It’s been three days since President Donald Trump took office. And he has come out swinging.

On the 2024 campaign trail, he promised to bring rapid and sweeping change to American government and society if he were re-elected.

Some of his policies and reforms will take time – and congressional legislation – to enact. Other moves might be blocked by the courts.

In the first days of his presidency, however, Trump has already made waves with dozens of unilateral orders and actions that represent a substantial expansion of White House power.

For many of his supporters – so far – it looks like he has delivered on his promises.

“He signed all the executive orders that he told us he was going to do,” said 68-year-old Rick Frazier, a loyal Trump supporter from Ohio who has attended more than 80 of his rallies. “I’m satisfied with all that.”

That has been cause for concern among some. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, publicly asked Trump during a prayer service on Tuesday at the National Cathedral, to “have mercy upon people in our country who are scared now”.

Nowhere has this display of presidential authority been more prominent than on the topic of immigration, which polls suggest was a significant concern for many voters.

Just hours after taking office, Trump declared an emergency at the US-Mexico border, allowing him to deploy more US military personnel to the area.

He effectively closed the country to all new asylum-seekers and suspended already approved resettlement flights for refugees.

Mr Frazier’s daughter died of a heroin overdose last year. He told the BBC that the southern border was his top issue in the 2024 election.

“In my opinion had the border been closed, my daughter would not have had access to the compound that killed her,” he said.

Trump has also ordered authorities to stop granting automatic citizenship to the children of undocumented migrants born on American soil – setting up a lengthy legal battle over what had previously been viewed by courts as a constitutional guarantee.

One step that Trump repeatedly promised – but has yet to show signs of implementing – is mass deportations of migrants who crossed illegally into the US, something he said would start on day one of his presidency.

While some Trump officials have said the deportation process has begun, there have been no signs yet of the kind of law-enforcement raids or other expansive actions that would be necessary to detain and remove the millions of undocumented migrants who currently reside in the US.

Bryan Lanza, who previously served as a senior adviser to Trump, told the BBC’s Americast podcast that the total number of deportations is less important than the message it sends.

“It’s never about a number,” he said. “It’s more about the PR.”

If you deport a million undocumented migrants, he said, than the rest will start wondering if they’re next – and take steps to return to their home countries.

“Illegals aren’t welcomed here,” he said. “Every other country is allowed to say that. Why shouldn’t we?”

• LIVE: Follow BBC’s live coverage
• ANALYSIS: Six Trump executive orders to watch
• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
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Immigration was a major issue that helped propel Trump to the White House, but in terms of voter concerns it was still dwarfed by worries about the economy and inflation.

So far the president has focused on energy policy – tying it directly to the high prices that millions of Americans have struggled with.

“When energy comes down, the prices of food and the prices of everything else come down,” Trump said on Tuesday evening. “Energy is the big baby.”

To that end, Trump declared a “national energy emergency” and rescinded Biden-era protections for fossil fuel extraction in Alaska and in American coastal waters. He also started the process of withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement, which commits nations to slashing emissions to try to avoid the most extreme effects of climate change.

Even optimistic estimates suggest these moves will take time to show any results, but Aziz Wehbey, a Syrian-American Republican voter in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said he was pleased by what he had seen so far.

“That’s a good sign for the economy, and for those of us who run businesses,” he said. “The economy is starting to move and not be frozen. Everyone will notice that.”

One topic that Trump has mentioned, but hasn’t acted on yet, is tariffs. He had pledged to slap them on some of America’s biggest trade partners on day one to protect American industries and generate new revenue to fund his favoured government programmes.

Economists, including some in the Trump administration, have cautioned that tariffs could drive up consumer costs and hurt American businesses that rely on imports in their supply chain. It could be a reason why Trump, with his eye on the stock market and economic growth, is treading more carefully when it comes to trade.

Many of President Trump’s other early executive actions focused on reshaping the vast federal workforce.

He has reinstated rules that allow him to fire senior-level civil servants, suspended new regulations and hiring, and ordered all federal employees involved in DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – programmes to be put on paid leave.

He also renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and instructed the US government to only recognise two sexes, male and female, in all official documents and forms. The changes, while controversial, have also been extremely popular with Trump’s base – a sign that the president will continue to lean in to contentious cultural issues.

Trump’s second term is just getting started. He promises more significant presidential actions in the days ahead – moves that will almost certainly test the limits of presidential power.

But the big splash, the noise, the drama, says former adviser Lanza, isn’t a problem for the president. It’s his strength.

“Where we are in modern politics today, which people haven’t figured out, is that from our standpoint, to communicate to voters are supportive of our issues, controversy enhances the message,” he said.

How do you get your message heard amid the overwhelming din of modern politics?

“It’s the controversy.”

Understand that, and the strategy behind Trump’s frenetic first days in office begins to come into focus.

Follow the twists and turns of Trump’s second presidential term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s weekly US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

As Thailand’s long-awaited equal marriage law comes into effect on Thursday, police officer Pisit “Kew” Sirihirunchai hopes to be the first in line to marry his long-term partner Chanatip “Jane” Sirihirunchai.

Some 180 same-sex couples are registering their unions at one of Bangkok’s grandest shopping malls, in an event city officials helped organise to celebrate this legal milestone.

“We have been ready for such a long time,” Pisit says. “We have just been waiting for the law to catch up and support us.”

The two men have been together for seven years. Eager to formalise their relationship, they have already gone to a Buddhist monk to give them an auspicious new last name they can share – Sirihirunchai. They have also asked local officials to issue a letter of intent, which they both signed, pledging to get married.

But they say having their union recognised under Thai law is what they really dreamed of. It means LGBTQ+ couples now have the same rights as any other couple to get engaged and married, to manage their assets, to inherit and to adopt children.

They can make decisions about medical treatment if their partner becomes ill and incapacitated, or extend financial benefits – such as Pisit’s government pension – to their spouse.

“We want to build a future together – build a house, start a small business together, maybe a café,” he adds, making a list of all that the law has enabled. “We want to build our future together and to take care of each other.”

Prisit says he has the full support of his colleagues in the police station, and hopes he can encourage others working in government service to be open about their sexuality: “They should feel emboldened because they can see us coming out with no repercussions, only positive responses.”

As a younger couple Prisit and Chanatip – both in their mid-30s – have experienced fewer obstacles than those who came out much earlier.

But for their community, it has been a long journey. Despite Thailand’s famed tolerance towards LGBTQ+ people, activists say it took a sustained campaign to win legal recognition.

“We’ve been waiting for this day for 18 years – the day everyone can recognise us openly, when we no longer need to be evasive or hide,” says 59-year-old Rungtiwa Thangkanopast, who will marry her partner of 18 years in May.

She had been in a marriage, arranged by her family, to a gay man, who later died. She had a daughter, through IVF, but after her husband’s death began spending time, and later helping run, one of the first lesbian pubs in Bangkok. Then she met Phanlavee, who’s now 45 and goes by her first name only.

On Valentine’s Day 2013 the two women went to the Bang Rak district office in central Bangkok to ask to be officially married – a popular place for marriage registration because the name in Thai means “Love Town”.

This was the time when LGBTQ+ couples began challenging the official view of marriage as an exclusively heterosexual partnership by attempting to get marriage certificates at district offices.

There were around 400 heterosexual couples waiting with them on that day. Rungtiwa and Phanlavee were refused, and the Thai media mocked their effort, using derogatory slang for lesbians.

Still, activists managed to persuade the government to consider changing the marriage laws. A proposed civil partnership bill was put before parliament, offering some official recognition to same-sex couples, but not the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.

A military coup in 2014 which deposed the elected government interrupted the movement. It would be another decade before full marriage equality was approved by parliament, in part because of the rise of young, progressive political parties that championed the cause.

Their message resonated with Thais – and attitudes too had changed. By this time, same-sex marriage was legalised in many Western countries and same-sex love had become normalised in Thai culture too.

Such was the shift in favour of the law that it was passed last year by a thumping majority of 400 votes to just 10 against. Even in the notoriously conservative senate only four opposed the law.

And couples like Rungtiwa and Phanleeva now have their chance to have their love for each other recognised, without the risk of public derision.

“With this law comes the legitimacy of our family,” Rungtiwa says, “We’re no longer viewed as weirdos just because our daughter isn’t being raised by heterosexual parents.”

The new law takes out gender-specific terms like man, woman, husband and wife from 70 sections of the Thai Civil Code covering marriage, and replaces them with neutral terms like individual and spouse.

However, there are still dozens of laws in the Thai legal code which have not yet been made gender-neutral, and there are still obstacles in the way of same-sex couples using surrogacy to have a family..

Parents are still defined under Thai law as a mother and a father. The law also does not yet allow people to use their preferred gender on official documents; they are still stuck with their birth gender. These are areas where activists say they will still need to keep pushing for change.

Yet it is a historic moment for Thailand, which is an outlier in Asia in recognising marriage equality. And it is especially significant for older couples, who have had to ride out the shifts in attitude.

“I really hope people will put away the old, stereotypical ideas that gay men cannot have true love,”says Chakkrit “Ink” Vadhanavira.

He and his partner Prinn, both in their 40s, have been together for 24 years.

“The two of us have proved that we genuinely love each other through thick and thin for more than 20 years,” Chakkrit says.”We have been ready to take care of each other since our first day together. We are no different from heterosexual couples.”

While Chakkrit’s parents quickly accepted their partnership, it took Prinn’s parents seven years before they could do so.

The couple also wanted to share the production business they ran together, and other assets, as a couple, so they asked Prinn’s parents to adopt Chakkrit officially, giving him the same family name. Prinn says the new law has brought welcome legal clarity to them.

“For example, right now when a same sex couple buy something together – a large item – they cannot share ownership of it,” said Prinn. “And one of us passes away, what both have us have earned together cannot be passed on to the other. That’s why marriage equality is very significant.”

Today, says Prinn, both sets of parents treat them as they would just like any other married children.

And when they had relationship problems like any other couple, their parents helped them.

“My dad even started reading gay magazines to understand me better. It was quite cute to see that.”

Donald Trump has warned he will impose high tariffs and further sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin fails to end the war in Ukraine.

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, he said that by pushing to settle the war he was doing Russia and its president a “very big favour”.

Trump had previously said he would negotiate a settlement to Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022, in a single day.

Russia has not yet responded to the remarks, but senior officials have said in recent days that there is a small window of opportunity for Moscow to deal with the new US administration.

Putin has said repeatedly that he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014, but that Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20% of its land. He also refuses to allow Ukraine to join Nato.

Kyiv does not want to give up its territory, although President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded he may have to cede some currently occupied land temporarily.

On Tuesday Trump told a news conference he would be talking to Putin “very soon” and it “sounds likely” that he would apply more sanctions if the Russian leader did not come to the table.

But in his Truth Social post on Wednesday, he went further: “I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR,” he wrote.

“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a ‘deal’, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

Continuing, he said: “Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL”.”

• LIVE: Follow BBC’s live coverage
• ANALYSIS: Six Trump executive orders to watch
• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
• PARDONS: Jan 6 defendants get nearly everything they wanted

Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy earlier told Reuters news agency that the Kremlin would need to know what Trump wants in a deal to stop the war before the country moves forward.

Meanwhile Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed under any agreement.

And he told Bloomberg that any peacekeeping force for his country would have to include US troops to pose a realistic deterrent to Russia.

“It can’t be without the United States… Even if some European friends think it can be, no it will not be,” he said, adding that no-one else would risk such a move without the US.

While Ukraine’s leaders might appreciate this tougher-talking Trump – they have always said Putin only understands strength – the initial reaction in Kyiv to the US president’s comments suggest that it is actions people are waiting for, not words.

Trump has not specified where more economic penalties might be aimed, or when. Russian imports to the US have plummeted since 2022 and there are all sorts of heavy restrictions already in place.

Currently, the main Russian exports to the US are phosphate-based fertilisers and platinum.

On social media, there was a generally scathing response from Ukrainians. Many suggested that more sanctions were a weak reply to Russian aggression. But the biggest question for most is what Putin is actually open to discussing with Ukraine at any peace talks.

In Moscow meanwhile, some people are seeing signs that the Kremlin may be readying Russians to accept less than the “victory” once envisaged, which included tanks rolling all the way west to the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.

TV editor Margarita Simonyan, who is stridently pro-Putin, has begun talking of “realistic” conditions for ending the war, which she suggests could include halting the fighting along the current frontline.

That would mean the four Ukrainian regions that Putin illegally pronounced as Russian territory more than two years ago, like Zaporizhzhia, still being partially controlled by Kyiv.

Russian hardliners, the so-called “Z” bloggers, are furious at such “defeatism”.

In his social media post, Trump also couched his threat of tariffs and tighter sanctions in words of “love” for the Russian people and highlighted his respect for Soviet losses in World War Two – a near-sacred topic for Putin – though Trump massively overestimated the numbers and appeared to think the USSR was Russia alone. In reality, millions of Ukrainians and other Soviet citizens also lost their lives.

That said, the man who previously said he could “understand” Russia’s concerns about Ukraine joining Nato – which for Kyiv is tantamount to saying Putin was provoked – does seem to be shifting his tone.

Trump’s position matters. But after 11 years of war with Russia and a history of poor peace deals, Ukrainians are not inclined to be too hopeful.

A new fast-moving wildfire has erupted in Los Angeles County, prompting tens of thousands to evacuate a region already reeling from the most destructive fires in its history.

The Hughes fire ignited about 45 miles north-west of the city of Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, near Castaic Lake in a mountainous area that borders several residential areas and schools.

The blaze grew to more than 9,200 acres in several hours on Wednesday, fuelled by winds and dry brush. No homes or businesses have been damaged, and fire officials expressed confidence about getting the blaze under control.

The new fire is located north of the two mammoth blazes – which are still burning – that destroyed multiple neighbourhoods in the Los Angeles area earlier this month.

Local news showed residents near the Hughes fire hosing down their homes and gardens with water and others rushing to evacuate neighbourhoods.

Orange flames lined the mountains as aircraft dropped water and flame retardant.

The region is once again under a red flag warning, which cautions of a high fire risk due to strong winds and dry, low-humid conditions.

Winds in the area were blowing around 20 to 30mph (32 to 48km), but could pick up, which would fan the blaze and make it harder for air crews to operate.

About 31,000 people in the area are under a mandatory evacuation order and another 23,000 have been warned they may have to flee, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. A jail in the area was evacuating nearly 500 inmates at the facility, he added.

The fire continued to grow as the sun set, but Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said he believed crews were making progress.

“The situation remains dynamic, and the fire remains a difficult fire to contain, although we are getting the upper hand,” he said.

Chief Marrone explained how different this fire is compared to the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 28 people and decimated more than 10,000 homes and businesses earlier this month.

He said it was a mix of lower winds – unlike the 70 to 90mph winds seen during the previous fires – and having so many helicopters and planes able to fight the blaze from above.

“I think that we’ve all been on edge over the last 16 days,” he said. “We were able to amass a lot of fire resources early on to change what this fire looks like.”

Ed Fletcher, who works for Cal Fire – California’s statewide fire agency – told the BBC that this fire was different than those earlier this month. The winds are not as strong yet, he said, and there are a lot of crews trying to tame the flames.

“It’s super dry and we know it will be increasingly windy later,” he said. “We’ll know more in a few hours.”

Mr Fletcher noted the area is not highly populated and current winds are blowing the fire toward Castaic Lake, which is acting as a buffer between the Castaic area – home to about 20,000 residents.

“If it jumps the lake,” he said, “it becomes a much more dynamic situation.”

One woman who evacuated her home told NBC 4 that she was stuck on Interstate 5, California’s primary transportation highway that runs through the state. Parts of the interstate in the area had been closed due to the fire.

“It looked like a cloud, but as you got close, it looked like we were driving into hell,” she said of the dark smoke and red flames she saw. “It was pretty terrifying to be honest with you.”

She acknowledged being on edge after watching the Palisades and Eaton fires burn nearby.

“I don’t know why they keep popping up,” she said. “It’s definitely a scary time in this area.”

Two other fires ignited Wednesday farther south near San Diego and Oceanside, officials said.

They are both smaller – 85 acres for the Lilac fire near Oceanside and 3.9 acres for the Center fire – but were burning in populated areas. Fire crews appeared to have a handle on both of the blazes and evacuation orders had been mostly lifted.

Dana Dierkes, a spokesperson for the Angeles National Forest, noted the winds and dry brush have made these recent fires much harder to fight.

“We don’t have a fire season in California. We have a fire year,” she said. “We’ve had wildfires in January before, but it’s exacerbated by the Santa Ana winds. The wind is a huge factor when we’ve had such a dry year.”

Rain is in the weekend forecast in the region, a welcome bit of news to douse the fire threat. But the rainfall is bringing new fears in the form of mudslides, flooding and landslides.

Areas touched by the recent fires are particularly at risk because torched grounds aren’t as absorbent.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Monday to help free up resources for flood and landslide preparation after the fires.

Crews have been filling thousands of sandbags for danger areas.

When Zhang Junjie was 17 he decided to protest outside his university about rules made by China’s government. Within days he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital and treated for schizophrenia.

Junjie is one of dozens of people identified by the BBC who were hospitalised after protesting or complaining to the authorities.

Many people we spoke to were given anti-psychotic drugs, and in some cases electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), without their consent.

There have been reports for decades that hospitalisation was being used in China as a way of detaining dissenting citizens without involving the courts. However, the BBC has found that an issue which legislation sought to resolve, has recently made a comeback.

Junjie says he was restrained and beaten by hospital staff before being forced to take medication.

His ordeal began in 2022, after he protested against China’s harsh lockdown policies. He says his professors spotted him after just five minutes and contacted his father, who took him back to the family home. He says his father called the police, and the next day – on his 18th birthday – two men drove him to what they claimed was a Covid test centre, but was actually a hospital.

“The doctors told me I had a very serious mental disease… Then they tied me to a bed. The nurses and doctors repeatedly told me, because of my views on the party and the government, then I must be mentally ill. It was terrifying,” he told the BBC World Service. He was there for 12 days.

Junjie believes his father felt forced to hand him over to the authorities because he worked for the local government.

Just over a month after being discharged, Junjie was once again arrested. Defying a fireworks ban at Chinese New Year (a measure brought in to fight air pollution) he had made a video of himself setting them off. Someone uploaded it online and police managed to link it to Junjie.

He was accused of “picking quarrels and troublemaking” – a charge frequently used to silence criticism of the Chinese government. Junjie says he was forcibly hospitalised again for more than two months.

After being discharged, Junjie was prescribed anti-psychotic drugs. We have seen the prescription – it was for Aripiprazole, used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

“Taking the medicine made me feel like my brain was quite a mess,” he says, adding that police would come to his house to check he had taken it.

