Hamas says it has delivered a “positive response” to mediators on the latest proposal for a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal put forward by the US.

It added in a statement that it was “seriously ready to enter immediately into a round of negotiations”. It has not confirmed if it will accept the proposals yet.

Earlier on Friday Donald Trump said he expected a Hamas response within a day.

He said earlier this week that Israel had accepted the conditions necessary for a 60-day ceasefire, during which the parties would work to end the 20-month war.

The proposal is believed to include the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 other hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Fifty hostages are still being held in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

One of Hamas’s key demands is the resumption of unrestricted food and medical aid into Gaza, and the proposal reportedly says sufficient quantities would enter the territory immediately with the involvement of the United Nations and Red Cross.

It is said the plan would also include a phased Israeli military withdrawal from parts of Gaza.

Above all, Hamas wants a guarantee that Israeli air and ground operations will not resume after the end of the 60-day ceasefire.

The proposal is believed to say that negotiations on an end to the war and the release of the remaining hostages would begin on day one.

A positive Hamas response would then lead to the resumption of formal, indirect, talks ahead of a planned visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington next week.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military is continuing to bomb targets across the Gaza Strip.

On Friday officials from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said Israeli attacks had killed at least 138 Palestinians over the previous 24 hours.

Overnight, at least 15 Palestinians were killed in strikes on two tents housing displaced people in the southern Khan Younis area, the local Nasser hospital said.

Thirteen-year-old Mayar al-Farr’s brother, Mahmoud, was among those killed.

“The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother,” she told Reuters news agency at his funeral.

Adlar Mouamar, whose nephew Ashraf was also killed, said: “Our hearts are broken… We want them to end the bloodshed. We want them to stop this war.”

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the strikes, but did say its forces were “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities”.

Later on Friday the Red Cross said a staff member at the organisation’s field hospital in Rafah, in southern Gaza, had been hit by a stray bullet. His condition was stable after the “unacceptable” incident, the Red Cross said.

Meanwhile medical charity MSF said a former colleague had been killed the previous day when, it said, Israeli forces fired on people waiting for aid trucks in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. At least 16 people were killed in the incident, MSF quoted teams at Nasser hospital in the city as saying. The IDF has not yet commented.

“The systemic and deliberate starvation of Palestinians for over 100 days is pushing people in Gaza to breaking point,” said Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza. “This carnage must stop now.”

In the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, only 60km (40 miles) from Gaza, the families of the remaining hostages and their supporters held a rally outside the US embassy branch office, urging Trump to “make the deal” that would see them all released.

On the nearby beachfront, they laid out a giant banner featuring the US flag and the words “liberty for all”.

Among those who addressed the event was Ruby Chen, the father of Israeli-American Itay Chen. The 19-year-old soldier was killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 which triggered the war, and his body was taken back to Gaza as a hostage.

“I urge you Prime Minister Netanyahu to go to the US next week and bring back a deal that brings all the hostages home,” Mr Chen said. “There has to be a final, detailed agreement between Israel and Hamas.”

Keith Siegel, an Israeli American who was released in February during the last ceasefire after 484 days in captivity, also spoke.

“Many of my friends from Kibbutz Kfar Aza remain in captivity,” he said. “Only a comprehensive deal can bring them all home and create a better future for the Middle East.”

The primary concern for most Israelis is the fate of the remaining hostages and what might happen to them if the ceasefire does not happen and Netanyahu orders the Israeli military to step up its air strikes on Gaza.

There are plenty of reasons to hope, for these families, that the two sides can agree to a deal and achieve a lasting peace. But there is also anxiety, after the failure of previous efforts, that it might not happen.

On Thursday, Netanyahu promised to secure the release of all the remaining hostages during a visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near the Israel-Gaza border where a total of 76 residents were abducted on 7 October 2023.

“I feel a deep commitment, first of all, to ensure the return of all of our hostages, all of them,” he said. “We will bring them all back.”

He did not, however, commit to ending the war. He has insisted that will not happen until the hostages are freed and Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed.

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

At least 57,130 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Several people have died and more are missing after severe weather hit parts of central Texas and New Jersey in the US.

Authorities in New Jersey say at least three people died in the state following heavy rain and thunderstorms on Thursday night.

On Friday morning, flash flooding in Texas prompted disaster declarations for the Hill Country and Concho Valley regions.

In Kerr County, the sheriff’s office has reported catastrophic flooding with several people missing and confirmed loss of life.

Exactly how many people have died or are missing in Texas has not yet been confirmed by authorities.

Rescues and evacuations have been underway since the early morning and there are warnings of more potential flash flooding to come in the state.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the state was providing “all necessary resources to Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt and the entire Texas Hill Country dealing with these devastating floods”.

The region is to the north-west of the city of San Antonio.

Pictures show the deep flood waters swamping bridges and fast moving water swirling down roads.

“Folks, please don’t take chances. Stay alert, follow local emergency warnings, and do not drive through flooded roads,” Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said.

The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office told residents near creeks, streams and the Guadalupe River to move to higher ground.

In New Jersey, authorities say among the three killed were two men, aged 79 and 25, who died after a tree fell onto their car in Plainfield during Thursday’s severe storm.

A 44-year-old woman was also killed when a tree fell on her vehicle in North Plainfield.

“Our hearts are heavy today,” said Mayor Adrian Mapp of Plainfield. “This tragedy is a sobering reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of life.”

The storms forced the New Jersey city to cancel its planned 4 July parade and fireworks show.

US President Donald Trump is to sign his landmark policy bill into law, a day after it was narrowly passed by Congress.

The signing event at the White House on Friday afternoon, coinciding with 4 July celebrations, enacts key parts of the Trump agenda including tax cuts, spending boosts for defence and the immigration crackdown.

Trump began his victory lap at an Iowa rally on Thursday night, telling supporters it will unleash economic growth, but he must now convince sceptical Americans as polling suggests many disapprove.

Several members of his own Republican party were opposed because of the impact on rising US debt and Democrats warned the bill would reward the wealthy and punish the poor.

The 870-page package includes:

• extending 2017 tax cuts of Trump’s first term
• steep cuts to Medicaid spending, the state-provided healthcare scheme for those on low incomes and the disabled
• new tax breaks on tipped income, overtime and Social Security
• a budget increase of $150bn for defence
• a reduction in Biden-era clean energy tax credits
• $100bn to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

The bill signing will precede 4 July American Independence Day fireworks and a military picnic attended by the pilots who recently flew into Iran to try to dismantle three nuclear sites.

The celebratory mood follows days of tense negotiations with Republican rebels in Congress and days of cajoling on Capitol Hill, sometimes by the president himself.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries delayed the final vote in the lower chamber of Congress on Thursday by speaking for nearly nine hours.

He called the bill an “extraordinary assault on the healthcare of the American people” and quoted testimony from individuals anxious about its impact.

But his marathon speech only postponed the inevitable. As soon as he sat down, the House moved to a vote.

Only two Republicans went against, joining all 212 Democrats united in opposition. The bill passed by 218 votes to 214.

Earlier this week, the Senate passed the bill but US Vice-President JD Vance was required to cast a tiebreaking vote after three Republicans held out.

• Major win now but political peril awaits
• Fact-checking three key claims about the bill

Hours after the House passed the bill, the president was in a triumphant mood as he took to the stage in Iowa to kick off a years long celebration of 250 years since American independence.

“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago,” he told supporters in Des Moines.

“Very simply the One Big, Beautiful Bill will deliver the strongest border on Earth, the strongest economy on Earth [and] the strongest military on Earth.”

The White House believes the various tax cuts will help stimulate economic growth, but many experts fear that will not be sufficient to prevent the budget deficit – the difference between spending and tax revenue in any year – from ballooning, adding to the national debt.

Analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggests the tax cuts could produce a surplus in the first year but will then cause the deficit to rise sharply.

According to the Tax Policy Center, the tax changes in the bill would benefit wealthier Americans more than those on lower incomes, About 60% of the benefits would go to those making above $217,000 (£158,000), its analysis found.

The BBC spoke to Americans who may see a cut in the subsidies that help them pay for groceries.

Jordan, a father of two, is one of 42 million Americans who benefits from the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) scheme targeted by the bill.

• Americans brace for Trump’s welfare cuts
• What is in the bill?

He and his wife get about $700 a month to feed their family of four and the 26-year-old said if this bill reduces what he can claim he would get a second job. “I’m going to make sure that I can do whatever I can to feed my family,” he says.

Along with cuts to SNAP, the changes to Medicaid – a programme that covers healthcare for low-income, elderly and disabled Americans – would result in nearly 12 million losing coverage in the next decade, the CBO estimates.

Republicans defend their changes to Medicaid, saying that by toughening up work requirements they are tackling abuse and fraud.

Polling taken before the bill passed in Congress suggests public support is low and dwarfed by numbers opposed. A recent Quinnipiac University survey pointed to only 29% endorsing the legislation, which rose to two-thirds among Republicans.

But knowledge of the bill may be low too. Reuters reported there was little awareness of the legislation among Trump supporters they spoke to at the Iowa rally on Thursday night.

One of Sweden’s most wanted gang leaders, Ismail Abdo, has been arrested in Turkey, the Swedish prosecutor’s office said on Friday.

The dual Swedish-Turkish national has an extensive list of drug-related charges against him according to the global police agency, Interpol.

The 35-year-old, nicknamed The Strawberry, is a well-known leader of the Rumba crime gang in Sweden. He is accused of orchestrating illegal operations from abroad and has been the subject of an Interpol red notice since last year.

Swedish police did not identify him, but confirmed the arrest of a man “suspected of having engaged in serious drug trafficking and inciting serious violent crimes” for many years in Sweden.

He was one of 19 people who were arrested during raids in Turkey, where officers seized more than a tonne of drugs, state broadcaster TRT reported. Exactly where the raids took place has not been revealed.

Arrest warrants were issued for a further 21 suspects, of whom 14 were believed to be abroad and three already in custody on other charges. Four are still at large, TRT added.

Turkish authorities reportedly seized assets worth around 1.5bn Turkish lira (£27.8m; $38m), including 20 vehicles, bank accounts and 51 real estate properties.

Gang violence in Sweden has escalated in recent years, in part because Abdo’s former friend, Rawa Majida, is the leader of a rival gang, Foxtrot.

Many people have been killed since their deadly turf war began. It entered a new, violent chapter in 2023 when Abdo’s mother was murdered in her home in Uppsala, north of the capital, Stockholm.

The escalation prompted the government to bring in the army to help tackle the surge in gang killings.

In 2024, Turkish police arrested Abdo during a traffic stop, but released him on bail despite the active Interpol red notice against him – a move which drew criticism from Swedish authorities who were seeking to extradite Abdo.

The increase in gang violence that has plagued some of Sweden’s biggest cities and spread to quieter suburbs and towns has shattered its reputation as a safe and peaceful nation.

Lat year, Sweden’s security service, Sapo, accused Iran of recruiting Swedish gang members to carry out attacks on Israeli or Jewish interests. In October, a 13-year-old boy fired shots outside the offices of Israeli tech firm Elbit Systems. Israel’s embassies in Sweden and Denmark were also both targeted.

Sweden’s centre-right governing coalition, which promised to end the gang crime wave when it was elected in 2022, will see Abdo’s capture as a win. However the fact that he is also a Turkish citizen could complicate the extradition process.

An estimated 14,000 people in Sweden are caught up in criminal gangs, according to a police report last year, and a further 48,000 people are said to be connected to them.

Crowds mourned Diogo Jota in his hometown to pay their respects to the Liverpool forward and his brother André Silva, who both died in a car crash on Thursday.

Portugal’s president, stars from the national team and fans from across the country gathered in the small town of Gondomar, on the outskirts of Porto, where the pair grew up.

Their parents, grandfather and other family members held a private vigil at a chapel in the town before it was opened to the public for a wake. The funeral will be held on Saturday.

The pair – both footballers, with André playing in Portugal’s second division – were killed after the Lamborghini they were travelling in crashed in the Spanish province of Zamora.

Fans carrying Portugal flags, flowers and other memorabilia were seen weeping as they queued to pay their respects.

Those in attendance included President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, national team stars João Moutinho, Diogo Dalot and Ricardo Horta, and Jota’s agent Jorge Mendes.

For years as a young boy, Jota played for local club Gondomar SC, which named its academy after him in 2022.

Emblazoned on its sign is a quote from Jota: “It’s not about where we come from but where we’re going to.”

Outside the club, shirts and scarves were laid inside a ring of candles.

The 28-year-old father-of-three – who this year won the Nations League with Portugal and Premier League with Liverpool – married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso just 11 days before the fatal crash.

He had been travelling back to Liverpool for pre-season training, making the trip by car and ferry because he had undergone minor surgery and had been advised against flying.

Liverpool said his death was a “tragedy that transcends” the club.

Fans also grieved outside the club’s Anfield stadium.

Former captain Jordan Henderson was seen in tears as he laid a wreath, with a card that read: “Rest in peace my friend, along with your brother André. We will all miss you.”

Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah admitted he was dreading returning to the club in the wake of Jota’s shock death.

“I am truly lost for words. Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break,” Salah wrote in a post on social media.

A delegation from Liverpool’s city rival club Everton – including Portugal-born strikers Beto and Youssef Chermiti – also attended and left flowers outside Anfield.

Former Liverpool councillor Peter Millea – a home and away regular who had come to pay his respects – told the BBC: “There was something about him as a player when he first came to us that he became an instant hit.

“He was one of those players you can easily take to, because of the manner in which he conducted himself on and off the pitch and the important goals he scored.”

Mr Millea said some fans at Anfield had broken into impromptu renditions of the chant while paying their respects.

