BBC 2025-08-08 04:08:21


Why Trump-Putin talks unlikely to bring rapid end to Ukraine war

Laura Gozzi

BBC News
Vitaliy Shevchenko

BBC Monitoring Russia editor

The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, shows no sign of abating.

In the east of Ukraine, Russia presses on in a grinding and bloody advance. Deadly aerial strikes are a nightly occurrence across the country, while Russia’s refineries and energy facilities come under regular attack from Kyiv’s drones.

It is against this backdrop that the Kremlin confirmed a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was being planned and due to take place soon. “I’m here to get [the war] over with,” the US leader said on Wednesday.

Three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine held at his behest between May and July have failed to bring the two sides any closer to peace, and Trump may hope that taking the situation into his own hands could finally result in a ceasefire.

But the gulf between Kyiv and Moscow is so large that even Trump-mediated talks could make it difficult to bridge.

In a memorandum presented to the Ukrainians by Russia in June, Moscow outlined its maximalist demands for a “final settlement” of the conflict. They include the recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as well as Ukraine agreeing to demilitarisation, neutrality, no foreign military involvement and new elections.

“The Russian side can frame this in a dozen different ways, creating the impression that Moscow is open to concessions and serious negotiation,” wrote Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya. “But the core position remains unchanged: Russia wants Kyiv to surrender.”

  • Why did Putin’s Russia invade Ukraine?

Following a meeting between Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Washington had a better understanding of the conditions under which Russia would be prepared to end the war.

We don’t know if those conditions have changed. However, only last week Putin – likely referencing the memorandum – said Russia had made its goals known in June, and that those goals had stayed the same.

Therefore, despite the Kremlin agreeing to a Trump-Putin meeting, there is no reason to believe Moscow is ready to budge on its tough preconditions.

So why would Putin be agreeing to talks at this stage?

One possibility is that it hopes engaging in dialogue could fend off the secondary sanctions Trump has threatened to impose on Moscow’s trading partners as soon as Friday. The Kremlin may also feel it could convince Trump of the merits of its conditions to end the war.

At the start of his second term in office, Trump appeared to be more aligned with Russia than Ukraine, labelling Zelensky a “dictator” and suggesting he was to blame for the war with Russia.

Although he has since signalled his impatience with Putin – “he’s just tapping me along”, he said in April – Trump has also refused to say whether he felt the Russian leader had been lying to him over his readiness to move towards a ceasefire.

Whether because of personal affinity or an aligned worldview, Trump has been reluctant to ever fully condemn Putin for his actions.

When the two met in Helsinki in 2018 – during Trump’s first term as president – many were left stunned to see Trump side with the Kremlin over accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and take responsibility for the tense state of US-Russia relations.

It is perhaps partly to fend off the possibility of Trump being swayed by Putin that Kyiv wants to be involved in any ceasefire talks.

Through his envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump has also suggested holding a trilateral with Putin and Zelensky. But the Russian president has batted off these suggestions, saying the conditions for a meeting are still far off.

Now some in Ukraine are concerned a Trump-Putin meeting may result in the US president giving in to Putin’s demands.

Ukrainian MP Iryna Herashchenko said it was becoming evident that demands for territorial concessions by Ukraine would be made and added being absent from the negotiating table would be “very dangerous” for Kyiv.

“Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same bold approach from the Russian side,” Zelensky said on Thursday.

But the gulf between Russia and Ukraine remains.

And should the Kremlin eventually agree to a trilateral meeting, Moscow’s demands for a ceasefire have proven so intractable that it is unclear what bringing Zelensky and Putin face-to-face might achieve.

Ex-Superman actor says he’s becoming ICE agent

Alys Davies

BBC News

Ex-Superman actor Dean Cain has announced he is planning to join the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE.

In an interview on Wednesday, Cain, who is already a sworn law enforcement officer, said, “I will be sworn in as an ICE agent asap”.

It comes after he released a video encouraging members of the public to join following a recruitment drive by the agency, which is behind the Trump administration’s ramped-up deportation scheme.

Cain played the role of Superman between 1993 and 1997 in the TV series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

He has gone on to star in a number of other films and TV shows, and has also directed.

In late July, ICE announced it was aiming to recruit an additional 10,000 new personnel, doubling the agency’s headcount as it ramps up deportations across the country.

It is specifically hoping to recruit deportation officers, along with attorneys, criminal investigators, student visa adjudicators and other roles.

Speaking on Fox News on Wednesday, Cain said: “I put out a recruitment video yesterday – I’m actually a sworn deputy sheriff and a reserve police officer – I wasn’t part of ICE, but once I put that out there and you put a little blurb on your show, it went crazy”.

“So now I’ve spoken with some officials over at ICE, and I will be sworn in as an ICE agent asap.”

“People have to step up. I’m stepping up. Hopefully a whole bunch of other former officers, former ICE agents will step up, and we’ll meet those recruitment goals immediately and we’ll help protect this country,” Cain added.

BBC News has contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to ramp up the pace of deportations from the US to one million per year.

Part of that effort has included increased immigration raids since Trump became president.

They have sparked protests in cities across the US, with critics calling the raids unlawful.

On 29 July, ICE announced it was offering recruitment bonuses of up to $50,000 (£37,700) and student loan help to Americans interested in helping with the Trump administration’s deportation drive.

As part of the recruitment drive, the DHS unveiled recruitment posters akin to those used during World War Two, with the words “America Needs You” and “Defend the Homeland” with images of Uncle Sam, US President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials.

By Wednesday the agency said it had received more than 80,000 applicants for the 10,000 positions. Speaking on Fox News, Noem said they had removed age limits for how old applicants could be.

Watch: The BBC’s Carl Nasman explains how immigration raids sparked protests and unrest

ICE currently has 20,000 officers and support personnel, spread across the country at 400 offices.

The recruitment drive comes just weeks after Trump signed his sweeping spending bill into law.

The bill included more than $76bn allocated to ICE – almost 10 times what it had been receiving previously – and making it the highest funded federal law enforcement agency.

Trump calls for Intel boss to resign immediately, alleging China ties

Natalie Sherman

BBC News

President Donald Trump has called on the head of US chipmaker Intel to resign “immediately”, accusing him of having problematic ties to China.

In a social media post, he said CEO Lip-Bu Tan was “highly conflicted”, apparently referring to Mr Tan’s alleged investments in companies that the US says are tied to the Chinese military. It is unusual for a president to demand the resignation of a corporate executive.

Intel, which has received billions of dollars from the government to support semiconductor manufacturing in the US, did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr Tan was appointed in March to turn around the tech giant, as it fell behind China and other competitors in chips development.

A naturalised US citizen born in Malaysia and raised in Singapore, he is a venture capitalist well-known for his expertise in the semiconductor industry.

In an update to investors this week, he said the firm would be scaling back its investments in manufacturing, including in the US, to match demand from customers. Intel has already cut thousands of jobs this year as part of an effort to “right-size” the firm.

Shares in Intel fell more than 3% by midday after the attack from Trump, who has been critical of the firm previously and is preparing to raise tariffs on the chip industry.

“The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem,” Trump wrote.

It is not illegal for Americans to invest in Chinese firms.

But Washington has ramped up restrictions since Trump’s first term, as it pushes to break business ties between the US and China when it comes to advanced technology, as both Democrats and Republicans openly worry about national security.

Trump’s attack took up concerns aired by Republican Senator Tom Cotton this week in a letter to Intel’s board that said Mr Tan’s “associations raise questions about Intel’s ability” to be a “responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars and to comply with applicable security regulations”.

Cotton pointed to Mr Tan’s role as the longtime chief executive of tech firm Cadence Design Systems, which pleaded guilty in July and agreed to pay $140m over US charges that its subsidiary in China had repeatedly done business with the country’s National University of Defense Technology, violating US export controls.

Mr Tan himself was not indicted.

In a statement earlier this week, Intel defended its relatively new chief executive, saying Mr Tan and the company were “deeply committed to the national security of the US and the integrity of our role in the US defense ecosystem”.

Industry expert Patrick Moorhead, founder of Moor Insights & Strategy, said he thought Trump was using the controversy over Mr Tan’s ties to China to put pressure on Intel over some other issue. He pointed to potential disputes about Intel’s investments in the US and reports of a possible partnership with Taiwanese firm TSMC backed by the White House.

“It’s apparent to me that there was some negotiation amongst the two that Trump didn’t like,” he said. “Trump probably saw, ‘Ok, I’ve got an opportunity to turn up the heat with Intel on this’.”

Trump is known for targeting business leaders with public criticism to a degree unheard of with other presidents. But, even by his standards, the demand that the leader of a private company resign is extraordinary.

Mr Moorhead said other tech executives who had found themselves in Trump’s crosshairs had come up with ways to “kiss the ring”, pointing to promises from firms such as Apple and OpenAI to make large investments in the US.

“Intel probably misread the room on how important it was to get in and be visible with the White House,” he said.

Responding to critics who said Trump had gone too far, the White House told the BBC: “President Trump remains fully committed to safeguarding our country’s national and economic security. This includes ensuring that iconic American companies in cutting-edge sectors are led by men and women who Americans can trust.”

Mr Tan’s ties to China had been spotlighted in a 2024 congressional report examining links between US investment firms and Chinese businesses.

They were also the subject of a Reuters investigation in April, which found that he had invested at least $200 in hundreds of Chinese companies, some of which are linked to the Chinese military. The investments were made either personally or though his funds between 2012 and December 2024.

Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, a Trump ally, took up the attack on Mr Tan on Thursday, criticising Intel for delays in its plans for chip manufacturing in the US.

But the clash with Trump could add to the challenges the firm, along with US chip manufacturing, currently faces.

“Intel has been a hope for America to build out more chip capacity and has struggled to do so to date,” said Janet Egan, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. “It’s important that we get continuity of leadership to support that ramping up of capacity.”

Nearly a million more deaths than births in Japan last year

Rachel Hagan

BBC News

Almost a million more deaths than births were recorded in Japan last year, representing the steepest annual population decline since government surveys began in 1968.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described the demographic crisis of Japan’s ageing population as a “quiet emergency”, pledging family-friendly policies such as free childcare and more flexible work hours.

But efforts to reverse the perennially low birth rates among Japanese women have so far made little impact.

New data released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed the number of Japanese nationals fell by 908,574 in 2024.

Japan recorded 686,061 births – the lowest number since records began in 1899 – while nearly 1.6 million people died, meaning for every baby born, more than two people died.

It marks the 16th consecutive year of population decline with the squeeze being felt by the nation’s pension and healthcare systems.

The number of foreign residents reached a record high of 3.6 million people as of 1 January 2025, however, representing nearly 3% of Japan’s population.

The government has tentatively embraced foreign labour by launching a digital nomad visa and upskilling initiatives, but immigration remains politically fraught in the largely conservative country.

The overall population of the country declined by 0.44 percent from 2023 to about 124.3 million at the start of the year.

Elderly people aged 65 and over now make up nearly 30% of the population – the second-highest proportion in the world after Monaco, according to the World Bank. The working-age population, defined as those between 15 and 64, has dropped to about 60%.

A growing number of towns and villages are hollowing out, with nearly four million homes abandoned over the past two decades, government data released last year showed.

The government has spent years trying to increase birth rates with incentives ranging from housing subsidies to paid parental leave. But deep-rooted cultural and economic barriers remain.

High living costs, stagnant wages and a rigid work culture deter many young people from starting families. Women, in particular, face entrenched gender roles that often leave them with limited support as primary caregivers.

Japan’s fertility rate – the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime – has been low since the 1970s, so experts warn even dramatic improvements now would take decades to bear fruit.

India has 20 days to avoid 50% Trump tariffs – what are its options?

Nikhil Inamdar

BBC News, Mumbai

India has unexpectedly become a key target in Washington’s latest push to pressure Russia over the Ukraine war.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump doubled US tariffs on India to 50%, up from 25%, penalising Delhi for purchasing Russian oil – a move India called “unfair” and “unjustified”. The tariffs aim to cut Russia’s oil revenues and force Putin into a ceasefire. The new rate will come into effect in 21 days, so on 27 August.

This makes India the most heavily taxed US trading partner in Asia and places it alongside Brazil, another nation facing steep US tariffs amid tense relations.

India insists its imports are driven by market factors and vital to its energy security, but the tariffs threaten to hit Indian exports and growth hard.

Almost all of India’s $86.5bn [£64.7bn] in annual goods exports to the US stand to become commercially unviable if these rates sustain.

Most Indian exporters have said they can barely absorb a 10-15% rise, so a combined 50% tariff is far beyond their capacity.

If effective, the tariff would be similar to “a trade embargo, and will lead to a sudden stop in affected export products,” Japanese brokerage firm Nomura said in a note.

The US is India’s top export market, making up 18% of exports and 2.2% of GDP. A 25% tariff could cut GDP by 0.2–0.4%, risking growth slipping below 6% this year.

India’s electronics and pharma exports remain exempt from additional tariffs for now, but the impact would be felt in India domestically “with labour-intensive exports like textiles and gems and jewelry taking the fall”, Priyanka Kishore of Asia Decoded, a Singapore-based consultancy told the BBC.

Rakesh Mehra of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry called the tariffs a “huge setback” for India’s textile exporters, saying they will sharply weaken competitiveness in the US market.

With tensions now escalating, experts have called Trump’s decision a high-stakes gamble.

India is not the only buyer of Russian oil – there are China and Turkey as well – yet Washington has chosen to target a country widely regarded as a key partner.

So what changed and what could be the fallout?

India’s former central bank governor Urjit Patel said that India’s “worst fears” have materialised with the recent announcement.

“One hopes that this is short term, and that talks around a trade deal slated to make progress this month will go ahead. Otherwise, a needless trade war, whose contours are difficult to gauge at this early juncture, will likely ensue,” Mr Patel wrote in a LinkedIn post.

The damaging impact of the tariffs is why few expect them to last. With new rates starting 27 August, the next 20 days are critical – India’s moves in this bargaining window will be closely watched by anxious markets.

The key question is whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will quietly abandon trading ties with Russia to avoid the “Russia penalty” or stand firm against the US.

“India’s efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian military hardware and diversify its oil imports predate pressure from the Trump administration, so Delhi may be able to offer some conciliatory gestures in line with its existing foreign policy behaviour,” according to Dr Chietigj Bajpaee of Chatham House.

He says the relationship is in a “managed decline”, losing Cold War-era strategic importance, but Russia will remain a key partner for India for the foreseeable future.

However, some experts believe Trump’s recent actions give India an opportunity to rethink its strategic ties.

If anything the US’s actions could “push India to reconsider its strategic alignment, deepening ties with Russia, China, and many other countries”, says Ajay Srivastava of the the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a Delhi-based think tank.

Modi will visit China for the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit – his first since the deadly 2020 Galwan border clashes. Some suggest a revival of India-Russia-China trilateral talks may be on the table.

The immediate focus is on August trade talks, as a US team visits India. Negotiations stalled earlier over agriculture and dairy – sectors where the US demands greater access, but India holds firm.

Will there be concessions in areas like dairy and farming that India has been staunchly protecting or could the political cost be too high?

The other big question: What’s next for India’s rising appeal as a China-plus-one destination for nations and firms looking to diversify their supply chains and investments?

Trump’s tariffs risk slowing momentum as countries like Vietnam offer lower tariffs. Experts say the impact on investor sentiment may be limited. India is still courting firms like Apple, which makes a big chunk of its phones locally, and has been largely shielded since semiconductors aren’t taxed under the new tariffs.

Experts will also be watching what India does to support its exporters.

“India’s government so far has not favoured direct subsidies to exporters, but its current proposed programmes of favourable trade financing and export promotion may not be enough to tackle the impact of such a wide tariff differential,” according to Nomura.

With stakes high, trade experts say only top-level diplomacy can revive a trade deal that seemed within reach just weeks ago.

For now the Indian government has put up a strong front, saying it will take “all actions necessary to protect its national interests”.

The opposition has upped the ante with senior Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi calling Trump’s 50% tariffs “economic blackmail” and “an attempt to bully India into an unfair trade deal”.

Is Modi’s touted “mega partnership” with the US now his biggest foreign policy test? And will India hit back?

Retaliation by India is unlikely but not impossible, says Barclays Research, because there is precedent.

“In 2019, India announced tariffs on 28 US products, including US apples and almonds, in response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminium. Some of these tariffs were eventually reversed in 2023, following the resolution of WTO disputes,” Barclays Research said in a note.

OpenAI claims GPT-5 model boosts ChatGPT to ‘PhD level’

Lily Jamali

North America Technology correspondent
Liv McMahon

Technology reporter

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has unveiled the long-awaited latest version of its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, GPT-5, saying it can provide PhD-level expertise.

