No survivors are expected after a passenger plane collided in mid air with a helicopter near Washington DC on Wednesday evening, officials in the US say.

The plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew when it landed in the Potomac River after the collision, while the helicopter had three soldiers on board.

Figure skaters from the US were among those who were on board the aeroplane. Russia has confirmed that some of its citizens were also on board.

Search and rescue teams worked through the night to scour the waters in freezing temperatures. Authorities say they have now switched to a recovery operation.

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• Watch: The scene in DC after moment of impact
• Watch: First responders rush to the scene
• Did you witness the incident? Get in touch

At around 21:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, a PSA Airlines jet operating as American Airlines 5342 collided with a US Army helicopter as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The passenger plane broke into multiple pieces and sunk several feet into the river, while the helicopter ended up upside down on the water, reports said.

The plane, a Bombardier CRJ700, departed from Wichita, Kansas and was carrying 60 passengers and four crew, American Airlines said.

The Pentagon said the helicopter involved was a Sikorsky H-60 that took off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

Three US soldiers were on board, Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said. Another official said it was on a training flight, and it belonged to B Company, 12th Aviation Battalion from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

A clip published online by LiveATC.net, which streams air traffic, purports to capture the air traffic control conversation in the moments before the crash. A controller can reportedly be heard warning the helicopter about the plane, but receiving no reply. The audio has not been verified by the BBC.

The FAA said it would investigate the incident, together with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said in a Thursday morning update that officials “don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident”.

He said teams had recovered 27 bodies from the plane, and one from the helicopter.

A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation earlier told CBS that a higher number of at least 30 bodies had already been found.

US Figure Skating said “several members of our skating community were sadly aboard” the flight. It said this group comprised athletes, coaches and family members who were returning home from a development camp in Kansas.

Russian citizens were also on board, the Kremlin confirmed – after local media reported that ice skating coaches and former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on the plane.

About 300 responders on rubber boats were earlier deployed to search for survivors, Donnelly said in an earlier update. “The challenge is access, there is wind, pieces of ice (on the water). It is dangerous and hard to work in,” he said.

Ari Schulman told NBC Washington that he saw the plane crash while driving on the George Washington Parkway, which runs along the airport.

He said the plane’s approach looked normal, until he saw the aircraft bank hard to the right, with “streams of sparks” running underneath, illuminating its belly.

At that point, he said he knew that it looked “very, very wrong”. Having seen plane landings there in the past, he said a plane’s underside should not have been visible in the dark.

The sparks, he said, resembled a “giant roman candle” and went from the plane’s nose to its tail.

Jimmy Mazeo said he saw the crash while having dinner with his girlfriend at a park near the airport.

He recalled seeing what looked like a “white flare” in the sky. He said planes flying into Ronald Reagan Airport appeared to have been flying in “irregular patterns”.

Mr Mazeo said he did not think much of what he saw until emergency services started arriving at the scene.

President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the the “terrible accident” and that he was monitoring the situation closely.

“May God Bless their souls,” he said in a statement. “Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders.

On his TruthSocial social media account, he has also raised questions about how the incident could have happened, writing: “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”

Vice-President JD Vance asked for prayers for those who were in the incident.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, whose appointments were just recently confirmed, also said they were monitoring the situation.

Asked if flight paths near Ronald Reagan airport would be changed after the incident, Duffy said “we will take appropriate action if necessary”. He added: “There will be a review of what happened here tonight.”

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed his “deep sorrow” about the collision in a video which has been posted to the airline’s website.

That was echoed by Roger Marshall, a US senator representing Kansas, where the plane had travelled from. He described a “heartbreak beyond measure”.

Major incidents of this kind are relatively rare in the US. The most recent comparable crash was in 2009, according to a list compiled by Reuters.

That year, an aircraft crashed on approach to landing in Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground.

The airspace above Washington DC is both busy and highly controlled. It is used by domestic and international traffic using two airports, and there are extra factors of presidential flights, heavy military traffic and flights around the Pentagon.

Passenger airliners must follow fixed flight plans, said the BBC’s transport correspondent Sean Dilley. In uncontrolled airspace, military pilots operate under strict instruction of air traffic controllers but unlike their civilian counterparts, they have freedom to deviate and a duty to “see and avoid” other aircraft.

A man who recently moved his family back to Pakistan from the US has confessed to killing his teenage daughter because he disapproved of her TikTok videos, police have told the BBC.

Anwar ul-Haq was charged with murder after he admitted to shooting his daughter Hira in the south-western city of Quetta on Tuesday. He initially told investigators that unidentified men were behind the shooting.

The father, who has US citizenship, said he found his daughter’s posts “objectionable”.

Police said they were looking at all angles, including the possibility of an honour killing, which is not uncommon in the country.

Hundreds of people – most of them women – die in so-called honour killings in Pakistan each year, according to human rights groups. These killings are usually carried out by relatives who say they are acting in defence of their family’s honour.

In the case of Hira Anwar, who was between 13 and 14 years old, a police spokesman said her family “had an objection to her dressing, lifestyle and social gathering”.

The family lived in the US for 25 years and Hira started posting content on TikTok even before her family moved back to Pakistan.

Investigators said they were in possession on her phone, which is locked.

Her father’s brother-in-law was also arrested in connection with the killing, police said.

If it is found to be an honour killing and they are found guilty, the men will face a mandatory life sentence – a change made to the law by Pakistan’s government in 2016. Previously, they could avoid a jail term if pardoned by the victim’s family.

In 2023, an Italian court handed a Pakistani couple life sentences for killing their 18-year-old daughter because she refused an arranged marriage.

The year before, the brother of Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch was acquitted of murdering her on appeal. He had earlier been sentenced to life in prison after confessing to the 2016 killing, saying it was because the star had brought shame on the family.

A man who sparked violent protests after burning the Quran has been shot dead in Sweden.

Salwan Momika was killed in an apartment in Södertälje, Stockholm, on Wednesday evening, prosecutors told the BBC.

Unrest broke out after Mr Momika set fire to a copy of Islam’s holy book outside Stockholm Central Mosque in 2023.

Stockholm police said in a statement that five people had been arrested after a man in his 40s was shot dead overnight.

Officers were called to a suspected shooting at an apartment in Hovsjö around 23:11 local time (22:11 GMT) on Wednesday.

The man, who has not been named by police, was found with gunshot wounds and taken to hospital. The force announced he had died on Thursday morning.

Local media reported that Mr Momika had been livestreaming on social media around the time he was shot.

Mr Momika, an Iraqi living in Sweden, was charged in August alongside one other with “agitation against an ethnic group” on four occasions in the summer of 2023.

The verdict, due to be delivered on Thursday, was postponed after it was “confirmed that one of the defendants had died”, Stockholm District Court said.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden’s security services were involved in the investigation because there was “obviously a risk that there were links to foreign powers,” SVT reported.

Mr Momika carried out a series of anti-Islam protests, sparking outrage in many Muslim-majority countries.

Unrest took place at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice, while the Swedish ambassador was expelled from the city amid a diplomatic row.

Swedish police had given Mr Momika permission for the protest in which he burnt the holy book, in accordance with the country’s free-speech laws.

The government later pledged to explore legal means of abolishing protests that involve burning texts in certain circumstances.

A number of figure skaters – including six people associated with the Figure Skating Club of Boston – were among the passengers on board an aeroplane that hit a helicopter above Washington DC on Wednesday evening.

The group from Boston include two former Russian world champions who are now coaches – Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov – as well as two young skaters and their mothers, the club’s CEO told local media.

“Several” athletes, coaches and family members involved with US Figure Skating were on the flight, the sport’s US governing body said. It is yet to give more names.

US officials say they do not expect any survivors from the crash. They say at least 28 bodies have been recovered from scene.

The plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew when it collided in mid-air with a US Army helicopter just after 21:00 local time on Wednesday (02:00 GMT), and then fell into the ice-cold Potomac River.

As many as 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating in total, an unnamed source told the Reuters news agency.

The Boston-affiliated skaters were identified as 16-year-olds Spencer Lane and Jinna Hahn by the Figure Skating Club of Boston.

Lane’s mother Christine Lane and Hahn’s mother Jin Hahn were also on the plane, as were coaches Naumov and Shishkova.

“Six is a horrific number for us,” the club’s CEO Doug Zeghibe told local media, going on to say: “This will have long, reaching impacts for our skating community.”

Earlier on Thursday, Russia confirmed that some of its citizens had been on the plane, after Russia media reported the names of Naumov and Shishkova.

In its own statement, US Figure Skating said “several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342”. The group were returning home from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, the statement added.

Wichita hosted the US National Figure Skating championships from 20 January to 26 January. Following the competition, there was a development camp for young skaters.

Shishkova and Naumov are retired Russian pairs skaters who won the world championships in 1994. They also competed at the Olympics, and later went on to begin their coaching career in the US.

Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater for the Soviet Union, was also on board the flight, according to Russian news agency Tass.

• Live: Follow the latest updates on the crash
• What we know so far about the Washington DC plane crash
• Watch: The scene in DC after moment of impact
• Watch: First responders rush to the scene
• Are you an eyewitness? Please share your experiences.

Rescue teams are continuing to search the freezing waters of the Potomac River where the remnants of both aircrafts remain. On Thursday morning, officials said they had switched to a recovery operation.

Nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport grounded all flights in the wake of Wednesday evening’s crash.

Besides the undisclosed total number of skaters, limited information has emerged about the individuals on board.

In 1961, the 18-person US figure skating team was killed in a plane crash in Belgium on their way to Prague.

Five Thai farm workers who were abducted during the 7 October attacks by Hamas on Israel have been released after being held for almost 500 days in Gaza.

They were handed over to the Red Cross during chaotic scenes along with two Israelis, shortly after a first Israeli hostage was freed.

Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Saethao and Surasak Lamnao had all been working in southern Israel when they were kidnapped during the attacks in October 2023.

Thailand’s prime minister said she was elated to hear news of their release and her government was working with Israel “so that they can reunite with their families soonest”. One Thai hostage remains unaccounted for.

“The Thai government, including everyone here in Thailand, have long been waiting for this very moment,” PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted on social media.

“I hold on to my hope that the remaining Thai national will be released and returned to us safely and speedily.”

For the families of the released hostages, it was a day they had long been waiting for.

Wilas Thaenna wept after receiving a call to say his son Pongsak had been freed on Thursday.

“I never thought this day would come, everything has been too quiet for a while,” the 65-year-old told the BBC.

He revealed he had barely slept the night before, as he was so excited at the prospect of his son being released.

“I don’t know how to explain how I got through all that happened,” he continued.

“My son was taken captive, I lost my wife, I had to stay strong.

“First five or six months, I’ve lost so much weight. It was distressing, I didn’t have strength to do anything or go anywhere. I was worried all the time.

“When I see him, I’m going to give him a hug and tell him to come home.”

Wiwwaew Sriaoun also sobbed as it was confirmed her son Watchara had been released.

“The first thing I want to do is to hug my son and tell him I miss him very much,” she said. “His daughter, Nudee, was also happy. She has been praying every day for her daddy to return.”

She said all of Watchara’s relatives have come to her home in Udon Thani province to closely monitor the news.

“I’ve had hopes but I also lost hopes several times already,” she said, adding she received a call on Wednesday night but wasn’t sure if her son would still be alive. She too was unable to sleep, revealing to AFP news agency she and her husband had gone rubber tapping on their farm in the early hours of the morning.

Sirinna Suwannakham, the younger sister of freed hostage Sathian, said her family had only managed to keep the hope alive because they had no proof he had been killed.

“If he had died, we would have had a body to hold a ceremony,” she said. “But there was none. So we never lost hope. We always believed that my brother was still alive. We never gave up. We always waited for him to come home.”

The released hostages will now be taken to hospital in Israel, after being met by Thai government officials.

Thirty-one Thai workers were taken hostage in the October 2023 attacks, the Thai government has said previously. Another 39 were killed on the day.

The majority were released in November 2023, leaving just eight in Gaza, according to officials. It is believed two have since died, while the fate of the final hostage – Nattapong Pinta – is not known.

Nearly all of the foreign workers abducted during the attack were Thais. Israel employs some 30,000 of them as farm labour, making them one of the largest migrant groups in the country.

The release is part of a separate agreement between Hamas and the Thai government – it’s not part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal agreed on 19 January.

Rescue workers in Japan are trying to pull out a truck driver from a sinkhole that appeared on Tuesday and has since widened.

