peking University in 2007 - the same year as Wang - but transferred to MIT in 2009.

He earned his doctorate from Princeton University and has been teaching at the University of Chicago since 2024.

CJP protest: The youth movement India's Modi didn't see coming

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07rgpxe51no, yesterday

It began with a fear familiar to millions of young Indians: if the examinations that determine their future cannot be trusted, what can?

Weeks later, on Monday, tens of thousands of young men and women tried to march on India's parliament. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges. Thousands more have returned to the streets in the days since.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led movement born out of anger over repeated examination paper leaks, quickly became India's biggest student mobilisation in years.

It demanded education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Hours after Pradhan resigned on Saturday following weeks of protests over exam paper leaks and testing irregularities, the CJP called off its agitation, saying the government had accepted its demands.

At its centre was activist Sonam Wangchuk, who lost 11kg (24lb) during a 26-day hunger strike in support of the movement before ending his fast on Thursday.

The obvious question is whether this is simply another student protest - or the beginning of something larger.

History offers reasons for both caution and optimism.

Student movements have periodically transformed Indian politics. The Nav Nirman agitation in Gujarat helped trigger veteran socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan's movement against former prime minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s. Others have erupted dramatically before fading away.

What makes the CJP unusual, however, is not simply its scale but the nature and breadth of its grievance.

Unlike many of the biggest protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over the past decade - whether over citizenship, farm laws or other contentious policies - this movement is not fundamentally about ideology. Nor is it rooted in the interests of a single community or social group.

Instead, it questions whether the state can still guarantee fairness in the examination system that millions of young Indians see as their principal route to social mobility.

"The exam and education system cuts across caste, class and gender to quite a large degree," Yamini Aiyar, Senior Visiting Fellow at Brown University, told the BBC. "The core constituency coming to these protests doesn't represent a singular interest group."

That breadth is also what makes the movement politically distinctive.

"This movement centres on administrative failure," Rahul Verma, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, a Delhi-based think tank, told the BBC. "The state's inability to conduct examinations fairly and prevent paper leaks makes it a very different kind of political challenge to the BJP."

That difference, he argues, changes the politics. Unlike earlier protests rooted in ideology or policy, this one questions the BJP's ability to govern. "They must recalibrate their strategy," Verma says.

Many of those protesting, he adds, are not natural opponents of the BJP.

They are "aspirational young Indians and their parents who see these exams as a path to upward mobility". Because the grievance is about governance rather than ideology, he argues, the BJP cannot easily rally its supporters or deploy the political counter-narratives that helped it confront earlier protest movements.

Monday's demonstrations appeared to reinforce that assessment.

For the past two weeks, comparisons with the anti-corruption movement of 2011 had largely centred on the CJP's impressive online reach, while sceptics questioned whether digital momentum could spill onto the streets. Monday's turnout suggested it could.

Joyojeet Pal, a professor at the University of Michigan who studies technology and society, says social media has become "a tinderbox waiting to explode with the next thing", its speed and reach driven by emotion.

Long-simmering frustration over the state's lack of accountability created the conditions for this "implosion", he told the BBC, adding that the architecture of social media makes such eruptions likely to recur.

The question now is whether that online surge has become something more enduring.

"I think Monday's gathering indicates this movement may have crossed a tipping point," Verma says. Whether it grows from here, he adds, will depend largely on how the government responds.

For Aiyar, Monday's protests revealed something equally significant. Student unions, Left groups and organisations such as the Bhim Army, a Dalit rights group, were present, but they were ultimately "outnumbered by an organic outpouring of students from all over the country".

"That's unique compared to any significant protest in India's recent history," she says.

Just as significantly, Aiyar believes the movement has already outgrown the organisation that sparked it and Wangchuk's hunger strike.

"The catalyst may have been the CJP," she says, "but it became bigger than them."

Students came not only because of the state's handling of the protests, she argues, but because they wanted "a space and a site to express the deep frustration" they had been carrying for some time. "The memes, posters and slogans suggested grievances extending well beyond exam paper leaks."

After initially leaving the response to ministers and party spokespersons, the ruling BJP party's top leadership stepped in on Wednesday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh accused the opposition of using students "as a political tool" while insisting the government remained committed to addressing their concerns through parliament.

Modi addressed the issue publicly for the first time on Thursday.

"Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth," he wrote on X, announcing fast-track courts to ensure "swift and stringent punishment" for those involved in paper leaks. "Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared."

Whether those assurances will be enough to defuse the protests remains uncertain.

Aiyar believes the movement has tapped into broader anxieties over a slowing economy, scarce jobs and a deepening sense that the future offers diminishing opportunities.

"There is deep economic dissatisfaction and distress, which has translated into a lack of hope about the future," Aiyar says. "This could reflect growing exhaustion with a government that has been in power for a long time. Its failure to deliver on the promises it built its reputation on may have reached a tipping point."

For her, the protests are about far more than a single policy failure.

"The message from protesters is clear: we're exhausted. We need a new kind of politics, a new political grammar - one rooted in ideas and focused on governance and delivery."

Whether that frustration can be sustained as a political movement, however, is another question.

Political scientist Suhas Palshikar argues the Cockroach movement may simply provide an outlet for public anger before gradually losing steam, much like the farmers' protests.

"Where will the Cockroach movement go? Perhaps nowhere - it will allow venting of frustration and taper off," he wrote on X.

He also cautions against romanticising it as a Gen Z uprising.

"It would be a mistake to imagine a youth movement or a Gen Z movement - these are only convenient myths for commentators." The movement's "ideological and political character... is currently fluid", he argues, with different political forces likely to seek influence over it.

What the protesters have undeniably shown, he says, is a willingness to confront the state.

"The young have shown their angst and their disgust. They have borne the brunt of the democratic government's brutal police. They have also shown that only street action makes this regime... listen and talk."

Whether that energy can endure, Palshikar argues, will depend on many factors, including state repression, media blackouts, leadership challenges and the difficulty of building a broad social coalition.

Economist Surajit Mazumdar of Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University also believes the movement already points to something much larger than examination paper leaks.

"The current protest and the spontaneous response it has evoked is indicative of the widespread discontent of young people and students about the state of affairs in the country and in the education system which goes beyond the specific paper leak issue," he told the BBC.

Compared with earlier student mobilisations, he argues, the current movement appears "broader and larger in scale".

Mazumdar also rejects the idea that the protests are post-ideological. Like the farmers' movement before them, he says they show that "the democratic spirit is still alive in Indian society".

For Aiyar, that democratic impulse is already reshaping politics.

"People are seeking accountability for governance in sites that are non-electoral," Aiyar says. "The split between electoral legitimacy and democratic accountability outside electoral space is the new phenomenon of politics in India."

The Cockroach Janta Party has called off its protests after securing the education minister's resignation. Whether that becomes a turning point for democratic accountability in India - or simply a rare political concession - will become clear only with time.

Indonesian babies were trafficked to Singapore. What happens to them now?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7vgeredvlgo, 2 days ago

On Tuesday an Indonesian court convicted 19 people for baby trafficking, wrapping up a high-profile case - but leaving a key question unanswered.

The members of the trafficking syndicate were found guilty of procuring at least 34 babies and selling them for adoption.

Most of the children were bound for Singapore, and at least 12 babies were sent over.

The case has garnered attention in both countries for months. Now that it has ended, its verdict has sharpened the question of what will happen to the babies in Singapore.

Will they - and should they - return to Indonesia?

This is foremost in the minds of the adoptive parents in Singapore taking care of the babies. For months they have been on tenterhooks, waiting to find out whether they will get to keep their children.

Speaking to the BBC after the verdict, David, the Singaporean parent whom we interviewed previously, said he wanted both governments to make a decision soon.

"Since the case is concluded, how can we move on and what will happen to our son? It's been almost a year of fear and anxiety from waiting," said David, who spoke to us on condition we use a pseudonym for him.

"I sincerely hope that both authorities can come to a decision based on the best interests of the children.

"We respectfully ask that, in making this decision, consideration be given to the fact that both our son and our family are victims of the circumstances surrounding this case."

David and his wife Ally had previously told the BBC that they had no idea the child they adopted from Indonesia could have been trafficked. They said they had done their best to do their own background checks.

During the adoption process they had submitted to numerous checks from the Singaporean government which, they said, should have detected the trafficking.

Neither Indonesian nor Singaporean authorities gave definitive answers to the BBC's previous queries about what they intend to do with the babies.

Following the verdict, we asked them again.

Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry said "several aspects require further examination including the children's legal status, the identities of their biological parents, and the ongoing proceedings in Singapore".

It reiterated that it is "committed to prioritising the best interests of the children".

In a joint statement, Singapore's ministries for home affairs and social and family development said they were still working closely with Indonesian authorities for information on the children and biological parents.

The ministries said the children's best interests would be "a key consideration" for the courts to decide on pending adoption applications.

They added that based on available information, they were "presently unable to conclude that any offence has been committed in Singapore, or by Singaporeans or Singapore-based entities".

During the trial the ringleader of the trafficking ring had said four people in Singapore had approached her to procure babies, and the Indonesian branch of Interpol has also publicly named the Singaporean adoption agency that handled the babies.

There is little data on what happens to children who have been trafficked within Indonesia after they are rescued, as the information is generally not made public, according to Ni Made Martini Puteri, a criminologist and lecturer at the University of Indonesia.

It is even less clear what happens to children who have been trafficked overseas.

Anti-trafficking and child rights groups in Indonesia have argued that the children in this case should return to their biological parents, as a matter of principle.

Speaking to BBC Indonesian after the verdict, Ai Maryanti, a commissioner with Indonesia's independent child protection commission, said that as the children's true identities have still not been established, their "best interests have not been given sufficient consideration".

Just because the children may already be adopted in Singapore, that "should not be treated as the final outcome", she added.

"Of course, children who are victims of human trafficking must be returned. Even if they're already adopted, what's the legal basis for that?

"What we don't want is Singapore saying that the adoptions complied with their law. According to our law, we found there was a high level of manipulation, resulting in Singapore easily accepting [the adoption applications]."

During the trial it emerged that the trafficking ring had submitted false information when applying for the infants' birth certificates and family cards.

They had listed the names of members of the trafficking ring as the children's birth mothers.

Local officials had issued the documents based on this information, raising questions about whether they failed to conduct adequate checks.

Uncharted territory

Annulling the adoptions in Singapore and returning the children to Indonesia will likely be complicated, as it goes into uncharted territory.

Lawyers told the BBC they had never heard of a case where an adoption order was revoked in Singapore.

With a framework that is designed with "substantial safeguards upfront" including numerous checks, "adoption orders in Singapore are generally treated as final", said Derek Choo, an associate director with PKWA Law Practice.

If the government applies to revoke the adoption orders, the court could consider several factors, said Lim Fung Peen, a consultant with Yuen Law.

One is the psychological impact on the child, he said. Child psychologists had previously told the BBC that separating young children from their caregivers could have a lifelong impact on their mental health.

The duration that the child has spent in Singapore, and the family and living conditions the child would return to in Indonesia, could also be considered, according to Lim.

The babies are believed to have entered Singapore between 2023 and 2025, which makes the oldest among them at least three years old by now.

Another factor could be whether the basis of adoption is untrue, said Lim. In this case, the babies' birth certificates have been proven to be fraudulent and thus a court could find the basis of their adoption "questionable", he said.

Then, there are other challenges.

Indonesian authorities still have not identified all of the children's birth parents. This means that some children may have no one to return to.

If they are returned, they would be placed into state care. At least eight other babies rescued from the trafficking ring are already in the care of an orphanage in Bandung.

"Suppose a child is recognised as a trafficking victim and returned to Indonesia, but nobody here knows who the biological parents are because our evidentiary system is weak," said Puteri.

"I would argue that if the child has only known life in Singapore since infancy, then it makes more sense for the child to remain in Singapore with the adoptive parents.

"However, if the biological parents are later identified, the child should still have the right to know who they are."

With the verdict, Singapore should now treat these children as victims of trafficking and thus give them protection, she argued.

"Protection should also extend to the adoptive parents because they too may have had no idea what had happened," she added.

David, the Singaporean parent, said that he and his wife only wish to "live a normal family life, like any other couple hoping to raise a child in a safe, stable, and loving home.

"We hope that this matter can now be brought to a resolution so that our son can move forward with certainty and security."

Additional reporting by Farida Susanty of BBC Indonesian.

South Korea woman acquitted of murdering newborn after hospital delivery

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyrj7ww1gko, 3 days ago

A South Korean court has acquitted a woman previously convicted of murdering a baby she delivered in hospital - the latest twist in a case that has gripped the country and fuelled debate about its murky abortion laws.

The woman had wanted to terminate her pregnancy at 36 weeks, but prosecutors said the baby was born alive and later killed.

The woman, identified only by her surname Kwon, was convicted of murder alongside two doctors in March. She was given a three-year suspended jail sentence.

While the doctors' murder convictions were upheld, the appeals court reduced their jail sentences.

The surgeon who operated on Kwon had his sentence reduced from four years to two-and-a-half years. The hospital's director, initially sentenced to six years in prison, had his jail term reduced to four.

During the trial, both doctors admitted to killing the baby.

Warning: This story contains details some readers will find distressing

This case came to light in 2024 after Kwon, who was in her 20s, posted a YouTube video about terminating her pregnancy at 36 weeks - just over eight months.

The video triggered public uproar and a criminal complaint from the health ministry. Police then launched an investigation into her and her doctors.

The trial against Kwon and her doctors marked the first time that murder charges had been pressed against a woman seeking late-stage termination of their pregnancy, as well as the doctors involved in the procedure.

While abortions were decriminalised in South Korea 2019, there is no clear regulation on how far into pregnancy it can be carried out.

Prosecutors in Kwon's case said the baby was born alive through a Caesarean section and placed in a freezer until it died. The hospital staff then falsified Kwon's medical records to make it look like she had a stillbirth, prosecutors said.

Kwon's lawyer argued that she did not know the baby would be killed after being removed from her womb. This was also the argument that her appeal hinged on.

The judge who gave the initial verdict in March ruled that Kwon had known the baby would be born alive through Caesarean section.

But on Thursday, the appeals court ruled that this might not have been the case, as a broker had told Kwon the baby would be stillborn.

Heekyoung Cho, Amnesty International Korea's executive director, said in a statement that the group welcomed the court's decision to acquit Kwon, but added that the void in South Korea's abortion law has "left pregnant people without clear legal protections and access to essential reproductive healthcare".

"The government must implement measures to remove barriers to accessing safe abortion as well as to provide proper regulations on abortion service provision," she said.

Earlier in the trial, Kwon told the court that she had only learned of her pregnancy seven months in, and sought abortion because she had no stable income. She also feared the baby would be born with defects as she had drunk alcohol and smoked throughout her pregnancy, she said.

Kwon's case has cast a spotlight on the legal vacuum surrounding abortions in South Korea since the country's Constitutional Court removed a long-standing abortion ban in 2019.

At the time, the court recommended that the parliament amend the law to allow abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.

However, subsequent legislation drafted by the government was gridlocked due to opposition from conservative lawmakers on religious grounds.

By the time the ban's removal took effect in 2021, the country had no legislation in place to regulate abortions.

This was taken into consideration during Kwon's initial sentencing, with the court saying that it exercised leniency considering she could not receive support to navigate her late-stage pregnancy.

Why are thousands protesting for education reform in India?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cedj9j911p8o, 3 days ago

In India, tens of thousands of Gen Z protesters have taken to the streets of the capital Delhi, calling for the resignation of the country's education minister.

Starting as a satirical online movement just a couple of months ago, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is now one of India's most visible youth movements.

Here is what you need to know.

Why did students take to the streets in Delhi?

Despite its humorous origins, the CJP quickly became a lightning rod for disaffected young people in India, where there is high youth unemployment.

Despite its name, it's not a party. The movement is led by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old political communications strategist and former student at Boston University.

He told the BBC it started as a joke. "I thought we should all come together, maybe just start a platform."

But after offering the option to sign up to the movement through a Google form, he received tens of thousands of responses.

This propelled it forward into becoming a serious protest group, and on 9 July it announced a march to parliament to take place on 20 July. Tens of thousands turned out in Delhi. Hundreds also attended protests and candle-lit vigils in other cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and Goa.

The protest took on added significance because of the treatment of Sonam Wangchuk, a well-known engineer and activist.

He went on hunger strike on 28 June in support of the CJP at Jantar Mantar, a 300-year-old observatory in central Delhi, which is often the site of protests.

On Saturday, the 59-year-old was forcibly taken to hospital, prompting outrage from CJP supporters and drawing further attention to the protest movement. He has continued fasting in hospital.

Why are they called 'cockroach' protesters?

The name of the Cockroach Janta Party (the Cockroach People's Party) came about in response to comments made by India's Chief Justice, Surya Kant.

During a court hearing in May, he allegedly compared unemployed young people drifting towards journalism and activism to cockroaches and parasites.

He later clarified that he had been referring specifically to people with "fake and bogus degrees", not India's youth more broadly.

The name is a parody of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power since 2014.

Spilling off the internet and into real life, young volunteers to the movement have turned up dressed as cockroaches at clean-up drives and protests.

What does the CJP want?

The CJP is mostly protesting over issues they have with India's education system.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is India's main entrance exam for admission to medical colleges across the country.

Nearly 2.28 million candidates sat the exam on 3 May, having studied for months - in some cases years - for the notoriously difficult paper. However, days later, it was cancelled after allegations that the questions had been leaked. A subsequent government inquiry confirmed the leak.

It was a big blow to aspirants, who had to resit the exam under tight security weeks later. Anger over this was one of the reasons the CJP began its protest.

It and families have also alleged that some 20 students died by suicide due to distress after the exam was cancelled.

The NEET exam was also hit by controversies in 2024.

The CJP is calling for the education system to be overhauled, with greater accountability over alleged exam paper leaks and for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign.

Following the treatment of Wangchuk over the weekend, CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke also called on Modi to resign.

What is the impact of the CJP protest?

While it is unclear whether the CJP will achieve its aims of having the education minister removed and the education system overhauled, it has had a major impact on India.

Monday's protest was the largest against Modi's government that the capital had seen in recent years.

Police tried to disperse the crowd with baton charges and tear gas after protesters tried to push through barricades. Scores of people were injured, including both demonstrators and police personnel.

By the end of the day, officers also dismantled the stage and makeshift tents at Jantar Mantar, the protest's main base near the 300-year-old observatory. But protesters refused to leave.

People have continued to gather at the site around the clock, braving rain as well as Delhi's sweltering heat and humidity.

A day after the police crackdown, several leaders of India's main opposition Congress party staged a protest outside Modi's residence, condemning the police action against demonstrators.

Congress MP and leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi said the party had decided to protest outside Modi's residence because it had not been allowed to raise the issue in parliament.

Congress later shared videos showing Gandhi and other party MPs being detained and taken away in police buses. They were released a few hours later.

Several other opposition leaders have also criticised the police response and demanded accountability.

Meanwhile the education minister - in his first comments since Monday's violence - criticised the Congress for "shamelessly exploiting students as political tools".

"Even after government conveyed its readiness for a comprehensive discussion, the Congress chose political spectacle over democratic debate. Their objective was never solutions for students, it was disruption for political headlines," Pradhan said in a post on X, adding that the government remained committed to addressing students' concerns.

Pradhan, however, did not directly refer to the ongoing protests - and there was no immediate response to his remarks by the CJP.

India's Modi government under growing pressure as 'cockroach' protests intensify

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d8p88lyjdo, 4 days ago

Pressure has been growing on India's government with thousands of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters continuing to protest in the capital Delhi despite heavy rains overnight.

The youth-led movement, seeking education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, got a boost on Tuesday when India's main opposition Congress party leaders protested outside the prime minister's house.

They were protesting against the brutal police crackdown on Monday's CJP protest in which dozens of protesters and policemen were injured.

Congress shared videos of their MP Rahul Gandhi and others being dragged into buses and taken to detention centres. They were later released.

On Monday, tens of thousands of protesters flooded central Delhi after the CJP called for a march to parliament as the monsoon session began. At least 60 people were injured after police used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Officers also dismantled the stage and makeshift tents at Jantar Mantar, the protest's main base near the 300-year-old observatory. But the demonstrators have refused to leave, maintaining a round-the-clock sit-in.

A day after the violence, they were visited by several senior opposition leaders such as former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and veteran politician Sharad Pawar.

Later on Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Gandhi led a surprise march to Modi's house, demanding the resignations of Pradhan, Home Minister Amit Shah who the Delhi police report to and PM Modi.

Gandhi said the government must apologise to students for the crackdown, adding that the Congress decided to stage a protest outside Modi's house because they weren't allowed to raise the issue in the parliament.

He said he had met speaker Om Birla to seek a discussion, but "the speaker said he needed to take permission from the government, but it was very clear to us that there was no interest in the government of having a debate".

Federal Minister Jitendra Singh denied Gandhi's allegation - he said he informed the Congress MP that the government had accepted his demand for a discussion but alleged that Gandhi later also demanded the resignation of Pradhan.

He accused Gandhi of "changing the goalpost" and of refusing to end the protest despite being told that the place wasn't conducive to such demonstrations.

Later, Pradhan - in his first comments since Monday's violence - criticised the Congress for "shamelessly exploiting students as political tools".

"Even after the government conveyed its readiness for a comprehensive discussion, the Congress chose political spectacle over democratic debate. Their objective was never solutions for students, it was disruption for political headlines," he said in a post on X.

Pradhan did not directly refer to the CJP or the protests but said: "We owe our students more than outrage. We owe them answers, reforms and accountability. That is exactly what our government remains committed to delivering."

Pradhan's resignation has been one of the key demands of the protesters and the CJP has not responded to his comments so far.

A satirical political movement, CJP was inspired by remarks made earlier this year by India's chief justice, who used the word "cockroach" to describe unemployed young people turning to journalism and activism. After the comments sparked outrage, he said he had been referring only to those with "fake and bogus degrees".

Monday's huge turnout showed that the CJP, though not a registered political party, has evolved into a movement capable of drawing tens of thousands onto the streets.

Protesters, who have been camped for the past month at Jantar Mantar, gained global attention after activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk joined them on 28 June and began an indefinite hunger strike in support of their demands.

He was forcibly removed from the protest site by the police on Saturday and taken to hospital where he continues to fast.

The movement has broadened into one of the most visible expressions of public dissent against Modi in recent years.

Over the past few days, support for the CJP has grown beyond Delhi, with protests also being held in other major cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

'If only people knew what a tick could do' - the deadly meat allergy caused by tick bites

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6g03567edo, 6 days ago

When Myfanwy Webb looks back at her birthday party five years ago, she is overcome with regret - remembering what she now sees as a missed opportunity to save her son's life.

Hours after a celebratory lunch at a restaurant Jeremy began having difficulty breathing. His parents called an ambulance, and the then-15-year-old began vomiting.

At the hospital, doctors noted that Jeremy had a suspected meat allergy, but ultimately blamed the episode on his asthma, which he'd had since he was a toddler. He was sent home the next day.

"I made the wrong decision," Webb says, wishing she had asked for more testing. If she had, doctors might have established that Jeremy had actually been suffering from anaphylaxis, and sent him home with an EpiPen.

Just over a year later, in June 2022, Jeremy died after eating a beef sausage on a camping trip with friends at a beach north of Sydney.

The cause of death was initially recorded simply as asthma. But in February, after an inquest pushed for by his family, a coroner ruled that the asthma attack and resulting fatal anaphylaxis was triggered by tick-induced mammalian meat allergy (MMA).

His death is the first in the world known to have been caused by MMA, also known as alpha-gal syndrome.

Diagnosed cases of MMA have steadily escalated since 2007, when an Australian doctor first discovered the allergy was linked to tick bites. Now, scientists and campaigners are warning that the condition, though easily prevented, can be unexpectedly triggered - and could pose a deadly threat.

Webb had long suspected that her son had a meat allergy, but it was never formally diagnosed and the family had no idea it could be fatal.

"When I looked up the research about it, there wasn't at that time anything to suggest it was more than a food intolerance."

In retrospect, she says, it was "like a ticking time bomb".

Symptoms of the allergy can range from mild to severe including skin rashes, swelling, stomach cramps, vomiting and anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening.

From around the age of 10 Jeremy had suffered nausea after eating meat, or even occasionally after inhaling the fumes from roast meat – which Webb believes may have set off the episode after her birthday party. On another occasion he had been hospitalised after eating marshmallows, which usually contain gelatin derived from animal parts.

What makes an MMA hotspot?

It was Prof Sheryl van Nunen who discovered the link between MMA and ticks almost 20 years ago, after noticing a correlation in patients at her Sydney allergy clinic.

Working on Australia's east coast, she inadvertently found herself in one of the world's two MMA hotspots. The other is in the US - although cases of the allergy have since been noted on all six continents where ticks live.

In Australia, MMA is caused by the bite of the eastern paralysis tick. After two tick bites 50% of people will develop antibodies to alpha-gal, a sugar molecule found in the tick's saliva, van Nunen explains. After that, they have a 15 to 20% chance of becoming allergic to meat.

"If only people knew what a tick could do," she says.

Jeremy, who grew up surrounded by dense bushland at his family home north of Sydney, had been bitten by ticks since he was a small boy.

It's not clear why the east coast, particularly areas north of Sydney, is an MMA hotspot - in some areas there are more than 700 sufferers per 100,000 people. But there are several hypotheses, says Dr Alex Gofton, a tick expert who led a recent study into the allergy.

One is that more people are coming into contact with ticks there.

"The population in those tick endemic areas over the last 20, 30 years has increased dramatically," Gofton says.

The years between 2020 and 2023 were also rainy La Nina years - conditions in which ticks thrive - and around the same time the Covid pandemic was pushing even more people to move out of cities and into the bush, he adds.

The high rate of diagnosis - there has been a 22% increase in cases every year since 2020 - may also be fuelled by increased awareness and testing, Gofton says. Using lab data, he has concluded there are more than 5,000 suspected MMA cases in Australia - although he believes this is an under representation of the true figures.

An 'anytime not every time' allergy

Despite increasing awareness, diagnosing a meat allergy can be difficult.

Symptoms often develop at night, hours after people have eaten their evening meal, and for those suffering asthma, the two can often be confused.

Van Nunen describes it as "an anytime but not an every time allergy".

Symptoms may sometimes not appear at all, while at other times they may be exacerbated by factors including the type of meat, how it is cooked and if it is spicy, as well as whether a person drinks alcohol with it, exercises after eating or is sleep deprived.

Those who are hypersensitive can also be triggered by mammalian products such as milk and anything that contains a derivative of mammal meat - beauty products and laundry softeners containing lanolin, for example, and even supermarket plastic bags containing stearic acid. Fumes from a barbecue, or petting a cat or dog, can also trigger an allergic reaction.

Elizabeth Rowley, a mother of three who lives in Hannam Vale on the mid north coast of New South Wales, spent years going to doctors and allergy specialists, hoping they could diagnose the mystery illness that plagued her.

But many dismissed her symptoms, which began in 2006 and ranged from memory loss and brain fog to chest pain, numbness in her arms, full body aches, and breathing difficulties that led to her regularly passing out.

"[They said] 'you're turning into a bit of a hypochondriac - it's not anaphylaxis - get over it'," she recalls.

She has since set up a Facebook group to support fellow sufferers.

"It's just mentally horrendous more than anything, just trying to find out what it was," she says. "I thought I was going crazy."

Remy Williams, a 23-year-old psychology student who lives in Sydney's Northern Beaches and was diagnosed with the allergy as a child, says the constant vigilance of watching what she ate tipped over into an eating disorder.

But the even bigger impact, she says, was witnessing the effect on her mother, who also had the allergy and twice suffered severe anaphylactic attacks on aeroplanes.

It was "incredibly scary," says Remy. She "literally almost died in front of me."

Faced with so many potential triggers, everyday life can become tricky to navigate.

Rowley struggled to find work as a bookkeeper because so many locations triggered her allergies. Jobs at shopping centres were ruled out because of the fumes from restaurants, and even in smaller environments her colleagues' eating habits could affect her. One boss's morning toast habit, she says, became a daily trial.

"As soon as the butter hits it, I just go…" she groans. "But you can't keep walking in and saying to the bosses, 'Sorry, you can't eat that'."

Socialising can also be difficult, given that many events and gatherings centre around food.

"You can't do barbecues," says Rowley. "Can't do some restaurants either, or most restaurants."

Van Nunen's biggest concern, though, is the 85% of people who have the allergy without knowing it – people who have developed the antibodies but who do not react after eating meat.

Since MMA can rear its head unexpectedly, these people could still react to medical treatment, van Nunen explains, because many drugs include products derived from animals, such as vaccines that contain gelatin.

At least one person is known to have died after receiving the drug cetuximab to treat colon cancer and going into anaphylaxis. Another died after being given a blood transfusion.

Van Nunen says it is "well known" there have been more deaths from MMA. The best documented, however, are that of an American airline pilot who died hours after eating a hamburger in 2024, and Jeremy's.

The key point to take away from a death like Jeremy's, Van Nunen says, is that 94.8% of people who die from food allergy anaphylaxis die because it triggers their asthma.