Billed as “smarter, faster, and more useful,” OpenAI co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman lauded the company’s new model as ushering in a new era of ChatGPT.

“I think having something like GPT-5 would be pretty much unimaginable at any previous time in human history,” he said ahead of Thursday’s launch.

GPT-5’s release and claims of its “PhD-level” abilities in areas such as coding and writing come as tech firms continue to compete to have the most advanced AI chatbot.

Elon Musk recently made similar claims of his own AI chatbot, Grok, which has been plugged into X (formerly Twitter).

During the launch of Grok’s latest iteration last month, Musk said it was “better than PhD level in everything” and called it the world’s “smartest AI”.

Meanwhile, Altman said OpenAI’s new model would suffer from fewer hallucinations – the phenomenon whereby large language models make up answers- and be less deceptive.

OpenAI is also pitching GPT-5 to coders as a proficient assistant, following a trend among major American AI developers, including Anthropic whose Claude Code targets the same market.

What can GPT-5 do?

OpenAI has highlighted GPT-5’s ability to create software in its entirety and demonstrate better reasoning capabilities – with answers that show workings, logic and inference.

The company claims it has been trained to be more honest, provide users with more accurate responses and says that, overall, it feels more human.

According to Altman, the model is “significantly better” than its predecessors.

“GPT-3 sort of felt to me like talking to a high school student… 4 felt like you’re kind of talking to a college student,” he said in a briefing ahead of Thursday’s launch.

“GPT-5 is the first time that it really feels like talking to an expert in any topic, like a PhD-level expert.”

For Prof Carissa Véliz of the Institute for Ethics in AI, however, GPT-5’s launch may not be as significant as its marketing may suggest.

“These systems, as impressive as they are, haven’t been able to be really profitable,” she said, also noting that they can only mimic – rather than truly emulate – human reasoning abilities.

“There is a fear that we need to keep up the hype, or else the bubble might burst, and so it might be that it’s mostly marketing.”

One ethics expert said the launch of GPT-5 reinforced the growing gap between AI’s capabilities and our ability to govern it in the way the public expects.

“As these models become more capable, the need for comprehensive regulation becomes even more urgent,” said Gaia Marcus, Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute.

The BBC’s AI Correspondent Marc Cieslak gained exclusive access to GPT-5 before it’s official launch.

“Apart from minor cosmetic differences the experience was similar to using the older chatbot: give it tasks or ask it questions by typing a text prompt.

It’s now powered by what’s called a reasoning model which essentially means it thinks harder about solving problems, but this seems more like an evolution than revolution for the tech.”

GPT-5’s rollout also has implications for commercial enterprises concerned about the use of their content.

“As AI content becomes more convincing, we need to ask ourselves – are we protecting the people and creativity behind what we see every day?”, said Grant Farhall, chief product officer at Getty Images. “Authenticity matters – but it doesn’t come for free.”

Farhall said it was important to scrutinize exactly how AI models are being trained, and ensure that creators are being compensated if their work is being used.

The company will roll out the model to all users from Thursday.

In the coming days it will become a lot clearer whether it really is as good as Sam Altman claims it is.

Clash with other AI firm

Anthropic recently revoked OpenAI’s access to its application programming interface (API), claiming the company was violating its terms of service by using its coding tools ahead of GPT-5’s launch.

An OpenAI spokesperson said it was “industry standard” to evaluate other AI systems to assess their own progress and safety.

“While we respect Anthropic’s decision to cut off our API access, it’s disappointing considering our API remains available to them,” they added.

With a free tier for its new model, the company may be signalling a potential move away from the proprietary models that have previously dominated its offerings.

ChatGPT changes

On Monday, OpenAI revealed it was making changes to promote a healthier relationship between users and ChatGPT.

In a blog post, it said: “AI can feel more responsive and personal than prior technologies, especially for vulnerable individuals experiencing mental or emotional distress.”

It said it would not give a definitive answer to questions such as, “Should I break up with my boyfriend?”

Instead, it would “help you think it through – asking questions, weighing pros and cons”, according to the blog post.

In May, OpenAI pulled a heavily-criticised update which made ChatGPT “overly flattering”, according to Sam Altman.

On a recent episode of OpenAI’s own podcast, Mr Altman said he was thinking about how people interact with his products.

“This is not all going to be good, there will still be problems,” he said.

“People will develop these somewhat problematic, or maybe very problematic, parasocial relationships [with AI]. Society will have to figure out new guardrails. But the upsides will be tremendous.”

Mr Altman is known to be a fan of the 2013 film Her, where a man develops a relationship with an AI companion.

In 2024, actress Scarlett Johansson, who voiced the AI companion in the film, said she was left “shocked” and “angered” after OpenAI launched a chatbot with an “eerily similar” voice to her own.

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Six dead in Kenya medical small plane crash, official says

Ashley Lime

BBC News in Nairobi

Six people have been killed after a light aircraft belonging to a medical charity crashed in Kenya’s capitol, Nairobi, according to a local official.

Charity Amref Flying Doctors said the Cessna plane took off from Wilson airport on Thursday afternoon and was en route to Hargeisa in Somalia when it crashed and burst into flames at a residential building in Nairobi’s Githurai area.

Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula said four people on the plane were killed, including doctors, nurses and the pilot – as well as another two people on the ground, while two others were seriously injured.

Investigators have been despatched to the scene of the crash to establish its cause.

The plane lost both radio and radar contact with air traffic control just three minutes after take off, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said.

There were four crew and Amref staff on board, the charity said.

“At this time, we are cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation,” Amref CEO Stephen Gitau said in a statement.

The Kenya Defence Forces and the National Police Service have been deployed to the scene to conduct search and recovery operations.

Patricia Kombo, an eyewitness, told the BBC that she was in a cab with her friends heading to Githurai when they heard a loud bang and a red flash ahead of them.

“Before I could take my phone to record the flash was gone and smoke was billowing. We then heard people screaming and running and so we ended our trip.

“We then discovered it was a plane crash and saw the sunken hole the crash had created in the ground,” she said.

In a separate incident, a train and a bus collided at a railway crossing near Naivasha town, central Kenya, killing at least four people, according to Reuters news agency citing a Red Cross worker.

The Kenya Pipeline Company, whose bus was involved in the incident, said it was carrying staff finishing their morning shift at one of its training centres and that all injured staff had been taken to hospital for treatment.

France still battling largest wildfire in 75 years

Asya Robins

BBC News

France’s largest wildfire for 75 years, which has burned through an area larger than Paris, has slowed overnight but is not yet under control, officials have said.

More than 2,000 firefighters and 500 firefighting vehicles continue to be deployed to the Aude region, alongside gendarmerie and army personnel, officials said on Thursday.

An woman has died and 13 people, including 11 firefighters, have been injured, with two in a critical condition, since the fire broke out near the village of Ribaute in southern France on Tuesday.

Three people have also been reported missing by their relatives and dozens of homes have been destroyed, the Aude prefecture added.

Christophe Magny, one of the officials leading the firefighting operation told local media outlet France Info on Thursday that firefighters hoped to contain the wildfire later in the day.

Images overnight showed firefighters tackling the 16,000 hectare (62sq miles) blaze, which officials said had lost intensity since Wednesday due to wind and lower temperatures.

Water-bombing aircraft have also helped tackle the flames.

Smoke from the fires and large areas of burnt land could be seen from satellite images on Thursday, highlighting the scale of the devastation across the region.

Residents have been urged not to return home while operations continue, with 17 temporary accommodation sites opened up.

Villages in the Corbieres region remain on high alert, according to French media.

Officials say the wildfire is the largest in France since 1949, with French Prime Minister François Bayrou calling it a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale”.

During a visit to the Aude region on Wednesday, Bayrou said the fire was connected to global warming and drought.

Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher also linked the blaze to climate change.

Officials said on Wednesday the fire’s quick advance was driven by strong winds, dry vegetation and hot summer weather.

Jacques Piraud, mayor of the village of Jonquières, where several houses burned down, told Le Monde that around 80% of the village was burnt.

“It’s dramatic. It’s black, the trees are completely charred,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that “all of the nation’s resources are mobilised,” and called on people to exercise “the utmost caution”.

Trump’s sweeping new tariffs take effect against dozens of countries

Osmond Chia

Business reporter, BBC News
Reporting fromSingapore

US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on more than 90 countries around the world have come into effect.

Moments before his deadline passed for countries to negotiate US trade deals, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that billions of dollars were now flowing into his country as a result of his import taxes.

Trump is using tariffs to encourage jobs and manufacturing industries to return to America, among other political goals.

Separately on Wednesday, he threatened to raise the tariff on imports from India to 50%, unless that country stopped buying Russian oil. He also threatened a 100% tariff on foreign-made computer chips, to push tech firms to invest more in the US.

Trump’s trade policies have been broadly aimed at reshaping the global trading system, which he sees as treating the US unfairly. One of his key pledges as he returned to the White House in January was to cut the trade deficit – the shortfall between what America buys and what it sells.

His tariffs work by charging US importers a tax on goods they buy from other countries. Those importers may pass some or all of the extra cost on to customers.

Trump has also been accused of throwing the global economy into turmoil in recent months, though markets have recently been more stable.

The overall average US tariff rate is at its highest in almost a century, thanks to a range of other industry-specific taxes affecting products such as vehicles and steel.

The duties that came into effect on Thursday were first announced in April. Many were later paused amid market turbulence, and to give other countries time to strike new trade deals with the US.

A patchwork of rates were set for different countries – and were adjusted over time by Trump, who ultimately set a negotiating deadline of 7 August.

  • What tariffs has Trump announced and why?
  • See the Trump tariffs list by country
  • How much cash is the US raising from tariffs?
  • Six things that may cost Americans more after Trump’s tariffs

Export-dependent economies in South East Asia are among the hardest-hit.

Manufacturing-focused Laos and Myanmar face some of the highest levies at 40%. Some experts said Trump appears to have targeted countries with close trade ties with China.

But after more than four months of uncertainty, markets in Asia seemed to take the news in their stride on Thursday.

Major share indexes in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and mainland China were a little higher, while markets in India and Australia were lower.

The latest set of tariffs will offer countries some stability after months of chaos, said economist Bert Hofman from the National University of Singapore.

“This is supposed to be it,” he said. “Now you can start to analyse the impact of the tariffs.”

Some major economies – including the UK, Japan and South Korea – reached agreements to ensure goods exported to the US would face a lower tariff rate than Trump threatened in April.

The European Union has also struck a framework deal with Washington, in which Brussels has accepted a 15% tariff on goods from the trading bloc.

Switzerland has said it will hold an extraordinary meeting on Thursday after its officials were unable to reach a deal with the US.

At 39%, the tariff rate on Swiss goods is one of the highest imposed by the US, and threatens to hit the country’s economy hard.

Taiwan, a key Washington ally in Asia, was handed a 20% tariff. Its president Lai Ching-te said the rate was “temporary” and that talks with the US were ongoing.

Other tariffs unveiled by Trump after he returned to the White House in January have been aimed at the US’s top three trading partners – China, Canada and Mexico – with a variety of political goals in mind.

Last week, he boosted the tariff rate on Canada from 25% to 35%, saying the country had “failed to cooperate” in curbing the flow of fentanyl and other drugs across the US border. Canada insists it is cracking down on drug gangs.

But most Canadian exports to the US will dodge the import tax due to an existing trade treaty, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Higher tariffs on Mexico were paused for another 90 days as negotiations continue to strike a trade deal.

Meanwhile, the US and China have held a series of talks in a bid to agree an extension to a 90-day tariffs pause due to expire on 12 August.

  • Trump orders India tariff hike to 50% for buying Russian oil
  • Apple to invest $100bn after pressure from Trump
  • Analysis: Trump’s global tariffs ‘victory’ may well come at a high price

Some of Trump’s recent tariff moves have been bound up with a separate effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He has threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” aimed at Moscow’s trading partners if a ceasefire with Ukraine is not agreed by Friday, although it is unclear whether positive noises following talks between Washington and Moscow and a potential meeting between Trump and Putin will affect this.

In the interim, Trump threatened on Wednesday to raise the tariff rate on Indian goods to 50% from 27 August, as he pushes the world’s third largest importer of energy to stop buying oil from Russia.

Delhi called the move “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” and vowed to protect its national interests.

The move marked a “sharp change” in Trump’s approach to Moscow that could spark concerns among other countries in talks with the US, said market analyst Farhan Badami from financial services firm eToro.

“There is the possibility here that India is only the first target that Trump intends to punish for maintaining trade relations with Russia,” Mr Badami said.

Also on Wednesday, Trump said he would impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made semiconductors.

That threat came as tech firm Apple announced a new $100bn (£75bn) US investment after coming under pressure from the White House to move more production to the US.

Major chipmakers that have made significant investments in the US appear to be able to dodge the new tariff. Government officials in Taiwan and South Korea have said in separate statements that TSMC, SK Hynix, and Samsung would be exempt from the new levy.

The White House did not immediately respond to a BBC request for clarification.

The BBC has also contacted SK Hynix and Samsung. TSMC declined to comment.

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

Homelessness Minister Rushanari Ali quits

Jennifer McKiernan

BBC political reporter@_JennyMcKiernan

Rushanara Ali has resigned as Homelessness Minister, Downing Street has confirmed.

The move comes after she was accused of hypocrisy over the way she handled rent increases on a house she owns in east London.

There were calls for her to step down from homelessness charities and opposition politicians.

In a letter to the prime minister she has said that remaining in the role would be “a distraction from the ambitious work of this Government”.

In a story first broken by the The i Paper, four tenants who rented a house owned by Ali in east London were sent an email in November giving them four months’ notice their lease would not be renewed.

However, the property was re-listed shortly after they moved out, at a rent £700 a month higher.

Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused Ali of “staggering hypocrisy” over the handling of the property but Ali’s spokesman said she “takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements”.

In a letter to the prime minister, Ali wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that I offer you my resignation as a minister.”

Insisting that “at all times I have followed all relevant legal requirements” she added: “I believe I took my responsibilities and duties seriously, and the facts demonstrate this.

“However, it is clear that continuing in my role will be a distraction from the ambitious work of the government.

“I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position.”

Responding to her resignation, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer thanked her for her work, which he called “diligent”.

  • What are the rules about renting and eviction, and how are they changing?
  • London’s ‘spiralling’ housing crisis in numbers

The PM praised her work to repeal the Vagrancy Act and added: “I know you will continue to support the Government from the backbenches and represent the best interests of your constituents in Bethnal Green and Stepney.”

A source close to Ali said the previous fixed-term contract had been ended because the house was being put up for sale and the tenants had been told they could stay on a rolling basis while the house was on the market, but they had chosen to go.

The house was put on the market in November 2024 with an asking price of £914,995 but was reduced in February by £20,000 and the i Paper said it was only re-listed as a rental because it had not sold.

The government’s Renters’ Rights Bill is in its final stages in Parliament, and will ban landlords re-listing a property for rent, if they have ended a tenancy in order to sell, for six months.

Landlords must also give four months’ notice when the legislation is passed, which is not expected to be until at least next year.

London Renters Union spokesperson Siân Smith said Ali’s actions were “indefensible” and she “must step down” due to a “clear conflict of interest” with the Bill in its final stages.

Ali had to give up part of her ministerial portfolio in October last year, when she came under fire for her attendance at a conference linked to the parent company of one of the firms heavily criticised in the recent Grenfell inquiry.

Giving up her duties managing building safety and the government’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire, she said she was relinquishing her building safety brief because “perception matters”.

Welcoming her resignation, a Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “Rushanara Ali fundamentally misunderstood her role.

“Her job was to tackle homelessness, not to increase it.

“At a time of widespread political disillusionment, her actions were staggeringly irresponsible and only added insult to injury after years of delay for renters’ rights reform under the Conservatives.”

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Interest rates cut to lowest level in more than two years

Dearbail Jordan

Business reporter, BBC News

The Bank of England has cut interest rates to 4%, taking the cost of borrowing to the lowest level for more than two years.

The cut, from the previous rate of 4.25%, is the fifth since August last year, but was only narrowly backed by the Bank’s policymakers who took two votes to reach a decision.

Lower rates will reduce monthly mortgage costs for some homeowners but it could also mean smaller returns for savers.

The unprecedented second vote by policymakers suggests further interest rate cuts will be finely balanced amid concerns over rising prices, although the Bank’s governor told the BBC the path for rates continues to be “downwards”.

Inflation is now expected to peak at 4% in September, the Bank said in its Monetary Policy Report. That is twice the Bank’s target rate and above the 3.8% rate it predicted in its May report.

However, while inflation is higher than the Bank would like – which would not normally lead to a rate cut – the economy has been struggling to grow and there are fears about the jobs market.

