Donald Trump’s return to the White House is a “major blow to global climate action”. So said Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief, after he was elected in November.

Since taking office, Trump has withdrawn the US from what is considered the most important global climate pact, the Paris Climate Agreement. He has also reportedly prevented US scientists from participating in international climate research and removed national electric vehicle targets.

Plus, he derided his predecessor’s attempts to develop new green technology a “green new scam”.

And yet despite his history on the issue of climate, Trump has been eager to make a deal with the Ukrainian president on critical minerals. He has also taken a strong interest in Greenland and Canada – both nations rich in critical minerals.

Critical mineral procurement has been a major focus for Trump since he took office. These minerals are crucial in industries including aerospace and defence, but intriguingly, they have another major use too – to manufacture green technology.

So, could Trump’s focus on obtaining these minerals have a knock-on effect, and help unlock the US’s potential in the green technology sector?

Trump’s right-hand man understands more than most the importance of critical minerals in the green transition. Space X and Tesla – the companies Elon Musk leads – rely heavily on critical minerals like graphite (in electric vehicles), lithium (in batteries) and nickel (in rockets).

Elizabeth Holley, an associate professor of mining engineering at Colorado School of Mines, explains that each nation has its own list of critical minerals, but they are generally made up of rare earths and other metals like lithium.

She says demand is booming – in 2023, demand for lithium grew by 30%. This is being driven mostly by the rapid growth in the clean energy and electric vehicle sectors.

Within two decades, they will make up almost 90% of the demand for lithium, 70% of the demand for cobalt, and 40% for rare earths, according to the International Energy Agency.

Such has been Musk’s concern with getting hold of some of these minerals that three years ago he tweeted: “Price of lithium has gone to insane levels! Tesla might actually have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale, unless costs improve.”

He went on to write that there is no shortage of the element, but the pace of extraction is slow.

The weakness of the US position in rare earths and critical minerals (such as cobalt and nickel) was addressed in a report published by a US Government Select Committee in December 2023. It said: “The United States must rethink its policy approach to critical mineral and rare earth element supply chains because of the risks posed by our current dependence on the People’s Republic of China.”

Failure to do so, it warned, could cause “defense production to grind to a halt and choke off manufacturing of other advanced technologies”.

China’s dominance in the market has come from its early recognition of the economic opportunities that green technology offers.

“China made a decision about 10 years ago about where the trend was going and has strategically pursued the development of not just renewables but also electric vehicles and now dominates the market,” says Bob Ward, policy director at The London School of Economics (LSE) Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

Daisy Jennings-Gray, head of prices at price reporting agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, explains that they are critical minerals because they are geologically restricted. “You cannot guarantee you will have economically recoverable reserves in every country.”

Some minerals like lithium are abundant on Earth, but often they are located in difficult to reach places, so the logistics of a mining project can be very expensive. In other cases, there is dependency on one country that produces a large share of global supply – like cobalt from the the Democratic Republic of Congo. This means that if there is a natural disaster or political unrest it has an impact on the price, says Ms Jennings-Gray.

China has managed to shore up supply by investing heavily in Africa and South America, but where it really has a stronghold on the market is in processing (or the separation of the mineral from other elements in the rock).

“China accounts for 60% of global rare earth production but processes nearly 90% – [it] is dominant on this stage,” says Gracelin Baskaran, director of the critical minerals security program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.

She says the country understands how important this is in economic trade – a few days after Trump introduced tariffs on China its government hit back by imposing export controls on more than 20 critical minerals including graphite and tungsten.

What is motivating Trump is a fear of being at a disadvantage, argues Christopher Knittel, a professor of applied economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“I think what is driving this is because China is the dominant player on the processing side,” he says. “It is that processing stage, which is the high-margin stage of the business, so China is making a lot of money.”

As he puts it, it is a “happy coincidence” that this could end up supporting green technology.

The key question, though, is whether the US is too late to fully capitalise on the sector.

In the early days, the green transition was “framed as a burden” for countries, according to LSE’s Bob Ward.

The Biden administration was highly supportive of green technology industries through its introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022, which offers tax credits, loans and other incentives to technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, from battery technologies for electric vehicles to solar panels.

By August 2024, it was estimated to have brought $493bn (£382bn) of investment to US green industry, according to the think tank Clean Investment Monitor.

And yet little work was done to support upstream processes like obtaining critical minerals, says Ms Gray from Benchmark Intelligence. Instead, the Biden administration focused heavily on downstream manufacturing – the process of getting products from the manufacturer to the end consumer.

But Trump’s recent moves to procure these critical minerals suggest a focus on the upstream process may now be happening.

“The IRA put a lot of legislation in places to limit trade and supply only from friendly nations,” explains Ms Gray.

“Trump is changing tack and looking at securing critical minerals agreements that owes something to the US.”

There could be further moves from Trump coming down the line. Those working in the sector say whispers in the corridors of the White House suggest that he may be about to pass a “Critical Minerals Executive Order”, which could funnel further investment into this objective.

The exact details that may be included in the executive order remain unclear, but experts knowledgeable with the issue have said it may include measures to accelerate mining in the US, including fast tracking permits and investment to construct processing plants.

Although work may now be under way to secure these minerals, Prof Willy Shih of Harvard Business School thinks that the US administration lacks understanding of the technical complexity of establishing mineral supply chains, and emphasises the time commitment required. “If you want to build a new mine and processing facility, it might take you 10 years.”

As a policy of his predecessor, and one that is so obviously pro-climate action, Trump has been vocally opposed to maintaining the IRA. But its success in red states mean that many Republican senators have been trying to convince him to keep it in some form in his proposed “big, beautiful bill” – the plan to pile all of Trump’s main policy goals into one mega-bill – due to be revealed later this month.

Analysis by the Clean Investment Monitor shows in the last 18 months Republican-held states had received 77% of the investment.

MIT’s Dr Knittel says for states like Georgia, which has become part of what is now known as the “battery belt” following a boom in battery production following IRA support, these tax credits are crucial for these industries to survive.

He adds that failure to do so poses a real political threat for US representatives who are up for re-election in less than two years.

If Trump loses even just one seat to the Democrats in the 2026 mid-terms, then he loses the house majority – limiting his ability to pass key pieces of legislation.

Carl Fleming was an advisor to former President Biden’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee and is a partner at law firm McDermott, Will & Emery, advising clients in the clean tech and energy space. He says that despite the uncertainty, investors remain confident. “In the last month, my practice has been busier than ever, and this is since quadrupling last year following the IRA.”

He also believes that there is a recognition of the need to maintain parts of the IRA – although this may be alongside expansion of some fossil fuels. “If you are really trying to be ‘America First’ and energy secure, you want to pull on all your levers. Keep solar and keep battery storage going and add more natural gas to release America’s energy prowess.”

But the uncertainty of the US position is little consolation for its absence on the international climate stage, says LSE’s Bob Ward. “When the Americans are on the ball it helps to move people in the right direction and that’s how we got the Paris Climate Agreement.”

For those in the climate space, Trump is certainly not an environmentalist. What’s clear is he is not concerned with making his legacy an environmental one but an economic one – though he could achieve the former if he can be convinced it will boost the economy.

A portable power bank likely caused a fire that engulfed and destroyed a passenger plane in South Korea in January, according to local authorities.

The Air Busan plane caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the country’s south on 28 January – causing three people on board to sustain minor injuries.

On Friday, South Korea’s transport ministry said that interim investigation results indicate the fire may have started because insulation inside a power bank battery had broken down.

The power bank was found in an overhead luggage compartment where the fire was first detected, and its debris had scorch marks, according to the statement.

Investigators could not say what may have caused the battery breakdown, it added.

The update is also based only on interim findings, and is not a final accident report on the aircraft, an Airbus A321ceo.

Airlines around the world have banned power banks from checked luggage for years due to safety concerns, which relate to the lithium-ion batteries inside the devices.

These batteries can produce extreme heat and fire if damage or manufacturing faults cause them to short circuit.

Lithium-ion batteries of any kind have been banned from the cargo holds of passenger planes since 2016, as per a directive by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

In the week after the Air Busan fire, the airline tightened those rules further, announcing that it would no longer allow passengers to keep power banks in their onboard luggage.

The carrier said the new rules were in response to an increase in the number of power banks that were overheating.

A growing number of airlines – including China Airlines and Thai Airways – are rolling out similar rules, with Singapore Airlines and its low-cost unit Scoot set to become the latest to ban the use and charging of power banks onboard from 1 April.

On 28 February, the South Korean government also announced that passengers boarding flights in the country would be required to carry portable batteries and chargers on their person, rather than storing them in overhead compartments.

In some of his strongest rhetoric yet amid worsening cross-strait ties, Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te has labelled China a “foreign hostile force”.

He said Taiwan had “no choice but to take even more proactive measures” as a result, as he announced a raft of new national security measures, including reinstating a military court system and tightening the residency criteria for those from China, Hong Kong and Macau.

In response to Lai’s remarks, Chinese authorities called him a “destroyer of cross-straits peace” and a “creator of crisis”.

China claims the self-ruled Taiwan as its territory but Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland.

China was quick to respond to Lai’s statement, with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua said China would have “no choice but to take decisive measures… [if] ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces dare to cross the red line”.

“Those who play with fire will surely be burned.”

This is not the first time Lai, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is seen as pro-independence, has incurred Beijing’s wrath. He was previously labelled a “troublemaker” ahead of the polls, and Chinese state media even suggested he should be prosecuted for secession.

Speaking to reporters after a high-level national security meeting on Thursday, Lai also warned of China’s growing espionage efforts.

President Lai said China had “taken advantage of Taiwan’s freedom” to recruit different members of society, including current and former armed force members, organised crime groups and the media to “divide, destroy and subvert us from within”.

Taiwanese authorities charged 64 people with spying for China last year – a three-fold increase from 2021 – Lai claimed, adding that the majority of them were current or former military officials.

To counter China’s attempts to infiltrate and spy on the military, Lai said he planned to restore the military court system to “allow military judges to return to the frontline… to handle criminal cases involving active-duty military personnel”.

Taiwan had in 2013 abolished the military court system after it came under fire for its opaque handling of the death of an army conscript.

Lai also called on authorities to “provide entertainers with guidelines on conduct while working in China”, adding that this would prevent China from pressuring stars to behave in ways that “endanger national dignity”.

His comments come as Taiwanese authorities earlier criticised Taiwanese celebrities who shared social media posts calling for Taiwan to be “returned” to China.

Taiwanese actors and singers looking to advance their careers in China’s lucrative entertainment industry have come also under increasing pressure to publicly adopt a pro-Beijing stance on the issue.

An eight-year-old child who was raped in Bangladesh died of her injuries on Thursday, setting off fierce protests around the country.

The girl was raped while visiting her elder sister’s house in the city of Magura some time between the night of 5 March and the following morning, according to a case filed by her mother.

The elder sister’s 18-year-old husband, along with his parents and brother, were arrested and placed on remand.

On Thursday night, after hearing news of the child’s death, an angry mob descended on the house where the incident is alleged to have taken place, setting it on fire.

