英伟达成为全球首家市值突破4万亿美元的上市公司
英伟达成为全球首家市值突破4万亿美元的上市公司


© Andy Rain/EPA, via Shutterstock
Every political campaign needs a good slogan – a snappy phrase to energise voters and skewer opponents.
Some slogans resonate beyond polling day, capturing a national mood or a moment in time - Barack Obama's "Yes, We Can", perhaps, or the Brexit campaign's "Take Back Control".
Others are dead on arrival – clunky, overcomplicated and unmemorable, capturing nothing much beyond the desperation of the committee that devised them.
Now political strategist and pollster Chris Bruni-Lowe claims to have cracked the formula for creating the perfect slogan.
He has analysed 20,000 campaign messages from around the world to come up with eight words that, he says, have been proven to resonate with voters of all political persuasions.
They are: people, better, democracy, new, time, strong, change, together.
He is quick to stress, in his new book Eight Words That Changed The World, that they are not a guarantee of electoral success. They will not help if the candidate using them is an uncharismatic dud, with unpopular policies.
And they can not just be combined in a random order – Strong New Time or People Better Change – to produce results.
They are, rather, "emotional shortcuts", or building blocks for slogan-writers that work across cultures and even languages, Bruni-Lowe says.
"Voters instinctively know what 'people', 'better' or 'together' promise without needing a policy paper.
"They are also remarkably elastic: a socialist in South Africa, a conservative in Luxembourg and a populist in Hungary can all bend the same word to their own story."
The most commonly used word in winning campaigns is "people", according to Bruni- Lowe's analysis - he cites Bill Clinton's 1992 "Putting People First" and "For People, For a Change" as examples of slogans that made a real difference, allowing the presidential candidate to play to his strengths as a "people person" in contrast to his stiff opponent George HW Bush.
But isn't there a danger that following this formula will result in bland, catch-all slogans?
Some of the most effective ones - such as Boris Johnson's 2019 general election slogan "Get Brexit Done" - were devised with a single purpose in mind.
(As were some of the worst, such as "Vote for Al Smith and he'll make your wet dreams come true". The anti-prohibitionist Smith - who wanted to legalise alcohol sales - failed to win the 1928 US presidency.)
Bruni-Lowe argues that "bespoke" slogans like "Get Brexit Done" are the exceptions that prove his rule.
"Bespoke slogans explode when one unresolved grievance crowds out every other issue and a decisive-looking outsider offers a three-word cure; they're brilliant for that election, but useless the moment the storm moves on."
Bruni-Lowe's own contributions to the genre include "Change Politics For Good", for Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, and "It's Time", for Jakov Milatovic's successful 2023 bid to be president of Montenegro on a campaign to get his country to join the EU.
He devotes a chapter of his book to "Make America Great Again" (MAGA), another slogan that does not conform to his rules.
Donald Trump claims to have dreamed it up in 2012, sitting at his desk on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, but "great again" as a political rallying cry dates back more than a century, according to Bruni-Lowe.
In 1950, the Conservative Party unsuccessfully fought a general election on the promise to "Make Britain Great Again". Ronald Reagan had more success in 1980 when he used the slogan "Let's Make America Great Again".
Whether Trump knew any of this when he claimed to have invented the phrase is, in the end, irrelevant, argues Bruni-Lowe - he managed to turn MAGA into brand, and a dividing line that, for better or worse, has reshaped American politics.
He even registering it with US Trademark Office, for a fee of $325, to prevent other politicians using it.
In the UK, the Brexit campaign's "Take Back Control" is probably the most memorable slogan of recent years.
It was part of a trend for shorter, snappier slogans - with the three word formula briefly being seen as a key to success.
Last year, Labour's landslide winning general election campaign boiled its message down to a single word - "Change".
The Conservative slogan - in case you have forgotten it - was "Clear Plan, Bold Action, Secure Future".
But soon there may not be any slogans at all, in the traditional sense.
Artificial Intelligence is increasingly being used to craft messages tailored to the concerns of individual voters, delivered through social media and constantly refined to have the maximum impact.
Bruni-Lowe also highlights a growing interest in neuroscience, and the use of tools such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.
This allows researchers to study how people respond neurologically to political stimuli such as campaign ads, speeches and election slogans.
Such trends could fundamentally change democratic politics, reshaping elected representatives' relationship with voters.
They could also rob us of some irritatingly catchy election slogans.
Few fit that bill more than one of the first ever political ads shown on US television, in 1952.