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, said the decision to cut interest rates was “finely balanced”.

“Interest rates are still on a downward path,” he said. “But any future rate cuts will need to be made gradually and carefully.”

Speaking to the BBC he said the course of future rate cuts “is a bit more uncertain frankly”.

Faisal Islam questions the Governor of the Bank of England on interest rates

Businesses told the Bank that “material increases” in National Insurance Contributions and the national living wage since April have added up to 2% to food prices.

The Bank said global adverse weather conditions had also lifted the cost of goods such as beef, coffee beans and cocoa.

But companies told the Bank that they expected UK labour costs “to continue to push up food prices in the second half of the year”, and in order to mitigate costs, they were having to cut staff.

They also reported shoppers were “trading down” by purchasing own-label items as opposed to branded products, and buying “cheaper cuts of meat”.

Mr Bailey told the BBC the Bank did not expect higher inflation to persist, “but we have to watch this very carefully”.

On the other hand, UK employment is “softening” he said, with data showing job vacancies are continuing to fall and wage growth is slowing.

Mr Bailey said he is “very conscious” that inflation affects the cost of living.

“Food is a particularly important issue here because for those on the lowest incomes, food [is] a larger share of their consumption because it is the essential of life so we have to be very focused on this,” he said.

At 4%, interest rates are now at their lowest level since March 2023. This will boost some mortgage-holders and borrowers, but it is likely to mean smaller returns for savers.

People with tracker mortgages, which are loans that track the Bank’s base rate, should see an immediate reduction in monthly repayments. There about 600,000 people who have one.

The latest cut in rates means repayments on an average standard variable rate mortgage of £250,000 over 25 years will fall by £40 per month, according to financial information company Moneyfacts.

‘We are still a little bit anxious about the future’

However, there are many homeowners who are having to remortgage this year at rates higher than deals they struck several years ago.

Adam Christie has just had to re-fix his mortgage rate – moving from a five-year fixed term with a 1.8% interest rate, to a two-year term with a rate of 3.8%.

“It was quite a significant jump, but not as much as we were fearing,” he tells the BBC.

He had been prepared for a £200-300 per month increase – but instead his repayments have risen by about £100.

While he describes this as “the best of a bad situation”, he adds there is still uncertainty about the future.

“We are still a little bit anxious about the future and what it might hold. They might go up again… but I suppose only time can tell,” he says.

The Bank’s nine member Monetary Policy Committee was split on the decision to cut rates. Four members wanted to cut rates, four wanted to hold and one – Alan Taylor – wanted a steeper reduction in borrowing costs.

Some economists had been expecting a further interest rate cut at the Bank’s meeting in November, but the tightness of the latest vote has led some analysts to cast doubt on whether this will happen.

“Bank of England policymakers are still playing a highly cautious hand,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Although the Bank has opted for a cut, the chances of another reduction by the end of the year have receded sharply,” she added.

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief executive at Capital Economics, said the Bank “appears in no rush to cut again”.

She said the policymakers’ analysis of risks to the economy “raises the chances that the Bank will skip a cut later this year”.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the drop was “welcome news, helping bring down the cost of mortgages and loans for families and businesses”.

However, shadow chancellor Mel Stride said interest rates “should be falling faster”, adding: “Rates are only coming down now to support the weak economy Rachel Reeves has created.”

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper said the cut “would have happened months ago if the government was not acting as a roadblock to growth”.

The Bank now forecasts that GDP figures for the April-to-June quarter, due to be published next week, will show a sharp slowdown to just 0.1% growth.

That compares to 0.7% expansion in the first three months of this year.

It also said the impact of US tariffs on the UK is not expected to be as much as it thought back in May.

However, tariffs are expected to dent economic growth to the tune of 0.2%.

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What are semiconductors and why is Trump threatening 100% tariffs?

Liv McMahon & Shiona McCallum

Technology reporters

US President Donald Trump has said he plans to introduce 100% tariffs on semiconductor imports.

The tiny chips power a range of different devices and are integral to modern technology and the global economy.

While some semiconductor producers could be spared from the taxes, they may still impact the tech industry and could push up the price of some products.

  • What are tariffs and why is Trump using them?

What is a semiconductor and how are they used?

Semiconductors have enabled a slew of modern devices – from smartphones and laptops to video game consoles, pacemakers and solar panels.

Sometimes referred to as microchips or integrated circuits, they are made from tiny fragments of raw materials, such as silicon.

Semiconductors, as the name suggests, can partially conduct electricity – alternating between doing so and acting as an insulator.

This allows them to be used as electronic switches, speaking the binary language of 0s and 1s that underpins computing.

  • Semiconductors: How the humble chip changed everything

Which countries make semiconductors?

The UK, US, Europe and China rely heavily on Taiwan for semiconductors.

The country’s Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) provides over half of the world’s supply.

Founded in 1987 as the world’s first foundry – dedicated to producing semiconductors for device manufacturers – TSMC now makes them for tech giants like Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft.

It has also been caught up in so-called “chip wars” between the US and China. Each country has tried to slow or cut off the other’s access to essential components, materials and parts of supply chains as they race to develop the best tech.

Samsung Electronics in South Korea is the next biggest supplier.

Together with SK Hynix, it has established the country as one of the world’s biggest semiconductor hubs – particularly for the supply of memory chips.

  • The secret sauce for Taiwan’s chip superstardom
  • Why is the world investing so much in semiconductors?

Why does Trump want 100% tariffs on semiconductors?

One of the main aims of President Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs during his second term has been to encourage firms to manufacture more products in the US.

In April, the White House exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from tariffs, including 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports. The tech industry breathed a sigh of relief.

But in early August, Trump reiterated plans to impose tariffs on foreign semiconductors – saying he would introduce a 100% tax on chips from abroad.

He did not offer more details on the tariffs, but said companies could avoid them by investing in the US.

The country is already home to some companies that design, manufacture and sell processing chips, such as Intel and Texas Instruments.

But it wants to be home to more manufacturers, particularly those making the most advanced and in-demand products – many of which are based in Asia.

The President and members of his administration have also cited national security concerns about microchips being produced or sourced from elsewhere.

What impact could the tariffs have?

In theory, Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on foreign-made chip imports would impact a wide range of chipmakers and the tech companies who depend on them for semiconductors – given most are based outside the US.

The effect of this could be seen in the form of delays, as companies rush to shift manufacturing to the US, or price rises for some electronics – if manufacturers look to pass the cost of tariffs on to consumers.

But Trump’s caveat that companies committing to manufacturing in the US would not face the levy means the largest semiconductor firms may avoid Trump’s tariffs.

The president said Apple, which sources its semiconductors from TSMC, will evade the 100% tariffs following its further $100bn investment in US manufacturing.

This prompted a 5% rise in TSMC’s share price on Thursday.

Meanwhile South Korean officials have said Samsung and SK Hynix will not face 100% tariffs due to their investment in new US chip fabrication plants.

  • Tech manufacturing has powered Asia – now it’s a casualty of Trump’s tariffs

How could the US make more semiconductors?

The US has spent colossal sums of money in recent years to try and boost domestic technology manufacturing.

Some semiconductor companies, such as TSMC, have already boosted their US presence in response to legislation under the previous administration.

The US Chips Act incentivised firms to move chips manufacturing in the US in return for funding awards.

The US government committed $6.6bn (£5bn) in awards to TSMC after it built a factory in Arizona.

But production at the site has previously faced delays due to a shortage of skilled workers – something that may present a wider challenge to increasing US-based semiconductor manufacturing.

TSMC reportedly only resolved its staff shortage by bringing thousands of workers over from Taiwan.

The secret system Hamas uses to pay government salaries

Rushdi Abualouf

Gaza correspondent in Istanbul

After nearly two years of war, Hamas’s military capability is severely weakened and its political leadership under intense pressure.

Yet, throughout the war Hamas has managed to continue to use a secret cash-based payment system to pay 30,000 civil servants’ salaries totalling $7m (£5.3m).

The BBC has spoken to three civil servants who have confirmed they have received nearly $300 each within the last week.

It’s believed they are among tens of thousands of employees who have continued to receive a maximum of just over 20% of their pre-war salary every 10 weeks.

Amid soaring inflation, the token salary – a fraction of the full amount – is causing rising resentment among the party faithful.

Severe food shortages – which aid agencies blame on Israeli restrictions – and rising cases of acute malnutrition continue in Gaza, where a kilogramme of flour in recent weeks has cost as much as $80 – an all-time high.

With no functioning banking system in Gaza, even receiving the salary is complex and at times, dangerous. Israel regularly identifies and targets Hamas salary distributors, seeking to disrupt the group’s ability to govern.

Employees, from police officers to tax officials, often receive an encrypted message on their own phones or their spouses’ instructing them to go to a specific location at a specific time to “meet a friend for tea”.

At the meeting point, the employee is approached by a man – or occasionally a woman – who discreetly hands over a sealed envelope containing the money before vanishing without further interaction.

An employee at the Hamas Ministry of Religious Affairs, who doesn’t want to give his name for safety reasons, described the dangers involved in collecting his wages.

“Every time I go to pick up my salary, I say goodbye to my wife and children. I know that I may not return,” he said. “On several occasions, Israeli strikes have hit the salary distribution points. I survived one that targeted a busy market in Gaza City.”

Alaa, whose name we have changed to protect his identity, is a schoolteacher employed by the Hamas-run government and the sole provider for a family of six.

“I received 1,000 shekels (about $300) in worn-out banknotes – no trader would accept them. Only 200 shekels were usable – the rest, I honestly don’t know what to do with,” he told the BBC.

“After two-and-a-half months of hunger, they pay us in tattered cash.

“I’m often forced to go to aid distribution points in the hope of getting some flour to feed my children. Sometimes I succeed in bringing home a little, but most of the time I fail.”

In March the Israeli military said they had killed the head of Hamas’s finances, Ismail Barhoum, in a strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. They accused him of channelling funds to Hamas’s military wing.

It remains unclear how Hamas has managed to continue funding salary payments given the destruction of much of its administrative and financial infrastructure.

One senior Hamas employee, who served in high positions and is familiar with Hamas’s financial operations, told the BBC that the group had stockpiled approximately $700m in cash and hundreds of millions of shekels in underground tunnels prior to the group’s deadly 7 October 2023 attack in southern Israel, which sparked the devastating Israeli military campaign.

These were allegedly overseen directly by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother Mohammed – both of whom have since been killed by Israeli forces.

Anger at reward for Hamas supporters

Hamas has historically relied on funding from heavy import duties and taxes imposed on Gaza’s population, as well as receiving millions of dollars of support from Qatar.

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing which operates through a separate financial system, is financed mainly by Iran.

A senior official from the banned Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most influential Islamist organisations in the world, has said that around 10% of their budget was also directed to Hamas.

In order to generate revenue during the war, Hamas has also continued to levy taxes on traders and has sold large quantities of cigarettes at inflated prices up to 100 times their original cost. Before the war, a box of 20 cigarettes cost $5 – that has now risen to more than $170.

In addition to cash payments, Hamas has distributed food parcels to its members and their families via local emergency committees whose leadership is frequently rotated due to repeated Israeli strikes.

That has fuelled public anger, with many residents in Gaza accusing Hamas of distributing aid only to its supporters and excluding the wider population.

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid that has entered Gaza during the ceasefire earlier this year, something Hamas denies. However BBC sources in Gaza have said that significant quantities of aid were taken by Hamas during this time.

Nisreen Khaled, a widow left caring for three children after her husband died of cancer five years ago, told the BBC: “When the hunger worsened, my children were crying not only from pain but also from watching our Hamas-affiliated neighbours receive food parcels and sacks of flour.

“Are they not the reason for our suffering? Why didn’t they secure food, water, and medicine before launching their 7 October adventure?”

BBC’s Paul Adams examines how Gaza reached the edge of starvation

Could RFK Jr’s move to pull mRNA vaccine funding be a huge miscalculation?

James Gallagher

Health and science correspondent@JamesTGallagher

mRNA vaccines were heralded as a medical marvel that saved lives during the Covid pandemic, but now the US is pulling back from researching them.

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has cancelled 22 projects – worth $500m (£376m) in funding – for tackling infections such as Covid and flu.

So does Kennedy – probably the country’s most famous vaccine sceptic – have a point, or is he making a monumental miscalculation?

Prof Adam Finn, vaccine researcher at the University of Bristol, says “it’s a bit of both” but ditching mRNA technology is “stupid” and potentially a “catastrophic error”.

Let’s unpick why.

Kennedy says he has reviewed the science on mRNA vaccines, concluding that the “data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu”.

Instead, he says, he would shift funding to “safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate”.

So are mRNA vaccines safe? Are they effective? Would other vaccine technologies be better?

And another question is where should mRNA vaccines fit into the pantheon of other vaccine technologies – because there are many:

  • Inactivated vaccines use the original virus or bacterium, kill it, and use that to train the immune system – such as the annual flu shot
  • Attenuated vaccines do not kill the infectious agent, but make it weaker so it causes a mild infection – such as the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine
  • Conjugate vaccines use bits of protein or sugar from a bug, so it triggers an immune response without causing an infection – like for types of meningitis
  • mRNA vaccines use a fragment of genetic code that temporarily instructs the body to make parts of a virus, and the immune system reacts to that

Each has advantages and disadvantages, but Prof Finn argues we “overhyped” mRNA vaccines during the pandemic to the exclusion of other approaches, and now there is a process of adjusting.

“But to swing the pendulum so far that mRNA is useless and has no value and should not be developed or understood better is equally stupid, it did do remarkable things,” he says.

  • Full story: RFK Jr cancels $500m in funding for mRNA vaccines
  • BBC Verify: Fact-checking RFK Jr’s views on health policy

Do mRNA vaccines work?

The claim that mRNA vaccines do not protect against upper respiratory infections like Covid and flu “just isn’t true”, says Prof Andrew Pollard from the Oxford Vaccine Group, who is soon stepping down as the head of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the UK government.

The vaccines were shown to provide protection – keeping people alive and out of hospital – in both clinical trials and then during intense monitoring of how the vaccines performed when they were rolled out around the world.

In the first year of vaccination during the Covid pandemic, it was estimated that the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine alone saved nearly 6 million lives.

Against that there were a small number of cases of inflammation of heart tissue – called myocarditis – particularly in young men.

“Very rare side effects should be balanced against the huge benefit of the technology,” says Prof Pollard.

The pandemic was an era when the world was single-mindedly focused on Covid and the rollout of vaccines was monitored intensely. The consensus opinion remains they did overwhelmingly more good than harm.

But that does not mean they are a perfect technology.

The mRNA Covid vaccines train the immune system to target just one protein out of the whole virus. If that protein in the coronavirus changes or mutates then the body’s protection is lessened.

We have seen the consequences of that – immunity wanes and the vaccines need to be updated.

One theoretical argument is that a different vaccine approach – such as using the whole virus – would give better protection, as the immune system would have more to target.

However, Prof Pollard says the mRNA vaccines performed better than the inactivated ones when tackling Covid.

He says that is probably down to the way they are made – and the fact that the process of killing the virus also “changes the viral proteins so there is less stimulation of the immune system” in comparison with mRNA vaccines.

The need to update vaccines is not a failing of mRNA technology that can be easily solved by pivoting from one technology to another – instead, it is down to the fundamental nature of some viruses.

The same measles or HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccines have been effective for decades and show no sign of failing as the virus’s genetic codes are more stable in each case.

But some viruses live in a perpetual state of flux.

Flu, for example, is not one virus – but instead a constantly-shifting target. At any time, one strain will be in the ascendancy and be the most likely to cause trouble in winter.

In flu, the inactivated flu injection that is given to adults is updated every year – as is the live vaccine that is given to children as a nasal spray. A future mRNA form of flu vaccine would work the same way.

“The point about keeping up with variants is about all technologies, not just mRNA,” says Prof Pollard.

mRNA is ‘streets ahead’ when speed is needed

There is a legitimate scientific question about which vaccine technology is used for which disease.

What is causing concern among scientists is that pulling mRNA research means we will not have those vaccines at times when we need to do what no other technology can.

Prof Pollard says: “I don’t think there’s the evidence they are hugely better for protection, but where RNA tech is streets ahead of everything else is responding to outbreaks.”

The world is highly drilled at making new flu vaccines each year. But even then, there is a six-month process of deciding on the new flu strains to be targeted, growing the vaccine at scale in chicken eggs and then distributing it. Brand new vaccines take even longer.

But with mRNA, you can have the new vaccine in six to eight weeks, and then tens or hundreds of millions of doses a few months later.

Some of the projects that have had their funding pulled in the US were preparing for a bird flu pandemic. That virus, H5N1, has been devastating bird populations and jumping into a wide range of other animals including American cattle.

