Cyanide has been found in the blood of all six people who died in a luxury hotel suite in Bangkok, say doctors after examining their bodies.

Based on the initial post-mortem examination, they say there is “no other cause” that would explain their deaths “except for cyanide”.

But they are doing further tests to determine the “intensity” of the deadly chemical and to rule out any other toxins.

Forensic investigators had earlier found traces of cyanide on the teacups used by the victims, all of them of Vietnamese origin. Police suspect that one of the dead was behind the poisoning and was driven by crushing debt.

The victims’ lips and nails had turned dark purple indicating a lack of oxygen, while their internal organs turned “blood red”, which is another sign of cyanide poisoning, said Professor Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Chulalongkorn University.

Doctor Chanchai Sittipunt, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, said they still needed to find out how much cyanide was in the blood of the deceased.

“But from what we have detected – from observation, from internal organ check, from finding cyanide in the blood during the screening test – there is no other cause that would be the factor that would cause their deaths, except for cyanide,” he told reporters.

The deceased were found by housekeepers at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in the Thai capital late on Tuesday.

Investigators believe they had been dead for between 12 and 24 hours by then.

The mystery around the shocking discovery made international headlines.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered an urgent investigation into the case, stressing that the deaths were the result of a “private matter”, and there was no suggestion of public danger.

Police have since begun to piece together what might have happened.

Two of the six victims had loaned “tens of millions of Thai baht” to another of the deceased for investment purposes, authorities said. Ten million baht is worth nearly $280,000 (£215,000).

Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Bangkok police chief Gen Noppassin Poonsawat told a press conference the group checked into the hotel separately over the weekend and were assigned five rooms – four on the seventh floor, and one on the fifth.

They had been scheduled to check out on Monday but failed to do so.

Four of the victims are Vietnamese nationals Thi Nguyen Phuong, 46, her husband Hong Pham Thanh, 49, Thi Nguyen Phuong Lan, 47, and Dinh Tran Phu, 37.

The other two are American citizens Sherine Chong, 56, and Dang Hung Van, 55.

The US state department has offered its condolences and said it is “closely monitoring” the situation. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting Thai authorities in the investigation, Mr Srettha said.

Police say on Monday afternoon all six victims gathered in the room on the fifth floor.

The group ordered food and tea, which was delivered to the room around 14:00 local time (08:00 BST) and received by Ms Chong – who was the only person in the room at the time.

According to the deputy police chief, a waiter offered to make tea for the guests but Ms Chong refused this. The waiter recalled that she “spoke very little and was visibly under stress”, authorities said.

The waiter later left the room.

The rest of the group then began streaming into the room at various points, between 14:03 and 14:17. No one else is believed to have entered the room apart from the six inside and police have said the door to the room was locked from within.

Police say there were no signs of a struggle, robbery or forced entry. They later found traces of cyanide in all six tea cups.

Pictures released by the police show plates of untouched food left on a table in the room, some of them still covered in cling wrap.

There was a seventh name on the group’s hotel booking, whom police identified as the younger sister of one of the victims. She had left Thailand last week for the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang and is not involved in the incident, police said.

Relatives interviewed by the police said Thi Nguyen Phuong and Hong Pham Thanh, a couple, owned a road construction business and had given money to Ms Chong to invest in a hospital building project in Japan.

Police suspect that Mr Tran, a make-up artist based in Da Nang, had also been “duped” into making an investment.

Mr Tran’s mother Tuý told BBC Vietnamese that he had travelled to Thailand on Friday and had called home on Sunday to say he had to extend his stay until Monday. That was the last his family had heard from him. She rang him again on Monday but he did not answer the call.

Ms Chong had hired Mr Tran as her personal make-up artist for the trip, one of his students told BBC Vietnamese. Mr Tran’s father, Phu, told Vietnamese media that his son was hired last week by a Vietnamese woman to travel to Thailand.

The six bodies were discovered one day after Thailand expanded its visa-free entry scheme to travellers from 93 countries and territories to revitalise its tourism industry.

The Grand Hyatt Erawan is located in a prime location popular with tourists – however the area has also seen high-profile crimes in recent years.

Last October, a 14-year-old boy shot and killed three people at the Siam Paragon mall, which is just a few hundred metres down the road from the hotel.

The hotel also sits opposite the Erawan Shrine, which was hit by a bomb blast in 2015 that killed 20 people.

Prime Minister Srettha himself visited the hotel on Tuesday and reassured the public that Thailand has put in place security measures to keep tourists safe.

Tourism is one of its biggest industries and has just begun to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thailand has always been a top destination for the budget tourist – from students to thrifty backpackers – but it is increasingly trying to attract well-heeled travellers.

As the war in Gaza grinds on, there are growing fears another Middle East war may erupt – with devastating consequences for the region, and beyond.

Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah (backed by Iran) have been trading fire across their shared border for the past nine months. If this conflict escalates to all-out war, it could dwarf the destruction in Gaza, draw in Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, spread embers around the Middle East and embroil the US. Iran itself could intervene directly.

The United Nations has warned of a “catastrophe beyond imagination”.

For now, a low-level war simmers in the summer heat, along a 120km (75 mile) stretch of border. One spark here could set the Middle East alight.

Over the lapping of the waves, and the thwack thwack of paddle games on the beach, a sound cuts through – a sudden deep boom.

Soon smoke billows from a hillside in the distance after an Israeli strike.

Around the pool in a resort hotel, a few sunbathers stand briefly to scan the horizon.

Others don’t move a tanned limb.

Explosions are part of the sound of summer 2024 in the ancient Lebanese city of Tyre, as Hezbollah and Israel exchange fire across the border 25 kilometres (15 miles) away.

“Another day, another bomb,” says Roland, 49, with a shrug, as he relaxes on a lilo. He lives abroad but is back home on holiday.

“We got used to it somehow over the months,” says his friend Mustafa, 39, “though children are still a little bit scared.” He nods towards his daughter Miral, 7, who is dripping wet from the pool.

“When she hears an explosion, she always asks, ‘will there be a bomb now?’” he says.

Earlier this month, there was a massive blast in his neighbourhood in Tyre, as his family of four were having a meal. Israel had assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander, Mohammed Nimah Nasser.

“We heard the noise,” Mustafa says, “and we carried on eating.”

But the sunbathers on the beach in Tyre may be on borrowed time. This city will be in the firing line in the event of all-out war, along with the rest of southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold.

We are now at the water’s edge of a potentially devastating war which both sides say they don’t want. Iran doesn’t seem to want it either.

How did we get here?

On October 8th last year – one day after Hamas gunmen stormed out of Gaza and killed about 1,200 Israelis as well as taking 251 others hostage – Hezbollah joined in, firing at Israeli targets from Lebanon.

The Shia Islamist armed group said it was acting in support of Gaza.

Soon Israel was firing back.

Hezbollah, which is also a political party, is the most powerful force in Lebanon.

Like Hamas, it is classed as a terrorist organisation by many countries, including the UK and the US.

But unlike Hamas, Hezbollah has the firepower to seriously threaten Israel.

It is believed to have an arsenal of more than 150,000 rockets and missiles – some precision-guided – capable of inflicting heavy damage around the country.

• What is Hezbollah in Lebanon and will it go to war with Israel?

Put simply Hezbollah – its English translation, the Party of God – has more arms than many countries.

Its backer Iran – which denies Israel’s right to exist – is happy to train and fund the enemies of the Jewish state.

The conflict has been heating up, with thousands of cross-border strikes.

Some countries have already told their nationals to leave Lebanon urgently, including Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and Saudi Arabia. The UK has advised against all travel to the country and is urging Britons who are here to leave – while they still can.

So far, both sides are mainly striking military targets, close to the border – staying within familiar red lines.

But here on the Lebanese side, we have seen destruction in civilian areas with scorched fields, flattened houses and abandoned villages.

And the current tit-for-tat has already driven tens of thousands from their homes – more than 90,000 in Lebanon and about 60,000 in Israel.

Israeli officials say 33 people have been killed so far in Hezbollah attacks, mostly soldiers.

Lebanon’s losses are far higher at 466, according to the Ministry of Health here. Most of the dead were fighters.

Sally Skaiki was not.

“I never called her Sally,” says her father Hussein Abdul Hassan Skaiki. “I always called her ‘my life’ – she was everything for me.”

“She was the only girl in the house, and we spoiled her, me and her three brothers.”

Sally, 25, was a volunteer paramedic. She was killed by an Israeli strike after sunset on 14 June as she stood in the doorway of her building.

Her father wears the black of mourning, and the green scarf of the Shia Amal movement, which is allied to Hezbollah.

We meet in his village of Deir Qanoun En-Naher, 30km (18 miles) from the border. The main road is dotted with sun-bleached posters of fighters killed in battle against Israel – some in recent months, others back in 2006 when the two sides last went to war.

In that conflict, Hezbollah fought Israel to a standstill but at huge cost to Lebanon and its people. There was massive destruction, and more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians were killed – according to official figures – along with an unconfirmed number of Hezbollah fighters.

Israel’s death toll was 160, according to the government, most of them soldiers.

By Hussein’s side there is a large poster of Sally, in her headscarf and paramedic uniform. He speaks of his daughter with pride and with anguish.

“She loved to help people,” he says. “Any problem that happened, she rushed there. She was well-loved in the village. She always had a smile on her face.”

As we speak there is a loud boom which rattles the windows.

Hussein says it is a normal, daily occurrence.

“Since a long time, Israel killed our people here,” he says.

“We can’t forgive them. There is no hope of peace with them.”

This time, there is no death or destruction. Instead, Israeli warplanes are breaking the sound barrier to spread fear.

And, since October, Israel has been spreading something else in southern Lebanon – choking, searing clumps of white phosphorus, contained in munitions.

The chemical substance ignites immediately on contact with oxygen. It sticks to skin and clothing and can burn through bone, according to the World Health Organization.

Moussa al-Moussa – a farmer stooped by his 77 years – knows only too well.

He says Israel fired white phosphorous shells at his land in the village of al-Bustan every day for over a month, robbing him of breath, and his livelihood.

“I had my scarf on, and I wrapped it around my mouth and nose until I was brought to the hospital,” he tells me, gesturing to the red and white keffiyeh – the traditional Arab scarf – on his head.

“We didn’t have any masks. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see a metre in front of me. And if you touch a fragment a week later it will ignite and burn again.”

The international campaign group, Human Rights Watch, has verified the use of white phosphorus over several populated areas in southern Lebanon, including al-Bustan.

It says Israel’s use of white phosphorus is “unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas”.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dispute this, saying the use of white phosphorus shells to create a smokescreen “is lawful under international law”. It says these shells are not used in densely populated areas “with certain exceptions”.

Like many farmers along the border, Moussa fears Israel has poisoned his tobacco crop and his olive groves.

“White phosphorous burns the ground, it burns people and the crops and buildings,” he says.

Even if he can return home, he is afraid to bring in a harvest in case it harms his family or his buyers.

He lives in limbo – in classroom 4B of a vocational school in Tyre. About 30 families who fled the border area are sheltering in the building. Washing is strung across the school yard. A lone little boy races up and down the empty corridors on a bicycle.

When I ask Moussa how many wars he has seen, he begins to laugh.

“We spent our lives in wars,” he says. “Only God knows if another one is coming.”

As one of Hezbollah’s most senior commanders, Mohammed Nimah Nasser, was a wanted man. He fought Israel in 2006, and before, and went on to fight in Syria and Iraq. In recent months he “planned, led and supervised many military operations against the Israeli enemy”, according to Hezbollah.

Israel tracked him down in Tyre on 3 July. Death came from the sky in broad daylight, with an air strike which turned his car into a fireball.

In the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut, he was given a hero’s funeral, or rather a “martyr’s” one.

The event was carefully choreographed and strictly segregated – men in one area, women in another – including the press.

His coffin, draped in the yellow flag of Hezbollah, was carried by pall bearers in camouflage uniforms and red berets. Many more fighters stood to attention, lines deep. There was a brass band in spotless white uniforms, if not in perfect harmony.

It had the feel of a state funeral – in a country that lacks a functioning state.

Lebanon has no president, a caretaker government and a shattered economy. It is carved up by sect, and hollowed out by corruption, its citizens left to fend for themselves. Many Lebanese are weary. The last thing they want is another war.

Hezbollah sees things different.

As the funeral prayers concluded, the talk among mourners was of “martyrdom” not death, and of readiness for war, if it comes.

Hassan Hamieh, a 35-year-old nurse, told us he would fight. “We are not afraid,” he said.

“In fact, we are longing for an all-out war. Martyrdom is the shortest path to God. Young or old, we will all take part in this war, if it is forced upon us.”

Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has stressed the armed group is ready, but not eager, for war. He says if there is a ceasefire agreed in Gaza, Hezbollah will cease fire too, immediately.

Will that satisfy Israel? Maybe not.

It sees Hezbollah as a permanent threat too close for comfort. At the very least, it wants its heavily armed enemy to pull back from the border.

There have been plenty of bellicose threats. Israel’s Education Minister, Yoav Kish, said Lebanon would be “annihilated”. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant chimed in, saying the country would be returned “to the stone age”.

As the attacks and counter attacks continue, families are destroyed. This month parents have been ripped from children, and children from parents.

An Israeli couple were killed in their car by Hezbollah rockets as they headed for home in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria. They left behind three teenage children.

And in southern Lebanon three children were killed in an Israeli strike earlier this week. They were aged between four and eight, and their parents were Syrian farm workers.

The IDF approved “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon” a month ago.

For now, no tanks are rolling over the border. There has been no political decision to attack. Israel is still waging war in Gaza and fighting on two fronts could overstretch the military.

But without a diplomatic solution between Israel and Hezbollah – two old enemies – all-out war may be coming, if not now, then later.

A man from the southern Indian state of Kerala, who got trapped in a hospital lift for 42 hours without any food or water, has told the BBC he feared he would die there.

Ravindran Nair, 59, entered the lift to meet a doctor on Saturday afternoon – he then remained stuck inside until Monday morning, when a lift operator found him. He is now in hospital and is being treated for dehydration and back pain.

His family members initially thought he was at work, but later contacted police and began a desperate search for him.

The incident has made headlines, prompting the state government to suspend three technicians and launch an inquiry. Officials from the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, and the state’s health minister have apologised to Mr Nair.

Mr Nair told the BBC that when he got trapped, he tried calling the emergency number listed in the lift but there was no response. He also tried calling his wife Sreelekha CP, who works at the hospital, and “anyone else I could think of”, but the calls wouldn’t connect.

“I began panicking and started banging on the lift doors to attract attention. That’s when my phone fell on the floor and stopped working,” he says.

“I shouted and screamed for help and tried pulling apart the doors with my hands. It was now dark inside the lift, but thankfully, there was sufficient air to breathe.”

He then paced around the lift, pressing the alarm bell again and again, hoping it would ring and catch someone’s attention – but without any success.

“As the hours passed, I had no idea whether it was day or night as it was pitch dark inside. When I got tired, I slept in a corner. I had to use another corner to pee and poo,” he says.

Mr Nair said he began visiting the hospital regularly a few months ago after he fell in the bathroom and started suffering from back pain.

“On Saturday, my wife and I went to meet the doctor and I got an X-ray scan done of my back because I was experiencing severe pain after a recent trip,” he recalls.

When the doctor asked to see the results from his blood test, the couple realised that they had forgotten them at home. Since Ms Sreelakha had to report for work, Mr Nair went home to pick up the results.

Normally when he visits the hospital he and his wife use a lift earmarked for employees. But this time he stepped into Lift-11 – meant for patients and visitors – to head up to the second floor.

“It was just past noon then. There was no-one else in the lift but the light was on, so I didn’t think anything was wrong,” he says.

He pressed the button and the lift began ascending but as it neared the second floor, it lurched downwards with a thud and got stuck between the first and second floors.

He didn’t know then that his ordeal would last nearly two days.

At some point he remembered he had to take pills to keep his blood pressure under control.

“I had them on me, but couldn’t swallow them because I had no water and my mouth was dry from shouting for help,” he recalls.

“I started wondering whether I would die inside the lift. I worried about my wife and children and thought about my late parents and ancestors. But then, I somehow willed myself to be stronger and told myself that I had to overcome this frightening ordeal.”

One thing that gave him comfort, he says, was reciting poems written by his wife.

“I held on to the hope that someone would come along to repair the lift and find me there.”

Help arrived finally on Monday morning at around 06:00 local time when an operator opened the door and asked him to jump out – 42 hours after his ordeal began.

Once Mr Nair was rescued, the first thing he did was call his wife, who had no idea her missing husband was trapped at her workplace.

“He wanted me to come and take him home,” she says.

The hospital has since put up a warning outside the lift asking people not to use it while it is being repaired.

One by one, Donald Trump’s defeated rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination took the stage to sing his praises at the party’s convention on Tuesday night.

From his box just above the convention floor, Trump smiled at times as he watched his former opponents Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy voice their full support for his candidacy.

If there were any doubts that this was Trump’s party, Tuesday’s programming put them to rest.

“I’ll start by making one thing perfectly clear: Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” said Ms Haley, the former UN Ambassador who posed the strongest challenge to Trump earlier this year.

She said Trump had asked her to speak at the event in Milwaukee in the name of “unity”.

“For the sake of our nation we have to go with Donald Trump,” she told the crowd.

Ms Haley said in May that she would vote for the former president, but her headline speech on Tuesday was her most direct endorsement of the Republican nominee yet.

And when she declared her endorsement, Trump stood and clapped.

Ms Haley’s arrival, however, was not universally welcomed in the arena. There was a noticeable intake of breath as she acknowledged that she and Trump had their differences.

Some Republicans have struggled to forgive her for launching an aggressive campaign against their favoured candidate. Late in the race, she questioned whether Trump had the mental stamina to serve as president.

A smattering of boos greeted her as she took the podium, though they were soon drowned out by cheers and chants.

She deserves the booing, said Gregory Switzer, a conservative activist from Texas.

“She stayed in that race a lot longer than she needed to and dragged out the inevitable,” said Matt Bumela, a delegate from Washington state who had predicted the booing. “And said things about Trump that were negative all the way up to the end.”

Ms Haley notably broke from Trump when she called for the US to continue to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.

When she later said she would vote for him in November, she said the former president would be “smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me”.

On Tuesday night, she told supporters of hers who might be on the fence: “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him – take it from me.”

“Tonight is our unity night,” said New Hampshire state Senator William Gannon, who had served as a delegate for Ms Haley. He believed Trump made the right choice to invite her to speak.

“I wanna win the national election,” he said. “It was a wise move to bring her in.”

The third-place finisher in the primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, received a far more enthusiastic welcome from the crowd.

He touched on several conservative social issues, including diversity initiatives, which he said were “indoctrination”.

He urged the crowd to rally behind Trump – though they were already solidly behind their current nominee. “We cannot let him down, and we cannot let America down,” Mr DeSantis said.

He also took a swipe at Mr Biden’s age, an issue that is currently roiling the Democratic Party. “We need a commander-in-chief who can lead 24 hours a day and seven days a week,” he said.

Daniel Willis, the 25-year-old chair of the Delaware Young Republicans, said Mr DeSantis and Ms Haley did more than enough “to bridge the gap” with Trump supporters.

Lara Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law and co-chair of the Republican National Committee, hit a conciliatory tone, telling the crowd: “You don’t have to admit that you like everything that he tweets, but Americans were better off when he was in office.”

She added: “Last Saturday reminded us that we Americans must remember that there is more that unites us than divides us.”

The rest of the night was devoted to the more common Republican campaign points, such as migrant crossings at the border, crime and an overarching commitment to defeating Mr Biden.

Ted Cruz, the US senator from Texas, said there was a “literal invasion” of the United States. Dr Ben Carson, who served in Trump’s cabinet, accused Democrats of “shredding the Constitution”.

Trump himself led a huge standing ovation for Madeline Brame, a woman whose son was killed in New York in 2018 and has since called for tough-on-crime policies.

Down on the floor, delegates said they were ready to move beyond the intra-party divisions of the primary and instead focus the party’s energy on President Biden.

“At the end of the day,” said Georgia delegate Pam Lightsey, “We’re all Republicans.”

Schools and universities across Bangladesh have been shut until further notice after six people were killed in protests over quotas in government jobs.

University students have been holding rallies for days against the system of reserving some public sector jobs for the relatives of war heroes, who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Some jobs are also reserved for women, ethnic minorities and the disabled.

A third of posts are kept for the family members of those categorised as war heroes. The students argue that the system is discriminatory, and they want recruitment based on merit.

Several cities, including the capital Dhaka, this week witnessed clashes between supporters of the anti-quota movement and their opponents, particularly the student wing of the governing Awami League known as the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).

Student groups attacked each other with bricks and sticks. Police fired tear gas and used rubber bullets to disperse the clashing groups. Student activists said hundreds of people had been injured in the attacks.

“We blame the BCL members for the violence. They killed the protesters. Police didn’t intervene to save the ordinary students,” Abdullah Shaleheen Oyon, one of the co-ordinators of the anti-quota movement, told the BBC.

Government jobs are highly coveted in Bangladesh because they pay well. In total, more than half of the positions – amounting to hundreds of thousands of jobs – are reserved for certain groups.

Critics say the system unfairly benefits the families of pro-government groups who support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who won her fourth straight election in January.

Ms Hasina’s government abolished the reservation in 2018, following protests. But a court ordered the authorities to reinstate the quotas in early June, triggering the latest round of protests.

Officials say three people were killed in the southern port city of Chittagong and two in Dhaka, while one student was killed in the northern city of Rangpur by a stray bullet.

Media reports say at least three of those killed were students, though there is no official confirmation yet.

The government blames opposition groups for the violence.

“The student fronts of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party [BNP] have infiltrated this anti-quota movement. They are the ones who initiated the violence,” Law Minister Anisul Huq told the BBC.

Bangladesh’s top court suspended the current system last week, but protests are expected to continue until it is permanently removed.

“The case has been listed for hearing on 7 August. Students have been given an opportunity to present their argument in the court,” Mr Huq said.

In a late-night operation on Tuesday, police raided the headquarters of the BNP, the main opposition party, in Dhaka, following the violent clashes.

Senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the raid was nothing but a drama and it was a message for the students to return home.

The protests have seen students blocking roads in Dhaka and other major cities, bringing traffic to a halt.

Student leaders said they were angered by recent comments by Ms Hasina who, they say, described those opposed to the job quotas as – a term used for those who allegedly collaborated with the Pakistani army during the 1971 war.

Several student leaders said Ms Hasina had insulted them by comparing them to . The comparison, they said, also encouraged BCL members to attack them.

“They want to suppress our voices through creating a reign of terror in the country. If I don’t protest today, they will beat me another day. That’s why I am on the streets to protest,” Rupaiya Sherstha, a female student at Dhaka University, told the BBC.

But government ministers say Ms Hasina’s comments were misinterpreted, and she did not call the students .

Mohammad Ali Arafat, state minister for information and broadcasting, denied allegations that the student wing of the Awami League triggered the violence.

He said the trouble began after anti-quota students intimidated residents of a hall in Dhaka.

“If there’s chaos on the university campuses, there’s no benefit for the government. We want peace to be maintained,” Mr Arafat told the BBC.

UN Secretary General António Guterres called on the government to “protect the demonstrators against any form of threat or violence”, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The students have vowed to continue their protests until their demands are met.

The government has strengthened security by deploying the paramilitary, Border Guards Bangladesh, in five main cities, including Dhaka and Chittagong.

Self-exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui has been convicted by a US court of defrauding his online followers in a billion-dollar scam.

He was found guilty on nine of the 12 criminal counts he faced, including racketeering, fraud and money laundering.

Guo’s sentencing has been scheduled for 19 November, when he could face decades behind bars. He has been in prison since his arrest in March 2023.

He is a critic of the Chinese Communist party and was an associate of Stephen Bannon, an ex-White House chief strategist under former president Donald Trump.

Guo goes by several aliases, including Miles Guo, Miles Kwok and “Brother Seven”. He was named as Ho Wan Kwok when he was indicted in 2023.

Prosecutors said Guo raised more than $1bn (£770m) from online followers, who joined him in investment and cryptocurrency schemes between 2018 and 2023.

The money he raised was used to fund Guo’s lavish lifestyle which included a 50,000 square foot mansion, a $1m Lamborghini and a $37m yacht, they said.

“Thousands of Guo’s online followers were victimised so that Guo could live a life of excess,” the US Attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, said after the verdict.

Guo’s political activism and his links to high-profile, right-wing US politicians and activists earned him hundreds of thousands of online followers, most of them Chinese people living in Western countries.

Guo’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully to sway the jury by saying their client was not driven by money.

Instead, they portrayed him as a fervent opponent of China’s political system and his ostentatious lifestyle was a critique of the Chinese Communist Party.

After his arrival in the US in 2017, Guo’s outspoken opposition to China’s rulers inspired several ventures with Bannon.

They appeared frequently together in online videos, and in 2020 they launched a campaign called the New Federal State of China, with the goal of overthrowing the Chinese Communist Party.

