The brother of an Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip has told the BBC that a Hamas video showing him emaciated and weak is a "new form of cruelty" that has left his parents shattered.

Hamas released the footage of Evyatar David, 24, on Saturday, drawing strong condemnation from Israel and Western leaders.

"He's a human skeleton. He was being starved to the point where he can be dead at any moment, and he suffers a great deal. He barely can't speak, he barely can move," David's brother Ilay said in an interview on Monday.

In the video, Evyatar says: "I haven't eaten for days... I barely got drinking water." He is seen digging what he says will be his own grave.

Hostages' families have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prioritise their release as reports suggest he might be planning to expand the military campaign.

The footage of Evyatar was released after Palestinian Islamic Jihad published video of another hostage, Rom Braslavski, thin and crying.

Both men were abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

Ilay David said his father had barely recognised his son Evyatar's voice on the video and had not been able to sleep. He said his mother cried all day.

"Seeing those images of my brother as a human skeleton, we understood it's, it's, it's a new kind of cruelty," Mr David said. "It's the lowest you can get."

He called on world leaders to unite to save him and other hostages "from the cruel, twisted hands of Hamas".

"So we have to be so focused on delivering the message, which is, Evyatar is dying, we need to give him medicine, to give him food, proper food, and you need to get this treatment now, or else will die."

Hamas's armed wing has denied it intentionally starves prisoners, saying hostages eat what their fighters and people in Gaza eat.

After the hostages' videos were released, Netanyahu spoke with their families, telling them that efforts to return all the hostages "will continue constantly and relentlessly".

But an Israeli official - widely quoted by local media - said Netanyahu was working to free the hostages through "the military defeat of Hamas".

The possibility of a new escalation in Gaza may further anger Israel's allies who have been pushing for an immediate ceasefire as reports of Palestinians dying from starvation or malnutrition cause shock around the world.

The main group supporting hostages' families condemned the idea of a new military offensive saying: "Netanyahu is leading Israel and the hostages to doom."

That view was pointedly made in a letter by some 600 retired Israeli security officials sent to US President Donald Trump urging him to pressure Israel to immediately end the war in Gaza.

"Your credibility with the vast majority of Israelis augments your ability to steer Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: End the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering," they wrote.

The group included former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, Ami Ayalon, former chief of Shin Bet - Israel's domestic secret service agency - former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and former Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon among others.

"It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel," they said.

"At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war," said Ayalon.

The former top leaders head the Commanders for Israel's Security (CIS) group, which has urged the government in the past to focus on securing the return of the hostages.

"Stop the Gaza War! On behalf of CIS, Israel's largest group of former IDF generals and Mossad, Shin Bet, Police, and Diplomatic Corps equivalents, we urge you to end the Gaza war. You did it in Lebanon. Time to do it in Gaza as well," they wrote to the US president.

Israel launched a devastating war in Gaza following Hamas's 7 October attack in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken into Gaza as hostages.

More than 60,000 people have been killed as a result of Israel's military campaign in Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

On Monday, the ministry reported that at least 94 people had been killed in Gaza in the past day, including dozens it said had died in Israeli strikes.

The territory is also experiencing mass deprivation as a result of heavy restrictions imposed by Israel on what is allowed into Gaza. The ministry says 180 people, including 93 children, have died from malnutrition since the start of the war.

Such reports have become almost daily in recent months but are hard to verify as international journalists, including the BBC, are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza.

UN-backed agencies have said the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza.

The territory is also experiencing mass deprivation as a result of heavy restrictions imposed by Israel on what is allowed into Gaza. The ministry says 180 people, including 93 children, have died from malnutrition since the start of the war.

Passengers on several Eurostar trains are facing delays and cancellations after a power supply issue on a rail line in northern France led to its closure.

The Eurostar website shows at least nine services on Monday between London and Paris have been cancelled, while a further 15 services have been delayed.

The problem started at about 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Monday and disruptions are expected to continue until the end of the day, with trains being diverted to run on slower lines.

Eurostar has advised passengers to postpone their journeys if possible.

Some services between Brussels and Paris and between Amsterdam and Paris have also been cancelled, delayed or faced other disruptions due to the rail closure, which happened on the high-speed line between Moussy and Longueil in the Hauts-de-France region.

SNCF, which operates the line, said on its website that the "severely disrupted" services were due to a power supply issue which required "major repairs".

It predicted delays of between one and five hours on the Eurostar, as well as its other services TGV inOui and Ouigo.

Trains between London-Amsterdam, Brussels-Amsterdam, Brussels-London and Brussels-Cologne have not been impacted.

August is a peak period for cross-Channel travel due to school holidays, meaning services are often busier than normal.

Monday's disruptions come nearly a month after a Eurostar train travelling between Brussels and London had to be evacuated in northern France due to a power failure.