The 60 second spot was aimed at putting a human face on the Republican candidate, the former supreme commander of allied forces in Europe Dwight E Eisenhower, who was widely known by his nickname Ike.
Featuring an insanely infectious jingle by composer Irving Berlin, "I like Ike" was a Disney cartoon aimed at the broadest possible audience,
It was so successful his campaign team saw no need to change the formula for his re-election bid, adding just one word, before, presumably, heading off for an early lunch.
"I still like Ike" doesn't fit Chris Bruni-Lowe's formula - but it did prove to be another winner.
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© Will Crooks for The New York Times
2025 is already shaping up to be an extraordinary year for weather records in parts of the UK.
Spring 2025 was the UK's warmest and sunniest on record. Hot on its heels, June became the warmest month on record for England. And now, we're already experiencing the third heatwave of the year—and it's not even mid-July.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - the UN body responsible for assessing climate change - it is now "unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land", external .
As temperatures continue to rise, the likelihood of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, has increased dramatically.
So, what's going on this year? Are we witnessing the sharp edge of climate change impacts, or is this just another hot spell?
The red shows that for 2025 spring temperatures were above average
This map shows the temperature difference compared to the average (also known as the anomaly) for spring 2025 across the UK. Temperatures were 1.4C above the long-term average.
The first half of summer has followed hot on the heels of spring, with UK temperatures since the start of June also reaching record highs in some areas.
The highest temperature of the year so far was recorded on 1 July, when 35.8C was measured in Faversham, Kent.
While this is still well below the UK's hottest ever day - recorded in July 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40C for the first time - the trend of increasingly frequent extreme heat days is clear
Global temperatures have risen by over 1.3 Celsius since the industrial revolution as humans continue to release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate..
This might not sound like much - would we even notice the difference of just over 1C in temperature on any given day?
However, climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins from Reading University warns that "1C of global warming does NOT mean that heatwaves 'just' get hotter by 1C. Over large parts of the UK, global warming means that heatwaves are 3-4C warmer".
It takes an enormous amount of heat energy to raise the Earth's average temperature by this much. Oceans absorb more than 90% of the excess heat energy trapped in the climate system by greenhouse gases.
The ocean's ability to store and slowly release heat plays a crucial role in stabilising Earth's climate. However their ability to regulate the world's climate may be changing as marine heatwaves are increasing in many of the world's oceans.
Previous periods of extreme heat globally, such as in 2023/24, have often been partly attributed to an El Niño event. El Niño typically raises global temperatures by around 0.1C, as warmer waters in the Pacific release additional heat into the atmosphere.
The world cycles between El Niño and La Niña (cooler) phases every two to seven years, with 'neutral' periods in between—such as the one we are currently experiencing.
Historically, many of the hottest years on record have occurred during El Niño episodes. However, climate scientists at NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) now say that the warming or cooling effects of El Niño and La Niña are "no match, external" for global warming.
They note that "the global average temperature during recent La Niña years is warmer than during El Niño years in earlier decades."
Keeping cool in London in the heatwave of 1976
When heatwaves hit the UK, many people compare them to the extraordinary summer of 1976.
That year still holds the record for the longest-lasting heatwave in the UK—16 consecutive days—and the highest June temperature ever recorded: 35.6C in Southampton.
However, June 2025 has been hotter when considering average temperatures.
Furthermore, analysis of historical weather data shows that the summer of 1976 was an isolated event within an otherwise much cooler decade. It also affected a smaller geographic area compared to today's heatwaves.
As our climate continues to warm, what was once a rare meteorological event is becoming a more regular feature of our summers.
Whilst the current heatwave is expected to persist into the start of next week, there are signs of slightly cooler and more unsettled conditions on Monday and Tuesday, particularly in the north
However, warmer and drier weather is likely to return later in the week as high pressure builds back in.
Temperatures are forecast to remain above average for much of the rest of the month, especially in the south-east.
By the end of July and into at least the start of August, there are indications of a cooling trend, although this may be short-lived.
Longer range weather forecasts looking at the next three months suggest temperatures should be at least average through the rest of summer and into early autumn, and well above average in southern England.
There is a less clear signal for rainfall, but it is most likely to be drier than normal in the south-east and wetter in the far north. September is most likely to see a return to wetter conditions.
Climate projections from the Met Office indicate that "hot spells will become more frequent in our future climate, particularly over the southeast of the UK. Temperatures are projected to rise in all seasons, but the heat would be most intense in summer."
A surgeon banned from working for a private healthcare company, following an investigation into patient safety, continues to work in the NHS, the BBC understands.