Later that year, Bannon was arrested over an unrelated fraud case while on Guo’s yacht in Connecticut. He was later pardoned by then-president Donald Trump.

Bannon is currently serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.

Fourteen high school students in Tokyo were admitted to hospital after eating “super spicy” potato crisps, police said.

Around 30 students ate the fiery snacks after one of them brought them to school on Tuesday, Japanese local media reported.

Soon, some of them started complaining of nausea and acute pain around their mouth, prompting emergency calls to the fire department and police.

The 13 girls and one boy who were taken to hospital were conscious and reportedly had minor symptoms.

The company that makes the snack, Isoyama Corp, put out a statement, apologising for “any inconvenience” to customers, and wished the students a swift recovery.

The school and the company have not responded to the BBC’s questions so far.

The company website is full of warnings for those who may wish to try the crisps.

It “forbids” those under 18 from consuming the crisps which are called “R 18+ curry chips”, because of how spicy they are – and it warns even those who love hot food to “eat with caution”. The crisps are “so spicy that they may cause you pain”, it says.

The spiciness comes from the potent “ghost pepper”, cultivated in northeastern India, where it’s known as bhut jolokia. Although it is used in recipes in India and elsewhere, it’s known to be among the world’s hottest chillis.

• The kick from your chilli can have side effects

The Japanese firm, in fact, advises people not to “eat the chips when they are alone” and says they could cause diarrhea if eaten “excessively”.

Those with high blood pressure and weak stomachs “are absolutely prohibited” from eating the crisps, according to the company’s website. It warns people who have cuts on their fingers to be careful while opening the packets.

Those who are “timid or too scared” are also discouraged from trying the snack.

One media report said one of the students, a boy, brought the crisps to school “just for fun”.

Responding to news about the hospitalisations, some X users posted a “spicy meter” to demonstrate how hot the crisps were, while others shared videos of their agonising experience of eating them.

In one video, a user who appears to be wincing, described it as “painful” and said it reminded him of the time he had urinary stones.

X owner Elon Musk also weighed in, saying “they must be next-level spicy!”

There has been outrage in Italy after a female tourist in Florence was pictured miming a lewd act on a statue of the Roman god Bacchus.

In the photos – which were shared online by the social media account Welcome To Florence – the woman can also be seen kissing the life-size statue at nighttime.

The Bacchus stands on a plinth on a street corner near the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge and is a modern replica of the 16th Century work by sculptor Giambologna. The original is kept in the nearby Bargello museum.

The photos sparked angry reactions from social media users, some of whom called for the woman’s arrest.

“This is the result of years of attempts at turning Florence into Disneyland,” said another.

Patrizia Asproni, the president of Confcultura, an association that promotes Italy’s cultural heritage, told Italian media that these “repeated shows of rudeness and barbarity” take place “because everyone feels entitled to do whatever they want with impunity”.

Ms Asproni called for the application of the “Singapore model” with “tight checks, sky-high fines and zero tolerance” for bad behaviour.

Antonella Rinaldi, Florence’s archeology and fine arts superintendent, said: “Tourists are welcome here but they need to respect our artworks, be they originals or replicas.”

“Although I doubt this lady – whom I condemn – even knows the difference,” she added.

Florence is one of the world’s foremost tourist destinations.

In 2023, around 1.5 million people visited the city – which has a population of just 382,000 – between June and September.

Local residents have long struggled with the huge influx of tourists, which in the summer months turns Florence’s narrow streets into steady streams of people.

The so-called “overtourism” phenomenon has prompted several cities around the world to make changes to the way they welcome tourists.

Last month, the mayor of Barcelona pledged to eliminate short-term tourist lets in the city within five years, while several hotspots – like Venice or Japan’s Mount Fuji – have started to introduce daily charges to try to limit numbers.

European politicians and diplomats had already prepared for changes to their relationship with the US in the event of a second Donald Trump presidency.

Now that the Republican candidate has chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate, those differences appear even more stark on prospects for the war in Ukraine, security and trade.

A vocal critic of US aid to Ukraine, Mr Vance told this year’s Munich Security Conference that Europe should wake up to the US having to “pivot” its focus to East Asia.

“The American security blanket has allowed European security to atrophy,” he said.

Nils Schmid, a senior MP in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party, told the BBC that he was confident a Republican presidency would continue to stay within Nato, even if JD Vance came across as “more isolationist” and Donald Trump remained “unpredictable”.

However, he warned of a new round of “trade wars” with the US under a second Trump presidency.

An EU diplomat said that after four years of Donald Trump no-one was naïve: “We understand what it means if Trump comes back as a second-term president, regardless of his running mate.”

Portraying the EU as a sailing boat preparing for a storm the diplomat, who preferred not to be named, added that whatever they might be able to tie down, it was always going to be rough.

The US is Ukraine’s biggest ally, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week: “I’m not afraid about him becoming president, we will work together.”

He also said that he believed most of the Republican party supported Ukraine and its people.

Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump also have a common friend in Boris Johnson, the former UK prime minister, who has consistently championed continued aid for Ukraine and recently met the former president at the Republican National Convention.

Following the meeting, Mr Johnson posted on X that he had “no doubt that [Mr Trump] will be strong and decisive in supporting that country and defending democracy”.

But even if that sentiment is true, it might not apply to Mr Vance, who, days before the full-scale invasion, told a podcast he “doesn’t really care what happens in Ukraine, one way or the other”. He also played a key role in delaying a $60bn military aid package from Washington.

“We need to try and convince him otherwise,” says Yevhen Mahda, the Executive Director of the Institute of World Policy think tank in Kyiv.

“A fact we can use is that he fought in Iraq, therefore he should be invited to Ukraine so he can see with his own eyes what is happening and how American money is spent.”

The question for Kyiv will be to what extent he can influence the decisions of his new boss.

Yevhen Mahda agrees that Trump’s unpredictability could be a problem for Kyiv in the run-up to the US presidential election.

The biggest supporter of the Trump-Vance ticket in the European Union is Hungary’s Viktor Orban who returned recently from a visit to see the Republican candidate, after visiting Mr Zelensky and President Putin, with whom he maintains close ties.

In a letter to EU leaders, Mr Orban said a victorious Donald Trump would not even wait to be inaugurated as president before quickly demanding peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

“He has detailed and well-founded plans for this,” the letter states.

Mr Zelensky has himself said this week that Russia should attend a peace summit possibly next November, and he has promised a “fully ready plan”. But he made clear he had not come under Western pressure to do so.

Viktor Orban’s recent “peace missions” to Moscow and Beijing have sparked accusations that he’s abusing his country’s six-month rotating presidency of the European Council. European Commission officials have been told not to attend meetings in Hungary because of Mr Orban’s actions.

During the Trump presidency, the US imposed tariffs on EU-produced steel and aluminium. Although they were paused under Joe Biden’s administration, Trump has since floated a 10% tariff on all overseas imports should he get back into the White House.

The prospect of renewed economic confrontation with the US will be seen as a bad, even a disastrous, outcome in most European capitals.

“The only thing we know for sure is there will be punitive tariffs levelled on the European Union so we have to prepare for another round of trade wars,” said Nils Schmid, the Social Democrats’ foreign policy lead in the Bundestag.

JD Vance singled out Berlin for criticism of its military preparedness earlier this year.

While he didn’t mean to “beat up” on Germany, he said the industrial base underpinning its arms production was insufficient.

This will all pile further pressure on Germany, Europe’s largest economy, to “step up” as a principal player in underwriting European security.

After his much-lauded “zeitenwende” (turning point) speech in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Olaf Scholz was often accused of hesitancy on supplying weapons to Kyiv.

But his allies are always keen to point out that Germany is second only to the US in terms of military aid to Kyiv while it has – for the first time since the end of the Cold War – met the 2% GDP defence spending target, albeit via short-term budgeting.

“I think we are on the right track,” said Mr Schmid. “We have to build back an army that was neglected for 15 to 20 years.”

But observers are far from convinced that behind-the-scenes European preparations are either serious or sufficient.

There are few leaders with the political clout or inclination to champion the future security architecture of an unwieldy European continent.

Chancellor Scholz has an understated style and clear resistance to taking a lead on bolder foreign policy positions – and faces a very real prospect of being voted out of office next year.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been left a severely weakened figure after calling parliamentary elections that have left his country in a state of political paralysis.

Polish President Andrzej Duda warned on Tuesday that if Ukraine loses its struggle against Russia “then Russia’s potential war with the West will be extremely imminent”.

“This voracious Russian monster will want to attack on and on.”

There was always his family. When he was bullied at school, and beaten, they were there to embrace him when he came home. And when the war started and he was terrorised by the sound of bombs falling, someone always said things were going to be ok.

Muhammed was heavy and found movement difficult. He spent his days sitting in an armchair. If he needed anything, there was a niece or nephew to help.

Muhammed Bhar was 24 and had Down’s syndrome and autism. His mother, Nabila Bhar, 70, told the BBC: “He didn’t know how to eat, drink, or change his clothes. I’m the one who changed his nappies. I’m the one who fed him. He didn’t know how to do anything by himself.”

On 27 June the war came back to the Bhar family’s neighbourhood and Muhammed’s small world shrank further. Along with other residents of Shejaiya, east of Gaza City centre, the Bhars were given orders to evacuate by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The IDF was advancing into Shejaiya in pursuit of Hamas fighters fighting from tunnels and houses. But the Bhars were tired of moving.

In a weary tone, Nabila, who is a widow, reeled off the names of relatives’ homes where they’d sought shelter.

“We evacuated around 15 times. We would go to Jibreel’s place, but then there would be bombing at Jibreel’s place. We would go to Haydar Square, but then there would be bombing at Haydar Square. We would go to Rimal, but then there would be bombing at Rimal. We would go to Shawa Square, but there would be bombing at Shawa Square.”

The fighting intensified in the streets around them. They would hide in different parts of the house, often in the bathroom when shooting became especially intense.

“We were under siege for seven days. The tanks and soldiers were all around the house… Muhammed was staying on his sofa…and he didn’t like sitting anywhere except for there,” says Nabila.

For Muhammed war meant loud, violent sounds, the air vibrating with the concussion from shells exploding nearby. None of this could be explained to him.

“He would panic and say, ‘I’m scared, scared’,” Nabila remembers.

“He would say, ‘Hey, hey’, thinking that someone wanted to hit him. He was always scared, fearful. We would come around him, comfort him. He didn’t understand much. His autism made it very difficult.”

On 3 July, according to the family, the IDF raided their home on Nazaz Street. Nabila says there were several dozen soldiers with a combat dog – animals used to find Hamas fighters, and check for booby traps and explosives.

At first she heard them “breaking in and smashing everything” before the soldiers and dog arrived in the room.

Referring to Muhammed, she says: “I told them, ‘He’s disabled, disabled. Have mercy on him, he’s disabled. Keep the dog away from him.’”

Nabila saw the animal attack Muhammed.

“The dog attacked him, biting his chest and then his hand. Muhammed didn’t speak, only muttering ‘No, no, no.’ The dog bit his arm and the blood was shed. I wanted to get to him but I couldn’t. No-one could get to him, and he was patting the dog’s head saying, ‘enough my dear enough.’ In the end, he relaxed his hand, and the dog started tearing at him while he was bleeding.”

Around this point, says Nabila, the soldiers took the young man into another room, and away from the dog. They tried to treat his wounds.

A terrified Muhammed, who had always depended on his family for help, was now in the care of combat soldiers, who had come from streets where they’d been fighting close quarter battles with Hamas.

“They took him away, put him in a separate room, and locked the door. We wanted to see what happened to him. We wanted to see Muhammed, to see what had become of him,” says Nabila.

“They told us to be quiet and aimed their guns at us. They put us in a room by ourselves, and Muhammed was alone in another room. They said, ‘We will bring a military doctor to treat him.’” At one point, according to Nabila, a military doctor arrived and went into the room where Muhammed was lying.

Muhammed’s niece, Janna Bhar, 11, described how the family pleaded with soldiers to help him. “We told them Muhammed was not well, but they kept saying he was fine.”

After several hours, it is not clear how many, the family was ordered at gunpoint to leave, leaving Muhammed behind with the soldiers. There were pleas and cries. Two of his brothers were arrested by the army. They have still not been released. The rest of the family found shelter in a bombed out building.

They returned a week later to a sight that haunts Muhammed’s brother Jibreel. He produces his mobile phone and shows our cameraman a video of the scene.

Muhammed’s body is lying on the floor. There is blood around him, and a tourniquet on his arm. This was most probably used to stop heavy bleeding from his upper arm. Jibreel points to gauze used to bandage a wound, and remarks on the blood that clotted after the tourniquet was applied.