And in June, there were two days of major disruptions after separate fatal incidents on France's LGV Nord line, which was followed by cable theft.

A 17-year-old boy has been detained for the torture and killing of two kittens that were found cut open in a wooded area in west London.

He was given a 12-month detention and training order by District Judge Hina Rai, who said that the killings near Ruislip Golf Course were "without a doubt the most awful offences against animals I have seen in this court".

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, had also dreamed of killing a human and "getting away with murder". His accomplice in the animal abuse, a 17-year-old girl, will be sentenced later.

A passerby saw the boy holding a black bag, which was "moving slightly as if something live was inside it", Highbury Corner Magistrates' heard.

Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing

'Horrific'

The boy was given a lifetime ban on keeping or owning animals.

Along with the girl, who also cannot be named because of her age, the teenager had previously pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animals by mutilating and killing them.

A member of the public who found the kittens warned another passerby not to go down the footpath because "there is something horrific down there".

The black kittens were found with ropes attached to them and had been cut open. Also discovered at the scene were blowtorches, three knives and a pair of scissors.

One kitten was found hanging from a rope and was completely ripped open, with its eyes bulging, the court heard.

Alongside the tools, a significant amount of blood and fur were found.

The teenagers also admitted one count of unlawful possession of a knife.

Sentencing the boy, Judge Rai told him his actions had been "extensively planned" and were "clearly premeditated".

She told him: "You said sorry in your [police] interview but reports also show that you struggle to show empathy and realise that the kittens would suffer."

She added: "It seems you chose the kittens because they have emotion and you would have power over them."

Notes on the boy's phone detailed his desire to kill another person.

They read: "I really wanted to murder someone.

"Every day I was researching how to get away with murder. I have come close. I have killed cats to reduce my urges. I have skinned, strangled and stabbed cats."

The boy, who may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism which has yet to be diagnosed, had no previous convictions.

Additional reporting by PA Media

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

Broadcaster and radio personality James Whale has died aged 74 following a cancer diagnosis, his agent confirmed on Monday.

His career spanned six decades, including stints on the BBC airwaves as well as stations such as LBC and TalkSport.

Whale's TalkTV colleague and friend Mike Graham read an obituary on air and paid tribute to Whale, who had stage four kidney cancer.

Known for being outspoken and often controversial, more recently Whale went on to front his own podcast and night-time weekly radio show on TalkRadio.

Fame - and infamy

Whale was first diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2000 and then, in 2020, he revealed it had returned.

In recent months, he had documented his deteriorating health on social media, his Talk TV programme and his podcast Tales of the Whales.

He first gained prominence in the 1980s as the host of The James Whale Radio Show on Radio Aire in Leeds, before hosting a night-time radio show on TalkSport in the late mid-late 90s.

When TV stations first started airing programmes after midnight in the late 1980s, one presenter seized the opportunity to gain fame - and infamy - with a type of live late-night show that hadn't been seen on British screens before.

On the James Whale Radio Show, the presenter was a cross between a shock jock, talk show host, gonzo roving reporter and working men's club MC.

Launched in 1988, Whale's live, often chaotic programme was like a daytime TV format gone rogue: one which had lost its inhibitions and any qualms about upholding the usual standards of taste and decency.

Some said it had completely lost its morals. But many viewers loved it.

Whale took calls from - and unceremoniously cut off - callers. He sparred with celebrities and expert guests, dallied with scantily-clad "bimbos", and offered combative, sardonic or flippant takes on topical issues, from immigration to teenage gambling to sex therapy.

In short, it entertained and offended in equal measure.

The James Whale Radio Show had "Radio" in its title because it went out live from Leeds on both Radio Aire and ITV simultaneously at 1am on a Friday night, as people sat at home after coming back from the pub.

'Mighty Mouth'

At first, it only went out in Yorkshire and the north-west, but was soon picked up elsewhere as ratings went up and other ITV regional counterparts floundered.

When it arrived on London Weekend Television in April 1989, the press started to take notice.

A review in The Stage newspaper noted how "Mighty Mouth" Whale had taken a "critical hammering" since transferring across the ITV network.

But it added that, because it was broadcast so long after any family audience had gone to bed, it was pointless to complain about the show's "crudities, ruderies, or the occasional swear word".

In fact, the reviewer found Whale "the liveliest natural new personality to turn up on TV for ages", saying he possessed "a surfeit of punch and charisma".

The smooth-voiced Whale, from Surrey, had been presenting on Radio Aire since 1982, after cutting his teeth on stations in Middlesbrough, Derby and Newcastle.

On Newcastle's Metro Radio from 1973-80, he set the template for phone-ins that gave callers short shrift.

Before that, Whale's first proper job in broadcasting had been to found a radio station inside Top Shop at London's Oxford Circus in 1970 - the country's first in-store station.