The sinkhole appeared in Yashio city in Saitama prefecture, near the capital Tokyo, swallowing a truck.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by road collapses, and officials have ordered scores of households in the area to evacuate their homes.

The 74-year-old driver was last heard responding to rescuers on Tuesday afternoon, according to local media.

While emergency crews managed to remove the truck bed from the pool-sized sinkhole, the driver’s cabin remains buried under soil and debris.

The hole measuring about 10m (33ft) wide and 5m deep first appeared on Tuesday morning at a road junction.

It is believed to have been caused by an underground sewage pipe rupturing.

Officials said that as waste water from the damaged pipe flooded the hole, it caused a second sinkhole to appear on Thursday.

Video footage showed a utility pole and a restaurant signboard falling in that collapse.

The road then collapsed further, merging the two sinkholes together to become a 20m-wide crater, further complicating the rescue operation.

The massive sinkhole also contains a gas pipeline, prompting fears of a potential leak. Officials have issued evacuation orders for 200 households in the surrounding area.

They have also urged residents in and around the city to use less water.

Sinkholes are increasingly common in Japanese cities, as many have ageing sewage pipeline infrastructure.

In 2016, a giant sinkhole in Fukuoka swallowed a five-lane street in Fukuoka, disrupting power, water and transport. No serious injuries were reported.

Last August, a search for a woman who disappeared into a pavement sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur’s city centre was called off after a week.

Authorities deemed it “too risky” to continue deploying divers into the underground sewer network, which had strong currents and hard debris.

Five skiers were killed in two separate avalanches in the French Alps on Wednesday, local officials have confirmed.

One torrent of snow came in Val-Cenis, in the south-eastern Savoie region, killing four Norwegian skiers, while a Swiss skier died further north in the Haute-Savoie region, near Chamonix.

Three of the Norwegians were killed instantly while a fourth, a woman, died in a nearby hospital after suffering severe hypothermia and a cardiorespiratory arrest.

They were part of a larger group of seven skiers and the remaining three were unharmed.

Jacques Arnoux, mayor of Val-Cenis, told AFP each member of the group had been carrying an avalanche beacon as they were off-piste skiing.

Also known as backcountry skiing, it refers to any area not marked or maintained for use by skiers and is considerably more dangerous.

“It was an avalanche of great size which was triggered outside the ski area,” Mayor Arnoux added.

A team of 10 mountain rescue specialists were despatched in the operation, a police source said.

The Swiss victim, a 30-year-old woman, was skiing with her brother, who was taken to hospital for tests, and her father, who was unharmed.

All three had anti-avalanche airbags and were skiing off-piste in the Mont Blanc massif mountain range.

On Tuesday, a 55-year-old Brazilian-Portuguese skier was killed in a “very large” avalanche on an off-piste section Mont Blanc.

Thousands of fans filled a stadium in the Indian capital, Delhi, as Virat Kohli made his much-anticipated return to domestic cricket after more than 12 years.

The 36-year-old star batter turned out for Delhi on Thursday in the Ranji Trophy match against the Railways team at the Arun Jaitley stadium.

Kohli’s return follows the national cricket board’s directive for contracted players to play domestic cricket after India’s 3-1 Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss to Australia.

It also comes amid a personal lean patch in Test cricket, where the former Indian captain has struggled for consistency in recent years.

One of India’s greatest batters, Kohli has redefined modern cricket with his aggressive and technically sound batting. With more than 27,000 international runs across formats, he has been the backbone of India’s middle order for more than a decade.

But his red-ball form has dipped in recent years. Kohli averaged 54.97 in Test cricket until 2019, but since 2020, it has dipped to 30.72 – and just 22.47 in his last 10 Tests.

Since the start of 2024, his average of 23.2 is the ninth lowest among players with a minimum of 10 innings.

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Kohli’s return to the domestic circuit has already generated immense excitement, with fans and experts alike keen to see whether this move helps reignite his form.

Domestic cricket refers to professional competitions played within a country, featuring teams that represent states, regions, or clubs. These tournaments, like the Ranji Trophy, are held during the cricket season.

However, due to the packed international cricket calendar, many top players, including Kohli, prioritise international matches and the hugely lucrative annual Indian Premier League over domestic cricket.

A large crowd gathered outside the stadium on Tuesday after word spread that Kohli would join the Delhi team for training ahead of the game.

Reports said even TV and YouTube journalists – a rare sight before a domestic match – were present. “He joined his Delhi team-mates for football drills, bouts of laughter, and 100m sprints, before it was time to hit the batting nets,” ESPNcricinfo reported.

Long queues have been reported outside the stadium as fans have been let in free to watch the game.

Akash Kumar told news agency ANI that he had been standing outside the stadium for almost five hours before the match began and that he had never seen such a crowd for a domestic match.

The captain of the Delhi team, Ayush Badoni, said everyone in the team was “excited and motivated” by Kohli’s arrival.

Pratham Singh, the captain of the opposing Railways team, said it was inspiring for them to see Kohli and that they would be “more motivated to do better” in this match.

Fans will have to wait a bit to watch Kohli bat as Delhi won the toss and chose to bowl.

India’s red-ball domestic Ranji Trophy season, running from 5 January to 10 March, features 32 teams.

Kohli made his domestic debut in 2006 at 18, scoring just 10 runs in his first match.

Over the next six years with the Delhi team, he notched five centuries and as many fifties. His last domestic appearance was in 2012.

Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticised her own party leader for passing a motion in parliament with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

In a statement, Merkel accused CDU leader Friedrich Merz of turning his back on a previous pledge not to work with AfD in the Bundestag.

The parliament descended into heckles on Wednesday after votes from the far-right party meant a non-binding CDU motion on tougher immigration rules was passed.

This is a highly unusual intervention by the woman who led Germany for 16 years, stepping in to criticise the actions of her former political rival.

Merz, who is tipped to be Germany’s next chancellor due to CDU’s lead in the polls, said on Wednesday that a policy was not wrong just because the “wrong people back it” and that he had not sought nor wanted AfD’s support.

But Merkel accused him of breaking a pledge he made in November to work with the Social Democratic Party and the Greens to pass legislation, not AfD.

This was to ensure “neither in determining the agenda nor in voting on the matter here in the House will there be a random or actually brought about majority with those from the AfD,” read a quote from Merz in Merkel’s statement.

The former chancellor said she fully supported this earlier “expression of great state political responsibility”.

“I think it is wrong to no longer feel bound by this proposal and thereby knowingly allow the AfD to gain a majority in a vote in the German Bundestag on 29 January 2025 for the first time.”

She said “all democratic parties” needed to work together “to do everything they can to prevent such terrible attacks in the future as those that took place shortly before Christmas in Magdeburg and a few days ago in Aschaffenburg”.

This is a rare intervention from Merkel.

To openly criticise her own party’s candidate for chancellor – just weeks out from an election – is a big move and will add rocket fuel to a an already explosive story in German politics.

Merkel and Merz go back a long way – and not as the best of friends.

He was famously side-lined by Merkel in the early 2000s after she won out in a CDU power struggle.

Merz would go on to quit front-line politics for many years before making his return.

Since then, he has criticized Merkel’s legacy – particularly her handling of the migration crisis.

They also have very different visions for the party, with Merkel seen as a more pragmatic centrist and Merz from the CDU’s more traditional, conservative wing.

Wednesday’s vote broke a longstanding taboo in German politics – and Merz is also due to propose legislation on Friday that the AfD could support.

The current German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, called the move an “unforgivable mistake”.

“Since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany over 75 years ago, there has always been a clear consensus among all democrats in our parliaments: we do not make common cause with the far right,” he said.

An Israeli air strike killed 10 Palestinians in the north of the occupied West Bank on Wednesday night, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Video footage reportedly from the town of Tamun showed chaotic scenes, badly damaged buildings and bloodstained streets.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted a squad of “armed terrorists” on guidance from the Shin Bet security service.

In contrast to Gaza, where there is an ongoing but fragile ceasefire, Israel has increased its military operations in the West Bank in the past week, particularly in and around the city of Jenin, just to the north of Tamun.

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Hundreds of Israeli security forces backed by helicopters, drones and armoured vehicles have been deployed to Jenin and its refugee camp, long seen as a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

More than 20,000 people have reportedly fled their homes in the camp, where many homes have been demolished and roads have been dug up by Israeli bulldozers.

“It’s terrifying, the explosions, the fires, the houses which were demolished,” Intisar Amalka, a displaced camp resident, told Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

The Palestinian health ministry says 16 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and dozens more wounded in the Jenin area since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the start of a large-scale operation to “defeat terrorism” on 21 January.

They have included a two-year-old girl, who died on Saturday after being shot in the head, and at least six members of armed groups, according to Reuters news agency.

The health ministry says another 14 Palestinians have been killed elsewhere in the northern West Bank over the same period, including the 10 who died in Wednesday’s strike in Tamun.

On Wednesday afternoon, the IDF said Israeli security forces had killed 18 “terrorists” and detained 60 “wanted individuals” in recent days in Jenin and the Tulkarm area, where they began a separate operation on Monday. Numerous weapons had also been located and dozens of explosive devices dismantled, it added.

Hamas urged Palestinians in the West Bank “to engage by all means in resisting the occupation, its soldiers and settler militias”.

During a visit to Jenin refugee camp on Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the IDF would remain there once the operation was over.

“The Jenin refugee camp will not be what it was,” he said. “After the operation is completed, IDF forces will remain in the camp to ensure that terrorism does not return.”

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned what it called Katz’s “provocative raid on Jenin and his inciting statements”. It also called on the US to intervene urgently to “stop the transfer of scenes of destruction from Gaza to the West Bank”.

There have been a number of previous Israeli military operations in Jenin.

And recently, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority’s security forces carried out a controversial, weeks-long operation against armed groups there, 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.

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.

Pop star Rihanna was in a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday as her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, continued his trial on assault charges.

The singer, who shares two children with the rapper, sat in the court with A$AP Rocky’s family as the trial delved into allegations that he pulled a gun out on his former friend and opened fire multiple times.

The trial started on Friday and will determine whether the rapper will face penalties on two charges of felony assault. He could face decades in prison.

A$AP Rocky has pleaded not guilty to the charges and his lawyers have argued the weapon was a prop gun and his former friend is only after money.

Here’s what you need to know about the case.

A$AP Rocky’s assault trial began on 24 January in Los Angeles.

The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was charged with two felony assault charges relating to a 2021 shooting incident in Hollywood.

Authorities allege A$AP Rocky and a former friend got into a heated discussion that turned violent and led to the rapper pulling out a gun and opening fire.

The victim in the case is fellow artist and childhood friend Terell Ephron, also known as A$AP Relli. He is the star witness for prosecutors

They were both part of the A$AP Mob hip-hop collective and have known one another since their time together at a New York high school.

Their relationship eroded over time as A$AP Rocky’s career took off and he became famous.

It all led up to a disagreement between the pair in November 2021.

Mr Ephron took the stand this week to describe their relationship and the moments of the alleged shooting.

Authorities have said Mr Ephron met Mr Mayers on 6 November in 2021, a day after the pair got into a disagreement.

They met outside a Hollywood hotel about a block from the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Prosecutors say when the pair met things got physical. Mr Mayers is then alleged to have whipped out a gun from his waistband and pointed it toward Mr Ephron, telling him “I’ll kill you right now”.

Court documents outline that Mr Ephron told the rapper to fire the weapon, which Mr Mayers did not and instead started walking away.

Mr Ephron followed behind and yelled at Mr Mayers about their disagreements, court documents show.

That’s when prosecutors allege Mr Mayers pulled out the gun again and opened fire.

Court documents allege multiple bullets were fired, one of which is alleged to have grazed Mr Ephron’s knuckles.

Authorities say parts of the incident were captured on surveillance footage, including some footage that included audio of gunfire, although there is no video showing the shooting.

Some of this footage has been played in court already for jurors.

There are several key points of contention in the case: the weapon, police investigation and Mr Ephron’s injuries.

The rapper’s lawyers have noted the weapon authorities say was the gun he pulled out was not usable – instead it was a prop weapon his security encouraged him to carry to ward off would-be attackers.

His lawyers have also focused on Mr Ephron taking multiple days to report the incident to police, and how authorities found no trace of bullet casings or a shooting when they responded to the incident.

