Sir Keir Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelensky he has “full backing across the United Kingdom” as the two met in Downing Street.

The Ukrainian president told the prime minister he was happy his country had “such friends”, after arriving in the UK in the wake of a White House meeting with US President Donald Trump that descended into a row between the two leaders.

Zelensky and Sir Keir also signed a £2.26bn loan for Ukrainian military supplies, that will be repaid using profits from frozen Russian assets.

After Saturday’s meeting, Sir Keir spoke with Trump, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The prime minister will host a summit of European leaders in London on Sunday on efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end, as well as wider European defence, while Zelensky will also meet King Charles III.

• Colossal stakes for Starmer’s summit on Ukraine
• How much has the US given to Ukraine?
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes
• Vance took the lead attacking Zelensky. Why?
• How Zelensky’s clothing choice may have fuelled Oval Office spat

Those meetings will now be overshadowed by events in Washington and concerns about a hardening of relations with the US.

In recent weeks, the prime minister has sought to cast himself as a bridge between the US and Europe as it adapts to the Trump administration’s desire to be less involved in European defence, having a cordial meeting with Trump a day before Zelensky’s.

During that meeting, he hand-delivered a letter from the King inviting Trump – who is fond of the Royal Family – to an unprecedented second state visit, which SNP MPs called on the PM to withdraw following the Oval Office spat.

Sir Keir has also attempted to be a conduit for Ukraine as it seeks US security guarantees in any peace deal – contacting both Trump and Zelensky by phone on Friday evening in the aftermath of their row.

The visit to Downing Street on Saturday was an opportunity for the PM to demonstrate his continued support for Zelensky following the public falling-out with Trump.

Remarking on cheers he heard outside, Sir Keir told the Ukrainian leader: “That is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you, how much they support Ukraine.”

He added: “We stand with you and Ukraine for as long as it may take.”

Zelensky replied: “I saw a lot of people and I want to thank you, the people of the United Kingdom, [for] such big support from the very beginning of this war.”

He said he was happy about meeting the King on Sunday, and was thankful for the European summit.

It is understood the meeting between Zelensky and the King was requested by the Ukrainian president, with the UK government agreeing to it.

Following the Downing Street meeting, Zelensky praised the UK’s “tremendous” support, noting in particular the £2.26bn loan paid for through Russian assets frozen since the war began.

He said the funds will be used to produce weapons in Ukraine, declaring: “This is true justice – the one who started the war must be the one to pay.”

The loan was first announced in October.

Following the acrimonious White House visit, Zelensky has attempted to mend US ties.

In a statement, he said of Trump: “Despite the tough dialogue, we remain strategic partners. But we need to be honest and direct with each other to truly understand our shared goals.”

When his plane landed at Stansted, the Ukrainian leader wrote in a string of social media posts: “It’s crucial for us to have President Trump’s support. He wants to end the war, but no one wants peace more than we do.

“We are the ones living this war in Ukraine. It’s a fight for our freedom, for our very survival.”

Sunday’s summit in London is the latest round of top-level European meetings in response to Washington’s new approach to ending the war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion just over three years ago.

The Trump administration has so far excluded Europe from preliminary talks with Russia, while the president has been accused of parroting Russian propaganda.

Top of the agenda on Sunday will be increasing Europe’s defence capabilities as the US steps back, as well as seeking security guarantees for Ukraine from the White House as part of any peace deal.

Ahead of the last summit in Paris, Sir Keir proposed deploying British troops to Ukraine as part of a European peacekeeping force – but said this would require a US security “backstop”.

Trump has consistently resisted fully committing direct military support to a Ukraine peace deal, but has offered closer economic ties including a minerals deal, which he said could act as a deterrent.

Since Friday’s row, media reports from the US suggest Trump is considering cutting off aid to Ukraine altogether.

At the same time, European leaders have recognised the need to increase defence spending – but experts have warned the UK’s military was currently not ready to take on an expanded defence role.

On Sunday, Sir Keir and Zelensky will be joined by the leaders of France, Germany and Poland, the heads of the European Commission and European Council, and Nato’s secretary general.

A special European Commission defence package will be announced on 6 March, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The Oval Office spat prompted European allies to mount a spirited defence of the embattled Ukrainian president.

While diplomatic efforts to bring the war to a close continue, fighting rages on.

Seven people were injured in an overnight drone attack on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.

Ukraine’s state emergency service said 64 people – most of them patients – were evacuated from a three-storey medical facility that caught fire after being hit by a drone.

In Russia, the country’s defence ministry reported 48 Ukrainian drones had been “intercepted and destroyed” overnight.

Whether or not President Volodymyr Zelensky was ambushed or should have been more diplomatic in the Oval Office, it was a disastrous visit for Ukraine.

For those watching in Kyiv, the future of their country hung in the balance.

“It was an emotional conversation, but I understand our president,” Yulia tells me next to Kyiv’s golden-domed St Sofia’s cathedral.

“Maybe it wasn’t diplomatic, but it was sincere. It’s about life, we want to live.”

Yulia reflects a political pattern in Ukraine: the more the country is attacked, the more unity there is.

Before the full-scale invasion in 2022, President Zelensky’s trust rating was 37%. Afterwards, it rocketed to 90%.

Before Donald Trump returned to office at the start of 2025, it was 52%. After he blamed Ukraine for starting the war, it hit 65%.

“They [Donald Trump and JD Vance] were so rude,” says 30-year-old Andriy. “They don’t respect the people of Ukraine.”

“It looks like Washington supports Russia!” observes Dmytro, 26.

You wonder what the last 24 hours has done to President Zelensky’s popularity.

“When the situation becomes worse, we have another rallying around the flag,” explains Volodymyr Paniotto, director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology which conducted some of the polling.

World leaders’ popularity often wanes over time, and Mr Paniotto says President Zelensky has not been immune.

His ratings especially took a hit with Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive of 2023, and his sacking a year later of the popular commander in chief of his armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.

But Donald Trump’s new, transactional, often-hostile approach to Ukraine has forced the country to unite and brace for further uncertainty.

Not least with his warming to Russia.

The initial reaction was that of shock,” says opposition MP Inna Sovsun.

“It was difficult to watch a president who’s been a victim of Russian aggression being attacked by the leader of the free world,” she adds. “It’s painful.”

Ukrainian TV channels reported yesterday’s scenes in a more measured way: that a minerals deal between Ukraine and the US was simply not signed.

Perhaps, given it didn’t include the American security guarantees that Kyiv and Europe desperately want, it wasn’t as tantalising for Zelensky as had been suggested.

“We need to find stronger allies in Europe and Canada, Australia and Japan, who’ve all been supporting us,” argues Sovsun.

There are clearly deep feelings of resentment between Washington and Kyiv. However, Sovsun doesn’t think Ukraine should give up on negotiations, but should instead reframe the debate.

“It’s important to find the right mediator,” she says. “Someone Trump can recognise, but someone we trust too. Someone like Georgia Meloni of Italy.

“Under no circumstances should we agree to calls for the president to resign, and I’m saying that as an opposition MP. That defies the very idea of democracy.”

• Follow live coverage and analysis
• Steve Rosenberg: Vladimir Putin can afford to sit back and watch events unfold
• Jeremy Bowen: Trump-Zelensky row signals looming crisis between Europe and US
• After White House clash, Starmer faces decision about who he can trust
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes

President Zelensky hoped his Washington visit would lead to a deeper co-operation with the US which could, in turn, bring a lasting peace. Something Sovsun thinks nobody wants more than Ukrainians.

“We are the ones who are suffering, it’s extremely difficult to live under this stress,” she adds. “Just this morning, I read that my friend’s son was killed, his second son in this war.”

What the MP and countless Ukrainians don’t want is a rushed settlement. Attempted ceasefires with Russia in 2014 and 2015 only allowed Moscow to prepare for its full scale-invasion years later.

Ukrainian MP Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze anticipated a second Trump presidency being less sympathetic to her country’s cause, but not to this extent.

“This mineral agreement does not oblige America to help us militarily, or to upscale or continue the support it’s currently giving,” she says.

While there is still parliamentary unity behind President Zelensky and suspended elections, MPs like Klympush-Tsyntsadze have been calling for more involvement in negotiations.

Her European Solidarity Party’s chairman is former President Petro Poroshenko, a fierce rival to Zelensky.

He was even recently sanctioned by Ukraine’s leader over what Ukraine’s security service labelled as “threats to national security” and “creating obstacles to economic development”. Mr Poroshenko said it was “politically motivated”.

Despite this, the former president said he recognised Zelensky’s legitimacy as leader, to combat both American and Russian claims to the contrary.

As sirens wail and missiles slam into cities, this is a war still raging, despite all of the talk of ending it.

Russia is not backing down on its demands for Ukraine’s political capitulation and the complete control of four regions.

“This war is not for some area, town or treeline in the east,” says Taras Chmut, head of the Come Back Alive foundation.

After Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, the organisation was set up to crowdsource military equipment for fighting Ukrainian troops.

“This is the war that will define the world order for future decades. Whether this world will still exist depends on how this war goes,” he says.

As he ruthlessly pursues his “America First” policy, Trump wants Europe to provide security on a continent where he is less willing to do so. But Europe is divided on this, and where there is agreement it is that peace is not possible without the US as a safety net.

“Europe and the world once again want to close their eyes and believe in a miracle, but miracles do not happen,” says Mr Chmut.

“Countries must accept the reality of the situation and do something about it. Otherwise, you will be the one to disappear next – after Ukraine.”

Don’t insult the leaders. Don’t insult the ideology. And don’t judge.

These are the rules tour guides read out to Western tourists as they prepare to drive across the border into North Korea, arguably the most secretive and repressive country in the world.

Then there is the practical information. No phone signal, no internet, no cash machines.

“The North Koreans aren’t robots. They have opinions, goals, and a sense of humour. And in our briefing we encourage people to listen to and understand them,” says Rowan Beard, who runs Young Pioneer Tours, one of two Western companies which resumed trips to the country last week, after a five-year hiatus.

North Korea sealed its borders at the outset of the pandemic, shutting out diplomats, aid workers and travellers, and making it nearly impossible to know what was happening there.

Since then, it has further isolated itself from most of the world, relying on support from Russia and China. Many doubted whether Westerners would ever be allowed back.

But after years of cajoling and several false starts, Rowan and some other tour leaders were given the green light to restart operations. He pulled together a group of eager travellers in just five hours, desperate to not miss the opportunity. Most were vloggers and travel addicts, some wanting to tick the final country off their list, along with the odd North Korea enthusiast.

Last Thursday the tourists, from the UK, France, Germany and Australia, drove over the border from China into the remote area of Rason for a four-night trip.

Among them was 28-year-old British YouTuber Mike O’Kennedy. Even with its reputation, he was startled by the extreme level of control. As with all trips to North Korea, the tourists were escorted by local guides, who followed a strict, pre-approved schedule. It included carefully choreographed trips to a beer factory, a school, and a new, fully stocked pharmacy.

Ben Weston, one of the tour leaders from Suffolk, likened visiting North Korea to “being on a school trip”. “You can’t leave the hotel without the guides,” he said.

“A couple of times I even had to let them know when I wanted to use the bathroom,” said Mike. “I’ve never had to do that anywhere in the world.”

Despite the chaperoning, Mike was able to spot snippets of real life. “Everyone was working, it didn’t feel like anyone was just hanging out. That was kind of bleak to see.”

On his trip to the school, a group of eight-year-olds performed a dance to animations of ballistic missiles hitting targets. A video of the spectacle shows girls and boys with red neckties, singing, while explosions flare on a screen behind them.

For now, tourists are being kept well away from the capital Pyongyang. Greg Vaczi from Koryo Tours, the other tour company allowed back in, admits the current itinerary lacks the “big-hitting monuments” of Pyongyang. He suspects authorities have chosen Rason as their guinea pig because the area is relatively contained and easy to control.

Set up as a special economic zone, to trial new financial policies, it operates as a mini capitalist enclave inside an otherwise socialist state. Chinese businesspeople run joint enterprises with North Koreans, and can travel in and out fairly freely.

Joe Smith, a seasoned North Korea traveller and former writer for the specialist North Korea platform NK News, was there on his third trip. “I feel like the more times you visit the less you know. Each time you get a little peek behind the curtain, which just leaves you with more questions,” he said.

Joe’s highlight was a surprise off-agenda visit to a luxury goods market, where people were selling jeans and perfumes, along with fake Louis Vuitton handbags and Japanese washing machines, probably imported from China. Here, the tourists were not allowed to take photos – an attempt to hide this consumer bubble from the rest of the country, they suspected.

“This was the only place people weren’t expecting us,” Joe said. “It felt messy and real; a place North Koreans actually go. I loved it.”

But according to the experienced tour leaders, the group’s movements were more restricted than on previous trips, with fewer opportunities to wander the streets, pop into a barbershop or supermarket, and talk to locals.

Covid was often cited as the reason, said Greg from Koryo Tours. “On the surface they are still concerned. Our luggage was disinfected at the border, our temperatures were taken, and about 50% of people are still wearing masks.” Greg cannot work out whether the fear is genuine, or an excuse to control people.

It is thought Covid hit North Korea hard, though it is difficult to know the extent of the suffering.

Local guides repeated the government line that the virus entered the country in a balloon sent over from South Korea, and was swiftly eradicated in 90 days. But Rowan, who has been to North Korea more than 100 times, sensed that Rason had been impacted by the tough Covid regulations. A lot of Chinese businesses had closed, he said, and their workers had left.

Even Joe, the experienced North Korea traveller, commented on how dilapidated the buildings were. “Places were dimly lit and there was no heating, apart from in our hotel rooms,” he said, noting a trip to a cold, dark and deserted art gallery. “It felt like they opened the doors just for us.”

The regime’s photographs might make North Korea look clean and shiny, Joe said, but in person you realise “the roads are awful, the pavements are wobbly, and the buildings are weirdly constructed”. His hotel room was old-fashioned and filthy, he said, resembling “his grandma’s living room”. The whole window was cracked.

“They’ve had five years to fix things. North Koreans are so sensitive about what they show tourists. If this is the best they can show, I dread to think what else is out there”, he said. Most of the country is kept well hidden, with more than four in 10 people believed to be undernourished and needing help.

One of the few chances tourists in North Korea get to interact with local people is through their guides, who sometimes speak English. On these recent trips they were surprisingly well-informed, despite the regime’s intense propaganda machine and information blockade. This is probably because they speak to the Chinese businesspeople who come and go, said Greg.

They knew about Trump’s tariffs and the war in Ukraine – even that North Korean troops were involved. But when Joe showed a photo from Syria, his guide was unaware President Assad had been toppled. “I carefully explained that sometimes when people don’t like their leader, they rise up and force them out, and at first he didn’t believe me.”

Such conversations need to be delicately handled. Strict laws prevent North Koreans from speaking freely. Ask or reveal too much and the tourists might put their guide or themselves at risk.

Mike admits there were times this made him nervous. On a trip to a North Korea-Russia Friendship House, he was invited to write in the visitors’ book. “I went blank and wrote something like ‘I wish the world peace.’ Afterwards my guide told me that was an inappropriate thing to write. That made me paranoid,” he said.

“Generally, the guides did a great job of making us feel safe. There were just a couple of moments when I thought, this is bizarre.”

For Greg from Koryo Tours, these interactions bring a deeper purpose to North Korea tourism: “North Koreans get the chance to engage with foreigners. This allows them to come up with new ideas, which, in a country this closed, is so important.”

But tourism to North Korea is contentious, especially as travellers have been allowed back before aid workers and most Western diplomats, including the UK’s. Critics, including Joanna Hosaniak from the Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, argue these trips mainly benefit the regime.

“This is not like tourism in other poor countries, where local people benefit from the extra income. The vast majority of the population don’t know these tourists exist. Their money goes to the state and ultimately towards its military,” she said.

One conversation has stuck in YouTuber Mike’s head. During his trip to the school, he was surprised when a girl, after meeting him, said she hoped to visit the UK one day. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her chances were very, very slim,” he said.

Was it pruning or felling?

The alleged chopping of centuries-old chinar trees in Indian-administered Kashmir has sparked outrage, with locals and photos suggesting they were cut down, while the government insists it was just routine pruning. The debate has renewed focus on the endangered tree and efforts to preserve it.

The chinar is an iconic symbol of the Kashmir valley’s landscape and a major tourist draw, especially in autumn when the trees’ leaves light up in fiery hues of flaming red to a warm auburn.

The trees are native to Central Asia but were introduced to Kashmir centuries ago by Mughal emperors and princely kings. Over the years, they have come to occupy an important place in Kashmiri culture.

But rapid urbanisation, illegal logging and climate change are threatening their survival, prompting authorities to take steps to conserve them.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has been geotagging chinar trees in an effort to keep track of them and their health. The project involves attaching a QR code to each tree with information about its location, age and other physical characteristics.

“We are ‘digitally protecting’ chinar trees,” says Syed Tariq, a scientist who’s heading the project. He explains that information provided by the QR code can help locals and tourists get to known more about a tree, but it can also help counter problems like illegal or hasty cutting of them.

The project has geotagged about 29,000 chinar trees so far, with another 6,000–7,000 still left to be mapped.

Despite its heritage value, there was no proper count of these trees, says Mr Syed. While government records cite 40,000, he calls the figure debatable but is certain their numbers have declined.

This is a problem because the tree takes at least 50 years to reach maturity. Environmentalists say new plantations are facing challenges like diminishing space. Additionally, chinar trees need a cool climate to survive, but the region has been experiencing warmer summers and snowless winters of late.

But on the bright side, these trees can live for hundreds of years – the oldest chinar tree in the region is believed to be around 700 years old. A majority of the trees are at least a few centuries old and have massive trunks and sprawling canopies.

The trees received maximum patronage during the Mughal period, which stretched from the early 1500s to the mid-1800s. Many of the trees that exist in the valley were planted during this period, Mr Syed says.

The Mughal kings, who ruled many parts of erstwhile India, made Kashmir their summer getaway due to its cool climate and beautiful scenery. They also erected “pleasure gardens” – landscaped gardens famous for their symmetry and greenery – for their entertainment.

The chinar enjoyed pride of place in these gardens and the trees were usually planted along water channels to enhance the beauty of the place. Many of these gardens exist even today.

According to government literature, in the 16th Century Mughal emperor Akbar planted around 1,100 trees in one such pleasure garden near the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar, but about 400 have perished over the years due to road-widening projects and diseases caused by pests.

Emperor Jahangir, Akbar’s son, is said to have planted four chinar trees on a tiny island in Dal Lake, giving it the name Char Chinar (Four Chinars) – now a major tourist draw. Over time, two trees were lost to age and disease, until the government replaced them with transplanted mature trees in 2022.

Interestingly, the chinar is protected under the Jammu and Kashmir Preservation of Specified Trees Act, 1969, which regulates its felling and export and requires official approval even for pruning. The law remains in force despite the region losing statehood in 2019.

But environmental activist Raja Muzaffar Bhat says authorities often exploit legal loopholes to cut down chinar trees.

“Under the garb of pruning, entire trees are felled,” he says, citing a recent alleged felling in Anantnag district that sparked outrage.

“The government is geotagging trees on one side, but cutting them on the other,” he says. He adds that while authorities remove trees for urban projects, locals also fell them illegally.

Chinar trees have durable hardwood, ideal for carvings, furniture and artefacts. Locals also use them for firewood and making herbal medicine.

Government projects like geotagging are raising awareness, says Mr Bhat. He adds that Kashmiris, deeply attached to the chinar as part of their heritage, now speak out against its felling or damage.

Last week, many posted photos of the allegedly chopped trees in Anantnag on X (formerly Twitter) while opposition leaders demanded that the government launch an investigation and take action against the culprits.

“The government should protect the trees in letter and in spirit,” Mr Bhat says.

“Because without chinar, Kashmir won’t feel like home.”

JD Vance’s remarkable dressing down of Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday showed the US vice-president unafraid to take centre stage as an attack dog, rather than serve like some of his predecessors as a self-effacing political understudy.

It was Vance who led the attack on Zelensky before Donald Trump joined the fray at the White House in a meeting that had been cordial until the vice-president spoke up to laud the president for seeking what he described as a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine-Russia war.

“What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?” said Zelensky, who has been critical of direct talks between Washington and Moscow. “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance responded, tearing into the stunned Ukrainian leader.

“Mr President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”

He also accused Zelensky of having campaigned on behalf of Democrats during the 2024 presidential election. The Ukrainian leader visited a munitions factory in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania last September and met Trump’s rival, Kamala Harris, at the White House.

Vance’s upbraiding of Zelensky drew broad support among Republicans.

“I was very proud of JD Vance standing up for our country,” said South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime advocate for Ukraine and a foreign policy hawk. He suggested Zelensky should resign.

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville referred to Zelensky as “that Ukrainian weasel”.

Congressman Mike Lawler of New York was more measured, saying the meeting was “a missed opportunity for both the United States and Ukraine”.

• LIVE: Zelensky embraced by Starmer in London
• How Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 minutes
• Bowen: Trump-Zelensky row signals looming crisis
• Ukranians support Zelensky
• Rosenberg: Putin can stand back and enjoy

Vance’s remarkable attack on a visiting head of state is not typical for a US vice-president.

Their job is often – but not always – to help get the president elected and then sit quietly at their boss’s side. To be a loyal lieutenant representing the president on foreign trips – standing by, one heartbeat, so they say, from the presidency.

The contrast with Trump’s first VP, the much more mild-mannered Mike Pence, could not be greater.

But Vance – who is widely seen as serving to articulate the rationale behind Trump’s foreign policy gut instincts – has long been outspokenly sceptical of US aid to Ukraine.

When he was running for the Ohio Senate in 2022, Vance told a podcast: “I’ve got to be honest with you. I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”

The vice-president derided Trump as an idiot eight years ago, before a political evolution that culminated in him becoming heir apparent to the president’s Make America Great Again movement.

Despite Vance’s popularity among conservative voters, Trump recently said in a Fox News interview that it was “too early” to tell whether the vice-president would be next-in-line to run for president in 2028.

Undeterred, Vance seems to be developing a role as a political brawler for Trump, going even further than the president in his outspoken criticism of the administration’s foes.

One common thread is that many victims of Vance’s tongue-lashing are America’s allies.

It began at the Munich Security Conference last month, a regular port of call for a US vice-president. Kamala Harris would frequently make unmemorable speeches there.

But Vance used the occasion to launch a blistering assault on the state of European democracy, accusing continental leaders of censoring free speech and failing to control immigration.

“If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,” he said.

The audience of politicians, generals and diplomats was horrified.

This was not the usual – and now widely accepted – argument that Europe should do more to pay for its own defence and security.

This was a full-blown ideological assault – a sign that the US under Mr Trump is not just pivoting away from Europe, shifting its security focus to China, but is also seeking to promote its own Trump-style populism on the European continent.

Not for nothing did Vance have dinner after his speech with the leadership of Germany’s far-right AfD party.

His speech provoked a backlash from European leaders, writers and academics.

Yet Vance chose to take them on online, engaging in detailed exchanges on X with several, including the historian, Niall Ferguson.

Vance accused him of “moralistic garbage”, “historical illiteracy” and – worst of all – of being a “globalist”.

And if that was not enough, Vance even chose to have a go at the UK prime minister in the Oval Office himself earlier this week.

Out of nowhere, he told Sir Keir Starmer that “there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British – of course what the British do in their own country is up to them – but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens”.