Fearing a third hospitalisation, Junjie decided to leave China. He told his parents he was returning to university to pack up his room – but, in fact, he fled to New Zealand.

He didn’t say goodbye to family or friends.

Junjie is one of 59 people who the BBC has confirmed – either by speaking to them or their relatives, or by going through court documents – have been hospitalised on mental health grounds after protesting or challenging the authorities.

The issue has been acknowledged by China’s government – the country’s 2013 Mental Health Law aimed to stop this abuse, making it illegal to treat someone who is not mentally unwell. It also explicitly states psychiatric admission must be voluntary unless the patient is a danger to themselves or others.

In fact, the number of people detained in mental health hospitals against their will has recently surged, a leading Chinese lawyer told the BBC World Service. Huang Xuetao, who was involved in drafting the law, blames a weakening of civil society and a lack of checks and balances.

“I have come across lots of cases like this. The police want power while avoiding responsibility,” he says. “Anyone who knows the shortcomings of this system can abuse it.”

An activist called Jie Lijian told us he had been treated for mental illness without his consent in 2018.

Lijian says he was arrested for attending a protest demanding better pay at a factory. He says police interrogated him for three days before taking him to a psychiatric hospital.

Like Junjie, Lijian says he was prescribed anti-psychotic drugs that impaired his critical thinking.

After a week in the hospital, he says he refused any more medication. After fighting with staff, and being told he was causing trouble, Lijian was sent for ECT – a therapy which involves passing electric currents through a patient’s brain.

“The pain was from head to toe. My whole body felt like it wasn’t my own. It was really painful. Electric shock on. Then off. Electric shock on. Then off. I fainted several times. I felt like I was dying,” he says.

He says he was discharged after 52 days. He now has a part-time job in Los Angeles and is seeking asylum in the US.

In 2019, the year after Lijian says he was hospitalised, the Chinese Medical Doctor Association updated its ECT guidelines, stating it should only ever be administered with consent, and under general anaesthetic.

We wanted to find out more about the doctors’ involvement in such cases.

Speaking to foreign media such as the BBC without permission could get them into trouble, so our only option was to go undercover.

We booked phone consultations with doctors working at four hospitals which, according to our evidence, are involved with forced hospitalisations.

We used an invented story about a relative who had been hospitalised for posting anti-government comments online, and asked five doctors if they had ever come across cases of patients being sent in by police.

Four confirmed they had.

“The psychiatric department has a type of admission called ‘troublemakers’,” one doctor told us.

Another doctor, from the hospital where Junjie was held, appears to confirm his story that police continued surveillance of patients once discharged.

“The police will check up on you at home to make sure you take your medicine. If you don’t take it you might break the law again,” they said.

We approached the hospital in question for comment but it did not respond.

We have been given access to the medical records of democracy activist Song Zaimin, hospitalised for a fifth time last year, which makes it clear how closely political views appear to be tied to a psychiatric diagnosis.

“Today, he was… talking a lot, speaking incoherently, and criticising the Communist Party. Therefore, he was sent to our hospital for inpatient treatment by the police, doctors, and his local residents’ committee. This was an involuntary hospitalisation,” it says.

We asked Professor Thomas G Schulze, president-elect of the World Psychiatric Association, to review these notes. He replied:

“For what is described here, no-one should be involuntarily admitted and treated against his will. It reeks of political abuse.”

Between 2013 and 2017, more than 200 people reported they had been wrongfully hospitalised by the authorities, according to a group of citizen journalists in China who documented abuses of the Mental Health Law.

Their reporting ended in 2017, because the group’s founder was arrested and subsequently jailed.

For victims seeking justice, the legal system appears stacked against them.

A man we are calling Mr Li, who was hospitalised in 2023 after protesting against the local police, tried to take legal action against the authorities for his incarceration.

Unlike Junjie, doctors told Mr Li he wasn’t ill but then the police arranged an external psychiatrist to assess him, who diagnosed him with bipolar disorder, and he was held for 45 days.

Once released, he decided to challenge the diagnosis.

“If I don’t sue the police it’s like I accept being mentally ill. This will have a big impact on my future and my freedom because police can use it as a reason to lock me up any time,” he says.

In China, the records of anyone ever diagnosed with a serious mental health disorder could be shared with the police, and even local residents’ committees.

But Mr Li was not successful – the courts rejected his appeal.

“We hear our leaders talking about the rule of law,” he told us. “We never dreamed one day we could be locked up in a mental hospital.”

The BBC has found 112 people listed on the official website for Chinese court decisions who, between 2013 and 2024, attempted to take legal action against police, local governments or hospitals for such treatment.

Some 40% of these plaintiffs had been involved in complaints about the authorities. Only two won their cases.

And the site appears to be censored – five other cases we have investigated are missing from the database.

The issue is that the police enjoy “considerable discretion” in dealing with “troublemakers,” according to Nicola MacBean from The Rights Practice, a human rights organisation in London.

“Sending someone to a psychiatric hospital, bypassing procedures, is too easy and too useful a tool for the local authorities.”

Eyes are now on the fate of vlogger Li Yixue, who accused a police officer of sexual assault. Yixue is said to have recently been hospitalised for a second time after her social media posts talking about the experience went viral. It is reported she is now under surveillance at a hotel.

We put the findings of our investigation to the UK’s Chinese embassy. It said last year the Chinese Communist Party “reaffirmed” that it must “improve the mechanisms” around the law, which it says “explicitly prohibits unlawful detention and other methods of illegally depriving or restricting citizens’ personal freedom”.

Vegetable vendor Shivnarayan Dasana had never seen so many policemen descend on his village in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The 60-year-old lives in Tarapur in the industrial town of Pithampur, known for its automobile and pharmaceutical factories. The town has been tense since containers holding 337 tonnes of toxic waste from the site of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters arrived for disposal three weeks ago.

The waste, transported from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in the city of Bhopal – site of the 1984 gas tragedy that killed thousands – has sparked fears among locals.

They worry that disposing of it near their homes could be harmful and even cause an environmental disaster.

Protests erupted on 3 January, a day after the waste arrived in the town, escalating into stone-throwing and attempted self-immolations.

Since then, heavy police patrols near the disposal facility have turned Tarapur and surrounding areas into a virtual garrison.

The police have registered seven cases against 100 people since the protests began, but the townspeople continue to raise concerns about industrial pollution at smaller community meetings.

The toxic waste cleared from the Bhopal factory included five types of hazardous materials – including pesticide residue and “forever chemicals” left from its manufacturing process. These chemicals are so-named because they retain their toxic properties indefinitely.

Over the decades, these chemicals have seeped into the surrounding environment, creating a health hazard for people living around the factory in Bhopal.

But officials dismiss fears of the waste disposal causing environmental issues in Pithampur.

Senior official Swatantra Kumar Singh outlined the staggered process in an attempt to reassure the public.

“Hazardous waste will be incinerated at 1,200C (2,192F), with 90kg (194.4lb) test batches followed by 270kg batches over three months if toxicity levels are safe,” he said.

Mr Singh explained that a “four-layer filtering will purify smoke”, which will prevent toxins from entering the air and the residue from incineration will be “sealed in a two layer membrane” and “buried in a specialised landfill” to prevent soil and groundwater contamination.

“We’ve trained 100 ‘master trainers’ and are hosting sessions to explain the disposal process and build public trust,” said administrator Priyank Mishra.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has also defended the waste disposal, calling it both safe and necessary. He urged residents to voice their concerns legally, noting that the disposal was carried out only after orders from the high court.

Environmental experts, however, have differing views on the process.

Some like Subhash C Pandey believe the disposal poses no risk if done properly. Others, like Shyamala Mani, are calling for alternatives to incineration. She argues that incineration increases residual slag and releases harmful toxins like mercury and dioxins.

Ms Mani suggests that bioremediation, a process using micro-organisms to break down harmful substances in waste, could be a more effective and eco-friendly solution.

But residents remain sceptical.

“It’s not just waste. It’s poison,” said Gayatri Tiwari, a mother of five in Tarapur village. “What’s the point of life if we can’t breathe clean air or drink clean water?”

Pollution is an undeniable reality for the residents of Pithampur. Residents cite past groundwater contamination and ongoing health issues as reasons for scepticism.

The town’s rapid industrial growth in the 1980s led to hazardous waste build-up, contaminated water and soil with mercury, arsenic and sulphates. By 2017, the federal agency Central Pollution Control Bureau flagged severe pollution in the area.

Locals allege that many companies don’t follow the rules to dispose of non-hazardous waste, choosing to dump it in the soil or water. Tests in 2024 showed elevated harmful substances in water. Activists link this to alleged environmental violations at the disposal facility but officials have denied this.

“Water filters in our homes don’t last two months. Skin diseases and kidney stones are common now. Pollution has made life unbearable,” said Pankaj Patel, 32, from Chirakhan village, pointing to his water purifier which needs frequently replacing.

Srinivas Dwivedi, regional officer of the State Pollution Control Board, dismissed concerns, saying it’s “unrealistic” to expect pre-industrial conditions in Pithampur.

Meanwhile, in Bhopal, nearly 230km (143 miles) away from Pithampur, activists argue that the disposal process is a distraction from much larger issues.

Since the disaster, the toxic material lay in the mothballed factory for decades, polluting groundwater in the surrounding areas.

More than 1.1 million tonnes of contaminated soil remain at the Union Carbide factory site, according to a 2010 report by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and the National Geophysical Research Institute.

“The government is making a show of disposing of 337 metric tonnes while ignoring the much bigger problem in Bhopal,” said Nityanand Jayaraman, a leading environmentalist.

“The contamination has worsened over the years, yet the government has done little to address it,” added Rachna Dhingra, another activist.

Government estimates say 3,500 people died shortly after the gas leak, with over 15,000 dying later. Activists claim the toll is much higher, with victims still suffering from the side effects of the poisoning.

“Given Pithampur’s history of pollution, residents’ fears are valid,” said Mr Jayaraman.

Officials said they are only “dealing with the waste as specified by the court’s directive”.

But the reality of Bhopal has deepened the mistrust among the people of Pithampur, who are now prepared to take to the streets again to oppose the waste disposal.

Vegetable vendor Shivnarayan Dasana said the issue goes beyond the waste itself.

“It’s about survival – ours and our children’s,” he said.

The world’s largest iceberg is on a collision course with a remote British island, potentially putting penguins and seals in danger.

The iceberg is spinning northwards from Antarctica towards South Georgia, a rugged British territory and wildlife haven, where it could ground and smash into pieces. It is currently 173 miles (280km) away.

Countless birds and seals died on South Georgia’s icy coves and beaches when past giant icebergs stopped them feeding.

“Icebergs are inherently dangerous. I would be extraordinarily happy if it just completely missed us,” sea captain Simon Wallace tells BBC News, speaking from the South Georgia government vessel Pharos.

Around the world a group of scientists, sailors and fishermen are anxiously checking satellite pictures to monitor the daily movements of this queen of icebergs.

It is known as A23a and is one of the world’s oldest.

It calved, or broke off, from the Filchner Ice Shelf in Antarctica in 1986 but got stuck on the seafloor and then trapped in an ocean vortex.

Finally, in December, it broke free and is now on its final journey, speeding into oblivion.

The warmer waters north of Antarctica are melting and weakening its vast cliffs that tower up to 1,312ft (400m), taller than the Shard in London.

It once measured 3,900 sq km, but the latest satellite pictures show it is slowly decaying. It is now around 3,500 sq km, roughly the size of the English county of Cornwall.

And large slabs of ice are breaking off, plunging into the waters around its edges.

A23a could break into vast segments any day, which may then hang around for years, like floating cities of ice cruising uncontrollably around South Georgia.

This isn’t the first huge iceberg to threaten South Georgia and Sandwich Islands.

In 2004 one called A38 grounded on its continental shelf, leaving dead penguin chicks and seal pups on beaches as massive ice chunks blocked their access to feeding grounds.

The territory is home to precious colonies of King Emperor penguins and millions of elephant and fur seals.

“South Georgia sits in iceberg alley so impacts are to be expected for both fisheries and wildlife, and both have a great capacity to adapt,” says Mark Belchier, a marine ecologist who advises the South Georgia government.

Sailors and fisherman say icebergs are an increasing problem. In 2023 one called A76 gave them a scare when it came close to grounding.

“Chunks of it were tipping up, so they looked like great ice towers, an ice city on the horizon,” says Mr Belchier, who saw the iceberg while at sea.

Those slabs are still lingering around the islands today.

“It is in bits from the size of several Wembley stadiums down to pieces the size of your desk,” says Andrew Newman from Argos Froyanes, a fishing company that works in South Georgia.

“Those pieces basically cover the island – we have to work our way through it,” says Captain Wallace.

The sailors on his ship must be constantly vigilant. “We have searchlights on all night to try to see ice – it can come from nowhere,” he explains.

A76 was a “gamechanger”, according to Mr Newman, with “huge impact on our operations and on keeping our vessel and crew safe”.

All three men describe a rapidly changing environment, with glacial retreat visible year-to-year, and volatile levels of sea ice.

Climate change is unlikely to have been behind the birth of A23a because it calved so long ago, before much of the impacts of rising temperatures that we are now seeing.

But giant icebergs are part of our future. As Antarctica becomes more unstable with warmer ocean and air temperatures, more vast pieces of the ice sheets will break away.

Before its time comes to an end though, A23a has left a parting gift for scientists.

A team with the British Antarctic Survey on the Sir David Attenborough research vessel found themselves close to A23a in 2023.

The scientists scrambled to exploit the rare opportunity to investigate what mega icebergs do to the environment.

The ship sailed into a crack in the iceberg’s gigantic walls, and PhD researcher Laura Taylor collected precious water samples 400m away from its cliffs.

“I saw a massive wall of ice way higher than me, as far as I could see. It has different colours in different places. Chunks were falling off – it was quite magnificent,” she explains from her lab in Cambridge where she is now analysing the samples.

Her work looks at what the impact the melt water is having on the carbon cycle in the southern ocean.

“This isn’t just water like we drink. It’s full of nutrients and chemicals, as well as tiny animals like phytoplankton frozen inside,” Ms Taylor says.

As it melts, the iceberg releases those elements into the water, changing the physics and chemistry of the ocean.

That could store more carbon deep in the ocean, as the particles sink from the surface. That would naturally lock away some of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change.

Icebergs are notoriously unpredictable and no-one knows what exactly it will do next.

But soon the behemoth should appear, looming on the islands’ horizons, as big as the territory itself.

A US lawsuit filed on behalf of LinkedIn Premium users accuses the social media platform of sharing their private messages with other companies to train artificial intelligence (AI) models.

It alleges that in August last year, the world’s largest professional social networking website “quietly” introduced a privacy setting, automatically opting users in to programme that allowed third parties to use their personal data to train AI.

It also accuses the Microsoft-owned company of concealing its actions a month later by changing its privacy policy to say user information could be disclosed for AI training purposes.

A LinkedIn spokesperson told BBC News that “these are false claims with no merit”.

The lawsuit was filed in a California federal court on behalf of a LinkedIn Premium user and “all others” in a similar situation.

The filing also said LinkedIn changed its ‘frequently asked questions’ section to say that users could choose not to share data for AI purposes but that doing so would not affect training that had already taken place.

“LinkedIn’s actions… indicate a pattern of attempting to cover its tracks,” the lawsuit said.

“This behaviour suggests that LinkedIn was fully aware that it had violated its contractual promises and privacy standards and aimed to minimise public scrutiny”.

According to an email LinkedIn sent to its users last year, it has not enabled user data sharing for AI purposes in the UK, the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

At least 11 people have been killed and five injured after they fled rumours of a fire on board their train in India, only to be hit by another train.

Railway officials said the passengers got down from the Mumbai-bound train in western Maharashtra state after someone pulled the emergency cord, causing it to stop.

They were hit by a train on an adjacent track. It was not immediately clear whether there had actually been a fire.

India has launched a $30bn (£24bn) programme to modernise its railways in recent years but this has been marred by a series of accidents, including a major three-train crash in 2023 in the state of Odisha which left nearly 300 people dead.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a post on X that he was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives” during the incident near Pachora in Jalgaon district, about 400km from Mumbai, India’s financial capital.

He said eight ambulances had been dispatched and hospitals were on standby.

The crash will be seen as a setback for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has called for modernisation of the railways to boost the economy and connectivity.

There are plans to boost spending on the programme in next month’s budget, Reuters news agency reports.

A two-year-old boy and a man aged 41 have been killed in a stabbing in a German park.

Police confirmed that a 28-year-old man from Afghanistan was arrested following the attack in Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg.

Two others were taken to hospital with serious injuries and the public park was cordoned off by officers.

Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria’s interior minister, said the suspect was previously detained at least three times for violent behaviour, but was released after he had psychiatric treatment. He was due to return to Afghanistan after his claim for asylum was rejected.

It is the latest fatal knife attack in Germany in recent months, and comes weeks before a federal election on 23 February.

Police said their investigation into the stabbing was ongoing, but that the attack had taken place at about 11:45 (10:45 GMT) at Schöntal Park in Aschaffenburg, about 22 miles (36 kilometres) south-east of Frankfurt.

The attack involved a kindergarten group and other people were injured, including another child, Herrmann said in a statement near the park.

Markus Söder, the Bavarian state premier, called it a “cowardly and despicable act”. German reports suggested the suspect had a history of mental health issues.

He added that the boy was of Moroccan descent, and the man killed was a German passer-by “who happened to be at the scene of the crime”.

Mr Söder described the man as “a helper who paid for his civil courage with his own life”.

The suspect was arrested close to the scene. Officers said a second person was initially detained at the scene but was now being treated as a witness.

Officials said a search of his room had not revealed signs of the suspect being motivated by radical Islam.

Police said there was no danger to the public.

Söder said it was a terrible day and called for a pause: “We mourn the loss of a small, innocent child.”

Police said they were investigating a motive and the background to the attack remained unclear. The suspect was said to have been staying in accommodation for asylum seekers.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was on a visit to France, condemned an “unbelievable act of terror”. He posted on social media that he was tired of seeing “such acts of violence every few weeks” and urged authorities to find out why the suspect was still in Germany.

The German government has come under increasing pressure to take a harder line on immigration after a number of fatal attacks, and with federal elections due on 23 February, the anti-immigration, far-right AfD is second in the polls.

Five people were killed when a man rammed his car into a crowd at Magdeburg’s Christmas market in December. A Saudi doctor has been charged with the attack.

In August, three people were fatally stabbed in the town of Solingen. The suspect was a Syrian national facing deportation after a failed asylum.