“That doesn’t make sense and if we do get a human pandemic of bird flu it could be seen as a catastrophic error,” says Prof Finn.

But the ramifications of the US turning away from mRNA research could be felt more widely.

What impact does this move have on confidence in the current vaccines, mRNA or otherwise? How does it affect the world when the US is one of the most influential countries in medical research? And will it have a knock-on impact on other types of mRNA technology, such as cancer vaccines – or using the approach to treat rare genetic diseases?

Prof Pollard poses another question after RFK Jr’s move: “Does it put us all at risk if a huge market is turning its back on RNA?

“It is one of the most important technologies we’ll see this century in infectious disease, biotherapeutic agents for rare disease and critically for cancer. It’s a message I’m troubled about.”

What tariffs has Trump announced and why?

Jennifer Clarke

BBC News

US President Donald Trump’s sweeping global programme of tariffs is now in effect, meaning American buyers of many goods will have to pay more for their imports.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has introduced a series of these import taxes, and threatened many more.

The rates at which these taxes are charged vary widely. Goods from certain countries with which Trump has political grievances are subject to particularly high rates. Goods from other countries face lower rates if Trump has struck deals with them.

Trump argues that the tariffs boost American manufacturing and protect jobs.

However, his volatile international trade policy has thrown the world economy into chaos, and a number of firms have increased prices for US consumers as a result.

What are tariffs and how do they work?

Tariffs are taxes charged on goods bought from other countries.

Typically, they are a percentage of a product’s value.

A 10% tariff means a $10 product has a $1 tax on top – taking the total cost to the importer of $11 (£8.35).

Companies that bring foreign goods into the US have to pay the tax to the government.

They may pass some or all of the extra cost on to customers. Firms may also decide to import fewer goods.

At the end of May, a US trade court ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose some of the tariffs he has announced, because he did so under national emergency powers.

But the following day, an appeals court said the relevant taxes could stay in place while the case continued.

Why is Trump using tariffs?

Trump says tariffs will encourage US consumers to buy more American-made goods, increase the amount of tax raised and boost investment.

He wants to reduce the gap between the value of goods the US buys from other countries and those it sells to them – known as the trade deficit. He argues that America has been taken advantage of by “cheaters”, and “pillaged” by foreigners.

The president has announced different tariffs against specific goods, and imports from individual countries.

Many of these have been subsequently amended, delayed or cancelled altogether.

Critics accuse Trump of making dramatic and sometimes contradictory policy statements as a negotiating tactic to encourage trade partners to agree deals that benefit the US.

Trump has made other demands alongside the tariffs.

Setting out the first tariffs of his current term against China, Mexico and Canada, he said all three countries must do more to stop migrants and illegal drugs reaching the US.

Separately, on 14 July, Trump threatened to introduce significant tariffs against companies trading with Russia, if a deal to end the war in Ukraine was not reached within 50 days.

Which tariffs has the US put in place on specific goods?

The taxes on goods imported to the US include:

  • 50% tariff on steel and aluminium imports
  • 50% tariff on copper imports from 1 August
  • 25% tariff on foreign-made cars and imported engines and other car parts

On 8 July, Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on pharmaceutical imports but no further details have been confirmed.

Trump has also said the global tariff exemption covering goods valued at $800 or less will end on 29 August.

He had already removed the so-called “de minimis” exemption for products from China and Hong Kong, to restrict American’s purchase of cheap clothes and household items from commerce sites like Shein and Temu.

Which tariffs has the US put in place against individual countries?

A patchwork of different rates is now in effect.

Many of these stem from an announcement on 2 April, when Trump said a “baseline tariff” of 10% would apply to all other imports from all countries.

The US president said goods from about 60 other trade partners which the White House described as the “worst offenders” would face higher rates, as payback for unfair trade policies.

Thesereciprocal” tariffswere later postponed for 90 days to allow time to negotiate individual trade deals. The deadline was then extended until 1 August and then to 7 August.

Tariff rates that are now in effect include:

  • 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods
  • 30% tariffs on South African goods
  • 20% tariffs on Vietnamese goods
  • 19% tariffs on Indonesian goods
  • 19% tariffs on Filipino goods
  • 15% tariffs on Japanese goods
  • 15% tariffs on South Korean goods

The rate that will be charged on Indian goods is set to climb to 50% on 27 August, as a consequence of Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.

The European Union is among those who have managed to strike a deal with the US during Trump’s window for negotiations. In late July, the two sides agreed that European goods would face 15% tariffs – including cars. Under the deal – which needs to be approved by all 27 EU members – the trading bloc will charge US firms 0% duty on certain products.

Some of the first tariffs that were announced during Trump’s second presidency targeted China, Canada and Mexico. These were later amended, increased or postponed.

A 35% tariff will also apply to all Canadian goods on top of existing duties. This excludes products covered by the existing North American free trade agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the US and Mexico.

However, Trump has delayed imposing higher tariffs on all Mexican goods for another 90 days to strike a deal. Earlier, Trump had threated 30% or a higher rate to match any retaliatory duties introduced on US imports.

US-Chinese trade negotiations are ongoing.

The two countries had raised tariffs on each other’s goods to more than 100% before temporarily lowering rates for a 90-day period.

That pause is set to end on 12 August.

Top officials from the US and China held talks earlier this week in a bid to extend the truce deadline.

China’s trade negotiator Li Chenggang said Beijing and Washington had agreed to push to preserve the truce, under which both sides temporarily suspended some measures against each other.

But US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any extension would be up to Trump.

  • How are trade deals actually negotiated?

What have the UK and US agreed on tariffs?

At 10%, the UK has negotiated the lowest US tariff rate so far.

The UK exported about £58bn of goods to the US in 2024, mainly cars, machinery and pharmaceuticals.

The 10% rate applies to the first 100,000 UK vehicles exported to the US every year, which is roughly the number of cars sold in 2024. Each vehicle above the quota would face the standard 25% car tariff.

The agreement also lets the two countries sell beef to each other – although the government insists there will be no change to the UK’s higher food safety standards.

Some US ethanol will face 0% tariffs, compared to the previous rate of 19%.

The two countries agreed an initial framework in May. Trump announced “the deal was done” at the G7 summit in Canada in June.

However, he did not confirm the expected removal of charges on steel imports from the UK which was outlined in May. Although the UK is the only country which does not have to pay 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium, a 25% tariff remains.

  • Chris Mason: Tariffs deal a triumph for Starmer – up to a point
  • What is in the UK-US tariff deal?

How has the global economy responded to Trump’s tariffs?

Trump’s various announcements have caused volatility on global stock markets, where firms sell shares in their business. However markets have recently been more stable.

Many people are affected by stock market price changes, even if they don’t invest in shares directly, because of the knock-on effect on pensions, jobs and interest rates.

The value of the US dollar, usually considered a safe asset, has also fallen sharply at times.

  • How does it affect me if share prices fall?
  • Why does it matter if the US dollar falls?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the influential Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) both downgraded their predictions for global economic growth in 2025 as a result of the tariffs.

Both organisations expect the US economy to be badly affected.

The latest figures show the US economy grew at an annual rate of 3% between April and June 2025, after shrinking in the first three months of the year.

The president insists his trade policy is working, but influential voices within his own Republican Party have joined opposition Democrats and foreign leaders in attacking the measures.

Are prices going up for US consumers?

Analysts say tariffs are already feeding into the overall US inflation rate, as businesses pass on some or all of their higher costs.

Prices rose by 2.7% in the year to June, up from 2.4% the previous month reflecting increases in items including clothing, coffee, toys and appliances.

Adidas has confirmed it will raise prices for American customers as a result of the tariffs. Almost half of the company’s products are made in Vietnam and Indonesia which are facing levies of 20% and 19% respectively.

Nike has also said US prices will increase, warning the tariffs could add $1bn (£730m) to its costs.

Barbie maker Mattel also plans to charge more in the US.

Some companies are choosing to import fewer foreign goods, which can make those which are available more expensive.

The costs of goods manufactured in the US using imported components are also expected to rise.

For example, car parts typically cross the US, Mexican and Canadian borders multiple times before a vehicle is completely assembled.

The new tariffs have also resulted in tighter customs checks at the US border, leading to delays at the border.

  • Six things that could cost Americans more
  • How Trump’s tariffs are already impacting Americans
  • Published

“I don’t think it’s a good sign for athletics as a sport that you have a record that stands for 30 years.”

Jonathan Edwards’ pride in his triple jump world record is tinged with surprise at the fact no-one has surpassed the 18.29m he set on 7 August 1995 at the World Championships in Gothenburg.

“When you think of all the developments in sports science, nutrition, training methods, all of those things, I don’t think it necessarily speaks to a really healthy and thriving sport, if I’m honest,” Edwards, who is Britain’s only track and field world record holder in regularly contested events, told BBC Sport.

Perhaps that plays down his own achievement. Only seven other men in history have surpassed the 18m mark.

But, if you subscribe to the view that records are there to be broken, then why is this one still standing?

Edwards was ‘remarkable’

When Edwards arrived at Gothenburg’s Ullevi Stadium, no-one had ever jumped beyond 18 metres in ‘legal’ wind conditions.

Within the first two rounds of the competition, he had managed it twice.

He landed beyond the measuring board with his opening-round jump of 18.16m and then added another 13cm to the record around 20 minutes later in what is one of British athletics’ greatest performances.

He was the event’s form athlete that year, arriving in Sweden as the world record holder after jumping 17.98 to beat American Willie Banks’ previous mark by one centimetre and had also recorded the longest jump in history of a wind-assisted 18.43m.

He has always described himself as a sprinter, rather than a jumper, likening his contact with the ground through the hop-step-jump phases to a pebble skimming the water and at 71kg was also lighter than many other athletes.

He had changed his technique that season, adopting a double arm action – rather than an alternate arm movement – that he said made him “so well balanced” through all of his phases.

But nevertheless he was far from confident, admitting that he bought sunglasses at Gothenburg airport to hide his eyes when he was warming up so his competitors “wouldn’t see the fear” he had.

What his rivals saw was very different.

“In our training sessions, we studied Edwards videos day in, day out,” Jerome Romain, who took the bronze medal in Gothenburg, said. “It was just remarkable the things that he did.”

Silver medallist Brian Wellman believes Edward set the record because “he was the most efficient triple jumper out there”.

Athletics ‘hasn’t kept pace’ with other sports

Edwards believes part of the reason he still holds the triple jump world record is because athletics has not “kept pace with the professionalisation of sport”, which means talented young athletes are choosing other sports instead because they can earn more money.

“It doesn’t offer the same rewards as other sports,” he said.

“If you’re a talented young kid, you wouldn’t necessarily pick track and field. You wouldn’t certainly pick a field event where the rewards are less than on the track.”

When four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson launched Grand Slam Track this season, where athletes compete for a top prize of $100,000 (£75,125) at each meet, the disciplines were limited to track races.

Investment in the sport has also been falling, with UK Sport cutting funding for athletics for the second successive Olympic cycle, announcing last year that UK Athletics would get 8% less for the 2028 Los Angeles Games than it had for Paris 2024.

Participation in track and field has also been falling, according to England Athletics, and youngsters are increasingly dropping out.

Technology may not be helping

Three of the five longest held men’s world records in the most commonly contested events are jumps: the high jump, long jump and triple jump records were all set between 1991 and 1995.

And yet, technology has advanced since then, including in footwear.

But Edwards thinks the carbon fibre plates in today’s running shoes may not actually be helping jumpers in contrast to the running events where records have continued to be broken.

“I wonder whether or not a carbon fibre plate is able to cope with the intensity of that impact and then offer anything on the rebound, because that’s what I think we’re seeing on the track.

“You’re seeing athletes who are actually getting a spring effect, and that’s why you’re seeing some of the times that you’re getting. But the forces are so extreme in triple jump, indeed long jump, even high jump when people take off and I’m not sure that that sort of trampoline effect is able to have the same impact.”

Dr Tom Allen, sports engineering expert at Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Canterbury Visiting Erskine Fellow, agrees that while the shoes offer gains in running economy, the impact of the shoes on jumping events is “likely to be small or negligible”.

Will the record ever be broken?

The closest anyone has come to Edwards’ record was 10 years ago when American Christian Taylor jumped 18.21m.

The world leading distance this year is 17.80m, while last year’s Olympic gold was won with 17.86m.

“He [Edwards] can rest easy for a while,” Romain said. “This is not an easy feat, I’m telling you.”

Edwards says he does not know how he will feel if his record goes.

“It’s been a part of me for so long now,” said Edwards, whose record jump is depicted in a mosaic in Ilfracombe, Devon, where he lived in his teens. “Actually it would be nice if it carried on.

“It would be quite a good funeral [if there was] something down the aisle – 18.29m.”

Related topics

  • Athletics

How Europe is vying for rare earth independence from China

Jonathan Josephs

Business Reporter, BBC Newsjonathanjosephs
Reporting fromLa Rochelle, western France

For almost 80 years rare earth metals have been pumped out of this industrial plant in La Rochelle on France’s west coast.

But as the materials become more and more crucial to the global economy, chemicals firm Solvay is expanding its processing plant next to the glistening Atlantic Ocean to meet surging demand across Europe.

This group of 17 metals are essential to huge amounts of modern technology such as smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines and MRI scanners.

However, around 70% of rare earths mining, and 90% of refining, happens in China, as a result of years of support from the Chinese government.

Europe, like many other parts of the world, is trying to reduce its dependence on importing these key metals from China. The future of Solvay’s plant will be critical to those ambitions.

“This is a market that is growing fast, and, also, there is a greater demand for shorter supply chains,” says Solvay’s CEO Philippe Kehren.

The Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made companies and politicians try to remove some of the vulnerabilities in their supply chains.

“When you have a material that is coming almost 100% from one specific location, if you are dependent on this, you want to diversify your sourcing. This is what we can offer,” explains the boss of the Belgian chemicals giant.

That is why the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act came into force last year. It sets targets for reducing dependence on imports for the extraction, processing and recycling of the most important substances by 2030.

Europe only has two rare earth processing facilities, one in Estonia and this one in western France. It is the only plant outside of China that can process all 17 different rare earths.

The increased investment in the facility comes as it is moving away from focusing on supplying rare earths for catalytic convertors, to instead focus on soaring demand for the magnets that are essential to electric car batteries, advanced electronics and defence systems.

For now the focus is on recycling rare earths that are already in Europe. “We think that we can probably produce 30% of the rare earths needed by Europe just by recycling end of life motors and other equipment,” says Mr Kehren.

As demand continues to grow that will change, and more virgin material will be needed from countries such as Brazil, Canada and Australia.

There are no operational rare earth mines in Europe. Projects in Norway and Sweden are amongst the most advanced, but its likely to be another decade before they are ready.

“I think it’s absolutely necessary to have our own mines, not necessarily a lot of them, because we can have a mix, but it’s important to have our own sourcing,” says Mr Kehren.

It is a complex process to turn those materials into the powders that are the end product of this plant.

It requires approximately 1,500 processes, and given the unique capabilities of this facility, outsiders are rarely allowed in. This is due to concerns about rivals potentially gaining some of the knowledge that is currently otherwise concentrated in China.

However we’ve been granted special access to one of the separation rooms that are a vital part of the closely-guarded know-how built up since this plant started operating in 1948.

“The objective of the liquid separation unit will be to purify cerium on one side, lanthanum on the other side,” explains production manager Florian Gouneau as we walk up a flight of metal stairs.

“It’s basically like if you have a multi fruit juice with orange juice, apple juice, pineapple juice, the objective of the liquid separation unit will be to separate apple juice on one side, orange juice on the other side, and so on.”

The room itself is about the size of a football pitch, and home to row after row of huge metal vats within which chemical reactions force the different rare earths apart.

This 40-hectare site employs more than 300 people. A vast collection of industrial buildings are joined together by an array of metal pipes moving substances through the processes.

Significant amounts of chemicals are stored in cylindrical tanks, and give the facility a distinct smell that is similar to a freshly-cleaned hospital ward.

I ask Mr Gouneau if he’s used to it after working here for three years. “What smell?” he jokingly replies.

The site is also distinctly noisy and warm as vents continually hum. They expel hot air into an atmosphere that is also punctuated by seagulls unaware that they have a unique view of one of the most important frontlines in the global economy.

The French government is supporting this facility with about €20m ($23m; £17.4m) in tax credits.

“Having a dependency on a single source – it is dangerous because you cannot know what will happen to this source for various reasons,” says Benjamin Gallezot, who is President Macron’s adviser on strategic minerals and metals.

“It can be a geopolitical reason, but it can also be, you know, natural disaster or whatever.”

