The US joining Israeli strikes would cause “hell for the whole region”, Iran’s deputy foreign minister has told the BBC.

Saeed Khatibzadeh said this is “not America’s war” and if US President Donald Trump does get involved, he will always be remembered as “a president who entered a war he doesn’t belong in”.

He said US involvement would turn the conflict into a “quagmire”, continue aggression and delay an end to the “brutal atrocities”.

His comments came after the Soroka hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile attack. Iranian state media reported that the strike targeted a military site next to the hospital, and not the facility itself.

Israel’s Ministry of Health said 71 people were injured during the attack on the Soroka Medical Centre.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it had targeted Iran’s nuclear sites including the “inactive” Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility.

Tehran has not given an update on casualties in Iran from Israeli strikes.

The latest attacks come at a critical time. On Thursday, the White House said Trump would decide whether or not the US gets directly involved in the conflict within the next two weeks.

Speaking to the BBC, Khatibzadeh insisted that “of course, diplomacy is the first option”, but said but while bombardment continues “we cannot start any negotiation”.

• Watch the BBC’s full interview with Iran’s deputy foreign minister

He repeatedly called Iran’s attacks on Israel “self defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter” and said “we were in the middle of diplomacy” when in a major escalation of the conflict on 13 June, Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, killing several top generals and nuclear scientists.

The deputy foreign minister called the conflict “unprovoked” and “unnecessary”.

Responding to Trump’s repeated comments that the conflict could have been avoided if Iran had accepted a nuclear deal, Khatibzadeh said they were negotiating until Israel “sabotaged” discussions by launching attacks Iran.

“We were planning to have the sixth round of nuclear talks in Muscat, and we were actually on the verge of reaching an agreement,” he said.

“President Trump knows better than anybody else that we were on the verge of reaching an agreement.”

He also criticised Trump’s “confusing and contradictory” social media posts and interviews, which he said indicated “that Americans have been aware and have participated” in the conflict.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have reportedly spoken on the phone several times since Friday, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, Reuters reported.

According to three diplomats who spoke to the news agency and asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, Araqchi said Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the attacks.

Israel has alleged Iran has recently “taken steps to weaponise” its enriched uranium stockpile, which can be used for power plants or nuclear bombs. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.

On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the UN’s nuclear watchdog – said Iran had amassed enough uranium enriched up to 60% purity – a short technical step away from weapons grade, or 90% – to potentially make nuclear bombs.

“This is nonsense,” Khatibzadeh said in response. “You cannot start a war based on speculation or intention.

“If we wanted to have a nuclear bomb, we would have had it way before.

“Iran has never developed any programme for nuclear weaponisation of peaceful nuclear activities. Bottom line.”

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that nuclear facilities “must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment”.

Khatibzadeh also discussed potential diplomatic channels after a G7 summit in Canada.

He said: “What we are hearing from Europeans is that they would like to get back to diplomacy at a ministerial level”.

“They are going to have a meeting in Geneva and we are very much happy that finally they have to come and talk at the table about the issues at hand.”

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is yet to decide whether flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the Air India flight that crashed last Thursday will be sent overseas for decoding and analysis.

At least 270 people, most of them passengers, were killed when the London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in western India.

Some media outlets reported that the black boxes are being sent abroad, but the ministry of civil aviation clarified that no final decision has been made.

The ministry said the AAIB will determine the location for analysis after a “due assessment of technical, safety, and security factors”.

Investigators have recovered both sets of Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs) – the “black boxes” – from the Boeing 787 crash site.

These combined units, which record flight data and cockpit audio, were found on 13 and 16 June. The aircraft model carries two such sets to aid in thorough analysis.

Data recorders track with high precision the position of gear and flap levers, thrust settings, engine performance, fuel flow and even fire handle activation.

The data in the plane’s “black boxes” can be used to reconstruct the flight’s final moments and determine the cause of the incident.

However, some media outlets reported that the recorders had been badly damaged in the fire that engulfed the plane after the crash, making it difficult to extract the data in India and that the government was planning to send the recorders to the US.

Captain Kishore Chinta, a former accident investigator with the AAIB, told the BBC one set of recorders could be also sent to the US “to compare the data downloaded in India with that provided to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)”.

He said although the new AAIB lab in Delhi was inaugurated in April, “it’s unclear whether it is fully operational for EAFR data downloads”.

Meanwhile, Air India’s chairman has said that one of the engines of the Air India plane that crashed last week was new, while the other was not due for servicing until December.

In an interview with Times Now news channel, N Chandrasekaran said that both engines of the aircraft had “clean” histories.

Separately, the airline said that inspections have been completed on 26 of its 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft, all of which have been “cleared for service”.

India’s aviation regulator had ordered additional safety checks on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet after the deadly crash as a “preventive measure”.

On Thursday, the airline announced that its flights will be reduced on 16 international routes and suspended on three overseas destinations between 21 June and 15 July.

“The reductions arise from the decision to voluntarily undertake enhanced pre-flight safety checks, as well as accommodate additional flight durations arising from airspace closures in the Middle East,” the airline said in a statement.

The announcement came a day after the carrier said it would temporarily reduce flights operated with wide-body planes by 15%.

The founder of instant messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, says the more than 100 children he has fathered will share his estimated $13.9bn (£10.3bn) fortune.

“They are all my children and will all have the same rights! I don’t want them to tear each other apart after my death,” Mr Durov told French political magazine Le Point.

Mr Durov says he is the “official father” of six children with three different partners, but has more than 100 other children after donating sperm to a fertility clinic.

He also reiterated that he denies any wrongdoing in connection with serious criminal charges he faces in France.

The self-exiled Russian technology tycoon also told the magazine that his children would not have access to their inheritance for 30 years.

“I want them to live like normal people, to build themselves up alone, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create, not to be dependent on a bank account,” he said.

The 40-year-old said he had written a will now because his job “involves risks – defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states”.

His app, Telegram, known for its focus on privacy and encrypted messaging, has more than a billion monthly active users.

Mr Durov also addressed criminal charges he faces in France, where he was arrested last year after being accused of failing to properly moderate the app to reduce criminality.

He has denied failing to cooperate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual abuse content and fraud. Telegram has previously denied having insufficient moderation.

In the Le Point interview he described the charges as “totally absurd”.

“Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn’t make those who run it criminals,” he added.

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China’s military has called a British warship’s recent passage through the Taiwan Strait a disruptive act of “intentional provocation” that “undermines peace and stability”.

The British Royal Navy says HMS Spey’s patrol on Wednesday was part of a long-planned deployment and was in accordance with international law.

The patrol – the first by a British naval vessel in four years – comes as a UK carrier strike group arrives in the region for a deployment that will last several months.

China considers Taiwan its territory – a claim that self-ruled Taiwan rejects – and has not ruled out the use of force to “reunify” the island.

China has criticised the UK for “publicly hyping up” the journey of the HMS Spey, and said the UK’s claims were “a distortion of legal principles and an attempt to mislead the public”.

“Such actions are intentional provocations that disrupt the situation and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

It added that it had monitored HMS Spey throughout its journey in the strait, and Chinese troops “will resolutely counter all threats and provocations”.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry has meanwhile praised the patrol as an act that safeguarded the freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait.

While American warships regularly conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the strait, the last time such a journey was undertaken by a British naval vessel was in 2021 when the warship HMS Richmond was deployed to Vietnam.

That transit was similarly condemned by China, which had sent troops to monitor the ship.

HMS Spey is one of two British warships permanently on patrol in the Indo-Pacific.

Its passage through the Taiwan Strait comes as a UK carrier strike group, led by HMS Prince of Wales’ aircraft carrier, arrives in the Indo-Pacific region for an eight-month stint.

British PM Keir Starmer has described it as one of the carrier’s largest deployments this century that is aimed at “sending a clear message of strength to our adversaries, and a message of unity and purpose to our allies”.

Around 4,000 UK military personnel are taking part in the deployment.

The group will be engaging with 30 countries through military operations and visits, and conduct exercises with the US, India, Singapore and Malaysia.

Cross-strait tensions between China and Taiwan have heightened over the past year since Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who champions a firm anti-Beijing stance, took office.

He has characterised Beijing as a “foreign hostile force” and introduced policies targeting Chinese influence operations in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, China continues to conduct frequent military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, including a live-fire exercise in April that it claimed simulated strikes on key ports and energy facilities.

China’s latest criticism of HMS Spey’s transit comes as two Chinese aircraft carriers conduct an unprecedented simultaneous military drill in the Pacific off the waters of Japan, which has alarmed Tokyo.

Dissidents who have fled Alexander Lukashenko’s rule in Belarus have spoken of threats being made against them and their relatives at home.

Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians are estimated to have left their country since the brutal crackdown on widespread opposition protests in 2020, after Lukashenko, 70, claimed victory in presidential elections that were widely condemned as rigged.

Among the exiles was journalist Tatsiana Ashurkevich, 26, who continued to write about events in Belarus. Then, earlier this year, she discovered that the door of her flat in the capital, Minsk, had been sealed up with construction foam.

She guessed immediately who might be to blame. She decided to confront one of her followers on Instagram who had repeatedly messaged her with unsolicited compliments and views about the Belarusian opposition movement and journalism in exile.

“If there are criminal cases [against me], just say so,” she said. “I have nothing to do with that apartment – other people live there. Why are you doing this?”

The man immediately changed his tone to a more official one, saying criminal cases were not his responsibility, but he could ask the relevant department.

Then he made a request: could she, in exchange for help, share information about Belarusians fighting for Ukraine, especially since she had written about them before?

Ashurkevich blocked him.

In Belarus itself, tens of thousands of people have been arrested in the past five years for political reasons, according to human rights group Viasna.

But hundreds of critics of Lukashenko’s 31-year rule have also faced persecution abroad.

Lukashenko and Belarusian state media often accuse opposition activists of “betraying” the country and plotting a coup with assistance from the West. Authorities have justified targeting activists abroad, arguing they are trying to harm national security and overthrow the government.

Several people the BBC has spoken to have received messages and phone calls, sometimes seemingly innocuous, sometimes with thinly veiled threats – or promises with a catch.

Anna Krasulina, 55, receives them so often she has become used to putting her phone in flight mode before going to bed.

“I can see who’s handling me – it’s a couple of people. Or maybe it’s the same one using different accounts,” she says.

She’s convinced the authorities are behind this. Ms Krasulina works as a press secretary for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, an opposition leader believed by many to have won the 2020 election, now living in exile.

Both women have been sentenced in Belarus to 11 and 15 years respectively in trials held in absentia. Charges included preparing a coup and running an extremist organisation.

Since such trials against exiled political opponents were made possible by a decree by Lukashenko in 2022, more than 200 cases have been opened, according to Viasna, with last year seeing a record number.

This allows authorities to raid the homes of the accused and harass their relatives.

Critics are being identified on photographs and videos made in opposition gatherings abroad.

Many have now stopped taking part in them, fearing for their loved ones who remain in Belarus, says Ms Krasulina.

• My opponents choose jail and exile, claims Lukashenko
• Belarus ruler claims landslide in “sham election”

Several people the BBC spoke to report their relatives being visited by the authorities.

“It’s terrifying when you can’t help them. You can’t go back. You can’t support them,” says one.

None would go on record or even reveal any details anonymously out of concern that their families could be hurt.

Their fears are not unfounded. Artem Lebedko, a 39-year old who worked in real estate, is serving a three-and-a-half year jail sentence for “financing extremism”.

He had never spoken out in public, but his father was an opposition politician living in exile.

Breaking the ties between Belarusians who have fled and those who stayed behind is a deliberate strategy by Lukashenko’s government, says journalist and analyst Hanna Liubakova, also sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison.

“Even if someone in Belarus understands everything, they’ll think three times before talking to a ‘terrorist’,” she says, referring to a list of “extremists and terrorists” which the authorities populate with names of their critics.

The BBC sent a request for comment to the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Some of Liubakova’s own relatives have also received visits from the security services, she says, and property registered in her name has been seized.

Everyone the BBC has spoken to believes the Belarusian authorities are seeking to exert maximum pressure on those who left in order to crush all opposition, wherever it is.

Hanna Liubakova believes the persecution of dissidents stems from Lukashenko’s personal revenge for the 2020 protests: “He wants us to feel unsafe even abroad, to know that we’re being watched.”

One country that has proved particularly unsafe for Belarusian exiles is Russia. According to authorities in Minsk, in 2022 alone Russia extradited 16 people accused of “extremist crimes”, a charge usually associated with Lukashenko critics.

“The methods used by Belarusian security forces are very similar to those of the Soviet KGB, just updated with modern technology, says Andrei Strizhak, head of Bysol, a group that supports Belarusian activists.

Threatening messages or promises of rewards for co-operation may not work on everyone, he adds. But by casting a wide net, the authorities may get a few who agree to share some useful information.

Strizhak calls the regime’s efforts to hunt dissidents abroad a “war of attrition” that leaves many activists exhausted and wishing to get on with their lives.

“We’re doing everything we can to stay resilient,” Strizhak says, “but every year, it takes more and more effort.”

Whether you reckon they are cute, ugly or just plain weird, chances are you have heard of the furry dolls that have become a global sensation – Labubu.

Born a monster, the elf-like creature from Chinese toy maker Pop Mart is now a viral purchase. And it has no dearth of celebrity advocates: Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian and Blackpink’s Lisa. Ordinary folk are just as obsessed – from Shanghai to London, the long queues to snap up the doll have made headlines, sometimes descending into fights even.

“You get such a sense of achievement when you are able to get it among such fierce competition,” says avowed fan Fiona Zhang.

The world’s fascination with Labubu has almost tripled Pop Mart’s profits in the past year – and, according to some, even energised Chinese soft power, which has been bruised by the pandemic and a strained relationship with the West.

So, how did we get here?

It’s a question that still bothers many – and even those who know the answer are not entirely sure they can explain the craze.

Labubu is both a fictional character and a brand. The word itself doesn’t mean anything. It’s the name of a character in “The Monsters” toy series created by Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung.

The vinyl faces are attached to plush bodies, and come with a signature look – pointy ears, big eyes and a mischievous grin showing exactly nine teeth. A curious yet divided internet can’t seem to decide if they are adorable or bizarre.

According to its retailer’s official website, Labubu is “kind-hearted and always wants to help, but often accidentally achieves the opposite”.

