Indian lawmakers are debating a controversial bill that seeks to change how properties worth billions of dollars donated by Indian Muslims over centuries are governed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has presented the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 – which brings in dozens of amendments to an existing law – in the lower house of parliament, where it is being discussed.

The government says the bill will introduce transparency into the management of waqf, as the properties are called.

But opposition parties and Muslim groups have opposed it, calling it an attempt to weaken the constitutional rights of India’s largest religious minority.

The bill was first tabled in parliament in August last year but was sent to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) after an outcry from opposition members.

Reports say the version presented on Wednesday by federal Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju incorporates 25 changes suggested by the sharply divided committee that included opposition members.

The bill will be passed in the Lok Sabha, or lower house, if it gets more votes than the halfway mark of 272.

Most opposition parties including the Congress are expected to vote against the bill. But the coalition led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to have enough numbers to get it passed, barring a major surprise. It will then be sent to the Rajya Sabha, or upper house, for discussion and passage.

If it is passed by both houses of parliament, it will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent before it becomes law.

• Why Muslims in India are opposing changes to a property law

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MP and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the opposition was united and would work to defeat “the unconstitutional and divisive agenda of the Modi government on the Waqf Amendment Bill”.

Muslim groups have argued that the bill “aims to weaken the waqf laws and pave the way for the seizure and destruction of waqf properties”.

Moving the bill in parliament on Wednesday, Rijiju accused the opposition of spreading rumours that the bill would take away the rights of Muslims.

“The Waqf (Amendment) Bill that we have introduced includes several recommendations from the JPC, which we have accepted and incorporated into this bill,” he said.

But opposition members have alleged that the JPC accepted the changes suggested by the BJP and its allies while rejecting all amendments they proposed.

The waqf properties, which include mosques, madrassas, shelter homes and thousands of acres of land donated by Muslims, are managed by boards. Some of these properties are vacant while others have been encroached upon.

In Islamic tradition, a waqf is a charitable or religious donation made by Muslims for the benefit of the community. Such properties cannot be sold or used for any other purpose – which implies that waqf properties belong to God.

The government says that the waqf boards are among India’s largest landholders. There are at least 872,351 waqf properties across India, spanning more than 940,000 acres, with an estimated value of 1.2 trillion rupees ($14.22bn; £11.26bn).

A major criticism from opponents of the bill is that it grants the government undue power to regulate the management of these endowments and determine whether a property qualifies as “waqf”.

The bill also proposes the induction of two non-Muslim members on the waqf boards which oversee these properties. Critics have opposed this provision, arguing that most religious institutions run by non-Muslims do not permit followers of other faiths in their administration.

Myanmar’s military has announced a temporary ceasefire to speed up relief and reconstruction efforts following last week’s devastating earthquake.

In a statement, the ruling junta’s State Administration Council said the deal would be in effect from 2 April to 22 April.

Earlier this week, rebel groups fighting the military unilaterally declared a ceasefire to support relief efforts – the military had refused to do the same until Wednesday’s announcement.

At least 2,886 people are now known to have been killed after the magnitude- 7.7 earthquake struck last Friday. Hundreds of people are still missing.

The earthquake was also felt hundreds of miles away in neighbouring countries like Thailand, where the death toll currently stands at 21.

Myanmar has been gripped by violence amid a civil war between the junta – which seized power in a 2021 coup – and ethnic militias and resistance forces across the country.

On Tuesday night, Myanmar’s military opened fire at a Chinese Red Cross convoy carrying earthquake relief supplies.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an armed rebel group, said that military troops shot at the convoy of nine vehicles with machine guns in eastern Shan State.

The convoy was en route to Mandalay, the hard-hit city near the epicentre of the earthquake. No injuries have been reported.

The junta, which said it was investigating the incident, denied shooting directly at the vehicles. It said troops fired shots into the air after the convoy did not stop, despite it being signalled to do so.

China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that its rescue team and supplies were safe, adding that it hoped “all factions and parties in Myanmar will prioritize earthquake relief efforts”.

Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis has worsened significantly after last week’s earthquake. The actual death toll is believed to be much higher than the official figures provided by the junta.

Multiple international aid agencies and foreign governments have dispatched personnel and supplies to quake-hit regions.

A military spokesperson on Wednesday said troops saw the aid convoy coming from Naungcho township on Tuesday night, with vehicles sporting Chinese stickers and Myanmar number plates, but had not been given prior notice of the vehicles’ movement.

“When we saw the convoy, we stopped it. But they continued. We opened fire from about 200m away, but they didn’t stop,” he said.

“At about 100m away, we fired three shots in the air, after which the vehicles turned back towards Naungcho.”

China’s Blue Sky Rescue Team, which has been providing rescue support in Mandalay, had been given a security cover when they travelled through this route, the spokesperson said.

He added that when international agencies want to give aid, they need to inform the Myanmar government.

The TNLA, which was escorting the Red Cross convoy, said they had informed the military council about going to Mandalay.

After retreating to Naungcho, they would be continuing their journey, the group said in a statement.

On Tuesday morning, Rajesh Nayak stepped outside the firecracker warehouse in India’s Gujarat state where he worked to drink water.

Some moments later, an explosion ripped through the building, killing 21 people, including Mr Nayak’s brother.

“Some of my other relatives have also died. I had come to work here only from Sunday,” a distraught Nayak, who is in hospital with minor injuries, said.

Most of the victims were from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh state and had recently come to work at the warehouse, located in an industrial estate in Banaskantha district in Gujarat.

Their families lived in huts close to the building and some of them were also killed from the force of the explosion. Banaskantha District Collector Mihir Patel told BBC Gujarati that the victims included four women and three children.

It’s not clear yet what caused the explosion, but officials are investigating if firecrackers were being manufactured illegally at the warehouse.

“Primary information has been received that the explosion took place when firecrackers were being made here,” said Mr Patel, the collector.

India has strict rules around firecracker production but these are often not enforced strongly on the ground. Accidents are regularly reported, especially at illegal factories.

The incident in Gujarat came a day after eight people were killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker factory hundreds of miles away in West Bengal state.

Police in Gujarat have arrested two men, owners of the warehouse, in connection with the explosion and are searching for one more person. A special investigation team has been set up to look into the incident.

Banaskantha district police chief Akshay Raj Makwana said a preliminary investigation showed that aluminium powder was stored in the building.

“This powder is non-explosive but flammable and easily available in the market. We are investigating the supply chain and how the accused sourced such material,” said Mr Makwana.

Mr Patel told reporters that the building had been registered as a warehouse for storing firecrackers, but its licence had expired in December. When a team went to inspect the area in March, he said, the building was empty.

When BBC Gujarati reached the area on Tuesday, the air smelt strongly of sulphur.

The explosion caused extensive damage, destroying the warehouse and a wall of the adjacent factory. Large concrete slabs were thrown up to 300ft away.

Mr Makwana, the police chief, said a slab in the building collapsed, trapping workers underneath.

The powerful blast also destroyed surrounding huts and killed some family members of the workers.

A sanitation worker told BBC Gujarati that he carried out four bodies on stretchers from the site. “My heart sank when I saw a child’s body,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is from Gujarat, has expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and announced financial assistance.

Deadly Israeli air strikes have been reported in Gaza, as Israel’s defence minister said its military would expand its offensive and seize large areas of the Palestinian territory – incorporating them into what he described as “security zones”.

Israel Katz said the expanded operation aimed to “destroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”, and would require a large-scale evacuation of Palestinians.

Later, at least 19 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed in a strike on a UN clinic sheltering displaced families in the northern town of Jabalia, the nearby Indonesian hospital said.

The Israeli military said it targeted “Hamas terrorists” hiding there.

Overnight strikes across Gaza killed at least 20 more people, according to local hospitals.

The Civil Defence said its first responders recovered the bodies of 12 people, including children and women, from a home in the southern Khan Younis area.

Rida al-Jabbour said a neighbour and her three-month-old baby were among the dead.

“From the moment the strike occurred we have not been able to sit or sleep or anything,” she told Reuters news agency.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

The Civil Defence said the strike in Jabalia later on Wednesday hit two rooms in a clinic run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) which was being used as a shelter.

Video verified by the BBC showed dozens of people and ambulances rushing to the building. Smoke was seen billowing from a wing where two floors appeared to have collapsed.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it targeted Hamas operatives who were “hiding inside a command-and-control centre that was being used for co-ordinating terrorist activity and served as a central meeting point”.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance and additional intelligence,” it added.

A spokeswoman for Unrwa told the Associated Press that one of the agency’s buildings had been hit, but that she had no further details on casualties or what the building was being used as.

There were also reports of extensive Israeli air strikes and shelling along the Egypt border overnight and there is a growing sense that a new major Israeli ground offensive is looming in Gaza.

Israeli Army Radio said on Wednesday that Israeli tanks and ground forces had begun to advance into central and eastern parts of the southernmost city of Rafah.

This week, Israel’s military ordered an estimated 140,000 people in Rafah to leave their homes and issued new evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza.

Israel has already significantly expanded a buffer zone around the edge of Gaza over the course of the war, and seized control of a corridor of land cutting through its centre.

Israel launched its renewed Gaza offensive on 18 March, blaming Hamas for rejecting a new US proposal to extend the ceasefire and free the 59 hostages still held captive in Gaza.

Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of violating the original deal they had agreed to in January.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel, which represents many hostages’ relatives, said they were “horrified to wake up” to the news of the expanded military operation.

The group urged the Israeli government to prioritise securing the release of all hostages still held in Gaza.

In his statement announcing plans to seize more territory, Katz also urged Gazans to act to remove Hamas and free remaining Israeli hostages, without suggesting how they should do so.

The humanitarian situation across Gaza has dramatically worsened in recent weeks, with Israel refusing to allow aid into the Gaza Strip since 2 March – the longest aid blockage since the war began.

Last month the UN announced it was reducing its operations in Gaza, one day after eight Palestinian medics, six Civil Defence first responders and a UN staff member were killed by Israeli forces in southern Gaza.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 50,399 people have been killed in Gaza during the ensuing war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

China’s military conducted a live-fire exercise in the Taiwan Strait to simulate strikes on key ports and energy facilities, it said on Wednesday.

The exercise, codenamed “Strait Thunder”, is an escalation of military drills China held on Tuesday around Taiwan, the democratic island Beijing claims as its territory.

Taiwan’s presidential office said on Tuesday that it “strongly condemns” the “military provocations”, which have become increasingly routine amid souring cross-strait ties.

The drills come as China sharpened its rhetoric against Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, labelling him a “parasite” and “separatist”. Lai had earlier this month referred to China as a “foreign hostile force”.

The drills were meant to be a “serious warning and powerful containment of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces”, said a statement from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

It also released a series of cartoons depicting Lai as a “parasite” that was “poisoning Taiwan island” and – along with an image of Lai being grilled over a fire – “courting ultimate destruction”.

Another video by the PLA, titled “Subdue demons and vanquish evils”, likened the military’s capabilities to the magical powers of the Monkey King, a mythical Chinese character.

In recent days, the Chinese Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily published a series of op-eds denouncing Lai as a “troublemaker” and “warmonger”.

“Facts have fully proven that Lai Ching-te is a vicious war maker,” read one of the articles published on Wednesday. “Subdue demons and vanquish evils, use force to stop war.”

While the trigger for this week’s drills were not spelled out, Chinese authorities and state media have referenced a slew of policies announced by Lai last month to counter influence and infiltration operations by Beijing – where Lai used the “foreign hostile force” term.

However, the timing of the exercises, coming weeks after Lai’s announcement, suggests that Chinese authorities wanted to wait for the conclusion of meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and international business leaders, along with the annual Boao business summit that wrapped up on 28 March.

They also come with the world’s attention turned elsewhere, as global markets brace for the Trump administration’s latest round of tariffs.

In response to China’s latest military drills, the White House said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump was “emphasising the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait”. On Wednesday, the US State Department reaffirmed its “enduring commitment” to Taiwan.

During his recent visit to Asia, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth also repeatedly criticised China’s aggression in the region and pledged to provide “robust, ready and credible deterrence”, including in the Taiwan Strait.

However, the PLA seems to be moving towards a situation where such exercises around Taiwan occur regularly rather than in response to any specific perceived provocation.

Some experts see the drills as a dress rehearsal for a possible real blockade in an attempt to overthrow the government in Taipei in the future.

In the words of the Chinese military this week, they serve as a practice run “close in on Taiwan from all directions”.

In addition, analysts believe that Beijing has been increasing the frequency and size of its military exercises as a way of trying to increase pressure on Taiwan’s population to eventually accept an annexation by China as inevitable.

This is despite the fact that opinion polls have routinely shown that the vast majority of Taiwanese people firmly oppose a takeover of their democratically governed island group by China’s Communist Party.

Taiwanese officials have warned that China may stage more military drills later this year, on dates like the anniversary of Lai taking office or Taiwan’s National Day in October.

However, in Taiwan, movements by the PLA can also provide an opportunity.

Each time China conducts such war games, Taiwan’s military chiefs have said that they can study the manoeuvres in order to better prepare their own forces for any real attack.

The deaths of a British couple in New Zealand are being investigated as a murder-suicide, police have said.

Police said a man and a woman, who have not been named, were found after officers were asked to conduct a welfare check in Roseneath, a suburb of the capital Wellington, on Monday.

The couple is reported to have moved to New Zealand from the UK late last year.