“I’m sure we’ll hear it loud and clear at Wembley for the Community Shield and we’ll hear it at Preston for the first pre-season away game, you know it’ll be sung around the field against Athletic Bilbao and then during the course of the rest of the season and probably forever-more,” he said.

Elsewhere, fans left flowers, scarves and shirts outside Wolves’ Molineux Stadium, where Jota played prior to his move to Anfield.

At Wimbledon, Portuguese tennis player Francisco Cabral wore a black ribbon to mark the passing of his countrymen.

A minute’s silence was held in the Women’s Euro 2025 game between Denmark and Sweden.

Liverpool has cancelled pre-season fitness tests that were due to take place today for some players as a result of yesterday’s news. A phased return of training will now begin on Monday.

The funeral service will be held at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar in Sao Cosme in Gondomar at 10:00 on Saturday.

French police have waded into shallow waters off a beach south of Boulogne and used knives to slash an inflatable small boat – packed with men, women and children – that was wallowing, dangerously, in the waves.

All those onboard clambered to safety as the boat collapsed in chaotic scenes.

The intervention was highly unusual.

French police usually follow strict rules that bar them from going into the sea in case they put lives at risk.

“Let’s go in,” said one of the gendarmes, pulling off his body armour, and taking out a small knife. His colleagues took their heavy armour off, too, placing equipment in the back of a nearby police car before rushing into the water.

There had been some speculation that this rare incident could be evidence that the French police – under growing pressure to stop a surge of small boat migrant crossings to the UK – are changing their tactics.

But they have made it clear to the BBC that police have not adopted any new tactics in dealing with small boat launches, that the rules forbidding intervention in the water remains in place and officers must continue to prioritise safety on the beaches. They are allowed to intervene, however, if they believe lives are at immediate risk.

Well-placed sources in France have told us that the procedural changes now being considered will almost certainly focus on the use of patrol boats at sea to intercept the “taxi-boats” before they’re fully loaded, rather than on approving more aggressive interventions from police on the beaches.

The UK prime minister’s official spokesman said the images of French police destroying a boat were “a significant moment and we welcome this action”.

“We want to see tougher action taken, that’s precisely the focus of our work, it is the outcome of that close work that you’ve seen,” the spokesman said.

A few metres offshore, the boat itself was clearly in trouble. People were crowded around the outboard motor, which had briefly stalled but was being restarted.

Waves were breaking underneath the boat, causing it to lurch wildly, and there were loud screams from several children who were in danger of being crushed onboard.

Earlier, two large groups of people already wearing orange life jackets had emerged from the nearby dunes and rushed towards the sea.

In all there were probably 80 or 100 people. But when the first “taxi-boat” – used by the smuggling gangs to collect passengers from various points along the French coast – sped past perhaps 100m from the shore, it was clearly full already and did not stop to pick anyone else up.

A few minutes later, a second boat, with almost no passengers, came towards the shore, watched by a French coastguard boat further into the English Channel.

Initially, people were ushered forwards in organised groups, holding hands, and directed by one man who appeared to be leading events.

But as the inflatable boat turned and reversed towards the shore, there was a scrum as dozens of people scrambled to climb aboard in water that was at least waist deep.

At first the gendarmes declined to intervene and stood watching from the shore.

One officer repeated a now-familiar explanation to me – that they were barred from going into the water except to rescue people.

But as the situation became increasingly chaotic, the officers at the scene clearly felt that a line had been crossed, that those on board were now in danger, and that there was a brief opportunity to disable the boat in relative safety and while any smugglers – who might have fought back – were distracted by their attempts to restart the engine.

As a policeman slashed repeatedly at the rubber, there were cries and shouts of anger and frustration from some of those onboard.

A young girl, who had been in the middle of the scrum, squashed at the stern of the boat close to the engine, was plucked to safety as others scrambled on to the nearby sand.

Moments later the boat was dragged ashore by the police as the migrants began collecting items they had dropped on the beach and then headed inland, up the sandy paths through the dunes towards the nearest village and a bus-ride back to the migrant camps further north.

As the evening light ebbed away a handful of Ukrainian troops emerged from the treeline to face an unequal fight. Their mission – to shoot down 21st Century killer drones with weapons designed in the dying days of World War One.

In Ukraine’s north-eastern region of Sumy, bordering Russia, this is a nightly battle.

Just after we joined the troops, there was danger in the skies, and tension and adrenaline on the ground.

The commander – codenamed Jaeger – was glued to a screen showing clusters of red dots, each indicating an Iranian-designed Shahed drone, one of Russia’s key weapons. By early evening, there were already 30 in the skies over Sumy, and the neighbouring region of Chernihiv.

Two flatbed trucks were driven out into a clearing – on the back of each a heavy machine gun and a gunner, scanning the skies. The trucks were flanked by troops, light machine guns at the ready.

We could hear the whirring of the propellers before we could see the drone – barely visible as it sliced through the sky. The troops opened fire – all guns blazing in unison – but the drone disappeared into the distance. These low-cost long-range weapons are terrorising Ukraine.

As often in war, there were flashes of humour. “You’ll know when the next drone is coming, when that short guy gets nervous,” said Jaeger, pointing at one of his team.

As darkness closed in, the drones kept coming and the troops kept trying – sending tracer fire streaking across the sky. But how do they feel when these suicide drones get through?

“Well, it’s not very good, “Jaeger says sombrely, glancing away. “You feel a slight sadness but to be honest – as you have seen – you don’t have time for emotions. One comes in and another can come right behind it. You work in this rhythm. If it’s taken down – good, if not, you know there are other teams behind you who will also engage it.”

He and his men are a “mobile fire unit” from Ukraine’s 117 Territorial Defence Brigade – all locals trying to defend not just their hometown but their country. Most Russian drones fly through this region and deeper into Ukraine.

“They come in massive waves, often flying at different altitudes,” says Jaeger. “When there is heavy cloud cover, they fly above the clouds, and we can’t see them. And it’s very hard to detect them when it’s raining.”

A hundred Shahed drones a night is standard for Sumy.

His unit includes a farmer (“now I do something else in the fields,” he jokes) and a builder. Jaeger himself is a former forest ranger, and mixed martial arts fighter.

Now he fights an enemy he can barely see.

“It’s the same thing every single day, over and over again,” he says. “For us, it’s just like Groundhog Day.”

“The worst thing is that years are passing by,” adds Kurban, the builder, “and we have no idea how long all this is going to last”.

Many of the drones in the skies over Sumy that night were headed for the capital, Kyiv. Jaeger and his men knew it. So did we. The knowledge was chilling.

An air raid alert warned the residents of Kyiv of incoming drones. Russia aimed more than 300 at the capital overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force, trying to overwhelm its air defences. By morning six locations had been hit, and the victims were being reclaimed from the rubble. In the days that followed the death toll climbed to 30.

In Ukraine’s fourth summer of full-scale war the fields around Sumy are dotted with corn and sunflowers, not yet in bloom, and a crop of dragon’s teeth – triangles of concrete which can stop tanks in their tracks.

The picture was very different last autumn. Ukrainian troops had turned the tables with a cross-border attack on Russia, capturing territory in the neighbouring region of Kursk.

By March of this year, most were forced out, although Ukraine’s military chief said recently it still holds some territory there. By May, President Zelensky warned that 50,000 Russian troops were massed “in the direction of Sumy”.

By June, more than 200 villages and settlements in Sumy had been evacuated, as the Kremlin’s men slowly shelled their way forward.

President Putin wants “a buffer zone” along the border, and is talking up the threat to the city of Sumy.

“The city…is next, the regional centre,” he said recently. “We don’t have a task to take Sumy, but I don’t rule it out.” He claims his forces are already up to 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) inside the region.

The head of Ukraine’s army, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, claims his troops have halted the Russian advance, but the war has already closed in on Margaryta Husakova, 37, menacing her village. She warned her sister not to come because there were explosions.

“She came anyway,” Margaryta says, “and everything was fine for a month, quiet and peaceful, until we got on that bus”.

On the morning of 17 May, the sisters set out with other relatives for a trip to the city.

“I remember how we came, got on the bus, how we laughed, were happy,” says Margaryta. “Then we started to leave, and it happened.”

The bus was ripped apart by a Russian drone, in an attack that killed nine people – all civilians – including her mother, her uncle and her sister.

Margaryta was pulled from the wreckage with a shattered right arm – now held together by steel rods.

She is tormented by what she lost, and what she saw. Her description is graphic.

“I opened my eyes, and there was no bus,” she said, her voice beginning to break. “I looked around and my sister’s head was torn off. My mum too, she was lying there, hit in the temple. My uncle had fallen out of the bus, his brain was exposed.”

We met at a sand-bagged reception centre for evacuees in Sumy. Margaryta sat outside on a wooden bench, seeking comfort from a cigarette. She told me she was planning to leave for the home of another relative, but feared her eight children might not be safe there either.

“Maybe we will have to run away even further,” she said, adding: “It’s scary everywhere.”

“I’m terrified, not for myself but for the children. I must save them. That’s what matters.”

As we spoke an air raid siren wailed overhead – the sound so familiar that Margaryta did not respond. Neither did anyone else around us. “We only run for explosions now,” a Ukrainian journalist explained “and only if they are loud and close”.

There’s little talk in Sumy of a ceasefire, let alone an end to Europe’s largest war since 1945.

US President Donald Trump no longer claims he can deliver peace in Ukraine in a day. He’s become embroiled in a newer war, bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

Talks between Russia and Ukraine have delivered only prisoner exchanges, and the return of bodies. President Putin appears emboldened and has been upping his demands.

With the Summer sun still overhead, those trying to save Ukraine expect more Winters of war. We followed a bumpy track deep into a forest to meet troops fresh from the front lines. They were getting a refresher course in weapons skills at a remote training ground. A battle-hardened 35-year-old with a shaved head and full beard was among the group – call sign “student”.

“I think the war won’t end in the next year or two,” he told me. “And even if it does end in six months with some kind of ceasefire, it will start again in four or five years. President Putin has imperialist ambitions.”

War inflicts wounds – seen and unseen.

“Student” sent his family abroad for safety soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has been unable to see his two daughters since then.

He and his wife are now divorced. Other soldiers we met also spoke of broken relationships and marriages that have buckled under the strain.

Student sums up war as “blood, dirt and sweat” and does not try to conceal the cost. “We joined our battalion, as a platoon of 30 neighbours,” he told me.

“Today, only four of us remain alive. “

Kenyan President William Ruto says he is building a church at the presidential residence in Nairobi that he will pay for himself – and says he has nothing to apologise for.

“I am not going to ask anyone for an apology for building a church. The devil might be angry and can do what he wants,” Ruto said on Friday.

That statement alone has angered Kenyans already frustrated with his style of leadership and what they regard as the entanglement of the state and the church.

The BBC has asked the government for comment.

It is not clear who Ruto was referring to as “the devil” in his comments at State House, but he says nothing will stop the project from going ahead.

“I did not start building this church when I entered the State House. I found a church but one made out of iron sheets. Does that look befitting for the State House?” a defiant Ruto told politicians at a meeting he hosted on Friday.

On Friday, one of Kenya’s leading newspapers, the Daily Nation, published architectural designs showing a large building with stained glass windows and capacity for 8,000 people.

The paper questioned whether the project was in keeping with Kenya’s secular constitution.

There has also been criticism of the cost, estimated at $9m (£6.5m), at a time when many Kenyans are struggling with the rising cost of living.

Ruto said he would pay for the church out of his own pocket, however that raises the question of whether he has the right to build such a large structure on state-owned property.

The Atheists Society of Kenya is threatening legal action to stop the church being built, calling it shocking and unacceptable.

“We view this action as anti-democratic and a promotion of Christin nationalism by President Ruto. We want to remind him that Kenya does not belong to Christians only,” said the group’s head, Harrison Mumia.

William Ruto is Kenya’s first evangelical Christian president, cultivating a pious image and earning him the nickname of “deputy Jesus”.

During his many years in public office he has been known to quote scripture and cry in public – behaviour that has long alienated some Kenyans.

Back when Ruto was the deputy president, he erected a church at his government residence in the suburb of Karen, using it to host religious leaders of various faiths.

While roughly 85% of Kenyans are Christian, there is also a large Muslim population of about 11%, along with other minority faiths including Hinduism and traditional African religions.

There is no mosque or temple at the presidency.

Meanwhile, Nairobi’s Catholic Archbishop Philip Anyolo says clarity is urgently needed about the type of structure being built, otherwise it might be seen to favour one Christian denomination over others.

“We have to be very cautious with this. Such a structure ought to have been built in an area that is not a public institution. Unless what is being built is a chaplaincy, but that is also not clear.”

• El Chapo & Deputy Jesus – why Kenya’s president has so many nicknames
• Why Kenya’s evangelical president has fallen out with churches
• How African popes changed Christianity – and gave us Valentine’s Day
• Ghana to investigate ex-president’s controversial $400m cathedral project

The US government is to start sending out letters to countries with details of higher US tariff rates that will begin on 1 August, President Donald Trump has said.

Between 10 to 12 letters will go out on Friday, with more over the coming days, the president told reporters.

The import duties will range from “60% or 70% tariffs to 10 to 20% tariffs,” he said, the top end of which is higher than he had previously outlined.

Trump has set a deadline of 9 July for negotiations over import tax rates as countries scramble to reach deals.

He has previously said there would be a baseline tariff of 10% on many economies up to a 50% maximum.

Trump did not say which countries’ goods would face the US taxes, or whether the rates would only apply to certain goods.

“My inclination is to send a letter out and say what tariff they’re going to be paying,” he told reporters on Thursday. “It’s just much easier.”

He added: “We’re going to be sending some letters out, starting probably tomorrow.”