The Labubu dolls have appeared in several series of “The Monsters”, such as “Big into Energy”, “Have a Seat”, “Exciting Macaron” and “Fall in Wild”.

The Labubu brand also has other characters from its universe, which have inspired their own popular dolls – such as the tribe’s leader Zimomo, her boyfriend Tycoco and her friend Mokoko.

To the untrained eye, some of these dolls are hard to distinguish from one another. The connoisseurs would know but Labubu’s fame has certainly rubbed off, with other specimens in the family also flying off the shelves.

A major part of Pop Mart’s sales were so-called blind boxes – where customers only found out what they had bought when they opened the package – for some years when they tied up with Kasing Lung for the rights to Labubu.

That was 2019, nearly a decade after entrepreneur Wang Ning opened Pop Mart as a variety store, similar to a pound shop, in Beijing. When the blind boxes became a success, Pop Mart launched the first series in 2016, selling Molly dolls – child-like figurines created by Hong Kong artist Kenny Wong.

But it was the Labubu sales that fuelled Pop Mart’s growth and in December 2020, it began selling shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Those shares have soared by more than 500% in the last year.

Pop Mart itself has now become a major retailer. It operates more than 2,000 vending machines, or “roboshops”, around the world. And you can now buy Labubu dolls in stores, physical or virtual, in more than 30 countries, from the US and UK to Australia and Singapore, although many of them have recently paused sales due to overwhelming demand. Sales from outside mainland China contributed to nearly 40% of its total revenue in 2024.

In a sign of just how popular Labubus have become, Chinese customs officials said this week that they had seized more than 70,000 fake dolls in recent days.

The demand did not rise overnight though. It actually took a few years for the elfin monsters to break into the mainstream.

Before the world discovered Labubu, their fame was limited to China. They started to become a hit just as the country emerged from the pandemic in late 2022, according to Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China-focused research firm ChoZan.

“Post-pandemic, a lot of people in China felt that they wanted to emotionally escape… and Labubu was a very charming but chaotic character,” she says. “It embodied that anti-perfectionism.”

The Chinese internet, which is huge and competitive, produces plenty of viral trends that don’t go global. But this one did and its popularity quickly spread to neighbouring South East Asia.

Fiona, who lives in Canada, says she first heard about Labubu from Filipino friends in 2023. That’s when she started buying them – she says she finds them cute, but their increasing popularity is a major draw: “The more popular it gets the more I want it.

“My husband doesn’t understand why me, someone in their 30s, would be so fixated on something like this, like caring about which colour to get.”

It helps that it’s also affordable, she adds. Although surging demand has pushed up prices on the second-hand market, Fiona says the original price, which ranged from 25 Canadian dollars ($18; £14) to 70 Canadian dollars for most Labubu dolls, was “acceptable” to most people she knows.

“That’s pretty much how much a bag accessory would cost anyway these days, most people would be able to afford it,” she says.

Labubu’s popularity soared in April 2024, when Thai-born K-pop superstar Lisa began posting photos on Instagram with various Labubu dolls. And then, other global celebrities turned the dolls into an international phenomenon this year.

Singer Rihanna was photographed with a Labubu toy clipped to her Louis Vuitton bag in February. Influencer Kim Kardashian shared her collection of 10 Labubu dolls with her Instagram following in April. And in May, former England football captain Sir David Beckham also took to Instagram with a photo of a Labubu, given to him by his daughter.

Now the dolls feel ubiquitous, regularly spotted not just online but also on friends, colleagues or passers-by.

Put simply, we don’t know. Like most viral trends, Labubu’s appeal is hard to explain – the result of timing, taste and the randomness that is the internet.

Beijing is certainly happy with the outcome. State news agency Xinhua says Labubu “shows the appeal of Chinese creativity, quality and culture in a language the world can understand”, while giving everyone the chance to see “cool China”.

Xinhua has other examples that show “Chinese cultural IP is going global”: the video game Black Myth: Wukong and the hit animated film Nezha.

Some analysts seem surprised that Chinese companies – from EV makers and AI developers to retailers – are so successful despite Western unease over Beijing’s ambitions.

“BYD, DeepSeek, all of these companies have one very interesting thing in common, including Labubu,” Chris Pereira, founder and chief executive of consultancy firm iMpact, told BBC News.

“They’re so good that no one cares they’re from China. You can’t ignore them.”

Meanwhile, Labubu continue to rack up social media followers with millions watching new owners unbox their prized purchase. One of the most popular videos, posted in December, shows curious US airport security staff huddling around a traveller’s unopened Labubu box to figure out which doll is inside.

That element of surprise is a big part of the appeal, says Desmond Tan, a longtime collector, as he walks around a Pop Mart store in Singapore vigorously shaking blind boxes before deciding which one to buy. This is a common sight in Pop Mart.

Desmond collects “chaser” characters, special editions from Pop Mart’s various toy series, which include Labubu. On average, Desmond says, he finds a chaser in one out of every 10 boxes he buys. It’s a good strike rate, he claims, compared to the typical odds: one in 100.

“Being able to get the chaser from shaking the box, learning how to feel the difference…,” is deeply satisfying for him.

“If I can get it in just one or two tries, I’m very happy!”

Conditions for grape-pickers in France’s champagne business lie at the heart of a human trafficking trial that has opened in the eastern city of Reims.

Three people – a woman from Kyrgyzstan, a man from Georgia and a Frenchman – are accused of exploiting more than 50 seasonal workers, mainly from west Africa.

The workers – all undocumented migrants – were found during the 2023 September harvest living in cramped and unhygienic conditions in a building at Nesle-le-Repons, southwest of Reims in the heart of champagne country.

They had been recruited via a Whatsapp group message for the West African Soninke ethnic community living in Paris, which promised “well-paid work” in the Champagne region.

Aged between 16 and 65 at the time, the 48 men and nine women came from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal. Many are attending Thursday’s trial.

“They shouted at us in Russian and crammed us into this broken-down house, with mattresses on the floor,” Kanouitié Djakariayou, 44, told La Croix newspaper.

“There was no clean water, and the only food was a bowl of rice and rotten sandwiches.

“I never thought the people who made champagne would put us up in a place which even animals would not accept.”

“What we lived through there was truly terrible. We were traumatised by the experience. And we have had no psychological support, because when you have no papers, you have no rights either,” Doumbia Mamadou, 45, told the local newspaper L’Union.

Tipped off a week later by a local resident, labour inspectors visited the scene and documented conditions which “were a serious breach of the occupants’ safety, health and dignity,” in the words of state prosecutor Annick Browne.

The prosecution says living and eating areas were outside, unprotected from the elements; toilets were filthy; showers were inadequate with only intermittent hot water; and the electrics were a safety hazard.

In addition the migrants were working ten hours a day with only 30 minutes for lunch, having been transported to the vineyards squatting in the back of trucks. They had no written contract, and the pay they received bore “no relation to the work performed,” according to the prosecution.

“The accused had a total disregard for human dignity,” said Maxime Cessieux, who represents some of the migrants.

The 44 year-old female suspect, named Svetlana G., ran a recruitment agency called Anavim, which specialised in finding labour for the wine industry. The two others were her associates.

In addition to the charge of human trafficking, the woman is also accused of undeclared labour, employing foreigners without permits, inadequate pay, and lodging vulnerable people in unfit conditions. All three face jail terms of up to seven years and large fines if they are convicted.

The case has raised questions about the extent of worker exploitation in the €6bn (£5.1bn) champagne industry. With every grape having to be picked by hand, producers rely on some 120,000 seasonal labourers every autumn, many of whom are recruited via agencies.

In 2023 six grape pickers died from suspected heatstroke during the harvest in the Champagne and Beaujolais regions – and in recent years there have been two other criminal cases in which agents have been found guilty of maltreatment of migrant .

Trade unions have said some champagne houses hide behind middlemen, and they want the law changed so that producers can lose the “champagne” label if they are found to have used illegal labour – even indirectly.

“It should not be possible to harvest the grapes of champagne using human misery,” said Jose Blanco of the CGT union.

But the main body representing champagne producers – the Comité Champagne — said mistreatment of workers happened very rarely and when discovered was immediately stopped.

The Comité is represented at the trial as a civil plaintiff, in recognition of the “damage done to the brand” by these “unacceptable practices.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers say they blocked federal agents from entering their stadium on Thursday, as protests against immigration enforcement continue in the city.

In a post on social media, the baseball team said “ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots”, and were subsequently turned away.

Los Angeles is among the cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have ramped up raids to find and deport undocumented migrants.

ICE responded to the Dodgers statement on X: “False. We were never there.”

The Department of Homeland Security too issued a statement saying the agents’ presence at the stadium “had nothing to do with the Dodgers”.

“CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement,” DHS said. It is unclear why the officials were at the stadium.

This comes as Dodgers are expected to announce that they will assist immigrants who have been impacted by the raids in the city, US media report.

No details have been disclosed, but it would be the team’s first official response to the raids.

Dodgers player Kiké Hernández took to Instagram to voice his criticism of the raids on Los Angeles, saying he is “saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city”.

“This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart,” he said.

The crackdown in Los Angeles is part of President Donald Trump’s policy to be tougher on immigration.

The move has sparked massive protests, prompting Trump to send 700 US Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area to support the federal response to the unrest.

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

Meanwhile, White House border czar Tom Homan said on Thursday that the Trump administration will resume immigration raids at worksites.

“The message is clear: we’re going to continue conducting worksite enforcement operations, including on farms and in hotels, but on a prioritised basis. Criminals come first,” Homan told reporters.

The statement comes days after DHS announced reversing recent guidance that called for a pause on operations at those places.

Seven years after taking office by ousting corruption-ridden conservatives from government, Pedro Sánchez is fighting for his political life amid investigations into alleged graft in his Socialist party (PSOE).

On June 12, an ashen-faced prime minister apologised to Spaniards after audio gathered by civil guard investigators was made public and appeared to show the PSOE secretary, Santos Cerdán, discussing commissions paid by companies in exchange for public contracts.

Sánchez has not himself been directly implicated, but the Socialist leader who came to power promising to clean up politics is now facing calls to resign from an invigorated opposition.

Cerdán, who was party number three, has resigned from the PSOE and stepped down as a member of parliament. He is due to appear before the Supreme Court on 25 June. He maintains he has never committed a crime nor been implicit in one.

The investigation into commissions is part of an ongoing probe which has already implicated José Luis Ábalos, a former PSOE secretary and transport minister. A third person implicated is Koldo García, an advisor to Ábalos. Both men featured with Cerdán in the recently exposed audio. All three say they have done nothing wrong.

The investigation into Ábalos, which began last year, was damaging for the government but his exit from the cabinet and the PSOE secretary post in 2021 put distance between him and Sánchez. However, the implication of Cerdán is more problematic.

Sánchez had repeatedly defended him in the face of claims in the right-wing media over recent months that he was under investigation, and the prime minister even accused the opposition of “slandering honest people” when asked about Cerdán’s activities last month.

The party secretary, from the northern region of Navarre, was a trusted confidant of the prime minister, playing a crucial role, for example, in negotiating the support of Catalan nationalists to allow the formation of a new government in 2023.

Despite acknowledging that he “should not have trusted” Cerdán, Sánchez has insisted that he will see out the legislature, which is due to end in 2027.

In a letter to PSOE members he apologised again, while doubling down.

“There are many issues that affect the lives of the majority – healthcare, housing, pensions, jobs, fighting climate change and defending equality – and for which it is worth fighting still,” he wrote. “Challenges that are not solved with headlines or lynchings.”

However, the opposition has presented the investigation as symptomatic of a corrupt regime, pointing to other probes affecting Sánchez and his circle.

A judge has been investigating the prime minister’s wife, Begoña Gómez, for possible business irregularities – and his musician brother, David, is due to go on trial for alleged influence peddling in taking up a public post in the south-western city of Badajoz. Meanwhile, the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, is also likely to face trial for revealing confidential details of a tax evader. All three deny wrongdoing.

Sánchez and his supporters have cast these three affairs as part of a campaign orchestrated by the conservative People’s Party (PP), the far-right Vox, right-wing media and factions within the judiciary. A number of judicial experts have expressed surprise at the zeal with which the investigations have been carried out.

In a raucous parliamentary session this week, opposition MPs chanted “Dimisión” (Resign) at the prime minister, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the PP, accused him of being “a wolf who has led a corrupt pack”.

Paco Camas, head of public opinion in Spain for polling firm Ipsos, sees a Sánchez resignation as “political suicide” for his party, because it would almost certainly trigger elections, allowing the PP to form a government, probably with the support of Vox.

“The overall trend right now is a demobilised electorate on the left, particularly for the Socialist party, and an enormous mobilisation of voters on the right, which is capitalising on the discontent with the government,” Camas said.

Even the Socialist president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, Emiliano García-Page, has warned that “there is no dignified way out” for the PSOE.

However, as long as Sánchez can keep his fragile parliamentary majority of left-wing and nationalist parties together there is little the opposition can do to bring him down.

To that end, the prime minister has been frantically trying to reassure these allies, many of who have voiced outrage at the Cerdán-Ábalos scandal. Camas believes that persuading them to support a 2026 budget could be a way for Sánchez to buy some time.

Nonetheless, such plans could be left in tatters were more explosive revelations to emerge, as many in the Socialist party fear.

Such worries will be playing on Sánchez’s mind as he heads to the Nato summit in The Hague.

Normally an assured presence on the international stage, he will arrive with serious doubts about his future and under mounting pressure to raise Spain’s defence spending.

Although his government has promised to increase military spending to 2% of economic output this year, it has been resisting calls from the United States and the Nato leadership to raise it further. Sánchez has now refused to accept a target of 5% of GDP for military spending, saying it “would not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive”.

A Chinese PhD student named by police as “one of the most prolific predators” in the UK has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 24 years.

Zhenhao Zou, a Chinese national, drugged and raped three women in London and another seven in China between September 2019 and May 2023.

Three of the 10 victims have been identified, prosecutors say, but Metropolitan Police detectives fear he could have targeted dozens more and have appealed for potential victims to contact them. Since the trial, 24 women have come forward.

During sentencing, Judge Rosina Cottage KC said the defendant was a “very bright young man” who used a manipulative “charming mask” to hide that he was a “sexual predator”.

At the sentencing hearing at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Cottage told Zou: “You appear to the world to be a very well-to-do man. You are also a sexual predator.”

