Palestinians in Gaza say they were fired on once again as they headed to one of the aid distribution centres run by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Monday.

Witnesses said that for the first time they were fired on by Palestinian gunmen near the GHF site in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah, in the south. They also said Israeli troops fired on them.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said six people were killed and 99 injured from areas designated for aid collection.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

The GHF said the Tal al-Sultan site did not open on Monday and that there were no incidents at two other sites which did hand out aid.

It comes days after Israel’s prime minister acknowledged that it was arming Palestinian clans in Gaza who were opposed to Hamas.

Almost every day since the GHF began distributing aid on 26 May, there have been deadly incidents near one or other of the four centres it has so far opened.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while approaching one site in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah on a route that runs through an Israeli military zone.

In the previous incidents, witnesses have said that Israeli forces opened fire at crowds. The Israeli military has denied that troops fired at civilians within the site, but it has said that troops fired at “suspects” who ignored warning shots and approached them.

In Monday’s incident, people at the scene said that Palestinian gunmen shot at them, as well as Israeli forces.

They said the gunmen appeared to be allied with the Israeli forces, as they were operating near them and moved back into an Israeli military zone.

One witness told BBC Arabic’s Middle East daily programme that he saw a group of young men dressed in civilian clothes and with their faces completely covered when he arrived in the area to get a box of food aid from the GHF site.

“At first, we thought they might be Palestinian youths helping with the process, but suddenly, they began shooting at us,” Hisham Saeed Salem said.

“Even those who managed to get a box of aid were targeted and shot. We still don’t know who these attackers are. They took everything from us – some even stole from us during the chaos,” he added.

Another man, Mohammed Sakout, said: “Several young men were shot and killed right behind me. I narrowly escaped death – some bullets passed just inches from my head.”

“At first, it was the Israeli army that was shooting at civilians. But today, we were shocked to discover the presence of gangs and militias,” he added.

At Nasser hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis, a seriously injured man being treated for a gunshot wound to his neck, Mohammed Kabaga, told the Associated Press: “A group of masked armed men who were organising us starting firing towards us directly.”

“We went to get aid. They said to stand in line. We stood in line and suddenly they started shooting at us. While I was standing, I was surprised when a bullet hit me, I got dizzy and fell down,” he said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC that it was looking into the reports.

The GHF said in a statement that it opened two sites on Monday in the Saudi neighbourhood of Rafah and Wadi Gaza, in the centre of the Strip, and that “aid distribution at both sites proceeded without incident”.

When asked by the BBC about the reports from Tal al-Sultan, a GHF spokesperson said there was “nothing around our sites”.

However, a post on the group’s Facebook account did say on Monday afternoon that the Tal al-Sultan centre was closed due to the “chaos of the crowds”.

The GHF’s interim executive director, John Acree, said it had delivered more than 11 million meals over the past two weeks “without an injury or major incident at our distribution sites”.

Gaza’s health ministry said hospitals had received a total of 127 dead and 1,287 injured people from “areas designated for aid distribution” during the same period.

The GHF, which uses US private security contractors, aims to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to Palestinians.

The UN and other aid groups refuse to co-operate with the new system, saying it contravenes the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence.

They also warn that Gaza’s 2.1 million population faces catastrophic levels of hunger after an almost three-month total Israeli blockade that was partially eased three weeks ago.

The US and Israel say the GHF’s system will prevent aid being stolen by Hamas, which the group denies doing.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,927 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Israel says it has begun to deport 12 pro-Palestinian activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, whose Gaza-bound aid boat was seized by Israeli forces in the Mediterranean on Monday.

The Israeli foreign ministry said Thunberg departed Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning on a flight to France after she agreed to be deported.

But France said five of the six French activists had refused to sign their deportation orders and would now be brought before an Israeli judicial authority.

Their yacht, the Madleen, was intercepted while they tried to deliver a “symbolic” amount of aid to Gaza in defiance of Israel’s naval blockade to highlight the humanitarian crisis there.

The Israeli foreign ministry dismissed it as a “selfie yacht”, and announced on Monday night that the activists had been transferred to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport following their arrival at the port of Ashdod on Monday night.

“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation,” it said in a post on X.

On Tuesday morning, the ministry said Greta Thunberg had “just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France)”, and posted a photo of her sitting on a plane.

France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, earlier wrote on X: “Our consul was able to see the six French nationals arrested by the Israeli authorities last night.”

“One of them has agreed to leave voluntarily and should return today. The other five will be subject to forced deportation proceedings.”

Barrot did not identify them, but the six French citizens include MEP Rima Hassan and Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad.

As well as France and Sweden, citizens of Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey were on board the Madleen.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the activist group operating the yacht, said in a statement on Monday night that it expected any of the passengers who refused the deportation orders to be transferred to Ramle prison, near Tel Aviv.

“We continue to demand the immediate release of all volunteers and the return of the stolen aid. Their kidnapping is unlawful and a violation of international law,” it added.

The FFC said the Madleen was carrying baby formula, food, medicine.

The boat set sail from Italy on 1 June to raise awareness of starvation conditions in Gaza and deliver aid.

Israel says its blockade on Gaza is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas fighters there.

On Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would act against any attempt to breach the blockade.

The FFC has argued that the sea blockade is illegal, characterising Katz’s statement as an example of Israel threatening the unlawful use of force against civilians and “attempting to justify that violence with smears”.

In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists when they boarded the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was leading an aid flotilla towards Gaza.

Israel recently began to allow limited aid into Gaza after a three-month land blockade, prioritising distribution through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by Israel and the US but widely condemned by humanitarian groups.

In a post on X early on Monday, the Israeli foreign ministry said: “While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity – and which included less than a single truckload of aid – more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.

“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip – they do not involve Instagram selfies.”

It is 20 months since Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,880 people have been killed in Gaza since, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Two members of K-pop powerhouse BTS have completed their mandatory military service, prompting fan frenzy and anticipation for their comeback.

RM and V greeted fans with salutes and a saxophone performance after being discharged on Tuesday. V asked fans to “wait just a little longer” for BTS to reunite.

All seven members are set to finish their military service by the end of this month and their agency Hybe had hinted at a reunion. They went on hiatus in 2022 at the height of their global fame.

Hundreds of fans, some whom flew in from overseas, gathered in front of Hybe’s headquarters in central Seoul to celebrate RM’s and V’s return on Tuesday.

Many of them were dressed in purple, BTS’ signature colour, and carried large banners and photographs of the two K-pop idols.

South Korea requires all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 to serve for about two years in the military so the country can be ready to fight the North.

On Tuesday, Hybe displayed a banner saying “We are back”, along with the official logos of BTS and ARMY – an acronym for the band’s fan group, which stands for Adorable Representative MC for Youth – on its building.

“This feels incredible. To be here in Seoul, to see the place where BTS grew up and started singing and dancing. It’s amazing,” Janya, who flew in from the UK, told The Korea Herald.

“I want to say to RM and V that you are a massive inspiration, and I love you so much!” the 28-year-old said.

“It’s been a long, long time without you. I’m so glad you’re back and finally free to do whatever you want to do,” said Ivory from Australia.

Hannah Chung, who lives in London, told AFP news agency that she planned her trip two years ago “because I knew the members will be out by then”.

She is counting on a chance to see the band at the annual BTS Festa, a celebration of the band’s debut, that will take place on Friday.

Earlier during their discharge in Chuncheon, RM thanked fans for waiting for them to complete their national duties.

“Now, I’m ready to hit the ground running again as RM of BTS. Thank you to everyone who waited and looked after us,” he said.

V said the military tenure was a “time for me to reset both physically and mentally”.

“I really want to run to ARMY as soon as I can. Thank you for waiting for us during our military service,” he said.

The septet debuted in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2017 when a highly successful US tour propelled their blend of pop, hip-hop and R&B – mostly in Korean – onto the global stage.

Since then, they have become the most-streamed group on Spotify, the first K-pop act to top the US iTunes chart and several Billboard charts, and one of the most awarded groups in history.

The band’s name is short for Bangtan Boys, or “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean.

BTS has actively advocated for youth issues, including through a mental health initiative with Unicef.

It has also addressed the United Nations General Assembly and met with former US President Joe Biden to discuss the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.

The band had previously won a deferral – when in 2020, the nation’s parliament passed a bill allowing them to delay their duties until the age of 30.

In 2022, the oldest member of the group, Jin, enlisted, and the others followed suit.

In China, they call it the Seagull, and it has looks to match. It is sleek and angular, with bright, downward-slanting headlights that have more than a hint of mischievous eyes about them.

It is, of course, a car. A very small one, designed as a cheap city runabout – but it could have huge significance. Available in China since 2023, where it has proved extremely popular, it has just been launched in Europe with the name Dolphin Surf (because Europeans apparently aren’t as keen on seagulls as Chinese people).

When it goes on sale in the UK this week, it’s expected to have a price tag of around £18,000. That will still make it, for an electric car on western markets, very cheap indeed.

It won’t be the outright lowest-priced model on offer: the Dacia Spring, manufactured in Wuhan jointly by Renault and Dongfeng, and the Leapmotor T03, which is being produced by a joint venture between Chinese startup Leapmotor and Stellantis, both cost less.

But the Dolphin Surf is the new arrival that has long-established brands most worried. That is because the company behind it has been making ever bigger waves on international markets.

BYD is already the biggest player in China. It overtook Tesla in 2024 to become the world’s best-selling maker of electric vehicles (EVs), and since entering the European markets two years ago, it has expanded aggressively.

“We want to be number one in the British market within 10 years,” says Steve Beattie, sales and marketing director for BYD UK.

BYD is part of a wider expansion of Chinese companies and brands that some believe could change the face of the global motor industry – and which has already prompted radical action from the US government and the EU.

It means once-unknown marques like Nio, Xpeng, Zeekr or Omoda could become every bit as much household names as Ford or Volkswagen. They will join classic brands such as MG, Volvo and Lotus, which have been under Chinese ownership for years.

The products on offer already encompass a huge range, from runabouts like the tiny Dolphin Surf to exotic supercars, like the pothole-jumping U9, from BYD’s high-end sub-brand Yangwang.

“Chinese brands are making massive inroads into the European market,” says David Bailey, professor of business and economics at Birmingham Business School.

In 2024, 17 million battery and plug-in hybrid cars were sold worldwide, 11 million of those in China. Chinese brands, meanwhile, had 10% of global EV and plug-in hybrid sales outside their home country, according to the consultancy Rho Motion. That figure is only expected to grow.

For consumers, it should be good news – leading to more high-quality and affordable electric cars becoming available. But with rivalry between Beijing and western powers showing no sign of subsiding, some experts are concerned Chinese vehicles could represent a security risk from hackers and third parties. And for established players in Europe, it represents a formidable challenge to their historic dominance.

“[China has] a huge cost advantage through economies of scale and battery technology. European manufacturers have fallen well behind,” warns Mr Bailey.

“Unless they wake up very quickly and catch up, they could be wiped out.”