"They go straight into status asthmaticus and… unless you intubate them within a certain time, if they have a respiratory arrest, you have four minutes, otherwise they're brain dead," she explains.

One of the things that has given Webb strength since her son's death is remembering the "positive spin" Jeremy put on life. "He fitted everything into it, wouldn't waste a minute," she says.

That has made her determined to raise awareness of the allergy that took his life and improve treatment protocols, so that other families don't have to experience the same pain.

In addition to speaking publicly about Jeremy's death, Webb has co-operated with the hospital where he was treated to help develop training on MMA. She is also working on a paper with van Nunen, which is due to be presented at a conference later this year.

"Now [Jeremy's] positive spin is actually helping people, even though he's passed," she says. "I think he'd be really pleased with us."

How to avoid tick bites:

* Cover up when you're in bushland, tuck your trousers into your socks and wear light coloured clothing so you can spot ticks easily

* Don't lie directly or picnic on the ground

* Wear insecticides containing DEET or picaridin

* Check yourself for ticks after walking in tick territory, and don't forget to check your pets

* If you get bitten by a tick, remember "freeze don't squeeze" - use a spray to kill the tick and let it drop off by itself rather than using tweezers, which can cause the ticks to expel toxins into the bloodstream

* If you don't have an ether containing spray, seek medical help to remove the tick

Sheikh Hasina ally resigns as Bangladesh's president

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg0mjjmwmmo, 2 days ago

Bangladesh president Mohammed Shahabuddin has resigned, as concerns grow that his former ally, ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, will return to the country.

Shahabuddin's resignation comes days after Hasina told Reuters that she would return to Bangladesh, where she faces the death penalty for crushing student-led protests in 2024 which led to the toppling of her government.

Since then, Shahabuddin has been under pressure to resign from leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, sources had told BBC Bangla.

Several officials from the president's office said Shahabuddin signed his resignation letter on Friday afternoon. In the letter he cited ill health as the reason for quitting.

The resignation letter has been submitted to the speaker of parliament, Hafiz Uddin Ahmad.

The speaker is cutting short his visit to Thailand, where he had gone for medical treatment, sources told BBC Bangla.

He will be discharging the duties of the president until a new leader is elected. According to Bangladesh's constitution, a new president must be elected by parliament within 90 days.

Following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina's government in the July mass uprising, sweeping changes were made across the board.

Many of her allies were removed, ranging from top-ranking bureaucrats and police officials who had served under her administration to others in key positions.

Shahabuddin was one of the few allies to remain in office.

He continued to serve when an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took power, and even after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party secured a landslide victory in the general election in February.

But Shahabuddin, whose term was supposed to end in 2028, told Reuters last December that he was eager to leave his presidency.

He said he had felt "humiliated" by the interim government, citing the sudden removal of his portraits from Bangladeshi consulates and embassies.

At that time he said he would continue his presidency until elections were held and let the next government decide on his position.

Hasina vows to return

Earlier this month, Hasina said in a Reuters interview that she and her allies would return from exile in India and face the court in Bangladesh.

Last year, the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh found Hasina guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters.

The UN Human Rights Commission has estimated that at least 1,400 people died during the unrest which eventually saw Hasina flee the country.

The court sentenced her to death in absentia.

In the months following her departure, her party, the Awami League, has been banned from politics, and many of its leaders jailed.

"My party leaders and workers are being subjected to tremendous repression," she told Reuters during the interview earlier this month.

"If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil, where my parents are buried and where their blood was shed."

Rebel Wilson cleared in defamation case brought by actress in her own film

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80nv4eevero, 5 days ago

Rebel Wilson has been cleared of accusations that she defamed a young Australian actress, a Sydney court has found.

Charlotte MacInnes, who starred in Wilson's film The Deb, sued the Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect actress for harming her reputation, over Instagram posts Wilson made in 2024 and 2025.

In the posts, Wilson accused MacInnes of retracting her complaint of sexual harassment against a film producer so she could further her career - a claim MacInnes denied.

In court on Wednesday, Justice Elizabeth Raper dismissed the case, saying the imputation that MacInnes had changed her story about the incident was not defamatory. The judge ordered MacInnes to pay Wilson's costs.

How did the case come about?

The case centres around an incident involving MacInnes and one of the producers of Wilson's film, Amanda Ghost.

In September 2023, MacInnes and Ghost went for a swim at Bondi Beach where Ghost had an allergic reaction to the cold water, prompting the pair to return to the producer's luxury apartment that she rented.

Ghost had a shower while MacInnes ran a bath for her. The young actress got into the bath to warm up with Ghost joining her shortly after. Both were wearing swimsuits.

Ghost's assistant brought hot drinks for the two women while they were in the bath and sat with them briefly.

The court heard that Wilson later spoke to MacInnes about the incident and while both sides acknowledge the conversation happened, the content of the chat remains in dispute.

Wilson says MacInnes told her the bath incident had made her feel "uncomfortable" but MacInnes denies she said this, and only described the situation as "weird" or "strange and bizarre".

MacInnes had earlier in April told the court that Wilson had "mischaracterised and exploited" an "innocent incident" and her relationship with Wilson deteriorated during filming of The Deb in the months after the bath incident.

Lawyers for MacInnes said Wilson's allegations were "malicious concoctions" and the court heard claims the Hollywood star had ordered a smear website to target Ghost, which Wilson denied.

But Wilson's lawyer argued that MacInnes - who graduated from acting school in Western Australia in 2021 - had not been harmed by the posts, pointing to a recent record deal that she had signed.

In handing down her decision, Justice Raper remarked on the bath incident.

"To say that the circumstance surrounding how they came to be in the bath are unusual would be an understatement," she told the court.

Raper also found that MacInnes had failed to establish the posts had caused or were likely to serious harm.

Wilson posted on Instagram moments after the decision, saying the "process has taught me a lot".

"It has tested me, but it has also reinforced something I've always believed. I want to live my life standing up for what I believe is right, while continuing to create work that brings people joy."

Wilson thanked her supporters and said she was "grateful this chapter has reached its conclusion". She also thanked the judge in her case and "the Australian legal system who I have the utmost respect for".

The BBC has contacted MacInnes for comment.

Ex-Australia batter David Warner pleads guilty to drink driving

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2dkxkp8wrpo, 5 days ago

Former Australia batter David Warner has pleaded guilty to drink driving, after being charged following a random breath test in Sydney in April.

The plea had been expected after his lawyer, Bobby Hill, said after a court hearing in May that the cricketer accepted responsibility and knew his behaviour had been "foolish" and "reckless".

Warner had drunk three glasses of wine at a friend's apartment before getting in his car on Easter Sunday, Hill said at the earlier hearing.

Sentencing has been set for 18 August, when Warner faces a minimum disqualification from driving of six months, a potential fine of up to A$2,200 ($1,500; £1,150) and a potential prison sentence of up to nine months.

Warner, who retired from international cricket in 2024, is currently captain of Pakistan Super League side Karachi Kings as well as being captain of the Sydney Thunder.

Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon said after he was charged in April that the allegations were "concerning" and that the body took them "very seriously".

"At Cricket NSW, we are strong advocates for safe driving, not drink-driving," he said.

Hill said at the May hearing that Warner knew what he had done was wrong. "He accepts that was a reckless decision, a foolish decision to get in his car instead of taking an Uber."

"It's not a crime to have a glass of wine on the day of the lord's resurrection. In fact, some would consider that completely appropriate," he added.

"His crime is, as I said, choosing a foolish plan A instead of a plan B."

Rare identical quadruplets born in Australia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2jnj3428lo, 6 days ago

An Australian woman has given birth to rare, naturally conceived identical quadruplets after a pregnancy described as "extremely high risk" by the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

The four girls, who were delivered via caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on 14 July, were monozygotic quadruplets - where a single fertilised egg splits into four embryos.

The hospital said the girls' mother, 34-year-old Jenitar Na'amoana, and her husband Jortham, already had four children and were taken by "immense surprise" when told to expect quadruplets.

Dr Alexa Bendall, who cared for the mother from the start of her pregnancy, estimated identical quadruplets occur "at one in every 15 million pregnancies" and said "but to share the same placenta - this is unheard of".

Bendall, who is a maternal foetal medicine specialist and obstetrician, said such a pregnancy was very high-risk, with the hospital admitting Na'amoana as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored.

"We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well," Bendall said.

"So the fact that we've got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible and we're very happy to be a part of it," she added.

"Jenitar has taken everything in her stride from day one... she has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies," Bendall said.

The newborn girls have been named Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and also Alexa, after Alexa Bendall, who described it as "a beautiful tribute".

The babies will stay in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit until they grow to full term and are "currently doing extremely well", Bendall added.

The parents' other children are between one and 10 years old and the mother has recently launched an online fundraising campaign to help buy a van with at least 10 seats.

In a message alongside the fundraiser, which has already received over A$37,000 (£19,261) in donations, Na'amoana wrote: "Our four precious miracles have arrived safely, and while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined."

Naturally conceived quadruplets are extremely rare, with doctors estimating the odds at about one in 700,000 births.

Neighbours actor Terence Donovan dies aged 90

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmrznw82j4o, 7 days ago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Donovan joined the cast of Neighbours in the 1990s as Doug Willis, shortly after his son Jason had left the show. He also featured as Al Simpson on Home and Away.

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

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

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

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

Olympic cyclist admits to driving despite ban after crash that killed wife

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62q3ywep1ro, 10 days ago

Australian Olympic cyclist Rohan Dennis has pleaded guilty to driving despite a five-year ban placed on him after a 2023 incident where he struck his wife with a car.

Dennis, 36, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday to face a charge of driving while disqualified after police pulled him over last month when he was behind the wheel with two children as passengers.

Last year, Dennis received a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to one aggravated count of creating the likelihood of harm under a plea deal where prosecutors dropped two more serious charges.

The court found he was not criminally responsible for Melissa Hoskins' death but had been reckless in his actions.

During last year's case, the court heard that the couple - who got married in 2018 - had been arguing about kitchen renovations before Dennis got into his car to leave.

Hoskins, who was also an Olympic cyclist, jumped onto the bonnet of the car and later held onto the car door as Dennis continued to drive. She fell off and was later struck by the car. Hoskins later died in hospital from her injuries.

Dennis was spared jail time when he was sentenced last May, with the judge suspending the 17-month prison term by placing him on a two-year good behaviour bond.

He was also disqualified from driving for five years, with the start date from the day of the car incident in December 2023.

On Friday, the court heard that prosecutors have asked for the matter to be referred to the District Court to deal with both the driving while disqualified offence and his breach of the good behaviour bond.

The father-of-two is due back in court in September.

World chess chief faces endgame after EU announces Russia war sanctions

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewrk58k2k4o, 2 days ago

The world of chess has been thrown into turmoil after the president of the International Chess Federation (Fide), Arkady Dvorkovich, said he was stepping aside because he was included on the European Union's latest sanctions list.

Dvorkovich, 54, a former deputy prime minister of Russia and adviser to the Kremlin, now faces an EU travel ban and asset freeze.

The EU said his inclusion was due to "publicly supporting the annexation of Crimea and calling occupied Ukrainian cities 'new territories' of the Russian Federation".

In a statement, Dvorkovich said he had decided to "voluntarily suspend the exercise of my powers and duties", but told the BBC he had not resigned.

He called the sanctions decision "unlawful and unfair" and said the sanctions were meant "to prevent me from running and serving for Fide".

Ukraine has hailed the move as "an important victory".

Dvorkovich was first elected as Fide President in 2018, and re-elected in 2022.

The EU also cited his presence on the board of the Chess Federation of Russia, which has organised tournaments in occupied areas of Ukraine.

"We hope never to see this man in the chess world again," said Volodymyr Kovalchuk, first vice president of the Ukrainian Chess Federation. "People who develop sport in the interests of an aggressor state have no place in senior international positions."

Malcolm Pein, England's representative to Fide, described the move as "an earthquake and a massive diplomatic victory for Ukraine".

"It may significantly reduce Russia's influence in the world of chess, something which – formerly the USSR and then Russia - has dominated and used as a tool of soft power since the Second World War," he told the BBC.

Arkady Dvorkovich has overseen the federation during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the game.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, Russian national teams were banned from international chess competitions.

But Ukraine and its allies say Russian influence within Fide has intensified under Dvorkovich's leadership.

Moscow has been accused of carrying out a "slow takeover" of the federation, changing its internal rules and putting pressure on other nations' officials to vote in Russia's favour, which Moscow denies.

Two years ago, with Dvorkovich at the helm, an attempt was made to officially re-admit Russian teams and officials. But in a crucial vote in September 2024, the Fide general assembly opted to maintain sanctions against Russia and its ally, Belarus.

Volodymyr Kovalchuk argues Russia invested heavily in controlling the federation. "They believed chess represented intellectual superiority. That's why it matters so much who controls it: through Fide, ideas favourable [to Moscow] were being promoted," he said.

That was disputed by Arkady Dvorkovich, who told the BBC in written answers, that "accusations about 'Russian influence' are false and contradicted by how Fide is governed."

"Fide is based in Switzerland… our top executives include people from India, Norway, Latvia, the US, Italy, France… and other countries around the globe."

The former Kremlin official had intended to run for re-election as head of Fide in September, but his future is now uncertain.

Chess is booming worldwide, with sky-high audience figures driving big sponsorship deals and celebrity status for players such as Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.

But speculation is now swirling that the possible departure of one of the most powerful and controversial figures in international chess could herald a new era in the game's leadership.

Ten killed in Russian attack on drone exhibition near Kyiv

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj637zd1k1ko, yesterday

At least 15 people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine, including 10 dead in ballistic missile strikes on an exhibition near Kyiv showcasing drone technology.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said some 100 people had been injured in the daytime attack on the exhibition, attended by prominent members of the defence sector.

Five people were also killed by Russian glide bombs in the eastern city of Sloviansk. Early on Saturday, military officials confirmed the deaths of two men in the northern city of Sumy.

On Friday evening, Zelensky said he had received intelligence that Russia was preparing another massive missile strike, which could happen "within the next 48 hours".

A Ukrainian strike on Friday killed six people and wounded 26 in the Russian city of Kirov, more than 1,000km (600 miles) behind the front line. Ukraine also attacked warehouses of Wildberries - Russia's biggest online retailer.

After the attacks near Kyiv, there were initially fears for the safety of Defence Ministry adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov, also known as Flash, and Lyuba Shypovych, who has been involved in developing technology for the Ukrainian army.

Following the incident, both took to social media to confirm they were unharmed, and Beskrestnov said he had stayed away from the event because of security concerns.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian TV the attack involved three ballistic missiles, only one of which was intercepted.

Russia confirmed the attack. Its Defence Ministry said high-precision long-range weaponry had been used on a site where drones for use in targeting civil sites in Russia were being demonstrated.

It said producers of drones, as well as representatives of Ukraine's drone forces and security services "directly planning and carrying out strikes on Russian territory" were present.

This is at least the third time since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 that an exhibition of this kind has been hit.

There has been widespread outrage that a public event of this kind was being held at all and had, apparently, been widely advertised.

President Zelensky said the incident was being investigated, while Ukraine's prosecutor-general said efforts were under way to establish who decided to hold the event and what safety measures were in place.

The attack came hours after the Ukrainian strikes on a factory in the city of Kirov and warehouses in north-west Russia.

Zelensky said "one of the most important military facilities" in Kirov supplying "components for aircraft and missile equipment" used in strikes against Ukraine had been hit.

Friday's attacks on at least two Wildberries facilities in the St Petersburg area were the latest of several over the past week.

The attacks on the retailer have dealt a blow to a large number of small and medium-sized businesses within Russia.

After months of drone attacks on oil depots and refineries, Kyiv says it is targeting logistics hubs - such as those run by Wildberries - because they can be used to buy military equipment, in order to disrupt supplies to the Russian army.

Meanwhile Zelensky is expected to travel to the US next week, and is slated to meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday, a White House official said, as Washington seeks to revive peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Trump ally Laura Loomer, who is in Kyiv and on Friday interviewed Zelensky, quoted him as saying he intends to go to the funeral of US Senator Lindsey Graham on the same day.

Meanwhile, Romanian President Nicusor Dan said a Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian drone breaching the country's airspace on Friday.

The Romanian authorities had earlier issued alerts across several eastern and south-eastern areas.

Ukraine's ousted defence minister insists on being reinstated

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce97nm53pgxo, 3 days ago

Ukraine's ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has refused to accept an alternative post in Volodymyr Zelensky's government, insisting he wants his job back.

He thanked the president, but said there were "only three positions in the state - in addition to soldiers on the battlefield - which determine the course of the war: president, defence minister and commander-in-chief".

Zelensky said he had offered Fedorov several posts, including deputy prime minister.

Last week's removal of Fedorov - who is praised for transforming the armed forces - triggered mass protests. Zelensky was later forced to sack commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who conflicted with Fedorov.

Some protesters say the firing of Syrskyi is not enough, vowing to continue their street demonstrations until Fedorov is reinstated as defence minister.

Fedorov, 35, has been credited for using data to significantly improve the Ukrainian army performance on the front line and other innovations, including his successful Army of Drones initiative. He has also been praised for leading a drive against corruption.

Gen Syrskyi, 60, played a key role in the successful defence of the capital Kyiv during the first days of the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022. But he is now seen by many in Ukraine as a Soviet-school commander reluctant to implement much-needed radical changes in the army.

In a statement sent to journalists on Thursday, Fedorov said his team had a "specific plan how to end the war" when he was appointed defence minister in January.

The key elements were the protection of the skies, stabilisation of the front, and also strikes against Russia's economy, he said.

"For six months, we have consistently implemented this very plan. For the first time in recent years, Ukraine has begun to seize the initiative [on the battlefield].

"Our collective results have created something unprecedented - a window of opportunity to force Russia into peace through strength. And we cannot afford to lose it."

He stressed that he had never been seeking any "post or status", but only wanted to have the "opportunity to really influence the result and bring Ukraine's victory closer".

Fedorov has already been replaced by Yevhenii Khmara, a former top official at Ukraine's Security Service (SBU).

Zelensky, who earlier this week had a meeting with Fedorov, revealed that he had offered him the post of deputy prime minister for military innovation.

"This is a very important role," the president said on Thursday, "because innovation must be co-ordinated with the leadership of the defence ministry, the commander-in-chief... and the president."

But Fedorov refused. It's not clear if his statement means that negotiations over his future are at an end.

Presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said discussions were continuing "and it would be inappropriate to disclose details at this stage".

If Zelensky thought he had resolved this issue with the appointment of the new commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, Fedorov's latest comments are a clear indication that this battle of wills remains unresolved.

Fedorov clearly does not believe any other position would allow him to continue to drive innovation and reform in the way that he would like. Without a ministry at his disposal, he is probably right.

He believes, and his vocal supporters believe, that he is responsible for much of Ukraine's recent success, although he was careful to credit "our collective results" in his statement.

Some observers have been pushing back, pointing out that Ukraine's current successes, in terms of long- and medium-range drone strikes into Russia, have their roots in plans laid down more than a year ago when Syrskyi was commander-in-chief.

But it 'is clear that many Ukrainians - while happy that Zelensky has replaced his unpopular military chief with the much younger and highly rated Drapatyi - still regard Fedorov as indispensable and are furious with the president for his initial decision to cast him aside.

Man fatally wounded in knife attack in German bank

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq89k12ygq0o, 3 days ago

A 20-year-old man has been arrested in the Bavarian city of Regensburg in south-east Germany, after a knife attack at a bank that left a man fatally wounded.

Details of what happened inside the bank are unclear, but a heavily armed special police task force was called in amid initial fears of a hostage situation, after a violent incident shortly before 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT).

The victim was eventually taken to hospital with critical injuries but later died. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said he had been subjected to a "brutal unprovoked attack".

The suspect has been described as a German national.

Mayor Thomas Burger said many residents in the western part of Regensburg had endured of "hours of great uncertainty" and he had been deeply shaken by what had happened.

It is not clear what led to the stand-off. It took some time before emergency services were finally able to provide medical treatment to the victim.

Police in body armour were eventually able to take two people out of the bank who appeared unhurt.

The suspect was escorted from the building at about 18:00. Police said they were working on the theory that he was a lone perpetrator.

They said they were treating the incident as "a homicide as well as suspected attempted robbery" and said the suspect was due to be brought before a judge on Friday.

Modelling scout linked to Epstein found dead in Paris

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8en38vpd3o, 4 days ago

A modelling scout linked to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home.

Daniel Siad, 69, was discovered on Monday in Colombes, a north-west suburb of Paris, the Nanterre prosecutor's office confirmed.

An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening, the office said, adding that a post-mortem examination would be carried out.

Siad's name appeared thousands of times in the Epstein files released by the US government. He denied knowing of the threat Epstein had posed.

The Paris prosecutor's office has defended an investigation it launched in February, saying there had been insufficient evidence to justify arresting Siad.

"The investigation opened on 18 February 2026 covering charges of organised human trafficking and conspiracy to commit a crime is continuing in order to identify all individuals potentially involved despite the termination of criminal proceedings against Daniel Siad," the office said.

"Daniel Siad was subject to special investigative techniques, notably telephone surveillance, but they did not provide enough evidence justifying his immediate arrest," it added.

Siad had been the subject of several complaints in France including allegations of rape.

The dead man's lawyer stressed that Siad had "never been prosecuted". "He is dead and he was innocent," Ménya Arab-Tigrine said in a statement.

Epstein victim Anya - not her real name - previously told the BBC that Siad had introduced her to Epstein.

"It was a complete set-up," she said, describing Siad as "essentially a professional trafficker".

During one email to Epstein released in the files, Siad wrote in badly spelled English: "In This busyness I feel like fisherman some time I cache quick, some time no fish."

Ahead of a BBC investigation on the subject published on Saturday, Arab-Tigrine had said her client was not available for comment.

However, in a recent CNN interview, Siad said he had not known the women were being abused by Epstein. "I trusted him, I believed this guy is a professional person," he said.

The first complaints against Siad in France were filed in February. He denied wrongdoing in multiple recent media interviews, telling BFMTV in May: "I have never raped anyone in my life."

Lawyers for the former model who made the first complaint said earlier that they were "stunned" by his death.

"We are at a loss for words to describe the anger and sadness we feel," they said, with alleged victims "denied a criminal trial".

The lawyers said they felt "immense anger" toward the Paris prosecutor's office "which announced last February that it was opening an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's French accomplices".

They accused the office of "scandalous" inaction which they said demonstrated "the public authorities' contempt for victims of sexual crimes, even when these crimes are linked to the human trafficking network established by Epstein and his accomplices".

Another former model who gave a deposition to police in June as part of the investigation into Siad told the BBC his death meant any information he might have had about Epstein was now lost.

"An important link in the chain has just vanished into thin air, without there even having been a chance to recover the information Daniel Siad might have possessed, given that he was never questioned," she said.

"Too much time has been lost... and it is yet another way for the leads to go cold. I hope we won't have to wait another seven years to see his home searched, even though I think it is already too late."

Anne-Claire Le Jeune, who represents six women who made complaints about Siad, said victims had been deprived of justice: "My clients found the strength to break a particularly heavy silence, given Daniel Siad's ties to Jeffrey Epstein

"They faced every stage of the proceedings with remarkable courage.

"It is deeply regrettable that the slow pace of the investigation resulted in his death before he could be questioned or taken into police custody, thereby depriving the victims of a crucial step in their pursuit of truth and justice."

Another associate of Epstein, French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, was found hanged in his Paris prison cell in 2022.

The 76-year-old had been held in custody for more than a year as he was investigated on suspicion of the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation. Brunel denied any wrongdoing.

Brunel founded MC2 Model Management with funding from Epstein and was suspected of transporting and housing girls or young women for Epstein.

Epstein, 66, died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he awaited a federal trial for sex trafficking.

Russia's businesses under strain from Ukraine's attacks on Wildberries

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9n2y61w6o, 3 days ago

Ukrainian drones have hit several retail warehouses belonging to Russia's biggest online retailer, Wildberries, in a matter of days, dealing a blow to a large number of small and medium-sized businesses.

After months of drone attacks on oil depots and refineries, Kyiv says it is now targeting logistics hubs used by Russians to buy military equipment, and disrupting supplies to the Russian army.

But it has also frustrated hundreds of Russian sellers who depend on online marketplaces for their livelihoods, making the war feel closer to home after almost four and a half years.

"I am a mother of a disabled child, I've built the business myself," one woman complained on an expletive-laden social media post that went viral.

"I've lost 1m roubles (£9,500; $12,700)... We're already getting screwed over from every direction as it is."

In Ukraine's first attack on Wildberries at the weekend, two warehouses were hit, at Elektrostal east of Moscow and in Kotovsk in the Tambov region, some 400km (250 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Seven workers on a nightshift were killed in Kotovsk and one was fatally wounded at Elektrostal. Dozens more were injured and goods worth an estimated at £750m ($1bn) were destroyed.

Kyiv said it had struck "major logistics facilities" used to "supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment".

More logistical sites were targeted early on Monday, including another Wildberries warehouse in Koledino south of Moscow. Further attacks overnight into Wednesday hit Wildberries logistic hubs at Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk in the Stavropol region.

The company's owner Tatiana Kim said further casualties had been reported.

"We are, quite justly, bringing the war back home - to Russia," said Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia has targeted Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 and recent Russian attacks have hit Ukrainian warehouses and cargo terminals.

Sorting terminals for Ukraine's largest private postal operator, Nova Poshta, have come under attack, so too have warehouses owned by retail chain ATB and confectionery group Roshen.

With the situation on the front line now close to a stalemate, Ukraine's long-distance drone campaign has hit supply routes and energy facilities, in effect cutting off annexed Crimea and leading to fuel shortages across Russia.

Businesses had already been disrupted before the warehouse attacks, but now some have lost much of their stock overnight.

Wildberries and its rival Ozon are used by 85-90% of Russia's economically active population, it is estimated. In many remote places lacking accessible stores, Russians depend on them for much of their shopping, from clothes to household appliances.

The Kremlin has denied that online platforms are used for army supplies, but a variety of military-related goods such as body armour are on sale, alongside items with both civilian and drone-production applications.

Pro-war bloggers say the platforms are routinely relied on by volunteers to buy kit that is then sent to the front.

There is, however, no independent confirmation that the warehouses targeted in the attacks stored these supplies.

Unlike Western retail giant Amazon, which sells goods directly alongside its marketplace business, Wildberries and Ozon act almost entirely as marketplaces, connecting independent sellers with buyers across Russia, storing and delivering their goods and handling payments.

This means many of the losses incurred in the attacks have been borne by businesses.

For one woman, who sells stationery items, Wildberries is the only distribution channel. The day after she delivered her goods to the Elektrostal warehouse near Moscow last Friday, she learned that it had all gone up in flames.

She still has other inventory left, but this time of the year is important for her business, as parents and students stock up for the new autumn term.

Another Wildberries trader who sells teenage clothing, told the BBC she had lost about 1.4m roubles (£13,300) worth of stock. She is halting new supplies for a few weeks.

"The outlook for working with Wildberries is very murky," she said. "Right now I have enough of a safety cushion to survive the current losses, but if there are more strikes, I probably won't manage."

Neither woman expects compensation. Earlier this month, less than two weeks before the attacks, a clause was added to their contracts, including drone attacks in the list of "force majeure events" for which Wildberries is not liable.

Company owner Tatiana Kim has promised "not to abandon" the sellers and some compensation has been paid to a number of small businesses. She has also offered temporary discounts and waived shipment fees, but this has done little to calm fears of further attacks.

Supporting small and medium-sized businesses has been among Vladimir Putin's declared priorities even in wartime, and framed as a backbone of resilience in the face of Western sanctions.

But the Russian state has been unable to shield the sector from the war's impact, and there have been several shocks to businesses since the start of the year.

VAT went up from 20% to 22% in January, with extra funding earmarked for defence, and tax breaks for some businesses were scrapped.

Some 209,000 small and medium-sized companies closed in the first quarter of 2026, according to business intelligence platform Kontur.Fokus. That is 9% more than in the first three months of 2025.

Widespread internet shutdowns and a crackdown on popular messaging apps led to further troubles, and Moscow businesses lost tens of millions of dollars in one week in March, according to some estimates.

And then came the fuel crisis, triggered by Ukrainian strikes on oil depots, refineries and supply routes.

"There are already a lot of nails, and they keep hammering them in. Is [the attack on Wildberries warehouses] another nail in the coffin? Well, yes, of course," Prof Ruben Eniklopov of Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona told the BBC.

Small businesses in Russia have proved resilient in the past, but inflation is high, the budget deficit is widening, and oil and gas revenues are 23% lower than in the first six months of last year.

Russia has vast financial reserves, accumulated in peacetime, but its war in Ukraine is increasingly swallowing resources, starving the civilian economy of growth.

Additional reporting by Olga Shamina.

‘Everyone's afraid to die’: Struggle to recruit soldiers in Ukraine turns violent

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7k5ngde3vo, 7 days ago

Vasyl Krupych knows what it is to fight for Ukraine.

