Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to expand its military offensive against Hamas which includes the “capture” of Gaza and the holding of its territory, according to an Israeli official.

It is also said to include moving the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza towards the south, which could worsen the humanitarian crisis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “good plan” because it would achieve the goals of defeating Hamas and returning its remaining hostages, the official said.

The cabinet also approved, in principle, a plan to deliver and distribute humanitarian aid through private companies, which would end a two-month blockade the UN says has caused severe food shortages.

The UN and other aid agencies have said the proposal would be a breach of basic humanitarian principles and that they will not co-operate.

Hamas said Israel’s proposal amounted to “political blackmail”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet met on Sunday evening to discuss the Gaza offensive, which resumed when Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on 18 March.

An Israeli official who briefed the media on Monday said that ministers voted unanimously to approve a plan proposed by the Israeli military’s Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir to “defeat Hamas in Gaza and return the hostages”.

“The plan will include, among other things, the capture of the Strip and holding the territories, moving the Gazan population south for its defence, denying Hamas the ability to distribute humanitarian supplies, and powerful attacks against Hamas,” the official said.

Israeli media reported that the plan would take months and that the first stage included the seizure of additional areas of Gaza and the expansion of the Israeli-designated “buffer zone” running along the territory’s borders. It would aim to give Israel additional leverage in negotiations with Hamas on a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Security cabinet member Zeev Elkin told public broadcaster Kan that there was “still a window of opportunity” for a new hostage release before the end of President Trump’s 13-16 May trip to the Middle East “if Hamas understands we are serious”.

During a visit to a naval base on Sunday, Lt Gen Zamir told special forces that tens of thousands of reservists were being called up “in order to strengthen and expand our operations in Gaza”.

“We are increasing the pressure with the aim of bringing our people home and defeating Hamas. We will operate in additional areas and destroy all terrorist infrastructure – above and below ground,” he said.

However, critics say this is a failed strategy, as none of the 59 remaining hostages has been freed since the offensive resumed six weeks ago.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents hostages’ relatives, said the plan was an admission by the government that it was “choosing territories over the hostages” and that this was “against the will of over 70% of the people” in Israel.

The Israeli official said the security cabinet also approved by a large majority “the possibility of humanitarian distribution – if necessary – that would prevent Hamas from taking control of supplies and would destroy its governmental capabilities”.

On Sunday, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), a forum that includes UN agencies, said Israeli officials were seeking to “shut down the existing aid distribution system” and “have us agree to deliver supplies through Israeli hubs under conditions set by the Israeli military, once the government agrees to re-open crossings”.

The HCT warned that the plan would mean large parts of Gaza, including less mobile and most vulnerable people, would continue to go without supplies.

“It contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy,” it said.

“It is dangerous, driving civilians into militarized zones to collect rations, threatening lives, including those of humanitarian workers, while further entrenching forced displacement.”

Israel cut off all deliveries of humanitarian aid and other supplies to Gaza aid on 2 March, two weeks before resuming its offensive.

According to the UN, the population is facing a renewed risk of hunger and malnutrition because warehouses are empty, bakeries have shut, and community kitchens are days away from running out of supplies.

The blockade has also cut off essential medicines, vaccines and medical equipment needed by Gaza’s overwhelmed healthcare system.

The UN says Israel is obliged under international law to ensure supplies for Gaza’s population, almost all of whom have been displaced. Israel says it is complying with international law and there is no shortage of aid.

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 others were taken hostage.

At least 52,567 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 2,459 since the Israeli offensive resumed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

US President Donald Trump says he will hit movies made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs, as he ramps up trade disputes with nations around the world.

Trump said he was authorising the US Department of Commerce and Trade Representative to start the process to impose the levy because America’s movie industry was dying “a very fast death”.

He blamed a “concerted effort” by other countries that offer incentives to attract filmmakers and studios, which he described as a “National Security threat”.

His remarks could spell a “knock-out blow” to the industry, one union warned, where filmmakers have for years left Hollywood for destinations like the UK and Canada in search of lower costs.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform: “It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”

“WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick responded to the announcement, saying “We’re on it”.

But the details of the move are unclear. Trump’s statement did not say whether the tariff would apply to American production companies producing films abroad.

Several recent major movies produced by US studios were shot outside America, including Deadpool & Wolverine, Wicked and Gladiator II.

It was also unclear if the tariffs would apply to films on streaming services, like Netflix, as well as those shown at cinemas, or how they would be calculated.

The founder of European cinema chain Vue, Timothy Richards, questioned how Trump would define a US film.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “Is it where the money comes from? The script, the director, the talent, where it was shot?”

Mr Richards said the cost of shooting in southern California had grown significantly over the last few decades, prompting filmmakers to move production to locations like the UK, which have increasingly offered tax incentives and lower costs.

“But it’s not just the actual financing itself,” he added.

“One of reasons UK has done so well is we have some of the most highly experienced and skilled film and production crew in the world.

“The devil will be in the details.”

Meanwhile, UK media union Bectu warned the tariffs could “deal a knock-out blow” to the industry and its tens of thousands of freelancers, as it recovered from the pandemic and a “recent slowdown”.

Union chief Philippa Childs told the BBC: “The government must move swiftly to defend this vital sector, and support the freelancers who power it, as a matter of essential national economic interest.”

The UK’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport, industry body the British Film Institute and the Motion Picture Association, which represents the five major US film studios, did not immediately respond to BBC requests for comment.

The US remains a major film production hub globally despite challenges, according to movie industry research firm ProdPro.

Its most recent annual report shows the country saw $14.54bn (£10.94bn) of production spending last year. Although that was down by 26% since 2022.

And NPR Radio film critic Eric Deggans warned that the tariffs, should they be introduced, could further harm the industry.

Other countries may respond by placing tariffs on American films, he told the BBC, making it “harder for these films to make profits overseas”.

“It may create a situation where the tariffs in America are causing more harm than good,” he added.

Countries that have attracted an increase in spending since 2022 include Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, according to ProdPro.

Following Trump’s remarks, Australia’s home affairs minister Tony Burke said: “Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry.”

Industry body Screen Producers Australia said that while there were “many unknowns” about the plan, there was “no doubt it will send shock waves worldwide”.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also said his government was awaiting further details of the proposed tariffs.

“But we’ll be obviously a great advocate, great champion of that sector and that industry,” he told a news conference.

Ahead of his inauguration, Trump appointed three film stars – Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone – to be special ambassadors tasked with promoting business opportunities in Hollywood, which he described as a “great but very troubled place”.

Trump wrote at the time: “They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK – BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed tariffs on countries around the world.

He argues tariffs – which are taxes charged on goods bought from other countries – will boost US manufacturers and protect jobs.

But the global economy has been thrown into chaos as a result, and prices on goods around the world are expected to rise.

Even before this most recent announcement, the US movie industry had been impacted by the fallout from Trump’s trade policies.

In April, China said it was reducing its quota of American films allowed into the country.

“The wrong action of the US government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favourability towards American films,” the China Film Administration said.

“We will follow the market rules, respect the audience’s choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported.”

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

At least 10 people have died and 70 have been hospitalised after strong winds caused four tourist boats to capsize in southwestern China.

Sudden strong winds caused the boats to capsize in a river in Qianxi city in Guizhou on Sunday, leading 84 people to fall into the water, according to state media reports. The death toll jumped from nine after the body of one missing person was found on Monday.

The incident occurred as China celebrated the tail end of its week-long May Day holiday, a peak season for travel.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping had earlier urged “all-out efforts” in the search and rescue.

President Xi noted that other similar accidents had taken place recently, and stressed the importance of strengthening safety measures, state media said.

Authorities in China have also been told to step up public safety measures over peak tourist season.

Sunday’s incident comes just two months after 11 people were killed in another accident, when a passenger boat struck an industrial vessel in China’s Hunan province.

Another accident occurred over the weekend in the eastern city of Suzhou, after a sightseeing helicopter crashed in a newly-opened park, killing one person and injuring four on board.

Last year was the deadliest for Russian forces since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine: at least 45,287 people were killed.

This is almost three times more than in the first year of the invasion and significantly exceeds the losses of 2023, when the longest and deadliest battle of the war was taking place in Bakhmut.

At the start of the war, losses happened in waves during battles for key locations, but 2024 saw a month-on-month increase in the death toll as the front line slowly edged forward, enabling us to establish that Russia lost at least 27 lives for every kilometre of Ukrainian territory captured.

The BBC Russian Service, in collaboration with independent media outlet Mediazona and a team of volunteers, has processed open source data from Russian cemeteries, military memorials and obituaries.

So far, we have identified the names of 106,745 Russian soldiers killed during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The true number is clearly much higher. Military experts estimate our number may cover between 45% and 65% of deaths, which would mean 164,223 to 237,211 people.

20 February 2024 was the deadliest day for Russian forces that year.

Among the casualties were Aldar Bairov, Igor Babych and Okhunjon Rustamov, who were with the 36th Motorised Rifle Brigade when four Ukrainian long-range HIMARS missiles hit a training ground near the city of Volnovakha in occupied Donetsk.

They had been ordered to line up for a medal ceremony. Sixty-five servicemen were killed, including their commander Col Musaev. Dozens more were wounded.

Bairov, 22 and from Buryatia in eastern Siberia, had studied to be a food sanitation specialist but was drafted for mandatory military service and then signed a contract to become a professional soldier.

In February 2022 he went to fight in Ukraine and was part of the battle for Borodyanka during his brigade’s advance towards Kyiv in March 2022. The town was almost completely destroyed. Ukrainian sources say Russian soldiers were involved in the execution of civilians.

Okhunjon Rustamov, 31 and from Chita in Siberia, had worked as a welder after serving a mandatory term in special forces. He was mobilised during a partial draft in October 2022.

Unlike Rustamov, Igor Babych, 32, had volunteered to go to war. He had worked with adults and children diagnosed with cerebral palsy, helping them with physical therapy until April 2023.

In total 201 Russian soldiers died on that day, according to our data.

A few hours after the strike on the training ground, then-Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu met Vladimir Putin to bring him news of military success from the front line.

There was no mention of the training ground attack, nor was there any word from the Ministry of Defence in its daily reports.

A relative of Okhunjon Rustamov said she had already buried three close family members over the course of the war. “In December 2022, my husband died. On 10 February 2024, my godfather. And on 20 February my half-brother. From one funeral to the next.”

In our analysis, we prioritised exact dates of death for soldiers. If that wasn’t available, we used the date of the funeral or the date the death was reported.

In the first two years of the war, 2022 and 2023, Russian losses followed a wave-like pattern: heavy fighting with high casualties alternated with periods of relative calm.

In 2023, for example, most casualties occurred between January and March, when Russian forces attempted to capture the cities of Vuhledar and Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.

In the first year of the full-scale invasion, according to our calculations, Russia lost at least 17,890 soldiers. This number does not include losses from Russia’s two proxy forces in occupied eastern Ukraine.

In 2023, the number rose to 37,633.

In 2024, there was no period showing a significant fall in casualties. Bloody battles for Avdiivka and Robotyne were followed by intensified assaults towards Pokrovsk and Toretsk.

In August 2024, Russian conscripts were killed when Ukrainian forces stormed over the border into the Kursk region. From August 6 to 13 alone, an estimated 1,226 Russian soldiers died.

However, the heaviest overall losses occurred during a slow Russian advance in the east between September and November 2024, according to leading US military analyst Michael Kofman.

“Tactics emphasised repeated attacks with dispersed assault groups, using small infantry fire teams, which increased overall casualties relative to terrain gained,” he explained.

After almost two years of intense fighting, Russian forces seized the logistical hub of Vuhledar in Donetsk on 1 October 2024.

According to estimates by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), from September to November 2024, Russian forces captured 2,356 square kilometres of Ukraine.

Even then, Ukrainian forces at the front did not collapse.

The cost of this advance was at least 11,678 Russian military deaths.

Actual losses figures are likely higher. We have only accounted for soldiers and officers whose names appeared in publicly available obituaries and whose dates of death or funeral fell within this period.

Overall in 2024, according to ISW, Russia captured 4,168 square kilometres of land. This means that for each square kilometre captured, 27 Russian soldiers were killed, and this does not include the wounded.

Russia has found ways of replenishing its depleted forces.

“Russian recruitment also increased in the second half of 2024 and exceeded Russian casualties, allowing Moscow to generate additional formations,” says Michael Kofman.

One-time payments to soldiers signing new contracts were increased in three Russian regions. Combat salaries for volunteer soldiers are five to seven times higher than the average wage in most regions.

We also class as volunteers those who signed up to avoid criminal prosecution, which was allowed by law in 2024.

Volunteers have become the fastest-growing category of casualties in our calculations, making up a quarter of those we have identified.

In 2023-2024, thousands of volunteers who signed contracts with the Ministry of Defence were sent to the front lines only 10–14 days later. Such minimal training will have dramatically reduced their chances of survival, experts say.

One Russian republic, Bashkortostan, has seen the highest numbers of casualties, with 4,836 confirmed deaths. Most were from rural areas and 38% had gone to fight with no military experience.

The one-time payment for signing a Russian army contract in Ufa is 34 times the region’s average salary of 67,575 rubles (£600).

Calculating deaths from open source data will always be incomplete.

This is because the bodies of a significant number of soldiers killed in the past months may still be on the battlefield and retrieving them presents a risk to serving soldiers.

The true death toll for Russian forces increases significantly, if you include those who fought against Ukraine as part of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.

An assessment of obituaries and reports of searches for fighters who have lost contact suggests between 21,000 and 23,500 people may have been killed by September 2024.

That would bring the total number of fatalities to 185,000 to 260,700 military personnel.

US President Donald Trump says he is “very friendly” with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was re-elected over the weekend in a landslide victory.

“We have had a very good relationship,” Trump told the Sydney Morning Herald at the White House on Sunday, in his first remarks about the Australian election.

But the US president was less familiar with the other electoral candidate.

“I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him,” he said of conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton, who many saw as Australia’s equivalent to Trump.

In the lead-up to the election, Dutton and his Liberal National Coalition initially seemed to have an advantage over Albanese, who had to deal with public dissatisfaction over the government’s handling of issues like housing and healthcare.

But on Saturday, Albanese defied the so-called “incumbency curse” and made a surprising comeback to secure a comfortable majority for a second term.

The global uncertainty created by Trump’s sweeping tariffs has been cited as a reason for a swing towards Albanese’s centre-left Labor party.

“Albanese, I’m very friendly with,” Trump said on Sunday. “I don’t know anything about the election other than… the man that won is very good. He’s a friend of mine.”

When asked about Albanese’s previous remarks that Trump’s tariffs on Australia were “not the act of a friend”, Trump replied: “Well, I can only say that he’s been very, very nice to me, very respectful to me.”

Dutton ran a “very Trumpian campaign”, according to former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who told BBC Newshour the US president was “the mood music that had a very big influence on how people perceived” the Coalition.

Dutton’s brand of hard-line conservatism, his support for controversial immigration policies – like sending asylum seekers to offshore detention centres – and his fierce criticism of China all led to comparisons with Trump.

And while it’s a likeness he rejected, the Coalition under his leadership pursued policies that seemed to have been borrowed from the Trump administration.

Dutton appeared to try to shake off these associations towards the end of his campaign, and in the final leaders’ debate repeatedly told the audience that he didn’t know Trump, before attempting to answer questions on him.

He had also long tried to convince voters that he would be the politician best suited to dealing with Trump, however, citing his experience as a cabinet minister during tariff negotiations in Trump’s first term.

Voters weren’t convinced.

Dutton’s campaign ended in defeat and Dutton lost his own seat of 24 years in Dickson. He resigned hours after polls closed on Saturday, as election results trickling in pointed to a Labor victory.

A 1,000 year-old human skeleton buried sitting cross-legged in India is still without a museum to house it because of bureaucratic wrangling, six years after it was unearthed.

Archaeologist Abhijit Ambekar made the significant discovery in 2019, when he spotted what looked like the top of a human skull while excavating in western Gujarat state.

As his team dug deeper, they found the well-preserved remains in a pit in what appeared to be a meditative posture. Similar remains have been found at only three other sites in India.

But officials are still arguing over who should take charge of the skeleton. It remains in a makeshift shelter – not far from a new museum of local archaeology.

Abhijit Ambekar says the skeleton – found in the town of Vadnagar – is likely to belong to the Solanki period. The Solanki dynasty, also known as the Chaulukya dynasty, ruled over parts of modern-day Gujarat between 940 to 1300 CE.

The skeleton’s right arm rested on its lap and its left arm lay suspended in the air, as if resting on a stick.

“The skeleton is an extremely valuable find, not just for Vadnagar but for the whole country. It can help us understand how our ancestors lived, and reveal details about the past that are yet unknown,” says Dr Ambekar, who heads the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) division in Mumbai, and led the team that found the skeleton.

That it is yet to find a proper resting place, despite its archaeological significance, appears to come down to red tape.

Mr Ambekar says the Gujarat government’s plan for all artefacts excavated from Vadnagar was to place them in local museums.

He says around 9,000 artefacts, including the skeleton, that were excavated from Vadnagar between 2016 and 2022 by the ASI and had been handed over to the Gujarat government have been placed in local museums – except for the skeleton.

However, the state government says the skeleton is still in the possession of the ASI.

