The US-China trade war could be letting up, with the world’s two largest economies set to begin talks in Switzerland.

Top trade officials from both sides will meet on Saturday in the first high-level meeting since US President Donald Trump hit China with tariffs in January.

Beijing retaliated immediately and a tense stand-off ensued as the two countries heaped levies on each other. New US tariffs on Chinese imports stand at 145%, and some US exports to China face duties of 125%.

There have been weeks of stern, and sometimes fiery, rhetoric where each side sought to paint the other as the more desperate party.

And yet this weekend they will face each other over the negotiating table.

So why now?

Despite multiple rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, both sides have been sending signals that they want to break the deadlock. Except it wasn’t clear who would blink first.

“Neither side wants to appear to be backing down,” said Stephen Olson, senior visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and a former US trade negotiator.

“The talks are taking place now because both countries have judged that they can move forward without appearing to have caved in to the other side.”

Still, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian emphasised on Wednesday that “the talks are being held at the request of the US”.

And the commerce ministry framed it as a favour to Washington, saying it was answering the “calls of US businesses and consumers”.

The Trump administration, however, claims it’s Chinese officials who “want to do business very much” because “their economy is collapsing”.

“They said we initiated? Well, I think they ought to go back and study their files,” Trump said at the White House on Wednesday.

But as the talks drew closer, the president struck a more diplomatic note: “We can all play games. Who made the first call, who didn’t make the – it doesn’t matter,” he told reporters on Thursday. “It only matters what happens in that room.”

The timing is also key for Beijing because it’s during Xi’s visit to Moscow. He was a guest of honour on Friday at Moscow’s Victory Day parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the World War Two victory over Nazi Germany.

Xi stood alongside leaders from across the Global South – a reminder to Trump’s administration that China not only has other options for trade, but it is also presenting itself as an alternative global leader.

This allows Beijing to project strength even as it heads to the negotiating table.

Trump insists that the tariffs will make America stronger, and Beijing has vowed to “fight till the end”- but the fact is the levies are hurting both countries.

Factory output in China has taken a hit, according to government data. Manufacturing activity in April dipped to the lowest level since December 2023. And a survey by news outlet Caixin this week showed that services activity has reached a seven-month low.

The BBC found that Chinese exporters have been reeling from the steep tariffs, with stock piling up in warehouses, even as they strike a defiant note and look for markets beyond the US.

“I think [China] realises that a deal is better than no deal,” says Bert Hofman, a professor at the East Asian Institute in National University Singapore.

“So they’ve taken a pragmatic view and said, ‘OK, well we need to get these talks going.'”

And so with the major May Day holiday in China over, officials in Beijing have decided the time is right to talk.

On the other side, the uncertainty caused by tariffs led to the US economy contracting for the first time in three years.

And industries that have long depended on Chinese-made goods are especially worried. A Los Angeles toy company owner told the BBC that they were “looking at the total implosion of the supply chain”.

Trump himself has acknowledged that US consumers will feel the sting.

American children may “have two dolls instead of 30 dolls”, he said at a cabinet meeting this month, “and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally”.

Trump’s approval ratings have also slid over fears of inflation and a possible recession, with more than 60% of Americans saying he was focusing too much on tariffs.

“Both countries are feeling pressure to provide a bit of reassurance to increasingly nervous markets, businesses, and domestic constituencies,” Mr Olson says.

“A couple of days of meetings in Geneva will serve that purpose.”

While the talks have been met with optimism, a deal may take a while to materialise.

The talks will mostly be about “touching base”, Mr Hofman said, adding that this could look like an “exchange of positions” and, if things go well, “an agenda [will be] set for future talks”.

The negotiations on the whole are expected to take months, much like what happened during Trump’s first term.

After nearly two years of tit-for-tat tariffs, the US and China signed a “phase one” deal in early 2020 to suspend or reduce some levies. Even then, it did not include thornier issues, such as Chinese government subsidies for key industries or a timeline for scrapping the remaining tariffs.

In fact, many of them stayed in place through Joe Biden’s presidency, and Trump’s latest tariffs add to those older levies.

What could emerge this time is a “phase one deal on steroids”, Mr Olson said: that is, it would go beyond the earlier deal and try to address flashpoints. There are many, from the illegal fentanyl trade which Washington wants China to crack down harder on to Beijing’s relationship with Moscow.

But all of that is far down the line, experts warn.

“The systemic frictions that bedevil the US-China trade relationship will not be solved any time soon,” Mr Olson adds.

“Geneva will only produce anodyne statements about ‘frank dialogues’ and the desire to keep talking.”

A massive increase in the price of water is just one consequence of a week of aerial attacks on the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

Once seen as a relatively safe haven from Sudan’s devastating civil war, Port Sudan is now reeling from days of bombardment from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

After six days of drone attacks, smoke is still rising from three fuel depots which were targeted. Rescue teams are gathered around the destroyed sites, but they are struggling to put the fires out.

The conflict, which began as a struggle between the leaders of the RSF and the army more than two years ago, has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and forced more than 12 million people from their homes.

One of those who fled to Port Sudan is 26-year-old Mutasim, who did not want his second name published for safety reasons.

The BBC spoke to him after he had waited hours for a water vendor to turn up.

The vital commodity has become scarce. The explosions at the fuel depots have left Port Sudan without the diesel used to power the pumps that bring up the groundwater.

• A simple guide to what is happening in Sudan
• BBC finds fear, loss and hope in Sudan’s ruined capital after army victory
• How war devastated Sudan’s museums

Mutasim told the BBC that whereas a day’s supply of water cost him 2,000 Sudanese pounds ($3.30; £2.50) a week ago, he is now being charged five times that amount.

It leaves him and the seven other members of his family without much water for cooking, cleaning and bathing.

“Soon, we won’t be able to afford it,” he said explaining that he gets money from buying and selling basic goods in the market.

Water is not the only challenge in Port Sudan.

Daily life is going back to normal, markets and shops are open, but there are crowds of cars outside the city’s petrol stations as people desperately wait for fuel.

“It could take me five hours to get petrol,” said Mutasim.

It is a situation that many Sudanese have faced before, but not in this city.

Until last week, Port Sudan was one of the few places in the country that was considered protected from the worst of the civil war.

“We came here two years ago from Omdurman,” Mutasim said, referring to the city that sits on the other side of the River Nile from the capital, Khartoum.

It cost the family their entire savings – $3,000 (£2,250) – to set up in a new place.

“We were forced to leave our home by the RSF, so it was a relief to come here. Life was starting to go back to normal.”

“We were thinking about moving because it is no longer safe here, but it’s so expensive – and where do we go?”

Port Sudan has been experiencing blackouts for the past two weeks, which have been made worse by the latest attacks.

“My auntie is over 70 years old, she is struggling with the heat and humidity because there is no electricity for fans at night,” Mutasim said.

“We can’t sleep.”

Hawa Mustafa, a teacher from el-Geneina in Darfur, in the west of the country, also sought refuge in Port Sudan.

She has been living with her four children in a shelter for displaced people for over two years. She said this week’s attacks left her “living in fear”.

“The drones came to us and we returned to a state of war and the lack of safety,” she told the BBC.

“The sounds of the drones and the anti-aircraft missiles remind me of the first days of the war in el-Geneina.”

Hawa lives without her husband, who has been unable to leave their home due to the deteriorating security situation. She is now responsible for her family.

“I don’t know where to go if things get worse in Port Sudan. I was planning to go to one of the neighbouring countries, but it seems that this dream will no longer come true.”

Another person living in the city, Mariam Atta, told the BBC that “life has changed completely”.

“We are struggling to cope,” she said. “The fear is constant.”

Since Sudan’s civil war started in 2023, humanitarian agencies have depended on Port Sudan as a gateway to bring in aid, because of its port and the country’s only functional international airport.

It has been used by organisations such as the UN’s World Food Programme to deliver food assistance.

“Port Sudan is our main humanitarian hub,” says Leni Kinzli, WFP spokesperson for Sudan.

“In March, we had almost 20,000 metric tonnes of food distributed, and I would say definitely more than half of that came through Port Sudan,” she told the BBC.

The WFP has said that there is currently famine in 10 regions of the country, with 17 more at risk.

Many aid agencies are now concerned these attacks could block the flow of aid, making the humanitarian situation even worse.

“I think this is going to severely constrain the delivery of life-saving food and medical supplies, which will risk further deterioration of the already critical situation,” Shashwat Saraf, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told the BBC.

He added that while agencies will look for other routes into the country, it will be challenging.

At night the city is quiet.

Before the attacks, people would gather at the coast and some would watch football in local cafes. But the electricity blackout has left the city in the dark and residents are choosing to stay at home for security reasons.

• Inside Khartoum, a city left in ruins after two years of war
• ‘Child in arms, luggage on my head, I fled Sudan camp for safety’
• Sudan’s years of war – BBC smuggles in phones to reveal hunger and fear

Not long after greeting crowds from the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square on Thursday evening, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Sant’Uffizio Palace, where he had been living for the last two months.

He was met by a jubilant group of staff and former colleagues, all eager to shake his hand and congratulate him.

A young girl handed him a Bible to bless and sign. “Of course, though I have to try out my new signature,” Pope Leo said with a smile. “The old one is of no use anymore.”

He had only stopped being Robert Francis Prevost a few hours before, when he was elected pope. As he took on the name Leo XIV, a new life began for the 69-year-old Chicago-born cardinal.

But details on how Pope Leo will be looking to run the Catholic Church are still scarce, and so over the next few days and weeks every small clue – from his attire to his choice of accommodation – will be examined.

Scrutiny began as soon as he stepped on to the balcony, giving the crowd a glimpse of the vestments he chose for his first appearance.

The gold cross around his neck that caught the evening light was seen as a first sign he was departing from the simplicity of his predecessor’s simple silver pendant; the embroidered stole and red mozzetta cemented that impression.

Then, the fact that the homily he delivered to cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday morning was scripted – rather than improvised – also sent a signal that “Leo will be more closely aligned to tradition than Francis was,” said Austen Ivereigh, a Catholic writer and commentator.

But several events over the next few days and weeks will give Pope Leo a further chance to sketch out the priorities of his pontificate.

On Monday he is due to hold an audience with the media and on 18 May he will celebrate a solemn inaugural mass in St Peter’s Square.

As part of that mass he will deliver a homily in the presence of numerous heads of state and dignitaries.

In his 2013 inaugural homily, Pope Francis asked “all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life” to be “protectors of creation, of God’s plan… of one another and of the environment”.

So that moment might also provide clues about the matters dearest to Pope Leo’s heart.

• Watch: Oh my God, it’s Rob! – Pope’s brother speaks of joy
• Analysis: Continuity the key for Pope seen as unifier in the Church
• Reaction: ‘I flipped out, I said no way!’ – Chicago celebrates hometown Pope
• ‘God loves Peru’: Country celebrates new Pope as one of their own

The new Pope’s choice of accommodation too will be significant.

Francis made the choice of choosing to live in the simple Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, which was seen as revolutionary, but Leo may well decide to follow in the footsteps of virtually all his predecessors and reside in the grand Apostolic Palace.

“He was elected less than a day ago; let’s give him time to decide,” Vatican sources quoted by Italian media said.

“These are all important choices,” Ivereigh added.

“Over the next few days we’ll be learning more and more about it – the first week of the pontificate is a constant revelation.”

Meanwhile, in the absence of details about his future as Leo XIV, fragments of the Pope’s old life as Robert Prevost are emerging from around the world.

This is the case especially in his native Chicago and his adopted homeland of Peru, of which he became a citizen in 2015.

In one photo, he is presented with a large handmade birthday card written in Spanish and surrounded by cakes and balloons.

A video recorded when he left Peru for Rome, in which he says he would miss the “joy” of Peru and staples of local cuisine like ceviche, has been met with triumph by South American social media users.

“The pope is Peruvian; God loves Peru,” Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said.

American tourists ambling in St Peter’s Square on the day after the election were more restrained, and a bit frazzled by the news that the new Pope is from the US.

“I’m still surprised they chose an American, to be honest,” said Chicagoan Kerry, who is in Rome on her honeymoon.

She admitted she didn’t yet know much about the new Pope but was pleased by rumours that he is a fan of the White Sox baseball team.

Asked how she thought Pope Leo felt today, she laughed: “He must be really overwhelmed; I bet he didn’t sleep a wink!”

Her husband Joseph agreed: “When you’re elected Pope you come here as a cardinal for the conclave but then things never go back to the way they were,” he said.

But he felt like the new Pope seemed to be “a man of confidence, prayer and humility”.

“I just pray that he shows the world what being a man of God can do.”

The newly-weds posed for a picture with the day’s newspapers, then wandered off into St Peter’s Square, resplendent in the spring sunshine.

When 68 million Filipinos head to the polls on Monday, Sara Duterte’s name will not be on the ballot.

But the results of the election, which includes 12 senate races, will have a huge impact on her political future.

They will affect both her role as the Philippines’ current vice-president and any hopes she might have of running for the country’s presidency one day, as she faces the prospect of a ban from politics – decided by lawmakers in the Senate.

The 46-year-old is the eldest daughter of the Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte. She trained as a lawyer before entering politics in 2007, when she was elected as her father’s vice-mayor in their family’s hometown Davao.

Rodrigo Duterte has described her as the “alpha” character of the family, who always gets her way.

The younger Duterte was previously filmed punching a court official in the face after he refused her request, leading one local news outlet to bestow the nickname of “the slugger” upon her.

She and her father are known to share similar traits, as well as a shared passion for riding big motorbikes.

As one cable from the US embassy in Manila in 2009, leaked by Wikileaks, described her: “A tough-minded individual who, like her father, is difficult to engage.”

In 2010, she succeeded her father to become the first female mayor of Davao. But it was only in 2021 that she decided to make her way to national politics.

The next year she ran on a joint ticket with the scion of another political dynasty – Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He was going for the top job, with Duterte as his deputy.

The assumption was that she would then be in a prime position to contest the next presidential election in 2028, as presidents are limited only to one six-year term in the Philippines.

The strategy proved effective and the duo won by a landslide.

But then it quickly started to unravel.

Cracks started to emerge in their alliance even before the euphoria of their election win faded. Duterte publicly expressed her preference to be defence secretary but she was instead handed the education portfolio.

The House of Representatives soon after scrutinised Duterte’s request for confidential funds – millions of pesos that she could spend without stringent documentation.

Then, Rodrigo Duterte spoke at a late night rally, accusing President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos of being a junkie and a weak leader.

Soon after, First Lady Liza Marcos snubbed Sara Duterte at an event, in full view of news cameras. She admitted that it was intentional, saying Duterte should not have stayed silent in the background while her father accused the president of drug use.

After Duterte resigned from the cabinet in July last year, her language became increasingly inflammatory.

She said she had “talked to someone” to “go kill” Marcos, his wife and his cousin, who is also the speaker of the House. She also told reporters her relationship with Marcos had become toxic and she dreamed of cutting off his head.

Such remarks are shocking for someone who is not acquainted with Philippine politics. But Duterte’s strong personality has only endeared her to the public and she remains popular in the south, as well as among the millions of overseas Filipino workers.

But in February this year, lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted to impeach Duterte, accusing her of misusing public funds and threatening to have President Marcos assassinated.

She will be tried by the Senate and, if found guilty, removed from office and banned from running in future elections.

Duterte has denied the charges and alleges she is the victim of a political vendetta.

But whether or not she will be impeached hinges a lot on the upcoming election – and the composition of the Senate thereafter.

For her to be impeached, two-thirds of the Senate would need to vote for this. The make-up of the upcoming Senate will be determined in Monday’s election, with both Marcos and Duterte backing competing candidates.

For Durterte, the election will also be a barometer of support for her family, and whether she can capitalise on this for her presidential run in 2028.

But for now, her fate hangs in the balance.

Families of Israeli hostages taken to Gaza in the 7 October attacks have expressed their increasing concern about the fates of loved ones, as doubts grow about how many are still alive.

One family said the hostages were at risk “every day” they continued to be held captive by Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week there was “uncertainty” over the condition of three of the 24 hostages previously believed to be alive.

He was reacting to US President Donald Trump’s statement on Tuesday that only 21 of those taken in the Hamas-led attacks were still alive.

The BBC spoke to two families – including the brother of a hostage released by Hamas this year – after Israel’s security cabinet approved an expanded offensive in Gaza.

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

One family told the BBC they hoped the troops would only be used to help with the aim of freeing the hostages, not for any other reasons.

Liran Berman’s twin brothers Gali and Ziv have been held by Hamas for 19 months after they were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on 7 October 2023.

About 1,200 people were killed by Hamas-led gunmen that day, while Gali and Ziv were among 251 others who were taken hostage.

More than 52,780 people have been killed in Gaza during the ensuing war, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel cut off all deliveries of aid and other supplies on 2 March and resumed its offensive two weeks later after it broke a two-month ceasefire that saw 33 Israeli and five Thai hostages released in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Following news of Israel’s plan to expand its military operation in Gaza using thousands more troops unless Hamas agreed a new ceasefire and released the remaining hostages, Liran Berman told BBC News: “I hope that Israel is sending the forces to put pressure on Hamas to sit down.

“When Hamas was feeling threatened, they did the deals. I hope they are not sending the troops to conquer or for revenge.”

Mr Berman said his 27-year-old brothers were “at risk every single day”.

“We know they are alive. The released hostages saw them.”

He said he believed Gali and Ziv had been injured when they were seized but that he worried their mental condition was “not good” after so long in captivity.

With the release of emaciated and frail hostages in February, Mr Berman said he was worried about his brothers’ conditions.

“We need to pressure Hamas and its enablers.”

For 491 days, Or Levy was held by Hamas not knowing whether his wife Einav had survived the 7 October attack on the Nova music festival where he was taken.

She didn’t and for more than a year his three-year-old son Almog was without both his parents. In February, Or, weak and painfully thin, was released by Hamas.

His brother, Michael Levy, told BBC News he was worried about the impact on the hostages if Israel sent more troops into Gaza.

“I’m concerned it will affect the hostages, that the terrorists can decide to do something to them,” he said. “I do believe the army knows what it’s doing and they will make sure the hostages aren’t affected, but it’s always a concern.”

But he said he wanted more pressure applied to get them released.

“There is a crime against humanity and everyone including President Trump needs to do more in order to bring them back.”

He said his brother did not receive enough food while he was held hostage in Hamas’s underground tunnels in Gaza and “didn’t see sunlight”. He said he showered “every two months or so”.

“My brother worries about the fact the rest of the hostages will end up dying in captivity because that was his worst fear about himself and it’s now his worst fear about those he left behind.”

Of the 251 people taken hostage on 7 October – and the four other captives held by Hamas for around a decade before the attacks – 59 now remain in Gaza.

The Israeli government has publicly confirmed the deaths of 35, leaving 24 hostages. There is now uncertainty about the fate of three of them.

All 59 were kidnapped in the 7 October attack apart from one – the soldier Hadar Goldin who was killed in combat in Gaza during a previous war in 2014.

The living hostages are men in their 20s or 30s, apart from Omri Miran who turned 48 in April.

Of the 35 whose bodies Israel has confirmed are being held in Gaza, nearly all are men who were between 19 and 86 years old when they died. Three are women.

Since the spate of releases earlier this year, former hostages have been speaking to the media and others about their time in captivity.

Tal Shoham, 49, released in February after 505 days, told a UN event last month: “There were many times that we received just one pita bread for an entire day… Traumatised by hunger, we collected crumb after crumb.”

Eliya Cohen, 28, who was also held for 505 days, told Israel’s Channel 12 that once a week Hamas gunmen would make him and other hostages take off all their clothes and would tell them: “You you’re not quite there, you’re not thin enough… I’m thinking about cutting the food even more.”

Ilana Gritzewsky was released during another ceasefire in November 2023. Her partner Matan Zangauker is still a hostage.

The 31-year-old told the New York Times in March that as she was kidnapped from her home she was molested by one of the kidnappers.

The article says she believes she was also sexually assaulted in Gaza. “When she came to, she said, she found herself on the floor in a dilapidated building, clearly in Gaza, her shirt up baring her breasts and pants pulled down, with seven gunmen standing over her.”

Ron Krivoi, a sound engineer, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival.

Last month, The Times of Israel quoted a Channel 12 interview in which he described the tunnels.

“We were inside a very, very small cage… and we had to lie down and rest in it – you couldn’t stand. No height, no toilets, no food. We were five people.”