Tariffs are taxes imposed on goods coming into a country, paid by the importer.

Those firms may choose to swallow the higher costs, but ultimately are likely to pass them on to US consumers.

The idea is to have more money flowing into the US government, and also to make foreign goods more expensive, so boosting demand for US-made goods.

Trump’s comments come before a deadline next week that could see steeper duties imposed on goods from a number of countries.

These range from the European Union, which was previously threatened with 20% tariffs later raised to 50%, to Japan, which could face 35% tariffs on its goods.

The UK and US have partly agreed a trade deal, covering UK cars and US beef and bioethanol, but not steel.

The world’s largest economies, China and the US, initially engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war that imposed massive “reciprocal” tariff increases in April.

The US imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, while China put 125% tariffs on some goods.

After negotiations the countries agreed to drop the taxes to 30% and 10% respectively while they negotiate. Last month, the two said they had agreed details over matters such as the export of rare earth materials and the easing of tech restrictions.

Former Arsenal footballer Thomas Partey has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

The offences are reported to have taken place between 2021-2022, the Metropolitan Police said.

The charges involve three women, with two counts of rape relating to one woman, three counts of rape in connection to a second woman and one count of sexual assault linked to a third woman.

The Ghanaian international denies the charges and “welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name”, his lawyer said.

The charges follow an investigation by detectives, which started in February 2022 after police first received a report of rape.

The 32-year-old’s contract with Arsenal ended on Monday after playing with the team since 2020.

BBC News has contacted Arsenal and the Football Association. The Premier League declined to comment.

Det Supt Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “Our priority remains providing support to the women who have come forward.

“We would ask anyone who has been impacted by this case, or anyone who has information, to speak with our team. You can contact detectives about this investigation by emailing CIT@met.police.uk”

Mr Partey, of Hertfordshire, is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 5 August.

In a statement, his lawyer Jenny Wiltshire said: “Thomas Partey denies all the charges against him.

“He has fully cooperated with the police and CPS throughout their three-year investigation.

“He now welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name.

“Given that there are now ongoing legal proceedings, my client is unable to comment further.”

Mr Partey joined Arsenal for £45.3m from Atletico Madrid in October 2020, made 35 top-flight appearances last season and scored four goals as the London club finished second in the Premier League.

He also played 12 times in the Champions League as the Gunners reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual winners Paris St-Germain.

Overall, he made 130 Premier League appearances for Mikel Arteta’s side, scoring nine goals.

Mr Partey has also made more than 50 appearances for Ghana’s national team, and most recently played at World Cup qualification matches in March.

Two female tourists, including a British pensioner, have been killed by a charging elephant while on safari in Zambia, police have told the BBC.

Easton Taylor, 68, from the UK and 67-year-old Alison Taylor from New Zealand were attacked by a female elephant that was with a calf at the South Luangwa National Park, said local police chief Robertson Mweemba.

The two tourists were trampled to death by the nursing elephant after efforts by tour guides to stop it by firing shots failed. Both women died at the scene, he said.

The British Foreign Office said it was supporting the family of a British woman who had died in Zambia and was liaising with local authorities.

Mr Mweemba said the two women were part of a guided safari group who were walking in the park on Thursday when the elephant charged towards them at high speed.

The two tourists had stayed for four days at the Big Lagoon Camp, about 600 km (370 miles) from the capital, Lusaka, where the attack happened.

“They were moving to other camps when the elephant charged from behind. We are really sorry that we have lost our visitors,” Mr Mweemba said.

“They both died on the spot,” he added.

It is not clear whether the pair were related.

Female elephants are very protective of their calves and Zambian authorities have previously called on tourists to exercise extreme caution while observing wildlife around the country.

“It is very difficult to control the animals and tourists like feeding them,” Mr Mweemba said.

Last year, two American tourists were killed in separate attacks by elephants in the southern African country. Both cases involved elderly tourists who were in a safari vehicle when they were attacked.

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High profile left winger Zarah Sultana has quit Labour and vowed to launch a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

That, however, seems to have come as news to him.

In a social media post, the former Labour leader congratulated Sultana on her “principled decision” to leave and said he was “delighted that she will help us build a real alternative”.

But he said “the democratic foundations of a new kind of political party” were still taking shape and discussions were “ongoing”.

Sultana appears to have jumped the gun, taking not just Corbyn but others involved in the project by surprise.

But that does not mean it is not happening.

There is no name yet – Arise and The Collective have been bandied about. Corbyn is thought to like the phrase “Real Change”, but not necessarily as a party name.

No timetable for a launch has been agreed, although there has been talk of fielding candidates at next May’s local elections.

But all of those involved in the project believe there is a huge gap in the market to the left of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, with millions of potential votes up for grabs.

Are they right?

And what would the arrival of a new socialist party mean for the Greens who have scooped up many left-wing voters in recent times – not to mention the Labour Party itself?

It is very difficult to assess support for a party that does not yet exist, has no leader and no policies.

Pollsters More In Common recently tested the sort of support a party to the left of Labour would have – specifically one led by Jeremy Corbyn.

Their research suggested it could pick up 10% of the vote – reducing Labour’s standing by three points but far more dramatically eating in to support for the Greens, which would fall from 9% to 5% in the polls.

Notably, a Corbyn-led party could become the country’s most popular party among 18- to 24-year-olds with 32% of the vote.

Former Corbyn aide Andrew Murray said Sir Keir Starmer had “created the space” for a party to Labour’s left by ruthlessly expelling left wingers from the party and dropping his leadership campaign promises.

Speaking to GB News’s Choppers Podcast, Murray said Labour’s 2017 vote – 3.2 million more than Sir Keir’s in 2024 – showed the scale of potential support for a new left-wing party.

Thousands of votes had leaked away from the Tories to Reform UK at last year’s election, he added, and “there are similarly huge numbers of people who regard themselves as progressives and are looking for something different.”

A veteran left-wing organiser, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC even with a double digit share of the national vote it is “quite hard for new parties to become positive forces in the UK”.

“I think it could do quite a lot of damage to Labour and the Greens if it gets above a critical mass,” he said.

Senior Greens have told the BBC they are not worried about a new insurgent party.

Green leadership hopeful Zack Polanski said “anyone who wants to challenge Reform and this failing Labour government is a friend of mine”.

But he added: “In the past there’s been lots of left-wing parties, but only the Green Party has endured and had sustained growth.”

Polanski’s point was echoed by his leadership contest rival Adrian Ramsay, who currently co-leads the party, who said anyone looking for a “progressive alternative to Labour” should join the Greens.

Any damage to the Greens could be limited by a “non-aggression” pact with the new party, running candidates on a joint ticket, for example, or agreeing to stand aside in certain circumstances.

Jeremy Corbyn has been working for some time under the radar to turn the small group of independent MPs he co-ordinates into a full-blown political party which could stand candidates at the local elections next year.

Last year, the Islington North MP united with Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed – four independents that beat Labour candidates in the 2024 election with their pro-Palestinian stance in constituencies with large Muslim populations.

On Wednesday he hinted that a new party could be on the way, telling ITV’s Peston he and his fellow pro-Gaza independents would “come together” and “there will be an alternative”.

The MPs are united in their condemnation of Keir Starmer’s approach to the Gaza crisis, but we don’t know what their rest of their policy programme would be.

We do not even know for certain that Jeremy Corbyn would be their leader. He is thought to favour a democratic convention to decide on leadership but others in the project are impatient to get on with it.

Sultana is clearly keen to play a leading role, although her statement was carefully worded – she wants to co-lead the “founding” of a new party with Corbyn.

One thing is clear – any new party will not be a reincarnation of the previous Corbyn project, as key figures on Labour’s left show no sign of leaving.

Corbyn’s former shadow chancellor John McDonell said he was “dreadfully sorry to lose Zarah from the Labour Party” but is not expected to quit himself.

The chair of the Labour party under Corbyn – Ian Lavery – told the BBC he planned to stay in the party until he retired.

The Independent MPs were elected last year in areas where voters felt Labour wasn’t taking a strong enough line on Israel’s actions in Gaza.

We don’t know how resonant the issue will be at the next election, four years away.

But where Keir Starmer’s strategists might be concerned is that a new left-wing party might just reduce the Labour vote by enough in some seats to allow a second-placed Reform UK to sneak home.

And Labour may have to be more mindful that it can lose votes on the left and not just the right.

It was once seen as close to impossible to successfully launch a new political party in the UK, under Westminster’s first-past-the-post voting system.

But Reform UK, which has five MPs and is currently ahead in the polls, has shown how volatile politics now is and the extent to which traditional party loyalties no longer matter.

A well-known leader and some eye-catching policies could potentially redraw the map of mainstream politics.

Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.

Moments before the explosion, artists, students and athletes were among those gathered at a bustling seaside cafe in Gaza City.

Huddled around tables, customers at al-Baqa Cafeteria were scrolling on their phones, sipping hot drinks, and catching up with friends. At one point, the familiar melody of “Happy Birthday” rang out as a young child celebrated with family.

In a quiet corner of the cafe overlooking the sea, a Hamas operative, dressed in civilian clothing, arrived at his table, sources told the BBC.

It was then, without warning, that a bomb was dropped by Israeli forces and tore through the building, they said.

At the sound of the explosion, people nearby flooded onto the streets and into al-Baqa in a desperate search for survivors.

“The scene was horrific – bodies, blood, screaming everywhere,” one man told the BBC later that day.

“It was total destruction,” said another. “A real massacre happened at al-Baqa Cafeteria. A real massacre that breaks hearts.”

The BBC has reviewed 29 names of people reported killed in the strike on the cafe on Monday. Twenty-six of the deaths were confirmed by multiple sources, including through interviews with family, friends and eyewitness accounts.

At least nine of those killed were women, and several were children or teenagers. They included artists, students, social activists, a female boxer, a footballer and cafe staff.

The conduct of the strike and the scale of civilian casualties have amplified questions over the proportionality of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say are aimed at defeating Hamas and rescuing the hostages still being held by the group.

Family members in Gaza and abroad spoke to the BBC of their shock and devastation at the killings.

“We were talking with each other two days ago. We were sending reels to each other. I can’t believe it,” said a young Palestinian man living in the US whose 21-year-old “bestie” Muna Juda and another close friend, Raghad Alaa Abu Sultan, were both killed in the strike.

The numbers of deaths analysed by the BBC were broadly consistent with figures given by the Hamas-run Civil Defence Agency, a senior local medic and the Palestinian Red Crescent in the days after the strike.

Staff at Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies, said its toll as of Thursday had reached 40 deaths, including people who had succumbed to their injuries, and unidentified bodies.

An official at the hospital said some of the bodies had been “blown to pieces”, and that 72 injured patients were brought there – many having sustained severe burns and significant injuries that required surgery. He said many were students.

In a statement after the strike, the IDF said it had been targeting “terrorists” and that steps were taken to “mitigate the risk of harming civilians using aerial surveillance”.

“The IDF will continue to operate against the Hamas terrorist organization in order to remove any threat posed to Israeli civilians,” it added, before saying the “incident” was “under review”.

The IDF did not directly respond to multiple BBC questions about the target of the strike, or whether it considered the number of civilian casualties to be proportionate.

Al-Baqa Cafeteria was well-known across the Gaza Strip, considered by many to be among the territory’s most scenic and vibrant meeting spots.

Split over two floors and divided into men’s and mixed family sections, it had views out to the Mediterranean Sea and television screens where people could watch football matches. It was a place to gather for coffee, tea and shisha with friends, and was a particular favourite with journalists.

Al-Baqa had remained popular even during the war, especially because of its unusually stable internet connection. The cafe, which had until now survived largely unscathed, also served up a reminder of the life that existed before the bombardments.

A cafe manager told the BBC that there was a strict entry policy. “It was known to our customers that if any person looked like a target, then they were not let inside the cafeteria – this was for our safety and the safety of the people there,” he said.

On the day of the strike, the port area of Gaza City where the cafe is located was not under Israeli evacuation orders, and families of those killed on Monday say they had felt as safe as is possible when heading there.

Staff told the BBC that the strike in the early afternoon – between the Muslim prayers of Zuhr and Asr – was outside of the cafe’s busiest hours.

The strike hit a section of the men’s area where staff said few people were at the time.

BBC Verify showed several experts photos of the crater left in the wake of the explosion and the remaining munition fragments. Most said that they believed it was caused by a bomb, rather than a missile, with a range of size estimates given, at a maximum of 500lb (230kg).

The IDF told the BBC it would not comment on the type of munition used.

A journalist who was in the area at the time of the strike and spoke to eyewitnesses immediately afterwards told the BBC the munition that hit the cafe “was launched from a warplane – not from a drone that would usually target one or two people… It looked like they were very keen on getting their target”. His account was consistent with others we spoke to.

Twenty-seven-year-old Hisham Ayman Mansour, whose deceased father had been a leading figure in Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, was among those in the men’s section by the sea.

His brother was previously killed by Israeli forces, and one social media post mourning his death suggested the brother had taken part in the 7 October 2023 attacks.

A local Hamas source said Hisham was the target of the strike, and described him as a field commander with the group, a “mid-ranking role”.

Tributes posted on social media also referred to him as a “fighter” and “member of the resistance”. His cousin also described him to the BBC as a “fighter” with the proscribed group, but said he thought he was “low-level” and not currently active.

It is unclear what he was doing in the cafe that day, with two sources telling the BBC he was believed to be there for a “money drop”, while another suggested he was there for “coffee and a short respite” and that he had not been involved in “militant activities” during the war.

A photo shared on social media purported to show Hisham at the same spot in the men’s area of the cafe the day before the strike, wearing a cap and sports t-shirt. Photos of his body after the strike in the same outfit were shared by family and friends.