He describes terrifying scenes from battles in the eastern Donbas region where, sometimes praying, sometimes crying, the machine gunner somehow survived the onslaught by Russian troops.

But last December, by then serving in the rear, Krupych was attacked by his own countrymen whilst out searching for draft dodgers.

He says two men ignored demands to show their documents and fled. When his patrol gave chase, Krupych was badly beaten with a crowbar. He spent six weeks in hospital.

"He broke my rib, I was lying there and couldn't breathe," the veteran recalled in a recent interview.

"What did we fight for, if soldiers can now get beaten?"

Surge in violence

Ukraine's military ombudswoman says such attacks are now "regular" and "a major problem" as the country struggles to mobilise men to fight in the fifth, draining year of Russia's full-scale invasion.

It's not a topic people here care to discuss much, wary of feeding Russian propaganda.

But the latest National Police Service report recorded more than 600 assaults on recruitment officers to date and warned that the aggression has become "increasingly threatening".

The first big alert came in April when several recruiters were stabbed, one fatally. Then this month in Lviv, some 200 protesters surrounded officers attempting to detain a suspected draft dodger and smashed and overturned their car.

The riot made headlines as President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned violence against serving soldiers.

His controversial decision since then to sack Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov – over a clash of character and vision with Ukraine's commander-in-chief – means attempts to address the conscription crisis will stall.

But the anger that just exploded in Lviv suggests that the need is urgent.

'Busification'

The reasons appear to range from plain fear of the front line – now everyone knows someone who's been injured or killed - to a reluctance to sign up for a war that has no end in sight.

The only surge of enthusiasm since the initial rush to the front was in late 2023, when Ukraine launched a counter-offensive to seize back territory in the south-east.

It didn't last.

That's when the "brutal mobilisation" phase began, according to opposition MP Oleksandr Honcharenko.

He blames that for the backlash.

"These officers are hunting for people on the streets and sometimes using quite violent methods," the MP says.

"Violence leads to violence. It's a huge problem and it's going to get worse."

Military analyst Ivan Stupak agrees.

"We started to suffer a lack of manpower on the battlefield, constant losses," he recalls. "Ukraine's high command had to refill these losses so they started busification."

That's the term Ukrainians use for mobile patrols that end up with men bundled into buses, and off to serve.

"When they need an extra 5,000 men, they start grabbing them - and if they refuse it turns into fights on the street."

The professor's story

So for every story of a draft officer attacked, there are accounts of violence by recruiters themselves.

Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner recorded more than 6,000 such complaints last year - double the 2024 tally. They include claims of abuse and unlawful detention as well as poor conditions at recruitment centres.

Kyrylo Ogdansky still gets upset when he talks about what happened to him in Dnipro last November.

The university professor, who is exempt from the draft, was approached in the street by a man in plain clothes who wanted to check his call-up status.

There are rules about such patrols, including having police officers present, so Ogdansky objected.

Then he was assaulted.

"One of them knocked the phone from my hand and two pushed me into the bus from behind. When I asked what's happening, one started to beat me to the head. He hit me in the nose several times," Ogdansky tells me.

He remembers the threat to send him straight to the front line. "He said 'I can call the commander and you'll go to Pokrovsk'."

Instead, the professor spent two weeks in hospital with a suspected neck injury and big purple-black bruises beneath his eyes.

He has made formal official complaints but was hesitant about speaking publicly, aware that such things look bad for Ukraine in the middle of a war.

"Russian propaganda uses such things very actively. But such a problem exists," Ogdansky explains his decision.

"If everyone is silent, then why would it stop? I understand the problem of conscription, but no official has the right to act like this."

Vasyl's story

It's clear that Vasyl Krupych experienced horrors at war.

He volunteered at the very start and has survived some of the grimmest battles.

Krupych is proud of his service - a tattoo on his neck declares "Glory to the Ukrainian Armed Forces" – but he suffers from nightmares.

When his vehicle was hit by an FPV drone, he was badly injured but managed to drag one friend to safety. He saw two others burned to death.

Now, when we discuss the increase in attacks against draft officers, his words drip with hurt.

It's not just about what he suffered himself: that case is still going through the courts. It's also the gulf between what he has endured and those doing everything possible to avoid the same.

"We are doing our duty. We fought, we defended our people - and now they are attacking us."

I wonder what he thinks might motivate people to serve, instead of coercing them, and he mentions raising salaries.

But then he shrugs.

"It can't be done differently, it can't. Our lads need to be replaced. But nobody volunteers," he says.

"Everyone is afraid to die."

What to do?

In his six months as defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov did start introducing reforms to tackle the growing crisis.

He began with moves meant to make military service more attractive: fixed-term contracts for new recruits, with the option to defer further service, and better salaries, especially for the riskiest roles.

But it was an early work in progress and overhauling conscription was still on his to-do list when he was sacked.

Proposals have included handing draft patrols over to police, who are less personally invested in the task. There's talk of proper training, too, for officers, and psychological screening.

Ukraine does admit openly that it has a problem, which is new.

But it now has only an acting defence minister, and still no solution.

Additional reporting by Volodymyr Lozhko, Mariana Matveichuk, Anastasiia Levchenko, Sophie Williams and Kamila Hrabchuk.

Several injured at Berlin Pride after reports vehicle drove into crowd, police say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqzylz3zno, today

Several people have been injured at a Berlin Pride event, police say, after reports that a vehicle drove into a crowd in the city centre.

An intensive manhunt is currently under way, police say, as they urged people to avoid the area.

The injured are being treated by emergency services near Tiergarten park, where the incident took place, police added.

The annual pride event, Christopher Street Day, has been cancelled.

"We believe that a vehicle entered the Tiergarten park and hit several people and injured them," police posted on social media.

Images show a large emergency services presence at the scene, with one person seen entering an ambulance on a stretcher.

It is not yet clear how many people have been injured in the incident.

A number of police officers as well as rescue units from the fire department have been deployed to the area.

Earlier on Saturday, huge crowds took part in a parade throughout the city, which ended near the park for a series of events in the evening.

E-scooter driver dies after collision with car

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg7ppyln14o, today

A person driving an e-scooter has died after a collision with a car in the Republic of Ireland.

The crash happened on the Kentstown Road, Navan, County Meath at about 01:45 local time on Sunday.

Gardaí (Irish police) said the e-scooter driver, who was male, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the car, a man in his 60s, and a passenger in his 20s were uninjured.

The road is currently closed and diversions are in place.

Gardaí are appealing for anyone who witnessed the collision to contact them.

Man charged over intercepted bomb in car

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj637j9gkd9o, today

A man has been charged in relation to a bomb which was discovered in a car in the Republic of Ireland.

The vehicle was stopped on the N2 near Carrickmacross on Wednesday as part of an operation targeting alleged dissident republican activity.

The man in his 40s is due to appear before a special sitting at the Criminal Courts of Justice on Saturday evening.

On Friday, a 25-year-old woman was charged in relation to the same incident.

More than 300,000 flee wildfires in France and Spain

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7le0d53y2o, today

Firefighters are struggling to contain wildfires in south-west France as strong winds push flames towards the city of Bordeaux, with one official saying they "are far from having the fire under control."

More than 300,000 people in France and Spain have fled fires which have been raging for days, as winds and high temperatures hamper efforts to contain them.

In Spain, where a state of emergency has been declared, a change in weather conditions has helped firefighters outside Madrid.

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez admitted there were "complex times ahead". Meanwhile, authorities in València confirmed the death of a man in a fire.

The man, believed to be in his 70s, was found dead in his car by firefighters as they extinguished a fire in the Salt de l'Aigua ravine in Manises, according to local media reports.

In France, a further 55,000 were ordered to evacuate late on Saturday, taking the total to around 250,000 people in south-western regions of Gironde and Landes regions.

Firefighter Captain Nicolas Braz told AFP news agency that the fire had created "its own winds - complete with whirlwinds", adding it was "erratic and unmanageable".

It is set to be another "difficult night," he said.

France has mobilised its military to help with the response and extra reinforcements from the army have been sent to help firefighters by clearing brush and creating fire breaks.

President Emmanuel Macron said France would "rebuild" and his government would "be there for as long as is needed".

The wind blew smoke towards the city of Bordeaux on Saturday and people reported an acrid smell in the air.

One tourist who fled an approaching wildfire near Bordeaux with his family described the scale of the blaze as "frightening".

Spencer Randall told the BBC his family evacuated in the early hours of Saturday to an area 100 miles east, but they can "still smell the wildfires from here".

"It's quite strong winds fanning the flames, just terrifying," he said.

A British couple holidaying in Bordeaux said they noticed the flames get worse on Friday night, as the fire approached.

"At about seven o'clock you could smell smoke. We thought someone was having a barbecue," Maisie told BBC Newsbeat from their holiday rental.

Her partner, Caleb, said the ash has now covered the pool in the house and turned their feet black when walking outside.

The smoke "really hits your lungs right away", they added.

Nearby, in Saint-Aubin-de-Médoc, residents evacuating said the situation was "stressful", with one local describing it a "disaster".

The final leg of the Tour de France, due to take place Sunday, has been shortened from 133km (83 miles) to 89km (55 miles) so that security forces can be redeployed to areas affected by wildfires, organisers and police have said.

Macron is set to have an emergency meeting with ministers as 30 or so fires rage across the country - a situation which the government said is totally unprecedented.

In Spain, fires continued near Madrid.

"Today we are rather more pessimistic than we were yesterday," Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters. "The weather conditions have not helped at all."

Describing the situation as "complex", he said wind gusts were expected to push the fire south.

"The night is not going to be very positive or very friendly to us," he warned.

Since the wildfires broke out in Spain, nearly 60,000 people had already been evacuated from the Madrid and Ávila regions, while more than 28,000 remain confined to their homes, according to Spain's interior ministry.

Late on Saturday, at least eight municipalities near Toledo were also ordered to evacuate, though it was unclear how many people that involved.

Madrid's regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso described the situation as the "worst fire in the history of the region".

Sánchez said 130,000 hectares of land had been burned in Spain so far this year, ahead of an annual average of 100,000 hectares for the country over the last decade.

France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 98,000 hectares have burned across the country since the beginning of 2026.

Meanwhile in Italy, more than 350 fires - including 10 major blazes - broke out on the island of Sicily, the head of the Sicilian Civil Protection said on Wednesday, prompting evacuations.

A major incident was also declared by emergency services in Scotland on Friday evening as they continue to tackle a wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park that has been burning for 10 days.

Hadja Lahbib, the EU's commissioner for crisis management, said it is likely that the damage from wildfires in Europe will surpass previous records.

She said fires had started earlier in the year when, in April, the Netherlands activated the EU's civil protection mechanism which triggers support and reinforcements from other countries.

Lahbib told the BBC: "Last year, one million hectares burned during the summer and so we are expecting to face another historical, sad record because the season has started earlier in the year."

She also warned that more outbreaks are likely as the summer goes on.

"Forecasters are predicting, unfortunately, another heatwave so we can expect other wildfires," Lahbib added.

France has activated the civil protection mechanism and will receive water bombers, comprising three Canadairs planes from Croatia and two Air Tractors from Portugal, as well as Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and 40 members of a Romanian forest fire team.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said 11 planes and helicopters have also been sent to France and Spain from the EU's firefighting fleet.

Additional reporting by Mary Litchfield, BBC Your Voice and Srosh Khan, BBC Newsbeat

One month after earthquakes, Venezuelans still search for loved ones and answers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39e17weydwo, 3 days ago

The worst day in Victor Calderón's life – a month ago to the day – unfolded while he was at sea.

When the powerful twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela's northern coastline, the 49-year-old fisherman had been on the boat for 18 days and was told by radio that the building he and his family lived in had collapsed.

When he got back to shore, a staggering 26 members of his family were gone.

They include his sisters, their children and grandchildren, as well as his stepfather and nine cousins. Their ages ranged from two years old to their late 70s.

"It's a terrible, terrible thing," he says, struggling to find the words.

"I haven't cried for them yet, not until I find the last ones who are missing," he adds with stoicism.

Victor's entire family lived in a public housing complex known as OPPE 26, located in Caraballeda. The town in La Guaira state is considered the Ground Zero of the tragedy.

His daughter and granddaughter thankfully survived and their much-reduced family now lives in a tent on a golf course.

One month on from the disaster, he is not the only one still searching for, and finding, loved ones.

More than 5,300 people are confirmed to have died in the quakes and more than 16,500 were injured, according to a tally updated almost daily by the government.

The government has not said how many people are still missing, but the figure is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

As the afternoon sun went down at OPPE26, three bodies were pulled from beneath the rebar and rubble, including that of an 11-year-old girl.

Her father, heaving deep sobs, now finally able to grieve after his desperate month-long search for her has come to an end.

Rescue workers downed tools or said a prayer as the child's body was delicately removed in black plastic sheeting, her father's howls piercing the air and drowning out the sound of earthmoving equipment working nearby.

"This is soul-destroying," says Magin Hernández, a member of another search team, weeping quietly. "For the rescuers, the families, the friends; just soul destroying".

For most survivors and victims' relatives the soul-crushing grief is also combined with a deep and growing sense of anger at the authorities.

The resentment is palpable. Almost everyone you speak to at the Caraballeda housing complex asks the same questions: how could ten of 12 housing blocks collapse? Were the building plans flawed or corners cut or inadequate materials used? Is there evidence of negligence?

I put some those questions to Public Works Minister Juan José Ramírez as he toured the site.

The buildings were sound, he insisted, adding that no nation could have coped with the sheer scale of the disaster.

"This wasn't one but two almost simultaneous earthquakes, both moving in different directions," the minister argued.

"All around us you can see both public and private buildings were brought down," he said, motioning across the road to other destroyed apartment blocks.

"The earthquake didn't discriminate between the two."

At one of the pancaked private buildings, in the coastal town of Catia La Mar, an unlikely rescue took place eight days after the earthquakes struck.

From beneath the concrete slabs, a security guard, Hernán Gil, was pulled out alive from an underground car park.

The jubilant scenes briefly lifted Venezuela's spirits.

Today, Laura Barrios continues to search in the same building for her brother-in-law, whose body remains trapped in the same subterranean car park.

Most of the international crews that rallied for Gil have long since gone home and now even the earthmover, which was clearing the unstable debris, has been sent to another site.

The news that Laura's family are searching on their own again came a day after they located the bodies of her sister-in-law and the children, aged 10 and three, huddled together in their bedroom.

"The other day was the Day of the Child in Venezuela," Laura sobs. "But we have no children to celebrate. Ours are gone."

She has been furious at the authorities for reacting slowly.

But she says the news that the heavy machinery is pulling out when her family still needs it has sapped her of the will to fight.

"What more can we say that this rubble doesn't already tell us?" she asks, looking at the devastation surrounding us.

"Lost T-shirts, cutlery that was never used, crockery sets, toys. Entire lives, gone in just 39 seconds."

In the queue for a hot meal at the World Central Kitchen – one of the US-based humanitarian agencies operating in Catia La Mar – people show characteristic Venezuelan good humour in the face of greater adversity than most have ever known.

While people need the food and bottled water, they also appreciate a smile or hug, gestures of human kindness and camaraderie.

Yet they return to cheap nylon tents, pitched on the curbside, their temporary homes for the foreseeable future.

This week, the government of Delcy Rodríguez donated 200 homes to affected families.

The overall need, though, may be 100 times higher. Reconstruction will take years and billions of dollars in investment - the World Bank has estimated that the twin quakes caused $19.6bn (£14.7bn) in damage.

Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president in January days after US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to stand trial on charges of "narcoterrorism".

While she has the backing of the Trump administration, it is Washington which is in control of Venezuela's oil industry - the main source of revenue in this oil-rich country - so it is far from clear how the rebuild will unfold.

Many of those in tents once lived by Playa Pirata – a short stretch of beach which was full of visitors on the public holiday when the earthquakes hit.

They watched in desperation as their homes collapsed in front of them and ran towards their apartments to try to save relatives and pets trapped inside.

Theirs are just some of a thousand horror stories which Venezuelans still struggle to comprehend, and which have forever scarred a nation ill-equipped to cope.

Nicaragua's legislature debates barring opposition from elections

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd694w0l30do, 3 days ago

Nicaragua's government-controlled National Assembly is debating whether to bar opposition parties from running in elections and will vote on the matter in the first week of August.

The move comes just days after President Daniel Ortega said that there "will be no more elections for them [the opposition] to try to seize the government, to seize power".

His remarks were condemned by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk who said that "people of all political viewpoints must be allowed to vote and run for office".

Ortega, 80, has been in power since 2007. His rule has become increasingly authoritarian, with political opponents jailed, sent into exile and stripped of their citizenship.

Ortega made the controversial remarks on Sunday in a speech marking the anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista revolution, when the left-wing group he was part of removed the US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza from power.

In his speech, Ortega accused the opposition, which he said was financed by the US, of "conspiring, trying to organise parties to try and win an election".

He said laws would be passed "to create a wall, to block the coup mongers", which he said would ensure that "regardless of how much money they are given by the Yankees", they would not seize power.

Among those who condemned Ortega's words was US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He said they laid bare the "true authoritarian nature" of Ortega's rule.

Rubio added that the Nicaraguan leader and his wife, Rosario Murillo, whom Ortega named as his "co-president" in February 2025, had "abandoned even the pretense of popular consent".

But the head of Nicaragua's National Assembly, Gustavo Porras, dismissed the criticism in an interview with a government-aligned news site.

He said that the legislative body and Nicaragua's highest electoral authority were debating how "to not leave even a crack" for the opposition to establish a foothold.

Presidential elections were last held in Nicaragua in November 2021.

The one-sided contest was won by Ortega following a brutal crackdown on the opposition.

Any rival potential candidates with a chance to garner a significant number of votes were detained and disqualified from standing for office or forced into exile. Dozens of other opposition members were also arrested.

Only a small handful of little-known candidates, who were unlikely to get much support, were allowed to stand.

In November 2025, when Ortega was four years into his five-year term, the National Assembly passed a constitutional reform extending the presidential term to six years.

Under the new system, which was passed unanimously by the National Assembly, Rosario Murillo also became "co-president".

It paved the way for her to assume the role of president should Ortega, who is believed to be in frail health, should be declared "permanently absent".

Few Nicaraguans have dared to speak out in public against Ortega and Murillo since more than 300 people were killed when the security forces quashed anti-government protests in 2018.

Nicaraguan opposition politicians living in exile, however, roundly decried Ortega's latest plans. Juan Sebastián Chamorro said it was proof of Ortega's desire to "turn Nicaragua into a one-party country like China, North Korea, and Cuba".

Felix Maradiaga, a former presidential candidate for the opposition who was jailed under Ortega's rule, told AFP news agency that it showed the leader was afraid of dissent: "Ortega is admitting what most worries him: he hasn't neutralised the opposition, he knows the desire for change is still alive, and is still fighting for the country."

Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to face trial next June

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5936455gmo, 4 days ago

The trial of ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, is scheduled to begin on 1 June 2027, a New York judge ordered on Wednesday.

US forces seized Maduro and Flores from their compound in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in a dramatic, night-time raid on 3 January, and brought them to New York to face allegations of weapon and drug offences, which they deny.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein scheduled a pre-trial hearing for 17 November to hear motions from both parties.

Maduro's attorney Barry Pollack signalled that he will argue at trial that his client was protected by sovereign immunity, a legal principle shielding heads of state from prosecution.

The courtroom was packed with spectators, with some people lining up for hours for the chance to glimpse Maduro in person.

Before the hearing began, a court officer warned the public to remain seated and that that they "can't say anything to him."

Anyone who disobeyed decorum "might have some legal issues of your own," the officer warned.

The gallery mostly follows his instructions as Maduro and Flores were led into the chamber shortly after noon, but some murmured or inhaled breath as he walked past.

Maduro, who wore a beige jail uniform but was not handcuffed, gave the gallery a nod as he walked to his seat at the defence table.

He and Flores sat quietly, wearing headphones for translation while their attorneys conferred with the judge.

When it was time to leave, Maduro stood. He faced the public and gave a single wave of his hands, before disappearing into the bowels of the courthouse in the custody of US Marshalls.

Outside the courtroom, anti-war protesters condemned the US military operation that resulted in Maduro's capture, holding up signs that read "Free President Maduro," and decrying, in the words of one protester with a bullhorn, the "sham trial" taking place inside.

"The US is endeavouring to bring Venezuela, Latin America, and the Middle East under its thumb," said a speaker with the Anti-War Action Network.

Some Venezuelans, draped in the country's flag, supported the prosecution.

"Maduro is a criminal," said Wilmer Contreras, 53, who moved to the US about 30 years ago. "He's a part of the government, they destroyed my country completely."

Contreras said he "absolutely" supported the Trump administration's military capture of Maduro.

"What they did was something that we were expecting, and waiting for, for a long time. And when that happened, things changed in my country," he told the BBC.

Fire kills 10 members of same family in Peru, police say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2g11ng7j2o, 4 days ago

A fire has killed 10 members of the same family, including five children, at a home in Peru's capital Lima, police say.

The blaze ripped through the property in the southern La Victoria district early on Wednesday, Gen Oscar Arriola from the Peruvian National Police told local media.

Five children, aged between three and 15 years old, were killed, as well as four adults aged between 29 and 72, and a fifth whose age was not given. Two people were also reportedly injured.

Police are investigating reports that the fire was started by arsonists. Local media say the family, who manufactured mattresses and owned electric motorcycles, had received threats and demands for extortion payments.

According to a report by the government news agency Andina, neighbours said unknown individuals had set fire to motorcycles parked outside, with the flames spreading rapidly through flammable mattress-making materials.

Seventeen members of the family were in the building when the fire started at 03:00 local time (08:00 GMT) but seven managed to escape, the Infobae news site reports.

Listing the exact ages of the victims, the police said the children were aged three, six, six, eight and 15. The adults were aged 29, 35, 42 and 72.

Arriola said their bodies were burned beyond recognition.

"Today, all of Peru falls silent in the face of a tragedy that plunges our nation into mourning," a statement from the National Police of Peru said.

Death toll from Guyana ferry disaster continues to rise

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2gm99nrm7o, 4 days ago

The number of people known to have drowned after a passenger ferry capsized off the coast of Guyana on Saturday night has risen to 53 as hopes of finding survivors dwindled.

Guyana's Prime Minister Mark Phillips said that as of 22:00 GMT on Tuesday, 76 people had been rescued alive, but dozens more remained missing.

According to Phillips, 179 people had been on board, many more than the 116 passengers and 17 crew listed on the vessel's manifest.

An investigation is under way to determine what caused the 87-year-old ferry to capsize. The captain and a crew member are in custody after testing positive for cannabis, officials said.

Prime Minister Phillips insisted that "where negligence, misconduct or criminal wrongdoing is established, those responsible will face the full force of the law".

Guyana's Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, had expressed his anger at a news conference on Sunday after drug tests from two crew members came back positive for cannabis.

"We have zero tolerance for members of the crew drinking or smoking while at work. And for us to have positive tests from the captain... this is serious," the minister said.

The MV Barima left the capital, Georgetown, on Saturday afternoon local time, headed for Port Kaituma, in the north of the country.

The 40m-long (131ft) vessel was built in 1939, according to a listing on VesselFinder.

A survivor, Elena Moonsammy, told local news site Kiskadee Watch that the ferry had tilted after being hit by a large wave, with water quickly rushing in.

It started to take on water within seconds, she said.

A distress call was received at 23:01 (03:01 GMT Sunday), triggering a search operation involving government teams and privately owned boats.

Moonsammy said she had survived by clinging to a box floating amidst the debris.

She had tried to hold on to the hand of her two-year-old child but they had been separated.

Moonsammy said she had managed to save a woman, whom she urged to also hold on to the floating box.

At least 15 children were among those rescued. Small private boats were key in pulling at least 17 survivors from the sea.

The French army sent 12 divers, two doctors and a mechanic from nearby French Guiana to aid the search-and-rescue operation.

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

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jnlmek8reo, 9 days ago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While studying 70 patients in Israel over 58 years, Prof Laron has also observed and documented potential protection against cancer. He is currently head of endocrinology research at Clalit- Schneider Children's Medical Center.

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

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

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

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

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

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

She underwent surgery and received chemotherapy treatment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Chinese graduate accused of being Mexico's 'fentanyl king'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39ymggglxeo, 14 days ago

"Brother Wang was very important. He was number one," says Enrique, chuckling knowingly.

Enrique – not his real name – describes himself as a high-level co-ordinator in Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's most powerful criminal organisations.

On the outskirts of Sinaloa's state capital city, Culiacán, sitting in a parked car where no-one can overhear him, he explains how ingredients to make the deadly drug fentanyl are shipped thousands of miles from Chinese factories to laboratories in Mexico. Members of his cartel credit Brother Wang with establishing this supply chain.

Known in the criminal world as the "king of fentanyl", Brother Wang is a 39-year-old Chinese national, whose real name is Zhang Zhidong, according to the US Department of Justice. Arrested in Mexico in 2024, Zhang later made a dramatic escape before he was recaptured and extradited to the US in 2025.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin. It kills tens of thousands of people each year, mostly in the US, where the finished drug often ends up. A dose as small as a few grains of salt can be lethal.

US President Donald Trump has labelled fentanyl dealers "narco-terrorists", classified the drug and its components as weapons of mass destruction, and used the fentanyl trade as a reason for imposing tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada.

When Zhang appeared in court in New York in 2025, the Deputy Attorney General at the time, Todd Blanche, described him as one of "the world's most dangerous traffickers".

He also accused him of "running a global enterprise that pumped massive quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine" into the US and laundering "millions in narcotics proceeds".

Zhang has pleaded not guilty and is now awaiting trial. We contacted his lawyer, who declined to comment while the case was ongoing.

Cartel members and former colleagues agreed to speak to the BBC to give a rare glimpse into how they believe Zhang - a graduate of China's most prestigious university - allegedly became a key link in the chain between Chinese chemical manufacturers and Mexcian drugs laboratories.

Zhang the man

Zhang graduated from the prestigious Peking University in Beijing with a Spanish degree in 2010, and a year later travelled to Mexico to work for a Chinese-owned company that mined iron ore. He soon secured a senior role.

Those that knew him at the time saw him as a bright young professional, with an appetite for life abroad.

"He was capable of negotiating with people, very resourceful, and able to adapt to all kinds of environments," says Alex – not his real name - who studied at the same university and later worked in the same mining company as Zhang in Mexico.

He says Zhang spoke excellent Spanish, with an instinct for street language and the ability to talk to anyone – always with a strong Beijing accent.

Alex says doing business in Mexico sometimes involved dealing with the underworld, including the cartels, which control significant areas of the country. Zhang was able to establish relationships with "whoever mattered locally - both the official side and the unofficial side", Alex says.

Zhang loved this aspect of Mexico, according to Alex, who paints a picture of a man drawn to risk and recklessness. He recalls him crashing his boss's car, unconcerned about repercussions, and describes how Zhang drove him out of town one night to shoot pistols at road signs on a deserted highway.

In 2013, the mining company collapsed and Alex returned to China but Zhang stayed in Mexico.

Viewers in the UK can see more on this story on Global Eye at 1900 on BBC Two.

Alex says that a year or two later Zhang began to post on the Peking University Spanish alumni group on WeChat, offering to change dollars at preferable rates. Alex believes he was laundering money.

In addition, cartel member Enrique says Zhang also got involved in drugs. Court filings in the US accuse Zhang of operating "a massive narcotics trafficking and money laundering organization" since June 2016.

Enrique believes Zhang got into a romantic relationship with a female relative of one of the cartel's leaders and suggests this helped him become close to its inner circle.

The supply chain

Another cartel member who ran errands for the organisation, Luis - not his real name - recalls a hot afternoon in 2019, when his bosses asked him to stand guard for a meeting where Zhang "came to offer his products".

Luis says these products were the precursors – the chemical building blocks – needed to manufacture fentanyl. He sees Zhang as the person who effectively introduced him to fentanyl and started this side of the group's business.

Luis says he soon became a fentanyl cook, making the drug in an clandestine laboratory. He says has seen at least five other cooks die in front of him, and believes this is because the substances they were handling seeped through gaps in their protective clothing.

"Sometimes people just pass out, and we have to carry them out of the room," he says.

Enrique describes how orders for precursors would be placed with Zhang, who he says used his contacts in China to secure the chemicals.

The ingredients would then be shipped by air or sea to Mexico, according to Enrique. He says his own network would then distribute them to fentanyl cooks, such as Luis, in the illicit laboratories in Sinaloa.

Pressed on whether he feels guilty for being involved in an industry that causes so many deaths, Enrique says one of his relatives died from a fentanyl overdose. "It shakes your conscience," he says, but adds, "work is work and we don't know another way to make a living".

When asked the same question, Luis says he once tried to stop working in the laboratory, but his boss told him the alternative was to go out on patrol. He says his boss gave him a choice: "You put on the vest, the gear, and you go out and fight - it's either that or working as a cook."

According to Mexican security agencies, Zhang ran illegal operations spanning the Americas, Europe, China and Japan.