The prime minister pushed back firmly, saying “in relation to free speech in the UK, I’m very proud of our history there… We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom and it will last for a very, very long time”.

This was an echo of the criticism Vance made in Munich, railing against European regulations on artificial intelligence and social media platforms.

The aim is to tackle disinformation and hate speech that can foment unrest and radicalise people. Vance sees it as a threat to political fellow travellers and US commercial interests, especially in big tech.

Several questions present themselves. Was Vance’s attack on Zelensky premeditated, as some diplomats believe?

White House sources have told US papers it was not.

Is Vance’s new role emerging at Trump’s behest, sharing the load with Elon Musk to dish out punishment to the president’s opponents?

Or is Vance freelancing, already sketching out a role that will form the basis of an election campaign in three years’ time when Trump will not be able to stand again?

Whatever the answers to those questions, Vance is emerging as more than just Trump’s number two.

A plane crash in South Korea last December left Park Guen-woo an orphan. The 22-year-old had barely found space to mourn his parents when he came across a torrent of online abuse, conspiracies and malicious jokes made about the victims.

The Jeju Air plane, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, crash-landed at Muan International Airport on 29 December and exploded after slamming into a concrete barrier at the end of the runway, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.

Police investigations have identified and apprehended eight people who have been accused of making derogatory and defamatory online posts. These included suggestions that families were “thrilled” to receive compensation from authorities, or that they were “fake victims” – to the extent that some felt compelled to prove they had lost their loved ones.

Authorities have taken down at least 427 such posts.

But this is not the first time that bereaved families in South Korea have found themselves the targets of online abuse. Speaking to the BBC, experts described a culture where economic struggles, financial envy and social issues such as toxic competitiveness are fuelling hate speech.

Following Seoul’s Halloween crowd crush in 2022, victims and bereaved families were similarly smeared. A man who lost his son in the incident had his photo doctored by hate groups – showing him laughing after receiving compensation.

People whose loved ones died in the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014 – a maritime disaster that saw 304 people killed, mostly schoolchildren – have also for years been the targets of hate speech.

The tragedy saw the government pay out an average of 420 million won ($292,840; £231,686) per victim – triggering comments that claimed this figure was unreasonably high.

“People who are living day by day feel the compensation is overrated and say the bereaved are getting ‘unfair treatment’ and that they are making a big deal when everyone’s life is hard,” Koo Jeong-woo, a sociology professor at Sungkyunkwan University, told news site The Korea Herald.

In later comments to the BBC, Prof Koo suggested that economic stress and a competitive job market – particularly in the wake of Covid – has left many people feeling socially isolated, exacerbating the issue of hate speech.

Many South Koreans, he says, now “view others not as their peers, but as adversaries”, pointing to a widespread culture of comparison in South Korea.

“We tend to compare a lot… if you put someone else down, it’s easier to feel superior yourself,” he told the BBC. “That’s why there’s a bit of tendency in Korea to engage in hate speech or make derogatory remarks, aiming to diminish others to elevate oneself.”

Mr Park says the families of the Jeju Air crash victims have been characterised as “parasites squandering the nation’s money”.

By way of example, he refers to a recent article about an emergency relief fund of three million won ($2,055; £1,632) that was raised for the bereaved through donations. That article was met with a flood of malicious comments, many referencing the erroneous suggestion that taxpayers’ money was used for the fund.

“It seems like the families of the Muan Airport victims have hit the jackpot. They must be secretly delighted,” said one such comment.

Mr Park says these comments were “overwhelming”.

“Even if compensation for the accident comes in, how could we possibly feel like recklessly spending it when it is the price of our loved ones’ lives?” he says. “Every single one of those comments cuts us deeply. We’re not here to make money.”

“Too many people, instead of being sensitive, build their entertainment on others’ suffering,” he adds. “When something like this happens, they belittle it and spew hateful remarks.”

Joshua Uyheng, a psychology professor in the Philippines who studies online hate, says that hate is often “directed towards [those] we believe are gaining some advantage at our expense”.

“We feel hatred when we [think we] are getting the short end of the stick.”

In the case of the Jeju Air crash, political dynamics only made things worse.

The accident came amid a period of political turmoil in South Korea, with the country reeling from suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s shock decision to enact martial law – an incident that politically divided the country.

Many supporters of President Yoon’s right-wing People Power Party have, without evidence, pinned blame for the crash on the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), pointing to the fact that Muan Airport was originally built as part of a political pledge by the DP.

“The Muan airport tragedy is a man-made disaster caused by the DP,” read one comment on YouTube. Another described it as “100% the fault” of the party.

Park Han-shin, whose brother died in the plane crash, says he has been accused of being a DP member and “fake bereaved family member”. So extensive were these claims that his daughter took to social media to call them out.

“It pains me deeply to see my father, who lost his brother in such a tragedy, being labelled a ‘scammer’. It also makes me worried that this misinformation might lead my father to make wrong choices out of despair,” she wrote on Threads two days after the incident.

Park Han-shin says he is stunned by how people seem to “enjoy taking advantage of others’ pain”.

“That’s simply not something a human being should do,” he told the BBC.

“I am just an ordinary citizen. I am not here to enter politics. I came to find out the truth about my younger brother’s death.”

While there are no perfect solutions to hate, experts say social media companies should establish policies on what constitutes hate speech and moderate content posted on their platforms accordingly.

“Online users should be able to report malicious posts and comments smoothly, and platform companies must actively delete such content,” Prof Koo says. Law enforcement agencies should also take perpetrators to task, he adds.

Reminding people of their shared identities may also help, says Prof Uyheng.

“The less people feel that they are on opposite ends of a zero-sum game, perhaps the more they can feel that tragedies like these are the shared concern of us all – and that victims deserve empathy and compassion, not vitriol and condemnation.”

The Israeli government has approved a temporary extension of the Gaza ceasefire for the next six weeks, covering the Muslim Ramadan and Jewish Passover periods.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office made the announcement shortly after the first phase of the previously agreed ceasefire expired at midnight on Saturday.

Netanyahu’s office said that under a ceasefire proposal by US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, half of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza – both alive and dead – would be released on the first day.

The remaining hostages would be freed “if an agreement on a permanent ceasefire is reached”.

Hamas has not publicly commented on the latest Israeli move.

• Who are Israeli hostages released and rescued from Gaza?
• ‘A long, long road ahead’: Gaza rebuilds from zero

The Israeli government backed the ceasefire extension after a four-hour meeting called by Netanyahu.

The prime minister’s office claimed that Hamas “has so far refused” to back the Witkoff plan, adding that Israel would immediately start negotiations if the group changed its position.

The US envoy’s plan envisages that Israel could return to fighting after 42 days if it believed negotiations on a second phase had failed.

On Friday night, Hamas said it would not agree to any extension of phase one without guarantees from American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators that phase two would eventually take place.

Hamas seems determined to remain a force in Gaza, even if it might be willing to hand over day-to-day governance to other Palestinian actors, including the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the BBC’s Paul Adams reports from Jerusalem.

The first phase of the ceasefire that came into force on 19 January expired on Saturday.

It halted 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military, allowing the release of 33 Israeli and five Thai hostages for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

But negotiations on phase two, including the release of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, have barely begun.

There are believed to be 24 hostages alive, with another 39 presumed to be dead.

Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.

Israel responded with an air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, during which at least 48,365 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

At least four people have died and several others are missing after an avalanche hit the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, authorities have said.

A rescue operation has been under way after the avalanche swept away road construction workers in the village of Mana, which shares a border with Tibet, on Friday.

Some 50 people who were buried under snow and debris were rescued, but four died from their injuries, the Indian army said.

Helicopters have been deployed in the search for five people who are still unaccounted for in the Himalayan mountain state, it added.

Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams were “continuously engaged in relief efforts” following the avalanche, which hit a Border Roads Organisation camp.

He added that the government was committed to providing all possible assistance to those affected “in this hour of crisis”.

Footage posted on X on Friday by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police showed rescuers carrying people on stretchers and walking through several feet of snow – even as more snow continued to fall.

Gaurav Kunwar, a former village council member of Mana, told BBC News on Friday the area where the avalanche hit was a “migratory area” and “no-one lives there permanently”.

“Only labourers working on border roads stay there in the winter,” he added.

“There’s also some army presence there. We’ve heard that it has been raining in the area for two days. The road workers were in a camp when the avalanche hit.”

The India Meteorological Department warned on Friday of heavy rainfall and snow in the northern Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as Jammu and Kashmir.

Orange alerts were also issued for snowfall in several districts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

When Mauricette Vinet speaks of her grandson, her voice grows warm with affection.

“He was a lovely little boy. He had a strong personality, for sure! But he always thought of others, always asked if he could help,” says the French retiree, in her 80s.

“He loved to be out in the garden with his grandfather, picking green beans. He was a charming boy, Mathis,” she adds.

“But, as you know, there was a ‘before’ – and there was an ‘after’.”

Mauricette and her husband Roland are among the 267 plaintiffs who have pressed charges against Joël Le Scouarnec, the French former surgeon who is accused of abusing almost 300 people – mostly children, and almost all his patients – over the course of several decades. The trial started in Vannes, Brittany, on Monday.

Le Scouarnec and Mathis only crossed paths once, when Mathis, aged 10, was hospitalised overnight at the clinic in the small French north-western town of Quimperlé. Le Scouarnec – a mild-mannered, respected gastroenterologist – told Mathis’ parents the boy had to be kept overnight for checks.

It turned out Mathis only had a stomach ache, and he was sent home the next day. But Mauricette is convinced the brief hospital stay changed Mathis forever.

“The unease set in, little by little. It happened gradually in the first year; then he stopped being happy and became aggressive with everyone,” she tells the BBC.

There is no way to establish conclusively whether Mathis’ troubles were linked to the surgeon. What is certain is that in his teenage years Mathis distanced himself from his family and started using increasingly hard drugs; later, he spent time in detox and rehab centres.

Then, in 2018, police knocked on his door.

They told him a man named Joël Le Scouarnec had been arrested the year before for raping his six-year-old neighbour. During a search of the surgeon’s home, police uncovered stacks of diaries and hard disks in which Le Scouarnec appeared to list hundreds more victims. Mathis’ name was among them.

Mauricette said Mathis told her police then read out an excerpt of the diary to him, which seemed to detail abuse Le Scouarnec’s inflicted on him during his hospital stay.

“Then they left. Mathis shut the door and was left on his own, with no help. And that was the beginning of a descent into hell,” Mauricette says.

The police visit helped Mathis make sense of flashbacks that had long plagued him, Mauricette says: “His malaise finally made sense; he traced it to the source.”

Mathis pressed charges against Le Scouarnec, but the revelations sent him down a spiral which came to an abrupt end on 14 April 2021, when Mathis overdosed and died. He was 24.

Mauricette and her husband pressed charges the very next day, and they are now listed as “indirect victims” of Le Scouarnec. They have attended court in Vannes, north-western France, every day since the trial opened on Monday.

It has not been an easy listen.

The testimony of witnesses – mostly close relatives of Le Scouarnec, now 74 – painted a picture of an apparently ordinary middle-class family which, behind the scenes, has been ravaged by child abuse, incest and sexual violence.

Annie, Le Scouarnec’s sister, said she had been “taught to keep quiet”.

This week, it was all brought out in the open.

All three sons of Le Scouarnec struck an almost apologetic tone as they told the court about their happy childhoods with a cultured, intellectual father who may not have been particularly present but who was kind, patient and supportive.

“We had holidays, nice houses – everything that constitutes a normal family,” said one.

The youngest son – who said he stopped contact with Le Scouarnec in 2017 “to preserve the image of him I have from my childhood” – said he now “looked upon everyone with distrust” and never left his own toddler alone with anybody.

“I am always worried that if my father could do this then my neighbour could, my partner, anyone,” the 37-year-old said.

Later the middle son – a tall man in his early 40s who admitted he was a “not totally abstinent alcoholic” – shared his memories of being abused at the hands of his paternal grandfather, Le Scouarnec’s father.

He was shocked as he was told for the first time in court that among his father’s alleged victims were some of his childhood friends.

And, on Friday, a stunned silence descended upon the courtroom as Le Scouarnec admitted he had abused his granddaughter – his eldest son’s daughter when she was under five years old. Moments after the revelation, the 44-year-old and his partner left the room to be assisted by a psychologist.

Other witnesses sparked consternation in the plaintiffs. Due to their sheer number, they sit in a separate room – a former university lecture hall – and follow proceedings via video link.

Christian D., a friend of Le Scouarnec now aged 80, often answered questions from the court sarcastically and repeatedly minimised the events at the centre of the trial, declaring that he could not “afford to cry over everything that happened in the world”.

Later, he insisted that he “never saw anything, therefore had nothing to say” about the devastating allegations against his friend. When he stated that he would take in Le Scouarnec if he was ever to leave jail, many alleged victims in the lecture hall got up and left their seats.

But most difficult for Mauricette and Roland was the much-awaited testimony of Marie-France L., Le Scouarnec’s ex-wife.

It has been alleged that she was at the centre of the omerta that reigned in the Le Scouarnec family, as she was repeatedly made aware of her husband’s obsession with children but did nothing to stop it.

Many lawyers and plaintiffs now believe she could have spared hundreds of children from being abused. Le Scouarnec’s brother – who was also heard this week – openly wondered whether she had been too enamoured by the lifestyle provided by her husband’s salary to speak out.

Marie-France has always denied this and, at the stand, came across as haughty and frequently defiant in the face of the accusations levelled at her.

“Catastrophe has struck: she knows I am a paedophile,” Le Scouarnec wrote as early as the mid-1990s in his diary. “Perhaps he was talking about his conscience,” Marie-France told the court.

She also suggested her five-year-old niece – who Le Scouarnec has been convicted of raping – had most likely “manipulated” her husband.

“She’s devious, that one. She loves the attention,” she said. Later, she complained that she was being “blamed” for everything. Only when she was shown an indecent photo montage Le Scouarnec made of their son as a child did she look visibly shocked.

“That was absolute theatre,” Mauricette told the BBC, adding that Christian D.’s testimony had been “vile” and that she thought Marie-France was living in “pure denial”.

As the gut-wrenching events played out, Le Scouarnec sat in his box – mostly reactionless, but at times noticeably agitated, his voice cracking as he asked his sons for forgiveness. He flinched when excerpts of his diary were read out, and averted his eyes as indecent photographs he took of his nieces were shown.

His lawyers have said he admits to the “majority” of the charges against him, and that he will explain himself over the course of the trial, which is due to last until June.

The alleged victims will take the stand from next week; Mauricette and Roland will do so in April. “I will look at Le Scouarnec and tell him what is deep in my heart – he killed my grandson,” Mauricette says.

“Not with a gun, but he killed him,” she adds. “He’s going to get 20 years, but his victims… will have to live with this their whole lives.

“Their sentences will be longer than his.”

Throughout the week, over in the victims’ hall, people came and went, but the majority stayed for hours on end each day.

As descriptions of trauma and abuse poured in, one middle-aged woman covered her face with her hand and kept it there a long time.

Next to her, a young man rubbed his eyes repeatedly, then stood up and left.

The Brit Awards belonged to Charli XCX on Saturday night, who completed her transformation from underground hero to bona fide pop star by winning five awards including best artist and song of the year.

Ezra Collective, Sam Fender, Stormzy and The Last Dinner Party were the other big British winners on Saturday night, while Fontaines DC and Chappell Roan bagged the international awards.

The night also included a memorable, blush-inducing performance from US pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter, who was handed the global success award at London’s O2 Arena.

The arena fell silent near the end of the show for a moving video tribute to the late Liam Payne, who died last October.

Despite not performing, Charli XCX stole the show by winning the biggest awards of the night – artist of the year, album of the year for her cultural phenomenon Brat, and song of the year for Guess.

“This is cool, I’m really happy that a song about underwear now has a Brit award, very important stuff”, said Charli, dryly, on stage after collecting her first award.

“I’m sure that that proves something about songwriting but I’m not sure what.”

She went on to thank Eilish – the first non-Brit to appear on a best song-winner – for her guest vocals on Guess which she delivered at just three days notice. “Thank you Billie for running and gunning…”

The 32-year-old from Essex also picked up the best dance act and songwriter of the year awards.

• Red carpet in pictures: Teddy Swims and Sabrina Carpenter arrive at the Brits

• Full list of winners at Brit Awards 2025

In her speech for best dance act, she spoke of the importance of the night-time genre. “I feel like dance music, electronic music gets a really bad rep’ because everyone is like, ‘it’s not that deep, is it?’. And I kind of feel it is,” she said.

“This genre of music for me is euphoric, it allows me to escape, it allows me to feel on such a deep level.”

As she collected her fifth and final award of the night for best album, Charli told the crowd how she had “always felt like an outsider” up until this point.

“Culture caught up with us and wanted to be on the journey with us – I am living proof that it takes a long time but you don’t need to compromise your vision,” she added.

It’s always difficult getting the tone of the opening performance right – but Carpenter certainly nailed the brief with her mash-up of mega-hit Espresso and recent favourite from her best-selling album, Bed Chem.

Fans of the star who have been eagerly following her Short n’ Sweet Tour will have recognised some elements of it in her Brits performance – which was given a suitably British update with the opening strains of Rule Britannia and a, ahem, close encounter with a beefeater.

Carpenter also became the first international star to accept the global success award, jokingly saying it was “an insane honour, for such a tea-drinking country you streamed the [heck] out of espresso.”

Wearing some lingerie that might have been a little bit too racy for the pre-watershed slot, her performance around a heart-shaped bed was energetic and embodied her cheeky style that has elevated her fame in recent months.

Best pop act winner, Jade – of little mix Fame – attempted to top this with a performance of her song Angel Of My Dreams.

In it she appeared in a blonde wig and big white fur coat before disappearing briefly somewhere in a crowd of dancers and re-emerging as an angel suspended above the stage.

Several artists used their winning platform to urge the powers-that-be to do more to protect artists and give them the time, space and funds to develop.

Jazz group Ezra Collective – who closed the night with an upbeat performance alongside Jorja Smith – won group of the year, with Femi Koleoso expressing that giving a young person at a youth club a trumpet, for example, could help to fix “so many of the problems that face greater society in the UK”.

Chappell Roan, who won best international act and international song for Good Luck, Babe!, noted via a video link how she had to write “a lot of bad songs to get to the good ones”.

Rising star winner Myles Smith – or “The Luton Bob Dylan”, as host Jack Whitehall called him – performed his hit Stargazing and called on the government to stop treating British music as an “after thought” while urging the music industry itself to stick with artists past their first viral hits and tours.

It was also a night that marked the return of Sam Fender, with the Geordie singer-songwriter picking up the best alternative/rock act.

He thanked his band in his speech, saying he would just be a “mad man shouting at walls” without them.

It marks the end of a huge week for Fender, who also topped the UK album charts with People Watching – which had the biggest opening week for a British album since Harry Styles’ Harry’s House in 2022.

He topped off the evening with an emphatic performance of its title track.

Best hip-hop winner Stormzy thanked Jesus and read a verse from the bible before explaining that he was wearing shades as he had “mashed my eye up playing padel”.

Best R&B act winner Raye said via video that she was “still recovering” from last year’s event when she won a record-breaking six awards.

Dublin rock band Fontaines D.C said they were “buzzing” to win best international group and did so, fittingly, from Down Under.

And Teddy Swims performed his hit Lose Control on a flame-filled stage – a potential fire hazard in his baggy oversized jacket – before Lola Young played her viral hit in a Messy makeshift room.

It’s four years since Whitehall last hosted the Brit Awards – with Mo Gilligan filling the gap – and he noted how broadcasters ITV “had to come crawling back to an ex” in asking him back.

He poked fun at the stars in the audience, underlining how Charli, in true British style, “had asked not to perform on the show so she can get drunk”.

And referencing Stormzy’s recent high profile adverts, he called the star “the grime scene’s Ronald McDonald – he’s loving it”.

Aiming a light dig at YouTuber KSI, the host joked: “You are as good a rapper as Aitch… from Steps”.

Having flown over from US filming commitments a few days ago, he showed little signs of jet lag in his bid to “Make the Brits Great Again”, as he had joked in a pre-show video this week.

“If you thought Trump-Zelensky was cringe then wait until you hear me…” he quipped.

It reached peak cringe though when his parents appeared alongside him in one segment, with his dad dressed as Kanye West.

The biggest cheer of the night came when actor Danny Dyer told Whitehall that “the world is being run by cranks”.

Liam Payne, who tragically died in Argentina aged 31, had a huge connection to the Brits, both as part of One Direction and as a solo artist.

The ceremony included a touching tribute to the star, which was a bit of a gear shift towards the end of the fun-packed show, as Whitehall queued up a sombre black and white montage of Payne’s career, including music and quotes from him and his bandmates.

“I hope that me singing today brings enjoyment to someone,” he was heard saying.

Seven-time Brit winner Dua Lipa won nothing on the night despite having received four nominations.

There were also snubs for royal royalty The Beatles, Coldplay and The Cure, who like Dua, all lost out to Charli in various catergories.

Let’s hope they’re not too Bratty about it.

“He loved being an actor, and hated all the stuff that surrounds being an actor.”

That, for film director Barry Sonnenfeld, is how he’ll remember Gene Hackman, who has died at the age of 95.

The endless hours in hair and makeup, repeated takes, and studio notes all frustrated Hackman, Sonnenfeld told BBC News.

So too did actors who showed up not knowing their lines – notably John Travolta, who Hackman clashed with on the set of 1995 film Get Shorty, which Sonnenfeld directed.

In the days since the news of Hackman’s death, I’ve been speaking to people who, like Sonnenfeld, knew and worked with him.

What’s immediately clear is how seriously Hackman took acting, and how meticulously he dealt with scripts.

But what’s also clear is that he was wary of the trappings of Hollywood.

• What we know about the death of Gene Hackman

Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner, died alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, and their dog at his home in New Mexico. No cause of death was given, but police said the situation was “suspicious enough” to merit investigation.

Officials said on Friday that evidence points to Hackman having been dead since 17 February, 10 days before the couples’ bodies were found.

Here in Los Angeles, Hackman’s face is everywhere on television bulletins and on newspapers.

His death was all anyone was talking about as stars gathered for pre-Oscars parties.

I was at one of those events on Thursday night, where the American actor John C Reilly told me that he expected the Academy to commemorate Hackman on Sunday. “I don’t see how you could have the Oscars without mentioning a great like him who’s passed.”

For Sonnenfeld and for the Irish director John Moore – who directed Hackman in 2001’s Behind Enemy Lines – it was Hackman’s way of dealing with scripts that demonstrated his brilliance. He would remove all of the scriptwriter’s notes about how his character should deliver his lines.

“Because he didn’t want any screenwriter to tell him how he was supposed to feel at that moment,” Sonnenfeld said.

“So he had unique cut and pasted scripts that had no information from the writer about anything, because he wanted to make those choices, not the writer.”

Moore recalls a similar incident from the very first time he filmed with Hackman.

“He was just quietly sitting there, taking script pages out, cutting them up, removing extraneous stuff like scene descriptions, and then sticking them back onto blank pages,” he said.

He said Hackman told him: “Acting is my job, you do the rest.”

“It put the fear of God into me,” Moore said, laughing.

“It was essentially him saying: ‘I don’t need anything, as I’m that good. You better bring your A-game, as I’m bringing mine.'”

It wasn’t just superfluous studio notes that bothered Hackman.

“He had this conflict in that he was this brilliant actor but he hated the tropes of what it took to act in movies,” said Sonnenfeld.

