North Korea has started sending troops to fight with Russia in Ukraine, South Korea’s spy agency has said as Seoul warned of a “grave security threat”.

The allegation comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed 10,000 North Korean soldiers could join the war, based on intelligence information.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a security meeting on Friday and said the international community must respond with “all available means”.

According to the spy agency, 1,500 troops have already arrived in Russia – with anonymous sources telling South Korean media the final figure could be closer to 12,000.

This comes as evidence mounts that North Korea is supplying Russia with ammunition, as recently demonstrated by the recovery of a missile in Ukraine’s Poltava region.

Moscow and Pyongyang have also been deepening their cooperation in recent months. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on his birthday, calling him his “closest comrade”.

Friday’s security meeting was attended by key officials from South Korea’s National Security Office, the Ministry of National Defence, and the National Intelligence Service, Yoon’s office said.

“[The participants] decided not to ignore the situation and to jointly respond to it with the international community using all available means,” it said.

The allegation from the National Intelligence Service comes days after Ukrainian military intelligence sources said that Russia’s army is forming a unit of North Koreans.

The BBC has reached out to the NIS for comment.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s spy chief Kyrylo Budanov claimed that there were nearly 11,000 North Korean infantry troops training in eastern Russia to fight in Ukraine.

“They will be ready [to fight in Ukraine] on 1 November,” Lt Gen Budanov, who heads the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence Directorate, told The Warzone website.

He added that the North Koreans would be using Russian equipment and ammunition, and the first group of 2,600 soldiers would be sent to Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine holds a number of settlements after launching its incursion in August.

Earlier this week, Putin introduced a bill to ratify a military pact he made with Kim, which pledges that Russia and North Korea will help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.

South Korea’s spy agency, the NIS, said North Korean troops are training in Russian bases in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk, and Vlagoveshensk.

This appears to confirm information from a military source in Russia’s Far East, who told BBC Russian this week that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” and were stationed in one of the military bases near Ussuriysk.

Seoul’s spy agency also released aerial photographs of Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk, where they say hundreds of North Korean troops have gathered, and another photo of North Korea’s Chongjin port, where a Russian ship was reportedly shown carrying North Korean soldiers.

The NIS said it found that since August, North Korea has sent 13,000 shipping containers carrying shells, missiles, and anti-armour rockets to Russia.

As many as eight million 122-mm and 152-mm shells have been supplied to Russia, it said.

However, some military experts believe the Russian military units will have difficulties incorporating North Korean troops into their frontlines.

Apart from the language barrier, the North Korean army has no recent experience of combat operations, they said.

“They could guard some sections of the Russian-Ukrainian border, which would free Russian units for fighting elsewhere,” said Valeriy Ryabykh, editor of the Ukrainian publication Defence Express.

“I would rule out the possibility that these units will immediately appear on the front line.”

The United States has charged a former Indian intelligence officer for allegedly directing a foiled plot to assassinate an American citizen who advocates for Khalistan – an independent Sikh state that would be carved out of India.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said on Thursday that it had registered “murder-for-hire and money laundering charges” against Vikash Yadav for trying to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The indictment of Yadav, for the first time, implicates the Indian government directly in the attempted assassination of a dissident.

The Indian government has said it is co-operating with the ongoing investigation in the US. It has not responded to the specific charges against Mr Yadav yet.

The development comes after Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national also charged in the case, was extradited to the US from a prison in Prague earlier this year.

The FBI has accused Indian agents of involvement in an assassination attempt on Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, saying Pannun was targeted for exercising his “First Amendment rights” to free speech.

“The FBI will not tolerate acts of violence or other efforts to retaliate against those residing in the U.S. for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” said FBI director Christopher Wray in a statement.

India has labelled Pannun a terrorist, though he denies the allegation, claiming to be an activist advocating for Khalistan.

According to the US indictment, Yadav was the mastermind behind the plot to murder Pannun and he recruited Gupta in May 2023 to orchestrate the assassination in exchange for getting a case against him in India dismissed.

“In or about June 2023, in furtherance of the assassination plot, Yadav provided Gupta with personal information about the victim, including the victim’s home address in New York City, phone numbers associated with the victim, and details about the victim’s day-to-day conduct,” the indictment states.

On Thursday, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, stated that the individual referred to as “CC-1” in the US Justice Department’s indictment is no longer employed by the Indian government.

However, he did not provide a specific name, leaving it unclear whether he was referring to Yadav, who is widely speculated to be the same person.

In response to Yadav’s indictment, Pannun said the attempt on his life on American soil was a “blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism, which has become a challenge to America’s sovereignty and threat to freedom of speech and democracy.”

Yadav’s indictment comes days after the Canadian police and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, setting off a new row that led to both countries expelling diplomats.

India has rejected the allegations as “preposterous”, accusing Trudeau of pandering to Canada’s large Sikh community for political gain.

Earlier this week, the US State Department urged India to co-operate in Canada’s investigation.

The indictment describes Yadav as a “citizen and resident of India”. He has also been referred to as Vikas and Amanat.

It states that he was part of the Government of India’s cabinet secretariat, under which the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) – the country’s top intelligence agency – operates. RAW falls under the authority of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The indictment further states that Yadav had described his position as “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “security management” and “intelligence”.

It adds that he has also served in India’s paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and had received training in “battle craft and weapons”.

The Washington Post reported that Yadav is still in India and that the US is expected to seek his extradition, citing US official sources.

The US State Department has said that it was satisfied with India’s co-operation in the investigation of the alleged murder plot.

Meanwhile, India’s relationship with Canada continues to deteriorate with both Delhi and Ottawa firing a salvo of accusations against each other.

Mr Jaiswal said on Thursday that India had repeatedly asked Canada to extradite individuals believed to be part of the group of jailed Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, but had received no response.

The Canadian police have alleged that agents of the Indian government were using members of Bishnoi’s gang to carry out “homicides, extortion and violent acts” and target supporters of the pro-Khalistan movement. India has denied the allegation saying that Canada has not provided any evidence regarding them.

India’s accusations came in response to Mr Trudeau’s claims that India had made a “massive mistake” if it was behind the death of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil.

With less than three weeks left for the US presidential elections, and the two candidates locked in a dead heat race, a charity dinner that has historically been about good-natured ribbing turned out to be not an entirely jokey affair.

Donald Trump made an appearance at the Al Smith charity dinner with his wife Melania. He gave an address that resembled a rally – with bitter attacks on his rival Kamala Harris – but also made a few gags at his own expense in line with tradition.

Harris broke with convention herself by declining to attend in favour of a key campaign event, instead sending a video skit that was played to attendees.

The event, which is aimed at raising funds for women and children in need, is often the last time the two nominees share a stage before election day.

Here are four memorable moments from the night.

Tradition dictates that the presidential candidates attending the dinner crack a few gags at their own expense. Trump acknowledged the convention but said he had “nothing” to say.

“I guess I just don’t see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me for a hell of a long time,” he quipped.

It appeared to be a reference to the fact he has survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign – including in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear during a rally.

Returning to a city in which he was slapped with a criminal conviction earlier this year, Trump also acknowledged his legal headaches.

“It is a true pleasure to be with you this evening,” he said, “and these days, it’s really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.”

• US election polls: Who is ahead – Harris or Trump?

Despite extending some courteous words to rival Democrats in the room, Trump could not resist some electoral one-upmanship.

Touching on the bitter rivalry he had with the previous Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, he admitted he “didn’t like Biden very much but now I like him quite a bit”.

But he clarified that this was only because Biden exited the presidential race in July. As for his new competitor, Harris, he suggested there was a chance he could grow fond of her – but only if she lost the contest for the White House.

“When we win, I’ll like her, but right now, I don’t like her,” he said.

Trump also made sure to aim barbs at Harris for not attending the event in person. He suggested that his opponent must have been “hunting” with Time Walz, her running mate, sport enthusiast and fellow gun owner.

Instead of attending the dinner, Harris sent in a pre-recorded skit in which she poked fun at Trump, alongside Saturday Night Live alumnus Molly Shannon.

As part of the sketch written for the Catholic charity benefit gig, she was given advice by Shannon’s character on how to treat the audience. “Don’t lie,” Shannon told Harris. “Thou shalt not bear false witness to thy neighbour.”

“Indeed,” Harris retorted, and went on to make a dig at Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 vote. “Especially thy neighbour’s election results.”

Harris was also urged by Shannon to avoid offending Catholics at a Catholic event, because to do so would be “like criticising Detroit in Detroit”.

That was a reference to an event last week in which Trump said the US would “end up” like Detroit if Harris won the election.

Though Harris did not poke fun at herself in her short video, speakers other than Trump who attended the dinner were on hand to mock the Democrats.

“President Biden couldn’t be here tonight,” said host Jim Gaffigan. “The DNC (Democratic National Committee) made sure of that.”

Biden withdrew from the presidential race in July, following pressure from his party’s top brass.

• SIMPLE GUIDE: How to win a US election
• EXPLAINER: What Harris or Trump would do in power
• GLOBAL: Harris or Trump? What Chinese people want
• ON THE GROUND: Harris faces headwinds in Michigan
• VOICES: ‘I’m uneasy’ – first-time voters weigh in
• POLLS: Who is winning the race for the White House?

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

There was a time when an invitation to a party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs was one of the most sought-after tickets in the entertainment industry.

With guest lists that included Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez, it was a chance to rub shoulders with some of the biggest celebrities. Jay-Z and Beyoncé even released new music at his events.

“When Diddy winked at you and said come into the VIP section, you knew you were going to have a really good night,” Rob Shuter, who worked as a publicist for the rapper at the height of his fame, told BBC News in an exclusive interview.

Now Mr Shuter’s former star client is sitting in a Brooklyn jail cell, a short drive away from the Hamptons, where he once presided over decadent celebrity bashes.

Mr Combs’s fall from grace has been swift, with an extensive federal criminal case charging him in a sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. More than a dozen civil lawsuits have also been filed, accusing the music mogul of assaults, rape and sexual extortion. One lawyer said he represents more than 100 alleged victims who claim they were sexually abused.

The Harlem-born rapper has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, whether in relation to the criminal or civil allegations.

A spokesperson denied the allegations against Diddy and told BBC News for this story that “Mr Combs remains strong, healthy, and disciplined, fully committed to his defence with the unwavering support of his family, legal team, and the truth”.

He is set to go on trial in May 2025.

Mr Shuter, who worked for Diddy from 2002-04, said Mr Combs was at a pivotal moment in his career when he started working for the rapper.

Mr Combs had founded Bad Boy Records in 1993, a label that represented some of the biggest names in hip hop – including artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher. In 1998, he created the Sean John clothing line that later became a cultural phenomenon. From there, he dipped into fragrances, alcohol and even set up a media company, becoming the host of multiple reality shows where he would discover new talent and make people stars.

Mr Shuter said that when he first joined the rapper’s world, Mr Combs wanted to transform his persona and elevate his career, looking to use his parties to keep himself at the centre of the entertainment industry.

“He was just figuring out that how he could get the most attention was to become the party king of New York.”

Mr Shuter said Mr Combs was obsessed with power and a deep desire to remain famous, explaining the star loved to have his photo taken and wanted to show off his lifestyle. It was Mr Shuter’s job to help keep “Diddy” at the top. Being part of his entourage, he said, was like being part of a circus – the rapper was the “ringmaster”.

He said he never witnessed any sexual misconduct. “I’ve seen the imbalance of power,” he said. “What I haven’t seen is what is now alleged, which is just horrific.”

“The reason he was such a superstar is because all he thinks about is Diddy. From the minute he wakes up until the minute he goes to bed,” Mr Shuter told BBC News. “Diddy’s hobby is Diddy.”

He also claims Mr Combs also held a deep fascination with the British royal family. Mr Shuter said he remembers being asked more than 10 times to call Prince Harry and Prince William with invites to parties, offering to cover their travel, lodging and even pay for their security.

In his lavish New York apartment, the rapper kept framed pictures of the princes, Mr Shuter said, explaining: “He thought of himself as a king so it makes perfect sense that he would like to have two princes in his entourage.”

Both Harry and William never accepted an invite from Mr Combs, he added.

But saying “no” to the music mogul wasn’t something many others did.

“There were always guns around Diddy,” Mr Shuter said, describing metal detectors in his apartment that resembled those at an airport. “It was strange.”

Mr Shuter described firearms all over the rapper’s home. In his private living quarters, security guards had guns strapped to their ankles. Mr Combs held a close circle and was serious about both his security and his image.

“You don’t get to be Diddy… unless the people around you were buttoned up. There was nobody around him sloppy.”

In the Los Angeles area, the rapper lived on what has become known as Beverly Hills’s most expensive street.

The high fences allow celebrities to hide from prying eyes. Hugh Hefner’s Playboy mansion sits a few doors down.

The towering gates of Mr Combs’ estate have flaming torches burning day and night.

Neighbours told the BBC they often called police over his parties.

A freedom of information request by the BBC has revealed that officers were dispatched to parties at the P Diddy mansion 14 times over seven years.

On a street where discretion and privacy are of the utmost importance, no-one wished to be named, but neighbours described privately to the BBC what they witnessed, saying they were fed up and disturbed by what they saw.

“For six or seven years it was just parties, parties, parties,” one neighbour said, adding she saw females at all hours “coming out and sitting down on the street, they didn’t know where they were”.

She said they appeared “lost” and “their underwear was showing”.

Mr Combs’s mansion in Beverly Hills was one of several venues he used to host his annual “White Party”, a flagship event which he held from 1998 to 2009.

He began the parties in New York’s exclusive Hamptons area with a strict all-white dress code, bringing together East Hampton’s old-money elite and the rising stars of hip hop.

Mr Combs once described the parties as a way to break down racial and generational barriers.

But the hottest party of the year was a “facade” that allowed “sinister” conduct, a recent lawsuit alleges.

In a lawsuit filed this week, a man – who was 16 years old at the time – described the thrill of getting to attend Mr Combs’s first “White Party” in 1998. Walking into the Hamptons mansion, he saw celebrities and entertainment executives left and right. In the lawsuit, he said he believed the party could open doors to a music career.

He said he was on his way to the bathroom when he ran into the rapper. They started talking and then moved to another, more private area. That’s when Mr Combs said the teen had the right “look” and he could turn anyone into a star, the lawsuit states.

Then things took a turn. Mr Combs abruptly ordered the then-teenage boy to drop his pants so that Mr Combs could examine and touch him, the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, Mr Combs said it was “a rite of passage” and “the route to becoming a star”. It also claims that he said it was a way for him to prove himself, asking the teen: “Don’t you want to break into the business?”

At least two other lawsuits centre on the parties.

Former adult film star Adria English claimed she was “groomed into sex trafficking over time” after working at multiple White Party events, where she alleges the alcohol was laced with drugs. Another lawsuit, filed anonymously this week by a man, makes allegations about a 2006 White Party. He said in the lawsuit that he was working security at the event, where drinks were allegedly laced with drugs, and said he was raped by Mr Combs.

More than a dozen civil lawsuits in total have been filed accusing the music mogul of assaults, rape and sexual extortion. In these lawsuits, both men and women say they were coerced or forced into sex, either by Mr Combs or those in his entourage. Others say they obliged because they were intimidated by Mr Combs and the power he held in the entertainment industry. Some described having their careers derailed or opportunities taken from them when they did not cave to Mr Combs’s whims.

Mr Combs’ legal team has dismissed the lawsuits as “clear attempts to garner publicity”. In response to this story, a spokesperson for the rapper told BBC News that allegations of wrongdoing at his notorious parties were unfounded.

“Sean Combs’ white parties and other events were iconic, a true convergence of hip-hop, Hollywood, and Black excellence,” the statement reads.

“It’s disappointing to see the media and social commentators twist these cultural moments into something they were not. Shaming celebrities who attended, taking video clips and photos out of context, and trying to link these events to false allegations is simply untrue.”

Singer Cassie, who dated the rapper off-and-on for nearly a decade starting in 2007, accused the mogul in a lawsuit of controlling every aspect of her life, forcing her to take excessive amounts of drugs, have sex with other men, beating her for years and threatening her – and those in her circle – when she tried to leave the relationship.

In a lawsuit – which started an avalanche of accusations against the rapper – the singer said while dating Mr Combs she realised he had a “tremendously loyal network” that would do anything he asked.

“She recognized that she was powerless, and that reporting Mr Combs to the authorities would not alter Mr Combs’s status or influence but would merely give Mr Combs another excuse to hurt her,” the lawsuit stated.

Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, said at one point after she attempted to leave Mr Combs, his record label threatened “her single would not be released if she did not answer Mr Combs’s phone calls”, the lawsuit states.

Lawyers for Mr Combs have again denied the allegations, saying in a statement to the BBC earlier this week that he “has never sexually assaulted anyone – adult or minor, man or woman”.

While various lawsuits detail alleged sexual assaults at parties held at Mr Combs’s properties, so-called “Freak-off” parties at hotel rooms appear to be a focus for federal authorities. The Department of Justice charged him with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution in a 14-page indictment last month.