China’s car industry has been developing rapidly since the country joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001. But that process accelerated rapidly in 2015, when the Communist Party introduced its “Made in China 2025” initiative. The 10-year plan to make the country a leader in several high-tech industries, including EVs, attracted intense criticism from abroad, and particularly the US, amid claims of forced technology transfers and theft of intellectual property – all of which the Chinese government denies.

Fuelled by lavish state funding, the plan helped lay the groundwork for the breakneck growth of companies like BYD – originally a maker of batteries for mobile phones – and allowed the Chinese parent companies of MG and Volvo, SAIC and Geely, to become major players in the EV market.

“The general standard of Chinese cars is very, very high indeed,” says Dan Caesar, chief executive of Electric Vehicles UK.

“China has learned extremely quickly how to manufacture cars.”

Yet competition in China has become ever more cut-throat, with brands jostling for space in an increasingly saturated market. This has led them to hunt for sales elsewhere.

While Chinese firms have expanded into East Asia and South America, for years the European market proved a tough nut to crack – that is, until governments here decided to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel models.

The transition to electric cars opened the door to new players.

“[Chinese brands] have seen an opportunity to get a bit of a foothold,” says Oliver Lowe, UK product manager of Omoda and Jaecoo, two sub brands of the Chinese giant Chery.

Low labour costs in China, coupled with government subsidies and a very well-established supply chain, have given Chinese firms advantages, their rivals have claimed. A report from the Swiss bank UBS, published in late 2023, suggested that BYD alone was able to build cars 25% more cheaply than western competitors.

Chinese firms deny the playing field is uneven. Xpeng’s vice chairman Brian Gu told the BBC at the Paris Motor Show in 2024 that his company is competitive “because we have fought tooth and nail through the most competitive market in the world”.

Concerns that Chinese EV imports could flood international markets at the expense of established manufacturers reached fever pitch in 2024.

In the US, the Alliance for American Manufacturing warned they could prove to be an “extinction-level event” for the US industry, while the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen suggested that “huge state subsidies” for Chinese firms were distorting the European market.

The Biden administration took dramatic action, raising import tariffs on Chinese-made EVs from 25% to 100%, effectively making it pointless to sell them in the US.

It was condemned by Beijing as “naked protectionism”.

Meanwhile, in October 2024, the EU imposed extra tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese-made EVs. The UK, however, took no action.

Matthias Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Automotive Research, says the EU’s tariffs have now made it harder for Chinese firms to gain market share.

“The door was wide open in 2024… but the Chinese failed to take their chance. With the tariffs in place, Chinese manufacturers are now unable to push their cost advantage onto European consumers.”

European manufacturers have been racing to develop their own affordable electric cars. French car-maker Renault is among them.

At its factory in Douai, in northeastern France, an army of spark-spitting robots weld sections of steel to form car bodies, while on the main assembly line, automated systems mate together bodyshells, doors, batteries, motors and other parts, before human workers apply the finishing touches.

The factory has been making cars for Renault since 1974, but four years ago, the ageing production lines were replaced with new highly automated, digitally-controlled systems.

Part of the site was also taken over by the Chinese-owned battery firm AESC, which built its own “gigafactory” next door.

It’s part of Renault’s wider plan to set up an ultra-modern EV “hub” in northern France. Mirroring the lean production techniques of Chinese manufacturers, the hub cuts costs by maximising efficiency and ensuring that suppliers are located as close as possible.

“Our target was to be able to produce affordable electric cars here to sell in Europe,” explains Pierre Andrieux, director of the Douai plant, arguing that automated processes “will enable us to do that profitably”.

But the company is also exploiting something the Chinese brands do not have: heritage. Its latest model, the Renault 5 E-tech, built in Douai, borrows its name from one of the company’s most famous products.

The original Renault 5, launched in 1972, was a quirky little everyman car with boxy looks and low running costs that became a cult classic.

The new design, despite being a state-of-the art EV, pays homage to its predecessor in name and appearance, in an effort to emulate its popular appeal.

But irrespective of how desirable Chinese cars are in comparison with European rivals, some experts believe we should be wary of them – for security reasons.

Most modern vehicles are internet-enabled in some way – to allow satellite navigation, for example – and drivers’ phones are often connected to car systems. Pioneered by Tesla, so-called “over-the-air updates” can upgrade a car’s software remotely.

This has all led to concerns, in some quarters, that cars could be hacked and used to harbour spyware, monitor individuals or even be immobilised at the touch of a keyboard.

Earlier this year, a British newspaper reported that military and intelligence chiefs had been ordered not to discuss official business while riding in EVs; it was also alleged that cars with Chinese components had been banned from sensitive military sites.

Then in May, a former head of the intelligence service MI6 claimed that Chinese-made technology in a range of products, including cars, could be controlled and programmed remotely. Sir Richard Dearlove warned MPs that there was the potential to “immobilise London”.

Beijing has always denied all accusations of espionage.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London says that the recent allegations are “entirely unfounded and absurd”.

“China has consistently advocated the secure, open, and rules-based development of global supply chains,” the spokesperson told the BBC. “Chinese enterprises operating around the world are required to comply with local laws and regulations.

“To date, there is no credible evidence to support the claim that Chinese EVs pose a security threat to the UK or any other country.”

Joseph Jarnecki, research fellow at defence and security think-tank The Royal United Services Institute, argues that potential risks can be mitigated.

“Chinese carmakers exist in this highly competitive market. While they’re beholden to Chinese law and that may require compliance with national security agencies, none of them want to damage their ability to grow and to have international exports by being perceived as a security risk,” he says.

“The Chinese government equally is conscious of the need for economic growth. They’re not hell-bent on solely conducting surveillance.”

But the car industry is just one area in which Chinese technology is becoming increasingly enmeshed in the UK economy. To achieve the government’s climate objectives, for instance, “It will be necessary to use Chinese-supplied technology”, adds Mr Jarnecki.

He believes that regulators of key industries should be given sufficient resources to monitor cyber security and advise companies using Chinese products of any potential issues.

As for electric cars powered by Chinese technology, there’s no question that they’re here to stay.

“Even if you have a car that’s made in Germany or elsewhere, it probably contains quite a few Chinese components,” says Dan Caesar.

“The reality is most of us have smartphones and things from China, from the US, from Korea, without really giving it a second thought. So I do think there’s some fearmongering going on about what the Chinese are capable of.

“I think we have to face the reality that China is going to be a big part of the future.”

India’s Coast Guard is continuing efforts to douse a fire on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship in the Arabian Sea near the coast of the southern state of Kerala.

MV Wan Hai 503, which was heading to India’s Mumbai city from Sri Lanka’s Colombo, reported an internal container explosion on Monday, resulting in a major fire on board.

Eighteen crew members have been rescued, while four are still missing. Singapore has sent a team to assist in the rescue efforts.

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has issued an alert for the coast of Kerala due to potential oil spill and debris from the ship .

Footage on Tuesday showed MV Wan Hai 503 emitting large plumes of smoke as the Indian Navy and Coast Guard tried to extinguish the fire onboard.

The Coast Guard said fires and explosions continued to be seen on the ship.

In a search and rescue operation carried out on Monday, 18 of the ship’s 22 crew members were rescued and brought ashore where some of them are being treated for injuries.

The crew members had abandoned the ship when the fire broke out and left on a boat after which they were rescued by the Navy, India’s defence ministry said.

The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said four crew members are still missing – two of them are from Taiwan, one from Myanmar and one from Indonesia. The MPA said that it has sent a team to help with the rescue.

Kerala Ports Minister VN Vasavan said that 50 containers from the ship had fallen into the sea.

The ship was carrying 100 tonnes of bunker oil, Mathrubhumi News reported. Containers that fell from it were drifting along the coast of Kerala, INCOIS told Manorama News, and could drift towards its coastline in the next three days.

This is the second such incident in three weeks near the Kerala coast. Last month, a Liberian-flagged vessel carrying oil and hazardous cargo leaked and sank in the Arabian Sea, sparking fears that harmful substances could endanger the health of residents and marine life.

The state government then banned fishing within a 20-nautical mile radius of the shipwreck and announced compensation for families from fishing communities in four affected districts.

Kerala’s coastal stretch is rich in biodiversity and the state is also an important tourist destination.

A South Korean court has fined a woman for sexual misconduct after she pulled down a colleague’s trousers – and his underwear, by accident – in front of their colleagues, local media reported.

On top of the 2.8 million won ($2,100; £1,500) fine, the woman in her 50s has also been ordered to complete eight hours of sexual violence prevention education.

The incident reportedly happened last October at a restaurant kitchen in Gangwon province in the north-east.

The Chuncheon District Court’s ruling on Saturday rejected the woman’s claim that she had intended it to be a prank on her colleague, who is in his 20s.

But the court said it was taking into account the fact that she had no prior criminal record and had shown remorse. She had knelt down to apologise to the man and his parents, the judge said.

“It seems like they punished a simple prank too harshly,” says one comment under the Chosun Daily’s report of the case.

But another reader argues, “The fine is not excessive at all. Why are you playing this kind of prank? Does this look like a prank to you?”

Pulling down someone’s trousers, which could include underwear – “pantsing” or “debagging” as it’s known – is often seen as a common practical joke despite criticism that it is a form of bullying.

Pantsing has long been used as a comic routine on variety shows and reality TV in South Korea.

But it has got people in trouble as well. In 2019, South Korean Olympic short track speed skating champion Lim Hyo-jun was suspended for a year after he pulled down a male teammate’s trousers in front of other female skaters.

And in 2021, a group of elementary school students in North Jeolla Province were investigated for bullying a younger boy at a playground, after the victim’s mother told police that they had pulled her son’s pants down.

Russia has launched one of its largest strikes on Kyiv, injuring four people and causing widespread damage across seven of the capital’s ten districts, officials said.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched 315 drones overnight across the country.

Further south in the port city of Odesa, two people were killed after drone attacks hit residential buildings and medical facilities, including a maternity ward, officials said. Zelensky later said 13 people had also been injured there.

The overnight attack was “one of the largest strikes on Kyiv”, Zelensky said on social media.

Witnesses said they heard loud explosions across the city, and pictures showed the night sky lit in orange and heavy smoke rising from buildings.

Elsewhere in the country, the Dnipro region and Chernihiv region were also targeted, Zelensky said.

He said two of the seven missiles fired in the overnight strikes were “ballistics of North Korean production.”

Zelensky said “for yet another night, instead of a ceasefire, there were massive strikes”.

Ukraine also launched drone attacks on Russia overnight, causing several airports to close temporarily.

The latest strikes come after massive Russian attacks across Ukraine in the past few days. Moscow said those strikes were in response to Ukraine’s recent attacks inside Russia.

A covert Ukrainian drone strike named “Operation Spider’s Web” struck air bases deep inside Russia on 1 June. Russian leader Vladimir Putin had promised to respond “very strongly” to the attacks in a call with US President Donald Trump, according to the American leader.

During the attack early on Tuesday, air raid alerts were in place across large parts of Ukraine, the country’s official air raid map showed, including in Kyiv and the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions in the east.

“Stay in shelters! The massive attack on the capital continues,” Kyiv Mayor Klitschko warned on Telegram.