Det Insp Haley Ryan said police were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident, but issued an appeal for any information related to the case with them.

The UK Foreign Office said it had not been contacted about the incident.

Police said in a statement that they were “providing support to the family at the centre of this tragic event”.

“The family have requested privacy as they grieve their loss,” they added.

Police said two bodies were found after officers forced entry to a property on Palliser Road, having been asked by a concerned family member that morning to check in on them.

The couple’s neighbour, Emma Prestidge, told public broadcaster Radio New Zealand that they had moved to the area from London.

“My understanding is they’d finally packed up their lives in London, and all their stuff was in a shipping container and they were kind of looking to move here for good,” she said.

“They were in the next phase of their life, I guess, and ready to kind of set themselves up for the next part of their chapter, which is truly sad.”

Police in New Zealand urged anyone with CCTV of the area to get in contact. Det Insp Ryan earlier said the case was being referred to the coroner.

In a statement to the BBC, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We have not been approached for consular assistance in this case, but our staff stand ready to support British nationals overseas 24/7.”

The BBC has contacted the New Zealand Coroner’s Office for comment.

The Environment Agency (EA) has launched a comprehensive review into shipments of waste tyres from the UK to India.

Last week, BBC File on 4 Investigates heard that millions of these tyres – sent for recycling – were actually being “cooked” in makeshift furnaces, causing serious health problems and environmental damage.

The pressure group Fighting Dirty has threatened legal proceedings against the EA over what it called a “lack of action” over the issue of tyre exports.

The EA has asked the group to wait until its own review is complete, and it has also asked File on 4 Investigates to share the evidence from its investigation.

The UK generates about 50 million waste tyres (nearly 700,000 tonnes) every year. According to official figures, about half of these are exported to India, supposedly to be recycled.

But BBC File on 4 Investigates revealed that some 70% of tyres exported to India from the UK and the rest of the world are being sent to makeshift industrial plants, where they are “cooked” in order to extract steel, small amounts of oil as well as carbon black – a powder or pellet that can be used in various industries.

Conditions at these plants – many of which are in rural backwaters – can be toxic and harmful to public health, as well as potentially dangerous.

In January, two women and two children were killed in an explosion at a plant in the western state of Maharashtra, where European-sourced tyres were being processed.

A BBC team visited the site and saw soot, dying vegetation and polluted waterways around. Villagers complained of persistent coughs and eye problems.

Following the broadcast, the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) told BBC File on 4 Investigates that officials and lawyers within the EA were “very keen” to investigate the claims made in the programme, including any potential criminal activity.

In a letter seen by the BBC, lawyers for the EA said that our investigation would be carefully considered as part of a review it has launched into its approach to waste tyre shipments.

They added that the EA has been working to engage the relevant environmental authorities in India on this issue and is taking steps to arrange a delegation to meet with officials later this year.

Fighting Dirty founder Georgia Elliott-Smith, who has been in correspondence with the EA over this issue since 2023, said it was a “major victory” for the group and that “the government must stop turning a blind eye to the illegal and immoral activity”.

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Heathrow Airport was warned about the “resilience” of its power supply in the days before a fire which shut down the airport for more than a day last month.

Nigel Wicking, chief executive of Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee, a group representing airlines, told MPs on Wednesday that he spoke to Heathrow twice in the week before the closure on 21 March.

He questioned why the airport was closed as long as it was and why it was not more prepared considering its importance.

However, Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye called the fire an “unlikley event” and defended the length of the closure, saying he had to make “very serious safety decisions”.

Mr Woldbye apologised to the more than 300,000 passengers whose journeys were disrupted.

He offered his “deepest regrets” adding that the “situation was unprecedented”. The airport was shutdown after a fire at an electrical substation.

The chaos at Heathrow has raised concerns about the reliability of the major transport hub – and brought into question the UK’s energy resilience more broadly.

Speaking to MPs on the transport committee, Mr Wicking said he raised cases of “theft of wire and cable around some of the power supply” which he said temporarily took out runway lights, which are critical to passenger safety.

“I wanted to understand better the overall resilience of the airport.”

He said he had spoken to the Team Heathrow director on 15 March about his concerns – six days before the fire – and the chief operating officer and chief customer officer on 19 March – two days before the fire.

Mr Woldbye said the airport had to rely on contracts it has with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks for making the network resilient, and to improve that “comes at a very high cost”, which would raise costs for airlines, and passengers.

However, Mr Wicking said Heathrow is “already the most expensive airport in the world”.

“From an airline perspective, we expect resilience, we expect there to be the capability there and the understanding of when a power supply or an asset is not available, what will you do next, and how quickly will you bring it back?”

On the day of the shutdown, airlines had to divert 120 aircraft, which is “not a light decision to be made in any context”, Mr Wickling added.

As a consequence, when Mr Wicking joined a call with NATs, the national air traffic service, at 05:30, “they’d run out of space within the UK for aircraft to divert”.

“Aircraft were then going to Europe, and then some were even halfway across Europe and going back to base in India,” he said. “So, quite a level of disruption for those passengers, let alone all of the cancellations”.

There were 1,300 cancelled flights, he said.

The airport reopened on the Saturday following the fire.

When asked why it had not reopened sooner, Mr Woldbye said that could have meant passengers got hurt.

He said: “If we had got this wrong, we might be sitting here today having a very different discussion about why people got injured, and I think it would have been a much more serious discussion.

“So there is a margin within which our people have to take very serious safety decisions, and that is what they are trained for, that is what they do, and that requires that every single system is up and running, tested and safe.”

However, Mr Wicking said Terminal 5 could have reopened sooner.

He said: “In terms of T5, my understanding both from British Airways but also on the day, was that pretty much everything was fine to operate by mid-morning, by 10 o’clock.”

After the substation fire began on the Thursday night, Mr Woldbye said Heathrow realised “during the early hours” of Friday 21 March that “we were losing power to the airport”.

“In our operations centre you would seen all the red lights go, that the systems were powering down,” he said. “We had no information as to why.”

“We then had a slightly later stage call from the fire department that the substation was on fire,” he said.

Heathrow is supplied by three substations, but knocking out one caused the airport to shut down.

Mr Woldbye said a third of the airport was powering down and that Terminal 2 was particularly affected, along with certain central systems. He added that it became “first and foremost a safety situation”.

“We need to make sure, when a crisis happens, that people are safe,” he said.

The safest way to proceed was to shut down airport systems, then bring them back on line, he said.

The first priority was to check that no-one been caught in lifts or was hurt.

Safety critical systems such as runway lighting and the control tower “switched in as they should”, however, he said.

The government has backed plans for Heathrow to build a third runway as part of efforts to boost UK economic growth.

The airport would need double the amount of power for its expansion plans, Mr Woldbye said.

However, Mr Wicking said airlines, which support expansion, nevertheless had concerns that it would cost £40bn to £60bn, and that the costs would ultimately be passed onto passengers in the form of higher fees.

The danger was the expansion could turn into a “white elephant”, he said.

The murder of a young Sicilian woman by a stalker in broad daylight has sent shockwaves across Italy, where 11 women have been killed since the start of the year.

University student Sara Campanella, 22, was killed by an acquaintance on Monday afternoon in the Sicilian city of Messina.

Witnesses told media that they saw a man – later identified by prosecutors as 27-year-old Stefano Argentino – walk up to Ms Campanella and stab her on the street. She tried to get away and screamed “Stop it, let me go, stop it,” before collapsing, they said.

A passer-by who reportedly heard Ms Campanella’s screams tried to chase the attacker, who managed to flee.

Ms Campanella died on her way to the hospital. Mr Argentino was arrested a few hours later in the nearby town of Noto.

Raffaele Leone, Mr Argentino’s lawyer, told Italian media on Wednesday that his client had admitted the charges against him, but had not explained why he had attacked her.

“I can’t say if he’s remorseful, he’s quite closed up,” Mr Leone was quoted by Ansa news agency as saying.

The Messina prosecutor, Antonio D’Amato, said that Stefano Argentino had “insistently and repeatedly” harassed Sara Campanella since she started university two years ago. She was studying to become a biomedical technician.

One of her friends once had to intervene when Mr Argentino kept complaining that Ms Campanella no longer smiled at him, Mr D’Amato said.

But he added that Ms Campanella never went to the police as she did not feel that Mr Argentino’s attentions were particularly “threatening or pathological”.

In the police detention order quoted by Italian media, prosecutors said that Mr Argentino had been “regularly pestering the victim, asking her to go out with him and get to know each other better, and refusing to back down even when she would turn him down”.

Mr D’Amato said that, shortly before being stabbed, Ms Campanella sent a message to some friends, telling them that “that sick guy is following me”.

Writing on Facebook, Ms Campanella’s mother said that her daughter “bravely thought her ‘No’ would be enough because [Stefano Argentino] meant nothing to her, they weren’t together, she just wanted him to leave her alone, she wanted to live and dream and graduate.

“You always need to speak up and go to the police! Help me give Sara a voice,” she said.

In an emotional interview to Italian TV, Ms Campanella’s brother said that unrequited love or attention could never be a reason for “act like this one”.

“There are no justifications, and someone like him doesn’t even deserve words.”

The father of Giulia Cecchettin, who was also 22 when she was killed by her ex-boyfriend, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that there are “entire generations of men who don’t accept rejection”.

“Love is not possession, jealousy is not love, and saying ‘No’ is a right. In Sara’s case there hadn’t even been a relationship,” Mr Cecchettin said.

“Women continue to be killed by those who don’t accept their rejection. We need to make an extraordinary effort, a collective act of rebellion… against this culture of death,” said Mara Carfagna, a former minister and lawmaker.

The issue of violence against women is keenly felt in Italy, where femicides are frequently reported by the media. Last month alone, four women died at the hands of their partners or ex-partners.

On Wednesday, less than 48 hours after her death, Sara Campanella’s murder was pushed out of the headlines by news that the body of 22-year-old Ilaria Sula had been found in a suitcase in Rome.

The university student had gone missing last week. According to Italian media, her ex-boyfriend has confessed to her murder.

A federal judge has permanently dismissed the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, weeks after the Trump administration directed prosecutors to drop the corruption charges.

The move led to the resignation of Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor who accused Adams of striking a deal with the Trump administration to dismiss his case in exchange for immigration enforcement.

The Manhattan judge dismissed the case “with prejudice”, which means the Department of Justice (DOJ) cannot refile the charges against Adams based on the same evidence.

Adams was charged with conspiracy, fraud, soliciting illegal campaign contributions, and bribery. He had denied any wrongdoing.

In an indictment last September, Adams was alleged to have accepted gifts totalling more than $100,000 (£75,000) from Turkish citizens in exchange for favours.

But in February, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, a Trump appointee, ordered New York prosecutors to drop the case against Adams. He argued the case “restricted” the mayor’s ability to address “illegal immigration and violent crime” – a key goal of the Trump administration.

Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon and six other high-level Justice officials resigned over the order, saying there was no legal justification to dismiss Adams’ case.

Sassoon, in a letter to Bove’s boss, Attorney General Pam Bondi, alleged that the mayor’s team had offered “what amounted to a quid pro quo”, saying Adams would be able to help with administration policies “only if the indictment were dismissed”.

In a scathing 78-page ruling on Wednesday, US District Judge Dale Ho said he was unconvinced by the justice department’s logic that the case against Adams was preventing the mayor from enforcing the administration’s immigration actions.

“Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the Indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions,” he said.

His decision to drop the case permanently, Judge Ho said, ensured that the administration could not use the indictment as “leverage” over Adams or the city of New York.

“Dismissing the case without prejudice would create the unavoidable perception that the mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents,” the judge wrote.

Judge Ho noted that some people would “undoubtedly” find his ruling unsatisfying, wondering why “if DOJ’s ostensible reasons for dropping this case are so troubling, the Court does not simply deny the Motion to Dismiss altogether”.

But, he repeated, the court cannot order the justice department to continue prosecuting if it has decided to drop the case.

A DOJ spokesperson called the case “an example of political weaponization and a waste of resources”. “We are focused on arresting and prosecuting terrorists while returning the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe,” the spokesperson told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

Alex Spiro, the attorney for Mayor Adams, hailed the ruling.

“The case against Eric Adams should have never been brought in the first place — and finally today that case is gone forever,” he said. “From Day 1, the mayor has maintained his innocence and now justice for Eric Adams and New Yorkers has prevailed.”

As the call to prayer rang out in Sagaing last Friday, hundreds of Muslims hurried to the five mosques in the city in central Myanmar.

They were eager to hold their last Friday prayers for Ramadan, just days away from the festive period of Eid that would mark the end of the holy month.

Then, at 12:51 local time (06:21 GMT), a deadly earthquake struck. Three mosques collapsed, including the biggest one, Myoma, killing almost everyone inside.

Hundreds of kilometres away, the former imam of Myoma mosque, Soe Nay Oo, felt the quake in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

In the following days, he found out that around 170 of his relatives, friends and members of his former congregation had died, mostly in the mosques. Some were leading figures in the city’s close-knit Muslim community.

“I think about all the people who lost their lives, and the victims’ children – some of them are young children,” he told the BBC. “I can’t hold back my tears when I talk about this.”

More than 2,700 people have died in the quake which happened near Sagaing and Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers continue to pull out bodies from rubble.

