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.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cabinet had decided on a “forceful operation” to destroy Hamas and rescue its remaining hostages, and that Gaza’s 2.1 million population “will be moved, to protect it”.

He did not say how much territory would be seized by troops, but he stressed that “they will not enter and come out”.

The cabinet also approved, in principle, a plan to deliver 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.

A Hamas official said the group rejected Israel’s “pressure and blackmail”.

Asked about the Israeli plan to expand its offensive, President Donald Trump repeated a pledge to help get food to Palestinians there.

The UK meanwhile said it “does not support an expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza”. The EU earlier urged restraint, saying it was concerned about “further casualties and suffering for the Palestinian population”.

Israel’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 morning said 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 first stage would include 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.

Later, a senior Israeli security official said the plan would not be implemented until after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region between 13 and 16 May, providing what he called “a window of opportunity” to Hamas to agree a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich meanwhile told a conference in Jerusalem on Monday that Israel was “going to finally occupy the Gaza Strip”, according to Reuters news agency.

Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 Middle East war along with the West Bank. It unilaterally withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but the UN still regards Gaza as Israeli-occupied territory because it retained control of Gaza’s shared border, airspace and shoreline.

In a briefing later on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the expanded campaign would displace most Palestinians in Gaza as air strikes and other military operations continued.

However, critics say military action has failed to secure the return of the 59 remaining hostages – up to 24 of whom are believed to be alive – and have urged the government to strike a deal with Hamas.

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.

Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi reiterated that the group wanted a comprehensive deal, including “a complete ceasefire, full withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and the release of all prisoners from both sides”.

Palestinians in north Gaza told the BBC that they were strongly opposed to being forcibly displaced to the south once again, with several saying they would rather die amid the ruins of their homes.

“In October 2023, I evacuated with my children, daughters, and grandchildren – about 60 people in total,” 76-year-old Gaza City resident Ahmed Shehata said.

“We lived through unbearable conditions in what Israel claimed was a ‘safe zone’ in the south. This time, we will not leave, even if Israel brings down the tents over our heads.”

Osama Tawfiq, a 48-year-old father of five, said: “Israeli threats won’t scare us. We are staying in Gaza.”

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

The security official said deliveries would resume once the expanded offensive began, and that the military would establish a “sterile area” in the southern Rafah area that Palestinians would be able to enter pending inspection.

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.

Thousands of people were left trapped on trains or stranded overnight after the theft of copper cables halted high-speed services between Madrid and southern Spain’s Andalusia region.

Authorities opened an investigation on Monday after Sunday’s theft, which Transport Minister Óscar Puente called a “serious act of sabotage”.

He added that the cable theft took place at five locations, all within a few kilometres of each other on the high-speed line. On Monday morning, Puente said train operations were being “fully restored” .

This travel disruption comes a week after Spain and Portugal suffered a blackout, which similarly saw trains comes to a standstill. The cause is still unknown.

“All of a sudden in the last two weeks – what is going on?” Kevin, a tourist from the US told Reuters news agency as he waited at Madrid’s Atocha station, where thousands were stranded.

More than 10,000 passengers were affected between Madrid, Seville, Malaga, Valencia and Granada, and at least 30 trains.

The disruption came after a long weekend in Madrid and ahead of the week-long Feria festival in Seville, which sees an influx of travellers to the city.

“Operations are now fully restored after a very difficult night for commuters… and staff, who had to respond under extremely complex circumstances,” the transport minister said on Monday morning.

The theft locations, he said, were in areas accessed via forest trails.

Train services were gradually returning to normal, Spain’s national rail manager Adif said on Monday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the Spanish interior ministry said the country’s civil guard, and police were in contact with Adif and other authorities to “clarify what happened and identify those responsible”.

The price of copper has soared in recent years, and cable thefts from train and telecommunications networks have surged.

Ukraine said it hit a drone command unit in the Kursk region, amid reports of fresh attempts to cross into Russia.

Sunday’s attack on the unit was located near the Russian village of Tyotkino, according to the Ukrainian general staff.

Multiple Russian military bloggers also reported that Ukrainian forces had attempted to cross into the village, posting images – as yet unverified by the BBC – of vehicles breaking through tank traps on the border.

The reports come after Moscow claimed in April to have regained control of the entire region, nine months after a Ukrainian forces launched a surprise invasion. Kyiv insists it still has soldiers operating across the border.

On Monday, Ukrainian forces fired missiles over the border and crossed minefields in special vehicles, according to the bloggers.

“The enemy blew up bridges with rockets at night and launched an attack with armoured groups in the morning,” blogger RVvoenkor said according to Reuters news agency.

“The mine clearance vehicles began to make passages in the minefields, followed by armoured vehicles with troops. There is a heavy battle going on at the border.”

In a statement on Monday, Ukraine said: “Nine months after the start of the Kursk operation, Ukraine’s Defence Forces maintain a military presence on the territory of Russia’s Kursk region.”

While there has been no official response from Moscow, some military bloggers have also published maps showing opposing forces attempting to cross the border in two places towards Tyotkino – near where the drone command unit that was hit.

Meanwhile, in Sumy – around 12km across the border from Tyotkino in north-eastern Ukraine – local authorities urged people to evacuate from two settlements, Reuters reported.

Ukraine originally made its surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024 to create a buffer zone and protect Sumy and surrounding areas, while also hoping to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.

France’s former interior minister has apologised for the first time for the 2022 fiasco at the Stade de France which saw Liverpool football supporters wrongly blamed for a riot.