In the blazing sun he won’t be drawn on the impact of China trying to restrict access to its rare earths exports, a subject at the heart of continuing US China trade talks.

But Mr Gallezot does say: “I think economic cooperation is clearly more powerful than just only pure competition.”

The European Parliament wants the European Commission to do more to reduce that dependence on Chinese rare earths. It says Beijing’s controls are “unjustified” and “intended to be coercive“.

On a recent visit to Germany, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said it was his country’s “sovereign right”, as well as being “common practice”, to control exports of goods that have both commercial as well as military uses.

That stance explains why securing access to raw materials has been at the heart of recent EU trade deals, such as the one it signed with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay last year.

Western firms in the rare earths sector say they need more government support if they are going to catch-up with their Chinese rivals.

Rafael Moreno, the CEO of Australia’s Viridis Mining, says this backing, both regulatory and financial, “is the key right now”. His business is developing a vast rare earths mine in Brazil, which hopes to provide as much as 5% of the world’s rare earths.

One reason China has forged ahead of the rest of the world regarding rare earths is that it has been more willing to handle the radioactive pollution that can be caused by the mining and processing.

Solvay also has rare earth operations in China, and Mr Kehren says “there are solutions to do it in a very responsible way without polluting”. He adds: “It costs a bit of money, so you need to be ready to pay a little bit more.”

Pricing is key to the future of the expanded La Rochelle plant, he says. He needs his customers, who supply carmakers and big tech firms, to commit to buying certain volumes of rare earths at certain prices.

The EU has written its targets for lowering imports into law, but he wants to see how they make them happen. “Are there going to be [financial] incentives, for example, for the different players in this value chain to source rare earth elements from Europe?”

Doing so would, he says, be good for the continent’s economy.

‘It’s scary’: Childcare abuse cases panic Australian parents

Lana Lam

BBC News, Sydney

Twice a week, Ben Bradshaw drops his young son off at a Sydney childcare centre before heading off to work.

Like thousands of parents and carers across Australia, the 40-year-old had always been confident that the staff have his child’s best interests at heart.

But in recent months, that trust in the childcare system has been “eroded”, the father-of-two says, after several high-profile cases of alleged sexual and physical abuse at centres across Australia.

“It’s that old adage of cockroaches – if you see one in your house, there’s 10 that you don’t see. These are the ones that get caught. It’s more scary the ones that you can’t see,” he tells the BBC.

In the past few weeks, 2,000 children in Victoria have been urged to undergo infectious disease testing after a childcare worker was charged with the mass sexual abuse of babies; police have named a Sydney man who worked for 60 after-school-care providers and is accused of taking “explicit” images of children under his supervision; a Queensland woman has faced court over allegations she tortured a one-year-old boy; and another two workers in Sydney have been charged after a toddler was left covered in bruises.

It comes as the nation is still reeling from the crimes of childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith – dubbed “one of Australia’s worst paedophiles” – who was late last year sentenced to life in prison for raping and sexually abusing almost 70 girls.

The series of allegations have sparked panic and fear among parents, child safety advocates have demanded action to fix what they call a dangerously incompetent system, and politicians have promised reform to keep Australia’s most vulnerable safe.

“Some childcare centres are still safe, but the current childcare system is definitely not working to protect children or prioritise their safety,” says Hetty Johnston, a leading child protection advocate.

“It fails at every step.”

Rapid growth, greater risks

In recent years, there has been a nationwide push to give more children access to early childhood education and care, which research indicates has many positive long-term impacts.

Millions of dollars have been poured into the sector from federal and state governments, including funding to guarantee three days of childcare for low and middle-income families.

Such measures have prompted rapid growth in the sector, with a rush of new centres opening which has deepened a shortage of qualified staff.

The growth has led to “significant vulnerabilities”, says Prof Leah Bromfield, director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection.

“Whenever you grow something really quickly, that comes with risks,” she says, listing off a lack of regulation and monitoring, limited training for managers, and the disparate and casual nature of the workforce.

“You put all that together and you’ve created a weak system from the perspective of a predatory perpetrator… a system where it’s easier to infiltrate.”

In the wake of the Melbourne child sexual abuse case where Joshua Dale Brown was charged with 70 counts of abuse against eight babies, the federal government gave itself greater powers to strip funding from providers that breach quality and safety standards.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the measure was not designed to “shut down centres” but rather increase pressure for them to “raise standards”.

But Mr Bradshaw wants more. He says taking away funding from a centre “doesn’t stop the crime, it just punishes it”.

“You have to do things that are proactive in nature.”

Creating safe spaces

The spate of alleged crimes have sparked a heated national conversation about how to better protect kids. Limiting the role of men in childcare is one of the most controversial suggestions.

There was a public call to ban men from certain tasks such as changing nappies and taking children to the toilet – though some warned this could place extra pressure on female staff.

“It’s not about banning male educators, but about providing families with agency and informed choice,” says Louise Edmonds, an advocate for child abuse survivors.

Brown’s case prompted G8 Education – who owned the centre where he worked – to introduce so-called “intimate care waivers”, giving parents and carers the opportunity to choose who carried out private and sensitive duties. It also pledged to install CCTV at all of its centres.

Ms Johnston – who founded child protection group Bravehearts – says these are natural responses, but cautioned that, though “men are definitely a higher risk”, women do abuse children too and offenders can do so in all kinds of settings.

“They are opportunistic… when others don’t pay attention, when they are distracted, complacent, disinterested or too trusting, they create ‘opportunities’ for offenders.”

Other practical measures centres could adopt to improve child safety include having two educators with direct line of sight of children at all times and getting rid of blind spots in centres – replacing solid doors with glass panes, eliminating windowless walls, and putting more mirrors up to create “incidental supervision”.

“It’s all about reducing opportunities for predators to isolate or conceal in nooks and crannies,” Ms Johnston says.

Hiding in plain sight

But massive system reform is also long overdue, experts say.

In 2017, more than 400 recommendations emerged from a years-long royal commission into child sex abuse in institutional settings – like churches, schools and childcare – but critics say progress has stalled on some of the most significant changes.

One of those outstanding recommendations, to be discussed by the country’s attorneys-general at a meeting this month, is to overhaul Australia’s checks on those who work with children.

Currently, each state and territory complete what is essentially a police check required for those who work alongside children, but they don’t share the information with each other. Advocates have called for a nationalised system, but some say the checks themselves don’t go far enough.

“It’s inconsistent, relies too heavily on prior convictions,” Ms Edmonds says.

For instance, many say, the system should capture red flags such as formal complaints, workplace warnings, police intelligence, and people identified as alleged abusers in confidential applications to the national redress scheme set up after the royal commission.

Casting a broader net is important, experts argue, as child abuse allegations can be difficult to stand up in court. Often the witnesses are young children, who are either non-verbal or have limited vocabulary, may struggle with memory, and often have a lack of situational understanding.

“Catching someone red-handed and being able to prove it beyond reasonable doubt is almost impossible,” Ms Johnston says.

That’s why Prof Bromfield is among those calling for a national registration scheme for the childcare sector – like those that exist for doctors or teachers. It would require workers to prove their qualifications, could provide a detailed work history, and would bind them all by a code of conduct.

Advocates argue the system could also capture many of the things the working- with-children checks currently do not.

“Often in child sexual abuse cases, when you look back, you see lots and lots of red flags,” Prof Bromfield says.

“There might be a pattern, but [at the moment] we just don’t see that because they are moving between states or between sectors or between providers.”

Mr Bradshaw says having access to more information about staff would help parents like him make informed decisions.

Childcare is a necessity for his family, he explains, as he works full-time and his wife, a high school teacher, works four days a week.

But often, there’s little detail about the childcare centre’s staff “beyond the pictures on the wall” of the teachers and educators, so parents often have to assess a provider “based on vibes”.

“It’s a bit of a blackbox and you’re bound because you need to have your kids in childcare so you can pay for living in a big city.”

That’s where greater education for parents is needed too, Prof Bromfield says, so they know what questions to ask and, in the worst-case scenarios, how to spot signs of grooming themselves.

Tips include enquiring about a provider’s child safety policies, asking about its staff turnover, and assessing the physical spaces for any visibility issues.

There also needs to be better, more regular training for managers in the sector on how to prevent and identify problematic behaviour or patterns, experts say.

For Prof Bromfield – who was part of the team which conducted the royal commission into child sex abuse – these are conversations she has been having for over a decade.

But she is hopeful the current crisis will shock Australia into taking greater action.

“Perhaps one of the things that will happen is there will be greater political will to prioritise safety for children,” Prof Bromfield says.

“The big lesson is that we can never rest on our laurels when it comes to children’s safety.

“Perpetrators just keep getting smarter, working around the systems we’ve got. We can’t forget the lessons of the past… and we can’t assume that this is a problem that’s gone away.”

Famous croc wrangler urged friends to ‘torch’ evidence, trial hears

Lana Lam

BBC News, Sydney

Famed Australian crocodile wrangler Matt Wright urged friends to “torch” evidence and tried to pressure a hospitalised witness after a fatal helicopter crash, prosecutors have told his trial.

The former Netflix star is accused of three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice over the crocodile-egg-harvesting disaster in 2022.

Mr Wright’s friend and Outback Wrangler co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson, who was suspended from the aircraft in a sling, died when it hit the ground. Pilot Sebastian Robinson also was seriously injured.

Mr Wright has pleaded not guilty, and his defence team deny he tampered with any evidence.

In their opening address to the Northern Territory (NT) Supreme Court, the prosecution said it was not alleging that Mr Wright was responsible for the crash, but accused him of interfering with the investigation.

He was not on board but was among the first on the scene in Arnhem Land, about 500km (310 miles) east of Darwin.

The court was told he had a “play around” with the dashboard of the damaged helicopter and falsely reported its fuel tank level.

Prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC also claimed Mr Wright was involved in “systemic under-recording” of flight hours and, worried he might be blamed for the crash, tried to destroy or alter the logs for the helicopter involved.

The jury was on Thursday shown transcripts of secret recordings made inside Mr Wright’s home, including a “critical passage” in which prosecutors claimed he was discussing requests from aviation authorities looking into the incident.

“Just torch it. I don’t know where it is but I’m thinking it’s either there – I’ve got to send it to CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) or the ATSB (Australian Transport Safety Bureau),” Mr Wright said, according to the transcript provided by prosecutors.

Mr Gullaci also told the court that Mr Wright had visited Mr Robinson at a Brisbane hospital to put “the hard word” on the injured pilot. He alleged Mr Wright asked Mr Robinson to transfer flight hours from the crashed aircraft to another helicopter.

During the defence’s opening statement, lawyer David Edwardson SC said that under-recording flight hours was standard practice for many pilots in the NT – but Mr Wright “emphatically denies” he broke the law trying to cover this up.

Both parties agree that authorities were ultimately provided the correct, original flight records, he said, and recordings captured inside Mr Wright’s home and relied upon for two of the key allegations were “extremely poor”.

He added that the defence would dispute the evidence of conversations between Mr Wright and Mr Robinson, saying the pilot’s credibility – as well as his extended family’s – was “seriously in issue”.

Mr Wright is best known globally as the star of National Geographic’s Outback Wrangler and Netflix’s Wild Croc Territory reality shows. The 43-year-old also owns several local tourism businesses and has been a tourism ambassador for Australia.

His trial is expected to run for up to five weeks.

People returned to live in Pompeii’s ruins, archaeologists say

Ben Hatton

BBC News

New evidence suggests people returned to live among the ruins of Pompeii after the ancient Roman city was devastated by a volcanic eruption.

Archaeologists believe some survivors who could not afford to start a new life elsewhere returned to the site and may have been joined by others looking for a place to settle.

Pompeii was home to more than 20,000 people before Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, burying – and preserving – much of the city, before its rediscovery in the 16th century.

There had been previous speculation that survivors had returned to the ruins, and archaeologists at the site said in a statement on Wednesday that the theory appears to have been confirmed by new research.

“Thanks to the new excavations, the picture is now clearer: post-79 Pompeii reemerges, less as a city than as a precarious and grey agglomeration, a kind of camp, a favela among the still-recognisable ruins of the Pompeii that once was,” the site’s director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said.

The archaeologists said the informal settlement continued until the 5th century.

The evidence suggests people lived without the infrastructure and services typical of a Roman city, and that the ruins provided the opportunity of finding valuable objects, the researchers said.

People are thought to have lived in the upper floors of homes above the ash below, with the lower floors converted into cellars.

The city’s destruction has “monopolised the memory”, Mr Zuchtriegel said, and in the rush to reach Pompeii’s well-preserved artefacts, “The faint traces of the site’s reoccupation were literally removed and often swept away without any documentation”.

The site is now a world-famous tourist attraction and offers a window into Roman life.

From heatwaves to floods: Extreme weather sweeps across Asia

Koh Ewe

BBC News, Singapore
Helen Willetts

Lead Weather Presenter

While torrential rains lash China, Pakistan and parts of India, sweltering heat has enveloped Japan and South Korea as extreme weather claims hundreds of lives in the region.

Climate change has made weather extremities more intense, frequent and unpredictable, scientists say.

This pattern is especially pronounced in Asia, which according to the World Meteorological Organization is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average.

The region has lost $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) to extreme weather – from floods to heatwaves and droughts – over the past three decades, according to the annual Climate Risk Index survey.

Record heat

Japan marked its hottest day on record on Tuesday, with 41.8C (107F) registered in Isesaki city, Gunma prefecture.

The country had also experienced its hottest-ever June and July this year.

Fifty-six people are believed to have died from heatstroke between mid-June and the end of July, Tokyo’s medical examiner’s office said earlier this week.

Authorities have suspended some train services over concerns that the heat could warp or deform the rails.

“I’m really concerned about global warming, but when it comes to my daily life, I can’t live without turning on the air conditioner,” an office worker in Japan told AFP news.

“I don’t really know what I should be doing, I’m just desperately getting through each day.”

This intense heat is expected to ease a little in the coming days, with some parts of Japan expected to see as much as 200mm of rain in the coming days.

This rain and briefly cooler air will allow some relief from the swelter.

South Korea marked a record streak of 22 “tropical nights” in July where temperatures exceeded 25C.

Last month, the country’s emergency services also reported a surge in calls about heat-related illnesses.

Government agencies and workplaces have relaxed their dress codes to help employees work more comfortably and reduce dependence on air conditioning amid the heat.

Parts of Vietnam are also baking in unprecedented heat, with Hanoi recording its first-ever August day above 40C. The capital city has turned into “a pan on fire” in the last few days, Nam, a construction worker, told AFP.

Watch: Afghanistan taxi drivers use handmade coolers to beat the heat

Storm season

It’s a different picture in China, where floods across the country, from Shanghai to Beijing, have killed many in recent weeks.

Southern China has been battered by heavy rain, and on Wednesday emergency workers raced to clear debris as the region braced for more landslides and floods.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. The flooded streets are threatening to worsen an outbreak of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus in the province.

Such rains are frequent in southern China at this time of the year, but have been enhanced further by tropical storm activity – more especially in the last month.

Just last week, there were three active storms in the west Pacific, whilst prior to June, tropical storm activity was almost non-existent.

Mountainous districts of the capital Beijng late last month were hit by deadly floods late last month which killed dozens including 31 residents in an eldercare home.

Moment flash flood engulfs riverside village in India

Heavy rains are especially deadly in mountainous areas prone to landslides and densely populated areas, where flash floods often catch residents off-guard.

More than 100 people are missing in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand after a cloudburst – an extreme, sudden downpour of rain over a small area – triggered flash floods.

In Pakistan, nearly 300 people, including more than 100 children, have died in rain-related incidents since June. The deluge has also destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings – at least a quarter of schools in the Punjab province have been partially or completely damaged, according to British aid agency Save the Children.

Tuesday also brought more than 350mm of rain to Hong Kong, which reports say makes it the city’s wettest August day since 1884.

For context, Hong Kong gets about 2400mm a year, most of which falls in summer between June and August.

US soldier arrested for allegedly leaking tank secrets to Russia

Ali Abbas Ahmadi

BBC News

An American soldier has been arrested on charges of attempting to share secret information about the US Army’s Abrams tank with Russia, prosecutors said.

The justice department accused Taylor Adam Lee, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas, of passing an SD card with sensitive information to a Russian official.

Mr Lee – who held a top secret security clearance – has been charged under the Espionage Act. Prosecutors allege he sought to exchange the classified information in return for Russian citizenship.

“This arrest is an alarming reminder of the serious threat facing our U.S. Army,” Brigadier General Sean F Stinchon of Army Counterintelligence Command said in a statement.

Mr Lee, 22, who was taken into custody on Wednesday morning, appeared in a federal court the same day. In addition to espionage charges, he is also facing charges under the US Arms Export Control Act.