Two members of his family – one of them a child – were also killed.

The IDF would not confirm whether Hisham was the primary target, or one of a number of targets of the strike.

One former senior IDF official told the BBC he understood that “multiple Hamas operatives” were hit at the cafe, but that a so-called battle damage assessment was still ongoing. A source with Israeli intelligence connections pointed towards a social media post naming Hisham as the target.

Sources in Gaza gave the BBC the name of a more senior Hamas commander who was rumoured to have been seated on a nearby table, but posts on social media said he died the following day and did not mention the cafe.

The Hamas source said Hisham was the only person within the group killed at al-Baqa, while the IDF did not respond to questions about the commander.

An anti-Hamas activist told the BBC that “many Hamas people” were injured in the strike, including one who worked with the group but not as a fighter, who lost his leg in the explosion.

Medics could not confirm this account, but said that they dealt with many people with severe injuries, including those arriving with missing limbs or requiring amputations.

Israel does not allow international journalists access to Gaza to report on the war making it difficult to verify information, and Hamas has historically ruled the territory with an iron grip, making speaking out or any dissent dangerous.

Among the bodies and the debris in al-Baqa were traces of the civilian lives lost – a giant pink and white teddy bear, its stuffing partially exposed, a child’s tiny shoe, and playing cards soaked in blood.

A displaced man who was in the area seeing family at the time of the strike was among those who went running into the cafe to try to find survivors.

“Shrapnel was everywhere… there were many injuries,” he told the BBC.

He said when he entered part of the men’s section that he found the bodies of waiters and other workers, and saw as one “took his last breath”.

“It was crazy,” said Saeed Ahel, a regular at the cafe and friend of its managers.

“The waiters were gathered around the bar since it was shady and breezy there. Around [six] of them were killed,” he added, before listing their names. More were injured.

The mother of two young men who worked at the cafe screamed as she followed their bodies while they were carried on a sheet out of the wreckage on Monday.

A distraught man pointed at a dry patch of blood on the floor, where he said bits of brain and skull had been splattered. He had put them in a bag and carried them out.

Meanwhile, the grandmother of 17-year-old Sama Mohammad Abu Namous wept.

The teenager had gone to the cafe that afternoon with her brother, hoping to use the internet connection to study. Relatives said the siblings were walking into the beachside cafe when the bomb hit. Sama was killed, while her brother was rushed to hospital.

“She went to study and they killed her,” she said. “Why did she have to return to her grandmother killed?”

The coach of young female boxer Malak Musleh said he was in shock at the loss of his friend of more than 10 years, having first learned the news of her killing through social media.

“She believed that boxing was not just for boys but that girls should have the right too,” Osama Ayoub said. “Malak was ambitious. She didn’t skip any training day.”

He said he last saw Malak about 10 days before the strike, when he dropped off some aid to her and her father.

“We sat together for nearly an hour. She told me that she was continuing her training with her sister and wished I could train them. I told her unfortunately because my house got demolished I live now in Khan Younis [in southern Gaza], but as soon as I hear that there is a ceasefire I will try to go back to training,” he said.

“She said to make sure to keep a space for them… She had passion in her eyes and her words.”

When Osama saw the Facebook post by Malak’s father announcing her death, he “didn’t believe it”.

“I called him and he confirmed it but I still don’t believe it,” he said over the phone from a displacement camp.

Artist Amina Omar Al-Salmi, better known as Frans, was also at the cafe with a well-known photographer friend.

Since the 35-year-old’s death, one of her pieces depicting a dead woman with her eyes closed and covered in blood, has been shared widely online alongside an image of her after her death, with people noting the striking similarities.

Her sister, now living in Sweden, told the BBC that the last time they spoke, Frans had said that she was sure “something good was going to happen”.

“She was happy and said: ‘We’ll meet soon. You’ll see me at your place.'”

A state-of-the-art British fighter jet stuck at an airport in India for nearly three weeks now has sparked curiosity and raised questions about how such a modern aircraft could get stranded for days in a foreign country.

The F-35B landed at Thiruvananthapuram airport in the southern state of Kerala on 14 June.

The aircraft was diverted there after it ran into bad weather during a sortie in the Indian ocean and was unable to return to HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s flagship carrier.

It landed safely but it has since developed a technical snag and is unable to return to the carrier.

Since the jet’s landing, engineers from HMS Prince of Wales have assessed the aircraft, but the visiting teams have been unable to fix it so far.

On Thursday, the British High Commission said in a statement to the BBC: “The UK has accepted an offer to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility at the airport. It will be moved to the hangar once UK engineering teams arrive with specialist equipment, thereby ensuring there is minimal disruption to scheduled maintenance of other aircraft.

“The aircraft will return to active service once repairs and safety checks have been completed,” it added. “Ground teams continue to work closely with Indian authorities to ensure safety and security precautions are observed.”

Authorities at Thiruvananthapuram airport told the BBC they were expecting technicians from the UK to arrive on Saturday.

The $110m (£80m) jet is being guarded around the clock by six officers from the RAF.

Dr Sameer Patil, director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation in Mumbai, told the BBC the Royal Navy had only two options: “They can repair it and make it fly-worthy or they can fly it out in a bigger cargo plane such as a C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.”

The case of the stranded jet has also been raised in the House of Commons.

On Monday, opposition Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty asked the government to clarify what was being done to secure it and return it to operational service, the UK Defence Journal reported.

“What steps are the government taking to recover the plane, how much longer will that take, and how will the government ensure the security of protected technologies on the jet while it is in the hangar and out of view?” he was quoted as saying.

The British armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, confirmed the aircraft remained under close UK control.

“We continue to work with our Indian friends who provided first-class support when the F-35B was unable to return to the carrier,” he said. “I am certain that the security of the jet is in good hands because Royal Air Force crew are with it at all times.”

F-35Bs are highly advanced stealth jets, built by Lockheed Martin, and are prized for their short take-off and vertical landing capability.

So images of the “lonely F-35B”, parked on the tarmac and soaked by the Kerala monsoon rains, have spawned memes on social media.

One viral post joked that the jet had been put up for sale at an online site at a hugely competitive price of $4m. The listing claimed the jet included features like “automatic parking, brand-new tyres, a new battery and an automatic gun to destroy traffic violators”.

One user on X said the jet deserved Indian citizenship as it had been in the country long enough, while another suggested that India should start charging rent and that the Kohinoor diamond would be the most appropriate payment.

On Wednesday, Kerala government’s tourism department also joined in the fun with a post on X that said “Kerala, the destination you’ll never want to leave.”

The post included an AI-generated photograph of an F-35B standing on the runway with coconut palm trees in the background. The text suggested that, like most visitors to the state described in tourism brochures as “God’s own country” for its scenic beauty, the jet too was finding it hard to leave.

Dr Patil says that each passing day that the jet remains stranded, “it adversely affects the image of the F-35Bs and the Royal Navy”.

“The jokes and memes and rumours and conspiracy theories are affecting the image and credibility of the British Royal Navy. The longer the jet stays stranded, the more disinformation will come out.”

The engineering issues “seem of a much more serious nature” than it was originally thought, he says.

But most militaries, he adds, prepare for “a worst-case scenario” – and it is one since a jet is stranded on foreign soil.

“Most militaries would have a standard operating procedure [SOP] on how to respond when something like this happens. So does the Royal Navy not have an SOP?”

The optics of this, he says, are really bad.

“If such a thing had happened in enemy territory, would they have taken this much time? This makes for very bad PR for a professional navy.”

When the gunfire started outside her home in the Damascus suburb of Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, Lama al-Hassanieh grabbed her phone and locked herself in her bathroom.

For hours, she cowered in fear as fighters dressed in military-style uniforms and desert camouflage roamed the streets of the neighbourhood. A heavy machine gun was mounted on a military vehicle just beneath her balcony window.

“Jihad against Druze” and “we are going to kill you, Druze,” the men were shouting.

She did not know who the men were – extremists, government security forces, or someone else entirely – but the message was clear: as a Druze, she was not safe.

The Druze – a community with its own unique practices and beliefs, whose faith began as an off-shoot of Shia Islam – have historically occupied a precarious position in Syria’s political order.

Under former President Bashar al-Assad, many Druze maintained a quiet loyalty to the state, hoping that alignment with it would protect them from the sectarian bloodshed that consumed other parts of Syria during the 13-year-long civil war.

Many Druze took to the streets during the uprising, especially in the latter years. But, seeking to portray himself as defending Syria’s minorities against Islamist extremism, Assad avoided using the kind of iron first against Druze protesters which he did in other cities that revolted against his rule.

They operated their own militia which defended their areas against attacks by Sunni Muslim extremist groups who considered Druze heretics, while they were left alone by pro-Assad forces.

But with Assad toppled by Sunni Islamist-led rebels who have formed the interim government, that unspoken pact has frayed, and Druze are now worried about being isolated and targeted in post-war Syria.

Recent attacks on Druze communities by Islamist militias loosely affiliated with the government in Damascus have fuelled growing distrust towards the state.

It started in late April with a leaked audio recording that allegedly featured a Druze religious leader insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Although the leader denied it was his voice, and Syria’s interior ministry later confirmed the recording was fake, the damage had been done.

A video of a student at the University of Homs, in central Syria, went viral, with him calling on Muslims to take revenge immediately against Druze, sparking sectarian violence in communities across the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said at least 137 people – 17 civilians, 89 Druze fighters and 32 members of the security forces – were killed in several days of fighting in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, the southern Damascus suburb of Jaramana, and in an ambush on the Suweida-Damascus highway.

The Syrian government said the security forces’ operation in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya was carried out to restore security and stability, and that it was in response to attacks on its own personnel where 16 of them were killed.

Lama Zahereddine, a pharmacy student at Damascus University, was just weeks away from completing her degree when the violence reached her village. What began as distant shelling turned into a direct assault – gunfire, mortars, and chaos tearing through her neighbourhood.

Her uncle arrived in a small bus, urging the women and children to flee under fire while the men stayed behind with nothing more than light arms. “The attackers had heavy machine guns and mortars,” Lama recalled. “Our men had nothing to match that.”

The violence did not stop at her village. At Lama’s university, dorm rooms were stormed and students were beaten with chains.

In one case, a student was stabbed after simply being asked if he was Druze.

“They [the instigators] told us we left our universities by choice,” she said. “But how could I stay? I was five classes and one graduation project away from my degree. Why would I abandon that if it wasn’t serious?”

Like many Druze, Lama’s fear is not just of physical attacks – it is of what she sees as a state that has failed to offer protection.

“The government says these were unaffiliated outlaws. Fine. But when are they going to be held accountable?” she asked.

Her trust was further shaken by classmates who mocked her plight, including one who replied with a laughing emoji to her post about fleeing her village.

“You never know how people really see you,” she said quietly. “I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

While no-one is sure who the attackers pledged their allegiance to, one thing is clear: many Druze are worried that Syria is drifting toward an intolerant Sunni-dominated order with little space for religious minorities like themselves.

“We don’t feel safe with these people,” Hadi Abou Hassoun told the BBC.

He was one of the Druze men from Suweida called in to protect Ashrafiyat Sahnaya on the day Lama was hiding in her bathroom.

His convoy was ambushed by armed groups using mortars and drones. Hadi was shot in the back, piercing his lung and breaking several ribs.

It’s a far cry from the inclusive Syria he had in mind under new leadership.

“Their ideology is religious, not based on law or the state. And when someone acts out of religious or sectarian hate, they don’t represent us,” Hadi said.

“What represents us is the law and the state. The law is what protects everyone…I want protection from the law.”

The Syrian government has repeatedly stressed the sovereignty and unity of all Syrian territories and denominations of Syrian society, including the Druze.

Though clashes and attacks have since subsided, faith in the government’s ability to protect minorities has diminished.

During the days of the fighting, Israel carried out air strikes around the Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, claiming it was targeting “operatives” attacking Druze to protect the minority group.

It also struck an area near the Syrian presidential palace, saying that it would “not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community”. Israel itself has a large number of Druze citizens in the country and living in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Back in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, Lama al-Hassanieh said the atmosphere had shifted – it was “calmer, but cautious”.

She sees neighbours again, but wariness lingers.

“Trust has been broken. There are people in the town now who don’t belong, who came during the war. It’s hard to know who’s who anymore.”

Trust in the government remains thin.

“They say they’re working toward protecting all Syrians. But where are the real steps? Where is the justice?” Lama asked.

“I don’t want to be called a minority. We are Syrians. All we ask for is the same rights – and for those who attacked us to be held accountable.”

This week saw the UK and Europe swelter in the grip of a heatwave, Sir Keir Starmer’s government encounter a major rebellion over its plans for welfare reform, and Beyoncé suffer car trouble during a concert.

But how much attention did you pay to what else happened in the world over the past seven days?

Quiz collated by Ben Fell.

Fancy testing your memory? Try last week’s quiz, or have a go at something from the archives.

It’s pitch black and we’re crawling along a secret underground tunnel beneath a high street in Hull. We pass rotting beams propped up precariously by stacked breeze blocks. A rusty car jack is helping prevent the shop floor above from falling in.

Through the rubble, we follow a Trading Standards Officer, his torch swinging back and forth in the darkness until it rests on a hidden stash of thousands of illegal cigarettes.

This is just one such surreal experience while investigating the sale of illegal cigarettes in Hull. In one week we repeatedly witnessed counterfeit and smuggled tobacco being sold in high street mini marts – and were threatened by shop workers who grabbed our cameras when we tried to film them.

This is now a familiar story being repeated across Britain. In April, the National Crime Agency (NCA) raided hundreds of high street businesses, many suspected of being supplied by international crime gangs. Trading Standards teams have also found a thriving trade in illicit tobacco.