Prosecutors have accused Mr Combs of recording sex acts during “Freak Offs”, which federal authorities describe as days-long sex parties involving multiple sex workers.

The indictment alleged that Mr Combs and his associates booked hotel rooms and stocked them with narcotics like ketamine, lubricant, extra linens and lighting so that they could record the orgies.

During the “Freak Offs,” Mr Combs allegedly “hit, kicked, threw objects at victims”, which led to injuries that would sometimes take weeks to heal, the court documents state.

According to the indictment, participants were allegedly coerced with drugs and threats to remain “obedient and compliant”. Afterwards, those involved would take IV fluids to recover, prosecutors allege.

Ms Ventura’s lawsuit, filed in November 2023 – almost a year before his indictment in New York – includes graphic details of these alleged “Freak-Off” parties. The lawsuit states Mr Combs would host these events weekly in hotels in New York and Los Angeles, flying in sex workers, supplying drugs that included ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine and forcing the singer to perform sex acts.

During a raid on Mr Combs’s Los Angeles and Miami mansions, law enforcement officers seized AR-15-style guns, large-capacity magazines, thousands of bottles of lube and baby oil.

Mr Combs’s arrest and the fallout surrounding his career has sparked hope among activists and survivors of sexual violence that his case could drive meaningful change within the music industry.

Gloria Allred, a prominent women’s rights lawyer who has defended a number of women throughout the #MeToo movement, believes the world is finally seeing a “reckoning” in the music industry.

She’s representing Thalia Graves, who alleges she was drugged and violently raped by the rapper in 2001. She said she was threatened by Mr Combs and did not speak out, fearing he would “ruin her life”, Allred said.

But Ms Allred told the BBC she thinks the fallout from Diddy’s arrest is far from over.

“Courage is contagious,” she said.

And prosecutors and lawyers for the growing list of Mr Combs’s accusers have hinted there is more to come.

“Combs did not do this all on his own,” Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said. “He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way.”

The investigation into the case is still open, authorities say.

As Mr Combs left his most recent court appearance in a beige prison jumpsuit, he mouthed to his family “I love you” and repeatedly put his hands to his heart, making a prayer sign.

As the hearing ended, a group of fans huddled by the courtroom doors on their tiptoes hoping to catch sight of him and show support for the rapper.

For his former assistant, the media storm that now surrounds the rapper is not without a hint of irony.

“He wanted to make himself the most famous person in the world, and ironically, now he is,” Mr Shuter said.

Liam Payne’s former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan has said he is “absolutely devastated” by the “passing of his amazing friend”.

Payne died on Wednesday evening in Buenos Aires and had flown in to Argentina to see Horan perform on tour.

“It just doesn’t feel real,” Horan wrote.

“I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”

In the statement, posted on Instagram, Horan said: “Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure.

“All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness. We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a lifetime.”

Horan, 31, also sent his “love and condolences” to Payne’s family.

“Thank you for everything, Payno,” he signed off.

Full coverage of the death of Liam Payne:

• ‘Struggling to say goodbye’ – One Direction’s tributes in full
• ‘I was a Directioner – here’s what he meant to me’
• What we know so far about his death
• ‘We all let you down Liam’, says Sharon Osbourne
• Obituary: Boy band star who had the X factor
• Full transcript of 911 call made moments before star fell

The pair had remained friendly since One Direction’s 2016 split, with Payne explaining to fans on Snapchat earlier this month that he was visiting Horan for a catch-up.

He said: “It’s been a while since me and Niall have spoken, we’ve got a lot to talk about.

“No bad vibes or anything like that, but we need to talk,” he added.

Payne attended Horan’s concert last week, again posting social media videos of himself and girlfriend Kate Cassidy singing and dancing to the performance.

Horan finished his world tour on 9 October in Bogota, Colombia, and reportedly then returned to his home in London.

He was the final member of One Direction to post an individual statement on the passing of 31-year-old Payne.

The band, which got together in 2010 on The X Factor, posted a joint statement on Thursday, in which they said they needed time “to grieve and process the loss of our brother”.

Harry Styles said in his individual statement that his “heart breaks” for Payne’s family and added: “His greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it.”

Louis Tomlinson echoed Styles’ sentiments, describing Liam as “the most vital part of One Direction” who had a “gift for writing”.

Zayn Malik spoke to Payne directly in his statement, praising him for his “positive outlook and reassuring smile”.

Ed Sheeran, who co-wrote Payne’s 2017 debut solo single Strip That Down, also reacted to the news on Instagram on Friday, saying he was “at a loss for words”.

“My thoughts are with his family and loved ones, every memory I have with him is a great one, just such a heartbreaking situation.”

Sheeran finished his post by asking fans to “be kind”, a sentiment echoed by Robbie Williams.

Williams, who performed with One Direction on The X Factor in 2010, said he had previously reached out to offer help to Payne because his “trials and tribulations were very similar to mine”.

“What a handsome talented boy,” he wrote. “What a tragic painful loss for his friends, family, fans and by the looks of the energy this moment has created – the world.”

He wrote: “We don’t know whats going on in people’s lives.

“What pain they’re going through and what makes them behave in the way that they behave.

“Before we reach to judgement, a bit of slack needs to be given.”

He added: “We can at least try to be more compassionate towards ourselves, our family, our friends, strangers in life and strangers on the internet.

“Even famous strangers need your compassion.”

Payne spoke candidly in recent years about his struggles with alcohol and the toll fame took on his mental health.

Losing a deputy just two years after being elected on a joint ticket could be seen as a big blow for a president, but not this time in Kenya.

As soon as Rigathi Gachagua was seen to be undermining William Ruto, he moved swiftly to remove his second-in-command.

He had seen for himself how a rift between Kenya’s top two can lead to government dysfunction after he had fallen out with his former boss Uhuru Kenyatta.

The unprecedented political changes in Kenya, played out on live television, may have looked orderly and seamless to the outside observer.

The process of impeachment has had many following with interest as the two houses of parliament, the courts and finally the executive appeared to carry out their roles following a carefully prescribed legal process.

But to many Kenyans, it has been a rollercoaster that elicited strong views from across the country.

There was initially a sense of betrayal and disappointment especially from Gachagua’s home region of Mount Kenya, but by Friday morning this was replaced by a sense of acceptance as the man chosen to replace him, Kithure Kindiki, is from the same region.

Mount Kenya played a big role in Ruto’s defeat of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the closely fought 2022 presidential election.

Odinga was running with a powerful former Justice Minister, Martha Karua, who hails from the region, and backed by Kenyatta, the then outgoing president, also from there.

But in the event, Ruto, with Gachagua on board, won by a landslide in that part of the country.

For context, Kenyan politics is largely driven by regional – some would say ethnic – blocs and Mount Kenya carries about a quarter of the country’s votes.

It is no surprise that three of the five presidents since independence – Jomo Kenyatta, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta – came from the region. This is why the two front-runners in the last presidential election – Ruto and Odinga – chose running mates from there, as they were both from elsewhere in the country.

Upsetting the region could therefore be political suicide for a president in his first term.

But Gachagua’s attempts to consolidate his hold on the bloc actually proved to be his undoing.

He was accused by parliament of, among other things, promoting ethnically divisive politics when he was expected to be a national unifier.

He coined the phrase “usiguze mlima”, which means “don’t touch the mountain”, fashioning himself as a fierce defender of the Mount Kenya region and a gateway to it.

Clips were played during the impeachment proceedings which showed him suggesting that the government would prioritise those areas that had voted for the winning ticket, although Ruto had also made similar statements.

Legislators from other areas passionately condemned such sentiments.

Ruto remained silent as his deputy was taken through the impeachment, despite pleas for the president’s intervention, including even asking for forgiveness “if he [Gachagua] had wronged” him.

There was a very recent precedent of the chaos caused when a president and his deputy fall out.

During Kenyatta’s second term, Ruto, then deputy president himself, complained of being sidelined and persecuted.

The victim card endeared him to many, including in the then president’s own political backyard.

But he needed more than sympathy to win the 2022 presidential election – he had to choose his running mate from Mount Kenya.

While many expected the president to pick his long-time ally, law professor Kithure Kindiki, Ruto pulled a surprise move when he chose to go for the then one-term member of parliament Rigathi Gachagua.

Kindiki was already well known in Kenya, having served as deputy speaker before being removed from the post in a purge instigated by Kenyatta against Ruto’s allies.

MPs in Ruto’s party voted overwhelmingly for Kindiki, three times they said, when he sought their involvement in picking a running mate. Gachagua came second but was, in the end, Ruto’s choice.

The replacement, therefore, does not come as a surprise.

That he comes from “the mountain”, albeit one of its smaller ethnic groups, has helped to calm the feelings of anger and betrayal.

Many locals who spoke on television have been calling for acceptance of the president’s choice to avoid dividing the region.

This is what it all boils down to – forging ahead with the next elections barely three years away.

But it will no doubt still dent the president’s support in Mount Kenya.

The success of this process has also relied heavily on Ruto’s new alliance with his bitter enemy from the last election, Odinga, whose MPs and senators voted overwhelmingly to remove Gachagua from office.

The National Assembly also picked a close associate of Odinga, senior counsel James Orengo, to head its legal team during the impeachment trial.

There was a confluence of interests here, no doubt. But it could be a poisoned chalice for Ruto.

How long the dalliance lasts is unpredictable. But it is characteristic of Kenya’s ever-changing political landscape.

For now, Ruto has appointed four senior members of Odinga’s party to cabinet and is backing him for the influential position of the next African Union commission chairman.

The two men have a long political history together as either allies or rivals.

In the 2002 presidential election, Ruto backed Kenyatta while Odinga supported Kibaki who went on to win.

Five years later, allegiances shifted with Ruto backing Odinga and Kenyatta rallying behind the incumbent, Kibaki, in the bitterly contested 2007 election that descended into nationwide violence.

Ruto and Kenyatta were subsequently indicted by the International Criminal Court for their alleged roles in the fighting while they supported opposing sides.

But in the next two elections of 2013 and 2017, they ran on a joint ticket and defeated Odinga.

The cases against them at the ICC were eventually dismissed for lack of evidence.

Any alliances are possible in Kenyan politics, no matter how unlikely they may appear to the outsider.

All the national leaders try to do is keep their regional or ethnic blocs intact to use as bargaining chips when seeking partnerships and a formula to win national elections.

Both Ruto and Odinga have long worked towards that, having joined politics in their youth.

They both have loyal support bases – as their recent alliance shows with Odinga’s backers shifting fully behind a politician they opposed almost to the last man just two years ago.

Gachagua hoped to gain the same stature, but his ambition has for now burned him.

He is challenging his impeachment in court and if successful, it may yet hand him a political lifeline. If not, the law bars him from running for office for at least 10 years.

This kind of politics is a long game. At 59, Gachagua is a rather late entrant and his future is unclear.

He may well be condemned to political oblivion or he could still return to the arena – as Ruto’s rival or even his ally.

Despite what looks like a bitter divorce, with the president moving on swiftly, no-one in Kenya would be surprised to see him shake hands and smile on national television with his estranged former deputy.

Kenya’s political scene is an active seismic zone – the tectonic plates are constantly shifting and anything is possible.

• Who is Rigathi Gachagua?
• Behind the fallout between Kenya’s president and his deputy
• Kenyan president’s humbling shows power of African youth
• New faces of protest – Kenya’s Gen Z anti-tax revolutionaries
• Batons, tear gas, live fire – Kenyans face police brutality

Venezuelan authorities have arrested five foreign nationals in connection with an alleged anti-government plot, the latest in a wave of arrests following July’s contested presidential election.

The country’s interior minister Diosdado Cabello said on Thursday that the five – three Americans, a Bolivian and a Peruvian – had engaged in a plan to destabilise the country.

Cabello claimed that US intelligence agencies were involved in the plot, though he provided no evidence for the allegation.

The CIA previously denied a claim it was involved in an alleged plot to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro.

The US State Department condemned the latest arrests and said that the “safety and security of American citizens anywhere around the world is our first priority”.

Electoral authorities loyal to Maduro announced him the victor in the July election, but the claim has been widely rejected by the international community.

After Maduro claimed victory, anti-government protests erupted.

More than 2,400 people have been detained for protesting against the election result. Hundreds have been charged with crimes including terrorism, incitement to hatred and resistance to authority, according to Human Rights Watch.

Cabello did not disclose when the latest arrests took place, but said that one of the Americans was detained in the border state of Zulia. He offered no details about the circumstances that led to the arrests of the foreign nationals.

“The detained foreigners speak Spanish perfectly, a necessary requirement for them to involve themselves in communities,” Cabello said in a televised address.

Since Maduro claimed victory in July, his allies have made frequent accusations that the US has been sponsoring plots to undermine the leftist government.

Last month, Cabello announced the arrest of three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech national who he accused of travelling to the country to assassinate Maduro.

Calling the detainees “mercenaries”, the interior minister claimed the CIA was “leading the operation” and that hundreds of weapons had been seized.

The US denied the accusations.

Venezuela has often accused the CIA of undermining it.

The most recent incident marked the latest deterioration in relations, which have been at a low ebb for years as Venezuela has grown increasingly close to Russia and China.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government, declared Maduro the winner of July’s vote, but has not published detailed voting tallies.

Data published by the opposition suggests its candidate, Edmundo González, was the true winner, and international observers said that the election was seriously flawed. The Carter Centre said the poll “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity”.

A baby has died after a boat attempting to cross the English Channel sank on Thursday night, French authorities say.

Officials said the overloaded boat carrying migrants started sinking off the coast of Wissant in northern France.

Rescuers called to the scene saved 65 people, including some who were in the water.

Searches to find more people at sea found an unconscious baby, who was later declared dead, officials said.

A French navy patrol boat and a helicopter were used during the rescue and recovery operations.

The local prefecture said in a statement: “Rescuers found that the boat, which was heavily loaded, was in difficulty and that some of the people were in the water.

“Rescuers began to recover the people in difficulty.

“At the same time, further searches were carried out to find people who could be stranded at sea.”

It was then that the baby was discovered, the prefecture added. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the death.

2024 is already the deadliest year for migrant crossings of the English Channel since 2018.

Dinghies often now carry 50 or more migrants, far more than in previous years. Many do not wear life jackets for the dangerous crossing.

On 3 September, six children and a pregnant woman were among 12 people who died after a boat carrying dozens of people sank off the French coast.

A month later, four people, including a two-year-old boy, died after seemingly being “trampled to death” on two separate boats.

The latest sinking brings the total number of deaths from migrants attempting to cross the Channel this year to at least 53.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is “absolutely determined” to tackle the smuggling gangs facilitating the crossings.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: “We are heartbroken that a baby has died in yet another devastating and depressingly preventable tragedy in the Channel.

“People who make the crossing are fleeing war, conflict and persecution and simply want to be safe.

“Seeking to disrupt the smuggling gangs alone will never be enough” he said, adding that the government should provide “safe and legal routes” for refugees.

According to Home Office figures, more than 26,000 migrants have arrived in Britain on small boats since the start of the year.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said deaths in the Channel are “preventable”.

A Texas judge has blocked the execution of the first man to be put on death row in the US for murder charges related to “shaken baby syndrome”, less than two hours before the capital punishment was due to be carried out.

Robert Roberson, 57, was sentenced to death in 2003 for the death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, after a post-mortem examination concluded she died of injuries from abuse.

Roberson and his lawyers have long maintained the child died of complications from pneumonia.

Following his stay of execution, Roberson voiced his shock and thanked his supporters, US media reported.

The prisoner was due to be executed at 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on Thursday.

But only 90 minutes beforehand, a Travis County judge issued a temporary restraining order to stop it going ahead, so that Roberson could testify in a hearing at the state legislature next week.

The decision came after a panel of the Texas House of Representatives issued a highly unusual subpoena for Roberson late on Wednesday, hoping that authorities would have to send him to appear at a hearing on 21 October.

A bipartisan group of 86 Texas lawmakers, dozens of medical and scientific experts, attorneys and others – including best-selling author John Grisham and pro-death penalty Republicans – have all called for Roberson to be pardoned.

The group argued that the conviction was based on outdated science, before authorities gained a proper understanding of “shaken baby syndrome”.

“In Robert’s case there was no crime and yet we’re about to kill somebody for it in Texas,” Grisham told reporters in September.

Roberson’s lawyers have also argued that his autism – which was undiagnosed at the time of Nikki’s death – was used against him after police and medical staff became suspicious at the lack of emotion he displayed.

Autism can affect how a person communicates with others.

In a statement reported by the BBC’s US partner CBS News, Roberson gave his reaction to the judge’s intervention, praising God and thanking his supporters.

“He was shocked, to say the least,” Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Amanda Hernandez told the Associated Press.

• Robert Roberson: The man waiting to be executed for a crime he denies
• How many countries still have the death penalty?

Shortly after the Travis County judge issued the last-minute reprieve on Thursday, the US Supreme Court declined to intervene to cancel the execution outright.

