Police say they are investigating after a fire at UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's house in north London in the early hours of the morning.

A cordon was put in place outside the Kentish Town property, with firefighters and police officers present.

The London Fire Brigade said it had been called to a "small fire" at 01:11 BST and it was under control 20 minutes later.

Sir Keir - who now lives at his official residence in Downing Street - is understood to still own the property.

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Warning: This story contains distressing details

Prosecutors opened their case by accusing hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs of using fame and violence to sexually abuse women, while the rapper's attorneys defended his "swinger" lifestyle and rejected sex trafficking claims.

The 55-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

• What is Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with and how will his trial unfold?

Following opening statements on Monday, the court heard from prosecutors' first witnesses, including a security guard from a hotel where Mr Combs is seen in a now-viral video beating his ex-girlfriend in 2016.

His testimony was followed by a man who said Mr Combs abused his ex-girlfriend during paid sexual encounters with the couple.

After seating a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates on Monday morning, the government and Mr Combs' lawyers outlined their cases.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson accused Mr Combs of using his celebrity status and a "loyal" inner circle of employees to sexually abuse women and run a criminal enterprise.

She focused on the two central victims in the case - Mr Combs' former girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, and another unnamed former girlfriend.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr Combs used violence and threatened Ms Ventura's music career to force her to perform nonconsensual, humiliating sexual acts with male prostitutes during so-called "freak-offs" filmed by Mr Combs.

The defendant "had the power to ruin her life", Ms Johnson said of Ms Ventura.

As prosecutors described the explicit details of the allegations against Mr Combs, he sat in a gray sweater and pants with a blank stare and his hands folded on his lap.

At the heart of the government's case is a surveillance video that shows Mr Combs beating Ms Ventura and dragging her by the hair in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.

Lawyers for Mr Combs said the video was evidence of Mr Combs' "flawed" character, but not of a larger criminal enterprise. "Domestic violence is not sex trafficking," said Teny Geragos, Mr Combs' attorney.

Ms Geragos said Mr Combs has a "bit of a different sex life" - and shifted the focus to the women accusing him, calling them "capable, strong women" who chose to stay with the rapper.

They had "the freedom to make the choices that they made", Ms Geragos argued.

Prosecutors' first witness, a former security guard named Israel Florez, worked at the hotel, the site of the now-viral surveillance video showing Mr Combs attacking his ex-girlfriend. The clip, which CNN released last year, was played for jurors on Monday.

Mr Florez told jurors that morning at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles on 5 March, 2016, he received a call about a "woman in distress" on the sixth floor.

He said he found Mr Combs there in a towel, slouched on a chair with a "devilish" look on his face, and a broken vase on the floor. Ms Ventura sat cowering in the corner with her face covered, Mr Florez said.

Mr Florez told prosecutors that Ms Ventura kept saying she wanted to leave, but Mr Combs told her she could not.

He testified that Ms Ventura had a purple eye, but did not want to call police and she eventually left in a black SUV with a seven-foot (2.1-metres) driver.

Mr Florez alleged that later, to "make it go away", Mr Combs tried to hand him a wad of cash, but he declined.

Attorneys for Mr Combs tried to poke holes in Mr Florez's claims, asking why he did not include certain details - like Ms Ventura's purple eye - in an incident report he filed afterwards.

His testimony was followed by Daniel Phillip, a former manager of male strippers, who said he met Mr Combs and Ms Ventura after his boss asked him to fill in as a stripper for a bachelorette party.

But, Mr Phillip said, he was greeted at a hotel instead by Ms Ventura, who told him it was her birthday and her husband wanted to give her a gift.

Mr Phillip told the court he would go on to have sex with Ms Ventura on several occasions - encounters that lasted as long as 10 hours, sometimes under the influence of drugs - as Mr Combs watched and filmed.

He alleged that he witnessed Mr Combs attack Ms Ventura at least twice, including one time when he dragged her by her hair as she screamed "I'm sorry". Mr Combs then came back in the room with Ms Ventura and asked the two to have sex again in front of him, Mr Phillip said.

"I was shocked," he said. "It came out of nowhere. I was terrified."

Mr Phillip claimed on the stand that he did not call the police for fear that Mr Combs was "someone with unlimited power" and that he could "lose his life" for reporting it.

The trial is scheduled to continue on Tuesday when Ms. Ventura is expected to testify.

At the crowded courthouse on Monday, Combs' children - including his daughters - were seen holding hands. His mother also was photographed walking out of court along with his publicist.

Kim Kardashian is due to appear in court in Paris later today as a witness in a burglary case dating back to 2016, when she was held up at gunpoint and had millions of dollars' worth of jewellery taken from her.

The reality TV star and business woman, 44, is expected to take the stand in the afternoon to give her version of events of the burglary, which saw her tied up and held at gunpoint in a luxury suite where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week.

Jewels worth millions of dollars were taken from her, including a $4m (£2.9m) diamond engagement from then-husband Kanye West.

Ten people are on trial, which began last month.

On Monday, witness Abderrahmane Ouatiki, the night receptionist who says he was marched up to Kardashian's hotel suite and made to translate the burglars' demands, said the American star was "completely hysterical" and "in a state of complete terror" as a "very nervous" man pointed a gun at her.

"He was very aggressive and she was utterly terrified," said Ouatiki.