One leading criminology expert called the networks behind the supply of illegal cigarettes the “golden thread for understanding serious organised crime”, because of its links to people trafficking and, in some cases, illegal immigration.

So, in some ways, these high street shop fronts connect the various domestic problems facing Britain today.

Political researchers claim it’s also damaging trust in police and the government – and turning our high streets into symbols of national decline.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Friday, the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, described the illegal cigarette trade uncovered by the BBC report as “disgraceful”. She said it shows the need to get neighbourhood police “back into the high streets and town centres”.

Alan, a former detective and now a Trading Standards officer, searches for counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes sold under the counter in mini marts, barber shops and takeaways around Hull, which he says have spread across the city at an alarming rate.

Under the floorboards of a mini mart called Ezee Shop, a network of these secret tunnels hide contraband stock. As battered suitcases and black sacks stuffed full of cigarettes are heaved up through the makeshift trap door, a man who we’re told helps out in the shop watches on laughing.

“It’s not something dangerous, it’s only cigarettes,” he says. “Everywhere has it; barber shops, takeaways.” Some shops, he adds, are selling drugs including crack cocaine.

Alan estimates that there are about £20,000 worth of illegal cigarettes in this haul, a tiny proportion of a crime that HMRC says costs the country at least £2.2 billion in lost revenue.

Today’s raid won’t change what’s happening on Hull’s high streets, he says. He has been to some shops at least 20 times and he estimates that there are some 80 shops selling illegal cigarettes in the city.

“We’re losing the war,” he says.

He has been with Trading Standards for many years but didn’t want to be fully identified because he’s worried about the organised crime gangs often supplying these shops.

It’s not long before someone claiming to be Ezee Shop’s owner turns up. Alan says he is a Kurd from Iran. He is furious with us filming his illicit stock being taken away.

Some of the illegal cigarettes sold across Britain are made in this country. Others are produced cheaply in countries like Poland or Belgium. Some are designed to imitate established brands. Illegal cigarettes are sold without the necessary taxes and duties, and many do not conform to safety standards.

Previously the Local Government Association warned that some black market cigarettes contained “human excrement, dead flies and asbestos”.

We went undercover, visiting 12 shops in Hull, some multiple times, to try and buy these cheap cigarettes, and secretly filmed the responses.

The windows of many of these shops are covered with large pictures of fizzy drinks, sweets and vapes, obscuring what’s going on inside.

Nine sold us illegal cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco. Two told us where we could buy cheap packs. We were openly offered a selection of brands with packets costing between £3 and £7 – instead of the average UK price of about £16.

None of the businesses we bought illegal cigarettes from in Hull responded to our request for a comment. But this is not only a Hull problem.

Data shared with the BBC from investigators working for an international tobacco company say that last year they identified more than 600 shops selling illegal packets, with several cities including Bradford, Coventry and Nottingham flagged as hotspots. The BBC is unable to verify these figures.

In Bradford alone, they say they found 49 stores selling fake products in just two days. In the end, they had to stop the test purchases because they didn’t have enough test bags to put the items in.

All of this is a growing problem – but it is also one with specific causes: profits, a lack of resources to enforce the law, a complex criminal supply network and in some cases organised immigration crime.

Professor Georgios Antonopoulos, criminologist at Northumbria University Newcastle, believes money is at the heart of it. “Legal tobacco products in the UK are subject to some of the highest excise taxes in the world,” he says.

Illegal cigarettes are sometimes sold for as little as £3 to £5 per pack – compelling for some customers during a cost of living crisis.

In some cases, the financial penalties issued to criminals may be much lower than the profits they can make.

In the case of Ezee Shop in Hull, the shop owner had been convicted for selling illegal cigarettes in the past and was fined £80, plus costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

Tougher rules introduced in 2023 mean those convicted now can face higher fines of up to £10,000 – but this may still be lower than the value of the stash.

After the raid, we went back to the shop, covertly. Within a few hours it had reopened, restocked – and was selling illegal cigarettes once again.

Leading criminologists tell the BBC that UK authorities are struggling to deal with the problem.

Prof Antonopoulos says teams are “chronically underfunded”. He claims that police prioritise violent crimes and drug trafficking – “which is understandable,” he adds.

Some Trading Standards officers are frustrated with the powers available to them. “The general public don’t understand why they can’t be closed down,” Alan says.

They can use anti-social behaviour legislation to close shops for up to three months – but it can require statements from other businesses and members of the public.

We were told that after some shops shut down, the criminals simply reopen nearby. Alan wants a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy to permanently close law-breaking businesses.

Last year, the previous government provided £100 million across five years to support HMRC and Border Force to tackle the illicit tobacco trade. But since then, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute warned that some broader forms of organised crime – including scammers and rogue traders – could effectively become decriminalised, due to a lack of funding.

As for the suppliers, HMRC says there are so many organised crime groups operating across borders that it is hard to limit the flow of goods into the UK.

In May, Hungarian authorities raided a factory where they found warehouses full of fake cigarettes. And there’s even production in Ukraine, according to legitimate tobacco firms, with authorities there stretched because of the war.

There is also a “significant production” of illicit tobacco here in the UK, says Prof Antonopoulos.

A Trading Standards team in south Wales told us that counterfeit hand-rolling tobacco is often sold cheaply. They claimed that some of it was made using forced labour, controlled by Chinese gangs.

Dave McKelvey, managing director of TM Eye private investigators, which works with tobacco firms to gather evidence on the illicit trade, claims that Fujian-based Chinese triads operate a “vast business” here in the UK.

And trying to track down the people in charge of these criminal enterprises is a challenge.

Trading Standards told the BBC that those named as the company director often have no real involvement in the company. Instead, they may be paid a small sum each month to be listed as the director on official documents.

Later this year, Companies House will receive new powers to better identify business owners.

Authorities are trying to clean up British high streets. Just this year, we joined dozens of raids led by the NCA in barber shops and mini marts, in a month-long operation.

But the former senior detectives who worked with the BBC’s undercover team said they need more time to fully expose the organised crime supplying some of the shop fronts.

Throughout our time with Trading Standards in Hull and in the dozens of raids we’ve been on with police in Shrewsbury and across Greater Manchester, officers claimed that tobacco operations are often staffed by Kurds from Iran and Iraq. Some may not have had the right to work.

In Hull, Alan believes that some people working in the shops he visits may be recruited from asylum seeker hotels. “They’re expendable, if they get caught they just replace them with another.

Rochdale Trading Standards has made similar observations.

Criminology professor Emmeline Taylor argues that these criminal supply chains behind the supply of illegal tobacco are linked to other forms of crime – and the damage can’t be overestimated.

“They’re not just dealing in tobacco,” she says. “It’s firearms, it’s drugs, it’s people trafficking, it’s illegal immigration.”

Yvette Cooper, told us that “criminal gangs” are “trying to abuse our high streets by using shops as a front for organised crime”.

She also accused gangs of “undermining our border and immigration systems by employing illegal workers”.

Of course, there have long been pockets of criminality on the UK high street. But now experts tell us that this illicit trade is harming people’s trust in authority – and, at a basic level, their sense of fairness.

“If you’re a law abiding business following the rules, you’re jeopardising your own livelihood and the viability of your own business,” argues Prof Taylor. “And to me that’s not fair that someone can succeed by not playing by the rules.”

Josh Nicholson, a researcher at the Centre for Social Justice, believes that perceptions of crime are worse than ever. “From research we have done there is a feeling of powerlessness, a lack of respect for authority like the police,” he says.

“Are the police… seen to be tackling low level offences? When they don’t see it tackled, people’s perception is that things are getting a lot worse.”

And people tend to trust the government less when they think access to good shops has declined in their area, says Will Jennings, a political science professor at the University of Southampton, based on studies he has done.

Nick Plumb, a director at the Power to Change charity, says his research shows that declining high streets boosts support for parties that were once considered outside of the political mainstream.

“Reform UK, for example, is doing better in places with declining high streets when compared to the rest of England,” he says. “There’s a sense that … mainstream politics, local authorities have all tried to tackle this issue, and [residents] haven’t seen any change. It’s that sense of ‘the status quo hasn’t solved these things, and therefore we want to try something new’.”

Ultimately, what people see in the places they call home matters.

“People find a sense of local identity in the quality of the streets where they’ve grown up,” adds Mr Nicholson.

“When the quality … dramatically declines, and they feel they can’t even go there – what that does to a sense of community is unquantifiable.”

The Namibian government has announced a temporary ban on state funerals amid criticism over the rising costs of these burials.

Only President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has the power to exempt funerals from the moratorium, the government said.

Minister of Information and Communication Technology Emma Theofelus made the announcement following a Cabinet meeting earlier this week.

She said the moratorium would last until April 2026, while a review committee looks into the “criteria and processes associated with bestowing official funerals”.

Ms Theofelus told the BBC that a committee consisting of “no more than seven members” would be established to lead the review.

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The government has not said whether the decision was related to mounting criticism of the increasing costs of the numerous state funerals as reported by local media.

The BBC has asked the presidency for comment.

The Windhoek Observer, a privately owned publication, said calls for the moratorium had been made as far back as 2021 when the rising cost of official burials came under scrutiny, especially at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It quoted Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare, who earlier this year revealed that official funerals had cost the government 38.4m Namibian dollars ($2.2m; £1.6m) in the 2024/2025 financial year.

By comparison, only 2.1m Namibian dollars was spent on 23 funerals during the 2022/2023 financial year, according to the news site.

The Observer said the state had spent 30m Namibian dollars just to transport the body of founding President Sam Nujoma around the country ahead of his state funeral in February this year.

Nujoma, who died at the age of 95, led the long fight for independence from South Africa after helping found Namibia’s liberation movement, the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo), in the 1960s.

After independence, Nujoma became president in 1990 and led the country until 2005.

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Palestine Action will be banned from midnight after a judge refused its request to temporarily block the government from proscribing it as a terror group.

On Friday, a High Court judge refused the group more time to pursue legal action against the government’s decision.

It means supporting Palestine Action will become a criminal offence, with membership or expressing support for the direct action group punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The group’s co-founder Huda Ammori said her lawyers will seek an “urgent appeal” to prevent what she called a “dystopian nightmare”.

Mr Justice Chamberlain said: “I have concluded that the harm which would ensue if interim relief is refused but the claim later succeeds is insufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in maintaining the order in force.”

The judge said they could apply for permission to appeal Friday’s decision at the Court of Appeal.

Shortly after on Friday evening, a hearing at the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision got under way.

The proposed ban, which amends the Terrorism Act 2000, will come into force after being approved by both the House of Commons and House of Lords earlier this week.

The move was taken to ban the group after an estimated £7m of damage was caused to planes at RAF Brize Norton last month, in action claimed by Palestine Action.

At a hearing earlier on Friday, Raza Husain KC, barrister for Palestine Action’s Ms Ammori, told the court banning the group would be “ill-considered” and an “authoritarian abuse” of power.

“This is the first time in our history that a direct action civil disobedience group, which does not advocate for violence, has been sought to be proscribed as terrorists,” he said.

In a 26-page judgement, Mr Justice Chamberlain said some of the consequences feared by Ms Ammori and others who gave evidence were “overstated”.

After the court’s ruling, Ms Ammori said “thousands of people across Britain wake up tomorrow to find they had been criminalised overnight for supporting a domestic protest group which sprays red paint on warplanes and disrupts Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer”.

She added: “We will not stop fighting to defend fundamental rights to free speech and protest in our country and to stand up for the rights of the Palestinian people.”

Around 81 organisations are already proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000, including Hamas, al Qaida and National Action.

The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on 23 June, saying that the vandalism of the two planes was “disgraceful” and that the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.

Mr Justice Chamberlain said an assessment on whether to ban the group had been made as early as March, and “preceded” the incident at RAF Brize Norton.

Four people have been charged in connection to the incident.

Pop star Katy Perry and actor Orlando Bloom have officially confirmed they have split, US media outlets say, six years after getting engaged.

The couple have been romantically linked since 2016 and have a four-year-old daughter.

In a joint statement issued to US media outlets, representatives for the couple said the pair “have been shifting their relationship over the past many months to focus on co-parenting”.

“They will continue to be seen together as a family, as their shared priority is – and always will be – raising their daughter with love, stability and mutual respect.”

The statement was being released due to the “abundance of recent interest and conversation” surrounding their relationship, it added.

The pop star, 40, and the 48-year-old actor split in 2017 but got back together shortly afterwards. They got engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2019.

A year later Perry revealed she was pregnant in the music video for her single Never Worn White.

Their daughter Daisy Dove was born later that year, with Unicef announcing the news on its Instagram account. Both Perry and Bloom are goodwill ambassadors for the United Nations agency that helps children.

The couple’s split follows a tough year for Perry. Her most recent album, 143, and its lead single Woman’s World, were not as well received as her previous music.

The singer is currently on tour, but ticket sales have reportedly been slower than earlier in her career.

Perry and a group of other female celebrities also faced backlash after their Blue Origin space trip in April, a reaction which Perry said left her feeling “battered and bruised”.

The US singer, who was previously married to Russell Brand, shot to fame in 2008 with the single I Kissed A Girl, which reached number one in the UK.

Her hits since then have included Roar, California Gurls, Firework and Never Really Over.

Bloom was previously married to Australian model Miranda Kerr, and they have a son, 14-year-old Flynn.

The British actor has starred in Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Russia has become the first country to formally recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan, sparking outrage from opposition figures.

The decision marks a major milestone for the Taliban almost four years after they swept into Kabul and took power.

Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said he hoped it would serve as an example to other countries, which have been reluctant to recognise a regime which implements a version of Sharia law along with severe restrictions on women and girls.