In a statement about the decision, Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, a liberal, said it was up to Texas Governor Greg Abbott whether to stop the execution.

Meanwhile, the Texas attorney general has filed an appeal against the temporary restraining order.

Roberson’s supporters include Brian Wharton, the lead detective who investigated the incident in Palestine, Texas.

“I will forever be haunted by the role I played in helping the state put this innocent man on death row,” Mr Wharton was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

“Robert’s case will forever be a burden on my heart and soul.”

Earlier this week, Texas’s Board of Pardon and Paroles denied Roberson’s clemency petition, voting 6-0 against recommending that his death sentence be delayed or commuted to life in prison.

Governor Abbott could have also granted a one-time 30-day reprieve. He has only done so once in nearly a decade in office. Roberson recently urged Abbott to “do the right thing” because “I’m innocent”.

Roberson was one of two prisoners scheduled to be executed in the US on Thursday. In Alabama, 36-year-old Derrick Dearman was put to death after admitting to killing five people with an axe and gun in 2016.

According to Roberson’s account, his daughter fell out of bed on 31 January 2002.

Hours later, he said he realised she was not breathing and took her to an emergency room, where she was pronounced dead.

Court documents show medical staff immediately suspected abuse, because of bruises on her head, brain swelling and bleeding behind her eyes.

He was arrested and charged with capital murder the next day. An autopsy determined she died of blunt-force head trauma and her death was ruled a homicide.

Roberson’s lawyers have noted that Nikki was prescribed medicines that are no longer given to children because they can cause serious complications.

They have argued that the medication, and her fall, could have ultimately killed her.

“Shaken baby syndrome” – now called abusive head trauma – is usually diagnosed after finding evidence of retinal haemorrhage, brain swelling and bleeding in the brain.

While the diagnosis is broadly accepted by the medical community, a recent report highlighted the need to thoroughly examine other causes before concluding injuries were due to abuse.

In 2023 an appeals court agreed there was insufficient evidence to overturn Roberson’s conviction. The Supreme Court declined to hear his case.

China’s economy expanded in the third quarter at the slowest pace since early last year, as the country struggles to boost flagging growth.

On an annual basis, gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 4.6% in the three months to the end of September, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

That is less than the previous quarter and below the government’s “around 5%” target for this year.

But it was slightly better than analysts expected, while other official figures released on Friday, including retail sales and factory output, also beat forecasts.

In recent weeks, Beijing has announced a number of measures aimed at supporting growth.

This is the second quarter in a row that China’s official measure of economic growth has fallen below the 5% target, which will add to government concerns.

“The government’s growth target for this year now appears in serious jeopardy,” the former head of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) China division, Eswar Prasad told BBC News.

“It will take a substantial stimulus-fuelled boost to growth in the fourth quarter to hit the target.”

But Moody’s Analytics’ economist, Harry Murphy Cruise, was more optimistic. The stimulus measures are “likely to propel the economy to its around 5% target for the year”, he said.

“But more is required if officials are to address the structural challenges in the economy.”

Official figures also showed new home prices fell in September at the fastest pace in almost a decade, indicating that the downturn in the property sector is worsening.

“The property market unsurprisingly remains the biggest drag on China’s growth,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for greater China at banking giant ING.

“New investment is unlikely to see a substantive recovery until prices stabilise and housing inventories decline… until then property will remain a notable headwind to growth.”

Earlier on Friday, China’s central bank said it had held a meeting to call on banks and other financial institutions to boost lending to help support growth.

Last month, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced the country’s biggest stimulus package since the pandemic, including large cuts to interest and mortgage rates.

The plans also included help for the flagging stock market and measures to encourage banks to lend more to businesses and individuals.

Since then, the Ministry of Finance and other government bodies have unveiled further plans aimed at boosting economic growth.

The world’s second largest economy has been hit by a number of challenges, including a property crisis, as well as weak consumer and business confidence.

Israeli troops had for more than a year hunted the leader of Hamas, who disappeared in Gaza soon after masterminding the 7 October attacks.

Yahya Sinwar, 61, was said to have spent much of his time hiding in the tunnels under the Strip, along with a cadre of bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages seized from Israel.

But ultimately, it appears he met his end in a chance encounter with an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza. His guard detail was small. No hostages were found.

Details are still emerging, but here’s what we know so far about Sinwar’s killing.

• Follow live updates on this story
• Who was Yahya Sinwar?
• Jeremy Bowen analysis: Sinwar’s death is serious blow to Hamas, but not the end of the war
• Watch: Netanyahu says focus on hostages after Sinwar death
• Explainer: What has happened to Hamas’ most prominent leaders?

The Israel Defense Forces says a unit from its 828th Bislamach Brigade was patrolling Tal al-Sultan, an area of Rafah, on Wednesday.

Three fighters were identified and engaged by the Israeli troops – and all were eliminated.

At that stage nothing seemed particularly remarkable about the firefight and the soldiers did not return to the scene until Thursday morning.

It was then, as the dead were inspected, that one of the bodies was found to bear a striking resemblance to the leader of Hamas.

The corpse however remained at the site due to suspected booby traps and instead, part of a finger was removed and sent to Israel for testing.

His body was finally extracted and brought to Israel later that day as the area was made safe.

Daniel Hagari, the IDF’s spokesman, said his forces “didn’t know he was there but we continued to operate”.

He said his troops had identified the three men running from house to house, and engaged them before they split up.

The man since identified as Sinwar “ran alone into one of the buildings”. After being located by a drone, he was killed when a tank launched a shell at the building.

Sinwar’s body was found with a flak jacket, a gun and 40,000 shekels (£8,240).

None of the hostages Sinwar was believed to be using as a human shield were present and his small retinue suggests either he was trying to move unnoticed, or had lost many of those protecting him.

Hagari also said the IDF had gained an indication of Sinwar’s previous movements when they found his DNA in a tunnel close to where the bodies of six hostages were recovered around six weeks ago.

Israel is now searching for Sinwar’s brother, Muhammad Sinwar, and all Hamas military commanders, Hagari said.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, said: “Sinwar died while beaten, persecuted and on the run – he didn’t die as a commander, but as someone who only cared for himself. This is a clear message to all of our enemies.”

Drone footage released by the Israeli military late on Thursday was said to show Sinwar’s final moments before he was killed.

The video appears to be shot from a drone flying through the open window of a mostly destroyed building.

It approaches a man, with his head covered, sitting in an armchair on the first floor of a house that is littered with debris.

The man, who seems to be injured, then throws what appears to be a stick at the drone and the video ends.

Israel first announced it was “investigating the possibility” that Sinwar had been killed in Gaza on Thursday afternoon local time.

Within minutes of the announcement, pictures posted to social media showed the body of a man with very similar features to the Hamas leader, who had suffered catastrophic head wounds. The images are too graphic to republish.

However, officials warned “at this stage” the identity of any of the three men killed could not be confirmed.

Not long after that, Israeli sources told the BBC leaders were “increasingly confident” they had killed him. However, they said all necessary tests must be carried out before the death could be confirmed.

Those tests did not take long. By Thursday evening, Israel had announced they had been completed and that Sinwar was confirmed “eliminated”.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said “evil” had been “dealt a blow”, but warned the Israeli war in Gaza had not been completed.

While Sinwar was not killed during a targeted operation, the IDF said that it had for weeks been operating in areas where intelligence indicated his presence.

In short, Israeli forces had narrowed Sinwar’s rough location to the southern city of Rafah, and were slowly moving in to get him.

Sinwar had been on the run for more than a year. He had undoubtedly felt the Israeli pressure growing as other Hamas leaders, such as Mohammad Dief and Ismail Haniyeh, were killed, and as Israel destroyed the infrastructure he had used to prosecute the atrocities of 7 October.

In a statement, the IDF said its operations in recent weeks in the south had “restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational movement as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination”.

Killing Sinwar was a major goal for Israel, which marked him for death soon after the 7 October attacks. But his end does not end the war in Gaza.

On Friday, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, Basem Naim, said in a statement that it seems “Israel believes that killing our leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people”, but said Hamas as a movement could not be eliminated.

Naim did not directly name Sinwar or confirm his death, but said “it is very painful and distressing to lose beloved people”.

While Netanyahu said he had “settled the score”, he insisted the war would continue – not least to save the 101 hostages still held by Hamas.

“To the dear hostage families, I say: this is an important moment in the war. We will continue full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home.”

In Israel, families of hostages said they hoped a ceasefire could now be reached that would bring home the captives.

Killing Yahya Sinwar is Israel’s biggest victory so far in the war against Hamas in Gaza.

His death is a serious blow for Hamas, the organisation he turned into a fighting force that inflicted the biggest defeat on the state of Israel in its history.

He was not killed in a planned special forces operation, but in a chance encounter with Israeli forces in Rafah in southern Gaza.

A photo taken at the scene shows Sinwar, dressed in combat gear, lying dead in the rubble of a building that was hit by a tank shell.

• Follow live updates on this story
• Who was Yahya Sinwar?
• Explainer: How Israel killed Hamas leader Sinwar in a chance encounter
• Watch: Netanyahu says focus on hostages after Sinwar death
• Explainer: What has happened to Hamas’ most prominent leaders?

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, praised the soldiers and made clear that however big a victory, it was not the end of the war.

“Today we made clear once again what happens to those who harm us. Today we once again showed the world the victory of good over evil.

“But the war, my dear ones, is not over yet. It is difficult, and it is costing us dearly.”

“Great challenges still lie ahead of us. We need endurance, unity, courage, and steadfastness. Together we will fight, and with God’s help – together we will win.”

Netanyahu and the overwhelming proportion of Israelis who support the war in Gaza needed a victory.

The prime minister has repeated his war aims many times – destroying Hamas as a military and political force and bringing the hostages home.

Neither has been achieved, despite a year of war that has killed at least 42,000 Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins.

But the remaining hostages are not free and Hamas is fighting and sometimes killing Israeli troops.

Killing Sinwar was the victory Israel wanted. But until Netanyahu can claim that the other war aims have been accomplished, the war, as he says, will go on.

Yahya Sinwar was born in 1962 in a refugee camp in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. He was five years old when it was captured by Israel from Egypt in the 1967 Middle East war.

His family were among more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes by Israeli forces in the 1948 war in which Israel won its independence.

His family came from the town now known as Ashkelon, which is close to the northern border of the Gaza Strip.

In his 20s, he was convicted by Israel of killing four Palestinian informers. During 22 years in jail he learnt Hebrew, studied his enemy and believed that he worked out how to fight them. His time in jail also meant Israel had his dental records and a sample of his DNA, which meant that they could identify his body.

Sinwar was released as one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who were swapped in 2011 for a single Israel soldier, Gilad Shalit.

On 7 October last year, in a meticulously planned series of attacks, Sinwar and his men inflicted Israel’s worst-ever defeat – and a collective trauma that is still deeply felt.

The killing of around 1,200 Israelis, the hostage-taking and the celebrations of their enemies recalled for many Israelis the Nazi holocaust.

Sinwar’s own experience in a prisoner swap must have convinced him of the value and power of taking hostages.

In Tel Aviv families of the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza – Israel says half of them might already be dead – gathered in the square in which they have been gathering for a year, urging the Israeli government to launch a new negotiation to get their people home.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker appealed to the prime minister.

“Netanyahu, don’t bury the hostages. Go out now to the mediators and to the public and lay out a new Israeli initiative.”

“For my Matan and the rest of the hostages in the tunnels, time has run out. You have the victory pictures. Now bring a deal!”

“If Netanyahu doesn’t use this moment and doesn’t get up now to lay out a new Israeli initiative – even at the expense of ending the war – it means he has decided to abandon the hostages in an effort to prolong the war and fortify his rulership.

“We will not give up until everyone returns.”

Many Israelis believe that Netanyahu wants to prolong the war in Gaza to put off the day of reckoning for his share of the security failures that allowed Sinwar and his men to break into Israel, and to postpone perhaps indefinitely the resumption of his trial on serious corruption charges.

He denies those accusations, insisting that only what he calls ‘total victory’ in Gaza over Hamas will restore Israeli security.

Like other news organisations, Israel does not let the BBC cross into Gaza except on rare, supervised trips with the army.

In the ruins of Khan Yunis, the birthplace of Sinwar, Palestinians interviewed for the BBC by local trusted freelancers were defiant. They said the war would go on.

“This war is not dependent on Sinwar, Haniyeh, or Mishal, nor on any leader or official,” said Dr Ramadan Faris.

“It’s a war of extermination against the Palestinian people, as we all know and understand. The issue is much bigger than Sinwar or anyone else.”

Adnan Ashour said some people were saddened, and others were indifferent about Sinwar.

“They’re not just after us. They want the entire Middle East. They’re fighting in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen… This is a war between us and the Jews since 1919, over 100 years.”

He was asked whether the death of Sinwar would affect Hamas.

“I hope not, God willing. Let me explain: Hamas is not just Sinwar… It’s the cause of a people.”

The war goes on in Gaza. Twenty five Palestinians were killed in a raid on northern Gaza. Israel said it hit a Hamas command centre. Doctors at the local hospital said the scores of wounded that they treated were civilians.

Parachute drops of aid resumed after the Americans said Israel had to allow in more food and relief supplies.

Every leader of Hamas since the 1990s bar one has been killed by Israel, but there’s always been a successor. As Israel celebrates killing Sinwar, Hamas still has its hostages and is still fighting.

Since Israel began a renewed military offensive in northern Gaza 12 days ago, humanitarian groups say that virtually no aid has entered the area. Israel’s own statistics show that aid deliveries to Gaza as a whole have collapsed when compared with the same period in September.

This has prompted accusations that the Israeli military is blocking food aid deliveries in a bid to starve out Hamas fighters.

The lack of food has prompted a top UN official to warn that “supplies for survival are running out” in north Gaza, with civilians on the ground telling the BBC that the situation is unsustainable.

Joyce Msuya, the UN’s Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, said on Monday that Israel blocked all food aid entering northern Gaza from 2-15 October.

She said a “trickle” of aid had been allowed to enter the territory on Monday, but warned that a lack of fuel deliveries would force bakeries to close within days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that his government is deliberately preventing food from reaching northern Gaza.

But the US has warned its ally to urgently boost humanitarian access or risk having some military assistance cut off, and now says it is monitoring Israel’s actions in northern Gaza to ensure it’s not pursuing “a policy of starvation”.

On Thursday, a UN-backed assessment warned that “the risk of famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip”, adding: “Given the recent surge in hostilities, there are growing concerns that this worst-case scenario may materialize.”

The Israeli military body responsible for managing crossings into Gaza, Cogat, said a total of 5,840 tons of food crossed into Gaza in the first 12 days of October, compared to a total of 75,898 tons in September.

The UN said no aid at all had entered north Gaza for the two weeks before last Sunday, when the US warned its ally in a letter to urgently boost humanitarian access or risk having some military assistance cut off.

In its own statistics, the UN said the number of lorries entering Gaza was the lowest since the beginning of the war a year ago.

Briefing the UN security council on Wednesday, Ms Msuya said Israel had facilitated just one of 54 attempts to deliver aid through the Rashid checkpoint in the first two weeks of October.

The checkpoint is south of Gaza City, where the main coastal road meets the east-west Israeli military road that effectively divides the territory in half.

She added that another four efforts were impeded, but eventually occurred. Ms Msuya said that while distribution of existing stocks in northern Gaza continued, supplies were “quickly dwindling”.

Meanwhile the World Food Programme (WFP) told the Financial Times on Tuesday that it will run out of food aid to distribute in just a week-and-a-half if Israel does not immediately facilitate fresh deliveries to northern Gaza.

WFP’s director for the Palestinian Territories, Antoine Renard, also told the outlet that his teams on the ground had just a week of flour supplies left.

Cogat said 50 trucks carrying aid entered the north of the strip on Wednesday.

Georgios Petropoulos – head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza – told the BBC that when aid does enter Gaza through Israeli checkpoints, aid groups often lack the capacity to distribute it effectively on the other side. He pointed out that while 50 truckloads of aid were allowed to enter Gaza on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) allowed just 30 of those to be collected.

The IDF launched a renewed offensive against Hamas in the north 12 days ago. It says it is seeking to prevent the group’s fighters from regrouping in the area.

Military officials issued an evacuation order affecting an estimated 400,000 people in the northern Gaza Strip, telling them to move to the south. But many refused to leave, exhausted by constant displacement and fearful of heading to a place where they had no access to supplies.

Israeli forces have surrounded and bombarded the bombarded the densely-populated Jabalia area, which includes an urban refugee camp, to the north of Gaza City.

Israel insists that there is no policy of starvation in northern Gaza, but some have speculated that the fall in humanitarian supplies indicates the implementation of what Israeli media has dubbed “the Generals’ plan”.

Retired Maj Gen Giora Eiland recently told the BBC that civilians should be evacuated from northern Gaza, with the remaining Hamas fighters left with a choice to “surrender or starve”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted in an interview with Le Figaro that the “allegation that we are pursuing a deliberate policy of starving the population is completely baseless”.