Prosecutors allege Mr Lee met a representative of the Russian government in July, and sought to share US defence information.

Mr Lee allegedly stated, “the USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses”. “At this point I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian federation when I’m there in any way.”

He allegedly discussed obtaining and providing Moscow with a specific piece of hardware used inside the Abrams tank, and then on 31 July allegedly delivered the hardware to a storage unit in El Paso, Texas.

The justice department stated that he then sent a text message saying “Mission accomplished” to the Russian representative.

It is unclear if he is being represented by an attorney, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

Zambia dismisses US health warning after toxic spill in copper mining area

Kennedy Gondwe

BBC News in Lusaka

The Zambian government has dismissed claims of dangerous pollution in the Copperbelt mining region, following safety concerns raised by the US embassy.

On Wednesday, the US embassy issued a health alert, ordering the immediate withdrawal of its personnel in Kitwe town and nearby areas due to concerns of “widespread contamination of water and soil” linked to a February spill at the Sino-Metals mine.

The spill happened when a tailings dam, used to store toxic waste and heavy metals, collapsed into the Kafue River, a key drinking water source, following heavy rain.

The US embassy said there was new information that showed “the extent of hazardous and carcinogenic substances”.

It warned that beyond the “contaminated water and soil, contaminants from the spilled mine tailings may also become airborne, posing a health threat if inhaled”.

Zambia’s government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa hit back, saying the “laboratory results show that PH levels have returned to normal” in the area and the water was safe to drink.

Mweetwa said there were no longer any serious implications for public health, water safety, agriculture or the environment.

“There is, therefore, absolutely no need to press the ‘panic button’ today to alarm the nation and the international community.”

Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine is a subsidiary of China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group, which is owned by the Chinese government.

The BBC has asked Sino-Metals for comment.

At the time of the spill, Sino-Metals pledged to compensate the affected communities and restore the environment.

The spill affected aquatic life as well as farmers who use the water to irrigate their crops.

Green Economy Minister Mike Mposha said the government had been proactive since February and was continuing to update the public, while affected communities have been compensated.

Minister of Water Development Collins Nzovu said the government has been constantly testing the water, and that it met World Health Organization standards.

Opposition Green Party leader Peter Sinkamba said the US embassy’s health alert was part of geopolitics.

He wondered why it had taken the embassy since February to issue the alert, while accusing it of keeping quiet on the lead poisoning in central Zambia that partly traces its roots to Western mining giants.

Centre for Environment Justice executive director Maggie Mapalo Mwape told the BBC the pollution was a national disaster that demands immediate and concrete action to mitigate its effects and prevent future occurrences.

She called for decisive action to address this environmental crisis and protect the rights and wellbeing of Zambian citizens.

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Payout for mother wrongfully jailed over babies’ deaths ‘inadequate’ – lawyer

Tiffanie Turnbull

BBC News, Sydney

Once branded “Australia’s worst mother” but now considered the victim of one of its greatest miscarriages of justice, Kathleen Folbigg has been offered A$2m (£975,580, $1.3m) in compensation for 20 years of wrongful imprisonment.

Ms Folbigg was convicted over the deaths of her four babies in 2003, but freed in 2023 after a judicial review of her case found they may have died of a genetic condition.

Legal experts had estimated that the 58-year-old could expect one of the highest compensation payouts in Australian history, likely upwards of $10m.

However, on Thursday Ms Folbigg’s lawyer said the she had been offered $2m by the government, which they called “profoundly unfair and unjust”.

“The sum offered is a moral affront – woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible,” Rhanee Rego said in a statement.

“The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again.”

In a statement, New South Wales Attorney General Michael Daley said the decision was based on “thorough and extensive” consideration of Ms Folbigg’s application for compensation.

“At Ms Folbigg’s request, the Attorney General and government have agreed to not publicly discuss the details of the decision.”

Ms Folbigg’s four infant children – Caleb, Patrick, Sarah, and Laura – each died suddenly between 1989 and 1999, aged between 19 days and 18 months.

Prosecutors at her trial alleged she had smothered them, relying on circumstantial evidence – including Ms Folbigg’s diaries – to paint her as an unstable mother, prone to rage.

In 2003, she was sentenced to 40 years in jail for the murders of Sarah, Patrick and Laura, and the manslaughter of Caleb, later downgraded to 30 years on appeal.

Ms Folbigg has always maintained her innocence, and in 2023 a landmark inquiry into her case found her children could have died of natural causes because of incredibly rare gene mutations.

Ms Rego said the payment offered to Ms Folbigg did not fairly take into account the suffering she had endured.

“When Lindy Chamberlain was exonerated in 1994, she received $1.7 million for three years in prison,” she said, referencing another mother falsely convicted of murder after her infant daughter was taken from an outback campsite by a dingo.

“Kathleen Folbigg spent two decades in prison, yet for her wrongful imprisonment she has been offered $2 million.”

After her release, forensic criminologist Xanthe Mallett told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she “wouldn’t be surprised” if compensation awarded was upwards of A$10m.

Meanwhile, Professor Gary Edmond, from the University of NSW, told the Guardian Australia that Ms Folbigg’s compensation payout “would have to be” the largest in the country’s history.

Other local media reported that she could receive damages of up to A$20m.

Tears and outrage in South Africa as accused in pig farm murder walks free

Nomsa Maseko

BBC News in Polokwane

South Africa’s state prosecutor has officially withdrawn charges against one of the farm workers accused of killing two black woman and feeding their bodies to pigs.

Adrian de Wet was one of three men facing murder charges after Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were killed while allegedly looking for food on a pig farm near Polokwane in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province last year.

Their bodies were then alleged to have been given to the animals in an apparent attempt to dispose of the evidence.

Mr De Wet, 20, turned state witness when the trial started on Monday and says farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier shot and killed the two women.

Mr De Wet, a supervisor on the farm, will testify that he was under duress when he was forced to throw their bodies into the pig enclosure, according to both the prosecution and his lawyer.

William Musora, 50, another farm worker, is the third accused. He and Mr Olivier, 60, are yet to enter a plea and remain behind bars.

Mr De Wet’s lawyers say he has truthfully disclosed what transpired on the night Ms Makgato and Ms Ndlovu were killed in August 2024.

Shortly after court adjourned on Wednesday, he walked out of the court as a free man and was whisked away by his lawyers, while Ms Makgato’s brother Walter Makgato sobbed outside the court building.

He told the BBC that the release of one of the men allegedly involved in the killing of his sister means justice will not be served.

Mr De Wet will be taken into protective custody until the end of the trial.

The case has caused widespread outrage across South Africa which has exacerbated racial tension between black and white people in the country.

This is especially rife in rural areas of the country, despite the end of the racist system of apartheid 30 years ago.

Most private farmland remains in the hands of the white minority, while most farm workers are black and poorly paid, fuelling resentment among the black population, while many white farmers complain of high crime rates.

The trial is set to resume on 6 October.

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Ex-Superman actor says he’s becoming ICE agent

Alys Davies

BBC News

Ex-Superman actor Dean Cain has announced he is planning to join the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE.

In an interview on Wednesday, Cain, who is already a sworn law enforcement officer, said, “I will be sworn in as an ICE agent asap”.

It comes after he released a video encouraging members of the public to join following a recruitment drive by the agency, which is behind the Trump administration’s ramped-up deportation scheme.

Cain played the role of Superman between 1993 and 1997 in the TV series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

He has gone on to star in a number of other films and TV shows, and has also directed.

In late July, ICE announced it was aiming to recruit an additional 10,000 new personnel, doubling the agency’s headcount as it ramps up deportations across the country.

It is specifically hoping to recruit deportation officers, along with attorneys, criminal investigators, student visa adjudicators and other roles.

Speaking on Fox News on Wednesday, Cain said: “I put out a recruitment video yesterday – I’m actually a sworn deputy sheriff and a reserve police officer – I wasn’t part of ICE, but once I put that out there and you put a little blurb on your show, it went crazy”.

“So now I’ve spoken with some officials over at ICE, and I will be sworn in as an ICE agent asap.”

“People have to step up. I’m stepping up. Hopefully a whole bunch of other former officers, former ICE agents will step up, and we’ll meet those recruitment goals immediately and we’ll help protect this country,” Cain added.

BBC News has contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to ramp up the pace of deportations from the US to one million per year.

Part of that effort has included increased immigration raids since Trump became president.

They have sparked protests in cities across the US, with critics calling the raids unlawful.

On 29 July, ICE announced it was offering recruitment bonuses of up to $50,000 (£37,700) and student loan help to Americans interested in helping with the Trump administration’s deportation drive.

As part of the recruitment drive, the DHS unveiled recruitment posters akin to those used during World War Two, with the words “America Needs You” and “Defend the Homeland” with images of Uncle Sam, US President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials.

By Wednesday the agency said it had received more than 80,000 applicants for the 10,000 positions. Speaking on Fox News, Noem said they had removed age limits for how old applicants could be.

Watch: The BBC’s Carl Nasman explains how immigration raids sparked protests and unrest

ICE currently has 20,000 officers and support personnel, spread across the country at 400 offices.

The recruitment drive comes just weeks after Trump signed his sweeping spending bill into law.

The bill included more than $76bn allocated to ICE – almost 10 times what it had been receiving previously – and making it the highest funded federal law enforcement agency.

Nearly a million more deaths than births in Japan last year

Rachel Hagan

BBC News

Almost a million more deaths than births were recorded in Japan last year, representing the steepest annual population decline since government surveys began in 1968.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described the demographic crisis of Japan’s ageing population as a “quiet emergency”, pledging family-friendly policies such as free childcare and more flexible work hours.

But efforts to reverse the perennially low birth rates among Japanese women have so far made little impact.

New data released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed the number of Japanese nationals fell by 908,574 in 2024.

Japan recorded 686,061 births – the lowest number since records began in 1899 – while nearly 1.6 million people died, meaning for every baby born, more than two people died.

It marks the 16th consecutive year of population decline with the squeeze being felt by the nation’s pension and healthcare systems.

The number of foreign residents reached a record high of 3.6 million people as of 1 January 2025, however, representing nearly 3% of Japan’s population.

The government has tentatively embraced foreign labour by launching a digital nomad visa and upskilling initiatives, but immigration remains politically fraught in the largely conservative country.

The overall population of the country declined by 0.44 percent from 2023 to about 124.3 million at the start of the year.

Elderly people aged 65 and over now make up nearly 30% of the population – the second-highest proportion in the world after Monaco, according to the World Bank. The working-age population, defined as those between 15 and 64, has dropped to about 60%.

A growing number of towns and villages are hollowing out, with nearly four million homes abandoned over the past two decades, government data released last year showed.

The government has spent years trying to increase birth rates with incentives ranging from housing subsidies to paid parental leave. But deep-rooted cultural and economic barriers remain.

High living costs, stagnant wages and a rigid work culture deter many young people from starting families. Women, in particular, face entrenched gender roles that often leave them with limited support as primary caregivers.

Japan’s fertility rate – the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime – has been low since the 1970s, so experts warn even dramatic improvements now would take decades to bear fruit.

India has 20 days to avoid 50% Trump tariffs – what are its options?

Nikhil Inamdar

BBC News, Mumbai

India has unexpectedly become a key target in Washington’s latest push to pressure Russia over the Ukraine war.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump doubled US tariffs on India to 50%, up from 25%, penalising Delhi for purchasing Russian oil – a move India called “unfair” and “unjustified”. The tariffs aim to cut Russia’s oil revenues and force Putin into a ceasefire. The new rate will come into effect in 21 days, so on 27 August.

This makes India the most heavily taxed US trading partner in Asia and places it alongside Brazil, another nation facing steep US tariffs amid tense relations.

India insists its imports are driven by market factors and vital to its energy security, but the tariffs threaten to hit Indian exports and growth hard.

Almost all of India’s $86.5bn [£64.7bn] in annual goods exports to the US stand to become commercially unviable if these rates sustain.

Most Indian exporters have said they can barely absorb a 10-15% rise, so a combined 50% tariff is far beyond their capacity.

If effective, the tariff would be similar to “a trade embargo, and will lead to a sudden stop in affected export products,” Japanese brokerage firm Nomura said in a note.

The US is India’s top export market, making up 18% of exports and 2.2% of GDP. A 25% tariff could cut GDP by 0.2–0.4%, risking growth slipping below 6% this year.

India’s electronics and pharma exports remain exempt from additional tariffs for now, but the impact would be felt in India domestically “with labour-intensive exports like textiles and gems and jewelry taking the fall”, Priyanka Kishore of Asia Decoded, a Singapore-based consultancy told the BBC.

Rakesh Mehra of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry called the tariffs a “huge setback” for India’s textile exporters, saying they will sharply weaken competitiveness in the US market.

With tensions now escalating, experts have called Trump’s decision a high-stakes gamble.

India is not the only buyer of Russian oil – there are China and Turkey as well – yet Washington has chosen to target a country widely regarded as a key partner.

So what changed and what could be the fallout?

India’s former central bank governor Urjit Patel said that India’s “worst fears” have materialised with the recent announcement.

“One hopes that this is short term, and that talks around a trade deal slated to make progress this month will go ahead. Otherwise, a needless trade war, whose contours are difficult to gauge at this early juncture, will likely ensue,” Mr Patel wrote in a LinkedIn post.

The damaging impact of the tariffs is why few expect them to last. With new rates starting 27 August, the next 20 days are critical – India’s moves in this bargaining window will be closely watched by anxious markets.

The key question is whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will quietly abandon trading ties with Russia to avoid the “Russia penalty” or stand firm against the US.

“India’s efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian military hardware and diversify its oil imports predate pressure from the Trump administration, so Delhi may be able to offer some conciliatory gestures in line with its existing foreign policy behaviour,” according to Dr Chietigj Bajpaee of Chatham House.

He says the relationship is in a “managed decline”, losing Cold War-era strategic importance, but Russia will remain a key partner for India for the foreseeable future.

However, some experts believe Trump’s recent actions give India an opportunity to rethink its strategic ties.

If anything the US’s actions could “push India to reconsider its strategic alignment, deepening ties with Russia, China, and many other countries”, says Ajay Srivastava of the the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a Delhi-based think tank.

Modi will visit China for the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit – his first since the deadly 2020 Galwan border clashes. Some suggest a revival of India-Russia-China trilateral talks may be on the table.

The immediate focus is on August trade talks, as a US team visits India. Negotiations stalled earlier over agriculture and dairy – sectors where the US demands greater access, but India holds firm.

Will there be concessions in areas like dairy and farming that India has been staunchly protecting or could the political cost be too high?

The other big question: What’s next for India’s rising appeal as a China-plus-one destination for nations and firms looking to diversify their supply chains and investments?

Trump’s tariffs risk slowing momentum as countries like Vietnam offer lower tariffs. Experts say the impact on investor sentiment may be limited. India is still courting firms like Apple, which makes a big chunk of its phones locally, and has been largely shielded since semiconductors aren’t taxed under the new tariffs.

Experts will also be watching what India does to support its exporters.

“India’s government so far has not favoured direct subsidies to exporters, but its current proposed programmes of favourable trade financing and export promotion may not be enough to tackle the impact of such a wide tariff differential,” according to Nomura.

With stakes high, trade experts say only top-level diplomacy can revive a trade deal that seemed within reach just weeks ago.

For now the Indian government has put up a strong front, saying it will take “all actions necessary to protect its national interests”.

The opposition has upped the ante with senior Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi calling Trump’s 50% tariffs “economic blackmail” and “an attempt to bully India into an unfair trade deal”.

Is Modi’s touted “mega partnership” with the US now his biggest foreign policy test? And will India hit back?

Retaliation by India is unlikely but not impossible, says Barclays Research, because there is precedent.

“In 2019, India announced tariffs on 28 US products, including US apples and almonds, in response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminium. Some of these tariffs were eventually reversed in 2023, following the resolution of WTO disputes,” Barclays Research said in a note.

Body of man missing for 28 years found in melting glacier

Joel Guinto and Muhammad Zubair Khan

in Singapore and Pakistan

The body of a man missing for 28 years has been found in a melting glacier in Pakistan’s remote and mountainous Kohistan region.

A shepherd stumbled upon the body, which was remarkably well-preserved, with its clothing intact, in the so-called Lady Valley in the country’s east.

Along with the body was an ID card with the name Naseeruddin. Police were able to trace it to a man who disappeared in the area in June 1997 after falling into a glacier crack.

The region has seen decreased snowfall in recent years, exposing glaciers to direct sunlight, making them melt faster. Experts said the body’s discovery shows how changing climate has accelerated glacial melt.

“What I saw was unbelievable,” the shepherd who found the body, Omar Khan, told BBC Urdu. “The body was intact. The clothes were not even torn.”