Court documents detail that Mr Ephron returned to the scene later and gathered two shell casings he said he found in the area. He brought them when he reported the incident to police two days later.

He also did not immediately go to hospital after the incident and instead sought medical treatment after flying back to New York.

Yes, the rapper could face up to 24 years in prison if found guilty in the trial, which is expected to go on for about three weeks.

A panel of 12 jurors will decide his fate.

It’s unclear if Rihanna will continue appearing for the trial. Before the proceedings started, the rapper’s lawyer had told the court this week that Mr Mayers has tried to keep his family away from all of this.

Media reports indicate that on Wednesday she sat between the rapper’s mother and sister in the courtroom. The couple’s two children did not appear.

Rihanna’s presence sparked intense media and fan interest outside the courthouse, but she entered through a non-public entrance used by judges, and was already seated in the courtroom when media were allowed into the chamber.

During jury selection, prosecutors questioned jurors about Rihanna and whether her connection to the case would affect their ability to deliver a fair verdict. While some described themselves as Rihanna fans, and many more had heard of Rihanna than A$AP Rocky, jurors said her presence in the courtroom would not influence their decision making.

Rihanna’s presence did attract attention from jurors in a murder trial across the hall at the courthouse, with some commenting on her being so nearby.

Rocky’s trial is being televised, but Rihanna sat out of view of the cameras in the courtroom.

It was early Saturday, when hundreds of staff who operate a sprawling humanitarian operation at the Al-Hol displacement camp in northeast Syria were given a clear message: “Stop work.”

The despatch was as abrupt as it was distressing for those who knew the daily work of stabilising the site, which holds 40,000 people, mostly women and children, displaced from areas previously controlled by the Islamic State group.

Water, sanitation and security were all upended at the huge camp, said a senior humanitarian worker familiar with its operation. Another facility in Syria’s north-east, Al Roj, was also hit by the sudden order. IS suspects are held near both sites.

“All of a sudden, you [risked] real instability and violence rising, as well as, obviously, former ISIS on the street,” said Susan Reichle, a retired USAID Foreign Service officer.

The dramatic stop-work order came after President Trump froze all foreign assistance provided by the United States, by far the world’s biggest aid donor, on his first day back in office, calling for a review to ensure it abided by his “America First” foreign policy.

For days, aid officials and global charities had waited to understand the implications of that order. On Friday night, its scale became clear.

A leaked memo revealed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was placing a 90-day halt on all existing foreign assistance – with the only exceptions for emergency food aid, and for military funding for Israel and Egypt.

As news of the freeze filtered through the ranks of the international aid community, stop-work notices began to arrive.

Programmes ranging from water sanitation projects to vaccination initiatives were thrown into chaos as contractors tried to understand the implications of the directive. BRAC, the world’s largest non-profit, told the BBC that 3.5 million people would be affected by programmes it had suspended in four countries.

It felt “like an earthquake across the aid sector, with life-saving programmes in ruins”, one veteran international aid worker told the BBC.

Those who support the freeze of US aid programmes, worth around $70bn per year, say they are vastly bloated, with Washington carrying too much of the weight compared to other Western nations. And they argue the government sends far too much money abroad that would be better spent on Americans at home.

The administration has made clear that it specifically opposes any projects supporting diversity and inclusion, transgender rights, family planning, abortion access and other issues – some of which have been long-targeted by Republican administrations. The freeze, they say, is designed to create an opportunity to root out wasteful spending.

“Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions,” Mr Rubio has said. “Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”

The programmes affected, however, have been vast, triggering widespread shock and criticism in many parts of a global system intertwined with US funding. Aid contractors fearful of losing further funding have mostly been voicing these concerns privately, though some have spoken out.

On Monday evening, staff who work on the US programme countering the global spread of HIV could no longer log into their computer systems, according to Dr. Atul Gawande, former Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID, and an expert on the project.

Then-President Bush launched the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) in 2003. It now employs more than 250,000 doctors, nurses and other staff across 55 countries distributing anti-viral medication and doing critical preventative work. It is credited with saving millions of lives and suppressing the spread of HIV and Aids.

“The program is shuttered…. Services are shut,” Dr Gawande told the BBC on Tuesday, saying clinics that served 20 million people with HIV were affected.

Paul Jordan, who works at the European Institute of Peace on repatriating foreign citizens from Al-Hol and Al-Roj, said much of his work funded by Washington had stopped immediately.

“In terms of immediate impact I’ve never seen anything as significant as this before,” he told a UK parliamentary committee on Tuesday, adding the camps were set to be “in limbo” for months while the review was carried out.

“What that led to was in the last few days basically nothing being delivered within the camps,” he said. “There was no camp administration, very little security, food wasn’t delivered.”

Later on Tuesday, as aid organisations clamoured for exemptions from the US government to continue programmes, the first signs emerged that the State Department was trying to limit the impact of its sweeping freeze.

The definition of “life-saving humanitarian assistance” allowed to continue was broadened beyond emergency food aid to include “core life-saving medicine”, medical services, food, shelter and other provisions.

That guidance has reportedly seen Pepfar programmes restart, but whether preventative drugs – rather than just HIV treatments – are covered remains unclear.

Dr Gawande, who was appointed to a senior role in USAID under the Biden administration, said other programmes remained up in the air – including work combatting an Mpox outbreak in West Africa, bird flu monitoring across dozens of countries and initiatives targeting fentanyl trafficking.

“It was immediate and my immediate reaction was, this is catastrophic,” he said of the effects of the freeze.

Asked about those specific programmes,, a State Department spokesperson said: “We are judiciously reviewing all the waivers submitted. The Secretary of State has the ultimate responsibility…to protect America’s investments.”

Blumont, the US contractor that coordinates aid work at Al-Hol and Al-Roj, said it received a waiver from the State Department late Monday allowing it to continue “critical activities” at the camps for two more weeks. However, it has no certainty beyond that time.

Asked by the BBC about the situation at the Syria camps and other projects, the State Department said “critical national security waivers have been granted,” but didn’t specify whether any related to Syria.

The new State Department guidance also said: “This waiver does not apply to activities that involve abortions, family planning conferences, administrative costs… gender or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) ideology programs, transgender surgeries, or other non-life saving assistance.”

Back in Washington, USAID headquarters have been roiled by the aid freeze.

Staff had been warned not to try and circumvent the directives and given strict orders not to communicate about the freeze outside the agency. An internal memo sternly warned that any breach would “result in disciplinary action”.

Unnamed staff have since been accused of trying to “circumvent” the president’s executive order and dozens of senior officials have been placed on administrative leave.

In the halls of the agency, picture frames that once displayed images of on-the-ground projects are now empty.

The world of US foreign assistance had been upended in a matter of days, said Dr Joia Mukherjee, an infectious diseases doctor from Harvard Medical School and the charity Partners In Health who helped advise on the creation of Pepfar.

“It’s taking 20 years of goodwill and turning it into an instrument of terror, when people feel like if they touch the drugs, if they see a patient, they might get fired,” she said.

As criticism mounted, on Wednesday, the State Department said the 90-day pause and review of foreign aid was “already paying dividends” to the US and its people.

“We are rooting out waste. We are blocking woke programs. And we are exposing activities that run contrary to our national interests. None of this would be possible if these programs remained on autopilot,” it said.

Explaining why it was necessary to order a temporary suspension for all projects, rather than a more targeted approach, the State Department said: “It is impossible to evaluate programs on autopilot because the participants – both inside and outside of government – have little to no incentive to share programmatic-level details so long as the dollars continue to flow.”

It added: “A temporary pause, with commonsense waivers for truly life-threatening situations, is the only way to scrutinize and prevent waste.”

Thousands of kilometres away, in the Ugandan town of Masindi, Teddy Ruge is still grappling with the fall-out. He was told to “stop work” on Monday night, and the waivers given so far don’t seem to allow him to restart his US government-funded farming project.

Mr Ruge employs small-plot farmers who grow a nutrient rich leaf called Moringa. The plant is sold to North America and Europe where it is used to fortify bread and other foods.

His farmers rely on a wage of around $70 per month, their incomes bolsted by a yearly grant of around $250,000 from USAID.

But that lifeline appeared to fall away, exactly a week after Mr Trump’s executive order.

“We were actually preparing to have a meeting with all the farmers to talk about the new season and what to plant – a planning meeting,” Mr Ruge told the BBC. “But now it’s more of a funeral,”

He still doesn’t know whether he is allowed to continue employing the farmers or if they can show up to work.

“From what I’m reading, our program is at jeopardy of being permanently canceled because it’s at the edge of climate resilience and green manufacturing – which are not exactly at the top of the list of Trump’s priorities,” said Mr Ruge.

“It’s really disheartening. So I have a few sleepless nights ahead of me.”

Russia has stepped up its military withdrawal from Syria, removing vehicles and containers from its key Tartous port on the country’s Mediterranean coast, analysis by BBC Verify suggests.

After the fall of the Assad regime in December, verified footage showed columns of Russian vehicles moving north towards the port. Satellite images subsequently showed military hardware being stored there.

But new images published on Wednesday by Planet Labs showed that much of the material has now disappeared, after the departure of vessels linked to the Russian military.

It comes as Russian officials held “frank discussions” with the new government in Damascus, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

There have been reports that the new Syrian government has cancelled Russia’s lease at the port – but government departments contacted by the BBC would not confirm a final decision had been made.

Tartous has been a key base for Russia in recent years, allowing it to refuel, resupply and repair vessels in the Mediterranean. But warships previously docked at the port have not appeared in satellite images since the collapse of the Assad regime – which Moscow backed throughout the Syrian civil war.

The Kremlin has signalled its desire to retain control over the base, and said in December that it was speaking to the new authorities about maintaining a presence there.

However, evidence suggests that Moscow has now decided to move valuable equipment away from the port. Satellite images have also shown Russian hardware being removed from the nearby Hmeimim airbase for several weeks.

Two vessels – Sparta and Sparta II – docked at Tartous on 21 and 22 January, ship tracking sites showed. Both vessels are owned by Oboronlogistika LLC – a shipping company which operates as part of the Russian ministry of defence.

Both ships are sanctioned by the US and have been linked by Ukraine to the transportation of Russian arms. They are roll-on/roll-off vessels that can carry vehicles.

Sparta II departed the port by Monday, according to data from the tracking website MarineTraffic. Satellite images also revealed that a large quantity of military vehicles previously parked near the vessel were no longer there.

The signal of the ship’s onboard tracker was briefly picked up by MarineTraffic on Tuesday morning, showing it was travelling west through the Mediterranean near the coast of Cyprus. But since then, no signal has been received, suggesting the tracker may have been turned off.

On Wednesday, satellite images showed another vessel – identified by experts as the Sparta – had also left the port. The images also show a large quantity of containers parked nearby had been removed.

A signal from Sparta’s onboard tracker has not been detected since it docked at Tartous – suggesting it may have been turned off as well.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) requires all ships over 300 gross tonnes to broadcast their signal at all times, except in some limited circumstances.

Ships may choose to turn off their tracking signal for legitimate reasons – such as when navigating high-risk piracy zones. But according to Nato it could also suggest the vessel is trying to “conceal illegal activities”.

• Russia’s gateway to Africa in jeopardy

Maritime expert Frederik Van Lokeren, a former Belgian navy lieutenant and analyst, said he was “highly confident” the vessel that had left the port was Sparta, based on satellite images.

BBC Verify has previously monitored Sparta and the area where it had been docked is now empty.

It is unclear where exactly the ships are heading. Mr Van Lokeren told BBC Verify that they could be en route to Libya, where the Kremlin already boasts a significant military presence supporting the Tobruk-based warlord Khalifa Haftar.

Last week, Ukrainian military intelligence told BBC Verify that Russian flights had transferred military personnel and equipment from Russia’s other Syrian base – Hmeimim – to airbases in Libya at least 10 times since mid-December.

However, Mr Van Lokeren also suggested that the ships could be bound for Russia, where he said there was a “large probability that the military equipment might end up being deployed on the frontline against Ukraine”.

Dmitry Gorenburg, an expert on security issues in the former Soviet Union at Harvard University, told BBC Verify that the movements suggested Russia’s presence at Tartous was coming to an end.

“I don’t know whether additional ships will be needed to remove everything or not, but to my mind that’s largely immaterial,” he said. “It’s just a question of time until Russia’s military presence at the base is concluded. We shall see what comes after.”