Nuffield Health has stopped Marc Lamah from working in their hospitals, but he is still operating on patients for the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
An NHS patient left with a twisted bowel following an operation he carried out said he should never work again.
Mr Lamah did not respond to the BBC's request for comment sent via his employer.
In January the BBC revealed concerns had been raised about Mr Lamah's complication rate and that he was no longer practising at Nuffield Health's hospital in Brighton pending an investigation.
A former employee at the hospital told the BBC that internal data showed one third of Mr Lamah's patients had experienced a "moderate harm event", where, for instance, a patient had to be transferred to another hospital or re-admitted, over a 12-month period. The figure should be 5%, the BBC was told.
In a statement to the BBC, Nuffield Health said following an independent investigation, "we can confirm Mr Lamah's practicing privileges with Nuffield Health have been withdrawn.
"His conduct did not meet the standards of medical practice and governance we expect. Patient safety is our top priority, and we hold all consultants to the highest standards."
Mr Lamah continues to operate as a colorectal surgeon at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, told the BBC it had audited Mr Lamah's NHS data, which showed his outcomes were within the expected national range. The trust added that Nuffield's investigation had found "no concerns with regard to technical abilities, surgical practice or patient safety".
The trust is at the centre of a large police investigation, Operation Bramber, looking into at least 200 cases of alleged medical negligence.
Sussex Police is examining concerns about avoidable harm and cover-ups in the trust's neurosurgery and general surgery departments between 2015 and 2021.
The trust runs seven hospitals across East and West Sussex and is one of the largest organisations within the NHS, providing care to a population of almost two million people.
Sheryl Hunter says she has suffered "five years of hell" after an NHS operation carried out by Mr Lamah. She has to manually excavate her bowels and has needed several emergency admissions.
After suffering from endometriosis for a number of years, in 2019 doctors decided that Ms Hunter, a mother of one, needed an operation to ease her pain.
Mr Lamah decided the best approach was to remove a part of her large intestine, the colon, and connect it to her small intestine.
A few days after she was discharged, said Ms Hunter, "I felt something pop, and this very awful fluid was coming out of me".
She was rushed back to the Royal Sussex where they discovered the joint between the two intestines had torn, and "for 10 days it had been filling up my abdomen with bowel matter."
This is a known complication of this type of surgery, the BBC understands.
Despite that problem being resolved, Ms Hunter continued to suffer extreme pain for several years, necessitating repeated visits to both her GP and the Royal Sussex hospital.
She said: "I have very little good days. By that, I mean I am curled up in a ball crying.
"When I try to go to the toilet, I scream on the toilet in tears because it is so painful to go, to open up my bowels. I have to manually do that, which means I have to wear gloves.
"The pain is very severe – it's in my stomach, it gets into my spine, down my legs, my arms."
Letters shared with the BBC by Ms Hunter show her GP wrote to Mr Lamah repeatedly requesting he see her again.
In January, 2023 the GP wrote that "we have written to you on multiple occasions to review her and discuss her options".
A few days later Mr Lamah replied to say he had not received any previous letters.
But almost 12 months later, in December 2023, the GP wrote another letter urging Mr Lamah to see her.
Ms Hunter told the BBC he was "begged" by colleagues to see her but "he refused".
Finally, in April 2024, she was seen by another consultant at a different hospital run by the same trust - the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath - when she found out what was causing her pain.
"The main problem is a 180 degree twist on the small bowel causing an internal hernia and twisting the anastomosis [the surgical joint]," said the discharge sheet given to Ms Hunter by the hospital after the procedure.
"When they did the reconnection [of the intestines], they put it on backwards," Sheryl said she was told.
"That [creates] a risk of rupture. If you rupture, it's a two-hour window before death.
"Had I not been manually opening my bowels for five years, they said that would have happened."
The trust said surgical error was only presented as one of a range of possibilities.
The BBC passed the details to an independent medical expert who said the twist "certainly is a consequence of the 2019 operation".
The trust said only a further operation would confirm if Mr Lamah had made an error or whether the twist had occurred naturally.
However, the damage is now more extensive than it would have been had Ms Hunter been treated earlier.
She has been told she will need pelvic reconstruction surgery before she can have another operation to try to fix her intestines. She is on a waiting list for the first procedure and has spoken to Sussex Police about her experience.
Former NHS colleagues have also raised concerns to the BBC about Mr Lamah, but he continues to practise at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
"I think it's disgusting. That man shouldn't be allowed to touch any other patients," said Ms Hunter.
"I was told Marc Lamah has a terrible bedside manner, but he's a fantastic surgeon.