The head of Kyiv’s military administration Timur Tkachenko said on Telegram that the attacks on various districts happened “simultaneously”.

Debris from “downed targets” fell on several different buildings across the city and fires broke out at a residential building and in warehouses, he added.

The attacks “terrorised” the city and it was “a difficult night for all of us,” the head of Kyiv’s military district, Timur Tkachenko, said.

In Odesa, Governer Kiper said patients and staff managed to evacuate the medical station and maternity ward that were targeted, while ambulances were damaged.

Those that were injured were receiving medical assistance, he added.

This attack follows the start of a prisoner swap on Monday. The swap will see sick and seriously injured prisoners of war, those under the age of 25 and the bodies of 12,000 soldiers returned.

Zelensky said the exchange would unfold “in several stages”, describing it as a “complicated” process with “many sensitive details”.

Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Kendrick Lamar stole the show at the BET Awards in Los Angeles, which celebrate black actors, singers and sports stars, winning five out of his 10 nominations including best album, video and male hip-hop artist.

The rapper won best album for GNX and best video for Not Like Us, while he and filmmaker Dave Free also took home the prize for video director of the year.

Lamar said at the awards, which were hosted by Kevin Hart: “BET has always made sure they’re representing the culture right and always put me in the midst of the cycle of what we represent.”

Rapper Doechii, who won best female hip-hop artist, used her moment on stage to lambast US President Donald Trump for “using military forces to stop protest” in LA, where US Marines and the National Guard are being deployed.

Demonstrations began on Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in heavily Latino parts of the city, by the federal agency that identifies people in the US illegally and carries out arrests and deportations.

Doechii added: “I want y’all to consider what kind of government it appears to be, when every time we exercise our democratic rights to protest, the military is deployed against us.”

Last year’s BET hip-hop awards were also dominated by Lamar, where he won eight out of 11 nominations.

Ultimate icon awards, for achievement in music, entertainment, advocacy and community impact, were also handed out to musicians Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg and Kirk Franklin, along with actor Jamie Foxx.

Foxx accepted his award from Stevie Wonder, and spoke about his recovery after having a stroke in 2023.

“I gotta be honest, when I saw the in memoriam [segment], I was like, ‘Man, that could have been me’,” he said.

Carey, who also performed at the awards, was given hers by Busta Rhymes, and said: “This means so much. If you’re gonna get one, might as well start with the Ultimate Icon Award.

“My life and career have been quite the adventure. I will spare you the long, drawn-out saga tonight,” she added, as she praised her fellow icon winners.

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo won best actress, having also been nominated for the BET Her award – which recognises empowering songs that focus on women – for her stellar version of Defying Gravity. Gladiator II’s veteran star Denzel Washington won best actor.

The ceremony also featured R&B artist Ashanti’s compilation of songs, including her 2002 hit Foolish, while Lil Kim performed Left Eye (Remix) with Honey Bxby.

Other performers included Jim Jones, Amerie, Keyshia Cole, Mya, TI, B2K and Bow Wow with Jermaine Dupri.

Here is the list of winners in full:

• Best female R&B/pop artist – SZA
• Best male R&B/pop artist – Chris Brown
• Best group – Future & Metro Boomin
• Best collaboration – Luther – Kendrick Lamar and SZA
• Best male hip hop artist – Kendrick Lamar
• Best Female hip hop artist – Doechii
• Video of the year – Not Like Us – Kendrick Lamar
• Video director of the year – Dave Free and Kendrick Lamar
• Best new artist – Leon Thomas
• Album of the year – GNX – Kendrick Lamar
• Dr Bobby Jones best gospel/inspirational award – Rain Down on Me – GloRilla feat. Kirk Franklin, Maverick City Music
• Best actress – Cynthia Erivo
• Best actor – Denzel Washington
• Best movie – Luther: Never Too Much
• YoungStars award – Blue Ivy Carter
• Sportswoman of the year – Angel Reese (basketball)
• Sportsman of the year – Jalen Hurts (football)
• BET Her award – Heart of a Woman – Summer Walker

Israeli navy ships have struck targets in the port city of Hudaydah in Houthi-controlled Yemen.

The Israeli military said in a statement the strikes were carried out in response to Houthi missiles targeting Israel and were aimed at stopping the use of the port for “military purposes”.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Images posted on social media showed black plumes of smoke rising from the port, with Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reporting two separate strikes.

The Houthis have regularly launched missiles at Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. On Thursday, a Houthi missile was intercepted above Jerusalem, while last month one hit the grounds of Israel’s main airport.

The strikes on Hudaydah, which unusually were carried out by navy ships rather than aircraft, were conducted in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) earlier issued evacuation warnings to all those present in Hudaydah port, as well the other Houthi-controlled ports of Ras Isa and Salif.

“Due to the terrorist Houthi regime’s use of seaports for its terrorist activities, we urge all those present at these ports to evacuate and stay away from them for your own safety until further notice,” IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

Nasruddin Amer, the deputy head of the Houthis’ media office, wrote on X that the attack had no significant impact on the group’s operations.

“It has no effect even on the morale of our people, who take to the streets weekly … in support of Gaza,” he wrote.

Hudaydah port, which is the main entry point for food and other humanitarian aid for millions of Yemenis, has been the target of several Israeli strikes in the past year.

Last month, one person was killed in an Israeli strike, the Houthi-run health ministry said in a statement at the time. Israeli officials said the strike would put the port out of action for around a month.

The Iran-backed Houthi group has controlled much of north-western Yemen since 2014, when they ousted the internationally-recognised government from the capital, Sanaa, and sparked a devastating civil war.

The Houthis began attacking ships passing through the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza after the Israeli military launched an offensive there in response to the Palestinian armed group Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023.

From November 2023, the Houthis launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial ships – sinking two vessels, seizing a third and killing four crew members.

The attacks forced even major shipping companies to stop using the Red Sea – through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes – and to take a much longer route around southern Africa instead.

In response, former US president Joe Biden began US air strikes against the group.

That campaign ramped up after US President Donald Trump took office, until a ceasefire was reached in early May.

When 26-year-old Umar Sofi received his acceptance letter from Columbia University’s School of Journalism, he thought the hardest part of his journey was over.

After trying for three years, Mr Sofi had finally been admitted to his dream university and even secured a partial scholarship. He quit his job in anticipation of the big move.

But on 27 May, when the US suddenly paused student visa appointments, the ground slipped from beneath his feet.

“I was numb. I could not process what had happened,” Mr Sofi, who lives in Indian-administered Kashmir, told the BBC.

Some 2,000km (1,242 miles) away in Mumbai, 17-year-old Samita Garg (name changed on request) went through a similar ordeal.

A day after she was accepted into a top US university to study biochemistry – her first step towards becoming a dermatologist – the US embassy halted student visa appointments.

“It is scary and stressful,” Ms Garg told the BBC over the phone. “It feels like I’ve been left in the lurch, not knowing when this will end.”

Both Mr Sofi and Ms Garg now have only a few weeks to secure their visas before the academic year begins in August, but little clarity on whether they can go ahead with their plans.

Last month President Donald Trump’s administration asked US embassies across the world to stop scheduling appointments for student visas and expand social media vetting of applicants.

This wider move followed a crackdown on America’s elite universities like Harvard, which Trump accused of being too liberal and of not doing enough to combat antisemitism.

Trump’s decisions have had far-reaching repercussions in India, which sends more international students to the US than any other country.

Over the last month, the BBC spoke with at least 20 students at various stages of their application process, all of whom echoed deep anxieties about their futures. Most chose to remain anonymous, fearing retribution from the US government and worried that speaking out now could hurt their chances of obtaining a visa, or renewing it.

• Trump’s battle on international students explained… in 70 seconds
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• Trump suspends foreign student visas at Harvard

More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in US colleges in the 2023-24 school year, according to Open Doors, an organisation that collects data on foreign students.

Nearly a third of them, or more than 330,000, were from India.

Educational consultants report that applications to US universities for the upcoming autumn semester have dropped by at least 30% because of the uncertainty.

“Their biggest fear is safety – what if their visas are rejected or they’re deported mid-term?” said Naveen Chopra, founder of TC Global, an international education consultancy.

Experts say many students are now either deferring their plans or switching to countries perceived to be more “stable” like the UK, Germany, Ireland and Australia.

Prema Unni (name changed on request) was accepted into three US universities for a master’s in data analytics. But instead of preparing for the move, he decided to forgo the opportunity altogether.

“There’s uncertainty at every step – first the visa, then restrictions on internships and part-time work, and the constant surveillance while on campus,” Mr Unni said. “It is very stressful.”

The halt on visa interviews is the latest in a series of policies tightening immigration rules for students. A few weeks ago, the US warned that students who drop out or miss classes without proper notification risk having their visas revoked, and could be barred from future entry.

These decisions have come around the time of the year when 70% of student visas are issued, or renewed, sparking great unease among Indian students.

“No student wants to go to a country and then have the visa policy suddenly change,” Chris R Glass, a professor at Boston College told the BBC. “They need stability and options.”

The uncertainty will have long-term consequences – both for the aspirations of Indian students, but also for the US’s future as a coveted higher education hub – says Prof Glass.

Foreign student enrolment in US universities was slowing even before Trump’s latest salvo.

According to The Indian Express newspaper, the US denied 41% of student visa applications between the fiscal years 2023 and 2024, the highest rejection rate in a decade, and nearly doubling from 2014.

Data from Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems (SEVIS), which tracks foreign students’ compliance with their visas, showed a nearly 10% drop in international student enrolments as of March this year compared with the same period in 2024.

International students are a financial lifeline for many US colleges, especially regional and state universities offering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and other master’s programmes.

These students pay significantly higher tuition fees than US citizens.

In the 2023–24 academic year alone, foreign students contributed $43.8bn to the US economy, according to Nafsa, an association of International educators. They also supported over 375,000 jobs.

“This really isn’t about a short-term disruption of tuition revenue. This is about a long-term rupture in a strategic relationship that benefits both countries,” Prof Glass said.

For decades the brightest Indian students have depended on an American education in the absence of top quality Indian universities or a supportive research ecosystem.

In turn they’ve helped plug a skills gap in the US.

Many land highly sought-after jobs after they finish their courses – in particular, representing a significant pool of skilled professionals in sectors like biotechnology, healthcare and data science – and have even gone on to lead iconic companies.

Everyone from Google’s Sunder Pichai to Microsoft’s Satya Nadella went to the US as students.

While this has often led to concerns of a “brain-drain” from India, experts point out that India is simply unable to solve the problem of quality and quantity higher education in the immediate future to provide a domestic alternative to these students.

Experts say it will be a lose-lose situation for both countries, unless the cloud of uncertainty lifts soon.

This weekend, tensions boiled over in the Los Angeles area after a week of immigration sweeps in the region sparked violent protests against the Trump administration and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

President Donald Trump’s decision to send 700 US Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area to support the federal response to the unrest has opened a volatile chapter in his mass deportation campaign.

The location of the raids and subsequent protests – a liberal-leaning city in a state controlled by Democrats – also gave the White House an ideal public foil as it seeks to show progress on removing illegal immigrants and instilling law and order.

Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and prominent critic of the president, wrote on X that the troop deployment was a “deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President”.

The raids in America’s second-biggest city are unfolding against the backdrop of an aggressive push to raise arrest and deportation numbers, as the administration has been disappointed with its current pace.

ICE has ramped up its enforcement actions in recent weeks as it faces pressure to show progress on Trump’s signature policy initiative.

The agency arrested 2,200 people on 4 June, according to NBC News, a record for a single day.

The network reported that hundreds of those arrested were enrolled in a programme known as Alternative to Detention, which allows for the release and monitoring of individuals not deemed an immediate threat.

• Live updates from the protests
• Everything we know about the demonstrations
• Trump’s deportation drive is perfect storm in city of immigrants
• LA’s chaotic weekend of protests in maps and pictures
• How protests erupted after rumours of immigration raid
• Analysis: This is a political fight Trump is eager to have

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the man widely seen as the intellectual architect of the deportation policy, has repeatedly said the White House hopes that ICE can scale up to 3,000 arrests a day, up from 660 or so during the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.

“President Trump is going to keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every single day,” Miller told Fox News in late May.

Yet for much of the first 100 days of the administration, deportations were on par with, and at times below, those recorded during the last year of Joe Biden’s presidency.

The White House stopped publishing daily deportation figures early in 2020.

“I’m not satisfied with the numbers,” the administration’s border tsar, Tom Homan, told reporters at the White House at the end of May. “We need to increase.”

Homan added that the Trump administration had “increased the teams a lot” and that “we expect a fast increase in the number of arrests”.

Several senior ICE officials – including Kenneth Genalo, its top deportation official – have left their roles at the agency in recent months.

In February, ICE also moved two top officials overseeing deportations, as well as the agency’s acting director, Caleb Vitello.

At the time of the more recent reshuffle, the agency characterised the move as organisational realignments that will “help ICE achieve President Trump and the American people’s mandate of arresting and deporting illegal aliens and making American communities safe”.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a press release that the immigrants detained in the recent Los Angeles raids included individuals convicted of sex crimes, burglary, and drug related charges, among other offences.

Local immigration advocates and community members, however, say that families have been torn apart and nonviolent immigrants detained.

At a rally on Monday, Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said that a Friday raid at a warehouse in the Fashion District “was not about public safety, it was a fear driven, state violence designed to silence, to intimidate, to disappear”.

While opinion polls show that Trump’s immigration policies are popular with a majority of Americans, some of his backers have expressed concern about tactics.

The co-founder of Latinas for Trump, for example, Florida State Senator Ileana Garcia, wrote on X that “this is not what we voted for”.

“I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings – in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims – all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal,” she added.

Federal authorities have conducted more frequent immigration raids across the US, in states that lean both towards Democrats and Republicans. Some Republican-controlled states, like Tennessee, have assisted federal authorities.

“California was willing to resist,” said John Acevedo, an associate dean at Emory Law School, who studies free speech and protests in the US.

Images of violence and resistance on the streets of Los Angeles gave Trump a catalyst for the deployment of the National Guard.

“For his base, it does quite a bit. It shows he’s serious, and allows them to show he will use all means necessary to enforce his [immigration] rules,” Prof Acevedo said.

Protesters in Los Angeles – which calls itself a sanctuary city, meaning it limits co-operation with federal immigration enforcement – did not relish the role they believed the administration had chosen for their city.

“This is my people, you know, I’m fighting for us,” said Maria Gutierrez, a Mexican-American who protested for two days in Paramount, a city in LA County that saw protests after residents spotted ICE agents in the area.

The unrest there involved looting and at least one car burning. Authorities used rubber bullets and tear gas.

She said there are some protesting in LA, including those in the nearby city of Compton, that share a belief that they were protecting the city from immigration enforcement and saw the Trump administration’s threats as a challenge.

Ms Gutierrez believed undocumented immigrants who commit violent offences should be targeted, but not those who she believes work hard and aspire to a better life.

“This is our city. We’re angry, we know how to protect ourselves and this isn’t going to scare us,” she said.

But the community is not united in support for the protests that have captured national attention.

Juan, who lives near Paramount, came to the US illegally and later became a citizen, but supports ICE’s actions.

“ICE agents have a job to do, just like you and I,” said Juan, who asked the BBC to withhold his last name given the federal operations in the area.

He said he worked for years as a day labourer, but gained citizenship and has four children who graduated from college.

“It’s hard,” he said. “I have family who don’t have papers, too.

“But you can’t really fight it if you’re here and you’re not supposed to be.”

“A crime is a crime,” he said.

Sly Stone, a funk-rock star who led the group Sly and the Family Stone, has died at the age of 82, his family said in a statement.

A statement said he had suffered a “prolonged battle” with the lung disease COPD.

Stone, whose real name was Sylvester Stewart, grew up singing gospel with his siblings, and went on to play the Woodstock music festival in 1969.

On the way, Stone was a San Francisco radio DJ, before he and his band hit the big time with hits including It’s a Family Affair and If You Want Me to Stay.

Stone was a giant of funk music, known for blending psychedelia, funk, rock and soul, his big style and even bigger hair.

Here is a selection of images from his life.

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The wedding ceremony was almost over when newlywed Bobby Underwood stepped on a napkin-covered glass to break it, as is Jewish tradition, and everyone shouted “Mazel Tov!”.

But as he and his new wife Siobhan turned to walk back down the aisle, their wedding officiants said, “Wait.” There was a surprise.

“All of these drones started rising up,” recalls Mrs Underwood. “It was honestly remarkable, very overwhelming – and incredibly emotional for us.”

Around 300 drones appeared in the night sky, displaying lights of various colours, and forming images chosen to represent the bride and groom.

These included a baseball player hitting a ball – as Mr Underwood is a big baseball fan – and a diamond ring being placed on a finger.

The couple were married on New Year’s Eve 2024, in New York State. Mrs Underwood’s mother had arranged the surprise drone show with help from the couple’s wedding planner – who had suggested it as a “wow factor” component of the day. It seemed to have the desired effect.

“It was kind of just shock – ‘Is this really happening right now?’,” says Mrs Underwood. “I can’t believe my mom did this for us.”

Drone shows are becoming ever more popular. Once rarities, they are now appearing at occasions ranging from birthday parties and weddings, to major sporting events. Some theme parks even have resident drone shows that take place multiple nights in a row.

Glastonbury music festival had its first drone show in 2024, flown by UK-based drone show company, Celestial.

And record-breaking displays are pushing the technology to its limits – the biggest drone show in history took place in China last October. It featured a total of 10,200 drones and broke a record set only the previous month. So, does all this spell the end for fireworks?

“They are really beautiful – they are art,” says Sally French, a US-based drone industry commentator known as The Drone Girl. She says that drone shows have appeared at baseball games, corporate conferences, and even at ports, to celebrate the launch of cruises.

Drone displays are becoming highly sophisticated, she explains, with some drone shows featuring thousands of flying devices, allowing them to animate figures or patterns in incredible detail.

“I saw a Star Wars-themed drone show where there was a full-on lightsabre battle,” adds Ms French.

One barrier might be the price tag, however, with the cost per drone at around $300 (£220) in the UK, says Ms French, citing industry data from market research firm SPH Engineering: “A 500 drone show would be over $150,000.”

Mrs Underwood does not have an exact figure, but estimates that her wedding drone show cost tens of thousands of dollars.

The sky’s the limit, actually. Skymagic, one of the world’s largest drone show companies, has put on major displays that cost north of $1m says Patrick O’Mahony, co-founder and creative director.

Skymagic’s shows have taken place in various countries – including the 2023 Coachella music festival in California.

The company has also performed drone shows in the UK, including as part of the King’s Coronation concert, which was broadcast by the BBC.

Mr O’Mahony has worked with designers of fireworks displays and other, similar events. But drones have revolutionised outdoor public displays, he says.

His company has a fleet of 6,000 custom-designed drones. Each one can reach speeds of up to 10 meters per second. The drones sport LED lights and have batteries that allow for 25 minutes of flight time.

To make them easier to transport, the drones are stored in flight cases and unpacked at venues in a giant marquee before they are laid out in the take-off area, half a metre apart, in a grid pattern.

“Once the drones have received their ‘go’ command [they] fly the entire show,” adds Mr O’Mahony, explaining that a single human pilot on the ground controls thousands of the devices at once.

The drones are geo-fenced, based on Global Positioning System (GPS) data, which prevents them from straying beyond the allotted flight area. In windy conditions, though, they can get blown off course. In such cases, they automatically return to a landing spot on the ground, says Mr O’Mahony.

Fireworks have a “boom” factor that drones generally don’t, notes Ms French. However, Bill Ray, an analyst at market research firm Gartner, says that some drones can now launch pyrotechnics, for a firework-like effect. For instance, a stream of sparks raining down from the lower portion of an image created by a group of drones.

Plus, Mr Ray says it is much easier to accurately synchronise drone movements with music during a show, which could be another reason behind their appeal. But the cost of shows remains prohibitive to some, and in part comes down to the fact that laying out the devices and gathering them all up again after the performance is still a relatively slow, manual process, adds Mr Ray.

Pedro Rosário is chief executive of Drone Show Animations, a company that designs drone show performances for other companies that supply the drones themselves. Mr Rosário says that one challenging aspect of his work is in coming up with displays that adhere to various regulations applying to drone flights, since these rules differ from country to country. England has stricter regulations than countries in the Middle East, for example, he says.

Mr Rosário adds that drone shows, which might be paired with pyrotechnics, traditional fireworks or even lasers, allow for a huge degree of creative freedom: “You can really build something that has emotional value, it can tell a story.”

In Mrs Underwood’s case, that seems to have worked. Her guests enjoyed the spectacle too, she adds: “We’ve heard compliments about our wedding in general – but, consistently, the drone show is something people bring up as something they never expected to see.”

Namrata Nangia and her husband have been toying with the idea of having another child since their five-year-old daughter was born.

But it always comes back to one question: ‘Can we afford it?’

She lives in Mumbai and works in pharmaceuticals, her husband works at a tyre company. But the costs of having one child are already overwhelming – school fees, the school bus, swimming lessons, even going to the GP is expensive.

It was different when Namrata was growing up. “We just used to go to school, nothing extracurricular, but now you have to send your kid to swimming, you have to send them to drawing, you have to see what else they can do.”

According to a new report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN agency for reproductive rights, Namrata’s situation is becoming a global norm.

The agency has taken its strongest line yet on fertility decline, warning that hundreds of millions of people are not able to have the number of children they want, citing the prohibitive cost of parenthood and the lack of a suitable partner as some of the reasons.

UNFPA surveyed 14,000 people in 14 countries about their fertility intentions. One in five said they haven’t had or expect they won’t have their desired number of children.

The countries surveyed – South Korea, Thailand, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, Mexico, US, India, Indonesia, Morocco, South Africa, and Nigeria – account for a third of the global population.

They are a mix of low, middle and high-income countries and those with low and high fertility. UNFPA surveyed young adults and those past their reproductive years.