The girl died at about 13:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Thursday after suffering three cardiac arrests, according to a statement by the government’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department.

“Although doctors managed to stabilize the condition twice, the heart failed to restart after the third episode,” the statement said.

She had spent six days in a critical condition at the Combined Military Hospital in the capital Dhaka, after being admitted on 8 March.

“I thought my daughter would survive,” her mother said following the girl’s death, according to local media. “If she had made it through, I would never have let her go anywhere alone again.”

The girl’s body was taken back to Magura in an army helicopter, which landed at the local stadium around 18:00 to fierce protests.

Aiyub Ali, officer-in-charge of Magura Sadar Police Station, said that authorities struggled to bring the situation under control, according to local news outlet The Daily Star.

Thousands of people gathered in the public square in Magura for the girl’s namaz-e-janaza, the Islamic funeral prayer, before she was laid to rest at 19:30.

An absentee funeral was also held for the girl at Dhaka University, in the nation’s capital, followed by a protest march and speeches by female students.

Many protesters demanded that the government expedite justice for rape victims and reform laws related to women and children’s safety.

Protesters also called for greater clarity around the legal definitions of what constitutes rape in Bangladesh, which they said were currently ambiguous.

The trial of the rape and murder case is expected to begin within the next seven days, according to legal advisor Asif Nazrul.

“DNA sample collection has been completed, we hope to get the report within the next five days,” Mr Nazrul told a press briefing at the Secretariat on Thursday – adding that statements had already been taken from 12 to 13 people.

“If we can start the trial within seven days, our judges will be able to ensure justice with the utmost speed,” he added.

The rape of minors is punishable by death in Bangladesh, as per a law that was passed in 2020.

The introduction of that law followed a series of high-profile sexual violence cases, including the brutal gang assault on a 37-year-old woman that was filmed and spread on social media.

Less than a week after the rape of the young girl in Magura, media reports emerged of at least three rapes of children of around the same age in different parts of Bangladesh.

In some cases the accused were neighbours of the victim, while others were close relatives.

According to statistics from the Law and Arbitration Center, 3,438 child rape cases have been filed in Bangladesh in the last eight years, and there have been many more rape victims.

At least 539 of them are under the age of six, and 933 are between the ages of seven and twelve.

Research has shown that in most cases, children are sexually abused or raped by people they know.

Sam Jones, a US influencer who briefly snatched a baby wombat from its distressed mother, and uploaded the footage to social media has left Australia.

Australia’s Home Affairs minister Tony Burke had earlier said his department was reviewing whether it could revoke Ms Jones’s visa, but the BBC understands that she left the country of her own accord.

“There has never been a better time to be a baby wombat,” Burke said in a short statement on Friday celebrating Jones’s departure.

Anger erupted across Australia after Jones posted a video of her taking a baby wombat from the side of a road while laughing and running away from the distraught mother wombat.

The video also shows the baby wombat hissing in distress before Jones then returns it to the bush.

Jones, who also goes by the name Samantha Strable, has nearly 100,000 followers and describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter” on her Instagram profile. She has since made her account private and deleted her post.

Her video was swiftly met with widespread condemnation, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling the incident an “outrage”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the video “dreadful”.

On Friday, opposition leader Peter Dutton said he thought it was “a cruel act” and that he was “glad” the influencer has now left.

An online petition demanding Jones be deported from Australia garnered more than 30,000 signatures.

However, as Jones had not been charged nor been deemed a threat to the country – the government may not have had any grounds to cancel her visa.

In since-deleted comments, Jones said “the baby was carefully held for one minute in total and then released back to mom”.

“They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed,” she wrote. “I don’t ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so.”

But wildlife experts have deemed Jones’s act a “blatant disregard” for native wildlife.

The Wombat Protection Society said it was shocked to see the “mishandling of a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for ‘social media likes'”.

Suzanne Milthorpe, Head of Campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia, told BBC Newsday that posting such a video for “cheap content” was “unacceptable”.

“To that baby it must have seemed like a giant predator was picking it up and taking it away,” she said.

Wombats, which are native to Australia, are a legally protected species across the country. Baby wombats share a strong bond with their mothers, and any separation can be distressing and harmful, conservationists say.

A new TikTok account claiming to be Jones after her original account was allegedly banned, published a post on Thursday saying that “the hate is currently too much for me to handle” and that there had been “hundreds” of death threats.

“Imagine someone just goes up to your child and curses at them? Let’s have some respect,” the post said.

Most, however, have remained critical of Jones’s act.

“Maybe imagine if someone picked up your child and laughed while you screamed for them to give them back,” read a comment under the post, a reference to Jones’s snatching of the wombat from its mother.

Elon Musk’s electric carmaker Tesla has warned it and other US exporters could be harmed by countries retaliating to Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

Mr Musk is a close ally of the US president and is leading efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.

But in an unsigned letter addressed to the US trade representative, Tesla said while it “supports” fair trade it was concerned US exporters were “exposed to disproportionate impacts” if other countries retaliated to tariffs.

The letter was dated the same day that Trump hosted an event at the White House where he promised to buy a Tesla in a show of support for Mr Musk.

It is unclear who at Tesla wrote the letter as it is unsigned, or if Mr Musk was aware of it.

Tesla’s share price has dropped 40% since the start of the year. Mr Musk is the carmaker’s chief executive and while some have argued his alignment with the Trump administration is hurting its brand, market analysts say the share fall is more about worries over Tesla meeting production targets and a drop in sales over the past year.

In the letter, Tesla said it was making changes to its supply chains to find as many local suppliers for its cars and batteries so it was less reliant on foreign markets.

“None the less,” it warned, “even with aggressive localisation of the supply chain, certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source within the US.”

The US president has imposed an additional 20% tariff on all imports from China, prompting Beijing to respond with retaliatory levies including on cars. China is Tesla’s second biggest market after the US.

“For example, past trade actions by the United States have resulted in immediate reactions by the targeted countries, including increased tariffs on EVs imported into those countries,” the letter reads.

The EU and Canada have both threatened sweeping retaliations for tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US, which went into effect earlier this week.

Demonstrators have targeted Tesla showrooms in recent weeks in protest against Mr Musk’s cost-cutting role in Trump’s administration, where he is head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Earlier this week, Trump hosted an event at the White House where he said people protesting against Tesla should be labelled domestic terrorists, while sitting in the driver’s seat of a brand new red Tesla that he said he planned to buy.

Trump said demonstrators were “harming a great American company”, and anyone using violence against the electric carmaker would “go through hell”.

As Donatella Versace steps down from designing after 27 years at the helm of the Italian brand, the fashion world has been reflecting on her achievements and what this means for the future.

The 69-year-old took over the family business after her brother Gianni was murdered in 1997, with many unsure whether she had what it takes to steer the fashion house.

Her appointment was seen at the time as “a sentimental appointment by a shell-shocked family,” the Guardian’s fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley wrote.

But she proved the doubters wrong, anointing herself in the process as a global fashion icon.

She leaves the job as “one of the most successful female designers in modern fashion history”, Cartner-Morley added.

New York Times fashion director Vanessa Friedman declared that Donatella “wore her struggles – with personal tragedy, self-doubt, finding her creative feet, and drugs – with as much aplomb as her long platinum hair”.

As singer and Versace ambassador Dua Lipa put it in a tribute on Instagram: “No-one does it like you @donatella_versace!!!!!”

She did it all with “grit, kindness and, even in the troughs of addiction, an infectious sense of humour”, the Telegraph’s head of fashion Lisa Armstrong wrote.

However, Versace “never set a fashion agenda” under Donatella as it had under her brother, Armstrong added – but her “nose for a story could nevertheless produce fashion magic”.

Her magic moments included dressing Jennifer Lopez in the green jungle dress at the 2000 Grammy Awards, generating so much interest that Google created its image search function.

As former Miu Miu design director Dario Vitale takes over, Donatella will now become an ambassador for the Versace brand.

The big question is what that means for both the company and Donatella herself, who has poured her life into the company, dealing with grief, drug addiction and divorce along the way?

Speculation is growing over whether the company will be sold to the Prada Group by its current owner Capri Holdings.

Capri paid €2bn (£1.67bn) for the fashion house in 2018 and owns other companies such as Michael Kors.

Prada has been credited with developing a strong vision in recent years, which has translated to healthy sales during a climate of slowdown in the fashion economy.

Imran Amed, CEO of The Business of Fashion, told the BBC World Service that “Versace is one of the most iconic brands in the fashion industry” and has “a very clear design and brand DNA”.

He believes it “would be a mistake to dilute” the company or merge it with another, so hopes that if Versace is bought, the vision is to grow it into something bigger.

Amed said Versace makes about $1bn (£772m) a year, while rivals such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci make $20bn (£15.5bn) and $8bn (£6.2bn) respectively.

Some have touted that Versace’s failure to expand into the beauty industry and other affordable luxuries is why it has been left behind financially by its rivals.

Luisa Zargani, Milan bureau chief for Women’s Wear Daily, said Donatella had probably stepped back because she knows a “moment of creative upheaval” is coming for the brand.

“There has been a lot of talk about the future of Versace and for the last few years she has been very involved with all her charity work, so she will continue to do [that] while continuing to be part of the Versace family,” she told BBC News.

Zargani said Donatella “has always championed young designers” such as Christopher Kane, Jonathan Anderson and Anthony Vaccarello, and she expects her to continue to be involved as Vitale moves from Miu Miu.

“[Vitale] is a very solid designer, he’s very steady, very creative and has been key in building Miu Miu, so I’m sure she has had her input in this,” Zargani added.

Friedman said Donatella had probably been thinking about her succession plan “for a while”.

“There’s a lot of turmoil in the luxury industry at large, and she may have decided it was time for a change,” she told the World Service’s Newshour.

Friedman called her replacement “a very talented designer”, adding: “He’s been working behind the scenes at Miu Miu for two years and it has been the single hottest brand in fashion over that time period.”

Vitale has helped steer the brand to record profits, which she said was “mind boggling” when “every other brand in the fashion world has declined during that period”.

Versace herself can be proud of how she has successfully transformed from her brother’s muse to a fashion powerhouse, Friedman added.

“She wasn’t the person toiling away with pattern-making back in the atelier, but she really did prove herself, and more credit to her.”

Donatella’s final show earlier this month was staged in a tram station in northern Milan, drawing some of the world’s biggest celebrities – once again showcasing how her star power has helped keep the brand a talking point in the fashion world.

Friedman said the show, which featured the brand’s signature bold aesthetic, “reflected the fuzziness around the fate of Versace” by lacking any clear direction.

Her exit was not announced at the show, but many speculated it was coming because the collection featured references to her late brother’s final designs from autumn/winter 1997.

Everyone is now talking about what Donatella does next.

A book or documentary about her would undoubtedly be well received. She is also an advocate for several women’s and LGBTQ charities, so could increase her input into those in the future. But she will continue to cast a shadow over the catwalk.

Early-rising stargazers in the UK woke up to a lunar eclipse just before dawn on Friday.

