The Princess of Wales has spoken of her relief at completing her course of chemotherapy, in a highly personal video released by Kensington Palace.

Catherine revealed in March that she was undergoing cancer treatment and has been out of sight of the public for much of this year.

She will be carrying out a few engagements this year, which could include Remembrance events in November and her annual Christmas carol concert.

But in an emotional video message she says this year has been “incredibly tough” and “that life as you know it can change in an instant”.

This latest update on Catherine’s health sends a positive message about her progress, but there is a long road still to go.

Kensington Palace has indicated it is not possible at this stage to say whether she is cancer-free.

The princess describes the “stormy waters” of her experience of cancer as “complex, scary and unpredictable”.

“With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything,” says the princess, in an unusually personal video filmed last month in Norfolk.

The video, shot in autumnal colours, suggests how pleased she is to have completed this stage of her treatment.

“As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment,” she says, seen driving and walking with her family.

The princess is expected to return for a “handful” of visits later this year, perhaps including the annual Remembrance service at the Cenotaph.

But palace sources also emphasise that there is still a long way to a full return and that the princess will make her health her main focus for the next few months.

“My path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes,” she says.

She says despite the tough times her experience has given her a “renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life”.

Catherine has been in recovery and away from public duties for much of what has been a difficult year.

Her health problems began in January when she was in hospital for an unspecified type of abdominal surgery.

A cancer diagnosis was then revealed by the princess in March, with a video message saying that she was undergoing treatment and would need privacy while she recovered.

Catherine described it as a “huge shock” after an “incredibly tough couple of months”.

Her first public appearance of the year came at Trooping the Colour in June, when she waved from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

Ahead of that appearance the princess had issued a personal statement of cautious optimism, announcing her return but saying she was “not out of the woods yet” and had “good days and bad days” with her cancer treatment.

Her most recent appearance was in July when she was given a standing ovation at Wimbledon when she attended the men’s singles final.

A busy bridge in northern Vietnam collapsed after being hit by Super Typhoon Yagi, which has killed more than 60 people since making landfall on Saturday.

Dashcam footage showed the moment the Phong Chau bridge in Phu Tho province gave way on Monday, plunging several vehicles into the water below. Searches were under way for 13 people.

The storm has wreaked havoc across the north of the country, with flooding and landslides leaving millions of people without power over the weekend.

Although it has now weakened into a tropical depression, authorities have warned Yagi will create more disruption as it moves westwards.

More than 240 people have been injured by the typhoon, which brought winds of up to 203 km/h (126 mph) and is Asia’s most powerful storm so far this year.

Ten cars and two scooters fell into the Red River following the collapse of the Phong Chau bridge, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said.

The moment a lorry plummeted into the water as the bridge decking ahead fell away before the driver had time to stop was captured on camera.

At least three people have been rescued from the river so far.

Part of the 375-metre (1230 feet) structure is still standing, and the military has been instructed to build a pontoon bridge across the gap as soon as possible.

At least 44 people have been killed in landslides and flash floods, Vietnam’s ministry of agriculture and rural development said on Monday.

Among them were a 68-year-old woman, a one-year-old boy, and a newborn baby.

The typhoon also tore roofs from buildings and uprooted trees.

In the Yen Bai province, flood waters reached a metre (three feet) high on Monday, with 2,400 families having to be evacuated to higher ground as levels rose, AFP news agency reported.

Nearly 50,000 people were evacuated from coastal towns in Vietnam, with authorities issuing a warning to remain indoors.

Schools were temporarily closed in 12 northern provinces, including Hanoi.

Before hitting Vietnam, Yagi left 24 people dead across southern China and the Philippines.

As the world warms, typhoons can bring higher wind speeds and more intense rainfall, although the influence of climate change on individual storms is complicated.

Read our full explainer on the effect of climate change on hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones here.

Pope Francis has called on young people to be protected from abuse, as he arrived in Timor-Leste on the latest leg of his tour of south-east Asia and Oceania.

The Pontiff landed in the capital Dili on Monday, where he told officials: “Let us not forget the many children and adolescents whose dignity has been violated.”

He then called on people to do “everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people”.

While the Pope did not mention a specific case, his visit comes after a prominent East Timorese bishop, hailed as an independence hero, was accused of sexually abusing young boys in the country during the 1980s and 90s.

A Vatican spokesman earlier said the Church had been aware of the case against Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo in 2019 and had imposed disciplinary measures in 2020, including restrictions on Belo’s movements and a ban on voluntary contact with minors.

In an open letter, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in Oceania said there had “still not been redress for the victims” and called on Pope Francis to use Church money to pay compensation to them.

According to his official schedule, the Pope will not meet with victims and it is not clear whether Bishop Belo will appear alongside him in Dili.

The pontiff also used his speech to praise the country – formerly known as East Timor – for their new era of “peace and freedom”, two decades after it achieved independence from neighbouring Indonesia.

“We give thanks to the Lord, since you never lost hope while going through such a dramatic period of your history, and after dark and difficult days, a dawn of peace and freedom has finally dawned,” he said.

Before delivering his speech, tens of thousands of devotees lined the streets, cheering and waving flags as he was driven in an open-top car flanked by security.

Timor-Leste is the only Catholic-majority country the pontiff is visiting as part of his 12-day Asia-Pacific tour.

Around 700,000 people – more than half of Timor-Leste’s entire population – are expected to attend an open-air mass that the Pope will celebrate near Dili on Tuesday.

Authorities have also demolished homes and evicted dozens of people in the area where the mass will be held, in a move which has attracted strong criticism from local residents.

“They even demolished our belongings inside the house. Now we have to rent nearby because my children are still in school in this area,” Zerita Correia previously told BBC News.

The homes are located in Tasitolu, a wetland area just outside the capital. Over the past decade, hundreds of people moved there from rural parts of the country.

Many came looking for work in the capital and built basic homes in the area. The government says they are squatting and have no right to live on the land.

Speaking to the BBC, a government minister said that residents were made aware of plans to clear the area in September 2023.

Critics in Timor-Leste have also questioned the decision to spend such large amounts of money on the visit – including US$1m (£762,000) on a brand new altar.

According to the UN, nearly half of the population of Timor Leste currently lives below the national poverty line.

This is the first papal trip to Timor-Leste since Pope John Paul II visited in 1989, when the country was still under Indonesian occupation.

When Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975, only around 20% of East Timorese people were Catholic. That figure now stands at 97%.

The Pope was previously in Papua New Guinea, where around a quarter of its inhabitants describe themselves as Catholic and Indonesia, where that figure is 3%.

Pope Francis will finish his tour in the region in Singapore later this week.

An influential Filipino pastor wanted in the Philippines and the US for child sex trafficking has been arrested, ending a two-week long standoff between police officers and his followers.

Police have been attempting to arrest Apollo Quiboloy, who claims to be the “Appointed Son of God”, in a raid on his sprawling church compound.

Violent scuffles broke out between thousands of his followers and anti-riot police officers, with one church member dying of a heart attack during the raid.

Mr Quiboloy, whose Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) claims to have seven million followers, has denied all charges against him.

In 2021, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Mr Quiboloy with sex trafficking of children, fraud and coercion and bulk cash smuggling.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said he trafficked girls and women from the Philippines to the US, where they were forced to solicit money for a bogus charity.

He also required his female personal assistants, who are called “pastorals”, to have sex with him, the FBI said.

But as all this was happening, Mr Quiboloy was rising to national prominence under then-president Rodrigo Duterte, previously serving as spiritual adviser to the former leader.

However, his fortunes turned when Mr Duterte stepped down in June 2022.

Filipino authorities soon charged him with child abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

For two weeks , thousands of policemen have been engaged in a standoff with Mr Quiboloy’s followers, as they raided his 30-hectare (75-acre) KOJC compound in Davao. They said Mr Quiboloy was hiding in an underground bunker based on the sound of heartbeats detected by surveillance equipment.

The complex is home to some 40 buildings, including a cathedral, a school and even a hangar.

Interior Minister Benhur Abalos said on Monday that Mr Quiboloy was found inside the compound’s bible school. He also said that the pastor was arrested and did not surrender, contrary to earlier reports.

Witnesses provided important information that led to his arrest, added Mr Abalos.

Mr Quiboloy’s lawyer, Israelito Torreon, said earlier said his client surrendered “because he does not want the lawless violence to continue to happen”.

The regional police chief, Brig Gen Nicolas Torre, said a “concerted effort of everyone involved” led to the arrest.

Mr Quiboloy and four others who were arrested with him were flown to national police headquarters in the capital Manila where they are currently detained.

Before his arrest, Mr Quiboloy said that the “devil” was behind his legal woes.

He has also said that he does not want the FBI to “meddle” in his case.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Marcos said the Philippines was not considering extraditing Mr Quiboloy for now.

The standoff at the KOJC has taken place as a very public falling out between the Marcos and Duterte political families has unfolded.

The US DOJ sought his arrest a few months before Mr Duterte handed power to current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, but it was only during Mr Marcos’ term that authorities started pursuing the pastor.

While Mr Quiboloy was in hiding, Mr Duterte said he knew where he was but would not tell the police.

Mr Duterte’s daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte also criticised police pursuing Mr Quiboloy of applying “questionable” force.

Mr Quiboloy set up the KOJC in Davao in 1985, after hearing God whisper to him “I will use you” while attending an event by American pastor Billy Graham in South Korea in 1973, says the organisation.

When he is not in Davao, he has been seen travelling on his private jet.

He delivers his sermons from a glass podium that is set against giant photographs of his lush hilltop estate called the “Garden of Eden Restored”.

These are broadcast on his own TV, radio and social media network.

Outside of his long-standing ties with the Duterte’s, Mr Quiboloy grew his political influence by endorsing candidates to his followers during elections, a common practice for religious leaders in the country where politics is based on patronage instead of ideology.

“This is like doomsday for me. I feel so much grief. Can you imagine what I’ve gone through watching my children dying?” says Amina.

She’s lost six children. None of them lived past the age of three and another is now battling for her life.

Seven-month-old Bibi Hajira is the size of a newborn. Suffering from severe acute malnutrition, she occupies half a bed at a ward in Jalalabad regional hospital in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.

“My children are dying because of poverty. All I can feed them is dry bread, and water that I warm up by keeping it out under the sun,” Amina says, nearly shouting in anguish.

What’s even more devastating is her story is far from unique – and that so many more lives could be saved with timely treatment.

Bibi Hajira is one of 3.2 million children with acute malnutrition, which is ravaging the country. It’s a condition that has plagued Afghanistan for decades, triggered by 40 years of war, extreme poverty and a multitude of factors in the three years since the Taliban took over.

But the situation has now reached an unprecedented precipice.

It’s hard for anyone to imagine what 3.2 million looks like, and so the stories from just one small hospital room can serve as an insight into the unfolding disaster.

There are 18 toddlers in seven beds. It’s not a seasonal surge, this is how it is day after day. No cries or gurgles, the unnerving silence in the room is only broken by the high-pitched beeps of a pulse rate monitor.

Most of the children aren’t sedated or wearing oxygen masks. They’re awake but they are far too weak to move or make a sound.

Sharing the bed with Bibi Hajira, wearing a purple tunic, her tiny arm covering her face, is three-year-old Sana. Her mother died while giving birth to her baby sister a few months ago, so her aunt Laila is taking care of her. Laila touches my arm and holds up seven fingers – one for each child she’s lost.

In the adjacent bed is three-year-old Ilham, far too small for his age, skin peeling off his arms, legs and face. Three years ago, his sister died aged two.

It is too painful to even look at one-year-old Asma. She has beautiful hazel eyes and long eyelashes, but they’re wide open, barely blinking as she breathes heavily into an oxygen mask that covers most of her little face.

Dr Sikandar Ghani, who’s standing over her, shakes his head. “I don’t think she will survive,” he says. Asma’s tiny body has gone into septic shock.

Despite the circumstances, up until then there was a stoicism in the room – nurses and mothers going about their work, feeding the children, soothing them. It all stops, a broken look on so many faces.

Asma’s mother Nasiba is weeping. She lifts her veil and leans down to kiss her daughter.

“It feels like the flesh is melting from my body. I can’t bear to see her suffering like this,” she cries. Nasiba has already lost three children. “My husband is a labourer. When he gets work, we eat.”

Dr Ghani tells us Asma could suffer cardiac arrest at any moment. We leave the room. Less than an hour later, she died.

Seven hundred children have died in the past six months at the hospital – more than three a day, the Taliban’s public health department in Nangarhar told us. A staggering number, but there would have been a lot more deaths if this facility had not been kept running by World Bank and Unicef funding.

Up until August 2021, international funds given directly to the previous government funded nearly all public healthcare in Afghanistan.

When the Taliban took over, the money was stopped because of international sanctions against them. This triggered a healthcare collapse. Aid agencies stepped in to provide what was meant to be a temporary emergency response.

It was always an unsustainable solution, and now, in a world distracted by so much else, funding for Afghanistan has shrunk. Equally, the Taliban government’s policies, specifically its restrictions on women, have meant that donors are hesitant to give funds.

“We inherited the problem of poverty and malnutrition, which has become worse because of natural disasters like floods and climate change. The international community should increase humanitarian aid, they should not connect it with political and internal issues,” Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban government’s deputy spokesman, told us.

Over the past three years we have been to more than a dozen health facilities in the country, and seen the situation deteriorating rapidly. During each of our past few visits to hospitals, we’ve witnessed children dying.

But what we have also seen is evidence that the right treatment can save children. Bibi Hajira, who was in a fragile state when we visited the hospital, is now much better and has been discharged, Dr Ghani told us over the phone.

“If we had more medicines, facilities and staff we could save more children. Our staff has strong commitment. We work tirelessly and are ready to do more,” he said.

“I also have children. When a child dies, we also suffer. I know what must go through the hearts of the parents.”

Malnutrition is not the only cause of a surge in mortality. Other preventable and curable diseases are also killing children.

In the intensive care unit next door to the malnutrition ward, six-month-old Umrah is battling severe pneumonia. She cries loudly as a nurse attaches a saline drip to her body. Umrah’s mother Nasreen sits by her, tears streaming down her face.

“I wish I could die in her place. I’m so scared,” she says. Two days after we visited the hospital, Umrah died.

These are the stories of those who made it to hospital. Countless others can’t. Only one out of five children who need hospital treatment can get it at Jalalabad hospital.

The pressure on the facility is so intense that almost immediately after Asma died, a tiny baby, three-month-old Aaliya, was moved into the half a bed that Asma left vacant.

No-one in the room had time to process what had happened. There was another seriously ill child to treat.

The Jalalabad hospital caters to the population of five provinces, estimated by the Taliban government to be roughly five million people. And now the pressure on it has increased further. Most of the more than 700,000 Afghan refugees forcibly deported by Pakistan since late last year continue to stay in Nangarhar.

In the communities around the hospital, we found evidence of another alarming statistic released this year by the UN: that 45% of children under the age of five are stunted – shorter than they should be – in Afghanistan.