Victoria Dittmar, a researcher at InSight Crime, a think tank, has spent years investigating the flow of precursor chemicals into Mexico. She says that brokers – the role it is suggested that Zhang played - sit at the crucial intersection between the chemical producers and the cartels.

She says that people with the kind of reach Zhang is said to have had are "quite unique" and "are key to the supply chain".

"He was a broker that connected Mexican trafficking organisations with Chinese suppliers of precursor chemicals," a world she says it's hard for outsiders to navigate.

"He also had a huge presence in the US," she says. "You don't see that often… one person that can connect three regions."

Mexican authorities said Zhang was responsible for exporting and distributing more than 1,000kg of cocaine, 1,800kg of fentanyl and 600kg of methamphetamine. They also accused him of handling more than $150 million in annual drug proceeds.

The US Department of Justice issued a press release in 2025 with details of the indictment against Zhang. As well as accusing Zhang of drug trafficking, it said he recruited people to open bank accounts on behalf of more than 100 shell companies.

It says they would pick up money, at various locations in the US "deposit that money into the shell company bank accounts, and wire the funds to other beneficiary accounts to be laundered outside of the United States".

At the other end of Zhang's alleged operations sits China. The country is one of the world's top producers and exporters of the precursor chemicals used to make synthetic drugs, according to a 2025 US State Department report.

It says China's chemical industry is "massive", with 160,000 companies, and despite steps by authorities to implement controls, oversight is "insufficiently staffed and equipped".

The Chinese embassy in Washington told the BBC that China is "one of the world's toughest countries on counternarcotics".

It noted that the country scheduled all fentanyl-related substances in 2019, which means they are tightly controlled by the government. They are not banned because some have legitimate uses across multiple industries.

The embassy said China's "extensive and in-depth" counternarcotics co-operation with the US had been "highly productive'.

Escape and arrest

Zhang's alleged involvement in the drugs trade came to an abrupt end when he was arrested in Mexico on 31 October 2024.

A judge took the controversial decision to place him under house arrest, but Zhang managed to slip out – reportedly through a hole in a wall – and flee by private jet to Cuba and then on to Russia.

Russian border officials detected his forged papers and he was sent back to Cuba, which returned him to Mexico, from where he was extradited to the United States.

His arrest made headlines around the world. The alumni network of Beijing's Peking University, where Zhang had studied Spanish, was stunned.

"Everybody was talking about it," says Alex. "It was such a shocking story and he's probably one of the most famous people Peking University produced."

In Culiacán, the cartel members say Zhang's absence was felt immediately.

Luis says it became "really hard to get the precursors".

"They took the man and that caused a mess," says Enrique. He says Zhang was "the one with the connections" in China, and the cartels had to "start from scratch and build a new route".

Around the same time, the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration began to detect a decline in fentanyl purity, which it said was "consistent with indicators that many Mexico-based fentanyl cooks are having difficulty obtaining some key precursor chemicals".

But disruption in drug supply chains is usually temporary, in what Dittmar describes as a "constant game of cat and mouse".

Her research has tracked how, when brokers are removed or key chemicals controlled, fentanyl producers adapt by finding substitutes and learning new processes.

Individuals in the supply chain can also be replaced – even, according to the cartel members, ones as deeply and widely connected as Zhang is alleged to have been.

Enrique says there is already someone in the frame – another Chinese person, but he says he can't say more "for my own safety".

Another cartel member, who describes himself as a coordinator responsible for moving goods and personnel within the cartel, says that although "all this started because of him [Brother Wang]… he left lots of connections to help us keep going".

"If he's gone, someone else will step in… the business will not stop."

Additional Reporting by Ruth Evans and Miguel Angel Vega

Cuban dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara goes into exile in US

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2k77p2r1xo, 7 days ago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Four Palestinians and two Israelis killed in West Bank shooting

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2rxmye4k3o, yesterday

At least four Palestinians and two Israelis have been killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank - the deadliest single incident there in months.

There are conflicting accounts of the sequence of events in the northern village of Tal. Palestinians told the BBC that residents confronted Jewish settlers who were attacking them. An eyewitness said soldiers then arrived and started shooting.

Israel's military said it had responded to reports that hikers had been attacked. It said "terrorists stole the weapon" of a security guard and killed him, before being killed by soldiers. The other three killed were members of the same Palestinian family.

A second Israeli, a soldier, was also killed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later said that it was preparing for "extensive counterterrorism operational activity in the sector".

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.

Ahmed Zeidan, an eyewitness, told the BBC the latest incident began early in the morning, when locals in Tal rushed to confront about 30 settlers who were attacking Palestinian homes.

He said hand-to-hand clashes broke out in the presence of Israeli soldiers.

A local leader of the ruling Palestinian Authority's Fatah party, Essam Saifi, told Reuters news agency that settlers opened fire before Israeli forces arrived and also started shooting.

Palestinian officials said several other Palestinians were wounded.

The IDF said Palestinians began the attack.

It said soldiers had gone to Tal following a report of an attack on Israeli civilians who were hiking in the area - part of which falls in an area of the West Bank under full control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the other part under PA administrative control and Israeli security control.

The military says that the hike was not co-ordinated with them.

A security guard from a nearby settler outpost had gone to the scene and had his gun snatched by a Palestinian who used it against the Israelis, killing him, the IDF says.

Soldiers then "eliminated the terrorist who executed the terror attack", the IDF added.

He was one of four members of the same family killed "in the exchange of fire", said the head of the army's central command, Maj Gen Avi Bluth.

Palestinian officials said several other Palestinians were wounded.

Two video clips have been widely shared by local media - but not independently verified.

One appears to show a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and armed Israelis dressed in civilian clothes as gunshots are fired and a group of Israeli civilians, including children, watch and heckle. Armed Israelis in civilian clothes then push and kick back two Palestinian men.

The second video shot from a different angle appears to show that both men tried to grab the guns - one of them successfully. There is a chaotic scene and several gunshots can be heard as he appears to fire it and troops also respond.

The IDF has said a 27-year-old soldier "fell during operational activity in the area of the village". The circumstances of his death remain unclear.

The Israeli ambulance service said two Israelis were also wounded.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said it "condemns in the strongest terms the massacre" in Tal.

It said "the escalation of settler terrorism is a direct consequence of the protection, political backing, and complete impunity granted by the Israeli government and occupation forces".

"Official Israeli incitement continues to fuel and encourage these crimes, creating an environment in which settler violence flourishes without accountability," it added.

An AFP reporter at the site, south-west of Nablus, said roadblocks had been set up and troops were searching for additional suspects.

The IDF later said it raided a hospital in Nablus and "apprehended two terrorists who took part in the shooting attack" and who had gone to the hospital for treatment.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to act "with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them".

He called an emergency meeting with security officials, and reinforcements have been sent to the area, close to the settlement of Havat Gilad.

Netanyahu's office issued a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying the home of the Palestinian shooter in Tal would be demolished and that the legalisation of unauthorised settler outposts and the establishment of new ones would be speeded up.

Outposts are wildcat settlements, often just a cluster of caravans set up on a hilltop. They are illegal under international law and also Israeli law when they are built without official approval.

On X, Yair Golan, the leader of Israel's Democrats Party - who is a reserve major general in the IDF - described the joint statement from Netanyahu and Katz as "a clear intent to set the area ablaze".

After the attack in Tal, there have been reports of violent confrontations between dozens of armed settlers and Palestinians in other nearby villages in the northern West Bank. A number of Palestinians have been wounded with one shot in the head in Farata, local medics say.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the villages of "the murderers" must be treated in the same way as Gaza.

"For every Jew murdered, the enemy must suffer the loss of land and homes," he said.

While Palestinians are routinely killed and injured during confrontations with Israeli settlers, the killing of Israelis by Palestinians has tipped the West Bank into a dangerous moment.

Since October 2023, 1,114 Palestinians have been killed there, the vast majority by the IDF, the UN says. It says at least 35 of the deaths have involved attacks by settlers.

The UN says 41 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.

Saudis must recognise Israel for nuclear deal, says Trump

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwye71yq8wwo, 3 days ago

The deal between the US and Saudi Arabia to help the Gulf kingdom develop nuclear energy is dependent on Riyadh recognising the State of Israel, President Donald Trump has said.

"The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)... which pertains only to non-military use... will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords," Trump said on Truth Social.

It was not immediately clear if the condition of joining the accords was stipulated in the text of the nuclear deal - which has not been released - or that Saudi Arabia had agreed to that condition.

Saudi Arabia has not responded to Trump's remarks so far.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Trump had discussed the condition to Saudi leaders on numerous previous occasions.

"He has said if they don't join the Abraham Accords, the deal is off," she said. "So we'll continue to have those conversations with our Saudi counterparts moving forward."

Trump's comments come come after criticism from experts that the US-Saudi deal announced on Wednesday could run the risk of future nuclear proliferation in an already unstable region.

Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed similar concerns, though Trump's Republican Party controls both the upper and lower chambers and opponents of the deal do not appear to have the votes needed to block it.

According to the US Department of Energy, it includes a "peaceful nuclear co-operation agreement" and a "bilateral safeguards agreement".

"Together, these two agreements lay the legal foundation for a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership that advances several priority economic and strategic objectives, including nuclear nonproliferation," a statement from the department said.

It said the agreement would be sent to the US Congress for review.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Thursday that it was aware of US and Saudi plans for a "bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement and the plan to ask the IAEA to implement verification measures in relation to this".

"We look forward to receiving the request for such verification and to working with the US and KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] in ensuring the implementation of those measures."

During Trump's first term as US president, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords, resulting in a historic normalisation of relations between Israel and two Arab nations - the first in decades.

Sudan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have since also signed them, too.

Saudi Arabia has previously said it will not do so without the establishment of a Palestinian state, but the White House said the deal would be off if Riyadh did not join the accords.

Israel has welcomed Trump's statement.

Posting on X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Saudi Arabia joining the accords "would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East".

The statement did not mention the nuclear deal. However, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat said previously his country "can manage it" if Saudi Arabia had nuclear power for peaceful means.

Others were more critical. Former Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, told the paper: "Every military nuclear program begins with a civilian one."

Israel itself is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, but it neither confirms nor denies that this is the case.

The US-Saudi deal is described as a "peaceful nuclear co-operation agreement" that will provide "great access for American companies in the Saudi nuclear energy programme" by the US energy department.

The nuclear issue has been at the centre of the months-long US-Israeli conflict with Iran which has for years denied Western accusations that it aims to acquire nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told CBS News in 2018 that his own nation was not planning to acquire a nuclear weapon, but that "without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible".

Earlier US media reports suggested the deal could allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium in the future - which can be used as fuel for power plants, but also potentially to make nuclear bombs. However, Trump's remarks appear to deny this.

Rosemary Kelanic, the director of the Middle East programme at the US-based Defense Priorities think tank, said it would be "quite shocking" if the US were to allow Saudi Arabia uranium enrichment facilities.

"The US has never done that before. We have never helped another country enrich on their own soil," she said, adding that this was because "if you can produce your own nuclear fuel, you become a much bigger risk" for building nuclear weapons.

Oil prices hit $100 for the first time since May

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2djnzrqk2o, 3 days ago

Oil prices hit $100 a barrel for the first time since May as the escalating conflict in the Middle East reignited fears over global energy supplies.

Brent crude - the global benchmark for oil prices - rose more than 6% on Thursday following several days of increases as the US stepped up military strikes against Iran.

Prices spiked after Houthi militia in Yemen attacked oil tankers in the Red Sea, threatening a key export route that Saudi Arabia has used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

Gas prices have also risen steadily over the past month, with the benchmark UK gas price currently at around 150 per therm, up from around 98p at the end of June.

Oil prices had been falling following a temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran.

They dropped back to levels last seen before the US and Israel began military action against Iran on 28 February.

However, the ceasefire has failed and this week US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the people in charge in Iran were "not ready to make a deal".

The ongoing conflict risks pushing up inflation for many countries, including UK and the US leading to higher prices for consumers.

Higher oil prices typically lead to petrol and diesel becoming more expensive.

While drivers are affected directly, households could also see prices of other goods, such as food, increase due to businesses passing on higher transportation costs to customers.

Inflation has fallen both in the UK - down to 2.6% in the year to June helped by slowing diesel and petrol prices - and in the US to 3.5%.

But questions remain whether the slow down will prove short-lived due to the renewed conflict in the Middle East.

New data released on Thursday showed that UK petrol prices have risen by 5p a litre since the beginning of July, hitting reaching almost £1.56.

Diesel is at £1.72 a litre, on average, according to the RAC.

Average gasoline prices in the US have surpassed $4 a gallon once more, up from $3.92 a month ago, according to motorist advocacy group AAA.

"More expensive fuel and energy can ripple through the wider economy, increasing costs for businesses and ultimately feeding through into the price of food and other goods," said Jonathan Raymond, investment manager at Quilter Cheviot.

"This creates another headache for central banks as they continue their battle against inflation.

"If energy prices remain elevated, policymakers may come under pressure to keep interest rates higher for longer or even raise them. This would come as a blow to mortgage holders and borrowers already feeling the strain."

The Bank of England, which sets UK interest rates, has held them at 3.75% in its last four meetings.

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said he believed the Bank will "almost certainly" hold them again. But he said analysts still expected that interest rates could be cut next year if energy price rises ease.

Kevin Warsh, the newly-appointed chair of the US Federal Reserve, last week told Congress that the central bank had "no tolerance to persistently elevated inflation".

US President Donald Trump had pushed Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, to cut interest rates.

Trump has made it clear he expects Warsh to fulfil his demand for reductions in borrowing costs for Americans.

But the Fed held US interest rates between 3.5% and 3.75% at Warsh's first meeting last month. He also told Congress that he was committed to "restoring price stability" in the wake of the Middle East conflict impacting prices.

US signs landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj03r59z73po, 3 days ago

The US and Saudi Arabia have signed a landmark deal that will allow the Gulf kingdom to develop a civilian nuclear programme.

The deal is described as a "peaceful nuclear co-operation agreement" that will provide "great access for American companies in the Saudi nuclear energy program" by the US energy department.

Text from the deal has not been made public, but US media report that it could allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium in the future - which can be used as fuel for power plants, but also to make nuclear bombs.

Experts say that would mark a first for the US and could run the risk of future nuclear proliferation in an already unstable region.

The US Department of Energy said a "bilateral safeguards agreement" had been signed along with the co-operation deal.

The Saudi government also released a statement saying the deal "represents an extension of existing co-operation between the two countries in the energy sector", noting that it comes after the Saudi leader visited Washington last November.

The nuclear issue has been at the centre of the months-long US-Israeli conflict with Iran. The two nations say one of the reasons they attacked Iran in February was to prevent the country from ever developing a nuclear weapon - something that Tehran denies planning to do.

Wednesday's announcement came as fighting escalates between the US and Iran. Saudi Arabia, a longtime US ally, hosts several US bases that have been targeted by Iranian attacks. It also comes two days after Iran's allies in Yemen, the Houthis, announced a "maritime blockade" against the kingdom.

Specific details of the nuclear deal have not been given but earlier media reports suggested that, after undertaking a joint study with the US, Saudi Arabia may be allowed to enrich uranium on its soil to produce fuel at a US-built enrichment facility, instead of relying on imported fuel.

This could be worth billions of dollars to the US, whose companies could be involved in building a facility to produce enriched uranium, which can be used as fuel for power plants but also to make nuclear bombs.

"Rest assured, these agreements uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety and nonproliferation, while relying on the world's best nuclear technology and scientists, designed right here in the United States," US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said.

The energy department said the deal would advance both "US and regional security", and would strengthen America's "competitive edge in civil nuclear technology".

Nuclear experts and former officials in Israel - the US's top ally in the Middle East - have voiced concern that the plan could ultimately lead to Saudi Arabia being able to develop a nuclear weapon - though other experts say that path would likely take decades and spark pushback from the international community.

Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat said his country "can manage it" if Saudi Arabia had nuclear power for peaceful means.

Israel itself is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, but it neither confirms nor denies that this is the case.

The agreement will now be sent to the US Congress for review.

Some lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are expected to oppose the deal, though Trump's Republican Party controls both the upper and lower chambers and opponents of the deal do not appear to have the votes needed to block it.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rebuffed concerns that it could advance Saudi Arabia's ability to develop nuclear arms.

"The US is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation," Rubio told reporters.

Several Democrats opposed to the deal pointed out that, during his time as a senator, Rubio had endorsed a law - the "No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act" - which required Congressional approval of any nuclear deal.

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward Markey condemned Rubio and Trump as "allowing Saudi Arabia, a belligerent and authoritarian nation, to develop nuclear weapons technologies while starting a war with Iran under the guise of preventing an Iranian nuclear bomb", adding that their "hypocrisy is matched only by their recklessness".

If an enrichment provision is included, it would distinguish this agreement from another one struck by the US with the United Arab Emirates in 2009, under which the UAE does not produce its own fuel and accepts a host of other restrictions.

For that reason, the agreement is also expected to attract concern from nuclear non-proliferation campaigners, whose ultimate aim is to prevent an increase in the number of nuclear weapons worldwide.

But energy sector expert Bob McNally, a former member of US President George W Bush's National Security Council, suggested the US was not creating a "great" security risk.

"I think we have a good record of working with countries to responsibly develop their nuclear sectors," he told the BBC.

Saudi Arabia has been lobbying for such a deal for years, but Washington had held out on the proviso that it recognises Israel, a key US ally, and normalises diplomatic and economic relations with it.

But that demand appears to have now been dropped, according to US media reports.

Trump has worked to cultivate a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia during his time in the White House.

Along with the strategic and commercial gains likely to come with this deal, one possible reason for this agreement happening now is that Russia and China have reportedly been in discussions to strike a similar deal and the US might not have wanted to miss out.

The deal marks a major victory for Saudi Arabia, and it has the potential to reshape power dynamics in the Middle East - though not in the immediate future.

Follow the twists and turns of Trump's second term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's weekly US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Houthi attacks raise fears of wider Middle East conflict and more global economic damage

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgve0vxy1yo, 3 days ago

Yemen's Houthi fighters claim to have attacked shipping in the Red Sea - a move that threatens to further escalate the already volatile situation in the Middle East.

By forcing ships to turn back from the narrow Bab El Mandeb strait, they have threatened to choke off the main maritime route from Europe to Asia.

It comes as US-Iran strikes continue and while a deal to develop Saudi Arabia's nuclear industry prompts fears of an arms race.

So is the Middle East becoming more dangerous?

So far, 2026 is sadly proving to be one of the more violent years for parts of the Middle East.

For 13 consecutive nights, US Central Command (Centcom) has carried out air strikes on Iranian targets.

"Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites, and maritime capabilities to further diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz," Centcom said in a statement on Thursday night.

The Gulf Arab states, in normal times a haven of low-crime tranquility and minimal taxation, are having to learn to live with constant attacks from their well-armed neighbour across the water: the Islamic Republic of Iran.

And now the Iran-backed Houthis of Yemen have entered the fray, after a 2022 ceasefire with neighbouring Saudi Arabia appeared to have broken down.

Two Saudi vessels were hit by missiles in the Red Sea this week, while the Houthis claim to have turned back 10 others after warning ships to avoid Saudi ports, disrupting shipping passing through the strategic Bab El Mandeb Strait that links the southern end of the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.

This matters because, on top of the ongoing disruption to global energy and fertiliser supplies caused by Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, it is a further obstacle to vital maritime trade that will soon impact the global economy.

Saudi Arabia has been trying to distance itself from the Iran-US war and has been largely spared the Iranian drone and ballistic missile attacks that have rained down this month on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

With the Strait of Hormuz closed, the Saudis have been able to partially mitigate the disruption to their oil exports by shipping millions of barrels a day through the East-West Pipeline that traverses the entire breadth of their huge country, from the oilfields of Eastern Province to the Red Sea export terminal at Yanbu' Al-Bahr.

From there, they have been able to ship oil in bulk to customers in Asia using tankers that depart south, past Yemen and that Bab El Mandeb Strait, and out into the open Indian Ocean.

But not anymore - at least not while the Houthis are threatening vessels that pass by their coast.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to "take care of the Houthis" but that has not worked before - and without a deal, it will not work this time.

The Houthis are a Shia tribal group from the far north of Yemen, based around the city of Saada.

In 2014, taking advantage of the turmoil of the recent Arab Spring protests that rocked the Middle East, they marched south and took over the capital, Sanaa. They have since taken over most of the populated parts of Yemen, including the strategic port of Hodeidah.

The Saudis went to war with the Houthis in 2015 in support of the legitimate but ousted Yemeni government, as they did not want an Iranian-backed militia in power on their southern border.

They expected that their vastly superior, Western-supplied air force would soon be able to bomb the Houthis to the negotiating table and that the rebels would quickly sue for peace.

But the Houthis never capitulated, despite horrific civilian casualties largely caused by years of air strikes, and today they are firmly entrenched in power.

For two years, from 2023 to 2025, the Houthis attacked what they claimed was Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea, action which they said was in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.

They also launched powerful modern missiles at the US and British warships that tried to subdue them.

Just like the Iranian coastline around the Strait of Hormuz, Yemen's Red Sea coastal mountains contain an infinite number of caves, tunnels and hiding places for munitions that can be brought out at short notice to attack shipping.

The Houthi campaign caused a major diversion of global shipping and higher shipping costs, and triggered military intervention by the US and UK to protect maritime commerce.

There is now a fear this could happen again.

So what effect is all this having on the wider region?

Firstly, it is important to note that two countries previously wracked by ruinous civil wars – Iraq and Syria – are now largely peaceful and stable, at least compared to where they were.

The Gaza War is technically in a ceasefire, although Gazans continue to be killed in air strikes, while Israeli settlements, illegal under international law, are proliferating across the occupied West Bank. Israel's war with Hezbollah in Lebanon is on hold as the two countries continue negotiations.

But right now it is the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula that are worrying analysts the most.

Trump has got himself into a war with Iran that he cannot seem to find a way out of.

Night after night of US airstrikes are failing to force Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to give up control of the Strait of Hormuz.

With every air strike, the IRGC hits back at those neighbouring Arab states that host US bases, trying to drive a wedge between them and Washington.

From an economic perspective, the clock is ticking. Every day that Gulf oil, gas, fertiliser and other essential products cannot get through the Strait of Hormuz to markets puts pressure on global supply chains and eventually prices.

If the Bab El Mandeb Strait is also going to be shut for some time then the impact on the world economy will be exacerbated further.

From a military perspective, tensions have been raised another notch by the deal announced on Wednesday, paving the way for US firms to help Saudi Arabia develop its own domestic civil nuclear power programme.

There is no indication that the Saudis will use this as a first step towards building a nuclear bomb.

But there are still fears it could potentially trigger an arms race across the region in the future, with both Turkey and Egypt stepping up their own nuclear activities as they seek some form of deterrence and protection.

The Middle East has suffered numerous spikes of violence in its recent history and this is not the worst of those.

But taken together, there are a number of worrying strands here that - without a lasting, comprehensive deal between the US and Iran - could well indicate a prolonged period of instability for the region.

'What was their crime?': BBC visits Iran school where strike killed 120 children

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewrx0ldlkko, 4 days ago

This report contains distressing descriptions of the deaths of children.

Amaineh Nademi walks carefully through what is left of her old school. Chunks of broken concrete hang precariously from the damaged upper floor. A few classrooms are still standing, their brightly coloured walls decorated with painted balloons and flowers.

The 33-year-old teacher knows exactly what was where - the girls' classrooms on the upper floor, the boys' classrooms below, the headteacher's office, the prayer room.

Rubble is all that remains of her classroom, where she taught first-grade girls at Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, a small city in southern Iran.

On 28 February, in the opening hours of the US-Israeli war with Iran, a strike on the school transformed an ordinary Saturday morning into one of the conflict's defining tragedies - and its deadliest single incident for civilians.

In total, 156 people, including 120 children, have been confirmed killed, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child, according to the Minab prosecutor's office.

Experts say evidence indicates that US forces hit the school, which is next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound that satellite images show was struck several times.

The US has not admitted responsibility, though US media have reported that military investigators believe it is likely that US forces carried out the strike unintentionally.

The pain of what happened here is still raw. Teachers tell us they pray at the site every day. Rescue workers are still searching for remains of those killed here.

Much of the upper floor collapsed into the one below. "You can't call it a school," says Amaineh – just "walls that smell of death, grief and the blood that was shed here".

The Iranian authorities were keen for us to visit the school – it is evidence, they say, that a campaign presented by Washington as an attack on Iran's military and security apparatus has instead inflicted a devastating cost on civilians.

'We were all sent flying'

The school day had begun as usual, Amaineh says.

Because it was the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the children gathered inside the prayer hall to recite the Quran, she recalls, before she began teaching her pupils a new letter of the Persian alphabet.

But, as the first attacks of the war unfolded across Iran, she says the headteacher announced the school would be closing, and teachers began contacting parents, urging them to collect their children.

Only five of Amaineh's 15 first-grade pupils were left in her classroom on the upper floor, she says, when she first heard an explosion not far from the school. She says she was in the corridor and rushed back for the children.

"Just as I went to leave, a missile struck the school," says Amaineh. "Something hit my head and my students' heads - we were all sent flying."

Then, she says, thick black smoke filled the classroom: "I couldn't even see the pupils I was holding in my arms. We couldn't breathe."

She says she remembers hearing another explosion, as well as the sounds of screaming, children crying and then the school itself collapsing – "destroyed all at once".

"Blood was pouring from me and the students," she adds.

When the smoke briefly cleared, she says she passed the injured children down to people below and clambered past fire and rubble towards the school gate, where she saw a crowd of parents. Many had rushed to the site without even putting shoes on, she recalls.

She says she could not understand why the parents were running towards the school, believing in her shock and confusion that everyone else had already escaped the building: "I didn't know that all of them were under the rubble."

Amaineh had taught first grade at the school for six years. She lists the names of students and colleagues killed that day: Adrina from her first grade class, who she says was killed on the stairs with her mother, Fatemeh in second grade, and many others including students in sixth grade she remembers teaching the alphabet to, as well as the headteacher, deputy head, PE teacher and Quran teacher.

'Find my son'

Within minutes, emergency workers began arriving.

Reza Besharati, a worker with the Iranian Red Crescent Society, says he was among the first rescuers on the scene, and found the roads near the school filled with traffic as desperate families rushed to look for their children.

Minab is a small city. As Reza made his way through the crowd and into the wreckage, he says he recognised people he knew, including some of his own relatives.

"We started to find the people, thinking maybe someone would be alive," he says. "But unfortunately, nobody was."

He says the dead were found grimly disfigured: "Maybe just a hand, maybe just a leg… Nobody had a complete body." Many families recognised their children by their shoes or clothing, he adds.

One of Reza's relatives was searching and begging "just find my child, find my son", he says. "I couldn't tell her that her son was not alive. We were all just crying."

Reza says the sights he saw while searching the collapsed building have not left him: "I couldn't sleep for a few days," he says. "When I close my eyes… I just remember these things that I have seen here."

Strike investigated

As details of the strike emerged, President Donald Trump first blamed Iran, without providing evidence.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military was investigating and that US forces "never target civilian targets". He later announced a higher-level investigation, led by an officer from outside US Central Command (Centcom). The Trump administration has still not released the findings.

Several US media outlets have reported - citing people familiar with the US military investigation - that preliminary findings concluded it was likely that outdated data supplied by the US Defence Intelligence Agency led to the school being treated as part of a military site.

Expert video analysis has shown the IRGC complex next to the school was hit by a precision guided Tomahawk missile - a type of cruise missile that neither Israel nor Iran is known to possess. Satellite imagery showed the school and several buildings in the compound had been hit, and verified videos showed the area was hit by a series of strikes. US military maps also confirm American operations in southern Iran – including the Minab area - at the time.

Historical satellite images show the school area was previously part of the IRGC complex, but has been walled off since 2016 and has its own entrances and yards.

Also, information indicating the site was a school was publicly available online. Archived snapshots of the websites for the girls' and boys' sections of the school – taken in the months before the attack - include the address of the site.

The head of Centcom told a congressional committee in May, without giving further detail, that the investigation was "complex" as the school was "on an active IRGC cruise missile base" – which Iran's foreign ministry rejected as a "baseless fabrication".

The IRGC runs some community and medical facilities in addition to its extensive military, security and economic activities. Local residents have told BBC Persian that the site had previously been a base for an IRGC naval brigade, but that they believed its military use had ceased several years ago. Photographs show buildings on the compound included a clinic and a car wash.

The BBC approached the Department of Defense and the US military for comment. Officials said the investigation was ongoing and there were no further updates.

'Identified by her socks'

A short drive from the ruined school is the cemetery where many of the pupils and teachers are buried.

Every evening, families gather beside the graves. Mothers wipe dust from photographs of their children. Parents sit and pray long after darkness has fallen.

Around them, brothers and sisters play between the headstones of siblings whose lives were cut short.

Masoumeh Mehran Shekhabadi comes to visit her nine-year-old daughter, Setayesh, every day, often staying long into the night.

She was among the parents who ran to the school after the strike. "There was no school," she says, her voice breaking. "There was only smoke, children's hair, a hand on one side, a foot on the other. They had been torn to pieces."