He added he too had feared for his life as the burglar was acting erratic and was clearly irritated by Kardashian's screaming.

Three people reportedly kept watch in the reception of the exclusive Hotel de Pourtalès in central Paris while two other men forced Ouatiki to take them to Kardashian's suite, where they demanded she give him the ring and also stole other jewels for a total of $9m.

The men were arrested three months later alongside several other people thought to be accessories to the crime.

Twelve were eventually due to appear in court, although one died in March and another has been excused due to health reasons. Of the remaining 10, all but two deny any involvement in the burglary. The jewels were never found but police think they were broken up and sold on.

French media have dubbed the defendants the "grandpa robbers" as several are in their 70s. Many also have serious health problems. One is undergoing chemotherapy, while another had visible tremors.

The alleged ringleader, Aomar Ait Khedache, 68, was questioned last week but is deaf and mute and had to write his answers down with a pen and paper which were projected on to a screen.

Since the trial opened on 28 April, prosecutors have sought to dispel the image of hapless elderly burglars – who reportedly did not know their victims was a hugely famous celebrity.

"They may have made mistakes but they were still a decent team," said the lead investigator of the Brigade de Répression du Banditisme (Banditry Repression Brigade) special unit last week.

He noted that the burglars tied up Kardashian's feet and ankles with cable ties and stuck tape on her mouth, and they took a car to park near the scene of the crime and used burner phones.

"That was well done," he said. "They pulled it off, because they managed to flog the goods and palm off a $4m ring in Antwerp, which isn't that easy," he added.

In his testimony, Ouatiki also painted a frightening picture of one of the burglars who he said was wielding a gun and was "stressed and shouting… You feel that's someone that can be very dangerous."

Ouatiki acted as an interpreter between the man and Kardashian and said he did his best to "calm things down as I didn't know what he was capable of".

When the burglars tied up Kardashian and took her to the bathroom, she was only wearing a bathrobe and the belt came undone, the court heard. Asked by Kardashian's lawyer Léonore Hennerick to describe the moment, Ouatiki declined to go into detail. "You have to respect the victim, I think," he said.

Referencing that moment in an emotional interview in 2020, Kardashian told American journalist David Letterman that she thought she was going to be sexually assaulted.

"I was like, 'Okay, this is the time I'm going to get raped'," she said.

She added that she feared for her life and that she was worried for her sister Khloe, who was out at a club: "I'm gonna be dead in the room and she's gonna be traumatised for the rest of her life."

Instead, the burglars grabbed her ring as well as various other jewels, phone and €1,000 in cash and ran off. Kardashian was quickly able to untie herself and her bodyguard arrived shortly after. She gave a statement to police in the early hours of 3 October and immediately flew back to the US.

For his part, Ouatiki – an Algerian national who at the time was a PhD student in semiotics – said he suffered greatly from speculation in the media that he may have been in on the heist.

"The suspicion was very heavy to bear," he told the court.

Ouatiki told French media he lost his student status shortly after the heist and had to go back to Algeria, where he was diagnosed with PTSD.

"It was a catastrophe, my life fell apart," he told Le Point.

On Tuesday morning, Simone Bretter, Kardashian's friend and stylist, will take the stand. She was staying in the same suite during the heist but was on a different floor and hid when she realised burglars had broken in.

Almost 500 journalists are accredited and Kardashian's testimony is set to attract huge media attention.

"Testifying will allow her to reclaim agency in this situation and rewrite the ending," said Jeetendr Sehdev, celebrity expert and the author of The Kim Kardashian Principle.

"In 2016 she was the punchline. But in 2025 testifying is going to turn her into the narrator," he told the BBC.

Rapper Tory Lanez has been taken to hospital after he was stabbed at a California prison, state corrections officials said.

The Canadian hip-hop artist was attacked by another inmate on Tuesday morning in a housing unit at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, about 75 miles (120km) north of Los Angeles.

Prison staff "responded, activated 911 and began medical aid" before Lanez, 31, was taken to a local medical facility for further treatment, said Pedro Calderón Michel of the state's corrections department.

Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting fellow musician Megan Thee Stallion at a party in 2020.

No information was provided on Lanez's condition, but media reports indicate his injuries were non-life threatening.

An investigation is underway into the stabbing, which happened at around 07:20 local time (15:20 GMT), Mr Calderón Michel told the BBC. He did not comment on the attacker's motive.

Lanez was sentenced in 2023 for three felony gun-related charges, including assault with a semi-automatic firearm.

He shot Megan Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete, as they were leaving a pool party at reality star Kylie Jenner's Hollywood mansion.

The pair argued inside a vehicle about their previous sexual relationship and insulted each other over their careers, Megan Thee Stallion testified during the trial.

She said she had demanded to be let out of the vehicle, at which point Lanez started shooting at the ground and shouted at her to "dance".

She required surgery to remove bullet fragments from her foot.

Lanez refused to apologise and maintained his innocence in the shooting.

The case divided the hip-hop world with rappers - including 50 Cent and Iggy Azalea - appearing to take sides in the conflict. Some of them wrote to the court to ask for leniency in Lanez's sentencing.

Lanez had seven US top 10 albums in the seven years before his conviction. He has teased the release of a new upcoming album from prison titled Peterson.