The eclipse was partial for most of the UK, with the Earth’s shadow only covering part of the Moon.

But some western areas of the UK, as well as the Americas and some Pacific islands, saw a total lunar eclipse. It is the first since May 2022, when the Moon turned completely red.

A stunning “blood Moon” was created as the Moon moved into Earth’s shadow, gradually darkening before turning a dusky red.

Stargazers around the world caught the first sign of the lunar event, which began at 05:09 GMT, on a livestream run by LA’s Griffith Observatory.

A lunar eclipse happens when Earth moves directly between the Sun and the Moon, blocking sunlight and casting a shadow on the Moon’s surface.

Kathleen Maitland caught a glimpse of the spectacle while stargazing at Pagham Harbour in West Sussex.

“You’ve got the sun coming up behind, then this Moon going into a slither and turning red,” she told the BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.

“It was amazing to watch.”

A lunar eclipse takes place when the Moon passes through the outer region of Earth’s shadow, called the penumbra.

A total lunar eclipse requires the Earth to obscure the light from the Sun hitting the Moon – meaning the three celestial objects have to be in alignment.

People sometimes refer to a lunar eclipse as a “blood Moon” because of the way the Moon can turn a deep, coppery red during the eclipse.

This is caused by a process known as “Rayleigh scattering”, which also makes the sky blue and our sunsets red.

When sunlight has to pass through the Earth’s atmosphere to reach the Moon, this causes the Moon to appear a different colour, explained astronomer Jake Foster, at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

When light is deflected by the small particles in Earth’s atmosphere, it scatters more of the shorter blue wavelengths, leaving longer red wavelengths to remain visible.

Mr Foster said: “Red light is mostly unaffected by the gases of the atmosphere, so it travels all the way through them and out the other side where it can shine on the Moon, making it appear red.”

The next total lunar eclipse is due to take place at the start of September – but will be most prominent over central and east Asia, with only some parts of the UK seeing the total eclipse effect.

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Sudan has suspended all imports from Kenya in protest after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are fighting the army in a two-year civil war, were hosted in Nairobi.

Last month, the RSF and its allied political and armed groups signed a founding charter in Kenya expressing the intention to form a parallel government in Sudan.

Sudan’s military government said the import ban was to preserve the country’s sovereignty and “protect its national security”.

The war-torn country imports several products from Kenya including tea, food items and pharmaceutical products.

“The import of all products coming from Kenya through all ports, crossings, airports, and ports will be suspended as of this day until further notice,” a decree issued by Sudan’s ministry of trade stated.

It ordered “all relevant authorities to enforce the ban immediately”.

Tensions between Kenya and Sudan have been escalating for several months.

Kenyan President William Ruto has faced widespread criticism at home for his perceived close ties with the RSF.

Last month, Sudan recalled its ambassador to Kenya in protest against Nairobi’s involvement in a “conspiracy to establish a government” for the RSF.

Sudan called Kenya’s hosting of RSF meetings “tantamount to an act of hostility”.

But Kenya defended its role, stating that hosting the meetings was part of efforts to find solutions to end the war in Sudan “without any ulterior motives”.

Both countries have traditionally enjoyed strong trade relations, with Kenya being an important partner for Sudan, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing.

Kenya exports a range of goods to Sudan, with tea being its most significant export, followed by coffee, tobacco, and other products such as soaps, electrical equipment, and pharmaceuticals.

Tea is one of Kenya’s most significant foreign exchange earners, and this move is expected to disrupt both trade flows and the broader economy.

“This ban will be a big blow, and foreign exchange will take a hit. It would mean less foreign exchange and greater exposure to financial services. It has a ripple effect that extends beyond just trade,” economist Ken Gichinga told the BBC.

The Kenyan government is yet to comment on the ban but Agriculture Minister Mutahi Kagwe recently said his country was exploring diplomatic avenues to address the market access challenges in Sudan.

The ban comes at a time when Kenya’s tea exports were already struggling due to the conflict in Sudan.

A recent report showed a 12% reduction in Kenyan tea exports to Sudan over the past year.

The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has caused widespread destruction, disrupting supply chains and limiting the ability of businesses to operate normally.

Ports and border crossings, vital for trade, have been either damaged or obstructed by the violence, significantly reducing the flow of goods between Sudan and its neighbours, including Kenya.

The conflict has devastated large parts of Sudan – including the capital Khartoum – with thousands of people killed and more than 12 million displaced, according to the United Nations.

• Sudan army ends two-year siege of key city
• Sudan – where more children are fleeing war than anywhere else
• The two generals at the heart of the Sudan conflict

“My only son, just 25 years old,” says Dalaal Mahna, with tears filling her eyes. “They took him right from my side and told me: ‘We’re going to kill him and break your heart with it.’ “

That was the last Dalaal saw of her son. She says he was shot dead by the gunmen who abducted him.

Dalaal is from Syria’s Alawite minority sect, which was targeted in a surge of sectarian violence since last week.

“Everyone knew he had diabetes and anaemia disorder, and he was just doing his best to get by.”

The BBC team found Dalaal seeking refuge alongside thousands of other people in a remote Russian airbase in the country’s western coastal region.

A war monitoring group says that more than 1,400 civilians have been killed since 6 March – most of them Alawites – in Latakia and the neighbouring provinces of Tartous, Hama and Homs.

Dalaal is one of the few people willing to talk to us about what happened.

Last week, security forces launched an operation in the region, in response to a growing insurgency by fighters loyal to deposed president Bashar al-Assad – an Alawite whose regime was dominated by members of the sect.

The violence escalated after 13 security personnel were killed in an ambush by gunmen in the coastal town of Jableh.

Gunmen loyal to the Sunni Islamist-led government which replaced Assad have been accused of carrying out revenge killings in predominantly Alawite communities following the attack.

Entire families, including women and children, were killed over the next four days, according to the United Nations human rights office.

On Wednesday, a spokesman told reporters that the UN had so far verified the killing of 111 civilians, but that the actual figure was believed to be significantly higher.

Many of the cases were summary executions, he added.

On the highway, our team found a car riddled with bullets.

It is unknown how many people died in it, nor their backgrounds.

But it is hard to imagine that anyone inside survived.

The coastal highway has been secured and cleared after an attack by those described by officials as remnants of the former regime. The attack was followed by acts of revenge against members of the Alawite sect.

But our team saw dozens of bodies still scattered among the bushes and in mass graves, during a tour accompanied by fighters affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Defence.

Security sources told the BBC that the Assad loyalists behind the attack in Jableh were not all killed.

Instead, they managed to retreat into the nearby mountains when security forces deployed large numbers of reinforcements from across the country.

“They are all from these villages,” said Mahmoud al-Haik, a soldier in the new government’s defence ministry, who has been stationed in Baniyas in the Latakia countryside.

“Everyone involved in what happened – they belonged to these communities. But now, they have all left the area.

“The area was in complete chaos. But, thank God, we managed to regain control. People started returning to their homes, and now, many are calling for the rest to be allowed to come back.”

Most of the villages in the area are still abandoned.

Fearing sectarian killings, residents fled to the mountains, where they have been sleeping in open areas for a week.

In a village on the outskirts of Baniyas, our team came across a small group of men who had cautiously returned to check on their homes and shops.

Alawite Wafiq Ismail said he was there when the attack took place, but he would not go into detail.

“Brother, I really can’t say anything about it. I don’t know. That’s it… May God keep us safe from harm.”

In the countryside of Latakia, the Syrian security forces’ control ends, and the boundaries of the Russian military’s Hmeimim airbase begin.

Thousands of Alawite families have taken refuge in this base to escape attacks by various Syrian factions. They are living in very harsh conditions.

It is where Dalaal says her son was killed. Others there told us similar stories.

Most of the families have lost someone: a son, a relative, or a neighbour.

Another Alawite woman told us: “We need international protection from what we’re going through. We left our homes, we left everything, our livelihoods, and we came here.”

Very few details have been revealed regarding last Thursday’s attack and its significant sectarian repercussions. These were acknowledged by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the rebel offensive that overthrew Assad in December.

Sharaa has promised to hold the perpetrators accountable, even if they are among his allies, saying that “we won’t accept that any blood be shed unjustly”.

However, few believe that that the wound caused by these events in the already heavily scarred Syrian body will heal easily.

Millions of Indians are celebrating Holi, the festival of colours.

The spring festival symbolises the victory of good over evil and marks the end of winter.

People light a bonfire, smear or spray friends and family members with colour and water, and feast on traditional sweets prepared for the occasion.

It’s one of India’s biggest festivals, with millions returning to their hometowns to celebrate with loved ones.

The festival honours the divine love of Hindu deities Radha and Krishna, and boisterous celebrations are held in the northern Indian cities of Mathura and Vrindavan, believed to be their birthplace.

Historical texts suggest the festival has long been celebrated to mark good harvests and seek fertile land.

This week saw talks to end the three-year war in Ukraine enter a new phase, a mission to find ice on the Moon fall flat, and the UK unveil its latest attempt to take the crown at Eurovision.

But how much attention did you pay to what else has been going on in the world over the past seven days?

Quiz compiled by Ben Fell.

Fancy some more? Try last week’s quiz or have a go at something from the archives.

When Kajol contracted tuberculosis in January, USAID kept her alive. Now she and her family are in danger again after the Trump administration ordered most US aid spending to end.

TB can be fatal if left untreated. The highly contagious bacterial disease, which usually infects the lungs, is not prevalent in rich countries, because treatment is relatively cheap. But in Bangladesh, it is a scourge.

That’s especially so in neighbourhoods such as Mohammadpur, a slum in the capital Dhaka where Kajol,17, lives.

“We are poor people,” she says. She is the sole breadwinner for herself, her mother and little brother. Her job in a garment factory keeps them all afloat.

So when she fell ill in January, it could have been catastrophic.

Instead, help arrived through Dipa Halder. For the last three years, she has been canvassing the residents of Mohammadpur about TB and getting people the treatment they so desperately need, free of cost.

The initiative, which gets people tested and get them treatment they need including proper nutrition, is run by a local aid organisation, Nari Maitree. It was funded by the US Agency for International Aid (USAID) until February, when it received a letter from the US government saying the funds had been terminated.

That brought Kajol’s treatment, only partially completed, to an abrupt end.

Cutting off medicines mid-treatment makes the chances of TB becoming drug-resistant much greater. It makes the disease much more difficult to combat and puts patients at greater risk of severe illness and death.

The government provides free medication but getting diagnosed and collecting the medicines can be cost prohibitive for many.

“Now I have to go get the medicine myself,” she says. “I am struggling a lot.”

“The people here are quite vulnerable,” says Dipa, 21. “I can tell them to go to a particular doctor, which would help them save some money.

“Or I try to provide them with some financial assistance from our organisation so that they can continue their treatment.”

According to a US government performance report seen by the BBC, support by USAID in 2023 resulted directly in the identification and reporting of more than a quarter of a million new cases of TB in Bangladesh. In the same year, there were 296,487 new or relapse cases of TB which were cured or successfully completed as a result of USAID.