“They were trying to stop the bleeding. Then they left him without stitches or care. Just these basic first aid measures. Of course, as you can see, Muhammed was dead for a period of time already because he was abandoned. We thought he wasn’t at home. But it turned out he had been bleeding and left alone at home all this time. Of course, the army left him.”

It is not clear what exact injury caused Muhammed’s death. Nor what happened to him in the time his family last saw him, and when his brother returned and filmed the dead young man on the floor. He was buried shortly after the family found him, in an alley between houses because it was too dangerous to take the corpse to the mortuary, or a graveyard. There was no post-mortem and no certificate of death.

The family is demanding an investigation but with fighting still going on, and so many dead, it is hard to be hopeful that will happen any time soon. In response to queries from the BBC the IDF said they were checking on the report.

Nabila is left with an image of her dead child that refuses to go away. “This scene I will never forget… I constantly see the dog tearing at him and his hand, and the blood pouring from his hand… It is always in front of my eyes, never leaving me for a moment. We couldn’t save him, neither from them nor from the dog.”

The arrest of an alleged serial killer in Kenya has shocked the country – but many have serious questions about the circumstances of his arrest.

Police say Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, confessed to killing 42 women – though his lawyer told a court on Tuesday he was tortured into a confession.

It is the latest twist in a perplexing story that followed the recent discovery of the dismembered remains of nine bodies wrapped in plastic at a disused quarry, which is used as rubbish tip and is close to a police post in the capital, Nairobi.

Many people are finding it hard to understand that the police were unable to detect that bodies were being left around 100m (109 yards) from one of their offices in the informal settlement of Mukuru Kwa Njenga.

Residents have criticised officers for their “laxity and unprofessionalism” in dealing with the crime.

In response, acting police chief Douglas Kanja announced on Sunday that the officers from Kware police post near the scene had been transferred.

It is not clear whether they have been questioned over how the deaths went unnoticed.

But given the force’s poor human rights record, the police watchdog said it was undertaking a preliminary investigation to establish whether there was any police connection.

What is even more baffling is how a member of the public came to discover them.

The family of Josephine Owino, who had gone missing, says she came to one of them “in a dream” and helped point them in the right direction.

Diana Keya, Ms Owino’s cousin, told Citizen TV that the family then paid some young men near the rubbish tip to comb through the debris.

That was how nine severely mutilated bodies were found on Friday. They were wrapped in nylon bags, which were tied with rope.

The first statement by police said the “alarm was raised” by the public.

When questioned later the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin said: “We are not dreamers and we do not believe in dreams.”

Police said the bodies recovered were in different stages of decomposition, suggesting that the victims had been killed at different times.

In the now-disputed confession, the police say Mr Khalusha allegedly admitted to murdering the women over a period of two years.

What is not clear, though, is whether the remains had been dumped over that time or more recently.

Hussein Khalid, the executive director of rights group Haki Africa, told the BBC that the police’s version of events had “a lot of loopholes”.

After not apparently suspecting anything for two years the police then made an arrest in less than three days after the discovery of the bodies.

On Monday, police said Mr Khalusha was detained at a bar in the small hours of that morning while watching the Euro final football match.

They displayed to the media some of the items said to have been recovered from the suspect’s house – also close to where the bodies were found – including 10 phones, a laptop, identity cards and personal female clothing.

The police said they had traced Mr Khalusha’s whereabouts after geo-locating the mobile phone of one of his alleged victims.

Mr Khalusha’s lawyer has questioned the validity of the evidence.

Only one body has been identified so far – that of 24-year-old Roseline Ongogo.

Her brother Emmanuel Ongogo told the BBC she went missing on 28 June after she left the house to look for casual work.

He said the family went to the morgue when they heard bodies had been recovered from Mukuru.

They identified her as she in the same clothes she had disappeared wearing and had the same hairstyle.

The police also allege that Mr Khalusha’s wife was his first victim and say her identity card was found among the belongings of other alleged victims.

The family of Ms Owino, who said they dreamt about her whereabouts, told the BBC they were still waiting for an identification.

The discovery has brought back memories of the brutal murder of 20-year-old Rita Waeni in January.

Her dismembered body was found at a short-term rental apartment in Nairobi. The case is yet to be solved.

The death triggered nationwide demonstrations against the rising cases of femicide and other violence against women.

Amnesty International said more than 500 cases of femicide were recorded in Kenya between 2016 and 2023.

All the bodies recovered from the rubbish tip are female.

A handful of elected women leaders who converged at morgue asked the government to speed up the investigations and put an end to such violence.

When asked what the police were doing to address cases of femicide and violence against women, spokesperson Resila Onyango said she could not address that issue specifically – but she told the BBC that the work of the police was “to protect life and property of everyone”.

This scrutiny of the police comes as more Kenyan officers arrive in Haiti, where they are leading an international mission to tackle the country’s powerful gangs.

Lobby groups in Port-au-Prince have previously questioned the credibility of the officers over claims of brutality and extra-judicial killings, which Kenya’s government has always denied.

• Kenya protesters traumatised by abductions – lawyer
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• Kenyan cult leader charged with 191 murders

An ex-police officer who claims to save children from human traffickers has faked stories to raise money for his charity, the BBC has discovered.

Adam Whittington, founder of Project Rescue Children (PRC) says he has helped more than 700 children in countries including Uganda, Kenya and The Gambia.

But BBC File on 4 has found that some of these children have never been trafficked, and that funds raised – sometimes with the help of celebrity supporters – have not always reached children in need.

PRC has described our allegations that it does not support children as being “completely without merit, misleading and defamatory”.

Our investigation shows Mr Whittington, a British-Australian citizen, has misled donors in a variety of ways – including by raising funds for a baby supposedly rescued from people traffickers, who has actually been with her mother all along. The mother, who lives in poverty, says she and her daughter have never received any money from PRC.

Mr Whittington started working in child rescue two decades ago, after leaving the Metropolitan Police.

He set up a company retrieving children taken abroad by a parent following custody disputes, but later switched his attention to trafficked or abused children.

Both his and PRC’s social media pages have accumulated 1.5 million followers and attracted celebrity support, thanks to their shocking and sometimes disturbing content.

Sam Faiers from ITV’s The Only Way is Essex became a PRC ambassador, and last September was taken to Uganda to meet orphaned and destitute children.

While there, she appealed to her millions of fans to donate and ended up raising £137,000 ($175,000) to build a rescue centre and cover its initial running costs.

It was this fundraising drive that gave me the first real sense that something was amiss.

In the weeks after Sam Faiers’ total was announced, allegations against PRC began popping up on social media, with former ambassadors and directors alleging financial mismanagement and suggesting stories about children were being fabricated.

Less than half of the money – £58,000 ($74,000) – that donors believed would fund the construction and running costs of the proposed rescue centre, was sent to PRC’s Ugandan partner organisation, Make a Child Smile.

Its founder, Alexander Ssembatya, who has apologised to donors, told the BBC he believed the rest of the money had been “eaten by Adam Whittington and PRC”. Construction work was on hold because of a lack of funds, he added.

Sam Faiers told the BBC she was “deeply appalled” and “heartbroken” to learn that not all the funds raised had reached the children and urged Mr Whittington to “do the right thing and release the remainder of the funds immediately to where they are so desperately needed”.

PRC said the money provided was sufficient to complete construction of the rescue centre, and told the BBC it had now withdrawn from the project, accusing Mr Ssembatya of refusing to sign a contract and mismanaging funds.

It said the remaining money had been spent on other children in Uganda and the Philippines.

File on 4: The Child Rescue Con

Charity claims to save children from trafficking and abuse but File on 4 has found that unsuspecting children are being used as props and the rescue centres have no children.

Listen on BBC Sounds now, or on Radio 4 (Tuesday 16 July at 20:00 and Wednesday 17 July at 11:00)

Watch the story on BBC iPlayer, or on the BBC News channel (Saturday 20 July at 13:30)

Although efforts to establish a rescue centre in Uganda fell flat, PRC already claimed to have operations up and running in other African countries, including Kenya.

Since 2020, Mr Whittington has told detailed and distressing stories about the children he has allegedly supported at PRC’s Kenya rescue centre – including siblings who had watched their parents being butchered by traffickers.

Within weeks of launching a sponsorship programme, PRC announced that all 26 Kenyan children pictured on its website had been sponsored.

The rescue centre is in a remote location on the outskirts of the city of Kisumu, which made verifying its existence difficult.

So in April 2024, I travelled with a BBC team, escorted by a police officer, and found the property – supposedly run by a woman known as Mama Jane.

I discovered Mama Jane was an elderly lady called Jane Gori, who lived in the house with her husband. We didn’t find any children, rescued or otherwise.

But I did find out that her son, Kupa Gori, was PRC’s director in Kenya and he had brought Mr Whittington to visit her home.

Mr Whittington uses pictures of improvement work PRC has funded at Mrs Gori’s house to convince donors he is running a rescue centre. Mrs Gori said she had no idea that her name, her house and her photograph were being used by PRC.

Nearby, I met a farmer called Joseph, whose two sons and a granddaughter have featured on the PRC website, described as orphaned, homeless, or victims of trafficking or exploitation. But none of this is true.

Not long after the photographs were taken in 2020, Joseph’s son Eugene died. But his picture remained online until at least February this year. According to PRC’s website, people continued to sponsor him.

Joseph says he has never received any money from PRC, adding: “It pains my heart that someone is using the photos of my child for money we did not get personally.”

When we put our findings to PRC, it told us that it stands by its claim that Jane Gori’s home is a PRC rescue centre that cares for children. It said that all funds for work carried out there were submitted to the Australian Charity Commission – where it was registered.

It did not respond to our question about the misuse of photographs of Joseph’s family.

The next case of deception I uncovered started in 2022, when Mr Whittington claimed to have carried out a dramatic rescue mission – saving a newborn baby from the clutches of traffickers in a busy marketplace in The Gambia.

On the morning of 17 December, his team chased two men who dropped a basket as they ran, he said. Inside was a newborn baby, whom he named Mireya. Mr Whittington posted a picture of her wrapped in a gold-coloured blanket.

To give the story further credibility he told his followers he had adopted the baby and said she was being looked after at PRC’s rescue centre in The Gambia.

He told his UK director Alex Betts the same story and asked her to adopt the child with him.

Ms Betts, an online influencer, hoped to bring the baby back to the UK. An online fundraising campaign was launched, along with a sponsorship programme.

In March 2023, Ms Betts visited the girl she thought was Mireya and took photos and videos of herself playing with a beautiful baby girl. The footage went viral – seen by more than 40 million people.

After Ms Betts arrived back in the UK, Mr Whittington asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement that would have prevented her saying anything publicly about PRC. She did not understand why and raised concerns.

Then PRC terminated her contract on the grounds, it said, that she was “exploiting children for social media gain”. Ms Betts stopped receiving photo and video updates about Mireya and Mr Whittington attacked her online, falsely branding her a drug addict and alleging, again falsely, that a warrant had been issued for her arrest in The Gambia.

Ms Betts says she was recruited to PRC to “bring social media attention to the organisation”. She rejects the claims against her and says she has always acted “with honest and pure intentions”.

When Ms Betts decided to google “Gambia newborn baby” she discovered the photograph of the baby in a gold blanket was of another child. It had been posted on a maternity unit’s social media page two years before Mireya’s “rescue”.

PRC told us a member of staff had misguidedly used this image because they didn’t want to reveal Mireya’s identity, and that the PRC board had subsequently apologised publicly for any confusion.

The BBC has found no evidence that the marketplace rescue ever happened. But Ms Betts had met a baby – so who was the child?

In May 2024, a year after Ms Betts had posted her viral video, we travelled to The Gambia. Our first stop was the location of PRC’s supposed rescue centre.

But, just as we had found in Kenya, it was not a rescue centre and no rescued children had ever lived there. The man who owned the property told us it was just a family home.

His name was David Bass, the father of Ebou Bass, who had been recruited as PRC’s director in The Gambia. He told us that PRC fixed his roof and installed a fresh water supply. Again, Mr Whittington posted images of this construction work on social media and the PRC website to support his claim to be running a rescue centre.

Mr Bass senior told us he did not know the work on his home had been funded with money raised for the renovation of a rescue centre.

We were told the baby known as Mireya lived in a nearby village. Our search took us to a small compound, where we saw a toddler we recognised immediately from Ms Betts’ videos.

The child’s arms were covered in sores caused by a bacterial skin infection, as her mother couldn’t afford the medication she needed.

She told us her baby had been born and raised in the village and that she had been approached by Ebou Bass when her daughter was three months old. He had told her there were people who wanted to sponsor her baby, she said, so she had allowed him to take the child to meet Ms Betts.