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

A star-studded line-up is set to take over two venues in Los Angeles on Thursday for a benefit concert to help the area recover from two of the largest fires in its history.

More than 20 artists from various genres are on the line-up for the FireAid benefit show, which is happening simultaneously at two large venues in the city.

Among those set to preform are Sting, P!nk, Lil Baby, Rod Stewart, Lady Gaga and Earth Wind & Fire. The lineup also includes multiple acts who were born in the LA area, including Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt.

Proceeds from the concert and donations during the show will go toward rebuilding communities and preventing future fires in the region.

About 30 people died and more than 10,000 homes and businesses were destroyed in the fast-spreading, destructive fires that broke out in early January.

The shows are taking place at the Kia Forum and Intuit Dome, two large arenas about a mile apart, on Thursday evening. The shows will start about an hour and half apart and reportedly include two to four songs from each artist.

At Intuit Dome, those preforming include: Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams, Jelly Roll, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Lil Baby, Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Tate McRae and Earth, Wind & Fire.

At the Kia Forum, those preforming include: Alanis Morissette, Anderson .Paak, Dawes, Graham Nash, Green Day, John Fogerty, Joni Mitchell, No Doubt, Pink, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stephen Stills, Stevie Nicks, the Black Crowes, and John Mayer.

Dave Matthews was also supposed to perform at the second show, but pulled out on Wednesday night, due to a “critical illness in the family”.

Organisers say performances will be staggered, and shown on large screens at both arenas so there’s no down time between acts.

The shows are also expected to feature special guests and have an emphasis on those who have been impacted by the fires and the first responders who helped douse the infernos.

Yes. Organisers say it will be streamed for free on platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Facebook, Instagram, Max, Netflix, Tudum, Paramount+, Peacock, NBC News Now, YouTube and KTLA.

The concert will also be shown in select AMC and Regal theatres across the US.

The music kicks off at 18:00 in LA (21:00 in New York, 02:00 Friday in the UK).

Viewers will be able to donate money to relief efforts during the show, either by text message or by visiting FireAidLA.org.

Donations will be overseen by the Annenberg Foundation, focusing on both short-term relief efforts and long-term fire prevention projects.

Additionally, Connie and Steve Ballmer – who own the LA Clippers basketball team, as well as the Intuit Dome and Forum – will match all donations made during the broadcast.

The Palisades and Eaton fires became the largest fires ever seen in the LA area earlier this month. Both erupted on 7 January as the region saw a strong wind event, making the small blazes in brushy, mountainous areas hard to contain.

Embers travelled miles, igniting whole communities and levelling neighbourhoods.

Nearly 7,000 structures were levelled in the Palisades fire in northwest LA. Another 9,400 were destroyed in the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County. The fires also claimed a number of victims..

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has been billed as the fourth and final film in the series – but its star Renée Zellweger says she has her “fingers crossed” that is not the case.

Zellweger has played our favourite hapless heroine for more than 20 years and seems as attached to her as ever, calling the character an “old friend”.

Speaking at the film’s premiere in London’s Leicester Square on Wednesday evening, the actress says she is “in denial” and “it hasn’t sunk in yet” that the franchise may be coming to a close.

“Let me live in denial for a little longer”, she laughs.

Yet, while there are no plans to take the Bridget Jones story any further, author Helen Fielding is not completely ruling out the prospect.

The new film sees Bridget living as a widow, becoming a single mother and tackling modern dating.

The story is partially inspired by Fielding’s own loss. Her husband, Kevin Curran, died in 2016.

Zellweger says the film is a “beautiful story and really the most personal for Helen. She is sharing about her own experiences about loss, grief and finding new happiness, it’s a pretty special one”.

She adds she has always felt “really, really lucky to get the part” and “was just trying not to get fired”.

It is obvious there is a real love between the cast too as Zellweger and her on screen father, Jim Broadbent, embrace on the pink carpet.

Hugh Grant was also at the premiere. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy sees the return of Grant’s roguish anti-hero, Daniel Cleaver.

He was declared dead at the start of the last film, Bridget Jones’s Baby – only to be found alive just before the final credits.

We also see a slightly softer side of this notorious womaniser and cad in the new film.

But Bridget’s love interests in the film are brand new characters.

One Day’s Leo Woodall plays her Tinder match who at 29 is (cough) a little younger than 51 year old Bridget.

Bafta winner Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a buttoned-up teacher Bridget encounters on the school run and a rain-soaked class trip.

Woodall says although he felt “a lot of pressure” going into the film he knew it was going to be “relatively easy” as soon as he met Zellweger as she was “joyous and generous and kind and good and obviously a wonderful actor”.

On whether he has had any clumsy Bridget Jones moments himself, Woodhall says “he falls over quite a lot”.

Ejiofor, who is mainly known for grittier roles in films like 12 Years a Slave and American Gangster says the film is a “different speed” to his usual projects.

But adds it was lovely to film: “Even the set is so warm, everyone is so excited about telling the story”.

For Fielding the success of Bridget Jones lies in its “emotionally honesty”.

“When I first wrote Bridget it was an anonymous column in the Independent which I thought would be stopped after six weeks for being too silly,” she says.

“That freed me up to be honest in a way I could never have been otherwise and I think that’s what people related to.

“I thought I was the only person who felt like that and it turns out for a lot of people there is a huge gap between how you feel you are supposed to be and how you really are.”

Bridget was a character created in the 1990s and Fielding says she is “really touched” that Gen Z have also embraced her.

“When I do a signing half the audience are Gen Z’s. They’re the first generation who have lived through a world crisis for ages. They’re very similar to Bridget in their emotional fragility, their ability to share and cry on TikTok.

“And they have their same little rituals, Bridget has ice cream and vodka and they have sleep routines and things like that.

“I think they’re a really interesting and lovely generation. I can’t wait until they start writing more novels.”

It has long been rumoured that the book’s character of human rights barrister Mark Darcy – played by Colin Firth in the previous Bridget Jones films – was based on barrister turned prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

So is there any truth in this?

“All I’ll say about that is that if you look at early pictures of Colin in the film and pictures of Keir Starmer in a wig, they’re awfully similar,” Fielding says with a smile.

So we may never know that for sure, but could there be another Bridget Jones book and film?

“Never say never,” Fielding adds.

If you have ever struggled with the sudden shift in routine imposed by the seasonal “springing forward” and “falling backward” of the clocks, spare a thought for the sled dogs of Ontario, Canada.

Researchers say the time shift is measurably unsettling for those working dogs, whose days are dictated by strict schedules.

When scientists from the University of Toronto put movement sensors on a group of Canadian sled dogs, they saw that the animals were active and moving around almost exactly an hour early – the morning after the clocks went back.

In contrast, pet dogs of the same breeds as the working dogs showed no measurable effect – apparently resting peacefully during their extra hour in bed.

“I wasn’t expecting any differences between the two groups [of dogs],” said Lavania Nagendran, one of the lead researchers.

“So it was interesting to see that the dogs were so aligned to their routine.”

The study, published in the journal PLoS One, is part of a wider project investigating the differences in behaviour between wolves and domestic dogs.

“Not all animals can just switch up their schedule based on human influences, [like changing the clocks]” said Ming Fei Li, the co-lead researcher.

She explained that she and her colleagues hoped to learn whether wolves are also able to adjust their activity patterns – and whether this flexibility evolved naturally in canines, or if it was imposed on dogs when we domesticated them.

Much of the research into the impact of changing the clocks – on health and sleep – is focused on humans. Previous studies have suggested that the time shift causes disrupted, or fragmented, sleep and that this can last up to a week. Research has even found an increase in fatal traffic accidents immediately after the clocks go back or forward.

This is the first study to investigate its effect in domestic dogs.

The researchers put their motion trackers on 25 sled dogs and 29 pets – all of which were in or near Ontario, in Canada.

For the sled dogs, the time change was a sudden shift in a strict daily routine. Prior to the clocks going back, handlers would arrive at their kennels at sunrise. The morning when the clocks went back, those sled dogs were up, active and moving around an hour before the handlers appeared.

For most of those working dogs, however, the disruption lasted just a day. The following morning, the majority of the dogs’ activity again aligned with the arrival of their human handlers.

However, for pet dogs there was no measurable disruption. After the clocks went back, their activity in the morning seemed to adjust to this new, human-imposed schedule.

“When we’ve spoken to pet owners, everyone comments that – with that hour change – their dog or cat is up in the morning, going crazy, waiting to be fed.

“But we didn’t really find that in pet dogs in our study.”

The team carried out their research in 2021, when Covid lockdown restrictions were in place in Canada. So they advertised for pet-owning participants, who had huskies or malamutes, to join their study remotely.

“They were amazing,” recalled Li. “They’d ask us questions, put the trackers we sent them by post on their dogs’ [collars], most of them kept really good notes.”

The researchers say their “takeaway finding” is that, for working dogs, gradually easing into a timetable change might be beneficial.

Because, while you can teach an old dog a new routine, such an abrupt, overnight shift can be unsettling. Unless, of course, you Are a pet with no work demands and a particularly comfortable dog bed.

It begins with a phone call with a location.

Once the details are received, a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sets off in vehicles marked with the humanitarian organisation’s logo to pick up the hostages in Gaza.

Israeli military and medical personnel are also assembled at several different locations, waiting to bring them home.

​​The hostage releases, watched around the world, come after months of tense negotiations aimed at ending a war that began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas fighters killed some 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.

In the 15 months that followed, more than 47,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and many more lost their homes in Israeli bombardments.

Under the terms of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that began on 19 January, a total of 33 Israeli hostages are due to be released and returned to their families during the first phase, lasting six weeks.

In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are being freed.

If anything goes wrong, it risks the hostages remaining in captivity, and reigniting the war.

“This is more than just a drive,” says ICRC spokesperson Sarah Davies.

“These operations may seem simple, but in fact they are very complex and require rigorous security measures to minimise the risks to those involved.”

The ICRC, which acts as a neutral intermediary in the handover, assembles a team of specialists, some of whom have been involved in similar operations in the past – though this is more challenging than most.

There are some details that the group cannot speak about publicly because of concerns that it could compromise the security of the operation.

Ms Davies says planning is crucial to ensuring that the exchange runs smoothly. They have mapped out alternative routes to get to different locations in Gaza, knowing that the “safest route can change” at any time.

Among their biggest concerns are the dangers posed by unexploded ordnance, destroyed and damaged infrastructure, and large crowds with “heightened emotions”.

“Our teams prepare and plan for as many scenarios as possible,” she says.

“The most important thing for us is to be able to return any person entrusted to our care safely back to their homes.”

But it is impossible to plan for everything.

“From previous experience, here and in other places around the world, we know that the logistics and final details can change at any time, even – and particularly – during operations themselves,” says Ms Davies.

Medical staff and so-called weapons contamination specialists, trained in identifying explosive remnants of war, travel with the teams.

During the operations, ICRC representatives also maintain regular contact with both Israeli officials and Hamas, as well as mediators.

In the previous releases, Hamas has circulated the names of the released hostages in advance on its Telegram channels, without revealing exactly where the handovers will happen.

The first public signs of the locations have been the presence of armed and masked members of Hamas’s military wing.

“I found out from a kiosk guy that there was something happening at the junction and that al-Qassam fighters were having a parade,” a local journalist says of the first release in Gaza City earlier this month.

Crowds started gathering to watch as the fighters assembled in formation, and word began to spread that the first three hostages released under the ceasefire deal would appear there.

“When people realised this would be the place where they would hand over the Israeli hostages, people started chanting [for al-Qassam and senior Hamas figures],” he says. “They started shouting ‘God is greatest’ – that showed how joyful they were.”

The journalist was also there for the second release – at a different location in Gaza City – the following week, which he describes as being “more organised”.

The fighters set up a small stage area with a desk and chairs, and stood in formation to separate the hostages from the crowds.

White cars with blacked out windows were used to bring the hostages – four women soldiers – to the area.

The young women were filmed thanking their captors and being handed gift bags in a video published by Hamas’ military wing.

They were brought on to the stage and waved at the cheering crowd, before being handed over to the care of the ICRC.

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou said in a later statement that the “scenes and details” of the staged handover “tell the story of resistance creativity, heroism, and reinforce a model of pride and dignity”.

Ms Davies says there are some aspects of the handover that are “out of our control”.

“At all times, ICRC staff do their utmost to protect the dignity of those being released, but… it is important that people recognise the limitations of what we can do,” she says.