The agency was seen as integral to the country’s fight against tuberculosis.

“You ask people on the street, they will say yeah, it’s the US, they are the ones that are keeping it [tuberculosis] in control,” said a director of a USAID project in Bangladesh, who is not authorised to speak publicly and did not want to be named.

“Bangladesh was USAID’s largest programme in Asia,” says Asif Saleh, executive director of the non-profit BRAC organisation. “In terms of its impact, particularly in the healthcare sector, it has been massive.

“Particularly around vaccination, reducing child mortality and maternal mortality, USAID has played a massive role in this country.”

In 2024, Bangladesh received $500m in foreign assistance. This year, that amount has cratered to $71m. To put that number into context, in the three-year period from 2021-2023, USAID committed an average of $83m annually in Bangladesh for health initiatives alone, including combating TB.

Cuts to USAID have meant Nari Maitree can no longer offer its Stop TB Program, but it also means Dipa is out of work. She supports her elderly parents and her younger sister.

“I am completely shattered now that I lost my job. I am carrying the burden of the family. Being unemployed is a devastating situation,” she told the BBC.

In a document seen by the BBC, 113 programmes that were funded directly by the USAID office in Bangladesh have stopped. The list does not include the myriad programmes that are funded directly by US agencies in Washington.

“The NGO sector [In Bangladesh] employs 500,000 people at least,” says Mr Saleh. “It’s huge. Thousands and thousands of jobs are going to be eliminated.”

It’s not just the United States that is moving away from foreign aid. The UK has announced cuts to its foreign assistance programmes, as has Switzerland. It is likely that other countries may follow suit.

It’s a sobering reality for Bangladesh. The country’s government was overthrown last year and the economy is shaky, with inflation near 10% and a jobs crisis, particularly among young people.

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus says Bangladesh will come up with a new strategy on how to survive following the aid cuts – but doesn’t say how.

When pressed in a BBC interview on how the country will cover the shortfall from USAID, Yunus said: “It was a small part, not a big deal. It doesn’t mean Bangladesh will disappear from the map.”

Asif Saleh says the way the cuts have been implemented has been abrupt and chaotic. The impact on a country like Bangladesh is immeasurable.

Nowhere is that more clear than in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal city in south-eastern Bangladesh, home to the world’s largest refugee camp. More than one million Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority community that the United Nations calls victims of ethnic cleansing, fled violent purges in their home country, neighbouring Myanmar.

Unable to go back home and unable to work outside the refugee camp, the Rohingya depend on international aid for their survival.

The United States contributed almost half of all aid to Rohingya refugees.

“We have run out of soap,” says Rana Flowers, country representative for the UN children’s agency Unicef. “We are now having to truck water into the camps. It’s an absolutely critical time. There is an outbreak of cholera with over 580 cases, along with a scabies outbreak.”

Water sanitation projects in the camps used to be funded by USAID.

Since the order to stop work went into effect at the end of January, hospitals such as the International Red Cross hospital in Cox’s Bazar are reduced to providing emergency assistance only. Any hope the money would be reinstated was crushed this week, when the Trump administration cancelled more than 80% of all the programmes at USAID.

Patients like Hamida Begum, who was getting regular treatment for hypertension, are left with few options.

“I’m old and I don’t have anyone to help me,” she says. Her husband died last year, leaving her to care for her four children alone, including her 12-year-old daughter who cannot walk.

“I cannot go to another hospital far from home because of my daughter.”

At a nearby UN food distribution centre, Rehana Begum is standing beside two large sacks.

Inside, she says, are six litres of cooking oil and 13kg of rice, along with basics such as onions, garlic and dried chillies. These rations, given to her by the World Food Programme (WFP), need to last her and her family a month.

I ask how she will manage now that her rations will be cut in half beginning next month.

She looked shocked. Then she started to cry.

“How can we possibly survive with such a small amount?” asks Rehana, 47, who shares one room with her husband and five children. “Even now, it is difficult to manage.”

The WFP says it was forced to make the drastic cut because of “a critical funding shortfall for its emergency response operations”.

The rations now being allotted to the Rohingya community will only meet their basic daily dietary needs, igniting fears they will be left with just enough to live and not much more.

“This is an absolute disaster in the making,” says Rana Flowers of Unicef. “Desperate frustrated people within the camps will lead to security concerns. If that escalates to the degree it could, we won’t be able to go into the camps to help.”

Russia is ready for a halt in fighting, says Vladimir Putin, but “there are nuances”. Those nuances that he laid out ahead of talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin on Thursday are so key to his thinking they could scupper any hope of a 30-day ceasefire.

They are demands that he has had throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion, and before. And for Ukraine and its Western partners, many of them are going to prove unacceptable or impossible to fulfil.

“We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” he started positively, only to add: “This cessation must be such that it would lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”

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Nobody would disagree with the need for long-term peace, but Putin’s idea of the root causes of the war revolve around Ukraine’s desire to exist as a sovereign state, beyond Russia’s orbit.

Ukraine wants to be part of Nato and the European Union – so much so, it is enshrined in the constitution.

President Trump has already cast doubt on Nato membership, but Putin has repeatedly dismissed the idea of Ukraine as a state at all.

And that underpins many of the nuances he sketched out.

He wants to stop Ukraine from reinforcing its army and replenishing its weapons supply – so there would be no more deliveries from the West. He wants to know who would ensure that was verified.

From the start of this war, Putin has demanded the “demilitarisation” of Ukraine, which is anathema to Kyiv and its allies.

In essence, Putin is looking for security guarantees in reverse.

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Would Russia agree to halt rearming or mobilising its forces? That seems implausible and there was no hint of any concession on his part, as he addressed reporters in the Kremlin.

Putin has just come back in bullish mood from a visit seemingly close to the front line in Kursk, a Russian border region that has been partially occupied since last August by Ukraine.

Russia has the upper hand in Kursk. Putin clearly feels he is negotiating from a position of strength and doesn’t want to lose it.

“If we stop military actions for 30 days, what does that mean? Will everyone who is there leave the battle?”

Russia’s defence ministry announced on Thursday that its forces had now taken full control of the biggest city the Ukrainians had managed to seize, Sudzha. Putin says all the Ukrainians have left is a wedge, so why would Russia stop now?

“If a physical blockade occurs in the coming days, no-one will be able to leave at all. There will be only two options – to surrender or die.”

The same applied to the whole of the 1,000km (620-mile) front line, where he claimed the situation on the ground was changing rapidly, with Russian troops “advancing in practically all areas”.

That is not the case, as most of the front is at a stalemate, even if Russia has had some recent success in the east.

Putin believes a 30-day ceasefire would deprive Russia of its advantage and enable the Ukrainians to regroup and rearm.

“What are our guarantees that nothing like that will be allowed to happen,” he asked rhetorically.

As yet, no mechanism has been offered to ensure that the terms of any ceasefire would hold.

Although 15 Western countries have tentatively offered peacekeeping troops, they would only come in the event of a final peace deal, not a ceasefire.

Not that Russia would allow that arrangement anyway.

Given all these “nuances”, Putin appeared to be sceptical of how a ceasefire could benefit Russia, especially when his troops were on the front foot. His entire outlook was “based on how the situation on the ground develops”.

Putin’s spokesman said the Russian leader met Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff later on Thursday evening and provided him with “additional information”.

Ultimately, the most important conversation for Putin will be with the US president, but Dmitry Peskov spoke of “grounds for optimism” for a deal.

“Once Witkoff has given [Trump] all of the information… then we will agree on timings,” the Kremlin spokesman said of the planned phone-call.

Putin’s aim on Thursday was to set out his stall, with a message that the road to a ceasefire was littered with conditions that would be almost impossible to meet.

A dissident faction of the main political party in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray has seized control of key offices and a radio station in the regional capital, Mekelle, amid growing fears of a fresh conflict.

It follows a deepening power struggle within the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has raised concerns of a return to civil war.

One Mekelle resident told the BBC that people were withdrawing money from their bank accounts, fearing the security situation could deteriorate.

On Tuesday, the same faction took control of Adigrat, Tigray’s second-largest city.

Getachew Reda, president of Tigray’s interim administration, has accused the rival group, led by Debretsion Gebremichael, of attempting to forcefully remove him from office.

Getachew became Tigray’s leader following a 2022 peace deal ending two years of conflict in the region, which killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Debretsion Gebremichael was previously the region’s leader but over the past year, relations have soured with the man who replaced him.

On Thursday, members of Debretsion’s faction accompanied by armed soldiers took control of Mekelle FM radio station and the mayor’s office in the city.

Gunshots were heard on Wednesday night in Adi-Gudem, a town near Mekelle, when forces from the dissident faction attempted to occupy a government building.

The forces reportedly arrested the town’s mayor and took control of the office.

Getachew has suspended three generals of the Tigray Defence Forces, accusing the rival faction of trying to destabilise the region.

On Wednesday, Getachew asked the Ethiopian government to “provide necessary assistance”, without specifying the kind of support.

He is currently in the country’s capital Addis Ababa for “consultations with the federal authorities” but he told the BBC that he intends to return to Tigray.

Federal authorities in Ethiopia have not yet commented.

In a press statement on Thursday, Getachew accused his rivals of colluding with neighbouring Eritrea, which was involved in Tigray’s civil war and has a fractious relationship with Ethiopia’s government.

“We have reason to believe external actors are involved,” he said, accusing Eritrea of being among those who think “they would benefit from turmoil in Tigray”.

Eritrea denies any such intention but its army fought in the previous war, where it was accused of mass killings and rape.

Two close allies of Debretsion have rejected the accusation they are linked to Eritrea, and downplayed the possibility of another round of conflict.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsday programme, Getachew accused high-ranking Tigrayan military officers of attempting to orchestrate an “open coup”.

The tensions have sparked fresh anxiety in the region, which is yet to recover from the conflict that ended in 2022 after the TPLF and the Ethiopian government signed a peace deal.

The agreement led to the creation of the interim administration, which is supposed to govern Tigray until regional elections are held.

But delays in implementing the agreement have fuelled sharp divisions within the TPLF.

Several countries including the US, Britain and the European Union have warned about the escalating tension, saying there must be “no return to violence”.

On Thursday, France called on its nationals in Tigray to “stock up on emergency supplies and to exercise utmost caution”.

In a statement, the African Union said it was following events in Tigray with “deep concern”.

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A Russian national has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Finnish court for committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Voislav Torden, 38, a senior member of the Russian far-right mercenary group Rusich, was found guilty of four charges by a court in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, on Friday, while he was acquitted of a fifth charge.

The charges relate to an ambush and firefight that occurred in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, which killed 22 Ukrainian soldiers and injured four others. Torden denies the allegations.

It marks the first time charges have been brought and heard in a Finnish court over allegations of war crimes in Ukraine.

Torden, previously known as Yan Petrovsky, was a founding member of Rusich, which operated in the eastern Donbas region as part of pro-Russian separatist fighting against Ukraine. Rusich is a subunit of the Wagner group.