“As proper process was not followed, it [the skeleton] was not placed in the museum,” Pankaj Sharma, director of the state’s Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, told the BBC.

Yadubir Singh Rawat, director general of the ASI, did not respond to the BBC’s questions on the matter.

M Thennarasan, principal secretary of the state’s Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department told the BBC, that authorities were working on shifting the skeleton to a museum as soon as possible.

Excavating the skeleton was a time-consuming process, Mr Ambekar says, adding that it took two months to complete. Various tools were used to carefully brush the soil away and free the skeleton from its ancient grave.

It is currently housed in a tarpaulin shelter in Vadnagar, unprotected by security guards and exposed to natural elements. Locals sometimes bring relatives and friends to see the skeleton – a curiosity that has put a spotlight on the town, which is also the birthplace of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

What’s interesting is that just a short distance away is the new Archaeological Experiential Museum – inaugurated by India’s home minister in January.

According to a government press release, the museum has been built at a cost of $35m and is spread across 12,500 sq m. It boasts that it showcases “Vadnagar’s 2,500-year-old history with over 5,000 artefacts, including ceramics, coins, tools and skeletal remains”.

While the museum has a massive framed photo of the skeleton, it does not house the actual remains.

Vadnagar is a historically significant region in Gujarat and excavations by the ASI have found traces of human settlements dating back to more than 2,000 years ago. Mr Ambekar says that portions of an earthen rampart believed to have been built by the region’s first settlers exists even today.

Digs have also revealed remnants of ancient Buddhist monasteries and stupas. These findings and others – such as terracotta figurines, coins, shell jewellery and stone and copper plate inscriptions – have helped archaeologists establish seven cultural sequences or phases in the area, starting from around the 2nd Century BCE and dating all the way up to the 19th Century CE.

Mr Ambekar says the age of the skeleton he and his team found was estimated based on a DNA analysis of its teeth and a stratigraphic study of the excavation site. Stratigraphy involves studying rock sediments or layers of earth to determine their age. This is then used to establish the chronology of historical events or the approximate age of artefacts.

“The DNA analysis tells us that the skeleton is of local ancestry and belongs to a man in his forties, but more studies need to be done to understand his diet and lifestyle, which will in turn give us a better understanding of the region as it existed 1,000 years ago,” he says.

It could also shed light on the phenomenon of “samadhi burials” – an ancient burial practice among Hindus where revered figures were buried instead of being cremated, Mr Ambekar says.

He adds that the skeleton had managed to survive the passage of time because the soil around it had remained undisturbed and displayed characteristics that prevent skeletal decay.

Extricating the skeleton from the site and moving it to its current location was not an easy task. First, a block of earth with the skeleton nestled inside was cut out from the soil surrounding it. The skeleton and soil were treated with different chemicals to consolidate their structures. The block of earth was then put into a wooden box filled with wet mud and a crane was used to move the box to its current site.

The entire operation took six days to complete, says Mr Ambekar.

He hopes that the skeleton will find a place in a museum soon. But he adds it will need to have mechanisms to control the temperature and humidity of the space to prevent the skeleton from decomposing.

Locals the BBC spoke to expressed similar sentiments and blamed “red tapeism” for the back-and-forth over the skeleton.

“We are proud of Vadnagar’s ancient history but this treatment of a 1,000-year-old skeleton is deeply concerning. What is the point of building a museum if the most unique antiquity is left outside under a plastic roof?” Vadnagar resident Jesang Thakor said.

Another resident, Bethaji Thakor, said that he believed the skeleton could draw tourists from around the world to Vadnagar.

“Where else will you get to see something like this?”

Rwanda is in the “early stage” of talks with the Trump administration to accept migrants deported by the US, the East African country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungireh has said.

His comments come after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that Washington was “actively searching” for countries that would take in “some of the most despicable human beings”.

Nduhungireh said the talks were “not new to us” as Rwanda had previously agreed to accept migrants deported by the UK.

However, the UK abandoned the scheme, which faced numerous legal changes, after a new government took office last July.

Speaking to Rwandan TV on Sunday, Nduhungireh said the government was in the “spirit” of giving “another chance to migrants who have problems across the world”.

Nduhungireh added that the talks with the US were continuing, and it was too early to predict their their outcome.

Since coming to office in January, US President Donald Trump has focused on speeding up the removal of undocumented migrants, with the promise of “mass deportations”.

In February, El Salvador offered to take in criminals deported from the US, including those with US citizenship, and house them in its mega-jail.

Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele said his government would do so “in exchange for a fee”.

• The rapid remaking of the US, in 100 days
• Rwanda’s Hope Hostel ready for first UK migrants
• UK asylum deal: Is Rwanda a land of safety or fear?

A right-wing nationalist candidate who is against providing military support for Ukraine and is sceptical about the EU has won a resounding victory in the first round of the presidential election in Romania.

George Simion came first with 40.96% of the vote, and will go into the runoff on 18 May as the clear favourite against the liberal mayor of Bucharest.

Nicusor Dan narrowly beat Crin Antonescu, candidate of the governing coalition, with just under 21% of the vote.

Six months ago, the presidential election in Romania ended in scandal and confusion. It was won by a radical outsider with mystical leanings, Calin Georgescu, but that result was annulled over allegations of campaign fraud and Russian interference.

After the polls closed on Sunday, Simion thanked those who voted for him. “It was an act of courage, trust and solidarity,” he said in a recorded message.

“This election is not about one candidate or another, but about every Romanian who has been lied to, ignored, humiliated, and still has the strength to believe and defend our identity and rights,” Simion posted on X on Friday.

Simion’s support was especially strong in the Romanian diaspora. He secured more than 70% of votes in Italy, Spain and Germany where Romanians largely do blue-collar work.

Simion, 38, is an admirer of US President Donald Trump and says he wants an EU of strong, sovereign nations.

He told the BBC he believed in a strong Nato and was in favour of keeping Nato bases and US troops in Romania, if he becomes president.

However, he hinted he believed Nato had been too pro-active in its support of Ukraine.

Many of the voters who backed Georgescu in the annulled election last year are thought to have switched their allegiance to Simion, and the two men voted together on Sunday.

In the second round, Simion could also attract voters who backed fourth-placed former prime minister Victor Ponta, a former Social Democrat who adopted a “Romania First” campaign.

Simion, who leads the nationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, calls for restoring Romania’s old borders and has been banned from entering Moldova and Ukraine.

Asked how he would describe himself, Simion told the BBC: “I am young and restless. I am a Romanian patriot [who] all his life… dreamt of being part of the free world, and now we discovered that the free world is not that free anymore.”

In February, US Vice-President JD Vance sharply criticised Romania for the annulment of the poll, sending shockwaves through a Romanian political establishment that leans heavily on its special relationship with the US. Georgescu was nevertheless barred from taking part in the rerun.

A potential Simion victory on 18 May is awaited nervously in European capitals, Washington, Kyiv and Moscow.

Romania is an important transit route for weapon systems and ammunition to Ukraine.

Last September it gave one of its two Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine. Romania has a US missile defence shield at Deveselu, and three major airbases from which Nato flies air policing missions and surveillance drones up to the border of Ukraine and Moldova, and out over the Black Sea.

Ukraine exported 70% of its grain down the Black Sea coast in 2023, through Romanian territorial waters, towards Istanbul. The Romanian navy demines those waters, and the Romanian air force trains Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s. The Trump administration is reassessing its commitment to Romania. A visa-waiver agreement was abruptly cancelled on the eve of the election.

“Forget about any more help to Ukraine if Simion becomes president,” George Scutaru, a security expert at the New Strategy Center in Bucharest, said.

As head of the National Security Council, the president can veto any decision, and has a strong influence on security policy. But Scutaru expresses “prudent optimism” that one of the centrists will win the run-off.

Simion made it clear to the BBC he felt that “Russia is the biggest danger towards Romania, Poland and the Baltic states, the problem is this war is not going anywhere”.

He said he hoped the peace talks organised by the Trump administration would result in a ceasefire and peace negotiations.

Public resentment at Romanian financial support for Ukrainian refugees has been a central plank in Simion’s campaign, though he denies he is pro-Russian.

Good relations with Kyiv in future, he said, would depend on Ukrainian treatment of the Romanian minority in Ukraine and on Romanian churches and schools there.

During the weekend, crowds of sightseers thronged the gardens of the Cotroceni Palace, the presidential residence in the west of Bucharest. The decision by interim President Ilie Bolojan to open the buildings and gardens to the public from Friday to Sunday was very popular among visitors.

The palace is a former monastery, converted in the 17th Century, which became home to the Romanian royal family in the 19th Century.

“I can’t really imagine Simion in here,” Ionut, a satirical writer, told me beside an ornate waterfall, looking up at the palace walls.

He voted for Simion in the first round of the election last November, out of anger at the constant delays to Romania’s full membership of the Schengen free-travel zone. And frustration with Romania’s outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis.

But Romania finally joined the Schengen land-borders on 1 January, and Iohannis stepped aside the same month.

“Romanians are less angry now,” he believes. He voted for Nicusor Dan on Sunday.

Ana, a management consultant, walking with her family through the palace gardens, also supported Nicusor Dan.

“I want to vote for both continuity and change,” she says. “Continuity in Romania’s relationship with Europe, but change as far as corruption is concerned. We young people don’t relate to the old parties any more.”

One of the men accused of taking part in a wave of sectarian violence against Syria’s Alawite minority two months ago has told the BBC that he and other armed civilians who travelled to the area were advised and monitored by government forces there.

Abu Khalid said he had travelled as a civilian fighter to the Mediterranean coastal village of Sanobar on 7 March, to help battle former regime insurgents.

“The General Security department told us not to harm civilians, but only to shoot at insurgents who shot at us,” he told me.

“There were eight men with me, but it was a large group, and the General Security department was overseeing things so that no-one would vandalise the village or harm the residents.”

He later filmed himself shooting dead a 64-year-old village resident, Mahmoud Yusef Mohammed, at the entrance to his house.

Abu Khalid, who has now been arrested, insisted Mahmoud was an armed insurgent – but video he filmed of the incident does not support his account.

Military police told the BBC there had been no coordination between security forces and Abu Khalid.

Human rights groups estimate that almost 900 civilians, mainly Alawites, were killed by pro-government forces across Syria’s coastal region in early March.

The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam and its followers make up around 10% of Syria’s population, which is majority Sunni.

Syria’s coastal area – a stronghold of the former regime – has been largely sealed off, but a BBC team gained access, speaking to witnesses and security officials about what happened in Sanobar.

The violence came a day after fighters loyal to the country’s overthrown former President Bashar al-Assad, who is an Alawite, led deadly raids on government security forces.

The new Sunni Islamist-led government had called for support from various military units and militia groups to respond to those raids – but that escalated into a wave of sectarian anger aimed at Alawite civilians.

Witnesses told the BBC that several different armed groups had targeted Alawites for summary executions. Some also said that government security forces had battled violent and extremist factions to protect Alawite villagers from attack.

When the violence along this coast erupted, the village of Sanobar was right in its path. Some 200 people were wiped out from this small Alawite village, over the course of a few days in early March.

Almost two months after the killings, there have been no funerals in Sanobar.

A mass grave now squats beside the winding village road. Hurried burials have cleared the remaining corpses.

This is now a village of women and secrets. Most survivors are still too scared to speak openly but their stories, shared with us privately, are often strikingly similar.

The body of Mahmoud Yousef Mohammed lay outside his simple breeze-block house in Sanobar for three days after he was shot dead.

His wife, daughter and grandchildren, sheltering in a neighbour’s house, were too afraid to emerge from hiding and bury him, as armed groups roamed the village.

His family said Mahmoud was a polite man, known and respected in the village; a farmer with a military background, who sometimes worked as a minibus driver.

His house, on a quiet street at the edge of the village, stands less than 300m (985ft) from the main highway where, on 6 March, army officers from Syria’s former regime led co-ordinated attacks on the country’s new security forces.

For two days, government forces battled former regime fighters, known locally as “filoul” (“remnants”), in the villages along this coastal highway, calling for support from allied militia groups who helped push Bashar al-Assad from power last year.

An array of armed supporters responded to the call, including foreign jihadist fighters, civilians and armed units now nominally part of the new Syrian army, but still not fully under government control. All are groups now accused by survivors of civilian executions.

All day on 7 March, Sanobar residents listened to the sounds of intense fighting around the village, as families hid in their houses.

Then the targeting of civilians began.

“All day, many groups entered our house,” one survivor from Sanobar told me. “They weren’t from the [military] groups based here, but from Idlib, Aleppo and elsewhere. Some wore camouflage uniforms. But the ones who killed us were wearing green uniforms with a mask.”

“They stole everything, insulted us, threatened the children,” she continued. “The last group came around 6pm. They asked, ‘Where are the men?’ and took my father and my brother Ali. We begged them not to kill them. They said, ‘You’re Alawite, pigs,’ and shot them in front of our eyes.”

Some time that day, Mahmoud stepped outside the building he was sheltering in with his family. One of his relatives said he could smell toxic fumes from a fire nearby, and wanted to check on his own house.

He never reappeared.

“We found the next morning that he had been killed,” the relative told us.

The story of what happened to Mahmoud began to emerge when a video of his killing surfaced on social media, filmed by the man who shot him.

In the video, Abu Khalid is seen grinning and taunting Mahmoud from the back of a motorbike before shooting him six times.

To meet Abu Khalid, we travelled to Idlib, the heartland of transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which swept Syria’s old regime from power last December.

Now in military police custody pending an investigation, Abu Khalid shuffled into the room, blinking and stretching as his blindfold and handcuffs were removed.

A young man in camouflage pants, he seemed keen to talk, explaining that Mahmoud was not a civilian, but an insurgent who was fighting in the village that day, and had been carrying an 8.5mm-calibre rifle when he shot him.

“I turned the camera on him and told him to sit down,” Abu Khalid told me. “He was running away and he wanted to kill me, so I shot him in the shoulder and the leg. When I got closer, I saw him moving his hand as if he had a bomb or a gun. I was afraid, so I killed him.”

But the video Abu Khalid filmed of the shooting – its location and timing verified by the BBC – does not support his account.

A former member of the British special forces confirmed that there was no weapon visible on or near Mahmoud at any point in the video.

And at no point does Abu Khalid ask the 64-year-old to stop or sit down – nor does he appear scared or under threat.

Instead, he is shown whooping and grinning on the back of the motorbike, before calling out to Mahmoud, “I’ve caught you, I’ve caught you! Look at the camera!”

He then shoots him three times in quick succession. Mahmoud falls to his knees inside the doorway of his house.

“You didn’t die?!” Abu Khalid calls out, as he follows him to the building.

Mahmoud can be heard begging for his life, before Abu Khalid shoots him three more times at close range.

International law forbids the killing of civilians, the injured, or disarmed fighters.

Khaled Moussa, from the military police unit now holding Abu Khalid, said he had gone to fight in Sanobar without coordination with the security forces.

“Civilians are not supposed to be there during military operations,” Mr Moussa said. “He made a mistake. He could have captured the person, but instead he killed him.”

But Abu Khalid has little regret for what he did.

When he cries during our interview, it’s not for Mahmoud – or even for himself. It’s for his little brother, killed in a bomb attack by President Assad’s former army in 2018 as his family sat down at home to break their Ramadan fast.

“He was eight years old, and I held him while his soul left his body,” he told me, before tears start flowing down his face.

“I was raised during the revolution, and saw nothing but injustice, blood, killing and terror. They ignore everything that happened in Syria before the liberation, and focus on the video I filmed.”

He tells me his family’s latest casualty was his 17-year-old cousin, killed while fighting insurgents near Sanobar. “He was completely burned,” he said. “We took him away in a plastic bag.”

“If I was going for revenge for what they did to us, I wouldn’t have left any of them.”

The insurgent attacks on 6 March ripped open sectarian fault-lines that Syria’s new Islamist government had tried to paper over with promises of tolerance and inclusion.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), an independent monitoring group, says former regime loyalists killed at least 446 civilians, including 30 children and women, and more than 170 government security forces, most of them on 6 March.

Those attacks resurrected deep-seated anger over the repressive dictatorship of former President Assad, with Alawite civilians seen by some as complicit in the crimes of his regime – and as part of the insurgency that followed his fall.

The SNHR says the government’s crackdown on insurgents on the coast “escalated into widespread and severe violations”, most of which were “retaliatory and sectarian”.

The group says that pro-government forces and supporters killed at least 889 civilians, including 114 children and women, in the days following the insurgent attacks.

Amnesty International has investigated dozens of attacks it says were “deliberate”, “unlawful” and targeted at Alawite civilians.

One video from Sanobar shows a pro-government fighter marching through the village chanting, “ethnic cleansing, ethnic cleansing”.

Lists of victims from the village, compiled by local activists, include the names of more than a dozen women and children, including an 11-year-old, a pregnant woman and a disabled man.

The survivor who watched gunmen kill her father and brother said the family showed their killers the men’s civilian ID cards to prove they hadn’t been part of Assad’s army. But it made no difference; their only accusation, she said, was that the family were “Alawite pigs”.

Separating civilians from insurgents is key to the new government’s plan to secure the country, and its promise to protect minorities.

But that will require prosecuting those responsible – and proving it can control its own military forces and armed allies.

Sharaa’s HTS group – once the local affiliate of al-Qaeda and still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US and UK – formed the backbone of his new army.