The first set of 49 white South Africans to be granted refugee status by President Donald Trump's administration are on their way to the US.

On Sunday they boarded a flight from Johannesburg which is due to land in Washington DC later on Monday.

This comes after a weekend of speculation about when the Afrikaners would leave for America, amid criticism from the South African government who described the US resettlement scheme as "politically motivated".

Relations between South Africa and the US have been tense for months, after an executive order in February in which President Trump stated that Afrikaners were victims of "racial discrimination".

The US has criticised domestic South African policy, accusing the government of seizing land from white farmers without any compensation - something which the southern African nation says has not happened.

Bilateral tensions have been strained for months as President Trump tasked his administration with formulating plans to potentially resettle Afrikaners in the US.

In March, South Africa's ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled after accusing President Trump of using "white victimhood as a dog whistle", leading to the US accusing Mr Rasool of "race-baiting".

The current group of refugees comprises 49 people, who are expected to land in Washington DC later on Monday, before continuing to Texas.

President Trump's openness to accepting Afrikaner refugees comes as the US has engaged in a wider crackdown on migrants and asylum seekers from other countries.

More BBC stories about South Africa:

• Almost 70,000 South Africans interested in US asylum
• What's really driving Trump's fury with South Africa?
• Is it checkmate for South Africa after Trump threats?

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

Police say they are investigating after a fire at UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's house in north London in the early hours of the morning.

A cordon was put in place outside the Kentish Town property, with firefighters and police officers present.

The London Fire Brigade said it had been called to a "small fire" at 01:11 BST and it was under control 20 minutes later.

Sir Keir - who now lives at his official residence in Downing Street - is understood to still own the property.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

It is perhaps little wonder immigration is as politically charged an issue as it is, when you consider two things.

Firstly, as I wrote here, the numbers point to it being the stand-out UK social and demographic change of the 21st century.

And secondly, it is also one of the biggest and most transparent political failings, when you compare rhetoric to reality.

There were the projections made by Sir Tony Blair's government two decades ago that allowing unlimited migration from central and eastern Europe would tempt modest numbers of people to move here – and huge numbers turned up.

In the 2010s, the Conservatives repeatedly promised to cut net migration to the tens of thousands a year, and repeatedly failed.

The numbers then rocketed after Brexit, the very act that meant UK governments were entirely responsible for immigration policy for the first time in a generation.

Most people miss most political debates most of the time, but some are sufficiently totemic they are not just noticed but make the political weather.

The arguments over immigration are one of them – and what I have just set out tells you why.

This is the generational context within which this prime minister's promises perch.

It is a longevity of failure that senior politicians of various political persuasions privately accept – perhaps more so than any other single issue – has seeded a cynicism and a disillusion with how we are governed.

Sir Keir Starmer's language felt like an acknowledgement of that central point: here was a Labour prime minister, a former human rights lawyer, claiming "we risk becoming an island of strangers."

It is a phrase some, particularly on the left, regard as repulsive.

Others counter that it is a widely held perception which it is high time those in high office shared.

The Reform UK factor

Labour wrestle with the many practical and political trade-offs around immigration policy, just as other parties in government have as well.

In practical terms, staffing care homes, building new houses – can these things be done without an influx of folk from abroad?

Interestingly, Sir Keir took issue with the long-standing view of many that immigration helps drive or at least prop up economic growth.

The other context here is the insurgency of Reform UK.

Nigel Farage argues, as he has for years and years, that politicians have been far too slow to get how much immigration matters to so many people.

Labour are acutely aware of Farage's capacity to communicate in a way that resonates with those who feel successive governments have not just ignored them on this issue, but belittled and demeaned their views too.

That is why the prime minister is using the language he is now.

And there is another thing going on here too.

This is a week of muscular language and intent, firstly primarily on legal migration now, and in a few days on illegal migration too.

By next week the focus will switch to an anticipated new deal between the UK and the European Union, and within it, the likelihood of a youth mobility plan – meaning young people from the UK can travel more freely around Europe, and those from the EU can come here.

Ministers will insist this doesn't amount to freedom of movement, nor immigration – because visits in both directions will be strictly age and time limited.

But you can be certain there will be a row about it.

These then are the short, medium and long-term reasons why the prime minister and his team know that their plan for delivering a sustained downward trend to the net migration numbers is absolutely crucial to their credibility.

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

Hamas has released an Israeli-American hostage held captive for 19 months to Israeli forces as part of efforts to reach a new ceasefire deal, the group said.

Edan Alexander, 21, had been serving in the Israeli army on the border of Gaza when he was captured by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023.

On Monday, Israel paused its military operations in Gaza for a few hours to facilitate the transfer. A senior Hamas official told the BBC the release was intended as a goodwill gesture ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East on Tuesday.

Mr Alexander is believed to have been the last US national alive held by Hamas. Trump offered "congratulations" to his family after his release.

In a statement, his family thanked the US president but also urged the Israeli government and negotiators to continue working to free the 58 remaining hostages.

Mr Alexander is the first to be freed by Hamas since Israel restarted its military offensive on 18 March, after a two-month ceasefire came to an end.

On Monday, he was seen with masked Hamas fighters as they handed him over to Red Cross workers in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

He was then transferred to Israeli authorities in Gaza before being reunited with his family in southern Israel. The Israeli military said it provided a "safe corridor" for Mr Alexander's release.