That attack led to the German government expanding border checks and tightening controls on knives, and fuelled an intense debate over asylum rules that has continued in the run up to next month’s election.

The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) currently lead the polls and Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) are behind in third place.

The election was called after Scholz’s three-party coalition collapsed in November.

A bid to free five elephants from a Colorado zoo has been rejected after a court ruled elephants are not people.

An animal rights group argued Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo were effectively imprisoned at the zoo, and had filed to have them moved to an elephant sanctuary.

It tried to bring a habeas corpus claim on behalf of the animals – a legal process which allows a person to challenge their detention in court.

The Colorado Supreme Court said the matter boiled down to “whether an elephant is a person” and therefore had the same liberty rights as a human – ultimately deciding that they did not.

It ruled 6-0 in favour of a previous district court decision that said the state’s habeas corpus process “only applies to persons, and not to nonhuman animals”.

This was true “no matter how cognitively, psychologically, or socially sophisticated they may be,” State Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter added in her ruling.

While she said the five elderly African elephants were “majestic,” the court ruled the claim could not be brought “because an elephant is not a person”.

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NRP) petitioned for the elephants to be moved from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to a “suitable elephant sanctuary” in 2023.

The group argued the animals had a right to freedom because they were emotionally complex and intelligent animals.

It claimed the elephants showed signs of “trauma, brain damage, and chronic stress” and that they were effectively “imprisoned” at the zoo.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo rejected the claim, arguing the elephants had received remarkable care, and was supported by a district court.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo called NRP’s lawsuit “frivolous” and said it had “wasted” time and money on the case.

It accused the group of “abusing court systems to fundraise” and claimed its goal was “to manipulate people into donating to their cause by incessantly publicising sensational court cases with relentless calls for supporters to donate”.

NRP said the decision “perpetuate[d] a clear injustice, stating that unless an individual is human they have no right to liberty”.

“As with other social justice movements, early losses are expected as we challenge an entrenched status quo that has allowed Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou, and Jambo to be relegated to a lifetime of mental and physical suffering,” the group said in a statement.

An earlier bid by NRP to free an elephant named Happy from New York’s Bronx Zoo was rejected after the court judged she was not legally a person.

One of the people who served jail time for taking part in the US Capitol riot four years ago has refused a pardon from President Donald Trump, saying: “We were wrong that day.”

Pamela Hemphill, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 days in prison, told the BBC that there should be no pardons for the riot on 6 January 2021.

“Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation,” she said.

“I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative.”

Hemphill, who was nicknamed the “Maga granny” by social media users – in reference to Trump’s “make America great again” slogan – said she saw the Trump government as trying to “rewrite history and I don’t want to be part of that”.

“We were wrong that day, we broke the law – there should be no pardons,” she told the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme.

• Proud Boys and Oath Keepers among those pardoned over riot
• What are presidential pardons and how do they work?

Trump’s decision to pardon or commute the sentences of nearly 1,600 people involved in the attempt to violently overturn the 2020 election came just hours into his presidency.

In a news conference on Tuesday at the White House, he said: “These people have already served years in prison, and they’ve served them viciously.

“It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing.”

However, the move has drawn an uneasy reaction from some Republican politicians.

Senator Thom Tillis, from North Carolina, said he “just can’t agree” with the move, adding that it “raises legitimate safety issues on Capitol Hill”.

Another Republican US senator, James Lankford from Oklahoma, told CNN: “I think we need to continue to say we are a party of law and order.”

He added: “I think if you attack a police officer, that’s a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that.”

This is not the first instance of someone refusing a pardon and it is within an individual’s right to refuse under the US Constitution, the supreme Court previously ruled, according to Cornell Law School.

Also among those pardoned was one of the riot’s most recognisable figures, Jacob Chansley, the self-styled QAnon Shaman, who was released from jail in 2023 after serving 27 months of his 41-month jail sentence.

He told the BBC that he heard the news from his lawyer while he was at the gym.

He added: “I walked outside and I screamed ‘freedom’ at the top of my lungs and then gave a good Native American war cry.”

• LIVE: Follow BBC’s live coverage
• ANALYSIS: Six Trump executive orders to watch
• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
• PARDONS: Jan 6 defendants get nearly everything they wanted
• WATCH: Bishop asks Trump to show mercy to LGBT people and migrants

Follow the twists and turns of Trump’s second presidential term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s weekly US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

US President Donald Trump told US government agencies to prepare to “immediately repel, repatriate, and remove” undocumented immigrants as part of a wider effort to fight what he’s termed an “invasion” across the southern border.

Trump’s order comes as US officials announce the deployment of additional active duty troops to the border, and as processes that allow swift deportations are expanded.

The US also moved to cancel all refugee travel and processing, leaving thousands stranded as they wait to come to the US.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump is “sending a very strong message” to people around the world with the actions.

An executive action, posted to the White House’s website, argues that the measures are necessary to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the US, “invading” US communities and “imposing billions of dollars of costs” on state and local governments.

Speaking to reporters after Trump signed the order, Ms Leavitt said that the border was a “number one priority” for the president.

• Congress passes Laken Riley Act in early victory for Trump on immigration

“If you are thinking about breaking the laws of the United States of America, you will be returned home,” Leavitt said of Trump’s message. “You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted.”

Ms Leavitt also confirmed that 1,500 additional troops would be sent to the US-Mexico border.

The newly inaugurated president has signed a flurry of immigration and border-related actions and decrees this week aimed at cracking down on immigration.

The orders include tackling the definition of birthright citizenship and declaring illegal immigration at the border a national emergency.

A notice posted on the website of the Federal Register says the expedited removal policy took effect on the evening of 21 January.

The policy, which has traditionally been limited to undocumented migrants detained within 100 miles (160km) of the country’s international borders, now allows officers to use it anywhere in the US.

“The effect of this change will be to enhance national security and public safety – while reducing government costs – by facilitating prompting immigration determinations,” the notice reads.

It adds that the change will allow the Department of Homeland Security to address “the large volume of aliens” in the US illegally and ensure the “prompt removal…of those not entitled to enter, remain, or be provided relief or protection”.

The expanded policy could be challenged in court.

Until now, “unauthorised” immigrants detained in the US were given a notice to appear in immigration court, where they could present their case for asylum.

Deportation proceedings typically couldn’t begin until a judge issued a decision.

But earlier this week, Trump cited an immigration law – 212(f) – that allows the president to suspend the entry of foreign nationals deemed “detrimental” to the US.

Citing internal documents and US officials, CBS has reported that the policy also applies to the US border with Canada and to Customs and Border Protection’s maritime sectors, such as Florida.

The separate order to stop refugee travel and processing comes just days after Trump signed an executive order suspending the US’s Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), saying America “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans”.

It halts USRAP until “further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States”, the order says.

More than 1,600 Afghans who had already been approved to come to the US have had their travel plans cancelled, prompting an advocacy group, Afghan USRAP Refugees, to pen an open letter to President Trump.

More than 3,000 other Afghan nationals are waiting in Albania to be resettled in the US.

• LIVE: Follow BBC’s live coverage
• ANALYSIS: Six Trump executive orders to watch
• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
• PARDONS: Jan 6 defendants get nearly everything they wanted
• WATCH: Bishop asks Trump to show mercy to LGBT people and migrants

In another significant departure from the Biden administration’s immigration policies announced on Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security has rescinded existing guidelines that prevent immigration officers from entering “sensitive” areas such as schools.

In a statement, DHS said that the guidelines “thwart” law enforcement.

“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP [Customs and Border Protection] and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens – including murderers and rapists – who have illegally come into our country,” a DHS spokesman said.

The spokesman added that “the Trump administration will not tie the hands” of law enforcement, and expects them to “use common sense.”

President Donald Trump has ordered that all US government staff working on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes be put on immediate paid administrative leave.

The White House confirmed that all federal DEI workers had to be put on leave by 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT) on Wednesday, before the offices and programmes in question were shut down.

In an executive order issued on Tuesday, Trump also called for an end to the “dangerous, demeaning and immoral” programmes.

It is unclear how many people are affected by the order, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal workers, said.

Since his inauguration, the president has acted swiftly on a number of key pledges through a raft of unilateral actions.

He repeatedly attacked DEI practices on the campaign trail, arguing that they were discriminatory.

In his inaugural address, Trump pledged to “forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based”.

DEI programmes aim to promote participation in workplaces by people from a range of backgrounds.

Their backers say they address historical underrepresentation and discrimination against certain groups including racial minorities, but critics say such programmes can themselves be discriminatory.

On Tuesday, a memo was sent from the US Office of Personnel Management to the heads of government agencies, instructing them to place DEI employees on leave.

The memo had a number of requests, including the removal of public websites for DEI offices.

By Thursday, federal agencies must compile a list of DEI offices and workers. By 31 January, agencies must submit “a written plan” for executing lay-offs in DEI offices.

Trump’s executive order, meanwhile, took aim at what it called the “illegal” policies of DEI and DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility), framing them as being in opposition to US law.

It said these policies had the capability to “violate” important underlying civil rights laws that protect Americans from discrimination.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move “is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds”, and fulfils a campaign promise made by Trump.

• ANALYSIS: Six Trump executive orders to watch
• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
• PARDONS: Jan 6 defendants get nearly everything they wanted
• WATCH: Bishop asks Trump to show mercy to LGBT people and migrants

The executive order requires federal hiring, promotions and performance reviews “reward individual initiative” rather than “DEI-related factors”.

It also requires the US attorney general to submit, within 120 days, recommendations “to encourage the private sector” to end similar diversity efforts.

And the order revokes a civil rights era executive order, signed by former President Lyndon B Johnson, that makes it illegal for federal contractors to discriminate on the basis of “race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin” when hiring.

It also required them to take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity during employment.

Revoking that order will have ripple effects in the federal and private sector, said Alvin Tillery, a political scientist and co-founder of the 2040 Strategy Group, which does DEI training in the private sector.

He said that theoretically, a company with only white employees that now refuses to hire black people, or Latinos, or women, for example, “can go for a federal contract without showing that your processes are compliant” with federal diversity standards.

It could also eliminate training programmes aimed at curbing discrimination or reinforcing positive behaviour, critics say.

“People are going to be ill-informed about what discrimination is and what it looks like,” said Les Alderman, a DC-based civil rights lawyer who represents federal and congressional workers.

“Good-hearted people are going to be wrong about some things that we do and it is going to have consequences.”

Unions representing federal employees have condemned Trump’s executive orders.

The AFGE argues that diversity programmes have reduced gender and racial pay disparities in the federal workforce.

AFGE national president Everett Kelley said in a statement that removing the programmes serves to undermine “the merit-based civil service and turn federal hiring and firing decisions into loyalty tests”.

The order was “designed to intimidate and attack non-partisan civil servants”, said National Federation of Federal Workers national president Randy Erwin.

Tuesday’s executive order comes on the heels of a related one signed by Trump on Monday.

That one declares that all DEI offices, positions and programmes be terminated within 60 days, “to the maximum extent allowed by law”.

Among the roles targeted for elimination are “chief diversity officer” and “environmental justice” positions.

Several large US companies have ended or scaled back their DEI programmes in recent weeks, including McDonald’s, Walmart and Facebook parent company Meta.

Others, like Apple and retailers Target and Costco, have publicly defended their DEI programmes.

Mr Tillery said that, while he believes the former Biden administration’s effort to add DEI positions across government was well intentioned, it did not meet its goals.

“The DEI jobs were underfunded, understaffed, the people doing the work were heroes with very few resources,” he said. “But now we’re going to go to zero.”

Donald Trump has signed sweeping executive orders on his return to the US presidency, vowing swift action on some of his top campaign issues.

Among the directives that have gained the most publicity are an immigration crackdown and rollbacks of some climate-friendly policies.

But even presidential powers have their limits – and in some cases, he faces hurdles before his plans can become reality.

Here are six of Trump’s eye-catching actions with analysis by BBC reporters, who give their verdict on whether each order could take effect.

• What are executive orders?
• Live updates on Trump’s second term

What does the order say?

The order argues that cartels have “engaged in a campaign of violence and terror” throughout the hemisphere, and flooded the US with crime, posing a national security risk to the US.

Additionally, the order specifies that the US policy is to “ensure the total elimination” of these groups in the US. It gives US agencies 14 days to provide recommendations on which groups are to be designated and be ready to expedite the removal of individuals from the US.

What are the roadblocks?

Designating a cartel as a terrorist group could open the door to prosecuting US citizens or even legitimate businesses found to be somehow tied to those groups. The designation could also strain relations with countries including Mexico, which has vocally called for its sovereignty to be respected.

What is the potential impact?

For one, the designation of these groups as foreign terrorist organisations could ultimately be used to justify military action against targets in Mexico or other countries in which similar groups operate.

The designation could also see the US federal government dedicate more resources and enhanced legal tools to fight cartels and other gangs, and go after their business and financial interests on both sides of the border.

While it would make “material support” of these groups a crime, it remains unclear what that could mean. In theory, that could mean that drug dealers and users, including US citizens, could be charged with aiding terrorists – as could US citizens or businesses on the border that are extorted to pay them.

What does the order say?

The executive order asks the US ambassador to the UN to “immediately” submit a formal written request to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

It says the accord does not reflect the country’s values or its economic and environmental objectives.

What are the roadblocks?

Any country can withdraw from the global climate pact, but UN regulations mean the process of removing a country can be drawn out.

Trump announced his intent to withdraw during his last term in 2017, but it was not formally finalised until 2020. We can expect another waiting period this time of at least one year.

President Joe Biden rejoined it shortly after taking office in 2021

What is the potential impact?

The US is responsible for around 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the second biggest polluter behind China. This damages the global effort to limit emissions.

Its withdrawal in the past has raised issues of trust on climate leadership, and questions about whether the agreement itself has been effective.

The withdrawal is also in line with Trump’s goal to boost domestic oil and gas production, though the US is already the number one producer of both in the world. It is one of several of Trump’s reversals of environmental protections that were enacted by the Biden administration.

What does the order say?

This order aims to end birthright citizenship for children born in the US to immigrant parents who are in the country illegally, as well as those born to parents who are in the country on a temporary basis.

There have been reports that the administration will enforce the order by withholding documents, such as passports, from people it deems ineligible for citizenship.

What are the roadblocks?

The principle of birthright citizenship is established in the US Constitution. The 14th Amendment says that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are citizens of the United States.

The legal challenges are already under way – one claims the order is “unconstitutional, and flouts fundamental American values”.

“Ultimately this will be decided by the courts. This is not something [Trump] can decide on his own,” Saikrishna Prakash, a constitutional expert, told the BBC.

What is the potential impact?

Trump has threatened mass deportations, which could include those whose birthright citizenship is revoked if Trump is successful in enforcing this executive action.

Legal cases could ultimately have to be decided by the US Supreme Court, which could take a long time.

What does the order say?

The order says the US was withdrawing “due to the organization’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Trump’s longheld antipathy towards the WHO is rooted in a perception that it was dominated by – and so soft on – China, which the president has long believed was responsible for the spread of the virus.

It also mentions “unfairly onerous payments” the US made to the WHO.

What are the roadblocks?

It is the second time Trump has ordered the US be pulled out of the WHO. He began the process and Biden later reversed the decision after taking office.

The US exit won’t take effect until 2026 at the earliest, but leaving will require the approval of Congress.

On paper, the Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress. But their numerical advantage is slim, and it would only take a few Republican defectors to potentially block the move.

What is the potential impact?

“Catastrophic”, “disastrous”, “damaging” is how some global public health experts are describing it.

Of the 196 member states, the US is by far the largest individual funder, contributing almost a fifth of the total WHO budget.

It’s possible that funding could disappear almost overnight and that could have an impact on the ability of the WHO to respond to emergencies.

There is also concern among some scientists that this would leave the US isolated when it comes to access to programmes such as pandemic preparedness and seasonal influenza strain sequencing, which is used to develop annual flu jabs.

That could ultimately harm the health of Americans, and the US national interest.

Some argue US withdrawal could prompt further reforms of how the WHO works, making it a body that better serves the public health needs of people around the globe.

What does the order say?

The order calls for the Gulf of Mexico to “officially be renamed the Gulf of America”.

Trump can change the name of the Gulf on official US government documents.

This has happened on some documents already – including a weather update from Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, which refers to “an area of low pressure moving across the Gulf of America”.

What are the roadblocks?

Trump can’t force other countries or companies to change the name.

For example, it’s currently still labelled as the Gulf of Mexico on Google Maps.

What is the potential impact?

There’s no formal international agreement for the naming of maritime areas – although there is a body that seeks to resolve disputes if raised.

So Mexico could raise an official dispute, and allies of the US and Mexico could be caught up in a diplomatic spat between the two countries.

In response to the order, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said the US can call it the “Gulf of America”, but this won’t change what Mexico and the rest of the world call it.

What does the order say?

“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” it says, adding that the federal government will use the term sex, not gender identity.

President Trump’s team argues that requirements to refer to transgender people in government facilities and workplaces by pronouns that match their gender identity violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment on freedom of speech and religion.

States like Kansas and Montana have already legislated to enshrine a biological definition of sex into law.

What are the roadblocks?

There are likely to be legal challenges.

The Human Rights Campaign, which represents LGBTQ+ people, stated that “we will fight back against these harmful provisions with everything we’ve got”.

These challenges could work their way up to the US Supreme Court which, with its conservative majority, could rule in Trump’s favour.

What is the potential impact?

Prisons and settings such as shelters for migrants and rape victims would be segregated by sex under the plans, which campaigners say will help safeguard women. But transgender rights groups say trans women could be put at a heightened risk of violence.

Official identification documents, including passports and visas, would have to state whether the individual was “male” or female”. US citizens would no longer be able to select “X” as a third option.

• ANALYSIS: Anthony Zurcher on the beginning of a new Trump era
• IN PICTURES: Defining images as the 47th US president takes office
• VIRAL MOMENTS: Carrie Underwood audio fail and Melania’s air kiss
• FASHION: Melania’s striking hat and other eye-catching look
• POLICIES: Trump vows to leave Paris climate agreement

An endangered plant known as the “corpse flower” for its putrid stink is about to bloom in Australia – and captivated the internet in the process, with thousands already tuned in to a livestream ahead of its grand debut.

The titan arum plant, housed in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, blooms only once every few years for just 24 hours.

Affectionately dubbed Putricia, it will release a smell described as “wet socks, hot cat food, or rotting possum flesh”.

The long wait and uncertainty as to when Putricia will bloom – has spawned jokes and even a unique lingo in the livestream’s chat, with thousands commenting “WWTF”, or “We Watch the Flower”.