As soon as police confirmed that it was Naseeruddin, locals began offering more information, Mr Khan added.

Naseeruddin had a wife and two children. He was travelling with his brother, Kathiruddin, on horseback on the day he went missing. Police said a family feud had forced the two men to leave their home.

Kathiruddin told BBC Urdu that they had arrived in the valley that morning, and sometime around afternoon, his brother stepped into a cave. When he did not return, Kathiruddin says he looked for him inside the cave – and went and got help from others in the area to search further. But they never found him.

When a human body falls into a glacier, the extreme cold freezes it fast, preventing decomposition, said Prof Muhammad Bilal, head of the Department of Environment at Comsats University Islamabad.

The body is then mummified due to a lack of moisture and oxygen in the glacier.

Boy, 16, sentenced for ‘heinous’ rapes of teen girls

Harriet Robinson & Chloe Harcombe & Ben Marvell

BBC News, West of England

A 16-year-old boy who described himself in a TikTok video as a “serial rapist” has been sentenced after raping three teenage girls and sexually assaulting a fourth.

In what police described as “heinous” crimes, the boy used social media to contact the girls – who were between 13 and 15 – and convinced them to meet him, before sexually assaulting them.

He was sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court on Friday to eight years to be spent firstly at a secure training centre and then at a young offender’s institution. He cannot be named for legal reasons.

Det Con Dan England said the case highlighted “the troubling issue of toxic sexual behaviours in some young men”.

The teenager – from south Wiltshire – was found guilty following a Southampton Youth Court trial in January.

Police said the crimes took place on four separate occasions between May 2023 and December 2024.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Con England said: “[Toxic sexual behaviours], which can stem from a variety of societal influences, must be addressed through education and open dialogue, in the home, at school, workplaces and throughout our entire community.”

The teenager will spend a further six years on licence after his release.

He will be placed on the sex offenders register for life and will be the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Det Con England continued: “My thoughts are firmly with the victims, who have shown remarkable courage and resilience throughout this ordeal.

“It is their bravery in coming forward that has brought this perpetrator to justice. I applaud their strength in the face of such unimaginable trauma and thank them for putting their trust in us.”

The teenager was also given an indefinite restraining order against the victims.

Tears and outrage in South Africa as accused in pig farm murder walks free

Nomsa Maseko

BBC News in Polokwane

South Africa’s state prosecutor has officially withdrawn charges against one of the farm workers accused of killing two black woman and feeding their bodies to pigs.

Adrian de Wet was one of three men facing murder charges after Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were killed while allegedly looking for food on a pig farm near Polokwane in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province last year.

Their bodies were then alleged to have been given to the animals in an apparent attempt to dispose of the evidence.

Mr De Wet, 20, turned state witness when the trial started on Monday and says farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier shot and killed the two women.

Mr De Wet, a supervisor on the farm, will testify that he was under duress when he was forced to throw their bodies into the pig enclosure, according to both the prosecution and his lawyer.

William Musora, 50, another farm worker, is the third accused. He and Mr Olivier, 60, are yet to enter a plea and remain behind bars.

Mr De Wet’s lawyers say he has truthfully disclosed what transpired on the night Ms Makgato and Ms Ndlovu were killed in August 2024.

Shortly after court adjourned on Wednesday, he walked out of the court as a free man and was whisked away by his lawyers, while Ms Makgato’s brother Walter Makgato sobbed outside the court building.

He told the BBC that the release of one of the men allegedly involved in the killing of his sister means justice will not be served.

Mr De Wet will be taken into protective custody until the end of the trial.

The case has caused widespread outrage across South Africa which has exacerbated racial tension between black and white people in the country.

This is especially rife in rural areas of the country, despite the end of the racist system of apartheid 30 years ago.

Most private farmland remains in the hands of the white minority, while most farm workers are black and poorly paid, fuelling resentment among the black population, while many white farmers complain of high crime rates.

The trial is set to resume on 6 October.

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Why Trump-Putin talks unlikely to bring rapid end to Ukraine war

Laura Gozzi

BBC News
Vitaliy Shevchenko

BBC Monitoring Russia editor

The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, shows no sign of abating.

In the east of Ukraine, Russia presses on in a grinding and bloody advance. Deadly aerial strikes are a nightly occurrence across the country, while Russia’s refineries and energy facilities come under regular attack from Kyiv’s drones.

It is against this backdrop that the Kremlin confirmed a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was being planned and due to take place soon. “I’m here to get [the war] over with,” the US leader said on Wednesday.

Three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine held at his behest between May and July have failed to bring the two sides any closer to peace, and Trump may hope that taking the situation into his own hands could finally result in a ceasefire.

But the gulf between Kyiv and Moscow is so large that even Trump-mediated talks could make it difficult to bridge.

In a memorandum presented to the Ukrainians by Russia in June, Moscow outlined its maximalist demands for a “final settlement” of the conflict. They include the recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as well as Ukraine agreeing to demilitarisation, neutrality, no foreign military involvement and new elections.

“The Russian side can frame this in a dozen different ways, creating the impression that Moscow is open to concessions and serious negotiation,” wrote Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya. “But the core position remains unchanged: Russia wants Kyiv to surrender.”

  • Why did Putin’s Russia invade Ukraine?

Following a meeting between Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Washington had a better understanding of the conditions under which Russia would be prepared to end the war.

We don’t know if those conditions have changed. However, only last week Putin – likely referencing the memorandum – said Russia had made its goals known in June, and that those goals had stayed the same.

Therefore, despite the Kremlin agreeing to a Trump-Putin meeting, there is no reason to believe Moscow is ready to budge on its tough preconditions.

So why would Putin be agreeing to talks at this stage?

One possibility is that it hopes engaging in dialogue could fend off the secondary sanctions Trump has threatened to impose on Moscow’s trading partners as soon as Friday. The Kremlin may also feel it could convince Trump of the merits of its conditions to end the war.

At the start of his second term in office, Trump appeared to be more aligned with Russia than Ukraine, labelling Zelensky a “dictator” and suggesting he was to blame for the war with Russia.

Although he has since signalled his impatience with Putin – “he’s just tapping me along”, he said in April – Trump has also refused to say whether he felt the Russian leader had been lying to him over his readiness to move towards a ceasefire.

Whether because of personal affinity or an aligned worldview, Trump has been reluctant to ever fully condemn Putin for his actions.

When the two met in Helsinki in 2018 – during Trump’s first term as president – many were left stunned to see Trump side with the Kremlin over accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and take responsibility for the tense state of US-Russia relations.

It is perhaps partly to fend off the possibility of Trump being swayed by Putin that Kyiv wants to be involved in any ceasefire talks.

Through his envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump has also suggested holding a trilateral with Putin and Zelensky. But the Russian president has batted off these suggestions, saying the conditions for a meeting are still far off.

Now some in Ukraine are concerned a Trump-Putin meeting may result in the US president giving in to Putin’s demands.

Ukrainian MP Iryna Herashchenko said it was becoming evident that demands for territorial concessions by Ukraine would be made and added being absent from the negotiating table would be “very dangerous” for Kyiv.

“Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same bold approach from the Russian side,” Zelensky said on Thursday.

But the gulf between Russia and Ukraine remains.

And should the Kremlin eventually agree to a trilateral meeting, Moscow’s demands for a ceasefire have proven so intractable that it is unclear what bringing Zelensky and Putin face-to-face might achieve.

OpenAI claims GPT-5 model boosts ChatGPT to ‘PhD level’

Lily Jamali

North America Technology correspondent
Liv McMahon

Technology reporter

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has unveiled the long-awaited latest version of its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, GPT-5, saying it can provide PhD-level expertise.

Billed as “smarter, faster, and more useful,” OpenAI co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman lauded the company’s new model as ushering in a new era of ChatGPT.

“I think having something like GPT-5 would be pretty much unimaginable at any previous time in human history,” he said ahead of Thursday’s launch.

GPT-5’s release and claims of its “PhD-level” abilities in areas such as coding and writing come as tech firms continue to compete to have the most advanced AI chatbot.

Elon Musk recently made similar claims of his own AI chatbot, Grok, which has been plugged into X (formerly Twitter).

During the launch of Grok’s latest iteration last month, Musk said it was “better than PhD level in everything” and called it the world’s “smartest AI”.

Meanwhile, Altman said OpenAI’s new model would suffer from fewer hallucinations – the phenomenon whereby large language models make up answers- and be less deceptive.

OpenAI is also pitching GPT-5 to coders as a proficient assistant, following a trend among major American AI developers, including Anthropic whose Claude Code targets the same market.

What can GPT-5 do?

OpenAI has highlighted GPT-5’s ability to create software in its entirety and demonstrate better reasoning capabilities – with answers that show workings, logic and inference.

The company claims it has been trained to be more honest, provide users with more accurate responses and says that, overall, it feels more human.

According to Altman, the model is “significantly better” than its predecessors.

“GPT-3 sort of felt to me like talking to a high school student… 4 felt like you’re kind of talking to a college student,” he said in a briefing ahead of Thursday’s launch.

“GPT-5 is the first time that it really feels like talking to an expert in any topic, like a PhD-level expert.”

For Prof Carissa Véliz of the Institute for Ethics in AI, however, GPT-5’s launch may not be as significant as its marketing may suggest.

“These systems, as impressive as they are, haven’t been able to be really profitable,” she said, also noting that they can only mimic – rather than truly emulate – human reasoning abilities.

“There is a fear that we need to keep up the hype, or else the bubble might burst, and so it might be that it’s mostly marketing.”

One ethics expert said the launch of GPT-5 reinforced the growing gap between AI’s capabilities and our ability to govern it in the way the public expects.

“As these models become more capable, the need for comprehensive regulation becomes even more urgent,” said Gaia Marcus, Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute.

The BBC’s AI Correspondent Marc Cieslak gained exclusive access to GPT-5 before it’s official launch.

“Apart from minor cosmetic differences the experience was similar to using the older chatbot: give it tasks or ask it questions by typing a text prompt.

It’s now powered by what’s called a reasoning model which essentially means it thinks harder about solving problems, but this seems more like an evolution than revolution for the tech.”

GPT-5’s rollout also has implications for commercial enterprises concerned about the use of their content.

“As AI content becomes more convincing, we need to ask ourselves – are we protecting the people and creativity behind what we see every day?”, said Grant Farhall, chief product officer at Getty Images. “Authenticity matters – but it doesn’t come for free.”

Farhall said it was important to scrutinize exactly how AI models are being trained, and ensure that creators are being compensated if their work is being used.

The company will roll out the model to all users from Thursday.

In the coming days it will become a lot clearer whether it really is as good as Sam Altman claims it is.

Clash with other AI firm

Anthropic recently revoked OpenAI’s access to its application programming interface (API), claiming the company was violating its terms of service by using its coding tools ahead of GPT-5’s launch.

An OpenAI spokesperson said it was “industry standard” to evaluate other AI systems to assess their own progress and safety.

“While we respect Anthropic’s decision to cut off our API access, it’s disappointing considering our API remains available to them,” they added.

With a free tier for its new model, the company may be signalling a potential move away from the proprietary models that have previously dominated its offerings.

ChatGPT changes

On Monday, OpenAI revealed it was making changes to promote a healthier relationship between users and ChatGPT.

In a blog post, it said: “AI can feel more responsive and personal than prior technologies, especially for vulnerable individuals experiencing mental or emotional distress.”

It said it would not give a definitive answer to questions such as, “Should I break up with my boyfriend?”

Instead, it would “help you think it through – asking questions, weighing pros and cons”, according to the blog post.

In May, OpenAI pulled a heavily-criticised update which made ChatGPT “overly flattering”, according to Sam Altman.

On a recent episode of OpenAI’s own podcast, Mr Altman said he was thinking about how people interact with his products.

“This is not all going to be good, there will still be problems,” he said.

“People will develop these somewhat problematic, or maybe very problematic, parasocial relationships [with AI]. Society will have to figure out new guardrails. But the upsides will be tremendous.”

Mr Altman is known to be a fan of the 2013 film Her, where a man develops a relationship with an AI companion.

In 2024, actress Scarlett Johansson, who voiced the AI companion in the film, said she was left “shocked” and “angered” after OpenAI launched a chatbot with an “eerily similar” voice to her own.

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Trump calls for Intel boss to resign immediately, alleging China ties

Natalie Sherman

BBC News

President Donald Trump has called on the head of US chipmaker Intel to resign “immediately”, accusing him of having problematic ties to China.

In a social media post, he said CEO Lip-Bu Tan was “highly conflicted”, apparently referring to Mr Tan’s alleged investments in companies that the US says are tied to the Chinese military. It is unusual for a president to demand the resignation of a corporate executive.

Intel, which has received billions of dollars from the government to support semiconductor manufacturing in the US, did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr Tan was appointed in March to turn around the tech giant, as it fell behind China and other competitors in chips development.

A naturalised US citizen born in Malaysia and raised in Singapore, he is a venture capitalist well-known for his expertise in the semiconductor industry.

In an update to investors this week, he said the firm would be scaling back its investments in manufacturing, including in the US, to match demand from customers. Intel has already cut thousands of jobs this year as part of an effort to “right-size” the firm.

Shares in Intel fell more than 3% by midday after the attack from Trump, who has been critical of the firm previously and is preparing to raise tariffs on the chip industry.

“The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem,” Trump wrote.

It is not illegal for Americans to invest in Chinese firms.

But Washington has ramped up restrictions since Trump’s first term, as it pushes to break business ties between the US and China when it comes to advanced technology, as both Democrats and Republicans openly worry about national security.

Trump’s attack took up concerns aired by Republican Senator Tom Cotton this week in a letter to Intel’s board that said Mr Tan’s “associations raise questions about Intel’s ability” to be a “responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars and to comply with applicable security regulations”.

Cotton pointed to Mr Tan’s role as the longtime chief executive of tech firm Cadence Design Systems, which pleaded guilty in July and agreed to pay $140m over US charges that its subsidiary in China had repeatedly done business with the country’s National University of Defense Technology, violating US export controls.

Mr Tan himself was not indicted.

In a statement earlier this week, Intel defended its relatively new chief executive, saying Mr Tan and the company were “deeply committed to the national security of the US and the integrity of our role in the US defense ecosystem”.

Industry expert Patrick Moorhead, founder of Moor Insights & Strategy, said he thought Trump was using the controversy over Mr Tan’s ties to China to put pressure on Intel over some other issue. He pointed to potential disputes about Intel’s investments in the US and reports of a possible partnership with Taiwanese firm TSMC backed by the White House.

“It’s apparent to me that there was some negotiation amongst the two that Trump didn’t like,” he said. “Trump probably saw, ‘Ok, I’ve got an opportunity to turn up the heat with Intel on this’.”

Trump is known for targeting business leaders with public criticism to a degree unheard of with other presidents. But, even by his standards, the demand that the leader of a private company resign is extraordinary.

Mr Moorhead said other tech executives who had found themselves in Trump’s crosshairs had come up with ways to “kiss the ring”, pointing to promises from firms such as Apple and OpenAI to make large investments in the US.

“Intel probably misread the room on how important it was to get in and be visible with the White House,” he said.

Responding to critics who said Trump had gone too far, the White House told the BBC: “President Trump remains fully committed to safeguarding our country’s national and economic security. This includes ensuring that iconic American companies in cutting-edge sectors are led by men and women who Americans can trust.”

Mr Tan’s ties to China had been spotlighted in a 2024 congressional report examining links between US investment firms and Chinese businesses.

They were also the subject of a Reuters investigation in April, which found that he had invested at least $200 in hundreds of Chinese companies, some of which are linked to the Chinese military. The investments were made either personally or though his funds between 2012 and December 2024.

Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, a Trump ally, took up the attack on Mr Tan on Thursday, criticising Intel for delays in its plans for chip manufacturing in the US.

But the clash with Trump could add to the challenges the firm, along with US chip manufacturing, currently faces.

“Intel has been a hope for America to build out more chip capacity and has struggled to do so to date,” said Janet Egan, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. “It’s important that we get continuity of leadership to support that ramping up of capacity.”

Soldiers who tackled military base gunman hailed for ‘heroism’

Nadine Yousif

BBC News
Watch: Army chief says troops tackled and subdued Fort Stewart shooter

Unarmed soldiers who tackled and subdued a gunman at a military base in Georgia on Wednesday have been hailed for their “heroism” and preventing deaths.

Brigadier General John Lubas said US Army personnel “immediately raced [towards] and attacked” the suspect when they heard gunfire, while US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said they “ran into battle” to prevent further injuries and administer first aid.

Five people were injured when suspect Quornelius Radford, a 28-year-old US Army sergeant, allegedly opened fire at the Fort Stewart base. All the victims are expected to recover.