There has been rapid recruitment to fill the ranks of a new civilian police and the General Security Forces.

Training has reportedly been shortened and many units say they are under-equipped. One commander looked wistfully at my body-armour and radio when we joined them on a patrol. “We don’t have those,” he said.

Turkish-backed militia and jihadist fighters who once fought alongside HTS to remove Bashar al-Assad are among those named by witnesses and human rights groups as carrying out summary executions.

In the streets of Sanobar, the names of Turkish-backed units, now supposedly under government control, have been graffitied on the walls, and the BBC heard several reports that their men were still present in the village.

Some videos of alleged violations also appear to show the presence of vehicles and uniforms from the official General Security Forces – prompting Amnesty International to call for investigation.

The head of the General Security Forces for the Latakia region, Mustafa Kunaifati, told me that civilians with friends or relatives in the army were responsible for most of the crimes, but admitted that members of armed groups had also been involved – including what he called “individual cases” from his own General Security units.

“It happened,” he said, “and those members were also arrested. We can’t accept something like that.”

After the former regime fighters were expelled and the situation brought under control, he said his men “began removing all the rioters from the area and arresting anyone who had harmed civilians”.

Several witnesses have confirmed to the BBC that Mr Kunaifati’s forces intervened to protect them from other armed groups.

One of Mahmoud’s neighbours in Sanobar told us they evacuated him and his family 30 minutes before Mahmoud was killed.

And the witness who described the killing of her father and brother said the General Security Forces had helped them escape the village, and later to return and bury their relatives.

Sharaa has vowed that “no-one will be above the law” when it comes to prosecuting the killings on the coast.

A special committee is currently investigating both the initial 6 March attack by insurgents, and the violence by pro-government forces that followed. The BBC understands some 30 people have been arrested.

But in a country still waiting to see justice for the crimes of the past, this is a delicate moment.

Some have argued that the government’s decision to issue a general call for support after the insurgent attacks made violence predictable, even inevitable.

Many Alawite villagers say they want the government’s General Security Forces to police their villages, and for other factions, now positioned at some checkpoints and bases, to leave.

Two months after the violence here, government security forces are acting as the shield against their own hard-line allies.

The future of Sanobar is a test for the future of Syria, and the country’s other minorities – Druze, Christians, Kurds – are watching.

To see how far Syria’s Islamist government can hold this wounded country together without resorting to the repression of the past.

One of Francis’s popemobiles, which the late pontiff used to greet thousands of people, will be turned into a mobile health clinic to help the children of Gaza.

Following a request by Pope Francis, the vehicle used during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014 is being refitted with everything needed for frontline care in a war zone, charity organisation Caritas, which is overseeing the project, said.

“There’ll be rapid tests, suture kits, syringes, oxygen supplies, vaccines and a small fridge for storing medicines,” it explained in a statement.

The Vatican said it was the pope’s “final wish for the children of Gaza” before he died last month. The vehicle is currently in Bethlehem, and will enter Gaza if and when Israel opens a humanitarian corridor.

The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 15,000 children and displaced nearly one million since it erupted in October 2023, Unicef reports.

Israel has blocked humanitarian aid from entering the Strip for more than two months, which has left “families struggling to survive” as food, clean water and medicines reach critically low levels, the UN agency for children said.

For now, Caritas will have to wait until Israel reopens the aid corridor – but when that happens, they say they will be ready.

“With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care – children who are injured and malnourished,” Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, said in a statement.

A team of doctors will run the mobile clinic, which will have the capabilities to examine and treat patients, and there will be a dedicated driver. Some details are still being finalised, like how to make the vehicle safe from potential blasts, Mr Brune told the BBC.

“It’s not just a vehicle, it’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza,” he said.

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis made many impassioned remarks on the war in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Strip “shamefull”. During his final speech on Easter Sunday, he urged all “warring parties” to agree to a ceasefire and spoke of the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis.

During 18 months of war, he reportedly called parishioners in Gaza nightly to check on their wellbeing, and suggested that the international community should examine whether Israel’s military offensive in Gaza should be classed as genocide – an allegation Israel has vehemently denied.

The popemobile is one of a number of specially converted vehicles allowing the pontiff to greet huge crowds of well-wishers during official visits. He was able to sit or stand while it rolled along, flanked by security agents, and its design allowed those gathered to have a clear view of the Pope.

Popemobiles in the past were bullet-proof after an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, but Francis told Spanish media in 2014 that he didn’t like the glass “sardine can” design that separated him from people.

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 others were taken hostage. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages.

Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 52,243 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

On Monday, Israel’s security cabinet reportedly approved, in principle, a plan to resume deliveries and distribution of humanitarian aid through private companies, but the UN and other aid agencies said the proposal would be a breach of basic humanitarian principles and that they will not co-operate.

Prosecutors in Mexico have arrested the mayor of Teuchitlán in western Jalisco state as part of their investigation into a nearby cartel training site.

The mayor, José Murguía Santiago, is suspected of colluding with the New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG), which he has denied.

The investigation was launched after activists discovered bone fragments and hundreds of discarded shoes, backpacks and items of clothing at the Izaguirre ranch outside the town in March.

Rights groups said that they feared the ranch had been used as an “extermination camp”, where people were forcedly recruited and trained, and those who refused were tortured and killed.

The discovery by people searching for their missing relatives of what appeared to be evidence of mass killings at the site shocked the country, where cartel violence is rife.

• Read: Ovens and bone fragments – BBC visits Mexican cartel ‘extermination’ site

Mexico’s Attorney-General Alejandro Gertz gave a news conference last week updating journalists on the federal investigation into the ranch.

He confirmed that the site had been used as a training centre for recruits of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most feared and powerful transnational drug trafficking gangs, which has its power base in Jalisco.

However, he said that there was no evidence that it had been used as an extermination and cremation site.

According to the attorney-general, bone fragments discovered there were not recent and forensic tests suggested that the fires lit at the ranch would not have been hot enough to dispose of human remains.

Gertz’s statements caused anger among “searchers”, the name given to relatives looking for the more than 120,000 people who have been reported missing in Mexico over the past two decades.

They said that his news conference raised more questions than it answered and failed to address to whom the many abandoned shoes found at the ranch belonged and what had become of those people.

Gertz insisted that the authorities would continue looking into whether there had been any collusion between the CJNG and local officials.

The arrest of Mayor Murguía Santiago is part of that ongoing investigation.

Prior to his arrest, the mayor had said that he had nothing to hide. “If they want to investigate me, let them, I’m clean and willing to say what I know,” he told local media.

But prosecutors allege that he knew of the existence of the training centre and did not act on that knowledge.

When the Catholic Church elects a new pope, the world watches not for a press conference or social media post, but for rising smoke from a small chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.

If the smoke is black, no new pope has been chosen. If it is white, a decision has been made: – we have a pope. It’s high drama, broadcast live to millions.

But what viewers don’t see is the centuries-old ritual’s hidden complexity: the carefully built chimney, the engineered stove and the precise chemical recipes, each part painstakingly designed to ensure that a wisp of smoke carries a clear message.

Experts told the BBC that the process requires “two custom fireworks”, smoke test rehearsals and Vatican firefighters on standby. It is meticulously organised by a team of engineers and Church officials working in unison.

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday aged 88 and with the funeral now over, attention has turned to the conclave – a private meeting through which a new pope will be chosen.

The Vatican has confirmed that cardinals will meet at St Peter’s Basilica on 7 May to celebrate a special Mass before gathering inside the Sistine Chapel, where the complex vote will commence.

The tradition of burning the cardinals’ paper ballots dates back to the 15th Century and became part of conclave rituals aimed at ensuring transparency and preventing tampering, particularly after earlier papal election delays had led to public frustration and unrest.

Over time, the Vatican began using smoke as a way to communicate with the outside world while preserving the strict confidentiality of the vote.

And today, despite countless advances in communication, the Vatican has chosen to preserve the tradition.

“From antiquity onwards people have seen rising smoke – of animal and grain sacrifices in the Bible, or of burning incense in tradition – as a form of human communication with the divine,” Candida Moss, a theology professor at the University of Birmingham, told the BBC.

“In Catholic tradition, prayers ‘ascend’ to God. The use of smoke evokes these religious rituals and the aesthetics of wonder and mystery that accompany them.”

Prof Moss also says that the rising smoke allows people gathering in St Peter’s Square “to feel included – as if they are incorporated into this mysterious and secretive affair”.

The reasons are symbolic, but making it work in the 21st Century requires real-world engineering.

Inside the Sistine Chapel, two stoves are temporarily installed specifically for the conclave: one for burning ballots, the other to generate the smoke signals.

Both stoves are connected to a small flue – a pipe within a chimney that allows smoke to escape – that leads up through the chapel roof to the outside. On Friday, fire crews were seen on the roof, carefully securing the chimney top into place, while workmen erected scaffolding and constructed the stoves inside.

The Sistine Chapel, which was built more than 500 years ago, is home to one of the most famous ceilings in the world. Adorned with Michelangelo’s frescoes, it is not exactly designed for smoke signals, and the chimney needs to be installed discreetly and safely.

It’s a complex process. Technicians either use an existing opening or create a temporary hatch through which the flue – typically made of a metal such as iron or steel – is inserted. The pipe runs from the stoves to the outside, emerging through the tiled roof above St Peter’s Square.

Every joint is sealed to prevent leaks and every component is tested. Specialists rehearse smoke tests in the days before the conclave begins, ensuring the chimney draw works in real time. Even Vatican firefighters are involved; on standby in case of malfunction.

“This is such a precise process because if one thing goes wrong, it’s not just a technical failure – it becomes an international incident,” Kevin Farlam, a structural engineer who has worked on heritage properties, told the BBC. “It’s not like putting a pipe on a pizza oven. Every part of the system has to be installed without damaging anything.”

This setup is constructed days before the cardinals arrive and is dismantled once a pope has been chosen.

To ensure the signal is visible, Vatican technicians use a combination of chemical compounds.

“What they’re essentially building here is two custom fireworks,” Prof Mark Lorch, head of the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Hull, told the BBC.

“For black smoke, a mix of potassium perchlorate, anthracene, and sulfur is burned – producing thick, dark smoke.

“For white smoke, a combination of potassium chlorate, lactose, and pine rosin, is used, which burns clean and pale.

“In the past they tried to burn damp straw to create a darker smoke and dry straw to make lighter smoke – but this caused some confusion because sometimes it appeared grey.”

He explained that these chemicals are “pre-packed into cartridges and ignited electronically” so there’s no ambiguity.

The addition of bell ringing – introduced during Pope Benedict XVI’s election – now serves as confirmation and is used alongside the smoke signal.

Over the years, there have been suggestions to modernise the system: coloured lights, digital alerts, or even televised votes. But for the Vatican, the ritual is not just a communication tool – it’s a moment of continuity with centuries of tradition.

“This is about tradition and secrecy, but it has real theological heft to it as well,” Prof Moss said.

“Plus ‘Catholic Church’ and ‘cutting edge’ are far from synonyms – innovation is almost antithetical to ritual.”

The biggest names in entertainment are gearing up to celebrate menswear and black style at Monday’s Met Gala, the fashion industry’s biggest night of the year.

Pharrell Williams and Lewis Hamilton are among the co-chairs for this year’s event, which raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

The annual gala, which takes place in New York City, is usually attended by huge names from the world of film, fashion and music.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Met Gala 2025.

The Met Gala’s theme is usually connected to the Costume Institute’s latest exhibition, which this year is Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.

It’s inspired by Monica L Miller’s book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, published in 2009.

This year’s Met Gala dress code is “Tailored for You” – a reference to the suiting and menswear which features in the exhibition.

In fact, this is the first Met Gala in more than two decades to focus exclusively on menswear.

“The theme this year is not only timely,” said Gala committee member Usher, “but also speaks to our rich culture that should always be widely celebrated.”

Expect lots of references from both the male and female guests to the role black style has played over the centuries, particularly in menswear.

The Met says the show “presents a cultural and historical examination of black style from the 18th Century to today, through the lens of dandyism“.

Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who oversees the gala every year, is joined for 2025 by co-chairs Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky and LeBron James.

Black talent is also being celebrated with the event’s host committee, which includes athlete Simone Biles, film director Spike Lee, actress Ayo Edebiri, pop stars Doechii, Usher, Tyla, Janelle Monáe and André 3000, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and playwright Jeremy O Harris.

The Met Gala always takes place on The First Monday in May – to use the title of the 2016 documentary about the event.

This year, that means it takes place on Monday, 5 May, with guests arriving from about 18:00 EST (23:00 BST).

It might be a bank holiday in the UK, but for the designers, publicists and PAs, it’ll be an extraordinarily busy day as they preen and prepare their stars to walk the grand staircase.

Although the public never gets to see inside the event itself, where the guests are treated to dinner, cocktails, live music and a look around the costume institute’s new exhibition, the lengthy red carpet event beforehand ensures acres of media coverage.

The guest list isn’t published in advance, but you can safely expect to see a huge number of A-listers on the night.

Unless you’re a New York resident planning to stand behind the barriers across the road from the museum, your best bet is probably to watch it online.

Vogue will be running a live stream of the event across their digital platforms, including YouTube.

US viewers will be able to watch on Peacock and E! Online, while countless news outlets will be live streaming their own coverage on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

You can also follow the live blog here on the BBC News website.

But to be honest, photos and videos from the night will be inescapable when you open your social media feeds on Tuesday morning, so if you’re in the UK and going to bed, you shouldn’t have to look too far for coverage when you wake up.

No, sorry hun.

The Met Gala is an exclusive event, only open to a small number of invited guests – usually around 450.

Often, the biggest brands will buy a table, and use it to host their desired celebrities. The label benefits if the celebrity is associated with them and wears one of their outfits on the red carpet.

The proceeds from ticket sales go to the costume institute. It’s understood an individual ticket goes for around $75,000 (£56,000), while a 10-seat table starts at $350,000.

But at least the A-listers don’t have to deal with dynamic pricing.

Look back on previous Met Galas:

• 2024: Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking

• 2023: Stars pay tribute to Karl Lagerfeld

• 2022: The gilded age inspires A-listers

• 2021: Stars embrace Americana

• 2019: Camp style dominates

• 2018: Stars explore Catholicism

The trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, one of the most successful rappers and music moguls in the US, starts in New York with jury selection on Monday.

The charges against him include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

The rapper also faces dozens of civil lawsuits from individuals who accuse him of using his power to drug, assault, rape, intimidate and silence people.

Mr Combs has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and rejected the individual lawsuits as attempts “for a quick payday”.

Mr Combs – who has also gone by the names Puffy, Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Love, and Brother Love – emerged into the hip-hop scene in the 1990s.

His early music career success included helping launch the careers of Mary J Blige and Christopher Wallace – aka Biggie Smalls, or The Notorious B.I.G.

His music label Bad Boy Records became one of the most important labels in rap and expanded to include Faith Evans, Ma$e, 112, Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez.

Mr Combs also had a prolific business career outside of music, including a deal with British drinks company Diageo to promote the French vodka brand Cîroc.

In 2023, he released his fifth record The Love Album: Off The Grid and earned his first solo nomination at the Grammy awards. He also was named a Global Icon at the MTV Awards.

In the federal criminal case, Mr Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Many of the most severe allegations relate to the racketeering conspiracy charge.

It includes accusations of kidnapping, drugging, and coercing women into sexual activities, sometimes using firearms or threats of violence.

In a raid on his Los Angeles mansion, police found supplies that they said were intended for use in orgies known as “freak offs”, including drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil.

Separately, Mr Combs faces a number of lawsuits accusing him of rape and assault.

Tony Buzbee, a Texas lawyer handling some of these cases, said that more than 100 women and men from across the US have either filed lawsuits against the rap mogul or will do so.

In December 2023, a woman known in court papers as Jane Doe alleged that she was “gang raped” by Mr Combs and others in 2003, when she was 17. She said she was given “copious amounts of drugs and alcohol” before the attack.

Mr Combs’ legal team dismissed the flurry of lawsuits as “clear attempts to garner publicity.”

• ‘He thought of himself as a king’: The parties that led to Diddy’s downfall
• Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: Who is the US rapper accused of sex trafficking?

His current legal issues began when he was sued by his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, also known as Cassie, in late 2023. She accused him of violently abusing and raping her.

That lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount a day after it was filed, with Mr Combs maintaining his innocence.

Since then, dozens of people have filed lawsuits accusing Mr Combs of sexual assault, with accusations dating back to 1991. He denies all claims.

His controversial history with Ms Ventura resurfaced in 2024, when CCTV footage leaked by CNN showed Mr Combs kicking his former girlfriend as she lay on a hotel hallway floor in 2016.

He apologised for his behaviour, saying: “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”

• Diddy’s violence left me broken, says Cassie
• ‘Studio sex’ and ‘hitman threats’: Insiders speak out about Diddy’s 90s music empire

Mr Combs has consistently denied the allegations made against him in the civil lawsuits, describing them as “sickening” and suggesting they were made by “individuals looking for a quick payday”.

In a statement to the BBC about the federal criminal charges, his lawyer said: “Mr Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process.

“In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone – man or woman, adult or minor.”

Diddy’s lawyers later filed a motion to dismiss one part of the federal indictment in which he is accused of transportation to engage in prostitution. His team argued he was being unfairly targeted due to his race.