The current view is not much: Putricia stands silent and tall in front of a brown curtain, comfortably ensconced behind a red velvet rope. Occasionally, a visitor pops into the frame as they snap a selfie with the plant.

But once she blooms, viewers can expect to see Putricia unfold a vibrant maroon or crimson skirt, known as a spathe, around her spadix which is the large spike in the middle of the plant.

The Gardens have said it is “hard to predict exactly when” Putricia will bloom, but that has not stopped the thousands gathered online.

“I’m back again to see how Putricia is going and I can see she’s still taking her time like the queen she is, fair play,” wrote one commenter. “This is the slowest burlesque ever,” said another.

Yet another person wrote: “Overnight I watched, fell asleep, awoke, watched, fell asleep. I am weak, but Putricia is strong. WWTF.”

Other popular acronyms among viewers are WDNRP (We Do Not Rush Putricia) and BBTB (Blessed Be The Bloom).

The plant can only be found in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, where it is known as bunga bangkai – or “corpse flower” in Indonesian. Its scientific name is Amorphophallus titanum, which is derived from Ancient Greek and means “giant misshapen penis”,

It has the world’s largest flowering structure, as it can grow up to 3m (10 feet) tall and weigh up to 150kg. The plant contains several hundred flowers in the base of its spadix.

It is endangered in the wild due to deforestation and land degradation.

Putricia is one of several titan arums in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, which last saw one bloom 15 years ago.

But there have been other corpse flower blooms across Australia in recent years, including Melbourne and Adelaide’s botanic gardens, each time attracting thousands of curious visitors keen on having a whiff.

There are also a few housed in Kew Gardens in London, where one bloomed in June last year. The titan arum first flowered outside of Sumatra in 1889 in Kew.

Western officials have told the BBC that North Korean troops have already suffered nearly 40% casualties in the fighting in Russia’s western Kursk region, in just three months.

The officials, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, said that out of the estimated 11,000 troops sent from North Korea, known as DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), 4,000 were battle casualties.

That term comprises those killed, wounded, missing or captured. Of the 4,000, the officials said around 1,000 are believed to have been killed by mid-January.

These losses, if confirmed, are unsustainable by the North Koreans.

It is not clear where the wounded are being treated, nor even when and to what extent they will be replaced.

But the figures point to an extraordinarily high cost being incurred by President Vladimir Putin’s ally, akin Kim Jong Un, as he seeks to help him evict Ukrainian forces from Russia ahead of any possible ceasefire negotiations later in the year.

Ukraine launched a lightning thrust into the Russian oblast of Kursk last August, taking Russian border guards by surprise.

The government in Kyiv made it clear at the time that it had no intention of holding onto the territory seized, merely to use it as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations.

Ukraine’s early gains in Kursk have since been steadily pushed back, partly due to the arrival in Russia of the North Koreans in October.

But Ukraine still retains several hundred square kilometres of Russian territory and is inflicting huge losses on its enemy.

The North Korean troops, reportedly from an “elite” unit called the Storm Corps, appear to have been thrown into the fight with comparatively little training or protection.

“These are barely trained troops led by Russian officers who they don’t understand,” says the former British Army tank commander, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.

“Quite frankly they don’t stand a chance. They are being thrown into the meat grinder with little chance of survival. They are cannon fodder, and the Russian officers care even less for them than they do for their own men.”

Reports attributed to South Korean intelligence say the North Koreans are unprepared for the realities of modern warfare, and appear especially vulnerable to being targeted by Ukrainian First-Person-View (FPV) drones, a weapon that has been a familiar part of the battle space further south in Ukraine’s Donbas region for years now.

Despite this, Ukraine’s top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi warned earlier this week that North Korean soldiers were posing a significant problem for Ukrainian fighters on the front line.

“They are numerous. An additional 11,000-12,000 highly motivated and well-prepared soldiers who are conducting offensive actions. They operate based on Soviet tactics. They act in platoons, companies. They rely on their numbers,” the general told Ukraine’s TSN Tyzhden news programme.

The Oscar nominations will be announced later, in an exciting year for the film awards race where there is no consensus frontrunner for best picture.

Blockbusters such as Wicked and Dune: Part Two will compete with Emilia Pérez, Conclave, A Complete Unknown, The Brutalist and Anora when the shortlists are released at lunchtime.

The nominations were due to be announced last week, but were postponed after the voting period was extended due to the Los Angeles wildfires.

The Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by US comic Conan O’Brien, will take place on 2 March.

There are two musicals, two massive pop stars, two Sebastian Stan films, two actors from Succession and several comeback queens in the race this year.

Here are a few things to look out for when the Academy announces its nominations.

Comeback narratives are strong this year, particularly in the best actress category where many contenders have returned after years away from the awards race.

One of the frontrunners is The Substance star Demi Moore, for playing a woman who swaps her body for a younger and more beautiful version of herself.

Equally, there is a huge amount of affection towards Pamela Anderson, who has already scored surprise SAG and Golden Globe nominations for her vulnerable and powerful performance in The Last Showgirl as an ageing Las Vegas performer.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste has an outside chance at a nomination for playing a constantly miserable woman in Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, nearly three decades after her first nomination for their previous collaboration Secrets & Lies.

Even Angelina Jolie arguably has a comeback narrative. Although she has remained in the spotlight in recent years, her portrayal of opera singer Maria Callas is her first Oscar contender for some time. She has lost momentum in recent weeks, however, after missing a nomination at other major ceremonies.

Over in the best actor category, Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) is expected to return to the race for his performance as a Hungarian architect hired by a wealthy American after World War Two. Brody was last nominated in 2003, when he won for The Pianist.

Other contenders include Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) for his portrayal as Bob Dylan in the early 1960s, and Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) for playing a prison inmate who takes part in an performing arts programme.

Possible British nominees include Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), for his role as a cardinal who oversees the selection of a new Pope, and Daniel Craig (Queer), who plays a gay man who ventures into the jungle in search of a plant with telepathic qualities.

Sebastian Stan has two possible chances for a nomination – one for playing a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice, and another for the Golden Globe-winning A Different Man, for his role as an aspiring actor who radically changes his appearance.

Two of the biggest pop stars of the last 15 years could be recognised in the best supporting actress category. Ariana Grande is a dead-cert for her performance in Wicked as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.

Another possible (but less certain) nominee is Selena Gomez for her role in Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez as the wife of a Mexican drug lord who changes gender.

Her co-star Zoe Saldaña is the current frontrunner to win the category. She took home the Golden Globe earlier this month and has a lot of goodwill from voters because of her roles in box office smashes such as the Avatar and Marvel films.

But it’s a crowded category, with Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave), Margaret Qualley (The Substance) and Jamie Lee Curtis (The Last Showgirl) also in the running.

Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown) and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys) could also show up. This category is particularly hard to predict due to different actresses being nominated at different precursor events.

The frontrunner in the best supporting actor category is Kieran Culkin, who is best known for his role as the snarky Roman Roy in HBO’s Succession.

He could score a nomination for his performance in the excellent A Real Pain, about two cousins who travel across Poland in remembrance of their grandmother.

But one of Culkin’s competitors is his own Succession co-star Jeremy Strong, who could be recognised for his terrific performance in The Apprentice as lawyer Roy Cohn, who mentored Donald Trump in his early years as a real estate tycoon.

The pair could be joined in the best supporting actor category by Yura Borisov (Anora), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), and Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown).

And what about Culkin and Strong’s on-screen sister Sarah Snook? Well, she has a film in the awards race too, although not in the acting categories. The Australian voices the main character in the beguiling animated film Memoir of a Snail.

Jolie, Moore, Anderson and Jean-Baptiste may have comeback narratives, but they are competing in a particularly crowded lead actress category this year.

Other frontrunners include Mikey Madison (Anora) for her barnstorming performance as a New York stripper who falls for the son of a wealthy Russian.

She could be joined by Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) for her role as the Wizard of Oz character Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. The British actress is an Oscar win away from achieving EGOT status.

Golden Globe winner Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) could make it in for her understated portrayal of a Brazilian woman who investigates the disappearance of her congressman husband.

Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez) is also likely to be recognised for playing a Mexican cartel leader who leaves the world of crime to live a new life as a trans woman.

Gascón would become the first trans person to be nominated in an acting category. There is one caveat – Elliot Page was nominated for Juno in 2008, but that was more than a decade before the actor transitioned.

Robbie Williams had a good chance of an Oscar nomination this year thanks to Better Man, the biopic which sees him depicted as a CGI chimpanzee.

The singer made the 15-strong shortlist in the best original song category for his track Forbidden Road, taken from the film’s soundtrack.

But sadly he will not be one of the final five nominees, after the song was disqualified for “incorporating material from an existing song that was not written” for the film.

It’s understood Forbidden Road was considered too similar to I Got A Name, performed by Jim Croce in the 1973 film The Last American Hero.

Instead, songs from The Six Triple Eight, Challengers, The Wild Robot, Blitz and two numbers from Emilia Pérez could be nominated.

Established directors such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson often tend to populate this category, understandably cropping up at the Oscars again and again.

This year, however, all of the major contenders for best director would be first-time Oscar nominees.

Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), Edward Berger (Conclave), Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) and Sean Baker (Anora) are all likely to be recognised.

They could be joined by Coralie Fargeat (The Substance), RaMell Ross (Nickel Boys) and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown).

Even the less likely contenders, such as Jon M Chu (Wicked), Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two), Mohammad Rasoulof (The Seed of the Sacred Fig) and Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine As Light), would be first-time nominees in the category.

We may not have Barbie or Oppenheimer this year, but there are plenty of other blockbusters which could show up at the Oscars.

Box office smashes in 2024 included Wicked, which almost certainly will be nominated for best picture, and Gladiator II, which almost certainly won’t be.

Other sequels which cleaned up financially include Dune: Part Two, the second instalment of the sandy sci-fi adaptation, which is likely to be nominated for best picture as well as several technical prizes.

Elsewhere, Inside Out 2, the highest-grossing film of last year, will likely make the best animated film category, alongside the popular The Wild Robot.

But box office takings aren’t everything. Both animated films could be beaten by a much smaller contender, the charming Latvian film Flow, about a cat who must work with other animals to survive after a flood, which won the Golden Globe.

Often with the Oscars, there is a clear best picture winner which steamrolls its way through awards season, such as Oppenheimer in 2024. This year, however, is wide open.

Different films have been winning prizes at the various events which precede the Oscars. There are six contenders which feasibly could take the top prize, depending on how the next few weeks shake out.

The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez won the two top film awards at the Golden Globes, and both have a lot of passionate supporters.

Meanwhile, Conclave and Anora are widely liked and less divisive than some other contenders, and could therefore benefit from the preferential ballot system, where voters rank the nominated films in order of preference.

Less likely but still possible winners include A Complete Unknown, which had a particularly strong showing at the SAG nominations, and Wicked, which is likely to be heavily nominated and is one of the most successful films financially.

Nominations will be announced at 13:30 GMT and will be streamed on the BBC News live page, as well as the Academy’s official website and social channels.

The event has been scaled down due to the LA wildfires, and will now be made virtually without the usual audience of journalists.

During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump doubled down on his assertion that China runs the Panama Canal.

“China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back,” he said.

The 51-mile (82km) Panama Canal cuts across the Central American nation and is the main link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Up to 14,000 ships use it each year as a shortcut to a journey which, before the canal was built, would have taken them on a lengthy and costly trip around the tip of South America.

The mention of Panama in his inaugural speech is not the first time he has focused on the Central American nation and its transoceanic canal.

On Christmas Day, Trump posted on social media that the “wonderful soldiers of China” were “lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal” – a claim which was swiftly denied by officials in Panama City and Beijing.

At the time, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino described the claim as “nonsense”, stressing that there was “absolutely no Chinese interference” in the canal.

Trump has also threatened to take the canal back by force, citing “exorbitant” fees being allegedly charged for US vessels to pass through it – another claim rejected by Panamanian authorities.

Following Trump’s inauguration address, President Mulino again stressed that there was “no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration” of the Panama Canal.

The strategic waterway, which handles about 5% of global maritime trade volume, is operated by the Panama Canal Authority, an agency of the Panamanian government, not Chinese soldiers.

However, Mr Trump’s inaccurate claim reflects the concerns of some US officials over China’s significant investments in the canal and its surrounding infrastructure.

Historically, the US played a pivotal role in the construction and administration of the passage, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

After a failed attempt by the French to build it, the US secured the rights to undertake the project. The canal’s construction was completed in 1914.

It remained under US control until 1977, when then President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty to gradually hand it over to Panama, which Trump has referred to as “foolish”.

Since 1999, the Panama Canal Authority has held exclusive control over the operations of the waterway.

The treaties signed by both the US and Panama stipulated that it shall remain permanently neutral, but the US reserves the right to defend any threat to the canal’s neutrality using military force under this deal.

There is no public evidence to suggest that the Chinese government exercises control over the canal, or its military. However, Chinese companies have a significant presence there.

From October 2023 to September 2024, China accounted for 21.4% of the cargo volume transiting the Panama Canal, making it the second-largest user after the US.

In recent years, China has also invested heavily in ports and terminals near the canal.

Two of the five ports adjacent to the canal, Balboa and Cristóbal, which sit on the Pacific and Atlantic sides respectively, have been operated by a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings since 1997.

The company is a subsidiary of the publicly listed CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate founded by Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing.

It has port operations in 24 countries, including the UK.

Although it is not state-owned by China, says Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, there have been concerns in Washington over how much control Beijing would be able to exert over the company.

A wealth of potentially useful strategic information on ships passing through the waterway flows through these ports.

“There is an increasing geopolitical tension of economic nature between the US and China,” Mr Berg says. “That kind of information regarding cargo would be very useful in the event of a supply chain war.”

CK Hutchison did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

The bids to operate those ports faced almost no competition, according to Andrew Thomas, a professor at the University of Akron who has written a book on the canal. “The US at the time didn’t really care about these ports and Hutchison faced no objection,” he says.

Chinese companies, both private and state-owned, have also strengthened their presence in Panama through billions of dollars in investments, including a cruise terminal and a bridge to be built over the canal.

This “package of Chinese activities”, as described by Mr Thomas, might have prompted Trump’s assertion that the canal is “owned” by China, but operation of those ports does not equate to ownership, he stresses.

Beijing has repeatedly said that China’s ties with Latin America are characterised by “equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and benefits for the people”.

Panama’s strategic location means China has been vying to increase its influence in the country for years and expand its footprint on a continent that has traditionally been considered the “backyard” of the US.

In 2017, Panama broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established formal relations with China – a huge win for Chinese diplomacy.

Months later, Panama became the first Latin American country to join China’s signature Belt and Road Initiative, a trillion-dollar global infrastructure and investment initiative.

The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras followed suit and also severed ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing.

China has slowly expanded its soft power by opening its first Confucius Institute in the country and providing a grant to build a railway. Chinese companies have also sponsored “media training” for Panamanian journalists.

On 14 October 2023, an unusual event was held in Ukraine’s most prestigious venue, Palace Ukraine in Kyiv.

Anton Tymoshenko became the first Ukrainian stand-up comedian to give a solo performance there.

“I grew up in a village with fewer people than Palace Ukraine can hold,” he said after the concert. “So many people had told me: It’s not going to happen… stand-up comedy has not reached that level.”

It has now, to a large extent because of the full-scale invasion launched by Russia.

The invasion turned many Ukrainians away from the previously popular and lavishly promoted Russian acts and triggered a renewed interest in Ukrainian culture.

Key Ukrainian comedians say they are now making jokes to help the public deal with the grim reality of war and also help the army by raising funds.

“Stand-up comedy is a budget version of psychotherapy,” Anton Tymoshenko tells the BBC.

“I like to relieve social tension with my jokes. When that happens, that’s the best thing.”

Another popular performer, Nastya Zukhvala, says Russia’s full-scale invasion in February gave stand-up comedy in Ukraine “a boost,” albeit for darker reasons.

“The demand for comedy looks totally natural to me now because comedy supports and unites.

“It can also make reality look less catastrophic. It is a tool which can help us process this stream of depressing information,” she tells me.

“To stay optimistic or even sane, we’ve got no other choice.”

So what are the jokes that are making Ukrainians laugh?

This kind of humour is grim, says comedian Hanna Kochehura, but making fun of the danger makes it easier to cope with.

“It looks even darker from abroad, and it’s clear why. Anyone who’s in Ukraine knows that there are no safe places here,” she says.

“You never know if this air raid is going to be your last. You don’t know if a Shahed drone is going to target your house or your family’s house.

“Naturally, all our themes are related to the war. Because it’s our life now. Stand-up comedy is a frank genre where comedians speak about their own experiences or thoughts,” Ms Kochehura says.

Here’s an example – a joke from Anton Tymoshenko’s performance at Palace Ukraine:

“I never worried about a nuclear attack because I know it would mean death for rich residents of Kyiv. I live on the outskirts – but the nukes will hit central parts. Before fallout reaches me, it will have to make two changes on the metro.

“More realistically, I’ll get killed by Iranian Shahed drones. The sad thing is – did you hear the noise they make? They sound very demotivating, like the cheapest kind of death.”

“People can laugh at the news,” Anton tells me.

“If we’re not allowed to use [Western] missiles against targets in Russia — yes, that is funny because it is absurd. I build upon this absurd fact, and it becomes funny.

“Of course, Ukrainians find it funny.”

Western allies were initially reluctant to allow Ukraine to use their missiles against targets in Russia for fear of escalation. But the permission was granted after months of pleading by Kyiv: first shorter-range weapons in May 2024, then long-range missiles in November.

Joking about the war is fraught with pitfalls.

Anton Tymoshenko says he is trying not to “trigger” his audiences or add to the trauma from which they may already be suffering.

“Stand-up comedy in wartime is the most difficult type. Making jokes without offending anyone is possible to do, but that would be like joking in a vacuum,” he says.

But, it is usually possible to see where the line lies according to Nastya Zukhvala:

“I feel what other Ukrainians feel. If I find something sad or tragic, I don’t see any need to turn it into stand-up comedy.”

There’s also a very practical side to stand-up comedy in Ukraine – helping its army.

“Almost all of the comedians I know have been helping the armed forces. All of us are involved in raising funds [for the Ukrainian army]. We hold charity shows and many perform in front of the military,” says Hanna Kochehura.

Some, like Nastya Zukhvala’s husband Serhiy Lipko, a comedian himself, are in the army.

“Culture, humour or psychology – that’s all fine and well, but everything must be of practical use to the military. When so many missiles are on the way to hit you, you’re not as interested in talking about art alone,” says Mr Tymoshenko.

“My main task is holding concerts so I can raise funds for them.”