• What we know about the earthquake
• Mandalay was the ‘city of gold’ – now it reeks of death
• Heartbroken parents call out children’s names at earthquake-hit pre-school

While the area was known for its ancient Buddhist temples, the cities were also home to a significant Muslim population.

An estimated 500 Muslims died while praying in their mosques, according to figures given by the country’s leader, Min Aung Hlaing, on Monday.

Eyewitnesses in Sagaing have told the BBC that the road where the mosques were, Myoma Street, was the worst hit in the city. Many other houses on the street have also collapsed.

Hundreds of people have sought shelter by the side of the road, either because they are now homeless, or are too afraid to go back to their homes in case there are aftershocks. Food supplies are reported to be scarce.

In Myoma alone, more than 60 people were said to be crushed in the collapse, while scores more died in the Myodaw and Moekya mosques. More bodies were still being pulled out on Tuesday.

There are indications that the worshippers had tried to escape, according to Soe Nay Oo, who has received multiple reports from surviving members of his community.

He currently lives in the Thai city of Mae Sot with his wife and daughter, after escaping from Myanmar soon after a coup that took place in 2021.

There were bodies found outside of the main prayer hall, he said, in the area where worshippers wash themselves. Some were also found clutching other people’s hands, in what looked like attempts to pull them away from the crumbling building.

Among the many loved ones Soe Nay Oo lost was one of his wife’s cousins. Her death, he said, was “the most painful thing that I have endured” in his 13 years as an imam.

“She was the one who showed her love to us the most,” said Soe Nay Oo. “Everyone in the family loved her. The loss is unbearable for us.”

Another of his wife’s cousins, a well-respected businessman who had performed the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, also died.

“He always called me Nyi Lay [‘little brother’ in Burmese]…When I married my wife, he said we are family now and he always treated me like his own little brother,” said Soe Nay Oo.

“He was always there for us whenever we needed him. I have lost those whom I love like brothers like him.”

Some of the close friends who died include Soe Nay Oo’s former assistant imam, whom he remembered for his strong work ethic and remarkable talent in reciting the Quran.

The principal of the local public school, who was also the only female trustee of the Myoma mosque, also died. She was remembered by Soe Nay Oo as a generous soul who would often pay for mosque programmes out of her own pocket.

He said every time he hears of yet another person from the community who died, he experiences a new wave of grief. “I feel devastated… it always comes to my mind, the memories I cherish of them.

“Even though they were not close relatives, they were the ones who always welcomed me, followed my prayers, and who prayed together.”

The fact that they died during Ramadan is not lost on him. “All the departed have returned to Allah’s home, I would say. They will be remembered as martyrs accordingly,” he said.

Like other parts of Myanmar affected by the quake, the community is struggling to deal with the sheer number of bodies.

It has been complicated by ongoing fighting between the military junta and resistance groups. The Muslim cemetery in Sagaing is close to an area controlled by the rebel People’s Defence Forces (PDF), and has been closed to the public for several years. The military has continued to bomb some parts of the wider Sagaing region following the quake.

Sagaing city’s Muslim community has had to move the bodies of their dead to Mandalay, crossing the Irrawaddy River using the sole bridge connecting the two cities, according to Soe Nay Oo.

Their bodies are being left at Mandalay’s biggest mosque for burial. Some have not been buried within 24 hours of their death per Islamic tradition.

“For Muslims, it is the saddest thing, that we cannot bury our families by ourselves at the end of their journey,” he said.

The survivors have been trying to help in the rescue, even as they cope with the trauma. “Some from my community told me to pray for them. To be honest, they couldn’t even describe their loss in words when I speak to them.”

It is hard for Soe Nay Oo to be far from his former congregation. Like many other people from Myanmar who have migrated abroad, he feels survivor’s guilt.

“If I were the imam still, at the time of the quake, I would have gone with them – that I can accept peacefully. If not, at least I could be on the ground to do anything that I can.

“Now I can’t go back. It’s painful to think about it.

Soe Nay Oo began to sob. “This sad and frustrated feeling I have right now, I have never felt this way before in my life. I am the kind of man who would hardly cry.

He adds that he has not been able to sleep for days. His worry has been magnified by the fact he has yet to hear from some family members, including his own siblings who were in Mandalay.

Soe Nay Oo has paused his work for a human rights group in Thailand and is currently helping to coordinate rescue efforts in Sagaing – sharing any information he can get from his contacts in the city.

At least 1,000 Muslims in the area have been affected who still need assistance, he estimates.

“I feel relief only whenever somebody on the ground asks for help, and I can help them.”

Mandalay used to be known as the city of gold, dotted by glittering pagodas and Buddhist burial mounds, but the air in Myanmar’s former royal capital now reeks of dead bodies.

So many corpses have piled up since a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck last Friday close to Mandalay, that they have had to be “cremated in stacks”, one resident says.

The death toll from the quake and a series of aftershocks has climbed past 2,700, with 4,521 injured and hundreds still missing, Myanmar’s military chief said. Those figures are expected to rise.

Residents in the country’s second most populous city say they have spent sleepless nights wandering the streets in despair as food and water supplies dwindle.

The Mandalay resident who spoke of bodies being “cremated in stacks” lost her aunt in the quake.

“But her body was only pulled out of the rubble two days later, on 30 March,” said the 23-year-old student who wanted only to be known as J.

Poor infrastructure and a patchwork of civil conflicts are severely hampering the relief effort in Myanmar, where the military has a history of suppressing the scale of national disasters. The death toll is expected to keep rising as rescuers gain access to more collapsed buildings and cut-off districts.

J, who lives in Mandalay’s Mahaaungmyay district, has felt “dizzy from being deprived of sleep”, she said.

Many residents have been living out of tents – or nothing – along the streets, fearing that what’s left of their homes will not hold up against the aftershocks.

“I have seen many people, myself included, crouching over and crying out loud on the streets,” J said.

But survivors are still being found in the city. The fire service said it had rescued 403 people in Mandalay in the past four days, and recovered 259 bodies. The true number of casualties is thought to be much higher than the official version.

In a televised speech on Tuesday, military chief Min Aung Hlaing said the death toll may exceed 3,000, but the US Geological Survey said on Friday “a death toll over 10,000 is a strong possibility” based on the location and size of the quake.

Young children have been especially traumatised in the disaster.

A local pastor told the BBC his eight-year-old son had burst into tears all of a sudden several times in the last few days, after witnessing parts of his neighbourhood buried under rubble in an instant.

“He was in the bedroom upstairs when the earthquake struck, and my wife was attending to his younger sister, so some debris had fallen onto him,” says Ruate, who only gave his first name.

“Yesterday we saw bodies being brought out of collapsed buildings in our neighbourhood,” said Ruate, who lives in the Pyigyitagon area of southern Mandalay.

“It’s very sobering. Myanmar has been hit by so many disasters, some natural, some human made. Everyone’s just gotten so tired. We are feeling hopeless and helpless.”

A monk who lives near the Sky Villa condominium, one of the worst-hit buildings reduced from 12 to six storeys by the earthquake, told the BBC that while some people had been pulled out alive, “only dead bodies have been recovered” in the past 24 hours.

“I hope this will be over soon. There are many [bodies] still inside, I think more than a hundred,” he said.

Crematoriums close to Mandalay have been overwhelmed, while authorities have been running out of body bags, among other supplies, including food and drinking water.

Around the city, the remains of crushed pagodas and golden spires line the streets. While Mandalay used to be a major centre for the production of gold leaf and a popular tourist destination, poverty in the city has soared in recent years, as with elsewhere in Myanmar (formerly called Burma).

Last week’s earthquake also affected Thailand and China, but its impact has been especially devastating in Myanmar, which has been ravaged by a bloody civil war, a crippled economy and widespread disillusionment since the military took power in a coup in 2021.

On Tuesday, Myanmar held a minute of silence to remember victims, part of a week of national mourning. The junta called for flags to fly at half mast, media broadcasts to be halted and asked people to pay their respects.

Even before the quake, more than 3.5 million people had been displaced within the country.

Thousands more, many of them young people, have fled abroad to avoid forced conscription – this means there are fewer people to help with relief work, and the subsequent rebuilding of the country.

Russia and China, which have helped prop up Myanmar’s military regime, are among countries that have sent aid and specialist support.

But relief has been slow, J said.

“[The rescue teams] have been working non-stop for four days and I think they are a little tired. They need some rest as well.

“But because the damage has been so extensive, we have limited resources here, it is simply hard for the relief workers to manage such massive destruction efficiently,” she said.

While the junta had said that all assistance is welcome, some humanitarian workers have reported challenges accessing quake-stricken areas.

Local media in Sagaing, where the earthquake’s epicentre was located, have reported restrictions imposed by military authorities that require organisations to submit lists of volunteers and items that they want to bring into the area.

Several rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have urged the junta to allow aid workers immediate access to these areas.

“Myanmar’s military junta still invokes fear, even in the wake of a horrific natural disaster that killed and injured thousands,” said Bryony Lau, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director.

“The junta needs to break from its appalling past practice and ensure that humanitarian aid quickly reaches those whose lives are at risk in earthquake-affected areas,” she said.

The junta has also drawn criticism for continuing to open fire on villages even as the country reels from the disaster. Large parts of Sagaing are under control of resistance groups.

A commander in the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) – a network of pro-democracy civilian groups – told the BBC that the military was carrying out ground attacks.

Rebel commander Min Naing, who commands 300 fighters, said his forces were not fighting back, claiming to be respecting a two-week ceasefire announced by the opposition National Unity Government after the earthquake.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance – which is made up of three ethnic groups that also oppose the junta – on Tuesday also announced a month-long ceasefire in order, it said, to help facilitate relief efforts.

Meanwhile, BBC Burmese reported there had been drone attacks and aerial bombings in Kachin and Shan states.

Myanmar is reeling following the huge earthquake which hit the country on Friday, 28 March.

The 7.7 magnitude tremor was felt elsewhere, including in Thailand and south-west China.

More than 2,700 people have died and more than 4,500 have been injured, say the leaders of Myanmar’s military government. Those figures are expected to rise. In Thailand, at least 21 people lost their lives.

Here is what we know so far.

The earthquake’s epicentre was located 16km (10 miles) north-west of the town of Sagaing, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

This is also near Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay, with a population of about 1.5 million people – and about 200km (125 miles) north of the capital, Nay Pyi Taw.

The first earthquake struck at about 12:50 (06:20 GMT), according to the USGS. A second earthquake struck 12 minutes later, with a 6.4 magnitude. Its epicentre was 18km south of Sagaing.

Aftershocks have continued since – the latest on Sunday was a magnitude-5.1 tremor north-west of Mandalay, with a resident telling BBC Burmese it was the strongest they had felt since 28 March.

• Live: Follow the latest on the Myanmar earthquake
• Watch: Moment Bangkok high-rise under construction collapses
• Eyewitnesses describe horror in quake’s aftermath
• In pictures: Damaged buildings and buckled roads

The strong quake buckled roads, damaged bridges and flattened many buildings in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) – a country of some 55 million people.

It is considered one of the world’s most geologically “active” areas.

A state of emergency has been declared in the six most impacted regions – Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Bago, Shan and Nay Pyi Taw.

The ruling junta said on Saturday that 1,591 houses had been damaged in the Mandalay region, and that scores of people remained trapped with rescuers searching “with bare hands”.

Strong tremors were also felt elsewhere, including in Thailand and south-west China.

• What caused the Myanmar earthquake – and why did it make a tower in Bangkok collapse?

The Thai capital, Bangkok, sits more than 1,000km (621 miles) from the epicentre of Friday’s earthquake – and yet an unfinished high-rise building in the city was felled by it.

Videos also showed rooftop pools in Bangkok spilling over the sides of swaying buildings.

The official death toll in Myanmar now stands at more than 2,700 but this is expected to keep rising as rescuers gain access to more collapsed buildings. Many of the fatalities so far were in Mandalay.

More than 4,500 people were injured and at least 441 are missing, the military government said. Rescue operations are ongoing.

The US Geological Survey’s modelling estimates Myanmar’s death toll could exceed 10,000, with losses surpassing annual economic output.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, 21 people have been confirmed dead – 14 of them at the high-rise building that collapsed, where dozens of people remain missing.

Getting information out of Myanmar is difficult, which is part of the reason why the exact earthquake death toll is currently unknown.

Since a coup in 2021 it has been ruled by a military junta, which has a history of suppressing the scale of national disasters.

The state controls almost all local radio, television, print and online media. Internet use is also restricted.

Mobile lines in the affected areas have been patchy, but tens of thousands of people also live without electricity, making it difficult for the BBC to reach residents.

Foreign journalists are rarely allowed into the country officially.

The junta has said it will not grant visas for foreign reporters requested to cover the aftermath the earthquake, citing an inability to guarantee their safety.

The 2021 coup triggered huge protests, which evolved into a widespread insurgency involving pro-democracy and ethnic rebel groups – eventually sparking an all-out civil war.

Large parts of the Sagaing region, the epicentre of the earthquake, are now under the control of pro-democracy resistance groups. The junta, however, has greater control over urban areas – including the cities of Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon.

The National Unity Government (NUG), which represents the ousted civilian administration, announced that its armed wing – the People’s Defence Force (PDF) – was pausing “offensive military operations” for two weeks from 30 March in earthquake-affected areas, except for “defensive actions.”

Anti-coup PDF battalions have been fighting the military junta since the latter seized power in 2021.