It was alleged that, on 5 September 2014, Torden led his men as part of an ambush of Ukrainian soldiers by pretending to be Ukrainian, before setting fire to a truck and car belonging to the unit.

Twenty-one Ukrainian troops were killed and a further five injured, the indictment said.

The court in Helsinki found there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Rusich was specifically responsible for the ambush, as there were several other groups involved.

However, it found Torden guilty on all other counts, including that he was in charge of the Rusich mercenaries present during the ambush, who killed at least one Ukrainian soldier and injured another.

His men were also found to have mutilated a wounded soldier by “making the Rusich group symbol on his face”.

Torden was found to have distributed “degrading” images of the soldier and to have posted on social media that Rusich would “not grant mercy”.

A panel of three judges unanimously found him guilty of the latter four charges, writing that the most serious – of killing a soldier – was “comparable to murder due to its brutality and cruelty”.

While the court held that there was insufficient evidence to find him culpable for the deaths of the 21 other Ukrainian soldiers, it ordered him to pay compensation to the family of the soldier whose death he was found responsible for.

Torden has consistently denied the allegations levelled against him, Finland’s public broadcaster reports. He intends to appeal against the conviction, according to national newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.

Torden’s lawyer, Heikki Lampela, said the verdict had taken them by surprise.

“There was no evidence that he killed the wounded or gave the order to do so,” he told Finland’s public broadcaster, Yle, adding that Torden was “equally confused” he had received a life sentence “for an act he did not commit”.

Torden was arrested at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in July 2023 at the request of the Ukrainian government, which sought to extradite him.

That request was rejected by Finland’s Supreme Court over concerns he would not receive a fair trial in Ukraine – but he was still able to be tried in Helsinki as he was accused of crimes under international law.

Yle reports that similar charges have been tried domestically relating to acts in countries including Rwanda and Iraq.

The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general hailed the court’s ruling as a “key milestone” in holding perpetrators of “grave violations of international humanitarian law accountable”.

It added in a statement that Ukrainian officials had ensured that the court had heard from victims and witnesses in Ukraine during the trial, adding that it would continue to work with partners internationally to “ensure there is no impunity for war criminals”.

The former leader of Reform UK in Wales will stand trial next year, accused of accepting bribes to make statements in the European Parliament that would benefit Russia.

Nathan Gill, 51, from Llangefni on Anglesey, is charged with eight counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

At a hearing in the Old Bailey in London on Friday, defence barrister Clare Ashcroft indicated that the former Wales MEP intended to enter not guilty pleas.

A trial date of 29 June 2026 was set.

A court previously heard Mr Gill, who was a UKIP and later a Brexit Party MEP between 2014 and 2020, was alleged to have conspired with former Ukrainian politician Oleg Voloshyn between 1 January 2018 and 1 February 2020.

Mr Gill stood in the dock and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.

He was alleged to have been tasked by Mr Voloshyn on at least eight occasions to make specific statements in return for money.

Mr Voloshyn, a co-defendant in the case, is a former politician from the pro-Russian Opposition Platform for Life party. He is not thought to be in the UK.

The earlier court hearing heard the statements, made in the European Parliament and in opinion pieces to news outlets such as 112 Ukraine, were “supportive of a particular narrative” which would “benefit Russia regarding events in Ukraine”.

Mr Gill was stopped at Manchester Airport on 13 September 2021 under anti-terror legislation, the court was told in February.

It was said then that his mobile phone was seized and evidence was found that police say suggested he was in a professional relationship with Mr Voloshyn and had agreed to “receive or accept monies in return for him performing activities as an MEP”.

Setting a trial date at the hearing on Friday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Mr Gill: “Your trial is not going to happen immediately.

“There’s a degree of preparation that needs to take place.”

The judge released Mr Gill on conditional bail and said he should not make contact with Mr Voloshyn and not obtain international travel documents.

Mr Gill confirmed he handed his passport to police after the previous hearing in February.

He is set to appear in court next on the 18 July this year.

Mr Gill was first elected as a UKIP MEP in 2014 and joined the National Assembly of Wales, as it was then called, in 2016.

He was an Assembly Member for just over a year, before he was replaced by Mandy Jones in December 2017.

He served as UKIP’s leader for Wales and was briefly an independent before joining Reform’s predecessor organisation, the Brexit Party, in 2019.

The north Wales politician led Reform’s 2021 Welsh Parliament election campaign.

It is not clear precisely when Mr Gill ceased being leader of Reform UK Wales, but the job has not existed for some time.

Reform has said he is no longer a member.

The president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, has repeated his call for the US to base nuclear weapons on Polish soil.

In the presidential palace in Warsaw, he told me that it would make Poland stronger and safer as it faces Russia.

Viewed from Poland, President Putin’s Russia is a clear and a present danger.

President Duda, who is also commander-in-chief of the rapidly expanding Polish armed forces, said today’s Russia is at least as aggressive as the former Soviet Union.

He condemned what he called Moscow’s imperial greed.

Positioning US nuclear weapons in Poland would be viewed by President Putin as a provocation.

But President Duda views the proposal as a defensive measure to strengthen deterrence.

He said it would be a response to President Putin’s 2023 decision to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which has a border with Poland and Ukraine.

“It’s the same Russia that’s attacking Ukraine today, who is an aggressor, who is murdering civilians, who is bombing down civilian settlements,” he told me.

“And it’s moving its nuclear weapons from the depths of Russia to Belarus.”

“This defensive tactic is a vital response to Russia’s behaviour, relocating nuclear weapons in the Nato area. Poland is ready to host this nuclear weapon.”

President Duda also welcomed proposals made by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, to extend the French nuclear weapons umbrella to other Nato states.

The US already rotates about 10,000 troops at a time through Poland.

When asked how the presence of nuclear weapons would make Poland safer, Duda said it would deepen America’s commitment to Polish security.

“Every strategic kind of infrastructure, American and Nato infrastructure, which we have on our soil is strengthening the inclination of the US and the North Atlantic Alliance to defend this territory.”

Poland spends almost 5% of its national income on defence. That is more than any other member of Nato, including the United States.

Last week, Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, made a speech in parliament warning that a “profound change in American geopolitics” was putting both Poland and Ukraine into an “objectively more difficult situation”.

Prime Minister Tusk called for further increases in Polish defence spending and proposed that Poland should consider reaching for “opportunities related to nuclear weapons.”

Referring to President Putin’s refusal on Thursday to agree immediately to the 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, Duda said he was confident that the US president had a plan, as he put it, to “to encourage the Russian side to act reasonably”.

Duda will not criticise Trump nor accept that his actions and words have cast a doubt on the US commitment to Article 5, the mutual defence clause of the North Atlantic Treaty.

But he has much harsher words for Putin’s Russia than Donald Trump ever uses.

And he backs calls for the EU to seize Russian assets worth around 200 billion euros that have been frozen in European banks.

“I believe it is obvious that Russian assets collected and locked in banks in Western Europe should be used to support Ukraine, and it should be a double support,” he says.

“First of all, Ukraine should be supported in defending itself against the Russian aggression. And secondly, this should be used to support the rebuilding of Ukraine.”

“I cannot imagine that after the destruction of Ukraine, Russia can simply take this money away without paying war reparations and compensation.”

A British man has been killed in a hit-and-run incident involving a vehicle in the motorcade of Kenyan President William Ruto.

The man, who has been named as 79-year-old Edgar Charles Frederick, died on Thursday after being struck in the accident on a main road in the capital, Nairobi.

Police detained a driver, who has since been released on bail.

They say he was driving a support vehicle that was travelling at the rear of President Ruto’s official convoy.

According to the police, the president’s detail had passed by the time the accident occurred.

Police spokesman Michael Muchiri told the BBC that Mr Frederick had been visiting Kenya to see his sister and nephew who are residents of the country.

The victim’s next-of-kin have been informed, and a post-mortem is likely to be conducted later on Friday.

The police said the driver, who failed to stop after the incident, would appear in court following an investigation.

There has been an uproar on social media following Thursday’s incident.

While Kenyans are accustomed to roads being cleared for the presidential motorcade, this time around some have questioned why the convoy was so big and moving at such speed.

This not the first time a president’s or deputy president’s motorcade has killed or injured a pedestrian, and in a number of cases, members of the president’s travelling party have died.

But some believe more attention is being paid to this latest case because the victim is a foreigner.

A spokesperson for the UK High Commission said officials were aware of the reports and were seeking more information.

Videos posted on social media show a man in blue jeans and a light-coloured shirt lying bleeding on the road outside a busy shopping area.

Other pictures show the victim covered in a checked shawl, known locally as a Maasai Shuka.

Mr Muchiri told the BBC the vehicle belonged to the regional administration and was providing support to the presidential detail.

President Ruto held events in the vicinity of the scene on Thursday as part of ongoing political engagements with the public in the capital.

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Emmy Award-winning Ted Lasso is returning to TV for a fourth series, Apple TV+ has revealed.

Its US star Jason Sudeikis is back in the role of Ted, who coaches fictional English Premier League football club AFC Richmond, having returned to the US in series three.

No further casting has been confirmed, but the comedy’s other stars include Hannah Waddingham, Nick Mohammed, Juno Temple and Phil Dunster.

In a cryptic statement, Sudeikis said: “As we all continue to live in a world where so many factors have conditioned us to ‘look before we leap’, in season four the folks at AFC Richmond learn to leap before they look, discovering that wherever they land, it’s exactly where they’re meant to be.”

In series three, Roy Kent, played by Brett Goldstein, became assistant coach, alongside coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), while Ted dealt with personal issues at home.

Sudeikis also co-produces the show, while Goldstein is also an executive producer and writer for the show.

So far, Ted Lasso’s 36 episodes across its three seasons have picked up 13 Emmys and 61 nominations since it was first broadcast in 2020.

Sudeikis also won Emmys for lead actor in a comedy series in 2021 and 2022.

Apple TV+ has yet to announce when the new series will be broadcast.

Two US judges have ordered several federal government agencies to reinstate the jobs of probationary employees fired en masse by the Trump administration last month.

In California, District Judge William Alsup called the sacking of these employees part of a “sham” strategy that aimed to circumvent proper procedures for reducing the federal workforce.

His order – which was followed by another from Maryland – applies to thousands of probationary workers who were fired at a range of departments, including defence, energy, treasury, and veterans affairs.

The Department of Justice says the firings were done based on guidance – rather than a directive – from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The BBC has contacted OPM for comment.

OPM, a once-obscure agency that manages the federal government’s civil service, has been thrust into the spotlight amid President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the size of the federal workforce.

In Thursday’s hearing in San Francisco, California, Judge Alsup countered the DOJ lawyer’s arguments from the bench, citing evidence including termination letters that stated the firings were carried out on OPM’s instructions.

“That should not have been done in our country,” Judge Alsup said. “It was a sham in order to avoid statutory requirements.”

Danielle Leonard, a lawyer representing a coalition of government employee unions, said probationary employees were targeted because they lacked the right to appeal.

During the hearing, Judge Alsup also lamented the firing of a government worker in Albuquerque, New Mexico who had been given top marks for performance but was then issued a pink slip citing performance as the cause of their termination.