He had previously told the UN that Israel was facilitating the entry of food amounting to “more than 3,000 calories a day for every man, woman, and child in Gaza”.

People in northern Gaza have told the BBC that supplies of food and water have plummeted in recent days.

Awad Hassan Ashour from Jabalia said residents of his area were getting very little food and water was also scarce

“Every two or three days they bring us one meal, either lunch or breakfast,” he said.

Yousef Qarmout, a displaced person in Jabalia, told the BBC that food and water shortages were making “untenable” for those living in the area.

What little food remained on sale was prohibitively expensive, he said.

“Life is becoming ever more untenable in northern Gaza, there is no food at all,” he said.

“We also suffer from high prices – take for example a can of beans. It costs 20 shekels [£4; $5.30], which is too much for me because I don’t work, nor do my children work. We all do not have any source of income.”

Sayab al-Zad said it was almost impossible to obtain meat or fresh vegetables, noting that only a few people could afford such produce. Instead, his family largely subsisted on bread, he said.

“To get bread for us is a very big challenge, you can lose your life for getting bread,” he said.

Mr Petropoulos said organised criminal gangs operating in Gaza were exacerbating the problem, with many aid drivers reporting being robbed while transporting food and shelter items.

“I see that the shelters of families are being winterised with plastic sheeting. You can see them starting to be put on top of these boxes of plastic that people live in,” he told the BBC. 

“The problem is that we were supposed to give that to the people who need it for free. But they’ve been looted and sold to them and now instead of getting a plastic sheet free so that at least you have a waterproof roof for the rain you’re in further debt.

“The damage we’re seeing done through looted equipment and supplies being sold back to people already in desperate poverty is just immense.”

Israel has long accused Hamas accused of hijacking and stealing aid deliveries – something the group has denied.

Michael Fakhri, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the right to food, accused Israel of pursuing a deliberate policy of starvation in Gaza during an interview with the BBC’s Newshour programme on Monday.

“We’ve seen the effects of their starvation campaign, with high mortality rates – people are dying, not just from hunger, but from dehydration and disease, which often follows,” he said.

“Israel has told us what it’s doing, it’s done it, and we’ve seen the effects.”

Thursday’s report by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said about 1.84 million people were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, with 664,000 of them facing “emergency” levels of hunger and almost 133,000 facing “catastrophic” levels.

The last figure is three-quarters lower than at the time of the last report in June – a fall the IPC attributed to a temporary surge in humanitarian assistance and commercial supplies between May and August.

However, the IPC said it expected the number of people facing “catastrophic” hunger to nearly triple in the coming months because there had been a sharp decline in aid deliveries and food availability since September.

In response to the report, UN Secretary General António Guterres said on X: “Famine looms. This is intolerable. Crossing points must open immediately, bureaucratic impediments must be removed, and law and order restored so UN agencies can deliver lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”

Concerns over the situation have been growing in Washington, and prompted the warning from top officials giving Israel 30 days to boost humanitarian aid access in Gaza or risk having some US military assistance cut off.

The US letter to the Israeli government was signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The pair said they were writing to “underscore the US government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory”.

But the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, scorned the US warning.

“The US has been saying to Israel that they have to improve humanitarian support to Gaza, but they gave one month delay,” he told reporters in Brussels.

“One month delay at the current pace of people being killed. It’s too many people.”

Nigerian farmer Mustapha Majiya is still reeling from losing almost 50 members of his extended family this week after an overturned fuel tanker exploded, sending flames up into a night sky.

“My nephews, Nuradeen Rabiu, 16, and Dini Babalo, 17, were among those killed. They tried to stop people from getting too close to the tanker and scooping fuel before the explosion,” the 50-year-old resident of Majia town told the BBC.

The explosion on Tuesday night in the northern state of Jigawa has been described as one of Nigeria’s most-deadly tanker accidents in recent years.

It has claimed the lives of at least 170 people – many burnt beyond recognition. Of the 100 people wounded in the inferno, several remain in hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The tanker was full of petrol and had been travelling on a main road through the town that had no street lights when the driver lost control as another vehicle approached.

When residents realised there was free petrol to be had – people, mostly young men and teenagers, rushed to get buckets and other receptacles to collect the precious liquid.

Over the last 17 months, the price of petrol has soared in Nigeria – where there are frequent fuel shortages – leading to a cost-of-living crisis.

Many residents of the farming community did not want to give up the opportunity to stock up, ignoring the warnings from those like Mr Majiya’s nephews, who were both in their fourth year at the town’s secondary school.

“I just bought them books and new uniforms for the term,” he says in disbelief.

Mr Majiya also lost a long-time friend, Jamilu Maigaji, in the explosion which took place about an hour after the tanker crashed.

The 55-year-old was married with two wives and 13 children and had been at the scene as people went to collect fuel, some of which had pooled in a drainage ditch and some scrubland by the side of the highway.

“Some people were just onlookers and didn’t understand the dangers of being around the scene,” Mr Majiya lamented.

As a devout Muslim, Mr Majiya says he accepts God’s will as the giver and taker of life.

But it is part of a broader pattern of tanker-related explosions and accidents in Nigeria, which experts think could be avoided if there was better strategic planning and safety measures.

Petroleum products in Nigeria – a vast oil-producing country and Africa’s most-populous nation – are mostly transported by road.

“There is nowhere in the world where they rely solely on the roads to move goods. The government needs to invest more in freight rails across the country,” Kola Ashiru-Balogun, an urban developer, told the BBC.

In 2020 alone, more than 1,500 accidents involving fuel tankers were recorded, resulting in 535 deaths, according to the latest figures from the country’s Federal Road Safety Corps.

Just last month, 59 people died in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state after a fuel tanker collided with a lorry carrying passengers and cattle.

As the emergency services were responding to the Majia explosion, another fuel tanker overturned in Ibafo in south-western Ogun state.

The tanker spilled its contents in front of a commercial bank, leading to an explosion. Although no casualties were reported, the incident caused significant damage to nearby vehicles and property.

Following Tuesday night’s horrific accident, the Senate asked the National Orientation Agency, the body in charge of government communication, to intensify efforts to make the public aware of the dangers of approaching a tanker involved in an accident.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima echoed these sentiments, saying: “As we deal with this tragedy, let us also reflect on the importance of safety measures and public awareness to prevent such incidents in the future.”

In fact last week he attended the launch of the National Road Safety Advisory Council (Narsac), which aims to improve co-ordination across government to enhance road safety and reduce crashes.

However, some safety experts argue that the issue is not about a lack of policies but rather a failure to implement them.

“There is no political will to act,” Timothy Iwuagwu, president of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria, told the BBC.

He attributes many of the tanker-related accidents to factors such as poorly maintained roads, inadequately inspected vehicles and untrained drivers.

“The force of the tanker hitting the ground isn’t enough to cause an explosion. It’s the poor fabrication of these tanks by unqualified persons – that is the problem,” he said.

Overloaded tankers and ineffective safety checks at depots also played a significant role in the frequency of these accidents, he added.

But the reality on the ground is that desperate people will take risks.

Since President Bola Tinubu came to power in May 2023, his administration has scrapped fuel and electricity subsidies, leading to petrol prices rising by more than 500% and a significant spike in energy costs.

Meanwhile the naira, Nigeria’s currency, has depreciated by more than 400% against the US dollar, further worsening the economic hardships.

Inflation stands at more than 32%, and an estimated 104 million Nigerians – almost half of the population – live in poverty

The government has defended these measures, insisting they are necessary to stabilise the ailing economy.

And although the government has promised an investigation into the Jigawa explosion, history shows that prosecutions are rare – and victims or their families rarely receive compensation.

“The people left behind in Majia are feeling very sorry after this incident,” said Mr Majiya, reflecting the town’s shock and grief.

“The government has promised to help the community and the survivors. We await them,” he said.

As the nation joins them in mourning, calls are growing in volume for the government to protect its citizens from these preventable disasters.

• Nigeria town celebrates after hunting down ‘killer hippo’
• ‘I’ve been sleeping under a bridge in Lagos for 30 years’
• Is Nigeria on the right track after a year of Tinubu?
• The Nigerian truckers risking attack

Two countries, Moldova and Georgia, hold pivotal votes in the coming days that will decide their future path in Europe.

Both have felt the shadow of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and both are former Soviet republics.

While Moldova’s pro-EU president Maia Sandu is favourite to win and talks have begun on joining the European Union, the government in Georgia has been accused of “democratic backsliding” and turning away from Europe.

Moldovans go to the polls on Sunday in a referendum on enshrining Moldova’s path to EU membership in the constitution – alongside the presidential election.

A Yes vote would consolidate Moldova’s status as a pro-Western, EU-facing country. It would also mean Moldova having to set out on a long path of democratic and judicial reforms to ensure it adheres to EU standards.

A survey last month suggested more than 63% of voters would back the Yes campaign. However, many in the pro-European camp have denounced what they say are Russian efforts to spread disinformation and influence the vote.

Moldova’s population is just over 2.5 million, while 1.2 million Moldovans live abroad.

Moldova’s incumbent president is Maia Sandu – the 52-year-old founder of the liberal Party of Action and Solidarity, who came to power in 2020 and is a committed pro-European.

She will face off against Alexander Stoianoglo, the former prosecutor general of Moldova who took many by surprise when he announced running for president in July.

He is supported by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, whose leader is ex-president and popular opposition figure Igor Dodon.

Turnout on Sunday is predicted to be high – above 80%.

Recent polls suggest Sandu could win over 35% of the vote on Sunday, with Stoianoglo coming a distant second with 9%.

There are several other candidates, the majority of whom are pro-Russian. However, almost 30% of voters were still undecided, according to the polls.

If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the presidential election will go to a run-off vote on 3 November.

Although Sandu should comfortably win both rounds, parliamentary elections next July look less positive for her party, which may have to work with less staunchly pro-EU forces if it wants to govern.

One figure who looms large over the election, although he is not a candidate, is Ilan Shor, a businessman and politician. His Shor Party was banned in Moldova last year following allegations of working with Russia to undermine Moldova’s security and constitutional order. Shor fled to Israel in 2019 after being convicted of fraud and money-laundering, and has recently been living in Russia.

He makes no secret of where his allegiances lie. In September, he offered money to convince “as many people as possible” to vote No or to abstain in the EU referendum.

Pro-European forces in Moldova have long warned of Russian interference in the election and referendum vote.

Russia still has a military base in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria along Moldova’s border with Ukraine, and there is also an autonomous Russian-speaking region called Gagauzia. The governor there, Eugenia Gutul, is an active supporter of Vladimir Putin and has been sanctioned by the EU for threatening Moldova’s independence.

One Moldovan news website said the election campaign had been marred by Russia’s “most slanderous, most violent and disruptive destabilisation campaign since the country’s independence”.

Authorities have linked some cases of vandalism and disinformation campaigns on social media to Shor and to his alleged Kremlin backers.

Last month, Moldova’s chief of police Viorel Cernauteanu said 130,000 Moldovans had received money transfers from Russia – amounting to $15m – as bribes to vote for Russia-friendly candidates and against the EU referendum.

On Thursday, Mr Cernauteanu alleged that dozens of Moldovans had recently travelled to Moscow, ostensibly to attend “cultural exchange programmes”, but actually receiving training to stir violence ahead of the elections.

The Kremlin maintains it “does not interfere in other people’s affairs” and has accused Moldova’s authorities of “denying many citizens a right to say that they support having good relations with Russia”.

There is a lot of stake for Georgians when they vote in parliamentary elections on Saturday 26 October.

This country of 3.7 million people has become highly polarised – with the governing party, Georgian Dream, accused of dismantling civil society and adopting Russia-style laws.

Opposition parties, and Georgia’s pro-Western president, have sought to frame this vote as a choice between Europe and Russia – a label firmly rejected by Georgian Dream.

It was only last December that Georgians were celebrating the EU granting their country official candidate status, with polls suggesting support from at least 80% of Georgians.

By the summer, the EU had frozen that process, because of a Russia-style “foreign influence law” that brought tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi.

The law requires media and NGOs with foreign funding to register as acting in the interest of a foreign power. Since then Georgian Dream has also enacted a law curbing LGBT rights.

The EU and US have all issued warnings against backsliding from democracy. The EU’s ambassador in Tbilisi has warned it could temporarily suspend its visa-free regime with Georgia if the vote is not deemed free and fair. US President Joe Biden pointedly withdrew a recent invite to a reception to Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

Russia has accused the West of blatantly trying to put pressure on Georgia, denying that the Kremlin has itself has sought to do so.

But Georgian Dream maintains it is still on the path to joining the EU.

The prime minister promises a reset in relations with the West, and EU membership by 2030, as well as deepening co-operation with Nato.

The party has been in power since 2012, and if Georgian Dream wins a fourth consecutive election, party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, has promised to ban opposition groups. But to do that they would need three-quarters of the seats in the 150-seat parliament to change the constitution.

The opposition itself is far from united, so while Georgian Dream has declined in popularity it still leads in the opinion polls.

Four opposition groups have a chance of securing the 5% of votes needed to get into parliament.

The biggest – United National Movement or UNM – is also considered the most divisive. Many voters still have bad memories of its nine years in power before Georgian Dream took office, so the other three opposition forces have shied away from forming a united front.

Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia and Gakharia for Georgia are all polling well but even if the four groups were to find common ground it might take months to form a government, clearing the way for a period of instability.

Although Georgians will be voting for the first time under a proportional representation system, seen by most parties as fairer, critics have complained that the party in power still maintains a grip on the media and controls the public space.

Since Georgia lost a short war with Russia in 2008, the two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia which make up 20% of Georgian territory have been under effective Russian control.

Now, ahead of the election, the Kremlin has spoken of “normalising relations” with Tbilisi.

Georgia’s government has avoided imposing sanctions on Russia, and used election posters to cast the vote as a choice between the devastation of the war in Ukraine or peace under Georgian Dream.

A selection of the week’s best photos from across the African continent:

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• ‘Try or die’ – one man’s determination to get to the Canary Islands
• Why there’s a rush of African satellite launches

Hotel staff made two calls to emergency services in the moments before singer Liam Payne fell to his death from a balcony in Argentina.

A caller appearing to be the chief receptionist said they had a guest who had taken “too many drugs and alcohol”, and was “trashing the entire room”, before the line cut out.

In a second call, the same caller warned the guest’s life “may be in danger” as the room had a balcony, and asked the 911 operator to send someone “urgently”.

Medics and local authorities were sent to the CasaSur Palermo hotel, Buenos Aires, where the former One Direction star had been staying.

• Live: Liam Payne dies after falling from hotel balcony
• Stars pay tribute to Liam Payne, dead at 31
• Watch: Fans react to his death in Argentina
• Boy band star who had the X factor
• The former One Direction star’s life in pictures
• Liam Payne shared final Snapchats on last few days in Argentina
• Full transcript of 911 call made moments before Liam Payne fell

Payne fell from the balcony after officers arrived.

Call handler: 911 where’s your emergency?

Caller: Hello.

911 what’s your emergency?

Hello, good afternoon, look I’m calling you from the hotel CasaSur Palermo, which is located in Costa Rica [St] 6032.

6032? Is that between Cramer [St] and…

Yes, that’s correct it’s between Arévalo [St] and Dorrego [St]. So, we have a guest who is high on drugs and who is trashing the room. Erm, so we need someone to come.

Understood, so you’re telling me [he] is being aggressive? Sir, can you please repeat the name of the hotel? Sir?

Call handler: 911 where’s your emergency?

Caller: Hello, good day, I just called but got cut off. I’m calling from the hotel CasaSur Palermo, Costa Rica [St] 6032.

What’s happening at that location, sir?

Well, we’ve got a guest who has had too many drugs and alcohol and, well, when he is conscious he is trashing the entire room and we need you to send someone, please.

He is under the effect of alcohol and drugs, is he, sir?

Yes, correct.

You said Costa Rica St at which location?

Costa Rica 6032.

That’s between Arévalo and Cramer?

Yes.

You said it’s a hotel? What’s it called?

CasaSur Palermo, and we need you to send someone urgently because, well, I don’t know whether his life may be in danger, the guest’s life. He is in a room with a balcony and well, we’re a little afraid that he…

Since when has he been there or is this a long-stay hotel?

He’s been here for two or three days.

Understood, you wouldn’t know any other details because you can’t get in, right?

No.

We’ll notify the SAME (medical emergency) staff as well, yes?

Yes, what I’m asking is for someone to come urgently because, well…

We’ve notified SAME. Any other details you can provide. Who are you, are you in charge?

I am the chief receptionist.

In charge at the location?

Yes, yes.

We’ve now reported this. What’s your name, sir?

Esteban.

We’ve reported it.

Ok.

Thanks for calling, you can free up the line now.

Are you sending the police as well or not?

The police and the local – wait give me a second – the local authorities and the SAME.