Robina’s two-year-old son Mohammed cannot stand yet and is much shorter than he should be.

“The doctor has told me that if he gets treatment for the next three to six months, he will be fine. But we can’t even afford food. How do we pay for the treatment?” Robina asks.

She and her family had to leave Pakistan last year and now live in a dusty, dry settlement in the Sheikh Misri area, a short drive on mud tracks from Jalalabad.

“I’m scared he will become disabled and he will never be able to walk,” Robina says.

“In Pakistan, we also had a hard life. But there was work. Here my husband, a labourer, rarely finds work. We could have treated him if we were still in Pakistan.”

Unicef says stunting can cause severe irreversible physical and cognitive damage, the effects of which can last a lifetime and even affect the next generation.

“Afghanistan is already struggling economically. If large sections of our future generation are physically or mentally disabled, how will our society be able to help them?” asks Dr Ghani.

Mohammad can be saved from permanent damage if he’s treated before it’s too late.

But the community nutrition programmes run by aid agencies in Afghanistan have seen the most dramatic cuts – many of them have received just a quarter of the funding that’s needed.

In lane after lane of Sheikh Misri we meet families with malnourished or stunted children.

Sardar Gul has two malnourished children – three-year-old Umar and eight-month-old Mujib, a bright-eyed little boy he holds on his lap.

“A month ago Mujib’s weight had dropped to less than three kilos. Once we were able to register him with an aid agency, we started getting food sachets. Those have really helped him,” Sardar Gul says.

Mujib now weighs six kilos – still a couple of kilos underweight, but significantly improved.

It is evidence that timely intervention can help save children from death and disability.

The US government is taking aim at the engine of Google’s immense wealth – its extremely lucrative ad tech business.

A trial beginning on Monday will hear the Department of Justice’s case that the search engine’s parent company Alphabet illegally operates a monopoly in the market.

The company earned more than $200 billion (£152bn) last year through the placing and selling of ads seen by internet users.

Alphabet has argued its success is due to the “effectiveness” of its services – but prosecutors say it has used its market dominance to stifle rivals.

“It is a really important industry that grabs billions of consumer dollars every year,” said Laura Phillips-Sawyer, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law.

“I think all consumers have an interest in this litigation.”

It is the second major antitrust case the tech giant has faced in the US.

In August a judge ruled its dominance of search was illegal, with the penalties Google and Alphabet will face as a result of that decision so far unclear.

According to the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and a coalition of states in 2023, Google dominates the digital ad marketplace and has leveraged its market power to stifle innovation and competition.

Google meanwhile contends it is just one of several hundred companies that facilitate the placement of digital ads in front of consumers.

It argues that competition in the digital ad space is growing, not contracting – citing increased ad growth and revenues for companies such as Apple, Amazon and TikTok as proof in a blog post responding to the DoJ’s lawsuit in 2023.

Both sides will present their cases to US District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is expected to deliver a verdict.

The bench trial comes on the heels of a landmark decision last month in a different monopoly case brought by the Justice Department against Google.

Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google acted illegally to squelch competition in its online search business.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” he wrote.

During last year’s trial, Google said it dominated online search because it had a better product.

And the company is seemingly deploying a similar defence in the ad tech case.

When asked for a statement, it referred the BBC to its 2023 blog post, in which it states that “no-one is forced to use our advertising technologies – they choose to use them because they’re effective.”

Judge Mehta held a status conference on Friday as he begins the process of deciding on remedies for Google’s conduct.

“The DoJ clearly had a big win, and they’re going to ride that momentum,” Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, told the BBC.

He said he expects those remedies to involve “business model tweaks, not a breakup” of the company.

Meanwhile, in Justice Brinkema’s courtroom, the arcane process that governs advertising technology could make the DoJ’s attempts to prove its case an uphill climb.

“We all use search. We all intuitively understand that product,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt University Law School.

By comparison, advertising technology is “so complex that I think that’s going to be a real challenge for the government to make a clear, simple monopolisation argument here.”

The US is not the only country where regulators are unhappy with Google’s ad tech business.

On Friday, the UK Competition and Markets Authority said it believed Google was abusing its dominance in the ad tech industry, according to the findings of its initial investigation.

It said it found that Google used anti-competitive practices to dominate the market for online advertising technology – and the potentially unlawful behaviour could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers.

A Google representative said the decision was based on a “flawed” understanding of the ad tech sector.

A US military veteran who received the world’s first whole-eye transplant has made significant progress a year later and has been able to resume his normal life, researchers say.

Aaron James, 46, also received a rare partial-face transplant. He lost most of his face in an accident in 2021 while working as a high-voltage utility lineman.

His donor eye has so far maintained normal pressure and blood flow and retained its size, unlike donor eyes in animals that often shrink after transplants, researchers at NYU Langone Health said in a new study.

Mr James has not regained sight in that eye, but researchers are hopeful he might eventually be able to see out of it again.

They said they were “truly amazed” by Mr James’s recovery.

“The outcomes we’re seeing after this procedure are quite incredible and could pave the way for new clinical protocols and inspire further research into complex transplants involving critical sensory organs,” said Dr Vaidehi Dedania, Mr James’ ophthalmologist.

The study authors said a test called electroretinography – which measures the retina’s electrical response to light – showed that the donor eye’s rods and cons, the light-sensitive nerve cells in the eye, survived the transplant.

“This electrical response converts light into signals that ultimately the brain could interpret for vision, giving hope for the future of whole-eye transplants with an aim to restore sight,” researchers said.

Mr James did not lose sight in his right eye. Last May, he underwent 21 hours of surgery that involved more than 140 healthcare professionals.

The donated face and eye came from a single male donor in his 30s. During the surgery, doctors injected adult stem cells from the donor’s bone marrow into the optic nerve to encourage its repair.

Researchers said Mr James had since passed many major milestones, including eating solid foods and being able to smell again.

“I’m pretty much back to being a normal guy, doing normal things,” Mr James said.

The 46-year-old military veteran is only the 19th person in the US to undergo a face transplant and the first person in the world to receive an entire human eye transplant.

Whole-eye transplant surgeries pose a host of challenges because of the complex structure and functions of the organ.

Researchers are now focused on using Mr James’s transplant to understand how to restore sight to the eye, said Dr Eduardo Rodriguez, a senior author of the study and the director of the Face Transplant Program at NYU.

Mr James, meanwhile, is now concentrating on sending his daughter, Alice, off to college.

“This has been the most transformative year of my life,” he said. “I’ve been given the gift of a second chance, and I don’t take a single moment for granted.”

At least 18 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on a number of military sites in central Syria, the Syrian health minister says.

State news agency Sana cited Hassan al-Ghabbash as saying another 37 people were injured in the attacks in the vicinity of Masyaf, in Hama province, on Sunday night.

A UK-based monitoring group reported that 26 people were killed and that the targets included a scientific research centre near Masyaf that was used to develop weapons.

The Israeli military said it would not comment on foreign media reports of the strikes, which Syria’s foreign ministry condemned as “blatant aggression” and Iran’s foreign ministry called a “criminal attack”.

However, Israel has previously acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years on targets in Syria that it says are linked to Iran – Israel’s main foe – and allied armed groups.

The Israeli strikes have reportedly been stepped up since the start of the war in Gaza in October last year, in response to cross-border attacks on northern Israel by Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon and Syria.

Sana’s report cited a Syrian military source as saying that Israeli aircraft flying over north-western Lebanon launched missiles at “a number of military sites in the central region” at around 23:20 (20:20 GMT) on Sunday.

“Our air defence shot down some missiles,” the military source added.

The news agency said the strikes also caused damage to the Masyaf-Wadi al-Oyoun highway and that a fire broke out in the forested Hair Abbas area.

Later, the Syrian foreign ministry said the attack had targeted “several residential areas”, while local authorities reported that key infrastructure had been damaged, including a fibre optic cable running underneath the highway and a high-voltage power line, according to Sana.

State-run Al-Ikhbariya al-Suriyah TV also broadcast footage purportedly showing a damaged building in the port city of Tartous, west of Masyaf.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) – a UK-based monitoring group with a network of sources on the ground – reported that Israeli strikes destroyed buildings and military facilities in “the scientific research area in Masyaf”, on the Masyaf-Wadi al-Oyoun highway and in Hair Abbas.

It said at least 26 people were killed, including five civilians, four members of Syrian government forces and 14 Syrians working with pro-Iran groups. Another three bodies were unidentified, it added.

The SOHR said Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers had been stationed in the scientific research area for six years as part of a programme to develop short- and medium-range precision missiles and drones.

However, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters in Tehran: “We do not confirm what was reported by media outlets linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] about an attack on an Iranian centre or a centre under Iran’s protection.”

A senior regional military source close to Damascus and Tehran also denied a Reuters news agency report which cited two intelligence sources as saying that a major military research centre for chemical arms production was hit several times.

Western intelligence agencies have previously alleged that a branch of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) near Masyaf has been used to produce chemical weapons in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Syrian government has denied the claim. However, the facility was reportedly targeted in a suspected Israeli strike in September 2017, a day after a deadly chemical attack on a rebel-held town in northern Syria that the UN and Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concluded was carried out by the Syrian air force.

According to the SOHR, Israeli air and artillery strikes have targeted Syrian territory on 64 occasions since the start of the year, resulting in the damage or destruction of about 140 targets, including weapons depots, vehicles and Iran-backed militia headquarters.

The strikes have killed at least 208 fighters – including 46 members of Syrian government forces, 43 members of Hezbollah and 24 Iranian Revolutionary Guards – as well as 22 civilians, the monitoring group says.

In April, Iran accused Israel of carrying out an air strike on a consulate building in Damascus which killed two senior Revolutionary Guards commanders.

Iran retaliated by carrying out its first direct military attack against Israel. It launched 300 missiles and drones, but almost all of them were shot down by Israeli and US-led forces.

Fleeing the town she has lived in most of her life, Maria Honcharenko is taking just one small bag, and her two tiny kittens.

After stubbornly staying on in the east Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the 69-year-old is now heeding advice and preparing to leave.

“My heart stops when I hear a bang,” she tells me, crying. She’s holding an old push-button phone where emergency contacts are saved.

The front line is less than 8km (4.9 miles) from Pokrovsk. Serhiy Dobryak, the head of the city’s military administration, says that Russians target the city not just with ballistic missiles and multiple rocket launchers – they also now strike with guided bombs and even artillery, as the city is now within the range of those weapons too.

“Look what Russians did to us. I worked here for 30 years and now I am leaving everything behind,” she says, breaking down in tears.

Volunteers help Ms Honcharenko to get on an evacuation bus. Trains no longer run here.

Pokrovsk is a key transportation hub. If it falls, then Russian forces will cut off one of the main supply routes in the region. This will likely force Ukraine to retreat from Chasiv Yar and the front line will move closer to Kramatorsk.

For Ukraine, this would effectively mean the loss of almost the entire Donetsk region, which the Kremlin has fought to capture since the beginning of their invasion.

The Ukrainian military admits that its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region failed to force Moscow to divert its troops from eastern Ukraine.

And some observers argue that this move, which certainly helped to boost morale among the soldiers, left the strategic supply route vulnerable to Russian attacks.

On Sunday, Russia claimed to have taken control of the village of Novohrodivka, just 10km from Pokrovsk. Kyiv has not commented but sources told the BBC that Ukrainian forces have retreated from there.

The space on the evacuation bus quickly fills up. A woman with a five-year old daughter climbs on board.

This is their second evacuation. The first time it was in 2022 when they fled from a border town after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This city is clearly Moscow’s top priority. According to Serhiy Dobryak, the head of Pokrovsk’s military administration, the ratio of forces fighting in that direction is 10 to one in Russia’s favour.

During its latest attack, Russia hit a substation in Pokrovsk, leaving half the city without power. The strikes also disrupted water supplies.

The city is quickly becoming deserted. Just two months ago, 48,000 people were still living here. Today half of them have already left.

The bustling downtown with shops and supermarkets is eerily quiet. Banks, supermarkets and most cafes are closed. The hospital has been evacuated.

Outside the city, excavators are digging new trenches in the fields.

However, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief says that the army has managed to stop the Russian advancement towards Pokrovsk.

Lt Col Oleh Demyanenko, a battalion commander of the 110th brigade, told the BBC that the front line on the northern flank of Russia’s assault on Pokrovsk had indeed been stabilised. However, Russian attacks are mostly focused on the southern flank, he says, where heavy battles are continuing.

One of the areas on that flank that Russians are trying to seize is Selidove, a small town south-east of Pokrovsk.

The BBC visited an artillery position of the 15th Brigade of the National Guard that defend this town. Relentless Russian attacks give them no respite.

“Prepare for action!” the unit commander Dmytro orders after receiving coordinates of a new target.

All crew members rush to an old American M-101 howitzer. This type of gun was used in World War Two. Now Ukrainians fire it to stop Russian attacks.

The commander shouts “Fire!” and pulls the rope. The explosion is deafening. The gun is covered with smoke.

The fighting in his sector is very intense, says 31-year-old Dmytro.

“The enemy attacks in groups of up to 15 people, sometimes up to 60,” he said. “We fire up to 200 rounds a day [to repel them].”

This is a big change to last winter when big guns stayed silent for most of the day.

But the more they shell the Russian positions, the greater the risk of return fire. So, after each series of rounds, they head to a dugout to wait out Russia’s counter barrage.

And when they hear a loud thud in the distance, they go quiet. “A glide bomb,” one of the soldiers mutters. It’s this weapon that they fear the most. It has a devastating effect and the gunners have nowhere to hide from it.

Dmytro gives an evasive answer when asked whether it would be more useful to use Ukrainian forces involved in the Kursk operation to defend the Donbas region instead. “Commanders have a better view to make strategic decisions,” he said.

The front line here can move quickly. Sometimes it can be a total surprise for Ukrainian forces.

Last month, a group of seven soldiers of the 68th Brigade started their shift at the forward position in the village of Komyshivka, 15km west of Selidove. Their task was to stop any attempts of Russian forces to break through. The next day, however, they were encircled by the Russian forces.

Thanks to extremely brave drivers and the negligence of Russian soldiers, they were evacuated three days later.

Back in Pokrovsk, the evacuation bus with Ms Honcharenko on board is full. They have to take a new route as the bridge on the way out of town is damaged by the Russian strikes. As the bus starts moving, people wave through the windows and wipe their tears away.

For Maria Honcharenko, this is a scary journey full of uncertainties. But she knows one thing – it will be safer in her new home than remaining at the front line.

Schools in several Kentucky counties are closed as the search for a man suspected of shooting into vehicles along a major highway, injuring five people, continued into a third day.

The suspect, Joseph A Couch, 32, was charged Monday with multiple counts of attempted murder and assault.

After the incident on Saturday evening, police believe the attacker fled to a remote rugged area about 9 miles (14km) from the city of London in south-eastern Kentucky.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said that they had recovered a silver Honda SUV and an AR rifle they believe was used in the attack, although the suspect may have other firearms.

Police also found a phone they believe belongs to Mr Couch, but the battery had been removed.