She said Zou had “planned and executed a campaign of rape”, treating the women “callously” and as “sex toys” for his own pleasure, which had had “devastating and long-term effects”.

Judge Cottage added Zou had a “sexual interest” in “asserting power and control over women”, and that the victims had been “pieces in an elaborate game” for the defendant, who had “no understanding of the meaning of consent”.

During sentencing, she added: “You told (the victims) that resistance was futile.

“Sometimes you would be begged to stop. You sought power over them – these women you treated callously – and used them as sex toys for your pleasure.”

Judge Cottage said the court had watched videos of the rapes which had been “extremely distressing”. “Some who watched, wept,” she said.

Zou, who was living in Elephant and Castle, south-east London, was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim.

He was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence.

He kept a trophy box of women’s belongings and filmed nine of the rapes, as the victims lost consciousness.

Det Insp Richard Mackenzie from the Met Police said Zou was “one of the most prolific predators we have ever seen”.

Judge Cottage told Zou: “You are a highly manipulative and intelligent young man, but you have no understanding of the meaning of consent.

“There is a high level of danger because of your distorted thinking. You are a risk for an indefinite period.”

One woman was raped after Zou pushed her to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and would not let her leave his flat.

In a victim impact statement, she wrote the attack had “deeply affected” her personality.

She said: “I have lost faith in human beings, I have no trust in others. Before this incident, I was not aware that a human could do such evil things.

“When I meet with strangers, I get flashbacks of what he did.”

A second identified woman, who is now living in China, was also raped by Zou in his student flat near Russell Square in October 2021 when she was unconscious.

She said: “I know words will never fully convey the depth of this wound. But one thing is certain, what happened that night is etched into my soul forever.

“His face, his expression – they will never leave me. I will never forgive him.”

Commander Kevin Southworth, from the Metropolitan Police said: “I hope the fact Zou can no longer harm others serves as a small amount of comfort to the women who have suffered immeasurably.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to stress that our investigation remains open and we continue to appeal to anyone who may think they have been a victim of Zou.

“Please come forward and speak with our team – we will treat you with empathy, kindness and respect.”

Saira Pike, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Zou was a “serial rapist and a danger to women” and that “his life sentence reflects his heinous acts”.

She added: “I’d like to take this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt thanks to the courageous women who came forward to report Zou’s horrific crimes.

“They have been incredibly strong and brave – there is no doubt that their evidence helped us to secure his conviction, and the life sentence handed to him today.”

Police have banned Hungary’s annual Budapest Pride march later this month, prompting a defiant response from liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony.

“Budapest city hall will organise the Budapest Pride march as a local event on 28 June, Period,” vowed the mayor.

It’s the latest twist in a cat-and-mouse confrontation which pits nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz government, backed by the city police, against Hungary’s LGBTQ community and its supporters, with some legal backing from the courts.

The annual Pride march has been in doubt since Orban announced in February that it would not take place this year, and a law was then passed restricting gatherings if they broke child protection laws on public promotion of homosexuality.

Karacsony said police had no right to ban a “Day of Freedom”, organised by the city council as an umbrella event for Pride, as it does not come under the rules on freedom of assembly.

Tens of thousands of people from Hungary and abroad are expected to take part in the 28 June event.

“They might as well try to ban a procession of unicorns,” the mayor wrote on Facebook.

Under the new law on gatherings, passed in March, all those identified by the police as participants using facial recognition software could be fined between £14 and £420.

“The protection of children trumps all other laws. And in that spirit we changed the laws, we make politics, and we will act in future,” Fidesz communications chief Tamas Menczer told news portal 444.

“Pride has nothing to do with freedom of expression or freedom of assembly… Pride is a festival, the festival of a certain sexual community, which is not suitable to be seen by children.”

Viktor Orban announced in his annual state of the nation speech last February that Pride organisers “need not bother this year”. That was followed the next month by a law restricting the right to freedom of assembly, if it fell foul of the 2021 Child Protection Law.

To get around it the Rainbow Mission foundation, which organises Pride in Hungary, and other human rights groups, announced a series of events on 28 June in solidarity with Pride.

But they kept authorities guessing about which event would mark Pride itself. Police attempts to ban those events were thwarted by Hungary’s Supreme Court, the Curia, in two rulings so far.

The Budapest mayor then appeared on 16 June with the spokesperson of Budapest Pride, Mate Hegedus, in a joint Facebook video, announcing their Day of Freedom, with events from early morning to late in the evening.

The central event was to be a procession through the city and the event “is not Pride”, the mayor wrote to the police.

“There will be no trucks, no dancers, no sexuality in any form.” The purpose, he maintained, was simply “to make the nation’s capital free”.

That is what the police are now trying to prevent, on the grounds that underage bystanders may witness the procession, no matter the age of those actually taking part, how they are dressed, or what banners they carry.

That would breach the child protection law, Budapest police chief Tamas Terdik argued, in a 16-page document issued by police, justifying the ban.

So what will actually happen on 28 June?

Human rights group the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), has advised anyone going on the day to refuse to pay any on-the-spot fines.

They suggest anyone who does receive a notification by post to ask for an in-person right of appeal with the police, or in court if that fails.

The more people take part, the less likely the police will try to attempt this, the HHC argues, as it could create a massive backlog for both the police and the courts.

Is this, some will be wondering, 2003 all over again?

In 2003 Britain joined the US in a highly controversial military campaign against Iraq in a quest to rid it of its supposed arsenal of “weapons of mass destruction”. These turned out to have all been destroyed years previously.

As America’s closest but junior ally, Britain is almost certain to be affected in some way by what happens now in the Middle East. If Donald Trump decides to commit US forces to help Israel eliminate Iran’s nuclear programme then what role will the UK be asked to play?

First off, Britain is very far from being a central player in this fight between Israel and Iran.

The UK, along with other G7 allies, has called for de-escalation, but Israel is unlikely to be listening.

This is not just because relations between Britain and Israel have recently soured after the UK joined other Western nations in sanctioning two Israeli cabinet ministers for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

It is also because Israel had clearly decided that now was a window of opportunity to act militarily against Iran’s suspect nuclear programme and that the time for talking was over. (In an apparent snub to the UK, Israel reportedly did not inform it in advance of its attack on Iran, considering it “not a reliable partner”.)

But the UK still has a diplomatic role to play, together with its European allies who helped draft the 2015 JCPOA Iran nuclear deal that introduced intrusive UN inspections of Iran’s facilities in exchange for sanctions relief, until Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal in 2018.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is in Washington meeting his US counterpart, and he will be heading to Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday to join his French, German and EU counterparts in talks with Iran.

The UK also has military and strategic assets in the Middle East and Indian Ocean.

Here’s how these could be involved.

This tiny, tropical Indian Ocean island base, jointly operated by the UK and US and now leased from nearby Mauritius, has a strategic significance out of all proportion to its size.

At 2,300 miles (3,700km) from Iran, it is a potential staging base for the USAF B2 Spirit heavy bombers.

These are the only aircraft in the world configured to carry the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb. This 30,000lb (13.6 tonne) monster is sometimes referred to as a “bunker-buster” but that’s an under-estimate. Retired US Army General Petraeus referred to it this week as “a mountain-buster”. It is thought to be the only weapon powerful enough to penetrate deep underground at Iran’s suspect nuclear enrichment facility at Fordo.

If the US were to use Diego Garcia it would need permission from the UK. The Attorney General, Richard Hermer, is reported to have advised the UK government that any UK military involvement needs to be purely defensive in nature to remain within the law.

The B2 bombers have a range of nearly 7,000 miles, roughly the distance from their airbase in Missouri to Iran, and with inflight refuelling the US could, if it chose, bomb Fordo without using Diego Garcia.

The UK has two major strategic assets on this Mediterranean island.

One is RAF Akrotiri, currently home to a reinforced presence of RAF Typhoon jets. The other is the secretive Signals intelligence listening station on a mountain top at Ayios Nikolaos, known as “Ayia Nik”, and part of Britain’s Sovereign Base Area on Cyprus.

The British Army has also long used Cyprus as a base for its “spearhead battalion”, a rapid deployment force available for contingencies in the Middle East.

The RAF’s Typhoons are already engaged in Operation Shader, monitoring and occasionally bombing the Islamic State group (IS) and al-Qaeda bases in Syria and Iraq.

Last year, during a brief conflict between Israel and Iran, UK warplanes were reported to have helped shoot down incoming Iranian drones heading for Israel. But in this conflict an Israeli spokesperson told the BBC that no UK assistance has been sought or offered in doing the same thing.

The Royal Navy has had a small but vital role to play in keeping the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz free from sea mines.

This dates back to the 1980-88 Iran Iraq tanker war, where mines were deployed and the UK activated its “Armilla Patrol”. Royal Navy minesweepers were based in Bahrain, an asset much appreciated by the adjacent US Navy’s 5th Fleet HQ which surprisingly, has been weak on mine counter measures.

However, the UK’s vessels have been nearing the end of their working lives and the Royal Navy presence has been gradually reduced. This has contributed to the depressing assessment that should Iran decide to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, through which flows 20-30% of the world’s oil supplies, its effect would be considerable.

The Ministry of Defence says that one Royal Navy minesweeper, HMS Middleton, is now in the Gulf. “Royal Navy vessels in the Gulf are currently at sea”, it adds, “and have not been retasked to undertake combat operations”.

There is also a small, 100-strong UK military presence in Iraq and a port facility at Duqm in Oman.

Iran has signalled on several occasions that any nation that attacks it, or which it judges to have helped enable an attack, will be retaliated against, sometimes referred to as “blowback”.

Top of the target list would be the US bases up and down the region, as well as its naval ships at sea.

But in the event that the UK were to authorise the USAF to use its base at Diego Garcia for an attack on say, the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordo, then that retaliation would almost certainly include the UK.

In practice, this could include ballistic missiles fired at RAF Akrotiri but here in Britain the Security Service, MI5, will also be on the alert for any hostile acts by Iran that could include sabotage and arson carried out by criminal gangs.

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Black smoke was still billowing from the middle of the Soroka Medical Center when we arrived, several hours after Iran’s attack on the building.

Pieces of twisted metal shrapnel – some of it apparently from the missile itself – scattered across a 200m (656ft) area in and around the hospital complex.

Vehicles carrying medical staff lined the road outside – an emergency response to a situation that many had feared would be worse.

Crowds of soldiers, police and rescue teams milled around the hospital entrances, as a stream of ministers arrived to express their outrage at the strike.

Alon Uzi was wandering around outside the hospital entrance with two bags of belongings.

He said he had been receiving treatment in the emergency department when the attack happened, and didn’t have time to reach the shelter.

“I was lying in bed, and I heard a big boom,” he told us. “And before I could do anything, there was an explosion and part of the ceiling fell and I was covered with white dust.

“There was no time to get out of bed. I was just getting ready and then I heard a whistling noise.”

Inside the emergency reception area, the air carried the tang of chemicals mixed with dust. Patients were still being evacuated on stretchers from deep inside the building, as emergency teams passed through into the surgical wards that were hit.

Medical staff told local media that patients there had recently been moved to the hospital’s emergency shelters underground. Seventy-one people have been injured, according to Israel’s ministry of health.

Professor Asher Bashiri, director of the maternity ward, said he could see the area of impact from his office.

“It looks unbelievable,” he told me. “The upper part of the building is cracked, and fire was coming from it in the first hours. Everything looks broken.”

He said they had moved all the patients to a more protected area when the war began.

“We were very, very lucky,” he said. “It could have been so much worse. But we are still living in an unbelievable situation. It’s not finished – I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or the next day. We’re just happy that we’re alive.”

The hospital director, Shlomi Codish, said that the northern surgical building was hit and that several wards were demolished, with extensive damage to the entire hospital.

“We expect that we will be transferring over 200 patients in the next few hours to other medical centres,” he said. “We’re trying to minimise the number of people; we don’t know if buildings might collapse or if wards might collapse.”

Among the stream of ministers visiting the site today was Culture Minister Miki Zohar, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

“All the people need to know what we’re facing – a regime that is trying to kill innocent people,” he said. “When you’re dealing with evil, this is a different war. Believe me, we won’t stop until we win. We’re going to reply and it’s going to be very strong.”

Mr Zohar was asked about Israel’s history of bombing hospitals in Gaza – locations its army says are being used as military control centres by Hamas.

“We keep innocent people in Gaza safe as much as we can,” he said. “We call them to evacuate before we bomb. This is the big difference between Iran and us.”

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz accused Iran’s supreme leader of committing “war crimes of the most serious kind,” saying he would be held accountable.

Netanyahu has accused Iran of deliberately targeting civilians, promising that Israel will “exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran”.

Iranian media says the centre they were targeting was at the Gav-Yam tech park, which is less than 3km (1.86 miles) away.

It was one of half a dozen sites hit by Iranian missiles on Thursday morning, a day after Donald Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”.

It’s a reminder that both sides have the capacity to escalate this conflict, either by using different weapons – or by choosing different targets.

The US president is weighing up the decision to enter the war alongside Israel, while demanding that Iran submit to an agreement ending its nuclear enrichment, with the aim of blocking its path to a nuclear weapon.

On Wednesday, Israel said it sent 40 fighter jets to bomb targets in Iran, including an inactive nuclear reactor at Arak and a nuclear development building in Natanz, along with dozens of missile sites and radar.

After almost a week of daily attacks from both sides, this war is precariously balanced on the edge of a much wider conflict.

Israeli jets have bombed a nuclear reactor under construction in central Iran during a wave of air strikes on the seventh day of the conflict between the two countries.

The Israeli military said it targeted the Arak heavy water reactor’s core seal to stop it being used for “nuclear weapons development”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the reactor was hit and that it contained no nuclear material.

Spent fuel from heavy water reactors contains plutonium suitable for a nuclear bomb.

Iran – which says its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful – agreed under a 2015 deal with world powers to redesign and rebuild Arak so it could not produce weapons-grade plutonium.

• Follow live updates as strikes continue
• What caused the latest conflict, and where could it lead?
• Video: How close is Iran to a nuclear weapon?
• BBC Verify: The secretive nuclear site only a US bomb could hit
• What are the risks of bombing Fordo?

The following year, the IAEA said Iran had removed Arak’s calandria, or reactor core, and rendered it “inoperable”.

The global nuclear watchdog’s latest quarterly report from late May said minor civil construction work was ongoing at the reactor, and that Iran expected it to be commissioned this year and to start operating in 2026.