He says he has donated more than 30m hryvnyas (£580,000; $710,000) since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

For more than 50 years, one family has dedicated itself to caring for the biggest graveyard in Nigeria’s northern city of Kaduna – much to the gratitude of other residents who do not fancy the job of dealing with the dead.

Until a few weeks ago, they did it for no formal pay – digging graves, washing corpses and tending to the vast cemetery, receiving only small donations from mourners for their labour.

The vast Tudun Wada Cemetery was set aside for the Muslim residents of the city by the authorities a century ago.

The Abdullahi family became involved in the 1970s when two brothers – Ibrahim and Adamu – began working there.

The two siblings now lie beneath the soil in the graveyard, and their sons have become the cemetery’s main custodians.

“Their teachings to us, their children, was that God loves the service and would reward us for it even if we don’t get any worldly gains,” Ibrahim Abdullahi’s oldest son Magaji told the BBC when asked why they had chosen to continue as unpaid undertakers.

The 58-year-old is now in charge at Tudun Wada – shepherding operations and the 18 members of staff or until recently – volunteers.

He and his two younger cousins – Abdullahi, 50, and Aliyu, 40, (Adamu Abdullahi’s sons) – are the three full-time workers, all reporting in by 07:00 for a 12-hour shift, seven days a week.

They always need to be on call because, according to Muslim rites, a burial must be organised within a few hours of someone’s death.

Magaji tends to get the call on his mobile, either directly from a relative or an imam – all religious clerics in the city have his number.

“A lot of people have our numbers and as soon as someone dies, we get a call and immediately we get to work,” he says.

One of the trio goes to tend to the corpse, which may include washing it and wrapping it in a shroud.

The body is measured and those details are texted back to the others so that a grave can be dug.

This can take around an hour – with two people taking it in turns to dig down 6ft (1.8m) into the earth – sometimes longer when it is in a stony area of the graveyard.

They can dig around a dozen graves in a day – hard work in the Kaduna heat.

“Today alone we have dug eight graves and it’s not even noon, some days are like that,” says Abdullahi, who began work at the cemetery when he was aged 20.

The cousins have experienced very stressful times – especially during religious violence when tensions flare between the city’s Christian and Muslim residents. The two communities tend to live on opposite sides of the Kaduna River.

“We have had a couple of religious clashes in Kaduna but the one that sticks the most for me was one in the early 1990s. A lot of people were killed,” says Magaji.

“We went round gathering the corpses and taking them off the streets.”

Muslims were taken to Tudun Wada in the north of the city and Christians to graveyards in the southern suburbs.

“It was such a troubling time personally and I wasn’t long in the job then but that helped enhance my resolve to continue,” he says.

Usually, while the team digs a grave, at the local mosque the imam announces during one of the five daily prayers that a funeral will be taking place.

Many of the worshippers then go to where the body has been prepared for prayers – it is then transported to the graveyard for burial, often thronged by the mourners.

Once by the graveside, the shrouded body is lowered – it is covered with a layer of sticks and broken clay pots as a mark of respect. The grave is then filled to form a slightly raised bed.

After the rituals are complete and before the mourners leave, the graveyard keepers appeal for donations.

This is usually done by 72-year-old Inuwa Mohammed, the oldest worker at the cemetery, who explains the importance of Abdullahi family to the community.

He used to work with the cousins’ fathers: “They were amazing people who loved what they did and have imbibed their children with this altruistic behaviour.”

The little money collected will sometimes buy lunch for the crew – but is never enough for anything else. In order to survive, the family also has a small farm where they grow food.

The graves are recycled after 40 years, meaning land is not a big issue – but maintenance is.

“There is a lot that is lacking at the moment – we don’t have enough equipment to work with, or good security,” says Aliyu, the youngest of the cousins and who has worked there for 10 years.

He explains how part of the wall has collapsed, allowing those on the look-out for scrap metal to steal the grave markers.

Some of the graves have metal plates inscribed with a name and date of birth and death – though many do not as Islamic clerics do not encourage ostentation. Most are just outlined by stones and bricks or with a stick.

Either way, the cousins remember the location of everyone buried at the cemetery and can direct people if they have forgotten the location of a relative’s grave.

Following the BBC’s recent visit to the graveyard, they have seen a dramatic change in fortune.

The new local council chairman, whose office oversees the site, has decided to put them on the payroll.

“They deserve it, given the massive work they do every day,” Rayyan Hussain tells the BBC.

“Graves are the final homes for us all and people who do this kind of hard work deserve to be paid, so my office would pay them as long as I am chairman.”

Magaji confirms that the staff have started receiving a monthly salary for the first time:

• the five oldest, including himself, are getting 43,000 naira ($28; £22.50)
• the others, including Abdullahi and Aliyu, are receiving 20,000 naira ($13; £10.50).

This is well below the national minimum wage of $45 a month, but Mr Hussain says he hopes to increase their allowance “with time”.

He says it is regrettable that the graveyard was abandoned for years by previous local council heads.

He has plans to repair parts of the fencing, install solar lights and add security, the chairman adds.

“I am also building a room in the graveyard where corpses could be washed and prepared for burials, before now all of this had to be done from homes.”

For the Abdullahi family, it is all welcome investment – and Magaji hopes it will ensure that one of his 23 children will one day become a custodian of the cemetery.

• The Nigerian watch-lover lost in time
• ‘I’ve been sleeping under a bridge in Lagos for 30 years’
• The Nigerian professor who makes more money welding

A song recorded for Tina Turner’s blockbuster album Private Dancer, that was presumed lost, has been rediscovered and will receive its first play on BBC Radio 2 later.

Hot For You, Baby, was cut at Capitol Studios in Hollywood and originally intended to be an album track.

But it was ultimately jettisoned in favour of era-defining pop hits such What’s Love Got To Do With It, Better Be Good To Me and the album’s title track.

Presumed missing, the master tape was recently rediscovered as her record label compiled a 40th anniversary re-release of Private Dancer.

An up-tempo rocker, full of showboating guitar chords and an extremely 1980s cowbell, Hot For You, Baby is a prime example of Turner’s raspy, physical style of soul.

The track will receive its first play on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Thursday, between 08:30 and 09:00 GMT.

Produced by John Grant, the record executive who masterminded her mid-career comeback, it was written by Australian musicians George Young and Harry Vanda.

It had already been recorded once by Scottish-Australian singer John Paul Young, the voice behind disco classic Love Is In The Air.

However, his version largely flew under the radar when it was released in 1979.

Private Dancer, released in May 1984, launched an unprecedented second act in Tina Turner’s career.

She had escaped an abusive marriage to musician Ike Turner at the end of the 1970s, but the divorce left her penniless, living off food stamps and playing ill-conceived cabaret shows to pay her debts.

The music industry had largely written her off – but in England, where pop was in thrall to American R&B, she still had some heavyweight fans.

In 1981, Rod Stewart invited Turner to play with him on Saturday Night Live; and the Rolling Stones asked her to be part of their US tour. More importantly, perhaps, David Bowie told Capitol Records that Turner was his favourite singer.

But the turning point came when she hooked up with British producers Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, of the band Heaven 17, to record a synth-pop version of the Temptations’ 1970 hit Ball of Confusion.

A huge hit in Europe, its success persuaded Capitol to let her record an album, but they hardly threw their weight behind it.

The budget only paid for two weeks in the studio, and many of the songs Turner recorded were other artists’ cast-offs (both Cliff Richard and Bucks Fizz had turned down What’s Love Got To Do With It).

But she used her time wisely – recording all but one of Private Dancer’s songs in the UK with five different British production teams.

With the country in the grips of new wave and the new romantics, Turner was steered away from raw, fiery soul that first made her famous. But somehow, her electrifying vocals were a perfect fit for the chilly, programmed grooves she was given.

“Turner seems to completely understand the touch that each of these songs needed,” wrote Debby Miller, in a contemporaneous review of Private Dancer for Rolling Stone magazine.

In the New York Times, Stephen Holden described the record as “a landmark, not only in the career of the 45-year-old singer, who has been recording since the late 1950s, but in the evolution of pop-soul music itself”.

The album went on to sell more than 10 million copies, and earned three Grammys, including record of the year for What’s Love Got To Do With It.

Turner also performed the song on the live TV broadcast, wowing audiences with her vocals despite fighting a bad case of the flu.

A support slot on Lionel Richie’s US tour in 1984 reminded audiences of her ability to tear the roof off any venue she set foot in.

By 1985, Turner was one of the world’s biggest acts in an era of stadium superstars like Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince.

The decision to withhold Hot For You, Baby from the original tracklist of Private Dancer makes sense. It sounds a little cheesy next to the sultry, sophisticated material that eventually populated the record.

But fans will welcome the chance to hear Turner let rip, back in her prime, with a promise to “love you all night long”.

Mark Goodier, who is currently covering the Radio 2 breakfast show, said: “To have something new to hear from Tina Turner is a treat for fans of all generations and a reminder of her unique talent.

“I’m lucky enough to have both interviewed Tina and seen her perform live. She was an outrageously good performer and at the same time a remarkable graceful lady, whose every note was shaped by her incredible life.”

As well as being released as a single, the track will feature on a new five-disc deluxe edition of Private Dancer, which is due for release in March.

The collection will also feature B-sides, remixes and live tracks, as well as a film of Turner playing Birmingham’s NEC Arena in March 1985, featuring guest appearances by David Bowie and Bryan Adams.

Turner died in 2023 at the age of 83. No cause of death was given, but she was known to be struggling with a kidney disease, intestinal cancer and other illnesses.

Donald Trump has warned he will impose high tariffs and further sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin fails to end the war in Ukraine.

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, he said that by pushing to settle the war he was doing Russia and its president a “very big favour”.

Trump had previously said he would negotiate a settlement to Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022, in a single day.

Russia has not yet responded to the remarks, but senior officials have said in recent days that there is a small window of opportunity for Moscow to deal with the new US administration.

Putin has said repeatedly that he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014, but that Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20% of its land. He also refuses to allow Ukraine to join Nato.

Kyiv does not want to give up its territory, although President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded he may have to cede some currently occupied land temporarily.

On Tuesday Trump told a news conference he would be talking to Putin “very soon” and it “sounds likely” that he would apply more sanctions if the Russian leader did not come to the table.

But in his Truth Social post on Wednesday, he went further: “I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR,” he wrote.

“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a ‘deal’, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

Continuing, he said: “Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL”.”

• LIVE: Follow BBC’s live coverage
• ANALYSIS: Six Trump executive orders to watch
• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
• PARDONS: Jan 6 defendants get nearly everything they wanted

Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy earlier told Reuters news agency that the Kremlin would need to know what Trump wants in a deal to stop the war before the country moves forward.

Meanwhile Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed under any agreement.

And he told Bloomberg that any peacekeeping force for his country would have to include US troops to pose a realistic deterrent to Russia.

“It can’t be without the United States… Even if some European friends think it can be, no it will not be,” he said, adding that no-one else would risk such a move without the US.

While Ukraine’s leaders might appreciate this tougher-talking Trump – they have always said Putin only understands strength – the initial reaction in Kyiv to the US president’s comments suggest that it is actions people are waiting for, not words.

Trump has not specified where more economic penalties might be aimed, or when. Russian imports to the US have plummeted since 2022 and there are all sorts of heavy restrictions already in place.

Currently, the main Russian exports to the US are phosphate-based fertilisers and platinum.

On social media, there was a generally scathing response from Ukrainians. Many suggested that more sanctions were a weak reply to Russian aggression. But the biggest question for most is what Putin is actually open to discussing with Ukraine at any peace talks.

In Moscow meanwhile, some people are seeing signs that the Kremlin may be readying Russians to accept less than the “victory” once envisaged, which included tanks rolling all the way west to the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.

TV editor Margarita Simonyan, who is stridently pro-Putin, has begun talking of “realistic” conditions for ending the war, which she suggests could include halting the fighting along the current frontline.

That would mean the four Ukrainian regions that Putin illegally pronounced as Russian territory more than two years ago, like Zaporizhzhia, still being partially controlled by Kyiv.

Russian hardliners, the so-called “Z” bloggers, are furious at such “defeatism”.

In his social media post, Trump also couched his threat of tariffs and tighter sanctions in words of “love” for the Russian people and highlighted his respect for Soviet losses in World War Two – a near-sacred topic for Putin – though Trump massively overestimated the numbers and appeared to think the USSR was Russia alone. In reality, millions of Ukrainians and other Soviet citizens also lost their lives.

That said, the man who previously said he could “understand” Russia’s concerns about Ukraine joining Nato – which for Kyiv is tantamount to saying Putin was provoked – does seem to be shifting his tone.

Trump’s position matters. But after 11 years of war with Russia and a history of poor peace deals, Ukrainians are not inclined to be too hopeful.

A new fast-moving wildfire has erupted in Los Angeles County, prompting tens of thousands to evacuate a region already reeling from the most destructive fires in its history.

The Hughes fire ignited about 45 miles north-west of the city of Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, near Castaic Lake in a mountainous area that borders several residential areas and schools.

The blaze grew to more than 9,200 acres in several hours on Wednesday, fuelled by winds and dry brush. No homes or businesses have been damaged, and fire officials expressed confidence about getting the blaze under control.

The new fire is located north of the two mammoth blazes – which are still burning – that destroyed multiple neighbourhoods in the Los Angeles area earlier this month.

Local news showed residents near the Hughes fire hosing down their homes and gardens with water and others rushing to evacuate neighbourhoods.

Orange flames lined the mountains as aircraft dropped water and flame retardant.

The region is once again under a red flag warning, which cautions of a high fire risk due to strong winds and dry, low-humid conditions.

Winds in the area were blowing around 20 to 30mph (32 to 48km), but could pick up, which would fan the blaze and make it harder for air crews to operate.

About 31,000 people in the area are under a mandatory evacuation order and another 23,000 have been warned they may have to flee, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. A jail in the area was evacuating nearly 500 inmates at the facility, he added.

The fire continued to grow as the sun set, but Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said he believed crews were making progress.

“The situation remains dynamic, and the fire remains a difficult fire to contain, although we are getting the upper hand,” he said.

Chief Marrone explained how different this fire is compared to the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 28 people and decimated more than 10,000 homes and businesses earlier this month.

He said it was a mix of lower winds – unlike the 70 to 90mph winds seen during the previous fires – and having so many helicopters and planes able to fight the blaze from above.

“I think that we’ve all been on edge over the last 16 days,” he said. “We were able to amass a lot of fire resources early on to change what this fire looks like.”

Ed Fletcher, who works for Cal Fire – California’s statewide fire agency – told the BBC that this fire was different than those earlier this month. The winds are not as strong yet, he said, and there are a lot of crews trying to tame the flames.

“It’s super dry and we know it will be increasingly windy later,” he said. “We’ll know more in a few hours.”

Mr Fletcher noted the area is not highly populated and current winds are blowing the fire toward Castaic Lake, which is acting as a buffer between the Castaic area – home to about 20,000 residents.

“If it jumps the lake,” he said, “it becomes a much more dynamic situation.”

One woman who evacuated her home told NBC 4 that she was stuck on Interstate 5, California’s primary transportation highway that runs through the state. Parts of the interstate in the area had been closed due to the fire.

“It looked like a cloud, but as you got close, it looked like we were driving into hell,” she said of the dark smoke and red flames she saw. “It was pretty terrifying to be honest with you.”

She acknowledged being on edge after watching the Palisades and Eaton fires burn nearby.

“I don’t know why they keep popping up,” she said. “It’s definitely a scary time in this area.”

Two other fires ignited Wednesday farther south near San Diego and Oceanside, officials said.

They are both smaller – 85 acres for the Lilac fire near Oceanside and 3.9 acres for the Center fire – but were burning in populated areas. Fire crews appeared to have a handle on both of the blazes and evacuation orders had been mostly lifted.

Dana Dierkes, a spokesperson for the Angeles National Forest, noted the winds and dry brush have made these recent fires much harder to fight.

“We don’t have a fire season in California. We have a fire year,” she said. “We’ve had wildfires in January before, but it’s exacerbated by the Santa Ana winds. The wind is a huge factor when we’ve had such a dry year.”

Rain is in the weekend forecast in the region, a welcome bit of news to douse the fire threat. But the rainfall is bringing new fears in the form of mudslides, flooding and landslides.

Areas touched by the recent fires are particularly at risk because torched grounds aren’t as absorbent.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Monday to help free up resources for flood and landslide preparation after the fires.

Crews have been filling thousands of sandbags for danger areas.

The US Congress has passed a bill requiring undocumented immigrants who are arrested for theft or violent crimes to be held in jail pending trial.

The bill, named after Laken Riley – a Georgia nursing student murdered last year by a Venezuelan man – passed the House of Representatives a day after it was approved by the Senate.

The measure cruised through the House by a vote of 263 to 156. Forty-six Democrats defied their party leadership and crossed the political aisle to support the Republican-led measure. In the Senate, 12 Democrats gave their support to the bill.

It now heads to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign into law – an early legislative win for his fledgling administration on a bill named after a woman whom he often invoked during his campaign.

Ms Riley, 22, was found dead in February 2024 in a wooded area of the University of Georgia campus after she did not return from her morning run.

The migrant convicted of murdering her had been arrested twice, in New York and in Georgia, months before the killing, but was released ahead of trial.

The Laken Riley Act was approved by the Republican-held House last year, but was not taken up at the time in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

It passed with bipartisan support on Wednesday only days after the Senate’s balance of power shifted to Republican control.

• 1,500 active-duty troops headed to US-Mexico border

The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain migrants if they are charged with certain criminal offences, including theft, shoplifting, burglary, assault against law enforcement or any crimes that result in death “or serious bodily injury of another person”.

It also empowers the attorneys general of states to sue the federal government if their residents feel they have been harmed by national immigration policies.

The bill does not come with new funding for immigration control measures, leading to criticism from Democrats that it will be too expensive to fully implement.

Liberal Democrats criticised the bill as an unfair crackdown on suspects who have not yet been found guilty of a specific crime.

But the bill caused a rift in the party, with some members voting for the measure, describing it as common sense.

During debate on the House floor on Wednesday, several Democrats referred to Trump’s decision to pardon rioters who were convicted over the US Capitol riot in 2021.

“These are the people who want you to believe, want us to believe, that they are keeping violent criminals off the streets,” said Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Speaking ahead of the vote, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said that under the previous Congress, Democrats had shown “they had no desire to stand up for women who were assaulted by people here illegally”.

“You have the same House majority, but you now have a willing partner in the Senate that actually wants to confront real problems facing families so that you don’t have more Laken Riley, you don’t have more murders of innocent people because of an open border,” he added.