An arrest warrant was filed for Mr Couch, charging him with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault.

Hours before the shooting, Mr Couch legally bought the rifle and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, police said.

The shootings began at about 17:30 local time (21:30 GMT) on Saturday. Police initially said nine vehicles were hit by gunfire along Interstate 75, a busy north-south route. They later increased that number to 12 cars.

The shots were fired from a ledge on a cliff overlooking the highway.

Five people were wounded and some had “very serious” injuries, officials said, including one person who was shot in the face.

All were stable as of Sunday and were expected to survive.

Randall Weddle, the mayor of London, Kentucky, said that some local businesses and churches remained closed Sunday while the manhunt continued.

Authorities warned local residents to be vigilant while the suspect is still at large.

“You need to lock your doors,” Kentucky State Police spokesperson Scottie Pennington said Sunday. “If you have security cameras, make sure you’re constantly watching them, maybe keep your porch lights on.”

As a precaution, schools in Laurel County, where London is located, and several neighbouring counties were closed Monday.

Officials said the woods in the area are very thick and the search is slow. The hunt was suspended after dark on Sunday night, but officers remained in a wooded area near exit 49 on I-75 in an attempt to contain the suspect.

“That’s probably one of the most remote exits on I-75,” Deputy Gilbert Acciardo of the Lauren County Sheriff’s Office told reporters during a news briefing. “It’s a big task.”

Mr Acciardo described the scene as a “madhouse” when first responders arrived.

“People on the sides of the road, emergency flashers going, bullet holes, windows shot out,” he said. “Can you imagine that? Just chaotic.”

Police said they have not yet determined a motive for the shooting, but they have characterised it as a random attack rather than a targeted one. Mr Couch previously served in the National Guard, according to police.

An Army spokesperson said Mr Couch served in the Army Reserve for roughly six years, from March 2013 to January 2019, as a combat engineer, but was never deployed.

The city of London has about 8,000 residents and is near the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Speaking to CNN, Christina DiNoto, who was driving on I-75 with a friend at the time of the shooting, said “it was like a rock went through my back window”, hurting her ear.

“We looked at each other and we were like, ‘Was that a gunshot?’ And then we’re like, ‘No, that wasn’t a gunshot.'”

She said it was only an hour and a half later they learnt that there had been a shooting.

Kentucky’s Governor Andy Beshear wrote on social media that the area should be avoided, and urged the public to “pray for everyone involved”.

The head of El Salvador’s police force is among nine people who died when the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed in the Central American nation on Sunday evening local time.

Police Director-General Mauricio Arriaza was escorting a suspect in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme to the capital, San Salvador, when the helicopter came down shortly after take-off.

The suspect, fugitive former bank director Manuel Coto, had been accused of involvement in the embezzlement of $35m (£27m) from a credit union in El Salvador.

Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele wrote on X that he did not think the crash should be considered an accident and ordered an investigation.

President Bukele said flags would be flown at half-mast for three days in honour of Mr Arriaza.

The president had named him as chief of police in 2019 and he was key to Mr Bukele’s crackdown on El Salvador’s infamous gangs.

Under Mr Bukele, the country’s shocking homicide rate dropped, but human rights groups say security has come at a cost, with some suspects arbitrarily detained and denied access to fair trials.

President Bukele praised the late police chief as “a fundamental part of bringing peace and security to our people”.

Mr Bukele said he would request international help to examine the causes of the crash.

El Salvador’s Armed Forces said the UH-1H helicopter came down near Pasaquina, some 10km (six miles) from the border with Honduras.

The helicopter was carrying Police Chief Arriaza, Mr Coto and a TV news crew, according to local media.

All those on board died in the crash, the Salvadorean military said.

Mr Arriaza had travelled to the Honduran border to take Mr Coto into custody.

Honduran officials said police had captured the former bank director as he was trying to make his way to the US with the help of a people-smuggler.

News of his arrest caused surprise and confusion as it was not widely known that he had been on the run.

In fact, the Salvadorean authorities had announced back in July that Mr Coto had been detained in Panama.

It is not clear how he came to be in Honduras.

Mr Coto was one of 32 people accused of embezzlement and money-laundering over the disappearance of $35m from the coffers of the COSAVI credit union.

El Salvador’s attorney-general accused the group of syphoning off money from people’s savings and using it to buy luxury flats and cars, among other items.

In total, 15 people have been detained in connection with the case. Among them are Mr Coto’s parents.

Authorities in Guinea-Bissau say they have seized 2.63 tonnes of cocaine that was found on a plane at the capital’s international airport.

The plane had come from Venezuela, the Reuters news agency reports citing a police statement.

On Saturday, at least 78 bales of cocaine were discovered, which local reports say is the largest drugs seizure in the country’s history.

The West African country is known as a key transit point in global drug trafficking. This has led to the UN to calling it a “narco-state”.

A local newspaper has reported that the plane was registered in Mexico.

All five of the crew members were detained, including the pilot. Among those in custody are two Mexicans, one Colombian, one Ecuadorian and one Brazilian.

The suspects were due in court on Monday.

Authorities say the seizure, which was dubbed “Operation Landing”, was done in close co-operation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre–Narcotics, a European organisation.

According to a local report, the police are working on dismantling the entire network involved in this drug trafficking incident.

The authorities in Bissau have for years been trying to deal with the country being used as a conduit for narcotics destined for Europe.

Since independence from Portugal in 1974, the country has experienced nine coups, leaving it with weak state institutions.

Some say this has made the country a fertile ground for drug barons.

Earlier in 2024, the son of Guinea-Bissau’s ex-president was sentenced to over six years in prison by a US court for leading an international heroin trafficking ring.

• Cocaine and Guinea-Bissau: How Africa’s ‘narco-state’ is trying to kick its habit
• Political chaos could boost cocaine trade in Guinea-Bissau
• Guinea-Bissau’s mystery deepens over drug-trafficking coup plot

Two women who say they were raped and strangled by the controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate have spoken to the BBC about their experiences.

Another woman has alleged, for the first time, she was raped by Mr Tate’s younger brother, Tristan – also an influencer with millions of followers.

The Tate brothers, aged 37 and 36, currently face charges in Romania of human trafficking and forming an organised group to sexually exploit women. Andrew Tate is also charged with rape.

If found guilty, the two men could be jailed for more than 10 years. They strongly deny the charges against them.

Andrew Tate is currently under house arrest in Romania. In addition to the charges he already faces, prosecutors are considering new allegations against him, including having sex with a minor and trafficking underage persons. Both brothers are also being investigated for trafficking 34 more women.

Now, in a new BBC Panorama programme, two British women not involved with the Romanian case against the Tate brothers, have given detailed first-hand accounts of alleged rape and sexual violence by Andrew Tate. The allegations date back at least 10 years, to when Mr Tate was living in Luton.

Another British woman has made a new allegation of rape against Tristan Tate, saying he put his hands around her throat as he did so.

Anna (not her real name) told us she went out with Andrew Tate in Luton in 2013. After a few dates, she says she went back to his house.

“He started kissing me… and he just looked up at the ceiling and said, ‘I’m just debating whether I should rape you or not. Out of the blue he just grabbed me by the throat, smashed me to the back of the bed, strangling me extremely hard.”

Anna says he then raped her.

She says after the attack, Mr Tate sent her disturbing text messages and voice notes about rape and sexual violence.

“Am I a bad person? Because the more you didn’t like it, the more I enjoyed it,” he said in a voice note.

In a text he wrote: “I love raping you.”

Anna says he also tried to pass the strangulation episode off as a joke: “Are you seriously so offended I strangled you a little bit?”

When the BBC asked him about the messages, Mr Tate declined to comment.

In 2014, Anna told Bedfordshire Police about the alleged attack. Two other women made similar allegations, and the investigation was taken over by Hertfordshire Police.

In 2019, a file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, but it was decided there was not enough evidence to bring charges.

Another woman, who we are calling Sienna, describes a similar story.

She says she first met Andrew Tate a decade ago in Luton: “We got on really well and we had a few drinks.”

She says they had what she describes as “a standard one-night stand”.

A few months later, Sienna says she met Mr Tate again.

She claims that on this occasion he attacked her.

“We went to my bedroom… and we started having sex,” she says. “That was when he put his hands around my throat.”

Sienna says she struggled for air, and then lost consciousness. When she came to, she says he was still having sex with her.

“I was absolutely terrified,” she says. “I just remember gasping for air… It was rape.”

In the morning, she says she had a bloodshot eye.

“One of the whites of my eyes had just gone completely red – apparently it’s quite common in domestic abuse cases where there’s been strangulation.”

A friend of Sienna has confirmed to the BBC that she told him about the incident at the time. He also says he saw her eye injury.

Sienna didn’t go to the police and says she regrets it.

BBC Panorama is aware of a total of five women in the UK who say they were strangled by Mr Tate during sex.

When we interviewed him in June last year, he denied ever having strangled or having had sex with a woman without her consent.

“I know I’ve never hurt anybody. It’s not in my nature to hurt people,” he said.

In the second half of the last decade, Andrew Tate began his rise to online fame.

The self-proclaimed misogynist’s videos on YouTube and TikTok, and posts on Twitter, gained him millions of followers and a worldwide profile.

He preached a message aimed at boys and young men that women should be dominated.

In one video, he said women were “intrinsically lazy” and added: “There’s no way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist.”

Panorama – Andrew Tate: accused

Oana Marocico returns to her home country to investigate Andrew and Tristan Tate’s Romanian webcam business and speaks to women who claim they’ve been abused by the brothers.

Watch on Monday 9 September on BBC One at 20:00 BST (20:30 in Wales) or on BBC iPlayer (UK only) from 20:00 BST

Mr Tate has been singled out by authorities in the UK for the effect he has had in spreading misogyny online.

His videos also showed off the high-rolling lifestyle he claimed to lead in Romania.

Andrew and Tristan Tate are thought to have moved to the country around 2016.

They had been running a webcamming business in Luton – where women chat and strip online for money.

Romania has one of the largest webcam industries in the world, with over half a million employees in the sector. The brothers’ move there apparently saw the business taking off.

At one point, Andrew Tate claimed he was making £400,000 per month from webcamming and that “75 women worked for him at the peak of it all”.

However, when he spoke to the BBC last year, he downplayed these boasts, claiming they had been exaggerations and lies.

The adult entertainment business is central to the criminal case brought against them in Romania.

Prosecutors allege the brothers were trafficking women into the country – in other words, recruiting them, arranging their transport and providing accommodation in Bucharest for the purpose of exploitation. Two of the women named in the case file were brought to Romania from the UK.

Another British woman, not involved in any of the legal proceedings, told Panorama about her experience of working for the Tates. It is the first time she has spoken publicly.

Daisy (not her real name) says that in 2017 she had been dating Tristan Tate in the UK, when he encouraged her to work for the brothers’ webcam business in Bucharest. We have seen evidence that Tristan booked her flight to Bucharest.

Daisy went of her own accord, knowing and agreeing to be involved in the webcamming business. She describes a controlling environment where she and other webcammers lived and worked together.

“The girls had their own rooms, but it wasn’t their personal space. Everything was Tristan’s and Andrew’s, the bedrooms that the girls worked in were also the bedrooms that the brothers would sleep in.”

There were strict rules for all the women, says Daisy with almost every aspect of their lives monitored.

This description is echoed by a Romanian webcam model, who has also spoken to us.

“Raluca” says she was on the Tates’ books in 2021. She claims that “control and manipulation” played a primary role in their business model.

Most of the models working for the Tates “were dating them”, according to Raluca. She adds that some of them were women brought over from the UK.

The Romanian prosecutors say they have statements from three women who describe feeling “controlled” by the brothers. In the case file, some of the women say they were not allowed to leave the house “on their own”.

When Andrew Tate spoke to the BBC last year, he denied such allegations and claimed the women worked for themselves. He said that his role was simply to “help them find a cameraman”.

A few days after arriving in Romania, Daisy says she broke up with Tristan Tate, but she claims it did not stop him trying to have sex with her.

“I told him, ‘no’ 10 to 15 times that I didn’t want to.”

He put his hands around her throat and raped her, she says.

Daisy has not reported her allegation to police.

The BBC has spoken to one of her friends who says that after Daisy returned to the UK she was upset and told him that Tristan Tate had been forceful with her sexually.

We asked Tristan Tate about all the allegations against him – he did not comment.

The Tates’ legal troubles have deepened this year.

As well as the existing charges in Romania, and the new investigation announced last month, they face a number of legal threats elsewhere.

In the UK, Bedfordshire Police have begun extradition proceedings against both brothers on allegations of rape and human trafficking, dating back to 2012-2015. None of these are connected to the women we spoke to.

And in a civil case brought by Devon and Cornwall Police, a magistrate is expected to rule next month on whether the Tates owe millions in unpaid tax on their online businesses.

Sienna and Anna are now suing Andrew Tate, and their case is due to be heard in the High Court in London. Along with two other women, they accuse him of rape and sexual assault. He intends to contest the claims.

We asked Mr Tate about all the latest allegations – he has declined to comment.

Last year he told us: “I look forward to the truth coming out. I look forward to the truth being blasted all over the BBC that Andrew Tate was found not guilty because I’ve never done anything wrong.”

The last time US presidential candidates met on stage, they traded barbs and personal takedowns in a debate that upended the 2024 campaign.

President Joe Biden’s performance forced him to drop out of the race. So now Kamala Harris, his replacement as the Democratic nominee, will face off against former President Donald Trump in the second debate on Tuesday 10 September (21:00 local time; 01:00 GMT Weds).

The event represents an opportunity for a do-over for both parties and the consensus among voters is clear: they want more policy and less political sparring.

The BBC spoke to voters from across the political spectrum. Here’s what seven of them are hoping to see unfold.

I’m curious to see what they’re both going to do. Kamala Harris has been knocked recently for not doing a lot of interviews and for being underground versus Donald Trump, who usually gets knocked for his style in terms of how he conducts himself during debates and just his loudness.

I’ve decided I’m going to vote for Trump this time, but I would like to see what the vice-president has to say. I’d like to see how she performs more off the cuff and without an ability to read from the prompter. I want to see how she does with those fast questions interacting with Trump.

Even though I’m voting for him, it’s not because I’m comfortable with it necessarily. It’s really just a style thing. I hope Trump can just stand there and not go all crazy and whatever – just minimise the attacks and focus on policies.

I feel like I know what’s going to happen. I know that Kamala Harris is an extremely competent debater. I still remember her and Mike Pence’s debate from four years ago and I’m really excited to see her go toe-to-toe with Trump. I’m happy to have somebody on stage who will be able to directly counter, really be an opposing force, to him on stage.

The biggest trap is that Donald Trump says so many things so quickly. It’s easy to get wrapped up in what he’s saying. I hope that Harris doesn’t sink to his level. I’d love to see her maintain her optimistic, upbeat message even in the face of Trump.

I honestly haven’t been planning on watching the debate, at least not live. I’m not excited about either candidate at all.