A video shared on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's X account showed Yael Alexander speaking to her son over the phone.

"You are strong. You are protected. You are home," she said in the video.

Netanyahu called Mr Alexander's return a "very moving moment" - and thanked President Trump for his support.

The release had been made possible because of military pressure on Hamas and "the political pressure exerted by President Trump", Netanyahu said.

He added that Israel intended to continue with plans to intensify its military actions in Gaza and that there would be no ceasefire.

Hamas had earlier said Mr Alexander's release was intended to facilitate a deal for the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Israel has blocked the entry of all food, medication and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza for 70 days, which aid agencies say amounts to a policy of starvation and could be a war crime, and renewed its aerial bombardment and other military operations there in mid-March.

Hamas has previously said it will only agree to a deal that includes the end of the war. This has been repeatedly rejected by Netanyahu.

Trump is due to arrive in the Middle East on Tuesday, and Israel has vowed to expand its military offensive against Hamas if no deal is reached by the end of his visit.

Israeli officials have said the plans for their expanded offensive include seizing all of the territory indefinitely, forcibly displacing Palestinians to the south, and taking over aid distribution with private companies despite opposition from the UN and its humanitarian partners, who say they will not co-operate because it appears to "weaponise" aid.

Israel is due to send representatives to Qatar on Thursday to discuss a proposal on further hostage releases.

Qatar and Egypt said that Mr Alexander's release was an encouraging sign of potential new truce talks.

Born in Tel Aviv but raised in New Jersey, Mr Alexander had been serving in an elite infantry unit on the Gaza border when he was captured by Hamas militants during the 7 October 2003 attack.

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages taken. Some 58 hostages remain, up to 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

Five of the captives held in Gaza are believed to have US citizenship. Mr Alexander is thought to be the last American still alive.

Israel's military campaign has killed 52,829 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, including 2,720 Palestinians killed since March.

The first set of 49 white South Africans to be granted refugee status by President Donald Trump's administration are on their way to the US.

On Sunday they boarded a flight from Johannesburg which is due to land in Washington DC later on Monday.

This comes after a weekend of speculation about when the Afrikaners would leave for America, amid criticism from the South African government who described the US resettlement scheme as "politically motivated".

Relations between South Africa and the US have been tense for months, after an executive order in February in which President Trump stated that Afrikaners were victims of "racial discrimination".

The US has criticised domestic South African policy, accusing the government of seizing land from white farmers without any compensation - something which the southern African nation says has not happened.

Bilateral tensions have been strained for months as President Trump tasked his administration with formulating plans to potentially resettle Afrikaners in the US.

In March, South Africa's ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled after accusing President Trump of using "white victimhood as a dog whistle", leading to the US accusing Mr Rasool of "race-baiting".

The current group of refugees comprises 49 people, who are expected to land in Washington DC later on Monday, before continuing to Texas.

President Trump's openness to accepting Afrikaner refugees comes as the US has engaged in a wider crackdown on migrants and asylum seekers from other countries.

More BBC stories about South Africa:

• Almost 70,000 South Africans interested in US asylum
• What's really driving Trump's fury with South Africa?
• Is it checkmate for South Africa after Trump threats?

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

It's fair to say Oldham is no stranger to immigration.

It has transformed the town, a place that has witnessed a faster than average population rise between the last two Censuses (2011 – 2021) and where almost one in five residents (17.8%) were born outside the UK.

So what do the prime minister's words mean here, when he warned that without changes to cut migration, the UK was at risk of becoming an "island of strangers"?

Yorkshire Street runs straight through the town centre, and it's here where we met John and John.

Between them they've been repairing roads in Oldham for more than 50 years.

They welcome the government's pledge to reduce migration.

"We're a bit overrun aren't we, with the NHS and everything," the younger John explains.

"You can't get doctors or dentist. And housing for young people, you can't get on the market."

The reason he gives for struggling to access these services is simple: "There's just too many people."

But he recognises the country depends on overseas labour - "the country needs it don't it" - says the older John.

"Where does the country go from here. In another 10, 15 years it's going to be a different place completely isn't it. "

Concerns about the pace of change are not limited to those born and bred in this part of the Pennines.

Hussein was born in Pakistan and moved here forty years ago. He now runs a thriving mobile phone shop at Tommyfield indoor market.

He tells the BBC he is so frustrated with rising immigration he voted for Brexit in 2016 and has since written to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner about his concerns.

"We are already short of jobs," he tells us.

"If we are getting professionals from outside, what are you going to do about the professionals in this country? It means they're going to hurt the working class."

Back on Yorkshire Street, we caught up with Michelle Delaney in the doorway of her charity, Project Pearl.

"This used to be a pub, that used to be a pub, that up there was a pub and it's now a takeaway place," she says, pointing to at least half a dozen chicken shops, plus the same number again of Eastern European mini marts and Middle Eastern-run barbers.

But Michelle is not worried about the post-Covid change on her high street. Her big concern is who will staff care homes and hospitals.

"What will we do if we haven't got the nurses, and the doctors, the carers and all the others to do the jobs that they do, like they did with my Mum and my husband when they were ill," she tells us.

"How will we manage?"