The Israeli military said Iran’s government had “deliberately ordered [workers] not to complete the conversion… in order to exert pressure on the West”.

“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” it added.

Black-and-white aerial footage of the attack released by the military appeared to show a bomb hitting the domed roof of the reactor building and several large explosions from Arak, which about 250km (155 miles) south-west of Tehran and is also known as Khondab.

Daytime video broadcast by Iranian state TV showed two large plumes of white smoke rising from the facility. It also cited Iranian officials as saying that the site had been “secured in advance” and that there was “no contamination resulting from the attack”.

Satellite imagery showed a large hole in the reactor building’s roof.

Also visible were what analysts identified as destroyed distillation towers belonging to the adjacent heavy water production plant.

The IAEA initially reported that damage to the heavy water plant was not visible. But the agency later said it had assessed that key buildings at the facility were damaged, including the distillation unit.

The Israeli military also announced on Thursday that its fighter jets had struck a “nuclear weapons development site” at Natanz.

It is the location of Iran’s main plant producing enriched uranium, which is used to make reactor fuel for power stations but, if further enriched, can be used in nuclear weapons.

The first wave of Israeli strikes last Friday destroyed the above-ground part of Natanz’s Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), where cascades of centrifuges were enriching uranium, as well as electricity infrastructure at the site. The IAEA also found indications of direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls.

Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director general, told the BBC on Monday that the sudden loss of power at the underground enrichment halls was likely to have severely damaged, if not destroyed, the centrifuges operating there.

Four buildings were destroyed in a separate attack on Friday on the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre, he said. But very little, if any, damage was visible at Iran’s underground enrichment plant at Fordo, he added.

President Donald Trump is said to be weighing up whether the US should participate in a strike on Fordo because it is the only country with a conventional bomb large enough to destroy it. Sources told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that his mindset was that disabling the facility was necessary.

In 2018, Trump abandoned the nuclear deal with Iran, saying it did too little to stop its pathway to a bomb, and reinstated US sanctions that crippled the Iranian economy.

Iran retaliated by increasingly breaching the restrictions – particularly those relating to the production of enriched uranium.

In its quarterly report, the IAEA expressed concern that Iran had amassed enough uranium enriched up to 60% purity – a short, technical step away from weapons grade, or 90% – to potentially make nine nuclear bombs.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said on Friday that it was targeting the Iranian nuclear programme because “if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time”. He did not provide any evidence.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said on Sunday that Israel had “crossed a new red line in international law” by attacking nuclear sites. He also insisted that Iran’s doctrine was “rooted in our belief in the prohibition and illegitimacy of nuclear weapons”.

Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, although it neither confirms nor denies this.

The Israeli air strikes have also destroyed Iranian military facilities and weapons, and killed senior military commanders and nuclear scientists.

Iran’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 224 people had been killed, but a human rights group put the unofficial death toll at 639 on Thursday.

Iran has launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the air strikes that have killed at least 24 people, according to the prime minister’s office.

Once hailed as part of a new generation of reformist African leaders, Eritrea’s president, who recently marked 32 years in power, has long defied expectations.

Isaias Afwerki now spends much of his time at his rural residence on a dusty hillside some 20km (12 miles) from the capital, Asmara.

With the cabinet not having met since 2018, all power flows through him, and like a potentate he receives a string of local officials and foreign dignitaries at his retreat.

It is also a magnet for ordinary Eritreans hoping in vain that Isaias might help them with their problems.

The 79-year-old has never faced an election in his three decades in power and there is little sign of that changing any time soon.

But things looked very different in the 1990s.

Isaias was 45 when, as a rebel leader, his Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) defeated Ethiopia in 1991. Those who fought in the war are remembered each year on Martyrs’ Day, 20 June.

Tall and charismatic, he inspired hope both at home and abroad.

In 1993, following formal independence, Isaias appeared on the international stage as head of state for the first time.

It was in Cairo, where he attended a continental leaders’ summit, that he lambasted the older generation of African leaders “who wanted to stay in power for decades”.

He vowed that Eritrea would never repeat the same old failed approach and promised a democratic order that would underpin the social and economic development of his people. His stance won him plaudits from Eritreans and diplomats alike.

Riding the euphoria of the early years of independence and enjoying a glowing international reception, Isaias sought closer relations with the West.

In 1995, after inviting the Eritrean leader to the Oval Office, US President Bill Clinton expressed appreciation for the country’s strong start on the road to democracy.

Eritrea had just begun drafting a new constitution expected to establish the rule of law and a democratic system.

Isaias was supposed to be a “transitional president” until a constitutional government was elected. The new constitution was ratified by a constituent assembly in May 1997.

But just as Eritreans and the world were expecting national elections in 1998, war broke out between Eritrea and neighbouring Ethiopia over a disputed border.

Isaias was accused of using the war as a justification to postpone the elections indefinitely.

He had promised a multiparty democratic system and his resolve was tested after a peace agreement was reached in 2000.

Several of his cabinet ministers, including former close friends and comrades-in-arms, began to call for reform.

In an open letter issued in March 2001, a group of senior government officials, who later became known as the G-15, accused the president of abusing his powers and becoming increasingly autocratic. They called for the implementation of the constitution and national elections.

Starting from the mid 1990s, Eritreans had tasted some freedom, with emerging newspapers carrying critical voices — including from within the ruling party, that had been renamed the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ).

The transitional national assembly had decided when elections would take place, an electoral commission was being formed and proposed political party laws were under debate.

The country seemed to be on a slow path towards democratisation.

However, this fragile opening abruptly closed in September 2001, while the world’s attention was focussed on the 9/11 attacks in the US.

In a single morning, the authorities shut down all independent newspapers, effectively silencing critical voices. Many editors and journalists were detained and never seen again.

Simultaneously, the government arrested 11 of the G-15, including three former foreign ministers, a chief of staff of the armed forces and several members of the national assembly. They have not been seen or heard from since.

The hopes of many Eritreans were dashed.

But Isaias had already moved away from introducing democratic changes.

“I had never had any intention of participating in political parties,” he said in April 2001.

“I don’t have any intention of participating in a political party now, and I won’t have any intention of participating in a political party in the future.”

He also described the democratic process as a “mess”, saying that the PFDJ was “not a party. It is a nation”.

For many, it became clear the president would not allow democratic reforms to take hold.

The silencing of critics and the failure to hold elections, earned him and his country pariah status.

However, his supporters say he was unfairly targeted by Western nations and praise him as a symbol of national liberation.

In 2002, he unofficially dissolved the transitional assembly that was meant to hold him accountable and in effect did the same with the cabinet in 2018.

Some aging ministers with no real authority now lead weak government agencies, and several ministries – including defence – remain without ministers.

Many wonder why the independence hero took such a repressive turn.

Abdella Adem, a former regional governor and senior ambassador, says Isaias never believed in democracy and has always been obsessed with power. He led the EPLF with an iron fist even before independence, according to Mr Abdella, who now lives in exile in London.

“He systematically weakened and removed leaders with public legitimacy and struggle credentials who could challenge his authority.”

To some surprise, in May 2014, Isaias announced plans for a new constitution, later saying that the constitution ratified in 1997 was “dead”. But no progress has been made since then.

The proposal to write a new constitution may have been triggered by an attempted coup by senior military officers in 2013.

They drove tanks into the capital and seized control of national TV and radio stations for several hours.

Realising the attempt was failing, they tried to broadcast a call to implement the 1997 constitution and release political prisoners. But security forces pulled the plug mid-broadcast.

Many officials – including the mines minister, a governor, diplomats and a general – were detained. The leader of the coup killed himself to avoid arrest.

Zeraslasie Shiker, a former diplomat, left his post in Nigeria and sought asylum in the UK. His boss, Ambassador Ali Omeru, a veteran of the independence war, was later detained and remains unaccounted for.

Governments that lock people up “like Isaias Afwerki’s do not allow genuine political and social institutions or the rule of law”, says Mr Zeraslasie, now a PhD candidate at the UK’s Leeds University.

“The indefinite suspension of Eritrea’s constitution and the collapsing of government institutions into the office of the president must be understood in this context.”

Isolated internationally, Isaias withdrew from the global stage. He stopped attending summits such as the UN General Assembly and African Union meetings.

The country’s economy has “struggled”, according to the World Bank’s assessment last year.

“Economic activity is constrained by underdeveloped infrastructure, limited competition due to state dominance, and strict import controls,” the authors said, adding that the financial sector remained “weak”.

Isaias himself acknowledged problems in an interview with state TV in December last year.

“A subsistence economy will lead us nowhere. Currently, we are not in a better position than many other African countries in this regard,” he said.

Isaias also refuses humanitarian aid, citing fears of dependency that would undermine his principle of “self-reliance”.

For many Eritreans, especially young people trapped in indefinite national service, which the authorities justify because of a series of conflicts and tense relations with its neighbours, daily life is a nightmare. Under a repressive regime, they face a future with little hope or freedom.

Disillusioned by the lack of political progress and exhausted by forced conscription and state violence, many risk their lives to escape in search of freedom.

Over the past two decades, hundreds of thousands have fled, crossing deserts and seas to find safe haven. Eritreans are currently the third most common nationality to be granted refugee status in the UK.

In his independence day speech last month, Isaias gave no hint of any of the changes many Eritreans hope to see. There was no mention of a constitution, national elections or the release of political prisoners.

At the same time there was no concrete plan to turn round the country’s moribund economy.

Despite criticism at home, President Isaias retains support among parts of the population, particularly within the military, ruling party networks and those who view him as a symbol of national independence and resistance against foreign interference.

The president also has strong backing among some in the diaspora, who believe Western powers are conspiring to undermine Eritrea’s hard-won independence.

As frustration grew in Eritrea, Isaias retreated from Asmara in 2014 to his home that overlooks the Adi Hallo dam whose construction he closely supervised.

As Isaias nears 80, many fear what could happen next.

An apparent attempt to groom his eldest son to succeed him was reportedly blocked at a 2018 cabinet meeting, since when no further meetings have been held.

But there is no obvious succession plan or a credible opposition in the country who could replace the current regime, leaving many to find it hard to imagine a future without Isaias.

“The president’s office is what’s holding the country from collapse,” warns Mr Zeraslasie.

During this year’s Easter holiday, Isaias was seen kissing a cross during a church mass in Asmara. Some believe he is seeking spiritual redemption, others hope he may release political prisoners.

For now, however, Isaias remains firmly in control, while Eritreans continue their long and anxious wait for change.

• Why Eritreans are at war with each other around the world
• Eritrea viewpoint: I fought for independence but I’m still waiting for freedom
• Reporting on Africa’s most secretive state
• Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki ‘both charismatic and brutal’
• ‘I haven’t seen my parents for 17 years’

3D-printed guns could become “the weapon of choice” for criminals and violent extremists around the world, an expert has told the BBC. These DIY, untraceable firearms have been recovered in several recent criminal cases, including the alleged use of a partially 3D-printed gun in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

BBC Trending has investigated the global spread of 3D-printed guns across social media platforms including Telegram, Facebook and Instagram, as well as websites offering how-to guides.

3D-printed guns, often described as a type of “ghost” gun, are untraceable firearms that can be assembled using a 3D printer, downloadable blueprints and some basic materials. Designed to evade gun-control laws, the technology has advanced rapidly in the last decade, with the latest models capable of firing multiple rounds without their plastic components breaking.

According to Nick Suplina of Everytown, a US-based gun control organisation, 3D-printed guns could become the “weapon of choice” for people planning acts of violence: “The materials have gotten better, the cost has gone down, and the ease of access of these blueprints is at a high,” he said.

BBC Trending’s investigation began with advertisements for guns on Instagram and Facebook. In October 2024, the Tech Transparency Project, a non-profit that monitors technology companies, found hundreds of gun ads – including for 3D-printed and other ghost guns – appearing on Meta’s platforms, in violation of its policies.

Meta declined to comment on the findings at the time. Several months later, BBC Trending found similar gun adverts still showing as active in Meta’s ad database.

Many of these gun adverts directed potential customers to Telegram or WhatsApp channels. On Telegram, we found channels displaying a variety of guns for sale. Some of these appeared to be 3D-printed. One Telegram account with over 1,000 subscribers claimed to ship weapons globally.

BBC Trending contacted the account, which called itself “Jessy”, to confirm whether it would be willing to break the law by shipping 3D-printed guns to the UK. Within an hour, Jessy offered us a Liberator or a Glock switch.

A glock switch (also known as an auto sear) is a small, sometimes 3D-printed part that converts a pistol into an automatic weapon.

The Liberator, designed in 2013 by “crypto-anarchist” Cody Wilson, is the world’s first widely available 3D-printed gun, capable of firing a single shot.

Jessy claimed he could smuggle the weapon through UK customs, asked for payment of £160 in bitcoin, then suggested a bank transfer to a UK account we couldn’t trace.

When we later contacted Jessy, identifying ourselves as the BBC, he acknowledged that selling weapons in the UK is illegal but sounded unapologetic.

“I run my business, sell some straps [slang for weapons] online,” he said.

We did not proceed with the transaction to test Jessy’s claims. While his casual attitude suggested he might have been a scammer, his ability to advertise on Meta and operate on Telegram highlights apparent loopholes that real gun dealers could exploit.

When contacted, Meta told the BBC that the adverts we highlighted had been “automatically disabled in line with our policies”, and that inclusion in its ad library “doesn’t necessarily mean the ad is still live or visible”.

Telegram said that Jessy’s account had been proactively removed for breaching its policies. A spokesperson added: “The sale of weapons is explicitly forbidden by Telegram’s terms of service and is removed whenever discovered. Moderators empowered with custom AI and machine learning tools proactively monitor public parts of the platform and accept reports in order to remove millions of pieces of harmful content each day, including the sale of weapons.”

Concerningly though, people seeking 3D-printed guns don’t need to buy readymade ones through social media. They can assemble their own. Models like the FGC-9 are designed using only 3D-printed plastic and repurposed metal components, with no commercially available gun parts required.

“You are essentially becoming a DIY gunsmith,” says Dr Rajan Basra, a researcher at King’s College London. However, “It’s not as easy as printing off a sheet of A4 paper in your office printer.”

As the BBC has previously reported, there are websites offering free step-by-step guides and downloadable blueprints for building 3D-printed guns.