She was amazed to hear the stories being told about her daughter online. She said she had never received any money but had been given some groceries on a few occasions.

Ebou Bass, who is no longer PRC’s director in The Gambia, acknowledged that Mireya’s story was false and that the rescue centre was his family’s home. When challenged, he said it was Mr Whittington’s idea to say they had rescued a baby from traffickers but that he had gone along with it because the child they had used as a prop was very poor and he had hoped she would receive financial help.

Lamin Fatty, from a Gambian organisation called the Child Protection Alliance, is now working with the country’s authorities to investigate Mr Whittington and PRC. He says multiple laws may have been broken in this incident.

PRC insists Mireya’s story is true and told us she was rescued by PRC in collaboration with the Gambian authorities. It has invited the BBC to carry out a DNA test on the child we found. It maintains the Bass home is a PRC rescue centre and that Mireya wasn’t at the property because she was overseas visiting relatives.

Adam Whittington served in the Australian Army before joining the Metropolitan Police in 2001, where he worked for at least five years.

We have not been able to find out what has happened to all the money raised for PRC or where it is being spent – Mr Whittington has set up companies and charities in multiple countries, many of which have never filed any detailed accounts.

But we do know some donations haven’t reached their intended targets.

The BBC has found that, in 2022, the UK’s Charity Commission rejected an application to register PRC as it had not demonstrated it was exclusively charitable and had failed to respond to what the commission described as “significant issues” with its application.

Mr Whittington also has other charitable organisations registered in The Gambia, Kenya, Ukraine and the Philippines.

PRC was a registered charity in Australia until we told the Australian Charity Commission about our investigation. Its charitable status has now been revoked.

Adam Whittington is currently living in Russia. He didn’t respond to our request for an interview.

Since we started our investigation, some content has been removed from PRC’s website and Mr Whittington has been banned from Instagram. He instructed solicitors in Kenya to block our investigation from being broadcast, though they have not succeeded. He has launched an online campaign against the BBC, calling me a “rogue journalist”.

On his remaining social media I can see he is currently travelling back and forth to the Philippines – raising money for a rescue centre and claiming to rescue children. And he says he will soon be expanding PRC into South Africa.

At the end of the Canadian Arctic summer, polar bears head inland to wait for the ice to form.

And while thousands of tourists flock to catch a glimpse of these magnificent predators, researchers are developing novel ways to keep people and bears safely separated.

New tracking devices that stick in polar bears’ fur could be the key to protecting both people and bears – by closely monitoring the animals’ locations.

Polar bears now spend more of the year on land, as Arctic sea ice melts, so conservationists are increasingly concerned about bears and people coming into contact.

The tracking tags, which have been tested on bears in Canadian Arctic, could help prevent those encounters, by “keeping a remote eye” on the bears.

Lead researcher Tyler Ross, a PhD candidate from York University in Toronto, said the fur tags were “particularly promising” for the prevention of these “human-bear interactions”.

In communities in the southern Canadian Arctic, where the scientists tested these tags, polar bears that wander too close to a community are sometimes caught, transported and released in carefully selected sites away from towns and villages.

“These tags could be fitted to those bears to monitor where they are after they’ve been released,” explained Mr Ross.

“If they’re coming back towards the community, conservation staff would have a sense of where they are, and they could head them off. I think that’s where they offer considerable promise.”

The researcher, who studies polar bear ecology, also says the tags could fill important gaps in knowledge about the bears. And as the Arctic climate warms up rapidly, the need to monitor bears becomes increasingly urgent.

“There’s a dearth of information about male polar bear movements, because they can’t be equipped with conventional tracking collars,” said Mr Ross.

The sea ice [that the polar bears use as a platform from which to hunt] is disappearing faster than it has in the past,” explained Mr Ross. “So the winter hunting season is getting shorter. We want to know where they’re moving in response.”

Polar bears are difficult to tag. Male bears’ heads are smaller than their necks, so tracking collars can just slip off.

Another option is ear tags – attached by piercing the bear’s ear. They require an animal to be recaptured in order to remove the tag and, in rare cases, can injure the ear.

The three new tags the researchers tested were designed by the company 3M in collaboration with the charity Polar Bears International. They all attach to the bears’ coarse fur.

To fit the tags, scientists had to locate and sedate bears. They then assessed the quality of the data they received from each device and noted when the tags fell off.

The best performing device was called a SeaTrkr tag, which is “crimped” into the bears’ fur. It stayed attached for an average of 58 days and – with an in-built GPS system – allowed the scientists to pinpoint the bears’ location to within just a few metres.

“It’s ideal to have something that falls off naturally – that’s not permanently attached to the bear,” explained Mr Ross. “But anything that lasts in the order of a few months would be great [for our research], because then you’re getting these important seasons that the bears are going through throughout the year.”

Climate change is bringing bears and humans into closer proximity, making places where polar bears and people coexist, riskier for both.

One US Geological Survey study in 2022 that that used data from satellite tracking collars on more than 400 polar bears in Alaska, shows the time they spend onshore has grown significantly in recent decades.

“Getting a better sense of polar bears’ movements is really crucial,” Mr Ross commented. “Particularly given the state of their environment at this point.”

This study of the bear tags is published in the journal Animal Biotelemetry.

A whale that was found dead on a beach in New Zealand earlier this month has been identified by scientists as a spade-toothed whale – a species so rare it has never been seen alive.

The five-metre long, beaked creature’s identity was determined from its colour patterns and the shape of its skull, beak and teeth.

Its remains have been placed in cold storage whilst DNA testing takes place, with experts saying it may take several weeks before a final identification is confirmed.

Because so few specimens have been found and there have been no live sightings, very little is known about the spade-toothed whale.

Researchers say the carcass discovery could help them acquire crucial new information about the species.

Local officials were notified that the whale had been washed ashore on 4 July at the mouth of the Taiari river, in Otago province on New Zealand’s South Island.

Department of Conservation (DOC) official Gabe Davies said in a statement that spade-toothed whales were one of the least known large mammalian species, with only six samples ever documented worldwide.

“From a scientific and conservation point of view, this is huge,” he added.

The department said that because the specimen had only recently died it could become the first whale of the species to be dissected.

New Zealand’s Māori people regard whales as a sacred treasure, and DOC said local Maori communities would take part in deciding the whale’s fate.

The species was first described in 1874 after a lower jaw and two teeth were collected from New Zealand’s Chatham Islands. Skeletal remains of two other specimens found off islands in New Zealand and Chile enabled scientists to confirm a new species.

Two more recent findings of stranded whales off New Zealand’s North Island in 2010 and 2017 added to the small collection.

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Thailand has expanded its visa-free entry scheme to 93 countries and territories as it seeks to revitalize its tourism industry.

Visitors can stay in the South-East Asian nation for up to 60 days under the new scheme that took effect on Monday,

Previously, passport holders from 57 countries were allowed to enter without a visa.

Tourism is a key pillar of the Thai economy, but it has not fully recovered from the pandemic.

Thailand recorded 17.5 million foreign tourists arrivals in the first six months of 2024, up 35% from the same period last year, according to official data. However, the numbers pale in comparison to pre-pandemic levels.

Most of the visitors were from China, Malaysia and India.

Tourism revenue during the same period came in at 858 billion baht ($23.6bn; £18.3bn), less than a quarter of the government’s target.

Millions of tourists flock to Thailand every year for its golden temples, white sand beaches, picturesque mountains and vibrant night life.

The revised visa-free rules are part of a broader plan to boost tourism.

Also on Monday, Thailand introduced a new five-year visa for remote workers, that allows holders to stay for up to 180 days each year.

The country will also allow visiting students, who earn a bachelor’s degree or higher in Thailand, to stay for one year after graduation to find a job or travel.

In June, authorities announced an extension of a waiver on hoteliers’ operating fees for two more years. They also scrapped a proposed tourism fee for visitors flying into the country.

However some stakeholders are concerned that the country’s infrastructure may not be able to keep up with travellers’ demands.

“If more people are coming, it means the country as a whole… has to prepare our resources to welcome them,” said Kantapong Thananuangroj, president of the Thai Tourism Promotion Association.

“If not, [the tourists] may not be impressed with the experience they have in Thailand and we may not get a second chance,” he said.

Chamnan Srisawat, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said he foresees a “bottleneck in air traffic as the incoming flights may not increase in time to catch up with the demands of the travellers”.

Some people have also raised safety concerns after rumours that tourists have been kidnapped and sent across the border to work in scam centres in Myanmar or Cambodia.

A fatal shooting in Bangkok’s most famous shopping mall last year has also caused concern among visitors.

Drag queen Trixie Mattel will be taking a break from work after “struggling” for more than a year.

Trixie became a world renowned star after first appearing on Ru Paul’s Drag Race in 2015.

Since then, the queen returned for the All Stars version and as host of the spin-off show The Pit Stop, as well as running a YouTube channel and make-up business.

Trixie told fans in a video that all the work was “not sustainable” and there would be “a hiatus” for at least three months.

“I need a complete reboot,” says Trixie, who uses she/her pronouns in drag and he/him when not performing.

It was a rare video where Trixie, real name Brian Firkus, was out of drag.

“I feel uncomfortable about telling so much of myself,” Brian says, before opening up about a tough year.

“Things happened this year that I’m not ready to talk about, it just really beat it out of me and taught me new lows of the human experience.

“When you feel like you cannot stop crying and you’re so upset and then you have to put on a wig and make people laugh – it is chilling.”

Brian says he’d been working himself to “death” as Trixie and had become ill from stress.

It got to a point where he “struggled to enjoy” drag, which “I feel weird complaining about because all my wildest dreams came true”.

Brian grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has previously shared his experience of growing up in poverty.

“Growing up poor is traumatising,” he says in the latest video, saying it’s affected his work ethic.

“You can’t take a day off because there’s a pay cheque waiting.

“All I was doing was this. It was all work and money making and then my social life, my family life, my personal life… twigs. Frail twigs.”

As well as Drag Race, Trixie is well known for working with drag queen Katya Zamolodchikova – the pair often perform together and also have a Netflix series and online show UNHhhh.

Since 2022 Trixie’s also had her own show on Discovery+, Trixie Motel, which follows the drag queen as she renovates a motel in California.

Brian told fans: “I love doing all my little jobs” as Trixie but has realised “it’s a good thing to have boundaries”.

“Being a hard worker is fierce, being a hard worker at the expense of your real life and health is not,” he says.

“When you have the fortune that I’ve had, you shouldn’t be stupid and abuse it like I have.”

Brian says he’ll be visiting friends and family and will also be taking a break from social media.

“This break is so overdue,” he says.

“I don’t know what I’m going to come back as, maybe not even as a drag queen, who knows?

“I’m very excited to feel really into drag again and really into performing.”

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.

Video of dangerous incidents at level crossings has been released as part of a summer safety campaign.

In June, a girl was filmed running across a crossing in Fishbourne, West Sussex, just a couples of metres in front of an advancing train.

Recent CCTV footage also showed people hanging from rising crossing barriers in Chertsey, Surrey; rushing cyclists colliding in Hounslow, London; and a car swerving to avoid closing barriers in Bramley, Hampshire.

Network Rail, which released the video, said July was a peak time for incidents.

Sam Pead, a regional level crossing manager, said: “It’s frustrating we continue to see people recklessly risking their lives when crossing the railway.

“Across the Southern region, trains can travel as fast as 140mph (225km/h) and are largely powered by the third rail which carries more than enough electricity to kill or seriously injure and is always on.”

Farnham in Surrey and Star Lane in Wokingham, Berkshire, were the most abused level crossings in the Wessex region last year, Network Rail said.

Addlestone and Ash in Surrey and Poole High Street in Dorset also recorded more than one incident per month.

In Chertsey, the CCTV film showed a truck tearing off a barrier in the driver’s effort to escape the tracks.

Incidents involving poorly trained or uncontrolled dogs were a post-Covid trend, Network Rail said.

Clappers Lane in Ferring, West Sussex, recorded near misses involving a dog walker and a cyclist.

Another dog walker ignored a stop sign at Ashtead Common, Surrey, and a dog was also filmed waiting alone on the track at the same location.

The firm reported 28 near misses in the Wessex region in the 2023-24 financial year, which was 13% fewer than the year before.

However, incidents of level crossing misuse in the region rose by 24% to 466.

Despite being Hollywood’s hottest new star, Glen Powell has said he will finish studying for his degree while shooting his next movie.

The actor – who recently starred in Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You and the Twisters remake – plans to complete his Spanish and early American history degree at the University of Texas.

Powell, 35, is from Austin, Texas, and has recently moved back to his home state to be closer to his family, after living in Hollywood.

