Marija Taseva was enjoying a night out with her sister at the Pulse club in Kocani, North Macedonia, on Saturday when disaster struck.

They were watching DNK, a popular hip-hop duo in the country, when a fire broke out, which killed at least 59 people and injured 155 others.

“Everyone started screaming and shouting ‘get out, get out!'” the 19-year-old told Reuters.

People desperately tried to escape the flames but there was only one exit for around 500 people, as the only other door at the back of the venue was locked.

“I don’t know how but I ended up on the ground, I couldn’t get up and at that moment people started stomping on me,” Ms Taseva said.

She eventually managed to get to safety, but her sister did not.

“My sister died. I was saved and she wasn’t.”

Police have detained 15 people, with Interior Minister Pance Toskovski saying that there are “grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption” linked to the fire.

The fire started around 02:30 local time (01:30 GMT) on Sunday when sparks from pyrotechnic devices hit the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material, Toskovski said.

Described as an “improvised nightclub” by the local press, the venue, located in a town around 100km (60 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, did not have a legal licence to operate, Toskovski said.

It had previously been a carpet warehouse, and police are investigating.

“Most of the dead suffered injuries from the stampede that occurred in the panic while trying to exit,” the head of the Kocani hospital, Kristina Serafimovska, told reporters.

“Seventy of the patients have burns and carbon monoxide poisoning,” she said, according to AFP news agency.

Vladislav Gruev, a specialist in reconstructive and plastic surgery at the University Clinic for Surgical Diseases, has been treating survivors.

“Most of them have extensive burn injuries, above 18% surface body area, second and third degree burns on the head, neck, upper torso, and upper limbs – hands and fingers,” he said.

Inspections on Sunday showed several “abnormalities” in the venue, including “deficiencies” in the fire-extinguishing and lighting system, said public prosecutor’s office spokesman Biljana Arsovska.

Speaking outside the hospital, Red Cross volunteer Mustafa Saidov said the majority of those who died were young people.

“Inside where they are identifying the victims, the situation is far worse. You see that the parents are also quite young people, in their 40s. Their children are 18 or 20 years old.”

“The situation is brutal, chaotic, the stories are very sad, and unfortunately many young lives are lost.”

One man, whose nephew was injured in the fire, said some people have been unable to locate their children.

Many are angry and searching for answers, like Dragi Stojanov, who lost his only child in the fire.

“Let me tell you in front of everybody. Film me. I am a dead man, I lost everything… the whole of Europe should know,” he told reporters.

“After this tragedy, what do I need this life for? I don’t need it.

“I had one child and I lost him.”

North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said there needed to be accountability for what happened.

“None of the responsible this time should avoid the law, the justice and punishment too,” she said.

“Nothing is worthier than human life, specifically young life.”

The most seriously injured were being taken for treatment in specialist clinics in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey, she added.

The government has declared seven days of national mourning, and it will hold an emergency session as part of ongoing investigations into how the incident unfolded.

Police have detained 15 people after a fire at an nightclub in North Macedonia killed at least 59 people, officials have said.

The blaze broke out around 02:30 local time (01:30 GMT) on Sunday at the Pulse club in Kocani, where about 500 people had gathered for a concert by DNK, a popular hip-hop duo in the country.

Only one member of the band survived and was being treated in hospital, a spokesman for the public prosecutors office told the BBC’s Newshour. In total, 155 were injured at the concert.

Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said the detainees will be questioned, adding that there are “grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption” linked to the fire.

He said that the venue did not have a legal licence to operate.

The venue, in a town around 100km (60 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, has been described as an “improvised nightclub” in the local press, having previously been a carpet warehouse.

Ms Arsovska said there had been only “one efficient exit” in the building, as the venue’s back door was locked and could not be used.

The first on-site inspections on Sunday had also showed several “abnormalities” in the venue. “There are deficiencies in the system for fire-extinguishing and the system for lightning,” she said.

Citing initial reports, Toskovski said the fire had been started by sparks from pyrotechnic devices that had hit the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material.

Footage shows the band – which formed in 2002 and has topped the North Macedonian charts over the past decade – playing on stage when two flares go off, after which sparks catch fire on the ceiling before spreading rapidly.

Video verified by the BBC shows people trying to extinguish the flames on the ceiling. The footage shows the club was still full and some people appeared to be watching efforts to put out the fire rather than leaving.

Reports suggest the fact there was only a single entry and exit point to the improvised nightclub caused panic.

Marija Taseva, 20, told Channel 5 TV she was caught in a crush at the club as people rushed for the exits. She recalled falling to the ground and being trampled during the chaos before managing to get out.

“I don’t know how, but somehow I managed to get out,” she told the Reuters news agency. “I’m fine now, but there are many dead.”

She added that her 25-year-old sister – who her family had previously been searching for – had died, saying: “I was saved and she wasn’t.”

Red Cross volunteer Mustafa Saidov said most of those affected were young people aged 18 to 20. Officials say more than 20 of the injured and three of those killed were under 18.

“The situation is brutal, chaotic, the stories are very sad, and unfortunately many young lives are lost,” Mr Saidov added.

Dr Vladislav Gruev, a specialist in reconstructive and plastic surgery at the University Clinic for Surgical Diseases in the capital, told the BBC most of the patients being treated at his hospital arrived with extensive burns.

“[They have] second and third degree burns in the head, neck and upper torso,” he said.

Kocani’s hospital director earlier said that staff had initially been struggling to identify patients due to a lack of ID cards. Eighteen patients were assessed as being in a critical condition.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski called it a “difficult and very sad day” for the country, which had lost many “young lives”.

The government has declared seven days of national mourning, and the government is holding an emergency session as part of ongoing investigations on how the incident unfolded.

North Macedonia’s President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, said she was shocked “as a mother, as a person, as a president”. Addressing the bereaved directly, she added: “Your immense pain is mine too.”

“No business or activity can function without standards and rules,” she wrote in a statement. “Let us not allow anyone to endanger the lives of innocent people again.”

Siljanovska-Davkova added that the most seriously injured were being taken to received treatment in specialist clinics in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey.

European leaders have voiced their condolences, with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen saying the EU “stands in solidarity with the people of North Macedonia in this difficult time”.

Neighbouring Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called it “a tragedy of immense magnitude”, adding that fears remain as “many more people will not be able to withstand the level of injuries they have at this moment”.

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The death toll from US strikes on Yemen has risen to 53, including five children, the Houthi rebels’ health ministry said.

The US said it launched a “decisive and powerful” wave of air strikes on Houthi targets on Saturday, with President Donald Trump citing Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea as the reason.

Washington said some key Houthi figures were among the dead, but the group has not confirmed this.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that his militants would target US ships in the Red Sea as long as the US continues its attacks on Yemen.

Updating an earlier death toll, Houthi health ministry spokesperson Anis al-Asbahi posted on X that 53 people had been killed including “five children and two women”, and that 98 people had been wounded.

One father of two, who gave his name as Ahmed, told the AFP news agency: “I’ve been living in Sanaa for 10 years, hearing shelling throughout the war. By God, I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

The Houthis also said there were fresh US strikes targeting them in Al Jaouf and Hudaydah early on Monday. The US is yet to comment.

US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out”.

He told Fox News: “We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough.”

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed an “unrelenting” missile campaign until the Houthi attacks stop.

“I want to be very clear, this campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence,” Hegseth said in a televised Fox Business interview.

The Houthis said it would continue to target Red Sea shipping until Israel lifted its blockade of Gaza, and that its forces would respond to the strikes.

The Iranian-backed rebel group, which considers Israel its enemy, controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen, but it is not the country’s internationally-recognised government.

The Houthis have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.

Announcing Saturday’s strikes, Trump said “we will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective”.

“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies,” Trump said on social media, adding that their “piracy, violence, and terrorism” had cost “billions” and put lives at risk.

Addressing the Houthis directly, Trump wrote that if they did not stop, “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE”.

But the Houthis have been unwavering in their response, saying the aggression would not diminish their support for Palestinians.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy”.

“End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism,” he posted on X on Sunday. “Stop killing of Yemeni people.”

The Houthis have claimed responsibility, without offering evidence, for two attacks on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and several American warships in the Red Sea, calling it retaliation for US strikes.

But a US official told Reuters news agency that US warplanes shot down 11 Houthi drones on Sunday, none of which came close to the Truman. The US is yet to respond to the second claim of such a strike.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for “utmost restraint and a cessation of all military activities” in Yemen.

Two European politicians, dressed symbolically in red and white, sent a message last week to Canada on social media declaring “we’ve got your back”.

Also signalling support was King Charles, who planted a red maple tree on the grounds of Buckingham Palace and wore his Canadian medals during a high profile visit to a naval warship.

When Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney goes on his first foreign visit to Paris and London on Monday – a day after his 60th birthday – he’s hoping to achieve more than symbolic encouragement. He wants solid support from allies.

Not only is Canada being targeted, like Europe, by a raft of swinging US tariffs, but Donald Trump is making it clear he wants to take over his northern neighbour.

“We appreciate all the symbolic gestures but we need more public backing,” a Canadian official told me in a voice which underlined the nervous disbelief shared by most Canadians – Trump is not joking when he calls Canada the United State’s “51st state”.

The official messaging from Ottawa about Carney’s trip, which starts on Monday, underlines his priorities – finance and fortifying security – a natural fit for the economist who headed the Central Bank in Canada and Britain. A statement from his office said his visit is meant “to strengthen two of our closest and longest-standing economic and security partnerships”.

His itinerary is full of great symbolism too.

Carney revealed it on Friday during his first speech as prime minister when he hearkened back – with a shiny polish – to the origins of this former colony. He hailed “the wonder of a country built on the bedrock of three peoples: indigenous, French and British”.

So there’s a third destination on this whistle-stop tour – Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s northernmost territory of Nunavut and homeland of its Inuit people. That stop, the statement emphasised, was to “reaffirm Canada’s Arctic security and sovereignty”.

Spectacular Arctic and northern terrain makes up 40% of the land mass of the world’s second largest country. Protecting it is a critical Canadian concern in the midst of intensifying rivalry among world powers in the Arctic region, which has drawn in the US, Russia, China and more; it’s the cold war of all cold wars.

And there’s a personal twist. Carney was born in the small town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, which lies next to Nunavut.

His schedule underlines that he also needs to be a quick study in a new skill – retail politics. A federal election, which has to be held by October, is expected to be called very soon. Carney needs to prove that he can engage with voters, in English and French, as naturally as he does with bankers and finance bosses.

And he needs a proper political mandate. He secured a whopping 86% of the vote when his Liberal Party chose to replace Justin Trudeau, who stepped down as prime minister amid growing calls to resign from his own party after a decade at the top.

But Carney doesn’t have a seat in parliament; he still doesn’t have the vote of Canadians.

His Liberal party has just experienced a dramatic reversal, a “Trump bump” as well as a Trudeau one. The party which seemed certain to lose, and lose badly, is now tied with its main Conservative rivals in the polls.

Looking like a world leader, and understanding the world of tariffs and trade, is a good look when you are running for high office in the dark shadow of an external threat.

“I think part of the purpose of Mark Carney’s trip to Europe is to show that he can talk internationally to other like-minded powers at this very important moment,” reflects the eminent Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan.

Back home, voters will decide if that is what counts.

Carney is certain to talk Trump tactics, in private, with France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. They’ve both taken great pains to flatter the US president in public, and press their case behind closed doors.

Many will be watching to see how Trump addresses Mark Carney – he recently referred to Canada’s former prime minister as “Governor Trudeau”.

• Watch: Trump and Macron’s history of intense handshakes

Canada’s new top talker has been talking tough.

A week ago, when Carney won his party’s leadership contest, he invoked Canada’s national sport, ice hockey, which has long been locked in rivalry with US teams. “Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” Carney declared to rousing applause.

“Make no mistake, Canada will win.”

But everyone knows this is no game. Carney described this escalating trade war as “the greatest crisis of our lifetime”. More than 80% of Canada’s exports cross the border to the US.

And while there have been a few reports of Canadians flying the US flag, a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute underlined that a thumping 91% of Canadians reject becoming the 51st state.

• Canada says too little, too late as Trump flip-flops on tariffs

On Friday, in Ottawa’s icy cold weather, Carney struck a warmer tone, highlighting how he and Trump share a background in business, including real estate.

“The president is a successful businessperson and dealmaker. We are his largest client in so many industries,” he remarked. “Clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way.”

Carney says he “looks forward” to speaking with President Trump. But the fact it will be a call, not a visit, is a measure of this moment. Traditionally, the first foreign visit of a Canadian leader is to the US – its closest neighbour and most trusted partner.

On Monday, Carney is expected to sit down with King Charles, Canada’s head of state. The British monarch recently expressed his “deepest affection” for Canada, and is said to have already penned a private leader to the new prime minister.

In his non-political role, showing love in public may be the limits of the King’s power. But even that sends a message to the American president.

Sir Keir has described Canada as “an ally, and a very important ally too”. But last week, the head of Britain’s Liberal Democrats Ed Davey called on him to show more public support for Canada to oppose the “shocking attacks” on its sovereignty.

This may be a week of that old adage in diplomacy and politics – “to do something and be seen to be doing it”.

More than 200 Venezuelans alleged by the White House to be gang members have been deported from the US to a supermax prison in El Salvador, even as a US judge blocked the removals.

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele wrote on social media that 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had arrived in the Central American country, along with 23 members of the international MS-13 gang, on Sunday morning.

Neither the US government nor El Salvador has identified the detainees, nor provided details of their alleged criminality or gang membership.

A federal judge’s order prevented the Trump administration from invoking a centuries-old wartime law to justify some of the deportations, but the flights had already departed.

“Oopsie… Too late,” posted Bukele on social media, referring to the judge’s ruling.

A video attached to one of his posts shows lines of people with their hands and feet shackled being escorted by armed officials from the planes.

• What is Tren de Aragua?

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the court ruling had been violated.

“The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order,” she said.

“The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from US territory.”

US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he had signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as he accused Tren de Aragua of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States”.

He said members of the gang would be deported for engaging in “irregular warfare” against the US. The Alien Enemies Act was last used during World War Two to intern Japanese-American civilians.

On Saturday evening, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington DC ordered a 14-day halt to deportations covered by Trump’s proclamation, pending further legal arguments.

After lawyers told him that planes with deportees had already taken off, Judge Boasberg gave a verbal order for the flights to turn back, US media reported, although that directive did not form part of his written ruling.

The written notice appeared in the case docket at 19:25 EDT on Saturday (00:25 GMT on Sunday), the Reuters news agency reports, although it is unclear when the flights carrying the alleged gang members departed from the US.

In a court filing on Sunday, Department of Justice lawyers said the order had not applied because the deportees “had already been removed from United States territory”.

A senior administration official told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that 261 people were deported on Saturday, 137 of whom were removed under the Alien Enemies Act over alleged gang ties.

The justice department has appealed against the judge’s ruling.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which was involved in the lawsuit against the Trump administration, said the court’s order may have been violated.

The case raises constitutional questions since, under the US system of checks and balances, government agencies are expected to comply with a federal judge’s ruling.

Venezuela criticised Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act, saying it “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration” and “evokes the darkest episodes in the history of humanity, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps”.

Rights groups condemned Trump, accusing him of using a 227-year-old law to circumvent due process.

Amnesty International USA wrote on X that the deportations were “yet another example of the Trump administration’s racist targeting” of Venezuelans “based on sweeping claims of gang affiliation”.

President Bukele, a Trump ally, wrote that the detainees were immediately transferred to El Salvador’s notorious mega-jail, the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot).

The El Salvadoran president said they would be held there “for a period of one year”, and that could be “renewable”.

El Salvador’s Cecot jail is part of Bukele’s effort to crack down on the country’s organised crime.

The newly built maximum-security facility, which can hold up to 40,000 people, has been accused by human rights groups of mistreating inmates.