The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest pops its cork on Sunday, with a “turquoise carpet” parade featuring competitors from all 37 nations.

But the competition really begins on Tuesday, when the first semi-final will see five countries unceremoniously kicked out.

Another six will lose their place at the second semi-final on Thursday, before the Grand Final takes place in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday, 17 May.

This year’s entrants include two returning contestants, one professional opera singer, a thinly veiled allusion to sexual emissions and a dance anthem about a dead space dog.

It’s a lot to take in.

To help you prepare, here’s a guide to all 37 songs in the contest, which I’ve sorted into rough musical categories, mainly for my own sanity (it didn’t work).

Win or lose, UK contestants Remember Monday have given headline writers a gift with the title of their entry: What The Hell Just Happened?

A souped-up, full throttle pop anthem, it cherry-picks the best bits of Queen, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Beatles, presumably to remind voters of Britain’s rich musical heritage.

With eight tempo changes, it could prove tricky for voters to grasp, but the band’s stellar harmonies and sparkling personalities should carry them through.

Crucially, the song avoids the Eurovision cliches of jackhammer dance anthems and windswept balladry – something Remember Monday have in common with this year’s favourites.

Sweating it out at the top are Swedish representatives KAJ, whose song Bara Bada Bastu is an ode to the restorative powers of the sauna, complete with dancers in skimpy towels.

Unreasonably catchy, it’s won the approval of Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus, whose been singing the track in his own private sauna. As you do.

Stiff competition comes from Austrian singer JJ, and his operatic ballad Wasted Love.

A timeworn story of unrequited love, it leans on his training as a counter-tenor, before exploding into an unexpected techno breakdown.

A favourite with the bookies, the song’s only Achilles heel is its similarity to last year’s winner, Nemo.

Distinctive in a different way is Ireland’s entry, Laika Party – a 90s rave track about a dog who was sent to space by Russia and left to die there.

Singer Emmy aims for a hopeful spin on a tragic story but, despite a peppy performance, it’s a bit of a downer.

More palatable is Luxembourg’s Laura Thorn, whose La Poupée Monte Le Son is a callback to France Gall’s 1965 winning entry, Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son.

Where the original was about a “fashion doll” operated by songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, Thorn’s response is all about taking control.

“,” she scolds. Yeouch.

Rome must be blushing. This year features not one, but two, songs about the vibrant culture of Il Bel Paese.

The first comes, not surprisingly, from San Marino – the independent microstate that nestles inside north-central Italy.

Titled Tutta L’Italia, it celebrates everything from the county’s football team and its vineyards, to the Mona Lisa (under her Italian name Gioconda).

Written by Gabry Ponte – one of the brains behind Eiffel 65’s Blue (Da Ba Dee) – it’s a slight, but fun, mixture of dance beats, traditional accordion playing and the folk dances of Calabria.

The staging could be its downfall, though, with Gabry marooned behind his DJ decks while the singers, who for some reason wish to remain anonymous, obscure their faces with masks.

More memorable, but definitely more unhinged, is Estonia’s Espresso Macchiato.

Performed by Tommy Cash (the only Eurovision contestant to have appeared on a Charli XCX record) it’s an affectionate-ish caricature of Italian stereotypes, featuring the indelible lyric: “”.

I’m trying to give up sexual innuendo, but Eurovision is making it har… difficult.

A trio of artists are trying to sneak smut past the censors, led by Malta’s Miriana Conte, with a throbbing club track called Serving.

In its original form, the song’s chorus revolved around the phrase “serving kant” – the word kant being Maltese for “singing” and a homophone for an English term that definitely mean singing.

It’s a reference to a well-known phrase in the drag / ballroom world; but several countries complained it broke broadcasting guidelines, prompting a hasty re-write.

If the stunt was meant to generate headlines it worked, but now that Miriana has our attention, she’s not letting go.

Her performance, featuring a giant disco ball pursed between two red lips, is gloriously OTT, and she has an enviable set of pipes. Too bad the song is riddled with Europop cliche.

Another contestant doubling his entendres is Australia’s Go-Jo, who wants us to “take a sip” of milkshake from his “special cup”. Interpret that how you want but I’d be wary of hitching a lift in his ice cream van, if I were you.

With a smattering of Electric Six’s saucy disco funk, Milkshake Man is tasty enough to get Australia back in the finals after only achieving a semi last year.

Finally, we have Finland’s Erika Vikman, whose song Ich Komme is billed as a “joyous message of pleasure, ecstasy and a state of trance”.

Structured to mimic the pneumatic realities of lovemaking, it recalls iconic gay anthems such as Kylie’s Your Disco Needs You and Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff – and ends with Erika shooting into the sky astride a massive gold microphone that’s definitely not a stand-in for a phallus.

Little in life is more devastating than the phrase “I’m afraid it’s cancer”.

The disease will affect one in two of us and, although survival rates have dramatically improved, the impact can be devastating.

This year, three separate Eurovision contestants have been touched by cancer, inspiring songs of unmatched heartbreak and reflection.

French singer Louane captures it best. Her song Maman, is an intimate conversation with her mother, who died when she was just 17 years old.

Over three verses, Louane describes the “emptiness” she was felt; and how she filled the void with bad behaviour and meaningless love affairs. But, as the song progresses, she tells her mum she’s settled down and found purpose… by becoming a mother herself.

She sings it beautifully, with a mixture of regret and strength. And when her daughter’s voice appears in the final moments of the song, it would take a steely heart not to shed a tear.

Over in Norway, 19-year-old Kyle Alessandro shared a similar story, when his mother was diagnosed with cancer in autumn 2023. Thankfully, she’s now in remission, but something she said during her treatment inspired his Eurovision entry: “Never lose your light.”

Kyle took that phrase and turned it into a thumping pop song about surviving adversity. “Nothing can burn me now,” he sings. “I’m my own Lighter.”

Klemen Slakonja, meanwhile, is a comedian best known in Slovenia for his impressions of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – but his ballad, How Much Time Do We Have Left was written after his wife, actress Mojca Fatur, was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.

As he sings, Klemen’s dancers raise him into the air and hold him upside down, to represent the disorientation the family felt.

“When she read her diagnosis, our world turned upside down and I felt that rush of blood in my head, the same one I feel whenever I am upside down in the performance,” he told Eurovision World.

Defying the odds, Mojca survived, and joins him on stage at Eurovision. It’s a deeply intimate and moving moment.

Listening to this year’s line-up, it’s like the contestants all heard Cascada’s Evacuate the Dancefloor and went, “Nah, we’re good, thanks”.

There are club bangers everywhere, with Belgium’s Red Sebastian (named after the crab in The Little Mermaid, bless him) submitting an entire song about the loved-up liberation of an all-night rave.

“.”

A favourite with fans, the 90s rave elements of Strobe Lights feel a little dated to me, but his meticulously-choreographed performance is a treat.

Denmark’s Sissal takes a similar sound, with a throwback Euro-bop called Hallucination that effortlessly evokes two-time Eurovision winner Loreen.

Sissal said her biggest goal was for the audience to feel they couldn’t sit down during the song. Mission accomplished.

Germany, meanwhile, have been hoping to reverse their 15-year losing streak with Baller, a super-catchy trance anthem that wouldn’t sound out of place at Berlin superclub Berghain.

Performed by Austrian siblings Abor & Tynna, it’s languishing in the middle of the field, after Tynna developed laryngitis, robbing the duo of the chance to impress fans at Eurovision’s various pre-parties. But now that she’s recovered, the song could rise up the rankings.

That’s less likely for Væb, aka the Icelandic Jedward. Their energetic dance-rap song, Roá, is all about rowing from Iceland to the Faroe Islands, “because no matter what happens in life you just keep on rowing through the waves”.

Sadly, it’s not as deep as it sounds.

Spanish star Melody fares better with Esa Diva, a pumping house track with a sprinkling of flamenco guitar, that documents her journey to fame.

And Azerbaijan’s Mamagama go all Maroon 5 on Run With U, a smooth pop song elevated by a twinkling riff on the saz – a long-necked plucked instrument similar to the lute.

OK, so I’ve stolen that description from Shkodra Elektronike.

They’re an Albanian duo living in Italy, who fuse the ethnic music of their hometown, Shkodër, to a progressive electronic sound.

Their song Zjerm (Fire) imagines a time when cross-cultural understanding would lead to peace and harmony – a world without a need for soldiers and ambulances, and where “oil would smell like lilac” (no, me neither).

Greece’s entry, Asteromáta, is also rooted in history and memory, as Klavdia describes the unbreakable bond that refugees share with their homeland.

“” she sings, in a haunting ballad that blends traditional Greek and Pontic elements with soaring strings.

Taking a more upbeat approach is Dutch singer Claude. A refugee from the bloody civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he moved to the Netherlands at the age of nine and fell in love with Eurovision while waiting in the refugee centre.

His song, C’est La Vie, is a tribute to his mum, who taught him to see the positive in their situation.

Fizzing with freedom and joy, it combines elements of chanson and French-Caribbean zouk, and looks set for a top 10 placing.

The success of “goth gremlin witch” Bambie Thug at last year’s Eurovision has conjured a veritable coven of imitators in 2025.

Polish singer Justyna Steczkowska, representing her country for the second time, even includes a Slavic magic spell in her song, Gaja – summoning the spirit of the mother Earth to “cleanse” her of a toxic relationship.

It’s a suitably intense performance, with Justyna singing long sustained notes and playing a furious violin solo, before being hoiked into the rafters on a pair ropes.

What a time to be alive.

Marko Bošnjak, meanwhile, is cooking up a Poison Cake to feed to his tormentors – chiefly the people who bombarded him with homophobic hate messages after he was selected to represent Croatia.

The criticism was so intense that he lost his voice and couldn’t leave the house for five days.

His song is suitably melodramatic, replete with guttural synths and creepy playground chants. It’s a little overbaked, but should still sail through to the finals.

Taking a more ethereal approach are Latvian group Tautumeitas, whose song Bur Man Laimi translates as “a chant for happiness”.

Reminiscent of Bjork and Enya, its overlapping folk harmonies are based on traditional Latvian wedding songs, making it one of this year’s most captivating entries. I fear it may be too subtle to score well, though.

Further mystery is provided by, Theo Evan, Cyprus’s answer to Nick Jonas. The lyrics to his song, Shh, are a riddle, written by former tennis player Elke Tiel, whose “hidden truth will only be revealed on the Eurovision stage in May”.

He opens his performance perched between two pieces of scaffolding in a recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Vitruvian Man sketch – so there’s a clue.

Shh is one of a number of gothic pop songs, sung by brooding young men with interesting hair.

Among the best is Kiss Kiss Goodbye, by Czechia’s Adonxs, who divebombs from an angelic falsetto to an unsettling baritone as he confronts his absent father.

Lithuanian band Katarsis are an interesting experiment, with a deliberately downbeat rock song that declares “the foundations of everything have begun to rot”.

Titled Tavo Akys (your eyes), it builds to a compelling climax, but it’s hard to see it being a vote-winner, unless Eurovision suddenly attracts an audience of depressed emo teens.

Rounding out the field are Armenian singer Parg, with the Imagine Dragons-inspired Survivor and Serbia’s Princ, whose overwrought ballad is called Mila.

Both performers give it their all, but the songs don’t feel strong enough to survive the semi-finals.

Four years after Måneskin’s victory, Eurovision’s rock revival continues apace.

Italy are back at it again, thanks to Lucio Corsi – think David Bowie as Pierrot – and his glam rock ballad Volevo Essere Un Duro (I wanted to be tough).

A delicate anthem for people who feel they don’t fit in, it recalls how Lucio was bullied as a kid, and how he’s grown to embrace his fragility. At one point, he sings: “Instead of a star, [I’m] just a sneeze.”

It’s a timeless bit of songwriting that pulls off that crucial Eurovision trick of sounding new and familiar all at once.

Portuguese indie band Napa also have a 70s vibe, channelling Paul McCartney’s Wings on the soft rock tear-jerker Deslocado (out of place).

It’s another song about migration, written after the band were forced to relocate from Madeira to the Portuguese mainland due to the economic crisis.

“Even though we’ve been here for a few years we always have that desire to go back, and that anguish of saying goodbye to family,” said singer Guilherme Gomes.

Last but not least are Ukraine’s Ziferblat, who continue the country’s astonishing run of high-quality entries in the midst of a war with Russia.

Their song, Bird Of Pray, is an unexpected mix of 70s new wave band Cars, birdsong and the guitar riff from Rachel Stevens’ Sweet Dreams My LA Ex – while the lyrics are full of hope for a peaceful reunion with their loved ones.

It’s better than that makes it sound.

Where would Eurovision be without a raven-haired woman bellowing into a wind machine set to “hurricane”?

Israel has strong form in this category, and sets the bar again with New Day Will Rise, a melancholy piano ballad sung in a mixture of English, French and Hebrew.

The song’s performed by Yuval Raphael, a 24-year-old who narrowly escaped with her life at the 2023 Nova music festival, where an attack by Hamas claimed the lives of 378 people and triggered Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza.

It’s hard not to interpret her lyrics as a response to those events – “everyone cries, don’t cry alone”. As a result, her participation hasn’t received the same level of criticism as Eden Golan, who represented Israel last year.

That can’t be said for Georgia’s contestant, Mariam Shengelia, who has been booed during pre-Eurovision appearances for her alleged support of the country’s authoritarian, pro-Russian, anti-LGBT ruling party, Georgian Dream.

Shengelia has denied the accusations, pointing out that her song – a stirring, quasi-militaristic ballad called Freedom – is about “freedom of choice, freedom to love, freedom to live as you want to live”.

“No amount of manufactured hate will change that,” she told the Eurovision fan site Wiwibloggs.

Montenegro’s Nina Žižić tackles domestic abuse in Dobrodošli, a brooding and refined orchestral ballad.

The singer, who previously entered Eurovision in 2015 with the cyborg pop oddity Igranka, delivers her lyrics with passion and sincerity, but somehow the song never quite takes off.

Last but not least, we have defending champions Switzerland, represented by 24-year-old Zoë Më, who describes herself as a “little fairy”.

Appropriately enough, her self-penned song, Voyage is delicate as a fairy’s wings, fluttering with a soft-spoken plea to treat each other with kindness.

Automatically qualifying for the final, it’s a welcome oasis of calm amidst the steamy sauna sessions, moody goth haircuts and thrusting innuendo.

But that’s Eurovision for you. All human life is here. See you in Basel!

Rohit Sharma’s abrupt retirement from Test cricket has jolted Indian fans, leaving the team without its captain and most seasoned opener just weeks before a pivotal five-Test series starts in England.

India haven’t won a Test rubber in England since 2007. To lose their captain and most experienced opening batter will compel a rethink of selection strategy for the tour.

A charismatic leader and dashing batter, Sharma is widely regarded as a modern day great.

His stats in Test cricket – 4,301 runs in 67 matches at an average of 40.57 are not imposing.

But the aplomb and authority, tactical acumen and lead-from-the-front derring-do which he has displayed has won him admiration and respect all over the cricket world.

Sharma’s decision to retire from Test cricket, announced via a subdued Instagram post, has sparked widespread speculation. While various factors may have influenced his choice, his prolonged slump in Test form appears to be the primary catalyst.

In his last six Tests – three against New Zealand at home, three against Australia Down Under – Sharma’s form was woeful. In 10 innings in these matches, he could muster a paltry 122 runs.

To compound the problem, India lost all these Tests. Being whitewashed by New Zealand 3-0 at home – unprecedented in Indian cricket – put Sharma under harsh scrutiny in the ensuing Border-Gavaskar series in which too he found no relief. He took the laudable, but extreme step of dropping himself from the playing XI for the last Test at Sydney.

Since then, India won the ODI Champions Trophy in which Sharma’s form was impressive.

The first few weeks of the ongoing IPL were disappointing but Sharma rediscovered his touch, playing important knocks to put his team Mumbai Indians strongly in the running for a place in the knockouts. But success in white-ball cricket is not necessarily an index to similar form being replicated in red-ball cricket.

Sharma is 38. His recent Test form has been ungratifying. The next World Test Championship cycle would take two years to complete. Did he have the physical wherewithal, the mental bandwidth, motivation and mojo to continue playing Test cricket? Questions he likely asked himself before calling it quits.

Sharma was the first among a clutch of talented batters emerging from the Under-19 pipeline in the first decade of this century.

The others were Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. These four were to take over the mantle of India’s batting responsibility from Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag.

Ironically, while Sharma got the India cap first, in an ODI against Ireland in 2007, he was the last among this quartet to play Test cricket.

He was part of MS Dhoni’s team which won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, but a Test place, which came relatively easily to Kohli, Pujara, Dhawan and Rahane, eluded him until Tendulkar’s farewell series in 2013.

On debut at the Eden Gardens, Sharma made 177. In Tendulkar’s swan song next match at the Wankhede, he made 111. These centuries were obscured by the overflowing of sentiment for Tendulkar, but Sharma’s sublime skills, which often raised batsmanship to an art form, was not lost on experts.

Ravi Shastri, who was to have a huge influence on his Test career later by making him opener, likened him to a “Swiss Watch” for the precision timing in his strokeplay. Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captain who spotted him for India, highlights his ability to play late which helps in judging length of the ball quicker and better and also enables improvisation.

The style and finesse which made the likes of VVS Laxman and Mark Waugh so wonderful to watch were manifest in Sharma’s batting from his earliest days as Test player.

Weaned on the “Bombay School” of batting which boasts exemplars of orthodox technique like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, Sharma’s batting carries that strain.

But growing up in a post-modern milieu when risk-taking has become fundamental to batting in every format, Sharma shifted into higher gears far quicker, often from the start in Tests too once he was secure of his place.

He did not exhibit the bravado of a Sehwag, but when in full flow, he has often shown up the destructive ability of Viv Richards, especially when playing horizontal bat shots like hook, pull and cut.

It was not until 2019, when the then chief coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli coaxed and cajoled him to open the innings that Sharma’s career in red-ball cricket bloomed.

By this time, he had smashed three ODI double centuries – apart from a spate of match-winning scores in T20 – establishing him as a Goliath in white-ball cricket.

When he became India captain in 2021, Sharma set his sights on bagging a hat-trick of ICC trophies, and recast the team’s playing strategy for each format accordingly.

A genial, fun-loving bearing, marked by endearing earthiness helped him bond with his players easily and strongly. But he was no lax or loose on the field. He was astute, perceptive, intuitive in reading match situations, and particularly good in handling bowlers.

Five IPL titles for Mumbai Indians bespoke his leadership credentials even before he got the job for the national team.

Under Sharma, India reached the World Test Championship final in 2023, only to lose to Australia.

In the ODI World Cup the same year, his blazing batting as opener, and his strategy of “total attack” in which the batsmen would go after runs unrelentingly, took India into to the final where their dreams were dashed by an inspired Australian side. Winning the T20 World Cup a few months later, was some recompense, but not complete redemption.

It is pertinent that Sharma, who quit T20 cricket after winning the World Cup last year, hasn’t retired from ODI cricket yet.

Not being part of an ODI World Cup winning team has been festering in him since 2011 when he was not selected in the squad under Dhoni that was to bring India glory after 28 years.

In an interview with podcaster Vimal Kumar released a few days back, he said that his desire to be part of an ODI World Cup winning team remains alive.

The next ODI World Cup is in 2027. Whether Sharma can sustain fitness and form over the two years will be followed with interest in the cricket world.

But that is hardly the concern of India’s selectors. Right now, their worry is to find an opener and a captain to step into Sharma’s big boots.

Dua Lipa, Sir Elton John, Sir Ian McKellen and Florence Welch are among a list of stars calling on the prime minister to update copyright laws in a way that protects them from artificial intelligence.

A letter signed by more than 400 British musicians, writers and artists, addressed to Sir Keir Starmer, says failing to give that protection would mean them “giving away” their work to tech firms.

Also at risk, they write, is “the UK’s position as a creative powerhouse”.

They want the PM to back an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill that would require developers to be transparent with copyright owners about using their material to train AI models.

A government spokesperson said: “We want our creative industries and AI companies to flourish, which is why we’re consulting on a package of measures that we hope will work for both sectors.

“We’re clear that no changes will be considered unless we are completely satisfied they work for creators,” they added.

Other signatories include author Kazuo Ishiguro, playwright David Hare, singers Kate Bush and Robbie Williams, as well as Coldplay, Tom Stoppard and Richard Curtis.