“I just want to say it is a sad day when our government would fire a good employee and say it’s for performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Judge Alsup said.

Judge Alsup’s order was followed by a similar ruling from Baltimore, Maryland, by District Judge James Bredar, who agreed that Trump’s team had broken regulations and cast doubt on the idea that the workers had been individually sacked for unsatisfactory performances.

Responding to the first ruling, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Judge Alsup of singlehandedly “attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the executive branch”.

She said that power rested with the president and “singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the president’s agenda”.

“The Trump administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order,” she added.

Elon Musk’s name was not mentioned during the California hearing, but he has been tasked by President Trump with downsizing the federal workforce through the ad hoc Department of Government Efficiency – or Doge.

“He was on everybody’s mind,” said Luz Fuller, president of a local Sacramento branch of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 4,500 employees in Northern California.

The White House has denied that Musk is the agency’s leader, although Trump labelled him as such during his Congressional address last week.

Elon Musk’s electric carmaker Tesla has warned it and other US exporters could be harmed by countries retaliating to Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

Mr Musk is a close ally of the US president and is leading efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.

But in an unsigned letter addressed to the US trade representative, Tesla said while it “supports” fair trade it was concerned US exporters were “exposed to disproportionate impacts” if other countries retaliated to tariffs.

The letter was dated the same day that Trump hosted an event at the White House where he promised to buy a Tesla in a show of support for Mr Musk.

It is unclear who at Tesla wrote the letter as it is unsigned, or if Mr Musk was aware of it.

Tesla’s share price has dropped 40% since the start of the year. Mr Musk is the carmaker’s chief executive and while some have argued his alignment with the Trump administration is hurting its brand, market analysts say the share fall is more about worries over Tesla meeting production targets and a drop in sales over the past year.

In the letter, Tesla said it was making changes to its supply chains to find as many local suppliers for its cars and batteries so it was less reliant on foreign markets.

“None the less,” it warned, “even with aggressive localisation of the supply chain, certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source within the US.”

The US president has imposed an additional 20% tariff on all imports from China, prompting Beijing to respond with retaliatory levies including on cars. China is Tesla’s second biggest market after the US.

“For example, past trade actions by the United States have resulted in immediate reactions by the targeted countries, including increased tariffs on EVs imported into those countries,” the letter reads.

The EU and Canada have both threatened sweeping retaliations for tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US, which went into effect earlier this week.

Demonstrators have targeted Tesla showrooms in recent weeks in protest against Mr Musk’s cost-cutting role in Trump’s administration, where he is head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Earlier this week, Trump hosted an event at the White House where he said people protesting against Tesla should be labelled domestic terrorists, while sitting in the driver’s seat of a brand new red Tesla that he said he planned to buy.

Trump said demonstrators were “harming a great American company”, and anyone using violence against the electric carmaker would “go through hell”.

Outside the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention centre, where former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has been taken, his supporters gathered on Wednesday night, waving national flags and shouting, “Bring him back!” as a vehicle thought to be carrying him was driven through the imposing iron gates at speed.

Shortly before he landed in the Netherlands, the 79-year-old unapologetically defended his bloody “war on drugs” for which the ICC says there are “reasonable grounds” to charge him with murder as a crime against humanity.

Small-time drug dealers, users and others were killed without trial on his watch as mayor and, later, as president.

The official toll stands at 6,000, though activists believe the real figure could run into the tens of thousands.

Duterte said he cracked down on drug dealers to rid the country of street crimes.

However, rights groups allege that the campaign was rife with police abuse, targeting young men from the urban poor.

Duterte is the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC – and the first suspect to be flown to The Hague in three years.

And his arrival comes at a pivotal moment for the International Criminal Court.

Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and deportation on Monday was the result of an unprecedented chain of events.

His supporters allege that the ICC is being used as a political tool by the country’s current president Ferdinand Marcos who has publicly fallen out with the powerful Duterte family.

The ICC is a court of last resort designed to hold the most powerful to account when domestic courts are unable or unwilling to do so. But this case is a reminder of the extent to which it depends on state co-operation in order to fulfil its mandate – it effectively has no power to arrest people without the co-operation of the countries they are in, which is most often refused.

In the case of Duterte, chances that he would ever be prosecuted by the ICC seemed unthinkable even in 2022, when his daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte, allied with Marcos to create the powerful “uniteam” that swept presidential elections.

Up until a few months ago, Marcos had dismissed the idea of co-operating with the ICC.

But the pace at which Duterte was served an arrest warrant and extradited shows that when political winds shift, those once considered untouchable can find themselves touching down in The Hague.

The whole process of his extradition – from his detention in Manila to his arrival in The Hague – has been documented on social media by his daughter Kitty and Duterte himself through his aide. His plane was the most tracked on flight radar.

“I am the one who led our law enforcement and military. I said that I will protect you and I will be responsible for all of this,” he said on a Facebook video, one of many that was shared over more than 24 hours during his journey from Manila to The Hague.

It provided rare insight into what is usually an opaque process, and the world was able to follow, sometimes in real time, every step of it right down to the meals Duterte was served on board his chartered jet.

Duterte’s arrest now sends a strong signal that even powerful individuals may be held accountable for their actions, potentially deterring future abuses.

His case has also reignited debate about the ICC’s role in relation to national sovereignty, a concern often raised by non-member states like the United States, Russia, and China.

The court depends on its 128 members to fund and be the operational arm of this judicial body.

So Duterte’s headline-making arrival, followed by his first night in custody at The Hague, offer the court a much-needed win.

After serving two high-profile arrest warrants – one for the Russian president Vladimir Putin, and another for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza – which are unlikely to be enforced, the arrival of Duterte will be put forth as proof the court is capable of bringing those accused of the gravest atrocities to face justice.

It is a litmus test for the ICC’s ability to function effectively in an increasingly polarised climate.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was recently sanctioned by Donald Trump over the arrest warrant issued for Benjamin Netanyahu.

The detention of Duterte provides him with a powerful response.

“Many say international law is not strong,” Karim Khan acknowledged. “But international law is not as weak as some may think. When we come together, when we build partnerships, the rule of law can prevail.”

The former Philippines president will now mark his 80th birthday this month in the ICC’s detention facility, located in the dunes of The Hague.

The facility, once a Nazi prison complex, provides each detainee with a private cell, access to computers, a library, and sports facilities.

If he isn’t satisfied with the meals provided, Duterte has the option to prepare his own food using a shopping list in the detention center’s kitchen. He will also have access to medical care, lawyers, and visitors.

He is expected to make his initial court appearance in the coming days, where he will confirm his identity, choose the language he wishes to follow proceedings in, and acknowledge the charges against him.

Following this public appearance, a confirmation of charges hearing will follow, during which the judges will decide whether the prosecution has presented a sufficient amount of evidence to proceed to trial.

If the charges are confirmed, it could be many months before he eventually goes on trial, and years before a final judgment.

An eight-year-old child who was raped in Bangladesh died of her injuries on Thursday, setting off fierce protests around the country.

The girl was raped while visiting her elder sister’s house in the city of Magura some time between the night of 5 March and the following morning, according to a case filed by her mother.

The elder sister’s 18-year-old husband, along with his parents and brother, were arrested and placed on remand.

On Thursday night, after hearing news of the child’s death, an angry mob descended on the house where the incident is alleged to have taken place, setting it on fire.

The girl died at about 13:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Thursday after suffering three cardiac arrests, according to a statement by the government’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department.

“Although doctors managed to stabilize the condition twice, the heart failed to restart after the third episode,” the statement said.

She had spent six days in a critical condition at the Combined Military Hospital in the capital Dhaka, after being admitted on 8 March.

“I thought my daughter would survive,” her mother said following the girl’s death, according to local media. “If she had made it through, I would never have let her go anywhere alone again.”

The girl’s body was taken back to Magura in an army helicopter, which landed at the local stadium around 18:00 to fierce protests.

Aiyub Ali, officer-in-charge of Magura Sadar Police Station, said that authorities struggled to bring the situation under control, according to local news outlet The Daily Star.

Thousands of people gathered in the public square in Magura for the girl’s namaz-e-janaza, the Islamic funeral prayer, before she was laid to rest at 19:30.

An absentee funeral was also held for the girl at Dhaka University, in the nation’s capital, followed by a protest march and speeches by female students.

Many protesters demanded that the government expedite justice for rape victims and reform laws related to women and children’s safety.

Protesters also called for greater clarity around the legal definitions of what constitutes rape in Bangladesh, which they said were currently ambiguous.

The trial of the rape and murder case is expected to begin within the next seven days, according to legal advisor Asif Nazrul.

“DNA sample collection has been completed, we hope to get the report within the next five days,” Mr Nazrul told a press briefing at the Secretariat on Thursday – adding that statements had already been taken from 12 to 13 people.

“If we can start the trial within seven days, our judges will be able to ensure justice with the utmost speed,” he added.

The rape of minors is punishable by death in Bangladesh, as per a law that was passed in 2020.

The introduction of that law followed a series of high-profile sexual violence cases, including the brutal gang assault on a 37-year-old woman that was filmed and spread on social media.

Less than a week after the rape of the young girl in Magura, media reports emerged of at least three rapes of children of around the same age in different parts of Bangladesh.

In some cases the accused were neighbours of the victim, while others were close relatives.

According to statistics from the Law and Arbitration Center, 3,438 child rape cases have been filed in Bangladesh in the last eight years, and there have been many more rape victims.

At least 539 of them are under the age of six, and 933 are between the ages of seven and twelve.

Research has shown that in most cases, children are sexually abused or raped by people they know.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House is a “major blow to global climate action”. So said Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief, after he was elected in November.

Since taking office, Trump has withdrawn the US from what is considered the most important global climate pact, the Paris Climate Agreement. He has also reportedly prevented US scientists from participating in international climate research and removed national electric vehicle targets.

Plus, he derided his predecessor’s attempts to develop new green technology a “green new scam”.

And yet despite his history on the issue of climate, Trump has been eager to make a deal with the Ukrainian president on critical minerals. He has also taken a strong interest in Greenland and Canada – both nations rich in critical minerals.

Critical mineral procurement has been a major focus for Trump since he took office. These minerals are crucial in industries including aerospace and defence, but intriguingly, they have another major use too – to manufacture green technology.

So, could Trump’s focus on obtaining these minerals have a knock-on effect, and help unlock the US’s potential in the green technology sector?

Trump’s right-hand man understands more than most the importance of critical minerals in the green transition. Space X and Tesla – the companies Elon Musk leads – rely heavily on critical minerals like graphite (in electric vehicles), lithium (in batteries) and nickel (in rockets).

Elizabeth Holley, an associate professor of mining engineering at Colorado School of Mines, explains that each nation has its own list of critical minerals, but they are generally made up of rare earths and other metals like lithium.

She says demand is booming – in 2023, demand for lithium grew by 30%. This is being driven mostly by the rapid growth in the clean energy and electric vehicle sectors.