The arrangement between the US and El Salvador is a sign of strengthening diplomatic ties.

El Salvador was the second country that Rubio visited as the US’s top diplomat.

During that trip, which took place in February, Bukele made an initial offer to take US deportees, saying it would help pay for the massive Cecot facility.

The latest deportations under Trump’s second term are part of the president’s long-running campaign against illegal immigration in the US.

In January, Trump signed an executive order declaring Tren de Aragua and MS-13 foreign terrorist organisations.

He won over voters on the campaign trail, in part, by promising to enact the largest deportation operation in US history.

While illegal border crossings have plummeted to the lowest number in decades since Trump took office, the Republican president has reportedly been frustrated by the relatively slow pace of deportations so far.

Almost 42,000 asylum seekers are waiting for an appeal hearing after the Home Office rejected their initial claims, according to analysis of official figures.

The Refugee Council said the number is a five-fold increase in two years and the government risks simply moving the asylum crisis from one part of the system to another, with almost 40,000 migrants still housed in hotels.

The Home Office said it had doubled the number of asylum seekers receiving an initial decision on their claim and allocated funding for more sitting court days.

A spokesperson said the government remains determined to end the use of asylum hotels over time and cut the “unacceptably high” costs of accommodation.

The Refugee Council said more asylum seekers’ claims are being refused due to legislation introduced by the previous Conservative government, which made it harder to prove genuine refugee status.

After the government enacted the Nationality and Borders Act, only four in 10 Afghans were given permission to stay in the second half of last year. Previously, almost all Afghans asking for sanctuary were granted asylum.

Many of those rejected are thought likely to be appealing the decision. Currently, Afghans make up the highest nationality accommodated in hotels and those arriving by small boats in the last two years.

The chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, has called for better and fairer decision making.

“Right first-time decision making will ensure refugees are given safety to go on to contribute to communities across the country and those who don’t have a right to stay in the UK are removed with dignity and respect,” he said.

The charity points out that those in the appeals backlog still require accommodation and warns that, without improvements, the potential cost of hotels could be £1.5bn this year.

A government spokesperson said: “The asylum system we inherited was not fit for purpose, which is why we are taking urgent action to restart asylum processing and clear the backlog of cases, which will save the taxpayer an estimated £4 billion over the next two years.”

It is allocating funding for “thousands more sitting days in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber to streamline asylum claims and improve productivity,” the statement added.

Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that at the end of 2024 there were 41,987 asylum appeals in the court’s backlog, up from 7,173 at the start of 2023.

The Refugee Council’s analysis suggests the total number of asylum application appeals lodged last year was a 71% increase on 2023.

The dramatic political developments in Bangladesh that led to prime minister Sheikh Hasina being ousted last year have thrown up many surprises – including Dhaka’s growing closeness with one-time foe Pakistan.

Last month, after decades of troubled relations, the two countries began directly trading for the first time, with Dhaka importing 50,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan. Direct flights and military contacts have also been revived, visa procedures have been simplified, and there are reports of co-operation on security matters.

The countries – separated by the landmass of India – have deep, painful historical ties. The animosity between them goes back to 1971, when Bangladesh – then known as East Pakistan – launched a struggle to gain independence from Islamabad. India supported the Bengali rebels during the nine-month war which led to the formation of Bangladesh.

While the scars from that period run deep, Dhaka had cordial relations with Islamabad between 2001 and 2006, when a coalition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami governed the country.

This changed during Hasina’s 15-year rule from 2009 – when she was strongly backed by Delhi and maintained a distance from Pakistan. But after she fled to India following mass protests against her government, ties seem to be thawing.

“For the past 15 years, the Pakistan-Bangladesh relationship was on a slightly difficult trajectory,” says Humayun Kabir, a former senior Bangladeshi diplomat, adding that the relationship seems to now be returning to that of “two normal neighbours”.

The developments are being watched closely, particularly in India, which has a long history of hostile relations with Pakistan.

Relations between Dhaka and Delhi have been frosty since Hasina’s exit. India has not reacted to Bangladesh’s demands to extradite her to face charges of crimes against humanity, money laundering and corruption. Hasina denies the accusations against her.

Some experts think the reviving of relations between Dhaka and Islamabad is a strategic move.

“Pakistan and Bangladesh have a tactical relationship at the moment. Together, they want to represent a pushback against the dominance of India,” says Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani academic who is a senior fellow at King’s College in London.

There have been other developments apart from starting direct trade.

Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim Bangladesh government, met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at multilateral forums several times in recent months.

And then there is a growing military relationship.

A high-level Bangladeshi military delegation made a rare visit to Pakistan in January and held talks with influential army chief General Asim Munir. The Bangladeshi navy also participated in a multinational maritime exercise organised by Pakistan off the Karachi coast in February. .

Veena Sikri, who was India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh between 2003 and 2006, describes the growing closeness between Dhaka and Islamabad as a “déjà vu” moment.

During her tenure in Dhaka, she said, India repeatedly raised the issue of “Indian insurgents getting trained inside Bangladesh with the support of the ISI [Pakistan’s intelligence agency] and a section of the Bangladeshi military”.

“We even provided evidence to Bangladeshi authorities,” she said.

Authorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh denied these allegations at the time.

The long, porous border between India and Bangladesh makes it relatively easy for armed insurgent groups from India’s north-eastern states to cross over from Bangladesh. But, after Hasina’s Awami League came to power in 2009, it cracked down on these groups and dismantled their bases.

So the revival of military ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan is “a major security concern for India”, says Ms Sikri.

“It’s not just the military relationship. The Pakistani establishment is also reviving ties with Bangladeshi Islamist parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami, which supported Islamabad during Bangladesh’s independence war,” she adds.

The Yunus administration’s press office has flatly rejected Indian media reports that senior ISI officials have visited Dhaka. It has also described reports that claim Pakistani operatives were working to reopen a camp of an Indian insurgent group in Bangladesh as “baseless”.

Pakistan’s military did not respond to BBC questions on India’s concerns over the future role of the ISI in Bangladesh.

Analysts say Bangladeshi politicians are aware that, given the close economic and linguistic ties, Dhaka cannot afford to take an anti-India stance.

And despite apprehensions in Delhi, Bangladeshi diplomats argue that ties with Pakistan cannot be normalised unless issues related to the 1971 war are resolved.

During the war, hundreds of thousands of Bengalis were killed and tens of thousands of women were raped. The war ended with more than 90,000 Pakistani security and civilian personnel surrendering to the joint command of Indian and Bangladeshi forces in what is seen as a humiliating chapter in Islamabad.

Bangladesh has demanded a formal apology from Pakistan for the atrocities committed during the war but Islamabad has shown no inclination to do so.

“Pakistan needs to own the crimes that had taken place during the independence war,” said Mr Kabir, the former Bangladeshi diplomat. “We had also raised the issue of the division of pre-1971 assets between the two nations in several bilateral meetings with Pakistan.”

Even former Pakistani military officers like Ikram Sehgal accept that “the main stumbling block in bilateral ties is the requirement of the Bangladeshis that Pakistanis should apologise for what happened in 1971”.

However, the retired Pakistan army major insists that Bangladesh should also address the issue of attacks by Bengalis on Urdu speakers during the struggle for independence.

“I was a witness to the atrocities that took place against the Urdu-speaking Bihari people [in East Pakistan],” Mr Sehgal, who now lives in Karachi, told the BBC.

While history casts a shadow over ties between Dhaka and Islamabad, economists point out the two countries can first focus on improving bilateral trade, which currently stands at less than $700m (£540m), mostly in favour of Pakistan.

“Pakistan’s more than 250 million population is a solid market for Bangladesh in the medium to long term,” says Sabrin Beg, an associate professor of economics at the University of Delaware.

Currently, there are constraints including high tariffs on both sides and businesses and exporters face visa and travel obstacles, she points out. However, Ms Beg says “improved bilateral political and trade relations will ease these constraints”.

Some of these issues may be discussed during Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar’s visit to Dhaka in April. By the end of the year Bangladesh is expected to hold general elections and a new government may have a different set of foreign policy priorities.

But, whatever happens, the stakes are high for Delhi, which strongly feels that a stable and friendly Bangladesh is necessary to maintain peace and stability in its north-eastern states.

Russia will seek guarantees that Nato will exclude Ukraine from membership and that Ukraine will remain neutral in any peace deal, a Russian deputy foreign minister said.

“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Alexander Grushko told Russian media outlet Izvestia.

“Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of Nato countries to accept it into the alliance,” he said.

It comes as US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to speak in the coming days, as talks continue over a possible ceasefire in the three-year war in Ukraine.

The US and Ukraine have agreed to propose a 30-day ceasefire to Russia.

While Putin said that he supported a ceasefire, he also set out a list of tough conditions for achieving peace.

One of the areas of contention is Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a military incursion last August and captured some territory.

Putin has claimed Russia is fully back in control of Kursk, and said Ukrainian troops there “have been isolated”.

He has also raised numerous questions about how a ceasefire could be monitored and policed along the frontline in the east.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Putin of trying to “sabotage” diplomatic efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire.

US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow, told CNN that he expected that “there will be a call” between Trump and Putin “this week”.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, on “day one” of a new administration.

Less than a month after he was inaugurated, Trump had call with Putin that reportedly spanned 90 minutes about immediately starting negotiations on ending the war.

Witkoff declined to answer a question on how Russian-occupied land in Ukraine could be addressed in a potential deal. Russia currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine.

Bereaved families are calling on the online regulator Ofcom to shut down a “vile” website which promotes videos of the deaths of their loved ones.

The website, which we are not naming, has more than three million members and contains thousands of graphic photos and videos of real-life killings and suicides as well as executions carried out by extremists. Past members include those who have gone on to commit school shootings and murders, the BBC can reveal.

From Monday, Ofcom gets new powers to crack down on illegal content, but it may not be enough to close the site.

The site’s admin team have said they would give their “full attention” to any Ofcom requests.

Under the Online Safety Act, the regulator can now take action over illegal content and that includes videos promoting terrorism or banned extremist groups.

All websites will now have to show they have systems in place to remove illegal material. If they fail to do so, the regulator can get court orders to block platforms or impose fines of up to £18m.

And from the summer all sites must have robust age verification systems to prevent children accessing a range of content.

But critics believe the legislation itself is weak and that Ofcom is not being robust enough in how it plans to police sites.

Mike Haines’ brother David was murdered by members of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria in 2014. The full uncensored video of his killing is on the site.

Mr Haines says the website is “vile” and describes the content on it as “horrifying”. He points out there is no effective age verification and worries about the impact on children.

“It’s like a drug,” he says, “once you’ve had your first taste, you want another taste.

“So you want to see more, and it becomes more violent and more graphic and more disgusting”.

David Haines’ daughter, Bethany, says the comments on the videos are horrendous. “For years I have been trying to keep track and report sites such as this one. I have a fear that my son will one day see the video of his grandfather.”

Mr Haines says the authorities must act now. “Every second that we delay in shutting this site down, we are endangering our youth.”

Ofcom has spent the past 18 months since the Online Safety Act was passed drawing up the codes of practice that platforms have to follow.

The regulator can now start to exercise its powers to investigate and fine platforms for hosting illegal material.

Videos on the website are categorised into groups, which include executions by extremist groups as well as people being burned alive, decapitated by passing cars and crushed by trains.

Although violent and distressing, not all videos on the site would be deemed illegal.

Experts are concerned that viewing such content normalises extreme violence and helps in the radicalisation of young people.

BBC research into user names on the site has also identified a number of known online extremists, including two people who recently carried out school shootings in the US.

Last December, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow killed two and injured six at her conservative Christian school, in Madison, Wisconsin.

And in January, 17-year-old Solomon Henderson opened fire in a school cafeteria in Antioch, Tennessee, killing one student and injuring another before turning the gun on himself.

Both were members of the website, which offers a “school shooting compilation” video.

In the UK, it’s known that Nicholas Prosper, 19, who pleaded guilty to killing his mother and two siblings, was also a member of the site.

When he was arrested by police in September last year a shotgun and 30 cartridges were found nearby. It’s thought he was planning to carry out an attack at his old primary school in Luton.

Prosper had an interest in mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, one of the most infamous massacres in the US.

Dr Olivia Brown, who studies radicalisation and extremism at the University of Bath, says repeated viewing of these kinds of videos, especially school shootings, desensitises users.

“What might have seemed like an impossible solution to what someone might be feeling, would then become something that might feel like a viable option,” she says.

The site is also deeply distressing for grieving families.

A video of base jumper Nathan Odinson has been put in the “falling” category of the website by site administrators.

The 33-year-old from Cambridgeshire was an experienced skydiver, but died when his parachute failed to open after jumping from a 29-storey tower in Pattaya, Thailand, last year.

A Thai friend was filming at the time and the video was posted first on local social media.

“Nathan was a family member that we loved,” said his brother Ed Harrison.

“I found it amazing, literally, that people could be so half-witted as to share that video. I don’t suppose these forum members have such thoughts in respect to their own family members.”

Another video on the site shows Ian Price who died in hospital after he was attacked by two XL Bullies in September 2023.

From today Ofcom says platforms must have systems in place to remove illegal content.

“We won’t hesitate to take enforcement action where necessary against platforms that fall short.”

The challenge for Ofcom is that the death website is hosted in the US and its owner and administrators remain anonymous.

Ofcom told us “this content is deeply disturbing”.

In a statement, the website’s admin team said it “routinely receives reports from many government agencies and industry watchdogs”.

It said any reports from Ofcom “will have our full attention”.

At least 40 people have died after tornadoes ripped through a swathe of the US Midwest and South.

Missouri bore the brunt of the twisters, which began to spawn on Friday. At least 12 people have died in that state.

Powerful winds in Texas and Kansas whipped up dust storms that resulted in vehicle pile-ups and a dozen deaths.

The extreme weather, covering an area of the country that is home to more than 100 million people, fanned nearly 150 deadly wildfires in Oklahoma. Fatalities were also recorded in Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi.

Parts of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky and North Carolina were under flood advisories.

More than 320,000 people across the region were without power on Sunday evening, according to tracker PowerOutageUS.

States of emergency have been declared in Arkansas, Georgia and Oklahoma.

In Missouri, Governor Mike Kehoe said “the scale of devastation across our state is staggering”.

“Hundreds of homes, schools, and businesses have been either destroyed or severely damaged,” his statement added.

A tornado killed the occupant of one residence in Butler County in the Midwestern state, leaving it “unrecognisable as a home”, according to local coroner Jim Akers.

“Just a debris field,” he added. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”

In Oklahoma, nearly 150 wildfires driven by winds that hit 83mph (133km/h) toppled several articulated lorries.

The state’s chief medical examiner said at least four people had died there as a result of fires or high winds.

The blazes burnt 170,000 acres and destroyed nearly 300 structures, including a farmhouse owned by the state’s Governor Kevin Stitt.

In Kansas, at least eight people died after more than 55 vehicles crashed due to a dust storm.

In Texas, another dust storm caused a pile-up of about 38 cars, leaving at least four people dead.

Six people died in Mississippi as tornadoes swept through that state and twisters killed another three in Alabama, including an 82-year-old woman.

In Arkansas, officials reported three deaths and 29 people injured.

US President Donald Trump said the National Guard had been deployed to Arkansas to help with the storm response.

“Please join Melania and me in praying for everyone impacted by these terrible storms!” he posted on his Truth social platform.

Across the globe more and more Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are being spotted on – and off – the roads.

This is despite predictions from the United Nations of an inevitable pivot towards smaller and more environmentally friendly vehicles because of the urgency of the climate crisis and the rising cost of living.

That pivot has not materialised: globally, 54% of the cars sold in 2024 were SUVs, including petrol, diesel, hybrids and electric makes. This is an increase of three percentage points from 2023 and five percentage points from the year before, according to GlobalData.