In a hearing in New York a week before the trial, his attorneys told the court that the rapper led the “lifestyle” of a “swinger” and was not a criminal.

They said he thought it was “appropriate” to have multiple sex partners, including sex workers.

At the same hearing, prosecutors revealed that Mr Combs had rejected a plea deal.

Mr Combs has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, since his arrest on 16 September 2024.

His lawyers have argued for his release, citing the jail’s “horrific” conditions.

Critics describe the prison as overcrowded and understaffed, with a culture of violence.

A New York federal judge denied the bail request, describing Mr Combs as a “serious flight risk”.

Prosecutors have alleged that Mr Combs has been breaking prison rules by contacting potential witnesses.

They accuse him of “relentless efforts” to “corruptly influence witness testimony”.

• ‘Chaos reigns’ – the notorious jail holding Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

The trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.

The first days of the trial will consist of jury selection, with the trial starting in earnest after the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates is selected.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson told the judge that the government will need three weeks to present its case.

Defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said the rapper’s team will need a week for theirs.

Mr Combs’ trial will take place in front of US District Judge Arun Subramanian at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan courthouse in lower Manhattan.

The trial is expected to be open to the public, but won’t be streamed online.

Cameras, phones and electronic devices are normally not allowed in US federal courtrooms.

Mr Combs faces up to life in prison if convicted on the racketeering charge.

He faces another statutory minimum sentence of 15 years if he is found guilty of sex trafficking.

Transportation for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

When José Luis Iguarán steps outside his home in La Guajira, northern Colombia, he is met with a line of 10 towering wind turbines stretching across the cactus-strewn terrain toward the Caribbean Sea.

The Wayuu indigenous group, which Mr Iguarán belongs to, has lived on the arid peninsula region for centuries, herding goats, tending to crops, mining salt, and fishing.

With some of Colombia’s most powerful winds, La Guajira has now become the epicentre of the country’s shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

But this green ambition has faced both resistance and reflection from locals, whose territory is deeply tied to culture, tradition, and a profound connection to nature.

“You wake up and suddenly you no longer see the trees. Instead, you see and hear the turbines,” Mr Iguarán says.

His community now shares its land with Guajira 1 – one of Colombia’s two operational wind farms. Another 15 wind farms are currently under construction in La Guajira, and there are plans for dozens more.

“At night, the noise from the turbines disturbs our dreams. For us, dreams are sacred,” Mr Iguarán adds.

The Wayuu, who number around 380,000 in Colombia and extend into Venezuela, have distinct traditions and beliefs. Dreams are a bridge to the spiritual world, where they receive messages from their ancestors that are interpreted within the family.

Despite the cultural disruptions, Mr Iguarán says that his community has benefited from Guajira 1. The energy company behind it, Colombian firm Isagen, has paid for them to have access to clean drinking water, better roads, and sturdy brick houses, which have replaced some of the mud and cactus ones.

Isagen, which is owned by Canada’s Brookfield, also pays three local communities an annual fee for the wind farm to be there, a percentage of annual electricity revenues, and 20% from the sale of carbon credits. These are bought by companies wishing to offset their carbon emissions.

Mr Iguarán believes such energy projects can help bring vital development to Colombia’s second-poorest region. But not everyone shares his enthusiasm.

“The wind farms produce clean energy, but they create division within the Wayuu communities,” explains Aaron Laguna, a Wayuu fisherman, who lives in the coastal village of Cabo de la Vela.

His community is currently in the process of consultations over a wind farm due to be built nearby. He has seen others affected by projects complain about a lack of transparency, poor compensation, a disrespect of cultural norms, and corruption.

“Bad negotiations are made, and the resources given [to us] aren’t well managed by locals,” he adds.

These concerns have led to disputes with the energy companies, and even conflict within Wayuu communities. Some oppose the projects, while others feel excluded from negotiations that could bring them benefits.

“There is still this idea that if it is green, it is automatically good,” says Joanna Barney, director of environment, energy and communities at Colombian think tank Indepaz. It has extensively researched the energy transition and its effects on the Wayuu.

“In Colombia… there isn’t a solid legal framework to properly assess the environmental impacts – and the social impacts are immeasurable.”

In December 2024, Spanish company EDP Renováveis shelved plans for two wind farms in La Guajira, saying the projects were no longer economically viable.

One factor was the doubling of local indigenous communities who said they would be affected, and therefore need compensation, from 56 to 113.

EDP’s decision followed the May 2023 exit of Italian multinational Enel from another planned wind farm in the region. Enel attributed its departure to “constant protests” that halted construction for more than half of the working days between 2021 and 2023.

Guajira 1 was also marred by roadblocks, a common way of protesting in La Guajira when locals feel unheard.

And think tank Indepaz has recorded cases of attacks against employees of the energy firms, including armed robberies and kidnappings. And in some areas it has found cases of displacement and violence between local communities who disagree over neighbouring wind farms.

“We call it the ‘wind wars’,” says Ms Barney.

For Colombian anthropologist Wieldler Guerra, there is a clear disconnect between the Wayuu and the wind farm companies.

“There are two worlds talking, and they have not managed to understand each other,” he says.

This gap extends to the very way they perceive the wind – the element central to these projects.

“For the Wayuu, the winds are people. It is not the wind, but the winds. There are eight different winds in Wayuu culture, mythological and ancestral beings with distinct temperaments that shape the surrounding environment and must be respected.”

By contrast, companies and the Colombian government see wind as a resource to harness for environmental progress, profit, and to address the country’s energy needs.

While Colombia has a relatively clean domestic electricity matrix, with nearly two-thirds coming from hydroelectricity, the country remains vulnerable to low reservoir levels, which creates a risk of energy shortages. Wind energy currently contributes just 0.1% of the energy mix.

For energy companies investing in the region, the risk of conflicts with local people are a worrying prospect.

One such firm, AES Colombia is developing the country’s largest wind energy cluster in La Guajira, with six wind farms.

The company insists it maintains an open dialogue with communities, offering fair compensation, and ensuring benefits such as clean drinking water and shares in carbon credits.

But it says good community relations are not enough.

“We cannot do these projects alone,” says Federico Echavarría, general manager of AES Colombia. “The government must help resolve conflicts between communities.”

On the windswept beach in Cabo de la Vela, Mr Laguna says La Guajira has historically been neglected by the state.

Education and healthcare are poor, and most rural communities do not have running water.

Some people still walk hours each day to collect water from jagüeys – reservoirs filled with rainwater.

His community has a small salt-water treatment plant that produces fresh water and it wants the company planning to build the nearby wind farm to expand it, so that more locals benefit.

Despite the talk of progress, he points to a lingering paradox. “The worst thing is we won’t receive even a single kilowatt of the electricity produced here,” he laments.

The plan is for the wind farm’s electricity to instead be sent elsewhere, and that the village will continue to rely on generators, at least in the medium term.

While the future might look bright for clean energy, many Wayuu are still anxious they will be left in the dark.

“Celebration? What celebration? It feels more like a funeral” – the damning words of a former senior Nato figure to describe this week’s ceremonies marking Victory in Europe Day.

The top-level diplomat who spent years at the transatlantic defence alliance asked not to be named in order to speak freely, but why so nihilistic? VE Day was a joint Allied triumph over Nazi Germany; over hatred, dictatorship, the Third Reich’s territorial expansionism and heinous crimes against humanity.

So much blood was spilled achieving that victory. Some 51 million Allied soldiers and civilians died during World War Two, united in a pursuit to rid the world of the scourge of Nazism.

But 80 years on, we’re surrounded by countless news and academic analyses breathlessly singling out Donald Trump as the modern day nail in the coffin of the strong transatlantic bonds forged back then. In Europe, the American president is viewed by many as the slayer-in-chief of decades-old common values; shared visions of security, democracy and rule of law.

But is that accurate, or too simplistic?

To get the full picture on what happened to allied ties after WW2, we cannot omit Russia, then or now.

By 1945, about 24 million Russians and other Soviets had been slaughtered in the war with Germany. Without their sacrifice, as well as that of the other allies, the Nazis would not have been vanquished.

“One thing we need to recognise, though, is Russia was never a true friend of the West,” says Michael Zantovsky, a former Czech Ambassador to Washington and to London.

“During WW2 it was an ally for existential reasons. It needed any help [against the Nazis] that it could get. And it was the same story with western powers, to be fair. They needed the help of the Soviet Union. But Russia did not plan on continuing the alliance after the war. As soon as the threat of Nazi Germany was destroyed, the Soviet Union intended to follow its own objectives.”

Splits appeared the moment Germany was defeated; there was even a disagreement over which day VE Day fell. Western powers witnessed the signing of Germany’s military capitulation in the French cathedral city of Reims, news that broke on 8 May 1945. The USSR wanted its own, separate, signing with surrendering Germany in Soviet-occupied Berlin a day later. Russia marks VE Day on 9 May to this day.

Depending where you are in Europe on VE Day, the mood is varied – particularly this year.

Western Europe welcomes liberty, democracy and an end to the Nazi threat. In the UK for example, multiple VE Day celebrations are planned this year, as with every year.

But people living in central and eastern Europe, such as Czechoslovakia, emerged from Nazi occupation in 1945 only to end up under Communist regimes – whether they liked it or not.

As a result, Ambassador Zantovsky describes his country’s relationship to VE Day as “ambiguous”.

“The western part of Czechoslovakia was liberated by US troops, the rest of the country by Soviet soldiers,” he tells me.

Czechoslovakia was taken over by the Communist Party in 1948 and fully invaded by the Soviet Union two decades later. “During communist times, the West’s role in WW2 was deliberately suppressed and marginalised. We were told we owed our liberty [from the Nazis] to the Soviets.”

Russia marks VE Day with triumphalist military parades – and President Vladimir Putin knows the deep sense of nationalist pride that Russians still feel at defeating the Nazi regime in 1945. It is no coincidence that he publicly labels Ukraine’s leadership “Nazis” as a means of besmirching them in Russian eyes.

For VE Day this year, President Putin called a three-day ceasefire with Ukraine – it’s presumed, because he wants to concentrate, uninterrupted, on showing off Russia’s military muscle in front of a crowd of foreign dignitaries, including President Xi Jinping of China.

The official reason Putin gave for the Ukraine ceasefire was “humanitarian grounds”. Quite the irony, since he’s the one who ordered the invasion of that sovereign country.

That invasion brought back difficult memories for Czechs of their own occupation and suppression. “That’s why we feel so strongly for Ukraine,” says Zantovsky.

“It’s only a few hundred kilometres away. Our sense of security is threatened once again.”

This is why most Europeans are so shocked at President Trump’s apparent respect for, even deference towards, Putin, while simultaneously verbally threatening the territorial integrity of traditionally close allies like Canada and Denmark.

Europe has viewed the US as its closest friend since WW2. Washington poured money into the war-shattered continent in the late 1940s – including West Germany, which was ever thankful to the US for bringing it back into the fold after the horrors of Nazism. The US also gave Europe post-war security guarantees; Nato was founded in 1949.

But this wasn’t American altruism, as Trump implies. It too was a marriage of convenience, of sorts.

Following WW2, the US worried about the spread of communism. It fretted that Europe, with its economy and infrastructure in tatters, was vulnerable both to home-grown communist parties and abroad from an expansionist Soviet Union. By swooping in to help rebuild Europe, the US was gaining a geostrategic foothold on the Soviet Union’s doorstep throughout the Cold War.

The idea of a “West” – made of countries sharing security goals and values – was born.

Might we now be witnessing its death, or gradual strangulation? With no common enemy anymore, the friendship is certainly fraying. In 2025, the president of the United States no longer feels threatened by Russia.

“Shared history served as the foundation for the (transatlantic) relationship for eight decades, but it’s not enough to propel the relationship forward anymore,” Washington’s former Nato ambassador Julie Smith told me.

The war in Ukraine is the biggest conflict in Europe since WW2. With Russia’s economy resolutely on a war footing, it has the potential to spread.

Europe, unlike the US, still feels threatened by Russia. Capitals across the continent have been left speechless and nervous by Trump appearing to blame Ukraine, not Moscow, for the bloodshed.

The televised press conference in the White House Oval Office in late February, where Trump and his deputy, JD Vance, seemingly tried to bait, berate and humiliate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, was a turning point in European public opinion and politics.

A YouGov poll in March indicated that, 80 years on from VE Day, a large majority of Western Europeans (78% in the UK, 74% in Germany, 75% in Spain) now view the White House as a big threat to peace and security in Europe.

In Europe’s east, the Soviet Union’s former sphere of influence, people fear President Trump’s attitude to Ukraine will only embolden President Putin in his expansionist drive.

If Russia gets US recognition for “crimes of conquest” in Ukraine, says historian and author Timothy Garton Ash, VE Day this year would be better labelled DE Day – Defeat in Europe Day.

And with Trump frequently accusing Europe of free-loading, and taking advantage of the US, there’s a nervousness among leaders across the continent that they could be left alone to defend themselves for the first time since WW2. Boosting defence spending is now a huge topic in European capitals.

The message Berlin has taken from Trump’s first 100 days in office is: “We cannot rely on the US anymore,” says Peter Wittig, Germany’s former ambassador to Washington.

That’s a massive turnaround for Germans, who have been reluctant to rebuild their country’s military might after WW2. Instead, Germany leant particularly heavily on the US for its security. A large chunk of the estimated 100,000 US troops stationed in Europe are based in Germany. The US stores nuclear arms in the country too.

The Trump-shock among normally pro-US German politicians is so profound that it prompted a change in the country’s constitution this spring. Parliamentarians voted to lift Berlin’s long established debt brake – which limited government spending – in order to invest heavily and power up the country’s military going forward.

Ursula von der Leyen, once Germany’s defence minister, is now the president of the European Commission in Brussels. She is transatlantic-leaning and carefully-spoken, but even she summed up the present situation starkly: “The West as we knew it, no longer exists.”

Still, the pivot away from Europe by the US cannot just be blamed on Trump.

China, not Russia, has been viewed by the White House as strategic threat number one for some time now. In 2012, then-US President Barack Obama said he wanted to focus his foreign policy on Asia, and Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden invested a lot of time trying to shore up China-wary allies in the Indo-Pacific.

Trump or no Trump, concentrating foreign policy on Asia and withdrawing substantially from Europe is unlikely to change, says Ambassador Wittig – whichever political party wins the next US election – especially as there is now a growing reluctance in US public opinion to carry the burden of financing allies.

Wittig calls it “the end of an era – the end of engagement in Europe”.

Despite all the European hand wringing, there is a recognition among the continent’s leaders that, 80 years after VE Day, it is high time they take more responsibility for paying and providing for their own defence capabilities, rather than relying on Washington.

Some also see potential in the relationship reset. Ambassador Zantovsky calls this “an opportunity brought about by crisis, a sense of urgency regarding security that hasn’t existed [in Europe] for the last 30 years”.

Perhaps, but during the Cold War western European societies had younger populations and far more slim-line welfare states. Spending 4% or 5% of gross domestic product on defence was do-able.

Analysts say that’s what would be needed again now to wean Europe off US security support, but it’s unclear if present-day voters would accept the painful compromises needed – in terms of cuts in government spending on health or education for example – in return for boosting their country’s defence capabilities.

This is especially the case in European nations geographically further from Russia’s orbit, where the sense of immediate threat feels less acute.

Mr Garton Ash wonders if there is a transitional path from the current US-led Nato to a more European Nato, with the US still at the table but Europe taking responsibility for its own security.

“We need a new generation of political leaders who are up to the challenge,” says political historian and biographer Sir Anthony Seldon.

“A need can often bring forward the right people,” he added, reflecting on European and US leaders in the aftermath of WW2.

“Something has certainly broken. The future is uncertain. Do we have to go to war periodically to realise how terrible it is, and to force us to work together?”

Eight decades on from the hell they experienced, surviving WW2 veterans would tell you they fervently hope that won’t be the case.

It sounds like it could be the plot of a spy novel, but the ‘Shetland Bus’ was a real undercover operation carried out to help the resistance in Nazi-occupied Norway during World War Two.

In the depths of winter and under the cover of darkness, convoys of small fishing boats left the safety of Scotland’s most northerly islands to deliver valuable cargo and special agents to coves and fishing ports 200 miles away along the coast of Norway.

On the perilous return journeys, refugees fleeing the occupation were hidden in the hold of the fishing boats, as they sought sanctuary in the British Isles.

To commemorate the 80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, six of the historic ships that formed part of the Shetland Bus convoys have set sail again from Bergen in Norway to replicate the journey back to Shetland.

The Liberation Convoy aims to arrive in Lerwick on Tuesday in time for the VE Day commemorations, and will also visit Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany on 9 April 1940, a few months before the full occupation of France.

The Norwegian government and its Royal Family, including King Haakon VII, were forced into exile in London and thousands of Norwegian people followed in fishing boats and other small vessels, crossing the North Sea to seek refuge in the UK.

In July 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill set up a clandestine organisation called the Special Operations Executive (SOE) with the sole aim of carrying out espionage and sabotage missions across German-occupied Europe.

The Shetland Bus convoys were part of the Norwegian branch of the SOE, supporting the resistance movement in Norway.

Between 1940 and 1945, they made 200 North Sea crossings, transporting hundreds of resistance agents, tonnes of weapons and supplies, and rescuing more than 300 Norwegian refugees fleeing the occupation.