Sir Paul McCartney, who told the BBC in January he was concerned about AI ripping off artists, has also signed the letter.

“We are wealth creators, we reflect and promote the national stories, we are the innovators of the future, and AI needs us as much as it needs energy and computer skills,” it states.

They say their concerns can be met if the government backs an amendment proposed by Baroness Beeban Kidron ahead of a key vote in the House of Lords on Monday.

Baroness Kidron’s amendment, it says, would “allow both AI developers and creators to develop licensing regimes that will allow for human-created content well into the future.”

Not everyone agrees with the artists’ approach.

Julia Willemyns, co-founder of the Centre for British Progress think tank, said such proposals could hamper the UK and its bid for growth.

The measures would “do nothing to stop foreign firms from using content from the British creative industries,” she told the BBC.

“A restrictive copyright regime would offshore AI development, chill domestic innovation, and directly harm the UK economy,” she said.

However, the letter comes amid mounting concern from artists over the inclusion of their works, and material protected by copyright, in the data used to develop generative AI systems.

These tools, which can produce new content in response to simple text prompts, have become increasingly popular and available to consumers.

But their capabilities have been accompanied by concerns and criticism over their data use and energy demand.

• What is AI, how does it work and what are the concerns about it?

In February, artists including Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn released a silent album to protest about the government’s proposed changes to copyright law.

The government carried out a consultation around its proposal to allow developers to be able to use creators’ content on the internet to help develop their models, unless the rights holders elect to “opt out”.

According to The Guardian, ministers were reconsidering the proposal following creator backlash.

Mr Ishiguro pointed the BBC to an earlier statement in which he wrote, “why is it just and fair – why is it sensible – to alter our time-honoured copyright laws to advantage mammoth corporations at the expense of individual writers, musicians, film-makers and artists?”

The Nobel Prize-winning author added that since then the only limited advance was that it now appeared the government had accepted the opt-out proposals were not likely to be workable, He thought a new consultation to find a fairer scheme was possible, though it remained to be seen how meaningful any consultation would be.

“It’s essential that they get this right,” he wrote.

MPs recently rejected a separate amendment tabled by Baroness Kidron that aimed to make AI developers accountable to UK copyright law.

Now, she says transparency obligations for tech firms under the new proposed amendment could support the development of licensing agreements between creators and companies.

“The UK is in a unique position to take its place as a global player in the international AI supply chain, but to grasp that opportunity requires the transparency provided for in my amendments, which are essential to create a vibrant licencing market,” Baroness Kidron said.

In their statement the government said: “It’s vital we take the time to work through the range of responses to our consultation, but equally important that we put in the groundwork now as we consider the next steps.

“That is why we have committed to publishing a report and economic impact assessment – exploring the broad range of issues and options on all sides of the debate.”

South Africa has criticised the US as reports emerge suggesting Washington could receive white Afrikaners as refugees as early as next week.

A document seen by the BBC’s US partner CBS describes the potential resettlement as a “priority” for President Donald Trump’s government, however the timing has not been publicly confirmed by the White House.

In a statement published on Friday, South Africa’s foreign ministry described the purported move as “politically motivated” and designed to undermine South Africa’s “constitutional democracy”.

In February, Trump described Afrikaners as victims of “racial discrimination” in an executive order, opening up the prospect for them to resettle in the US.

The South African authorities said they would not block the departures of those chosen for resettlement, but said they had sought assurances from the US that those selected had been fully vetted and did not have pending criminal charges.

The statement added that allegations of discrimination against the country’s white minority were unfounded, and that crime statistics did not indicate that any racial group had been targeted in violent crimes on farms.

Some groups representing the rights of white farmers have said they are being deliberately killed because of their race.

A spokesperson for the US state department told the BBC they were interviewing individuals interested in resettling in the US and prioritising “Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination”.

They did not confirm when the resettlement would begin.

The Trump administration has also accused South Africa of seizing land from white farmers without compensation, something Pretoria has repeatedly denied.

Elon Musk, a top adviser in the Trump administration who grew up in South Africa during apartheid, has been critical of Pretoria, claiming that it is leading a “genocide” against white farmers.

US officials have planned a press event on Monday at Dulles airport in Virginia to welcome the group, the documents seen by CBS show.

According to US media, 54 Afrikaners will arrive as part of the first group.

The decision to accept South Africans as refugees comes as the Trump administration has halted nearly all migrant asylum claims.

In February, South Africa criticised Trump’s executive order opening the US up to the resettlement of white Afrikaners, saying in a statement that “it is ironic” the US is open to accepting a group “that remains amongst the most economically privileged” while denying vulnerable people from other parts of the world asylum.

• Almost 70,000 South Africans interested in US asylum
• Race policies or Israel – what’s really driving Trump’s fury with South Africa?
• The expelled envoy at the heart of the latest US-South Africa row

Mexico is suing Google for ignoring repeated requests not to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America on Google Maps for US users, President Claudia Sheinbaum says.

She did not say where the lawsuit had been filed. Google did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

On Thursday, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted to officially rename the Gulf for federal agencies.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office in January.

He argued the change was justified because the US “do most of the work there, and it’s ours”.

However Sheinbaum’s government contends that Trump’s order applies only to the US portion of the continental shelf.

“All we want is for the decree issued by the US government to be complied with,” she said, asserting that the US lacks the authority to rename the entire gulf.

In January, Sheinbaum wrote a letter to Google asking the firm to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico for US users. The following month, she threatened legal action.

At the time, Google said it made the change as part of “a longstanding practice” of following name changes when updated by official government sources.

It said the Gulf – which is bordered by the US, Cuba and Mexico – would not be changed for people using the app in Mexico, and users elsewhere in the world will see the label: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.

The Associated Press (AP) news agency’s refusal to start referring to the Gulf of America led to a months-long conflict with the White House, which restricted AP’s access to certain events.

A federal judge ordered the White House in April to stop sidelining the outlet.

Trump hinted Wednesday that he may recommend changing the way the US refers to another body of water.

During an upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, he plans to announce that the US will henceforth refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, AP reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has responded by saying he hopes the “absurd rumours” are “no more than a disinformation campaign” and such a move would “bring the wrath of all Iranians”.

Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected pope and will be known as Pope Leo XIV.

The 69-year-old is the first American to become a pontiff and will lead members of the Catholic Church’s global community of 1.4bn people.

Born in Chicago, he is seen as a reformer and worked for many years as a missionary in Peru before being made an archbishop there.

He also has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges in the local Church.

One of the first acts of a new pope is to choose a new name, changing their baptismal one.

The decision is part of a longstanding tradition but it has not always been like that.

For more than 500 years, popes used their own names.

This then changed to symbolic names in order to simplify their given names or to refer to previous pontiffs.

• Profile: Who is Robert Prevost, the new Pope Leo XIV?
• Watch: Oh my God, it’s Rob! – Pope’s brother speaks of joy
• Analysis: Continuity the key for Pope seen as unifier in the Church

Over the years, popes have often chosen the names of their immediate or distant predecessors out of respect or admiration and to signal the desire to follow in their footsteps and continue the most relevant pontificates.

For example, Pope Francis said his name honoured St Francis of Assisi, and that he was inspired by his Brazilian friend Cardinal Claudio Hummes.

The new Pope has not yet specified why he has decided to be known as Pope Leo XIV.

There could be many reasons for it, but the name Leo has been used by many popes over the years.

Pope Leo I, also known as St Leo the Great, was pontiff between 440 and 461 AD.

He was the 45th pope in history and became known for his commitment to peace.

According to legend, the miraculous apparition of Saints Peter and Paul during the meeting between Pope Leo I and Attila the king of the Huns in 452 AD made the latter desist from invading Italy.

The scene was then depicted by Raphael in a fresco.

The last pope to choose the name Leo was Pope Leo XIII, an Italian whose baptismal name was Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci.

Elected in 1878, he was the 256th occupant of the throne of St Peter and led the Catholic Church until his death in 1903.

He is remembered as a pope who was dedicated to social policies and social justice.

He is particularly known for issuing an encyclical – a letter sent to bishops of the Church – called “Rerum Novarum”, a Latin expression which means “Of New Things”.

The encyclical included topics such as workers’ rights and social justice.

Leo is among some of the most popular papal names.

The most commonly used name has been John, first chosen in 523 by Saint John I, Pope and martyr.

The last pope to choose this name was Italian Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, elected Pope John XXIII in 1958, who was proclaimed Saint by Pope Francis in 2014.

The fact that the conclave was over quickly suggests that from the outset, a significant number of the voting cardinals felt Robert Prevost was the one amongst them best equipped to take on the challenges a pope faces.

In the lead up to the election – during the formal meetings of cardinals, and the informal dinners and coffees they had to discuss the type of person they were looking for – it was apparent that two words kept coming up, “continuity” and “unity”.

There was a recognition among many that Pope Francis had started something hugely impactful, through reaching out to those living on the margins of society, to those on the peripheries of the Catholic world and also to those outside the faith.

• Pope Leo XIV’s first speech in full
• Pope Leo’s first public address from the Vatican balcony – watch in full
• Who is the new pope, Robert Prevost?

There was appreciation for his endeavour to become a voice for the voiceless and focus on the poor and those whose destinies were not in their own hands.

But there was also a sense that work had to be done to resolve the (sometimes very public) splits between those of different schools of thought within the Church hierarchy, often characterised as traditionalist and progressive.

It was in that context that Robert Prevost’s name started to be talked of as a serious contender. As someone who supported Pope Francis behind the scenes, but who different factions could still think of as one of their own.

But the voting cardinals had been tasked by the Church with considering not just what the institution and Catholic believers needed, but also what humanity needed at a difficult juncture, with war and division the backdrop.

Again, Cardinal Prevost – the US-Peruvian dual national, who was talked of as feeling as at home with his North American peers as he was with Latin American colleagues – was seen as someone who, as pope, could connect different worlds.

Pope Francis was sometimes criticised for lacking an ability to win more allies in the US on the big issues of migration, climate change and inequality, because of a disconnect in understanding the most effective ways of communicating his arguments to them.

For those who had in their minds that the primary requirement being sought of a new pope was an ability to bring “continuity” and “unity”, during his speech on St Peter’s balcony, Leo XIV gave strong clues as to why the cardinals chose him.

In his talk of “building bridges” and people globally being “one people” he evoked echoes of Pope Francis and also talked of unity at its fullest.

In these early days, his past will be heavily scrutinised. His political views examined, his track record on dealing with abuse dissected, and his comments over the years on social issues charted.

Much of this is already in the public domain so it can only be assumed that the cardinal electors felt there was nothing of enough consequence to impair his ability to lead the Catholic Church and be the global moral voice they were looking for.

Huge challenges lie ahead. But with resolution after just four conclave votes, he starts out with a strong mandate from the men he will need the most through his papacy.

Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, the crowds below were chanting “Viva il Papa” – Long live the Pope.

Robert Francis Prevost, 69, has become the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter and he will be known as Leo XIV.

He is the first American to fill the role of pope, although he is considered as much a cardinal from Latin America because of the many years he spent as a missionary in Peru.

Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Leo served as an altar boy and was ordained in 1982.

Although he moved to Peru three years later, he returned regularly to the US to serve as a priest and a prior in his home city.

He has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges.

He spent 10 years as a local parish pastor and as a teacher at a seminary in Trujillo in north-western Peru.

• Pope Leo XIV calls Church ‘a beacon to illuminate dark nights’ in first Mass
• Pope Leo XIV’s first speech in full
• Pope Leo’s first public address from the Vatican balcony – watch in full

In his first words as Pope, Leo spoke fondly of his predecessor Francis.

“We still hear in our ears the weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis who blessed us,” he said.

“United and hand-in-hand with God, let us advance together,” he told cheering crowds.

The Pope also spoke of his role in the Augustinian Order.

In 2014, Francis made him Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru.

He is well known to cardinals because of his high-profile role as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Latin America which has the important task of selecting and supervising bishops.

He became archbishop in January 2023 and within a few months, Francis made him a cardinal.

The new pontiff was born in Chicago in 1955, and served as an altar boy and was ordained in 1982.

Before becoming the new leader of the Catholic Church, Leo told Italian network Rai that he grew up in a family of immigrants.

“I was born in the United States… But my grandparents were all immigrants, French, Spanish… I was raised in a very Catholic family, both of my parents were very engaged in the parish,” he said.

Although Leo was born in the US, the Vatican described him as the second pope from the Americas (Francis was from Argentina).

Jari Honora, a genealogist and historian in the US state of Louisiana, said Leo has strong ties to New Orleans’ black community.

He told the BBC that the new pontiff’s maternal grandparents lived in a now-demolished home in the city’s seventh ward, and she also rented a place in the iconic Pontalba building in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

Mr Honora said Pope Leo’s grandparents are described as black or mulatto in historical records, but that the family’s identity was listed as white when they moved to Chicago – a common practice among black families looking to escape racial segregation.

The Pope’s background “indicates that [American] stories, the experiences of our ancestors are more tightly woven than we could have ever imagined,” he said.

“It shrinks that gap between Rome and New Orleans or New Orleans and Chicago.”

• Watch: Oh my God, it’s Rob! – Pope’s brother speaks of joy
• Analysis: Continuity the key for Pope seen as unifier in the Church
• Reaction: ‘I flipped out, I said no way!’ – Chicago celebrates hometown Pope
• ‘God loves Peru’: Country celebrates new Pope as one of their own

Early attention will focus on Leo XIV’s pronouncements to see whether he will continue his predecessor’s reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.

In choosing his papal name, Leo has signified a commitment to dynamic social issues, according to experts.

The first pontiff to use the name Leo, whose papacy ended in 461, met Attila the Hun and persuaded him not to attack Rome.

The last Pope Leo led the Church from 1878 to 1903 and wrote an influential treatise on workers’ rights.

Former Archbishop of Boston Seán Patrick O’Malley wrote on his blog that the new pontiff “has chosen a name widely associated with the social justice legacy of Pope Leo XIII, who was pontiff at a time of epic upheaval in the world, the time of the industrial revolution, the beginning of Marxism, and widespread immigration”.

The new Pope’s LGBT views are unclear, but some groups, including the conservative College of Cardinals, believe he may be less supportive than Francis.

Leo XIV has shown support for a declaration from Francis to permit blessings for same-sex couples and others in “irregular situations”, although he has added that bishops must interpret such directives in accordance with local contexts and cultures.

Speaking last year about climate change, Cardinal Prevost said that it was time to move “from words to action”.

He called on mankind to build a “relationship of reciprocity” with the environment.

And he has spoken about concrete measures at the Vatican, including the installation of solar panels and the adoption of electric vehicles.

Pope Leo XIV has supported Pope Francis’ decision to allow women for the first time to join the Dicastery for Bishops, an administrative body that identifies and recommends future bishops to the Holy See.

“On several occasions we have seen that their point of view is an enrichment,” he told Vatican News in 2023.

In 2024, he told the Catholic News Service that women’s presence “contributes significantly to the process of discernment in looking for who we hope are the best candidates to serve the Church in episcopal ministry”.

The new pontiff is believed to have shared Francis’ views on migrants, the poor and the environment.

A former roommate of his, Reverend John Lydon, described Leo to the BBC as “outgoing”, “down to earth” and “very concerned with the poor”.

In recent months, he appears to have challenged the views of US Vice-President JD Vance.

A social media account in his name shared a social media post on X that was critical of the Trump administration’s deportation of a US resident to El Salvador.

The account also shared a critical comment piece written about a TV interview by Vance.

“JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” read the post, repeating the headline from the commentary on the National Catholic Reporter website.

Shortly after, the account shared another article, published by The Jesuit Review, and commented that Catholics “cannot support a rhetoric that demonizes immigrants as dangerously criminal simply because they have crossed the border in search of a better life for themselves and their families”.

The BBC has contacted the Vatican but has not independently confirmed the account, which was created in 2011, belongs to the new pontiff.

Leo moved to Peru as a missionary in 1985 to work in various rural communities.

He was known for working with marginalised people, and immersed himself in learning Spanish.

After a stint back in the United States, he returned to Peru again in 1988 to the city of Trujillo on the north coast where he trained young men to be priests and taught canon law.

In late 2014, when he was back in the US, he was put forward by Pope Francis to return to Peru as the Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo, a diocese on Peru’s north coast and the following year he was appointed the Bishop of Chiclayo. He served in this role for nearly a decade.

In 2015, he obtained Peruvian citizenship. He reportedly often referred to Peru as “mi segunda patria”, my second homeland.

He championed various charities such as supporting soup kitchens and childcare for struggling families, and advocated for better housing on the north coast, which is prone to floods.

But not all in the country are proud of his record.

Accusations have been made about his handling of sexual abuse cases during his time as Bishop of Chiclayo. Three Peruvian women are among those who went public with claims that – as bishop – he failed to investigate and punish a priest accused of sexually abusing them, with claims dating back to 2007.

They said that when they raised their allegations with the diocese in 2022, no substantial or serious inquiry was opened.

Church officials denied this and said an investigation was opened, but was closed in 2023 by the ecclesiastical district and the Vatican after a local prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to support the civil claim.

An investigation by the prosecutor was reopened after media reports about the case and the BBC understands it is ongoing.

The BBC spoke in Chiclayo to Jesus Leon Angeles, who supports the parish where the accused priest works.

She said while the parish was “in defence of women”, it was also “in defence of the truth” and claimed the allegations were part of a “campaign” against Leo when he became a cardinal in Rome.

These allegations and the continued fallout from sexual abuse scandals within the Church are one of the challenges he will face as he now leads Catholics worldwide.

The church where Pope Leo XIV attended mass as a child and served as an altar boy is now an empty shell.

Only the stained glass windows remain intact inside the sturdy facade of St Mary’s of the Assumption on the far edge of Chicago’s South Side.

The disrepair is one indication of how the Catholic Church’s power and influence has been ebbing away in America’s big cities.

And yet, around this city there’s palpable excitement, particularly among Catholics, that the new pontiff is not only American – he’s a South Side Chicagoan.

“When they said the new Pope was an American, I flipped out, I said ‘no way’!” said Mary Simons, a French teacher and nearby resident who brought her mother to see St Mary’s.

“The Church seems like it’s getting smaller and smaller in this country,” said Ms Simons. “I’m hoping that this will rejuvenate the church and make it bigger and better.”

A small trickle of Catholics, along with a few non-Catholics, made their way to St Mary’s on Thursday afternoon as the news spread that Pope Leo XIV – until recently, Cardinal Robert Prevost – had been elected by his fellow cardinals in Rome.

While some lamented over the poor state of the neighbourhood church – “It’s shocking to see this” remarked one visitor – several were close to tears as they considered the humble roots of their new leader.

Natalie Payne attended the church and the school associated with it. She hadn’t heard the news but just happened to be driving by when she saw the small crowd outside and stopped to take in the moment.

“We loved this school. It was a very family oriented place and very accepting of difference,” she said. “I was one of the very few black people who attended this school, but I always felt part of the community. It was just a beautiful place.”

Catholics make up about 20% of the US population, according to Pew Research, a number that dropped from 24% at the start of the century. Attendance has fallen and the decline is noticeable in the big industrial cities of the Midwest, in closed schools and shuttered houses of worship like St Mary’s.

Leo XIV grew up in a modest home just a few streets away from here. The Chicago Sun-Times reported his parents – his father was a school administrator and his mother a librarian – bought their home in 1949, paying a mortgage of $42 a month.

His father was of French and Italian decent and his mother had Spanish heritage, according to a Vatican news release.

• Who is Robert Prevost, the new Pope?
• Watch Pope Leo XIV being unveiled as new pontiff
• Pope Leo’s first public address from the Vatican balcony – watch in full
• US President Donald Trump calls election of first American pope a ‘great honour’

Charleen Burnette, one of the Pope’s former classmates, told the BBC she remembers him as a “quiet, kind, gentle, wicked-smart kid”.

“He was always the top of our class, all the time,” she said, recalling how he always knew he wanted to be a priest and would stay late to sweep and dust St Mary’s as a boy.

“He vocalised it. He lived it. He exemplified it,” she said.

In recent years, the Catholic Church has not only weathered declining attendance but also child abuse scandals that continue to resonate today.

The Midwest Augustinians, a religious order in Chicago which Pope Leo once led, only published a list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in 2024, after years of public pressure.