No, no, just the SAME. Just the SAME.

Understood, don’t worry, we’ve reported it.

Yes, perfect, many thanks.

You told me that [the guest] is under the influence of drugs and alcohol and the SAME doesn’t go in alone.

The SAME doesn’t go in alone? Ok, ok.

No, it’s [been] reported [to the police] regardless. If the police arrives you explain [what’s going on] and if they need the SAME, they call them.

Good, ok. Perfect.

We’ve made the report, have a good day, sir.

Good, thanks, same to you.

“Goodbyes are bittersweet, but it’s not the end. I’ll see your face again.”

This One Direction lyric, about losing somebody, has been repurposed as a tribute – scrawled on notes and stuck to trees, outside the hotel in Buenos Aires where Liam Payne fell to his death from a balcony on Wednesday.

Crowds of people have been gathering here since news of the tragedy broke – some in tears, some singing One Direction songs as they light candles and leave flowers.

It’s a reminder of just how huge Payne’s former band were internationally. One Direction’s global tour in 2014 kicked off in South America, attracting millions of fans, with two shows in this city.

The sombre mood outside the CasaSur Hotel reflects the grim nature of the news that has been emerging over the last 24 hours.

On Wednesday evening, local emergency services were called by the hotel’s staff concerned about a guest who was “aggressive” and under the influence of drugs and alcohol. They feared his life was in danger because of his room’s balcony.

A harrowing 911 call, obtained by local newspaper La Nacion, reveals staff imploring the operator to “send someone urgently”.

There are some big questions here about how this call, along with some initial photographs purporting to show scenes of the aftermath, spread on social media and leaked to some news outlets, while the news of Payne’s death would have still been reaching some of his loved ones.

The singer had fallen from his balcony after officers arrived at the scene, with the officer in charge saying he heard a loud noise after arriving. He was rushed to hospital, but his injuries were too severe for him to be resuscitated.

An initial post-mortem investigation suggests Payne died from internal and external bleeding. Police in Argentina say inspections were carried out of the area where he died on the ground floor, where a bottle of whiskey, a lighter and a mobile phone were found.

In his hotel room, a state of “total disorder” was found – including things broken and multiple packets of medication including the anti-anxiety medication Clonazepam.

Evidence is being gathered here and taken to a laboratory, while Payne’s body has been taken to a morgue, in the hope this may provide further answers.

Police are waiting for family to officially confirm the identity of his body. It’s not clear yet when he may be repatriated to the UK.

One guest at the hotel, Doug Jones, told the BBC he was working in the building on Wednesday when he heard loud noises and banging coming from a room, and saw staff entering and leaving it.

He assumed the hotel was “doing work” on the room, before he heard a “loud, violent scream”.

Mr Jones said it was his first time visiting a country outside the US, so did not know if this was “normal”, until he saw the road filling up with emergency vehicles and knew something was wrong.

For his fans, news of Payne’s death came as a shock as they had recently seen videos of him on social media seemingly having a nice time in Argentina – spending time with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and attending a concert of his former band mate Niall Horan.

“We were very confused, because of the Snapchats,” said 29-year-old Magali Dalmau, a fan who came to the hotel to pay tribute to the star.

She said she started listening to One Direction when she was aged about 13.

“We all just bonded with them. It means the death of our teenage years. We’ve lost hope of the five of them having a reunion. It’s really sad. The way it happened is the saddest part.”

Shooting to fame at just 16 years old, and dying at 31, many of his fans were a similar generation and grew up with him.

A 21-year-old Brit, Ivor Radway, who lives around the corner from the hotel told the BBC he had seen One Direction at Wembley and the news had “really shocked” him – leaving him wondering if Payne had received enough support.

Indeed, many fans remember him as a smiley singer of feel-good tunes – a far cry from the horrifically dark image painted of his final moments.

But it wasn’t a secret he’d faced demons. He’d spoken openly about struggling with alcohol, mental health problems and the struggles of fame and of parenting a young son at times.

The BBC had also seen a cease-and-desist letter against the singer earlier this week from his former fiancée, the model Maya Henry.

She’d accused him of repeated unwanted contact, but he’d not responded to the allegations.

His music, and openness about his own mental health, were what drew some fans to him.

One tribute left outside the hotel reads: “Thank you for saving my life. I’m sorry I couldn’t do the same for yours.”

Former Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons alleges she was “groped” on two occasions by the football club’s late owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

The former Harrods boss tried to “forcefully” kiss her at his department store in 2000, when she was 20, she told The Athletic website.

“Speaking my truth and finally telling my story will hopefully help me heal and be rid of the shame, embarrassment and pain I have carried for years,” she said.

Lawyers from the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said they were representing four former players of the club.

Fulham FC told the BBC it was trying to establish whether anyone at the club “had been impacted” by Al Fayed.

“The club is profoundly troubled to learn of the experiences told today by former Women’s Team captain, Ronnie Gibbons,” Fulham said.

“She has our deepest empathy and support.”

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• Doctors’ regulator refused to investigate Harrods medical tests
• We were lambs to the slaughter, says Fayed accuser

Al Fayed owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013.

In 2000, Fulham’s women’s team – known at the time as Fulham Ladies – became the first female football team in Europe to turn professional.

Gibbons, who was captain at the time, said she was driven to Harrods by club staff. Once at the luxury department store, she said she was left alone with Al Fayed, who was then in his 70s.

“He pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth,” she said of their first meeting.

“He had his arms holding my arms, like at my side, so I couldn’t push him away or anything like that. It was a real kind of control stance, like ‘I’m dominating you’.

“I was just like, ‘What do I do here?’ I just felt like a huge responsibility on my shoulders at that point because we’d just turned professional.”

Gibbons said that Al Fayed tried to forcefully kiss her again: “He even may have stuck his tongue on me or something. I just remember feeling sick, just really physically feeling sick, when I left there.”

Later that summer, she said a member of staff told her she had been summoned to Harrods again by Al Fayed.

In the interview with The Athletic, she recalled: “This time he groped me. As he was saying goodbye, he was sort of grabbing me, trying to sort of hold on to me and kiss me. He was like, ‘You’re not scared are you? You don’t need to be scared, I’m not going to do anything like that, you’re very precious, you’re a very special girl’.”

Fulham FC told the BBC: “We unequivocally condemn all forms of abuse. We remain in the process of establishing whether anyone at the Club is or would have been impacted by Mohamed Al Fayed in any manner as described in recent reports.”

Last week, the Metropolitan Police said it had received 40 new allegations from people that included sexual assault and rape against Al Fayed.

The allegations follow a BBC documentary and podcast, containing testimony from former Harrods employees who said the billionaire sexually assaulted or raped them.

Since the documentary first aired in September, a further 65 women have contacted the BBC saying they were abused by Al Fayed, with allegations stretching beyond Harrods and as far back as 1977.

Last month, the former manager of Fulham’s women’s team Gaute Haugenes told the BBC that extra precautions had been put in place to protect female players from Al Fayed.

Haugenes, who managed the team from 2001 to 2003, said members of staff became aware that the late billionaire “liked young, blonde girls”.

Gibbons was reported to be angered by these comments.

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Haugenes, who is Norwegian, said he could completely understand her frustration.

“All I can say is I am really sorry for saying something that could have put more wood on the fire. I honestly thought we protected the players,” he said.

“I knew that he liked Ronnie because all the girls, they joked about it. But I thought he was an old man, she was a young woman. I was 30 at the time, I didn’t think people his age were thinking about sex.

“I might have been naive, it might have been some of the language barriers that I didn’t pick up details in their joking.”

He added that he had not been aware she had been told to go to Harrods.

Asked whether club staff could have done more, he said it was difficult to know what could have been done differently.

“But you should have had a system that picked up things like that,” he said. “It was before I was a manager that she went there.”

He added: “It is sad to hear she had those kind of experiences as a professional player.”

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said the abuse Gibbons had endured from Al Fayed was “yet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses he owned”.

They added: “We salute our client’s bravery and are proud to advocate for Ronnie and others at Fulham who are searching for justice. We will do whatever we can to lift the lid on abuse, no matter where it was perpetrated, or who it was perpetrated by, including any enablers of Al-Fayed’s abhorrent behaviour.”

A spokesperson for Harrods said it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed.

It said: “These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.

“We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise.”

Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods

A BBC investigation into allegations of rape and attempted rape by Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods. Did the luxury store protect a billionaire predator?

Watch Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods on BBC iPlayer now.

Listen to World of Secrets, Season 4: Al Fayed, Predator at Harrods on BBC Sounds. If you’re outside the UK, you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Chinese communities are being targeted by scammers who trick older women out of their valuables by persuading them their loved ones are in danger.

After a wave of cases on the streets of the UK, US, Australia and Canada, police are investigating and victims’ families are trying to find the perpetrators.

The blessing scam is an elaborate piece of criminal street theatre. A gang of usually three women act out a well-rehearsed script in Cantonese for an audience of one – the unsuspecting victim.

Mungnee is a Chinese Malaysian Londoner in her sixties. She was approached in West London while on her way to yoga, by a crying woman. The woman asked in Cantonese if Mungnee knew a specific Chinese traditional healer in the area, as her husband was sick.

Quickly, a second Cantonese-speaking stranger appeared, claiming she knew the healer, and offering to take them to him. Mungnee was swept along, keen to help the woman who was so upset. On a quieter side street, a third woman joined the group, claiming to be related to the healer and went to see if he could help.

When she returned from speaking to the healer for 15 minutes, she had troubling news. Through his mystical powers, he had apparently discovered Mungnee was also in danger. He miraculously seemed to know all about her marriage problems, the shooting pain in her right leg – things Mungnee had not shared with them.

But the next revelation was what shocked Mungnee.

“Your son is going to have an accident in the next three days and he’s going to die.”

The woman told Mungnee the healer could bestow a blessing that would protect her adult son.

The ladies told her: “You need to take a handful of rice, and put in as much gold and cash in a bag as you can”. They would say a blessing over the valuables.

Mungnee says she felt reassured by the promise her items would be returned to her after the blessing.

One of the women rushed Mungnee home to collect her jewellery, then to the bank to withdraw £4,000 in cash from her savings. The valuables were placed in a plastic bag.

Mungnee thinks this must have been the moment the bags were exchanged.

“It was quick as a flash – her hands are so nimble. I didn’t see anything.”

When she got home, Mungnee was shocked to look inside the black bag and find only a brick, a piece of cake, and two bottles of water. She says: “That’s when I just turned cold.. and then I just told my son. ‘I think I’ve been conned. I’ve been scammed.’”

Some of the items stolen had been in the family for generations, passed down by her mother.

Mungnee’s experience is a textbook example of a blessing scam. The BBC has spoken to multiple victims who all tell similar stories – from the distraught stranger, to the claims evil spirits are threatening a relative. Even the name of the fictional healer is the same in many cases – ‘Mr Koh’.

All the victims are scammed within a few hours, in Mungnee’s case the whole con only took about three hours from beginning to end.

Anqi Shen is a law professor at Northumbria University and a former Chinese police officer. She believes the blessing scam is the latest example of a centuries old tradition of street crime that exploits spiritual beliefs.

“Chinese people tend to keep some valuable jewellery especially pieces made of gold, silver, jade, believed to hold protective powers,” Shen explains.

She says it’s believable to victims that after such items are blessed, they could offer even greater protection.

Tuyet van Huynh has started a social media campaign to raise awareness about the blessing scam, after her mother was scammed out of tens of thousands of pounds in May.

Her mum was shopping in Upton in East London when three women playing the same roles persuaded her that her son was threatened by evil spirits.

Police in the US, Canada, and Australia have issued warnings about blessing scams over the past year.

In the UK, Mungnee and Tuyet’s mother have both reported their cases to the Metropolitan Police, who have also revealed they are investigating a number of cases in the Islington area of London.

Tuyet has received reports of other incidents in Lewisham, Romford, Liverpool and, Manchester.

She began to investigate what happened by gathering CCTV recordings from the area where her mother was approached. Tuyet says the footage showed her mother “followed every instruction to the point where she was like a zombie”.

Tuyet’s mother can’t explain how the crooks pulled her in with the story of the healer, as she is adamantly not superstitious nor spiritual.

Tuyet wondered if something else might have been involved. She began to research if there was a drug that could have put her mum under somebody’s influence, but also leave her lucid enough to gather her valuables from hiding places around her home.

She has a theory: “It’s a possibility that this is a drug called the Devil’s Breath.”

Scopolamine, colloquially known as Devil’s Breath, is used to treat motion sickness. In the right dose it can reportedly make people highly suggestable – temporarily compromising a person’s free will. It can be administered to victims in the street, without them realising they have been drugged.

Tuyet has no evidence that this medication was used in her mother’s or any other case. It is one of very few drugs that could have such a lucid effect, and it has been used in robberies in Ecuador, France and Vietnam, as well as murders and sexual assaults in Colombia.

While it’s not known if this drug is involved in blessing scams in the UK, even if it was it would be difficult to establish.

The drug passes through the body very quickly, so when Tuyet tried to get her mum tested for the drug the next day, it was already too late.

Lisa Mills, a fraud expert from the charity Victim Support, says there may be other reasons the scam is so effective, and the set-up is designed to reel victims in quickly.

“You are getting people that mirror you in terms of you know they look like you. They’re female, similar age, speaking your language,” she explains.

At the moment the scammers are still at large, but some victims’ families are determined to find them

Mungnee says: “I told the police, I’m willing to do anything to catch these people”.

What also upsets her is that the scammers are Chinese: “They are conning their own people”.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

The 13-year-old boy should have been in school last Thursday, instead of sitting in a police station in central Gothenburg. But police say he fired shots outside the offices of Israeli tech firm Elbit Systems.

“He was basically caught in the act,” said police spokesman August Brandt, who said the shots were being investigated as an “attempted murder and weapons offence”.

Kalleback on the outskirts of Gothenburg is a fairly sleepy residential neighbourhood with upmarket developments, a supermarket and a few offices.

Nobody was hurt and little more is known about why a child might have opened fire on an otherwise quiet Thursday morning, outside an Israeli company that sells defence and homeland security solutions.

But this was no isolated incident. In fact there have been several this year.

Earlier this month, Israel’s embassies were targeted both in Sweden and neighbouring Denmark.

First there was a shooting outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, then two Swedish teenagers aged 16 and 19 were arrested in Copenhagen after hand grenades were detonated near the embassy there.

Nobody was hurt, but Sweden’s security service Sapo said immediately that Iran may have had a hand in both. Sapo head of operations Fredrik Hallstrom said Tehran’s involvement was an “objective hypothesis”.

Months ago Sapo accused Iran of recruiting Swedish gang members to carry out attacks on Israeli or Jewish interests.

Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the allegations as “unfounded and biased” and based on what it labelled misinformation emanating from Israel.

Many of the suspects have been teenagers, and some as young as 13 and 14.

“To understand why we see young Swedish teenagers attacking Israeli companies and embassies we need to first acknowledge that we have had an ongoing gang conflict here in Sweden for a long time,” says Diamant Salihu, an investigative crime journalist with Swedish public service television SVT.

One of Sweden’s most violent criminal gangs, known as Foxtrot, has brought a wave of violence to the streets of Sweden, often involving teenagers tasked with criminal errands ranging from shooting at the door of a rival, to detonating explosives to contract killings.

That spiralled in 2023 when Foxtrot gang leader Rawa Majid entered into a deadly feud with Ismail Abdo, a former friend who had become leader of a rival gang known as Rumba.

When Abdo’s mother was murdered at her home in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, in September last year, it opened a darker, increasingly violent chapter in Sweden’s gang wars.

A pair who were 15 and 19 at the time were found to have carried out the murder.

Majid fled abroad facing an international arrest warrant, an Interpol red notice and a growing list of enemies.

Born in Iran to Kurdish Iraqi parents, he had moved as a child to Sweden with his family.

He left Sweden for Turkey in 2018 then moved to Iran last year.

Israeli’s Mossad intelligence agency alleged that Majid had been working with Iran for months. It has blamed both his and Abdo’s gangs for the recent attacks.

When counter-intelligence chief Daniel Stenling said Sapo “can now confirm that criminal networks in Sweden are proxies that Iran uses,” Iran summoned Sweden’s highest diplomat in Tehran in protest.

Sweden has also sought the arrest of Majid’s rival, Ismail Abdo, who was arrested in Turkey last May but reportedly released on bail.

Journalist Diamant Salihu says Tehran has sought to persuade the gang to “commit crimes for the regime,” although Abdo’s gang has denied involvement with Iran.

While the gangs themselves may have been put under pressure by a foreign power, that cannot be the case for the teenagers who have become caught up in the wider Swedish problem of gang crime.

An estimated 14,000 people in Sweden are caught up in criminal gangs, according to a police report from this year, and a further 48,000 people are said to be connected to them.

“Today’s 13- and 14-year-olds who commit these grotesque offences were three or four years old 10 years ago,” conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a televised debate of party leaders on public TV last weekend.