Speaking to IndieWire, Powell said he plans to attend Zoom classes while he’s working on his next film, a remake of 1987 sci-fi film The Running Man, in the UK.

“So I’m going to be in London, but I am going to be going back for proctored [supervised] exams,” he said.

“They’re letting me figure it out [with] distance learning.

“And I’m obviously going to be coming in, Zooming in for classes and whatnot, but I have to be back for the proctored exams.”

He will have to return to Texas “two or three times a semester”, and said The Running Man director Edgar Wright had been understanding.

“Edgar has been very nice about letting me finish my degree in the middle of his massive movie.”

In May, Powell was the cover star on a Hollywood Reporter issue about “the new A-list”.

He told the magazine he felt he was able to return to Texas because “getting to this point in Hollywood [means] that I can now leave Hollywood”.

He added that he felt “like I’ve earned the ability to go back to my family”, and was given the advice to move by fellow Texan actor Matthew McConaughey.

Powell also told the publication it was an “emotional thing” to finish the degree, which he started before he reached this level of fame.

“I think it’s really important to my mom and it’s more of an emotional thing for me,” he said.

The actor is incredibly close to his parents, who regularly attend press events with him, and two sisters.

In the interview with IndieWire, Powell clarified that he has “nothing against Hollywood” – but he would be happier spending time in Austin between projects.

“I love being around people who love entertainment, and I love what [Hollywood] represents.

“Coming here for little chunks of time and doing all the stuff I need to do here, it’s great.

“And I have nothing against Hollywood.

“I just realised, in terms of filling up the pieces of me that need to be refuelled between projects and doing stuff like that, that’s all Austin for me.”

Billionaire Elon Musk has said he will move the headquarters of two of his most high-profile companies, rocket firm SpaceX and social media platform X, from California to Texas.

He said the move was due to recent laws passed by the state – in particular a new law which prevents schools from making rules requiring staff tell anyone, including parents, information about a child’s gender identity.

A spokesperson for the governor said the law keeps “children safe while protecting the critical role of parents”.

But Mr Musk called it “the last straw” in a post on his social media platform.

The billionaire previously moved Tesla’s headquarters to Texas in 2021 and he is a resident of the state – which has no income tax.

The issue of what schools should tell parents about their children’s gender identities has become a major topic of debate in the US.

LGBTQ advocates say students have a right to privacy, but others argue parents have a right to know what is happening with their children.

“It protects the child-parent relationship by preventing politicians and school staff from inappropriately intervening in family matters and attempting to control if, when, and how families have deeply personal conversations,” Brandon Richards told the Associated Press.

Mr Musk, who has a transgender daughter, has previously said he “supports trans” while expressing impatience with pronouns – calling them an “aesthetic nightmare”.

The billionaire’s daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson filed to cut ties with him in 2022.

She said she no longer wanted to “be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form” when applying to legally change her name and gender.

Last year, Mr Musk said he would lobby to criminalise transgender medical treatment.

“Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas,” he said in a post on X on Tuesday, noting that he had previously expressed his opposition to the bill.

California Governor Gavin Newsom criticised Mr Musk’s decision on social media.

“You bent the knee,” he posted, along with a screenshot of a 2022 post from Donald Trump which said Mr Musk would “drop to [his] knees and beg” if he asked.

States have historically competed aggressively to woo companies to establish headquarters, bringing with them high-paying corporate jobs.

SpaceX, which employs more than 5,000 people in California, according to state records, also already has a large base of operations in Texas.

In response to Mr Musk’s pledge, Greg Abbott, governor for Texas, said: “This cements Texas as the leader in space exploration.”

Neither SpaceX nor X responded to requests for comment about whether the decision to move headquarters would lead to job cuts in California.

The move comes after Mr Musk formally endorsed Donald Trump for president following the assassination attempt on him on Saturday.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Mr Musk would be directing $45m a month toward his campaign.

Mr Musk responded on X with a meme implying the report was false, though he later seemed to suggest there was some truth to the claim by responding positively to a post claiming he was pledging millions of dollars to help Trump get elected.

Cyanide has been found in the blood of all six people who died in a luxury hotel suite in Bangkok, say doctors after examining their bodies.

Based on the initial post-mortem examination, they say there is “no other cause” that would explain their deaths “except for cyanide”.

But they are doing further tests to determine the “intensity” of the deadly chemical and to rule out any other toxins.

Forensic investigators had earlier found traces of cyanide on the teacups used by the victims, all of them of Vietnamese origin. Police suspect that one of the dead was behind the poisoning and was driven by crushing debt.

The victims’ lips and nails had turned dark purple indicating a lack of oxygen, while their internal organs turned “blood red”, which is another sign of cyanide poisoning, said Professor Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Chulalongkorn University.

Doctor Chanchai Sittipunt, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, said they still needed to find out how much cyanide was in the blood of the deceased.

“But from what we have detected – from observation, from internal organ check, from finding cyanide in the blood during the screening test – there is no other cause that would be the factor that would cause their deaths, except for cyanide,” he told reporters.

The deceased were found by housekeepers at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in the Thai capital late on Tuesday.

Investigators believe they had been dead for between 12 and 24 hours by then.

The mystery around the shocking discovery made international headlines.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered an urgent investigation into the case, stressing that the deaths were the result of a “private matter”, and there was no suggestion of public danger.

Police have since begun to piece together what might have happened.

Two of the six victims had loaned “tens of millions of Thai baht” to another of the deceased for investment purposes, authorities said. Ten million baht is worth nearly $280,000 (£215,000).

Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Bangkok police chief Gen Noppassin Poonsawat told a press conference the group checked into the hotel separately over the weekend and were assigned five rooms – four on the seventh floor, and one on the fifth.

They had been scheduled to check out on Monday but failed to do so.

Four of the victims are Vietnamese nationals Thi Nguyen Phuong, 46, her husband Hong Pham Thanh, 49, Thi Nguyen Phuong Lan, 47, and Dinh Tran Phu, 37.

The other two are American citizens Sherine Chong, 56, and Dang Hung Van, 55.

The US state department has offered its condolences and said it is “closely monitoring” the situation. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting Thai authorities in the investigation, Mr Srettha said.

Police say on Monday afternoon all six victims gathered in the room on the fifth floor.

The group ordered food and tea, which was delivered to the room around 14:00 local time (08:00 BST) and received by Ms Chong – who was the only person in the room at the time.

According to the deputy police chief, a waiter offered to make tea for the guests but Ms Chong refused this. The waiter recalled that she “spoke very little and was visibly under stress”, authorities said.

The waiter later left the room.

The rest of the group then began streaming into the room at various points, between 14:03 and 14:17. No one else is believed to have entered the room apart from the six inside and police have said the door to the room was locked from within.

Police say there were no signs of a struggle, robbery or forced entry. They later found traces of cyanide in all six tea cups.

Pictures released by the police show plates of untouched food left on a table in the room, some of them still covered in cling wrap.

There was a seventh name on the group’s hotel booking, whom police identified as the younger sister of one of the victims. She had left Thailand last week for the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang and is not involved in the incident, police said.

Relatives interviewed by the police said Thi Nguyen Phuong and Hong Pham Thanh, a couple, owned a road construction business and had given money to Ms Chong to invest in a hospital building project in Japan.

Police suspect that Mr Tran, a make-up artist based in Da Nang, had also been “duped” into making an investment.

Mr Tran’s mother Tuý told BBC Vietnamese that he had travelled to Thailand on Friday and had called home on Sunday to say he had to extend his stay until Monday. That was the last his family had heard from him. She rang him again on Monday but he did not answer the call.

Ms Chong had hired Mr Tran as her personal make-up artist for the trip, one of his students told BBC Vietnamese. Mr Tran’s father, Phu, told Vietnamese media that his son was hired last week by a Vietnamese woman to travel to Thailand.

The six bodies were discovered one day after Thailand expanded its visa-free entry scheme to travellers from 93 countries and territories to revitalise its tourism industry.

The Grand Hyatt Erawan is located in a prime location popular with tourists – however the area has also seen high-profile crimes in recent years.

Last October, a 14-year-old boy shot and killed three people at the Siam Paragon mall, which is just a few hundred metres down the road from the hotel.

The hotel also sits opposite the Erawan Shrine, which was hit by a bomb blast in 2015 that killed 20 people.

Prime Minister Srettha himself visited the hotel on Tuesday and reassured the public that Thailand has put in place security measures to keep tourists safe.

Tourism is one of its biggest industries and has just begun to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thailand has always been a top destination for the budget tourist – from students to thrifty backpackers – but it is increasingly trying to attract well-heeled travellers.

There has been outrage in Italy after a female tourist in Florence was pictured miming a lewd act on a statue of the Roman god Bacchus.

In the photos – which were shared online by the social media account Welcome To Florence – the woman can also be seen kissing the life-size statue at nighttime.

The Bacchus stands on a plinth on a street corner near the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge and is a modern replica of the 16th Century work by sculptor Giambologna. The original is kept in the nearby Bargello museum.

The photos sparked angry reactions from social media users, some of whom called for the woman’s arrest.

“This is the result of years of attempts at turning Florence into Disneyland,” said another.

Patrizia Asproni, the president of Confcultura, an association that promotes Italy’s cultural heritage, told Italian media that these “repeated shows of rudeness and barbarity” take place “because everyone feels entitled to do whatever they want with impunity”.

Ms Asproni called for the application of the “Singapore model” with “tight checks, sky-high fines and zero tolerance” for bad behaviour.

Antonella Rinaldi, Florence’s archeology and fine arts superintendent, said: “Tourists are welcome here but they need to respect our artworks, be they originals or replicas.”

“Although I doubt this lady – whom I condemn – even knows the difference,” she added.

Florence is one of the world’s foremost tourist destinations.

In 2023, around 1.5 million people visited the city – which has a population of just 382,000 – between June and September.

Local residents have long struggled with the huge influx of tourists, which in the summer months turns Florence’s narrow streets into steady streams of people.

The so-called “overtourism” phenomenon has prompted several cities around the world to make changes to the way they welcome tourists.

Last month, the mayor of Barcelona pledged to eliminate short-term tourist lets in the city within five years, while several hotspots – like Venice or Japan’s Mount Fuji – have started to introduce daily charges to try to limit numbers.

As the war in Gaza grinds on, there are growing fears another Middle East war may erupt – with devastating consequences for the region, and beyond.

Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah (backed by Iran) have been trading fire across their shared border for the past nine months. If this conflict escalates to all-out war, it could dwarf the destruction in Gaza, draw in Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, spread embers around the Middle East and embroil the US. Iran itself could intervene directly.

The United Nations has warned of a “catastrophe beyond imagination”.

For now, a low-level war simmers in the summer heat, along a 120km (75 mile) stretch of border. One spark here could set the Middle East alight.

Over the lapping of the waves, and the thwack thwack of paddle games on the beach, a sound cuts through – a sudden deep boom.

Soon smoke billows from a hillside in the distance after an Israeli strike.

Around the pool in a resort hotel, a few sunbathers stand briefly to scan the horizon.

Others don’t move a tanned limb.

Explosions are part of the sound of summer 2024 in the ancient Lebanese city of Tyre, as Hezbollah and Israel exchange fire across the border 25 kilometres (15 miles) away.

“Another day, another bomb,” says Roland, 49, with a shrug, as he relaxes on a lilo. He lives abroad but is back home on holiday.

“We got used to it somehow over the months,” says his friend Mustafa, 39, “though children are still a little bit scared.” He nods towards his daughter Miral, 7, who is dripping wet from the pool.

“When she hears an explosion, she always asks, ‘will there be a bomb now?’” he says.

Earlier this month, there was a massive blast in his neighbourhood in Tyre, as his family of four were having a meal. Israel had assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander, Mohammed Nimah Nasser.

“We heard the noise,” Mustafa says, “and we carried on eating.”

But the sunbathers on the beach in Tyre may be on borrowed time. This city will be in the firing line in the event of all-out war, along with the rest of southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold.

We are now at the water’s edge of a potentially devastating war which both sides say they don’t want. Iran doesn’t seem to want it either.

How did we get here?

On October 8th last year – one day after Hamas gunmen stormed out of Gaza and killed about 1,200 Israelis as well as taking 251 others hostage – Hezbollah joined in, firing at Israeli targets from Lebanon.

The Shia Islamist armed group said it was acting in support of Gaza.

Soon Israel was firing back.

Hezbollah, which is also a political party, is the most powerful force in Lebanon.

Like Hamas, it is classed as a terrorist organisation by many countries, including the UK and the US.

But unlike Hamas, Hezbollah has the firepower to seriously threaten Israel.

It is believed to have an arsenal of more than 150,000 rockets and missiles – some precision-guided – capable of inflicting heavy damage around the country.