As a cardinal, Prevost was criticised after being accused of allowing a priest facing sex abuse allegations to live in an Augustinian building near an elementary school. The priest was later moved and the religious order says it has tried to be transparent.

There is a common feeling here that the church has not fully reckoned with the past but despite that, many Catholics here expressed hope for the new Pope’s reign.

Outside Holy Name Cathedral, the centre of the Catholic Church in downtown Chicago, workers were hanging bunting to prepare for a special mass on Friday morning.

Father Gregory Sakowicz, rector of Holy Name, said he was just about to preside over mass at the cathedral when the news broke.

“When I saw the white smoke on TV, I looked out the window and the sun came out here in Chicago,” he said.

“Later, during holy communion someone told me, ‘Father, the new Pope is Father Robert Prevost from Chicago.’ I was shocked.”

Fr Sakowicz said Pope Leo XIV “will be his own man” but added that he was confident that he would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and be “a voice for human rights, a voice for the voiceless, concerned with the poor, and concerned for our mother Earth”.

And in this sport-mad city, there’s one question that might nearly match the importance of the new Pope’s theological direction – which of the city’s baseball teams does he root for?

Although there were some reports that he backs the Chicago Cubs, in interviews the new pope’s brother has said he cheers for the White Sox – the team with a passionate South Side fan base. Both teams on X, however, have claimed the new Pope’s support.

“Go White Sox – and go Cubs,” said Fr Sakowicz. “There’s just a lot of enthusiasm and joy around here.

“He might be from Chicago, but he will be a pope for the whole world, not just Chicago, not just the US, not just North America – but the entire world.”

The world’s first drone war between nuclear-armed neighbours has erupted in South Asia.

On Thursday, India accused Pakistan of launching waves of drones and missiles at three military bases in Indian territory and Indian-administered Kashmir – an allegation Islamabad swiftly denied.

Pakistan claimed it had shot down 25 Indian drones in recent hours. Delhi remained publicly silent. Experts say the tit-for-tat attacks mark a dangerous new phase in the decades-old rivalry, as both sides exchange not just artillery but unmanned weapons across a volatile border.

As Washington and other global powers urge restraint, the region is teetering on the edge of escalation, with drones – silent, remote and deniable – opening a new chapter in the India-Pakistan conflict.

“The Indo-Pak conflict is moving into a new drone era – one where ‘invisible eyes’ and unmanned precision may determine escalation or restraint. Thus, in South Asia’s contested skies, the side that masters drone warfare won’t just see the battlefield – they’ll shape it,” Jahara Matisek, a professor at the US Naval War College, told the BBC.

• Follow our live updates

Since Wednesday morning, Pakistan says Indian air strikes and cross-border fire have killed 36 people and injured 57 more in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. On the other side, India’s army reports at least 16 civilians dead from Pakistani shelling. India insists its missile barrage was retaliation for a deadly militant attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam last month – an attack Islamabad denies any role in.

Pakistan’s military announced on Thursday that it had shot down 25 Indian drones across various cities, including Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi. The drones – reportedly Israeli-made Harop drones – were reportedly intercepted using both technical and weapon-based countermeasures. India claimed to have neutralised several Pakistani air defence radars and systems, including one in Lahore, which Islamabad denied.

Laser-guided missiles and bombs, drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become pivotal in modern warfare, significantly enhancing the precision and efficiency of military operations. These can relay co-ordinates for airstrikes or, if equipped, directly laser-designate targets, and help immediate engagement.

Drones can be used as decoys or suppression of enemy air defences, flying into contested airspace to trigger enemy radar emissions, which can then be targeted by other munitions like loitering drones or anti-radiation missiles. “This is how Ukraine and Russia both do it in their war. This dual role – targeting and triggering – makes drones a force multiplier in degrading enemy air defences without risking manned aircraft,” says Prof Matisek.

Experts say India’s drone fleet is largely built around Israeli-made reconnaissance UAVs like the IAI Searcher and Heron, along with Harpy and Harop loitering munitions – drones that double as missiles, capable of autonomous reconnaissance and precision strikes. The Harop, in particular, signals a shift toward high-value, precision-targeted warfare, reflecting the growing importance of loitering munitions in modern conflict, experts say.

The Heron, say experts, is India’s “high-altitude eyes in the sky” for both peacetime monitoring and combat operations. The IAI Searcher Mk II is designed for frontline operations, offering up to 18 hours of endurance, a range of 300km (186 miles), and a service ceiling of 7,000m (23,000ft).

While many believe India’s combat drone numbers remain “modest”, a recent $4bn deal to acquire 31 MQ-9B Predator drones – which can can fly for 40 hours and up to an altitude of 40,000ft – from the US marks a major leap in its strike capabilities.

India is also developing swarm drone tactics – deploying large numbers of smaller UAVs to overwhelm and saturate air defences, allowing higher-value assets to penetrate, say experts.

Pakistan’s drone fleet is “extensive and diverse”, comprising both indigenous and imported systems, Ejaz Haider, a Lahore-based defence analyst told the BBC.

He said the inventory includes “over a thousand drones”, featuring models from China, Turkey and domestic manufacturers. Notable platforms include the Chinese CH-4, the Turkish Bayraktar Akinci, and Pakistan’s own Burraq and Shahpar drones. Additionally, Pakistan has developed loitering munitions, enhancing its strike capabilities.

Mr Haider said the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been actively integrating unmanned systems into its operations for nearly a decade. A key focus is the development of “loyal wingman” drones – unmanned aerial vehicles designed to operate in co-ordination with manned aircraft, he added.

Prof Matisek believes “Israel’s technical assistance, supplying Harop and Heron drones, has been pivotal for India, while Pakistan’s reliance on Turkish and Chinese platforms highlights an ongoing arms race”.

While the recent drone exchanges between India and Pakistan mark a significant escalation in their rivalry, they differ markedly from the drone-centric warfare observed in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, experts say. There, drones become central to military operations, with both sides deploying thousands of UAVs for surveillance, targeting and direct attacks.

“Deploying drones [in the ongoing conflict] instead of fighter jets or heavy missiles represents a lower-level military option. Drones are less heavily armed than manned aircraft, so in one sense, this is a restrained move. However, if this is merely a prelude to a broader aerial campaign, the calculus changes entirely,” Manoj Joshi, an Indian defence analyst, told the BBC.

Ejaz Haider believes the recent drone activity in Jammu “appears to be a tactical response to immediate provocations, not a full-scale retaliation [by Pakistan]”.

“A true retaliatory strike against India would involve shock and awe. It would likely be more comprehensive, involving multiple platforms – both manned and unmanned – and targeting a broader range of objectives. Such an operation would aim to deliver a decisive impact, signalling a significant escalation beyond the current tit-for-tat exchanges,” Mr Haider says.

While drones have fundamentally reshaped the battlefield in Ukraine, their role in the India-Pakistan conflict remains more limited and symbolic, say experts. Both countries are using their manned air forces to fire missiles at one another as well.

“The drone warfare we’re witnessing may not last long; it could be just the beginning of a larger conflict,” says Mr Joshi.

“This could either signal a de-escalation or an escalation – both possibilities are on the table. We’re at an inflection point; the direction we take from here is uncertain.”

Clearly India is integrating drones into its precision-strike doctrine, enabling stand-off targeting without crossing borders with manned aircraft. However, this evolution also raises critical questions.

“Drones lower the political and operational threshold for action, providing options to surveil and strike while trying to reduce escalation risks,” says Prof Matisek.

“But they also create new escalation dynamics: every drone shot down, every radar blinded, becomes a potential flashpoint in this tense environment between two nuclear powers.”

“Lights, camera… tariff?” – that’s the question a scrambling movie industry has been asking this week after an unexpected intervention from US President Donald Trump.

Writing on his Truth Social platform last Sunday, Trump announced plans to hit movies made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs, as he attempts to stop Hollywood dying “a very fast death”.

His threat comes as studios increasingly shift productions abroad to places such as the UK.

The White House has since clarified that “no final decision” has been made and that they’re “exploring all options” for revitalising the US film industry.

But Trump’s suggestion alone has sent shockwaves through the industry – from Hollywood to Hertfordshire – so what might all of this mean in practice?

In 2014, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was shot by Disney at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, and Hollywood has kept growing closer to the UK since.

Last year alone, the British Film Institute says 65% of UK production spend came from the five major US film studios and three US streaming giants – Netflix, Apple and Amazon. This amounted to £1.37bn ($1.71bn), a near 50% jump on 2023.

In Hollywood, by contrast, film and television production in Los Angeles has dropped by nearly 40% over the past decade.

The reason? Well largely, it’s cheaper to make films in the UK. That’s thanks to generous tax incentives such as the Film Tax Relief, which offers a 25% tax rebate – as well as lower labour costs and centralised national funding for film.

As British actor Brian Cox told Times Radio on Tuesday: “The reality is films go where they can afford.”

For Universal’s blockbuster Jurassic World: Dominion, these incentives delivered a reported £89.1m ($111.38m) in savings.

In the US, tax incentives operate on a state level – and Hollywood has relatively poor tax breaks – not only compared with the UK, which can offer 10% more, but other states such as New York and Georgia, too.

Fixing that is no easy task. Trump has appointed Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jon Voight, 86, as a special ambassador to Hollywood, and met with him a day before dropping his light-on-detail proposal.

But it’s not exactly clear how tariffs would solve the internal tax problem in the US. A possible solution, raised by Voight, is a federal tax incentive to mirror the UK.

The Wrap’s film reporter Jeremy Fuster tells the BBC it is “unlikely”, in the current highly-charged climate, that Republicans would “support a federal tax incentive that can easily be portrayed as a handout to ‘woke Hollywood'”.

And what would the impact be on moviegoers if the levy goes ahead?

Fuster says costs, like any other tariffed good, would be passed onto audiences through ticket prices, premium on-demand increases or subscription rates.

How exactly this would take form is “something nobody knows”.

It’s not all about the money, because while a boost to US production could benefit parts of the industry, some projects will still need to shoot abroad. “Amazon isn’t going to make the next James Bond entirely in America,” Fuster notes.

Culture minister Sir Chris Bryant has said the UK government is in “active discussions with the top of the US administration” on the “very fluid” situation.

With all this in mind, do you know which films have been made in the UK in recent years? BBC News has looked at some below – and they might be closer to home than you think.

Warner Bros Leavesden studio in Hertfordshire, best known for producing the Harry Potter films, has been used as the set for numerous Hollywood blockbusters including Barbie, Mickey 17, Venom: The Last Dance and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

The nearby Sky Studios Elstree in Borehamwood was turned into the magical world of Oz in 2023 as it welcomed its first production, Wicked.

Beyond Hertfordshire, cities such as Glasgow have long been used as a filming hub for Hollywood movies.

The opening scene of Brad Pitt’s zombie thriller, World War Z, may look like Philadelphia, but the film was actually shot in George Square in the Scottish city.

In November, the city was transformed into a dystopian New York as Glen Powell was spotted filming for forthcoming thriller The Running Man.

It’s not just dystopian films that are shot in Glasgow – in 2021, star-spangled banners, bunting and vintage shop fronts decorated the streets of Glasgow city centre for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

The city was used for a parade scene which appears to capture 1960s New York as Apollo astronauts return home.

The latest Indiana Jones movie was also shot in Northern England with Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland being used in the opening scenes.

The castle doubled up for 1944 war-torn Nazi Germany.

Other scenes were shot along the North York Moors railway line in Grosmont, and the Leaderfoot Viaduct, over the River Tweed, near Melrose, in the Scottish Borders.

In 2022, The Batman used Glasgow Cathedral, the Necropolis and the Bridge of Sighs to create Gotham City, which is based on New York.

Speaking to the BBC in 2022 about the choice in filming location, director Matt Reeves said it was important to film in a location where there was “beautiful Gothic architecture”.

“I wanted this to feel like a Gothic American city, but one that you’d never been to,” he said. “So we went to Glasgow and honestly it was so beautiful.”

The film’s lead actor, Robert Pattinson, said: “It looks great as Gotham, who would’ve thought of all the cities in the world, Glasgow as Gotham?”

• The Batman: How Liverpool, Glasgow and London helped create Gotham City

Central Saint Martins art school in London was also used as a building in Gotham City, as was some parts of Liverpool.

Keen-eyed fans will spot that Gotham City Police Department is actually the Liver Building’s clock tower, although the giant Liver Bird was airbrushed out.

Spider-Man spin-off Morbius was filmed in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and in 2010, the city became 1940s Brooklyn for Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans.

Liverpool’s early 20th Century buildings has also made it a popular stand-in for New York’s older skyscrapers. Liverpool was transformed into 1920s New York for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which sees Eddie Redmayne search the city for his escaped magical beasts.

Disney’s recent live-action Snow White movie was almost entirely filmed in the UK, with Pinewood Studios used for many indoor scenes and sets.

A quarry in the Lake District, a beach in Pembrokshire, Wales and a nature reserve in Burnham were all also used as shooting locations.

As well as Snow White, Netflix’s new thriller Havoc, starring Tom Hardy and set in an unnamed US city, was filmed in Wales.

The film’s Welsh director Gareth Evans, said it was “challenging” to recreate a US city in south Wales, but he wanted to bring more work to the area.

Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall doubled up as the exterior of a fictional city police station while Cardiff’s Bute Street was turned into a US boulevard with 30cm (12in) of fake snow for one of Havoc’s night-time scenes.

Other recent Hollywood blockbusters that have seen the majority of their filming – known as principal photography – in the UK, include:

• Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)
• Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)
• Back in Action (2025)
• A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)
• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin make it look like they’re the best of friends.

Xi took his place at the right-hand side of Putin, the position of a steadfast ally, as their troops marched together on Red Square as part of Moscow’s Victory Day parade.

Hours earlier, Xi described the bond between the two countries as “unbreakable” and added that Russia and China should be “friends of steel”.

This is Xi’s 11th visit to Russia since becoming president in 2013 and the two leaders have met on more than 40 occasions.

Putin has already announced plans to visit China in the autumn and the two leaders have even, in the past, shared a rare public hug.

But there is more to this relationship than meets the eye.

“We see a lot of exchanges between the two men and patriotic displays of togetherness,” said Mathieu Boulegue, from the Center for European Policy Analysis.

“They can be friends on one end or co-operating on one end and then ripping each other apart on others, and actually be competitors in certain aspects of their relationship.

“We get wowed by the symbolism. There’s a lot of performance around this relationship. But it’s interesting to look at the real substance.”

• Putin and Xi no longer have a partnership of equals
• China is the true power in Putin and Kim Jong Un’s budding friendship

In truth, President Xi is walking a very fine line. Russia is an important partner for China but Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has made him an international pariah in much of the world.

Beijing needs to be careful that its friendship with Moscow doesn’t isolate other prospective partners, especially as it is fighting an economic war with the United States.

China has been courting Europe for several months and stepped up its campaign after Donald Trump became US president.

Beijing has been keen to portray itself as a stable alternative global partner in contrast to an unpredictable White House in Washington.

• A defiant China looks beyond Trump’s America
• Xi’s real test is not Trump’s trade war
• Five cards China holds in a trade war with the US

There were some signs earlier this week that these diplomatic overtures were working.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and António Costa, the president of the European Council, exchanged messages on Tuesday with President Xi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang to celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations.

The stumbling block of any prospective partnership has been Beijing’s close-knit relationship with Moscow and its economic support for Russia. China has not condemned its “old friend” for the invasion and instead calls for an end to the “crisis”.

If President Xi appears to stand too close to Putin, it could cause friction with Europe at a time when it is looking for friendship.

But the Chinese leader has another key message to send.

Trump’s initial attempts to end the war in Ukraine had him touting his close personal relationship with Putin. It prompted analysts to ask if Washington was trying to drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing.

Xi will want to make it clear to Trump this is not possible.

“Together, we must foil all schemes to disrupt or undermine our bonds of amity and trust,” Xi wrote in a signed article for Russian media.

The Russian and Chinese leaders also described Trump’s plans for a “Golden Dome” missile defence shield over the US as “deeply destabilising”, and argued that it would weaponise space.

Both leaders are keen to present their vision of an alternative world order in the face of what they believe is US hegemony.

But Xi will be aware that while China is a superpower – Russia’s power is now limited. This is no longer a partnership of equals.

The war in Ukraine has weakened Russia’s economy and depleted its arsenal and army.

Western sanctions have also left Moscow far more reliant on Beijing for economic survival. They have severely weakened the Kremlin on the world stage.

“Russia needs China much more than the opposite is true,” Boulegue said.

Moscow will need to “suck it up”, he added.

Putin may lean into his friend as they watch the tanks roll through Red Square and they can team up when they need each other.

But behind the bold statements, the smiles, handshakes and the occasional hug, there are potential sources of discord and disharmony which could surface in the years to come.

It’s going to be a very sexy summer, a touch of romantic, cowboy and rock and roll.

That’s according to Mehdi Sousanne, at least. And he should know. He’s a designer for Zara who helps create the clothes for a brand that’s one of the most successful stories in High Street fashion.

Zara is owned by Inditex, the world’s biggest fashion retailer, which runs a string of store chains including Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear.

It relies on 1,800 suppliers across the world, but nearly all the clothes are brought to Spain where the company is based, to be despatched to stores in 97 countries.

Zara doesn’t advertise and rarely gives interviews. But as it marks 50 years since the opening of its first store, I’ve come to its vast campus in Galicia to meet the boss and workers for a rare glimpse into how the secretive brand operates.

It’s a time when the company finds itself having to navigate fast-changing markets, with growing competition from ultra-cheap online players Shein and Temu, who ship their goods direct from China, as well as uncertainty surrounding US tariffs.

But Oscar Garcia Maceiras, Inditex’s CEO, says US President Donald Trump’s tariffs won’t disrupt its supply chains or change Zara’s plans to expand further in the US, now its second biggest market.

“Bear in mind that for us, diversification is key. We are producing in almost 50 different markets with non-exclusive suppliers so we are more than used to adapt ourselves to change,” he tells me.

The business has certainly adapted and grown since its first store opened a short drive away in the town of A Coruna.

It now has 350 designers, with the staff coming from some 40 different countries.

“There are no rules in general. It’s all about feelings,” says Mehdi, who works on delivering the key pieces for the season.

He says inspiration can come from anyone ranging from the “street” to the cinema  as well as the catwalks. He likes to sketch his ideas once an all-important mood board has been created.

• Listen as the BBC goes behind the scenes at Zara’s headquarters

In the pattern cutting room, the designs are turned into paper samples, and are pinned on to mannequins. Dozens of seamstresses then run up the first fabric samples on the spot for a first fitting.

Pattern maker Mar Marcote has been with the business 42 years and still uses a magnifying glass to examine each item of clothing before it finally goes into production.

“When you finish the item and see that it looks good, and then sometimes sells out, it’s marvellous,” she says.

Zara is a business that has changed the way we shop.

In the old days, retailers released just two main collections a year, Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. For decades, most chains have outsourced manufacturing to lower-cost factories in the far east with the clothes arriving up to six months later.

Zara went against conventional wisdom by sourcing a lot of its clothes closer to home and changing products much more frequently. That meant it could respond much faster to the latest trends and drop new items into stores every week.

Just over half of its clothes are made in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey. There’s a factory doing small production runs on site at HQ, with another seven nearby, which it also owns.

As a result, it can turn around products in a matter of weeks.

More basic fashion staples are produced with longer lead times in countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Logistics and data are other factors behind its success. Every piece of clothing is packaged and despatched from its distribution centres in Spain, as well as one in the Netherlands.

“What is absolutely critical is the level of accuracy,” says CEO Mr Maceiras.

“It’s something that allows us to make the right decision in the last possible minute, in order to assess properly the appetite from our customers, in order to adapt our fashion proposition to the profile of our customers in different locations.”

In other words, getting the right products to the right shops.

At HQ, product managers then receive real-time data on how clothes are selling in stores worldwide, and – crucially – feedback from customers, which is then shared with designers and buyers, who can adjust the ranges along the season according to demand.

Unlike some other High Street rivals, it only discounts when it stages its twice-yearly sales.

But is Zara starting to lose its shine after posting slower sales growth at the start of this year?

“The key challenge for Inditex is continuing to be relevant in a fashion world that continues to get faster and cheaper,” says William Woods, European retail analyst for Bernstein.

Not only are mainstream rivals like H&M, Mango and Uniqlo trying to catch up, the market has been disrupted by Shein and Temu.