Gérald Darmanin admitted that security arrangements for the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid were wrong, and that his first public remarks – blaming English fans – were a mistake.

“It was a failure because I had not foreseen. That was a mistake on my part. I was led astray by my preconceptions,” said Darmanin, now France’s justice minister.

“The scapegoat was easy to find, and I apologise now to Liverpool supporters. They were quite right to be hurt. It was a mistake and a failure.”

Police used tear gas on Liverpool supporters as they tried to enter the stadium in Paris. Some fans were also ambushed and mugged by gangs of French youths.

In a lengthy interview on the Legend YouTube channel, Darmanin said the night was “the biggest failure” of his career.

“What I did not appreciate that evening was that the real problem was not coming from English supporters, but from delinquents who were robbing fans.

• Liverpool fans’ claim ‘can be heard in England’

“Our security arrangements were not designed for that eventuality. We had riot police … with big boots and shields – not great for running. What you need against that kind of delinquency is officers in running shoes.

“We got our arrangements wrong. We were expecting a war of (football) hooligans, and what we got instead was muggers.”

In their first comments after the problems, Darmanin and police chief Didier Lallement said the dangerous crush at the stadium was largely caused by Liverpool fans in possession of fake tickets.

The claim was subsequently debunked in an independent report commissioned by UEFA.

In another section of the interview, Darmanin said that there was “no longer any safe place” in France – a comment that drew fire from the hard-right opposition.

“What a lot of French people can see is that (violence) has become general, it has metastasised. It’s no longer only in the places where you once looked for potential problems.

“Nowadays you can see that the tiniest country village has experience of cocaine or cannabis.”

National Rally MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy noted that Darmanin has been in government since President Emmanuel Macron’s first election in 2017.

Tungay said he was “treating the French like imbeciles, making all these so-called tough declarations when the record is so catastrophic”.

Darmanin, who is 42 and from the political right, did nothing in the interview to dispel speculation that he might be in the running to replace Macron in 2027.

“Do I think of the presidential election? The answer is yes,” he said.

“That does not mean that I am going to be a candidate, but it does mean I have ambitions for the country to do better than what I see now.”

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has resigned and his Social Democrat party is to leave the government after a right-wing nationalist candidate won the first round of the presidential election.

George Simion, a eurosceptic who has promised to put Romania first, won 40.9% of Sunday’s vote and is expected to win a run-off vote on 18 May.

He will face liberal Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan, who narrowly defeated the Social Democrat (PSD) candidate.

Sunday’s result plunged Romania – an EU state on Nato’s eastern flank – into further political turmoil. Ciolacu told colleagues that as their coalition had failed to meet its objective and “has no legitimacy”, they should pull out of the government.

Ciolacu, 57, had only come to power in a pro-EU coalition after elections in 2024, although George Simion’s far-right party along with two other groupings had attracted a third of the vote.

The parties in that coalition had been holding emergency meetings on Monday to decide on their next steps.

Simion’s victory on Sunday was largely driven by popular frustration at the annulment of presidential elections late last year. His likely success on 18 May is awaited nervously in European capitals, as well as in Kyiv.

He has said he wants an EU of strong, sovereign nations and his party has opposed supply weapons to Ukraine.

Ciolacu is now expected to submit his resignation to interim president Ilie Bolojan, who will then appoint a caretaker prime minister.

Bolojan himself took on the role of interim president last February because of the scandal surrounding the annulment of the presidential vote.

“Romania faces up to 45 days of political instability following Marcel Ciolacu’s resignation,” warned Elena Calistru of independent Romanian monitoring group Funky Citizens.

“This creates a dangerous power vacuum precisely when Romania needs steady leadership most.”

Ciolacu’s party was part of a three-party coalition and the prime minister told his colleagues they had come together with the aim of having a joint presidential candidate and a parliamentary majority.

“One of these two objectives has failed,” he explained. “I’ve seen the vote from yesterday, and that tells us the current coalition no longer has legitimacy in this form.”

“In any case, the new president would have replaced me – that’s what I’ve seen and heard from the media. A new coalition will form to govern.”

Catalin Predoiu, the leader of his liberal coalition partner PNL said they were now looking for a prime minister “capable of addressing the current challenges”.

Meanwhile, the Social Democrat mayor of of Buzau, to the north-east of Bucharest, was highly critical of his party leaders: “We’ve embarrassed ourselves, and that’s partly because of poor decisions taken over time by the leadership.”

George Simion, 38, has cast himself as an admirer of US President Donald Trump. He became presidential frontrunner earlier this year when far-right pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu was barred from running

Georgescu had won last November’s first round, which was annulled by the courts after allegations of Russian interference on social media and campaign fraud.

Simion cast his vote on Sunday alongside Georgescu, having told voters the election was “about every Romanian who has been lied to, ignored, humiliated, and still has the strength to believe and defend our identity and rights”.

He has called for restoring Romania’s old borders and has been banned from entering Moldova and Ukraine.

Political analyst Radu Albu-Comanescu told Romania public radio that Sunday’s result was “a radical manifestation of hostility towards the current political establishment”.

Simion did particularly well with Romania’s diaspora voters, polling more than 73% in Spain and almost 65% in the UK among a broadly blue-collar electorate.

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.

“Russia is the biggest danger towards Romania, Poland and the Baltic states, the problem is this war is not going anywhere,” he told the BBC.