From what I’ve seen from our debates in the last few elections, they’re just platforms for who can yell the loudest and who’s got the best one liner that will catch a headline. I haven’t heard anything of substance.

If someone got up on stage and they were realistic about what they could achieve or could not achieve, then maybe that would change my mind. But I don’t think either of them are going to say anything like that.

I’m looking at it like it’s a job interview, it’s who I’m choosing for president.

Everyday, I talk to people at the poverty level and it seems like it’s getting worse. I personally think the economy was better under Trump. I want to hear what Kamala Harris is going to do.

What I’ve been hearing is mostly her vibes and you can’t run the United States of America on vibes only.

I am hoping for a great debate where both parties actually lay their policies out on the table.

I think it will be informative and entertaining at the very least.

I‘d like to know how our economy is going to get back on track. I’d also like to know about the candidates’ plans for reducing illegal immigration.

I believe Trump’s strengths are an actual laid out policy. I think Kamala Harris has kind of hidden her views or switched her views. He does a better job laying out his plans. But I think his biggest weakness is his demeanour.

I do plan on voting for Trump again and I hope he wins the debate, but I think there’s not a lot either of them can do or say to change people’s minds.

I am much happier that we’ll be having Kamala up there and I’m really happy that they’re going to be doing it muted [so they can’t interrupt each other].

[The candidates are] getting so personal about each other. Even in the last debate, I’m like: ‘Did you guys even answer the question? Or are you guys just defending yourself about what he said about you?’ They’re just personally attacking each other instead of answering any of the things that we want to hear.

I do plan on watching. I think Biden’s debate performance was pretty disappointing and so I’m way more excited to see what Harris is able to do and how she carries herself and presents herself.

A big issue for me is climate change and environmental policy and so I’d be curious to hear what she says on that.

However, the sad thing, at least for me, is that I would vote for anyone [over Trump]. I almost don’t care what your policy positions are. I just know what your policy positions aren’t and so therefore, I’m stuck with you come hell or high water.

• SIMPLE GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the vote
• ANALYSIS: Will Harris debate tactics work against Trump?
• EXPLAINER: Seven swing states that could decide election
• IMMIGRATION: Could Trump really deport a million migrants?
• FACT CHECK: Was US economy stronger or weaker under Trump?

Pope Francis, who has often appeared to revel in confounding and surprising others, is at it again.

Many times over the years, he has seemed to suggest he is slowing down, only to ramp up his activities again.

At nearly 88 years old, he has a knee ailment that impairs mobility, abdominal problems caused by diverticulitis and is vulnerable to respiratory issues owing to the removal of most of one of his lungs.

Last autumn, the Pope said his health problems meant that foreign travel had become difficult. Soon after, when he cancelled a trip to the UAE, it led to heightened speculation about the extent of his medical difficulties.

But that was then.

Now, he is in the middle of the longest foreign visit of his 11-and-a-half year papacy. It has been one packed with engagements, and as well as Timor-Leste it involves three countries – Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Singapore – in which Catholics are a minority.

So why is the Pope travelling so extensively and so far from home?

His supporters say his passion drives him.

“He obviously has an enormous amount of stamina and that is driven by his absolute passion for mission,” says Father Anthony Chantry, the UK director of the Pope’s mission charity Missio, who has just been appointed to the Vatican administration’s evangelisation department.

“He talks about all of us having a tireless mission to reach out to others, to set an example.”

Christian “mission” is something that has evolved over the centuries. It is still about spreading the gospel but now the stated aim is focused on social justice and charitable endeavours.

Throughout his trip Pope Francis will meet missionaries, including a group from Argentina now based in Papua New Guinea. But on numerous trips around Asia including this one, he also skirts close to China, a country with deep suspicions about the Church, its mission and its motives.

The Pope has frequently emphasised the importance of evangelisation for every Catholic. Yet in many parts of the world, it is still hard to separate ideas of “missionaries” and “evangelisation” from notions of European colonisation.

As the number of Catholics in Europe declines, is “mission” and “evangelising” in Asia and Africa now about Church expansion in those parts of the world?

“I think what he is preaching is the Gospel of love that will do no one any harm. He’s not trying to drum up support for the Church, that’s not what evangelisation is about,” says Father Anthony.

“It isn’t to be equated with proselytising, that is not what we have done for a long time. That is not the agenda of the Holy Father and not the agenda of the Church. What we do is we share and we help people in any way we can, regardless of their faith or not having any faith.”

Father Anthony says being a Christian missionary in the modern day, for which Pope Francis is setting an example, is about doing good work and listening, but sometimes, “where necessary”, also challenging ideas.

“We believe God will do the rest, and if that leads to people accepting Jesus Christ, that’s great. And if it helps people to appreciate their own spirituality – their own culture – more, then I think that is another success.”

Certainly the Pope has long talked of interfaith harmony and respect for other faiths. One of the most enduring images of his current trip will be his kissing the hand of the Grand Imam of the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta and holding it to his cheek.

He was warmly welcomed by people coming out to see him in the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world.

Pope and top Indonesian imam make joint call for peace

Pope Francis will end his marathon trip in Singapore, a country where around three-quarters of the population is ethnic Chinese, but also where the Catholic minority is heavily involved in missionary work in poorer areas.

For centuries now, Singapore has been something of a strategic regional hub for the Catholic Church, and what Pope Francis says and does there is likely to be closely watched in China, not least by the Catholics living there. It is hard to get a true picture of numbers, but estimates suggest around 12 million.

The lack of clarity over numbers is partly because China’s Catholics have been split between the official Catholic Church in China and an underground church loyal to the Vatican that evolved under communism.

In trying to unite the two groups, Pope Francis has been accused of appeasing Beijing and letting down Catholics in the underground movement who had not accepted the Chinese government’s interference, and who face the continued threat of persecution.

Deals struck between the Vatican and Beijing in recent years appear to have left a situation where the Chinese government appoints Catholic bishops, and the Pope gives in and recognises them. China says it’s a matter of sovereignty, while Pope Francis insists he has the final say – though that is not the way it has looked.

“He won’t be pleasing everyone all the time, but I think what the Holy Father really wants to indicate is that the Church is not a threat to the state,” says Father Anthony Chantry. “He is treading a very careful path and it’s fraught with difficulties, but I think what he’s trying to do is just to build up a respectful relationship with the government in China.”

Rightly or wrongly, it is all in the name of bringing more people into the fold. Some of Pope Francis’ predecessors have been more uncompromising in many ways, seeming to be more accepting of a smaller, “purer” global Catholic community, rather than make concessions in either foreign relations or in the way the Church views, for example, divorce or homosexuality.

While some popes have also clearly been more comfortable in study and theology than travel and being surrounded by huge crowds, some have leaned into the politics of their position.

It is very clear when travelling with Pope Francis that while he can often look tired and subdued during diplomatic events, he is quickly rejuvenated by the masses who come out to see him, and energised by the non-dignitaries he meets, particularly young people.

This is certainly not a pope who shuns the limelight – it is being among people, some would say mission, that appears to be his lifeblood.

Father Anthony Chantry says this latest, longest papal trip is just a continued display of how the Pope feels the Church should engage with both Catholics and non-Catholics.

“The whole thrust is that we have got to reach out to others. We have to make everyone feel welcome. I think he (Pope Francis) does that really well, but I don’t think he’s trying to score any points there, it’s just him.”

There is very little the Pope has done since his election in 2013 that has not rankled Catholic traditionalists, who often feel that his spirit of outreach is taken too far. His actions on this trip are unlikely to change that.

“Think of it as cricket cake, like fish cake,” the chef said as he urged the man in the buffet line to try the steaming, spicy laksa – a coconut noodle broth – full of “textured cricket protein”.

Next to it was a plate of chilli crickets, the bug version of a beloved Singaporean dish – stir-fried mud crabs doused in a rich, sweet chilli sauce.

It looked like any other buffet, except for the main ingredient in every dish: crickets.

The line included a woman who gingerly scooped stir-fried Korean glass noodles topped with minced crickets onto her plate, and a man who wouldn’t stop grilling the young chef.

You would have expected the diners to snap up the feast. After all, they were among more than 600 scientists, entrepreneurs and environmentalists from around the world who had descended on Singapore as part of a mission to make insects delicious. The name of the conference said it all – Insects to Feed the World.

And yet more of them were drawn to the buffet next to the insect-laden spread. It was the usual fare, some would have argued: wild-caught barramundi infused with lemongrass and lime, grilled sirloin steak with onion marmalade, a coconut vegetable curry.

Some two billion people, about a quarter of the world’s population, already eat insects as part of their everyday diet, according to the United Nations.

More people should join them, according to a growing tribe of bug advocates who champion insects as a healthy and green choice. But is the prospect of saving the planet enough to get people to sample their top creepy crawlies?

“We have to focus on making them delicious,” said New York-based chef Joseph Yoon, who designed the cricket-laced menu for the conference, along with Singaporean chef Nicholas Low. The event had permission to use only crickets.

“The idea that insects are sustainable, dense with nutrients, can address food security, and so on,” is not enough to make them palatable, let alone appetising, he added.

Studies have found that crickets are high in protein. And rearing them required less water and land, compared with livestock.

Some countries have given insect diets a nudge, if not a push. Singapore recently approved 16 types of bugs, including crickets, silkworms, grasshoppers and honey bees, as food.

It is among a handful of countries, including the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand, that are regulating what is still an incipient edible insects industry. Estimates vary from $400m to $1.4bn (£303m to £1.06bn).

Enter chefs like Nicholas Low who have had to find ways to “break down” insects to cook with them because people are not always up for trying them “in their original form”.

For the conference, Mr Low reinvented the popular laksa when he replaced the usual fish cake with patties made of minced cricket.

He said it also took some work to mask the earthy smell of the insects. Dishes with “strong flavours”, like laksa, were ideal because the delights of the original recipe distracted people from the crushed bugs.

Mr Low said crickets left little room for him to experiment. Usually deep-fried for a satisfying crunch, or ground to a fine powder, they were unlike meats, which made for versatile cooking, from braises to barbecue.

He could not imagine cooking with crickets every day: “I’m more likely to cook it as a special dish that is part of a larger menu.”

Since Singapore approved cooking with bugs, some restaurants have been trying their hand at it. A seafood spot has taken to sprinkling crickets on their satays and squid ink pastas, or serving them on the side of a fish head curry.

Of course there are others who have been more committed to the challenge. Tokyo-based Takeo Cafe has been serving customers insects for the past 10 years.

The menu includes a salad with twin Madagascar hissing cockroaches nestling on a bed of leaves and cherry tomatoes, a generous scoop of ice cream with three tiny grasshoppers perched on it and even a cocktail with spirits made from silkworm poo.

“What’s most important is [the customer’s] curiosity,” said Saeki Shinjiro, Takeo’s chief sustainability officer.

What about the environment? “Customers are not concerned so much,” he said.

Just to be on the safe side, Takeo also has a bug-free menu. “When designing the menu, we keep in mind not to discriminate against people who do not eat insects… Some customers are merely here to accompany their friends,” Mr Shinjiro said.

“We do not want such people to feel uncomfortable. There is no need to eat insects forcibly.”

It hasn’t always been this way, though. For centuries, insects have been a valued food source in different parts of the world.

In Japan grasshoppers, silkworms, and wasps were traditionally eaten in land-locked areas where meat and fish were scarce. The practice resurfaced during food shortages in World War Two, Takeo’s manager Michiko Miura said.

Today, crickets and silkworms are commonly sold as snacks at night markets in Thailand, while diners in Mexico City pay hundreds of dollars for ant larvae, a dish once considered a delicacy by the Aztecs, who ruled the region from the 14th Century to the 16th Century.

But bug experts worry that these culinary traditions have been unravelling with globalisation, as people who eat insects now associate the diet with poverty.

There is a “growing sense of shame” in places with a long history of insect consumption, like Asia, Africa and South America, said Joseph Yoon, the New York-based chef.

“They now get glimpses of foreign cultures over the internet and they are embarrassed about eating insects because that is not the practice elsewhere.”

In her book Edible Insects and Human Evolution, anthropologist Julie Lesnik argued that colonialism deepened the stigma of eating insects. She wrote that Christopher Columbus and members of his expedition described the native Americans’ consumption of insects as “bestiality… greater than that of any beast upon the face of the earth”.

Of course, people’s attitudes could change. After all, gourmet treats such as sushi and lobster were once an alien concept to most people.

Sushi started out as a working-class dish found in street stalls. And lobsters, known as the “poor man’s chicken”, were once fed to prisoners and slaves in north-eastern America because of their abundance, said food researcher Keri Matiwck from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

But as transport networks made travel easier and food storage improved, more and more people were introduced to the crustacean. As demand increased, so did its price and status.

Foods once seen as “exotic”, or not even regarded as food, can gradually become mainstream, Dr Matwick said. “[But] cultural beliefs take time to change. It will take a while to change the perceptions of insects as disgusting and dirty.”

Some experts encourage people to raise their children to be more tolerant of unusual food, including insects, because future generations will face the full consequences of the climate crisis.

Insects may well become the “superfoods” of the future, as coveted as quinoa and berries. They may be grudgingly eaten, rather than sought out for the joy that a buttery steak or a hearty bowl of ramen brings.

For now, Singapore chef Nicholas Low believes there is nothing pushing people to change their diets, especially in wealthy places where almost anything you want is a few clicks away.

Younger consumers may be willing to taste them out of curiosity, but the novelty will wear off, he said.

“We are spoilt for choice. We like our meat as meat, and our fish as fish.”

The public inquiry into the pandemic will start 10 weeks of hearings on Monday looking at the impact on patients, healthcare workers and the wider NHS.

Covid patients have been admitted to hospital more than a million times in the UK since the virus emerged in 2020, while countless others have had care for other conditions disrupted.

The third stage of the inquiry will also examine the impact on NHS staff, the use of masks and PPE in hospitals, the policy of shielding the most vulnerable and the treatment of long Covid.

And for the first time, the stories of more than 30,000 healthcare staff, patients and relatives will form part of the material entered into evidence.

BBC News has spoken to some of them.

• Follow latest: PM faces union call to U-turn on winter fuel payment cut

“It was absolutely horrendous. We were really struggling, having to scrounge around for masks and gloves,“ says Mandi Masters, a community midwife from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

At that early stage the NHS was, she says, “working in the dark” as the virus spread from China to Italy and then to the UK.

Mandi later caught Covid herself – she is convinced at work – and ended up in hospital on oxygen for three weeks.

“My husband took me to A&E but had to leave me there, turn around and walk away,” she says.

“The news was coming out on how many health professionals were dying of Covid, but I was just too poorly to care at that point,” she says.

“Looking back, I have to admit, it was extremely frightening.”

Mandi, 62, has now returned to work part-time, but still struggles to catch her breath after a short walk.

Every cold or chest infection “wipes her out” and she “grieves for the person I was before Covid”.

The third section of the Covid public inquiry will look in detail at the effect on healthcare workers.