Shein racked up $38bn in global sales last year, just a whisker behind Inditex.

Asked how much of a threat Shein and Temu’s success poses to Zara, Mr Maceiras stresses that its business model doesn’t rely on price.

“Of course, we are looking at providing our customers our products at an affordable price. But for us, it’s critical to provide customers fashion that should be inspirational, with quality, creativity and sustainable.”

Zara has come a long way since its founder Amancio Ortega started the business.

The company is still majority-owned by his family and his daughter Marta is now chairwoman of the group.

Now aged 89, Mr Ortega remains famously reclusive but still pops in, according to Mr Maceiras.

“He’s a presence, a physical or moral presence, absolutely every day.”

Earlier this year, Deborah Grushkin, an enthusiastic online shopper from New Jersey, “freaked out”.

US President Donald Trump had signed an order to stop allowing packages from China worth less than $800 (£601) to enter the country free of import taxes and customs procedures.

It was a move, backed by traditional retailers, that had been discussed in Washington for years amid an explosion of packages slipping into the US under the limit.

Many countries, including the UK, are considering similar measures, spurred in part by the rapid ascent of Shein and Temu.

But in the US, Trump’s decision to end the carve-out while ordering a blitz of new trade tariffs, including import taxes of at least 145% on goods from China, has delivered a one-two punch that has left businesses and shoppers reeling.

US-based e-commerce brands, which were set up around the system, are warning the changes could spark failures of smaller firms, while shoppers like Deborah brace for price hikes and shortages.

With the 2 May deadline bearing down, the 36-year-old last month rushed in some $400 worth of items from Shein – including stickers, T-shirts, sweatshirts, Mother’s Days gifts and 20 tubes of liquid eyeliner.

“I felt like maybe it was my last sort of hurrah,” she says.

Use of rules known as “de minimis”, which allow low-value packages to avoid tariffs, customs inspections and other regulatory requirements, has surged over the last decade.

Take-up accelerated during Trump’s first term in office, when he raised tariffs on many Chinese goods.

By 2023, such shipments represented more than 7% of consumer imports, up from less than 0.01% a decade earlier. Last year, nearly 1.4 billion packages entered the country using the exemption – more than 3.7 million a day.

Advocates of the carve-out, which include shipping firms, say the system has streamlined trade, leading to lower prices and more options for customers.

Those in favour of change, a group that includes lawmakers from both parties, say businesses are abusing rules intended to ease gifts between family and friends, and the rise has made it easier to slip products that are illegal, counterfeit or violate safety standards and other rules into the country.

Trump recently called de minimis a “scam”, brushing off concerns about higher costs. “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” he said.

However, polls suggest concerns about his economic policies are rising as the changes start to hit home.

Krystal DuFrene, a retired 57-year-old from Mississippi who relies on disability payments for her income, says she has nervously been checking prices on Temu for weeks, recently cancelling an order for curtains after seeing the price more than triple.

Though she eventually found the same item for the original price in the platform’s US warehouse network, she says the cost of her husband’s fishing nets had more than doubled.

“I don’t know who pays the tariff except the customer,” she says. “Everywhere is selling cheap stuff from China so I actually prefer being able to order directly.”

When the rules around de minimis changed last week, Temu said it would stop selling goods imported from China in the US directly to customers from its platform, and that all sales would now be handled by “locally based sellers”, with orders fulfilled from within the US.

Even without the latest tariffs, economists Pablo Fajgelbaum and Amit Khandelwal had estimated that ending de minimis would lead to at least $10.9bn in new costs, which they found would be disproportionately borne by lower income and minority households.

“It does kind of feel like the end of an era,” says Gee Davis, a 40-year-old author from Missouri, who used Temu during a recent house move to buy small items such as an electric can opener and kitchen cabinet organisers.

She says it was a relief to be able to easily afford the extras and the new rules felt like a “money grab” by the government to benefit big, entrenched American retailers like Amazon and Walmart that sell similar products – but at a bigger mark-up.

“I don’t think it’s right or fair that little treats should be [restricted] to people who are richer.

“It just would be a real bummer if everyone who was under a certain household income threshold was just no longer able to afford anything for themselves.”

As with other Trump policy changes, questions remain about the significance of the shift.

The president was already forced to suspend the policy once before, as packages began piling up at the border.

Lori Wallach, director at Rethink Trade, which supports ending de minimis for consumer safety reasons, says the end of the exemption is significant “on paper”, but she fears the administration is taking steps that will weaken its implementation.

She points to a recent customs notice, which said products affected by many of the new tariffs could enter the country through the informal process, a move that eases some regulatory requirements.

“Practically, because all of this stuff can come though informal entry, it’s going to be extremely hard to collect tariffs or to be able to inspect really very much more than before the change happened,” she says.

Customs and Border Protection deny the move will undermine enforcement, noting that firms are still required to supply more information than before.

Businesses have indicated they are taking the changes seriously.

Both Shein and Temu last month warned customers that prices would rise, while Temu says it is rapidly expanding its network of US-based sellers and warehouses to protect its low prices.

Other business groups say many smaller, less high-profile American brands that manufacture abroad for US customers are struggling – and may not survive.

“If the tariffs weren’t in place, it would be like taking a little bit of bitter medicine,” says Alex Beller, board member of the Ecommerce Innovation Alliance, a business lobby group and a co-founder of Postscript, which works with thousands of smaller businesses on text messaging marketing.

“But paired with the other tariffs, especially for brands that manufacture in China, it just becomes an insurmountable shift.”

In a letter to the government last month, men’s clothing company Indochino, known for its custom suits made-to-order in China, warned that ending de minimis posed a “significant threat to the viability” of its business and other mid-size American firms like it.

Steven Borelli is the chief executive of the athleisure clothing firm CUTS, which manufactures outside the US, shipping products to a warehouse in Mexico, from where packages are mailed to customers in the US.

His firm has been pushing to reduce its reliance on China, halting orders in the country months ago. Still, he says he is now considering price increases and job cuts.

He says his business has room to manoeuvre, since it caters to higher income customers, but he expects “thousands” of other brands to die without changes to the situation.

“We want more time,” he says. “The speed at which everything is happening is too fast for businesses to adjust.”

For Jenny Watt, death is a key part of her life.

The 31-year-old spends two or three nights a week chatting to people – whether familiar faces or strangers she’s met for the first time – about everything connected with death, from working through grief to the ideal song for a funeral.

Jenny runs a handful of death cafés across Glasgow – community spaces that aim to encourage conversation and discussion about a topic few people like to raise.

BBC Scotland News attended one of the weekly gatherings, which Jenny believes can help break down taboos about the subject.

But what makes a person want to spend time talking about the end of life?

Jenny estimates around half the attendees at her groups are there to process grief in some way, whether for a recent loss or from 20 or 30 years ago.

“The same way people are called to nursing or religion, I’ve always been interested in death,” she explains.

“It’s going to happen to everybody. It might be unique for you and the relationships you are grieving but if you feel it just by yourself it can be a lonely experience.

“When you start talking about it you realise it’s not so scary.”

Jenny first attended a death café online during the coronavirus pandemic, and notes she wasn’t looking to work through any “traumatic bereavement” – she was simply interested in the subject.

As face-to-face meetings resumed, she could not find any local groups offering discussions about grief around Glasgow.

Taking the plunge, she set up her own meeting space around two and-a-half years ago in the Battlefield area of Glasgow, panicking that no-one would turn up.

However people did – sometimes just occasionally, others more consistently – to have some tea and a slice of cake while discussing mortality and life.

On the night BBC Scotland visited Jenny’s café, the attendees were a mix of regulars and first timers, drawn to the meeting for various reasons.

As well as those processing grief, Jenny believes another 25% or so would be people diagnosed with a serious condition or caring for someone. The remainder tends to be people simply interested in the topic.

“Whatever people want to talk about, nothing is off limits,” says Jenny.

“People laugh, they’ll cry and at the end I think everyone learns something, whether that’s reflecting on their own experience or suddenly realising they should get power of attorney.”

That sentiment is shared by Nicola Smith, one of the more regular attendees at the Battlefield meetings.

She came along to one of the sessions the same day a close friend of hers had died, and “the tears flowed”.

But letting her emotions pour out is not the only reason that Nicola keeps attending.

“It’s such an intrinsic part of our life and living, and yet we don’t talk about it,” she told BBC Scotland.

“We don’t know how to deal with it, because we don’t do enough talking about it. I lost a very dear relative when my children were very small, and it was the first time my daughter had seen me cry.

“She asked me why my face was wet, and it was the time to explain it was OK to cry and this is what happens when you lose someone you love. It’s not a weakness, it’s not something you hush up.”

Nicola added she believed the topic had become more taboo among modern generations due to the growth of hospice care since the 1960s, meaning a decrease in people dying at home.

Those trends could explain the growth in death cafés – the first in the UK was held in 2011 in London, and now there are 3,794 across the UK.

In Scotland there are dozens, from Ullapool to Kirkcudbright, but mostly clustered in cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Discussion topics bounce around at the meetings, from practical advice on wills and power of attorney to more emotional reflections on personal experiences.

They form part of a wider conversation on loss and care, exemplified by May’s Demystifying Death week that aims to help people support each other during traumatic experiences.

Another visitor in Jenny’s group, John Mackay, wrote his PHD about death and the mourning process. He was attending his first death café in Glasgow with the intention of discussing the subject more.

“There’s such a taboo about death, but you can take a lighter look at it,” he says.

“The problem is that people don’t talk about it. If you see funerals from other cultures it’s very loud and very expressive, but in this country it’s very reserved.

“You have to make sure you don’t say the wrong thing and that you wear the right clothes – it would be good to loosen it up as well.”

Others suggest the greatest benefit of the café is more simple – in that it provides perspective on life.

Spencer Mason previously attempted to end his life, but is currently coping with the end-of-life care of a person close to him.

“I think the more we discuss death then surely the more appreciative you become of life,” he says.

“In circumstances where I’ve become close to death, I’ve come out of them wanting life more than ever.”

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers have been found guilty of cutting down the iconic Sycamore Gap tree. The deliberate felling of the tree on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland angered people around the world. For the man who was first on the scene, it was a moment that changed his life forever.

Park ranger Gary Pickles was in shock.

Where once had stood arguably England’s favourite tree, there was now just air.

When the call had come through earlier that morning, Gary had thought it was a prank.

His working day on 28 September 2023 had barely started when a farmer called his office to report the tree was down.

“I doubted a farmer would be telling us a silly story so I thought ‘oh my god, I think this might be true’.”

The team of park rangers were alerted by email and Gary got in his van to drive to the tree.

With every passing minute of the short journey, his anxiety levels increased.

“As I got nearer and nearer, I just thought ‘it’s gone, it’s gone’.”

He’d arrived at the road adjacent to the tree and had to “double take” as he saw it for the first time lying on its side.

“It was shock,” said Gary, who was met with a gaping hole in the landscape.

At this stage, he presumed the tree had been damaged in Storm Agnes, which had brought strong winds overnight.

“When you look and it’s gone, it’s just….oh my god,” he said.

“It’s a landmark. It’s a piece of the landscape.”

Gary needed to investigate further. He parked his van in a nearby car park and rushed on foot to the fallen tree.

The sadness he was feeling soon turned to anger and panic.

“When I got there I realised it had been chopped down and not blown down.

“There was a clean cut so that escalated it up.

“Once you realise it’s been chopped down, then it’s going to become a massive worldwide story.”

The seriousness of the developing situation quickly became apparent.

Gary hastily reported back to Northumberland National Park’s headquarters that it appeared that the tree had been cut down deliberately. At this stage there was no time to consider who by or why.

Just after 09:00 BST, the National Park alerted colleagues at the National Trust, including general manager Andrew Poad.

“My personal phone started lighting up. Messages were coming through on my laptop.

“Once I realised it was a deliberate act, crisis mode kicked in,” said Andrew, whose priority was to personally inform people before they saw it on social media.

“It was like ringing people up to tell them that someone had passed away.

“On the day I was using the expression ‘it’s like losing a loved one’. We all went through that grief.

“There were numerous members of staff in tears.”

Viral photographs shared on social media showed the tree on its side, as the PR teams at the National Park and the National Trust frantically collaborated on an official response.

“Within the hour it was global, effectively,” Andrew said.

Shortly before 11:00, a statement from the organisations confirmed the tree had been cut down.

At around midday, Northumbria Police announced it was being treated as “a deliberate act of vandalism”.

Local journalists were already carrying out interviews at the scene, before reporters from around the world turned the grassy mound opposite the stump into a “sea of camera tripods”.

“It is the largest press story that the National Trust has ever dealt with,” Andrew said.

“It was one of the things that surprised us. The sheer scale of the global reach of the interest really took us back a bit.”

The usual calming sound of the vast countryside was drowned out by the clicks of cameras and the engines of broadcast trucks.

“We knew it was popular, but we didn’t know how popular,” Andrew said.

The international interest also surprised Gary.

“My sister lives in France, my brother is in America, and by dinner time they’d both rung me, so it was global news at such a fast rate.”

Senior management from the National Park and the National Trust spent the afternoon at the fallen tree, speaking to the crowds of emotional walkers and journalists.

Reporters gathered shocking footage of the trunk draped over a now damaged Hadrian’s Wall.

This idyllic, tranquil spot that had brought peace to so many was now a crime scene wrapped in blue and white police tape. Forensic officers in white suits also gathered DNA from the stump.

Eighteen months on from its felling, Andrew and Gary regularly reflect on the day that north-east England lost “a massive local landmark.”

“It’s just senseless. Who or what were they trying to get at?” said Andrew.

“It’s still a huge part of my life dealing with this. It’s a big gap in all our lives, never mind the landscape.”

US President Donald Trump has appointed Fox News host and former New York prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim US attorney for Washington DC.

The announcement comes after Trump withdrew his first pick for the job after he lost key Republican support in the Senate, which votes on such positions.

After Trump’s 2020 loss to Joe Biden, Pirro made false statements about the election that were part of a lawsuit against Fox News by a company that makes voting machines. The case was settled for more than $787m (£594m).

Trump called Pirro “a powerful crusader for victims of crime” in a social media post announcing his selection. Meanwhile, critics described her as unqualified.

The president did not indicate whether Pirro, 73, would serve in the job permanently, which requires Senate confirmation, or how long her term would last.

In the Truth Social post on Thursday night, Trump noted that she previously served as a Republican district attorney in Westchester, New York, as well as a judge. He also touted her roles on various shows on Fox News, including on The Five, which he called “one of the Highest Rated Shows on Television”.

Pirro has been a close ally of Trump for decades. In one of his last actions during his first term, he issued a pardon to her husband, who had been convicted of tax evasion decades earlier.

Democrats were quick to criticise the appointment of Pirro, the second Fox News host with to receive a high-profile federal job after Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, raising questions about her credentials for the role and about her career outside of broadcasting.

“Which Fox News host will get the next federal appointment,” Jimmy Gomez, a Democrat representative from California, wrote on X.

The Democratic National Committee wrote in a statement: “Jeanine Pirro is yet another unqualified TV personality with a history of putting Trump and violent insurrectionists above the rule of law.”

Republicans, like South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, celebrated the news on social media. He called Pirro a “grand slam, home run” choice.

“She is exactly the right person at the right time to take on this responsibility,” Graham said on X.

Pirro replaces current interim US attorney Ed Martin, a former conservative podcaster who Trump appointed this January.

He was let go after North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a key swing vote, said he would refuse to confirm Martin for the role on a permanent basis, citing “friction” over how Martin viewed those involved in the 6 January 2021 riots at the US Capitol.

Tillis told reporters this week that he had “no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on January 6”.

Martin has been a staunch critic of the investigation into the Capitol riots. While serving in the role on an interim basis, he fired prosecutors who oversaw prosecutions of alleged and convicted rioters.

Trump said Martin will remain at the US Justice Department and serve as director of the “weaponization working group”, which looks into officials who investigated Trump, the president said in another post on social media.

Since taking office, Trump has issued pardons and ended prosecutions against 6 January rioters who stormed the US Capitol in an effort to block Biden’s election win over Trump in the 2020 election.

Former British Army officer and mercenary Simon Mann, who was part of a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea in 2004, has died of a heart attack while exercising, friends confirmed.

The 72-year-old made millions of pounds from protecting businesses in conflict zones before he took part in the failed attempt to overthrow the west African nation’s ruler.

Mann was sentenced to 34 years in prison on arms charges and later said he had been the “manager, not the architect” of the scheme.

In 2009, the ex-SAS commando was pardoned, released and given 48 hours to leave the country.

The plot had been an attempt to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema – at the time Mann and co-conspirators said the aim was to install exiled opposition leader Severo Moto.

It was uncovered after police in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare impounded a plane which had flown in from South Africa.

Mann and more than 60 others were arrested, amid claims they were mercenaries.

They said they were providing security for a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mann attended private boys’ school Eton before studying at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy and then joining the Scots Guards.

He became a member of the SAS – the army’s special forces unit – and rose through the ranks to become a commander.

In 2011, he said the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea – which saw him arrested with fellow mercenaries after trying to load weapons onto a plane in Zimbabwe – was foiled by the CIA.

After serving three years of his 34-year sentence in Zimbabwe, he was moved to Black Beach Prison in Equatorial Guinea.

Speaking in 2011 about that move, he said “friends, family, and enemies” had told him “if that happens, you have had it, you’re a dead man”.

After being pardoned and released, he expressed regret for what he had done, saying that “however good the money is”, the moral case “has to stack up”.

Sweden’s new national security adviser quit hours after taking up the role as sensitive pictures of him on the dating app Grindr were sent anonymously to the government.

Tobias Thyberg, who took up the job on Thursday and resigned on Friday morning, had omitted the information during security background checks, the government said.

“These are old pictures from an account I previously had on the dating site Grindr. I should have informed about this, but I did not,” he told newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

Thyberg had been due to be in Norway on Friday with the prime minister for a meeting of northern European leaders, but the adviser’s participation was cancelled.

According to information provided to Swedish newspaper Expressen, the government received several images of a sexual nature from an anonymous sender.

It happened shortly after a press release announcing Thyberg taking up the national security adviser job had been issued.

On Friday Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the information should have come to light during the vetting process, according to Reuters.

“It is a systemic failure that this kind of information has not been brought forward,” Kristersson told reporters in Oslo.

The resignation comes just months after Thyberg’s predecessor in the high-profile job stepped down and was charged with negligent handling of classified information.

Henrik Landerholm announced his resignation in January as police opened an investigation after he allegedly left classified documents in an unlocked safe at a hotel during a conference.

In March Landerholm was charged with careless handling of secret information.

Prosecutors said in the indictment that Landerholm had through negligence disclosed “information relating to conditions of a secret nature and whose disclosure to a foreign power could cause harm to Sweden’s security”.

According to Swedish media, his lawyer has previously said that Landerholm believes he is not guilty.

The world’s first drone war between nuclear-armed neighbours has erupted in South Asia.

On Thursday, India accused Pakistan of launching waves of drones and missiles at three military bases in Indian territory and Indian-administered Kashmir – an allegation Islamabad swiftly denied.

Pakistan claimed it had shot down 25 Indian drones in recent hours. Delhi remained publicly silent. Experts say the tit-for-tat attacks mark a dangerous new phase in the decades-old rivalry, as both sides exchange not just artillery but unmanned weapons across a volatile border.

As Washington and other global powers urge restraint, the region is teetering on the edge of escalation, with drones – silent, remote and deniable – opening a new chapter in the India-Pakistan conflict.

“The Indo-Pak conflict is moving into a new drone era – one where ‘invisible eyes’ and unmanned precision may determine escalation or restraint. Thus, in South Asia’s contested skies, the side that masters drone warfare won’t just see the battlefield – they’ll shape it,” Jahara Matisek, a professor at the US Naval War College, told the BBC.

• Follow our live updates

Since Wednesday morning, Pakistan says Indian air strikes and cross-border fire have killed 36 people and injured 57 more in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. On the other side, India’s army reports at least 16 civilians dead from Pakistani shelling. India insists its missile barrage was retaliation for a deadly militant attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam last month – an attack Islamabad denies any role in.

Pakistan’s military announced on Thursday that it had shot down 25 Indian drones across various cities, including Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi. The drones – reportedly Israeli-made Harop drones – were reportedly intercepted using both technical and weapon-based countermeasures. India claimed to have neutralised several Pakistani air defence radars and systems, including one in Lahore, which Islamabad denied.