The impact of any pause is uncertain as many ethnic armed groups act independently of the NUG.

Meanwhile, the junta has continued airstrikes in some areas, with the UN condemning them as “completely outrageous and unacceptable”.

Some international aid – mainly from China and India – has begun to arrive after the military authorities issued a rare appeal.

Aid has also been sent from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Russia.

Rescuers from several countries have joined local efforts to locate and pull out any survivors.

The Red Cross has issued an urgent appeal for $100m (£77m), while the UN is seeking $8m for its earthquake response.

“People urgently require medical care, clean drinking water, tents, food, and other basic necessities,” the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said on Monday.

The need is especially great in and around Mandalay, according to the IRC, where there is no electricity, water is running out and hospitals are overwhelmed.

Michael Dunford, country director for the UN World Food Programme, told the BBC that bringing aid from Yangon to Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay was taking twice as long as it normally would, due to damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

The Earth’s crust is made up of separate bits, called plates, that nestle alongside each other.

These plates often try to move but are prevented by the friction of rubbing up against an adjoining one.

But sometimes, the pressure builds until one plate suddenly jerks across, causing the surface to move.

They are measured on a scale called the Moment Magnitude Scale (Mw). This has replaced the Richter scale, which is now considered outdated and less accurate.

The number attributed to an earthquake represents a combination of the distance the fault line has moved and the force that moved it.

A tremor of 2.5 or less usually cannot be felt but can be detected by instruments. Quakes of up to five are felt and cause minor damage. The Myanmar earthquake at 7.7 is classified as major and usually causes serious damage, as it has in this instance.

Anything above 8.0 causes catastrophic damage and can totally destroy communities at its centre.

This earthquake and its aftershocks were relatively shallow – about 10km in depth.

That means the impact on the surface is likely to have been more devastating than a deeper earthquake, with buildings shaken much harder and more likely to collapse.

On 26 December 2004, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the coast of Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that swept away entire communities around the Indian Ocean. That 9.1 magnitude quake killed about 228,000 people.

The largest ever earthquake registered 9.5 and was recorded in Chile in 1960.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has warned about the possibility of several strong aftershocks in places affected by the earthquake.

It has advised people in the area, or tourists planning to travel to Myanmar, Thailand or Laos, to monitor local media and follow the advice of local authorities and tour operators.

The FCDO has also previously issued advice against travel to parts of Myanmar and all but essential travel to parts of Thailand and Laos.

Myanmar’s security situation “may deteriorate at short notice and the military regime can introduce travel restrictions at any time” amid an “increasingly volatile” conflict, it said.

The FCDO’s warning for parts of Thailand is “due to regular attacks in the provinces by the border with Malaysia” and its advice for Laos relates to “intermittent attacks on infrastructure and armed clashes with anti-government groups” in Xaisomboun province.

Val Kilmer, who has died at the age of 65, was often underrated as an actor.

He had extraordinary range: excelling in comedies, westerns, crime dramas, musical biopics and action-adventures films alike.

And perhaps his best performance combined his skills as a stage actor with a fine singing voice, to bring to life 1960s-counterculture icon Jim Morrison, in Oliver Stone’s film The Doors.

Critic Roger Ebert wrote: “If there is an award for the most unsung leading man of his generation, Val Kilmer should get it.

“In movies as different as Real Genius, Top Gun, Top Secret!, he has shown a range of characters so convincing that it’s likely most people, even now, don’t realise they were looking at the same actor.”

• Top Gun and Batman actor dies aged 65
• Look back at Val Kilmer’s best-known roles

Val Edward Kilmer was born, on 31 December 1959, into a middle-class family in Los Angeles.

His parents were Christian Scientists, a movement to which Kilmer would adhere for the rest of his life.

He attended Chatsworth High School, in the San Fernando Valley, where future actor Kevin Spacey was among his classmates and where he developed a love of drama.

Kilmer’s ambition was to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), in London, but his application was rejected because, at 17, he was a year below the minimum entry age.

Instead, Kilmer became the then youngest pupil to enrol at the Julliard School, in New York, one of the world’s most prestigious drama conservatories.

A gifted student, Kilmer co-wrote and made his stage debut in How It All Began, a play based on the life of a German radical, at the Public Theatre.

But he recalled a tough regime.

“I had a mean teacher once, who kind of said, ‘How dare you think you can act Shakespeare? You don’t know how to walk across the room yet,’… and in a way, that’s true,” Kilmer said.

Minor parts, including in Henry IV Part 1 and As You Like It, preceded a meatier role as Alan Downie in the 1983 production of Slab Boys, with Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon.

Kilmer made his film debut in spy spoof Top Secret!, written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. He played star Nick Rivers, sucked into an East German plot to reunify Germany.

The film proved Kilmer had a good voice and he later released an album under the name of his fictional character.

He also published a book of poetry, My Edens After Burns, some of which reflected on a relationship with a young Michelle Pfeiffer.

Two years later, Kilmer played Lt Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, Tom Cruise’s deadly fighter pilot rival in Top Gun.

A thrilling patriotic Cold War buddy movie, it cost just $15m (£12m) to make but took more than $350m at the box office.

Kilmer’s increased profile led to renewed press interest in his eventful private life.

He dated Daryl Hannah, Angelina Jolie and Cher. In 1988, he married Joanne Whalley, whom he had met when they appeared in the fantasy film Willow,

The couple had two children but divorced after eight years of marriage.

Despite his rising popularity in the cinema, Kilmer did not abandon the stage, playing Hamlet at the 1988 Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and then Giovanni in a New York production of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore.

But in the 1990s, he proved he could carry a major film as a lead actor.

Director Stone had long wanted to make a biopic of The Doors, focusing on the band’s singer, who had died of a drugs overdose in Paris in 1971.

A number of actors were considered, including John Travolta and Richard Gere, before Stone chose Kilmer because of his physical resemblance to Morrison and strong singing voice.

In his trademark single-minded approach, Kilmer lost weight and learned 50 Doors songs by heart, as well as spending time in a studio perfecting Morrison’s stage style.

And in his 1996 biography of Oliver Stone, James Riordan said the surviving Doors could not tell recordings of Kilmer singing their songs from Morrison’s original.

Kilmer also played Elvis Presley in Tony Scott’s True Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino, and sickly alcoholic gambler and dentist Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone – a retelling of the story of Wyatt Earp’s gunfight at the OK Corral, which some critics called his finest performance.

In 1995, Kilmer replaced Michael Keaton in the third of a trilogy of Batman films, Batman Forever.

But he later said he had been uncomfortable with the role and declined to play it in the follow-up, Batman and Robin.

Kilmer’s reputation for being difficult on set had reportedly exploded into open warfare with the director, Joel Schumacher, normally the most temperate of men, who called his leading man’s behaviour “difficult and childish”.

John Frankenheimer, who directed Kilmer in The Island of Dr Moreau, was even blunter.

“I don’t like Val Kilmer,” he said. “I don’t like his work ethic and I don’t want to be associated with him ever again.”

The actor responded: “When certain people criticise me for being demanding, I think that’s a cover for something they didn’t do well. I think they’re trying to protect themselves.

“I believe I’m challenging, not demanding, and I make no apologies for that,” he told the Orange County Register newspaper in 2003.

Kilmer remained much in demand and reportedly received $6m for his role as Simon Templar in the 1997 film The Saint – although, critics were not overwhelmed by the film or his performance.

In the early 2000s, there was no shortage of film appearances – but Kilmer’s cinema career had hit a plateau.

In 2004, he returned to the theatre, in a musical production of The Ten Commandments, in Los Angeles.

A year later, Kilmer starred in London’s West End, in Andrew Rattenbury’s adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice – as Frank Chambers, the drifter played by Jack Nicholson in the 1981 film.

And in 2006, he reunited with director Scott, for sci-fi film Deja Vu, which received a mixed response.

Kilmer also voiced Kitt – the futuristic car – in a pilot for television series Nightrider.

He spent years working on a one-man show, Citizen Twain, which examined the relationship between Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy and her long-term critic writer Mark Twain.

A 90-minute film was eventually released, directed by Kilmer.

In 2014, Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer.

Chemotherapy and radiation left him with a tube in his trachea and difficulty breathing.

As a Christian Scientist, Kilmer had mixed views about seeking medical interventions and at times ascribed physical improvements to the power of prayer rather than medicine. On occasion, he denied he had cancer at all.

In 2021, Kilmer made Val, a documentary about his life.

It delved into his darkest places and experiences, including his brother Wesley’s accidental drowning as a teenager and the breakdown of his marriage.

A year later, there was time for a final starring role.

Planned for a decade, Top Gun: Maverick reunited Kilmer and Cruise, updating their former rivalry in the post-Cold War era.

Kilmer’s cancer could not be hidden. Instead, it was written into his character’s story.

“It’s time to let go,” Iceman tells Maverick in one poignant scene.

Kilmer will be remembered as a complicated man and a fine but difficult actor.

He never embraced the kind of Hollywood party lifestyle his looks and fame might have brought him.

Instead, he tended to slip away to spend time with his children, on a ranch he owned in New Mexico.

“I don’t really have too much of a notion about success or popularity, ” Kilmer once said.

“I never cultivated fame, I never cultivated a persona, except possibly the desire to be regarded as an actor.”

A British couple who face being deported from Australia after one of them was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) have said it is not fair the life they built could be taken away “any minute”.

Jessica Mathers was told the potential cost to health services of treating her condition meant her 2023 application for permanent residency alongside boyfriend Rob O’Leary was rejected.

The 30-year-old, a project manager and DJ from Macclesfield who has lived in Sydney since 2017, said the couple had been “living in a state of uncertainty” for years as they waited for an outcome of an appeal against the decision.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs said it cannot comment on individual cases.

Ms Mathers and Mr O’Leary, 31, from East London, met while backpacking in the country in 2017 and have lived there ever since.

He started a business in the carpentry and construction trade three years ago, and said the couple had “made the most of our lives here”.

But Ms Mathers’s diagnosis of the relapsing-remitting variant of MS in 2020 has led to a visa battle with authorities that could see the pair thrown out of the country.

Symptoms are typically mild for this form of MS, according to the NHS, but about half of cases can develop into a more progressive form of the disease.

She has received treatment in Australia under a reciprocal health agreement with the UK and said her condition had been “well managed” so far.

But the couple’s requests for permanent residency were rejected in 2023 due to the costs associated with her medical care.

Non-citizens entering Australia must meet certain health requirements, including not having “unduly increasing costs” for the country’s publicly-funded healthcare service Medicare.

The couple lodged an appeal with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal after the visa rejection in 2023, and have been waiting for the past two years for an outcome.

Mr O’Leary said they had offered to pay the medical costs themselves or take out private insurance, “but the law is black and white, and the refusal is based on that, it’s really hard for us”.

They have started an online petition to call for Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs to review their case and look into immigration policies that “unfairly target individuals with well-managed health conditions”.

Mr O’Leary said the couple were “not asking for special treatment” but a chance to continue “working hard to contribute to this country in meaningful ways”.

He said: “We’ve always paid tax, we’ve always worked, Jess has done heaps of charity work.”

Ms Mathers said the couple had been “stuck not knowing what to do” as they waited for the outcome of their appeal, which had made it difficult for her to find anything other than temporary work.

She said: “It’s held up our whole life, it’s really upsetting.

“We know that we could get a refusal from the tribunal and then get given 28 days to leave the country, at any minute.

“We’ve got so much opportunity in Australia, and to walk away from it would be so sad.”

On Tuesday morning, Rajesh Nayak stepped outside the firecracker warehouse in India’s Gujarat state where he worked to drink water.

Some moments later, an explosion ripped through the building, killing 21 people, including Mr Nayak’s brother.

“Some of my other relatives have also died. I had come to work here only from Sunday,” a distraught Nayak, who is in hospital with minor injuries, said.

Most of the victims were from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh state and had recently come to work at the warehouse, located in an industrial estate in Banaskantha district in Gujarat.

Their families lived in huts close to the building and some of them were also killed from the force of the explosion. Banaskantha District Collector Mihir Patel told BBC Gujarati that the victims included four women and three children.

It’s not clear yet what caused the explosion, but officials are investigating if firecrackers were being manufactured illegally at the warehouse.

“Primary information has been received that the explosion took place when firecrackers were being made here,” said Mr Patel, the collector.

India has strict rules around firecracker production but these are often not enforced strongly on the ground. Accidents are regularly reported, especially at illegal factories.

The incident in Gujarat came a day after eight people were killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker factory hundreds of miles away in West Bengal state.

Police in Gujarat have arrested two men, owners of the warehouse, in connection with the explosion and are searching for one more person. A special investigation team has been set up to look into the incident.

Banaskantha district police chief Akshay Raj Makwana said a preliminary investigation showed that aluminium powder was stored in the building.

“This powder is non-explosive but flammable and easily available in the market. We are investigating the supply chain and how the accused sourced such material,” said Mr Makwana.

Mr Patel told reporters that the building had been registered as a warehouse for storing firecrackers, but its licence had expired in December. When a team went to inspect the area in March, he said, the building was empty.

When BBC Gujarati reached the area on Tuesday, the air smelt strongly of sulphur.

The explosion caused extensive damage, destroying the warehouse and a wall of the adjacent factory. Large concrete slabs were thrown up to 300ft away.

Mr Makwana, the police chief, said a slab in the building collapsed, trapping workers underneath.

The powerful blast also destroyed surrounding huts and killed some family members of the workers.