“[He] hated putting on makeup. The putting on of wardrobe. The wardrobe person after takes, taking their lip brush and rubbing down their wardrobe. The makeup person recombing his hair while he’s talking to me,” he said.

“All that sort of fussy hair and makeup and all that stuff, I think that drove him crazy.”

Nor did he often want to socialise after filming, said Moore.

“I’d try and have a drink with him after we’d shoot, and go up to the minibar,” he said.

“He’d have one, that was it. [Betsy] would give him that look, and off it would be to bed. And he was in great shape in the morning as a result.”

“For Gene, it was all about the acting,” added Sonnenfeld. “End of story. Get me out of here as fast as possible.”

Hackman could be “a hard actor” to work with, said Sonnenfeld. “He suffered no fools.”

In Get Shorty, Hackman starred alongside Travolta, who plays a Miami mobster sent to collect a debt.

“Gene was a consummate actor, both technically and artistically. So he came to set every day knowing his lines,” Sonnenfeld said.

“John came to set not knowing his lines, probably not having read the script the night before.”

• Obituary: One of Hollywood’s greatest ‘tough guys’
• Pilates, painting and bike rides: Gene Hackman’s life in Santa Fe

That resulted in a showdown on the first day of filming.

Sonnenfeld recalls Travolta – who he describes as “charming but not self aware” – asking Hackman what he had done on the weekend.

Hackman responded: “Nothing except learn the lines,” to which Travolta replied, “Well that’s a waste of a weekend,” according to Sonnenfeld.

As filming went on, Hackman grew “angrier and angrier” at his co-star not knowing his lines.

Sonnenfeld said he let Hackman take out his rage on him.

“For the next 12 weeks, he would yell at me whenever John didn’t know his lines,” he said.

“But he’s great in a movie. And I knew he was never really mad at me.”

Travolta reportedly wasn’t the only one to rub Hackman the wrong way.

He reportedly clashed with others, including The Royal Tenenbaums’ director Wes Anderson.

Later, and possibly coincidentally, Hackman named one of his novels Escape from Andersonville.

“Gene was really rough on Wes,” recalled Bill Murray, who co-starred with Hackman in the hit 2001 film, in an interview with the Associated Press.

“He was a tough nut, Gene Hackman. But he was really good.”

Moore, for his part, said he didn’t ever feel Hackman was difficult to work with.

“He was patient and relentlessly, flawlessly professional,” he said.

“My memories are of him laughing and smiling, and telling very funny jokes.”

Moore admitted Hackman might have become irritated with anyone on set who made their role bigger than it was.

“So I could see how he might be funny about actors who were peacocking themselves,” he said.

“But again it goes back to the point – he just really wanted to make the films exceptional.”

Hackman retired from acting in 2004 and from then on lived a quiet life in New Mexico with his wife.

“I suspect that one of the reasons he moved to Santa Fe, again, great outdoors and as far away from Hollywood as you can get,” said Sonnenfeld.

In 2008, Hackman gave a rare interview with Reuters, in which he was asked if he missed acting.

He responded by saying the business was, for him, “very stressful”.

“The compromises that you have to make in films are just part of the beast, and it had gotten to a point where I just didn’t feel like I wanted to do it anymore.”

But, he added: “I miss the actual acting part of it, as it’s what I did for almost 60 years.

“And I really loved that.”

Stars, film fans and fashionistas rejoice as the biggest night in the showbiz calendar is here at last – the 97th Oscars.

Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez leads the way with 13 nominations, but recently saw its awards chances damaged after offensive historic tweets from its star resurfaced.

Wicked, The Brutalist, Conclave and Anora are also among the top contenders, with the race for best picture too close to call.

US comedian Conan O’Brien is presenting the awards from Los Angeles, with the show starting at 16:00 (PT), 19:00 (ET) and midnight (GMT).

You can also expect plenty of references during the night to the wildfires which devastated LA and left thousands of homes destroyed.

Here are all the major talking points and things to look out for at the ceremony, as an eventful awards season draws to an end.

Emilia Pérez, about a Mexican drug lord who changes gender, has 13 nominations in total – including best picture, best actress (Karla Sofía Gascón) and best supporting actress (Zoe Saldaña).

It is the most-nominated non-English language film of all time. It’s actually a French production, largely set in Mexico, with Spanish as the main language spoken.

Karla Sofía Gascón’s nomination made her the first trans person to be nominated in an acting category (although Elliot Page was nominated for Juno in 2008, before the actor transitioned).

However, the film – which had already caused controversy in Mexico – has been beset by controversy following a social media row involving Gascón.

Emilia Pérez remains strong in a couple of categories, but it’s unlikely to sweep the board in the way Oppenheimer – which also had 13 nominations – did last year.

Chasing down Emilia Pérez with 10 nods is three-and-a-half epic The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody.

Wicked also has 10 nominations, including for British actress Cynthia Erivo and her co-star Ariana Grande, while Demi Moore has the first Oscar nomination of her career for her role in The Substance.

Meanwhile, pope selection drama Conclave has eight nominations, including best actor for its British star Ralph Fiennes.

All the films above are up for the coveted best picture prize, and are joined by Anora, about a New York stripper who falls for the son of a wealthy Russian.

The film, which has six nominations, leapt ahead in the race after a string of precursor wins at the Critics Choice Awards as well as two major guild ceremonies – the Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America Awards.

But there remains no consensus on what will ultimately win the top prize – with the other contenders for best picture including A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part Two, I’m Still Here and Nickel Boys.

This has been an unpredictable awards season, and there could still be plenty of surprises in store.

In the best actress category, Moore, 62, is nominated for playing a fading star who swaps her body for a younger and more beautiful version of herself in The Substance.

But it’s a tight race.

There were gasps backstage at the Baftas (where I was) when Anora star Mikey Madison scooped up the best actress prize.

• Baftas 2025: The winners list in full

It was a big blow to the assumed Oscar momentum for Moore, and an incredible moment for Madison, who was relatively unknown before her role in Anora.

This is exactly the type of rags-to-riches story that awards ceremonies love – and the film itself celebrates.

Best actor may also be up in the air. Adrian Brody is the frontrunner, with his nod for The Brutalist – but Timothée Chalamet is his toughest competition, thanks to his acclaimed portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.

Last week, Chalamet’s surprise SAG win shook up the race, after his somewhat eccentric awards campaign.

If he won, not only would Chalamet halt Brody’s winning streak, he would also take Brody’s record as the youngest-ever winner of best actor.

In the best supporting actor category, Kieran Culkin is the frontrunner for A Real Pain, while Zoe Saldaña is almost certain to win best supporting actress for Emilia Pérez, having taken the trophy at a string of precursor events including the Baftas, SAG Awards and Golden Globes.

It’s worth noting it’s been a decade since the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite started trending, due to the lack of diversity at the 2015 Academy Awards.

This year, there are people of colour in both the best actress and best actor categories.

In fact, Sing Sing’s Colman Domingo is nominated for best leading actor for the second year in a row.

Elsewhere, however, progress remains slow.

Coralie Fargeat is the only woman to be nominated for best director, for The Substance, out of a field of five.

“Has there been progress, yes. Has there been enough? Absolutely not,” April Reign, LA-based founder of the #OscarsSoWhite movement, told me.

“It was never just about the Oscars not being black enough. It was also about gender, age, class, sexuality and geography too.”

“If we’re still able to count them on one hand, then we’re not there yet.”

Most of the nominees will be gracing the red carpet – I’m already betting we’ll see more tears and hand holding from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

There had been a big question mark over whether Karla Sofía Gascón will show up after the row over her past tweets.

However, it’s been confirmed she will attend the Oscars ceremony itself – although it remains to be seen if she will walk the red carpet and sit with her co-stars.

Presenters include Halle Berry, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey Jr, Cillian Murphy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Emma Stone.

This year’s Oscars race has played out against the grim backdrop of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

The nominations themselves were postponed twice due to the fires.

There’s no doubt it’s going to be hard for the awards to strike the right tone when so many people are suffering. It doesn’t sit well with celebrities flaunting their wealth on the red carpet.

Cancelling the whole event, however, was “never on the table,” according to Lynette Howell Taylor, an LA-based British film producer and member of the Academy’s board of governors, who lost her own house in the fires.

She told me there would “definitely be recognition of what the city has gone through” during the ceremony, with clear signposting of support mechanisms and ways to donate.

“But ultimately the show will be about the celebration of the movies of the year, like it is every year,” she said.

This year, the Academy has done away with having the original song nominees perform during the ceremony.

Instead, Wicked stars Erivo and Grande will perform a medley of songs from the film during the Oscars ceremony, which will last a reported 10 minutes long.

I can already see social media going into a meltdown over Defying Gravity, but it remains to be seen if the duo can recreate the energy of Ryan Gosling’s viral performance of I’m Just Ken last year.

Doja Cat, Lisa from Blackpink, Queen Latifah and Raye will be among the other performers during the ceremony.

The Academy Awards ceremony is hosted this year for the first time by comedian and podcaster Conan O’Brien.

He replaces US late night presenter Jimmy Kimmel, who has presented the show four times including last year.

The 2025 Oscars will air live on Sunday 2 March from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, where the ceremony has been held since 2002.

The show can be watched in the US on ABC and can be streamed on Hulu. It is also being broadcast around the world in more than 200 territories.

UK viewers can watch on ITV and ITVX from 22:30 GMT.

Cynthia Erivo is the first black British woman to receive two Oscar nominations for acting, after also being nominated for Harriet in 2020.

If she wins best actress this time, for playing Elphaba in Wicked, she’ll become an EGOT – having completed the set of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.

Ralph Fiennes is flying the flag in the best actor category with his first nomination for 28 years. He’s recognised for playing a cardinal who oversees the selection of a new Pope in Conclave.

Elsewhere, Felicity Jones is nominated for best supporting actress for The Brutalist – a decade after her first Oscar nomination – while Sir Elton John is in the best original song race.

The country will also be rooting for two more screen legends – Wallace and Gromit (and their makers Aardman Animations), who are hoping for their fourth Oscar. They are shortlisted for best animated feature for their latest outing, Vengeance Most Fowl.

Read more about this year’s awards season films:

• A Complete Unknown: Critics praise Chalamet’s portrayal of Bob Dylan
• A Real Pain: Succession star praised for emotional film role
• All We Imagine As Light: An Indian tale of love and sisterhood unfolds
• Anora: Mikey Madison praised for breakout role as New York stripper
• The Apprentice: Sebastian Stan says Trump ‘should be grateful’ for controversial film
• Bird: Saltburn star plays chaotic young dad in Bafta-tipped film
• Blitz: Saoirse Ronan says WW2 film is ‘incredibly relevant’
• The Brutalist: Film honours my family’s hardships and loss, says actor Adrien Brody
• Conclave: Critics praise ‘skin-prickling suspense’
• Emilia Pérez: Selena Gomez ‘shines’ in Oscar-tipped musical
• Gladiator II: Mescal was cast in Gladiator II after ’30-minute Zoom call’
• Hard Truths: Marianne Jean-Baptiste on Oscars buzz for playing ‘difficult’ woman
• I’m Still Here: Film brings Brazil’s dictatorship past to the surface
• Lee: Kate Winslet says women should celebrate ‘being a real shape’
• Maria: Angelina Jolie ‘spellbinding’ as opera star Callas
• Nickel Boys: Film adaptation ‘breaks the rules of cinema’
• Nightbitch: Amy Adams turns into a dog in ‘bizarre and brilliant’ film
• Nosferatu: ‘We’re all considering death all the time’: Willem Dafoe on new vampire film
• The Piano Lesson: Denzel Washington’s children join forces in ‘fearless’ film
• Queer: Critics divided over Daniel Craig film
• The Room Next Door: Tilda Swinton film sparks euthanasia debate
• Sing Sing: Colman Domingo wins Gotham prize as Oscars race heats up
• The Substance: Demi Moore is over being perfect in new ‘risky and juicy’ horror role
• Wicked: Ariana Grande channelled her loss into Wicked role

The uncertain future of two killer whales is no closer to being resolved despite the closure of their marine zoo home two months ago.

Wikie, 23, and her 11-year-old son Keijo are still being kept at Marineland Antibes, located in southern France, after it closed in January due to a forthcoming law banning the use of orcas in shows.

For months managers at Marineland have tried to send the killer whales to other marine zoos but this has angered animal rights campaigners who want them housed in a sanctuary, where the orcas won’t have to perform or be used for breeding.

The orcas were expected to go to another marine zoo in Spain when the French government rejected a move to a proposed sanctuary in Canada a few weeks ago.

But now Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the French ecology minister, said she would speak to colleagues in Spain, Italy and Greece about creating a different sanctuary together. However, her proposal has few other details and has been criticised.

The ecology ministry, when asked by the BBC, had no further information on where a sanctuary might be located or who would fund its construction and running costs.

Loro Parque, a marine zoo in Spain that wants to receive the killer whales from Marineland, told the BBC this week the current proposal was “wholly unsuitable” and that they were best positioned to care for them.

Christoph Kiessling, vice-president of the facility in Tenerife, said whale sanctuaries were “currently unable to meet the complex physiological, social and environmental needs” of killer whales.

Most designs involve cordoning off a bay and employing staff to ensure Wikie and Keijo – who were born in captivity and cannot be released into the wild – were properly fed and looked after.

Kiessling did say such a solution might be possible if there was more extensive research and planning but “such a process could take years, leaving the two Marineland [orcas] in a facility that is being wound down”.

Campaigners point out that several orcas have died at Loro Parque in the last few years, including three between March 2021 and September 2022.

Managers at the marine zoo said scientific examination of those orcas by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria showed the deaths were unavoidable.

They also fear Wikie might be used for breeding. Loro Parque announced in January that Morgan, the only female of the three orcas currently kept there, is pregnant.

Katheryn Wise, from the charity World Animal Protection, said Loro Parque was ultimately an entertainment business that used orcas to make money.

She added: “Morgan’s pregnancy underlines the fact that Loro Parque could never be a suitable option for Wikie and Keijo and should be removed as an option.”

Marineland, who are still paying to look after the orcas, said a move to Loro Parque as soon as possible was in the best interests of the animals’ welfare. They have asked the ecology ministry to approve the transfer.

The whale sanctuary in Canada applied to the French government to take in the orcas last year but their bid was rejected in January.

They were told the site they had selected in Nova Scotia was too far away and that the water there was too cold for Wikie and Keijo, who have spent their whole lives in southern France.

Following Pannier-Runacher’s proposal for a sanctuary in Europe, which she announced a fortnight ago in a video on Instagram, the directors of the rejected Canadian project criticised the idea of one being built in the Mediterranean.

They wrote a letter to her in which they cited Dr David Perpiñán, a diplomate at the European College of Zoological Medicine, who said: “Wikie and Keijo’s origin is Iceland. These two orcas do not belong to the ecotypes seen in the Mediterranean.”

He added: “The possibility of building a sanctuary for them in the Mediterranean is probably the worst of the possible options.”

The directors also said, unlike the European proposal, their sanctuary was ready to begin construction as the design had already been finalised.

Other animal rights groups have been more welcoming of Pannier-Runacher’s announcement, saying a European sanctuary would still be better for the orcas’ welfare than life in another marine zoo.

Sea Shepherd, a marine conservation society, replied to the minister on Instagram saying this was a chance to achieve what the zoo industry calls “impossible” – the building of an ocean sanctuary where captive orcas can enjoy the rest of their lives.

Pannier-Runacher said in her video she was keenly aware of the strong feelings people had about where Wikie and Keijo should be rehomed.

She did not rule out sending them to Loro Parque or other marine zoos, only that she would “oppose any transfer to a site that is not suitable for accommodating” orcas.

Last November she blocked an application by Marineland to send the killer whales to a marine zoo in Japan, citing lower animal welfare regulations in the country.

The ‘Year of the Sea’ is currently underway in France, a government initiative to raise awareness about the importance of the ocean, and Pannier-Runacher believes the creation of a European whale sanctuary would be a fitting testament to it.

“I’m not telling you that it will work,” she told Instagram users. “But nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

It was the first thing President Donald Trump said when Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky stepped out of his car at the White House on Friday.

“You’re all dressed up today,” Trump said as he greeted him, referring to Zelensky’s military-style black sweatshirt, adorned with the Ukrainian trident.

Zelensky has eschewed suits, button-down shirts and ties – even during important meetings with world leaders and an address to the US Congress – since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of his country began in 2022.

The Ukrainian leader has said his choice of military clothing is a show of solidarity with soldiers fighting the Russian army on the war’s frontlines.

But it has long been an irritant for critics of US aid to Ukraine, and after years as a talking point among some right-wing critics, the issue came to global attention in a spectacular way during Friday’s now infamous Oval Office meeting with Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance.

A question to Zelensky from a US reporter accused him of disrespecting the occasion by not wearing a suit and this immediately changed the atmosphere in the room, according to BBC reporters present.

And a short time later, larger issues of respect and gratitude fuelled the extraordinary argument that saw the US president and vice-president upbraid their European ally in front of the world’s TV cameras.

• European leaders back Zelensky after Trump clash
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes
• Zelensky wants US to ‘stand more firmly’ on Ukraine’s side

When the meeting was opened up to questions from reporters, one came from Brian Glenn, chief White House correspondent for conservative cable network Real America’s Voice.

“Why don’t you wear a suit?” Glenn asked. “You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit.

“Do you own a suit?” he continued. “A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dignity of this office.”

The aggressive questioning marked the moment when the Ukrainian president – who until then seemed to be having a diplomatic, even friendly, conversation with Trump – first appeared tired and irritated.

“I will wear costume after this war will finish,” Zelensky replied. (The word “suit” can be translated into Ukrainian as “kostyum”.)

The Ukrainian president then made a verbal jab at the reporter.

“Maybe something like yours, yes. Maybe something better, I don’t know,” he said, to laughter in the room. “Maybe something cheaper.”

• ‘Trump and Vance were so rude’: Ukrainians react to disastrous White House meeting
• Most Republicans laud Trump after Zelensky showdown, but some express dismay

Glenn’s question gave voice to a longstanding gripe in the world of Maga politics, where some – like JD Vance – argue that the Ukrainian leader does not seem to be showing enough gratitude or respect to the US for three years of military aid.

A former local TV reporter in Dallas who became better known in conservative circles for his work at another pro-Trump channel, Right Side Broadcasting Network, Glenn is an unabashed Trump fan. Last year he told Politico that he was “100 percent behind President Trump and the America First agenda.”

He is also reportedly dating Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia congresswoman who is one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters.

Glenn was in the room as part of the White House press pool, a group of reporters which covers the president at official events on behalf of the wider media.

The Trump administration took control of the pool this week from an association of journalists, saying it would give more access to “new voices”.

Real America’s Voice, which was founded in 2020, is a relatively obscure right-wing cable news outlet, one of several pro-Trump channels that have cropped up in recent years. Its guests and hosts have spread conspiracy theories about a variety of subjects, including the 2020 presidential election, the 2021 Capitol riot and QAnon.

Its show line-up includes some big names from the Maga world, including Trump’s former chief advisor Steve Bannon, classic rocker turned political activist Ted Nugent and Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative Turning Point group. The BBC contacted the network for comment.

After the Oval Office spat, Glenn posted online that he had “extreme empathy for the people of Ukraine” but said that Zelensky’s lack of a suit demonstrated “his inner disrespect” for the US.

Zelensky’s defenders online posted pictures of Winston Churchill wearing casual clothes during World War Two.

Pictures from the period show the British leader wearing jumpsuit-like clothes to a meeting with then-US President Franklin Roosevelt, and he also wore military uniforms and suits during conflabs with world leaders.

After Glenn’s question, the news conference swiftly moved on, to a query about whether the US would send more arms to Ukraine. At the end of an answer Trump referred back to the suit question.

“I do like your clothing,” he quipped, and pointing to Zelensky he said, “I think he’s dressed beautifully.”

Behind the scenes, Trump’s attitude may have been slightly different, according to reports. US news outlet Axios reported that before the meeting, White House staffers had requested that Zelensky wear a suit and were offended when he did not.

However, the two world leaders continued taking questions, more or less cordially, for nearly another 20 minutes before the extraordinary argument broke out, after an interruption by the US vice-president, JD Vance.

Vance repeatedly brought up “respect” – referring to Zelensky as “Mr President” as the Ukrainian leader called him “JD” – and said: “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media right now”.

The discussion went downhill from there. A suit-less Zelensky was soon ejected from the White House, as relations between the two countries reached a new wartime low.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted the US to “stand more firmly on our side” after a firey White House exchange with US President Donald Trump on Friday.

After arriving in the UK to take part in a European leaders’ summit, Zelensky urged the US to continue its support for Ukraine despite “the tough dialogue” between the two sides.

It came after a war of words at the Oval Office in which Trump told Zelensky to make a deal with Russia “or we are out” and US Vice-President JD Vance accused him of being ungrateful.

On Saturday, Zelensky thanked UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for “meaningful and warm meeting” and said a £2.26bn ($2.8bn) loan to Kyiv had been agreed.

“The funds will be directed toward weapons production in Ukraine.

“I thank the people and government of the United Kingdom for their tremendous support from the very beginning of this war.

“We are happy to have such strategic partners and to share the same vision of what a secure future should look like for all.”

Earlier, Zelensky published a thread of 14 posts on X in which he reiterated calls for US security guarantees to form part of any “just and lasting” peace deal to end the war with Russia.

He noted that Trump wanted to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, but added that no-one wanted peace more than Ukraine.

The ill-fated White House meeting was intended to precede the signing of a deal to give the US access to Ukraine’s deposits of rare earth minerals. Instead, Zelensky was told to leave early before it could be signed.

Trump later told reporters that Ukraine’s president “overplayed his hand” in the exchange and that he would need “to say ‘I want to make peace'” to restart talks with the US.

European leaders rallied behind Zelensky, but Nato’s secretary general said he must “find a way” to restore his relationship with Trump.

On Saturday, Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to sign the minerals agreement as “the first step toward security guarantees” from the US – a line he has maintained for days, but which Trump has refused to agree to.

“But it’s not enough, and we need more than just that,” he added. “A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine.”

He added: “All Ukrainians want to hear a strong US position on our side. It’s understandable the US might look for dialogue with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.

“But the US has always spoken about ‘peace through strength.’ And together we can take strong steps against Putin.”

In Russia, the Kremlin’s foreign ministry spokeswoman called Zelensky’s visit to Washington a “complete diplomatic failure of Kyiv”.

Maria Zakharova said the Ukrainian president is “obsessed” with prolonging the war, and repeated Russia’s insistence to annex all territories currently occupied by Russia.

• Live coverage and analysis
• Steve Rosenberg: Vladimir Putin can afford to sit back and watch events unfold
• After White House clash, Starmer faces decision about who he can trust
• Jeremy Bowen: Trump-Zelensky row signals looming crisis between Europe and US
• Ukrainians back Zelensky after disastrous Oval Office encounter
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes

Ahead of the London summit, where European leaders will further discuss efforts to secure a peace deal, Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who said he retained “unwavering support for Ukraine”.

Speaking inside his office, Sir Keir told Zelensky he was “very, very welcome here in Downing Street” and reiterated that the UK would stand with Ukraine “for as long as it may take”.

He added: “A lasting peace for Ukraine based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine – so important for Ukraine, so important for Europe and so important for the United Kingdom.”

Senior political figures from across Europe have also rallied behind Ukraine after Friday’s extraordinary scenes in the US.