Of the SUVs which are now on the road – both new and older models – 95% are burning fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Manufacturers, however, say their new fleets of such cars are increasingly becoming electric, and that not all SUVs now being sold cause an increase in emissions.

SUVs are hard to miss. They are heavy and larger with spacious interiors, higher ground clearance and a high driving position with a better view of the road, although smaller versions are also on the market.

Environmental campaigners such as Greenpeace see SUVs as one of the villains of the climate crisis and argue that their manufacturing consumes significant resources given their size.

Experts also say they require larger batteries to power their electric versions, which then further increases the demand for critical minerals, putting even more pressure on the planet.

Momentum was thought to be with smaller, energy-efficient electric vehicles. But the sales of standard-sized electric vehicles (EVs) has actually decreased in major markets such as Japan and Germany, and their sales growth has slowed in India.

And in Europe, sales of SUVs have outpaced those of EVs despite indications more than half a decade ago of an opposite trend. In Europe in 2018, 3.27 million small hatchbacks – both those powered by fossil fuels and those by electricity – were sold while 2.13 million were sold in 2024, according to GlobalData.

Its sales forecast manager Sammy Chan said: “This is partly because of the SUV alternatives being offered in smaller [sizes] whose sales in Europe have now grown to nearly to 2.5 million in 2024 from 1.5 million in 2018.”

China saw the largest sales of nearly 11.6 million SUVs in 2024 followed by the US, India and Germany, according to GlobalData.

Industry experts say people’s purchasing power has been improving in many fast-emerging economies, making SUVs the likelier choice of car.

“Manufacturers respond to consumer demand and, increasingly, drivers are attracted to dual purpose vehicles given their practicality, comfort and good view of the road,” said Mike Hawes who is the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Automobile industry analysts also say that manufacturers are attracted to high profit margins from SUVs: they can make more money from SUVs even though they make fewer vehicles.

“It is the industry that has driven the demand through huge marketing and advertising campaigns in recent years,” said Dudley Curtis, the communications manager at the European Transport Safety Council.

“SUVs offered the industry a simple way of charging more for a vehicle that does the same thing [as others],” he said.

Because of the robust growth in SUVs sales, the IEA says oil consumption of these vehicles has increased by 600,000 barrels per day globally between 2022 and 2023, accounting for more than a quarter of the total annual rise in global oil demand.

“If ranked among countries, the global fleet of SUVs would be the world’s fifth largest emitter of CO2, exceeding the emissions of Japan and various other major economies,” said Apostolous Petropolous, an energy modeller with the IEA.

The agency says that even when compared to medium-sized cars that run on petrol and diesel, SUVs burn 20% more of such fuels as they weigh up to 300 kg more on average.

In fact, road transport is responsible for more than 12% of global carbon emissions which is the main driver of global warming. Scientists say all sectors must rapidly decarbonise if we are to avoid a climate catastrophe.

But industry representatives say in response that not all SUVs now being sold cause an increase in emissions.

“Around two in five of these [new] vehicle models are zero emission as their body type lends itself well to electrification with longer battery range that can reassure consumers concerned about charging accessibility,” said Hawes, from the SMMT.

“This has led to the average CO2 emissions of new dual purpose cars more than halving since 2000, helping the segment lead the decarbonisation of UK road mobility.”

Although the vast majority of new SUVs still burn fossil fuels, IEA officials have said that over 20% of SUVs sold in 2023 were fully electric, up from 2% in 2018.

As for hybrids that can run on both electricity and fossil fuels, a study in Europe by the International Council on Clean Transportation in 2022 found only around 30% of the total distance driven by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (all types including SUVs) was in electric mode on average.

Similar results were found in other major economies such as the US and China.

Overall, the back-gear towards SUVs, some experts say, has caused a significant setback in the decarbonisation of transport sector.

“The trend toward heavier and less efficient vehicles such as SUVs (in countries where it is happening) has largely nullified the improvements in energy consumption and emissions achieved elsewhere in the world’s passenger car fleet,” said the IEA.

The UK Parliament’s climate change committee had a similar finding in its 2024 report on decarbonisation in the country.

The Vatican has released the first image of Pope Francis since he was admitted to hospital a month ago.

The photo shows the pontiff sitting in a wheelchair in front of an altar at a chapel in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he has been recovering from pneumonia.

Earlier on Sunday, in his written Angelus message, the Pope said he faced a “period of trial” as he thanked well-wishers for their prayers, and prayed for peace in “countries wounded by war”.

It marked the fifth Sunday in a row that the Pope was not present in person for his weekly blessing. The Vatican said earlier this week that an X-ray had confirmed “improvements” in his condition, but that he still needed hospital treatment.

“The Holy Father still requires hospital medical therapy, motor and respiratory physiotherapy,” it said in a statement on Saturday, adding that they were “showing further, gradual improvements”.

Pope Francis, 88, has not been seen in public since his admission to hospital on 14 February – and until Sunday, no photographs had been released.

“I join with so many brothers and sisters who are sick: fragile, at this time, like me,” the Pope said in his latest statement, released earlier in the day.

“Let us continue to pray for peace, especially in the countries wounded by war: tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

Since his arrival in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, the Pope has been treated for double pneumonia and other infections.

He has also suffered several respiratory crises, which has raised concerns about his survival.

Earlier on this month, an audio recording of Pope Francis speaking in his native Spanish was played in St Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

His voice was breathless as he thanked the Catholic faithful for their prayers.

Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the first Pope from the Americas.

He contracted pleurisy as a young man and had a partial lung removal, which has left him particularly vulnerable to pneumonia.

As a result of his long road to recovery, there has been speculation that Pope Francis could choose to follow his predecessor Benedict XVI in resigning the papacy.

But friends and biographers close to the Pope have insisted that he has no plans to step down. And, despite his fragile health, the pontiff has continued his work from hospital.

This year is a Catholic Holy Year, with 32 million pilgrims expected to travel to Rome.

This week, social media stars The Sidemen are bringing their reality TV show, called Inside, to Netflix.

But that’s not all the week has in store.

Selena Gomez‘s joint album with her fiancé Benny Blanco is coming out, Snow White is – finally – being released in cinemas, and gamers are getting set for Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Read on for this week’s biggest releases…

Last year, British YouTube superstars the Sidemen launched their own reality show, locking 10 influencers in a house for a week to battle for a prize worth up to £1m.

The first episode of Inside attracted 14 million views on YouTube, with fans tuning in to see contestants compete in a series of challenges.

The second season is out on Monday, but this time, it will be on Netflix instead of YouTube. The streaming giant will also make a US version.

The Sidemen – a seven-strong group that includes content creators, musicians and boxer KSI – said they wanted to “shake up the game” of reality TV.

“We all grew up watching reality TV and are big fans of the drama and jeopardy that come with it,” they said.

“Combining that with a prize fund and the challenges that our fans know us for, we knew people would be hooked.”

Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco have had a busy few months.

The pair announced their engagement in December, and now, they are releasing a joint album, I Said I Love You First, which comes out on Friday.

It marks Gomez’s return to music after starring in operatic musical Emilia Perez, which scored her two Golden Globe nominations.

We already got a taste of what’s in store with their new single, Sunset Blvd. The lyrics are sultry and full of innuendo, with Gomez singing about “holding you naked” in central Los Angeles.

So it might not surprise you that the album is designed to celebrate “the pair’s love story”.

“It chronicles their entire story – before they met, falling in love and looking to what the future holds,” according to a press release.

I’m just intrigued to find out who actually said I love you first.

Once upon a time, Disney set out to remake the classic film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

So far, so good, but this fairy tale has been beset by challenges.

Early on, Latina star Rachel Zegler faced abuse online by people who disagreed with her casting in the role of a character deemed to have skin “as white as snow”.

The film continued to stir controversy after Zegler indicated she found the original version scary – and suggested the prince was a “stalker”.

The reboot was criticised by Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage, who has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, for being “backward”. Disney said it was going to “avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film” (note dwarfs have been dropped from the title).

The live-action adaptation – which also stars Gal Gadot – was originally scheduled for release in 2024, but was delayed a year amid the Hollywood actors’ strikes.

A pared-down premiere was held last Wednesday, and the film finally lands in UK cinemas on Friday.

Since 2007 the Assassin’s Creed series has allowed players to hack, slash and sneak their way through a range of historical settings.

And the latest instalment, Shadows, creeping on to PS5, Xbox and PC from Thursday, grants fans’ long-held wish for an adventure set in feudal Japan.

It mixes the stealth gameplay of the recent Assassin’s Creed Mirage with the combat-focused approach of mega-hit Valhalla and throws ninjas into the mix. A sure-fire hit, right?

But it’s being seen by many as a make-or-break title for French publisher Ubisoft, one of the biggest gaming companies in the world.

After a lacklustre 2024, there’s a lot of hope that the twice-delayed Shadows will replicate the sales of previous games in the Assassin’s Creed series.

Early previews have been positive, but in today’s unpredictable video games market you can’t count your shurikens until they’ve knocked out a sentry in a perfect takedown, preferably millions of times.

• Sunrise on the Reaping, the new book in The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, is out on Tuesday
• Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson premieres on Channel 4 on Tuesday
• BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival starts on Wednesday
• Spring: The Story of a Season, by Michael Morpurgo, is out on Thursday
• Last One Laughing UK is released on Amazon Prime on Thursday
• Greentea Peng‘s new album, Tell Dem It’s Sunny, drops on Friday
• Will Smith‘s album, Based On A True Story, is out on Friday
• Japanese Breakfast‘s album, For Melancholy Brunettes (And Sad Women), also drops on Friday
• Flow, an animated film, will be released in UK cinemas on Friday
• The Alto Knights, starring Robert De Niro, is also out in UK cinemas on Friday

A fashion show held last week in a picturesque, snow-clad town in Indian-administered Kashmir has sparked a major controversy that is still simmering.

The show, by the well-known fashion brand Shivan & Narresh, was held last Friday at a ski resort in Gulmarg to display their skiwear collection. The label is the first big, non-local brand to hold a fashion show in Kashmir, a scenic Himalayan region which has seen decades of violence.

But it soon sparked outrage among locals, politicians and religious leaders in Muslim-majority Kashmir after fashion publisher Elle India posted a video on social media which showed some models wearing underwear or bikinis. Locals were also angry over another video – shared by online magazine Lifestyle Asia – of a party held after the show, which showed people drinking alcohol outdoors.

Many took offence with the show being held in the holy month of Ramadan – a time of fasting and prayer for Muslims – and accused the designers of “mocking their faith” and “disregarding local culture and sentiments”. Some clerics called the show “obscene” and said it was like “soft porn”.

Some others explained that the outrage had arisen not only from religious conservatism, but also from a fear of cultural imposition from “outsiders”. Kashmir has witnessed decades of armed separatist insurgency against Indian rule since the late 1980s.

The backlash prompted Elle India and Lifestyle Asia to delete their videos. Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja, the designers behind the label, also apologised, saying that their “sole intention was to celebrate creativity” and that they didn’t intend to offend religious sentiments.

Kashmir – known as the land of saints and Sufism (Islamic mysticism) – has a rich tradition of spirituality which influences many aspects of peoples’ lives. The traditional attire is modest, with locals – both men and women – often wearing the pheran, a long, loose cloak.

The row also moved off social media and a discussion about the show and the after-party caused a ruckus in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.

The opposition criticised the government, accusing it of giving permission for the event despite being aware of local sensitivities. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah distanced his government from the event, saying it had been organised by private entities, and asking local authorities to investigate the matter and submit a report.

“If law has been violated, strict action will be taken,” he said in the assembly on Monday. The police have not yet given details about who organised the event and what laws, if any, have been violated.

The fashion brand did not respond to the BBC’s questions about the show, including about permissions it obtained.

It’s not surprising that scenic Gulmarg – one of India’s few skiing destinations and a favourite with tourists – was the choice of venue for a show highlighting a skiwear collection.

Fashion journalist Shefalee Vasudev says it’s not uncommon for designers to want to hold fashion shows in exquisite locations.

In fact, international designers like Alexander McQueen and Karl Lagerfeld are remembered as much for their creative, theatrical fashion shows as they are for their iconic designs.

But experimentation brings with it the risk of controversy and so, it’s important to be mindful of the political and cultural sensitivities of a place, Ms Vasudev told the BBC.

And this holds especially true in a place like Kashmir, which has witnessed wars and decades of armed conflict.

• Article 370: What happened with Kashmir and why it matters
• ‘Don’t beat us, just shoot us’: Kashmiris allege violent army crackdown

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full but control it only in parts. Since India’s partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two wars over the territory.

Thousands of people have been killed since the late 1980s, when a separatist insurgency broke out against Indian rule. Though the separatist movement has lost steam over the years, many locals continue to view the administration in Delhi with distrust.

These sentiments have deepened since 2019 when the federal government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, stripped the region of its autonomy.

So some locals told the BBC that they were not surprised by the reactions to the show.

“Everything in Kashmir is political; people see things through a political prism,” says Mir, a professor at a local university (he asked for his surname to be withheld to protect his identity). He adds that people are sceptical about big corporate events like the fashion show and – even if they are organised by private players – they believe that the government is trying to dilute their culture.

Arshid Ahmad, a researcher, uses stronger words to express public angst. “The government is trying to dilute the spirit of resistance in Kashmiris,” he says.

This isn’t the first time an event held by non-locals has triggered a controversy in Kashmir. In 2013, separatists and human rights activists in the region protested against a show by renowned conductor Zubin Mehta. They said it was an attempt by the government to show the world that all was well in Kashmir when people were “suffering and dying”.

Some of the recent apprehensions around culture and identity can also be tied to the increase in tourists to Kashmir from other states in India. The federal government has often connected this boom in tourism to the abrogation of Article 370, which stripped the region of its autonomy.

Nousheen Fatima, 34, says because of government messaging, people outside Kashmir now see the region as being safer and “more assimilated with India”. But she alleges that many tourists do not respect the region’s culture.

Last year, a video showing tourists drinking alcohol during a boat ride on the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar evoked outrage from political and religious leaders, who called the behaviour “un-Islamic and unethical”.

In February, locals put up posters in Srinagar, asking tourists to “respect local culture and traditions” and “avoid alcohol and use of drugs”, but these were later pulled down by the police.

In an editorial for The Voice of Fashion magazine, Ms Vasudev argues that the outrage needs to be examined from a critical lens. She asks if it would have been all right for the show to have been held in another Indian city instead of Kashmir, where Muslims would also be observing Ramadan. And whether it would have been acceptable to hold the show in Kashmir if it featured only outfits perceived as modest.

She also points out that Kashmir is home to the “world’s finest wool yarn; some of the finest handspun, handwoven pashmina creations and its artisans”.

“What Kashmir creates and stands for cannot be replicated anywhere. Shouldn’t a fashion show at Gulmarg then, with innovative garments made with 100% wool, be seen as regenerating interest in untried ways?” she asks.

Made in Canada.

Three words that are now a common presence on Canadian shelves, after Donald Trump’s tariffs sparked a trade war with the US’s northern neighbour.

In Canada the economic measures against it have been met with a wave of patriotism, with some consumers and businesses boycotting American products.

Others with operations in the US face a choice – ride out the uncertainty or bring their enterprise back home.

“Right now, I’m a little angry. I don’t want to invest in American companies,” says Joanna Goodman, owner of Au Lit Fine Linens, a Toronto-based bedding and nightwear company.

“It’s about having your eggs in one basket. And right now, that basket is very reckless and very precarious,” she continues.

On a tour around one of her firm’s two stores, housed in a giant warehouse, Ms Goodman highlights elegantly made-up beds, mannequins in silk pyjamas, and shelves full of sweet-smelling candles – most of it made in Canada.

But one fifth of the stock currently comes from the US. Ms Goodman is quick to point out, “you see how big the store is, so even 20% is a lot”.