The 70s and 80s were the ages of larger-than-life radio DJs, and Whale's stint at Radio Aire saw him named local DJ of the year at the Sony Radio Awards in 1988.

Moving to the small screen that year, he gained a national reputation, for better or for worse.

'Filth and degradation'

As one sketch duo who appeared on The James Whale Radio Show half-joked, the programme was known for its "controversy, filth and degradation - and that's just behind the scenes".

It featured regular appearances from comics like Bernard Manning, Steve Coogan and Charlie Chuck, while Whale threw singers Wayne Hussey and Lemmy off for turning up drunk.

The host even stormed off his own show once, frustrated with things going wrong behind the scenes. But he also revelled in the chaos, and (usually) steered the show through it with some aplomb.

The James Whale Radio Show lasted until 1992, with the host keeping much of its flavour for another late-night format, Whale On, from 1993 to 1995.

But it was up against other, hipper shows like The Word, and a balding, middle-aged, middle-class man being risqué suddenly seemed less cutting-edge.

In 1995, Whale went back to radio with an opinionated late-night phone-in on Talk Radio.

He hit the headlines two years later when it was revealed that a female listener who appeared on air to invite him to "pop round for a coffee" was in fact his lover. Whale's wife of almost 30 years, Melinda, stuck with him.

The presenter was one of the few non-sport presenters to survive when the station rebranded as TalkSport in 2000, but was sacked eight years later after calling on his listeners to vote for Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election.

Regulator Ofcom ruled it was a serious breach of impartiality rules, and fined the station £20,000.

Whale pitched for a job with Johnson, saying: "Ken Livingstone had 70 media advisers. Boris Johnson only needs me. I'm ideal. I know what the ordinary man or woman on the street thinks."

The future prime minister didn't take him up on the offer.

Having hosted an afternoon weekend show at LBC in the 90s, Whale returned to the station as drivetime host the same year (despite having called the station's programme director a "pillock prize-prat and a half" not long before).

'Hedonistic years'

Also in 2000, Whale was first diagnosed with cancer when a large tumour (he said it was "the size of a football") was found in his kidney.

The kidney and tumour were successfully removed. For the next few years, he and Melinda decided to live life to the full.

"Those were my hedonistic years - I ate as much steak as I wanted and drank copious amounts of wine," he said. "Every weekend, we flew off to a destination we'd never seen. We ran up huge bills. I didn't care."

He also wanted to raise awareness about the disease, so set up the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer in 2006. It merged with Kidney Cancer UK nine years later.

Whale stayed at LBC for five years before hosting the BBC Essex breakfast show for three and launching an online version of The James Whale Radio Show.

In 2016, he took part in the 18th series of Celebrity Big Brother - becoming the sixth housemate to be voted out.

Three months later, he went back to TalkRadio, but was suspended in 2018 after an interview with author and journalist Nichi Hodgson about her being raped.

In a video clip, the presenter could be seen mouthing the words "orally raped", shaking his head and laughing when Ms Hodgson gave details about what had happened to her.

"What began as a typically strident exchange between me and a journalist known for his belligerent presenting style became a merciless exercise in how not to interview someone who has experienced a sexual assault," Ms Hodgson wrote in The Guardian.

TalkRadio admitted the interview "completely lacked sensitivity", but Whale eventually kept his job.

In 2018, his wife Melinda died of lung cancer. Two years later, he was forced to take a break from broadcasting because his disease had spread to his remaining kidney, spine, brain and lungs.

He recovered enough to walk down the aisle with Nadine Lamont-Brown in 2021. They had got chatting in their local pub in Kent when they found out their spouses were both being treated by the same doctor.

In 2024, Whale was awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and charity, and he continued hosting a weekly radio and TV show on Talk.

He lost none of his fiery opinions or ability to outrage, causing controversy by saying the "Navy should be out there pointing weaponry" at migrants in small boats, and clashing with pro-Palestinian guests over the Israel-Gaza conflict.

He carried out his final interview, with his "good friend and political hero", Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in his garden in mid-July.

Whale also wrote a weekly column for the Daily Express, which on 27 July included a series of tributes from friends and former colleagues.

Dragon's Den businessman Theo Paphitis hailed his charity work for Kidney Cancer UK, adding: "They broke the mould when they made James, and there's a good reason that he has lasted decades as a broadcaster on the airwaves."

Actor Shane Richie said: "Love him or loathe him there's been no denying that the Whale was and will always be regarded as a one-off unique broadcaster.

"In the eighties, James moved the goalposts when it came to live TV... his late-night Friday talk show was the stuff of legend and is still regarded as a show that moved the parameters of British television."

Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes said: "He made direct speech entertaining. With that he was ahead of his time. I'm just sorry he hasn't had more time."

Whale kept broadcasting for as long as he could as the cancer tightened its grip.