Masoumeh adds: "I kept calling out, not only to Setayesh, but to all the children: 'Children, where are you?'"

Setayesh's family did not receive confirmation of her death until the early hours of the following morning, Masoumeh says. She remembers being repeatedly asked what colour socks the child had been wearing, and replying that they were cream. Setayesh was then identified by her socks, she says.

The nine-year-old had wanted to be a teacher, her mother adds. "She would line up her dolls on the couch and say: 'I am your teacher. I'm in primary school now, so I am a teacher.'"

As for many parents here, grief has become intertwined with anger. "May Trump be destroyed, so these children's blood is not wasted," Masoumeh says.

'They'd gone to learn'

Iran's government has repeatedly invoked Minab in speeches, international forums and state media coverage - even naming a plane carrying negotiators "Minab-168", in reference to the death toll previously given by officials.

The attack offers the Islamic Republic a powerful counter-narrative to Washington's description of its campaign.

The war has divided Iranians. Some celebrated when the air strikes began, angered by the government's history of detaining dissidents and using lethal force during repeated waves of protest. They hoped military pressure from outside might finally weaken or even bring down the regime.

Some opponents of the government have told the BBC they saw the strike at Minab as a huge blow. It made the idea of a clean, surgical war impossible to sustain and allowed the authorities to present themselves as the defenders of the Iranian people against foreign attack.

In Minab, Amaineh visits the cemetery, walking among the graves of her former pupils.

On a nearby memorial wall are the faces of the children, staff and parents who left home that Saturday morning and never returned.

Setayesh's mother still sits beside the grave of her little girl.

"What was these children's crime? Did they carry weapons? A pencil, a book, a notebook and a schoolbag. They had no weapons… They'd gone to learn," she says.

Additional reporting by Jasmin Dyer

Nawal Al-Maghafi is reporting from Iran on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian Service. These restrictions apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran.

Trump threatens to target Iran's bridges and power plants if Hormuz attacks persist

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrv0p37k8jo, 4 days ago

President Donald Trump has threatened that the US would destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant any time its forces attack a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Potential targets would include ones "located next to, or in," the capital Tehran, he said in a post on Truth Social.

The military response would follow any form of attack on shipping in the vital waterway, "whether it be by missile, rocket, drone, or any other device or weapon".

His threat follows the US launching strikes on Iran for the 11th consecutive night, with Tehran warning the US against targeting its nuclear facilities.

Iranian state media reported that air defences were activated in the capital Tehran. Explosions were also reported in the north-western city of Tabriz, the south-eastern ports of Chabahar and Konarak, and in the southern city of Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant.

Iran, which has retaliated against the US and its Middle East allies, warned of reprisals after Trump said the US would soon hit an underground nuclear site near Natanz.

Kuwait's army said on Wednesday that its air defences had engaged with drone attacks from Iran, while Bahrain and Jordan said they had also intercepted drone and missile strikes.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the US would "defend" ships going through the straits getting "blown up".

He added that US officials were "open to diplomacy" but Iran did not seem serious about that.

The price of oil jumped in response to the latest escalation, reaching $94 on Wednesday.

Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned the US on Wednesday evening that "the equation of this war is clear: either all or none!

"In a region where we do not sell oil, no-one will sell oil. If our security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe, and the security of the strait is in the absence of American forces. We have repeatedly said that the situation of the strait will not return to pre-war conditions," Ghalibaf wrote in a post on X.

Rubio earlier said Washington was still willing to engage in diplomacy with Tehran, but added that he did not believe Iran was serious about talks.

Prior to that, the US president said the next military target could be a complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, an underground nuclear site where Iran is suspected of building an undeclared enrichment facility.

Trump also threatened to "take care of" the Houthi rebels if the Iran-backed militant group in Yemen followed through on its threatened blockade of Saudi ports.

A Houthi media official had earlier said they were closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait - the Red Sea's southern gateway - to Saudi vessels.

The Red Sea has become crucial for oil shipments from Saudi Arabia during the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Following the Houthi announcement, two tankers which had just loaded Saudi crude bound for China and India at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu made U-turns on Tuesday, heading instead towards the Suez Canal, British maritime risk management group Vanguard said.

The threat from the Houthis risks further disruption to international shipping, with hostilities in the region having already led to global fuel prices fluctuating significantly.

But three weeks after it was signed, Trump declared the ceasefire "over" after Iranian attacks on ships in Hormuz, and US strikes in response.

The war with Iran has cost the US some $37.5bn (£28bn) so far - a rise of nearly $8bn since the last estimate in May, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday.

Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hegseth said military training would have to be curtailed unless lawmakers approved an urgent funding boost.

House Republicans on Wednesday approved a $95bn budget package that mostly would go to funding the Iran war but also includes a Trump-backed bill changing voting regulations in the US. The measure was passed with only Republican support and faces an uphill battle in the narrowly divided Senate.

Republican Senator John Thune on Tuesday defended the financial needs by the Trump administration, arguing Iran was "violating international law by blocking the shipping lanes and the Strait of Hormuz" and that Trump was "within his authority".

"In the meantime, I think most of us, at least, believe that we ought to support our men and women in uniform and hope and pray that they're successful," he said of the funding request.

Trump attended a dignified transfer ceremony on Wednesday in the city of Dover, Delaware, for the bodies of US servicepeople recently killed in the Middle East. He earlier said Iran would pay for American fatalities "many times over".

On Tuesday, the Pentagon gave the name of a fourth soldier believed to have been killed in recent days.

It said Sgt Angel S Rampersad, 28, who previously was declared missing after an Iranian strike in Jordan, was thought to have died alongside two others in the same strike.

Yemen's Houthis attack Saudi tanker as US launches more Iran strikes

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpw9xzx9r4ko, 3 days ago

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi movement has said its forces attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea that had "violated" its blockade of Saudi ports, as the US carried out a 12th consecutive night of strikes on Iran.

The official Saudi news agency confirmed that one tanker was hit late on Wednesday, causing a fire.

US President Donald Trump warned the Houthis on Thursday that if they did so again, the US would inflict "major military punishment" upon both them and Iran.

Iranian state media said two people were killed in US strikes on Wednesday night, while Jordan and Kuwait intercepted missiles and drones launched by Iran.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned the UK that any base used to attack it was a "legitimate target" following reports that US long-range B-1 bombers used in the strikes on Iran overnight had flown out of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

In its response, the UK government said: "Our Armed Forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it's on our soil or from abroad."

The statement added that new Prime Minister Andy Burnham "was notified of the decision taken last week to extend the existing agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region, including US defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz".

The IRGC also said a tanker caught fire following an explosion in a mined route in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway in the Gulf that is effectively closed.

Oil prices increased sharply following the latest developments in the region, with the cost of a barrel of Brent crude hitting $100 - the highest level since the end of May.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group targeted the Saudi-flagged tankers Encelia and Layla with missiles and drones.

Sarea added that the Houthis would "continue their naval operations against the Saudi enemy" and "persist in enforcing the 'siege for a siege' equation".

Early on Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency confirmed that the Encelia was "targeted while sailing in the Red Sea, resulting in a fire at the bow of the vessel".

Citing an unnamed official source at the Saudi Transport General Authority, it described the attack as a violation of international laws and conventions. All of the Encelia's crew members were safe, it reported.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that an "unknown projectile" struck a tanker about 130km (70 nautical miles) south-west of al-Shuqaiq, on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, at 20:00 GMT (23:00 local time). The attack caused a fire on board but no casualties, it said.

Data from MarineTraffic shows Encelia departed the Saudi port of Yanbu on Monday and sailed south, briefly pausing close to the port of Jeddah before continuing towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow waterway off Yemen's south-western coast that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, according to BBC Verify.

Shortly after 19:11 GMT on Wednesday, the tanker began to slow down and sail east. At 20:11 the ship reported being "Not Under Command" before coming to a complete stop just before 22:30 close to the Farasan Islands, about 80km south-west of al-Shuqaiq.

There has so far been no confirmation of an attack on the other Saudi-flagged tanker, Layla.

Data from MarineTraffic shows it departed Yanbu on 14 July and reported its destination as the Saudi port of Jizan, with an estimated arrival date of 16 July. Layla last broadcast its location on Friday about 90km east of the Farasan Islands.

A number of other oil tankers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have been changing course since the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia on Monday. Sarea claimed the Houthis had "forced approximately 10 ships to retreat and return".

The Houthis said the blockade was in retaliation for a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in the territory they control in north-western Yemen, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport last week that they blamed on the kingdom.

The blockade and tanker attacks have the potential to widen the war between the US, Israel and Iran, and to further disrupt global energy supplies and maritime trade.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed because of Iranian attacks, Saudi Arabia has used its east-west oil pipeline to increase exports via the Red Sea in recent months.

Soon after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis began attacking merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with missiles, drones and small boats, saying they were acting in support of the Palestinians.

Four ships were sunk, nine crew members were killed, and commercial traffic through the Bab al-Mandab Strait hit a record low as shipping companies stopped using the Suez Canal and rerouted their vessels around southern Africa instead.

Although the Houthis paused their attacks in response to the Gaza ceasefire last October, the number of ships moving through the strait has yet to return to previous levels.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that the Houthis had "acted very responsibly" since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

"Unfortunately, now they are starting up again, shooting at two Saudi Arabian ships last night," he added.

"Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier that the Houthis "apparently have gotten themselves suckered into this" by Iran, adding: "I hope they will de-escalate."

Mediator Oman said it was working to resume talks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

Not long after the Encelia was hit, the US military's Central Command (Centcom) said it had launched another wave of strikes on Iran at Trump's direction to further degrade the country's "ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels" in the Strait of Hormuz.

The strikes targeted "Iranian military targets, including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites and air defence assets," it added.

Iranian state media reported that two people were killed in a US missile strike on the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq, and that a military target was hit in the southern province of Bushehr, the location of Iran's only commercial nuclear power plant.

Iran's armed forces said they had targeted US military facilities in Kuwait and Jordan in response. Both countries said they had intercepted Iranian missiles and drones overnight.

Iran's military said the Strait of Hormuz was "completely closed" and that three tankers had attempted to transit the waterway using what it described as a mined and unsafe route.

One of the tankers caught fire after an explosion and two others turned back, it added.

It came after Trump had promised in another social media post that "any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz... the United States will bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant".

Iran war has cost US $37.5bn so far, Hegseth says, as Pentagon seeks billions more

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70gek2kqyno, 5 days ago

The war with Iran has cost the US some $37.5bn (£28bn) so far - an increase of nearly $8bn since the last estimate in May, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said.

Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee it was urgent that lawmakers approve another $87bn in congressional funding for the Pentagon, with $67bn of that destined for operations in the Middle East.

The hearing was disrupted several times by anti-war protesters and ended in a shouting match between the defence secretary and a senator.

It was Hegseth's first appearance on Capitol Hill since hostilities between the US and Iran restarted last week and comes after three American soldiers were confirmed killed in the region.

The White House asked Congress in April for $1.5tn for the Pentagon over the next fiscal year, which would raise American military spending to an all-time high in the modern era.

The US carried out an 11th consecutive day of strikes on Tuesday. Iran has been retaliating with strikes of its own against the US and its allies in the Middle East.

The defence secretary began Tuesday's testimony by saying, "we live in a dangerous world" and that it required bold and swift action.

After being interrupted by protesters, Hegseth went on to say his funding request came at an urgent time.

"Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls that threaten our ability to also simply pay our service members, rapidly replenish equipment and munitions, and sustain vital operations without disruption," Hegseth said.

Every dollar appropriated, he added, would be used to build the "lethality" of US military forces and "reinforce peace through strength".

Senate Appropriations Committee chairwoman Susan Collins, a Republican, questioned Hegseth over what the impact would be if the budget needs were not met.

Hegseth said current and future training for military members would need to be cut without the funds, as he repeatedly blamed former President Joe Biden's administration for what he said was an underfunded military.

The most senior Democrat on the committee, Patty Murray, pushed back on the funding request, saying it "does not make a lot of sense".

Asked by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin if he had an estimate for how much the war in Iran has cost so far, Hegseth gave the $37.5bn figure.

Two Democratic sources and a third source familiar with the matter told the BBC's media partner CBS that they believe the actual cost of the Iran war is much higher.

They said the current estimate did not include costs like construction for damaged American bases.

There had been no official government estimate of the US financial cost of the war since 12 May, when a senior Pentagon official put the figure at $29bn.

The Pentagon previously told lawmakers the war had cost the US some $11.3bn in the first week.

The Pentagon chief argued that if approved, the funding request would be a "generational investment" that would make sure the US avoided "playing catch-up" with the militaries of other nations.

Iran and the US agreed a ceasefire in April, but the truce broke down and hostilities resumed last week.

At Tuesday's hearing, New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand accused the Trump administration of seeking "unlimited money for bombs" from Congress, while American citizens cannot afford to "feed their families".

She asked why Hegseth was asking for tens of billions of dollars for a war the president said had already been won.

The hearing culminated in a shouting match between Hegseth and Democratic Senator Gary Peters.

Peters called Hegseth a "failure" and said the Trump administration had created another "forever war".

Hegseth told Peters "shame on you", adding that the Michigan senator had "Trump derangement syndrome".

Most Democrats are opposed to the supplemental funding request, and there is discontent in Republican ranks too.

Some of the fiscal hawks in the Republican Party want spending cuts elsewhere to offset the budget.

Either way, the House of Representatives leaves town on Thursday and the two chambers of Congress will not be jointly back in session until September.

Even if Republicans can muster the votes, it's going to be a couple of months before the Pentagon can get the funds.

During Hegseth's hearing, Trump - who was at the White House - posted a list of longer, bloodier US wars, noting their duration and death toll.

He wrote on Truth Social that 18 had died so far in the US war with Iran, which began on 28 February.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced the death of Sgt Michael Emmanuel Swinton, a 30-year-old US soldier, in Iraq. It also said another US soldier Sgt Angel Rampersad, 28, was believed dead in Jordan.

A day earlier, the military identified two other US service personnel killed in action in Jordan as Pfc Isabella Gonzales, 19, and 1st Lt Tyler Feehan, 25.

Trump is due to go to an air base in the US state of Delaware on Wednesday morning as the soldiers' flag-draped coffins arrive home.

Why Iran is risking so much over the Strait of Hormuz

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwymx3eevpjo, 5 days ago

After 10 days of exchanging strikes with the US over control of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, Iran's leaders may appear to have three choices. None offers a clear route to victory.

The first is to accept much of what Washington wants: guarantee free and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz by ending attacks on commercial shipping, give up or dilute Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and accept intrusive inspections by the global nuclear watchdog.

In return, Tehran would seek an end to the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, sanctions relief, and protection from further attacks.

This is probably the least costly option, but also the costliest politically.

Reopening Hormuz without securing a recognised Iranian role in managing the waterway would mean surrendering what some in Tehran increasingly see as a newly discovered deterrent, one that may now appear more effective than Iran's missiles, regional proxies, or even its nuclear programme.

For the first time, the Islamic Republic has demonstrated its ability to impose immediate costs on the global economy for an attack on its territory by its enemies.

The nuclear programme, meanwhile, has long been presented as a right that Iran cannot be forced to abandon.

Conceding to demands for tight restrictions on nuclear activities after months of attacks would allow hardliners to argue that American military pressure had worked. It could also open the door to further demands over Iran's missile programme and its relationships with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iraqi Shia groups and Yemen's Houthis.

The second option is escalation. Iran could intensify its attacks on American bases in the region, shipping, and vital infrastructure in Gulf Arab states, hoping that higher energy prices and wider disruption would force Washington and its allies to compromise.

This carries the greatest military risk. An attack causing mass casualties or serious damage to Gulf infrastructure could draw Iran's neighbours more directly into the conflict and leave it facing a broader coalition.

The third option is to preserve the current instability: enough pressure on shipping and energy markets to retain leverage, but not enough to trigger a return to all-out war with the US.

This seems to fit the Islamic Republic's established thinking. Iran does not need to defeat a stronger enemy if it can survive for longer than that enemy is willing to fight. Survival itself can be presented as victory. But sanctions, war damage and inflation are steadily increasing pressure at home.

And as time goes on, a paradox may emerge: The more Iran uses the Strait of Hormuz as a weapon, the less powerful it could become if countries find new ways to export energy and other goods out of the region.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has acknowledged the contradiction, arguing that the value of Hormuz lies in increasing the volume of shipping through it rather than reducing it. A permanently unsafe waterway encourages the world to find ways around Iran.

Who is making the decisions

Complicating matters further is the uncertainty surrounding Iran's decision-making process.

Under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike at the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran in February, disputes between elected politicians, clerical institutions and the Revolutionary Guards were ultimately settled by the supreme leader. After months of war and under the new leadership of Khamenei's son Mojtaba, that balance of power is less clear.

President Masoud Pezeshkian and his diplomats may favour a settlement to ease economic pressure and restore stability. Hardliners in parliament, powerful unelected institutions, and conservative media outlets, meanwhile, may fear that major concessions would undermine the ideological foundations of the Islamic Republic and alienate its core supporters.

The biggest question concerns the armed forces, particularly the Revolutionary Guards. Iran's missile programme, regional alliances and strategy in the Strait of Hormuz are central to the Revolutionary Guards' influence, yet it remains unclear how much weight commanders carry in decisions over escalation and negotiations.

The three options facing Tehran do not impose the same costs on different parts of the system. Pragmatists may favour a deal, hardliners may prefer endurance, while some military commanders could see escalation as strengthening Iran's bargaining position.

The question, therefore, is not only which path Iran chooses, but who has the authority to make that choice.

What Iranians are saying

The leadership's idea of endurance looks very different to those required to endure it.

Iran and the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in June to halt military operations and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as well as to reach an agreement to end the war over the following 60 days. But three weeks after it was signed, US President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire "over" after Iranian attacks on ships in Hormuz, and US strikes in response.

One woman in Iran told BBC Persian that she was "very, very saddened" when the fighting resumed.

She had hoped the MoU would give the two sides time to resolve the remaining disputes and restore stability. Instead, she fears the destruction of infrastructure and the deaths of civilians and military personnel.

She blamed hardliners inside the Iranian system for imposing destructive policies, while also condemning opposition figures abroad who, in her view, had encouraged war.

Another woman in Tehran said the foreign-trade company where she worked had closed, leaving her unemployed for four months despite holding a doctorate and having 17 years of experience.

"No-one is hiring because nobody knows what will happen," she said. She described soaring prices, power and water cuts, increased theft, and occasional gunfire at night. She now limits how often she travels around the city.

These accounts do not point to a single political conclusion. Foreign attacks can produce anger against the United States and Israel even among opponents of the Islamic Republic. But they also illustrate the limits of asking the public to endure indefinite hardship in the name of resistance.

Trump faces difficult choices of his own: widen the war, continue military and economic pressure, or accept a settlement allowing Iran a restricted civilian nuclear programme under stronger supervision. None offers a clear path to victory.

The confrontation could continue for months through cycles of attacks, mediation and temporary ceasefires. The decisive question is how long Iran's leaders can preserve Hormuz as leverage without provoking an all-out war, renewed unrest or the construction of alternative routes that make the strait matter less.

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 12, including family of six, medics say

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qv0pdj18go, 5 days ago

At least 12 Palestinians, including six members of one family, have been killed in three separate Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local medics.

Video footage showed the family's apartment on fire overnight in the western al-Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City.

The brother of Firas al-Masri told the BBC that he had been burnt to death along with his wife, Salsabeel, and their three daughters and son, Faryal, Salma, Amira and Naim.

The Israeli military said its target was a Hamas operative and that it was still looking into the results of the attack.

On Tuesday afternoon, another four people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a home in the al-Samar area of central Gaza City, Palestinian media cited medics as saying.

Two more were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the al-Zahra area to the south of Gaza City, they added.

The Israeli military has not yet commented on those strikes.

According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, at least 1,168 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect last October.

Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Gaza over the same period.

The UN's human rights office condemned on Tuesday the recent intensification of Israeli military attacks in Gaza.

Between 13 and 20 July, at least 57 Palestinians, including six children and eight women, were killed in strikes on residential buildings, a tent camp for displaced families, and other crowded areas, spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said.

Thirty-four of those people were "killed far away" from the so-called Yellow Line, which marks territory in Gaza controlled by Israeli forces, he added.

"Nine months after the announcement of a ceasefire, still, nowhere is safe for Palestinians in Gaza," Al-Kheetan said.

He also warned that the killing of civilians "raises concerns of continuing violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and other possible atrocity crimes in Gaza".

The Israeli military has recently announced a series of attacks targeting members of Palestinian armed groups, who it said were involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

Israel responded by launching a massive military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,290 people have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry.

Trump retreat over Hormuz tolls suggests he is struggling to end Iran war

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crele3r8j19o, 12 days ago

Donald Trump's latest Iran war demand lasted all of 24 hours and suggests a president searching for unorthodox ways out of a difficult position.

On Monday morning, in a social media post announcing the resumption of an American naval blockade on Iranian shipping, he said that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz - including those of US allies - must pay a 20% fee to reimburse the US "for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world".

The following day, he abandoned that proposal completely, offering instead that he would strike "trade and investment deals" with America's Gulf allies, implying the US would offer them safe passage through the Strait in return.

The abrupt about-face was the latest twist in a conflict that has now lasted more than four months and, despite a month old "memorandum of understanding" that secured a temporary ceasefire and set up a framework for negotiations, shows no sign of ending.

Trump may be reluctant to escalate the war given its continued unpopularity, the likelihood of rising energy prices and the risks associated with American forces and allies once again coming under Iranian attack. He might find the prospect of ending the conflict without reaching an agreement he can claim is better than the one Barack Obama's administration negotiated in 2015 also distasteful, however.

"I think the most likely ending is a non-ending," Rosemary Kelanic, Director of the Middle East programme at Defense Priorities, said. "This has turned into a war of attrition, and wars of attrition tend to go on for a long, long period of time."

The US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) - and the hopes that came with it for an end to the war - died at 10:16 EST (15:16 GMT) on Tuesday on Truth Social, when Trump announced a resumption of the US blockade of Iranian shipping, amidst a flurry of new US military strikes on targets across Iran.

The Iranians countered by stepping up attacks on US allies and commercial shipping in the region, grinding traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill once more.

After nearly a month of on-again, off-again negotiations between the two nations, punctuated by occasional hostilities that tested the definition of a "ceasefire", Trump and the Americans appear to be facing the same challenges that had been present through much of the Iran war.

While militarily, the Americans were achieving their objectives, as measured in Iranian ships, planes and targets destroyed and defence capabilities degraded, politically the conflict was far from resolved.

Iran, militarily weakened though it may be, could still deny access to the Strait of Hormuz. And unless the Americans were willing to dramatically escalate their military operations in the region, there was little they could do to stop them.

Trump's new twist of a 20% fee - possibly a means of making that military commitment more palatable to the American public - wasn't entirely new. He had suggested such an arrangement on several occasions over the course of the war.

But just last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had condemned an Iranian plan to charge "fees" on shipping through Hormuz.

"No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway," he said. "That's existing international law. That's the way it is in international waterways all over the world, and that's the way we expect it here."

Trump's Hormuz U-turn is just the latest evidence of a president who does not appear to have a clear path forward. The memorandum of understanding, which both Americans and Iranians claimed as a victory for their side, was intentionally vague, leaving much up to later negotiation.

The document envisioned some role for Iran in overseeing shipping in Hormuz. It read: "The Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge."

This is a role that Iran has been intent on asserting. The MOU also included billions of dollars in promised "investment" in Iran and an end to international sanctions.

Americans may have believed those sweeteners, accompanied by warnings of the consequences of noncompliance, would be enough to dissuade Iran from attempting to use its geographic advantages to more forcefully assert control over Hormuz. That calculation, at least for the moment, appears incorrect.

"The MOU is completely dead," said Kelanic. "All of the things that it stipulated have now been undone."

Now Trump, and the Iranians, find themselves in a familiar predicament. The latter are once again facing American military attacks across their territory, underlining their inability to defend their territorial sovereignty. With the reimposed blockade, their oil revenue - a lifeline for the Iranian regime - is again cut off.

Meanwhile, Trump is again facing a choice between escalation, which comes with domestic economic and political costs, and settling for some kind of resolution that leaves a hostile Iranian regime in power.

"We're back to where we were initially, where the question was: who's got more patience?" said Elliot Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "The Iranians, who will not be able to export oil, or the US and other countries that use Gulf oil?"

After months of concern that the Iran war was triggering a new round of popularity-crushing inflation, Trump received some good news on Tuesday that consumer prices were dropping.

A resumption of full hostilities, or even an escalation in the conflict, would inevitably push oil prices back toward previous highs, endangering that positive trend and again putting Republicans in a tenuous position heading into November's midterm congressional elections.

On Monday, after Trump's Truth Social post, the price of a barrel of oil jumped nearly 10% - the biggest one-day increase in six years.

The first time around, Trump's blockade helped pressure the Iranians to the negotiating table and paved the way for the memorandum of understanding and a framework for a more lasting peace.

Now, according to Kelanic, the president's leverage over Iran may be diminished.

"He has already tried the things he can easily do, can credibly do," she said. "He can attack military targets, regime targets. He's done that before, and it didn't cause Iran to surrender."

The latest target Trump has suggested is Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified nuclear research site south of Tehran. But there is conflicting evidence of the value of the site - or of whether US air strikes can cause significant damage to the tunnels which are deep beneath granite rock.

If Trump's latest moves do ultimately end with yet another ceasefire and face-to-face talks, the underlying, difficult-to-reconcile disagreements - over Hormuz, over the disposition of Iran's nuclear programme, over Iran's influence in the Middle East - remain.

"I think there's room for negotiation here over a Strait of Hormuz deal," said Abrams. "But not a return to the MOU."

With the war approaching its fifth month, Trump again on Monday noted that other American conflicts - including the Vietnam War - stretched on for years.

That particular quagmire, however, hobbled and ultimately ended the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson and damaged US global standing for at least a decade. That is a fate Trump is certainly hoping to avoid.

His supporters also are weary to repeat the kind of Middle East "forever wars" that Trump condemned in previous presidential campaigns.

But with the memorandum of understanding in tatters, the ceasefire ended and the prospect of further conflict looming, the end of the Iran war appears no closer to a resolution than it was in the weeks after it began.

UK 'ready to defend itself' after Iran says bases are 'legitimate targets'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1w1e2542wno, 3 days ago

The British government has said it "stands ready 24/7 to defend itself" after Iran said UK bases used by the US were considered "legitimate targets".

The UK has allowed the US to launch "defensive" operations from British bases hosting American personnel and aircraft, while refusing to cooperate in offensive operations against Iran.

Iran's foreign ministry said the UK was an "accomplice" in the US war, while the powerful Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) military wing said any country which supports the US militarily "will be responsible for the consequences and repercussions".

It comes as the US carried out a 13th consecutive night of strikes against targets in Iran.

While US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the British government and former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for what he has deemed a lack of support for his war, Iran's comments on 23 July sought to paint the UK as a party to the campaign.

In March, days into the US-Israel led war, permission was given to the US for it to use British bases including RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to target Iranian military infrastructure used to attack Gulf countries and vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

That policy has not been altered by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who was notified last week that a decision had been taken to extend the agreement with the US.

In a statement published on the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency on 23 July, the group said American bombing missions had been launched from RAF Fairford two days earlier.

The UK Ministry of Defence has not commented on whether the base was used by the US for operations against Iran this week.

Responding to the Iranian threats, a UK government spokesperson said: "Our Armed Forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it's on our soil or from abroad. The UK stands ready 24/7 to defend itself.

"This includes through operating a layered approach to air and missile defence, provided by Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force assets equipped with a range of advanced capabilities, working closely with our Nato allies.

"The UK's approach to the conflict remains the same - we are committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in accordance with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict."

Days after the war began on 28 February, Iran's ambassador to London, Seyed Ali Mousavi, said Iran would have the "right to self-defence" if the UK joined the war, and said it should be "very careful" about taking part.

On 19 March, Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the UK's Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands. One reportedly failed mid-flight, with the other shot down by a US warship.

There were doubts then over whether Iran had missiles which were capable of reaching the archipelago, which is about 2,360 miles (3,600km) from Iran.

The same month, Israel claimed Iran possessed missiles that could reach up to 4,000km (2,485 miles), which would theoretically mean they could reach the UK and mainland European countries.

However, then Housing Secretary Steve Reed told BBC News at the time there was "no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the UK - or even could if they wanted to".

Analysts have also raised doubts over the reliability and accuracy of Iran's missile arsenal, which the US says has been severely degraded by its strikes.

Iran has launched strikes against several countries in the Gulf which house US military bases in recent months, while attacks against civilian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz have effectively closed the vital shipping route.

On Thursday evening, US Central Command (Centcom) said it had completed a 13th night of strikes on Iran, which it said were designed to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters".

It said the Strait of Hormuz remains open for transit despite the recent attacks, and added that commercial vessels continue to "freely navigate" the waterway with US military support.