“The world has begun an unprecedented decline in fertility rates,” says Dr Natalia Kanem, head of UNFPA.

“Most people surveyed want two or more children. Fertility rates are falling in large part because many feel unable to create the families they want. And that is the real crisis,” she says.

“Calling this a crisis, saying it’s real. That’s a shift I think,” says demographer Anna Rotkirch, who has researched fertility intentions in Europe and advises the Finnish government on population policy.

“Overall, there’s more undershooting than overshooting of fertility ideals,” she says. She has studied this at length in Europe and is interested to see it reflected at a global level.

She was also surprised by how many respondents over 50 (31%) said they had fewer children than they wanted.

The survey, which is a pilot for research in 50 countries later this year, is limited in its scope. When it comes to age groups within countries for example, the sample sizes are too small to make conclusions.

But some findings are clear.

In all countries, 39% of people said financial limitations prevented them from having a child.

The highest response was in Korea (58%), the lowest in Sweden (19%).

In total, only 12% of people cited infertility – or difficulty conceiving – as a reason for not having the number of children they wanted to. But that figure was higher in countries including Thailand (19%), the US (16%), South Africa (15%), Nigeria (14%) and India (13%).

“This is the first time that [the UN] have really gone all-out on low fertility issues,” says Prof Stuart Gietel-Basten, demographer at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Until recently the agency focused heavily on women who have more children than they wanted and the “unmet need” for contraception.

Still, the UNFPA is urging caution in response to low fertility.

“Right now, what we’re seeing is a lot of rhetoric of catastrophe, either overpopulation or shrinking population, which leads to this kind of exaggerated response, and sometimes a manipulative response,” says Dr Kanem.

“In terms of trying to get women to have more children, or fewer.”

She points out that 40 years ago China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Turkey were all worried their populations were too high. By 2015 they wanted to boost fertility.

“We want to try as far as possible to avoid those countries enacting any kind of panicky policies,” says Prof Gietel-Basten.

“We are seeing low fertility, population ageing, population stagnation used as an excuse to implement nationalist, anti-migrant policies and gender conservative policies,” he says.

UNFPA found an even bigger barrier to children than finances was a lack of time. For Namrata in Mumbai that rings true.

She spends at least three hours a day commuting to her office and back. When she gets home she is exhausted but wants to spend time with her daughter. Her family doesn’t get much sleep.

“After a working day, obviously you have that guilt, being a mom, that you’re not spending enough time with your kid,” she says.

“So, we’re just going to focus on one.”

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US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, has removed all 17 members of a committee that issues official government recommendations on immunisations.

Announcing the move in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy said that conflicts of interest on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) were responsible for undermining trust in vaccinations.

Kennedy said he wanted to “ensure the American people receive the safest vaccines possible.”

Doctors and health experts have criticised Kennedy’s longstanding questioning of the safety and efficacy of a number of vaccines, although in his Senate confirmation hearing he said he is “not going to take them away.”

On Monday he said he was “retiring” all of the Acip panel members. Eight of the 17 panellists were appointed in January 2025, in the last days of President Biden’s term.

Most of the members are practising doctors and experts attached to major university medical centres.

Kennedy noted that if he did not remove the committee members, President Trump would not have been able to appoint a majority on the panel until 2028.

“The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,” Kennedy wrote.

He claimed that health authorities and drug companies were responsible for a “crisis of public trust” that some try to explain “by blaming misinformation or antiscience attitudes.”

In the editorial, Kennedy cited examples from the 1990s and 2000s and alleged that conflicts of interest persist.

“Most of ACIP’s members have received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

The move appears contrary to assurances Kennedy gave during his confirmation hearings. Bill Cassidy, a Republican Senator from Louisiana who is also a doctor, reported that he received commitments from the health secretary that Acip would be maintained “without changes.”

On Monday, Cassidy wrote on X: “Of course, now the fear is that the Acip will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion.

“I’ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.”

Acip members are required to disclose conflicts of interest, which are posted online, and to recuse themselves from voting on decisions where they may have a conflict.

“The problem isn’t necessarily that ACIP members are corrupt,” Kennedy wrote. “Most likely aim to serve the public interest as they understand it.

“The problem is their immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives and paradigms that enforce a narrow pro-industry orthodoxy.”

Dr Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association, a professional organisation for American doctors, said mass sacking “upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives.”

“With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses,” Dr Scott said in a statement.

Kennedy did not say who he would appoint to replace the board members. Acip has a meeting scheduled starting 25 June, at which members are scheduled to vote on recommendations for vaccines for Covid, flu, meningococcal disease, RSV and other illnesses.

The BBC contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Acip chair, Dr Helen Keipp Talbot, for comment.

A small marble sculpture thought to be a copy of the French artist Auguste Rodin’s work has turned out to be the real thing, selling for almost $1m at an auction in France on Monday.

The sculpture, called “Despair”, a figure of a woman hugging her knees and holding one foot, is a work by the famed sculptor from 1892 that had disappeared after being sold at an auction in 1906.

For the owners, “Despair” turned to delight when the piece they believed to be a Rodin copy was confirmed as authentic by the Comite Rodin after a six-week probe.

French auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac described it as an “extremely rare” find and the work was put up for auction and eventually sold for €860,000 (£725,000; $982,000).

“Despair” was originally modelled by Rodin as part of his series of figures for The Gates of Hell.

According to the Musée Rodin, the figure is a depiction of sorrow and the French sculptor created other versions after it was positively received.

After the family who owned the 28.5cm (11 inches) marble figure – which had sat on their piano for years – approached Mr Rouillac, he and his team spent months investigating the origins of the piece.

In March, Mr Rouillac brought the piece to the Comité Rodin, a research group dedicated to studying the works of Rodin, who confirmed its authenticity six weeks later.

The committee found that “Despair” had disappeared after being sold at an auction in 1906.

“We have rediscovered it,” Mr Rouillac told the AFP news agency.

A New York judge has dismissed Justin Baldoni’s $400m (£295m) defamation lawsuit against his former co-star Blake Lively.

The pair, who both starred in the 2024 film It Ends with Us, have been locked in a legal battle for several months, with a trial set for next year.

Judge Lewis Liman on Monday dismissed Baldoni’s countersuit, which alleged extortion, defamation and other allegations.

Baldoni brought the suit after Lively filed a legal complaint last year against her former co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment and starting a smear campaign against her.

Lively filed a suit against Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, alleging she was sexually harassed on set and that Baldoni retaliated against her for bringing those complaints, among other allegations.

Lively also shared details of the allegations in a New York Times article published before her lawsuit.

Baldoni then brought defamation suits against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, claiming they were aiming to ruin his career and reputation with the allegations, as well as the New York Times.

Baldoni’s lawsuit centred on two claims: that Lively “stole the film” from him and his company Wayfarer by threatening not to promote it, and that she and others promoted a false narrative that Baldoni sexually assaulted her and launched a smear campaign against her, Judge Liman explained in his opinion.

But Baldoni and his production company “have not adequately alleged that Lively’s threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions”, he wrote.

Additionally, the judge wrote, Baldoni and his company had not proved defamation because the “Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements” in her lawsuit, which are privileged.

The judge also determined that evidence did not show that the New York Times “acted with actual malice” in publishing their story, dismissing that $250m suit as well.

“The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened,” he wrote. “The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively’s version of events.”

In a statement shared with US media, Lively’s lawyers called the opinion “a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times”.

In a post on her Instagram, Lively said that “Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us”.

“While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back,” she said, adding that she was “more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman’s right to have a voice in protecting themselves”.

The BBC has contacted Baldoni’s lawyers for comment.

Judge Liman said Baldoni would be allowed to amend and refile his allegations related to interference with contracts by 23 June.

Judge Liman’s dismissal comes a week after Lively asked to withdraw two of the claims in her suit against Baldoni – intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

In the original lawsuit, she said she experienced “severe emotional distress” in response to the alleged sexual harassment and smear campaign.

It Ends With Us is an adaption of a best-selling Colleen Hoover novel, which features Blake Lively as the main character, Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse and finds herself in the same position years later.

Uber will trial robotaxis – autonomous cars with no human safety driver at the wheel – in London next spring.

The ride-hailing app will work with the UK artificial intelligence (AI) firm Wayve, which has been testing out the technology on the city’s streets with human oversight, in line with current legislation.

The announcement comes after the UK government changed its rules about the driverless cars once again.

It was originally aiming for the tech to come to British roads in 2026, then the date was changed to the second half of 2027.

But it now says it is introducing an accelerated framework for small autonomous “bus and taxi like” commercial services to get them underway earlier.

It is not yet clear whether the vehicles in Uber’s trial will be available for customers to use – the firm says it is still working out the details.

It has previously said it intends to add them as a regular option via its UK app as soon as legislation allows.

The Department for Transport says the industry could create 38,000 jobs and add £42bn to the UK economy by 2035.

But speaking to the BBC last month, GMB national secretary Andy Prendergast said the “significant social implications” driverless cars and taxis could have – including on unemployment – should also be fully considered.

Uber launched a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas in March and said its driverless vehicles could work for 20 hours per day, seven days per week.

Customers there can choose whether to take a robotaxi if there is one available, with no difference in fare. Tesla is planning to launch a rival service in the same city in June.

Fully driverless cars have done millions of miles on public roads in other countries too, including China, UAE and Singapore, but whether they are more or less safe than human-driven ones is still being investigated.

Numerous studies suggest automated vehicles are less accident-prone than human drivers, based on US data.

But there have been a number of incidents involving robotaxis in the countries where they operate, ranging from road accidents to passengers being locked in.

And one service in San Francisco was cancelled after a series of malfunctions.

In May I took a ride in a car fitted out with Wayve’s autonomous kit across central London. We had a human safety driver at the wheel but he did not have to use the controls once during our 30 minute journey.

The car handled every potential hazard which appeared in the busy streets including congestion, temporary traffic lights, cyclists and, at one point, a pedestrian using crutches in the middle of the road.

The Ford Mach-e was fitted with sensors and a radar, and an AI-powered system controlled the vehicle’s responses in real time.

If anything it was a lot more cautious than a human driver, which made for a reassuringly uneventful trip.

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A man in Texas has been charged with murder after he allegedly slipped an abortion drug into his pregnant girlfriend’s drink.

Justin Anthony Banta was arrested on Friday after a months-long investigation into his former girlfriend’s accusation that he gave her the Plan C pill (known as an abortion drug) without her knowledge, according to police in the US state.

Mr Banta’s ex-partner said when she disclosed her pregnancy last year, he had offered to cover the cost of an abortion, but she expressed her desire to keep the baby.

Police said after meeting with Mr Banta in a coffee shop, she experienced heavy bleeding and visited the emergency room, but lost her baby a few days later.

Mr Banta was also charged with tampering with physical evidence and is awaiting prosecution, according to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.

Police said Mr Banta’s former girlfriend was around six-weeks pregnant when she went for a check up with her doctor, who told her the baby was healthy and had “a strong heartbeat” and vital signs.