The leaders of Germany, France, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands were among those who posted social media messages backing Ukraine – with Zelensky responding directly to each one to thank them for their support.

French President Emmanuel Macron posted: “There is an aggressor: Russia. There is a victim: Ukraine. We were right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago – and to keep doing so.”

Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote that “no-one wants peace more than the citizens of Ukraine”, with his replacement-in-waiting Friedrich Merz adding that “we stand with Ukraine” and “we must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war”.

Speaking to the BBC on Saturday, Nato chief Mark Rutte said he had spoken to Zelensky twice following the White House meeting, and told him “we have to respect” what Trump has done for Ukraine so far.

He referenced the first Trump administration’s approval for the sale of Javelin anti-tank missile systems allowed Ukraine to “fight back”.

Putin launched the war two years after Trump had left office.

Russia has been making slow gains on the battlefield for months.

In the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, officials said that 12 people, including two children, were injured in a “massive” overnight drone strike, a short while after Zelensky left the White House.

The casualties included four female patients at a hospital in the city centre. Residential buildings, pharmacies, cafes and shops were also been damaged, the Ukrainian prosecution service said.

Friday’s conversation soured after the US Vice-President JD Vance – who was sitting alongside other politicians in the room – told Zelensky that the war had to be ended through diplomacy.

Zelensky responded by asking “what kind of diplomacy?”, referencing a previous ceasefire deal in 2019, agreed three years before Russia’s full-scale invasion when Moscow was supporting and arming separatist fighters in Ukraine’s east.

The vice-president then accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and “litigating” the situation in front of the media.

Friday’s drama in the Oval Office sparked a swift reaction from many world leaders.

But not from Vladimir Putin. There’s been no comment so far from the Kremlin leader.

Then again, he doesn’t really need to say anything. President Putin can afford to sit back and watch events unfold.

Donald Trump predicted that the very public spat with President Zelensky was “going to be great television”.

There’s little doubt that Vladimir Putin will have enjoyed the “show”, the dramatic spectacle of Volodymyr Zelensky, leader of the country President Putin invaded, being berated by the president and vice-president of the United States in front of the world’s media.

Some Russian officials have commented, though, on events in Washington.

In a post on social media, former president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of the Russian security council, wrote that President Zelensky had received “a slap down in the Oval Office”. He called on the US to stop military assistance to Ukraine.

How Moscow would welcome that.

Writing on Telegram, foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova praised Trump and JD Vance for their “miracle of restraint” at not hitting Ukraine’s president.

• Follow live coverage and analysis
• Jeremy Bowen: Trump-Zelensky row signals looming crisis between Europe and US
• Ukrainians back Zelensky after disastrous Oval Office encounter
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes
• After White House clash, Starmer faces decision about who he can trust

It’s a sign of the new world in which we seem to be now that, while US-Ukraine relations are at risk of implosion, the opposite is true for US-Russia ties.

In recent weeks, Trump and Putin have spoken on the phone and pledged to work closely together; there’s talk of a possible summit sometime soon; lower-level US-Russia talks to reset relations and discuss potential economic cooperation have already started.

President Putin has dangled the carrot of lucrative joint projects with the Americans involving rare earth minerals and aluminium production.

The implications of a breakdown in relations between Ukraine and the US are potentially very serious for Kyiv, but very positive for Moscow.

If the flow of American weapons to Ukraine were to stop, it would be much harder for Ukrainians to defend themselves against the Russian forces who have invaded their country, even if Ukraine enjoys solidarity and strong support from European leaders.

For some time now, Moscow has believed that the war in Ukraine has been going Russia’s way. The shouting-match in the Oval Office will have cemented that view.

The relationship between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky was bad enough before the shouting match in the Oval Office.

President Trump had already called him a dictator and said Ukraine started the war – which is a lie.

Now the US-Ukraine alliance nurtured by Joe Biden is in pieces.

The public breakdown also signals a major crisis looming between European members of Nato and the US.

There will be many more doubts and questions about the US commitment to European security outside Ukraine. The biggest is whether President Trump would keep the promise his predecessor Harry Truman made in 1949 to treat an attack on a Nato ally as an attack on America.

Those concerns are based on what appears to be Trump’s determination to restore a strong relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He has put heavy pressure on Ukraine while offering Putin big concessions – that would have to be made by the Ukrainians.

The security of Ukraine is coming a poor second – and Europeans are worrying theirs is too.

President Zelensky’s refusal to make those concessions has infuriated Trump.

• Follow live reaction and analysis
• Steve Rosenberg: Vladimir Putin can afford to sit back and watch events unfold
• Ukrainians back Zelensky after disastrous Oval Office encounter
• After White House clash, Starmer faces decision about who he can trust
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes

It’s not just the minerals deal that he refused to sign. Ukrainians believe they are in a war for national survival – and that Putin would break any promise to end the war if he is not deterred.

That’s why Zelensky asked repeatedly for American security guarantees.

The meeting ignited into a shouting match after an intervention by Vice-President JD Vance.

There are suspicions now that the public row was – in the words of one diplomatic observer – a planned political mugging: either to force Zelensky to do America’s bidding, or to precipitate a crisis that would allow them to blame him for whatever happens next.

If Trump follows the breakdown of talks with a freeze on military aid, Ukraine will fight on. The questions are how effectively, and for how long.

Pressure will redouble on its European allies to take up the slack.

In Union County, South Carolina, the sprawling cotton mills that once put bread on the table for many are long gone. Union is also what is termed a “food desert”, where many residents live far from the nearest supermarket. So in 2016, local non-profit director Elise Ashby began working with farmers to deliver discounted boxes of farm-fresh produce across the county, where 30% of the population is black and roughly 25% live in poverty.

To fund this, Ms Ashby first relied on her own savings and then some small-scale grants. But in 2023, the Walmart Foundation – the philanthropic arm of one of America’s largest corporations – awarded her over $100,000 (£80,000), as part of a $1.5m programme to fund “community-based non-profits led by people of colour”.

“I cried a little bit,” she says. “It was just one of those times where, like, somebody actually sees what you’re doing.”

Two years ago, this was the kind of programme that attracted sponsorship from major companies across America, as the country grappled with racism past and present following the murder of George Floyd, a black man suffocated under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest in 2020.

But now, those same companies are pulling back. Walmart announced in November that it was ending some of its diversity initiatives, including plans to close its Center for Racial Equity, which supported Ms Ashby’s grant.

Corporations from Meta and Google to Goldman Sachs and McDonald’s have all announced similar changes as part of a larger retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion programmes (DEI) across the corporate landscape.

The moment represents a stark cultural shift, fuelled in part by fears of lawsuits, investigations, and social media backlash, as well as relentless pressure from the new president of the United States.

Since assuming office in January, Donald Trump has aggressively sought to “terminate DEI” and “restore merit-based opportunity” in the US. He has directed the federal government to end its DEI programmes and investigate private companies and academic institutions thought to be engaged in “illegal DEI”.

In the early days of his second term, the Veterans Affairs department has closed its DEI offices, the Environmental Protection Agency has placed nearly 200 employees who worked in its civil rights office on paid leave and Trump has fired the top military general, a black man whom his defence secretary had previously said should be fired because of his involvement in “woke” DEI.

At first sight, it may appear that the US’s experiment with policies designed to improve outcomes for specific racial and identity-based groups is finished. But some experts suggest there’s another possibility, that some such efforts will continue – but in a different guise, one more suited to the political mood of a country that has just elected a president who has pledged a war on “woke”.

Programmes resembling DEI first emerged in earnest in the US in the 1960s, in the wake of the civil rights movement that fought to protect and expand the rights of black Americans.

Under names like “affirmative action” and “equal opportunity”, initially their aim was to reverse the damaging effects of centuries of enslavement of African Americans and decades of discrimination under “Jim Crow” laws that enforced racial segregation.

As the movement evolved, promoting the rights of women, the LGBT community, and other racial and ethnic groups, use of the terms “diversity”, “equity” and “inclusion” became more widespread.

DEI programmes in the corporate world and government agencies have often focused on hiring practices and policies emphasising diversity as a commercial benefit. Their supporters say they aim to address disparities affecting people from a range of backgrounds, though a significant emphasis tends to be on race.

The programmes saw a huge upswing in 2020 during the social unrest of the Black Lives Matter movement. For example, Walmart committed $100m over five years to its racial equity centre. Wells Fargo appointed its first chief diversity officer; Google and Nike already had theirs in place. After adjusting their hiring practices, companies listed on the S&P 100 added more than 300,000 jobs – 94% of which went to people of colour, according to Bloomberg.

But almost as quickly as the pendulum swung left, a conservative backlash began. For Stefan Padfield, executive director of conservative think-tank the National Center for Public Policy Research, DEI programmes are based on a premise that “divides people on the basis of race and sex”.

More recently, these arguments that programmes intended to combat discrimination were themselves discriminatory, particularly against white Americans, have been made with increasing force. Training sessions emphasising concepts like “white privilege” and racial bias have drawn particular scrutiny.

The roots of this opposition took hold in conservative opposition to critical race theory (CRT), an academic concept which argues racism is endemic to American society. Over time, the campaign to remove books from classrooms that allegedly indoctrinated students into CRT thinking evolved into one focused on “punishing woke corporations”.

Social media accounts like End Wokeness and conservative activists such as Robby Starbuck seized the moment to target companies accused of being “woke”. Mr Starbuck has taken credit for changes in policy at the likes of Ford, John Deere and Harley-Davidson after he publicised details of their DEI initiatives to his social media followers.

One of the clearest signs of this movement’s strength came in spring 2023, after a Bud Light partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked right-wing outrage and calls for a boycott of the beer and its parent company Anheuser-Busch. In the aftermath of the campaign, Bud Light sales were 28% lower than usual, a Harvard Business Review analysis found.

Another major victory for conservatives arrived in June 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled that race could no longer be considered as a factor in university admissions, reversing decades of affirmative action-based policy.

The ruling also cast the legal standing of corporate DEI policies into uncertainty. When Meta made the internal announcement it was cancelling DEI programmes, the company told staff “the legal and policy landscape” surrounding DEI had changed.

The speed at which some large corporations have shed their DEI policies raises the question of how genuine their commitment to diversifying their workforces was in the first place.

Martin Whittaker, chief executive at JUST Capital, a non-profit that surveys Americans on workplace issues, says much of the backtracking comes from companies who were “rushing to kind of look good” at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.

But not all are yielding to political and legal pressure. Conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation noted in a November report that although DEI programmes appear to be trending downwards, “nearly all” Fortune 500 companies still list DEI commitments somewhere on their websites. Apple shareholders recently voted to continue diversity programmes at the company.

Surveys that measure Americans’ support for DEI offer mixed results. JUST Capital’s survey suggests support for DEI has declined, but support for issues closely linked to it – such as fair pay – have not. A 2023 survey from the Pew Research Center suggested most employed adults (56%) believed “focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing”.

Much rests on the question of whether DEI is actually effective in the first place.

Some research has suggested that DEI programmes like diversity training can in fact be harmful. According to one study by researchers from Harvard University and the University of Tel Aviv, trainers commonly report hostility and resistance from employees who feel forced to do the training and threatened by what they see as reverse discrimination; it also says the programmes can often leave trainees feeling more hostility towards other groups.

This research has been seized on by DEI’s opponents as part of the evidence that “the best way to improve the lives of all our citizens, and all our neighbours, is to allow the free market to lift all the boats”, as Mr Padfield puts it.

• Google joins firms dropping diversity recruitment goals
• Meta and Amazon scale back diversity initiatives
• Apple boss says its DEI programmes may change

The problem with this kind of thinking, according to Siri Chilazi, a researcher focused on gender equity at Harvard University, is that there is no historical precedent to suggest that racial and gender imbalances will correct themselves. Mrs Chilazi says racial and gender barriers still exist and believes DEI solutions focused on “levelling the playing field for all” are needed.

She cites multiple experiments that show white men disproportionately receive more responses after applying for jobs than women or people of colour. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research sent identical CVs to roughly 100 of the largest US companies and found that applicants presumed to be white were contacted by employers 9.5% more often than applicants presumed to be black – with one company contacting presumed white applicants 43% more often.

But Mrs Chilazi also says there are genuine issues with many DEI programmes, adding that the most common programmes – including diversity and unconscious bias training and employee resource or affinity groups – are often the least effective. A recent study highlighting the ineffectiveness of some DEI practices said a common issue was treating them as an end goal in themselves, without measurable outcomes.

And when it comes to large corporations donating money towards DEI initiatives – like Walmart’s equity centre – Mrs Chilazi says the problem is that there is not much data to show how effective this is. “This is an area where we actually don’t have good research,” she says.

Where studies have shown DEI to be effective is when it comes to making “small systemic changes”, she says. There is evidence to suggest replacing open-ended questions in performance evaluations with more specific ones, such as “what’s the one biggest accomplishment of this person last year?”, has shown significant reductions in gender and racial evaluation gaps that can affect pay, according to Mrs Chilazi.

Supporters of DEI say the real-world impact of the shift from it can be seen at Harvard University, which was targeted in the landmark Supreme Court case.

Last autumn, Harvard Law School reported having only 19 first-year black students among more than 500 students that enrolled, according to the American Bar Association. That was less than half the number from the previous year – 43 – and the lowest since the 1960s. The law school also saw a significant decline in Hispanic student enrolment, which dropped from 63 to 39 between 2023 and 2024.

Colleges and schools have already begun making adjustments in response to the new climate. At one university, a lunar new year celebration was cancelled; another ended a decades-long forum on race. Elsewhere, social clubs for black and Asian students have been disbanded.

But the ruling’s impact does not appear straightforward. Enrolment numbers for black and Hispanic students at some other top US colleges have actually increased since the Supreme Court’s decision.

For the freshman class that arrived in the autumn, Northwestern University saw an 11% rise in enrolment for black students and a 13% increase for Hispanic students.

Because of results like these, some DEI opponents have accused universities of flouting the court’s ruling.

But another explanation offered for the increase in diversity at some universities is a shift towards “socio-economic inclusion” instead of race and ethnicity – which nonetheless appears to have achieved the same objective.

Dartmouth University’s Hispanic student enrolment jumped from 9.7% to 12.7% last year, after adjusting to make the school “more accessible for low- and middle-income families”, it said in a press release.

It’s clear that the anti-DEI campaigns are having a significant real-world impact. “I think we are in the midst of a big shift,” says Mrs Chilazi.

Michelle Jolivet, author of Is DEI Dead?: The Rebranding of Inclusive Organizations, says she is worried that the anti-DEI movement will lead to progress stalling for historically disadvantaged groups.

“Things that matter are measured, and when you stop measuring them, they stop happening,” she says. “Then you do stop making progress.”

But as to the question at the centre of her book – is DEI dead? – Jolivet says the answer is no.

The companies that appear to have cancelled their DEI programmes are not really eliminating them, she says. Instead, they are just rebranding and reorganising to escape potential lawsuits.

She gave the example of Walmart renaming its chief diversity officer to chief belonging officer. Similarly, McDonald’s gave one of its programmes a facelift, changing the name of its Global DEI Center of Excellence to the Global Inclusion Team.

“DEI has become more of a controversial word,” she says. “If I just take that word out, I can still do the same thing.”

But not everyone is reassured.

Back in the fields of Union County, Elise Ashby looks towards the future with uncertainty. The grant from Walmart gave her access to capital that she argues black-owned businesses often struggle to obtain.

She fears a return to when she “stayed up nights” wondering where the next cheque would come from and facing the kind of obstacles “white men don’t have”.

She says: “Am I concerned about the future? Absolutely.”

A plane crash in South Korea last December left Park Guen-woo an orphan. The 22-year-old had barely found space to mourn his parents when he came across a torrent of online abuse, conspiracies and malicious jokes made about the victims.

The Jeju Air plane, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, crash-landed at Muan International Airport on 29 December and exploded after slamming into a concrete barrier at the end of the runway, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.

Police investigations have identified and apprehended eight people who have been accused of making derogatory and defamatory online posts. These included suggestions that families were “thrilled” to receive compensation from authorities, or that they were “fake victims” – to the extent that some felt compelled to prove they had lost their loved ones.

Authorities have taken down at least 427 such posts.

But this is not the first time that bereaved families in South Korea have found themselves the targets of online abuse. Speaking to the BBC, experts described a culture where economic struggles, financial envy and social issues such as toxic competitiveness are fuelling hate speech.

Following Seoul’s Halloween crowd crush in 2022, victims and bereaved families were similarly smeared. A man who lost his son in the incident had his photo doctored by hate groups – showing him laughing after receiving compensation.

People whose loved ones died in the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014 – a maritime disaster that saw 304 people killed, mostly schoolchildren – have also for years been the targets of hate speech.

The tragedy saw the government pay out an average of 420 million won ($292,840; £231,686) per victim – triggering comments that claimed this figure was unreasonably high.

“People who are living day by day feel the compensation is overrated and say the bereaved are getting ‘unfair treatment’ and that they are making a big deal when everyone’s life is hard,” Koo Jeong-woo, a sociology professor at Sungkyunkwan University, told news site The Korea Herald.

In later comments to the BBC, Prof Koo suggested that economic stress and a competitive job market – particularly in the wake of Covid – has left many people feeling socially isolated, exacerbating the issue of hate speech.

Many South Koreans, he says, now “view others not as their peers, but as adversaries”, pointing to a widespread culture of comparison in South Korea.

“We tend to compare a lot… if you put someone else down, it’s easier to feel superior yourself,” he told the BBC. “That’s why there’s a bit of tendency in Korea to engage in hate speech or make derogatory remarks, aiming to diminish others to elevate oneself.”

Mr Park says the families of the Jeju Air crash victims have been characterised as “parasites squandering the nation’s money”.

By way of example, he refers to a recent article about an emergency relief fund of three million won ($2,055; £1,632) that was raised for the bereaved through donations. That article was met with a flood of malicious comments, many referencing the erroneous suggestion that taxpayers’ money was used for the fund.

“It seems like the families of the Muan Airport victims have hit the jackpot. They must be secretly delighted,” said one such comment.

Mr Park says these comments were “overwhelming”.

“Even if compensation for the accident comes in, how could we possibly feel like recklessly spending it when it is the price of our loved ones’ lives?” he says. “Every single one of those comments cuts us deeply. We’re not here to make money.”

“Too many people, instead of being sensitive, build their entertainment on others’ suffering,” he adds. “When something like this happens, they belittle it and spew hateful remarks.”

Joshua Uyheng, a psychology professor in the Philippines who studies online hate, says that hate is often “directed towards [those] we believe are gaining some advantage at our expense”.

“We feel hatred when we [think we] are getting the short end of the stick.”

In the case of the Jeju Air crash, political dynamics only made things worse.

The accident came amid a period of political turmoil in South Korea, with the country reeling from suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s shock decision to enact martial law – an incident that politically divided the country.

Many supporters of President Yoon’s right-wing People Power Party have, without evidence, pinned blame for the crash on the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), pointing to the fact that Muan Airport was originally built as part of a political pledge by the DP.

“The Muan airport tragedy is a man-made disaster caused by the DP,” read one comment on YouTube. Another described it as “100% the fault” of the party.

Park Han-shin, whose brother died in the plane crash, says he has been accused of being a DP member and “fake bereaved family member”. So extensive were these claims that his daughter took to social media to call them out.

“It pains me deeply to see my father, who lost his brother in such a tragedy, being labelled a ‘scammer’. It also makes me worried that this misinformation might lead my father to make wrong choices out of despair,” she wrote on Threads two days after the incident.

Park Han-shin says he is stunned by how people seem to “enjoy taking advantage of others’ pain”.

“That’s simply not something a human being should do,” he told the BBC.

“I am just an ordinary citizen. I am not here to enter politics. I came to find out the truth about my younger brother’s death.”

While there are no perfect solutions to hate, experts say social media companies should establish policies on what constitutes hate speech and moderate content posted on their platforms accordingly.

“Online users should be able to report malicious posts and comments smoothly, and platform companies must actively delete such content,” Prof Koo says. Law enforcement agencies should also take perpetrators to task, he adds.

Reminding people of their shared identities may also help, says Prof Uyheng.

“The less people feel that they are on opposite ends of a zero-sum game, perhaps the more they can feel that tragedies like these are the shared concern of us all – and that victims deserve empathy and compassion, not vitriol and condemnation.”

Don’t insult the leaders. Don’t insult the ideology. And don’t judge.

These are the rules tour guides read out to Western tourists as they prepare to drive across the border into North Korea, arguably the most secretive and repressive country in the world.

Then there is the practical information. No phone signal, no internet, no cash machines.

“The North Koreans aren’t robots. They have opinions, goals, and a sense of humour. And in our briefing we encourage people to listen to and understand them,” says Rowan Beard, who runs Young Pioneer Tours, one of two Western companies which resumed trips to the country last week, after a five-year hiatus.

North Korea sealed its borders at the outset of the pandemic, shutting out diplomats, aid workers and travellers, and making it nearly impossible to know what was happening there.

Since then, it has further isolated itself from most of the world, relying on support from Russia and China. Many doubted whether Westerners would ever be allowed back.

But after years of cajoling and several false starts, Rowan and some other tour leaders were given the green light to restart operations. He pulled together a group of eager travellers in just five hours, desperate to not miss the opportunity. Most were vloggers and travel addicts, some wanting to tick the final country off their list, along with the odd North Korea enthusiast.

Last Thursday the tourists, from the UK, France, Germany and Australia, drove over the border from China into the remote area of Rason for a four-night trip.

Among them was 28-year-old British YouTuber Mike O’Kennedy. Even with its reputation, he was startled by the extreme level of control. As with all trips to North Korea, the tourists were escorted by local guides, who followed a strict, pre-approved schedule. It included carefully choreographed trips to a beer factory, a school, and a new, fully stocked pharmacy.

Ben Weston, one of the tour leaders from Suffolk, likened visiting North Korea to “being on a school trip”. “You can’t leave the hotel without the guides,” he said.

“A couple of times I even had to let them know when I wanted to use the bathroom,” said Mike. “I’ve never had to do that anywhere in the world.”

Despite the chaperoning, Mike was able to spot snippets of real life. “Everyone was working, it didn’t feel like anyone was just hanging out. That was kind of bleak to see.”

On his trip to the school, a group of eight-year-olds performed a dance to animations of ballistic missiles hitting targets. A video of the spectacle shows girls and boys with red neckties, singing, while explosions flare on a screen behind them.

For now, tourists are being kept well away from the capital Pyongyang. Greg Vaczi from Koryo Tours, the other tour company allowed back in, admits the current itinerary lacks the “big-hitting monuments” of Pyongyang. He suspects authorities have chosen Rason as their guinea pig because the area is relatively contained and easy to control.

Set up as a special economic zone, to trial new financial policies, it operates as a mini capitalist enclave inside an otherwise socialist state. Chinese businesspeople run joint enterprises with North Koreans, and can travel in and out fairly freely.

Joe Smith, a seasoned North Korea traveller and former writer for the specialist North Korea platform NK News, was there on his third trip. “I feel like the more times you visit the less you know. Each time you get a little peek behind the curtain, which just leaves you with more questions,” he said.

Joe’s highlight was a surprise off-agenda visit to a luxury goods market, where people were selling jeans and perfumes, along with fake Louis Vuitton handbags and Japanese washing machines, probably imported from China. Here, the tourists were not allowed to take photos – an attempt to hide this consumer bubble from the rest of the country, they suspected.

“This was the only place people weren’t expecting us,” Joe said. “It felt messy and real; a place North Koreans actually go. I loved it.”