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Lebanese army says troops deploying in 'pilot zone' after Israeli withdrawal

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8mynlmn55o, 5 days ago

Lebanon's army says its troops are deploying to a "pilot zone" in the south of the country following the withdrawal of Israeli forces under a US-brokered agreement reached last month.

Engineering units entered the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh in Nabatieh district on Tuesday morning, the army command announced.

Later, it said Israeli forces had opened fire in the vicinity of the troops. Israel's military said warning shots had been fired after the troops crossed into the Israeli-declared "security zone".

The pilot zone plan should see Israeli troops pulling out of a small part of the territory occupied during their conflict with Hezbollah and the disarmament of the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

Tuesday's deployment began ahead of a meeting in Washington between US President Donald Trump and his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun.

Aoun was expected to urge Trump to put pressure on Israel to withdraw from the rest of southern Lebanon and support the Lebanese army in taking full control of areas where Hezbollah holds sway.

"I told him [Trump] I need two things from you: political support and supporting the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces]," Aoun told reporters in the Oval Office.

Speaking alongside Aoun, Trump vowed that the US would provide help to Lebanon which had been "hit hard" for decades.

"It's been a very badly treated place and country, and we're going to have it properly treated," he said. "And treated with the respect it deserves."

The US state department announced on Monday afternoon that "pilot zone operations" had begun in Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh and two other Lebanese villages, Froun and Srifa, in line with the Trilateral Framework agreed by Israel, Lebanon and the US at the end of June.

It said the "milestone" was the direct result of discussions last week between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Rome.

Later on Monday, an Israeli military official confirmed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would "adjust its force posture in one of the pilot areas" to allow the Lebanese army to carry out its mission, while also "safeguarding the security of IDF soldiers and preserving its right to self-defence and to remove threats".

"The objective of the pilot and the agreement is the disarmament of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and the removal of its illegal weapons," the official said.

They also reiterated that the IDF would remain in the "security zone" - the 10km (six-mile) deep strip of occupied Lebanese territory running along the border - for "as long as necessary" to defend northern Israeli communities.

On Tuesday, the Lebanese army's command said its units had begun deploying to Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh "based on ongoing communications with the Military Co-ordination Group for Lebanon", referring to the trilateral body created to support implementation of the framework.

The statement also called on Lebanese citizens "not to head to the village until the security situation stabilises, and to comply with the instructions of the deployed military units for their own safety".

Later on Tuesday, the army command said Israeli forces had "opened fire in the vicinity of these units" and warned that the "attack hinders the implementation of deployment steps in the pilot zones".

The IDF said its soldiers had fired "warning shots into the air" after the Lebanese troops and an engineering vehicle "crossed approximately 150m (490ft) into the security zone and breached the barriers" in the neighbouring area of Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh.

The Lebanese troops "withdrew from the area, and no injuries were reported", it added.

The Lebanese army said its troops were already carrying out missions in nearby Froun and Srifa following Monday's US announcement.

An Israeli source also told Haaretz newspaper that there were no Israeli troops in those villages.

Also on Tuesday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israeli forces were behind two large explosions near the villages of Beit Yahoun and Kounine, in Bint Jbeil district. It also reported blasts from Israeli controlled demolitions in the town of Majdal Zoun, in Tyre district.

In areas still occupied by Israeli forces, many villages have been completely destroyed by Israeli strikes or demolitions.

The Israeli military says it has been destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, but human rights groups say some of what has happened there amounts to the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, a possible war crime.

Hezbollah has rejected the agreement between Lebanon's government, Israel and the US, saying the provisions linking Israel's withdrawal to the group's disarmament crossed "all red lines". Israel has said it will not fully withdraw from the country until the group is fully disarmed.

According to Trump, the US has "concrete plans" to help Lebanon build the capacity to disarm Hezbollah, but he provided no details.

"They're also becoming much more self-sufficient," Trump said of the Lebanese army.

Additionally, Trump said he would speak directly to representatives of Hezbollah if requested by Aoun.

Lebanon was drawn into the war between Israel, the US and Iran on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader.

Israel responded by launching a bombing campaign across Lebanon and invading a significant part of the country's south.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in Lebanon, including almost 800 children, women and medics, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Israeli authorities say 37 Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border during the conflict.

Yemen's Houthis announce 'maritime embargo' on Saudi Arabia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2gmddx1ldo, 6 days ago

Yemen's Houthis have announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia.

The Iran-backed group's military spokesman said it would begin immediately and was in retaliation for a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in Houthi-controlled north-western Yemen.

He gave few details about the embargo, but a Houthi media official said they were closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait - the Red Sea's southern gateway - to Saudi vessels.

In response, Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry condemned the allegation, vowing that the country "will take all necessary measures to protect its ships in accordance with international law".

The Red Sea has become crucial for oil shipments from Saudi Arabia during the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

It comes a week after the most significant escalation in the largely dormant conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia since an informal truce took effect in 2022.

The Houthis said they had launched missiles at Abha airport in south-western Saudi Arabia in response to air strikes on Sanaa's airport that they blamed on the kingdom.

The strikes were claimed by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, which said it had wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital without authorisation.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government's rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than 22 million people in need of some form of aid, according to the UN.

On Monday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said Saudi Arabia had imposed an "unjust and oppressive siege on our dear people for nearly 12 years, plundering our resources and imposing a comprehensive blockade on our ports and airports by land, sea, and air".

He then announced that the group had decided to respond by declaring a "maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of 'an eye for an eye'".

"Any foolish act committed by the reckless Saudi enemy through all escalation will be met with a comprehensive and decisive escalation," he added.

Sarea did not provide any further information about the embargo, but the deputy head of the Houthi media office, Nasruddin Amer, wrote on X that the group's forces were "closing Bab al-Mandab to Saudi enemy ships".

The Bab al-Mandab Strait, a 32km-wide (20-mile) waterway located between south-western Yemen and the Horn of Africa. It connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez canal.

Four ships were sunk, nine crew members were killed, and commercial traffic through Bab al-Mandab hit a record low as shipping companies rerouted their vessels around southern Africa.

Although the Houthis paused their attacks in response to the Gaza ceasefire last October, the number of transits through the strait has yet to return to previous levels, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.

In response to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has diverted more than 70% of its crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

About 4 million barrels per day (bpd) have been shipped from there in recent weeks, compared with about 973,000 bpd a year earlier, according to data from Kpler and Signal Ocean.

Total petroleum volumes transiting Bab al-Mandab also rose to 7.4 million bpd in June, or about 7% of global output.

Mohammed Albasha of the US-based risk advisory firm Basha Report said it was not yet clear whether the Houthis would begin targeting vessels heading to Saudi Arabia.

"Even if no ships are attacked, the announcement alone is likely to disrupt shipping and create uncertainty for Saudi ports. Whether the Houthis move from threats to direct action remains the critical issue," he told Reuters news agency.

Why the UK is dithering over what to do about e-scooters

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4nvn9w00no, 4 days ago

When I step out of Southampton Central railway station, it takes me just seconds to spot an e-scooter. In this city, these devices have become a normal part of the transport ecosystem, along with e-bikes.

"It's just the most convenient way to commute from home to the station and back," says Keith Reed, who I speak to as he arrives at the station to catch a train to London. Keith says uses rental e-scooters twice a week. His alternative option would be his bike, but he'd then have to worry about where to leave it.

Around the city, there are parking areas for bright orange rental devices everywhere - but they're not necessarily a permanent feature. Southampton hosts one of the numerous government-backed trials around England. This one has been going on since 2021.

It also doesn't take long to find e-scooters which aren't part of the trial, but instead are owned by individuals. I see a man riding one along the pavement outside a parade of shops. He doesn't want to stop and talk.

These privately owned e-scooters are illegal to ride on public roads across the UK, but they've proliferated regardless. One expert told me the situation was a "Wild West".

Among people I spoke to in Southampton, the same concerns came up time and time again: "They're a blinking nuisance," says elderly pedestrian Fred. Another shopper, Martin, says he's "very concerned" whenever he sees them racing through precincts: "An accident's almost inevitable."

The endgame of the trials is to reach a decision on whether to make permanent hired e-scooter schemes such as the one Keith uses - and whether to bring in legislation that would legalise and regulate privately owned e-scooters too.

But six years since the trials started around England, there's still no conclusion - and as the UK government has responsibility for road traffic legislation across Great Britain, officials in Scotland and Wales say they are waiting on Westminster to act.

So why is it taking so long for the government to decide what to do, and what are the consequences of delay? What does the evidence tell us about how safe these things are?

And why are people using them in the first place - are they here to stay as a useful part of the transport offer, or will they end up being viewed as a pest on our streets?

What are e-scooters - and who rides them?

You'd recognise an e-scooter if you saw one. The Department for Transport's (DfT's) definition of an e-scooter includes no pedals, two wheels and a maximum continuous power rating of 500W.

And so far, the trials around England appear to have proved popular. According to DfT research, fom January 2022 to May 2024, 36.9 million trips were made across 30 trial areas outside of London. On average, nearly 19,500 e-scooters were available to hire every day.

Dr Yasir Ali, a reader in Transport Modelling at Loughborough University, says e-scooters are "complementary" to other modes of transport, rather than replacing them. Due to factors such as range and being exposed to the elements, they are less suitable for longer trips, rural areas with less infrastructure or in bad weather. They work best as "a first- and last-mile solution" in urban areas, to reduce reliance on cars for short trips.

Shared mobility charity CoMoUK's 2025 report suggests that for more than half of the people using rental e-scooters, the most common use was travelling to work or school. Its analysis of DfT data suggests the majority of people using hired e-scooters are male and under 35.

"Sometimes it's a bit difficult to take the bus from dot to dot", says Yan Zhang, who works at Southampton university and doesn't drive, "so for shorter distances, I'll take the scooter."

Around half of respondents to CoMoUK's online survey used it in conjunction with another mode of transport - such as riding to a railway station, like Keith.

Earlier evidence from a national evaluation of the trials published in 2022 found that although some users would have driven instead had they not had access to an e-scooter, the biggest "modal shift" - meaning switch in ways of getting around - to e-scooters was from walking. Given walking is an active mode of travel, this has raised questions over how significant the public health impact of e-scooter use really is.

And the usage of privately owned e-scooters isn't reflected in this research. The DfT has said between 760,000 and 1.2 million people in England aged 16 and over own one - despite the fact that it remains illegal to ride them in public.

In the eyes of the law, e-scooters are classed as motor vehicles. Outside of the trials, they can't be insured, and thus can only legally be ridden on private land, with the owner's permission.

The trials themselves are bound by strict rules. The devices' top speed is limited. Businesses who operate the pilots must insure them. Users must have a full or provisional driving licence, and they must not ride on the pavement. Helmets are recommended but not mandatory.

Richard Dilks, CEO of CoMoUK says "mass-scale use of something that is inherently low-carbon, low-impact, low-cost" is a "good thing" but "we also don't have rules of engagement about how they should be ridden".

And as a result of the delays in introducing regulation, Loughborogh University's Yasir Ali says "we are increasingly in a situation where the law and reality have diverged", with "the disadvantages of e-scooter use without securing the full benefits of regulation".

Against the law

Back in Southampton, I meet a lady pushing a black e-scooter, who doesn't want to give her name. She says nobody told her when she bought it that it was illegal to ride on the streets.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has a unit that carries out surveillance of retailers to check they're complying with the law. But earlier this month, an investigation by the Press Association news agency discovered some retailers were advertising them for commuting purposes.

Police tell me they regularly see children illegally riding private e-scooters. Margaret Winchcomb, deputy executive director at the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), says some are being specifically marketed at kids.

So what can police do? Forces regularly launch crackdowns where they seize illegally used devices, and often crush them. Each year, awareness campaigns run urging parents not to buy their kids an e-scooter for Christmas. But enforcement is a challenge.

Insp Matt Boiles from Avon and Somerset's road policing team says problems arise even with the legal trial devices - for example, people riding them after drinking alcohol, which counts as drink-driving. Riding with another person on the back is another common issue.

But officers see private e-scooters being illegally ridden in public places "all the time, every single day" and they can be really hard to catch - it isn't always safe for police in a car to pursue someone on an e-scooter, he says.

Insp Boiles despairs over parents buying them for children: "We do have parents attend a police station quite a lot, getting very, very upset that their child's £500 e-scooter has been seized." But "the legislation is really, really clear that you can't have it back".

How safe are they?

For many the biggest concern is safety.

There's a potential risk of fire if unregulated devices with lithium batteries are left to charge unattended. Most train operators have banned e-scooters on board for this reason.

But there's also the fact that riders are unprotected in the case of falling off or being hit by motorised vehicles. And - along with e-bikes - they can end up involved in collisions where pedestrians are hurt. Many trial e-scooters in the UK are restricted to 12.5mph, but privately owned scooters' speeds aren't.

Some coroners have even raised concerns. In 2022, a coroner in London called for action after the death of 14-year-old Fatima Abukah on a privately owned scooter.

According to the DfT, in 2024 - the most recent year for which figures are available - 1,390 casualties were recorded in collisions that involved e-scooter in England, Scotland and Wales, three more than in the previous 12 months. The vast majority, 1,096, were e-scooter users themselves.

Young boys and men appear to be over-represented in the stats. Of the casualties, 302 - the most of any age and sex category - were males aged 10-19.

Six deaths were recorded in 2024, unchanged from the previous year. Five of these were riders and one a pedestrian.

Although the numbers aren't conclusive, it is thought more accidents are happening on privately owned e-scooters. Winchcomb says police statistics "aren't reflective of the number of injuries".

Nonetheless, campaigners believe there is enough evidence to show that regulation is urgently needed.

Carly Calland's 14-year-old son Jacob died in March 2025 of a catastrophic head injury. He was a passenger on an e-scooter that was involved with a collision with a car.

If privately owned e-scooters are legalised for public use, Carly believes, there should be mandatory helmets, a ban on carrying passengers and penalties for parents that allow children to ride illegally.

"If Jacob was wearing a helmet that day, he would still be here," Carly, from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester, says.

Carly is not against e-scooters. They "are really good for people to get to work, and they are eco-friendly", she tells me, but "they just need to be used in the correct way."

What happens if the current situation goes on? Her answer is emphatic: "More deaths."

What's behind the delay

Meanwhile a number of major European cities have ended their shared e-scooter schemes. Paris abolished them after a referendum in 2023. Brussels is the most recent, announcing theirs would end in 2027, following a rise in accidents.

The last evaluation of the trials in England was in 2022. New findings are expected by early next year.

In recent years, successive British transport secretaries have supported the idea of a new law to legalise and regulate the e-scooters available for sale. E-scooters were mentioned in the 2022 Queen's speech, but nothing materialised.

Winchcomb says some of the "dithering" may be because of the potential knock-on effect of any legislation for users of mobility scooters.

There is some frustration from devolved administrations around the UK about the delays in Whitehall. The Scottish Government "will continue to urge the UK government, which holds powers on registration and licensing over off-road vehicles, to take action in this area", a spokesperson says.

The Welsh Government says it will "monitor developments on legalisation plans and consider the implications for Wales".

Northern Ireland's Department for Infrastructure says it is also monitoring the trials in England, as well as the impact of recent law changes in the Republic of Ireland.

The DfT says it says the trials are "building the real-world evidence needed to get regulation right" and it will consult on longer-term rules, including registration and licensing requirements, within the next year.

"E-scooters have real potential to improve local connectivity and cut emissions, and we want to see that potential realised safely and responsibly across the UK," a spokesperson says.

But Ali says: "The current halfway house becomes harder to justify as usage grows."

Even if legislation and associated technical standards were introduced, Richard Dilks acknowledges enforcing them would remain difficult.

But, he adds: "That problem only gets bigger if you leave it."

Why Andy Burnham will find it so tricky to unite Britain

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17y7r9yv1ro, 6 days ago

Did you get to see the 2024 film Civil War, with its dystopian depiction of a present day USA in the midst of a violent meltdown?

What made it such an effective thriller was that it all seemed so frighteningly real. Although the two sides in that civil war were fictitious, it hit a raw nerve precisely because of the very obvious divides that scar modern day America.

But interestingly it was actually written and directed by a British film-maker, Alex Garland, and he expressed worries about his home country, as well as the US. In both countries, he told the Guardian, "there's a lot to be very concerned about".

He's not alone. If you are an avid user of social media, you could almost believe that we are a nation disunited enough to have a full-on civil war of our own. And even away from the exaggerated adversarialism online, there are plenty of people worried that Britain is gripped by uncontrollable rage.

It's a sense of discord that Britain's new prime minister, Andy Burnham, seems to recognise. Since announcing his run for the Makerfield seat in May, he's repeatedly urged Britons to forget about party labels or factional identities and instead unite around pride in their local area. "Place first, not party first", is how he puts it.

And as he entered Downing Street on Monday, he called for a "new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity".

But it's worth asking: just how divided really is Britain?

Some talk as though the population is ready to wield the pitchforks; that we are close to social breakdown; that a small spark could lead to a serious fire.

Last year, a commission co-chaired by the former Home Secretary, Sir Sajid Javid, warned in a report: "The bonds that hold society together - civic participation, and a shared sense of belonging - are under growing pressure."

Well, I have just had the privilege of spending a month journeying - literally and figuratively - through some of the divisions that define modern Britain, for a Radio 4 series.

Is there any common ground left in the country that Burnham has now inherited - or are we polarised to the point of no-repair?

A defining split

For a long time, Britain had a clear, defining split: social class. What kind of job you had, how you spoke, what time you had your evening meal, what you watched on TV, how you voted… it was all pre-determined by your working or middle class background.

Today, that has got a lot more complicated with a decline in the number of jobs that would have been regarded as "working class", and a big rise in the number of young people going to university from those backgrounds. That's not to say it isn't still there.

But probably the most obvious faultline in Britain and other western countries now is in values, with a marked difference between two sides: progressives on one side, and social conservatives on the other. If we have a civil war any time soon, it'll be the Allied Readers of the Guardian versus the United League of GB News Viewers. That schism is more clearly driven by age and education than it is by class.

This clash defines politics at the moment, and manifests in rows about "woke" values, patriotism, and immigration. And what makes it so intense is a feeling, held by some on both sides, that the other side is some kind of existential threat to their vision of what society should be.

Because this is such a clear schism, we commissioned polling from the More in Common research institute (covering Great Britain, not Northern Ireland).

We asked respondents if they prefer living in communities "where more people come from different cultural backgrounds", or "where most people come from the same cultural background". We found a population split down the middle: 53% prefer a diverse community, 47% said they preferred a more homogenous one.

It poses a challenge for Burnham: it's much harder to settle a national argument where there is a 50-50 divide, than where one side dominates completely.

On the specific question of immigration, however, the country looks more united. Our poll found that about three-quarters of Britons thought immigration was too high. Burnham himself has said that net migration was "way too high" under the Conservative government, and said he'll try to "find the right balance" on the issue.

Faultlines

But that's not the only faultline cutting across British society. From my conversations around the country, I heard a list of other, quite distinct concerns. These are often bound up under one general heading of "polarisation", but it's been illuminating to unpack them.

One specific worry - most keenly felt on the right - is about social integration. It is whether in some cities, there are communities of different culture, ethnicity and even language, residing right next to each other but living totally separate lives. We saw that voiced in Leicester, the city with the highest share of people who speak a main language that's not English.

Jason, a 54-year-old window installer, has watched the city undergo this change, and has made Hindu and Sikh friends. But Jason, who is white British, also has his complaints, and says that Muslim families in the area tend to turn down his services. "They do stick to their own."

He says there's one part of the city he now stays away from, after he was racially abused last year by a group of men in a car "calling me a white so-and-so". And he finds the language barrier particularly difficult. "Sometimes it's very hard to take an inquiry on the phone. You're doing a quote on the windows and you just really can't communicate."

And then there's another worry - perhaps felt more keenly on the left - about what some see as rising levels of racism and violence. From Southport to Southampton, racial tensions have erupted on the streets in the last few years.

Hannah Henderson, who runs a dog-friendly coffee shop in Southampton, says she was recently driving with her daughter when they passed a hotel that houses asylum seekers. "There was a protest happening… people with the St George's flags around their shoulders… police lining up. She felt really unsafe. She's twelve. She didn't really understand, why would people be so cross?".

And then there's the divide between different places. Some residents of deprived, post-industrial towns - areas that have suffered from the disappearance of manufacturing and mining - feel a quiet frustration towards larger, economically flourishing cities. Those smaller towns tend not to have a university, and they tend to have a run down high street, giving a visual sense of decline. Places like Wigan - in Greater Manchester, Burnham's stronghold - often languish next to the bigger cities in whose shadow they sit.

This is a point made by Fiona Hill, the daughter of a coal miner from Bishop Auckland who later moved to Washington DC to become a senior White House adviser. Her book, There's Nothing For You Here, is named after the advice her father gave when she left school in 1984.

"The reason it's called 'left behind' is because you look at health outcomes, education, transport, access to amenities… and all of the [towns] that we're talking about are left behind," says Hill, who is now chancellor of Durham University. "Certainly they're not on the same level as… the flourishing city centres in Manchester, Liverpool, and absolutely not at the same level as London."

Sharing too little

Another, related concern is that we simply share too little these days: we do things at home alone; we don't go to church together each Sunday; we barely go out to the pub like we used to.

And on the national level - in England at least - there's only a vague sense of identity. Yes, most of us might enjoy watching the national football teams. But is that all our sense of nationhood consists of now? Even the flag - and its place on lampposts and signs - has become divisive.

Playwright James Graham thinks that a nation is largely defined via "the story it tells itself" - and parts of England, he says, feel excluded from the national story.

"Some people get bigger roles than others in that story, historically," he says. "If you see yourself on screen or stage, or in film or books or newspapers, if you feel like you're being seen and you're being heard and you feel part of a story, that does temper some of the natural bitterness and resentment that you feel when your economic situation isn't quite so good."

It all suggests Britain is a nation not quite at ease with itself and with a lot to fix.

Common ground

That being said, we found a lot of common ground talking to people around Britain; reasonable folks dispirited by the problems they observe, but ready to navigate their way through them constructively. For every riot, there are volunteers who'll come out the next day to clean up the mess.

Often there's a sports team or community centre that becomes a focal point for neighbourly spirit. At Grimsby Town Football Club, we heard from Christine Green, who started volunteering for the club during a difficult period in her life. "I was going through a divorce and… needed something to occupy my time and my mind so I'm not focusing on negative stuff", she remembers.

She lives in the deprived East Marsh area of Grimsby, a neighbourhood she says is often derided as a place of crime and unemployment. It is an image she doesn't recognise. "I know the person next door and I know the person across the road. My mum lives the next block up and my daughter can take the dogs for a walk. That's nice to me - not living in a secluded house where you've got no idea who anybody is around you."

Lord Stockwood, the Grimsby-born entrepreneur who bought the football club in 2021, says: "In an increasingly complex and crazy world, this is a place of permanence and love and memory for me and for many others."

Indeed, in our poll, it was encouraging that most respondents didn't seem to want to burn their locality down. We asked respondents if the city, town, or village they lived in was a good place to live and work. A full 70% thought their location was "very good" or "somewhat good" as a place to live. (It was less than that, only about half, who thought it was a good place to work.)

But is 70% good enough? You can take a glass two-thirds full or a third empty view of that figure.

Place is a unifying force

I do wonder if one way of finding common ground will be a renewed focus on the idea of "place". Increasingly, there's a push - from politicians and academics - to help people forge (or re-forge) connections to their local areas.

Certainly, Burnham seems to agree. When we embarked upon this journey, we didn't know he would be entering No 10. What fortuitous timing. He must have spent more time outside London in the years running up to his premiership than any other modern prime minister - and it's fascinating to see where that's landed him.

Last year, he told the Institute for Government think tank: "Place is a unifying force. However people vote, they are united by a desire to see the place where they live move forward."

From the capital, the thinking goes, it's easy to think that if we can make Britain work, then each community will flourish. It might be that we really need to do it the other way round - if we can make each community flourish, then the country will work.

That's not straightforward by the way. As Burnham knows, it has been easier to revitalise Manchester than the many towns spread around it. But creating social cohesion where it is lacking, is surely a defining mission of Burnham's premiership.

Top picture credit: Getty Images

After record heat, could the Atlantic make Britain's weather even more extreme?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c992e8g10nmo, 12 days ago

Somewhere in the stormy waters off Greenland, a bright yellow robotic probe, known as an Argo float, is sinking silently beneath the waves.

It is roughly the size of a person, with a tough metal body and an array of sensors packed inside.

The float is part of a global effort to solve one of the great mysteries of the ocean: how its hidden movements help shape the climate above.

There is no crew, no one steering it. Instead, it drifts with the currents, measuring temperature, the amount of salt in the water and pressure as it moves through the waves.

When it rises, it briefly breaks the surface and sends its data home by satellite. Then it does it all again. Dive, drift, measure, surface, transmit. The question those floats are helping investigate is one of the most important - and most contested - in climate science: whether one of the world's great systems of ocean currents is beginning to change.

It is called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC - a vast, north-south system of currents that carries warm surface water towards the Arctic and returns colder water thousands of miles south through the deep ocean.

But scientists say the AMOC is under pressure. Most agree it is likely to weaken as the planet warms. The UK government has said that, as "a key component within the Earth's climate system" the AMOC contributes to the UK's long-term climate risks.

The disagreement is over how much and how fast the current could change, what that would mean for the weather and crucially, whether the seasons we know today could begin to change.

A current under pressure

The question matters because the AMOC is part of a vast heat-moving system that influences the climate far beyond the Atlantic. But for the UK and north-west Europe, its influence is much closer to home: it helps shape the climate we live in and the weather we get.

The tropics receive far more energy from the sun than the poles. That imbalance sets both the air and the ocean in motion. Winds, storms, rainfall and currents are all, in different ways, the planet trying to even out that difference.

The UK sits in the middle of that exchange. Heat released from the Atlantic feeds into the air above it, helping fuel storms, steer winds and influence the pressure systems that reach north-west Europe. So, if the ocean changes, the weather can change too.

That includes a possibility that might seem bizarre in a warming world: changes in the Atlantic could bring more extreme swings in the UK's weather, including colder winters, even as average global temperatures continue to rise.

The AMOC includes the Gulf Stream and helps explain why Britain and north-west Europe are milder than their latitude would suggest. Its scale is hard to grasp. It carries about one petawatt of heat northwards - roughly 50 times the total energy humanity uses.

Some researchers say the warning signs are already visible: a strange patch of cooling in the North Atlantic and changes in how salty the water is.

They point to recent studies suggesting the circulation may be less stable than previously thought - raising the possibility that it could weaken sharply or even shift into a different state. In the most extreme scenario, some scientists warn it could "collapse".

Others urge caution. They say weakening is not the same as collapse, and that the evidence may point to a slower decline or reorganisation rather than a sudden shutdown.

But if the AMOC weakens significantly, it could shift storm tracks, alter rainfall and make winters more volatile.

A severe weakening, or collapse, could go further, bringing colder, drier winters to the UK and north-west Europe even as the planet as a whole continues to heat up.

And the consequences would not stop at the Atlantic. The AMOC helps shape rainfall and temperature patterns far beyond Europe.

A major shift could tug at the West African monsoon, tropical rainfall belts and rainfall over the Amazon. These are not abstract changes on a map: they could affect harvests, water supplies and the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.

Which is why scientists are watching the ocean so closely.

A warning from history

The floats are only part of the effort. Satellites, moored arrays of sensors and research ships are gathering data from the modern ocean too.

Other clues are much older. They lie in mud, shells, ice and rock - fragments of evidence from a time when the Atlantic appears to have changed with startling speed.

New research led by University College London (UCL), for example, looked back nearly 13,000 years to the Younger Dryas, a sudden reversal in the warming that followed the last ice age.

The cooling appears to have taken hold over just a few decades. Britain and parts of northern Europe were pushed back towards colder, more hostile conditions for more than a thousand years. In Scotland, glaciers advanced again in parts of the uplands.

For the small groups of hunter-gatherers then living in Britain, it would have been a catastrophic upheaval - forcing them to adapt or retreat as the cold returned and the landscapes they depended on changed around them.

But for scientists studying the AMOC today, the real significance of the Younger Dryas is what it reveals about the Atlantic.

The new study suggests the circulation did not just weaken. It rearranged itself. The Gulf Stream shifted hundreds of miles north, sending much warmer water towards eastern Canada.

The lead author of the study, Fangjingcheng Zhu, says the study shows the Atlantic circulation can be "abruptly altered during climate change".

For Prof Stefan Rahmstorf, that is part of a much wider warning from the past.

Rahmstorf, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, is one of the world's leading experts on the AMOC. He has spent more than three decades studying the stability of the Atlantic circulation. From the start of his career, he says, he was interested in what ancient climate records revealed about abrupt changes in the North Atlantic currents.

The lesson, he says, was that "the paleoclimate evidence actually doesn't suggest that climate change would happen smoothly, but rather in some jumps and jolts and non-linear effects".

But for years, Rahmstorf treated an AMOC shutdown as a low-probability, high-impact risk. Serious, but unlikely.

That has changed.

"In the last five years or so," he says. "I really unfortunately had to change my view about the probability of this happening."