One such guide was written by Matthew Larosiere, a gun rights attorney in Florida. He’s associated with the global pro-3D-printed gun community, which has many members in the USA who see the Second Amendment right to bear arms as a human right.

BBC Trending challenged him about why he is sharing information to help people build a lethal weapon.

He replied: “It’s just information. It’s ones and zeros. The fact that the information has a use case that makes you uncomfortable, I understand and I sympathise with that, but that doesn’t make it correct to say it’s anything more than information.”

Asked about the risk of this “information” being used in a school shooting or massacre, he replied: “I thank God that has not happened.” He cited Myanmar as a country where, in his view, 3D-printed guns have served a positive cause.

Myanmar is currently the only known case of 3D-printed guns being used in active military conflict. The FGC-9’s use by resistance fighters against the junta has been widely reported.

But as BBC Burmese’s Hnin Mo discovered, many of these groups have since stopped using 3D-printed guns. This is despite resistance forces producing hundreds of FGC-9s in 2022 and 2023, which cost over ten times less than machine guns on the black market.

The rebel leaders Hnin Mo spoke to cited the junta’s tight control over imports of essential materials like glue and metal. Additionally, these groups now have more conventional weapons at their disposal, such as RPGs or machine guns.

The Myanmar example demonstrates the limitations of current 3D-printed guns for military use. But globally, their spread is clear. Several countries are considering laws to criminalise the possession of blueprints. There are also calls for 3D printer manufacturers to block the printing of gun parts, in the same way that conventional printers restrict the printing of currency. But whether such measures can be effective remains to be seen.

For more on this story:

BBC World Service goes inside the world of 3D printed guns.

Watch Print and Shoot – the global spread of 3D-printed guns

Listen to BBC Trending: Print and shoot: The rise of 3D-printed guns

Bestselling author Sophie Gravia is no stranger to racy, blush-inducing fiction.

She has made it her job to expose the hilarious complexities of modern dating in her series of hit books.

Titles including A Glasgow Kiss, Hot Girl Summer and her latest release, The Dicktionary Club, have propelled her to cult status amongst her fans.

But despite being open-minded enough to front a new BBC Sounds podcast about relationships, the NHS nurse admitted she draws the line at letting her family into her written world.

Sophie said: “I don’t allow my mum and dad to read the books.”

“They are so proud and they tell everyone about the books, but I am like: ‘please, do not read them’.”

She added: “The dating scene has changed so much since my parents’ time.

“They met when they were 15 at the dancing.

“To think now people would be with someone they met when they were 15 just sounds crazy.

“With today’s dating apps people just jump straight in, and its sometimes even weird to meet someone for a coffee because they want to go straight to the bedroom.”

It is this insight that led her to co-present new BBC Sounds podcast Situationships with Sophie and Christine.

Alongside TV personality Christine McGuinness, she brings to the podcast her life experience as a single mum, NHS nurse – and best-selling writer of erotic fiction.

Growing up in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Sophie had a love for writing.

“At school I used to write funny poems when I should have been concentrating in class, and would send them to my friends,” she recalled.

As a teenager she considered a career in journalism, but later lost interest in her school studies.

Sophie admitted: “I have got a really short attention span.

“I was too busy hanging around with my sister and cousins who were all older and had left school.”

She quit school at 16 but, encouraged by her mum, entered further education and worked towards a diploma in performing arts.

“It was just fun, though I did learn how to write a script,” she said.

“I was 16-17 and I never thought I would use those skills again.”

Within a few years Sophie was a teenage single mum.

She had the first of her two daughters at 19, and the second when she was 20.

To help support her young family, Sophie decided to follow in her mum and dad’s footsteps and went into nursing.

“I went to university when my youngest was three weeks old,” said Sophie.

She has since clocked up 10 years with NHS Lanarkshire as a renal nurse working with kidney disease patients.

Sophie is currently on a break from nursing to focus on the podcast and promoting a new book, but plans to return to the profession.

It was while working as a nurse during the Covid pandemic that her life took an unexpected turn.

Along with many other health professionals, she was required to attend mandatory wellness sessions.

They were intended to offer a release from working under the pressures of the global health crisis.

Staff were encouraged to explore new interests or rekindle a passion for old ones.

“Everyone else had all these great things they were doing in their spare time, while I was using it to lie on the couch watching Netflix most nights,” said Sophie.

“Then I said to myself ‘look, let’s get a grip here’, and I started writing.

“I never thought I was good enough at it, but wanted to do something for myself.”

In a single night she mapped out the basic story of what later became her debut novel.

Sophie said: “I just took the worst dating stories I had heard from my friends and the girls in the staffroom. There are couple of my own in there too.

“I fictionalised the story to make sense of it all.

“I thought I would send it to my friends as Christmas presents.”

But Sophie took the plunge and self-published A Glasgow Kiss online, with no expectations of what would happen next.

“Literally overnight it was number one on the Amazon charts. It just completely blew up,” she said.

Book deals followed, and this week she released her fifth novel – The Dicktionary Club.

It is based on a real-life phenomenon where women meet in groups on social media to discuss whether they are dating the same man.

As a result of her literary success Sophie was approached by BBC producers working on new podcasts and commissioned to explore “situationships”.

Sophie explained: “In dating, it’s usually the phase where people are chatting before making a commitment.

“You are not quite dating, not going out with them, but there is something happening, usually in the DMs (direct messages) on apps.

“I feel in the dating game now there can be so many different situationships – sometimes with multiple people – which can be a big problem.

“It can be the cause of a lot of dilemmas, and there are inappropriate situationships like: ‘I fancy my boss. What should I do?'”

During the development of the podcast, Sophie encouraged her friend Christine McGuinness to audition as co-host.

The women first met through their shared talent management agency and bonded over their experiences of motherhood, writing and relationships.

Christine’s 11-year marriage to TV presenter Paddy McGuinness ended in a high-profile break-up in 2022.

Sophie said: “She is absolutely crazy fun. We get on so well.”

Each week, the podcast will see women discuss listeners’ dating dilemmas, relationship revelations and “situationship” struggles.

Sophie said: “Christine is new to the dating scene, whereas I’ve been on the dating scene for such a long time.

“I feel like the two of us really get it and have so much in common, but sometimes we have a different opinion on things.

“I’m probably quite harsh when it comes to ‘what do you think of this relationship?’

“I’m like ‘naw, get rid’, while Christine is ‘oh, but wait a minute’. It’s a nice dynamic.”

Sophie added: “It’s just like a normal girls’ chat, and it’s nice to do it with my friend.”

Long before India gained independence, one defiant voice inside the British Empire dared to call out a colonial massacre – and paid a price for it.

Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, a lawyer, was one of the few Indians to be appointed to top government posts when the British ruled the country.

In 1919, he resigned from the Viceroy’s Council after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in the northern Indian city of Amritsar in Punjab, in which hundreds of civilians attending a public meeting were shot dead by British troops. On the 100th anniversary of the massacre, then UK Prime Minister Theresa May described the tragedy as a “shameful scar” on Britain’s history in India.

Nair’s criticism of Punjab’s then Lieutenant Governor, Michael O’Dwyer, led to a libel case against him, which helped spotlight the massacre and the actions of British officials.

In a biography of Nair, KPS Menon, independent India’s first foreign secretary, described him as “a very controversial figure of his time”.

Nair was known for his independent views and distaste for extremist politics, and spoke critically of colonial rule and even of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian independence hero who is now regarded as the father of the nation.

Menon, who married Nair’s daughter Saraswathy, wrote: “Only [Nair] could have insulted the all powerful British Viceroy on his face and opposed Mahatma Gandhi openly.”

Nair was not a familiar name in India in recent decades, but earlier this year, a Bollywood film based on the court case, Kesari Chapter 2- starring superstar Akshay Kumar – helped bring attention to his life.

Nair was born in 1857 into a wealthy family in what is now Palakkad district in Kerala state. He studied at the Presidency College in Madras, acquiring a bachelor’s degree before studying law and beginning his career as an apprentice with a Madras High Court judge.

In 1887, he joined the social reform movement in the Madras presidency. Throughout his career, he fought to reform Hindu laws of the time on marriage and women’s rights and to abolish the caste system.

For some years, he was a delegate to the Indian National Congress and presided over its 1897 session in Amraoti (Amravati). In his address, he held the British-run government “morally responsible for the extreme poverty of the masses”, saying the annual famines “claimed more victims and created more distress than under any civilised government anywhere else in the world”.

He was appointed public prosecutor in 1899 and writes in his autobiography about advising the government on seditious articles in newspapers, including those by his close friend G Subramania Iyer, the first editor of The Hindu newspaper. “On many occasions… I was able to persuade them not to take any step against him.”

He became a high court judge in 1908 and was knighted four years later.

Nair moved to Delhi in 1915 when he was appointed a member of the Viceroy’s Council, only the third Indian to hold the position.

He was a fierce proponent of India’s right to govern itself and pushed for constitutional reforms during his time on the council. Through 1918 and 1919, his dissent and negotiations with Edwin Montagu, then secretary of state for India, helped expand provisions of the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms which laid out how India would gradually achieve self-governance.

Montagu wrote in his diary that he had been warned “that it was absolutely necessary to get him on my side, for Sankaran Nair wielded more influence than any other Indian”.

A pivotal moment in Nair’s career as a statesman was the massacre in Jallianwala Bagh, when hundreds of unarmed Indians were shot dead in a public garden on the day of the Baisakhi festival. Official estimates said nearly 400 people were killed and more than 1,500 wounded by the soldiers, who fired under the orders of Brigadier General REH Dyer. Indian sources put the death toll closer to 1,000.

Nair writes in his 1922 book Gandhi and Anarchy about following the events in Punjab with increasing concern. The shooting at Jallianwala Bagh was part of a larger crackdown in the province, where martial law had been introduced – the region was cut off from the rest of the country and no newspapers were allowed into it.

“If to govern the country, it is necessary that innocent persons should be slaughtered at Jallianwala Bagh and that any Civilian Officer may, at any time, call in the military and the two together may butcher the people as at Jallianwala Bagh, the country is not worth living in,” he wrote.

A month later, he resigned from the council and left for Britain, where he hoped to rouse public opinion on the massacre.

In his memoir, Nair writes of speaking to the editor of The Westminster Gazette which soon published an article called the Amritsar Massacre. Other papers including The Times also followed suit.

“Worse things had happened under British rule, but I am glad I was able to obtain publicity for this one at least,” Nair wrote.

Nair’s book Gandhi and Anarchy drew the ire of several Indian nationalists of the time after he criticised Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement, calling it a “weapon to be used when constitutional methods have failed to achieve our purpose”.

But it was the few passages condemning Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, that became the basis for the libel suit against him in 1924.

Nair accused O’Dwyer of terrorism, holding him responsible for the atrocities committed by the civil government before the imposition of martial law.

A five-week trial in the Court of King’s Bench in London ruled 11:1 in favour of O’Dwyer, awarding damages of £500 and £7,000 in costs to him.

O’Dwyer offered to forgo this for an apology but Nair refused and paid instead.

Reports of the depositions in the hearing were published daily in The Times. Nair’s family says despite losing, the case achieved his purpose of having the atrocities brought to public attention.

Nair’s great-grandson Raghu Palat, who co-wrote the book The Case That Shook the Empire, with his wife Pushpa, says the case helped spark “an uproar for the freedom movement”.

It also showed that “there was no point in having a dominion status under the empire when the British cannot be expected to deal with their subjects fairly”, adds Pushpa.

Even Gandhi referred to the case several times, writing once that Nair had showed pluck in fighting without hope of victory, historian PC Roy Chaudhury later pointed out.

After losing the case, Nair continued with his career in India. He was chairman of the Indian Committee of the Simon Commission, which reviewed the working of constitutional reforms in India in 1928.

He died in 1934 at the age of 77.

Through his career, Menon notes, Nair “bent all his thoughts and energies on the emancipation of his country from the bondage of foreign domination and native custom. In this task, he achieved as much success as any man, wedded to constitutional methods”.

Temperatures are expected to reach above 30C for a second day running, as an early summer heatwave grips the UK.

Hot and dry conditions are expected to persist across the UK, with temperatures going as high as 32C in central England.

Friday is not forecast to be as warm as Thursday – which broke the record for hottest day of the year so far – while temperatures could top out at 34C on Saturday.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued an amber heat-health alert for all regions in England – the first time since September 2023 – which will remain in place until Monday.

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It warns “significant impacts are likely” across health and social care services, including a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or people with health conditions.

By Friday afternoon, many regions are expected to meet the criteria for a heatwave – which means a temperature threshold is sustained for three consecutive days – according to the Met Office.

The threshold varies across different regions, from 25C in northern and western parts of the UK to 28C in south-eastern England.

A heatwave may be declared in London on Friday, where it has passed the 28C threshold for two days in a row.

On Thursday, Suffolk became the first area in the UK to officially enter a heatwave, after temperatures passed 27C for a third consecutive day.

The heatwave is expected to peak on Saturday, with thundery showers forecast for northern Wales and north-west England, as well as dry and hot conditions in the east.

Some relief is anticipated on Sunday, when the south and east of England will dip to the high 20s, while temperatures will cool to the mid-20s elsewhere.

Despite the heat being record-breaking for 2025, temperatures are still below the June peak of 35.6C in 1976.

A developing area of high pressure is helping draw hot weather in from other parts of Western Europe. France and Spain could see temperatures close to 40C over the coming days.

Firefighters have also responded to more than 500 wildfires across England and Wales this year – a 717% surge on the same period in 2024, the National Fire Chiefs Council said.

NFCC Chair Phil Garrigan said the organisation was “deeply concerned about the escalating threat of wildfires this summer”, which he warned have “the potential to become more frequent, intense and dangerous”.

The organisation is urging the public to be careful when lighting barbecues and handling objects, such as glass bottles, that can cause a fire outside.

While linking climate change with specific individual extreme weather events can be difficult, scientists say that climate change is generally making heatwaves hotter and longer.

The World Weather Attribution group says that the chance of reaching 32C in June has increased by 100 times since the pre-industrial era.

The chance of a June heatwave for three consecutive days has increased 10 times due to human-induced climate change. 

Meanwhile, the chance of a three-day June heatwave had increased tenfold due to human-induced climate change, going from a one-in-50-year event to a one-in-five-year event.

Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, said that with “every fraction of a degree of warming, the UK will experience hotter, more dangerous heatwaves”.