“Later that same day, the victim reported she met Banta at a coffee shop… where she expressed her suspicion that Banta had secretly added abortion-inducing pills to her drink without her knowledge or permission,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Mr Banta’s former girlfriend also said he suggested they buy the Plan C abortion drug online after she disclosed her pregnancy.

Following an interview with Mr Banta, police collected his mobile phone, but later discovered “crucial evidence relating to the case” was deleted, they said.

Investigators said they believed Mr Banta, who worked in IT at the US Department of Justice, later accessed his phone remotely and performed a “reset”.

An arrest warrant for him was then obtained, and Mr Banta was charged last week with capital murder and tampering with physical evidence.

Police said the cases against Mr Banta remained active and ongoing.

Texas has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the US, banning all abortions except in dire medical circumstances.

The state introduced a law in 2022 that carries civil and criminal penalties for those who perform abortions.

A law in 2021 also bans the termination of pregnancies after a baby’s heartbeat is detected, but does make exceptions for medical emergencies.

A South Korean court has fined a woman for sexual misconduct after she pulled down a colleague’s trousers – and his underwear, by accident – in front of their colleagues, local media reported.

On top of the 2.8 million won ($2,100; £1,500) fine, the woman in her 50s has also been ordered to complete eight hours of sexual violence prevention education.

The incident reportedly happened last October at a restaurant kitchen in Gangwon province in the north-east.

The Chuncheon District Court’s ruling on Saturday rejected the woman’s claim that she had intended it to be a prank on her colleague, who is in his 20s.

But the court said it was taking into account the fact that she had no prior criminal record and had shown remorse. She had knelt down to apologise to the man and his parents, the judge said.

“It seems like they punished a simple prank too harshly,” says one comment under the Chosun Daily’s report of the case.

But another reader argues, “The fine is not excessive at all. Why are you playing this kind of prank? Does this look like a prank to you?”

Pulling down someone’s trousers, which could include underwear – “pantsing” or “debagging” as it’s known – is often seen as a common practical joke despite criticism that it is a form of bullying.

Pantsing has long been used as a comic routine on variety shows and reality TV in South Korea.

But it has got people in trouble as well. In 2019, South Korean Olympic short track speed skating champion Lim Hyo-jun was suspended for a year after he pulled down a male teammate’s trousers in front of other female skaters.

And in 2021, a group of elementary school students in North Jeolla Province were investigated for bullying a younger boy at a playground, after the victim’s mother told police that they had pulled her son’s pants down.

Israel says it has deported Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, a day after the Gaza-bound aid boat she and 11 other people were on was intercepted by Israeli forces in the Mediterranean.

Thunberg departed Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning on a flight to France after she agreed to be deported, the Israeli foreign ministry said.

France said five of the six French citizens detained alongside her had refused to sign their deportation orders and would now be subject to judicial proceedings.

Their yacht, the Madleen, was intercepted while they tried to deliver a “symbolic” amount of aid to Gaza in defiance of Israel’s maritime blockade and highlight the humanitarian crisis there.

The Israeli foreign ministry dismissed it as a “selfie yacht”, and announced in a post on X on Monday night that the passengers had been transferred to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport following the vessel’s arrival at the port of Ashdod on Monday night.

“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation,” it said.

On Tuesday morning, the ministry said Greta Thunberg had “just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France)”, and posted a photo of her sitting on a plane.

France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, earlier wrote on X: “Our consul was able to see the six French nationals arrested by the Israeli authorities last night.”

“One of them has agreed to leave voluntarily and should return today. The other five will be subject to forced deportation proceedings.”

Barrot did not identify them, but the six French nationals include MEP Rima Hassan and two journalists, Omar Faiad of Qatar-based Al Jazeera and Yanis Mhamdi of online publication Blast, who Reporters Without Borders said were documenting the Madleen’s journey.

As well as France and Sweden, citizens of Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey were on board the vessel.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the activist group operating the yacht, confirmed in a statement on Monday night that all 12 had reached Ashdod and that it expected any who refused to be deported to be transferred to a detention facility in Ramle, near Tel Aviv.

“We continue to demand the immediate release of all volunteers and the return of the stolen aid. Their kidnapping is unlawful and a violation of international law,” it added.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the aid, which includes baby formula and medicine, would be transferred to Gaza “through real humanitarian channels”.

The FFC said the Madleen was intercepted by the Israeli military inside international waters about 185km (115 miles) west of Gaza early on Monday.

According to the group, the vessel was surrounded by quadcopter drones, sprayed with a “white irritant substance”, and had its communications jammed.

Video footage released by the group showed the passengers sitting down with their hands raised as Israeli forces boarded.

It also posted a pre-recorded clip showing Thunberg saying: “If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel.”

“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”

The foreign ministry later said all the passengers were “safe and unharmed”, and posted a video showing troops handing them food and water.

When the Madleen set sail from Italy on 1 June, the FFC said it was “carrying humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in direct defiance of Israel’s illegal and genocidal blockade”.

The Israeli foreign ministry called it a “gimmick”. It also insisted the blockade was “consistent with international law”, and that unauthorised attempts to breach it were “dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts”.

On Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the maritime blockade was necessary to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Hamas.

Israel and Egypt imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Gaza when Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007 by ousting its rivals, a year after winning legislative elections.

Israel stopped all deliveries of humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to Gaza on 2 March this year and resumed its military offensive two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

It said the steps were meant to put pressure on the group to release the hostages still held in Gaza, but the UN warned that Gaza’s 2.1 million population were facing catastrophic levels of hunger because of the resulting shortages of food.

Three weeks ago, Israel launched an expanded offensive to take control of all areas of Gaza. It also partially eased the blockade, allowing in a “basic” amount of food.

Israel is now prioritising distribution through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which it backs along with the US. The UN and other aid groups are refusing to co-operate with the new system, saying it contravenes the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence.

It is 20 months since Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,927 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, has removed all 17 members of a committee that issues official government recommendations on immunisations.

Announcing the move in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy said that conflicts of interest on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) were responsible for undermining trust in vaccinations.

Kennedy said he wanted to “ensure the American people receive the safest vaccines possible.”

Doctors and health experts have criticised Kennedy’s longstanding questioning of the safety and efficacy of a number of vaccines, although in his Senate confirmation hearing he said he is “not going to take them away.”

On Monday he said he was “retiring” all of the Acip panel members. Eight of the 17 panellists were appointed in January 2025, in the last days of President Biden’s term.

Most of the members are practising doctors and experts attached to major university medical centres.

Kennedy noted that if he did not remove the committee members, President Trump would not have been able to appoint a majority on the panel until 2028.

“The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,” Kennedy wrote.

He claimed that health authorities and drug companies were responsible for a “crisis of public trust” that some try to explain “by blaming misinformation or antiscience attitudes.”

In the editorial, Kennedy cited examples from the 1990s and 2000s and alleged that conflicts of interest persist.

“Most of ACIP’s members have received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

The move appears contrary to assurances Kennedy gave during his confirmation hearings. Bill Cassidy, a Republican Senator from Louisiana who is also a doctor, reported that he received commitments from the health secretary that Acip would be maintained “without changes.”

On Monday, Cassidy wrote on X: “Of course, now the fear is that the Acip will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion.

“I’ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.”

Acip members are required to disclose conflicts of interest, which are posted online, and to recuse themselves from voting on decisions where they may have a conflict.

“The problem isn’t necessarily that ACIP members are corrupt,” Kennedy wrote. “Most likely aim to serve the public interest as they understand it.

“The problem is their immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives and paradigms that enforce a narrow pro-industry orthodoxy.”

Dr Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association, a professional organisation for American doctors, said mass sacking “upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives.”

“With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses,” Dr Scott said in a statement.

Kennedy did not say who he would appoint to replace the board members. Acip has a meeting scheduled starting 25 June, at which members are scheduled to vote on recommendations for vaccines for Covid, flu, meningococcal disease, RSV and other illnesses.

The BBC contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Acip chair, Dr Helen Keipp Talbot, for comment.

India’s Coast Guard is continuing efforts to douse a fire on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship in the Arabian Sea near the coast of the southern state of Kerala.

MV Wan Hai 503, which was heading to India’s Mumbai city from Sri Lanka’s Colombo, reported an internal container explosion on Monday, resulting in a major fire on board.

Eighteen crew members have been rescued, while four are still missing. Singapore has sent a team to assist in the rescue efforts.

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has issued an alert for the coast of Kerala due to potential oil spill and debris from the ship .

Footage on Tuesday showed MV Wan Hai 503 emitting large plumes of smoke as the Indian Navy and Coast Guard tried to extinguish the fire onboard.

The Coast Guard said fires and explosions continued to be seen on the ship.

In a search and rescue operation carried out on Monday, 18 of the ship’s 22 crew members were rescued and brought ashore where some of them are being treated for injuries.

The crew members had abandoned the ship when the fire broke out and left on a boat after which they were rescued by the Navy, India’s defence ministry said.

The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said four crew members are still missing – two of them are from Taiwan, one from Myanmar and one from Indonesia. The MPA said that it has sent a team to help with the rescue.

Kerala Ports Minister VN Vasavan said that 50 containers from the ship had fallen into the sea.

The ship was carrying 100 tonnes of bunker oil, Mathrubhumi News reported. Containers that fell from it were drifting along the coast of Kerala, INCOIS told Manorama News, and could drift towards its coastline in the next three days.

This is the second such incident in three weeks near the Kerala coast. Last month, a Liberian-flagged vessel carrying oil and hazardous cargo leaked and sank in the Arabian Sea, sparking fears that harmful substances could endanger the health of residents and marine life.

The state government then banned fishing within a 20-nautical mile radius of the shipwreck and announced compensation for families from fishing communities in four affected districts.

Kerala’s coastal stretch is rich in biodiversity and the state is also an important tourist destination.

In China, they call it the Seagull, and it has looks to match. It is sleek and angular, with bright, downward-slanting headlights that have more than a hint of mischievous eyes about them.

It is, of course, a car. A very small one, designed as a cheap city runabout – but it could have huge significance. Available in China since 2023, where it has proved extremely popular, it has just been launched in Europe with the name Dolphin Surf (because Europeans apparently aren’t as keen on seagulls as Chinese people).

When it goes on sale in the UK this week, it’s expected to have a price tag of around £18,000. That will still make it, for an electric car on western markets, very cheap indeed.

It won’t be the outright lowest-priced model on offer: the Dacia Spring, manufactured in Wuhan jointly by Renault and Dongfeng, and the Leapmotor T03, which is being produced by a joint venture between Chinese startup Leapmotor and Stellantis, both cost less.

But the Dolphin Surf is the new arrival that has long-established brands most worried. That is because the company behind it has been making ever bigger waves on international markets.

BYD is already the biggest player in China. It overtook Tesla in 2024 to become the world’s best-selling maker of electric vehicles (EVs), and since entering the European markets two years ago, it has expanded aggressively.

“We want to be number one in the British market within 10 years,” says Steve Beattie, sales and marketing director for BYD UK.

BYD is part of a wider expansion of Chinese companies and brands that some believe could change the face of the global motor industry – and which has already prompted radical action from the US government and the EU.