It will also cover:

• The diagnosis and treatment of patients with Covid and long-Covid
• Masks, PPE and infection control in hospitals
• The policy of shielding the most clinically vulnerable
• The use of GPs, ambulances and the NHS 111 helpline
• Maternity and end-of-life care
• NHS staffing including the use of private hospitals and temporary “Nightingale” sites

It has to examine the impact on the wider healthcare system, including the sharp increase in delays and waiting lists triggered by the pandemic.

Lynda Ross, from Portadown, was booked in for spinal surgery in early 2020.

Her operation was cancelled and, by the time she could see her specialist again, she was told it was too late for treatment.

“The consequence of that is I have to live my life in a level of pain that has me on the same medication as someone who is dying from cancer.” she says.

“It feels like the rest of my life has been destroyed.”

More than 50 witnesses are expected to give evidence over the next 10 weeks, including scientists, medical experts, healthcare workers and politicians.

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, which represents more than 7,000 relatives, says it is “deeply worried” that only two of the 23 witnesses it has put forward have been called to appear.

“Without our input, the inquiry risks repeating the mistakes that played out during the pandemic by failing to take into consideration the lived experience of ordinary families,” said its spokesperson Rivka Gottlieb.

The inquiry says it does allow members of the public to contribute online to its Every Story Matters project, and has run 20 different face-to-face events so far in town centres across the UK.

The stories of more than 30,000 healthcare workers, patients and relatives have been collated into a 200-page written record that will be entered into evidence on Monday.

The inquiry’s secretary, Ben Connah, said the document could not replace one-to-one testimony, but did allow a large number of people to contribute anonymously – “some of whom wouldn’t want to give formal evidence in a frankly scary courtroom”.

The public inquiry, likely to be one of the most expensive in legal history, has been split into nine different sections, each of which will hear from witnesses and report findings separately.

Baroness Hallett, who is chairing the inquiry, has already taken evidence on pandemic planning and political decision-making, with future sections expected on the vaccine rollout, the care sector, test and trace, the impact on children, and the economy.

Jacqueline Wilson has been described as many things over the years, but one title that still surprises her is “gay icon”.

In 2020, the British children’s writer announced that she was in a long-term relationship with a woman.

The beloved author, who is known for her nuanced depictions of childhood struggles, has found a new and unexpected audience after opening up about her sexuality.

“I’m very touched to be thought of as a gay icon, it’s an absolute delight,” she tells the BBC.

Aged 78, she can’t quite see herself “rampaging around with a rainbow flag, but I highly applaud and approve of anyone who does”.

Wilson has just published her first adult novel which, among other themes, explores same-sex relationships.

Think Again is the sequel to the Girls series and follows the life of Ellie Allard, and her best friends Nadine and Magda, as she turns 40.

Wilson says the idea “has been on my mind for years and started when my daughter asked me if I ever wonder what happens to my characters when they grow up”.

Having written more than 100 books, Wilson says now felt like the right time to write her first adult novel.

“In real time the girls would be hitting 40,” she reflects, “and that’s a significant age where you have to make big decisions, and, for some people, life doesn’t look like what you dreamt of as a teenager”.

In the book, none of the three women has quite the life they hoped for and Ellie is stuck in a rut as she reaches her milestone birthday.

“The girls don’t have their happy-ever-after ending but I didn’t want to write something that is all grim because there are things in their lives that are great and fun,” explains Wilson. “I just wanted it to be realistic.”

“Nowadays many teenagers are quite depressed and anxious, but they also have big ideas and say, ‘I want to be this’ or ‘I’m going to do that’, which is fantastic but this story shows that you need to have a plan B or C.”

The former children’s laureate is also using the book as a way to highlight how “choice is the best thing in modern life”.

Ellie, Magda and Nadine aren’t in relationships that society would expect from middle-aged women.

“There’s not just one path nowadays,” Wilson says. “In my generation we were told you either get married and have children or have a career but why can’t you do both?

“Getting married young wasn’t a sensible idea for me and women now are more sensible and work out what they want. It’s finding it that’s the difficult part!”

Wilson’s books have explored all manner of themes, but it’s only recently she’s started writing about LGBT issues with her gay heroine appearing in her 2020 novel, Love Frankie.

She says that she could have written a gay character in her earlier work but “there would have been far more ‘oh my gosh Jacqueline has written about someone who is gay’ whereas now it’s not a big deal”.

In Think Again, Ellie finds herself unexpectedly falling in love with a woman, much like Jacqueline’s own life as she began a relationship with a woman after a divorce with her husband.

“I’m aware that people will think that there are parallels but that’s not the intention, I was just being imaginative when I wrote the book,” she says.

She also doesn’t think that society should view sexuality in such a binary way.

“We don’t need to just think that everyone is either straight or gay. Of course I’m not suggesting we chop and change all the time, but for my generation it didn’t occur that you could be attracted to all sorts of people, so we’ve definitely become much more grown up.”

Wilson, who was made a dame in 2008, has never shied away from writing about difficult and dark issues.

Most of her books, some of which explore suicide, mental health and domestic violence, are aimed at children aged between seven and 12.

As a result, her storylines have often caused controversy, but Wilson defends them.

“People say there is sex and drugs in my books, but there isn’t any,” she says, adding that her stories come from the fact she “wants to show what life is like for children who are a bit outside the system and feel they don’t belong and are unhappy for some reason”.

She says these stories “would be comforting for those children, but also help all the other kids understand why these kids might be a little bit difficult or whatever”.

While the characters in Think Again haven’t been influenced by Wilson’s own life, some of her earlier characters go through similar things she did as a child.

“‘I didn’t have that happy a life as a child – I was brought up on a council estate and I did used to think that the children in books were nothing like me and my friends.

“Parents never seemed to have any ugly rows in children’s books, which in my experience, they certainly did.”

Wilson also says she promised herself as a child that she would write about these issues if she ever got a chance.

“When I was 12 I wrote in a diary that if I ever wrote children’s books I would put all that in because I thought it’s very much part of life.”

Overlooking the clear waters of the South Pacific, a cyclone of controversy was about to descend on Fiji’s Pearl Resort & Spa.

Standing on stage clutching a bouquet of flowers, 24-year-old MBA student Manshika Prasad had just been crowned Miss Fiji.

But soon after, according to one of the judges, things at the beauty pageant “turned really ugly”.

Ugly is potentially an understatement: what unfolded over the next few days would see beauty queens crowned and unseated, wild allegations thrown around and eventually the emergence of a shadowy figure with a very personal connection to one of the contestants.

Ms Prasad first found out something was wrong two days after her win, when Miss Universe Fiji (MUF) issued a press release. It said a “serious breach of principles” had occurred, and “revised results” would be made public shortly.

A couple of hours later, Ms Prasad was told she wouldn’t be travelling to Mexico to compete for the Miss Universe title in November.

Instead, runner-up Nadine Roberts, a 30-year-old model and property developer from Sydney, whose mother is Fijian, would take her place.

The press release alleged the “correct procedures” had not been followed, and that Ms Prasad had been chosen in a rigged vote which favoured a “Fiji Indian” contestant to win because it would bring financial benefits to the event’s manager.

A distraught Ms Prasad issued a statement saying she would be taking a break from social media, but warned that there was “so much the public did not know about”.

The new queen, meanwhile, offered a message of support. “We are all impacted by this,” Ms Roberts wrote on Instagram, before thanking Miss Universe Fiji for its “swift action”.

But those who took part in the contest were not satisfied: there were too many things that didn’t add up.

“Everything had been running so smoothly,” says Melissa White, one of seven judges on the panel.

A marine biologist by trade, she had been flown in from New Zealand to weigh in on the charity and environmental aspects of the contest.

“It was such a great night, such a successful show. So many people were saying they’d never seen pageant girls get along so well,” Ms White tells the BBC.

As the competition drew to a climax on Friday night, the judges were asked to write down the name of who they thought ought to be the next Miss Fiji.

“By this stage, Manshika [Prasad] was the clear winner,” says Jennifer Chan, another judge, who’s a US-based TV host and style and beauty expert.

“Not only based on what she presented on stage but also how she interacted with the other girls, how she photographed, how she modelled.”

Ms Chan says she was “100% confident” that Ms Prasad was the strongest candidate to represent Fiji.

Enough of her fellow judges agreed and Ms Prasad was declared the winner – receiving four of the seven votes.

But as the newly-crowned Miss Universe Fiji stood on stage, beaming in her sparkling tiara, the judges sensed something was wrong.

To her right, Nadine Roberts – wearing her runners-up sash – was “seething”, alleges Ms Chan.

“I remember going to bed thinking, how could someone feel so entitled to win?

“You win some, you lose some. She’s a seasoned beauty pageant contestant – surely she knew that?”

The next day, Ms Prasad took a celebratory boat trip with the judges.

“She was just in awe, saying: my life will be changed now,” says Ms Chan.

“She’s the embodiment of that good-hearted person who deserves it – it just affirmed to me that I’d picked the right girl.”

But there had still been no official confirmation of Ms Prasad’s victory.

Not only this – one of the judges was conspicuously absent from the trip: Riri Febriani, who was representing Lux Projects, the company that bought the licence to hold Miss Universe in Fiji.

“I remember thinking that was odd,” says Ms White, who shared a room with Ms Febriani. “But she just said she had lots of work to do and she needed to talk to her boss.”

Ms Febriani says she didn’t go on the boat trip as she needed to rest – and there’s no way the others would know who she was messaging on her phone.

But Ms White says she worked out her roommate was fielding calls and texts from a man called “Jamie”.

Miss Universe is a multi-million-dollar business which operates like a franchise – you need to buy a licence which enables you to use the brand and sell tickets for the event.

Those licences are expensive and in small countries it’s hard to find anyone willing to fund a national pageant – which is why Fiji hasn’t entered a contestant since 1981.

But this year, one organisation was willing to buy the licence: property development firm Lux Projects.

Ms Febriani was its representative on the judging panel, but also looked after media communications.

“I’d got on so well with her, she seemed a very sweet person,” says Ms White.

“But that day when she didn’t come on the boat, her demeanour kind of changed. She just kept saying she was super busy with work, always on the phone with this ‘Jamie’ guy.”

It turned out that, despite having Ms Febriani on the panel, Lux Projects was not happy with the outcome of the vote.

Its press release on Sunday said the licensee itself should also get a vote – one which the contracted organiser, Grant Dwyer, had “failed to count”.

Lux Projects would have voted for Ms Roberts, bringing the results to a 4-4 tie.

What’s more, it said, the licensee also had the “determining vote” – making Ms Roberts the winner.

“Never at any point were we told about an eighth judge or any kind of absentee judge,” says Ms Chan.

“It wasn’t on the website, it wasn’t anywhere. Besides, how can you vote on a contest if you’re not even there?”

Ms White was also suspicious.

“I did some digging and it turns out that Lux Projects was closely associated with an Australian businessman called Jamie McIntyre,” says Ms White.

“And Jamie McIntyre,” she told the BBC, “is married to Nadine Roberts.”

Mr McIntyre describes himself as an entrepreneur, investor and “world-leading educator”, who has – according to information available online – been married to Ms Roberts since 2022.

He was also banned from doing business in Australia for a decade in 2016 due to his involvement in a property investment scheme that lost investors more than A$7m ($4.7m; £3.6m). The judge in the case said there was “no evidence to suggest that successful reform is likely”.

A senator who questioned him as part of a parliamentary committee hearing later described him as “the most evasive witness I have had to deal with – and that’s saying something”, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

But what was he doing here?

“[Mr McIntyre] isn’t a director or shareholder of the MUF licensee company, but has acted as an adviser, as he is a shareholder in associated companies,” Jamie McIntyre’s representatives told the BBC.

However, the company’s Instagram page does feature a video of Mr McIntyre giving property investment advice, as well as a link to 21st Century University, a Bali-based property company owned by Mr McIntyre.

The BBC also understands that a “Jamie” was on the line during phone calls between Ms Roberts and the event organiser, Grant Dwyer.

Mr McIntyre’s representatives insist that allegations that he was involved in the judging controversy are a “conspiracy theory” – although they did concede that he had “provided advice to the licence holder”.

Additionally, the press release’s allegation that Mr Dwyer had pressured the panel to choose Ms Prasad because of her race is undermined by the fact that Mr Dwyer is understood to have voted for Ms Roberts.

“It’s just gross to even bring up race,” says Ms Chan. “It was never, ever once uttered amongst any of the judges,” she adds.

The BBC has sought comment from both Ms Roberts and Ms Prasad, but neither has responded.

Several of those involved – including some judges and contestants – have been sent “cease and desist” emails by Lux Projects, the BBC understands, which have been taken as tantamount to gagging orders by the recipients.

This scandal in Fiji is by no means the first to hit the world of beauty pageants, which historically has seen its fair share of controversies.

“Pageants are full of drama, of controversies, of people saying the contest was a fix,” says Prof Hilary Levey Friedman, author of ‘Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America.’

“But I will say that in more recent years, these issues have become much more pronounced thanks to social media,” she adds.

Apart from a voting scandal at the Miss America contest in 2022, recent controversies have tended to be in less developed parts of the world.

This is probably because they tend to be non-profit affairs in many Western countries, according to Prof Friedman, while pageants elsewhere have become more popular and more lucrative than ever.

“Historically, beauty pageants have been an amazing tool for social mobility for women,” says Prof Friedman.

“Apart from the prestige and the glory, it gives you a platform to attract followers and sponsorships. When there’s money involved, the stakes are higher.”

For Ms Prasad though, it turns out there is a happy ending.

On Friday, she posted on one of her social media accounts that she had indeed been re-crowned as Miss Fiji 2024.

“What an incredible journey this has been,” she wrote on Instagram.

Miss Universe Organization (MUO) has not responded to a request for comment, but the BBC understands it is extremely unhappy with the events in Fiji and, after having established the facts, worked hard to reinstate Ms Prasad as the island’s queen.

For Ms Prasad there is elation. For the judges, relief.

As for Ms Roberts, she is calling herself the “real Miss Universe Fiji 2024” on Instagram.

Judge Ms White says she’s “so proud of how Manshika [Prasad] has conducted herself throughout this journey. She’s a brilliant, compassionate, and beautiful young woman, who didn’t deserve this.

“We just wanted the truth to come out and now it has.”

“As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment.

The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.

The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you.

With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything.

This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.

Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.

I am however looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can.

Despite all that has gone before, I enter this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.

William and I are so grateful for the support we have received and have drawn great strength from all those who are helping us at this time. Everyone’s kindness, empathy and compassion has been truly humbling.

To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey – I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright.”

• A message from Catherine, Princess of Wales, as issued by Kensington Palace on 9 September 2024

A beloved whale thought to have been trained as a “spy” by Russia and found dead earlier this month was not shot, a police autopsy has found.

Animal rights groups had claimed that the beluga, nicknamed Hvaldimir, had been shot when he was found dead on 1 September.

But a forensic examination has concluded “human activity” did not directly lead to the death of the animal, which had died after a stick became lodged in its mouth.

Hvaldmir rose to fame in April 2019 when he was found in Norwegian waters with a camera strapped to his body, prompting claims he could be a spy of sorts.