Within two decades, they will make up almost 90% of the demand for lithium, 70% of the demand for cobalt, and 40% for rare earths, according to the International Energy Agency.

Such has been Musk’s concern with getting hold of some of these minerals that three years ago he tweeted: “Price of lithium has gone to insane levels! Tesla might actually have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale, unless costs improve.”

He went on to write that there is no shortage of the element, but the pace of extraction is slow.

The weakness of the US position in rare earths and critical minerals (such as cobalt and nickel) was addressed in a report published by a US Government Select Committee in December 2023. It said: “The United States must rethink its policy approach to critical mineral and rare earth element supply chains because of the risks posed by our current dependence on the People’s Republic of China.”

Failure to do so, it warned, could cause “defense production to grind to a halt and choke off manufacturing of other advanced technologies”.

China’s dominance in the market has come from its early recognition of the economic opportunities that green technology offers.

“China made a decision about 10 years ago about where the trend was going and has strategically pursued the development of not just renewables but also electric vehicles and now dominates the market,” says Bob Ward, policy director at The London School of Economics (LSE) Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

Daisy Jennings-Gray, head of prices at price reporting agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, explains that they are critical minerals because they are geologically restricted. “You cannot guarantee you will have economically recoverable reserves in every country.”

Some minerals like lithium are abundant on Earth, but often they are located in difficult to reach places, so the logistics of a mining project can be very expensive. In other cases, there is dependency on one country that produces a large share of global supply – like cobalt from the the Democratic Republic of Congo. This means that if there is a natural disaster or political unrest it has an impact on the price, says Ms Jennings-Gray.

China has managed to shore up supply by investing heavily in Africa and South America, but where it really has a stronghold on the market is in processing (or the separation of the mineral from other elements in the rock).

“China accounts for 60% of global rare earth production but processes nearly 90% – [it] is dominant on this stage,” says Gracelin Baskaran, director of the critical minerals security program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.

She says the country understands how important this is in economic trade – a few days after Trump introduced tariffs on China its government hit back by imposing export controls on more than 20 critical minerals including graphite and tungsten.

What is motivating Trump is a fear of being at a disadvantage, argues Christopher Knittel, a professor of applied economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“I think what is driving this is because China is the dominant player on the processing side,” he says. “It is that processing stage, which is the high-margin stage of the business, so China is making a lot of money.”

As he puts it, it is a “happy coincidence” that this could end up supporting green technology.

The key question, though, is whether the US is too late to fully capitalise on the sector.

In the early days, the green transition was “framed as a burden” for countries, according to LSE’s Bob Ward.

The Biden administration was highly supportive of green technology industries through its introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022, which offers tax credits, loans and other incentives to technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, from battery technologies for electric vehicles to solar panels.

By August 2024, it was estimated to have brought $493bn (£382bn) of investment to US green industry, according to the think tank Clean Investment Monitor.

And yet little work was done to support upstream processes like obtaining critical minerals, says Ms Gray from Benchmark Intelligence. Instead, the Biden administration focused heavily on downstream manufacturing – the process of getting products from the manufacturer to the end consumer.

But Trump’s recent moves to procure these critical minerals suggest a focus on the upstream process may now be happening.

“The IRA put a lot of legislation in places to limit trade and supply only from friendly nations,” explains Ms Gray.

“Trump is changing tack and looking at securing critical minerals agreements that owes something to the US.”

There could be further moves from Trump coming down the line. Those working in the sector say whispers in the corridors of the White House suggest that he may be about to pass a “Critical Minerals Executive Order”, which could funnel further investment into this objective.

The exact details that may be included in the executive order remain unclear, but experts knowledgeable with the issue have said it may include measures to accelerate mining in the US, including fast tracking permits and investment to construct processing plants.

Although work may now be under way to secure these minerals, Prof Willy Shih of Harvard Business School thinks that the US administration lacks understanding of the technical complexity of establishing mineral supply chains, and emphasises the time commitment required. “If you want to build a new mine and processing facility, it might take you 10 years.”

As a policy of his predecessor, and one that is so obviously pro-climate action, Trump has been vocally opposed to maintaining the IRA. But its success in red states mean that many Republican senators have been trying to convince him to keep it in some form in his proposed “big, beautiful bill” – the plan to pile all of Trump’s main policy goals into one mega-bill – due to be revealed later this month.

Analysis by the Clean Investment Monitor shows in the last 18 months Republican-held states had received 77% of the investment.

MIT’s Dr Knittel says for states like Georgia, which has become part of what is now known as the “battery belt” following a boom in battery production following IRA support, these tax credits are crucial for these industries to survive.

He adds that failure to do so poses a real political threat for US representatives who are up for re-election in less than two years.

If Trump loses even just one seat to the Democrats in the 2026 mid-terms, then he loses the house majority – limiting his ability to pass key pieces of legislation.

Carl Fleming was an advisor to former President Biden’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee and is a partner at law firm McDermott, Will & Emery, advising clients in the clean tech and energy space. He says that despite the uncertainty, investors remain confident. “In the last month, my practice has been busier than ever, and this is since quadrupling last year following the IRA.”

He also believes that there is a recognition of the need to maintain parts of the IRA – although this may be alongside expansion of some fossil fuels. “If you are really trying to be ‘America First’ and energy secure, you want to pull on all your levers. Keep solar and keep battery storage going and add more natural gas to release America’s energy prowess.”

But the uncertainty of the US position is little consolation for its absence on the international climate stage, says LSE’s Bob Ward. “When the Americans are on the ball it helps to move people in the right direction and that’s how we got the Paris Climate Agreement.”

For those in the climate space, Trump is certainly not an environmentalist. What’s clear is he is not concerned with making his legacy an environmental one but an economic one – though he could achieve the former if he can be convinced it will boost the economy.

Early-rising stargazers in the UK woke up to a lunar eclipse just before dawn on Friday.

The eclipse was partial for most of the UK, with the Earth’s shadow only covering part of the Moon.

But some western areas of the UK, as well as the Americas and some Pacific islands, saw a total lunar eclipse. It is the first since May 2022, when the Moon turned completely red.

A stunning “blood Moon” was created as the Moon moved into Earth’s shadow, gradually darkening before turning a dusky red.

Stargazers around the world caught the first sign of the lunar event, which began at 05:09 GMT, on a livestream run by LA’s Griffith Observatory.

A lunar eclipse happens when Earth moves directly between the Sun and the Moon, blocking sunlight and casting a shadow on the Moon’s surface.

Kathleen Maitland caught a glimpse of the spectacle while stargazing at Pagham Harbour in West Sussex.

“You’ve got the sun coming up behind, then this Moon going into a slither and turning red,” she told the BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.

“It was amazing to watch.”

A lunar eclipse takes place when the Moon passes through the outer region of Earth’s shadow, called the penumbra.

A total lunar eclipse requires the Earth to obscure the light from the Sun hitting the Moon – meaning the three celestial objects have to be in alignment.

People sometimes refer to a lunar eclipse as a “blood Moon” because of the way the Moon can turn a deep, coppery red during the eclipse.

This is caused by a process known as “Rayleigh scattering”, which also makes the sky blue and our sunsets red.

When sunlight has to pass through the Earth’s atmosphere to reach the Moon, this causes the Moon to appear a different colour, explained astronomer Jake Foster, at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

When light is deflected by the small particles in Earth’s atmosphere, it scatters more of the shorter blue wavelengths, leaving longer red wavelengths to remain visible.

Mr Foster said: “Red light is mostly unaffected by the gases of the atmosphere, so it travels all the way through them and out the other side where it can shine on the Moon, making it appear red.”

The next total lunar eclipse is due to take place at the start of September – but will be most prominent over central and east Asia, with only some parts of the UK seeing the total eclipse effect.

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Sam Jones, a US influencer who briefly snatched a baby wombat from its distressed mother, and uploaded the footage to social media has left Australia.

Australia’s Home Affairs minister Tony Burke had earlier said his department was reviewing whether it could revoke Ms Jones’s visa, but the BBC understands that she left the country of her own accord.

“There has never been a better time to be a baby wombat,” Burke said in a short statement on Friday celebrating Jones’s departure.

Anger erupted across Australia after Jones posted a video of her taking a baby wombat from the side of a road while laughing and running away from the distraught mother wombat.

The video also shows the baby wombat hissing in distress before Jones then returns it to the bush.

Jones, who also goes by the name Samantha Strable, has nearly 100,000 followers and describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter” on her Instagram profile. She has since made her account private and deleted her post.

Her video was swiftly met with widespread condemnation, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling the incident an “outrage”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the video “dreadful”.

On Friday, opposition leader Peter Dutton said he thought it was “a cruel act” and that he was “glad” the influencer has now left.

An online petition demanding Jones be deported from Australia garnered more than 30,000 signatures.

However, as Jones had not been charged nor been deemed a threat to the country – the government may not have had any grounds to cancel her visa.

In since-deleted comments, Jones said “the baby was carefully held for one minute in total and then released back to mom”.

“They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed,” she wrote. “I don’t ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so.”

But wildlife experts have deemed Jones’s act a “blatant disregard” for native wildlife.

The Wombat Protection Society said it was shocked to see the “mishandling of a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for ‘social media likes'”.

Suzanne Milthorpe, Head of Campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia, told BBC Newsday that posting such a video for “cheap content” was “unacceptable”.

“To that baby it must have seemed like a giant predator was picking it up and taking it away,” she said.

Wombats, which are native to Australia, are a legally protected species across the country. Baby wombats share a strong bond with their mothers, and any separation can be distressing and harmful, conservationists say.

A new TikTok account claiming to be Jones after her original account was allegedly banned, published a post on Thursday saying that “the hate is currently too much for me to handle” and that there had been “hundreds” of death threats.

“Imagine someone just goes up to your child and curses at them? Let’s have some respect,” the post said.

Most, however, have remained critical of Jones’s act.

“Maybe imagine if someone picked up your child and laughed while you screamed for them to give them back,” read a comment under the post, a reference to Jones’s snatching of the wombat from its mother.

A portable power bank likely caused a fire that engulfed and destroyed a passenger plane in South Korea in January, according to local authorities.

The Air Busan plane caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the country’s south on 28 January – causing three people on board to sustain minor injuries.

On Friday, South Korea’s transport ministry said that interim investigation results indicate the fire may have started because insulation inside a power bank battery had broken down.

The power bank was found in an overhead luggage compartment where the fire was first detected, and its debris had scorch marks, according to the statement.

Investigators could not say what may have caused the battery breakdown, it added.

The update is also based only on interim findings, and is not a final accident report on the aircraft, an Airbus A321ceo.

Airlines around the world have banned power banks from checked luggage for years due to safety concerns, which relate to the lithium-ion batteries inside the devices.

These batteries can produce extreme heat and fire if damage or manufacturing faults cause them to short circuit.

Lithium-ion batteries of any kind have been banned from the cargo holds of passenger planes since 2016, as per a directive by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

In the week after the Air Busan fire, the airline tightened those rules further, announcing that it would no longer allow passengers to keep power banks in their onboard luggage.