It means once-unknown marques like Nio, Xpeng, Zeekr or Omoda could become every bit as much household names as Ford or Volkswagen. They will join classic brands such as MG, Volvo and Lotus, which have been under Chinese ownership for years.

The products on offer already encompass a huge range, from runabouts like the tiny Dolphin Surf to exotic supercars, like the pothole-jumping U9, from BYD’s high-end sub-brand Yangwang.

“Chinese brands are making massive inroads into the European market,” says David Bailey, professor of business and economics at Birmingham Business School.

In 2024, 17 million battery and plug-in hybrid cars were sold worldwide, 11 million of those in China. Chinese brands, meanwhile, had 10% of global EV and plug-in hybrid sales outside their home country, according to the consultancy Rho Motion. That figure is only expected to grow.

For consumers, it should be good news – leading to more high-quality and affordable electric cars becoming available. But with rivalry between Beijing and western powers showing no sign of subsiding, some experts are concerned Chinese vehicles could represent a security risk from hackers and third parties. And for established players in Europe, it represents a formidable challenge to their historic dominance.

“[China has] a huge cost advantage through economies of scale and battery technology. European manufacturers have fallen well behind,” warns Mr Bailey.

“Unless they wake up very quickly and catch up, they could be wiped out.”

China’s car industry has been developing rapidly since the country joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001. But that process accelerated rapidly in 2015, when the Communist Party introduced its “Made in China 2025” initiative. The 10-year plan to make the country a leader in several high-tech industries, including EVs, attracted intense criticism from abroad, and particularly the US, amid claims of forced technology transfers and theft of intellectual property – all of which the Chinese government denies.

Fuelled by lavish state funding, the plan helped lay the groundwork for the breakneck growth of companies like BYD – originally a maker of batteries for mobile phones – and allowed the Chinese parent companies of MG and Volvo, SAIC and Geely, to become major players in the EV market.

“The general standard of Chinese cars is very, very high indeed,” says Dan Caesar, chief executive of Electric Vehicles UK.

“China has learned extremely quickly how to manufacture cars.”

Yet competition in China has become ever more cut-throat, with brands jostling for space in an increasingly saturated market. This has led them to hunt for sales elsewhere.

While Chinese firms have expanded into East Asia and South America, for years the European market proved a tough nut to crack – that is, until governments here decided to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel models.

The transition to electric cars opened the door to new players.

“[Chinese brands] have seen an opportunity to get a bit of a foothold,” says Oliver Lowe, UK product manager of Omoda and Jaecoo, two sub brands of the Chinese giant Chery.

Low labour costs in China, coupled with government subsidies and a very well-established supply chain, have given Chinese firms advantages, their rivals have claimed. A report from the Swiss bank UBS, published in late 2023, suggested that BYD alone was able to build cars 25% more cheaply than western competitors.

Chinese firms deny the playing field is uneven. Xpeng’s vice chairman Brian Gu told the BBC at the Paris Motor Show in 2024 that his company is competitive “because we have fought tooth and nail through the most competitive market in the world”.

Concerns that Chinese EV imports could flood international markets at the expense of established manufacturers reached fever pitch in 2024.

In the US, the Alliance for American Manufacturing warned they could prove to be an “extinction-level event” for the US industry, while the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen suggested that “huge state subsidies” for Chinese firms were distorting the European market.

The Biden administration took dramatic action, raising import tariffs on Chinese-made EVs from 25% to 100%, effectively making it pointless to sell them in the US.

It was condemned by Beijing as “naked protectionism”.

Meanwhile, in October 2024, the EU imposed extra tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese-made EVs. The UK, however, took no action.

Matthias Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Automotive Research, says the EU’s tariffs have now made it harder for Chinese firms to gain market share.

“The door was wide open in 2024… but the Chinese failed to take their chance. With the tariffs in place, Chinese manufacturers are now unable to push their cost advantage onto European consumers.”

European manufacturers have been racing to develop their own affordable electric cars. French car-maker Renault is among them.

At its factory in Douai, in northeastern France, an army of spark-spitting robots weld sections of steel to form car bodies, while on the main assembly line, automated systems mate together bodyshells, doors, batteries, motors and other parts, before human workers apply the finishing touches.

The factory has been making cars for Renault since 1974, but four years ago, the ageing production lines were replaced with new highly automated, digitally-controlled systems.

Part of the site was also taken over by the Chinese-owned battery firm AESC, which built its own “gigafactory” next door.

It’s part of Renault’s wider plan to set up an ultra-modern EV “hub” in northern France. Mirroring the lean production techniques of Chinese manufacturers, the hub cuts costs by maximising efficiency and ensuring that suppliers are located as close as possible.

“Our target was to be able to produce affordable electric cars here to sell in Europe,” explains Pierre Andrieux, director of the Douai plant, arguing that automated processes “will enable us to do that profitably”.

But the company is also exploiting something the Chinese brands do not have: heritage. Its latest model, the Renault 5 E-tech, built in Douai, borrows its name from one of the company’s most famous products.

The original Renault 5, launched in 1972, was a quirky little everyman car with boxy looks and low running costs that became a cult classic.

The new design, despite being a state-of-the art EV, pays homage to its predecessor in name and appearance, in an effort to emulate its popular appeal.

But irrespective of how desirable Chinese cars are in comparison with European rivals, some experts believe we should be wary of them – for security reasons.

Most modern vehicles are internet-enabled in some way – to allow satellite navigation, for example – and drivers’ phones are often connected to car systems. Pioneered by Tesla, so-called “over-the-air updates” can upgrade a car’s software remotely.

This has all led to concerns, in some quarters, that cars could be hacked and used to harbour spyware, monitor individuals or even be immobilised at the touch of a keyboard.

Earlier this year, a British newspaper reported that military and intelligence chiefs had been ordered not to discuss official business while riding in EVs; it was also alleged that cars with Chinese components had been banned from sensitive military sites.

Then in May, a former head of the intelligence service MI6 claimed that Chinese-made technology in a range of products, including cars, could be controlled and programmed remotely. Sir Richard Dearlove warned MPs that there was the potential to “immobilise London”.

Beijing has always denied all accusations of espionage.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London says that the recent allegations are “entirely unfounded and absurd”.

“China has consistently advocated the secure, open, and rules-based development of global supply chains,” the spokesperson told the BBC. “Chinese enterprises operating around the world are required to comply with local laws and regulations.

“To date, there is no credible evidence to support the claim that Chinese EVs pose a security threat to the UK or any other country.”

Joseph Jarnecki, research fellow at defence and security think-tank The Royal United Services Institute, argues that potential risks can be mitigated.

“Chinese carmakers exist in this highly competitive market. While they’re beholden to Chinese law and that may require compliance with national security agencies, none of them want to damage their ability to grow and to have international exports by being perceived as a security risk,” he says.

“The Chinese government equally is conscious of the need for economic growth. They’re not hell-bent on solely conducting surveillance.”

But the car industry is just one area in which Chinese technology is becoming increasingly enmeshed in the UK economy. To achieve the government’s climate objectives, for instance, “It will be necessary to use Chinese-supplied technology”, adds Mr Jarnecki.

He believes that regulators of key industries should be given sufficient resources to monitor cyber security and advise companies using Chinese products of any potential issues.

As for electric cars powered by Chinese technology, there’s no question that they’re here to stay.

“Even if you have a car that’s made in Germany or elsewhere, it probably contains quite a few Chinese components,” says Dan Caesar.

“The reality is most of us have smartphones and things from China, from the US, from Korea, without really giving it a second thought. So I do think there’s some fearmongering going on about what the Chinese are capable of.

“I think we have to face the reality that China is going to be a big part of the future.”

A South Korean court has fined a woman for sexual misconduct after she pulled down a colleague’s trousers – and his underwear, by accident – in front of their colleagues, local media reported.

On top of the 2.8 million won ($2,100; £1,500) fine, the woman in her 50s has also been ordered to complete eight hours of sexual violence prevention education.

The incident reportedly happened last October at a restaurant kitchen in Gangwon province in the north-east.

The Chuncheon District Court’s ruling on Saturday rejected the woman’s claim that she had intended it to be a prank on her colleague, who is in his 20s.

But the court said it was taking into account the fact that she had no prior criminal record and had shown remorse. She had knelt down to apologise to the man and his parents, the judge said.

“It seems like they punished a simple prank too harshly,” says one comment under the Chosun Daily’s report of the case.

But another reader argues, “The fine is not excessive at all. Why are you playing this kind of prank? Does this look like a prank to you?”

Pulling down someone’s trousers, which could include underwear – “pantsing” or “debagging” as it’s known – is often seen as a common practical joke despite criticism that it is a form of bullying.

Pantsing has long been used as a comic routine on variety shows and reality TV in South Korea.

But it has got people in trouble as well. In 2019, South Korean Olympic short track speed skating champion Lim Hyo-jun was suspended for a year after he pulled down a male teammate’s trousers in front of other female skaters.

And in 2021, a group of elementary school students in North Jeolla Province were investigated for bullying a younger boy at a playground, after the victim’s mother told police that they had pulled her son’s pants down.

Two members of K-pop powerhouse BTS have completed their mandatory military service, prompting fan frenzy and anticipation for their comeback.

RM and V greeted fans with salutes and a saxophone performance after being discharged on Tuesday. V asked fans to “wait just a little longer” for BTS to reunite.

All seven members are set to finish their military service by the end of this month and their agency Hybe had hinted at a reunion. They went on hiatus in 2022 at the height of their global fame.

Hundreds of fans, some whom flew in from overseas, gathered in front of Hybe’s headquarters in central Seoul to celebrate RM’s and V’s return on Tuesday.

Many of them were dressed in purple, BTS’ signature colour, and carried large banners and photographs of the two K-pop idols.

South Korea requires all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 to serve for about two years in the military so the country can be ready to fight the North.

On Tuesday, Hybe displayed a banner saying “We are back”, along with the official logos of BTS and ARMY – an acronym for the band’s fan group, which stands for Adorable Representative MC for Youth – on its building.

“This feels incredible. To be here in Seoul, to see the place where BTS grew up and started singing and dancing. It’s amazing,” Janya, who flew in from the UK, told The Korea Herald.

“I want to say to RM and V that you are a massive inspiration, and I love you so much!” the 28-year-old said.

“It’s been a long, long time without you. I’m so glad you’re back and finally free to do whatever you want to do,” said Ivory from Australia.

Hannah Chung, who lives in London, told AFP news agency that she planned her trip two years ago “because I knew the members will be out by then”.

She is counting on a chance to see the band at the annual BTS Festa, a celebration of the band’s debut, that will take place on Friday.

Earlier during their discharge in Chuncheon, RM thanked fans for waiting for them to complete their national duties.

“Now, I’m ready to hit the ground running again as RM of BTS. Thank you to everyone who waited and looked after us,” he said.

V said the military tenure was a “time for me to reset both physically and mentally”.

“I really want to run to ARMY as soon as I can. Thank you for waiting for us during our military service,” he said.