Elena Calistru said Romania was witnessing a remarkable political reset as both Simion and Nicușor Dan had positioned themselves as anti-establishment candidates with wildly different solutions.

“The outcome will reveal whether anti-establishment sentiment necessarily translates to anti-European positioning, or if Romania can channel its desire for change into constructive democratic renewal,” she told the BBC.

Donald Trump says he will talk with Hollywood executives, after an earlier announcement that he would hit films made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs sent shockwaves through the industry.

The US president said on Sunday he was authorising the commerce department to start the process to impose the levy because America’s film industry was dying “a very fast death”.

But he appeared to soften his stance later on Monday, telling reporters at the White House he was going to “meet with the industry” to “make sure they’re happy” with his proposal.

For years, filmmakers have been leaving Hollywood for destinations including the UK and Canada to lower costs.

One non-US union said the tariff plan would be a “knock-out blow” to the international industry.

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

White House spokesman Kush Desai told the BBC: “Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again.”

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

It was also unclear if the tariffs would apply to films on streaming services, such as 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?”

• What impact might Trump’s Hollywood tariffs plan have?
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Mr Richards said the cost of filming in southern California had grown significantly over the last few decades, prompting filmmakers to move production to locations including 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 government said it was “absolutely committed” to ensuring its film sector continued to thrive and create jobs, and would set out plans to do so in its upcoming Creative Industries Sector Plan.

It added that talks on an economic deal with the US were ongoing but a “running commentary” on progress was “not in the national interest”. 

The British Film Institute said it was working closely with the government and industry partners in the UK and the US “while we understand the detail of the proposal”.

“We want to keep collaboration at the heart of our sectors, so we remain a constructive partner to our friends in the US and internationally,” it said.

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.

The Motion Picture Association, which represents the five major US film studios, declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

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.

The UN’s top court has dismissed Sudan’s case against the UAE accusing the Gulf state of complicity in genocide.

Sudan alleged the UAE supported the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Sudanese civil war, in which tens of thousands of people have died, forced millions from their homes and left many facing famine.

The UAE categorically denied the accusations, branding the case “political theatre” and “a cynical publicity stunt”.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the case could not proceed because the UAE had opted out Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, which means that it cannot be sued by other states over genocide allegations.

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The court said that it lacked jurisdiction and was therefore “precluded by its statute from taking any position on the merits of the claims made by Sudan”. The case was thrown out in a 14-2 vote.

Sudan case had claimed that the UAE’s alleged military, financial and logistical backing of the RSF – including weapons shipments and mercenary recruitment – enabled systematic attacks against non-Arab communities, particularly the Masalit, in Darfur.

The allegations included mass killings, forced displacement and the use of sexual violence as a weapon.

Reem Ketait, the UAE’s deputy assistant minister for political affairs, said the court’s decision was “clear and decisive”.

“The international community must focus urgently on ending this devastating war and supporting the Sudanese people, and it must demand humanitarian aid reaches all those in need,” she said.

Both the Sudanese army and the RSF have been accused of committing atrocities, including ethnically targeted killings, obstruction of humanitarian relief and looting.

Sudan’s case at the ICJ was unusual because it targeted an alleged sponsor of atrocities, not the direct perpetrators.

The case was seen as a test of whether states can be held responsible for fuelling atrocities abroad.

While the ICJ’s judges found they did not have the power to rule in the case, it nevertheless serves as a powerful illustration of how international courts are becoming diplomatic battlegrounds.

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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 Nduhungirehe 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”.

Nduhungirehe 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 challenges, after Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government took office last July.

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

Nduhungirehe added that the talks with the US were continuing, and it was too early to predict 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”.

Panama and Costa Rica have also taken in migrants deported from the US.

Last week an unnamed Rwandan official told the Washington Post that the country was “open” to taking in more migrants expelled from the US, after having accepted an Iraqi in March.

The official added that talks with the US started shortly after Trump’s inauguration in January.

Rwanda has previously been criticised for its human rights record, including the risk that those sent to the East African nation could be deported again to countries where they may face danger.

However, Rwanda says it is a safe place for refugees.

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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.

Three people are dead and at least nine more are missing after a small boat overturned in the Pacific Ocean off the coast near San Diego, California, officials say.

At least 16 people, including two children, were on board the panga-style fishing boat, which overturned near Torrey Pines State Beach, the US Coast Guard said in a statement on X.

Rescuers were searching for survivors from Monday’s incident off Del Mar, 15 miles (24km) north of San Diego.

Jorge Sanchez, of the Encinitas Fire Department, said the immigration status of those caught in the “mass casualty incident” was not known. Four people were taken to a hospital, and it was unknown if any other victims were in the water, he said.

A panga boat is a small, open, lightweight vessel typically powered by an outboard motor.

A Coast Guard cutter and a helicopter were searching for the missing, a Coast Guard spokesman told the BBC.

Nick Backouris, a lieutenant with the San Diego Sheriff’s office, said people from his office helped victims on the beach.

“The deputies were assisting with life-saving measures,” he said, according to Reuters.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department said no-one had been detained in connection with the incident, KFMB reported.

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

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.

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.

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

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that 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”.

So what might this mean for both the US film industry and the global movie business, including the UK?

Announcing the new tariffs, Trump declared that Hollywood was “dying”. So is it?

It’s true that the industry has been through a really rough time in recent years.

The pandemic saw production close down and the impact is ongoing.

Hollywood studios spent $11.3 billion on productions in the second quarter of 2024, a 20% drop from the same period in 2022, as studios continued to cut costs in an attempt to recover from Covid losses.