“I have a lot of inventory here of American brands that I’ve had relationships with for 20 years. I’m not going to throw it away,” she says. “The question is, will I reorder?”

To show Au Lit Fine Linens’ commitment to Canadian manufacturers, its stores now highlight everything that is Canadian made. This is mirrored on its website, which has a “shop all made in Canada” section, and says “made right here at home”.

From Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, to the Ukraine war, global events in recent years have given rise to a more recent phenomenon – reshoring.

Bringing business operations back to home shores, it is the reversal of offshoring.

Business leader and recently-appointed new member of Canada’s Senate, Sandra Pupatello, says that reshoring is “really obvious” to support.

Pupatello, who had previously been Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade, points to the Covid-19 pandemic, when rules of trade “went right out the window”.

She specifically cites the example of US mask manufacturer 3M coming under pressure from the White House in 2020 to halt exports to Canada and Latin America.

In that moment Pupatello thought: “We’ve got to be prepared for the worst”.

Shortly after, she established Reshoring Canada, a non-partisan group advocating for a more resilient supply chain in Canada.

Pupatello tells the BBC: “If the going gets tough, Canada is on its own. And if we know that’s the case, let us plan for it.”

A Canadian government report from last year found that there had “not been signs of either large-scale or any notable increased reshoring by businesses”, but things could now be changing.

Ray Brougham has been trying to make inroads into the Canadian car manufacturing sector since establishing his company Rainhouse Manufacturing Canada in 2001. Based in British Columbia, it manufactures parts for a number of industries.

The North American car industry’s integrated supply chains can see parts crossing the borders between the US, Mexico, and Canada multiple times before a vehicle is finally assembled.

US President Donald Trump said he would temporarily spare US carmakers from a new 25% import tax imposed on Canada and Mexico, just a day after the tariffs came into effect in March.

But in the shadow of a trade war, Mr Brougham says he has had “good communications” with a large Canadian auto parts company for the first time ever. “All of a sudden they are interested in working closer with other Canadian companies.”

For Mr Brougham and others, the benefits of reshoring are clear. From giving a leg up to small companies that have struggled to compete with manufacturers overseas, to ensuring fair wages, and the environmental benefits of importing and exporting fewer goods.

Others, including Graham Markham, director of a food sector supplier, believe it’s about adding value to products Canada already produces.

His Canadian firm New Protein International is currently constructing Canada’s first soy protein manufacturing plant in southwest Ontario, just miles from the US border.

Canada is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of the crop, but most of it is processed overseas.

“We don’t process those value-added ingredients into more valuable ingredients here at home,” says Mr Markham.

From critical minerals and uranium to lumber and soybeans, he argues that this is the moment to change.

“Canada has long been a successful supplier of raw materials to the world. The opportunity now is to stop exporting the job creation and innovation that comes from processing those materials domestically.”

So, could manufacturing start coming back to Canada? Economist Randall Bartlett says it is too early to tell.

“There’s a lot more smoke than there is fire when it comes to actual reorganisation of supply chains and moving them domestically,” says Mr Bartlett, senior director of Canadian economics at Quebec-based Desjardins.

“I think there has been some movement toward reshoring, but I think there’s a lot more narrative around it than there is actual re-establishing of manufacturing capacity.”

There are major hurdles too.

The highly-integrated auto industry, for example, would take years to untangle. Reshoring it would require “many tens of hundreds of billions of dollars in both private and public sector investment to make happen”, according to Mr Bartlett.

Then there’s the reality of global trade.

“Some countries are better at producing some things than other countries are,” Mr Bartlett says, suggesting that rather than a full reshoring push, diversifying Canada’s trade partners might be more practical.

He says that Canada should focus on “those industries where we have a comparative advantage”, which he says include renewable energy and processing steel and aluminium. Those two metals have now been hit with a 25% tariff if they are exported to the US.

Back at Au Lit Fine Linens in Toronto, Joanna Goodman steps into a vast stockroom, filled with the sound of carboard boxes being packed.

“We’re shipping orders to the US that came in pre-tariffs,” she explains, before pausing. “We did get an order the day of the tariffs starting, and it was a very decent-sized order.”

She says that she doesn’t know whether the US buyer understands that tariffs will now apply. “He has to ask Mr Trump [why]”.

As for what comes next? “These tariffs could be gone any day. Let’s see how it all unfolds, then we’ll start making decisions,” says Ms Goodman.

Like many Canadian businesses, she’s waiting for the dust to settle before deciding where to buy, where to sell, and what Made in Canada really means for the future.

We are surrounded by an invisible killer. One so common that we barely notice it shortening our lives.

It’s causing heart attacks, type 2 diabetes and studies now even link it to dementia.

What do you think it could be?

The answer is noise – and its impact on the human body goes far beyond damaging hearing.

“It is a public health crisis, we’ve got huge numbers of people exposed in their everyday life,” says Prof Charlotte Clark, from St George’s, University of London.

It’s just a crisis we don’t talk about.

So I’ve been investigating when noise becomes dangerous, chatting to the people whose health is suffering and seeing if there’s any way of overcoming our noisy world.

I started by meeting Prof Clark in an eerily silent sound laboratory. We’re going to see how my body reacts to noise and I’ve been kitted out with a device that looks like a chunky smartwatch.

It’s going to measure my heart rate and how much my skin sweats.

You can join in too if you have some headphones. Think about how these five sounds make you feel.

The one I find really grating is the traffic noise from Dhaka, Bangladesh, which has the title of the noisiest city in the world. I immediately feel like I’m in a ginormous, stressful traffic jam.

And the sensors are picking up my agitation – my heart rate shoots up and my skin is sweating more.

“There’s really good evidence that traffic noise affects your heart health,” says Prof Clark, as the next sound is prepared.

Only the joyful sounds of the playground have a calming effect on my body. The dogs barking and the neighbour’s party in the early hours lead to a negative response.

• LISTEN: Is noise an invisible killer?

But why is sound changing my body?

“You have an emotional response to sound,” says Prof Clark.

Sound is detected by the ear and passed onto the brain and one region – the amygdala – performs the emotional assessment.

This is part of the body’s fight-or-flight response that has evolved to help us react quickly to the sounds like a predator crashing through the bushes.

“So your heart rate goes up, your nervous system starts to kick in and you release stress hormones,” Prof Clark tells me.

All of this is good in an emergency, but over time it starts to cause damage.

“If you’re exposed for several years, your body’s reacting like that all the time, it increases your risk of developing things like heart attacks, high blood pressure, stroke and type 2 diabetes,” says Prof Clark.

Insidiously, this even happens while we’re fast asleep. You might think you adapt to noise. I thought I did when I lived in a rental near an airport. But the biology tells a different story.

“You never turn your ears off; when you’re asleep, you’re still listening. So those responses, like your heart rate going up, that’s happening whilst you’re asleep,” adds Prof Clark.

Noise is unwanted sound. Transport – traffic, trains and aeroplanes – are a major source, but so too are the sounds of us having a good time. One person’s great party is another’s insufferable noise.

I meet Coco at her fourth-floor flat in the historic Vila de Gràcia area of Barcelona, Spain.

There’s a bag of freshly picked lemons tied to her door gifted by one neighbour, her fridge contains a tortilla cooked by another and she offers me fancy cakes made by a third neighbour who’s training in patisserie.

From the balcony you can see the city’s famous cathedral, the Sagrada Familia. It is easy to see why Coco has fallen in love with living here, but it comes at a huge price and she thinks she’ll be forced to leave.

“It’s extremely noisy… it’s 24-hour noise,” she tells me. There’s a dog park for owners to walk their pooches which “bark at 2, 3, 4, 5am” and the courtyard is a public space that is used for everything from children’s birthday parties to all-day concerts finished off with fireworks.

She gets out her phone and plays the recordings of the music being blasted out so loud it makes the glass in her windows vibrate.

Her home should be a refuge from the stress of work, but the noise “brings frustration, I feel like crying”.

She has been “hospitalised twice with chest pain” and “absolutely” thinks noise is causing the stress, which is damaging her health. “There is a physical change that I feel, it does something to your body, for certain,” she says.

In Barcelona there are an estimated 300 heart attacks and 30 deaths a year just from traffic noise, according to researcher Dr Maria Foraster, who has reviewed evidence on noise for the World Health Organization.

Across Europe noise is linked to 12,000 early deaths a year as well as millions of cases of severely disturbed sleep as well as serious noise annoyance which can impact mental health.

I meet Dr Foraster at a café that is separated from one of Barcelona’s busiest roads by a small park. My sound meter says the noise from the distant traffic is just over 60 decibels here.

We can easily chat over the noise without raising our voices, but this is already an unhealthy volume.

The crucial number for heart health is 53 decibels, she tells me, and the higher you go the greater the health risks.

“This 53 means that we need to be in a rather quiet environment,” says Dr Foraster.

And that’s just in daytime, we need even lower levels for sleep. “At night we need quietness,” she says.

Although it is not just about the volume, how disruptive the sound is and how much control you have over it affect our emotional response to noise.

Dr Foraster argues the health impact of noise is “at the level of air pollution” but is much harder to comprehend.

“We are used to understanding that chemicals can affect health and they are toxic, but it’s not so straightforward to understand that a physical factor, like noise, affects our health beyond our hearing,” she says.

A loud party can be the fun that makes life worth living and someone else’s intolerable noise.

The sound of traffic has the greatest impact on health because so many people are exposed to it. But traffic is also the sound of getting to work, doing the shopping and taking the children to school. Tackling noise means asking people to live their lives differently – which creates problems of its own.

Dr Natalie Mueller, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, takes me for a walk around the city centre. We start on a busy road – my sound meter clocks in at over 80 decibels – and we head to a quiet tree-lined avenue where the noise is down to the 50s.

But there is something different about this street – it used to be a busy road, but the space was given over to pedestrians, cafes and gardens. I can see the ghost of an old cross roads by the shape of the flowerbeds. Vehicles can still come down here, just slowly.

Remember earlier in the lab, we found that some sounds can soothe the body.

“It is not completely silent, but it’s a different perception of sound and noise,” Dr Mueller says.

The initial plan was to create more than 500 areas like this, termed “superblocks” – pedestrian-friendly areas created by grouping several city blocks together.

Dr Mueller performed the research projecting a 5-10% reduction in noise in the city, which would prevent about “150 premature deaths” from noise alone each year. And that would be “just the tip of the iceberg” of the health benefits.

But in reality only six superblocks were ever built. The city council declined to comment.

The dangers of noise though are continuing to grow. Urbanisation is putting more people into noisy cities.

Dhaka, Bangladesh, is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world. This has brought more traffic and given the city a cacophonous soundtrack of honking horns.

Artist Momina Raman Royal earned the label of the “lone hero” as his silent protests have focused attention on the city’s noise problem.

For about 10 minutes each day, he stands at the intersection of a couple of busy roads with a big yellow placard accusing drivers who honk their horns loudly of causing a massive nuisance.

He took on the mission after his daughter was born. “I want to stop all honking from not only Dhaka, but from Bangladesh,” he says.

“If you see the birds or trees or rivers, no one’s making noise without humans, so humans are responsible.”

But here there are the beginnings of political action too. Syeda Rizwana Hasan, who’s the environment adviser and minister for the government of Bangladesh, told me she was “very worried” about the health impacts of noise.

There is a crackdown on honking horns to get the noise levels down – with an awareness campaign and stricter enforcement of existing laws.

She said: “It’s impossible to get it done in one year or two years, but I think it is possible to ensure that the city becomes less noisy, and when people feel that, they feel better when it’s less noisy, I’m sure their habit will also change.”

The solutions to noise can be difficult, complicated and challenging to solve.

What I’m left with is a new appreciation for finding some space in our lives to just escape the noise because in the words of Dr Masrur Abdul Quader, from the Bangladesh University of Professionals, it is “a silent killer and a slow poison”.

Operation Varsity “was the battle that ended” World War Two in Europe, yet it is largely unknown to all but military history buffs.

British, Canadian and American forces took off mostly from Essex airfields on 24 March 1945, to be dropped directly on top of the German lines at the River Rhine.

Paratroopers and gliders packed with men descended into fierce fighting conditions which resulted in rapid success, but huge loss of life. About six weeks later, Victory in Europe was declared.

Chris Bullock has organised an event at one of the departure airfields, RAF Rivenhall, to remember those who died, saying “it’s an untold story”.

“When you see a video of the men at Rivenhall with their final brew, giving the thumbs up and the V for victory sign before they get into their gliders and you know some of them didn’t come home, within three hours they were dead – it’s important to tell that story,” he said.

Peter Davies, 102, took off from RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk towed by a Dakota plane and carrying “a 17-pounder gun, towing vehicle and gun detachment of eight personnel”.

He had volunteered for the Glider Pilot Regiment in 1942 because he thought it would be “more exciting” than his time as an Army private manning a Royal Artillery anti-aircraft unit.

“It’s like flying a brick – there’s only one way, and it’s down,” said Mr Davies, from Bollington, Cheshire, describing what it was like once the the glider was loosed.

“There was a hell of a lot of flak, we lost our controls and having lost a great chunk of one wing, we were pulling deeper and deeper into enemy ground.

“When we hit the ground – and I do mean hit – we were very much in the wrong place amongst a load of very angry Germans, and it was total chaos.”

One American glider came down within 50m (about 160ft) of him, “and not one man got out alive because the Germans were there as well”.

But with co-pilot Bert Bowman, he made it across the battlefield to their intended drop zone and returned to Britain.

“The Allies landed directly on top of the Germans and lots of gliders were shot down and lots of paratroopers were shot in the skies – 80 people from RAF Rivenhall alone lost their lives,” said Mr Bullock, 56, who served in the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment for 25 years.

Operation Varsity was the largest single airborne operation in history, with more than 16,000 men were dropped into western Germany on the same day.

Its aim was to establish a bridgehead across the River Rhine for the main Allied advance into Germany and push rapidly towards the Russian forces arriving from the east.

The first part was the ground offensive Operation Plunder, “which was the biggest-ever river crossing and was done by British and Canadian forces”, Mr Bullock said.

The intention was for the amphibious troops on the western side of the Rhine to join up with the airborne troops dropped to its east.

Varsity took place just five months after the disastrous Battle of Arnhem, which resulted in 90% casualties to the Glider Pilot Regiment.

RAF pilots such as Brian Latham, who had been sent to Texas, to learn to fly fighter planes, were among hundreds who “volunteered” for glider service.

“If we didn’t volunteer, we were told we’d never fly again and be made to join the infantry or go down a mine,” said Mr Latham, 101, from Llandudno, Conway, Wales.

However, he soon realised being a gilder pilot was “an elite, like the Commandos”.

“We were not toughies and they made us toughies – I became a trained infantry man,” he said.

Flying from RAF Gosfield, near Braintree, Essex, Mr Latham carried a mortar section, with a Jeep and trailer, and was dropped into ground smoke and heavy anti-aircraft fire.

“We just dived into the smoke and it was all very exciting and we landed just where we should have done at Hamminkeln,” he said.

“We were then by a bridge, held by the Royal Ulster Rifles, which was attacked by German tanks until the British 2nd Army came up [having crossed the Rhine].”

Eventually he was returned to the UK, but was grateful not to go back to his home station of RAF Broadwell in Oxfordshire because “we’d lost too many people”.

Of the 890 Glider Pilot Regiment personnel who took part in Varsity, more than 20% of them were killed or wounded.

“We were dropped right in amongst the Germans, which had never been tried before, and we knew it was a suicide drop,” said Danny Mason, who had qualified to join the Parachute Regiment aged 19 just a week earlier.

“But it didn’t bother us. We were young and keen and thought, ‘We’ll be all right, we’ll be fine’.”

Now 98 and living in Ludlow, Shropshire, Mr Mason added: “We also thought the Germans were losing and weren’t in good fighting condition and this’ll be easy – but it wasn’t. We had a very high casualty rate.”