"Marc Lamar has a terrible bedside manner, and he's a terrible surgeon. He shouldn't be allowed to operate, as far as I'm concerned."
In a statement, Prof Katie Urch, chief medical officer for the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, told the BBC: "We can't publicly discuss an individual's care, but we absolutely understand the distress and difficulty anyone living with ongoing complex health issues can face.
"Our clinical teams are dedicated to understanding their patients' needs and providing the highest standard of care.
"Whilst no medical procedure can guarantee a successful outcome, our teams strive for the best possible results every day – and if we ever have cause to think we could have done more for a patient we have robust systems, including the routine use of independent experts, to help us learn and improve."
Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.
A man has been stabbed to death outside a five-star hotel in west London.
Police, paramedics and London's Air Ambulance were called to the Park Tower Hotel on Seville Street, Knightsbridge, just before 21:30 BST on Wednesday.
Paramedics treated the 24-year-old for knife wounds but he died at the scene, the Metropolitan Police said. No arrests have been made but officers are working "to establish the circumstances of what happened".
A spokesperson for the hotel said the incident did not involve any of its guests or staff.
The area where the incident happened is generally known for its luxury shopping, multimillion-pound residences and landmarks like Harrods and Hyde Park.
Police have closed off the pavement surrounding the hotel and adjacent restaurant Nusr-Et, run by Turkish chef Nusret Gokce, aka "Salt Bae".
Supt Owen Renowden, who leads policing in Kensington and Chelsea, said: "We are aware of reports that this incident was a robbery.
"Although this is an active line of inquiry, we are keeping an open mind about all possible motives and the exact circumstances are still to be determined.
"We understand the impact this incident will have on the local community and you will see extra officers in the area to help answer any questions or concerns."
The man's family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.
Kaya Comer-Schwartz, London's deputy mayor for policing and crime, called the stabbing "appalling" and said there would be "increased high-visibility police patrols" in the area.
She said: "Knife crime has no place in our streets of communities."
In July 2021, an Omani student Mohammed Al-Araimi, 20, was stabbed to death outside nearby Harrods in an attempted watch robbery.
Badir Al-Nazi was subsequently sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison for his murder.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk
The police have declared a major incident over a bonfire in south Belfast that is due to be lit on Friday as part of annual Twelfth events across Northern Ireland.
Belfast City Council have requested the police assist contractors to dismantle the bonfire before it is lit.
There are concerns that the power supply to Belfast City Hospital and the Royal Victoria Hospital would be put at risk because the bonfire lies near a major electricity substation.
On Thursday afternoon, bonfire builders voluntarily removed tiers of pallets from the top of the bonfire and told BBC News NI the action was an "olive branch" to those concerned.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said no decision had been taken on assisting the removal of the bonfire and they continued to work with agencies and community representatives on this matter.
Bonfires are lit as part of Eleventh night celebrations in some unionist areas of Northern Ireland, to usher in the Twelfth of July, the main date in the parading season.
The Twelfth commemorates the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when the Protestant King William III - also known as King Billy and William of Orange - defeated Catholic King James II.
Bonfires were lit on 11 July to welcome - and guide - William.
There are separate concerns about the presence of asbestos at the bonfire site which is between the Donegall Road and the Westlink and the council voted to write to the environment minister to act immediately to have it removed.
The Deputy First Minister and DUP MLA, Emma Little-Pengelly, said: "No one wants anyone to be hurt or for there to be any risks to health or wellbeing".
On Facebook she said those involved in the bonfire had engaged for "some time" on "size and other mitigations" and she believed that would continue.
Earlier, Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that the police had a "responsibility" in the situation.
He said the issue had only been brought into the public domain because it is "the first time a bonfire has been held in this site".
He also called on action from the landowner and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) regarding the asbestos.
Sheehan had also urged unionist politicians to "show leadership" and said Emma Little Pengelly "should be out today calling for that bonfire to be dismantled. Where is her leadership?"
Residents of the Village area of Belfast, where the bonfire is situated, said the bonfire means "everything".
"This bonfire has been going for all of our generations… and we want our next generations to know our culture. This isn't to get up anybody's nose.
"The children of this area have been collecting for the bonfire since Christmas time."
Billy Garrett, another resident, said there was "a lot of frustration".
"It's just another attack on our culture and our traditions. We don't see any harm in what we're doing here, especially in the Village area of south Belfast. It's just knocking the heart out of everyone," he told BBC News NI.
He said the organisers of the bonfire site had been making sure it was safe since September last year.