The suspect is in custody and officials said they would not speculate on a motive while an investigation was ongoing.

The suspect’s father told US media the soldier sent a cryptic text message to a family member on the morning of the shooting.

Eddie Radford told the New York Times that his son sent a message to his aunt saying “that he loved everybody, and that he will be in a better place because he was about to do something”.

Mr Radford, who did not see the text message himself, said he had not noticed anything unusual about his son’s behaviour prior to the shooting. “It’s hard for me to process,” he added.

He also told the New York Times his son had sought a transfer from Fort Stewart and had complained about alleged racism on the base. BBC News has asked the Department of Defense to respond to the claim.

On Thursday, six soldiers were honoured with a service medal for their role in stopping the gunman.

“Under duress and fire, they ran into battle to the sound of the gunfire, took down the assailant, and then took care of their comrades, and that made all the difference,” said US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.

“The heroism shown under fire is something that we should all aspire to know.”

The gunman opened fire at around 11:00 local time on Wednesday at a sprawling military base located around 240 miles (386km) south-east of the state’s capital, Atlanta.

Soldiers ran to subdue the gunman and wrestled his gun away, Gen Lubas said, who described how one, a non-commissioned officer, jumped on top of the suspect and restrained him before police arrived.

Four other soldiers provided medical care to the victims “with no hesitation” and helped stop the bleeding before paramedics arrived on the scene.

Staff Sgt Melissa Taylor, one of the six that were awarded a medal, told reporters that she was in her office when she heard a fellow soldier yell that “a gunshot went off”, and saw smoke in the hall.

“I noticed there was a soldier laying on the ground, so I immediately sprinted over to the soldier and started rendering aid,” she said.

Army Secretary Driscoll said “they were unarmed and ran at and tackled an armed person who they knew was actively shooting their buddies, their colleagues, their fellow soldiers”.

Three of the five wounded soldiers have been released from hospital, while two continue to receive treatment. None have been publicly named.

Of the two who were more seriously inured, Gen Lubas said one was “doing very well, in high spirits”, while the other had “a little bit longer road to recovery”.

Suspect Sgt Radford was part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and has not previously been deployed to a combat zone, officials have previously confirmed.

They said he is in pre-trial confinement and will likely be transferred to a military detention centre.

The US Army also said he had previously been arrested for driving under the influence, a fact now known to the military prior to the attack.

The Army Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigation alongside the FBI.

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Manchester United have agreed a deal worth £73.7m (85m euros) with Red Bull Leipzig to sign Benjamin Sesko.

The agreement includes a guaranteed payment of £66.3m (76.5m euros) with the remainder in add-ons.

Sesko will now complete the formalities, including undergoing a medical on Friday, before finalising his move to Old Trafford.

The 22-year-old Slovenia forward, who was also wanted by Newcastle, has scored 39 goals in 87 appearances for German side Leipzig.

United have aready signed forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo this summer for a combined fee of about £130m.

Those payments have been arranged in a favourable way to allow United to keep spending, while the entirety of Marcus Rashford’s £325,000-a-week salary is being covered by his loan move to Barcelona.

United also received £5m from Chelsea after the Blues pulled out of a deal to sign Jadon Sancho.

And United want a further £50m for Argentine winger Alejandro Garnacho, who is attracting interest from Chelsea and has been told he can leave Old Trafford this summer.

Their main striker from last season, Rasmus Hojlund, has been made available for sale for £40m after scoring just 14 Premier League goals in two seasons.

Sesko’s decision to move to Old Trafford is a further blow to Newcastle, who missed out on Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool and face seeing their main striker Alexander Isak potentially join him at Anfield.

Since moving to Germany, Sesko is the top scorer currently aged under 23 in all competitions, of players based in Europe’s top five leagues – with 39 goals in 87 games.

He is one ahead of Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and five clear of Florian Wirtz, who joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen for £100m this summer.

Sesko is big, strong, quick, good in the air and a fine finisher, and has been compared to Erling Haaland – and not just because they both played for Salzburg.

He was one of the fastest strikers in the Bundesliga at 35.7km/h – and had the best aerial success rate of strikers involved in at least 60 of them.

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Former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has been nominated for the 2025 men’s Ballon d’Or award.

The Napoli and Scotland player was one of the 30 nominees for the prize, with the winner set to be announced on 22 September.

The nomination comes less than 12 months after McTominay was allowed to leave boyhood club Manchester United in order to join Napoli in a £25m move.

McTominay’s nomination means he’s the first Scot to be shortlisted since former Rangers striker Ally McCoist in 1987.

McTominay, 28, was instrumental in Napoli’s title success, scoring 12 times in 34 league appearances as he was crowned Serie A’s player of the year.

Paris St-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele, 28, is a leading contender for the prize following his dazzling campaign for Luis Enrique’s side, which resulted in Champions League glory in Munich.

Barcelona 18-year-old Lamine Yamal and Brazilian team-mate Raphinha are the strongest challengers after Hansi Flick’s side won La Liga last term.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri, the current holder of the award, misses out after missing the majority of last season with a knee injury but team-mate Erling Haaland is up for the prize.

Arsenal pair Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres are named, while Liverpool quartet Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah have been nominated.

Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer is the only other candidate from the Premier League.

Nominees for 2025 Ballon d’Or award

  1. Ousmane Dembele (Paris St-Germain)

  2. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris St-Germain)

  3. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

  4. Desire Doue (Paris St-Germain)

  5. Denzel Dumfries (Inter)

  6. Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund)

  7. Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

  8. Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal)

  9. Achraf Hakimi (Paris St-Germain)

  10. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)

  11. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris St-Germain)

  12. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)

  13. Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool)

  14. Lautaro Martinez (Inter)

  15. Scott McTominay (Napoli)

  16. Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)

  17. Nuno Mendes (Paris St-Germain)

  18. Joao Neves (Paris St-Germain)

  19. Pedri (Barcelona)

  20. Cole Palmer (Chelsea)

  21. Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)

  22. Raphinha (Barcelona)

  23. Declan Rice (Arsenal)

  24. Fabian Ruiz (Paris St-Germain)

  25. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

  26. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

  27. Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)

  28. Florian Wirtz (Liverpool)

  29. Vitinha (Paris St-Germain)

  30. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

Men’s club of the year nominees

  • Barcelona

  • Botafogo

  • Chelsea

  • Liverpool

  • Paris St-Germain

The Johan Cruyff trophy nominees

The Johan Cruyff trophy is awarded to the best male coach, whether at club or national level.

  • Antonio Conte (Napoli)

  • Luis Enrique (PSG)

  • Hansi Flick (Barcelona)

  • Enzo Maresca (Chelsea)

  • Arne Slot (Liverpool)

Men’s Yashin trophy nominees

The Yashin trophy is awarded to the best male goalkeeper.

  • Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa and Argentina)

  • Alisson Becker (Liverpool and Brazil)

  • Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal and Morocco)

  • Lucas Chevalier (Lille and France)

  • Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid and Belgium)

  • Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG and Italy)

  • Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid and Slovenia)

  • David Raya (Arsenal and Spain)

  • Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest and Belgium)

  • Yann Sommer (Inter Milan and Switzerland)

Men’s Kopa trophy nominees

The Kopa trophy is awarded to the best male player under the age of 21.

  • Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona and Spain)

  • Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille and France)

  • Desire Doue (PSG and France)

  • Estevao (Chelsea and Brazil)

  • Dean Huijsen (Real Madrid and Spain)

  • Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal and England)

  • Rodrigo Mora (Porto and Portugal)

  • Joao Neves (PSG and Portugal)

  • Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain)

  • Kenan Yildiz (Juventus and Turkey)

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Harry Kane scored a goal – and missed a penalty – against former club Tottenham Hotspur as Bayern Munich won a pre-season friendly 4-0 at the Allianz Arena.

The England striker controlled Michael Olise’s excellent long pass before slotting in Bayern’s opener.

But in the 15th minute he slipped as he was taking a spot-kick and it sailed over the bar.

Bayern completely dominated and scored three times in the final half an hour.

Konrad Laimer dispossed Djed Spence and picked out Kingsley Coman, who curled in their second.

Bayern then brought on a host of youngsters midway through the second half – with Kane one of those coming off – and two of them scored.

Lennart Karl, 17, hit a fantastic first-time effort from 18 yards and Jonah Kusi-Asare, 18, whipped in a fine shot from near the corner of the box.

It was Kane’s second game against Spurs – he featured in a friendly at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year – since his £86.4m move in 2023.

The 32-year-old is Spurs’ all-time top scorer with 280 goals in 435 games.

Luis Diaz, a summer signing for Bayern from Liverpool, also started.

Tottenham’s 2025-26 season starts on Wednesday, 13 August with the Uefa Super Cup against Paris St-Germain in Udine.

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Five of England’s Euro 2025-winning squad have been nominated for the Women’s Ballon d’Or, awarded to the best female footballer of the year.

Captain Leah Williamson, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton all make the list after the Lionesses successfully defended their title in Switzerland this summer.

Scotland’s Real Madrid midfielder Caroline Weir is also among the nominees.

Chelsea full-back Bronze, 33, played the entire Euros with a fractured leg.

Michelle Agyemang, one of England’s breakthrough stars, has been nominated for the Women’s Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best women’s footballer under 21.

The 19-year-old Arsenal forward, who scored late equalisers against Sweden in the quarter-final and Italy in the semi-final, was named Euro 2025 young player of the tournament.

Hampton is also a nominee for the Women’s Yachine Trophy for the best goalkeeper. The 24-year-old played a key part in England’s Euros triumph and Chelsea’s domestic treble-winning season.

Other Blues players to be nominated are France winger Sandy Baltimore and Sweden midfielder Johanna Rytting Kaneryd.

The winners will be announced on Monday, 22 September in Paris.

Williamson is one of three Arsenal players to be recognised along with Spain midfielder Mariona Caldentey and United States right-back Emily Fox following the Gunners’ Champions League victory over Barcelona in May.

Spain’s Aitana Bonmati, who has won the previous two awards, and Barcelona team-mate Alexia Putellas, who is also a two-time winner, are also nominated.

Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman, Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor and Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers have been nominated for Women’s Team Coach of the Year.

Chelsea and Netherlands midfielder Wieke Kaptein, 19, is also on the list for the Women’s Kopa Trophy.

2025 Women’s Ballon d’Or nominees

Lucy Bronze (Chelsea, England)

Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride, Zambia)

Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona, Spain)

Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea, France)

Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal, Spain)

Klara Buhl (Bayern Munich, Germany)

Sofia Cantore (Washington Spirit, Italy)

Steph Cately (Arsenal, Australia)

Melchie Dumornay (Lyon, Haiti)

Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current, Malawi)

Emily Fox (Arsenal, United States)

Cristiana Girelli (Juventus, Italy)

Esther Gonzalez (Gotham FC, Spain)

Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona, Norway)

Patricia Guijarro (Barcelona, Spain)

Amanda Gutierres (Palmeiras, Brazil)

Hannah Hampton (Chelsea, England)

Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich, Denmark)

Lindsey Heaps (Lyon, United States)

Chloe Kelly (Arsenal, England)

Marta (Orlando Pride, Brazil)

Frida Maanum (Arsenal, Norway)

Ewa Pajor (Barcelona, Poland)

Clara Mateo (Paris FC, France)

Alessia Russo (Arsenal, England)

Claudia Pina (Barcelona, Spain)

Alexia Putellas (Barcelona, Spain)

Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Cheslea, Sweden)

Caroline Weir (Real Madrid, Scotland)

Leah Williamson (Arsenal, England)

Who are the favourites?

Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal and Spain)

Caldentey might have been on the losing side in the Euros final, but she enjoyed an impressive first season at Arsenal – scoring seven goals as the Gunners won the Champions League, while she was also named the WSL’s player of the year.

Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona and Spain)

Already a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, Bonmati won a domestic treble with Barcelona last season. She recovered from a bout of viral meningitis to make her mark at the Euros, scoring the winner in the semi-final against Germany and winning the award for Player of the Tournament.

Alessia Russo (Arsenal and England)

Russo played an important role in Arsenal’s triumphant Champions League run and she was the WSL’s joint top scorer with 12 goals. The striker only scored twice at Euro 2025, but her equaliser against Spain was crucial in helping the Lionesses get back on track in the final.

Alexia Putellas (Barcelona and Spain)

Winner of the award in 2021 and 2022, Putellas underlined her Ballon d’Or credentials yet again with an impressive group stage at Euro 2025, scoring three goals and assisting four more. She provided more assists (11) than any other player in Liga F last season as Barcelona wrapped up a domestic treble.

Chloe Kelly (Arsenal and England)

Kelly endured a difficult start to the 2024-25 season as she struggled for game time at Manchester City, but the winger has re-found her form since joining Arsenal in January – winning the Champions League and earning her place back in Wiegman’s side before scoring a series of vital goals en route to Euro glory.

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Glenn McGrath predicts England will be whitewashed in the 2025-26 Ashes, backing Australia to win the series 5-0.

The former Australia bowler, a six-time Ashes winner, always makes this prediction and did so before the 2023 series, which ended in a 2-2 draw, with the tourists retaining the urn.

England have not won an Ashes series since 2015, drawing two and losing two, and have not won a series – or indeed a Test – in Australia since 2010-11.

“It’s very rare for me to make a prediction, isn’t it? And I can’t make a different one – 5-0,” McGrath told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I’m very confident with our team. When you’ve got Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon firing in their home conditions, it’s going to be pretty tough.

“Plus, that track record England have had, it’d be interesting to see if they can win a Test.”

What information do we collect from this quiz?

Root and Brook key to England’s chances

Australia won 4-0 when England last toured the country in 2021-22 and Cummins’ side have only lost two of their past 15 Tests on home soil, winning 11 and drawing two.

McGrath conceded there are “issues” with Australia’s batting, particularly their unsettled top three. Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne are out of form, and opener Sam Konstas is yet to nail down his spot as the retired David Warner’s replacement.

But with England’s bowling attack also needing “to strengthen a little bit”, McGrath says the key battle will be between the tourists’ top seven and Australia’s bowlers, pinpointing Joe Root and Harry Brook as two players to watch.

“This series will be a big one for Root,” said McGrath. “He’s never really done that well in Australia, he’s not even got a 100 over there, so he’ll be keen to get out there. He’s in fine form.”

Joe Root has scored 892 Test runs in Australia, including nine fifties, but is yet to score a century.

He averages 35.68 down under, compared to his career average of 51.29, with a highest score of 89.

“Brook’s the one that I’ve enjoyed watching,” added McGrath. “He just goes out there, plays his game, and takes it on. The Australians will need to get on him pretty early.

“Ben Duckett is such an aggressive opener. Zak Crawley would be keen to score a few more runs than he has previously.

“It’s the top order or top and middle order of England against the Australian fast bowlers and Lyon. That’s going to be a big match-up.”

England have won 25 of their 41 Tests under head coach Brendon McCullum but are yet to win a five-match Test series, most recently drawing 2-2 with India.

McGrath, 55, was full of admiration for England’s style under McCullum but challenged them to be more mentally “switched on”.

“I love seeing sportspeople go out there and play without fear, ” he said.

“That’s what Baz is looking to bring into this England team – play without fear.

“I’d like to see a bit more accountability and the mental side of the game, just them switched on a bit more. It’s exciting.”

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Ghana international Thomas Partey has joined La Liga club Villarreal following his release from Arsenal.

The 32-year-old, who signed for Arsenal in a £45m deal from Atletico Madrid in 2020, left the Gunners when his contract expired at the end of June.

Four days later, Partey was charged with five counts of rape against two women and a charge of sexual assault against a third woman.

Partey, who denies the charges, was granted conditional bail on Tuesday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Under the conditions of the bail, Partey must not contact any of the three women and must notify police of any permanent changes of address or international travel.

In a statement, Villarreal said: “The club is aware that the player is currently involved in legal proceedings in England.

“The player firmly maintains his innocence and denies all charges against him.

“The club respects the fundamental principle of the presumption of innocence and will await the outcome of the judicial process, which will be responsible for clarifying the facts of the case.

“Due to the law in England in relation to the ongoing proceedings the club is unable to comment further.”

The charges against Partey followed an investigation by detectives which started in February 2022.

Nearly 1,000 supporters have signed a petition set up by online content hub the Villarreal Report to protest Partey’s signing.

Villarreal’s statement added that it “wishes to clearly reiterate its strong commitment to respect and diversity and firmly condemns any act of violence in all its forms, including gender-based violence, discrimination, racism, xenophobia, or any behaviour that undermines the dignity of individuals”.

Partey, who will join up with his new club on Friday, is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 2 September.

His move follows Villarreal’s 3-2 friendly win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

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