The carrier said the new rules were in response to an increase in the number of power banks that were overheating.

A growing number of airlines – including China Airlines and Thai Airways – are rolling out similar rules, with Singapore Airlines and its low-cost unit Scoot set to become the latest to ban the use and charging of power banks onboard from 1 April.

On 28 February, the South Korean government also announced that passengers boarding flights in the country would be required to carry portable batteries and chargers on their person, rather than storing them in overhead compartments.

The US may avert a looming government shutdown after a top Democrat said he would support a Republican funding bill to keep it open.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his reversal on Thursday, after vowing he and other Democrats would block the bill, which would fund the government through September.

Other Democrats might now join him in voting to approve the measure – but splits could emerge, since some of his colleagues are still opposed.

Democrats face two options: help Republicans pass the bill, or stand their ground and oppose it. If they oppose, they will likely take the brunt of the blame for the shutdown, which would start at 23:59 EDT on Friday (03:59 GMT on Saturday).

“There are no winners in a government shutdown,” Schumer said in his announcement on the Senate floor.

“It’s not really a decision, it’s a Hobson’s choice: Either proceed with the bill before us or risk Donald Trump throwing America into the chaos of a shutdown.

“This in my view is no choice at all.”

He called the Republican-led funding bill deeply partisan but voiced concerns about a shutdown.

He said it would give Trump and Elon Musk, who have been leading an effort to slash federal spending, a “carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now”.

Schumer’s position was attacked by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a congresswoman from the party’s progressive wing, who told CNN was a “deep sense of outrage and betrayal” within their party.

Democrats in the Senate who have opposed the funding bill include Elizabeth Warren, who warned against giving Trump and Musk “a blank cheque to spend your taxpayer money however they want”.

Elissa Slotkin, a senator who earlier this month gave her party’s response to a major address by Trump, said she would continue to vote against the bill. Slotkin said she feared cuts to infrastructure projects in Michigan, which she represents.

• Why government shutdowns only seem to happen in the US
• Who is Elissa Slotkin?

Votes on the measure are expected on Friday afternoon.

Although Democrats are in the minority in the Senate, they have a procedural ace in the hole. Senate rules require 60 votes out its 100-member chamber to pass most legislation.

So while the 47 Democrats and left-leaning independents don’t have the numbers to approve their own funding bill, they can block the Republican measure if they mostly stick together.

That’s exactly the course many liberals, desperate for Democrats to take a more forceful stand against the Trump administration, have insisted the party pursue.

The political brinksmanship has its risks.

Some conservatives would relish a government shutdown that suspends programmes and services they see as wasteful or counterproductive. Musk himself has said that such a scenario would help his team better identify “non-essential” government functions that they could then permanently end as part of his Department of Government Efficiency.

Republicans would also be quick to blame any shutdown, and the disruptions it causes, on the Democrats. And an extended shutdown would directly affect the very workers and programmes that Democrats are trying to protect.

On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill that keeps the lights on through September – with strings attached.

The new resolution boosts military spending by $6bn (£4.6bn) over current levels, while slashing $13bn from non-defence programmes and allowing more money for border enforcement.

It also contains a provision that makes it harder for Democrats to force a vote on rescinding Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.

Many Democrats have said they would not support the House resolution and demanded the ability to modify it.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to impose more tariffs after his latest move to introduce import taxes on steel and aluminium entering the US prompted retaliation from the European Union (EU) and Canada.

Trump said that “of course” he would respond to the countermeasures, repeating his warning to reveal “reciprocal” tariffs next month on countries around the world.

“Whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them,” he said.

The threat marked a further escalation of a trade war which has rattled financial markets amid concerns over the impact on the economies and consumers in many countries around the world, including the US.

On Wednesday, Trump moved forward with a plan to widen US tariffs on steel and aluminium, imposing a blanket duty of 25% and ending exemptions that the US had previously granted for shipments from some countries.

That followed an order earlier this month that raised levies on Chinese imports into the US to at least 20%.

Trump has also threatened tariffs – which are taxes applied to goods as they enter a country – on a range of more specific items, including copper, lumber and cars.

Leaders in Canada and Europe called the new metals taxes unjustified and struck back with their own tariffs on a range of US products.

Other countries that are key US suppliers of metals, including the UK, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, held off on any immediate retaliation.

“Like everybody else, I’m disappointed to see global tariffs in relation to steel and aluminium but we will take a pragmatic approach,” said UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

“We are…negotiating a deal which covers and includes tariffs if we succeed. But we will keep all options on the table.”

Canada said from Thursday it would start charging a 25% tax on nearly C$30bn ($20bn; £16bn) worth of US products, including steel, computers and sports equipment.

Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney said he was ready to negotiate a renewed trade deal with Trump, as long as there was “respect for Canadian sovereignty”.

The EU said it would raise its levies on up to €26bn ($28bn; £22bn) worth of US goods, including boats, bourbon and motorbikes, from 1 April.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the response was intended to be “strong but proportionate” and added that the EU stood “ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue”.

“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and worse for consumers,” she said, warning the economic disruption put jobs at stake and would send prices higher.

“Nobody needs that – on both sides, neither in the European Union nor in the United States.”

Trump had said he wants to boost US steel and aluminium production in the longer run, but critics say in the immediate term the taxes on imports of the metals will raise prices for US consumers and dent economic growth.

Major packaged food makers including Quaker Oats and Folgers coffee asked Trump for targeted exemptions from tariffs on imports such as cocoa and fruit, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

PepsiCo, Conagra and J M Smucker, also requested the president exempt ingredients not available from US sources in the letter, which was sent by the trade group the Consumer Brands Association.

Coffee, oats, cocoa, spices, tropical fruit and tin mill steel, used for some food and household goods, are among the imports listed as unavailable domestically, Reuters reported.

The import taxes are also expected to reduce demand for steel and aluminium that is not made in the US – a blow to makers of the metals elsewhere.

The EU estimated that the latest US tariffs affect about 5% of its total exports to the US, while the US is the destination for roughly 90% of Canada’s steel and aluminium exports.

Shares in the US were mixed on Wednesday, after two days of sharp decline. The Dow closed down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 ended nearly 0.5% higher and the Nasdaq jumped 1.2%.

In an appearance at the White House with the Irish prime minister, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Trump said he did not plan to back down from his trade fight, saying he was “not happy” with EU trade policies.

He cited concerns about legal penalties it has imposed on Apple and rules he claimed put US farm products and cars at a disadvantage.

“They’re doing what they should be doing perhaps for the European Union but it does create ill will,” he said.

Repeating his threat to hit European cars with tariffs, he added later: “We’re going to win that financial battle.”

Vladimir Putin has said he agrees with the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, but that “questions” remain about the nature of a truce – as he set out a number of tough conditions for peace.

The Russian president was responding to a plan for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week following talks with the US.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described Putin’s response to the plan as “manipulative” and called for more sanctions on Russia.

Meanwhile, the US placed further sanctions on Russian oil, gas and banking sectors.

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Russian officials said Putin was expected to hold talks on the ceasefire on Thursday evening with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who had flown to Moscow earlier that day.

It is not clear whether that meeting actually took place. On Friday, Russia’s state media quoted the air traffic monitor Flightradar as saying the plane believed to be carrying Witkoff had left Moscow.

Moscow and Washington have not commented on the issue.

• Is Putin ready for a ceasefire or playing for time?

Late on Thursday and overnight, both Russia and Ukraine reported new enemy drone attacks.

Ukraine said seven people – including children – were injured in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.

Russia reported a large fire at an oil facility in the southern city of Tuapse.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Thursday, Putin said of the ceasefire proposal: “The idea is right – and we support it – but there are questions that we need to discuss.”

A ceasefire should lead to “an enduring peace and remove the root causes of this crisis”, Putin said.

“We need to negotiate with our American colleagues and partners,” he said. “Maybe I’ll have a call with Donald Trump.”

Putin added: “It will be good for the Ukrainian side to achieve a 30-day ceasefire.

“We are in favour of it, but there are nuances.”

One of the areas of contention is Russia’s western Kursk region, Putin said, where Ukraine launched a military incursion last August and captured some territory.

He claimed Russia was fully back in control of Kursk, and said Ukrainian troops there “have been isolated”.

“They are trying to leave, but we are in control. Their equipment has been abandoned,” Putin said.

“There are two options for Ukrainians in Kursk – surrender or die.”

Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said a day earlier that Ukrainian troops would hold defensive positions in the Kursk region “as long as it is expedient and necessary” despite “increased” pressure from Russian forces.

At Thursday’s press conference, Putin also outlined some of his questions over how a ceasefire would work. He asked: “How will those 30 days be used? For Ukraine to mobilise? Rearm? Train people? Or none of that? Then a question – how will that be controlled?

“Who will give the order to end the fighting? At what cost? Who decides who has broken any possible ceasefire, over 2,000km? All those questions need meticulous work from both sides. Who polices it?”

Putin “doesn’t say no directly”, Zelensky said in his nightly video address, but “in practice, he’s preparing a rejection”.

He added: “Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians.”

The Russian leader had set so many pre-conditions “that nothing will work out at all”, Zelensky said.

After Putin’s remarks and Zelensky’s response, there is now a clear divide between both sides’ positions.

Ukraine wants a two-stage process: a quick ceasefire and then talks about a longer-term settlement.

Russia believes you cannot separate the two processes and all the issues should be decided in a single deal. Both sides seem content to argue their differences.

Ukraine believes it can put pressure on Russia, painting it as a reluctant peacemaker, playing for time. Russia, equally, believes it has a chance now to raise its fundamental concerns, about Nato expansion and Ukraine’s sovereignty.

But this presents a problem for Donald Trump. He has made it clear he wants a quick result, ending the fighting in days.

And right now, Putin does not appear to want to play ball.

Speaking at the White House following Putin’s remarks, Trump said he would “love” to meet the Russian leader and that he hoped Russia would “do the right thing” and agree to the proposed 30-day truce.

“We’d like to see a ceasefire from Russia,” he said.

Speaking earlier at a meeting in the Oval Office with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump told reporters he had already discussed specifics with Ukraine.

“We’ve been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost, and all of the other elements of a final agreement,” Trump said.

“A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed.”

On the subject of Ukraine joining the Nato military alliance, Trump said “everybody knows what the answer to that is”.

The fresh sanctions on Russian oil and gas came as the Trump administration further restricted access to US payment systems, making it harder for other countries to buy Russian oil.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov rejected the ceasefire proposal put forward by the US.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin released a video it said showed Putin visiting Russia’s Kursk region, symbolically dressed in military fatigues. Russia later said it recaptured the key town of Sudzha.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, and now controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

More than 95,000 people fighting for Russia’s military have been killed in the war, according to data analysed so far and confirmed by the BBC. The actual death toll is believed to be much higher.

Russia’s military has not publicly revealed its battlefield casualties since September 2022, when it said 5,937 soldiers had been killed.

Ukraine last updated its casualty figures in December 2024, when Zelensky acknowledged 43,000 Ukrainian deaths among soldiers and officers. Western analysts believe this figure to be underestimated.