"They've went through all the proper people to make sure it is safe for everyone in the community."
Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson planned to take legal action to stop the bonfire being dismantled and has questioned the decision-making process behind the vote.
However, the council rejected claims that the decision to dismantle the bonfire breached legal guidelines and said the move was part of its "emergency" decision-making processes.
It also said it was in line with the rules of council, those cases on which an "inability to immediately implement a decision would result in a breach of statutory or contractual duty".
Belfast Health Trust said the bonfire was near a substation that supplies both hospitals.
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) said it had expressed concerns over the bonfire's "proximity to the substation causing potential risk to critical infrastructure and power outages".
The trust said it had contingency measures including back-up generators and it was confident there was no need to cancel any planned treatments or procedures.
The NIEA said it was first alerted to the issues of asbestos near the bonfire on 16 May and had been engaging with the landowner and the city council regularly since then.
An inspection was carried out and the NIEA said if the asbestos was not cleared by 11 July, "mitigating measures" would need to be put in place.
The PSNI appears to have been put between a rock and a hard place here by a political decision at the 11th hour.
One of its considerations is most certainly: Would any operation trigger disorder which could spread to other areas?
Just 36 hours ago, the PSNI felt the mood music going into the 12th of July was pretty positive.
Now we have a significant bonfire row which has escalated tensions.
We saw evidence last night of how the local community has reacted to the prospect of a police operation.
Site entrances were blocked, a protest took place on the road, people were in an around the bonfire, and there is also a risk it could be lit early if any operation is mobilised.
The landowners, Boron Developments, bought the site in the summer of 2017 and were made aware of asbestos at that time.
Boron Developments have said it engaged a waste management company to remove the asbestos but the company needed "no personnel" on the site in order to complete the removal of asbestos.
Due to people "bringing in materials and building the bonfire" the company told the landowners it could not complete its work.
Belfast City Council said while the lands at the site remained "the responsibility of the landowner" the council and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) were "working together in relation to this site".
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said it had put in place mitigations "over the past week including the further covering of the asbestos containing material, the use of fire-retardant material and the erection of additional fencing".
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A US judge has once again blocked President Donald Trump from implementing an executive order ending birth right citizenship for some US residents as a legal challenge moves forward.
A New Hampshire judge approved a class action lawsuit against Trump's executive order, and temporarily stopped the president's order from taking effect.
The class action lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of immigrant parents and their infants.
The decision comes weeks after the Supreme Court introduced limits on how and when universal injunctions are issued by federal courts. However, the decision still allows them through certain legal avenues.
The class action suit was introduced after the Supreme Court decision, in keeping with the new standards set by the court.
Still, the White House challenged the validity of the judge's ruling.
"Today's decision is an obvious and unlawful attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court's clear order against universal relief. This judge's decision disregards the rule of law by abusing class action certification procedures," spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement Thursday. "The Trump Administration will be fighting vigorously against the attempts of these rogue district court judges to impede the policies President Trump was elected to implement."
The US Constitution guarantees citizenship to all born on US soil, but Trump has sought to revoke that right for babies born to undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors, as part of his crackdown on immigration.
The class-action lawsuit seeks to challenge the order as harmful and unconstitutional, and the judge ruled that it can proceed on behalf of the babies who would be affected by the restrictions.
The ruling also once again pauses an order that was a priority for Trump. The judge has given the government seven days to appeal.
Restricting birthright citizenship was one of his first actions in office.
Multiple courts across the US issued nationwide injunctions as they considered legal challenges to the order.
The Trump administration appealed those temporary holds to the highest US court, arguing judges did not have the authority to block a presidential order nationally while the courts considered the cases.
The Supreme Court's conservative majority sided with Trump in a 6-3 ruling that broadly curtailed judicial power, though the justices did not address the constitutionality of Trump's birthright citizenship order.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, Trump's order had been set to take effect on 27 July.
The deal for Olivia Smith would make her the most expensive signing in women's football
Arsenal have had a world-record bid in excess of £1m accepted by Women's Super League rivals Liverpool for forward Olivia Smith.
The current world record is the £900,000 Chelsea paid to sign United States defender Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave in January.
The deal for 20-year-old Canada international Smith is subject to a medical and personal terms being agreed.
Smith joined Liverpool from Portuguese side Sporting last summer and scored seven times in 20 WSL appearances in her debut season.
Smith joined Liverpool for a club-record fee of just over £200,000 in July 2024 from the Portuguese club and still has two years left on her contract.
Arsenal have also added Chloe Kelly to their ranks on a free transfer from Manchester City, alongside former Liverpool left-back Taylor Hinds.