At least 1,070 members of the US 17th Airborne Division and the British 6th Airborne Division, which included the Canadians, were killed and thousands more were wounded.

“But within four or five hours we had accomplished what we had set out to do,” Mr Mason said.

He advanced 600 miles through Germany within a fortnight until he was injured.

“It was the battle that ended the war, yet nobody was interested in it,” he said.

“I asked my old commanding officer about it and he said it was because everyone was fed up. It was six years of war and it was such a huge relief when VE Day came.”

Mr Bullock provided some additional context.

“Three weeks after Varsity, Belsen concentration camp was liberated. Two weeks after, Hitler killed himself, and a week after that Germany capitulated – it’s probably hardly talked about because events overtook themselves.”

Now working as an international operations security manager for the BBC, he lives near RAF Rivenhall and began researching its story 10 years ago.

Sixty gliders towed by two RAF squadrons left the airfield at 07:00 GMT on 24 March 1945, carrying part of the 6th Airborne Division.

But some of that history is still lost.

“There are no records left of who flew on which glider and what happened to each man – only the anecdotal evidence and individual stories I’ve managed to track down,” he said.

He has commissioned a memorial to “remember all those who flew from Rivenhall and died on that day”.

It will be unveiled at an event on 23 March, with military vehicles, static stands, re-enactors, presentations and a flypast by a Dakota.

A memorial service will be held the next day at 07:00 GMT.

In September 2023, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sent 11,000 soldiers to storm the Tocorón Prison in the northern state of Aragua. But they were not dispatched to quell a riot.

The troops were taking back control of the jail from a powerful gang that had turned it into something of a resort, complete with zoo, restaurants, nightclub, betting shop and swimming pool.

But the gang’s boss, Hector Guerrero Flores, escaped.

Now the Tren de Aragua organisation is in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s drive to remove foreign criminals from the US as part of his pledge to deliver mass deportations of illegal immigrants.

Here is what we do know about Tren de Aragua.

Tren de Aragua was originally a prison gang that Hector Guerrero Flores turned into a “transnational criminal organisation”, according the US state department, which is offering a reward of $5m for information that could lead to his arrest.

Guerrero Flores, 41, was in and out of Tocorón for more than a decade.

He escaped in 2012 by bribing a guard and was then rearrested in 2013. Upon his return, he transformed the prison into a leisure complex.

And he expanded the gang’s influence far beyond the jail’s gates, seizing control of gold mines in Bolivar state, drug corridors on the Caribbean coast, and clandestine border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia, according to the US state department.

The gang’s name translates as “Train of Aragua”, and it may have come from a railroad workers’ union.

Luis Izquiel, a criminology professor at the Central University of Venezuela, told the BBC that the union controlled a section of the railway that crossed Aragua and would extort contractors and sell jobs on work sites.

Tren de Aragua has under Guerrero Flores’s leadership expanded into Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile and diversified from extorting migrants into sex-trafficking, contract killing and kidnapping.

By most accounts, Tren de Aragua spread out of Venezuela when the country entered a humanitarian and economic emergency in 2014 that made crime less profitable, and now is believed to have nodes in eight other countries, including the US.

Ronna Rísquez, a journalist who has written the definitive book on the group, estimated last year that the organisation has 5,000 members and annual profits of between $10m and $15m.

Others have estimated its membership at roughly half that figure.

A prosecutor in Chile has called Tren de Aragua a “brutal organisation” that uses murder and torture to achieve its aims.

While it is smaller or less wealthy than other criminal groups in Latin America, Tren de Aragua is often compared to the ultra-violent MS-13 gang from El Salvador.

Tren de Aragua members have been accused of dressing up as Chilean police officers and then kidnapping Venezuelan opposition military officer Ronald Ojeda, whose body was found buried in Santiago, Chile, in March 2024.

The US Treasury, under then-President Joe Biden, sanctioned Tren de Aragua last summer, saying that the gang was involved in sex-trafficking across the US border.

On Saturday Trump invoked the 18th Century Alien Enemies Act as he accused Tren de Aragua of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States”.

He said the gang was engaged in “irregular warfare” against the US at the direction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Shortly after taking office in January Trump also has declared Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organisation, placing the group in the same category as Islamic State and Boko Haram, Nigeria’s Islamist militants.

In Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois, alleged Tren de Aragua members have been arrested in recent months and charged with crimes ranging from murder to kidnapping.

Last summer NBC News reported that the Department of Homeland estimated that 600 Venezuelan migrants in the US had connections to the gang, with 100 believed to be members.

As of 2023, there were 770,000 Venezuelans living in the US, representing slightly less than 2% of all immigrants in the county, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Most had been given protected status by the US government.

Customs and Border Protection reports encountering 313,500 Venezuelan migrants at the border in 2024.

After Kim Visintine put her son to bed every night at a hospital in St Louis, Missouri, she spent her evening in the hospital’s library. She was determined to know how her boy had become seriously ill with a rare brain tumour at just a week old.

“Doctors were shocked,” she says. “We were told that his illness was one in a million. Other parents were learning to change diapers but I was learning how to change chemotherapy ports and IVs.”

Kim’s son Zack was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme. It is a brain tumour that is very rare in children and is usually seen in adults over 45.

Zack had chemotherapy treatments but doctors said there was no hope of him ever recovering. He died at just six years old.

Years later, social media and community chatter made Kim start to think that her son was not an isolated case. Perhaps he was part of a bigger picture growing in their community surrounding Coldwater Creek.

In this part of the US, cancer fears have prompted locals to accuse officials of not doing enough to support those who may have been exposed to radiation due to the development of the atomic bomb in the 1940s.

A compensation programme that was designed to pay out to some Americans who contracted diseases after exposure to radiation expired last year – before it could be extended to the St Louis area.

This Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (Reca) provided one-time payouts to people who may have developed cancer or other diseases while living in areas where activities such as atomic weapons testing took place. It paid out $2.6bn (£2bn) to more than 41,000 claimants before coming to an end in 2024.

Benefits were paid to such neighbours, frequently called “downwinders”, in Arizona, Utah and Nevada, but not New Mexico, where the world’s first test of a nuclear weapon took place in 1945. Research published in 2020 by the National Cancer Institute suggested that hundreds of cancers in the area would not have occurred without radiation exposure.

St Louis, meanwhile, was where uranium was refined and used to help create the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. After World War Two ended, the chemical was dumped near the creek and left uncovered, allowing waste to seep into the area.

Decades later, federal investigators acknowledged an increased cancer risk for some people who played in the creek as children, but added in their report: “The predicted increases in the number of cancer cases from exposures are small, and no method exists to link a particular cancer with this exposure.”

The clean-up of the creek is still ongoing and is not expected to finish until 2038.

A new bill has been put forward in the House, and Josh Hawley, a US senator representing Missouri, says he has raised the issue with President Donald Trump.

When Kim flicks through her school yearbook, she can identify those who have become sick and those who have since passed away. The numbers are startling.

“My husband didn’t grow up in this area, and he said to me, ‘Kim, this is not normal. It seems like we’re always talking about one of your friends passing away or going to a funeral’,” she says.

Just streets away from the creek, Karen Nickel grew up spending her days near the water picking berries, or in the nearby park playing baseball. Her brother would often try and catch fish in Coldwater Creek.

“I always tell people that we had just the fairytale childhood that you would expect in what you consider suburban America,” says Karen. “Big backyards, big families, children playing out together until the street lights came on at night.”

But years later, her carefree childhood now looks very different.

“Fifteen people from the street I grew up on have died from rare cancers,” she says. “We have neighbourhoods here where every house has been affected by some cancer or some illness. We have streets where you can’t just find a house where a family has not been affected by this.”

When Karen’s sister was just 11 years old, doctors discovered that her ovaries were covered in cysts. The same had happened to their neighbour when she was just nine. Karen’s six-year-old granddaughter was born with a mass on her right ovary.

Karen helped found Just Moms STL, a group that is dedicated to protecting the community from future exposures that could be linked to cancers – and which advocates for a clean-up of the area.

“We get messages every day from people that are suffering from illnesses and are questioning whether this is from exposure,” she says. “These are very aggressive illnesses that the community is getting, from cancers all the way to autoimmune diseases.”

Teresa Rumfelt grew up just a street away from Karen and lived in her family home from 1979 until 2010. She remembers every one of her animals passing away from cancer and her neighbours getting ill from rare diseases.

Years later, her sister Via Von Banks was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease. Some medical studies have suggested there could be a link between radiation and ALS, but this is not definitive – and more research needs to be done to firm it up.

That does not reassure people like Teresa who are concerned that more needs to be done to understand how locals are being affected.

“ALS took my sister at 50,” Teresa says. “I think it was the worst disease ever of mankind. When she was diagnosed in 2019, she’d just got her career going and her children were growing. She stayed positive through all of it.”

Like Hawley, Just STL Moms and other community members want the government’s compensation act to be expanded to include people within the St Louis area, despite the programme being in limbo after expiring.

Expanding it to the Coldwater Creek community would mean that locals could be offered compensation if they could prove they were harmed as a result of the Manhattan Project, during which the atomic bomb was developed with the help of uranium-processing in St Louis. It would also allow screenings and further study into illnesses other than cancer.

In a statement to the BBC, the US government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it took concerns very seriously and had actively worked with federal, state and local partners – as well as community members – to understand their health concerns, and to ensure community members were not exposed to the Manhattan Project-era waste.

The BBC has also contacted the US Army Corps of Engineers, which is leading the clean-up – but has not received a response to a request for comment.

“My sister would have loved to be part of the fight. She’d be the first to picket,” says Teresa of her efforts to get greater support from the government.

The trend in people around Coldwater Creek getting unwell has not gone unnoticed among healthcare professionals.

Dr Gautum Agarwal, a cancer surgeon at Mercy Hospital in St Louis, says he has not noticed a “statistical thing”, but notes that he has seen husbands and wives and their neighbours presenting cancers.

Now, he ensures that his patients are asked where they live and how close they are to Coldwater Creek.

“I tell them that there’s a potential that there’s a link. And if your neighbours or family live near there, we should get them screened more often. And maybe you should get your kids screened earlier.”

He hopes that over time more knowledge will be gained about the issue, and for a study into multi-cancer early detection tests to be introduced that could help catch any potential cancers, and help reassure people in the area.

Other experts take a different view of the risks. “There is a narrative that many people are sick from cancers, specifically from exposures while living next to Coldwater Creek for the last few decades”, says Roger Lewis, a professor in the environmental and occupations health department of St Louis University.

“But the data and studies don’t indicate that. They show that there is some risk but it’s small. It doesn’t mean that it’s not significant in some ways, but it’s very limited.”

Prof Lewis acknowledges the fear in the community, saying locals will feel safer if the government is clearer about its efforts to eliminate any hazards.

For many people near Coldwater Creek, conversation with authorities is not easing the angst that comes with living in an area known for the dumping of nuclear waste.

“It’s almost a given in our community that at some point we all expect to have some sort of cancer or illness,” says Kim Visintine. “There’s almost this apathy within our group that, well, it’s just a matter of time.”

Correction 16 March: This article originally reported that the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act covered parts of New Mexico. It has been amended to show that benefits were paid under the act to people in Arizona, Nevada and Utah, but not in New Mexico.

A Peruvian fisherman who survived 95 days lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean by eating turtles, birds and cockroaches has been rescued and reunited with his family.

Maximo Napa Castro, 61, set off for what should have been a two-week fishing trip from the coastal town of Marcona, on the southern Peruvian coast, on 7 December.

Ten days in, a storm blew his boat off course, leaving him adrift with dwindling supplies.

His family launched a search, but Peru’s maritime patrols were unable to locate him.

It was not until Wednesday that the Ecuadorian patrol vessel Don F found him 1,094km (680 miles) from the coast, dehydrated and in a critical condition.

Maximo survived by catching rainwater in his boat and eating whatever he could find.

In an emotional reunion with his brother in Paita, near the Ecuadorian border, on Friday, he described how he had eaten roaches and birds before resorting to sea turtles. His last 15 days were spent without food.

Thinking of his family, including his two-month-old granddaughter, gave him the strength to endure, Mr Castro said.

“I thought about my mother everyday. I’m thankful to God for giving me a second chance.”

His mother, Elena, told local media that, while her relatives remained optimistic during her son’s disappearance, she had begun to lose hope.

After his rescue, Mr Castro was taken to Paita for medical assessment before being flown to the Peruvian capital, Lima.

There, at Jorge Chávez International Airport, he was met by his daughter, Inés Napa, in an emotional reunion surrounded by a media scrum. She welcomed him home with a bottle of pisco, Peru’s national drink.

In his home district of San Andrés in the Ica region, neighbours and relatives told Peruvian media agency RPP they decorated the streets in celebration.

His niece, Leyla Torres Napa, said the family planned to celebrate his birthday, which passed while he was lost at sea.

She told the agency: “The day of his birth was unique because all that he could eat [while at sea] was a small cookie, so it is very important for us that we celebrate because, for us, he has been reborn.”

Last year, Russian Mikhail Pichugin was rescued after spending more than two months adrift in a small inflatable boat in the Sea of Okhotsk, to the east of Russia.

Similarly, José Salvador Alvarenga, a Salvadoran fisherman, endured an extraordinary 14-month ordeal adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

Setting out from Mexico’s coast in late 2012, he was eventually found in the Marshall Islands in early 2014, and also survived on rainwater and turtles.

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will speak in coming days, as talks continue over a possible ceasefire in the three-year war in Ukraine.

US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow, told CNN that he expected that “there will be a call with both presidents this week”.

“We’re also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians,” he added. “We’re advising them on everything we’re thinking about.”

Last week, the US and Ukraine agreed to propose a 30-day ceasefire to Russia. While Putin said that he supported a ceasefire, he also set out a list of tough conditions for achieving peace.

Witkoff said in the interview on Sunday: “I think the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.”

He also said that teams of US negotiators would meet counterparts from both Ukraine and Russia during the coming week.

Witkoff added that he believed a deal would be reached “in [the] coming weeks”.

“I am really hopeful we are going to see some progress here,” he said.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, on “day one” of a new administration.

Less than a month after he was inaugurated, Trump had call with Putin that reportedly spanned 90 minutes about immediately starting negotiations on ending the war.

Witkoff declined to answer a question on how Russian-occupied land in Ukraine could be addressed in a potential deal. Russia currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine.

The envoy said Trump was actively participating in the diplomatic back-and-forth.

As an example, Witkoff said that “within five to 10 minutes” of his meeting with Putin concluding on Thursday, he had returned to the US embassy to brief Trump, as well as Vice-President JD Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

“So the president is getting updates in real time on everything that’s happening and he’s involved in every important decision here,” he said.

Opposition parties in South Africa have called on its president not to be “bullied” by the US after Washington expelled Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, giving him just 72 hours to leave the country.

Rasool was declared an unwelcome person after US State Secretary Marco Rubio called him a “race-baiting politician who hates America” on Friday.

Tensions between South African and the US have been on a downward spiral since US President Donald Trump came into office.

However, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola told state broadcaster SABC that “it is not helpful to engage in Twitter diplomacy”, saying the two countries need to talk “face-to-face”.

Other politicians were less measured in their response.

Julius Malema’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party issued a scathing statement against the US, calling on South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa “to not allow the country to be bullied by the orange clown occupying the White House”.

Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) Secretary General Apa Pooe also condemned the US decision, calling it an attack on South Africa’s sovereignty and an attempt to dictate policy in the country.

“SA is not a puppet of the US, we have the right to govern our country without any interference,” he said.

Trump has been a vocal critic of South Africa’s controversial land bill, which allows the government to confiscate land without compensation in certain circumstances.

Last month, Trump cut aid to South Africa. He alleged there was discrimination against the white Afrikaner minority, descendants of Dutch and French settlers.

South Africa denies this.

Rasool previously served as US ambassador from 2010 to 2015, when Barack Obama was president.