Any shoots of recovery were then severely stifled by the 2023 actors and writers strikes.

Then the wildfires struck earlier this year.

And for several years now, more and more people – not just youngsters – have been turning to YouTube and other streaming platforms for content.

The US remains a major film production hub and according to Variety, 2025 has seen a rebound in box office numbers since last year, with overall domestic revenues up 15.8% on 2024 so far.

• Is YouTube making Hollywood irrelevant?

The latest Marvel superhero film, Thunderbolts*, topped the North American box office this weekend, raking in an estimated $76 million, marking a promising start to the summer season.

But Hollywood is definitely still up against it.

The president says he wants to “immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands. We want movies made in America again!”

This has led to questions about whether the tariffs would also apply to American film companies producing films abroad.

Several recent major movies produced by US studios were shot outside America, including Deadpool & Wolverine, Wicked and Gladiator II. Hit franchises like Mission Impossible also shoot overseas.

We also don’t yet know if the tariffs will be applied retrospectively.

Trump later told reporters that “other nations have been stealing the movies and movie-making capabilities from the United States”, which may suggest he was only referring to non-US films.

White House spokesman Kush Desai told the BBC that “no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made”, and added that the administration is “exploring all options”.

We will have to wait for more detail.

Many countries offer tax breaks to encourage film production such as New Zealand, Australia and the UK and that’s something Trump wants to take on.

But it’s not the only reason a US film company might wish to film abroad.

Some choose to do so for the specific location, exotic and exciting backdrops for example. Who could forget Tom Cruise’s ascent of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai, in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol?

What could it mean for the next James Bond movie, a franchise now owned by US giant Amazon, but based on an iconic British character who works for MI6, based in London?

And it’s not just other countries that offer incentives – other US states are luring film production away from Hollywood.

Georgia, Illinois and Kentucky are among the many other US states which California are now competing with.

Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, who Trump described as “grossly incompetent” when speaking about the movie tariffs on Monday, is currently pushing for his plan to more than double the state’s film and TV tax incentives to $750 million annually.

While Newsom has made no comment yet on Trump’s proposal, his senior communications advisor told Deadline: “We believe he has no authority to impose tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, since tariffs are not listed as a remedy under that law.”

There are more questions than answers at this stage.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has a moratorium on tariffs for digital goods until 2026. Presumably films count as digital goods.

And what would they base the tariffs on? Box office revenue or production costs? Is streaming content included? That would have a huge impact on US companies like Netflix. What about post-production ie editing?

Tim Richards, Vue Entertainment CEO and founder, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “A big part of this is what constitutes US film – is it where the money comes from, the script, the director, the talent, where it was shot?”

And how do you even classify a foreign film when so many are co-productions and are often shot in several countries?

Trump appeared to be talking about film and not TV but it’s not 100% clear at this stage. Would tariffs apply to films made for streaming or just cinema releases? We’ll have to wait for more detail. And of course, Trump may rollback on the proposals as he has done with some other tariffs.

Obviously, putting a 100% tariff on foreign films means a huge cost increase for those production companies who want to sell to the US market.

Commenting on Trump’s announcement, the UK government’s Culture Media and Sport Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage MP said: “Last month the Culture, Media and Sport Committee warned against complacency on our status as the Hollywood of Europe. President Trump’s announcement has made that warning all too real.

“Making it more difficult to make films in the UK is not in the interests of American businesses. Their investment in facilities and talent in the UK, based on US-owned IP, is showing fantastic returns on both sides of the Atlantic. Ministers must urgently prioritise this as part of the trade negotiations currently under way.”

Head of media and entertainment trade union Bectu in the UK, Philippa Childs, said in a statement: “These tariffs, coming after Covid and the recent slowdown, could deal a knock-out blow to an industry that is only just recovering and will be really worrying news for tens of thousands of skilled freelancers who make films in the UK.”

Kirsty Bell, chief executive of production company Goldfinch, questioned how the tariffs would work, pointing out that blockbusters like Barbie, which was distributed by US film studio Warner Bros Pictures, “was actually shot virtually entirely in the UK”.

“If those US films don’t get partly produced or produced in the UK, freelancers are going to be jobless. I’m telling you now, they really are going to be jobless,” she told PA.

The governments of Australia and New Zealand have also spoken out in support of their countries’ film industries.

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

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told a news conference that 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 added.

And with the Cannes film festival just around the corner, uncertainty hangs in the air with many US film producers looking to sell foreign distribution rights.

Tariffs could incentivise US film companies to make more films on home soil but the risk is that if it’s more expensive than to do so abroad, some films just won’t get made.

More incentives or rebates could help offset this but we just don’t know at this stage if that’s under discussion on a national scale.

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.

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 estimate that Russia lost at least 27 lives for every square 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.

If we assume that our figure of 45,287 confirmed deaths in 2024 is about 40% of the full number, then the total number would be closer to 112,000 fatalities last year.

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.

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.”

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 student at Temple University has been suspended after an antisemitic incident at a sports bar in the city of Philadelphia went viral.

Police are investigating after a three-word sign with an expletive about Jews was held up at the pub on Saturday.

Dave Portnoy, the owner of the Barstool Sansom Street bar, said two employees had been fired. Two others had agreed to go to Auschwitz, the former Nazi Germany death camp, for “a learning experience”, he added.

The incident comes amid growing scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration of how antisemitism allegations are handled on US college campuses.