His argument begins with seawater. The AMOC depends on dense water sinking in the high North Atlantic. Cold and salt help make seawater dense.

As warm, salty surface water travels north through the Atlantic, evaporation makes it saltier. Further north, it cools. Together, those processes can make the water heavy enough to sink into the deep ocean, helping to drive the AMOC's overturning flow.

Could the AMOC reach a tipping point?

Rahmstorf's concern is not just that global warming could weaken that process. It is that, beyond a certain point, the weakening could begin to feed on itself.

Warmer surface water is lighter. Extra rainfall and meltwater from ice make the ocean fresher. Fresher water is lighter too.

If the water in the high North Atlantic becomes too light, less of it sinks. If less water sinks, the AMOC weakens. And if the AMOC weakens, it brings less salty water north.

That is the feedback loop: the current helps keep the North Atlantic salty enough for the current to keep running. Less salt makes the water lighter, so it sinks less easily and the circulation weakens further.

Rahmstorf puts it more simply: "We have this AMOC because it's salty enough in the North Atlantic. And it's salty enough because we have the AMOC. So that's a self-sustaining system."

That helps explain why one patch of ocean has attracted so much attention.

In a warming world, the ocean surface is expected to warm. But south of Greenland, part of the North Atlantic has stubbornly refused to follow the global pattern. On climate maps, it appears as a strange blue smudge in a sea of red - the so-called cold blob.

For Rahmstorf, the cold blob is one of the clearest fingerprints of AMOC weakening. If the current is carrying less warm water north, that region would be expected to warm less than the rest of the ocean - or even cool.

He says the temperature signal is only part of the story. The same region is also becoming less salty, and other studies point to changes in the Gulf Stream and signs that parts of the North Atlantic are being renewed more slowly.

"There are quite a few independent lines of evidence," he says, "that point to an AMOC slowing already well before the measurements in 2004 began."

But that is also where the caution begins. Because continuous direct measurements of the AMOC only began in 2004, the longer-term case still depends heavily on indirect evidence.

The next question is more frightening. Is the AMOC simply weakening, like a dimmer switch being turned down? Or can it flip into a different state?

Rahmstorf believes the tipping-point risk is real. He says the underlying physics was first shown in simple models decades ago and has appeared repeatedly since. "Every single climate and ocean model that has been tested for this tipping point has found it," he says.

That does not prove collapse is imminent. But for Rahmstorf, the difference between weakening and crossing a tipping point is crucial.

"Once we have crossed the tipping point," he says, "we can't do anything to stop the further shutdown."

The process would become self-amplifying, he argues. "And so basically we're losing control."

For Rahmstorf, the past shows the Atlantic can shift suddenly from one state to another, while the modern ocean is already showing warning signs of the system reinforcing its own decline.

But not all scientists read the evidence the same way.

The case for caution

Prof Andrew Watson, of the University of Exeter, is one of Britain's leading ocean scientists. A Royal Society Research professor, he has spent decades studying the ocean's role in climate.

Watson does not dismiss the risk. He agrees the AMOC has shifted before. "Clearly, its behaviour has changed in the past," he says. "So there's every chance that it can change again."

But he is wary of drawing too straight a line from the ice age to today - or of imagining the AMOC as a single conveyor belt that simply switches off.

The AMOC is part of the same planetary heat-moving system that drives weather itself. Heat still has to move away from the tropics. Water that rises in one part of the ocean has to be balanced by water sinking somewhere else.

One of the great engines of that wider overturning lies far from the North Atlantic, in the Southern Ocean. There, fierce winds blow almost continuously around Antarctica, drawing deeper water up from below.

So if deep water formation weakens in the North Atlantic, Watson argues, the system may not simply stop. The sinking may shift. The circulation may reorganise. Warm water may still flow north, even if less of it reaches the places where it now gives up heat and sinks.

The AMOC depends on deep water forming in a handful of places in the North Atlantic - including the Labrador Sea, the Greenland Sea and waters south of Iceland. But in the ocean, Watson says, that sinking is not a simple plughole. It happens through a combination of eddies, mixing, rotation and friction close to land.

Climate models, with grid boxes often tens or hundreds of kilometres wide, cannot resolve that detail directly. They have to approximate it. "The models are good in many other ways," Watson says, "but they're not good in this particular thing."

That does not mean the AMOC is safe. It means the evidence is complex, and the future of the system cannot yet be reduced to a simple story of imminent collapse.

More than colder winters

That caution is reflected in recent work led by the UK Met Office. In a study published last year, Dr Jonathan Baker and colleagues tested the AMOC across a range of climate models. Their conclusion was reassuring in one sense: a total collapse this century looked unlikely.

But it was not reassuring in every sense. The AMOC still weakened. And even a weaker AMOC, rather than a collapsed one, could reshape weather patterns across Europe and beyond.

Watson also points out that any AMOC weakening would unfold in a warming world. Some of the cooling influence of a weaker AMOC could be offset by the wider rise in global temperatures. Britain and north-west Europe would not be pushed back into an ice age, he says.

The effect could be more complicated: continued risk of extreme summer heat, greater exposure to cold winters, and more volatile weather generally.

Rahmstorf accepts that global warming could soften the cooling effect in average temperatures. But he argues that does not make the risk benign.

"Only the temperature impact," he says. "It enhances the drought impact for Europe, because both AMOC slowing and global warming increase drought in Europe."

And, he adds, averages can hide what matters most to people living through the changes. "This moderation may be in a climatological 30-year average temperature sense, but not for our weather."

A weaker AMOC, he argues, could sharpen the temperature contrast between northern and southern Europe - one of the gradients that helps drive storms and other extremes.

For now, the closest thing climate science has to an official judgement comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN-backed body that assesses climate research.

Its latest major assessment from 2021 concluded the AMOC is very likely to weaken this century, but that an abrupt collapse before 2100 was not expected.

But the IPCC does not update its verdict every time a new paper appears. Its assessment reflected the evidence available at the time.

Since then, the field has moved fast. New studies have sharpened concern. Others have challenged the methods behind some of the most dramatic warnings.

Watson says that uncertainty needs to be understood carefully.

"The basic science of climate change is very well established," he says. "But the AMOC is one of the few areas where models can disagree even when they start from the same assumptions. Normally, the big uncertainty is what people will do - how quickly we will cut emissions. Here, there is real uncertainty about how the ocean itself will behave."

The argument is over how close the system is to a threshold - and how much weight to give to each kind of evidence: ancient climate records, modern observations, statistical warnings and complex climate models.

The disagreement is also a glimpse of science doing its hardest work: weighing uncertain evidence when the stakes are high.

Living with uncertainty

Watson's instinct is to keep the uncertainty visible. For him, caution is not complacency. It is a demand for precision.

Rahmstorf draws a different lesson from the same uncertainty. He sees a risk that is low enough to remain debated, but severe enough to demand action.

"We will not have certainty before it's too late," Rahmstorf says. "So we will have to act on our uncertainty."

The science does not offer a neat ending. It offers probabilities, warnings, caveats and arguments between experts who weigh the same clues differently.

But they agree on what is driving the risk.

The AMOC is being stressed by the warming of the planet. The more greenhouse gases humanity releases, the greater that stress becomes.

Cutting emissions does not remove every uncertainty. It does not guarantee the Atlantic will behave as scientists hope.

But it reduces the pressure on a system no society can afford to push too far.

Somewhere in the North Atlantic, the floats will keep diving, drifting and surfacing - measuring a circulation that is still moving, still mysterious, and still capable of surprise.

Whether the AMOC is simply weakening, or being pushed towards something more abrupt, remains unresolved.

But the safest response is already clear.

Top image credit: Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Graphics by Erwan Rivault

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

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9errxl97go, 8 days ago

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

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

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

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

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

The cost of shift work

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biphasic sleep

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sleep anxiety

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top picture credit: Getty Images

Ruthless plotter? Flip-flopper? Dad dancer? Insiders reveal the real Andy Burnham

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3043vl2l7zo, 8 days ago

Who is Andy Burnham? There are plenty of labels to pick from.

King of the north, the well-liked mayor of Greater Manchester. Ruthless plotter – the man who led a shadow revolt to oust the prime minister.

Gig-goer. Everton fan and season ticket holder, who wants to try and sit in the stands even when he is running the country.

Poetry lover. Experienced former cabinet minister. Cambridge graduate.

Flip-flopper – a charge chucked at him by political critics.

Deeply proud family man and centrist dad, unafraid to display his moves to True Faith by New Order, the track he picked to play at an event to celebrate taking over the Labour Party.

The 56-year-old is going to become the 59th prime minister on Monday.

To understand who he is, I've spoken to more than 20 people who have worked with him over the last few decades – old friends and rivals, as well as current and former cabinet ministers.

Burnham is unusual in politics because even colleagues who are furious that he ousted Sir Keir Starmer say he is an affable and decent person.

But does he have the experience and skills to pick Labour's morale up off the floor, and tackle the deep problems the country has?

One old friend wonders: "He is a lovely bloke, but I just don't know if he is up to it – that is the honest question."

Being Mr Nice Guy isn't enough to be an effective prime minister in a confusing and brutal political era.

But you can be ruthless with a smile, and Andy Burnham is willing to follow advice from one of the most effective leaders of recent decades – not one of the prime ministers, but Sir Alex Ferguson.

I'm told the former Manchester United boss bumped into Burnham and wanted to chat politics.

He wanted to know why there had been so much bad blood and briefing between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, saying if he'd been Blair, he would have "got him in a room, and said, you're either with me, or you can sod off". The actual phrasing he used was far ruder than that – but you get the drift.

A close ally of Burnham told me: "We might need the Ferguson hairdryer – this is our moment and we might have to tell people, if you're not with me, well bye, and thanks for your time."

Another colleague says Burnham is absolutely determined to set the direction of the new government, and "will be all over every one and everything and there will only be room for his agenda".

What looks like a decision to allow new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea seems to be evidence of that, as it goes totally against the desire of current Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, one of the cabinet ministers who helped Burnham by telling Sir Keir that time was up.

Highlighting the example, they told me: "Burnham is ruthless in every way - Ed helped lever him in - and the first keynote policy is a slap in the face – he looks cuddly to the public but he is a total hammer."

For all the happy vibes and dad dancing at the Labour event yesterday, in the party there are real doubts about whether Burnham is up to the mark.

His career started in Westminster decades ago. After a short spell as a journalist on trade magazines, even one named Tank World, he went into Parliament as a researcher to the former minister Tessa Jowell, then stood as an MP, and before long became a junior minister, quickly rising up the ranks to the cabinet in 2007 when he became chief secretary to the Treasury.

Burnham was popular but didn't always feel at home.

One old friend remembers that era, of political success for the Labour Party and huge opportunities for a new generation, saying "we were northern hicks who bizarrely found ourselves in the crazy Westminster world – it was a heady time".

While well-liked, some in the party saw him as flimsy, with all the chat, but not the substance.

One of his old bosses, Alistair Darling, the chancellor during the financial crisis, once memorably told me with affection, but in frustration, "Andy? He's like a lorry on ice", because his thinking swerved around.

An ally concedes: "He has that strong sense of self – but it does waver sometimes."

One cabinet minister worries he might wobble when things get tough.

Talking about Burnham's desire to be popular, they told me: "He enjoys being liked in a way that Keir was never that bothered about. There will be a strength in that because he'll take seriously the need to connect, but wanting to be liked when you are prime minister can be a distraction because it can be destabilising when the inevitable happens and you are not popular."

But claims that Burnham doesn't stick to his convictions are an irritation to some others. One source says: "Flip-flop Burnham did my head in, it wasn't flip flopping, when things were changing from five years earlier, he had the courage to change."

By all accounts, where he really changed was through his experience in Manchester. There is a marked difference in conversations with colleagues whose recollections are based on his time in Westminster, or Burnham 2.0 in the North West of England.

Leaving Westminster after trying and failing twice to become party leader was a huge decision, a gamble for a career politician who had unfinished business, but credited by many of those who know him as a liberation.

One cabinet minister explains: "Whether people believe it or tease him about it, it's true that leaving being an MP to go to Manchester meant he could be himself – people forget the New Labour world where there was such conformity".

There, established as mayor with huge powers over transport, health, skills and education, Burnham was able to build on the big decisions made by previous council leaders, and create a sense of progress in the region.

While his record in Manchester perhaps doesn't exactly match the excitable hype and you can read more about what it means here, Burnham's political success has been remarkable, and it has given him a concrete set of beliefs that it is where you live, not how you vote that matters – get used to hearing "place not party".

One ally describes this as one of Burnham's trademarks, telling me he was a "brilliant leader of teams, and that included Conservative and Lib Dem council leaders".

"He can do that in government with a cabinet of all the talents. He is not factional in the party, and he wants to work cross party with the others too. He is just not tribal."

He's also promising to listen more closely to Labour MPs, and not to play favourites or pick one side of the party over another.

Another ally says: "He means it when he wants a different approach in the party – he doesn't want a narrow clique."

It's true that for years he has tried publicly to stay out of Labour internal wrangling, styling himself as a loyalist – which didn't always go down well.

The first time he ran to be party leader in 2010, at an event in Northern Ireland he told the crowd: "I am not a factional politician. I was loyal to Tony Blair. I was loyal to Gordon Brown. I am a loyalist."

One member piped up, "you might want to rethink that line over here".

Burnham takes over a fractured and fractious Labour Party, and the task of pulling it back together is enormous.

The atmosphere right now is hopeful, with one senior figure telling me the optimism around Burnham "feels like a family wedding but it depends what happens after. Andy can't just give the love to everyone".

Another told me: "MPs have to be committed to this and keep their eyes on their seats not their egos."

The threat to Labour from Reform is plain and his allies hope that by reminding Labour of the gravity of the challenge they face, he will be able to keep the party's factions together.

What will his approach be? One of his supporters said "it won't be you have to be an Andy Burnham clone – or an Andy supporter, but what he will expect is that even if you do have different views, you have to get behind the leader of the team".

Has he run a team successfully? He has before. Is he a confident politician? Absolutely. Is it clear what he believes in? Yes, that too. But that's very different to knowing how he will apply those beliefs to specific decisions.

One current cabinet minister told me Burnham is "replete with political and relationship skills. But on his political project? We're still learning".

Another told me: "You can't say with any certainty what kind of politics he is going to pursue."

More bluntly, one party insider spluttered his team has "no clue" what they are going to do in many different parts of government.

Remember that initially Burnham wanted to move into No 10 in September, which would have given him a lot more time to prepare.

We know the kind of politician Andy Burnham is. He has enjoyed huge success and is a leader who thrives on human contact, is relaxed on camera and who has extensive experience in different jobs and a strong set of his own beliefs.

But none of that guarantees he'll lead Labour to recover, let alone the enormous task of helping a grumpy country thrive.

One former minister highlights the gulf between any of his former jobs, and what faces him on Monday – "as a mayor and cabinet minister Andy is used to taking decisions, the difference is the scale, variety and above all else the pace at which they come at a prime minister".

Another party insider told me: "We just don't yet know if he can find more gears to transcend mayoral politics, take on a spluttering, post-Brexit economy and turn it into a global competitor able to fund the kind of social programmes Labour voters expect."

The landscape is tough. Another cabinet minister predicts "what he'll find hard is the fiscal situation – there are a set of winners and losers with every decision, and people's expectations are so high".

And his team are well aware the public is impatient and unimpressed with Labour – "we have six, maybe eight months where people might take another look".

Another minister worries the removal of Sir Keir means "it's a distinct possiblity there'll be another leader before the next general election".

"We've set the bar so low, removing Starmer over bad poll ratings, now Andy's set expectations too high for himself – that's his strategy – he has always made a grand entrance."

Andy Burnham's actual entrance into No 10 is now only days away.

Inevitably there is a lot that we don't know, not least who'll take which seat in his cabinet, and indeed whether Axel, the Burnham family dog, will move into No 10 too, a new rival for Larry the cat.

But as the removal vans rev up again in Downing Street, Burnham's arrival gives Labour a "second chance to make a first impression", according to one minister.

An opportunity he has craved for decades. Yet another prime minister for us all.

Burnham's 'Manchesterism' got him to No 10 - but will it work for the UK?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyl3z2xld8o, 10 days ago

It was just five months ago when Andy Burnham retreated to his mayor's office in Manchester, having been blocked by Labour's ruling executive from standing for parliament.

When I met him there a few weeks later, he told me he planned to deal with his disappointment with some ambitious plans for his city region.

Burnham told me he wanted to appeal directly to Fifa to host the final of the women's football World Cup in 2035 Manchester instead of Wembley. "Imagine how electrifying that is for any girl growing up in the north of England," he said.

He said he was also joining forces with other mayors for a "Great Northern" Olympic bid across the north of England, and a plan was also afoot to host the Ryder Cup in Bolton. Sports bodies needed "re-educating" about the rest of the country, he said.

Manchester has already poached the Brit Awards from London after half a century in the capital.

Big, bold gestures like these tell part of the story of what has happened in the city. Burnham's civic ambition is a byproduct of Manchester's status as the fastest-growing city economy in the country. As Burnham prepares to become prime minister, will he be able to apply the same model to the whole of the nation?

Manchester's rise

Even before Burnham returned to parliament in June, there has been talk of Manchesterism as a political-economic philosophy that offers a programme for national transformation, rooted in a critique of a currently unresponsive, over-centralised British state.

The city has a long history of blending the freest of free markets with a strong social spirit. Manchester's cotton traders championed free trade and liberal economics, at the same time as the emergence of the co-operative movement, the trade unions and the Suffragettes. Even the Manchester Ship Canal, the emblem of monopoly-breaking free trade, required local government intervention backed by the workers.

But for an understanding of contemporary Manchester, you need to go back to the summer of 1996.

Andy Burnham had left the north-west of England by then. He told me how when he first looked for a local media job after graduating in the early 1990s, all he could get was a role as an unpaid reporter on the Middleton Guardian.

"I had to do what so many people of my generation, born in the 60s or 70s in the north-west of England had to do to get on in life," he said. "We had to go south."

By 1996, Burnham was an MP's researcher. That year, back in Manchester, the IRA detonated the largest bomb in the UK since World War Two, devastating the city centre,

The reconstruction in the aftermath of the attack marked the start of Manchester's ascent from the doldrums of de-industrialisation. The essential idea provided by a group of local political, cultural and business leaders, and an architect called Ian Simpson, was that the city centre should be reshaped by demolishing, not repairing, many of the damaged buildings.

From disaster could then arise a great opportunity to reshape the city's geography and economy. Council leader Sir Richard Leese and his top civil servant, the late Sir Howard Bernstein set the tone for a variety of bold centrally driven strategic plans that were actually largely delivered by private capital and then significant international investment.

The council leadership was ruthlessly focused on transforming brownfield industrial sites. The private sector would go nowhere near them, but the council de-risked those investments with public money. It also sometimes stepped in to tide projects over during financial crises.

At the end of this process, private capital poured in, lining up the cranes and the hard hats. The council offered a flexible interpretation of requirements to build a proportion of "affordable housing", sometimes effectively waived, sometimes met by funding building in cheaper areas of the city.

Paul Thwaite, the chief executive of NatWest, which has funded some of these projects, and who is on the board of the University of Manchester, says Manchester's success story over the past 20 years was "built on there being a clear plan the private sector can get behind".

Why hanging on to students matters

Such a shift would have been unthinkable a generation ago. The model of Manchester's city centre development has succeeded in creating a critical mass of population, housing, jobs and service sector activity that has allowed it to turn its significant undergraduate population into a goldmine.

According to the mayor, more people from London had moved to Manchester (13,000) than the other way round (11,800) in the latest set of internal migration figures.

He put this down to a flow of young workers into the Manchester city centre service economy.

In a reverse from the 1990s, "no-one here has to leave to get on in life", Burnham told me. "And in fact, there's a net inflow of young people from London."

Manchester now retains over half its graduates, more than any other city apart from London, according to the Centre for Cities, and Manchester also attracts almost as many young graduates as it produces.

Tom Beahon, the CEO of Manchester-based sports brand Castore, who has not been shy about criticising some of the government's business policies, told our Big Boss podcast earlier this year that the mayor had helped "attract inbound investment, making it a place that students want to stay after they graduate from the fantastic universities". That in turn means more businesses want to launch in the city, he added.

It is a case study in agglomeration effects - the economic power of locating similar types of jobs close together. And if its infrastructure can keep up, Manchester's economy will continue to fly.

Burnham's Manchester

Andy Burnham is a product of this Greater Manchester and spent his decade as its first mayor trying to shape it. As Andy Spinoza, the foremost chronicler of Manchester's turnaround, puts it: "Burnham jumped into a moving car, and by the end he was driving it."

But what else is there to Burnham beyond driving that moving car?

While he has managed to ascend to the Labour leadership and the cusp of No 10 without revealing his wider policy plans, there is a fairly recent text already out there. In 2024 with his fellow north-west regional mayor, Merseyside's Steve Rotherham, he published a book called Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain.

It was the basis for Burnham's speech earlier this month on Manchesterism and remains his national political-economic-constitutional prospectus. The 10-point plan to "rewire" the country argues that better "homes, transport and jobs" across the country can only come from "a new set of principles and rules for the running of the British state".

What underpins this is a determination to tear up two formulas that have long formed the backbone of how UK governments allocate money. The first is the Treasury's Green Book, which decides infrastructure spending and which has traditionally valued existing areas of high growth and land value the most. In Burnham's view, this drags investment in transport to the south of England.

The tangible example of all of this can be found on Platforms 13 and 14 of Piccadilly station in central Manchester. The only east-west train link for the entire region is here, and it is often jam-packed with trains and 40,000 daily commuters attempting to cross the Pennines and get to the airport. Burnham has long advocated for an underground four-platform "Kings Cross of the North" with a northern version of London's Elizabeth Line.

He relays a story about his time as chief secretary to the Treasury in 2007 when he was told: "No project in the north passed the Green Book, Minister." He told me the same in 2020 when there were murmurings of reform to the formula. Chancellor Rachel Reeves pursued pilot projects to change the approach that could favour local investment.

In the book, Burnham also advocates tearing up the Barnett formula, which allocates public spending, topping up spend for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland so they do not lose out to England as a whole. The effect, Burnham argues, is that the north of England is left squeezed in a "pincer".

In Head North and his recent speech, Burnham points to Germany's "Basic Law", with its duty of "equivalent living standards" across the regions. Such a law, he argued, would protect local government and give regions a right to be consulted on long-term decisions.

Burnham also advocates significant constitutional change, including a form of proportional representation and the replacement of the House of Lords with a "Senate of the Nations and the Regions", alongside devolution of powers over large swathes of public services to regional level.

On Net Zero he proposes a "Northern Way", which subsidises the transition, retrofits, cutting bills, and building exportable locally owned industry. He contrasts this with a "Whitehall way", which he characterises as bans, charges and taxes that hit the poorest.

The actual policy consequence of this will have to reckon with rising global energy prices, pressure on household budgets, and some impatience from North Sea energy interests to pump more oil and gas. There are some contradictions in for example, full tax and spend devolution for every region. Would the south-east get to keep the taxes it raises? Some aides recently played down any changes to the Barnett formula amid concerns from Scottish politicians.

The national stage

The fundamental difference between running a city region and a country is the need to raise the entire spectrum of tax revenues to fund spending. Or to borrow more money. The picture is rather constrained on both right now. Manchester has been agile in attracting private capital to build infrastructure, especially housing, partly because it had to. Can that stretch across the whole country?

With Manchester's cotton traders in mind, I asked Burnham back in February if he considered the Manchester model to be politically left or right - an example of statism, perhaps?

"When it comes to right versus left, well, we've always been very pro-business, pro-enterprise here. We want people to succeed individually and businesses to succeed, but give back at the same time," he said.

Some campaigners say that the dash for the gleaming towers and spires in the centre has left behind much of the rest of the region, and that the centre of Manchester is becoming a mini-London. While Burnham has criticised decades of "neoliberalism" and the "trickle-down effect", the reality is it has been core to the Manchester model.

At the same time, Margaret Thatcher's 1985 bus deregulation has been reversed and over the years public money from central and local government, from the EU, as well as from the partly council-owned airport, has been spent on trams - a nod to the importance of spreading the proceeds of growth in the centre around the region.

To greater or lesser degrees Burnham has floated more "public control", cost of living support, small business rates relief, and higher infrastructure investment and higher defence spending. They sound difficult to reconcile with sticking to promises to limit borrowing and not raise major taxes.

For example, the Defence Investment Plan is "funded" by cuts to capital investment in transport, energy and elsewhere. These are precisely the areas that Manchesterism would suggest might get more central capital investment.

Burnham the mayor has beaten the drum for the new Liverpool-Manchester Northern Powerhouse Rail and the high speed Manchester-Birmingham line he worked up with former West Midlands Mayor Andy Street. But what will Prime Minister Burnham do?

And what about the paused Brexit reset? There was a deal ready to go for closer relations at a UK-EU summit originally planned for next week. The government had started to explore different red lines for the next Labour manifesto and a turn back towards Europe's single market. Does he go with Remainy Manchester? Or do the feelings of his Leave constituency, Makerfield, trump all?

NatWest's Paul Thwaite says there could be a "powerful recipe for sustained growth" from the private capital that flows from "long-term certainty and genuine collaboration". There isn't, however, a "single blueprint" from Manchester or anywhere, he says. For devolution to work "the institutions, the leadership and the commercial capability matter as much as the powers themselves".

Burnham in his speech quoted the famous line attributed to Tony Wilson in the film 24 Hour Party People: "It's Manchester, we do things differently here." Now it's time to reveal what exactly it means for the nation.

Andy Burnham's first week pledges - how much do they add up to?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy078kj0ezyo, 2 days ago

Andy Burnham is ending his first week as prime minister by working out of Manchester in the new No 10 North for the first time.

He spent this week making a series of spending announcements mostly aimed at tackling the cost of living, including capping bus fares.

BBC Verify has looked at Burnham's first week of spending commitments, how much they cost and how the government says they will be paid for, which comes to about £1.5bn.

Here's how that breaks down and what could later be coming down the line.

End rough sleeping in England

Cost: £340m over five years, funded

In his speech outside Downing Street on Monday, Burnham said his "first instruction" would be "to end rough sleeping in our country".

The most recent official data suggests that there were around 4,800 people sleeping rough on a single night in England in 2025, up from 1,800 in 2010.

The government announced that Burnham's "instruction" would be delivered by £340m of spending, which it said would support at least 3,000 people over a five year period.

It said this money would come from existing "uncommitted" budgets in the housing department.

This means that the funding has been made available by the Treasury to the department but had not yet been assigned to a specific project.

VAT cut from electricity bills

Cost: £850m, unfunded

On Tuesday morning the Treasury announced that it would cut VAT from domestic electricity bills in the current financial year, knocking an estimated £45 from the typical household's annual bill from the autumn.

It said this would cost £850m in 2026-27 - to be funded by scrapping the previous government's digital ID scheme, which had been estimated to cost £1.8bn over the next three years.

However, the Office for Budget Responsibility, the official spending watchdog, made clear in the last budget that the digital ID scheme was itself "unfunded" at that stage.

That implies that while scrapping the digital ID scheme will reduce a spending pressure on the government it will not, in itself, pay for the VAT cut.

That tax cut will have to be funded in the next budget, either by tax rises or specific spending cuts elsewhere.

£2 cap on bus fares

Cost: £500m, funded

On Wednesday, the government announced it would reduce the cap on bus fares in England from £3 to £2 from 1 January 2027, though this does not include London.

It estimated this cap would cost the Department for Transport more than £500m.

It said most of this would be found by replacing grants for international climate projects with loans. This would save the government money because the loans would be expected to be paid back in full, plus interest, freeing up funds to pay for the bus cap policy.

But there are still uncertainties with this approach, said Max Warner from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

"It's not clear how much we would expect to be paid back nor what the interest rates will be," he said.

Cut in business rates for pubs

Cost: £100m, funded

On Thursday the government announced it would cut business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues in England by 20% from April 2027, saving a typical pub £1,100.

It estimated that this tax cut would cost the Treasury around £100m a year.

The government claimed it would be "fully funded" but did not provide details, beyond stating that part of the cost would be met by "reviewing reliefs for businesses that do not make a positive contribution to local communities, such as vape shops". It did not state what other kinds of businesses would fall into this category.

The Starmer government had already announced a business rates support package for pubs in England in January, with a 15% cut applying in the current financial year of 2026-27 and a real-terms freeze in their rates for the subsequent two years.

At that time officials estimated that package would cost £80m in its first year, and the cost in the subsequent two years would be calculated in due course by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The latest business support for pubs from the Burnham government will come on top of that earlier support - so the Treasury will have to provide an official costing for the overall package announced since January in the Autumn budget.

No 10 North

Cost: Downing Street says no additional cost to taxpayers, funded

Burnham ended his first week as PM by working out of the new No 10 North, based at Heron House in Manchester's city centre, which he claimed will be the "situation room for making Britain better".

He's expected to work from there each week, with other ministers including Education Secretary Lucy Powell and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Louise Haigh, who is overseeing the department as part of her role, also working there on a regular basis.