Smith has played 18 times for Canada, scoring four goals.
Liverpool, who finished seventh in the WSL last season, view the sale of Smith as a major opportunity to strengthen their squad by reinvesting the transfer fee.
They are currently without a manager since sacking Matt Beard in February, with former Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor the leading candidate to take over.
"Wow, the fee is massive. It really is," said former Manchester City and England midfielder Izzy Christiansen, reacting to the news on Thursday night.
"She is in the very early stages in her career but she is going to a good club."
At Arsenal she would have competition with a star-studded forward line including Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, Caitlin Foord, Katie McCabe, Alessia Russo and Stina Blackstenius.
"They have a very strong frontline and depth in it," Christiansen said.
"This is Arsenal adding layers to a Champions League-winning squad who will want to go and do it again.
"I'm sure their prerogative will be to win the WSL as well.
"She certainly adds depth. It is early days to say whether she starts or not.
"I'm sure it is a project for the near future in an Arsenal shirt. It is some fee and quite something for the women's game."
Smith is poised to become the first £1m footballer in the women's game
The police have declared a major incident over a bonfire in south Belfast that is due to be lit on Friday as part of annual Twelfth events across Northern Ireland.
Belfast City Council have requested the police assist contractors to dismantle the bonfire before it is lit.
There are concerns that the power supply to Belfast City Hospital and the Royal Victoria Hospital would be put at risk because the bonfire lies near a major electricity substation.
On Thursday afternoon, bonfire builders voluntarily removed tiers of pallets from the top of the bonfire and told BBC News NI the action was an "olive branch" to those concerned.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said no decision had been taken on assisting the removal of the bonfire and they continued to work with agencies and community representatives on this matter.
Bonfires are lit as part of Eleventh night celebrations in some unionist areas of Northern Ireland, to usher in the Twelfth of July, the main date in the parading season.
The Twelfth commemorates the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when the Protestant King William III - also known as King Billy and William of Orange - defeated Catholic King James II.
Bonfires were lit on 11 July to welcome - and guide - William.
There are separate concerns about the presence of asbestos at the bonfire site which is between the Donegall Road and the Westlink and the council voted to write to the environment minister to act immediately to have it removed.
The Deputy First Minister and DUP MLA, Emma Little-Pengelly, said: "No one wants anyone to be hurt or for there to be any risks to health or wellbeing".
On Facebook she said those involved in the bonfire had engaged for "some time" on "size and other mitigations" and she believed that would continue.
Earlier, Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that the police had a "responsibility" in the situation.
He said the issue had only been brought into the public domain because it is "the first time a bonfire has been held in this site".
He also called on action from the landowner and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) regarding the asbestos.
Sheehan had also urged unionist politicians to "show leadership" and said Emma Little Pengelly "should be out today calling for that bonfire to be dismantled. Where is her leadership?"
Residents of the Village area of Belfast, where the bonfire is situated, said the bonfire means "everything".
"This bonfire has been going for all of our generations… and we want our next generations to know our culture. This isn't to get up anybody's nose.
"The children of this area have been collecting for the bonfire since Christmas time."
Billy Garrett, another resident, said there was "a lot of frustration".
"It's just another attack on our culture and our traditions. We don't see any harm in what we're doing here, especially in the Village area of south Belfast. It's just knocking the heart out of everyone," he told BBC News NI.
He said the organisers of the bonfire site had been making sure it was safe since September last year.
"They've went through all the proper people to make sure it is safe for everyone in the community."
Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson planned to take legal action to stop the bonfire being dismantled and has questioned the decision-making process behind the vote.
However, the council rejected claims that the decision to dismantle the bonfire breached legal guidelines and said the move was part of its "emergency" decision-making processes.
It also said it was in line with the rules of council, those cases on which an "inability to immediately implement a decision would result in a breach of statutory or contractual duty".
Belfast Health Trust said the bonfire was near a substation that supplies both hospitals.
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) said it had expressed concerns over the bonfire's "proximity to the substation causing potential risk to critical infrastructure and power outages".
The trust said it had contingency measures including back-up generators and it was confident there was no need to cancel any planned treatments or procedures.
The NIEA said it was first alerted to the issues of asbestos near the bonfire on 16 May and had been engaging with the landowner and the city council regularly since then.
An inspection was carried out and the NIEA said if the asbestos was not cleared by 11 July, "mitigating measures" would need to be put in place.
The PSNI appears to have been put between a rock and a hard place here by a political decision at the 11th hour.