The 200-mile crossings took place in winter to make the most of the hours of darkness and avoid being spotted by German patrols.

But this meant that the sea was often treacherous.

The crews and passengers on board had to endure not only heavy North Sea conditions, but also the constant risk of discovery by German aircraft or patrol boats.

On 27 September 1941, the MK Arnefjord left the small island of Hernar, to the north-west of Bergen, carrying 20 refugees.

Although the weather started off calm, they soon encountered a raging storm. Everyone onboard was seasick and some discussed turning back.

Eventually the Arnefjord made it safely across and delivered crews and passengers to the island of Mousa in Shetland.

But others were not so lucky. Of the six boats that crossed the North Sea with the Arnefjord that weekend, only four made it.

In total, 10 fishing boats were lost during the Shetland Bus convoys and 44 men lost their lives.

The current skipper of the MK Arnefjord, Morten Neset, is making the return journey back to Shetland as part of the VE Day commemorations.

He told BBC Scotland News that the boats had to make the crossings in the winter or late autumn to avoid being detected by the Germans.

“If they crossed on a clear summer day, they would be spotted straight away,” he said.

“The Shetland Bus was really important for the general population of Norway as it showed that someone was ‘standing up for them’ in their resistance against the occupation.”

Bill Moore, from the Shetland Bus Friendship Society, said that, although it was difficult to say what impact it had on the war, it was an important part of the resistance movement which gave optimism and hope to the people in Norway.

People said they were “taking the Shetland Bus” as a code for escaping the occupation.

Shetland residents hosted soldiers and refugees from Norway throughout the war, forming a close bond between the two locations that endures to this day.

A 1,000 year-old human skeleton buried sitting cross-legged in India is still without a museum to house it because of bureaucratic wrangling, six years after it was unearthed.

Archaeologist Abhijit Ambekar made the significant discovery in 2019, when he spotted what looked like the top of a human skull while excavating in western Gujarat state.

As his team dug deeper, they found the well-preserved remains in a pit in what appeared to be a meditative posture. Similar remains have been found at only three other sites in India.

But officials are still arguing over who should take charge of the skeleton. It remains in a makeshift shelter – not far from a new museum of local archaeology.

Abhijit Ambekar says the skeleton – found in the town of Vadnagar – is likely to belong to the Solanki period. The Solanki dynasty, also known as the Chaulukya dynasty, ruled over parts of modern-day Gujarat between 940 to 1300 CE.

The skeleton’s right arm rested on its lap and its left arm lay suspended in the air, as if resting on a stick.

“The skeleton is an extremely valuable find, not just for Vadnagar but for the whole country. It can help us understand how our ancestors lived, and reveal details about the past that are yet unknown,” says Dr Ambekar, who heads the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) division in Mumbai, and led the team that found the skeleton.

That it is yet to find a proper resting place, despite its archaeological significance, appears to come down to red tape.

Mr Ambekar says the Gujarat government’s plan for all artefacts excavated from Vadnagar was to place them in local museums.

He says around 9,000 artefacts, including the skeleton, that were excavated from Vadnagar between 2016 and 2022 by the ASI and had been handed over to the Gujarat government have been placed in local museums – except for the skeleton.

However, the state government says the skeleton is still in the possession of the ASI.

“As proper process was not followed, it [the skeleton] was not placed in the museum,” Pankaj Sharma, director of the state’s Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, told the BBC.

Yadubir Singh Rawat, director general of the ASI, did not respond to the BBC’s questions on the matter.

M Thennarasan, principal secretary of the state’s Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department told the BBC, that authorities were working on shifting the skeleton to a museum as soon as possible.

Excavating the skeleton was a time-consuming process, Mr Ambekar says, adding that it took two months to complete. Various tools were used to carefully brush the soil away and free the skeleton from its ancient grave.

It is currently housed in a tarpaulin shelter in Vadnagar, unprotected by security guards and exposed to natural elements. Locals sometimes bring relatives and friends to see the skeleton – a curiosity that has put a spotlight on the town, which is also the birthplace of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

What’s interesting is that just a short distance away is the new Archaeological Experiential Museum – inaugurated by India’s home minister in January.

According to a government press release, the museum has been built at a cost of $35m and is spread across 12,500 sq m. It boasts that it showcases “Vadnagar’s 2,500-year-old history with over 5,000 artefacts, including ceramics, coins, tools and skeletal remains”.

While the museum has a massive framed photo of the skeleton, it does not house the actual remains.

Vadnagar is a historically significant region in Gujarat and excavations by the ASI have found traces of human settlements dating back to more than 2,000 years ago. Mr Ambekar says that portions of an earthen rampart believed to have been built by the region’s first settlers exists even today.

Digs have also revealed remnants of ancient Buddhist monasteries and stupas. These findings and others – such as terracotta figurines, coins, shell jewellery and stone and copper plate inscriptions – have helped archaeologists establish seven cultural sequences or phases in the area, starting from around the 2nd Century BCE and dating all the way up to the 19th Century CE.

Mr Ambekar says the age of the skeleton he and his team found was estimated based on a DNA analysis of its teeth and a stratigraphic study of the excavation site. Stratigraphy involves studying rock sediments or layers of earth to determine their age. This is then used to establish the chronology of historical events or the approximate age of artefacts.

“The DNA analysis tells us that the skeleton is of local ancestry and belongs to a man in his forties, but more studies need to be done to understand his diet and lifestyle, which will in turn give us a better understanding of the region as it existed 1,000 years ago,” he says.

It could also shed light on the phenomenon of “samadhi burials” – an ancient burial practice among Hindus where revered figures were buried instead of being cremated, Mr Ambekar says.

He adds that the skeleton had managed to survive the passage of time because the soil around it had remained undisturbed and displayed characteristics that prevent skeletal decay.

Extricating the skeleton from the site and moving it to its current location was not an easy task. First, a block of earth with the skeleton nestled inside was cut out from the soil surrounding it. The skeleton and soil were treated with different chemicals to consolidate their structures. The block of earth was then put into a wooden box filled with wet mud and a crane was used to move the box to its current site.

The entire operation took six days to complete, says Mr Ambekar.

He hopes that the skeleton will find a place in a museum soon. But he adds it will need to have mechanisms to control the temperature and humidity of the space to prevent the skeleton from decomposing.

Locals the BBC spoke to expressed similar sentiments and blamed “red tapeism” for the back-and-forth over the skeleton.

“We are proud of Vadnagar’s ancient history but this treatment of a 1,000-year-old skeleton is deeply concerning. What is the point of building a museum if the most unique antiquity is left outside under a plastic roof?” Vadnagar resident Jesang Thakor said.

Another resident, Bethaji Thakor, said that he believed the skeleton could draw tourists from around the world to Vadnagar.

“Where else will you get to see something like this?”

For more than a decade, a pair of Hobbit-inspired eagle sculptures have cast a watchful eye over visitors at New Zealand’s Wellington Airport.

But the giant birds will be unfastened from the ceiling on Friday to make way for a new mystery exhibit, airport authorities said.

The eagles appear as messengers in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which were adapted to film by New Zealand’s Sir Peter Jackson.

The spectacular New Zealand landscapes featured in Mr Jackson’s films are a consistent draw for tourists, who are greeted at the airport by the eagle sculptures.

“It’s not unusual to see airborne departures from Wellington Airport, but in this case, it will be emotional for us,” Wellington Airport chief executive Matt Clarke said in a statement.

The giant eagles will be placed in storage and there have not been long-term plans for them.

Each eagle weighs 1.2 tonnes (1,200kg) with a wingspan of 15m (49ft). Riding on the back of one of the birds is a sculpture of the wizard, Gandalf.

Made of polystyrene and with an internal steel skeleton, each eagle has hundreds of feathers, the longest one measuring 2.4m (8ft).

While the iconic eagles will soon be gone, not all is lost for fans of the franchise: Smaug the Magnificent, the dragon in The Hobbit, will continue to be displayed at the check-in area.

The eagles were unveiled in 2013, around the time of the release of The Hobbit trilogy. The giant sculptures were produced by Wētā Workshop, the New Zealand-based company that made costumes and props for The Lord of the Rings franchise.

“We’re working with Wētā Workshop on some exciting plans for a unique, locally themed replacement to take their place,” Mr Clarke said. “We’ll unveil what’s next later this year so keep watching the skies.”

In 2014, one of the eagles came crashing down during an earthquake. No one was injured from that accident.

Ahead of Sweden’s Walpurgis festival to mark the start of spring, young people were busy selecting outfits or getting their hair done. Not all of them made it there alive.

At a hair salon in Uppsala, a city north of Stockholm, three young men who police say were aged between 15 and 20 were shot dead on Tuesday before the celebrations started.

The horror left many shaken in the build-up to the festival, known as Valborg in Swedish, which is typically a convivial affair each 30 April on the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga. Celebrated nationwide, Uppsala hosts the country’s largest and most high-profile Walpurgis events, popular with students.

The partying did go ahead in full swing, but a subtle heaviness hung over the Swedish blue and yellow flags which fluttered around the city.

And now, with the festival finished, it’s only police tape – not flags – fluttering outside the basement barber shop where the shooting took place close to Vaksala Square.

“It’s really sad,” says 20-year-old student Yamen Alchoum, who is in the area to eat at a nearby food truck. He says he was at another barber shop on the night of the shootings, but previously had his hair cut at this salon multiple times. “I think if I was there [on Tuesday]…I would be, like, involved in the shooting. And it’s a bit scary.”

According to witnesses speaking to Swedish media TV4 and Aftonbladet, two of the young victims were dressed in barber capes and sat in parlour chairs when they were shot in the head just after 5pm on Tuesday.

The city centre was busy at the time as commuters made their way to the nearby train station and students from the city’s prestigious university cycled back to their flats.

Witnesses reported hearing loud bangs which many mistook for fireworks. Minutes later several police cars and an ambulance arrived, blocking the street and forcing a bus to turn around. Helicopters and drones were dispatched to try and track down the suspect. Local media reported that he had worn a mask and used an electric scooter to get away from the scene.

“I heard the helicopters, so then I knew that something had happened,” says Sara, a 32-year-old who lives on the street. She says her phone quickly lit up with news notifications and texts from friends asking if she was okay.

Around two hours after the shootings, police arrested a 16-year-old boy. In Sweden, suspects can be held based on different levels of suspicion, and the teenager was initially held at the second-highest level, indicating strong suspicion.

However, by Friday, prosecutors said the case against him had weakened and he was released.

On Saturday, Swedish police confirmed that six people have now been arrested in connection with the case. The suspects range in age from under 18 to 45, according to the state prosecutor’s office, and one is suspected of carrying out the killings.

People intending to visit Uppsala for the Walpurgis festival were advised not to change their plans, as police promised extra resources on the cathedral city’s streets and suggested the shooting was likely an “isolated incident”.

While many were shaken, tens of thousands of Swedes still heeded their advice, packing the banks of Uppsala’s Fyris river to watch the annual student raft race, drinking in the city’s pubs and parks or heading to a huge public bonfire in the evening. Others joined the annual spring ceremony outside the university where current and former students gathered to wave white caps.

“I don’t really feel so scared,” says Alvin Rose, 19, a social studies student, having a snack in Vaksala Square, just around the corner from where the shootings happened. “It feels like there’s more security, more cops about.”

His friend Kassandra Fritz, an 18-year-old natural sciences student, says she has driven to Uppsala from her home in Gävle, two hours north, to “have fun and meet new people”.

She reflects that she no longer has a “strong” reaction to news about shootings in Sweden since they are frequently in the headlines. “There’s been so many shootings lately, not only here in Uppsala but like, everywhere in Sweden.”

Over the past decade, Sweden has emerged as a European hotspot for gun crime, often linked to criminal networks. Research for Sweden’s National Council for Crime Prevention released last year concluded that the profile of perpetrators is “increasingly younger”, with growing numbers of teenagers both carrying out or dying from gun violence.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was on a work trip to Valencia when the Uppsala shooting took place, but has since described it as “an extremely violent act”.

“This underlines that the wave of violence is not over – it continues,” he said in an interview with Swedish news agency TT on Wednesday.

At a news conference the day after, officers said they were investigating the possibility that the deaths were linked to gang crime, but said it was too soon to confirm this.

Police in various Swedish cities have previously said it is becoming more common for gangs to contract vulnerable children to carry out crimes, because those who are 15 or younger are below the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden.

Sweden’s government recently proposed controversial new legislation that would allow police to wiretap children, in an attempt to prevent them from being recruited to teenage gangs.

Ministers have also said they want to tighten the country’s gun laws.

In February, 10 people were killed in the country’s worst mass shooting at an adult education centre in the Swedish town of Orebro. In this case, police suspect a 35-year-old was behind the killings. He legally owned a weapon, and was found dead inside the building.

Outside the hair salon in Uppsala, 20-year-old Yamen says he has never been involved in gang crime but knows plenty of others who have.

“Many times in my school, there was gang violence, and in the streets – dealers,” he says. “But my personality was to work, study, and now I am in college.”

As he leaves to meet friends, a steady stream of young people continue to stop at the street corner next to the hairdressers, some bringing bouquets of flowers. Several appear visibly shaken and have tears in their eyes.

“I knew him very well,” says Elias, a 16-year-old who says he was friends with one of the victims, and has asked the BBC not to share his surname. “It feels unreal, you know. It doesn’t feel like I’ve truly accepted the situation.”

Last week’s deadly militant attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, which claimed 26 civilian lives, has reignited a grim sense of déjà vu for India’s security forces and diplomats.

This is familiar ground. In 2016, after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in Uri, India launched “surgical strikes” across the Line of Control – the de facto border between India and Pakistan – targeting militant bases.

In 2019, the Pulwama bombing, which left 40 Indian paramilitary personnel dead, prompted airstrikes deep into Balakot – the first such action inside Pakistan since 1971 – sparking retaliatory raids and an aerial dogfight.

And before that, the horrific 2008 Mumbai attacks – a 60-hour siege on hotels, a railway station, and a Jewish centre – claimed 166 lives.

Each time, India has held Pakistan-based militant groups responsible for the attacks, accusing Islamabad of tacitly supporting them – a charge Pakistan has consistently denied.

Since 2016, and especially after the 2019 airstrikes, the threshold for escalation has shifted dramatically. Cross-border and aerial strikes by India have become the new norm, provoking retaliation from Pakistan. This has further intensified an already volatile situation.

Once again, experts say, India finds itself walking the tightrope between escalation and restraint – a fragile balance of response and deterrence. One person who understands this recurring cycle is Ajay Bisaria, India’s former high commissioner to Pakistan during the Pulwama attack, who captured its aftermath in his memoir, Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan.

“There are striking parallels between the aftermath of the Pulwama bombing and the killings in Pahalgam,” Mr Bisaria told me on Thursday, 10 days after the latest attack.

Yet, he notes, Pahalgam marks a shift. Unlike Pulwama and Uri, which targeted security forces, this attack struck civilians – tourists from across India – evoking memories of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. “This attack carries elements of Pulwama, but much more of Mumbai,” he explains.

“We’re once again in a conflict situation, and the story is unfolding in much the same way,” Mr Bisaria says.

A week after the latest attack, Delhi moved quickly with retaliatory measures: closing the main border crossing, suspending a key water-sharing treaty, expelling diplomats, and halting most visas for Pakistani nationals – who were given days to leave. Troops on both sides have exchanged intermittent small-arms fire across the border in recent days.

Delhi also barred all Pakistani aircraft – commercial and military – from its airspace, mirroring Islamabad’s earlier move. Pakistan retaliated with its own visa suspensions and suspended a 1972 peace treaty with India. (Kashmir, claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but administered in parts by each, has been a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed nations since their partition in 1947.)

In his memoir, Mr Bisaria recounts India’s response after the Pulwama attack on 14 February 2019.

He was summoned to Delhi the morning after, as the government moved quickly to halt trade – revoking Pakistan’s most-favoured-nation status, granted in 1996. In the following days, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) imposed a 200% customs duty on Pakistani goods, effectively ending imports, and suspended trade at the land border at Wagah.

Mr Bisaria notes that a broader set of measures was also proposed to scale down engagement with Pakistan, most of which were subsequently implemented.

They included suspending a cross-border train known as the Samjhauta Express, and a bus service linking Delhi and Lahore; deferring talks between border guards on both sides and negotiations over the historic Kartarpur corridor to one of Sikhism’s holiest shrines, halting visa issuance, ceasing cross border, banning Indian travel to Pakistan, and suspending flights between the two countries.

“How hard it was to build trust, I thought. And how easy was it to break it,” Mr Bisaria writes.

“All the confidence-building measures planned, negotiated, and implemented over years in this difficult relationship, could be slashed off on a yellow notepad in minutes.”

The strength of the Indian high commission in Islamabad was reduced from 110 to 55 only in June 2020 after a separate diplomatic incident. (It now stands at 30 after the Pahalgam attack.) India also launched a diplomatic offensive.

A day after the attack, then foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed envoys from 25 countries – including the US, UK, China, Russia, and France – on the role of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the Pakistan-based militant group behind the bombing, and accused Pakistan of using terrorism as state policy. JeM, designated a terrorist organisation by India, the UN, the UK, and the US, had claimed responsibility for the bombing.