The incident began after two customers ordered the illuminated sign along with drinks at the bar, Mr Portnoy said in a video on X.

The founder of digital media company Barstool Sports expressed outrage and vowed to take swift action.

In a second video a few hours later, he said he had spoken with the culprits and their families.

Mr Portnoy, who is Jewish, said the pair had agreed to go to Auschwitz, in Poland, which he believed to be “a fair outcome”.

He said after 20 years of running Barstool, “I’ve had more hate, more antisemitism in the last year, year-and-a-half, than I’ve ever had doing it”.

The bar, which was closed on Sunday, posted a statement on Instagram saying it was “saddened, embarrassed and frustrated” by the incident.

“Unfortunately, several employees ignored all of their training and the organization’s written policies regarding our zero tolerance policy for discrimination and hate,” the statement continued.

Temple University President John Fry addressed the incident on Sunday, saying in a letter to the campus that “Temple students were involved in an antisemitic incident at an off-campus location” on Saturday.

He said one student suspected of involvement had been placed on interim suspension.

“Any additional students who are found to be involved will face strict disciplinary action under the Student Conduct Code, up to and including expulsion”, he added.

Hundreds of opposition protesters dressed in red and black have condemned a decision by Ghana’s president to suspend the country’s chief justice, and are demanding that she be reinstated with immediate effect.

They accuse President John Mahama of violating the constitution by failing to follow due process, and say he is interfering in the independence of the judiciary.

Gertrude Torkornoo was removed from her post last week pending investigations into her conduct – the first time a chief justice has been suspended in Ghana’s history.

Action was taken after the president said three people had sent petitions to him containing undisclosed allegations against Chief Justice Torkornoo.

Monday’s demonstration in Accra was led by the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), who were in power when Chief Justice Torkornoo was appointed by then-president Nana Akufo-Addo two years ago.

The NPP’s national organiser Nana Boakye Yiadom told the BBC her treatment was politically motivated and an attack on democracy.

Also taking part in the protests were three smaller opposition groups.

The opposition’s demands echo those made by the Ghana Bar Association last week. The grouping of top legal professionals said suspending the chief justice was unconstitutional and President Mahama must reverse it.

But that view is not shared by all.

A number of lawyers in the country argue it is within the president’s power to act when there is evidence of misconduct by a public officer, no matter the position. This view is also backed by the president’s supporters.

By law, chief justices in Ghana enjoy security of tenure, which means that they remain in office until retirement.

Yet Ghana’s constitution does empower the president to appoint, suspend or even fire the chief justice where there is evidence of wrongdoing, including incompetence and misbehaviour. However some Ghanaians argue due process has not been followed in this instance.

One protester, Serwaa Akoto, told the BBC: “The judiciary is under attack and we want the right thing to be done. Why is he suspending the chief justice?”

Also at the protest was Charles Oteng, who told the BBC: “We want to send a strong signal to the president. Yes, indeed, he has all the powers as a president, but the way he is attacking our judiciary is very alarming – and we the youth will not sit for him to do whatever he wants to do.”

Chief Justice Torkornoo is the third woman to hold the position in Ghana. Since winning power, Mahama’s National Democratic Congress has stepped up accusations of bias in her rulings of high profile political cases, which she denies.

She is expected to be summoned to answer questions in person in front of a committee investigating the allegations against her.

• ‘An African pope would be inspirational’
• ‘I was duped into leaving London for school in Ghana – but it saved me’
• Ghana wants more for its cashews, but it’s a tough nut to crack

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 a post on Instagram and “an attack on the rule of law.”

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.

A woman missing for nearly 63 years has been found alive and well after the case into her disappearance was reviewed, police in the US state of Wisconsin said.

Audrey Backeberg was 20 years old when she disappeared from her home in the small city of Reedsburg on 7 July 1962.

In a statement, Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said Ms Backeberg’s disappearance “was by her own choice and not the result of any criminal activity or foul play”.

The sheriff said she was living outside Wisconsin, but did not provide any further details.

According to Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy, a non-profit group, Ms Backeberg was married and had two children when she went missing.

The group said that days before she went missing, Ms Backeberg, now 82, had filed a criminal complaint against her husband, whom she had married at the age of 15, alleging he had beaten her and threatened to kill her.

On the day she disappeared, she left home to pick up her pay cheque from the woollen mill where she worked.

The couple’s 14-year-old babysitter told police she and Ms Backeberg then hitchhiked to Madison, Wisconsin’s state capital, and from there caught a bus to Indianapolis, Indiana, about 300 miles (480km) away.

The babysitter then became nervous and wanted to return home, but Ms Backeberg refused and was last seen walking away from the bus stop.

The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said investigators pursued numerous leads in the case but it had gone cold before a comprehensive review of old case files was carried out earlier this year.

The detective who solved the case, Isaac Hanson, told local news station WISN that an online ancestry account belonging to Ms Backeberg’s sister was crucial in helping locate the missing woman.

Det Hanson said he contacted local sheriffs where Ms Backeberg now lives, and spoke to her on the phone for 45 minutes.

“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and led her life,” he told WISN. “She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”

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.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cabinet had decided on a “forceful operation” to destroy Hamas and rescue its remaining hostages, and that Gaza’s 2.1 million population “will be moved, to protect it”.

He did not say how much territory would be seized by troops, but he stressed that “they will not enter and come out”.

The cabinet also approved, in principle, a plan to deliver 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.