A National Institute of Justice study suggests that undocumented migrants in the US are arrested for violent and drug crimes at less than half the rate of native-born citizens.

• LIVE: Follow BBC’s live coverage
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• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
• PARDONS: Jan 6 defendants get nearly everything they wanted
• WATCH: Bishop asks Trump to show mercy to LGBT people and migrants

The world’s largest iceberg is on a collision course with a remote British island, potentially putting penguins and seals in danger.

The iceberg is spinning northwards from Antarctica towards South Georgia, a rugged British territory and wildlife haven, where it could ground and smash into pieces. It is currently 173 miles (280km) away.

Countless birds and seals died on South Georgia’s icy coves and beaches when past giant icebergs stopped them feeding.

“Icebergs are inherently dangerous. I would be extraordinarily happy if it just completely missed us,” sea captain Simon Wallace tells BBC News, speaking from the South Georgia government vessel Pharos.

Around the world a group of scientists, sailors and fishermen are anxiously checking satellite pictures to monitor the daily movements of this queen of icebergs.

It is known as A23a and is one of the world’s oldest.

It calved, or broke off, from the Filchner Ice Shelf in Antarctica in 1986 but got stuck on the seafloor and then trapped in an ocean vortex.

Finally, in December, it broke free and is now on its final journey, speeding into oblivion.

The warmer waters north of Antarctica are melting and weakening its vast cliffs that tower up to 1,312ft (400m), taller than the Shard in London.

It once measured 3,900 sq km, but the latest satellite pictures show it is slowly decaying. It is now around 3,500 sq km, roughly the size of the English county of Cornwall.

And large slabs of ice are breaking off, plunging into the waters around its edges.

A23a could break into vast segments any day, which may then hang around for years, like floating cities of ice cruising uncontrollably around South Georgia.

This isn’t the first huge iceberg to threaten South Georgia and Sandwich Islands.

In 2004 one called A38 grounded on its continental shelf, leaving dead penguin chicks and seal pups on beaches as massive ice chunks blocked their access to feeding grounds.

The territory is home to precious colonies of King Emperor penguins and millions of elephant and fur seals.

“South Georgia sits in iceberg alley so impacts are to be expected for both fisheries and wildlife, and both have a great capacity to adapt,” says Mark Belchier, a marine ecologist who advises the South Georgia government.

Sailors and fisherman say icebergs are an increasing problem. In 2023 one called A76 gave them a scare when it came close to grounding.

“Chunks of it were tipping up, so they looked like great ice towers, an ice city on the horizon,” says Mr Belchier, who saw the iceberg while at sea.

Those slabs are still lingering around the islands today.

“It is in bits from the size of several Wembley stadiums down to pieces the size of your desk,” says Andrew Newman from Argos Froyanes, a fishing company that works in South Georgia.

“Those pieces basically cover the island – we have to work our way through it,” says Captain Wallace.

The sailors on his ship must be constantly vigilant. “We have searchlights on all night to try to see ice – it can come from nowhere,” he explains.

A76 was a “gamechanger”, according to Mr Newman, with “huge impact on our operations and on keeping our vessel and crew safe”.

All three men describe a rapidly changing environment, with glacial retreat visible year-to-year, and volatile levels of sea ice.

Climate change is unlikely to have been behind the birth of A23a because it calved so long ago, before much of the impacts of rising temperatures that we are now seeing.

But giant icebergs are part of our future. As Antarctica becomes more unstable with warmer ocean and air temperatures, more vast pieces of the ice sheets will break away.

Before its time comes to an end though, A23a has left a parting gift for scientists.

A team with the British Antarctic Survey on the Sir David Attenborough research vessel found themselves close to A23a in 2023.

The scientists scrambled to exploit the rare opportunity to investigate what mega icebergs do to the environment.

The ship sailed into a crack in the iceberg’s gigantic walls, and PhD researcher Laura Taylor collected precious water samples 400m away from its cliffs.

“I saw a massive wall of ice way higher than me, as far as I could see. It has different colours in different places. Chunks were falling off – it was quite magnificent,” she explains from her lab in Cambridge where she is now analysing the samples.

Her work looks at what the impact the melt water is having on the carbon cycle in the southern ocean.

“This isn’t just water like we drink. It’s full of nutrients and chemicals, as well as tiny animals like phytoplankton frozen inside,” Ms Taylor says.

As it melts, the iceberg releases those elements into the water, changing the physics and chemistry of the ocean.

That could store more carbon deep in the ocean, as the particles sink from the surface. That would naturally lock away some of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change.

Icebergs are notoriously unpredictable and no-one knows what exactly it will do next.

But soon the behemoth should appear, looming on the islands’ horizons, as big as the territory itself.

Western officials have told the BBC that North Korean troops have already suffered nearly 40% casualties in the fighting in Russia’s western Kursk region, in just three months.

The officials, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, said that out of the estimated 11,000 troops sent from North Korea, known as DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), 4,000 were battle casualties.

That term comprises those killed, wounded, missing or captured. Of the 4,000, the officials said around 1,000 are believed to have been killed by mid-January.

These losses, if confirmed, are unsustainable by the North Koreans.

It is not clear where the wounded are being treated, nor even when and to what extent they will be replaced.

But the figures point to an extraordinarily high cost being incurred by President Vladimir Putin’s ally, akin Kim Jong Un, as he seeks to help him evict Ukrainian forces from Russia ahead of any possible ceasefire negotiations later in the year.

Ukraine launched a lightning thrust into the Russian oblast of Kursk last August, taking Russian border guards by surprise.

The government in Kyiv made it clear at the time that it had no intention of holding onto the territory seized, merely to use it as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations.

Ukraine’s early gains in Kursk have since been steadily pushed back, partly due to the arrival in Russia of the North Koreans in October.

But Ukraine still retains several hundred square kilometres of Russian territory and is inflicting huge losses on its enemy.

The North Korean troops, reportedly from an “elite” unit called the Storm Corps, appear to have been thrown into the fight with comparatively little training or protection.

“These are barely trained troops led by Russian officers who they don’t understand,” says the former British Army tank commander, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.

“Quite frankly they don’t stand a chance. They are being thrown into the meat grinder with little chance of survival. They are cannon fodder, and the Russian officers care even less for them than they do for their own men.”

Reports attributed to South Korean intelligence say the North Koreans are unprepared for the realities of modern warfare, and appear especially vulnerable to being targeted by Ukrainian First-Person-View (FPV) drones, a weapon that has been a familiar part of the battle space further south in Ukraine’s Donbas region for years now.

Despite this, Ukraine’s top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi warned earlier this week that North Korean soldiers were posing a significant problem for Ukrainian fighters on the front line.

“They are numerous. An additional 11,000-12,000 highly motivated and well-prepared soldiers who are conducting offensive actions. They operate based on Soviet tactics. They act in platoons, companies. They rely on their numbers,” the general told Ukraine’s TSN Tyzhden news programme.

It’s been three days since President Donald Trump took office. And he has come out swinging.

On the 2024 campaign trail, he promised to bring rapid and sweeping change to American government and society if he were re-elected.

Some of his policies and reforms will take time – and congressional legislation – to enact. Other moves might be blocked by the courts.

In the first days of his presidency, however, Trump has already made waves with dozens of unilateral orders and actions that represent a substantial expansion of White House power.

For many of his supporters – so far – it looks like he has delivered on his promises.

“He signed all the executive orders that he told us he was going to do,” said 68-year-old Rick Frazier, a loyal Trump supporter from Ohio who has attended more than 80 of his rallies. “I’m satisfied with all that.”

That has been cause for concern among some. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, publicly asked Trump during a prayer service on Tuesday at the National Cathedral, to “have mercy upon people in our country who are scared now”.

Nowhere has this display of presidential authority been more prominent than on the topic of immigration, which polls suggest was a significant concern for many voters.

Just hours after taking office, Trump declared an emergency at the US-Mexico border, allowing him to deploy more US military personnel to the area.

He effectively closed the country to all new asylum-seekers and suspended already approved resettlement flights for refugees.

Mr Frazier’s daughter died of a heroin overdose last year. He told the BBC that the southern border was his top issue in the 2024 election.

“In my opinion had the border been closed, my daughter would not have had access to the compound that killed her,” he said.

Trump has also ordered authorities to stop granting automatic citizenship to the children of undocumented migrants born on American soil – setting up a lengthy legal battle over what had previously been viewed by courts as a constitutional guarantee.

One step that Trump repeatedly promised – but has yet to show signs of implementing – is mass deportations of migrants who crossed illegally into the US, something he said would start on day one of his presidency.

While some Trump officials have said the deportation process has begun, there have been no signs yet of the kind of law-enforcement raids or other expansive actions that would be necessary to detain and remove the millions of undocumented migrants who currently reside in the US.

Bryan Lanza, who previously served as a senior adviser to Trump, told the BBC’s Americast podcast that the total number of deportations is less important than the message it sends.

“It’s never about a number,” he said. “It’s more about the PR.”

If you deport a million undocumented migrants, he said, than the rest will start wondering if they’re next – and take steps to return to their home countries.

“Illegals aren’t welcomed here,” he said. “Every other country is allowed to say that. Why shouldn’t we?”

• LIVE: Follow BBC’s live coverage
• ANALYSIS: Six Trump executive orders to watch
• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
• PARDONS: Jan 6 defendants get nearly everything they wanted

Immigration was a major issue that helped propel Trump to the White House, but in terms of voter concerns it was still dwarfed by worries about the economy and inflation.

So far the president has focused on energy policy – tying it directly to the high prices that millions of Americans have struggled with.

“When energy comes down, the prices of food and the prices of everything else come down,” Trump said on Tuesday evening. “Energy is the big baby.”

To that end, Trump declared a “national energy emergency” and rescinded Biden-era protections for fossil fuel extraction in Alaska and in American coastal waters. He also started the process of withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement, which commits nations to slashing emissions to try to avoid the most extreme effects of climate change.

Even optimistic estimates suggest these moves will take time to show any results, but Aziz Wehbey, a Syrian-American Republican voter in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said he was pleased by what he had seen so far.

“That’s a good sign for the economy, and for those of us who run businesses,” he said. “The economy is starting to move and not be frozen. Everyone will notice that.”

One topic that Trump has mentioned, but hasn’t acted on yet, is tariffs. He had pledged to slap them on some of America’s biggest trade partners on day one to protect American industries and generate new revenue to fund his favoured government programmes.

Economists, including some in the Trump administration, have cautioned that tariffs could drive up consumer costs and hurt American businesses that rely on imports in their supply chain. It could be a reason why Trump, with his eye on the stock market and economic growth, is treading more carefully when it comes to trade.

Many of President Trump’s other early executive actions focused on reshaping the vast federal workforce.

He has reinstated rules that allow him to fire senior-level civil servants, suspended new regulations and hiring, and ordered all federal employees involved in DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – programmes to be put on paid leave.

He also renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and instructed the US government to only recognise two sexes, male and female, in all official documents and forms. The changes, while controversial, have also been extremely popular with Trump’s base – a sign that the president will continue to lean in to contentious cultural issues.

Trump’s second term is just getting started. He promises more significant presidential actions in the days ahead – moves that will almost certainly test the limits of presidential power.

But the big splash, the noise, the drama, says former adviser Lanza, isn’t a problem for the president. It’s his strength.

“Where we are in modern politics today, which people haven’t figured out, is that from our standpoint, to communicate to voters are supportive of our issues, controversy enhances the message,” he said.

How do you get your message heard amid the overwhelming din of modern politics?

“It’s the controversy.”

Understand that, and the strategy behind Trump’s frenetic first days in office begins to come into focus.

Follow the twists and turns of Trump’s second presidential term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s weekly US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Leaders of the far-right organisations at the forefront of the Capitol riot who were released on Donald Trump’s orders say they are planning to regroup.

In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes defended his actions during the 6 January 2021 riot and said he was “very grateful” to President Trump for commuting his sentence.

Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison on a number of charges including seditious conspiracy, or plotting to overthrow the government.

Meanwhile, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, former head of the Proud Boys, indicated to reporters that he had rejoined the all-male group.

“We’ve made the decision four years ago not to tell the media what our structure is, but I’d suggest that the media should stop calling me ‘ex-Proud Boy,'” he told reporters as he travelled to his home in Miami on Wednesday.

Tarrio, who was serving a 22-year sentence, said members of the congressional committee who investigated the riot “need to be imprisoned.”

“I’m happy that the president’s focusing not on retribution and focusing on success, but I will tell you that I’m not going to play by those rules,” he said in an interview on Infowars. “They need to pay for what they did.”

Rhodes called for prosecution of Capitol police officers who testified against him at trial and Justice Department lawyers who pursued his case.

He alleged that officers who were at the Capitol that day – 174 of whom were injured – were responsible for the violence.

He told the BBC that he would like his group to “go back to the mission we had at the very beginning… to advocate that the police of the United States follow the Constitution and don’t violate people’s rights.”

Police officers responsible for defending the US Congress reject those allegations and say they faced an unruly mob determined to stop legal proceedings.

Rhodes said: “I didn’t go inside, nor did I instruct anyone else to. I simply stood outside and exercised my right to free speech.”

The militia leader complained he did not get a fair trial because it was held in Washington DC, where the riot took place, and jurors were local – an argument that was previously rejected in court.

While most of those who stormed the Capitol on 6 January 2021 hoping to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election were not part of any official group, the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys each brought dozens of supporters to Washington.

Nearly 1,600 people have been arrested or convicted of riot-related crimes, according to the US Justice Department, including 600 charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing police.

On Monday, hours after his inauguration, Trump commuted 14 sentences – including Rhodes’ – and issued a blanket pardon for the rest of the convicts and suspects.

Members of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government militia founded by Rhodes in 2009, transported weapons to a hotel room in Virginia and discussed sending them across the Potomac River to Washington.

But they never put such a plan into action. While Rhodes remained outside the Capitol building that day, prosecutors said he directed members inside the building.

The Proud Boys were founded in 2016 as a politically-minded drinking club, and later became known for street brawls with far-left Antifa activists.

Shortly before the riot, Tarrio was ordered by law enforcement to remain outside Washington, and he communicated with other Proud Boys leaders from a nearby hotel.

After the Capitol riot and the arrest of the leaders, the Oath Keepers largely ceased operations while the Proud Boys fractured, retreating to their local chapters and keeping a relatively low profile.

However in recent days, their channels on the chat app Telegram have been full of celebratory chatter along with barbs and slurs directed at opponents.

Members have discussed regrouping and getting involved in efforts to deport immigrants – although the legal basis for doing so is unclear.

A number of lawmakers have criticised the pardons – including Democrats but also Republicans.

Senator Tom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said: “I’m about to file two bills that will increase the penalties up to and including the death penalty for the murder of a police officer and increasing the penalties and creating federal crimes for assaulting a police officer.

“That should give you everything you need to know about my position,” he said.

Susan Collins, the moderate Republican senator from Maine, said: “I do not support the pardons if they were given to people who committed violent crimes.”

But others were in favour.

“One-hundred percent I’m for them,” said Senator Tommy Tuberville. “Pardon every one of them. They’ve been there long enough.”

When Zhang Junjie was 17 he decided to protest outside his university about rules made by China’s government. Within days he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital and treated for schizophrenia.

Junjie is one of dozens of people identified by the BBC who were hospitalised after protesting or complaining to the authorities.

Many people we spoke to were given anti-psychotic drugs, and in some cases electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), without their consent.

There have been reports for decades that hospitalisation was being used in China as a way of detaining dissenting citizens without involving the courts. However, the BBC has found that an issue which legislation sought to resolve, has recently made a comeback.

Junjie says he was restrained and beaten by hospital staff before being forced to take medication.

His ordeal began in 2022, after he protested against China’s harsh lockdown policies. He says his professors spotted him after just five minutes and contacted his father, who took him back to the family home. He says his father called the police, and the next day – on his 18th birthday – two men drove him to what they claimed was a Covid test centre, but was actually a hospital.

“The doctors told me I had a very serious mental disease… Then they tied me to a bed. The nurses and doctors repeatedly told me, because of my views on the party and the government, then I must be mentally ill. It was terrifying,” he told the BBC World Service. He was there for 12 days.

Junjie believes his father felt forced to hand him over to the authorities because he worked for the local government.

Just over a month after being discharged, Junjie was once again arrested. Defying a fireworks ban at Chinese New Year (a measure brought in to fight air pollution) he had made a video of himself setting them off. Someone uploaded it online and police managed to link it to Junjie.

He was accused of “picking quarrels and troublemaking” – a charge frequently used to silence criticism of the Chinese government. Junjie says he was forcibly hospitalised again for more than two months.

After being discharged, Junjie was prescribed anti-psychotic drugs. We have seen the prescription – it was for Aripiprazole, used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

“Taking the medicine made me feel like my brain was quite a mess,” he says, adding that police would come to his house to check he had taken it.

Fearing a third hospitalisation, Junjie decided to leave China. He told his parents he was returning to university to pack up his room – but, in fact, he fled to New Zealand.

He didn’t say goodbye to family or friends.

Junjie is one of 59 people who the BBC has confirmed – either by speaking to them or their relatives, or by going through court documents – have been hospitalised on mental health grounds after protesting or challenging the authorities.

The issue has been acknowledged by China’s government – the country’s 2013 Mental Health Law aimed to stop this abuse, making it illegal to treat someone who is not mentally unwell. It also explicitly states psychiatric admission must be voluntary unless the patient is a danger to themselves or others.

In fact, the number of people detained in mental health hospitals against their will has recently surged, a leading Chinese lawyer told the BBC World Service. Huang Xuetao, who was involved in drafting the law, blames a weakening of civil society and a lack of checks and balances.

“I have come across lots of cases like this. The police want power while avoiding responsibility,” he says. “Anyone who knows the shortcomings of this system can abuse it.”

An activist called Jie Lijian told us he had been treated for mental illness without his consent in 2018.

Lijian says he was arrested for attending a protest demanding better pay at a factory. He says police interrogated him for three days before taking him to a psychiatric hospital.

Like Junjie, Lijian says he was prescribed anti-psychotic drugs that impaired his critical thinking.

After a week in the hospital, he says he refused any more medication. After fighting with staff, and being told he was causing trouble, Lijian was sent for ECT – a therapy which involves passing electric currents through a patient’s brain.

“The pain was from head to toe. My whole body felt like it wasn’t my own. It was really painful. Electric shock on. Then off. Electric shock on. Then off. I fainted several times. I felt like I was dying,” he says.

He says he was discharged after 52 days. He now has a part-time job in Los Angeles and is seeking asylum in the US.

In 2019, the year after Lijian says he was hospitalised, the Chinese Medical Doctor Association updated its ECT guidelines, stating it should only ever be administered with consent, and under general anaesthetic.