“Our priority remains the safe and successful release and transfer of those in our care.”

The hostages are transferred to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the outskirts of Gaza.

Col Dr Avi Banov, deputy chief of the Israel Defense Forces medical corps, says: “We’re prepared through the outskirts of Gaza and other areas to receive the hostages.

“We always prepare because Hamas does not tell us, ‘OK, we’re going to free them in this area or in that area’.”

Across the border, reception points have been set up to receive them.

On site are military and medical personnel, social workers and the hostages’ families.

• ‘My beauty, you’re home’: Israeli women soldiers reunited with families
• Who are the four Israeli hostages released by Hamas in latest swap?
• Israel says eight hostages to be freed in Gaza deal’s first phase are dead
• BBC Verify analyses Hamas hostage handover video
• What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal

A former Israeli army medic who was involved in the first hostage return operation during the November 2023 ceasefire remembers waiting next to an ambulance at a base near the border. His was one of several teams on standby in case one of the hostages had a medical emergency and says there were strict instructions about how to interact with those who returned.

He recalls: “We were told if you evacuate them, don’t ask them questions, don’t do anything inappropriate, just be quiet and then if the hostages asks you something or want something, of course you’re going to answer and give it to them. But be low key.”

He says the atmosphere at the base was one of excitement and nerves. “It was a very important mission,” he says.

Col Dr Banov says the return begins with an introduction between the hostages and medical staff.

The returned hostages are assigned a physician, a nurse and a social worker who “accompany them all the way through” to them being taken to hospital.

Families are advised to give the hostages “a little bit of time” with the medical teams before the reunion to allow them to “breathe and understand that [they’re] in a safe place again”.

“We start with vitamins, something small to eat and drink, and then the families,” Col Dr Banov says.

As part of a “grounding” process, he says, efforts are made to give the released hostages agency to make their own decisions, with questions like: “Would you like to take a shower before or after you meet your parents?”

Of the first seven hostages to be released, he says most had “some sort of shrapnel injuries” as well as suffering from malnutrition and metabolic problems.

“They’re not good physically, mentally it’s a very complicated issue,” he says.

In the coming weeks, he notes, the bodies of dead hostages will also arrive, with plans in place to transfer them to a forensic laboratory before funerals in Israel.

After receiving initial treatment at the reception point, the surviving hostages are transferred in a “specially adapted” helicopter to a hospital elsewhere in the country.

Col Dr Banov says: “We tell them… we will take a helicopter back home. And then, if you’re willing to, we’re going to start talking about what you have been through.”

It is there that the proper recovery process begins.

A man who sparked violent protests after burning the Quran has been shot dead in Sweden.

Salwan Momika was killed in an apartment in Södertälje, Stockholm, on Wednesday evening, prosecutors told the BBC.

Unrest broke out after Mr Momika set fire to a copy of Islam’s holy book outside Stockholm Central Mosque in 2023.

Stockholm police said in a statement that five people had been arrested after a man in his 40s was shot dead overnight.

Officers were called to a suspected shooting at an apartment in Hovsjö around 23:11 local time (22:11 GMT) on Wednesday.

The man, who has not been named by police, was found with gunshot wounds and taken to hospital. The force announced he had died on Thursday morning.

Local media reported that Mr Momika had been livestreaming on social media around the time he was shot.

Mr Momika, an Iraqi living in Sweden, was charged in August alongside one other with “agitation against an ethnic group” on four occasions in the summer of 2023.

The verdict, due to be delivered on Thursday, was postponed after it was “confirmed that one of the defendants had died”, Stockholm District Court said.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden’s security services were involved in the investigation because there was “obviously a risk that there were links to foreign powers,” SVT reported.

Mr Momika carried out a series of anti-Islam protests, sparking outrage in many Muslim-majority countries.

Unrest took place at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice, while the Swedish ambassador was expelled from the city amid a diplomatic row.

Swedish police had given Mr Momika permission for the protest in which he burnt the holy book, in accordance with the country’s free-speech laws.

The government later pledged to explore legal means of abolishing protests that involve burning texts in certain circumstances.

No survivors are expected after a passenger plane collided in mid air with a helicopter near Washington DC on Wednesday evening, officials in the US say.

The plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew when it landed in the Potomac River after the collision, while the helicopter had three soldiers on board.

Figure skaters from the US were among those who were on board the aeroplane. Russia has confirmed that some of its citizens were also on board.

Search and rescue teams worked through the night to scour the waters in freezing temperatures. Authorities say they have now switched to a recovery operation.

• Live: Follow the latest updates on the crash
• Watch: The scene in DC after moment of impact
• Watch: First responders rush to the scene
• Did you witness the incident? Get in touch

At around 21:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, a PSA Airlines jet operating as American Airlines 5342 collided with a US Army helicopter as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The passenger plane broke into multiple pieces and sunk several feet into the river, while the helicopter ended up upside down on the water, reports said.

The plane, a Bombardier CRJ700, departed from Wichita, Kansas and was carrying 60 passengers and four crew, American Airlines said.

The Pentagon said the helicopter involved was a Sikorsky H-60 that took off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

Three US soldiers were on board, Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said. Another official said it was on a training flight, and it belonged to B Company, 12th Aviation Battalion from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

A clip published online by LiveATC.net, which streams air traffic, purports to capture the air traffic control conversation in the moments before the crash. A controller can reportedly be heard warning the helicopter about the plane, but receiving no reply. The audio has not been verified by the BBC.

The FAA said it would investigate the incident, together with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said in a Thursday morning update that officials “don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident”.

He said teams had recovered 27 bodies from the plane, and one from the helicopter.

A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation earlier told CBS that a higher number of at least 30 bodies had already been found.

US Figure Skating said “several members of our skating community were sadly aboard” the flight. It said this group comprised athletes, coaches and family members who were returning home from a development camp in Kansas.

Russian citizens were also on board, the Kremlin confirmed – after local media reported that ice skating coaches and former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on the plane.

About 300 responders on rubber boats were earlier deployed to search for survivors, Donnelly said in an earlier update. “The challenge is access, there is wind, pieces of ice (on the water). It is dangerous and hard to work in,” he said.

Ari Schulman told NBC Washington that he saw the plane crash while driving on the George Washington Parkway, which runs along the airport.

He said the plane’s approach looked normal, until he saw the aircraft bank hard to the right, with “streams of sparks” running underneath, illuminating its belly.

At that point, he said he knew that it looked “very, very wrong”. Having seen plane landings there in the past, he said a plane’s underside should not have been visible in the dark.

The sparks, he said, resembled a “giant roman candle” and went from the plane’s nose to its tail.

Jimmy Mazeo said he saw the crash while having dinner with his girlfriend at a park near the airport.

He recalled seeing what looked like a “white flare” in the sky. He said planes flying into Ronald Reagan Airport appeared to have been flying in “irregular patterns”.

Mr Mazeo said he did not think much of what he saw until emergency services started arriving at the scene.

President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the the “terrible accident” and that he was monitoring the situation closely.

“May God Bless their souls,” he said in a statement. “Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders.

On his TruthSocial social media account, he has also raised questions about how the incident could have happened, writing: “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”

Vice-President JD Vance asked for prayers for those who were in the incident.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, whose appointments were just recently confirmed, also said they were monitoring the situation.

Asked if flight paths near Ronald Reagan airport would be changed after the incident, Duffy said “we will take appropriate action if necessary”. He added: “There will be a review of what happened here tonight.”

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed his “deep sorrow” about the collision in a video which has been posted to the airline’s website.

That was echoed by Roger Marshall, a US senator representing Kansas, where the plane had travelled from. He described a “heartbreak beyond measure”.

Major incidents of this kind are relatively rare in the US. The most recent comparable crash was in 2009, according to a list compiled by Reuters.

That year, an aircraft crashed on approach to landing in Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground.

The airspace above Washington DC is both busy and highly controlled. It is used by domestic and international traffic using two airports, and there are extra factors of presidential flights, heavy military traffic and flights around the Pentagon.

Passenger airliners must follow fixed flight plans, said the BBC’s transport correspondent Sean Dilley. In uncontrolled airspace, military pilots operate under strict instruction of air traffic controllers but unlike their civilian counterparts, they have freedom to deviate and a duty to “see and avoid” other aircraft.

A number of figure skaters – including six people associated with the Figure Skating Club of Boston – were among the passengers on board an aeroplane that hit a helicopter above Washington DC on Wednesday evening.

The group from Boston include two former Russian world champions who are now coaches – Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov – as well as two young skaters and their mothers, the club’s CEO told local media.

“Several” athletes, coaches and family members involved with US Figure Skating were on the flight, the sport’s US governing body said. It is yet to give more names.

US officials say they do not expect any survivors from the crash. They say at least 28 bodies have been recovered from scene.

The plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew when it collided in mid-air with a US Army helicopter just after 21:00 local time on Wednesday (02:00 GMT), and then fell into the ice-cold Potomac River.

As many as 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating in total, an unnamed source told the Reuters news agency.

The Boston-affiliated skaters were identified as 16-year-olds Spencer Lane and Jinna Hahn by the Figure Skating Club of Boston.

Lane’s mother Christine Lane and Hahn’s mother Jin Hahn were also on the plane, as were coaches Naumov and Shishkova.

“Six is a horrific number for us,” the club’s CEO Doug Zeghibe told local media, going on to say: “This will have long, reaching impacts for our skating community.”

Earlier on Thursday, Russia confirmed that some of its citizens had been on the plane, after Russia media reported the names of Naumov and Shishkova.

In its own statement, US Figure Skating said “several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342”. The group were returning home from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, the statement added.

Wichita hosted the US National Figure Skating championships from 20 January to 26 January. Following the competition, there was a development camp for young skaters.

Shishkova and Naumov are retired Russian pairs skaters who won the world championships in 1994. They also competed at the Olympics, and later went on to begin their coaching career in the US.

Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater for the Soviet Union, was also on board the flight, according to Russian news agency Tass.

• Live: Follow the latest updates on the crash
• What we know so far about the Washington DC plane crash
• Watch: The scene in DC after moment of impact
• Watch: First responders rush to the scene
• Are you an eyewitness? Please share your experiences.

Rescue teams are continuing to search the freezing waters of the Potomac River where the remnants of both aircrafts remain. On Thursday morning, officials said they had switched to a recovery operation.

Nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport grounded all flights in the wake of Wednesday evening’s crash.

Besides the undisclosed total number of skaters, limited information has emerged about the individuals on board.

In 1961, the 18-person US figure skating team was killed in a plane crash in Belgium on their way to Prague.

The Pentagon has revoked the security detail and clearance for retired general Mark Milley, a former top US military commander who has been critical of President Donald Trump.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the move as one of his first acts in office, asking officials to investigate Gen Milley’s “conduct” and review his military grade.

Gen Milley previously served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff during Trump’s first term, but later criticised his former boss, and was quoted calling him a “fascist”.

Since returning to office, Trump has revoked security protections for a handful of former officials with whom he has clashed, including former top health official Anthony Fauci.

Trump previously accused Gen Milley of treason for phone calls he held with his Chinese counterpart during the final weeks of his first Trump presidency, including in the wake of a riot at the US Capitol building by Trump’s supporters in 2021.

Gen Milley reportedly used one of the calls to reassure China that the US would not launch a nuclear strike. On social media the president described those calls as “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”.

Gen Milley, however, testified the calls were coordinated with other defence secretaries.

It was in Bob Woodward’s book War, published last year, that Gen Milley was quoted calling Trump “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country”.

And in 2023, when giving his final speech as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Milley said the military did not take an oath to a “wannabe dictator”.

The comment was seen by many as a reference to Trump, the man who nominated him for the job in the first place.

Referring to Gen Milley’s alleged undercutting of Trump, the defence department’s new chief of staff said on Wednesday: “Undermining the chain of command is corrosive to our national security.

“And restoring accountability is a priority for the Defense Department under President Trump’s leadership.”

Ahead of Trump’s return to the White House last week, outgoing President Joe Biden issued Gen Milley – and a handful of others, including Fauci – a pre-emptive pardon in case they should face retribution from Trump.

Biden’s statement said the pardons should “not be mistaken as an acknowledgment” that any of those covered “engaged in any wrongdoing”.

Gen Milley thanked Biden for the move and said he did not want to spend the rest of his life “fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights”.

“I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety,” he said.