A sanitation worker told BBC Gujarati that he carried out four bodies on stretchers from the site. “My heart sank when I saw a child’s body,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is from Gujarat, has expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and announced financial assistance.

In 2019 Srija became the first transgender woman to legally marry in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu after a historic court ruling. Now a new documentary, Amma’s Pride, chronicles Srija’s battle for state recognition of her marriage and the unwavering support of her mother, Valli.

“Srija is a gift,” Valli, 45, tells the BBC as she and her daughter embrace.

“I know that not all trans people have what I have,” Srija, 25, from the port city of Thoothukudi, adds.

“My education, my job, my marriage – everything was possible because of my mother’s support.”

She and her mother are sharing their story for the first time in Amma’s Pride (Mother’s Pride), which follows Srija’s unique experience.

Srija met her future husband, Arun, at a temple in 2017. After learning they shared mutual friends they soon began texting each other regularly. She was already out as transgender and had begun her transition.

“We talked a lot. She confided in me about her experiences as a trans woman,” Arun tells the BBC.

Within months, they fell in love and decided they wanted to spend their lives together.

“We wanted legal recognition because we want a normal life like every other couple,” Srija says. “We want all the protections that come from a legal recognition of marriage.”

That incudes securities, such as the transfer of money or property if one spouse dies.

In 2014, the Indian Supreme Court established certain protections for transgender people, granting them equal rights to education, employment, healthcare and marriage – although India still does not allow same-sex marriages.

It’s not known how many trans couples have married in India, or who was the first. Activists say there was at least one trans wedding legally registered before Srija and Arun’s – in 2018 a couple married in Bangalore.

“Of course there are queer couples, or transgender couples, all over India,” says the director of Amma’s Pride, Shiva Krish, but because of continuing discrimination “several are secretive about their relationship. Srija and Arun, and Valli, are unique in choosing to live their everyday life out in the open.”

Srija and Arun’s attempt to register their 2018 wedding was rejected, with the registrar arguing that the 1955 Hindu Marriage Act defined marriage as a union between a “bride” and a “groom”, which therefore excluded trans women.

But the couple, backed by LGBT activists, pushed back, taking their relationship into the public domain. The effort was worth it.

They received global attention in 2019 when the Madras High Court in Chennai upheld their right to marry, stating that transgender people should be recognised as either a “bride” or “groom” as defined by the 1955 Hindu Marriage Act.

The ruling was seen by LGBT activists as a pivotal step in the acceptance of transgender people in India, with Srija and Arun both becoming well known locally for challenging cultural norms.

But media coverage also invited negative scrutiny.

“The day after local news coverage, I was fired from my job,” says Arun, who worked as a manual labourer in the transport sector. He believes it was due to transphobia.

Online trolling followed.

“People sent abusive messages criticising me for being married to a transgender woman,” he says.

The couple briefly separated under the strain.

Despite this, Srija excelled at her education, frequently coming first in class at high school.

She went on to complete a degree in English literature from a university in Tamil Nadu, becoming one of the only people in her family to receive higher education.

It’s a source of pride for Valli, who left school aged 14.

Even before battling to have her marriage recognised by the state, Srija and her family faced hostility and mistreatment.

After Srija came out as a transgender woman at the age of 17, she and her mother and younger brother, China, were evicted from their home by their landlord.

Several family members stopped speaking to them.

But Srija’s mother and brother were steadfast in their support.

“I will always stand by my daughter,” says Valli.

“All trans people should be supported by their family.”

Valli, who became a single parent when her husband died when Srija was just six, works in a kitchen at a school.

But despite earning a modest income, she helped pay for her daughter’s gender reassignment, in part by selling some of her jewellery, and cared for her afterwards.

“She takes good care of me,” Srija says.

There are thought to be about two million transgender people in India, the world’s most populous country, although activists say the number is higher.

While the country has passed trans-inclusive legislation and recognised in law a “third gender”, stigma and discrimination remain.

Studies have found transgender people in India face high rates of abuse, mental health issues, and limited access to education, employment, and healthcare. Many are forced to beg or enter sex work.

Globally, the UN says significant numbers of transgender people face rejection from their families.

“Not a lot of trans people in India, or even the world, have the support of their families,” says filmmaker, Shiva Krish.

“Srija and Valli’s story is unique.”

Srija says she hopes the film will help challenge stereotypes about trans people and the types of stories that are often promoted in the media about the group – especially those that focus on trauma and abuse.

“This documentary shows that we can be leaders. I am a manager, a productive member of the workforce,” Srija says.

“When people see new kinds of stories on trans people, hopefully their mindsets will also change.”

After premiering at international film festivals, Amma’s Pride was shown at a special screening in Chennai, for members of the LGBT community and allies, to mark International Trans Day of Visibility on Monday 31 March.

Following the Chennai screening, a workshop was held where participants in small groups discussed family acceptance and community support for trans individuals.

“We hope our screening events will foster connections between trans individuals, their families, and local communities,” adds Chithra Jeyaram, another one of the filmmakers behind Amma’s Pride.

The Amma’s Pride production team hope that the universal themes of family support in the face of stigma means the documentary and workshops can be rolled out to rural audiences, as well as other cities in India, and neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh.

As for Srija and Arun, they now work as managers for private companies and hope to adopt a child soon. “We’re hoping for a normal future,” says Srija.

“I would like to become a grandmother soon,” Valli adds, smiling.

The US has been unable to meaningfully respond to the Myanmar earthquake due to the Trump administration’s decision to slash foreign aid, according to three former senior US officials.

One former US Agency for International Development (USAID) mission director for Myanmar told the BBC that “America has been on the sidelines” after the disaster.

“The US basically was not there for the rescue-window period,” said another official. All three suggested the deep cuts to aid probably cost lives.

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck on Friday, leaving at least 2,700 people dead, more than 4,500 injured and hundreds still missing, according to the country’s military. Those figures are expected to rise.

The former USAID officials said the agency mobilised Disaster Assistance Response Teams (Darts) from the US after previous major earthquakes. Comprised of highly trained rescuers, sniffer dogs and specialist equipment, the teams are immediately made ready then dispatched when the affected country requests them.

A typical deployment, like that sent to the Turkey-Syria earthquake in 2023, could comprise some 200 people – the majority of them rescue workers. US teams are often the biggest of all foreign assistance groups on the ground.

The US Department of State said on Monday a US team based in the region was on its way to Myanmar. It is believed to comprise three people who are advisers, not rescuers.

The state department also said it was donating $2m (£1.6m) to humanitarian assistance organisations to support earthquake-affected communities. This figure is significantly smaller than previous US government donations during disasters, according to the former officials.

President Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk is finalising the shutdown of USAID after weeks spent dismantling the agency and placing staff on administrative leave. Trump targeted foreign assistance on his first day in office, calling it an “industry” that was in many cases “antithetical to American values”.

• What is USAID and why is Trump poised to ‘close it down’?
• More than 80% of USAID programmes ‘officially ending’

On Friday, after the earthquake struck, the White House attempted to mobilise a Dart team, according to Andrew Natsios, who served as USAID administrator in George W Bush’s administration. But, he said, it couldn’t because key officials were on administrative leave.

“The problem is they fired most of the 500 people that make up the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, so obviously there are no people [from the bureau] to be on the Dart team to be sent – and the people have to be trained and be familiar with disaster relief operations,” he said.

Staff at the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance received letters of termination the day the earthquake struck, said Chris Milligan, who served as USAID Mission Director in Myanmar from 2012 to 2016.

“The employees… were told to go home by one o’clock. Everyone was told. All employees in that building were told to go home at one o’clock, and then they were told later to come back,” said Mr Milligan.

“It shows the lack of management and the confusion that there was an earthquake earlier, and they didn’t have the foresight to say ‘Okay, let’s retain these people’.”

Two of the former USAID officials said the administration couldn’t deploy US search and rescue teams, sniffer dogs and specialist equipment to Myanmar because logistics contracts to transport them from Virginia and California had been cancelled as part of the cuts, led by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

“It is the first time that I can think of that the US has simply not responded meaningfully to a major disaster,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, who ran the USAID Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) from 2013 to 2016.

He said for the last few decades, with every disaster on this scale, the US would be the largest and most capable team on the ground.

“You’ve got 75 to 100 people, the dogs and it’s a pretty substantial lift [which] you’ve got to get there, operating and excavating piles, within the first really four days.”

“The US basically was not there for the rescue window, period. And it’s too late,” said Mr Konyndyk.

It’s unlikely the agency could reactivate logistics contracts in time for a Dart team to Myanmar in time to save lives, he said. “If you wanted to issue new ones, the people who could issue new contracts and do the tenders for that, they’ve all been fired,” explained Mr Konyndak.

The US state department rejects the notion that the cuts have impacted disaster relief in Myanmar.

The department had partners it worked with “that may not require us to be physically present”, spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Monday.

“With the reform that the government is going through with the lead of President Trump… certain things won’t necessarily look the same. But the success in the work and our impact will still be there,” she said.

• ‘I feel guilty for not being in Myanmar – our people need us the most now’
• The man mourning 170 loved ones lost in Myanmar’s earthquake
• ‘We still have hope’: Searching for quake survivors in Mandalay
• Teacher captures aftermath of Myanmar earthquake

However, Mr Konyndyk described the claim as “fantasy land”.

“You can’t pull people out of a building virtually, you can’t excavate, you can’t do live rescues from a collapsed building without boots on the ground,” he said.

Chris Milligan, the former USAID mission director for Myanmar, said the rescue capacity available in the United States would double the capacity already on the ground in Myanmar.

“This is the new normal. This is what it looks like when the United States sits on the international sidelines, when the United States is a weaker international player, when it cedes the space to other global players like China,” said Mr Milligan.

The state department told the BBC it did not intend to deploy a Dart team to Myanmar, adding it was continuing many existing lifesaving programs and strategic investments that “strengthen our partners and our own country”.

A state department spokesperson said: “USAID has contracts in place with Urban Search and Rescue Teams to assist in responding to disasters.”

“[A] USAID team of humanitarian experts based in the region are traveling to Burma to assess additional needs,” the spokesperson continued.

“A Dart is essentially a coordination mechanism. We are able to coordinate with our partners for this specific response without a Dart. Every response is different,” added the spokesperson.

Stewards are to be stationed next to a statue of Molly Malone in Dublin to discourage people from touching it.

Dublin City Council is running a pilot scheme for a week in May after complaints of people groping the sculpture’s breasts.

The council also said it has plans to re-patinate (re-cover) parts of the statue that have become discoloured by people touching it.

“Dublin City Council do not want anyone to touch any work of art whether indoors or outdoors to avoid damage and costly repairs,” a spokesperson said.

“The low plinth height and space around the statue allows crowds to congregate easily and the Molly Malone statue is a feature of tours given by tour guides.”

The council said other potential options to stop people touching the statue such as moving it or raising the plinth that it sits on are “under review”.

However, it said that these options would be “costly”, adding that placing a railing around the artwork “may increase risk”.

“A pilot week of stewarding will occur in May to begin educating those who are interacting with the statue and requesting they do not touch the statue or step on the plinth and discussing the reasons for not doing so,” the council statement said.

Tilly Cripwell, a student who has campaigned for the statue to be treated with more respect, criticised the idea of stewards as “short sighted and quite short term”.

However, she welcomed the planned restoration work as an “important advancement”.

She told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme that she hoped behaviours would change “and if not [the statue should] potentially raised on a plinth”.

She also called for a plaque to be installed to explain the legacy of Molly Malone.

The Molly Malone statue was erected 37 years ago in tribute to a legendary Dublin woman who sold shellfish in the streets of the Irish capital.

It is not clear if the character is based on a real or fictional person, but the figure of Molly Malone has come to represent part of Dublin’s working class community.

She was also the subject of a traditional folk song, which tells the story of a fishmongers’ daughter who sold cockles and mussels from a wheelbarrow.

According to the colourful lyrics, Molly died of a fever but then returned as a ghost, still wheeling her wheelbarrow through the city’s streets.

Many public artworks in Dublin are popularly referred to by rhyming nicknames and for years, the Molly Malone statue was known as “the tart with the cart”.

This name was in part due to suggestions that Molly Malone worked as a fishmonger by day and as a sex worker by night.

The statue was first erected in Dublin’s Grafton Street in 1988, created by the renowned bronze sculptor, Jeanne Rynhart.

It was later moved to nearby St Andrews’ Street to accommodate the construction of a tram line.

A developer behind titles in the Call of Duty (CoD) series has defended the effect of video games on young men.

Pete Actipis says makers like him are “not here to dictate anything other than an outlet for enjoyment and entertainment for a player”.

It follows criticism by former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate, who said he feared young men were “falling into unhealthy alternatives like gaming”.

“Every person can determine what’s right for their situation, for their family,” Pete tells BBC Newsbeat.

“You can look at anything and say it’s a problem,” adds Pete, whose work as designer includes CoD titles such as last year’s Black Ops 6.

“It’s just really about how you use the medium.”

Sir Gareth referenced “gaming, gambling and pornography” when discussing young men in the UK during a speech at the BBC’s annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture in March.

And the subject has since been brought into even sharper focus by hit Netflix drama Adolescence.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the series, which tells the story of a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a girl from his class, as “really hard to watch”.

CoD designer Pete feels gaming isn’t any more responsible for negatively influencing young players than any of their other interests.