Laser-guided missiles and bombs, drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become pivotal in modern warfare, significantly enhancing the precision and efficiency of military operations. These can relay co-ordinates for airstrikes or, if equipped, directly laser-designate targets, and help immediate engagement.

Drones can be used as decoys or suppression of enemy air defences, flying into contested airspace to trigger enemy radar emissions, which can then be targeted by other munitions like loitering drones or anti-radiation missiles. “This is how Ukraine and Russia both do it in their war. This dual role – targeting and triggering – makes drones a force multiplier in degrading enemy air defences without risking manned aircraft,” says Prof Matisek.

Experts say India’s drone fleet is largely built around Israeli-made reconnaissance UAVs like the IAI Searcher and Heron, along with Harpy and Harop loitering munitions – drones that double as missiles, capable of autonomous reconnaissance and precision strikes. The Harop, in particular, signals a shift toward high-value, precision-targeted warfare, reflecting the growing importance of loitering munitions in modern conflict, experts say.

The Heron, say experts, is India’s “high-altitude eyes in the sky” for both peacetime monitoring and combat operations. The IAI Searcher Mk II is designed for frontline operations, offering up to 18 hours of endurance, a range of 300km (186 miles), and a service ceiling of 7,000m (23,000ft).

While many believe India’s combat drone numbers remain “modest”, a recent $4bn deal to acquire 31 MQ-9B Predator drones – which can can fly for 40 hours and up to an altitude of 40,000ft – from the US marks a major leap in its strike capabilities.

India is also developing swarm drone tactics – deploying large numbers of smaller UAVs to overwhelm and saturate air defences, allowing higher-value assets to penetrate, say experts.

Pakistan’s drone fleet is “extensive and diverse”, comprising both indigenous and imported systems, Ejaz Haider, a Lahore-based defence analyst told the BBC.

He said the inventory includes “over a thousand drones”, featuring models from China, Turkey and domestic manufacturers. Notable platforms include the Chinese CH-4, the Turkish Bayraktar Akinci, and Pakistan’s own Burraq and Shahpar drones. Additionally, Pakistan has developed loitering munitions, enhancing its strike capabilities.

Mr Haider said the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been actively integrating unmanned systems into its operations for nearly a decade. A key focus is the development of “loyal wingman” drones – unmanned aerial vehicles designed to operate in co-ordination with manned aircraft, he added.

Prof Matisek believes “Israel’s technical assistance, supplying Harop and Heron drones, has been pivotal for India, while Pakistan’s reliance on Turkish and Chinese platforms highlights an ongoing arms race”.

While the recent drone exchanges between India and Pakistan mark a significant escalation in their rivalry, they differ markedly from the drone-centric warfare observed in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, experts say. There, drones become central to military operations, with both sides deploying thousands of UAVs for surveillance, targeting and direct attacks.

“Deploying drones [in the ongoing conflict] instead of fighter jets or heavy missiles represents a lower-level military option. Drones are less heavily armed than manned aircraft, so in one sense, this is a restrained move. However, if this is merely a prelude to a broader aerial campaign, the calculus changes entirely,” Manoj Joshi, an Indian defence analyst, told the BBC.

Ejaz Haider believes the recent drone activity in Jammu “appears to be a tactical response to immediate provocations, not a full-scale retaliation [by Pakistan]”.

“A true retaliatory strike against India would involve shock and awe. It would likely be more comprehensive, involving multiple platforms – both manned and unmanned – and targeting a broader range of objectives. Such an operation would aim to deliver a decisive impact, signalling a significant escalation beyond the current tit-for-tat exchanges,” Mr Haider says.

While drones have fundamentally reshaped the battlefield in Ukraine, their role in the India-Pakistan conflict remains more limited and symbolic, say experts. Both countries are using their manned air forces to fire missiles at one another as well.

“The drone warfare we’re witnessing may not last long; it could be just the beginning of a larger conflict,” says Mr Joshi.

“This could either signal a de-escalation or an escalation – both possibilities are on the table. We’re at an inflection point; the direction we take from here is uncertain.”

Clearly India is integrating drones into its precision-strike doctrine, enabling stand-off targeting without crossing borders with manned aircraft. However, this evolution also raises critical questions.

“Drones lower the political and operational threshold for action, providing options to surveil and strike while trying to reduce escalation risks,” says Prof Matisek.

“But they also create new escalation dynamics: every drone shot down, every radar blinded, becomes a potential flashpoint in this tense environment between two nuclear powers.”

The US has confirmed that a new system for providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza through private companies is being prepared, as Israel’s blockade continues for a third month.

US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said “distribution centres” protected by security contractors would provide food and other supplies to over a million people initially, as part of an effort to prevent Hamas stealing aid.

He denied Israel would take part in aid delivery or distribution, but said its forces would secure the centres’ perimeters.

It comes as details emerged about the controversial plan, which UN agencies have reiterated they will not co-operate with because it appears to “weaponise” aid.

“We will not participate,” the spokesman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jens Laerke, told the BBC in Geneva, “only in efforts that are in line with our principles”.

He added: “There is no reason to put in place a system that is at odds with the DNA of any principled humanitarian organisation.”

Since early March, Israel has cut off all supplies from reaching Gaza – including food, shelters, medicines and fuel – leading to a humanitarian crisis for its 2.1 million residents.

A third of the community kitchens in Gaza – one of the territory’s last remaining lifelines – have been forced to shut down over the past two weeks due to shortages of food and fuel, according to OCHA.

Among them were the last two field kitchens of World Central Kitchen, a US-based charity which had been providing 133,000 meals daily before it ran out of ingredients on Tuesday.

Prices of basic foodstuffs have also skyrocketed at local markets, with a 25kg (55lb) bag of flour now selling for $415 (£313) in Gaza City – a 30-fold increase compared to the end of February, OCHA says.

Huckabee told journalists in Jerusalem that US President Donald Trump saw aid for Gaza as an urgent matter and that his team was tasked “to do everything possible to accelerate that and to as expeditiously as possible get humanitarian aid into the people”.

Israel and the US accuse Hamas of diverting aid. “Previous actions have often been met with Hamas stealing the food that was intended for hungry people,” the ambassador said.

The UN and other agencies say they have strong supervisory mechanisms and that when aid has surged into Gaza, incidents of looting have largely halted. The World Health Organization says none of its medical supplies have been looted during the war.

The Trump administration is trying to build momentum behind the new aid initiative ahead of the president’s trip next week to wealthy Arab Gulf countries that could help to fund it.

It says that a non-governmental organisation has been set up and that aid delivery will not be under Israeli military control.

Huckabee said: “The Israelis are going to be involved in providing necessary security because this is a war zone. But they will not be involved in the distribution of the food, or even the bringing of food into Gaza.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked on Friday whether the plan would “militarise” aid distribution in the region.

“I would reject that characterisation,” she responded.

The newly registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) appears to have been set up for this purpose.

A 14-page document from GHF, seen by the BBC, promises to set up four distribution sites, giving out food, water and hygiene kits initially for 1.2 million people – less than 60% of the population. It says the project aims to reach all Gazans eventually.

Aimed at potential donors, the paper states that “months of conflict have collapsed traditional relief channels in Gaza”.

It goes on: “GHF was established to restore that vital lifeline through an independent, rigorously-audited model that gets assistance directly – and only – to those in need.”

The document maintains that GHF is “guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence”.

Its boards of directors and advisors are said to include a former chief executive of World Central Kitchen, along with the American former head of the UN’s World Food Programme, David Beasley – though his participation is not yet confirmed.

Full details of how the aid mechanism will work on the ground are not given.

The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which saw about 1,200 people killed and more than 250 taken hostage. Some 59 are still held captive, up to 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 52,700 people in Gaza, mostly women, children and the elderly, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Last Sunday, Israel’s security cabinet approved an intensified military offensive against Hamas in Gaza which could involve forcibly displacing the population to the south, seizing the entire territory indefinitely, and controlling aid.

This was quickly met with widespread international condemnation. Many of Israel’s allies pointed out that it was bound under international law to allow the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid.

The UK’s Minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, told Parliament on Monday that the British government was gravely concerned that the Israeli announcements could lead to the 19-month-long war in Gaza entering “a dangerous new phase”.

On the subject of aid, he said: “As the UN has said, it is hard to see how, if implemented, the new Israeli plan to deliver aid through private companies would be consistent with humanitarian principles and meet the scale of the need. We need urgent clarity from the Israeli government on their intentions.

“We must remember what is at stake. These humanitarian principles matter for every conflict around the world. They should be applied consistently in every war zone.”

This week, the US Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, briefed members of the UN Security Council – which includes the UK – behind closed doors about the new plan to resume the delivery of aid.

The Council’s five European members – the UK, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia – have requested an urgent meeting to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza, likely to be scheduled for Tuesday.

The UK delegation said Israel’s blockade was “inexcusable”, adding that the only way to end the suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis was to return to a ceasefire, secure the release of all hostages and “surge” aid into Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Israeli forces were already setting up distribution hubs in Rafah, in southern Gaza, in “a sterile zone” designed to be free of any Hamas presence.

According to reports, Israel expects that aid will be distributed to security-screened representatives from each Gazan family who would be allowed to take supplies for his or her relatives only. They would be allowed into the hubs only on foot.

The Israeli defence establishment was said to have assessed that the average quantity of aid that would have to be distributed as 70kg (154lb) per family per week.

The Israeli military would ultimately be stationed outside the distribution hubs, allowing aid workers to hand out food without soldiers being directly involved, the reports say.

Israel and the US argue that the new system would prevent Hamas from being able to steal food for its own benefit. By preventing its access to aid and involvement in security for convoys, they hope to reduce the group’s influence over the Gazan population.

However, there are major questions over the plan’s feasibility. The current UN system uses some 400 points of aid distribution, while the situation in Gaza is now at a crisis point, with warnings that mass starvation is imminent.

At a UN briefing in Geneva, aid officials said they had carried out “careful analysis” before deciding they could not participate in the US-Israeli scheme. They said they had not been formally presented with the GHF document that is currently circulating.

James Elder, spokesman for the UN’s children’s agency Unicef, said the plan that had been laid out would lead to more children suffering, not fewer. He noted that civilians would have to travel to militarised zones to receive aid, meaning the most vulnerable – children and the elderly – would struggle to get there.

He said the decision to locate all the distribution points in the south appeared designed to use aid as “a bait” to forcibly displace Gazans once again. The UN says 90% of the population has been displaced during the war, often many times.

The plan that has been discussed with UN agencies envisages just 60 lorry loads of aid entering each day – far less than they say is needed to meet growing needs, and a tenth of the number that went in daily during the recent two-month ceasefire.

OCHA’s Jens Laerke said that in short, the proposals from Israel “do not meet the minimum bar for principled humanitarian support”.

Analysts say that the current impasse over aid for Gaza is not only an existential threat to the UN’s vast humanitarian operation in the Palestinian territory but could also have implications for its future work.

If it was to agree to a scheme accommodating the demands of the military on one side in a conflict, it could dent perceptions of the UN’s neutrality and impartiality, and set a dangerous precedent leading to similar demands in other war zones where it operates.

The UN and other aid agencies also point out that they currently have tonnes of supplies piled up near Gaza’s border crossings, ready to enter, if Israel would allow it.

Without an end to the blockade, the risk of famine is expected to grow.

In Jabalia, in northern Gaza, which has already been the focus of Israeli military operations against Hamas, Palestinian families told the BBC of their growing despair as they waited for a food handout at a takia, or community kitchen, which turned into a chaotic scramble.

“Every day I come here and wait with my cooking pot to feed my children,” Umm Ahmed said. “The pot doesn’t fill us up. We have been suffering for two months. There’s no flour or anything. Open the borders so we can eat properly.”

She said she would not comply with Israeli efforts to force her to move south to Rafah to receive aid.

“We don’t have money for transport, we don’t have money to eat!” she exclaimed. “I don’t want to evacuate from here, I’d rather die than leave.”

“The takia is our last source of food,” said Mohammed, who had been waiting for five hours in line. “My wife is pregnant and sick, and I’m unable to get her to the hospital. How am I supposed to get to Rafah?”

A rose has been named after Catherine, Princess of Wales to highlight the healing power of nature.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said it called the flower ‘Catherine’s Rose’ to raise awareness of the role that spending time outdoors plays in supporting people’s mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.

The floribunda rose has coral-pink blooms with a scent of Turkish Delight and mango.

Proceeds from every sale will go to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The princess was treated at the hospital, in west London, for cancer last year.

The Princess of Wales revealed she was in remission after making a surprise visit to the hospital in January, where she thanked staff and reassured cancer patients that there was “light at the end of the tunnel”.

She first revealed her diagnosis in March last year and underwent a course of preventative chemotherapy, announcing in September that it had been completed.

Catherine’s Rose will have flowers that attract pollinators and will thrive in a mixed border, as a hedge, in a large container or in a rose bed, according to the RHS.

Clusters can have up to 15 blooms, each flower measuring between 8 and 12cm, while the plant that supports it can grow to about 1.2m tall by 90cm wide.

Clare Matterson, RHS director general, said the flower would “raise awareness of how nature and gardening can help to heal”.  

“We know how important this message is as every day we see how accessing nature and being outside is vital for our health and happiness,” she added.

There will be 15,000 Catherine’s Rose available this autumn, with further roses becoming available next year.

The US-China trade war could be letting up, with the world’s two largest economies set to begin talks in Switzerland.

Top trade officials from both sides will meet on Saturday in the first high-level meeting since US President Donald Trump hit China with tariffs in January.

Beijing retaliated immediately and a tense stand-off ensued as the two countries heaped levies on each other. New US tariffs on Chinese imports stand at 145%, and some US exports to China face duties of 125%.

There have been weeks of stern, and sometimes fiery, rhetoric where each side sought to paint the other as the more desperate party.

And yet this weekend they will face each other over the negotiating table.

So why now?

Despite multiple rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, both sides have been sending signals that they want to break the deadlock. Except it wasn’t clear who would blink first.

“Neither side wants to appear to be backing down,” said Stephen Olson, senior visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and a former US trade negotiator.

“The talks are taking place now because both countries have judged that they can move forward without appearing to have caved in to the other side.”

Still, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian emphasised on Wednesday that “the talks are being held at the request of the US”.

And the commerce ministry framed it as a favour to Washington, saying it was answering the “calls of US businesses and consumers”.

The Trump administration, however, claims it’s Chinese officials who “want to do business very much” because “their economy is collapsing”.

“They said we initiated? Well, I think they ought to go back and study their files,” Trump said at the White House on Wednesday.

But as the talks drew closer, the president struck a more diplomatic note: “We can all play games. Who made the first call, who didn’t make the – it doesn’t matter,” he told reporters on Thursday. “It only matters what happens in that room.”

The timing is also key for Beijing because it’s during Xi’s visit to Moscow. He was a guest of honour on Friday at Moscow’s Victory Day parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the World War Two victory over Nazi Germany.

Xi stood alongside leaders from across the Global South – a reminder to Trump’s administration that China not only has other options for trade, but it is also presenting itself as an alternative global leader.

This allows Beijing to project strength even as it heads to the negotiating table.

Trump insists that the tariffs will make America stronger, and Beijing has vowed to “fight till the end”- but the fact is the levies are hurting both countries.

Factory output in China has taken a hit, according to government data. Manufacturing activity in April dipped to the lowest level since December 2023. And a survey by news outlet Caixin this week showed that services activity has reached a seven-month low.

The BBC found that Chinese exporters have been reeling from the steep tariffs, with stock piling up in warehouses, even as they strike a defiant note and look for markets beyond the US.

“I think [China] realises that a deal is better than no deal,” says Bert Hofman, a professor at the East Asian Institute in National University Singapore.

“So they’ve taken a pragmatic view and said, ‘OK, well we need to get these talks going.'”

And so with the major May Day holiday in China over, officials in Beijing have decided the time is right to talk.

On the other side, the uncertainty caused by tariffs led to the US economy contracting for the first time in three years.

And industries that have long depended on Chinese-made goods are especially worried. A Los Angeles toy company owner told the BBC that they were “looking at the total implosion of the supply chain”.

Trump himself has acknowledged that US consumers will feel the sting.

American children may “have two dolls instead of 30 dolls”, he said at a cabinet meeting this month, “and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally”.

Trump’s approval ratings have also slid over fears of inflation and a possible recession, with more than 60% of Americans saying he was focusing too much on tariffs.

“Both countries are feeling pressure to provide a bit of reassurance to increasingly nervous markets, businesses, and domestic constituencies,” Mr Olson says.

“A couple of days of meetings in Geneva will serve that purpose.”

While the talks have been met with optimism, a deal may take a while to materialise.

The talks will mostly be about “touching base”, Mr Hofman said, adding that this could look like an “exchange of positions” and, if things go well, “an agenda [will be] set for future talks”.

The negotiations on the whole are expected to take months, much like what happened during Trump’s first term.

After nearly two years of tit-for-tat tariffs, the US and China signed a “phase one” deal in early 2020 to suspend or reduce some levies. Even then, it did not include thornier issues, such as Chinese government subsidies for key industries or a timeline for scrapping the remaining tariffs.

In fact, many of them stayed in place through Joe Biden’s presidency, and Trump’s latest tariffs add to those older levies.

What could emerge this time is a “phase one deal on steroids”, Mr Olson said: that is, it would go beyond the earlier deal and try to address flashpoints. There are many, from the illegal fentanyl trade which Washington wants China to crack down harder on to Beijing’s relationship with Moscow.

But all of that is far down the line, experts warn.

“The systemic frictions that bedevil the US-China trade relationship will not be solved any time soon,” Mr Olson adds.

“Geneva will only produce anodyne statements about ‘frank dialogues’ and the desire to keep talking.”

Catholicism has rarely been more prominent in US politics as the Trump administration openly embraces advisers and officials who proudly say faith has shaped their politics.

But any jubilation on the American Make America Great Again right about the new Pope this week quickly dissipated as key voices from Donald Trump’s Maga movement came to a disappointed conclusion: the first American Pope does not appear to be “America first”.

Little is known about the political leanings of Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago.

He has voiced concerns for the poor and immigrants, chosen a name that may reference more liberal church leadership, and he appears to have both supported the liberal-leaning Pope Francis and criticised the US president’s policies on social media.

But the president so far has said only that Leo’s election was a “great honour” for the US. Still, some of Trump’s most prominent supporters were quick to attack Pope Leo, lambasting him as a possible challenge to Trump and on the perception that he will follow Pope Francis in areas like immigration.

“I mean it’s kind of jaw-dropping,” Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon told the BBC on Friday, speaking of Leo’s election.

“It is shocking to me that a guy could be selected to be the Pope that had had the Twitter feed and the statements he’s had against American senior politicians,” said Bannon, a hard-right Trump loyalist, practising Catholic and former altar boy.

And he predicted that there’s “definitely going to be friction” between Leo and Trump.

• Pope Leo XIV calls Church ‘a beacon to illuminate dark nights’ in first Mass
• Pope’s first speech in full
• Who is Robert Prevost, the new Pope Leo XIV?

The Pope’s brother, John Prevost, told The New York Times that he thinks his brother would voice his disagreements with the president.

“I know he’s not happy with what’s going on with immigration,” he said. “I know that for a fact. How far he’ll go with it is only one’s guess, but he won’t just sit back. I don’t think he’ll be the silent one.”

Recent survey data shows that about 20% of Americans identify as Catholic, according to the non-partisan Pew Research Center.

About 53% identify with or lean towards the Republican Party, though there’s plenty of nuance, too: America’s two Catholic presidents, John F Kennedy and Joe Biden, were both Democrats. And nearly two-thirds of US Catholics believe abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances – a departure from the Church’s current stance.

US Catholics also broadly supported Pope Francis: 78% of those surveyed in February viewed him favorably, including a majority of Catholic Republicans.

A number of Catholics in the new Pope’s home city of Chicago on Thursday aired disappointment with President Trump and said they hoped Pope Leo XIV would follow the path of his predecessor.

“We hope he’ll continue with Francis’s agenda going forward,” said Rick Stevens, a Catholic deacon from New Jersey who happened to be visiting Chicago when he heard the news.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which leads and coordinates US Catholic activities, celebrated Pope Leo’s election and the message it sends.

“Certainly, we rejoice that a son of this nation has been chosen by the cardinals, but we recognise that he now belongs to all Catholics and to all people of good will,” the conference said in a statement. “His words advocating peace, unity, and missionary activity already indicate a path forward.”