He was appointed as ambassador again in 2024, because of his previous experience and extensive network of Washington contacts.

But despite his record, he has faced challenges setting up meetings with Trump.

One unnamed South African diplomat told news site Semafor that someone with the ambassador’s “history of pro-Palestine politics”, among other things, “is not likely to do well in that job right now”.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) – a coalition partner in South Africa’s government of national unity (GNU) – has questioned why the largest party, the African National Congress (ANC), was still choosing all its foreign diplomats.

“It is simply just not right that the ANC has got carte blanche on foreign policy and the appointments of diplomats while they are only a 39% party,” DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp told SABC, as he called for members of the GNU to be allowed to go to Washington to ease tensions.

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US President Donald Trump has signed an order to strip back federally funded news organisation Voice of America, accusing it of being “anti-Trump” and “radical”.

A White House statement said the order would “ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda”, and included quotes from politicians and right-wing media criticising the broadcaster.

VOA, still primarily a radio service, was set up during World War Two to counter Nazi propaganda. It says it currently reaches hundreds of millions of people globally each week.

Mike Abramowitz, VOA’s director, said he and virtually his entire staff of 1,300 people had been put on paid leave.

Abramowitz said that the order left VOA unable to carry out its “vital mission… especially critical today, when America’s adversaries, like Iran, China, and Russia, are sinking billions of dollars into creating false narratives to discredit the United States”.

The National Press Club, a leading representative group for US journalists, said the order “undermines America’s long-standing commitment to a free and independent press”.

It added: “If an entire newsroom can be sidelined overnight, what does that say about the state of press freedom?

“An entire institution is being dismantled piece by piece. This isn’t just a staffing decision – it’s a fundamental shift that endangers the future of independent journalism at VOA.”

The president’s order targets VOA’s parent company US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which also funds non-profit entities such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, which were originally set up to counter communism.

It tells managers to “reduce performance… to the minimum presence and function required by law”.

CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, said that VOA employees were notified in an email by Crystal Thomas, the USAGM human resources director.

A source told CBS that all freelance workers and international contractors were told there was now no money to pay them.

Emails obtained by CBS notified the bosses of Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that their federal grants had been terminated.

VOA and other stations under USAGM say they serve more than 400 million listeners. They are broadly equivalent to the BBC World Service, which is part-funded by the British government.

The Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister, Jan Lipavský, said he hoped the European Union could help keep Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty running in Prague.

He said he would ask European foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday to find ways to at least partially maintain the broadcaster’s operations.

Elon Musk, the billionaire and top adviser to Trump who has been overseeing sweeping cuts to the US government, has used his social media platform X to call for VOA to be shut down.

The US president also cut funding to several other federal agencies – including those responsible for preventing homelessness, and funding museums and libraries.

Trump was highly critical of VOA in his first term. He has recently appointed staunch loyalist Kari Lake to be a special adviser for the USAGM.

The president regularly states that mainstream media outlets are biased against him. He called CNN and MSNBC “corrupt” during a speech at the justice department.

Voice of America launched in 1942 with a mandate to combat Nazi and Japanese propaganda. Its first broadcast – made on a transmitter loaned to the US by the BBC – stated a modest purpose.

Gerald Ford, a former president, signed VOA’s public charter in 1976 to safeguard its editorial independence.

By 1994, the Broadcast Board of Governors, with oversight over non-military broadcasting, was established.

In 2013, a shift in legislation allowed VOA and affiliates to begin broadcasting in the US.

A fashion show held last week in a picturesque, snow-clad town in Indian-administered Kashmir has sparked a major controversy that is still simmering.

The show, by the well-known fashion brand Shivan & Narresh, was held last Friday at a ski resort in Gulmarg to display their skiwear collection. The label is the first big, non-local brand to hold a fashion show in Kashmir, a scenic Himalayan region which has seen decades of violence.

But it soon sparked outrage among locals, politicians and religious leaders in Muslim-majority Kashmir after fashion publisher Elle India posted a video on social media which showed some models wearing underwear or bikinis. Locals were also angry over another video – shared by online magazine Lifestyle Asia – of a party held after the show, which showed people drinking alcohol outdoors.

Many took offence with the show being held in the holy month of Ramadan – a time of fasting and prayer for Muslims – and accused the designers of “mocking their faith” and “disregarding local culture and sentiments”. Some clerics called the show “obscene” and said it was like “soft porn”.

Some others explained that the outrage had arisen not only from religious conservatism, but also from a fear of cultural imposition from “outsiders”. Kashmir has witnessed decades of armed separatist insurgency against Indian rule since the late 1980s.

The backlash prompted Elle India and Lifestyle Asia to delete their videos. Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja, the designers behind the label, also apologised, saying that their “sole intention was to celebrate creativity” and that they didn’t intend to offend religious sentiments.

Kashmir – known as the land of saints and Sufism (Islamic mysticism) – has a rich tradition of spirituality which influences many aspects of peoples’ lives. The traditional attire is modest, with locals – both men and women – often wearing the pheran, a long, loose cloak.

The row also moved off social media and a discussion about the show and the after-party caused a ruckus in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.

The opposition criticised the government, accusing it of giving permission for the event despite being aware of local sensitivities. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah distanced his government from the event, saying it had been organised by private entities, and asking local authorities to investigate the matter and submit a report.

“If law has been violated, strict action will be taken,” he said in the assembly on Monday. The police have not yet given details about who organised the event and what laws, if any, have been violated.

The fashion brand did not respond to the BBC’s questions about the show, including about permissions it obtained.

It’s not surprising that scenic Gulmarg – one of India’s few skiing destinations and a favourite with tourists – was the choice of venue for a show highlighting a skiwear collection.

Fashion journalist Shefalee Vasudev says it’s not uncommon for designers to want to hold fashion shows in exquisite locations.

In fact, international designers like Alexander McQueen and Karl Lagerfeld are remembered as much for their creative, theatrical fashion shows as they are for their iconic designs.

But experimentation brings with it the risk of controversy and so, it’s important to be mindful of the political and cultural sensitivities of a place, Ms Vasudev told the BBC.

And this holds especially true in a place like Kashmir, which has witnessed wars and decades of armed conflict.

• Article 370: What happened with Kashmir and why it matters
• ‘Don’t beat us, just shoot us’: Kashmiris allege violent army crackdown

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full but control it only in parts. Since India’s partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two wars over the territory.

Thousands of people have been killed since the late 1980s, when a separatist insurgency broke out against Indian rule. Though the separatist movement has lost steam over the years, many locals continue to view the administration in Delhi with distrust.

These sentiments have deepened since 2019 when the federal government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, stripped the region of its autonomy.

So some locals told the BBC that they were not surprised by the reactions to the show.

“Everything in Kashmir is political; people see things through a political prism,” says Mir, a professor at a local university (he asked for his surname to be withheld to protect his identity). He adds that people are sceptical about big corporate events like the fashion show and – even if they are organised by private players – they believe that the government is trying to dilute their culture.

Arshid Ahmad, a researcher, uses stronger words to express public angst. “The government is trying to dilute the spirit of resistance in Kashmiris,” he says.

This isn’t the first time an event held by non-locals has triggered a controversy in Kashmir. In 2013, separatists and human rights activists in the region protested against a show by renowned conductor Zubin Mehta. They said it was an attempt by the government to show the world that all was well in Kashmir when people were “suffering and dying”.

Some of the recent apprehensions around culture and identity can also be tied to the increase in tourists to Kashmir from other states in India. The federal government has often connected this boom in tourism to the abrogation of Article 370, which stripped the region of its autonomy.

Nousheen Fatima, 34, says because of government messaging, people outside Kashmir now see the region as being safer and “more assimilated with India”. But she alleges that many tourists do not respect the region’s culture.

Last year, a video showing tourists drinking alcohol during a boat ride on the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar evoked outrage from political and religious leaders, who called the behaviour “un-Islamic and unethical”.

In February, locals put up posters in Srinagar, asking tourists to “respect local culture and traditions” and “avoid alcohol and use of drugs”, but these were later pulled down by the police.

In an editorial for The Voice of Fashion magazine, Ms Vasudev argues that the outrage needs to be examined from a critical lens. She asks if it would have been all right for the show to have been held in another Indian city instead of Kashmir, where Muslims would also be observing Ramadan. And whether it would have been acceptable to hold the show in Kashmir if it featured only outfits perceived as modest.

She also points out that Kashmir is home to the “world’s finest wool yarn; some of the finest handspun, handwoven pashmina creations and its artisans”.

“What Kashmir creates and stands for cannot be replicated anywhere. Shouldn’t a fashion show at Gulmarg then, with innovative garments made with 100% wool, be seen as regenerating interest in untried ways?” she asks.

In the world of billionaires and the similarly wealthy teams they own, designing a state-of-the-art stadium goes beyond the visual.

In the offices of architecture firm Arup, there is a soundproof room downstairs with premium grade surround-sound speakers and a large screen. It looks like a small theatre.

“We can put a client in there and say, ‘when your team scores, this is what it will sound like if your stadium roof is shaped this way,'” says Chris Dite, who is responsible for the firm’s sports projects.

“But, if we change the roof shape to this, then this is what it will sound like.”

The way the pitch and intensity of the crowd noise changes in the aftermath of a goal is based on data from stadium projects the firm have completed over the last 25 years.

Dite’s previous work includes the Allianz Arena used by German football giants Bayern Munich and the Gtech Community Stadium where Brentford play.

“If you can sit the client in those front rows and make them feel like they’re in it, that’s where you start to really invoke an emotional response,” Dite tells BBC News.

What a goal might sound like in the new Manchester United stadium was not part of the presentation given by the club earlier this week, but the design of the new £2bn ground certainly invoked emotional responses.

Some questioned how realistic it was to build such tall pillars from which a glass panelled canvas drapes over the new stands and surrounding grounds.

The three pillars in the artist’s impression, unveiled by the firm Foster and Partners, are a nod to the trident on the Red Devil’s crest.

“Gravity still exists, unfortunately for us,” remarks Dite. He says he “can’t comment on other architectural businesses” but that Arup doesn’t issue any public designs that haven’t been approved by structural engineers.

“We don’t want to get into the situation of showing a client or fans an image that everyone falls in love with, that everybody gets behind.

“And then, when it comes to being a finished building, everyone’s like ‘well, that doesn’t look anything like the picture’.”

Prof Kevin Singh, head of the Manchester School of Architecture, explains modern building techniques mean many of an architect’s ideas are possible to construct, though there are limitations.

Housing and infrastructure that surround an existing stadium, particularly in an inner city or residential area, can limit the scope of ambitious redevelopment.

Both Liverpool and Newcastle United have had difficulties expanding their grounds due to their close proximity to houses.

One stand at Luton Town can only be accessed through an entrance sandwiched between a long row of terraced housing. Fans pass through a tight corridor before climbing staircases overlooking gardens of neighbouring properties.

Singh points towards the way Fulham have redeveloped Craven Cottage in a residential part of west London and Everton’s new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock as good examples of stadiums that “fit into its place”.

He said: “Everton’s feels contextual. You know it’s on the dock and it has some nods to Goodison Park,” he told the BBC. “When you saw the images of the stadium, it looked like the sort of thing you would build there.”

In contrast, he thinks Man Utd have chosen to construct something striking that can’t be confused for any other stadium.

“It’s very much an iconic thing in itself,” he says. “They’re justifying that sort of design because of the trident.”

Singh adds: “I think nobody could say that the proposal for Old Trafford is like anything else. I think avoiding anonymity was probably a key consideration.”

Dite agrees, saying how much a stadium stands out in its local area is often something that has to be discussed with planners.

“Some buildings make the statement that ‘I want to be seen’ … I think Tottenham’s stadium does that and certainly the images we’ve seen this week from Manchester show it’s a statement – an iconic piece of architecture.”

He adds: “A lot of that is around the client’s appetite to make a statement.”

For Singh this goes hand in hand with a club’s wider ambitions around branding and what message it is trying to convey about itself.

“We’re in a world now where brand is so important … Anybody can support a team from anywhere – you can watch every single game on TV,” he says.

“It’s a global marketplace now and so clubs are competing, you know, all over the world for fans and their attention. So they have an identity in mind and, of course, their stadium is a huge part of that.”

Club greats and the local mayor hail the project as giving the club the world-leading stadium it deserves.

Some fans are stunned by this exciting look into the future while others feel it looks like a generic entertainment venue devoid of local connection.

Fans of rival clubs have commented it looks like a circus tent, a fitting reflection of the woes suffered by the Premier League’s most valuable team – they are 15th in the table.

For Dite, as much as modern stadium design now includes acoustic considerations and brand messaging, the core tenets have long been the same.

“It is not wildly different from when the Colosseum was built 2,000 years ago”, he says. “That spectators are really participants who want to be part of something bigger than themselves.

“You know what it’s like, when it’s the last five minutes of a close game, everyone gets behind the team.

“It becomes a collective experience. You’re not watching the action, you’re in it.”

Russia will seek guarantees that Nato will exclude Ukraine from membership and that Ukraine will remain neutral in any peace deal, a Russian deputy foreign minister said.

“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Alexander Grushko told Russian media outlet Izvestia.

“Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of Nato countries to accept it into the alliance,” he said.

It comes as US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to speak in the coming days, as talks continue over a possible ceasefire in the three-year war in Ukraine.

The US and Ukraine have agreed to propose a 30-day ceasefire to Russia.

While Putin said that he supported a ceasefire, he also set out a list of tough conditions for achieving peace.

One of the areas of contention is Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a military incursion last August and captured some territory.

Putin has claimed Russia is fully back in control of Kursk, and said Ukrainian troops there “have been isolated”.

He has also raised numerous questions about how a ceasefire could be monitored and policed along the frontline in the east.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Putin of trying to “sabotage” diplomatic efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire.

US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow, told CNN that he expected that “there will be a call” between Trump and Putin “this week”.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, on “day one” of a new administration.

Less than a month after he was inaugurated, Trump had call with Putin that reportedly spanned 90 minutes about immediately starting negotiations on ending the war.

Witkoff declined to answer a question on how Russian-occupied land in Ukraine could be addressed in a potential deal. Russia currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine.

Police have detained 15 people after a fire at an nightclub in North Macedonia killed at least 59 people, officials have said.

The blaze broke out around 02:30 local time (01:30 GMT) on Sunday at the Pulse club in Kocani, where about 500 people had gathered for a concert by DNK, a popular hip-hop duo in the country.

Only one member of the band survived and was being treated in hospital, a spokesman for the public prosecutors office told the BBC’s Newshour. In total, 155 were injured at the concert.

Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said the detainees will be questioned, adding that there are “grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption” linked to the fire.

He said that the venue did not have a legal licence to operate.

The venue, in a town around 100km (60 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, has been described as an “improvised nightclub” in the local press, having previously been a carpet warehouse.

Ms Arsovska said there had been only “one efficient exit” in the building, as the venue’s back door was locked and could not be used.

The first on-site inspections on Sunday had also showed several “abnormalities” in the venue. “There are deficiencies in the system for fire-extinguishing and the system for lightning,” she said.

Citing initial reports, Toskovski said the fire had been started by sparks from pyrotechnic devices that had hit the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material.

Footage shows the band – which formed in 2002 and has topped the North Macedonian charts over the past decade – playing on stage when two flares go off, after which sparks catch fire on the ceiling before spreading rapidly.

Video verified by the BBC shows people trying to extinguish the flames on the ceiling. The footage shows the club was still full and some people appeared to be watching efforts to put out the fire rather than leaving.

Reports suggest the fact there was only a single entry and exit point to the improvised nightclub caused panic.

Marija Taseva, 20, told Channel 5 TV she was caught in a crush at the club as people rushed for the exits. She recalled falling to the ground and being trampled during the chaos before managing to get out.

“I don’t know how, but somehow I managed to get out,” she told the Reuters news agency. “I’m fine now, but there are many dead.”