We wanted to find out more about the doctors’ involvement in such cases.

Speaking to foreign media such as the BBC without permission could get them into trouble, so our only option was to go undercover.

We booked phone consultations with doctors working at four hospitals which, according to our evidence, are involved with forced hospitalisations.

We used an invented story about a relative who had been hospitalised for posting anti-government comments online, and asked five doctors if they had ever come across cases of patients being sent in by police.

Four confirmed they had.

“The psychiatric department has a type of admission called ‘troublemakers’,” one doctor told us.

Another doctor, from the hospital where Junjie was held, appears to confirm his story that police continued surveillance of patients once discharged.

“The police will check up on you at home to make sure you take your medicine. If you don’t take it you might break the law again,” they said.

We approached the hospital in question for comment but it did not respond.

We have been given access to the medical records of democracy activist Song Zaimin, hospitalised for a fifth time last year, which makes it clear how closely political views appear to be tied to a psychiatric diagnosis.

“Today, he was… talking a lot, speaking incoherently, and criticising the Communist Party. Therefore, he was sent to our hospital for inpatient treatment by the police, doctors, and his local residents’ committee. This was an involuntary hospitalisation,” it says.

We asked Professor Thomas G Schulze, president-elect of the World Psychiatric Association, to review these notes. He replied:

“For what is described here, no-one should be involuntarily admitted and treated against his will. It reeks of political abuse.”

Between 2013 and 2017, more than 200 people reported they had been wrongfully hospitalised by the authorities, according to a group of citizen journalists in China who documented abuses of the Mental Health Law.

Their reporting ended in 2017, because the group’s founder was arrested and subsequently jailed.

For victims seeking justice, the legal system appears stacked against them.

A man we are calling Mr Li, who was hospitalised in 2023 after protesting against the local police, tried to take legal action against the authorities for his incarceration.

Unlike Junjie, doctors told Mr Li he wasn’t ill but then the police arranged an external psychiatrist to assess him, who diagnosed him with bipolar disorder, and he was held for 45 days.

Once released, he decided to challenge the diagnosis.

“If I don’t sue the police it’s like I accept being mentally ill. This will have a big impact on my future and my freedom because police can use it as a reason to lock me up any time,” he says.

In China, the records of anyone ever diagnosed with a serious mental health disorder could be shared with the police, and even local residents’ committees.

But Mr Li was not successful – the courts rejected his appeal.

“We hear our leaders talking about the rule of law,” he told us. “We never dreamed one day we could be locked up in a mental hospital.”

The BBC has found 112 people listed on the official website for Chinese court decisions who, between 2013 and 2024, attempted to take legal action against police, local governments or hospitals for such treatment.

Some 40% of these plaintiffs had been involved in complaints about the authorities. Only two won their cases.

And the site appears to be censored – five other cases we have investigated are missing from the database.

The issue is that the police enjoy “considerable discretion” in dealing with “troublemakers,” according to Nicola MacBean from The Rights Practice, a human rights organisation in London.

“Sending someone to a psychiatric hospital, bypassing procedures, is too easy and too useful a tool for the local authorities.”

Eyes are now on the fate of vlogger Li Yixue, who accused a police officer of sexual assault. Yixue is said to have recently been hospitalised for a second time after her social media posts talking about the experience went viral. It is reported she is now under surveillance at a hotel.

We put the findings of our investigation to the UK’s Chinese embassy. It said last year the Chinese Communist Party “reaffirmed” that it must “improve the mechanisms” around the law, which it says “explicitly prohibits unlawful detention and other methods of illegally depriving or restricting citizens’ personal freedom”.

President Donald Trump has ordered that all US government staff working on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes be put on immediate paid administrative leave.

The White House confirmed that all federal DEI workers had to be put on leave by 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT) on Wednesday, before the offices and programmes in question were shut down.

In an executive order issued on Tuesday, Trump also called for an end to the “dangerous, demeaning and immoral” programmes.

It is unclear how many people are affected by the order, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal workers, said.

Since his inauguration, the president has acted swiftly on a number of key pledges through a raft of unilateral actions.

He repeatedly attacked DEI practices on the campaign trail, arguing that they were discriminatory.

In his inaugural address, Trump pledged to “forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based”.

DEI programmes aim to promote participation in workplaces by people from a range of backgrounds.

Their backers say they address historical underrepresentation and discrimination against certain groups including racial minorities, but critics say such programmes can themselves be discriminatory.

On Tuesday, a memo was sent from the US Office of Personnel Management to the heads of government agencies, instructing them to place DEI employees on leave.

The memo had a number of requests, including the removal of public websites for DEI offices.

By Thursday, federal agencies must compile a list of DEI offices and workers. By 31 January, agencies must submit “a written plan” for executing lay-offs in DEI offices.

Trump’s executive order, meanwhile, took aim at what it called the “illegal” policies of DEI and DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility), framing them as being in opposition to US law.

It said these policies had the capability to “violate” important underlying civil rights laws that protect Americans from discrimination.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move “is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds”, and fulfils a campaign promise made by Trump.

• ANALYSIS: Six Trump executive orders to watch
• IN DEPTH: Relationship with Europe this time may be very different
• PARDONS: Jan 6 defendants get nearly everything they wanted
• WATCH: Bishop asks Trump to show mercy to LGBT people and migrants

The executive order requires federal hiring, promotions and performance reviews “reward individual initiative” rather than “DEI-related factors”.

It also requires the US attorney general to submit, within 120 days, recommendations “to encourage the private sector” to end similar diversity efforts.

And the order revokes a civil rights era executive order, signed by former President Lyndon B Johnson, that makes it illegal for federal contractors to discriminate on the basis of “race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin” when hiring.

It also required them to take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity during employment.

Revoking that order will have ripple effects in the federal and private sector, said Alvin Tillery, a political scientist and co-founder of the 2040 Strategy Group, which does DEI training in the private sector.

He said that theoretically, a company with only white employees that now refuses to hire black people, or Latinos, or women, for example, “can go for a federal contract without showing that your processes are compliant” with federal diversity standards.

It could also eliminate training programmes aimed at curbing discrimination or reinforcing positive behaviour, critics say.

“People are going to be ill-informed about what discrimination is and what it looks like,” said Les Alderman, a DC-based civil rights lawyer who represents federal and congressional workers.

“Good-hearted people are going to be wrong about some things that we do and it is going to have consequences.”

Unions representing federal employees have condemned Trump’s executive orders.

The AFGE argues that diversity programmes have reduced gender and racial pay disparities in the federal workforce.

AFGE national president Everett Kelley said in a statement that removing the programmes serves to undermine “the merit-based civil service and turn federal hiring and firing decisions into loyalty tests”.

The order was “designed to intimidate and attack non-partisan civil servants”, said National Federation of Federal Workers national president Randy Erwin.

Tuesday’s executive order comes on the heels of a related one signed by Trump on Monday.

That one declares that all DEI offices, positions and programmes be terminated within 60 days, “to the maximum extent allowed by law”.

Among the roles targeted for elimination are “chief diversity officer” and “environmental justice” positions.

Several large US companies have ended or scaled back their DEI programmes in recent weeks, including McDonald’s, Walmart and Facebook parent company Meta.

Others, like Apple and retailers Target and Costco, have publicly defended their DEI programmes.

Mr Tillery said that, while he believes the former Biden administration’s effort to add DEI positions across government was well intentioned, it did not meet its goals.

“The DEI jobs were underfunded, understaffed, the people doing the work were heroes with very few resources,” he said. “But now we’re going to go to zero.”

A court in the Indian capital, Delhi, has ordered the seizure of two “offensive” paintings by MF Husain, one of India’s most famous artists.

The court on Monday granted permission for the police to seize the artworks after a complaint was filed alleging that the paintings, displayed at an art gallery and featuring two Hindu deities, “hurt religious sentiments”.

Husain, who died in 2011 aged 95, often faced backlash for the depictions of nude Hindu gods in his paintings.

The Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), which hosted the exhibition, denied any wrongdoing and stated that a “detailed” police investigation found no “cognisable offence” by the gallery.

The exhibition Husain: The Timeless Modernist at DAG showcased over 100 paintings from 26 October to 14 December.

The complainant, Amita Sachdeva, a lawyer, said on X that on 4 December, she photographed the “offensive paintings” displayed at the DAG and, after researching previous complaints against the late artist, filed a police complaint five days later.

On 10 December, Ms Sachdeva reported that she visited the gallery with the investigating officer, only to discover that the paintings had been removed. She claimed that the gallery officials asserted they had never exhibited the paintings.

The paintings that Ms Sachdeva shared online depicted Hindu gods Ganesha and Hanuman alongside nude female figures. She also alleged that the Delhi police had failed to file a report.

She later petitioned the court to preserve the CCTV footage from the gallery during the period when the paintings were reportedly on display, according to media reports.

On Monday, a judge at Delhi’s Patiala House Courts said that the police had accessed the footage and submitted their report. According to the inquiry, the exhibition was held in a private space and was intended solely to showcase the artist’s original work, the judge added.

The DAG said in a statement that it had been assisting police with their inquiries. It said the exhibition had attracted about 5,000 visitors and had received “positive reviews in the press as well as from the public”.

The complainant had been the only person to raise any objection to any of the artworks in the exhibition, the gallery said.

“The complainant has herself displayed and publicised the images of the drawings over social media and television news media deliberately intending them to be viewed by a larger audience, while contending that the same images hurt her personal religious sentiments.”

Maqbool Fida Husain was one of India’s biggest painters and was called “Picasso of India” but his art often stirred controversy in the country. His works have sold for millions of dollars.

His career was marked by controversy when he was accused of obscenity and denounced by hardline Hindus for a painting of a nude goddess.

In 2006, Husain publicly apologised for his painting, Mother India. It showed a nude woman kneeling on the ground creating the shape of the Indian map. He left the country the same year and lived in self-imposed exile in London until his death.

In 2008, India’s Supreme Court refused to launch criminal proceedings against Husain, saying that his paintings were not obscene and nudity was common in Indian iconography and history.

The court had then dismissed an appeal against a high court ruling that quashed criminal proceedings against Husain in the cities of Bhopal, Indore and Rajkot, condemning the rise of a “new puritanism” in India.

The court also rejected calls for Husain, then in exile, to be summoned and asked to explain his paintings, which were accused of outraging religious sentiments and disturbing national integrity.

“There are so many such subjects, photographs and publications. Will you file cases against all of them? What about temple structures? Husain’s work is art. If you don’t want to see it, don’t see it. There are so many such art forms in temple structures,” the top court said.

Many believe there is a rising tide of illiberalism against artistic expression in India.

In October the Bombay High Court reprimanded the customs department for seizing artworks by renowned artists FN Souza and Akbar Padamsee on the grounds that they were “obscene material.”

The court ruled that not every nude or sexually explicit painting qualifies as obscene and ordered the release of seven seized artworks.

Yemen’s Houthi movement has released the crew of the cargo ship Galaxy Leader, which it seized in November 2023 at the start of a campaign of attacks on Red Sea shipping linked to the Gaza war.

The 25 Filipinos, Mexicans, Romanians, Bulgarians and Ukrainians have been detained since Houthi fighters used a helicopter to board the Bahamas-flagged vehicle carrier as it sailed from Turkey to India.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said the crew had been handed over to Oman “in support of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza” between Hamas and Israel, which started on Sunday.

The release comes after months of diplomacy involving their countries, as well as the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The news was welcomed by the IMO’s Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, who said: “This is a moment of profound relief for all of us – not only for the crew and their families, but also to the wider maritime community.”

“Today’s breakthrough is a testament to the power of collective diplomacy and dialogue, recognizing that innocent seafarers must not become collateral victims in wider geopolitical tensions,” he added.

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said: “This is a step in the right direction, and I urge [the Houthis] to continue these positive steps on all fronts, including ending all maritime attacks.”

Over the past 14 months, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. As well as seizing the Galaxy Leader, they have sunk two vessels and killed four crew members.

They have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

The Galaxy Leader was being operated by the Japanese shipping line NYK when it was seized.

The vessel is owned by Galaxy Maritime Ltd, which is registered in the Isle of Man. It is in turn owned by Ray Car Carriers, which is co-owned by Israeli businessman Abraham Ungar, according to documents from the Isle of Man Government’s Companies registry.

The Houthis have not been deterred by the deployment of Western warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels, or by US and British air strikes on territory they control in north-western Yemen.

Israel has also carried out air strikes against the Houthis since July in retaliation for the 400 missiles and drones that the Israeli military says have been launched at the country from Yemen, most of which have been shot down.

On Sunday, the Houthis signalled that they would limit their attacks on shipping in response to the ceasefire in Gaza.

An email sent to shipowners, insurers and others said they were lifting its sanctions on ships except those registered in Israel or wholly owned by Israeli individuals and entities, according to the Financial Times.

The sanctions on wholly Israeli-owned vessels would be stopped “upon the full implementation of all phases” of the ceasefire deal, it added.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi warned in a speech the following day that the group’s actions were dependent on Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire in Gaza.

“We are in constant readiness to intervene immediately at any time the Israeli enemy returns to escalation, genocidal crimes and siege of the Gaza Strip,” he said.

The Houthis’ attacks have led many shipping companies to avoid routes taking their vessels through the Suez Canal, which reduces journey times between Asia and Europe. Before the attacks about 12% of global trade was estimated to use the route.

Instead, shipping companies have been using the longer and more expensive route around the southern tip of Africa.

Last year, the boss of Danish shipping giant Maersk, Vincent Clerc, told the BBC: “We have ships that are being shot at. We have colleagues whose lives are at risk when this happens and we can simply not justify sailing through these dangerous zones.”

The World Shipping Council, a trade body representing the majority of the world’s big shipping lines, welcomed the release of the Galaxy Leader’s crew as an “immense relief”.

“The detention of innocent seafarers is completely unacceptable and illegal,” said its CEO, Joe Kramek. “The situation in the Red Sea has highlighted the critical need for safe and open maritime routes to protect seafarers and keep global trade moving.”

He added that while recent developments were encouraging, many challenges remained before operations could return to normal.

A court in the Indian capital, Delhi, has ordered the seizure of two “offensive” paintings by MF Husain, one of India’s most famous artists.

The court on Monday granted permission for the police to seize the artworks after a complaint was filed alleging that the paintings, displayed at an art gallery and featuring two Hindu deities, “hurt religious sentiments”.

Husain, who died in 2011 aged 95, often faced backlash for the depictions of nude Hindu gods in his paintings.

The Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), which hosted the exhibition, denied any wrongdoing and stated that a “detailed” police investigation found no “cognisable offence” by the gallery.

The exhibition Husain: The Timeless Modernist at DAG showcased over 100 paintings from 26 October to 14 December.

The complainant, Amita Sachdeva, a lawyer, said on X that on 4 December, she photographed the “offensive paintings” displayed at the DAG and, after researching previous complaints against the late artist, filed a police complaint five days later.

On 10 December, Ms Sachdeva reported that she visited the gallery with the investigating officer, only to discover that the paintings had been removed. She claimed that the gallery officials asserted they had never exhibited the paintings.

The paintings that Ms Sachdeva shared online depicted Hindu gods Ganesha and Hanuman alongside nude female figures. She also alleged that the Delhi police had failed to file a report.

She later petitioned the court to preserve the CCTV footage from the gallery during the period when the paintings were reportedly on display, according to media reports.

On Monday, a judge at Delhi’s Patiala House Courts said that the police had accessed the footage and submitted their report. According to the inquiry, the exhibition was held in a private space and was intended solely to showcase the artist’s original work, the judge added.

The DAG said in a statement that it had been assisting police with their inquiries. It said the exhibition had attracted about 5,000 visitors and had received “positive reviews in the press as well as from the public”.

The complainant had been the only person to raise any objection to any of the artworks in the exhibition, the gallery said.

“The complainant has herself displayed and publicised the images of the drawings over social media and television news media deliberately intending them to be viewed by a larger audience, while contending that the same images hurt her personal religious sentiments.”

Maqbool Fida Husain was one of India’s biggest painters and was called “Picasso of India” but his art often stirred controversy in the country. His works have sold for millions of dollars.

His career was marked by controversy when he was accused of obscenity and denounced by hardline Hindus for a painting of a nude goddess.

In 2006, Husain publicly apologised for his painting, Mother India. It showed a nude woman kneeling on the ground creating the shape of the Indian map. He left the country the same year and lived in self-imposed exile in London until his death.

In 2008, India’s Supreme Court refused to launch criminal proceedings against Husain, saying that his paintings were not obscene and nudity was common in Indian iconography and history.

The court had then dismissed an appeal against a high court ruling that quashed criminal proceedings against Husain in the cities of Bhopal, Indore and Rajkot, condemning the rise of a “new puritanism” in India.

The court also rejected calls for Husain, then in exile, to be summoned and asked to explain his paintings, which were accused of outraging religious sentiments and disturbing national integrity.

“There are so many such subjects, photographs and publications. Will you file cases against all of them? What about temple structures? Husain’s work is art. If you don’t want to see it, don’t see it. There are so many such art forms in temple structures,” the top court said.

Many believe there is a rising tide of illiberalism against artistic expression in India.

In October the Bombay High Court reprimanded the customs department for seizing artworks by renowned artists FN Souza and Akbar Padamsee on the grounds that they were “obscene material.”

The court ruled that not every nude or sexually explicit painting qualifies as obscene and ordered the release of seven seized artworks.

Social media giant Meta has offered to pay up to $5,000 (£4,040) to popular creators in the United States who join Facebook and Instagram.

It says those joining from “third-party social apps” will get cash based on “an evaluation of your social presence”.

Though it does not mention TikTok by name, the timing would suggest Meta is attempting to capitalise on the uncertainty surrounding its rival, as questions swirl about whether President Trump can find a way of preserving it for US users.

TikTok says it has 170 million users in the US – with many of them relying on it for their livelihoods – meaning lots of people would be seeking an alternative place to post if the platform disappeared.

Meta says on its website that those accepted into the so-called “Breakthrough bonus programme” will be paid the money during their first 90 days on the app, so long as they post regularly.

Users must post at least 20 reels on Facebook and 10 reels on Instagram – Meta’s version of vertical TikTok videos – during each 30-day period.

It also dictates that these must be original videos, rather than those previously shared on other platforms.

But not everyone can join – the cash will only be available to those people who are completely new to either Facebook or Instagram.

And the firm will seemingly decide who to accept on a case-by-case basis, as people must apply to be accepted onto the programme.

It is also offering other perks, such as a free subscription to its blue check verification system.

This is not the first move by Meta to go after ByteDance’s users.