A Hamas official said the group rejected Israel’s “pressure and blackmail”.

Asked about the Israeli plan to expand its offensive, President Donald Trump repeated a pledge to help get food to Palestinians there.

The UK meanwhile said it “does not support an expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza”. The EU earlier urged restraint, saying it was concerned about “further casualties and suffering for the Palestinian population”.

Israel’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 morning said 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 first stage would include 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.

Later, a senior Israeli security official said the plan would not be implemented until after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region between 13 and 16 May, providing what he called “a window of opportunity” to Hamas to agree a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich meanwhile told a conference in Jerusalem on Monday that Israel was “going to finally occupy the Gaza Strip”, according to Reuters news agency.

Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 Middle East war along with the West Bank. It unilaterally withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but the UN still regards Gaza as Israeli-occupied territory because it retained control of Gaza’s shared border, airspace and shoreline.

In a briefing later on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the expanded campaign would displace most Palestinians in Gaza as air strikes and other military operations continued.

However, critics say military action has failed to secure the return of the 59 remaining hostages – up to 24 of whom are believed to be alive – and have urged the government to strike a deal with Hamas.

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.

Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi reiterated that the group wanted a comprehensive deal, including “a complete ceasefire, full withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and the release of all prisoners from both sides”.

Palestinians in north Gaza told the BBC that they were strongly opposed to being forcibly displaced to the south once again, with several saying they would rather die amid the ruins of their homes.

“In October 2023, I evacuated with my children, daughters, and grandchildren – about 60 people in total,” 76-year-old Gaza City resident Ahmed Shehata said.

“We lived through unbearable conditions in what Israel claimed was a ‘safe zone’ in the south. This time, we will not leave, even if Israel brings down the tents over our heads.”

Osama Tawfiq, a 48-year-old father of five, said: “Israeli threats won’t scare us. We are staying in Gaza.”

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

The security official said deliveries would resume once the expanded offensive began, and that the military would establish a “sterile area” in the southern Rafah area that Palestinians would be able to enter pending inspection.

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 has said he will hit movies made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs, as he ramps up trade disputes with nations around the world.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that 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”.

So what might this mean for both the US film industry and the global movie business, including the UK?

Announcing the new tariffs, Trump declared that Hollywood was “dying”. So is it?

It’s true that the industry has been through a really rough time in recent years.

The pandemic saw production close down and the impact is ongoing.

Hollywood studios spent $11.3 billion on productions in the second quarter of 2024, a 20% drop from the same period in 2022, as studios continued to cut costs in an attempt to recover from Covid losses.

Any shoots of recovery were then severely stifled by the 2023 actors and writers strikes.

Then the wildfires struck earlier this year.

And for several years now, more and more people – not just youngsters – have been turning to YouTube and other streaming platforms for content.

The US remains a major film production hub and according to Variety, 2025 has seen a rebound in box office numbers since last year, with overall domestic revenues up 15.8% on 2024 so far.

• Is YouTube making Hollywood irrelevant?

The latest Marvel superhero film, Thunderbolts*, topped the North American box office this weekend, raking in an estimated $76 million, marking a promising start to the summer season.

But Hollywood is definitely still up against it.

The president says he wants to “immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands. We want movies made in America again!”

This has led to questions about whether the tariffs would also apply to American film companies producing films abroad.

Several recent major movies produced by US studios were shot outside America, including Deadpool & Wolverine, Wicked and Gladiator II. Hit franchises like Mission Impossible also shoot overseas.

We also don’t yet know if the tariffs will be applied retrospectively.

Trump later told reporters that “other nations have been stealing the movies and movie-making capabilities from the United States”, which may suggest he was only referring to non-US films.

White House spokesman Kush Desai told the BBC that “no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made”, and added that the administration is “exploring all options”.

We will have to wait for more detail.

Many countries offer tax breaks to encourage film production such as New Zealand, Australia and the UK and that’s something Trump wants to take on.

But it’s not the only reason a US film company might wish to film abroad.

Some choose to do so for the specific location, exotic and exciting backdrops for example. Who could forget Tom Cruise’s ascent of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai, in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol?

What could it mean for the next James Bond movie, a franchise now owned by US giant Amazon, but based on an iconic British character who works for MI6, based in London?

And it’s not just other countries that offer incentives – other US states are luring film production away from Hollywood.

Georgia, Illinois and Kentucky are among the many other US states which California are now competing with.

Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, who Trump described as “grossly incompetent” when speaking about the movie tariffs on Monday, is currently pushing for his plan to more than double the state’s film and TV tax incentives to $750 million annually.

While Newsom has made no comment yet on Trump’s proposal, his senior communications advisor told Deadline: “We believe he has no authority to impose tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, since tariffs are not listed as a remedy under that law.”

There are more questions than answers at this stage.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has a moratorium on tariffs for digital goods until 2026. Presumably films count as digital goods.

And what would they base the tariffs on? Box office revenue or production costs? Is streaming content included? That would have a huge impact on US companies like Netflix. What about post-production ie editing?

Tim Richards, Vue Entertainment CEO and founder, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “A big part of this is what constitutes US film – is it where the money comes from, the script, the director, the talent, where it was shot?”

And how do you even classify a foreign film when so many are co-productions and are often shot in several countries?

Trump appeared to be talking about film and not TV but it’s not 100% clear at this stage. Would tariffs apply to films made for streaming or just cinema releases? We’ll have to wait for more detail. And of course, Trump may rollback on the proposals as he has done with some other tariffs.