The septet debuted in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2017 when a highly successful US tour propelled their blend of pop, hip-hop and R&B – mostly in Korean – onto the global stage.

Since then, they have become the most-streamed group on Spotify, the first K-pop act to top the US iTunes chart and several Billboard charts, and one of the most awarded groups in history.

The band’s name is short for Bangtan Boys, or “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean.

BTS has actively advocated for youth issues, including through a mental health initiative with Unicef.

It has also addressed the United Nations General Assembly and met with former US President Joe Biden to discuss the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.

The band had previously won a deferral – when in 2020, the nation’s parliament passed a bill allowing them to delay their duties until the age of 30.

In 2022, the oldest member of the group, Jin, enlisted, and the others followed suit.

Namrata Nangia and her husband have been toying with the idea of having another child since their five-year-old daughter was born.

But it always comes back to one question: ‘Can we afford it?’

She lives in Mumbai and works in pharmaceuticals, her husband works at a tyre company. But the costs of having one child are already overwhelming – school fees, the school bus, swimming lessons, even going to the GP is expensive.

It was different when Namrata was growing up. “We just used to go to school, nothing extracurricular, but now you have to send your kid to swimming, you have to send them to drawing, you have to see what else they can do.”

According to a new report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN agency for reproductive rights, Namrata’s situation is becoming a global norm.

The agency has taken its strongest line yet on fertility decline, warning that hundreds of millions of people are not able to have the number of children they want, citing the prohibitive cost of parenthood and the lack of a suitable partner as some of the reasons.

UNFPA surveyed 14,000 people in 14 countries about their fertility intentions. One in five said they haven’t had or expect they won’t have their desired number of children.

The countries surveyed – South Korea, Thailand, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, Mexico, US, India, Indonesia, Morocco, South Africa, and Nigeria – account for a third of the global population.

They are a mix of low, middle and high-income countries and those with low and high fertility. UNFPA surveyed young adults and those past their reproductive years.

“The world has begun an unprecedented decline in fertility rates,” says Dr Natalia Kanem, head of UNFPA.

“Most people surveyed want two or more children. Fertility rates are falling in large part because many feel unable to create the families they want. And that is the real crisis,” she says.

“Calling this a crisis, saying it’s real. That’s a shift I think,” says demographer Anna Rotkirch, who has researched fertility intentions in Europe and advises the Finnish government on population policy.

“Overall, there’s more undershooting than overshooting of fertility ideals,” she says. She has studied this at length in Europe and is interested to see it reflected at a global level.

She was also surprised by how many respondents over 50 (31%) said they had fewer children than they wanted.

The survey, which is a pilot for research in 50 countries later this year, is limited in its scope. When it comes to age groups within countries for example, the sample sizes are too small to make conclusions.

But some findings are clear.

In all countries, 39% of people said financial limitations prevented them from having a child.

The highest response was in Korea (58%), the lowest in Sweden (19%).

In total, only 12% of people cited infertility – or difficulty conceiving – as a reason for not having the number of children they wanted to. But that figure was higher in countries including Thailand (19%), the US (16%), South Africa (15%), Nigeria (14%) and India (13%).

“This is the first time that [the UN] have really gone all-out on low fertility issues,” says Prof Stuart Gietel-Basten, demographer at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Until recently the agency focused heavily on women who have more children than they wanted and the “unmet need” for contraception.

Still, the UNFPA is urging caution in response to low fertility.

“Right now, what we’re seeing is a lot of rhetoric of catastrophe, either overpopulation or shrinking population, which leads to this kind of exaggerated response, and sometimes a manipulative response,” says Dr Kanem.

“In terms of trying to get women to have more children, or fewer.”

She points out that 40 years ago China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Turkey were all worried their populations were too high. By 2015 they wanted to boost fertility.

“We want to try as far as possible to avoid those countries enacting any kind of panicky policies,” says Prof Gietel-Basten.

“We are seeing low fertility, population ageing, population stagnation used as an excuse to implement nationalist, anti-migrant policies and gender conservative policies,” he says.

UNFPA found an even bigger barrier to children than finances was a lack of time. For Namrata in Mumbai that rings true.

She spends at least three hours a day commuting to her office and back. When she gets home she is exhausted but wants to spend time with her daughter. Her family doesn’t get much sleep.

“After a working day, obviously you have that guilt, being a mom, that you’re not spending enough time with your kid,” she says.

“So, we’re just going to focus on one.”

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Aylo, the company which runs a number of pornographic websites, including Pornhub, is to stop operating in France from Wednesday.

It is in reaction to a French law requiring porn sites to take extra steps to verify their users’ ages.

An Aylo spokesperson said the law was a privacy risk and assessing people’s ages should be done at a device level.

Pornhub is the most visited porn site in the world – with France its second biggest market, after the US.

Aylo – and other providers of sexually explicit material – find themselves under increasing regulatory pressure worldwide.

The EU recently announced an investigation into whether Pornhub and other sites were doing enough to protect children.

Aylo has also stopped operating in a number of US states, again over the issue of checking the ages of its users.

All sites offering sexually explicit material in the UK will soon also have to offer more robust “age assurance.”

Aylo, formerly Mindgeek, also runs sites such as Youporn and RedTube, which will also become unavailable to French customers.

It is owned by Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners.

Their vice president for compliance, Solomon Friedman, called the French law “dangerous,” “potentially privacy-infringing” and “ineffective”.

“Google, Apple and Microsoft all have the capability built into their operating system to verify the age of the user at the operating system or device level,” he said on a video call reported by Agence France-Presse.

Another executive, Alex Kekesi, said the company was pro-age verification, but there were concerns over the privacy of users.

In some cases, users may have to enter credit cards or government ID details in order to prove their age.

French minister for gender equality, Aurore Bergé, wrote “au revoir” in response to the news that Pornhub was leaving France.

In a post on X [in French], she wrote: “There will be less violent, degrading and humiliating content accessible to minors in France.”

The UK has its own age verification law, with platforms required to have “robust” age checks by July, according to media regulator Ofcom.

These may include facial detection software which estimates a user’s age.

In April – in response to messaging platform Discord testing face scanning software – experts predicted it would be “the start of a bigger shift” in age checks in the UK, in which facial recognition tech played a bigger role.

BBC News has asked Aylo whether it will block its sites in the UK too when the laws come in.

In May, Ofcom announced it was investigating two pornography websites which had failed to detail how they were preventing children from accessing their platforms.

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Dozens of people have been arrested in Los Angeles after days of violent protests, which erupted following immigration raids.

US President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to the city, triggering outrage from Democrats. Then on Monday he ordered another 2,000 troops and 700 marines to deploy to the city, too.

People began gathering after federal immigration officers arrested large groups of unauthorised immigrants in areas with large Latino populations.

While the demonstrations started out as peaceful, some self-driving vehicles were set on fire and a major highway was shut down by protesters over the weekend before the unrest began to calm later on Monday.

• Live updates from the protests
• Trump’s deportation drive is perfect storm in city of immigrants
• LA’s chaotic weekend of protests in maps and pictures
• How protests erupted after rumours of immigration raid
• Analysis: This is a political fight Trump is eager to have

The protests began on Friday after it emerged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were carrying out raids in areas of the city with prominent Latino populations.

Raids have stepped up after Trump returned to the White House and pledged to crack down on illegal immigration.

The BBC’s US partner, CBS News, reported that recent operations took place in the Westlake district as well as in Paramount, south of LA – where the population is more than 82% Hispanic.

There were also reports of an ICE raid at a Home Depot shop in Paramount, which officials told the BBC were false.

ICE later told CBS that 44 unauthorised immigrants were arrested in a single operation at a job site on Friday. Another 77 were also arrested in the greater LA area on the same day.

The protests have been largely limited to downtown LA, which has been declared an “unlawful assembly” area by police after days of clashes.

• Vehicles were set alight on Sunday, and police accused protesters of using incendiary devices against horse patrols. Meanwhile, officers in riot gear used flash-bang grenades and pepper spray to subdue crowds. The unrest temporarily brought the 101 freeway to a halt, and there were reports of looting
• The downtown Federal Building became a flashpoint after it emerged that ICE detainees were allegedly being held there. ICE accused “over 1,000 rioters” of surrounding and attacking the building on Saturday
• A Home Depot shop in Paramount, roughly 20 miles (32 km) south of downtown LA, has become another key protest site. Tear gas and flash-bangs were deployed against protesters who also gathered on Saturday, and armed National Guard troops guarded a nearby business park on Sunday
• The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said it made 29 arrests on Saturday. A further 27 people were arrested on Sunday
• Separately, about 60 people were arrested and three officers injured following unrest in San Francisco on Sunday, police there said
• On Monday, protests continued their demonstrations and police fired stun grenades to try to disperse people. The unrest calmed later in the day with fewer violent incidents and people on the streets than over the weekend

Elsewhere in the sprawling city of LA, life continues as normal – and some areas were closed off over the weekend for the LA Pride parade.

On Saturday, Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to the Los Angeles area, triggering a political row with state politicians.

On Monday evening, he ordered another 2,000 National Guard members to the west-coast city. The Pentagon also called up 700 marines to assist with the efforts.

The National Guard acts as a hybrid entity that serves both state and federal interests. Typically, a state’s force is activated at the request of the governor.

Trump circumvented that step by invoking a rarely-used federal law, arguing that the protests constituted “a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States”.

This is reportedly the first time the National Guard has been activated without request of the state’s governor since 1965.

The move has been condemned by California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, who said they believed local police could handle the situation.

Newsom accused Trump of an “illegal” act that was “putting fuel on this fire”, and then sued Trump’s administration.

In its lawsuit filed on Monday, California argued that Trump was going against the US Constitution, which has protections for states’ rights , in deploying the guard against the governor’s wishes. The 10th amendment says that any power not expressly granted to the federal government in the Constitution goes to the states.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the deployment an “inflammatory escalation unsupported by conditions on the ground” and “exceeds the federal government’s authority”.

The role of the National Guard is to protect federal agents, including ICE and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, as they carry out their duties.

The troops will not be conducting their own immigration raids or performing regular policing – which remains the role of the (LAPD).

The law generally prohibits domestic use of federal troops for civilian law enforcement, outside of some exceptions like the Insurrection Act.

Although Trump has threatened to invoke that act in the past, during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, for example, he has not done so here.

Trump’s allies have defended his decision to mobilise the National Guard. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also said active-duty US marines stationed at nearby Camp Pendleton would be sent if needed and were on “high alert”.

The recent raids are part of the president’s aim to enact the “biggest deportation operation” in US history. Los Angeles, where over one-third of the population is born outside of the US, has been a key target for operations.

In early May, ICE announced it had arrested 239 undocumented migrants during a week-long operation in the LA area, as overall arrests and deportations lagged behind Trump’s expectations.

The following month, the White House increased its goal for ICE officials to make at least 3,000 arrests per day.

Authorities have expanded their search increasingly to include workplaces such as restaurants and retail shops.

The ambitious deportation campaign has included removing migrants to a mega-prison in El Salvador, including at least one who was in the US legally. Many of Trump’s actions have been met by legal challenges.