The news that Gen Milley was being stripped of his security detail and security clearance was confirmed in a statement to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has also been told to “conduct an inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding Gen Milley’s conduct so that the Secretary may determine whether it is appropriate to reopen his military grade review determination”, the statement said.

Trump’s new administration has also revoked security protections for his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his former National Security Adviser John Bolton and his former Iran envoy Brian Hook.

In the hours after Trump’s second inauguration, Trump’s officials also removed from the Pentagon a portrait depicting Gen Milley’s as chair of the joint chiefs of staff.

A man who recently moved his family back to Pakistan from the US has confessed to killing his teenage daughter because he disapproved of her TikTok videos, police have told the BBC.

Anwar ul-Haq was charged with murder after he admitted to shooting his daughter Hira in the south-western city of Quetta on Tuesday. He initially told investigators that unidentified men were behind the shooting.

The father, who has US citizenship, said he found his daughter’s posts “objectionable”.

Police said they were looking at all angles, including the possibility of an honour killing, which is not uncommon in the country.

Hundreds of people – most of them women – die in so-called honour killings in Pakistan each year, according to human rights groups. These killings are usually carried out by relatives who say they are acting in defence of their family’s honour.

In the case of Hira Anwar, who was between 13 and 14 years old, a police spokesman said her family “had an objection to her dressing, lifestyle and social gathering”.

The family lived in the US for 25 years and Hira started posting content on TikTok even before her family moved back to Pakistan.

Investigators said they were in possession on her phone, which is locked.

Her father’s brother-in-law was also arrested in connection with the killing, police said.

If it is found to be an honour killing and they are found guilty, the men will face a mandatory life sentence – a change made to the law by Pakistan’s government in 2016. Previously, they could avoid a jail term if pardoned by the victim’s family.

In 2023, an Italian court handed a Pakistani couple life sentences for killing their 18-year-old daughter because she refused an arranged marriage.

The year before, the brother of Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch was acquitted of murdering her on appeal. He had earlier been sentenced to life in prison after confessing to the 2016 killing, saying it was because the star had brought shame on the family.

Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges.

Last July, a jury found Menendez guilty on 16 counts for accepting gifts, including gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for helping foreign governments.

Prosecutors were seeking at least a 15-year sentence, citing in court documents the “rare gravity” of the ex-senator’s crimes.

Lawyers for Menendez, 71, had called for a shorter sentence paired with community service.

“Somewhere along the way, you became, I’m sorry to say, a corrupt politician,” US Judge Sidney Stein said before handing down Menendez’s sentence, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

Before receiving his sentence, Menendez cried while addressing the courtroom.

“Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about,” he said, according to court reporters. “Every day I’m awake is a punishment.”

He then asked the judge “to temper your sword of justice with the mercy of a lifetime of duty”.

Menendez’s son, Rob Menendez, a Democratic congressman, and his daughter, MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez, were seated in court behind their father.

Earlier on Wednesday, two of Menendez’s co-conspirators were sentenced in the case.

Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer who prosecutors say delivered gold and cash to the senator, was given a sentence of seven years in prison and fined $1.75m (£1.4m).

Wael Hana, an Egyptian-American businessman, who prosecutors say brokered a deal between Menendez and the Egyptian government, received more than eight years in prison and was fined $1.25m.

Menendez has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has said he plans to appeal the guilty verdict.

The New Jersey senator, who used to lead the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned from the upper chamber in August.

The guilty verdict came after a nine-week trial, during which jurors saw evidence that Menendez accepted gifts including gold bars worth over $100,000 and more than $480,000 in cash, found by FBI agents inside Menendez’s home.

In exchange for the bribes, prosecutors said Menendez helped secure millions of dollars in US aid for Egypt.

His lawyers argued the gifts did not qualify as bribes, saying prosecutors failed to prove Menendez took any actions as a result of the bribes.

The former senator was also convicted for trying to influence criminal probes involving his two co-defendants, Hana and Daibes.

A third businessman involved in the case, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced later this year. He testified against Menendez during the trial.

Nadine Menendez, the ex-senator’s wife, has also been accused of acting as a participant in the scheme by shuttling messages and bribes between the three men and Egyptian officials.

Her trial was delayed so she could undergo breast cancer treatment and will begin in March. She has pleaded not guilty.

The aviation world is struggling to understand how a deadly mid-air collision between a passenger plane and military helicopter was able to happen in what one expert described as “the most controlled bit of airspace in the world”.

A US Army Black Hawk helicopter with a crew of three collided with an American Airlines jet carrying 64 people seconds before the passenger aircraft was due to land at Washington National airport.

Both aircraft were sent careering into the icy Potomac River on Wednesday night.

Airspace over the US capital sees hundreds of civilian and military flights every day, including helicopters tasked with carrying high-ranking officials and politicians between sensitive locations.

But UK-based aviation expert John Strickland said the amount of commercial air traffic in the area cannot fully explain why the deadly collision was able to happen.

As well as Washington National close to the city centre, he notes, there is the international gateway, Washington Dulles, and also Baltimore Airport a little further away.

• Follow live updates on search and rescue mission
• What we know about Washington plane crash

“There has to be management of traffic flows to keep separation. It’s much like we have in London where you have to manage traffic flows between Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick and London City.

“So DC is not different in that sense to London or New York… it’s not totally unusual.”

However, there is a lot of restricted air space above the District of Columbia, home to the White House and US Capitol, just across the Potomac River from National Airport.

Experts agreed the intersection of civilian air traffic with regular military flights does make DC’s airspace more complex.

Aviation consultant Philip Butterworth-Hayes said the incident occurred at the “nexus of different aviation systems”, including civilian and military systems, as well as procedures specific to the airport.

“You are at the border of three or four aviation systems here – and it’s at those borders where most accidents tend to happen,” he added.

Mr Butterworth-Hayes continued: “This is the most controlled bit of airspace in the world. You have both US government and civilian systems – Ronald Reagan airport is even owned by the government, it’s one of the very, very few like that.

“This really is the most secure – and should be the safest – airspace in the world, given the number of security and civilian safety organisations working in that area.”

Experts agreed that both aircraft would have been in direct contact with civil air traffic control.

Footage obtained from an air traffic control source by CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner, showed the two aircraft which appear to have been involved in the crash clearly visible on radar systems accessible to controllers.

There are reports the helicopter was in contact with air traffic control and had been instructed to pass the plane via its rear, raising further questions about why they collided.

Mr Butterworth-Hayes said an in-air collision like this requires a number of things going wrong.

He said that in order to fly in civilian airspace, the military helicopter would have needed to be fitted with a transponder alerting surrounding aircraft to its position.

That means both aircraft should have been able to see each other, he says, plus there would have been instructions from air traffic control and an aircraft protection safety device that operate separately from each other.

“On this occasion, you have these two different systems and both should have been able to keep these aircraft separate.”

The Black Hawk helicopter was part of B Company, 12th Aviation Battalion. It left Fort Belvoir, a military base in Virginia, and was taking part in a training exercise.

Speaking to CNN, Cedric Leighton – a retired US Air Force colonel – said it was normal for that type of military aircraft to be training at night in the area, particularly to make sure pilots are proficient with using instruments needed to fly in the dark.

He said one of the unit’s duties is to transport high-ranking personnel around the capital – however, it is now known that only the crew was on board at the time of the collision.

The unit’s pilots are expected to be proficient at flying in DC’s busy airspace and “train in order to avoid incidents like this”, he added.

Mr Butterworth-Hayes said only experienced pilots would be able to train in such a busy section of airspace.

“Whether it’s training for new systems or equipment, we need to know what systems the pilot had turned on in the helicopter and whether they had all the safety systems on board, or whether they were trying a new procedure or new route.”

Speaking to BBC World Service’s Newsday programme, Australia-based aviation expert Neil Hansford said the collision raises specific questions for US aviation authorities and will likely lead to an overhaul of procedures.

He said it wouldn’t happen in Europe or Australia because there are tighter rules governing flight paths.

Another factor in the tragedy, says Mr Strickland, is the lower speed the jet was flying at because it was coming in to land.

“If any major shock happens, there isn’t really any time – even if the crew survives – to do anything.

“The aircraft has got a degree of vulnerability because of its speed. You can imagine that a similar outcome would have been likely even with a much larger aircraft.”

Thousands of fans filled a stadium in the Indian capital, Delhi, as Virat Kohli made his much-anticipated return to domestic cricket after more than 12 years.

The 36-year-old star batter turned out for Delhi on Thursday in the Ranji Trophy match against the Railways team at the Arun Jaitley stadium.

Kohli’s return follows the national cricket board’s directive for contracted players to play domestic cricket after India’s 3-1 Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss to Australia.

It also comes amid a personal lean patch in Test cricket, where the former Indian captain has struggled for consistency in recent years.

One of India’s greatest batters, Kohli has redefined modern cricket with his aggressive and technically sound batting. With more than 27,000 international runs across formats, he has been the backbone of India’s middle order for more than a decade.

But his red-ball form has dipped in recent years. Kohli averaged 54.97 in Test cricket until 2019, but since 2020, it has dipped to 30.72 – and just 22.47 in his last 10 Tests.

Since the start of 2024, his average of 23.2 is the ninth lowest among players with a minimum of 10 innings.

• Glory to gloom: The fall of India’s Test cricket supremacy

Kohli’s return to the domestic circuit has already generated immense excitement, with fans and experts alike keen to see whether this move helps reignite his form.

Domestic cricket refers to professional competitions played within a country, featuring teams that represent states, regions, or clubs. These tournaments, like the Ranji Trophy, are held during the cricket season.

However, due to the packed international cricket calendar, many top players, including Kohli, prioritise international matches and the hugely lucrative annual Indian Premier League over domestic cricket.

A large crowd gathered outside the stadium on Tuesday after word spread that Kohli would join the Delhi team for training ahead of the game.

Reports said even TV and YouTube journalists – a rare sight before a domestic match – were present. “He joined his Delhi team-mates for football drills, bouts of laughter, and 100m sprints, before it was time to hit the batting nets,” ESPNcricinfo reported.

Long queues have been reported outside the stadium as fans have been let in free to watch the game.

Akash Kumar told news agency ANI that he had been standing outside the stadium for almost five hours before the match began and that he had never seen such a crowd for a domestic match.

The captain of the Delhi team, Ayush Badoni, said everyone in the team was “excited and motivated” by Kohli’s arrival.

Pratham Singh, the captain of the opposing Railways team, said it was inspiring for them to see Kohli and that they would be “more motivated to do better” in this match.

Fans will have to wait a bit to watch Kohli bat as Delhi won the toss and chose to bowl.

India’s red-ball domestic Ranji Trophy season, running from 5 January to 10 March, features 32 teams.

Kohli made his domestic debut in 2006 at 18, scoring just 10 runs in his first match.

Over the next six years with the Delhi team, he notched five centuries and as many fifties. His last domestic appearance was in 2012.

A Chinese-made artificial intelligence (AI) model called DeepSeek has shot to the top of Apple Store’s downloads, stunning investors and sinking some tech stocks.

Its latest version was released on 20 January, quickly impressing AI experts before it got the attention of the entire tech industry – and the world.

US President Donald Trump said it was a “wake-up call” for US companies who must focus on “competing to win”.

What makes DeepSeek so special is the company’s claim that it was built at a fraction of the cost of industry-leading models like OpenAI – because it uses fewer advanced chips.

That possibility caused chip-making giant Nvidia to shed almost $600bn (£482bn) of its market value on Monday – the biggest one-day loss in US history.

DeepSeek also raises questions about Washington’s efforts to contain Beijing’s push for tech supremacy, given that one of its key restrictions has been a ban on the export of advanced chips to China.

Beijing, however, has doubled down, with President Xi Jinping declaring AI a top priority. And start-ups like DeepSeek are crucial as China pivots from traditional manufacturing such as clothes and furniture to advanced tech – chips, electric vehicles and AI.

So what do we know about DeepSeek?

AI can, at times, make a computer seem like a person.

A machine uses the technology to learn and solve problems, typically by being trained on massive amounts of information and recognising patterns.

The end result is software that can have conversations like a person or predict people’s shopping habits.

In recent years, it has become best known as the tech behind chatbots such as ChatGPT – and DeepSeek – also known as generative AI.

These programs again learn from huge swathes of data, including online text and images, to be able to make new content.

But these tools can create falsehoods and often repeat the biases contained within their training data.