He added: “This means more heat deaths, more pressure on the NHS, more transport disruptions, tougher work conditions and poorer air quality.”

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President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for TikTok’s sale in the US for a further 90 days.

The video-sharing app has faced questions over its future after the US passed a law last year requiring the app to be banned unless sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

Lawmakers said it posed a risk to national security – something TikTok denies.

Trump, who vowed to save TikTok during his presidential campaign, signed an executive order on Thursday which has delayed the date for enforcing the law for a third time.

In a statement, TikTok said it was “grateful for President Trump’s leadership and support” in keeping the app online for its 170m US users.

“We continue to work with Vice President Vance’s Office,” it added.

A deal for the sale of TikTok in the US by ByteDance must now be reached by 17 September, Trump said in a post on his platform Truth Social.

The further delay was an expected development in the long-running process of securing a buyer for TikTok.

It is thought the authorities in Beijing will need to approve any sale or part sale of the app by its parent company.

The law was prompted by fears in the US that TikTok or ByteDance could be forced to hand over data on US users by the Chinese government.

Trump said on Tuesday he expected there would be a further delay.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that a further 90-day extension would “ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”

Trump tried to force a sale of TikTok to an American buyer in 2020, during his first term in office.

But last year, he signalled he’d had a change of heart, saying the platform had helped him win the 2024 presidential election.

“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points,” Trump said in December, although most young voters backed the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

The law was supposed to take effect on 19 January, a day before Trump’s inauguration to a second term in office.

TikTok challenged its constitutionality in the courts. The Supreme Court upheld the law days before it was due to take effect.

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, a Democrat, criticized Trump’s decision.

“Once again, the Trump administration is flouting the law and ignoring its own national security findings about the risks posed by a PRC-controlled TikTok,” Warner said in a statement.

“An executive order can’t sidestep the law, but that’s exactly what the president is trying to do,” Warner added.

New Zealand has paused millions of dollars in funding to the Cook Islands over wide-ranging deals that its smaller Pacific neighbour had made with China.

Wellington, the Cook Islands’ biggest funder, said it was blindsided by the deals that were struck in February, covering infrastructure, tourism, technology and perhaps crucially, deep-sea mineral exploration.

Fresh funding will not be considered until the Cook Islands “takes concrete steps to repair the relationship and restore trust”, said a spokesman for New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

The NZ$18.2m ($11m; £8m) funding halt comes as concerns grow among US allies, including New Zealand and Australia, over China’s rise in the Pacific.

“Funding relies on a high trust bilateral relationship,” Peters’ spokesman said on Thursday.

“New Zealand hopes that steps will be taken swiftly to address New Zealand’s concerns so that this support can be resumed as soon as possible,” the spokesperson added.

The Cook Islands responded by saying it was “determined to address [the issue] as a matter of urgency”, adding that it “highly values” New Zealand’s development assistance over the years.

“Constructive dialogue is ongoing, and the Cook Islands remain committed to engaging closely with New Zealand to understand where their concerns lie and how they can be addressed,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.

New Zealand’s latest move also comes as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is on an official visit to China, where he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.

Peters’ spokesman said he was not worried that Beijing might view the move negatively, noting Wellington’s “special relationship” with the Cook Islands.

The deals with the Cook Islands are part of China’s broader campaign to woo small but strategic Pacific nations. Beijing had earlier signed a security deal it signed with the Solomon Islands in 2022 which alarmed Western nations.

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said in February that its deals with China were based on his country’s “long-term interests” and tried to reassure its neighbours Australia and New Zealand that they do not replace their “longstanding relationships”.

China also said the deals were not meant to antagonise anyone in the region

The deals sparked protests on Rarotonga – the largest of the Cook Islands – and a vote of no confidence against Brown in parliament, which he eventually survived.

New Zealand has what is known as a “free association” relationship with the Cook Islands, and helps the latter with defence and foreign affairs. In the last three years, Wellington provided NZ$194m in funding to the Cook Islands, according to government figures.

Cook Islanders also hold New Zealand passports. There are around 15,000 Cook Islanders living in their own nation, but as many as 100,000 live in New Zealand and Australia.

Culturally, Cook Islands Māori, who make up the majority of the population, are also closely related to, but distinct from, New Zealand Māori.

These close ties explain why the Cooks’ first-of-their-kind deals with China led to such strong reactions.

Even before that, however, the Cook Islands had already shown signs of wanting to pull away. Late last year, it abandoned a proposal to introduce its own passport following a public outcry.

Archaeologists have pieced together thousands of fragments of 2,000-year-old wall plaster to reveal remarkable frescoes that decorated a luxurious Roman villa.

The shattered plaster was discovered in 2021 at a site in central London that’s being redeveloped, but it’s taken until now to reconstruct this colossal jigsaw puzzle.

The frescoes are from at least 20 walls of the building, with beautifully painted details of musical instruments, birds, flowers and fruit.

The art is revealing more about the affluence of the area where they were found – described by the team as the “Beverly Hills of Roman London”.

There are also clues about who the artists were: one fragment is scored with the Latin word Fecit, which means “has made this” – but the piece where the name should be is missing.

The Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) team still hope the vital piece will be found as they sift through the fragments.

“It’s one of the biggest – if not the biggest – assemblages of Roman wall plaster and paintings we’ve ever found in Roman London,” said Han Li from Mola.

The largest of the frescoes, measuring about 5m by 3m, has a lower section of pale pink, dotted with specks of paint to imitate marble. Above are rich yellow panels with soft green borders.

The wall paintings are adorned with candelabras, stringed instruments called lyres, white cranes and a delicate daisy.

There’s also what appears to be a bunch of grapes, but archaeobotanists believe that this is a plant that grows locally – mistletoe.

“That is actually quite interesting for me, because you’re seeing that the Roman painters are taking a classical idea and they’re very much putting their own North West European, or local, twist on it. I think that’s magnificent,” says Han Li.

He spent many months with the jumble of plaster, meticulously examining each piece to put together what he describes as “the world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzle”.

The fragility of the ancient fragments made this even more of a challenge.

“You have to be very careful because you can only assemble the pieces a small number of times before the plaster starts to be damaged and it flakes off,” he said.

“So you have to be quite sure before you join the pieces that this is the piece that may fit.”

The Romans founded London in AD43, and the villa was built soon after, dating to the first or second century when the new city was growing rapidly.

The archaeologists think this grand building may have been home to a wealthy family or a hotel for rich travellers passing through Londinium.

They’ve been comparing the frescoes to others found across Britain and Europe, and they believe they were created by a group of highly skilled painters who travelled the Roman empire.

“They’ve come to Roman London where there was a building boom, with many houses and many buildings going up that required painting. And they went around essentially taking on huge commissions of work,” said Han Li.

“It’s amazing to imagine that their work is now again visible to us 2,000 years later.”

The artists’ exact identity however will remain elusive until the missing fragment bearing their names is found.

The plaster was found in Southwark, just south of the Thames. A stunning mosaic and Roman cemetery were also unearthed at the site, which was being excavated in preparation for a new development.

This location, outside of the central hub of Roman London, is also revealing more about how the city was spreading out.

“There was this thriving, bustling settlement quite early on in the Roman period, and it’s almost the kind of wealthy suburb – the Beverly Hills of Roman London,” said Andrew Henderson-Schwartz from Mola.

“And what this shows is that the Romans are committing to London. They’re investing in London, and they’re seeing it as a place to settle in, a place to stay. It’s not just a kind of provincial outpost.”

There’s still much to discover from the fresco fragments, helping archaeologists reconstruct the story of the UK’s rich Roman history.

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Armenia’s liberal government has never been an ally of the deeply conservative Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), but when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made extraordinary allegations against an unnamed senior clergyman, it blew open a deep divide.

“Your Grace, go fool around with your uncle’s wife. What do you want from me?” said Pashinyan.

He also accused the supreme spiritual leader – Catholicos Karekin II – of breaking his vow of celibacy and fathering a child, calling on him to resign. The BBC has approached the Church for comment but has not had a response.

Until now the Church and government had found a way to co-exist, but the row threatens to split an already polarised Armenian society still further – and affect the outcome of next year’s election.

It could also harm peace talks that have the potential to re-shape the entire region of the South Caucasus, after Armenia’s bitter defeat in a war against Azerbaijan.

Armenia is believed to be the first nation to make Christianity the state religion, after its king was baptised in 301AD. Although there is a separation of Church and state by law, the Armenian constitution recognises the AAC “as a national Church”.

The Church has not addressed the allegations but said the prime minister had sought “to silence its voice”. It has reiterated that the government has no say in the matters of Church governance.

If true, Pashinyan’s allegation would make the Catholicos unfit for office. Under the Church’s by-laws, only monks who took a vow of celibacy can be elected a Catholicos.

On these grounds Pashinyan now demands Karekin’s resignation, despite having no jurisdiction over the Church. He has presented no evidence but threatened to release it.

Pashinyan has also attacked other senior clergymen, including accusing one archbishop of having an affair, with the extraordinary allegation of “fooling around” with his uncle’s wife.

The opposition parties and two of Armenia’s former presidents, Levon Ter-Petrossian and Serzh Sargsyan, have rallied behind the Church and condemned Pashinyan’s move against it.

The government’s relationship with the Church deteriorated after the defeat in the 2020 war against neighbouring Azerbaijan, when Karekin II joined calls from various political factions for the prime minister to step down.

Pashinyan stayed in power, and the Church became a prominent anti-government voice.

Recently, Karekin II demanded the right of return for the Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan that it recaptured in 2023.

The prime minister’s allies are unhappy with such interventions, as they contradict the government’s position in the ongoing peace talks.

Pashinyan pushes for a swift peace treaty that would see both countries drop mutual claims. But Azerbaijani media seized on nationalist opposition demands as proof that Armenia is not ready for peace.

The Armenian Church has benefited from becoming a hub for dissent. With personal rivalries between the leaders of opposition parties, it is drawing in those disaffected with the authorities.

Political analysts in Armenia suggest this might be a real reason for the government’s sudden attack on the Church leader.

The next general election has been scheduled for June 2026, and the anti-Church campaign could be a pre-emptive strike against the stronghold of conservative opposition.

The prime minister himself has linked his position to politics: “We returned the state to the people. Now we must return the Church to the people.”

When a powerful benefactor spoke out in support of the Church this week, the government swiftly moved against him.

Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan threatened to “intervene in the campaign against the Church in our own way” if opposition politicians failed to defend it.

Hours later, his residence was raided and on Wednesday he was charged with “making public calls to overthrow the government”. He denies the charge.

The conflict between Armenia’s political and spiritual leader is a highly sensitive matter far beyond its national borders, as the Church has hundreds of parishes in the diaspora, from Russia and Ukraine to Western Europe, the Middle East and America.

While rumours about Karekin’s alleged secret family have long circulated in tabloids, for years more serious accusations were being made by diaspora parishes.

They alleged that Church leaders were extorting monthly payments and micro-managing dioceses that used to enjoy operational autonomy.

In 2013, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem accused Karekin II of having no spiritual values and only tending to its material wellbeing. The Church said the allegations were false.

Until recently, Nikol Pashinyan has largely stayed above the fray. “It is my belief that government has no place in the Church’s internal issues,” he said soon after taking office in 2018. After years of respecting this pledge, the prime minister might have changed his mind.

Whatever the outcome of this row, it is likely to deepen polarisation in a society that has already been fractured, not just by political infighting, but by wedge issues over whether to be allied to Russia or the West and by tensions between the residents of Armenia and ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.

At least 12 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while waiting for aid in central Gaza, according to rescuers and medics.

Reports say the group was killed by gunfire near an aid distribution site run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Thursday.

The GHF denied there were any incidents near its site. The Israeli military told Reuters that “suspects” had attempted to approach forces in the area of Netzarim, and that soldiers had fired warning shots. It said it was unaware of any injuries.

The incident is the latest in almost daily shootings near such aid sites in Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since late May, when the GHF took over aid distribution in Gaza in an attempt by Israel to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid.

Nearly all the casualties in Gaza in recent days have been linked to incidents around the delivery of aid, rather than Israeli strikes on Hamas targets.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday that since midnight 12 people had been killed while seeking aid, without giving further details.

The Hamas-run civil defence agency – Gaza’s main emergency service – told AFP news agency that a group was killed by Israeli gunfire near the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of people have been gathering daily seeking aid.

Civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir said 15 people were killed and 60 injured in the incident. Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza, making it difficult to verify figures.

AFP said it had spoken to witness Bassam Abu Shaar, who said thousands of people had gathered overnight at the GHF-backed distribution site, and that Israeli forces opened fire at about 01:00 (22:00 GMT).

He said the size of the crowd had made it impossible for people to escape the gunfire, adding: “We couldn’t help them or even escape ourselves.”

The GHF however told the BBC: “There were no incidents anywhere near our site today.”

“This is yet again another example of false and misleading reporting by the GHM [Gaza health ministry].”

The BBC has contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for a response.

According to Reuters, the Israeli military said people had approached its forces in a threatening manner.

In a Telegram statement on Wednesday, Hamas called for the UN and its humanitarian agencies to be the sole distributors of aid in Gaza.

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

They also warn that Gaza’s population faces catastrophic levels of hunger after an 11-week total Israeli blockade that was partially eased a month ago.

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

Separately on Thursday, civil defence teams recovered dozens of bodies from various parts of the Gaza Strip following reports of Israeli shelling.

Seven people were reportedly killed when a tent sheltering displaced civilians was hit in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Eyewitnesses and relatives of the victims told the BBC that those killed were a couple and their five children from the Asaliya family.

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

At least 55,637 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The founder of instant messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, says the more than 100 children he has fathered will share his estimated $13.9bn (£10.3bn) fortune.

“They are all my children and will all have the same rights! I don’t want them to tear each other apart after my death,” Mr Durov told French political magazine Le Point.

Mr Durov says he is the “official father” of six children with three different partners, but has more than 100 other children after donating sperm to a fertility clinic.

He also reiterated that he denies any wrongdoing in connection with serious criminal charges he faces in France.

The self-exiled Russian technology tycoon also told the magazine that his children would not have access to their inheritance for 30 years.

“I want them to live like normal people, to build themselves up alone, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create, not to be dependent on a bank account,” he said.

The 40-year-old said he had written a will now because his job “involves risks – defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states”.

His app, Telegram, known for its focus on privacy and encrypted messaging, has more than a billion monthly active users.