Obviously, putting a 100% tariff on foreign films means a huge cost increase for those production companies who want to sell to the US market.

Commenting on Trump’s announcement, the UK government’s Culture Media and Sport Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage MP said: “Last month the Culture, Media and Sport Committee warned against complacency on our status as the Hollywood of Europe. President Trump’s announcement has made that warning all too real.

“Making it more difficult to make films in the UK is not in the interests of American businesses. Their investment in facilities and talent in the UK, based on US-owned IP, is showing fantastic returns on both sides of the Atlantic. Ministers must urgently prioritise this as part of the trade negotiations currently under way.”

Head of media and entertainment trade union Bectu in the UK, Philippa Childs, said in a statement: “These tariffs, coming after Covid and the recent slowdown, could deal a knock-out blow to an industry that is only just recovering and will be really worrying news for tens of thousands of skilled freelancers who make films in the UK.”

Kirsty Bell, chief executive of production company Goldfinch, questioned how the tariffs would work, pointing out that blockbusters like Barbie, which was distributed by US film studio Warner Bros Pictures, “was actually shot virtually entirely in the UK”.

“If those US films don’t get partly produced or produced in the UK, freelancers are going to be jobless. I’m telling you now, they really are going to be jobless,” she told PA.

The governments of Australia and New Zealand have also spoken out in support of their countries’ film industries.

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

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told a news conference that 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 added.

And with the Cannes film festival just around the corner, uncertainty hangs in the air with many US film producers looking to sell foreign distribution rights.

Tariffs could incentivise US film companies to make more films on home soil but the risk is that if it’s more expensive than to do so abroad, some films just won’t get made.

More incentives or rebates could help offset this but we just don’t know at this stage if that’s under discussion on a national scale.

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.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has resigned and his Social Democrat party is to leave the government after a right-wing nationalist candidate won the first round of the presidential election.

George Simion, a eurosceptic who has promised to put Romania first, won 40.9% of Sunday’s vote and is expected to win a run-off vote on 18 May.

He will face liberal Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan, who narrowly defeated the Social Democrat (PSD) candidate.

Sunday’s result plunged Romania – an EU state on Nato’s eastern flank – into further political turmoil. Ciolacu told colleagues that as their coalition had failed to meet its objective and “has no legitimacy”, they should pull out of the government.

Ciolacu, 57, had only come to power in a pro-EU coalition after elections in 2024, although George Simion’s far-right party along with two other groupings had attracted a third of the vote.

The parties in that coalition had been holding emergency meetings on Monday to decide on their next steps.

Simion’s victory on Sunday was largely driven by popular frustration at the annulment of presidential elections late last year. His likely success on 18 May is awaited nervously in European capitals, as well as in Kyiv.

He has said he wants an EU of strong, sovereign nations and his party has opposed supply weapons to Ukraine.

Ciolacu is now expected to submit his resignation to interim president Ilie Bolojan, who will then appoint a caretaker prime minister.

Bolojan himself took on the role of interim president last February because of the scandal surrounding the annulment of the presidential vote.

“Romania faces up to 45 days of political instability following Marcel Ciolacu’s resignation,” warned Elena Calistru of independent Romanian monitoring group Funky Citizens.

“This creates a dangerous power vacuum precisely when Romania needs steady leadership most.”

Ciolacu’s party was part of a three-party coalition and the prime minister told his colleagues they had come together with the aim of having a joint presidential candidate and a parliamentary majority.

“One of these two objectives has failed,” he explained. “I’ve seen the vote from yesterday, and that tells us the current coalition no longer has legitimacy in this form.”

“In any case, the new president would have replaced me – that’s what I’ve seen and heard from the media. A new coalition will form to govern.”

Catalin Predoiu, the leader of his liberal coalition partner PNL said they were now looking for a prime minister “capable of addressing the current challenges”.

Meanwhile, the Social Democrat mayor of of Buzau, to the north-east of Bucharest, was highly critical of his party leaders: “We’ve embarrassed ourselves, and that’s partly because of poor decisions taken over time by the leadership.”

George Simion, 38, has cast himself as an admirer of US President Donald Trump. He became presidential frontrunner earlier this year when far-right pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu was barred from running

Georgescu had won last November’s first round, which was annulled by the courts after allegations of Russian interference on social media and campaign fraud.

Simion cast his vote on Sunday alongside Georgescu, having told voters the election was “about every Romanian who has been lied to, ignored, humiliated, and still has the strength to believe and defend our identity and rights”.

He has called for restoring Romania’s old borders and has been banned from entering Moldova and Ukraine.

Political analyst Radu Albu-Comanescu told Romania public radio that Sunday’s result was “a radical manifestation of hostility towards the current political establishment”.

Simion did particularly well with Romania’s diaspora voters, polling more than 73% in Spain and almost 65% in the UK among a broadly blue-collar electorate.

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.

“Russia is the biggest danger towards Romania, Poland and the Baltic states, the problem is this war is not going anywhere,” he told the BBC.

Elena Calistru said Romania was witnessing a remarkable political reset as both Simion and Nicușor Dan had positioned themselves as anti-establishment candidates with wildly different solutions.

“The outcome will reveal whether anti-establishment sentiment necessarily translates to anti-European positioning, or if Romania can channel its desire for change into constructive democratic renewal,” she told the BBC.

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 estimate that Russia lost at least 27 lives for every square 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.