And it's that question causing deep concern at Pennine Social Care on Union Street. Directors Violet Gutu and Elliot Sparks simply do not know how they will cope.

Violet explains that 99% of her work depends on "foreign workers."

"We have tried local recruitment but we've failed in many cases," she says.

From their brightly painted offices, this care provision agency and charity works in multiple areas to support those with disabilities and mental health crises – from providing support workers or carers, to throwing the doors open for training and creative activities.

Without their care, Elliot and Violet both say these vulnerable children and adults would be left to struggle almost completely alone.

"The effects could be quite catastrophic."

"The rules change but the responsibilities don't," Elliot explained.

"We rely on good staff, with good hearts, who've given up their lives, their families to come here and take care of our vulnerable people."

Violet, who came to the UK herself from Zimbabwe over twenty years ago, became emotional when explaining how proud she is of her staff.

"So long as you're an immigrant there's no appreciation for you whatsoever. There's always backlash."

The challenge for the government is to address deep public concerns on immigration in the UK, without threatening public services.

Hamas has released an Israeli-American hostage held captive for 19 months to Israeli forces as part of efforts to reach a new ceasefire deal, the group said.

Edan Alexander, 21, had been serving in the Israeli army on the border of Gaza when he was captured by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023.

On Monday, Israel paused its military operations in Gaza for a few hours to facilitate the transfer. A senior Hamas official told the BBC the release was intended as a goodwill gesture ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East on Tuesday.

Mr Alexander is believed to have been the last US national alive held by Hamas. Trump offered "congratulations" to his family after his release.

In a statement, his family thanked the US president but also urged the Israeli government and negotiators to continue working to free the 58 remaining hostages.

Mr Alexander is the first to be freed by Hamas since Israel restarted its military offensive on 18 March, after a two-month ceasefire came to an end.

On Monday, he was seen with masked Hamas fighters as they handed him over to Red Cross workers in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

He was then transferred to Israeli authorities in Gaza before being reunited with his family in southern Israel. The Israeli military said it provided a "safe corridor" for Mr Alexander's release.

A video shared on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's X account showed Yael Alexander speaking to her son over the phone.

"You are strong. You are protected. You are home," she said in the video.

Netanyahu called Mr Alexander's return a "very moving moment" - and thanked President Trump for his support.

The release had been made possible because of military pressure on Hamas and "the political pressure exerted by President Trump", Netanyahu said.

He added that Israel intended to continue with plans to intensify its military actions in Gaza and that there would be no ceasefire.

Hamas had earlier said Mr Alexander's release was intended to facilitate a deal for the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Israel has blocked the entry of all food, medication and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza for 70 days, which aid agencies say amounts to a policy of starvation and could be a war crime, and renewed its aerial bombardment and other military operations there in mid-March.

Hamas has previously said it will only agree to a deal that includes the end of the war. This has been repeatedly rejected by Netanyahu.

Trump is due to arrive in the Middle East on Tuesday, and Israel has vowed to expand its military offensive against Hamas if no deal is reached by the end of his visit.

Israeli officials have said the plans for their expanded offensive include seizing all of the territory indefinitely, forcibly displacing Palestinians to the south, and taking over aid distribution with private companies despite opposition from the UN and its humanitarian partners, who say they will not co-operate because it appears to "weaponise" aid.

Israel is due to send representatives to Qatar on Thursday to discuss a proposal on further hostage releases.

Qatar and Egypt said that Mr Alexander's release was an encouraging sign of potential new truce talks.

Born in Tel Aviv but raised in New Jersey, Mr Alexander had been serving in an elite infantry unit on the Gaza border when he was captured by Hamas militants during the 7 October 2003 attack.

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages taken. Some 58 hostages remain, up to 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

Five of the captives held in Gaza are believed to have US citizenship. Mr Alexander is thought to be the last American still alive.

Israel's military campaign has killed 52,829 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, including 2,720 Palestinians killed since March.

The first set of 49 white South Africans to be granted refugee status by President Donald Trump's administration are on their way to the US.

On Sunday they boarded a flight from Johannesburg which is due to land in Washington DC later on Monday.

This comes after a weekend of speculation about when the Afrikaners would leave for America, amid criticism from the South African government who described the US resettlement scheme as "politically motivated".

Relations between South Africa and the US have been tense for months, after an executive order in February in which President Trump stated that Afrikaners were victims of "racial discrimination".

The US has criticised domestic South African policy, accusing the government of seizing land from white farmers without any compensation - something which the southern African nation says has not happened.

Bilateral tensions have been strained for months as President Trump tasked his administration with formulating plans to potentially resettle Afrikaners in the US.

In March, South Africa's ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled after accusing President Trump of using "white victimhood as a dog whistle", leading to the US accusing Mr Rasool of "race-baiting".

The current group of refugees comprises 49 people, who are expected to land in Washington DC later on Monday, before continuing to Texas.

President Trump's openness to accepting Afrikaner refugees comes as the US has engaged in a wider crackdown on migrants and asylum seekers from other countries.

More BBC stories about South Africa:

• Almost 70,000 South Africans interested in US asylum
• What's really driving Trump's fury with South Africa?
• Is it checkmate for South Africa after Trump threats?

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

Warning: This story contains distressing details

Prosecutors opened their case by accusing hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs of using fame and violence to sexually abuse women, while the rapper's attorneys defended his "swinger" lifestyle and rejected sex trafficking claims.