But according to the experienced tour leaders, the group’s movements were more restricted than on previous trips, with fewer opportunities to wander the streets, pop into a barbershop or supermarket, and talk to locals.

Covid was often cited as the reason, said Greg from Koryo Tours. “On the surface they are still concerned. Our luggage was disinfected at the border, our temperatures were taken, and about 50% of people are still wearing masks.” Greg cannot work out whether the fear is genuine, or an excuse to control people.

It is thought Covid hit North Korea hard, though it is difficult to know the extent of the suffering.

Local guides repeated the government line that the virus entered the country in a balloon sent over from South Korea, and was swiftly eradicated in 90 days. But Rowan, who has been to North Korea more than 100 times, sensed that Rason had been impacted by the tough Covid regulations. A lot of Chinese businesses had closed, he said, and their workers had left.

Even Joe, the experienced North Korea traveller, commented on how dilapidated the buildings were. “Places were dimly lit and there was no heating, apart from in our hotel rooms,” he said, noting a trip to a cold, dark and deserted art gallery. “It felt like they opened the doors just for us.”

The regime’s photographs might make North Korea look clean and shiny, Joe said, but in person you realise “the roads are awful, the pavements are wobbly, and the buildings are weirdly constructed”. His hotel room was old-fashioned and filthy, he said, resembling “his grandma’s living room”. The whole window was cracked.

“They’ve had five years to fix things. North Koreans are so sensitive about what they show tourists. If this is the best they can show, I dread to think what else is out there”, he said. Most of the country is kept well hidden, with more than four in 10 people believed to be undernourished and needing help.

One of the few chances tourists in North Korea get to interact with local people is through their guides, who sometimes speak English. On these recent trips they were surprisingly well-informed, despite the regime’s intense propaganda machine and information blockade. This is probably because they speak to the Chinese businesspeople who come and go, said Greg.

They knew about Trump’s tariffs and the war in Ukraine – even that North Korean troops were involved. But when Joe showed a photo from Syria, his guide was unaware President Assad had been toppled. “I carefully explained that sometimes when people don’t like their leader, they rise up and force them out, and at first he didn’t believe me.”

Such conversations need to be delicately handled. Strict laws prevent North Koreans from speaking freely. Ask or reveal too much and the tourists might put their guide or themselves at risk.

Mike admits there were times this made him nervous. On a trip to a North Korea-Russia Friendship House, he was invited to write in the visitors’ book. “I went blank and wrote something like ‘I wish the world peace.’ Afterwards my guide told me that was an inappropriate thing to write. That made me paranoid,” he said.

“Generally, the guides did a great job of making us feel safe. There were just a couple of moments when I thought, this is bizarre.”

For Greg from Koryo Tours, these interactions bring a deeper purpose to North Korea tourism: “North Koreans get the chance to engage with foreigners. This allows them to come up with new ideas, which, in a country this closed, is so important.”

But tourism to North Korea is contentious, especially as travellers have been allowed back before aid workers and most Western diplomats, including the UK’s. Critics, including Joanna Hosaniak from the Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, argue these trips mainly benefit the regime.

“This is not like tourism in other poor countries, where local people benefit from the extra income. The vast majority of the population don’t know these tourists exist. Their money goes to the state and ultimately towards its military,” she said.

One conversation has stuck in YouTuber Mike’s head. During his trip to the school, he was surprised when a girl, after meeting him, said she hoped to visit the UK one day. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her chances were very, very slim,” he said.

When Luna Sofia Miranda approached Sean Baker in a strip club in New York in 2022, she tried her best to charm him.

But he “very clearly did not want to buy a lap dance,” she says.

Miranda, who was 23 at the time, started asking why he and his wife were there.

“I’m very nosy,” she says. “So I kept asking them questions and I finally got it out of them. They were making a film about strippers.”

She told them she had studied acting, and – after a successful audition – got a call on her 24th birthday, to offer her a part in the film.

That film, Anora, is now seen as one of the frontrunners heading into the Oscars on Sunday.

• Anora star: Oscar talk is ‘overwhelming and amazing’

It’s directed by Baker, and stars Mikey Madison, who is up for best actress for her role as a New York stripper.

Madison, 25, relied on real-life strippers to help her perfect the part.

When she won a Bafta film award last month, she dedicated it to the sex worker community.

“I have been able to meet some of that community through my research of the film, and that’s been one of the most incredible parts of making the film,” she told us backstage.

They “deserve respect and don’t often get it. And so I had to say something,” she added.

We’ve been speaking to the actresses, strippers and dancers in the film about their experiences of working on it – and their thoughts on the finished product.

Some praised the film as realistic, particularly in its portrayal of the rejection and exhaustion that sex workers often feel. But others said the film was “limited”.

Edie Turquet was initially unsure whether to take part in the film.

Turquet, who is British and appeared in Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts as a child, now lives in New York where she’s a student and a stripper.

She got cast as a background dancer in Anora after a casting agent spotted her in the club where she was working. But Turquet says the night before filming, she debated not showing up.

“I didn’t want to be part of a bad stripper film, or anything doing a disservice to our industry, so I was apprehensive,” she told me.

“Most films about strippers are super over-aestheticised, or bad and exploitative.”

Turquet points to 2020 film Zola, about a waitress who goes to Florida for a weekend of stripping for quick cash. “I found it hyperbolic, totally overglamourising the work, and it felt like it was talking down to women,” she said.

“And don’t get me started on Pretty Woman, which is infuriating, especially the idea of a street worker played by Julia Roberts. Come on.”

But when Turquet realised Anora was a Sean Baker film, she changed her mind.

“His films are based on realism, he has a fly-on-the-wall style of filmmaking, which I love,” she said. “So I was down.”

Baker’s filmmaking skills were also what attracted Lindsey Normington to the film. The actress and stripper stars as Diamond, Anora’s workplace enemy.

She says she saw him at afterparty for a film premiere, and went up to him to tell him she was a fan.

They connected on Instagram, and months later, he contacted her to tell her he might have a role for her in a new film. “I fell to my knees in my house,” Normington said.

In the film, Anora is offered a chance at a fairytale escape when she meets and falls for the son of a wealthy Russian.

Miranda, an actress and stripper who plays Lulu, Anora’s best friend, says she was tasked with helping Madison sound like a real sex worker from New York.

“I shared a PDF of language and slang terms that only strippers from New York will understand,” she said.

One of those words was “whale”, which, Miranda explains, “is a customer who is like a bottomless pit of money. He will make your night. And he won’t make you work very hard for it at all.”

Miranda said a lot of the film’s themes, on heartbreak and rejection, were relatable for her.

“Sometimes I feel like this shiny toy, that people want to play with. They go, ‘wow like you’re a stripper. You’re so cool.’ And then they just cast you aside and abandon you,” she said.

“I think about the ending a lot because I feel like Anora a lot.”

Turquet agrees, calling the ending “very relatable and poignant”, adding that it accurately depicts the “exhaustion and fatigue” strippers often feel.

“The sex industry has trauma built into it. It felt so real. It’s an incredible vulnerable industry,” she said.

“You’re putting yourself in danger every time you go to work. It’s a complex and exhausting job.”

But overall, she said has mixed feelings about the film.

“What a lot of stripper films miss – and what Anora starts but doesn’t go far enough on – is the moral question around men who buy sex,” she said.

“It’s the question of consent. Most of these films shy away from answering it, or looking into it.”

She said it also frustrates her that these characters “never exist outside their profession”.

“[Anora] is a pretty limited character,” she said. “We never learn anything about her. The film takes the perspective of [male leads] Igor and Vanya, in defining who she is.”

“It’s better than any film I’ve seen about it, but ultimately it’s limited as it’s not told by a sex worker,” she added. “I can’t wait till we’re telling our own stories and hopefully this opens the door to that.”

For Normington, the film reflected “the insecurity and competition and jealousy” that she has personally experienced in clubs.

“I appreciate that it’s not attempting to be a quintessential stripper movie.”

For Kennady Schneider, a Los Angeles-based stripper and choreographer who trained Madison to dance, it was the film’s portrayal of the mundane nature of the job that struck a chord.

In the film’s early scenes, we see Anora at work, talking to clients in the club.

We also see her and the other strippers on a lunch break, eating from Tupperware boxes in a back room.

“It felt really accurate,” Schneider said.

“A lot of the time in [stripper] films, you have glamorisation, with money falling from the ceiling. Those moments do happen but they’re few and far between,” she said. “It’s much more of a quiet hustle.”

When Anora came out, special screenings were held for sex workers in New York and LA.

Footage circulated on social media shows the strippers banging their high-heeled platform pleaser shoes together over their heads, to show their appreciation at the end of the screenings.

“That is the most beautiful applause I’ve ever received, I don’t know if that will ever happen again,” Madison told us.

Now, all eyes are on the Oscars.

Miranda and Normington will both be attending. “It’s kind of silly to think that I’m going to the Oscars, but [at the same time] I’m at the club arguing with a stupid man over $20,” said Miranda.

“I feel like I’m living two lives.”

She said that Madison is “spot on” to say the sex worker community doesn’t get the respect it deserves, and said she hopes that Anora’s success will change that.

“My hope is that if this film wins an Oscar, it marks the beginning of a shift in Hollywood, where sex workers are respected, as workers in their own fields, but also as entertainers,” she said.

“If this film wins an Oscar, I want to see that.”

The love life of South Africa’s Zulu king has the country agog – and has scandalised his socially conservative subjects as he messes with tradition by seeking a divorce.

Polygamy is part of Zulu culture, but King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has taken the unusual step of going to court to divorce his first wife, Queen Ntokozo kaMayisela.

“Everyone was puzzled. People were not expecting the king to go so far as to file for divorce,” Prof Gugu Mazibuko, a cultural expert at South Africa’s University of Johannesburg, told the BBC.

“In Zulu culture, there is no divorce. You are not supposed to chase away your wife,” she said.

Regarded as the “lion of the nation”, the Zulu king is the custodian of age-old traditions that place marriage and polygamy at the heart of royal success.

His role within South Africa may only be ceremonial, but he remains hugely influential, with a yearly government-funded budget of several million dollars.

The monarch – who grew up in neighbouring Eswatini, studied in the US and came to the throne in 2021 – seems to court controversy.

His coronation was challenged in court by his elder half-brother, who has been trying to snatch the crown from him.

His second marriage appears to be shaky, his attempt to take a third wife hit the buffers and there are also reports of another dalliance with a young princess.

However, the 50-year-old’s troubled personal life used to be discussed in hushed tones – that is until he filed divorce papers in December.

Prof Mazibuko acknowledged that historical records appeared to suggest that a Zulu monarch in the 20th Century had divorced one of his queens, but it had been a “top royal secret”, given royal divorce is not the norm.

“If a marriage does not work out, the wife will still live in the king’s homestead. She will be given her own space. She will not have a relationship with the king, but she and her children will be well-cared for.”

It was just before his accession to the throne – following the sudden death of his father and mother four years ago – that the then-Prince Misuzulu married Ntokozo Mayisela.

The two were already a couple and had two children together, but according to another cultural expert, Prof Musa Xulu of the University of Zululand, the decision to marry appeared be be hurried.

“It seems as though he felt he could not be a king without a wife,” he told the BBC.

Queen kaMayisela came from an “ordinary family” – as many of the wives of Zulu kings do – in a small mining town in KwaZulu-Natal province.

It was as a cabaret singer performing at a restaurant in the coastal city of Durban that she caught the royal eye, the academic said.

Her senior status in the family was made clear at the king’s state coronation in December 2022 when she sat by his side.

But her position is now under threat, with the monarch saying in court papers that they have not lived as husband and wife for at least year and their marriage has irretrievably broken down.

The palace followed this by sending out invitations for the king’s wedding to a new bride, Nomzamo Myeni, set to take place in late January. The bride-price, known as lobola, had already been paid in cattle – a prized asset in Zulu culture.

Queen kaMayisela did not take any of this lying down, instituting separate court action to halt the wedding, which was postponed as a result.

Her argument was that the king – known to his subjects as “Ingonyama”, meaning Lion – would be committing the offence of “bigamy” without first “converting” his civil marriage to her into a traditional Zulu marriage.

But the judge threw out her case, saying she had had a “turnaround” in attitude as she had already agreed her husband could take other wives.

He noted the monarch had already done so – marrying Nozizwe kaMulela, the MD of Eswatini Bank, in 2022.

Prof Mazibuko explained that polygamy was not initially part of Zulu culture, in fact the first two kings were bachelors.

But it was embraced by their successors – King Misuzulu is the ninth monarch of the Zulu nation – and has become part of Zulu culture.

“That’s how we build families, especially the royal family,” Prof Mazibuko said.

Queen kaMulela comes from an influential family in Eswatini and the marriage was apparently arranged to strengthen the ties between the royal families.

Yet it is unclear whether the pair are still in a relationship, as the high-powered banker has not been spotted at Zulu cultural events for a while – with speculation their final marriage rituals have not been completed.

The current king’s various marriage problems seem to stem from the fact that tradition has not been properly followed.

In the case of the first wife, he opted for a modern-day marriage, without a traditional wedding.

“For a marriage to be perfected under Zulu custom, there has to be a public gathering, with song and dance,” Prof Xulu said.

“You, as the bride, must lead with a solo song and the bride-maids dance with you, and you carry a spear which you give to the king – and then there is no going back.”

This has left Queen kaMayisela without the protection of tradition – and only the offer of monthly maintenance of $1,100 (£850) for a year, though she was likely to demand more before returning to the life of a commoner, Prof Xulu said.

In the case of the second wife, the academic said lobola had been paid in January 2022, but royal insiders suggest the king felt “those who went to pay didn’t have the authority to do so” – plus this union has not been marked with a public ceremony.

The fortunes of the would-be third wife, Nomzamo Myeni, remain unclear as the king failed to marry her in January despite the court giving the go-ahead.

Prof Xulu said that in Zulu culture a “postponed” marriage usually never takes place.

Though Ms Myeni is still being seen with the king, accompanying him to a state event last week where she was referred to as a queen, suggesting their wedding may take place once the king’s divorce goes through.

Yet as a commoner she would bring no powerful connections with her, which may be why one of the monarch’s aides recently confirmed to local media there was “a new queen-to-be” – Sihle Mdluli, who hails from the royal family of a small ethnic group in South Africa.

The aide suggested she might be named “the mother of the nation” – a title that would make her the most senior queen with her children likely heirs.

But Prof Xulu said he would not be surprised if that wedding also failed to take place, as the king’s relationships all seemed to run into trouble.

“I am not sure whether he was ready to be king, and whether he has good advisers,” the academic said.

He pointed out that the monarch had also been behaving erratically in his public life, sacking several senior officials in his retinue.

On top of this, he has installed himself as the chairman of the board of a financially lucrative land trust, of which he is the sole trustee.

The trust was controversially established shortly before South Africa became a democracy in 1994, giving it control of about 2.8 million hectares (seven million acres) of land in KwaZulu-Natal.

King Misuzulu has also suspended all members of the board, bar one, accusing them of being uncooperative.

He did this against the advice of the government, which pointed out that as chairman he would be required to account to parliament about the trust’s operations – something that would not be in keeping with his status as a constitutional monarch.

The dispute remains unresolved, giving the government a major political headache as it tries to avoid going head-to-head with the king.

Prof Xulu said he would not be surprised if at some point a powerful rival faction within the royal family launched a fresh bid to dethrone him by asking the courts to rule that he is not “fit and proper” to be king.

The monarch’s half-brother, Prince Simakade Zulu, who is the late king’s eldest son, has long coveted the crown, but his backers were outmanoeuvred by Misuzulu’s allies in succession discussions.

President Ramaphosa later gave Misuzulu a “certificate of recognition”, paving the way for him to be funded by the government.

But Prince Simakade’s supporters did not give up – going to the High Court to declare his state coronation “unlawful” – and won.

The court ruled that President Ramaphosa had failed to comply with the law, which required him to order an investigation into objections to Misuzulu’s accession.

The status quo remains, pending the outcome of an appeal.

The scandals have the potential to weaken the king’s position should it come to another tussle for the crown.

Though Prof Mazibuko noted there had always been fierce competition for the Zulu crown – except these days it takes place in court instead of a bloody battlefield.

“He is not the first king to go through a lot,” she said. “I hope he survives, and everything settles down.”

• In pictures: King Misuzulu crowned in historic ceremony
• Celebrating the king banished by the British
• The kings who never die, but simply ‘disappear’
• Death of a Zulu king: ‘He is planted, not buried’

The crime scene was a bloodbath. The victim, stabbed multiple times, had tried to defend himself. In the process, the suspect is also thought to have lost blood.

The attacker is still at large.

“It’s quite a frustrating case,” says Jo Ward, crime scene coordinator at West Midlands Police, “because I don’t actually think I’ve had a case that has not been solved in my 27 years, so it doesn’t sit right with me.”

Jo has dealt with more than 50 murders, and is determined to track down the killer of her only unsolved case – an investigation featured in the new BBC series of Forensics: The Real CSI.

On 9 February 2022, Jo was called to investigate the murder of a Chinese national, Jinming Zhang, 41, in a flat in Digbeth, Birmingham.

It quickly became apparent that the flat was being used as a brothel and the only witness to the brutal murder was a young Chinese woman who had hid from the killer.

Originally the motive was thought to have been robbery – drawers on a bedside table had been pulled out and the property searched. But this could not be confirmed.

As crime scene coordinator, Jo was first on the scene, combing the property for evidence. Throughout the investigation, she worked alongside other specialists, such as blood pattern analysts and CCTV coordinators to try to piece together everything that happened that night.

Police believe the murder suspect may have sustained a hand injury in the frenzied attack.

Blood pattern analysis, a technique used to interpret the bloodstains at the crime scene, helped to determine which of the blood spots in the flat may have belonged to the victim and which could have been the killer’s.

A blood trail was detected leading away from the property, and hours of CCTV footage was analysed to track the killer’s escape route.

The suspect was a black man, between 5ft 2in (1.6m) and 5ft 5in (1.7m) tall and of slim build. CCTV also revealed he had an unusual way of walking.

Although a DNA sample of the suspect was found, there were no matches on the national DNA database – which holds the DNA profiles of about 5.9 million people who have been arrested and cautioned, or convicted of a crime.

The case is still ongoing and no-one has yet been charged with the murder.

This would have been the end of the road it if was 10 years ago, says Jo, but developments in forensics have meant familial DNA searches could also be used to try to identify potential biological relatives of the suspect who might also be on the national database.

“In the 27 years I’ve been in [the police], I’ve never carried out that kind of search before,” says Jo.

The use of familial DNA search is not the only advancement in forensics, says Jo, the sample size needed to get a full DNA profile has also changed dramatically.

“Years ago we used to have to have quite a large amount of blood, or any other cellular material, to then actually get a DNA profile from it,” she says. “Nowadays, we literally need a pinprick size amount of blood or any other cellular material to be able to get a full profile.”

Previously, as well as blood, the main DNA sources would have been cigarettes. But now, anything that has been in contact with the lips and saliva can also be swabbed to provide a DNA profile, says Jo, such as cans, bottles of drinks and, increasingly, vapes.

Cellular DNA can also be found when someone has simply touched an item, says Jo.

“Obviously when we have murders or sexual assaults, we’re always looking at [whether] the item of clothing [has] been gripped by the offender at all during the assault. It’s about targeting those areas to then see if you can obtain the DNA from that.”

But while techniques have improved, getting answers is not always as fast as Jo would like.

“It’s not like your CSI Miami,” says Jo, “where they get a DNA and literally within an hour they get results.”

She is hopeful the identification process will speed up in the future.

“Obviously fingerprints have always been around and we recover them with powder and send them in,” says Jo. “I think digitally there will be something that comes up in the future where it’s a simple, take a photo, scan straightway, and it’ll be a quicker turnaround on identification.”

Walking into so many murder scenes over the years has had an impact on Jo. She gets the same feelings of apprehension approaching every scene, with butterflies in her stomach.

“Sometimes I feel sick after I’ve come out and not wanting to eat, but I’ve really got a mindset now where I think: ‘Ok I can’t change what’s happened but what I can do is my utmost to then identify the person responsible and get justice for the victim and the family.'”

Jo suffered with PTSD after a murder investigation in the past, which she says taught her a lot. To avoid a recurrence, she tries not to get emotionally attached.

“I think that’s the mistake I made when I had my PTSD, that I was looking at all the family photographs,” says Jo.

“It’s a tough job but it’s also a very rewarding job when you get that result and you identify the suspect and they get charged.”

When it comes to her only unsolved case, Jo is hoping someone will come forward after watching the programme and remember something that could lead to the identification of the suspect.

She also has a message for the killer: “We need to get justice for the victim and the family. Do the right thing and come forward.”

Forensics: The Real CSI – Murder in a Brothel

BBC Action Line

The family of a father-of-four who died while on holiday in Benidorm are flying to Spain to try and get answers about what happened in the hours before his death.

The body of Nathan Osman, 30, was found at the foot of a remote cliff on the outskirts of Benidorm less than 24 hours after he arrived on holiday with friends in September.

His family said attempts to use his bank cards were made the day after he died and fear others were involved before his death.

The Spanish authorities have agreed to meet with Nathan’s family, who do not believe there has been an adequate investigation into what happened to him.

Nathan’s brother Lee Osman and his sister Alannah are flying to Benidorm to try and speak directly with police about the investigation.

“We’ve been totally abandoned,” Lee said. “There’s been zero investigation and we are fighting for answers.”

Police in Benidorm have not responded to a request to comment.

Nathan, from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, had made a last minute decision to join his friends on a trip to Benidorm in September 2024.

The devoted dad had arrived on 27 September and after spending time with his friends, said he would walk back to his hotel on his own to sleep because he was tired.

The following morning, his bed had not been slept in. Later that day, his body was found at the foot of a cliff by an off-duty policeman on a waterbike.

Lee does not believe Nathan made the journey to the remote location in the opposite direction to his hotel on his own, and said it would take an hour to walk up there.

He added Nathan had “no reason to be up there”.

“We strongly believe he was taken up there, whether it was by taxi or against his own will,” Lee said. “And something has happened for him to be found where he was found.”

The family said the day after his death attempts were made to use Nathan’s bank cards, but this was not followed up by the authorities.

Alannah and Lee have also been tracing Nathan’s known movements on the night. They said he had been on a video call with one of his friends until his phone battery ran out.

Carrying out their own investigations, the family discovered Nathan on public CCTV on the promenade, where they said he did not appear significantly intoxicated. They have found other premises with CCTV, but said the owners would not pass on any recordings without a request from the Spanish authorities.

The family said they had repeatedly tried to find out how the investigation into Nathan’s death was progressing, but have been met with silence.

They recently received a police file which Alannah said was “empty”, with the case described as closed.

Nathan’s mother Elizabeth said there was “no empathy” from the Spanish police immediately after his death and claimed they were “treated like dogs”.

Elizabeth said she had to identify her son by being shown a photo of a tattoo on his torso.

She said not knowing how he ended up at the remote location is torturous.

“Our boy deserves answers and we as a family deserve answers. Nathan wasn’t a drunkard who’d go out and forget about everything. Nathan was really with it,” she said.

“Not knowing about that last hour or two before his death, it’s eating us away, day in day out, from the time we get up to the time we go to bed. We live this nightmare.”

Nathan’s father Jonathan said: “They’ve done nothing, nothing at all. It’s just a total disregard for his life in every kind of way.”