On Sunday, the firm announced Edits, an app strikingly similar to ByteDance’s CapCut – a video editing app which went offline when the ByteDance ban took effect that same day.

And two days earlier, Meta posted a video in which two creators discussed Facebook’s “new affiliate link experience for your shoppable content” – in other words Meta’s attempt to build its own version of the highly successful TikTok Shop.

In the new system, Meta users will be able to add prominent affiliate links directly on their videos – rather than in the comments – exactly how it works on TikTok.

But that’s not all the changes Meta has made – and perhaps the most visually significant is a direct change to how Instagram looks.

Rather than posts and videos being square on user profiles, they are now rectangular – again, clearly taking inspiration from TikTok.

This has led to some backlash from creators frustrated that their profiles now look different, and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said he was aware of the criticisms.

“One of the mistakes I made was not giving people enough of a heads up,” he said in a post on Threads – a platform which was itself launched by Meta in attempt to capitalise on the turbulence at Twitter, now X.

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A day of mourning is under way in Turkey for the 79 victims of a fire that engulfed a popular ski resort hotel in the country’s north-west.

The fire broke out at the wooden-clad 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu at 03:27 local time (00:27 GMT) during a busy holiday period when 234 people were staying there. It took 12 hours to put out.

An investigation has been launched into the incident and there have been conflicting reports about whether the hotel was up to safety standards.

Nine people have been arrested, including the hotel’s owner.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited Bolu on Wednesday, said those responsible for negligence leading to the fire “will be held accountable”.

Flags are flying at half-mast across Turkey in memory of the victims of the fire, while the first funerals are being held.

Bolu’s chief public prosecutor’s office updated the death toll from 76 to 79 on Wednesday after DNA tests were conducted.

• What led to hotel fire disaster?
• Dozens killed as fire engulfs Turkish ski hotel

The authorities said that they were assessing all risks, including the possibility of collapse, for the building.

Alongside the fatalities, 51 people were injured in the fire, according to health minister Kemal Memisoglu. One was receiving treatment in intensive care, and 17 people have been discharged. Relatives have been gathering outside the hospitals where they are being treated.

A person the BBC met in front of the morgue said that he had received news that seven of his relatives had died and that he had visited hospitals looking for their bodies. He later learned that the morgue was empty.

Footage circulating showed linen hanging from windows which was used by those trying to escape the burning building. On Wednesday, these could still be seen swaying in the wind.

The cause of the fire has not yet been found, but Bolu governor Abdulaziz Aydin said initial reports suggested it had broken out in the restaurant section of the hotel’s fourth floor and spread to the floors above.

Aydin said the hotel’s remote location and freezing conditions meant it took more than an hour for fire engines to arrive.

The hotel was last inspected in 2024, and the tourism minister said there had been no concerns regarding the hotel’s fire safety prior to Tuesday’s disaster.

However, the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) said that, according to regulations, an automatic fire extinguisher system was needed, and it appeared from photos of the hotel that one had not been installed.

It added that it was unclear if other regulations had been complied with, but based on the statements of survivors, “it is understood that the detection and warning systems did not work and the escape routes could not be determined”.

Some survivors reported that they had not heard any fire alarms.

The Bolu mountains are popular with skiers from Istanbul and Turkey’s capital Ankara, which is roughly 170km (105 miles) away, and the hotel was operating at high occupancy at the start of the two-week school holidays.

Information about those who died in the fire is continuing to emerge, although some of the bodies are still to be identified. At least two people were killed after they tried to jump to safety.

Many children and young people are among the dead and, in many cases, several members of the same family have been killed.

Turkish Airlines confirmed that Zehra Sena Gültekin died along with her husband, businessman Bilal Gültekin, and three children. Boğaziçi Executives Foundation said two of Bilal’s siblings were also killed.

These included Dr Enes Gültekin, who the Medical Union said had died, along with Izmir dentist Dr Kübra Tonguç Altın and his daughter Alya.

More than 10 members of the Gültekin family are thought to have died in total. President Erdogan and his wife attended the family’s funeral on Wednesday.

Dentist Dr Burak Hasar announced that his colleague of 15-years, Dr Yasemen Boncuk Tüzgiray, her husband Dr Erhan Tüzgiray, and their children Defne and Demir had all died.

The Turkish Wind Energy Association announced that two executives from one of its members, Inovat Energy Storage Solutions, were killed. They are the company’s CEO Can Tokcan, his brother Atıl Enis Tokcan, and their children Kemal and Atlas Kaan.

Tarsus American College announced the death of its graduates Mert Doğan, his wife Duygu, and their children Mavi and Doğa, as well as another graduate’s grandson Ömür Kotan.

The İELEV Schools association announced the death of students Pelin Güngör, her mother Burcu, father Kıvanç and brother Kerem.

Staff at the hotel were also killed, including chef Eslem Uyanik. Turkish media quoted Süleyman Nazik, who said his daughter, Esra Nazik, had died and had just started working there.

Prof Dr Atakan Yalçın, who worked at the Özyeğin University Faculty of Business, and his daughter Elif Derin, both died.

Nedim Turkmen, a writer for Sozcu newspaper, his wife Ayse Neva, and their two children, 18-year-old Ala Dora and 22-year-old Yüce Ata, were all killed.

TED Istanbul College announced the death of students Alican Boduroğlu, his sister Elif Nas, as well as their mother Ebru.

Meanwhile, TED Ankara College shared the news of the death of Eren Bağcı on its social media accounts.

Dilara Ermanoglu, 24, was also among the victims, and her father who had gone to Bolu to look for her was treated by health workers for a heart attack.

Vedia Nil Apak, a 10-year-old swimmer with Fenerbahce Sports Club in Istanbul, also died, along with her mother Ferda.

Club management also said that Ceren Yaman Doğan, the wife of the vice president of its Bolu association, and their 17-year-old daughter Lalin, were killed. Ceren was also the daughter of a well-known local businessman.

Mehmet Cem Doğan, the Bolu factory director for OYAK cement, died, as did his wife Ayşemin Elif and daughter Ayşe Maya.

The Turkish Neurology Association said its member, Dr Ahmet Çetiz, was killed alongside his family.

Başkent University published a condolence message regarding the death of its graduate Müge Suyolcu and her daughter Pera.

The death of intern doctor Yiğit Gençbay, a senior student at the university’s medicine department, was also announced.

The publisher of the Sun newspaper has agreed to pay “substantial damages” and apologised to the Duke of Sussex to settle a long-running legal battle over claims of unlawful intrusion into his life.

Prince Harry alleged journalists and private investigators working for News Group Newspapers (NGN) used unlawful techniques to pry on his private life – and executives then allegedly covered it up.

NGN apologised for “serious intrusion” by the Sun between 1996 and 2011, and admitted “incidents of unlawful activity” were carried out by private investigators working for the newspaper, in a statement read out in court.

It also apologised for distress it caused Harry through the “extensive coverage” and “serious intrusion” into the private life of his late mother, Princess Diana.

• Has Prince Harry got what he wanted after tabloid apology?

The BBC understands the settlements to both Prince Harry and former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson have cost NGN more than £10m in pay outs and legal fees.

In total NGN has spent upwards of £1bn in damages and costs to those who claim their phones were hacked and their privacy invaded by the News of the World and the Sun.

When he launched his claim, the prince alleged that more than 200 articles published by NGN between 1996 and 2011 contained information gathered by illegal means.

He repeatedly said he wanted the case to go to trial so that he could get “accountability” for other alleged victims of unlawful newsgathering.

NGN was “surprised by the serious approach by Prince Harry for settlement in recent days”, a source told the BBC.

A source close to the Duke of Sussex responded that the apology “provides all the insight you need”.

Speaking outside court on behalf of Prince Harry, his barrister David Sherborne described the settlement as a “monumental victory”, and said NGN had been “finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law”.

Lord Watson, meanwhile, had alleged his phone was targeted around the time he was investigating newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch while an MP, at the height of the phone-hacking scandal almost 15 years ago.

NGN also issued an apology to Lord Watson for intrusion into his private life by those working for the News of the World, including “being placed under surveillance” by journalists and people instructed by them.

• The full apology to Prince Harry from Sun owner

NGN said in a statement its settlement “draws a line under the past” and “brings an end to this litigation”.

It added: “Lord Watson’s phone was not hacked in 2009-11 and had this gone to trial, NGN would have called evidence from telecoms experts to demonstrate that hacking after 2007 was nigh on impossible due to security upgrades undertaken by telecoms companies.”

The apology also covers incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the Sun newspaper from 1996-2011, the statement said – but “not by journalists”.

The references to the Sun in the apology were key, as without it the prince would not have settled.

NGN has already apologised for unlawful practices at the now-defunct News of the World, but previously denied similar claims against the Sun – as well as Prince Harry’s wider allegation of a corporate-wide cover-up.

While it admitted no illegality, NGN acknowledged in its apology that its response to the arrests in 2006 of News of the World staff who hacked royal phones and those of celebrities – and its subsequent actions – were “regrettable”.

Journalist Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, were later jailed for intercepting voicemails on phones belonging to the princes’ aides.

After the settlement was announced, Lord Watson told reporters: “I wish they had left my family alone. Today, I’m glad they have finally accepted responsibility.”

Describing the snooping by NGN staff as “industrial in scale”, he said its owner Rupert Murdoch should offer “a personal apology” to Prince Harry, as well as any others affected.

Lord Watson added that the legal team behind the case would pass a dossier to the Metropolitan Police.

A Met spokesperson said it noted the outcome of the case, adding that there were “no active police investigations into allegations of phone hacking or related matters”.

By agreeing to a settlement, NGN has avoided eight weeks of slowly revealed allegations.

Now the court will not test the claims that senior executives deliberately obstructed justice by deleting emails and taking part in a cover up of evidence. This is “strongly denied” by NGN.

And there will not be damaging headlines about press intrusion into the royal family and the heart of government.

Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, said “it’s just wonderful that Harry fought for, and gained, an apology to his mother”.

“She would be incredibly touched at that and rightly proud,” he said in a post on X.

Former editor of the Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, said it would have been “massively damaging” had the company’s chief executive Rebekah Brooks been forced to give evidence at a trial.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s The World at One programme, he said he was “astonished” by NGN’s admissions in its statement.

“There was always going to come a day like this, and [Prince] Harry’s pursued it. [NGN] are on the back foot and there is probably nothing else they could do.”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was “a significant day and a big relief” for the two claimants.

She told The World At One she did not believe a second-stage Leveson inquiry into press practices was “fit for purpose”, but said families from the Hacked Off campaign group were preparing a “thorough briefing” about the changes they believe are required.

She said the government had to work with the families and the media to make sure “we strike that right balance and we protect a free and fair press”.

Harry was 12 when his mother, the Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash in a Paris tunnel while being followed by paparazzi. He has suggested tabloid newspapers played a role in her death.

Last year he said the tabloid press had been “central” to the breakdown of his relationship with the rest of the Royal Family.

He has also settled a case against Mirror Group Newspapers alleging the publishers had gathered information on him in unlawful ways from 1996 to 2010.

More than 32,000 people have fled the northern Colombian region of Catatumbo where two rival rebel groups are engaged in a bloody battle.

At least 80 people have been killed over recent days amid the surge in fighting between rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

One official government agency said it had received reports of ELN rebels going house-to-house and killing those suspected of ties with rival groups.

The government has declared a state of emergency and the first of a planned deployment of 5,000 soldiers have arrived in the area.

President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday that the state “had failed” to contain the violence but that it would learn from that failure.

His government has reactivated arrest warrants for 31 top commanders of the ELN, which had been suspended while the rebel group held peace talks with the government.

Last week, President Petro suspended the talks for a second time in less than a year due to the violence in Catatumbo.

The fighting has been so fierce that 32,000 people have fled their homes, according to figures provided by the Ombudsman’s office on Tuesday.

Many have sought refuge in schools and sports stadiums which have been converted into impromptu shelters.

Investigative news programme Noticias Uno said it had seen a military intelligence report which suggested that the surge in violence between the two rival groups had been triggered by “the loss of a multi-million-dollar cocaine shipment in November 2024”.

According to the report, a member of the Farc dissident group known as Frente 33 came to an agreement with their rivals from the ELN to “not interfere” with each other’s cocaine production and shipments.

Both the ELN and the remnants of the Farc rebel group which remained active after the main guerrilla group signed a peace agreement in 2016 are heavily involved in the drugs trade.

The pact between the two groups seems to have broken down over the “lost” cocaine shipment, the intelligence report suggests.

Although it is not clear which “lost” stash the report is referring to, Colombian media have pointed out that in December last year counter-narcotics agents in the Dominican Republic seized 9.5 tonnes of cocaine which they said had originated in Catatumbo.

The mountainous region, on Colombia’s north-eastern border with Venezuela, is a hotspot for cocaine production and trafficking.

President Petro, who was a member of a left-wing rebel group in his youth, said this week that “what happened in Catatumbo is yet another example of a shift from insurgent guerrillas to narco-armed organisations”.

He also referred to the ELN as a “mafia”.

Petro campaigned on a promise to bring “total peace” to Colombia but last week he said that “the ELN has no will for peace”.

At least 10 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 40 injured by Israeli forces during a major operation in the Jenin area in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Palestinian media reported that on Tuesday there were several air strikes as a large number of troops entered the city and its refugee camp, backed by drones, helicopters and armoured bulldozers.

Israel’s prime minister said it launched an “extensive and significant” operation to “defeat terrorism” in Jenin, long seen as a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups.

It comes three days after the start of a ceasefire in Gaza and highlights the threat of more violence in the West Bank, where suspected Israeli settlers also went on the rampage on Monday night.

Jenin’s governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, told AFP news agency on Tuesday morning that “what is happening is an invasion of the camp”, adding: “It came quickly, Apache [helicopters] in the sky and Israeli military vehicles everywhere.”

Palestinian security personnel reportedly withdrew from some of their positions around Jenin refugee camp before the Israeli forces moved in.

The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, later cited local sources as saying that Israeli forces were “completely besieging” Jenin camp, and that armoured bulldozers had dug up several streets.

The director of Jenin’s Government hospital, Dr Wissam Bakr, also told the agency that three doctors and two nurses were among those wounded by Israeli gunfire.

A medical worker at another hospital, al-Amal, told the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians: “I was called in [on Tuesday] due to the surge of injuries, and the moment I stepped out of the car making my way to the emergency entrance a sniper shot me below the knee.”

“Another doctor was shot in the same spot,” they added. “The Israeli army is shooting non-stop.”

The Israeli military said it followed international law and took feasible precautions to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals.

“In cases where uninvolved individuals are harmed, the events are investigated and handled accordingly,” it added. “The case mentioned is under review.”

On Wednesday, witnesses said Israeli snipers now surround the camp, and that as residents were allowed to leave from one exit a number were strip-searched and arrested by Israeli forces.

Jenin’s governor said Israeli forces had also “bulldozed all the roads leading to Jenin camp, and leading to Jenin Government hospital”.

Dr Bakr said earth mounds were blocking the entrances to the hospital, making it difficult to enter and leave, and preventing ambulance crews from reaching it.

The military said that its forces operated to neutralise explosive devices planted beneath roads near the hospital.

“As a result of this, those present inside the hospital at the time were asked to stay inside the hospital for their own safety,” it added.

The Palestinian health ministry reported on Tuesday evening that nine men and a 16-year-old boy, whom it named as Mutaz Abu Tbeikh, had been killed by Israeli forces in Jenin.

Another man was shot and killed by Israeli troops in the village of Tianik, about 8km (5 miles) to the north-west, it added.

Sources told the BBC that most of those killed were civilians.

However, the Israeli military and Shin Bet security service said on Wednesday that they had “hit over 10 terrorists” during the operation.

“Additionally, aerial strikes on terror infrastructure sites were conducted and numerous explosives planted on the routes by the terrorists were dismantled,” they added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the Jenin operation – dubbed “Iron Wall” – was an “additional step in achieving the objective we have set: bolstering security” in the West Bank.

“We are acting methodically and with determination against the Iranian axis wherever it reaches: in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and [the West Bank] – and we are still active.”

Israel accuses Iran of smuggling weapons and funds to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed groups in the West Bank to foment unrest.

The prime minister of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Mustafa, condemned the raid, saying it was the latest in a series of “aggressive Israeli measures” against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to Wafa.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad both called on Palestinians in the West Bank to escalate attacks against Israeli forces in response to the Jenin operation.

There have been a number of previous Israeli military operations in Jenin.

And recently, the PA’s security forces carried out a controversial, weeks-long operation against armed groups there, including Hamas and PIJ, trying to reassert their control.

There has been a spike in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed as Israeli forces have intensified their raids, saying they are trying to stem deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and Israel.

In another development in the West Bank on Monday night, dozens of masked Israeli extremists attacked Palestinians in two villages east of Qalqilya, Jinsafut and al-Funduq, setting fire to Palestinian homes and cars and smashing property.

At least 21 Palestinians were injured, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. Two Israelis were also shot, apparently when an Israeli police officer opened fire while responding to the violence.

“If you were there last night, you would not hear anything more than screaming of women and children,” said Mohammed, whose family home in al-Funduq was metres away from a garden centre that was torched.

“In the end, we have don’t have anything to protect ourselves. But they have everything to attack us.”

The Israeli military said it was investigating the incidents, during which it said Israeli civilians “instigated riots, set property on fire, and caused damage”. It also said they hurled stones and attacked Israeli security forces.

It happened just as new US President Donald Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of carrying out attacks in the West Bank.

The reversal of the Biden administration’s sanctions targeting radical Israelis, could indicate the direction for the new White House that is expected to be more tolerant of Jewish settlement expansion.

The far-right, pro-settler Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, welcomed the US move. In a post on X, he praised Trump’s “unwavering and uncompromising support for the state of Israel”.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials condemned the change in policy. “Lifting sanctions on extremist settlers encourages them to commit more crimes against our people”, the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The mayor of al-Funduq, Luay Tayyam, told the BBC: “It is like a green light for the settlers, saying: ‘Just go ahead, do whatever you want. You will not be persecuted.'”

“So they are happy with this news. And I think this was a big push for them last night. They feel encouraged by it.”

There are also rising tensions over the large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank this week, as part of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

The attack in al-Funduq was in an area where three Israelis were killed in a shooting earlier this month. It was the latest in a long series of settler attacks that have accelerated markedly since the start of the Gaza war.

According to the Israeli anti-settlement group, Peace Now, in 2024 settlers also established 59 new outposts, without authorisation from the Israeli government. That was more than double the number from the previous year – which was also a record year for settlement outpost establishment.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this – as did the previous Trump administration.