The 55-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

• What is Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with and how will his trial unfold?

Following opening statements on Monday, the court heard from prosecutors' first witnesses, including a security guard from a hotel where Mr Combs is seen in a now-viral video beating his ex-girlfriend in 2016.

His testimony was followed by a man who said Mr Combs abused his ex-girlfriend during paid sexual encounters with the couple.

After seating a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates on Monday morning, the government and Mr Combs' lawyers outlined their cases.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson accused Mr Combs of using his celebrity status and a "loyal" inner circle of employees to sexually abuse women and run a criminal enterprise.

She focused on the two central victims in the case - Mr Combs' former girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, and another unnamed former girlfriend.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr Combs used violence and threatened Ms Ventura's music career to force her to perform nonconsensual, humiliating sexual acts with male prostitutes during so-called "freak-offs" filmed by Mr Combs.

The defendant "had the power to ruin her life", Ms Johnson said of Ms Ventura.

As prosecutors described the explicit details of the allegations against Mr Combs, he sat in a gray sweater and pants with a blank stare and his hands folded on his lap.

At the heart of the government's case is a surveillance video that shows Mr Combs beating Ms Ventura and dragging her by the hair in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.

Lawyers for Mr Combs said the video was evidence of Mr Combs' "flawed" character, but not of a larger criminal enterprise. "Domestic violence is not sex trafficking," said Teny Geragos, Mr Combs' attorney.

Ms Geragos said Mr Combs has a "bit of a different sex life" - and shifted the focus to the women accusing him, calling them "capable, strong women" who chose to stay with the rapper.

They had "the freedom to make the choices that they made", Ms Geragos argued.

Prosecutors' first witness, a former security guard named Israel Florez, worked at the hotel, the site of the now-viral surveillance video showing Mr Combs attacking his ex-girlfriend. The clip, which CNN released last year, was played for jurors on Monday.

Mr Florez told jurors that morning at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles on 5 March, 2016, he received a call about a "woman in distress" on the sixth floor.

He said he found Mr Combs there in a towel, slouched on a chair with a "devilish" look on his face, and a broken vase on the floor. Ms Ventura sat cowering in the corner with her face covered, Mr Florez said.

Mr Florez told prosecutors that Ms Ventura kept saying she wanted to leave, but Mr Combs told her she could not.

He testified that Ms Ventura had a purple eye, but did not want to call police and she eventually left in a black SUV with a seven-foot (2.1-metres) driver.

Mr Florez alleged that later, to "make it go away", Mr Combs tried to hand him a wad of cash, but he declined.

Attorneys for Mr Combs tried to poke holes in Mr Florez's claims, asking why he did not include certain details - like Ms Ventura's purple eye - in an incident report he filed afterwards.

His testimony was followed by Daniel Phillip, a former manager of male strippers, who said he met Mr Combs and Ms Ventura after his boss asked him to fill in as a stripper for a bachelorette party.

But, Mr Phillip said, he was greeted at a hotel instead by Ms Ventura, who told him it was her birthday and her husband wanted to give her a gift.

Mr Phillip told the court he would go on to have sex with Ms Ventura on several occasions - encounters that lasted as long as 10 hours, sometimes under the influence of drugs - as Mr Combs watched and filmed.

He alleged that he witnessed Mr Combs attack Ms Ventura at least twice, including one time when he dragged her by her hair as she screamed "I'm sorry". Mr Combs then came back in the room with Ms Ventura and asked the two to have sex again in front of him, Mr Phillip said.

"I was shocked," he said. "It came out of nowhere. I was terrified."

Mr Phillip claimed on the stand that he did not call the police for fear that Mr Combs was "someone with unlimited power" and that he could "lose his life" for reporting it.

The trial is scheduled to continue on Tuesday when Ms. Ventura is expected to testify.

At the crowded courthouse on Monday, Combs' children - including his daughters - were seen holding hands. His mother also was photographed walking out of court along with his publicist.

Top military officials from India and Pakistan are due to speak later on Monday to discuss finer details of the ceasefire agreed between them on Saturday.

The US-brokered ceasefire between the nuclear-armed neighbours appears to have held overnight after nearly four days of intense shelling and aerial incursions from both sides.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, saying "it was time to stop the current aggression that could have led to the death and destruction of so many, and so much".

Both nations have ceased hostilities since then but say they remain vigilant, warning each other of the consequences of violating the ceasefire.

The tensions were the latest in the rivalry between the neighbours who have fought two wars over Kashmir, a Himayalan region which they claim in full but administer in part.

The recent hostilities threatened to turn into a full-fledged war as both countries appeared unwilling to back down and threatened to escalate if the other didn't relent.

Both countries have said that dozens of people from both sides died over the four days of fighting last week, partly due to heavy shelling near the de facto border.

After the ceasefire, however, the both the rivals declared military victory.

On 07 May, India reported striking nine targets inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in response to the deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists.

India blamed a Pakistan-based group for the attack but Islamabad denies any involvement.

In the days since the first strike, India and Pakistan accused each other of cross border shelling and claimed to have shot down rival drones and aircraft in their airspace.

As the conflict escalated, both nations said they have struck the rival's military bases.