The debate turned into a blame game between the centre-right coalition currently in power and their predecessors on the centre left.

Social Democrat former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson called for a “completely new approach” but Kristersson said “a very large extent of this is a problem linked to poor integration; and the integration problem is built on too high immigration”.

A disproportionate amount of gang members are men from immigrant backgrounds, but this has shifted, to the extent that Diamant Salihu says young people and adults from ethnic Swedish backgrounds are increasingly becoming involved.

Criminology specialist David Sausdal of Lund University, in the south of Sweden, says it has become increasingly difficult to monitor networks as they have become fragmented online, dragging people into a “gang gig-economy”.

“The people involved in it are just hired guns, paid for services. They deliver a pizza or a hand grenade as good as they can.

“They’re not super talented at it, they’re not motivated by inner hate or conflict as such. They’re just doing a job.”

It is that kind of change in Swedish society that is worrying police and politicians alike.

Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer has spoken of three parallel threats to Sweden’s security – terror, state actors and organised crime.

But the latest gang attacks, in David Sausdal’s words, go against conventional understanding of what has previously driven serious crime.

Sydney Opera House was lit up with images of past royal tours as King Charles and Queen Camilla touched down in the Australian city on Friday.

The couple arrived on a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft, following a torrential rainstorm, to begin their six-day tour of the country.

Australia’s Governor-General Sam Mostyn was there to greet the King and Queen, along with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

It is the King’s first visit to Australia since he became the country’s head of state in September 2022.

Images of members of the Royal Family visiting Australia were projected onto Sydney Opera House in honour of the King and Queen’s arrival.

However, they were partially blocked by a cruise ship, aptly named Queen Elizabeth, after its departure from the harbour was delayed by lightning and rain.

Queen Camilla disembarked the plane holding an umbrella. On her coat she wore a brooch made of white and yellow diamonds that was given to the late Queen Elizabeth II in February 1954 during her Commonwealth tour.

Before being driven away from the airport, the Queen received a posy of flowers from a group of young people.

The King and Queen were then brought to Admiralty House, the governor-general’s residence, for a private meeting with Australia’s prime minister.

Official royal engagements will begin on Sunday, giving the King and Queen a day to recover from the long flight.

The programme of events for the King and Queen also looks a bit different from regular royal tours.

The timetables do not include evening engagements. There are no state dinners, and no trips out late in the day.

This will be the biggest trip by the King since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

His treatment will be suspended while he is in Australia and during the next leg of his trip in Samoa, where he will attend a Commonwealth leaders’ summit.

The last such official arrival by a monarch in Australia was in 2011, when the late Queen Elizabeth II landed in Canberra.

The visit by King Charles will include supporting environmental projects, meeting political and community leaders and a naval review in Sydney Harbour.

The King will also meet two Australian scientists, Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer, who have carried out pioneering research on melanoma, one of the country’s most common cancers.

He’s been coming to Australia since he was a schoolboy and this will be his 17th visit – but his first as monarch.

A message on the the Royal Family’s social media account said: “Ahead of our first visit to Australia as King and Queen, we are really looking forward to returning to this beautiful country to celebrate the extraordinarily rich cultures and communities that make it so special.”

The visit has also re-opened questions about whether Australia should be a republic with an Australian head of state.

Albanese is a supporter of Australia becoming a Republic and appointing an Australian Head of State.

Those supporting a republic have been selling T-shirts labelling the royal visit a “farewell tour”.

But monarchists say it is “insulting” that none of the six state premiers will attend an official reception for the King in Canberra on Monday.

Ahead of the visit, letters between Buckingham Palace and the Australian Republic Movement were revealed, in which palace officials repeated that whether Australia became a republic or remained a constitutional monarchy was a choice for the Australian people.

Liam Payne was failed by the music industry, Sharon Osbourne has said in an emotional tribute to the former One Direction star.

Writing on Instagram, Osbourne said Payne was “just a kid” when he “entered one of the toughest industries in the world”.

“We all let you down,” added the TV personality and former X Factor judge, alongside a black-and-white photograph of Payne.

Osbourne is the latest to add her voice to the tributes that have poured in from across the world after the 31-year-old singer fell to his death in Buenos Aires on Wednesday night.

“Liam, my heart aches. We all let you down. Where was this industry when you needed them?” Osbourne wrote.

“You were just a kid when you entered one of the toughest industries in the world. Who was in your corner? Rest in peace my friend,” she said.

Osbourne was a judge on the first three series of The X Factor from 2004 to 2007, but was no longer a part of the show when Payne appeared in the competition.

She returned to the show in 2013, 2016 and 2017.

Payne rose to fame as a teenager, first appearing on The X Factor at the age of 14 in 2008.

He returned to the show two years later, when judge Simon Cowell created One Direction by matching Payne with Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.

• Niall Horan says death ‘doesn’t feel real’
• ‘Struggling to say goodbye’ – One Direction stars’ poignant tributes in full
• ‘I was a Directioner – here’s what Liam Payne meant to me’
• What we know so far about Liam Payne’s death
• Obituary: Boy band star who had the X factor
• Full transcript of 911 call made moments before star fell

While the group came third in The X Factor that year, they went on to become one of the most successful boy bands of all time, selling some 70 million records since their formation in 2010. The band went on a “hiatus” in 2016.

Reflecting on his meteoric rise in a 2019 BBC interview, Payne said he had been “very confused about fame when it all happened”.

In the same interview, he spoke about his “erratic behaviour” at the time the band broke up. “I was partying too hard,” he said.

After the astronomical success of One Direction, Payne found his solo career harder to maintain.

In 2023, the singer was forced to cancel his solo tour after being admitted to hospital with a “serious kidney infection”.

Osbourne is not the only person to take aim at the music industry in the wake of Payne’s death.

Boyzone’s Mikey Graham urged record companies to take seriously their “duty of care for the vulnerability of their young talent”.

He wrote on X: “Fame can be very damaging especially in today’s world. Lots of money. Nobody to help.”

And Katie Waissel, who appeared on the X Factor in 2010 alongside One Direction, has long campaigned for better support for those who appear on TV.

She spoke to the BBC last year about the “obscene amount of pressure” she felt under as a contestant on the show.

South Korean football player Hwang Ui-jo has apologised for secretly filming sexual encounters with his partners.

Prosecutors say the 31-year-old striker filmed sexual encounters with two of his partners without their consent on four occasions between June and September 2022.

In his first court appearance in Seoul on Wednesday, Hwang said he was “deeply sorry” for causing “disappointment”.

The former striker had just last month left England’s Nottingham Forest for Turkey’s Alanyaspor.

The videos came to light after Hwang’s sister-in-law shared them on social media last June, in an attempt to blackmail him.

She was sentenced to three years in prison in September for the blackmail after Hwang sued her.

However, the charges against him proceeded as prosecutors said he filmed the videos illegally.

Prosecutors refused to provide details on the women in the videos to prevent further harm.

“I will not do anything wrong in the future and will do my best as a footballer,” Hwang told the court in Seoul.

“I sincerely apologise to the victims who have been affected by my actions, and I am deeply sorry for the disappointment I have caused to all those who have cared and supported me,” he added.

There was a time when an invitation to a party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs was one of the most sought-after tickets in the entertainment industry.

With guest lists that included Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez, it was a chance to rub shoulders with some of the biggest celebrities. Jay-Z and Beyoncé even released new music at his events.

“When Diddy winked at you and said come into the VIP section, you knew you were going to have a really good night,” Rob Shuter, who worked as a publicist for the rapper at the height of his fame, told BBC News in an exclusive interview.

Now Mr Shuter’s former star client is sitting in a Brooklyn jail cell, a short drive away from the Hamptons, where he once presided over decadent celebrity bashes.

Mr Combs’s fall from grace has been swift, with an extensive federal criminal case charging him in a sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. More than a dozen civil lawsuits have also been filed, accusing the music mogul of assaults, rape and sexual extortion. One lawyer said he represents more than 100 alleged victims who claim they were sexually abused.

The Harlem-born rapper has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, whether in relation to the criminal or civil allegations.

A spokesperson denied the allegations against Diddy and told BBC News for this story that “Mr Combs remains strong, healthy, and disciplined, fully committed to his defence with the unwavering support of his family, legal team, and the truth”.

He is set to go on trial in May 2025.

Mr Shuter, who worked for Diddy from 2002-04, said Mr Combs was at a pivotal moment in his career when he started working for the rapper.

Mr Combs had founded Bad Boy Records in 1993, a label that represented some of the biggest names in hip hop – including artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher. In 1998, he created the Sean John clothing line that later became a cultural phenomenon. From there, he dipped into fragrances, alcohol and even set up a media company, becoming the host of multiple reality shows where he would discover new talent and make people stars.

Mr Shuter said that when he first joined the rapper’s world, Mr Combs wanted to transform his persona and elevate his career, looking to use his parties to keep himself at the centre of the entertainment industry.

“He was just figuring out that how he could get the most attention was to become the party king of New York.”

Mr Shuter said Mr Combs was obsessed with power and a deep desire to remain famous, explaining the star loved to have his photo taken and wanted to show off his lifestyle. It was Mr Shuter’s job to help keep “Diddy” at the top. Being part of his entourage, he said, was like being part of a circus – the rapper was the “ringmaster”.

He said he never witnessed any sexual misconduct. “I’ve seen the imbalance of power,” he said. “What I haven’t seen is what is now alleged, which is just horrific.”

“The reason he was such a superstar is because all he thinks about is Diddy. From the minute he wakes up until the minute he goes to bed,” Mr Shuter told BBC News. “Diddy’s hobby is Diddy.”

He also claims Mr Combs also held a deep fascination with the British royal family. Mr Shuter said he remembers being asked more than 10 times to call Prince Harry and Prince William with invites to parties, offering to cover their travel, lodging and even pay for their security.

In his lavish New York apartment, the rapper kept framed pictures of the princes, Mr Shuter said, explaining: “He thought of himself as a king so it makes perfect sense that he would like to have two princes in his entourage.”

Both Harry and William never accepted an invite from Mr Combs, he added.

But saying “no” to the music mogul wasn’t something many others did.

“There were always guns around Diddy,” Mr Shuter said, describing metal detectors in his apartment that resembled those at an airport. “It was strange.”

Mr Shuter described firearms all over the rapper’s home. In his private living quarters, security guards had guns strapped to their ankles. Mr Combs held a close circle and was serious about both his security and his image.

“You don’t get to be Diddy… unless the people around you were buttoned up. There was nobody around him sloppy.”

In the Los Angeles area, the rapper lived on what has become known as Beverly Hills’s most expensive street.

The high fences allow celebrities to hide from prying eyes. Hugh Hefner’s Playboy mansion sits a few doors down.

The towering gates of Mr Combs’ estate have flaming torches burning day and night.

Neighbours told the BBC they often called police over his parties.

A freedom of information request by the BBC has revealed that officers were dispatched to parties at the P Diddy mansion 14 times over seven years.

On a street where discretion and privacy are of the utmost importance, no-one wished to be named, but neighbours described privately to the BBC what they witnessed, saying they were fed up and disturbed by what they saw.

“For six or seven years it was just parties, parties, parties,” one neighbour said, adding she saw females at all hours “coming out and sitting down on the street, they didn’t know where they were”.

She said they appeared “lost” and “their underwear was showing”.

Mr Combs’s mansion in Beverly Hills was one of several venues he used to host his annual “White Party”, a flagship event which he held from 1998 to 2009.

He began the parties in New York’s exclusive Hamptons area with a strict all-white dress code, bringing together East Hampton’s old-money elite and the rising stars of hip hop.

Mr Combs once described the parties as a way to break down racial and generational barriers.

But the hottest party of the year was a “facade” that allowed “sinister” conduct, a recent lawsuit alleges.

In a lawsuit filed this week, a man – who was 16 years old at the time – described the thrill of getting to attend Mr Combs’s first “White Party” in 1998. Walking into the Hamptons mansion, he saw celebrities and entertainment executives left and right. In the lawsuit, he said he believed the party could open doors to a music career.

He said he was on his way to the bathroom when he ran into the rapper. They started talking and then moved to another, more private area. That’s when Mr Combs said the teen had the right “look” and he could turn anyone into a star, the lawsuit states.

Then things took a turn. Mr Combs abruptly ordered the then-teenage boy to drop his pants so that Mr Combs could examine and touch him, the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, Mr Combs said it was “a rite of passage” and “the route to becoming a star”. It also claims that he said it was a way for him to prove himself, asking the teen: “Don’t you want to break into the business?”

At least two other lawsuits centre on the parties.

Former adult film star Adria English claimed she was “groomed into sex trafficking over time” after working at multiple White Party events, where she alleges the alcohol was laced with drugs. Another lawsuit, filed anonymously this week by a man, makes allegations about a 2006 White Party. He said in the lawsuit that he was working security at the event, where drinks were allegedly laced with drugs, and said he was raped by Mr Combs.

More than a dozen civil lawsuits in total have been filed accusing the music mogul of assaults, rape and sexual extortion. In these lawsuits, both men and women say they were coerced or forced into sex, either by Mr Combs or those in his entourage. Others say they obliged because they were intimidated by Mr Combs and the power he held in the entertainment industry. Some described having their careers derailed or opportunities taken from them when they did not cave to Mr Combs’s whims.

Mr Combs’ legal team has dismissed the lawsuits as “clear attempts to garner publicity”. In response to this story, a spokesperson for the rapper told BBC News that allegations of wrongdoing at his notorious parties were unfounded.

“Sean Combs’ white parties and other events were iconic, a true convergence of hip-hop, Hollywood, and Black excellence,” the statement reads.

“It’s disappointing to see the media and social commentators twist these cultural moments into something they were not. Shaming celebrities who attended, taking video clips and photos out of context, and trying to link these events to false allegations is simply untrue.”

Singer Cassie, who dated the rapper off-and-on for nearly a decade starting in 2007, accused the mogul in a lawsuit of controlling every aspect of her life, forcing her to take excessive amounts of drugs, have sex with other men, beating her for years and threatening her – and those in her circle – when she tried to leave the relationship.

In a lawsuit – which started an avalanche of accusations against the rapper – the singer said while dating Mr Combs she realised he had a “tremendously loyal network” that would do anything he asked.

“She recognized that she was powerless, and that reporting Mr Combs to the authorities would not alter Mr Combs’s status or influence but would merely give Mr Combs another excuse to hurt her,” the lawsuit stated.

Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, said at one point after she attempted to leave Mr Combs, his record label threatened “her single would not be released if she did not answer Mr Combs’s phone calls”, the lawsuit states.

Lawyers for Mr Combs have again denied the allegations, saying in a statement to the BBC earlier this week that he “has never sexually assaulted anyone – adult or minor, man or woman”.

While various lawsuits detail alleged sexual assaults at parties held at Mr Combs’s properties, so-called “Freak-off” parties at hotel rooms appear to be a focus for federal authorities. The Department of Justice charged him with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution in a 14-page indictment last month.

Prosecutors have accused Mr Combs of recording sex acts during “Freak Offs”, which federal authorities describe as days-long sex parties involving multiple sex workers.

The indictment alleged that Mr Combs and his associates booked hotel rooms and stocked them with narcotics like ketamine, lubricant, extra linens and lighting so that they could record the orgies.

During the “Freak Offs,” Mr Combs allegedly “hit, kicked, threw objects at victims”, which led to injuries that would sometimes take weeks to heal, the court documents state.

According to the indictment, participants were allegedly coerced with drugs and threats to remain “obedient and compliant”. Afterwards, those involved would take IV fluids to recover, prosecutors allege.

Ms Ventura’s lawsuit, filed in November 2023 – almost a year before his indictment in New York – includes graphic details of these alleged “Freak-Off” parties. The lawsuit states Mr Combs would host these events weekly in hotels in New York and Los Angeles, flying in sex workers, supplying drugs that included ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine and forcing the singer to perform sex acts.

During a raid on Mr Combs’s Los Angeles and Miami mansions, law enforcement officers seized AR-15-style guns, large-capacity magazines, thousands of bottles of lube and baby oil.

Mr Combs’s arrest and the fallout surrounding his career has sparked hope among activists and survivors of sexual violence that his case could drive meaningful change within the music industry.

Gloria Allred, a prominent women’s rights lawyer who has defended a number of women throughout the #MeToo movement, believes the world is finally seeing a “reckoning” in the music industry.

She’s representing Thalia Graves, who alleges she was drugged and violently raped by the rapper in 2001. She said she was threatened by Mr Combs and did not speak out, fearing he would “ruin her life”, Allred said.

But Ms Allred told the BBC she thinks the fallout from Diddy’s arrest is far from over.

“Courage is contagious,” she said.

And prosecutors and lawyers for the growing list of Mr Combs’s accusers have hinted there is more to come.

“Combs did not do this all on his own,” Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said. “He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way.”

The investigation into the case is still open, authorities say.

As Mr Combs left his most recent court appearance in a beige prison jumpsuit, he mouthed to his family “I love you” and repeatedly put his hands to his heart, making a prayer sign.