“Gaming has its place with everything else,” he says.

“It depends what you’re looking for and how you handle the moderation of that, how you handle what it means to your life.

“It’s kind of a personal journey from there.”

He also denied the CoD series has a responsibility to educate younger gamers about violence.

Its latest title was rated as suitable for players aged 18 and above by PEGI, which sets age recommendations for games in Europe.

CoD player Rhys tells Newsbeat that while he accepts abusive behaviour can take place, he believes playing games doesn’t necessarily have a negative influence on male players.

“People look at someone playing games for eight hours and think ‘he’s not really doing much’.

“But he might be preparing for a tournament.

“That could be worth a month’s salary, sometimes a yearly salary for some people.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” he says.

Gamer Abi, who plays and streams as AbiCoops, has mixed feelings about her gaming experiences.

“I had a stalker,” she says.

“I’d block his account, he’d make new accounts and actually re-bought the game [CoD] to constantly try and find me in it.”

Abi adds she’s had “derogatory things” said to her by other male players.

“About sexual assault, about rape, the stereotypical ‘go back to the kitchen’.

“It really messes with your mental health.

“We’ll be fat-shamed, bullied about our appearance, bullied about whether you’re in a relationship.

“They will nit-pick everything about you just to get to you but women do it to women as well,” she says.

Despite the abuse and harassment, Abi says she won’t “back down to it” because of the positive impact gaming has had on her life.

“I met all of my friends online.

“I’ve made friendships, it’s brought my family closer together, I met my partner through gaming.”

And CoD developer Pete Actipis claims its positive impact on players hit new heights during Covid lockdowns.

“People were stuck in their house,” he says.

“[The game] was actually a very social experience. A lot of memories were formed, a lot of friendships were formed, online.”

That period in the series’ history is virtually bringing players together again in 2025.

An update to Call of Duty: Warzone has revived a fan favourite – a map called Verdansk, based in Ukraine, where people around the world can play each other online.

For Rhys, it brings back memories of bonding with other players during the UK’s tightest Covid restrictions.

“It gave [players] the opportunity to just get to know each other,” Rhys says.

“I built bonds with people I now class as really good friends.

“It’s a really bizarre and amazing experience.”

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.

Wisconsin voters have elected a Democratic-backed judge to serve on the state supreme court, according to projections, following the most expensive judicial election in US history.

Susan Crawford is on course to beat conservative rival Brad Schimel, which would keep intact the 4-3 liberal control of the Midwestern state’s highest court.

President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk was a prominent fundraiser in the campaign, and was the subject of Democratic attack ads. More than $100m (£77m) was spent by the candidates and their allies, including $20m by Musk.

The result is expected to have far-reaching implications, potentially even affecting the balance of power in the US Congress.

That is because the state’s supreme court is expected to play a key role in cases related to congressional redistricting ahead of midterm elections in 2026 and the next presidential election, in 2028.

With the majority of ballots tallied, Crawford had won about 54% of the vote, and Schimel had around 45%, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

Addressing the fundraising by Musk, Crawford told supporters in her victory speech: “Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price. Our courts are not for sale.”

The Dane county judge was formerly a private lawyer for Planned Parenthood and she backed abortion rights during her campaign.

After giving his personal backing to Schimel, Tuesday’s result was a setback for Trump in a crucial swing state that he won by less than a percentage point during last November’s presidential election.

However, he took consolation from fellow Republicans managing to hold on to two congressional seats in Florida elections on Tuesday.

• Florida Republican defeats Democrat in US House special election

The contest was seen as a test of Musk’s powerbroking status. The SpaceX and Tesla boss travelled to the state to give out millions of dollars to voters who pledged to support conservative causes.

In celebrating Crawford’s win, Democrats framed her victory as Musk’s defeat.

“Wisconsin cannot be bought. Our democracy is not for sale. And when we fight, we win,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in a post on social media.

Musk addressed the defeat of his candidate in a post on his social media site X, writing: “I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain.”

In the city of Milwaukee, which leans Democratic, officials reported a shortage of ballots on Tuesday “due to unprecedented and historic voter turnout”, the city’s election commission said in a statement.

Wisconsin separately voted on Tuesday to enshrine into the state constitution a law requiring voters to show ID to cast their ballots.

Voters were already required to show ID, but adding it to the state constitution made it harder to change in the future. Crawford had opposed the voter ID constitutional amendment.

At an NBA game in Milwaukee on Tuesday, several voters spoke to the BBC about their concerns.

Milwaukee Bucks fan Mike McClain said he was motivated by a dislike for Musk, who he referred to as “the real president”.

“I don’t know how a billionaire, almost a trillionaire, can decide what’s going on,” he said. “You can’t even relate with common people.”

Crawford also benefited from large donations by billionaire donors, including financier George Soros, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. But Musk outspent them all.

A Schimel supporter who did want to give his name said he was supporting the conservative out of loyalty to Trump.

“We got to take it back home here and reinforce everything that Donald Trump has done,” he said.

Much of the liberal campaign focused on the role played by Musk in the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), a cost-cutting taskforce that has moved to fire thousands of government workers and slash the federal payroll.

During a rally on Sunday, Musk distributed two $1m cheques to voters at a rally who signed a petition of his against “activist judges”.

Others who signed it received $100 from Musk.

On Tuesday, Musk’s political action committee added that it would pay $50 to anyone who snapped a picture of a Wisconsin resident standing outside a polling site and holding a photo of Schimel.

Musk donated more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump to the White House. He held similar $1m giveaways to boost the Republican president’s campaign last year.

Wisconsin’s supreme court is expected to play a key role in determining the shape of congressional districts if Democrats seek to challenge current district maps as they are widely expected to do.

Republicans currently hold six of the state’s eight seats in the US House of Representatives.

At his rally on Sunday, Musk alluded to the looming fight over congressional districts, saying the judicial race was ultimately about control of the US House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.

That slender margin was shored up on Tuesday in special congressional elections in Trump’s political heartland of Florida.

Republican candidates Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine held on to those ruby-red seats in races that were seen as a barometer of the political landscape ahead of next year’s Midterm elections.

Nigeria’s president has appointed Bayo Ojulari – a former Shell executive – to lead the state-owned oil company, as part of sweeping reforms aimed at cleaning up the sector dogged by allegations of corruption, pollution and decades-long inefficiency.

Mr Ojulari was picked in a “crucial” overhaul of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), the presidency said on Wednesday.

It added that the restructure – which also involved replacing the entire board – was necessary to drive economic growth in Africa’s biggest oil exporter.

President Bola Tinubu’s time in power has seen a series of economic shocks, with food and fuel prices rocketing over the past couple of years.

The NNPC has also been under financial strain – last September it admitted to having debts of around $6bn (£4.5bn).

In its statement announcing the NNPC restructure, the presidency said Tinubu wished to boost Nigeria’s oil output and refining capacity.

Despite its massive oil sector, most of the crude oil Nigeria produces is exported, while it has to import the fuel it uses from other countries because it does not have enough oil refineries.

The cost of fuel used to be subsidised by the government – until this was removed by President Tinubu when he came to office nearly two years ago.

He said the country could no longer afford to pay for it, leading the price of fuel to skyrocket.

The subsidy was overseen by the NNPC and was shrouded in mystery leading to allegations of massive corruption.

However, oil marketers say the price at which fuel is imported is still higher than the pump price, leading many to believe that the government is still subsiding the cost of fuel through the NNPC, which it has denied.

Nigeria’s oil production slowed to less than a million barrels per day in 2023, news agency AFP reported.

Tinubu’s administration wants to hit two million barrels per day of oil by 2027 and three million barrels per day by 2030.

Tasked with executing this mission, Mr Ojulari replaces former NNPC boss Mele Kyari.

Some oil industry experts have expressed confidence in his appointment owing to his decades of experience in the oil sector, however they fear the challenges he inherits.

“The commission is indebted. Even the NNPC Ltd does not know how much it owes,” energy expert Henry Adigun told the BBC.

“Its accounting has been marred by corruption and inefficiencies. I think it’s bloated. It’s a case of the more you read, the less you understand.”

Mr Ojulari joined Shell Nigeria 1991 and rose to become managing director, a position he held for six years. He left the company in 2021 to join the investment advisory organisation BAT Advisory and Energy Company.

He then moved to Renaissance Africa Energy Company last year.

Along with trying to boost Nigeria’s oil production, Mr Olujari will no doubt also seek to improve the NNPC’s poor public image.

For many years, under previous governments, much of the company’s profits never reached the treasury.

It is only in the last five years that the NNPC has been publishing accounts.

The new board appointed by President Tinubu comprises oil industry experts with decades of experience.

The hope is the team will be free of politics and restore transparency in the country’s murky oil sector.

“If he doesn’t succeed, it would be because of government interference,” Mr Adigun added.

• Why Nigerians are praying for the success of a new refinery
• Nigeria’s stolen oil, the military and a man named Government

A British Sikh who has been imprisoned in India on terror charges for more than seven years has now been moved into solitary confinement, according to his brother and a human rights group.

Jagtar Singh Johal from Dumbarton was detained on a trip to Punjab a few weeks after his wedding in 2017 accused of being a part of a series of targeted killings of religious and political figures.

A series of nine criminal cases were launched against him in Punjab and in Delhi, but last month he was acquitted in the first of those.

His family and lawyers have always insisted that the evidence against him is almost entirely based on a confession given under severe duress.

Jagtar Singh Johal’s brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, told an All Party Parliamentary Group on arbitrary detention on Wednesday that his brother’s conditions had worsened since his acquittal in the first case and that the family had been disappointed with a lack of urgency shown by the UK government.

Mr Johal said: “Jagtar’s conditions in prison have deteriorated. He’s had his basic privileges taken away and he’s isolated in a cell on his own, not allowed to speak to other prisoners.

“As a result he’s feeling mentally tortured.”

Mr Johal told the BBC that although his brother has been held in solitary confinement for periods in the past, the conditions in which he is being currently held are the most harsh he has faced for years.

He added that 4 March had been a joyful day for his family because of Jagtar’s acquittal in the first case. They hoped that the other cases would also collapse because they are based on the same evidence.

Mr Johal said the British government had failed to seize an opportunity to act to call for his acquittal on all other charges and for his release.

He continued: “The Foreign Secretary has offered us a meeting, but that offer is for a meeting in seven to eight weeks’ time. We believe that the meeting should be taking place a lot quicker than that.

“As it stands, we don’t see the urgency, and we need to see the action from the government.”

Human Rights charity Reprieve said now was the moment to secure Jaghtar’s release.

Deputy executive director Dan Dolan said: “It’s time for the British government to capitalise on that moment and say ‘we need to bring him home now’ and that is no disrespect to the Indian system, which recognises this principle. An Indian court has found Jagtar not guilty.

“Under the current government, the political leadership’s mood music has changed at least. We don’t hear so much talk of due process these days.

“But the proof is in the pudding, and we will need to see if that position has changes substantively as well as rhetorically.”

Both the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Indian High Commission (IHC) have been approached for comment.

The IHC has always denied denied poor treatment of Jagtar Singh Johal.

British acts Muse and Robbie Williams are facing pressure from pro-opposition supporters in Turkey to scrap summer tours of the country over allegations that the local concert organiser insulted anti-government protesters.

Abdulkadir Ozkan denounced some protesters’ acts as treason, before expressing regret for any “misunderstanding”.

Turkey has been gripped by protests following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on 19 March over corruption charges, which he denies.

The popular mayor was due to run for the presidency in 2028 elections. His supporters see his arrest as a political move by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Calls for the two UK acts to cancel their concerts emerged after Mr Ozkan went on social media to condemn a fight that broke out in a coffee shop boycotted by protesters.

“Plain and simple, this is hostility towards the capital. Act of treason,” he said on X.

He later posted another message, explaining his comments were not aimed at the “constitutional right to protests”, and that he “deeply regrets” any misunderstanding.

Since 19 March, police have detained nearly 2,000 people, many of them university students.

The controversy over the concerts coincides with wider calls for a countrywide boycott in Turkey which has been criticised by the government as economic sabotage.

The social media accounts of Muse and Robbie Williams have been flooded with comments calling for their concerts to be cancelled.

“You’ve played a huge role in shaping my musical taste,” wrote one post, “but unfortunately the company organising it is on our boycott list.”

Singer Gaye Su Akyol, a popular artist in Turkey, took to X to make a personal appeal to Muse, Robbie Williams and Norwegian singer Ane Brun.

“I’ve respected your works for years and know how much you mean to many,” she said. “But neither I, nor anyone, will attend your Istanbul concerts because the organiser is on the boycott list of the pro-democracy movement. Solidarity matters.”

As pressure grew, Abdulkadir Ozkan announced on Tuesday that his company was “withdrawing from all projects” in relation to the two concerts.

A statement from the promoter to the BBC Turkish said the concerts would be organised by another company which would be determined by the artists.

Some fans have said that is not enough.

Muse and Robbie Williams have not responded publicly so far.

The BBC has reached out to Robbie Williams’ management team but is yet to receive a response.

Tickets for his October show in Istanbul are still available online, while Muse tickets for 11 June are due to go on sale on Thursday.

Norwegian singer Ane Brun has cancelled her concert.

“I have decided not to play in Istanbul this October… unfortunately, this is not the right time,” she said in an Instagram post.