India’s diplomatic offensive continued on 25 February, 10 days after the attack, pushing for JeM chief Masood Azhar‘s designation as a terrorist by the UN sanctions committee and inclusion on the EU’s “autonomous terror list”.

While there was pressure to abrogate the Indus Waters Treaty – a key river water sharing agreement – India opted instead to withhold any data beyond treaty obligations, Mr Bisaria writes. A total of 48 bilateral agreements were reviewed for possible suspension. An all-party meeting was convened in Delhi, resulting in a unanimous resolution.

At the same time, communication channels remained open – including the hotline between the two countries’ Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO), a key link for military-to-military contact, as well as both high commissions. In 2019, as now, Pakistan said the attack was a “false-flag operation”.

Much like this time a crackdown in Kashmir saw the arrest of over 80 “overground workers” – local supporters who may have provided logistical help, shelter, and intelligence to militants from the Pakistan-based group. Rajnath Singh, then Indian home minister, visited Jammu and Kashmir, and dossiers on the attack and suspected perpetrators were prepared.

In a meeting with the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Mr Bisaria told her that “that India’s diplomatic options in dealing with a terrorist attack of this nature was limited”.

“She gave me the impression that some tough action was round the corner, after which, I should expect the role of diplomacy to expand,” Mr Bisaria writes.

On 26 February, Indian airstrikes – its first across the international border since 1971 – targeted JeM’s training camp in Balakot.

Six hours later, the Indian foreign secretary announced the strikes had killed “a very large number” of militants and commanders. Pakistan swiftly denied the claim. More high-level meetings followed in Delhi.

The crisis escalated dramatically the next morning, 27 February, when Pakistan launched retaliatory air raids.

In the ensuing dogfight, an Indian fighter jet was shot down, and its pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, ejected and landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Captured by Pakistani forces, his detention in enemy territory triggered a wave of national concern and further heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Mr Bisaria writes India activated multiple diplomatic channels, with US and UK envoys pressing Islamabad. The Indian message was “any attempt by Pakistan to escalate situation further or to cause harm to the pilot would lead to escalation by India.”

Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan announced the pilot’s release on 28 February, with the handover occurring on 1 March under prisoner of war protocol. Pakistan presented the move as a “goodwill gesture” aimed at de-escalating tensions.

By 5 March, with the dust settling from Pulwama, Balakot, and the pilot’s return, India’s political temperature had cooled. The Cabinet Committee on Security decided to send India’s high commissioner back to Pakistan, signalling a shift towards diplomacy.

“I arrived in Islamabad on 10 March, 22 days after leaving in the wake of Pulwama. The most serious military exchange since Kargil had run its course in less than a month,” Mr Bisaria writes,

“India was willing to give old-fashioned diplomacy another chance…. This, with India having achieved a strategic and military objective and Pakistan having claimed a notion of victory for its domestic audience.”

Mr Bisaria described it as a “testing and fascinating time” to be a diplomat. This time, he notes, the key difference is that the targets were Indian civilians, and the attack occurred “ironically, when the situation in Kashmir had dramatically improved”.

He views escalation as inevitable, but notes there’s also a “de-escalation instinct alongside the escalation instinct”. When the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meets during such conflicts, he says, their decisions weigh the conflict’s economic impact and seek measures that hurt Pakistan without triggering a backlash against India.

“The body language and optics are similar [this time],” he says, but highlights what he sees as the most significant move: India’s threat to annul the Indus Waters Treaty. “If India acts on this, it would have long-term, serious consequences for Pakistan.”

“Remember, we’re still in the middle of a crisis,” says Mr Bisaria. “We haven’t yet seen any kinetic [military] action.”

Three Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia previously attended an event in the Palace of Westminster, a BBC News investigation has found.

Orlin Roussev, Biser Dzhambazov and Katrin Ivanova were present at an event to debate Brexit in a committee room in May 2016.

Photographs posted on social media and unearthed by the BBC show the spies with representatives of European political parties.

A parliamentary spokesperson said Parliament was a public building but that security processes were “robust”.

Two people who knew Orlin Roussev during the relevant period confirmed he was the man pictured at the Commons event. The BBC visually reviewed the photographs to confirm Dzhambazov’s attendance. Ivanova, also visible in photographs, appears on a list of people who indicated they would attend.

The use of the room for the event was sponsored by former West Ham MP Lyn Brown, now Baroness Brown of Silvertown. She was nominated for a life peerage by the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Baroness Brown of Silvertown told the BBC she had “absolutely no memory” of the event and did not believe she had “met or spoken to the three individuals”.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of either the event’s organisers or attendees.

Katrin Ivanova was convicted of offences alongside Tihomir Ivanchev and Vanya Gaberova between August 2020 and February 2023, following a four-month trial at the Old Bailey in London.

Roussev, the UK spy cell’s leader, and Dzhambazov, his primary lieutenant, had already pleaded guilty, along with another man, Ivan Stoyanov.

Together, they conducted surveillance operations across Europe targeting enemies of Vladimir Putin’s regime, including investigative journalists Christo Grozev and Roman Dobrokhotov, as well as Russian dissidents and political figures.

The six, all based in the UK, will be sentenced this week.

A previous BBC investigation named and tracked down two women who were part of the group outside of the UK, who remain free.

The cell’s activities were directed from Russia by Jan Marsalek, an Austrian former finance executive reported to be hiding in Moscow having fled fraud charges in Germany following the collapse of payments processing company Wirecard.

Marsalek is an asset of Russian intelligence services. A cache of tens of thousands of Telegram messages between Marsalek and Roussev recovered by UK police indicated close coordination with the Austrian’s “friends in Russia”.

Email exchanges seen by the BBC show Roussev was already in contact with Marsalek by the time of the May 2016 event in Parliament.

Roussev worked as the chief technology officer for a financial services firm after moving to the UK in 2009. The role also required him to spend time in Russia.

But the BBC has been told that he was sacked in 2012 after he was caught siphoning off significant amounts of money – $130k (£98k) – over the course of six months.

After being sacked, Roussev posed as a legitimate businessman at industry events.

The event in Parliament was organised and attended by representatives of European political parties, including the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which Dzhambazov and Ivanova joined in early 2016.

During the trial, messages between Dzhambazov and Roussev, in which the former boasted of political connections in the “upper echelon” of the BSP, were read into evidence. Since 2015, Dzhambazov had been actively involved in the administration of Bulgarian elections in the UK, via the Embassy. Ivanova and Gaberova also worked in this capacity at various junctures.

Photographs of the event in Parliament, published on Facebook, show Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova seated behind Georgi Pirinski, a US-born former Communist who had served as chair of the Bulgarian National Assembly. At the time of the meeting he was a Member of the European Parliament for the BSP, which replaced the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1990.

Other attendees pictured include Roberto Sperenza, who served as Italy’s Minister of Health under Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte between 2019 and 2022, representatives of the Social Democratic Party of Romania and a Labour Party councillor.

An entry on the BSP website published prior to the event claimed it would be attended by “representatives of all parliamentary parties in the UK parliament”. It is not clear if that transpired.

Sir Iain Duncan-Smith MP, a former leader of the Conservative Party, said Parliament should investigate whether the group had accessed the building on any further occasions.

“Parliament should look into what was going on,” he said.

“It’s so easy to get in and out… Inside that building, they get a chance to bump into, meet, see and even go into offices if we’re not careful.”

A parliamentary spokesperson said: “Parliament is a public building, and we facilitate the visits of thousands of people to the estate each week.

“We have robust security processes in place, with the safety and security of all those who work in and visit Parliament our top priority.

“Members in both houses can sponsor events… in accordance with their own judgment,” the spokesperson added.

Concerns have previously been raised about the security of Parliament in the face of alleged espionage activities by state actors.

In 2024, a former Parliamentary researcher, Christopher Cash, 30, denied spying for China. He will stand trial alongside Christopher Berry, 33, in October.

Two years earlier, MI5 warned an alleged Chinese agent, Christine Lee, had infiltrated Parliament to interfere in UK politics.

Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has won by a landslide in an election dominated by concerns over the cost of living and the country’s future economic stability.

Led by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his first election since he became party leader last year, the PAP clinched 65.6% of the vote and an overwhelming majority of the 97 seats in parliament.

Singaporeans went to the polls on Saturday worrying about inflation, wage stagnation and job prospects.

The result will be widely seen as a flight to safety to the PAP amid fears of global turbulence.

“Singapore feels particularly vulnerable given its economy’s size and exposure to international forces… Also we are notoriously risk-averse voters,” said Ian Chong, an associate professor in political science at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The main opposition, the centre-left Workers’ Party (WP), failed to capture more seats but continued to hold on to its 10 seats in parliament.

The centre-right PAP has governed Singapore continuously since 1959, making it one of the longest-ruling political parties in the world.

It has enjoyed strong support from Singaporeans, particularly from older generations that have seen the country flourish under PAP rule.

But while elections have been free from fraud and irregularities, critics also say the party maintains an unfair advantage through gerrymandering and a tightly controlled media.

In the last three polls prior to Saturday’s result, the PAP saw two of its lowest-ever vote shares, while the WP made increasing inroads in parliament.

The PAP won a reduced majority in the 2020 election, in what was seen as a referendum on their handling of the Covid outbreak.

But Saturday’s result saw the PAP return to form, as voters gave Wong a strong mandate.

In a televised address early on Sunday, he thanked voters and said the results “will put Singapore in a better position to face this turbulent world”.

“Many are watching the election closely, whether it’s international media, investors or foreign governments, they would have taken note of tonight’s results,” he said.

“It’s a clear signal of trust, stability and confidence in your government. Singaporeans, too, can draw strength from this and look ahead to our future.”

While its open and globalised economy remains fairly buoyant, Singapore saw inflation surge in the last few years.

The government has attributed this to external factors such as the Ukraine and Gaza wars and supply chain disruptions. Critics however say a controversial goods and services tax hike exacerbated it.

With the US-China trade war under way and a 10% US tariff looming, authorities and experts have warned of shocks to the economy and possibly a technical recession.

Against this backdrop, the PAP campaigned on a message of stability.

Wong repeatedly promised that his team would “steer Singapore through the storm”, while warning that if more opposition MPs were elected, he would lose capable ministers at a time when good governance was most needed.

It was a message that resounded with many voters. One PAP supporter, a start-up owner who only wanted to be known as Amanda, told the BBC that her business has been affected with clients pausing some projects due to the economic climate.

“The headwinds are not great, there’s a lot of uncertainty… I want a party with experience [running the government],” she said.

Though the PAP saw a series of scandals in recent years, including one involving a cabinet minister, this was hardly a talking point during the election period. Analysts said it was further from people’s minds given more immediate concerns about the economy.

Some see the result as a sign of confidence in Wong, who led Singapore’s Covid taskforce and became a familiar face as he regularly addressed the public during the pandemic.

“He’s shown that he is capable, with the Covid taskforce giving him credence. He was the guiding hand on that rudder… and he projects that stability for future global financial uncertainties,” said Rebecca Tan, a political science lecturer with NUS.

Wong is the first PAP prime minister to have improved the party’s vote share in his first election. Previous PMs saw dips in the polls in what analysts used to call the “new PM” effect”, or a reflection of voters’ uncertainty in a new leader.

The PAP’s strong result was also partly due to a fragmented opposition, with 10 parties going up against them. With few exceptions, most performed poorly.

Teo Kay Key, a research fellow at the think tank Institute of Policy Studies, said that despite recent elections showing there was a desire for political diversity, the latest result “shows that people are happy with the number of opposition MPs” for now.

But, she added, Singaporeans also “seem to be more selective” now when it comes to casting votes for the opposition, pointing to the WP’s performance.

The WP had campaigned on a platform of lowering the cost of living and strengthening the safety net.

While it failed to win more seats, it also saw increased vote shares in the constituencies it retained and close fights with the PAP in others, cementing its status as the country’s strongest opposition party.

It turned in a robust performance despite recent controversial cases involving a former Workers’ Party MP and WP leader Pritam Singh, who were both found guilty of lying to parliament. Many in the WP’s support base believe the case, against Singh especially, was politically motivated.

Addressing supporters shortly after the results for his constituency were declared, Singh acknowledged that “it was always going to be a difficult election”.

But he added: “The slate is wiped clean, we start work again tomorrow, and we go again.”

The bride, Evelyn Sekgalakane, sparkled in white as she walked down the aisle hand-in-hand with Shirley Molala, who was about to become her “sister wife” at a mass wedding celebration at a South African church that encourages polygamy.

Behind them came the groom Lesiba Molala, who was marrying another wife at the elaborate ceremony at the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) south-west of Johannesburg.

The polygamous bridal party was among 55 marriages that took place there on Easter Sunday – a loud, long and joyous occasion.

Only seven of the unions were welcoming an extra wife to the family – but all were open to doing so in the future.

“He is a God [who approves] of polygamy,” rang out repeatedly across the packed auditorium. Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time.

Shirley, who is Mr Molala’s second wife and has been married to him for 25 years, told me ahead of the big day: “I love polygamy because it is rooted in Biblical teaching” – a reference to passages in the Old Testament of the Bible.

She was handpicked by his first wife, who has since died, while a third wife had also joined the family – leaving in the wake of a leadership row that split the congregation.

The 48-year-old explained that as the process of adding another spouse had started spiritually, it made it easier to regard the incoming wife as a sister and friend.

“We [first three wives] got along to a point where we’d wear matching clothes. So I learnt this from the Molala family and that’s why I was able to do the same for Evelyn.”

Before the official start of the marriage ceremonies – which each involved an exchange of rings but no spoken vows – the jubilant congregation gathered outside the auditorium at around noon in a riot of colour and noise.

Loudspeakers blaring out church songs competed with the cheers of thousands of well-wishers – some of whom were dressed in the church’s blue-and-white uniforms, while others sported their Sunday best.

Over the next five hours bridal parties arrived to great fanfare and tried to outdo one another: one large contingent of bridesmaids was dressed in different shades of electric lime green, another featured a Gucci-clad groomsman.

Beforehand church officials had checked the outfits at the gate to make sure everyone in attendance was suitably dressed – no skimpy outfits, bare arms or trousers allowed for women, who also had to cover their heads, with jackets prescribed for men.

The church has a strict moral code – the sexes sit separately inside the auditorium during ordinary services and dating is not allowed.

“I only learned about polygamy when I joined the church and was taught that simply dating a woman was not allowed. So because I realised that one woman would not be enough for me, I felt that rather than cheat, let me get another wife,” Lesiba Molala, 67, told the BBC.

These mass weddings take place three times a year at the church’s grand headquarters in the small rural town of Zuurbekom – at Easter, in September and December.

After each wedding party’s raucous arrival was over, the group walked a red carpet to take photos.

Then it was time for the church’s leader, Leonard Frederick G Modise, to arrive – and his entrance almost stole the show.

Referred to as “the comforter”, he was ushered in – along with his family – by a marching band, horse parade and a series of luxury vehicles, among them a midnight sapphire Rolls Royce.

As the sun began to set, it was time for the official programme to begin – with each entourage entering the auditorium to make their way slowly down the white-carpeted aisle.

I caught up with the Molala trio before their turn. Evelyn was excited and all smiles about her dress: “I told you, you would not recognise me!”

The service, which went on until 22:00, ended with a blessing from Mr Modise for the new couples and their other spouses – with the festivities going on long into the night.

While such pageantry is often associated with weddings here – albeit not on such a grand scale – multiple marriage ceremonies are unusual, even in a country as diverse and multicultural as South Africa.

So too is the inclusion of polygamous unions. While polygyny – the marriage of a man to several women – is allowed in South Africa, such relationships are usually registered as customary marriages and are not celebrated in church.

However, the IPHC is one of what is known as an African independent church, which is allowed to officiate them – as long as the marriages are also registered with the country’s home affairs department.

According to the 2022 census, more than 85% of South Africans identified as Christian, followed by 8%, who said they practised traditional African beliefs.

Several churches with large congregations mix both belief systems – like the IPHC – though mainstream Protestant and Catholic churches remain the biggest denominations.

For the IPHC, polygamy has been taught and encouraged and has “evolved with the church” from its inception in Soweto in 1962 to a congregation today of 3.1 million across southern Africa, senior church official Mpho Makwana told the BBC.

Mr Molala married his first wife in 1991, six years after joining the church. She was also a member – an important factor for those looking to take a spouse. The church explicitly forbids marriages to outsiders.

Nine years later, Mr Molala and his wife sat down to discuss the expansion of the family. After a church-wide search, the couple settled on Shirley who was then 23.

“I felt important [because I was] noticed among the many women in the church,” she said.

Evelyn too was selected after a church-initiated process that began in February. She admitted it took a while for her to warm to the idea of joining a polygamous union, though Shirley’s receptive attitude made it easier for her.

The 44-year-old had grown up in the church but later left, going on to have three children, before returning to the fold a few years ago.

With his marriage to Evelyn, Mr Molala has informally adopted her children, bringing the total number of his offspring to 13.

Each of his families live in separate houses – although Evelyn will join him at his home for the early stages of the marriage.

Polygamy, traditionally practised in some South African cultures, does divide people in the country. In recent years several reality shows have given an insight into life in plural families – and sparked debate about whether they are still relevant.

Prof Musa Xulu, a religious expert with South Africa’s Cultural, Religious and Linguistics Rights Communities Rights Commission, said it was common to come across families in such unions who had been devastated in the initial stages of the HIV/Aids pandemic, which has ravaged South Africa.