Millions of people use tools such as ChatGPT to help them with everyday tasks like writing emails, summarising text, and answering questions – and others even use them to help with basic coding and studying.

DeepSeek is the name of a free AI-powered chatbot, which looks, feels and works very much like ChatGPT.

That means it’s used for many of the same tasks, though exactly how well it works compared to its rivals is up for debate.

It is reportedly as powerful as OpenAI’s o1 model – released at the end of last year – in tasks including mathematics and coding.

Like o1, R1 is a “reasoning” model. These models produce responses incrementally, simulating a process similar to how humans reason through problems or ideas. It uses less memory than its rivals, ultimately reducing the cost to perform tasks.

Like many other Chinese AI models – Baidu’s Ernie or Doubao by ByteDance – DeepSeek is trained to avoid politically sensitive questions.

When the BBC asked the app what happened at Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989, DeepSeek did not give any details about the massacre, a taboo topic in China.

It replied: “I am sorry, I cannot answer that question. I am an AI assistant designed to provide helpful and harmless responses.”

Chinese government censorship is a huge challenge for its AI aspirations internationally. But DeepSeek’s base model appears to have been trained via accurate sources while introducing a layer of censorship or withholding certain information via an additional safeguarding layer.

Deepseek says it has been able to do this cheaply – researchers behind it claim it cost $6m (£4.8m) to train, a fraction of the “over $100m” alluded to by OpenAI boss Sam Altman when discussing GPT-4.

DeepSeek’s founder reportedly built up a store of Nvidia A100 chips, which have been banned from export to China since September 2022.

Some experts believe this collection – which some estimates put at 50,000 – led him to build such a powerful AI model, by pairing these chips with cheaper, less sophisticated ones.

The same day DeepSeek’s AI assistant became the most-downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store in the US, it was hit with “large-scale malicious attacks”, the company said, causing the company to temporary limit registrations.

It was also hit by outages on its website on Monday.

DeepSeek was founded in December 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, and released its first AI large language model the following year.

Not much is known about Liang, who graduated from Zhejiang University with degrees in electronic information engineering and computer science. But he now finds himself in the international spotlight.

He was recently seen at a meeting hosted by China’s premier Li Qiang, reflecting DeepSeek’s growing prominence in the AI industry.

Unlike many American AI entrepreneurs who are from Silicon Valley, Mr Liang also has a background in finance.

He is the CEO of a hedge fund called High-Flyer, which uses AI to analyse financial data to make investment decisons – what is called quantitative trading. In 2019 High-Flyer became the first quant hedge fund in China to raise over 100 billion yuan ($13m).

In a speech he gave that year, Liang said, “If the US can develop its quantitative trading sector, why not China?”

In a rare interview last year, he said China’s AI sector “cannot remain a follower forever”.

He went on: “Often, we say there’s a one or two-year gap between Chinese and American AI, but the real gap is between originality and imitation. If this doesn’t change, China will always be a follower.”

Asked why DeepSeek’s model surprised so many in Silicon Valley, he said: “Their surprise stems from seeing a Chinese company join their game as an innovator, not just a follower – which is what most Chinese firms are accustomed to.”

Australia’s science minister has raised some doubts over the security of the app.

“There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered in time on quality, consumer preferences, data and privacy management,” Ed Husic told ABC.

“I would be very careful about that. These type of issues need to be weighed up carefully.”

DeepSeek’s achievements undercut the belief that bigger budgets and top-tier chips are the only ways of advancing AI, a prospect which has created uncertainty about the future of high-performance chips.

“DeepSeek has proven that cutting-edge AI models can be developed with limited compute resources,” says Wei Sun, principal AI analyst at Counterpoint Research.

“In contrast, OpenAI, valued at $157 billion, faces scrutiny over its ability to maintain a dominant edge in innovation or justify its massive valuation and expenditures without delivering significant returns.”

The company’s possibly lower costs roiled financial markets on 27 January, leading the tech-heavy Nasdaq to fall more than 3% in a broad sell-off that included chip makers and data centres around the world.

Nvidia appears to have been hit the worst as its stock price plunged 17% on Monday before slowly beginning to recover on Tuesday, roughly 4% by midday.

The chip maker had been the most valuable company in the world, when measured by market capitalisation, but fell to third place after Apple and Microsoft on Monday, when its market value shrank to $2.9tn from $3.5tn, Forbes reported.

DeepSeek is a privately owned company, which means investors cannot buy shares of stock on any of the major exchanges.

DeepSeek’s rise is a huge boost for the Chinese government, which has been seeking to build tech independent of the West.

While the Communist Party is yet to comment, Chinese state media was eager to note that Silicon Valley and Wall Street giants were “losing sleep” over DeepSeek, which was “overturning” the US stock market.

“In China, DeepSeek’s advances are being celebrated as a testament to the country’s growing technological prowess and self-reliance,” says Marina Zhang, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney.

“The company’s success is seen as a validation of China’s Innovation 2.0, a new era of homegrown technological leadership driven by a younger generation of entrepreneurs.”

But she also warned that this sentiment may also lead to “tech isolationism”.

US President Donald Trump has ordered the construction of a migrant detention facility in Guantanamo Bay which he said would hold as many as 30,000 people.

He said the facility at the US Navy base in Cuba, which would be separate from its high-security military prison, would house “the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people”.

Guantanamo Bay has long been used to house immigrants, a practice that has been criticised by some human rights groups.

Later on Wednesday, Trump’s “border tsar” Tom Homan said the existing facility there would be expanded and run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

He said the migrants could be transported there directly after being intercepted at sea by the US Coast Guard, and that the “highest” detention standards would be applied.

It is unclear how much the facility will cost or when it would be completed.

Cuba’s government swiftly condemned the plan, accusing the US of torture and illegal detention on “occupied” land.

Trump’s announcement came as he signed the so-called Laken Riley Act into law, which requires undocumented immigrants who are arrested for theft or violent crimes to be held in jail pending trial.

The bill, named after a Georgia nursing student who was murdered last year by a Venezuelan migrant, was approved by Congress last week, an early legislative win for the administration.

• Fear in migrant communities as Trump administration raids ramp up
• Congress passes Laken Riley Act in early win for Trump

At a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Trump said the new Guantanamo executive order would instruct the departments of defence and homeland security to “begin preparing” the 30,000-bed facility.

“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them, because we don’t want them coming back,” he said of migrants. “So we’re going to send them to Guantanamo… it’s a tough place to get out.”

According to Trump, the facility will double the US capacity to hold undocumented migrants.

The US has already been using a facility in Guantanamo – known as the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center (GMOC) – for decades and through various administrations, both Republican and Democrat.

In a 2024 report, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) accused the government of secretly holding migrants there in “inhumane” conditions indefinitely after detaining them at sea.

The GMOC has principally housed migrants picked up at sea and was recently the subject of a Freedom of Information request by the American Civil Liberties Union for the disclosure of records about the site.

The Biden Administration responded that it “is not a detention facility and none of the migrants there are detained”.

The Trump administration, however, says the planned expanded facility is very much intended as a detention centre.

It will reportedly ask Congress to fund the expansion of the existing detention facility as part of a spending bill Republicans are working to assemble.

When asked by reporters at the White House, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said only that the money would be allotted through “reconciliation and appropriations”.

The military prison on Guantanamo has, for decades, held detainees taken into US custody after the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001.

At its peak it held hundreds of prisoners, and several Democratic presidents including Barack Obama have vowed to close it. There are 15 prisoners currently being held there.

News of the facility’s expansion was met with swift condemnation by the Cuban government, which has long considered Guantanamo Bay to be “occupied” and has denounced the existence of a US naval base on the island ever since Fidel Castro swept to power in 1959.

“In act act of brutality, the new government of the US has announced it will incarcerate, at the naval base at Guantanamo, located in illegally occupied Cuban territory, thousands of forcibly expulsed migrants, who will be located near known prisons of torture and illegal detention,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on X.

The Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said the announcement showed “contempt for the human condition and international law”.

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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.

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has vowed to restore government authority in the east, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized control of the city of Goma and are reportedly advancing south to take more territory.

In a televised address to the nation, he said a “vigorous and coordinated response” against what he called “terrorists” was under way.

He criticised the international community for “inaction” and for not doing enough in the wake of the escalating security crisis.

The weeks-long offensive by the rebels has prompted warnings of a looming humanitarian crisis and growing international pressure to end the fighting.

During Wednesday night’s address, Tshisekedi rallied all Congolese to join together and support the army’s fight to retake control.

“Be sure of one thing: the Democratic Republic of Congo will not let itself be humiliated or crushed. We will fight and we will triumph,” he said.

The fighting has forced about 500,000 people from their homes, worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.

Since the fighting began, the city has been cut off from electricity and water and food is in scarce supply.

• What’s the fighting in DR Congo all about?
• The evidence that shows Rwanda is backing rebels in DR Congo

An East African regional bloc virtual summit on Wednesday evening convened by Kenya’s President William Ruto, which Tshisekedi snubbed, called for a “peaceful settlement of the conflicts”.

It was attended by Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, alongside the leaders of other member countries Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania and Somalia.

The heads of state “strongly urged the government of the DR Congo to directly engage with all stakeholders, including the M23 and other armed groups that have grievances”.

Tshisekedi has been refusing to talk directly to the M23 – insisting on only talking to Rwanda.

The East African leaders also called for a joint summit of the bloc and leaders of the southern African regional community (Sadc) to “deliberate on the way forward”. DR Congo is a member of both the East African Community and Sadc.

Sadc is due to hold a special summit in Zimbabwe on Friday of the bloc’s heads of state to discuss DR Congo.

Tshisekedi paid tribute to the Sadc soldiers “fighting alongside us” and UN forces who had died in the wake of the rebel assault on Goma.

Thirteen South African peacekeepers have been killed in the deadly conflict in Goma, leading to heightened tensions between South Africa and Rwanda.

On Wednesday night, Kagame said Rwanda was ready for a confrontation with South Africa if necessary, following a claim by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that M23 fighters and Rwandan forces were responsible for the deaths.

In a strongly worded statement directly responding to Ramaphosa on X, Kagame accused him of distorting their private conversations about the volatile situation.

“If South Africa wants to contribute to peaceful solutions, that is well and good, but South Africa is in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator. And if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day,” he said.

Kagame also said that the Sadc mission in DR Congo, SAMIDRC, was “not a peacekeeping force, and it has no place in this situation”.

The exchange marks a significant escalation in tensions between the two nations, whose relationship has been fragile for several years.

Meanwhile, Angola called for the Congolese and Rwandan leaders to meet urgently in Luanda.

The country, which mediated a failed attempt at talks in December before the M23 launched its latest offensive, also called for the resumption of East African Community-led discussions relating to the unrest in eastern DR Congo.

It came as Tshisekedi visited Luanda for discussions on the next steps in the Angola-led talks.

Both the EAC-led and the Luanda peace efforts have in the past failed to resolve the crisis.

After the sweeping offensive in days, the M23 is consolidating control of Goma and making further advances. Reports say the rebels have not faced any resistance so far.

They are heading south towards eastern DR Congo’s second biggest city, Bukavu, and the Congolese army has established a line of defence near it.

The UN, the European Union and countries including the US and China have all called on Rwandan forces to leave DR Congo.

The DR Congo and the UN say Rwanda supports the M23 and are present in Goma. Rwanda does not explicitly deny backing the group, and accuses the Congolese authorities of supporting militias trying to topple the government in Kigali.

The UK and Germany are among donor countries that have threatened to withdraw their aid to Rwanda in the wake of the M23 offensive.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday that £32m ($40m) of annual bilateral aid was under threat, while Germany has cancelled aid talks with the country.

• Tshisekedi compares Rwanda counterpart Kagame to Hitler
• UN report says Rwandan and Ugandan armies are operating in DR Congo
• A quick guide to DR Congo

The Bishop of Liverpool has stood down after allegations of sexual assault and harassment were made against him.

The Right Reverend Dr John Perumbalath said he did not want to be a “distraction” after claims made by two women were outlined in a Channel 4 News investigation.

He said it was “not a resignation occasioned by fault or by any admission of liability”.

One woman had accused the bishop of kissing her without consent and groping her in Chelmsford in Essex, where the clergyman was Bishop of Bradwell, on separate occasions between 2019 and 2023. A female bishop also told Channel 4 News she was sexually harassed by him.

Police had concluded no further action was needed, while the Church of England said its investigation had found no case to answer.