The family said they needed to travel to Benidorm because of their frustration and to hand police the information they have gathered about the time between Nathan leaving his friends and the discovery of his body.

The Spanish authorities have agreed to meet them and discuss their concerns.

Lee said the family will not give up in its quest to find out what happened.

“We’ll keep going and going until we find out why – and how he got up there,” he said.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”

It was the first thing President Donald Trump said when Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky stepped out of his car at the White House on Friday.

“You’re all dressed up today,” Trump said as he greeted him, referring to Zelensky’s military-style black sweatshirt, adorned with the Ukrainian trident.

Zelensky has eschewed suits, button-down shirts and ties – even during important meetings with world leaders and an address to the US Congress – since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of his country began in 2022.

The Ukrainian leader has said his choice of military clothing is a show of solidarity with soldiers fighting the Russian army on the war’s frontlines.

But it has long been an irritant for critics of US aid to Ukraine, and after years as a talking point among some right-wing critics, the issue came to global attention in a spectacular way during Friday’s now infamous Oval Office meeting with Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance.

A question to Zelensky from a US reporter accused him of disrespecting the occasion by not wearing a suit and this immediately changed the atmosphere in the room, according to BBC reporters present.

And a short time later, larger issues of respect and gratitude fuelled the extraordinary argument that saw the US president and vice-president upbraid their European ally in front of the world’s TV cameras.

• European leaders back Zelensky after Trump clash
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes
• Zelensky wants US to ‘stand more firmly’ on Ukraine’s side

When the meeting was opened up to questions from reporters, one came from Brian Glenn, chief White House correspondent for conservative cable network Real America’s Voice.

“Why don’t you wear a suit?” Glenn asked. “You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit.

“Do you own a suit?” he continued. “A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dignity of this office.”

The aggressive questioning marked the moment when the Ukrainian president – who until then seemed to be having a diplomatic, even friendly, conversation with Trump – first appeared tired and irritated.

“I will wear costume after this war will finish,” Zelensky replied. (The word “suit” can be translated into Ukrainian as “kostyum”.)

The Ukrainian president then made a verbal jab at the reporter.

“Maybe something like yours, yes. Maybe something better, I don’t know,” he said, to laughter in the room. “Maybe something cheaper.”

• ‘Trump and Vance were so rude’: Ukrainians react to disastrous White House meeting
• Most Republicans laud Trump after Zelensky showdown, but some express dismay

Glenn’s question gave voice to a longstanding gripe in the world of Maga politics, where some – like JD Vance – argue that the Ukrainian leader does not seem to be showing enough gratitude or respect to the US for three years of military aid.

A former local TV reporter in Dallas who became better known in conservative circles for his work at another pro-Trump channel, Right Side Broadcasting Network, Glenn is an unabashed Trump fan. Last year he told Politico that he was “100 percent behind President Trump and the America First agenda.”

He is also reportedly dating Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia congresswoman who is one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters.

Glenn was in the room as part of the White House press pool, a group of reporters which covers the president at official events on behalf of the wider media.

The Trump administration took control of the pool this week from an association of journalists, saying it would give more access to “new voices”.

Real America’s Voice, which was founded in 2020, is a relatively obscure right-wing cable news outlet, one of several pro-Trump channels that have cropped up in recent years. Its guests and hosts have spread conspiracy theories about a variety of subjects, including the 2020 presidential election, the 2021 Capitol riot and QAnon.

Its show line-up includes some big names from the Maga world, including Trump’s former chief advisor Steve Bannon, classic rocker turned political activist Ted Nugent and Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative Turning Point group. The BBC contacted the network for comment.

After the Oval Office spat, Glenn posted online that he had “extreme empathy for the people of Ukraine” but said that Zelensky’s lack of a suit demonstrated “his inner disrespect” for the US.

Zelensky’s defenders online posted pictures of Winston Churchill wearing casual clothes during World War Two.

Pictures from the period show the British leader wearing jumpsuit-like clothes to a meeting with then-US President Franklin Roosevelt, and he also wore military uniforms and suits during conflabs with world leaders.

After Glenn’s question, the news conference swiftly moved on, to a query about whether the US would send more arms to Ukraine. At the end of an answer Trump referred back to the suit question.

“I do like your clothing,” he quipped, and pointing to Zelensky he said, “I think he’s dressed beautifully.”

Behind the scenes, Trump’s attitude may have been slightly different, according to reports. US news outlet Axios reported that before the meeting, White House staffers had requested that Zelensky wear a suit and were offended when he did not.

However, the two world leaders continued taking questions, more or less cordially, for nearly another 20 minutes before the extraordinary argument broke out, after an interruption by the US vice-president, JD Vance.

Vance repeatedly brought up “respect” – referring to Zelensky as “Mr President” as the Ukrainian leader called him “JD” – and said: “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media right now”.

The discussion went downhill from there. A suit-less Zelensky was soon ejected from the White House, as relations between the two countries reached a new wartime low.

Sir Keir Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelensky he has “full backing across the United Kingdom” as the two met in Downing Street.

The Ukrainian president told the prime minister he was happy his country had “such friends”, after arriving in the UK in the wake of a White House meeting with US President Donald Trump that descended into a row between the two leaders.

Zelensky and Sir Keir also signed a £2.26bn loan for Ukrainian military supplies, that will be repaid using profits from frozen Russian assets.

After Saturday’s meeting, Sir Keir spoke with Trump, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The prime minister will host a summit of European leaders in London on Sunday on efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end, as well as wider European defence, while Zelensky will also meet King Charles III.

• Colossal stakes for Starmer’s summit on Ukraine
• How much has the US given to Ukraine?
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes
• Vance took the lead attacking Zelensky. Why?
• How Zelensky’s clothing choice may have fuelled Oval Office spat

Those meetings will now be overshadowed by events in Washington and concerns about a hardening of relations with the US.

In recent weeks, the prime minister has sought to cast himself as a bridge between the US and Europe as it adapts to the Trump administration’s desire to be less involved in European defence, having a cordial meeting with Trump a day before Zelensky’s.

During that meeting, he hand-delivered a letter from the King inviting Trump – who is fond of the Royal Family – to an unprecedented second state visit, which SNP MPs called on the PM to withdraw following the Oval Office spat.

Sir Keir has also attempted to be a conduit for Ukraine as it seeks US security guarantees in any peace deal – contacting both Trump and Zelensky by phone on Friday evening in the aftermath of their row.

The visit to Downing Street on Saturday was an opportunity for the PM to demonstrate his continued support for Zelensky following the public falling-out with Trump.

Remarking on cheers he heard outside, Sir Keir told the Ukrainian leader: “That is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you, how much they support Ukraine.”

He added: “We stand with you and Ukraine for as long as it may take.”

Zelensky replied: “I saw a lot of people and I want to thank you, the people of the United Kingdom, [for] such big support from the very beginning of this war.”

He said he was happy about meeting the King on Sunday, and was thankful for the European summit.

It is understood the meeting between Zelensky and the King was requested by the Ukrainian president, with the UK government agreeing to it.

Following the Downing Street meeting, Zelensky praised the UK’s “tremendous” support, noting in particular the £2.26bn loan paid for through Russian assets frozen since the war began.

He said the funds will be used to produce weapons in Ukraine, declaring: “This is true justice – the one who started the war must be the one to pay.”

The loan was first announced in October.

Following the acrimonious White House visit, Zelensky has attempted to mend US ties.

In a statement, he said of Trump: “Despite the tough dialogue, we remain strategic partners. But we need to be honest and direct with each other to truly understand our shared goals.”

When his plane landed at Stansted, the Ukrainian leader wrote in a string of social media posts: “It’s crucial for us to have President Trump’s support. He wants to end the war, but no one wants peace more than we do.

“We are the ones living this war in Ukraine. It’s a fight for our freedom, for our very survival.”

Sunday’s summit in London is the latest round of top-level European meetings in response to Washington’s new approach to ending the war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion just over three years ago.

The Trump administration has so far excluded Europe from preliminary talks with Russia, while the president has been accused of parroting Russian propaganda.

Top of the agenda on Sunday will be increasing Europe’s defence capabilities as the US steps back, as well as seeking security guarantees for Ukraine from the White House as part of any peace deal.

Ahead of the last summit in Paris, Sir Keir proposed deploying British troops to Ukraine as part of a European peacekeeping force – but said this would require a US security “backstop”.

Trump has consistently resisted fully committing direct military support to a Ukraine peace deal, but has offered closer economic ties including a minerals deal, which he said could act as a deterrent.

Since Friday’s row, media reports from the US suggest Trump is considering cutting off aid to Ukraine altogether.

At the same time, European leaders have recognised the need to increase defence spending – but experts have warned the UK’s military was currently not ready to take on an expanded defence role.

On Sunday, Sir Keir and Zelensky will be joined by the leaders of France, Germany and Poland, the heads of the European Commission and European Council, and Nato’s secretary general.

A special European Commission defence package will be announced on 6 March, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The Oval Office spat prompted European allies to mount a spirited defence of the embattled Ukrainian president.

While diplomatic efforts to bring the war to a close continue, fighting rages on.

Seven people were injured in an overnight drone attack on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.

Ukraine’s state emergency service said 64 people – most of them patients – were evacuated from a three-storey medical facility that caught fire after being hit by a drone.

In Russia, the country’s defence ministry reported 48 Ukrainian drones had been “intercepted and destroyed” overnight.

JD Vance’s remarkable dressing down of Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday showed the US vice-president unafraid to take centre stage as an attack dog, rather than serve like some of his predecessors as a self-effacing political understudy.

It was Vance who led the attack on Zelensky before Donald Trump joined the fray at the White House in a meeting that had been cordial until the vice-president spoke up to laud the president for seeking what he described as a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine-Russia war.

“What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?” said Zelensky, who has been critical of direct talks between Washington and Moscow. “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance responded, tearing into the stunned Ukrainian leader.

“Mr President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”

He also accused Zelensky of having campaigned on behalf of Democrats during the 2024 presidential election. The Ukrainian leader visited a munitions factory in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania last September and met Trump’s rival, Kamala Harris, at the White House.

Vance’s upbraiding of Zelensky drew broad support among Republicans.

“I was very proud of JD Vance standing up for our country,” said South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime advocate for Ukraine and a foreign policy hawk. He suggested Zelensky should resign.

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville referred to Zelensky as “that Ukrainian weasel”.

Congressman Mike Lawler of New York was more measured, saying the meeting was “a missed opportunity for both the United States and Ukraine”.

• LIVE: Zelensky embraced by Starmer in London
• How Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 minutes
• Bowen: Trump-Zelensky row signals looming crisis
• Ukranians support Zelensky
• Rosenberg: Putin can stand back and enjoy

Vance’s remarkable attack on a visiting head of state is not typical for a US vice-president.

Their job is often – but not always – to help get the president elected and then sit quietly at their boss’s side. To be a loyal lieutenant representing the president on foreign trips – standing by, one heartbeat, so they say, from the presidency.

The contrast with Trump’s first VP, the much more mild-mannered Mike Pence, could not be greater.

But Vance – who is widely seen as serving to articulate the rationale behind Trump’s foreign policy gut instincts – has long been outspokenly sceptical of US aid to Ukraine.

When he was running for the Ohio Senate in 2022, Vance told a podcast: “I’ve got to be honest with you. I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”

The vice-president derided Trump as an idiot eight years ago, before a political evolution that culminated in him becoming heir apparent to the president’s Make America Great Again movement.

Despite Vance’s popularity among conservative voters, Trump recently said in a Fox News interview that it was “too early” to tell whether the vice-president would be next-in-line to run for president in 2028.

Undeterred, Vance seems to be developing a role as a political brawler for Trump, going even further than the president in his outspoken criticism of the administration’s foes.

One common thread is that many victims of Vance’s tongue-lashing are America’s allies.

It began at the Munich Security Conference last month, a regular port of call for a US vice-president. Kamala Harris would frequently make unmemorable speeches there.

But Vance used the occasion to launch a blistering assault on the state of European democracy, accusing continental leaders of censoring free speech and failing to control immigration.

“If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,” he said.

The audience of politicians, generals and diplomats was horrified.

This was not the usual – and now widely accepted – argument that Europe should do more to pay for its own defence and security.

This was a full-blown ideological assault – a sign that the US under Mr Trump is not just pivoting away from Europe, shifting its security focus to China, but is also seeking to promote its own Trump-style populism on the European continent.

Not for nothing did Vance have dinner after his speech with the leadership of Germany’s far-right AfD party.

His speech provoked a backlash from European leaders, writers and academics.

Yet Vance chose to take them on online, engaging in detailed exchanges on X with several, including the historian, Niall Ferguson.

Vance accused him of “moralistic garbage”, “historical illiteracy” and – worst of all – of being a “globalist”.

And if that was not enough, Vance even chose to have a go at the UK prime minister in the Oval Office himself earlier this week.

Out of nowhere, he told Sir Keir Starmer that “there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British – of course what the British do in their own country is up to them – but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens”.

The prime minister pushed back firmly, saying “in relation to free speech in the UK, I’m very proud of our history there… We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom and it will last for a very, very long time”.

This was an echo of the criticism Vance made in Munich, railing against European regulations on artificial intelligence and social media platforms.

The aim is to tackle disinformation and hate speech that can foment unrest and radicalise people. Vance sees it as a threat to political fellow travellers and US commercial interests, especially in big tech.

Several questions present themselves. Was Vance’s attack on Zelensky premeditated, as some diplomats believe?

White House sources have told US papers it was not.

Is Vance’s new role emerging at Trump’s behest, sharing the load with Elon Musk to dish out punishment to the president’s opponents?

Or is Vance freelancing, already sketching out a role that will form the basis of an election campaign in three years’ time when Trump will not be able to stand again?

Whatever the answers to those questions, Vance is emerging as more than just Trump’s number two.

Most Republicans have backed US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance following their public row in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Senator Lindsey Graham suggested Zelensky should resign, adding that Friday’s altercation had imperilled future US military support for Kyiv, but another Republican senator accused Trump of “embracing Putin”.

Zelensky was asked to leave the White House without signing a deal with the US that would have jointly developed Ukraine’s valuable minerals.

On Saturday, Zelensky enjoyed a much warmer reception from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street, a day ahead of a meeting with King Charles.

The Ukrainian leader also made a plea on Saturday to the US to “stand more firmly” with Kyiv, adding that he was ready to sign the minerals deal with Trump, but wished for defined security guarantees.

Trump has suggested that Ukraine should concede territory to Russia to end its invasion and has opened peace talks between Washington and Moscow.

The American president has also warned Russia that he will impose high tariffs and further sanctions if President Vladimir Putin fails to end the “ridiculous” war.

Before leaving for Florida after the Oval Office clash with Zelensky, Trump told reporters that the Ukrainian leader had “overplayed his hand”.

“Either we’re going to end it or let him fight it out, and if he fights it out, it’s not going to be pretty,” Trump said. “Because without us, he doesn’t win.”

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who was in the Oval Office during the meeting, told Breitbart News on Saturday that Zelensky was too focused on fact checking and compared the Ukrainian leader to an “ex-girlfriend”.

“It’s like an ex-girlfriend that wants to argue everything that you said nine years ago, rather than moving the relationship forward,” Waltz said.

While Democrats said they were horrified by the showdown with a US ally, the majority of Republicans in Washington backed Trump.

• Live coverage and analysis
• Putin can afford to sit back and watch events unfold

“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again,” said Senator Graham, a longtime advocate for Ukraine aid and a foreign policy hawk, as he left the White House on Friday.

“The question for me is, ‘is he redeemable in the eyes of Americans?’ Most Americans witnessing what they saw today would not want Zelensky to be their business partner, including me, and I’ve been to Ukraine nine times since the war started.”

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville posted on X on Saturday: “The best thing President Trump has done so far is kick that Ukrainian weasel out of the WH.”

• Trump-Zelensky row signals looming crisis between Europe and US
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes

Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty posted on X: “The United States of America will no longer be taken for granted.”

But other Republican members of Congress were not so enthused.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican who is something of a political thorn in Trump’s side, posted on X on Saturday: “I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin.”

Republican Rep Mike Lawler of New York called the meeting “a missed opportunity for both the United States and Ukraine”.

Fellow Rep Don Bacon of Nebraska said it was “a bad day for America’s foreign policy”.

“Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom,” he said in a statement.

Neither Republican directly criticised Trump or Vance, who first quarrelled with Zelensky during the meeting.

Democrats, meanwhile, lambasted the White House.

“Trump and Vance are doing Putin’s dirty work,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

Senator Chris Coons said Zelensky deserved better.

“We owe him our thanks for leading a nation fighting on the front lines of democracy – not the public berating he received at the White House,” he posted on X.

A plane crash in South Korea last December left Park Guen-woo an orphan. The 22-year-old had barely found space to mourn his parents when he came across a torrent of online abuse, conspiracies and malicious jokes made about the victims.

The Jeju Air plane, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, crash-landed at Muan International Airport on 29 December and exploded after slamming into a concrete barrier at the end of the runway, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.

Police investigations have identified and apprehended eight people who have been accused of making derogatory and defamatory online posts. These included suggestions that families were “thrilled” to receive compensation from authorities, or that they were “fake victims” – to the extent that some felt compelled to prove they had lost their loved ones.

Authorities have taken down at least 427 such posts.

But this is not the first time that bereaved families in South Korea have found themselves the targets of online abuse. Speaking to the BBC, experts described a culture where economic struggles, financial envy and social issues such as toxic competitiveness are fuelling hate speech.

Following Seoul’s Halloween crowd crush in 2022, victims and bereaved families were similarly smeared. A man who lost his son in the incident had his photo doctored by hate groups – showing him laughing after receiving compensation.

People whose loved ones died in the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014 – a maritime disaster that saw 304 people killed, mostly schoolchildren – have also for years been the targets of hate speech.

The tragedy saw the government pay out an average of 420 million won ($292,840; £231,686) per victim – triggering comments that claimed this figure was unreasonably high.

“People who are living day by day feel the compensation is overrated and say the bereaved are getting ‘unfair treatment’ and that they are making a big deal when everyone’s life is hard,” Koo Jeong-woo, a sociology professor at Sungkyunkwan University, told news site The Korea Herald.

In later comments to the BBC, Prof Koo suggested that economic stress and a competitive job market – particularly in the wake of Covid – has left many people feeling socially isolated, exacerbating the issue of hate speech.

Many South Koreans, he says, now “view others not as their peers, but as adversaries”, pointing to a widespread culture of comparison in South Korea.

“We tend to compare a lot… if you put someone else down, it’s easier to feel superior yourself,” he told the BBC. “That’s why there’s a bit of tendency in Korea to engage in hate speech or make derogatory remarks, aiming to diminish others to elevate oneself.”

Mr Park says the families of the Jeju Air crash victims have been characterised as “parasites squandering the nation’s money”.

By way of example, he refers to a recent article about an emergency relief fund of three million won ($2,055; £1,632) that was raised for the bereaved through donations. That article was met with a flood of malicious comments, many referencing the erroneous suggestion that taxpayers’ money was used for the fund.

“It seems like the families of the Muan Airport victims have hit the jackpot. They must be secretly delighted,” said one such comment.

Mr Park says these comments were “overwhelming”.

“Even if compensation for the accident comes in, how could we possibly feel like recklessly spending it when it is the price of our loved ones’ lives?” he says. “Every single one of those comments cuts us deeply. We’re not here to make money.”

“Too many people, instead of being sensitive, build their entertainment on others’ suffering,” he adds. “When something like this happens, they belittle it and spew hateful remarks.”

Joshua Uyheng, a psychology professor in the Philippines who studies online hate, says that hate is often “directed towards [those] we believe are gaining some advantage at our expense”.

“We feel hatred when we [think we] are getting the short end of the stick.”

In the case of the Jeju Air crash, political dynamics only made things worse.

The accident came amid a period of political turmoil in South Korea, with the country reeling from suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s shock decision to enact martial law – an incident that politically divided the country.

Many supporters of President Yoon’s right-wing People Power Party have, without evidence, pinned blame for the crash on the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), pointing to the fact that Muan Airport was originally built as part of a political pledge by the DP.

“The Muan airport tragedy is a man-made disaster caused by the DP,” read one comment on YouTube. Another described it as “100% the fault” of the party.

Park Han-shin, whose brother died in the plane crash, says he has been accused of being a DP member and “fake bereaved family member”. So extensive were these claims that his daughter took to social media to call them out.

“It pains me deeply to see my father, who lost his brother in such a tragedy, being labelled a ‘scammer’. It also makes me worried that this misinformation might lead my father to make wrong choices out of despair,” she wrote on Threads two days after the incident.

Park Han-shin says he is stunned by how people seem to “enjoy taking advantage of others’ pain”.

“That’s simply not something a human being should do,” he told the BBC.

“I am just an ordinary citizen. I am not here to enter politics. I came to find out the truth about my younger brother’s death.”

While there are no perfect solutions to hate, experts say social media companies should establish policies on what constitutes hate speech and moderate content posted on their platforms accordingly.

“Online users should be able to report malicious posts and comments smoothly, and platform companies must actively delete such content,” Prof Koo says. Law enforcement agencies should also take perpetrators to task, he adds.

Reminding people of their shared identities may also help, says Prof Uyheng.

“The less people feel that they are on opposite ends of a zero-sum game, perhaps the more they can feel that tragedies like these are the shared concern of us all – and that victims deserve empathy and compassion, not vitriol and condemnation.”

An SNP MP has said that Donald Trump’s second state visit to the UK cannot go ahead if he refuses to show further support for Ukraine.

Trump accused Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” during a fiery showdown at the White House on Friday.

It came the day after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer used his US visit to present Trump with a letter from the King, offering an initial meeting in Scotland to discuss the unprecedented second visit.

Stephen Gethins, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesperson, called Trump’s behaviour towards Zelensky “grotesque” and said it amounted to “bullying”.

Speaking to BBC News, he said: “I’d describe last night’s performance as bullying, as a bigger country ganging up on a small country that is struggling for its very survival.

“The UK has left itself in an utterly isolated position. We need to get closer to our European partners and allies.

“Right now, given that treatment of one of our allies in Ukraine, I do not see how a state visit could possibly go ahead. We’ve had a bit of silence from the prime minister so far and that’s extremely disappointing.”

Zelensky arrived in London earlier and embraced the prime minister outside Downing Street.

Starmer reiterated the UK’s support for Ukraine, saying “we stand with Ukraine for as long as it may take” and spoke of “unwavering determination” to achieve a lasting peace for Ukraine.

Zelensky thanked Starmer for his support, and thanked King Charles III for accepting a meeting with him on Sunday – the same day he will take part in a summit with European leaders.

Three years on, the war continues in Ukraine, with further injuries in the city of Kharkiv after a recent Russian drone attack.

Zelensky had hoped for positive talks with Trump during his visit, including the signing of a minerals deal which would give the US a real stake in his country’s future, if not an outright security guarantee.

Instead he faced an extraordinary dressing down in front of the world’s media, with Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance demanding that he show more gratitude for years of US support.

The Ukrainian president pushed back at suggestions from his more powerful partners that he should work harder to agree a ceasefire with Vladimir Putin. They responded that he was being “disrespectful”.

After his departure, Zelensky said Ukraine is “ready to sign the minerals agreement” but continued his call for US security guarantees.

The exchange prompted a series of responses from European leaders with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz among those reiterating their support for Ukraine.

Posting on X on Friday, First Minister John Swinney said: “Today’s events in Washington are a clear cause for deep concern, for shock, for anger.