Mr Durov also addressed criminal charges he faces in France, where he was arrested last year after being accused of failing to properly moderate the app to reduce criminality.

He has denied failing to cooperate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual abuse content and fraud. Telegram has previously denied having insufficient moderation.

In the Le Point interview he described the charges as “totally absurd”.

“Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn’t make those who run it criminals,” he added.

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China’s military has called a British warship’s recent passage through the Taiwan Strait a disruptive act of “intentional provocation” that “undermines peace and stability”.

The British Royal Navy says HMS Spey’s patrol on Wednesday was part of a long-planned deployment and was in accordance with international law.

The patrol – the first by a British naval vessel in four years – comes as a UK carrier strike group arrives in the region for a deployment that will last several months.

China considers Taiwan its territory – a claim that self-ruled Taiwan rejects – and has not ruled out the use of force to “reunify” the island.

China has criticised the UK for “publicly hyping up” the journey of the HMS Spey, and said the UK’s claims were “a distortion of legal principles and an attempt to mislead the public”.

“Such actions are intentional provocations that disrupt the situation and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

It added that it had monitored HMS Spey throughout its journey in the strait, and Chinese troops “will resolutely counter all threats and provocations”.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry has meanwhile praised the patrol as an act that safeguarded the freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait.

While American warships regularly conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the strait, the last time such a journey was undertaken by a British naval vessel was in 2021 when the warship HMS Richmond was deployed to Vietnam.

That transit was similarly condemned by China, which had sent troops to monitor the ship.

HMS Spey is one of two British warships permanently on patrol in the Indo-Pacific.

Its passage through the Taiwan Strait comes as a UK carrier strike group, led by HMS Prince of Wales’ aircraft carrier, arrives in the Indo-Pacific region for an eight-month stint.

British PM Keir Starmer has described it as one of the carrier’s largest deployments this century that is aimed at “sending a clear message of strength to our adversaries, and a message of unity and purpose to our allies”.

Around 4,000 UK military personnel are taking part in the deployment.

The group will be engaging with 30 countries through military operations and visits, and conduct exercises with the US, India, Singapore and Malaysia.

Cross-strait tensions between China and Taiwan have heightened over the past year since Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who champions a firm anti-Beijing stance, took office.

He has characterised Beijing as a “foreign hostile force” and introduced policies targeting Chinese influence operations in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, China continues to conduct frequent military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, including a live-fire exercise in April that it claimed simulated strikes on key ports and energy facilities.

China’s latest criticism of HMS Spey’s transit comes as two Chinese aircraft carriers conduct an unprecedented simultaneous military drill in the Pacific off the waters of Japan, which has alarmed Tokyo.

The US joining Israeli strikes would cause “hell for the whole region”, Iran’s deputy foreign minister has told the BBC.

Saeed Khatibzadeh said this is “not America’s war” and if US President Donald Trump does get involved, he will always be remembered as “a president who entered a war he doesn’t belong in”.

He said US involvement would turn the conflict into a “quagmire”, continue aggression and delay an end to the “brutal atrocities”.

His comments came after the Soroka hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile attack. Iranian state media reported that the strike targeted a military site next to the hospital, and not the facility itself.

Israel’s Ministry of Health said 71 people were injured during the attack on the Soroka Medical Centre.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it had targeted Iran’s nuclear sites including the “inactive” Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility.

Tehran has not given an update on casualties in Iran from Israeli strikes.

The latest attacks come at a critical time. On Thursday, the White House said Trump would decide whether or not the US gets directly involved in the conflict within the next two weeks.

Speaking to the BBC, Khatibzadeh insisted that “of course, diplomacy is the first option”, but said but while bombardment continues “we cannot start any negotiation”.

• Watch the BBC’s full interview with Iran’s deputy foreign minister

He repeatedly called Iran’s attacks on Israel “self defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter” and said “we were in the middle of diplomacy” when in a major escalation of the conflict on 13 June, Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, killing several top generals and nuclear scientists.

The deputy foreign minister called the conflict “unprovoked” and “unnecessary”.

Responding to Trump’s repeated comments that the conflict could have been avoided if Iran had accepted a nuclear deal, Khatibzadeh said they were negotiating until Israel “sabotaged” discussions by launching attacks Iran.

“We were planning to have the sixth round of nuclear talks in Muscat, and we were actually on the verge of reaching an agreement,” he said.

“President Trump knows better than anybody else that we were on the verge of reaching an agreement.”

He also criticised Trump’s “confusing and contradictory” social media posts and interviews, which he said indicated “that Americans have been aware and have participated” in the conflict.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have reportedly spoken on the phone several times since Friday, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, Reuters reported.

According to three diplomats who spoke to the news agency and asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, Araqchi said Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the attacks.

Israel has alleged Iran has recently “taken steps to weaponise” its enriched uranium stockpile, which can be used for power plants or nuclear bombs. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.

On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the UN’s nuclear watchdog – said Iran had amassed enough uranium enriched up to 60% purity – a short technical step away from weapons grade, or 90% – to potentially make nuclear bombs.

“This is nonsense,” Khatibzadeh said in response. “You cannot start a war based on speculation or intention.

“If we wanted to have a nuclear bomb, we would have had it way before.

“Iran has never developed any programme for nuclear weaponisation of peaceful nuclear activities. Bottom line.”

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that nuclear facilities “must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment”.

Khatibzadeh also discussed potential diplomatic channels after a G7 summit in Canada.

He said: “What we are hearing from Europeans is that they would like to get back to diplomacy at a ministerial level”.

“They are going to have a meeting in Geneva and we are very much happy that finally they have to come and talk at the table about the issues at hand.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers say they blocked federal agents from entering their stadium on Thursday, as protests against immigration enforcement continue in the city.

In a post on social media, the baseball team said “ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots”, and were subsequently turned away.

Los Angeles is among the cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have ramped up raids to find and deport undocumented migrants.

ICE responded to the Dodgers statement on X: “False. We were never there.”

The Department of Homeland Security too issued a statement saying the agents’ presence at the stadium “had nothing to do with the Dodgers”.

“CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement,” DHS said. It is unclear why the officials were at the stadium.

This comes as Dodgers are expected to announce that they will assist immigrants who have been impacted by the raids in the city, US media report.

No details have been disclosed, but it would be the team’s first official response to the raids.

Dodgers player Kiké Hernández took to Instagram to voice his criticism of the raids on Los Angeles, saying he is “saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city”.

“This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart,” he said.

The crackdown in Los Angeles is part of President Donald Trump’s policy to be tougher on immigration.

The move has sparked massive protests, prompting Trump to send 700 US Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area to support the federal response to the unrest.

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

Meanwhile, White House border czar Tom Homan said on Thursday that the Trump administration will resume immigration raids at worksites.

“The message is clear: we’re going to continue conducting worksite enforcement operations, including on farms and in hotels, but on a prioritised basis. Criminals come first,” Homan told reporters.

The statement comes days after DHS announced reversing recent guidance that called for a pause on operations at those places.

Dissidents who have fled Alexander Lukashenko’s rule in Belarus have spoken of threats being made against them and their relatives at home.

Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians are estimated to have left their country since the brutal crackdown on widespread opposition protests in 2020, after Lukashenko, 70, claimed victory in presidential elections that were widely condemned as rigged.

Among the exiles was journalist Tatsiana Ashurkevich, 26, who continued to write about events in Belarus. Then, earlier this year, she discovered that the door of her flat in the capital, Minsk, had been sealed up with construction foam.

She guessed immediately who might be to blame. She decided to confront one of her followers on Instagram who had repeatedly messaged her with unsolicited compliments and views about the Belarusian opposition movement and journalism in exile.

“If there are criminal cases [against me], just say so,” she said. “I have nothing to do with that apartment – other people live there. Why are you doing this?”

The man immediately changed his tone to a more official one, saying criminal cases were not his responsibility, but he could ask the relevant department.

Then he made a request: could she, in exchange for help, share information about Belarusians fighting for Ukraine, especially since she had written about them before?

Ashurkevich blocked him.

In Belarus itself, tens of thousands of people have been arrested in the past five years for political reasons, according to human rights group Viasna.

But hundreds of critics of Lukashenko’s 31-year rule have also faced persecution abroad.

Lukashenko and Belarusian state media often accuse opposition activists of “betraying” the country and plotting a coup with assistance from the West. Authorities have justified targeting activists abroad, arguing they are trying to harm national security and overthrow the government.

Several people the BBC has spoken to have received messages and phone calls, sometimes seemingly innocuous, sometimes with thinly veiled threats – or promises with a catch.

Anna Krasulina, 55, receives them so often she has become used to putting her phone in flight mode before going to bed.

“I can see who’s handling me – it’s a couple of people. Or maybe it’s the same one using different accounts,” she says.

She’s convinced the authorities are behind this. Ms Krasulina works as a press secretary for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, an opposition leader believed by many to have won the 2020 election, now living in exile.

Both women have been sentenced in Belarus to 11 and 15 years respectively in trials held in absentia. Charges included preparing a coup and running an extremist organisation.

Since such trials against exiled political opponents were made possible by a decree by Lukashenko in 2022, more than 200 cases have been opened, according to Viasna, with last year seeing a record number.

This allows authorities to raid the homes of the accused and harass their relatives.

Critics are being identified on photographs and videos made in opposition gatherings abroad.

Many have now stopped taking part in them, fearing for their loved ones who remain in Belarus, says Ms Krasulina.

• My opponents choose jail and exile, claims Lukashenko
• Belarus ruler claims landslide in “sham election”

Several people the BBC spoke to report their relatives being visited by the authorities.

“It’s terrifying when you can’t help them. You can’t go back. You can’t support them,” says one.

None would go on record or even reveal any details anonymously out of concern that their families could be hurt.

Their fears are not unfounded. Artem Lebedko, a 39-year old who worked in real estate, is serving a three-and-a-half year jail sentence for “financing extremism”.

He had never spoken out in public, but his father was an opposition politician living in exile.

Breaking the ties between Belarusians who have fled and those who stayed behind is a deliberate strategy by Lukashenko’s government, says journalist and analyst Hanna Liubakova, also sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison.

“Even if someone in Belarus understands everything, they’ll think three times before talking to a ‘terrorist’,” she says, referring to a list of “extremists and terrorists” which the authorities populate with names of their critics.

The BBC sent a request for comment to the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Some of Liubakova’s own relatives have also received visits from the security services, she says, and property registered in her name has been seized.

Everyone the BBC has spoken to believes the Belarusian authorities are seeking to exert maximum pressure on those who left in order to crush all opposition, wherever it is.

Hanna Liubakova believes the persecution of dissidents stems from Lukashenko’s personal revenge for the 2020 protests: “He wants us to feel unsafe even abroad, to know that we’re being watched.”

One country that has proved particularly unsafe for Belarusian exiles is Russia. According to authorities in Minsk, in 2022 alone Russia extradited 16 people accused of “extremist crimes”, a charge usually associated with Lukashenko critics.

“The methods used by Belarusian security forces are very similar to those of the Soviet KGB, just updated with modern technology, says Andrei Strizhak, head of Bysol, a group that supports Belarusian activists.

Threatening messages or promises of rewards for co-operation may not work on everyone, he adds. But by casting a wide net, the authorities may get a few who agree to share some useful information.

Strizhak calls the regime’s efforts to hunt dissidents abroad a “war of attrition” that leaves many activists exhausted and wishing to get on with their lives.

“We’re doing everything we can to stay resilient,” Strizhak says, “but every year, it takes more and more effort.”

Whether you reckon they are cute, ugly or just plain weird, chances are you have heard of the furry dolls that have become a global sensation – Labubu.

Born a monster, the elf-like creature from Chinese toy maker Pop Mart is now a viral purchase. And it has no dearth of celebrity advocates: Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian and Blackpink’s Lisa. Ordinary folk are just as obsessed – from Shanghai to London, the long queues to snap up the doll have made headlines, sometimes descending into fights even.

“You get such a sense of achievement when you are able to get it among such fierce competition,” says avowed fan Fiona Zhang.

The world’s fascination with Labubu has almost tripled Pop Mart’s profits in the past year – and, according to some, even energised Chinese soft power, which has been bruised by the pandemic and a strained relationship with the West.

So, how did we get here?

It’s a question that still bothers many – and even those who know the answer are not entirely sure they can explain the craze.

Labubu is both a fictional character and a brand. The word itself doesn’t mean anything. It’s the name of a character in “The Monsters” toy series created by Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung.

The vinyl faces are attached to plush bodies, and come with a signature look – pointy ears, big eyes and a mischievous grin showing exactly nine teeth. A curious yet divided internet can’t seem to decide if they are adorable or bizarre.

According to its retailer’s official website, Labubu is “kind-hearted and always wants to help, but often accidentally achieves the opposite”.

The Labubu dolls have appeared in several series of “The Monsters”, such as “Big into Energy”, “Have a Seat”, “Exciting Macaron” and “Fall in Wild”.

The Labubu brand also has other characters from its universe, which have inspired their own popular dolls – such as the tribe’s leader Zimomo, her boyfriend Tycoco and her friend Mokoko.

To the untrained eye, some of these dolls are hard to distinguish from one another. The connoisseurs would know but Labubu’s fame has certainly rubbed off, with other specimens in the family also flying off the shelves.

A major part of Pop Mart’s sales were so-called blind boxes – where customers only found out what they had bought when they opened the package – for some years when they tied up with Kasing Lung for the rights to Labubu.

That was 2019, nearly a decade after entrepreneur Wang Ning opened Pop Mart as a variety store, similar to a pound shop, in Beijing. When the blind boxes became a success, Pop Mart launched the first series in 2016, selling Molly dolls – child-like figurines created by Hong Kong artist Kenny Wong.

But it was the Labubu sales that fuelled Pop Mart’s growth and in December 2020, it began selling shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Those shares have soared by more than 500% in the last year.

Pop Mart itself has now become a major retailer. It operates more than 2,000 vending machines, or “roboshops”, around the world. And you can now buy Labubu dolls in stores, physical or virtual, in more than 30 countries, from the US and UK to Australia and Singapore, although many of them have recently paused sales due to overwhelming demand. Sales from outside mainland China contributed to nearly 40% of its total revenue in 2024.

In a sign of just how popular Labubus have become, Chinese customs officials said this week that they had seized more than 70,000 fake dolls in recent days.