Up to 300 civil servants are expected to join the operation by the end of the next year, but Downing Streets insists it will cost taxpayers no extra money.

"The running of No 10 North will be covered by existing Cabinet Office budgets. There is no additional cost to taxpayers", Burnham's spokesman told reporters earlier this week.

How does it all add up?

These pledges add up to about £1.5bn. That might sound like a lot, but they are small commitments relative to overall government spending, which is projected to be around £1.4 trillion (£1,400bn) this year - making it about 0.1% of total public spending.

The bigger question is whether Burnham is likely to follow through with some of the more expensive policies he's previously signalled, including reforming social care or expanding council house building.

Burnham earlier this week indicated he could raise the income tax personal allowance, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated could end up costing £8.5-9bn but the idea of this happening imminently was downplayed within days.

Chancellor John Healey is likely to want to take defence spending from 2.7% to 3% of GDP by 2030, given he resigned as Keir Starmer's defence secretary over the Treasury's failure to commit the money to do that. But that would cost an additional £9bn a year in today's money.

Burnham has also promised the "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period". While the details are unclear, estimates from the Centre for Cities think tanks suggest that to match the English council house building rates of the 1950s to the 1970s would require another £13bn a year in public subsidy.

Policies on this scale, which could run into several billions, would likely need to be set out in future budgets and spending reviews, alongside detailed plans about how they would be paid for.

However, Burnham has said he will stick to the government's existing fiscal rules - not borrowing for day-to-day spending and having debt fall as a share of the economy by the end of the Parliament.

That means any major new spending commitments would likely require difficult choices: such as raising taxes or cutting spending elsewhere.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

Do declassified files support Trump's election security claims?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz64wx8yjjdo, 9 days ago

In a 26-minute speech from the White House, President Donald Trump revived some familiar claims about US election fraud and interference.

Standing in the East Room – the same venue where Barack Obama announced the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 - Trump said the current election system was "catastrophically short" of being secure and that hundreds of declassified intelligence files would reveal these "shocking vulnerabilities".

BBC Verify has reviewed these documents, although some of them have been heavily redacted.

There appear to be no bombshell revelations and no evidence that interference or fraud actually changed the outcome of previous elections - including the 2020 contest which Trump lost.

Here are some key themes.

What do files show about Chinese interference?

Many of Donald Trump's most successful political narratives have a villain – a malign actor that presents a pressing threat that demands attention.

In Thursday night's speech, China took centre stage as Trump's villain and he presented Beijing as a nefarious force engaging in "sinister election meddling".

The released documents provide support for claims that China took steps to acquire voter data – some of which is in the public domain or available for purchase – and explored ways to influence public opinion.

That's well short of the kind of election tampering that Trump at times implied and smaller in scale than actions taken by Russia in 2016, which received a single mention from the president.

A previously released 2021 report by the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) found with "high confidence" that China did not interfere in the 2020 US election.

In his address Trump said: "Over a period of years starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People's Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history, resulting in China's illicit acquisition of 220 million US voter files."

He claimed that "tens of millions of voters' data in 18 states" had been "bought, stolen or hacked by China".

The White House later published four sets of "election integrity" documents, which BBC Verify has analysed. Within these files is a statement by the "Government Transparency Task Force" dated 13 July 2026.

Without specifying a timeframe, it said that "the declassified intelligence reveals that voter registration rolls from at least 18 states have been compromised by the People's Republic of China (PRC)". It added: "Additional intelligence records reveal that more than 200 million voter records were also compromised by the PRC, without state-specific affiliations."

One heavily redacted document - marked "declassified" - mentions the PRC and "likely leaked, compromised data". The same document includes a table with a row labelled "unspecified U.S. voter data", which shows 204,822,241 records and is dated 2016. But it is heavily redacted making it difficult to work out the full context of the table.

What do files say about voting machines?

Protecting America's "election infrastructure" has been a bipartisan goal for years. The US made efforts to establish standards to strengthen and streamline the mechanics of voting after the contested 2000 presidential election and again following evidence of Russian election interference in the 2016 election.

While election procedures are managed by state governments, most votes are now recorded on some form of paper ballot.

Trump may have a more partisan purpose behind his re-airing of these claims. He appears to be using these concerns to cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election he lost and to potentially question the validity of future elections.

In his speech Trump said previously classified US intelligence assessments proved that the US government had known voting machines "are extremely exposed to attack".

"As one assessment states, we judged that the United States' adversaries, including, at a minimum, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, as well as non-state groups have the capability to compromise US election infrastructure," he said.

The documents released by the Trump administration include a January 2020 declassified NIC assessment of vulnerabilities in the election of that year, which acknowledged that "ballot and voting machine preparation is vulnerable to cyber, supply chain, or insider threats".

It said that machines with no paper backup were "particularly vulnerable to cyber operations".

However, the NIC assessment also stated that "security and mitigation measures used in these processes, and the distribution of voting machine storage facilities countrywide, would make it difficult for an adversary to coordinate a campaign to manipulate voting results across an entire state or multiple states".

The specific assessment Trump may have been referring to is another declassified NIC report from August 2020, which said "foreign states or other actors may seek to compromise our election infrastructure".

It is also important to note that Trump has taken steps to cut funding and undermine the independence of some of the government programmes and agencies that have been tasked in recent years with monitoring election security.

What do files say about claims of voting fraud in Michigan?

Michigan, a battleground state Trump won in 2016 and 2024 but lost in 2020, has long been central to the president's allegations of voting fraud.

It was one of the few states he specifically mentioned on Thursday night. In this instance, however, the concerns appear to centre on voter registration drives, not actual balloting.

Political parties often rely on paid efforts to gather signatures for ballot drives and to register new voters when volunteers are in short supply. That can create negative incentives when people are paid by the signature.

Trump claims there was significant evidence of fraud in Michigan before the 2020 election that had "been buried and covered up".

The files released by the White House show election officials in the city of Muskegon were investigating allegations of fraudulent voter registration applications in October 2020 and one document mentions "8,000 to 10,000 registrations".

The case was referred to police and the FBI tested a sample of applications and found that 91 out of 107 applications "returned no results in database checks".

The case was active for almost five years until the FBI closed it on 25 September 2025, stating the "investigation to date did not identify a criminal violation".

Trump says he has now asked FBI director Kash Patel to fully investigate the matter.

However, local news reported at the time that police were looking into the matter after Muskegon election officials identified "irregularities" with some voter register applications.

What do files say about non-citizens and voting?

Trump provided some very specific numbers when he spoke about non-citizens being allegedly registered to vote.

He announced the White House was "releasing the results of a stunning investigation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)" which he said had "identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens who are registered to vote in federal elections".

A one-page DHS document which was released states that "over 250,000 non-citizens are illegally registered to vote in just the four US states for which public data files have been reviewed".

The document does not, however, link to these files or show any other evidence for this figure or provide an explanation of how the numbers were collected and verified.

Without further information, it is impossible to ascertain their validity.

There have been very few documented instances of non-citizens casting ballots in past elections.

Trump, however, regularly asserts that Democrats rely on the votes of millions of undocumented migrants. It is one of the reasons he argues that if his proposed election-security legislation is enacted by Congress, Republicans would solidly control the American government.

Tankers make sharp U-turns after Houthi shipping threat

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0n127lpzgo, 4 days ago

At least seven oil tankers have made U-turns close to Yemen since the Iran-linked Houthi group announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia on Monday, ship-tracking data shows.

All of the ships were travelling either to or from Saudi ports and made sharp changes of course after the embargo was announced.

Nearly 15% of global sea trade moves through the Red Sea, which connects the Mediterranean and Gulf of Aden through two choke points - the Suez Canal in Egypt and the Bab al-Mandab Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

The Red Sea has been a key route for exports of Saudi oil since the US-Israeli war with Iran led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has severely restricted the flow of oil and gas from the Gulf.

This has played a "major role in relieving pressure to global markets" and if the Houthis further restrict trade then "prices will go up", said Rosemary Kelanic from the US-based Defense Priorities think tank.

The day before the Houthis announced their blockade, 20 vessels entered the Red Sea and 22 exited via the Bab al-Mandeb strait, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

Kelanic told BBC Verify that any Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden "will suppress all international traffic not just Saudi-bound vessels".

The EU's naval force in the region Aspides recommended on Wednesday that "merchant vessels linked to Israeli, US or Saudi interests avoid transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden until the threat level decreases", according to an advisory seen by Reuters news agency.

Ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic shows the crude oil tanker Rodos, loaded with Saudi crude, departed for India from the Red Sea port of al-Muajiz on Monday evening. The Liberian-flagged ship set off south towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait but about nine hours later made a U-turn and began sailing north instead.

The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Mica departed Saudi Arabia's Jazan port on Monday afternoon and also headed south before reversing course.

Ship-tracking data shows at least eight ships bound for the Red Sea have made U-turns instead of entering the Bab al-Mandab Strait from the south as well.

Marshall Islands-flagged vehicle carrier Liu Jiang Kou was sailing to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah port from China before completely changing course on Monday in the Gulf of Aden.

A Hong Kong-flagged crude oil tanker sailing from China called New Prime also turned around as it headed towards Saudi Arabia on Monday and now appears to be waiting in the Arabian Sea.

While the reasons for each course change cannot be independently verified, "the timing is consistent with the embargo announcement," said maritime risk management company Vanguard.

In an email to shipowners on Monday, which the BBC has seen, the Houthis said "vessels are banned from loading or discharging cargo at any Saudi ports". It added that ships "may be subject to targeting in any location within the operational reach".

The Houthis have said their embargo is in retaliation to a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in Houthi-controlled north-western Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has condemned the allegation and has vowed to "take all necessary measures to protect its ships in accordance with international law".

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war since 2014, when the Houthis captured the capital of Sana'a from the government. The conflict escalated in 2015, after a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened to try and restore the official government.

There has been an informal truce between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia since 2022. But last week, the Houthis launched missiles at an airport in south-western Saudi Arabia in response to air strikes on Sanaa's airport that they blamed on the kingdom.

The Houthis have previously caused severe disruption to the the 32km-wide (20-mile) Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Shortly after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, the Houthis began attacking merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying they were acting in support of the Palestinians. These attacks led to four ships being sunk, one vessel seized, and nine crew members killed.

Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has diverted more than 70% of its crude exports from the Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu through an east-west pipeline.

About four million barrels per day have been shipped from Yanbu in recent weeks, compared with about 973,000 a year earlier, according to data from Kpler and maritime analytics platform Signal Ocean.

Naveen Das, a senior oil analyst from Kpler, told BBC Verify the only option left to the Saudis if the Bab al-Mandab Strait is effectively closed would be to move oil all the way through the Mediterranean and around the southern tip of Africa to get to Asia.

The impact of the blockade on consumers won't be immediate, but the conflict with Iran has made the global energy system more vulnerable to shocks like these, Das added. "We could weather it for two weeks, three weeks, even a month, but even in that time, we will see higher freight rates, higher energy prices and that bleeds into higher energy consumer costs."

Ships close to the Red Sea are also broadcasting messages in an attempt to deter attacks, a common practise in the region since the Houthis targeted vessels during the war in Gaza.

At least 50 vessels in the region are broadcasting they have armed guards on board, according to data from MarineTraffic.

Martin Kelly, from crisis management firm EOS Risk Group, told BBC Verify that captains will fear the "Houthis might read your situation wrong" and think their ships have "called at a Saudi port in the past, then therefore you could be attacked".

"A lot of these ships are very large crude oil carriers. I think the damage would be catastrophic. There would be certainly be deaths onboard these ships," he added.

Additional reporting by Barbara Metzler

US strikes oil tanker with missiles as it enforces new Iran blockade

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqwkegqk0o, 10 days ago

The US has attacked an oil tanker in the Gulf, which it said was heading towards Iran's largest oil export terminal, as it reimposed a blockade of Iranian ports.

US Central Command (Centcom) said on Wednesday that Belma "ignored multiple warnings" as it was heading towards the Kharg Island oil terminal and an aircraft disabled the tanker by "firing Hellfire missiles into the ship's smokestack".

President Donald Trump reintroduced a blockade of Iranian ports on Tuesday, in response to a series of alleged Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and days of tit-for-tat strikes by the US and Iran.

He had previously declared a ceasefire "over" following days of escalating attacks.

A naval blockade on ships going to or from Iranian ports was in place between 13 April and 18 June. The US said it redirected more than 140 vessels and disabled nine ships during that time.

Both the blockade and key US sanctions on Iranian oil were lifted as part of a ceasefire deal signed on 17 June - and experts estimate Tehran exported at least 74 million barrels of oil worth up to $6bn before they were reimposed.

In addition to the strike on Belma, Centcom said it redirected two other commercial vessels which did comply with its instructions to change course.

Belma, which had previously been sanctioned by the US under a former name for links with Iran, entered the Gulf on Tuesday after passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.

It was reporting no cargo on board and last broadcast its location about 100km (63 miles) south-east of Kharg Island on Thursday.

Another crude oil tanker under US sanctions for links with Iran reversed course on Thursday, returning to Iranian waters in the Gulf of Oman, ship tracking data shows.

It is not clear whether the vessel - Fuyao - which was listed on MarineTraffic as heading for Pakistan with a cargo of oil changed its course in response to US enforcement of the blockade.

As part of the ceasefire deal Washington also eased decades-old sanctions by issuing a temporary license to allow the sale of Iranian oil and payment to Tehran in US dollars.

In the weeks that followed, Iran was selling oil at prices roughly 20% higher than before the war, according to its chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Analysts with advocacy and monitoring group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and shipping experts TankerTrackers.com estimate that between the end of the blockade and its resumption Iran has exported at least 74 million barrels of oil. UANI has said this has an estimated value of more than $6bn (£4.4bn).

The US restricted this licence last week after Iran carried out a series of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Crossings through the critical Strait of Hormuz have fallen over the last week and remain far below the pre-conflict average of 138 per day.

Just 11 fuel tankers and cargo vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, according to preliminary data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

This is down from 17 ships on Monday and 16 on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by Libby Rogers and Shruti Menon

Can Andy Burnham solve the housing crisis?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wygjz632qo, 11 days ago

Millions of people are facing unaffordable rents, long waits for social housing, or are priced out of the market when they are ready to buy.

The average house price in England was £300,000 last year - almost eight times average earnings.

The Labour government has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes in England over the course of this Parliament - but it is already falling behind on this target.

Andy Burnham is credited by some people with overseeing a building boom in Manchester as mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, although critics say there remain serious housing problems in the city region.

BBC Verify has looked at the scale of the housing challenge facing Burnham once he becomes PM, and examined whether there is anything we can learn from his record as mayor to see how he might tackle it.

What has Burnham said about housing?

Burnham has said the UK is in the grip of a "housing crisis" and he wants to deliver "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period" - but has not provided details on exactly what this means.

Keir Starmer's government had already pledged £39bn to fund the construction of 300,000 new "social and affordable houses" over the course of 10 years during the 2025 Spending Review, and said this money would "reinvigorate" council housebuilding.

That would equate to around 30,000 new homes a year, but the majority of those were expected to be social housing built by not-for-profit housing associations using government grants.

Council house construction has collapsed across England since the 1980s and much of the stock of local authority homes has been sold off since then under the right-to-buy policy for tenants introduced by the Thatcher government of that era.

In the 1950s, councils were building almost 200,000 new council homes a year. In 2025 that figure was just 1,970 - and only around half of all councils now either own or build homes directly.

If Burnham intends for councils themselves to directly build all the new homes he has promised, they would be required to construct tens of thousands a year, when many have not built any for decades.

It would also probably require a considerable increase in council budgets, allowing them to rebuild their internal teams needed to plan, commission and manage large-scale housebuilding.

If, as some believe likely, Burnham's definition of "council housing" ultimately includes new social housing - delivered by housing associations and made available at social rents - this might be more achievable.

Social rents are typically around half of equivalent local market rents.

How many houses are currently being built in England?

Labour pledged a major step up in overall housebuilding - covering private as well as social housing - when it took power in 2024, pledging to deliver a total of 1.5 million new homes in England over the course of a five-year parliament.

But that implied an average of 300,000 new dwellings each year, a rate of construction not seen in decades.

BBC Verify has been tracking the target using government statistics on the number of Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) issued by each local authority. Each newly created dwelling must have an EPC by law, making it the most timely indicator of new homes being built.

The latest EPC data suggests only 204,000 new homes were delivered in the 12 months to March this year, far short of the required annual building rate to hit Labour's target - and with only around three years remaining until the next general election to meet what was already a very stretching goal.

A BBC Verify tool enables people to see housing delivery in their own local authority area by entering their postcode.

What did Burnham achieve on housing in Manchester?

Burnham's record on delivering new housing in the Greater Manchester city region - which encompasses boroughs from Wigan to Stockport - during his time as mayor was not extraordinary compared with other city regions in England.

There were 3.8 new homes built per 1,000 people between 2018 and 2025 - a lower rate than Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (5.6), the East Midlands (4.3), Greater London (4.2), and the West of England (4.2).

But the housing delivery rate in the city of Manchester itself during that time was more impressive. The city added 5.3 homes per 1,000 people, more than any other highly populated local authority area in England.

Burnham inherited a housing policy in Manchester's city centre that stemmed from a 1990s regeneration project encouraging private property developers to invest in the area.

Property developers in London have long been required to provide a considerable proportion of social rent housing on new projects. But in Manchester there was generally less emphasis on developers being required to do this.

In his 2024 mayoral manifesto, Burnham promised to deliver 10,000 new council homes across Greater Manchester by 2028.

But the number of council homes across the 10 boroughs of the city region fell slightly, from around 61,000 in 2016 to 59,000 in 2025, although the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has said national policy has been partly responsible for this record, particularly right-to-buy.

The delivery of new social rent housing increased in Greater Manchester during his tenure, rising from 76 in 2017-18 to 633 in 2024-25, and rose faster than in other northern English city regions.

What problems could he face as PM?

Analysts say the Starmer government's planning reforms for England - including changing the rules on green belt development to increase the area homes can be built on - should help increase construction in the long term.

But some argue that, in the immediate term, housing construction by private sector developers is being held back by high house prices relative to average household incomes and elevated mortgage interest rates, which make housing unaffordable to many prospective buyers.

The average house price in England was estimated at £300,000 in 2025, almost eight times the average annual earnings of a full-time employee.

Private housing developers have also cited factors such as a shortage of skilled labourers from Europe since Brexit and a jump in construction material costs in the wake of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as barriers to delivery.

Some argue government environmental and safety regulation is also holding back construction.

One option for Burnham to increase the supply of new social housing would be to prioritise the construction of homes for rent by councils and housing associations and direct the entire £39 billion, 10-year investment package towards that goal, rather than using part of it to subsidise the building of affordable homes for purchase.

But it's estimated that to deliver a major uplift in these forms of housing would require an extra £13bn per year of state subsidy on top of the existing commitments.

Burnham also said in a speech on 29 June that "we will use public land, vacant public land, to reduce costs".

Housing analysts believe there is potential to use publicly owned land to increase the delivery of housing, but some warn previous governments also attempted to do this without significant success and that there are inherent constraints which are challenging to overcome, such as the fact that the land might be part of a school's grounds or be too small and costly to develop.

Analysts argue that, though there is a case for higher state investment in council and social housing on a national scale, the UK still also needs a massive step-up in the construction of private housing - and that if Burnham is to have a chance of dealing with the housing crisis as prime minister he will need to deliver on the this front too.

Additional reporting by Daniel Wainwright

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Three reasons why UK electricity prices are so high

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8n5vnmjlzo, 5 days ago

While the UK government has announced it will cut VAT on domestic electricity this October from 5% to zero in an attempt to help with the cost of living, British households are still paying more for power than many other European nations.

Comparing UK prices with the EU shows that medium-use households here paid the fourth-highest electricity prices in the second half of last year including taxes and levies, although the government has taken steps to reduce bills since then.

Here are three key reasons why British electricity prices are high.

1. The cost of wholesale gas often sets the electricity price

The price energy suppliers pay for electricity is set by a bidding process with each generating company saying what it would be willing to accept to produce one unit of electricity.

Once built, the cost of generating power from renewables like wind and solar is relatively low, so these typically come in with the cheapest bid. Nuclear might come next.

Gas generators often have the highest costs because they have to buy fuel to generate electricity as well as paying a "carbon price" - a charge for emissions.

The wholesale cost is set by the last unit of electricity needed to meet demand from consumers.

This means that even if gas only generates 1% of overall electricity at a given time it can often set the overall wholesale price which gets paid to every type of generator.

That raises prices for households - particularly because the wars in Iran and Ukraine have increased the cost of gas.

Northern Ireland operates on a separate system to the rest of the UK, being part of the Single Electricity Market with the Republic of Ireland.

2. Other countries have a different energy mix

Analysts say that one of the reasons why electricity prices are higher in the UK than some other countries is because we generate a relatively high share of our electricity from natural gas.

In 2025 31% of the UK's electricity was produced from burning natural gas.

This compares with just 3% in France, which generated the majority of its electricity - 69% - from nuclear power.

The US has a higher share of natural gas in its electricity generation mix than the UK - 40% - but American wholesale gas prices are considerably lower thanks to the shale gas production boom of the past 20 years.

3. The UK is building much more electricity grid infrastructure

Higher wholesale gas prices have pushed up UK domestic electricity bills this year.

The wholesale energy costs contribution to a typical household bill in Great Britain rose from £311 in 2024-25 to £320 in 2025-26.

But bills have also been pushed up in recent years by state subsidies to encourage private firms to build wind and solar farms and also national electricity grid network investment costs, which previous governments have added to household electricity bills.

These network costs have been driven by the need to expand and modernise the grid to accommodate new wind and solar farms and transmit their power to homes and businesses.

The network costs contribution to a typical bill rose from £136 in 2019-20 to £250 in 2026, an increase of £113.

"We've probably underinvested in the last decade and now we're trying to catch up so there's quite a lot of spending," says Frankie Mayo, an energy analyst from Ember Energy.

The generation subsidies contribution to a typical bill rose from £127 in 2019-20 to £159 in 2026, an increase of £32.

Network costs are projected to increase further by 2030, adding another £48 to a typical bill, according to calculations by energy analyst Ben James.

However the government and some energy groups also argue that reducing our national reliance on volatile international gas prices via the government's 2030 clean power policy will keep down the UK's wholesale electricity costs and mean household bills will be lower than they would otherwise have been.

This would be by reducing the amount of time in each year that gas sets the wholesale electricity price.

A great deal though depends on future wholesale gas prices which are impossible to accurately forecast.

Some analysts, including the government's Climate Change Committee, also say the government should go further to remove policy costs from household electricity bills and meet them through general taxation instead, in order to avoid discouraging people from using electricity rather than gas to heat their homes.

"The way you allocate those costs matters," says Mayo.

"They may be being put on bills or they may be being paid by consumers in other ways that are less visible, such as taxes."

Five headaches Andy Burnham will have to deal with as PM

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62122pgjqdo, 9 days ago

When Andy Burnham enters No 10 Downing Street, he will inherit some formidable and complex problems that successive prime ministers and governments have attempted to address - mostly without success.

BBC Verify has looked at five big policy challenges Burnham will face and the approaches he might take to address them.

Welfare: Cutting £58bn sickness and disability bill

The cost of sickness and disability benefits for people of working age has grown rapidly since the Covid pandemic and now stands at around £58bn a year.

And it's projected to rise to £78bn a year by 2030.

The biggest driver of the increase is the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payments (Pip) - a working age benefit designed to support people with disabilities that increase their living costs.

The number of people claiming Pip is forecast to rise from four million today, to five million by 2030.

The share of people who are younger and claiming Pip for mental health problems or neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD is also rising fast.

The previous Conservative government attempted to reform the working age disability welfare system but the cost continued to rise during their time in office.

Last year, Sir Keir Starmer's government tried to reduce the Pip bill by £5bn a year by 2030 by tightening eligibility - but had to do a U-turn after a revolt by Labour MPs.

A recent interim report by the disability minister, Sir Stephen Timms, co-produced with disability groups, accepts that Pip is "not fit for purpose".

The final Timms report is expected to propose reforms to the system later this year, which Burnham could adopt.

There has been speculation this could involve offering young people with mental health problems therapy or other support rather than cash.

But there remains the risk of backlash from disability groups and potentially Labour MPs if the reforms are considered unfair.

Burnham has recently said he does want to reduce the welfare bill, but by encouraging people into work and not through "crude cuts".

Defence: Finding £9bn extra a year

After a delay of almost a year, Starmer finally published the government's Defence Investment Plan in June.

This led to an outcry in some quarters because it only took defence spending to 2.7% of GDP by 2030.

And it was not fully funded, requiring savings to be extracted from other Whitehall departments.

The pressure on Burnham to lift defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 from the former defence secretary John Healey, who resigned over the issue, and the defence establishment will continue.

But this would cost an additional £9bn a year relative to the current plans.

Another challenge for Burnham is the new Nato target of raising defence spending to 3.5% by 2035. That would cost an additional £24bn a year relative to current plans.

Some have suggested this could be paid for by the Treasury issuing special "war bonds", to avoid the need to raise taxes or cut spending elsewhere.

Another challenge for Burnham if he does spend more on defence is reforming defence procurement - buying and developing planes, ships, vehicles and weapons - which has been historically wasteful.

Of 47 major defence investment spending projects only three were rated "green" by the National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority in 2025, meaning likely to be successfully delivered on time and at the right quality.

Social care: Two million older people living with unmet care needs

The social care system in England - which is delivered mainly by independent providers rather than the NHS - is widely perceived as underfunded and unfair.

Public funding is means tested and it is estimated that there are two million older people in England now living with some unmet need for social care.

And around 10% of people aged 65 and over face lifetime care costs above £100,000 for their care.

Burnham has himself described it as a "broken" system.

And he made an attempt to reform it when he was health secretary in Gordon Brown's cabinet, though his plan was abandoned after Labour lost the 2010 election.

A government-commissioned report by the economist Andrew Dilnot in 2011 proposed a state-funded cap on lifetime care costs, of around £35,000, meaning no one would be required to pay more than that to fund their own care.

The principle of a state-funded cap was accepted by Conservative ministers, but the Dilnot system was never implemented.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May put a separate plan for a new system of social care support into the 2017 Tory manifesto, which proposed including the value of a person's home in the means test for care received in an individual's home - and did not initially mention a cap on lifetime contributions.

This proved controversial because homeowners could have been required to contribute more towards their care costs based on the value of their property.

But the former PM was forced to reverse course within days and the proposal was blamed for the loss of the Tory majority in that election.

Labour's 2024 manifesto pledged a new "national care service".

But Starmer kicked the reform can down the road when he became PM and commissioned Baroness Casey to produce a review on options for reform, instructing her to deliver her final report by 2028.

Burnham has suggested he will ask Baroness Casey to report back sooner - by the end of 2026 - and could choose to implement her recommendations.

But any reform is likely to cost money, likely billions of pounds a year.

In the past, Burnham has suggested changing inheritance tax to pay for social care reform, floating the idea of a 10% levy on all estates.

However, polling frequently suggests inheritance tax is widely regarded as the least fair tax. It should be said more recently he has said he is open to getting rid of inheritance tax completely and instead moving to tax "the wealthy properly while they are alive".

Housing: 1.5m new homes promised, only 204,000 delivered last year

The government promised to deliver 1.5m new homes in England over the five years of this Parliament, which would imply an average annual rate of 300,000.

But it is badly off track, with only 204,000 delivered in the 12 months to March 2026.

Burnham has said he wants to deliver "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period", though he has not defined what this means.

But the facts are stark. English councils built just 1,970 homes to rent in 2025, down from a construction rate of almost 200,000 a year in the 1950s.

The Starmer government has already committed to spend around £4bn a year in state subsidies to deliver around 30,000 "social and affordable" homes a year, which includes homes for people to buy.

Burnham could devote all of this money to councils or housing associations to try to increase the amount of new council and social housing being built.

But it is estimated that to deliver major uplift in these forms of housing would require an extra £13bn per year of state subsidy on top of the existing £4bn per year spending commitments.

Burnham could potentially attempt to borrow to fund more public housing, but he would have to ensure this was consistent with the fiscal rules he has also said he will retain.

Neets: Getting a million young people into work

Just over one million young people in the UK aged 16-24 are not in employment, education or training (Neets), around one in seven of the total.

The UK's Neet rate was in the middle of the pack of European Union countries in 2015. But in 2025 it had risen to the second highest, after Romania.

One of the possible contributing factors to that rising Neet rate is that the number of 19- to 24-year-olds starting apprenticeship courses has fallen by a fifth since what is widely regarded as a botched reform of the system in 2016 by the previous government.

A recent government-commissioned report by former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn described the Neet rate as an "urgent national crisis"; he will propose policy recommendations later this year.

Burnham will be able to pick up these proposals, although they might come with an up-front cost attached if they involve greater investment in training opportunities or guaranteed work placements.

Is it possible we will see more support for vocational training?

Burnham has said recently that the school system is too focused on the university route.

But many governments in recent decades have proclaimed a need for a greater focus on support for non-graduates, yet have often still tended to focus more attention and resources on university students and higher education, rather than on vocational qualifications and further education.

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