Though Maga supporters represent a small subset of US Catholics, it’s one with outsized access to conservative media and Trump’s ear.

On Bannon’s War Room podcast – known for its hard-right, pro-Trump bent – one guest after another heaped criticism on the new Pope.

“This guy has been massively embraced by the liberals and the progressives,” said Ben Harnwell, a journalist who led Bannon’s efforts to establish what he calls a “gladiator school” for the “Judeo-Christian West” outside of Rome.

“He is one of their own… he has [Pope] Francis’s DNA in him,” Harnwell said.

Jack Posobiec, another Maga commentator dialing in from Rome, was blunt: “This choice of the American cardinal was done as a response, as a message to President Trump.”

The full picture of what led to Pope Leo’s selection on Thursday is still emerging and church decisions don’t map neatly onto US politics. Still, watchers around the world have pored over Pope Leo’s social media profiles in search of clues about his leanings and beliefs.

An X account under his name, with tweets going as far back as 2015, shares links to criticism of Trump’s approach to immigration and hints at other political views, such as stricter gun control.

In February, the account sharply rebuked the US vice-president by posting a link to an opinion piece titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others”.

The account also posted a link to a letter from Pope Francis after he clashed with Vance over church doctrine and immigration. Vance – a Catholic convert – had given an interview in defence of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Vance has routinely invoked his faith in defense of the administration, particularly immigration policies, which the White House has said put “America first”.

“There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbour, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritise the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that,” Vance told Fox News.

• What is behind the new Pope’s chosen name, Leo?
• Reaction: ‘I flipped out, I said no way!’ – Chicago celebrates hometown Pope
• Analysis: Continuity the key for Pope seen as unifier in the Church

But US Democrats were not spared either on the account, which has more than a decade of posts. They appear to support Catholic employers who refuse to pay for contraceptives via employee health plans, and following the 2016 US presidential election, one post links to an article accusing Democrat Hillary Clinton of ignoring pro-life Catholic voters.

The BBC asked the Vatican to confirm the account was Leo’s, but did not receive a response.

Vice-President Vance told conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt on Friday: “I try not to play the politicisation of the Pope game.

“I’m sure he’s going to say a lot of things that I love. I’m sure he’ll say some things that I disagree with, but I’ll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all, and that’ll be the way that I handle it.”

The new Pope’s LGBTQ views are also unclear, but some groups, including the conservative College of Cardinals, believe he may be less supportive than Pope Francis.

Matt Walsh, a commentator with the conservative Daily Wire, wrote: “There are some good signs and bad signs with this new Pope. I want to see what he actually does with his papacy before I pass any kind of judgment.”

But some of the most dedicated Maga supporters already have made up their minds.

Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer who has Trump’s ear, swaying the president on top personnel decisions, called the new Pope “anti-Trump, anti-Maga, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist like Pope Francis”.

Bannon, who had suggested Leo as a dark horse for the papacy, predicted tensions between the White House and Vatican – and said they could even tear apart American Catholics.

“Remember, President Trump was not shy about taking a shot at Pope Francis,” he said.

“So if this Pope – which he will do – tries to come between President Trump and his implementation of the mass deportation programme, I would stand by.”

Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, the crowds below were chanting “Viva il Papa” – Long live the Pope.

Robert Francis Prevost, 69, has become the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter and he will be known as Leo XIV.

He is the first American to fill the role of pope, although he is considered as much a cardinal from Latin America because of the many years he spent as a missionary in Peru.

Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Leo served as an altar boy and was ordained in 1982.

Although he moved to Peru three years later, he returned regularly to the US to serve as a priest and a prior in his home city.

He has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges.

He spent 10 years as a local parish pastor and as a teacher at a seminary in Trujillo in north-western Peru.

• Pope Leo XIV calls Church ‘a beacon to illuminate dark nights’ in first Mass
• Pope Leo XIV’s first speech in full
• Pope Leo’s first public address from the Vatican balcony – watch in full

In his first words as Pope, Leo spoke fondly of his predecessor Francis.

“We still hear in our ears the weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis who blessed us,” he said.

“United and hand-in-hand with God, let us advance together,” he told cheering crowds.

The Pope also spoke of his role in the Augustinian Order.

In 2014, Francis made him Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru.

He is well known to cardinals because of his high-profile role as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Latin America which has the important task of selecting and supervising bishops.

He became archbishop in January 2023 and within a few months, Francis made him a cardinal.

The new pontiff was born in Chicago in 1955, and served as an altar boy and was ordained in 1982.

Before becoming the new leader of the Catholic Church, Leo told Italian network Rai that he grew up in a family of immigrants.

“I was born in the United States… But my grandparents were all immigrants, French, Spanish… I was raised in a very Catholic family, both of my parents were very engaged in the parish,” he said.

Although Leo was born in the US, the Vatican described him as the second pope from the Americas (Francis was from Argentina).

Jari Honora, a genealogist and historian in the US state of Louisiana, said Leo has strong ties to New Orleans’ black community.

He told the BBC that the new pontiff’s maternal grandparents lived in a now-demolished home in the city’s seventh ward, and she also rented a place in the iconic Pontalba building in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

Mr Honora said Pope Leo’s grandparents are described as black or mulatto in historical records, but that the family’s identity was listed as white when they moved to Chicago – a common practice among black families looking to escape racial segregation.

The Pope’s background “indicates that [American] stories, the experiences of our ancestors are more tightly woven than we could have ever imagined,” he said.

“It shrinks that gap between Rome and New Orleans or New Orleans and Chicago.”

• Watch: Oh my God, it’s Rob! – Pope’s brother speaks of joy
• Analysis: Continuity the key for Pope seen as unifier in the Church
• Reaction: ‘I flipped out, I said no way!’ – Chicago celebrates hometown Pope
• ‘God loves Peru’: Country celebrates new Pope as one of their own

Early attention will focus on Leo XIV’s pronouncements to see whether he will continue his predecessor’s reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.

In choosing his papal name, Leo has signified a commitment to dynamic social issues, according to experts.

The first pontiff to use the name Leo, whose papacy ended in 461, met Attila the Hun and persuaded him not to attack Rome.

The last Pope Leo led the Church from 1878 to 1903 and wrote an influential treatise on workers’ rights.

Former Archbishop of Boston Seán Patrick O’Malley wrote on his blog that the new pontiff “has chosen a name widely associated with the social justice legacy of Pope Leo XIII, who was pontiff at a time of epic upheaval in the world, the time of the industrial revolution, the beginning of Marxism, and widespread immigration”.

The new Pope’s LGBT views are unclear, but some groups, including the conservative College of Cardinals, believe he may be less supportive than Francis.

Leo XIV has shown support for a declaration from Francis to permit blessings for same-sex couples and others in “irregular situations”, although he has added that bishops must interpret such directives in accordance with local contexts and cultures.

Speaking last year about climate change, Cardinal Prevost said that it was time to move “from words to action”.

He called on mankind to build a “relationship of reciprocity” with the environment.

And he has spoken about concrete measures at the Vatican, including the installation of solar panels and the adoption of electric vehicles.

Pope Leo XIV has supported Pope Francis’ decision to allow women for the first time to join the Dicastery for Bishops, an administrative body that identifies and recommends future bishops to the Holy See.

“On several occasions we have seen that their point of view is an enrichment,” he told Vatican News in 2023.

In 2024, he told the Catholic News Service that women’s presence “contributes significantly to the process of discernment in looking for who we hope are the best candidates to serve the Church in episcopal ministry”.

The new pontiff is believed to have shared Francis’ views on migrants, the poor and the environment.

A former roommate of his, Reverend John Lydon, described Leo to the BBC as “outgoing”, “down to earth” and “very concerned with the poor”.

In recent months, he appears to have challenged the views of US Vice-President JD Vance.

A social media account in his name shared a social media post on X that was critical of the Trump administration’s deportation of a US resident to El Salvador.

The account also shared a critical comment piece written about a TV interview by Vance.

“JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” read the post, repeating the headline from the commentary on the National Catholic Reporter website.

Shortly after, the account shared another article, published by The Jesuit Review, and commented that Catholics “cannot support a rhetoric that demonizes immigrants as dangerously criminal simply because they have crossed the border in search of a better life for themselves and their families”.

The BBC has contacted the Vatican but has not independently confirmed the account, which was created in 2011, belongs to the new pontiff.

Leo moved to Peru as a missionary in 1985 to work in various rural communities.

He was known for working with marginalised people, and immersed himself in learning Spanish.

After a stint back in the United States, he returned to Peru again in 1988 to the city of Trujillo on the north coast where he trained young men to be priests and taught canon law.

In late 2014, when he was back in the US, he was put forward by Pope Francis to return to Peru as the Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo, a diocese on Peru’s north coast and the following year he was appointed the Bishop of Chiclayo. He served in this role for nearly a decade.

In 2015, he obtained Peruvian citizenship. He reportedly often referred to Peru as “mi segunda patria”, my second homeland.

He championed various charities such as supporting soup kitchens and childcare for struggling families, and advocated for better housing on the north coast, which is prone to floods.

But not all in the country are proud of his record.

Accusations have been made about his handling of sexual abuse cases during his time as Bishop of Chiclayo. Three Peruvian women are among those who went public with claims that – as bishop – he failed to investigate and punish a priest accused of sexually abusing them, with claims dating back to 2007.

They said that when they raised their allegations with the diocese in 2022, no substantial or serious inquiry was opened.

Church officials denied this and said an investigation was opened, but was closed in 2023 by the ecclesiastical district and the Vatican after a local prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to support the civil claim.

An investigation by the prosecutor was reopened after media reports about the case and the BBC understands it is ongoing.

The BBC spoke in Chiclayo to Jesus Leon Angeles, who supports the parish where the accused priest works.

She said while the parish was “in defence of women”, it was also “in defence of the truth” and claimed the allegations were part of a “campaign” against Leo when he became a cardinal in Rome.

These allegations and the continued fallout from sexual abuse scandals within the Church are one of the challenges he will face as he now leads Catholics worldwide.

Earlier this year, Deborah Grushkin, an enthusiastic online shopper from New Jersey, “freaked out”.

US President Donald Trump had signed an order to stop allowing packages from China worth less than $800 (£601) to enter the country free of import taxes and customs procedures.

It was a move, backed by traditional retailers, that had been discussed in Washington for years amid an explosion of packages slipping into the US under the limit.

Many countries, including the UK, are considering similar measures, spurred in part by the rapid ascent of Shein and Temu.

But in the US, Trump’s decision to end the carve-out while ordering a blitz of new trade tariffs, including import taxes of at least 145% on goods from China, has delivered a one-two punch that has left businesses and shoppers reeling.

US-based e-commerce brands, which were set up around the system, are warning the changes could spark failures of smaller firms, while shoppers like Deborah brace for price hikes and shortages.

With the 2 May deadline bearing down, the 36-year-old last month rushed in some $400 worth of items from Shein – including stickers, T-shirts, sweatshirts, Mother’s Days gifts and 20 tubes of liquid eyeliner.

“I felt like maybe it was my last sort of hurrah,” she says.

Use of rules known as “de minimis”, which allow low-value packages to avoid tariffs, customs inspections and other regulatory requirements, has surged over the last decade.

Take-up accelerated during Trump’s first term in office, when he raised tariffs on many Chinese goods.

By 2023, such shipments represented more than 7% of consumer imports, up from less than 0.01% a decade earlier. Last year, nearly 1.4 billion packages entered the country using the exemption – more than 3.7 million a day.

Advocates of the carve-out, which include shipping firms, say the system has streamlined trade, leading to lower prices and more options for customers.

Those in favour of change, a group that includes lawmakers from both parties, say businesses are abusing rules intended to ease gifts between family and friends, and the rise has made it easier to slip products that are illegal, counterfeit or violate safety standards and other rules into the country.

Trump recently called de minimis a “scam”, brushing off concerns about higher costs. “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” he said.

However, polls suggest concerns about his economic policies are rising as the changes start to hit home.

Krystal DuFrene, a retired 57-year-old from Mississippi who relies on disability payments for her income, says she has nervously been checking prices on Temu for weeks, recently cancelling an order for curtains after seeing the price more than triple.

Though she eventually found the same item for the original price in the platform’s US warehouse network, she says the cost of her husband’s fishing nets had more than doubled.

“I don’t know who pays the tariff except the customer,” she says. “Everywhere is selling cheap stuff from China so I actually prefer being able to order directly.”

When the rules around de minimis changed last week, Temu said it would stop selling goods imported from China in the US directly to customers from its platform, and that all sales would now be handled by “locally based sellers”, with orders fulfilled from within the US.

Even without the latest tariffs, economists Pablo Fajgelbaum and Amit Khandelwal had estimated that ending de minimis would lead to at least $10.9bn in new costs, which they found would be disproportionately borne by lower income and minority households.

“It does kind of feel like the end of an era,” says Gee Davis, a 40-year-old author from Missouri, who used Temu during a recent house move to buy small items such as an electric can opener and kitchen cabinet organisers.

She says it was a relief to be able to easily afford the extras and the new rules felt like a “money grab” by the government to benefit big, entrenched American retailers like Amazon and Walmart that sell similar products – but at a bigger mark-up.

“I don’t think it’s right or fair that little treats should be [restricted] to people who are richer.

“It just would be a real bummer if everyone who was under a certain household income threshold was just no longer able to afford anything for themselves.”

As with other Trump policy changes, questions remain about the significance of the shift.

The president was already forced to suspend the policy once before, as packages began piling up at the border.

Lori Wallach, director at Rethink Trade, which supports ending de minimis for consumer safety reasons, says the end of the exemption is significant “on paper”, but she fears the administration is taking steps that will weaken its implementation.

She points to a recent customs notice, which said products affected by many of the new tariffs could enter the country through the informal process, a move that eases some regulatory requirements.

“Practically, because all of this stuff can come though informal entry, it’s going to be extremely hard to collect tariffs or to be able to inspect really very much more than before the change happened,” she says.

Customs and Border Protection deny the move will undermine enforcement, noting that firms are still required to supply more information than before.

Businesses have indicated they are taking the changes seriously.

Both Shein and Temu last month warned customers that prices would rise, while Temu says it is rapidly expanding its network of US-based sellers and warehouses to protect its low prices.

Other business groups say many smaller, less high-profile American brands that manufacture abroad for US customers are struggling – and may not survive.

“If the tariffs weren’t in place, it would be like taking a little bit of bitter medicine,” says Alex Beller, board member of the Ecommerce Innovation Alliance, a business lobby group and a co-founder of Postscript, which works with thousands of smaller businesses on text messaging marketing.

“But paired with the other tariffs, especially for brands that manufacture in China, it just becomes an insurmountable shift.”

In a letter to the government last month, men’s clothing company Indochino, known for its custom suits made-to-order in China, warned that ending de minimis posed a “significant threat to the viability” of its business and other mid-size American firms like it.

Steven Borelli is the chief executive of the athleisure clothing firm CUTS, which manufactures outside the US, shipping products to a warehouse in Mexico, from where packages are mailed to customers in the US.

His firm has been pushing to reduce its reliance on China, halting orders in the country months ago. Still, he says he is now considering price increases and job cuts.

He says his business has room to manoeuvre, since it caters to higher income customers, but he expects “thousands” of other brands to die without changes to the situation.

“We want more time,” he says. “The speed at which everything is happening is too fast for businesses to adjust.”

Not long after greeting crowds from the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square on Thursday evening, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Sant’Uffizio Palace, where he had been living for the last two months.

He was met by a jubilant group of staff and former colleagues, all eager to shake his hand and congratulate him.

A young girl handed him a Bible to bless and sign. “Of course, though I have to try out my new signature,” Pope Leo said with a smile. “The old one is of no use anymore.”

He had only stopped being Robert Francis Prevost a few hours before, when he was elected pope. As he took on the name Leo XIV, a new life began for the 69-year-old Chicago-born cardinal.

But details on how Pope Leo will be looking to run the Catholic Church are still scarce, and so over the next few days and weeks every small clue – from his attire to his choice of accommodation – will be examined.

Scrutiny began as soon as he stepped on to the balcony, giving the crowd a glimpse of the vestments he chose for his first appearance.

The gold cross around his neck that caught the evening light was seen as a first sign he was departing from the simplicity of his predecessor’s simple silver pendant; the embroidered stole and red mozzetta cemented that impression.

Then, the fact that the homily he delivered to cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday morning was scripted – rather than improvised – also sent a signal that “Leo will be more closely aligned to tradition than Francis was,” said Austen Ivereigh, a Catholic writer and commentator.

But several events over the next few days and weeks will give Pope Leo a further chance to sketch out the priorities of his pontificate.

On Monday he is due to hold an audience with the media and on 18 May he will celebrate a solemn inaugural mass in St Peter’s Square.

As part of that mass he will deliver a homily in the presence of numerous heads of state and dignitaries.

In his 2013 inaugural homily, Pope Francis asked “all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life” to be “protectors of creation, of God’s plan… of one another and of the environment”.

So that moment might also provide clues about the matters dearest to Pope Leo’s heart.

• Watch: Oh my God, it’s Rob! – Pope’s brother speaks of joy
• Analysis: Continuity the key for Pope seen as unifier in the Church
• Reaction: ‘I flipped out, I said no way!’ – Chicago celebrates hometown Pope
• ‘God loves Peru’: Country celebrates new Pope as one of their own

The new Pope’s choice of accommodation too will be significant.

Francis made the choice of choosing to live in the simple Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, which was seen as revolutionary, but Leo may well decide to follow in the footsteps of virtually all his predecessors and reside in the grand Apostolic Palace.

“He was elected less than a day ago; let’s give him time to decide,” Vatican sources quoted by Italian media said.

“These are all important choices,” Ivereigh added.

“Over the next few days we’ll be learning more and more about it – the first week of the pontificate is a constant revelation.”

Meanwhile, in the absence of details about his future as Leo XIV, fragments of the Pope’s old life as Robert Prevost are emerging from around the world.

This is the case especially in his native Chicago and his adopted homeland of Peru, of which he became a citizen in 2015.

In one photo, he is presented with a large handmade birthday card written in Spanish and surrounded by cakes and balloons.

A video recorded when he left Peru for Rome, in which he says he would miss the “joy” of Peru and staples of local cuisine like ceviche, has been met with triumph by South American social media users.

“The pope is Peruvian; God loves Peru,” Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said.

American tourists ambling in St Peter’s Square on the day after the election were more restrained, and a bit frazzled by the news that the new Pope is from the US.

“I’m still surprised they chose an American, to be honest,” said Chicagoan Kerry, who is in Rome on her honeymoon.

She admitted she didn’t yet know much about the new Pope but was pleased by rumours that he is a fan of the White Sox baseball team.

Asked how she thought Pope Leo felt today, she laughed: “He must be really overwhelmed; I bet he didn’t sleep a wink!”

Her husband Joseph agreed: “When you’re elected Pope you come here as a cardinal for the conclave but then things never go back to the way they were,” he said.

But he felt like the new Pope seemed to be “a man of confidence, prayer and humility”.

“I just pray that he shows the world what being a man of God can do.”

The newly-weds posed for a picture with the day’s newspapers, then wandered off into St Peter’s Square, resplendent in the spring sunshine.

The world’s first drone war between nuclear-armed neighbours has erupted in South Asia.

On Thursday, India accused Pakistan of launching waves of drones and missiles at three military bases in Indian territory and Indian-administered Kashmir – an allegation Islamabad swiftly denied.

Pakistan claimed it had shot down 25 Indian drones in recent hours. Delhi remained publicly silent. Experts say the tit-for-tat attacks mark a dangerous new phase in the decades-old rivalry, as both sides exchange not just artillery but unmanned weapons across a volatile border.

As Washington and other global powers urge restraint, the region is teetering on the edge of escalation, with drones – silent, remote and deniable – opening a new chapter in the India-Pakistan conflict.

“The Indo-Pak conflict is moving into a new drone era – one where ‘invisible eyes’ and unmanned precision may determine escalation or restraint. Thus, in South Asia’s contested skies, the side that masters drone warfare won’t just see the battlefield – they’ll shape it,” Jahara Matisek, a professor at the US Naval War College, told the BBC.