A show in Istanbul by South African comedian Trevor Noah, promoted by Ozkan’s firm and planned for 23 April has also been cancelled, with no reason given.

As part of the anti-Erdogan protests, Imamoglu’s opposition Republican People’s Party has called for a boycott of companies which it says support the government.

Party leader Ozgur Ozel supported a call by students to halt all shopping on Wednesday, and some shops closed in solidarity.

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said the calls threatened social harmony and economic stability and were “doomed to fail”.

Niger’s military leaders have released more than 50 detainees, including former ministers in the government they toppled in 2023.

Among them are the former ministers of defence, oil and finance, as well as several senior army officers, convicted or accused of plotting previous coups.

Ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been under house arrest since the 2023 military takeover, was not on the list of those released despite international calls for him to be freed.

When the BBC asked about President Bazoum’s continued detention, Justice Minister Aliyou Daouda cited “national security and sovereignty” concerns.

“The question of his release is an internal matter in Niger and only concerns Niger,” Justice Minister Aliyou Daouda told the BBC.

Bazoum is accused of undermining national security and high treason.

The release of the others is among the recommendations of a national conference held in February, along with extending the rule of General Abdourahamane Tiani by five years.

The freed ministers and officials were arrested after the July 2023 coup which brought General Tchiani to power, and had been held for alleged conspiracy to undermine state security and authority.

This move could be an attempt by the junta to reconcile the country and gain popular support.

Similar amnesties have been granted by military governments in Burkina Faso and Guinea.

• The region with more ‘terror deaths’ than rest of world combined
• ‘France takes us for idiots’ – Inside coup-hit Niger
• Why young Africans are celebrating military takeovers

Directors including Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Mann have paid tribute to actor Val Kilmer, following his death aged 65.

Kilmer starred in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s and 90s, including Top Gun and Batman Forever.

Coppola described Kilmer as “a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know”, while Howard praised his “awesome range as an actor”.

Singer Cher, a former girlfriend of Kilmer’s, summed him up as “funny, crazy, pain in the ass, GREAT FRIEND” and “brave” during his illness.

• Obituary: A brilliant, underrated and unpredictable film star
• Look back at Val Kilmer’s best-known roles

Kilmer died of pneumonia on Tuesday in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told US media. She said her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.

Tracheotomy surgery affected his voice and curtailed his acting career, but he returned to the screen to reprise his role as fighter pilot Iceman alongside Tom Cruise in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.

Kilmer’s other film credits included 1991’s The Doors – playing the legendary band’s frontman Jim Morrison – plus the Western Tombstone and crime drama Heat.

Paying tribute on Instagram, Heat director Mann said: “While working with Val I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character.

“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news,” he said.

Coppola, who directed Kilmer in 2011’s Twixt, said in a statement: “Val Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life.

“He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know – I will always remember him.”

Howard, who made 1988’s Willow, remembered Kilmer’s “amazing” filmography and praised his “awesome range as an actor”.

“His art extended to his poetry, artworks, filmmaking and simply the way he lived,” he wrote. “Bon Voyage, Val and thank you.”

“See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you,” US actor Josh Brolin wrote alongside a picture of himself and Kilmer on Instagram.

“You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those”, he added.

British actor David Thewlis, who worked with Kilmer on 1996’s ill-fated The Island of Dr Moreau, posted: “He was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met. Proud to have called him a friend and co-conspirator.”

Fellow Brit Will Kemp, who appeared in 2004 film Mindhunters with Kilmer, wrote: “So many great memories of working with him. He was fun, unpredictable, generous and overall very kind to me when I was very new to the job.”

Actor Josh Gad posted: “RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon.”

James Woods wrote: “His rendition of Doc Holliday in Tombstone was what every actor dreams of achieving. So many wonderful performances. Sad to lose him so soon.”

Born Val Edward Kilmer on 31 December 1959, Kilmer grew up in a middle-class family in Los Angeles.

His parents were Christian Scientists, a movement to which Kilmer would adhere for the rest of his life.

Aged 17, he became the then-youngest pupil to enrol at the Julliard School, in New York, one of the world’s most prestigious drama conservatories.

He made his name in the comedies Top Secret! in 1984 and Real Genius the following year, before cementing his acting credentials as Iceman, the nemesis to Cruise’s character Maverick in 1986’s Top Gun, one of the decade’s defining movies.

Kilmer went on to star in fantasy Willow and crime thriller Kill Me Again – both alongside British actress Joanne Whalley, who he married in 1988. The couple had two children.

He further proved his dynamic and versatile talents when he convincingly portrayed rock frontman Morrison in The Doors, 20 years after the singer’s death.

Tombstone, in which Kilmer played gunfighter Doc Holliday, and Heat, in which he appeared alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, were also hits.

He took over Batman’s cape from Michael Keaton for Batman Forever in 1995, which achieved box office success but mixed reviews, and Kilmer pulled out of the next Batman movie.

In 1997, he appeared in The Saint as the master criminal and master of disguise – based on Leslie Charteris’ books, which had also inspired the 1960s TV show starring Roger Moore.

Kilmer voiced both God and Moses in animated film The Prince of Egypt, and starred as Marlon Brando’s crazed sidekick in The Island of Dr Moreau – but that film became one of Hollywood’s most notorious flops.

Its director John Frankenheimer declared he would never work again with Kilmer, who had gained a reputation for being difficult on set.

He said that reputation was because “I care very much about telling the story well”.

He played a gay private detective who teamed up with Robert Downey Jr’s petty thief in 2005’s Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

In 2021, Kilmer released a documentary chronicling the highs and lows of his life and career. Val, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, features 40 years of home recordings, including him speaking with a voice box post-cancer surgery.

He had continued acting, but his comeback with a cameo appearance as Iceman in the long-awaited Top Gun sequel was particularly poignant.

Cruise said at the time: “I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character… he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again.”

Kilmer was also an artist, often creating paintings inspired by his film roles.

Film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that his role in The Doors summed up his appeal and persona.

“There was something sort of dark and troubling and sensual and kind of self-destructive about him,” she said.

“It was a quality that meant he was never just the bland Hollywood pretty boy that led so many roles. There was something else going on underneath the surface.”

US entertainment journalist KJ Matthews echoed that, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “He’s your bad boy, he’s edgy, good looking, definitely Hollywood star looks.

“And I like the way he played roles. He always played them in an unconventional, unpredictable way.

“When Val Kilmer was attached to a project, you just knew he was going to do something interesting with that character.”

Every time Donald Trump has mentioned his plan to levy massive tariffs on imports into the US, there has been a widespread assumption that they will be delayed, watered down or rowed back.

Today, he will reveal in the White House Rose Garden not just how serious he is about “the most beautiful word in the dictionary”, but effectively call time on decades of economic globalisation.

And it is still possible that he will do this by launching the equivalent of a salvo of ballistic missiles into the global trading system, with a universal tariff on all imports into the USA.

The option of a 20% universal tariff is the only way to get to some of the massive revenues of trillions of dollars claimed by some of his advisers.

World braces as Trump set to announce sweeping tariffs

In recent days, President Trump has been adamant that the tariffs will be “reciprocal” and the US will be “nicer” to its trade partners.

That doesn’t rule out wide-scale imposition of tariffs at 10 or 20%, if, for example, the US deems that Value Added Taxes are tariffs.

It is possible that countries could be very broadly bracketed into different levels of a basically universal tariff. As one G7 negotiator told me at the weekend, “it all comes down to President Trump”.

A system such as this, with equivalent global retaliation, would see the UK economy shrinking by 1%, enough to wipe out growth and lead to pressure for tax rises or spending cuts.

The total cost around the world could, according to an Aston University Business School study, be $1.4 trillion (£1.1tn), as trade is diverted, and prices rise.

• UK will take calm approach to US tariffs, PM says
• Three big unknowns ahead of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs
• What are tariffs and why is Trump using them?
• Is Trump right when he says the US faces unfair trade?
• Six things that could get more expensive for Americans under Trump tariffs

In industry, there is some expectation that the European Union will target US tech companies. There could be quite the contrast should the UK choose not just to hold back on retaliation, but offer a significant tax cut to US big tech.

Trade wars are hard to win, and easy for everyone to lose.

A universal tariff of 20%, or its equivalent, would be a historic hit to the global trading system.

There is something bigger here, however. As the Vice President JD Vance said in a speech last month, globalisation has failed in the eyes of this administration because the idea was that “rich countries would move further up the value chain, while the poor countries made the simpler things”.

As that has not panned out, especially in the case of China, the US is moving away from this world.

If the US overplays its hand in alienating its allies today, China will be waiting. The hit to US business in Europe, for example, could be offset by cheaper electronics, clothes, and toys from the East arriving in the UK and lowering prices, diverted from the US market.

What starts later today is designed not just to reshape America, and trade, but the way the world itself has been run.

President Vladimir Putin has called up 160,000 men aged 18-30, Russia’s highest number of conscripts since 2011, as the country moves to expand the size of its military.

The spring call-up for a year’s military service came several months after Putin said Russia should increase the overall size of its military to almost 2.39 million and its number of active servicemen to 1.5 million.

That is a rise of 180,000 over the coming three years.

Vice Adm Vladimir Tsimlyansky said the new conscripts would not be sent to fight in Ukraine for what Russia calls its “special military operation”.

However, there have been reports of conscripts being killed in fighting in Russia’s border regions and they were sent to fight in Ukraine in the early months of the full-scale war.

The current draft, which takes place between April and July, comes despite US attempts to forge a ceasefire in the war.

There was no let-up in the violence on Tuesday, with Ukraine saying that a Russian attack on a power facility in the southern city of Kherson had left 45,000 people without electricity.

Although Russia has turned down a full US-brokered ceasefire with Ukraine, it says it did agree to stop attacking Ukraine’s energy facilities. In an apparent attempt to deny Moscow had broken the terms of that deal, Russian officials said they had told Putin that Ukrainian drones had carried out attacks with little sign of a break.

Russia calls up conscripts in the spring and autumn but the latest draft of 160,000 young men is 10,000 higher than the same period in 2024.

Since the start of last year, the pool of young men available for the draft has been increased by raising the maximum age from 27 to 30.

As well as call-up notices delivered by post, Russia’s young men will be receiving notifications on the state services website Gosuslugi.

In Moscow there were reports that call-ups had already been sent out on 1 April via the mos.ru city website.

Increasing numbers of Russians are trying to avoid the army by taking on “alternative civilian service”. But human rights lawyer Timofey Vaskin warned on independent Russian media that every new call-up since the start of the war had become a lottery: “Authorities are coming up with new forms of refilling the army.”

Quite apart from its twice-yearly draft, Russia has also called up large numbers of men as contract soldiers and recruited thousands of soldiers from North Korea.

Moscow has had to respond to extensive losses in Ukraine, with more than 100,000 verified by the BBC and Mediazona as soldiers killed in Ukraine.

The true number could be more than double.

• Invisible losses fighting for Russia in Ukraine
• Why did Putin’s Russia invade Ukraine?

Putin has scaled up the size of the military three times since he ordered troops to capture Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia’s defence ministry linked the December 2023 increase in the size of the military to “growing threats” from both the war in Ukraine and the “ongoing expansion of Nato”.

Nato has expanded to include Finland and Sweden, as a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Finland has Nato’s longest border with Russia, at 1,343km (834 miles) and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Tuesday that his country would join other states neighbouring Russia in pulling out of the Ottawa convention banning anti-personnel mines.

Poland and the Baltic states made similar decisions two weeks ago because of the military threat from Russia.

Orpo said the decision to resume using anti-personnel mines was based on military advice, and that the people of Finland had nothing to worry about.

The government in Helsinki also said defence spending would be increased to 3% of economic output (GDP), up from 2.4% last year.

Indian lawmakers are debating a controversial bill that seeks to change how properties worth billions of dollars donated by Indian Muslims over centuries are governed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has presented the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 – which brings in dozens of amendments to an existing law – in the lower house of parliament, where it is being discussed.

The government says the bill will introduce transparency into the management of waqf, as the properties are called.

But opposition parties and Muslim groups have opposed it, calling it an attempt to weaken the constitutional rights of India’s largest religious minority.

The bill was first tabled in parliament in August last year but was sent to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) after an outcry from opposition members.

Reports say the version presented on Wednesday by federal Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju incorporates 25 changes suggested by the sharply divided committee that included opposition members.

The bill will be passed in the Lok Sabha, or lower house, if it gets more votes than the halfway mark of 272.

Most opposition parties including the Congress are expected to vote against the bill. But the coalition led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to have enough numbers to get it passed, barring a major surprise. It will then be sent to the Rajya Sabha, or upper house, for discussion and passage.

If it is passed by both houses of parliament, it will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent before it becomes law.

• Why Muslims in India are opposing changes to a property law

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MP and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the opposition was united and would work to defeat “the unconstitutional and divisive agenda of the Modi government on the Waqf Amendment Bill”.

Muslim groups have argued that the bill “aims to weaken the waqf laws and pave the way for the seizure and destruction of waqf properties”.

Moving the bill in parliament on Wednesday, Rijiju accused the opposition of spreading rumours that the bill would take away the rights of Muslims.

“The Waqf (Amendment) Bill that we have introduced includes several recommendations from the JPC, which we have accepted and incorporated into this bill,” he said.

But opposition members have alleged that the JPC accepted the changes suggested by the BJP and its allies while rejecting all amendments they proposed.