• Hvaldimir: Seeking sanctuary for whale dubbed a Russian spy

The whale’s body was found floating at sea near the town of Risavika, on Norway’s south-western coast.

Norwegian police opened an investigation after two animal rights groups – One Whale and Noah – filed a complaint into the creature’s death.

One Whale founder Regina Haug said at the time she had seen “multiple bullet wounds” in the carcass.

Initial photographs published by One Whale on social media appeared to show what the group claimed were bullet wounds in Hvaldimir’s bloodied body.

“The injuries on the whale are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out a criminal act – it is shocking,” said Noah’s director, Siri Martinsen.

But an autopsy showed a stick measuring 35cm in length (14in) and 3cm wide was stuck in the whale’s mouth, police for the South West district said in a statement on Monday.

Police said Hvaldimir had also sustained some “completely superficial” injuries, adding “there was no evidence suggesting that Hvaldimir was shot”.

“There is nothing in the investigations that have been carried out to establish that it is human activity that has directly led to Hvaldimir’s death,” police said.

As a result, police would not investigate further, they added, and a full report will be published in two weeks.

The pale whale rose to fame after being spotted in Norwegian waters five years ago when he was spotted wearing a GoPro camera attached to a harness that read “Equipment of St Petersburg”.

His mysterious attachments prompted speculation that the curious cetacean could be being exploited to undertake espionage missions.

Hvaldimir’s name is a pun on the Norwegian word for whale, “hval,” and Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s first name.

Hvaldimir first approached Norwegian boats in April 2019 near the island of Ingoya, about 415km (260 miles) from Murmansk, where Russia’s Northern Fleet is based.

The sighting attracted attention because belugas are rarely seen that far south of the high Arctic.

Russia has a history of training marine mammals such as dolphins for military purposes, and the Barents Observer website has identified whale pens near naval bases in the north-west area of Murmansk.

Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.

Chinese car giant Chery is weighing up the possibility of building cars in the UK, according to a senior executive.

Its UK head Victor Zhang told the BBC it was a “matter of time” before the company made a final decision.

He said Chery, which is already preparing to build cars in Spain, was determined to take a “localised” approach to the European market.

Mr Zhang denied the company’s exports had benefitted from unfair subsidies.

Chery, which was set up in 1997, is one of China’s largest car companies. It is already the country’s biggest exporter of vehicles, but has ambitious plans to expand further.

To help take that plan forward, it has set up two new brands focused entirely on the international market, Omoda and Jaecoo.

Last month, Omoda was officially launched in the UK. It has begun selling a mainstream SUV, the Omoda 5, in both electric and petrol-powered versions.

It has built a network of 60 dealerships, and hopes to have more than 100 here by the end of the year.

But it is far from the only Chinese manufacturer to see the British market as potentially lucrative.

BYD, which has been vying with Tesla for the title of the world’s biggest manufacturer of electric cars, has also opened dozens of dealerships here.

SAIC is already well-established in the UK, selling cars under the classic British MG marque.

Cars for sale in Europe are currently built at Chery’s manufacturing HQ in Wuhu, in Eastern China. But that situation is expected to change.

The company already has a deal with the Spanish firm EV Motors, which will allow Omoda and Jaecoo models to be built at a former Nissan factory in Barcelona. But it wants to establish other bases as well.

Earlier this year, the company said the UK could also be a candidate for an assembly plant. That option remains on the table.

“Barcelona, this is something we are already commited to”, explained Mr Zhang

“For the UK, we are also evaluating. To be honest, we are open for all options and opportunities.

“So I think it’s just a matter of time. If everything is ready, we will do it”.

A spokesperson from the Department for Business described the UK’s auto sector as “thriving”.

“While we cannot speculate on commercial investment decisions, we welcome Chery International’s Omoda launch in the UK and would positively view any new investment in the UK,” they said.

But the UK is not the only country on Chery’s list. It has also been talking to the Italian government about setting up production in Italy, for example.

Mr Zhang denied the decision would come down to whichever country was able to offer the best incentives.

“For such a big investment project, it’s a combination of factors”, he said.

“It’s not just government policy or incentives. You also need to look at the market itself; education, because you need good talented people such as engineers and factory workers; there’s also supply chain, logistics.

“So there will be many factors involved in our final decision”.

The pressure to set up manufacturing bases in Europe has increased since July, when the EU imposed steep tariffs, or taxes, on imports of electric vehicles from China.

This was done, Brussels said, because carmakers in China were benefitting from “unfair subsidies” which allowed their cars to be sold abroad very cheaply, undermining local manufacturers. China accused the EU of protectionism.

By building its products in Europe, Chery would avoid paying those tariffs. But Mr Zhang insisted his company was always committed to local production.

“We are not trying to use any unfair methods”, he insisted.

“We want to be adaptable to the local market, and provide the best products, using the best dealerships. To be localised is the only strategy for the long term,” he said.

The UK has yet say whether it will take a similar approach with tariffs of its own.

China’s domestic car market is vast, with more than 30 million vehicles sold each year.

Its stake in the global market is also already significant, with roughly 5 million cars exported last year. That was a 64% increase on the year before.

In the UK, Chinese brands still account for a relatively small proportion of cars sold, around 5%.

But established carmakers are concerned that figure could grow quickly, with the prices offered by Chinese brands expected to play a key role.

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González has vowed to “continue to fight” for democracy in his own country, after being granted asylum in Spain.

Mr González left Venezuela, after having spent weeks in hiding, arriving at the Torrejón military air base in Madrid with his wife at about 16:00 local time on Sunday (14:00 GMT).

The departure of the 75-year-old from the country followed turmoil in the wake of the 28 July elections, in which President Nicolás Maduro claimed victory – something which was disputed by Mr González, and many sections of the international community.

In an audio message distributed by his press team, he said he was “confident that soon we will continue the fight to achieve freedom and the recovery of democracy in Venezuela”.

Prior to his departure, an arrest warrant had been issued in Venezuela, with the government accusing him of conspiracy and of forging documents, among other “serious crimes”.

Thanking his supporters for expressions of solidarity and confirming his arrival in Spain, Mr González said: “My departure from Caracas was surrounded by episodes of pressure, coercion and threats that I wouldn’t be allowed to leave.”

Earlier, the country’s opposition leader María Corina Machado wrote on social media that he had made the decision to leave the country because “his life was in danger”, citing a “brutal wave of repression” in the election aftermath.

Ms Machado, a popular candidate in the country, had been expected to run as the candidate against Mr Maduro, but was prevented from doing so at the last minute by institutions loyal to the president.

The opposition said it had evidence Mr González had won by a comfortable margin, and uploaded detailed voting tallies to the internet which suggest Mr González beat Mr Maduro convincingly.

The US, the EU and the majority of foreign governments have refused to accept Mr Maduro as the winner without Caracas releasing detailed voting data to prove the result.

In a statement on Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Mr González’s departure from Venezuela “is the direct result of the anti-democratic measures that Nicolás Maduro has unleashed on the Venezuelan people, including [Edmundo] González Urrutia and other opposition leaders, since the election”.

He added: “The election results and the will of the people cannot be merely swept aside by Maduro and the Venezuelan electoral authorities. We stand with González Urrutia in his call to continue the struggle for liberty and the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.”

Earlier on Sunday, Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell said: “Today is a sad day for democracy in Venezuela.” He added that “in a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country”.

He said Venezuela needed to end its oppression of opposition leaders and free all political prisoners.

Speaking at a socialist party meeting on Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described Mr González as “a hero who Spain will not abandon”.

The country’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Madrid would grant Mr González asylum as it was “committed to the political rights” of all Venezuelans.

Mr González’s departure came as security forces in Venezuela surrounded the Argentine embassy in the capital, Caracas, where six opposition figures have been sheltering.

Venezuela’s foreign ministry alleged that terrorist acts were being plotted inside.

An influential Filipino pastor wanted in the Philippines and the US for child sex trafficking has been arrested, ending a two-week long standoff between police officers and his followers.

Police have been attempting to arrest Apollo Quiboloy, who claims to be the “Appointed Son of God”, in a raid on his sprawling church compound.

Violent scuffles broke out between thousands of his followers and anti-riot police officers, with one church member dying of a heart attack during the raid.

Mr Quiboloy, whose Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) claims to have seven million followers, has denied all charges against him.

In 2021, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Mr Quiboloy with sex trafficking of children, fraud and coercion and bulk cash smuggling.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said he trafficked girls and women from the Philippines to the US, where they were forced to solicit money for a bogus charity.

He also required his female personal assistants, who are called “pastorals”, to have sex with him, the FBI said.

But as all this was happening, Mr Quiboloy was rising to national prominence under then-president Rodrigo Duterte, previously serving as spiritual adviser to the former leader.

However, his fortunes turned when Mr Duterte stepped down in June 2022.

Filipino authorities soon charged him with child abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

For two weeks , thousands of policemen have been engaged in a standoff with Mr Quiboloy’s followers, as they raided his 30-hectare (75-acre) KOJC compound in Davao. They said Mr Quiboloy was hiding in an underground bunker based on the sound of heartbeats detected by surveillance equipment.

The complex is home to some 40 buildings, including a cathedral, a school and even a hangar.

Interior Minister Benhur Abalos said on Monday that Mr Quiboloy was found inside the compound’s bible school. He also said that the pastor was arrested and did not surrender, contrary to earlier reports.

Witnesses provided important information that led to his arrest, added Mr Abalos.

Mr Quiboloy’s lawyer, Israelito Torreon, said earlier said his client surrendered “because he does not want the lawless violence to continue to happen”.

The regional police chief, Brig Gen Nicolas Torre, said a “concerted effort of everyone involved” led to the arrest.

Mr Quiboloy and four others who were arrested with him were flown to national police headquarters in the capital Manila where they are currently detained.

Before his arrest, Mr Quiboloy said that the “devil” was behind his legal woes.

He has also said that he does not want the FBI to “meddle” in his case.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Marcos said the Philippines was not considering extraditing Mr Quiboloy for now.

The standoff at the KOJC has taken place as a very public falling out between the Marcos and Duterte political families has unfolded.

The US DOJ sought his arrest a few months before Mr Duterte handed power to current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, but it was only during Mr Marcos’ term that authorities started pursuing the pastor.

While Mr Quiboloy was in hiding, Mr Duterte said he knew where he was but would not tell the police.

Mr Duterte’s daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte also criticised police pursuing Mr Quiboloy of applying “questionable” force.

Mr Quiboloy set up the KOJC in Davao in 1985, after hearing God whisper to him “I will use you” while attending an event by American pastor Billy Graham in South Korea in 1973, says the organisation.

When he is not in Davao, he has been seen travelling on his private jet.

He delivers his sermons from a glass podium that is set against giant photographs of his lush hilltop estate called the “Garden of Eden Restored”.

These are broadcast on his own TV, radio and social media network.

Outside of his long-standing ties with the Duterte’s, Mr Quiboloy grew his political influence by endorsing candidates to his followers during elections, a common practice for religious leaders in the country where politics is based on patronage instead of ideology.

The Princess of Wales has spoken of her relief at completing her course of chemotherapy, in a highly personal video released by Kensington Palace.

Catherine revealed in March that she was undergoing cancer treatment and has been out of sight of the public for much of this year.

She will be carrying out a few engagements this year, which could include Remembrance events in November and her annual Christmas carol concert.

But in an emotional video message she says this year has been “incredibly tough” and “that life as you know it can change in an instant”.

This latest update on Catherine’s health sends a positive message about her progress, but there is a long road still to go.

Kensington Palace has indicated it is not possible at this stage to say whether she is cancer-free.

The princess describes the “stormy waters” of her experience of cancer as “complex, scary and unpredictable”.

“With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything,” says the princess, in an unusually personal video filmed last month in Norfolk.

The video, shot in autumnal colours, suggests how pleased she is to have completed this stage of her treatment.

“As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment,” she says, seen driving and walking with her family.

The princess is expected to return for a “handful” of visits later this year, perhaps including the annual Remembrance service at the Cenotaph.

But palace sources also emphasise that there is still a long way to a full return and that the princess will make her health her main focus for the next few months.

“My path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes,” she says.

She says despite the tough times her experience has given her a “renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life”.

Catherine has been in recovery and away from public duties for much of what has been a difficult year.

Her health problems began in January when she was in hospital for an unspecified type of abdominal surgery.

A cancer diagnosis was then revealed by the princess in March, with a video message saying that she was undergoing treatment and would need privacy while she recovered.

Catherine described it as a “huge shock” after an “incredibly tough couple of months”.

Her first public appearance of the year came at Trooping the Colour in June, when she waved from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

Ahead of that appearance the princess had issued a personal statement of cautious optimism, announcing her return but saying she was “not out of the woods yet” and had “good days and bad days” with her cancer treatment.

Her most recent appearance was in July when she was given a standing ovation at Wimbledon when she attended the men’s singles final.

A busy bridge in northern Vietnam collapsed after being hit by Super Typhoon Yagi, which has killed more than 60 people since making landfall on Saturday.

Dashcam footage showed the moment the Phong Chau bridge in Phu Tho province gave way on Monday, plunging several vehicles into the water below. Searches were under way for 13 people.

The storm has wreaked havoc across the north of the country, with flooding and landslides leaving millions of people without power over the weekend.

Although it has now weakened into a tropical depression, authorities have warned Yagi will create more disruption as it moves westwards.

More than 240 people have been injured by the typhoon, which brought winds of up to 203 km/h (126 mph) and is Asia’s most powerful storm so far this year.

Ten cars and two scooters fell into the Red River following the collapse of the Phong Chau bridge, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said.

The moment a lorry plummeted into the water as the bridge decking ahead fell away before the driver had time to stop was captured on camera.

At least three people have been rescued from the river so far.

Part of the 375-metre (1230 feet) structure is still standing, and the military has been instructed to build a pontoon bridge across the gap as soon as possible.

At least 44 people have been killed in landslides and flash floods, Vietnam’s ministry of agriculture and rural development said on Monday.

Among them were a 68-year-old woman, a one-year-old boy, and a newborn baby.

The typhoon also tore roofs from buildings and uprooted trees.

In the Yen Bai province, flood waters reached a metre (three feet) high on Monday, with 2,400 families having to be evacuated to higher ground as levels rose, AFP news agency reported.

Nearly 50,000 people were evacuated from coastal towns in Vietnam, with authorities issuing a warning to remain indoors.

Schools were temporarily closed in 12 northern provinces, including Hanoi.

Before hitting Vietnam, Yagi left 24 people dead across southern China and the Philippines.

As the world warms, typhoons can bring higher wind speeds and more intense rainfall, although the influence of climate change on individual storms is complicated.

Read our full explainer on the effect of climate change on hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones here.

“As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment.

The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.

The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you.

With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything.

This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.

Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.

I am however looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can.

Despite all that has gone before, I enter this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.

William and I are so grateful for the support we have received and have drawn great strength from all those who are helping us at this time. Everyone’s kindness, empathy and compassion has been truly humbling.

To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey – I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright.”