• Follow our live updates

Since Wednesday morning, Pakistan says Indian air strikes and cross-border fire have killed 36 people and injured 57 more in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. On the other side, India’s army reports at least 16 civilians dead from Pakistani shelling. India insists its missile barrage was retaliation for a deadly militant attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam last month – an attack Islamabad denies any role in.

Pakistan’s military announced on Thursday that it had shot down 25 Indian drones across various cities, including Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi. The drones – reportedly Israeli-made Harop drones – were reportedly intercepted using both technical and weapon-based countermeasures. India claimed to have neutralised several Pakistani air defence radars and systems, including one in Lahore, which Islamabad denied.

Laser-guided missiles and bombs, drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become pivotal in modern warfare, significantly enhancing the precision and efficiency of military operations. These can relay co-ordinates for airstrikes or, if equipped, directly laser-designate targets, and help immediate engagement.

Drones can be used as decoys or suppression of enemy air defences, flying into contested airspace to trigger enemy radar emissions, which can then be targeted by other munitions like loitering drones or anti-radiation missiles. “This is how Ukraine and Russia both do it in their war. This dual role – targeting and triggering – makes drones a force multiplier in degrading enemy air defences without risking manned aircraft,” says Prof Matisek.

Experts say India’s drone fleet is largely built around Israeli-made reconnaissance UAVs like the IAI Searcher and Heron, along with Harpy and Harop loitering munitions – drones that double as missiles, capable of autonomous reconnaissance and precision strikes. The Harop, in particular, signals a shift toward high-value, precision-targeted warfare, reflecting the growing importance of loitering munitions in modern conflict, experts say.

The Heron, say experts, is India’s “high-altitude eyes in the sky” for both peacetime monitoring and combat operations. The IAI Searcher Mk II is designed for frontline operations, offering up to 18 hours of endurance, a range of 300km (186 miles), and a service ceiling of 7,000m (23,000ft).

While many believe India’s combat drone numbers remain “modest”, a recent $4bn deal to acquire 31 MQ-9B Predator drones – which can can fly for 40 hours and up to an altitude of 40,000ft – from the US marks a major leap in its strike capabilities.

India is also developing swarm drone tactics – deploying large numbers of smaller UAVs to overwhelm and saturate air defences, allowing higher-value assets to penetrate, say experts.

Pakistan’s drone fleet is “extensive and diverse”, comprising both indigenous and imported systems, Ejaz Haider, a Lahore-based defence analyst told the BBC.

He said the inventory includes “over a thousand drones”, featuring models from China, Turkey and domestic manufacturers. Notable platforms include the Chinese CH-4, the Turkish Bayraktar Akinci, and Pakistan’s own Burraq and Shahpar drones. Additionally, Pakistan has developed loitering munitions, enhancing its strike capabilities.

Mr Haider said the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been actively integrating unmanned systems into its operations for nearly a decade. A key focus is the development of “loyal wingman” drones – unmanned aerial vehicles designed to operate in co-ordination with manned aircraft, he added.

Prof Matisek believes “Israel’s technical assistance, supplying Harop and Heron drones, has been pivotal for India, while Pakistan’s reliance on Turkish and Chinese platforms highlights an ongoing arms race”.

While the recent drone exchanges between India and Pakistan mark a significant escalation in their rivalry, they differ markedly from the drone-centric warfare observed in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, experts say. There, drones become central to military operations, with both sides deploying thousands of UAVs for surveillance, targeting and direct attacks.

“Deploying drones [in the ongoing conflict] instead of fighter jets or heavy missiles represents a lower-level military option. Drones are less heavily armed than manned aircraft, so in one sense, this is a restrained move. However, if this is merely a prelude to a broader aerial campaign, the calculus changes entirely,” Manoj Joshi, an Indian defence analyst, told the BBC.

Ejaz Haider believes the recent drone activity in Jammu “appears to be a tactical response to immediate provocations, not a full-scale retaliation [by Pakistan]”.

“A true retaliatory strike against India would involve shock and awe. It would likely be more comprehensive, involving multiple platforms – both manned and unmanned – and targeting a broader range of objectives. Such an operation would aim to deliver a decisive impact, signalling a significant escalation beyond the current tit-for-tat exchanges,” Mr Haider says.

While drones have fundamentally reshaped the battlefield in Ukraine, their role in the India-Pakistan conflict remains more limited and symbolic, say experts. Both countries are using their manned air forces to fire missiles at one another as well.

“The drone warfare we’re witnessing may not last long; it could be just the beginning of a larger conflict,” says Mr Joshi.

“This could either signal a de-escalation or an escalation – both possibilities are on the table. We’re at an inflection point; the direction we take from here is uncertain.”

Clearly India is integrating drones into its precision-strike doctrine, enabling stand-off targeting without crossing borders with manned aircraft. However, this evolution also raises critical questions.

“Drones lower the political and operational threshold for action, providing options to surveil and strike while trying to reduce escalation risks,” says Prof Matisek.

“But they also create new escalation dynamics: every drone shot down, every radar blinded, becomes a potential flashpoint in this tense environment between two nuclear powers.”

Ofcom has launched investigations into two pornographic websites it believes may be falling foul of the UK’s newly introduced child safety rules.

The regulator said Itai Tech Ltd – which operates a so-called “nudifying” site – and Score Internet Group LLC had failed to detail how they were preventing children from accessing their platforms.

Ofcom announced in January that, in order to comply with the Online Safety Act, all websites on which pornographic material could be found must introduce “robust” age-checking techniques from July.

It said the two services it was investigating did not appear to have any effective age checking mechanisms.

Firms found to be in breach of the Act face huge fines.

The regulator said on Friday that many services publishing their own porn content had, as required, provided details of “highly effective age assurance methods” they were planning to implement.

• What the Online Safety Act is – and how to keep children safe online

They added that this “reassuringly” included some of the largest services that fall under the rules.

It said a small number of services had also blocked UK users entirely to prevent children accessing them.

Itai Tech Ltd and Score Internet Group LLC did not respond to its request for information or show they had plans to introduce age checks, it added.

The “nudifying” technology that one of the company’s platforms features involves the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create the impression of having removed a person’s clothing in an image or video.

The Children’s Commissioner recently called on the government to introduce a total ban on such AI apps that could be used to create sexually explicit images of children.

Under the Online Safety Act, platforms that publish their own pornographic content were required to take steps to implement age checks from January.

These can include requiring UK users to provide photo ID or running credit card checks.

But all websites where a user might encounter pornographic material are also required to demonstrate the robustness of the measures they are taking to verify the age of users.

These could even apply to some social media platforms, Ofcom told the BBC in January.

The rules are expected to change the way many UK adults will use or encounter some digital services, such as porn sites.

“As age checks start to roll out in the coming months, adults will start to notice a difference in how they access certain online services,” said Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s chief executive, in January.

In April, Discord said it would start testing face-scanning as a way to verify some users’ ages in the UK and Australia.

Experts said it marked “the start of a bigger shift” for platforms as lawmakers worldwide look to impose strict internet safety rules.

Critics suggest such measures risk pushing young people to “darker corners” of the internet where there are smaller, less regulated sites hosting more violent or explicit material.

The commercial sex industry is highly complex, with debate on how to police the issue. In Bristol, dedicated teams are engaging with street sex workers whilst disrupting kerb crawlers. Their aim is to combat night-time exploitation and harm, focusing on criminalising the men, rather than the women.

Now BBC West Investigations has been given exclusive access to witness the impact of their work.

It’s nine o’clock on a bitterly cold Monday evening and as temperatures dip below freezing, we are heading out with the Op Boss and Night Light police teams.

The streets are quieter than usual, but travelling in an unmarked police car we come across a number of women working on the streets.

We’re with Op Boss officers Siggi Gilleburg and Jordan Daruvalla, who are constantly keeping an eye out for potential “exchanges”.

Shortly after leaving, we’re alerted to a man seen heading into the bushes with a known sex worker.

We’re in a residential part of Bristol, with a children’s play area right next to it. Not necessarily the sort of place you’d expect sex work to be happening.

The man is pretty shocked to see us, but quickly accepts he was in the wrong.

“Caught red handed I guess,” he says.

Loitering with a street sex worker is considered anti-social behaviour and he is issued with a community protection warning that will stay in place for 12 months.

This restricts the areas where he can go and he could face criminal action if he continues to go into them.

It is legal in the UK for a person to buy sexual services or be a sex worker. But associated activities such as kerb crawling, having sex in public and a sex worker loitering in a street or public place are illegal.

While some police forces still target women for loitering, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) now recommends not criminalising the women – who are often vulnerable – and instead targeting the men.

This is the idea behind Op Boss, which has been running for 15 years in Bristol and was an early adopter of the NPCC’s Nordic Model approach to policing sex work.

“We go out about 10 police officers in plain clothes under a directed surveillance authority,” explains Rose Brown, an Avon and Somerset Police sex work liaison officer.

“We have someone who’s monitoring what’s going on in the red-light area from CCTV and we primarily take the Nordic approach – so we look to safeguard the women and disrupt the men who are coming into the area to purchase sex.”

In an 18-month period, 145 offences have been dealt with by the Op Boss team.

More than 1,000 men have been sent on a course to prevent reoffending and to learn about the women’s vulnerabilities since Op Boss started.

Across an eight-month period we spent seven shifts with the Op Boss and Night Light teams and encountered men of all ages from all walks of life.

On another night with the team, we were alerted to a man on a bike spotted talking to a sex worker before heading towards some trees on the edge of a park.

In keeping with the project, the officers spoke to the woman who was then free to go – and they instead targeted the man.

It was clear he was pretty shaken by what happened and told me: “I wonder what I’d done wrong.”

He was adamant he didn’t realise the woman was a sex worker – although the woman told police that a sexual service had been agreed, before he changed his mind.

He was issued with a community protection warning for anti-social behaviour and said he wouldn’t be returning to the area any time soon.

And it’s not just men on their own out on the prowl.

On one of the shifts the team was alerted to a group of three men, seen talking to a sex worker who then got into their car.

By the time we arrived, the car was steaming up.

It turned out to be three university students – one had agreed to pay for sex, encouraged by his two friends.

Siggi explained it was not uncommon to come across students buying sex.

This tactic of disrupting and criminalising the men though is not how all police forces work.

“Avon and Somerset have been sort of the national lead in relation to taking a safeguarding approach to the women,” Rose said.

“And our relationship has really come on leaps and bounds with the women.”

Before every patrol, the Op Boss and Night Light teams have a briefing at the station. They also pack warm clothes, hot drinks and food.

These, as well as other supplies like condoms, rape alarms and other safety devices, will be given out to the sex workers the team talk to while on patrol.

The Night Light team is a collaboration between the police, children’s charity Barnardo’s and the city council.

Working alongside Op Boss, Night Light offers support and seeks information from the street workers about any young people at risk.

Travelling around the city with Night Light’s Rose and Jo Ritchie, a Barnardo’s social worker, the trust between the team and the women is clear to see.

Not long into a shift we encounter a woman on a street corner.

She tells Rose and Jo about a man who has been talking about raping children in Thailand and they ask for his description.

It is these insights and intelligence that are helping the project’s success.

Jo and Rose offer another woman a drink and ask her if she has seen any children on the street.

“If I’ve seen young ones, I will tell you because you know… When I was like about 13, 14, I was out here. I shouldn’t have been. I was underage and it shouldn’t have happened,” she says.

The woman’s experience is shared by many.

“Time and time again, we hear them say, ‘I wish this had been running when I was a kid, because perhaps I wouldn’t be out here now’,” Jo tells us.

I ask Jo and Rose how they’ve worked on building trust over time, particularly when the relationship between street sex workers and the police has been difficult in the past.

“I think probably it’s because it’s consistent faces going out and they trust us,” Rose explains.

“This project’s really helped to break down those barriers.”

Dan Vajzovic, the NPCC lead for the policing of sex work, says Avon and Somerset’s work is “exemplary”.

“We’re trying to develop an approach that recognises the vulnerability of many of the women who sell sex on the streets… and target serious criminals as well as improving the safety of sex workers.

“The success in Bristol speaks for itself and it would be great to see this replicated across all forces in England and Wales.”

Representatives from a number of other police forces have been out with the teams in Bristol in the hope of setting up similar approaches to Op Boss and Night Light.

And at a time when there’s been such a spotlight on violence against women and girls and how to tackle it, it couldn’t be more timely.

When 68 million Filipinos head to the polls on Monday, Sara Duterte’s name will not be on the ballot.

But the results of the election, which includes 12 senate races, will have a huge impact on her political future.

They will affect both her role as the Philippines’ current vice-president and any hopes she might have of running for the country’s presidency one day, as she faces the prospect of a ban from politics – decided by lawmakers in the Senate.

The 46-year-old is the eldest daughter of the Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte. She trained as a lawyer before entering politics in 2007, when she was elected as her father’s vice-mayor in their family’s hometown Davao.

Rodrigo Duterte has described her as the “alpha” character of the family, who always gets her way.

The younger Duterte was previously filmed punching a court official in the face after he refused her request, leading one local news outlet to bestow the nickname of “the slugger” upon her.

She and her father are known to share similar traits, as well as a shared passion for riding big motorbikes.

As one cable from the US embassy in Manila in 2009, leaked by Wikileaks, described her: “A tough-minded individual who, like her father, is difficult to engage.”

In 2010, she succeeded her father to become the first female mayor of Davao. But it was only in 2021 that she decided to make her way to national politics.

The next year she ran on a joint ticket with the scion of another political dynasty – Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He was going for the top job, with Duterte as his deputy.

The assumption was that she would then be in a prime position to contest the next presidential election in 2028, as presidents are limited only to one six-year term in the Philippines.

The strategy proved effective and the duo won by a landslide.

But then it quickly started to unravel.

Cracks started to emerge in their alliance even before the euphoria of their election win faded. Duterte publicly expressed her preference to be defence secretary but she was instead handed the education portfolio.

The House of Representatives soon after scrutinised Duterte’s request for confidential funds – millions of pesos that she could spend without stringent documentation.

Then, Rodrigo Duterte spoke at a late night rally, accusing President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos of being a junkie and a weak leader.

Soon after, First Lady Liza Marcos snubbed Sara Duterte at an event, in full view of news cameras. She admitted that it was intentional, saying Duterte should not have stayed silent in the background while her father accused the president of drug use.

After Duterte resigned from the cabinet in July last year, her language became increasingly inflammatory.

She said she had “talked to someone” to “go kill” Marcos, his wife and his cousin, who is also the speaker of the House. She also told reporters her relationship with Marcos had become toxic and she dreamed of cutting off his head.

Such remarks are shocking for someone who is not acquainted with Philippine politics. But Duterte’s strong personality has only endeared her to the public and she remains popular in the south, as well as among the millions of overseas Filipino workers.

But in February this year, lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted to impeach Duterte, accusing her of misusing public funds and threatening to have President Marcos assassinated.

She will be tried by the Senate and, if found guilty, removed from office and banned from running in future elections.

Duterte has denied the charges and alleges she is the victim of a political vendetta.

But whether or not she will be impeached hinges a lot on the upcoming election – and the composition of the Senate thereafter.

For her to be impeached, two-thirds of the Senate would need to vote for this. The make-up of the upcoming Senate will be determined in Monday’s election, with both Marcos and Duterte backing competing candidates.

For Durterte, the election will also be a barometer of support for her family, and whether she can capitalise on this for her presidential run in 2028.

But for now, her fate hangs in the balance.

Rohit Sharma’s abrupt retirement from Test cricket has jolted Indian fans, leaving the team without its captain and most seasoned opener just weeks before a pivotal five-Test series starts in England.

India haven’t won a Test rubber in England since 2007. To lose their captain and most experienced opening batter will compel a rethink of selection strategy for the tour.

A charismatic leader and dashing batter, Sharma is widely regarded as a modern day great.

His stats in Test cricket – 4,301 runs in 67 matches at an average of 40.57 are not imposing.

But the aplomb and authority, tactical acumen and lead-from-the-front derring-do which he has displayed has won him admiration and respect all over the cricket world.

Sharma’s decision to retire from Test cricket, announced via a subdued Instagram post, has sparked widespread speculation. While various factors may have influenced his choice, his prolonged slump in Test form appears to be the primary catalyst.

In his last six Tests – three against New Zealand at home, three against Australia Down Under – Sharma’s form was woeful. In 10 innings in these matches, he could muster a paltry 122 runs.

To compound the problem, India lost all these Tests. Being whitewashed by New Zealand 3-0 at home – unprecedented in Indian cricket – put Sharma under harsh scrutiny in the ensuing Border-Gavaskar series in which too he found no relief. He took the laudable, but extreme step of dropping himself from the playing XI for the last Test at Sydney.

Since then, India won the ODI Champions Trophy in which Sharma’s form was impressive.

The first few weeks of the ongoing IPL were disappointing but Sharma rediscovered his touch, playing important knocks to put his team Mumbai Indians strongly in the running for a place in the knockouts. But success in white-ball cricket is not necessarily an index to similar form being replicated in red-ball cricket.

Sharma is 38. His recent Test form has been ungratifying. The next World Test Championship cycle would take two years to complete. Did he have the physical wherewithal, the mental bandwidth, motivation and mojo to continue playing Test cricket? Questions he likely asked himself before calling it quits.

Sharma was the first among a clutch of talented batters emerging from the Under-19 pipeline in the first decade of this century.

The others were Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. These four were to take over the mantle of India’s batting responsibility from Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag.

Ironically, while Sharma got the India cap first, in an ODI against Ireland in 2007, he was the last among this quartet to play Test cricket.

He was part of MS Dhoni’s team which won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, but a Test place, which came relatively easily to Kohli, Pujara, Dhawan and Rahane, eluded him until Tendulkar’s farewell series in 2013.

On debut at the Eden Gardens, Sharma made 177. In Tendulkar’s swan song next match at the Wankhede, he made 111. These centuries were obscured by the overflowing of sentiment for Tendulkar, but Sharma’s sublime skills, which often raised batsmanship to an art form, was not lost on experts.

Ravi Shastri, who was to have a huge influence on his Test career later by making him opener, likened him to a “Swiss Watch” for the precision timing in his strokeplay. Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captain who spotted him for India, highlights his ability to play late which helps in judging length of the ball quicker and better and also enables improvisation.

The style and finesse which made the likes of VVS Laxman and Mark Waugh so wonderful to watch were manifest in Sharma’s batting from his earliest days as Test player.

Weaned on the “Bombay School” of batting which boasts exemplars of orthodox technique like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, Sharma’s batting carries that strain.

But growing up in a post-modern milieu when risk-taking has become fundamental to batting in every format, Sharma shifted into higher gears far quicker, often from the start in Tests too once he was secure of his place.

He did not exhibit the bravado of a Sehwag, but when in full flow, he has often shown up the destructive ability of Viv Richards, especially when playing horizontal bat shots like hook, pull and cut.

It was not until 2019, when the then chief coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli coaxed and cajoled him to open the innings that Sharma’s career in red-ball cricket bloomed.

By this time, he had smashed three ODI double centuries – apart from a spate of match-winning scores in T20 – establishing him as a Goliath in white-ball cricket.

When he became India captain in 2021, Sharma set his sights on bagging a hat-trick of ICC trophies, and recast the team’s playing strategy for each format accordingly.

A genial, fun-loving bearing, marked by endearing earthiness helped him bond with his players easily and strongly. But he was no lax or loose on the field. He was astute, perceptive, intuitive in reading match situations, and particularly good in handling bowlers.

Five IPL titles for Mumbai Indians bespoke his leadership credentials even before he got the job for the national team.

Under Sharma, India reached the World Test Championship final in 2023, only to lose to Australia.

In the ODI World Cup the same year, his blazing batting as opener, and his strategy of “total attack” in which the batsmen would go after runs unrelentingly, took India into to the final where their dreams were dashed by an inspired Australian side. Winning the T20 World Cup a few months later, was some recompense, but not complete redemption.

It is pertinent that Sharma, who quit T20 cricket after winning the World Cup last year, hasn’t retired from ODI cricket yet.

Not being part of an ODI World Cup winning team has been festering in him since 2011 when he was not selected in the squad under Dhoni that was to bring India glory after 28 years.

In an interview with podcaster Vimal Kumar released a few days back, he said that his desire to be part of an ODI World Cup winning team remains alive.

The next ODI World Cup is in 2027. Whether Sharma can sustain fitness and form over the two years will be followed with interest in the cricket world.

But that is hardly the concern of India’s selectors. Right now, their worry is to find an opener and a captain to step into Sharma’s big boots.