She added that her 25-year-old sister – who her family had previously been searching for – had died, saying: “I was saved and she wasn’t.”

Red Cross volunteer Mustafa Saidov said most of those affected were young people aged 18 to 20. Officials say more than 20 of the injured and three of those killed were under 18.

“The situation is brutal, chaotic, the stories are very sad, and unfortunately many young lives are lost,” Mr Saidov added.

Dr Vladislav Gruev, a specialist in reconstructive and plastic surgery at the University Clinic for Surgical Diseases in the capital, told the BBC most of the patients being treated at his hospital arrived with extensive burns.

“[They have] second and third degree burns in the head, neck and upper torso,” he said.

Kocani’s hospital director earlier said that staff had initially been struggling to identify patients due to a lack of ID cards. Eighteen patients were assessed as being in a critical condition.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski called it a “difficult and very sad day” for the country, which had lost many “young lives”.

The government has declared seven days of national mourning, and the government is holding an emergency session as part of ongoing investigations on how the incident unfolded.

North Macedonia’s President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, said she was shocked “as a mother, as a person, as a president”. Addressing the bereaved directly, she added: “Your immense pain is mine too.”

“No business or activity can function without standards and rules,” she wrote in a statement. “Let us not allow anyone to endanger the lives of innocent people again.”

Siljanovska-Davkova added that the most seriously injured were being taken to received treatment in specialist clinics in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey.

European leaders have voiced their condolences, with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen saying the EU “stands in solidarity with the people of North Macedonia in this difficult time”.

Neighbouring Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called it “a tragedy of immense magnitude”, adding that fears remain as “many more people will not be able to withstand the level of injuries they have at this moment”.

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More than 200 Venezuelans alleged by the White House to be gang members have been deported from the US to a supermax prison in El Salvador, even as a US judge blocked the removals.

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele wrote on social media that 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had arrived in the Central American country, along with 23 members of the international MS-13 gang, on Sunday morning.

Neither the US government nor El Salvador has identified the detainees, nor provided details of their alleged criminality or gang membership.

A federal judge’s order prevented the Trump administration from invoking a centuries-old wartime law to justify some of the deportations, but the flights had already departed.

“Oopsie… Too late,” posted Bukele on social media, referring to the judge’s ruling.

A video attached to one of his posts shows lines of people with their hands and feet shackled being escorted by armed officials from the planes.

• What is Tren de Aragua?

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the court ruling had been violated.

“The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order,” she said.

“The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from US territory.”

US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he had signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as he accused Tren de Aragua of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States”.

He said members of the gang would be deported for engaging in “irregular warfare” against the US. The Alien Enemies Act was last used during World War Two to intern Japanese-American civilians.

On Saturday evening, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington DC ordered a 14-day halt to deportations covered by Trump’s proclamation, pending further legal arguments.

After lawyers told him that planes with deportees had already taken off, Judge Boasberg gave a verbal order for the flights to turn back, US media reported, although that directive did not form part of his written ruling.

The written notice appeared in the case docket at 19:25 EDT on Saturday (00:25 GMT on Sunday), the Reuters news agency reports, although it is unclear when the flights carrying the alleged gang members departed from the US.

In a court filing on Sunday, Department of Justice lawyers said the order had not applied because the deportees “had already been removed from United States territory”.

A senior administration official told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that 261 people were deported on Saturday, 137 of whom were removed under the Alien Enemies Act over alleged gang ties.

The justice department has appealed against the judge’s ruling.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which was involved in the lawsuit against the Trump administration, said the court’s order may have been violated.

The case raises constitutional questions since, under the US system of checks and balances, government agencies are expected to comply with a federal judge’s ruling.

Venezuela criticised Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act, saying it “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration” and “evokes the darkest episodes in the history of humanity, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps”.

Rights groups condemned Trump, accusing him of using a 227-year-old law to circumvent due process.

Amnesty International USA wrote on X that the deportations were “yet another example of the Trump administration’s racist targeting” of Venezuelans “based on sweeping claims of gang affiliation”.

President Bukele, a Trump ally, wrote that the detainees were immediately transferred to El Salvador’s notorious mega-jail, the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot).

The El Salvadoran president said they would be held there “for a period of one year”, and that could be “renewable”.

El Salvador’s Cecot jail is part of Bukele’s effort to crack down on the country’s organised crime.

The newly built maximum-security facility, which can hold up to 40,000 people, has been accused by human rights groups of mistreating inmates.

The arrangement between the US and El Salvador is a sign of strengthening diplomatic ties.

El Salvador was the second country that Rubio visited as the US’s top diplomat.

During that trip, which took place in February, Bukele made an initial offer to take US deportees, saying it would help pay for the massive Cecot facility.

The latest deportations under Trump’s second term are part of the president’s long-running campaign against illegal immigration in the US.

In January, Trump signed an executive order declaring Tren de Aragua and MS-13 foreign terrorist organisations.

He won over voters on the campaign trail, in part, by promising to enact the largest deportation operation in US history.

While illegal border crossings have plummeted to the lowest number in decades since Trump took office, the Republican president has reportedly been frustrated by the relatively slow pace of deportations so far.

Marija Taseva was enjoying a night out with her sister at the Pulse club in Kocani, North Macedonia, on Saturday when disaster struck.

They were watching DNK, a popular hip-hop duo in the country, when a fire broke out, which killed at least 59 people and injured 155 others.

“Everyone started screaming and shouting ‘get out, get out!'” the 19-year-old told Reuters.

People desperately tried to escape the flames but there was only one exit for around 500 people, as the only other door at the back of the venue was locked.

“I don’t know how but I ended up on the ground, I couldn’t get up and at that moment people started stomping on me,” Ms Taseva said.

She eventually managed to get to safety, but her sister did not.

“My sister died. I was saved and she wasn’t.”

Police have detained 15 people, with Interior Minister Pance Toskovski saying that there are “grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption” linked to the fire.

The fire started around 02:30 local time (01:30 GMT) on Sunday when sparks from pyrotechnic devices hit the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material, Toskovski said.

Described as an “improvised nightclub” by the local press, the venue, located in a town around 100km (60 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, did not have a legal licence to operate, Toskovski said.

It had previously been a carpet warehouse, and police are investigating.

“Most of the dead suffered injuries from the stampede that occurred in the panic while trying to exit,” the head of the Kocani hospital, Kristina Serafimovska, told reporters.

“Seventy of the patients have burns and carbon monoxide poisoning,” she said, according to AFP news agency.

Vladislav Gruev, a specialist in reconstructive and plastic surgery at the University Clinic for Surgical Diseases, has been treating survivors.

“Most of them have extensive burn injuries, above 18% surface body area, second and third degree burns on the head, neck, upper torso, and upper limbs – hands and fingers,” he said.

Inspections on Sunday showed several “abnormalities” in the venue, including “deficiencies” in the fire-extinguishing and lighting system, said public prosecutor’s office spokesman Biljana Arsovska.

Speaking outside the hospital, Red Cross volunteer Mustafa Saidov said the majority of those who died were young people.

“Inside where they are identifying the victims, the situation is far worse. You see that the parents are also quite young people, in their 40s. Their children are 18 or 20 years old.”

“The situation is brutal, chaotic, the stories are very sad, and unfortunately many young lives are lost.”

One man, whose nephew was injured in the fire, said some people have been unable to locate their children.

Many are angry and searching for answers, like Dragi Stojanov, who lost his only child in the fire.

“Let me tell you in front of everybody. Film me. I am a dead man, I lost everything… the whole of Europe should know,” he told reporters.

“After this tragedy, what do I need this life for? I don’t need it.

“I had one child and I lost him.”

North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said there needed to be accountability for what happened.

“None of the responsible this time should avoid the law, the justice and punishment too,” she said.

“Nothing is worthier than human life, specifically young life.”

The most seriously injured were being taken for treatment in specialist clinics in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey, she added.

The government has declared seven days of national mourning, and it will hold an emergency session as part of ongoing investigations into how the incident unfolded.

US President Donald Trump has signed an order to strip back federally funded news organisation Voice of America, accusing it of being “anti-Trump” and “radical”.

A White House statement said the order would “ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda”, and included quotes from politicians and right-wing media criticising the broadcaster.

VOA, still primarily a radio service, was set up during World War Two to counter Nazi propaganda. It says it currently reaches hundreds of millions of people globally each week.

Mike Abramowitz, VOA’s director, said he and virtually his entire staff of 1,300 people had been put on paid leave.

Abramowitz said that the order left VOA unable to carry out its “vital mission… especially critical today, when America’s adversaries, like Iran, China, and Russia, are sinking billions of dollars into creating false narratives to discredit the United States”.

The National Press Club, a leading representative group for US journalists, said the order “undermines America’s long-standing commitment to a free and independent press”.

It added: “If an entire newsroom can be sidelined overnight, what does that say about the state of press freedom?

“An entire institution is being dismantled piece by piece. This isn’t just a staffing decision – it’s a fundamental shift that endangers the future of independent journalism at VOA.”

The president’s order targets VOA’s parent company US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which also funds non-profit entities such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, which were originally set up to counter communism.

It tells managers to “reduce performance… to the minimum presence and function required by law”.

CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, said that VOA employees were notified in an email by Crystal Thomas, the USAGM human resources director.

A source told CBS that all freelance workers and international contractors were told there was now no money to pay them.

Emails obtained by CBS notified the bosses of Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that their federal grants had been terminated.

VOA and other stations under USAGM say they serve more than 400 million listeners. They are broadly equivalent to the BBC World Service, which is part-funded by the British government.

The Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister, Jan Lipavský, said he hoped the European Union could help keep Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty running in Prague.

He said he would ask European foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday to find ways to at least partially maintain the broadcaster’s operations.

Elon Musk, the billionaire and top adviser to Trump who has been overseeing sweeping cuts to the US government, has used his social media platform X to call for VOA to be shut down.

The US president also cut funding to several other federal agencies – including those responsible for preventing homelessness, and funding museums and libraries.

Trump was highly critical of VOA in his first term. He has recently appointed staunch loyalist Kari Lake to be a special adviser for the USAGM.

The president regularly states that mainstream media outlets are biased against him. He called CNN and MSNBC “corrupt” during a speech at the justice department.

Voice of America launched in 1942 with a mandate to combat Nazi and Japanese propaganda. Its first broadcast – made on a transmitter loaned to the US by the BBC – stated a modest purpose.

Gerald Ford, a former president, signed VOA’s public charter in 1976 to safeguard its editorial independence.

By 1994, the Broadcast Board of Governors, with oversight over non-military broadcasting, was established.

In 2013, a shift in legislation allowed VOA and affiliates to begin broadcasting in the US.

The dramatic political developments in Bangladesh that led to prime minister Sheikh Hasina being ousted last year have thrown up many surprises – including Dhaka’s growing closeness with one-time foe Pakistan.

Last month, after decades of troubled relations, the two countries began directly trading for the first time, with Dhaka importing 50,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan. Direct flights and military contacts have also been revived, visa procedures have been simplified, and there are reports of co-operation on security matters.

The countries – separated by the landmass of India – have deep, painful historical ties. The animosity between them goes back to 1971, when Bangladesh – then known as East Pakistan – launched a struggle to gain independence from Islamabad. India supported the Bengali rebels during the nine-month war which led to the formation of Bangladesh.

While the scars from that period run deep, Dhaka had cordial relations with Islamabad between 2001 and 2006, when a coalition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami governed the country.

This changed during Hasina’s 15-year rule from 2009 – when she was strongly backed by Delhi and maintained a distance from Pakistan. But after she fled to India following mass protests against her government, ties seem to be thawing.

“For the past 15 years, the Pakistan-Bangladesh relationship was on a slightly difficult trajectory,” says Humayun Kabir, a former senior Bangladeshi diplomat, adding that the relationship seems to now be returning to that of “two normal neighbours”.

The developments are being watched closely, particularly in India, which has a long history of hostile relations with Pakistan.

Relations between Dhaka and Delhi have been frosty since Hasina’s exit. India has not reacted to Bangladesh’s demands to extradite her to face charges of crimes against humanity, money laundering and corruption. Hasina denies the accusations against her.

Some experts think the reviving of relations between Dhaka and Islamabad is a strategic move.

“Pakistan and Bangladesh have a tactical relationship at the moment. Together, they want to represent a pushback against the dominance of India,” says Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani academic who is a senior fellow at King’s College in London.

There have been other developments apart from starting direct trade.

Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim Bangladesh government, met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at multilateral forums several times in recent months.

And then there is a growing military relationship.

A high-level Bangladeshi military delegation made a rare visit to Pakistan in January and held talks with influential army chief General Asim Munir. The Bangladeshi navy also participated in a multinational maritime exercise organised by Pakistan off the Karachi coast in February. .

Veena Sikri, who was India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh between 2003 and 2006, describes the growing closeness between Dhaka and Islamabad as a “déjà vu” moment.

During her tenure in Dhaka, she said, India repeatedly raised the issue of “Indian insurgents getting trained inside Bangladesh with the support of the ISI [Pakistan’s intelligence agency] and a section of the Bangladeshi military”.

“We even provided evidence to Bangladeshi authorities,” she said.

Authorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh denied these allegations at the time.

The long, porous border between India and Bangladesh makes it relatively easy for armed insurgent groups from India’s north-eastern states to cross over from Bangladesh. But, after Hasina’s Awami League came to power in 2009, it cracked down on these groups and dismantled their bases.

So the revival of military ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan is “a major security concern for India”, says Ms Sikri.

“It’s not just the military relationship. The Pakistani establishment is also reviving ties with Bangladeshi Islamist parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami, which supported Islamabad during Bangladesh’s independence war,” she adds.

The Yunus administration’s press office has flatly rejected Indian media reports that senior ISI officials have visited Dhaka. It has also described reports that claim Pakistani operatives were working to reopen a camp of an Indian insurgent group in Bangladesh as “baseless”.

Pakistan’s military did not respond to BBC questions on India’s concerns over the future role of the ISI in Bangladesh.

Analysts say Bangladeshi politicians are aware that, given the close economic and linguistic ties, Dhaka cannot afford to take an anti-India stance.

And despite apprehensions in Delhi, Bangladeshi diplomats argue that ties with Pakistan cannot be normalised unless issues related to the 1971 war are resolved.

During the war, hundreds of thousands of Bengalis were killed and tens of thousands of women were raped. The war ended with more than 90,000 Pakistani security and civilian personnel surrendering to the joint command of Indian and Bangladeshi forces in what is seen as a humiliating chapter in Islamabad.

Bangladesh has demanded a formal apology from Pakistan for the atrocities committed during the war but Islamabad has shown no inclination to do so.

“Pakistan needs to own the crimes that had taken place during the independence war,” said Mr Kabir, the former Bangladeshi diplomat. “We had also raised the issue of the division of pre-1971 assets between the two nations in several bilateral meetings with Pakistan.”

Even former Pakistani military officers like Ikram Sehgal accept that “the main stumbling block in bilateral ties is the requirement of the Bangladeshis that Pakistanis should apologise for what happened in 1971”.

However, the retired Pakistan army major insists that Bangladesh should also address the issue of attacks by Bengalis on Urdu speakers during the struggle for independence.

“I was a witness to the atrocities that took place against the Urdu-speaking Bihari people [in East Pakistan],” Mr Sehgal, who now lives in Karachi, told the BBC.

While history casts a shadow over ties between Dhaka and Islamabad, economists point out the two countries can first focus on improving bilateral trade, which currently stands at less than $700m (£540m), mostly in favour of Pakistan.

“Pakistan’s more than 250 million population is a solid market for Bangladesh in the medium to long term,” says Sabrin Beg, an associate professor of economics at the University of Delaware.

Currently, there are constraints including high tariffs on both sides and businesses and exporters face visa and travel obstacles, she points out. However, Ms Beg says “improved bilateral political and trade relations will ease these constraints”.