• What is Hezbollah in Lebanon and will it go to war with Israel?

Put simply Hezbollah – its English translation, the Party of God – has more arms than many countries.

Its backer Iran – which denies Israel’s right to exist – is happy to train and fund the enemies of the Jewish state.

The conflict has been heating up, with thousands of cross-border strikes.

Some countries have already told their nationals to leave Lebanon urgently, including Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and Saudi Arabia. The UK has advised against all travel to the country and is urging Britons who are here to leave – while they still can.

So far, both sides are mainly striking military targets, close to the border – staying within familiar red lines.

But here on the Lebanese side, we have seen destruction in civilian areas with scorched fields, flattened houses and abandoned villages.

And the current tit-for-tat has already driven tens of thousands from their homes – more than 90,000 in Lebanon and about 60,000 in Israel.

Israeli officials say 33 people have been killed so far in Hezbollah attacks, mostly soldiers.

Lebanon’s losses are far higher at 466, according to the Ministry of Health here. Most of the dead were fighters.

Sally Skaiki was not.

“I never called her Sally,” says her father Hussein Abdul Hassan Skaiki. “I always called her ‘my life’ – she was everything for me.”

“She was the only girl in the house, and we spoiled her, me and her three brothers.”

Sally, 25, was a volunteer paramedic. She was killed by an Israeli strike after sunset on 14 June as she stood in the doorway of her building.

Her father wears the black of mourning, and the green scarf of the Shia Amal movement, which is allied to Hezbollah.

We meet in his village of Deir Qanoun En-Naher, 30km (18 miles) from the border. The main road is dotted with sun-bleached posters of fighters killed in battle against Israel – some in recent months, others back in 2006 when the two sides last went to war.

In that conflict, Hezbollah fought Israel to a standstill but at huge cost to Lebanon and its people. There was massive destruction, and more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians were killed – according to official figures – along with an unconfirmed number of Hezbollah fighters.

Israel’s death toll was 160, according to the government, most of them soldiers.

By Hussein’s side there is a large poster of Sally, in her headscarf and paramedic uniform. He speaks of his daughter with pride and with anguish.

“She loved to help people,” he says. “Any problem that happened, she rushed there. She was well-loved in the village. She always had a smile on her face.”

As we speak there is a loud boom which rattles the windows.

Hussein says it is a normal, daily occurrence.

“Since a long time, Israel killed our people here,” he says.

“We can’t forgive them. There is no hope of peace with them.”

This time, there is no death or destruction. Instead, Israeli warplanes are breaking the sound barrier to spread fear.

And, since October, Israel has been spreading something else in southern Lebanon – choking, searing clumps of white phosphorus, contained in munitions.

The chemical substance ignites immediately on contact with oxygen. It sticks to skin and clothing and can burn through bone, according to the World Health Organization.

Moussa al-Moussa – a farmer stooped by his 77 years – knows only too well.

He says Israel fired white phosphorous shells at his land in the village of al-Bustan every day for over a month, robbing him of breath, and his livelihood.

“I had my scarf on, and I wrapped it around my mouth and nose until I was brought to the hospital,” he tells me, gesturing to the red and white keffiyeh – the traditional Arab scarf – on his head.

“We didn’t have any masks. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see a metre in front of me. And if you touch a fragment a week later it will ignite and burn again.”

The international campaign group, Human Rights Watch, has verified the use of white phosphorus over several populated areas in southern Lebanon, including al-Bustan.

It says Israel’s use of white phosphorus is “unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas”.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dispute this, saying the use of white phosphorus shells to create a smokescreen “is lawful under international law”. It says these shells are not used in densely populated areas “with certain exceptions”.

Like many farmers along the border, Moussa fears Israel has poisoned his tobacco crop and his olive groves.

“White phosphorous burns the ground, it burns people and the crops and buildings,” he says.

Even if he can return home, he is afraid to bring in a harvest in case it harms his family or his buyers.

He lives in limbo – in classroom 4B of a vocational school in Tyre. About 30 families who fled the border area are sheltering in the building. Washing is strung across the school yard. A lone little boy races up and down the empty corridors on a bicycle.

When I ask Moussa how many wars he has seen, he begins to laugh.

“We spent our lives in wars,” he says. “Only God knows if another one is coming.”

As one of Hezbollah’s most senior commanders, Mohammed Nimah Nasser, was a wanted man. He fought Israel in 2006, and before, and went on to fight in Syria and Iraq. In recent months he “planned, led and supervised many military operations against the Israeli enemy”, according to Hezbollah.

Israel tracked him down in Tyre on 3 July. Death came from the sky in broad daylight, with an air strike which turned his car into a fireball.

In the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut, he was given a hero’s funeral, or rather a “martyr’s” one.

The event was carefully choreographed and strictly segregated – men in one area, women in another – including the press.

His coffin, draped in the yellow flag of Hezbollah, was carried by pall bearers in camouflage uniforms and red berets. Many more fighters stood to attention, lines deep. There was a brass band in spotless white uniforms, if not in perfect harmony.

It had the feel of a state funeral – in a country that lacks a functioning state.

Lebanon has no president, a caretaker government and a shattered economy. It is carved up by sect, and hollowed out by corruption, its citizens left to fend for themselves. Many Lebanese are weary. The last thing they want is another war.

Hezbollah sees things different.

As the funeral prayers concluded, the talk among mourners was of “martyrdom” not death, and of readiness for war, if it comes.

Hassan Hamieh, a 35-year-old nurse, told us he would fight. “We are not afraid,” he said.

“In fact, we are longing for an all-out war. Martyrdom is the shortest path to God. Young or old, we will all take part in this war, if it is forced upon us.”

Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has stressed the armed group is ready, but not eager, for war. He says if there is a ceasefire agreed in Gaza, Hezbollah will cease fire too, immediately.

Will that satisfy Israel? Maybe not.

It sees Hezbollah as a permanent threat too close for comfort. At the very least, it wants its heavily armed enemy to pull back from the border.

There have been plenty of bellicose threats. Israel’s Education Minister, Yoav Kish, said Lebanon would be “annihilated”. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant chimed in, saying the country would be returned “to the stone age”.

As the attacks and counter attacks continue, families are destroyed. This month parents have been ripped from children, and children from parents.

An Israeli couple were killed in their car by Hezbollah rockets as they headed for home in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria. They left behind three teenage children.

And in southern Lebanon three children were killed in an Israeli strike earlier this week. They were aged between four and eight, and their parents were Syrian farm workers.

The IDF approved “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon” a month ago.

For now, no tanks are rolling over the border. There has been no political decision to attack. Israel is still waging war in Gaza and fighting on two fronts could overstretch the military.

But without a diplomatic solution between Israel and Hezbollah – two old enemies – all-out war may be coming, if not now, then later.

European politicians and diplomats had already prepared for changes to their relationship with the US in the event of a second Donald Trump presidency.

Now that the Republican candidate has chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate, those differences appear even more stark on prospects for the war in Ukraine, security and trade.

A vocal critic of US aid to Ukraine, Mr Vance told this year’s Munich Security Conference that Europe should wake up to the US having to “pivot” its focus to East Asia.

“The American security blanket has allowed European security to atrophy,” he said.

Nils Schmid, a senior MP in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party, told the BBC that he was confident a Republican presidency would continue to stay within Nato, even if JD Vance came across as “more isolationist” and Donald Trump remained “unpredictable”.

However, he warned of a new round of “trade wars” with the US under a second Trump presidency.

An EU diplomat said that after four years of Donald Trump no-one was naïve: “We understand what it means if Trump comes back as a second-term president, regardless of his running mate.”

Portraying the EU as a sailing boat preparing for a storm the diplomat, who preferred not to be named, added that whatever they might be able to tie down, it was always going to be rough.

The US is Ukraine’s biggest ally, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week: “I’m not afraid about him becoming president, we will work together.”

He also said that he believed most of the Republican party supported Ukraine and its people.

Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump also have a common friend in Boris Johnson, the former UK prime minister, who has consistently championed continued aid for Ukraine and recently met the former president at the Republican National Convention.

Following the meeting, Mr Johnson posted on X that he had “no doubt that [Mr Trump] will be strong and decisive in supporting that country and defending democracy”.

But even if that sentiment is true, it might not apply to Mr Vance, who, days before the full-scale invasion, told a podcast he “doesn’t really care what happens in Ukraine, one way or the other”. He also played a key role in delaying a $60bn military aid package from Washington.

“We need to try and convince him otherwise,” says Yevhen Mahda, the Executive Director of the Institute of World Policy think tank in Kyiv.

“A fact we can use is that he fought in Iraq, therefore he should be invited to Ukraine so he can see with his own eyes what is happening and how American money is spent.”

The question for Kyiv will be to what extent he can influence the decisions of his new boss.

Yevhen Mahda agrees that Trump’s unpredictability could be a problem for Kyiv in the run-up to the US presidential election.

The biggest supporter of the Trump-Vance ticket in the European Union is Hungary’s Viktor Orban who returned recently from a visit to see the Republican candidate, after visiting Mr Zelensky and President Putin, with whom he maintains close ties.

In a letter to EU leaders, Mr Orban said a victorious Donald Trump would not even wait to be inaugurated as president before quickly demanding peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

“He has detailed and well-founded plans for this,” the letter states.

Mr Zelensky has himself said this week that Russia should attend a peace summit possibly next November, and he has promised a “fully ready plan”. But he made clear he had not come under Western pressure to do so.

Viktor Orban’s recent “peace missions” to Moscow and Beijing have sparked accusations that he’s abusing his country’s six-month rotating presidency of the European Council. European Commission officials have been told not to attend meetings in Hungary because of Mr Orban’s actions.

During the Trump presidency, the US imposed tariffs on EU-produced steel and aluminium. Although they were paused under Joe Biden’s administration, Trump has since floated a 10% tariff on all overseas imports should he get back into the White House.

The prospect of renewed economic confrontation with the US will be seen as a bad, even a disastrous, outcome in most European capitals.

“The only thing we know for sure is there will be punitive tariffs levelled on the European Union so we have to prepare for another round of trade wars,” said Nils Schmid, the Social Democrats’ foreign policy lead in the Bundestag.

JD Vance singled out Berlin for criticism of its military preparedness earlier this year.

While he didn’t mean to “beat up” on Germany, he said the industrial base underpinning its arms production was insufficient.

This will all pile further pressure on Germany, Europe’s largest economy, to “step up” as a principal player in underwriting European security.

After his much-lauded “zeitenwende” (turning point) speech in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Olaf Scholz was often accused of hesitancy on supplying weapons to Kyiv.

But his allies are always keen to point out that Germany is second only to the US in terms of military aid to Kyiv while it has – for the first time since the end of the Cold War – met the 2% GDP defence spending target, albeit via short-term budgeting.

“I think we are on the right track,” said Mr Schmid. “We have to build back an army that was neglected for 15 to 20 years.”

But observers are far from convinced that behind-the-scenes European preparations are either serious or sufficient.

There are few leaders with the political clout or inclination to champion the future security architecture of an unwieldy European continent.

Chancellor Scholz has an understated style and clear resistance to taking a lead on bolder foreign policy positions – and faces a very real prospect of being voted out of office next year.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been left a severely weakened figure after calling parliamentary elections that have left his country in a state of political paralysis.

Polish President Andrzej Duda warned on Tuesday that if Ukraine loses its struggle against Russia “then Russia’s potential war with the West will be extremely imminent”.

“This voracious Russian monster will want to attack on and on.”

Fourteen high school students in Tokyo were admitted to hospital after eating “super spicy” potato crisps, police said.

Around 30 students ate the fiery snacks after one of them brought them to school on Tuesday, Japanese local media reported.

Soon, some of them started complaining of nausea and acute pain around their mouth, prompting emergency calls to the fire department and police.

The 13 girls and one boy who were taken to hospital were conscious and reportedly had minor symptoms.

The company that makes the snack, Isoyama Corp, put out a statement, apologising for “any inconvenience” to customers, and wished the students a swift recovery.

The school and the company have not responded to the BBC’s questions so far.

The company website is full of warnings for those who may wish to try the crisps.

It “forbids” those under 18 from consuming the crisps which are called “R 18+ curry chips”, because of how spicy they are – and it warns even those who love hot food to “eat with caution”. The crisps are “so spicy that they may cause you pain”, it says.

The spiciness comes from the potent “ghost pepper”, cultivated in northeastern India, where it’s known as bhut jolokia. Although it is used in recipes in India and elsewhere, it’s known to be among the world’s hottest chillis.

• The kick from your chilli can have side effects

The Japanese firm, in fact, advises people not to “eat the chips when they are alone” and says they could cause diarrhea if eaten “excessively”.