As the hearing ended, a group of fans huddled by the courtroom doors on their tiptoes hoping to catch sight of him and show support for the rapper.

For his former assistant, the media storm that now surrounds the rapper is not without a hint of irony.

“He wanted to make himself the most famous person in the world, and ironically, now he is,” Mr Shuter said.

North Korea has started sending troops to fight with Russia in Ukraine, South Korea’s spy agency has said as Seoul warned of a “grave security threat”.

The allegation comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed 10,000 North Korean soldiers could join the war, based on intelligence information.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a security meeting on Friday and said the international community must respond with “all available means”.

According to the spy agency, 1,500 troops have already arrived in Russia – with anonymous sources telling South Korean media the final figure could be closer to 12,000.

This comes as evidence mounts that North Korea is supplying Russia with ammunition, as recently demonstrated by the recovery of a missile in Ukraine’s Poltava region.

Moscow and Pyongyang have also been deepening their cooperation in recent months. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on his birthday, calling him his “closest comrade”.

Friday’s security meeting was attended by key officials from South Korea’s National Security Office, the Ministry of National Defence, and the National Intelligence Service, Yoon’s office said.

“[The participants] decided not to ignore the situation and to jointly respond to it with the international community using all available means,” it said.

The allegation from the National Intelligence Service comes days after Ukrainian military intelligence sources said that Russia’s army is forming a unit of North Koreans.

The BBC has reached out to the NIS for comment.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s spy chief Kyrylo Budanov claimed that there were nearly 11,000 North Korean infantry troops training in eastern Russia to fight in Ukraine.

“They will be ready [to fight in Ukraine] on 1 November,” Lt Gen Budanov, who heads the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence Directorate, told The Warzone website.

He added that the North Koreans would be using Russian equipment and ammunition, and the first group of 2,600 soldiers would be sent to Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine holds a number of settlements after launching its incursion in August.

Earlier this week, Putin introduced a bill to ratify a military pact he made with Kim, which pledges that Russia and North Korea will help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.

South Korea’s spy agency, the NIS, said North Korean troops are training in Russian bases in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk, and Vlagoveshensk.

This appears to confirm information from a military source in Russia’s Far East, who told BBC Russian this week that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” and were stationed in one of the military bases near Ussuriysk.

Seoul’s spy agency also released aerial photographs of Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk, where they say hundreds of North Korean troops have gathered, and another photo of North Korea’s Chongjin port, where a Russian ship was reportedly shown carrying North Korean soldiers.

The NIS said it found that since August, North Korea has sent 13,000 shipping containers carrying shells, missiles, and anti-armour rockets to Russia.

As many as eight million 122-mm and 152-mm shells have been supplied to Russia, it said.

However, some military experts believe the Russian military units will have difficulties incorporating North Korean troops into their frontlines.

Apart from the language barrier, the North Korean army has no recent experience of combat operations, they said.

“They could guard some sections of the Russian-Ukrainian border, which would free Russian units for fighting elsewhere,” said Valeriy Ryabykh, editor of the Ukrainian publication Defence Express.

“I would rule out the possibility that these units will immediately appear on the front line.”

Former One Direction star Liam Payne died at the age of 31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday after falling from a balcony.

Many details about the British singer’s death still remain unclear, but information from emergency services and other authorities has started to build a picture of the events.

Payne was a global star and part of the much-loved boyband, which was created on The X factor TV show in 2010.

His bandmates have released a series of heartfelt statements, saying they are “completely devastated” by his death.

Payne was staying in a hotel in the upmarket neighbourhood of Palermo in the Argentine capital.

He had been at the hotel for two or three days, according to staff, and had been in the country to visit his former bandmate Niall Horan.

Horan was in Argentina on tour and the pair had remained friendly since One Direction’s 2016 split.

Payne posted on Snapchat earlier this month that he was visiting Horan for a catch-up, saying: “It’s been a while since me and Niall have spoken, we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

He added: “No bad vibes or anything like that, but we need to talk.”

• His final Snapchats from last few days in Argentina

Payne attended the show, again posting social media videos of himself and girlfriend Kate Cassidy singing and dancing at the concert.

The BBC also spoke to fan Noelia Verón – who saw him on 30 September and then again at the concert on 2 October.

She said “He was fine. Later people said he was either drunk or on drugs. But that wasn’t the case at all. He talked to us, hugged us and even made jokes.”

When Veron saw him at Niall’s show, she said he was “dancing, waving and cheering” and “seemed to be enjoying himself”.

We also know the pop star had visited a friend’s house in Argentina in the days before he died, again with Cassidy.

But when Payne fell to his death on Wednesday, Cassidy had already left the country.

Payne had been documenting much of his trip on Snapchat, including pictures of food, plans to play polo, and jokes about his hair.

But none of his posts featured the CasaSur hotel, where he had been staying shortly before his death.

We know a call was made to emergency services around 17:00 local time (21:00 BST) on Wednesday by hotel staff, with requests to respond to a hotel guest “who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol” and “destroying his room”.

“I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger. But he has a room with a balcony and we’re a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening,” said the hotel’s front desk manager in a second call.

• Read the full transcript of the hotel’s emergency call

Payne’s room was on the third floor and had a balcony about 14m (45ft) above an interior courtyard.

It is thought he fell from the balcony at about 17:07 local time.

Police arrived minutes later. Hotel staff told them a loud sound had been heard in the courtyard, where Payne’s body was discovered.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, with the emergency services saying there had been “no possibility of resuscitation”.

Payne’s body was removed from the hotel at about 20:30 local time and an autopsy was carried out that evening.

It established that he had suffered “multiple traumas” and “internal and external haemorrhaging” according to the public prosecutor’s office.

A preliminary report stated he had 25 injuries, which were “consistent with a fall from a great height”.

It also added that he may have been fully or partially unconscious when he fell.

It is yet to be established whether alcohol or drugs were in Payne’s system at the time of death.

Authorities also interviewed five witnesses to help piece together Payne’s final hours, including three hotel workers as well as two women who had been with the singer but had left the hotel before his death.

Investigators also want to establish the “possible involvement of third parties in the events prior to the victim’s death”.

Hotel staff on the emergency call highlighted that Payne was “destroying his room”, and police say they found the room in “total disorder”.

A bottle of whiskey, a lighter, a passport and a mobile phone were found.

The room was said to have “various broken items” and medication was found, including anxiety drug Clonazepam and other over-the-counter medications.

Evidence and fingerprints were also collected to be analysed in a lab.

Local media also published pictures purportedly from his room, showing a TV with a broken screen, multiple bottles, cans, candles, aluminium foil and a half-full glass of champagne.

The prosecutor’s office said substances that appeared to be “narcotics and alcoholic beverages” were found in the room with pieces of furniture and other objects broken.

Payne’s death is being treated as suspicious by prosecutors, which means more needs to be established about what happened before his death and who he was in contact with.

A toxicology report is also yet to be published and will determine whether he was drinking alcohol and using drugs before his death.

It could take several days for this to come back.

Police have also seized the star’s laptop and phone, which could provide evidence, and eyewitness reports could help establish what led to his death.

The force said on Friday that Payne’s close family would have to travel to Argentina to identify his body before it is released.

Full coverage of the death of Liam Payne:

• Niall Horan says death ‘doesn’t feel real’
• ‘Struggling to say goodbye’ – One Direction’s tributes in full
• ‘I was a Directioner – here’s what he meant to me’
• ‘We all let you down Liam’, says Sharon Osbourne
• ‘He was a big piece of my life’: Your tributes to Liam
• Obituary: Boy band star who had the X factor

Israeli troops had for more than a year hunted the leader of Hamas, who disappeared in Gaza soon after masterminding the 7 October attacks.

Yahya Sinwar, 61, was said to have spent much of his time hiding in the tunnels under the Strip, along with a cadre of bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages seized from Israel.

But ultimately, it appears he met his end in a chance encounter with an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza. His guard detail was small. No hostages were found.

Details are still emerging, but here’s what we know so far about Sinwar’s killing.

• Follow live updates on this story
• Who was Yahya Sinwar?
• Jeremy Bowen analysis: Sinwar’s death is serious blow to Hamas, but not the end of the war
• Watch: Netanyahu says focus on hostages after Sinwar death
• Explainer: What has happened to Hamas’ most prominent leaders?

The Israel Defense Forces says a unit from its 828th Bislamach Brigade was patrolling Tal al-Sultan, an area of Rafah, on Wednesday.

Three fighters were identified and engaged by the Israeli troops – and all were eliminated.

At that stage nothing seemed particularly remarkable about the firefight and the soldiers did not return to the scene until Thursday morning.

It was then, as the dead were inspected, that one of the bodies was found to bear a striking resemblance to the leader of Hamas.

The corpse however remained at the site due to suspected booby traps and instead, part of a finger was removed and sent to Israel for testing.

His body was finally extracted and brought to Israel later that day as the area was made safe.

Daniel Hagari, the IDF’s spokesman, said his forces “didn’t know he was there but we continued to operate”.

He said his troops had identified the three men running from house to house, and engaged them before they split up.

The man since identified as Sinwar “ran alone into one of the buildings”. After being located by a drone, he was killed when a tank launched a shell at the building.

Sinwar’s body was found with a flak jacket, a gun and 40,000 shekels (£8,240).

None of the hostages Sinwar was believed to be using as a human shield were present and his small retinue suggests either he was trying to move unnoticed, or had lost many of those protecting him.

Hagari also said the IDF had gained an indication of Sinwar’s previous movements when they found his DNA in a tunnel close to where the bodies of six hostages were recovered around six weeks ago.

Israel is now searching for Sinwar’s brother, Muhammad Sinwar, and all Hamas military commanders, Hagari said.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, said: “Sinwar died while beaten, persecuted and on the run – he didn’t die as a commander, but as someone who only cared for himself. This is a clear message to all of our enemies.”

Drone footage released by the Israeli military late on Thursday was said to show Sinwar’s final moments before he was killed.

The video appears to be shot from a drone flying through the open window of a mostly destroyed building.

It approaches a man, with his head covered, sitting in an armchair on the first floor of a house that is littered with debris.

The man, who seems to be injured, then throws what appears to be a stick at the drone and the video ends.

Israel first announced it was “investigating the possibility” that Sinwar had been killed in Gaza on Thursday afternoon local time.

Within minutes of the announcement, pictures posted to social media showed the body of a man with very similar features to the Hamas leader, who had suffered catastrophic head wounds. The images are too graphic to republish.

However, officials warned “at this stage” the identity of any of the three men killed could not be confirmed.

Not long after that, Israeli sources told the BBC leaders were “increasingly confident” they had killed him. However, they said all necessary tests must be carried out before the death could be confirmed.

Those tests did not take long. By Thursday evening, Israel had announced they had been completed and that Sinwar was confirmed “eliminated”.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said “evil” had been “dealt a blow”, but warned the Israeli war in Gaza had not been completed.

While Sinwar was not killed during a targeted operation, the IDF said that it had for weeks been operating in areas where intelligence indicated his presence.

In short, Israeli forces had narrowed Sinwar’s rough location to the southern city of Rafah, and were slowly moving in to get him.

Sinwar had been on the run for more than a year. He had undoubtedly felt the Israeli pressure growing as other Hamas leaders, such as Mohammad Dief and Ismail Haniyeh, were killed, and as Israel destroyed the infrastructure he had used to prosecute the atrocities of 7 October.

In a statement, the IDF said its operations in recent weeks in the south had “restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational movement as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination”.

Killing Sinwar was a major goal for Israel, which marked him for death soon after the 7 October attacks. But his end does not end the war in Gaza.

On Friday, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, Basem Naim, said in a statement that it seems “Israel believes that killing our leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people”, but said Hamas as a movement could not be eliminated.

Naim did not directly name Sinwar or confirm his death, but said “it is very painful and distressing to lose beloved people”.

While Netanyahu said he had “settled the score”, he insisted the war would continue – not least to save the 101 hostages still held by Hamas.

“To the dear hostage families, I say: this is an important moment in the war. We will continue full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home.”

In Israel, families of hostages said they hoped a ceasefire could now be reached that would bring home the captives.

With less than three weeks left for the US presidential elections, and the two candidates locked in a dead heat race, a charity dinner that has historically been about good-natured ribbing turned out to be not an entirely jokey affair.

Donald Trump made an appearance at the Al Smith charity dinner with his wife Melania. He gave an address that resembled a rally – with bitter attacks on his rival Kamala Harris – but also made a few gags at his own expense in line with tradition.

Harris broke with convention herself by declining to attend in favour of a key campaign event, instead sending a video skit that was played to attendees.

The event, which is aimed at raising funds for women and children in need, is often the last time the two nominees share a stage before election day.

Here are four memorable moments from the night.

Tradition dictates that the presidential candidates attending the dinner crack a few gags at their own expense. Trump acknowledged the convention but said he had “nothing” to say.

“I guess I just don’t see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me for a hell of a long time,” he quipped.

It appeared to be a reference to the fact he has survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign – including in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear during a rally.

Returning to a city in which he was slapped with a criminal conviction earlier this year, Trump also acknowledged his legal headaches.

“It is a true pleasure to be with you this evening,” he said, “and these days, it’s really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.”

• US election polls: Who is ahead – Harris or Trump?

Despite extending some courteous words to rival Democrats in the room, Trump could not resist some electoral one-upmanship.

Touching on the bitter rivalry he had with the previous Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, he admitted he “didn’t like Biden very much but now I like him quite a bit”.

But he clarified that this was only because Biden exited the presidential race in July. As for his new competitor, Harris, he suggested there was a chance he could grow fond of her – but only if she lost the contest for the White House.

“When we win, I’ll like her, but right now, I don’t like her,” he said.

Trump also made sure to aim barbs at Harris for not attending the event in person. He suggested that his opponent must have been “hunting” with Time Walz, her running mate, sport enthusiast and fellow gun owner.

Instead of attending the dinner, Harris sent in a pre-recorded skit in which she poked fun at Trump, alongside Saturday Night Live alumnus Molly Shannon.

As part of the sketch written for the Catholic charity benefit gig, she was given advice by Shannon’s character on how to treat the audience. “Don’t lie,” Shannon told Harris. “Thou shalt not bear false witness to thy neighbour.”

“Indeed,” Harris retorted, and went on to make a dig at Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 vote. “Especially thy neighbour’s election results.”

Harris was also urged by Shannon to avoid offending Catholics at a Catholic event, because to do so would be “like criticising Detroit in Detroit”.

That was a reference to an event last week in which Trump said the US would “end up” like Detroit if Harris won the election.

Though Harris did not poke fun at herself in her short video, speakers other than Trump who attended the dinner were on hand to mock the Democrats.

“President Biden couldn’t be here tonight,” said host Jim Gaffigan. “The DNC (Democratic National Committee) made sure of that.”

Biden withdrew from the presidential race in July, following pressure from his party’s top brass.

• SIMPLE GUIDE: How to win a US election
• EXPLAINER: What Harris or Trump would do in power
• GLOBAL: Harris or Trump? What Chinese people want
• ON THE GROUND: Harris faces headwinds in Michigan
• VOICES: ‘I’m uneasy’ – first-time voters weigh in
• POLLS: Who is winning the race for the White House?

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Liam Payne’s former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan has said he is “absolutely devastated” by the “passing of his amazing friend”.

Payne died on Wednesday evening in Buenos Aires and had flown in to Argentina to see Horan perform on tour.

“It just doesn’t feel real,” Horan wrote.

“I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”

In the statement, posted on Instagram, Horan said: “Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure.

“All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness. We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a lifetime.”

Horan, 31, also sent his “love and condolences” to Payne’s family.

“Thank you for everything, Payno,” he signed off.

Full coverage of the death of Liam Payne:

• ‘Struggling to say goodbye’ – One Direction’s tributes in full
• ‘I was a Directioner – here’s what he meant to me’
• What we know so far about his death
• ‘We all let you down Liam’, says Sharon Osbourne
• Obituary: Boy band star who had the X factor
• Full transcript of 911 call made moments before star fell

The pair had remained friendly since One Direction’s 2016 split, with Payne explaining to fans on Snapchat earlier this month that he was visiting Horan for a catch-up.

He said: “It’s been a while since me and Niall have spoken, we’ve got a lot to talk about.

“No bad vibes or anything like that, but we need to talk,” he added.

Payne attended Horan’s concert last week, again posting social media videos of himself and girlfriend Kate Cassidy singing and dancing to the performance.

Horan finished his world tour on 9 October in Bogota, Colombia, and reportedly then returned to his home in London.

He was the final member of One Direction to post an individual statement on the passing of 31-year-old Payne.

The band, which got together in 2010 on The X Factor, posted a joint statement on Thursday, in which they said they needed time “to grieve and process the loss of our brother”.

Harry Styles said in his individual statement that his “heart breaks” for Payne’s family and added: “His greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it.”