Some of these issues may be discussed during Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar’s visit to Dhaka in April. By the end of the year Bangladesh is expected to hold general elections and a new government may have a different set of foreign policy priorities.

But, whatever happens, the stakes are high for Delhi, which strongly feels that a stable and friendly Bangladesh is necessary to maintain peace and stability in its north-eastern states.

The death toll from US strikes on Yemen has risen to 53, including five children, the Houthi rebels’ health ministry said.

The US said it launched a “decisive and powerful” wave of air strikes on Houthi targets on Saturday, with President Donald Trump citing Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea as the reason.

Washington said some key Houthi figures were among the dead, but the group has not confirmed this.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that his militants would target US ships in the Red Sea as long as the US continues its attacks on Yemen.

Updating an earlier death toll, Houthi health ministry spokesperson Anis al-Asbahi posted on X that 53 people had been killed including “five children and two women”, and that 98 people had been wounded.

One father of two, who gave his name as Ahmed, told the AFP news agency: “I’ve been living in Sanaa for 10 years, hearing shelling throughout the war. By God, I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

The Houthis also said there were fresh US strikes targeting them in Al Jaouf and Hudaydah early on Monday. The US is yet to comment.

US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out”.

He told Fox News: “We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough.”

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed an “unrelenting” missile campaign until the Houthi attacks stop.

“I want to be very clear, this campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence,” Hegseth said in a televised Fox Business interview.

The Houthis said it would continue to target Red Sea shipping until Israel lifted its blockade of Gaza, and that its forces would respond to the strikes.

The Iranian-backed rebel group, which considers Israel its enemy, controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen, but it is not the country’s internationally-recognised government.

The Houthis have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.

Announcing Saturday’s strikes, Trump said “we will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective”.

“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies,” Trump said on social media, adding that their “piracy, violence, and terrorism” had cost “billions” and put lives at risk.

Addressing the Houthis directly, Trump wrote that if they did not stop, “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE”.

But the Houthis have been unwavering in their response, saying the aggression would not diminish their support for Palestinians.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy”.

“End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism,” he posted on X on Sunday. “Stop killing of Yemeni people.”

The Houthis have claimed responsibility, without offering evidence, for two attacks on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and several American warships in the Red Sea, calling it retaliation for US strikes.

But a US official told Reuters news agency that US warplanes shot down 11 Houthi drones on Sunday, none of which came close to the Truman. The US is yet to respond to the second claim of such a strike.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for “utmost restraint and a cessation of all military activities” in Yemen.

Two European politicians, dressed symbolically in red and white, sent a message last week to Canada on social media declaring “we’ve got your back”.

Also signalling support was King Charles, who planted a red maple tree on the grounds of Buckingham Palace and wore his Canadian medals during a high profile visit to a naval warship.

When Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney goes on his first foreign visit to Paris and London on Monday – a day after his 60th birthday – he’s hoping to achieve more than symbolic encouragement. He wants solid support from allies.

Not only is Canada being targeted, like Europe, by a raft of swinging US tariffs, but Donald Trump is making it clear he wants to take over his northern neighbour.

“We appreciate all the symbolic gestures but we need more public backing,” a Canadian official told me in a voice which underlined the nervous disbelief shared by most Canadians – Trump is not joking when he calls Canada the United State’s “51st state”.

The official messaging from Ottawa about Carney’s trip, which starts on Monday, underlines his priorities – finance and fortifying security – a natural fit for the economist who headed the Central Bank in Canada and Britain. A statement from his office said his visit is meant “to strengthen two of our closest and longest-standing economic and security partnerships”.

His itinerary is full of great symbolism too.

Carney revealed it on Friday during his first speech as prime minister when he hearkened back – with a shiny polish – to the origins of this former colony. He hailed “the wonder of a country built on the bedrock of three peoples: indigenous, French and British”.

So there’s a third destination on this whistle-stop tour – Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s northernmost territory of Nunavut and homeland of its Inuit people. That stop, the statement emphasised, was to “reaffirm Canada’s Arctic security and sovereignty”.

Spectacular Arctic and northern terrain makes up 40% of the land mass of the world’s second largest country. Protecting it is a critical Canadian concern in the midst of intensifying rivalry among world powers in the Arctic region, which has drawn in the US, Russia, China and more; it’s the cold war of all cold wars.

And there’s a personal twist. Carney was born in the small town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, which lies next to Nunavut.

His schedule underlines that he also needs to be a quick study in a new skill – retail politics. A federal election, which has to be held by October, is expected to be called very soon. Carney needs to prove that he can engage with voters, in English and French, as naturally as he does with bankers and finance bosses.

And he needs a proper political mandate. He secured a whopping 86% of the vote when his Liberal Party chose to replace Justin Trudeau, who stepped down as prime minister amid growing calls to resign from his own party after a decade at the top.

But Carney doesn’t have a seat in parliament; he still doesn’t have the vote of Canadians.

His Liberal party has just experienced a dramatic reversal, a “Trump bump” as well as a Trudeau one. The party which seemed certain to lose, and lose badly, is now tied with its main Conservative rivals in the polls.

Looking like a world leader, and understanding the world of tariffs and trade, is a good look when you are running for high office in the dark shadow of an external threat.

“I think part of the purpose of Mark Carney’s trip to Europe is to show that he can talk internationally to other like-minded powers at this very important moment,” reflects the eminent Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan.

Back home, voters will decide if that is what counts.

Carney is certain to talk Trump tactics, in private, with France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. They’ve both taken great pains to flatter the US president in public, and press their case behind closed doors.

Many will be watching to see how Trump addresses Mark Carney – he recently referred to Canada’s former prime minister as “Governor Trudeau”.

• Watch: Trump and Macron’s history of intense handshakes

Canada’s new top talker has been talking tough.

A week ago, when Carney won his party’s leadership contest, he invoked Canada’s national sport, ice hockey, which has long been locked in rivalry with US teams. “Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” Carney declared to rousing applause.

“Make no mistake, Canada will win.”

But everyone knows this is no game. Carney described this escalating trade war as “the greatest crisis of our lifetime”. More than 80% of Canada’s exports cross the border to the US.

And while there have been a few reports of Canadians flying the US flag, a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute underlined that a thumping 91% of Canadians reject becoming the 51st state.

• Canada says too little, too late as Trump flip-flops on tariffs

On Friday, in Ottawa’s icy cold weather, Carney struck a warmer tone, highlighting how he and Trump share a background in business, including real estate.

“The president is a successful businessperson and dealmaker. We are his largest client in so many industries,” he remarked. “Clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way.”

Carney says he “looks forward” to speaking with President Trump. But the fact it will be a call, not a visit, is a measure of this moment. Traditionally, the first foreign visit of a Canadian leader is to the US – its closest neighbour and most trusted partner.

On Monday, Carney is expected to sit down with King Charles, Canada’s head of state. The British monarch recently expressed his “deepest affection” for Canada, and is said to have already penned a private leader to the new prime minister.

In his non-political role, showing love in public may be the limits of the King’s power. But even that sends a message to the American president.

Sir Keir has described Canada as “an ally, and a very important ally too”. But last week, the head of Britain’s Liberal Democrats Ed Davey called on him to show more public support for Canada to oppose the “shocking attacks” on its sovereignty.

This may be a week of that old adage in diplomacy and politics – “to do something and be seen to be doing it”.

Across the globe more and more Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are being spotted on – and off – the roads.

This is despite predictions from the United Nations of an inevitable pivot towards smaller and more environmentally friendly vehicles because of the urgency of the climate crisis and the rising cost of living.

That pivot has not materialised: globally, 54% of the cars sold in 2024 were SUVs, including petrol, diesel, hybrids and electric makes. This is an increase of three percentage points from 2023 and five percentage points from the year before, according to GlobalData.

Of the SUVs which are now on the road – both new and older models – 95% are burning fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Manufacturers, however, say their new fleets of such cars are increasingly becoming electric, and that not all SUVs now being sold cause an increase in emissions.

SUVs are hard to miss. They are heavy and larger with spacious interiors, higher ground clearance and a high driving position with a better view of the road, although smaller versions are also on the market.

Environmental campaigners such as Greenpeace see SUVs as one of the villains of the climate crisis and argue that their manufacturing consumes significant resources given their size.

Experts also say they require larger batteries to power their electric versions, which then further increases the demand for critical minerals, putting even more pressure on the planet.

Momentum was thought to be with smaller, energy-efficient electric vehicles. But the sales of standard-sized electric vehicles (EVs) has actually decreased in major markets such as Japan and Germany, and their sales growth has slowed in India.

And in Europe, sales of SUVs have outpaced those of EVs despite indications more than half a decade ago of an opposite trend. In Europe in 2018, 3.27 million small hatchbacks – both those powered by fossil fuels and those by electricity – were sold while 2.13 million were sold in 2024, according to GlobalData.

Its sales forecast manager Sammy Chan said: “This is partly because of the SUV alternatives being offered in smaller [sizes] whose sales in Europe have now grown to nearly to 2.5 million in 2024 from 1.5 million in 2018.”

China saw the largest sales of nearly 11.6 million SUVs in 2024 followed by the US, India and Germany, according to GlobalData.

Industry experts say people’s purchasing power has been improving in many fast-emerging economies, making SUVs the likelier choice of car.

“Manufacturers respond to consumer demand and, increasingly, drivers are attracted to dual purpose vehicles given their practicality, comfort and good view of the road,” said Mike Hawes who is the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Automobile industry analysts also say that manufacturers are attracted to high profit margins from SUVs: they can make more money from SUVs even though they make fewer vehicles.

“It is the industry that has driven the demand through huge marketing and advertising campaigns in recent years,” said Dudley Curtis, the communications manager at the European Transport Safety Council.

“SUVs offered the industry a simple way of charging more for a vehicle that does the same thing [as others],” he said.

Because of the robust growth in SUVs sales, the IEA says oil consumption of these vehicles has increased by 600,000 barrels per day globally between 2022 and 2023, accounting for more than a quarter of the total annual rise in global oil demand.

“If ranked among countries, the global fleet of SUVs would be the world’s fifth largest emitter of CO2, exceeding the emissions of Japan and various other major economies,” said Apostolous Petropolous, an energy modeller with the IEA.

The agency says that even when compared to medium-sized cars that run on petrol and diesel, SUVs burn 20% more of such fuels as they weigh up to 300 kg more on average.

In fact, road transport is responsible for more than 12% of global carbon emissions which is the main driver of global warming. Scientists say all sectors must rapidly decarbonise if we are to avoid a climate catastrophe.

But industry representatives say in response that not all SUVs now being sold cause an increase in emissions.

“Around two in five of these [new] vehicle models are zero emission as their body type lends itself well to electrification with longer battery range that can reassure consumers concerned about charging accessibility,” said Hawes, from the SMMT.

“This has led to the average CO2 emissions of new dual purpose cars more than halving since 2000, helping the segment lead the decarbonisation of UK road mobility.”

Although the vast majority of new SUVs still burn fossil fuels, IEA officials have said that over 20% of SUVs sold in 2023 were fully electric, up from 2% in 2018.

As for hybrids that can run on both electricity and fossil fuels, a study in Europe by the International Council on Clean Transportation in 2022 found only around 30% of the total distance driven by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (all types including SUVs) was in electric mode on average.

Similar results were found in other major economies such as the US and China.

Overall, the back-gear towards SUVs, some experts say, has caused a significant setback in the decarbonisation of transport sector.

“The trend toward heavier and less efficient vehicles such as SUVs (in countries where it is happening) has largely nullified the improvements in energy consumption and emissions achieved elsewhere in the world’s passenger car fleet,” said the IEA.

The UK Parliament’s climate change committee had a similar finding in its 2024 report on decarbonisation in the country.

Bereaved families are calling on the online regulator Ofcom to shut down a “vile” website which promotes videos of the deaths of their loved ones.

The website, which we are not naming, has more than three million members and contains thousands of graphic photos and videos of real-life killings and suicides as well as executions carried out by extremists. Past members include those who have gone on to commit school shootings and murders, the BBC can reveal.

From Monday, Ofcom gets new powers to crack down on illegal content, but it may not be enough to close the site.

The site’s admin team have said they would give their “full attention” to any Ofcom requests.

Under the Online Safety Act, the regulator can now take action over illegal content and that includes videos promoting terrorism or banned extremist groups.

All websites will now have to show they have systems in place to remove illegal material. If they fail to do so, the regulator can get court orders to block platforms or impose fines of up to £18m.

And from the summer all sites must have robust age verification systems to prevent children accessing a range of content.

But critics believe the legislation itself is weak and that Ofcom is not being robust enough in how it plans to police sites.

Mike Haines’ brother David was murdered by members of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria in 2014. The full uncensored video of his killing is on the site.

Mr Haines says the website is “vile” and describes the content on it as “horrifying”. He points out there is no effective age verification and worries about the impact on children.

“It’s like a drug,” he says, “once you’ve had your first taste, you want another taste.

“So you want to see more, and it becomes more violent and more graphic and more disgusting”.

David Haines’ daughter, Bethany, says the comments on the videos are horrendous. “For years I have been trying to keep track and report sites such as this one. I have a fear that my son will one day see the video of his grandfather.”

Mr Haines says the authorities must act now. “Every second that we delay in shutting this site down, we are endangering our youth.”

Ofcom has spent the past 18 months since the Online Safety Act was passed drawing up the codes of practice that platforms have to follow.

The regulator can now start to exercise its powers to investigate and fine platforms for hosting illegal material.

Videos on the website are categorised into groups, which include executions by extremist groups as well as people being burned alive, decapitated by passing cars and crushed by trains.

Although violent and distressing, not all videos on the site would be deemed illegal.

Experts are concerned that viewing such content normalises extreme violence and helps in the radicalisation of young people.

BBC research into user names on the site has also identified a number of known online extremists, including two people who recently carried out school shootings in the US.

Last December, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow killed two and injured six at her conservative Christian school, in Madison, Wisconsin.

And in January, 17-year-old Solomon Henderson opened fire in a school cafeteria in Antioch, Tennessee, killing one student and injuring another before turning the gun on himself.

Both were members of the website, which offers a “school shooting compilation” video.

In the UK, it’s known that Nicholas Prosper, 19, who pleaded guilty to killing his mother and two siblings, was also a member of the site.

When he was arrested by police in September last year a shotgun and 30 cartridges were found nearby. It’s thought he was planning to carry out an attack at his old primary school in Luton.

Prosper had an interest in mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, one of the most infamous massacres in the US.

Dr Olivia Brown, who studies radicalisation and extremism at the University of Bath, says repeated viewing of these kinds of videos, especially school shootings, desensitises users.

“What might have seemed like an impossible solution to what someone might be feeling, would then become something that might feel like a viable option,” she says.

The site is also deeply distressing for grieving families.

A video of base jumper Nathan Odinson has been put in the “falling” category of the website by site administrators.

The 33-year-old from Cambridgeshire was an experienced skydiver, but died when his parachute failed to open after jumping from a 29-storey tower in Pattaya, Thailand, last year.

A Thai friend was filming at the time and the video was posted first on local social media.

“Nathan was a family member that we loved,” said his brother Ed Harrison.

“I found it amazing, literally, that people could be so half-witted as to share that video. I don’t suppose these forum members have such thoughts in respect to their own family members.”

Another video on the site shows Ian Price who died in hospital after he was attacked by two XL Bullies in September 2023.

From today Ofcom says platforms must have systems in place to remove illegal content.

“We won’t hesitate to take enforcement action where necessary against platforms that fall short.”

The challenge for Ofcom is that the death website is hosted in the US and its owner and administrators remain anonymous.

Ofcom told us “this content is deeply disturbing”.

In a statement, the website’s admin team said it “routinely receives reports from many government agencies and industry watchdogs”.

It said any reports from Ofcom “will have our full attention”.