“What we need now are cool heads and clear thinking. We must stand firm with our European allies in the steadfast defence of Ukraine. That is where Scotland stands.”

Scottish Conservative MP Andrew Bowie, who is shadow secretary of state for Scotland, said the White House exchange was a “sad and depressing spectacle”.

On X, he added: “In the face of unprovoked Russian aggression and in the third year of a war to save his country, Vlodomyr Zelensky has been a symbol of calm strength and determination.

“Today his restraint was incredible. We stand with him and Ukraine.”

If Trump does indeed meet the King in Scotland to discuss a second state visit, it would be his first return to the country where he has family and business connections since 2023.

The Scottish government said Swinney, who endorsed rival Kamala Harris in last year’s election, would work to “strengthen” ties between the two countries.

Trump was hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth for a three-day state visit during his first presidential term in 2019.

Second-term US presidents are traditionally not offered state visits and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, usually at Windsor Castle.

But King Charles’ letter proposed a meeting in Scotland, where Trump owns two golf courses, to discuss arrangements for a second state visit.

The letter suggested meeting at either Dumfries House in Ayrshire, which the King has owned since 2007, or Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire.

Trump appeared taken aback by the letter, but after taking a minute to read it he said he accepted the invite and that it would be an “honour” to visit the “fantastic” country.

The prime minister said it was a “privilege and an honour” to deliver the King’s letter to Trump, adding he “looked forward to welcoming” the president to the UK.

Meanwhile the Scottish Greens have said Donald Trump is not welcome in Scotland, with co-leader Patrick Harvie forecasting “protests and a great deal of anger” around the visit.

Whether or not President Volodymyr Zelensky was ambushed or should have been more diplomatic in the Oval Office, it was a disastrous visit for Ukraine.

For those watching in Kyiv, the future of their country hung in the balance.

“It was an emotional conversation, but I understand our president,” Yulia tells me next to Kyiv’s golden-domed St Sofia’s cathedral.

“Maybe it wasn’t diplomatic, but it was sincere. It’s about life, we want to live.”

Yulia reflects a political pattern in Ukraine: the more the country is attacked, the more unity there is.

Before the full-scale invasion in 2022, President Zelensky’s trust rating was 37%. Afterwards, it rocketed to 90%.

Before Donald Trump returned to office at the start of 2025, it was 52%. After he blamed Ukraine for starting the war, it hit 65%.

“They [Donald Trump and JD Vance] were so rude,” says 30-year-old Andriy. “They don’t respect the people of Ukraine.”

“It looks like Washington supports Russia!” observes Dmytro, 26.

You wonder what the last 24 hours has done to President Zelensky’s popularity.

“When the situation becomes worse, we have another rallying around the flag,” explains Volodymyr Paniotto, director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology which conducted some of the polling.

World leaders’ popularity often wanes over time, and Mr Paniotto says President Zelensky has not been immune.

His ratings especially took a hit with Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive of 2023, and his sacking a year later of the popular commander in chief of his armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.

But Donald Trump’s new, transactional, often-hostile approach to Ukraine has forced the country to unite and brace for further uncertainty.

Not least with his warming to Russia.

The initial reaction was that of shock,” says opposition MP Inna Sovsun.

“It was difficult to watch a president who’s been a victim of Russian aggression being attacked by the leader of the free world,” she adds. “It’s painful.”

Ukrainian TV channels reported yesterday’s scenes in a more measured way: that a minerals deal between Ukraine and the US was simply not signed.

Perhaps, given it didn’t include the American security guarantees that Kyiv and Europe desperately want, it wasn’t as tantalising for Zelensky as had been suggested.

“We need to find stronger allies in Europe and Canada, Australia and Japan, who’ve all been supporting us,” argues Sovsun.

There are clearly deep feelings of resentment between Washington and Kyiv. However, Sovsun doesn’t think Ukraine should give up on negotiations, but should instead reframe the debate.

“It’s important to find the right mediator,” she says. “Someone Trump can recognise, but someone we trust too. Someone like Georgia Meloni of Italy.

“Under no circumstances should we agree to calls for the president to resign, and I’m saying that as an opposition MP. That defies the very idea of democracy.”

• Follow live coverage and analysis
• Steve Rosenberg: Vladimir Putin can afford to sit back and watch events unfold
• Jeremy Bowen: Trump-Zelensky row signals looming crisis between Europe and US
• After White House clash, Starmer faces decision about who he can trust
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes

President Zelensky hoped his Washington visit would lead to a deeper co-operation with the US which could, in turn, bring a lasting peace. Something Sovsun thinks nobody wants more than Ukrainians.

“We are the ones who are suffering, it’s extremely difficult to live under this stress,” she adds. “Just this morning, I read that my friend’s son was killed, his second son in this war.”

What the MP and countless Ukrainians don’t want is a rushed settlement. Attempted ceasefires with Russia in 2014 and 2015 only allowed Moscow to prepare for its full scale-invasion years later.

Ukrainian MP Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze anticipated a second Trump presidency being less sympathetic to her country’s cause, but not to this extent.

“This mineral agreement does not oblige America to help us militarily, or to upscale or continue the support it’s currently giving,” she says.

While there is still parliamentary unity behind President Zelensky and suspended elections, MPs like Klympush-Tsyntsadze have been calling for more involvement in negotiations.

Her European Solidarity Party’s chairman is former President Petro Poroshenko, a fierce rival to Zelensky.

He was even recently sanctioned by Ukraine’s leader over what Ukraine’s security service labelled as “threats to national security” and “creating obstacles to economic development”. Mr Poroshenko said it was “politically motivated”.

Despite this, the former president said he recognised Zelensky’s legitimacy as leader, to combat both American and Russian claims to the contrary.

As sirens wail and missiles slam into cities, this is a war still raging, despite all of the talk of ending it.

Russia is not backing down on its demands for Ukraine’s political capitulation and the complete control of four regions.

“This war is not for some area, town or treeline in the east,” says Taras Chmut, head of the Come Back Alive foundation.

After Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, the organisation was set up to crowdsource military equipment for fighting Ukrainian troops.

“This is the war that will define the world order for future decades. Whether this world will still exist depends on how this war goes,” he says.

As he ruthlessly pursues his “America First” policy, Trump wants Europe to provide security on a continent where he is less willing to do so. But Europe is divided on this, and where there is agreement it is that peace is not possible without the US as a safety net.

“Europe and the world once again want to close their eyes and believe in a miracle, but miracles do not happen,” says Mr Chmut.

“Countries must accept the reality of the situation and do something about it. Otherwise, you will be the one to disappear next – after Ukraine.”

European leaders have rallied behind Volodymyr Zelensky after Donald Trump’s furious exchange with the Ukrainian president in the White House.

The leaders of Germany, France, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands were among those who posted social media messages backing Ukraine – with Zelensky responding directly to each one to thank them for their support.

The Ukrainian president has arrived in London to attend a summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who “retains unwavering support for Ukraine”, Downing Street said.

It comes after extraordinary scenes in the Oval Office on Friday as US President Trump clashed with Zelensky, telling him to make a deal with Russia “or we are out”.

At one point, Trump told Zelensky he was not thankful enough for US military and political support during Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, and that he was “gambling with World War Three”.

As a flurry of supportive messages for Ukraine were posted by European leaders following the row – along with posts from the prime ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand – Zelensky replied to each one: “Thank you for your support.”

French President Emmanuel Macron posted: “There is an aggressor: Russia. There is a victim: Ukraine. We were right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago – and to keep doing so.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the Netherlands supports Ukraine “now more than ever”, adding: “We want a lasting peace and an end to the war of aggression started by Russia. For Ukraine and its people, and for Europe.”

Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote that “no one wants peace more than the citizens of Ukraine”, with his replacement-in-waiting Friedrich Merz adding that “we stand with Ukraine” and “we must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war”.

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the “unspeakable” row resembled a “bad dream” and “underlined that a new age of infamy has begun”.

She said she would “wholeheartedly push” for measures that could help Ukraine “withstand Russia’s aggression even if the US withdraws support, so that it can achieve a just peace and not a capitulation”.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “Ukraine, Spain stands with you,” while his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk wrote: “Dear [Zelensky], dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada “will continue to stand with Ukraine and Ukrainians in achieving a just and lasting peace”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese posted that his country had “proudly supported the brave people of Ukraine in their struggle to defend their sovereignty against the brutality of Russian aggression and in support of international law”.

European Union chiefs Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen assured Zelensky in a joint statement that he was “never alone”.

“We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace,” they said.

There were also supportive messages for Ukraine from political leaders in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Romania, Sweden and Slovenia.

However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voiced his support for Trump, writing: “Strong men make peace, weak men make war. Today President @realDonaldTrump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr President!”

On Saturday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte told the BBC he had spoken with Zelensky twice following the White House meeting.

He said he was “not at liberty to say what was discussed” but shared that he told Zelensky “we have to respect” what Trump has done for Ukraine so far.

He said Zelensky must “find a way” to restore his relationship with his US counterpart.

• Live coverage and analysis
• Steve Rosenberg: Vladimir Putin can afford to sit back and watch events unfold
• After White House clash, Starmer faces decision about who he can trust
• Jeremy Bowen: Trump-Zelensky row signals looming crisis between Europe and US
• Ukrainians back Zelensky after disastrous Oval Office encounter
• How the Trump-Zelensky talks collapsed in 10 fiery minutes

Zelensky left the White House early following his row with Trump – but afterwards thanked the US president on social media for his support, saying: “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

Writing on messenger app Telegram on Saturday, Zelensky said it was “very important for us that Ukraine is heard and that no one forgets about it, neither during the war nor after”.

“It is important for people in Ukraine to know that they are not alone, that their interests are represented in every country, in every corner of the world,” he added.

In an interview with Fox News following his White House visit, Zelensky said his row with Trump was “not good for both sides” but he thought the relationship could be salvaged.

The pair interrupted each other repeatedly in front of the media during what was supposed to be a prelude to the two leaders signing an agreement that would give the US access to Ukraine’s deposits of rare earth minerals.

Friday’s conversation soured after the US Vice-President JD Vance – who was sitting alongside other politicians in the room – told Zelensky that the war had to be ended through diplomacy.

Zelensky responded by asking “what kind of diplomacy?”, referencing a previous 2019 ceasefire deal that was agreed three years before Russia’s full-scale invasion when Moscow was supporting and arming separatist fighters in Ukraine’s east.

The vice-president then accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and “litigating” the situation in front of the media.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for a summit “without delay” between the US, Europe and allies on Ukraine.

Sir Keir’s crunch talks at Downing Street on Sunday will see European leaders gear up efforts to police a future Ukraine peace deal.

The UK prime minister believes a deal will have to involve US military assets providing surveillance, intelligence and potentially warplanes giving air cover to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At least four people have died and several others are missing after an avalanche hit the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, authorities have said.

A rescue operation has been under way after the avalanche swept away road construction workers in the village of Mana, which shares a border with Tibet, on Friday.

Some 50 people who were buried under snow and debris were rescued, but four died from their injuries, the Indian army said.

Helicopters have been deployed in the search for five people who are still unaccounted for in the Himalayan mountain state, it added.

Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams were “continuously engaged in relief efforts” following the avalanche, which hit a Border Roads Organisation camp.

He added that the government was committed to providing all possible assistance to those affected “in this hour of crisis”.

Footage posted on X on Friday by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police showed rescuers carrying people on stretchers and walking through several feet of snow – even as more snow continued to fall.

Gaurav Kunwar, a former village council member of Mana, told BBC News on Friday the area where the avalanche hit was a “migratory area” and “no-one lives there permanently”.

“Only labourers working on border roads stay there in the winter,” he added.

“There’s also some army presence there. We’ve heard that it has been raining in the area for two days. The road workers were in a camp when the avalanche hit.”

The India Meteorological Department warned on Friday of heavy rainfall and snow in the northern Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as Jammu and Kashmir.

Orange alerts were also issued for snowfall in several districts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

In Union County, South Carolina, the sprawling cotton mills that once put bread on the table for many are long gone. Union is also what is termed a “food desert”, where many residents live far from the nearest supermarket. So in 2016, local non-profit director Elise Ashby began working with farmers to deliver discounted boxes of farm-fresh produce across the county, where 30% of the population is black and roughly 25% live in poverty.

To fund this, Ms Ashby first relied on her own savings and then some small-scale grants. But in 2023, the Walmart Foundation – the philanthropic arm of one of America’s largest corporations – awarded her over $100,000 (£80,000), as part of a $1.5m programme to fund “community-based non-profits led by people of colour”.

“I cried a little bit,” she says. “It was just one of those times where, like, somebody actually sees what you’re doing.”

Two years ago, this was the kind of programme that attracted sponsorship from major companies across America, as the country grappled with racism past and present following the murder of George Floyd, a black man suffocated under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest in 2020.

But now, those same companies are pulling back. Walmart announced in November that it was ending some of its diversity initiatives, including plans to close its Center for Racial Equity, which supported Ms Ashby’s grant.

Corporations from Meta and Google to Goldman Sachs and McDonald’s have all announced similar changes as part of a larger retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion programmes (DEI) across the corporate landscape.

The moment represents a stark cultural shift, fuelled in part by fears of lawsuits, investigations, and social media backlash, as well as relentless pressure from the new president of the United States.

Since assuming office in January, Donald Trump has aggressively sought to “terminate DEI” and “restore merit-based opportunity” in the US. He has directed the federal government to end its DEI programmes and investigate private companies and academic institutions thought to be engaged in “illegal DEI”.

In the early days of his second term, the Veterans Affairs department has closed its DEI offices, the Environmental Protection Agency has placed nearly 200 employees who worked in its civil rights office on paid leave and Trump has fired the top military general, a black man whom his defence secretary had previously said should be fired because of his involvement in “woke” DEI.

At first sight, it may appear that the US’s experiment with policies designed to improve outcomes for specific racial and identity-based groups is finished. But some experts suggest there’s another possibility, that some such efforts will continue – but in a different guise, one more suited to the political mood of a country that has just elected a president who has pledged a war on “woke”.

Programmes resembling DEI first emerged in earnest in the US in the 1960s, in the wake of the civil rights movement that fought to protect and expand the rights of black Americans.

Under names like “affirmative action” and “equal opportunity”, initially their aim was to reverse the damaging effects of centuries of enslavement of African Americans and decades of discrimination under “Jim Crow” laws that enforced racial segregation.

As the movement evolved, promoting the rights of women, the LGBT community, and other racial and ethnic groups, use of the terms “diversity”, “equity” and “inclusion” became more widespread.

DEI programmes in the corporate world and government agencies have often focused on hiring practices and policies emphasising diversity as a commercial benefit. Their supporters say they aim to address disparities affecting people from a range of backgrounds, though a significant emphasis tends to be on race.

The programmes saw a huge upswing in 2020 during the social unrest of the Black Lives Matter movement. For example, Walmart committed $100m over five years to its racial equity centre. Wells Fargo appointed its first chief diversity officer; Google and Nike already had theirs in place. After adjusting their hiring practices, companies listed on the S&P 100 added more than 300,000 jobs – 94% of which went to people of colour, according to Bloomberg.

But almost as quickly as the pendulum swung left, a conservative backlash began. For Stefan Padfield, executive director of conservative think-tank the National Center for Public Policy Research, DEI programmes are based on a premise that “divides people on the basis of race and sex”.

More recently, these arguments that programmes intended to combat discrimination were themselves discriminatory, particularly against white Americans, have been made with increasing force. Training sessions emphasising concepts like “white privilege” and racial bias have drawn particular scrutiny.

The roots of this opposition took hold in conservative opposition to critical race theory (CRT), an academic concept which argues racism is endemic to American society. Over time, the campaign to remove books from classrooms that allegedly indoctrinated students into CRT thinking evolved into one focused on “punishing woke corporations”.

Social media accounts like End Wokeness and conservative activists such as Robby Starbuck seized the moment to target companies accused of being “woke”. Mr Starbuck has taken credit for changes in policy at the likes of Ford, John Deere and Harley-Davidson after he publicised details of their DEI initiatives to his social media followers.

One of the clearest signs of this movement’s strength came in spring 2023, after a Bud Light partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked right-wing outrage and calls for a boycott of the beer and its parent company Anheuser-Busch. In the aftermath of the campaign, Bud Light sales were 28% lower than usual, a Harvard Business Review analysis found.

Another major victory for conservatives arrived in June 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled that race could no longer be considered as a factor in university admissions, reversing decades of affirmative action-based policy.

The ruling also cast the legal standing of corporate DEI policies into uncertainty. When Meta made the internal announcement it was cancelling DEI programmes, the company told staff “the legal and policy landscape” surrounding DEI had changed.

The speed at which some large corporations have shed their DEI policies raises the question of how genuine their commitment to diversifying their workforces was in the first place.

Martin Whittaker, chief executive at JUST Capital, a non-profit that surveys Americans on workplace issues, says much of the backtracking comes from companies who were “rushing to kind of look good” at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.

But not all are yielding to political and legal pressure. Conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation noted in a November report that although DEI programmes appear to be trending downwards, “nearly all” Fortune 500 companies still list DEI commitments somewhere on their websites. Apple shareholders recently voted to continue diversity programmes at the company.

Surveys that measure Americans’ support for DEI offer mixed results. JUST Capital’s survey suggests support for DEI has declined, but support for issues closely linked to it – such as fair pay – have not. A 2023 survey from the Pew Research Center suggested most employed adults (56%) believed “focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing”.

Much rests on the question of whether DEI is actually effective in the first place.

Some research has suggested that DEI programmes like diversity training can in fact be harmful. According to one study by researchers from Harvard University and the University of Tel Aviv, trainers commonly report hostility and resistance from employees who feel forced to do the training and threatened by what they see as reverse discrimination; it also says the programmes can often leave trainees feeling more hostility towards other groups.

This research has been seized on by DEI’s opponents as part of the evidence that “the best way to improve the lives of all our citizens, and all our neighbours, is to allow the free market to lift all the boats”, as Mr Padfield puts it.

• Google joins firms dropping diversity recruitment goals
• Meta and Amazon scale back diversity initiatives
• Apple boss says its DEI programmes may change

The problem with this kind of thinking, according to Siri Chilazi, a researcher focused on gender equity at Harvard University, is that there is no historical precedent to suggest that racial and gender imbalances will correct themselves. Mrs Chilazi says racial and gender barriers still exist and believes DEI solutions focused on “levelling the playing field for all” are needed.

She cites multiple experiments that show white men disproportionately receive more responses after applying for jobs than women or people of colour. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research sent identical CVs to roughly 100 of the largest US companies and found that applicants presumed to be white were contacted by employers 9.5% more often than applicants presumed to be black – with one company contacting presumed white applicants 43% more often.

But Mrs Chilazi also says there are genuine issues with many DEI programmes, adding that the most common programmes – including diversity and unconscious bias training and employee resource or affinity groups – are often the least effective. A recent study highlighting the ineffectiveness of some DEI practices said a common issue was treating them as an end goal in themselves, without measurable outcomes.

And when it comes to large corporations donating money towards DEI initiatives – like Walmart’s equity centre – Mrs Chilazi says the problem is that there is not much data to show how effective this is. “This is an area where we actually don’t have good research,” she says.

Where studies have shown DEI to be effective is when it comes to making “small systemic changes”, she says. There is evidence to suggest replacing open-ended questions in performance evaluations with more specific ones, such as “what’s the one biggest accomplishment of this person last year?”, has shown significant reductions in gender and racial evaluation gaps that can affect pay, according to Mrs Chilazi.

Supporters of DEI say the real-world impact of the shift from it can be seen at Harvard University, which was targeted in the landmark Supreme Court case.

Last autumn, Harvard Law School reported having only 19 first-year black students among more than 500 students that enrolled, according to the American Bar Association. That was less than half the number from the previous year – 43 – and the lowest since the 1960s. The law school also saw a significant decline in Hispanic student enrolment, which dropped from 63 to 39 between 2023 and 2024.

Colleges and schools have already begun making adjustments in response to the new climate. At one university, a lunar new year celebration was cancelled; another ended a decades-long forum on race. Elsewhere, social clubs for black and Asian students have been disbanded.

But the ruling’s impact does not appear straightforward. Enrolment numbers for black and Hispanic students at some other top US colleges have actually increased since the Supreme Court’s decision.

For the freshman class that arrived in the autumn, Northwestern University saw an 11% rise in enrolment for black students and a 13% increase for Hispanic students.

Because of results like these, some DEI opponents have accused universities of flouting the court’s ruling.

But another explanation offered for the increase in diversity at some universities is a shift towards “socio-economic inclusion” instead of race and ethnicity – which nonetheless appears to have achieved the same objective.

Dartmouth University’s Hispanic student enrolment jumped from 9.7% to 12.7% last year, after adjusting to make the school “more accessible for low- and middle-income families”, it said in a press release.

It’s clear that the anti-DEI campaigns are having a significant real-world impact. “I think we are in the midst of a big shift,” says Mrs Chilazi.

Michelle Jolivet, author of Is DEI Dead?: The Rebranding of Inclusive Organizations, says she is worried that the anti-DEI movement will lead to progress stalling for historically disadvantaged groups.

“Things that matter are measured, and when you stop measuring them, they stop happening,” she says. “Then you do stop making progress.”

But as to the question at the centre of her book – is DEI dead? – Jolivet says the answer is no.

The companies that appear to have cancelled their DEI programmes are not really eliminating them, she says. Instead, they are just rebranding and reorganising to escape potential lawsuits.

She gave the example of Walmart renaming its chief diversity officer to chief belonging officer. Similarly, McDonald’s gave one of its programmes a facelift, changing the name of its Global DEI Center of Excellence to the Global Inclusion Team.

“DEI has become more of a controversial word,” she says. “If I just take that word out, I can still do the same thing.”

But not everyone is reassured.

Back in the fields of Union County, Elise Ashby looks towards the future with uncertainty. The grant from Walmart gave her access to capital that she argues black-owned businesses often struggle to obtain.

She fears a return to when she “stayed up nights” wondering where the next cheque would come from and facing the kind of obstacles “white men don’t have”.

She says: “Am I concerned about the future? Absolutely.”

These were already turbulent times in Romania.

But as people here navigate the late winter ice and slush on Bucharest’s elegant streets, the abrupt departure of the Tate brothers by private jet has left a fresh trail of confusion and unanswered questions in its wake.

A country grappling with a cancelled presidential election, its future in Europe, its support for neighbouring Ukraine, widespread corruption, and collapsing faith in public institutions, is now left pondering why two controversial foreigners, facing a raft of complex but serious criminal charges, have been treated with such apparent lenience; their confiscated assets and their passports suddenly returned to them.

Was a secret deal done between Romania’s government and the Trump administration? If so, in these increasingly transactional times, what does Romania get in return? Or was this more like a pre-emptive gesture of good will towards the American president, a gift to lay at Donald Trump’s imperious feet?

Or are we searching for conspiracies when the truth is probably far more chaotic?

As foreign leaders – from Volodymyr Zelensky to Sir Keir Starmer – travel to Washington DC bearing deals and other apparent peace offerings, one might ask who could blame Romania, a staunch NATO ally navigating a host of internal and external challenges, for trying to keep an increasingly unpredictable US administration on side?

“It’s a matter of life (or death) for Romania,” said security analyst George Scutaru, describing his country’s need to shore up Western support in the face of growing pressure from the Kremlin.

Declining to comment on the Tate issue specifically, Scutaru said it was clear Moscow was seeking to undermine Romania’s democracy and that the government had good reason to seek ways to remind the Trump administration of the many advantages – commercial, diplomatic, and military – of continuing to back it.