Louis Tomlinson echoed Styles’ sentiments, describing Liam as “the most vital part of One Direction” who had a “gift for writing”.

Zayn Malik spoke to Payne directly in his statement, praising him for his “positive outlook and reassuring smile”.

Ed Sheeran, who co-wrote Payne’s 2017 debut solo single Strip That Down, also reacted to the news on Instagram on Friday, saying he was “at a loss for words”.

“My thoughts are with his family and loved ones, every memory I have with him is a great one, just such a heartbreaking situation.”

Sheeran finished his post by asking fans to “be kind”, a sentiment echoed by Robbie Williams.

Williams, who performed with One Direction on The X Factor in 2010, said he had previously reached out to offer help to Payne because his “trials and tribulations were very similar to mine”.

“What a handsome talented boy,” he wrote. “What a tragic painful loss for his friends, family, fans and by the looks of the energy this moment has created – the world.”

He wrote: “We don’t know whats going on in people’s lives.

“What pain they’re going through and what makes them behave in the way that they behave.

“Before we reach to judgement, a bit of slack needs to be given.”

He added: “We can at least try to be more compassionate towards ourselves, our family, our friends, strangers in life and strangers on the internet.

“Even famous strangers need your compassion.”

Payne spoke candidly in recent years about his struggles with alcohol and the toll fame took on his mental health.

Former Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons alleges she was “groped” on two occasions by the football club’s late owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

The former Harrods boss tried to “forcefully” kiss her at his department store in 2000, when she was 20, she told The Athletic website.

“Speaking my truth and finally telling my story will hopefully help me heal and be rid of the shame, embarrassment and pain I have carried for years,” she said.

Lawyers from the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said they were representing four former players of the club.

Fulham FC told the BBC it was trying to establish whether anyone at the club “had been impacted” by Al Fayed.

“The club is profoundly troubled to learn of the experiences told today by former Women’s Team captain, Ronnie Gibbons,” Fulham said.

“She has our deepest empathy and support.”

• How Fayed built a corrupt system of enablers to carry out his sexual abuse
• The red flags that were missed or dismissed when Harrods was bought
• Forty new allegations against Al Fayed made to police
• Man’s six-year hunt to expose Al Fayed abuse
• Doctors’ regulator refused to investigate Harrods medical tests
• We were lambs to the slaughter, says Fayed accuser

Al Fayed owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013.

In 2000, Fulham’s women’s team – known at the time as Fulham Ladies – became the first female football team in Europe to turn professional.

Gibbons, who was captain at the time, said she was driven to Harrods by club staff. Once at the luxury department store, she said she was left alone with Al Fayed, who was then in his 70s.

“He pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth,” she said of their first meeting.

“He had his arms holding my arms, like at my side, so I couldn’t push him away or anything like that. It was a real kind of control stance, like ‘I’m dominating you’.

“I was just like, ‘What do I do here?’ I just felt like a huge responsibility on my shoulders at that point because we’d just turned professional.”

Gibbons said that Al Fayed tried to forcefully kiss her again: “He even may have stuck his tongue on me or something. I just remember feeling sick, just really physically feeling sick, when I left there.”

Later that summer, she said a member of staff told her she had been summoned to Harrods again by Al Fayed.

In the interview with The Athletic, she recalled: “This time he groped me. As he was saying goodbye, he was sort of grabbing me, trying to sort of hold on to me and kiss me. He was like, ‘You’re not scared are you? You don’t need to be scared, I’m not going to do anything like that, you’re very precious, you’re a very special girl’.”

Fulham FC told the BBC: “We unequivocally condemn all forms of abuse. We remain in the process of establishing whether anyone at the Club is or would have been impacted by Mohamed Al Fayed in any manner as described in recent reports.”

Last week, the Metropolitan Police said it had received 40 new allegations from people that included sexual assault and rape against Al Fayed.

The allegations follow a BBC documentary and podcast, containing testimony from former Harrods employees who said the billionaire sexually assaulted or raped them.

Since the documentary first aired in September, a further 65 women have contacted the BBC saying they were abused by Al Fayed, with allegations stretching beyond Harrods and as far back as 1977.

Last month, the former manager of Fulham’s women’s team Gaute Haugenes told the BBC that extra precautions had been put in place to protect female players from Al Fayed.

Haugenes, who managed the team from 2001 to 2003, said members of staff became aware that the late billionaire “liked young, blonde girls”.

Gibbons was reported to be angered by these comments.

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Haugenes, who is Norwegian, said he could completely understand her frustration.

“All I can say is I am really sorry for saying something that could have put more wood on the fire. I honestly thought we protected the players,” he said.

“I knew that he liked Ronnie because all the girls, they joked about it. But I thought he was an old man, she was a young woman. I was 30 at the time, I didn’t think people his age were thinking about sex.

“I might have been naive, it might have been some of the language barriers that I didn’t pick up details in their joking.”

He added that he had not been aware she had been told to go to Harrods.

Asked whether club staff could have done more, he said it was difficult to know what could have been done differently.

“But you should have had a system that picked up things like that,” he said. “It was before I was a manager that she went there.”

He added: “It is sad to hear she had those kind of experiences as a professional player.”

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said the abuse Gibbons had endured from Al Fayed was “yet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses he owned”.

They added: “We salute our client’s bravery and are proud to advocate for Ronnie and others at Fulham who are searching for justice. We will do whatever we can to lift the lid on abuse, no matter where it was perpetrated, or who it was perpetrated by, including any enablers of Al-Fayed’s abhorrent behaviour.”

A spokesperson for Harrods said it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed.

It said: “These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.

“We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise.”

Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods

A BBC investigation into allegations of rape and attempted rape by Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods. Did the luxury store protect a billionaire predator?

Watch Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods on BBC iPlayer now.

Listen to World of Secrets, Season 4: Al Fayed, Predator at Harrods on BBC Sounds. If you’re outside the UK, you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.

The United States has charged a former Indian intelligence officer for allegedly directing a foiled plot to assassinate an American citizen who advocates for Khalistan – an independent Sikh state that would be carved out of India.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said on Thursday that it had registered “murder-for-hire and money laundering charges” against Vikash Yadav for trying to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The indictment of Yadav, for the first time, implicates the Indian government directly in the attempted assassination of a dissident.

The Indian government has said it is co-operating with the ongoing investigation in the US. It has not responded to the specific charges against Mr Yadav yet.

The development comes after Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national also charged in the case, was extradited to the US from a prison in Prague earlier this year.

The FBI has accused Indian agents of involvement in an assassination attempt on Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, saying Pannun was targeted for exercising his “First Amendment rights” to free speech.

“The FBI will not tolerate acts of violence or other efforts to retaliate against those residing in the U.S. for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” said FBI director Christopher Wray in a statement.

India has labelled Pannun a terrorist, though he denies the allegation, claiming to be an activist advocating for Khalistan.

According to the US indictment, Yadav was the mastermind behind the plot to murder Pannun and he recruited Gupta in May 2023 to orchestrate the assassination in exchange for getting a case against him in India dismissed.

“In or about June 2023, in furtherance of the assassination plot, Yadav provided Gupta with personal information about the victim, including the victim’s home address in New York City, phone numbers associated with the victim, and details about the victim’s day-to-day conduct,” the indictment states.

On Thursday, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, stated that the individual referred to as “CC-1” in the US Justice Department’s indictment is no longer employed by the Indian government.

However, he did not provide a specific name, leaving it unclear whether he was referring to Yadav, who is widely speculated to be the same person.

In response to Yadav’s indictment, Pannun said the attempt on his life on American soil was a “blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism, which has become a challenge to America’s sovereignty and threat to freedom of speech and democracy.”

Yadav’s indictment comes days after the Canadian police and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, setting off a new row that led to both countries expelling diplomats.

India has rejected the allegations as “preposterous”, accusing Trudeau of pandering to Canada’s large Sikh community for political gain.

Earlier this week, the US State Department urged India to co-operate in Canada’s investigation.

The indictment describes Yadav as a “citizen and resident of India”. He has also been referred to as Vikas and Amanat.

It states that he was part of the Government of India’s cabinet secretariat, under which the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) – the country’s top intelligence agency – operates. RAW falls under the authority of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The indictment further states that Yadav had described his position as “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “security management” and “intelligence”.

It adds that he has also served in India’s paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and had received training in “battle craft and weapons”.

The Washington Post reported that Yadav is still in India and that the US is expected to seek his extradition, citing US official sources.

The US State Department has said that it was satisfied with India’s co-operation in the investigation of the alleged murder plot.

Meanwhile, India’s relationship with Canada continues to deteriorate with both Delhi and Ottawa firing a salvo of accusations against each other.

Mr Jaiswal said on Thursday that India had repeatedly asked Canada to extradite individuals believed to be part of the group of jailed Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, but had received no response.

The Canadian police have alleged that agents of the Indian government were using members of Bishnoi’s gang to carry out “homicides, extortion and violent acts” and target supporters of the pro-Khalistan movement. India has denied the allegation saying that Canada has not provided any evidence regarding them.

India’s accusations came in response to Mr Trudeau’s claims that India had made a “massive mistake” if it was behind the death of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil.

Liam Payne’s One Direction bandmates have posted a series of poignant and heartfelt tributes to their “brother”, who they remembered as “the most vital part” of the group.

Read their statements in full:

I’m absolutely devastated about the passing of my amazing friend, Liam. It just doesn’t feel real.

Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure.

All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness. We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a litetime.

I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.

My love and condolences go out to Geoff, Karen, Ruth, Nicola and of course his son Bear.

Thank you for everything, Payno.

Love you brother.

Nialler

I am truly devastated by Liam’s passing.

His greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it.

Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious. He was warm, supportive, and incredibly loving. The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life. I will miss him always, my lovely friend.

My heart breaks for Karen, Geoff, Nicola and Ruth, his son Bear, and all those around the world who knew and loved him, as I did.

I am beyond devastated to be writing this but yesterday I lost a brother. Liam was somebody I looked up to everyday, such a positive, funny, and kind soul.

I first met Liam when he was 16 and I was 18, I was instantly amazed by his voice but more importantly as time went on I got a chance to see the kind brother I’d longed all my life for.

Liam was an incredible song writer with a great sense of melody, we often spoke of getting back in the studio together to try and recreate the writing chemistry we had built up in the band.

And for the record, Liam was in my opinion the most vital part of One Direction. His experience from a young age, his perfect pitch, his stage presence, his gift for writing. The list goes on. Thank you for shaping us Liam.

A message to you Liam if you’re listening,

I feel beyond lucky to have had you in my life but I’m really struggling with the idea of saying goodbye. I’m so grateful that we got even closer since the band, speaking on the phone for hours, reminiscing about all the thousands of amazing memories we had together is a luxury I thought I’d have with you for life. I would have loved to share the stage with you again but it wasn’t to be.

I want you to know that if Bear ever needs me I will be the Uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories of how amazing his dad was.

I wish I got chance to say goodbye and tell you one more time how much I loved you.

Payno, my boy, one of my best friends, my brother, I love you mate. Sleep well X

Liam, I have found myself talking out loud to you, hoping you can hear me, I can’t help but think selfishly that there was so many more conversations for us to have in our lives.

I never got to thank you for supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life.

When I was missing home as a 17 yr old kid you would always be there with a positive outlook and reassuring smile and let me know you were my friend and that I was loved.

Even though you were younger than me you were always more sensible than me, you were headstrong, opinionated, and gave no [expletive]s about telling people when they were wrong.

Even though we butted heads because of this a few times, I always secretly respected you for it.

When it came to the music Liam, you were the most qualified in every sense. I knew nothing in comparison, was a novice child with no experience and you were already a professional. I was always happy to know, no matter what happened on stage we could always rely on you to know which way to steer the ship next.

I lost a brother when you left us and can’t explain to you what I’d give to just give you a hug one last time and say goodbye to you properly and tell you that I loved and respected you dearly. I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever, there is no words that justify or explain how I feel right now other than beyond devastated.

I hope that wherever you are right now you are good and are at peace and you know how loved you are.

Love you bro.

We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing.

In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly.

The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever.

For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us.

We will miss him terribly.

We love you Liam.

Louis, Zayn, Niall and Harry.

Full coverage of the death of Liam Payne:

• Niall Horan says death ‘doesn’t feel real’
• One Direction grieve ‘our brother’ Liam Payne
• What we know so far about Liam Payne’s death
• ‘We all let you down Liam’, says Sharon Osbourne
• ‘I was a Directioner – here’s what Liam Payne meant to me’
• Full transcript of 911 call made moments before star fell

Former Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons alleges she was “groped” on two occasions by the football club’s late owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

The former Harrods boss tried to “forcefully” kiss her at his department store in 2000, when she was 20, she told The Athletic website.

“Speaking my truth and finally telling my story will hopefully help me heal and be rid of the shame, embarrassment and pain I have carried for years,” she said.

Lawyers from the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said they were representing four former players of the club.

Fulham FC told the BBC it was trying to establish whether anyone at the club “had been impacted” by Al Fayed.

“The club is profoundly troubled to learn of the experiences told today by former Women’s Team captain, Ronnie Gibbons,” Fulham said.

“She has our deepest empathy and support.”

• How Fayed built a corrupt system of enablers to carry out his sexual abuse
• The red flags that were missed or dismissed when Harrods was bought
• Forty new allegations against Al Fayed made to police
• Man’s six-year hunt to expose Al Fayed abuse
• Doctors’ regulator refused to investigate Harrods medical tests
• We were lambs to the slaughter, says Fayed accuser

Al Fayed owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013.

In 2000, Fulham’s women’s team – known at the time as Fulham Ladies – became the first female football team in Europe to turn professional.

Gibbons, who was captain at the time, said she was driven to Harrods by club staff. Once at the luxury department store, she said she was left alone with Al Fayed, who was then in his 70s.

“He pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth,” she said of their first meeting.

“He had his arms holding my arms, like at my side, so I couldn’t push him away or anything like that. It was a real kind of control stance, like ‘I’m dominating you’.

“I was just like, ‘What do I do here?’ I just felt like a huge responsibility on my shoulders at that point because we’d just turned professional.”

Gibbons said that Al Fayed tried to forcefully kiss her again: “He even may have stuck his tongue on me or something. I just remember feeling sick, just really physically feeling sick, when I left there.”

Later that summer, she said a member of staff told her she had been summoned to Harrods again by Al Fayed.

In the interview with The Athletic, she recalled: “This time he groped me. As he was saying goodbye, he was sort of grabbing me, trying to sort of hold on to me and kiss me. He was like, ‘You’re not scared are you? You don’t need to be scared, I’m not going to do anything like that, you’re very precious, you’re a very special girl’.”

Fulham FC told the BBC: “We unequivocally condemn all forms of abuse. We remain in the process of establishing whether anyone at the Club is or would have been impacted by Mohamed Al Fayed in any manner as described in recent reports.”

Last week, the Metropolitan Police said it had received 40 new allegations from people that included sexual assault and rape against Al Fayed.

The allegations follow a BBC documentary and podcast, containing testimony from former Harrods employees who said the billionaire sexually assaulted or raped them.

Since the documentary first aired in September, a further 65 women have contacted the BBC saying they were abused by Al Fayed, with allegations stretching beyond Harrods and as far back as 1977.

Last month, the former manager of Fulham’s women’s team Gaute Haugenes told the BBC that extra precautions had been put in place to protect female players from Al Fayed.

Haugenes, who managed the team from 2001 to 2003, said members of staff became aware that the late billionaire “liked young, blonde girls”.

Gibbons was reported to be angered by these comments.

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Haugenes, who is Norwegian, said he could completely understand her frustration.

“All I can say is I am really sorry for saying something that could have put more wood on the fire. I honestly thought we protected the players,” he said.

“I knew that he liked Ronnie because all the girls, they joked about it. But I thought he was an old man, she was a young woman. I was 30 at the time, I didn’t think people his age were thinking about sex.

“I might have been naive, it might have been some of the language barriers that I didn’t pick up details in their joking.”

He added that he had not been aware she had been told to go to Harrods.

Asked whether club staff could have done more, he said it was difficult to know what could have been done differently.

“But you should have had a system that picked up things like that,” he said. “It was before I was a manager that she went there.”

He added: “It is sad to hear she had those kind of experiences as a professional player.”

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said the abuse Gibbons had endured from Al Fayed was “yet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses he owned”.

They added: “We salute our client’s bravery and are proud to advocate for Ronnie and others at Fulham who are searching for justice. We will do whatever we can to lift the lid on abuse, no matter where it was perpetrated, or who it was perpetrated by, including any enablers of Al-Fayed’s abhorrent behaviour.”

A spokesperson for Harrods said it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed.

It said: “These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.

“We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise.”

Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods

A BBC investigation into allegations of rape and attempted rape by Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods. Did the luxury store protect a billionaire predator?

Watch Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods on BBC iPlayer now.

Listen to World of Secrets, Season 4: Al Fayed, Predator at Harrods on BBC Sounds. If you’re outside the UK, you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.