Those with high blood pressure and weak stomachs “are absolutely prohibited” from eating the crisps, according to the company’s website. It warns people who have cuts on their fingers to be careful while opening the packets.

Those who are “timid or too scared” are also discouraged from trying the snack.

One media report said one of the students, a boy, brought the crisps to school “just for fun”.

Responding to news about the hospitalisations, some X users posted a “spicy meter” to demonstrate how hot the crisps were, while others shared videos of their agonising experience of eating them.

In one video, a user who appears to be wincing, described it as “painful” and said it reminded him of the time he had urinary stones.

X owner Elon Musk also weighed in, saying “they must be next-level spicy!”

Thailand has expanded its visa-free entry scheme to 93 countries and territories as it seeks to revitalize its tourism industry.

Visitors can stay in the South-East Asian nation for up to 60 days under the new scheme that took effect on Monday,

Previously, passport holders from 57 countries were allowed to enter without a visa.

Tourism is a key pillar of the Thai economy, but it has not fully recovered from the pandemic.

Thailand recorded 17.5 million foreign tourists arrivals in the first six months of 2024, up 35% from the same period last year, according to official data. However, the numbers pale in comparison to pre-pandemic levels.

Most of the visitors were from China, Malaysia and India.

Tourism revenue during the same period came in at 858 billion baht ($23.6bn; £18.3bn), less than a quarter of the government’s target.

Millions of tourists flock to Thailand every year for its golden temples, white sand beaches, picturesque mountains and vibrant night life.

The revised visa-free rules are part of a broader plan to boost tourism.

Also on Monday, Thailand introduced a new five-year visa for remote workers, that allows holders to stay for up to 180 days each year.

The country will also allow visiting students, who earn a bachelor’s degree or higher in Thailand, to stay for one year after graduation to find a job or travel.

In June, authorities announced an extension of a waiver on hoteliers’ operating fees for two more years. They also scrapped a proposed tourism fee for visitors flying into the country.

However some stakeholders are concerned that the country’s infrastructure may not be able to keep up with travellers’ demands.

“If more people are coming, it means the country as a whole… has to prepare our resources to welcome them,” said Kantapong Thananuangroj, president of the Thai Tourism Promotion Association.

“If not, [the tourists] may not be impressed with the experience they have in Thailand and we may not get a second chance,” he said.

Chamnan Srisawat, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said he foresees a “bottleneck in air traffic as the incoming flights may not increase in time to catch up with the demands of the travellers”.

Some people have also raised safety concerns after rumours that tourists have been kidnapped and sent across the border to work in scam centres in Myanmar or Cambodia.

A fatal shooting in Bangkok’s most famous shopping mall last year has also caused concern among visitors.

Country singer Ingrid Andress has apologised and admitted being drunk while performing a much-derided rendition of the US national anthem, at a baseball stadium.

Andress’s erratic performance of The Star-Spangled Banner was widely shared after Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby, in Texas, on Monday.

“I was drunk last night,” wrote Andress, who has previously received four Grammy Award nominations.

“I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night. I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition.”

She added: “I’ll let y’all know how rehab is – I hear it’s super fun.”

Andress’s a-capella version of the anthem was called “painful” and “one of the worst national-anthem renditions ever”, on social media.

The Daily Beast headline said: “America unites over new all-time worst national-anthem performance.”

Some people posted clips of Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm apparently smirking as Andress was singing.

But she also received sympathy and support following her apology.

“I’m so sorry you’re going through this,” singer and actress Lucy Hale wrote. Sending you a lot of my thoughts. Take care of you and you’re going to come out of this so much stronger.”

Country star Martina McBride said: “Sending lots of love and positivity. You got this.”

Singer-songwriter Julia Michaels said: “Love you, girl. I’m sorry you’re going through this. And I’m sorry the world can be so cruel. Here for you XX.”

Fellow singer-songwriter Carly Pearce said: “Being this open takes a lot. You’ve got this. Hang in there.”

And one fan posted a video of Andress on stage at a concert, to show her “true talent”.

Andress appeared as an a-cappella singer on NBC series The Sing-Off, in 2010 – and after forging a solo career, was nominated for the 2021 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

She also co-wrote Charli XCX’s hit song Boys and Bebe Rexha’s Girl in the Mirror.

Jack Black has said he’s cancelled the rest of the Tenacious D world tour after his bandmate Kyle Gass sparked an outcry with a comment about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

The comedy rock group were on stage in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday when Gass was asked to make a wish after being presented with a cake for his 64th birthday.

He appeared to reply: “Don’t miss Trump next time.”

In a statement on Instagram, Black said he was “blindsided” by the comment.

“I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form,” the comedian and actor wrote.

He said he didn’t feel it was “appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour”, and that the rest of the group’s “creative plans are on hold”.

Black added that he is “grateful to the fans for their support and understanding”.

The controversy had already led to Tuesday’s gig in Newcastle, New South Wales, being postponed.

Gass apologised for the comment on Instagram, saying it was a “severe lack of judgement”.

He wrote: “The line I improvised onstage Sunday night in Sydney was highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake.

“I don’t condone violence of any kind, in any form, against anyone. What happened was a tragedy, and I’m incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgement. I profoundly apologise to those I’ve let down and truly regret any pain I’ve caused.”

Gass also split with his agent following the incident.

“Due to what occurred, we have parted ways,” Michael Greene of Greene Talent told BBC News.

While many in the Sydney crowd can be heard laughing in video from the concert, the comment launched an angry reaction on social media – with X owner Elon Musk calling it “evil”.

Senator Ralph Babet – the United Australia Party’s only parliamentarian – asked for the band to be deported.

In a statement, he said the duo should “be immediately removed from the country after wishing for the assassination of Donald Trump at their Sydney concert”.

Asked about the comments while attending the Republican National Convention, Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd said it made him “physically ill” that someone would joke about such violence.

“People might think that it is a bit of funny ha-ha at a concert to run off at the mouth about this stuff. It’s not. It’s about physical life,” the former prime minister of Australia said.

“These people just [need to] grow up and find a decent job.”

Trump was shot in the ear when a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

The FBI has identified the gunman who targeted Trump as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, a kitchen worker from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who is a registered Republican.

A Secret Service sniper shot Crooks dead after he fired at the former president. One spectator was killed and two others were seriously injured.

A man from the southern Indian state of Kerala, who got trapped in a hospital lift for 42 hours without any food or water, has told the BBC he feared he would die there.

Ravindran Nair, 59, entered the lift to meet a doctor on Saturday afternoon – he then remained stuck inside until Monday morning, when a lift operator found him. He is now in hospital and is being treated for dehydration and back pain.

His family members initially thought he was at work, but later contacted police and began a desperate search for him.

The incident has made headlines, prompting the state government to suspend three technicians and launch an inquiry. Officials from the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, and the state’s health minister have apologised to Mr Nair.

Mr Nair told the BBC that when he got trapped, he tried calling the emergency number listed in the lift but there was no response. He also tried calling his wife Sreelekha CP, who works at the hospital, and “anyone else I could think of”, but the calls wouldn’t connect.

“I began panicking and started banging on the lift doors to attract attention. That’s when my phone fell on the floor and stopped working,” he says.

“I shouted and screamed for help and tried pulling apart the doors with my hands. It was now dark inside the lift, but thankfully, there was sufficient air to breathe.”

He then paced around the lift, pressing the alarm bell again and again, hoping it would ring and catch someone’s attention – but without any success.

“As the hours passed, I had no idea whether it was day or night as it was pitch dark inside. When I got tired, I slept in a corner. I had to use another corner to pee and poo,” he says.

Mr Nair said he began visiting the hospital regularly a few months ago after he fell in the bathroom and started suffering from back pain.

“On Saturday, my wife and I went to meet the doctor and I got an X-ray scan done of my back because I was experiencing severe pain after a recent trip,” he recalls.

When the doctor asked to see the results from his blood test, the couple realised that they had forgotten them at home. Since Ms Sreelakha had to report for work, Mr Nair went home to pick up the results.

Normally when he visits the hospital he and his wife use a lift earmarked for employees. But this time he stepped into Lift-11 – meant for patients and visitors – to head up to the second floor.

“It was just past noon then. There was no-one else in the lift but the light was on, so I didn’t think anything was wrong,” he says.

He pressed the button and the lift began ascending but as it neared the second floor, it lurched downwards with a thud and got stuck between the first and second floors.

He didn’t know then that his ordeal would last nearly two days.

At some point he remembered he had to take pills to keep his blood pressure under control.

“I had them on me, but couldn’t swallow them because I had no water and my mouth was dry from shouting for help,” he recalls.

“I started wondering whether I would die inside the lift. I worried about my wife and children and thought about my late parents and ancestors. But then, I somehow willed myself to be stronger and told myself that I had to overcome this frightening ordeal.”

One thing that gave him comfort, he says, was reciting poems written by his wife.

“I held on to the hope that someone would come along to repair the lift and find me there.”

Help arrived finally on Monday morning at around 06:00 local time when an operator opened the door and asked him to jump out – 42 hours after his ordeal began.

Once Mr Nair was rescued, the first thing he did was call his wife, who had no idea her missing husband was trapped at her workplace.

“He wanted me to come and take him home,” she says.

The hospital has since put up a warning outside the lift asking people not to use it while it is being repaired.

Schools and universities across Bangladesh have been shut until further notice after six people were killed in protests over quotas in government jobs.

University students have been holding rallies for days against the system of reserving some public sector jobs for the relatives of war heroes, who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Some jobs are also reserved for women, ethnic minorities and the disabled.

A third of posts are kept for the family members of those categorised as war heroes. The students argue that the system is discriminatory, and they want recruitment based on merit.

Several cities, including the capital Dhaka, this week witnessed clashes between supporters of the anti-quota movement and their opponents, particularly the student wing of the governing Awami League known as the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).

Student groups attacked each other with bricks and sticks. Police fired tear gas and used rubber bullets to disperse the clashing groups. Student activists said hundreds of people had been injured in the attacks.

“We blame the BCL members for the violence. They killed the protesters. Police didn’t intervene to save the ordinary students,” Abdullah Shaleheen Oyon, one of the co-ordinators of the anti-quota movement, told the BBC.

Government jobs are highly coveted in Bangladesh because they pay well. In total, more than half of the positions – amounting to hundreds of thousands of jobs – are reserved for certain groups.

Critics say the system unfairly benefits the families of pro-government groups who support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who won her fourth straight election in January.

Ms Hasina’s government abolished the reservation in 2018, following protests. But a court ordered the authorities to reinstate the quotas in early June, triggering the latest round of protests.

Officials say three people were killed in the southern port city of Chittagong and two in Dhaka, while one student was killed in the northern city of Rangpur by a stray bullet.

Media reports say at least three of those killed were students, though there is no official confirmation yet.

The government blames opposition groups for the violence.

“The student fronts of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party [BNP] have infiltrated this anti-quota movement. They are the ones who initiated the violence,” Law Minister Anisul Huq told the BBC.

Bangladesh’s top court suspended the current system last week, but protests are expected to continue until it is permanently removed.

“The case has been listed for hearing on 7 August. Students have been given an opportunity to present their argument in the court,” Mr Huq said.

In a late-night operation on Tuesday, police raided the headquarters of the BNP, the main opposition party, in Dhaka, following the violent clashes.

Senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the raid was nothing but a drama and it was a message for the students to return home.

The protests have seen students blocking roads in Dhaka and other major cities, bringing traffic to a halt.

Student leaders said they were angered by recent comments by Ms Hasina who, they say, described those opposed to the job quotas as – a term used for those who allegedly collaborated with the Pakistani army during the 1971 war.

Several student leaders said Ms Hasina had insulted them by comparing them to . The comparison, they said, also encouraged BCL members to attack them.

“They want to suppress our voices through creating a reign of terror in the country. If I don’t protest today, they will beat me another day. That’s why I am on the streets to protest,” Rupaiya Sherstha, a female student at Dhaka University, told the BBC.

But government ministers say Ms Hasina’s comments were misinterpreted, and she did not call the students .

Mohammad Ali Arafat, state minister for information and broadcasting, denied allegations that the student wing of the Awami League triggered the violence.

He said the trouble began after anti-quota students intimidated residents of a hall in Dhaka.

“If there’s chaos on the university campuses, there’s no benefit for the government. We want peace to be maintained,” Mr Arafat told the BBC.

UN Secretary General António Guterres called on the government to “protect the demonstrators against any form of threat or violence”, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The students have vowed to continue their protests until their demands are met.

The government has strengthened security by deploying the paramilitary, Border Guards Bangladesh, in five main cities, including Dhaka and Chittagong.