There had been widespread calls for the bishop to step aside after the programme aired, with church leaders calling his position “untenable”.

Bishop Perumbalath, who was enthroned as Bishop of Liverpool in 2023, previously said he had “consistently denied the allegations made against me by both complainants”.

In accordance with church convention, the bishop offered his resignation to the King, who then accepted, allowing him to retire from the role.

In a fresh statement, he added: “I have consistently maintained that I have not done anything wrong and continue to do so.

“Since the claims were made in 2023 they have been investigated and considered by experts from the National Safeguarding Team and it had found them unsubstantiated.”

He said there had been a “rush to judgement” and a “trial by media”, adding that he had made the decision to retire from active ministry “for my own wellbeing, my family and the best interests of the Diocese”.

Bishop Perumbalath said it had become clear that stepping aside and waiting for further reviews would mean “a long period of uncertainty” for the diocese.

The precise date when his role would formally end was not yet determined, he said, adding: “But I step back from my ministry today.

“This means I will not be ministering in or leading the diocese with immediate effect.”

His resignation comes after a group of church leaders announced they had written to the Archbishop of York calling for the bishop to step aside.

They said the allegations should be “fully and properly” investigated and the Church of England’s own inquiries had fallen short.

The letter was signed by clergy including Sue Jones, Dean of Liverpool, Pete Spiers, Archdeacon of Knowsley & Sefton and Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Archdeacon of Liverpool.

They wrote: “Having listened to clergy, congregations and staff at the diocesan offices and the cathedral it is with deep regret that the senior leadership of the Diocese of Liverpool feel the position of the Rt Revd Dr John Perumbalath is currently untenable.”

Reacting to the bishop’s resignation, Archdeacon Threlfall-Holmes said: “That’s what we were calling for, that’s what we thought seemed to be the sensible thing to do.”

She said she appreciated he had chosen to step down for the benefit of the diocese and not becoming a distraction.

“I do appreciate that,” she added.

Archbishop Cottrell – who has faced his own calls to resign over separate alleged safeguarding failures – said he respected Bishop Perumbalath’s decision and thanked him for his ministry.

“My thoughts and prayers continue to be with all those who have been affected by this situation,” he said.

He said he was “committed to ensuring stability” during the transition and an acting bishop would be announced in the coming days.

The Royal Ballet School (RBS) has reached a financial settlement with a former student, who said the body-shaming she experienced while at the elite institution has left her with lifelong psychological damage.

Ellen Elphick, 31, had claimed the London-based school breached its duty of care when she attended between 2009 and 2012.

The school said it accepted no liability for the former dancer’s case and has not issued an apology.

“We are pleased that both parties were able to reach a mutually acceptable agreement in this way and we wish Ellen and her family well for the future,” said an RBS spokesperson – adding that the school “continues to take the welfare of its students very seriously”.

Last year, when Ellen spoke to the BBC she described how, as a 16-year-old, just two weeks into her training, a teacher publicly humiliated her by tracing a line around her body in front of a mirror.

“If I had a knife, this is what I would cut off,” Ellen says the teacher said.

The comment plunged Ellen into shame, she says, and exacerbated her struggles with disordered eating. She later received a diagnosis of atypical anorexia and body dysmorphia

She said there was a pattern of similar comments from multiple teachers at the school, that further eroded her confidence and intensified her eating disorder.

“This settlement highlights the abuse dancers have suffered and the need for change,” said Dino Nocivelli of Leigh Day solicitors – who has been representing Ellen.

“We continue to demand a government inquiry into body-shaming in ballet.”

• More dancers allege body-shaming and bullying at UK ballet schools

• Ex-dancers describe body-shaming at top ballet schools

Ellen was among more than 50 ex-dancers who told the BBC there was a long-running “toxic” culture of body-shaming and bullying within some of the UK’s leading ballet schools.

She said she had pursued legal action to bring attention to the harm caused by body-shaming in ballet. The financial terms of her settlement have not been publicly disclosed.

“It wasn’t about the money,” she said.

“It was about making people aware of what being a ballerina is really like and showing that what happened to me was unacceptable.”

Although she says she feels some validation from the settlement, Ellen expressed disappointment at the lack of an apology from RBS. “That they couldn’t even say ‘sorry’ shows there is so much more to do,” she said.

Now a mother, she said she wanted to shield her daughter from the ballet world and would “never” send her to ballet classes.

However, she hopes her case could lead to meaningful reform and that ballet schools will prioritise students’ mental health and train teachers to understand the impact of their words.

“RBS needs to lead the way and show that health and wellbeing matter more than just dancing,” she said.

“Children should be able to go into dance and not leave it feeling damaged.”

The BBC has apologised to staff who felt they could not speak up with concerns about Russell Brand’s behaviour because he was seen as “too influential” and they felt he “would always get his way and therefore they stayed silent”.

The apology came as the BBC published the findings of an internal review into Brand’s time as a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music between 2006 and 2008.

The investigation considered eight complaints, two of which were made while he worked for the corporation.

One of those, which related to him urinating into a cup and behaving aggressively during his Radio 2 show, was registered formally at the time, and the BBC has now admitted it was “not dealt with effectively”.

The BBC launched the investigation after separate allegations in 2023 from several women who accused the 49-year-old actor and comedian of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse.

Brand has denied all allegations and said his relationships were “always consensual”.

Thursday’s report found that “only one formal complaint was made about Brand’s inappropriate conduct in the workplace” during his stint on air, and beyond that there was “no evidence that his behaviour was raised with management formally at the time”.

But the BBC acknowledged that Brand was “perceived to be too influential” for staff to complain about.

Many of those interviewed for the internal investigation “believed, rightly or wrongly, that Russell Brand would always get his way and therefore they stayed silent”, the report said. They also believed he “had the support of the station management”.

While one informal complaint was also made, the report said “it is clear that there were other concerns but those involved felt unable or unwilling to raise these at the time as they felt the concerns would not be taken seriously and the systems for making complaints were not as clear as they are now”.

Commenting on the report, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the complaints were “horrendous”.

“As is the fact that staff felt unable to raise concerns because they did not think that they would be believed or taken seriously,” she said.

She added that the BBC must “take action to reassure its staff and the wider public that it takes these issues seriously”.

“For too long, there has been a culture of silence in the media industry where inappropriate behaviour like Brand’s has been tolerated or downplayed. Power imbalances and a perception that certain stars cannot be challenged are sadly not unique to this case.”

The review also found that Brand had consensual sex with a competition winner from his 6 Music show on BBC premises.

Speaking to the review team, that person said that while what happened was consensual, they now felt “Brand had abused his position and taken advantage of them”.

The report added that there were “management failings” and “there should have been better systems in place to ensure that Brand’s unacceptable behaviour was promptly picked up and addressed”.

Channel 4, where Brand also worked as a presenter, released its own internal review findings in March 2024. Its boss apologised to a former employee after the probe found it had not investigated a “serious” complaint made against the star in 2009.

Brand has been interviewed three times by police since September 2023.

In November 2024, the Metropolitan Police sent the Crown Prosecution Service a file of evidence, but prosecutors have not yet decided whether to bring charges.

A BBC employee made a formal complaint to a manager in 2007 after Brand urinated into a cup in the Radio 2 studio, and then threw objects in anger when one of the production team made a mistake during a second show.

The report said it was likely that this was then raised verbally with the Radio 2 controller at the time, Lesley Douglas, although she does “not recall these concerns ever being raised with her”.

Douglas denied that Brand ever sought to exercise any influence over her, and said her relationship with him similar to that she had with other presenters on the station.

The BBC made light of the 2007 incident in a press response at the time, the report said, when a spokesperson told the Independent that Brand had urinated in a cup “and someone has shown him where the toilet is”.

“Regrettably this incident was not taken seriously at this time,” the report said.

Another staff member said they had raised concerns informally about Brand’s conduct in 2006 and 2007, the report said.

Someone else alleged that Brand “tucked his fingers down their trousers and underwear and pulled them towards him” in a corridor while on set of a BBC radio production, but did not complain at the time.

Staff memebers who were “most closely” involved in his shows described his behaviour in general as “promiscuous or out-of-control”, but said they did not “witness anything non-consensual or potentially illegal”.

Another complaint was made to the BBC about an incident in Los Angeles in 2008.

Brand is alleged to have followed “Olivia” into a bathroom and shown his penis to her moments before he began pre-recording his radio show.

The woman, who was not a BBC employee but worked in the same building, did not complain at the time, thinking “she would not be believed”.

The report found no evidence of anyone in BBC management being aware of Olivia’s experience at the time.

In 2019, a BBC News staff member raised the incident with their line manager after Olivia confirmed she wanted to take the matter further.

“It is likely those involved in escalating the complaint in 2019 felt that there was nothing that could be done as it was over ten years later,” the report said.

It concluded that the complaint process was “inadequate”, as was the handling of the 2019 complaint, and the BBC has apologised to Olivia.

Another of the complaints in the report was made by a woman named Alice, who said a car provided by the BBC for Brand collected her and took her to his house when he was in his 30s and she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

The report concluded that it was not able to verify these claims but it was “unlikely that the cars described by Alice were chauffeur-driven BBC cars or BBC management cars”.

The report, and Alice, agree that if Brand did “persuade a taxi or mini-cab pre-booked on his behalf by the BBC to make these journeys, it’s likely to have been done without the knowledge of the BBC staff who booked his cars for him in advance”.

The review cost £662,062 and was conducted by the BBC’s director of editorial complaints and reviews, Peter Johnston.

He added: “The processes for raising any concerns were also not as developed as they are now.

“In the intervening years the BBC has introduced other mechanisms and routes for staff to raise concerns.”

The daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, has appeared in court on terrorism charges over her alleged involvement in the 2021 riots that left more than 300 people dead.

Violence, chaos, and fear ripped through the port city of Durban, then spread to Gauteng, after Zuma’s jailing sparked intense protests over four years ago.

Zuma-Sambudla, a controversial figure in her own right, was accused of sharing incendiary social media posts that fuelled the civil unrest.

The arrest comes as a “result of a meticulous investigation” said spokesperson for the Hawks elite police unit, Brig Thandi Mbambo.

Zuma-Sambudla handed herself in to Durban Central police station on Thursday morning to face charges under the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act and incitement to commit violence, police said.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said the investigation had taken such a long time because the case was “complex” and “unique”.

“It is the first time that the NPA is charging a person based on content posted on what we call X, which was previously known as Twitter, for content that we consider to amount to incitement to commit terrorism,” the News24 site quotes him as saying.

• The lingering scars of South Africa’s deadly riots
• The inside story of South Africa’s week of anarchy

Zuma-Sambudla told the court that she intended to plead not guilty to the charges.

She also said that there was no evidence linking her to the riots.

The case has been postponed to March for trial in the Durban High Court and she has been released on bail.

Supporters of her father’s party uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK), of which she is a senior member, gathered at the courtroom to rally behind her.

Zuma was also present and gave a speech.

“They are now arresting my child because they don’t like her, nor do they like her father, or the party that he leads. Are we going to keep quiet?” he said.

He added: “We are here for nothing. I was also arrested for nothing.”

This is not the first time Zuma-Sambudla’s name has been brought up in connection to the 2021 riots, which are considered one of the bloodiest episodes in post-apartheid South Africa.

Zuma resigned as president in 2018 after nine years in office, plagued by corruption allegations, which he claimed were part of a political conspiracy.

He then refused to testify at a judicial inquiry into these allegations and was jailed for contempt of court.

Protests erupted after he surrendered to serve his sentence.

During the unrest, Zuma-Sambudla was outspoken on X, frequently sharing images of the destruction and chaos, accompanied by the caption: “KZN, we see you.”

She used this phrase often throughout the violence. In a now deleted post, she shared a video of someone firing an automatic rifle at a poster of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Last year, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) released a report that said the riots were a “carefully orchestrated event”.

But it said it could find no direct link to Zuma’s arrest.

In 2023, a former security guard was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the deadly riots.

He was the first person to be prosecuted for the riots.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who succeeded Jacob Zuma in 2018, described the violence as an “attempted insurrection”.

More than 200 shopping malls were looted and more than 150,000 jobs were estimated to have been lost during the unrest, which lasted for several days.

Last year, Zuma’s MK ran against his former party, the ANC, in elections, gaining 15% of the vote to become the country’s third largest party.

• Behind the ‘Zuma tsunami’ in South Africa
• South Africa riots: Looting and shooting in Durban