"I've spent much of my professional life winding people up about their stupidity, taking the wind out of their sails, and I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss that," he wrote in one of his last weekly columns for the Daily Express.

"It wasn't always presidents and prime ministers and celebrities and leaders of industry – though they often got their comeuppances – sometimes, it was just normal folk who needed taking down a peg or two.

"But boy have I had some fun, and hopefully created some entertaining, engaging radio that has made people think a bit harder."

The police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland has defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK.

Rupert Matthews has held the position since 2021 and served as an MEP for the East Midlands for the Tories between 2017 and 2019.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, he said the "dark heart of wokeness" needed to be cut out of the criminal justice system.

"The self-serving, self-entitled liberal elite who have let our country down time after time are now on notice their day is almost done," he said.

"Be they Conservative or Labour governments, everyone knows our politicians have failed us all. They have let this country down. They have let the British people down. Enough. Now is the time for Reform."

Matthews was re-elected as PCC in May 2024, beating Labour's Rory Palmer by 860 votes.

Announcing the defection on Monday, Farage told the conference: "He's twice been elected as a Conservative but today he comes across to us as our first police and crime commissioner."

He added: "Welcome on board."

Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.

Tesla has granted its chief executive Elon Musk $29bn (£21.7bn) worth of its shares, in an attempt to keep the billionaire at the firm.

The move comes after a US court struck down his 2018 pay package, worth more than $50bn, ruling that it was "unfair to shareholders".

Musk has been appealing the decision made by the Delaware court in 2024 and on Monday Tesla told shareholders it was "confident" that the $29bn of shares "will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla" especially as "the war for AI talent is intensifying".

The award should boost Musk's voting power on the electric car company's board.

"It is imperative to retain and motivate our extraordinary talent, beginning with Elon", Tesla's board wrote on X, a platform owned by Musk, adding that "no one matches Elon's remarkable combination of leadership experience, technical expertise".

The company said the billionaire had a "proven track record" in building "revolutionary and profitable businesses".

Tech firms trying to assert themselves in the AI sector have been offering huge sums to workers at rivals in an effort to persuade them to join them and boost their development.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was said to have recently tried to lure top developers from ChatGPT-creator OpenAI with million-dollar pay deals.

Meanwhile Microsoft's AI division, headed up by former Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, recently gained several new hires from Google's ranks.

Tesla the company was at an "inflection point" and needed Musk's prowess as it pivots from being an electric vehicle firm to an AI and robotics focussed company.

The company added that the share award would be attractive for Musk "with other "demands on his time and attention".

Musk's other roles include executive positions at xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, which makes tunnels and other infrastructure in the US.

He recently announced that he was stepping back from politics, after a stint as US President Donald Trump's advisor.

Additional reporting by Liv McMahon.

Two men have appeared in court, charged in connection with the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton.

Ahmad Mulakhil is accused of rape, while Mohammad Kabir is accused of kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting the rape of a girl aged under 13.

Warwickshire County Council leader George Finch has alleged the two men were asylum seekers, which the BBC has been unable to verify independently, and accused Warwickshire Police and the Home Office of covering up their immigration status.

Police refused to disclose further details, saying: "Once someone is charged with an offence, we follow national guidance. This guidance does not include sharing ethnicity or immigration status."

In a statement to the BBC the Home Office said: "Foreign nationals who commit crimes should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and justice delivered."

Mr Kabir and Mr Mulakhil, both 23 and from the Warwickshire town, have appeared before magistrates in Coventry and will both appear at Warwick Crown Court on 26 August.

Mr Mulakhil is also facing an additional charge of rape relating to a different case.

Anyone who was in the Cheverel Street area of Nuneaton between 20:30 and 21:45 BST on 22 July and saw anything of interest is urged to come forward by Warwickshire Police.

'Risk to public order'

Finch, who at 19 became the youngest council leader in the UK and represents Reform UK, published a letter on his social media accounts on Sunday, addressed to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, the Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, Alex Franklin-Smith, and the chief executive of the council, Monica Fogarty.

He said Ms Fogarty had told him that Mr Kabir was an asylum seeker living in a house of multiple occupancy.

Residents had "very easily been able to join the dots together" and conclude that the men were asylum seekers, he said.

"Residents of Warwickshire can see they have not been told the full story," he said.

"I am disgusted that one year on from the social unrest that we saw in parts of the UK in 2024, the Home Office and the police have clearly not learned any lessons from the handling of similar incidents last year."

He added: "I strongly believe that the only risk to public order from this case in Warwickshire comes from the cover-up itself."

In a statement, Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: "It is essential to state that policing decisions—such as whether to release details about a suspect—must follow national guidance and legal requirements."

He added that he would not speculate on the personal circumstances of those involved while court proceedings were active.

The BBC has contacted Warwickshire County Council for comment.

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.