Others have decried the move, with former Afghan politician Fawzia Koofi saying “any move by any country to normalise relations with the Taliban will not bring peace it will legitimise impunity”.

Koofi went on to warn “such steps risk endangering not just the people of Afghanistan, but global security”.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Women’s Political Participation Network said it legitimised “a regime that is authoritarian, anti-women, and actively dismantling basic civil rights”.

The Taliban government has previously said it respects women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law.

But since 2021, girls over the age of 12 have been prevented from getting an education, and women from many jobs. There have also been restrictions on how far a woman can travel without a male chaperone, and decrees on them raising their voices in public.

Foreign Minister Muttaqi said Moscow’s recognition, which came on Thursday, was “a new phase of positive relations, mutual respect, and constructive engagement”, describing the decision as “courageous”.

Russia’s foreign ministry said it saw the potential for “commercial and economic” co-operation in “energy, transportation, agriculture and infrastructure”, and that it would continue to help Kabul to fight against the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking.

Russia was one of very few countries that did not close down their embassy in Afghanistan in 2021 – as the Taliban swept across Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troop.

The country was also the first to sign an international economic deal with the Taliban in 2022, where they agreed to supply oil, gas and wheat to Afghanistan.

The Taliban was removed from Russia’s list of terrorist organisations in April this year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also referred to the Taliban as an “ally” in fighting terrorism in July last year. Taliban representatives had visited Moscow for talks as early as 2018.

However, the two countries have a complex history. The Soviet Union – which included Russia – invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and fought a nine-year war that cost them 15,000 personnel.

Their decision to install a Soviet-backed government in Kabul turned the Soviets into an international pariah, and eventually led to their withdrawal in February 1989.

In its statement, the Afghan Women’s Political Participation Network noted it had not forgotten “Russia’s role in the destruction of Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion”.

“Today, its political interference and direct support for the Taliban represent a continuation of those same destructive strategies, now under the banner of diplomacy,” it said.

Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta, a former Afghan national security adviser under the predceding Western-backed government, described Russia’s decision as “regrettable”, adding: “This is just the beginning; in the absence of widespread resistance, others will follow Russia.”

Strict sanctions were placed on Afghanistan in 2021 by the United Nations Security Council, most notably the freezing of approximately $9bn (£6.6bn) in assets.

The UN has said the rules impacting women amount to “gender apartheid”, while also reporting public floggings and brutal attacks on former government officials.

While the Taliban government is widely not recognised by other countries, Germany’s interior minister wants to work with Afghanistan to resume deportations of convicted Afghan criminals.

Germany initially stopped deportations following the Taliban’s return to power.

Alexander Dobrindt on Thursday said he wants to make “agreements directly with Afghanistan to enable deportations”.

On Friday, a UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman said it was “not appropriate” to return people to Afghanistan on the account of the Taliban “documenting continuing human rights violations”.

Most countries closed their embassies after 2021. However, China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Pakistan all have designated ambassadors to Kabul.

One person has been killed and 26 others were injured after a night of intensive Russian strikes on almost every district in Kyiv, officials say.

A pall of acrid smoke hung over the Ukrainian capital on Friday morning following hours of nightfall punctuated by the staccato of air defence guns, buzz of drones and large explosions. Ukraine said Russia fired a record 539 drones and 11 missiles.

The strikes came hours after a call between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, after which Trump said he was “disappointed” that Putin was not ready to end the war against Ukraine.

Moscow says the war will continue for as long as it is necessary to reach its objectives.

Russia’s overnight air strikes broke another record, Ukraine’s air force said, with 72 of the 539 drones penetrating air defences – up from a previous record of 537 launched last Saturday night.

Air raid alerts sounded for more than eight hours asseveral waves of attacks struck Kyiv, the “main target of the strikes”, the air force said on the messaging app Telegram.

Footage shared on social media by Ukraine’s state emergency service showed firefighters battling to extinguish fires in Kyiv after Russia’s overnight attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strikes as one of the most “demonstratively significant and cynical” attacks of the war, describing a “harsh, sleepless night”.

Noting that it came directly after Putin’s call with Trump, Zelensky added in a post on Telegram: “Russia once again demonstrates that it does not intend to end the war”.

He called on international allies – particularly the US – to increase pressure on Moscow and impose greater sanctions.

Later on Friday, Zelensky and Trump held a phone call regarding the supply of US weapons, which the Ukrainian leader said was a “very important and fruitful conversation”. It came after Washington decided to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine, including those used for air defences.

“We spoke about opportunities in air defence and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies,” Zelensky said on X.

Kyiv has warned that the move to pause some shipments would impede its ability to defend Ukraine against escalating airstrikes and Russian advances on the frontlines.

According to Ukrainian authorities, the overnight strikes damaged railway infrastructure, while schools, buildings and cars were set ablaze across Kyiv.

Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, said the Polish consulate had also been damaged.

The Russian strikes also hit the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv. Rescuers also found a dead body while going through the rubble in the Svyatoshynsky district, the head of the Kyiv city military administration said.

Russia’s defence ministry said the “massive strike” had been launched in response to the “terrorist acts of the Kyiv regime”.

The acting governor of Russia’s southern Rostov region said a woman was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on a village not far from the border on Friday night.

Friday’s attacks were the latest in a string of major Russian air strikes on Ukraine that have intensified in recent weeks as ceasefire talks have largely stalled.

War in Ukraine has been raging for more than three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Following his conversation with Putin on Thursday, Trump said that “no progress” to end the fighting had been made.

“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump said.

“I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”

The Kremlin reiterated that it would continue to seek to remove “the root causes of the war in Ukraine”. Putin has sought to return Ukraine to Russia’s sphere of influence and said last week that “the whole of Ukraine is ours”.

Responding to Trump’s comments on Friday, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that as long as it was not possible to secure Russia’s aims through political-diplomatic means, “we are continuing our Special Military Operation” – Russia’s preferred name for the invasion.

Previously, Trump has said that the US is “giving weapons” to Ukraine, and hasn’t completely paused the flow of munitions. He blamed former President Joe Biden for “emptying out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves”.

On Friday, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that while he understands Washington’s needs to maintain its own weapon stockpiles, he hopes “for a level of flexibility” to make sure Ukraine also has what it needs.

Meanwhile, a German government spokesperson said they were currently in talks with the US to buy Patriot air defence systems to give to Ukraine.

Plans for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped and instead he will work on something more realistic, officials say.

“The Akon City project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal’s tourism development body, Sapco, told the BBC.

“Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur Alioune Badara Thiam [aka Akon]. What he’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support.”

Known for his string of noughties chart hits, Akon – who was born in the US but partly raised in Senegal – announced two ambitious projects in 2018 that were supposed to represent the future of African society.

The first was Akon City – reportedly costed at $6bn (£5bn). It was to run on the second initiative – a brand new cryptocurrency called Akoin.

Initial designs for Akon City, with its boldly curvaceous skyscrapers, were compared by commentators to the awe-inspiring fictional city of Wakanda in Marvel’s Black Panther films and comic books.

But after five years of setbacks, the 800-hectare site in Mbodiène – about 100km (60 miles) south of the capital, Dakar – remains mostly empty. The only structure is an incomplete reception building. There are no roads, no housing, no power grid.

“We were promised jobs and development,” one local resident told the BBC. “Instead, nothing has changed.”

Meanwhile the star’s Akoin cryptocurrency has struggled to repay its investors over the years, with Akon himself conceding: “It wasn’t being managed properly – I take full responsibility for that.”

There had also been questions over whether it would even be legal for Akoin to operate as the primary payment method for would-be residents of Akon City. Senegal uses the CFA franc, which is regulated and issued by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), and like many central banks has expressed opposition to cryptocurrency.

The plans for Akon City had been sweeping.

Phase one alone was to include a hospital, a shopping mall, a school, a police station, a waste centre, and a solar plant – all by the end of 2023.

Sitting on Senegal’s Atlantic Coast, Akon’s high-tech, eco-friendly city was supposed to run entirely on renewable energy.

But despite Akon’s insistence in a 2022 BBC interview that the project was “100,000% moving”, no significant construction followed the initial launch ceremony.

Now the Senegalese government has confirmed what many suspected – the project had stalled beyond recovery. Officials cited a lack of funding and halted construction efforts as key reasons for the decision.

Although Akon City as it was originally imagined has been shelved, the government says it is now working with Akon on a more “realistic” development project for the same site.

The land near Mbodiène remains of high strategic value, especially with the 2026 Youth Olympic Games approaching and increased tourism activity expected.

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A joint funeral has been held for two major crime figures more than a month after they were shot dead in a Spanish bar.

Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan were gunned down in a beachfront bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol on 31 May.

Both men had spent the evening watching the Champions League final before they were targeted, just before midnight, by a lone gunman.

Michael Riley, 44, from Liverpool, has been accused by Spanish police of the murders with a full extradition hearing scheduled for later this year.

On Friday hundreds of mourners gathered to pay their respects to Lyons Jnr, 46, and Monaghan, 43, at Bishopbriggs Crematorium in East Dunbartonshire.

Two silver hearses carried the coffins with floral tributes that said “Dad” and “Son”.

Both men were linked to the Lyons crime group, which is based in the west of Scotland.

It has been engaged in a violent feud with the Daniel family and their associates which dates back more than two decades.

Lyons Jnr survived a previous attempt on his life 18 years ago when he was ambushed by Daniel clan enforcer Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll in Bellshill, Lanarkshire.

It followed an incident which was widely credited with taking the rivalry with the Daniel family to another level.

In November 2006 Carroll allegedly used a 4×4 and a tow rope to topple the headstone of Eddie Jnr’s brother, Garry, who was only eight when he died of leukaemia in 1991.

The following month two men in a blue Mazda pulled up outside a garage in Lambhill, in the north of Glasgow.

Raymond Anderson and James McDonald put on old man face masks, then walked into Applerow Motors and opened fire.

The owner, David Lyons, took cover but his 21-year-old nephew Michael – Eddie Jnr’s cousin – was shot dead.

Eddie’s brother, Steven, was injured along with his associate Robert Pickett.

The feud claimed a further victim on 13 January 2010 when Carroll was shot dead outside an Asda in Robroyston, Glasgow, which was busy with lunchtime shoppers.

Mongahan was arrested over the murder in August 2010 but he was acquitted in May 2012 after a judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

Less than five years later he was shot in the shoulder outside a Glasgow primary school after dropping his child off.

The gunman was pushing a child’s buggy when he opened fire on Muirdykes Road near St George’s Primary, Penilee.

Two associates of the Daniel group were both cleared of the attack at a trial but were later convicted for other organised crime offences.

Monaghan is believed to have moved to Spain soon after the school shooting.

It was reported that he owned the Costa del Sol bar, bearing his name, where he and Lyons Jnr were killed.

It has since reopened under a new name.

The double murder follows a wave of gangland violence in Scotland since March.

It has resulted in a series of assaults, shootings and firebombings against individuals linked to the Daniel group in the east and west of the country.

Detectives working on Operation Portaledge, set up in response to the violence, have so far made 50 arrests.

Police Scotland has maintained it has no evidence the double murder is linked to the feud, despite conflicting claims by a senior Spanish officer.

Chief Supt Pedro Agudo Novo last month confirmed Lyons and Monaghan were killed within seconds of each other by a lone gunman who fled the scene on foot.

According to the officer, the suspect’s gun jammed after he killed Lyons Jnr with a single shot outside the bar.

He then pursued Monaghan inside and fired two more shots which proved fatal.

Chief Supt Agudo Novo last month highlighted the “professionalism” of the shootings and the suspect’s “perfectly planned” escape from Spain.

He also alleged that the killer was a member of the Daniel crime group.

BBC Scotland News understands that investigators in Spain and in Scotland were surprised by Chief Supt Agudo Novo’s public statement.

The position of Scottish detectives is that there is “no current evidence” linking the shootings to the Daniel group.

In response to Chief Supt Novo’s comments, Police Scotland repeated the carefully-worded statement they issued three days after the murders.

And last week Chief Constable Jo Farrell said the force “wasn’t aware” of any evidence the murders were linked to the feud, or had been planned from Scotland.

Michael Riley, of Huyton, was arrested on an international arrest warrant in the Liverpool area on 13 June in connection with the shootings.

On 20 June, Mr Riley appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.

Asked by the court clerk if he wished to give his consent to be extradited back to Spain, he replied: “No, I do not.”

Mr Riley, who was remanded in custody, will return to court in October for an extradition hearing.

French police have waded into shallow waters off a beach south of Boulogne and used knives to slash an inflatable small boat – packed with men, women and children – that was wallowing, dangerously, in the waves.

All those onboard clambered to safety as the boat collapsed in chaotic scenes.

The intervention was highly unusual.

French police usually follow strict rules that bar them from going into the sea in case they put lives at risk.

“Let’s go in,” said one of the gendarmes, pulling off his body armour, and taking out a small knife. His colleagues took their heavy armour off, too, placing equipment in the back of a nearby police car before rushing into the water.

There had been some speculation that this rare incident could be evidence that the French police – under growing pressure to stop a surge of small boat migrant crossings to the UK – are changing their tactics.

But they have made it clear to the BBC that police have not adopted any new tactics in dealing with small boat launches, that the rules forbidding intervention in the water remains in place and officers must continue to prioritise safety on the beaches. They are allowed to intervene, however, if they believe lives are at immediate risk.

Well-placed sources in France have told us that the procedural changes now being considered will almost certainly focus on the use of patrol boats at sea to intercept the “taxi-boats” before they’re fully loaded, rather than on approving more aggressive interventions from police on the beaches.

The UK prime minister’s official spokesman said the images of French police destroying a boat were “a significant moment and we welcome this action”.