One of its considerations is most certainly: Would any operation trigger disorder which could spread to other areas?
Just 36 hours ago, the PSNI felt the mood music going into the 12th of July was pretty positive.
Now we have a significant bonfire row which has escalated tensions.
We saw evidence last night of how the local community has reacted to the prospect of a police operation.
Site entrances were blocked, a protest took place on the road, people were in an around the bonfire, and there is also a risk it could be lit early if any operation is mobilised.
The landowners, Boron Developments, bought the site in the summer of 2017 and were made aware of asbestos at that time.
Boron Developments have said it engaged a waste management company to remove the asbestos but the company needed "no personnel" on the site in order to complete the removal of asbestos.
Due to people "bringing in materials and building the bonfire" the company told the landowners it could not complete its work.
Belfast City Council said while the lands at the site remained "the responsibility of the landowner" the council and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) were "working together in relation to this site".
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said it had put in place mitigations "over the past week including the further covering of the asbestos containing material, the use of fire-retardant material and the erection of additional fencing".
US President Donald Trump has praised Liberian President Joseph Boakai for speaking "good English" and asked him where he went to school.
What Trump might have missed is that Liberia shares a unique and long-standing connection with the US.
English is the country's official language and many Liberians speak with an American accent because of those historical ties to the US.
It may have been this accent that Trump picked up on.
Here are five things to know about the country:
Liberia was founded by freed African-American slaves in 1822 before declaring independence in 1847.
Thousands of black Americans and liberated Africans - rescued from transatlantic slave ships - settled in Liberia during the colonial era.
Former US President Abraham Lincoln officially declared Liberia's independence in 1862 but the country retained a lot of US heritage and it remained in the American "sphere of influence" during the colonial period.
Due to this integration, Liberian culture, landmarks, and institutions have a heavy African-American influence.
Ten of Liberia's 26 presidents were born in the US.
Liberia's capital, Monrovia, was named in honour of America's 5th President, James Monroe, who was a strong supporter of the American Colonization Society (ACS).
The ACS was the organisation responsible for resettling freed African-Americans in West Africa - which eventually led to the founding of Liberia.
Not surprisingly the early architecture of the city was largely influenced by American-style buildings.
Many streets in Monrovia are named after colonial American figures, reflecting the city's founding and historical ties to the US.
The flag of Liberia closely resembles the American flag. It features 11 alternating red and white stripes and a blue square with a single white star.
The white star symbolises Liberia as the first independent republic in Africa.
The US flag, in comparison, has 13 stripes representing the original 13 colonies and 50 stars, one for each state.
The Liberian flag was designed by seven black women - all born in America.
Timothy Weah, the son of Liberia's former President George Weah, is an American professional soccer player who plays for Italian club Juventus as well as the US national team.
The 25-year-old forward was born in the US but began his professional career with Paris St-Germain in France, where he won the Ligue 1 title before moving on loan to the Scottish team, Celtic.
His father, George, is a Liberian football legend who won the Ballon d'Or in 1995 while playing for Juventus's Italian rivals AC Milan. He is the only African winner of this award - and went on to be elected president in 2018.
Liberia produced Africa's first elected female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
She was elected in 2005, two years after the nation's bloody civil war ended, and served as president until 2018.
Sirleaf has a strong American background as she studied at Madison Business College and later went to Harvard University where she graduated as an economist.
She has received worldwide recognition and accolades for maintaining peace during her administration.
Her story is pitted with remarkable feats of defiance and courage.
In 2011, along with Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karmān, she won the Nobel Prize for Peace for her efforts to further women's rights.
In 2016, Forbes listed her among the most powerful women in the world.
There has been a mixed reaction.
Accountant Joseph Manley, 40, told the BBC that Trump should have been properly briefed before meeting Liberia's leader.
"Liberia has always been an English-speaking country. Our president represents a country with a rich educational tradition."
For human resources professional Henrietta Peter-Mogballah, The US president's surprise at Boakai's eloquence reflects a broader problem of global ignorance about African nations and its peoples.
"From travel experiences and observations, most citizens of other nations outside Africa do not know a lot about African countries," she said. "The few that know a little, their minds are clouded by narratives of war, poverty, and lack of education."
While many have criticised Trump, others see nothing wrong in his comments.
"I believe President Trump's remark was a genuine compliment on President Boakai's command of English," lawyer and politician Kanio Gbala told the BBC. "There is no evidence of sarcasm. Reading it as disrespectful may reflect political agendas."
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
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Prices for all-inclusive family package holidays in some of the most popular desinations have soared over the past year.