The waqf properties, which include mosques, madrassas, shelter homes and thousands of acres of land donated by Muslims, are managed by boards. Some of these properties are vacant while others have been encroached upon.

In Islamic tradition, a waqf is a charitable or religious donation made by Muslims for the benefit of the community. Such properties cannot be sold or used for any other purpose – which implies that waqf properties belong to God.

The government says that the waqf boards are among India’s largest landholders. There are at least 872,351 waqf properties across India, spanning more than 940,000 acres, with an estimated value of 1.2 trillion rupees ($14.22bn; £11.26bn).

A major criticism from opponents of the bill is that it grants the government undue power to regulate the management of these endowments and determine whether a property qualifies as “waqf”.

The bill also proposes the induction of two non-Muslim members on the waqf boards which oversee these properties. Critics have opposed this provision, arguing that most religious institutions run by non-Muslims do not permit followers of other faiths in their administration.

Wisconsin voters have elected a Democratic-backed judge to serve on the state supreme court, according to projections, following the most expensive judicial election in US history.

Susan Crawford is on course to beat conservative rival Brad Schimel, which would keep intact the 4-3 liberal control of the Midwestern state’s highest court.

President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk was a prominent fundraiser in the campaign, and was the subject of Democratic attack ads. More than $100m (£77m) was spent by the candidates and their allies, including $20m by Musk.

The result is expected to have far-reaching implications, potentially even affecting the balance of power in the US Congress.

That is because the state’s supreme court is expected to play a key role in cases related to congressional redistricting ahead of midterm elections in 2026 and the next presidential election, in 2028.

With the majority of ballots tallied, Crawford had won about 54% of the vote, and Schimel had around 45%, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

Addressing the fundraising by Musk, Crawford told supporters in her victory speech: “Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price. Our courts are not for sale.”

The Dane county judge was formerly a private lawyer for Planned Parenthood and she backed abortion rights during her campaign.

After giving his personal backing to Schimel, Tuesday’s result was a setback for Trump in a crucial swing state that he won by less than a percentage point during last November’s presidential election.

However, he took consolation from fellow Republicans managing to hold on to two congressional seats in Florida elections on Tuesday.

• Florida Republican defeats Democrat in US House special election

The contest was seen as a test of Musk’s powerbroking status. The SpaceX and Tesla boss travelled to the state to give out millions of dollars to voters who pledged to support conservative causes.

In celebrating Crawford’s win, Democrats framed her victory as Musk’s defeat.

“Wisconsin cannot be bought. Our democracy is not for sale. And when we fight, we win,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in a post on social media.

Musk addressed the defeat of his candidate in a post on his social media site X, writing: “I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain.”

In the city of Milwaukee, which leans Democratic, officials reported a shortage of ballots on Tuesday “due to unprecedented and historic voter turnout”, the city’s election commission said in a statement.

Wisconsin separately voted on Tuesday to enshrine into the state constitution a law requiring voters to show ID to cast their ballots.

Voters were already required to show ID, but adding it to the state constitution made it harder to change in the future. Crawford had opposed the voter ID constitutional amendment.

At an NBA game in Milwaukee on Tuesday, several voters spoke to the BBC about their concerns.

Milwaukee Bucks fan Mike McClain said he was motivated by a dislike for Musk, who he referred to as “the real president”.

“I don’t know how a billionaire, almost a trillionaire, can decide what’s going on,” he said. “You can’t even relate with common people.”

Crawford also benefited from large donations by billionaire donors, including financier George Soros, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. But Musk outspent them all.

A Schimel supporter who did want to give his name said he was supporting the conservative out of loyalty to Trump.

“We got to take it back home here and reinforce everything that Donald Trump has done,” he said.

Much of the liberal campaign focused on the role played by Musk in the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), a cost-cutting taskforce that has moved to fire thousands of government workers and slash the federal payroll.

During a rally on Sunday, Musk distributed two $1m cheques to voters at a rally who signed a petition of his against “activist judges”.

Others who signed it received $100 from Musk.

On Tuesday, Musk’s political action committee added that it would pay $50 to anyone who snapped a picture of a Wisconsin resident standing outside a polling site and holding a photo of Schimel.

Musk donated more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump to the White House. He held similar $1m giveaways to boost the Republican president’s campaign last year.

Wisconsin’s supreme court is expected to play a key role in determining the shape of congressional districts if Democrats seek to challenge current district maps as they are widely expected to do.

Republicans currently hold six of the state’s eight seats in the US House of Representatives.

At his rally on Sunday, Musk alluded to the looming fight over congressional districts, saying the judicial race was ultimately about control of the US House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.

That slender margin was shored up on Tuesday in special congressional elections in Trump’s political heartland of Florida.

Republican candidates Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine held on to those ruby-red seats in races that were seen as a barometer of the political landscape ahead of next year’s Midterm elections.

The murder of a young Sicilian woman by a stalker in broad daylight has sent shockwaves across Italy, where 11 women have been killed since the start of the year.

University student Sara Campanella, 22, was killed by an acquaintance on Monday afternoon in the Sicilian city of Messina.

Witnesses told media that they saw a man – later identified by prosecutors as 27-year-old Stefano Argentino – walk up to Ms Campanella and stab her on the street. She tried to get away and screamed “Stop it, let me go, stop it,” before collapsing, they said.

A passer-by who reportedly heard Ms Campanella’s screams tried to chase the attacker, who managed to flee.

Ms Campanella died on her way to the hospital. Mr Argentino was arrested a few hours later in the nearby town of Noto.

Raffaele Leone, Mr Argentino’s lawyer, told Italian media on Wednesday that his client had admitted the charges against him, but had not explained why he had attacked her.

“I can’t say if he’s remorseful, he’s quite closed up,” Mr Leone was quoted by Ansa news agency as saying.

The Messina prosecutor, Antonio D’Amato, said that Stefano Argentino had “insistently and repeatedly” harassed Sara Campanella since she started university two years ago. She was studying to become a biomedical technician.

One of her friends once had to intervene when Mr Argentino kept complaining that Ms Campanella no longer smiled at him, Mr D’Amato said.

But he added that Ms Campanella never went to the police as she did not feel that Mr Argentino’s attentions were particularly “threatening or pathological”.

In the police detention order quoted by Italian media, prosecutors said that Mr Argentino had been “regularly pestering the victim, asking her to go out with him and get to know each other better, and refusing to back down even when she would turn him down”.

Mr D’Amato said that, shortly before being stabbed, Ms Campanella sent a message to some friends, telling them that “that sick guy is following me”.

Writing on Facebook, Ms Campanella’s mother said that her daughter “bravely thought her ‘No’ would be enough because [Stefano Argentino] meant nothing to her, they weren’t together, she just wanted him to leave her alone, she wanted to live and dream and graduate.

“You always need to speak up and go to the police! Help me give Sara a voice,” she said.

In an emotional interview to Italian TV, Ms Campanella’s brother said that unrequited love or attention could never be a reason for “act like this one”.

“There are no justifications, and someone like him doesn’t even deserve words.”

The father of Giulia Cecchettin, who was also 22 when she was killed by her ex-boyfriend, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that there are “entire generations of men who don’t accept rejection”.

“Love is not possession, jealousy is not love, and saying ‘No’ is a right. In Sara’s case there hadn’t even been a relationship,” Mr Cecchettin said.

“Women continue to be killed by those who don’t accept their rejection. We need to make an extraordinary effort, a collective act of rebellion… against this culture of death,” said Mara Carfagna, a former minister and lawmaker.

The issue of violence against women is keenly felt in Italy, where femicides are frequently reported by the media. Last month alone, four women died at the hands of their partners or ex-partners.

On Wednesday, less than 48 hours after her death, Sara Campanella’s murder was pushed out of the headlines by news that the body of 22-year-old Ilaria Sula had been found in a suitcase in Rome.

The university student had gone missing last week. According to Italian media, her ex-boyfriend has confessed to her murder.

Tesla sales have plummeted to their lowest level in three years after a backlash against its boss Elon Musk.

The electric car maker delivered almost 337,000 electric vehicles in the first three months of 2025, a 13% drop from a year ago.

Tesla shares tumbled after the release of the unexpectedly low sales numbers.

The cars face increasing competition from Chinese firm BYD, but experts believe Musk’s controversial role in the Trump administration have had an effect too.

The firm has blamed the drop on the transition to a new version of its most popular car.

However some analysts have pointed the finger at Musk himself.

“These numbers suck,” Tesla shareholder Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management wrote on X.

“The brand is broken and may not be fixable”, added Mr Gerber, who has previously called for the board to remove Musk as CEO.

There have been protests and boycotts around the world prompted by Musk’s outspoken and controversial political involvement.

He has been heading up President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to cut federal spending and slash the government workforce.

The Tesla boss is the world’s richest man and contributed more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump get elected in November.

In recent weeks, Mr Musk poured millions into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, supporting former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel who was soundly defeated on Tuesday.

The backlash against Mr Musk has included “Tesla Takedown” protests at Tesla dealerships across the US and in Europe.

Tesla vehicles have also been vandalised, and Trump has said his administration would charge people who deface Teslas with “domestic terrorism.”

Musk’s stewardship of his businesses, including Tesla, has been called into question.

In an recent interview, he admitted he was running his enterprises “with great difficulty,” adding: “Frankly, I can’t believe I’m here doing this.”

Tesla shares have lost more than a third of their value over the last year.

“We are not going to look at these numbers with rose colored glasses… they were a disaster on every metric,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note on Wednesday.

“The more political [Musk] gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate.”

The US State Department has revoked visas held by members of a Mexican band for “glorifying a drug kingpin”.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the band, Los Alegres del Barranco, had projected an image of El Mencho onto a screen at a recent concert in Mexico.

El Mencho, whose real name is Nemesio Oseguera Ramos, is the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most feared transnational drug trafficking gangs.

The CJNG is one of eight criminal groups which the Trump administration recently declared “foreign terrorist organisations” as part of its strategy to “ensure the total elimination” of these groups in the US.

In a post on X, Landau wrote “in the Trump Administration, we take seriously our responsibility over foreigners’ access to our country”.

He added that “the last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists”.

Los Alegres del Barranco had been scheduled to perform more than a dozen concerts in US states including Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, Kentucky and California.

Their music and that of other norteño bands has gained a large following in the US, particularly in areas where Mexican-Americans live.

The band fell foul of both the US and the Mexican authorities on Saturday when they displayed an image of El Mencho during their concert in the Mexican city of Zapopan.

It was projected while they played a song which praises him as “a man of war who loves his family” and extols his exploits as the leader of the “cartel with four letters”, a thinly veiled reference to the CJNG.

Narcocorridos, songs praising drug cartel leaders, are not uncommon in Mexico.

Many bands playing norteña music – a genre characterised by catchy lyrics often sung to a polka-inspired rhythm and accompanied by an accordion and the twelve-stringed bajo sexto – are paid by drug barons to compose these songs.

Some bands rely on income early in their careers from being hired to play at private parties, many of which are hosted by people involved in or with connections to the cartels.

The song praising El Mencho is not the only narcocorrido in Los Alegres del Barranco’s repertoire.

An earlier song entitled The 701 is about the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and how he rose to number 701 in Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest people.

Composed before El Chapo was jailed, it describes him as “the world’s most wanted man” who is not only rich because he has “many banknotes” but also because he “can count on the friendship of the people”, the song claims.

The concert at which the band projected the image of El Mencho came just weeks after relatives searching for disappeared loved ones came across a ranch that has been described by the authorities as a “training and extermination camp” for the CJNG.

Hundreds of abandoned shoes and suitcases, as well as bone fragments and ovens, found at the ranch seem to indicate that the cartel used it to train people it had recruited forcibly or by deception, killing those who resisted.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was among those who criticised the band.

Asked about the incident at her morning news conference, she said that “this shouldn’t happen, it’s not right” and ordered an investigation.

The singer of Los Alegres del Barranco appeared pleased by the mention of his band during the president’s news conference.

Speaking in a video published on TikTok, he answered a fan’s question about it, saying “how cool” it was and thanking people “for all the support we have received”.

The deaths of a British couple in New Zealand are being investigated as a murder-suicide, police have said.

Police said a man and a woman, who have not been named, were found after officers were asked to conduct a welfare check in Roseneath, a suburb of the capital Wellington, on Monday.

The couple is reported to have moved to New Zealand from the UK late last year.

Det Insp Haley Ryan said police were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident, but issued an appeal for any information related to the case with them.

The UK Foreign Office said it had not been contacted about the incident.

Police said in a statement that they were “providing support to the family at the centre of this tragic event”.

“The family have requested privacy as they grieve their loss,” they added.

Police said two bodies were found after officers forced entry to a property on Palliser Road, having been asked by a concerned family member that morning to check in on them.

The couple’s neighbour, Emma Prestidge, told public broadcaster Radio New Zealand that they had moved to the area from London.

“My understanding is they’d finally packed up their lives in London, and all their stuff was in a shipping container and they were kind of looking to move here for good,” she said.

“They were in the next phase of their life, I guess, and ready to kind of set themselves up for the next part of their chapter, which is truly sad.”

Police in New Zealand urged anyone with CCTV of the area to get in contact. Det Insp Ryan earlier said the case was being referred to the coroner.

In a statement to the BBC, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We have not been approached for consular assistance in this case, but our staff stand ready to support British nationals overseas 24/7.”

The BBC has contacted the New Zealand Coroner’s Office for comment.