“We want to see tougher action taken, that’s precisely the focus of our work, it is the outcome of that close work that you’ve seen,” the spokesman said.

A few metres offshore, the boat itself was clearly in trouble. People were crowded around the outboard motor, which had briefly stalled but was being restarted.

Waves were breaking underneath the boat, causing it to lurch wildly, and there were loud screams from several children who were in danger of being crushed onboard.

Earlier, two large groups of people already wearing orange life jackets had emerged from the nearby dunes and rushed towards the sea.

In all there were probably 80 or 100 people. But when the first “taxi-boat” – used by the smuggling gangs to collect passengers from various points along the French coast – sped past perhaps 100m from the shore, it was clearly full already and did not stop to pick anyone else up.

A few minutes later, a second boat, with almost no passengers, came towards the shore, watched by a French coastguard boat further into the English Channel.

Initially, people were ushered forwards in organised groups, holding hands, and directed by one man who appeared to be leading events.

But as the inflatable boat turned and reversed towards the shore, there was a scrum as dozens of people scrambled to climb aboard in water that was at least waist deep.

At first the gendarmes declined to intervene and stood watching from the shore.

One officer repeated a now-familiar explanation to me – that they were barred from going into the water except to rescue people.

But as the situation became increasingly chaotic, the officers at the scene clearly felt that a line had been crossed, that those on board were now in danger, and that there was a brief opportunity to disable the boat in relative safety and while any smugglers – who might have fought back – were distracted by their attempts to restart the engine.

As a policeman slashed repeatedly at the rubber, there were cries and shouts of anger and frustration from some of those onboard.

A young girl, who had been in the middle of the scrum, squashed at the stern of the boat close to the engine, was plucked to safety as others scrambled on to the nearby sand.

Moments later the boat was dragged ashore by the police as the migrants began collecting items they had dropped on the beach and then headed inland, up the sandy paths through the dunes towards the nearest village and a bus-ride back to the migrant camps further north.

Crowds mourned Diogo Jota in his hometown to pay their respects to the Liverpool forward and his brother André Silva, who both died in a car crash on Thursday.

Portugal’s president, stars from the national team and fans from across the country gathered in the small town of Gondomar, on the outskirts of Porto, where the pair grew up.

Their parents, grandfather and other family members held a private vigil at a chapel in the town before it was opened to the public for a wake. The funeral will be held on Saturday.

The pair – both footballers, with André playing in Portugal’s second division – were killed after the Lamborghini they were travelling in crashed in the Spanish province of Zamora.

Fans carrying Portugal flags, flowers and other memorabilia were seen weeping as they queued to pay their respects.

Those in attendance included President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, national team stars João Moutinho, Diogo Dalot and Ricardo Horta, and Jota’s agent Jorge Mendes.

For years as a young boy, Jota played for local club Gondomar SC, which named its academy after him in 2022.

Emblazoned on its sign is a quote from Jota: “It’s not about where we come from but where we’re going to.”

Outside the club, shirts and scarves were laid inside a ring of candles.

The 28-year-old father-of-three – who this year won the Nations League with Portugal and Premier League with Liverpool – married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso just 11 days before the fatal crash.

He had been travelling back to Liverpool for pre-season training, making the trip by car and ferry because he had undergone minor surgery and had been advised against flying.

Liverpool said his death was a “tragedy that transcends” the club.

Fans also grieved outside the club’s Anfield stadium.

Former captain Jordan Henderson was seen in tears as he laid a wreath, with a card that read: “Rest in peace my friend, along with your brother André. We will all miss you.”

Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah admitted he was dreading returning to the club in the wake of Jota’s shock death.

“I am truly lost for words. Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break,” Salah wrote in a post on social media.

A delegation from Liverpool’s city rival club Everton – including Portugal-born strikers Beto and Youssef Chermiti – also attended and left flowers outside Anfield.

Former Liverpool councillor Peter Millea – a home and away regular who had come to pay his respects – told the BBC: “There was something about him as a player when he first came to us that he became an instant hit.

“He was one of those players you can easily take to, because of the manner in which he conducted himself on and off the pitch and the important goals he scored.”

Mr Millea said some fans at Anfield had broken into impromptu renditions of the chant while paying their respects.

“I’m sure we’ll hear it loud and clear at Wembley for the Community Shield and we’ll hear it at Preston for the first pre-season away game, you know it’ll be sung around the field against Athletic Bilbao and then during the course of the rest of the season and probably forever-more,” he said.

Elsewhere, fans left flowers, scarves and shirts outside Wolves’ Molineux Stadium, where Jota played prior to his move to Anfield.

At Wimbledon, Portuguese tennis player Francisco Cabral wore a black ribbon to mark the passing of his countrymen.

A minute’s silence was held in the Women’s Euro 2025 game between Denmark and Sweden.

Liverpool has cancelled pre-season fitness tests that were due to take place today for some players as a result of yesterday’s news. A phased return of training will now begin on Monday.

The funeral service will be held at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar in Sao Cosme in Gondomar at 10:00 on Saturday.

Former Arsenal footballer Thomas Partey has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

The offences are reported to have taken place between 2021-2022, the Metropolitan Police said.

The charges involve three women, with two counts of rape relating to one woman, three counts of rape in connection to a second woman and one count of sexual assault linked to a third woman.

The Ghanaian international denies the charges and “welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name”, his lawyer said.

The charges follow an investigation by detectives, which started in February 2022 after police first received a report of rape.

The 32-year-old’s contract with Arsenal ended on Monday after playing with the team since 2020.

BBC News has contacted Arsenal and the Football Association. The Premier League declined to comment.

Det Supt Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “Our priority remains providing support to the women who have come forward.

“We would ask anyone who has been impacted by this case, or anyone who has information, to speak with our team. You can contact detectives about this investigation by emailing CIT@met.police.uk”

Mr Partey, of Hertfordshire, is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 5 August.

In a statement, his lawyer Jenny Wiltshire said: “Thomas Partey denies all the charges against him.

“He has fully cooperated with the police and CPS throughout their three-year investigation.

“He now welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name.

“Given that there are now ongoing legal proceedings, my client is unable to comment further.”

Mr Partey joined Arsenal for £45.3m from Atletico Madrid in October 2020, made 35 top-flight appearances last season and scored four goals as the London club finished second in the Premier League.

He also played 12 times in the Champions League as the Gunners reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual winners Paris St-Germain.

Overall, he made 130 Premier League appearances for Mikel Arteta’s side, scoring nine goals.

Mr Partey has also made more than 50 appearances for Ghana’s national team, and most recently played at World Cup qualification matches in March.

Pop star Katy Perry and actor Orlando Bloom have officially confirmed they have split, US media outlets say, six years after getting engaged.

The couple have been romantically linked since 2016 and have a four-year-old daughter.

In a joint statement issued to US media outlets, representatives for the couple said the pair “have been shifting their relationship over the past many months to focus on co-parenting”.

“They will continue to be seen together as a family, as their shared priority is – and always will be – raising their daughter with love, stability and mutual respect.”

The statement was being released due to the “abundance of recent interest and conversation” surrounding their relationship, it added.

The pop star, 40, and the 48-year-old actor split in 2017 but got back together shortly afterwards. They got engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2019.

A year later Perry revealed she was pregnant in the music video for her single Never Worn White.

Their daughter Daisy Dove was born later that year, with Unicef announcing the news on its Instagram account. Both Perry and Bloom are goodwill ambassadors for the United Nations agency that helps children.

The couple’s split follows a tough year for Perry. Her most recent album, 143, and its lead single Woman’s World, were not as well received as her previous music.

The singer is currently on tour, but ticket sales have reportedly been slower than earlier in her career.

Perry and a group of other female celebrities also faced backlash after their Blue Origin space trip in April, a reaction which Perry said left her feeling “battered and bruised”.

The US singer, who was previously married to Russell Brand, shot to fame in 2008 with the single I Kissed A Girl, which reached number one in the UK.

Her hits since then have included Roar, California Gurls, Firework and Never Really Over.

Bloom was previously married to Australian model Miranda Kerr, and they have a son, 14-year-old Flynn.

The British actor has starred in Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Hamas says it has delivered a “positive response” to mediators on the latest proposal for a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal put forward by the US.

It added in a statement that it was “seriously ready to enter immediately into a round of negotiations”. It has not confirmed if it will accept the proposals yet.

Earlier on Friday Donald Trump said he expected a Hamas response within a day.

He said earlier this week that Israel had accepted the conditions necessary for a 60-day ceasefire, during which the parties would work to end the 20-month war.

The proposal is believed to include the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 other hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Fifty hostages are still being held in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

One of Hamas’s key demands is the resumption of unrestricted food and medical aid into Gaza, and the proposal reportedly says sufficient quantities would enter the territory immediately with the involvement of the United Nations and Red Cross.

It is said the plan would also include a phased Israeli military withdrawal from parts of Gaza.

Above all, Hamas wants a guarantee that Israeli air and ground operations will not resume after the end of the 60-day ceasefire.

The proposal is believed to say that negotiations on an end to the war and the release of the remaining hostages would begin on day one.

A positive Hamas response would then lead to the resumption of formal, indirect, talks ahead of a planned visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington next week.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military is continuing to bomb targets across the Gaza Strip.

On Friday officials from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said Israeli attacks had killed at least 138 Palestinians over the previous 24 hours.

Overnight, at least 15 Palestinians were killed in strikes on two tents housing displaced people in the southern Khan Younis area, the local Nasser hospital said.

Thirteen-year-old Mayar al-Farr’s brother, Mahmoud, was among those killed.

“The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother,” she told Reuters news agency at his funeral.

Adlar Mouamar, whose nephew Ashraf was also killed, said: “Our hearts are broken… We want them to end the bloodshed. We want them to stop this war.”

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the strikes, but did say its forces were “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities”.

Later on Friday the Red Cross said a staff member at the organisation’s field hospital in Rafah, in southern Gaza, had been hit by a stray bullet. His condition was stable after the “unacceptable” incident, the Red Cross said.

Meanwhile medical charity MSF said a former colleague had been killed the previous day when, it said, Israeli forces fired on people waiting for aid trucks in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. At least 16 people were killed in the incident, MSF quoted teams at Nasser hospital in the city as saying. The IDF has not yet commented.

“The systemic and deliberate starvation of Palestinians for over 100 days is pushing people in Gaza to breaking point,” said Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza. “This carnage must stop now.”

In the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, only 60km (40 miles) from Gaza, the families of the remaining hostages and their supporters held a rally outside the US embassy branch office, urging Trump to “make the deal” that would see them all released.

On the nearby beachfront, they laid out a giant banner featuring the US flag and the words “liberty for all”.

Among those who addressed the event was Ruby Chen, the father of Israeli-American Itay Chen. The 19-year-old soldier was killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 which triggered the war, and his body was taken back to Gaza as a hostage.

“I urge you Prime Minister Netanyahu to go to the US next week and bring back a deal that brings all the hostages home,” Mr Chen said. “There has to be a final, detailed agreement between Israel and Hamas.”

Keith Siegel, an Israeli American who was released in February during the last ceasefire after 484 days in captivity, also spoke.

“Many of my friends from Kibbutz Kfar Aza remain in captivity,” he said. “Only a comprehensive deal can bring them all home and create a better future for the Middle East.”

The primary concern for most Israelis is the fate of the remaining hostages and what might happen to them if the ceasefire does not happen and Netanyahu orders the Israeli military to step up its air strikes on Gaza.

There are plenty of reasons to hope, for these families, that the two sides can agree to a deal and achieve a lasting peace. But there is also anxiety, after the failure of previous efforts, that it might not happen.

On Thursday, Netanyahu promised to secure the release of all the remaining hostages during a visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near the Israel-Gaza border where a total of 76 residents were abducted on 7 October 2023.

“I feel a deep commitment, first of all, to ensure the return of all of our hostages, all of them,” he said. “We will bring them all back.”

He did not, however, commit to ending the war. He has insisted that will not happen until the hostages are freed and Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed.

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

At least 57,130 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Plans for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped and instead he will work on something more realistic, officials say.

“The Akon City project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal’s tourism development body, Sapco, told the BBC.

“Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur Alioune Badara Thiam [aka Akon]. What he’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support.”

Known for his string of noughties chart hits, Akon – who was born in the US but partly raised in Senegal – announced two ambitious projects in 2018 that were supposed to represent the future of African society.

The first was Akon City – reportedly costed at $6bn (£5bn). It was to run on the second initiative – a brand new cryptocurrency called Akoin.

Initial designs for Akon City, with its boldly curvaceous skyscrapers, were compared by commentators to the awe-inspiring fictional city of Wakanda in Marvel’s Black Panther films and comic books.

But after five years of setbacks, the 800-hectare site in Mbodiène – about 100km (60 miles) south of the capital, Dakar – remains mostly empty. The only structure is an incomplete reception building. There are no roads, no housing, no power grid.

“We were promised jobs and development,” one local resident told the BBC. “Instead, nothing has changed.”

Meanwhile the star’s Akoin cryptocurrency has struggled to repay its investors over the years, with Akon himself conceding: “It wasn’t being managed properly – I take full responsibility for that.”

There had also been questions over whether it would even be legal for Akoin to operate as the primary payment method for would-be residents of Akon City. Senegal uses the CFA franc, which is regulated and issued by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), and like many central banks has expressed opposition to cryptocurrency.

The plans for Akon City had been sweeping.

Phase one alone was to include a hospital, a shopping mall, a school, a police station, a waste centre, and a solar plant – all by the end of 2023.

Sitting on Senegal’s Atlantic Coast, Akon’s high-tech, eco-friendly city was supposed to run entirely on renewable energy.

But despite Akon’s insistence in a 2022 BBC interview that the project was “100,000% moving”, no significant construction followed the initial launch ceremony.