But there are ways of saving money if you want to escape abroad. Here are six tips to help keep costs down.
The price you pay for your accommodation depends on when you book.
July and August are the peak months for summer holidays, not just for Brits but for people in other parts of Europe.
"If you've ever been to Paris in August there's hardly anyone there, everybody goes to the beach or heads for the mountains," says Sean Tipton, spokesperson for The Travel Association (ABTA), which represents tour operators and travel agents.
"That's when the hotels put their prices up," he says. Therefore, it is usually cheaper to book a holiday aboard for June or September.
If you do have to go during the peak months, Mr Tipton says: "It is generally a good idea to book it as early as you can.
"It can be a bit of a lottery because you can't 100% predict what the demand will be but as a rule of thumb in the majority of cases if you know you're travelling in July, August or over Christmas or Easter, book early."
The best time to travel is the middle of the week, according to Mr Tipton.
"The weekend is the most expensive time to go because people prefer to fly over the weekend so if you fly mid-week it is generally cheaper," he says.
"Just simple little things like that get the price down."
The same goes for the time of the day you travel.
"It is common sense really," he says. "I don't particularly like getting up at 3am for a 6am flight and I'm not alone in that so those flights will be consequently cheaper."
If you have some flexibility around when you can travel, there are some last minute bargains to be had.
Package holiday operators may have booked a lot of hotel space in advance which they may not have been able to sell at the holiday date approaches.
"They'll discount it just to make sure they get something for it," says Mr Tipton.
"Travel agents get sent notifications of last minute good deals so they're a good place to go if you've left it late and you want a good, cheap deal."
Another option is house-swapping. Instead of paying for a hotel or villa, people can register with an online platform which acts as a fixer between homeowners in different countries who want to stay in other's houses.
Justine Palefsky, co-founder and chief executive of Kindred, says that people who register with her site pay only a service and a cleaning fee.
For example, someone booking a seven night stay at a three bedroom house in Majorca would pay a $140 (£103) service fee to Kindred as well as $140 for cleaning before and after a stay in the house.
Ms Hawkes advises that travellers go through a reputable site if they are choosing a house-swap.
"People need to be wary of social media ads at this time of year, advertising cheap holidays because scammers do tend to use those portals to show you images of a wonderful location.
"Then when you book it and do you bank transfer, you find it doesn't exsist," she says.
She recommends doing a reverse image search on websites such as Google to check the images haven't been lifted from somewhere else to promote a home that doesn't exist.
Avoid changing money at the airport, says Alastair Douglas, chief executive at TotallyMoney, a price comparison site.
"Airports are normally the most expensive places to change cash," he says.
Instead, change your money well in advance.
Mr Douglas says that if people are worried about exhange rate shifting between booking a holiday and the date of departure they can "hedge their bets" by changing half in advance and half nearer the time.
However, he says that people don't really travel with lots of cash anymore. Most spending is done on cards.
This is a good thing, Mr Douglas says, because it will often allow you to select the local currency which is "probably the thing that will save you the most amount of money".
Even before you reach your destination, costs can pile up. Make sure you print out your boarding pass ahead of time.
"Some airlines can charge a lot of money just to print out at the airport," says Nicky Kelvin, editor at The Points Guy website. "Not all of them but just be safe."
If you're bringing a small suitcase on board the plane, bear in mind both the weight and the size of the luggage if you have to measure it in a metal sizer at the airport.
If it doesn't fit, you may be charged a fee to check it into the plane's hold.
Ms Hawkes recommends documenting the luggage dimensions an airline provides on its website just in case you have followed them but get to the airport and discover your bag does not fit.
"In that case, if the airline makes you put it in the hold and you've adhered to their website conditions, document everything and make a complaint after," she says.
Food, drink and toiletries are often more expensive at the airport.
One of the reasons, according to Mr Kelvin, is because of the 100ml onboard liquid rule. While restrictions have recently been relaxed at airports in Edinburgh and Birmingham, it applies everywhere else in the UK.
One way to cut costs is to order your suncream or other toiletries online and pick them up in-store at the airport once you've been through security.
Some retailers allow you to do this, Mr Kelvin tells the BBC's Morning Live programme.
"So it's a double whammy - you're going to save because you're going to get the cheaper online pricing and you're going to avoid the security issue because you're going to pick up your big liquids after."
Another cost-saving tip is to take a water bottle with you. Most airports have free water refill stations.
He also recommends taking along your own snacks in lunch boxes, especially handy if you're travelling with children.
© Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
© Allison Robbert for The New York Times