The situation had stabilised, though it was still “a big problem”, he told the BBC.

Mr Makwana said the IPHC had addressed this head on – putting in place measures about a decade ago to better protect couples and polygamous unions from HIV/Aids after one family’s experience, which had been an “eye-opener” for the church’s leadership.

Those intending to get married must first get tested for HIV.

“You can’t proceed without going through that process… so there are no surprises ahead,” he said.

The couple must tell each other their results, decide whether to continue and then the church keeps a record on file.

This “100% transparency” also reduced the number of divorces that had often resulted when deception came to light, he said.

Prof Xulu said churches like the IPHC, while having an “eclectic approach to Christianity” that was “half-Christian, half-African”, did have doctrinal justifications for their traditions as well as “internal dispute-resolution mechanisms”.

“They will assist families who are undergoing distress,” he said.

The IPHC is heavily involved in the vetting process once a proposal has been accepted. It takes several months and is marked by three pre-nuptial ceremonies.

During this time, couples were “taken through a spiritual process of ensuring they know what they are committing to”, Mr Makwana said.

Most couples are relative strangers before the formal proposal is made – as was the case for Freddy Letsoalo, 35, and 31-year-old Rendani Maemu.

They also tied the knot in Zuurbekom over Easter – both marrying for the first time.

Mr Letsoalo said he first spotted his bride-to-be at a friend’s wedding nearly a decade ago – also celebrated at one of the mass marriage ceremonies.

But they “didn’t talk or do anything else” after their initial meeting, he told the BBC.

“It was love at first sight but remember, we know… the teachings of our church.”

While the two would later become Facebook friends, their interactions were restricted to birthday wishes – that was until December 2024 when Mr Letsoalo set the wheels in motion, alerting first his family and then the church’s leadership of his intentions.

“I wasn’t aware that he was interested in me. When I became aware… I was excited. I’ve always dreamt of my wedding day,” a blushing Ms Maemu, who was raised in the church, told me before the nuptials.

Her dream came true and she did look resplendent before going down the aisle along with nine bridesmaids in a crystal-encrusted gown, tiara and a bridal train several metres long.

While the couple are currently focused on their new life together, both are willing to embrace polygamy should the right opportunity present itself in the future.

“I know there’s a chance that my husband will want to enter into a polygamous marriage,” said the new Mrs Letsoalo.

“I believe in polygamy.”

A view that may be controversial for many South Africans.

• South Africa polyamory: When three’s not a crowd in a relationship
• Outcry over South Africa’s multiple husbands proposal
• One man, four wives: South Africa’s hit reality TV show
• How royal divorce papers have shaken the Zulu kingdom

For more than a decade, a pair of Hobbit-inspired eagle sculptures have cast a watchful eye over visitors at New Zealand’s Wellington Airport.

But the giant birds will be unfastened from the ceiling on Friday to make way for a new mystery exhibit, airport authorities said.

The eagles appear as messengers in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which were adapted to film by New Zealand’s Sir Peter Jackson.

The spectacular New Zealand landscapes featured in Mr Jackson’s films are a consistent draw for tourists, who are greeted at the airport by the eagle sculptures.

“It’s not unusual to see airborne departures from Wellington Airport, but in this case, it will be emotional for us,” Wellington Airport chief executive Matt Clarke said in a statement.

The giant eagles will be placed in storage and there have not been long-term plans for them.

Each eagle weighs 1.2 tonnes (1,200kg) with a wingspan of 15m (49ft). Riding on the back of one of the birds is a sculpture of the wizard, Gandalf.

Made of polystyrene and with an internal steel skeleton, each eagle has hundreds of feathers, the longest one measuring 2.4m (8ft).

While the iconic eagles will soon be gone, not all is lost for fans of the franchise: Smaug the Magnificent, the dragon in The Hobbit, will continue to be displayed at the check-in area.

The eagles were unveiled in 2013, around the time of the release of The Hobbit trilogy. The giant sculptures were produced by Wētā Workshop, the New Zealand-based company that made costumes and props for The Lord of the Rings franchise.

“We’re working with Wētā Workshop on some exciting plans for a unique, locally themed replacement to take their place,” Mr Clarke said. “We’ll unveil what’s next later this year so keep watching the skies.”

In 2014, one of the eagles came crashing down during an earthquake. No one was injured from that accident.

Last year was the deadliest for Russian forces since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine: at least 45,287 people were killed.

This is almost three times more than in the first year of the invasion and significantly exceeds the losses of 2023, when the longest and deadliest battle of the war was taking place in Bakhmut.

At the start of the war, losses happened in waves during battles for key locations, but 2024 saw a month-on-month increase in the death toll as the front line slowly edged forward, enabling us to establish that Russia lost at least 27 lives for every kilometre of Ukrainian territory captured.

The BBC Russian Service, in collaboration with independent media outlet Mediazona and a team of volunteers, has processed open source data from Russian cemeteries, military memorials and obituaries.

So far, we have identified the names of 106,745 Russian soldiers killed during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The true number is clearly much higher. Military experts estimate our number may cover between 45% and 65% of deaths, which would mean 164,223 to 237,211 people.

20 February 2024 was the deadliest day for Russian forces that year.

Among the casualties were Aldar Bairov, Igor Babych and Okhunjon Rustamov, who were with the 36th Motorised Rifle Brigade when four Ukrainian long-range HIMARS missiles hit a training ground near the city of Volnovakha in occupied Donetsk.

They had been ordered to line up for a medal ceremony. Sixty-five servicemen were killed, including their commander Col Musaev. Dozens more were wounded.

Bairov, 22 and from Buryatia in eastern Siberia, had studied to be a food sanitation specialist but was drafted for mandatory military service and then signed a contract to become a professional soldier.

In February 2022 he went to fight in Ukraine and was part of the battle for Borodyanka during his brigade’s advance towards Kyiv in March 2022. The town was almost completely destroyed. Ukrainian sources say Russian soldiers were involved in the execution of civilians.

Okhunjon Rustamov, 31 and from Chita in Siberia, had worked as a welder after serving a mandatory term in special forces. He was mobilised during a partial draft in October 2022.

Unlike Rustamov, Igor Babych, 32, had volunteered to go to war. He had worked with adults and children diagnosed with cerebral palsy, helping them with physical therapy until April 2023.

In total 201 Russian soldiers died on that day, according to our data.

A few hours after the strike on the training ground, then-Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu met Vladimir Putin to bring him news of military success from the front line.

There was no mention of the training ground attack, nor was there any word from the Ministry of Defence in its daily reports.

A relative of Okhunjon Rustamov said she had already buried three close family members over the course of the war. “In December 2022, my husband died. On 10 February 2024, my godfather. And on 20 February my half-brother. From one funeral to the next.”

In our analysis, we prioritised exact dates of death for soldiers. If that wasn’t available, we used the date of the funeral or the date the death was reported.

In the first two years of the war, 2022 and 2023, Russian losses followed a wave-like pattern: heavy fighting with high casualties alternated with periods of relative calm.

In 2023, for example, most casualties occurred between January and March, when Russian forces attempted to capture the cities of Vuhledar and Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.

In the first year of the full-scale invasion, according to our calculations, Russia lost at least 17,890 soldiers. This number does not include losses from Russia’s two proxy forces in occupied eastern Ukraine.

In 2023, the number rose to 37,633.

In 2024, there was no period showing a significant fall in casualties. Bloody battles for Avdiivka and Robotyne were followed by intensified assaults towards Pokrovsk and Toretsk.

In August 2024, Russian conscripts were killed when Ukrainian forces stormed over the border into the Kursk region. From August 6 to 13 alone, an estimated 1,226 Russian soldiers died.

However, the heaviest overall losses occurred during a slow Russian advance in the east between September and November 2024, according to leading US military analyst Michael Kofman.

“Tactics emphasised repeated attacks with dispersed assault groups, using small infantry fire teams, which increased overall casualties relative to terrain gained,” he explained.

After almost two years of intense fighting, Russian forces seized the logistical hub of Vuhledar in Donetsk on 1 October 2024.

According to estimates by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), from September to November 2024, Russian forces captured 2,356 square kilometres of Ukraine.

Even then, Ukrainian forces at the front did not collapse.

The cost of this advance was at least 11,678 Russian military deaths.

Actual losses figures are likely higher. We have only accounted for soldiers and officers whose names appeared in publicly available obituaries and whose dates of death or funeral fell within this period.

Overall in 2024, according to ISW, Russia captured 4,168 square kilometres of land. This means that for each square kilometre captured, 27 Russian soldiers were killed, and this does not include the wounded.

Russia has found ways of replenishing its depleted forces.

“Russian recruitment also increased in the second half of 2024 and exceeded Russian casualties, allowing Moscow to generate additional formations,” says Michael Kofman.

One-time payments to soldiers signing new contracts were increased in three Russian regions. Combat salaries for volunteer soldiers are five to seven times higher than the average wage in most regions.

We also class as volunteers those who signed up to avoid criminal prosecution, which was allowed by law in 2024.

Volunteers have become the fastest-growing category of casualties in our calculations, making up a quarter of those we have identified.

In 2023-2024, thousands of volunteers who signed contracts with the Ministry of Defence were sent to the front lines only 10–14 days later. Such minimal training will have dramatically reduced their chances of survival, experts say.

One Russian republic, Bashkortostan, has seen the highest numbers of casualties, with 4,836 confirmed deaths. Most were from rural areas and 38% had gone to fight with no military experience.

The one-time payment for signing a Russian army contract in Ufa is 34 times the region’s average salary of 67,575 rubles (£600).

Calculating deaths from open source data will always be incomplete.

This is because the bodies of a significant number of soldiers killed in the past months may still be on the battlefield and retrieving them presents a risk to serving soldiers.

The true death toll for Russian forces increases significantly, if you include those who fought against Ukraine as part of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.

An assessment of obituaries and reports of searches for fighters who have lost contact suggests between 21,000 and 23,500 people may have been killed by September 2024.

That would bring the total number of fatalities to 185,000 to 260,700 military personnel.

US President Donald Trump says he will hit movies made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs, as he ramps up trade disputes with nations around the world.

Trump said he was authorising the US Department of Commerce and Trade Representative to start the process to impose the levy because America’s movie industry was dying “a very fast death”.

He blamed a “concerted effort” by other countries that offer incentives to attract filmmakers and studios, which he described as a “National Security threat”.

His remarks could spell a “knock-out blow” to the industry, one union warned, where filmmakers have for years left Hollywood for destinations like the UK and Canada in search of lower costs.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform: “It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”

“WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick responded to the announcement, saying “We’re on it”.

But the details of the move are unclear. Trump’s statement did not say whether the tariff would apply to American production companies producing films abroad.

Several recent major movies produced by US studios were shot outside America, including Deadpool & Wolverine, Wicked and Gladiator II.

It was also unclear if the tariffs would apply to films on streaming services, like Netflix, as well as those shown at cinemas, or how they would be calculated.

The founder of European cinema chain Vue, Timothy Richards, questioned how Trump would define a US film.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “Is it where the money comes from? The script, the director, the talent, where it was shot?”

Mr Richards said the cost of shooting in southern California had grown significantly over the last few decades, prompting filmmakers to move production to locations like the UK, which have increasingly offered tax incentives and lower costs.

“But it’s not just the actual financing itself,” he added.

“One of reasons UK has done so well is we have some of the most highly experienced and skilled film and production crew in the world.

“The devil will be in the details.”

Meanwhile, UK media union Bectu warned the tariffs could “deal a knock-out blow” to the industry and its tens of thousands of freelancers, as it recovered from the pandemic and a “recent slowdown”.

Union chief Philippa Childs told the BBC: “The government must move swiftly to defend this vital sector, and support the freelancers who power it, as a matter of essential national economic interest.”

The UK’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport, industry body the British Film Institute and the Motion Picture Association, which represents the five major US film studios, did not immediately respond to BBC requests for comment.

The US remains a major film production hub globally despite challenges, according to movie industry research firm ProdPro.

Its most recent annual report shows the country saw $14.54bn (£10.94bn) of production spending last year. Although that was down by 26% since 2022.

And NPR Radio film critic Eric Deggans warned that the tariffs, should they be introduced, could further harm the industry.

Other countries may respond by placing tariffs on American films, he told the BBC, making it “harder for these films to make profits overseas”.

“It may create a situation where the tariffs in America are causing more harm than good,” he added.

Countries that have attracted an increase in spending since 2022 include Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, according to ProdPro.

Following Trump’s remarks, Australia’s home affairs minister Tony Burke said: “Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry.”

Industry body Screen Producers Australia said that while there were “many unknowns” about the plan, there was “no doubt it will send shock waves worldwide”.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also said his government was awaiting further details of the proposed tariffs.

“But we’ll be obviously a great advocate, great champion of that sector and that industry,” he told a news conference.

Ahead of his inauguration, Trump appointed three film stars – Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone – to be special ambassadors tasked with promoting business opportunities in Hollywood, which he described as a “great but very troubled place”.

Trump wrote at the time: “They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK – BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed tariffs on countries around the world.

He argues tariffs – which are taxes charged on goods bought from other countries – will boost US manufacturers and protect jobs.

But the global economy has been thrown into chaos as a result, and prices on goods around the world are expected to rise.

Even before this most recent announcement, the US movie industry had been impacted by the fallout from Trump’s trade policies.

In April, China said it was reducing its quota of American films allowed into the country.

“The wrong action of the US government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favourability towards American films,” the China Film Administration said.

“We will follow the market rules, respect the audience’s choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported.”

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

Donald Trump says he is directing his government to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the infamous former prison on an island near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

In a message on his Truth Social site on Sunday, President Trump said that “for too long America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat criminal offenders”.

The reopening of Alcatraz – once notorious as one of the US’s toughest prisons – would serve as a “symbol of law, order, and justice,” he said.

Leading Democrats said the proposal was “not a serious one”. The maximum security facility, also known as The Rock, was closed in 1963 and it is currently operating as a successful tourist site.

“Today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ,” Trump wrote.

The prison would “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders”.

President Trump has been clashing with the courts over his policy of sending alleged gang members to a prison in El Salvador. In March, he sent a group of more than 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members there. He has also talked about sending “homegrown criminals” to foreign prisons.

Alcatraz was originally a naval defence fort, and it was rebuilt in the early 20th Century as a military prison. The Department of Justice took it over in the 1930s and it began taking in convicts from the federal prison system. Among its more famous inmates were the notorious gangsters Al Capone, Mickey Cohen and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.

The prison was also made famous by the 1962 film, Birdman of Alcatraz, starring Burt Lancaster, about the convicted murderer Robert Stroud, who while serving a life sentence on the prison island developed an interest in birds and went on to become an expert ornithologist.

In 1979, the American biographical prison drama Escape from Alcatraz recounted a 1962 prisoner escape with Clint Eastwood starring as ringleader Frank Morris.

It was also the site of the 1996 film The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, about a former SAS captain and FBI chemist who rescue hostages from Alcatraz island.

The prison closed because it was too expensive to continue operating, according to the Federal Bureau of Prison website. It was nearly three times more costly to operate than any other federal prison, largely due to its island location.

It would take an enormous amount of money to make Alcatraz into a functioning prison, Professor Gabriel Jack Chin from the Davis School of Law at the University of California told the BBC.

The federal prison system is actually down about 25% from its peak population and “there are a lot of empty beds” in existing prisons, Chin said. “So its not clear if a new one is needed.”

Alcatraz has “a reputation as a tough prison” and Trump is trying to send a message that his administration will be tough on crime, Chin added.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat whose district includes Alcatraz, said the proposal was “not a serious one,” while the Democratic state senator for San Francisco, Scott Wiener, called the idea “deeply unhinged” in post on Instagram and “an attack on the rule of law.”

US President Donald Trump says he is “very friendly” with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was re-elected over the weekend in a landslide victory.

“We have had a very good relationship,” Trump told the Sydney Morning Herald at the White House on Sunday, in his first remarks about the Australian election.

But the US president was less familiar with the other electoral candidate.

“I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him,” he said of conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton, who many saw as Australia’s equivalent to Trump.

In the lead-up to the election, Dutton and his Liberal National Coalition initially seemed to have an advantage over Albanese, who had to deal with public dissatisfaction over the government’s handling of issues like housing and healthcare.

But on Saturday, Albanese defied the so-called “incumbency curse” and made a surprising comeback to secure a comfortable majority for a second term.

The global uncertainty created by Trump’s sweeping tariffs has been cited as a reason for a swing towards Albanese’s centre-left Labor party.

“Albanese, I’m very friendly with,” Trump said on Sunday. “I don’t know anything about the election other than… the man that won is very good. He’s a friend of mine.”

When asked about Albanese’s previous remarks that Trump’s tariffs on Australia were “not the act of a friend”, Trump replied: “Well, I can only say that he’s been very, very nice to me, very respectful to me.”

Dutton ran a “very Trumpian campaign”, according to former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who told BBC Newshour the US president was “the mood music that had a very big influence on how people perceived” the Coalition.

Dutton’s brand of hard-line conservatism, his support for controversial immigration policies – like sending asylum seekers to offshore detention centres – and his fierce criticism of China all led to comparisons with Trump.

And while it’s a likeness he rejected, the Coalition under his leadership pursued policies that seemed to have been borrowed from the Trump administration.