If we assume that our figure of 45,287 confirmed deaths in 2024 is about 40% of the full number, then the total number would be closer to 112,000 fatalities last year.

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.

France’s former interior minister has apologised for the first time for the 2022 fiasco at the Stade de France which saw Liverpool football supporters wrongly blamed for a riot.

Gérald Darmanin admitted that security arrangements for the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid were wrong, and that his first public remarks – blaming English fans – were a mistake.

“It was a failure because I had not foreseen. That was a mistake on my part. I was led astray by my preconceptions,” said Darmanin, now France’s justice minister.

“The scapegoat was easy to find, and I apologise now to Liverpool supporters. They were quite right to be hurt. It was a mistake and a failure.”

Police used tear gas on Liverpool supporters as they tried to enter the stadium in Paris. Some fans were also ambushed and mugged by gangs of French youths.

In a lengthy interview on the Legend YouTube channel, Darmanin said the night was “the biggest failure” of his career.

“What I did not appreciate that evening was that the real problem was not coming from English supporters, but from delinquents who were robbing fans.

• Liverpool fans’ claim ‘can be heard in England’

“Our security arrangements were not designed for that eventuality. We had riot police … with big boots and shields – not great for running. What you need against that kind of delinquency is officers in running shoes.

“We got our arrangements wrong. We were expecting a war of (football) hooligans, and what we got instead was muggers.”

In their first comments after the problems, Darmanin and police chief Didier Lallement said the dangerous crush at the stadium was largely caused by Liverpool fans in possession of fake tickets.

The claim was subsequently debunked in an independent report commissioned by UEFA.

In another section of the interview, Darmanin said that there was “no longer any safe place” in France – a comment that drew fire from the hard-right opposition.

“What a lot of French people can see is that (violence) has become general, it has metastasised. It’s no longer only in the places where you once looked for potential problems.

“Nowadays you can see that the tiniest country village has experience of cocaine or cannabis.”

National Rally MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy noted that Darmanin has been in government since President Emmanuel Macron’s first election in 2017.

Tungay said he was “treating the French like imbeciles, making all these so-called tough declarations when the record is so catastrophic”.

Darmanin, who is 42 and from the political right, did nothing in the interview to dispel speculation that he might be in the running to replace Macron in 2027.

“Do I think of the presidential election? The answer is yes,” he said.

“That does not mean that I am going to be a candidate, but it does mean I have ambitions for the country to do better than what I see now.”

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 a post on Instagram and “an attack on the rule of law.”

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.

Thousands of people were left trapped on trains or stranded overnight after the theft of copper cables halted high-speed services between Madrid and southern Spain’s Andalusia region.

Authorities opened an investigation on Monday after Sunday’s theft, which Transport Minister Óscar Puente called a “serious act of sabotage”.

He added that the cable theft took place at five locations, all within a few kilometres of each other on the high-speed line. On Monday morning, Puente said train operations were being “fully restored” .

This travel disruption comes a week after Spain and Portugal suffered a blackout, which similarly saw trains comes to a standstill. The cause is still unknown.

“All of a sudden in the last two weeks – what is going on?” Kevin, a tourist from the US told Reuters news agency as he waited at Madrid’s Atocha station, where thousands were stranded.

More than 10,000 passengers were affected between Madrid, Seville, Malaga, Valencia and Granada, and at least 30 trains.

The disruption came after a long weekend in Madrid and ahead of the week-long Feria festival in Seville, which sees an influx of travellers to the city.

“Operations are now fully restored after a very difficult night for commuters… and staff, who had to respond under extremely complex circumstances,” the transport minister said on Monday morning.

The theft locations, he said, were in areas accessed via forest trails.

Train services were gradually returning to normal, Spain’s national rail manager Adif said on Monday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the Spanish interior ministry said the country’s civil guard, and police were in contact with Adif and other authorities to “clarify what happened and identify those responsible”.

The price of copper has soared in recent years, and cable thefts from train and telecommunications networks have surged.

Ukraine said it hit a drone command unit in the Kursk region, amid reports of fresh attempts to cross into Russia.

Sunday’s attack on the unit was located near the Russian village of Tyotkino, according to the Ukrainian general staff.

Multiple Russian military bloggers also reported that Ukrainian forces had attempted to cross into the village, posting images – as yet unverified by the BBC – of vehicles breaking through tank traps on the border.

The reports come after Moscow claimed in April to have regained control of the entire region, nine months after a Ukrainian forces launched a surprise invasion. Kyiv insists it still has soldiers operating across the border.

On Monday, Ukrainian forces fired missiles over the border and crossed minefields in special vehicles, according to the bloggers.

“The enemy blew up bridges with rockets at night and launched an attack with armoured groups in the morning,” blogger RVvoenkor said according to Reuters news agency.

“The mine clearance vehicles began to make passages in the minefields, followed by armoured vehicles with troops. There is a heavy battle going on at the border.”

In a statement on Monday, Ukraine said: “Nine months after the start of the Kursk operation, Ukraine’s Defence Forces maintain a military presence on the territory of Russia’s Kursk region.”

While there has been no official response from Moscow, some military bloggers have also published maps showing opposing forces attempting to cross the border in two places towards Tyotkino – near where the drone command unit that was hit.

Meanwhile, in Sumy – around 12km across the border from Tyotkino in north-eastern Ukraine – local authorities urged people to evacuate from two settlements, Reuters reported.

Ukraine originally made its surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024 to create a buffer zone and protect Sumy and surrounding areas, while also hoping to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.