Indian officials reported striking 11 Pakistan Air Force bases, including one in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad. India also claimed Pakistan lost 35-40 men at the Line of Control during the conflict and the neighbour's air force lost a few aircraft.

Pakistan has accepted some Indian projectiles landed up at its air force bases.

Indian defence forces have also said that it struck nine armed group training facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing more than 100 militants.

Pakistan military, in turn, claims it targeted about 26 military facilities in India and its drones hovered over Delhi.

India has also accepted some Pakistani projectiles landed up at its air force bases.

Pakistan also claims to have shot down five Indian aircraft, including three French Rafales - which India has not acknowledged, though it said that "losses are a part of combat".

Pakistan denied the claims that an Indian pilot was in its custody after she ejected following an Indian aircraft crash. India has also said that "all our pilots are back home".

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Poland's foreign minister says his country has evidence that Russia recruited people on the Telegram messaging service to carry out last year's massive shopping centre fire in Warsaw.

Speaking to the BBC in an exclusive interview, Radek Sikorski said Moscow's actions were "completely unacceptable" and that a second Russian consulate in Poland had been closed as a result.

His comments come after a Polish investigation concluded that the Marywilska shopping centre fire was orchestrated by Moscow's intelligence services.

Russia denied its involvement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accusing Poland of being "Russophobic".

The May 2024 fire destroyed 1,400 small businesses, with many of the staff there belonging to Warsaw's Vietnamese community.

"We have evidence that they commissioned people living in Poland, they commissioned them on Telegram and paid them to set fire to this huge shopping mall," Sikorski said on Monday.

"It was by miracle that nobody was hurt, but this is completely unacceptable."

The foreign minister told the BBC he had decided Russia's presence in Poland must be "further curtailed" and that Russia's consulate in Krakow had now been closed in order to try and make it harder for Moscow to "spy" on Poland.

"We will take further decisions if they continue these hybrid attacks," Sikorski said.

Hybrid warfare is a term used to describe how a hostile state carries out an anonymous, deniable attack, usually in highly suspicious circumstances.

It will be enough to harm their opponent, especially their infrastructure assets, but stop short of being an attributable act of war.

Only one consulate now remains open in Poland, alongside the embassy. The mission in the city of Poznań was closed last year after Warsaw accused Russia of acts of sabotage and cyberwarfare.

When asked on Monday why Poland did not just sever all diplomatic ties, Sikorski said: "I hope it doesn't come to that."

Responding to the closure of the Krakow consulate, Peskov said: "All these accusations are absolutely groundless, baseless.

"There are a lot of different accusations against Russia being voiced in Poland. This part is absolutely Russophobic and unfriendly towards our country."

He added: "As for the reduction of Russia's diplomatic presence in Poland, these are integral parts of a common chain aimed at curtailing the already deplorable state of bilateral relations. Poland chooses hostility and unfriendliness towards us."

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has detained and convicted several people accused of sabotage on behalf of Russian intelligence services.

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, meanwhile, told state media: "Warsaw continues to deliberately destroy relations, acting against the interests of citizens".

Poland carried out a year-long investigation into the shopping centre incident, before concluding the fire was organised by an unnamed person in Russia.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Sunday said that some of those responsible were already in custody, while all the others alleged to have been involved had been identified and were being searched for.

Many workers lost important documents and large sums of cash in the fire, which were kept at the shopping centre due to fear of break-ins at home.

Another shopping centre in Warsaw, Modlinska 6D, was opened in October last year, with traders relocating their businesses to the new site.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to reduce high prescription drug prices – but its details and long-term effects are far from clear.

Citing figures that patients in other countries pay much less than Americans for pharmaceuticals, Trump said he would order drug companies to reduce their prices inside the US.

He touted the move as "one of the most consequential" executive orders in US history, claiming prices would fall "almost immediately, by 30% to 80%".

But experts are highly sceptical of the claims, and stock market moves indicate that investors think they will have little immediate effect.

Why are American drug prices so high?

The US has a particularly complex healthcare system - including a large private insurance industry, employer subsides, and publicly funded insurance programmes for the elderly and poor, known as Medicare and Medicaid respectively.

In many other developed countries, more centralised systems mean that officials can negotiate blanket rates for drugs, and in some cases refuse to buy if they deem the price too high.

In 2021, the US Government Accounting Office made a comparison with Australia, Canada and France, and found that prescription drugs were on average two to four times more expensive in the US.

Politicians from both US political parties have taken aim at the costs. During Monday's White House announcement, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr noted that prices had been a preoccupation of Democrats and a main target in socialist Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns.

Both Trump in his first term and former President Joe Biden tried to tackle the issue, particularly the cost of life-saving drugs such as insulin, but US prices remain stubbornly high.

Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump and his health officials blamed the lack of progress on pharmaceutical lobbying efforts and large donations to members of Congress.

"The drug lobby is the strongest lobby," Trump told reporters. "But starting today, the United States will no longer subsidise the health care of foreign countries, which is what we were doing."

It should also be noted that Trump's trade tariffs – which he has consistently used to threaten other countries - could increase costs even further. Trump has previously said he will tax drugs imported into the US.

What was in Trump's order?

Trump's order is much wider than previous efforts to bring down costs - however, many details are yet to be worked out.