The demand did not rise overnight though. It actually took a few years for the elfin monsters to break into the mainstream.

Before the world discovered Labubu, their fame was limited to China. They started to become a hit just as the country emerged from the pandemic in late 2022, according to Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China-focused research firm ChoZan.

“Post-pandemic, a lot of people in China felt that they wanted to emotionally escape… and Labubu was a very charming but chaotic character,” she says. “It embodied that anti-perfectionism.”

The Chinese internet, which is huge and competitive, produces plenty of viral trends that don’t go global. But this one did and its popularity quickly spread to neighbouring South East Asia.

Fiona, who lives in Canada, says she first heard about Labubu from Filipino friends in 2023. That’s when she started buying them – she says she finds them cute, but their increasing popularity is a major draw: “The more popular it gets the more I want it.

“My husband doesn’t understand why me, someone in their 30s, would be so fixated on something like this, like caring about which colour to get.”

It helps that it’s also affordable, she adds. Although surging demand has pushed up prices on the second-hand market, Fiona says the original price, which ranged from 25 Canadian dollars ($18; £14) to 70 Canadian dollars for most Labubu dolls, was “acceptable” to most people she knows.

“That’s pretty much how much a bag accessory would cost anyway these days, most people would be able to afford it,” she says.

Labubu’s popularity soared in April 2024, when Thai-born K-pop superstar Lisa began posting photos on Instagram with various Labubu dolls. And then, other global celebrities turned the dolls into an international phenomenon this year.

Singer Rihanna was photographed with a Labubu toy clipped to her Louis Vuitton bag in February. Influencer Kim Kardashian shared her collection of 10 Labubu dolls with her Instagram following in April. And in May, former England football captain Sir David Beckham also took to Instagram with a photo of a Labubu, given to him by his daughter.

Now the dolls feel ubiquitous, regularly spotted not just online but also on friends, colleagues or passers-by.

Put simply, we don’t know. Like most viral trends, Labubu’s appeal is hard to explain – the result of timing, taste and the randomness that is the internet.

Beijing is certainly happy with the outcome. State news agency Xinhua says Labubu “shows the appeal of Chinese creativity, quality and culture in a language the world can understand”, while giving everyone the chance to see “cool China”.

Xinhua has other examples that show “Chinese cultural IP is going global”: the video game Black Myth: Wukong and the hit animated film Nezha.

Some analysts seem surprised that Chinese companies – from EV makers and AI developers to retailers – are so successful despite Western unease over Beijing’s ambitions.

“BYD, DeepSeek, all of these companies have one very interesting thing in common, including Labubu,” Chris Pereira, founder and chief executive of consultancy firm iMpact, told BBC News.

“They’re so good that no one cares they’re from China. You can’t ignore them.”

Meanwhile, Labubu continue to rack up social media followers with millions watching new owners unbox their prized purchase. One of the most popular videos, posted in December, shows curious US airport security staff huddling around a traveller’s unopened Labubu box to figure out which doll is inside.

That element of surprise is a big part of the appeal, says Desmond Tan, a longtime collector, as he walks around a Pop Mart store in Singapore vigorously shaking blind boxes before deciding which one to buy. This is a common sight in Pop Mart.

Desmond collects “chaser” characters, special editions from Pop Mart’s various toy series, which include Labubu. On average, Desmond says, he finds a chaser in one out of every 10 boxes he buys. It’s a good strike rate, he claims, compared to the typical odds: one in 100.

“Being able to get the chaser from shaking the box, learning how to feel the difference…,” is deeply satisfying for him.

“If I can get it in just one or two tries, I’m very happy!”

A Chinese PhD student named by police as “one of the most prolific predators” in the UK has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 24 years.

Zhenhao Zou, a Chinese national, drugged and raped three women in London and another seven in China between September 2019 and May 2023.

Three of the 10 victims have been identified, prosecutors say, but Metropolitan Police detectives fear he could have targeted dozens more and have appealed for potential victims to contact them. Since the trial, 24 women have come forward.

During sentencing, Judge Rosina Cottage KC said the defendant was a “very bright young man” who used a manipulative “charming mask” to hide that he was a “sexual predator”.

At the sentencing hearing at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Cottage told Zou: “You appear to the world to be a very well-to-do man. You are also a sexual predator.”

She said Zou had “planned and executed a campaign of rape”, treating the women “callously” and as “sex toys” for his own pleasure, which had had “devastating and long-term effects”.

Judge Cottage added Zou had a “sexual interest” in “asserting power and control over women”, and that the victims had been “pieces in an elaborate game” for the defendant, who had “no understanding of the meaning of consent”.

During sentencing, she added: “You told (the victims) that resistance was futile.

“Sometimes you would be begged to stop. You sought power over them – these women you treated callously – and used them as sex toys for your pleasure.”

Judge Cottage said the court had watched videos of the rapes which had been “extremely distressing”. “Some who watched, wept,” she said.

Zou, who was living in Elephant and Castle, south-east London, was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim.

He was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence.

He kept a trophy box of women’s belongings and filmed nine of the rapes, as the victims lost consciousness.

Det Insp Richard Mackenzie from the Met Police said Zou was “one of the most prolific predators we have ever seen”.

Judge Cottage told Zou: “You are a highly manipulative and intelligent young man, but you have no understanding of the meaning of consent.

“There is a high level of danger because of your distorted thinking. You are a risk for an indefinite period.”

One woman was raped after Zou pushed her to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and would not let her leave his flat.

In a victim impact statement, she wrote the attack had “deeply affected” her personality.

She said: “I have lost faith in human beings, I have no trust in others. Before this incident, I was not aware that a human could do such evil things.

“When I meet with strangers, I get flashbacks of what he did.”

A second identified woman, who is now living in China, was also raped by Zou in his student flat near Russell Square in October 2021 when she was unconscious.

She said: “I know words will never fully convey the depth of this wound. But one thing is certain, what happened that night is etched into my soul forever.

“His face, his expression – they will never leave me. I will never forgive him.”

Commander Kevin Southworth, from the Metropolitan Police said: “I hope the fact Zou can no longer harm others serves as a small amount of comfort to the women who have suffered immeasurably.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to stress that our investigation remains open and we continue to appeal to anyone who may think they have been a victim of Zou.

“Please come forward and speak with our team – we will treat you with empathy, kindness and respect.”

Saira Pike, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Zou was a “serial rapist and a danger to women” and that “his life sentence reflects his heinous acts”.

She added: “I’d like to take this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt thanks to the courageous women who came forward to report Zou’s horrific crimes.

“They have been incredibly strong and brave – there is no doubt that their evidence helped us to secure his conviction, and the life sentence handed to him today.”

Temperatures are expected to reach above 30C for a second day running, as an early summer heatwave grips the UK.

Hot and dry conditions are expected to persist across the UK, with temperatures going as high as 32C in central England.

Friday is not forecast to be as warm as Thursday – which broke the record for hottest day of the year so far – while temperatures could top out at 34C on Saturday.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued an amber heat-health alert for all regions in England – the first time since September 2023 – which will remain in place until Monday.

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It warns “significant impacts are likely” across health and social care services, including a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or people with health conditions.

By Friday afternoon, many regions are expected to meet the criteria for a heatwave – which means a temperature threshold is sustained for three consecutive days – according to the Met Office.

The threshold varies across different regions, from 25C in northern and western parts of the UK to 28C in south-eastern England.

A heatwave may be declared in London on Friday, where it has passed the 28C threshold for two days in a row.

On Thursday, Suffolk became the first area in the UK to officially enter a heatwave, after temperatures passed 27C for a third consecutive day.

The heatwave is expected to peak on Saturday, with thundery showers forecast for northern Wales and north-west England, as well as dry and hot conditions in the east.

Some relief is anticipated on Sunday, when the south and east of England will dip to the high 20s, while temperatures will cool to the mid-20s elsewhere.

Despite the heat being record-breaking for 2025, temperatures are still below the June peak of 35.6C in 1976.

A developing area of high pressure is helping draw hot weather in from other parts of Western Europe. France and Spain could see temperatures close to 40C over the coming days.

Firefighters have also responded to more than 500 wildfires across England and Wales this year – a 717% surge on the same period in 2024, the National Fire Chiefs Council said.

NFCC Chair Phil Garrigan said the organisation was “deeply concerned about the escalating threat of wildfires this summer”, which he warned have “the potential to become more frequent, intense and dangerous”.

The organisation is urging the public to be careful when lighting barbecues and handling objects, such as glass bottles, that can cause a fire outside.

While linking climate change with specific individual extreme weather events can be difficult, scientists say that climate change is generally making heatwaves hotter and longer.

The World Weather Attribution group says that the chance of reaching 32C in June has increased by 100 times since the pre-industrial era.

The chance of a June heatwave for three consecutive days has increased 10 times due to human-induced climate change. 

Meanwhile, the chance of a three-day June heatwave had increased tenfold due to human-induced climate change, going from a one-in-50-year event to a one-in-five-year event.

Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, said that with “every fraction of a degree of warming, the UK will experience hotter, more dangerous heatwaves”.

He added: “This means more heat deaths, more pressure on the NHS, more transport disruptions, tougher work conditions and poorer air quality.”

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India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is yet to decide whether flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the Air India flight that crashed last Thursday will be sent overseas for decoding and analysis.

At least 270 people, most of them passengers, were killed when the London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in western India.

Some media outlets reported that the black boxes are being sent abroad, but the ministry of civil aviation clarified that no final decision has been made.

The ministry said the AAIB will determine the location for analysis after a “due assessment of technical, safety, and security factors”.

Investigators have recovered both sets of Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs) – the “black boxes” – from the Boeing 787 crash site.

These combined units, which record flight data and cockpit audio, were found on 13 and 16 June. The aircraft model carries two such sets to aid in thorough analysis.

Data recorders track with high precision the position of gear and flap levers, thrust settings, engine performance, fuel flow and even fire handle activation.

The data in the plane’s “black boxes” can be used to reconstruct the flight’s final moments and determine the cause of the incident.

However, some media outlets reported that the recorders had been badly damaged in the fire that engulfed the plane after the crash, making it difficult to extract the data in India and that the government was planning to send the recorders to the US.

Captain Kishore Chinta, a former accident investigator with the AAIB, told the BBC one set of recorders could be also sent to the US “to compare the data downloaded in India with that provided to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)”.

He said although the new AAIB lab in Delhi was inaugurated in April, “it’s unclear whether it is fully operational for EAFR data downloads”.

Meanwhile, Air India’s chairman has said that one of the engines of the Air India plane that crashed last week was new, while the other was not due for servicing until December.

In an interview with Times Now news channel, N Chandrasekaran said that both engines of the aircraft had “clean” histories.

Separately, the airline said that inspections have been completed on 26 of its 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft, all of which have been “cleared for service”.

India’s aviation regulator had ordered additional safety checks on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet after the deadly crash as a “preventive measure”.

On Thursday, the airline announced that its flights will be reduced on 16 international routes and suspended on three overseas destinations between 21 June and 15 July.

“The reductions arise from the decision to voluntarily undertake enhanced pre-flight safety checks, as well as accommodate additional flight durations arising from airspace closures in the Middle East,” the airline said in a statement.

The announcement came a day after the carrier said it would temporarily reduce flights operated with wide-body planes by 15%.

Conditions for grape-pickers in France’s champagne business lie at the heart of a human trafficking trial that has opened in the eastern city of Reims.

Three people – a woman from Kyrgyzstan, a man from Georgia and a Frenchman – are accused of exploiting more than 50 seasonal workers, mainly from west Africa.

The workers – all undocumented migrants – were found during the 2023 September harvest living in cramped and unhygienic conditions in a building at Nesle-le-Repons, southwest of Reims in the heart of champagne country.

They had been recruited via a Whatsapp group message for the West African Soninke ethnic community living in Paris, which promised “well-paid work” in the Champagne region.

Aged between 16 and 65 at the time, the 48 men and nine women came from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal. Many are attending Thursday’s trial.

“They shouted at us in Russian and crammed us into this broken-down house, with mattresses on the floor,” Kanouitié Djakariayou, 44, told La Croix newspaper.

“There was no clean water, and the only food was a bowl of rice and rotten sandwiches.

“I never thought the people who made champagne would put us up in a place which even animals would not accept.”

“What we lived through there was truly terrible. We were traumatised by the experience. And we have had no psychological support, because when you have no papers, you have no rights either,” Doumbia Mamadou, 45, told the local newspaper L’Union.

Tipped off a week later by a local resident, labour inspectors visited the scene and documented conditions which “were a serious breach of the occupants’ safety, health and dignity,” in the words of state prosecutor Annick Browne.

The prosecution says living and eating areas were outside, unprotected from the elements; toilets were filthy; showers were inadequate with only intermittent hot water; and the electrics were a safety hazard.

In addition the migrants were working ten hours a day with only 30 minutes for lunch, having been transported to the vineyards squatting in the back of trucks. They had no written contract, and the pay they received bore “no relation to the work performed,” according to the prosecution.

“The accused had a total disregard for human dignity,” said Maxime Cessieux, who represents some of the migrants.

The 44 year-old female suspect, named Svetlana G., ran a recruitment agency called Anavim, which specialised in finding labour for the wine industry. The two others were her associates.

In addition to the charge of human trafficking, the woman is also accused of undeclared labour, employing foreigners without permits, inadequate pay, and lodging vulnerable people in unfit conditions. All three face jail terms of up to seven years and large fines if they are convicted.

The case has raised questions about the extent of worker exploitation in the €6bn (£5.1bn) champagne industry. With every grape having to be picked by hand, producers rely on some 120,000 seasonal labourers every autumn, many of whom are recruited via agencies.

In 2023 six grape pickers died from suspected heatstroke during the harvest in the Champagne and Beaujolais regions – and in recent years there have been two other criminal cases in which agents have been found guilty of maltreatment of migrant .

Trade unions have said some champagne houses hide behind middlemen, and they want the law changed so that producers can lose the “champagne” label if they are found to have used illegal labour – even indirectly.

“It should not be possible to harvest the grapes of champagne using human misery,” said Jose Blanco of the CGT union.

But the main body representing champagne producers – the Comité Champagne — said mistreatment of workers happened very rarely and when discovered was immediately stopped.

The Comité is represented at the trial as a civil plaintiff, in recognition of the “damage done to the brand” by these “unacceptable practices.”