• A message from Catherine, Princess of Wales, as issued by Kensington Palace on 9 September 2024

Two women who say they were raped and strangled by the controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate have spoken to the BBC about their experiences.

Another woman has alleged, for the first time, she was raped by Mr Tate’s younger brother, Tristan – also an influencer with millions of followers.

The Tate brothers, aged 37 and 36, currently face charges in Romania of human trafficking and forming an organised group to sexually exploit women. Andrew Tate is also charged with rape.

If found guilty, the two men could be jailed for more than 10 years. They strongly deny the charges against them.

Andrew Tate is currently under house arrest in Romania. In addition to the charges he already faces, prosecutors are considering new allegations against him, including having sex with a minor and trafficking underage persons. Both brothers are also being investigated for trafficking 34 more women.

Now, in a new BBC Panorama programme, two British women not involved with the Romanian case against the Tate brothers, have given detailed first-hand accounts of alleged rape and sexual violence by Andrew Tate. The allegations date back at least 10 years, to when Mr Tate was living in Luton.

Another British woman has made a new allegation of rape against Tristan Tate, saying he put his hands around her throat as he did so.

Anna (not her real name) told us she went out with Andrew Tate in Luton in 2013. After a few dates, she says she went back to his house.

“He started kissing me… and he just looked up at the ceiling and said, ‘I’m just debating whether I should rape you or not. Out of the blue he just grabbed me by the throat, smashed me to the back of the bed, strangling me extremely hard.”

Anna says he then raped her.

She says after the attack, Mr Tate sent her disturbing text messages and voice notes about rape and sexual violence.

“Am I a bad person? Because the more you didn’t like it, the more I enjoyed it,” he said in a voice note.

In a text he wrote: “I love raping you.”

Anna says he also tried to pass the strangulation episode off as a joke: “Are you seriously so offended I strangled you a little bit?”

When the BBC asked him about the messages, Mr Tate declined to comment.

In 2014, Anna told Bedfordshire Police about the alleged attack. Two other women made similar allegations, and the investigation was taken over by Hertfordshire Police.

In 2019, a file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, but it was decided there was not enough evidence to bring charges.

Another woman, who we are calling Sienna, describes a similar story.

She says she first met Andrew Tate a decade ago in Luton: “We got on really well and we had a few drinks.”

She says they had what she describes as “a standard one-night stand”.

A few months later, Sienna says she met Mr Tate again.

She claims that on this occasion he attacked her.

“We went to my bedroom… and we started having sex,” she says. “That was when he put his hands around my throat.”

Sienna says she struggled for air, and then lost consciousness. When she came to, she says he was still having sex with her.

“I was absolutely terrified,” she says. “I just remember gasping for air… It was rape.”

In the morning, she says she had a bloodshot eye.

“One of the whites of my eyes had just gone completely red – apparently it’s quite common in domestic abuse cases where there’s been strangulation.”

A friend of Sienna has confirmed to the BBC that she told him about the incident at the time. He also says he saw her eye injury.

Sienna didn’t go to the police and says she regrets it.

BBC Panorama is aware of a total of five women in the UK who say they were strangled by Mr Tate during sex.

When we interviewed him in June last year, he denied ever having strangled or having had sex with a woman without her consent.

“I know I’ve never hurt anybody. It’s not in my nature to hurt people,” he said.

In the second half of the last decade, Andrew Tate began his rise to online fame.

The self-proclaimed misogynist’s videos on YouTube and TikTok, and posts on Twitter, gained him millions of followers and a worldwide profile.

He preached a message aimed at boys and young men that women should be dominated.

In one video, he said women were “intrinsically lazy” and added: “There’s no way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist.”

Panorama – Andrew Tate: accused

Oana Marocico returns to her home country to investigate Andrew and Tristan Tate’s Romanian webcam business and speaks to women who claim they’ve been abused by the brothers.

Watch on Monday 9 September on BBC One at 20:00 BST (20:30 in Wales) or on BBC iPlayer (UK only) from 20:00 BST

Mr Tate has been singled out by authorities in the UK for the effect he has had in spreading misogyny online.

His videos also showed off the high-rolling lifestyle he claimed to lead in Romania.

Andrew and Tristan Tate are thought to have moved to the country around 2016.

They had been running a webcamming business in Luton – where women chat and strip online for money.

Romania has one of the largest webcam industries in the world, with over half a million employees in the sector. The brothers’ move there apparently saw the business taking off.

At one point, Andrew Tate claimed he was making £400,000 per month from webcamming and that “75 women worked for him at the peak of it all”.

However, when he spoke to the BBC last year, he downplayed these boasts, claiming they had been exaggerations and lies.

The adult entertainment business is central to the criminal case brought against them in Romania.

Prosecutors allege the brothers were trafficking women into the country – in other words, recruiting them, arranging their transport and providing accommodation in Bucharest for the purpose of exploitation. Two of the women named in the case file were brought to Romania from the UK.

Another British woman, not involved in any of the legal proceedings, told Panorama about her experience of working for the Tates. It is the first time she has spoken publicly.

Daisy (not her real name) says that in 2017 she had been dating Tristan Tate in the UK, when he encouraged her to work for the brothers’ webcam business in Bucharest. We have seen evidence that Tristan booked her flight to Bucharest.

Daisy went of her own accord, knowing and agreeing to be involved in the webcamming business. She describes a controlling environment where she and other webcammers lived and worked together.

“The girls had their own rooms, but it wasn’t their personal space. Everything was Tristan’s and Andrew’s, the bedrooms that the girls worked in were also the bedrooms that the brothers would sleep in.”

There were strict rules for all the women, says Daisy with almost every aspect of their lives monitored.

This description is echoed by a Romanian webcam model, who has also spoken to us.

“Raluca” says she was on the Tates’ books in 2021. She claims that “control and manipulation” played a primary role in their business model.

Most of the models working for the Tates “were dating them”, according to Raluca. She adds that some of them were women brought over from the UK.

The Romanian prosecutors say they have statements from three women who describe feeling “controlled” by the brothers. In the case file, some of the women say they were not allowed to leave the house “on their own”.

When Andrew Tate spoke to the BBC last year, he denied such allegations and claimed the women worked for themselves. He said that his role was simply to “help them find a cameraman”.

A few days after arriving in Romania, Daisy says she broke up with Tristan Tate, but she claims it did not stop him trying to have sex with her.

“I told him, ‘no’ 10 to 15 times that I didn’t want to.”

He put his hands around her throat and raped her, she says.

Daisy has not reported her allegation to police.

The BBC has spoken to one of her friends who says that after Daisy returned to the UK she was upset and told him that Tristan Tate had been forceful with her sexually.

We asked Tristan Tate about all the allegations against him – he did not comment.

The Tates’ legal troubles have deepened this year.

As well as the existing charges in Romania, and the new investigation announced last month, they face a number of legal threats elsewhere.

In the UK, Bedfordshire Police have begun extradition proceedings against both brothers on allegations of rape and human trafficking, dating back to 2012-2015. None of these are connected to the women we spoke to.

And in a civil case brought by Devon and Cornwall Police, a magistrate is expected to rule next month on whether the Tates owe millions in unpaid tax on their online businesses.

Sienna and Anna are now suing Andrew Tate, and their case is due to be heard in the High Court in London. Along with two other women, they accuse him of rape and sexual assault. He intends to contest the claims.

We asked Mr Tate about all the latest allegations – he has declined to comment.

Last year he told us: “I look forward to the truth coming out. I look forward to the truth being blasted all over the BBC that Andrew Tate was found not guilty because I’ve never done anything wrong.”

Australian police are working with their international counterparts to locate a man they believe fled the country after pouring boiling coffee on a baby in Brisbane.

The random attack – which occurred last month and has shocked the nation – left the nine-month-old boy with “serious burns” to his face and limbs.

Queensland Police have issued an arrest warrant for a 33-year-old wanted over acts intending to cause grievous bodily harm, a charge which carries a possible life sentence.

However, on Monday they said their main suspect flew out of Sydney airport six days after the incident, and just 12 hours before they were able to confirm his identity.

The infant was at a picnic with his family at a suburban park on 31 August, when witnesses say a “strange man” approached, emptying a flask on the child before fleeing on foot.

The baby was immediately given first aid, before an off-duty nurse took him to her nearby apartment to run his burns under cold water.

However the child suffered dramatic injuries which have already required multiple surgeries, and his parents say he is facing a years-long road to recovery.

The motive behind the incident is still unknown, Det Insp Paul Dalton told media, describing the case as one of the “most complex and frustrating” he had ever led.

He confirmed that police knew to which country the suspect had fled, as well as his name, but said disclosing the information at this time could jeopardise their investigation.

The man is an “itinerant” worker who had travelled to Australia repeatedly since 2019 and had addresses in both New South Wales and Victoria.

Dept Insp Dalton also said the suspect was aware of “police methodologies” and had been “conducting counter-surveillance activities” to evade them.

The baby’s parents on Monday told media they were “devastated” to learn the suspect had left the country but also relieved he was gone.

“It sounds like they were very, very close in catching him, and this obviously means that we’re going to have to wait who knows how long to get justice for our son,” his mother told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The boy is in “good spirits”, his father added, but may yet need further skin graft surgeries.

An online fundraising page for the baby boy has so far raised more than A$150,000 ($100,000 £76,000).

“This is like doomsday for me. I feel so much grief. Can you imagine what I’ve gone through watching my children dying?” says Amina.

She’s lost six children. None of them lived past the age of three and another is now battling for her life.

Seven-month-old Bibi Hajira is the size of a newborn. Suffering from severe acute malnutrition, she occupies half a bed at a ward in Jalalabad regional hospital in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.

“My children are dying because of poverty. All I can feed them is dry bread, and water that I warm up by keeping it out under the sun,” Amina says, nearly shouting in anguish.

What’s even more devastating is her story is far from unique – and that so many more lives could be saved with timely treatment.

Bibi Hajira is one of 3.2 million children with acute malnutrition, which is ravaging the country. It’s a condition that has plagued Afghanistan for decades, triggered by 40 years of war, extreme poverty and a multitude of factors in the three years since the Taliban took over.

But the situation has now reached an unprecedented precipice.

It’s hard for anyone to imagine what 3.2 million looks like, and so the stories from just one small hospital room can serve as an insight into the unfolding disaster.

There are 18 toddlers in seven beds. It’s not a seasonal surge, this is how it is day after day. No cries or gurgles, the unnerving silence in the room is only broken by the high-pitched beeps of a pulse rate monitor.

Most of the children aren’t sedated or wearing oxygen masks. They’re awake but they are far too weak to move or make a sound.

Sharing the bed with Bibi Hajira, wearing a purple tunic, her tiny arm covering her face, is three-year-old Sana. Her mother died while giving birth to her baby sister a few months ago, so her aunt Laila is taking care of her. Laila touches my arm and holds up seven fingers – one for each child she’s lost.

In the adjacent bed is three-year-old Ilham, far too small for his age, skin peeling off his arms, legs and face. Three years ago, his sister died aged two.

It is too painful to even look at one-year-old Asma. She has beautiful hazel eyes and long eyelashes, but they’re wide open, barely blinking as she breathes heavily into an oxygen mask that covers most of her little face.

Dr Sikandar Ghani, who’s standing over her, shakes his head. “I don’t think she will survive,” he says. Asma’s tiny body has gone into septic shock.

Despite the circumstances, up until then there was a stoicism in the room – nurses and mothers going about their work, feeding the children, soothing them. It all stops, a broken look on so many faces.

Asma’s mother Nasiba is weeping. She lifts her veil and leans down to kiss her daughter.

“It feels like the flesh is melting from my body. I can’t bear to see her suffering like this,” she cries. Nasiba has already lost three children. “My husband is a labourer. When he gets work, we eat.”

Dr Ghani tells us Asma could suffer cardiac arrest at any moment. We leave the room. Less than an hour later, she died.

Seven hundred children have died in the past six months at the hospital – more than three a day, the Taliban’s public health department in Nangarhar told us. A staggering number, but there would have been a lot more deaths if this facility had not been kept running by World Bank and Unicef funding.

Up until August 2021, international funds given directly to the previous government funded nearly all public healthcare in Afghanistan.

When the Taliban took over, the money was stopped because of international sanctions against them. This triggered a healthcare collapse. Aid agencies stepped in to provide what was meant to be a temporary emergency response.

It was always an unsustainable solution, and now, in a world distracted by so much else, funding for Afghanistan has shrunk. Equally, the Taliban government’s policies, specifically its restrictions on women, have meant that donors are hesitant to give funds.

“We inherited the problem of poverty and malnutrition, which has become worse because of natural disasters like floods and climate change. The international community should increase humanitarian aid, they should not connect it with political and internal issues,” Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban government’s deputy spokesman, told us.

Over the past three years we have been to more than a dozen health facilities in the country, and seen the situation deteriorating rapidly. During each of our past few visits to hospitals, we’ve witnessed children dying.

But what we have also seen is evidence that the right treatment can save children. Bibi Hajira, who was in a fragile state when we visited the hospital, is now much better and has been discharged, Dr Ghani told us over the phone.

“If we had more medicines, facilities and staff we could save more children. Our staff has strong commitment. We work tirelessly and are ready to do more,” he said.

“I also have children. When a child dies, we also suffer. I know what must go through the hearts of the parents.”

Malnutrition is not the only cause of a surge in mortality. Other preventable and curable diseases are also killing children.

In the intensive care unit next door to the malnutrition ward, six-month-old Umrah is battling severe pneumonia. She cries loudly as a nurse attaches a saline drip to her body. Umrah’s mother Nasreen sits by her, tears streaming down her face.

“I wish I could die in her place. I’m so scared,” she says. Two days after we visited the hospital, Umrah died.

These are the stories of those who made it to hospital. Countless others can’t. Only one out of five children who need hospital treatment can get it at Jalalabad hospital.

The pressure on the facility is so intense that almost immediately after Asma died, a tiny baby, three-month-old Aaliya, was moved into the half a bed that Asma left vacant.

No-one in the room had time to process what had happened. There was another seriously ill child to treat.

The Jalalabad hospital caters to the population of five provinces, estimated by the Taliban government to be roughly five million people. And now the pressure on it has increased further. Most of the more than 700,000 Afghan refugees forcibly deported by Pakistan since late last year continue to stay in Nangarhar.

In the communities around the hospital, we found evidence of another alarming statistic released this year by the UN: that 45% of children under the age of five are stunted – shorter than they should be – in Afghanistan.

Robina’s two-year-old son Mohammed cannot stand yet and is much shorter than he should be.

“The doctor has told me that if he gets treatment for the next three to six months, he will be fine. But we can’t even afford food. How do we pay for the treatment?” Robina asks.

She and her family had to leave Pakistan last year and now live in a dusty, dry settlement in the Sheikh Misri area, a short drive on mud tracks from Jalalabad.

“I’m scared he will become disabled and he will never be able to walk,” Robina says.

“In Pakistan, we also had a hard life. But there was work. Here my husband, a labourer, rarely finds work. We could have treated him if we were still in Pakistan.”