But if the Tate brothers are part of that equation, it is already clear that many Romanians are not impressed.

This is a country already facing a strong populist backlash against an elite ruling class that is widely seen as corrupt and out of touch with the struggles of ordinary people who feel treated as second-class citizens – a mere source of cheap labour – within the European Union.

So, the sight of the Tates appearing to receive special treatment plays into the notion that Romania’s institutions are hollow and cater only to those with money.

“For me, what has happened is unacceptable. We cannot allow Romania’s image to be tarnished by impunity and defiance,” fumed Elena Lasconi, a prominent presidential candidate here, expressing deep concern that Romanian prosecutors’ sudden decision to relax the Tates’ travel restrictions was the result of “external influence.”

“It’s my personal perception that probably there is… pressure on the Romanian political system, as logically the prosecutor would have applied very strict rules to control (the Tates) and probably the United States would have been a place where they would be allowed to travel (due to concerns they would not be extradited if they failed to return),” said international human rights lawyer, Silvia Tabusca.

It is beyond doubt that Andrew Tate’s lucrative brand of assertive masculinity has earned him allies in President Trump’s administration. One of his former lawyers, Paul Ingrassia, now works in the White House.

Many in the so-called “manosphere” see Tate as a persecuted hero who has just been rescued from Romania’s corrupt clutches.

There is also a more nebulous far-right alignment between some pro-Trump and pro-Tate figures in the US, far-right and allegedly pro-Russian forces in Romania, and the Kremlin itself, which stands accused of plotting to weaken Bucharest’s pro-western stance.

But the picture is not clear cut.

President Trump distanced himself from the brothers’ case on Thursday and there are signs of a broader push-back in the US, with the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis making it clear the Tates are “not welcome” in his state, amid plans to open a “preliminary inquiry” into allegations against them of human trafficking and violence against women.

Meanwhile in Bucharest, the theory that Romania’s government cut a deal with the US to release the brothers is treated with caution by some analysts.

“I think the chances (of such a deal) are fifty-fifty,” said Sorin Ionita, a political commentator, questioning the ability of Romania’s various institutions and ministries to arrange a “coherent” policy concerning the Tates.

“I’m not sure they coordinate. Did they manage to demand something in exchange (from the US)? I’m not sure,” said Ionita, bemoaning a situation almost designed to persuade Romania’s public to lose faith in state institutions, and speculating that lower level “satellite” figures in an equally chaotic Trump administration were probably behind any deal in order “to extract money from the Tate brothers.” The BBC has seen no evidence of this.

“It’s very depressing to see,” he added.

As for the question of whether the Tates will return to Romania, as their lawyer has promised, to continue their legal battles, a degree of uncertainty endures.

The fact that most of their assets have been unfrozen could be seen as weakening the Romanian authorities’ ability to compel them to come back. The Tates themselves have also questioned whether they can receive a fair trial in Romania, complaining of a “conspiracy” against them.

And while Andrew Tate pointed out on Thursday that he and his brother currently face “no active indictment” in Romania, a more accurate way of describing their situation might be to say there is currently a lull in a long and complex legal process. An initial case has been returned to prosecutors for amendments, while a second and more substantial prosecution case against them is now pending.

“In the second case, we have 34 victims that cooperate and have been identified as victims. Among them are two minors, one a 17-year-old girl that has been recruited in order to be exploited by the criminal group. And the second girl is 15-years-old, and there is a crime for sexual acts with a minor in which they are also involved,” said the lawyer, Silvia Tabusca, outlining the allegations in the second case.

The brothers also face arrest on separate and unrelated criminal charges in the UK. The Tates deny any wrongdoing in all these cases.

In the coming months, Romania faces far more pressing challenges than the fate of two foreign celebrities. Presidential elections have been rescheduled for May and a leading candidate – often accused of being a Kremlin puppet – has just been detained and is facing six criminal charges including fascism and undermining the constitutional order.

With their self-declared misogyny, extreme views, and online personas, Andrew and Tristan Tate do chime with some of the themes preoccupying and dividing society in America and far beyond.

Clearly, they remain influential figures, particularly among boys and young men. But the brothers face years of legal battles which may well push them, and their still lucrative brand, further to the periphery of the far larger dramas now reshaping our world.

In her hometown of Lubbock, Texas, Leah, a pregnant mother, has been avoiding stores and other public spaces for the last two weeks.

On Wednesday, the city saw a six-year-old child who was not vaccinated against the virus die – the first US death from the measles in nearly a decade.

With a baby on the way, Leah could be putting her foetus at risk of health complications if she contracted the virus, despite her own vaccination. Her paediatrician also advised her to move up her older son’s second shot of the vaccine – the full course for the immunisation – as the risk to his health grows.

“Mentally, it’s taking a toll on me, thinking about not just myself and my child, but also about the people that I have to be around,” said Leah, who declined to share her last name for privacy reasons.

The US declared measles “eliminated” from the country in 2000, but in recent years, as anti-vaccine sentiments rose, the country has seen several outbreaks of the virus.

• US measles outbreak kills child in Texas

The Texas outbreak began in a small Mennonite community near Lubbock, home to 260,000, and has since spread. To date, there have been over 130 cases across Texas and New Mexico, with 18 patients hospitalised, local health officials said.

On Wednesday, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nation’s newly confirmed top health official, called the Texas outbreak “not unusual”, a claim disputed by doctors and local residents.

Public health experts and Lubbock residents said the health secretary’s past remarks about childhood vaccines – as well as actions he’s taken related to them since entering office – could fuel an outbreak that is worrying parents across Texas and nearby states.

“We just want people to be healthy, and it’s definitely hard to do that when we have voices in our ears from leadership who don’t share those same factual opinions,” Leah said.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment from the BBC.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, Katherine Wells, the director of the Lubbock Public Health Department, has not had a day off.

She has hosted vaccine clinics to encourage people to get shots, contacted those whose children may have been exposed, and worked to educate the community about the virus.

“It’s as stressful, if not more stressful, than it was at the beginning of the COVID pandemic,” she told the BBC.

Ms Wells worries most about those who are not able to get vaccinated against the highly contagious disease, which spreads easily in the air and on surfaces, and when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. The virus – which can cause a fever, red rash, cough and other symptoms – also is associated with a host of complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling and death.

People who are immunocompromised, children under the age of one and pregnant people cannot be inoculated against the measles.

That includes the new baby Lubbock resident Kyle Rable is expecting. His wife is nine months pregnant and plans to deliver in the same hospital where the patient died of the measles.

Mr Rable is terrified for his son’s first year of life.

“With it spreading essentially like wildfire out here, do we just not leave our house for a year? We can’t do that,” he said.

To achieve herd immunity – when enough of a group is immune to a disease, limiting its spread and protecting the unvaccinated – around 95% of the population must have the shots, said Alefiyah Malbari, the chief of ambulatory pediatrics at University of Texas Dell Medical School in Austin.

But several western Texas communities are well below that figure, including Gaines County where the outbreak began and where only 82% of kindergartners are vaccinated.

“When you have that many children that are unvaccinated, measles will spread very, very easily within the community,” said Jill Weatherhead, a professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine.

Now, doctors say, parents far from western Texas are starting to worry too. Dr Malbari is getting more calls from parents anxious about protecting their children when not everyone will get the vaccine.

“I share that concern with them,” said Dr Malbari.

Before Kennedy’s confirmation as the top US health official, public health experts sounded alarms about the vaccine sceptic’s ability to manage outbreaks, like the one the US is seeing now.

He has repeated widely debunked claims about vaccines, including unsubstantiated theories that the shots can cause autism.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kennedy said he supported the measles vaccination. He pledged not to discourage people from vaccinations and to “do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult” to get vaccines.

But since taking office just weeks ago, he has announced a number of plans related to vaccines, including an investigation into whether the childhood vaccination schedule – including measles vaccinations – has contributed to a rise in chronic illnesses.

He also delayed the first meeting of a CDC advisory panel that helps the agency make recommendations on what vaccines – including childhood immunisations – insurers should cover.

Kennedy told the CDC to halt promotions of several immunisations, including a seasonal flu vaccine campaign, instead promoting the idea of “informed consent” in vaccine decision-making, Stat News reported last week.

The moves have the potential to disrupt how the federal government ensures Americans have access to safe vaccines, including childhood immunisations, said Dr Peter Lurie, a former US Food and Drug Administration official.

But, Dr Lurie added, most troubling about Kennedy’s response to the measles outbreak, is “what he didn’t say, which is that the way to contain this outbreak is with vaccination”.

On Wednesday, during his first public appearance as health secretary, Kennedy made claims about the measles outbreak that local health officials have since disputed.

In addition to calling the Texas outbreak “not unusual”, he claimed children with measles went to hospitals only to be quarantined. Hospital officials said they were taken there because of the severity of their illnesses.

Ron Cook, a family physician and Lubbock health official who is helping doctors respond to the outbreak, said the community has not seen measles cases like this in decades.

“It’s a devastating disease,” he said. “And it’s completely preventable.”

For some expectant parents in Lubbock, Kennedy’s minimisation of the outbreak has been difficult to watch.

Leah said she knows many local parents who won’t vaccinate their children because of misinformation about safety. She said news of the death has not changed their minds.

“If anything, it’s just made them double down on their beliefs,” she said.

But Ms Wells has seen at least a few encouraging signs. After the death was announced on Wednesday, around 18 people came to a vaccination clinic following many slow days.

Still, she said, when she tells parents their children may have been exposed, some still do not want to vaccinate, including doses of the shot that can protect them after potential exposure.

“In Texas, vaccines are very much a choice,” she said.

Local health officials are working overtime to build trust and show that the vaccine is safe and effective, Dr Cook said.

“We’re seeing some success, but we would like to see significantly more,” he said. “It would be nice to have some confidence coming out of the powers that be – at the national level – to show that this is a good vaccine.”

A selection of news photographs from around the world.

Gene Hackman was a normal person in Santa Fe. And he really loved that.

Residents in the New Mexico city say they were excited to welcome such a massive celebrity to the community when he and his wife Betsy Arakawa arrived more than 20 years ago, but they treated him like anyone else.

“He wasn’t famous here” was the phrase I heard when asking residents about why the movie star chose to call New Mexico’s capital home. They describe a down-to-earth, chatty man who supported local businesses and enjoyed its flourishing arts scene.

Everyone here has a story to tell about Hackman, who was found dead alongside his wife and their dog at their home in the quiet desert city earlier this week.

Hackman was a lover of the arts and a painter himself, so he fit in well: Santa Fe is known for its iconic adobe architecture and is home to more than 250 galleries.

Everything in Santa Fe is colourful, from the woven tapestry hanging on shop walls to the clothes people wear and even their personalities.

There are murals in almost every alley and metal street art lining the roads.

Hackman immediately got involved with local art museums, most notably sitting on the board of directors at the Georgia O’Keeffe museum, while Arakawa had a luxury home-goods store, and collaborated with artists on various projects.

Hackman’s paintings are displayed prominently at local restaurants, and there are a few lucky residents who have them hanging in their home.

One of those people is Stuart Ashman, the executive director of the Artes de Cuba gallery.

Mr Ashman first met Hackman at a community arts meeting. He was running late and there was one seat left when he arrived: next to the Hollywood star.

They shook hands and that started two decades of friendship.

“He was so down to earth that you didn’t realize that you were talking to a celebrity. He was more interested in you than in telling you about himself,” Mr Ashman said.

While both men supported the arts community, their real bond came through Pilates workouts when they took back-to-back private lessons.

When asked who was better, Mr Ashman laughed. “I think we’re both pretty bad,” he said. “Our teacher said I was lazy and he was older and stiffer.”

Mr Ashman said Hackman often got in trouble for being too much of a chatterbox.

“Gene, are you going to workout or do you just want to talk to Stuart today?” Mr Ashman recalls their Pilates teacher asking.

Every week, Mr Ashman, who raised chickens, would bring a dozen eggs to Hackman.

Then one day, he showed up with a huge landscape painting as repayment to Mr Ashman, who didn’t want to accept it. But Hackman insisted and said a painting for eggs is “a very fair deal”.

When Hackman wasn’t at Pilates or riding his bike through the beautiful landscape, he loved to spend time at his home in the hills above the city, his friends said.

Perched on a 12-acre plot, the property has panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, with vistas stretching as far as Colorado.

Hackman purchased the home in the 1980s before starting expansive renovations. He wanted this home to have meaning, so he worked with an architect to blend Pueblo, Colonial, and Spanish Baroque architectural styles to pay homage to Santa Fe’s rich cultural history.

Arakawa also enjoyed her secluded life in Santa Fe. People I spoke to said she was a talented pianist and smart business woman.

The only person who liked working out more than Hackman was Betsy. They said she was in incredible shape, always attending exercise classes.

Though Hackman was an active member of the community for most of his post-Hollywood years, he became much more isolated after Covid-19 lockdowns, locals said.

Those who knew him speculate his health and age made mobility too difficult to wander down the hill into town.

But everyone still had a story about Hackman.

James Roybal, a native of Santa Fe, once signed up for a pastel painting class in the 1980s and when he arrived Hackman was also there.

They painted next to each other for a bit, making small talk.

Mr Roybal couldn’t believe the celebrity would want to be there. He took a picture from a ways back because he didn’t think anyone would believe him. He still boasts about the image.

Victoria Murphy, a real estate agent and actress, saw him around town on several occasions.

“I was in the middle of the street as I was crossing in the crosswalk, and he started to go through the stop sign at that time, and then suddenly saw me stopped, waved, smiled, held up both hands, you know, like in a surrender,” she recalled. “And I just smiled and kept going.”

At a local restaurant in town, customers told me they’d see him at the grocery store, or shopping on the high street.

David, the general manager of a shop in downtown Santa Fe where Hackman was a long-time patron, was holding back tears, remembering his friend and client.

“Since he lived here, he wanted to use his money towards the local people. He always bought Seiko watches from my store for his friends and family.

“He invested in local restaurants and grocery stores, and showed up to openings for art museums. It obviously wasn’t because he needed the money, but because he loved the local flare,” he said.

“We lost a great Santa Fein.”

Namibia’s founding father Sam Nujoma was “a giant among leaders” and left behind “the most precious gift of… freedom”, the country’s President, Nangolo Mbumba, has said.

He was speaking in front of the large crowd at Heroes’ Acre, where the country’s most revered citizens are buried, before Nujoma was laid to rest in a mausoleum.

The leader of Namibia’s independence struggle against apartheid South Africa died last month at the age of 95.

Nujoma was seen as the last of a generation of African figures who headed anti-colonial movements and fought for freedom.

“Therefore his departure signals an end of an era, a founding father of Africa,” President Mbumba said in an earlier speech at a national memorial service on Friday.

“We are not only mourning today, we are celebrating an extraordinary leader who has contributed significantly to our country’s independence, who will continue to inspire us for many more years to come,” Namibian Given Shiyukifein told the Reuters news agency.

• The revolutionary leader who liberated Namibia

On Saturday, Nujoma’s coffin, draped in the Namibian flag, was driven by a military gun carriage from the centre of the capital, Windhoek, where the body was lying in state, to the burial ground on the outskirts of the city.

Mourners had been arriving since the early hours, the independent Namibian newspaper reported.

It added that they waved flags and sang songs in his memory, including Sam Ouli Peni? (Sam, Where are you?) – a popular anthem from the period after independence in 1990.

Among the dignitaries present were the presidents of neighbouring countries Angola, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Nujoma, one of 10 children from a peasant family, was working on the railway in the late 1940s when he got a political education. He developed a passion for politics and yearned to see his people free from the injustice and indignity of colonialism.

He led the long fight for freedom from South Africa, which was then under white-minority rule, and helped found the liberation movement known as the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) in the 1960s.

As the country’s first president – a position he held for 15 years until 2005 – Nujoma is widely credited for ensuring peace and stability. His policy of national reconciliation encouraged the country’s white community to remain, and they still play a major role in farming and other sectors of the economy.

He also championed the rights of women and children, including making fathers pay for the maintenance of children born out of wedlock.

Namibia, then known as South West Africa, was under German occupation from 1884 until 1915, when Germany lost its colony in World War One.

It then fell under the rule of white South Africa, which extended its racist laws to the country, denying black Namibians any political rights, as well as restricting social and economic freedoms.

The introduction of sweeping apartheid legislation led to a guerrilla war of independence breaking out in 1966.

• Namibia turns the visa tables on Western nations
• Why voters fall out of love with liberation movements
• Germany officially recognises colonial-era Namibia genocide
• Germany returns skulls of Namibian genocide victims
• A quick guide to Namibia

Andrew Cuomo, who resigned four years ago as New York governor under a cloud of scandal, has declared he is running for mayor of New York City.

“Our city is in crisis,” Cuomo posted in a 17-minute video on X, adding: “We need government to work. We need effective leadership.”

It heralds a potential political comeback in this year’s election for the Democrat, who quit in 2021 amid sexual misconduct allegations and scrutiny of his handling of the Covid pandemic.

America’s most populous city is in a state of political turmoil as current Mayor Eric Adams denies claims he struck a deal to help the Trump administration with migrant raids in exchange for dropping a federal corruption case against him.

The former governor joins an already crowded contest, which includes lawmakers, young newcomers and Mayor Adams himself, though it is Cuomo who has the most name recognition.

The three-term governor resigned after an investigation found he had sexually harassed 11 women, including state employees.

The state-led inquiry determined he had made sexual comments, inappropriately touched or groped the women and kissed them without consent.

At the time, President Joe Biden led calls from Democrats for the embattled Cuomo to step down, and state lawmakers raised the prospect of impeachment.

When the governor left office, he denied harassing anyone, but said he wanted to “deeply, deeply” apologise to any women who might have been offended by his actions.

Cuomo’s stunning downfall happened a year after he basked in the adulation of millions of Americans who had tuned in daily to his no-nonsense televised briefings on the coronavirus pandemic.

But a report in 2022 found that under his administration, the state hid at least 4,100 Covid-related nursing home deaths from the public.

Cuomo admitted to a “delay” in reporting, but denied allegations that his administration purposely misled New Yorkers.

• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigns in wake of harassment report
• Chris Cuomo: CNN fires presenter over help he gave politician brother
• Andrew Cuomo accuser: New York governor ‘groped me’

Opinion polling by New York media in recent weeks has projected that Cuomo would become frontrunner if he entered the mayoral race.

Days before the campaign was launched, Cuomo received the surprise backing of congressman Ritchie Torres, who represents the Bronx.

“Andrew Cuomo has the competence to govern the city. He has the courage to stand up to extremist politics – both from the far left and far right,” he told the New York Post.

“We don’t need a Mr Nice Guy. We need a Mr Tough Guy.”

Cuomo’s supporters have also launched a political action committee called Fix the City, which states it aims to raise $15m (£12m) for his campaign war chest.

One of Cuomo’s former aides who accused him of sexual harassment told the New York Post on Saturday that she fears women’s rights will suffer if he wins election.

“New York City may elect a mayor who has been rightfully accused of sexual misconduct by several young women who worked for him in up-close positions,” said Karen Hinton.

“As a movement, we women haven’t done enough to toughen laws to protect women from such immoral, unethical, and what should be illegal behaviour by men in positions of power, such as Cuomo.”

The Democratic primary vote will take place in June. The eventual winner is expected to defeat any Republican challenger during November’s election and become the city’s next mayor.

• The latest: Judge pauses NYC mayor Eric Adams trial in corruption case
• Governor Hochul will not remove NYC Mayor Adams from office
• Foreign bribes, cheap flights: What is Eric Adams accused of?

Adams has chosen to remain in the race, even while facing federal fraud, bribery and other charges.

The Trump administration is seeking to dismiss the charges, arguing that the charges have damaged the mayor’s ability to aid the president’s agenda and were politically motivated.

The attempt caused Manhattan’s lead prosecutor and six other high-level federal prosecutors in New York to resign in protest, saying there was no legal justification for the White House directive to end the prosecution.

Meanwhile, the judge in the case has cancelled the upcoming trial in April as he works to decide whether the case should be dropped or not.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who took over for Cuomo after he resigned, said last month that she was declining to use her authority to replace Adams, at least for now, and would instead move to limit his authority.

Adams has denied making a “quid pro quo” with Trump’s office to help in the removal of illegal migrants, last month calling the assertion “silly”.

Adams was indicted last year for allegedly accepting gifts totalling more than $100,000 from Turkish citizens in exchange for favours. He denies the charges.

His office has been plagued by staff departures and scandals, even before charges were pressed against him. A number of figures in his orbit have also been indicted as part of the investigation.

Outlawed Kurdish group the PKK has declared a ceasefire with Turkey after its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan called on the movement to lay down its arms and dissolve.

In Saturday’s statement, the PKK said it hoped Turkey would release Ocalan, who has been imprisoned in solitary confinement since 1999, so he could lead a process of disarmament.

It follows his call this week aimed at ending four decades of armed struggle in south-eastern Turkey in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.

His announcement came months after Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey’s ultra-nationalist MHP party and an ally of the Turkish government, launched an initiative to bring an end to the conflict.

The PKK – which stands for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – has waged an insurgency since 1984, with the initial aim of carving out an independent homeland for Kurds, who account for about 20% of Turkey’s 85 million people.

The group has since moved away from its separatist goals, and is now pushing for more autonomy and greater Kurdish rights.

It is banned as a terrorist group in Turkey, the EU, UK and US.

• Who are the Kurds?

Ocalan – affectionately referred to as Apo by Kurdish nationalists – met MPs from a pro-Kurdish party this week on Imrali, an island in the Sea of Marmara, south-west of Istanbul, where he is imprisoned.

“In order to pave the way for the implementation of leader Apo’s call for peace and democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective from today,” the PKK executive committee said in a statement on Saturday, quoted by the pro-PKK ANF news agency.

“None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked,” it added.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said later on Saturday that military operations would resume against the PKK if “promises given [by the group] are not kept” and the disarmament process stalled.

The PKK said Ocalan’s prison conditions must be eased, adding he “must be able to live and work in physical freedom and be able to establish unhindered relationships with anyone he wants, including his friends”.

Calling for disarmament, Ocalan had appealed to members of the PKK in a letter read out by Dem party members Ahmet Turk and Pervin Buldan in both Kurdish and Turkish.

He said “all groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself”, adding that his movement was formed primarily because “the channels of democratic politics were closed”.

However, Bahceli, backed by positive signals from Erdogan and other political parties, had created the right environment for the PKK to lay down its arms, Ocalan added.

Kurdish leaders largely welcomed the development. Local reports said thousands of people gathered to watch the statement on big screens in the cities of Diyarbakir and Van in the predominantly Kurdish south-east.

However, significant questions remain among both the Kurdish and Turkish public over what the next steps might be – and not everyone was convinced things would change.

Last week, senior PKK commander Duran Kalkan said Turkey’s ruling party, the AKP, was not looking for a solution but to “take over, destroy and annihilate”.

Turkish-backed forces in north-eastern Syria have intensified their campaign against Kurdish forces and last month called on Syria’s new leaders to eliminate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Pro-Kurdish politicians have been targeted by a wave of arrests and jail sentences in recent years in Turkey.

Some 40,000 people have died since the PKK’s insurgency began.

There was a spike in violence in south-eastern Turkey from 2015 to 2017 when a two-and-a-half year ceasefire broke down.

More recently, in October the PKK claimed an attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) headquarters near Ankara which left five people dead.