The wording directs US officials to make sure that deals over drug costs made by foreign countries do not result in "unreasonable or discriminatory" price hikes for Americans.

But what exactly is covered by those terms is unclear – as is the question of what measures the White House would take if "unreasonable" practices are discovered.

The White House also wants drug companies to sell more products directly to consumers - cutting out insurance companies and pharmaceutical benefit managers - and look into importing drugs from foreign countries where they are sold at lower prices. That idea has previously hit stumbling blocks over safety and trade rules.

An official said that Monday's order was the start of negotiations between the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and industry.

What is Most Favoured Nation status?

The order also proposed that the US be given Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status – meaning drug companies would be asked to match the lowest price for a drug abroad when selling to US consumers.

"Big pharma will either abide by this principle voluntarily or we'll use the power of the federal government to ensure that we are paying the same price as other countries," Trump told reporters.

It was unclear what mechanism the White House would use to punish drug companies that refuse to voluntarily comply.

Drug prices are very opaque, according to Alan Sager, a professor of health policy at Boston University. Drug manufacturers could easily argue that they were complying with the order by touting the price discounts that they already routinely provide on very high listed retail prices, he told the BBC.

"Will they act? Maybe. Will they claim they act? Sure," Prof Sager said.

"Whether this will signal a durable and meaningful cut in extraordinarily high US drug prices is very unclear," he said. "This is rhetoric, not reality."

How did markets react?

Trump's preview of the announcement hit share prices of major drug makers, such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly and the UK's GSK.

But they staged a quick recovery, rallying after the administration shared the scope of its plans – an indication that investors do not expect the moves to have a major impact.

What else could hinder Trump's plan?

To try to retain their profits in the US, drugs companies could simply pull out of other nations in which they are selling their products more cheaply, according to researchers Darius Lakdawalla and Dana Goldman at the University of Southern California.

The researchers also said that foreign governments routinely underestimated the true value of drugs to patients, and that "shifting to a European pricing model in the US would lead to shorter, less healthy lives for Americans".

Meanwhile, it is unclear how lower prescription drug prices would fit into Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. The health secretary has consistently emphasised diet and exercise as the key to improving Americans' health – and has criticised the proliferation of many pharmaceutical products, including vaccines and drugs to treat mental illness.

However, any potential reduction in drug prices is likely to be popular with Americans - as polls consistently show that high costs are a top concern when it comes to the US healthcare system.

C Michael White, a pharmacy professor at the University of Connecticut, said that the results of the Trump administration's actions on drug prices "will be minimal for many Americans" but that any attempts towards greater transparency and lower costs "are a positive step in the right direction".

But the order is expected to face challenges from the pharmaceutical industry in courts and Congress.

What does industry say?

Industry groups are largely opposed to the executive order and say it will be counterproductive – potentially choking off the supply of drugs and funds for research while doing little to quell high costs.

Stephen J Ubl, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said in a statement that "importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal" for American patients.

John F Crowley, president of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, called MFN status "a deeply flawed proposal that would devastate our nation's small- and mid-size biotech companies" by potentially choking off funding for research.

"Patients and families are not a bargaining chip in a trade war, but that's exactly how they are being treated – first through proposed tariffs on our nation's medicines, now with foreign reference pricing in the name of fairness."

But Alan Sager, the Boston University professor, was sceptical about the industry's arguments. He pointed out that the money used to research a drug was spent before any profits were made, and suggested that there might be other ways to fund research - such as large cash prizes for cures for specific diseases.

Prof Sager suggested that real action to drive down drug prices would depend on the president's attention span.

"Given the president's apparent public vacillation on many topics, it just isn't clear that he'll stay with this problem or that he'll be willing and able to act effectively," he said.

With reporting by Natalie Sherman in New York

Rapper Tory Lanez has been taken to hospital after he was stabbed at a California prison, state corrections officials said.

The Canadian hip-hop artist was attacked by another inmate on Tuesday morning in a housing unit at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, about 75 miles (120km) north of Los Angeles.

Prison staff "responded, activated 911 and began medical aid" before Lanez, 31, was taken to a local medical facility for further treatment, said Pedro Calderón Michel of the state's corrections department.

Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting fellow musician Megan Thee Stallion at a party in 2020.

No information was provided on Lanez's condition, but media reports indicate his injuries were non-life threatening.

An investigation is underway into the stabbing, which happened at around 07:20 local time (15:20 GMT), Mr Calderón Michel told the BBC. He did not comment on the attacker's motive.

Lanez was sentenced in 2023 for three felony gun-related charges, including assault with a semi-automatic firearm.

He shot Megan Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete, as they were leaving a pool party at reality star Kylie Jenner's Hollywood mansion.

The pair argued inside a vehicle about their previous sexual relationship and insulted each other over their careers, Megan Thee Stallion testified during the trial.

She said she had demanded to be let out of the vehicle, at which point Lanez started shooting at the ground and shouted at her to "dance".

She required surgery to remove bullet fragments from her foot.

Lanez refused to apologise and maintained his innocence in the shooting.

The case divided the hip-hop world with rappers - including 50 Cent and Iggy Azalea - appearing to take sides in the conflict. Some of them wrote to the court to ask for leniency in Lanez's sentencing.

Lanez had seven US top 10 albums in the seven years before his conviction. He has teased the release of a new upcoming album from prison titled Peterson.