Unicef says stunting can cause severe irreversible physical and cognitive damage, the effects of which can last a lifetime and even affect the next generation.

“Afghanistan is already struggling economically. If large sections of our future generation are physically or mentally disabled, how will our society be able to help them?” asks Dr Ghani.

Mohammad can be saved from permanent damage if he’s treated before it’s too late.

But the community nutrition programmes run by aid agencies in Afghanistan have seen the most dramatic cuts – many of them have received just a quarter of the funding that’s needed.

In lane after lane of Sheikh Misri we meet families with malnourished or stunted children.

Sardar Gul has two malnourished children – three-year-old Umar and eight-month-old Mujib, a bright-eyed little boy he holds on his lap.

“A month ago Mujib’s weight had dropped to less than three kilos. Once we were able to register him with an aid agency, we started getting food sachets. Those have really helped him,” Sardar Gul says.

Mujib now weighs six kilos – still a couple of kilos underweight, but significantly improved.

It is evidence that timely intervention can help save children from death and disability.

Local councils have agreed to work with Manchester United to ensure the area around Old Trafford benefits from plans to redevelop the ground.

The club set up a task force chaired by Lord Sebastian Coe to explore the feasibility of renovating the stadium or building a new one.

Manchester United, Trafford Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority have entered into a partnership to ensure the plans benefit the area around the stadium.

Lord Coe said the agreement would “help fully unlock the incredibly exciting potential” of the redevelopment.

About 5,000 new homes have been included for the Trafford Wharfside area in a masterplan by Trafford Council.

Proposals for better connections to Salford and Manchester city centre have also been put forward by the council.

The partnership with United will see a new advisory team set up to guide regeneration in the area, including assessing how any new stadium would fit in to these proposals.

It is separate from the stadium task force chaired by Lord Coe, which includes Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former Red Devils skipper Gary Neville.

The group is expected to a make a final decision over whether to pursue a £2bn plan for a new 100,000-seat stadium by the end of 2024.

Lord Coe said the “once-in-a-generation project” would see the “development of a world-class stadium for the north of England”.

But it would also aim to bring “broad social and economic benefits to the local area and surrounding region”.

The Duke of York will have to pay his own costs for the upkeep and security of the Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor if he is to remain living there, the BBC understands.

Substantial subsidies from King Charles III and the Royal Family are not going to be available indefinitely for his accommodation in the 30-room house in Windsor Great Park.

Prince Andrew has a lease with the Crown Estate to stay in the house until 2078.

But it’s suggested he has to be self-financing if he wants to fulfil the requirements to keep up the maintenance of the 19th Century listed building.

The pressure to move Prince Andrew, who lives in the house with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, has been called the “Siege of Royal Lodge”.

And the sense of a prince under siege is likely to increase with a new Amazon film to be released next week about his 2019 Newsnight interview, which will re-ignite questions about his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

However sources suggest that moving out of Royal Lodge – perhaps to a smaller property such as Frogmore Cottage once used by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – is about long-term financial pragmatism rather than family disagreements.

It’s said that with Prince Andrew in his sixties there will be a plan needed for affordable accommodation for him in the future, not just now but in 10 or 20 years.

If he can privately fund the high costs of the maintenance and the security for a building on the grand scale of Royal Lodge, then he can remain, but if not then it seems that he will need to consider living elsewhere, as the current financial support from the King is not going to continue.

If the prince moved out, it’s suggested that the historic Royal Lodge could be used as a commercial asset by the Crown Estate, rented in some way that would work with the security considerations of a house on the Windsor estate.

Prince Andrew’s lease on the property began in August 2003 – in the year following the death of its previous occupant, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

The prince had approached the Crown Estate about acquiring the lease – and renting it to Prince Andrew as a paying tenant was seen as financially preferable to using it as a “grace and favour” residence for the Royal Family.

The house had been in need of renovation and the arrangement saw Prince Andrew taking on that initial cost, more than £7.5m at the time, rather than the Crown Estate having to pay for repairs.

He had also made a one-off payment of £1m to his landlords, the Crown Estate, the independent body that manages crown property, according to documents from the National Audit Office which examined the arrangements in 2005.

There was also the option of a one-off payment of £2.5m as a way of buying out the annual rental.

With its proximity to other royal residences, it was also thought that leasing it to Prince Andrew was a better arrangement in terms of security, rather than offering the house to the “wider market”.

The 75-year lease agreement prevents Prince Andrew from gaining financially from any increase in the value of the house – and apart from the prince the lease can only be subsequently assigned to his daughters or his widow.

If Prince Andrew wants to terminate the lease, it will revert to the Crown Estate.

But there was a clause that if he left the house within 25 years of the start of the lease he would receive compensation for his original payment on repairs – with that amount shrinking each year.

With only four years left on that arrangement he would not stand to recoup much of the £7.5m he spent on renovating the house when he first moved in – with such a front-loading of costs making it less of an incentive for him to move out.

But more than 20 years after taking on the lease, the questions are now about the continuing costs of maintaining such a big property and paying for security – and whether Prince Andrew can afford it out of his own pocket.

There now seems to be increasingly public pressure for a more long-term solution for where the prince will live in the future.

Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis straight to your inbox every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Fleeing the town she has lived in most of her life, Maria Honcharenko is taking just one small bag, and her two tiny kittens.

After stubbornly staying on in the east Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the 69-year-old is now heeding advice and preparing to leave.

“My heart stops when I hear a bang,” she tells me, crying. She’s holding an old push-button phone where emergency contacts are saved.

The front line is less than 8km (4.9 miles) from Pokrovsk. Serhiy Dobryak, the head of the city’s military administration, says that Russians target the city not just with ballistic missiles and multiple rocket launchers – they also now strike with guided bombs and even artillery, as the city is now within the range of those weapons too.

“Look what Russians did to us. I worked here for 30 years and now I am leaving everything behind,” she says, breaking down in tears.

Volunteers help Ms Honcharenko to get on an evacuation bus. Trains no longer run here.

Pokrovsk is a key transportation hub. If it falls, then Russian forces will cut off one of the main supply routes in the region. This will likely force Ukraine to retreat from Chasiv Yar and the front line will move closer to Kramatorsk.

For Ukraine, this would effectively mean the loss of almost the entire Donetsk region, which the Kremlin has fought to capture since the beginning of their invasion.

The Ukrainian military admits that its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region failed to force Moscow to divert its troops from eastern Ukraine.

And some observers argue that this move, which certainly helped to boost morale among the soldiers, left the strategic supply route vulnerable to Russian attacks.

On Sunday, Russia claimed to have taken control of the village of Novohrodivka, just 10km from Pokrovsk. Kyiv has not commented but sources told the BBC that Ukrainian forces have retreated from there.

The space on the evacuation bus quickly fills up. A woman with a five-year old daughter climbs on board.

This is their second evacuation. The first time it was in 2022 when they fled from a border town after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This city is clearly Moscow’s top priority. According to Serhiy Dobryak, the head of Pokrovsk’s military administration, the ratio of forces fighting in that direction is 10 to one in Russia’s favour.

During its latest attack, Russia hit a substation in Pokrovsk, leaving half the city without power. The strikes also disrupted water supplies.

The city is quickly becoming deserted. Just two months ago, 48,000 people were still living here. Today half of them have already left.

The bustling downtown with shops and supermarkets is eerily quiet. Banks, supermarkets and most cafes are closed. The hospital has been evacuated.

Outside the city, excavators are digging new trenches in the fields.

However, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief says that the army has managed to stop the Russian advancement towards Pokrovsk.

Lt Col Oleh Demyanenko, a battalion commander of the 110th brigade, told the BBC that the front line on the northern flank of Russia’s assault on Pokrovsk had indeed been stabilised. However, Russian attacks are mostly focused on the southern flank, he says, where heavy battles are continuing.

One of the areas on that flank that Russians are trying to seize is Selidove, a small town south-east of Pokrovsk.

The BBC visited an artillery position of the 15th Brigade of the National Guard that defend this town. Relentless Russian attacks give them no respite.

“Prepare for action!” the unit commander Dmytro orders after receiving coordinates of a new target.

All crew members rush to an old American M-101 howitzer. This type of gun was used in World War Two. Now Ukrainians fire it to stop Russian attacks.

The commander shouts “Fire!” and pulls the rope. The explosion is deafening. The gun is covered with smoke.

The fighting in his sector is very intense, says 31-year-old Dmytro.

“The enemy attacks in groups of up to 15 people, sometimes up to 60,” he said. “We fire up to 200 rounds a day [to repel them].”

This is a big change to last winter when big guns stayed silent for most of the day.

But the more they shell the Russian positions, the greater the risk of return fire. So, after each series of rounds, they head to a dugout to wait out Russia’s counter barrage.

And when they hear a loud thud in the distance, they go quiet. “A glide bomb,” one of the soldiers mutters. It’s this weapon that they fear the most. It has a devastating effect and the gunners have nowhere to hide from it.

Dmytro gives an evasive answer when asked whether it would be more useful to use Ukrainian forces involved in the Kursk operation to defend the Donbas region instead. “Commanders have a better view to make strategic decisions,” he said.

The front line here can move quickly. Sometimes it can be a total surprise for Ukrainian forces.

Last month, a group of seven soldiers of the 68th Brigade started their shift at the forward position in the village of Komyshivka, 15km west of Selidove. Their task was to stop any attempts of Russian forces to break through. The next day, however, they were encircled by the Russian forces.

Thanks to extremely brave drivers and the negligence of Russian soldiers, they were evacuated three days later.

Back in Pokrovsk, the evacuation bus with Ms Honcharenko on board is full. They have to take a new route as the bridge on the way out of town is damaged by the Russian strikes. As the bus starts moving, people wave through the windows and wipe their tears away.

For Maria Honcharenko, this is a scary journey full of uncertainties. But she knows one thing – it will be safer in her new home than remaining at the front line.

India’s market regulator is facing a threat to its credibility after a barrage of allegations against its chief, top fund managers have told the BBC.

Multiple charges, mostly around conflict of interest, have surfaced against Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), from at least four different corners over the past month. She has denied most of them and not publicly responded to some.

This comes amid a bull run in India’s equity markets, which are among the world’s best performing this year.

Foreign investors have pumped in over $6bn (£4.5bn), while millions of new mom-and-pop investors have opened electronic accounts to invest in a mutual funds and initial public offering (IPO) frenzy.

Trouble for Ms Buch began in August when US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused her and her husband of holding investments in an offshore fund used by the Adani Group, implying it was why Sebi was dragging its feet on an investigation against Adani over allegations of accounting fraud and market manipulation.

Since then a number of other accusations have come to the fore.

The main opposition Congress party has accused Ms Buch of receiving rental income from a company she was investigating. It has also alleged that she held an “office of profit” at ICICI Bank, one of India’s largest private lenders, continuing to earn large sums of money through Employee Stock Ownership Plans (Esops) long after her stint with them was over.

Subhash Chandra Goyal, the chairman emeritus of media giant Zee Entertainment Enterprises, blamed her for the collapse of a merger between his company and Sony Enterprises, stating “I am convinced that the Sebi chairperson is corrupt” and calling her “vindictive” in a press conference. He is currently facing regulatory action, charges of fund diversion and is barred from holding key posts in listed firms.

But perhaps most damaging of all is growing internal dissent within Sebi, which has now spilled out into the public domain.

On 5 September, furious staff members staged a rare protest outside the regulator’s headquarters demanding Ms Buch’s resignation. Around 1,000 employees had reportedly complained of a toxic work culture in a letter to the finance ministry earlier, local media reported. They complained of “immense pressure” and “shouting, scolding and public humiliation” becoming a norm in meetings.

Sebi has publicly rejected the claims as “misplaced”, adding that “junior officers have been misguided, perhaps by external elements”.

However, protesters on Thursday called for an immediate retraction of this statement.

“This is unprecedented,” says Hemindra Hazari, an independent business analyst. “Until yesterday it was allegations from the outside, now internal problems have become public. Something is seriously wrong.”

Ms Buch has strongly defended herself, denying any conflict of interest claims in the Hindenburg case, while ICICI Bank has denied paying her a salary or Esops and said she only received her retirement benefits after she left the bank. The Sebi chief has so far not made a public statement on protesting employees or the criticisms levelled at her by Mr Chandra.

Sebi didn’t respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

An alumnus of India’s premier management school, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Ms Buch is a trailblazer in many ways. The youngest and first female chairperson to lead Sebi, she became the first chief to have come from a private corporate background.

Despite being credited for reforming Sebi with stricter insider trading rules and auditing frameworks, allegations of a lack of transparency in her own financial affairs raise serious concerns about whether Sebi holds its top officials to the same standards it expects from public companies, experts say.

“The crux of the issue is about disclosure rules governing the senior-most officials at regulatory bodies, given their access to unpublished price-sensitive information. Their orders and decisions can dramatically impact stock prices, raising the stakes for stringent disclosure and compliance norms,” writes Sucheta Dalal, a veteran financial journalist, in a column for Moneylife magazine.

Standards for heads of regulators are much more stringent in developed countries where they are required to, for instance, “divest from direct holdings in entities that could post conflict of interest”, says Ms Dalal, adding that certain discrepancies in the statement put out by ICICI Bank about its Esop policy have complicated rather than clarified matters.

Regulators like Sebi typically have political appointees and lateral hires from the private sector. Sebi is run by a board with members from the finance ministry, the central bank and others nominated by the federal government.

The Buch episode is a “learning” not just for Sebi, but also for other Indian regulators like the insurance watchdog or the Competition Commission to apply more robust disclosure processes, says Shriram Subramanian of the proxy advisory firm InGovern Research.

“It will bring more transparency,” Mr Subramanian adds.

For the moment, investors seem unperturbed by the events of the past month.

“Global investors already pay a regulatory risk premium when they invest in India, they will ignore this,” said a veteran trader.

But things could take a turn for the worse if the controversy snowballs further, says Mr Hazari.

“Institutional money can flee if internal warnings go out around compliance issues. And then retail investors will slowly start pulling out of the market,” he adds.

With pressure mounting from both outside and inside Sebi, some say Ms Buch is now faced with the very real question of leaving her post.

Her position was “untenable” a few weeks ago, but has become increasingly “unsustainable” now, Subhash Garg, a former finance secretary, told journalist Barkha Dutt on Mojo Story, a digital outlet.

A resignation or a suspension would be seen as an admission of guilt, which neither Ms Buch nor the government would want.

At least three market experts the BBC spoke with said the most likely outcome of the controversy will be that Ms Buch’s appointment won’t be renewed. Her current three-year tenure as chairperson ends in February 2025.

“For me what’s most astounding is that the government has been totally silent. They need to step in now. When serious allegations are made against the head of a regulator, the government or the judiciary are the only higher authorities which can authorise a credible investigation,” said Mr Hazari.

Others have also called for the board of Sebi to step in and publicly address the allegations.

An executive at a foreign fund house who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity said global investors will watch the way the government handles the matter, and how swiftly it acts.

“This will affect investor sentiment going forward,” he said.