Now the Senegalese government has confirmed what many suspected – the project had stalled beyond recovery. Officials cited a lack of funding and halted construction efforts as key reasons for the decision.

Although Akon City as it was originally imagined has been shelved, the government says it is now working with Akon on a more “realistic” development project for the same site.

The land near Mbodiène remains of high strategic value, especially with the 2026 Youth Olympic Games approaching and increased tourism activity expected.

• Akon’s Wakanda, grazing goats and a crumbling crypto dream
• Born in France but searching for a future in Africa
• US basketball training for Senegal cancelled after visas rejected
• Senegal starts producing oil as president promises benefits

Several people have died and more are missing after severe weather hit parts of central Texas and New Jersey in the US.

Authorities in New Jersey say at least three people died in the state following heavy rain and thunderstorms on Thursday night.

On Friday morning, flash flooding in Texas prompted disaster declarations for the Hill Country and Concho Valley regions.

In Kerr County, the sheriff’s office has reported catastrophic flooding with several people missing and confirmed loss of life.

Exactly how many people have died or are missing in Texas has not yet been confirmed by authorities.

Rescues and evacuations have been underway since the early morning and there are warnings of more potential flash flooding to come in the state.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the state was providing “all necessary resources to Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt and the entire Texas Hill Country dealing with these devastating floods”.

The region is to the north-west of the city of San Antonio.

Pictures show the deep flood waters swamping bridges and fast moving water swirling down roads.

“Folks, please don’t take chances. Stay alert, follow local emergency warnings, and do not drive through flooded roads,” Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said.

The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office told residents near creeks, streams and the Guadalupe River to move to higher ground.

In New Jersey, authorities say among the three killed were two men, aged 79 and 25, who died after a tree fell onto their car in Plainfield during Thursday’s severe storm.

A 44-year-old woman was also killed when a tree fell on her vehicle in North Plainfield.

“Our hearts are heavy today,” said Mayor Adrian Mapp of Plainfield. “This tragedy is a sobering reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of life.”

The storms forced the New Jersey city to cancel its planned 4 July parade and fireworks show.

One person has been killed and 26 others were injured after a night of intensive Russian strikes on almost every district in Kyiv, officials say.

A pall of acrid smoke hung over the Ukrainian capital on Friday morning following hours of nightfall punctuated by the staccato of air defence guns, buzz of drones and large explosions. Ukraine said Russia fired a record 539 drones and 11 missiles.

The strikes came hours after a call between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, after which Trump said he was “disappointed” that Putin was not ready to end the war against Ukraine.

Moscow says the war will continue for as long as it is necessary to reach its objectives.

Russia’s overnight air strikes broke another record, Ukraine’s air force said, with 72 of the 539 drones penetrating air defences – up from a previous record of 537 launched last Saturday night.

Air raid alerts sounded for more than eight hours asseveral waves of attacks struck Kyiv, the “main target of the strikes”, the air force said on the messaging app Telegram.

Footage shared on social media by Ukraine’s state emergency service showed firefighters battling to extinguish fires in Kyiv after Russia’s overnight attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strikes as one of the most “demonstratively significant and cynical” attacks of the war, describing a “harsh, sleepless night”.

Noting that it came directly after Putin’s call with Trump, Zelensky added in a post on Telegram: “Russia once again demonstrates that it does not intend to end the war”.

He called on international allies – particularly the US – to increase pressure on Moscow and impose greater sanctions.

Later on Friday, Zelensky and Trump held a phone call regarding the supply of US weapons, which the Ukrainian leader said was a “very important and fruitful conversation”. It came after Washington decided to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine, including those used for air defences.

“We spoke about opportunities in air defence and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies,” Zelensky said on X.

Kyiv has warned that the move to pause some shipments would impede its ability to defend Ukraine against escalating airstrikes and Russian advances on the frontlines.

According to Ukrainian authorities, the overnight strikes damaged railway infrastructure, while schools, buildings and cars were set ablaze across Kyiv.

Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, said the Polish consulate had also been damaged.

The Russian strikes also hit the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv. Rescuers also found a dead body while going through the rubble in the Svyatoshynsky district, the head of the Kyiv city military administration said.

Russia’s defence ministry said the “massive strike” had been launched in response to the “terrorist acts of the Kyiv regime”.

The acting governor of Russia’s southern Rostov region said a woman was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on a village not far from the border on Friday night.

Friday’s attacks were the latest in a string of major Russian air strikes on Ukraine that have intensified in recent weeks as ceasefire talks have largely stalled.

War in Ukraine has been raging for more than three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Following his conversation with Putin on Thursday, Trump said that “no progress” to end the fighting had been made.

“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump said.

“I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”

The Kremlin reiterated that it would continue to seek to remove “the root causes of the war in Ukraine”. Putin has sought to return Ukraine to Russia’s sphere of influence and said last week that “the whole of Ukraine is ours”.

Responding to Trump’s comments on Friday, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that as long as it was not possible to secure Russia’s aims through political-diplomatic means, “we are continuing our Special Military Operation” – Russia’s preferred name for the invasion.

Previously, Trump has said that the US is “giving weapons” to Ukraine, and hasn’t completely paused the flow of munitions. He blamed former President Joe Biden for “emptying out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves”.

On Friday, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that while he understands Washington’s needs to maintain its own weapon stockpiles, he hopes “for a level of flexibility” to make sure Ukraine also has what it needs.

Meanwhile, a German government spokesperson said they were currently in talks with the US to buy Patriot air defence systems to give to Ukraine.

Two female tourists, including a British pensioner, have been killed by a charging elephant while on safari in Zambia, police have told the BBC.

Easton Taylor, 68, from the UK and 67-year-old Alison Taylor from New Zealand were attacked by a female elephant that was with a calf at the South Luangwa National Park, said local police chief Robertson Mweemba.

The two tourists were trampled to death by the nursing elephant after efforts by tour guides to stop it by firing shots failed. Both women died at the scene, he said.

The British Foreign Office said it was supporting the family of a British woman who had died in Zambia and was liaising with local authorities.

Mr Mweemba said the two women were part of a guided safari group who were walking in the park on Thursday when the elephant charged towards them at high speed.

The two tourists had stayed for four days at the Big Lagoon Camp, about 600 km (370 miles) from the capital, Lusaka, where the attack happened.

“They were moving to other camps when the elephant charged from behind. We are really sorry that we have lost our visitors,” Mr Mweemba said.

“They both died on the spot,” he added.

It is not clear whether the pair were related.

Female elephants are very protective of their calves and Zambian authorities have previously called on tourists to exercise extreme caution while observing wildlife around the country.

“It is very difficult to control the animals and tourists like feeding them,” Mr Mweemba said.

Last year, two American tourists were killed in separate attacks by elephants in the southern African country. Both cases involved elderly tourists who were in a safari vehicle when they were attacked.

• Akon’s futuristic $6bn city project in Senegal abandoned, BBC told
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• Elephant corridors – where locals take care to cross
• Zimbabwe’s dilemma over deadly elephant attacks

A state-of-the-art British fighter jet stuck at an airport in India for nearly three weeks now has sparked curiosity and raised questions about how such a modern aircraft could get stranded for days in a foreign country.

The F-35B landed at Thiruvananthapuram airport in the southern state of Kerala on 14 June.

The aircraft was diverted there after it ran into bad weather during a sortie in the Indian ocean and was unable to return to HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s flagship carrier.

It landed safely but it has since developed a technical snag and is unable to return to the carrier.

Since the jet’s landing, engineers from HMS Prince of Wales have assessed the aircraft, but the visiting teams have been unable to fix it so far.

On Thursday, the British High Commission said in a statement to the BBC: “The UK has accepted an offer to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility at the airport. It will be moved to the hangar once UK engineering teams arrive with specialist equipment, thereby ensuring there is minimal disruption to scheduled maintenance of other aircraft.

“The aircraft will return to active service once repairs and safety checks have been completed,” it added. “Ground teams continue to work closely with Indian authorities to ensure safety and security precautions are observed.”

Authorities at Thiruvananthapuram airport told the BBC they were expecting technicians from the UK to arrive on Saturday.

The $110m (£80m) jet is being guarded around the clock by six officers from the RAF.

Dr Sameer Patil, director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation in Mumbai, told the BBC the Royal Navy had only two options: “They can repair it and make it fly-worthy or they can fly it out in a bigger cargo plane such as a C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.”

The case of the stranded jet has also been raised in the House of Commons.

On Monday, opposition Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty asked the government to clarify what was being done to secure it and return it to operational service, the UK Defence Journal reported.

“What steps are the government taking to recover the plane, how much longer will that take, and how will the government ensure the security of protected technologies on the jet while it is in the hangar and out of view?” he was quoted as saying.

The British armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, confirmed the aircraft remained under close UK control.

“We continue to work with our Indian friends who provided first-class support when the F-35B was unable to return to the carrier,” he said. “I am certain that the security of the jet is in good hands because Royal Air Force crew are with it at all times.”

F-35Bs are highly advanced stealth jets, built by Lockheed Martin, and are prized for their short take-off and vertical landing capability.

So images of the “lonely F-35B”, parked on the tarmac and soaked by the Kerala monsoon rains, have spawned memes on social media.

One viral post joked that the jet had been put up for sale at an online site at a hugely competitive price of $4m. The listing claimed the jet included features like “automatic parking, brand-new tyres, a new battery and an automatic gun to destroy traffic violators”.

One user on X said the jet deserved Indian citizenship as it had been in the country long enough, while another suggested that India should start charging rent and that the Kohinoor diamond would be the most appropriate payment.

On Wednesday, Kerala government’s tourism department also joined in the fun with a post on X that said “Kerala, the destination you’ll never want to leave.”

The post included an AI-generated photograph of an F-35B standing on the runway with coconut palm trees in the background. The text suggested that, like most visitors to the state described in tourism brochures as “God’s own country” for its scenic beauty, the jet too was finding it hard to leave.

Dr Patil says that each passing day that the jet remains stranded, “it adversely affects the image of the F-35Bs and the Royal Navy”.

“The jokes and memes and rumours and conspiracy theories are affecting the image and credibility of the British Royal Navy. The longer the jet stays stranded, the more disinformation will come out.”

The engineering issues “seem of a much more serious nature” than it was originally thought, he says.

But most militaries, he adds, prepare for “a worst-case scenario” – and it is one since a jet is stranded on foreign soil.

“Most militaries would have a standard operating procedure [SOP] on how to respond when something like this happens. So does the Royal Navy not have an SOP?”

The optics of this, he says, are really bad.

“If such a thing had happened in enemy territory, would they have taken this much time? This makes for very bad PR for a professional navy.”

Crowds mourned Diogo Jota in his hometown to pay their respects to the Liverpool forward and his brother André Silva, who both died in a car crash on Thursday.

Portugal’s president, stars from the national team and fans from across the country gathered in the small town of Gondomar, on the outskirts of Porto, where the pair grew up.

Their parents, grandfather and other family members held a private vigil at a chapel in the town before it was opened to the public for a wake. The funeral will be held on Saturday.

The pair – both footballers, with André playing in Portugal’s second division – were killed after the Lamborghini they were travelling in crashed in the Spanish province of Zamora.

Fans carrying Portugal flags, flowers and other memorabilia were seen weeping as they queued to pay their respects.

Those in attendance included President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, national team stars João Moutinho, Diogo Dalot and Ricardo Horta, and Jota’s agent Jorge Mendes.

For years as a young boy, Jota played for local club Gondomar SC, which named its academy after him in 2022.

Emblazoned on its sign is a quote from Jota: “It’s not about where we come from but where we’re going to.”

Outside the club, shirts and scarves were laid inside a ring of candles.

The 28-year-old father-of-three – who this year won the Nations League with Portugal and Premier League with Liverpool – married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso just 11 days before the fatal crash.

He had been travelling back to Liverpool for pre-season training, making the trip by car and ferry because he had undergone minor surgery and had been advised against flying.

Liverpool said his death was a “tragedy that transcends” the club.

Fans also grieved outside the club’s Anfield stadium.

Former captain Jordan Henderson was seen in tears as he laid a wreath, with a card that read: “Rest in peace my friend, along with your brother André. We will all miss you.”

Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah admitted he was dreading returning to the club in the wake of Jota’s shock death.

“I am truly lost for words. Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break,” Salah wrote in a post on social media.

A delegation from Liverpool’s city rival club Everton – including Portugal-born strikers Beto and Youssef Chermiti – also attended and left flowers outside Anfield.

Former Liverpool councillor Peter Millea – a home and away regular who had come to pay his respects – told the BBC: “There was something about him as a player when he first came to us that he became an instant hit.

“He was one of those players you can easily take to, because of the manner in which he conducted himself on and off the pitch and the important goals he scored.”

Mr Millea said some fans at Anfield had broken into impromptu renditions of the chant while paying their respects.

“I’m sure we’ll hear it loud and clear at Wembley for the Community Shield and we’ll hear it at Preston for the first pre-season away game, you know it’ll be sung around the field against Athletic Bilbao and then during the course of the rest of the season and probably forever-more,” he said.

Elsewhere, fans left flowers, scarves and shirts outside Wolves’ Molineux Stadium, where Jota played prior to his move to Anfield.

At Wimbledon, Portuguese tennis player Francisco Cabral wore a black ribbon to mark the passing of his countrymen.

A minute’s silence was held in the Women’s Euro 2025 game between Denmark and Sweden.

Liverpool has cancelled pre-season fitness tests that were due to take place today for some players as a result of yesterday’s news. A phased return of training will now begin on Monday.

The funeral service will be held at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar in Sao Cosme in Gondomar at 10:00 on Saturday.