Dutton appeared to try to shake off these associations towards the end of his campaign, and in the final leaders’ debate repeatedly told the audience that he didn’t know Trump, before attempting to answer questions on him.

He had also long tried to convince voters that he would be the politician best suited to dealing with Trump, however, citing his experience as a cabinet minister during tariff negotiations in Trump’s first term.

Voters weren’t convinced.

Dutton’s campaign ended in defeat and Dutton lost his own seat of 24 years in Dickson. He resigned hours after polls closed on Saturday, as election results trickling in pointed to a Labor victory.

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to expand its military offensive against Hamas which includes the “capture” of Gaza and the holding of its territory, according to an Israeli official.

It is also said to include moving the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza towards the south, which could worsen the humanitarian crisis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “good plan” because it would achieve the goals of defeating Hamas and returning its remaining hostages, the official said.

The cabinet also approved, in principle, a plan to deliver and distribute humanitarian aid through private companies, which would end a two-month blockade the UN says has caused severe food shortages.

The UN and other aid agencies have said the proposal would be a breach of basic humanitarian principles and that they will not co-operate.

Hamas said Israel’s proposal amounted to “political blackmail”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet met on Sunday evening to discuss the Gaza offensive, which resumed when Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on 18 March.

An Israeli official who briefed the media on Monday said that ministers voted unanimously to approve a plan proposed by the Israeli military’s Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir to “defeat Hamas in Gaza and return the hostages”.

“The plan will include, among other things, the capture of the Strip and holding the territories, moving the Gazan population south for its defence, denying Hamas the ability to distribute humanitarian supplies, and powerful attacks against Hamas,” the official said.

Israeli media reported that the plan would take months and that the first stage included the seizure of additional areas of Gaza and the expansion of the Israeli-designated “buffer zone” running along the territory’s borders. It would aim to give Israel additional leverage in negotiations with Hamas on a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Security cabinet member Zeev Elkin told public broadcaster Kan that there was “still a window of opportunity” for a new hostage release before the end of President Trump’s 13-16 May trip to the Middle East “if Hamas understands we are serious”.

During a visit to a naval base on Sunday, Lt Gen Zamir told special forces that tens of thousands of reservists were being called up “in order to strengthen and expand our operations in Gaza”.

“We are increasing the pressure with the aim of bringing our people home and defeating Hamas. We will operate in additional areas and destroy all terrorist infrastructure – above and below ground,” he said.

However, critics say this is a failed strategy, as none of the 59 remaining hostages has been freed since the offensive resumed six weeks ago.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents hostages’ relatives, said the plan was an admission by the government that it was “choosing territories over the hostages” and that this was “against the will of over 70% of the people” in Israel.

The Israeli official said the security cabinet also approved by a large majority “the possibility of humanitarian distribution – if necessary – that would prevent Hamas from taking control of supplies and would destroy its governmental capabilities”.

On Sunday, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), a forum that includes UN agencies, said Israeli officials were seeking to “shut down the existing aid distribution system” and “have us agree to deliver supplies through Israeli hubs under conditions set by the Israeli military, once the government agrees to re-open crossings”.

The HCT warned that the plan would mean large parts of Gaza, including less mobile and most vulnerable people, would continue to go without supplies.

“It contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy,” it said.

“It is dangerous, driving civilians into militarized zones to collect rations, threatening lives, including those of humanitarian workers, while further entrenching forced displacement.”

Israel cut off all deliveries of humanitarian aid and other supplies to Gaza aid on 2 March, two weeks before resuming its offensive.

According to the UN, the population is facing a renewed risk of hunger and malnutrition because warehouses are empty, bakeries have shut, and community kitchens are days away from running out of supplies.

The blockade has also cut off essential medicines, vaccines and medical equipment needed by Gaza’s overwhelmed healthcare system.

The UN says Israel is obliged under international law to ensure supplies for Gaza’s population, almost all of whom have been displaced. Israel says it is complying with international law and there is no shortage of aid.

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 others were taken hostage.

At least 52,567 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 2,459 since the Israeli offensive resumed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been re-elected as the country’s leader, becoming the first in decades to secure a second term.

He defeated opposition leader Peter Dutton of the centre-right Liberal-National coalition. Dutton also lost his seat in Dickson, Queensland – one he had held for 24 years.

It is a remarkable turnaround for Albanese, 62, whose popularity was at record lows at the start of the year as Australians grappled with a cost of living crisis and challenges in healthcare and housing.

US President Donald Trump’s global tariff policy, which did not spare Australia, was also on voters’ minds.

Here’s a look at how that played out in charts, based on an unofficial count by Australian broadcaster ABC:

Albanese needed at least 76 seats in the House of Representatives to form a government.

Before the dissolution of parliament, Labor had a razor-thin majority of 77 seats.

With some 70.8% of the seats already counted, the ABC puts Labor on track to finish with 85 seats – far above the 76 seats needed, giving it a comfortable majority.

The Coalition is expected to gain 36 seats and the Independents stand at 10.

Here’s a reminder of what the seats in the House of Representatives looked like before tonight’s results.

Current projections mean Labor has so far claimed 34.7% of first-preference votes, with the Coalition trailing behind at 31.7%.

The Greens stand at 12.2% of first-preference votes.

As compared to the 2022 election, its clear Labor has increased its share of the national vote, with an increase of 2.1% so far – though that number could increase as counting goes on.

Official vote counting won’t conclude for days but its clear that the Labor government is set to dramatically increase its majority – with swings towards them in almost every area.

A 1,000 year-old human skeleton buried sitting cross-legged in India is still without a museum to house it because of bureaucratic wrangling, six years after it was unearthed.

Archaeologist Abhijit Ambekar made the significant discovery in 2019, when he spotted what looked like the top of a human skull while excavating in western Gujarat state.

As his team dug deeper, they found the well-preserved remains in a pit in what appeared to be a meditative posture. Similar remains have been found at only three other sites in India.

But officials are still arguing over who should take charge of the skeleton. It remains in a makeshift shelter – not far from a new museum of local archaeology.

Abhijit Ambekar says the skeleton – found in the town of Vadnagar – is likely to belong to the Solanki period. The Solanki dynasty, also known as the Chaulukya dynasty, ruled over parts of modern-day Gujarat between 940 to 1300 CE.

The skeleton’s right arm rested on its lap and its left arm lay suspended in the air, as if resting on a stick.

“The skeleton is an extremely valuable find, not just for Vadnagar but for the whole country. It can help us understand how our ancestors lived, and reveal details about the past that are yet unknown,” says Dr Ambekar, who heads the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) division in Mumbai, and led the team that found the skeleton.

That it is yet to find a proper resting place, despite its archaeological significance, appears to come down to red tape.

Mr Ambekar says the Gujarat government’s plan for all artefacts excavated from Vadnagar was to place them in local museums.

He says around 9,000 artefacts, including the skeleton, that were excavated from Vadnagar between 2016 and 2022 by the ASI and had been handed over to the Gujarat government have been placed in local museums – except for the skeleton.

However, the state government says the skeleton is still in the possession of the ASI.

“As proper process was not followed, it [the skeleton] was not placed in the museum,” Pankaj Sharma, director of the state’s Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, told the BBC.

Yadubir Singh Rawat, director general of the ASI, did not respond to the BBC’s questions on the matter.

M Thennarasan, principal secretary of the state’s Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department told the BBC, that authorities were working on shifting the skeleton to a museum as soon as possible.

Excavating the skeleton was a time-consuming process, Mr Ambekar says, adding that it took two months to complete. Various tools were used to carefully brush the soil away and free the skeleton from its ancient grave.

It is currently housed in a tarpaulin shelter in Vadnagar, unprotected by security guards and exposed to natural elements. Locals sometimes bring relatives and friends to see the skeleton – a curiosity that has put a spotlight on the town, which is also the birthplace of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

What’s interesting is that just a short distance away is the new Archaeological Experiential Museum – inaugurated by India’s home minister in January.

According to a government press release, the museum has been built at a cost of $35m and is spread across 12,500 sq m. It boasts that it showcases “Vadnagar’s 2,500-year-old history with over 5,000 artefacts, including ceramics, coins, tools and skeletal remains”.

While the museum has a massive framed photo of the skeleton, it does not house the actual remains.

Vadnagar is a historically significant region in Gujarat and excavations by the ASI have found traces of human settlements dating back to more than 2,000 years ago. Mr Ambekar says that portions of an earthen rampart believed to have been built by the region’s first settlers exists even today.

Digs have also revealed remnants of ancient Buddhist monasteries and stupas. These findings and others – such as terracotta figurines, coins, shell jewellery and stone and copper plate inscriptions – have helped archaeologists establish seven cultural sequences or phases in the area, starting from around the 2nd Century BCE and dating all the way up to the 19th Century CE.

Mr Ambekar says the age of the skeleton he and his team found was estimated based on a DNA analysis of its teeth and a stratigraphic study of the excavation site. Stratigraphy involves studying rock sediments or layers of earth to determine their age. This is then used to establish the chronology of historical events or the approximate age of artefacts.

“The DNA analysis tells us that the skeleton is of local ancestry and belongs to a man in his forties, but more studies need to be done to understand his diet and lifestyle, which will in turn give us a better understanding of the region as it existed 1,000 years ago,” he says.

It could also shed light on the phenomenon of “samadhi burials” – an ancient burial practice among Hindus where revered figures were buried instead of being cremated, Mr Ambekar says.

He adds that the skeleton had managed to survive the passage of time because the soil around it had remained undisturbed and displayed characteristics that prevent skeletal decay.

Extricating the skeleton from the site and moving it to its current location was not an easy task. First, a block of earth with the skeleton nestled inside was cut out from the soil surrounding it. The skeleton and soil were treated with different chemicals to consolidate their structures. The block of earth was then put into a wooden box filled with wet mud and a crane was used to move the box to its current site.

The entire operation took six days to complete, says Mr Ambekar.

He hopes that the skeleton will find a place in a museum soon. But he adds it will need to have mechanisms to control the temperature and humidity of the space to prevent the skeleton from decomposing.

Locals the BBC spoke to expressed similar sentiments and blamed “red tapeism” for the back-and-forth over the skeleton.

“We are proud of Vadnagar’s ancient history but this treatment of a 1,000-year-old skeleton is deeply concerning. What is the point of building a museum if the most unique antiquity is left outside under a plastic roof?” Vadnagar resident Jesang Thakor said.

Another resident, Bethaji Thakor, said that he believed the skeleton could draw tourists from around the world to Vadnagar.

“Where else will you get to see something like this?”

One of Francis’s popemobiles, which the late pontiff used to greet thousands of people, will be turned into a mobile health clinic to help the children of Gaza.

Following a request by Pope Francis, the vehicle used during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014 is being refitted with everything needed for frontline care in a war zone, charity organisation Caritas, which is overseeing the project, said.

“There’ll be rapid tests, suture kits, syringes, oxygen supplies, vaccines and a small fridge for storing medicines,” it explained in a statement.

The Vatican said it was the pope’s “final wish for the children of Gaza” before he died last month. The vehicle is currently in Bethlehem, and will enter Gaza if and when Israel opens a humanitarian corridor.

The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 15,000 children and displaced nearly one million since it erupted in October 2023, Unicef reports.

Israel has blocked humanitarian aid from entering the Strip for more than two months, which has left “families struggling to survive” as food, clean water and medicines reach critically low levels, the UN agency for children said.

For now, Caritas will have to wait until Israel reopens the aid corridor – but when that happens, they say they will be ready.

“With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care – children who are injured and malnourished,” Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, said in a statement.

A team of doctors will run the mobile clinic, which will have the capabilities to examine and treat patients, and there will be a dedicated driver. Some details are still being finalised, like how to make the vehicle safe from potential blasts, Mr Brune told the BBC.

“It’s not just a vehicle, it’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza,” he said.

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis made many impassioned remarks on the war in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Strip “shamefull”. During his final speech on Easter Sunday, he urged all “warring parties” to agree to a ceasefire and spoke of the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis.

During 18 months of war, he reportedly called parishioners in Gaza nightly to check on their wellbeing, and suggested that the international community should examine whether Israel’s military offensive in Gaza should be classed as genocide – an allegation Israel has vehemently denied.

The popemobile is one of a number of specially converted vehicles allowing the pontiff to greet huge crowds of well-wishers during official visits. He was able to sit or stand while it rolled along, flanked by security agents, and its design allowed those gathered to have a clear view of the Pope.

Popemobiles in the past were bullet-proof after an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, but Francis told Spanish media in 2014 that he didn’t like the glass “sardine can” design that separated him from people.

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 others were taken hostage. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages.

Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 52,243 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

On Monday, Israel’s security cabinet reportedly approved, in principle, a plan to resume deliveries and distribution of humanitarian aid through private companies, but the UN and other aid agencies said the proposal would be a breach of basic humanitarian principles and that they will not co-operate.

When the Catholic Church elects a new pope, the world watches not for a press conference or social media post, but for rising smoke from a small chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.

If the smoke is black, no new pope has been chosen. If it is white, a decision has been made: – we have a pope. It’s high drama, broadcast live to millions.

But what viewers don’t see is the centuries-old ritual’s hidden complexity: the carefully built chimney, the engineered stove and the precise chemical recipes, each part painstakingly designed to ensure that a wisp of smoke carries a clear message.

Experts told the BBC that the process requires “two custom fireworks”, smoke test rehearsals and Vatican firefighters on standby. It is meticulously organised by a team of engineers and Church officials working in unison.

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday aged 88 and with the funeral now over, attention has turned to the conclave – a private meeting through which a new pope will be chosen.

The Vatican has confirmed that cardinals will meet at St Peter’s Basilica on 7 May to celebrate a special Mass before gathering inside the Sistine Chapel, where the complex vote will commence.

The tradition of burning the cardinals’ paper ballots dates back to the 15th Century and became part of conclave rituals aimed at ensuring transparency and preventing tampering, particularly after earlier papal election delays had led to public frustration and unrest.

Over time, the Vatican began using smoke as a way to communicate with the outside world while preserving the strict confidentiality of the vote.

And today, despite countless advances in communication, the Vatican has chosen to preserve the tradition.

“From antiquity onwards people have seen rising smoke – of animal and grain sacrifices in the Bible, or of burning incense in tradition – as a form of human communication with the divine,” Candida Moss, a theology professor at the University of Birmingham, told the BBC.

“In Catholic tradition, prayers ‘ascend’ to God. The use of smoke evokes these religious rituals and the aesthetics of wonder and mystery that accompany them.”

Prof Moss also says that the rising smoke allows people gathering in St Peter’s Square “to feel included – as if they are incorporated into this mysterious and secretive affair”.

The reasons are symbolic, but making it work in the 21st Century requires real-world engineering.

Inside the Sistine Chapel, two stoves are temporarily installed specifically for the conclave: one for burning ballots, the other to generate the smoke signals.

Both stoves are connected to a small flue – a pipe within a chimney that allows smoke to escape – that leads up through the chapel roof to the outside. On Friday, fire crews were seen on the roof, carefully securing the chimney top into place, while workmen erected scaffolding and constructed the stoves inside.

The Sistine Chapel, which was built more than 500 years ago, is home to one of the most famous ceilings in the world. Adorned with Michelangelo’s frescoes, it is not exactly designed for smoke signals, and the chimney needs to be installed discreetly and safely.

It’s a complex process. Technicians either use an existing opening or create a temporary hatch through which the flue – typically made of a metal such as iron or steel – is inserted. The pipe runs from the stoves to the outside, emerging through the tiled roof above St Peter’s Square.

Every joint is sealed to prevent leaks and every component is tested. Specialists rehearse smoke tests in the days before the conclave begins, ensuring the chimney draw works in real time. Even Vatican firefighters are involved; on standby in case of malfunction.

“This is such a precise process because if one thing goes wrong, it’s not just a technical failure – it becomes an international incident,” Kevin Farlam, a structural engineer who has worked on heritage properties, told the BBC. “It’s not like putting a pipe on a pizza oven. Every part of the system has to be installed without damaging anything.”

This setup is constructed days before the cardinals arrive and is dismantled once a pope has been chosen.

To ensure the signal is visible, Vatican technicians use a combination of chemical compounds.

“What they’re essentially building here is two custom fireworks,” Prof Mark Lorch, head of the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Hull, told the BBC.

“For black smoke, a mix of potassium perchlorate, anthracene, and sulfur is burned – producing thick, dark smoke.

“For white smoke, a combination of potassium chlorate, lactose, and pine rosin, is used, which burns clean and pale.

“In the past they tried to burn damp straw to create a darker smoke and dry straw to make lighter smoke – but this caused some confusion because sometimes it appeared grey.”

He explained that these chemicals are “pre-packed into cartridges and ignited electronically” so there’s no ambiguity.

The addition of bell ringing – introduced during Pope Benedict XVI’s election – now serves as confirmation and is used alongside the smoke signal.

Over the years, there have been suggestions to modernise the system: coloured lights, digital alerts, or even televised votes. But for the Vatican, the ritual is not just a communication tool – it’s a moment of continuity with centuries of tradition.

“This is about tradition and secrecy, but it has real theological heft to it as well,” Prof Moss said.

“Plus ‘Catholic Church’ and ‘cutting edge’ are far from synonyms – innovation is almost antithetical to ritual.”